Podcast appearances and mentions of Stephen Cope

Today's wisdom comes from The Great Work of Your Life by Stephen Cope.   If you're loving Heroic Wisdom Daily, be sure to subscribe to the emails at heroic.us/wisdom-daily.   And… Imagine unlocking access to the distilled wisdom form 700+ of the greatest books ever written.   That's what Heroic Premium offers: Unlimited access to every Philosopher's Note. Daily inspiration and actionable tools to optimize your energy, work, and love. Personalized coaching features to help you stay consistent and focused   Upgrade to Heroic Premium →   Know someone who'd love this? Share Heroic Wisdom Daily with them, and let's grow together in 2025!   Share Heroic Wisdom Daily →

Stephen Cope, author of Yoga and the Quest for the True Self and The Dharma in Difficult Times, talks with J about the crossovers and divergences in eastern and western spirituality. They discuss psychotherapy and contemplative pursuits, crazy wisdom teachers, theology and practice, divinity school, discovering Kripalu, shaktiput from Amrit Desai, revelations of abuse and reinvention from ashram to retreat center, prayer and meditation, dharma, being called to act, and slowly refining your capacity to know that still small voice within.   J. Brown Yoga Teacher Training… NEW GROUP STARTS ONLINE in OCT - REGISTER NOW!.   To subscribe and support the show… GET PREMIUM.   Check out J's other podcast… J. BROWN YOGA THOUGHTS.    

Discover the transformative power of fascia with our special guest, Deanna Hansen, Deanna Hansen is a Certified Athletic Therapist and founder of Fluid Isometrics™ and Block Therapy™ This episode of "The Root of the Matter" promises to enlighten you on how fascia impacts both your physical and emotional well-being. Deanna opens up about her personal journey, recounting how an anxiety attack led her to unearth the pivotal role of fascia in maintaining proper alignment and nutrient flow throughout the body. Get ready to explore the fascinating connections between posture, diaphragmatic breathing, and the often-overlooked influence of gravity on our fascial health. Unlock the secrets to enhanced vitality through diaphragmatic breathing. Deanna and I dive deep into the mechanics and benefits of this powerful practice, revealing how it can boost oxygen intake, improve posture, and even aid in weight loss. We also discuss the disruptive effects of pain, fear, and stress on natural breathing patterns and the resultant shift to shallow upper chest breathing. By integrating insights from influential works such as "Yoga and the Quest for the True Self" by Stephen Cope and "Breath" by James Nestor, we underscore the importance of reconnecting with natural breathing to slow down the aging process and enhance overall health.Get practical tips on managing ailments like sleep apnea and snoring through proper breathing techniques and fascia decompression. Deanna shares wisdom on the healing power of breath, illustrating how proper breathwork can accelerate recovery from injuries and improve circulation. We also delve into the evolving shape and alignment of our skull and fascia, discussing their profound impact on health and appearance over time. Learn about the holistic Block Therapy method, including practical exercises like using toe separators to improve fascia mobility and body alignment. This episode is packed with actionable insights to help you harness the power of fascia for optimal well-being.Find out if Block Therapy is for you, visit https://blocktherapy.com/To learn more about holistic dentistry, check out Dr. Carver's website:http://carverfamilydentistry.comTo contact Dr. Carver directly, email her at drcarver@carverfamilydentistry.com. Do you want to talk with someone at Dr. Carver's office? Call her practice: 413-663-7372Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only. Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner. Before using any products mentioned or attempting methods discussed, please speak with a licensed healthcare provider. This podcast disclaims responsibility from any possible adverse reactions associated with products or methods discussed. Opinions from guests are their own, and this podcast does not condone or endorse opinions made by guests. We do not provide guarantees about the guests' qualifications or credibility. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

In this episode of the Next Level Healing Podcast, Dr. Tara Perry interviews Stephen Cope, bestselling author of The Dharma in Difficult Times: Finding Your Calling in Times of Loss, Change, Struggle, and Doubt. Stephen is a scholar who specializes in the relationship between the Eastern contemplative traditions and Western depth psychology. For almost thirty years, he has been Scholar-in-Residence at the renowned Kripalu Center—the largest center for the study and practice of yoga in the Western world. Kripalu hosts almost 50,000 guests a year in its many yoga, meditation, and personal growth programs! Tune in for a fascinating conversation about calling, and so much more. This is an episode you don't want to miss! Work with Dr. Tara PerryTune in every Wednesday for a new episode of Next Level Healing. Subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform and never miss an episode!

Get FREE access to Deanna's 9-part Fascia Decompression Program: https://kd167.isrefer.com/go/samplerbeatspodcast/truewellnesspa/“I've done all the right things. And yet, I'm getting the opposite outcome of what I'm doing. I'm gaining more weight, I'm more fatigued, I'm more tired, I'm more in pain, and yet I'm doing all the things my therapist told me to do.” - Probably YouThis was the feeling that resonated so deeply with my guest today, Deanna Hansen. A former athlete with an immense understanding of Human anatomy and physiology yet still found herself waking up in chronic pain and being over 50 pounds overweight, despite doing “all the things” (including doing 400+ sit-ups a day!) So, what changed?She learned how to breathe to heal and the process of fascia decompression. THIS transformed her life and her health forever.Now as a muscle therapist, she's on the show today to help us understand the simple things we can implement into our own life to get unstuck and live freely.“We're different animals when we are breathing differently.” - Deanna HansenIn this Episode:-Deanna's Background & Journey to Health-Touch your own body-Conscious diaphragmatic breathing-Misconceptions about core strength - postural foundation-Dealing with pain, fear and stress-Death starts in the feet-Fascia blocks over yoga blocksConnect with Deanna Hansen:Website - https://blocktherapy.com/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/fluidisometrics Check out Deanna's Products: https://kd167.isrefer.com/go/Store/truewellnesspa/ Resources Mentioned:-The God Code by Gregg Braden https://a.co/d/6vI2rSa -Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle https://a.co/d/i7ZUU0Y -Yoga and the Quest for the True Self by Stephen Cope https://a.co/d/ahJ86po Connect with Kelly Kennedy:Website - https://thetruewellnesscenter.com/YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiZKB1-CBlAzq_aJj4u89cg

You may have heard about the importance of your 'why'--that thing that motivates you and provides a sense of purpose in life and work. But what if that concept was broken down even further, into three parts that took you deeper into that 'why'? Nicole Lewis-Keeber (therapist, coach & author) has done just that, and she talks with Jodi in this episode of the podcast about The Three Whys. Jodi also shares an early experience that took her away from her Why, and a little about the process of getting back to it. Music by JD Pendley Show notes: Learn more about Nicole and download her book, "The Three Whys", here. Jodi mentions this book by Stephen Cope. Follow the podcast on instagram @journalsofaloveaddict  

In this episode, Lonny Jarrett, an esteemed practitioner of Chinese Medicine, provides profound insights on healing and spirituality.  Lonny delves into the historical context of Chinese Medicine, highlighting how spirituality was lost during China's communist revolution. He emphasizes the importance of restoring balance among the different realms of our existence for holistic healing. Lonny discusses the role of communication and chi flow in Chinese Medicine, exploring how stagnation affects our well-being. He highlights accountability and responsibility in addressing repression and stagnation, drawing parallels to fertility treatments. Lonny advocates eliciting relaxation and provides tools to reduce resistance during fertility treatments. His approach extends beyond traditional boundaries, encompassing the body, psyche, and soul in integral medicine. Join us as we uncover the deep wisdom of Lonny Jarrett, and discover the beauty of embracing our incarnation with dignity and grace, regardless of our desires.       Key Topics:   ●      Spirituality and Chinese Medicine ●      Communication and Chi Flow ●      Fertility Treatments ●      Integral Medicine ●      The Soul's Journey       Lonny Jarrett's Bio:  Lonny Jarrett, has been practicing Chinese Medicine in Stockbridge, Massachusetts since 1986. He is a founding board member of the Ac. Soc. Of Mass. and a Fellow of the National Academy of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. Lonny is author of Nourishing Destiny: The Inner Tradition of Chinese Medicine, The Clinical Practice of Chinese Medicine, and Deepening Perspectives on Chinese Medicine. He holds a master's degree in neurobiology and a fourth-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. He was recently featured in the text, “The Great Work of Your Life: A Guide for the Journey to Your True Calling” by best selling author Stephen Cope. Lonny hosts https://www.nourishingdestiny.com/, an online community for 3000 practitioners of Chinese medicine worldwide.   Where To Find Lonny Jarret:    His teaching schedule is at: lonnyjarrett.com And his texts are available from https://www.spiritpathpress.com/   How to connect to Lorne Brown online and in person (Vancouver, BC)   Acubalance.ca book virtual or in person conscious work sessions with Dr. Lorne Brown Lornebrown.com - videos & more offerings   Conscious hacks and tools to optimize your fertility by Dr. Lorne Brown: https://acubalance.ca/conscious-work/     Download a free copy of the Acubalance Fertility Diet & Recipes and a copy of the ebook 5 Ways to Maximize Your Chances of Getting Pregnant from Acubalance.ca     Connect with Lorne and the podcast on Instagram:   @acubalancewellnesscentre @conscious_fertility_podcast @lorne_brown_official     DISCLAIMER: By listening to this podcast, you agree not to use it as medical advice to treat any medical condition in either yourself or others. This podcast offers information to help the listener cooperate with physicians, mental health professionals or other healthcare providers in a mutual quest for optimal well-being. We advise listeners to carefully review and understand the ideas presented, and to consult your own physician for any medical issues that you may be having. Under no circumstances shall Acubalance, any guests or contributors to the Conscious Fertility podcast, or any employees, associates, or affiliates of Acubalance be responsible for damages arising from the use of the podcast.

True freedom comes from letting go of grasping and opening our hearts. But those two things can be so challenging for us to embody in our modern world. Alison and guest, Stephen Cope, best-selling author and scholar, delve into the relationship between the Eastern contemplative traditions and Western depth psychology and how connecting the two can support you in navigating the modern world.Stephen shares the experiences and insights that he's gained studying these ideas that have shaped his books, including his most recent, “The Dharma in Difficult Times: Finding Your Calling in Times of Loss, Change, Struggle, and Doubt,” and offers a guide for how to connect with your own wisdom, cultivate compassion and open-heartedness, and connect with your inner gifts to contribute to positive change in the world. “There are two forms of grasping in the Buddhist tradition. There's reaching, “oh, I want that. I've got to get that goal. I've got to get over there on the other side of the river.” And then protecting what you have. The real freedom comes in letting go of that grasping, clinging, craving, holding on, and protecting and opening our hearts instead.” CONNECT WITH STEPHEN ​​Stephen Cope is a best-selling author and scholar who specializes in the relationship between the Eastern contemplative traditions and Western depth psychology. Among his seminal works in this area are: Yoga and the Quest for the True Self, The Wisdom of Yoga, and The Great Work of Your Life. His most recent work, The Dharma In Difficult Times, the sequel to The Great Work of Your Life shows us the way through our darkest times to our truest calling. Cope helps give readers a roadmap for the journey to their true calling.For almost thirty years, Stephen has been Scholar-in-Residence at the renowned Kripalu Center—the largest center for the study and practice of yoga in the Western world. Kripalu hosts almost 50,000 guests a year in its many yoga, meditation, and personal growth programs. It is located on a sprawling 200 acre estate in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.—Listen to Juicy Stories: 16 women have joined together to share their stories about spirituality in all its forms.https://alison-crosthwait.lpages.co/juicy-stories-series/—JOIN THE EMAIL LIST TO RECEIVE NON-OBVIOUS THINKING ABOUT PERSONAL GROWTH Sign Up for Alison's Email List —HOW TO MICRODOSE FOR TRANSFORMATION GUIDEReceive the Transformational Microdosing Guide —APPLY FOR EXPAND TO STEP FULLY INTO THE LIFE YOU DESIREExpand is a three month alchemical program to transform your current experience into a new chapter in your life. In Expand you will engage in deep mental, emotional and somatic...

Paul Millerd⁠, author of ⁠The Pathless Path⁠, joins me to talk about "default path" addiction and what it's like to awaken. As former management consultants, we dig hard into this arena too. Enjoy! ***

2Co_3:5  Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; In this podcast Stephen Cope and myself emphasize four points: 1) The Sufficiency of God and The Simplicity of Christ. 2) The Sufficiency of God and The Word of God 3) The Sufficiency of God and The Supernatural Works of God. Much of what we share is taken from 1 Corinthians 2. The hymn that plays at the beginning of the podcast is entitled: SATISFIED Stanza One: All my life long I had panted for a draught from some cool spring that I hope would quench the burning of the thirst within Stanza Two: Feeding on the husks around me, Til my strength was almost gone. Longed my soul for something better, Only still to hunger on. Chorus: Hallelujah !!!!!!! I have found Him (Jesus Christ) Whom my soul so long has craved! Jesus satisfies my longings; Through His life I now am saved. Stanza Three: Well of water, ever springing, Bread of life, so rich and free, Untold wealth that never faileth, My Redeemer (Jesus Christ) is to me. Isa 55:1  Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.  Isa 55:2  Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.  Other Bible Verses emphasized in this podcast: 1Co 2:2  For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.  1Co 2:9  But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.  1Co 2:16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.  2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.  Dan 12:4  But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.    Col 2:3  In whom (Jesus Christ) are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.  Php_1:12  But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; Php_1:21  For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Php 2:20  For I have no man (Timothy) likeminded, who will naturally care for your state.  Php 2:21  For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's.  Luk_23:34  Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. Gen_3:1  Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? Pro 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  Pro 3:6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths 2Ti 3:1  This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.  2Ti 3:2  For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,  2Ti 3:3  Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,  2Ti 3:4  Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;  2Ti 3:5  Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-cook/message

We're back from an unplanned hiatus with our continuing series on Annie's Twelve Embodiments of Yoga. This month, Jen and Annie are chatting about the role of wonder and whimsy in practice. Jen is a little skeptical, especially with whimsy, having generally approached her practice as a serious endeavor. Listen in to see if Annie can bring her around. Mentioned on the Show:"Yoga and the Quest for the True Self" by Stephen Cope"Wonder – is not precisely Knowing" by Emily DickinsonWhat We're Reading:"Let the Great World Spin" by Colum McCann"This Side of Brightness" by Colum McCann"Apeirogon" by Colum McCannMurderbot Diaries by Martha C. Wells"A Memory Called Empire" by Arkady Martine"A Desolation Called Peace" by Arkady Martine~ ~ ~We love to hear from you! Reach out to us on  Facebook and Instagram. We also welcome your messages at feedback@skillfulmeanspodcast.com or in our voicemail box on SpeakPipe.You can get in touch with Jen through her website (http://www.sati.yoga). Find Annie at  Sun & Moon Yoga Studio (https://www.sunandmoonstudio.com) on Wednesday nights (in person or online) for meditation and dharma talks.

A lively conversation with Robert Mulhall, CEO of The Kripalu Center for Yoga, and Stephen Cope, author, psychologist, and longtime Scholar in Residence at Kripalu. They discuss the fascinating history of the most prominent yoga retreat center in America, the challenges of adapting an ancient tradition to modern life, and yoga's (and Kripalu's) role in generating personal and cultural transformation. The Kripalu Center for Yoga Stephen Cope Author, Spiritual Counselor, Speaker, Philip Goldberg Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Creative on Purpose, a show about defining, developing, and delivering the difference only you can make. I'm your host, Scott Perry, encore life coach, author of The Art of Encore Living, and Chief Difference-Maker at Creative on Purpose. In today's episode, I speak with Stephen Cope, author of The Great Work of Your Life and The Dharma in Difficult Times. Click here to learn more about Stephen and the difference he makes. Ready to play your game all in and full out? Visit CreativeOnPurpose.com to get started now!

Hello my friends! For today's episode, I will be talking about purpose, why it's important to talk about purpose, and finding and fully using our gifts. I'll also be getting into the growing discontent with our careers, the five areas of the Aligned Leadership Framework, and I answer some client and listener questions. Let's delve in!   In this Episode You'll Learn: [01:31] What is purpose? [06:34] Why it's important to be having this conversation. [07:41] Why we feel discontent with our work. [08:32] How I chose my career. [12:59] The Aligned Leadership Framework. [13:48] Our Gifts. [14:53] Impact. [15:12] Joy. [15:38] Value. [16:16] Needs. [18:02] Purpose Q&A. [18:13] “Do you think it's better to not have your job be your passion so it doesn't ruin your passion?” [19:05] “Do you think everyone can love their job?” [20:22] “Are there anything you see successful people doing that we could borrow?” [21:22] “I'm an entrepreneur, and I felt like I built my business around my purpose, but now I'm not so sure.” [24:09] “What if you're not exceptional at anything when it comes to your gifts?” [25:00] Do this exercise to recognize your gifts.   Quotes: “Purpose is who we be and how we express that being in the most authentic way we possibly can.” [01:36] “Living entirely in our zone of genius is a form of privilege, but we want to take a step towards it every day.” [11:42] “The goal in life is not to attain some imaginary ideal. It's to find and fully use our own gifts.” [11:51] “Joy is not the destination. Joy is a crucial and necessary ingredient.” [15:23] “We are always evolving, we're always changing, always growing. It's one of the only constants.” [23:22]   Connect with Amina AlTai Website:            aminaaltai.com Instagram:         @aminaaltai TikTok:              theaminaaltai   Resources The Great Work of Your Life, by Stephen Cope. The Seat of The Soul, by Gary Zukav. The Big Leap, by Gay Hendricks. The FREE Passion & Purpose Workbook.

The Rich Man and Lazarus Luke 16-19-31 Stephen Cope joins me in this podcast. Luk 16:19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: Luk 16:20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, Luk 16:21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. Luk 16:22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; Luk 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Luk 16:24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. Luk 16:25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. Luk 16:26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Luk 16:27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: Luk 16:28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Luk 16:29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. Luk 16:30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. Luk 16:31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-cook/message

My next guest is Stephen Cope. He is a best-selling author and scholar who specializes in the relationship between the Eastern contemplative traditions and Western depth psychology. Among his seminal works in this area are: Yoga and the Quest for the True Self, The Wisdom of Yoga, and The Great Work of Your Life. His most recent work, The Dharma In Difficult Times, is the sequel to best-seller The Great Work of Your Life.For almost thirty years, Stephen has been Scholar-in-Residence at the renowned Kripalu Center—the largest center for the study and practice of yoga in the Western world. Kripalu hosts almost 50,000 guests a year in its many yoga, meditation, and personal growth programs. It is located on a sprawling 200 acre estate in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. In addition to his role as Scholar-in-Residence, Stephen is the founder and former director of the Kripalu Institute for Extraordinary Living—one of the world's most influential research institutes examining the effects and mechanisms of yoga and meditation, with a team of researchers from Harvard Medical School, University of Connecticut, University of Pennsylvania, and many more.We talked about:(1:05) What is dharma, one's true calling?(4:21) What do you say to those who are anxious for not having their purpose?(7:21) Thoreau, dharma, and the hunter metaphor(8:05) What are dharma assignments(9:55) What are 'fallow' periods, the times when you are actively searching(13:12) The leap of faith vs. the stepping off the curb(16:27) Surface level of the mind and the deep part of the mind(18:32) What is fluid intelligence? (22:16) How do you differentiate between surface mind and deep mind?(29:14) Three kinds of karma - drawn on water, on the sand, and ethed on the stones.(37:50) Duality and nonduality

