Soul Path Parenting: Recent Episodes
Amy Breeze Cooper & Lauren Coglianese Keck
Ever wondered how to raise spiritually connected children and stay inspired, conscious (and sane!) while doing it? Want to know how to support your kids (and yourself) in living their best - most authentic - lives from the start? Then join hosts Amy and Lauren for conversations about adventures in parenting! We talk with authors, spiritual leaders, doctors, researchers, coaches, teachers, mediums, and people - parents and kids! - from different walks of life who are pursuing their own best lives. Join us as we explore conscious parenting, reimagine what is possible as parents and as people, and ask the question: "how can we set our kids up to live their best lives?" Learn more at www.soulpathparenting.com.
This is the final episode of the Soul Path Parenting podcast and it's a special one! The catalyst for the podcast was a simple yet powerful question that Amy's daughter Ayla asked when she was 3. "Mommy, what's going to happen to me when I die?" Now, as we complete our podcast journey, we are joined by Larry Cooper, Ayla's grandpa and Amy's father-in-law, to gain perspective from what he learned from multiple near death experiences. Also joining the conversation are Ayla, now 7, and Axel, 5 at the time of this recording.
In our penultimate episode, Lauren and Amy talk about the various ways people handle endings and transitions, the transformations that have taken place throughout their podcasting & parenting journeys, and what's next after co-creating Soul Path Parenting.
This is a topic that we've been planning to talk about for quite some time and (ironically!) it finally became very alive for us. In our chat about Lauren's "love affair with death" (her words!) we talk about the role of death in transformation -- what it means to allow our old stories and beliefs to die. We also talk about our relationship with our own eventual physical death and what that means for how we live. Join us for a lively conversation about death!
We're back! After a Covid-induced hiatus, we're back and talking about aliveness. What happens when we follow our sense of what's most alive in the moment and create from that space? What does this mean for our work, our passion projects, our family life? How does this idea of "aliveness" interact with our relationship with time? And, how might we learn from and with our children about this?
This episode has been a long time coming! Two years ago in Episode 16, we had our first conversation on education with Dr. William Spady, the father of outcome based education. He said that only a quarter of learners learn best in the traditional academic way, which is truly astonishing how few of us are thriving in the school setting. This sparked the question, what about the rest of learners? How do people learn and how can we better support them in schools?
We’ve done a whole series on Reimagining Education and explored some of the groundbreaking new approaches to schooling. However, at its most fundamental, we’ve been trying to understand what the learning styles are, and that time is finally here! Joining us as we explore these questions and delve into the 8 learning styles is one of our favorite returning guests - parenting coach, long time educator, and self-proclaimed joyous parent - Sivanne Lieber.
In this episode we talk about:
- The 8 learning styles and how they can be used in the classroom and at home.
- Why some people consider learning styles to be a “myth” or “debunked” and why this isn’t necessarily true.
- How understanding the learning styles can help us empower our children and ourselves in our learning.
- Resources for discovering more about the different learning styles and where different learners can shine.
- How learning and playing are often one and the same!
Links so you can explore more:
Get Sivanne’s Learning Styles Guide at www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Learning-Styles-Guide-6646024 and check out the rest of her store at www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Joyous-Journey-Learning-Hub.
For more on Sivanne and the Play Revolution, visit www.thejoyousparent.com!
To explore more topics on education, listen to our Reimagining Education Series and our first episode on education, Episode 16: Powerful Possibilities in Transforming Education and Empowering Our Kids.
For beginners, the act of meditating can feel intimidating and complicated. You might feel like you can’t quite get it right or are doing it “wrong”, but this week’s guest helps us rethink the notion that there’s a right and a wrong way to meditate. Helping us demystify meditation is Gloria Gonzalez, Certified Meditation and Mindfulness Teacher, and Lauren’s good friend! Join us as we explore the art of mediation and we hope you find some inspiration for how to start or expand your practice.
In this episode we talk about:
- How Gloria found meditation and became a certified mediation teacher.
- Meditation’s connection to the body.
- How to allow the judgment that can come up in our mediation practice to pass through us and not let it impede us.
- The simplicity in sitting, observing, and surrendering.
- How your meditation practice is yours to create and that’s there’s no right or wrong way to do it.
About Gloria Gonzalez
Gloria Gonzalez lives near Houston, TX with her four greatest teachers, her two boys and her two cats. Self-discovery has been a life-long passion for Gloria. She has practiced meditation on and off for 25 years, even spending 7 weeks at an ashram in India. She became a certified meditation teacher during the 2020 Covid lockdown, and her passion is demystifying meditation. You can find her, the lessons she is learning, and links to her social media accounts at sitobservesurrender.com.
Grief, death, and loss can be such painful subjects to discuss, understand, and live with. We may struggle under the weight and pain to process our grief, as well as that of those around us, but life cannot exist without death.
This week we are honored to once again be in the presence of Sherri Doucette, yogi, lifespan doula, and founder of Litehouse Wellness, as she shares her professional and personal wisdom surrounding grief. When we last spoke to Sherri in Episode 69, we intended to discuss grief and gratitude, but found ourselves centering solely around gratitude instead. Now, we return to the conversation around grief, and as we so perfectly demonstrated in our last conversation, the struggle we can have as individuals and a society to hold space for it.
In this episode we talk about:
- The importance of embracing grief and creating space for it so we can thrive along our life’s journey.
- How we can be there and support others in their grief and pain.
- The difference between sympathy and empathy
- How when we compartmentalize ourselves, we hide away parts of our humanity.
- The beauty in allowing ourselves to be held and to hold others through our pain and suffering.
About Sherri Doucette
Sherri Doucette, founder of Litehouse Wellness, as featured on ABC’s/WFAA Daybreak at 8 and Good Morning Texas, NBC and BET, is a native of Los Angeles, CA and a long-time resident of Dallas, TX.
Litehouse Wellness is a 501c3 non-profit purposed to strengthen the African American family & community by bridging the wellness accessibility gap for underserved communities, particularly Black men, using contemplative practices and preventative health education.
Sherri recognizes that implementing these scientifically proven, resiliency-building restorative practices is key to healing ongoing trauma and building sustainable resistance against oppressive systems and institutions.
Sherri is a certified yoga & meditation teacher (200Hr RYT / 300Hr MTT), reiki II practitioner, mindfulness consultant, life-span doula and speaker.
She studied social work at Clark Atlanta University and trained with international master yoga and meditation teachers.
In 2020, the critically acclaimed WFAA feature on Litehouse Wellness, Broga = Yoga for the Brothers was nominated for an Emmy award and won the National Association of Black Journalism (NABJ) Excellence Award.
Links so you can explore more:
Learn more about Litehouse Wellness and Sherri at www.litehousewellness.org on Facebook and Instagram @litehousewellness and Twitter @litehouseheals.
Check out our first episode with Sherri, Episode 69: Healing, Slowing Down, and Giving from Our Overflow!
Inspired by Eckhart Tolle’s book, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose, Amy and Lauren explore the idea of authentic connection. We discuss how the roles we inhabit and the stories we construct around who we are “supposed” to be can hold us back from deeper connection. Joined by Lauren’s husband and life partner, Brett, we delve into what it means to be truly authentic, in our relationships and within ourselves.
In this episode we talk about:
- Lauren and Brett’s love story, their struggles along the way, and the transformation inside their relationship towards more authentic connection.
- How our relationships with others also includes our relationship with ourselves.
- How we can let go of the mental constructs and false stories we develop around our relationships and the roles we are “supposed to” play, by giving ourselves permission to choose what we want rather than what we think we have to.
- That showing up authentically isn’t always a happy or easy conversation, but ultimately can lead to deeper, more fulfilling relationships.
- That when you’re disconnected from yourself and your truth, you’re also disconnected from others.
It’s Thanksgiving week and what better way to celebrate than by talking about giving and gratitude! This week our conversation found itself centering around the Rumi quote, “Never give from the depths of your well, but from your overflow,” as we explore how our gratitude, unconditional love, and healing can all come from a place of overflow.
