Podcast appearances and mentions of pema chodron

Sometimes life breaks your heart. Right now, the world is breaking most of our hearts. And if it isn't breaking your heart, you're not paying attention. But what does a broken heart have to do with the awakened state of mind? In this solo episode of The Road Home podcast, Ethan examine the two main aspects of our consciousness - thinking mind and feeling mind. Feeling mind might be better understood as our "Awakened Heart,"which is a not-quite-literal translation of the term Bodhicitta. Most of the time, when life or the world exposes our heart fully, we desperately want to turn away from that tenderness. Because a vulnerable heart hurts, it brings up all the specific ways we feel wounded by our past, and also by the world "out there." But our great power, and our genuine awakening, lies in turning toward Bodhicitta, or what Pema Chodron calls the "soft spot." Let's get into "soft spot," shall we? There's really no other choice in the end. Join Ethan for a very "heartfelt" episode of The Road Home this week. Last year, with your subscriptions, we were able to release more episodes than any previous year. This was only possible with your subscriptions. Please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber here. Paid subscribers to The Road Home will receive occasional extras like guided meditations, extra podcast episodes and more! The Thursday Meditation Group happens each week at 8am ET on Thursdays, and guided audio meditations are released monthly. Another bonus podcast for paid subscribers discussed the obstacle of resistance to meditation practice, and Ethan also offered instruction in the RAIN method for working with emotions with self-compassion. These are all available to paid subscribers. You can also subscribe to The Road Home podcast wherever you get your pods (Apple, Ethan's Website, etc). You can now order personally signed copies of Ethan's books at his website. You can also subscribe to The Road Home podcast wherever you get your pods (Apple, Ethan's Website, etc). More cool resources: Check out our sponsor platform, A Mindful World! A new free video course from Ethan on Metta (lovingkindness) meditation is now available at this link. Check out the free roundtable discussion on Mindfulness and Organizational Leadership at this link. Sign up for Ethans May 2nd Windhorse Meditation workshop at this link.

Recently, thanks to Shambhala Publications and our friend Ivan Bercholz, we had the chance to ask Pema Chodron, the wonderful Buddhist teacher I've been lucky enough to know all my life, a brief question. It was Willa and Kelsey's first time meeting Pema! It was a pleasure and an honor and helpful in an earthy way. Dharma is always surprising in how it rings true and surprises my thinking mind. ~ Waylon Lewis Read the full article on Elephant: https://www.elephantjournal.com/2026/03/im-a-new-father-i-asked-pema-chodron-how-we-should-prepare-our-daughter-for-a-wild-world/

