"Reclaiming Power and Confidence: A Conversation with Stepanka Kuralova"

Kandidly Kristin

Podcast nation. It's your girl, Kandidly Kristin. And this is the Kandid Shop. On today's one on one shit chat, I have the pleasure of sitting down with Stepanka Kuralova. Stepanka is a clinical hypnotherapist, women's guide and the host of the Inner Glow podcast. She also works with clients from all around the world and helps them reclaim their power, confidence and Inner Glow. She specializes in helping her clients overcome fears, insecurities and anxiety that hold them back from following their desires and feeling magnetic. Stepanka is also an emotional freedom technique and neuro linguistic programming practitioner, as well as an angel recce healer. So please join me in welcoming Stepanka to the Kandid Shop. Welcome, welcome, welcome. 

Stepanka Kuralova

Hello Kristen. Thank you so much for welcoming me here, for having me on the podcast, and I so appreciate such a lovely introduction. Thank you, Thank you. 

Kandidly Kristin

I'm so glad that you were able to give me a little bit of time. Stepanka is across the pond, so scheduling this was a little tricky, but we got it done and I am happy to bring this one-on-one chit-chat to you guys. So I'm just going to start with what led you to study hypnotherapy. 

Stepanka Kuralova

Such a good question and, to be honest, such an important one, and I wasn't looking for hypnotherapy in particular, but it found me, and my story with hypnosis honestly starts to my first year at university. I was about 18, 19 years old and I just moved to the capital and I started studying discourse, this program and out of the blue I started having all these health problems. I would feel sick, my stomach would be hurting every single day, I couldn't hold any food in myself and I would have fever almost like every single day. It was really odd, bizarre. I didn't know what was going on. First I thought, oh, maybe I had something, maybe I have got a stomach bug. But this was going on for weeks. And you can imagine me being a first year university student. I thought I would be socializing, meeting my teachers, meeting my classmates, really having the time of my life. When you think about it, that's what first year uni students do and I just wasn't feeling myself. I would be locked in my bedroom. I just tried taking paracetamol the usual things you've got with you but because it wasn't getting any better, I ended up scheduling an appointment with my GP, with my general practitioner, with my doctor, and because it was so severe he ended up recommending me to various different specialists. It was really affecting me badly and I had all these different exams and tests done. And I still remember the moment when I went back to my GP to receive all those results and I was really hoping that he was going to say like, oh, we found out what it is and this is the pill you need to take to feel better. But none of that happened. The opposite was true, like he said. 

Actually, when all the results came back, like there is nothing wrong with you, you are in perfect health, and I was startled, Like I was like what, what do you mean? Like why is all of this happening then? And I remember he just cleared his throat and looked back at me and he was like well, do you think this could be perhaps anxiety related? Could it be stress? Have you had any sudden changes in your life? And I felt really offended. I felt like he was saying this was all in my head and I wasn't being serious or I am making it up. So I honestly felt like I wasn't being taken seriously and I perhaps maybe didn't want to see the connection, the connection between me feeling actually really unhappy and really stressed on the inside, and it has almost manifested through my body through all those which now I know are called psychosomatic health problems. 

Things didn't get better. I still felt poorly almost every single day and it was really impacting me. I couldn't concentrate on exams, on books, and it's honestly like the strangest thing happened. You know, when we say like the universe sends us signs and we are being shown where to go. Well, that's exactly what happened. 

In under a week I was in my tiny little student flat logging into the student portal at university and this weird, really weird thing happened. It really spooked me out. I logged in to my portal and I knew I had to add more subjects in more classes, and one of them had to be a sport class. And I never been back into sports, I'm not gonna lie especially like group sports. I definitely did not want to play volleyball or anything else.

I'm like okay, what's easy, what can I do? And I was just scrolling through all these subjects and I found swimming. I'm like all right, then I can swim in a pool back and forward by myself, I don't have to talk to people, and the time was convenient, the location was convenient. I hovered over the swimming lesson or class not really a lesson but with my mouse and my whole laptop shut down and I'm like, oh, that's all. I thought I had battery, but okay, let's plug it in. I repeated the same thing. I logged back into the student portal. I found a swimming class. I remember getting really stressed out because I knew loads of first year students were booking those classes and I didn't want to lose the sport because I finally found something that could be easy. And the same thing happened. 