Joined by the inspiring Sherri Doucette, founder of Litehouse Wellness, we delve into the possibilities life holds when we let our needs be met, as Sherri shares her amazing personal journey giving back to her community and participating in collective healing.
In this episode we talk about:
- How in grief we can also find gratitude.
- The importance of giving from our overflow and allowing ourselves to not only give, but to receive gratitude and unconditional love as well.
- The value of slowing down and holding space for rest.
- Sherri’s journey creating a safe space for black men through Broga.
- How collective healing starts with individual healing.
About Sherri Doucette
Sherri Doucette, founder of Litehouse Wellness, as featured on ABC’s/WFAA Daybreak at 8 and Good Morning Texas, NBC and BET, is a native of Los Angeles, CA and a long-time resident of Dallas, TX.
Litehouse Wellness is a 501c3 non-profit purposed to strengthen the African American family & community by bridging the wellness accessibility gap for underserved communities, particularly Black men, using contemplative practices and preventative health education.
Sherri recognizes that implementing these scientifically proven, resiliency-building restorative practices is key to healing ongoing trauma and building sustainable resistance against oppressive systems and institutions.
Sherri is a certified yoga & meditation teacher (200Hr RYT / 300Hr MTT), reiki II practitioner, mindfulness consultant, life-span doula and speaker.
She studied social work at Clark Atlanta University and trained with international master yoga and meditation teachers.
In 2020, the critically acclaimed WFAA feature on Litehouse Wellness, Broga = Yoga for the Brothers was nominated for an Emmy award and won the National Association of Black Journalism (NABJ) Excellence Award.
Links so you can explore more:
Learn more about Litehouse Wellness at www.litehousewellness.org on Facebook and Instagram @litehousewellness and Twitter @litehouseheals.
For more words of wisdom from Rumi, check out the Rumi Oracle Deck.
It’s our anniversary! It’s been two whole years since Soul Path Parenting launched and one year since Lauren joined us as our brilliant, insightful, and overall spectacular co-host! In this episode, we're going to talk about our partnership and transformation, because, as the last year has highlighted, it's through relationships and partnerships that we all learn and grow.
We'll talk about how our partnership got started, some bumps in the road, and how we challenged each other. We’ll talk about breaking the rules, forgetting to break the rules, and how we came together to ultimately create more consciously -- all while giving you a behind the scenes look at how the podcast is made.
We also want to give a big thank you to our audience! This has been an amazing journey and we are so honored that you choose to spend your time with us. We appreciate you so much and we’re looking forward to another year of co-creation, learning, transforming, and journeying towards wholeness. Until next time, be well!
Links so you can explore more:
If you’d like to look at how we’ve changed and grown along the way, check out last year’s Anniversary Episode and our First Episode! Thank you to our audience, we love you and we’d love to hear from you at amy@soulpathparenting.com or lauren@soulpathparenting.com!
Have you ever felt two seemingly contradictory feelings or thoughts at the same time? It can be confusing, frustrating, and make us feel like we have to choose between those feelings or thoughts, but do we really have to fight against the contradictions? This week Amy and Lauren explore how we can live in - and love - the contradictions that are inherent to life and find beauty in both/and.
In this episode we talk about:
- Breaking down false dichotomies and holding space for all things.
- How are inner child and adult self can contradict each other and the benefit of learning to hold space for both.
- Why judgement can stand in the way of our truth.
- The seemingly contradictory nature of life and death.
- How embracing the contradictions inherent to life can help us find “clarity.”
Links so you can explore more:
We also invite you to email us if you have questions about something that we talked about or would like to share your journey with us. We'd love to hear from you at amy@soulpathparenting.com or lauren@soulpathparenting.com!
Calm and content reflect the opposite of some of the more volatile, unpleasant, and high energy feelings like anger, anxiety, and fear that we’ve discussed in prior episodes. Often seen as a desired destination on the feelings spectrum, calm and content are pleasant, but can be more difficult to embody than other feelings. So how do we get there?
This series has been an invitation to feel all of your feelings and connect authentically in the moment with all parts of yourself. While we leave the door open for more feelings, for now, we conclude the Feeling Our Way to Wholeness Series with calm and content and we thank you for joining us on this journey towards wholeness!
In this episode we talk about:
- Where calm and content sit on our spectrum of feelings
- How calm and content connect to flow.
- How judgement and other unpleasant feelings can prevent us from embodying calm and content.
- Some of the ways we can better connect with our feelings and grow closer to spaces of calm and content.
- The multifaceted and interconnected nature of our feelings and the importance of accepting what is present and true for you.
Links so you can explore more:
Be sure to check out the rest of the Feeling Our Way to Wholeness Series if you missed an episode and check out our Feelings Blueprint: Self-Assesment Tool at https://www.soulpathparenting.com/feelings-blueprint-self-assessment-tool to help you contextualize your relationship with your feelings on your own journey towards wholeness!
We also invite you to email us if you have questions about something that we talked about or would like to share your journey with us. We'd love to hear from you at amy@soulpathparenting.com or lauren@soulpathparenting.com!
Play - it’s fun, it’s joyous, it’s creative, it’s good for our bodies and souls - so why don’t we do it more often? Why are work and play considered polar opposites? And why is play largely confined to early childhood?
This week we join the Play Revolution with parenting coach, educator, play enabler, and self-proclaimed joyous parent, Sivanne Lieber! Tune in as we explore the power of play and the ways we can all benefit from a little more joy in our lives.
In this episode we talk about:
- The true essence of play.
- Play as the work of childhood AND adulthood.
- How to bring play back into parenting.
- The paradigms that unconsciously stand in the way of play.
- How we might co-create something new with our kids that doesn’t come from what we’re supposed to do, but rather from freedom, choice and inner knowing.
Links so you can explore more:
For more on Sivanne and the Play Revolution, visit www.thejoyousparent.com!
One of the things that most lights us up here at Soul Path Parenting is talking about what’s possible. In our Reimagining Education Series we’ve been focusing on what's possible in education, and this episode’s guest wrote an entire book about exactly that called, What School Could Be. Ted Dintersmith spent his career in innovation before becoming a change agent in education, focusing on reimagining school to keep pace with the tsunami of innovation that is reshaping society.
This begs the question, what does school really need to do for our children? What is the purpose of school? And how should we educate our children in a world where computers and machines are replacing humans, not just in tasks that are simple and repetitive, but in increasingly complex jobs? Tune in as Ted helps us answer these questions and points us back to our most valuable strength, that which makes us most human.
In this episode we explore:
- Schools current purpose and what it could be when we envision the future.
- The increasing role of machines and technology in the labor force and our lives, and what that means for our children’s learning and future jobs.
- What type of learning and information really resonates with kids and is more likely to stay with them throughout their lives.
- The importance of letting our children follow their interests and passions.
- Why college might not be for everyone and the problem with college admission standards.
- Why we should foster and value human creativity.
Links so you can explore more:
For more on Ted and his groundbreaking work visit www.WhatSchoolCouldBe.org and www.teddintersmith.com or follow him on Twitter @dintersmith.
For more episodes like this, check out our Reimagining Education Series at www.soulpathparenting.com/reimagining-education-series.
In this installment of the Reimagining Education Series, Lauren is joined by prolific author and lecturer, Alfie Kohn, described in Time magazine as “perhaps the country’s most outspoken critic of education’s fixation on grades [and] test scores.” Some of Alfie’s most popular books include Punished by Rewards, Unconditional Parenting, Beyond Discipline, and The Myth of the Spoiled Child.
Join us as Alfie and Lauren discuss what it means to be a reflective rebel and how we can make trouble by questioning the false dichotomies and assumptions that are so prevalent in education.
In this episode we talk about:
- The false dichotomy of punishment and reward and other common false assumptions in education.
- What’s wrong with education’s focus on tests, grades, and homework.
- What is deep modeling and how educators and parents can embody it.
- Why it’s important to see children as having autonomous desires.