TRANSCRIPT Robertson: [00:00:00] Gissele: Hello and welcome to the Love and Compassion podcast with Gissele. We believe that love and compassion have the power to heal our lives and our world. Gissele: Don’t forget to like and subscribe for more amazing content. And if you’d like to support the podcast, please go to buy me a coffee.com/love and compassion. Today we’re talking about how to become a more compassionate civilization in light of the world’s most recent events. Robertson Work is a nonfiction author, social ecological activist, and former UNDP policy advisor on decentralized government, NYU Wagner, graduate School of Public Service, professor of Innovative Leadership and Institute of Cultural Affairs, country Director, conducting community organizational and leadership initiatives. Gissele: He has worked in over 50 countries for over 50 years and is founder of the Compassionate Civilization Collaborative. He has five published books and has [00:01:00] contributed to another 13. His most well-known book is a Compassionate Civilization. Every week he publishes an essay on Compassionate Conversations on Substack. Gissele: Please join me in welcoming Robertson work. Hi Robertson. Robertson: Hi Giselle. How are you? Gissele: I’m good. How about yourself? Robertson: I’m good, thank you. I here in the Southern United States. I’m glad you’re in wonderful Canada. Robertson: great admiration for your country. Gissele: Ah, thank you. Thank you. Gissele: I wanted to talk about your book. I got a copy of it and it was written in 2017, but as I was reading it, I really found myself listening to things that were almost prophetic that seemed to be happening right now. What compelled you to write Compassionate Civilizations at this moment in history. Robertson: Yes. Thank You you so much, and thank you for inviting me to talk with you today. Robertson: And I wanna say I’m so touched by the wonderful work of the Matri Center for Love [00:02:00] and Compassion. I have enjoyed looking at your website and listening to your podcast and hearing Pema Chodron speak about self-love. If it’s okay, I’d like to start with a few moments of mindful breathing Gissele: Yes, definitely. Robertson: okay. I invite everyone to become aware of your breathing, being aware of breathing in and breathing out. Breathing in the here and in the now. Breathing in love. Breathing in gratitude. I have arrived. I am home. I’m solid. I am free breathing in, breathing out here now. Robertson: Love [00:03:00] gratitude. Arrived home solid free. Okay. And to your question, after working in local communities and organizations around the world with the Institute of Cultural Affairs and doing program and policy work with UNDP and teaching grad school at NYU Wagner, I felt called to articulate a motivating vision for how to embody and catalyze a compassionate civilization. Robertson: So each of us can embody, even now, even here, we can embody and catalyze a compassionate civilization in this very present moment. We don’t have to wait, you know, 50 years, a hundred years, a thousand years. we can embody it in the here and the now. So I was increasingly aware of climate change, climate disasters, [00:04:00] the rise of oligarchic, fascism, and of course the UN’s sustainable development goals. Robertson: I also had been studying the engaged Buddhism of Thich Nhat Hahn for many years, and practicing mindfulness and compassionate action. As you know, compassion is action focused on relieving suffering in individual mindsets and behaviors, and collective cultures and systems. The word that com it means with, and compassion means suffering. Robertson: So compassion is to be with suffering and to relieve suffering in oneself and with others. So, I gave talks about a compassionate civilization in my NYU Wagner grad classes and in speeches in different countries. Then in 2013, I started a blog called The Compassionate Civilization. So in 2017, there was a [00:05:00] new US president who concerned me deeply and who’s now president again. Robertson: So a Compassionate Civilization was published in July of that year, as you mentioned, 2017. The book outlines our time of crisis and provides a vision, strategies and tactics of embodying and catalyzing a compassionate civilization, person by person, community by community. Moment by moment it it includes the movement of movements, mom that will do that. Robertson: Innovative leadership methods, global local citizen, and practices of care of self and others as mindful activists. So there’s a lot in it. Yeah. The Six strategies or arenas of transformation are environmental sustainability, gender equality, socioeconomic justice, participatory governance, cultural tolerance and peace, and non-violence, socio. Robertson: So since then [00:06:00] I’ve been promoting the Compassionate Civilization Collaborative, as you mentioned, to support a movement of movements. The mom, Gissele: thank you for that. I really appreciated that. And I really enjoyed the book as well. It’s so funny that, the majority of people see a world that doesn’t work and they want things to change, but they don’t do something necessarily to change it. When did compassion shift from a private virtue to a public mission for you? Robertson: Great question. Thank you. I think it began the private part began very early in my Christian upbringing. I was raised by loving parents to love others. You know, love of neighbor is the heart of Christianity. And understand that love is the ultimate reality. You know, that you know, as we say in Christianity, God is love. Robertson: So then when I went off to college at Oklahoma State University, I found myself being a campus activist. So I shifted to activism for civil rights. We were [00:07:00] demonstrating for women’s rights and for peace in Vietnam. As you know, the Vietnam War was raging. And after that, I attended Theological Seminary at Chicago Theological Seminary, but. Robertson: My calling happened when I was still in college, and it was in a weekend course, just a one weekend in Chicago. Some of us drove up and attended a course at, with the ecumenical Institute in the African-American ghetto in Chicago. And my whole life was changed in one weekend. I mean, I woke up that I could make a difference and I could help create a world that cared from everyone, you know? Robertson: And here I was. I was what? I was a junior in college. So then after that, I worked after college and grad school. I worked in that African American ghetto in Chicago with the Ecumenical Institute. And then in Malaysia, I was asked to go to Malaysia and my wife and I did [00:08:00] that, Robertson: And then. We were asked to work in South Korea, which we did. And then the work shifted from a religious to secular is we now call our work the Institute of Cultural Affairs. And from there we worked in Jamaica and then in Venezuela, and then back in the US in a little community in Oklahoma Robertson: And then I also worked in poor slums and villages. So then with the UNDP. I worked in around the world giving policy advice and starting projects and programs on decentralized governance to help countries decentralize from this capital to the provinces and the cities and towns and villages to decentralize decision making. Robertson: Then my engaged Buddhist studies particularly with Han and his teachers and practice awakened me to a calling to save all sentient beings. what [00:09:00] an outrageous calling, how can one person vow to save all sentient beings? But that’s what we do in that tradition of the being a BofA. Robertson: So through mindfulness and compassionate actions. So then I continue my journey by teaching at NYU Wagner with grad students from around the world. I love that so much. Then to the present as a consultant, speaker, author, and activist locally, nationally, and globally. So Gissele has been quite a journey, and here we are in this moment together, in this wild, crazy world. Gissele: Yeah, for sure, One of the things that I really loved about your book that you emphasize that we need to have a vision for the world that we wanna create. If we don’t have a vision, then we can’t create it, right? many of us are, focusing on anti, anti-oppressive, anti crime, anti this, anti that. Gissele: But we’re not really focusing on what sort of world do we wanna create? and I’ve had conversations with so many people, and when I ask the question, if people truly [00:10:00] believe. The human beings could be like loving and compassionate, and we could create a world that would be loving and compassionate for all many people say no. Gissele: And so I was wondering, like, did you always believe that civilization could be compassionate or did you grow into that conviction? Robertson: Great question. I definitely grew into it. Yeah. even as a child, I was awakened, you know, by the plight of African Americans in my country, in our little town in Oklahoma. Robertson: So I kind of began waking up. But I wasn’t sure, how much I or we could do about it. So I really grew into that conviction through my journey around the world working in over in 55 countries, it’s interesting the number of people your podcast goes to serving people and the planet. Robertson: So. Everywhere I worked Gissele, I was touched by the local people, that people care for each other, you know, in the slums and squatter settlements, in villages, in cities, the, the rich and the [00:11:00] poor. everywhere I went regardless of the culture, the language, the races, the issues the, the local people were caring. Robertson: So my understanding is that compassion is an action. It’s not just a feeling or a thought. It’s an action to relieve suffering in oneself and in others. but suffering is never entirely eliminated. You know, in Buddhism, the first noble truth is there is suffering, and it continues, but it can be relieved as best we can with through practices, through projects, through programs, and through policies. Robertson: So what has helped me is to see, again, a deep teaching in Buddhism that each person is influenced by negative emotions of greed, fear, hatred, and ignorance. And yet we can practice with these and to become aware of them and just, and to let them go, you know, and to practice evolving into loving kindness as [00:12:00] you, as you do in in your wonderful center. Robertson: Teaching more loving, kindness, trust and understanding. We can embrace inner being that we’re all part of everything. We’re all part of each other. You know, we’re part of the living earth. We’re part of humanity. I am part of you, you are part of me. And impermanence, you know, that there is no separate permanent self. Robertson: Everything comes and goes, and yet the mystery is there’s no birth and death. ’cause you and I. we’re part of, this journey for 13.8 billion years of the universe, and yet we can, in each moment, we can take an action that relieves our own suffering and in others. So, as you said, a vision is so, so important. Robertson: I’m so glad you touched on that, that a vision can give us a calling to see where we can go. It can motivate us, push us, drive us to do all that we can to realize it, you know, if I have a vision for my family. To care for my family. If [00:13:00] I have a vision for my country, if I have a vision for planet Earth, that can motivate me to do all I can do to make that really happen. Robertson: So right now there are so many challenges facing humanity, climate disasters. Oh my, I’m here in Swanno where we’ve had a terrible hurricane in 2024. We’re still recovering from it. Echo side, you know, where so many species are dying of plants and animals. It’s, it’s one of the great diebacks of in evolution on earth, oligarchic, fascism. Robertson: Right now, we’re in the midst of it in my country. I can’t believe it. You know, you’re, you’re on 81. I, I thought I was, gonna die and still live in a country that believed in democracy and freedom and justice. And so now here we, I have to face what can I do about oligarchic, fascism and social and racial and gender injustice. Robertson: Other challenges, warfare. And here we are in this crazy, monstrous war [00:14:00] in the Middle East. You know, what can we do? What can I unregulated? Artificial intelligence very deeply concerns me. we’ve gotta regulate artificial intelligence so it doesn’t hurt humans and the earth. Robertson: It doesn’t just take care of itself. So, you know, it’s easy Gissele to be despairing and to give up, you know, particularly at this moment. But actually at any time in our life, we’re always tempted to say, oh, well, things will be okay, or There’s nothing I can do, you know, but neither of those is true. Robertson: There are things we can do. We can stop and breathe and continue doing what we can where we are. with what we have and who we are. We do not have to be stopped by despair or by cynicism or by hopeism. We don’t. So thank you for that question about vision. I vision still wakes me up every day and calls me forward. Robertson: I’m sure it does. You as well. Gissele: Yeah. I [00:15:00] mean, without vision, it’s like you don’t have a map to where you’re going to, right.what’s our destination if we don’t have a vision? And so this is for me, why I loved your book so much. you are helping us give a vision Gissele: I mean, the alternative is what is the alternative? there’s my next question. What happens to a society that abandons compassion? Robertson: Exactly. Well, I sort of touched on it before. it falls into ignorance and into greed. Wanting more wealth, more power. for me for my tribe and, and falls into hatred, falls into fear, falls into violence, and that’s happening now, she said. Robertson: But I love what Thich Nhat Hahn reminds us of, of is that if there is no mud, there is no lotus. And that, that means is, you know, if there is no suffering, there can be no compassion . So without suffering and ignorance, there is no compassion or wisdom, because suffering calls us to relieve it. when I see [00:16:00] my wife or children in pain, I want to help them. Robertson: or when I see others, neighbors, you know, during the pandemic, our neighbors took food and water to each other. You know, after the hurricane, neighbors brought us water. suffering calls the best from us, it can, it can also call, call other things. But again, there’s no mud. Robertson: The lotus cannot grow. So we can continue the journey step by step and breath by breath. So that’s what I’d say for now. but that’s an important question. Gissele: you said some key things including that, people have a choice. They can choose to be compassionate, or they can choose to use that fear for something else, right. Gissele: But I often hear from people, well, you know, they want institutions to change. why are the institutions more, equitable, generous, compassionate and you know, like. I don’t know if we have a vision for what compassionate institutions look like, [00:17:00] what would compassion look like at that level? Robertson: Oh, that’s where those six areas you know, the compassion would look like practicing ecological regeneration or sometimes called environmental sustainability. You know, that we we’re part of the living Earth gazelle, We’re not separate from the earth . We breathe earth air, we drink earth water. Robertson: We you know, the earth. Hurricanes come. The earth. Floods come We are earthlings. I love that word, earthlings, and so, how do we help regenerate the earth as society? And that’s why, you know, legislation aware of climate change, you know, to reduce carbon emissions. Robertson: The Paris Accord, and that’s just one example, how do we have all laws for gender equality so that women receive the same salaries as men and have the same rights. as men, we gotta have the laws, the institutions you know, and the participatory democracy, that we have a constitution. Robertson: a constitution is a vision. of what we are all about. Why are, we’re [00:18:00] together as a country, so that we can each vote and express our views and our wishes, and that government is by foreign of the people. It is. So it’s, it’s critical, you know, that we vote and get out the vote again and again and again. Robertson: And to create those laws, those institutions they care for everyone. And the socioeconomic justice. we need the laws and institutions that give full rights to people of color to people of every culture and every religion, and every gender every transgender, every human being, every living being has rights. Robertson: That’s why the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is so important. I’m so grateful that it was created earlier in the last century in my country our country cannot go to war without congressional approval. Robertson: Aha. did that just not happen? Yes. But it’s in the Constitution. the law says that we must talk about it [00:19:00] first. We must send the diplomats. We must doeverything we can before we harm anyone. War is hell. there are other ways of dialogue and diplomacy. Robertson: we can do better. But again, it takes the laws and institutions. Gissele: thank you for that. I do think that we have some sort of sense in terms of what we find doesn’t work for us, right? these institutions don’t work, they’re based on separation, isolation, punishment, and we see that they don’t work. We see that, like inequality hurts everyone. Gissele: We see that all of these things that we’re doing have a negative impact, including war. And yet we don’t change. What do you think prevents societies from becoming more compassionate? Robertson: if we’re in a society that if harming people through terrible legislation and laws and policies that makes it hard for people then have to either rebel and then they can be you know, killed. Or they have to form movements peaceful movements like the [00:20:00] Civil Rights Movement in my country, you know, with Martin Luther King leading peace marches and our peaceful resistance, in Minneapolis, the peaceful resistance to ice, so what one big thing that’s, that makes people think they can’t be compassionate again, is the, larger society, you know, the institutional frameworks and legislations and laws and government practices. Robertson: But even then, as we’re seeing, you know, in Minneapolis and everywhere, and Canada is leading in so many ways, I think I, I’m so grateful for the leadership of your, your prime minister, calling the world thatwe must not let go of the international rules rules based international practices that we’ve had for the last 80 years, my whole life. Robertson: You know, we’ve had the, the UN and the international rules and now some powers want to throw those out, but no, no, we are gonna say no. we’re [00:21:00] surrounded by forces of wealth and power as we know. And however we can each do what we can to care for those near hand, far away, the least the last, and the last for ourselves, moment by moment. Robertson: Breath, breath by breath. And sometimes we, the people can change history and the powerful can choose compassion. And, we’ve changed history many times. We’ve created democracy. We, the people who have created civil right. Universal education and healthcare of the UN and much more. Robertson: you touched a moment ago on the pillars of a compassionate civilization. You know, there are 17 UN sustainable development goals, as you know, but I decided 17 was a big number, so I thought, why don’t we just have six? That’s why my book, it has six arenas of transformation for ease of memory and work. Robertson: and they are environmental sustainability, gender equality, socioeconomic justice, participatory governance, cultural tolerance, peace and nonviolence. So modern [00:22:00] societies can be prevented from being compassionate also by Negative emotions as we were talking about, of ignorance, greed, hatred, and violence. Robertson: Greed thinking, I need more wealth. I’m a billionaire, but I need another billion. You know, I’m the richest billionaire in the world, but I wanna buy the US government hatred, violence. So these all for me, all back into the Buddhist wisdom of the belief that I’m a separate self. Robertson: Therefore, all that’s important is my ego. Hell no, that’s wrong. You know, my ego is not separate. When I die, my ego’s gone. You know, all that’s gonna be left when I die, or my words and my actions, my actions will continue forever. my words will continue forever. May I, ego? No. So the, if I believe my ego is all there is, and I can be greedy and hateful and fearful and violent, but ego, unlimited pleasure and narcissism, fear of the other, ignorance of cause and effect, these don’t have to drive us. So [00:23:00] structures and policies based on negative emotions and the delusion of a separate self and harm for the earth. We don’t have to live that way. We don’t have to believe propaganda and misinformation and ignorance, and we can provide the education needed and the experience. Robertson: We don’t have to accept wealth hoarding. You know, why do we have billionaires? Why isn’t $999 million enough? Why doesn’t that go to care for everyone and to care for the earth? So again, we have to let go of wealth hoarding of power hoarding. Robertson: we don’t need all that wealth. We don’t need all that power. We can, we can care for each other. We can care for the earth. Gissele: There, there are so many amazing things that you said. I wanted to touch on two the first one is that I was having a conversation with an indigenous elder, and he said to me, you know, that greed is just a fear of lack, right? Gissele: And it really stopped me in my tracks because, when we see people hoarding stuff in their [00:24:00] house, we think, well, that’s abnormal. And yet we glorify the hoarding of wealth. But it isn’t any different than any sort of other mental health issue in terms of hoarding. And so that really got me to think about the role of fear. Gissele: And, if somebody’s trying to hoard money, it’s not getting to the root of the problem, issue. It’s never gonna be enough because they’re just throwing it into an empty hole. It’s a a billion Jillian, it’s never gonna be enough because it’s never truly addressing the problem. Gissele: But one of the things that you said as we were chatting is, that the wealthy, the elite, they can choose compassion, they can always choose it, which is an amazing insight. And yet I wonder, you know, in terms of people’s perspectives of compassion and power, do you think that the two go hand in hand or can they go hand in hand? Gissele: Because I think there might be some worries around, well, if I’m more compassionate, then I’m gonna be, taken advantage of, I’m gonna be, a mat. what is your [00:25:00] perspective? Robertson: Oh, I agree with everything you said and your question is so, so important. Thank you so much. Robertson: there are billionaires and then there are billionaires like Warren Buffet. Look, he’s given. Tens of billions of dollars away, hundreds of billions of dollars away, and other billionaires have done that. And then there are the billionaires, who think 350 billion isn’t enough. Robertson: You know, I need more. Well, that’s crazy. That is sick. That is sad that, that is a disease. And we have to help those people. I feel compassion for billionaires who think they need another 10 billion or another a hundred billion, or they need five more a hundred million dollars yachts, or they need another 15 $200 million houses around the world and that that is very sad. Robertson: And that they’re really suffering. They’re confused. Yeah. They forget what it means to be human. They’ve forgotten what it needs to be. An earthling that we’re just here for a moment. Gissele: Agree. Robertson: We’re just here for a moment, for a [00:26:00] breath, and we’re gone. Breathe in, we’re here, breathe out, we’re gone. And so we can stop. Robertson: We can become aware of that fear, as you said. We can take good care of that fear. I love the way Thich Nhat Hahn says. He says, hello, fear, welcome back. I’m gonna take good care of you. Fear. I’m gonna watch you take care of you. You’re gonna Evolve. ’cause everything is impermanent. Everything changes. So fear will change. Robertson: Fear can change. Fear always changes It evolves into Another emotion, another feeling, So let it go. Let it go. In the truth of impermanence. ’cause everything is impermanent. Fear is impermanent. So we also can remember the truth of inter being that I am part of what I fear, I am part of. Robertson: This current federal administration. You know, I’m part of the wealthy elite, and it is part of me. I fear of the US administration right now, but it is part of [00:27:00] me and I’m part of it. I fear climate change, but it is part of me. I’m part of it. I fear artificial intelligence , unregulated. I fear old age, but boys, I’m 81 and a half, it’s here. Robertson: So I’m gonna take care of it. I’m gonna say, Hey, old man, I’m gonna take care of you. And they’re all me. There’s no separation. I love Thich Nhat Hahn’s word. We enter are, we enter are now, how can I stop, become aware of fear, breathe in and out, and know the truth of inter being and impermanence and accept it. Robertson: Care for it. get out to vote, care for the self, write , speak, do what I can to care for what I can. My family, my neighbors, my city, my county, my country, my world. And everything changes. Everything passes away. Everything comes in and out of [00:28:00] being, what happened to the Roman Empire? Gissele: Mm, Robertson: what’s happening to the American Empire. Everything comes in and goes out like a breath, breathing in and breathing out. And then everything transforms into what is next? What is next? what is China going to bring? Ah, there is so much that we don’t know, Robertson: I love Thich Nhat Hahn’s teaching that. when we become aware of a negative emotion, we should Stop, breathe, smile. And then say, oh, welcome. Fear. Welcome back. Okay, I’m gonna take care of you. Okay, we’re in this together. Robertson: And then you just, you keep breathing in awareness and gratitude and things change. Your grandkid calls you, your baby calls you, your dog, your cat. You see the clouds, you see the earth, the sun. You see a star. You realize you’re an [00:29:00] animal. You know the word animal means breath. Robertson: We are animals. ’cause we breathe. We’re all breathing. So I love that. You know it. I love to say I am an animal. ’cause I, you know, we, human beings are often not, we’re not animals. We’re superior To animals, you know? Right. we are animals, that’s why we love our dogs and cats and we can love our, the purposes and the elephants and the tigers and the mountain lions and, and the cockroaches and the chickpeas and the cardinals we are all animals. Robertson: We’re all breathing. So I love that. Gissele: Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that was so beautiful. I felt that also, I really appreciated the practice too. In this time when we, like so many us are, are feeling so much fear and so much uncertainty and not knowing how things are gonna pan out, to just take a moment to breathe and reconnect to our true selves, I think is so, so fundamental. Gissele: And I hope that listeners are also doing it with us. you know, as I have [00:30:00] conversations with people around the world we talk a lot about, the way that the systems are set up, the institutions. Gissele: And it took a lot of hard work for me to realize that we are the institutions, just like you said, so the institutions are made up of people. And I was so glad to see that in your book, that you clearly say, you know, like it’s about people. It’s about us. It’s like we make up these institutions, you know? Gissele: And when I’ve looked at myself, I’ve asked myself, who do I wanna be? What do I really, truly wanna embody? And my greatest wish for this lifetime is to embody the highest level of love and to truly get to the point where I love people like brothers and sisters, that I care for them and that we care for one another. Gissele: And yet, there are times when I wanna act from that place, but the fear comes up, the not wanting or not trusting or believing when the fear comes up, how can compassion really help us change ourselves so that we can create a [00:31:00] different world? Robertson: What you said is so beautiful, and your question is so powerful. Thank you. Yes. And I’m gonna get personal here. we can do what we can, we can take care of ourselves, we can take care of others as we can, but we shouldn’t beat ourselves up when we can’t. You know? Robertson: So I, here I’m 80, I’m over 81, and I have issues with balance and walking, and I have some memory issues and some low energy issues. So I have to be kind to myself. I, so I’ve just decided that writing is my main way of caring for the world. That’s why I publish one or two essays a week on Substack, on Compassionate Conversations for 55 countries in 38 states. Robertson: And so I said, you know, I used to travel around the world all the time. Not anymore. I don’t even want like to travel around the county. Robertson: Anyway, I’m an elder , so I have to say , okay, elder, be kind to [00:32:00] yourself, but also do everything you can, write everything you can speak with Gazelle if you can. Robertson: I also have to decide who I’m gonna care for. I’ve decided I’m gonna care for my wife who just turned 70 and my two kids and my two grandkids, my daughter-in-law, my cousins and nieces and nephews, my neighbors here and North Carolina. Robertson: The vulnerable, you know, I give to nonprofits who help the hungry and the homeless to friends and to people around the world through my writings and teachings And so the other day I drove to get some some shrimp tacos for my wife and me for dinner. Robertson: And a lady came up and she had disheveled hair. And she just stood by my car and I put the window down a little and she said. can you drive me to Black Mountain? that’s not where we were. I was in another town. ‘ cause I’m out of my medicine. Robertson: She just, out of the blue said, stood there and said that. And I thought, [00:33:00] oh, oh, hmm. Oh, so, oh yes. So I, I wanted to say, but who are you? How are you? Do you live here? Do do you have any friends or family? Do you, you, can I give you some money? Do you have, but I was kind of, I was kind of struck dumb, you know? Robertson: I thought, oh, oh, what should I do? And so I said, oh, I’m so sorry I don’t live in Black Mountain. And she said, oh. And she just turned and walked away and she asked two other cars and they said no. And then she walked away. And then she walked away. I thought, oh, Rob, Rob, is she okay? Does she have a family? Robertson: Did she have a house? What if she doesn’t get her medicine? How can she walk to that town? Could you have driven her and delayed taking dinner home to your wife? And then I said, but I don’t know. And then I thought, oh, but she’s gone. And I then I said, okay, Rob. Okay, Rob, [00:34:00] you’ve lived 81 years. You’ve cared for people in the UN in 170 countries. Speaker 3: Yeah. Robertson: And you’ve been in 55 countries, you’re still writing every week, you’re taking care of your neighbors and family and friends. Don’t beat yourself up. Old guy. Don’t beat yourself up. But next time, you know what Rob, I’m gonna say, Hey, my dear one, are you okay? I don’t have any money, but I can I buy you? Robertson: We are here at the taco shop, Can I buy you dinner? I would, I’m gonna say that next time, Rob. I’m gonna say that. and then I also gazelle,I’m gonna support democratic socialist institutions. You know, some people are afraid of that word, democratic socialist. Robertson: But you know, the happiest countries in the world are democratic socialist countries. Finland is the world’s happiest country. Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Iceland, those are in the top 10 [00:35:00] when they’ve, when there have been analysis of, if you, if you Google happiest countries in the world, Robertson: those Nordic countries come up every year. Why? They are democratic socialist countries. You pay high taxes and everybody gets free college. You know, free education, free college, free health everybody gets taken care of in a democratic socialist country in the Nordic countries and New York City. Robertson: I’m so proud that our new mayor in New York City Zoran Mai is a democratic socialist. He is there to help everybody, but particularly those who are hurting the poor, the hungry , the sick, or the people of color, women, the elderly, the children. I’m so proud of him and I write about him on my substack and I write him Robertson: I he’s one of my heroes just like Bernie Sanders is one of my heroes. And Alexandria Ocasio Cortes, a OC is one of my, my heroes, CA [00:36:00] Ooc. So, and you know, I used to never tell anybody I was a Democratic socialist ’cause I was afraid. I thought, oh, they’ll think I’m a socialist. Hell no. I am now proud to say I’m a democratic socialist. Robertson: I’m a Democrat. I vote the Democratic ticket, but I’m always looking for progressives, progressive Democrats, you know, democratic socialist Democrats. because, you know, our country can be more like Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Iceland New York City. New York City is showing us the way America can be like a New York City. Robertson: I’m so proud of New York City and I used to live in New York City so as an old person. I can only do what I can do. and I’m not saying, oh, I poor me. I can’t do anything. No, no. I’m not saying that. I’m saying I can do a hell of a lot as this 81-year-old, it’s amazing what I can do, but that is why I write and speak and care for my family, neighbors, friends, the poor. Robertson: [00:37:00] Donate to nonprofits for the homeless and the hungry vote. Get out the vote. So yes, that’s my story. Gazelle. Gissele: I totally relate. I mean, I’ve been in circumstances like that as well, where you wanna help. But the fear is like, what if a person kills you? What if they don’t really have medication? Gissele: What if you get hurt or they try to rob you or they have mental health problems? Mine goes to protection and it is very human of us to go there first. And so, so then we get stuck in that ping pong in that moment and then the moment passes and you’re like, you know, was it true? Could I have driven that person? Gissele: And that would’ve been something I wanted to do for sure. But in that moment, you are stuck in that, yo-yo, when the survival comes in. And so helping ourselves shift out of that survival mode, understanding and learning to have faith and trust. And for me that’s been a work in progress. Gissele: It really has been a work in [00:38:00] progress. The other thing I wanted to mention, which I think is so important that we need to touch on. It’s the whole concept of socialism. So I was born in South America before I came to Canada and so I remember lots of my family members talk about this, there’s many South American countries that got sold communism, as socialism we’re talking about approaches that instead of it being like a democratic socialism that you’re talking about, which is the government, make sure that people are taking care of and that the people are probably taxed and provided for what would happen in those countries was that. Gissele: Everything got taken away. People were rationed certain things, and, it was horrible. it was not good, but it was not socialism. And there was many governments that took the majority of the money, then spent it on themselves, left the country, took it themselves, and so especially the Latin American community is very much afraid of socialism because they think back to that, the [00:39:00] rationing of electricity, the rationing of food, the rationing of all of that stuff, it wasn’t provided openly. Gissele: It was, everybody gets less. And so you have these people with this history that then have come to the US and think they don’t want socialism. They think democracy means that people aren’t gonna take stuff away from them, but that’s not what it means either. ’cause I don’t even know if like in North America we have a true democracy. Robertson: so thinking about reframing of how we think or experience democratic socialism, that it doesn’t mean less for everybody and in everything controlled by the government. It means being provided for abundantly and, also having the citizens be taxed more, which means we are willing to share our money so that we can all live well, Beautiful. Beautiful. Oh, thank you. Hooray. Wonderful. What country are you? May I ask where you coming? Gissele: Yeah, of Robertson: course. Gissele: Peru, I Gissele: [00:40:00] Yeah. Robertson: Wonderful. I’ve been to Peru a few times. A wonderful, beautiful country. And I, I lived in Venezuela for five years. ‘ cause I love, I have many friends in Venezuela. Robertson: But anyway I agree with everything you just said. That’s why I said what I said that I now can, I can confess that I am a democratic socialist. And that’s not socialism. It’s a social democracy is what it’s called. Yeah. That’s what they call it in Finland and Denmark and so on. Robertson: They call it social democracy. It’s democracy. But it, as you say, it’s cares for everyone and for the earth. We have to always add and the earth, ’cause you know, all the other species and, and the other life forms and the ecosystems, the water, the soil, the air, the minerals the plants, the animals. Robertson: and we have the money, as you said. I mean, if I had $350 billion, think of what taxes I could pay if the tax rate was, you know, 30%. [00:41:00] And rather than nothing, some of these, some of these folks pay, Gissele: well, I think we have glorified that we all wanted that, right? Like we got sold this good that oh, we should all want to be as wealthy as possible, right? And so we normalize the hoarding of money. Not the hoarding of other stuff, right? Gissele: And so we have allowed that, which gets me to my, next point, you talk about the environmental impact as part of a compassionate society, which absolutely is necessary. Gissele: And as human beings, we can be so lazy. We want convenience. We want to, have our package the next day. We don’t wanna wait. are we willing to pay higher wages? Are we willing to wait? Longer for our packages, like, are we willing to, invest in our wardrobe instead of buying fast fashion? Gissele: We don’t do these things and these have environmental impacts, and it also have human impacts, and at the end, they have impact on us. What can we do to ensure that, that we address that [00:42:00] complacency so that we are creating a fair, affordable , and compassionate world. Robertson: So important. Thank you. Robertson: It’s, it’s a life and death question. So yes, we should always ask about ecological and social impacts and take actions accordingly. That’s why I recycle every day. You know, some people say, oh, recycling is stupid. What do they really do with this, with it? You know, are they, are they really careful when you, they pick it up? Robertson: but I recycle religiously every day That’s why I support climate and democracy through third act. There’s a group that Bill McKibbon has started here in the US called Third Act. It’s a group of elder activists, activists over 60 who are working on climate and democracy issues. Robertson: So I’m doing that. That’s why I vote and get it out to vote. And as I said, I vote for Democrats and Democratic socialists. That’s why I write and speak and vote for ecological regeneration for social justice, for peace, for [00:43:00] democratic governance. It’s so critical that we keep questioning our actions like. Robertson: Okay, why am I recycling? Is it really worth the time? You know, deciding about every item, where it goes, and then putting out it out carefully and rinsing it first. And is that really going to help the world? ’cause you also know we need systemic changes, because you can always say, oh, but what the individual does doesn’t matter. Robertson: We need laws, we need institutions of ecological regeneration, and we need laws on caring for the climate and stopping climate change. So you can talk yourself out of individual responsibility when you realize that we need laws and institutions that protect the environment. Robertson: But it’s both. It’s both. what each person does, because there are millions of us individuals. So if there are millions of us act responsibly, that has, is a huge impact. And then if we [00:44:00] also have responsible laws and institutions that care for the environment as well as all people, then that’s a double win. Robertson: So I agree with you. We have to keep asking that question over and over and making those decisions and they’re hard decisions. We have to decide. Gissele: Yeah, I’ve had to look at myself like one of the commitments I’ve made to myself is not buying fast fashion. And so, investing in pieces, even though sometimes I feel lack oh my God, spending that much money on this, you know? Gissele: Yeah. It all comes back to me. if I am not willing to pay a fair wage, that means that the next person doesn’t get a fair wage, which means they don’t wanna pay a fair wage and so on and so forth. And then it comes back to me, you know, my husband has a business and then, you get people that don’t also wanna pay a fair wage. Gissele: It’s all interconnected. And so we have to be willing, but that also goes to us addressing our fear, our fear of lack, that we’re not gonna have enough. All of those things. And the biggest fundamental [00:45:00] fear, and you mentioned death to me, is the ultimate Gissele: fear That we must overcome I think once we do, like, I think once we understand that we are not, this human vessel. Gissele: that we’re not just this bag of bones and live in so much constrained fear that perhaps we could. really open up ourselves to be willing to be more compassionate . What do you think? Robertson: Absolutely. I’m with you all the way. Yes. We fear death because we’re caught in that illusion of a separate permanent self. Robertson: You know, it’s all about me. Oh, this universe is all about me. The universe was created 13.8 billion years for me. Robertson: Yeah. But it’s all about me and particularly my ego, honoring my ego. Building up my ego, praising my ego being, you know, that’s why I wanna be rich and famous. Robertson: Fortunately, I never wanted to be rich or famous, but that’s another story. We’ll talk about that some other time. But everything and [00:46:00] everyone is impermanent. When I realized that truth and it, it came to me through engaged Buddhism, but you could, you could get that truth in many, many ways. Robertson: That everything and everyone is impermanent. we’re part of the ocean. But the waves don’t last forever, do they? But the ocean lasts forever. Robertson: So My atoms, are part of the 13.8 billion year old universe. my cells are part of the living earth. Yes, they remain When I die, you know, go back into the earth. back into the soil and the water and the air but My ego doesn’t remain. What, what remains, as I said before, are my actions. Robertson: Everything I did is still cause and effect. Cause and effect. Rippling out. Rippling out. Okay. Rob, what did you do? What did you say? did you help that, did you touch that? Did you say that? so my actions and words continue rippling forever. So Ty calls that, or in the Plum Village tradition of engaged Buddhism, it’s called my continuation. Robertson: Your actions and your words [00:47:00] are your continuation that last forever as your actions and words will continue through cause and effect touching reality forever. So when my ego does not remain so I can smile and let it go. I often think about my continuation. You know, I say, well, that’s why, maybe why I’m writing so much and speaking so much. Robertson: And caring for so many people every day, you know, caring to care for my wife and my children and grandchildren and friends and neighbors, and the v vulnerable and the hungry, and the homeless, and the, and my country, and my city, and my county, and my, and why do I write substack twice a week? Robertson: And containing reflections on ecological, societal, and individual challenges and practices. And so every, week I’m writing about practices of mindfulness and compassion. So I’m trying to be the teacher. I’m trying to send out words of mindfulness and compassion so that they will continue reverberating when I’m dust, Robertson: So [00:48:00] I’m reaching out. In my substack to just those 55 people in 55 countries, in 38 states, touching hearts and minds and even more on social media. every month I have like 86,000 views of my social media. Why do I do it? It’s not just about ego, you know? Robertson: Oh, Rob, be famous. No, Rob is not famous. I’m a nobody. I gotta keep giving and giving and giving, you know, another word, another action, so I can, care for people around me through personal care, donations, voting, volunteering workshops, I’m helping start a workshop in our neighborhood on environmental resilience through recycling, through group facilitation. Robertson: I’m trained in, facilitation. I’ve been trained my whole life to ask questions of groups so they can create their own plans and strategies and actions. that’s some of my answer. Robertson: I hope that makes some sense. Gissele: Thank you very much. I appreciated your answer and it made me really think you are one of our compassionate leaders, right? [00:49:00] You’re, you’re kind of carving the way and helping us reflect, ’cause I’ve seen some of your substack, I’ve seen like your postings. Gissele: That’s actually how I kind of reached out to you. ’cause I was so moved by the material that you were sharing, the willingness to be honest about what it takes to be compassionate and how hard it can be sometimes to look at ourselves honestly, because we can’t change unless we’re willing to look at ourselves. Gissele: All aspects of ourselves, like you said, we are the billionaires, we are the oligarchy, we are all of these people. The racism that voted that in the, the racism that continues to show the fear, all of that is us. And so from your perspective, what do compassionate leaders do differently? Robertson: Yes. Well, it great question. Robertson: what do compassionate leaders do differently? Well, he or she or they. Robertson: are empathic. I think it starts with empathy. What are like, what are you feeling? What are you thinking? Robertson: What are you, what’s happening in your life? So an empathic [00:50:00] leader listens to other people. They see where other people are hurting. They care. They ask questions and facilitate group discussions, enable group projects. They let go of self-importance, you know, that it’s not all about me. Robertson: They let go of narcissism. They let go of, the ego project. They help others be their greatness. They care for their body mind so that they can care for others. and they donate and vote and recycle and more and more and more and more. did you know in Denmark. In elementary school every week, children are taught empathy. Robertson: You know, they have courses on empathy, Robertson: when I was growing up, I,didn’t have courses in school on empathy in church school, you know, in my Sunday school at, in my church. I was taught to love my neighbor and to love everyone, and that God was love. But in school, in my elementary [00:51:00] school and junior high and high school, we didn’t talk about things like empathy and compassion. Gissele: Yeah. Thank you for sharing that. I did know about Denmark ’cause my daughter and I are co-writing a book on that particular topic. The need to continue to teach love and compassion in, Gissele: being a global citizen. Right? And, and I’m doing it with her perspective because she just graduated high school, so she has like the fresher perspective, whereas mine’s from like many moons ago. Gissele: We need to continuously educate ourselves about regulating our own emotions, having difficult conversations, hearing about the other, other, as ourselves. Because that’s, from my perspective, the only way that we’re gonna survive. a friend of mine said it the best that we were having a conversation and she does compassion in the prison system and she says, I can’t be well unless you are well. Gissele: My wellness depends on your wellness. And that just hit me in my heart, like, ugh. Not that I live it every day, Robertson, Gissele: every day I have to choose and some [00:52:00] days I fail, and other days I do good in terms of like be more loving and compassionate and truly helping the world. But it’s a choice. It’s a continual choice. So this goes to my biggest challenge that maybe you can help me with, which is, so I was having this conversation with my students. We were talking about how. In order to create a world that is loving and passionate for all, it has to include the all, even those who are most hurtful, and that is really difficult . Gissele: I’m just curious as to your thoughts on what starting point might be or what can help us look at those who do hurtful things and just horrible things and be able to say, I see God within you. I see your humanity. Even though it might be hard. Robertson: Yes, It is hard. several years ago when I would hear [00:53:00] leaders of my country speaking on the media, I would get so repulsed that I would turn it off but I began practicing. Robertson: I practiced a lot since those days and I realized, you know. People who hurt, other people are hurting themselves. they’re actually hurting. they’re suffering. People who hurt others have their own suffering of, they’re confused. they’ve forgotten what it means to be human. Robertson: They’re, full of, greed, of their own fears, all about me. Maybe they’re filled with hatred they become violent. they’re suffering. I still find it very difficult to read or listen to certain people. Robertson: But what I do is I stop and I breathe and I smile and I say, okay. Robertson: I care. I’m concerned about you. I don’t know what I can do, but I am gonna do everything I can to care for the people, being hurt, you know, like my fellow activists in [00:54:00] Minneapolis are doing, or elsewhere, we could mention many places around the world where people are risking their own lives. Robertson: You know, in Minneapolis, two activists were killed, Ms. Good Renee Good, and Alex Pretty were killed because they went beyond their fear, you know? they got out there in the street because the migrants were being hurt and they got killed. Robertson: So, you know, At some point you have to come to terms with your own death, I don’t know if I have a, a minute to go or 20 years, I still have to let go. And so how do I care for my wife, my family, my friends, my neighbors my country, the vulnerable, the homeless, the hungry, and, as you said, for the wealthy and powerful who are hurting others, you know, starting wars attacking migrants, killing activists. Robertson: It’s hard. You know? So I have to say, I love the story of [00:55:00] when during the Vietnamese war Thich Nhat Hahn and his monks. They did not take sides. They did not say we’re on the side of the Vietnamese or the us. They did not take a side in the war. This is hard for me ’cause I, I usually take sides. Robertson: The practice was, okay, we’re not going to support we’re Vietnamese or the us. Were going to care for everyone. So they just went out caring for people who were getting hurt and during the war, people who were hungry, people who needed food, people who were bleeding, Robertson: So they decided their role was to care for those who were hurt not to attack. To say, I’m for the blue and I’m against the red. They said, I’m just gonna, care . Like, the activists in Minnesota, They’re, they’re not attacking ice, they’re singing to ice. Robertson: And so yes, we have to acknowledge our own anger. [00:56:00] I’m angry with these politicians. sometimes I want, to hate them, but I have to say, I do not hate you, my friend. You are confused. You’re so confused. You’re hurting others. So you’re so hurtful. Robertson: You don’t realize how you’re hurting others. But, I’ve got to try to stop you from hurting others. I’ve got to try to help those who are hurt and maybe I’m gonna get hurt, you know, because in the civil rights movement, if you’re out there doing on a peace march, you might get beaten up. Robertson: as I said, I’ve lived in villages, poor villages, and. Urban slums in several countries. And some people could say, well, that’s stupid. You could get hurt. You know, you could, you could as a white person living in a African American slum or in a Korean village or in a Venezuelan village, Robertson: So, you know, I say, was I stupid? Was I risking and I was with my wife and children? Was I risking the lives of my wife and children by living in slums and, and villages? Yes. Was I stupid? I mean, [00:57:00] no, I wasn’t stupid, but I was risking our lives. But I somehow, I was, called I wanted to do it. I said, okay. Robertson: but my point is it’s risky, you know? And you have to keep working with yourself. That’s why I love the word practice. Robertson: You know, in Buddhism we keep practicing, and I love your, the teaching of that you have on your website of Pema Chodron, you know, on self-love. You know, you have to keep practicing. How do I love myself? Say, okay, I’m afraid and I’m just this little white person, but or I’m this little old white person, but I’m gonna do everything I can and be everything I can. Robertson: I really appreciated the story of Han not choosing sides. I mean, you’re right. If we are going to see each other’s brothers and sisters and is is one global family, we can’t pick a side over the other, even though we so want to. Gissele: And, and I’m with you. when I think that there’s a [00:58:00] unfairness, when there’s people that are vulnerable or suffering, I’m more likely to pick to the side that is like, oh, that person is suffering. They’re the victim. But what you said is spot on. People that truly lovewho have love in their heart, like when you were raised with love. Gissele: You had love to give others because your cup was full. So it overflowed to want to help others, to want to love others. People that are hurting, that don’t have love in their hearts are those that hurt other people. Robertson: Mm-hmm. Gissele: They must because they must be so separated from their own humanity. Robertson: Yes, yes, yes. Gissele: And yet things are changing. You mentioned Minnesota, and I wanted to mention that I love that they’re doing the singing chants, and they’re not making them wrong. they’re singing chants like you can change your mind. You don’t have to be wrong. You don’t have to experience shame and guilt for the choice you’ve made. You can always change your mind. And in your book, you talk a lot about movements. Do you wanna [00:59:00] share a little bit about the power of movements and helping us create a compassionate civilization? Robertson: Oh, yes. Thank you. I’m, I’m a big movement fan. it started in college with the Civil Rights Movement. I realized, wow, you know, if a lot of people get together and do something together, it can make a difference. Like the Civil Rights movement. Gissele: Yeah. Robertson: And the women’s movement and peace movement. Robertson: And like in Vietnam, the peace movement, we could really make a difference if we get out in March. I think that being an individual or part of an organization that is part of a movement can be a powerful force. And so I focus in my life and that, that book on the six movements that I’ve mentioned, and those movements can work together. Robertson: And when they work together, they become a movement of movements. They become mom. Hmm. I like that because I I’m a feminist and I think that we need so [01:00:00] desperately we need more feminine energy inhumanity and in civilization. Robertson: So I’m a unapologetic feminist. And so that’s why I like that the movement of movements, the acronym is Mom, you know, and so it’s the Moms of the World will lead us like you. And so they’re the movements of ecological regeneration, socioeconomic justice, I’m repeating gender equality, participatory governance, cultural tolerance, peace and non-violence. Robertson: And you know, we also have the Gay Rights Movement, the democracy movement. there’s so many movements that it made a huge difference. So. I began saying that I, after writing the book, I said, okay,now my work is the work of the Compassionate Civilization Collaborative. Robertson: And I decided I wouldn’t make an organization, I it, wouldn’t have a website, I wouldn’t register it. I wouldn’t raise money for it. It would just be anybody and everybody [01:01:00] who was part of the movement of movements who was working to create a compassionate civilization. Robertson: So that’s what I did. And that’s where I am. I’m this old guy in my home. I don’t get out a lot. I don’t drive a lot. I just drive to nearby town. I have a car, but I don’t use it a lot. I don’t like to walk up and down hills. Robertson: IAnd sometimes I can’t remember things and I say, Hey, but look, you have so many friends all over the world and you can keep encouraging through your writing. So that’s why I keep writing, you know, it is for the movement of movements. Robertson: I guess that’s why I write. here’s something I want to share, something I thought or felt or something that I wrote about. And maybe it will touch you. Maybe it’ll encourage you. Maybe we’ll help you in your life. Robertson: I live in a homeowners association neighborhood. It’s a neighborhood that has a homeowners association. We’re 34 families and we have straight families, gay families. we have white families and non-white families. [01:02:00] We have Democrats, Republicans and Socialists. Robertson: We have Christians and Buddhists and Hindus. And so what I do, I say, Hey, we’re all neighbors. We all helped each other during the pandemic. We all helped each other after the hurricane. It doesn’t matter what our politics are or our religion or our sexuality, we’re all human beings. Robertson: We’re all gonna die. we all want love. We all want happiness. And We can be good neighbors. We don’t have to have ideology, you know, we don’t have to quote the Bible, we don’t have to quote Buddha. We can just be good neighbors. So we’re gonna have a workshop this spring And so we’re all going to get together down the street in this big room, in the fire station, and we’re gonna have a two hour workshop. And will it help? I don’t know. Will it make us better neighbors? I don’t know. Why am I doing it? I’m driven to do it. I’ve done workshops all over the world and I wanna do a workshop in my neighborhood. Robertson: I’ve done workshops with the un, I’ve done [01:03:00] workshops with governments, with cities So I love to facilitate. I love getting people together to solve problems together to listen to each other, respect each other, to honor each other. Gissele: so I’m just gonna ask you a couple more questions. But I’m just gonna make a comment right now about what you said because I think it’s so important. Gissele: Number one is I love that your neighborhood is a microcosm of what our world could be like . The fact that people got together to help and make sure that people were taken care of. If we could amplify that, that could be our world. I think that’s such a beautiful thing. Gissele: And the other thing that I think is really fundamental is that even through your life, you are showing us that some people are going to go pickett. And that’s okay. Some people are gonna write blogs to help us, and that’s okay. Some people are gonna do podcasts, and that’s okay. There are things that people can do that don’t have to look exactly the same. Gissele: Some people are going to have more courage, and they’re going to put their bodies in front and potentially get hurt. Other people, maybe they can’t do [01:04:00] that. So there are many different ways to help. The other thing that you said that was really, really key is the importance of moms . And that was one of the things that really touched me about your book, the acronym. Gissele: I was like, oh my God, I so resonate with this. Because I do feel that we need more feminine energy. We really kind of really squash the feminine energy. But the truth of the matter is we need more because fundamentally, nurturance is a mother energy is a feminine energy. Gissele: Compassion’s a feminine energy. Yes, yes, yes, Robertson: yes, yes, Gissele: so if I can share my story. Last night I was at hockey game. My son was playing hockey. Robertson: Mm-hmm. Gissele: And our team they don’t like to fight. Gissele: We play our game and we have fun and we’re good. And so the previous teams that were there, it was under Youth 15, most of the game was the kids fighting. And taking penalties. And so the game ends, the people come off the ice and two men that are starting to get like into a fight [01:05:00] now, woman got in front of them. Gissele: Wow. and said, we all signed a form that said, this is just a game. Remember who this is for? even though she was elevated, she totally stopped that fight between two men that we were not small. And So it was, it was really interesting. Robertson: Wonderful. Gissele: it was a woman who actually stopped a fight Gissele: It’s the feminine power. And that doesn’t mean, and I wanna make this clear, that doesn’t mean that men have to be discarded or have to be treated the same way that women are treated. ’cause I think that’s a big fear. That’s a big fear that some white males have. It’s no, you don’t have to be less than, Robertson: right. Robertson: We need Gissele: to uplift the feminine energy. So there’s a balance. ’cause right now we’re not balanced. Robertson: Exactly. Exactly. Oh, boy. Am I with you there? there’s a whole section in my book, as you noticed on gender equality I’m gonna read a tribute to Mothers I. Robertson: Tribute to Mothers Giving Birth to New Life, nurturing, [01:06:00] sustaining, guiding, releasing, launching, affirming Love. Be getting Love a flow onwards. Mother Earth, mother Tree, mother Tiger, mother Eve. My grandmother’s Sally and Arie, my mother, Mary Elizabeth, my children’s mother, Mary, my grandchildren’s mother, Jennifer, my grandchildren’s grandmothe

