Wendy Valentine: Welcome to the Midlife Makeover Show. I’m your host, Wendy Valentine. And today we’re diving into the world of, mindfulness, movement and self care. Not just for us, but for the little ones in our lives too. Our guest today is Jesse Bennett, a children’s book author, certified yoga and Pilates teacher with over 20 years of experience, and the in house wellness expert for Good Day Sacramento. You go, girl. Through her beautifully written and illustrated books, Jesse helps kids and their parents tap into the power of kindness, mindfulness and emotional regulation, all while making yoga and breath work fun and accessible. We’ll talk about the importance of sleep, hygiene, calming nighttime routines, and simple ways to incorporate mindfulness into everyday life. Plus, Jesse will share easy breathing exercises and affirmations to help both kids and adults manage stress and feel more empowered. If you’re looking for ways to bring more peace, presence and positivity. I like how that sounds. Peace, presence, and positivity into your home, this episode is for you. Please welcome Jesse to the show. M.

Jesse Bennett: Thank you. Fireworks. That was an amazing introduction. Thank you for that.

Wendy Valentine: If you guys are watching on YouTube, you can see she has this amazing hot red hair. It’s so cool. Did your kids, did your kids get red hair too?

Jesse Bennett: They. I have two redheads.

Wendy Valentine: Oh, that’s so cute.

Jesse Bennett: So. But you can definitely see us coming. And when, you know, I’m at take up, they’re like, that’s your kid, that’s your kid. That’s your kid.

Wendy Valentine: So great to have you on here.

Jesse Bennett: Thank you so much for having me. I am so excited to be chatting with you this morning or this evening.

Wendy Valentine: I know, right? Evening. Over here in Portugal, we, we need more conversations about this. I was thinking that it’s cool that nowadays that we are talking about things like menopause, menopause and mindfulness and meditation and all the m words. Right?

Jesse Bennett: All the m. I mean, I.

Wendy Valentine: Was thinking about like, you know, if it would make. It would have made such a huge difference for me if I had had this when I was a kid. Right. But do you ever think about that for you?

Jesse Bennett: A thousand times over. And that’s also why I wanted to create it for my kids, my family. And then I thought, well, if I can do it them, maybe I can make the world just a little bit more peaceful for them now more than ever. Right. But these are definitely things that I did not have growing up. And so if I could instill a little bit more of that mindfulness and self love and self soothing that I had to go out of myself to find, yes. My kids. Then, then I feel like, you know, I’m setting them up with a really strong toolkit to take on.

Wendy Valentine: Oh, it’s incredible.

Jesse Bennett: Yeah.

Wendy Valentine: I mean, just learning those coping techniques that, I mean, kids need, adults need. And I was sharing with you that I had Christine Carlson, of, Don’t Sweat Small Stuff. She was on yesterday and we were talking about this, that it’s almost like a habit of sweating the small stuff. Even, you know, from childhood, you learn from your parents or the people around you. And so if you take the opposite of learning to be able to cope and learning to be able to, to sit down, take a deep breath, do a little yoga just to calm your nerves, it makes a difference.

Jesse Bennett: It makes a world of difference. And knowing that you can’t, especially in a Hustle culture where people feel somehow they get a medal for sweating the small stuff or being on Hustle all the time. We actually do the exact true.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. Like, why aren’t you sweating the small stuff? Right? Like it’s almost like an award or something. Like, oh, what you’ not. Wait, why aren’t you busy enough?

Jesse Bennett: Why are you stressed enough? I know. So I try to savor the small things and, and savor a slowdown too. Just like a downshift. Because I feel like everyone isn’t fast forward and I really want to just enjoy and I want my kids to see me not rushing all the time.

Wendy Valentine: Yes. That is one thing I wish I’d had. Even becoming a mom in those times were like, totally lost it, you know, like, oh, had a little bit more and now they’re, they, they, you know, learn from me some of that stuff. It’s like, oh, gosh, I hope you guys are learning to calm. To keep calm and.

Jesse Bennett: Yes.

Wendy Valentine: And carry on. Right.

You got into yoga in college and now teach Pilates and yoga

To teach that to kids, though. How. How did you get into yoga to begin with?