Are you struggling with self-care, feeling blocked from progress, and in need of a powerful reset?   Midlife is often when we tend to take our own needs for granted. But there's no better time than now to invest in yourself - and Deanna Hansen can help you do just that!   In this episode of The Hormone Prescription Podcast, Deanna reveals her secrets on how to unlock your body's full potential through Fluid Isometrics and Block Therapy - a revolutionary practice that combines therapy, exercise, and meditation into one. Hear Deanna explain the importance of the fascia system, and learn how to melt away adhesions, scar tissue, and more so you can get back on track to unlocking your fullest potential!   In this episode, you'll learn:   - How Fluid Isometrics and Block Therapy works - The importance of the fascia system - How to melt away adhesions and scar tissue - Ways to awaken cells blocked from blood and oxygen - Tips on how to reset your body for maximum success   Don't miss out on this opportunity – tune in now as Deanna Hansen shows you the missing link in your self-care journey. Let's get you feeling your best, and take back control of your health!   (00:00): Ralph Waldo Emerson said, don't be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams. In this episode, we're gonna cover a topic that relates exactly to this. If you are being pushed by your problems, listen up. But also, if you're being led by your dreams for health, that allows you to go there and do that. Stay tuned.   (00:23): So the big question is, how do women over 40 like us keep weight off, have great energy, balance our hormones and our moods, feel sexy and confident, and master midlife? If you're like most of us, you are not getting the answers you need and remain confused and pretty hopeless to ever feel like yourself Again. As an ob gyn, I had to discover for myself the truth about what creates a rock solid metabolism, lasting weight loss, and supercharged energy after 40, in order to lose a hundred pounds and fix my fatigue, now I'm on a mission. This podcast is designed to share the natural tools you need for impactful results and to give you clarity on the answers to your midlife metabolism challenges. Join me for tangible, natural strategies to crush the hormone imbalances you are facing and help you get unstuck from the sidelines of life. My name is Dr. Kyrin Dunston. Welcome to the Hormone Prescription Podcast.   (01:16): Hi everybody and welcome back to another episode of the Hormone Prescription with Dr. Kyrin. Thank you so much for joining me today. I think you're really gonna love my guest today. I know I say that, but I just do have the best guess on my podcast. I have to say they're super passionate, articulate, and they care so much about people and they've just leaned into the problems of women's health over 40 and found some extraordinary answers. And my guest today is no different. So I hope that you will help me welcome, Deanna. So I'm gonna tell you a little bit about her and then we will get started. I first wanna start by saying, you know, I try to tie everything into hormones and this episode's no different. We're gonna tie what we're gonna talk about, which is fascia into hormones. And I know some of you're scratching your heads and going, how is that possible?   (02:11): And this isn't something I learned in my fellowship training even. It's something that I've learned by working with various practitioners over the years. But if your musculoskeletal system is wonky and almost all of us have wonky musculoskeletal systems, which includes fracture because of something, we deal with 24 7, 365, which is, I know you're thinking stress. It's not gravity, y'all, it's gravity. So gravity is constantly pulling on our tissues. And if we have maladaptive of moving and posturing in the world, which a lot of us do that are habitual, it can cause problems with your hormones and everything else. So we're going to jump into that. She also has a very spiritual Ben, which I love and that's important for hormones too. So we're gonna talk about this quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson and just all things fascia and healing. So I'll tell you a little bit about Deanna, then we'll get started.   (03:09): So Deanna Hansen is the founder of Fluid Isometrics and Block Therapy, which is a body work practice that is therapy, exercise, and meditation all in one. She is the author of two books. One is Fascia Decompression, the Missing Link in Self Care. And this totally is the missing link in almost everyone's self care cuz no one's addressing it. And another book called Unblock Your Body, how Fascia Decompression is the Missing Link in Healing. So she's a retired athletic therapist after 25 years. It's kind of like a physiotherapist or physical therapist in the state. She's from Canada and she worked with the general population and just started seeing the same problems, right? Chronic pain, acute injuries, back pain, migraines, all the things when you think of when you think of physical therapy or physiotherapist. And she really leaned into the questions and it comes down to fascia, which a lot of people aren't talking about.   (04:12): So fascia is not just kind of something that hangs your muscles on your bones, it really surrounds every cell. We're gonna talk about that. But what you don't know about fascia could really cause misery for you. And we don't want that. We want you to have hormonal prosperity, physical prosperity, life prosperity. So that is everything about Deanna and welcome Deanna to the podcast. Thank you so much. I am so excited to be here sharing with your, with your people. So I'm excited to talk about this topic. I first learned about the issue of the musculoskeletal system being involved with metabolic functional disturbances, actually from a chiropractor in Atlanta who was pretty astute. This was not covered in my fellowship training in antiaging, metabolic, and functional medicine. And really he said, well, you know, if there's skeletal misalignment, muscular fascial, it can distort the blood vessels, the nerves, everything.   (05:16): And then nothing functions well including your hormones. So this is a part of having great hormone function and great everything function in the body. So I'm excited to talk to you because I don't think that the majority of people are aware of this and they pretty much totally neglect it. So how did you come to be an expert in this field? I know you had 25 years as an athletic trainer and healer, so can you talk about your journey to developing the programs and tools that you've developed for people to address these fascial musculoskeletal issues? Absolutely.   (05:56): So I'm 53 years old now and when I was 30 years old, I had already been five years into my athletic therapy practice and I always focused on deep tissue work. So using my hands, diving into people's bodies. And by now I've spent well over 60,000 hours working on other people's fascia or my own to really understand this incredible unique system. And what it really comes down to is the understanding of how to put the space back into the body through fascia decompression. So this started for me at the age of 30 when I had made some pretty significant changes in my life and started having severe anxiety attacks around this. At the time I was 50 pounds overweight, I was struggling with anxiety, depression, chronic pain. And even though I had a successful practice, my own personal life was in absolute chaos. So it made some big changes.   (06:50): And as a result of those changes, I started having really severe anxiety attacks. And this one anxiety attack in particular was the seat of everything to come because in that moment I thought I was gonna die. I was literally frozen in fear and I couldn't find my breath. I intuitively dove my hand into my abdomen, let out a gasp, which connected me to the moment. But I also connected to pain, which I didn't even recognize I had deep within because I hated this part of my body. I had a lot of shame there. That was where I carried the majority of my weight. So as I'm intuitively moving my hand around that tissue, I also recognized it was full of scar tissue even though I didn't have any injury or surgery in that space. So this gave me a number of aha understandings as to why when I'm coming home from a five mile run dripping wet with sweat, my belly would still feel cold.   (07:41): So after that first night of about 30, 45 minutes of of working on myself, I felt really calm. Woke up the next day, still felt really calm, which was very unusual for me that night, after working on patients all day, I came back, I did a similar thing to see what was happening. And after another session of me doing that, when I stood up, I felt taller and I went and I looked at myself in the mirror and I literally began to cry. My belly was flatter than it had looked in years. And I did the work I was doing at times 400 sit ups a day, aerobics, tibo, dieting. All of the things that I was trained as an athletic therapist to do to get a fit looking body actually took me in the opposite direction. So to have within two days of just doing this literally at my fingertips, it became what I started to do every day when I came home from work.   (08:28): So after two weeks, my chronic low back pain was going away and I started having all of these other changes happening to me. So I started working on my patients in a similar way and I was having incredible results with them. Shortly after that I started attracting therapists to learn my technique, which I actually call fluid isometrics. The technique I teach therapists to do on patients. But it was my real passion, sorry. Yeah, it was my real passion to teach people self care. So I did try initially teaching people how to use their hands on their own body, but there's a lot of limiting factors to that. So about 12 years ago, that was when block therapy came to be.   (09:05): Okay, great. So what kinds of things were you seeing people for? What kinds of maladies were they having that you were gathering this information about the procedures that you've now created, the processes, what kinds of problems were they having? And if you wanna share some stories about patients, that would be.   (09:27): Great. Initially it was the typical things that people would be seeing me for, like chronic low back pain, neck pain, migraines, those kinds of things, athletic injuries as well. And because I switched how I started approaching things with people, they were sharing with me these additional benefits they were receiving. So for example, if I was working for somebody with, with back pain and I was working in their abdomen, then they were sharing with me that they were having digestive issue improvements or absolutely anything there, their blood pressure was going down. It became this holistic approach and understanding as a result of the work that I was doing. In fact, there was a gentleman that shared that he had erectile dysfunction and as a result of working in that space, his sexual function was improving. So it, it started out as me basically treating for the typical things that I was treating and then patient sharing along the way.   (10:21): All of these other things that were happening as a result of that. And it's grown from there over the last 22 years. For me personally, I've completely changed my entire cellular structure. All the issues that I've ever had are are what? What's actually interesting is all the issues that I used to have are so far in the past that now I'm starting to experience 22 years later continuing positive changes that I continue to share with my community. So we have a gentleman in our community that has Parkinson's and he shared that this is the most impactful thing that he's ever done to help manage his neurological symptoms. We have people with fibromyalgia, with MS. People are here to control their size and shape. Right now I'm currently going through a 90 day trauma program. I had a two day trauma summit where I had 12 speakers and I've now put this into a process to teach people how to pull trauma up and out of the body. And we're having absolutely phenomenal results with this. So it's really anything and everything from anti-aging to chronic pain control, acute injury management disease, it cleans and heal and feeds, feeds the cells in the body.   (11:30): Okay, so let's back up a little bit because I think most people know what fascia is, but I know there's some people who don't and I always like to include everybody. So can you talk about what is fascia? What are the components of the musculoskeletal system? What does it do and why, what you experience might work? How does it function?   (11:52): I think I have a bit of a unique understanding of the fascia system. I did go to the world's first fascia conference that was held in har at Harvard in 2007. And I recognized at the time I was coming at the body from a different perspective. So the way that I see the fascia, it's the cell membrane of each and every cell interconnected through this fascist system. So I, I've heard anywhere from, we have 30 to a hundred trillion cells in the body. So each cell is literally connected through this system and the fascia is here to create stability but also mobility in the body. And it's the communication system between every single cell. So whether we're talking about bone nerves, blood vessels, muscles, fascia, IVAs, every single cell in the body and it's totally interconnected and really I see the issue is fascia decompression.   (12:40): So over our lifetime, under the force of gravity, it's constantly compressing us, pulling us down and we're dominant on one side. So we don't just compress linearly, we wind down over time and as the fascia is here to protect us and keep us upright, as we start tipping off balance, the fascia will grip and adhere to surrounding tissues and then all the way to the bone with a force up to 2000 pounds per square inch to create this stability within the body. However, that stability is also what creates the adhesions that block blood and oxygen flow to and from cells and create the aging process that we today experience as as normal. Even though in my view it isn't something that has to happen, it really is all about keeping the cells in their correct position and cells will migrate away from proper alignment under those negative forces over time. And again, that's what creates pain, aging and disease. And it really comes down to one of our foundational pieces which is proper diaphragmatic breathing. Do you want me to dive into this a little bit? Cuz this is a pretty fascinating part.   (13:45): Well hold on, we'll get to that cuz that is fascinating. But you know, as you're talking about the fascia, you know, connecting all the cells. So I remember back to medical school when we did anatomy lab and we had to dissect a cadaver. And I do think that most people have this concept of fascia, if they have any concept of at all, is that the musculoskeletal system is bones and then muscles that hang on these bones. And if we have any concept of fascia, it's like a canvas bag that envelopes each organ and maybe each muscle and attaches. But really what I learned when we did the anatomy cadaver dissection, you can really see this fine tissue that surrounds, like you said, every single cell in the body and maybe at the cellular level it's much more fine. But then as those cells group together in organs it becomes thicker.   (14:43): But it really is this kind of network that connects everything. So I love how you described that gravity is happening and that's what this chiropractor said. He's like we're all twisted , we're all twisted in some way if we lived any number of years on this planet, but then factor in their repetitive trauma like sitting at a keyboard and typing all day or what are more rep, you know, if you're a baseball player and you're constantly hitting on that one side or lifting heavy things repetitively or like I had to do surgery so I'm bending over constantly, you add all those insult and injury to the fascist story and then you really have a problem. But one thing I wanna dive into before the diaphragmatic breathing, which will be fascinating is you mentioned trauma and that's something I'm very interested in and you know, Bessel VanDerKolk and a lot of the Steven Levine and they all talk about trauma is stored in the tissues and the tissues they say is the fascia. And you talked about how this can help to release it. Can you talk a little bit more about this trauma connection?   (15:51): And, and that ties directly in with the breath. So pain, fear and stress cause us to reactively hold the breath. I just wanna bring my computer screen down here for a moment. So the diaphragm existing hair is a plate of muscle that moves up and down. When we inhale, it moves down. When we exhale it moves up. And if this, if we're properly aligned and this muscle is working as it should be, essentially we are feeding all cells in the body and we're able to remove the toxins away. However, that's not the reality for most people. The majority of people have fallen in, they've collapsed because they aren't diaphragmatic breathers. So this plate of muscle here to support the ribcage and everything above becomes weak, especially for me, like when I was young I was, I was trained to hold in your belly. So if we're not breathing from this space, we end up breathing through here and then this muscle becomes weak and it actually creates this collapse in through here.   (16:44): So now this plate of muscle that is designed to move up and down ends up becoming twisted and locked away. So it's like we have a frozen shoulder, so the body of course is designed to survive. So we're gonna be breathing, but breathing through the muscles of the upper chest is extremely different than breathing through the diaphragm. So pain, fear, and stress cause us to reactively hold the breath. If you look at an animal who survives an attack, they shake because they're getting rid of that energy. Where we as humans, we tend to go into freeze mode. So if 30 years ago I witnessed something awful or something happened to me and I go into that freeze mode and then I lock away, now the body is only feeding the amount of oxygen to the number of cells that the diaphragm is capable of feeding.   (17:31): And I, I read in Steven Cope and yoga and the quest for the true self that we see the body six times the oxygen when breathing die dramatically. And if you think about if we're deprived of oxygen for five minutes, we die. And all of our cells are like little mini versions of us in the big picture. So if, if we're breathing through this space, what are we only feeding maybe 10 to 20% of the cells in our body. So we're literally surviving as opposed to thriving. And then each cell, when it's fully inflated is like a balloon blown up. It almost def divides gravity, it's round, it glows take half of the arrow to balloon, it becomes wrinkled, it becomes dense and heavy. So that's what's happening to our cells over time when we're not consciously and fully breathing with this correct muscle, we're becoming depleted in this light oxygen and we become heavy and we start falling into that internal space. So we literally are losing space within our body as we twist and wind away from proper alignment. So to get back to that correct diaphragmatic breath is one of the pillars that we teach and it's in my view the most important thing that we should really be focusing on for health.   (18:40): It's so true and you know, I love Stephen Cope. I've actually met him, he's like one of my heroes. For anybody who doesn't know Stephen Cope, he's from Kapalo Yoga Center in Massachusetts. He's written many wonderful books that are about physical, emotional, mental, spiritual healing. And I think he's brilliant. So I highly recommend, I did wanna add just something to what you said. I loved everything you said, you know, for the longest time I had heard this theory about, you know, the issues are in the tissues, the trauma is stored in the fascia, but to my brain I I would say like how is that? I don't understand that, but I heard this great explanation and I can't think right in this moment who gave it, I'll have to look it up and get back to everyone. But you know, emotions are waves, they are chemical, biochemical waves.   19:29): And so like you said, we go into a freeze when we don't know how to handle overwhelming emotions and the waves aren't completed and that stored energy, energy is neither created nor destroyed, gets stored in the tissues because the emotional wave didn't get completed. Cuz we go into freeze and because we don't know how to process 'em like the animals do after the, you know, the gazelle is chased by the lion, it shakes and it discharges all that emotion. And so it is stuck there and I love how you tied that into the diaphragm and the breathing. So you said that's something that we address. What kinds of things can people do to improve their breathing? Cuz I know some people are thinking, yeah, if you, they pay attention, they're only breathing in their chest, you know, they're not breathing in their belly.   (20:18): So when we begin our, our block therapy journey, and we're gonna be sharing something at the end that people can use to start this process right away to give fascia decompression a try. So this is the tool first of all, this is, this is the block buddy and the reason it looks like this and is made of this material, this is made of bamboo. And we also use wood because this material and bone are similar in density. And because the root of the fascia is on the bone, it's a magnetic seal on the bone holding, holding us out of alignment with that, that 2000 pound per square inch force, which is just phenomenal to consider, there's that much internal pressure existing in the body. So again, when we are compressed, when we've fallen into this space, even the ribcage is literally holding with that magnetic seal.   (21:03): So we always start our block therapy process working in the ribcage. We start in the belly position to teach people where the breath should come from because if people have been breathing through the muscles of the upper chest for years, decades, which the majority have to even understand where this belly breath should come from, can really seem quite foreign. So when we lie on the block, we're teaching people, we're giving you that prop and then the instruction of inhaling into the blocks so you can really start to understand where to breathe from as well as pressure over time creates a heating of the tissue. So it's really all about melting the adhesions that develop between the layers of fascia that occur when we start tipping off balance. And, and that's the fascia's way of protecting us to keep us upright. So it's these adhesions that we're going after and through the process of melting, that's how we do this.   (21:59): So when we start breathing diaphragmatically, it's like we're turning on the body's internal furnace compared to using a space heater, which would be like breathing through the muscles of the upper chest. When we're breathing this way, we're really not keeping the body heated and the systems flowing optimally to all cells. So the combination of the pressure over time with the diaphragmatic breath heats from the internal and external perspective. And then we very effectively can release those adhesions. So we always start working core and ribcage because we wanna turn you the person into an efficient healer within yourself. And then from there we work through the entire body. So this is a full body practice. And what's really important to understand is there's cause sites to the pain. If you have frozen shoulder working on the shoulder is not gonna get rid of the frozen shoulder because first of all, the rib cage is the foundation for the shoulder joint.   (22:49): So as we fall out of alignment, that alignment is gonna pull the shoulder out of alignment and create issues. Here we need to address the foundations and what is the most important foundation are the calves in the feet. They're the furthest from the heat source, the engine. So the way the fascia rolls around the shins and manipulates the alignment of the ankles and the feet is really in my view, what is most important to look at when looking at the entire body. Because you can focus up through here for years, you start walking, you're gonna get pulled right back into the fascia pattern that is at the base of your body. So block therapy is a holistic approach where we create space through the process of lying on the tool for a minimum of three minutes. We inflate that space through teaching proper diaphragmatic breathing, and then we maintain that space through teaching proper postural foundations.   (23:41): And even the tongue is something we spend a lot of time teaching because it's here to help support the weight of the head, but people don't recognize it for that purpose. And most people's tongue is out of alignment, which creates asymmetry in the jaw, a forward head pull blocks, float of the brain to everything up the chain as well as blocking your major lymphatic drainage site. So it's really looking at the entire system, seeing what's pulling things out of alignment, what is causing those cells to migrate away, releasing that grip and shifting the body so the cells can migrate back. And then the goal is that every cell has optimal space and when it does absorbing the proper nutrients and releasing the toxins in this way is a system that works fluidly and with ease as opposed to struggling to try to feed the cells and to keep the tissue clean when we have these adhesions that are actually blocking the flow.   (24:34): Okay, wow, that's a great explanation. Yes. This concept of our jaw and our tongue. Oh my gosh. You know, if you really start looking at people and you start wa looking at their posture and how they walk and their mannerisms and how they talk, what shapes their mouth takes a lot of us are really crooked. You'll start to notice. And then the next question for me always is why I love to observe human nature, human health, human psychology. And just even when I started doing videos to post online, I would be horrified when I would watch them because my face, I was seeing opposite to what I see when I look in the mirror. So I didn't look like myself, but I really saw my own face for the first time and I saw how crooked I was. My jaw was, my mouth was crooked, and how I speak one side is very much higher than the other, the tongue positioning like you're saying. And so that's what really keyed me into this. And and there's a woman named Jana Danielson who's a, she's one of my instructors.   (25:44): She's one a, my stuff.   (25:46): Yeah. And she's brilliant. And you know, she was talking about how the jaw is your second pelvis, you know, it's your second cauldron. And at first I was like, what are you talking about? And then I thought about it and I thought, oh my gosh, she's so right. It they really are these two cauldrons in your body, one on the bottom, one on the top that frame these bookends to your most precious diaphragm. Like you're talking about your chest cavity and your abdominal cavity with your precious cargo of your, your organs in there. So all this to say, I just wanna highlight for everyone the extreme importance about what Deanna's talking about. I know you're not hearing this in a lot of places at all. In fact, you're not hearing it at your $30 HMO copay doctor, I know you're not. And this is why gone are the days when you can depend on them for everything.   (26:41): Because if you really wanna be optimally healthy, you've got to go outside and you've got to listen to podcasts like this and hear people like Diana talk who have really, she's put her life's work and brilliance into leaning into the problems that people have. The chronic pain, chronic back pain, which is the majority of us. In fact, I think it's estimated that 80% of us at some point in our lifetime will have back pain for a significant period of time. So chronic back pain or migraines or other musculoskeletal pain or even acute injuries, I've had my share of those. And if they're not rehabilitated properly, then it can cause long-term consequences. So this is really the missing piece to your self care plan. Yeah, you've gotta address your hormones. And I would say this is a foundational issue for the hormones. I always like to tie everything into hormones and I'd say none of your hormones are gonna work properly if your fascia isn't working properly because your cells can't communicate and hormones are the communicators in your body, so it's going to cause problems. Talk to them a little bit about you have this great gift for them that they can get started working on this. Now we're gonna have the link in the show notes, but you wanna tell them a little bit about it.   (27:58): So it's our block therapy sound clerk program. So there's nine videos through this program and the very first class, and we teach you using a rolled up towel so you can access it immediately. The rolled up towel is actually quite fabulous for fascia decompression because it's dense as well. And it really is all about that density. The very first class we work on the belly as well as the lower ribs, right where the diaphragm gets locked and held away. So in that very first class, you're going to experience the release of the fasc, the lift and the power of proper diaphragmatic breathing and how that changes how you feel inside your body. Then there's eight other classes where we teach you how to use the towel throughout your whole body as well as provide also instruction on that alignment piece so that you can really get a, a deep sense of what this work is all about.   (28:49): And then from there, if you choose to go to the next step, then that's our starter program where you actually get the tools, the block, and then we just take you and we, we dive in on a whole different level within the body, but it's all about fascia decompression. It's about taking those adhesions out of the body and undoing the seams of time which were created from gravity and from our unconscious postures and habits. So it really is about teaching you how to use your body the way that it was designed to be driven. And when I look at bodies when I'm assessing people and I'm looking at the foundation, I always see one, one side is like a flat tire. So if that right foot is pronounced more, oftentimes there's a bigger bunion on the one side, it's pulled further away from midline, it draws everything in the body into that system.   (29:35): And then what the body naturally does as a response to that is the opposite side goes into anchor mode. So we end up with this immense internal tension. So if you think about chronic back pain, as you were mentioning in the low back, whether it's a herniated disc or or whatever is going on when the entire structure is being pulled away, this is what's happening to the vertebrae as well. So we get the compression in through the front of the body, the disc shoots out the back, puts pressure on the nerves, and if we go and we just simply work that area, we're not addressing what's causing it in the first place. So that's the key with really understanding the cause sites and the pain sites in the body as well.   (30:12): Okay. Now I know there's some people listening who are like, yeah, yeah, yeah, Deanna, I'm just gonna go to the chiropractor, they'll fix it. , what do you say to...   (30:20): That? I'm a huge advocate of chiropractics. I I love doing it as well. However, if, if we're not going to be addressing what is pulling the spine out of alignment, in my view, those adjustments aren't going to help deal a ton with people with scoliosis. And I've really learned that scoliosis is a function of what the limbs are doing. The spine is simply the response to those external forces of your limbs pulling your spine basically in four different directions. So again, chiropractics are amazing, but without addressing the fascist system with that, then it's, it's not gonna hold in the same way because those forces, again, those 2000 pound per square inch forces, that's what we're, that's what we're dealing with. And I think it's different today than say 50 years ago. I was on a podcast where it was mentioned that 144,000 toxins are in the world today compared to in the fifties.   (31:10): So we're dirtier or like our whole fish net, we're so dirty, we, we are so dirty, so we're stickier. The fascia, like if you had a fish net in fast flowing clean water for a month and you pull it out, you might have a few leaves, a little gunk stuck on it, but you put it in a bog for a month and you pull it out, it's covered in yuck, it's sticky, it's gluey. And that's how I feel our fascist system is today. So we need something a little more, I don't ever like to use the word forceful because I'm not about forcing the body, but persuasive in order to free up what's happening in the body so that energy can flow through properly. So in past I think things like acupuncture, reflexology would've been far more effective than they are today because of the dirty, sticky nature of our, of our   (31:53): Systems. Mm-Hmm. , you know, the other having been, I've gone to plenty of chiropractors in my life and, and I think it's so true that the bones become aligned. The, the root cause is not the bones being misaligned, right? The root cause of misaligned bones is not misaligned bones, it's misaligned fascia and misaligned muscle muscles that are pulling the bones out of alignment. So if you don't address the root cause, just like if you don't address the root cause of your hormone problems, you're probably not gonna get the results that you could get. I mean, you can go to the chiropractor and they can adjust your spine and your legs and every joint and bone in your body, but it's probably just gonna get pulled back out because those muscles and fascia are pulling them in habitual misaligned waves. So I think it's really key to get at the root.   (32:43): Yes. And we did a discussion with Gil Headley, an anatomist. I first watched his fuzz speech back, I think it was probably around 2007, where through cadavers he really learned about the adhesions that develop between the layers of fascia. And then it was about eight months ago that we did a discussion with him. So he of course along his journey has dove much deeper into the fascia system and he started talking about the par fascia, which is what we actually address in block therapy. And he really did see it as being the connection between each and every cell within the entire body. So it was just fascinating to be able to put an actual term to what we address in fashion because a lot of people do think it's the casing and it's, it's so much like it, it innovates absolutely everything.   (33:29): You know, I, it's kind of like to me, if you've ever eaten the pomegranate Yes. Right. And you know how the seeds each have their own little compartment and the structure of the pomegranate wraps around the whole thing. It's kind of like that. And I had to real quick pull up Gill Headley buzz speech. I'm gonna have to watch this on YouTube, but that's a great descriptor for this tissue. I mean, if you really pay attention, if you, if you're cooking animal protein and you really dissect it, you can see the fuzz. So it's there for sure. So you had shared a few quotes with me before we started that I absolutely love that. I wanna talk about, because I think that there are a lot of people listening who are feeling pretty hopeless about their health right now. And I really want to give them hope because like you described where you were in your thirties with your health and your life, it was kind of a mess, right? .   (34:25): And I was there in my forties, a big old disaster show. And now look at you now you guys can't see her, but she's absolutely vibrant and glowing and I'm certainly not the same person I was back in my forties. So this quote from Ralph Waldo Amerson, don't be pushed by your problems, be led by your dreams, I think really speaks to that. I know I was pushed by my problems, I'm sure you were too, but at some point when I heard some truth, I could be led by my dreams. Did that happen for you?   (34:59): Absolutely. This, this whole journey began as something that happened to me. It wasn't something I thought up. So along the way, as I was really recognizing how profound this was in helping people heal themselves, I had a lot of my own personal, like, why, why am I supposed to figure this out? And how am I supposed to get this out into the world and, and develop a business around this? And I always trusted the fact that I had been given something beyond Deanna and I had absolute faith in my dreams that I would get this out and I would find the path as I just kept moving forward with that. And that's what's happened. And it is 22 years in. So it certainly was not an overnight success by any stretch. But I never lost faith because I always trusted what I was given to share with people. And I always knew that as long as I stay true to my intention of helping people, then I'll find that path and the right people will come into my life when those moments are necessary. And now I have a team of 17 people helping to bring this out into the world and 240 teachers globally. So we're, we're still, I feel very much at the starting point of things, but it really was through the dream of this book becoming a reality that has led me to that reality. Mm-Hmm   (36:19): . Yeah. And the other quote from what William Shakespeare, the meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away. And I really believe that we each have a gift that only we can bring to the world. And that if we don't feel our best, we're just sitting on our. We can't make it into an asset that we can bring to the world. So hopefully you've heard something here today that you will put into action. You know, I love trying to be educational and, and, and a little bit entertaining, but truly if you don't put these tools into action, they can't do anything for you. So I'm gonna challenge everyone to click the link in the show note and get Deanna's free gift. I'm for sure gonna get it. Cause I haven't done work quite like this. And so I'm gonna do it. And let's see where we can get, how we can improve our fascia and our fuzz and thereby improve the oxygenation and blood flow to our tissues, alignment of our musculoskeletal system, which is gonna improve our hormone balance. And that's what this podcast is all about. So thank you Deanna, so much for sharing your brilliance and your passion with us. Anything else you'd like to share with everyone before we wrap up?   (37:41): I just wanna say thank you so much again for this opportunity to share. And if there's one thing that I love to say to people, especially us women, first and foremost, be kind to yourselves and be kind to yourself because we beat ourselves up to help everybody else, family, workers, whatever that is. And I truly believe if we can give ourselves a little bit of time and attention and love, then it's exponential in how we can actually impact the world and share our creative gifts.   (38:10): So true. And thank you all for joining me for another episode of The Hormone Prescription with Dr. Kirin. Take action. Tell me about it on social media. I can't wait to hear the changes that you noticed just from the simple tweaks that you learned today. Thanks so much and I'll see you next week. Until then, peace, love, and hormones y'all.   (38:30): Thank you so much for listening. I know that incredible vitality occurs for women over 40 when we learn to speak hormone and balance these vital regulators to create the health and the life that we deserve. If you're enjoying this podcast, I'd love it if you give me a review and subscribe. It really does help this podcast out so much. You can visit the hormone prescription.com where we have some free gifts for you, and you can sign up to have a hormone evaluation with me on the podcast to gain clarity into your personal situation. Until next time, remember, take small steps each day to balance your hormones and watch the wonderful changes in your health that begin to unfold for you. Talk to you soon.   ► Block Therapy Sampler Program by Deanna Hansen -Start experiencing the life-changing benefits of fascia decompression. CLICK HERE.   ► Feeling tired? Can't seem to lose weight, no matter how hard you try?   It might be time to check your hormones.   Most people don't even know that their hormones could be the culprit behind their problems. But at Her Hormone Club, we specialize in hormone testing and treatment. We can help you figure out what's going on with your hormones and get you back on track.   We offer advanced hormone testing and treatment from Board Certified Practitioners, so you can feel confident that you're getting the best possible care. Plus, our convenient online consultation process makes it easy to get started.   Try Her Hormone Club for 30 days and see how it can help you feel better than before.   CLICK HERE to sign up.    