Stardust Bones 2025 - Teaching Painting from one of the last Intentional Creativity Certifications, this is the painting that sparked the change. This is my story in a single image with hundreds of stories within…Dear Ones, Today I'm reminded of a letter that I received in 2020 from our Elder Carmen Baraka. It was written to me and Jonathan, and here's one quote that I love. “To know you are between worlds, the I am that I am. I am most comfortable here in this place of giving and receiving. In this place of quantum identity where you find out and can feel this realm in a profound way. An actual view that we are all interconnected in alignment with the stars. When you can actually experience what you feel is your deepest truth. Hold it in your hand and have it be tangible. That is the gift. That is pure joy. That is the awakening.” Carmen Baraka. For those of you that don't know, Carmen was our indigenous elder within all of our communities. We got to guide ceremony together for over 10 years. She walked into her future in 2021 right before my mom, Caron McCloud So today, I'm signaling a change (breathing)And I want to begin with acknowledging that everyone in our community of Musea is a part of my life. MUSEA means many museums and many muses in the plural. MUSEA goes on. The Intentional Creativity Foundation, our 501c3, will continue with Musea. MUSEA is the greater community, a collective.My art studio, is just one MUSEA, albeit it's an important one. Yet I am taking my position as another artist in the lineage of Intentional Creativity Teachings, and I remain the Co-founder with Jonathan McCloud. Yet, it is essential for me at this time to curate my personal part of our work. Since 2008, the first legend, I've been bringing forth the lineage teachings as they came through. Nine certifications later, I am complete with that particular transmission with the last Legend and the last Color of Woman that I will personally lead. And all of that completes in March 2026 with our All Tribes Gathering, which is for Graduates and Guild members of the certifications.Legend was a significant course for me. Because before 2008, I had already created a million dollars worth of revenue with my paintings. I had galleries in San Francisco and Sausalito, Sonoma and Mendocino. I was living the life of a fine artist and having pretty incredible success, all things considered. But then it occurred to me….And I remember because I was with Mary MacDonald, it occurred to me that maybe what people wanted instead of my paintings, well not instead, but like more than my paintings, is to be able to paint their own. They were drawn to my images so powerfully, it was more than just about a painting.We took the huge leap and we decided to teach the first legend. Mary, my mother Caron, and my other mother Sue sat down at the table that's right in this room with me, that I call the Feast Table of Love. We sat down and we reverse engineered a way to make a painting. ALSO let it be known that it was Mary MacDonald that said - “Let's turn on the camera and see what she does”The rest is herstory.Because even though I had the opportunity to be trained in painting, we say Painting with a capital P, which is a more fine art way of painting, I did not take well to it. And Sue had to create what she called “a way of working” which is not, in her world, painting with a capital P.It's like making a way through for someone who really isn't able to follow the how to paint instructions. And so Legend was literally the reverse engineering of the 13 steps of how to make a painting, if you don't know how to paint, that Sue designed for me. And we labeled them and named them. And now we've taught it. literally to thousands and thousands and thousands of people and probably over 800 graduates who learned the 13 steps. And it literally still works to this day… and when I'm teaching paintings of the feminine form, I still use almost the exact formula because it's basically a build.My husband at the time, Isaiah, was so concerned that if I taught people my method, we would lose all of our money. And guess what? I thought we wouldn't. And guess what? We did. There was a moment at the completion of that marriage, actually, when we went to zero after creating so much abundance for ourselves and investing so heavily in community.It turns out Intentional Creativity and the feminine image is what women wanted. They wanted to paint their own image more than they wanted to purchase my paintings. I still sell paintings, by the way. I have lots available lol. But now thousands and thousands of people have their own images instead of mine. What an incredible journey. So it took a while to rebuild with this model. But at that moment, something happened… I moved out of the individual serving my own creative desire and I moved into this bigger framework of serving the community with the feminine image. There's so much behind why that matters, and why that's important and how we've had 40,000 years of images of the feminine and then the past 5,000 to 8,000 years intentional silencing and erasing of the feminine and her presence. When women reclaim the feminine image it is so huge, and to do that instead of my own paintings has been so powerful!!And it's also emotional because my style changed dramatically to reverse engineer it for others. I look at my paintings before I started teaching and I wonder where I'd be.. how I might have developed… a but I really did put my work in service to creation. I really did do the great work of the Ancestors. I really did bring through what my mothers taught me, and with the help of Mary MacDonald and Jennifer Owen and Elizabeth Gibbons in particular, brought forward Intentional Creativity at an all gorgeous level. I then taught it since 2008 until this year. I didn't expect to get so emotional. Tears flowing. So it is essential for me at this time to begin my own work with painting and writing. And it will still be in service to the community, but in a different way because it won't be certifications which require such a high level of integrity and management. The certifications will continue to be managed by the Intentional Creativity Foundation, our 501 c3. My own work begins nowand of course it's still connected with all of you. It's called the Stardust Lineage. It's the evolution of Cosmic Cowgirls, whose anniversary founding is today in 2004. I have no idea what my new work is going to be yet, and I suspect that the new work is the old work in different forms. Especially this year because I'm crossing a bridge of change and going one step at a time across that bridge. I'm not running across. I still have lots of work to do to complete, and it's utterly overwhelming to complete a legacy while you're alive. (More tears)Of course, whatever I do will be connected with MUSEA. Of course, whatever I do is coming from the Ancestors, and it's also my work now. Of course, Intentional Creativity will continue. That is my work and many of our work. But it's time for me, having delivered what feels like the great work of the ancestors, to now begin to reveal my own. The work started when they were living, but continues after. And so many of the teachings, they came through my “shiloh filter” but they weren't really from me. I could never just bring that out. I think of Carl Jung's Red Book where he said that there was more than enough material for one lifetime and that it was so much that it threatened to break him.In 1957, near the end of his life, Jung spoke about the Red Book and the process which yielded it; in that interview he stated:“The years… when I pursued the inner images, were the most important time of my life. Everything else is to be derived from this. It began at that time, and the later details hardly matter anymore. My entire life consisted in elaborating what had burst forth from the unconscious and flooded me like an enigmatic stream and threatened to break me. That was the stuff and material for more than only one life. Everything later was merely the outer classification, scientific elaboration, and the integration into life. But the numinous beginning, which contained everything, was then.”For me, there were moments when there was so much coming through, I was like how am I gonna get this all down in time??!!?? And I did it. And I did it with all of you who participated in the certification. I don't know what my work is going to mean from now on. I know that I had to do Path of Mystics, guiding women to develop their intuition and their spiritual gifts as a part of it. I have a teaching for healers and entrepreneurship. That's a part of it. I mean, I'm going to keep teaching because that's what I am. I'm just not going to do the certification. I'm also changing the name of the Sonoma property from MUSEA Center to Stardust Ranch. That's a part of it. Stardust Ranch is a MUSEA Center. It's just that holding and financing the entire container for the community isn't something I can physically and financially do anymore. I have to make it more personal to me and my work because most of the time, I'm there by myself. it's a huge space to be in, 6,500 square feet and it's a community space but the community is not there like except for events and that's like one or two times a month. So I have to make it my own somehow in order to continue. But we're still a MUSEA Center. All right, let me get through this. The truth is that my brain has been entirely occupied with the certifications and the structure of the community, aka the corporation, the legality, the paperwork. Oh my gosh, I have like four corporations. It's just insane. I want something much more simple for myself. And I haven't had the spaciousness to develop my own work. I really haven't. I haven't developed my own painting.There just wasn't enough hours and brains in the day. This work had to come through and I let it because this work was the work of this lifetime. It's work for these times. Intentional Creativity is what to do in times of chaos and suffering. It just is. It works. It helps every time.I believe in Intentional Creativity so powerfully… and I I don't regret it, although I have my moments. As most of you know, I didn't get to have children. I wanted to. And many miscarriages. And I think of that one child who kept trying to come through as an ancestor now, Her name is Musette. She's mine and Jonathan's love child. And the mother love that I had for that child, literally since the time I was born, I knew she was coming. That love went into this work. I gave the mother love I had into the community and this matriarchal space that we co-create.So I want you to know I'm not stepping out. I'm stepping in. But as the artist and as the author. Here I go. Oh, so slowly. Slowly. The reveal is almost suspenseful as my Soul is offering only one little glimmer at a time. And this is all I can take, really.Because I still have months and months of work and paperwork and emails to edit and pages to build to complete this cycle in a good way. As you likely know, some of you don't. My beautiful husband, Jonathan, and I, we completed our marriage at the end of last year, 12-31-2025. Our deep abiding friendship and connection is growing daily. And we've spent lots of time together over the past couple weeks. Including today, we're going to be together. We are teaching a new Apothecary based on his work called Chaos is the New Black. And the class is Apothecary, which was always his curriculum. But this one is going to be even more so rooted in his work. And I'm the backup singer on this one. On 12-12, the feast day of Our Lady, with the support of my CFO (Jen) and my best friend Amy Ahlers and Jonathan and Michelle Pappe and Ali Stoddard and many community members on so many levels, I moved to Sonoma Mountain. Sonoma Mountain is the birthplace of creation of the Coastal Miwok people and is in the glen called Glen Ellen. This is actually one of the places of my first significant trauma of being removed from my home because we were under threat because my family was protecting women. Interestingly enough, I had a space clearing person clear the ranch in another part of Sonoma County, like 20 minutes from here. And they said I was forcibly removed from that property in another lifetime. So I have this pattern of being removed against my will. And then the fires just perpetuated that.So I find it interesting that I'm back on the mountain to complete my life here. I pray I never have to move. And if I do, then I accept that. But I'm moving in as if I'm going to stay forever. There's a burnt ridge out my bedroom window and it reminds me that everything is temporary and I honor that…and so unless fire or flood make me move I'm hoping to stay here. I am grateful to have purchased a home with the generosity of the Ancestors who made it possible. Because I did not personally have enough to make it happen. But my Ancestors made an offering that's old, old, from my grandparents on my father's side. And I was able to purchase this home with the down payment. Humbled, grateful, in awe.Meanwhile, the world around us needs Intentional Creativity more than ever. And even with that need of the world, I need to find a way to myself, my original Legendary self.My first legend painting is coming true now. This is that place, and Stardust Ranch, is that ranch where my Legendary self works. So I will be in circle with all of you for the next 500 years. So please do not think I've gone anywhere. The Cura Council is the place where all the communities converge in ceremony.I'm not going anywhere. Quite the opposite. I am right here. with my quantum identity, emerging my Legendary Self. Stardust Lineage is the name for my personal work, but held within the greater framework of the Intentional Creativity Teaching. So you could just think of it as my MUSEA Center, called Stardust Ranch.My teachings are through the Stardust lineage. And anyone who works with me becomes a part of that. So this is a life…a story…a lineage to be continued. Big, big love. I just want to say that the biggest love I've ever experienced, what Carmen calls quantum love, which was the name of the subject line of that email, Quantum Love…Learning to love people that I've never met, learning to love you so much that I would actually stop my own art career and painting process in order to see if that's what you wanted. Loving you so much to give the mother love I had for my own baby to all of you. To Love you in that quantum way, meaning virtual, to reach people across the miles. I'll never forget the feeling on that first day that we Live streamed. He brought the technology. and I was able to reach you all. Not just through video. But through live transmission. Everything changed. That was in 2013. And amazingly. About nine months ago, I was brought in to be a speaker at a place called Edge City that was in Healdsburg, a pop-up. Literally my exact teaching spot to broadcast from was that exact building where Cosmic Cowgirls was and the exact spot where I first taught the very first live stream. You can't make this stuff up. You know what I mean? You just can't make it up. I have so many more things to say, but I'll keep saying them.That quantum love is the biggest experience that I've ever had in my lifetime, and I try to teach it to all of you. I think it's the key, actually, to our intuitive gifts and spiritual transmissions and businesses and even income and being able to create what you love with joy and service is this feeling of loving someone that you've never met. The first time I ever heard about it was reading in a book from Pema Chodron where she talked about the Bodhisattva, which is this unreasonable desire to end suffering. And in particular for people that you've never met. I'm not saying I'm a Bodhisattva or anything, but that feeling of loving you. It's huge. It's my biggest experience. It is quantum love and I can't recommend it enough. And I think I do see it all the time, because you fall in love with each other. And friendships happen when you've never even met. Sometimes at the Stardust Ranch, I get to see you meeting each other for the first time. And sometimes people come, like a new and special friend, my Star, who come and they say, I'm here for this. I'm part of this lineage. So my life continues in this curious and delightful way. Love is here. Relationship is here. Evolution is here. Sharing my new household with someone that I love is here. Healing is here. The ongoing story of the Stardust Lineage is right here as the sun comes up over the mountain and shines its light in my home. Breathing through this share, thank you for caring enough to listen and loving me in the quantum way that you do. Sue had a painting that said, I have loved you from my deepist heart. So dear ones, with the deepist heart love and stardust, I love you. I'm grateful for you. May our journey continue for generations to come. I'll be here.Will you?p.s. on the painting she spelled it, deepist. Get full access to Tea with the Muse at teawiththemuse.substack.com/subscribe

