When Following Your Heart Means Breaking Norms and Facing Fear | Jessica Lyda, Energy Healer

What happens when following your heart means choosing yourself over family expectations? Energy healer Jessica Lyda shares her journey from social media manager to healer—and the moment she had to break a lifetime pattern of pushing through to honor what her body needed.Episode is brought to you by: Marco Polo, the most magical way to stay close to your loved ones. There are no ads, no endless feeds, just authentic, face to face connection on your own time. The app is completely free. You can download it on App Store or Google Play or by going to www.marcopolo.meIn this episode, we explore:→ Why following your heart right now looks like softening instead of explosive action→ Breaking the norm of "pushing through" that led to a thyroid condition→ The fear of disappointing family—and choosing to skip Christmas while healing from surgery→ How catching flack from family members tested her commitment to herself→ The moment other women at a leadership retreat saw Jessica as a healer before she could claim it→ Why slowing down and operating under capacity is actually the goal (not a failure)→ The norm-breaking truth: you can't create justice in the world through unjust treatment of your own body→ Learning to trust the magic works—even when facing fear with celebrity clients who give zero feedback→ Having one person ask the right questions: "Has anything changed in that environment since you grew up?"→ The question underneath it all: can you honor what's true even when it breaks expectations?Jessica opens up about why breaking the norm of constant achievement required more courage than any big leap she'd ever taken. She shares how community reflection helps quiet the voices that say "you're not enough," and why she now practices what she preaches—even when it scares her.This conversation is for anyone who's spent their life meeting expectations, proving their worth, and pushing past limits—and is now learning that following your heart sometimes means breaking the very norms that kept you safe.About Jessica Lyda:Jessica Lyda is an energy healer and cacao ceremony facilitator based in San Diego. After years working as a social media manager while managing chronic illness, Jessica broke the norm of "acceptable career paths" to follow her heart into full-time healing work. She now holds space for individual sessions, cacao ceremonies, and works with both private clients and social justice organizations on embodied approaches to change.Jessica can be found:https://genuineconversationsmedia.com/aboutVlada can be found:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vlada/Substack: https://heartfulwonders.substack.com/Episode is produced by: Mun Yee Kelly: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mun-yee-kelly-769868/Resources mentioned:Energy healing and bodywork https://genuineconversationsmedia.com/oneononesessionsCacao ceremonies https://genuineconversationsmedia.com/cacao-ceremoniesWomen's leadership retreats https://genuineconversationsmedia.com/mini-retreats