Jesse Bennett: I got into yoga in college. I went to USD down in la and I was, I did my work study at the gym and I was always popping into classes. And I realized for the first time in my life, you know, as a college student, that with Pilates and yoga, it was the first time I felt comfortable in my skin. And it was the first time I kind of found that self love and love for myself and my body, you know, and, I wanted to share that. And so after I graduated, I took every training I could with Pilates and yoga, and I wanted to be able to make that impact on others because it changed my whole life, you know, when you’re someone, maybe on the outside you seem really bubbly and happy, but on the inside, you’re actually hard on yourself. And so finding yoga and Pilates shifted that whole mindset for me. And, as a teenager and a kiddo who was not kind to myself or very hard on myself about the exterior, it was the first time I was able to change that, reframe it and appreciate my body. And so especially having a teenage daughter now, I mean, this is the narrative I want in our house is loving your body, loving your strength. And I wish I had an ounce of her confidence because she’s like, She’s. She’s so tiring.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

Jesse Bennett: And I’m like, girl, I wish I was like you. I don’t tell her how I was to myself. I just try to light her up and just know that, like, to feel strong on the inside and proud of your body is. What’s that. Is the norm. yeah.

Wendy Valentine: What was it about yoga that made you feel really good in your skin that changed all of that?

Jesse Bennett: I think it was the slowing down, which I still, I love that. And then feeling your strength from the inside out and that breath work, I mean, breath for adults, for kids, for teenagers, for everyone. It’s our. It’s our superpower. It’s our self soother. We just come home to ourselves. And I feel like it taught me how to show up for myself, how to slow down and tune in and really get to know myself. And so that’s what I hope that when anyone’s on, the mat with me, that they feel like, this is my time, I am enough, my body is enough. I’m proud of myself for being here. So all those things that yoga taught me, that’s, you know, that’s what I try to do when I’m teaching my Pilates and yoga class. But for me, that’s what made me fall in love with it because it was a complete mind shift. And it m. Was exactly what. What I needed in my life.

Wendy Valentine: Well, and I can vouch, you know, with yoga, because I got certified at the Chopra center, and it made such a huge difference for me. And I probably wasn’t. Let’s see, I guess maybe early 40s is when I did it, but it wasn’t even so much the. The physical movements, the asanas of it, that it was the whole. The teaching, the philosophy and really learning to slow down and to tap into my body and. Because, you know, even like, when you’re. If you’re working out, you’re not Always be like, oh, like you don’t feel everything because you’re going so fast.

Jesse Bennett: Right.

Wendy Valentine: Like if I’m in spinning class or something like that. But yoga really taught me to slow down and to listen and, and like, and it’s okay if like you, you fall over or something does hurt or something feels good. It’s like to, to celebrate that and, and just.

Jesse Bennett: Yeah.

Wendy Valentine: yoga’s amazing. I miss it. I’ve been, I’ve been doing a lot of strength. You know, I have been doing a whole lot of yoga. But maybe when I get back to the rv I will. Yes. but it makes such. I always, always feel so good when I do it. I was like, oh, I know.

Jesse Bennett: It’s such magic. And it does. It just hits on every level.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

Breath work is about being more intentional with our breath

What exactly is, Silly question. Breath work. What does that really mean?

Jesse Bennett: I. Well, for me and for when I share it, I just think of it as being more intentional with our breath and tapping into how powerful it can be, you know, for us, for kids, for families. So when I think about breath work, it’s not something I do. So structured every day for myself or my kids, but it’s something that we know we can tap into. So I feel like when I start class, for example, we start with breath because it helps us land, tune in, tap in. It’s something we end with to ground in what we feel. For my kids, we do it to kind of calm the chatter and take control again. And so it’s that extra layer of mindfulness and coming home to yourself and tuning out the outside to come home to your inside. That’s what it is for me. So it’s not like I’m sitting at home, you know, breathing deep with my kids for 20 minutes every night. We do end the night with meditation. We actually do end the night with meditation that I wrote for them. But And we breathe deep through things, but it’s more like tapping into it and practicing it so that in those moments when you can respond instead of react or you feel big things, you can really self soothe and see where you’re truly at and how to proceed forward. So that’s how, that’s how I use breath work.

Jesse Bennett: But I know there’s Breathwork, studios and incredible things and all sorts of methodology. That’s just how I’ve incorporated it into my practice, my home and teaching.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. I think it’s like our breath, we. We kind of take it for granted. Right. Because we’re breathing, you know, Hopefully.