Send us a textEmbracing Discomfort: The Practice of Tonglen and Pema Chödrön's TeachingsIn this episode of Letters to the Sky, Stephan and Adam delve into the transformative teachings of Pema Chödrön's book, 'Comfortable with Uncertainty.' They explore the profound practice of Tonglen and how it serves as a tool for spiritual awakening and a deepening connection to all beings. With heartfelt reflections and guided meditations, they discuss the existential discomfort inherent in being human and the importance of equanimity in facing life's challenges. Join them for a meaningful conversation that touches on the core of waking up and embracing the full spectrum of human experience.00:47 Discussing Pema Chödrön's Comfortable with Uncertainty02:41 Exploring Lojong and Mind Training08:45 Understanding Tonglen Practice19:04 The Path of the Bodhisattva29:32 Understanding Resistance and Ego29:51 Meditation and Letting Go30:58 Weather as a Metaphor for Life32:24 The Illusion of Perfection33:59 Exploring the Six Realms of Being37:14 Heaven and Hell: A Zen Perspective41:27 Practicing Tonglen Meditation50:15 Personal Reflections on Tonglen55:07 Final Thoughts and TakeawaysSupport the showCopyright 2025 by Letters to the Sky

I'm sharing my favorite Pema Chodron parable and the truth about why faith and worry are the same thing—but only one gets you what you want. Get the full show notes and information here: https://drdebbutler.com/507  

If mindfulness begins with training our attention, what's the recipe for its other components, courage and grace?For me, it begins with stillness. I get quiet and sometimes lovingkindness shows up. But sometimes what appears is a parade of horribles: anger, jealousy, greed, and their buddies. And all I can do is cringe.When that happens and I can stay put, it's because of courage: that moment of feeling cringy, knowing I'm feeling cringy, and looking anyway. And staying with whatever the cringy thing is (anger, fear, sorrow) – dying to it, as Pema Chodron instructs. And in doing that, reinforcing and strengthening courage. And over time and with practice, porting that courage into the larger, tumultuous moment. That's courage, and then there's the attitude I'm trying to do all of that with, which is grace. Which is maybe just another name for love. Which means here's my recipe, for right now: sit, look, cringe, keep looking anyway, love, repeat.  

This is the final episode of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti. It recaps the previous meditations and encourages you to challenge yourself to see the face of God in all people, all places, all animals, and all situations. Awakening is not for the faint of heart, but it leads us to experience life in ways beyond our wildest imagination.The 30 practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 30. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle.  I hope you enjoy.Audio by Eric Fischer. Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke.Support the showHost: Tess CallahanSubstack: Writers at the WellInterview Podcast: Writers at the WellMeditations on Insight TimerMeditations on YouTubeTess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd ClarkAudio Editing: Eric Fischer By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show. Thank you for listening!DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

This forgiveness practice is number 29 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti. When you forgive someone else, you release yourself from them. When you forgive yourself, you release yourself from the past. Forgiveness is about letting go. While feelings as they arise have a right to be felt and anger can often be justified, persistent states of hatred, rage and resentment are corrosive to our wellbeing. They are hindrances on the path to insight. Here you are invited to forgive as a way of freeing yourself. These practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 28. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle.  I hope you enjoy.Audio by Eric Fischer. Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke.Support the showHost: Tess CallahanSubstack: Writers at the WellInterview Podcast: Writers at the WellMeditations on Insight TimerMeditations on YouTubeTess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd ClarkAudio Editing: Eric Fischer By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show. Thank you for listening!DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

This is number 28 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti. This practice is simple, pointed, and powerful. It takes courage to love, to be honest, to understand another person, and yourself. Here you're invited to notice your sticking points, places where you hold on, become overly insistent, or pull back too far, and to meet those places with courage.These practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 28. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle.  I hope you enjoy.Music and audio by Eric Fischer. Support the showHost: Tess CallahanSubstack: Writers at the WellInterview Podcast: Writers at the WellMeditations on Insight TimerMeditations on YouTubeTess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd ClarkAudio Editing: Eric Fischer By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show. Thank you for listening!DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

This is number 27 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti. This episode, drawn from the Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi, invites you to seek to understand yourself and others before seeking to be understood. When you understand yourself deeply, the demand that others understand you begins to melt away. Your heart and mind open, and you enjoy life more. Demanding that others understand BEFORE you try to understand them can block awakened consciousness from streaming through you. By seeking to understand, you open energetic pathways within yourself through which your own insight can flow.These practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 27. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle.  I hope you enjoy.Music: Lovingkindness by Six Missing (used with permission).Audio: Eric Fischer. Prayer of St. Francis of AssisiLord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.Support the showHost: Tess CallahanSubstack: Writers at the WellInterview Podcast: Writers at the WellMeditations on Insight TimerMeditations on YouTubeTess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd ClarkAudio Editing: Eric Fischer By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show. Thank you for listening!DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

This is number 26 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti. This episode invites you to bring a sense of spaciousness into your conversations, to get curious about the tiny but impactful turns inherent to all dialogue, and to bring an intention for peace into those moments. It's a practice of deep listening to yourself and another.These practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 26. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle.  I hope you enjoy.Music and audio by the stupendous Eric Fischer. Support the showHost: Tess CallahanSubstack: Writers at the WellInterview Podcast: Writers at the WellMeditations on Insight TimerMeditations on YouTubeTess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd ClarkAudio Editing: Eric Fischer By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show. Thank you for listening!DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

This is number 25 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti. It includes some imagery of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, but it's not necessary to be Christian to enjoy the metaphor. My previous episode was about telling the truth, but truth without love is hollow. Here you are invited walk through your day leading with your heart -- a simple but utterly transformative experience. I hope you enjoy.These practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 25. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle.  I hope you enjoy.Support the showHost: Tess CallahanSubstack: Writers at the WellInterview Podcast: Writers at the WellMeditations on Insight TimerMeditations on YouTubeTess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd ClarkAudio Editing: Eric Fischer By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show. Thank you for listening!DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

Chronic illnesses are deeply intertwined with our emotions! In this episode Dr. Motley chats with Lorrie Rivers, a best-selling co-author with Deepak Chopra and Wayne Dyer, dedicated to helping individuals take control of their own health by addressing root causes of chronic conditions. Lorrie and Dr. Motley dive headlong into the ins and outs of addressing symptoms of chronic illnesses like Long Covid, how the physical and emotional influence each other, and how trauma in our genetic past can sometimes be a piece of the puzzle.  Lorrie Rivers' 4 Root Causes of Chronic Illness: →Toxins →Infections: Parasites, Lyme, EBV and more →The state of our nervous system →Our environment Books Mentioned:  Loving What Is by Byron Katie: https://shorturl.at/ywm6N When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron https://shorturl.at/ujOrG How Emotions Are Made by Lisa Feldman Barrett: https://shorturl.at/Luo3d Want more of The Ancient Health Podcast? Subscribe to the YouTube channel. ------  Follow Dr. Chris Motley Instagram Facebook Tik-Tok Website ------  Follow Lorrie Rivers!  https://www.instagram.com/lorrierivers lorrieriversholistic.com ------ * If you're a health coach looking to advise parents and families, or even if you're a hardcore health nerd who wants to dive deeper and take advantage of ALL Doctor Motley's clinical experience, he has a membership to help you get the most out of your health and help the people you love. Check it out for free for 15 days: doctormotley.com/15 *If you want to work with Dr. Motley virtually, you can book a discovery call with his team here: https://drmotleyconsulting.com/schedule-1333-7607 * Enjoy mineral replenishment in a shot glass. Head to beamminerals.com/DRMOTLEY and use code DRMOTLEY for 20% off!