Can difficulties in life actually help us to find our purpose and step forward as our best selves? Author and spiritual teacher Stephen Cope takes teachings from the  Bhagavad Gita as well as stories from the lives of well-known ordinary people to offer examples for finding meaning and purpose in our lives.

Stephen Cope, "The great work of your life" Historia del podcast Justine Time Un podcast creado por Mélanie Justine Marie Berthaud durante el encierro histórico de marzo 2020, como un walk and talk podcast sobre distintos temas y ahora una sola temporada, para abordar conversaciones íntimas o extimas sobre temas tales como: - sociedad, - psicoanálisis - literatura, - feminismo, - espiritualidad , con Thich Nhat Hanh, y el libro sobre Sanar el niño interior, que leemos en francés, así como el libro de Deepak Chopra: "Buda". El libro se publicó en 2007, con el título "Buddha: a story of enlightenment". - psicología y el trabajo de Bessel Van der Kolk, y el libro "The body keeps the score" - astrología y las entrevistas con el astróogo, chef e historiador Rodrigo Llanes. #besselvanderkolk#thebodykeepsthescore#traumasensitiveyoga#meljustinemarie#hypnotherapist#psychoanalysis#resilience#memory#yoga@justine.time.yoga.poetry.art#temporada5#chef#historiadorrodrigollanes#podcastjustinetime#justinetimeyogapoetryarts#astrology#moon#newmoons#newmoonrituals ¿Cómo interactuar ? Puedes sugerir temas y dejar mensajes vocales en la página de Anchor , y los incluimos en los episodios que siguen. ¡Animate! Aquí el link: https://anchor.fm/mel88888. ig: justine.time.yoga.poetry.art www.vinyasayogajustinetime.com Esperamos tus comentarios y preguntas. Gracias -------- Mel Berthaud es politóloga, profesora de yoga y meditación, psicoanalista e hipnoterapeuta. Ha integrado completamente la práctica de yoga como ciencia, filosofía y arte. Certificada por RYT500. Con más de 2000 horas de enseñanza registradas en Yoga Alliance. También ejerce el psicoanálisis desde hace 16 años. Es hipnoterapeuta y heutagoga. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mel88888/message

"We can hardly bear to look. The shadow may carry the best of the life we have not lived. Go into the basement, the attic, the refuse bin. Find gold there. Find an animal who has not been fed or watered. It is you!! This neglected, exiled animal, hungry for  attention, is a part of your self."Marion Woodman (as quoted by Stephen Cope in The Great Work of Your Life)#october#besselvanderkolk#thebodykeepstherecord#chapter13Ahora tienes la página de instagram del podcast donde puedes interactuar también: @podcast_justinetime.Sugiérenos temas y proponte para una entrevista! Cada semana , en el círculo de lectura un estudio, estudiamos el trabajo de Bessel Van Der Kolk @bessel_van , titulado "El cuerpo lleva la cuenta". Las y los participantes leemos tres capítulos por semana , se presenta el trabajo , se conversa y se crea un espacio muy valioso de reflexión. Martes 10 am .Las sesiones se pueden ver después en replay. Y se genera un episodio de podcast #podcastjustinetimeHistoria del podcast Justine TimeTemporada 1Un podcast creado durante la pandemia 2020, era un walk and talk podcast sobre distintos temas: sociedad, psicoanálisis, literatura, feminismo, etc. Temporada 2Cuando se acabó la temporada 1, dos años después. iniciamos la lectura de las grandes maestras y los grandes maestros espirituales y, en la temporada 2, estamos leyendo a Thich Nhat Hanh, en francés, con el libro sobre Sanar el niño interior. Temporada 3: Al mismo tiempo, a raíz del Ritual mágico de las mañanas, nació la temporada 3. Una mañana de junio del 2022, después de nuestra sesión, de manera espontánea, empecé a leer el libro de Deepak Chopra: "Buda". El libro se publicó en 2007, con el título "Buddha: a story of enlightenment". La traducción que leemos es de Guillermina Ruiz y la editorial es Santillana. La temporada 4 se dedica a estudiar textos relacionados con Yoga como Ciencia. Desde septiembre del 2022, iniciamos la temporada 4 con el trabajo de Bessel Van der Kolk, y el libro "The body keeps the score"  @bessel_van#besselvanderkolk#thebodykeepsthescore#traumasensitiveyoga#meljustinemarie#hypnotherapist#psychoanalysis#resilience#memory#yoga¿Cómo interactuar ?Puedes dejar mensajes vocales en la página de Anchor , y los incluimos en los episodios que siguen. ¡Animate! Aquí el link: https://anchor.fm/mel88888. Esperamos tus comentarios y preguntas. Gracias--------Mel Berthaud es politóloga, profesora de yoga y meditación, psicoanalista e hipnoterapeuta. Ha integrado completamente la práctica de yoga como ciencia, filosofía y arte. Certificada por RYT500. Con más de 2000 horas de enseñanza registradas en Yoga Alliance. También ejerce el psicoanálisis desde hace 16 años. Es hipnoterapeuta y heutagoga.Buzzsprout -Puedes empezar tu podcast HOY. Si quieres apoyar el Podcast Justine Time y obteneruna tarjeta regalo para empezar tu propio podcast con Buzzsprout:Dale click en: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1776044Mil gracias por tu apoyo y bienvenidx en la familia de podcasteros y podcasteras

Abordamos aquí el capitulo 8 del libro de Bessel Van Der Kolk, "The body keeps the score". Se trata aquí del atrapamiento en las relaciones, del costo del abuso y de la negligenia. La cita inicial es de Stephen Cope, en el libro "Yoga and the quest for the true self"- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Historia del podcast Justine TimeTemporada 1Un podcast creado durante la pandemia 2020, era un walk and talk podcast sobre distintos temas: sociedad, psicoanálisis, literatura, feminismo, etc. Temporada 2Cuando se acabó la temporada 1, dos años después. iniciamos la lectura de las grandes maestras y los grandes maestros espirituales y, en la temporada 2, estamos leyendo a Thich Nhat Hanh, en francés, con el libro sobre Sanar el niño interior. Temporada 3: Al mismo tiempo, a raíz del Ritual mágico de las mañanas, nació la temporada 3. Una mañana de junio del 2022, después de nuestra sesión, de manera espontánea, empecé a leer el libro de Deepak Chopra: "Buda". El libro se publicó en 2007, con el título "Buddha: a story of enlightenment". La traducción que leemos es de Guillermina Ruiz y la editorial es Santillana. La temporada 4 se dedica a estudiar textos relacionados con Yoga como Ciencia. Desde septiembre del 2022, iniciamos la temporada 4 con el trabajo de Bessel Van der Kolk, y el libro "The body keeps the record". ¿Cómo interactuar ?Puedes dejar mensajes vocales en la página de Anchor , y los incluimos en los episodios que siguen. ¡Animate! Aquí el link: https://anchor.fm/mel88888. Esperamos tus comentarios y preguntas. Gracias--------Mel Berthaud es politóloga, profesora de yoga y meditación, psicoanalista e hipnoterapeuta. Ha integrado completamente la práctica de yoga como ciencia, filosofía y arte. Certificada por RYT500. Con más de 2000 horas de enseñanza registradas en Yoga Alliance. También ejerce el psicoanálisis desde hace 16 años. Es hipnoterapeuta y heutagoga, con especialización en la educación a niñxs desde hace 13 años y a adultos desde 30 años. Es fundadora de la plataforma de bienestar Vinyasa Yoga Justine Time, que ofrece clases en línea de yoga y meditación, retiros virtuales y presenciales, clases en presencial en el bosque, así como círculos semanales de lectura y  el Podcast Justine Time (tres temporadas).https://vinyasayogajustinetime.com (en español, en inglés y en francés)vinyasayogajustinetime@gmail.comNamaste Buzzsprout -Puedes empezar tu podcast HOY. Si quieres apoyar el Podcast Justine Time y obteneruna tarjeta regalo para empezar tu propio podcast con Buzzsprout:Dale click en: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1776044Mil gracias por tu apoyo y bienvenidx en la familia de podcasteros y podcasteras

Paul Millerd, author of The Pathless Path, joins me to talk about "default path" addiction and what it's like to awaken. As former management consultants, we dig hard into this arena too. Enjoy! Access the newsletter: Uncaged Secrets Cohort course: Uncaged Academy Show website: UncageYourself.FM *** TIMESTAMPS 03:12 The Great Contemplation 06:21 How Paul's book affected Matt 08:25 The process of Awakening 09:51 Pre-awakening (most people trapped here) 15:58 Addiction to Default Paths 19:03 Value of an early-career foothold 21:56 "There's a pebble in my shoe" 23:51 Higher stakes if you're a parent 27:10 Understanding life tradeoffs 28:28 The Pathless Path 31:21 Uncertainty as a feature 33:10 Testing boundaries at work 38:31 The great work of your life 41:15 Minimal risk in betting on yourself 44:21 Thoughtful re-entry into corporate life 51:20 Rapid-fire 57:53 What's your "work" story? *** TAKEAWAYS 1. Great Resignation might actually be the Great Contemplation: a rejection of scripted life, healthier conversation about our identification as "workers," and a desire to take control of your life. 2. Rule of thumb: most people you'll meet are asleep (80%), some are groggy (15%), and a few are truly awake (5%). 3. The Protestant Reformation triggered an "obsession" with work, which has taken global hold. 4. Aim of life for people came to find work and then hold on tight to that path. 5. The Default Path feels addictive because the start is so thrilling. Eventually, we stop growing and become sleepy. 6. Instead of doing the work, you eventually find yourself doing performative work (pretending to be valuable). 7. Tough for parents to fake it at work while simultaneously encouraging your kids to blaze their own path. 8. We can't let sunk costs weigh us down. Your life season hugely impacts what you should say "yes" to next. 9. Not knowing what comes next might actually be a feature, not a bug. 10. "If there are clear boundaries [at work], there is also great freedom to adapt and imagine within those lines. These boundaries, however, should always be tested to see if they are actually still real. It takes conscious acts by individuals to test these edges." —David Whyte 11. Great work of your life: continually find the great work of your life (Stephen Cope). 12. Know yourself: deliver targeted value inside your 9-5; push yourself for exponential growth in the outside world. *** RESOURCES The Pathless Path (book) Paul's newsletter, site, & podcast Follow Paul on Twitter Connect w/ Paul on LinkedIn Connect w/ Matt on LinkedIn Follow on Twitter @MatthewRDoan Check the show on YouTube

Join Angela in this solo episode: My Experience with Panchakarma, Part 3. Healing is an ongoing process, and through Panchakarma, Angela was able to peel back several more layers of her healing onion. In this episode, Angela shares about the books she read during Panchakarma, as well as the deep dive exploration she went through mentally and emotionally. Learn more about: • a recap of the two approaches to Ayurvedic therapies, as well as how she learned to let go of her control of the process • Angela's deep dive into and lessons learned from two books read during Panchakarma • contemplation of your own life story and inquiry into finding room for growth in your life when it comes to the relationships you hold • letting go of expectation and knowing that perfection doesn't exist • what's been going on with Angela since she's left Panchakarma • how her life has shifted since she's begun asking herself: how can I respond to this with playfulness? Resources Mentioned: Sacred Contracts by Caroline Myss - https://amzn.to/3IYyfTC The Great Work of Your Life by Stephen Cope - https://amzn.to/3Or22p5 Previous Episodes Mentioned: 201 | My Experience with Panchakarma, Part 1 202 | My Experience with Panchakarma, Part 2 170 | Making Peace with Prescriptions 200 | Unraveling Karma     Become a certified Ayurvedic Health Counselor in Angela's upcoming 600-hour Simple Ayurveda Training. To get started, book a discovery call: https://simpleayurveda.as.me/chat This program is for those who have a background as yogis, holistic healers, or have been studying with Angela's podcast and community for some time. To download the curriculum or enroll today: https://simpleayurvedaschool.teachable.com/p/ahc Program begins September 1st, 2022 and will be the most intimate cohort ever led directly by Angela. Learn more about Angela and her work: Ayurveda Health Counselor Program: https://simpleayurvedaschool.teachable.com/p/ahc  Website: https://simpleayurveda.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simple_ayurveda

Celebrated yoga teacher and activist Seane Corn speaks to Banyen Books about her book, Revolution of the Soul. Seane Corn is an internationally acclaimed yoga teacher and public speaker known for her social activism, impassioned style of teaching, and raw, honest and inspired self-expression. Over her 25-year teaching career, Seane has created many instructional DVDs, including her groundbreaking series The Yoga of Awakening with Sounds True. Featured on over 40 magazine covers and countless media outlets, Seane has chosen to use her platform to bring awareness to global issues including social justice, sex trafficking, HIV/AIDS awareness, generational poverty, and animal rights. In 2005, she was named “National Yoga Ambassador” for YouthAIDS, and in 2013 received both the Global Green International Environmental Leadership Award and the Humanitarian Award by the Smithsonian Institute. Since 2007, she has been training leaders of activism through her co-founded organization Off the Mat, Into the World®. Seane also co-founded the Global Seva Challenge, which has raised over $3.5 million by activating communities of yoga and wellness in fund and awareness raising efforts. Revolution of the Soul has been praised by Jack Kornfield, Rev. angel Kyodo williams, Sally Field, Gabrielle Bernstein, Marianne Williamson, Valarie Kaur, Larry David, Stephen Cope, David Geffen, Katherine Woodward Thomas, Jeff Brown, Elizabeth Lesser and many others.

Today my guest is the beautiful and generous soul that is Mary Tilson. I looooved this conversation with her so much that it's one of the longer ones I've published in 5 years of doing the podcast. Mary shares her story of alcoholism and how she recovered, and also the tools and science of behavior change. So with that, please enjoy this episode with Mary!   How to Connect with Mary Tilson Website: www.sunandmoonsoberliving.com Instagram: @sunandmoon.soberliving Podcast: Sun & Moon Sober Living Podcast Watch on YouTube: ​​https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNuRolkOZ7X8fCEFCDYd5tg     Lightning Round Answers Book recommendations: Alcoholics Anonymous Wisdom of Yoga, by Stephen Cope   Favorite Quote: “Discipline is the path to freedom” Self Care Practice: Meditation & Yoga, Retreats What I wish I knew: The critical voice is not the bearer of truth Just for fun: Subscribe So You Don't Miss New Episodes!   Listen On:   https://apple.co/30g6ALF   https://odaatchat.libsyn.com/spotify   https://bit.ly/3n0taNQ     Watch Full Episodes!   https://bit.ly/2UpR5Lo

Stephen Cope is a best-selling author and scholar who specializes in the relationship between the Eastern contemplative traditions and Western depth psychology. Among his seminal works in this area are: Yoga and the Quest for the True Self, The Wisdom of Yoga, and The Great Work of Your Life. His most recent work, Deep Human Connection, is an examination of the psychology, neurobiology, and spirituality of deep human connection, and the imperatives of human attachment—an issue of great importance to both the Eastern and Western traditions. For almost thirty years, Stephen has been Scholar-in-Residence at the renowned Kripalu Center—the largest center for the study and practice of yoga in the Western world. Kripalu hosts almost 50,000 guests a year in its many yoga, meditation, and personal growth programs. It is located on a sprawling 200 acre estate in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. In addition to his role as Scholar-in-Residence, Stephen is the founder and former director of the Kripalu Institute for Extraordinary Living—one of the world's most influential research institutes examining the effects and mechanisms of yoga and meditation, with a team of researchers from Harvard Medical School, University of Connecticut, University of Pennsylvania, and many more. Stephen is the recipient of both a Telly and an Apple award for his work. In its twenty-fifth anniversary edition, “Yoga Journal” named him one of the most influential thinkers, writers, and teachers on the current American yoga scene. Stephen and guest host Mirjam Paninski share an enlightening conversation about Stephen's new book, The Dharma in Difficult Times. Stephen can be found at: https://www.stephencope.com/ Mirjam's website is: https://www.mirjampaninski.com/ #dharma #eft #eftuniverse #mindtomatter #blissbrain #difficulttimes 

Stephen Cope and Sharon Salzberg come together in Metta Hour to discuss dharma and the shared struggles of humanity. In this episode Sharon and Stephen talk about:How Stephen arrived at Kripalu CenterStephen's new bookThe Bhagavad GitaDharma and Sacred VocationTimes of StruggleLoving Kindness vs. Hatred and AngerYoga and CompassionGuided meditationToday's podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/mettaStephen Cope is a best-selling author and scholar who specializes in the relationship between the Eastern contemplative traditions and Western depth psychology. For almost thirty years, Stephen has been Scholar-in-Residence at the renowned Kripalu Center. Stephen is also the founder and former director of the Kripalu Institute for Extraordinary Living—one of the world's most influential research institutes examining the effects and mechanisms of yoga and meditation, with a team of researchers from top universities. Stephen's new book, The Dharma in Difficult Times, is now available to purchase. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Episode show notes  12:30 What book are you currently reading? Do you like it? How did you find it? 18:10 Who is your favorite author/what is your favorite genre? 20:00 What is your earliest memory of reading? 23:00 Melissa's 7 favorite books of all time! 35:28 If you could have an author write about your life who would it be? 38:04 What makes you dog-ear a page in a book? 40:22 If you could gift someone a book, what would it be, who would it be to and why? 42:40 Why do you read?     Books mentioned in episode  Anything Osho  Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl  The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho  Positive Disintegration by Kazimeriz Dabrowski  Originals by Adam Grant  Origins of Genius by Dean Simonton  Touch With Fire by Kay Redfield Jamison Play by Stuart Brown  The Joy of Living Courageously by Osho  Yoga and the Quest for the True Self by Stephen Cope   Connect with Melissa & the LifeLines community!  Website: https://www.lifelines.com/ (https://www.lifelines.com/)  Instagram: @seeklifelines https://www.melissaanddoug.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjw682TBhATEiwA9crl31quKjB2zKMQF3w_BIV7HG-m5jDJIrW5vXJuQAwtI9iAvcugROMRTBoC7lwQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds (Melissa & Doug Toys)        

In today's episode, we have a quote from Stephen Cope. I talk about my amazing Saturday. I hope you had the best weekend possible! Thanks for listening. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/yourbestieron/message

Stephen Cope Discussion by Discussion by Dennis and Phil

Stephen Cope is a best-selling author and scholar who specializes in the relationship between the Eastern contemplative traditions and Western depth psychology. Among his seminal works in this area are: Yoga and the Quest for the True Self, The Wisdom of Yoga, The Great Work of Your Life. Deep Human Connection, and his most recent book, The Dharma in Difficult Times: Finding Your Calling in Times of Loss, Change, Struggle, and Doubt. For almost thirty years, Stephen has been Scholar-in-Residence at the renowned Kripalu Center—the largest center for the study and practice of yoga in the Western world in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Formerly, he was director of the Kripalu Institute for Extraordinary Living, one of the world's most influential research institutes examining the effects and mechanisms of yoga and meditation, in collaboration with researchers from Harvard Medical School and other institutions. In its twenty-fifth anniversary edition, “Yoga Journal” named Stephen one of the most influential thinkers, writers, and teachers on the current American yoga scene. We spoke about his personal path, his engagement with Kripalu, and mainly his new book, The Dharma in Difficult Times. Learn more about Stephen Cope here: https://www.stephencope.com/

Are you clear on your motivation? This guest challenges us all to figure out the drivers behind our business aspirations. For Michelle Leotta, it's the determination to give her two young sons a rich upbringing and access to a college education. What's your motivation? Knowing the answer to this question could make the difference between jumpstarting your entrepreneurial venture and remaining a hobbyist, stalled in first gear. Michelle developed her She's Got Power platform following her own personal journey to wellness. It was ultimately a lucky combination of preparation and timing that catapulted her into a midcareer change of direction. Frustrated with dismissive doctors who didn't understand a range of persistent symptoms, Michelle became a sleuth and figured out on her own that she was suffering fallout out from burnout. The tools she acquired in order to heal were transformational – knowledge that she enjoyed sharing informally with family and friends. But an unexpected layoff from her corporate advertising job in 2008 opened the door on a whole new world of opportunity. It was quite a surprise! Completely bought into the W2 paycheck lifestyle, Michelle was definitely an accidental entrepreneur. But she has never looked back, starting her business with straightforward one-to-one coaching and expanding over time into robust mentoring programs for fellow coaches just starting out. She's also a high-profile voice thanks to her blogging and the social media communities she has built on Facebook, Instagram and elsewhere. This episode of She Turned Entrepreneur features lots of actionable tips and food for thought as you move forward with your own unique startup venture! You can learn more about Michelle's course on health coaching here. Click here to listen to, rate and review this or previous She Turned Entrepreneur episodes. Here are key takeaways from the conversation:· Being laid off can also be viewed as being given an opportunity to pursue your dream!· Great Tip: Be an early adopter of emerging social media opportunities (like blogging or podcasting). It's much easier to raise your profile because competition is less fierce. · Start small, coaching one-to-one. Elaborate online programs or subscriptions aren't necessary right out of the gate.· Find a Niche: It's important to know yourself and what makes you uniquely suited to your target audience.· Jumpstart your business by getting clear about your motivation, which could be anything from getting food on the table to taking an extravagant vacation. Here's a quick look into the episode:· How a health crisis with a constellation of undiagnosed symptoms spurred Michelle to take matters into her own hands. Knowing she was not “just fine,” as myriad doctors had told her dismissively, she was determined to figure out her own wellness.· Although she'd gotten a credential and was advising friends and family, Michelle might never have started her coaching business had she not been laid off during the recession in 2008.· Although Michelle had a wealth of marketing and advertising know-how from her previous corporate job, bootstrapping resources are a lot more limited!· Michelle's avenues for promoting her business:o Podcastso Blogging o Facebook groups· Michelle's business model is two-pronged: o Working one-to-one with private individual clients.o Mentoring new coaches just starting out.· Don't get caught in the online course trap. Anything that Michelle has scaled first started small and then built from there. She advises: If you jump out prematurely, you'll fall flat.· The health coaching field is somewhat “the wild west” in that the levels of training and certification can vary wildly.· Tap Into Your Story: Understand your own narrative to better connect with the types of people who will work well with your style, perspective and knowledge base. For example, Michelle works really well with women suffering burnout and chronic stress because, of course, she has been there.· Michelle's Top Tips for Stressed Entrepreneurs:o Balance has to come first if you want a sustainable business. o Prioritizing health is part of your job as an entrepreneur. Coffee and cigarettes are not a long-term wellness protocol!· Michelle's Recommended Reading:o Any books on personal development (and yoga) written by Stephen Cope.· Figure out your motivation! If you're not really, truly motivated to earn it's easy to get stuck in a hobby place, which is fine – unless you aspire for your business to be more. About Michelle:Michelle's story of burnout recovery has been featured on ABC, CBS, NPR and the inspiring documentary “Lemonade.” Since 2009 she's been a practicing, certified health coach and mentor for her fellow coaches. Michelle is a presenter at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, partner of Primal Health Coach Institute and the creator of Healthy Profit University.

