The Burnout Breakthrough: Navigating Life's Initiations with Lara Ferreira
House of Peregrine (01:03)
Hello everyone. And welcome back to the house of Peregrine podcast. I'm your host, Michele Weber. And today I'm sitting down with a guest whose journey speaks to the courage of transformation. My guest is Lara Ferreira coach, facilitator and founder of mindful experiences.
Originally from Brazil, Lara built her career in the corporate world before facing a burnout that led her to find her That period of unraveling eventually became a doorway into deeper work, one that guided her from a life defined by performance and expectation into a life devoted to alignment, presence, and purpose. Today, Lara supports others navigating their own journey to purpose through coaching, retreats, cacao ceremonies, and microdosing practices.
She also shares openly about her own journey, including the sequence of events like COVID, a career misalignment, a divorce, and a move abroad that led to a wake-up call in the form of a burnout. Now she teaches her clients ways in which they can find integration in every part of their life with purpose through holistic mentoring. In our conversation, we explore burnout and many crises we may experience in life as initiations.
not as something to romanticize, but as an invitation to necessary change. We talk about alternative modalities for personal insight, what Lara is seeing in her clients and workshops that speaks to the collective, and how different approaches, whether through plant medicine, ceremony, or simple presence, can help us uncover what lies beneath the surface. This is a conversation about endings that make way for beginnings, about courage in the midst of loss, and about the healing paths available when we choose to look within.
Okay, let's begin.
you so much for joining me today, Lara It's such a pleasure to have you on.
Lara (02:46)
Thank you
for having me, I'm very excited.
House of Peregrine (02:50)
introduction, I want to start first with your story. Can you expound a little bit on what led you to this path of coaching?
Lara (02:58)
Yeah, of course.
I would say that it started 11 years ago when I was feeling a lot of dissatisfaction in my career at work. I worked ⁓ for 15 years in marketing for global companies and I was back in Brazil really feeling stressed and I would look to my managers, directors, CMOs and I couldn't see myself in that journey in the long run. I couldn't feel motivated to get there.
So I started reflecting, so if I'm not gonna do this, what am I gonna do then? I don't know, I don't have any other hobbies or aspirations or interests that I could turn into kind of a career. So that was really, yeah, scary. And because I was also feeling so stressed, I decided, okay, I don't have the answers right now, but I know I need to start taking better care of myself, of my health, especially my mental health.
So I started this journey of both taking care of myself, like wellness journey, but also at the back of my head, I needed to find a purpose, some sense of meaning for my future. So I started as well at the same time, ⁓ career transitioning coaching program to start mapping other possibilities. So that was kind of the start of this journey of personal development.
But at some point I couldn't really find which direction to go. I had more or less like five possibilities, paths, but I couldn't feel in my heart which one to further invest my time, my energy. So I just kept going, working in corporate, feeling unhappy, knowing that that wasn't my path, but not knowing which one it would be then. And then, yeah, life kept going on. ⁓
I knew I wanted to live in Europe ⁓ more permanently. I was living in Brazil, but I lived before in London and in Sweden. And I knew as, let's say, life ambition or life plan that I would like to live mostly in the Netherlands due to mostly the lifestyle and searching this work-life balance, which I didn't have back then. So, that was my life plan. But then COVID hit.
And I felt like, OK, now my life plan, there is no life plan anymore. I don't even know if I'm going to survive this pandemic because we were in that phase of what's happening. But still, I saw that as an opportunity as well, because then ⁓ interviews were taking place fully remotely. So I started applying for jobs in the Netherlands, even though I was in Brazil. And ultimately, I got a job here. I moved here with my ex. ⁓
husband at the time. And for me it was like, yeah, it's a fresh start. I'm going to be happy. I'm going to find myself in marketing career in a different culture or environment. That would be great. But that wasn't the case. And the more, let's say, successful I was,
the more like higher job roles, title, the more money I was making actually the less happy I was. And on the contrary, like my health was being even more jeopardized by the lack of satisfaction coming from the lack of purpose or feeling like I was using my full potential at work or that there was something off even though on paper everything seemed amazing, living abroad, living the expat life, making money.
traveling but yeah I was really feeling like numb and disconnected and ultimately that led me to a burnout and that was my wake-up call.
House of Peregrine (06:44)
Wow. And I hear this so much and I often find myself wondering, and this is not necessarily only I'm asking you, but do you think corporate life is good for anyone?
Lara (06:58)
⁓ I think anything can be good to anyone when there is a match, when there is an alignment and when it's done consciously.
So if you know about who you are, what is important to you, what drives you, what motivates you, and then you can find the right environment for that. And even corporate can be also so broad. So there are different company cultures, there are different company sizes, setups, from more traditional to recent startups. So I think you can find yourself in the corporate.
But it's really important that the person knows about themselves and what is important and in which environment they will thrive the most.
House of Peregrine (07:43)
Yeah, so I just talked to too many creative people who weren't aligned with corporate. That's good answer.
Lara (07:48)
Yeah, I know I
have the same. see a lot of people not happy in corporate, but then again, it's a matter of match. Yeah.
House of Peregrine (07:59)
Yeah, I love that answer. So I want to ask you about you and I spoke earlier and I'm really, we talk about burnout a lot at House of Pernod, House of Peregrine and also in the world. There's a lot of talk about this and what I'm noticing is a move towards understanding it more and more deeply as not necessarily only, um, maybe
negative thing or a, problem or a symptom of a problem. It's a little bit similar to like menopause, how people are starting to look about menopause where it's like, wait, it's not just a negative. It's actually, ⁓ you move through it to something else. And so what I want to talk about with you a little bit is
these initiations that we go through or our body puts us through or some greater force brings us through. How do you see that?
Lara (09:02)
Yeah, I see every, let's say, life challenge and opportunity for change. So when we are, when everything is good, we don't see the need for change. We don't see the need for improvement. Even our brains trained not to change anything at all. It's really made for us to be optimized. And once we learn something, then that process of learning, it stretches our brain.