Jesse Bennett: Right.

Wendy Valentine: Hopefully. Breathing all day long, and then you don’t really stop to get conscious about how you’re breathing. And but when you do, I mean, even for me, I’ve done these few where, you know, you breathe in for a count of four and you hold it done like, well, either, like the box breathing, like, breathe in for a count of four, hold for a count of four, exhale, count of four, and then hold for a count of four and repeat. I actually, like, sometimes I get out of breath with that one. So I’ll do the breathe in for a count of four and hold just briefly and then exhale for a count of seven or eight, like a longer one. And for some reason for me, I feel like I have to totally empty out my lungs and then I can take another breath.

Jesse Bennett: Otherwise I’m like, yeah, I feel that. I like to do that one too. We did that. I did that one yesterday with my daughter, when she got home from school. And we just. I love that. Breathing in and holding and then slowly exhaling. And I feel the same way. If I start putting a number like inhale, hold, exhale, like, I actually start getting nervous. And so I try to take the pressure off of breath work and just be like, okay, let’s just be conscious of what’s going on and how it can help us feel better and tap in without putting too much of a structure, to it. And even yesterday in class, someone came up to me, she’s like, I was breathing totally opposite than you. And then I started freaking out and I’m like, oh, goodness, no, you don’t.

Wendy Valentine: Have to do that.

Jesse Bennett: I was like, all I would love you to do is be aware of your breath and you do what’s right for you. Because some instructors or some ways of, teaching are very, very strict. And I’m like, I don’t think I’m strict in any aspect of my life. And so I’m like, you just breathe and honor your breath and be. Know where it is and know that you chose it and that’s where we’ll.

Do you have any go to techniques that help you with anxiety or stress

Wendy Valentine: Do you have any go to techniques like for, for breath work that you’ll do? Like, let’s say you’re so nervous about something or having a little anxiety or is there like, you’ll go to. Okay, I’m going to do this and just relax for, you know, a few minutes. Is there anything that you do that helps you?

Jesse Bennett: Absolutely. I love that. Breathe in. Hold. So that, one, the, the breathing in and then holding for four, and then slow exhale out that one I do. This one I do when you inhale up and then exhale down. So I actually physically like feel myself calming. I do that one with my kids a lot. So inhale up and then palms down, just kind of a grounding out. So I like to end my classes that way. I feel like a settling, placing my hands on my heart and just feeling my heart rise into my hands and then exhale out. I did this one with the high schoolers the other day and they were so incredible with this one because how often do they like touch their heart with like a loving wig?

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, to actually even feel your heart beating.

Jesse Bennett: So those are ones that I do for me if I feel like I need a mental reset.

With your daughter having difficulty sleeping, you wrote a meditation

Wendy Valentine: So speaking of the Yoga House book, isn’t that, wasn’t that one inspired because of. With your daughter having difficulty sleeping?

Jesse Bennett: Yeah, that was my first book and she was having a hard time falling asleep and I wrote her a meditation because I was buying all the books of kindness and yoga. And then I thought, wait, I think I can write one. I think I can try and do this. I’ve never done this before. So I wrote her a meditation and I read it to her for about six months. And my son, I read it to both of them. And then I realized it was working like it was a practice as soon as I started talking and focusing on our breath. And I just wanted it to feel like a big giant hug my words. And that’s, that’s how I approach it with kids when I visit school. Because sometimes when I say meditation or affirmations, I. They’re gone. I’ve lost them. Right? Or like my family doesn’t allow me to do yoga or say yoga or whatever it may be. I’m like, yes, just, it’s just, it’s just stretching and it’s, you know, I’ll just like bring it down to the basic level. But so for my kiddos, I just wanted them to feel loved and safe and cozy. and so I wrote that and then I thought, well, I can write a book about it around it and just see what happens and I’ll start doodling and draw pictures around it. And that’s how I started. And still like we are, you know, years later, after I wrote the Yoga House, I read that meditation to them now by memory, every night. So that’s part of our every night. And then I, in every book I’ve written since, I write a meditation. But that first one is the one that I, I, read every night. And then I go rogue on it from my other meditations and add little things. But it’s part of our, it’s part of our routine. And and it taps them into their breath and into themselves and then into just feeling loved. And that’s my goal.