This is number 24 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti. This episode invites you to do something radical, namely to tell the truth, with kindness, all day today, both in your conversations and in your head. As we seek to grow, we often confront holdouts, those parts of us that aren't sure they want to change. Noticing when we shade or twist the truth brings us to the cutting edge of our growth, the nitty gritty of enlightenment. If being authentic evokes fear, get curious. Lean into what's happening inside you. Telling the truth is a deceptively simple and incredibly powerful tool for spiritual growth.These practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 24. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle.  I hope you enjoy.Audio by Eric Fischer.Support the showHost: Tess CallahanSubstack: Writers at the WellInterview Podcast: Writers at the WellMeditations on Insight TimerMeditations on YouTubeTess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd ClarkAudio Editing: Eric Fischer By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show. Thank you for listening!DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

This is number 23 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti. This episode invites you root yourself in Presence. The more present you are, the more you experience your sense of aliveness. Practicing presence opens up energetic pathways in your subtle body through which consciousness, and therefore joy, can flow. These practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 23. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle.  I hope you enjoy.Audio by Eric Fischer.Music by Six Missing.Support the showHost: Tess CallahanSubstack: Writers at the WellInterview Podcast: Writers at the WellMeditations on Insight TimerMeditations on YouTubeTess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd ClarkAudio Editing: Eric Fischer By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show. Thank you for listening!DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

This is number 22 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti. This episode invites you to become conscious of what you are thinking about your experience. How you relate to your thoughts determines the quality of your being in the next moment. You have the power to gently choose what to focus on, and thereby to dramatically shift your relationship to whatever life brings your way. It's surprisingly simple. You can change the quality of your being. Theses practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 18. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle.  I hope you enjoy.Audio by Eric Fischer.Support the showHost: Tess CallahanSubstack: Writers at the WellInterview Podcast: Writers at the WellMeditations on Insight TimerMeditations on YouTubeTess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd ClarkAudio Editing: Eric Fischer By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show. Thank you for listening!DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

This is number 21 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti. This episode is about going from nothing to everything and beyond. It invites you to see life as one continuous whole and to experience infinite potential.Theses practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 18. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle.  I hope you enjoy.Audio by Eric Fischer.Support the showHost: Tess CallahanSubstack: Writers at the WellInterview Podcast: Writers at the WellMeditations on Insight TimerMeditations on YouTubeTess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd ClarkAudio Editing: Eric Fischer By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show. Thank you for listening!DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

In this episode, Mikey Livid celebrates 14 years of addiction recovery and reflects on the journey that brought him to the dharma. He shares how Buddhism has become the foundation of his recovery path and explores the key lessons he's learned along the way.*** Nov. 13th-16th at Southern Dharma - Hot Springs, NC - Get Your Mind Right: A Young People's Retreat on the Four Great Efforts with Mikey Livid and Rachael Tanner-Smith: https://southerndharma.org/retreat-schedule/1522/get-your-mind-right-a-young-peoples-retreat-on-the-four-great-efforts/ Wild Heart Meditation Center in a non-profit Buddhist community based in Nashville, TN. https://www.wildheartmeditationcenter.orgDONATE: If you feel moved to support WHMC financially please visit:https://www.wildheartmeditationcenter.org/donateFollow Us on Socials!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WildHeartNashville/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildheartnashville/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wildheartmeditation

This is number 20 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti. This episode invites you to rediscover innocence, to let your senses be like that of a newborn, every moment as a new creation.Theses practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 18. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle.  I hope you enjoy.Audio by Eric Fischer.Support the showHost: Tess CallahanSubstack: Writers at the WellInterview Podcast: Writers at the WellMeditations on Insight TimerMeditations on YouTubeTess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd ClarkAudio Editing: Eric Fischer By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show. Thank you for listening!DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

Susan Gillis Chapman shares helpful insights and wisdom from her new book, "Which Way Is Up?" She is joined in conversation with Jan Marie Martell.Drawing from her personal journey through cancer during the isolating years of the Covid pandemic, Susan offers a guide to navigating difficult times with mindfulness, compassion, and courage. Through the lens of Buddhist teachings on the "bardo"—a period of transition—she reveals how we can face our fears, transform suffering, and emerge stronger.Susan Gillis Chapman is a Buddhist teacher, retired family therapist, and author with decades of experience in contemplative psychology and meditation. She has trained under notable teachers like Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Pema Chodron, and Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, and her work emphasizes the power of mindfulness in times of personal crisis. Her first book, The Five Keys to Mindful Communication, has been widely praised. Her new book is Which Way Is Up? Finding Heart in the Hardest Times. Which Way is Up? offers practical and transformative guidance for facing life's greatest challenges.Jan Marie Martell is a poet, writer, photographer, botanical pharmacist, and former film teacher at Emily Carr University. She has been a student of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche since 1996 and member of his organization, Nalandabodhi, since its inception.

Join novelist Paula Saunders as she discusses her moving autobiographical novel Starting from Here, just out from Penguin Random House. A stand-alone sequel to The Distance Home, the novel follows 15-year old René through the challenges of adolescence within the pressure cooker of cultural and socioeconomic stressors. Saunders draws from her own experiences as a ballet dancer. A long-time practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism, she shares how a Catholic nun introduced her to the work of Thich Nhat Hanh. Paula describes how writing has helped her integrate the past, and instilled in her a more compassionate relationship to her younger self and her family of origin.Paula grew up in Rapid City, South Dakota. She is a graduate of the Syracuse University creative writing program and was awarded a postgraduate Albert Schweitzer Fellowship at SUNY Albany, under Schweitzer chair Toni Morrison. Her first book, The Distance Home, was longlisted for The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and named one of the best books of the year by Real Simple. She lives in California with her husband. They have two grown daughters.Learn more about her work at paulasaundersbooks.com. Support the showHost: Tess CallahanSubstack: Writers at the WellInterview Podcast: Writers at the WellMeditations on Insight TimerMeditations on YouTubeTess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd ClarkAudio Editing: Eric Fischer By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show. Thank you for listening!DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

This is number 19 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti. This episode invites you to find yourself by losing yourself. This is something we cannot “do” but rather “allow.” We let go of the notion of self that has no independent reality in order to experience our true identity, which is paradoxically personal and universal. What is truly me is no other than what is truly you, and what is truly all. Theses practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 18. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle.  I hope you enjoy.Music: "Lovingkindness" by Six Missing. Nature sounds added by Eric Fischer. Audio by Eric Fischer.Support the showHost: Tess CallahanSubstack: Writers at the WellInterview Podcast: Writers at the WellMeditations on Insight TimerMeditations on YouTubeTess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd ClarkAudio Editing: Eric Fischer By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show. Thank you for listening!DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

Ethan discusses three reasons we take vows and make commitments from a Buddhist perspective, and gives special emphasis to The Bodhisattva Vow, where we commit to not only pursue our own path of liberation and awakening, but also vow to work for the benefit of all beings, to the limits of space, until all beings are awake. It is a commitment to the collective liberation of all beings. Of course, this is impossible (at least in our lifetimes), so why would we agree to do it? Using the classic structure of the vow, along with modern commentary, Ethan dissects the reasons we would take on such a commitment. Ethan briefly mentions a much earlier episode of the podcast, where he discusses the first vow along the Buddhist path (The refuge vow). That episode can be found here. Please support the podcast via Substack and subscribe for free or with small monthly contributions. Additional links and show notes are available there. Paid subscribers will receive occasional extras like guided meditations, extra podcast episodes and more! The Thursday Meditation Group happens each week at 8am ET on Thursdays, and a special guided meditation on Open Awareness in Everyday Life was released this week. Another bonus podcast discussed a mindful take on the Revolutionary Astrology of Summer 2025 with Juliana McCarthy and Ethan Nichtern. These are all available to paid subscribers. You can also subscribe to The Road Home podcast wherever you get your pods (Apple, Spotify,Ethan's Website, etc). Ethan's most recent book, Confidence: Holding Your Seat Through Life's Eight Worldly Winds was just awarded a gold medal in the 2025 Nautilus Book Awards. You can visit Ethan's website to order a signed copy. Please allow two weeks from the time of your order for your copy to arrive. Don't forget to sign up for the August 23 “Windhorse Meditation” Online Retreatat this link and the upcoming 5 day retreat at the lovely Garrison Institute at this link ! Check out all the cool offerings at our podcast sponsor Dharma Moon, including a free webinar with David Nichtern on why become a meditation teacher on Sep 2th, 2025. Free video courses co-taught by Ethan and others, such as The Three Marks of Existence, are also available for download at Dharma Moon.

This is number 18 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti. This episode invites you to take a leap into the realm beyond description, a leap of love, born of your care for yourself, others, and the planet. We let go of who we imagine ourselves to be in order to experience who we really are.Theses practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 18. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle.  I hope you enjoy.Audio by the stupendous Eric Fischer. Support the showHost: Tess CallahanSubstack: Writers at the WellInterview Podcast: Writers at the WellMeditations on Insight TimerMeditations on YouTubeTess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd ClarkAudio Editing: Eric Fischer By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show. Thank you for listening!DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

As part of an ongoing series, this meditation inspired by Adyashanti invites you to relax and let go of ideas, assumptions, agendas, and self-orientation---to be what Christ called, "poor in spirit." This relinquishment allows you to enter the dark core of your being that is always and forever in direct contact with the mysterious, unknown dimension of Being. In this way, you become the space through which Eternity gazes into the world of time. Your eyes are the eyes of Eternity. The first of eight beatitudes taught by Jesus at the Sermon on the Mount, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" implies that through the surrender of self-preoccupation, we experience heaven in real time, here and now. Heaven is not "out there." Adyashanti echoes Christ's message: "The kingdom of God is within you."Theses practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 17. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle.  I hope you enjoy.Audio & Music by the stupendous Eric Fischer. Support the showHost: Tess CallahanSubstack: Writers at the WellInterview Podcast: Writers at the WellMeditations on Insight TimerMeditations on YouTubeTess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd ClarkAudio Editing: Eric Fischer By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show. Thank you for listening!DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

As part of an ongoing series, this meditation inspired by Adyashanti invites you to relinquish all struggle, release yourself into awareness, and rest into the dark mystery of your being. It can be used in the morning, at bedtime, or on the spot in the course of your day. The practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 16. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle.  I hope you enjoy.Audio by the stupendous Eric Fischer. Support the showHost: Tess CallahanSubstack: Writers at the WellInterview Podcast: Writers at the WellMeditations on Insight TimerMeditations on YouTubeTess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke.Audio Editing: Eric Fischer of Audi-Refined.com By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show. Thank you for listening!DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

As part of an ongoing series, this meditation inspired by Adyashanti guides you into entering the ground of your being, the silence, stillness and peace beyond all understanding that rests in your depths, and which can be accessed even in life's most turbulent moments. It's always there. This meditation can be used in the morning, at bedtime, or on the spot in the course of your day. The practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle.  I hope you enjoy.Audio by the stupendous Eric Fischer. Support the showHost: Tess CallahanSubstack: Writers at the WellInterview Podcast: Writers at the WellMeditations on Insight TimerMeditations on YouTubeTess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke.Audio Editing: Eric Fischer of Audi-Refined.com By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show. Thank you for listening!DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

As part of an ongoing series of enlightenment practices, this meditation, inspired by Adyashanti, invites you to rest in the paradox of "being" and "becoming." It encourages you to bring the energy of the spiritual heart into your conversations and interactions throughout your day.This meditation can be used in the morning, at bedtime, or on the spot in the course of your day. The practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle.  I hope you enjoy.Audio by Eric Fischer. Support the showHost: Tess CallahanSubstack: Writers at the WellInterview Podcast: Writers at the WellMeditations on Insight TimerMeditations on YouTubeTess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke.Audio Editing: Eric Fischer of Audi-Refined.com By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show. Thank you for listening!DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

As part of an ongoing series of enlightenment practices, this meditation, inspired by Adyashanti, invites you to let your human heart be soaked in the presence of your spiritual heart, allowing it to restore and reorient your whole being to completeness and wholeness. This meditation can be used in the morning, at bedtime, or on the spot in the course of your day. The practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle.  I hope you enjoy.Audio by Eric Fischer. Support the showHost: Tess CallahanSubstack: Writers at the WellInterview Podcast: Writers at the WellMeditations on Insight TimerMeditations on YouTubeTess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke.Audio Editing: Eric Fischer of Audi-Refined.com By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show. Thank you for listening!DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

During this second of a series of reviews of women who are influential among contemporary meditators, Allie Vaknin begins by inquiring among participants who might have familiarity with Pema Chodron's books, and then goes on to briefly recounting Chodron's life: she was born in New York City as Deidre Blomfeld-Brown and was inspired to become […]

As part of an ongoing series of enlightenment practices, this meditation, inspired by Adyashanti, is a reflection on the Buddhist saying, "This very body is the Buddha." Your body, your being, is an expression of life becoming conscious of itself through you. This meditation can be used in the morning, at bedtime, or on the spot in the course of your day. The practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle.  I hope you enjoy.Music and audio by Eric Fischer. Support the showHost: Tess CallahanSubstack: Writers at the WellInterview Podcast: Writers at the WellMeditations on Insight TimerMeditations on YouTubeTess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke.Audio Editing: Eric Fischer of Audi-Refined.com By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show. Thank you for listening!DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

How we work with our minds in the spaces between collapse and rebirth (those uncomfortable gaps in life as well as the huge “gap” after death) hold the key to creating futures that do not replicate the stuckness and suffering of our past. This is true both personally and collectively. As always, with recent world events in mind, we discuss the six bardos of classic Tibetan Buddhism, as well as the three qualities we need to effectively navigate the space between the death of what was and the birth of what will be. Please support the podcast via Substack and subscribe for free or with small monthly contributions. Paid subscribers will receive occasional extras like guided meditations, extra podcast episodes and more! The Thursday Meditation Group starts up again on July 10th, and a special guided meditation on Open Awarenesswas released this month. Another bonus podcast discussed a mindful take on the Revolutionary Astrology of Summer 2025 with Juliana McCarthy and Ethan Nichtern. You can also subscribe to The Road Home podcast wherever you get your pods (Apple, Spotify,Ethan's Website, etc). Ethan's most recent book, Confidence: Holding Your Seat Through Life's Eight Worldly Winds was just awarded a gold medal in the 2025 Nautilus Book Awards. You can visit Ethan's website to order a signed copy. Please allow two weeks from the time of your order for your copy to arrive. Don't forget to sign up for the August 23 “Windhorse Meditation” Online Retreatat this link! Check out all the cool offerings at our podcast sponsor Dharma Moon, including the Body of Meditation Teacher Training program beginning July 10th, 2025. Free video courses co-taught by Ethan and others, such as The Three Marks of Existence, are also available for download.

As part of an ongoing series of short enlightenment practices, this heart-centered meditation focuses on experiencing yourself and the world around you as pure energy, and touching into the unity of existence. This practice can be used in the morning, at bedtime, or on the spot in the course of your day. The practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle.  I hope you enjoy.Support the showHost: Tess CallahanSubstack: Writers at the WellInterview Podcast: Writers at the WellMeditations on Insight TimerMeditations on YouTubeTess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke.Audio Editing: Eric Fischer of Audi-Refined.com By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show. Thank you for listening!DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

As part of an ongoing series of short enlightenment practices, this meditation focuses on awakening your spiritual heart, and mixing it with your senses, (touch, sight, hearing, smelling, tasting). The spiritual heart is your perceptual center. It lies dormant in most human beings, but wants to be stirred awake. This practice can be used in the morning, at bedtime, or on the spot in the course of your day. The practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle.  I hope you enjoy.Music and audio by Eric Fischer.Support the showHost: Tess CallahanSubstack: Writers at the WellInterview Podcast: Writers at the WellMeditations on Insight TimerMeditations on YouTubeTess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke.Audio Editing: Eric Fischer of Audi-Refined.com By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show. Thank you for listening!DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

Finding inner peace is a process that leads to a practice; there are important rituals that guide us in self-discovery. Derived from the Sanskrit word for “circle”, the Mandala is a spiritual and ritual symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism, representing the universe. It is a sacred art form that connects us to our inner selves and the world around us. Their profound wisdom and tranquil messages, serve as a powerful medium to contemplate and find peace within. Mandalas are typically circles with repeating symmetrical shapes, and are considered a sacred symbol. In Sanskrit, mandala translates to “sacred center” or “circle.” Mandalas symbolize harmony and unity, and represent that everything is connected. Pema Chodron, the incredible American-born Tibetan Buddist and ordained nun who is soulful and wise shared, “Each person's life is like a mandala – a vast, limitless circle. We stand in the center of our own circle, and everything we see, hear, and think forms the mandala of our life.” I love that imagery. One organization has discovered that bringing in the concept of inner peace through an evidenced-based curriculum using the Mandala as a cornerstone enables youth to build and strengthen their capacity to manage stress and conflict in new ways, giving them lifelong skills that serve to build a more compassionate society. Building that society begins with our youth. Tools for Peace is a mental wellness program for youth that provides curricula to grow compassionate minds.    Their Mission is to inspire kindness and compassion in everyday life. Their mindfulness-based social-emotional learning programs support mental health, academic and professional success, and community health and wellbeing. Studies show that the Tools for Peace curriculum improves focus, conflict resolution skills, and confidence, and reduces stress in participants.  For more information, please check their website for more information: www.toolsforpeace.org  

As part of an ongoing series of short awakening practices, this meditation focuses on devotedly abiding in the silent presence of the heart. It can be used in the morning, at bedtime, or on the spot in the course of your day. The practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle. I hope you enjoy.Support the showHost: Tess CallahanSubstack: Writers at the WellInterview Podcast: Writers at the WellMeditations on Insight TimerMeditations on YouTubeTess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke.Audio Editing: Eric Fischer of Audi-Refined.com By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show. Thank you for listening!DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