In this episode, my guest is Stephen Cope the author of the new book The Dharma in Difficult Times: Finding Your Calling in Times of Loss, Change, Struggle, and Doubt. Stephen is a best-selling author and scholar who specializes in the relationship between the Eastern contemplative traditions and Western depth psychology. Stephen is a repeat guest on the show! We spoke around a year ago to discuss his book The Great Work of Your Life. In the conversation, Stephen and I discuss:The meaning of DharmaDisorienting Dilemma'sMaking sense of sufferingThe benefits of contemplationLetting go of the outcomeWisdom in daily life and much moreConnect with Stephen Cope: stephencope.com/Follow In Search of Wisdom:Subscribe to our YouTube ChannelTwitter: twitter.com/searchofwisdomInstagram: instagram.com/searchofwisdompodcastSign-up for The PATH our free newsletter (short reflections on wisdom). 

At some point in our life, we all go through difficult times when we experience pain, disappointments and loss. These experiences can have a profound impact on us, for better or worse.  According to my guest, Stephen Cope, crises does not have to derail us. It can be the very thing that can help us find our purpose and step forward as our best selves.  This is the central theme of his new book “Dharma in Difficult Times.” Stephen Cope is a psychotherapist, Kripalu Yoga teacher, scholar and best-selling author of several books on yoga and meditation. He is the founder of the Kripalu Institute for Extraordinary Living in Stockbridge, Massachusetts—the largest center for the study and practice of yoga in the Western world. Yoga Journal named him one of the most influential thinkers, writers, and teachers on the current American yoga scene. Stephen offers his insight into how we can identify purpose as we find our way through our darkest times. He explains what it means to find our Dharma using examples from his own life and the lives and teachings of some famous figures from history.  If you liked what you heard, don't forget to like, rate, share and subscribe to this podcast. Thank you!

Stephen Cope speaks with Banyen on his new book. The Dharma in Difficult Times: Finding Your Calling in Times of Loss, Change, Struggle, and Doubt. How do we make sense of our lives when our world seems to be falling apart? In this beautifully written book, scholar and teacher Stephen Cope shows that crises don't have to derail us from our purpose—they can actually help us to find our purpose and step forward as our best selves. In the spirit of Pema Chödrön's When Things Fall Apart, The Dharma in Difficult Times is required reading for anyone forging a path through crisis. Stephen Cope is a bestselling author and scholar who specializes in the relationship between the Eastern contemplative traditions and Western depth psychology. Among his seminal works in this area are Yoga and the Quest for the True Self, The Wisdom of Yoga, The Great Work of Your Life, and Deep Human Connection. For almost 30 years, Stephen has been Scholar-in-Residence at the renowned Kripalu Center—the largest center for the study and practice of yoga in the Western world. Stephen is also the founder and former director of the Kripalu Institute for Extraordinary Living—one of the world's most influential research institutes examining the effects and mechanisms of yoga and meditation. In its 25th anniversary edition, “Yoga Journal” named him one of the most influential thinkers, writers, and teachers on the current American yoga scene.

Do you ever ask yourself, “What can I do in the face of these deep, pervasive social, cultural, and spiritual dilemmas that our species has faced and will continue to face in the decades and centuries to come?”Stephen Cope's latest work The Dharma in Difficult Times dives deep into this question. He weaves ancient wisdom from the Bhagavad Gita together with an exploration of the lives of eight different people over the course of the past ~240 years. People who - in the face of colonialism, enslavement, subjugation, oppression, and racism - found a way to listen to their own inner wisdom and take action that rippled throughout their communities and through the world.The book taught me that at every level of our lives there is an opportunity to abide by the quiet inner voice inside of us. If we're willing to slow down enough to hear it, we can find our way towards a deep sense of purpose that will carry us through our lifetime and weave its way into the lives of many generations to follow.Stephen is the author of a number of books that have had a profound impact on how I relate to my sense of purpose and calling in the world, such as Yoga and the Quest for the True Self, Soul Friends: The Deep Power of Human Connection, and The Great Work of Your Life. He is also a personal mentor and friend, and it's safe to say The Wonder Dome wouldn't exist if not for the invitations he's given me to listen to my own quiet inner voice and find my calling.So I hope this conversation helps you find your way to your own calling in these difficult times; to the beautiful possibility that you are participating in something that has existed long before you and will carry on long after you.Get Connected:The Wonder Dome Newsletter http://bit.ly/3dTfdPi​Follow Andy on Twitter http://twitter.com/cahillaguerillaFollow us on Instagram http://instagram.com/thewonderdomepod​Like us on Facebook http://facebook.com/mindfulcreative.coachCheck out all of Stephen's writing: stephencope.com/shop/#booksLearn more about Kripalu: kripalu.orgConnect with Stephen on StephenCope.com

Dr Lauren Tober sits down with Stephen Cope to talk about dharma and living a life of meaning and purpose.Stephen is a best-selling author & scholar specialising in the relationship between Eastern contemplative traditions & Western depth psychology. A Scholar-in-Residence at the Kripalu Center for 30 years, Stephen is the Founder & former director of the Kripalu Institute for Extraordinary Living, and named as one of the most influential thinkers, writers & teachers on the current American yoga scene by Yoga Journal.This interview was recorded as part of the 2022 Mental Health and Yoga Summit, but we loved it so much that we wanted to share it with you here on the podcast.

Stephen Cope is a best-selling author and scholar who specializes in the relationship between the Eastern contemplative traditions and Western depth psychology. Among his seminal works in this area are: Yoga and the Quest for the True Self, The Wisdom of Yoga, and The Great Work of Your Life.  His most recent work, Deep Human Connection, is an examination of the psychology, neurobiology, and spirituality of deep human connection, and the imperatives of human attachment—an issue of great importance to both the Eastern and Western traditions. For almost thirty years, Stephen has been Scholar-in-Residence at the renowned Kripalu Center—the largest center for the study and practice of yoga in the Western world. Kripalu hosts almost 50,000 guests a year in its many yoga, meditation, and personal growth programs. It is located on a sprawling 200 acre estate in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. In addition to his role as Scholar-in-Residence, Stephen is the founder and former director of the Kripalu Institute for Extraordinary Living—one of the world's most influential research institutes examining the effects and mechanisms of yoga and meditation, with a team of researchers from Harvard Medical School, University of Connecticut, University of Pennsylvania, and many more. Stephen is the recipient of both a Telly and an Apple award for his work. In its twenty-fifth anniversary edition, “Yoga Journal” named him one of the most influential thinkers, writers, and teachers on the current American yoga scene.

Spiritual Renaissance Man, Stephen Cope, joins David for a wide-spanning conversation connecting art, music, meditation, yoga, Trungpa Rinpoche, and dealing with critics.This podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/beherenowStephen Cope, MSW, Scholar-in-Residence and Kripalu Ambassador, is the founder and former Director of the Kripalu Institute for Extraordinary Living. He is the author of several best-selling books, including Yoga and the Quest for the True Self; The Great Work of Your Life: A Guide for the Journey to Your True Calling; Soul Friends: The Transforming Power of Deep Human Connection; and his new release due out January 2022, The Dharma in Difficult Times: Finding Your Calling in Times of Loss, Change, Struggle, and Doubt. For more info please visit StephenCope.comDavid recently launched Dharma Moon – a website offering Workshops/Courses, Teacher Trainings, Mentoring & more, at www.DharmaMoon.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

PURPOSE! How to Optimize yours with more wisdom in less time: https://www.optimize.me/missions/purpose Get all the wisdom from the best Purpose books out there— in less time (!) — with a collection of PhilosophersNotes distilling the Big Ideas and an Optimal Living 101 class highlighting the absolute best of the best. All 100% free. Forever. No credit card required. No ads. No strings attached. Period. → https://www.optimize.me/ You'll learn the Big Ideas from: - The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell: https://www.optimize.me/pn/the-hero-with-a-thousand-faces-joseph-campbell - The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell: https://www.optimize.me/pn/the-power-of-myth-joseph-campbell - Pathways to Bliss by Joseph Campbell: https://www.optimize.me/pn/pathways-to-bliss-joseph-campbell - A Joseph Campbell Companion by Joseph Campbell: https://www.optimize.me/pn/a-joseph-campbell-companion-joseph-campbell - Noble Purpose by William Damon: https://www.optimize.me/pn/noble-purpose-william-damon - The Path to Purpose by William Damon: https://www.optimize.me/pn/the-path-to-purpose-william-damon - The Second Mountain by David Brooks: https://www.optimize.me/pn/the-second-mountain-david-brooks - The Great Work of Your Life by Stephen Cope: https://www.optimize.me/pn/the-great-work-of-your-life-stephen-cope - Mastery by Robert Greene: https://www.optimize.me/pn/mastery-robert-greene Plus, with your (FREE!) Optimize wisdom membership, you'll get instant access to 600+ PhilosophersNotes, 50+ Optimal Living 101 classes, and 1,000+ Optimize +1s, all to help you Optimize every aspect of your life with more wisdom in less time. So… What do YOU want to Optimize today? Ancient Wisdom Modern Science Mental Toughness Habits Sleep Stoicism Buddhism Purpose Leadership Focus Goal Setting Productivity Energy Peak Performance Meditation Nutrition Weight Loss Fitness Breathing Prosperity Creativity Learning Self-Image Willpower Sports Business Relationships Parenting Public Speaking Conquer Cancer Conquer Anxiety Conquer Depression Conquer Perfectionism Conquer Procrastination Conquer Digital Addiction

Kate and Shawn went live on the Facebook! They talked about people we need to surround ourselves with to do our best work. Who are your best creative friends? Who are your soul friends? These are the people who push you to be the best version of yourself. They're the people you turn to for advice, support, and a kick in the pants. If, you know, a kick in the pants is what you need.  Check out Stephen Cope's book, https://www.amazon.com/Soul-Friends-Transforming-Power-Connection/dp/1401946526 (Soul Friends), for more information and join our https://www.facebook.com/groups/createfornoreason (Create for No Reason Facebook Group) to become part of the conversation.

I have not been stirred by a book or a message like the one I discovered reading author Stephen Cope's book The Great Work of Your Life. Many of my colleagues today search for work that provides meaning and purpose as they navigate the final third of their working career, myself included. Cope's book taught me what questions to ask and what types of answers to listen for. 

I welcome Demi back for her THIRD interview -- yes, three. She's that good, she continues to grow and stretch my thinking and I'm so thankful for her friendship, coaching and the thought-provoking conversations we have. Awhile back she'd mentioned something to me about the leap from the hamster wheel onto the "magic carpet," or letting go of things that no longer serve us, moving on from chapters of past callings and looking ahead to the new ventures and seasons and chapters that call us, beckon us, but usually -without all of the information that we want or "need" to be "ready" to make the leap. (Yes, lots of air quotes to indicate these ephemeral things we get so wound up in our heads about)... she said to me once, there's always a gap, Megan.... there's always a gap between the leap and the landing... between leaving the shore of the known, swimming out into the vast ocean and then eventually seeing the sights of the new shore where we are headed -- perhaps that space of the magic carpet, the calling, the dharma, the Gift of our life.... There is almost always a gap - -this almost always requires a leap into the unknown, jumping and building wings on the way down... Demi is the perfect person to unpack this for us and it's so beautiful that I happened to be re-reading "The Great Work of Your Life" at this time. Yes, there's a lot here, but I am positive something here will land with you, will expand your awareness - will cause you to perhaps close a door behind you even as you seek the next door to open. You can find Demi here: TheAuthenticleaderinYou.com Take her Leadership quiz – learn more about your leader personality type ! Are you ready to make your leap of faith? To get off the fence of that analysis paralysis.... I hope this podcast helps you. The book I mention: The Great Work of Your Life by Stephen Cope — highly recommend! Thanks as always to Stu at Relish Studio for editing/post-production work!

Best-selling author and scholar Stephen Cope explores how the practical wisdom of the ancient yogic text, The Bhagavad Gita, can be applied to our daily lives. He also shares about the importance of living your dharma. Heard Here: Pathways to the Spirit; 100 Ways to Bring Sacred into Daily Life, by Susan Santucci The Bhagavad Gita, 2nd Edition, by Eknath Easwaran  

Stephen Cope is the Scholar Emeritus at the renowned Kripalu Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. He is the author of many best-selling books on the topic of yoga and meditation. For over thirty years, his interest has been in bringing important but esoteric yoga scriptures to the mainstream, including, most recently, the two-thousand-year-old spiritual classic called The Bhagavad Gita, or "The Song of God." His new book on The Gita, entitled The Dharma of Difficult Times, will be released later this year. Some of the points discussed in this conversation: Stephen's background. Dharma – “Sacred Duty”, “That course of action most conducive to your spiritual development” - with particular reference to the Bhagavad Gita. Indra's net - the connection between the soul's good and the common good. Dharmic hierarchies: individuals, families, communities, nations, planets. The evolutionary opportunities of the human realm as compared with higher realms. Being honest, humble, and discreet about one's progress on the path. The value of long-term practice. The value of meditation for musicians, athletes, and others whose success demands sharp focus. The four pillars of karma yoga: discerning one's dharma, applying oneself to it, being unattached to the outcome, and “turning it over to God”. Overcoming the habit of reaching and grasping. The distinction between motivation and grasping. How to determine your dharma. You can still live your dharma even if your job does not fulfill it. You may have many dharmas, both simultaneously and sequentially. To live your dharma is to surrender your life to a higher power and become a channel through which the world benefits. Examples from the lives of Whitman, Beethoven, Frost, Gandhi, Keats, etc. The Gospel of Thomas: “If you bring forth what is within you, what is within you will save you, if you do not bring forth what is within you, what is within you will destroy you”. Suffering can break us open and enable us to receive new information. Just vs. unjust wars. Living your dharma may require sacrificing some attractive things that are not aligned with it. During periods of dharma transition, we may experience doubt and uncertainty. The importance of commitment: “Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.” Living a disciplined and holy life bears fruit. "The means collect around sattwa." Focusing our energy and attention rather than scattering it. The difference between happiness and fulfillment. Fulfillment independent of gain and loss. Books: The Great Work of Your Life: A Guide for the Journey to Your True Calling (Discussed in this interview) Yoga and the Quest for the True Self The Wisdom of Yoga: A Seeker's Guide to Extraordinary Living Deep Human Connection: Why We Need It More than Anything Else Website: stephencope.com Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group. Interview recorded May 29, 2021 Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.

Today I sit down with my friend Angel Rivera. He owns the premiere mountain bike shop in North Georgia and has changed the way bike shops operate in the Southeast. He also is responsible for pointing me in the right direction as I explore the path of Yoga and Enlightenment. So, sit down and prepare yourself for one of the most diverse episodes yet. Sixes Pit Bicycle Shop, 10511 Bells Ferry Rd Suite 400, Canton, GA 30114. Phone: (470) 765-6748 Sivana Podcast, Great podcast for learning about Enlightenment and Yoga (I recommend episodes 1 - 119). The host is Ashton Szabo from Anatomy of Living. Yoga and the Quest for the True Self, book by Stephen Cope. The Veterans Crisis Line can be reached by phone at 1-800-273-8255 then press 1, by text at 838255 or online chat on their website at veteranscrisisline.net.        

In this episode, I speak to Stephen Cope author of The Great Work of Your Life.  Stephen is a best-selling author and scholar who specializes in the relationship between Eastern contemplative traditions and Western depth psychology. For almost thirty years, Stephen has been Scholar-in-Residence at the renowned Kripalu Center—the largest center for the study and practice of yoga in the Western world. Kripalu hosts almost 50,000 guests a year in its many yoga, meditation, and personal growth programs.   The episode explores: Overcoming fear and doubtDiscovering your true calling Discerning your pathPerennial figures from history and much moreConnect with Stephen Cope:Homepage: https://www.stephencope.com/ Kripalu: https://kripalu.org/ Follow In Search of Wisdom:Twitter: https://twitter.com/searchofwisdomInstagram: https://instagram.com/searchofwisdompodcastFacebook: https://facebook.com/searchofwisdompodcastSign-up for our email meditations. 

How do you know that just because something is a bit of a struggle that it isn't there for your highest good? When are you forcing and when is it just a growth space for your flow state? We touch on all this in this episode, talking about my experiences and recommendations on how to recognize and know when to lean in and when it is not meant for you and your soul's purpose.  **Book Reference: "The great work of your Life" by Stephen Cope. French painter Corot, painted the "View from the Farnese Gardens" If you enjoyed this episode I would love if you would Leave a Review and share your biggest takeaway from the episode.

Stephen Cope’s training, career, and beliefs have gone through a vast array of changes: he was a psychotherapist, pianist, and professional dancer. He was at different times a Protestant, a Presbyterian, a Quaker, and a Buddhist. When he took what he had planned to be a three-month sabbatical from his psychotherapy practice to immerse himself … Continue reading "130: Dharma and Deep Human Connection with Stephen Cope" The post 130: Dharma and Deep Human Connection with Stephen Cope first appeared on School for Good Living Podcasts.

There is wisdom in ancient truths. There is power in modern day technology. Both ancient and modern traditions have attempted to answer moral questions that transcend time. How can we blend the wisdom of age old traditions with the truths of the 21st century? How is maintaining a sense of curiosity about “accepted truths” essential to wellness? Listen as we explore these questions. Focus Virtues: Awareness and Curiosity We must have awareness regarding concepts, ideas, laws, and procedures that are deemed as true. Bringing our awareness to different ideologies that are accepted as true (example: it is normal to get married and have kids) allows us to separate the idea itself from our own thoughts and opinions. Awareness of what we accept as true then allows for curiosities about these concepts. Why do we believe these notions? Who is behind the marketing of these laws? Is anyone financially benefiting from this being the dominant belief of society? This awareness and curiosity then allows us to tap into our own intuition around such constructs. Our Guest: My name is Elizabeth and I am the founder of BodyMagick and Vehemence & Emergence and co-founder of Otherworld Retreats. I have a specialization BA in English, I am a certified yoga teacher and reiki practitioner and I study Celtic Shamanism and practice intuitive and channeled divination. I identify as a Poet & Shadow Worker, understanding that both are ways of guiding and teaching people through the use of metaphor, language, and movement. I believe we teach best what we most need to learn and as a person who has made a lot of mistakes in my life I have had many first-hand learning opportunities and experiences. I value integrity, authenticity and alignment and understand that my role as teacher and guide is a responsibility. I take that responsibility seriously and it is important to me that people feel safe no matter what trauma or crisis they may be experiencing when they come to me. I also believe that cultivating a great sense of humor is part of spiritual growth. I offer public events and classes and private Shadow Work sessions that involve everything from energy work and movement to divination and discussion. Resources: BodyMagick: Guided energy healing sets this practice apart. Offers AstroMovement or witch, pagan, shamanic yoga practices to compliment any and all spiritual practices. I believe that our shadow-work and self-actualization cannot be integrated without a physical practice. BodyMagick has POET. a line of magickal products to help people hold space for themselves and their work. www.bodymagick.ca @body.magick Vehemence & Emergence: Poetry, Divination, Blog, offering guidance and seminars on special topics to help people with the mind & spirit connection. Explores mythology, omens, Ogham, various life themes, special journaling experiences to explore the subconscious. A "celtic shaman" is a poet which doesn't strictly mean that we write poetry but that we use language and metaphor as our primary tools for teaching people through healing themselves. www.vehemenceandemergence.com @vehemenceandemergence Otherworld Retreats: Celtic mythology inspired workshops and Retreats to facilitate personal growth and deeper spiritual connection. We co-facilitate ecpeirences using all of our skills, research and teaching, energy healing, movement, dance, journaling, community www.otherworldretreats.com @otherworldretreats Books: The Ethics of Ambiguity by Simone De Beauvoir: https://www.amazon.com/Ethics-Ambiguity-Simone-Beauvoir/dp/1480442801 The Wisdom of Yoga by Stephen Cope: https://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Yoga-Seekers-Extraordinary-Living/dp/0553380540/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=The+Wisdom+of+Yoga+by+Stephen+Cope%3A&qid=1610044873&s=books&sr=1-3

There is wisdom in ancient truths. There is power in modern day technology. Both ancient and modern traditions have attempted to answer moral questions that transcend time. How can we blend the wisdom of age old traditions with the truths of the 21st century? How is maintaining a sense of curiosity about “accepted truths” essential to wellness? Listen as we explore these questions. Focus Virtues: Awareness and Curiosity We must have awareness regarding concepts, ideas, laws, and procedures that are deemed as true. Bringing our awareness to different ideologies that are accepted as true (example: it is normal to get married and have kids) allows us to separate the idea itself from our own thoughts and opinions. Awareness of what we accept as true then allows for curiosities about these concepts. Why do we believe these notions? Who is behind the marketing of these laws? Is anyone financially benefiting from this being the dominant belief of society? This awareness and curiosity then allows us to tap into our own intuition around such constructs. Our Guest: My name is Elizabeth and I am the founder of BodyMagick and Vehemence & Emergence and co-founder of Otherworld Retreats. I have a specialization BA in English, I am a certified yoga teacher and reiki practitioner and I study Celtic Shamanism and practice intuitive and channeled divination. I identify as a Poet & Shadow Worker, understanding that both are ways of guiding and teaching people through the use of metaphor, language, and movement. I believe we teach best what we most need to learn and as a person who has made a lot of mistakes in my life I have had many first-hand learning opportunities and experiences. I value integrity, authenticity and alignment and understand that my role as teacher and guide is a responsibility. I take that responsibility seriously and it is important to me that people feel safe no matter what trauma or crisis they may be experiencing when they come to me. I also believe that cultivating a great sense of humor is part of spiritual growth. I offer public events and classes and private Shadow Work sessions that involve everything from energy work and movement to divination and discussion. Resources: BodyMagick: Guided energy healing sets this practice apart. Offers AstroMovement or witch, pagan, shamanic yoga practices to compliment any and all spiritual practices. I believe that our shadow-work and self-actualization cannot be integrated without a physical practice. BodyMagick has POET. a line of magickal products to help people hold space for themselves and their work. www.bodymagick.ca @body.magick Vehemence & Emergence: Poetry, Divination, Blog, offering guidance and seminars on special topics to help people with the mind & spirit connection. Explores mythology, omens, Ogham, various life themes, special journaling experiences to explore the subconscious. A "celtic shaman" is a poet which doesn't strictly mean that we write poetry but that we use language and metaphor as our primary tools for teaching people through healing themselves. www.vehemenceandemergence.com @vehemenceandemergence Otherworld Retreats: Celtic mythology inspired workshops and Retreats to facilitate personal growth and deeper spiritual connection. We co-facilitate ecpeirences using all of our skills, research and teaching, energy healing, movement, dance, journaling, community www.otherworldretreats.com @otherworldretreats Books: The Ethics of Ambiguity by Simone De Beauvoir: https://www.amazon.com/Ethics-Ambiguity-Simone-Beauvoir/dp/1480442801 The Wisdom of Yoga by Stephen Cope: https://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Yoga-Seekers-Extraordinary-Living/dp/0553380540/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=The+Wisdom+of+Yoga+by+Stephen+Cope%3A&qid=1610044873&s=books&sr=1-3

Discussing the titles and main lessons learned from 3 different books today. Every so often we'll take a break from the topical conversations and highlighting our top 3 of a particular topic.Check out >> Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek. >> Great Work of Your Life by Stephen Cope. >> Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer.

