Mel Robbins Podcast: Former CIA spy shares her "happy place" is the Flint Hills...
In this episode Jonna Mendez tells Mel how she got through part of a "hostile interrogation course" by going to the Flint Hills in her mind. Click here for the chapter on You Tube
or listen to the full episode on Spotify by clicking the link below
Here is the transcript:
Because they trained us all the time. They put me through a hostile interrogation course at the CIA's farm. It was one of the worst things that ever happened to me in my life. And in the middle of it, I know it's just a training exercise. I mean, I know that I'm not going to get hurt. I know that nobody's going to let anything happen to me, but I was scared to death.
(00:46:47):
I'm claustrophobic. So they put me in boxes. They put me in a box that I though of as a mattress box because you could only go in sideways and you couldn't turn your shoulders. You could barely turn your head and standing in there for some long time. And I though, I mean, I know this is just a training course, but I was supposed to be learning something here, but I don't think I can do this any longer. And I remembered, I learned something. I remembered that we had talked to some POWs from Vietnam and the POWs had said, "We got through years of this stuff. And you get through it in your mind. You have to find your happy place. You have to build a car, rewire your engine and your whatever. You need a project."
Mel Robbins (00:47:38):
Where did you go in your mind?
Jonna Mendez (00:47:39):
That's the funniest thing. There's a place back in Kansas called the Flint Hills. It's a tall grass area. It's just beautiful. And I went there and it was like I had on infrared goggles. So everything was green and it was just gorgeous and it was kind of moving. And I was just so happy. And I did that. I didn't think that would ever work for me, but that's how I got through it.
Hear the full episode here:
Comments