Wendy Valentine: I mean, what a beautiful thing to listen to right before you fall asleep.

Jesse Bennett: Yeah, it’s, it’s, it’s something that I’m so, I’m really grateful that I did because I did it. I tell. I did it for them. And it’s something they can always have and hold that they know was made for them out of love and comfort.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, Yeah. I mean, think about it. Like even for me, I would read, which is still great to read books, you know, to the kids before they go to sleep, but then just to have that few minutes where they can really connect to themselves and their breathing and their body and where they’re at and knowing that they’re safe.

Jesse Bennett: Knowing they’re safe. Oh yeah. Especially you know, things come up at school and during the day and big questions and so we talk a lot about how to be able to set the day aside or tie it up in a little bow and be able to move forward just a little. How to change the channel in their mind and be able to tune into themselves. So we do that a lot.

Wendy Valentine: It’s so funny, I just posted something today about like tuning the ch. Like we have control of that, you know.

Jesse Bennett: That was so cool.

Wendy Valentine: I always think about that like as if your mind was, you know, the news channel.

Jesse Bennett: Yes.

Wendy Valentine: And there’s that those ticker tape of thoughts going across in your mind and just watching, observing, no judgment, but then knowing that you are the one that controls the news. You know, like you’re the one. You can either have happy news or sad news and of course you’re going to have sad news and angry news. Sometimes we’re, we’re human beings being human. So it’s, it’s natural to have all those emotions. But then to know that you have control over those ticker tape of thoughts running across in your mind.

Jesse Bennett: Right. And, and knowing it’s okay to feel all the things. But then also we talk a lot. We’ve had to talk a lot too about the duality of like you can feel this, but you can also feel gratitude or you can feel overwhelmed, but you can also feel joy and you don’t have to let one thing be all consuming.

Wendy Valentine: Have you seen any examples so far with your children? Like where they have maybe like, oh, I Was going up to, to talk in front of the class, mom. And I ended up doing this breath work and I, I was fine. I calmed down.

Jesse Bennett: Oh, my goodness. Yes, I get, I get a lot of that. I, sometimes I get the phone call, like, because, for my daughter especially, because that’s who I wrote. I wrote like, originally for the yoga house, but my son uses it too. But she’ll, like, have a big. She’ll have a big test. She’ll text me before and I’ll be like, okay, let’s do our breathing. Big breath in hold. So we’ll, we’ll do this over the phone. We’ll do it over text when she’s at school. we’ve had some, doctor’s appointments and things like that where we definitely take our big breaths in and out. And so my kids implement this for sure, which is beautiful. It makes me so happy to know.

Wendy Valentine: The greatest gift I think that you could, I mean, give your children. Because think about it, like, when they’re going to go apply for their first job or something like that, or, you know, something big is happening in their life, they have those resources now within them, Right?

Jesse Bennett: Yes, for sure. It’s. It’s so good. And that. And I think with that breath and with all of it comes a sense of self worth.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

Jesse Bennett: So they know they’re not always defined by how it goes. So we talk about that too. Right. It’s not. It doesn’t always have to be about the end game or the grit. Like, they’re both great students. So I’m actually just trying to take some of that pressure off. I’m like, it’s okay, you know. Yes, whatever. Like, take some pressure off and enjoy the experience. Experience and the journey of whatever it is we’re going through. And, the end. The end will, you know, the grade, whatever it will be. It will be what it will be, but it’s try.

How do you personally juggle being a mom and an author

It also kind of helps them enjoy the process.

Wendy Valentine: How do you personally juggle being a mom and an author? You’re doing podcast interviews and all the teachings. How do you. And how do you find that balance, if there is such a thing?