Kandidly Kristin

Oh, wow. 

Stepanka Kuralova

And I'm like is someone messing with me? Is this portal broken? What is going on? And I opened my laptop again. I turned everything back on and all of a sudden on my screen it said, oh, your sport class has been booked, and like this green check sign. And I'm like, all right, I must have booked it. So I opened it back up and it said oh, you have booked yourself in for a yoga class. And I'm like, oh, I have no idea how any of this happened, but I'll go with it. It actually works for me as well, and I have been practicing yoga a little bit at home. I haven't really been to proper class. Well, let's give it a go. 

And in the next few days I got myself to this yoga studio and this teacher came in front of us and she said hello, ladies, welcome to your first yoga class. And today I've got something special for you, but I'm not going to tell you what it is. I'll wait for the end of the class, and then I have a recording for you to play. So we finished the class. It was amazing. I fell in love with it straight away. And then at the end, I lie down on my yoga mat like everyone else and she said okay, I'll start playing this recording and I would love for you to simply follow along. So that's exactly what I did and within minutes, I felt so much bliss in my body, I felt so good, I felt so calm, I felt so grounded in my being, like I never felt like that before and I honestly just heard this voice in my head saying step on, pay attention here. This is important and one day you will be working with it. 

I know this sounds crazy. 

Kandidly Kristin

No, Well, what was? Can I ask you what the recording was? Was it music? Was it like a guided meditation? 

Stepanka Kuralova

Well. So I didn't know, I just followed along and it was almost like a relaxation, but it had a very specific structure to it. So as soon as the class ended I went to this teacher. I'm like I needed this, like it really helped me to calm down and I just felt like really good. So I went to see her and she said oh well, this is actually a hypnotic relaxation and this was my first experience with hypnosis. I ended up following this recording for seven days straight. I practiced this every single morning and all these psychosomatic health problems simply went away. 

Kandidly Kristin

Wow. So I guess my next follow-up question to that is, is that what led you to do what you do now in terms of clinical hypnotherapy? 

Stepanka Kuralova

So this has definitely opened the first door for me. I was so intrigued and, I'll be honest with you, it was really hard to focus on the subjects which I was studying at uni. All I wanted to know was everything about the subconscious mind. I wanted to learn more about meditation, hypnosis. I started reading spiritual books, personal development books. Honestly, I just couldn't stop thinking about it. And, however, I got myself stuck in the situation of me studying something that actually wasn't lighting me up, and this experience has really opened my eyes. But I'll have to be honest with you, it wasn't as easy as like. 

Oh, and the next year I became a clinical hypnotherapist. I didn't know how I could get through it and I didn't know any people in my life who followed their passions. And I really struggled, with my parents telling me oh, you should stick to a safe and secure career, you should finish this, you can't quit. And I honestly didn't know anyone else who was, let's say, a coach or a therapist. But I just wanted it so badly and at the end of that year I actually did end up quitting and I actually decided. I still didn't know. I didn't know I could become a therapist. I felt like maybe I'm not smart enough. I didn't really know whether I need to go and study psychology, so I could like learning by myself. 

But I ended up taking a year and I moved to England and ended up studying a few years later on at university here in England, which is where I live in Southwest England. And then eventually I actually met a teacher, a hypnophera teacher, in my part-time job as a student and I was given this book by one of his students and it was self-hypnosis book and I'm like, oh my God, self-hypnosis. I had no idea such a thing exists. I knew, you know, you could do hypnosis with a therapist. And this almost like brought me back to where I started a few years before that. 

And, yeah, the next year I signed up and then for a few years I was studying clinical hypnosis and as soon as I qualified I started seeing my first case study clients, just to gain experience. Then I started taking on more clients and so on. But in order to become a clinical hypnotherapist you actually need to qualify in NLP, which is neurolinguistic programming as well. So there are steps to it. But yeah, like long story short, this is how I got to where I am now. 

Kandidly Kristin

So neurolinguistic programming, I guess, before I ask that. So I'm guessing there was no courses in hypnotherapy. 