This is part of an ongoing series of short awakening practices. This particular practice helps you connect not just with your emotional heart--which opens and closes--but with your spiritual heart, the sacred heart, that is always open and vast as awareness itself. The sacred heart connects us all. Use this meditation in the morning, at bedtime, or on the spot in the course of your day. The practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle. I hope you enjoy.Support the showHost: Tess CallahanSubstack: Writers at the WellInterview Podcast: Writers at the WellMeditations on Insight TimerMeditations on YouTubeTess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke.Audio Editing: Eric Fischer of Audi-Refined.com By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show. Thank you for listening!DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

This is part of a series of short awakening practices that I will be posting over the next few weeks. They can be used in the morning, at bedtime, or on the spot in the course of your day. They build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle. I hope you enjoy.Support the showHost: Tess CallahanSubstack: Writers at the WellInterview Podcast: Writers at the WellMeditations on Insight TimerMeditations on YouTubeTess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke.Audio Editing: Eric Fischer of Audi-Refined.com By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show. Thank you for listening!DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

This is part of a series of short awakening practices that I will be posting over the next few weeks. They can be used in the morning, at bedtime, or on the spot in the course of your day. They build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle. I hope you enjoy.Support the showHost: Tess CallahanSubstack: Writers at the WellInterview Podcast: Writers at the WellMeditations on Insight TimerMeditations on YouTubeTess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke.Audio Editing: Eric Fischer of Audi-Refined.com By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show. Thank you for listening!DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

This is part of a series of short awakening practices that I will be posting over the next few weeks. They can be used in the morning, at bedtime, or on the spot in the course of your day. They build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Loosely based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek and Pema Chodron. I hope you enjoy.Support the showHost: Tess CallahanSubstack: Writers at the WellInterview Podcast: Writers at the WellMeditations on Insight TimerMeditations on YouTubeTess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke.Audio Editing: Eric Fischer of Audi-Refined.com By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show. Thank you for listening!DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

This is part of a series of short awakening practices that I will be posting over the next few weeks. They can be used in the morning, at bedtime, or on the spot in the course of your day. They build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Loosely based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek and Pema Chodron. I hope you enjoy.Support the showHost: Tess CallahanSubstack: Writers at the WellInterview Podcast: Writers at the WellMeditations on Insight TimerMeditations on YouTubeTess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke.Audio Editing: Eric Fischer of Audi-Refined.com By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show. Thank you for listening!DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

This is part of a series of short awakening practices that I will be posting over the next few weeks. They can be used in the morning, at bedtime, or on the spot in the course of your day. They build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Loosely based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek and Pema Chodron. I hope you enjoy.Support the showHost: Tess CallahanSubstack: Writers at the WellInterview Podcast: Writers at the WellMeditations on Insight TimerMeditations on YouTubeTess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke.Audio Editing: Eric Fischer of Audi-Refined.com By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show. Thank you for listening!DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

This is part of a series of short awakening practices that I will be posting over the next few weeks. They can be used in the morning, at bedtime, or on the spot in the course of your day. They build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Loosely based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek and Pema Chodron. I hope you enjoy.Support the showHost: Tess CallahanSubstack: Writers at the WellInterview Podcast: Writers at the WellMeditations on Insight TimerMeditations on YouTubeTess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke.Audio Editing: Eric Fischer of Audi-Refined.com By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show. Thank you for listening!DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

This is part of a series of awakening practices that I will be posting over the next few weeks. They can be used in the morning, at bedtime, or on the spot in the course of your day. They build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Loosely based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek and Pema Chodron. I hope you enjoy.Support the showHost: Tess CallahanSubstack: Writers at the WellInterview Podcast: Writers at the WellMeditations on Insight TimerMeditations on YouTubeTess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke.Audio Editing: Eric Fischer of Audi-Refined.com By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show. Thank you for listening!DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

This is an introduction to a series of short practical meditations I will be posting over the next few weeks. They can be used in the morning, at bedtime, or on the spot in the course of your day. They build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Loosely based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek and Pema Chodron. I hope you enjoy.Music and audio editing by Eric Fischer of Audi-Refined.com.Support the showHost: Tess CallahanSubstack: Writers at the WellInterview Podcast: Writers at the WellMeditations on Insight TimerMeditations on YouTubeTess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke.Audio Editing: Eric Fischer of Audi-Refined.com By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show. Thank you for listening!DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.

  About the Author: Pema Chödrön, born Deirdre Blomfield-Brown in New York City in 1936, is one of the most influential spiritual teachers in the West. A former teacher and wife, her life transformed after a series of personal challenges, including a painful divorce, which led her to explore Tibetan Buddhism. She became a student of Lama Chime Rinpoche in the French Alps and was later ordained as a Buddhist nun in London by the Sixteenth Karmapa. Under the guidance of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, she deepened her practice and teaching. Pema is the director emeritus of Gampo Abbey, the first Tibetan Buddhist monastery for Westerners, in Nova Scotia, Canada. She is a prolific author, known for works like When Things Fall Apart and The Places That Scare You, which explore mindfulness, compassion, and resilience. Her teachings emphasize finding liberation through vulnerability and embracing life's challenges as opportunities for growth. About the Book: In How We Live Is How We Die, Pema Chödrön invites readers to explore the Tibetan Buddhist teachings on the bardo, the transitional state between death and rebirth. As a side note, Buddhism embraces the concept of reincarnation. These teachings highlight how the impermanent nature of life mirrors the bardo experience and how the way we live daily reflects how we will face life's ultimate transition—death. In essence, she's saying that the gap between birth and death is what we call life. She contends that by cultivating mindfulness, compassion, and acceptance of birth, life and death, we can navigate the uncertainties of life and death with a calm state of grace and wisdom. My personal take on this topic? I think it's important in some way to acknowledge and accept the reality of death in order to live your life fully in preparation for it. Make Sense?   Important: I encourage you all to read these books or listen to them on Audible. My hope is that these short form synopsis's will awaken you to some great books to put on your list.   Contact Pema Chodron: https://pemachodronfoundation.org How We Live Is How We Die Book: https://amzn.to/4fOPllH   Welcome to the Makes Sense with Dr. JC Doornick Podcast: This podcast covers topics that expand human consciousness and performance. On the Makes Sense Podcast, we acknowledge that it's who you are that determines how well what you do works and that perception is a subjective and acquired taste. When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at begin to change. Welcome to the uprising of the sleepwalking masses. Welcome to the Makes Sense with Dr. JC Doornick Podcast. Makes Sense Mondays is LIVE STREAMED weekly on Mondays at 8am est on Facebook, Linkedin, and Youtube   These episodes get edited and cleaned up for the MAKES SENSE with Dr. JC Doornick PODCAST for your listening pleasure.   PLEASE SUBSCRIBE/RATE/REVIEW & SHARE our new podcast.   FOLLOW the NEW Podcast - You will find a "Follow" button top right. This will enable the podcast software to alert you when a new episode launches each week. Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/makes-sense-with-dr-jc-doornick/id1730954168  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1WHfKWDDReMtrGFz4kkZs9?si=09e1725487d6484e    Podcast Affiliates: Kwik Learning: Many people ask me where i get all these topics for almost 15 years? I have learned to read at almost 4 times faster with 10X retention from Kwik Learning. Learn how to learn and earn with Jim Kwik. Get his program at a special discount here: https://jimkwik.com/dragon   OUR SPONSORS: - Makes Sense Academy: Enjoy the show and consider joining our psychological safe haven and environment where you can begin to thrive. The Makes Sense Academy. https://www.skool.com/makes-sense-academy/about - The Sati Experience: A retreat designed for the married couple that truly loves one another yet wants to take their love to that higher magical level where. Come relax, reestablish and renew your love at the Sati Experience. https://www.satiexperience.com   I have been using Streamyard for years now and it is simply the easiest and most efficient platform ever for live streaming and recording video content. Check itout. You will be happy you did. https://streamyard.com/pal/d/6657951207522304     Highlights: 0:00 - Intro 1:14 - How we live is how we die 2:12 - About the author? Pema Chodron 4:21 - The Bardo 6:50 - Lessons and Takeaways 9:12 - Living Mindfully 13:40 - The power of letting go? 14:54 - Making Transitions Sacred 16:10 - Sacred Moments 17:46 - Integrating daily practices for resilience 19:18 - Closing Reflections

