Episodit
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Prior to 2020, Kathleen Oh believed anti-vaccination was the best way she could protect her children.
In this compelling conversation, Kathleen shares how a courageous and empathetic friend led her to understand the deep-seated racism and white privilege underlying her beliefs. Kathleen shares how stepping away from her former community put her on a path of healing and awareness of cult dynamics in her midst.
In this first episode of 2022, Kathleen Oh and Laura take a deep dive into psychedelics, altered states, politics and predators in the world of personal transformation. And why it's necessary for all coaches to critically evaluate the training and bigwigs in their coaching lineage.
Kathleen Oh is an integration coach helping people on their self-exploration journeys. She educates and guides curious explorers through microdosing psychedelics & breathwork, and most importantly, heal and expand into all that’s possible. She is sought after for her authentic, soft-but-confident approach.
Personally, Kathleen has overcome childhood trauma, depression and addiction.
Offline, Kathleen lives in Niagara, Ontario, loves to hike with her dogs. She feels most connected when in nature. Her favourite moments are in the darkness and the deep cold of a Canadian winter.
Mentioned in this episode:
Dr Janja Lalich - janjalalich.com
Take Back Your Life Recovery Workshops
Past episodes: Dr Janja Lalich, Nathanael Garrett Novosel, AdaPia D'Errico
Connect with Kathleen online:
Website - coachkathleenoh.comInstagram - @therealcoachoh
Support Free Your Inner Guru:
Become a Patreon Supporter – patreon.com/freeyourinnerguruRate and review on Apple Podcasts, Podchaser or CastboxShop the merchandise – freeyourinnerguru.com/shop
Stay in touch:
Subscribe to the Free Your Inner Guru newsletterInstagram – @freeyourinnnerguru and @thatlauratucker -
Sean Tucker is a photographer, filmmaker and writer who inspires fellow creatives through his popular YouTube channel and new book “The Meaning in the Making,” in which he shares his philosophy for the creative life.
Before Sean became a photographer, he studied theology and worked as a Baptist priest in South Africa. You’re going to hear about his journey into and out of the priesthood, then into photography, why he started his Youtube channel, and wrote his recent book The Meaning in the Making where he demystifies the creative process.
You're going to love this rich conversation. It touches on all the topic categories of this podcast: creativity, spirituality, finding and using your voice, and stepping away from structured, institutionalized religion.
As we close out 2021, Sean gives us a real sense of what it's like to bring all parts of ourselves to our work, as evidenced in his philosophical approach to photography. He wants us to put our voice out into the world, imbue it with more meaning to tell a better story and give a deeper truth.
This is an intense and hopeful conversation, one that I hope takes you into the next year with a renewed creative focus of your own.
I give you The Meaning in the Making, a conversation with Sean Tucker.
Mentioned in this episode:
Sean Tucker, The Meaning in the Making: The why and how behind our human need to create
Connect with Sean online:
Website - seantucker.photographyInstagram - @seantuckYoutube
Support Free Your Inner Guru:
Become a Patreon Supporter – patreon.com/freeyourinnerguruRate and review on Apple Podcasts, Podchaser or CastboxShop the merchandise – freeyourinnerguru.com/shop
Stay in touch:
Subscribe to the Free Your Inner Guru newsletterInstagram – @freeyourinnnerguru and @thatlauratucker -
Puuttuva jakso?
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Sarah Edmondson and Nippy Ames are subjects of HBO's documentary series The Vow, a story of indoctrination and exposing the NXIVM cult, and hosts of the podcast A Little Bit Culty.
I am delighted to have Sarah and Nippy join me for a "part 2" conversation that begins on A Little Bit Culty today!
One of my goals is that both of our extreme experiences be relatable to new age and self help consumers. Take away the branding and sex trafficking of NXIVM, and the head shaving and fatal sweat lodge of my experience, and what remains is a seemingly regular self help organization. Maybe it is. Maybe it's a cult. Maybe it's both.
One thing is certain: Our hindsight can become your foresight.
Listen as we explore sales and recruitment tactics, coercion, the mind-fuck of "at-causedness," and "the NXIVM flip," which you'll find everywhere in new age and self help circles, masquerading as personal responsibility and looking to yourself as the creator of everything in your life, including narcissistic and cult abuse.
Sarah Edmondson is a Canadian actress who has stared in the CBS series Salvation and more than twelve films for the Hallmark Channel and Lifetime. In 2019, Sarah published Scarred: The True Story of How I Escaped NXIVM, the Cult that Bound My Life.