Jesse Bennett: I, I’m working on it. Right. So. But I feel like I have made really, really strong boundaries and with my time with my teaching. I also bought a paper calendar, and it’s my favorite thing ever. I told my daughter this last night. you know, because you go to Target and you’re like, oh, there’s so many calendars. This is amazing. And I realized when someone Messages me. It would be so easy to be like, oh, I can do this, this date. And now I’m like, no, I have to go home and check my calendar. I will get back to you by tomorrow. So I’ve gotten very, very tight on my boundaries with not only just, you know, for our schedule. I don’t. I don’t over schedule myself. I don’t over schedule my kiddos. I now keep paper calendars. So that way, I’ll say, I’ll get back to you tomorrow after I look at my calendar and I evaluate, like, my time so I don’t feel strapped for time. I choose to now give my energy to things that really mean a lot to me. And I teach, but I don’t teach. I teach three classes a week, and the rest I leave to do things that light me up and meet incredible people like you or visit schools or take yoga for myself. So I really try to look at my time and balance it where maybe there was a time where I would say yes to anyone, and then all of a sudden, I had no boundaries.

Wendy Valentine: Yes.

Jesse Bennett: And that’s, that’s not the way I want to be. And that’s not how I want my kids to see me either, like, stretch for time. And I really try to do all. Anything that is, like, for me, like this, I use. I try to do it while they’re at school.

Wendy Valentine: Yes.

Jesse Bennett: So they got all of me. When they get home, they see me working out and doing yoga and all of that, because I want them to know that that’s part of, you know, me taking care of me. But I also am really careful and mindful of my time, where I wasn’t always it, but it became like, a learned habit.

Wendy Valentine: And I like, ah, to me, that’s. That’s true. Self. Self care. I mean, that word is thrown around a lot nowadays. But, really, like, self care is being selective about your time and your energy and setting those boundaries, like you.

Jesse Bennett: Said, and who you surround yourself with. Right.

Wendy Valentine: Yes. Yeah. I think of myself as, like, an energy snob, you know, But. Right. Like the energy. Yeah. either the energy I’m putting out or that I’m getting in, like.

Jesse Bennett: Yes.

Wendy Valentine: Okay. Because it affects you. Affects everything about you.

Jesse Bennett: Yeah, I completely agree. So I, too, am now an energy snob. And I’m totally cool about it.

Wendy Valentine: Yes, I know. Well, even what we were saying earlier, busyness can be a habit. Right. Like, oh, I’m running around. I have all these things to do, and I’m so important because I have all these things to do, but really you’re just hurting yourself. And do you really need to be that busy? I mean, I have to remind myself of that, right? Like all the things I’ve got going on. And even just this year I thought, you know what? I’ve been doing two episodes per week, which is a lot. and you know, as a one woman show, like, trying to do it all. And I was like, you know, I’m going down to one per week. I’m like, loving it. Just having. Even if it’s just a few hours each week, it’s like, oh, and now I can breathe a little bit calmer. Right?

Jesse Bennett: Yeah. I, think that is so great that you did that. And you, you just can. I always tell myself we can reevaluate. So if today felt like too much m, what can I do tomorrow to do less? Or if this week felt too much, where can I guard my time a little bit more? So that’s something, that has become really important to me. So I totally get it. And I think it’s. It’s really important because it’s comes, back to your. Just like, okay, I’m worth it. I’m worth taking my time or evaluating how I want to spend my time or who I want to spend it with. And I’ve definitely become more picky about all of it.

Wendy Valentine: You can always choose again, right?

What do you do for yourself before you go to bed at night

Like if yesterday was a bad day, then fine, you’re here today, you’re breathing, you can choose again. Be grateful for that. Right?

Jesse Bennett: Yeah. How can I begin again? I think sometimes I think about that, you know, right before I go to bed. M. I’m like, okay, what can I do tomorrow to make it feel even better or more present or focused or, More calm?

Wendy Valentine: What do you do for yourself before you go to bed at night?

Jesse Bennett: usually watch trash TV with my husband. That’s what we.

Wendy Valentine: That’s the best.

Jesse Bennett: totally do. I have, I have, I have a PEMF mat, which I love. You know, it’s called.

Wendy Valentine: You know those. Oh, yes. Oh, oh my God. You have one of those. It’s a mat.

Jesse Bennett: Yes. I’ll send you a picture.

Wendy Valentine: So I used to have like the original pmf, like the machine. Because when I had black, mold toxicity, I use that and like the machine. This was a while back, but the machine itself was like 20 grand or something crazy. But it was like in a suitcase. You like, drag it around. But I had no idea. I mean, they probably have made so many advancements now. So you have a PMF mat?

