The Everyday Shaman
Join the Everyday Shaman each week for insights on how to spiritually, emotionally, and physically recognize, navigate, and overcome the traumas and daily obstacles everyone encounters by tapping into the inner shadow and divine light that shapes our past, present, and future. Find that no one is ever alone, and that everyone and everything is connected by seen and unseen forces and energies of light and darkness.
The search for oneness with oneself and everything in this world, universe, and beyond starts here!
The Everyday Shaman
Dreams, Grief, and Growth: A Spiritual Journey
Can intuitive abilities truly prepare you for life's greatest challenges? Join us on this episode of Everyday Shaman as Ebony Mixon, a natural healer from Detroit, Michigan, takes us on her extraordinary journey from sensing energies as a child to mastering alternative healing arts as an adult. Ebony's story is a testament to the power of spiritual awareness in navigating personal health crises and understanding the complexities of life through dreams and premonitions.
We explore the often turbulent waters of family dynamics and societal acceptance of spiritual gifts. Ebony recounts vivid experiences of premonitions about death, the varied reactions from her family, and the importance of maintaining a personal, non-religious spiritual connection. She candidly discusses encounters with darker energies and how embracing these shadow aspects can lead to profound personal growth. Ebony’s insights on balancing modern medicine with naturopathic approaches provide a holistic perspective on health and wellness, particularly during challenging times like the COVID pandemic.
Ebony's narrative is deeply personal and transformative, covering the emotional terrain of grief and the healing process after the loss of her child. We discuss the resilience needed to overcome such hardships and the interconnectedness of mental, physical, and spiritual health. From interpreting spiritual messages received in dreams to supporting her son's intuitive experiences, Ebony's journey is a compelling guide for anyone seeking to understand and harness their spiritual gifts. Listen in for a powerful exploration of healing, growth, and the delicate balance of embracing one's unique abilities in a judgmental world.
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Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of the Everyday Shaman. I'm Jeffrey Brunk, your host, and today I have with me Ebony Mixon. Ebony's an old soul and a pure spirit. She's located in Detroit, michigan, and is the youngest of six children. From an early age, ebony knew that she was meant to help others in some way. Ebony is married, two young children, each of whom are very aware of themselves being old souls and sensitives.
Jeffrey Brunk:Ebony immersed herself in her spiritual development and natural healing gifts after she became ill and found no relief from modern medicine. This caused Ebony to pursue knowledge in natural medicines as well as alternative healing modalities. She has a firm grasp on the workings of the mind-body-spirit connection, yet continues to learn and grow in order to provide assistance to others. Some of the modalities and tools that Ebony is proficient and familiar with using include energy healing in person or via distance, dream interpretation, lucid dreaming, various methods of meditation, use of oracle cards, crystals, chakra alignment, automatic writing, sound therapy and several others. So it's a pleasure to have Ebony join me today. Ebony, how are you? It's good to have you here.
Ebony Mixon:Hello, I'm doing good. Glad to be here.
Jeffrey Brunk:Yeah, the universe didn't want us to get together to do this today. It's really good to have you here.
Ebony Mixon:So I guess, to start give me, tell people a little bit of an idea about who you are, how we met, you know your life and situation, and how you came to get into alternative healing- Well, since I was younger, I just kind of had the knowing of knowing that there was more, there was things that others couldn't see or feel or sense that I was able to pick up on, and I spent a lot of time as a child trying to find validation in that, and so I didn't know the terminology, I didn't know the what or the why. But I will have reassurance whether it was through dreams seeing different types of energies, and I kind of just kept it to myself. And as I got older and I would have more life experiences, I was able to use some of those tools to help me get through some of those experiences I had, such as loss and grief, health issues, and so I really became more interested in natural healing and energy healing, I'll say in high school and when I just very much first started really experiencing pain and reproductive issues and getting sick and the doctors not really being able to explain to me why I was feeling the way I was feeling, and so I began learning about alternative medicines, things that I can do that would have a positive impact on my health. Some of those ideas and information was just kind of, I want to say, channeled in a way I don't know another word for that, but it's just kind of came to me in a way that it appeared to me of how to use that, even if it was just temporarily, to help me get through whatever health issues I was having or psychological issues dealing with grief and loss.
Ebony Mixon:During college I really advanced in that way of learning more about herbal medicine, naturopathic medicine. After I left college I began naturopathic medical school and I stayed there for a brief while and found out that I was pregnant and when I was pregnant I became high risk so I left and that was my first pregnancy, which doctors did not think I would be able to get pregnant. While I was at the school I learned a great deal of acupuncture, chinese medicine and herbs. That was very helpful puncture, chinese medicine and herbs.
Jeffrey Brunk:That was very helpful. So, going back to when you were young and you had just knowing something was different, was it frightening for you?
Ebony Mixon:No, it wasn't Well. There were some instances that were frightening. I could see some dark energies that weren't I knew they weren't friendly. I knew they didn't have good intentions, and it was scary, in a way, of not having many people to talk to about it. I talked with one of my sisters about it a great deal and she has stories that she remembered when I was little, of things that I've said or done that I just don't remember all too well. So they always thought in my family, like I was just different in ways, and so I saw, initially.
Ebony Mixon:Initially I saw a lot of dark things. I saw a lot of things that I knew were negative, a lot of temptation. A lot of those energies wanted me to be a tool for them, and, it being that it was kind of my first encounter with any type of energetic beings, I just knew that if they're trying to utilize me so much, they want me so bad, it must be for a reason, and because of that I'm going to not go down that road, I'm not going to connect with that, and so that made my relationship to God much stronger. I became more interested in praying, even though I went to church with my grandmother, but the church was never a place that I felt comfortable. It was never a place that I felt fit for me. I built a personal relationship with God and I eventually was able to start seeing more positive energies.
Jeffrey Brunk:And some that I kind of say are kind of like neutral, not one or the other, some that I kind of say, are kind of like neutral, not one or the other, so you'd say you saw what I call the divine essences, but also guides, or ancestral guides, or not even those that might be connected to you, family wise, but others that are there.
Ebony Mixon:Yeah, so like for example, when I was younger, I would see sometimes like dark shadows. They'll be circulating the room or they'll come up close to me and I can hear them talking to me and they would try to be very scary or very tempting or try to get me to want to like, oh you know, just work with us and you can get whatever you want, type thing. I also was having dreams of things that would happen before it would happen. It became very intense during, like my high school years. I would have dreams before someone would pass away. I would start having dreams kind of like, around the topic. There would be like images in my dreams and at first I would try to think maybe it's coincidental. But then during my waking hours of the day I would see these ravens, maybe I it happened so many times that I knew that it was real and it was true and there was no way that I could have made it up or had some type of coincidence with that experience. So I just began to trust my dreams and it went from being just dreams about who's dying to other information that would be helpful.
Ebony Mixon:I started studying in my dreams during college and controlling my dreams, and then sometimes I will have dreams where there's different entities. Maybe it could be someone in our family that maybe I've never seen before and I've gotten confirmation with my mom, or when I was a nurse aide, I would go to different people's houses, and when I go to their houses sometimes I might see someone that belonged to their family or that was in that area, like someone that I've never seen before. But I can tell that it's not a physical person. When they're communicating to me, they're not talking with their mouth, it's just all like a mental conversation, and it used to freak me out because I would panic and I would get stuck where I can't move, and so I would think like, oh, this is one of those paralyzed dreams, but I would be awake.
