Unlocking Hidden Memories to Heal and Thrive with Melissa Osorio

Sponsored by Serenity Salt Spa

In this episode of Conversations with Rich Bennett, Rich speaks with Melissa Osorio, a trauma expert, mental health advocate, and author of Hidden Memories: Discover What’s Blocking You From Life and Love. Melissa shares her inspiring journey of overcoming addiction, heartbreak, and hidden childhood trauma. She discusses the transformative power of holistic healing and psychedelics, revealing how they helped her unlock suppressed memories and rebuild her life with purpose. Melissa offers valuable insights into breaking free from destructive patterns and finding inner peace. Her story is a testament to resilience and the power of self-discovery.

This episode is sponsored by Serenity Salt Spa, Harford County’s premier Himalayan salt therapy and wellness center. Serenity Salt Spa provides holistic services such as salt therapy, massage, skincare, and wellness treatments designed to rejuvenate the mind and body. Learn more at serenitysaltspa.net.

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Sponsor Message:

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Transcript

Rich Bennett 0:00
Thanks for joining the conversation where we explore the stories and experiences that shape our world. I'm your host, Rich Bennett. Today, I'm thrilled to welcome Melissa Osorio. I wish I could do it with the tongue roll, but I cannot. She's an inspiring trauma expert, mental health advocate and an entrepreneur. That's right. She's the author of the powerful book Hidden Memories. Discover Words Blocking You from Life and Love. Melissa has dedicated her life to helping others uncovered a hidden traumas that shape their lives and relationships, empowering them to break free and heal. Her expertise in holistic healing and transformative therapy. Makes her an exceptional guide for those looking to unlock their full potential. And when you hear her story, I first of all, if you have Kleenex close by, get it? If you're talking to somebody on the phone or whatever and you're listening, I 

apologize now because I have a funny feeling there's times you're going to be laughing as well. But her story is simply amazing. How are you doing, Melissa? 

Melissa Osorio 1:07
I'm doing great. 

Rich Bennett 1:10
So when I first started looking at everything, I looked at your website and looked at your book, went onto Amazon and. And 

so when you read the description of your book, of course I was floored. I'm like, What the hell? Which I don't want to get into that yet. But the other stuff that you do and everything, you're help. And that's what I want to talk about first. What led you to help other people with what you're doing now? 

Melissa Osorio 1:44
Well, this is one of those beautiful stories that is not unique to me. Sometimes, you know, our life spirals out of control and we find ourselves in a place where we really have a choice to make, either continue going down and not end up very well or change our direction. So I change the direction of my life. And the transformation was so great and so incredible that once you come out the other side, you cannot stay quiet. You have to share it. You have been in the darkest, darkest places and you know, a lot more people are there. 

Rich Bennett 2:19
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 2:20
If we can just give each other a little bit of light. If what I can say my word as sentence someone, that's something that someone hears, inspires them to maybe get out of those shadows, then that's that's a mission accomplished. 

Rich Bennett 2:34
It. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't you try a bunch of different approaches to help yourself? Because I know a lot of people do too. Self-help. 

Melissa Osorio 2:44
Yeah. I mean, we all like I say, I drank this self-help Kool-Aid. Right, 

Rich Bennett 2:48
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 2:49
I. 

Rich Bennett 2:49
All 

Melissa Osorio 2:50
Tube channel years ago, and I look for, like, inspirational people. And then I picked up the books that they were recommending, and I read that. Then I went to Tony Robbins and I did that very intensely. And it was it was a wonderful start to my journey. 

Rich Bennett 3:07
right. 

Melissa Osorio 3:08
But the truth is that once I did all of that, I was still in a hole. 

Rich Bennett 3:14
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 3:14
I was still not getting the help I needed. So they prepared me for what was to come. 

Rich Bennett 3:19
Mm hmm. 

Melissa Osorio 3:19
But I will recognize myself that it wasn't enough. 

Rich Bennett 3:24
And the thing is, it's not for everybody. Everybody's different. But I have to ask you this. So the Tony Robbins thing, was it one day or did you do what? Like the four day thing? 

Melissa Osorio 3:36
Oh, I started with the. I think it's for this. 

Rich Bennett 3:40
Okay. 

Melissa Osorio 3:41
BW And and, you know, at that point it's really cute because at that point I thought, man, these are the most difficult days of my life. Over. I was bruised, I was tired, but I knew we had it had changed something. So I actually went even deeper into the Tony Robbins world. And I join like their year program. Like they have a partnership, like a platinum partnership. 

Rich Bennett 4:04
Oh, wow. 

Melissa Osorio 4:05
Yeah. And it was really transformational. It actually it was an event every month, somewhere different in the world. I met really, really interesting people and I worked really hard to apply, you know, all the tools to to get help. But as the universe will have it, you know, once that year end that I found myself heartbroken. And and even spiraling faster, spiraling down faster. You know, in the past that I was in very dependent on alcohol, I mean, for two. 

Rich Bennett 4:38
Oh. 

Melissa Osorio 4:39
Great. I drank at least one, but often two bottles of wine a day. 

Rich Bennett 4:44
What? 

Melissa Osorio 4:46
Yeah, it was. It was intense. It was it was a path that I knew was going to land me in death. To be honest, I was extremely unhealthy. 

Rich Bennett 4:54
Wow. Holy cow. I didn't realize that. So I. 

Melissa Osorio 4:59
Yeah, well, I mean, if you if you think about it, when we talk about what people do to help themselves, 

Rich Bennett 5:04
Well. 

Melissa Osorio 5:04
what is an addiction? You know, an addiction is simply a desperate attempt to self-regulate 

Rich Bennett 5:11
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 5:11
your nervous system. So to me, the alcohol or, you know, whatever it is that I was doing, that I was I was going against my values was just a desperate attempt to feel okay, which 

Rich Bennett 5:23
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 5:23
is what people do sometimes to self-medicate. They do other things like that. 

Rich Bennett 5:27
All right. So at the alcohol, have you been able to control that now? 

Melissa Osorio 5:32
Yeah, I mean, I still drink, but the difference is the reason why. So when someone has an addiction and on dependency on a substance, they are usually using that substance to escape 

Rich Bennett 5:46
Right. 

Melissa Osorio 5:46
their current moment, their reality. So, I mean, it's a growing process which I still catch myself when I want to have a glass of wine, I pause 

Rich Bennett 5:55
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 5:55
and I ask myself, why am I want an hour glass of wine right now? Is it because I feel uncomfortable? Is it because I'm sad? Is it because I'm angry or am I trying to self-regulate? And if it is that, then what else can I do to self-regulate? So I have a cold lunch, I have a sauna, I have a mountain outside my door, I have my dogs, I have a gym. So what can I do? It for me is moving my body often is what gets me back to, you know, to a state where what? I'm at ease. 

Rich Bennett 6:22
Okay, Wait a minute. Hold up. Back up a minute. You do the cold plunge. 

Melissa Osorio 6:27
Oh, I love that. Coldplay. 

Rich Bennett 6:29
Oh, well, wait a minute. You're in San Diego, so, you know, it doesn't really get that cold outside. 

Melissa Osorio 6:34
No, but I mean, I have a cold lunch and I get in maybe 50 degrees for like 5 minutes. And it really it really, really helps, you know, your nervousness some you come out energized. It has so, so many benefits. I'm not an expert of cold plunging like I'm not I'm not like I cannot expend too much on it. I just know that for me, it feels really good. 

