Podcast

EPISODE #161: The Story of You

(December 28, 2021) According to Ian Morgan Cron, author of The Story of You: An Enneagram Journey to Becoming Your True Self, we each create a strategy in order to navigate our early years of life. However, at some point this strategy (or story) stops being helpful in our lives. Using the Enneagram, an ancient personality typing system with an uncanny accuracy in describing how human beings are wired, Ian encourages us to rethink and rewrite our negative, outdated stories to ultimately become our true selves.

EPISODE #160: Learning from Difficult People

(December 14, 2021) We all will experience challenging people in our lives. Author Mark Westmoquette calls them troublesome Buddhas because we can see them as teachers or opportunities to grow. Using the teachings of mindfulness and Zen, we can begin to see ways to break free from knee-jerk response patterns and see if these people may prove to be useful teachers in life.

EPISODE #159: Escape the Hustle

(December 7, 2021) Hustle culture, this idea that we ought to make working, striving and achieving the centerpiece of our lives, might have deep roots these days but so too does the anti-hustle movement, which serves to value balance and rest as part of accomplishment. Author Matthew Turner sees the hustle has being deeply ingrained in modern society, exasperated like never before by technology and social media. But there is something beyond the toxic hustle mindset. The secret is intention.

EPISODE #158: How to Create a Thrive Tribe

(November 30, 2021) Live deliberately. Actively engage in your personal evolution. Bring attention and intention to growing and becoming the best version of yourself. Be on your journey like it matters. This is what thriving looks like. We need thrive tribes so that we’re not growing in silos; we’re growing together. And that togetherness makes us feel nourished, challenged and, honestly, more alive.

EPISODE #157: Redesigning our Mental Patterns

(November 23, 2021) When it comes to creating the lives we want, we’re often told that we need to focus on things like commitment, willpower, positive thinking or goal-setting. But Adele Spraggon, author of the book, SHIFT: 4 Steps to Personal Empowerment, thinks there’s actually somewhere else we should be paying attention, and that’s our mental patterns. Current brain research shows that our decisions are the result of decision-making patterns that were created early in life and yet they continue to set the direction of our lives. But these are only patterns and patterns can be changed.

EPISODE #155: Make Peace with Your Mind

(November 9, 2021) You are not your thoughts! This is the fundamental insight that weaves its way through Just a Thought: A No-Willpower Approach to Overcome Self-Doubt and Make Peace with Your Mind, a new book by life coach and psychologist Amy Johnson, PhD. Imagine we can learn to transcend unhelpful and noisy thoughts and focus our awareness onto something quieter and deeper. This is true peace of mind and its accessible to everyone.

EPISODE #156: Be a Wonder Seeker

(November 16, 2021) If you want to feel more joy and aliveness in your life, cultivate wonder. Our ability to place our attention on all the beauty and magic around us is directly connected to how joyful, grateful and happy we feel. According to writer and artist Andrea Scher, author of Wonder Seeker: 52 Ways to Wake Up Your Creativity and Find Your Joy, all we need to find wonder and awe is an open heart and a clear intention. When we do, it has the power to renew our spirits and reclaim our inner happiness.

EPISODE #154: What’s Taking Up Space

(November 2, 2021) We carry a lot. Sometimes it’s worry or regret. Maybe we have unfinished projects or unresolved conflict weighing us down. Maybe it’s just clutter. Regardless, our thoughts take up space, especially when they seem to go unresolved, feel unsettled or cause us to ruminate for long periods of time without any productive action or resolution. This week I offer my thoughts on how to identify what may be taking up (too much) space in your mind, burdening you unnecessarily and robbing you of energy and creativity that would be best served elsewhere.

EPISODE #153: Self-Care Can Change the World with Shelly Tygielski

(October 26, 2021) We are each born with a sense of agency and the ability to rise up and become a force for good. But unless we’re effectively resourced, in part through self-care, we limit what we have to give to the world. In her new book, Sit Down to Rise Up: How Radical Self-Care Can Change the World, Shelly Tygielski sees self-care as truly a selfless act, and a way to expand our view of the “self” to include our family, community, human beings across the globe, and the natural world.

EPISODE #152: Your Soul’s Adventure with Kori Hahn

(October 19, 2021) Is the life you are living based on logical reason and society’s expectations, or are you doing exactly what makes your heart beat a little faster with passion and enthusiasm? If you listened more intently to what your heart wants, what would you be doing? What are your dreams, and why aren’t you living them at the moment? These are the questions that author Kori Hahn explores in her new book, Rituals of the Soul: Using the 8 Ancient Principles of Yoga to Create a Modern & Meaningful Life. When we listen to the soul, and enable our bravest and best selves, we start to move to where we most want to be.

EPISODE #151: Self-Awareness 101 with Beth Gibbs

(October 12, 2021) There is an inner wisdom in each of us when we take the time to look inside. Not only do we have the capacity to know and understand ourselves, but we can also steer ourselves, evolve, grow and change. This process all happens through self-awareness, which is a consciousness of self: our feelings, motives, desires, beliefs, tendencies, and thoughts, and all the ways we engage with the world around us.

EPISODE #150: How to be Sad with Helen Russell

(October 5, 2021) We think a lot about being happy and ways to achieve lasting happiness. In fact, research has found that we often see sadness as a weakness and that many of us are, in a way, afraid to be sad. But Helen Russell, author of How to Be Sad: Everything I’ve Learned About Getting Happier by Being Sad, sees value in sadness. Helen has researched sadness from the inside out for her entire life, discovering that the key to happiness is unhappiness. Turns out that when we allow ourselves to experience pain, we learn to truly appreciate and embrace joy.

EPISODE #149: The Higher Self with Donna Bond

(September 28, 2021) When we embark on a spiritual path, one that aims to have us understand life, ourselves and each other at a deeper level, we may start to see that we have a deep intelligence that offers a bigger perspective and wisdom. It’s something beyond our rational, logical and thinking mind. This is the higher self. Donna Bond, author of Original Wisdom: Harness the Power of the Authentic You, differentiates our Human Self—the one consumed with navigating day-to-day reality—from our Higher Self—which is the truest, wisest, calmest core of who we are.

EPISODE #148: The Art of Enough with Becky Hall

(September 21, 2021) To author and coach Becky Hall, finding a space between the poles of scarcity and excess is the challenge of our age. For decades, her work has aimed to help us each explore our own version of enough so that we can find the balance and boundaries we all need for ourselves and for our world. In her new book, The Art of Enough, she offers a practical guidebook designed to cultivate sufficiency and peace for healthy self-belief, work pace and sustainable living, so we can all move from striving to thriving.

EPISODE #147: The Power of Sleep with Renata Alexandre

(September 14, 2021) Sleep impacts everything. In addition to being a foundational aspect of our wellbeing, it also underpins how we bring our best selves to the world. In essence, it contributes to our thriving and flourishing. And yet, we can so easily shortchange it with bad habits or in order to achieve more or do more. In her new book, Better Daily Sleep Habits: Simple Changes with Lifelong Impact, Renata Alexandre explores how to cultivate and safeguard great sleep in order to live a well and happy life.

EPISODE #146: Practice, Persistence and the Art of Self with Jeeyoon Kim

(September 7, 2021) As a professional concert pianist, Jeeyoon Kim has built a career on the foundation of daily practice and unwavering persistence. Along the way, she’s learned how to transcend her feelings and whims in order to commit to her work. In her new book, Whenever You’re Ready: How to Compose the Life of Your Dreams, Jeeyoon shares how success stems from disciplines, practices, and mindsets that we live out every day.

EPISODE #141: The Myths and Magic of Mindful Living with Rebecca Pacheco

(August 3, 2021) Mindful living can include formal meditation but it’s mostly about how we pay attention to life as it’s happening in the everyday moments of our everyday lives. In her new book, Still Life: The Myths and Magic of Mindful Living, renowned yogi meditation teacher Rebecca Pacheco offers insights and practices for how to live a more present, contemplative life. As we do, we create space for peace and calm, but also for our own mental, emotional, and spiritual grappling.

EPISODE #140: The Science of Bullshit with John V. Petrocelli

(July 27, 2021) John V. Petrocelli, an experimental social psychologist and Professor of Psychology at Wake Forest University, thinks a lot about contaminated thinking and bad decision-making. In his new book, The Life-Changing Science of Detecting Bullshit, he looks at why we’re all susceptible to bullshit (sharing it and receiving it) and also the far-reaching consequences of toxic misinformation. With a little dose of skepticism, a commitment to truth seeking and John’s critical thinking defensive tactics, we can all become bullshit detectives.