Jeffrey Brunk:But they didn't threaten you.
Ebony Mixon:Yeah, like I thought some of the shadow things look scary, but then I would see someone that just looks like a person. I've seen some where there is a person and they just kind of change into an animal. I've seen some that were in my dreams and in person, but they have an essence of them that it's just peace and calmness. So it's not just the seeing but the feeling, the hearing, and there's so many things that I've encountered but I just don't have like the terminology of what is it called. Like you know, I didn't know who to talk to.
Jeffrey Brunk:You have a sense of clairvoyance, clairaudience, when you're dreaming, it said that's when the veil is thinnest between the realms. Personally, I know you have contacted me when you've had dreams about me and others, and it's always amazed me that when you contact me, the things that are going on right that moment it's like being on the same wavelength. You know from that dream and you have to share it and like damn, this is your spot on with what's going on, and that's just. That's amazing, and it's not just me. I know that you've done that for other people, that we both know you've done that. But you've had dreams and what's what to me, is even more so amazing is that it's almost in real time, which in the other realms is not like having a watch on in time. We know it. It's an amazing thing that you do and I tell you I don't know how to explain it either it's like when I tell people about you and with the dreams I came up with dream therapist, because I don't know any other way to put it.
Ebony Mixon:It's just always been developing and changing. Since I was younger, like it started off a whole lot of symbolism and things that I didn't really understand, but over time it became very clear and specific as to what the message is.
Jeffrey Brunk:How young were you when it started?
Ebony Mixon:I was like elementary age is the youngest experience that I remember and Bridget, my sister, she loves to tell the story of there.
Ebony Mixon:It was a storm, the power went out and it was me, her and my brother. I was probably six years old and while the power was out, they put a flashlight on me and they said, like I was like reaching out, talking about a ball that was bouncing down the street and I remember that image clear as day and I thought like maybe it was like a dream. She told me that and then the lights came back on and I was sitting there like what, why y'all looking at me? That was like one of the very first things that I kind of remember and she kind of remember I didn't think that she recognized anything that happened, because to me I wasn't aware of what was going on. And as I got older and I started sharing with her, like oh, I had a dream that this is about this and then it'll happen, and I was too young to really realize that some of the things were actually happening until I got older.
Jeffrey Brunk:When you were six and these things started, had anything happened that you remember, that you might be aware of traumatically, that would cause you to become so open? Or that's one question. I guess the other would be how did members of because you have a fairly large family how did other members of your family accept that, or what did they do when these things started happening?
Ebony Mixon:Well, there's not like a traumatic experience that I can think of. One thing that I thought when my dreams became really clear was when I start getting information about someone's going to die, and I think that the relevance of that it was I was in high school 10th, the end of my 10th grade. Year onto my senior year, I've collected about eight obituaries from family members and close friends, and so I feel like those dreams were a way to prepare me and give me a better understanding of loss and grief. So I really think that that helped me prepare for my grandmother's loss and my grandfather, my uncle, some friends and people that were my age at the time. So I think that it was important that I knew that information and I was able to process it in a way of knowing that I have support and clarity and for my family members. We didn't talk about it much when I was younger. One of my sisters always called me a witch.
Ebony Mixon:That's okay, I was called a witch doctor, not long ago she, you know, she, would say I was a witch and oh, you don't pray, you don't? You know, you don't believe in God. And I'm like. I've never said that I don't believe in God Just because I don't pray openly for you to see it, which I don't see anybody else doing it. I pray to myself. I want to develop a personal. I've always wanted a personal relationship with God.
Ebony Mixon:I didn't feel comfortable going into church and talking to other people about my experiences or listening to the judgment or people assuming that it's all negative. People get scared about this spirituality because, yes, you can encounter some negative energies, but I've always been able to kind of feel and know, based off how I feel in my body, to know what I'm dealing with. And that's the same when it comes to these dreams. Like that feeling and that knowing tells me a lot about what the dreams mean or who is for. Sometimes the dreams I can't see who's communicating with me, but I can sense it enough. That's how I was able to identify your dad. I didn't get to see him, but I can sense that relationship. And so that's how I knew that to identify your dad, I didn't get to see him, but I can sense that relationship, and so that's how I knew that it was him.
Jeffrey Brunk:Yeah, that's really cool. Have you found that? These abilities are they run within the family or do they understand that, talking about praying and having a relationship with God? If you have an understanding and an acceptance and a relationship, authentic relationship with yourself, you have that relationship with God, or however you, whatever you choose to call it.
Ebony Mixon:Yeah.
Jeffrey Brunk:Do they understand that, or do they? Do they have any similar or not even similar? Do they have gifts of their own that they either accept or don't accept about themselves?
Ebony Mixon:Yes, so when I was younger it wasn't spoke of too much, but once I got older and I was able to really like have conversations with my siblings, with my mom, we don't really talk too much about it, but I do feel that one of my brothers particularly I think it kind of scares him a bit. He shared some things when he experienced the loss of one of his close friends, and so he has the dreams as well, in a way that dreams have also serviced me by allowing me closure with a loved one and communicating with them. And sometimes I think that he's afraid of it and so he just kind of shuts it out and blocks it out. But every now and then he'll slip up and he'll say something, he'll share something, and I'm like it's not a coincidence Like if you just accept it, then I think that it will continue to grow. But if you fear it and you don't want it, it's not going to be forced on you.
Jeffrey Brunk:Guys do tend to hold things in and not want to share them, because of the macho mentality, I guess, but at least he recognizes it.
Ebony Mixon:He does, he does, he doesn't talk about it much. No-transcript. Definitely gifted, all in their own way. They all have we all. Just in our family we just say it's our superpowers. That's how I talk to my children about it it's your superpower, and so, as well as my mom, my mom is definitely gifted as well. We just didn't grow up talking about it so much and my mom has shared that she didn't want to make it feel like she's putting it on us because a lot of people look at it so negatively.
Jeffrey Brunk:Negatively how.
Ebony Mixon:You know, if it's not the church I went to church with my grandmother and if it's not the church, or you know, or even though they have the Holy Ghost, they just think that it's all evil. And I had a friend and I lost my friendship when I shared with her, amongst other things but I shared with her, that I have dreams and it gives me information that becomes true. She became very upset and she's like oh, that's like you saying you're a prophet, and I'm like I'm not saying, I'm just telling you what my experience is. I don't know what you want to label it or call it.
Jeffrey Brunk:Yeah, that tends to be one of the things as far as with church, and there are, there are labels that the church puts on things like prophet, I'll tell people. Oh well, I had a journey and and I met Yeshua, who is Jesus, and they're like, oh, so you talk to Jesus and I'm like, yeah, and now what you do when you go to church and pray?
Ebony Mixon:Right, you know I'm like it sounds. It's fine as long as it's in the Bible. But you don't think every, you know, everyday people can do these sort of things and I'm not trying to say that I'm any different. I just acknowledge that I have those abilities and accept it and I'm grateful for it. If God wants to communicate with me, the universe, spirit, guides, angels, I'm listening.