Stepanka Kuralova

Yeah, so I did. I studied at a private college of hypnotherapy in England and that's how I got my qualification. But there are different routes to get to it. Back then I probably kept searching for like hypnotherapy at university and I don't think there is specifically a program like that. But a lot of people are psychologists and they studied traditional psychology and then they're deepened their skills and knowledge and they perhaps qualified in hypnotherapy. There are, of course, like shorter courses, but I knew I wanted to go full in. I wanted to do a full on course where I learn therapy, I learn coaching, I learn NLP, I learn how to hold space for clients. So I did study for over two years to get my qualification. Plus, it's an ongoing thing. I need to be seeing a supervisor. I am part of fear fear studies support group. There is an ongoing learning. 

Kandidly Kristin

Got it. So my next question is neuro linguistic programming, and I'm surprised I said that three times without messing it up. But what exactly is that? Is it the fancy name for hypnosis, or is it a modality all to itself, separate from hypnosis? 

Stepanka Kuralova

Well, you are right, like there is a connection between these two and actually, you know, hypnotherapy in itself was created from various different therapies and one of them was NLP for short, or neuro linguistic programming, so it was an important it is still an important aspect of that and the way I studied hypnotherapy. So my approach is more cognitive behavioral therapy or hypnotherapy, meaning we focus on thoughts, we focus on behavior, and this is what is good in common with NLP and various different techniques are actually similar. Or we have taken some of the traditional NLP techniques and we use them in hypnosis with clients and I find that can be really powerful Because prior to me starting the hypnotherapy, because I was already reading NLP books, so I learned some of the really important techniques and then I learned to apply them in hypnosis and I find it's more powerful because the client is more relaxed, more open and those changes last way longer, if that makes sense. 

Kandidly Kristin

It does. It does. So take me through a typical session with a client. I'm not sure if it's different, like your toolbox looks different depending on whatever the issue is for the client, but just like a typical. After you've had a consultation and they've said, yeah, I want to, I want to do this. What would a typical session look like with you? 

Stepanka Kuralova

I love that question. I've actually never been asked this question on a podcast, so I always really enjoy it when I when I get new questions. So thank you for asking that and, to be completely honest with you, I don't think there is such a thing as a typical session, because what I have been told, or traditionally in therapy, you create a therapy plan. You always know what are the intentions here, you know where is it that a client wants to get to, and so on. You know, because sometimes therapists can almost like project their own ideas onto their clients. So it's really important to be truly listening to what they are saying and to what they desire. However, I've learned early on that it never really works for me to have a set treatment plan and to know that this technique will be used in this session and so on, because I always check in with my clients, seeing where they at, what is real for them on that day when we have a session, what are the feelings they are experiencing, and based on that and in alignment with where they at in that moment, in alignment with their bigger picture, bigger vision, I choose a technique. And there are so many different techniques. 

However, my personal approach is often present, focused, future focused, focused on behavior, on thoughts, on emotional patterns and so on. I don't tend to do a lot of regression. I do. I do timeline therapy, meaning you know you revisit things from the past or you almost like extract wisdom from your past experiences. But I am not huge on like regression and I feel sometimes this can be a misconception when it comes to hypnosis. People see things on TV. They see you know, you know things in the entertainment industry and very often it's about, oh, going back to your childhood and reliving these painful experiences. And while sometimes it is important to support that inner child and go back, I hardly ever have my clients relive painful experiences as if it was happening now. You know there are different ways I go about it, helping my clients to always feel safe. Is this making sense? 

Kandidly Kristin

It is, it absolutely is. I actually did another chit chat and I'm actually going to post you guys's chit chats, kind of one after the other, because she she does something called rapid transformational therapy, which is a really, I guess, intense form of hypnotherapy and they do dig into the root causes of addictions. She works primarily with people with addictions and so I guess it's just it's different in terms of what the client needs, what the best route is via hypnotherapy to get them to their desired goal. So it's interesting that she does a lot of regression, not in terms of reliving, but just pinpointing when something may have attached that manifested years later as an addiction or a propensity to do something. So it's interesting, that's very interesting. 

Stepanka Kuralova

Yeah, and that definitely has got a place and I would do the same, but most of my techniques then will be on. Okay, how do I utilize those lessons? You know if I have recognized this pattern started back then, or this issue started there, or this is when I started having those thoughts like how do I utilize that wisdom? 