EPISODE #139: Living Beyond Subconscious Patterns with Frances Yahia

(July 20, 2021) The subconscious mind has enormous influence over the day-to-day living of our lives. We each have patterns that were formed at the very early stages of our lives, but these continue to still play out decades later, and not always in healthy ways. In her book, The Seven Gates: Seven Steps Beyond Self-Awareness, Frances Yahia explores a model for understanding why we attract patterns in our lives and how we can shift the subconscious to stop repeating unhealthy, subconscious patterns. The result is a way of living life consciously and authentically, being the truest version of ourselves.

EPISODE #138: Living by Design with Richard J. Leider

(July 13, 2021) Most of us have asked the question: what am I going to be when I grow up? Richard Leider asks, WHO do I want to be when I grow up? In his new book, Who Do You Want to Be When You Grow Old?: The Path of Purposeful Aging, he invites us to explore the difference between living a default life versus living a created life. The key is to deliberately choose to keep growing and to live life with curiosity and courage. The key is to live a life of purpose.

EPISODE #137: Mindfulness Habits with Kristen Manieri

(July 6, 2021) Mindfulness is a powerful tool for staying calm, centered, and steady―but it can be challenging to remember to stay mindful. Meditation is helpful, but real change happens when we can integrate mindfulness into the everyday living of our lives through habits. In this episode, I’m interviewed by my friend and fellow author, Erica Boucher, about my new book, Better Daily Mindfulness Habits: Simple Changes with Lifelong Impact, which comes out July 13, 2021.

EPISODE #136: Wonder, Surprise and Finding Your Genius Zone with Gay Hendricks

(June 29, 2021) Gay Hendricks, author of the new book, The Genius Zone, and the bestselling classic, The Big Leap, thinks a lot about how we thrive. For over four decades, he’s narrowed his focus on the life-altering practice of helping people reach their potential through discovering their Genius Zone. When we’re there, life feels filled with wonder, surprise, joy, meaning, fulfillment and curiosity. In essence, we thrive.

EPISODE #135: Gratefulness as a Way of Life with Kristi Nelson

(June 22, 2021) We tend to think of gratitude as something we practice once in a while. But Kristi Nelson, author of Wake Up Grateful and executive director of A Network for Grateful Living, sees it differently. To her, gratitude is about living a grateful way of life and cultivating a perspective of gratefulness that influences our entire approach to how we show up in life. With a ‘take nothing for granted’ commitment to living, Kristi invites us to explore what it means to treasure, savor, appreciate, cherish and celebrate our lives.

EPISODE #134: Rethinking Meditation with Murray Du Plessis

(June 15, 2021) If you’ve been trying to empty your mind during meditation, you may have experienced a lot of frustration and disappointment in your practice. In his book, Modern Meditations: 101 Ways to Slow Down & Connect to Spirit, author and meditation teacher Murray du Plessis encourages a different approach, seeing meditation as an inner adventure of discovery and an opportunity to develop a deeper, gentler relationship with ourselves on and off the meditation cushion.

EPISODE #133: Permission to Thrive with Regina Louise

(June 8, 2021) Regina Louise is fierce. You’d have to be to have gotten through what she’s experienced in her lifetime. But she’s turned her adversity into fuel and turned the insights from her life trials and tribulations into wisdom. Along the way, she’s learned to live unapologetically and fearlessly. Through her book, Permission Granted, she’s inspiring others to do the same.

EPISODE #132: Pro Strategies for Lifelong Learners with Barbara Oakley & Olav Schewe

(June 1, 2021) Some people never stop learning. They are endlessly curious about the world and all the ways we can understand and experience it more fully. As someone who identifies as a lifelong learner, I’m interested and invested in ways to learn better and retain more. Turns out there is a ton of neuroscience and cognitive psychology research behind how to upgrade our learning. In their new book, Learn Like a Pro: Science-Based Tools to Become Better at Anything, Dr. Barbara Oakley and Olav Schewe unpack this research and deliver tangible strategies for becoming a better learner.

EPISODE #131: The Case for Kindness with Bruce Reyes-Chow

(May 25, 2021) When we’re not really thinking about it, we might define kindness as being nice, polite and agreeable. But Bruce Reyes-Chow, author of In Defense of Kindness: Why It Matters, How It Changes Our Lives, and How It Can Save the World, looks a few layers deeper. To Bruce, kindness is a decision to use every interaction as an opportunity build up the people in our lives. Kindness takes courage, practice and, at times, herculean restraint, but it’s our pathway to healing, wholeness, and hope in ourselves and the world. It’s an adventure of discovery and rediscovery of kindness of heart, mind, spirit, and action.

EPISODE #130: The Undeniable Value of a Retreat with Kirsteen MacLeod

(May 17, 2021) These days, disengaging, even briefly, is seen by many as self-indulgent and unproductive. Yet creating space for solitude, reflection and deliberate restoration and rejuvenation is a basic human need. Everyone can benefit, whether it’s for a weekend, a month, or a lifetime. Through her book, In Praise of Retreat: Finding Sanctuary in the Modern World, author Kirsteen MacLeod takes readers on an engaging and inspiring journey into our modern ways of retreating.

EPISODE #129: The Profound Identity Shift of Motherhood with Ilyse Dobrow DiMarco

(May 11, 2021) Becoming a mother is a joyful rite of passage, but it can also bring overwhelming emotional upheaval, exhaustion, and self-doubt. And is it any wonder? Motherhood changes everything, right down to a woman’s brain chemistry. In her new book, Mom Brain: Proven Strategies to Fight the Anxiety, Guilt, and Overwhelming Emotions of Motherhood–And Relax Into Your New Self, Ilyse Dobrow DiMarco, Ph.D (mother of two) offers a compassionate, science-based psychological strategy for helping moms cope with common challenges and make peace with their transformed identity.

EPISODE #128: The Amazing Female Brain with Tracy Packiam Alloway

(May 4, 2021) Neuroimaging clearly shows that the female brain has many unique strengths. Whether it’s related to decision-making, leadership or relationships, the female brain has exceptional competencies. And yet, women often believe disempowering myths about themselves. In her new book, Think Like a Girl: 10 Unique Strengths of a Woman’s Brain and How to Make Them Work for You, award-winning psychologist, professor, and TEDx speaker Dr. Tracy Packiam Alloway invites us to dispel the myths and stop underestimating our abilities and stunting our successes.

EPISODE #127: Getting into Action for Personal Growth with Kate Eckman

(April 27, 2021) Growing takes work. When we choose to take on our personal evolution with intention but also effort, that’s when we start to truly grow, stretch and strengthen ourselves. In The Full Spirit Workout, author Kate Eckman draws from her multifaceted training (as an athlete, executive leadership coach and meditation teacher) to present daily mind-body-spirit exercises and neuroscience-based practices that keep us engaged in our growth and moving toward our goals.

EPISODE #126: Creativity, Joy and Self-Discovery with Jacob Nordby

(April 20, 2021) Creativity is not limited to artists. In fact, every human being is creative, and having a regular creative practice is a vital key to a happy and fulfilling life. But, if we don’t exercise our creativity regularly, our lives can feel dull, stagnant, and colorless. In his powerful book, The Creative Cure: How Finding and Freeing Your Inner Artist Can Heal Your Life, author and creative coach Jacob Nordby offers creativity as a pathway to joy and self-discovery, and a way to reinvigorate the soul.

EPISODE #125: How to Become Deeply Curious About Other People with Ximena Vengoechea

(April 13, 2021) When we’re not paying attention, listening is something we mostly do on autopilot. We hear people but we’re often missing crucial opportunities to go deeper and create authentic, lasting connections. In her book, Listen Like You Mean It: Reclaiming the Lost Art of True Connection, Ximena Vengoechea shares tried-and-true strategies and techniques for not only improving listening and building rapport, but for discovering who people truly are at their core. Honed in her own research sessions and drawn from interviews, Ximena offers a warm, funny and immensely practical approach to learning to listen with intention and attention.

EPISODE #124: You Are Normal with Emily Nagoski

(April 6, 2021) “You are normal; it is the world around you that’s broken” writes Emily Nagoski in her New York Times bestselling book, Come As You Are (The Surprising New Science that Will Transform Your Sex Life). Using a research, data-based approach to understanding female sexuality, Emily aims to help women embrace and celebrate their bodies and sexual response mechanisms in a world that urges them to judge and second-guess themselves. Her approach to women’s sexuality is a transformative pathway to better sex and wellbeing.

