Ep. 60 – You Shouldn’t Have to Go to Medical School to Heal | Shawngela Pierce

Welcome, survivors, seekers, and thrivers. I'm your host, Shari Leigh Roberts, psychic medium, energy healer, and living proof that you can transform your pain into power.

Each episode, we dive into trauma healing, developing your intuitive gifts, and reclaiming your life. Get ready for real stories, deep wisdom, and a little laughter along the way.

Hello, and welcome to what will be an epic conversation. We're fellow Detroiters.

Shawngela Pierce, I know that you and I have both left Michigan and a whole lot of trauma behind.

Welcome, and thank you for being here.

Ah, thank you so much for having me here. I'm honored to be your guest.

Shari Leigh Roberts. Can you give us a little bit about your history?

Wow, that's a big one.

Yeah, well, we want to talk about what you're doing after the trauma.

So, let me re-ask. Tell us a little bit about your bringing up or your life in Detroit.

Wow, okay. Yes. As you have stated, we are both from Detroit, born and raised in the city.

And, oh, wow. Detroit is an interesting place to have been raised.

Yeah.

You know, there's a lot of violence. There's a lot of trauma.

Yeah.

Yeah.

In the city. And so, I was just born and raised in that environment, lower income.

And in my family, I would say that expressing your emotions or anything like that was not the norm.

It was more, it was just bottled up. It was more of that. It was more of, you know, suck it up and drive on kind of mentality.

You just do what you have to do. And, you know.

I, I, too, was raised that way. I read in your bio where you said that you, too, were taught.

There's no room for crybabies. Oh, my God. If I had a dollar for every time I heard that, I'd be wealthy.

That really connected with me. Yeah. Go ahead.

Were you the youngest in your family?

Yes. I was the youngest of my, for my mom. My brother is just like a little over a year older than me, but my, my dad, they were divorced when I was very, very young.

He had more children, but they didn't live with us or anything like that. But for my mom, I was the youngest.

And to be honest, I, it took looking back at my childhood to realize that was the environment in which I was raised because it really wasn't something that was spoken.

It was kind of like the unspoken. Like, you just, you know, you just have to do what you have to do. You know, no crying. I don't know, stiff upper lip, whatever.

Just, just do what you have to do to survive and thrive as best you can.

And so that took a toll on me, not in a way that I realized until later on.

If you think about it energetically, I developed tonsillitis, you know, the throat, cause you're not really, you're not really speaking so much.

It's just, it's just a lot of inflammation and all that. And I had my tonsils removed and, you know, there was a lot of other trauma.

I, I normally don't even think about it anymore. Cause I feel like I've just like, you know, processed it.

It was, you know, my family did the best they could from their level of consciousness. It's okay. You know, it's all part of the spiritual journey. I'm okay with that.

You know, that's fine.

Yeah. Yeah. And what point did you start healing?

Oh, what part did I start healing? Well, it wasn't until I left to go to college. And at that point, you know, I had what I call my medical sovereignty.

Like I had the choice to do with my body, what I wanted to do. Cause even, you know, when you're a child, your parents have control over your health and wellbeing.

And even as a child, I felt like I could heal myself, but I just wasn't allowed the opportunity. It was just constant, you know, medications for my tonsils and whatever else.

And then getting my tonsils removed. It was like, okay, now that I'm an adult, I have my own, you know, sovereignty. I could do what I want to do.

However, before it was more, I didn't, you know, I didn't like the traditional medical field.

I didn't like how I was, you know, care for as a child medically. So I didn't really go to the doctor, but then I developed asthma as an adult, as well as chemical sensitivities.

And so that was, that was pretty eyeopening. Cause up to that point, I still felt I was, I was, you know, healthy. I was a healthy young adult.

And, um, yeah, that was like, wow.

Tell, yeah, tell us what age you were and where you were in your life at that time.

I was in my early twenties, maybe 22 or something like that. I was, I was in the military and I was in the military as well as in college.

I did the army reserves and I was in training in the military.

I was doing a training exercise. And that's, that's when I discovered that I had asthma and it was, it was such a disconnect. I, I denied it for so long.

Like, you know, I was having trouble breathing and I just was like, well, this seems really weird.

Why can't I breathe, you know, and, and not being accustomed to like asking for help or whatever.

So I waited really late. I waited really late before I was finding like, wow, this is something I need to get, you know, medical attention for. And I did. And that, that was it.

That was the first sign of it.

And then after that, it just kept getting worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse for years to come.

During those years, did you battle your past trauma?

Did things like, did things like, creep into your day-to-day thoughts, dreams or, out of the blue triggers?

Okay. Could you say that one over again?

Yeah. Did you get triggered or were there memories of trauma that kept coming in?

Oh, I see. I, up to that point, like even before this happened, I went through like a, a bout of depression in school.