Kandidly Kristin

in my present. 

Stepanka Kuralova

How can I start changing and shifting my thought patterns, behavioral patterns, right now so that I can start seeing results? And I am actually quite familiar with rapid transformational hypnotherapy and it is an incredible approach as well, and it is actually a combination of hypnosis as well and NNLP and they use those techniques a lot as well, which is incredible. So, yeah, I can imagine that, especially with addictions, it's so important to see. You know, when did it start? How? What kind of coping mechanism? 

it is because that often it can be a distraction mechanism that's holding us back from, let's say, processing something. 

Kandidly Kristin

I agree, I agree. So talk to me a little bit about emotional freedom technique, and is that something that you developed? 

Stepanka Kuralova

So, as with hypnosis, Emotional Freedom Technique EFT for short is again a technique that has first and foremost helped me personally. It was a technique I was recommended to an EFT practitioner. I was really struggling with one phobia, with a really big fear, already as  a teenager, I believe. I think yeah, I think I was. I was actually just a teenager and my dad sent me to this lady and he was really like he worked with her himself and he was like she will help you, like go and give it a go. And I remember being a teenager. What is this? 

Like when he wants me to tap with my fingers on my face like I've never seen anything weirder. So reaction After that session I felt better, oh my, so there must be something to this technique. So EFT is actually a modality that I have been working with for so many years before I ever qualified. It is a combination of, we can say, traditional Chinese pressure, you know, when you press on different points on the body and they are connected through meridians to different organs, emotions, things you know, really stemming from Chinese medicine, and it's combined with energy psychology. 

So it can honestly look a little odd when you see someone practicing it for the first time or you hear about it, because you actually often start by repeating the negative things. You know you, you are tapping on these different points, especially on the upper half of your body, with your fingers, and the therapist is guiding you to do that. So you copy them, you follow along and you are repeating different things. And what shocked me was like why would I be repeating the negative things? But of course, later on I learned how important it actually is to acknowledge what is actually real for you. What are the feelings, what are the fears beneath the surface? And you straight away, feel this, this wave of relief throughout your entire body, as you are actually making peace with what is real for you. 

And then, once those emotions, there is a technique, how you find out, you know where the client is at, and then, once they have processed those emotions, you can move on to the positive things, so to speak. So you are truly in alignment with yourself. Because I don't know how about you, but I sometimes got pissed off with, like, the love and light approaches to therapy yourself, how, when you are being told to repeat the positive affirmations when you're feeling rubbish you know when things don't feel good then to me it sometimes felt like I was being dishonest or I was lying to myself and it didn't work with me. So in EFT, you acknowledge what is real for you, where you add, you process those emotions first and foremost, and then you start implementing and almost like ingraining a new belief into your system. 

Kandidly Kristin

Okay, that makes sense. That makes sense. So tell me who your clients, customers, followers and fans are. Who are the people that you predominantly work with? 

Stepanka Kuralova

Yeah, so I actually mostly specialize in confidence, things like confidence issues, imposter syndrome, when women don't feel like they are worthy, they are deserving of their goals and desires. Very often women who are in some way or form sabotaging their own success. You know, logically, on a conscious level, they know what they want, they know what their dreams and goals are, but at the same time, somehow, subconsciously, they are attracting unnecessary distractions. They are almost like boycotting their own health or wealth or growth. They might be even creating, like, without knowing, unnecessary drama or like problems that are holding them back, that are stopping them from growing. 

I truly help women to tap back into their inner power and I call it the inner glow. That's why even my podcast is called the glow podcast, because I can see it. I can see how women's energies shift, how they tap back into their, into their bodies as well. Like I, help them to be truly embodied, to be present in their bodies and you can tell they are magnetic. Like they do feel different, they look different, and it's not about wearing different makeup or clothes. It's from within. That's in a glow that comes from within and I absolutely love it. I help my clients to heal emotional wounds, to be connected to their feminine energy, to their emotions, how to process difficult situations Like my. My signature program is actually all about emotions and communication and really building up your emotional resilience and, privately, it very often is confidence, overcoming insecurities, fears, really getting clear and in alignment what it is that you are calling in and then we are helping you to align yourself with it energetically, emotionally, mentally. 