EPISODE #123: Understanding Your Empathic Nature with Wendy de Rosa

(March 30, 2021) In many ways, we are a head-centered species. But the trouble with being so caught up in our minds is that we neglect to tap into our intuition and deep inner guidance system, which live in the body. The body is also where we feel our innate vibrancy, aliveness and wisdom. In her book, Becoming an Empowered Empath: How to Clear Energy, Set Boundaries & Embody Your Intuition, author Wendy De Rosa helps us become more embodied, grounded and present.

EPISODE #122: Lessons from Lockdown with Marie-Claire Donnelly

(March 23, 2021) The global pandemic has brought heartache and sadness, but it’s also given us opportunities to think more deeply about how we live our lives and to learn and grow from diversity. Through her book, It Is What It Is: Universal And Everlasting Lessons From Lockdown, Marie-Claire Donnelly shares her experience of using lockdown to go deep within and find the silver lining in such an unexpected situation. Along the way, she reconnects with the importance of faith, self-acceptance, and ultimately, self-love.

EPISODE #121: Life Admin and How to Conquer It with Elizabeth Emens

(March 16, 2021) There is an invisible labor in life that we rarely notice or address. Whether it’s forms at a doctor’s office, scheduling flights, asking for a refund, coordinating school activities, weddings, funerals or births, we all face an onslaught of paperwork. It seems that life admin just comes with everyday living, but through her book, The Art of Life Admin: How To Do Less, Do It Better, and Live More, Elizabeth Emens aims to help us do less, do better and live more.

EPISODE #120: How to Dream Bigger with John Strelecky

(March 9, 2021) There are people who seem to go after their dreams with relentless tenacity. This week’s guest is one of these people. A world traveler and bestselling author, John Strelecky walked away from his corporate job nearly two decades ago and has never looked back. Along the way, he’s learned a few things about how to win at this game of life, including overcoming fear and getting comfortable with uncertainty, having a clear vision and finding flow with life. He shares these insights in his books, but also in this week’s episode.

EPISODE #119: How to Prioritize Pleasure with Angie Byrd

(March 2, 2021) Feeling good is something we all deserve. In fact, joy is an essential part of our well-being. This week, we welcome to the podcast Angie Byrd, who works with women to reawaken their innate wellspring of vibrancy through pleasure. Joy and delight are not luxuries but an integral part of living. This week’s episode is all about how we can learn to savor, delight and rejoice in everyday pleasures.

EPISODE #118: Mindful Eating with Michelle Babb

(February 23, 2021) Thanks to counting calories, food fads and restrictive diets, food can become a chore, even a source of stress. In a way, the science of eating has sucked the joy out of mealtime. This week’s guest want us to return to the art of eating. The author of Mastering Mindful Eating, author and registered dietitian Michelle Babb suggests we say goodbye to dieting and instead embrace a new approach, one where we mindfully savor our food and make eating a sacred ritual.

EPISODE #117: How to Develop Intuition with Kim Chestney

(February 16, 2021) Intuition is a universal skill, but not all of us have learned to develop, strengthen and nurture it. “Your intuition speaks to you every day; all you need to do is learn to understand it,” writes author Kim Chestney in her new book, Radical Intuition: A Revolutionary Guide to Using Your Inner Power. When we move beyond the limits of our thinking mind and tap into an inner wisdom beyond our intellect and reason, we have the opportunity to expand our consciousness and understand the world like never before.

EPISODE #116: Wellness and Resilience with Naz Beheshti

(February 8, 2021) Our culture tends to prioritize doing well over being well. But the truth is, we can have both — success and well-being. The new book, Pause. Breathe. Choose.: Become the CEO of Your Well-Being, gives readers a method for mastering mindfulness, managing stress, building resilience, and being a leader in our own well-being journey. Author Naz Beheshti joins us this week to share her insights for living your best life in a holistic, grounded way.

EPISODE #115: How to Create a Thrive Tribe with Laura Campbell

(February 2, 2021) Our growth is an infinite process of discovery, uncovering and, as this week’s guest calls it, unfolding. When we give ourselves permission to become the fullest expression of who we are, we learn that we can continuously find new layers and depths to ourselves. This week I’m joined by Laura Campbell, a recognized author, speaker, and trainer who believes that when we journey through this life in the loving witness of a supportive tribe, we can expand our growth edges. Through all of our seasons and stages, we all need compassionate, non-judgemental support.

EPISODE #114: Rituals, Routines and Belonging with Erica Keswin

(January 26, 2021) Rituals matter. The way we bring ourselves to our work and our relationships has an impact. In her book, Rituals Roadmap: The Human Way to Transform Everyday Routines Into Workplace Magic, Erica Keswin explores how we can turn things we do over and over again into opportunities to create deep connection and purpose for our work and home lives. Rituals have the power to cultivate a deep sense of belonging and, when used intentionally, to create stronger teams, families and communities.

EPISODE #113: How to Connect with Your Kids with Roma Khetarpal

(January 19, 2021) Parents today face extreme pressure to get everything exactly right, which can make parenting feel so stressful. In her book, The ”Perfect” Parent: 5 Tools for Using Your Inner Perfection to Connect with Your Kids, author Roma Khetarpal offers new clarity and a parenting approach that’s rooted in using our inner parenting perfection to nurture a strong, communicative connection with our kids. Drawing from the fields of personal growth and emotional intelligence and distilling cutting-edge scientific research, Khetarpal helps parents strengthen their bond with their kids and enjoy the ride along the way.

EPISODE #112: What It Means to Live Authentically with Erica Boucher

(January 12, 2021) Author Erica Boucher believes your relationship with others, and with life itself, is only as good as, and as honest as, your relationship with yourself. By peeling away our layers, and embarking on a very gentle journey back home to ourselves, we not only get to know who we are but we also begin to consciously and intentionally create the life we’re meant to live.

EPISODE #111: Slow Down, Breathe, and Just Be with Catherine Polan Orzech

(January 5, 2021) In our busy, high-stress lives, sometimes we all need to slow down, breathe, and just be. In her new book, A Moment for Me: 52 Simple Mindfulness Practices to Slow Down, Relieve Stress, and Nourish the Spirit, author Catherine Polan Orzech, MA, LMFT, offers simple, take-anywhere rituals to bring more ease and insight into our daily lives. We learn that self-care and space is less about setting aside time and more about being differently in what we are already doing.

EPISODE #110: Physical and Spiritual Realignment with Tara Stiles

(December 29, 2020) Over worked, over connected and inundated with toxicity, many of us live a frantic, frazzled life with very little room for true wellness. Through her book, Clean Mind, Clean Body, author and wellness expert Tara Stiles offers a blueprint for how we can hit the reset button and fill our daily routines with transformative self-care habits. When we make the space for mental and spiritual detox, when we intentionally change the way we eat and move, we heal and thrive.

EPISODE #109: How to Become a Conscious Consumer with Rebecca Grace Andrews

(December 22, 2020) A foundation of adopting a more sustainable and earth-friendly lifestyle, and fighting climate change, is a commitment to reducing how much waste we each produce. Rebecca Grace Andrews, author of How to Go (Almost) Zero Waste: Over 150 Steps to More Sustainable Living at Home, School, Work, and Beyond, shares that the key to change is by taking small, manageable steps instead of quantum leaps.

EPISODE #108: Mindful Sex with Maci Daye

(December 15, 2020) Great sex is mindful sex. When we meet the fullness of a moment with our attention and focus, rather than trying to get somewhere or worrying about whether we’re doing something right, so much richness greets us. But we get stuck in mindless sex. After the initial chemical cocktail of arousal and attraction wears off, as it inevitably does, most couples end up feeling disappointed and disenchanted. In Maci Daye’s new book, Passion and Presence: A Couple’s Guide to Awakened Intimacy and Mindful Sex, we find a pathway to re-enchantment.

EPISODE #107: Moods and Triggers with Lauren Martin

(December 8, 2020) Our moods come and go but also form patterns that can become fairly automated and unconscious. Five years ago, Lauren Martin was sure something was wrong with her. Life was good but every day she wrestled with an emotional roller coaster that often left her irritable, frustrated and disappointed in herself. Lauren set off on a journey to better understand moodiness, the hold it had on her and how she could turn her moods around faster and faster. The result is her new book, The Book of Moods: How I Turned My Worst Emotions Into My Best Life.

