Beyond the Norm

"Pikachu?! It's Tinky-Winky! And actually Tinky-Winky was the purple one and Po was the yellow one. You are all over the place!" argues Stephen as Christi discovers if there's one line she shouldn't cross t's Stephen's nerdiness (it's ok Christi, Po was actually the red one!). An in depth-analysis of Tinky-Winky's purse might not be the spookiest topic to kick-off this week's episode, but trust us that once the actual topic gets underway you'll deeply miss the innocence of Tinky-Winky's purse. On this week's episode of Beyond the Norm Christi and Stephen are diving head first into two modern true-crime stories that are equal parts shocking and revolting.The first story concerns the fate of Lacey Fletcher, a woman who was left to die on her family's couch over the course of 12 years. After Lacey suffered a cognitive set-back in her 20's, her parents decided she was better off on the couch where they wouldn't have to deal with her. Slowly but surely Lacey's body atrophied into the cushions, fusing with the couch itself. The resulting scene was so horrific that the medical examiners determined it to be one of the cruelest crime scenes they'd ever witnessed.The second story brings us back to our Beyond the Norm home of New Orleans for the scandalous murder of Addie Hall by her boyfriend Zack Bowen. Trapped together by Hurricane Katrina, their relationship was already on the rocks and both Addie and Zack hit their breaking points. Addie handled it by requesting that Zack be evicted. Zach handled it by murdering Addie and killing himself. The eight page suicide note left behind by Zach detailed his crimes in exacting and haunting detail. The crime scene is the stuff of pure nightmares. There's still plenty of people in the French Quarter who remember the events well. Some of those people might even know Stephen and have given him a little direct insight into the lives of Zack and Addie, and if you tune-in he might just share them with you! Quotes“I should just change your name in my phone to Ignorant Bitch instead of Christi. I mean that's just more appropriate.” (5:42-5:48 | Stephen)“My husbands here, I'm not neglecting [the dog], he's taking care of her. Oh my god! Like if you could chew up food and spit it down her throat like a bird you would.” (31:41-31:48 | Christi & Stephen)“Hey thanks for your service! Here's some nipples!” (37:31-37:36 | Christi)“No human flesh was found in his system. Ok good. Which means that he didn't actually eat her... not that that makes it any better!" (43:34-43:42 | Christi & Stephen) LinksSend us your ghost or weird stories here: beyondthenormpod@gmail.comSubscribe to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/BeyondtheNormPodcastFollow Christi on IG: www.instagram.com/christilukasiakFollow Stephen on IG: www.instagram.com/s_c_mayo

"I think people want to belong to something," Christi postulates as she picks up the pieces from last week's episode on cults to try and get to the heart of what makes groupthink tick. To better understand this phenomenon Christi has brought a true story for this week's episode that's sure to raise a few hairs every time you have to remind yourself that it really happened.It's the 1960's and Ron Jones, a Palo Alto history teacher, is trying to impart to his students why the German public was able to accept what the Nazis had done while they were active. Jones begins a little experiment to help teach his students a lesson. He founds "The Third Wave" movement and begins to teach his students strict forms of discipline and resolve. What starts as a brief classroom trial quickly explodes across the campus, with other classes of students getting involved and Jones taking on a more dictorial role in the proceedings.Is this a case of taking a lesson a lesson plan too far, or are the haunting implications of the Third Wave experiment a powerful statement on the nature of fascism? It's a scary reminder that sometimes if you ask someone wether they'd jump of a bridge if someone else did it, they might just answer yes.Quotes“The smell of Bourbon St. comes in waves. Like sometimes you're walking and you're vibing and you're like whatever. Then all of a sudden like a fucking Mack Truck to your face you're just like BAM, oh my god what is that?” (12:01-12:14 | Stephen)“He told them that they're going to salute each other both in and out of the class. Now right now it's just his class that's part of this Third Wave. I don't like it already. Oh, you're not going to like it at all." (26:44-26:56 | Christi & Stephen)“There were all kinds of people pushing back like this was unethical and you shouldn't have done that. But... I don't think anybody forgot that lesson. Was it unethical? Probably. Should you have kids literally about to riot each other at school? Probably not. By the way it's 1967 and I don't know if anyone knows but parenting didn't really exist in the 60's, 70's or 80's!” (36:28-36:52 | Christi & Stephen)“We talked about cults. How did it happen? This is how it happened. Everybody wants to belong.” (42:25-42:30 | Christi)  LinksSend us your ghost or weird stories here: beyondthenormpod@gmail.comSubscribe to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/BeyondtheNormPodcastFollow Christi on IG: www.instagram.com/christilukasiakFollow Stephen on IG: www.instagram.com/s_c_mayo