It was, it was a very challenging emotional time, but I didn't really know how to deal with it other than like, um, I tried to go to a counselor, but that didn't feel right.

I didn't feel right. I didn't do that. It was, it was really, I knew I had issues, but I didn't really know how to deal with the issues.

So in effect, I didn't deal with the issues because I didn't know how to, to do it.

And so then the asthma comes, but I didn't, at that point, I didn't correlate it with my mental emotional state.

I didn't correlate, um, that to what was happening physically to me.

They felt like they were two separate things, right?

Because that's not what we're trained in our traditional sense.

The mind affecting the body, that kind of deal is, you know, we act like everything's separate.

So that didn't come until years later.

What year did it come?

How old were you?

And what was the catalyst that just made you like, wow, wow, whoa.

Oh gosh. That was probably, I think about it probably 10 years later because, okay, so I get chronic, the asthma and I, my, I started getting these very chemical sensitivities.

It felt like my body was falling apart on me and it just kept getting worse and worse.

I had to use my inhaler, like, you know, three, four or five times a day.

Wow.

To just like live.

And it was just getting worse.

And I was like, God, this just cannot be the case.

And the, and the doctors were like, you know, basically there was really nothing they could do.

It was just going to get worse over time.

They give you the steroids, which make you sicker.

Plus the, you know, the inhaler, it was just, it was just not working.

And I could not accept their diagnosis.

I was like, no, I know my body feels like it's falling apart, but I know I can heal from this.

I don't know how, but I know I can.

And so I can't, I just left, like left the, the specialists.

And I was like, no, I'm just not going to do this.

And at that time, okay, so this is probably late twenties.

And I had already had my master's degree at that point.

I was looking for a PhD program or doctorate program.

I couldn't decide whether I was going to do medical school or go get my PhD.

And then I found the naturopathic medical school and that it really resonated with me.

This is what I want to do.

And it was there in naturopathic medical school that I found a teacher who started to help me to heal.

And during that, so this is like my early thirties.

Now during that period of, you know, um, being taught in medical school and all that, that's really when the mind body connection deal really started to hone in.

Like, Oh wow. Like all this trauma that I never truly process.

I mean, maybe a little bit over that, over those years, I was doing a little bit of like self-improvement kind of, you know, feels, but those are more just like analytical.

They don't, I mean, it processes to a certain degree, but it not really is, that's just a, to me, like the ego trying to, trying to convince you that you processed it because you p

rocessed it in your mind, but you really haven't like moved the energy.

You really haven't moved the core of your, your, the energy that's stuck there a little bit, but not fully.

Fully. Anyhow.

What did that professor do? Like break it down that rubric has resonated with you.

What were the steps when I was getting treated? Is that what you're asking?

No.

No.

That professor in college that began your healing.

What did they do?

What did they do?

Exactly.

They had connected with you.

Like you said.

Wow.

Wow.

Yes.

I got this.

This is what I have been looking for.

Oh, it was.

Oh, it was.

Okay.

When I was in medical school, it was the way it was taught.

It was taught more from a holistic perspective.

It wasn't like individual parts.

It was like, okay, we are part of a whole.

And so let's address the ailment as a whole.

Right.

And that's try to get to the, to the root cause of the, the problem.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And that's, that really was, you know, I was like, wow.

Yeah.

This is, this is what I've been needing.

You know, again, I, at that point I have done some help, self help, mostly like reading

books and things like that, but nothing really put it in a holistic perspective.

It was just like parts.

Yeah.

And, and so that really resonated with my, my spirit and it really, the Holy Spirit is

just in medical school was like, you know, the beginning of my awakening into this new

way of being, because I had a lot of time on my hands to like really explore my spirituality

at that time.

Talk more about that.

Well, I started, okay.

So let's go back to my physical, cause it's the physical ailment that caused me to awaken

spiritually.

And so I, you know, I was getting help from a naturopathic medical, uh, doctor who was

also a teacher there.

And, you know, I was improving, like, you know, I was, I would say 90% of my symptoms

were gone, um, relatively quickly with like, like within a month or so.

Wow.

And it wasn't completely healed, but you know, I wasn't using my inhaler like, you know,

five times a day or whatever, that kind of deal.

Yeah.

And, and so what started the questioning was that it became obvious that had I gone to

another teacher, they would have treated me totally different.

I was talking to some of my medical student friends and they were, they had their own ideas.

Oh, we would have done that.

Or they were questioning what, what she was doing.

And I was like, wow, this is pretty interesting.

Why is healing so complicated?

This does not make any sense.

Like is God playing a trick on us, right?

Like why would someone have to like, you know, first of all, even go to medical school just

to get treated.

Right.

That just seems crazy.

Yes.

Um, it seems crazy that even within this realm of holistic health, there's so many different

ways to heal.

This seems crazy.

What is going on?