Jesse Bennett: Yeah, it’s really cool. it’s from this company called Higher Dose and it like warms up with infrared. And you like, I’ll sit on that at night. I just keep it on. It’s nice and warm. The kids love to sit on it and it’s, it’s way cool. We have a travel size one, a smaller one, and I have a bigger one. So I always have that warmed up like at the end of the day and I just sit on it at the end of the day. But honestly, like, we take good care of ourselves at night and I do them. I love my routine, my face routine. Like I love. I have a whole wind down, routine that makes me feel nice and I sit on my mat. But then we totally watch trash TV on Netflix, so that’s that. You know, like sometimes at the end of me.

Wendy Valentine: I know. And especially like when you’re in this line of work, right. Where you’re always on and you’re teaching and.

Jesse Bennett: Uh-huh.

Wendy Valentine: I mean, I love to just it. To me it’s like a vacation for my mind to be able to watch Emily in Paris or whatever, some documentaries or.

Jesse Bennett: I wish I could say I was like reading or doing. And that’s not the case. Like I do the meditation with the kids, but like how. How my husband and I just chill out. Like we just laugh and watch something mindless and that’s usually how I end the day. I mean, right before I go to sleep, I always give thanks and I say a little hopeful prayer for everyone in my life that I do that right before I fall asleep. but no, first we would just watch some like Guilty Pleasure.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. Do you set a certain time aside every day for meditation or is that just kind of like incorporated throughout all your.

Jesse Bennett: Incorporate it when I can.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

Jesse Bennett: And I, and I feel myself needing it. I’ll be like. Well, my kids call it floor sleep because they’ll be like, I’m just gonna do a little. And they’re like floor sleep. Because as soon as I like as soon as my mind knows I’m gonna do it, I just like it might be because I’m also tired, but I just lay down and I’m just out.

Wendy Valentine: That’s so nice.

Jesse Bennett: So I, I try to do it, but I don’t have a set time because if I did I wouldn’t find it.

Wendy Valentine: It’s funny. I’m glad you said it because I’ve tried that. I mean for, I mean, probably a couple years I was consistently meditating, like doing 30 minutes every day, and it just was, like, too rigid for me.

Jesse Bennett: Yes.

Wendy Valentine: And then now I kind of, I have the Calm app and I’ll do one. Yeah. Right before I go to sleep at night. It’s like, usually I’m like, yeah, yeah, but. But it works, right? And it’s like meditation’s meditation. I feel like we. We meditate more often during the day than we realize. It may not be an official. Hi, I am meditating, but it’s mindfulness. It’s checking in with yourself. So I kind of feel like throughout the day. Yeah. Again, I try to check in with myself. One of my. I watch those ticker tape of thoughts as best as I can and try. Wait a second. What’s. What’s the news today, Wendy? We need to change that.

Jesse Bennett: yes.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, I think that’s key.

If someone is new to yoga, meditation, what do you recommend

Jesse Bennett: I think that’s key too. And just knowing that when you’re. When your mind or body craves it, you and you can find her, you know how to tap into it. It’s wonderful. I find that if I were to be too structured too, then I’d feel like I wasn’t achieving that goal.

Wendy Valentine: Yes. So if someone is new to yoga, meditation, breath work, what. What do you recommend? Like, where do they start so that they feel comfortable and not intimidated by it.

Jesse Bennett: Totally. Because I understand how it can be intimidating, even though that’s not the intention. And I think that the wonderful thing about the world we live in is there’s so much free content available that you can try at home. You can get a mat from Target, you can turn on YouTube and.

Wendy Valentine: Or use a towel.

Jesse Bennett: Use a towel beyond your carpet. Like, I think that, for me, when I learned that it doesn’t have to look a certain way, it doesn’t have to be a certain amount of time. It’s just about you showing up for you. And that’s the beauty and that’s the win. As soon as you strip all of that other stuff away and you just get to try.

Wendy Valentine: Yep.

