ļ»æResonance ā Episode 1
Verbatim Transcript
Speaker: Viktoria Levenberg
You know how they have struggled with burnout, or we so often hold these unrealistic expectations of ourselves and these busy, high-achieving corporate humans.
So yeah, I had this conversation with the top dog at our business. He was telling me all about his partner, whoās really into health and well-being and wellness, and heās like, āYeah, like she drinks the green juices,ā until he dropped a sentence at the end of what he was sharing.
And he saidā¦
And, alright, join me for this episode, where I welcome you toĀ Resonance. I introduce you to the story that truly birthed the concept of this podcast. And yes, it does include a CEO and me in conversation. And I just really gently nerd out on the nervous system, introducing you to the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous system, and share how resonance comes into play with that. Thereās also a little bit of a preview as to my story and what to expect. So really, lots of juicy goodies to hear here, and I will leave it at that. Let you dive straight in. Look forward to hearing your thoughts. Bye.
Welcome toĀ Resonance, a podcast for ambitious, heart-led humans craving more balance, depth, and aliveness in their lives. Iām your host, Vikāhealth coach, yoga teacher, facilitator, and fellow high achiever learning to live in tune with my nervous system, not against it.
This space is here to remind you that you can have it allāthe career, the success, the fulfilmentāall aligned with your truth. Through honest conversations, expert insights, and practical tools, weāll explore how to work with your body, mind, emotions, and spirit, not against them. And the best part? You donāt have to stay stuck in survival mode to get there. Because true well-being is not about being perfect. Itās about being in resonance.
Letās dive in.
I am so thrilled that youāre here. Whether youāre listening or watching this episode, this is Episode 1 ofĀ ResonanceĀ the podcast, and I just really wanna welcome where weāre at right now.
I mean, I live in New Zealand, for those of you who donāt know. So in the southern hemisphere weāre really kind of past that autumn equinox phase. Weāre really moving into the darkest night of the yearāthe winter solstice. It is cold. My fingers are freezing. Iām regretting not wrapping my blanket around me right now.
And so really, kind of, you know, the energies are all just tuning inwards. And I really see it around everyoneāat work, at home, you know, specific clients of mineāeveryoneās just feeling a little bit more tired, everyone wants a little bit more sleep. And thatās quite normal. I mean, in such a fast-paced world, thereās so much being demanded of us, and yet normally in a season where all of natureāliterally all of nature, the trees, the animals, the whatever is naturalāis kind of going into hibernation. Itās shedding, itās pausing, itās resting. And often as humans, we find it quite hard to do that.
And I find that really interesting. And, you know, Iām no saint in this space either. I struggle with this every single day. And so really, I just wanted to acknowledge where weāre at right now. You know, itās been a wild week personally. I have come out of really, um, one of my biggest energetic lows. I have been incredibly stressed. Um, thereās been a lot going onāand youāll hear about that in some of the upcoming episodes.
But I just really wanted to, you know, take a moment to appreciate that things arenāt perfect, and thatās okay. And maybe this resonates with you in your life as well, you know. We so often hold these unrealistic expectations of ourselves, and even with this podcast I kind of felt like, oh well, this is the right time, I havenāt meditated yet, and I was kind of like finding all these little excuses and reasons not to do it. And then I realised that perfection is just another form of procrastination.
So this is just a little brief check-in, um, you know, to acknowledge where weāre at. I might already be throwing quite a lot at you.
So welcome toĀ Resonance. And really what weāll dive into today isāweāll just take a moment to get acquainted, um, to introduce you toĀ Resonance, what to expect from this space, give you a little bit of background and context as to how it came to life, define Resonance (because actually a lot of people donāt necessarily know what it means, or theyāre only familiar with one definition but not sort of the bigger context of it), and just acknowledge kind of how these episodes are going to weave in and through.
And honestly, like, Iām now longingly looking at my blanket. I am shamelessly going to grab my blanket because I probably canāt turn on the heaterāācause of all the background noiseābut I can be warm and cozy. So BRB, please bear with me.
So Iām back. Iāve got my blanket all around me. Iām very happy. And I just wanted to give you a bit of a preview of what to expect from this podcast. Now, Iām going to kind of put it out there and just state that this will evolve. Uh, you know, none of us are static beings. We change. I think if you looked back at yourself a year ago, or even 10 years from now, youāll notice just how much you have evolved and changed. Whether itās your preferences in food, the books you read, the music you listen to, or what you do in your free time, you knowāwe naturally change and evolve.
And this podcast is just as much of an organic kind of living, breathingāI donāt know, machine, whatever you wanna call itāthatās going to evolve as well.