Jeffrey Brunk:That's a very good. It's a very good way to go about it and it sounds like from an early age when you started seeing the shadow. It sounds like from an early age when you started seeing the shadow, the darker elements. Those, of course, do want to get to you to prevent you from moving forward and being able to accept those things. They can instill a fear, exploitable vulnerability, with your other siblings, especially your sisters, wondering if they also have all of these innate gifts. Do they accept them? Do they know about them? Do they have fear about them? Or what do they do? Do they use them?
Ebony Mixon:I believe they do use them. I think that they're all still discovering a lot about themselves and what those gifts are and how to use them. I know Bridget. She's very, very gifted in connecting and getting messages and has been very clear, especially with her tarot cards, and I think she will be able to help a lot of people.
Jeffrey Brunk:And she uses them with just like any modality. A lot of people look at tarot cards as being forms of divination and I can see within the church that's going to be frowned upon. But she uses them with positive intention to find answers, because you can use them also in the other way with negative intention. So she does it with the proper intention.
Ebony Mixon:She does. She really sets up a good, positive space and environment. I do know some people who feel like they do better with tarot cards if they're using something like alcohol or something like that. You know, that doesn't seem to be guided in the most positive way. Bridget doesn't do anything like that. She cleanses her space, she puts herself aside and use the cards as a tool, but as a service.
Jeffrey Brunk:That's great.
Ebony Mixon:And I've used some tools or two. I've used a pendulum before. I work with my own tarot and oracle cards and for me, with my experience, it's just sometimes I get to a point with whatever tool I have and it doesn't work anymore.
Jeffrey Brunk:I learned after my mom died that she, when she was young, was a dowser. It's the same principle as a pendulum and it's still using intention, setting the intention in your mind to. I guess with dousing, first thing that comes to mind is you're trying to find water. But you can use them to find anything, and for a long time, and I haven't done it in a while. But I would use I have dousing rods and I would use them in my room after preparing my healing space to see where the energy was both before a session and after a session, and it's just amazing. So with pendulum you can do the same thing.
Jeffrey Brunk:But it all still comes down to intention. How often do you see, not just within family but within others, people that have gifts or they have instances of having bettered themselves? But and I see this a lot people that just kind of you know after a month or two will and life throws stuff at us all the time. They just let that stuff go that they know, but they don't listen to what they know anymore and so things start reoccurring, emotionally or physically or socially, whatever it may be.
Ebony Mixon:Yes, a lot of people just get caught up in the physical. It's like an immediate demand for them, and I feel like, when it comes to spirituality, it's not rushed, it's not immediate, it takes time, it takes development, it takes challenges, it takes experiences, and so I think some people just get distracted with what's going on in their physical life, even to work.
Jeffrey Brunk:All the static of the world, yeah.
Ebony Mixon:And I get stuck sometimes and have to remind myself. You know it's like living in two worlds, trying to balance both and trying to get it to where it fits in to both. You want to meet your physical needs and everything, but I cherish the gifts that I have. It's very helpful for me to use. When it comes to my physical life, the decisions that I make, the things that I go through. I rely heavily on my spirituality to help me get through and guide me through.
Jeffrey Brunk:Even with the shadow things, even the darker things. They're not necessarily. They can be bad, of course, but they also help you to grow if you recognize them and accept them, especially shadow, because shadow is we all, we embody that. That's just part of the human nature. But to recognize whether it's a fault, or catching yourself when you get angry about something stupid that happens, you know something that doesn't matter, taking control of that instead of letting that taking control of you. For you, having recognized this at such an early age, it's sort of little steps along the way and you get to a place where you think you have it all figured out and you know how to deal with it. And then boom, something, something bigger happens that's a little more difficult to deal with.
Ebony Mixon:It's been like a life cycle of that where something will happen or I'll experience something I still like, using different tools and things like. Eventually it wouldn't work. When I used to first see like dark things flying around, I would be paralyzed, I can't move. I can see my husband, who was my boyfriend at the time, would walk in the room and hit me and be like what's going on, but I'm stuck in fear and watching what's going on. I can't talk.
Ebony Mixon:During that time what worked for me was prayer. I would start praying and then they'll be gone and then it would happen more and more and more often and then I got to a point where prayer no longer worked. I needed to be more intentional with what I was saying and doing. Over time these energies were kind of funny. It wasn't funny at the time, but they would say so many things to try to get into my head and be like oh, you don't know what you're doing, you're stuck making fun of me. Like you know, we could do this all day and you don't know what you're doing.
Ebony Mixon:And then one day I was paralyzed. But then I realized it was just my physical body that was paralyzed. So I pulled myself out of my body and the prayers wasn't working to make them go away and I was like, ok, how do I get them to go away? And then the light in me just shined out and they go away. And I was like, ok, how do I get them to go away? And then the light in me just shined out and they went away.
Jeffrey Brunk:Now, when it shined out. How did it do that? Did it give you ideas of what to do to repel these things?
Ebony Mixon:It was very clear to me that I didn't need to call anyone. I didn't need a tool. I didn't need anything other than to realize that I'm the light and it's the light within me that will protect me. And when I realized that, that's when it happened.
Jeffrey Brunk:And when you do that and that light is? It's invisible to people with the naked eye, but to a shadow element or an element of darkness, it's very visible and it's very powerful. How do you approach these things? Now? I approach the shadow and the darkness elements with a sense of approaching it with an acceptance, especially if it's a shadow element, of hey, we're all from the same place, there's light within shadow and there's dark within shadow, and of an appreciation of things that, even though it may be a slightly darker element, an appreciation of what it may have been contributed or there have been coming from the same source or god as as we do, but there's also a sense of going through and exerting that authority without becoming confrontational, and you haven't done that.
Ebony Mixon:No, I've learned to just treat it like any other energy that comes by and wants to peek around and say hi or whatever. I've had a voice say hey, I'm your spirit guide. Like no, you're not. So sometimes, you know, I went from being afraid to it's almost comical in some ways, and sometimes I'm just like, okay, today's not the day. I don't feel like playing, because that's what it feels like a lot of times they're doing is coming to just play around and hang out. I don't know curiosity, but they'll just kind of pop in and say something or do something strange and I'm like I want to go to sleep. You know I'm doing something like not right now. There's someone who at their house, there's something there, and the children would say forever that there's something there, there's something there, and they would be so terrified if I went near the area where they felt something there. And I've also sensed something there and sometimes I'm really open and I'm like, okay, it does throw me off when I'm like physically awake and doing something and they want to communicate.
Jeffrey Brunk:What happens to throw you off? When you're awake and you sense something like that, what do you do then?
Ebony Mixon:I kind of maybe have like a little mini heart attack like oh, there's something there, and then sometimes kind of quiet. First I don't know if they're trying to see if I'm open to communication, like I've had some where they just stand there. If I'm open to it, they'll say whatever it is that they want to say. Or sometimes I'm just like I'd rather you come in my dreams, just come in my dreams, and we can talk all about it.
Jeffrey Brunk:I'm thinking you'd rather you come in my dreams, just come in my dreams, and we can talk all about it.
Ebony Mixon:I'm taking you out and you come in my dreams, buddy. So I'm, like you know, during the weekend, waking hours of the day. I don't know, it may be because, especially if other people are around, like I just feel like shocked sometimes, okay, like I don't know what to do.