Nippy Ames has come full circle back to what he was born to do: performing, creating, and truth telling. He's proving to be an emerging voice in the conversation around what it means to be an upstanding man, husband, and father in 2021.
Sarah and Nippy discuss their healing process with the help of experts and fellow survivors on their podcast A Little Bit Culty.
Mentioned in this episode:
2 ways to win Sarah's memoir:
Write a review of Free Your Inner Guru - quick links here: freeyourinnerguru.com/reviewBecome a Patreon supporter at patreon.com/freeyourinnerguru
Draw to be held on Instagram Live - December 30 at noon ET
Books:
Scarred: The True Story of How I Escaped NXIVM, the Cult that Bound My Life, Sarah EdmondsonTake Back Your Life: Recovering from Cults and Abusive Relationships, Janja LalichDon't Call It a Cult, Sarah Berman
Connect with Sarah and Nippy online:
Podcast & website: A Little Bit CultyInstagram - @alittlebitculty @sarahedmondson @anthonyames11
Connect with Free Your Inner Guru:
Become a Patreon Supporter – patreon.com/freeyourinnerguruJoin the Leadership Community – freeyourinnerguru.com/communityShop the merchandise – freeyourinnerguru.com/shop -
We welcome back Shulamit ber Levtov, the Entrepreneur's Therapist for a deep dive into individual, organizational, and systemic abuse.
Shulamit is a resilience and mindset consultant who uses her background as a trauma therapist to help women identifying entrepreneurs manage their mindset and pilot their emotions so they can overcome the anxiety and isolation of running a business.
You may remember Shulamit from our conversation in Episode 88: Cult Dynamics and Abusive, Intimate Relationships. When we finished, it felt like there was a lot more to cover. So here we are. My hope for this episode is that it gives you context for your own experience, for the experience of someone you care for, and for the abusive culture and systems we are immersed in, whether we are conscious of it or not.
Before we go any further, I don't think I've ever given a trigger warning before, and I don't like them for a couple of reasons. First of all, they can be triggering in and of themselves and put us into a heightened state where we expect to be triggered. And so then we're triggered. It's that good, old self fulfilling prophecy. Secondly, I'm not your parent here to protect you from challenging topics. Otherwise nobody learns and this podcast wouldn't exist. However, this is an episode that might best be consumed in a quiet place with a warm tea or coffee and a journal nearby, or on a quiet walk, so that you can absorb and reflect at your own rate and pace.
I'm told that this is how many of you listen to this podcast. I'm not saying this to turn you off. I just want you to know, because I became emotional midway through and we had to take a little break before guiding the conversation into reflecting on what it's like to wake up to abusive relationships in our life.
And how to use self compassion to self-regulate so we can engage our creative problem solving and ask for help. I think this is a serious but hopeful conversation. And I want to be thoughtful about what your experience may be when you consume it. So I guess I am invoking my protective super power after all.
Like always, if you receive value from this episode, please leave a review and sharing it with others. Follow @freeyourinnerguru and @the_entrepreneurs_therapist on Instagram and consider supporting the podcast on Patreon, where you'll have access to the ongoing conversation in our Discourse community for as little as $5 a month.
Mentioned in this episode:
Episode 88: Cult Dynamics and Abusive Intimate Relationships with Shulamit ber Levtov
Duluth Wheel of Power and Control
Duluth Wheel of Culture
Article: Nine Perfect Strangers Made Me a Punchline and Now I'm Punching Back
Judith Herman, Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence--From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror
Connect with Shulamit:
websiteInstagram
Support Free Your Inner Guru:
Become a Patreon Supporter – patreon.com/freeyourinnerguruCheck out the Leadership Community – freeyourinnerguru.com/communityShop the merchandise – freeyourinnerguru.com/shop
Stay in touch:
Subscribe to the Free Your Inner Guru newsletterInstagram – @freeyourinnnerguru -
Personal experience surviving spiritual and therapeutic abuse led Jenny Cornbleet and Mark Futterman to study cult dynamics and undue influence with a variety of experts in the field.
In the process, they recognized that cult dynamics run rampant in our society and are particularly prevalent in the self-help and coaching industries.
Jenny and Mark now bring an anti-cult approach to all their work, with a knowledge that breaking free from undue influence is key to living authentically and doing what matters most.