Resistance - We all avoid things in our lives we find uncomfortable. In this episode we talk about how to get "unstuck" “Through practice, I’ve come to see that the deepest source of my misery is not wanting things to be the way they are. Not wanting myself to be the way I am. Not wanting the world to be the way it is. Not wanting others to be the way they are. Whenever I’m suffering, I find this war with reality to be at the heart of the problem.” ~ Stephen Cope"

I read Stephen Cope's book “The Great Work of Your Life” many years ago considered by a friend to be the best book he read that year. Cope weaves stories of Henry David Thoreau, the Hindu text Bhagavad Gita, and numerous other stories beautifully to share how and why following one's life path is so valuable.

This morning I was working on my Note on Anders Olsson’s great book The Power of Your Breath.   I wrapped it up by featuring the hero’s journey HE had to embark on to dedicate his life to studying breathing so he could share his life-changing wisdom with us.   It’s easy to take someone’s wisdom for granted. So, I like to pause and reflect on the heroic courage it ALWAYS takes to do ANYTHING great.   So…   I featured this passage in the final Idea for the Note: “Without a doubt the most valuable thing I have done for my health and quality of life is to improve my breathing habits. ... The main lesson I have learned from practicing the Conscious Breathing Method is that I choose to be true to myself more often. To be brave enough to look inward and learn about myself in depth is the most amazing journey I have ever been on, and it’s a journey I wish everyone could experience.   My colleague, Cecilia Salmi, and I held the first Conscious Breathing course in the spring of 2010. ONE participant came. Two people came for our next course. Despite the modest interest in the beginning, there was never any doubt in my mind that this was what I was supposed to do. My current courses have hundreds of participants, but during those early times I had to sell my house in order to be able to afford to continue educating myself about breathing techniques, and to develop the Conscious Breathing Method.”   I smiled as I read that story about ONE person showing up at his first event.   And the fact that he SOLD HIS HOUSE to continue studying.    (Pause and think about that for a moment.)   As I personally reflected on that level of clarity on and commitment to one’s purpose in life, Robert Greene’s Mastery, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s Creativity, and Stephen Cope’s The Great Work of Your Life all came to mind.    btw: Check out all those Notes if you haven’t yet. Or, if you feel so inspired, re-read them. I think you’ll love them as much as I did just re-reading each of them AGAIN. (Seriously. Wow.)   I could copy/paste each of those Notes in their entirety here.   But…   Alas, that would make this a +303 so I’ll go with one wisdom gem from each Note.   Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi tells us: “Creative persons differ from one another in a variety of ways, but in one respect they are unanimous: They all love what they do. It is not the hope of achieving fame or making money that drives them; rather, it is the opportunity to do the work that they enjoy doing.”   Stephen Cope tells us: “Having first named and claimed our dharma, we next begin to systematically organize all of our life’s energies around our calling.”   Robert Greene tells: “No good can ever come from deviating from the path that you were destined to follow.”   Today’s +1.   How about YOU?    Are you on YOUR heroic quest?    Here’s to rocking it one breath at a time.    TODAY.

Maybe finding our calling right now actually isn't so hard--that the trick is living it out. Join Dave Schmelzer as he looks at the wisdom of one contemplative who explores how calling changes over time, how we all face pressures to live out someone else's calling, how embracing our calling gives meaning and power to our suffering, and how a four-part pathway might propel us into all the benefits of our calling.    Mentioned on this podcast: Psalm 32:8 Stephen Cope's book, The Great Work of Your Life: A Guide for the Journey to Your True Calling Online groups on Wednesdays, Sundays and Mondays. Get info at mail@blueoceanfaith.org  

One of the most burning questions in life is what it is you're called to do with it. What is your life's purpose? What great work are you meant to do? Guidance on this question can come from many sources, and my guest today says that one of the best is the Bhagavad Gita, a text of Hindu scripture thousands of years old. He's a psychotherapist, yoga teacher, and author of The Great Work of Your Life: A Guide for the Journey to Your True Calling. Stephen Cope and I begin our conversation with an introduction to the Bhagavad Gita, the significant influence it's had on philosophers and leaders for ages, and what it can teach us about making difficult decisions. We then discuss the insights the Gita offers on the four pillars of right living, beginning with discerning your true calling or sacred duty. We unpack the three areas in your life to examine for clues to your life's purpose, and why that purpose may be small and quiet rather than big and splashy. Stephen then explains the doctrine of unified action, why you have to pursue your calling full out, and why that pursuit should include the habit of deliberate practice. We also discuss why it's central to let go of the outcome of actions to focus on the work itself, and the need to turn your efforts over to something bigger than yourself. All along the way, Stephen offers examples of how these pillars were embodied in the lives of eminent individuals who lived out their purpose.  Get the show notes at aom.is/gita.

Examples of finding and following Dharma expressed by Rev Mike and Malayna as the following deep dives and digressions (deep breath): Interpretive Dance • The Good Bad and Ugly • Ramadan wishes • Eid Mubarak • Fasting • On Being with Krista Tippett • Memorial Day and remembering the new front line workers • WWII • wired for danger • the wolf we feed • the duality of the material world • Jana Stanfield's song "I cannot do all the good that the world needs, but the world needs all the good that I can do." Solving litter • Always more that can be done • Erin Riley and Hope Gardens Landscaping • Topanga Nursery • accidentally growing corn • Dr. Cate vs the hateful 8 • nurture our nature • Stephen Cope and The Great Work of Your Life • Jane Goodall • goals you can't imagine • following a call • the women's movement • the LGBTQ+ movement • vurbl.com • changing gender expectations • courage to forge your own path • standing up for others • being bullied • being a hardass with a soft center • being authentic in an unknowable world • following curiosity • "this isn't the landing strip • buddy!" • making your eyes shine • Math-related aha moments • giving units for the School of Hard Knocks • backwards guru speak • answers are all in there.. but you gotta learn to be still to access them • Krishna and Arjuna • Kenny Loggins • artists and scientists work with inspiration and joy • Gandhi and his justice Dharma • Helena Blavatsky • Gratitude for musicians Ken Francis & Jason Goldstein, guest vocalist Lilli Passero and to Rev. Nancy Woods for this past Sunday service.Check out: On Being with Krista Tippetthttps://onbeing.org/series/podcast/Dr Cate and the hateful eighthttps://drcate.com/the-hateful-eight-enemy-fats-that-destroy-your-health/Jana Stanfield - All the Good https://youtu.be/qbEPrRXS7gsLilli Passerohttp://voyagela.com/interview/art-life-lilli-passero/

Most of us think that the more motivated we are, the more successful and happy we’ll be. But too much motivation can lead to a life of constant striving for achievement without happiness or enjoyment. If you’re a regular listener to this podcast, chances are that you’re interested in personal development and growth. (And of course, Michael and Adee are, too!). But in this episode of the podcast, we’ll talk about how our striving for greatness and achievement must be balanced with time spent doing things we love – purely for the pleasure of them, without aiming to be “productive”. Michael and Adee will outline three actionable steps you can begin taking today to strike the balance between motivation to achieve more while remaining present and happy in your life as it is right now. We would love to hear from you! If you have a question you want us to answer on the podcast, let us know by leaving a voicemail at workingagainstgravity.com/podcast. And don’t forget to follow along @workingagainstgravity on Instagram and leave us a review wherever you listen to podcasts! Topics:  02:50 – Trying to squeeze every drop of ‘efficiency’ from each day can lead to missing out on life 03:45 – Trying to optimize things for efficiency causes them to lose fun and enjoyment (i.e. trying to read as fast as possible) 04:45 – How the traditional model of career growth is changing (i.e. “I’ll be happy later”) 07:00 – Adee & Michael playing the long game (striving for growth and change while enjoying life now) 08:15 – Living life with an emphasis on being joyful now may bring more material success 09:57 – How to play the ‘long game’: what do you love to do just for the sake of doing them?  12:13 – Once you know the things you love, make time for them (start 1 hour per week) 13:10 – Feeling stress or guilt for doing things you love that aren’t ‘productive’ 14:45 – Continue to strive to reach your full potential (have goals and a system for accountability)  15:13 – Lululemon Vision and Goals packet and the importance of revisiting goals all throughout the year 16:00 – Write down a list of things that make you feel alive and carve out an hour this week for them Links: Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author mentioned by Michael The Great Work of Your Life, by Stephen Cope (book mentioned by Adee)

Viene menzionato;Bhagavad Gita chapter 6Klesha: Yoga Sutra di Patanjali  ch2.3Kriya Yoga  e Tapas; Yoga Sutra di Patanjali  ch2.1Raga  : Yoga Sutra di Patanjali  ch2.3  Libro: La Saggezza dello Yoga di Stephen Cope si trova qui; https://www.amazon.com/saggezza-dello-ricerca-straordinaria-Italian/dp/8807884852 

In today’s episode one of the most influential thinkers, writers, and teachers on the current American yoga scene shares with us his decades of wisdom. Join best selling author, Stephen Cope, as we break down what it means to live your true calling, the 4 pillars of Dharma, the 5 different paths to deepening your spirituality and so much more! Highlights: Discover the 3 ways to know if you are following your lives true calling. Understand how heartbreak can be a catalyst for profound growth. Learn what it means to claim your idiosyncratic gifts. Uncover the 4 pillars of Dharma. Gain insight into the importance of spiritual community.

In this episode, Dr. Erin Willer, Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Denver, draws on Stephen Cope's book, "The Great Work of Your Life" to discuss how it shaped her own career journey as an academic. One of my favorite questions she asks in this episode is this: "What is this doing for my heart and soul as opposed to my vita?" This is a question all of us should be asking ourselves. Enjoy the interview!

In this episode we talk about how trauma affects the mind, body and the illness and disease that it causes. This episode brings awareness of techniques to come back to the present and reconnect to the body through the practice of yoga. If you're someone that struggles with not feeling like themselves, feeling like nobody or feeling like someone else, struggling with feeling detached emotionally, feeling shut down or feeling confused and agitated ... this podcast will shed light on the darkness and empower you to take the first step in trauma and addiction recovery. When you have awareness you can transform that experience which you no longer desire to be in. Books covered: “The Body Keeps Score: Brain, Mind & Body in the Healing of Trauma” by Bessel Van Der Kolk, M.D. also: “Waking The Tiger: Healing Trauma” by Peter A. Levine and finally “Yoga & The Quest for The True Self” by Stephen Cope.

En el episodio de esta semana te cuento cómo fue el curso de meditación que hice con la profesora de meditación budista Sharon Salzberg y Stephen Cope en Kripalu. También ... The post 60 Lecciones de meditación budista con Sharon Salzberg y Stephen Cope appeared first on Divina de la Mente.

Join us in Chicago for House of Bodhi with Lola Wright at City Winery on January 7th. “We are in a great time of year to really tap into this collective consciousness that may oftentimes be known as holidays or holy days. There is a collective intention to be reflective this time of year. Most often when we have the experience of a vision unfulfilled, it’s because either we haven’t spent the necessary intention and reflection time to get clear on what it is we desire, and / or we don’t believe it’s possible.” The phrase “vision fulfilled” has been popping into host Lola Wright’s mind lately. She describes two personal experiences with fulfilled visions, then guides you through connecting with a larger vision for your own life. “There is some contribution that you are uniquely here to bring.” Recommended reading: Spiritual Liberation by Michael Bernard Beckwith and The Great Work of Your Life by Stephen Cope.For more information on Lola Wright, please visit her at www.lolawright.com.

Impugnando lo shinai con due mani Chiara ha cercato e raggiunto l'equilibrio. Con disciplina e rigore ha forgiato corpo e spirito, imparando a rimanere nella quiete spaziosa della mente. Rimanendo con un piede nel dojo e uno sul tappetino ha trovato il filo nascosto che accomuna la via della spada alla via dello yoga . Insieme a lei e a Nina (maestra di Adho Mukha Svanasanada) abbiamo parlato di kendo, di agonismo, non violenza, studio del Sé, non attaccamento, connessione con la natura, kirtan e molto altro. Siete curiosi? Il libro: Stephen Cope. La saggezza dello yoga Il link: https://www.beyogavarese.com

How can the ancient teachings of yoga radically enlighten every aspect of our daily lives? Join Yogacharya O'Brian and teacher Stephen Cope, author of The Wisdom of Yoga, as they discuss how we can be fully human as well as spiritually mature in this modern world.

Happy Wellness Wednesday! On this episode of the podcast, we welcome the lovely Mia Lux! Mia is an international host, comedian & facilitator, and she specializes in top wellness and personal development events around the world. She is also the creator and host of The Conscious-ish Show where she is making it her mission, one episode at a time,  to make the world's most powerful ideas more accessible by making them truly enjoyable! If you're laughing, you're learning! On this episode we discuss Mia’s spiritual, mental and physical health journey from combatting teenage depression to dealing with a lead poisoning diagnosis as an adult. We hear about her fascinating story from being a recovering lawyer to a school teacher and eventually to getting outside of her comfort zone and finding comedy as her creative outlet. She takes us through the science behind laughter and how entertainment can really be a tool for people to open their minds, relax their bodies and absorb new information! Mia has a fun and fresh approach to tackling what can often feel like daunting subject matters. We had such a fun time recording with her and we hope you have fun listening to all of her insight in this episode!   Also, Mia recommends two books to us during the episode. For anyone interested here are the links! The Great Work of Your Life by Stephen Cope and A Guide to the Good Life by William B. Irvine  You can find Mia and her Conscious-ish episodes at her website: www.consciousish.com    Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review Courageous Wellness! We release new episodes each #WellnessWednesday! You can also follow us on instagram at CourageousWellness and get in touch at www.courageouswellnesspodcast.com  

A significant part of treating patients through Chinese Medicine is communicating the aspects of healing that are beyond just the physical. Practitioners can start to do this by embodying the personal cultivation and intentionality necessary to find true healing as an example for their patients. Lonny Jarrett has been active in the Chinese Medicine field since 1980 and in this conversation, he discusses integral medicine and the importance of bringing patients' consciousness into their healing process in order to help them find healing that is beyond what they feel themselves. On Today's Episode of A Healthy Curiosity: Why intention is the foundation of integral medicine The importance of Chinese Medicine practitioners embodying their practice How the development of states and stages interact in the framework of integral medicine Why true healing transcends the self How Lonny often spends his first visit with a patient and gets them on his side of the lens Lonny Jarrett has been practicing Chinese Medicine in Stockbridge, Massachusetts since 1986. He is a founding board member of the Ac. Soc. Of Mass. and a Fellow of the National Academy of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. Lonny is the author of Nourishing Destiny: The Inner Tradition of Chinese Medicine and The Clinical Practice of Chinese Medicine. He holds a master's degree in neurobiology and a fourth-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. He was recently featured in the text, The Great Work of Your Life: A Guide for the Journey to Your True Calling by bestselling author Stephen Cope. Lonny hosts NourishingDestiny.com, an online community for 3000 practitioners of Chinese medicine worldwide. His teaching schedule is at: www.chinesemedicine.courses and his texts are available from Spirit Path Press. Links: Free gift: Articles by Lonny Ken Wilber Dr. Leon Hammer   Other Links: Spirit Path Press Nourishing Destiny Lonny's Courses Chinese Medicine: Scholar Physicians Facebook group -- Learn more about the Basics of Chinese Medicine course Find out more about working with Brodie 1-on-1

In our last couple +1s, we’ve had fun exploring some wisdom gems from my recent PhilosophersNotes binge-athon.   Today we’re going to talk about another great Idea from another great Note. This one’s on Stephen Cope’s The Great Work of Your Life.   Quick context: Stephen is the director of the Kripalu Institute for Extraordinary Living. Kripalu is the largest yoga research institute in the Western world. (And being the director of “Extraordinary Living” may be the coolest job title ever, eh?)    As the Senior Scholar in Residence at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, he has been integrating Eastern contemplative traditions and Western philosophy and psychology for years.   In his great book, Stephen brings the wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita to life in our modern lives.   One of the big themes of the book is the idea of dharma.   He tells us: “The yoga tradition is very, very interested in the idea of an inner possibility harbored within every human soul. Yogis insist that every single human being has a unique vocation. They call this dharma. Dharma is a potent Sanskrit word that is packed tight with meaning, like one of those little sponge animals that expands to six times its original size when you add water. Dharma means, variously, ‘path,’ ‘teaching,’ or ‘law.’ For our purposes in this book it will mean primarily, ‘vocation,’ or ‘sacred duty.’ It means, most of all—and in all cases—truth. Yogis believe that our greatest responsibility in life is to this inner possibility—this dharma—and they believe that every human being’s duty is to utterly, fully, and completely embody his own idiosyncratic dharma…”   Dharma.   I just LOVE that word.   And, I love the idea that “every single human being has a unique vocation” and that “every human being’s duty is to utterly, fully, and completely embody his own idiosyncratic dharma.”   That’s Today’s +1.   What’s YOUR idiosyncratic dharma?   Here’s to honoring our sacred duty as we give the world all we’ve got.

In our last couple +1s, we’ve had fun exploring some wisdom gems from my recent PhilosophersNotes binge-athon.   Today we’re going to talk about another great Idea from another great Note. This one’s on Stephen Cope’s The Great Work of Your Life.   Quick context: Stephen is the director of the Kripalu Institute for Extraordinary Living. Kripalu is the largest yoga research institute in the Western world. (And being the director of “Extraordinary Living” may be the coolest job title ever, eh?)    As the Senior Scholar in Residence at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, he has been integrating Eastern contemplative traditions and Western philosophy and psychology for years.   In his great book, Stephen brings the wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita to life in our modern lives.   One of the big themes of the book is the idea of dharma.   He tells us: “The yoga tradition is very, very interested in the idea of an inner possibility harbored within every human soul. Yogis insist that every single human being has a unique vocation. They call this dharma. Dharma is a potent Sanskrit word that is packed tight with meaning, like one of those little sponge animals that expands to six times its original size when you add water. Dharma means, variously, ‘path,’ ‘teaching,’ or ‘law.’ For our purposes in this book it will mean primarily, ‘vocation,’ or ‘sacred duty.’ It means, most of all—and in all cases—truth. Yogis believe that our greatest responsibility in life is to this inner possibility—this dharma—and they believe that every human being’s duty is to utterly, fully, and completely embody his own idiosyncratic dharma…”   Dharma.   I just LOVE that word.   And, I love the idea that “every single human being has a unique vocation” and that “every human being’s duty is to utterly, fully, and completely embody his own idiosyncratic dharma.”   That’s Today’s +1.   What’s YOUR idiosyncratic dharma?   Here’s to honoring our sacred duty as we give the world all we’ve got.

"As we begin to re-experience a visceral reconnection with the needs of our bodies, there is a brand new capacity to warmly love the self. We experience a new quality of authenticity in our caring, which redirects our attention to our health, our diets, our energy, our time management. This enhanced care for the self arises spontaneously and naturally, not as a response to a "should." We are able to experience an immediate and intrinsic pleasure in self-care." -Stephen Cope, Yoga and the Quest for the True Self ^Opening chapter of the referenced book, The Body Keeps the Score (Chapter 16. Learning to Inhabit Your Body: Yoga) -- Tara Brach, Ph.D, psychologist, author and teacher of meditation, emotional healing and spiritual awakening. (Her podcasts are an excellent resource for mindfulness) https://www.tarabrach.com/ -- Self-Soothing Topic Reading: One of the more important skills for us to learn is how to emotionally soothe ourselves. Most of us never learned to self-soothe in childhood because parents who abuse are also often poor at soothing themselves and, consequently, at teaching their children to selfsoothe. However, it is essential to our transformative process that we develop some capacity for self-soothing. We will need these skills as we proceed through the various stages of our recovery. Soothing is what good parents do when their children are upset. It often involves soothing touch that is warm and comforting. It can involve words that are reassuring, empathic and hopeful. It may involve activities that are physically, intellectually or sensorially nourishing, such as taking a walk, reading a favorite book or sharing a special meal. It can also involve daily practices that are spiritually uplifting and inspiring, such as meditation.