Kandidly Kristin

Got it, got it. So your typical client is teen 20, 30, 40, 50 or a combination of all of that. 

Stepanka Kuralova

It is actually a combination, because and it's really interesting because that used to be one of my biggest fears when I first started because I started quite young and I, to be honest, looking back, even when I was like 17, I'm like how can I become a coach, you know, and everyone just telling me, oh, you are too young for that, and probably I was at 17. But it used to be one of my biggest blocks that I wouldn't be able to serve clients who are older than me. But the reality is the opposite. Actually, on average, most of my clients are in their 40s. However, my oldest client was 82 years old. 

But I also have a few teenage girls who I mentor, who I support with. You know the usual insecurities, fears and problems teenagers can have. But it is almost like a separate program, something I don't really do for profit, but I always take on a new girl who I could support with, just just to give back. And but my paying clients, my mentorship or hypnotherapy and coaching clients, are anywhere between 25 to, at the moment, to 62. So it is, you know, different ages. 

Kandidly Kristin

Got it, so switching gears a little bit. You are also an angelic reccy healer and I have committed to, before this year ends, getting my level one reccy certification. I think it's an amazing modality. I really do so. I say that to ask do you ever integrate reccy with your emotional freedom technique or your hypnotherapy sessions? Is that every time when they kind of intersect? 

Stepanka Kuralova

See, I'm so enjoying your question. I'm having all these interesting questions. I never get asked. 

Kandidly Kristin

Oh, good so. 

Stepanka Kuralova

I do, but in a different way. I no longer do like just traditional healing or distant healing sessions, and it's because I don't see clients in person. I work with clients from all around the world and we speak and we have sessions on zoom and so, you know, for Reiki it's sometimes nice to have an actual in person session, but I always knew I didn't really want to be just focusing on like Reiki sessions, and they are incredible. To be honest, I love Reiki, I love receiving Reiki, I love giving, sending Reiki, but for me, the way I utilize it is I am sending healing to my clients when we are on the session, and they don't always know about it, I don't always speak about it, but it's part of me holding an energetic space for them and this is happening if we aren't working together, sorry, I mean outside the sessions, like between sessions, is what I mean. I am always holding a space for my clients and they can feel it. 

And it's incredible if I, if I have a client who is processing an emotion, you know and I can see it, we are on the call, they might get upset or something comes up and these are always healing tears. It's always, you know, good and and sometimes being emotional is actually really beautiful because something is shifting, something is healing, and I'm always there with my hands, you know, not always on the camera, but around my phone. I am always sending Angelic Reiki to them and this is the way I implement energetic healing in my life now and I also dedicate maybe every two weeks I do have a session when I sit down and I not only review where my current one-to-one clients are. I usually take clients in for three months. They can, of course, extend, but I do have a package. 

Kandidly Kristin

I don't do one of sessions unless it's a consultation and I review where I'm about to ask you that do you do? Is there a program, a set length? 

Stepanka Kuralova

do you do one and done, but you answered it already, thank you that's perfect and I love it because I built such a lovely and close relationship with my clients and this is when I, every two weeks, I sit down and I do send Reiki to each of them, and I do that, do it sometimes they don't even know. It's just something to implement and I I believe in energies, I see them, I'm sensitive to them and this is just a really lovely way for me to utilize it in my work that's awesome. 

Kandidly Kristin

I think the combination is a beautiful one the hypnotherapy, the Reiki. So, typically, how long are your clients with you? Is there ever a time when I don't know they graduate, or is the timing set or it's kind of fluid based on their progress? 

Stepanka Kuralova

yeah. So there is a combination. You know, I do have clients who come with a specific goal and they know like that's all they need. That's all they're looking for. And I always recommend my three months program because, while you can have an incredible breakthrough after one session or two, I want to make sure that my clients are carrying on with that. I want to make sure they are supported and protected and they have learned how to use, let's say, hypnosis but other techniques in their life. So three months is a really beautiful way to make sure that by the end of the three months, not only they have progressed, but they also feel really confident, knowing that we have laid a really solid foundations here and they can continue building on it. So I know, for example, a client of mine is actually graduating tomorrow. We have got our last session and I know like we have finished. We spoke about it as well. Of course, my clients can stay with me longer if that's what they would like to do and they want to keep like working or having that support. But she has achieved all the goals within those three months incredible growth. We are celebrating her so much and tomorrow will be almost like a graduation session, and that's perfect. I'm sure we will stay in touch, as I always do with all my clients. She has got access to all the techniques recorded hypnosis techniques, different things, and so on and that's it. 