Rich Bennett 6:55
All right. So with so you do the cold plunge. You have the mountains there, which for those of you listening, she's on the West Coast and she's lucky to where she can see the beach in the mountains. But we won't talk about that. But I want to go back a minute with the Tony Robbins thing. And this is something that's always amazed me. I've never done it yet. Yet. Did you do the fire walking? 

Melissa Osorio 7:23
They do that and I've done. 

Rich Bennett 7:24
Ridley, you win. What? 

Melissa Osorio 7:29
So I've been to that particular event three times in my life. So I fire walk three times. Okay. And you know, and it's one of those I see why he does it. And it's so. 

Rich Bennett 7:40
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 7:41
Then he prepares you mentally and it really gives you. In my book, I calls that I call them references of success. 

Rich Bennett 7:47
Mm hmm. 

Melissa Osorio 7:47
So when you go to a Tony Robbins event and you walk on really rent charcoal your fire walk in for. 

Rich Bennett 7:54
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 7:55
What does that do for your mental health? Well, when you go home and you're feeling overwhelmed and you're facing difficulty in the back of your mind, even if you don't think directly about it. You remember that reference of success, of that time that you did something you once thought was impossible. And we build those through our lives. So it's important to challenge yourself and to do these things. And not even so much for the success and the excitement of the moment, but because you're going to remember in the future and you say, I climbed that mountain before, I can do this one now. 

Rich Bennett 8:28
I never knew that he did the that the fire walking was a thing. And I had somebody on that went through that thing. And then now he teaches the fire walk and he was, I guess, in charge of fire Walker for Tony Robbins. His name's Dave Allman, and he does it now. I like I have to try that. Yeah, 

Melissa Osorio 8:49
Yeah, it's super interesting. 

Rich Bennett 8:50
yeah, 

Melissa Osorio 8:51
And even, you know, Tony Robbins whole program, I'm very grateful for it. I know 

Rich Bennett 8:57
yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 8:57
there is people that like him. There's people that don't like him, and everybody's entitled to their opinion. But in my life it was very useful. 

Rich Bennett 9:04
Right. 

Melissa Osorio 9:05
These seminars. It was like the foundation that prepare me for the difficulties that were to come later in my life. 

Rich Bennett 9:13
But I think there's something that other people can actually go to that works either better or just as well, and that's to go hear you speak, because you do speaking as well, Right? 

Melissa Osorio 9:27
I do. Yeah. I love I love speaking about what I'm passionate about. 

Rich Bennett 9:31
Right. 

Melissa Osorio 9:32
So, you know, I'm very blessed that I'm so passionate about this subject that actually is important, that can make a difference in a person's life. So I speak about it all the time and I'm I'm in my Instagram. I'm very active. I'm always I say to my Instagram is sort of like a journal for me. 

Rich Bennett 9:49
Right. 

Melissa Osorio 9:50
Because I do post about what's going on in my heart and my mind, and I make it in a way that is short and people can get something out of it. So we all have ways to share. 

Rich Bennett 10:00
What made you decide to start speaking? To That is sound, right? All right, let me rephrase that. What? 

Melissa Osorio 10:08
Well, my mother told me when I was little. 

Rich Bennett 10:13
What made you decide to start? Damn. What? You know what I'm talking about. To go out there and start speaking to other people and help them transfer made their lives and basically helping others. God, I hope I 

Melissa Osorio 10:29
Well. 

Rich Bennett 10:29
said that right. 

Melissa Osorio 10:31
I get what you mean. I get what you mean. And I will say, you know, I have become the person that I needed as a child. And that's the that that is a beautiful statement that once we reach a point in our lives where we can say that deeply, then we can be very happy with the road that we're traveling. And then from becoming that person, I have also realized that. I am also sharing information. I wish I will have heard from someone else's mouth when I was 17 or 25 or 30 to because it will have given me some sort of extra awareness. See what I talk about. People don't talk about openly 

Rich Bennett 11:15
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 11:16
and that's one of the reasons why I talk about it, because when I started going through my experiences, I had to do research to understand what was happening to me and is something that should have been taught to all of us in any basic psychology class, even in high school, is something that experts have been talking about since the 1800s 

Rich Bennett 11:37
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 11:37
and is not commonly known. So I speak because I I'm a firm believer that the message that I carry transcend the pages of my book transcends myself and is just out there for society, for whoever needs it to be heard. 

Rich Bennett 11:55
I want to thank you for actually doing speaking to others because and telling your story because for years people weren't doing that. They were afraid to. They felt like, well, a lot of people were ashamed to talk about what they were going through and not realizing that when you talk about it, you're helping others. And that's a big thing. Now, for those of those people that are listening. Explain it because you're not from here originally, right? 

Melissa Osorio 12:26
Right. 

Rich Bennett 12:26
You're from there. God, I'm going to mispronounce that red lips here. Valens. All right. What is 

Melissa Osorio 12:34
Will 

Rich Bennett 12:34
wrong? 

Melissa Osorio 12:34
you like me to say? 

Rich Bennett 12:34
Yes, please. I am. You know what? Ever since you said your Osorio and you rolled the. Ah, it's just throw me off. That was. 

Melissa Osorio 12:42
You're 

Rich Bennett 12:42
That was 

Melissa Osorio 12:43
on. 

Rich Bennett 12:43
good. Lord Valens. What? 

Melissa Osorio 12:46
Venezuela. 

Rich Bennett 12:46
Venice. Man. What is wrong? 

Melissa Osorio 12:50
You almost got it 

Rich Bennett 12:51
Venezuela. 

Melissa Osorio 12:51
on the. 

Rich Bennett 12:54
Wow. Okay. All right. So you're from Venice? Yeah, you're from there. What was it that actually brought you up here at Don't you even say a plane or a car? 

Melissa Osorio 13:06
Well, 

the very short answer is my father got murdered. But, you know, there is a lot more to that. I was 16 years old. It was my dream to come and study in the U.S. I was I was very studious. So I love chemistry. My dream was to come and study in M.I.T. or Harvard or, you know, one of those American dreams and and my father was murdered when I was six years old. Now. At that time. It completely shattered me. It it destroyed me, actually. And, you know, Rich, I thought that's probably going to be the most difficult episode of my life. You know, like I was a teenager, I didn't have the coping mechanisms, but it was the most difficult. The most difficult actually came 20 years later. And we'll get into that later, I'm sure. But let me backtrack. 

Rich Bennett 14:03
Okay. 

Melissa Osorio 14:03
To that sixth thing. Yeah, to that 16 year old experience. My father gets murdered by a gang in Venezuela. There is no arrest because we simply didn't pay the police for They arrest. 

Rich Bennett 14:15
What? 

Melissa Osorio 14:17
Yeah, that's that's exactly how it sounds and how it was. The police came to us and said, We know who killed in who killed him. We are able to kill that person if you pay us. And our answer was, no, we're not going to do that because it will come after the entire family. 

Rich Bennett 14:34
Right. Right. 

Melissa Osorio 14:35
So it was left as it was. And I finish high school a little bit earlier than than the usual. And I finish high school three months after my father's murder, and I grabbed two suitcases. I have been working since I was seven, so I had $20,000 saved and I just grabbed my dog and flew to Miami. 