Jesse Bennett: Then. Then all of a sudden, the magic happens. So if someone had no yoga in their life or meditation or Pilates and were. And they were curious, I would say look on YouTube and see what is free at your fingertips and see what teacher resonates with you, because you’ll know like, that it’s. To me, it’s all about the teacher. But there’s so much. There’s so many free things to. To find. And then you. Oftentimes, when you find a teacher you love. You can find an app that they’re on or way in a resource and you kind of go down a really wonderful rabbit hole. But I would just say listen to that seed, listen to that voice and begin. There’s no, you know, I think the only difference I always say with anything between you and someone else is you. Maybe you began, maybe you started. Maybe today was your day one and you can begin again as often as you need. You can begin again every week, every day. There’s no judgment. It’s just about taking care of you and tuning into you. So once you realize, like that’s the practice. And all that other pressure is off. But I love home. I love a home workout and studio. That way it can be, you know, cost effective. It can be all yours. Nobody’s. Nobody’s watching you anyway. Nobody. Yeah, he’s judging, you know, is watching you anyway. But you can really feel safe to just be you. So that’s how.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, I’ve always, I’ve always done yoga and meditation at home. That’s. I just feel more comfortable like that. Some people like to join studios. Whatever works for you. And I think that’s what you have to figure out. And funny. fact is that when I was searching for my rv, that the requirement is that I could, I could do tree, pose and feel like it had to be tall enough and I had to be able to like put my m, you know, my knee out there.

Jesse Bennett: I love it.

Wendy Valentine: I’ll take it. Yeah. And I love, I love doing yoga in the RV and doing meditation and.

Jesse Bennett: That’S so cool, so beautiful. And it can be anywhere, any way you like. Exactly.

Wendy Valentine: It’s whatever works for you.

Jesse Bennett: Yes. I mean, whatever works for you.

Wendy Valentine: Even at the Chopra center, it was silent meditation. Could not stand it.

Jesse Bennett: Isn’t that so funny? What like certain things they say this is the way or this is the way. I took a yoga. I took a yoga class last week and bless her heart, I love her. But sound bowls.

Wendy Valentine: Oh this the. Yet the Tibetan bowls, which are so healing and beautiful.

Jesse Bennett: But my mind couldn’t stop. Like it wasn’t. I couldn’t relax into it. So it’s just like, it just shows.

Some people might do better with silent meditation than others

To each their own. because.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, yeah, I love. It’s like one of those things too when you’re experiencing it and going, okay, I am not digging on this. It’s okay. Like now, you know, and, and yeah, some people might do better with silent meditation. Some people like guided. Some people like a little, you know, waves in the background or music. But you just have to try. You just figure out. Just try.

Jesse Bennett: Yeah, you just try the different flavors and be like, I like that one, or that one’s not for me or, or not for me today or in this mood or whatever it may be. And, And I think they’re. I always tell my kids that there are as many ways as there are ways for whatever it is. And so there’s no so true anything.

Wendy Valentine: And just like you said, I mean, we’re it. It’s so great that nowadays, I mean, on our phone, we can do meditation, we can do tapping, we can do yoga. They’re YouTube. I mean, it’s everywhere.

Jesse Bennett: It’s everywhere.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

Your latest book is called Bloom and it’s about blooming in life

What’s. What’s the late. What’s your latest book?

Jesse Bennett: My latest book is called Bloom. Ah.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

Jesse Bennett: I, I, I, I, wrote it last year, and, it’s really about blooming in for, for kiddos, for families, about blooming into the best version of you. And I thought it was important, especially this time in my kid’s life, to really know who they are. And so when the world’s like, hey, you should look at this, or you should be this. To be able to put your hand on your own heart and be like, I’m going to pave my own way. And so that is really bloom. And it also came. I also was writing at a time I started writing it. Then we had some family stuff, and I realized I didn’t feel creative. There’s my dog. and then I started getting back into it. So it’s also that thing of if you’re in the, you know, the midst of something in your life, sometimes you have to put something to the side. And then when you feel ready, you, you can find your creative side again. And so for me, Bloom also represents that you can bloom into something good even when you didn’t see the light, you know? And so that is also, something I love about Bloom for myself as the author and the illustrator, because we work through hard things and that’s life, but we can still bloom.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah. And just embracing the, the growing process. Right. Like, you can’t, you know, yell at a plan, go, hurry up and bloom. You know, you just have to let it take its process. Right.

Jesse Bennett: You gotta let it take its process. So. Oh, there’s my dog. She might want to say hi.

Wendy Valentine: Ah, it’s okay. Yeah.

Jesse Bennett: Okay. We’ll see how she, But so that’s my, my newest book. And, and I’ve been visiting schools locally. Can you hear her? Is she loud?