Jeffrey Brunk:You think it's other people. When you're around other people that a lot of them are either attached or chilling out, hanging out with those other people you know, like a monkey on the back type thing. But that's not always the case. It's just part of who that person is.
Ebony Mixon:Yeah.
Jeffrey Brunk:Something else unseen within that shadow or darkness, that sort of accompanies that person, and it could come out through another person's words, even their thoughts, their facial expressions. You know, of course, actions.
Ebony Mixon:Yeah, when that sort of encounter, more specifically with my sister when she was going through a lot of things which is how I end up meeting you is when I recognize with her she had issues with alcohol, which I think was a major result of her experience in grief. We both have experienced child loss. All of my sisters and I have experienced child loss. In that process of her grief she became very dependent on alcohol, which I think made her more vulnerable as a spiritual person, which I think made her more vulnerable as a spiritual person. She had lived out of state for so long that when she moved back home and I would spend time with her, I was just like you know, I didn't want to be around her if she had anything to drink and most people would think like, oh, that's, you know anybody who drinks. But I started to spend more time around her and that's when I was able to recognize that there's more playing a role in her life, there's something else that's contributing to her cycle.
Jeffrey Brunk:I'm fairly sure I know who you're speaking about and I know I journeyed for her and, yes, there was a lot that she was going through that was attached to her in different ways. How is she doing now?
Ebony Mixon:She's doing good. She's doing great. Since the last time you did that journey for her, she completed her rehab and she's been on her self love and discovering herself and getting more into spirituality and learning more about it. She's doing really good.
Jeffrey Brunk:Excellent, that's great to hear. I remember I believe it was the night before I journeyed you had mentioned that she had actually jumped out of a car and you know she was in a dark place. Yeah, it's the people that are open the most, that are most aware that this darkness and these things gravitate towards, because they're the ones, like yourself, that help, that are meant to help rebalance, regain balance in this world. But they're the most vulnerable, and even the stronger ones still have vulnerabilities and to be aware of that, I've often said, man, it would be so much easier to just be the person I used to be, which God knows, I don't want to be that person anymore, but it seemed so much more carefree, because living this way, being aware, is not easy, and especially not easy when you start to recognize things about yourself that aren't that great, but those are still parts of who we are.
Ebony Mixon:So, like after I had my first son, I got so caught up in being a mom, fell in love with motherhood and I just dedicated all my time and energy to being a mom, focusing on my goals, focusing on my physical aspects, and not really paying attention as much to things spiritually.
Ebony Mixon:So I started to have doubts and think, like you know, maybe there's a reason all of this stuff was happening, but I don't really need to focus on it right now. There's not much happening for me spiritually and even though it was, I kind of was feeling overwhelmed and a part of me just didn't want to do it. I was having dreams about people who I haven't talked to in years, that I didn't want to be friends with anymore, but they were going through something and I couldn't stop dreaming about their situation until I reach out to them, I meet with them and I share with them the message. And when I have those dreams, a lot of times I wake up and I'm exhausted. I don't feel like I've slept and for being people that I didn't really care to associate with anymore, I kind of didn't want to do it, but I had an assignment and that was the best way for me to be able to get through that.
Jeffrey Brunk:It sounds a lot like a shamanic journey, because after a journey I'm normally wiped out, depending on the journey and the intensity, but it will wipe you out. So to be asleep and wake up and feel that way, it sounds very similar.
Ebony Mixon:Yes, it is very tiresome, but when I go ahead and I get the message across, because otherwise the dream will keep coming it might change a little bit, it might be different, but those spirits or energies will keep coming to me until I do that. When I had the dream about your dad, I was like I woke up. I was like, okay, I'll remember, I'll mention it. I went back to sleep. I had a completely different dream, but every now and then it was almost as if he was tapping my shoulder to make sure that I remember what he said.
Jeffrey Brunk:That's good.
Ebony Mixon:I got up and I just wrote everything out on my phone and then after that he wasn't in none of my dreams. I had another dream where it was this Italian lady. She didn't like my husband had a friend who was staying at this, at her house apparently, and she didn't like it. She didn't know what he was doing to her house and she showed up and she was going off about it. I finally was able to, like, get a conversation. She shared her story with me.
Ebony Mixon:She showed me the house when she first got the house and she showed me how she died and her funeral and how her service was in the house. She really cherished her house and she didn't like what this guy was doing to the house and she didn't understand why he was even there when I was communicating with her and I'm like, okay, like I will tell them, I will communicate whatever she wants, but when I don't take the time, like to wake up and write it down, what she did was she just kept showing up in all my other dreams and she would just stand to the side of whatever dream I was having. She would just be standing there.
Ebony Mixon:And so it was like I've had a lot of those spirits who they're very firm about what their message is. I've had someone who came and wanted me to give a message to their girlfriend and I did not feel comfortable reaching out to this person and it just seemed weird. And they were high school sweethearts and I'm like I never talked to this person, like I don't want to have to find them. And what did the spirit do came back in my dream, was like here's how you find them. They have a business here. This is the name of the business. You go to the store. I put it off a little bit longer because I'm like I really don't feel comfortable like going to someone that almost feels like a stranger and telling them this type of information. I was afraid of what people would think, what she would think, yeah, yeah.
Jeffrey Brunk:That's that is difficult. That took a long time for me to overcome that, especially when it this this for you as a stranger for me. It was more difficult with telling people that are family or friends just saying, hey, I'm the messenger, I don't shoot the messenger. It sounds like too, with saying getting that tap or the dreams happening and and over again unless you take action. That's very much akin to the whole.
Jeffrey Brunk:Until you take that action, you're not left alone, especially from the divine ones are going to say, hey, if it's meant to help someone else, when you share these things with people like you do, you may have that apprehension about talking to them and telling them these things, but you really don't know how it may affect them in that moment, or maybe not even in that moment, say a day or two or even longer down the line, something goes bing, the light comes on and then they take action upon it and how that may ripple down and affect other people in a positive way. But it is hard to do that with anyone. Now I have to ask with your kids when did you first notice? Even at a young age? He was like 60, as far as his wisdom goes, as far as his wisdom goes.
Ebony Mixon:I do want to add that spirit does reassure. When I go and do that, they provide a reassurance to that person. So, like with you, it was the song for your dad, and with the other guy it was the cabinet slamming in the house. So most people, after I share something with them, they will get something that reassures them that I'm not a crazy person. So that helps a lot For my son.
Ebony Mixon:I've always made it a point to just involve him because of what my experience is. I didn't want him to feel confused or alone or that he couldn't speak with anyone about his experiences, and so when he will say he sees something or he has dreams about something, I make sure to pay close attention to him when he's speaking about these things, to provide him the support that I feel like I didn't really have, and so I spent a lot of time trying to figure things out on my own. So I remember he was three and a half years old when I lost his baby brother, when we came home from the hospital and he was getting ready to go to bed and he said he saw his brother lie out the window, and he remembers it to this day and he's also had dreams that he shared and we will usually look up the dream. I will show him, like, how to kind of think about his dreams in a way of like, okay, what did you feel during your dream? You think it means and use his intuition in addition to looking up whatever animal or looking at whatever symbolism and colors is interesting because right now he's kind of going through where he knows the message that was given to him but he doesn't necessarily want to follow it and the message just keeps coming in different ways. And it's kind of funny to kind of watch him go through this because you know, we just let him make his own decisions, like we teach him what we want him to know so that he can be informed, and then he has to make the decision on his own.