A key part of Blue Ocean Faith's perspective on life is that, like Abraham in the Hebrew Bible, our most direct path to what our life is meant to be about comes through a "hero's journey." But it feels risky! Or it feels hard to figure out what it might look like on an ordinary day! Christina Roberts, Ryan Bauers and Dave Schmelzer explore this in a lively conversation.    Mentioned in Today's Podcast:   The Hero's Journey and a Fresh Christianity, Part 1 The Hero's Journey and a Fresh Christianity, Part 2 The Hero's Journey and a Fresh Christianity, Part 3 The Great Work of Your Life: A Guide for the Journey to Your True Calling, by Stephen Cope What I'm Into A Scary Time, by Lynzy Lab    

Adam Whiting, now a well-known yoga teacher around the world for his smart sequencing and anatomical focus in class, was at one time just trying to understand what was going wrong in his body. After seeing doctor after doctor in Manhattan, trying to diagnose massive dizzy spells, headaches and seemingly random spouts of numbness throughout his body, he was told by all accounts that his body was "fine." "I was diagnosed with having anxiety disorder and panic attacks," Whiting told me. "And it didn't fit for me, because it wasn't presenting itself as anxiety. I wasn't stressed. I wasn't depressed. And in my mind, at that point, my knowledge about anxiety disorder was so limited that I was sort of in denial." At that time, Whiting was working in New York as a musician. But in order to pay the bills, he worked nine-to-five at an insurance agency - a job which, he describes, was a major catalyst for his anxiety disorder and also the catalyst for him finding what he was truly meant to be doing. "A friend introduced me to asana, to postural yoga. After several months of just doing yoga...I could feel the anxiety start to unwrap itself. It was just the most amazing feeling of actually feeling safe in my own skin again." After feeling how yoga helped and healed him, he knew it was something he wanted to teach. From that point forward, he launched into his first teacher training. He began teaching right away, supplemented that with playing music, and didn't look back. And even though it became a greater hustle to make ends meet, it was all building towards a greater purpose, or Dharma, as you'll hear Whiting describe in the episode. He started teaching more and more classes, then began traveling for workshops, and then started running trainings and retreats, all in addition to playing music on the side and weaving it into his teaching repertoire. He describes it as all part of a tapestry in "whatever this career is." Whiting sums it up nicely, but his tapestry is composed of many moving pieces that all move him in the direction where he wants to take his career and his life. From moving to Australia to lead trainings alongside owner of Power Living Duncan Peak, to hosting retreats across the world, to moving back to the U.S. to lead his first 200-hour yoga teacher training on his own, Whiting lets meditation be his guide in setting goals for his future. And rather than setting traditional, tangible goals, Whiting is focused on following his Dharma. He sees those action items to achieve more as the logistics to align in order to go after something bigger. "I absolutely do have goals of running more teacher trainings, of having my advanced 300-hour training up and running, of having a tour in Australia and running retreats in Australia and Bali. But in my mind, I sort of think of them as logistical things to align so that I can look out past that and set my sails towards that journey with the knowledge that the winds are going to blow me somewhere completely unexpected, but also with the the trust that wherever I end up is where I'm supposed to be." Listen to Adam Whiting’s episode of the #WeGotGoals podcast to hear more about how he views Dharma, his purpose and duty in life, and the way he views goals that ladder up to that. Thanks to Cody Hughes for the photo used in this post. You can listen anywhere you get your podcasts (including Spotify!) and if you like what you hear, please leave us a rating or a review. And stick around until the end of the episode, where you’ll hear a goal from one of you, our listeners. (Want to be featured on a future episode? Send a voice memo with a goal you’ve crushed, a goal you’re eyeing, or your best goal-getting tip to cindy@asweatlife.com.)   --- Start transcript: [0:00] Jeana: Welcome to We Got Goals, a podcast by asweatlife.com, on which we talk to high achievers about their goals. I'm Jeana Anderson Cohen with me I have Maggie Umberger and Cindy Kuzma. Cindy: Good morning Jeana. Maggie: Morning Jeana. Jeana: Good morning. Maggie, this week you spoke to Adam Whiting. And you actually got to do that interview from home. Maggie: I did. I talked to Adam who is a yoga instructor. Who I think started teaching in Charlotte, North Carolina. Where I am from. And then has since moved to Australia and then back to North Carolina. But he continues to lead trainings and retreats and experiences across the world. In Bali. In Sri Lanka. In throughout Australia. He's taught at Wanderlust. He teaches in a lot of places. I've always just really respected his classes. I have loved them and I wanted to know a little more about his journey to yoga. How he got to the idea of wanting to teach internationally. Because that is a whole other track of teaching that I don't know a lot about. So I was really excited to get to talk to him and then I was home. So I got to do it in person before taking one of his awesome classes. Cindy: Oh, that's so great and it sounds like not just what he said but how he said it left an impact on you. Maggie: It did. And I didn't even say this to him after. So if he listens to this episode he'll be like, "Oh, she didn't tell me that." But I was noticing how mindful he was as he was answering any of the questions that I asked. Or response to something he would say. And thinking about that a little bit more. And even like closing his eyes. Taking time to answer mindfully. I don't do that always. And so I think we don't always love silence and we kind of mumble through things until we get to the point. But he was just really thoughtful about what he wanted to say. And then speaking to that versus talking around the point at all. So I thought that was probably a testament to, in general, his journey toward mindfulness as a teacher. He didn't begin teaching yoga with this meditation center. He actually talks about this in the episode of being very anxious and having anxiety attacks and not really sure of what was going on in his body. He was a musician in New York. Doing that grind of working other jobs. Sitting at a desk while he was trying to have gigs at night and make it as a musician in New York. He was getting beat down through that grind. And so meditation actually, when he was introduced to it just had him sitting with his thoughts more. And he didn't really like that. And so the Asana practice, the movement piece of yoga was what keyed him into a different way of life. Or a different kind of thought pattern. And that he could get out of that anxiousness mode. So the meditation piece came later as I learned. But it really is like a stronghold to his practice and how he teaches now. Jeana: And Maggie, Adam almost didn't do this interview at all, right? And this isn't the first time this has happened to us. Can you talk a little bit about why he sort of has trouble with the concept of goals? Maggie: Yeah, he asked me like, "Is it okay if I don't really have goals. If we do this interview?" And I always think any input on how people view goals is beneficial. However, you see it. Whether you notice or, you know, want to kind of go down the path that one of these goal-getters goes down. Or you kind of take that at face value and choose something different. That's what's cool about this podcast is there's so many different viewpoints. And he said that he's worked with brands and at companies where setting goals has been a central piece of the puzzle. And so he understands it. And he knows that there's benefits to setting a ten-year vision and going after it. And then really executing on your one-year goals to make that ten-year vision a reality. But for him, what's he's found along the way is that he is much more in tune with the idea of dharma. Dharma he says is widely known as your calling but really it's more like your duty. Like your purpose. Why are you put on this earth? And you've got to find that. You've got to search for that. And then you've got to do it. And so that's really what leads him. And that seems ambiguous. And that can be scary. Like that's scary for me to think about. Just, oh my god, what is the one reason I'm here on this earth. But that doesn't really scare him. That's more of like what lights him up. And I think when he speaks about that you'll hear just how much of a guiding force that is for and all of the teachers he has learned from and how teaches now. Jeana: Well what a mindful way to think about goals and we're so excited to hear this interview with Maggie and Adam. Keep those earpods in goal-getters. There's more to this episode at the end. We'll hear from people just like you out there achieving big goals or trying new things or maybe just setting big goals. [4:56] Maggie: So I'm here with Adam Whiting. Who I have had the pleasure of taking class from many times before he moved to Australia. He's a yoga instructor traveling around the world teaching yoga. Also a musician. You're many things Adam and I'm really, really excited to get to talk to you about your journey as not just a yoga teacher but I mean really as a teacher. For a lot of different people across the world. It's a pleasure to have you on our podcast. So thank you for joining us. Adam: Absolutely. Thanks so much for having me. It is completely my pleasure. Maggie: So I did take your class probably first six years ago. Before you moved. And I remember it was like a Wednesday night, 8-9pm or something. And it was a class that I felt like changed my life. I loved it. Adam: Oh wow. Maggie: Yeah, it was just like the transitions were so interesting and you had such a unique perspective. And I remember the savasana was like 15 minutes long. And I had never had that before. And I so appreciated it. So before we jump into talking all about goals. I would love for the listeners at home to just get to hear your journey to yoga, just really briefly. [6:14] Adam: Yeah, absolutely. The story sort of starts in New York City. And I was living there. I moved up there in 2001. And lived up there for a few years. While I was up there I started getting some pretty massive dizzy spells. Some pretty massive headaches. Some random parts of my body, my arm, my face, my legs, were going numb at random times. And I really wasn't sure what was happening. And after taking a tour around several medical professionals, neurologists, doctors, general doctors, MRIs, spinal taps, blood tests. They basically all came to the conclusion that my body was fine. And I was diagnosed with having anxiety disorder and panic attacks. And it didn't fit for me because it wasn't presenting itself as anxiety. Like I wasn't stressed. I wasn't depressed. And in my mind at that point, my knowledge about anxiety disorder was so limited that for me I was sort of in denial. Saying no these are physical symptoms. These are symptoms that I'm getting headaches, I'm getting dizzy. This is physical things. Something has to be physically wrong with me. And it took this really compassionate doctor speaking to me about. Well, she actually made a bargain with me. She's like listen. I understand where you're coming from but let's put you on these anti-anxiety medications for just a little bit. And if your symptoms go away then we can talk, right. Then if you come in believing that this is actually what's going on with you then we can work around different ways to sort of treat the symptoms. So I agreed. And lo and behold she was right. And immediately, I started sort of seeking different ways to address the issues. Medication worked wonderfully for me but I also knew that it wasn't something that I wanted to be reliant on long-term. And I knew that there were other answers out there for me. So I started looking at meditation as the means to heal and to move on from this. And to be completely honest with you, meditation in and of itself actually made it worse. Because I was at that point, just in this state of just. I didn't realize how stressed I was. I didn't realize how just overflowing with anxiety I was. This was just post September 11th and the city was in turmoil. And the world was in turmoil. And to be there during that time. I didn't really realize how deeply those rivers of anxiety were flowing. So when I was asked to sit in the stillness of meditation it actually triggered more anxiety. And it triggered more panic attacks. So I moved away from that. And then finally, you know, a dear friend of mine introduced me to Asana, to a postural yoga. And after several months of just doing postural yoga I could finally start to feel that sort of barbed wire of anxiety, you know, start to unwrap itself from my being. And it was just the most amazing feeling of actually feeling safe in my own skin again. But like I said, not realizing how unsafe I felt. And then I started exploring more meditation with the postural yoga. And immediately when I felt how amazing this practice was. And how much it served to help me and heal me. I knew it was something that I wanted to teach. Pretty immediately, I knew that this was calling out to me to share. So after getting my first yoga teacher training certification. I just jumped into teaching right away. And, you know, I was young and fresh and so passionate about it. It's funny looking back on those first classes those, you know, six, seven, eight years ago. I sort of shake my head a little bit. Of like, oh my god those classes must have been awful. But I think that's sort of true in any sort of medium you care so much about. And as you grow and evolve and mature, your teaching and your skill and your craft evolves and matures. So hopefully, eight years from now when I look back at the classes I'm teaching now I'll be appalled because I've learned that much more in the eight years. So after teaching. I was in Charlotte, North Carolina for a few years teaching. And I got this amazing opportunity to teach in Australia. This wonderful man, teacher, business owner. His name is Duncan Peak, owns Power Living Australia Yoga. And that is a group of nine studios around Australia and New Zealand. And after some sort of back-and-forth and a wonderful trip to Australia. I agreed to move out to Sydney and help coach their teachers and lead their teacher trainings. And travel around to the cities in Australia where they have studios. And teach classes, run workshops, run teacher trainings and, you know, also run retreats in Bali for our teacher trainings. So it was an amazing few years of really quick growth. Really rapid education on my part. And just to be in that part of the world was unbelievable. It's still some of the most beautiful places I've ever been are there. So I lived there for a few years and it was absolutely amazing. But towards the end of those few years, I could feel these little strings pulling my heart back to America. My family's here and we'd always been really, really tight. And in Australia, just being able to come back once a year was amazing but it wasn't quite enough. And there were some issues with family stuff that were really pulling me back to be home. To be closer with family. And it also sort of aligned really beautifully with my desire to be an independent yoga teacher. Working out in Australia was absolutely amazing but I was also working for another brand. And it was an amazing brand but it was a brand that wasn't Adam Whiting or Adam Whiting Yoga. It was another brand. And there's always been a craving inside of my journey and my career to just speak from my own voice and teach my own trainings in the way that I've learned. And the way that I want to share. Without really, it might sound blunt, but without really having to answer to anybody else. So in moving back to America and back to Charlotte. And running my first teacher training here which is an independent Adam Whiting Yoga Teacher Training. It feels amazing to be able to, you know, put my stamp on the certificates. And say that, you know, these students learned from me. And to be able to craft my own calendar and run my own events. And just sort of again, it sounds blunt, but not to have to answer to anybody else. To be able to craft my own future in the way that I want it is really encouraging and I'm really excited about the next few years. Maggie: I hear probably something that a lot of people would nod their head at and say that they want to be in charge of their own destinies too. Adam: Absolutely. [14:28] Maggie: And that's a huge, like. I can imagine that feeling, that calling inside you. Cause I feel it in me. And I feel like so many people. Especially now, that there are so many avenues to create your own path. That it isn't the 9-5 structure of jobs as much as it used to be. Especially in the recent years. So I wonder, what for you was some of the helpful guides in pushing along this path. To create it for yourself. Because while I know a lot of people want it. It's another to actually go for it and do it. [15:02] Adam: Yeah, absolutely. It's I think my journey is not quite a typical journey. My journey started playing the guitar. As you said, I'm a musician. And I started playing the guitar when I was eleven or twelve. And I was only playing it for a couple of years. And just by sort of coincidence and I think we'll talk a little bit more about coincidences later. The guitar teacher that I had was graduating from college. And he said, "Okay. I'm leaving you. I can't teach you anymore. But there's this amazing school. And I want you to go down for a summer session." So and that was University of North Carolina School of the Arts. And it was between my eighth and ninth grade year. And I studied there for a few weeks. And it was my first sort of time away from home. And I remember I was really homesick. And I think I cried a lot on the phone with my mom. It was terrifying being away from home that young for me. But then basically by the time I got back home from the training or the summer session, the guitar teacher at this university had called my mother. And said that he wanted me to study there full-time. So I studied at this university, at this conservatory for seven years. Through high school, through my undergrad. And immediately that's when I moved up to New York City. And when I got to New York was the first time I ever had that real 9-5 job. And, you know, like any musician in New York, especially. You're a musician which means you're unloading trucks. Or you're a waiter. Or you're, you know, working data entry at an insurance agency. Which is what I was doing in a cubicle from 9-5. And I think that working that job was one of the catalysts for one. One of the catalysts for my anxiety disorder and my stress because I was so deeply unhappy there. But because of that was the catalyst for me getting out. You know, and I remember the day that I quit and it was. I remember walking around. It was in downtown New York, in Manhattan. And I remember walking around after I had resigned. And I was sort of like halfway smiling, halfway crying, like halfway like I don't know how I'm going to make a living now. But I had no choice. It was one of those things that comes up with me quite often is I don't have a choice right now. So this is the path that I'm going to walk down. So from there on out, I pretty much just started hoofing it as a musician. I started teaching lessons. I started performing as much as I could. I recorded an album. And I was still unloading trucks at a Crate & Barrel in midtown at the same time. So I was still working jobs to pay my rent. But there was always this sort of, just this hustle, of you've got to do this. Because you don't really have a choice. And then I moved back to Charlotte. And when I moved back to Charlotte from New York. One, the cost of living was significantly less. So I was really surprised that I could make a living as a musician at that point. You know, gigging on the weekends and teaching lessons. And then teaching yoga. And all of a sudden teaching yoga so sort of started to take precedence. And I started teaching more and more classes. And then I started traveling for workshops. And then I started running trainings. And then retreats. And it was sort of this beautiful crescendo where more and more yoga opportunities were coming and the music opportunities were sort of fading away. And what's beautiful now is that they've both sort of come together. Like I'm still playing music, we're running Kirtans. This, you know, traditional chants in yoga. And recording a cd. And it's sort of come together in this beautiful tapestry of whatever this career is. But I think what you said is really important. Is that I think the definition of career is really changing. That the idea of that 9-5 job that my dad had where he worked for Federal Express from out of college until the day he died. Really it still exists but it's not. I don't think it's really the stronghold that it used to be. And now there's sort of this freedom of creating what you want to create for your life, for your job, for your career. And it still terrifies me. Because I'm sitting here. You know, meandering into my late thirties. And really happy with my career and really happy with where everything is right now. But I'm also thinking about retirement funds and do I want to be teaching yoga when I'm in my fifties. Or what's going to happen and how am I going to create this financial stability that. You know, if I did follow the path of my father or my grandfather that they had the retirement funds and the IRAs and all of this stuff set up which I don't have. And part of me gets really terrified about that and then part of me also is just sort of trusting, right? Part of me just sort of thinks. Okay, well here we are. And this is the path that I'm moving through in this lifetime. And, you know, these first few decades I've figured it out. So hopefully I'll continue to figure it out. Maggie: I think it's a good mentality. I mean if your past is any track record for the future, you will figure it out. So let's talk about big goals. The biggest question that we ask on the podcast is what's one big goal that you've accomplished that you're proud to say that you did and how you got there? [21:07] Adam: It's interesting. I knew that you were going to ask this question and I've spent some time these past couple of days sort of hovering around that question. And I really didn't come up with one goal. Because I'm not really the type of person that sort of makes a goal list. Or a vision chart. And, you know, through my teaching and yoga I've interacted with several brands who have put me through that sort of, you know, vision statements and ten-year goals and five-year goals and one-year goals. And I think that's very helpful and I think there's a lot to be said for that. But at the same time even when I was doing it. It wasn't really lighting me up. Like it wasn't inspiring me for the future. For creating something that moved me closer towards whatever those goals are. It actually sort of intimidated me a little bit. So I was like well I don't know. I don't want to set this goal that I'm not sure of this house or this family or this career. Like I want these goals and I want these visions but I also want to be able to flow. And if I didn't have that idea of flow in my life. I wouldn't have ended up in Australia or Bali or back here. And I don't think I'd be where I was right now. So there's something to be said for. In yoga, we call it Sankalpa and Sankalpa means intention. In yoga, we speak towards the word dharma a lot. I think it's softly and steadily turning into a phrase that might be a bit overused these days. Or maybe mistranslated is a better way of saying it. But in dharma, a lot of people think of dharma as being your calling. But the more accurate translation actually means your duty. I think that's a little bit more accurate because it's not just what am I inspired to do. It's like what do I have to do? Like why was I put here on this earth? And I have to with everything that I have and with my entire being and with my entire life I have to find that. I have to find my calling. Why I'm here. It's my duty. And for me, instead of charting out ten-year, five-year, one-year. The way that I've sort of navigated through it is more silence. More meditation. More introspection. And when I sort of back away and take those times of stillness and of meditation. I feel like I'm shedding away the layers of the external thought patterns. Of my doubts and of my worry. And of that constant negative chatter that lives in my head and a lot of other people's heads. To just sort of sit in my center. To sit in my being for a little while. And to actually listen. And to listen to what my heart truly wants. And it's in that listening that my compass sort of sets itself. And what the yogic tradition believes is that once you find that connection to your source. That connection to your calling. And you notice, we could several words here. We could use the word the universe, we could use the word divinity, we could use the word grace. But when you start to notice the essences of that force, that power, that energy resonating in your life. That energy starts to notice you noticing her. And she begins to unfold for you. And what I mean by that. One of my favorite quotes which may or may not be tattooed somewhere on my body in some way. Is an Emerson quote which is, "The world makes way for the man who knows which way he is going." It really resonates with the Vedic knowledge, with the yogic knowledge of once you have discovered your dharma. Your path down this life and you set your sails and you start moving in that direction. The world has a beautiful way of creating the path for you. And it's not going to be the path that you think it is. You know, it's not going to be the route that you think you should be going down. But it is a path that if you trust it, it will lead you to somewhere beyond your wildest expectations. So in goals, I absolutely do have goals. Goals of, you know, in 2019 running some more teacher trainings. Of having my advanced 300-hour training up and running. Of having a tour in Australia. And running retreats in Australia and Bali. And these are sort of, I guess we can consider them short-term, one-year goals. But in my mind I sort of think of them as logistical things to align. So that I can sort of look out past that. And like I said set my sails towards that journey with the knowledge and the expectations that the winds are going to blow me somewhere completely unexpected. But also with the trust that wherever I end up is where I'm supposed to be. Maggie: I have a two-part question. Or maybe two separate questions. Adam: Okay. Maggie: First, do you know what your duty is now? [26:55] Adam: Okay, interesting. So good. I'm leading a teacher training here in Charlotte. And we just, and I think a couple weekends ago we just had this conversation. There's this beautiful book. It's called The Great Work of Your Life by Stephen Cope. And it's this modern sort of retelling. Not necessarily retelling but a modern analysis of the Bhagavad Gita. And it talks about all of these characters who've found their calling. And they pursued it. And we had this big conversation with our trainees. And some of them knew and some of them didn't. And some of them were really stressed out that they didn't know. And some of them were really disappointed that they didn't. And some of them weren't sure that it was right. And it was really revealing. And we have a retreat coming up in a couple of weeks where we will go through a process of finding their dharma. Or I don't know that puts a lot of pressure on the retreat. Let's say getting closer to discovering it. In my journey in discovering it and what I've found. And this is through working with an amazing book called the Four Desires written by an amazing yoga teacher named Rod Stryker. He puts you through several writing exercises. In several different manners which pulls away sort of this layered thought of what dharma really is. And I think in Western wrapping we often think of dharma as your career, like your job. And if not that, maybe it's your family. And if not that, maybe it's something along those lines. And when I went through this, these exercises through this book and through working with Rod Stryker. I came upon what he calls your dharma code. And it takes several sort of drafts. And several pages of writing and crossing out and editing and writing and crossing out and editing. And I came upon one, and the person I was working with had me read it out loud. And as soon as I read it out loud. I looked and she looked at me. And she said, "Nope, that's not it." And my feelings were really hurt. And I was like what do you mean, this is it? And she asked me, "Were you editing yourself along the way when you were writing? Were you trying to steer the ship in a different direction? Were you editing along the way?" And I was like "No...yes." And I looked back at what I was writing and I was like totally I was. Because I thought I knew the answer already. And I wasn't leading myself into being vulnerable and open. So we tore it up. We started over again. Rewrote it all over again. And then at the end of this process. She said, "Okay, read it to me again." And the dharma code that I wrote was, "I share my story with the world without hesitation or doubt." And as soon as I said that I saw her face light up. And my face lit up. And she said, "Did you feel that?" And I was like, "I don't know what it was but I felt it." And it was just as soon as I read it, it was this surge of energy running through every cell in my body. You know an energy that we call alignment. And I was like oh, it totally redefined this idea of dharma for me. It's that I've always been a storyteller. As a musician, as a songwriter, as a yoga teacher or a workshop and a training facilitator. It's always been about a story. And sharing a story. And when this dharma code came about saying I share my story with the world without doubt or hesitation. It landed in a way that it didn't define me. In a way of putting boundaries around me. But it defined me in a way of lifting me up and giving myself permission to pursue these dreams with everything that I have. And that's the second teaching of the Bhagavad Gita which we said before. You know, the first teaching is find your dharma. Find why you were put here. Because you being in a body that is breathing and alive right now is nothing short of a miracle. And there's a reason for it. So step one is to find that. And then step number two is to pursue it with everything that you have. With absolutely every cell of your body. And in finding this dharma code. That little, short little sentence. It was, it felt like somebody put a match to my fuse. And all of a sudden just this rocket was about to go off. It felt unreal. Maggie: Like you could almost get out of your own way. Adam: Absolutely. Yes, absolutely. And I was in my way more than I wasn't. And I still am, right? It still happens where I'm just like tripping over myself. Because my mind and my chatter and my doubt gets in the way. But, you know, all it takes is that, those moments of daily meditation and coming back to that dharma code. Which is like, oh yeah. I get it now. Maggie: That actually is a good segway to my other piece of the question. Because I'm interested in hearing you talk about the space in between where you went from being anxious by sitting with yourself and trying to meditate. And then to having such solace with meditation and really cherishing that time. How did you find that? Or how did that progression in your life happen? [33:09] Adam: Yeah, absolutely. For the first several years of my yoga practice, it was really predominantly a postural yoga practice. It was an Asana practice. And meditation was an off and on thing. You know, I would do meditation when I was in teacher training or when I was studying or when I was on a retreat with my teacher. And it was something that I always knew the benefit of. But never committed to a daily practice. And then several years ago, I made a trip to India during a pilgrimage called the Kumbh Mela. And the Kumbh Mela is every twelve years. It's this pilgrimage at the banks of the Ganges River. In a little town Allahabad. Not that little. But it is the biggest gathering of human beings in the planet. I think it's some 80 million people make the pilgrimage to what's known as the Sangam. And the Sangam is the confluence, the joining together of the Ganges River, the Jamuna River and the mystical Sarasvati River. And every twelve years, it's the alignment of the planets is said that that spot in the planet is the third eye of the planet. And every twelve years, the third eye opens. So if you are lucky enough to bathe yourself in the Ganges at this time. It's said it's so holy that your sins are forgiven, your children's sins are forgiven and your grandchildren's sins are forgiven. It was beautiful. It was amazing. It was one of those pilgrimages that words can't really capture. We were staying, our campgrounds for this pilgrimage was about a kilometer downriver from the actual Kumbh Mela. But there were millions and millions and millions of people in this festival ground, pilgrimage grounds and there were 24-hour chants happening. Fires burning. Just millions and millions of people. And that energy was just rolling down the Ganges. The smoke was rolling down the Ganges. You could hear the chants. And it just sounded, in the middle of the night you would wake up and you would just hear [...]. Of just these chants happening and the energy was palpable. It was amazing. And I was there with Rod Stryker and another great teacher. His teacher, Pandit Rajmani Tigunait. And it was there that I really found my meditation practice. We worked a lot with mantra. We worked a lot with different sort of meditation techniques. That finally just sang. You know, it felt like music to me. It felt like a song. And I think, you know, in the years prior when I was working in yoga and trying to find this meditation practice. I couldn't really find it because I didn't really have a teacher. Like I didn't have someone to teach me the technique. You know, it's like trying to do a handstand but you're just alone in your room. And you're just flinging yourself up and down. And there is nobody there to tell you the technique to get into it. Meditation was the same way. So I finally had found a teacher. I had found somebody to lead me into the technique and to guide me and to answer my questions and to relieve my doubt. And so for years after that, I was meditating in this japa mantra practice. Which is a repetition of a mantra. And it's the practice that I've relied on heavily throughout these last several years. And then when I was in Australia I met another amazing yoga teacher, meditation teacher. And his name is Jonni Pollard. And his organization is called One Giant Mind. And his manner and his way of speaking about meditation and teaching mediation is profound in it's simplicity. What he is doing now is he working to strip away all of the pretenses, all of the structure on meditation. That for a lot of people can seem really daunting and really intimidating. And his technique is so simple but it's so refined. So I've started studying with him. And I'm actually right now moving through his teacher training to become a certified meditation teacher in One Giant Mind. And it's this very simple mantra. It's this very simple beautiful process. That you just sit down for twenty minutes twice a day. And right now, that's the practice for me that's having the most profound effects. You know, I will always be a fan of postural yoga. I will always be a fan of moving my body and finding freedom through that movement. But right now, in this sort of journey through the meditation practice which is now spanning a couple decades. Meditation is where I find the clarity, the peace, and the reconnection to myself that I'm so often missing. And in trying to teach others now. In my teacher trainings and in the retreats, the skill and the craft of meditation. It really is learning a new practice and it's creating and cultivating these new habits. But without fail if I can get one of my students to sit down for 30 days straight of meditation, then they're in it. They're in it for life. Because within those 30 days they have noticed such a profound shift in their connection to joy, in their calmness, in their balance, in just their way of being. The way that Jonni Pollack often says it, "You know those points in your life where, you find yourself just happy for no reason. Like you're sitting and watching a sunset. Or you're walking your dog. Or something beautiful happens and just this like really gentle wave of contentment and happiness sort of waves over you, washes over you." He says that's your natural way of being, right? That should not be an anomaly. That should be your regular state of being. And connecting to a meditation practice lets you access that state of being with such ease. And it's been a practice that has saved me several times. And like I've said, I love Asana and I love moving my body and I love sweating. But for me now, the postural yoga practice and the meditation practice are two sides of the same coin that I don't really want to live without either of them. [40:34] Maggie: So the last question which you sort of touched on. And I think maybe it wraps up a lot of the things that we're talking about of kind of getting out of your own way. Or being able to sit to really know where you want to go and where you can live out your duty or your dharma. Maybe that kind of comes up in this question of what's a big goal that you see for the future, that you want and why do you want it? Or how do you plan on getting there? [41:01] Adam: Yeah. About a year ago. Or it's been a little bit more now. A year and a half to two years ago. I had a pretty catastrophic injury. My L4/L5 disc blew and the extruded disc actually wrapped around one of my spinal nerves. And I lost function of my left leg and I lost feeling in my left leg. And coming from a state of yoga aware and movement where I really define myself as a mover. As a postural yoga practitioner. To have that taken away from me was heartbreaking. I mean the pain was excruciating. But it also forced me to redefine where I stand as a teacher in this practice. And after the surgery. And after the rehab. And reintroducing my body into this movement practice was so enlightening. One in terms of what my body was capable of doing. Or more accurately what it's no longer capable of doing. How to be okay with that. But also looking back over the past ten years of moving my body in Asana and being able to see really clearly with. Hindsight is 20/20. Being able to see really clearly the movements that I shouldn't have been doing. The transitions that I shouldn't have been doing. The fighting my body to try to get deeper mobility. To try to get a deeper forward fold. To try to get the legs behind my head. That, you know, in hindsight really was just ego. It was really me just fighting to prove something that was really pointless in the first place. And what I find now that I'm back on the mat, back in my practice. Is that I'm still so inspired by the movement. I'm still so inspired by the Asana. And it is an exploration and it is a joy to find new ways to move. It's an art. It's just like music. It's like songwriting. It's creating a sequence and moving your body through the sequence. It's dance. It's songwriting. It's poetry. But what I've found is that there needs to be science behind the art. There needs to be knowledge behind the art. And in all bluntness and in all openness. I think that is lacking, that knowledge is lacking. Especially in the new yoga teachers around today. Which we were all there. I was a new yoga teacher. And I was just sort of making it up as I went along. But one of my goals now is to. Number one always keep refining the way that I teach. And to keep building my knowledge base so that my knowledge of anatomy, of the biomechanics of the body, of how bodies are supposed to move and how to keep people safe is always growing. But now on top of that. Now that I've become. I've been teaching teachers how to teach. My goal is to educate yoga teachers in how to keep people safe. In how to try to in as many instances as possible avoid the injuries that we all get so often. I mean, yoga is movement and in movement, there is inherent risk. Right, there is inherent risk in hamstring pulls or wrist injuries or shoulder injuries. Like it's going to happen. And, you know, if you compare yoga to American football the risk level is quite low. But what I see is that the level of injuries in this practice is much higher than it should be. And it's much higher than it should be because I think there are inherent flaws in the structure of how we train and certify teachers. Which is a really long conversation probably for another day. But I think it's really important to, number one allow the people who are so passionate about yoga and who really want to teach the yoga to allow them to teach. But I want to in my trainings guide them to teach in a way that is knowledgeable and educated and is capable of moving people through their practice in a safe and empowering way. So in creating my 200-hour program and in 2019 unveiling my advanced 300-hour program. That's really the goal of it. Number one, get people meditating. And as always learn about the philosophy, the vedas, the mantra, learn about the heart of the yoga. But at the same time heavily immerse them in anatomy, in functional anatomy, in alignment. In getting people to understand what safe movements are. What aren't safe movements. What transitions we shouldn't be combining. And how we can continue to watch this beautiful methodology of yoga grow in the amazing expansive way that it has been growing. But to ensure that it's growing in a mindful and responsible way. Maggie: So Adam, how can people find you and listen to you through your new cd? And keep up with where you are and where you're going? Adam: Yeah. So the website is adamwhitingyoga.com and everything on social media. Well, Instagram and Facebook is Adam Whiting Yoga as well. So Adam Whiting Yoga and you can find me anywhere. And the new cd is hopefully coming out sometime in 2019. Fingers crossed. I'm really excited about that. But the partners that I'm working at are touring musicians in Australia. So we have just a little bit to go. So hopefully the stars will align and we'll be able to get that sooner rather than later. Maggie: Thank you so much for joining me on this podcast, We Got Goals. And it was an honor to have you. Adam: The pleasure was all mine. Thanks so much. Cindy: He goal-getters. It's Cindy Kuzma. Just checking in to let you know that we're about to play another goal from one of you, our listeners! If you would like to be featured on an upcoming episode of We Got Goals here on A Sweat Life. You can record a voice memo with a goal you've set, a goal you've achieved, just maybe your dharma, your purpose. Whatever you want to tell us about that's related to goals. Record that, send it to Cindy@aSweatLife.com. And we could feature you on an upcoming episode. Thanks for listening and here is one of your goals. Britney: I am Britney and I am from Southern Indiana. One goal getting strategy that's worked very well for me is keeping my goals to myself. Which is a little different then what some people do. But I've found that it helps me because it helps me make more attainable goals rather than goals I share on social media that maybe are a little more grandious then they should be or aren't quite as fleshed out as they should be. You know, we're in the age where we want to share everything with everyone on social media. And sometimes in my experience, it's worked best for me to just keep it between me and myself. A really good example was when I was finding my new job. I kept it kind of vague when I talked to people about it. And I just said you know I'm hunting. And I wrote down everything I wanted out of my job. I wanted very specific benefits and I wanted a very specific atmosphere and culture. And I just kind of went after it and found it. And it was nice because I wasn't cluttering it with other people's kind of input. And it was just me and my goal. [50:00] Cindy: This podcast is asweatlife.com production and it’s another thing that’s better with friends. So please, share it with yours. You can subscribe wherever you get your podcasts including on Spotify. And while you’re there if you could leave us a rating or a review we would be so grateful. Special thanks to Jay Mono, for our theme music, to our guest this week, Adam Whiting, to TechNexus for the recording studio, and to Kathy Lai for editing. And of course to you, our listeners.