"Florida, we need to have a talk." jokes Stephen as this week's story takes us to Key West where nothing ever wild happens! Just kidding, because even if nothing else weird ever happened in Key West this story would be enough to forever mark the city. It's certainly got both Christi and Stephen shaking in their boots as there's a level of macabre in this, very much true story, that's unforgettably creepy to its very core. We're of course talking about radiologist Carl Tanzler and his corpse bride. Often referred to as Count Carl von Cosel (a name and title he made up and gave himself), Tanzler became deeply committed to pursuing a patient of his after recalling a dream where his true love looked exactly like her. Unfortunately for Tanzler she passed away from tuberculosis, and unfortunately for her that didn't stop Tanzler. After two years of longing for his unrealized love, he took matter into his own hands and dug up her remains, hellbent on making her his wife. The many years it took to uncover Tanzler's sick escapades resulted in the situation only growing weirder, but you'll have to tune-in to discover the sordid details that even your spooky minded hosts struggle to fully accept is real.Quotes“So he just makes stuff up. He's just like, 'Eh, I think I'm gonna be a Count,' which by the way from this point forward I would like you to refer to me as Baroness, because uh, I'm a Baroness!” (11:10-11:18 | Christi)“So, Carl visits her daily and every night he continues to call here and propose over the phone. Bitch are you gonna tell him? She's dead boy, she ain't answering!." (15:40-15:54 | Christi & Stephen)“No I can relate because what always freaked me out was the Tooth Fairy." (34:30-34:33 | Stephen)“Fuck you Carl! Fuck you Carl! Alright so we're going to call this Stephen Give too Many Fucks.” (40:11-40:17 | Christi & Stephen)  LinksSend us your ghost or weird stories here: beyondthenormpod@gmail.comSubscribe to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/BeyondtheNormPodcastFollow Christi on IG: www.instagram.com/christilukasiakFollow Stephen on IG: www.instagram.com/s_c_mayo

"She literally shoved someone's head into the mirror and it cracked and fell off the wall; then the bar had to replace it. You took me willingly to this bar? Oh yeah it's great!" If there's one thing Christi and Stephen can't seem to avoid it's haunted bars and houses around New Orleans. It wasn't enough that there were vampires, but now there's ghosts in the French Quarter too?! We promise to cover other cities at some point, but NOLA is just too spooky not to cover in more detail. I mean the realtors literally will promote on their For Sale signs if a house is haunted or not, it's serious business! Is it any wonder why Disney chose to put The Haunted Mansion in the New Orleans Square section of Disney?As Stephen gives tours around New Orleans, he hears a lot of first hand accounts of ghost sightings directly from his clients. Whether they're passing out in front of the infamous home of serial killer Madame LaLaurie or seeing Bloody Mary in a bar mirror, it's hard not to get the sense that something truly wicked is in the air that isn't just the humidity. Tune-in to hear some of Stephen's haunted highlights on this week's installment of Beyond the Norm and you too may feel a chill crawling up your spine!Quotes“I have to stop you, hold on. I have to yell at you. You didn't tell the whole fucking LaLaurie story! you talked about them buying back the slaves, you didn't talk about the night of the fire. Stephen that is the part of the LaLaurie story that makes people's jaws hit the floor. (...) She was just mutilating these people and basically they were torn from limb to limb in the atic. I guess I just totally B-lined around that. Yeah, you just forgot about the massive experimental torture!” (12:43-14:21 | Christi & Stephen)“It felt like... you know when aa gust of wind behind you kind of like pushes you? And I don't want to say it like grabbed my ass, but... Stephen! The ghost did not grab your ass." (23:40-23:52 | Christi & Stephen)“If you come with a group of girls (to New Orleans) and you're that one bitch that's like, 'My feet hurt I'm ruining the night!' because you didn't listen to us and wear tennis shoes, you're friends are going to hate you." (37:18-37:27 | Stephen)“She has artifacts, she has like... well I don't want to give it away. She gave me a raccoon dick.” (45:43-45:50 | Christi & Stephen)  LinksSend us your ghost or weird stories here: beyondthenormpod@gmail.comSubscribe to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/BeyondtheNormPodcastFollow Christi on IG: www.instagram.com/christilukasiakFollow Stephen on IG: www.instagram.com/s_c_mayo