Ebony Mixon:So when he shared with me, the dream is basically meaning that he is associated with some people that don't have the best intentions for him and immediately there's two people that comes to mind for him and usually when he encounters these people his hands dry out and get cracked and bleeding. We've tried all kinds of moisturizers, we've tried all types of stuff. We've been to the dermatologist the only time his hands have really, really cleared up when you did that journey for him, and that's when we began to learn like that's a way of that energy kind of manifesting in they'll start bleeding or he'll get a cut or something. And so he had the dream. We looked it up, he knew what it meant, and then one of those people just kept reaching out to him and contacting him, wanted to spend time, and he didn't want to say no.
Jeffrey Brunk:And then the dream shows up in another way Same meeting shows up in another way same meeting and he understand the good selfishness aspect for himself of distancing yourself from. It's a person or a situation that say an energy vampire type thing. I'll use that analogy. Does he understand that, that it's best for him?
Ebony Mixon:He understands, I think at a more basic level. Like he doesn't understand fully how to practice, he knows, like when he was going to the dermatologist, like he was like I don't want to sound crazy, but I know when I interact with these people is when my hands get worse, and so he has a good understanding. We do try to teach him methods and ways to protect himself and set boundaries, but it's also going to be something that over time, he's going to develop Like he's aware and he knows. But it's also going to be something that over time, he's going to develop he's aware and he knows. But it's almost like one of those easier said than done things for him and so he's still learning and figuring out the best way that he can do that to protect himself. But he's well aware of what's happening and why it's happening.
Jeffrey Brunk:That's great.
Ebony Mixon:What it means, but I think he just don't understand yet that it's not selfish, it's just for your own protection.
Jeffrey Brunk:Yeah, I named it good selfishness, because selfishness, you know it has a negative connotation, but when it's selfishness for yourself and your own wellbeing, it's not an intentional self. You know I'm not sharing this or whatever. It's taking yourself out, no matter what the other people think, in order to keep yourself in a good place. Because when he gets older, as we know, if you don't take care of yourself and take yourself out at times from those situations and you let things continue to manifest physically, emotionally, however they may be, being around people, you don't take yourself out of those situations and you let things continue to manifest physically, emotionally, however they may be. You know being around people. You don't take yourself out of those situations. You can't help anyone else.
Ebony Mixon:Yes.
Jeffrey Brunk:I strongly believe he is one that is meant to help people.
Ebony Mixon:I agree and he definitely feels the same.
Jeffrey Brunk:One thing you mentioned and it's so important is researching the dreams, because dreams, to me, are the way I look at it is you have to take everything into context If there's so many things that can be in a dream. Many, many people are into dream work and dream journaling, and how do you go about the process of researching? I know intuition is a big part of it looking at the whole picture but do you research different elements within those dreams or do you do that with him?
Ebony Mixon:Yes, so sometimes there will be animals, and so we will look up the meaning of the type of animal and what the animal is doing in the dream.
Jeffrey Brunk:Both the good and the bad aspects of the animal, because they always have two sides.
Ebony Mixon:We take different parts of the dream, different pieces of the dream. So it could be an animal, it could be the environment that we're in if we're inside a house, if you're outside, if you're near the water, the environment, the different people that you have in the dream, the tone of the dream, the way that you felt during the dream. If there's other elements in the dream, if it's fire, this water, if it's storming, we take all of those things and research it and put it together and that will kind of, when you put it, when you piece it together like a puzzle, like that's when you can figure out what it actually means. That, along with the intuition, the feeling if you heard direct messages, usually I can sense as well as he can the tone enough to give us like our foundation with all the other pieces.
Jeffrey Brunk:It's great that you research everything, because so many will just dive into I don't know, antiflowscom or whatever and look at a dream and what it may mean. But there'll be elements within the dream that may represent death and that will just frighten someone. But it may not be physical death. It may be death of a habit or a death of a way of living or a change that's coming. So to look at those things and not just gravitate. If it's a good meaning, because people want to hear the good stuff, they want it to be a good meaning, but to also accept the meanings that may not be all that pleasant to hear but it's something that's maybe represents an obstacle that has to be overcome. That's not necessarily easy and it sounds like he's able to recognize that when those type things come up. How do you and how does he look at those, those negative aspects, and accept them for what they are through intuition, and overcome them and move forward with it?
Ebony Mixon:Well, I think both of us we've had dreams, give us messages and we clearly know what it's saying. But for whatever reason during the time, you still end up doing what it is that you're told not to do, because you don't see any other reason not to other than the dream and the message. And unfortunately, sometimes that's just not enough. And so you go through it and when you kind of see at the end result that it wasn't a good experience or it could have been prevented if you just listened to what you were told, you kind of learn it the hard way until you get to the point where you can really trust and just follow blindly, in a way.
Jeffrey Brunk:But doing that is also better than doing nothing.
Ebony Mixon:Yeah.
Jeffrey Brunk:Because sometimes you have to learn the hard way. Sometimes this is the best way is to learn the hard way in order to really get ahold of grass, something, and have it, have it sink in. You know, have to fall before you walk, have to fall before you walk. You have to crawl before you walk, and then you fall and you get up and you can walk some more. But, yeah, that's not a bad thing. But way too many people out there that would just fall and say I'm like falling off a bike or falling off a horse, I'm not riding a horse again, I'm not riding a bike again. Now, talking about protecting yourself, what methods do you use? Because I get this question a lot. I need to find out how to protect myself from this and that. What type of things do you do?
Ebony Mixon:It's hard to technically protect yourself.
Jeffrey Brunk:Say you know you're going to a large gathering and you don't know who's going to be there. There's inevitably going to be someone there that's had a bad day, or they're just negative by nature that's a good band name negative by nature To make sure that no matter who you run into or what situation you might come into, it's not going to affect you, because there are ways to do that and a lot of it is intuitional and, I guess, recognizing it in your mind. But prior to going or being in a situation, or even within your own home or within a family member's home or someone you know, what type of things would you do to protect yourself?
Ebony Mixon:You know.
Jeffrey Brunk:I'll use example of smudging. Personally, I carry a medicine bag that I've made or mochi marbles in my pockets for balance, you know, and grounding. What are the things that you would do?
Ebony Mixon:yes, one of the main things that I do is visualization meditation, where we put a white bubble around ourselves. Usually I will start with just myself. I put a bubble around myself. I remove anything that doesn't belong or that I don't want in my bubble. I make my bubble go repellent, so anything that tries to come my way or try to come in it bounces back in the opposite direction, and then I fill my bubble with light and sometimes there will be different colors and I don't think about what colors I'm going to put into it. It's just the process of creating a protective barrier, removing the parts that I don't want in there and everything that I need to support and secure my bubble. What I'll do is I will make sure sometimes I can do it further than myself. I do it for myself, I do it for my husband and each child and do the same process. Sometimes I'll do it for our whole apartment. Sometimes I can do it for other people in their homes. Some days I'm like I can't do it. That far I can't reach that far.