So whatĀ ResonanceĀ is really all about isāitās a podcast that helps ambitious corporate women and conscious humans move from burnout to balance. Thereās going to be expert interviews and real-life stories, and through a mix of both, weāre going to share practical wellness tools and some heartfelt, deep conversations that support you in reclaiming your well-being, so that you can lead with confidence and live with intention.
And really, Iāll just kind of start with a bit of a personal story here. Thereās a little story that inspired, I guess, kind of the core essence behindĀ Resonance. And this will make a little bit more sense after you listen to Episode 2 and 3, where I share more about my personal journey.
Effectively, I am known in my corporate day job as kind of like the person you speak to about health and nutrition. And some of them probably think Iām a little bit woo-woo, depending on the day, and thatās fine. Arenāt we all a little bit woo in some way, shape, or form?
And I was having a chat with theāum, I donāt know what his title isābut basically like the CEO equivalent of our New Zealand side of the business. Managing director, president, whatever you wanna call it. Iām sure they think itās really important and theyāll get really upset that I got it wrong, but here we go. Basically: managing director, whatever, top dog.
Haha. So yeah, I had this conversation with the top dog at our business. And it was fresh off the back of a conference that we had last year, which somehow kind of coincidentally just happened to revolve around health and well-being. And this conferenceāit was incredible. It was super inspiring. We had Olympic athletes and creatives. We had someone from the medical field speak. And you could just feel the charge, the energy, that mindset shifting, that understanding of how important it is for us to take care of ourselves.
And I still vividly remember all of our leadersāthe entire leadership teamāsitting in front of us and kind of sharing their reflections in a panel. And I kid you not, probably 75% of them said that their biggest reflection was around kind of that health and well-being aspect of it all. And the big top dog committed to the business that he was going to take that away and do something with it.
And so here comes the setup for our conversation. He had asked to spend some time with me and brainstorm what is possible. Now, without giving away too much detail of that conversation, at the beginning we were talking about him and, you know, that little small talkāthe kind of top dog and bottom-feeder trying to meet each other halfway. Not that Iām a bottom-feeder, but you know, itās always interesting when people are trying to relate to you.
And so he was telling me all about his partner, whoās really into health and well-being and wellness. And heās like, āYeah, like she drinks the green juices and does the yoga, and is incredibly flexible, and does all the healthy things, and shops organic, and meditates.ā You know, kind of trying to connect with me. And all of that was fantastic, until he dropped a sentence at the end of what he was sharing.
And he saidāI canāt quote it word for word, because it was over a year ago nowābut it was along the lines of: āOh, but she can do that because she doesnāt work.ā
And that just struck something for me. Because I immediately saw in this reflection from this person sitting in front of meātop dog, worked their way up, managing a multi-million, multi-billion businessāthat he believed it was either/or. That you can either be successful and work and have a career, or be healthy and take care of yourself and thrive.
And that is what I am here to break.
I want to show you the raw, behind-the-scenesāthe messy, the real, the true, the honest, the authenticāstories of people who are successfulĀ andĀ take care of themselves. And Iām going to tell you something: itās not perfect. Life is messy. We are on this planet to learn our lessons, to go through the experiences, the ups and the downs. None of us have it figured out. No one. And if you think you do, you probably donātābut your egoās got a really good hold on you.
And so sometimes, I just knowābecause Iāve been in this spaceāit can help to hear from someone else what theyāve been going through. You know, how theyāve struggled with burnout, or when they knew something needed to change, and what they did, and what their experience was, and then how they used that to integrate into their daily life.
At the same time, I also want to expose you to incredible peopleāexperts, facilitators, teachers, business ownersāthat do such strong, really powerful mahi out there. Mahi means work or effort in Te Reo MÄori, the native language of New Zealand. And itās just to open your horizons as to whatās out there, whatās possible, what could perhaps ignite a spark or a fire in you, what you could experiment with, what resonates with you or what doesnāt. Because we donāt know what we donāt know.
So my intention behind this podcast is to create a safe container, a space where you can explore your curiosities. You can hear other peopleās stories of how theyāve navigated the journey from burnout to balance. You can explore different tools, modalities, wellness tips, and practical advice that you may wish to experiment with in your life. And of course, Iāll sprinkle in a little bit of my wisdom here and there as well.
Because without getting ahead of myselfāmore on this in Episodes 2 and 3ābut like, the elevator pitch of me and my story is: I was an ultimate corporate high achiever, climbing the ladder, getting promotion after promotion, thriving in the business. Until life literally had to shake me up. It took a lot for me to realise that what I was doing was not sustainable. Even though I thought I had it all figured out, I really didnāt.