Rich Bennett 14:58
Okay, Wait a minute. My mind's blown here. You say you started working when you were seven. 

Melissa Osorio 15:07
I mean, and I don't want to say hard labor, right? My family was wealthy. 

Rich Bennett 15:12
Right. 

Melissa Osorio 15:12
My dad had many businesses. But in a nutshell. 

Rich Bennett 15:15
Ill. 

Melissa Osorio 15:15
Two in an attempt to be the perfect child. Many people can relate to this. I early in my childhood, I discover that a way to enter my father's heart, which is what I tried to do my entire life. 

Rich Bennett 15:29
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 15:30
Was to be successful at business and to be successful at school. So I had a natural inclination towards business. I was very good at it. I was I was I could pick up the business tools and run with them since I was little. So at seven years old, I went to my father and I said that I'm ready to start working and I'll start the summer in the weekends. 

Rich Bennett 15:50
Wow. 

Melissa Osorio 15:51
And and he hired me, one of his businesses, and he thought I wasn't going to last. But I started my shift at 6 a.m. and he went for 8 hours and and I was making so much money that he'd have my salary from minimum wage to half minimum wage. And I and I worked in many businesses doing many different, you know, from from the kitchen in our restaurant to pumping gas in our gas station to serving coffee, making photocopies. Working as a secretary in our offices. So I did all of that before I was 16. 

Rich Bennett 16:25
Which is why you're successful today. 

You just have that work ethic. 

Melissa Osorio 16:30
You have a point there. We we often and this is a beautiful point you bring up, actually, and I want to I want to give it another lens that I often think about. So often we don't know what we go through, what we go through. 

Rich Bennett 16:42
Right. 

Melissa Osorio 16:43
But once we look back, we call it Wow. It's almost as if I was being prepared for what was going to happen later in my life. Those were pub quizzes so I could pick up and go when I really needed to pick up and go and I could, you know, show up for myself with my work ethic when I really needed that later in life. So you're right, it did prepare me. 

Rich Bennett 17:06
Okay. And then you said you packed up two suitcases and grabbed your dog and you moved to the United States when you were 16 or 17? 

Melissa Osorio 17:14
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 17:15
16. 

Melissa Osorio 17:15
16. Yes. 

Rich Bennett 17:17
By yourself. 

Melissa Osorio 17:17
US by myself. So I had a miniature Doberman pinscher. 

Rich Bennett 17:23
Oh. 

Melissa Osorio 17:23
I talk about it and I know I love. I had her for 18 years. She was my little companion. 

Rich Bennett 17:30
You had a mini doobie for 18 years. 

Melissa Osorio 17:34
Yeah, since I was 14 years old. 

Rich Bennett 17:36
That's amazing. 

Melissa Osorio 17:38
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 17:39
Well. 

Melissa Osorio 17:39
She was fabulous. 

Rich Bennett 17:41
But when you meet, did you have family here in the States when you moved up here? 

Melissa Osorio 17:46
No. When I moved, I moved at first alone, 

Rich Bennett 17:49
Wow. 

Melissa Osorio 17:49
and then about an hour. About a couple of months later, my mom came 

Rich Bennett 17:55
Okay. 

Melissa Osorio 17:55
because I was I was much younger than my siblings. I was my closest sibling was nine years older than me. 

Rich Bennett 18:02
Oh, wow. 

Melissa Osorio 18:02
So there were already grown ups. They were already nine, 11, 15 years older, you know. 

Rich Bennett 18:06
Mm hmm. 

Melissa Osorio 18:07
So my mother came and, you know, and this is an interesting story because I had my plan of my student visa. I had learned some English in the summer, so I was able to get into the university. But when mom came, I needed to sort out her visa. So basically this story gets a little more complex because again, all that time that I worked as a child, it was preparing me for that specific moment in my life. So I researched online and I saw that I could get an investors. We sat through my mom and I could be a dependent, so my dad had left us. Each wants some money 

Rich Bennett 18:45
Mm hmm. 

Melissa Osorio 18:45
and I knew I needed to buy a business. So I looked for businesses and I wanted a McDonald's. I wanted a franchise because I knew they had systems 

Rich Bennett 18:54
Right. 

Melissa Osorio 18:54
and Donald's was $1,000,000. I had nowhere near that. But I noticed that there was a Dairy Queen franchise. 

Rich Bennett 19:01
Q Yeah, 

Melissa Osorio 19:01
Always 

Rich Bennett 19:02
absolutely. 

Melissa Osorio 19:02
had a line out the door. Oh, yeah, I No, my blizzards. I can, I can do them all. I'll do like curl and everything. I got it. 

Yeah. So I bought a Dairy Queen franchise when I was 17. 

Rich Bennett 19:14
Wow. 

Melissa Osorio 19:15
When they're my mom's name, and I had that for a few years. 

Rich Bennett 19:21
Because they now with your business, mind you just I have so many questions. You had a Dairy Queen for three years. What would you do after that? 

Melissa Osorio 19:33
Well, then life gets a little bit more dangerous. 

Rich Bennett 19:36
Why's. Okay. 

Melissa Osorio 19:39
So. So at the same time, I had the Dairy Queen. I started investing in real estate without having a clue what I was doing. 

Rich Bennett 19:46
Oh. 

Melissa Osorio 19:46
But it was Florida, you know, it was Florida. It was a boom of the real estate back then. And unfortunately and fortunately, because it propelled me to the next stage in my life, I invested all my savings into this one particular project. And the project flopped in 2008 

Rich Bennett 20:06
Oh. 

Melissa Osorio 20:06
when everything came down. So overnight, overnight, I found myself with $5,000. That's just $5,000 in my pocket. 

Rich Bennett 20:16
Wow. But you bounced back. 

Melissa Osorio 20:21
It took me awhile. I went through like, you know, Dante's Inferno for a while. But yeah, I left the country. I moved to Spain, where my parents are originally from. 

Rich Bennett 20:34
Okay. 

Melissa Osorio 20:35
Went deep, deep into depression and bulimia for many years. 

Rich Bennett 20:39
Bulimia. 

Melissa Osorio 20:40
I talk about it in yeah 

Rich Bennett 20:42
Wow. 

Melissa Osorio 20:43
which again so we've talked about alcohol right. We'll 

Rich Bennett 20:46
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 20:46
talk about we have talked about an addiction. Just been a desperate attempt to bring your nervous system into balance. Right. So bulimia, anorexia, this behaviors, this compulsive behaviors, where are they? They're very similar. They're you're looking desperately looking for something that is going to give you a sense of control. And I talk openly about bulimia in my book because anorexia, you know, people lose a lot of weight. They're not eating is easier to identify. 

Rich Bennett 21:15
Mm hmm. 

Melissa Osorio 21:15
Bulimia, on the other hand, is very easy to hide. 

Rich Bennett 21:17
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 21:18
I hid it from everybody in my life. Everybody in my life never knew I was bulimic for five years 

Rich Bennett 21:24
Wow. 

Melissa Osorio 21:24
and at one point, I was I was purging. I was vomiting even up to eight times a day. So imagine, you know, the damage in in in my body. 

Rich Bennett 21:33
Good Lord. 

Melissa Osorio 21:34
So that was just another tell tale that said, Melissa, you have you have something going on that runs deep. You're trying to escape. And I never connected the dots until three years ago of all of these destructive behaviors that kept on repeating throughout my life. 