Jeffrey Brunk:When I journey for someone yeah, I do that for our land, our home. I've even done it for a car my wife, the person I'm journeying for, the people that live with her or them, I put a protection around everyone and the colors. I find it interesting. You say that because if they're different colors and they're not always the same the colors that are surrounding you are colors that are meant for that situation. If you see them in different ways, in different situations, they're there. Those colors are there representing the attributes, with the things that you need for that situation or for being around that particular person, or whatever it is.
Ebony Mixon:Yeah, I just make sure that throughout the day, I remind myself that it's there, I just see it there, I keep it there. If it starts to feel weak and invulnerable, I just make sure that I reset and reestablish it, and so I do teach my son that, and so he uses that as well. He's going to be interacting with people or going to different places before he go to bed. That's been like one of the greatest tools that I've used, and I didn't really learn it from anywhere. I just one day laid down to meditate and thought you know, let me just heal myself, let me protect myself, because I know I'm about to go into a situation that I don't want to be in. So a lot of the things that I've done, it just came.
Jeffrey Brunk:It's not taught You're a highly sensitive person and highly sensitive people are more apt to be affected by these negative energies and people. When I say negative energies, I don't necessarily mean ghosts, but these negative energies or shadows or things that are attached to other people or within other situations. You can allow them to get to you. There's always a choice. You can choose to either engage in that and get yourself riled up and put yourself in that lower place, that lower vibration, or choose not to. Everyone should be doing that. Not everyone does, because everyone wants their opinion heard. Everyone has one. But to do that, you also have to be in a place where, even if you're not highly sensitive, to be able to just shut your mind down long enough to recognize these things. Now, if you're in one of these situations or around a group of people, do you do something? Is there something you do afterwards, like after you get home, to also protect yourself or to clear yourself of these things?
Ebony Mixon:Yes, I find that when certain situations affect my emotions and I allow the reactions, that's when I know that, ok, it's time for me to sage, it's time for me to clear whatever this is that's lingering around. Usually, when we come home, we'll sage our apartment, we'll sage ourselves and just kind of release and throw everything out to the trees.
Jeffrey Brunk:And again, that's all done with intention, isn't it?
Ebony Mixon:Yes, all with intention. Focused intention and also just kind of like setting up the barriers. I'm very intentional about how I do it. It's almost like a routine. The doorway start there and I kind of work myself in a clock to each room. Of course the windows are open. I got whatever air condition or heat or something blowing up high. I got the fans going to just get everything circulating.
Jeffrey Brunk:Do you open a window?
Ebony Mixon:Oh yeah, yeah, we open the windows and um because people need to know.
Jeffrey Brunk:There is a process to this. It's not just lighting a smudge stick and going around, you know, without intention first, but there is a process to this. It's not just lighting a smudge stick and going around, you know, without intention first, but there is a process. Like you mentioned, going around clockwise and I do this a lot and I've even done it after journeys I'll take a shower. Water is so cleansing and just and it's not just a physical body shower just to clean, it's to wash away that negativity, but also with intention intention for me it's baths.
Ebony Mixon:I take baths sometimes when I do my sage and I sage in the tub and I just like build up a nice big pool of smoke in the tub. Not too long afterwards usually I'll go or I'll run my bath water and I'll take some sage and kind of smudge the area in the bathroom. And when I was really sick and having a hard time finding relief is when I really got more into doing the baths. I would take my bath with the stones. Sometimes I will put herbs there's like herbs for, like inflammation. Sometimes I'll do sage, Sometimes I'll do rose petals in a way of wit intention. The rose petals for me was self-love and self-healing and that kind of positive selfishness of giving to myself. Like each thing had a different representation and I will have sometimes not always the same type of stones that I'll set up by the bathtub. I'll listen to either meditation or certain healing frequencies, have a candle and I would get so much information.
Jeffrey Brunk:Yeah, I'm glad you mentioned that about frequencies and vibrations. But the healing effect and it's been scientifically proven that there's even medical procedures now that use frequencies to break up tumors it is very healing and there are different frequencies for different ailments, even emotional ailments and psychological ailments. You had suffered from lupus pretty badly. Is this when you were doing that?
Ebony Mixon:Yes, yes, that's when I was going through that. I had a lot of symptoms that I couldn't get under control, and it was also during COVID, so it was very hard to get in and see a doctor. If it wasn't COVID, I probably would have spent a lot of time in the ER, but I had to figure it out on my own and the information that I was getting. It was amazing, because sometimes I would just wake up at three o'clock in the morning and I can't go to sleep, and I realized that it's not that I can't sleep. There's information for me, there's a message for me, and when I would get up I would just follow what my intuition is saying, whether it's to go take a bath, go sit down in the quiet and drink some tea or just sit there for a moment and quiet my mind. I remember one time like I couldn't go to the bathroom for probably a couple weeks and my stomach was swelling up.
Ebony Mixon:I was on a vegan diet the whole time during COVID, because when I said I was trying everything, I was trying everything, so I was mostly raw food. I had plenty of time to cook, so I was eating really healthy, but I still was struggling and I woke up one day it's like three o'clock in the morning, always around the same time and I went into the kitchen pulling out all my herbs and I'm like, okay, I've done this before. Like is it going to work three o'clock in the morning? I don't know. But I did something different that day. I can't remember and I wish I would have wrote it down because I've mixed things and did things differently.
Ebony Mixon:There was some herbs that I use, some that I didn't. I just followed what I was being told Do this, do this amount, do this and that I did it. I went and I took my bath and finally was able to go to the bathroom and I start feeling so much better. And that to me proved to me like, okay, I need to just listen when I'm waking up, like that, I need to listen and get the information and take action. The more I did that, the more I was able to start finding relief for myself.
Ebony Mixon:I didn't just start. I don't want to make it seem like I just grabbed some herbs and throw them in there. Having an autoimmune disorder, I know enough that you can't just take anything. You can't take any type of herbs, even though it's natural when you have an autoimmune disorder, you are supposed to use that support your immune system but doesn't stimulate your immune system. So all the herbs and things that we have, I've researched, I've learned, I've read the medical articles for specific herbs for myself, specific ones for my husband and his ailments, and as well as my children.
Jeffrey Brunk:And you do have a background in nursing, so you understand that.
Ebony Mixon:Yes. So don't just go grabbing stuff off the shelves and mixing it all up.
Jeffrey Brunk:It's a good point, because so many people want to have one, that quick fix, but just try to force things and do it themselves without doing the listening, because answers are there if we just listen. But when we force them or try to make things happen on our own, it will either prolong the healing or the betterment or it will just stifle it.
Ebony Mixon:I feel like there are some things you have to address physically and then there are some things you have to address more spiritually. It is a balance of both and sometimes you need to do both, and for what I was going through was a mental and physical need to detox and change a lot of things.
Jeffrey Brunk:There should be a better balance. There is a combination of modern medicine and traditional or ancient medicine, and they should work together. Unfortunately, most not all, but most of the modern medical community look at traditional be it homeopathic or holistic type medicines or energy medicine as something that is more of a pseudoscience than it is a real thing, even though these things have been practiced for thousands of years prior to modern medicine's advancements. Having been in the medical field, have you said anything or did you do anything or speak with anyone about this at any point?