And ever since then, Iāve been on this journey of reclamation, of healing, of finding myself again, of coming home to myself. And so thereās a lot there that will weave in through the podcast and these mini solo episodes as well.
So thatās the gist of what you can expect here from a concrete content perspective.
And to take a step back and give you a little nugget of insight as to whatĀ ResonanceĀ really stands for and whyĀ Resonance. Well, you know, for so long I was just letting the name percolate in my headālike, what to call this podcast. And part of me wanted it to be on brand with LVNHealth, so something likeĀ Living in AlignmentĀ or something with leadership that appeals to busy, high-achieving corporate humans.
But at the end of the day, I just kept being in the field of the wordĀ resonance. It just kept coming up for me, until one day it landed. I was like, āOh my god, this is it. This is what Iām bringing to life.ā
Resonance.
We can start with a little metaphorāor analogy, I can never differentiate the two, Iāll probably have to look it up after this. But you know, if you walk into a music store (and I got this metaphor from Kate Northrup, my financial mentorāsheās incredible with metaphors, so credit where itās due)ā¦ If you walk into a music store and itās quiet, and you strum the C string on a guitar, all the other C strings on all the other guitars will vibrate as well. Thatās resonance.
Thatās alignment.
Resonance is being in truth. Being in alignment with yourself, in integrity. And integrity is my number one value. It has been since childhood. And it just really felt like a powerful and potent way to bring it into this space, where we explore different ways that people came back into resonance with themselves. Where we explore tools, modalities, and ideas that may or may not resonate with you, but all with the ambition of helping you navigate your path back into resonance with yourself.
Ahhh. Just letting that sink in for a moment.
Thatās one part of it. And then thereās another part that Iām still very much fresh into exploring right now.Ā ResonanceĀ is also a word that comes out of the nervous system healing world. And while I have dabbled and played in that space, Iām still a lifelong student. Thereās so much more I want to learn.
But what I can share with you now is that there is a nervous system responseāa way of beingāwhere we are in resonance. For those of you who arenāt familiar with the nervous system, itās basically our operating system.
Think of a car. Itās got wiring. One wire sends a message here, another wire sends a message there, and the car functions. Our nervous system is like thatāitās the superhighway of communication in our bodies.
It runs from our brain, down through our brain stem and central nervous system, through our spine, branching like a tree into every nook and cranny of our body. Itās our communication pathway. It sends sensory inputsātouch, taste, sound, smell, sightāback to our brain for processing, and vice versa.
Our nervous system does regulate how we respond to the world around us, so I won't dive too much into the science now. I don't want to keep Episode 1 too heavy, because this is enough for another three podcast episodes.
But effectively, we do have to share this, okay? Sorry guys ā long story short, let me nerd out here for a moment. And you'll get used to this: I am a bit of a nerd, and I love to share this stuff. But I'm hopefully going to make it as easy and digestible as possible.
So, we've got our nervous system, right? It's kind of that super highway of communication. It's like the machine that runs our body, pretty much. And there is the parasympathetic nervous system and the sympathetic nervous system response. Those are kind of the two main nervous system responses.
Our sympathetic nervous system response is our flight, fight, freeze, fawn, flop ā I'm pretty sure those are the five. There might be a sixth one; that keeps evolving. So basically, what happens when the sympathetic nervous system is activated ā it's generally when we're in a state of stress.
Hello, welcome to this podcast! You're at the right place. You know, we are experiencing some intense sensations or emotions that we just don't know how to deal with. Or someone's in our face, the boss emailed us, this deadline is coming up in 2 hours, and all of a sudden, all the financials don't make sense, right?
That's the sympathetic nervous system. And it's great when, you know, you're in imminent danger ā you're in a dark alley, and someone's out there trying to chase you down and steal your purse. Not so great when you are living in that chronic state of stress.
So that's enough to give you just a bit of a sense of what the sympathetic nervous system is.
And then on the other side, we've got the parasympathetic nervous system. That's basically it: it's your rest and digest. It's literally where you have blood running back into your digestive system, and you can process your food. You're breathing deeply ā kind of belly breaths ā and you're really calm.
If any of you have ever been to a yoga session and you stay for the Savasana part, and you're kind of just blissed out ā that's when you're in the parasympathetic nervous system. You know, dogs and babies are generally in that state. When you see them sleeping and chilling, you can see their belly going up and down.