But once that's done, it's like, OK, now I know it, we're going to just do it as it is and let's not waste energy anymore. But then if there is an external factor or something changes on the way, then it shakes our system. And then it's a moment to reflect, OK, what does it mean? Do I need to make change? So in the case of, for example, burnout,
or as you said, like physical body experiences, yeah, maternity or menopause or other situations, there are always an invitation to look inward, to reflect about the future. What is this calling me to do? What is this making me, yeah, stop and reflect? So even like burnout is really a process of you shut down, your system shut down.
your brain, but also usually the body. Usually the body is the one giving signals and then we don't listen to it to the point that we can't really think or yeah, or do anything else anymore. So then it's like, okay.
House of Peregrine (10:32)
Would you describe it as something like the body
then shuts your brain down. Like it kind of takes over.
Lara (10:41)
Yes, yeah, exactly.
The cortisol levels of stress are so high for such a long time that the body can't really work, function anymore. The brain can't function anymore. So that people experience this in a different way. Some people really cannot really leave the bed in the morning. Some others can't think properly. They get a lot of like brain fog and...
It starts affecting the brain and the body. And one, of course, is affecting the other.
House of Peregrine (11:19)
Yeah. And do you think that I think there's far earlier warning signals than brain fog, not being able to get out of bed, but we're just not in our culture. We're trained at least you were raised in Brazil. I was born in the U S maybe they're similar. Feelings do not matter. We, we push those aside and only trust our thoughts and logic.
And so that gets a lot of us in trouble, I think now at this point. And so what are the ways that you find, I've learned some for myself, how my body tells me no's, but what do you think the earlier signs of burnout might be according to your clients and yourself?
Lara (12:10)
One of the clearest signs
are energy levels, so really feeling tired or crawling in the bed, really like don't feeling like waking up or getting up and not having energy to exercise and then you get into this kind of loop of I don't have energy to exercise and then I'm not...
Exercise could give energy, you just simply don't have energy at all. You get home from work and you can only go to the sofa and scroll your phone or watch Netflix and that's it. And you leave kind of waiting for the weekend as the only source of motivation or happiness or joy to come. So, energy level, sleep, the quality of the sleep, having insomnia or not being able or really waking up at 4 a.m. and not being able to sleep anymore because you're so
already in the stress mode and your mind is Some digestive system, like your digestive system can be affected, good health, so it is really important also to take care of that or to be aware on what's And overall I would say, immune system, like if you're getting sick very often, your skin, yeah, really looking into your body.
House of Peregrine (13:19)
Yeah. My story was very interesting because I didn't have a job at the time, which was the number one no for me. ⁓ but I was making it in parenting with three toddlers moving abroad. Everything was moving. was remodeling a house and I just, my body just shut down. Could not feel my face, could not feel my body, but I was still functioning. I was still able to power through, which is not a good thing.
but you can't quit parenting and you can't quit mid remodel of a house. You can, but it's harder to do. And so what I've tried to learn from that experience was to recognize my no's way early and doesn't always match my desire. And so for me, there's a mismatch between capacity and the ability to hold stress.
and my body's ability to do that and be the way I want to be in daily life. So the way I want to be with my kids was, is now my guide for if I'm able to do something. So if I can hold this, then I can hold more. And so it's kind of an interesting process or it has been for me to go through it through the portal of pleasure. Like if I'm still experiencing pleasure, then I can expand my capacity.
But not until then.
Lara (14:47)
That's beautiful, yeah. Balancing the desire with the capacity or checking in if you have the capacity for all of the desires and managing also the...
House of Peregrine (14:58)
because I was trained
to put my desire aside, then I have a ton of capacity. And a lot of people do. If you don't pay attention to your tiredness or your anger or anything else, you can have a ton of capacity until you don't.
Lara (15:13)
Exactly, yeah. And it's beautiful to say also about like,
yeah, what is your priority? And that is also a source of joy and energy. So that recharges you. So you have more capacity for the other desires.
House of Peregrine (15:29)
It's so true. And so what I want to know was your story of that. When you, I mean, you have the big four here, COVID, which is everyone's layer here, but then you were in a career misalignment and a relationship misalignment, if I can say it that way. And then you just moved country.
Lara (15:55)
was expecting that this moving abroad would fix all of the others in a way, at least the marriage and the career. Yeah. Yeah.
House of Peregrine (15:56)
That's a lot.
Talk about that. Yeah, talk about the moving country
thinking maybe it would fix everything.
Lara (16:10)
Yeah, that's
excellent. Often we believe that the environment is the issue, right? So we as human beings have this tendency of blaming the external or blaming others or situations and not looking so much inward on how did I got to this situation or what can I do instead of waiting for others or a better job or...
nicer company or you know, yeah, so for me that was the biggest learning, one of the biggest learning on this journey. I was really hoping because that was already my life plan for the long run to move abroad. So I was so happy that I was gonna make it and my marriage started not working so well since COVID. So in a way I thought like, okay, there will not be COVID anymore and we will create a new routine that we both really want to. So that might help.
or solve the issue, ⁓ as well as the career. I was like, yeah, I'm going to be happier because I'm moving into a country where the work culture has a better fit to what I value, what are my values.
House of Peregrine (17:20)
Yeah, so at this point, I just want to give an example. At that time, can you remember, what did you think the problem was?
Lara (17:28)
The problem was my lifestyle in São Paulo, in Brazil, which was working 10 hours a day, traffic jam, two hours in the car every day, having very little time for exercising, being always in a rush, and just living the life on weekends where I had to fit everything.
personal, let's say, appointments, with meeting friends and family, with spending time with my partner at the time. So I think the issue was the whole lifestyle, trying to fit everything into a routine that was not sustainable. So being able to live here and have a better work-life balance, I would have more time and space for the other things. So I think that was the problem and the solution that I was expecting.
House of Peregrine (18:15)
Yeah. And would you say that that was partially true?