Jenny Cornbleet and Mark Futterman are instructional designers, coaches, and consultants. They help people discover what they most want to express through life and work, live according to their values, and make their projects as impactful as possible.
Conversation highlights
Jenny and Mark break down their experience of large group awareness training (LGAT) tactics that are invasive and inappropriate so you can learn the tactics andStrategies to pay attention to language used and get a glimpse behind the indoctrination curtainPowering through: the potential problem with getting comfortable with being uncomfortable.When it feels more dangerous to leave than to stay.Controlling practices that have made their way into norm in the self help industryIndoctrination and the gradual erosion of your better judgment and critical thinking.Coaching as a permission based conversationTowards consumer awareness: this is what will drive the marketCult dynamics IRL: Jenny and Mark share examples of when they were convinced to act against their instincts.How cults are changing in digital times.
Mentioned in this episode:
Conspirituality podcastTake Back Your Life, Dr Janja Lalichigotout.orgWriting to Reckon workshop with Gerette Buglion
Connect with Jenny and Mark online:
Website
Instagram
Support Free Your Inner Guru:
Become a Patreon Supporter – patreon.com/freeyourinnerguruCheck out the Leadership Community – freeyourinnerguru.com/communityShop the merchandise – freeyourinnerguru.com/shop
Stay in touch:
Subscribe to the Free Your Inner Guru newsletterInstagram – @freeyourinnnerguru -
It's a podcast swap! Steve McCready is our guest host, and I'm at the guest microphone.
Steve McCready is the host of The Sensitive Rebel podcast. He is here to interview me about life before, since, and lessons learned from my involvement in the self help industry and my involvement in “that sweat lodge.” Over on the Sensitive Rebel, you will find an episode called Laura Tucker Helps Steve Free His Inner Guru.
Steve McCready is a coach with a background as a psychotherapist. Steve and I share many interests including psychology, photography, and creativity.
After a couple of Zooms geeking out on art and gear, we had a “what if” conversation about interviewing each other. To shake things up, we decided to be guests on our own shows!
The timing is serendipitous. The 12th anniversary of the Sedona sweat lodge was October 8th. A dozen years later, I’m still peeling back layers of this experience and sharing them, but mostly on other podcasts!
Steve’s background as a therapist enables him to hone in on challenging topics with empathy. He speaks with authority to their impact on psychology and mental health, making him the perfect host for this conversation.
No joke, by the time we finished, I was tempted to title this episode “Would Someone Please Just Give Me a Red Flag?!?”
Conversation highlights:
Why I’m rebelling against the status quo in the self help industry.Cult dynamics and toxic leaders in our current social environment.The twists and turns of my journey that led me to “that sweat lodge.”Creativity and photography - learning the rules in order to break them.Societal pressure on women at certain ages from the patriarchal status quo.The real secret of the North American self help movement. It's steeped in privilege.The rapacious nature of “sell them what they want, give them what you think they need.”The clarity that’s come this past year, learning about indoctrination and cult dynamics.Recognizing when we are getting swept away by our feelings, so we can actually see the red flags waving in our faces.
Mentioned in this episode:
Thank you, Steve for being a kind and empathetic host. My interview of Steve for episode 23 of The Sensitive Rebel is here
Connect with Steve McCready
Website - sensitiverebel.comWebsite - stevemccready.comInstagram - @thesensitiverebel
Support Free Your Inner Guru:
Become a Patreon Supporter – patreon.com/freeyourinnerguruCheck out the Leadership Community - freeyourinnerguru.com/communityShop the merchandise – freeyourinnerguru.com/shop
Stay in touch:
Subscribe to the Free Your Inner Guru newsletterInstagram - @freeyourinnnerguru -
#igotout is a hashtag, website and movement to make abuses of power unacceptable in all kinds of groups, not just cults.
Gerette Buglion and Lisa are two of the founders of #igotout. They believe now is the time for survivors of cult dynamics to share their stories with unflinching honesty. Every story matters, and the ripple effect of speaking up can make a difference.
Survivors of cultic abuse can raise awareness of undue influence and coercive control. The goal is to change the cultural acceptance of abuse of power in all kinds of groups, not just cults.
Gerette and Lisa join me to share the story of how #igotout was formed, characteristics of cult dynamics in today's society, and how survivors can find support at igotout.org.