Rich Bennett 21:53
Holy cow. That. Yeah. Wow. Dear Melissa, I didn't realize you've been through so much stuff. 

Melissa Osorio 22:03
Oh, we just. We're just getting started. It just. It's about to get good. Like, that was that was. That was the background information. 

Rich Bennett 22:12
Are you going to scare? Are you going to scare me here? 

Melissa Osorio 22:16
No, I mean, all jokes aside, it's funny because, you know, sometimes you just live your life 

Rich Bennett 22:22
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 22:22
and and you don't really think about it in retrospect, but because I had the immense privilege of actually sitting down and writing about my life, I realized like, wow, this is something everybody should do. Going back not even to your birth, but to your parent's birth. And how was their upbringing? Because you really are able to to see what you've been through. You're able to see, you know, the difficulties that you have to face and how they have shaped you. 

Rich Bennett 22:50
Yeah, well, actually, let's get it, because I'm looking at the time, because I could talk to you for hours just about business and everything else. But what made you decide to write the book? Hidden Memories. 

Melissa Osorio 23:04
What will you like me to give you The little background of what led me to that moment? 

Rich Bennett 23:11
Am I going? Am I going to need the Kleenex? Of course. 

Melissa Osorio 23:15
Well. 

Rich Bennett 23:15
Yeah. And then another. 

Melissa Osorio 23:16
I'll give you an overview. 

Rich Bennett 23:18
Now let's this the background to it. 

Melissa Osorio 23:21
So, you know, my my time in Spain, as I mentioned, was difficult. And then I met the person that I will married and he was living in South Carolina here in the U.S. and I moved to Charleston. 

Rich Bennett 23:35
Maybe. 

Melissa Osorio 23:35
Mary. 

Rich Bennett 23:36
Wait a minute. You were in Spain when you met him, and he's from South Carolina. 

Melissa Osorio 23:41
Correct. 

Rich Bennett 23:42
So you met him in Spain. 

Melissa Osorio 23:44
Well, his he lives he lived in South Carolina, but he was from Europe as well. And we met we met in one of those dating sites. 

Rich Bennett 23:51
Okay. Okay. All right. Go ahead. 

Melissa Osorio 23:53
The very basic ones back then. You know, we're talking like 

Rich Bennett 23:56
Right. 

Melissa Osorio 23:56
14 years ago. 

Rich Bennett 23:58
Okay. All right. Go ahead, you. 

Melissa Osorio 24:00
Yeah. So. 

Rich Bennett 24:00
South Carolina. 

Melissa Osorio 24:02
So we we met and and it highlighted as marriages often do. 

Rich Bennett 24:09
Hmm 

Melissa Osorio 24:10
All of my insecurities and all of his as well. So it was it was a time of pain and broken dreams. And the only really good thing that we that we are excelled at was making money. 

Rich Bennett 24:26
hmm. Hmm 

Melissa Osorio 24:26
So, you know, we did make good money and we traveled the world and we had, you know, the great looks and and the ability to go on vacations and have fun and all of that. But there was a deep emptiness in my heart that kept on getting bigger and bigger and bigger as time progressed. And there were also a lot of insecurities. Right. Which I think, you know, a lot of women can identify with. 

Rich Bennett 24:53
Hmm. Hmm. 

Melissa Osorio 24:54
And often we take those insecurities personally and we ask ourselves, What's wrong with me? Why am I jealous? Why can I not bond with his family or with his child? He had a little, you know, little boy when we got married. And the question I never asked myself is what happened to me that is making it so difficult to be able to be in a relationship, to be able to love the people around me, to be able to love my stepson or any child. 

Rich Bennett 25:27
Right. 

Melissa Osorio 25:27
What happened to me? So that is a very powerful question because everything that we display as adults has an origin. 

Rich Bennett 25:36
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 25:37
It didn't just show up out of nowhere. Everything has an origin. So learning to change the question, What's wrong with me with what happened to me is a very powerful one. But I didn't I didn't have the the knowledge back then to ask that question. So the marriage kept on getting, you know, worse and worse. And it finally came to an end. 

Rich Bennett 25:56
Oh. 

Melissa Osorio 25:57
And and after that is when I went into my Tony Robbins road. And after that is when I actually decided that there was something I needed to look at. And I tell you why we often blame people around those, right? Like when we have bad relationships or we get our heart broken and is the guy's fault or. 

Rich Bennett 26:21
We don't look in the 

Melissa Osorio 26:22
Act in that way. Right. Right. So here's what the universe did for me. So make sure that I didn't miss the sign. So I met a person that I was interested in a guy, and he displayed a certain set of behaviors that triggered all the fears in me rejection, insecurity. But I still didn't see it, you know, I still didn't see it as something for me to look into. 

Rich Bennett 26:48
right. 

Melissa Osorio 26:48
Then a second guy shows up and displays same exact behaviors. And finally, after like years of suffering and trying to figure myself out, I realized something very important that I invite, you know, the listeners to think about if they find themselves in some sort of pattern that keeps on repeating. I saw these are two different men that live in two different countries from totally different cultures, and they're acting the same way. There's only one common denominator. 

Rich Bennett 27:19
You. 

Melissa Osorio 27:19
Me. 

Rich Bennett 27:20
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 27:21
So I said, I need to look at me because I am attracting these people. I am allowing this behavior. And this behavior is a reflection of my worth. So I went into this start of my personal growth journey with Tony Robbins, you know, and 

Rich Bennett 27:36
Mm hmm. 

Melissa Osorio 27:37
other books and all of that. And and after some a couple of years, I found myself, as I mentioned at the beginning, in this really dark place. And finally I realized if I didn't get off the tightrope that I was walking on, I was going to fall. And I did something that was very out of my comfort zone. And I flew down to Costa Rica to a center that some friends had talk to me about. And just because I know myself and I don't recommend people to do this at all, okay. I didn't research on purpose nothing about what I did in the center because I knew I will come up with an excuse. I'm very much in my head. But the key is that I trust that the people that recommended the place. 

Rich Bennett 28:28
Right. 

Melissa Osorio 28:29
So I trusted the people. But I showed up in this place in Costa Rica, and I have no clue about what's about to happen. Which was a good thing. And, you know, my life got destroyed in that week. Actually, no, not in that week, Rick. My life imploded and exploded in literally an instant. 

Rich Bennett 28:51
In 

Melissa Osorio 28:52
And. 

Rich Bennett 28:52
Costa Rica. 

Melissa Osorio 28:53
Yes. 

Would you like me to tell you what I was doing there? 

Rich Bennett 29:00
Yeah. Yeah. Because this now this scares me because I have actually friends that just moved to Costa Rica. I have. 

Melissa Osorio 29:08
Oh, no. Costa Rica is a beautiful place. 

Rich Bennett 29:10
Okay. 

Melissa Osorio 29:10
Costa Rica is now a beautiful place. But I went to a specific place that, you know, really helps people get over what's blocking them from life and love. 

Rich Bennett 29:18
Okay. 

Melissa Osorio 29:18
Right? Yeah. So I thought I went there to heal my heart and my heartbreak to find a purpose. But I went there to heal a lot more. I went there to heal my body, my mind and my heart. 

Rich Bennett 29:28
Okay. 