Lara (18:20)
⁓ Yes.
House of Peregrine (18:24)
So then when you took that layer away, you still had your marriage, your career and yourself. So then when that didn't solve the problems there, you were able to look deeper.
Lara (18:31)
Yeah, yeah, yeah,
definitely. Yeah, I had more time to reflect instead of just being in the survival mode. Yeah, definitely.
House of Peregrine (18:41)
Yeah.
Yeah. I like to believe that we can do all of this work in an environment like that. But I like to also sometimes wonder if that's true.
So I like to think of it in layers. So you took that layer off, problem's still there, misalignment's still there. And so then where did you start looking next? Is it career?
Lara (18:58)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
So, no, actually, well, the career was already, I was very, very hopeful that ⁓ with a European or Dutch working culture, I would feel more satisfied with my career or find a job that would be a better match than the ones I had back in Brazil. But then ultimately, I was really, yeah, that was not my path. So it doesn't matter which job or environment or company or management.
I wouldn't find the satisfaction anywhere. So I think that was the... Because it was on the line, yeah. The environment, the ways, I would say maybe in... I haven't worked, for example, in startups or in a different setting. I've worked mostly in traditional, let's say corporate global companies. And yeah, I believe that that was the mismatch, is that the ways of working in global big companies.
House of Peregrine (19:46)
It's because it wasn't aligned.
Lara (20:08)
So in that sense, I couldn't find myself in... I liked the marketing, like what I was doing, but there are so many other factors that I didn't fit my values. So that's the thing, there was a mismatch in values. Yeah.
House of Peregrine (20:19)
Yeah, it wasn't a game you wanted to play.
Yeah. I like to think of it in terms of the games you're willing to play. It sounds really funny. so even though you liked what you were doing, maybe even the people you were doing it with, something about it was misaligned. And so you started exploring that.
Lara (20:25)
Exactly. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. It
was a mix of factors, I would say.
House of Peregrine (20:43)
Yeah. And then did that new awareness that you started having with your career bleed into the rest of your life? This awareness when you start waking up to these awarenesses.
Lara (20:53)
No, definitely. think that's also why I could identify that I really needed a ⁓ shift, ⁓ bigger shift, say, because I had that awareness that I was not in the right place or path in terms of corporate for a while, for like a decade. But as I couldn't find what else I would do, I kept being in a disalignment, aware of it.
So that makes it even harder. So at some point, yeah, then burnout happened and I was like, okay, that is the last drop. Like that is the wake up call or like I really cannot keep working like this. I need to now find my direction. Like yes or yes.
House of Peregrine (21:20)
yeah.
Yeah. Can you go back and talk about that phase of knowing you're misaligned and doing it anyway? That's incredibly interesting. So slowly feel your way through explaining that and what leads to breathe, what leads to burnout.
Lara (21:44)
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, of course. yeah,
so yeah, for me it was this when I was looking my future, I knew I didn't want that anymore, but I had no clarity. It was like just blurry of what else could I do. So I started a career coaching transition.
long time ago, like 10 years ago, I met a few possibilities. I thought of working with like traveling, something in the travel industry or a few other possibilities based on my interests and what gives me motivation and like, yeah, I would do that even for free in a way, but I need to find ways to pay my bills. So how I can transform those interests into something, into income.
But I couldn't really find which one exactly because I was not so connected with my heart, say. I was not balanced. So I was stressed because I was working in a very stressful environment. I was not connected so much with spirituality. I was actually starting this journey of inner connection and outer connection before I was completely not connected at all, not engaged in any sort of belief.
So for it was a combination of really first finding this balance in my health so I could be in a better state of mind and body. Then I started this journey of spirituality, would say, combined with the personal development kept doing coaching, therapy, really learning about myself and having that clarity on if I don't know what I want for sure, I know exactly what I don't want. And that was shaping my future decisions and actions.
But then with burnout, was like, okay, now I have and I need the time and the space to go deeper. Because while you are in the stressful environment, you don't have that space to connect and find the clarity that is within. So for me, was really important to take this time, go deeper, and then I use different techniques as well, or tools such as microdosing, psilocybin.
House of Peregrine (23:40)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Lara (24:00)
to help me remove a little bit of the mental noise, especially from society, expectations, my own judgment on what am I doing, how am I taking time off and take care of myself and find my life purpose. Like, what is this? Just find a job and keep living life. So yeah, I needed a lot of tools, especially, I think, a blend of mindset and mind tools from therapy and coach.
connected with the holistic ones from microdosing, plant medicine. So I only found the clarity of the answer or felt the right path once I managed to balance both, not only the logic, but also the and this inner connection.
House of Peregrine (24:50)
Yeah. And as we spoke before, that's kind of what you would describe as your strength is this analytical way of going about things.
Lara (25:00)
Yeah, at end of the day we are rational beings. And when comes to big life changes or career changes or any big change, need our brain, our system needs to feel And safety comes of a sense of control and clarity. So I believe it is important to put things on paper, make a plan, have structure. But not only, you also need to feel inside of you that that is the way, that is the path because
Otherwise, when difficult situations come along, you really need that inner strength that even if you don't know if it's gonna work or not, you have this like, but I feel it. And this is something that only comes from this kind of inner connection and not just from rationality.
House of Peregrine (25:48)
Right. And I think that that's what a lot of people have this realizations right now, the way we've been kind of socialized or taught. And it's what's highly valued is this analytical ability and feelings, especially if you're a woman, they just don't matter. You're irrational, selfish, whatever words we've all been raised with, but don't listen to them. They'll take you astray.
and so the power that the collective, I believe is finding is this combination of body intuition mind, and not getting rid of our intellect, but giving it far less credence than it has been given. ⁓ and so what for you, were you doing this by yourself? Are you using coaches? How did you come to this?
Lara (26:35)
second.