Gerette Buglion, B.A. in Elementary and Special Ed, is the author of An Everyday Cult. She earned her ‘Masters Degree’ in Cult Awareness Education from the school of life. Gerette co-manages operations and communications of igotout.org, is a spokeswoman and activist for the movement and hosts Writing to Reckon, an online workshop where survivors of cultic abuse write their I got out statement.
Lisa owns, designs, and manages the igotout.org website intended to support the #igotout movement, as well as makes most of the material and posts for the social media accounts. She is the main point of contact for #igotout communications through email and messaging on the #igotout social platforms.
Connect with igotout.org online:
WebsiteInstagram - @igotout_orgFacebook
Mentioned in this episode:
Article:
Elsevier - Aggression and Violent Behavior: Sexual abuse and charismatic cults
Books:
Gerette Buglion - An Everyday CultSteve Hassan - The Cult of Trump
Podcasts:
Jen Kiaba - Lessons on LeavingKaila Tova - Your Body, Your Brand
Support Free Your Inner Guru:
Become a Patreon – patreon.com/freeyourinnerguruShop the merchandise – freeyourinnerguru.com/shop
Stay in touch:
Subscribe to the Free Your Inner Guru newsletter -
Host Laura Tucker is a survivor of the fatal 2009 sweat lodge at a self help retreat in Sedona in 2009.
Laura shares her response to the line five minutes in to the first episode of Nine Perfect Strangers:
"Remember those people who died in that sweat lodge? They thought they were being enlightened, but in reality they were being cooked."
This episode includes the article Nine Perfect Strangers Made Me a Punch Line and Now I'm Punching Back - Survivor of That Sweat Lodge Stands Up For Survivors of All Bad Gurus and the conversation that has come to life as a result.
Mentioned in this episode:
Article: Nine Perfect Strangers Made Me a Punch Line and Now I'm Punching Back
Episode 87 - Dr Janja Lalich: When Self Help Turns Cult
Ways to support Free Your Inner Guru:
Become a Patreon - patreon.com/freeyourinnerguru
Shop the merchandise - freeyourinnerguru.com/shop
Shop Laura's fine art photography gallery - lauratuckerphotography.com
Stay in touch:
Subscribe to the Free Your Inner Guru newsletter -
You are going to love this conversation with Regina Louise, author of Permission Granted: Kick-Ass Strategies to Bootstrap Your Way to Unconditional Self Love.
Regina Louise is a remarkable human being who engages in this conversation with grace, intelligence, empathy and generosity.
Before Regina wrote her latest book Permission Granted, she authored two bestselling memoirs: Somebody's Someone and Someone Has Led This Child to Believe in which she shares her journey that included being in thirty foster homes as a child. Her memoirs became the award-winning Lifetime movie I Am Somebody's Child: The Regina Louise Story.
Regina joins me to explore topics of the day, including racism, privilege, being a social agent, COVID19, and how writing her 2 memoirs prepared her to write to Permission Granted, her first non-fiction self help book.
Conversation Highlights:
How Regina learned the value of her own permission when her fighting spirit was seen as troublesome.How women and historically underrepresented folks must give ourselves permission to be bigger than a suppressive society wants us to be.The truth of racism in a constructed, hegemonic society.Moving into the world from the place "where spirit meets bone."Nexting: always imagining the highest order of possibility.Liminal space: feeling moored in the "time in between," and at the threshold where change is afoot.Regina shares her decision to be double vaccinated and wear a mask, despite her prior skepticism based on having pharmaceutical drugs forced on her as a child of the system.
Mentioned in this episode:
Regina's books:
Permission Granted: Kick-Ass Strategies to Bootstrap Your Way to Unconditional Self-Love Somebody's Someone: A MemoirSomeone Has Led This Child to Believe
Regina:
Website - iamreginalouise.comInstagram - @therealreginalouise
Become a Free Your Inner Guru® supporter:
Become a patron on Patreon – https://patreon.com/freeyourinnerguruPurchase a fun new hoodie, t-shirt and/or sustainably printed notebooks. (Use LAUNCH15 at checkout for 15% savings.) – https://freeyourinnerguru.com/shop
Connect with Free Your Inner Guru®:
Website – freeyourinnerguru.comInstagram – instagram.com/freeyourinnerguruJoin our Leadership Community! Live conversation twice a month on Zoom, and full access to our Discourse community. freeyourinnerguru.com/community -
Wolf Terry joins Laura Tucker for a conversation about her controversial Yoga Journal article “Getting Vaxxed Was My Act of Ahimsa.”