She has dedicated her life to her spiritual path, and learning the healing arts and mystical wisdom of many world cultures. She is a holistic energy healer: Reiki Master; Crystal energy healer (certified, International Practitioners of Holistic Medicine); Sound Therapy & Sound Healing practitioner (certified, Complementary Therapists Accredited Association); and shamanic practitioner. Kathy walks the path of an ancient lineage of women frame drummers. An award-winning artist, photographer, and poet, Kathy's fine art photography can be found at her online gallery at KathyHarmonLuber.com, her shop at fineartamerica.com/profiles/kathy-harmon-luber/shop, and on Facebook at facebook.com/Kathy-Harmon-Luber-Suffering-to-Thriving-103160192354485. Kathy's compelling writing and marketing prowess have helped nonprofit organizations advocating the arts, education, and environment, as well as helping foster children and youth, helping homeless youth get off the streets, and empowering people with developmental disabilities. She's an articulate spokesperson, having appeared on CNN, in The New York Times, LA Times, The Washington Post, and more. She has taught at professional conferences, university, high school, and middle school levels. She earned her Graduate degree in Publishing from The George Washington University and BS in Marine Biology from University of NC, Wilmington. This time we get to visit with Kathy Harmon-Luber, a Sound Therapy & Sound Healing practitioner, Reiki Master. In her twenties Kathy was diagnosed with serious autoimmune diseases. Also, she was told that she had the spine of someone in their eighties. Kathy had grown up in Pennsylvania and then moved during her high school years to North Carolina. She will describe how she went to college and obtained a degree in Marine Biology, but after leaving college she went in a slightly different direction and began working for various nonprofit agencies including spending 12 years working for these organizations in Washington D.C.   As Kathy describes, she slowly began looking for ways to help her conditions and learned about and started to work with sound healing. In a sense, much came to a head in 2016 when she experienced a worse than usual ruptured disk in her back and became bed ridden for five years.   The unstoppable Kathy after coming to grips with her situation began to work on becoming aware of her own body and what it would need to heal. Clearly what she did worked as now, as she will tell us, walks two or more miles at a time. She still monitors her body, but that is the real crux of the issue; she is aware of her body and has learned what it needs to stay healthy. She reminds us that we all can be more aware of our physical and mental needs if we will but take the time to gain awareness and insights.   At the end of our time Kathy tells us of a free gift for all. You can find this gift on her website, www.sufferingtothriving.com.       About the Guest:   Kathy is an inspiring, compassionate, and empowering author and wellness guide whose passion is helping people navigate the challenging terrain of the healing journey. With insight and enthusiasm, she opens people's eyes to the potential of becoming more physically, emotionally, and spiritually healthy by offering a toolkit of practical solutions. Her book, “Suffering to Thriving: Your Toolkit for Navigating Your Healing Journey ~ How to Live a More Healthy, Peaceful, Joyful Life,” is full of wisdom gleaned from decades of healing from health crises. Kathy went from suffering to thriving, reversing the progression of asthma, chronic bronchitis, and autoimmune disorders, and recovered (without surgery) from several debilitating, inoperable spinal diseases and disc ruptures which left her bed-ridden for five years. Kathy's passion is helping others find their compass and chart a course for navigating illness, injury, and loss – learning how to not only cope, but to become more resilient, joyful, and thriving.   Photo by Lynne Eodice     Ways to connect with Gail:   https://www.facebook.com/SufferingToThriving https://www.instagram.com/kathyluber/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathy-harmon-luber-4b38158/     About the Host:   Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/   https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening!   Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast   If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset .   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review   Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.       Transcription Notes:   Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:20 Well, thanks for listening. Wherever you happen to be today you are listening to unstoppable mindset. I am your host, Michael hingson, and today we get to chat with Kathy Harmon Luber, who is a Reiki Master, a healer, and she comes by it very honestly. Why do I say that? Because for many years, like others I've had the opportunity to chat with on the podcast, she actually went through some very serious, debilitating and unhealthy issues. But also, like a number of people, as you will see, Cathy is very unstoppable. She went through it, and it is kind of helped shape what she does today and where she is in her life. And I'm going to leave it at that, because I think it'll be a whole lot more fun if you get to hear from her. So Kathy, welcome to unstoppable mindset.   Kathy Harmon-Luber ** 02:16 Hi, Michael. I'm so happy to be here with you today.   Michael Hingson ** 02:19 And the other thing about Kathy is we don't live all that far apart from each other, because I live in a town called Victorville, and she lives in Idlewild, and so we're, as I said, I could she's below us, although a little ways away, but I could probably, if I had a really good, strong arm and a well built paper airplane, I could throw a plane that would go into her window and land on her desk, but I think that's going to be a little tough to do under normal conditions, but you never know what'll happen. But I'm really glad that you're here with us. Why don't we start? If we could by you telling us a little bit about kind of the early Kathy growing up and so on. That's always a fun place to start. Yeah,   Kathy Harmon-Luber ** 02:59 always a good place to start. Thanks. You know, Michael, I grew up in Pennsylvania, even though we live in California now, I grew up in Pennsylvania, Western Pennsylvania, in a lovely small town. Our our home was on a property that my dad planted quite a lot of trees. He was a forestry major, so he planted lots of trees. We had this beautiful wooded yard, and I spent a lot of time outdoors and with our with our dog, our colleague, Taffy, and exploring the woods and nature. And so nature has always been such a big part of my, life as a result of that early upbringing, but I was also very, very creative back then and now i i played piano. I got started really young. When I was when I was three years old, my mom started giving me piano lessons because I had just sat down beside her one day and started to play and wanted to play. Then I moved on to flute. So I've, my dad played a lot of classical music, and so I was, I was always very inspired with that, and I also did a lot of art. And so young Kathy was, was was very creative. And I've, I've carried that through my life. It's been something that's given me a lot of strength through adversity. And as I like to say, you know, we all need to find our medicine to get us through life and the challenges that we face and creativity is my medicine, along with nature, is my medicine as well. So yeah, it's a little bit about my early days. So   Michael Hingson ** 04:44 you went to school and all those usual things that us kids did back in the day as it worked. I did. You went to college.   Kathy Harmon-Luber ** 04:52 I did. I went   Michael Hingson ** 04:54 to college. Where did you go and what did you do?   Kathy Harmon-Luber ** 04:57 Okay, well, interesting. I. We moved when I was 14 from this idyllic life in Pennsylvania to North Carolina. My dad got a great job offer in Charlotte, and he moved our family there. So I went to high school there for a couple of years, and then I went to college. He wanted me to stay in state, and so I went to University of North Carolina at Wilmington on the coast. I majored in marine biology. My dad did not want me to major in the creative arts. He was adamant about it. He wanted me to be a business major. And, you know, I subsequently have had a lot of experience in in business, but I I also just had this, you know, this, this love for nature that was, that was kindled in my my childhood. We also took trips to the beach once we moved to North Carolina, and so I, I decided to be a marine biology major. You know, I was very inspired by Rachel Carson and her, her books and, and other writings and and so that is, is what I majored in, and loved it. I used to, you know, snorkel and scuba dive and all of that, and just found the ocean to be another home. Yeah, cool.   Michael Hingson ** 06:17 So you went in and got a degree in marine biology, but what did you then do with it?   Kathy Harmon-Luber ** 06:24 Yeah, isn't that interesting? Yeah. So   Michael Hingson ** 06:27 I, I know the feeling well.   Kathy Harmon-Luber ** 06:32 So I moved with my soon to be now ex husband to to Washington, DC, after college, and I just had the fire in the belly to to work with advocacy organizations that make the world a better place. And that's been my entire career, prior to to career change into sound healing, and the the other healing arts and Reiki and all of that, which we'll talk about. But, but, yeah, I I was very inspired by my grandfather, who, you know, he was one of those people who was always volunteering, always making a difference in the world. Believed that we could make a difference no matter what was going on in the world and in the power of every person to make that difference. And so I was really inspired by that. And so I went to work in nonprofit organizations, and I worked in environmental organizations. I worked with a couple of organizations that that worked at the grassroots level to empower environmental organizations to to, you know, fight a lot of the big battles with with corporate polluters and super fun sites and things of that nature. I went on to work with a lot of of different, varied nonprofit organizations over the years, including when, when I was in DC, the Smithsonian Norman Lear's People for the American Way, a constitutional rights organization. So, so I've had a lot of varied experience in in the nonprofit world, but it was working. You know, in environmental causes that really lit me up. And later, you know, moving to California as a consultant, I also work for environmental organizations. So it's, it's been a passion of mine, yeah, so it   Michael Hingson ** 08:35 sounds though, like marine biology, in a sense, had a little bit of an influence. Did you find that there were ways and places where you were able to use some of that knowledge or some of the experience you gained along the way with marine biology? Yeah,   Kathy Harmon-Luber ** 08:49 for sure, within the environmental work that I did, I did fundraising and grant writing, and certainly the marine biology, you know, I took ecology classes and animal physiology classes and all kinds of things that weren't specifically marine biology related, but biology and nature related. So so that well rounded education has served me very, very well over the years. And I might also say that at the time that we moved to DC and I went to work in these environmental nonprofits, I really wanted to get an advanced degree in marine biology. There were hiring freezes in the government. They were doing a lot of the hiring of young Marine Biology majors. And so I kind of hit a roadblock there, which required me to pivot a little bit. And that's kind of been the story of my career. As I've gone through many different kinds of nonprofits. You know, as opportunities opened that that seemed interesting to me and and worthwhile causes, I have had these pivots into slight. The, you know, different fields and away from the marine biology, but it to the state, you know, I've still done, like, a lot of snorkeling, and put that information to use as well. So it's been both professionally as well as in my personal life. Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 10:17 well, so you, you were in DC for how long? 12 years, wow. And then, what did you do? Then   Kathy Harmon-Luber ** 10:26 I had a great opportunity. I I worked. The last job I had in in DC was working with the Democratic National Campaign Committee to to raise what was then, like a record breaking amount of money, and I was offered a job doing some some consulting in LA, and I, I, I really love DC. I have so many great memories and lots of friends still to this day, but I had the opportunity in working in DC to travel to California a lot, and I loved it here. And so when that job opportunity came, I decided to move to California. I've worked with a lot of different varied I got out of politics at that point and into other kinds of nonprofits that make the world a better place. And that includes, you know, the arts, Health and Human Services, helping traumatized children mental health issues. So quite a lot of of organizations that that help people. Yeah, so what did you   Michael Hingson ** 11:44 What did your father think about you going into all this nonprofit work, even though he wanted you to get and you got your degree in marine biology, or did he approve?   Kathy Harmon-Luber ** 11:56 Uh, you know, he wasn't crazy about it, I have to say, because he didn't feel that that nonprofits are business, because people think, if you work for a nonprofit, there's no money, there's no profit, and in in the the strict sense of the word nonprofit, nonprofits cannot make profit that is then shared with board members and stakeholders and all of that. But you know, many nonprofit organizations raise millions upon millions of dollars to put into their work. It's just that they have a a mandate from the government to spend it on the programs, on the on the programmatic work. So he wasn't crazy about that, but by that point, he realized his daughter was going to do what she wanted to do in life, and I've never looked back. It has been deeply fulfilling, and I do feel like a lot of nonprofit organizations are real change makers in the world, right? And so, so so it's been deeply fulfilling to me at that level. And you know, the the fundraising part I kind of fell into when I was in DC, people took me under their wings and taught me how to fundraise and and I became development director and VP of development and advancement and all those things, and that's what powers the nonprofit work. So, so I always felt really good about that, yeah. Well,   Michael Hingson ** 13:27 the reality is, of course, that people who really are committed to their nonprofit work into whatever nonprofit organization they are a part of will tell you that it's all about trying to make a difference in the world. It's all about trying to improve the world, whether they specifically are the ones to make a difference, they want to be part of the process that will make the world a better place. And they they do recognize there is money, but they also recognize that the more important thing are maybe the tangibles and possibly the intangibles that go along with making a real difference, right?   Kathy Harmon-Luber ** 14:11 Exactly? And it's such a wonderful opportunity to you know, in the in the fundraising part, you know, money comes from individuals, it comes from private foundations, and it also comes from corporate philanthropy. So it was an opportunity to work in partnership with corporations to also make good things happen. Yeah, did   Michael Hingson ** 14:31 all of your work, both in marine biology and just the things that your your dad wanted you to do, in terms of business and so on. Did all of that experience and the terminology that you got to learn, did all that help you? Yes,   Kathy Harmon-Luber ** 14:47 absolutely. You know, it's been fascinating to me, Michael, how at every step along my career path, how I've been able to take what I've learned in Marie. In biology in and just, you know, nature studies in general as part of that, getting that degree, not strictly marine environment, but, but, but you know, the natural environment in general, and and everything I've learned in working in nonprofits and in fundraising and all of my varied interests, like even in the arts, I've worked as a as a development consultant with lots of arts organizations, so I've been able to sort of marry all of These what seem like disparate skills and bring them into almost every job I've well, not almost every job I've ever had. So that part has been fascinating to see how interconnected all of those things have been in making it a rich experience and making it a career. Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 16:01 well, along the way, your life changed because of some some physical things that happened to you. Why tell us a little bit about that? Because I know that that leads to a lot of the choices that you've made since, and a lot of the things that you've learned   Kathy Harmon-Luber ** 16:15 absolutely, you know, I think it's like so many of us in life, disruptions can happen in our lives that set us on a different course or or maybe just we course correct a little bit, or maybe it's dramatic, and in my life, it's been just a little bit of both. I when I was in my 20s, I was diagnosed with autoimmune diseases and severe hereditary spinal diseases. I was always really interested in pursuing complementary medicine, right along with Western medicine, both have helped me enormously, and I was doing just great. I had doctors when I was in my 20s tell me I had the spine of an 80 year old at that point, and that I also would probably end up in a wheelchair by my mid 30s. And I'm thrilled to say that, that I am, that I am not currently, and I'm I'm many   17:12 decades older. I was gonna say you're a lot older than in your 30s. Yes, I am. And so   Kathy Harmon-Luber ** 17:17 I've been able to to, to really find a healing path that has helped me to really thrive physically. So that was one part of it, but then I was doing just great. You know, I had had some minor setbacks over the years, especially with my spine disc ruptures and things of that nature that would take, you know, two or three months of being down for the count, and then I'm back, you know, strong and right back at my very, very active life. I've always been, you know, I when I was younger, I was a runner. I've always been a hiker. I love to swim, like, like, an hour at a time, at the at the pool, you know, not just playful swimming, but but serious swimming. And, you know, I played a lot of high impact sports and things, from basketball when I was young to tennis and volleyball and all the things so super active life, and I managed until 2016 when I had, I had gone to visit a client. It was an overnight trip, and it involved several hours in a car each way, and all year long. In 2016 it was a very, very big year. We had had, I had, you know, traveled internationally, my husband and I did a drive all the way up the coast to from Southern California to Oregon. You know, I was serving on three boards of directors. Yes, I was still working more than full time. I had quite a lot going on in my life, and I was getting these subtle, intuitive hits that I really needed to rest my back more. It was very, very painful. And I, I, I practice good self care, you know, I'd rest for a while, and then I'd be right back to my really busy life, right? So the day after this, this trip to the client, I was very excited. I'm standing in the kitchen, telling my husband, as the coffee is brewing, all about the trip, and I get this extraordinarily severe like I've had never had before in my back to the point that I barely made it to the bedroom without falling he had to help me, and I'd had ruptured discs before. This was really different in terms of the intensity of the pain. If the others were a 10, this was like a 20, and I could not move. Once I got laying down flat on my back in bed, I could not move at all, like without just incredible searing pain. And I thought, well. Well, here we are. It's going to take another couple months, maybe three, for this to, you know, resolve. I know I have to really be down for the count now and really rest and you know. So I started just making changes, you know, I knew I had to resign some boards temporarily, I thought. And I talked with doctors and all of that. And come to, you know, fast forward, I was bedridden like that for five years, five years. I wasn't prepared for that, you know, I really thought it was going to be a more or less speedy recovery and and it wasn't like other recoveries, where I could even prop myself up in bed and work from my laptop. I was completely down for the count. Um, it was inoperable. Doctors said it could take anywhere from six months to three years to heal. Maybe you'll be better, and maybe you won't. So I went through that those moments of it may be always like this. It may not get better. I mean, one, one neurosurgeon said you, you may not be able to ever really walk much again. And in the early years of that, I couldn't walk to the bedroom door. So, you know, it was, it was that was depressing. It was, you know, you go down the downward spiral of feelings like and asking all the wrong questions. You know, I was in that place of asking, Why me? Why did this happen to me. You know? What? What Will it always be this way? What if it's never better? What if? What if I am completely reliant on my husband and friends for the rest of my life? You go to that place. It's human nature. And we can't beat ourselves up when these kinds of things happen, and we we tend to, you know, either blame ourselves or go down the dark rabbit hole. But the important thing, as you have talked about so much, and that you and I both know, is that when great challenges happen in our lives, just like when they don't, but magnified when they do. Every moment is a choice. And I realized one day that, you know, I could prop my laptop on my stomach and look for inspiring quotes. And one day I got up, woke up, and I thought, that's what I'm going to do this morning. I'm in a bad place. I started looking for inspiring quotes of people who went through bad stuff, who got through it. And I realized in that moment, it was like a lightning bolt. Every moment I have a choice, I could I could go and just forever live in that dark place, or I can try to find hope and a new purpose in my life. I could choose to be a bitter old, unhappy woman one day. Or I could take a different path, and I start thinking, Well, how would I take that different path? Here I am lying in bed. I can't do anything for myself. What can I do? I began looking at it from the standpoint of not disability, but ability. What is my ability? What can I do? And I actually, with my computer, made a list of everything I couldn't do right? I couldn't I couldn't go for walks. I couldn't swim. I couldn't walk to the kitchen at that point, you know, like I said, I couldn't even get to the bedroom door. I could no longer ride horses, which, which was something I love to do. I, up until that point, had been playing classical flute in our town at least once or twice a weekend. Professionally, I could not even lift up my flute because it twisted my back in a way that was just completely unbearable. So in one column, I made that list of everything, and I said, you know, I can't be on boards of directors anymore, because at that point, you know, that was 2016 2017 we weren't using zoom and other platforms to connect virtually, as we began to do during the pandemic. And so So I made a list of the things that had to go What did I have to completely get rid of? I resigned boards. I cut back on client writing work. And then I looked at all the things I love to do, my flute playing, my art, my photography, and I said, All right, what is a work around here? I can't I can't ride horses. I can sketch horses. I love to sketch. So maybe I'll just lean into that. Something I never did before, that I wasn't sketching or painting horses. I couldn't stand at my easel, but I could. I could sketch. I couldn't play my classical flute. I could play my Native American flute because it didn't twist my spine. I had, you know, Tibetan and Crystal singing bowls, which, which I loved. I had gotten into sound healing years, decade, a couple of decades ago now, for anxiety and relaxation from stress, right? And, and I thought, well, there's something I can do. I'll have my husband bring those things to me, and I'll, I'll do those things. And, what I'm saying is I found new and different things that lit me up, that that gave me joy. And there's a very good reason for doing this first. First what got me to that point unbeknownst to the reason why it's important, which I'll get to in a second. But the what got me to that point, is asking the right questions instead of poor me. Why did this happen to me? It was what if this is an opportunity for me to turn inward more? I've always been a very spiritual person, not necessarily in a religious way, but, but, but spiritual. What if this is an opportunity for me to really lean into that? What if it's an opportunity for me to learn new things and get certified in sound healing and become a Reiki Master? Uh, what if it's an opportunity for me to find a new path in life. What if this is a portal to something new and different, a new and different life purpose? And when I was telling you about all the nonprofit work I did and still do that, I thought that was my ultimate life purpose and and because of of of this massive health challenge, on this healing journey, I've discovered there's more to it than that, sound, healing, energy, healing, um, all of that is, is part of my new   Kathy Harmon-Luber ** 27:17 um, expanded Life Purpose, and what I the gifts that I bring to the world. So, so what I'm saying is, you know, when we look at it as our healing journey, as embedded in our life's journey, of course, if we live long enough, we're all going to face health challenges, be they physical, mental, emotional, even spiritual, right? So our healing journey embedded in our life's journey, embedded in our soul's journey, or what we came here to do in the world. And so healing journey becomes a portal. The reason why this is so important, I just finished Michael reading a really fabulous book by a doctor, Dr Jeffrey rediger, I believe his name is. It's called cured, and it is about the medical science behind people who have really rather miraculous feelings. They don't. They don't just the cancers don't go into remission, only they are cured of cancer. He's been following some of these people for decades, and he decided, from from the medical perspective, why do some people have amazing healings and others don't? And many of these people were given two months to live from their particular cancer or other diseases, and decades later, they're still alive and they're thriving. Why is that? And it seems the common denominator throughout his book is not owning the label of your disease as the be all and end all. In other words, I am not my spinal diseases. I am not my autoimmune diseases. I have a purpose in life, and then finding that purpose, living that purpose, living an intentional life that brings you great joy. He told the story of a woman who had two months to live from an extremely aggressive pancreatic cancer, one of the worst cancers, and she spent the weekend with her, with her girlfriends. They went to the beach. They all you know, gave her lots of love and encouragement for what she thought was the final couple of months of her life. Then she decided I am not my cancer, and I am going to just live every day of my life, however short it remains. I'm going to live it full of joy, full of passion. And full of love, and that's what she did. Fast forward over a decade, like close to 15 years later, she ends up in the hospital, same hospital that that, that you know, did all the the testing for the pancreatic cancer and she had appendicitis. She saw the doctors, and they looked at her chart and said, We didn't think you were alive, right? She was. She only had two months to live here. She is nearly 15 years later, alive, and then she began working with the doctor who wrote this book to even explore further why she's still alive. Turns out, living a life of purpose and full of love and support, following your passions is is for many people, what helps them to transcend and have these rather, rather amazing feelings. And so I have, I have been, I was doing that then without knowing that I only read the book a couple months ago. So it's a relatively new, new book out. I, I, I began just sort of following that, and now I'm leaning into it even more, as you can imagine, knowing that's kind of a recipe for thriving, right,   Michael Hingson ** 31:23 right? And well, and I think it's, it's been known in some quarters for quite a while that your mental attitude and your perceptions can dramatically and can totally, I think, actually control how you are, how healthy you are, and so on. Disease is a is really dis ease, but it is as much, if not more, in most cases, mental, than anything else. That doesn't mean that some people aren't going to get a broken arm or something like that, or in your case, you had some very bad back problems. But it also doesn't mean that your mind doesn't have the ability to help you move beyond that, which is what you did   Kathy Harmon-Luber ** 32:15 exactly. And you know, in my book, I I dedicate a lot of my book suffering to thriving, to this concept of suffering is a choice, unnecessary suffering. Okay, I'm not, I want to say right up front, I'm not talking about people who are in war torn countries or or in countries where there are terrible, you know, injustices to people. That's a different kind of suffering. I'm talking about the kind of suffering that is in our mind, that we perpetuate with our minds. Suffering is a choice. Unnecessary suffering is a choice. Thriving is a choice. And I write a lot about this in my book, about how we need to make our mind our medicine. And that's not false positivity. You know? It's about training your mind not to go down the negative rabbit hole of the terrible questions of perseverating about all the bad things that can happen. Because, look, life is complicated in our world, bad things happen every day. It's important to find a place within us, that place of stillness where we can live in the moment. And when we sit here like I'm sitting here right now with you, this is a beautiful moment. There are lots of terrible things going on in the world. There are lots of terrible things happening to our planet environmentally. And we can choose to find moments of peace in our lives, that peace, that stillness within that is healing and so, so harnessing the power of that in our lives, every day, every moment, is a choice. We can do something healing or not, and and you and I have talked about this before. You know the Buddhist nun Pema Chodron, who I'm a big fan of, because she is just so plain, speaking about the challenges of daily life. And you know, how do we how do we thrive through, through what's going on in our in our world, even she talks about every moment is a choice between fear versus love. What would fear decide? Fear? Fear goes down that rabbit hole and doesn't come out and just lives in that dark place and we feel sorry for ourselves. It's human to do that. It's human nature to do that in to some degree. But what would love do if we're being loving towards ourselves and the people we're in community with, right people in our lives who we love, I will decide   Michael Hingson ** 34:50 right I would submit that fear isn't necessarily a rabbit hole that we have to go down. That is to say fear is in part physiological and in part mental. That's right, but, but fear is also something where, again, like with most things, we have the choice of how to deal with it. And you know, we've talked about my new book, and I've talked about it here on the podcast, live like a guide dog, which is all about discussing the idea of learning to control fear. Fear can be a very powerful tool in our arsenals. It doesn't necessarily need to be something that overwhelms us, or, as I put it blinds us. The reality is that fear is something that if we learn to use it properly, can make us more aware, more perceptive. It can help our visualizations, and that's what we need to deal with. You said it in a very interesting way a few moments ago, when you talked about living in the moment. The problem with fear is that what we usually learn on this earth, many of us anyway, is that we have to what if everything? What if this happens? Oh, my God, that's horrible. What if that happens? And as several people have written over the years, the problem with most all of our fears is they never come to pass, but we spend so much time dwelling on them that we don't look at what caused them, where they come from, and what good is it going to do for us to continue to dwell on things when all we're doing is making stuff up as we go, but rather to say, Okay, I'm aware of this, and when you go back and study it, ah, that's What caused me to think that way? Okay, I understand that now, and I'm aware of that, and I don't need to worry about that, because I recognize that's just a myth that I'm trying to create when I don't need to do it. Oh,   Kathy Harmon-Luber ** 37:16 I love that so much. Michael, that's exactly it. Exactly it. You know, fear, like you said, is it is a an important, an important feeling, because as human beings, you know, think of our, think of our long ago ancestors and and saber tooth tigers like you couldn't be curious about that big cat. You had to be fearful of it, or you could lose your life, right? The problem is today, we're not being chased by by crazy wild animals. Most of us, and we are, we're, we're, we're fearful of things that happen in everyday life, to the point that a lot of people just have this running emotion of fear all the time, what I have found, and I've read a lot about this, and I'm very excited to read your book and learn even more about it from you. I think it's really important to face our fears and to be curious about them. For example, you know, I would be very, very fearful about about certain things. And when I really sat down and faced them and said, What is behind this fear, and then what's behind that?   Michael Hingson ** 38:29 Well, let's go back to the saber tooth. Let's go back to the saber tooth tiger a minute. Um, were we just afraid of the cat, or did we observe and learn and become respectful of it and gave it its space while it may not have cared about our space so much, but we we learned to recognize it and to respect it more than to fear it. Because the problem with fear as such when we let it run rampant, is that we lose our ability to put things in perspective. And I expect that those cave people realized I don't want to tangle with this cat, because now that doesn't mean that there wasn't a level of fear, but again, fear used in the right way leads to better awareness, better observation, being aware of when that cat's around, looking for it, learning more about how to recognize when the cat's there, so that you can avoid it, which doesn't mean that you're not afraid of it, in a sense, but more you're aware of it, and you learn to respect and deal with it. Yeah. On the other hand, I wonder if there are any cave people that ever got to make friends with the saber tooth tiger. You never know.   Kathy Harmon-Luber ** 39:48 We never know. Yeah, it could well be. But in regular, you know everyday life now, like often, we'll be afraid, and I can remember this very well in the first couple of years of being. Bedridden. I was afraid of my spine. I was afraid my spine was going to get worse. I was afraid that if I started walking, I might make it worse. And then I sat down one day and I thought, I can't live in fear of my own body. You know, our bodies are so wise. They everything pain, allergies, lives, anxiety, it all tells us something. It's a teacher. And so is fear. Like in the case of a saber tooth tiger, you know it's it teaches us something. So if we can approach fear from the perspective of, okay, why am I afraid of again years ago, walking for fear that my spine would collapse further. Why am i i turning this into a fear of my own body, and then I would be okay? Well, if it happens again, I'm afraid that I'm really going to be a burden on my family. And you go down, you know, that line of inquiry, okay, well, what's behind that, and what's behind that, and that, and, and is that a worthwhile fear to live your life? There you go. And I came to the point where it's like, uh, no, I have to take calculated risks. I'm not going to do anything crazy, but, but let's set small goals for myself and and sure enough, you know now I'm, I'm walking, I'm, I'm I'm able to walk. I'm able to walk a couple of miles, but it began with those baby steps that were full of fear. We have to face that and dig underneath it and and I like anything you know, when you confront it, it takes a lot of the scariness out of it. Actually, can just face the fear, right? Absolutely.   Michael Hingson ** 41:50 What is it that eventually happened to you or because of you, that healed essentially, as much as possible that your spine so that you are able to walk and so on. Now,   Kathy Harmon-Luber ** 42:06 yeah, that's a great question. I would love to say it was one thing, but like most things in life, it wasn't. I was. I was doing quite a lot of things. I was I was doing a lot of visualization of walking, I was doing a lot of visualization of going about my regular life. There was a time I couldn't stand in the kitchen and make dinner. I visualized standing in the kitchen and making a cup of coffee, a cup of tea, a dinner. And so I did a lot of work in my mind to and this comes from athletes. You know, elite athletes use visualization to win their games or to win their gold medal, right? So I learned a lot from that. Right visualization really helped. I really did a deep dive of research into supplements that help the body to fight inflammation. I was, you know, my whole life I have, I have been either vegetarian or pescetarian, you know, eating fish and shellfish. I I began to introduce things like, like, like chicken into my diet at one point when I recognized the need for more protein. But it's about listening to your body and what it needs in order to heal, supplementation, Ayurvedic medicine. I saw a naturopath. I just began to explore every single thing. Then after about three years, I was cleared to go to physical therapy. Physical therapy has saved me so many times. You know, from sports injuries. I've had torn menisci in my knees, and, you know, doctors would say, I think you're going to need surgery. And physical therapy helped so much that I've avoided that surgery my entire life. So so when the doctor said it was inoperable because of the way the disc ruptured and glommed onto the sciatic nerve and other disease, spinal disease, problems that were hereditary, they could not operate. I began to look at everything else. I began to look at things like magnet therapy, just Reiki healing energy Reiki is energy healing, sound healing. I had been doing music and sound I had been going to sound baths, mostly for stress, relaxation, mindfulness, all the all the good stuff. But then I began to realize that that sound healing is so much more powerful than even that. I got certified as a sound healer and began just expanding my repertoire of sound healing and energy healing work. And now I mean this, this, this, I think you find fascinating. You know, doctors are incorporating. Sound healing and Reiki energy medicine into their hospitals across the United States and Europe, into hospitals departments of integrative therapies. And last year, when my mom was in the hospital for cancer, that that that major hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina, had a department of integrative therapy that worked with the hospital and with hospice to to help people. The science behind it is is being proven by by major major universities all over the country. There's some fascinating work coming out of UCLA here in California, by a researcher who works with medical doctors. The researcher's name is James jimzewski, and he, in collaboration with doctors, have found that the different types of cells in the body, the heart cells, the brain cells, they have their own frequency of hertz, which is simply the measure of vibration of sound. They each have their their own unique vibration. And when cells, if they look in a petri dish of heart cells, to become atrophied or brain cells, they realize that those atrophied cells can be brought back to their normal cellular function by applying those frequencies to the cells so sound reinvigorates them. It holds great promise for the future of medicine. And lots of medical doctors are writing about this. There's a well known oncologist by the name of Dr Mitchell Gaynor, who wrote a wonderful book called The Power of sound healing. And he uses sound therapy himself. He conducts a sound bath for his cancer patients. He believes in it that much right along in compliment with Western medicine, of course, and so I that was one of the things. I really, really, I got certified in sound healing, like I said, I became a Reiki Master, and I began applying those things in my own life when I began doing the sound treatments, in other words, when I was better enough to be out of my completely bedridden state, about three, four years in, I got a gong, and the gong has the widest range, the lowest lows, the highest highs that we can't hear. Many dogs and other animals can hear these sounds, but human ears cannot detect them, but our sound, our cells at the cellular level, pick up on that sound, and I began noticing I'd have really accelerated healing again. It's now been, you know, it's now been, uh, going on. It's been, uh, you know, over seven years, going on eight years that that all of this has been has been healing, but over time, I believe everything is incremental. It's like anything in life. Everything is incremental. You can't go to the gym and lift weights once and have a fit body. You know, you got to keep at it. So applying all of these things. Over the years, I have noticed big changes. So again, to answer your question, it wasn't just one thing. It was a lot of complimentary therapies put together, and then what I call in the book, stick with itness. You know, sticking with it, not just trying it for a short time, really, really incorporating it into my daily self care regimen, right? That's what has made the difference for sure.   Michael Hingson ** 48:49 So here's a question, little bit of a quick question, but you talk about thriving a lot, if you were to and you've talked about unstoppable thriving, how would you distill or what would you say are three major points that lead to being able to be an unstoppable thriver, if you will?   Kathy Harmon-Luber ** 49:06 Oh, I love this question so much. Michael, okay, so my book is a toolkit of, like, 36 tools that get us to answer this question. But I'm going to give you my top three, and I think the very first one is, is really deep self care and self compassion. When things like this happen, we tend to think, Okay, I'll take better care of myself. I'll eat right, or I will exercise more, whatever it happens to be in your own situation, there is something called robust self care and robust self compassion that's really about giving your body everything it needs to heal. If you need to sleep 12 hours a night, that's what you've got to do. And and we all say, Oh, I don't have time for that. You know, I got a busy life. I've got a. These other responsibilities and commitments. I don't have time for that, but that's what your body often needs, is that level of of really deep self care and and when things happen to us again, physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritual, dark, Night of the Soul, whatever it happens to be, we tend to think of our bodies and ourselves as betraying us, as being the enemy. I hear my clients say this all the time, and there was a point early on when I was like that. It's like my body has betrayed me. How could this happen? I'm young, I've I'm active, you know, I'm doing all the right stuff. From every standpoint, doctors would say you're doing everything exactly right, and yet I had all this stuff going on. We think our bodies betrayed us, but our bodies and this is a wonderful book by Dr Gabor Mate, who writes, When the body says no, our bodies are sending us loving signals of pain. They're telling us when we need to stop doing stuff or cut back or rest. You know, allergies, anxiety, pick, pick anything you know, arrhythmia, pick anything your body is sending you a signal, we have to say. And this has been hard for me, because recently, I've had some a resurgence of some knee problems, and they were pretty debilitating, and we thought I was going to need knee surgery, you know, that I've been avoiding since I was, like, 14 years old. We thought I was really close to it, and it was really hard to say to my knee, oh my goodness, my beautiful hard working me. You have helped me so much in my life. I'm listening to you and doing deep inquiry. What are you trying to tell me? What am I doing wrong here? Right? I needed more rest. I simply needed more rest. I'm thrilled to say that problem over a few months, and with physical therapy and with doing all the right things, I'm back to walking again. I'm walking as much as I did before. So, so it's about, you know, at one point last year, when my mom had multiple myeloma and was in hospital and then hospice, and incredibly stressful time, I started having arrhythmia. I've never had arrhythmia before. I had to, you know, practice what I've been saying in my book and take a deeper dive and say my wonderful, hard working heart. What is up? Why is this happening to me? Right? So, so it's that is, that is self care and self compassion. So that's that's one big piece, and to be able to get into that dialog with ourselves in our very busy, highly interrupted, device driven world, it's hard to slow down and listen. But that brings me to my second point, and that is really listening to what I call our inner healer. Our inner healer is our intuition. It is our gut instinct, if you will, our bodies. And we knew this when we were children, right? We had instincts. We listen to our instincts. If you walk into a room and there's a person and you don't like that person, you don't hang around that person, you try to get away. It could be, you know, a certain food that you didn't like as a kid, you just didn't want to eat it. Right? As we become adults, you know, whether it's societal conditioning or or we have very busy lives, and we just fall into patterns, or whatever. We stop listening so much, and when we get still, hard to find the time, I know, but even 10 minutes of quiet time where we go out in nature, we go for a walk, we just sit quietly in meditation. I've been meditating since my early 20s. I I love meditation. I know. I recognize it's not for everyone. My clients tell me it's not you know for them necessarily. And we find other ways, but, but, but finding something that connects you with yourself, where you can listen to your dreams, where you can listen to your intuition, follow your gut instincts about what feels right for you, if, if something doesn't feel right, don't push yourself to do it and and that is something that I think it can be very, very hard for us in our in our modern age, to slow down enough and do. And I alluded to this the third one earlier, finding our medicine. Nature is medicine, creativity is medicine, as I found sound healing, Reiki, energy, their medicine. What is your medicine to all of our listeners out there? What is your medicine? Do you know what your medicine is? What brings you joy? What makes time fly, where you just don't even realize how much time has has transpired? Those things really, really help us to to find that joyful, happy place where we're in the flow and and, as I mentioned by the book I I referenced cured, that is healing, but also what we what we've been talking about so much, which is your mind is your medicine? How can you harness the power of your mind to heal, whether it's visualizing, telling yourself affirmations, just stopping yourself when you get to the point where you're going down the dark rabbit hole, just saying, Oh, there I go again. Yeah, going to that place. Let me. Let me just stop that and choose something different. Like we said, everything's a choice. Choose something different is making your mind your medicine. Those are my top big three. I mean, the whole the science behind this is, you know, everything in the universe, as Albert Einstein and Tesla Nikola, Tesla told us, and lots of other scientists, everything is energy. Everything vibrates. If everything is energy, our thoughts, our our words, our actions, our feelings, our energy. So choose the good stuff, right? You know, catch yourself when you're when you're, when you're and we look, we all have days, I have them regularly where I find myself getting in a bit of a snarky mood or something, and, you know, things just aren't going quite right, or I'm not feeling quite right, and I go to that bad place, but I quickly say, ah, Kathy, there you go. You're going to that place. What can we choose that would be more positive. That is a choice of energy, and energy is healing? Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 57:06 well, we only have a few minutes, but I have a couple of quick questions for you. Hopefully they're quick. You've talked about sound healing and a sound bath, but not everybody can make it to a place to get a sound bath. How can they deal with sound healing at home?   Kathy Harmon-Luber ** 57:23 I love that question, and I can make it brief. Okay, so, so we don't necessarily have to go to a sound bath or a yoga studio to get sound healing. Many things in our lives, our voice. We don't need special equipment. We've got a voice. Right coming singing have been found. DR. DR, Jonathan Goldman has been writing about this for decades, the power of the humble hum. It connects our ear to our vagus nerve, the wandering nerve through our bodies that touches all the organs that controls heartbeat, blood pressure, all the things we never think about, coming and singing are hugely stimulating. That's one thing, percussive tapping on our body. I happen to be a drummer, so I tend to drum. Drum is rhythmic. It's the sound of our mother's heartbeat when when we were in the womb and and it it helps us to settle into a place of of coherence. And so those are just two small things that have very, very big benefit. We can just tap on our, on our, on our, our chest bone, or there's a thing called Emotional Freedom tapping EFT, where you tap on different parts of the body. I have written to make this really brief, Michael, I've written an article about sound healing. I also have another article about your mind is your medicine, and another one about the power of intuition. Three articles in yoga magazine, the people can find for free on my website. And we'll, we'll get later. Yeah, so   Michael Hingson ** 59:04 an observation, and then two quick questions. It's, you know, there's an advantage of having lived on the earth a while and having a memory. I remember when the United States started interacting with China during the Nixon administration. And somewhere on the line, we started to hear about this thing called acupuncture that we had never really heard of before, and a lot of people poo pooted and so on. And now it is a much more common mechanism that is used. It was even used on Roselle, my guide dog who was with me in the World Trade Center when she developed some back problems, and it and it helped. But the reality is, just because it isn't something that goes along with the traditional Western medicine approach, and even my doctor at Kaiser will say this, it doesn't mean that it doesn't work. Work and that it is invaluable, because it is and we really need to to look at all options. Having said that, let me ask you this. You said that you have a free gift for anybody listening. Can you tell us about that? I   Kathy Harmon-Luber ** 1:00:17 do? I do. Oh, good. Oh, good. Acupuncture, I would just add, it's much like sound healing. You know, it's been around for 1000s of years.   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:26 It's been around a long time. It's just that we haven't had exposure to it,   Kathy Harmon-Luber ** 1:00:30 that's right. And acupuncture was one of the things on my when I said I use very many modalities. I did, I've done a lot of acupuncture over decades. So yes, I'm a big believer in acupuncture, part of why it works is because the same as the chakra system in Indian Ayurvedic medicine, right? These are the energy centers of the body, and they can get blocked. So here's the free gift, Michael, I'm thrilled to be able to offer this to to our listeners today at my website, and we'll link the Earl at the at the very top, you can you can access this for free. Dr Charlize Davis, a doctor of functional medicine, and fellow Reiki master and I, have put together a few modules called Healing the heart chakra. And she comes from the medical perspective of saying, when your heart chakra is blocked, what does that turn up with? As in your, in your, in your health, you know, sure, the heart, of course, the lungs, yeah. But shoulders, shoulder issues, all kinds of things. And she goes into this in great detail. And then I come at it from the perspective of what we were just talking about, the chakra, what a blocked heart chakra feels like. What is happening in your life that that would tell you that your heart chakra is is blocked. It's more than just, I don't feel love. I mean, that's a common thing, but there's, it's way more than that. And then the best part of the free gift you'll learn about all of these things. And then the best part, I think, is that I do a sound bath geared toward balancing and opening the heart chakra, and I also give Reiki energy during that. And Dr Charlize, as a as a Reiki Master, also gives Reiki energy throughout the sound bath as well. So it's really powerful.   Michael Hingson ** 1:02:26 There's a link to all of that on there's a link to that all on the website.   Kathy Harmon-Luber ** 1:02:29 It's at the very top of the website. So tell us   Michael Hingson ** 1:02:33 your tell us what your website is and how people can reach out to you. Because I'm assuming that you you do interact with people all over   Kathy Harmon-Luber ** 1:02:41 I do. I do sound baths. I do individualized sound baths, which target to your very specific issues. So how do people reach out to you? My website is suffering to thriving.com. And there they can. They can reach out to me. They can learn more about my work. They can look at my book, suffering to thriving. They also can connect with all of my social media, and they can access how to work with me and email me from that place as well. So it's all right there at the website, on the home page, at the bottom, there are more podcasts and articles, lots of free article content too, if anyone's interested in exploring this at a deeper level, so suffering   Michael Hingson ** 1:03:25 to thriving.com. Well, that's right, Kathy, I want to thank you for being here and giving us so much information. There's a lot of very invaluable stuff here, and I hope people will listen and have an open mind, because the reality is, the more we explore, the more we learn, and the more we learn, the more we can put into practice, and the more we do, especially for ourselves, the better we'll be. So I want to thank you for being here, and I want to thank all of you for listening today. This has been fun, and I hope that you have found it fun. I'd love to hear from you. I'd love to hear what you think. About our episodes and this one today, in specific, feel free to email me at Michael h i at accessibe, A, C, C, E, S, S, I, B, e.com, or you can email me at speaker. At Michael hingson, M, I C, H, A, E, L, H, I N, G, S o, n.com, I would also invite you to wherever you're listening. Please give us a five star rating. We value your reviews, your input, and especially your your five star ratings whenever you feel inclined to do so. So please give us a five star rating. If you know of anyone who ought to be a guest on unstoppable mindset, let us know. Email me at speaker@michaelhingson.com introduce us, and we'll go from there. And of course, Kathy, same for you. If you know anyone, we'd love to hear from you. But one more time, I'd like to thank you for being here and for taking the time. To be with us today.   Kathy Harmon-Luber ** 1:05:01 Thank you, Michael, it has been just a delight, and thank you for the beautiful work that you do.   Michael Hingson ** 1:05:11 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com . AccessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for Listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