No, I had
a lot of support ⁓ and guides. So I had therapy that really helped me with the emotional support and finding also the root causes of everything because burnout is a reaction from a misalignment, from even like ⁓ triggers that are usually connected with childhood traumas and everything. So for me, therapy really helped to understand what
how I got to that situation. And coaching helped me with the future thinking and planning and seeing possibilities, seeking direction, putting things on not only from what I had in my mind, but also having other perspectives. And the third pillar was the spiritual inner connection that I got from holistic practices. So joining, yeah, like Kundalini energy work, doing cacao ceremonies and
mostly the main thing what really helped me the most was microdosing, the cycles of microdosing because those holistic events or practices they happen, they take like one hour, two hours and then you do it once a week. But microdosing is something you do for like one or two months and you have a clear intention and that is building up over time, building neuroplasticity, building a new thought pattern.
That's when change can really happen.
House of Peregrine (28:11)
I think that microdosing is kind of a buzzword in a way, but that doesn't make it not useful. And the way that you were using it and learn to use it is a way, I want to know how you see it. Is it a way of getting a little bit past our defenses or is it an actual difference, like a different path?
Lara (28:41)
Well, way I see it is it helps to remove the mental noises, especially from beliefs that are not ours. So we are able to don't give importance of things that are not really important to us. There are things from society or family or whatever.
House of Peregrine (28:42)
into our subconscious.
Hmm.
Lara (29:07)
think that's one thing that's very important when we are in this journey of discovering ourselves, of connecting and finding answers from within. when you microdose it, you do a cycle, you have an intention. So it's also a way to go deep into whatever it is that you're looking for or you want to change or transform. So it can be used either for...
connecting with your intuition or it can also be for really opening your mind for new possibilities and having clarity and more like this creative expansion part. So it would really depend on what is your intention and your need in a way.
House of Peregrine (29:50)
It also helps titrate that in a way, any of those things, because even expanding expansion or having a goal or intention, there are still triggers there. And so it helps you like a little bit of support to titrate into these bigger, these experiences that might seem big to your nervous system, but might be a small step in the grand scheme of things. So for me, I think it helps with that.
just getting you a little bit of support to titrate into these things.
Lara (30:18)
Yeah.
Yeah, definitely.
It's one tool, just like many others, available to help you uncover who you are and what you want and how to get there.
House of Peregrine (30:32)
Yeah. And so you use this in your coaching, which I really love because, well, why don't you tell me how it works for your clients and tell me why you find it powerful. You don't only work with microdosing, but it's one tool you have. So describe how it helps your clients, how you use it. Give us the goods.
Lara (30:47)
Exactly. Yeah.
Yeah, of course. Yeah, well,
usually I guide my clients in a journey that starts from taking care of their health first as a first step. Really finding this balance in your body, sleeping better, having energy, because then you're going to be in a good state of mind and body to go through this journey of going within thinking possibilities, being open to, yeah, maybe like confronting situations or possibilities that might come along.
Because change is never easy and thinking of new ways or solutions, you always have to give up on something and that's where it gets uncomfortable. So the first step is always like, first let's find balance and then not necessarily microdose needs to be part of that step yet. But then we go to the second stage, which is getting insights, learning about yourself, really self-awareness, really the personal development part.
then microdosing can play a very big role because it will help the person really remove those layers and judgments and really accepting who they are instead of thinking that they should be something that they're really not. So I think also microdosing can help with this compassionate element ⁓ of acceptance and deeper connection because you're less in your
mind or judgment mind and you're more into your whole. So then from that moment on the microdosing can really help in that sense. And usually how I guide people is I really explain everything about microdosing, how it is, how the cycle is gonna look like, how they will find their dosage and that will be there like during the process. So again, they can really, we can really exchange until they're comfortable with the dosage they're doing.
What is their intention? Which protocol they're going to follow? So there's a lot of education in the first one or two sessions in this process. And then they do it as a kind of daily practice during the course of four to eight weeks. And then go to the third stage of the program, which is really finding this direction. So what is it that you want to get out of this? Where do you want to reach? What is it you can reflect on your ideal lifestyle?
What are your goals for the long term and how you can bring that to the short term? What should be your next step? That is the clarity, moment of clarity. And then once it is clear what you want to get, where you want to reach, and then we make a plan. So the last stage is about creating this roadmap with the next steps and action plan where they will start following with my guidance at first and then they just keep going with their life and up to the point where they reach what they want to reach.
So microdosing would be something that would start as an educational in the first one or two sessions and then with guidance on the intention and how is it going, the dosage and then at some point the cycle would end and that would be somewhere between they got the clarity or they are already taking action into their desired goal.
House of Peregrine (34:10)
Yeah, and this is a repeatable pattern. Once you learn this, you can do this then for your next goal and check in with you or with a coach. ⁓ It's a new way of bringing about change from within.
Lara (34:24)
Yes, indeed.
House of Peregrine (34:27)
Yeah, in my experience with psilocybin or microdosing, incredible to me how little I actually feel. It's incredible how you look back at your day and go, it was just different. And there's no ⁓ feeling of being on something. And so it feels very, I don't know how to put it, natural in that way where
Lara (34:36)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
you
House of Peregrine (34:54)
Even if I take Tylenol or ibuprofen, I feel affected. If I take allergy medicine, I feel affected. If I drink alcohol, I'm blunted. And so this was new for me because I grew up somewhere where this stuff is illegal. It was very, even a process to come to that, that this is not going to affect me the same way. It can, if you take enough.
Lara (34:56)
Bye.
House of Peregrine (35:20)
But if you stay in these microdose levels, it's incredible how natural it feels. Is that something a lot of your clients have?
Lara (35:32)
Yeah, sometimes even people feel a bit disappointed that they're not feeling anything. But that is the concept. Like if you are feeling something, that means your dosage is not right. You shouldn't feel anything. So it is really tiny dosage, around 5 to 10 percent of a regular macro dose. And it acts really in the background. So you wouldn't feel much happening in the first maybe one or two weeks. But as you are monitoring and you're journaling and you're...