Wolf Terry is a contributing writer for Yoga Journal. She left teaching yoga at the beginning of the pandemic after years of working at every level of the $88 billion industry in order to become a full-time writer.
In 2018 Wolf lost her younger brother and best friend to suicide, mere months after her child was born. Since then she has been an advocate for mental health, as well as an outspoken activist on crucial social justice issues.
Wolf recently came under fire in the Yoga and Wellness community for her Yoga Journal article “Getting Vaxxed Was My Act of Ahimsa” in which she calls out the yoga community for abandoning its ethics.
Host Laura Tucker is a survivor of the 2009 fatal sweat lodge at a spiritual and self help retreat in Sedona, Arizona. She and Wolf discuss their common concerns for the yoga, wellness, spiritual and self help industries including:
what Ahimsa meansethical concerns when profit comes before peoplespiritual bypassingtoxic woo culture in westernized yoga and spiritualityindoctrination and cult dynamics in wellness communitiesthe influence of the racist and misogynist ideology of the QAnon and Pastel Q influencers on vaccination rates and the spread of misinformation and disinformation across the internet
Mentioned in this episode
Wolf Terry's Yoga Journal article - Getting Vaxxed Was My Act of Ahimsa
Yoga Journal's teaser post on Instagram
The Story Behind Free Your Inner Guru
Documentary - Enlighten Us: The Rise and Fall of James Arthur Ray
Wondery podcast - Guru: The Dark Side of Enlightenment
Conspirituality Podcast - Ep 61 - From Anti-Feminism to Anti-Vax with Dr Annie Kelley
Dr Annie Kelley's podcast Vaccine: The Human Story
Free Your Inner Guru Leadership Community on Discourse
Lindsay Keefe Yoga Therapy
Steve McCready - The Sensitive Rebel Podcast
Connect with Wolf Terry
Instagram - @wolfginiWebsite - wolfgini.com
Become a podcast supporter
Become a patron on Patreon - https://patreon.com/freeyourinnerguru the fun new hoodies, t-shirts and sustainably printed notebooks. (Use LAUNCH15 at checkout for 15% savings.) - https://freeyourinnerguru.com/shop
Connect with Free Your Inner Guru® online
Website - freeyourinnerguru.comInstagram - instagram.com/freeyourinnerguruJoin our Leadership Community! Live conversation twice a month on Zoom, and full access to our Discourse community. freeyourinnerguru.com/community -
Shulamit Ber Levtov joins Laura for a conversation about the parallels between cult dynamics and abusive intimate relationships, the intersection of conspiracy theory and the self help industry, and dealing with shit therapists.
Shulamit Ber Levtov is a resilience and mindset consultant who uses her background as a trauma therapist to help woman-identifying entrepreneurs manage their mindset and pilot their emotions so they can overcome the anxiety and isolation of running a business.
Full show notes with working links at https://freeyourinnerguru.com/shulamit-ber-levtov/
Conversation highlights:
Shulamit shares how why she became a therapist after experiencing an abusive intimate relationship and how that helps her work with women-identifying entrepreneurs.The distinction between being victimized and having an identity as a victim.Why we shy away from words like victim, vulnerable, and cult.Conspirituality: the intersection of conspiracy thinking and the wellness and self help industries.The self help industry: has it overshot inspiration and become an industry reliant on indoctrination?Parallels between victims of cults and abusive intimate relationships.The cumulative nature of "small T trauma" and the ubiquity of microaggressions and coercive control.Group dynamics: What it takes to build a healthy environment for human connection.Dealing with shit therapists.
Mentioned in this episode
Janja Lalich: When Self Help Turns Cult - https://freeyourinnerguru.com/janja-lalichConspirituality podcast - conspirituality.net
Connect with Shulamit
Instagram - @the_entrepreneurs_therapist
Become a podcast supporter:
Become a patron on Patreon - https://patreon.com/freeyourinnerguruShop the fun new hoodies, t-shirts and sustainably printed notebooks. (Use LAUNCH15 at checkout for 15% savings.) - https://freeyourinnerguru.com/shop
Connect with Free Your Inner Guru® online
Website - freeyourinnerguru.comInstagram - instagram.com/freeyourinnerguruFacebook - facebook.com/freeyrinnerguruJoin our Leadership Community! Live conversation twice a month on Zoom, and full access to our Discourse community. freeyourinnerguru.com/community -
Dr Janja Lalich joins Laura for a dive deep into the intersection of self help and cults.