Melissa Osorio 29:29
So this center is a medically supervised center that serves a planned medicine called ayahuasca. So I. And it's for those that don't know is is plants that have been used for medicinal purposes for hundreds of years, sometimes even millennia. I we just getting started with them from, you know, our side of the world. But they have been used for a long time. 

Rich Bennett 29:54
Yeah. And you? I take it you tried this? 

Melissa Osorio 29:59
Yeah. So I try these and this plant is a psychedelic 

Rich Bennett 30:02
Uh huh. 

Melissa Osorio 30:03
it has a psychedelic compound called DMT. And it's a very, very for very powerful psychedelic. I do explain in detail in my book a lot about psychedelics, how they work, how the brain works, because I want people to, when they read my book, it's not just about my stories, about their stories, a reflection of their struggles as well. And I wanted them to be informed about the alternatives that are out there. 

Rich Bennett 30:30
So now I understand the explosion and the implosion, and correct me if I'm wrong. So you took this and pun intended here. It opened up those hidden memories. 

Melissa Osorio 30:44
Correct. 

Rich Bennett 30:45
Wow. 

Melissa Osorio 30:46
Now, let me let me expand a little bit on the hidden memory part, because I'm passionate about it. 

Rich Bennett 30:52
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 30:53
So I then remember my childhood. 

Rich Bennett 30:56
Mm hmm. 

Melissa Osorio 30:56
Okay, Before I was 16 years old, I just had little snippets of memory and I was not versed in mental health to understand and to know that literature and scientific research shows that when you don't remember your childhood, that when you have large memory gaps where years you don't remember your cousins remember, but you don't remember your brain protecting you from something by hiding the memories. And the brain doesn't only hide the bad memories, it hides a good memory. Suicide, hope. Neat package that goes into a very deep drawer in your mind. Okay, so I show up in this center and on my third treatment, 

as I said, my life really collapse. Most, most horrible instant of my life. Because in a in a moment, I started to remember what happened in my childhood. And. The only way to describe it is that every cell in my body carried the weight of remembrance. It's one of those moments where you get a full aha! In your body, it all of a sudden you understand and it makes full sense in your body, in your cells. But of course, your brain is still struggling to catch up. So. It started me on a journey that, you know, it completely transformed my life. And in my book, I talk about how when we're often often when we face moments of decision in our lives, we go through, you know, so many stages of grief and we're angry and then we're sad and depressed. And then finally, after we get through all of these stages, when we come to acceptance is when we're able to start healing. So when I was able in that night to accept that something did happen to me that I then remember, and to accept that I wanted to know what it was because I wanted my life to be transformed. Then my life in that moment restarted. You know, Eckhart Tolle is an incredible writer and he says that the secret to life is to die before you die. Well, that. 

Rich Bennett 33:15
Oh. 

Melissa Osorio 33:17
Yeah. Is there. So that third ayahuasca treatment. I died even though I was alive. A 

Rich Bennett 33:24
Right. 

Melissa Osorio 33:24
part of me died. The part of me that believed a different story of what happened in my childhood and at that moment I was able to really come back to life now because I was healed far from it. 

Rich Bennett 33:37
Right. 

Melissa Osorio 33:37
But I was able to come back to life because I was able to build my life on a foundation of truth instead of on an illusion of lies and trauma and hidden memories. 

Rich Bennett 33:47
Wow. 

Wow. 

And you were down there for a week going through this. 

Melissa Osorio 34:00
In that specific instance, I was supposed to be there for a week, 

Rich Bennett 34:03
Okay. 

Melissa Osorio 34:03
but I stayed for I stayed for two because honestly, I couldn't couldn't get myself to go back home after after one week. 

Rich Bennett 34:11
It's understandable. 

Melissa Osorio 34:12
Nation. Yeah, there was so much information and I didn't understand how this was truly possible. So if you allow me, I want to tell you a little bit of what I did during my time there as well so I could understand. And I researched a lot about how this was even possible. 

Rich Bennett 34:31
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 34:31
So. So what? Psychedelic medicines, you know, like ayahuasca, for example, do in your brain is they do exactly the opposite of what trauma those. 

Rich Bennett 34:42
Mm hmm. 

Melissa Osorio 34:42
So trauma gets your body and your brain in full alert. Firefly State You're in a fearful state. Your rational brain doesn't work properly. Your memory center is is also the activity there is shut down. So this psychedelics, what they do is they lower the activity in the fear center of your brain and they allow for your rational brain and your memory center to have a better recollection of events. So picture these now you're an adult. You're lying in a bed and you are, you know, you're in a safe environment. Your fear center activity is lower and you're able to remember better what happened to you and the way that you remember. And it's not like you remember going to buy milk. Yesterday morning, I got in my car, I went to the supermarket and I got a carton of milk. That is a regular memory. 

Rich Bennett 35:37
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 35:37
So the way that traumatic memories are storing in you and how they're taken out of you is very different. The way that the traumatic memories are stored is that they're stored in your body. They are stored in the cells of your body. And they're stored not with words, but they're stored with feelings and emotions. And this is so key for people to understand, because you remember to, you know, going to the baseball game yesterday, you remember it here with your words. 

Rich Bennett 36:07
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 36:07
But trauma, you remember in your body, your organs, remember your tissues, remember. So when you're remembering events that were traumatic, if you notice, whether you feel, you feel your heart is racing, you feel a pit in your stomach, you feel shaky, that is your body. Remembering the event. 

Rich Bennett 36:27
Toxins, basically. 

Melissa Osorio 36:30
Toxins. 

Rich Bennett 36:30
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 36:31
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 36:31
Which I guess in a way also a lot of people that do the Reiki is helping to pull that stuff out. 

Melissa Osorio 36:40
Yeah, exactly. So that's why all this somatic therapy, 

Rich Bennett 36:43
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 36:44
Rolfing, Reiki, they're very effective because that trauma is stored deep in the tissues and the muscles and many and even yoga. Like many times people are getting a massage and they just they start crying because 

Rich Bennett 36:58
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 36:58
they were in a position or they press their muscles, pressed somewhere in their body, their release trauma. So that's just another proof of how the trauma is stored in the body. And I want you to I invite you to also think about something else. If trauma is stored in the body, what is that doing to your organs and your tissues? 

Rich Bennett 37:18
Oh. 

Melissa Osorio 37:19
So they say trauma is in your tissues. So what? What is autoimmune disease? What is what is a cancer? What is a chronic digestive issue? There are your tissues and your cells not working properly. So there are many experts that talk openly about how one of the main causes, if not the main cause for some of these illnesses is trauma that has not been processed, that got stored in the body. 

Rich Bennett 37:46
Wow. 

Wow. I, i it's something like that is not here in the United States. Correct. Decided 

Melissa Osorio 37:58
Like. 

Rich Bennett 37:59
the psychedelics. In other words, the hell I know the Reiki and all that is. But I mean, if you didn't go to Costa Rica, you probably would have not have. Well, you wouldn't be here today talking to me, probably. 

Melissa Osorio 38:12
Well, there are many places around the world that do these. 

Rich Bennett 38:16
Uh huh. 

Melissa Osorio 38:16
And in the U.S., you're right. Most of these treatments are illegal. And I'm also very passionate about that because a prescription medication that is legalized and approved by the FDA often has more negative side effects 

Rich Bennett 38:36
Mm hmm. 

Melissa Osorio 38:36
than a treatment for trauma healing with psilocybin, for example. So which is magic mushrooms. Right. 