Ebony Mixon:Yes, I do combine both on an as-needed basis. So I'm not completely against medicine when needed, but I wouldn't recommend it as a lifestyle. If you need it for a quick fix, I'm all for it Very helpful to have especially I've had two C-sections. You know, and imagine doing that without medicine. But when it comes to the lifestyle, when I pick my doctors, I like to make sure that they understand that I'm willing to do the work and make the lifestyle changes for whatever issues I have.
Jeffrey Brunk:Thank you for saying that. Thank you for saying that because I know people personally that they're so pro-doctor, so pro-take this pill and this, but then not do anything for themselves, and people have to take it upon themselves. Unless you're getting a shot of penicillin, you know which is needed. I mean, there are things that are definitely advantageous, but unless you're doing things to help yourself physically and emotionally, even spiritually, then anything you're doing, it's either going to be prolonged or you're not going to see results. And then you start going downhill emotionally again because I'm not getting better or this hurts worse. And what are you doing for it?
Ebony Mixon:Nothing. You have to be realistic with yourself, like I know some people who are like oh, I want to go to the naturopathic doctor, I want to do everything natural, I want to do all of this stuff. That's great. But be realistic. Can you afford to consistently go to the naturopathic doctor, or do you need to use what your insurance will be, a network with which may be an MD or a DO, but find someone who can support your want and desires to make the changes and be more natural? I get some people who say they want to do the natural thing and they go, they see the doctor, they understand what they're supposed to do and then they don't do it, they don't follow it, they don't commit to it. So at that point you're doing nothing.
Jeffrey Brunk:Yeah, and I've had the same thing happen with people that I work with that they want the help and they may stick with changes that they're making for a while or they may not do anything, and I don't understand that. Of course there are people out there that just like to have the attention. But, yeah, I agree with what you're saying, but there's so many that won't do the things that they and I don't understand why they don't do the things that they know is going to be advantageous for them to do to become well, either physically or otherwise. But it is easy to take a pill because you're not really addressing the underlying issues.
Ebony Mixon:And sometimes you could take a pill and it doesn't work. Or you can do all those things and it doesn't work. And so a lot of times, when I know I've done the things, I've addressed things physically, it has to be something energetically that I'm missing, that I'm not aware of, and that's when I'm like OK, I need to take another approach. It's a balance you have to address.
Jeffrey Brunk:I want to ask since the time you and I know it's a sensitive subject, but when you lost a child, that's a huge trauma. Did your gifts, did they amplify after that?
Ebony Mixon:When I lost my son. I'll give a brief story of what happened. So my first son was premature. He was born emergency C-section. They found out that the cord was having poor circulation which slowed his growth and ultimately could stop his heart. So we had him emergency C-section. He was premature. He caught up on the growth chart and doing well.
Ebony Mixon:And then I got pregnant again and this time you know everyone's like oh, you got to think positive, do everything the right way. I had a doula, a midwife, and was ready to try to do things the natural way. A part of me still knew that something wasn't right. But I went all the way through my pregnancy. I went into labor and then, when I was in labor and I arrived at the hospital, the nurses didn't realize I can read the ultrasounds, and so I saw that his heart had stopped and that he was gone, and so I delivered him a vaginal birth and when it happened I really felt like I was not in my physical body. I was not bound to earth. I was somewhere above my body, but I couldn't get my feet grounded to the earth. It was so intense of feeling like I'm here but I'm not here.
Jeffrey Brunk:Was it part of the trauma at that moment when it happened, or was that a little later?
Ebony Mixon:That feeling. It remained throughout for some months. I think the trauma gave me physical way that manifested, but in a spiritual way. I realized that I could see three different aspects of myself my physical body, my mental and emotional body and my spiritual body. I realized that because all three of those were unaligned, they were all separate. I do feel like the trauma itself wiped me out, in a way of taking my focus off of everything else.
Jeffrey Brunk:It sort of broke you in a way.
Ebony Mixon:It definitely broke me. It broke me down to I don't even really know how to put it into words. It was so profound that I couldn't explain it to anybody. I had this emptiness and I had my three and a half year old and my husband was very involved and we all stayed involved in each other's grief and made sure that we got through it together. But when I looked at myself in the mirror, the way that I felt, it was like all three of them had something to say about the other. As strangely as it sounds, it's like my physical body. I looked at my physical body as incapable, as, like, my body betrayed me, not allowing me to bring a healthy baby.
Jeffrey Brunk:Yet you did again.
Ebony Mixon:Which I did, again with a lot of advocating, a lot of knowledge and a whole nother probably a whole podcast worth of a journey of what I went to get my rainbow baby, as we call them. They're called rainbow babies when you have a baby after you experience a loss. During that time I felt like an empty vessel where anything could come and attach. And, as I mentioned before, with my sister and she experienced grief and the struggle she was having with alcoholism and how I felt like she had something else playing a toll on her After my loss, when I saw her and I hugged her. I'm not a hugger, I don't like to really be hugged, I'm more of a one-arm pat on the back type hugger. But I saw her and I hugged her and I can feel her grief. I feel like I can. I could sense so many things to the point where I had to tell some people like I can't be available for you, I can't have a conversation about anything, I can't do anything like. I'm completely open and I'm trying to help myself. I have to figure out what it is that I'm, what I'm going through and how to get through it.
Ebony Mixon:But not too long after I hugged my sister because I initially, when I experienced the loss, I wanted to. I knew I wanted to go through the grief. I didn't want to tiptoe around it, I didn't want to use anything to try to make it feel better than what it was, I wanted to just go through it. After I hugged her, maybe some days later, I start having really bad negative thoughts. Thoughts about hurting myself, thoughts about hurting my family just kind of random negative thoughts. Family just kind of random negative thoughts. And I knew I'm like this is not me, this is not how I deal with challenges, this is not how I deal with things in life.
Jeffrey Brunk:Now, how long did that go on? How, how long did that process take? And then, what kind of got you to the place where I know grief can take a long time to overcome? When did you realize that you had reached that spot?
Ebony Mixon:I realized in that darkness, the source of that darkness, when I hugged my sister and me, being open, allowing that energy to attach to me, and that gave me a better understanding of what I was dealing with and how I was feeling, with me being feeling like I'm three different parts of myself. There's still times where my cup of grief just gets over full and I have to let it out, I have to dump it out. But I also realize in experiences I'm grieving memories that I don't have. When I grieved my grandparents and things, I grieved the times we had. I had memories to look on, I had pictures, but when I lost my son, I felt like I'm always going to be a grieving, bereaved mother because I didn't have the life or the time with him have the life or the time with him.
Jeffrey Brunk:But I find it remarkable you know, true testament to who you are that you took that grief, you took that trauma and you channeled it into helping other women that had gone through similar situations to help them in their healing, which I'm sure helped you in your healing.
Ebony Mixon:We'll say the first year was completely a blur. I barely remember specific details of that year. I think that whole year I was just trying to get through. So I focused on myself. I didn't engage with a lot of people because I really just needed to heal myself, I needed to find meaning and understanding and I really was upset in a spiritual aspect because I felt like before I would have dreams and messages before somebody died but I couldn't get it for my own child. But in all reality, when I really think about some of the things, there were subtle signs and messages, you know, with the birds, with certain dreams when I was trying to do like a labor meditation, I would have nightmares. So there were some things, but I wasn't open to listening to those things.