⁓ seeing how it goes with your energy levels, with your sleep, with your overall well-being feeling and you look back after four or six weeks from the beginning to where you were at that moment you're gonna see like wow actually that is...
shift is happening, even if I'm not feeling or like I'm not so aware on my daily life. But if I look back, I can see that the improvement. So it's like any other like practice, like stretching, maybe you don't feel super like lose when you stretch for two or three days. But after two months and you look back like, wow, I can do a lot that I couldn't do two months ago. So it's the concept of building something consciously, but not necessarily.
big, seeing the big shift happening is not a magic pill. That's the concept, it's not a magic pill.
House of Peregrine (36:54)
Yeah, but it is an incredible support or boon. It's like having a personal trainer if you're trying to stretch and the combination of doing it right and having insights and making sure you're tracking is part of it. but that was my biggest surprise about my curse dosing. And I think when people, when we've done it with house of Peregrine before for micro dosing challenges, people are actually scared to take the first dose.
because of the association with hallucinations, these sort of things. But that's not what you're after. These are not deep dives. These are really holistic support in the form of a plant medicine or whatever we call it.
Lara (37:37)
Yes,
exactly. It is a support that can speed up or end, deepen the process and also for a more like long-lasting effect in a way because the way cello-cybernex in our neural system is that it promotes neuroplasticity. So the change or the improvements that you get from this process, it's harder to fall back into old patterns once the change is there.
So it's also used a lot for treating trauma, addiction. So it is very powerful, even though it's septal. It's septal but powerful,
House of Peregrine (38:15)
Yeah, which is beautiful. Okay, so what other modalities are helping your clients right now? I want to go into that, but first I want to see collectively, what are some of the things or themes you're seeing with your clients right now? Post-COVID, the world is very different than it is now 10 years ago. very different. So what are you seeing in your clients?
Lara (38:33)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah. I would say that one of the big shifts, not only from my clients, but maybe from society, is that we started reflecting more about what matters in life. So before, we were just living kind of this autopilot mode. And then we took the moment. We had the moment. In a way, we were forced to reflect, wow, life can end at any moment. There's so many things outside of my control that can happen. And I can just die. then like,
House of Peregrine (38:45)
What are some of the themes?
Lara (39:14)
Am I living a life worth living? So I think that's kind of the first reflection that happened with a lot of people and most people that I work with as well. And especially that came very strongly this reflection regarding their career, the satisfaction that they have when going to work.
So a lot of people feel they would like to do something that feels more meaningful, that they are using their time, their energy for something that is worth it, for something that gives them energy, not just drains their energy, ⁓ something where they can use their full potential and not only go there for the paycheck. So I believe a lot of people see that work, that their time and energy on Earth is so valuable.
that we need to make it worth. And of course, work is important. We need to have means for paying our bills. But how to make that happen in a way that don't drain, but it's more balanced. So I'll say this is the main topic that my clients ⁓ struggle with, how to find this balance between income and satisfaction.
House of Peregrine (40:21)
Yeah. And this concept of something giving you energy instead of just draining you, is incredibly different than how we are raised as to be more of a contributor to an outside thing. If you are raised a certain way, how do you conceptualize that for people? Because in my own life, I didn't believe that at all at first that
what gives me energy. And it came to me actually in a, my own psychedelic journey and it was in within relationships. So it's like, if it's working, it creates this infinity sign where it's giving and taking and giving and taking. But if it's only taking from you, you can't, it's like physically impossible almost to give. And we talk about giving from an empty well, all this stuff.
But this early experiencing that one of the ways to do that is to burn out. But just that belief that it's possible to have that generative experience with something you make money at and sustain your life. That's a big cultural belief that we're overcoming. I think at this moment.
Lara (41:39)
Yeah,
I think nowadays we live in a of privileged moment in history where we have that opportunity to find out a way to balance both, whereas maybe back in the day that wasn't really a possibility. And that's why this is a belief that it's so strong in society from maybe our parents, grandparents. Before it was really about survival mode. But now with technology, with, like with
internet where you can really do a lot and learn a lot and everything's possible that also brings this kind of overwhelm like okay so how do I know also if I found a sweet spot because there might be other possibilities and other ways to be even more happy satisfied make more money or match those but what I see is that
House of Peregrine (42:29)
Yeah, fellas, how do
you know?
Lara (42:32)
going
inward and having a lot of clarity on what is important to you. I think that is always the baseline. So for some people, ⁓ having satisfaction from work is not important. They have other sources of satisfaction that are enough and then they can just go to work and do whatever and that doesn't drain their energy or there is a better balance. So maybe they get that energy from relationships. Yeah.
House of Peregrine (42:57)
Mm-hmm.
That's a lot about knowing your
why.
Lara (43:01)
It's really
about knowing your why and kind of also the battles you want to fight or the battles that are important to you. In my case, career was very important. Like doing something that brings me some sense of satisfaction is very important because I work like eight, 10 hours a day and that's ⁓ half of my life basically. But for some people it is not. They might have get satisfaction from...
hobbies, relationships, and other sources of satisfaction, then the work has a lower level of importance in this container. So it's always about understanding your container, what are the energy drainers, the energy givers, and how you can find a good match.
House of Peregrine (43:48)
And in my own life, this is a very interesting, I always say that women live more than one life at once. And so I think you do work with a lot of women, is that right? How do you help them conceptualize their values in each container that affect each other? So everyone has 24 hours in a day. You don't get more if you're a woman, no idea why. But.
Lara (43:59)
Yes.
House of Peregrine (44:14)
there are more expectations on your time, especially if you're a mom, even if you're not. How do you help people conceptualize that? Because for my own life, I get extremely frustrated when admin takes over my life as a parent, but it's necessary.
Lara (44:31)
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah.
House of Peregrine (44:34)
And my value is to be very involved in my kids' lives and for them to succeed in whatever they would like. But Admin, I swear to you, if someone offered me a place on a desert island with no email, I would take it.