Full show notes with links to everything mentioned at https://freeyourinnerguru.com/janja-lalich/
Janja is a researcher, author, and educator specializing in cults and extremist groups, with a particular focus on charismatic relationships, political and other social movements, ideology and social control, and issues of gender and sexuality. She is Professor Emerita of Sociology at California State University, Chico.
She is the author of Take Back Your Life: Recovering from Cults and Abusive Relationships, the number one book used by former cult members and their friends and families to better understand cult experiences and their consequences. -
AdaPia D'Errico is a global visionary leader, entrepreneur, investor, powerful keynote speaker, and author of Productive Intuition: Connecting to the Subtle.
AdaPia D'Errico has co-founded businesses, launched brands, and re-defined industries. She is a respected fintech entrepreneur and real estate investment executive known for her role in launching the estate crowdfunding industry into the mainstream.
Challenge is the teacher. From leaving her first marriage to a viral Goalcast video gone wrong, AdaPia shares her multi-year journey to connect with her inner authority. Her book, Productive Intuition is a powerful resource for learning how to connect with and harness the power for your inner guru.
We begin with AdaPia's story and quickly moves into an exploration of the light and dark sides of leadership, corporate life, and the transformation industry. Next up are strategies you can use to become more integrated in your approach to life, and why everybody doesn't need to become a coach for a new paradigm of leadership to emerge.
Conversation highlights
The truth that comes in moments of anger and frustration.The darker side of leadership when a leader abdicates their sense of responsibility.What it means to be sovereign.Honoring periods of transition.What is "Productive Intuition?"Interoception - stopping to notice how you feel.The difference between emotional, physical, and energetic "feelings."A new paradigm for leadership: open, authentic, and willing to admit it doesn't know everything.
Mentioned in this episode
AdaPia's Book - Productive Intuition: Connecting to the Subtle
Connect with AdaPia online:
WebsiteInstagramTwitter
Become a podcast supporter:
Become a patron on PatreonShop the fun new hoodies, t-shirts and sustainably printed notebooks. (Use LAUNCH15 at checkout for 15% savings.)
Connect with Free Your Inner Guru online
WebsiteInstagramFacebookJoin our Leadership Community! Live conversation twice a month on Zoom, and full access to our Discourse community. -
Jonny Barefoot is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, childrens' music teacher from Toronto, living in Japan.
Jonny's passion is to hear the music in every aspect of his life. Jonny and I know each other from when we were teenagers. I've always been curious about his experience in Japan, and invited him on the podcast after we reconnected over social media. In this wide ranging conversation, Jonny catches us up on life in Japan and we explore the intersection of culture, spirituality, religion, education, and one of our favourite books - The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho.
Conversation highlights
Jonny shares what it was like to move from Toronto to Japan.From teaching English to teaching music to children through the Music Together program.A look at the indigenous spiritual culture of Japan in contrast to Jonny's Catholic upbringing in Canada.Consistency of practice - whether it's music, meditation, going to church, or writing down inspiration when it comes. Creating music in COVID times.The importance of owning your style.Highlights from The Alchemist, by Paulo Coehlo.Creativity and spirituality as open practice vs imposing structure and willing things to be a certain way.Jonny shares the inspiration behind his latest album, Sunrise in Reverse.
Memorable quotes from Jonny Barefoot
On owning your style:
"And then at that point, I thought yeah, I think I'm really going to own this sound. This is mine and I'm gonna let this grow inside me. And it was like a search was over."
On practice:
"If you approach it like that, it's I'm going to go and teach this class because that's what I do every day. And that's the practice. I'm going to sit Zen, that's what I do every day. And that's the practice. And whether it comes naturally and fluidly and flowingly, or it's a absolute drudgery, it's still what you do."
Mentioned in this episode
Jonny Barefoot's album Sunrise in Reverse on Bandcamp
The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
Laura's interview with Brad Warner: Letters to a Dead Friend About Zen
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, Shunryu Suzuki
Connect with Jonny online:
Instagram - @jonny.barefootBandcamp
Connect with Free Your Inner Guru online
WebsiteInstagramFacebookJoin our Leadership Community Huddle! Live conversation twice a month on Zoom, and full access to our Discourse community.