- That if our goal is to raise generous, caring, curious, creative, and compassionate life long learners, then our education system must change.
Links so you can explore more:
For more on Alfie and his spectacular works, visit www.alfiekohn.org
If you have any questions about this episode’s topic feel free to email Lauren at lauren@soulpathparenting.com or join the conversation on Facebook and Instagram!
For more episodes like this one, check out our Reimagining Education Series at https://www.soulpathparenting.com/reimagining-education-series
How does the way a school views its students impact their learning? What happens when we radically trust students and educators? How can we better integrate communities into schools? And what could alternatives to large class sizes look like?
This week, we explore these questions as we continue to Reimagine Education with our inspiring guest Miguel Gonzalez, the Director of Embark, a micro-school here in Denver, Colorado embedded into a coffee shop and a bike shop! Join us as Miguel discusses the unique origin and goals of Embark and what it can teach us about the future of education.
In this episode we explore:
- What’s a micro school and what’s so revolutionary about Embark.
- The difference between teachers and educators.
- What’s possible when we put learners, rather than the curriculum, at the center of schools.
- The power of radical trust in the school setting.
- What’s a trim tab and how we can use it to turn the ship that is education.
Links so you can explore more:
For more on Embark, go to www.embarkeducation.org
If you're interested in exploring this conversation about education further, check out our Reimagining Education Series at www.soulpathparenting.com/reimagining-education-seriesfor more episodes! And if you liked this episode, please share it with a friend and leave us a review so we can keep the conversation going!
Anxiety can show up for us in many different ways. For some, it is an ever present companion, for others it’s triggered by work, social interactions, or new experiences. It can motivate or debilitate us, but no matter how anxiety presents itself in our lives, it is an unpleasant feeling that can be hard to shake once it takes root.
Join us in the second to last installment of the Feeling Our Way to Wholeness Series, as Amy and Lauren discuss anxiety!
In this episode we talk about:
- How anxiety presents in the body and the mind. The importance of being in-tune with our anxiety’s manifestations.
- How anxiety has shown up in Amy and Lauren’s lives.
- The connection between anxiety and perfectionism.
- How befriending our anxiety can help us be with it, learn from it, calm it, and release it.
- Ways we can validate our children’s anxiety and help them move through it.
Links so you can explore more:
Be sure to check out the rest of the Feeling Our Way to Wholeness Series and check out our Feelings Blueprint: Self-Assesment Tool on our website to help you contextualize your relationship with your feelings and join us on this journey towards wholeness!
In this episode, Lauren is joined by fellow parenting coach and host of the Happier Mom By the Minute podcast -- Stacey Yates Sellar -- as they discuss Conscious Parenting and Stacey’s specific niche: Conscious Parenting children with ADHD! Stacey shares her wisdom and personal experience on how to consciously face the unique behavioral challenges of a child with ADHD, but don’t worry, these insights can apply to just about anyone. As Stacey puts it, “The techniques, the tools, and the parenting I do for my ADHD child is exactly what I'm doing for my typically developing child. It’s just more extreme, more often, and I have to do more investigating [for my ADHD child].”
So tune in as Lauren and Stacey connect over Conscious Parenting and share tools for parenting children with ADHD and beyond in this special conversation!
In this episode we talk about:
- What Conscious Parenting children with ADHD looks like and how that differs - or doesn’t - from Conscious Parenting “neurotypical” or typically developing children.
- Misconceptions around ADHD and parenting children with ADHD.
- The gift, benefit, and necessity of conflict/challenge.
- Deconstructing the notion that compliance equals “good.”
- How we can empower and honor our children’s preferences and feelings, as well as our own.
- Why a dysregulated adult cannot help a dysregulated child regulate themselves.
Links so you can explore more:
You can find Stacey at www.happierbytheminute.com, visit parentingadhdod.com for her free webinar on Conscious Parenting children with ADHD, or check out her podcast -- Happier Mom by the Minute -- on your favorite podcast streaming app!
For more Conscious Parenting conversations, you can also check out our Conscious Parenting Series at www.soulpathparenting.com/conscious-parenting-series
Fear is one of our most primal feelings. The feeling of fear can lie on a spectrum from an agitated bubbly excitement to a survival level driver that activates our fight, flight, or freeze response. Fear can live in our bodies - taking root with trauma - and can easily overwhelm us. As parents, fear for our children can be extremely painful and all consuming. So how do we live with our fear?
Tune in as Amy and Lauren explore how we can parent and move through fear in this episode of the Feeling Our Way to Wholeness Series!
In this episode we talk about:
- What fear feels like in our bodies and our minds.
- Amy and Lauren’s experiences with fear as parents and as people, how they responded, and have grown since.
- The human experience of fear and its relation to survival and the the fundamental fear of death.
- How we can shift from a survival level thinking into spiritual growth by accepting and moving through fear.
- The connection between types of parenting and fear.
Links so you can explore more:
Be sure to check out the rest of the Feeling Our Way to Wholeness Series and check out our Feelings Blueprint: Self-Assesment Tool on our website to help you contextualize your relationship with your feelings and join us on this journey towards wholeness!
In this week’s episode, Amy is joined by certified professional astrologer and parenting coach, Tara Vogel, as they explore how astrology can help guide us in our parenting journey! Astrology can be a tool for awakening and self-actualization that gives insight into our struggles, pain points, and gifts -- so what does that mean for us as parents? Tara shares how understanding natal charts can help us better connect with our children and ourselves, so we can be more in-tune with one another and fully honor our soul’s lesson plans.
In this episode we talk about:
- What are natal charts and what they can reveal to us about our soul’s lesson plan.
- Tara and Amy’s personal experiences with astrology and natal charts.
- What modern day astrology looks like and common misconceptions.
- How astrology can help us better understand ourselves and our children so we can honor and accept our authentic selves.
About Tara Vogel
Tara is a certified professional astrologer and coach who is passionate about helping moms stay connected to their kids and themselves via the cosmos. She loves to dive deeply with her clients and believes that understanding your astrological natal chart along with your child's natal chart is one of the greatest tools we have for understanding ourselves and our children better.
She posts daily on Instagram about how to use the celestial bodies to support you in your everyday life with your kids in an easy to understand and practical way. She also teaches astrology online for her teacher, Debra Silverman.
Tara believes in a holistic approach to living and weaves her knowledge of nutrition, herbal medicine and psychotherapy into her readings. She is a mom of three. Her middle daughter has special needs and having her natal chart read as a young child helped her to navigate the uncharted waters of raising a child who has different needs. Tara wholeheartedly believes understanding your whole family's astrological birth charts can bring more peace, harmony, and compassion to your daily life with kids.
Links so you can explore more:
For more on Tara Vogel visit www.taravogel.com or check out her Instagram @luminaryparenting for daily astrological forecasts!
Anger, it can one of our most volatile feelings. Like a fire breathing dragon, it can feel out of control, consume us, and scorch those around us. So how can we process anger in a healthy manner while being authentic with our feelings?
In this installment of the Feeling Our Way to Wholeness Series, Amy and Lauren share their thoughts on anger and passion!
In this episode we talk about:
- What the somatic, bodily experience of anger feels like.
- How anger shows up in our lives and relationships and ways to recognize our anger triggers.
- How anger relates to discipling children and what Amy and Lauren's personal journeys with discipline have looked like.
- How can we can hold space for our children’s anger so that we encourage and honor their authentic feelings.
- The difference between passion and anger.
Be sure to check out the rest of the Feeling Our Way to Wholeness Series and check out our Feelings Blueprint: Self-Assesment Tool on our website to help you contextualize your relationship with your feelings and join us on this journey towards wholeness!
We also invite you to email us if you have questions about something that we talked about or would like to share your journey with us. We'd love to hear from you at amy@soulpathparenting or lauren@soulpathparenting!
In our second installment in the Feeling Our Way to Wholeness Series, Amy and Lauren tackle joy and sadness! While we might assume that joy and sadness are perpetually at odds with one another, these interconnected feelings are more like two sides of the same coin, essential and inseparable from one another. So how do we reconcile these differing energies and move past some of the misconceptions and harmful hierarchies around joy and sadness?