Lara (44:36)
Yeah.
Yeah, I hear you. Yeah, that is actually the challenge of the modern world, right? Because we want to do so much. We have this ambition of living, joy, but also, yeah, we want to have a house that works properly, it's tidy and clothes are clean and food is made and healthy food is made from scratch. So because there's so much knowledge about the best ways.
to do everything and usually women are very ambitious in that sense. We really wanna do things properly and the best possible that we create this impossible ideal routine, let's say. And then when we don't deliver, we really feel frustrated. So what I usually...
House of Peregrine (45:38)
Well, what I've
experienced is other people feel very disappointed. So teachers will say, why didn't you answer my email within 24 hours or your kid, if it's not printed out, you know, whatever. So like there's this expectation that I have tried really hard to reject of perfection, but it's almost like that's being tested by everyone being, and my kids being
Lara (45:45)
⁓
Yeah.
Yeah.
House of Peregrine (46:06)
the ones that received the consequence of me doing these tests. And that's super interesting to me because I've hired assistance. I have AI tools. have all these things to minimize the things that I want to do as a mom and maximize the other things I want to do as a mom. Things like emotional support, homework, help, being there for them physically, emotionally, the admin.
Lara (46:21)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
House of Peregrine (46:36)
seems to be part of something I can't escape. So how do you help people with these types of, it's a block, right?
Lara (46:37)
Yeah, well,
of course, each situation is a situation. On one hand, it's a bit like, if you are doing what is important to you and to the ones you love that are affected by that, that should be somehow enough. Enough to not bother so much about others' expectations.
So, for example, in this case, like, why you haven't replied to the email? Maybe you know that it wasn't so necessary, so important, that wouldn't change much the well-being of your children. So you can just don't bother, let's say, in a way about that. It is easier said than done, definitely. yeah, but also I think that's all about like setting
House of Peregrine (47:29)
It was revolutionary, apparently.
Lara (47:34)
boundaries and focusing on your non-negotiable and in your container. Otherwise, how good of a mom would you be if you're so stressed because you have so much admin? How will you be able to give them emotional support? So once it is clear what is important to you and you are delivering that, ⁓ then the rest, we will at some point as human beings not be able to do everything we want to do.
doing it consciously and knowing, like choosing your battles, then that means you have the ownership, you have agency over your life and the well-being of others. ⁓ Instead of just, you know, trying your best to do everything and something will not work well and then the consequences might not be the best.
House of Peregrine (48:25)
I'm working on a big block of being able to be a woman the way I want to be. And so it's a very big block. I hope others are working on it, but I think work with the work, the work you're doing translates. Like you said, when you were working, started working in your career, it affected your relationship and showed you what was misaligned there. And this is now almost 10 years of working on my misalignments since living here.
Lara (48:33)
Yeah.
House of Peregrine (48:53)
it's really fun to find others working on these problems in their own lives. But it can be a bit lonely. So it's nice to have people like you or coaches around that are supportive, even if they don't know where you're going.
Lara (49:09)
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, and
to be kind to ourselves. We will, of course, always strive to 100%, but sometimes we only deliver 80%, and that's fine. But then other times, we also deliver 120. And I have this cousin. She's amazing. She is like CMO in big companies. She has a loving, nice family. She has hobbies. She sings. She dances. And then at some point, I asked her, how do you manage to do
all of that and be good at everything because she's such a nice person as well. And she was like, well, the secret is I'm not 100 % on everything all the time. So some weeks I'm a great mother, some other weeks I'm a great professional, and other weeks I'm great with myself as a person, as a woman, in my hobbies, but I'm not 100 % all the time with everything. So I kind of choose my battles daily, and that's how it goes.
House of Peregrine (50:11)
So she's an excellent multitasker.
Lara (50:13)
I think she's an excellent chooser of her consciously choosing when and how she will deliver and when and how she will not deliver and live in peace with it.
House of Peregrine (50:28)
Yeah, yeah, that's good. And acceptance is part of this process over and over again. And when you're clear on your values, it's a lot less effort to do everything. And when you're letting go of things that don't align, that frees up more energy for the things that do. And rinse and repeat for the rest of your life. Like that is what I've learned.
so when you're walking people through this, I want to just ask this last question. might have time for two more. When you're walking people through the process of finding their purpose, maybe with their career or within their values, do you find that there's a fear of their demons or their entire life falling down? How do you want people through that?
Lara (51:21)
Yes,
definitely. ⁓ I think fear will always be there because it's the fear of the unknown. ⁓ You might know what you don't want, but maybe the clarity of what you want or how to get there is not clear, it's not so tangible yet. And that, again, because our brain is so trained to make us feel safe all the time. And then when there is uncertainty, our brain and those voices in our head will be like...
No, this is not safe. You don't know how it's going to work, if it's going to work. So that's when the fear ⁓ appears. How to navigate it? think this clarity is key on what is it that you actually want or don't want first as a first step. Because then you start building your non-negotiables. Like, this is for sure something I will not consider, I will not do anymore. It's not going to be part of my life. So that is already...
that also feeds your brain into, this is clear. Even if something is unclear, this is clear. So that already gives this sense of safety. And then when you start navigating what is it that you want or how to get there, maybe there is still some uncertainty or things are blurry. But if you can feel in your system, in your intuition, in your gut, that this is the direction, then...
the nervous system also relaxes and starts trusting more, even if trusting in the unknown. But when this connection, this feeling of clarity, certainty, is in this case more like as a feeling and less of knowing, when this is so strong, then really your system relaxes. And that's when the fear starts turning into courage, into excitement.
And that's the energy you need for change. You feel inside of you that this is the right thing to do, even though you don't know the details, but that is enough to keep going.
House of Peregrine (53:32)
Yeah. And I think the thing that no one tells you is you're going to have to let go of some things and they might not be the things you expect, but on the other side of that is a lot of relief. And that if someone would have told you moving to Amsterdam or to the Netherlands would have changed your career, your partner's partnership and your everything, you know about your surroundings.