I have also other clients, though, who are with me more, not just for like one of goal, but they are like I just want to grow. You know, I am, let's say, growing a business, or I am working on myself. I just want to know I am supported, I want to have someone who is there to hold me, and I have clients who've been with me for years, and very often it started with almost like treating some problems or emergencies or issues, but now it has more evolved into growth, you know, into them really being interested in up leveling and strengthening their mindset, energies and and yeah, so they honestly just want to keep being in the space and receive mentoring every single month and be in that environment. Then I will have clients who perhaps are with me for, let's say, six months, because they do have emotional wounds they would like to heal, they want to receive support, and then, after six months, they feel like I can do this by myself. I feel really complete with all of it. So there is honestly a wide variety of women I work with. 

I do a lot of coaching in my sessions as well. I don't do one of sessions, I only do one of consultations. But these are like one off. You cannot just book like a consultation over and over again. Someone perhaps will want to support. They don't have clarity, they don't really know, you know what is going on in their life. They need to move the energy in their life and if they do end up signing up for, let's say, my three months program, they actually get a money back for the consultation. If not, they walk away with loads of value, with techniques, with recommendations, and that's perhaps what they need in that moment. 

Kandidly Kristin

Right, so tell me a little bit about your coaching, how you developed it, how you decided on what kind of coach you would be, what kind of things you would lead women through. And then that three month program. In that time, what are your clients engaged in? 

Stepanka Kuralova

Yeah. So coaching honestly came to me naturally, not only just because I feel like I have been coaching from a very young age. Everyone around me and I would always have people come to me like honestly. There were signs even in my childhood that you know I was like into those kind of things, because I would get even adults seeking my help, seeking my advice. I loved playing with my cousin on therapist and client and I would always be the therapist and I just enjoy it already as a child. 

And then, of course, when I started studying hypnosis, it just evolved into coaching because, while hypnosis is incredible, I also love like being able to see my clients buying spots. I love like giving them the right questions so they can come up with the answers themselves, and that's one thing. My clients say a lot. It's almost like you don't give us the answers. You help me to access that wisdom within me and that's what I feel I'm doing with coaching. So my, let's say, three months package or any work I do with women is never just oh, it's just hypnotherapy, it's just coaching, it's just EFT. It's always a combination and, depending on where my client is at, what I'm feeling intuitively, what I'm hearing from them based on that. 

We implement different techniques, we work on different things. They do get homework. I always say the word with me is never passive, like you are an active participant here. You will walk away with homework. You will walk away with recommendations. You might get a journaling prompt. I might send you one of my solo episodes from my podcast to listen to and reflect on it, and you know it is so beautiful. It's a corporation. It's never like one side thing, it's like we are working together. 

Kandidly Kristin

Got it. I love it. I love the idea that I actually went to your office, Went to your website so I could you know, in preparation for the interview, I wanted to be prepared with some great, you know leading questions to guide the conversation and I signed up for your freebies, like the affirmation cards, and I've got all of it. I got the email. So I actually got an email from you today, but it was from me signing up for that, it wasn't you. You and I'm like, OK, this is really cool because I'm really big into journaling and kind of writing my thoughts down, set my intentions for the day or the week, depending on what I'm going through. So I thought that was really interesting. I was like OK, I like this, and your website is beautiful, by the way. 

Stepanka Kuralova

Oh, thank you so much. It makes me so happy. I'm also big on journaling. It is such a powerful tool. 

And this month, finally enough, I am adding a new thing to all of my clients Want to one clients I will be sending out a private, almost like a VIP podcast episode, recording every month. And this month's topic are my morning pages, the things I do in the morning to really hone in on to my energy and be really clear. And it's a process that has worked for me and my clients so much. I'm just going to record it and share the ins and outs. I'll be reading out of my own journal because I trust these women so much and I have such a beautiful relationship with all of them.