EPISODE #106: Rethinking What We Share About Our Kids Online with Leah Plunkett

(December 1, 2020) Most of us have a deeply entrenched and far-reaching digital life. This week’s guest thinks a lot about what we share online, and more specifically, what we share about our kids online, usually without any idea of the impact and consequences. Leah A. Plunkett, Associate Dean & Associate Professor at University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law, shares insights from her new book, Sharenthood: Why We Should Think before We Talk about Our Kids Online.

EPISODE #105: How to Make Better Decisions with Annie Duke

(November 24, 2020) Large or small, we all make decisions every single day. But how many of us really think about the process we use for making decisions? Annie Duke, the author of How to Decide: Simple Tools for Making Better Choices, helps us move on from the typical pro and con list approach so that we can see more clearly, feel more confident and stop second-guessing ourselves..

EPISODE #104: Create Your Courage Map with Franziska Iseli

(November 18, 2020) Courage isn’t something only a special few are gifted with; it’s a skill we can deliberately develop. In her new book, The Courage Map – 13 Principles for Living Boldly, author and maverick entrepreneur Franziska Iseli explores how we each can chart a better, bolder future by learning to not only face fear, but also to discover the personal truths and gifts that allow us to live life to the fullest.

EPISODE #103: Growth, Meaning and Purpose with Nathanael Garrett Novosel

(November 10, 2020) For more than 20 years, Nathanael Garrett Novosel has steeped his life in human behavior, psychology, and philosophy in order to answer for himself one question: why are we here? That research and passion has resulted in his new book, The Meaning of Life: A Guide to Finding your Life’s Purpose, which lays out science-based evidence that reveals the exact process for discovering your life’s purpose and exploring your answer to the most complex question known to man.

EPISODE #102: Everything Meditation with David Gandelman

(November 3, 2020) This week I’m joined by David Gandelman, meditation teacher and founder of Meditation School. For 60 minutes, David answers all of my questions about how and why to meditate, what makes it hard and how to make it easier. Take everything you think you know about meditation and join this conversation with fresh ears. There’s a reason why this ancient stress reliever has gone mainstream; it works!

EPISODE #101: Your Relationship with Yourself with Erica Mather

(October 27, 2020) Whether we realize it or not, we each have a relationship with our own self. Often, we are our worst enemy. In her new book, Your Body, Your Best Friend: End the Confidence-Crushing Pursuit of Unrealistic Beauty Standards and Embrace Your True Power, Erica Mather has us wonder how different life would be if we truly befriended ourselves. In a society overwhelmed with messages of how women should be and appear, it’s easy to internalize these ideas and become our own harshest critics. It’s time for a change.

EPISODE #100: The Power of a Weekly Screen-Free Day with Tiffany Shlain

(October 20, 2020) There’s something powerful that happens when we give up screens one day a week. In her book, 24/6: The Power of Unplugging One Day a Week, author and filmmaker Tiffany Shlain shares how her family have gained more time, productivity, connection, and presence by adopting the ancient ritual of Shabbat. Based on her own experience of taking a tech-free day, she humbly offers a blueprint for how we can become less available to the world and more connected to ourselves and the people we love.

EPISODE #99: Taking a Personal Sabbatical with Steve Larsen

(October 13, 2020) The idea of stepping away from life and work for months or a year seems pretty impossible, maybe even radical. But in his book, The Year Off: The Anti-Budget Solution to Mastering Your Money and Following Your Dreams, author Steve Larsen challenges the idea that we’re stuck or that we lack choices. He encourages us to rethink our relationship to money and work, seeing them as something to give us the life we want, not to consume our life.

EPISODE #98: The Power of Questions with Jennie Lee

(October 6, 2020) “The right question asked at the right time can be life-changing” author Jennie Lee writes. Questions are like doorways, leading us into deeper aspects of our introspection and self-discovery. In her new book, Spark Change: 108 Provocative Questions for Spiritual Evolution, Lee guides readers through 108 thought-provoking prompts designed to deepen your awareness of your innermost inquiries and callings.

EPISODE #97: Breaking the Habit of Underliving with Celeste Headlee

(September 29, 2020) We are a culture of workers, often preferring to work longer hours, work in off-hours, waive vacation time and bring work home instead of leaning into leisure. How did we become so uncomfortable with idleness and so obsessed with productivity? Celeste Headlee, author of Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving, explains.

EPISODE #96: Why Kindness Makes You Healthier with Marta Zaraska

(September 22, 2020) In her book, Growing Young: How Friendship, Optimism and Kindness Can Help You Live to 100, science journalist Marta Zaraska offers a research-driven case for why optimism, kindness, and strong social networks will keep us living longer than any fitness tracker or superfood.

EPISODE #95: How You Become You with Jay Belsky

(September 15, 2020) In their new book, The Origins of You: How Childhood Shapes Later Life, four leading psychologists share unprecedented insights into what makes each of us who we are and how human development is not subject to ironclad laws but instead is a matter of possibilities and probabilities―multiple forces that together determine the direction a life will take.

EPISODE #94: How to Be a Present Parent with Timothy Dukes

(September 8, 2020) Most would agree that parenting is both simple and difficult. With all the techniques and advice available out there, it can be easy to forget that the most impactful and universally available parenting tool is our presence. In The Present Parent Handbook, author and psychotherapist Tim Dukes, Ph.D. encourages us to acknowledge the dilemmas and delights in each parenting moment.

EPISODE #93: How to Rewrite Your Story with Benjamin Hardy

(September 1, 2020) Imagine learning to design your identity based on your desired future self rather than who you have been in the past. Through his book, Personality Isn’t Permanent, Dr. Benjamin Hardy offers practical, science-based insights for how we go through the process of personal-reinvention and confronts the popular misconception that who we are is innate and unchanging.

EPISODE #92: Author Q&A with Karla McLaren

Karla McLaren, M.Ed., author of Embracing Anxiety: How to Access the Genius of This Vital Emotion, joins us for a live author Q&A with listeners of 60 Mindful Minutes. In this interactive workshop, Karla guides participants through her Conscious Questioning exercise, which uses 11 questions to allow us to better understand our anxiety.

EPISODE #91: (encore) Staying Centered in Turbulent Times

The world is (still) a very unsettled and uncertain place at the moment. And while we all look to someone or someplace for answers, perhaps we have an opportunity to look no further than the very next moment for refuge. This week we welcome Karen Maezen Miller, a Zen Buddhist priest, for her guidance on feeling more grounded and calm in these turbulent times.

EPISODE #90: Transforming Conversations about Race with Amanda Kemp

It’s understandable that we approach conversations about racism with a degree of trepidation. But this week’s guest wants us to be less afraid about talking about race. Drawing on her academic study, teaching experience, and life lessons, Dr. Amanda Kemp created Racial Justice from the H.E.A.R.T., a system that builds skill and increases capacity so that we can transform how we talk about racism.

EPISODE #89: How to Wander with Intention with Erika Owen

Have you ever been walking home from work and unexpectedly took a different path just to curiously explore your neighborhood? Or have you been on a vacation and walked around a new city with no destination in mind? Then chances are, you’re a flaneur and you didn’t even know it! This week I welcome Erika Owen, the author of The Art of Flaneuring: How to Wander with Intention and Discover a Better Life.

EPISODE #88: How to Make a Difference in the World with Colin Beavan

How many of us feel the need to make a difference in the world but have no idea how and where to start? In his book, How to Be Alive: A Guide to the Kind of Happiness That Helps the World, Colin Beavan shines a light on one path and it starts with this modification: instead of wondering how we can save the world, why don’t we simply become a person who tries?

EPISODE #87: How to Give a Good Apology with Molly Howes

We all mess up, we drop the ball, say the wrong thing and hurt someone’s feelings. But how many of us know how to effectively apologize and make amends? In her new book, A Good Apology: Four Steps to Make Things Right, writer and therapist Molly Howes offers a thoughtful examination and a blueprint for how to make things right when we’ve done wrong.

EPISODE #86: Our Beauty Contracts with Jeanette Johnson

When we are unconscious to it, our belonging can be very conditional in this culture. Our unchallenged beauty contracts impact how we treat ourselves and others. As the founder of J’s Everyday Fashion, one of the internet’s first-ever budget fashion blogs, Jeanette Johnson’s life was steeped in beauty. But as you’ll hear, her experiences set her on a journey to not only begin to question our unspoken beauty contracts, but to challenge the entire idea that we get our value from how we look.

