Grace, Self-Love and Transforming the World
- Brainz Magazine
- Dec 30, 2025
- 6 min read
Tricia Brouk helps high-performing professionals transform into industry thought leaders through the power of authentic storytelling. With her experience as an award-winning director, producer, sought-after speaker, and mentor to countless thought-leaders, Tricia has put thousands of speakers onto big stages globally.
Being able to support speakers in using their voices for impact is a privilege and I had the pleasure of sitting down with Founder of The Awakening Journey, Sandy Shum, to discuss why our inner work is the catalyst for global transformation
Sandy, when did you come to the concept of self-love and inner work being the balm for the world?
Life has shown me that self-love isn’t selfish, it is a profound service to humanity. When we heal ourselves, we elevate the energy we bring into the world. When we choose compassion over fear, we ripple peace into the collective field.
My realization began during my own transformation. After sixteen years chasing status and validation in a Fortune 500 company, a health crisis forced me to stop. It became clear that lasting fulfillment cannot be found in achievements or approval, it blooms from within.
Self-love is the sacred act of remembering who we truly are. We are walking expressions of the Divine, yet we forget our own infinite power. Everything we search for, wholeness, purpose, peace, already lives inside us. Inner work is simply the journey home to that truth.
We are interconnected energy expressions of one universal consciousness. When we change ourselves, we naturally change the people around us. When we love ourselves, we radiate that love outward, and everyone we touch rises in frequency. As within, so without, our outer world is a mirror of our inner world.
And just like a rising tide lifts all ships, every soul that heals raises the collective vibration of humanity. This is why self-love is not merely personal, it is a gift, an offering, and a quiet revolution that transforms the world from the inside out.
Being alive right now is challenging. Social media, AI, major disconnection, wars. How do you stay home?
In a world overflowing with noise, narratives, and constant stimulation, stillness has become my sanctuary. Every conflict we see, whether global or personal, stems from the illusion that we are separate from God, when in truth, we are one with the Divine.
“Be still, and know that I’m God.” This simple, profound command carries the entire blueprint for returning home to ourselves.
French philosopher Blaise Pascal once said, “All man’s miseries derive from not being able to sit quietly in a room alone.” With over 60,000 thoughts cycling through our minds each day, we often relive the same patterns without realizing it.
Learning to be quiet means entering the gap, the silent space between thoughts. In that space lives peace, intuition, clarity, and divine presence.
Each morning, I meditate and practice inner quiet. As my thoughts drift like clouds across a vast sky, the noise of the world fades, and the voice within grows stronger. When the voice of the vision within becomes louder than the noise of opinion outside, we begin to master our lives.
Stillness becomes direction. Silence becomes strength. And in that sacred inner home, the same stillness that holds the stars, I am never lost.
Can you share your personal experience with self-love and how you came to live so fully inside of these concepts?
My understanding of self-love was shaped by discipline, devotion, and moments that brought me to my knees. For me, self-discipline is the highest expression of self-love, because it is the bridge between intention and transformation.
After my back surgery, a friend warned me I might need more surgeries. My doctor offered simple wisdom: “Walk at least half an hour every day.” I made that a sacred promise to myself.
For thirteen years, my morning walks in nature have strengthened my body and awakened my spirit. Every step became a prayer, every breath a surrender.
But the deep initiation came when I fell into a depression so profound that it stripped me bare. For four months, nights were sleepless and heavy with fear, days were filled with tears.
Yet every morning, I forced myself outside. I looked up at the sky and begged for help. And somehow, through grace alone, the Holy Spirit carried me. Step by step. Breath by breath. Whispering, “Just one more step.”
One morning, the sky, which had been gray for months, suddenly glowed bright blue. In that moment, I knew I had risen.
Now, after every walk, I lift my legs onto the windowsill outside my home, a symbolic reminder that I can rise higher every day. I tell myself:
“Every day I live, I strive to surpass myself, and that persistence is a victory.”
Self-love is not a feeling. It is a practice. It is courage. It is choosing life, even when it hurts. In remembering this, I discovered that the Divine power lives within each of us. And when we awaken to it, the world around us transforms.
Doing the inner work is not easy. How do we know if we are doing the right work or just being self-indulgent?
Inner work is not about learning something new, it is about remembering who we already are. We are not trying to become worthy, we are activating the divine power that has always lived within us. True inner work is the journey of remembering our divine nature and reclaiming our gifts.
The ego operates in duality, judging, comparing, resisting. But we are not just our thoughts or emotions. We are the awareness behind them, the witness, the presence, the consciousness observing it all.
True inner work is not about doing more, it is about becoming more. It doesn’t pull us away from life, it awakens us to its more profound truth. Inner work becomes self-indulgent only when it reinforces the ego. It becomes transformative when it reconnects us to our soul.
We know we’re doing the right work when we feel:
more peaceful, not more self-focused
more compassionate, not more withdrawn
more grounded, not more overwhelmed
more aligned, not more confused. Inner work makes us more ourselves, more awake, more authentic, more attuned to the purpose we came here to embody.
What are the six pillars of self-love that you teach Sandy? And how did you come to create them?
Self-love is a way of being, a return to wholeness. These Six Pillars are the foundation for living in harmony with our divine essence.
Acceptance: Unconditional acceptance is the highest wisdom. We are whole, perfect, and complete – not because we lack flaws, but because our essence is divine. We never rise above the beliefs we hold about ourselves. Acceptance allows us to act from truth, not limitation.
Growth: Life is an ever-unfolding process of learning and becoming. As Einstein said, “Once you stop learning, you start dying.” Growth means choosing expansion over perfection, courage over comfort.
Solitude: Solitude is the quiet sanctuary where we meet God. Rumi wrote, “Whenever you’re alone, remember that God has sent everyone else away so that there is only you and Him.”In the sweetness of solitude, our energy restores itself, our intuition awakens, and we return to center.
Releasing: Releasing means letting go of old stories and stepping beyond the limited mind. Our past does not define us – it prepares us. As Rumi said, “You are not a drop in the ocean, you are the entire ocean in a drop.” Releasing creates space for rebirth.
Protecting our vibe: Our energy is our most sacred currency. High-frequency people uplift, low-frequency people drain. Choosing our friends is choosing our destiny. Protecting our vibe is honoring the environments that nourish our souls.
Boosting our energy: To raise our inner energy is to awaken our divinity. We do not need to seek love outside ourselves, we are love itself. We do not need to chase the light, we are the light, enough to warm ourselves and illuminate others.
Through purpose, rituals, gratitude, nature, and conscious living, we elevate our energy, and our entire reality follows.
Tricia Brouk, Founder of The Big Talk Academy
Tricia Brouk helps high-performing professionals transform into industry thought leaders through the power of authentic storytelling. With her experience as an award-winning director, producer, sought after speaker, and mentor to countless thought-leaders, Tricia has put thousands of speakers onto big stages globally. She produced TEDxLincolnSquare in New York City and is the founder of The Big Talk Academy. Tricia’s book, The Influential Voice: Saying What You Mean for Lasting Legacy, was a 1 New Release on Amazon in December 2020. Big Stages, the documentary featuring her work with speakers premiered at the Chelsea Film Festival in October of 2023 and her most recent love is the new publishing house she founded, The Big Talk Press.