Subscriber-only episodeSend us a textBooks are a time-tested cure-all, so in this week's bonus episode Amy weighs a few of the titles that have helped her forget life's latest troubles and doubts … (sort of). She leaves no stone unturned in her quest for distraction, from Proust's meandering sentences to a behind-the-scenes memoir about a beloved '80s film and a charming, century-old suffrage novel that captures our current political zeitgeist. Rounding out the episode is a sneak peak at “lost ladies” we'll be featuring in the coming year and Amy's recitation of a poem by Adrienne Rich that's perfectly suited to these strange times.Mentioned in this episodeWhichbook.netThe Sturdy OakMeditations by Marcus AureliusWhen Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron.Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel ProustSwann's Way by Marcel ProustLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 116 on Dorothy RichardsonLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 9 on Dorothy Canfield FisherLost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 98 on HeterodoxyPilgrimage by Dorothy RichardsonInconceivable Tales from the Making of the Princess Bride by Cary ElwesTurning to Stone: DiscoveringFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comDiscuss episodes on our Facebook Forum. Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Follow Kim on twitter @kaskew. Sign up for our newsletter: LostLadiesofLit.com Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast

What happens if you stop looking for your flaws?  My friend Jaime is back to chat about Lisa's wellness journey. We reflect on the ways we attempt to find balance and peace and happiness in our own lives, learn about Pema Chodron and her wisdom, and Jaime reflects on who she would “Freaky Friday” with.Listener discretion advised: this episode includes adult languageSupport the show:On PatreonBuy us a bookBuy cute merchIf you have any comments or questions, please connect with me on Instagram or email babesinbooklandpodcast@gmail.com. I'd love to hear your suggestions and feedback!Link to this episode's book:Blissful Thinking: A Memoir of Overcoming the Wellness Journey by LL KirchnerOther ways to support/connect with LL Kirchner: InstagramShow Notes:Carl Sagan - Pale Blue Dot - video Tara Brach - Radical Compassion - book Christy Harrison – The Wellness Trap - book Adam Grant: How to stop languishing and start finding flow | TED TALKTranscripts are available through apple's podcast app—they may not be perfect, but relying on them allows me to dedicate more time to the show! If you're interested in being a transcript angel, let me know. This episode is produced, recorded, and edited by me.Special thanks (again!!) to my dear friend, Jaime. The light in me recognizes and loves the crap out of the light in you.Xx, Alex