EPISODE #85: Lean in with Love with Stephanie VanZytveld

Stephanie VanZytveld is the author of I Am Gold Dust (And You Are Too): Mindfulness and Authenticity in the Workplace. This week on 60 Mindful Minutes, my guest and I tackle all sorts of topics, including racial injustice, mindfulness at work, authenticity and how we can get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

EPISODE #84: The Genius of Anxiety with Karla McLaren

In her new book, Embracing Anxiety: How to Access the Genius of This Vital Emotion, award-winning author, social science researcher and empathy pioneer Karla McLaren, M.Ed. aims to have us see that anxiety is not a problem. In fact, it’s an essential source of foresight, intuition, and energy. Emotions are a crucial and vital part of everything we do.

EPISODE #83: The Power of Ritual with Casper ter Kuile

This week we’re joined by Casper ter Kuile, author of The Power of Ritual: Turning Everyday Activities into Soulful Practices. While they share some of the same DNA, rituals are distinct from habits. To put it simply, repetition without intention and attention is a habit. But when you bring your presence and heart to an activity, that’s a ritual, and rituals give life more meaning and purpose.

EPISODE #82: A Mindful Life with Aria Campbell-Danesh and Seth J. Gillihan

Written from friend to friend, A Mindful Year offers a series of contemplations on living every day life. In their book and in this podcast episode, Aria and Seth offer an invitation to make space for mindful reflection to reconnect with what is most important to us, and to come home to ourselves to do the inner contemplative work of considering how we live.

EPISODE #81: The Chemistry of Calm with Henry Emmons

Anxiety and stress can overshadow all the joy and well-being in our lives. But it doesn’t have to be this way. In this episode, Henry Emmons, MD, author of The Chemistry of Calm, shares his holistic approach to creating more emotional resilience.

EPISODE #80: Intuitive Eating with Elyse Resch

We are each born with an innate knowing as a guide to what we eat. However, we often lose this inner connection. Author Elyse Resch has spent her career helping people reconnect with the wisdom for eating intuitively. In her co-authored book, The Intuitive Eating Workbook, she offers a new way of looking at food and mealtime by showing us how to recognize our body’s natural hunger signals, how to let go of unhealthy weight control behaviors and to develop a positive body image. Most importantly, she teaches us how to stop feeling so distressed around what we eat and to make peace with food.

EPISODE #79: Creating an Intentional Family Culture with Melissa & Chris Smith

For over a decade, Chris Smith has been helping entrepreneurs create clarity around how they share their story and their message about what they do in the world. Now, he’s joined forces with his wife, Melissa, to create Family Brand, a process that helps families discover how to design an intentional culture in their home that leads to greater love, joy and connection while at the same time reducing stress and overwhelm. In this episode, these parents of five kiddos share how you can learn to create an intentional culture in your home.

EPISODE #78: Living to Listen with Andrew Forsthoefel

Andrew Forsthoefel is the author of “Walking to Listen: 4,000 Miles Across America, One Story at a Time,” a memoir he wrote after spending 11 months walking by himself across the country. On his backpack was a sign that read, “Walking to Listen,” which became the opening and the invitation for countless interactions, conversations and newfound friendships as he made his way on his journey. Andrew was looking for a graduate program in the human experience, a teacher who’d show up and show him how to do the work of being human.

EPISODE #77: Embrace the Ways You’re Weird with Olga Khazan

Most of us have felt like an outsider or that we just didn’t fit in at some point in our lives. In her book, Weird: The Power of Being of Outsider in an Insider World, author and staff writer for The Atlantic, Olga Khazan considers the causes, consequences and possible benefits of non-conformity. Drawing upon scientific research and interviews, Khazan shares how we can embrace our weirdness and use it to our advantage.

EPISODE #76: Why We Struggle with Mike McHargue

We are a flawed and mysterious species. On one hand, we’re extraordinary. No one is like us. No one has been given the gifts we brought into the world. We are exceptionally unique and special, capable of amazing things. And also… we fall down, procrastinate, give up, cut corners, and let ourselves and other down. This is the paradoxical experience of being human. We are extraordinary and, at the same time, infinitely exasperating. But why? Mike McHargue explains.

EPISODE #75: Why We Bother with Jennifer Louden

Through her book, Why Bother? Discover the Desire for What’s Next, author Jennifer Louden invites us to ask why bother, not from a cynical or resigned place, but as a challenge to open our mind, heart, and life. In the face of depression, compassion, fatigue, global crises, or personal failures, asking “why bother?” can bring us renewed purpose, meaning and direction.

EPISODE #74: Deliberate Gratitude with Nancy Davis Kho

Who helped you become the person you are today? As Nancy Davis Kho neared a milestone birthday, she decided to write 50 thank-you letters to express her appreciation to the many people who have influenced her, helped her, and inspired her over her life thus far.

EPISODE #73: Mindfully Decluttering with Laurie Palau

Some of us are using all this time at home to tackle house projects, reorganize and declutter. While the tactical sides of making our spaces more lovely and livable are important, there’s also a psychological side to why we have what we have and keep what we keep. Author and organization expert Laurie Palau shows us that getting our home organized is just as much of an inside job as it is an outside job.

EPISODE #72: How to Be a Better Person with Kate Hanley

What does it mean to be a better person? How do we start? Kate Hanley, author of How to Be a Better Person: 400+ Simple Ways to Make a Difference in Yourself–And the World, answers these questions and more.

EPISODE #71: How to Feel Better with Isabel Gillies

We have an innate ability to comfort ourselves, to come to our own rescue, to steady ourselves, and to come home to our moments. In this episode, I speak with author Isabel Gillies about how to feel good and how to get through the day.

EPISODE #70: What’s Your Thrive Plan with host Kristen Manieri

If you’re struggling to feel positive, productive and peaceful, maybe you need a plan. If you’re feeling lost, perhaps structure and intention could help. Deciding to live intentionally and deliberately amidst the chaos is a game-changer.

EPISODE #69: Taking Charge of Your Energy with Lisa Erickson

The body has an energy anatomy, split into seven different intersections or centers that nourish and support different physiological, psychological and spiritual aspects of our human experience. This week’s guest, Lisa Erickson, teaches us how to use the chakra systems to guide ourselves to a more peaceful and grounded place.

EPISODE #68: Staying Centered in Turbulent Times with Karen Maezen Miller

The world is a very unsettled and uncertain place at the moment. And while we all look to someone or someplace for answers, perhaps we have an opportunity to look no further than the very next moment for refuge. This week we welcome Karen Maezen Miller, a Zen Buddhist priest, for her guidance on feeling more grounded and calm in these turbulent times.

EPISODE #67: The Power of Joy with Debrena Jackson Gandy

What if joy was the secret power source you needed to not only live your day-to-day life but to make all your dreams come true? What if it was the fuel that gave each of us the energy, confidence and clarity to do our best work in the world and make the contribution we were put here to make? This week’s guest believes joy is the center of our being and the more the we can build a capacity for it, the bigger and brighter our lives become.

EPISODE #66: Rituals of Release with Rachel S. Heslin

Emotionally and energetically, we carry a lot around on the inside. And since we’re all busy picking through our closets and tossing out what doesn’t spark joy, maybe we ought to do the same inside our heads. Rituals of Release inspire us to let go with deliberateness and intention so we can make space for more fulfillment and joy.

EPISODE #65: Do You Need a Life Coach with Dave Gorham

What if there is a way to have a quantum leap in the direction of your dreams? Matched with the right person, a coach can flatten your learning curve and help you fine tune your mindset. In this episode, we explore the power of working with a coach.

EPISODE #64: What’s Holding You Back with Raphael Cushnir

When we start to think about what might be holding us back from something we say we want but never seem to move the needle on, we might assume that our lack progress can be blamed on things like self-discipline, money, time, or opportunity. But Raphael Cushnir believes it’s actually our resistance to difficult emotions that keeps us stuck.

EPISODE #63: Something Deeper with Kristine Ovsepian

When we do the inner work to forge a relationship with a deeper knowing, we gain access to insight and intuition, and we meet our authentic selves. We begin to flow with life, we start to see the signs and nudges from something greater, and we begin to trade fear for faith.