Rich Bennett 38:44
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 38:45
So the question that one should ask is, what is the reason behind this? Who's winning? Who's winning? If people are addicted to prescription medications? The pharmaceutical industry, The alcohol industry? The tobacco industry. Those industries are winning. If people are only numbing themselves and they're not working towards the root of healing. The reasons why they are wanting to numb themselves. 

Rich Bennett 39:14
Yeah. See, 

I'm a I hate medicine. I me, I got a I got to be, like, on the brink of tears to even pop a motrin. And since I've started this, I've been learning so much more about holistic healing and everything. And it's even crystals just, I guess you could say nature's way of healing people is probably still the best way. 

Melissa Osorio 39:50
Absolutely. And we got away from it. 

Rich Bennett 39:52
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 39:53
And some people proposed, which I agree with. Why do we get away from 

Rich Bennett 39:58
Mm 

Melissa Osorio 39:58
it? 

Rich Bennett 39:59
hmm. 

Melissa Osorio 39:59
Is because perpetuating a society that is always sick is a moneymaker. 

Rich Bennett 40:06
Yup, exactly. 

Melissa Osorio 40:06
It's a moneymaker for hospitals. It's a moneymaker for prescription medication, pharmaceuticals. It's a moneymaker for everybody. So people with money and power are not interested in people being. 

Rich Bennett 40:18
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 40:19
Faith in the common people to be healthy. Why? Because they're making too much money out of illness. 

Rich Bennett 40:24
Yeah. Yeah, you're right. And I mean, we've talked about this several times because 

I still think there is a cure for cancer out there. But you won't hear about it because you're the the doctors and the pharmaceutical companies aren't making money. But I've talked to several. Go ahead. 

Melissa Osorio 40:47
Sorry. Go ahead. 

Rich Bennett 40:49
I just 

Melissa Osorio 40:49
Well, 

Rich Bennett 40:49
guess. 

Melissa Osorio 40:49
I was just. 

Okay, you go ahead. 

Rich Bennett 40:54
I was just going to say, like I told you before, I've talked to several different people that whether it be psychedelics or some other type of holistic approach, and they are doing so much better today, and especially when it comes to mental health. They are doing so much better today than if they were, you know, when some of them were even on prescriptions and stopped taking the prescriptions and took the holistic approach and are so much better. 

Melissa Osorio 41:24
I mean, if you know, if people ask me sometimes, Melissa, I'm not doing good. I don't feel well. What can I do? I don't have access to psychedelics. So because not everybody has the time or money to travel somewhere where they're legal to get these treatments right. So the first thing that you know, I will say to people is look at what you're eating. 

Rich Bennett 41:47
Oh, yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 41:48
Food. Your food is your medicine, right? So that if you can control that a little bit more, then look at how you're spending your time. Can you be a little bit more active? So those are things that we can do, you know, that are kind of basic. And then the next thing that I say to them is, have you looked into your past? Have you explored your childhood? Because if you tell me, Melissa, what has been the most the single most life changing thing that you have done for your mental health and for your physical health? And Rich, I will tell you, I will. I looked into my past and I looked into my childhood. We all have a childhood. 

Rich Bennett 42:25
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 42:25
And more often than not, we all go through different, difficult, different difficulties during our childhood, when we are able to look into how those difficulties have shaped us. Then we're able to remove the blockages, energetic blockages of trauma from our body. 

Rich Bennett 42:44
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 42:44
That single shift will create such an incredible 

upward spiral of healing for you in your body and your mind. And then people say, How can I look into my childhood? I don't remember my childhood. You know, there are many different techniques that are helping people now to to be able to look into their childhood. And I talk about them in, you know, my Instagram. I talk about them in my book. I know that we mentioned somatic therapy, you know, working with therapies for the for the body, then EMDR, which is another. 

Rich Bennett 43:21
Hmm. 

Melissa Osorio 43:21
That uses, you know, the eye movements. So they're other techniques. And then, of course, I always come back to psychedelics because psychedelics offer an accelerated path to healing. 

Rich Bennett 43:34
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 43:34
So if you know, if you're interested in psychedelics, please don't take it lightly. They're not for everybody. Their health conditions that are contraindication, there are mental health conditions that are a contraindication. So educate yourself. That's why I mentioned in my book I put an extra effort to take a pause from the narrative in the middle six chapters I educate people on trauma, on how trauma gets stored in the brain and body, and how psychedelics can help, and what psychedelics are out there, what recommendations and what warnings. So get take into account if you're considering psychedelic treatment. You know, start with educating yourself to just gain more knowledge about what's what's out there. And also, don't take don't take lightly. Like don't take going to drink psychedelics lightly. It can be extremely life changing. So in my book, I mentioned that the people that often get the best results are those that have decided they're in a place in their lives where if they go and take the psychedelics and there is something drastic that needs to be change, they're in a place in their lives where they can allow for that change, whether it is, you know, they need to take time off work or they need to, you know, cut off some relationships of their life or they need to dig deeper with other different techniques so that you have the ability to continue to integrate your experiences with psychedelics later in your life. Don't go to take the psychedelics on a Sunday and go back to work on Monday. That's that's that's a recipe for this 

Rich Bennett 45:08
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 45:08
acid. 

Rich Bennett 45:08
You know, to do that. 

Definitely don't want to do that. The 

and the to me this because originally I thought your book was basically just a memoir, but it sounds like it's also a guidebook. 

Melissa Osorio 45:25
Correct. So my book is is a marriage between a memoir and a self-help book. So we all love stories. Write stories is the way that we communicate and knowledge through our, you know, the evolution of humans. So this story at the heart of the book is is incredibly 

compelling and it's very authentic. And I pretty much said, listen, I'm opening the windows of my soul because there is so much there that you can identify with that I feel that if you can look in here, maybe can be a reflection for you of your own life. So you can try to say, see, you know, the similarities or difference between us and grow from it. And then on top of that, it's also a guidebook for people that are interested in understanding more, you know, their own traumas and their effects in their body and psychedelics and alternative therapies. 

Rich Bennett 46:22
All right. So with this book, what if you don't mind me asking? And if you don't want to answer, I understand. But what was the one hit in memory that came up for you? That it just floored you? You were like, Oh, my God, that Oh, my God moment. 

Melissa Osorio 46:42
So I'm not going to give the whole the whole book away. How? 

Rich Bennett 46:44
No. 

Melissa Osorio 46:45
I will. No, of course not. But I will tell you so 

often. We. As were children. And we for survival. We create illusions in our mind of who our parents are. 

Rich Bennett 47:03
Mm hmm. Hmm. 

Melissa Osorio 47:04
Because as a child, you internalize their behavior as there is something wrong with me, because the idea that your mom or dad are not perfect is unbearable for a child. So they take their imperfections as their responsibility, Right? 

Rich Bennett 47:22
Mm hmm. 

Melissa Osorio 47:22
So I had created an illusion of my childhood for survival and often is a complete opposite from the reality. I had created an illusion of my father as the person that raised me and the example and the my best friend in childhood and the person that I wanted to make proud and the person that I worked for my entire life to become this successful and strong woman. So he could be proud, even though she has been long gone. Right. 

Rich Bennett 47:56
Right. 