It's when they might be getting a really yummy massage, or perhaps you're just relaxing somewhere on the beach or reading a good book and you're just really chilled out. That is the parasympathetic nervous system.
I just wanted to give you context on these two, because the bridge between the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous system ā in the nervous system healing world, as far as I understand it ā is known as your range of resonance.
It's how you can bounce back between one and the other in your day-to-day life. Because unfortunately, we live in a world where we've got this stress epidemic. People are more stressed than ever. I could go down a rabbit hole on this, but I'll park it for another time.
Effectively, none of us are not stressed. If you are alive here in 2025, chances are you are experiencing some kind of stress in daily life.
And especially in the last few years, there's been almost this obsession with the parasympathetic nervous system. Yes, we don't want to be stressing out in the sympathetic, but we also don't necessarily want to be in the parasympathetic all the time ā because then we just wouldn't get anything done, and we would all just be blissed out, chilling.
Which is lovely, and there's a time and place for that. But we need to know how to navigate between the two. And that is your range of resonance.
This is why the name for this podcast felt so right. Calm is not the only way we want to feel. Stressed is also not the way we want to feel all the time. But we want to develop tools, strategies, methodologies. We want to develop that sense of awareness and inner knowing well enough to be able to bounce between the two.
Like a pendulum swing, to ebb and flow with whatever life brings our way ā because life will keep on life-ing. One of my yoga teachers coined this expression: āLifeās just being really lifey.ā
We canāt influence that. Life will just keep on life-ing.
But how can you come back into resonance? Come back into alignment with yourself? Make your decisions from a place of resonance, so that you can come closer to the person you want to be, to how you want to feel, to the life you want to live.
So, that's resonance for you.
It feels quite complete to end this episode here. I hope that this has piqued your interest and given you a bit of insight as to what to expect from our time together.
I'm always here, available to chat, if you've got any suggestions. If there's someone you would love to hear from, or a topic that you have heard about but it just seems so confusing because there's so much information out there ā let me just tell you one thing: Google, ChatGPT, and social media are not your source of truth, okay?
There is so much more that is not immediately available to your search on Google. So I really do encourage you ā if there's something you're curious about and you want to see explored here ā to just reach out to me. I'm super flexible and open, and really blessed to have a vast network of conscious humans that I can reach out to, to also draw on their knowledge banks. Many of which are not found in the internet world. So that door is always open for you.
If any of you also feel inspired and believe that you've got a story that you would love to share that resonates with this podcast ā if you yourself have or currently are experiencing fatigue, stress, overwork, burnout, whatever it is ā my door is always open. I would love to hear your story, whether it's on the podcast or just for a chat.
We'll end it here for now. This is just the beginning. Thank you so much for being here, and I really look forward to our journey together.
And just as we wrap up, I would love to invite you to contemplate on what resonance means for you. Now that you've heard a few of the ways that it can be described and that it shows up in our day-to-day life ā where do you feel resonance? Where do you feel that sense of aliveness?
How do you experience this wonderful life that we get to experience as humans, navigating between the stressors of the to-do lists and the emails and the inboxes and the in-laws, and the desire to just take a breather, pause, and reconnect with yourself?
Iād love to hear what resonance means to you, and what's coming up for you right now, if you feel like sharing it with me. I'm always here.
In the meantime, have a beautiful, beautiful rest of your day. Lots of love from me ā bye for now. Mwah.
Alright, listen to this. I get asked by overworked, overwhelmed, burnt-out high achievers how they can release their stress without sacrificing their productivity. And that is because I have been one of them.
I've been able to heal my relationship with stress, all the while increasing my energy and achieving more than ever before ā at the same time. So, for the very first time ever ā I'm so excited about this ā I am going to be pulling together and teaching a really small, intimate, select group of students how to detox from stress, so that you can say bye-bye to burnout and overwhelm.
Instead, you can skyrocket your energy levels, all the while being more productive than ever before, with ease. Doesn't that sound amazing?
So if that's something that you're interested in ā if you are done struggling with stress and overworking, and you'd like to be a part of this special training ā send me a message and let's have a chat. I'd love to see you there.
The views and opinions expressed by guests on Resonance are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of me, Viktoria Levenberg, LVNHealth, or anyone working within the LVNHealth brand. This space welcomes a diversity of ideas, experiences, and stories. Part of Resonance is learning to take what aligns, and gently leaving the rest.
Also, while I am a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach and deeply passionate about well-being, this podcast is intended for educational and inspirational purposes only. Resonance does not substitute personalised medical, psychological, or therapeutic advice. Always seek guidance from qualified professionals for any physical, emotional, or mental health concerns.