EPISODE #62: Learning Self-Love with Shainna Ali

The way we encourage ourselves, take our flaws and missteps in stride, and appreciate how we’ve grown become the well from which we draw our energy, our creativity and our resilience. We need self-love. In fact, we need it more than intelligence, experience, opportunity and ideal circumstances. Because when we have it, we can weather and leverage whatever life throws at us.

EPISODE #61: Live Your Gift with Dana V. Adams

Live on purpose and design a joyful, meaningful life through Life Mapping, a personal development system and goal achievement method for those who strive for continual growth. Life mapping is more than writing down goals—it is also looking at your beliefs, principles, and values to determine if they align with what you truly desire in life.

EPISODE #60: Imperfect Families with Nicole Schwartz

Rather than compare ourselves to each other and try to measure up to an uninvestigated ideal, how about we all agree that we’re imperfect? What’s ahead is a conversation about what it means to embrace the idea of imperfectionism, as a human being, as a parent, and as a family.

EPISODE #59: A Fast Forward Mindset with David Schurman

David Schnurman shares his passion for living life to the fullest, even when things don’t go as planned, even when fear and doubt can feel crippling. In the conversation ahead, you’ll not only learn more about having a fast forward mindset, which includes getting outside of your comfort zone and having laser focus, but we also discuss potential, commitment and consistency.

EPISODE #58: The Science of You (Ayurveda) with Caryn O’Hara

As we set out on a journey to evolve as human beings, much of that path is discovering who we really are. Ayurveda is an excellent excavation tool for those seeking to live not only more healthfully but more in balance on the inside and outside. What’s ahead is a discussion about what Ayurvedic philosophy is, how to use it to discover who we are, and how we can orient ourselves towards making wellbeing and feeling good a priority.

EPISODE #57: Full Cup, Thirsty Spirit with Karen Horneffer-Ginter

Look around you and find someone who is really good at rest. Chances are, you can’t see anyone who fits this category. What you probably see is a lot of people who are overcommitted and totally stretched beyond capacity. So, what’s the deal? Why when we’re biologically designed to rest do so many of us find no time for it or resist opportunities to just stop for five minutes? Why do we all have more to do than is possible to do?

EPISODE #56: Journaling, Parenting & Self-Management with Kim Ades

When it comes to parenting, we can totally wing it; many of us do. A lot of great kids have been raised in great homes without their parents reading a single book about parenting. But for those of us who feel a little out of our depth at times, I’m thankful that there are a ton of books, resources and thought leaders who can give us insight into what it means and what it looks like to parent with intention.

EPISODE #55: The Family Dinner Project with Brianne DeRosa

If we’re not careful, or unaware, the meals we create and meet around each day can start to feel like a chore instead of pleasure. And while I can certainly attest to sometimes feeling the drudgery of preparing a dinner each night, my guest today will tell you that dinnertime is not really about the food at all; it’s about the connection.

EPISODE #54: Compassionate Leadership with Uvinie Lubecki

Having the spirit of compassionate leadership influences how we listen, the way we relate to our own agenda and even our ability to sideline it. It impacts our ability to connect and see the common humanity in the people we work with.

EPISODE #53: Guts, Confidence & Self-Acceptance with Amy Alkon

Many of us have areas of our life where we shrink a little, we let ourselves be a little smaller. You might even say, where we sell ourselves out. To me, part of living life my fully and really thriving is learning to navigate my perceived shortcomings, my fears and my stumbling blocks. Part of that is simply identifying what those are and the other part, as you will soon hear, is taking action in spite of them.

EPISODE #52: Foundations of Wellness with Dr. Linda Matteoli

It’s so much easier to be grounded and happy when you feel good. If you’ve ever tried to a handle a frustrating, stressful or aggravating situation when you’re tired, undernourished or over-caffeinated, you probably had the experience of struggling to be at your best and to harness a peaceful way of being. But when we’re well rested, well-fed and generally feeling good, accessing the zen parts of ourselves is incredibly easier.

EPISODE #51: Parenting Through Connection with Dr. Laura Markham

It’s really hard to be a conscious parent. It calls on us to be more patient and compassionate than ever before. It requires us to be organized, thoughtful and discerning. It can consume us with anxiety and regret, while also filling our lives with joy and gratitude. But being a parent can be a gateway to our most significant growth points and it gives us the opportunity to expand who we are capable of being.

EPISODE #50: Marching to Your Own Drum with Emily Polar

Imagine living a “bouncy” life, one that had you being untethered from location or financial obligations, leaving you free to roam where you liked and pursue what you love. Over the past decade, that’s the life this week’s guest has designed. Her story inspires us to begin to ask some questions about what our best life looks like, what our true definition of success is, and what we would create if doubt never stood in our way.

EPISODE #49: The Art of Living Well with Shannon Ables

“Living simply luxuriously is a choice, a decision to find what fascinates and delights you…” says author and blogger Shannon Ables. Join us for a discussion about what it means to cultivate the art of living well, design a life filled with everyday delight and how to orient yourself toward feeling good.

EPISODE #48: Never Stop Traveling with Alyson Long

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a nomad? Imagine packing up your life, getting rid of everything, getting on a plane and never looking back. Whether that sounds like a daydream or a nightmare, it’s fascinating to know that there are people out there in the world, people with kids no less, who have chosen to orient their entire lifestyle around travel.

EPISODE #47: Collective Consciousness with Melissa Wadsworth

We are all participating—in our life, our family, our culture—but the question is, how intentional are we being about our participation? Your life is meaningful. It has purpose. This week’s guest invites us to wake up to what we are creating and could be creating with intentional communing.

EPISODE #46: Grandkids on Demand with Andrew Parker

Andrew Parker is the Founder & CEO of Papa, a technology platform that connects college students to older adults for companionship, assistance and transportation. Basically, as Andrew defines it, it’s a grandkid on demand, and it has the potential to not only address practical needs for older adults, but it also faces the loneliness crisis head on.

EPISODE #45: Your Brain in Relationships with Alicia Braccia

It doesn’t matter if you’re a parent or a CEO, a surgeon or a hockey coach, the principles of brain function and neuropsychology are universal. When we can understand what’s happening inside the brain when people we love get upset or frustrated, as well as feel joyful and safe, we can create better connections and relationships with those around us. By the end of this episode you’ll have a new skill that can exponentially make your family and work life better. 

EPISODE #44: What’s Your Calling with Chris Smith

Researchers have found that having a sense of our purpose positively impacts our health and longevity. But what if you don’t know your purpose? What if you feel like you just can’t figure it out or maybe, secretly worry that you’re the one lone human that didn’t get one? Today’s guest has spent much of the past decade building a life and a business that helps people discover and articulate their calling.

EPISODE #43: A Cloudless Mind with Scott Byrd

Most of us have heard the research that says the average mind thinks between 60,000 – 80,000 thoughts a day. But have you ever really contemplated what these thoughts are exactly, and even more out there, who’s thinking them? For those of us in pursuit of a more peaceful inner world and a more harmonious outer world, the idea of having a cloudless mind is worth considering.

EPISODE #42: The Art of Community with Charles Vogl

Cultures of belonging aren’t just happy accidents. They’re often designed and cultivated with purpose and intention. Today’s guest has identified seven time-tested principles for growing enduring, effective and connected communities. These communities could be small, like your immediate family, or they can be larger, like a thriving yoga studio or a church with a congregation 10,000 strong. There’s a method to building vibrant, living cultures where people are nourished by a deep sense of belonging and mutual care.

EPISODE #41: Daily Centering Practice with Kristen Manieri

We live a hurried, jam-packed life. The days and months fly by in a flurry of routines and commitments. We’re constantly in motion with a never-ending onslaught of distractions to occupy our minds and hearts. Tuning into ourselves has become nearly impossible. But in my experience, the only way to live an awakened, authentic life is to find space for reflection and time to tune in. We need to come home to ourselves and take ourselves off autopilot. With love, compassion and zero judgement, we need to wake ourselves up. For me, a daily centering practice is an amazing wake up tool.

EPISODE #40: Creating Sanctuary with Jessi Bloom

We all need places we can retreat to that allow us to come home to ourselves, to feel centered and find a sense of calm in this dizzying world. It’s hugely restorative to claim a personal spot, even if it’s in the tiniest corner of our home, to create a sacred space. We weren’t meant to be so disconnected from ourselves and so distracted. We all need and deserve sanctuary.