And another thing which I actually haven't mentioned and it's an interesting one is that my want to one clients receive support between sessions. So five days per week they can send a message, they can send a voice note and they can get coaching between sessions, if that makes sense, let's say something happened or they have questions in regards to their hypnosis recording and so on. And it's so interesting because it's like a challenge for women. It's sometimes a challenge for them to open up and to ask for help. 

I always hear from my clients like it was hard to message you and ask for help to start with. One thing that used to. It is like a no brainer and I love that because you would be surprised. But sometimes the biggest breakthrough comes on a day when they having a hard time to reach out for help, receive coaching and a breakthrough happens. 

Kandidly Kristin

That's awesome, because not everything happens on therapy day. You know what I mean. So being able to to have your support in between times, I think is amazing. 

Stepanka Kuralova

So I remember the first time I received that with someone as well, you know, when I worked with my first ever coach and there was like a messenger support. It was a life changer for me and I know that we can sometimes give and give an overgave. You know, my clients have families, they have businesses, they are in full time jobs and there is a lot of giving and doing involved. Yeah, and having the space it's like you can lean back, you know you can receive and you can ship that energy. 

Kandidly Kristin

Yeah, and it's a balance right. You can't be all given all the time you have to be able to receive, and that's a lesson that I had to learn personally because I'm a giver, giver, giver and it's difficult Sorry about that, I hit the mic Difficult for me to sometimes ask for help or say, you know I'm overwhelmed, or delegate. 

Stepanka Kuralova

So yeah, I agree with you and that's the thing you know. Especially when we are big hearted women and we want to give and we want other people to feel that love, then it can be challenging to actually ask for the same and to receive that. 

Kandidly Kristin

Yes, I agree. Oh, my goodness, this has been an amazing interview. Learning about what you do. The one part about podcasting that I love is number one. I get to connect with amazing people and it all goes into my toolbox. Every time I do a chit chat with somebody, I'm learning something, and hopefully, when my listeners hear it, they will learn something too. So we are at the point in the podcast that I have recently added a little segment to end each chit chat and it is called 10 candid questions. Ok, so 10 candid questions. I'm going to ask you a question. Some of them will be either or type questions. Some of them will require a longer response, but they all require you to give your candid off the top answer you ready? 

Stepanka Kuralova

So excited. 

Kandidly Kristin

Okay, first question what's your favorite color? 

Stepanka Kuralova

Oh, I think. 

Kandidly Kristin

Okay, yeah. Second question what is a common myth about what you do? 

Stepanka Kuralova

That hypnosis is manipulation. 

Kandidly Kristin

Okay, what's your favorite curse word? You don't have to say it, I was actually like really careful today. 

Stepanka Kuralova

I'm like I swear. 

Kandidly Kristin

I'm sorry I missed the answer. What's your favorite curse word? 

Stepanka Kuralova

Probably shit. 

Kandidly Kristin

Okay, okay, okay, all right. Are you a morning person or a night owl? Both. 

Stepanka Kuralova

Interesting Because I naturally I am a morning person 100%. For years I would be getting up at honestly five o'clock just because I like it and I love the energy of a fresh day and when you go out like the air is different. But recently, in the past couple of years since we moved to this place where we live now, my partner stays up really late for his job and sometimes, if irregular shifts and I can see that when he is working late I have a tendency to stay up, work late and then I have a line with him in the morning because I just want to see him. So it's a combination of both and I'm literally like deciding what do I do? Do I like claim that I am a night owl now, or do I try going. 

Kandidly Kristin

I am so not a morning person. I have tried really hard to be. I am not. But I'm not a night owl either. I'm just kind of a midday kind of girl. So all right. Question number five how do you balance life and work? 

Stepanka Kuralova

I am unapologetic when it comes to my days off. It means no work and I always respect that fully. I know that's for me it's Tuesdays and Wednesdays and that's when I just do things for myself, I do things with my partner, I go in nature and that's what I do, like that's, that's a must for me. And in the morning I don't touch my phone until like well, I might touch it, just like the room If I go out, but I won't go on social media, I won't go in messenger and nothing, until 10 o'clock. 

Kandidly Kristin

God, that's great I would. I got to. That's something I have to put in the practice a little bit. Be more committed to All right Six question Coffee or tea. 