Join us as Amy and Lauren share their insight into the relationship between joy and sadness and the ways we can continue to welcome and feel all the feels on this journey towards wholeness!
In this episode, Amy and Lauren discuss:
- The color based visual mood meter created by Boston College professor James Russell and how we can use it to assess our feelings.
- The relationship between joy and sadness, how these feelings can manifest in the body, and ways we can honor them.
- Amy and Lauren’s personal blueprints and patterns around joy and sadness.
- The freeing and empowering nature of feeling authentically and how we can practice conscious awareness.
- The prevalence of limiting beliefs around joy, how they affect us, how we can recognize them, and what we can do to move past them.
Links so you can explore more:
Be sure to check out the rest of the Feeling Our Way to Wholeness Series and check out our Feelings Blueprint: Self-Assesment Tool to help you contextualize your relationship with your feelings and join us on this journey towards wholeness!
In this episode we’re kicking off another new series that’s all about feelings! Sometimes our feelings can be overwhelming and confuse us, making it difficult to express what we’re really going through. So how do we become welcoming towards whatever it is we are actually feeling in the moment? How do we face it, acknowledge it, engage with it, feel it, and allow it to be what it is, and then consciously and intentionally move from there?
This series centers around becoming empowered and making choices about how we authentically interact with our feelings, the relationship we have internally with them, and how we express them externally. We’ll be covering anger, passion, fear, excitement, anxiety, joy, sadness, and acceptance. So tune in as we feel all the feels together!
In this episode, we talk about:
- What the new series is going to look like and how we got here.
- The importance of showing up authentically so that your external self-expression can match your internal reality.
- Amy and Lauren’s own feelings about feelings!
Be sure to check out our Feelings Blueprint: Self-Assessment Tool if you’d like to join us in this journey of self discovery and unpack your personal blueprint around feeling!
Yes and no aren’t always the polar opposites we make them out to be. There can be hell yeses and hell noes, maybes, I don’t knows, and everything else in between. So how do we make decisions and speak our minds when the answer isn’t always simple? In this episode, Amy and Lauren discuss the yes-no spectrum, how we can give authentic answers and teach our children to do the same.
In this conversation, we explore:
- The yes-no polarity misconception and how we can instead see yes and no as a spectrum, where one isn’t better than the other.
- Amy and Lauren’s personal journeys with yes and no.
- Tools to help us answer authentically and ways to support our children as they do the same.
- How giving authentic answers can help create and maintain healthy boundaries so that we can live our best lives.
In this episode Lauren talks with parent coach, wilderness therapist, and author Krissy Pozatek, about how to navigate the polarities of parenting, including control/neglect, enmeshment/abandonment, and rigidity/chaos; using Brave Parenting tools that help us model and foster resilience.
Some key tools include:
- Increasing our own tolerance for discomfort so that we can model and teach facing issues and growing from them rather than fixing or avoiding.
- Allowing our children opportunities to solve their own problems, while remaining present and willing to help when asked, which is different from stepping in and solving or fixing for our kids.
- Becoming more conscious of our own fears and triggers, of the times in which we are most tempted to “lay leather,” meaning to fix or solve for our kids rather than support them in “building moccasins,” meaning listening and giving help when asked while witnessing our children explore and experiment with their own solutions to their problems.
- Prioritizing ourselves and our own life’s journey and being a loving and present guide for our children as they travel their own parallel path, which is different than trying to walk their path for them or unconsciously ask them to join us on our preferred path.
- Remembering to have lots of compassion for ourselves and our children as we learn and grow alongside each other.
For more on Krissy Pozatek and her other works, check out her website: https://www.parallel-process.com/
As a child, I remember often being told, "Jesus died on the cross for your sins." He did? More than anything, this was profoundly confusing. (I remember thinking, "but he didn't even know me....").
In previous episodes (ep. 28 & 44), we have come to know Jesus as a wisdom teacher. We have come to understand his message of oneness. So how do we make sense of his teachings and the messages of sin & judgment?
Patricia Pearce -- spiritual teacher and author of Beyond Jesus -- is back on the show to share her beautiful wisdom. With her unique perspective from having been a Presbyterian pastor for 17 years and experiencing her own awakening, she illuminates the stories we have been told, where they come from, and provides an inspiring new interpretation of the cross and the resurrection.
If you'd like a copy of Beyond Jesus, Patricia has generously offered our listeners a 25% discount off the cover price. Order here. Use the promo code SOULPATH. 💕
We love transformation! Especially, the "messy middle" of transformation, as Lauren likes to say. Not just the beautiful before & after pictures.... What happened in between?! That's what we're sharing with you in this episode.
Jen Klein, Conscious Parenting Coach and Co-Founder of InnerGuidance Canada, is back! In this episode, she shares with us the powerful transformational process of InnerGuidance. It turns out, everything you need to know is already within you. In this conversation, we explore:
- What InnerGuidance makes possible
- The 4 principles of InnerGuidance for reconditioning your inner world in order to create an aligned outer world, signified by: Hi, No, Yes, Why
- The 3 parts of InnerGuidance: Self-Reflection, the Guided Journey, and the Somatic Experience
- Lauren and Amy's experiences of their own Guided Journeys with Jen
- The profound -- and, at first, perhaps counterintuitive -- experience that knowing and negotiating with parts of ourselves can bring us closer to wholeness
If you are interested in hearing a full InnerGuidance Guided Journey (Jen guiding Amy), you can find the recording on our website here.
If you wish to explore Jen's work and InnerGuidance further, you can do so at these links:
Jen Klein
InnerGuidance International
And, finally, we'll share this...
We at Soul Path Parenting are not affiliates or in any way financially connected to InnerGuidance. We share this because we have seen for ourselves the powerful difference it can make for people in their journey toward wholeness. Jen generously offered both Amy and Lauren free InnerGuidance Guided Journeys, which we accepted! We have shared our experiences within this conversation. We hope you enjoy it and see new possibilities for the power of knowing parts of yourselves.
Learning doesn't just happen at school. It starts at home! In this episode, we talk with Rahima Baldwin-Dancy, who is a Waldorf early childhood educator, mother of 4, and author of You Are Your Child's First Teacher, about how we can cultivate learning in the home environment. In our conversation, we explore:
- Why we need to preserve childhood and resist the cultural forces pushing children to grow up faster
- How children learn through rhythm, repetition, and movement
- The power of connection and play
- The importance of cultivating a space for children to dream and see the world as magical and full of wonder
If you're interested in exploring this conversation about education further, check out our Reimagining Education Series and listen to Episode 49: Reimagining Education: Unschooling and Episode 16: Powerful Possibilities in Transforming Education and Empowering Our Kids, with Dr. William Spady.
For more on Rahima Baldwin-Dancy, check out her website:
http://www.informedfamilylife.org
We are kicking off a new series...Reimagining Education! As we look around at the current system, it's clear some things aren't working. But what are the solutions? What are new ways of thinking about education? What's possible if we open our minds and our hearts to what education could be?
In this first episode in this series, Amy talks with co-host Lauren and her daughter Ginny about unschooling, the approach to education they've chosen. What is unschooling? How does it work? How is it different from homeschooling? What's possible when we "un"school?
If you're interested in exploring this conversation about education further, head on back to our first episode on this topic -- Episode 16: Powerful Possibilities in Transforming Education and Empowering Our Kids, with Dr. William Spady. He asks the question: What kind of human beings do we want to send out the door? His answer will inspire you.
Enjoy!
In this episode, we talk with Tom Shroder, an award winning journalist and author of Old Souls. Tom became interested in reincarnation in the late '80s after interviewing Brian Weiss (Many Lives, Many Masters). He was intrigued, but skeptical. These tales of past lives from hypnotic regressions lacked the kind of concrete, specific details that could be verified. Then...he came across the work of Dr. Ian Stevenson.