EPISODE #39: Kids & Social Activism with Barbara A. Lewis

Raising kids that become social activists might seem like a lofty goal, especially when many of us adults haven’t figured out how to fit volunteering and social activism into our own lives. In this episode, my co-host (Andy Hill of the Marriage, Kids and Money podcast) and I speak with national award-winning author and educator Barbara A. Lewis about how we can all start to see ourselves as part of a greater whole.

EPISODE #38: Food & Togetherness with Kathleen Blake

Togetherness happens around food. Meals, when we let them, can be the richest and most important social connectors in life. Built into the making and consuming of our food are all sorts of rich opportunities to feel connected, but only if we take advantage of those opportunities and mine those moments. This week we speak to Chef Kathleen Blake about food and togetherness.

EPISODE #37: Parenting in Slow Motion with Carrie Contey

Parenting isn’t easy. Just when we think we’ve got one stage mastered, our child develops and grows to a new stage with a new set of challenges for us to rise to and adapt with. We often hear parents of grown children say, “Enjoy it. It goes so fast.” They say this wistfully, almost mournfully, like they wish they could go back and do it all again in slow motion. We can’t slow time, but we can parent with intention. Carrie shows us how. 

EPISODE #36: How to Now with Raphael Cushnir

We hear a lot about the importance of being more present, almost to the point of it becoming a cliché. But when we stop to actually think about what it means to be in the present moment, it’s kind of laughable that we don’t seem to be naturally oriented to be there, because the present moment is where life is. All the striving and creating and collecting and cleaning is all for the purpose of having this thing called “my life.” And yet, how often am I actually “in” my life?

EPISODE #35: The Happy Traveler with Jaime Kurtz

Our vacation time, especially when it’s limited to just a few weeks out of the year, feels so precious. Plus, considering that travel uses up so much time, energy and money, it makes sense that we’d want to get it right. In this week’s episode, we connect with author and researcher Jaime Kurtz to unpack the secrets of better and more meaningful travel.

EPISODE #34: Your Best Year with John P. Strelecky

With the new year upon us, I decided that it would be very timely to have a conversation about what it would be like to have the best year ever. I wanted to explore how we could all have a spectacular 2019, and not just because we crossed some huge things off our bucket list but because we tackled some little things in our day to day life that simply made living feel better and brighter.

EPISODE #33: Intentional Communities with Sky Blue

The intentional community movement is growing in leaps and bounds. More and more people are leaving their subdivisions or changing their city blocks to make massive shifts in their sense of connection, belonging and contribution. There’s a growing desire to create a more humane and equitable society that honors our common humanity above money, amassing more stuff or getting ahead at the cost of others. And the good news: you don’t need to move to a rural community to start cultivating the spirit of intentional community living.

EPISODE #32: The Art of Thank You with Kelly Browne

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” William Arthur Ward. Gratitude is the opposite of entitlement and it’s the antidote to resentment and scarcity. It’s where we find generosity, humility and joy. As I learned from this week’s guest, it’s one thing to feel gratitude and an entirely different thing to express it. Want to learn how to up your gratitude game? We dive into the art of saying ‘thank you’ in this week’s episode.

EPISODE #31: Compelling People with John Neffinger & Matthew Kohut

John Neffinger and Matthew Kohut, co-authors of Compelling People: The Hidden Qualities that Make Us Influential, have learned a lot about the impact of a smile, our posture, our gestures, and our tone of voice on the people around us. Their goal is to help others understand how to be more compelling, because being able to influence people, whether that’s getting your toddler to eat her carrots or getting your employees to meet your company’s objectives, is how we make things happen in the world. It’s how movements are started and ideas come to life.

EPISODE #30: More Love, Less Conflict with Jonathan Robinson

Good relationships have good communication. In this interview, author Jonathan Robinson shares insights and exercises from his book, More Love, Less Conflict, so that anyone can become better communicators with their spouse, learn to diffuse conflict and create more relatedness. 

EPISODE #29: Gove Back Yoga with Rob Schware

If you’ve ever been to a yoga class or practiced at home, you’ve probably noticed that it not only makes you feel stronger and more flexible, but also more peaceful, attuned and grounded. Rob Schware wants prisoners, recovering addicts and veterans to feel that, too. As the head of the Give Back Yoga Foundation, a non-profit organization that believes in making yoga available to those who might not otherwise have the opportunity to experience its many benefits, he steers projects like the Prison Yoga Project, Yoga of 12-Step Recovery, and yoga4cancer, all with a goal to reducing suffering and elevating consciousness through yoga.

EPISODE #28: Embracing Nonsense with Emily Fontano

If you’ve ever experienced improvisational sketch comedy, you’ve likely seen people unfurl and connect with each other in ways that just aren’t common, or maybe even possible, in their day to day life. There’s something so raw and real about learning to create a moment, in front of an audience, just with what comes into your head and out of your mouth. The result is a connection between the actors and to the audience that’s truly extraordinary.

EPISODE #27: Won’t You Be My Neighbor with Shea Tuttle

Did you grow up watching Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood? Do remember the trolley or King Friday? That red cardigan? The opening song? The show debuted on February 19, 1968 and aired through 2001, so it’s safe to say that generations of kids have grown up watching the more than 870 episodes created by Fred Rogers, who died in 2003. Fred Rogers was infinitely passionate about childhood education and using television as a tool to affirm children’s self-worth and offer them a place where they felt accepted and understood. In this episode, we feature Shea Tuttle, the author of the forthcoming book “In Search of Mister Rogers.”

EPISODE #26: Finding Life in a Lunch Break with Laura Archer

Only 1 in 5 five people step away from their desk for lunch. Today’s guest is on a mission to change that. Laura Archer is the author of Gone for Lunch: 52 Things to do on Your Lunch Break, a book she wrote on her journey to reclaim her midday break and to find more time for herself, her interests and her self-care. 

EPISODE #25: The Minister of Loneliness with Kasley Killam

I recently came across an article written for Scientific American titled, To Combat Loneliness, Promote Social Health. This is pretty astounding and I wanted to know more about the idea of loneliness as a public health priority, in the same way that nutrition and vaccinations area. So, I reached out to the author of the article, Kasley Killan, to see if she was open to an interview and she said YES!

EPISODE #24: Frientimacy with Shasta Nelson

How many of us give much thought to the quality of our friendships or the ways we could be intentionally nourishing our friendships? Turns out there’s not only an art and a science to how we create really good friendships, but there’s a formula to the process as well. Shasta Nelson, author of “Friendships Don’t Just Happen” and “Frientimacy: How to Deepen Friendships for Lifelong Health and Happiness,” has truly become one of the world’s leading voices for friendship. In this conversation, we take a deep dive into the world of frientimacy and how we could all learn to upgrade this area of our lives.

EPISODE #23: The Power of Attuning with Heather Turgeon & Julie Wright

Imagine there was a way to more effectively and more quickly get our kids to do what we want them to do, when we want them to do it. Imagine if all the struggle and resistance and frustration dramatically decreased in our family life. Heather Turgeon, MFT and Julie Wright, MFT, authors of Now Say This: The Right Words to Solve Every Parenting Dilemma, did more than just imagine these idyllic sceneries: they created a formula for consistently creating more peace, calm, cooperation and relatedness between parents and kids. In this interview, we dive deep into their ALP approach (Attune, Limit Set and Problem Solve) and learn how we can all relate better with each other by becoming skilled in the power of attuning.

EPISODE #22: Cycling without Age with Pernille Bussone

Global Community Captain Cycling Without Age is a movement started in 2012 by Ole Kassow in Denmark. Ole wanted to help the elderly get back on their bicycles, but he had to find a solution to their limited mobility. The answer was a trishaw and he started offering free bike rides to the local nursing home residents. Cycling Without Age has now spread to all corners of Denmark, and since 2015, to another 38 countries around the world.

EPISODE #21: Sidewalk Talk with Traci Ruble

Every month, Traci Ruble joins a group of volunteers near a busy San Francisco street with a sign that invites strangers to participate in free listening. It’s called Sidewalk Talk, a non-profit organization with a mission to nurture human connection by teaching and practicing heart-centered listening in public spaces. Since it began in 2014, Sidewalk Talk has grown to over 700 volunteers worldwide and now has chapters in 19 cities around the globe.

EPISODE #20: The Conversation Project with Kate DeBartolo

Kate DeBartolo is used to uncomfortable conversations. In fact, her job is to be a proponent of them. And here’s why. As the Director for The Conversation Project, her mission is to get people talking about one of the most difficult topics many of us will ever encounter: our end of life decisions and the end of life wishes of the those we love. 