Stepanka Kuralova

Tea Always. 

Kandidly Kristin

Seventh question what is the number one thing that you think the world is lacking? 

Stepanka Kuralova

Compassion and empathy, yeah, seeing that other people, like we all, have some sort of trauma within us and sometimes we forget that and then we are almost like hurt people, hurting people, not realizing that we can heal each other and support each other. 

Kandidly Kristin

All right, what are three books you'd recommend to my audience? 

Stepanka Kuralova

So when it comes to really tapping into what your soul is calling you to do and almost like tuning into what is your path in life, then I would recommend light is the new black by Campbell. That's really helped me with my soul calling, with choosing the right career, the steps for me, and so on. I absolutely love that book. Let me think. I am such a big reader I always read so many books. 

When it comes to anxiety, when it comes to like nervousness and overthinking and like negative thought patterns, I would recommend a book by Chloe Brotheridge yeah, I hope I'm getting her name right, brotheridge, I think and it's called anxiety solution or brave new girl. It's such a good one, so easily explained, even for anyone who, let's say, doesn't work in the industry. You don't have to be a therapist, you don't have to have a background, so I would say that's a really good one. And third one oh my goodness, what do I recommend? Let me think Heal your Life by Louise Hay. That's a book that's so much for me. I discovered it so young, when I was struggling with all these health problems, and I think that's a really good one, just when you are like ready to open yourself up, that things can be different you know that there are different ways to heal things in your life. 

Kandidly Kristin

Yes, I love that book, I love Louise Hay. So what's one question you wish that I'd asked you, and what would your answer have been? 

Stepanka Kuralova

I love your question. I want a question, I guess, perhaps what have been, or what has been like, the most incredible transformations that I have seen with my clients after using hypnosis? So that's the question. My answer would be a client who used one of the techniques we've been working on, a cognitive, behavioral hypnotherapy technique We've been practicing for a small medical procedure and she went through it with no anesthetics, just by using hypnosis, using her breath, using her visualizing. That has been just extraordinary. 

Kandidly Kristin

Wow, that is awesome, all right. Last question, most important question, I think how can my listeners, my audience, connect with you and avail themselves of your services? 

Stepanka Kuralova

Thank you for asking, so I feel like the best place is my website, which is hypnocoachingme, and that's where you can find everything else. You know my podcast is called the InnerGlo podcast. You can either search for it on like, wherever you get your podcasts, or you can simply listen to it on my website as well. I am on social media. I'm on Facebook. I have a group for women called New Earth Women. That's where I share a lot of bonus stuff, things that don't get shared anywhere else. There are EFT videos, there are hypnosis sessions, there are past challenges and trainings I did. It's such a beautiful sisterhood that I have been building for a couple of years now. 

I am also on Instagram at New Earth Woman, which is where you can connect with me as well. But, honestly, like all these links, everything is on my website. You will easily find it there. But, most importantly, if there has been anything that was interesting, if you listened to this episode and enjoyed it, just let us know, send us a message. You can totally just message me on Facebook as well, or Instagram, always happy to chat. 

Kandidly Kristin

Nice. Thank you so much, guys. All of that information will be in the show notes when the episode posts to all the platforms. So if you are listening and you didn't have a pencil, I will make sure to include all of Stepanka's contact information in the show notes. So we are at the end of our time together. But before we go, Stepanka, I wanted to give you a few minutes to give me your last thoughts. 

Stepanka Kuralova

Thank you so much. I honestly love every single minute of this episode and you are such a great host, such an incredible host, and I could feel how you read things about me. You knew what the question is to ask and it was so incredible. I honestly what a great way to end my day. It's like 6pm in the UK now. I won't be working past this and I'm just gonna chill and I'm like full of energy. You have helped me to like feel even more energized and I'm so grateful for this opportunity to have such a kind chat and I cannot wait to share it with women in my community as well. So, thank you, that's honestly all I want to share. 

Kandidly Kristin

Thank, you so much, Stepanka Kuralova. Thank you for joining me. It has been an interesting, informative and enlightening chat, and that combination, for me, is everything. Again, guys, when you hear this, Stepanka's information will be in the show notes and, like I say at the end of every episode, I want you all to keep it safe, keep it healthy and keep it Kandid. !!