"When I did Christi's Couch, the most popular stories were always when I covered dark stuff," says Christi Lukasiak, though as a listener of Christi's Couch that may not come as too much of a surprise. You may know Christi as a Dance Moms OG, but she's also VERY into the dark and creepy side of things. What better way to explore those topics than with a podcast dedicated to them! Welcome to Beyond the Norm, a podcast dedicated to all those urban legends and things that go bump in the night. Joining Christi is her gay soulmate, Stephen Maynard, who has had quite a dark past himself with gigs at haunted theme parks and running a haunted tour company! Together they'll brave the depths of every macabre story out there.To kick things off we turn our attention to the place Christi and Stephen call home, New Orleans, to uncover it's vibrant and violent history with vampires. If you associate New Orleans with vampires, it's most likely because of Anne Rice and her 13 book opus "The Vampire Chronicles", which began with the New Orleans set "Interview with the Vampire". The book made the city synonymous with vampire culture and is host to many vampire themed events including The Endless Nights Vampire Ball, of which Christi and Stephen eagerly anticipate every year now.But there is a plethora of real historical tales of vampires in the city itself. As a city largely founded by criminals, New Orleans was a lawless town that would make it quite easy for a vampire to prey upon those who wouldn't be missed. There are even signs visible to this day that indicate there may be some truth to these tales. Join Christi and Stephen as they cover three of the French Quarter's most infamous vamps including The Carter Brothers, The Casket Girls and The Count of Saint Germain.Quotes“Don't ever walk around Bourbon Street in sandals. EW! I see people all the time... just don't do it. Or heels! I love the girls who try and rock the heels. Girls. There is not one flat suface in New Orleans. You are undoubtedly going to fall into a hole at some point, stone cold sober or not.” (8:02-8:21 | Christi & Stephen)“Well she was an energy vampire and it was funny because I was talking to her and then she goes, 'Hold on,' and then she goes [Make sucking noise] and I was like, 'What the fuck is happening,' and she says, 'I just fed on their energy!' Ok but here's the thing for being an energy vampire her energy was shit because she was an asshole.'" l(40:13-40:29 | Christi & Stephen)“I was like, 'maybe I'm a vampire,' and he literally looked at me and was like, 'No, you are a Were-Kitten,' and I just ran with it. I will forever be a Were-Kitten. But then I got low-key pissed because I was like, 'Well I couldn't be a werewolf?'” (41:33-41:46 | Stephen)“What doesn't track about that though is why would he bite her if he had bottles of blood already? Maybe he wanted warm fresh blood, Stephen. I'm just saying I don't trust that woman. She lied. Oh my god your victim blaming!” (49:21-49:34 | Christi & Stephen)  LinksSend us your ghost or weird stories here: beyondthenormpod@gmail.comSubscribe to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/BeyondtheNormPodcastFollow Christi on IG: www.instagram.com/christilukasiakFollow Stephen on IG: www.instagram.com/s_c_mayo

“I remember looking up at myself for the first time. And my cousin kept saying, ‘I’m going to fix this. I'm going to fix this.’ And I literally looked at her and I was like, ‘How are you going to fix this?’ That was the first time I realized my whole upper lip was not there,” shares Brooklinn Khoury, close family friend and professional skateboarder. In November of 2020, Brooklinn suffered a horrific dog attack that disfigured her face. Following the attack was hours of chaos and continual surgeries to try to fix her face. In spite of enduring life altering trauma when she was only 21 years old, Brooklinn manages to maintain a positive outlook and shares her photos and videos on social media to inspire others in similar situations. In today’s episode, host Christi Lukasiak is joined in conversation with Brooklinn Khoury to talk about the attack, the aftermath, and how she manages to stay positive about life.    