Light after Loss with Lauryn Laszczak
This week’s guest, Lauryn Laszczak
A Somatic Busines Coach & Host of Loss & Light Podcast
Episode Description
“The wound is the place where the light enters you.” – Rumi
Everything about today’s guest, Lauryn Laszczak, is inspiring – her resume, her energy, her outlook on life.
But what moves me most is Lauryn’s story.
Lauryn is a somatic business coach, strategist, retreat leader, yogi, and self-described serial entrepreneur. She’s married to her high school sweetheart and the mom of two daughters and one angel son, Ben.
Her story is not without its share of devastating moments, but I hope there are women listening who can find comfort in it, knowing that, after loss, there is light waiting for us if only we stop and look for it.
Follow your curiosities, and the skills will follow
Lauryn is a self-described “serial entrepreneur.”
Her resume includes anything and everything. Photography? Check. Event planning? Check. Real estate, business coaching, public speaking and podcasting? Check, check, check, and check. She and her husband even co-own a mobile bar and bartending service.
All these entrepreneurial ventures inspired her to build a community of women entrepreneurs, hosting events and retreats. She created a podcast. She started a book club.
Because of all these experiences, Lauryn acquired the skills she now needs for the work she does today as a somatic business coach. It wasn’t always a conscious decision. All she did was follow her curiosities.
She likens it to studying theater in college. She didn’t continue professionally very long after graduating, but she’s happy to have pursued it because it made her a better public speaker. Taking those classes was part of her journey.
“For my clients who are making that shift from pure motherhood to having a side hustle to taking that full-time gig – there’s always that fear of, ‘oh, as I grow into this version of me, I have to let that version of me go.’ And it’s just not true. It’s a continual evolution. Every single thing you’ve done along the way is just a helping hand,” Lauryn says.
Expansive hearts
What makes our heart beat a little faster?
This is the question Lauryn says we should be asking ourselves.
It could be painting or reading or writing or, in Lauryn’s case, learning Italian. It doesn’t have to involve any kind of fancy business plan. It doesn’t even have to make sense!
Instead, Lauryn says to follow sensation. Doing so can help us figure out where we want our lives to take us and give us the energy we need to take that path.
Before our call, I asked Lauryn how she prioritizes her wellbeing. The answer? She doesn’t fit it into her schedule; she fits her schedule around it. When she gets her quiet time, she is the “best freaking wife and the most amazing mother.” It also helps her work incredibly efficiently.
Every time she had a child, Lauryn wondered if she had the capacity to continue following her passions. Would she have to leave a part of herself behind? Surely there was a limit to what she could handle.
“It's kind of the feeling of like, when I had my second, how will I love them as much as the first? And then you do, and you realize your heart is so expansive. There’s always room for more. And that’s honestly how I feel in my entrepreneurial journey,” Lauryn says. “Just like your heart expands with your children, it can expand in the exact same way for your passions and priorities.”
Feeling alive here, in this body
Three years ago, at 32 weeks, Lauryn gave birth to her stillborn son Ben.
After the loss, she spent a lot of time shaming and guilting herself – but at some point, she was able to think of it as a wake-up call. How devastating, to lose her son – but what a gift it is to be alive, here in this body.
“In the best way possible, it reminded me how much I do love myself, my body, my home; and how, even before Ben, I didn’t connect with it in the way that I do now,” she says.
For a lot of us, the journey to get to this place after loss probably seems impossible, and yet, here she is – trusting herself and her body to guide her through the next stages of her life. She says the change happened when she relinquished all control.
“At the end of the day, when we release all control is when the most beautiful things unfold in our lives. I had no control over his loss, but I also had no idea his soul would have such a large mission that I would have the capacity to embody it now,” she says.
In honor of Ben, she has launched a brand new podcast called Loss & Light, which offers a safe, vulnerable space to have conversations about healing through the hard moments in our lives – divorce, chronic illness, loss – and serves to let other women know we’re not alone.
Notable Quotes from Lauryn
“At the end of the day, when we release all control is when the most beautiful things unfold in our lives. I had no control over his loss, but I also had no idea his soul would have such a large mission that I would have the capacity to embody it now.” (34:00)
“For my clients who are making that shift from pure motherhood to having a side hustle to taking that full-time gig – that’s always a fear. ‘Oh, as I grow into this version of me, I have to let that version of me go.’ And it’s just not true. It’s a continual evolution. Every single thing you’ve done along the way is just a helping hand.” (9:15)
Resources & Links
You can learn more about Lauryn Laszczak and her work as a somatic business coach on her website and Instagram.
Check out the book she recommended, Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, and listen to her new podcast, Loss & Light.
Learn more about Project: Mom and follow us on Instagram at @projectmompodcast.
Do you want to share your motherhood journey on the podcast? Email me at projectmompod@gmail.com.