Stephen Cope is the scholar emeritus at Kripalu Yoga Center and the director of the Kripalu Institute for Extraordinary Living, as well as the bestselling author of The Wisdom of Yoga and The Great Work of Your Life. With Sounds True, Stephen has produced an eight-week online course titled Your True Calling: Essential Teachings of Yoga to Find Your Path in the World. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon speaks with Stephen about discovering and living out your dharma—the true purpose of your life. They discuss the wisdom found in the Bhagavad Gita and the many ways this ancient parable can be applied to modern life. Stephen explains why "missing by an inch is the same as missing by a mile," as well as why we need to decide what not to do in order to bring our gifts to life. Finally, Tami and Stephen talk about the concept of being a warrior and what this means as we bring our unique skills to bear in a world that needs them more than ever. (67 minutes)

In this episode we riff on a previous episode by Rob Bell about the truths of the undernet. We talk about the platform of social media, the ways in which we use it to communicate, and ultimately the desire it feeds to be seen and heard. Kate mentions the author Stephen Cope's book, The Great Work of Your Life." Enjoy this episode and connect with us to tell us what you think! Rebelle Mystics FB: www.facebook.com/RebelleMystics/ Rebelle Mystics INSTA: www.instagram.com/rebellemystics EMAIL: rebellemysti

Also on the show today, Alex talks to one of her favorite new authors, Stephen Cope about those relationships that have meaning. Stephen, a sweet and lovely man, is a Social Worker and a Scholar in Residence at Kripalu, an incredible Retreat Centre on the East Coast, which is also the largest yoga research institute in the western world. Stephen is a Kripalu Ambassador and he's also the author of some great best-selling books, including Yoga And The Quest For The True Self and The Wisdom Of Yoga. His latest book is called Soul Friends- The Transforming Power Of Deep Human Connection and it looks at relationships and friendships in life and helps you to understand how you become who you are, in relation to your friends. Stephen gives some great historical examples and some personal stories too. Listen in today and find out more about discovering yourself in relationship to other people. You can read the full show notes at www.alexandrajamieson.com/172

Stephen Cope is a Senior Scholar-in-Residence and a Kripalu Ambassador. He is a Western-trained psychotherapist who writes and teaches about the relationship between Western psychological paradigms and the Eastern contemplative traditions. In its 25th anniversary edition, Yoga Journal named him one of the most important innovators in the developing field of American yoga.

For episode 15 of the Real Love Podcast Series, Stephen Cope joins Sharon for a conversation around the science behind loving-kindness practice.

How do our deepest relationships in life shape who we are? What is the nature and potential of our friendships? Stephen Cope, senior scholar in residence of the renowned Kripalu Center, psychotherapist, and author of many best-selling books, joins guest host Dr. Laurel Trujillo to discuss how the magic connections of special relationships are powerful keys to who we have become and who we will become. Tune in and discover how these deep connections have transforming power for our lives. 

Stephen Cope of Officer Jenny opens up about their upbringing, musical inspiration, their journey of self-discovery and their newest release, God of Death, in this episode of SLUG Soundwaves. … read more The post Episode #271 – Officer Jenny first appeared on SLUG Magazine.

Are you on the precipice of figuring out what is specifically right for you in your life? Or are you still struggling to get to know who you really are? Either way, you'll gain a lot from this show, as it's all about helping you to find the best version of you. Alex knows that it can be really tough to find your truth in this culture of ours. We all tend to copy others in what they do and sometimes even in their mannerisms, so it becomes pretty hard at times to get clear on what feels right (or wrong) for us. Alex has found that exploring what lights you up and makes you laugh is a really great way to discover who you are, particularly if you're feeling stuck, so today, she invites you to pursue this and find out. She shares a weird and funny little story about John Hodgeman, a super smart and witty writer, comedian and actor, who also has a podcast, called The Judge John Hodgeman Show. Listen in now, to hear her funny story.   Also on the show today, Alex talks to one of her favorite new authors, Stephen Cope about those relationships that have meaning. Stephen, a sweet and lovely man, is a Social Worker and a Scholar in Residence at Kripalu, an incredible Retreat Centre on the East Coast, which is also the largest yoga research institute in the western world. Stephen is a Kripalu Ambassador and he's also the author of some great best-selling books, including Yoga And The Quest For The True Self and The Wisdom Of Yoga. His latest book is called Soul Friends- The Transforming Power Of Deep Human Connection and it looks at relationships and friendships in life and helps you to understand how you become who you are, in relation to your friends. Stephen gives some great historical examples and some personal stories too. Listen in today and find out more about discovering yourself in relationship to other people. You can read the full show notes at www.alexandrajamieson.com/139

Martha's guests this week are Stephen Cope, Jamie Brickhouse, Stephanie Gangi, and Tony Fletcher.

How do you handle difficulties in life? Some dig deep while others look outside. Host, Mike Domitrz, welcomes CAST members Vicki Abadesco, Mark Black and Darren Tipton to discuss difficulties.  Today’s topic was inspired by a quote from Stephen Cope’s book, The Great Work of Your Life. “When difficulties arise, give yourself to them. See them as dharma. Go into the heart of the difficulty. Experience it. Investigate it. Take yourself into the center of the conflict. Learn to tolerate its discomfort without acting or reacting. And what do you find at the heart of fear, dread, loathing, anger, and hatred? You find a surprise. You find a gift.” After listening to the conversation, share examples of your difficulties on the Everyday Mindfulness Show Facebook page. Subscribe to the Everyday Mindfulness Show.   Key Takeaways: [1:24] Mike reads the quote which inspired this conversation. [2:02] Slowing down and quelling a reaction is the first step. [7:13] The discipline of creating a relationship with a feeling. [10:16] Mike shares a recent experience pertinent to the conversation. [17:58] Accepting whole life difficulties. [21:01] Instant community is formed when we are open and vulnerable. [28:24] Books the CAST has read that have helped them dive into the center of difficulty.   Mentioned in This Episode: The Great Work of Your Life: A Guide for the Journey to Your True Calling, by Stephen Cope When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times, by Pema Chödrön Byron Katie The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming, by Henri Nouwen   Vicki Abadesco is the founder and director of Soul Shoppe, an organization that teaches strategies for social-emotional awareness, conflict resolution, bullying prevention and empathy building to elementary and middle school communities. Every school year Soul Shoppe touches the hearts and minds of close to 100,000 students through interactive workshops and assemblies. Vicki is an author, facilitator, program designer and award-winning creator of compelling workshops & curriculum for adults and youth. Soulshoppe.com Facebook.com/SoulShoppe Twitter.com/soulshoppe   Mark Black is a Heart-Lung Transplant Recipient turned 4-Time Marathon Runner. A resilience expert, Mark helps people “Thrive in Challenging Times.” Mark has worked with more than 100,000 people and 400 organizations. Mark doesn’t just teach resilience, he embodies it. At 23, Mark was facing an early death from heart failure. By 26, thanks to a rare heart-lung transplant, he was running marathons. He lives in Moncton, NB, with his wife and three children. MarkBlack.ca Facebook.com/MarkBlackSpeaks Twitter.com/MarkBlackSpeaks   Volunteerism and service transform communities and bring purpose to life! For twenty years, Darren Tipton has been challenging people to volunteer. He is the inspiration of the volunteer mobilization resource: “Kathatika” — a call to volunteer action bringing awareness of the infinite impact of volunteer service, and the co-author of the community-based engagement curriculum of Story to Service. He’s the founder of Project Humanity, a nonprofit focused on empowering women in Africa. ProjectHumanity.com Facebook.com/ProjectHumanity Twitter.com/PjctHumanity     Contact Us: The Everyday Mindfulness Show listen@everydaymindfulnessshow.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Paddy Barrett is a trained Interventional Cardiologist. He is also the host and creator of The Doctor Paradox, a podcast committed to addressing the issues of burnout in healthcare and understanding how to make it better. He has worked internationally--practicing in Ireland, Sydney, New York, and San Diego. His work has been featured in TimeHealth, Business Week, the New York Academy of Sciences, the New England Journal of Medicine, and many other media outlets and journals. This interview with Dr. Barrett discusses the many aspects of finding joy and satisfaction of a career in medicine, and ultimately, the importance of taking back control of your life. Please enjoy this very wise next guest: Dr. Paddy Barrett. Website: http://thedoctorparadox.com/  iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-doctor-paradox/id1043836086 Top Points My personal take: listen to the entire conversation. It is filled with great wisdom to be utilized actively in your life today.  The roots of physician burnout is not in the physicians themselves, it is primarily in the environment in which they work. The issue is that the ecosystem that exists has changed very dramatically over the past couple of decades and this environment in which people work, is what's driving these issues of discontent and dissatisfaction within the physician community. What matters most, and this is a key thing, in setting up an ecosystem in that people feel they are cared for and heard. People will work incredibly hard (physicians are not strangers to hard work). But, if you have an environment where they are not appreciated and cared for, it doesn't matter how hard working they are, they will be dissatisfied with their work. Yet, in the setting of long hours, if people feel heard, appreciated, and cared for, they will enjoy their work. If you are working somewhere and you feel burned out, look at your organization's mission statement. Read the first line, and if you throw your eyes up and say that's kind of nonsense, you have a personal value conflict with the way that you believe the organization delivers care, the way you believe people should be treated. And this is the problem. Ultimately, and this is one of the distinctions when you look at the actual happiness scores whether having children make you happier or not, compared to people who don't have children... if you survey people at the time and ask them are they particularly happy, a lot of the time they are not, they are in the middle of some crazy situation, they are stressed, and just want free time. But when you ask them in an overall sense, are you happy that you had children? Are you happy in life and the way things are? They are happy. Understand the distinction between the weather and the climate. The weather will always change, that is part of life. You need to try to pitch to where your climate is, and whether you are generally happy with the world. Change your attitude or change your geography: Sometimes it just requires you change your geography: either who you spend your time with, where you spend your time, or how you spend your time. But sometimes you can't, if you are in a medical school and you simply can't leave...you need then to look at how you change your attitude and how you respond to the world... As you move through your training to your own independence, it is up to you to define what are the components of your job, the parts of your work you want to do most of, and you do that. Because, then you can craft your life and your work that you truly had envisioned it to be. One of the most fundamental things I like to reiterate to myself or would try to reiterate to a younger me is: "it's going to be okay," and things will just be okay. Because, it's a matter of how you view it. I think that would be the most important thing for me. Understand that you can take back that control of the direction of what you are doing, and to dictate that you will have a satisfying and engaged career. To understand there are certain things you cannot change, and if you cannot change them, you cannot worry about them. But understand that you are the one who is in control, and you can have items to give yourself the toolkit to achieve it. And much more... Transcription Introduction -Paddy Barrett, Interventional Cardiologist and Clinician Scholar at Scripts Translational Science Institute in San Diego, California The Doctor Paradox Podcast -Two major tenets for the podcast -One is understanding - the increasing and worrying trend of burnout and mental health issues associated with working in healthcare today. -Secondly - How will we make that better? -That has really been a journey for me, I have learned an immense amount. -Additionally we cover interesting and novel medical careers, things that people may not have considered. -You hear people's stories, and they may come from different places, but everyone's core journey is effectively the same and has gone through challenging or difficult times. What commonalities have you found through your research and learning through your interviews with physicians? - When you are in early career - you see older physicians and attending, and think everyone is doing fantastic. -A lot of people went through challenging time during medical school training, internship, residency, attending, and retirement periods. It's incredible common, but not talked about. -People tend not to disclose this [challenge/pain], and because of that there is somewhat of a perception that this does not exist amongst their peers and colleagues. -It's a feeling and a journey that people are going through individually, and when we hear about physician burnout and depression... it tends not to match up to what you see largely in personal experience. -You will see pockets of it, but these figures quoted of 50% don't seem to match up. There is obviously statistical nuance...but it's important that we have these conversations and understand what the true causes for it are and it's only when we understand the problem better can we look at addressing it. In reference to burnout: How does one expose themselves or allow that vulnerability and create dialogue within the community? -I think it's an issue of having a more global conversation and an individual conversation -When you speak with your friends and colleagues frankly, you will find you can have these conversations. -One of the more challenging parts of this is the fact that how physicians reflect on themselves or how students reflect on themselves if they feel they are going through a period they are challenged. They feel there is a very significant stigma. -Physicians also have a feeling of being invulnerable, that we don't get the diseases our patients get, and we tend to avoid disclosing it. In terms of, how we might be judged by our peers. But in close conversations and mentors, you will find that this is something that has touched almost everybody in their training. -The understanding of the problem is key here, because, what you will see and have seen is a huge growth in articles about physician burnout. Additionally, how we are as a group will likely be a performance indicator. There have been many honorable moves in institutions to "cure" physician burnout. But what that does is really speaks to our core principles of finding pathology and to treat that pathology. -And this is what I've found in the literature, It's not something you treat as an individual. So when a hospital goes to put in place a physician wellness program, what they put in place is often resisted by the physician group and it is ineffective. The reason for that is because the roots of physician burnout is not in the physicians themselves, it is primarily in the environment in which they work. So if you try and treat and cure the physicians, you really achieve very little. While I think these are really critical components, they are only useful if layered on top of an understanding of the problem. -The issue is that the ecosystem that exists has changed very dramatically over the past couple of decades and this environment in which people work, is what's driving these issues of discontent and dissatisfaction within the physician community. -So trying to address it by sending them to a mindfulness class or resiliency training is simply not going to work. It's about the true root-cause analysis and understanding the problem, then you can work towards a solution. Some healthcare systems want to address the problem, but if you have a solution which implies the problem is with the individual, and the individual doesn't get any better (and why would they because that's not the actual way to address it), you find that the ownness of responsibility is on the person. And when that doesn't work, they say well we tried, but this is a problem with the individual. But when you look at it from the other way around, and see it is the ecosystem in which they operate, so it's people in a high-risk environment, then the responsibility is on the people who actually provide the environmental structures. -And that gets a lot trickier because now we are looking at institutional organizational change, that cultural shift amongst institutions and how people interact with each other and how they interact with their roles in general. That's much trickier, but now the responsibility is shifted more on the organization. Have you conceived or seen a healthy or happy environment that doesn't provide this sense of burnout that we have seen? -I think of you are going to see elements of it everywhere, however it doesn't have to be ubiquitous -I've worked on three different continents, you will see it exist in various forms, in various different healthcare systems. -The key component for me is that if you simply accept that there will be challenges and difficult organizational structures... we have to part of the solution and once you feel you can at least attempt to influence change, it makes a huge difference (in terms of your psychological approach to it). -What matters most, and this is a key thing, in setting up an ecosystem in that people feel they are cared for and heard. People will work incredibly hard (physicians are not strangers to hard work). But, if you have an environment where they are not appreciated and cared for, it doesn't matter how hard working they are, they will be dissatisfied with their work. Yet, in the setting of long hours, if people feel heard, appreciated, and cared for, they will enjoy their work. How do we implement appreciation on a system level, and how do we on a personal level take ownership in a mission like that? (Please Read… I would have bolded the whole thing) -This is fundamentally down to leadership and when people think of leadership, they tend to think of people sitting in some elevated structure away from the clinical floors, and not seeing patients. -In reality if you are working in healthcare, if you are CEO of a hospital, if you are the head of a department, if you are a fellow, a resident, a medical student, you are playing some leadership role... because someone looks up to you in guidance in what you do, and that's important. -It's not about a very extensive complex solution, it's about sitting down with the people whom you are responsible for, and asking them and paying a genuine interest in what they are doing, asking them if they are okay, and maybe how we can work better. With that as a cultural ethos in place, the solutions will naturally find their way. -There is no one size fits-all to this problem, because the individual drivers of dissatisfaction, vary from place to place and person-to-person. -We can see vastly different rates of burnout in physician specialties, but we understand implicitly that different specialties operate in different ways, and have different personalities, that would attract them. There is something to do with the environment we work and the dynamics of that environment, and the fact they are different between specialties and areas, that are driving more dissatisfaction amongst those. But we all know of a particular person in the past, who was a leader and a mentor who allowed you to do the work you wanted to do, to be closer to the physician that you had wanted yourself to be, and you didn't mind working incredibly hard. Because that was your purpose, that was where you find agency in what you do. -That is the key is finding a cultural ethos change - understandably there are core features that are somewhat out of our control as physicians in health care groups and organizations. When you have top-down regulation of certain things you need to do with the EMR. The issues with the EMR aren't that we have to tick boxes or fill in forms, it's the fact that it takes us away from doing the thing that we feel what it means for us to be a doctor. There will always be issues with the EMR, but it's about trying to work together and minimize those, and there will never be a perfect solution. Each individual in an organization has to do a root-cause analysis of what is driving the dissatisfaction within their organization. The job of medicine versus the art of medicine -This is something that really has been described in philosophy... -it was very much a revelation to me, that we tend to put it in one category in terms of "this is what we do". It is not one thing, it's two things: it's the art of medicine and the work of medicine. -The art of medicine is the thing that truly drives you, it's the passion you have for those times when it's just fantastic to be a physician, and to intersect with patients at a time that is so critical in their lives and it is such a privileged opportunity to have that -The work of medicine, is a lot of the stuff around that. It's the call, it's the EMR, it's the board certifications, and maintenance of certification. -Ultimately we truly love the art of medicine and continue to do so, but we dislike a lot of the elements and the work of medicine. But when we start to feel a disdain for this, we put the two of them together and we have this dislike or disdain for the art of medicine, and we feel huge guilt around that. -And we can't understand why we feel guilty for disliking something that we hold so dear. And it creates huge conflict because we don't understand. -But when you begin to parse out the problem of recognizing that the art of medicine is always there and something that you truly love, and nobody can touch that, but the elements that exist around your job, where you work, how you work, the type of specialty that you are in, the people you work with, the call rotation that you, these are elements of your job that are modifiable. And, when you start out of your training, you have less scope and less flexibility, but as you move through your training to your own independence, it is up to you to define what are the components of your job, the parts of your work you want to do most of, and you do that. Because, then you can craft your life and your work that you truly had envisioned it to be. -So when you look at your job as a whole then, there are elements that you truly love, and elements that you don't love, but the aggregate is worth it. You learn to craft your ideal job, and it's a constant process. On finding Control in Adversity -I think that a general philosophy in life, is you will always face adversity. If you look at the Buddhist fundamentals of where people derive suffering is in this expectation mismatch. If you always expect things to be good, you will find you encounter painful times in your life, and therefore you have an expectation mismatch. Because of that, there is suffering. Pain is mandatory, and suffering is optional. -This reminds me of the two-arrow theory discussed by the Dalai Llama: the first arrow is pain which is unavoidable. The second arrow is our reaction to the pain which we do control. -This has been reiterated in literature, and if you read, Man's Search for Meaning, he's basically paraphrasing Niche in this, he describes that we control very little in our lives except how we respond to the situation. So that is fundamentally always up to your control. Shakespeare writes that in the tempest, so far as he says that nothing is right or wrong, only thinketh make it so. So you have the control in how you respond to situations, and we always have that no matter what situation we are in. How do you define happiness? -Everybody describes happiness as something you find, but that's not really possible. Happiness is something you create, you build, and work towards. -It is fundamentally a byproduct of the way you live your life. People describe this as a sense of finding meaning in life and that implies that there is meaning to be found. -You need to look at it another way in that you bring meaning out of the world in what you do. You bring happiness out of the world in what you do. -When people describe happiness, there's how we are in the moment (in terms of your immediate moment to moment, and day to day happiness), then there is your contemplation of how you feel you are in general. -Ultimately, and this is one of the distinctions when you look at the actual happiness scores whether having children make you happier or not, compared to people who don't have children... if you survey people at the time and ask them are they particularly happy, a lot of the time they are not, they are in the middle of some crazy situation, they are stressed, and just want free time. But when you ask them in an overall sense, are you happy that you had children? Are you happy in life and the way things are? They are happy. -So it is to understand the distinction between the weather and the climate. The weather will always change, that is part of life. You need to try to pitch to where your climate is, and whether you are generally happy with the world. -That is fundamentally up to you, because to find happiness, means that you must luckily stumble upon it (or it will select you). -But when you take ownership, that you can work towards finding happiness, that you can really put a plan in place, that you can find a toolkit... the onus is on you, therefore you can take control of that. -It's about perspective and it's a byproduct in the way you live your life. The need for control -Taylor: I think a common theme we spoke about earlier is this sense or need to find ownership or control... -And that's one of the key drivers of dissatisfaction in general and burnout. Which by means is not exclusive to physicians. When you look at the classic survey instruments used to describe burnout, the most commonly used is the Maslach Burnout Inventory. And that's what you will often see quoted in studies or a variant of it. -But all that does, is that it tells you if someone is burned out or is at high risk for becoming burned out or not. So effectively, it gives you a temperature, it gives you a binary "yes" or "no". -But it says nothing really as to what the root cause of the drivers are. -This is important, because without understanding the root cause, it's effectively just looking at a temperature of a patient, and not understanding the pathology of where that may be coming from (whether it is indeed sepsis or which organ it is coming from). -When you look at the survey instruments for finding the causes, the most commonly used is again defined by Christina Maslach, and it's the area of life survey. When you look at the rank order of these - excess work hours, or excess demands on the capacity that you have... that tends to be perceived as the number one driver, but, invariably it's actually at the bottom. The reason it is perceived as the number one driver, is because the excess work hours are probably the number one issue when you are feeling burned out, so it's the most obviously manifest symptom. -The two biggest drivers are: lack of control. The lack of control of how you deliver care. The lack of control in how you live your life. The lack of control of where you perceive your future  and your career to be heading and this fear you are being railroaded into a life that you are terrified to have, and that you have no control over this direction. -The second is, and it is equally important: is this concept of value-conflicts. What that means is you have a major conflict personally with the institution or organization and their own philosophies and beliefs. My acid test for this is, if you are working somewhere and you feel burned out, look at your organization's mission statement. Read the first line, and if you throw your eyes up and say that's kind of nonsense, you have a personal value conflict with the way that you believe the organization delivers care, the way you believe people should be treated. And this is the problem... is that if you are in a system, whereby you feel patients are being treated unfairly, or are being utilized to generate overuse for example or do certain things that, you believe are not the best for the patient, or that they deserve better... that creates huge value conflict. -These are the deepest drivers of what actually causes discontent. -The flip-side to that is, when we look at what is the most manifest, or visible symptom, an issue around working hours... and clearly working hours has tolerances if someone is working 120 hours a week, no one is going to tolerate that. But if you then solely and exclusively address that and reduce working hours you don't actually tackle the true fundamentally drivers, which are likely autonomy and control and around value-conflicts. -So you have reduced the time exposure to the adverse stimulus, but you haven't taken away the stimulus. -If you don't fundamentally understand if those are the true drivers for you, you can never orchestrate or put in place, a role or a job, that will then be able to make you feel satisfied and engaged in your job as a physician. Taylor: And this loss of control and loss of value-congruency, this is applicable in all fields. -And burnout as I stated, is not exclusive to physicians, burnout was originally described by a German gentleman, and it was described by those caring for drug addiction. It's most commonly seen in anyone in a role who cares for another. It can be seen in fields where anyone is dealing with other human beings. So that's effectively almost all jobs. -So we go in to our job having certain expectations, in terms of, we go into our lives as physicians wanting to do well for our patients, and sometimes we feel limited in our ability to do that, and that creates huge conflict. But burnout is seen across the spectrum, between physicians, teachers, lawyers, firefighters, police officers. It is something that is very ubiquitous. What are your thoughts on the climate of fear in creating and expressing your own voice, within the field of healthcare? -I think that's having a confidence in your own belief structures that are sound and reasonable. -I think it's about using the right platform, at the right time, with the right voice. -I think there is a way to have rational discourse and talk about sensitive topics, and I think what is often lacking in the world today, is the idea that we would have a rational discourse over a topic that is maybe not agreed on by two parties. -It is only by having that discourse and having rational discourse that a reasonable solution can be found. -I think one of the most valuable things is to try to understand where someone else is coming from, truly understand that, and you will recognize their fears. Often, where you are coming from is driven from fears, anxieties, and insecurities... and it is being met by the other side also. I think when we recognize those elements, then progress can be made. -But don't be afraid to voice your opinion, but think carefully about what you are saying, and how you are saying it. And the root of the motivation of saying that, if it's born out of fear, and why that is. -And understand that if someone retorts, to understand that is born out of fear also. -But I would certainly encourage everybody to develop their own thoughts independently, read broadly, have an idea and an opinion about the world, not to be opinionated but understand why things are happening and the way things are set up. To basically accept nothing at face value and understand the rationales for the structure of things. -I think it is so important to have your voice in the world, and if you don't have your voice... if you simply standback and say nothing, and when the world collapses around you, and things don't go the way you would have liked... you really are not in a position to complain. -One of the things I like to say to myself and to others who are in a position that they don't like is: you can change your attitude or you can change your geography... or both. -but if you don't do any of those processes or put those in place, and if after 6 months you are still complaining, you forfeit the right to complain. -Because sometimes it just requires you change your geography: either who you spend your time with, where you spend your time, or how you spend your time. -But sometimes you can't, if you are in a medical school and you simply can't leave...you need then to look at how you change your attitude and how you respond to the world... you need to look at building that toolkit, in terms of your psychological ability to operate in that world and understand that maybe changing your geography is something you can't do right now, and you can put a plan in place to have a structured down the road (maybe one year, two years), whatever. -But if in 6 months, you haven't found a new approach to the problem, you are essentially suffering for yourself, and you have done nothing to help yourself. Favorite Resources -For me, I think there is a currently an obsession with the new... the problems we face are as old as human behavior. -So the books I'm currently reading are older and older books. For me, it's about philosophy and understanding, and having a framework to view the world, and how to operate within it. -I think one of the most valuable resources that everybody should use, is watch there is probably hundred short videos by The school of life by Alain De Botton, videos on philosophy and how we look at the world. Although that is a new item, he is talking about very old ideas. -In terms of a book, I think for anybody who is struggling with a dilemma, and a dilemma is something that doesn't have an immediate and obvious solution. And we talk about touching the two horns of a dilemma, in so far as that if you touch one you are moving further away from the other, and I think everybody is struggling with that... the book for me that has been the most important is a book by Stephen Cope called the The great work of your life. And it's effectively a modern day interpretation of an old Vedic text called the Bhagavad Gita, which is the story of Arjuna and Krishna on the battlefield. -It's about how to deal with a situation whereby if you think you are going to choose something, that you feel you will pay a penalty in some other way, and vice versa. It's about how to rationalize that in your mind and ultimately all of that is driven by fear. -So I think that the understanding of the core tenets of philosophy, The School of Life, anything in the stoic philosophy particularly Marcus Aurelius or Seneca, just unbelievable in terms of how to look at the world, and also Stephen Cope's book. If you could speak to a younger Paddy, let's say ten years ago, what would you say to yourself? -I wouldn't change anything, I think where I am now is a result of all the good and bad things that have happened to me. -I think the character and people we become are forged by our life's journeys. I don't think I would like to say anything particular because it would change potentially who I am now. -One of the most fundamental things I like to reiterate to myself or would try to reiterate to a younger me is: "it's going to be okay," and things will just be okay. Because, it's a matter of how you view it. I think that would be the most important thing for me. What would like to say to medical community at large, something you would like us to conclude with -I think my main message is that, although I have podcast that very much talks about physician burnout, is that... it was motivated by the idea that you can have a very fulfilling and satisfying career as a physician. That people do have incredibly satisfying careers as physicians, even within this environment and that opportunity is always there for you. That is why you have taken all the exams and put in all of this hard work. The reality is, to secure that you have to take control over your personal world, in terms of how you look at the world, and how you structure it. Understand that you can take back that control of the direction of what you are doing, and to dictate that you will have a satisfying and engaged career. To understand there are certain things you cannot change, and if you cannot change them, you cannot worry about them. But understand that you are the one who is in control, and you can have those items to give yourself the toolkit to achieve them.