Dr. Stevenson spent 37 years traveling the world to investigate and document more than two thousand cases of children who remembered past lives. Tom traveled along with Dr. Stevenson on his final field trips to Lebanon and India, getting a first-hand view his work and cases of past-life memories that he ultimately finds he cannot discount.
In this episode, we talk about:
- Some of the most memorable and compelling cases of children with past-life memories Tom encountered
- How this has affected his view on life & mortality
- Amy & Lauren's unique perspectives on reincarnation and a "believer" and a "mystic"
For more on Tom Shroder and his other works, check out his website:
https://tomshroder.com.
How do we intentionally co-create connecting conversations, particularly when they are about topics that tend to be divisive like politics? How do we ensure that everyone’s voice is heard, and each person feels seen and valued as they are? How might we model for and teach our children to relate to difference from a place of mutual respect and curiosity? These are some of the ideas we explore in this episode about shifting our communication from competitive to connecting.
In this episode, Lauren speaks with Chris Sautter, an entrepreneur and intentional communicator, about how to bridge the political divide, why we need diverse points of view, and how to approach conversations as a way to build bridges that lead to mutual understanding.
We learn in this episode:
- How to shift from the common, competitive framing of conversations in which people try to “win” the conversation by proving that their perspective is “right” and the other person’s is “wrong,” to a more connection focused model of communicating in which each person is assumed to have a valid perspective for that person, and the goal is to learn more about each other and move toward deeper mutual understanding.
- In order to get better at navigating conflict, we need to choose to move towards conflict in an intentional way, so we can hone our connection skills and learn to self-regulate in moments of tension or discomfort and practice bringing our best selves to those moments.
- If we catch ourselves unconsciously framing things in a competitive way, we can pause, breathe, and shift back towards connection and the shared goal of mutual understanding.
- We can model for our children how to bring humility and our full humanity to difficult conversations, co-creating an opportunity to seek win/win solutions to problems in which each person’s concerns are heard, valued, and incorporated into mutually beneficial resolutions.
If you found this episode helpful, we encourage you to share it with anyone in your life who might also benefit from the ideas explored and the suggestions offered that shine a light on how we might co-create a more peaceful world in which we come together in pursuit of shared values, while including and benefitting from our diverse perspectives.
We are so excited to bring you this conversation because it’s about a topic that has quite literally changed our lives: transformation.
What is transformation? How does it work? What does it look like in practice? Well, this is what we're going to talk about!
We have come to understand that when we are aware of the transformation process and our role in it, we can then consciously engage in it with choice. Our wish is to empower others -- you the listener! -- to have this awareness and choice in your own life.
To share this important topic, we don't just talk about transformation. We share our stories of how we’ve experienced transformation as parents and as people.
We believe in the power of stories to transform lives. When we hear each others' stories, we see new possibilities for ourselves. Do you have a story of transformation in your own life you'd like to contribute to this conversation? We'd love to hear it and possibly feature you on a future show! Email us! amy@soulpathparenting.com.
This myth is my absolute FAVORITE! The myth that "parents need to be in control" is both culturally pervasive AND extremely destructive. I see this as the "macro myth" that everything in Conscious Parenting connects to in some way. Understanding and unwinding our relationship with control has the power to transform everything.
This is the last episode in our 8-episode series on Conscious Parenting and the myths that Dr. Shefali Tsabary so beautifully distinguished in her book, The Awakened Family.
To bring this myth to life, we are joined by two inspiring Conscious Parenting Coaches who generously share their own authentic stories of seeing this myth and transforming their parenting and their lives: Angelica Bastida & Kelly O’Loughlin. In this episode, we look explore:
- How our very earliest experience with our children - childbirth - can help us see the myth of control
- Where our desire to control comes from and how pervasive it is in our lives
- Stories of how we seek to control our children's' thoughts, emotions and actions
- How learning to give up control can transform your life -- as a parent and beyond
If you're interested in learning more about these amazing coaches, please check out the series webpage at soulpathparenting.com.
Who was Jesus...really? What did he really intend to teach? What is Christ consciousness? And what does all this mean for those of us seeking to be a part of a new consciousness emerging in the world? That's what we explore in this conversation!
In this episode, Amy and Lauren speak with Patricia Pearce, spiritual teacher and author of Beyond Jesus. Patricia is a teacher of oneness consciousness and, earlier in her life, before her awakening, she was a Presbyterian pastor for 17 years. She brings her unique perspective to shining a light on what's possible. Not only is the wisdom she shares so inspiring, but the presence that can be felt in the conversation is magical. We learned:
- Jesus recognized himself as one with all; he understood that we are all divinity walking in human form.
- Christ (or Unitive) Consciousness “is" awareness of and connection to the mystery of being alive and being relationship embodied.
- We are not only in relationships. We are relationship. We are all interconnected, and we can experience that by being aware of it, connecting to that awareness, and experiencing it in and through our bodies while we are embodied consciousness living human lives on this earth.
- When we interact with others who are also aware of and experiencing this, we can experience it with and through each other, and it expands our experience of it.
If you'd like a copy of Beyond Jesus, Patricia has generously offered autographed copies to our listeners at 25% off the cover price. And, if you'd like an inscription to you or someone else as a gift, she's happy to do that as well.
Order here. Use the promo code SOULPATH. 💕
I love this myth so much! I believe that by unlocking our beliefs about happiness (and the ways we are blocking it!), we can transform our lives. For those of us who are Americans, we are born into a nation so committed to the pursuit of happiness that it's in the Declaration of Independence. And yet, this "pursuit" is exactly what has the power to make us unhappy.
This show is the seventh in our 8-part series on Conscious Parenting and the parenting myths Dr. Shefali Tsabary shared in her inspiring book, The Awakened Family.
To bring this myth to life, we are joined by two inspiring Conscious Parenting Coaches who generously share their insights and wisdom: Aneika Perez and Tia Fagan. In this episode, we look explore:
- What we can learn from our own experiences of pursuing happiness
- How our discomfort with unhappiness -- and the other "bad" feelings -- is what stands in the way of us experiencing happiness
- How to "create space" for ourselves and our kids to experience any and all feelings
- More ways to create the "conscious pause" that makes ALL. THE. DIFFERENCE. in conscious parenting and in life
In the conversation, we referenced two previous episodes. You can find them here:
- Ep. 29: Emotions: What They Are, Where They Are, and How to Powerfully Flow Through Them – Dylan Rumley, Cognitive Medical Hypnotherapist
- Take 5 for a Simple Exercise That Shifts Stress & Anxiety to Calm & Resourcefulness -- Becca Armstrong
If you're interested in learning more about these amazing coaches, please check out the series webpage at soulpathparenting.com.
Here's the myth we're talking about in this episode: "A good parenting is a loving one."
If you’re thinking, "Hang on! How is that a myth?," well, you're not alone! That’s what I first thought when I read it. But at the heart of this myth is one of the most profound insight in parenting and in life -- an insight that will have you understand love in a whole new way by the time this episode is done.
This show is the sixth in our 8-part series on Conscious Parenting and the parenting myths Dr. Shefali Tsabary shared in her inspiring book, The Awakened Family.
To bring this myth to life, we are joined by two inspiring Conscious Parenting Coaches who generously share their insights and wisdom: Jenny Ng and Suzy Blais. In the episode, we talk about:
- When love doesn't feel like love to a child, guess what. It isn't coming from a place of love. So, what is it then?....
- The profound insight about love that has transformed my parenting: "Love and fear cannot exist in the same moment"
- How we can cultivate the antidote to fear and feeling triggered: the Conscious Pause
- How to recognize some of the most common fears. (They're so sneaky!...they try to creep in and take over....but not once you can recognize them!)
If you're interested in learning more about these amazing coaches, please check out the series webpage at soulpathparenting.com.
I can hardly believe it! It's been a year since Soul Path Parenting launched. We have learned soooo much! We've asked dozens of experts — from therapists to educators, from parenting coaches to mediums and spiritual leaders — how we set our kids up to live their best lives, their most authentic expression of who they’re meant to be. We've been showered with wisdom & inspiration.