Would you have still done it?
Lara (54:03)
Yeah, that will be a big, yeah, that will be tricky to step into such an unknown future, definitely. Probably not, yeah.
House of Peregrine (54:16)
Yeah. And so I think.
There's two types of people in the world. Those who are fine jumping into that big whatever goes. I'm not one of them by the way. But then there's those of us who just need to make the change we see in front of us and then go on the life journey of creating a life we want. that a lot like the micro dosing happens step by step.
Lara (54:41)
you
House of Peregrine (54:44)
And so that's what I want people to know is that following your feelings or your impressions or your intuition or what your body's telling you will naturally lead you very gently, usually into what your next step should be.
Lara (55:01)
Yeah,
definitely. What I used to tell people is that use your fears or the questions that you have that don't have an answer yet, look at them with curiosity and start asking yourself more of those questions, start reflecting more, instead of just pushing them away because it is scary and then you just keep in this kind of freeze mode.
So whether you're questioning, I don't know, should I move, not move, start questioning more. What makes me want to move? What makes me don't want to move? What are my fears? How I can tackle them they happen, like create the worst case scenario, best case scenario, in between scenarios. And then the more you reflect, the more the answers will start popping
House of Peregrine (55:45)
Yeah. And what do you do when you come to the big realizations? How do you help your clients? So when you, I assume there was a moment or a hundred or a thousand where you realized your relationship was not going to survive. Are those the moments specifically you need support?
Lara (56:08)
I think that's very individual. It depends, I think, on, of course, the situation. Some people, like my profile is the kind of person that once something is very clear, then it's clear. I don't overthink. I don't keep ruminating that. But I know that for some people, is like, it's a process. It's kind of a griefing, letting go of something and building something else with more like...
Yeah, attention and care. So that is, it would depend a lot on the personality of the person. But definitely, I think being aware that you will, change is required. You need to leave something to give space for something else. So it's always about letting go of something. So that's something else. There's this beautiful, I don't know, message someone told me once, like open space for magic.
to come to your life. If you just want to be in control and everything like that, then there's no space. But if you open space, then who knows what happens. Maybe magic can happen.
House of Peregrine (57:15)
Yep. what would you say for someone who has been signed up for this deep dive through a burnout or through any other ending or physical illness or challenge? They didn't sign up for this. They didn't sign up for this journey into the soul. What advice would you give them?
Lara (57:42)
I usually say, see it as an invitation. And if you are in this victim mode, take the agency and transform it into an empowerment mode. What can you do? What is within your possibilities ⁓ to transform it?
and see almost as a new start. So like you're not broken, there's nothing wrong with you, you're just misaligned, you're just in the wrong place maybe with the wrong people. And that letting that go opens space for alignment. So really going inward, onward and seeking for what is the need from your soul and what can you do about
House of Peregrine (58:26)
Well, and that's a lot of acceptance and maybe grieving, especially if you didn't sign up for a burnout and your body is just saying, no, you didn't ask for this. You didn't ask for a spiritual journey or whatever the journey turns into. So maybe I would add potentially to allow yourself to feel angry, disappointed, sad, not ready for that phase to end or.
Lara (58:38)
Yeah. ⁓
House of Peregrine (58:53)
anger at yourself for not being strong enough or whatever your limiting belief is. I think that's an okay starting point if you have not initiated this journey.
Lara (59:06)
Definitely, yeah. And rest and take time.
House of Peregrine (59:08)
Or if you haven't signed up for it consciously anyway.
Lara (59:10)
Yeah, yeah,
really, definitely. And really take the time, rest and reflect and be kind to yourself. That's always the first step.
House of Peregrine (59:23)
Yeah, easier said than done sometimes, but necessary.
Lara (59:24)
Yeah, necessary.
That's often the invitation, right?
House of Peregrine (59:28)
Yes. Okay. Lastly, I want to ask you about different modalities you use. talked a lot about microdosing, but you're skilled in a lot of other modalities. If someone doesn't want to go that route, tell me a little bit about that as we close out.
Lara (59:43)
Yeah, my approach is ⁓ holistic, so I like blending the mind work, the mindset building using neuroscience tools, which I call micro habits for macro shifts. So really working on consciousness, awareness. So that is ⁓ one of the approach that I blend together with the body part, as I mentioned, like look.
listening to your body is the first step, balancing your health is also very important. So the combination of both are crucial for change and transformation. And depending on the person's beliefs, also bringing elements of emotional connection going deep ⁓ into yourself, but also maybe being open for the unknown or outer sources, let's
House of Peregrine (1:00:34)
The mystery.
Lara (1:00:34)
the mystery
exactly, let the magic believe that magic can happen. That is already a big step. So by
House of Peregrine (1:00:42)
That's one of our four pinnacles at House of Peregrine. Magic is real.
Lara (1:00:44)
Yeah, amazing, exactly.
So it's a matter of belief that comes to the first step of the mind and mindset. So that's why I like blending different approaches, because I believe that the combination of those help, because we as humans, are whole, right? We are not robots. We are not just a body moving and we have a soul. So how can we use...
the wholeness of us in the process of change and improving and building the life we want to live.
House of Peregrine (1:01:15)
Yeah. And we contain multitudes. So it's not just one part of you. Yeah, that's beautiful. And that combination, utilizing all of those different ways, like you said, using the client's belief system, soul, any spiritual, what do you consider spiritual? Because I know a lot of people are triggered by that word. You don't mean religious, I don't think.
Lara (1:01:22)
second.
Yeah. No, I
don't mean religious. it depends. For me, spiritual, always depends on the person's beliefs. So it can be about religion, if that's what resonates with the person. It can be about energy, how you feel when you are in certain situations with certain people. ⁓ It's usually more connected to feeling. ⁓ But to feel, you have to really go inward.
close your eyes and see what you're feeling, how you're feeling, where you're And then some people really feel when they feel connected to something, ⁓ like universal, spiritual world. So it would really depend on the person's belief. In my case, it's more on the spirituality and universal forces rather than religion. But nothing against religions, I think they serve a purpose.