Melissa Osorio 47:57
So the hidden memory that started to come up that transformed my life. And it took me a while to be able to process these, right? It was the complete destruction of that illusion of who my father was in our household, in our household, and specifically to me. So it was a complete destruction of that illusion. I actually have a very, very beautiful chapter. He's one of my favorites chapters. It's called Stolen Childhood. And in that chapter, I dive deep into meeting my inner child and experiencing what the four year old me felt. But the 12 year old me felt experiencing that in my body, not in my brain, but experiencing that depth of fear and betrayal. 

Rich Bennett 48:58
Wow. 

Melissa Osorio 48:58
That the inner child in me have failed throughout my life. And it was a beautiful chapter because it ends in an amazing sunrise. And I in that moment, when the sun comes up after a whole night of psychedelic treatment with ayahuasca, I am exhausted. 

Rich Bennett 49:18
Right. 

Melissa Osorio 49:18
The illusion of my childhood has been completely shattered. I actually saw it fall off. My brakes off of my shoulders has brakes. But when I'm looking at that sunrise, I'm falling in love with the beautiful colors in the sky. And in that moment, I realized during those 12 hours of treatment, I also had falling in love with every stage of my journey from the innocent four year old child to the terrible teenager that was so betrayed to the woman that didn't know how to love or how to be happy up to the woman I had become up to that moment and loving myself through all the stages, even the most difficult ones, has been one of the most beautiful gifts I've received. 

Rich Bennett 50:04
Wow. Something very important. Melissa. Is Melissa happy today? 

Melissa Osorio 50:13
Yes. And and let me say that. 

Happiness is a big word and we all want to chase it, right? And we often hear don't chase happiness. So happiness to me. And the reason why I can answer that, yes, Melissa is happy today. I am happy today is not because my life is perfect, is not because I have everything I want, but is simply because 

I have become the person that I was always meant to be. 

Rich Bennett 50:46
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 50:47
I have stepped into the shoes that have been really difficult to walk in, but I'm finally owning my path and there is a sense of fulfillment and inner peace that comes with living your truth and from that truth. Then there is happiness. 

Rich Bennett 51:05
You're no longer carrying that ton of bricks on your shoulders. 

Melissa Osorio 51:09
Oh, no. 

Rich Bennett 51:10
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 51:10
We're heavy. Having hard to keep up for sure. 

Rich Bennett 51:13
And I have a feeling because we talked about your past relationships and everything and how everything was just hard for you. But you're happy now, and I have a feeling that you're even making people around you. Very. And they're and they're proud to be to be with you and to know you as just the way. That's what I'm gathering from you now. 

Melissa Osorio 51:39
Yeah. And that's a beautiful thought, which is a reality. You know, one of the biggest gifts I have received and I, I cannot stress this enough for people. 

Rich Bennett 51:47
Mm hmm. 

Melissa Osorio 51:48
When you healed your heart, when you take care of your mental health, is not only for you, 

Rich Bennett 51:54
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 51:54
the people around you, even if they don't respond to your healing properly, those are matter, but the people around you start to shift as well. And I am just so blessed 

Rich Bennett 52:05
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 52:06
that my family have completely, completely supported my journey. And there is so much healing that has happened within our family because we started to say the truth and we started to really be compassionate with each other for our own experiences and for our shared experience. And then that extends even more is a ripple effect that now goes out to to everybody you meet 

Rich Bennett 52:35
Mm 

Melissa Osorio 52:35
to, 

Rich Bennett 52:35
hmm. 

Melissa Osorio 52:36
you know, to the taxi driver, to the person that checks you out in the store, like to people you sit next to in an event because you exude these this inner stillness 

Rich Bennett 52:48
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 52:48
and this personal magic and you're able to share it. So that's how we are able to help each other, right? 

Rich Bennett 52:55
It's the Law of attraction. Positivity creates positivity, and it just radiates more. Yeah. And you're just making everybody around you feel so good. The actually with the book, how long did it take you to write? 

Melissa Osorio 53:11
Well, that's an interesting one. 

So 

I knew I was going to write a book, believe it or not. From the first week, I started to discover my hidden memories. 

Rich Bennett 53:26
Okay. 

Melissa Osorio 53:26
I. Even though I had never even kept a journal, I had never written anything. 

Rich Bennett 53:32
Really? 

Melissa Osorio 53:32
I knew, yes. But I knew I needed to put this in writing. And it was just this inner knowing, you know. Then I went through stages of doubting my capacity and doubting myself and fear. And I was still growing and I was doing a lot of research and reading so many books. And I didn't realize that, yes, I was doing it for my own healing, but also it was my way of researching forever. 

Rich Bennett 53:57
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 53:58
So I researched for my book or for about a year and a half. And finally one morning, I one evening actually, I said, Tomorrow I start writing my book and I'm going to wake up at 7 a.m. and I'm going to take a cold shower and I'm going to sit in my computer. And so I did that. And then magic happened. Then some of the most incredible days of my life happened. So I often heard people talk about, especially artists and creative people, of being in a state of flow. 

Rich Bennett 54:31
Mm hmm. 

Melissa Osorio 54:31
And I never understood what that was. But when there is a message, I believe that just needs to come out. The universe energetically will make sure those and if we become willing vessels and messengers of that message and we're not trying to infuse it with our ego or with our personality, we're simply committed to understanding that there is a message that needs to come out. And I'm just the messenger. And it's exactly what I said to God, to the universe. I said, I am a messenger. I'm here. Let's let's write this book. And I sat in my computer for I get these 12 days straight, 12 hour days. And my book was born during those 12 days, almost like almost exact to what it is now. 

Rich Bennett 55:21
12 days for 12 hours each day. 

Melissa Osorio 55:24
Yeah, I was barely eating. I was vibrating. 12 of the most beautiful and magical days of my life. I understand this is not like the way to write a book, but it's how I wrote it. So the story of 50,000 words was written during that time. And then during my editing, I inserted the self-help part, which. 

Rich Bennett 55:43
Right. 

Melissa Osorio 55:44
Their story a little bit more. So self-help is about 15,000 words and about an expansion of to 5000 more words to his story. So 80,000 words book pour out of me from the universe through me as a beautiful message of hope and transformation and love. 

Rich Bennett 56:06
Wow. And yourself is a self-published or go through a publisher. 

Melissa Osorio 56:11
So I did not want to go through a publisher because I did not want to sell my story the rights to my story. You know, So if I'm writing Harry Potter, I and they change the name of the monster. I don't care. 

Rich Bennett 56:27
Right. 

Melissa Osorio 56:28
Still got a bunch of money. But 

Rich Bennett 56:29
Right. 

Melissa Osorio 56:29
if I'm writing about my life and they change the name of the monster or what the monster did 

Rich Bennett 56:36
You know 

Melissa Osorio 56:36
or 

Rich Bennett 56:36
what? 

Melissa Osorio 56:36
how I achieved it, then, then it's my life that is completely changed, right? 

Rich Bennett 56:41
Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 56:41
So, you know, so I definitely didn't want to to have that occasion where I would regret it. I got some money ahead of time and compromise the story that I'm trying to tell. 

Rich Bennett 56:56
And correct me if I'm wrong, but it came out October of 23, right? 

Melissa Osorio 57:00
Yes. 

Rich Bennett 57:00
Okay. I had a funny feeling you were self-publish because it's also an audible form. Most publishers don't want the old, you know, an audio version until, like, a year afterwards. 

Melissa Osorio 57:12
Yeah, I was very intentional with my audio. I really I really wanted to read it myself. 