Don't you just wish someone could boil down all that goodness into say, a 15 minute synopsis of the 3 most powerful things we've learned? Well, we have! We are so excited to share it with you.
AND...we have big news to share about the future of the show! The wonderful and amazing Conscious Parenting coach, healer, storyteller, and all-around amazing human Lauren Coglianese Keck will be joining me for the second half of the show for our big announcement. 💕💕💕
Today we are talking about parenting myth #4: Good parents are naturals. And I have to tell you, it only took days into being a parent (maybe just hours!) for me to realize that it didn't come as naturally as I thought it would!
This show is the fifth in our 8-part series on Conscious Parenting the parenting myths Dr. Shefali Tsabary so beautifully shared in her book, The Awakened Family.
To bring this myth to life, we are joined by three inspiring Conscious Parenting Coaches who generously share their wisdom: Dinuka Ranasinghe, Inez Natalia, and Juliana Gomes. In the episode, we talk about:
- The downsides of viewing parenting as "natural"...and the freedom that understanding this myth unlocks
- The story of a pre-parenting coach and how conscious parenting is preparing her for her potential future as a parent.
- How letting go of "good" (and "bad") can open up joy and connection with ourselves, our kids, and the present moment.
If you're interested in learning more about these amazing coaches, please check out the series webpage at soulpathparenting.com.
“What I have come to understand is that there are no good or bad children. There are compliant children, defiant children, and then there are authentic children." -- Lauren Coglianese Keck
Wow. I have to tell you, that quote alone has changed my outlook on parenting. And that's just the first minute of the show!
This show is the fourth in our 8-part series on Conscious Parenting the parenting myths Dr. Shefali Tsabary so beautifully shared in her book, The Awakened Family.
To bring this myth to life, we are joined by two magical Conscious Parenting coaches: Lauren Coglianese Keck of Sunshower Coaching and Karemi Alvarez of the Conscious Parenting Institute. In the episode, we talk about:
- What happens when we put labels like "good", "bad", "difficult", "challenging" on our children -- and where this comes from
- Lauren's powerful story of transformation, now "8 years sober" from spanking her child
- Karemi's beautiful explanation of the double standards we have for our children vs. ourselves
- And most importantly, how we can create the space for our children to be authentic
If you're interested in learning more about these amazing coaches, please check out the series webpage at soulpathparenting.com.
If you're interested in checking out Amy's new online fitness program for 40-somethings, head on over to fittest40s.com! You can use promo code SOULPATHLOVE to get half off your first month.
This is one of my favorite parenting myths and has probably made the biggest difference for me in my life personally and as a parent! Here it is: "a successful child is ahead of the curve." Depending on where you are in your parenting journey, you may see this myth for what it is. Or, maybe you're like I was and this sounds like a an absolute truth.
This show is the third in our 8-part series on Conscious Parenting the parenting myths Dr. Shefali Tsabary shared in her inspiring book, The Awakened Family.
To bring this myth to life, we are joined by four Conscious Parenting Coaches who generously share their insights and wisdom: Magaly Medina, MD, Delia Garcia, Cheryl Polsky, and Jen Klein. In the episode, we talk about:
- A beautiful story of how living this myth became an awakening and eventually an epiphany that changed everything
- The double edged sword of "potential." (If you love the idea of "potential" as much as I did, you'll want to hear this!)
- And, what Justin Timberlake has to do with learning how to parent kids who actually are "ahead of the curve"
If you're interested in learning more about these amazing coaches, please check out the series webpage at soulpathparenting.com.
When I first heard this myth -- parenting is about the child -- I thought, "Wait. Whaaat?!" If it's not about the child, what IS it about?! Well, my friends, that's what we talk about in this episode!
This myth is so powerful that once you understand it, you will be transformed. Promise.
This show is the second in our 8-part series on Conscious Parenting the parenting myths Dr. Shefali Tsabary so beautifully shared in her book, The Awakened Family.
To bring this myth to life, we are joined by three amazing Conscious Parenting Coaches who generously share their wisdom and vulnerably share their stories: Jen Klein, Claudia Pape, and Janet Philbin. In the episode, we talk about:
- One of the most powerful questions every parent can (must!) ask themselves. It will totally transform your perspective on parenting.
- How understanding this myth ultimately led one of our guests — a self-professed perfectionist who thought "singing was the scariest thing in the world" — to take singing lessons (...AND she now regularly dances with her daughter on TikTok)
- And, finally, an amazing story of how another coach helped her daughter resolve a situation of anxiety and struggle....without saying a word to her; only changing how she showed up.
If you're interested in learning more about these amazing coaches, please check out the series webpage at soulpathparenting.com.
Over the 10 months of this podcast, we have focused on exploring one important & inspiring question: “How do we set our kids up to live their best lives?... to be the most authentic expression of who they’re meant to be?” I’ve asked this question of therapists, educators, coaches, religious leaders, and spiritual teachers. And if I could only choose one answer to share with the world, it would be this: parent consciously. But how do we get started? That's what we're going to talk about!
Because I believe conscious parenting is so fundamentally important to our lives, our children’s lives, and, frankly, the future of humanity, we are dedicating an entire series to it! Our focus is understanding the parenting myths that Dr. Shefali Tsabary outlines in her book, The Awakened Family. If you’re anything like me — or most other humans on the planet — you’ve been so steeped in these myths that you accept them as truths! These myths have been handed down to us from our parents, from our culture, from other institutions like school and religion — and they tell us how things should be. The problem is, they’re just made up. And the even bigger problem is, these beliefs set us up to suffer because they disconnect us from who we and our children are authentically meant to be.
This episode kicks off an 8-part series on conscious parenting and the 7 myths. Joining me in this episode are three coaches, certified in Dr. Shefali Tsabary's Conscious Parenting Method: Nina Cruz, Tilley Fine, and Janet Philbin.
In this episode, we talk about:
- What conscious parenting is and how it differs from the mainstream model
- How conscious parenting has completely transformed their parenting and their own lives
- Why we have to let go of "control" in parenting -- and what to replace it with
- A glimpse of the future. I have had the unique opportunity of actually knowing someone who was parented consciously. It's like finding a unicorn! Knowing him has been like a masterclass. I share how he shows up in the world, what we can learn from him, and what the future looks like for our children — and for humanity — if we parent consciously.
If you are interested in learning more about conscious parenting coaching with these amazing coaches, you can find links on our website at soulpathparenting.com.
As we kick off this unprecedented school year, it feels like our educational system has been completely upended, whether we like it or not. AND, there’s so much possibility in that! Today’s guest is all about what’s possible if we rethink education.
Greta Harman is a board certified educational therapist and serial entrepreneur, currently working alongside Oprah’s favorite parenting expert, Dr. Shefali, to help spread the Conscious Parenting movement worldwide. In this episode, she shares:
- How we can redefine educational success so our kids can thrive
- What conscious parenting means for how we approach education
- What Greta learned from her own journey as a parent navigating the education system (“Everything we did was wrong!”)
- The most important things we can do to help our children learn this school year
- And how she - and we! - can stay present, calm, and curious in the face of it all
You can find Greta at http://www.gretaharman.com/, @greta.harman on Instagram, or somewhere on a beach in Orange County, California.
In this 5-minute inspiration break we share a powerful exercise that transforms moments of stress, fear, anxiety, or upset into calm and resourcefulness. We learned this from Becca Armstrong, psychotherapist & hypnotherapist, back in late March. I've been using it ever since, any time I feel off kilter or when my kids are having big emotions. I can tell you, it works! As we face the uncertainty of the start of the school year and, well, life!...we wanted to bring back this magical 3-minute practice so you, too, can bring yourself into heart-brain coherence.
To hear the full interview, check out Episode 21.
One of the powerful parenting lessons I've learned through all the interviews I've done on the show is this: In many cases, it’s not what we tell our kids that can make the difference, it’s what we ask them. There are powerful questions that can be transformational in the way we parent our kids. And, beyond that, there are powerful questions that we can ask ourselves.
