What Solo Traveling in Hawaii Taught Me About Freedom, Intuition, and Letting Go (Part 2)

By Shanon | Fuel the Fire Podcast, Episode 51

Last week I shared the first piece of what came through for me during my solo trip to Hawaii — and honestly, I could have talked about it for hours.

This week, we're picking up right where we left off. I have points two through seven to walk you through, and I promise I'll be a little more focused this time (no promises on keeping it short — I love a good, juicy story).

But before I dive in, I want to leave you with something that came up as I was getting ready to record. Something I think so many of us need to hear.

Go back to the younger version of you.

Think about what you dreamed of doing, who you dreamed of being.

For me?

I used to walk around my room with a pretend microphone, rehearsing speeches as if I were already on stage as a motivational speaker.

I want to revisit those dreams.

Because as kids, we are actually deeply connected to what our soul truly desires — and then adulthood happens.

Practicality creeps in.

Financial pressures take over.

And somewhere along the way, we detach from those innate gifts that were always meant for us.

Those dreams don't have to become your career. But they deserve a place in your life.

Give yourself permission to go back and find them.

Okay. Now let's get into it.

Point 2: I Finally Felt Free in My Body

This one is big.

For years, I craved freedom in my own skin — and I had no idea how to get there. Going through my bodybuilding era, my powerlifting era, CrossFit... I was always hyper-focused on performance AND appearance.

I felt like if I didn't look a certain way, people wouldn't respect me as a dietitian. I used my body to validate my worth.

Getting deeper into my business and becoming the face of what I was building only made it worse. I was exhausted. Year after year, the same thoughts: When do I get to stop counting? When do I get to sit down for a meal without analyzing every bite? When do I just... exist in my body?

Hawaii gave me that.

Going somewhere where I knew absolutely no one was exactly what I needed. No one knew who I was. No one was watching. So I just... showed up. Wore the bathing suit I wanted. Walked on the beach without sucking it in or contorting myself. Let the sun touch my skin and stopped worrying about what anyone thought.

And here's the thing about being seen in your body — it's different from mirror work. When you're actually witnessed by other people, it cracks something open in you. It dissolves fear in a way that nothing else quite does. Standing on that beach in a bikini with nowhere to hide felt deeply vulnerable — and deeply liberating.

I also want to say this clearly, because it's at the core of how we approach things at Fuel the Fire: you cannot make weight loss the goal and actually get the results you're looking for. When weight loss is the driving force, you make choices that aren't truly healthy — you're chasing a number. When you shift your focus to feeling good, building real mental and physical health, and addressing the deeper emotional layers? Weight loss happens as a byproduct.

Most weight loss programs never touch those deeper layers. And so like a weed snipped from the top — it just keeps growing back. The real goal is freedom. And I finally, truly, let myself experience it.

Point 3: Nature Is More Than a Nice Walk — It's Medicine

I realized on this trip just how deeply I need to be in nature — and not just for the scenery.

Being in nature is genuinely incredible for your nervous system. When I spend too much time inside, I forget I'm human. I get so caught up in doing, doing, doing — running on a wheel inside a little hamster cage — that I lose sight of the fact that I'm even in a cage.

The moment I step outside, something wakes up in me.

We are not separate from nature.

We are nature.

We're created from God, just like the flowers and the clouds and the ocean.

And when we stay too disconnected from that?

Energy gets stuck in us.

It has nowhere to go.

Even five minutes outside counts. You don't have to hike. You don't even have to walk. Just get outside and feel connected to the elements.

In Hawaii, I also noticed my skin clearing up significantly. I'd been dealing with acne I was really self-conscious about, and by the end of the trip — wearing almost no makeup the entire time — my skin had transformed. I attribute that to sun, rest, and finally, finally taking the pressure off myself to constantly perform.

Being in nature also made my meditation practice feel more accessible. Meditation isn't about thinking nothing — it's about watching your thoughts without attaching heavy emotion to them. Doing that outside, with wind on your skin and birds in the background, gives your nervous system something natural to anchor to. It's a completely different experience.

Get outside, friend.

As often as you can.

Point 4: Learning to Trust My Intuition

This one surprised me.

Going into that trip, I felt so disconnected from my intuition. My inner voices were so loud that they drowned out any nudge I was actually receiving. I questioned everything.