Rich Bennett 57:19
Yeah. Good. 

Melissa Osorio 57:20
Of my heart. And it came out really. I've gotten so many beautiful compliments on the audio and even the you know, the book itself actually has pictures in it, which is very unique. So they're real life pictures. As the story unfolds, you can see what I'm talking about, you know, so it allows the reader to really get into the story. 

Rich Bennett 57:41
Those of you listening, of course, you if you go to Melissa's website, which is Melissa Dash, Sawyer, Yoakam and I'll have the links in the show notes, you can purchase the book from there, which will take you to Amazon. Do me a favor. When you purchase the book after you read it or listen to it, make sure you leave a full review. Again, you all know that leaving a full review just drives the algorithm up. And if not, if I know you're going to love it after you read it, it just hits you so hard. Buy some copies for other people because this book will help a lot of people. I guarantee it. So again, hit a memory. Discover Woods blocking you from life and love. Written by Melissa Osorio. I still can't do the role. So what? 

Melissa Osorio 58:37
Better. 

Rich Bennett 58:38
What's next for Melissa? 

Melissa Osorio 58:41
Well, I am speaking a lot about, you know, these beautiful subject and podcasts and events. Also, I'm very excited that the book has been translated to Spanish. 

Rich Bennett 58:53
Oh, 

Melissa Osorio 58:54
Gone with. I'm almost done with the editing. I don't have a publishing date yet, but it will come out in Spanish. And this is very important for me because they, the Spanish speaking cultures, talk even less about mental health, the talk even 

Rich Bennett 59:10
yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 59:10
less about childhood trauma. So I know it's going to be a very impactful read for, you know, for those people still to be able to read it in their in their own language. So that's that's a project that I'm very excited about. We're also working on other projects, you know, to turn the book into a different type of medium, 

Rich Bennett 59:30
Mm hmm. 

Melissa Osorio 59:30
like whether it's a visual medium or something like that, to reach even more people that will be, you know, such a dream to be able to to allow other people that maybe don't love reading, to still have access to these message. 

Rich Bennett 59:43
Have you thought about starting a podcast yourself? 

Melissa Osorio 59:47
I have thought about this. 

Rich Bennett 59:49
Okay. 

Melissa Osorio 59:50
However, I'm enjoying it very much for now. Just been invited into into podcasts and. 

Rich Bennett 59:56
Right. 

Melissa Osorio 59:57
Yeah, but definitely. 

Rich Bennett 59:59
I think you should. I know it will be successful. Just as with everything. So everything you touch turns to gold. 

Melissa Osorio 1:00:06
Oh, 

Rich Bennett 1:00:07
So. 

Melissa Osorio 1:00:07
well. I will. I will accept that I like. Let the university. 

Rich Bennett 1:00:13
But no, seriously, I think not. Think. I know that if you started a podcast, Mental Mental Health podcast, are big. A lot of people like to listen to them because it's helping people. People you know, you're helping them break the stigma. And it it may it's making a big, big difference. Plus, if you do video form. See, you're not like me. People can look at you. People won't mind looking at you. People don't want to look at me, you know? So. 

Melissa Osorio 1:00:44
Oh, you're funny. Well, you know, podcasts are very powerful. So is definitely there. I'm also really going to be exploring the idea because I get so many requests from people to. Personal coaching through the Trauma Informed Coaching. 

Rich Bennett 1:00:58
Good. 

Melissa Osorio 1:00:59
Mentoring. So I'm going to be launching like some programs on that online. So I'm excited about the possibilities. 

Rich Bennett 1:01:07
Now, do you travel around the country doing your speaking? 

Melissa Osorio 1:01:11
I have gone to different areas of the country, but I most like when, whenever, like right now, whenever we support because that is far away, you know, you're able to do it online. 

Rich Bennett 1:01:20
Right. 

Melissa Osorio 1:01:21
Just a lot easier for everybody. But yeah, I definitely, you know, have been in different states and doing the book promos and that has been really exciting. And I go to L.A. quite a bit. 

Rich Bennett 1:01:32
Okay. 

Melissa Osorio 1:01:32
So much is happening in L.A. and actually, you know, recently my book was in the Times Square, you know, big screen in Times Square being promoted. So I 

Rich Bennett 1:01:42
How. 

Melissa Osorio 1:01:42
was. York, and he was voted Book of the year last year by the Los Angeles Tribune. So it wasn't made. 

Rich Bennett 1:01:49
Nice. Well, you know, if you ever make it out to the East Coast again, to Maryland, then you got to get in touch with me and we'll I'll I'll show you what good Maryland steamed crabs are. Do you like seafood, first of all? 

Melissa Osorio 1:02:04
I do. I do. 

Rich Bennett 1:02:04
All right. 

Melissa Osorio 1:02:05
It sounds good. 

Rich Bennett 1:02:05
I'll tell you. You turn you on to Samaritans, Steve Krebs, and you probably won't want to go back to the West Coast after. 

Melissa, is there anything you would like to add before I get to my last question? 

Melissa Osorio 1:02:19
I know it's been a joy to be here with you. People want to get in touch with me. I'm very responsive. They can contact me on the website or they can go to my Instagram. Melissa That's with our Les underscore Osorio underscore, remember? And, you know, you can just send me a message there. 

Rich Bennett 1:02:38
There was there was that role that I could not do. 

All right. So you've been on several podcasts. Is there anything a host has never asked you that you wish they would have asked you? And if so, what would be their question and what would be your answer? 

Melissa Osorio 1:02:56
That is a good one. Let's see. 

Well, perhaps, if I wish I would have remembered. 

Rich Bennett 1:03:07
Who? 

Melissa Osorio 1:03:09
If I wish I would have never gone down to Costa Rica. 

Rich Bennett 1:03:13
Well, you wouldn't be here today, first of all. 

Melissa Osorio 1:03:16
Well, I will be somewhere else. And you want me to be frank and tell you where that will be? Six feet under. 

Rich Bennett 1:03:23
Yeah. I had a feeling you were going to say that. Yeah. 

Melissa Osorio 1:03:26
Yeah, I will be likely wouldn't be here today. And I'm not dramatising the situation, but my health was very deteriorated, 

Rich Bennett 1:03:36
Mm 

Melissa Osorio 1:03:37
my mental health was very deteriorated. So if I wouldn't have changed my life, remember my childhood gone through there incredibly, and I cannot say that word with more sentiment, incredibly difficult months and years after the discovery of my childhood, I will likely be there. 

Rich Bennett 1:03:59
hmm. 

Melissa Osorio 1:03:59
So I am extremely grateful that I went to Costa Rica. I got the help that I needed with psychedelics. It's got me started in a journey that has completely transformed my life and has given me more blessings than I have ever, ever asked for or imagined. And I'm just excited because I'm just getting started. 

Rich Bennett 1:04:20
Well, thank God you did go there and you were able to be here today to talk to all of us. So I want to thank you for that. Tell everybody the website again. 

Melissa Osorio 1:04:32
So Melissa that ossorio that com and that is 

0sorio but I'm sure you linked it and. Find my Instagram, they can find audible, they can find Amazon. So they can just go there and check it all out. 

Rich Bennett 1:04:48
I just had to hear you roll that, Oregon, that's all. 

Melissa, thanks so much. 

Melissa Osorio 1:04:55
Thank you so much for having me.