Become a podcast supporter:
Support the podcast on Patreonor shop the fun new hoodies, t-shirts and sustainably printed notebooks. (Use LAUNCH15 at checkout for 15% savings.) -
Paria Hassouri is an Iranian American mother of three, pediatrician, and transgender rights activist.
Paria Hassouri's memoir Found in Transition: A Mother's Evolution During Her Child's Gender Change begins in 2017, when she first learns that her fourteen year old is having gender dysphoria, and concludes in 2018 when her daughter Ava legally changed her name and gender.
In this compelling conversation, Paria Hassouri opens up and shares her journey from grieving the vision of the child she always had to becoming an activist for transgender rights.
Conversation highlights
How Paria's childhood struggle with being bullied for being Iranian American had an impact on her fears for Ava.Why she wrote all the things many parents in her situation also experience and wouldn't dare to say.How Ava's gender dysphoria caused her to question her own identity as a mother.What Dr Paria Hassouri, MD has learned about gender dysphoria and how it is reflected in her pediatric practice.How Ava, Paria and the Hassouri family are doing at the time of recording and a recent update about Ava's exciting future.
Memorable quotes from Paria Hassouri
“This is a story about a family with a trans kid. But really, it’s a story about a family.”
“Don’t underestimate your power to evolve and change.”
“A big part of my evolution during this process was accepting and being proud of who I am as I am. I learned that because I watched my daughter be proud of who she is.”
Mentioned in this episode
Book - Found in Transition: A Mother's Evolution During Her Child's Gender Change
Connect with Paria online
Website - pariahassouri.comInstagram - @laparia
Connect with Free Your Inner Guru online
WebsiteInstagramFacebookJoin our Leadership Community Huddle! Live conversation twice a month on Zoom, and full access to our Discourse community.
Become a podcast supporter:
Support the podcast on Patreon or shop the fun new hoodies, t-shirts and sustainably printed notebooks. (Use LAUNCH15 at checkout for 15% savings.) -
Suzanne Wylde is the author of The Art of Coming Home - Common sense self-development exercises to educate, inspire, and empower you.
Suzanne is an acupuncturist, holistic coach, and alternative therapist. She and I met online a number of months ago. Her pragmatic straightforward approach led to an invitation to come on Free Your Inner Guru for a deep dive.
We get into her varied experience and education, and the conversation lands on processing emotions.
It’s fitting. Emotions are running all over the place. They always are, but the COVID-19 roller ride coaster keeps going.
Suzanne has given me a link to share with you: an online version of chapter 9 in her book, Processing Our Emotions.
The focus on emotion raises the question - and creates an opportunity to begin to unpack an important question - How are we to discern what we pay attention to, and allow to influence our thoughts and behavior so that we don’t become vulnerable to undue influence?
I was asked yesterday and started writing a list based on my past experience.
The first thing I wrote was “be able to identify when your emotions are being activated - by external events, past triggers, or manipulative tactics.”
So here we are with an episode that touches on staying grounded, accepting what’s going on around us, even when we don’t like it, and processing emotion. Suzanne shares some tools that may be helpful as we each navigate our way forward.
If you’re struggling, I encourage you to connect with a professional - coach, therapist, doctor, and resist the temptation to isolate. We’re all human, after all. We need support and connection to help us through.
Conversation highlights:
What Suzanne means by “coming home,” and why she calls it an art.The advantages and disadvantages of being “highly sensitive.”Positivity and shadow work - the paradox of self help.The problem of prescriptive leadership, and prescriptive coaching.How empathy does not always lead to helping others.Grounding, acceptance and processing emotion: topics from The Art of Coming Home that are relevant today.
Mentioned in this episode:
Preview chapter from The Art of Coming Home: Chapter 9 - Processing Our Emotions
Book - The Art of Coming Home: Common-sense self-development exercises to educate, inspire and empower you.
Science Direct article - Empathy and compassion
Connect with Suzanne online
Website - Instagram - Facebook
Connect with Free Your Inner Guru
Support on Patreon
Instagram - Facebook
Join the conversation – Check out the Free Your Inner Guru Leadership Community
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Kim Chestney is a globally recognized author and innovation leader. Her new book is Radical Intuition - A Revolutionary Guide to Using Your Inner Power.
I know you're going to love this conversation with Kim Chestney! Radical Intuition introduces four archetypes of intuition - the Healer, Sage, Visionary, and Mystic - and includes self assessments and quizzes to help us understand our own natural intuition affinities.