Wendy Valentine: Actually, you can. I mean, one. One nice thing with Zoom is that it. It tends to cancel out, like, the background noise. Perfect. Yeah.

Jesse Bennett: Okay. Well, if it’s too loud, you just let me know. but I’ve been visiting schools locally and reading to them, and it’s just so awesome to connect with students and readers and just. Just remind them that they can bloom and that they can love themselves in their light. And that’s what all my book’s about. But this one is special because it. I had to work through a whole lot more to get it out there. And. And so sometimes we’re like, when you work through a challenge that you like, I’m more proud. Right?

Wendy Valentine: Yes. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Hence. Hence the name of it. Right. The title.

Jesse Bennett: Yeah. Yeah. It was gonna be B. And then I thought, wow, that sounded a little aggressive because it was like, be the good one. Be kind. Be this. And I was like, oh, maybe a little aggressive. I think Bloom sounds softer.

Wendy Valentine: So where can we find your books?

Jesse Bennett: Amazon? Amazon?

Wendy Valentine: Barnes?

Jesse Bennett: No, anywhere online. I also love anyone that gets a book through me. I usually donate the proceeds to causes that mean a lot to me or something that’s going on in the world. So, they can always reach out to me. Instagram’s a great way because then I can send a book directly if it comes from my own personal, stash of books. I love to do that. I just equipped a classroom in Los Angeles after the fires with all my books so every kiddo could go home and have a book, you know? And, and then I donated with a bunch of authors to help restore libraries in la. So, I like to do good with my books. That’s kind of my goal with them.

Wendy Valentine: You’re like a little butterfly in the world. Yeah, like the butterfly effect, you know?

Jesse Bennett: Exactly. Actually, that’s. My, fourth book is called Ripple, and that’s what it is. Yeah. I wondered.

Wendy Valentine: I wonder if that’s why it was called that. The Ripple effect.

Jesse Bennett: Yes.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah.

Jesse Bennett: I didn’t even know it was a thing when I wrote the book, but it’s all.

Jesse Bennett talks about traveling from Portugal to California for a yoga retreat

I was like, oh, wow. It’s a whole thing in the world. I just.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, hopefully.

Jesse Bennett: Yeah.

Wendy Valentine: Like we’re. A butterfly can flap its wings and it can. The vibration of it can be felt on the other side of the world.

Jesse Bennett: I love it. Well, look at your. Yeah, it is. And you’re. Look at your vibration from the other side of the world. I feel it right here. Isn’t that incredible?

Wendy Valentine: All the way from Portugal to California.

Jesse Bennett: I love it. But that just shows like how powerful connection is and energy is and, you know, meeting incredible like minded people. So I’m so grateful to have this time with you.

Wendy Valentine: Thank you. You’ll have to come do a retreat in Portugal sometime.

Jesse Bennett: Yes. I’ve never done a solo trip or a retreat. Well, I, it. I say never since I’ve been a mom, I haven’t. So I would.

Wendy Valentine: That would be so cool. Speaking of no coincidence, speaking of butterflies, you’ll have to look up. It’s called Cocoon Portugal and it’s on the mainland. And they, they are actually. It’s like a retreat center. It’s. That would be so cool. Be like a, like a mother daughter type of yoga retreat, you know?

Jesse Bennett: I love that.

Wendy Valentine: You’ll have to look it up. Cocoon Portugal. It’s amazing.

Jesse Bennett: That sounds. Everything about that sounds incredible.

Wendy Valentine: I know, right? I just want to like, crawl into a little cocoon.

Jesse Bennett: Yeah.

Wendy Valentine: Well, thank you so much. And what’s, what’s your, your website and then also your Instagram?

Jesse Bennett: Just. My Instagram is all we need, really.

Wendy Valentine: Okay.

Jesse Bennett: I’m working on my website, but, it’s just my name. Jesse Bennett. It’s easy to find. Redhead.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, Like Jesse from Toy Story.

Jesse Bennett: Jesse from Toy Story. Yes. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you. Amazing to talk with Gift to hang out with you this morning.

Wendy Valentine: Yeah, I know.

Now it’s dinner time here. Yeah, I know, right?

Now it’s dinner time here. Yeah, I know, right? Yeah. All right.

Jesse Bennett: Thank you.

Wendy Valentine: Namaste.