This week we explore our favorite parenting questions from the experts who have appeared on the show, including:
- A question that shifts moments when one kid hurts another -- instead of blaming & shaming, we invoke kindness & compassion
- The question that empowers our kids when they face struggles, pointing them to listen to their own inner guidance
- And, the most important question we parents can ask ourselves every day.
There were more favorite questions than we could cover in one episode, so I've created a one-pager for you! If you want all 9 of our magical day-to-day parenting questions, you can download them here: soulpathparenting.com/questions.
Hello friends! This is the last week of repeats. We are back from our time off with family and busy cooking up exciting new content for you! In the meanwhile, we hope you enjoy one more of our favorite episodes from the early days of the podcast....
In this episode we talk with Steve Sachs, the co-director of Alaya Preschool, which draws on the wisdom of the Shambhala Buddhist tradition to inspire its approach to early childhood education. Steve has been an educator for 40 years and has wonderful insights and inspiration to share from his time at Alaya, 24 years in Montessori, and experience teaching in the Early Childhood Education program at Naropa University. He’s also a co-director of Family Camp at the Shambhala Mountain Center.
In this episode, we talk about:
- Meeting each child in the present moment
- How to handle big emotions
- Cultivating connection, kindness, self-acceptance, and non-competition
- And a wonderful practice for handle the situation when child has hurt another child in some way that has been transformative in our household.
I found this conversation so inspiring…and I hope you do too!
As our hiatus continues, we wanted to bring you one of our favorite episodes from one of my FAVORITE people, Willow Bradner. ❤️❤️❤️We hope you enjoy it!
Today’s show is about intuition. Intuition is one of the keys to living a fulfilling life; it’s our window into our soul’s desires. We were born with it... but with so many voices - our parents, society, our teachers - many of us stop listening to our inner voice. The good news is, we all have it. It's just a matter of tuning in!
Today we’ll be talking with someone who has intuition as her superpower. Willow Bradner is a psychic and business medium…and a mom. She’ll be sharing with us:
- How we find our intuition and how we cultivate it in our kids
- The no-BS answer to how to find your purpose
- A definition of self-care that will inspire you
- What parents can do to set their kids up to live their full, authentic lives
- Helpful tips for parents with highly sensitive kids
- A fantastic tip for people who struggle to sit and meditate
- A surprising solution for how to get that thing we all want more of…time
Links:
Willow Bradner's Website
The Clarity Cure Program
Our play-filled hiatus continues! In the meanwhile, we're bringing back some of our favorite episodes from the early days of Soul Path Parenting. This one first aired back in November. We hope you enjoy it!
This week we talk with Erin Breeze, the strategist and guide behind Happy Home: Life After Divorce and...my sister! Erin will share her experience helping moms tune in to themselves to powerfully navigate life's "divine disruptions" so that they can shine bright for themselves and their kids. We'll also talk about:
- Divorce is not a failure - and the two tired, old archetypes of divorced women we can throw out
- The myth that a happy life is free of struggle
- What it means for our kids and us to live our best lives
- Powerful "Divorce Advantages" (that married people can also tap into if they're aware!)
- Finding purpose & pursuing passions
Links:
Erin Breeze's Website
Facebook Group - Happy Home: Life After Divorce
Also, referenced in the episode:
"Struggle For Smarts? How Eastern And Western Cultures Tackle Learning," NPR, Nov. 12, 2012
We're taking some time to play and recharge in July, so we're bringing back some of our favorite episodes from the Soul Path Parenting vault. This one first aired back in February when normal was still, well, normal.... We hope you enjoy it!
This episode is about joy and happiness. As we've explored how we set our kids up to live their best lives on this podcast, one theme has become clear: We parents have to be pursuing ours. So, today, I’m sharing stories from my own life. It may sound weird because I literally never hear anyone say this, but my life is overflowing with joy. I have a life, marriage, and family that exceeds anything I ever imagined. Of course, it wasn't always this way. In fact, there were some huge limitations standing in the way of my happiness. But finally a decade ago I had the breakthrough that changed everything. If you are still look to create more joy and happiness in your life, I hope that my story may have some seed of inspiration or insight so you can have a life beyond your wildest dreams too. That's my wish for all of us.
It's summer and it's time to play! But is play just all fun and games? It turns out even though it may feel purposeless, there are enormous benefits to play. From an evolutionary standpoint, it is, in fact, very purposeful.
I became incredibly interested in play while my kids were adjusting to online learning. While they dutifully completed their schoolwork, what they really wanted to be doing was playing. I wondered, could it be that they get just as much out of play as they do from formal instruction? I think so! In this episode, we talk with Chris Vaughan, co-author of Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul. We talk about:
- Why play is so important for our development and wellbeing -- the skill-building, brain, and happiness benefits
- What we can learn from the animal world about play
- What the 8 play personalities are so that you can see what lights you and your kids up...and do more of it!
Show Links:
Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul (Amazon Link)
Take a 5 (or 6!) minute parenting inspiration break. Let's talk about passion! Passions are like the window to our soul's purpose. But so many of us are disconnected from our passions...or don't even know what they are. Why? This insidious cultural myth is likely standing in the way of you and your kids doing more of what you love.
In part 2 of our 2-part series with Mark Gober, we talk about setting our compass for how we live our lives and parent our kids based on everything we understand about the nature of reality. If you haven't heard part 1 (ep. 31), start there! Mark lays out the mounting scientific evidence that points to what spiritual leaders and mediums have known for hundreds, maybe thousands, of years.... that we are all interconnected, that consciousness transcends the body, and that we are infinite beings, that is, we do not die when the body dies.
In this episode, we explore:
- What this all means...why are we here? What is the meaning of life in human form?
- What are the keys to "right side up" living?
- 3 key questions we can ask ourselves to parent more consciously
Mark Gober is the author of An End to Upside Down Thinking, his new book An End to Upside Down Living, and the host of the podcast Where Is My Mind?
Have you ever read a book and knew that your life would never be the same? That’s how I felt after reading The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle (the second time!) and that’s how I felt after reading the book we are going to talk about today.
In this two-part series, we’re talking with Mark Gober, the author of An End to Upside Down Thinking, his new book An End to Upside Down Living, and the host of the podcast Where Is My Mind?
In his work, he tackles the fundamental questions of life and reality as we know it.
- Where does consciousness come from? (If you think it comes from your brain, his well researched insights will have you think again.)
- The extensive, credible research that tells us that the “para” normal is really just normal — to be expected based on the model of reality suggested by scientific understanding
- The scientific evidence that points to reincarnation and pre-birth planning (and how children, at a soul level, choose their parents)
- And, why are we all here? What is the meaning of life? (Small questions, I know. Mark does not lack ambition!)
I’m sure you’ve heard that quote, “we’re spiritual beings having a human experience.” I knew this to be true intuitively. But Mark uses the scientific data to explain how this likely all works and what it means.
So settle in, open your mind, set aside what you think you know. Here we go….
This week we have an encore presentation of one of our favorite episodes!
In this episode, we talk with Pat Windom, a life path counselor with a Masters in Theology and special intuitive gifts. She reads past lives, understands universal law and uses her gifts to show us that we are all much more than we think we are.
Pat is also a parent and step parent to 6 adult children (including 2 with special needs) and grandmother.
This episode is like a condensed master class! We'll be talking about:
- How she discovered her gifts
- The importance of defining our life’s journey and knowing who we really are
- Why it's important for parents to "put their own oxygen mask on first" and make time for themselves
- How we all come in with masculine and feminine energy, what it has to do with the gender we chose in this life, and why it's important to balance the energies
- What the move from the Piscean Age to the Aquarian Age (which started in 2012) means for for us, our children, and the planet. (This explains sooo much of what we see going on in the world!)
- How to use questions powerfully in times of conflict with kids
Enjoy!
Links:
patwindom.com
Welcome to our very first Take 5! This is your parenting reset, where we serve up bite-sized inspiration - like a juicy little soul snack - so you and your kids can live your best lives.
