The Gathering Pod

There’s no question about it—we’re living in chaotic times. We’re all trying to be happy and at peace, and we often think we need to find external circumstances that are conducive to those states. But did you know that there is a bedrock of stillness and kindness that we can drop into, no matter what’s going on around us? In this “Listen Again” episode of The Gathering Room, I’ll guide you to this still, calm place through a very special meditation that you can revisit any time you feel tempest-tossed. CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As Martha says, “We are the ones who can start to lead our lives in the direction that our higher selves are signaling to us to go and potentially help a lot of other people whose sensitivities may not be quite as strong—and in this way we serve the world.” To learn how to appreciate, listen to, and trust your powerful sensitivity, join Martha for the full episode, where she’ll also guide you in her grounding and calming Space, Stillness, and Silence meditation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you ever found yourself striving for spiritual growth, only to feel anxious and exhausted by all your efforts?The reason is that nothing moves during the times we’re striving and stressing. It’s only when we let go completely that the universe brings it to us. In this episode of The Gathering Room, I explore this peculiar spiritual paradox: how pushing ourselves harder to attain alignment—for example, becoming attached to the pursuit of non-attachment—can keep us from the peace and fulfillment we’re trying to find.If you come to The Gathering Room often, you know that I believe we are all meant to experience an awakening, a transformation of consciousness that will help us heal ourselves and the world. In most religious traditions that have talked about enlightenment, there is the idea that this kind of awakening requires great effort. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, and the message I’m getting is something different: that we are all trying way harder than we need to. We spiritual seekers tend to overexert ourselves, but what I’ve discovered—and what I share with you in this episode—is that real magic happens when we let go.One thing that is difficult for many of us to understand or fully internalize is the idea that if we’re on the path to awakening, much of the transformation is actually done for us when we let go of attachment and striving. True progress often comes from surrendering effort rather than increasing it.Some of the things that take us toward awakening are inward, like sitting in meditation, and sometimes awakening requires that you go out and act. In those times of action, it’s hard not to attach to the things you’re trying to get. And of course, this attachment causes suffering. Imagine yourself: You’re trying so hard. You’re trying to do without attachment. You’re trying to be good without seeing any progress. You’re exhausted from being attached, and you’re exhausted from trying not to be attached.What you may not understand is that you are surrounded by beings of consciousness that are aching to help you. In fact, there is an infinite amalgamation of consciousness whose job it is to hold and love you and facilitate the awakening that is meant to come.It is a pool of consciousness that understands you completely and loves you absolutely. In this episode I guide you through a new meditation to help you visualize this pool of loving consciousness and allow yourself to be buoyed by it—so you can let go of all effort and open yourself to the blessings that are meant for you.Acknowledging that you are being held by the consciousness that’s around you is the quickest way to dismantle the ego, come into enlightenment, and make your dreams accessible to you. Everything you have ever asked for is sent to you from these loving beings, but they always send it to your real address—peace. It is peace that allows us to let go of our attachments, let go of form, and let go of all effort.If you’d like to experience more peace, discover how to let go of attachment, and learn how to access the support that’s always available to you, tune in for the full episode. Together we’ll discover the magic that can happen when we allow ourselves to be held in the loving pool of consciousness, rather than continuing to struggle all alone. Join me! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lately I’ve been feeling lost… How about you? It’s not surprising. The world is undergoing some truly unprecedented things, and it’s creating unprecedented changes in many of our lives. Navigating the unprecedented means we have to venture into uncharted territory. And that feels a whole lot like being lost.In this episode of The Gathering Room, I’m talking about feeling lost during times of personal and global upheaval, letting go of what’s familiar, and stepping into the unknown to awaken to a new consciousness.If you’re familiar with my work, you’ll know I’ve long believed that we need to experience a radical change of consciousness in order to move forward as a species in love and harmony and care for the planet and each other. That journey of awakening will require us to go to places we’ve never been before. And when you’re going into the unknown, the path itself must disappear—it must become a non-path or what is known in Zen as “the pathless path.” No one has ever traveled the path you’re meant to travel. Your way is unique. It lies beyond any maps. So as you move forward not knowing where you are going, there will come a time when you’ll feel like you’ve lost the path completely. (Maybe that’s where you are right now.)You may find yourself feeling things like: Am I on the right path? Is there even a path? I don’t know where I am or who I am anymore—am I the only one who feels this way?Here’s the thing: The moment that you feel lost might be the moment that your soul has finally slipped the leash of cultural conditioning. It may feel strange and alienating, but it’s a sign that you’re not off track, you’re unmapped—and you are free.At these times I follow a practice called “Naming the Shape of the Unknown,” where you:Allow the unknown to simply be.Put words on what you don’t know.Sit quietly with this named not-knowing.You don’t have to solve a problem, you just have to make a little space where you can be aware of your own not-knowing and how it makes you feel.For example, if you feel stuck about your career, instead of running around working on your resume, pause and just see where the pathless path has taken you. You may find yourself feeling things like: I don’t know what I want, I don’t know whether the life I built still fits me, I don’t know what’s coming next, and I’m terrified.All you have to do is sit with these feelings. Sit with the terror, sit with the pain. Trust that the river knows where it’s going, even if you don’t. If you can sit with those “I don’t know” phrases, it may be uncomfortable or painful, but you start to realize that it is also intimacy with the mystery.Your not-knowing can be the map to the place you’ve never seen, to the person you’re becoming that you’ve never been, to your new home.Tune in for the full episode to hear more about the practice of sitting with the unknown, how our living spaces mirror our inner lives, and how to use imagination and yearning to channel new possibilities. I’ll also answer listener questions on how to remain on the fluid path while setting strong boundaries, how to comfort yourself through grief and uncertainty, and why transformation is a lifelong spiral. And I’ll lead you through my Space, Silence, and Stillness meditation to help you reconnect with your inner compasses—the only guidance you ever need. Remember that The Gathering Room is not a room with walls. It is a clearing where lost ones find each other and remember they were never alone. So if you’re lost, tune in and be lost with us. We’ll find each other in a place none of us has ever known before. CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’m very excited, Gatherers, because lately I feel that something is changing in this world in a profound way, and I don’t think I’m the only one… There’s a feeling of irrational hope, a strange joy, a sense that something wonderful is happening in the midst of all the horrors. I’ve always been obsessed with the idea that we humans would change the way we live in a dramatic way at some point during my lifetime. I call it “pool consciousness”—where we move from hierarchical, pyramid-shaped structures to a more fluid, interconnected “pool” way of being. In this episode of The Gathering Room, I’m diving deep into pool consciousness and sharing a list of 12 signs that indicate you may be experiencing this shift now, too: A quiet but persistent sense that Something is happening Irrational hope and joy rising amidst upheaval and uncertainty Easy laughter, more fun, more delight—for no particular reason “Itchy mask syndrome”—an inability to be inauthentic A softening of rigid striving Intense emotional waves that cleanse without drowning you An expanding capacity for paradox and holding opposites Feeling more yourself than ever—but also more connected to everyone Disinterest in “keeping up” with traditional life goals An inner rebellion against hierarchies Strangeness with time-speeding up, stretching, collapsing A sense of being guided by signs, synchronicities, and “God winks” If you are experiencing any of these twelve signs, or a clump of them, you may be part of something happening that has never happened before in human history. Even though the world is going to hell in a handbasket, at the same time, there is something new rising—something that we’ve all been waiting for our whole lives, maybe even since the human species first evolved. I don’t know exactly what it is, but I’m excited to be part of it! Tune in for the full episode to hear about “The Pyramid and the Pool” metaphor and learn more about each of the 12 signs of pool consciousness. I’ll also share how to access hope during personal struggles, how to recognize synchronicities and guidance, and how authenticity, cooperation, and openness are key to navigating this new consciousness. Join me! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For this Gathering Room episode, I drew inspiration from a recent Ani DiFranco concert, as well as Ecclesiastes 3 and the song “Turn! Turn! Turn!”, to explore the unexpected emergence of hope in this time of global upheaval—and how you can learn to access it. If you’re searching for connection, comfort, or the motivation to keep “dancing,” tune in for the full episode, where I’ll also lead you through a special Space, Stillness, and Silence meditation to help you connect with a deeper sense of community and support. When we gather together, we can feel wild with hope and art and beauty—and we can dance, even in the middle of the worst place ever. Come join me and find out. CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you ever find yourself wondering if it’s foolish to keep hoping for good things to happen, especially with our world in the state it’s in? Whenever I have this thought, I remind myself that if we stop ourselves from hoping, we cut ourselves off from the creativity that is meant to build what comes next. It’s only by refusing to use the human capacity for hope that we can be truly defeated. On this episode of The Gathering Room, I’m talking about what I call the art of hope, which is both a creative practice and a spiritual one. When you’re hoping but there’s no proof that what you hope for will ever come to pass, there is a temptation to do a spiritual bypass where you just say that you’re in the present moment and don’t care what comes. The problem with that is that we humans were designed to care about what comes! I firmly believe that there’s not a human group on earth where people don’t hope for wonderful things to happen. Hope is not just an idle longing for more—it’s part of the act of creating a different future. Sometimes the things we hope for don’t come to pass in the way that we’ve imagined them. But hope without proof is something different—it’s part of the creative arts. And what is coming for you will feel the way you imagine the thing you hope for would feel—but it will be better. The art of hope is to hope without fear. Hope without fear is faith, and that faith is not hollow because it’s walking out on the word of a consciousness that is somehow part of yourself. There’s something very visceral and plaintive and sweet about hope, something that is uniquely human. You have to surrender to the openness to grief in order to touch that place of hope—that is the art of hope without proof. Whether you’re hoping for green leaves on the trees, a new love, or a brighter future for us all, tune in and we’ll practice the art of hope together—starting with a guided visualization blending gratitude, imagination, and surrender to help you connect with and nurture your hope. Our hopes—big and small—help create the futures we live into, and the art of hope is a vital, magical part of being human. If you want to become an artist of hope, this episode is for you. Join me! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

All my life I’ve been waiting for a transformation of human consciousness. And I always thought that it would be a gentle and beautiful awakening, essentially like what the Buddha experienced. I suppose in some universes it might happen that way…but in the universe where I find myself now, I’m seeing massive upheaval and disruption instead. In this episode of The Gathering Room podcast, I’m sharing my reflections on the breakdowns we’re experiencing in the world today—social, political, and personal—and how in the midst of this chaos there is actually the potential for profound breakthroughs. As a breakdown comes down on you, a breakthrough can come up and into you, as if from the marrow of your bones, and it can shift the way you see your experiences. There’s a one-hundred-year-old experiment from quantum physics called the Double-Slit Experiment that I use as a metaphor for how our perception shapes our reality. Because life is both matter and energy, we have the power to see disruptions as waves of potential. In this episode, I’ll guide you through a visualization where you imagine two doors: one leading to a world of breakdowns and fear—what our culture insists is the only reality—and the other leading to a realm of pure love, connection, and infinite possibilities. And here’s the secret: You don’t have to choose one or the other—it’s possible to walk through both doors at once! This visualization can help you go from whatever breakdown you’re experiencing to a breakthrough into something much sweeter and calmer and more reassuring. To learn how to move from breakdowns to breakthroughs and step into a state of love, light, and fluidity, be sure to tune in for the full episode. I’ll also share my daily practices to stay grounded, answer some questions, and lead you in my Space, Silence, and Stillness meditation to help you connect with your Self (with a capital S) and shift from identifying with matter to embodying pure energy and light. Join me! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

These days life can seem extremely chaotic—have you felt it, too? Whether it’s the noise of the world or the noise of your own thoughts, there’s so much happening and so many things to think about that it can really get your head spinning with questions like: What am I supposed to be doing? Where is my attention supposed to be? How do I rest my heart? The good news is this: You already have a still, magnetic center within you, and on this episode of The Gathering Room podcast, I share how you can access it. The world can be chaotic, confusing, and sometimes absolutely terrifying—but that’s only when we let ourselves spin. It’s not about escaping the chaos but finding your still center within it. One effective way to connect with the point of stillness within each of us—what I call the “inner compass”—is meditation. I’ll lead you through a version of my Space, Stillness, and Silence meditation to help you let go of tension and allow your nervous system to regulate inward. I’ve only just begun to realize how when you center yourself in that place and allow it to be enough, the answers to your questions about the most trivial things and the most immense things will come without effort into your consciousness. There is an intelligence and a love so great for you that hears you in your confusion and amidst the terrifying cacophony of this world. Ro and I recently took Lila on a trip to the Central Park Zoo, and it was pure pandemonium in New York City: screaming kids, crowds of parade-goers, Hare Krishna worshipers, blaring bands, and all of it bathed in the city’s current signature scent…weed. As we were driving home through all this chaos, Lila declared, “There’s a lot of music in this town, girls!” before promptly falling asleep in her car seat. This reminded me that stillness is always available—even in the loudest moments of life. There’s no need to rush or try to fix everything. Your destination is right here in the present moment. Be here now. Your inner stillness holds the answers to your questions, even those you haven’t asked yet. When we ground ourselves in the space, silence, and stillness and stand in the huge wide plain where there is no one but you and your compass that is pointing straight into your own being, your presence becomes the portal. It opens to the instructions for what you need to do next. If you’d like to hear more about trusting your inner compass, how to stay creative amidst chaos, and how to find the answers you’re seeking, tune in for the full episode. We’ll take a collective deep breath and ground ourselves in “the still point of the turning world” together. Join me! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I’m thrilled to be joined by my guest Chase Jarvis for this special episode of The Gathering Room podcast! Chase is an award-winning artist, serial entrepreneur, and bestselling author, who has a new book out called NEVER PLAY IT SAFE: A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO FREEDOM, CREATIVITY, AND A LIFE YOU LOVE. This remarkable book helped me take a few big leaps in my own life, and I hope that listening to my conversation with Chase will inspire you to do the same. Enjoy! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you ever feel like a hamster running on a wheel? Hamsters may love to scurry, but it tends to make us humans anxious and exhausted. Unfortunately, we live in a world that constantly pressures us to keep up with an increasingly frantic pace. And while we run faster and faster, the only place we ever reach is burnout. It’s when we start to get to burnout and the wheel is still going so fast that we start to get frantic to keep up. In this episode of The Gathering Room, I’m talking about how you can get off the hamster wheel by taking tiny, true steps towards whatever brings you a sense of relief. By “tiny, true step” I mean any small movement or action that feels like relief to you, like a relaxing exhale. In fact, a relaxing exhale could be the one tiny action you take. Or standing up to stretch. Or taking a bathroom break. Or doing just five minutes of any creative practice.Whenever you’re feeling frantic or overwhelmed, taking one tiny, true step is enough to move you toward peace. And then if you do it tomorrow and the next day and whenever you feel exhausted and frantic, those tiny movements toward relief will start to change everything. Remember: You are meant to live in peace, and nature never requires you to do more than you can do in peace. Although embracing this mindset can be challenging in a society like ours that values constant busyness, you have to trust that small steps are enough to radically transform your life. Try it and see.To learn more about the profound transformation that can come from taking small steps toward your true destiny, tune in for the full episode. We’ll even take a small step together by doing my guided Space, Silence, and Stillness meditation. Join me! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s no question about it—we are living in chaotic times.We’re all trying to be happy and at peace, and we often think we need to find external circumstances that are conducive to those states. But did you know that there is a bedrock of stillness and kindness that we can drop into, no matter what’s going on around us? In this episode of The Gathering Room, I’ll guide you to this still, calm place through a very special meditation that you can revisit any time you feel tempest-tossed. As my partner Rowan, recently pointed out to me, self-kindness can always be accessed by recognizing that the universe is essentially kind. We can cultivate stillness in our chaotic world by aligning ourselves with this universal kindness.I had never thought of kindness as being the essential component of the universe. So I started doing meditations and thought experiments where I focused on the kindness that there is in the world and began to anchor myself into that—and that’s what I’ll be teaching you in this episode.I have a new take on our usual Space, Stillness, and Silence meditation, and it involves imagining yourself as a point of consciousness above a stormy ocean and dropping a thread of consciousness into the depths to reach the stillness at the center of the earth.By learning to find and anchor into this stillness—which is the same as universal kindness—you can find peace and stability, no matter what the circumstances. We are all on an odyssey in this life where the journey is the goal. We’re heroes who have taken the call to adventure, and we’re here for the adventure itself. Tune in for the full episode to anchor into universal kindness and learn how it can help you see the good in difficult situations, help you navigate loss, self-doubt, and other turbulent situations, and help you become a safe harbor for others. CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It is a weird world out there right now, and if you’re like me, you’re feeling more than a little anxious. Anxiety has been called the mental illness of our time, but in fact, it’s not a mental illness. It’s an understandable reaction to an abnormal world that we never evolved to handle. As I’ve written in my book Beyond Anxiety and talked about at length, creativity is the opposite of that anxiety. However, there’s a crucial step you must take to go from anxiety to creativity, and you cannot skip it. That step is kindness. Kindness is the greatest creative fuel in human existence, and in this episode of The Gathering Room, I’m sharing the 5-step exercise I follow to cultivate kindness toward myself, get out of anxiety, and generate creativity and joy.In fact, for the first time ever on The Gathering Room, I’m recommending that you bring a pencil and paper and work through this exercise with me. It’s fun—and powerfully effective.You start by identifying and acknowledging your negative feelings, whether you’re feeling anxiety, anger, sorrow, or something else. Imagine the part of yourself that is feeling this way as a separate entity, and you are the compassionate observer.Ask this part of yourself how it’s feeling, and then offer this three-word phrase, which is probably the most powerful thing you can do to heal yourself or another human being: “Tell me everything.”The vast majority of people, including our inner parts, just want someone to sit with them and witness what’s going on inside them. And this act of kindness—of listening—gives a place for the pain to flow. Every time you make the choice to be kind to yourself, you are creating a whole new brain that is going to be a lot happier and more creative. This will lead you to the one way that you can create beauty that no one else ever could, your unique contribution to the world.To work through the full five-step kindness exercise with me, be sure to tune in for the full episode. I’ll also guide you through my Space, Silence, and Stillness meditation as that is one kind thing I often give myself when I’m in an anxious place. CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of The Gathering Room podcast, I’m talking about the power of inspiration and how we can actively go “hunting” for it amidst the sea of misinformation and disinformation we all have to navigate each day. To learn more about actively hunting for inspiration and how it can help you create positive change in the world, join me for the full episode! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did you know that until you are truly compassionate to yourself, you can’t be compassionate to any other person?In Episode #192 of The Gathering Room, I’m talking about building compassionate communities—and how a safe, loving, mutually supportive community is probably the most important thing we can ever have, especially during chaotic times.I’ve been reading my way through all the skills that make you a good community creator, and one of my favorites is the book Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg, who talks about creating community by first becoming your own good company. We have such an individualistic, fragmenting society where we’re always pitted against each other in competition, but we long to experience moments of beautiful company where everyone feels lifted by everyone else. This kind of community is a basic human need.Marshall Rosenberg says that everything we do is trying to meet our basic needs, and we go off course by trying to meet our needs with things that don’t work. He describes bringing ourselves into that sense of loving community by following a few basic steps: * Identify any “mistakes” or behaviors you’re upset with yourself about.* Notice any shaming language you use around those behaviors (words like “should”). * Understand the need you were trying to meet with those behaviors.* Allow yourself to mourn the fact that what you tried didn’t work.Then, if you can empathize with the part of yourself that was trying to get a need met in an ill-advised way, there’s a kind of embrace that happens automatically—and in that embrace is forgiveness. That’s when, within yourself, you have all of your parts, including what I call the “compassionate witness.” There are all the parts who’ve been trying so hard, and everyone is empathizing with everyone else. There is mutual forgiveness for everything you ever thought you did wrong, and no one is being blamed. That’s the way into being your own best company. And from there on, Marshall Rosenberg tells us, everything is play.To find out more about forgiving yourself, becoming your own best company, and creating supportive, compassionate communities, tune in for the full episode. I’ll also guide you through my Space, Silence, and Stillness meditation with a special focus on bringing your inner collective into loving harmony. Join me! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As I’m sure you’re keenly aware, people are extremely divided these days. From our politics, to our attitudes, to our ways of speaking about others, we are growing more and more polarized—and mutually destructive.On this episode of The Gathering Room podcast, I’m talking about how upset many of us feel, why that upset is not always coming from a place we can trust, and what we can do about it.Once upon a time, they invented something called the internet. And on the internet, social media began to play out. And these platforms soon figured out that we pay more attention to things that upset us, so they started feeding us more and more upsetting content.Because we evolved to be social creatures who are super susceptible to group influence, we’re basically hardwired to want to agree with the group, even if it means pretending to see things differently than we actually do.Add all that evolutionary and psychological background to social media, and you soon get social media algorithms that keep us online by stoking constant outrage and fear. We’re terrified of being bullied and looking for people to back us up, so we consume more and more information that’s designed to upset us. Then we lash out in a way that feels like self-defense, but it looks to other people like we’re attacking them. It’s a vicious cycle where everyone feels attacked by everyone else.A lot of us feel vulnerable and outraged and afraid of the future and of other people right now. It’s been so exaggerated by our media and our social media that we’ve lost our sense of truth in all of this. And when you get people off their basic sense of truth, they will do almost anything. They will attack other people and leave their own ethics in the dust. When you lose your sense of truth, suddenly everything bobs and sways and there’s nothing real to stand on.Everything is spinning and slanting and trying to get you to feel a certain way, but the only feeling that you can really build a life on is peace.So, how can you get to peace in an increasingly polarized world? Find out on this episode of The Gathering Room, where I’ll share the one statement I’ve found to be most grounding and true, how to make peace your primary goal in all interactions, and how peace can give you the strength and clarity you need to navigate life’s challenges.We’ll also do our guided Space, Silence, and Stillness meditation to recalibrate ourselves toward clear minds, quiet hearts, and peace. Join me! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When I was writing Beyond Anxiety, I wanted to find a good metaphor for building a life that you love within the cultural bounds of wherever you are and still stay sane. And I thought about crazy quilting!If you are a quilter, you know that crazy quilting is not the same as ordinary quilting. Ordinary quilting starts with a pattern that is carefully drawn out, and then the quilter sews together panels that follow that pattern. With crazy quilting, you start with a scrap of fabric you love, and you sew another piece to it and then another and another, around and around in a spiral, until there’s a large enough piece of cloth that you can call a quilt. And I was thinking: That’s sort of how you can make a life, too.In this episode of The Gathering Room, I’m talking about what I call “sanity quilting” and offering up some practical advice for maintaining your mental well-being during turbulent times. Like crazy quilting, sanity quilting involves building a life out of the things you love in order to stay peaceful, calm, inspired, and sane. In the quilt that is your time—your whole life—most of us are taught to follow the patterns set by our culture: Get a job, get a relationship, have a family, buy a house, etc.However, for me, it’s always been much more interesting to say, “What do I love most?” and put that at the center of my quilt. Then I put things that connect with it around the edges until I gradually fill up my time with things that I love. That’s the way I’ve lived my life.The culture might view this as “crazy,” but I don’t think it’s not crazy to do what you love. What’s crazy is pushing what you love to the margins of your life—or even worse, never experiencing them at all. Whenever the pattern of society that we thought we knew is being disrupted, it feels very confronting to a lot of people. At the times when everything around you feels like it’s going crazy, that’s when you must make a sanity quilt. And you do that in very quiet ways.Join me for the full episode to learn more about stitching the things you love into your life, so you can cultivate peace, sanity, and calm during even the most challenging times. CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about wayfinding and how it can help us create what I call “the new consciousness,” which is both a state and a place that we can access. That’s what I’m talking about on this episode of The Gathering Room podcast—episode 189: Finding the Field. The name of my Wayfinder Life Coach Training program was inspired by the wisdom of ancient “wayfinders”—people who had their own ways of navigating through whatever terrain they lived in, which is what I do as a life coach. There is a scientist named Rupert Sheldrake who went wayfinding into the structure of the universe and came up with his theory of “morphic fields”—the idea that nature has memory, where similar patterns influence others across time and space. So I was thinking, when we go wayfinding, we’re going toward a morphic field. And while I call it wayfinding, I never tell people exactly what they’re finding their way toward, only that whatever it is will lead them to their purpose. My wayfinding techniques put you in a state where your mind becomes a sort of field of openness that can receive things that resonate with the space, silence, and stillness that’s holding us all in a matrix of love. Going into the Self and finding your way using the “compasses” of your body, heart, mind, and spirit is how you will “wayfind” to the new consciousness—a collective shift in the way humans think, the way we process consciousness, and the way we use our consciousness. To hear more about the new consciousness and how to access it (plus hear about my vivid encounters with the spirit of Dante Alighieri!), tune in for the full episode. You’ll also be able to join me for a guided group meditation devoted to those who are scared, suffering, or lonely. Come meet me in the field. CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At long last, my book Beyond Anxiety: Curiosity, Creativity, and Finding Your Life’s Purpose has been released into the world!In this episode of The Gathering Room—Episode #188: What Lies Beyond Anxiety?—I’m talking about the book and sharing some insights on overcoming anxiety through kindness, curiosity, and creativity.What can I tell you about this book that I haven’t told you already? I’m glad you asked!The book is divided into three parts: The Creature, The Creative, and The Creation. First you have to acknowledge that the anxious part of you is like a tiny scared animal, and you can’t use analysis or even medication to bash that little creature into a state of calm. You can only calm your creature by using kindness.Once you’ve calmed your creature, you can tap into your creative brain by exploring what makes you curious. Once you start using the creative parts of your brain, you shift energy away from the anxious parts and form a different pattern in the brain.Curiosity then leads us to creativity. Being in a panic is not a creative state and therefore can’t solve your problems—especially not problems you’ve never encountered before. For that, you’ve got to have creativity. Just remember to be gentle with yourself.And remember that creativity isn’t limited to traditional artistic pursuits like painting, music, or dance. Cooking, conversation, birdwatching, rearranging furniture—these are all creative acts! In fact, just about everything we humans do is creative.When we become creatively engaged with the world, we open our minds to the mysteries of existence. At this point, creation itself starts to play with us, like a mother dog with her puppies. We begin to notice synchronicities and feel a deep connection to the world around us.In our online Wilder Community, we’re offering a year-long Deep Dive into Beyond Anxiety with monthly videos, live Q&As, and group discussions to really explore each chapter of the book. To hear more about moving beyond anxiety through kindness, creativity, and openness to life’s mysteries, tune in for the full episode. CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of The Gathering Room, special guest Gabby Bernstein joins Martha to talk about her newest book, Self Help: This Is Your Chance to Change Your Life. Martha and Gabby both love Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy—also known as “parts therapy”—and Gabby’s new book is all about making the principles of IFS Therapy accessible to everyone. To learn more about IFS from Martha and Gabby—and for the chance to join Gabby and Martha in a transformative guided meditation—be sure to tune in! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Culturally we tend to think of sensitivity as weakness, but Martha says that in fact, it’s a superpower! In this episode of The Gathering Room, Episode #186: Using Your Powerful Sensitivity, she talks about how to appreciate your sensitivity and use it to create the life you’re meant to live.By definition, sensitivity has to do with reacting strongly to very slight stimuli. As a result, our society has come to believe that it’s not a strong position to be highly sensitive, that such people are fragile. What Martha has come to realize is that sensitivity is powerful, and sometimes it comes on powerfully. People who are highly sensitive may feel its power before other people do. If you’re highly sensitive and you experience something wonderful, you actually have a strong uptick in your mood—and you may feel more wonderful than someone with lower sensitivities. But if an impulse comes in that you don’t understand, your brain might go into anxiety.Martha says that the remedy for this anxiety is to check in with yourself by asking a series of questions: Is this physical? Is this mental? Is this emotional? Once you’ve checked in with body, mind, and heart, then you can realistically ground the sensation. If your sensitivity is telling you that it’s none of those things, then you can safely assume it’s coming from a spiritual place.Martha believes we’re in a really interesting, unprecedented landscape—politically, biologically, and ecologically—and we need to be guided. The way that guidance will come, especially to sensitive people, is through this unfamiliar stimulus that may feel weird and scary at first.But as you start to explore what feels true, then the magic of the brain kicks in—your curiosity will bring you out of anxiety so your sensitivity can guide you exactly where you’re meant to go. As Martha says, “We are the ones who can start to lead our lives in the direction that our higher selves are signaling to us to go and potentially help a lot of other people whose sensitivities may not be quite as strong—and in this way we serve the world.” To learn how to appreciate, listen to, and trust your powerful sensitivity, join Martha for the full episode, where she’ll also guide you in her grounding and calming Space, Stillness, and Silence meditation. CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Martha’s recent encounter with a flock of wild turkeys made her think about her relationship with wild animals and how they always seem to come when she calls them. In this episode of The Gathering Room, Episode #185: Calling Yourself Home, she shares several stories of her incredible interactions with animals and how her steps for calling to them can also be used on the wild parts of yourself to “call them home.” This can be especially helpful during times when you feel overwhelmed, exhausted, or burned out. In Martha’s coaching experience, December is a particularly rough month for many people, and she herself feels scattered during this time. Martha says the same technique she uses to call animals can be used to call in all the many parts of your Self, as if calling a flock of birds home to roost. The first step, she says, is to be in complete integrity. This means telling yourself the truth. You have to track the parts of yourself that are unhappy or angry or fractious in some way and tell yourself the truth about them. The second step is what Martha calls “centering presence” where you focus on a point in the center of your chest and imagine it filling with warm light. When you can feel the warmth, you’ll be able to breathe more deeply and start to relax. Finally, she says to imagine each part of yourself—the scared parts, the flighty parts, the parts who are tired, the parts who don’t want to do things—and imagine them coming home to that point of warmth and light in your chest. “Maybe they're wild turkeys that can come home to roost in the tree that's inside you,” Martha says. “Or maybe it's a whole murmuration of starlings that can come perch and go to sleep for the night together on an infinitely small branch in the center of your chest.” If you have parts of yourself that need to feel healed and included and loved, be sure to join Martha for the full episode. She’ll lead you in her Space, Stillness, and Silence meditation and help you call all the scattered parts of yourself home to rest. CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our culture generally teaches us that anxiety will keep us safe—but really it's our intuition that does that. In this episode of The Gathering Room—Episode #184: How to Access Intuition When You Really Need It, Martha talks about how to tell the difference between anxiety and intuition and how to hear what your intuition is trying to tell you. There's something Martha calls the “sense of truth,” which is a feeling of concord, peace, and calm that comes into us when we believe something that feels true at the deepest levels of the self. It's trusting that whatever we're believing at that moment is actually real. “It turns out that a lot of the things we are anxious about are not real—not yet,” Martha says. “They're potential, but they're not real in this moment.” Unlike fear, which is a rational response to a clear and present danger, anxiety is a chronic, suffering sense of being afraid of things that may not ever happen. Martha says that one of the lies anxiety will always tell you is that only by staying anxious can you be safe—because when you're not anxious, you're not alert. However, exactly the opposite is true: People who are anxious can't stay alert. Real intuition arrives when our anxiety is quiet. So many of us are walking around constantly anxious, thinking we're alert, thinking we can trust our intuition, when in fact, we're blotting out our intuition with anxiety.  To access intuition, we have to go into a state of stillness and peace and then listen for the fun—that's the state of being where your intuition can talk to you. “Your intuition can come in the goofiest, most wonderful ways,” Martha says, “once you realize it's meant to be a frequency of joy and never a frequency of anxiety.”  To learn more about listening to your intuition and finding its frequency of joy—and to join Martha in her anxiety-relieving Silence, Space, and Stillness meditation—be sure to tune in for the full episode!   CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The state of the world right now is unnerving. In this episode of The Gathering Room, she shares how we can start to heal the parts of us that are in pain or despair over the state of things. Martha says that when we experience trauma, shock, fear, or loss, our psyches can split into different parts to help us cope. To heal this loss of integrity or wholeness, we need to unite all the parts of ourselves that are hurting. And we do this by loving them unconditionally. In this episode, Martha walks us through a powerful visualization exercise to help us access our deepest capacity for love, hope, and joy, so we can welcome the suffering parts of ourselves to “be warmed by the fire of love.”  As she describes it, “We have to come together as individuals held by the intelligence of nature, by the consciousness of the universe.” When we can love all the different parts of ourselves, including our sorrow, our fear, our anger, we can love the people around us. And when that happens, vibrant communities begin to form—like Wilder, the “sanctuary for the bewildered” that Martha created with Rowan Mangan. As Martha shares, “Everything I've seen online from the people I respect most, whether they're politically savvy people or psychologists or community organizers, everybody's saying the same thing: ‘Join something. Connect, connect, connect.'” Shock, overwhelm, fear, and rage are ameliorated as we connect with others who are feeling the same way. And this coming together of the shards of all of us could be what creates the calm beyond the storm. If you're feeling devastated or uncertain, isolated or afraid, and you want to learn how to let faith, love, and hope guide you to connection and the next right step, don't miss this reassuring episode of The Gathering Room. CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did you know that the right hemisphere of your brain is doing supercomputer-level processing all the time, whether you're aware of it or not? Wild, right? Martha calls the right hemisphere “the magician” because it can come up with the most amazing, brilliant solutions to very difficult problems, seemingly out of thin air.In this episode of The Gathering Room: Awakening Your Magician, Martha talks about how we can activate our highly creative right hemispheres, so we can solve the problems in our lives—and in the world.And the best part is, reawakening your own creative genius can actually be a lot of fun! To learn how to use Martha's 4 C's (calm, curiosity, courage, and feeling cornered) to rev up your right hemisphere and start solving problems as if by magic, tune in to this fascinating episode, which also includes Martha's Space, Stillness, and Silence meditation. CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this Gathering Room, Martha talks about the “heart healer” within every person. When we're heartsick, this is the only thing that heals us. Learn how to access your own heart healer in this very popular episode! (Originally aired: January 15, 2023) CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're not trained to think of a spiritually led life as being hilarious or silly or goofy. But as Martha reminds us, laughter is the beginning of prayer.In this episode of The Gathering Pod: Letting the Force Steer Your Life, she talks about the difference between spiritual faith and religious faith, and how to connect with and trust spiritual energy (aka the Force) to guide you. When you do, you'll be in for some truly delightful surprises!As Martha puts it, “The universe is not your butler. The universe is a continuous aspect of your consciousness that loves for you to play with it.” Listen to the full episode to hear some incredibly fun stories about manifesting with integrity, learn more about the overlap between play and spirit, and participate in Martha's guided Space, Stillness, and Silence meditation. CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some people have a bullseye picture of their purpose in life and are headed straight toward it. However, this is extremely rare. Why? Martha says it's because we live in a culture dominated by left-hemisphere thinking, which pulls us toward anxiety and socializes us to do as we're told and acquire material wealth. In this episode of The Gathering Room podcast, Martha talks about following your curiosity to activate the right side of the brain, which is where our passion lives. And our passion is what leads us to our life's purpose.If you want to start looking for things that draw your attention (rather than push yourself toward the things you think you should do), and you're ready to prepare yourself to follow your curiosity wherever it leads, tune in to the full episode—it may contain just the spark you need! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of The Gathering Room, you'll learn how little you really have to do. If you think that sounds too easy, change what you think, not what you do. Come see how! (Originally aired: January 8, 2023)   CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is there something you're trying to get done? Something you really, really want, but you're struggling?While our culture teaches us to “never give up the struggle,” in this episode of The Gathering Room, Martha is talking about how taking breaks and allowing for rest can lead to unexpected improvements and breakthroughs.As many Gatherers know, Martha's been working on watercolor painting for months now, and she finds it extremely challenging. Recently she had to take a break from it, and when she finally got back to her easel, something strange happened… Her hand just knew what to do! As Martha describes it:“It was like everything I'd been experimenting with had sunk into my nervous system. And actually, when the brain learns a new skill, especially if it learns playfully, it does start on the top of your brain and then it literally sinks in. The more you do it, the more it goes down toward the core of your brain, and you get better and better at it. And it doesn't feel like it's you doing it anymore—it feels like magic.” If you'd like to learn how to get the kind of rest that leads to magical breakthroughs—Martha's favorite ways include sleep, laughter, puzzle-cracking, and more—be sure to listen to the full episode. You'll also be able to take a restful break as she leads you in her favorite meditation.Don't miss it! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you been struggling to climb pyramids of power, education, wealth, or anything else our culture teaches us to value? Are you ready to find (or return to) your true nature instead?In this episode of The Gathering Room, Martha is talking about the importance of “be-wilder-ing” ourselves and the transformative power of making authentic connections.She says that if we can get far enough from society's rules and be willing to break them in some ways—and also be willing to look deeply within ourselves—we will go back to what nature wants us to be.If we can find our true selves, there's only one task we need to save the world, and that task is three simple words: “Find the others.” With her brand-new online community, Wilder, Martha feels even closer to fulfilling that mission!As she tells us, the technology we now have for gathering together is a tool in the hands of the Divine, and with the Wilder Community, it has evolved into a kind of wild space where we can become ourselves and find the others.If you can go wild, you will find where you're meant to be—where there's nowhere to go and nothing to strive for, but everything to love, enjoy, experience, and savor. “That's why we're here,” Martha says. “We are here to enjoy this world.”To learn more about finding and embracing your true nature, connecting with others, and using your integrity to navigate life's challenges—and also hear about Martha's exciting experiences in the Wilder community—be sure to tune in!Martha also shares book recommendations, answers listener questions, and leads you in her Space, Silence, and Stillness meditation, emphasizing human imagination and its potential to create positive change in the world. Don't miss it! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are times when really important things are happening, and we really care about the results. At such times, it's hard not to get stuck in that awful place between hope and fear.In this episode of The Gathering Room, Martha is talking about how hope and fear are on the same continuum. The moment you get attached to a hope, you're also afraid it won't happen. And the moment you're afraid of something happening, you also hope that it won't.As it says in Martha's favorite book, the Tao Te Ching, “Hope is as hollow as fear. Whether you go up the ladder or down, your position is shaky. When you stand with your two feet on the ground, you will always keep your balance.”Hope and fear are fundamentally future directed, Martha says, so to get off this shaky ladder and plant your feet on the ground, you must bring yourself to the present moment by practicing mindfulness and equanimity.When we are mindful, we are fully present and aware of our surroundings and sensations, and with equanimity, we can maintain a calm state of mind, regardless of challenges.To hear Martha's insights on how to step off the shaky ladder, ground yourself in the present moment, and mother yourself during difficult times, don't miss this encouraging episode, which includes Martha's guided meditation to connect with peace, compassion, and joy. CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can you remember times when you've experienced pure joy?Martha recalls some key moments that led her to make joy her strategy for living, and she's talking about it in this episode of The Gathering Room.The dictionary defines a strategy as “a plan of action or policy designed to achieve a major or overall aim." We all want to experience joy, and yet we have a society that tells us joy is not a strategy—that we should be strategizing to achieve success instead. But until you have joy, Martha argues, what good is a strategy of success? There is no point in having success without joy.So, how do you make joy your strategy?All the way to joy feels joyful, Martha says, and that feeling is letting you know you're on your right path— because joy is what we all are in our essence. When we feel misery or flatness or bitterness, the message is that we've gotten off track and need to change course.Martha urges us to turn toward joy and join with other people by sharing our joy and asking what we can do to help others experience more of it. Because as joy grows, it more than multiplies! To find out how to connect with joy even in times of pain or sorrow, learn the difference between happiness and joy, and join Martha in a meditation to help open yourself up to joy, be sure to listen to the entire joy-filled episode.  CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's a saying Martha likes that goes, “A hundred years before you were born, God drew a circle around the place you're standing now."  In other words, you are here because you are meant to be here—but  from this place, you can literally go in any direction!  So what is the best next step for you to take? That's what Martha is talking about on this episode of The Gathering Room podcast.  She shares all of the things she's been “nerding out” over in her quest to discover her best next step: the adjacent possible, liquid networks, and what Dylan Thomas called “the force that through the green fuse drives the flower.” The “adjacent possible” means something that can happen but hasn't happened yet, and we humans are in an adjacent possible right now—it's possible to fix everything that is broken, given the technologies we have and the ideas that we come up with. Martha says that when there's a big thing that wants to happen, the information and ideas necessary to come up with it are hidden in a kind of mosaic: We're all equipped with different fragments that only make sense when we come together. “Whenever I am close to a best next step,” she says, “the hair on my arms prickles a lot. I feel sort of guided to certain books. I get obsessed with songs and I look them up and the lyrics give me ideas, and I am drawn to certain other people.”  Martha shares how to sense when something wonderful is coming—something delicious and delightful and exhilarating and new that you've been preparing for your whole life—and allow the intelligence of nature to show you your best next step toward it.  If you're ready to take that best next step, be sure to tune in for the full episode, where Martha also shares the best next step she's most excited about in her own life. Don't miss it! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did you know that joy is your birthright as a human?Finding joy is one of Martha's favorite topics, and that's what she's talking about on this episode of The Gathering Room! Martha says that joy, like beauty, is its own excuse for being, and she shares ways we can look for and experience joy, even in the midst of difficulty.She quotes a Jack Gilbert poem that says, "We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world.” Meaning, we must find joy wherever we are. Martha clarifies that joy is not the same thing as happiness. Happiness is what you feel when something you do succeeds, or you recover from an illness, or someone you love comes back from far away. Happiness is wonderful, of course, but joy goes much deeper. Joy is something that says, "I am here on an experience-gathering mission, and my soul loves adventure and is not afraid to suffer." Martha says that joy is what gets you through this world because it reminds you that you are not of this world. It is something more lasting, more powerful, and more loving than your physical experience could ever be.To hear how Martha found joy during some difficult times in her own life, learn easy ways to find joy if it's been eluding you for a while, and get inspired to jump for joy wherever you see it, tune in for the full episode. You can also join Martha in meditation for a little “energy bath” of joy. Don't miss it! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you ever try to make forward-thinking plans, but then you get hit with surprises you never saw coming?Martha says it seems to happen to her about once every six months… For example, because of a recent trip to Costa Rica, where she happened to befriend the incredible women of Sleep-Works, she's now a sound sleeper (and a morning person!) after a lifetime of insomnia.Trying to make plans in a world of escalating change is a challenge, Martha says, because there's just no way to plan for everything that's going to happen. In this episode of The Gathering Room, she talks about how to move forward by embracing change and uncertainty—and the delightful surprises that can come your way when you do.Martha's method is to keep a wide-open mind and throw herself upon the mercy of the universe. If something feels good to her soul (and by “good” she means a feeling of complete peace washing over her) then she moves toward that thing in a very specific way.“In my life,” she says, “I have found that the sense of being pulled by my heart and soul is a kind of yearning mixed with peace—and trust that I'm meant to have what I deeply desire.”That feeling is what has always pulled Martha forward, and it's the reason she started teaching her Wayfinder Life Coach Training program—she wanted to teach people to find their path forward the way she does.As she started getting cohorts of new Wayfinder trainees, she'd ask why they joined the program, and fully 85% would say they had no idea, which filled her with the joy of connection: "Yes! My people! They're out there!"To hear more about how you can work toward perfect integrity, learn to recognize the feeling of pull or push that can guide you to your true yearning, and move toward your next wild and wonderful experience, tune in for the full conversation!This episode also includes Martha's guided Space, Stillness, and Silence meditation to help you bring your attention off the reasons you do things in the outer world, so you can focus on the field of connection that's pulling you toward what you're meant to do next. CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are you someone who likes making vision boards?  They're a fun way to direct your attention—and because whatever we put our attention on tends to show up in our consciousness and in our lives, vision boards can be powerful tools for healing and for helping you manifest your desires. In this episode of The Gathering Room, Martha shares how to create a vision board, starting with digging deep into your preferences to find out what you truly want (not what you've been socialized to think you want) and allowing yourself the time and space to be creative.  Then, Martha says, you'll start “constellating an economic ecosystem.”  Constellating means coming together by natural forces, so you sit in the center of your desire and your creativity, and the things you want—such as more income, good health, happy relationships—will start forming around you like a constellation. Any place on earth where you have space, energy, and water, you're going to get ecosystems. And the same is true with each of us, Martha says. Our yearning is the energy, our creativity is the water, and the space is the time we give it in our lives. Society has traditionally taught us that we should get one job, keep it until we retire, and that one job is where we'll get all our money forever. So we're not used to seeing our personal economy as a complex system of things.  However, because of technology and competition, the old way of doing things is collapsing, and it's become more feasible in our economy to have an economic ecosystem. To create one you need liberated deep desire, plus liberated creativity, plus time—and a vision board can help. To learn Martha's steps for making vision boards that create thriving economic ecosystems in your own life, join her for this fun and inspiring episode! She'll also lead you in a meditation to help your deepest desires and the infinite power of your creativity do their magical work. CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did you know that we're energetically connected?We all have the ability to feel each other's energy: if someone is happy and calm, we can feel it, and when someone is angry or dangerous, we can feel that as well. What's more, we're each projecting our own energy all the time.However, when you're not aware of the energy you're giving off, you inadvertently create what Martha calls “energetic dark spots”—and these make you vulnerable to people with negative energy who want to prey on you in some way.In this episode of The Gathering Room, Martha talks about how you can mend any energetic dark spots you may have and create an integrous energy that is calm, pure, and doesn't attract negativity.She'll walk you through the process she uses to heal her own energy shields—using questions she learned from the work of Byron Katie—and she'll also lead you in her Space, Silence, and Stillness meditation to help you visualize the energy that connects us all.Plus, Rowan Mangan will join Martha at the end for a very exciting announcement, so be sure to tune in for the full episode! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Waves of shame. They're icky, they're toxic, and they're not easy to escape. In this episode of The Gathering Room, Martha is talking about how we can move past this particularly intense form of anxiety and swim on to better horizons.Shame attacks us at the level of basic self-identity and makes us believe that our vulnerabilities are permanent, personal, and pervasive. It also wants us to keep secrets and hide things. So, Martha says, by being open and sharing our humiliating moments—the opposite of what shame wants us to do—we can actually reduce our feelings of shame. And often, the more embarrassing your “shameful” moment, the more it can be turned into a freeing kind of humor that helps you feel safe. To learn how to share your vulnerabilities safely through openness, humor, and the step-check-step method, don't miss this liberating episode. It also includes Martha's guided Silence, Space, and Stillness meditation—with a special devotion to the parts of you that have ever felt shamed. CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Many of us have heard about the mind-body connection, but have you ever tried sense-memory therapy? Martha recently lost her sense of smell to a sinus infection, and instead of worrying that she'll never get it back, she's trying sense-memory therapy—she holds her favorite pine-scented candle close to her nose while relishing the memory of smelling that candle. Recalling positive sense memories creates connections in the brain that reinforce positive, joyful times instead of fear or anxiety, and that's what Martha is talking about in this episode of The Gathering Room. Martha believes this methodology can help with every aspect of life—from physical ailments to social anxieties to financial struggles and more—and literally bring the good times back! We can even touch into the memory of what it was to be pure spirit, completely unafraid, and create brains that can go to the place of no suffering, deep wisdom, and the peace that passes all understanding. Want to learn how? Tune in for the full episode, where Martha will also guide you through a powerful Space, Silence, and Stillness meditation to help you drop out of matter and connect with the deepest sense memory. Join her! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did you know you were born a creative genius? All of us are, Martha says, but we are socialized out of our genius by the structures of culture. Why? Because the culture wants everyone the same, but genius doesn't homogenize well. However, your genius is still calling to you, and in this episode of The Gathering Room, Martha shares how you can recognize—and follow—its call. She says your genius will have three main characteristics: It hides in plain sight—it's the thing that for you is so easy you think surely anyone could do it. (Spoiler alert: They can't!) It makes you curious. When you see something that's related to your genius, you perk up and go "Hmm…” If it makes you curious, your mind is already shaping itself around that activity. It makes you feel something called the “rage to master” where you not only feel curiosity, you feel an ache in your heart that says, "Oh, if only I could do that!" If it's aligned with your genius, you'll get the “ignition message” to begin doing that thing. Martha says that when something that's connected to your genius pulls you in and won't stop pulling you in, the worst thing you can do is decide that the time for you to do that thing has passed—because it is never too late. Sometimes it's an inspiration, sometimes it's a state of consciousness, sometimes it's a way of healing, sometimes it can't be even seen.  “Anything can be part of your genius,” Martha says. “Just go for it!” To find out more about the genius that's calling to you and how you can answer the call, be sure to tune in for the full episode! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The world can be a hard, inhospitable, downright hostile place, and people can quite often be less than kind. Yet Martha says that by practicing what she calls “kindness in motion,” we can start to change the whole complexion of the world.  Martha defines kindness in motion as “kindness while doing things” and she's sharing how to do it in this episode of The Gathering Room. As Martha describes it, all of our perceptions come through the filter of the mind. The voice in our heads that we think is coming from the outside actually isn't. So, as she tells us, “we can unilaterally shift the screen inside the head so that it only brings kindness.”  This means that if there's something that's frustrating you, as you go through it, be as kind to yourself as you would be to a very vulnerable child who has never tried it before, using what Martha calls Kind Internal Self Talk.   Tell yourself things like: You are okay. You're doing so well. You're doing things a lot of people couldn't do.  This is amazing. This is going to work out fine.   There's always a place where you can be kind to yourself, Martha says, and soon you'll start to see your self-kindness reflected back to you from others. To hear some inspiring stories of kindness in motion (plus a couple that might crack you up), tune in for the full episode, where Martha will also lead you through her Silence, Stillness, and Space meditation. Be extra kind to yourself and join her! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do you respond when you're in a painful situation and there's no way out? The answer is paradoxical. Come learn how to do it with this week's Gathering Room! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You've heard of the fight and flight reflexes, but what about flop and fake? Flop and fake (also known as fawn) are two of the other responses in the polyvagal system, a theory about how our nervous systems adapt to stress and the environment. Fake/fawn is a people-pleasing response, and flop means you just lie there unable to drum up motivation.  In this special “Listen Again” episode of The Gathering Room, Martha's talking about polyvagal theory and how to regulate your nervous system when it gets hijacked by fight, flight, flop, fake, or freeze. One of the things polyvagal theory says is that we can never go into a calm, alert state unless our nervous systems are interacting with one of four things: self, others, nature, and spirit. The good news is that Martha has a process to help you do exactly that! If you're feeling frazzled, overstimulated, or overwhelmed and you need some relief, tune in and let Martha guide you back to your center of calm. With a few prompts, you can start to regulate your nervous system and become conscious of the beauty, joy, and love all around you. CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For this special “Listen Again” episode of The Gathering Room, Martha is sharing her conversation with Dr. Richard Schwartz, the brilliant creator of Internal Family Systems (IFS), a wonderful therapeutic model that Martha loves using! IFS provides an optimistic, empowering framework to help us focus on the different “parts” of our personalities so that we can shift into a state characterized by curiosity, calm, confidence, and compassion. Tune in for their conversation about Richard's latest book, YOU ARE THE ONE YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR: APPLYING INTERNAL FAMILY SYSTEMS TO INTIMATE RELATIONSHIPS, which is available at all major retailers.  If you're interested in learning more about IFS, you won't want to miss this one! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are you in the mood to make some magic?  Martha is! And in this special “Listen Again” episode of The Gathering Room, she's sharing inspiration from Suzanne Eder's book, What You Want Wants You, to help you reconnect with your true desires so you can follow the path to your soul's fulfillment. While our culture teaches us to associate desire with selfishness and even depravity—a.k.a. “base desire”—Eder's book says this is a misinterpretation. Instead, real desire is an expression of the one soul that is the basic ground of being for all of us. As Martha elaborates, we're all pure divine essence, and to be in physical form is to perceive an apparent separation between ourselves and all other things. The truth, however, is that we are all one. Tapping into that truth and being kind to the self are the ways we spark magic. To learn how to drop the illusion of separation, get in touch with your true desires, and start creating a life that works for you like magic, don't miss the full episode! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you ever experienced synchronicity?  As Martha defines it in this episode of The Gathering Room, a synchronicity is any event or experience that seems to confirm or indicate that the universe is not random—that there's something making all this happen. Martha has been re-reading The Awakened Brain by Dr. Lisa Miller, who writes about synchronicities and what she calls a “spiritual docking station” in the human brain. What Dr. Miller found in her research is that when people are open to the idea of spiritual realities like synchronicities, they have access to much more physical and mental health, and they're more resilient and more resistant to anxiety and depression. Martha says that when she opens the docking station of her own brain, it feels like a loving, beautiful presence is able to move through her. It gives her the experience of seeming to do things herself but also relax into being moved by a loving, creative force. It's only when we relax our nervous systems, Martha says, that we can feel the consciousness of the universe because the consciousness of the universe does not respond to anxiety and desperation. It responds to joy, love, and trust. To learn how to keep your spiritual docking station open so you can look for synchronicities in your own life, be sure to tune in for the full episode. Martha will also guide you through her Silence, Stillness, and Space meditation to allow those synchronicities to start showing up! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Has anxiety been keeping you from your life's mission? In this episode of The Gathering Room, Martha shares that the best way out of anxiety is not simply to calm yourself, but to get creative! When you take the creativity route, Martha tells us, you get so deep in the process of creating solutions to the problems that matter to you that it becomes literally impossible for your brain to be anxious. So how do you start living from a creative place? Martha says the key is getting curious, and to access your curiosity, there are three things that the brain always asks, in this order: Am I safe?  Am I loved?  What can I learn? Once the brain knows you are safe and loved, it can go into curiosity and start learning new things. And when you realize that you have the capacity to create around anything that makes you curious, you begin to drive your life towards your own unique mission.  To learn how to feel safe and loved so you can access your zone of genius and create your life's mission, tune in for the full episode! Martha also guides you through her Silence, Stillness, and Space meditation to calm anxiety and stimulate curiosity. CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is there something you're having trouble with that you're trying to do perfectly? If so, you're not alone… As Martha reminds us in this episode of The Gathering Room, we are all trained by the culture to strive for perfection and to look for it in others. However, you are not going to show up perfectly—because it's impossible! If you show up not to be perfect but to connect, nobody will care that you haven't done it perfectly. As Martha says, we are here to be connected with a world in which all of us are imperfect. Martha is currently learning Spanish, and she recently stumbled her way through a conversation with a Spanish-speaking friend. Despite her less-than-perfect Spanish, the joy Martha felt connecting with her friend in that language was a “return to the sacredness of communion.”  If you've been struggling with the desire to be perfect, and you want to learn how to drop into imperfection and connect to yourself and others, be sure to tune in. You'll also be able to experience connection through Martha's guided Silence, Stillness, and Space meditation. CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pleasure is something that many of us may think of as an indulgence, but Martha says it's actually the gateway to the things that really enrich our souls… And we access this pleasure by relaxing.

Did you know that you have a superpower you might not know about?