So that started the questioning.

And because you start asking the questions in the universe will answer you.

And I started being led to materials that started to awaken me into this new level

of spiritual awareness.

Yeah.

What are those?

Well, I would say one of the major ones was, you know, what we call in this time and

age, the law of attraction.

And I know to some people, there's a stigma to that, but it really is just an opening awareness

of this creative universe.

And it's taught differently by different people.

And that's fine.

But the core is, you know, the, the truth of the matter.

This is a creative world.

And within that creative world, learning how we're creating our reality is important.

That was very eye-opening for me.

So I would say it was like, I say three pivotal books that I was exposed to that really started

me to awaken more.

So again, the law of attraction.

And then it was, uh, Conversations with God, Book One.

And then it was Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now or A New Earth.

I can't remember which one it is, whatever it was, it was one of Eckhart Tolle's books.

And those were the books that came to me earlier on, before my, like, balls to the wall healing.

I couldn't believe that those were yours too.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Amazing.

Yeah.

It was just, it was the awakening and it was, it was the Law of Attraction from Esther Hicks,

which is way more, I did watch The Secret and that was, that was good to get you motivated,

but there, you know, there wasn't really a lot of, um, details in it or whatever.

Right.

Right.

Um, it was really more of the Esther Hicks, not necessarily the teachings, but the fact that

she had this entity, the divine, whatever, speaking through her.

that was the part that was the most pivotal for me.

Mm hmm.

It, it scared me at first, but then there was something to it.

Like, wow, this feels like something I should explore.

And even though it scared me in the beginning.

And so again, as I'm continuing to ask the questions and, you know, they're continually showing

me more, it became obvious to me that being a doctor in the traditional way, even a naturopathic

doctor was not my path.

It wasn't what I was called to do.

I'm called to help people heal.

I'm called to, you know, help people realize their, their true power and why naturopathic

doctors do that.

They do there in a, in a different way.

I'm called to do it in a more spiritual way, in a more holistic way, in a more creative

way and really helping people own their true power.

Like nobody knows better than you.

What's you need to do to heal.

Then you, you just have to learn to tap into that and trust in that inner guidance.

We, we're just, you know, we're constantly being told by other people, doctors, whatever,

they know better for us.

And you're like, well, not really.

Yeah.

No.

Yeah.

We, we, we give over our power to them and we're not that to just own them.

Of course they've been trained in certain things, whatever, but they, they do have, you

know, in a sense, limited beliefs on what the body can do.

You know, that's, and I'm here to help awaken people more to the truth of who they are and

what their body actually can do.

When you allow it, when you step out of the way, right?

When you let go of what you think you know and allow the divine to guide you.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Tell us how your people in your universe

responded to your awakening.

Oh, at that time I would say I had a few close friends in medical school and they knew where

I was going.

They knew where I was, you know, awakening to, and they were also being exposed to it as well.

Uh, their, their take on it was slightly different than mine, but I just, I just knew that it

was my calling beyond that.

I would say my mom who was a nurse, she didn't really understand my decisions, which I understood

because she thinks more conventionally and that's okay.

It was more, I, I really, me and my personality, I honestly don't really care what other people

think.

So it didn't really play a role in, um, my decision to do, you know, what I was doing

and to continue to awaken.

I didn't need anyone's approval or anything like that.

I was just like, wow, this is, this is it.

This is what I've known all my life, but have been trained outside of this.

And this is what I need to cultivate more.

I need to work on this more to really live the life that I meant to live.

I only asked because generally when we elevate our energetic vibration, which means it will

we are open and learning so much spiritually that many people who have been in our sphere,

don't get it.

And they're like, yeah, they're trying to keep us down or they're out.

Like, yep.

I'm out.

Yeah.

So that is why I asked.

Yeah, that, that is a very real situation for many people.

Um, I would probably say most people because you know, you have your family, you have your

friends and these are people you hang around and you start to awaken spiritually and you

start to raise your vibration beyond there.

You're not a vibrational match to them anymore.

And that's, that's scary for a lot of people for, for me, it was very minimal.

Um, at that stage, I would say before that, I, I didn't understand it from an energetic perspective, but before that I was still in this role.

I was a teacher too.

I was a teacher before I went to medical school.

I taught human anatomy and physiology, but I still have this, this like wanting to help people mentality.

So I would, I would be, you know, helping like my sister or whatever, my friends, like counseling them, coaching them, whatever you want to call it.

And it just became over the years, I started to recognize that first of all, I was trying to rescue them and that just was not going to work.

And once I, once I learned that, and it took many, many years, then they already started to fade, right?

Because I was no longer giving, um, allowing them to drain me through that, that energetic exchange that was going on.

Right.

I mean, I wasn't a victim of, I was co-creating it.

I didn't realize it, but once I stopped doing that, they were already fading.