How do we find our true purpose—our path in the world that allows us to bring forth all our strengths? How do we discover and pursue the calling of our innermost self? Stephen Cope, author of The Great Work of Your Life, joins regular guest host Dr. Laurel Trujillo to discuss how we find our svadharma, that true calling of our soul longing for expression. By drawing encouragement from the stories of others who have realized their life's purpose, this conversation is sure to inspire you on your journey.

For your chance to win a signed copy of Venture Deals by previous guest and legend, Brad Feld all you have to do is click the Click To Tweet Link here: http://ctt.ec/Q41ZG   Kamal Ravikant is an absolute hero to me after I read his incredible best selling book, Love Yourself Like Like Your Life Depends On It. As for an intro to Kamal, it goes without saying that he has worked with some of the best people in Silicon Valley and is a true tech and investing icon, but he has also trekked to one of the highest base camps in the Himalayas, meditated with Tibetan monks in the Dalai Lama's monastery, held the hands of dying patients, earned a US Army Infantry patch, walked 550 miles across Spain, been the only non-black, non-woman member of the Black Women's writers' group and written books including my favourite the previously mentioned, Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How did Kamal make his way into the world of Venture Capital? 2.) What were Kamal's biggest takeaways from working as an entrepreneur? 3.) What really makes a great VC? How can VCs provide true and genuine value add? 4.) Why is now the best time to be an entrepreneur? What has changed? 5.) What would Kamal advise an entrepreneur looking to build a startup? .) Where does Kamal see the future of Venture Capital? 6.) What worries Kamal about the tech scene? 7.) How does Kamal sort the wood from the trees in the frothy market of tech startups? Items Mentioned In Today's Show: Kamal's Fave Book: The Alchemist, Hemingway, The Great Work of Stephen Cope, Kamal's Fave Blog: James Altucher Kamal's Most Recent Investment: Bolt As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Kamal on Twitter here! If you would like to see a more colourful side to Harry with many a mojito session, you can follow Harry on Instagram here!  

Listen in to discover some of the most important topics and quotes that Stephen Cope offers in his influential writings. Don't miss these inspirational and mind-blowing teachings that may forever change your life (like thy did mine) and bring you success and happiness you've been looking for.

Listen in to discover some of the most important topics and quotes that Stephen Cope offers in his influential writings. Don’t miss these inspirational and mind-blowing teachings that may forever change your life (like thy did mine) and bring you success and happiness you've been looking for. Get full show notes and more information here: http://thelifecoachschool.com/80

Stephen Cope is the director of the Kripalu Institute for Extraordinary Living—the largest yoga research institute in the Western world. In this great book, Stephen brings the Bhagavad Gita to life and helps us apply this ancient wisdom to our modern lives. Big Ideas include the four keys to living your dharma, creating the right conditions, dealing with difficulties, training elephants, and reducing yourself to zero!

Stephen Cope is the director of the Kripalu Institute for Extraordinary Living—the largest yoga research institute in the Western world. In this great book, Stephen brings the Bhagavad Gita to life and helps us apply this ancient wisdom to our modern lives. Big Ideas include the four keys to living your dharma, creating the right conditions, dealing with difficulties, training elephants, and reducing yourself to zero!

In the February 3, 2015 episode of Boomer Generation Radio, Rabbi Address hosts a conversation on mid-life career changes with Cherry Hill writer Stefanie Levine Cohen in the first half of the program. In the second half of the show, Dr. Ellen Langer, a social psychologist from Harvard University discusses mindfulness. About the Guests Stefanie Levine Cohen Stefanie Levine Cohen studies and writes about birth, death, afterlife and the human condition.  Her stories explore moments of transition in characters' lives and focus particularly on the intersection between the psychological and the spiritual. How does a person reconcile the need to understand his or her place in the universe with the tug of that person's emotional truth? Themes of parenting, aging, loss and self-discovery recur throughout her stories and resonate with readers at many stages of life. Stefanie is a long-time member of the Rittenhouse Writers Group in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded and facilitated by James Rahn. She has also attended the Taos Summer Writers' Conference and numerous workshops, studying with teachers including Jonis Agee, Sylvia Boorstein, Joan Borysenko, Deepak Chopra, Stephen Cope, Gordon Dveirin, John Perkins, Rabbi Rami Shapiro and James Van Praague. Her work has been published in  Amarillo Bay, ginosko, Green Hills Literary Lantern, The MacGuffin, The Montreal Review, and Storyscape Journal. Dr. Ellen Langer Dr. Ellen Langer, Ph.D., is a social psychologist and the first female professor to gain tenure in the Psychology Department at Harvard University. She is the author of eleven books and more than two hundred research articles written for general and academic readers on mindfulness for over 35 years. Her best selling books include Mindfulness; The Power of Mindful Learning; On Becoming an Artist: Reinventing Yourself Through Mindful Creativity; and Counterclockwise: Mindful Health and the Power of Possibility. Her most recent book, the Wiley Mindfulness Handbook, is an anthology on mindfulness in which leading researchers integrate work derived from her western scientific theoretical base of mindfulness with research on eastern derived forms of meditation. It will be published in early 2014.  Dr. Langer has been described as the “mother of mindfulness” and has written extensively on the illusion of control, mindful aging, stress, decision-making, and health. Among other honors, she is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and three Distinguished Scientist Awards, the World Congress Award, the NYU Alumni Achievement Award, and the Staats award for Unifying Psychology. Dr. Langer has been a guest speaker all over the world, including Japan, Malaysia, Germany, Australia, Mexico, Switzerland, Argentina and China. Her websites can be found at www.langermindfulnessinstitute.com and www.ellenlanger.com. Boomer Generation Radio is sponsored in part by Kendal Corporation, a Quaker-based provider of continuing care retirement communities in the Northeast and Midwest, airs on WWDB-AM 860 every Tuesday at 10 a.m., and features news and conversation aimed at Baby Boomers and the issues facing them as members of what Rabbi Address calls “the club sandwich generation.” You can hear the show live on AM 860, or streamed live from the WWDB website. Subscribe to the RSS feed for all Jewish Sacred Aging podcasts. Subscribe to these podcasts in the Apple iTunes Music Store.

Derek Coburn is the founder of Cadre, an un-networking community in Washington, DC and now in Baltimore. Derek is the author of Networking Is Not Working: Stop Collecting Business Cards and Start Making Meaningful Connections. Talking about organizing networking events, managing relationships, and connection. NBN16 Show Notes Join the NBN Club today (while it is free). Listen to episode 16 in iTunes or Stitcher. Get your free audio book by visiting Audible.com! Do it now and support this show please. Thanks to John Ellis for his audio comment. Leave your own networking tip, comment or question. Record one now. Grab my free 75 tips for networking at conferences and events. Download a copy of my book, New Business Networking: How to Effectively Grow Your Business Network Using Online and Offline Methods. Derek Coburn created unnetworking events. He borrowed the term from Scott Stratten's book, UnMarketing. We need to unlearn what we have already learned in order to be more effective in the way we approach it (networking). In order for a networking event to be successful for anyone, it is directly correlated by how many people are there for the same reasons as you. Derek never intended to make his Cadre events large. He vets his members to be sure they are CEOs and business owners. They bring guests to the events who pay $250. His events begin at 3:30 pm instead of after work. Derek explains how to trigger on-going reciprocity. He loves connecting people and providing value to his network. You need to find ways to make it easy for people who want to help you. His clients want to help him, but the introductions often don't take place. He created a couple of email templates for his clients to use to refer him. When you make it simple for people, they will act. ClicktoTweet.com Derek shares how he manages many relationships. Manage your email with SaneBox.com and Boomerang.com Seth Godin's Impresario Workshop. Check out Paul Jun's post about it. When you attend an event, what is your time worth? Networking 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0. How Derek uses LinkedIn to find local professionals. Check out Contactually.com to balance relationships. App Recommendation: Nozbe for productivity. Book Recommendation: The Great Work of Your Life: A Guide for the Journey to Your True Calling by Stephen Cope. Contact DerekCoburn.com and on Twitter @cadredc. Did you enjoy the show? Please share it and help us grow the NBN Radio Community. Please leave a review in  iTunes or Stitcher Radio. Every review is sincerely appreciated. You can subscribe to the show by RSS, email, or in iTunes and Stitcher Radio. You will never miss an episode! Affiliate links used. Theme music, Urbana-Metronica (wooh-yeah mix) by spinningmerkaba. Thanks for listening. You rock!

Each one of us has an individual dharma to fulfill, our own true calling. What challenges do we face in discovering that purpose for our life, and how can we overcome those challenges in order to enjoy “lit up living”? Join Yogacharya O'Brian and special guest Stephen Cope, director of the Kripalu Institute for Extraordinary Living and author of The Great Work of Your Life, for answers gleaned from the Bhagavad Gita and the lives of people who have faced the challenges and embraced the opportunities of living their dharma.  

Tami Simon speaks with Stephen Cope, a psychotherapist who studies the relationship between Western psychology and Eastern contemplative traditions. Stephen is the founder and director of the Kripalu Institute for Extraordinary Living, the largest yoga research institute in the West. With Sounds True, he has created the audio program Yoga for Emotional Flow: Free Your Emotions through Yoga Breathing, Body Awareness, and Energetic Release. In this interview, Stephen speaks with Tami about deeper dimensions of yoga, including how yoga helps us undo core patterns of aggression and craving in the body. Stephen also discusses “riding the wave,” a process for leaning in and fully experiencing emotion. (61 minutes)

Dana Sawyer was born in Jonesport, Maine in 1951. He was a full-time professor of religion and philosophy at the Maine College of Art and an adjunct professor of Asian religions at the Bangor Theological Seminary. He is the author of numerous published papers and books, including Aldous Huxley: A Biography, which Laura Huxley described as, "Out of all the biographies written about Aldous, this is the only one he would have actually liked." Sawyer has been involved in fund-raising activities for the Siddhartha School Project in Stak, Ladakh, north India, for more than ten years and is currently vice-president of the Board of Trustees. This project has resulted in the construction of an elementary/ middle school for underprivileged Buddhist children that has been visited twice by the Dalai Lama, who holds it as a model for blending traditional and Western educational ideals. Much of his work for this project has involved translating at lectures for (and teaching with) the school's founder, Geshe Lobzang Tsetan, who is currently the abbot of the Panchen Lama's monastery in Mysore, India. Sawyer's interest in the phenomenon of Neo-Hindu and Buddhist groups in America led him to become a popular lecturer on topics of interest to these groups. He has taught at the Kripalu Center (Lenox, MA), the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies (Barre, MA), the Vedanta Society of Southern California (Hollywood, CA), the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, and other such venues. This work has also brought him into contact with several interesting and important figures in this field, including Stanislav Grof, Andrew Harvey, Huston Smith, Laura Huxley, Stephen Cope, and Alex Grey. Sawyer has been to India eleven times, most recently while on sabbatical during the winter and spring of 2005, and has traveled extensively throughout the subcontinent: Nepal, Pakistan, Sikkim, Thailand, Cambodia, Hong Kong, and Japan. Related to academic work Sawyer has lectured at the Kyoto University of Foreign Studies, Banaras Hindu University, the University of Riga, Latvia, the Huntington Library, and at colleges and conferences throughout the United States (interview footage of Sawyer from the Riga conference was featured in a British documentary, “Brand New World,” on the dangers of consumer culture). In August, 2005, Sawyer was a participant in the by-invitation-only conference on “Government, Education, and Religion” at the Oxford Roundtable, Lincoln College, Oxford University. He is a member of two academic societies: the Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy (SACP) and the International Aldous Huxley Society, centered at the University of Munster in Germany. Books: The Perennial Philosophy Reloaded: A Guide for the Mystically Inclined Aldous Huxley: A Biography Huston Smith: Wisdomkeeper: Living The World's Religions: The Authorized Biography of a 21st Century Spiritual Giant Website Other interviews: Dana Sawyer, with Jeffrey Kripal Dana Sawyer in Panel at Sofia U. Part 1 | Part 2 Dana Sawyer on Huston Smith Summary and Transcript of this interview Interview recorded 9/29/2010 YouTube Video Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction and Background 00:04:03 - The Effort to Alter Our Subjective Experience 00:08:02 - Embracing the Mystery 00:12:10 - The Realization of the Need for Growth 00:15:55 - Seeking Certainty in Knowledge 00:19:24 - Embracing the Mystery 00:23:12 - Shifting Perspectives and Cultural Interpretations 00:27:12 - Breaking the Shackles of Routine Work 00:30:55 - The Story of Heaven and Hell 00:34:23 - Embracing Multiple Perspectives 00:38:03 - The Spectrum of Spiritual Teachings 00:41:37 - The Exercising of Esoteric Teachings 00:45:19 - The Growth of Spiritual Interest and Maturity 00:49:11 - Falling into Each Other's Emptiness 00:52:38 - Cultural Misunderstandings in India 00:56:31 - The Mystery and Paradox of India