We get right into the framework for intuition that Kim has developed - our five intuitive senses and four types of intuition, everyday questions like why our intuition speaks to us in the shower, and dive into the role intuition plays as we move beyond thinking into the age of imagination, creativity, and intuition.
Conversation highlights:
Why the best companies and leaders are using intuition to lead the way.Why intuition cannot be wrong.The four intuitive pathways: body, mind, heart and spirit.The 4 Intuitions: Healer, Sage, Visionary, Mystic. Which intuition archetype are you?The role of intuition in real - aka conscious - leadership.Guidance to figure out the next step if you're struggling right now.
Memorable quotes:
"Intuition speaks to us from the inside the same way the world speaks to us on the outside."
"If you’re going to be a real leader - have to be insightful - have to have empathy. These are things we haven’t talked about in the past with the old leadership model."
"Intuition’s sole job is to help us fulfill our potential and make ourselves and the world better."
Mentioned in this episode:
Kim Chestney:
Book - Radical Intuition: A Revolutionary Guide to Using Your Inner Power
Website - Instagram - Facebook
Free Your Inner Guru:
Seth Godin interview
Instagram - Facebook
Join the conversation – Check out the Free Your Inner Guru Leadership Community
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Christine Arylo is a transformational leadership advisor, teacher, speaker and three-time best selling author.
Christine is recognized worldwide for her work helping women to make shift happen - in the lives they lead, the work they do, and the world they wish to create.
In her most recent book Overwhelmed and Over It, Christine advocates for us to return to feminine wisdom to get out from under the overculture of overwhelm in today's society and create a more sustainable and joy-filled life.
Conversation highlights:
Understanding the overculture and the many ways we don’t realize we are not free.Be awake as a practice, not a destination.Recognize and replace imprints that do not serve us.Know your heart, mind, body, soul when we’ve been trained in the mind and avoid going into our heart.Why now is the perfect time to look at what is not in alignment and what is not sustainable.Overgiving: what it is, why we are programmed to it, and how to disengage with it.Engage in the world from the inside out.8 different kinds of burnoutWhy our relationship with our inner wisdom needs to be consciously nurtured.Self love vs self absorption and narcissismHow inner work and waking up changes the outer worldNot a meme: Be the change you wish to see as instructions for living.Looking inside ourselves and understanding what is ours to change.Creating space vs finding and making more time.
Mentioned in this episode:
Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Women Who Run With The Wolves
Christine Arylo, Overwhelmed and Over It: Embrace Your Power to Stay Centered and Sustained in a Chaotic World
Christine Arylo and Amy Ahlers, Reform Your Inner Mean Girl
Connect with Christine online:
Website
Facebook
Instagram
Join the conversation - Check out the Free Your Inner Guru Leadership Community -
Nathanael Garrett Novosel wants to help you systematically create a life that is meaningful to you.
In his career as a professional researcher and advisor, Nathanael has researched psychology, evolutionary biology, organizational best practices, leadership decision making, business, technology, finance, and philosophy to understand how the world as we know it works and why.
In his book The Meaning of Life: A Guide To Finding Your Life’s Purpose, Natanael has laid out a framework to help you systematically create a life that is meaningful to you.
Using the 8 Principles of the Meaningful Life, Nathanael and I explore a wide range of topics from why growth is the scientific point of life, the difference between beliefs, values and ethics, why people join cults, and why ethics with the ultimate trade between freedom and safety is at the core of our interactions with each other.
It’s a conversation for the topics of today and events today. Although the subject material is serious, the conversation was quite a bit of fun.
Nathanael Garrett Novosel is a professional researcher and advisor with over 20 years of experience studying individual and group behavior. Nathanael has spent much of his career using the insights from this research to help the world’s leading executives solve their most pressing organizational challenges and create their strategic plans. Noticing the common drivers of success in all areas of life, he decided to devote his research, problem-solving, and advisory skills to helping people live the best lives possible.
Mentioned in this episode:
Books:
The Meaning of Life: A Guide to Finding Your Life's Purpose, Nathanael Garrett Novosel
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Mihaly Czikmihaly
The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins
Find Nathanael online:
Website
Facebook
Instagram
Visit lauratucker.com
Photography
Daily Letter
Visit freeyourinnerguru.com
Podcast episodes
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A story about my first quiet Christmas resonates with Christmas 2020.
May your focus this holiday season bring you ease and grace.
Laura
Original video on Instagram
Original blog on lauratucker.com - Näytä enemmän