While I was there, I connected with a spiritual mentor — someone I encountered at a sacred site I'd stumbled upon during one of my spontaneous solo adventures. She began teaching me how to actually listen to my intuition. How to quiet the noise, get present in my body, and ask it real questions. I still use those practices today, almost daily.

Here's what shifted for me: I had spent so much of my life outsourcing my decisions. Looking to other healthcare providers, friends, and family to tell me what was right. And that constant search for external validation creates so much pain — it makes energy feel stuck, it breeds self-doubt, and over time, it erodes your ability to trust yourself.

The goal isn't to do life alone. Community matters deeply, and I believe we genuinely need each other. But there's a difference between connecting with people to grow and heal together, and using people to validate your every choice. True trust starts with yourself.

Coming home from Hawaii, I was a different person. My intuition became my navigation system. And that changed everything — my health, my relationships, my career, my ability to feel confident in the direction I was moving.

Point 5: The Power of Acupuncture and Meditation for Pain

Okay — stay with me on this one before you scroll past.

While I was in Hawaii, I got a really bad tooth infection.

Like, half my face swollen up like a baseball bad.

And because my body reacts terribly to most pain medications (long story, but Tylenol genuinely makes me worse — doctors always look at me sideways when I say I'm allergic, but I promise it's real), I had to find another way.

What I started doing was breathing into the pain. Not resisting it, not tensing against it — but fully welcoming it. I would breathe into the pain point, ask God to show me what I needed to learn, and just get quiet.

It sounds different, I know.

But it worked.

My pain levels dropped significantly. I was able to sleep.

Then the spiritual mentor I'd connected with introduced me to her husband, who was an acupuncturist. He was incredible. He'd put a needle in, I'd feel the pain shift immediately, he'd take it out, the pain would return. The contrast was undeniable. I became a believer on the spot.

Acupuncture is rooted in ancient Chinese medicine and it works through the body's meridians — pathways of energy. I already incorporate EFT tapping and acupressure into my work with clients, and this experience cemented for me just how powerful these practices are, both for physical pain and emotional healing.

Our bodies are so capable. We just have to stop overriding them.

Point 6: Don't Take Other People's Actions Personally

This lesson came with a character.

In my hostel, I met someone who introduced himself as "Jesus." (Spoiler: that was not his name.) Very charismatic, very good-looking, full of instant intensity and deep conversation.

Within two hours of meeting him, he was convinced we were soulmates.

I was convinced we were not.

I had done enough healing by that point to recognize the pattern — the love bombing, the rushed emotional intimacy, the physical signs in my body that said this dynamic is familiar, and it's not safe for you.

I held my boundary clearly and kindly.

What happened next was the real lesson. Once he sensed that he wasn't going to get what he was looking for, his energy shifted. On a hike we'd agreed to go on together, I hesitated at a section of wet, slippery rocks on a cliff edge.

And instead of being supportive, he made a dig at me — something about being a scared little leader.

That stung. For about a minute.

And then I realized: this has nothing to do with me. He was in his own pain, projecting outward. I just happened to be standing there. Once I saw that clearly, I let it go, turned around, and walked away. I never saw or spoke to him again.

The things people say and do, especially when they feel rejected or frustrated?

They're almost always a projection.

It's their world, their wounds.

You don't have to carry it.

One Last Thing: Sunrise and Sunset

Every single day in Hawaii, I was outside for both.

I'd wake up early, make my matcha and grab my musubi, and catch the sunrise on the beach. Then I'd end every day the same way — sitting outside as the sun went down.

I can't explain it logically, but something happens to your body when you witness the sun rising and setting. The biohackers have been talking about this for years, and I now understand why. It grounds you. It reminds you that time is moving, that you're alive, that you're part of something much bigger than your to-do list.

If you can do it once a week, try it. Start your day or end it in nature. It will change something in you — quietly, gently, and permanently.

Ready to Feel This for Yourself?

If any of this resonated with you — if something lit up when you read about body freedom, intuition, or finally feeling alive in your own skin — I want to talk to you.

Schedule a free consultation with me to explore my program, Body and Soul Freedom.

In that session, we'll get into what's really going on beneath the surface — the patterns, the blocks, the places where your energy has been stuck. That initial conversation alone shifts things.

And right now, I'm offering it completely free and one-on-one.

This might not always be available, so take advantage while it is.

Let's figure out what your next step looks like — and what it would feel like to truly come home to yourself.