Brooklinn’s life changed within a matter of seconds when her cousin’s dog, whom she had known for years, suddenly attacked her, biting onto her upper lip and essentially playing tug-of-war with her face. Brooklinn’s cousin did not call for an ambulance or immediately take her to the hospital, but Brooklinn explains that everyone responds to trauma differently and that they were both in shock, not fully understanding the extent of what had just happened. After her initial surgery to close the wounds, she could hardly recognize herself and had to live for years without an upper lip. To this day she is still undergoing corrective surgeries on her nose and lip after searching for a full year for a highly specialized surgeon to take on her case. Prior to the attack, Brooklinn had begun working in modeling for skateboarding companies, appeared in very high profile publications like Vogue, and even was in a music video. After the attack, brands backed out of having her represent them, but even that could not take away her positive outlook. Brooklinn is open about her experiences on social media even in the face of backlash and bullying because if she can inspire even one person, then she is happy.    Tune into this week’s episode of Christi’s Couch to hear Brooklinn’s inspirational story. Learn how she managed to stay strong and maintain a positive attitude in the face of life altering trauma.    Quotes “You don't really realize what your instincts are going to say until you're in that type of situation.” (27:42-27:58 | Brooklinn) “She screamed, ‘Oh my God, you're gonna sue me’!” (30:06-30:08 | Brooklinn) “If she would have put the lips on ice within two minutes, I would have had my lip.” (34:09-34:12 | Brooklinn) “I remember looking up at myself for the first time. And she kept saying, ‘I’m going to fix this. I'm going to fix this.’ And I literally looked at her and I was like, ‘How are you going to fix this?’ That was the first time I realized my whole upper lip was not there.” (35:51-36:03 | Brooklinn) “I remember taking off the bandage and looking at myself and I didn't even recognize who I was.” (53:43-53:47 | Brooklinn)  “My doctor said to me, ‘You got into an accident. You can go two ways about this. One, you can feel bad for yourself, sit on the couch, and hide from everyone. Or you can heal and live your life exactly how you were going to do it anyway’.” (56:39-56:50 | Brooklinn) “I wanted to be the person that people could refer to like, ‘Hey, this girl is going through something. I can relate to her, and I'm gonna be okay.’  That's all I wanted to do. And if it helped one person, then I was doing something right.” (1:04:21-1:04:30 | Brooklinn)   Links   FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM CHECK OUT MY TIK TOK WATCH MY LATEST YOUTUBE VIDEO If you've benefited from this episode be sure to tag me @christilukasiak on Instagram and share this episode with your community to spread the word! Also, be sure to leave a review on iTunes. And if you want a question answered on the couch, call 1-800-988-8155 and leave a message!    XO, Christi 

“We can't ever hate ourselves into a body that we love, but we can love ourselves into a body that we love,” shares Kelley Nemiro, certified holistic health coach, pilates instructor, and founder of Wellness by Kelley. Through her coaching membership program, Kelley helps women live healthier lives by teaching them how to balance their hormones from the inside out. In today’s episode, host Christi Lukasiak is joined in conversation with Kelley Nemiro to talk about the role of hormones on overall health and body weight and how changing your mindset can be the most important behavioral shift of all.    Through Kelley’s wellness membership program, she teaches women useful skills including how to do low impact workouts like pilates with slow-controlled movements, how to cook nourishing plant-based meals that balance blood sugar, and how to meditate for stress reduction. People often focus too much on how many calories a food has rather than the impact it has on blood sugar. Kelley explains that blood sugar impacts all of our other hormones, so if it is spiking and dipping constantly, it will be even more difficult to lose weight. When we are super stressed and under a lot of pressure, as is the case for most working women, especially working mothers, our bodies produce more cortisol which in turn slows down our metabolism. By understanding the role of hormones in weight loss and overall health, we can learn better habits that will help us to foster a better relationship with our bodies.    Tune into this week’s episode of Christi’s Couch for a conversation about the role of food, hormones, and stress on our overall health. Learn how to alter your perspective so that you can start loving the body you’re in.   