Letting Yourself Be Held -Inner Child Healing, Human Design & Why Love is the Root of Everything
Episode 3 of Wellness Me Up with Life Coach Jonathan McLean
You don't need to harden yourself. You need a safe place to soften.
And I know that might sound a little scary if you've spent most of your life being the person who holds it all together. But this conversation with Jonathan is going to make you want to put the armor down for a minute... and honestly? That's exactly the point.
Grab something cozy. This one feels like a hug.
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The Domino You Didn't Know Was Stuck
Jonathan's whole approach comes down to finding the one thing — that one pivotal piece — that when it shifts, everything else starts moving too.
Like dominoes. You don't have to fix all of it. You just have to find the one that's been holding everything else in place... move it just three degrees... and watch what happens.
That's his superpower. And it's quietly, genuinely profound.
It Always Comes Back to Love. Always.
I'm just gonna say it. This part of the conversation made my shoulders drop about three inches.
When something finally unlocks for a client and the real shift starts to happen... Jonathan says it almost always leads to the same place.
Love.
Not the kind you have to earn. Not the kind that comes with conditions. The kind you give to the younger version of yourself who was just doing the absolute best they could with what they had at the time.
Inner child work sits at the core of how Jonathan supports people. And the way he describes it is so simple it kind of breaks your heart a little... you go back, you find that scared younger version of yourself, and you say I'm here. I love you. I've got you.
Try reading that and not feeling something. I dare you.
What Surprises People Most When They Work With Him
They show up thinking they need answers. A strategy. A plan.
What they find instead is that they're actually capable of loving themselves. Like genuinely. And for a lot of people... that's the most surprising thing that's ever happened to them in a coaching container.
Jonathan doesn't sugarcoat it either. He's honest that self-love is hard sometimes — especially when you're carrying shame or regret about things you've done or been through. But he meets people exactly where they are. And he finds the opening. And that opening? That's enough to start everything moving.
The WTF Wheel: Weirdest Wellness Thing You've Ever Tried?
Okay this one went somewhere I did not expect and I am so glad it did.
Jonathan opened up about plant medicine — specifically Amazonian plant medicine done in proper, intentional healing settings with trained facilitators. He's sat in those circles ten times and describes it as ten years of therapy in a single night.
Amanda was honest about her own hesitation around participating in one, given her background of diseased states of addictive behavior and choices... but participating in one at a retreat held within reiki, cord cutting, intention setting, and integration work gave her access to parts of herself she's still unpacking years later. It's a lot of integration work and therapy to unpack.
And then Jonathan shared this... about thirteen years ago, he fell down a mountain in the Himalayas. He sustained significant nerve damage and has spent the years since using every healing modality available to recover — and to turn that experience into fuel for helping others do the same in a fraction of the time.
That's not a wellness journey. That's a whole damn story.
Human Design as Another Way to See Yourself
Jonathan also works with human design — using it as one more way to hold up that mirror.
Sometimes it's easier to hear something true about yourself when it comes through a framework rather than a direct observation. And no matter what chart Jonathan looks at... he finds superpowers. Every single time.
That's just how he sees people. And honestly after this conversation I kind of want him to look at mine.
The Exercise He Left Us With
Jonathan ended the episode with something he does with literally anyone who has a few spare minutes — including call centre workers he ends up on hold with. Which... is very Jonathan.
He walked us through a simple visualization. Find your happiest, most joy-filled memory. Let it spread through every single cell of your body. Really sit in it.
And then he wished that feeling onto everyone listening from now until the end of their days.
I mean. Come on.
What Wellness Me Up Means to Jonathan
Remembering the divine spark within yourself. And then looking at all the shit-stained glasses and lenses you've put around that light — all the ones that are clouding it, distorting it, dimming it — and asking... do I still need this?
Wellness is removing those lenses one by one. Not all at once. Not dramatically. Just... one by one. At your own pace. In your own time.
And some of them? You're gonna look at and go... actually I kind of like this one. I'm keeping it. And that's okay too.
Want to work with Jonathan? Jonathan McLean is a Life Coach and Certified Executive Coach working through spiritual, relationship, and emotional wellness — with a gentle, love-first approach rooted in inner child healing and human design. If you need someone to hold up the mirror and actually help you see yourself clearly... he's your guy. 👉 https://www.jonathanmclean.net/
If this episode hit different, share it with someone who needs a hug today. And subscribe to Wellness Me Up wherever you listen to podcasts.
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