If it's for the good, it's for the good of the well-being.
House of Peregrine (1:02:43)
Yeah, and think there's something in there about if you don't have rituals within religion, finding your own rituals that help you connect to that sense of the mystery or that sense of the whole or feeling more connected, because that's where a lot of strength comes and a lot of compassion. ⁓ OK, so finally, I want to just my last question is about what I think is an extra layer to personal growth.
Lara (1:02:56)
Yeah.
House of Peregrine (1:03:13)
which is living in another country. Do you see a lot of people who are living abroad? And if you do, what are the themes you see them dealing with?
Lara (1:03:22)
Yeah, most of my clients are expats. There are, I would say, two main challenges. One is the one we've been discussing here about the career alignment. Often, there is a high expectation where you're moving abroad that you're going to have happiness out of that.
new job, that's the main reason why you are moving abroad usually. It's about, as an expat at least, it's about career. So if that is not a good alignment, that brings a lot of frustration. And then you don't have support system because you're just new in that country. You don't have network to even find another job because also again, you have to build that over time. You don't have emotional support, your family and friends. So if the main reason why
you are abroad is not working well and you don't have other pillars to support you in this process of dissatisfaction then that is one of the biggest struggles. And the other one, when career is fine and they're happy with the work usually it's the lack of deep connections, real friendships.
⁓ They find it hard to meet people, meet like-minded people and then they finally meet people but then either they, after a while, they move abroad again or they go back to their home country and then they feel lonely again or it's hard to keep the connection or to rebuild something more that they feel like supported and someone they can rely on if they need. So there's also this big sense of, ⁓ yeah, lack of support, I say.
House of Peregrine (1:04:55)
Yeah, I like to call it a lack of authenticity. Like authenticity is missing instead of support, which is in there. especially if you have a job you love, and especially if you're a little bit high profile or higher up in the corporate ladder, you have a lot to lose through being authentic. And when you move to a new country, and it's hard, it's hard to be authentic if your life is
Lara (1:04:58)
Hmm. ⁓
House of Peregrine (1:05:23)
and say, is, everything's going right, but this, I'm having a really hard time. And when you move back from living abroad, it's really hard to say it's hard being back because of course your loved ones, your network, they're so happy to have you back. And most of you is happy to be back too, but you miss, you might miss yourself that was there. And so support is a word people often use, but I find it not complete in a way.
And so is that something we can recognize and mourn and come home to and be intentional about as we move throughout our journey?
Lara (1:06:03)
Yes,
definitely. is this big invitation and maybe a shift of identity when we move abroad and then if you move back again because everything is changing all the time, right? So when you move abroad, you create almost like a new persona because you are working in a different language. So the way you express yourself might not be the same, 100 % the same. You are learning how to navigate that new...
culture and work culture. So it's a lot of learning and adapting and often people also wear some masks because they want to feel that they belong in that new environment. So then you kind of create a new version of you and after a while if you would go back to your home country then how you you're not
your old self anymore because you learned a lot, you experienced a lot, you incorporated, you changed. So then it's almost like you recreate, it's an invitation to recreate again your identity in a way.
House of Peregrine (1:07:05)
Yeah.
I think it's a brave thing to do, not just physically, but as you're saying, it leads to this inevitable change. Even if you aren't in a different language, you're learning stuff about yourself, your own culture, what you do and do not want. You're integrating a lot of things, even if you're, if you don't feel integrated, you're integrating things in yourself. It's like a very long psychedelic journey. Like you're.
you're in a hot seat of personal growth. ⁓ And depending on how you grow, it could be emotional growth, could be career growth, any number of ways of growing. But to say you're going to change is an understatement in my experience.
Lara (1:07:37)
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah,
even if you don't change anything in your life, in your environment, the world is changing the technology. So there's always, there'll always be change and you will change either consciously or unconsciously. So knowing what is important to you and sticking to that, it gives this safety that our system needs.
House of Peregrine (1:08:07)
Yeah.
That is such a good way putting it. Knowing your yeses, nos, your values, your un things you will and won't do give safety. I really like that.
And it's true whether you're living abroad or like you said, staying at the same place your whole life. because as love people to remind me AI is coming whether or not we want it or not. Good. Well, you've given us so much today. I think we didn't even cover half of what we can. So maybe you can come back on. there anything you want to share in closing that we haven't gone over?
Lara (1:08:56)
I'd like to appreciate the space to share a little bit of my journey and ⁓ my clients' struggle. Maybe that can be helpful, ⁓ insightful ⁓ for others going through similar journeys. ⁓ Now I'd like just to invite your audience to either join one of my...
in-person events here in Amsterdam if they're open to or interested in learning not only about mindset, neuroscience, but also experience plant medicine with cacao ceremonies or psilocybin, microdosing, but also my journey. So if anyone is feeling really stuck or in freeze mode and feel the urge to do something, but it's fearful, yeah, I'm here to guide and
House of Peregrine (1:09:44)
amazing. And how can people find you? What's the best way?
Lara (1:09:47)
You can find me on LinkedIn. It's Lara Ferreira.
House of Peregrine (1:09:51)
We'll put that below, but go ahead and spell it.
Lara (1:09:53)
Lara L-A-R-A, Ferreira F-E-R-R-E-I-R-A. ⁓
House of Peregrine (1:10:01)
All right, you've got it. put the link below, reach out to Lara if you are feeling stuck, you work remotely and in person. Is that right? Awesome. Well, thank you so much, Lara, for joining us today. And thank you so much for everyone who's listening for joining us today the House of Peregrine podcast. We will see you next time and please follow and like.
Lara (1:10:09)
Yes, both. Yeah, remotely
House of Peregrine (1:10:24)
and join us on our YouTube channel on Spotify or anywhere you find podcasts.