Quotes “A big part of the work that I do is shifting the mindset around not only food, but also around stress, and around how much pressure we put on ourselves.” (16:50-17:01 | Kelley) “A lot of that [perfectionism] comes from looking at Inner Child Trauma and seeing where this belief that I have to be productive all of the time comes from. I love my family, they're amazing human beings, but that's where mine came from and noticing that they're all kind of that Type A personality, then from that place, I can have so much more compassion for myself in saying, ``I'm gonna take a break because this is a learned behavior.” (19:37-20:07 | Kelley) “What you put into your body has probably the biggest impact besides your stress on your weight.” (27:07-27:15 | Kelley) “Hormones are made from fat and protein and so I think focusing each meal on having fat and protein in your diet is really key.” (29:19-29:29 | Kelley) “If we can shift the focus to slowly over time you eating more real whole food, and less of the processed packaged stuff, I promise, you'll start to notice a difference in your hormones.” (30:45-30:56 | Kelley) “It’s not just what you eat, it's also how you eat that really matters.” (31:09-31:11 | Kelley) “You have to create the space for the new habits to exist, because it takes time, it takes effort, it takes brain power to start to implement these things into your life.” (37:10-37:21 | Kelley) “Measuring is what gets things done. So if you can track it, and you can measure it, and you can say, Okay, I have done this for 28 days, I can do this for 28 more, that is a really good way to be able to continue to fuel your motivation is by getting some sort of habit tracker.” (37:40-37:58 | Kelley) Links   Follow Kelley here: https://www.instagram.com/wellnessbykelley/ Check out Kelley's website here: https://wellnessbykelley.com/ FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM CHECK OUT MY TIK TOK WATCH MY LATEST YOUTUBE VIDEO If you've benefited from this episode be sure to tag me @christilukasiak on Instagram and share this episode with your community to spread the word! Also, be sure to leave a review on iTunes. And if you want a question answered on the couch, call 1-800-988-8155 and leave a message!    XO, Christi

“The more we bring everyone's gifts and potential into the world through giving them the tools that they need, the more we all benefit,” explains Briana Borten, Spiritual Mentor.  In today’s episode, host Christi Lukasiak is joined in conversation with Briana Borten to talk about the healing properties of energy work, listening to signs from the universe, and giving back.    After graduating from high school, Briana experienced a horrible accident that broke her neck. She was in a lot of pain and barely able to function until she was gifted three energy working sessions by her step-mother. Energy work changed her life by reducing her pain to the point where she could be functional on her feet again. Through this experience, Brianna learned that when you surrender to the signs the universe sends for you and collaborate along your path, magic happens. She believes in helping others showcase their gifts.    When money and resources are in the hands of spiritually rooted individuals, the world changes in amazing ways. Tune into this week’s episode of Christi’s Couch for a conversation about meditation, spiritual energy, money, and living your authentic life. Learn how to make space, manifest abundance, and become a co-creator with the universe.    Quotes “I was wasting no time, which I think actually came from really thinking I was going to die when I was 18. We are not guaranteed any amount of time.” (13:05-13:18 | Briana) “The universe constantly navigates my path to this very specific thing. And when I veer from that in a way that isn't just to be added, I just get put right back.” (14:43-14:56 | Briana) “If we want something beyond what's predictable, and moving into the potentiality of the world, then we have to learn how to surrender.” (18:07-18:20 | Briana) “When you co-create with the universe so much more magic happens.” (18:35-18:39 | Briana)   “The more we get everyone's gifts and potential into the world through giving them the tools that they need to do that, the more we all benefit.” (24:14-24:25 | Briana)   Links   FOLLOW BRIANA HERE: https://www.instagram.com/brianaborten/?hl=en   CHECK OUT BRIANA HERE: www.brianaborten.com/sacredrelationships FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM CHECK OUT MY TIK TOK WATCH MY LATEST YOUTUBE VIDEO If you've benefited from this episode be sure to tag me @christilukasiak on Instagram and share this episode with your community to spread the word! Also, be sure to leave a review on iTunes. And if you want a question answered on the couch, call 1-800-988-8155 and leave a message!    XO, Christi