EPISODE #19: Make Stuff Together with Bernadette Noll

I have a theory that if we upgrade the quality of our connections, if we got more intentional about how deeply we connect with the people around us, our lives would feel more joyful and more meaningful. What follows is a conversation about how we can use our hands and our imaginations to make stuff. But more importantly, why making stuff together—even if you don’t consider yourself an artist or even a creative person—becomes a means to cultivating more connection with our family, friends and community.

EPISODE #18: 15 Minutes Outside with Rebecca P. Cohen

Spring is nearly upon us, which means for many of us, it’s time to go back outside. My guest today is Rebecca P. Cohen, someone who is incredibly passionate about inspiring families and individuals to spend more time outside. What’s ahead is a conversation about the enormous benefits to being intentional about spending time outdoors every day—with your kids and with yourself – and how to easily and almost effortlessly create a ‘15-minutes outside’ habit.

EPISODE #17: Soulful Simplicity with Courtney Carver

The idea of living with less—less stuff, less obligations, less debt and making less of a footprint environmentally—is really gaining momentum. And here’s my hypothesis about why: For anyone on a journey to find some meaning in their life or simply trying to gain clarity on what truly makes them happy and fulfilled, we mostly all land in the same place with similar conclusions: it’s not the stuff or the money or the house or the important to do list that give our lives fulfillment: it’s our relationships. And when we have space—physical, emotional and spiritual—to nourish those relationships, our lives are simply better. What’s ahead is a conversation about how living with less makes for room more: more love, more space and more joy.

EPISODE #16: Man’s Best Friend with Katie Seymour

I first met Katie in my Friday yoga class. She’s a little hard to miss since she’s the only yogi in the class who brings her dog with her. I soon came to find out that she works as a volunteer raising companion dogs as well as therapy dogs. I was immediately fascinated, not just by her work with dogs, but I had a million questions about the relationship between dogs and humans, why dogs are so good at reregulating us and why so many people regard them as man’s best friend. 

EPISODE #15: The Dinner with Strangers with Dana Marie Roquemore

As the creator of The Dinner Party Project, Dana Marie Roquemore is on a mission to facilitate more and deeper connections between friends and strangers. A food-focused social experiment that invites 8 strangers to share food, conversation and company, the concept provides the random opportunity for people to meet and share a meal. Each week, seven guests are chosen at random and given instructions for where and when to attend. Dana uses guest chefs and guest caterers to create amazing food, but the real richness is in the connections that happen during these dinners. She has such a fabulous story and I can’t wait for you to hear it.

EPISODE #14: PechaKucha & Sharing Our Stories with Eddie Selover

What happens when a community comes together to share its stories, triumphs, struggles and aspirations? PechaKucha, an international speaker series based on a 20×20 format (20 slides, 20 seconds each), exists to explore this question. Now held in over 1,000 cities around the world, the series gives a platform to each city’s residents—from creatives to professionals to regular folks with a story to tell—and the result is people connecting with people they would probably have never crossed paths. Minds change, perspectives shift, empathy and compassion expands, and also people fall in love with the unique tapestry of their city.

EPISODE #13: The Listening Course with Rick Bommelje

Rick Bommelje has spent decades becoming a master listener and helping others do the same. Before you shrug off listening as a topic you already know about, I invite you to think again. In fact, I invite you to question why you may never have received any formal training in what is actually one of our most critical skills. Mostly, I invite you to listen to this conversation like it could hold the key to something that might dramatically upgrade your life.

EPISODE #12: Project Time off with Katie Denis

Americans forfeit over 600 million days of vacation time EVERY year, and there are huge economic, cultural and psychological consequences to this. We’re not as creative and productive but we’re also not as happy AND we miss out on countless moments we could have used to connect with our loved ones and ourselves. I loved this conversation and I can’t with to share it with you, but a word of warning: I have a feeling you’ll be booking your next vacation by the time this conversation is done.

EPISODE #10: Emotions as Allies with Karla McLaren

Our culture often teaches us to be uncomfortable with emotions, to avoid them, and to set them aside when making important decisions. But neuroscience would have us see them in a different way. In this episode, empathy researcher Karla McLaren invites us to see emotions as data, as fundamental aspects of our intelligence, and inescapable parts of our cognition. Whether you like it or not, your emotions are always at play. But the good news is, Karla can help us understand the wisdom that they bring and what a gift our emotions truly are.

EPISODE #9: Belonging & Inclusion with Shannon Taylor

Belonging and inclusion are both critical to our health and well-being. There’s real pain to be felt when we feel like we don’t fit in or we’re deliberating excluded. It’s not theoretical, it’s actually physiological, and science has proven this. During this episode, we discuss many great studies but we also bring it down to day-to-day life terms. The research is fascinating but so are the practical applications.

EPISODE #8: Connecting to Self with Angie Byrd

We connect with other people all day long, in person and online. But how often do we take the time to connect with ourselves, to really check in and see how we’re doing and feeling? It’s not a practice our busy, fast-paced society allows for. In fact, it feels like we’re more distracted from ourselves than ever. Any given moment we have a multitude of things puling at us, demanding our attention. But there is so much value in coming home to ourselves. In this discussion with performance coach Angie Byrd we dig into why we don’t connect with ourselves and what we’re missing. And we also discuss how we can create self-connection practices and their immense benefits.   

EPISODE #7: Openhearted Travel with Rachelle Lucas

There’s so much more to travel than the places we can cross off our bucket list or the photos we can take. International travel writer Rachelle Lucas invites travelers to break from the pack and get lost in a city. The best travel experiences are the ones that we never expected to happen, and they can only be found when we put down the map or the guidebook and just explore. Travel gives us the opportunity to connect with ourselves, with our fellow travelers and with the culture we are visiting. When we’re open to it, it can broaden our belief systems, question our biases, and open our mind and heart.

EPISODE #6: Contemplative Practices with Ryan Redman

Ryan is the Executive Director of Flourish Foundation, a social profit dedicated to promoting contemplative based practices in communities for the purpose of achieving mental balance and universal compassion. During this interview, we discuss how we can prime our emotional state, refine our inner awareness and create better attention skills that result in us having a greater capacity to monitor our mind and body in real time.

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EPISODE #5: Intentional Relating with Brandon Craig

Here’s something we don’t think about very much: how does a relationship occur for you and how do you occur for people who you are currently in a relationship with? What are we really committed to in our relationships with our partners, our family, friends and coworkers. Try on, as a possibility, that this sits at the foundation of your relationships. If you have no idea what I am talking about, give this episode a listen.

EPISODE #4: Your Big Five for Life with John P. Strelecky

John P. Strelecky is an international best-selling author and creator of the Big Five for Life concept. As of 2017, his books have sold more than 3 million copies worldwide and been translated into 29 languages. He is on a mission to inspire people to think about and start pursuing their Big Five for Life: the five things they want to see, do or experience in their lifetime that would truly define their life as well-lived.

EPISODE #3: The Wisdom of Teams with Doug Bolger

Doug Bolger wants to change the way the world works. As Founder & CEO of Learn2, Doug believes that every team can achieve inspired results by unlearning, optimizing and creating best practices. At the heart of his award-winning approach to facilitation and design lies Doug’s commitment to participant-centered and experiential Live Sessions.

EPISODE #2: The Power of Perception with Kostya Kimlat

Having the ability to see other people’s perceptions of us is a powerful skill. We may not think about it much, but we are always “on,” which is to say that we are always being perceived by our audience (our spouse, our kids, our coworkers, our friends, etc.). Tuning into our impact and bringing clarity to how we are perceived can help guide our actions in ways that help us to strategically create the result we are trying the create: the sale, the relationship, the feeling, or the moment.

EPISODE #1: Creating Connection Rituals with Carrie Contey

Carrie Contey has been our parenting coach for many, many years and along the way her insights and wisdom have helped us navigate our parenthood, partnership and personhood with clarity and intention.  Today’s conversation focused on connection rituals—the habits we create to consistently sync with the people we share our lives with. Many of us have relationships with people we see every day, maybe all day, every day. And what Carrie and I discussed today was how to add more juice to those relationships and why there is so much value in having connection rituals.

Show Trailer

Human connection is the multivitamin we all need more of. On a cellular level, we are wired to connect and the extent to which we sync with others, even strangers, has a huge impact on our lives, inside and out. Imagine if our lives could be exponentially upgraded just by bringing more intention and presence to the way we connect with others. That’s living The Synced Life.