Jeffrey Brunk:Not something you would have expected. Yeah, something to that extent.
Ebony Mixon:Yeah, I thought like maybe I'd be sick or something. But there was a lot going on, a lot of fighting with those three aspects of myself. But I had to look at each piece and learn forgiveness, compassion for each one of those aspects. Over time I was able to merge them back into one. It took a long time, it took a lot of therapy, it took for me servicing and helping other people. So I joined a nonprofit to help others who experienced pregnancy and infant loss. We did workshops, support groups, collaborating with other organizations and it really was a big part of my healing process.
Jeffrey Brunk:You're a wounded healer.
Ebony Mixon:Yeah, it's still something that after I got pregnant with my rainbow baby there were a lot of triggers so I set that aside to focus and advocate for myself and get myself through that pregnancy. But it is something that still is dear to me. Done some patient advocating helping other women know how to communicate with their doctors, advocate for themselves in a way that so they can be heard. A lot of people don't realize the doctor's not really in charge. You're in charge.
Jeffrey Brunk:When you told me that you were pregnant again my gosh you got two wonderful kids beautiful kids too but that led to you. That experience led you to helping others, which is something you mentioned way back in the beginning of this. But you've wanted to help others and it's funny how the ways that come up, that you're able to help people, are sometimes the most unexpected and in your case it was a very traumatic experience. But to bring yourself back together to be able to help others. Now you're doing ASL sign language, helping others, and you're learning that it's that ripple effect. You know it's taking a trauma and initially helping other women in the same situations or similar situations that you went through, but leading down a different path with the ASL.
Ebony Mixon:Yes, I have people reach out and want to connect me with other people who are going through it. Or maybe they know someone, but they don't know what to do to help or how to interact with them. About a year after my loss, one of my other sisters had their baby premature and knew that the baby was going to die shortly after birth. When they called me, I went to the hospital and the nurses there were freaking out. They didn't know what to do, how to react, even though I experienced loss. I don't know always the right thing to say. There's nothing really you can say, but some things will be frustrating if you say things like oh, you know they're in a better place, don't.
Jeffrey Brunk:Or even simply I'm sorry. How many times can you hear that?
Ebony Mixon:Yeah, it's the action, so sometimes just sitting there being present.
Jeffrey Brunk:Yeah, and it's wonderful you say that just being there and sometimes saying nothing speaks louder than anything you could ever say.
Ebony Mixon:Exactly when I went to the hospital and the nurses were kind of stuck not knowing what to do, and so I'm like well, what would you do if it was a living baby? Name the baby, get the baby dress. Take pictures. Let the mom hold the baby. Get the baby dressed. Take pictures. Let the mom hold the baby. Even if it's not something that you want to look at later, if you don't want to look at the pictures or anything like that, at least you have them. I don't know how everything is going to tie together in the future with the things I've learned intuition, dreams, pregnancy and infant loss, service in the deaf and hard of hearing community but I do feel strongly that all these experiences are just adding up to take me somewhere where I can put it all together.
Jeffrey Brunk:Yeah, and you don't want to actually try to figure out where that's going to be, because nine times out of 10, that's not where it's going to be. It's. It's leading you where you need to be. So there's an element of trust in that and having that knowledge, that that knowing of the unseen being there and guiding you. There's no method to their madness. There's no yes or no answers. They give you the divine, so they lead you where you're meant to be. It's just a choice of whether to accept it or not, and so you've got a wonderful attitude and perspective on that. Your kids are lucky that you share that with them and support them with that. Children are very vulnerable, of course, with all the other kids and with society's expectations, and so you're a great advocate for them and, I believe, a great advocate for people that are listening to this to have someone such as yourself and Akil your husband, that supports, that understands that with especially young kids, so for you to be able to let them know it's okay is great.
Jeffrey Brunk:Yes, you know, I'm curious and I just had a thought about with the deaf community not being bombarded with the constant barrage of news and social media and static of the world. Have you encountered people that you've worked with that are more sensitive and open to things? You lose one sense and others become more enhanced. Just curious about that, whether or not, without the hearing, they were able to listen, if you know what I mean.
Ebony Mixon:A lot of people have questions like that. I haven't met anyone. The community is pretty small. I've moved a few different places but never really got the opportunity to meet someone on a spiritual aspect of their spiritual encounters. I do know, like social media, there's a lot of deaf people online who share information. There's someone who's on my Instagram who teaches everything about astrology and sign language, and I can never really grasp astrology so much. I'm not a big reader, so watching them show the visual of how things work when it comes to astrology is fascinating.
Jeffrey Brunk:It's going to be interesting to see where this leads you, because this is just another leg in your journey. I believe.
Ebony Mixon:It is.
Jeffrey Brunk:We probably should look at wrapping up this episode. But I want to ask is there anything else that you'd? But I want to ask is there anything else that you'd like to say to listeners out there? And also, how can people get in touch with you? Because I can. I can see where people there's a lot of different reasons people might want to contact you most definitely.
Ebony Mixon:If you're interested, um, you can contact the Everyday Shaman through the website. I'm working on making a social media, but the best way would be email. If you're listening to this and you're on your journey and path, the universe will connect you with the support that you need. It may not always be family. It may not always be friends. I've found a lot of people in various ways. I've learned to decipher that there's two voices in my head. Learn to distinguish the two so you know which one you need to listen to.
Jeffrey Brunk:Yeah Well, the brain will lie to you, the heart will not.
Ebony Mixon:Very true.
Jeffrey Brunk:Yeah, or it will lead you astray. The brain will lead you astray or cause you to slow down, but that little voice that screams is often overshadowed. Yeah, you're right, that's a good way of putting it what you said.
Ebony Mixon:The first one, but you always kind of second guess it. You always think of the excuse and try to do the opposite of whatever it is and justify it. And try to do the opposite of whatever it is and justify it. But having a support system, having resources there's so many resources out here but having a support system and it doesn't always have to be someone that you already know.
Jeffrey Brunk:Absolutely, and you're one that would gladly talk to anyone, no matter the circumstances that they're going through, and do it in a nonjudgmental, open, accepting, loving way.
Ebony Mixon:Yeah.
Jeffrey Brunk:And there are people like you and myself and many others out there that really want to provide assistance.
Ebony Mixon:I'm very open-minded. I've never been judgmental. I just believe you know everybody has their own way, their own path, no right, no wrong. So I'm happy to discuss things, answer questions. If you're looking for additional resources, happy to help and can reach out to me, reach out to Jeff we're here Absolutely Well.
Jeffrey Brunk:Thanks, Ebony, and thanks for being on the show. It was great having you here and speaking with you again and seeing you again, but it's been great and I appreciate you being here and I think it's going to. The things you've said are going to resonate with a lot of people and don't be surprised. You may have to build a website or get a kill to build a website for you.
Ebony Mixon:Yeah.
Jeffrey Brunk:So again I want to thank Ebony Mixon for joining us. Very informative and a lot of information there and I hope things that Ebony has said has resonated with people. And feel free please, like she said, to contact her. Don't feel shy, don't have fear about it. In a nonjudgmental way, in a very accepting way. She'll be glad to help provide, like she said, resources to anyone who contacts her. So thank you for joining us here. I look forward to the next episode of the Everyday Shaman and we'll see you soon. Take care.
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