So I never really had like this whole, you know, cadre of friends or anything like that, that would play a major role in like any decisions that I would make or make me scared to m

ove forward or anything like that.

I'm, I'm, I'm, yeah, I probably only have like a handful of like really close friends and, and, and that's it. Yeah.

You said that beautifully, and that is often for people, a tough pill to swallow.

That is natural attrition.

Let's now talk about how you began and are now connecting with,

people who can benefit from you.

How I started.

Well, I, I started after I left medical school, I was almost done, but it just, it, it wasn't my path.

And so I started with, I had to figure out for myself who I was.

And so I went on what I call my two year sabbatical in my condo and I was just meditating whatever.

And during that time I started working with my spiritual guides that I call, I am, I, you know, I invited them in.

I was like, okay, I'm doing this.

I need to make sure that this is from higher source God or whatever you want to call it.

And not my ego.

Right.

I need to be clear on that.

And so I just, I was like, okay, I am, I need you to start helping me through this journey.

Start guiding me, start, you know, who am I now?

What am I supposed to be doing now?

Right.

I knew I needed to help people with, you know, a different way of thinking, but I didn't know how I didn't, you know, I was still doing all that.

So I have any teachings or anything.

I was like, oh, help me.

I was like, oh, help me.

Yeah.

Yeah.

What am I doing?

What am I doing?

Yeah.

And, and so I, and I was, you know, I'm pretty, at that time, pretty hard on myself, like pretty, like, okay.

I, at first I, beyond the three books I mentioned before, I, I think I read like maybe one and started reading another one and they were basically saying the same thing from, you k

now, different teachers.

And I was like, wow, I truly just need to embody what they are saying.

So I stopped reading.

I was like, I'm not going to read any more books.

Right.

I'm just not going to read any more books.

I am.

If you have anything to say to me, you're going to have to say it to me directly.

And that's how we're going to play this.

Right.

And that's, that really began the really hardcore connection with my divine team.

Yeah.

Be late.

I, too, got to the same point and told my team, you know what?

I don't want symbols.

I don't want this or that.

You're going to tell me in a way I understand English what I am to do.

Uh huh.

I don't have time to decode symbols, read between the lines.

Just bring it clearly.

Then I'm on it.

Uh huh.

You did that.

Love it.

Yeah.

Well, again, this is a creative world and we're co-creating with the divine.

We may not realize it.

Right.

But, but we are co-creating with them and they respond to, you know, the universe responds

to our request.

Like, yeah, I heard you, but I need you to clarify that for me or whatever it may be.

Having, developing that communication with your divine team is important.

Yeah.

And, and so through that, you know, you know, my sabbatical and I wrote my first book through

during that time.

And it just, you know, Seek Within You came to me as this was going to be the name of my

business.

And, you know, so I bought the domain.

I had no idea what I was doing.

It was just like a step by step process.

And so I would say 10, it wasn't 10 years into it when I really started being able to,

uh, be of service to people in, in a more full way, more spiritually.

In the beginning, it started more like just meditation.

Let me just teach you meditation and things like that.

And then later on it grew to, oh, there's, there's this breadth of teachings that they

want to, to come through me in order to help other people on this journey.

And so it's been about 15 years since medical school, maybe a little bit longer than that.

And, um, yeah, here I am ready to help people.

Yeah, not just ready, but you are.

So tell us what words of wisdom you have for people who will hear you and how they can connect

with you.

Oh, the message is that you are loved.

We love you.

And we want to communicate with you.

We want to work with you.

We want to show you your power.

You are a divine being.

The light shines within you.

You just need to let go of the stories that are holding you back and embrace who you are,

become, and we can show you the way.

Okay.

You just have to open the door.

Yeah.

How can they connect with you?

They can connect to me on my website, SeekWithinYou.com.

And you can see all the services we offer, all the retreats.

We go to various sacred sites.

We go to the Grand Canyon, Sedona, Mount Shasta.

And I'm sure more like Hawaii keeps coming up, you know, just sacred places that we go to

to host retreats to really help people hone in to their energy, hone in to the divine,

and communicate with the divine more deeply, move energy, heal their mind, body, and spirit,

and just start coming home to who they really are.

Beautiful.

And that is the key.

Being willing and open to healing, allowing that energy to move out so positive energy

can come in that gives clarity to what you are and what you are meant to do.

Yes, ma'am.

Thank you for listening.

If today's conversation resonated with you and you're ready to explore your own healing journey

intuitive gifts, I'd love to work with you.

I offer psychic medium readings, energy healing sessions, and intuitive development guidance

at shariroberts.org.

And if you're not quite ready for a session, but want to be a part of the conversation in

a supportive community, join my private Facebook group.

The link is in the show notes.

You can also connect with me on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.

This is Shari Leigh Roberts.

Until next time, remember, you're never alone.