In this bonus bite, we hear from Micah Salaberrios the author and host of the Art of NVC (Non-Violent Communication) about the tool he calls "magical and powerful": Emergency Empathy. This approach is a lifesaver when you or someone else gets triggered. Nah...that never happens....
To hear the full interview, check out Episode 25.
What’s one of the most important things we can do to set our kids up to live their best lives? I’ve asked authors, therapists, psychic mediums, coaches, educators, and spiritual leaders. And many have said the same thing. We have to take care of ourselves. You can't pour from an empty cup, right?
Well, many of you might be feeling like that’s a nice idea, but between work, your kids’ online schooling, cooking and cleaning a house that no one ever leaves!...who has time?
We here at Soul Path Parenting have the perfect solution.
Listen on!
Have you ever heard something and thought, "Wait. Why don't more people know about this?!" That's how I felt when I learned about generational cycles, how they repeat time and again, and what they can tell us about the future. Today we're looking at the uncanny predictions made by William Strauss and Neil Howe in their 1991 book Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069, which among other things, literally predicts "The Crisis of 2020" nearly 30 years before it happened. We're going to look at:
- How did they predict the "Crisis of 2020" and what can past crises tell us about what to expect next?
- What are the 4 types of generations? Which generation alive today is the "hero" archetype? (...and when will they come to the rescue?!)
- What would history tell us the prospects might be for the current generation of children today?
- And, what do they anticipate in the cycle of spiritual awakening that lies on the other side of the crisis?
On this episode, we share the insights and perspectives of two guests. Warren Wright is a generations expert who founded two companies with Neil Howe and is currently the CEO of Second Wave Learning, whose mission is to prepare the next generation of leaders. Eric Meade is back with us, having previously appeared on episode 27. Eric is principal of Whole Mind Strategy Group and recently launched Beyond COVID, an effort to help the world and communities plan their recovery from the pandemic.
Episode Links:
Book:Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069(Amazon link)
Warren Wright at Second Wave Learning
Eric Meade at Beyond COVID and Whole Mind Strategy Group
Episode 27: The Future Beyond COVID – Eric Meade
Episode 12: Discovering Who We Are + How the Age of Aquarius is Shifting the Balance of Masculine & Feminine Energy on the Planet – Pat Windom
We all have emotions, some good and some bad, right? Our guest on this episode will invite you to think again! According to Dylan Rumley, “There’s no such thing as a good or bad emotion. Emotions are always in a flow state. The goal is not to be at peace... [rather] to experience emotions, flow through them, and not get stuck….”
Dylan is a Cognitive Medical Hypnotherapist who is passionate about helping people understand emotions and shift them in the subconscious mind and in the body. In this episode we talk about:
- What emotions really are and how to resolve stuck emotions at the subconscious level
- The 5 command centers of emotions in the body
- The importance of movement in learning, especially for “touch/feel/know” kids
- Some simple techniques that can help kids get into a whole brain state so they can feel better and learn better
Episode links:
Dylan Rumley Websites:
- neuro-wellness.org
- EQwellness4youth.com
Resources mentioned in the episode:
- Video: Hacking Reality
- Book: Play (Amazon link)
- Video: Using 100% of Your Brain - Dr. Bruce Lipton
- Product: Heart Math Inner Balance monitor
- Video: TRE: A Condensed Explanation - Dr. David Berceli
Patricia Pearce writes, "Jesus has become an obstacle to our spiritual evolution — not because of who he was but because of who we have made him out to be.” In this episode, Patricia shares her spiritual odyssey from becoming a Presbyterian pastor, to experiencing a spiritual awakening, to leaving the church to pursue her own path as a spiritual teacher, energy worker, and author.
Patricia believes that we are all here on this planet for a reason at a very auspicious moment in Earth’s evolution. Humanity is going through a great awakening -- moving out of our long sojourn in the illusion of separateness and awakening to the truth of our interconnectedness and interdependence.
In this episode Patricia shares:
- How the story of separateness became woven into the teachings of the Christian church and why it is counter to what Jesus knew to be true
- How our lives are our teacher - the perfect curriculum
- How our own personal transformation & letting go of our separateness contributes to planetary transformation - the only possible future if we want to continue as a species
- How dreamwork can be used to gain powerful insights
- The gift of insight and awareness that our current crisis - political & pandemic - offers
- What our children can teach us about connecting to oneness
Links:
Website: Patricia Pearce
Book: Beyond Jesus (Amazon link)
Book: No One in I Land: A Parable of Awakening (Amazon link)
Podcast: The Evolutionary Activist
Wouldn't you love to have a crystal ball and know what the future beyond COVID looks like? How does this all play out? Of course, if you’ve been involved in a spiritual conversation for any length of time, you know that time is just an illusion and the future doesn't exist. Yet, when I had the chance to talk with a futurist, you better believe I jumped right on it!
In this episode, we talk with Eric Meade, a futurist, award-winning author, and principal of the Whole Mind Strategy Group. Eric recently launched Beyond COVID, an effort to help the world and communities plan their recovery from the pandemic. As a part of the effort, Eric hosts the Beyond COVID podcast. In this episode, Eric will share with us:
- Four scenarios he sees as possible futures beyond the COVID pandemic
- How he sees the “new normal”
- How the shifts we’ve seen in education during stay-at-home could influence the model going forward
- And what he thinks is most important as parents and families prepare for the future
Links:
Website: Beyond COVID
Podcast: Beyond COVID
Website: Whole Mind Strategy Group
As the entire planet adjusts to stay-at-home and prepares for what our "new normal" might look like, we're all dealing with change. It's sort of a cliche that "change is hard," but there's more to it than just the fear of loss or fear of the unknown. Transformational change is actually a process, one that doesn't happen overnight.
In this episode, Bob Tipton, Principal Change Architect at Team Tipton, breaks down the dynamics around how change so that we can understand where we and our loved ones are in the process and chart a path forward. We talk about:
- The “9 Stages of Transformational Change” curve: (1) Status Quo, (2) Denial, (3) Righteous Resistance, (4) Pleading, (5) Despair, (6) Tolerance, (7) Acceptance, (8) Agreement, and (9) Advocacy. (You can view the visual on the Team Tipton blog.)
- How to identify where you are, get un-stuck and move forward through the phases
- What we can learn from our kids about dealing with change
- What disappointment really is...and how to shift out of it
- The opportunities available to us as a result of the challenges we are facing
Links:
Website: Team Tipton
Blog: "'Instant Life Dislocations' - and Why Transformation Feels So Hard"
Would you like fewer power struggles and more connection in your communication with your family and others? Listen on! In this episode, Micah Salaberrios teaches us Nonviolent Communication (NVC), a way of communicating that is especially useful during conflicts. It focuses on finding win-win solutions to problems while building connection and allowing us to be totally authentic.
Micah is the host of the podcast The Art of NVC and the author of the book Art of Nonviolent Communication: Turning Conflict into Connection. NVC was originally developed by Marshall Rosenberg, PhD in clinical psychology, based on his experiences in the 1960s peacefully resolving differences in the civil rights movement. Micah discovered NVC in 2015 and since then has been sharing this much needed knowledge wherever he goes.
In this episode, Micah shares:
- How to move through each of the 4 steps of NVC: (1) Fact, (2) Feeling, (3) Why, (4) Specific Request
- A "magical and powerful" tool that you can use to diffuse the situation any time you or someone else is triggered
- The breakthroughs the NVC have brought to his life
- Examples of how to apply NVC in scenarios with our spouses and kids
For more on NVC, including further training by Micah, check out these links:
- Website: Art of NVC
- Book: Art of Nonviolent Communication: Turning Conflict into Connection
- Workshops: Art of NVC Workshops
If we believe that every experience is here for us rather than happening to us, then we might ask ourselves, what is the opportunity of this stay-at-home experience we're all having? This week I had the opportunity to explore this and other inspiring questions with Rev. Scott Schell, co-minister at Unity Columbine Spiritual Center. I just love their mission: We Inspire Personal Transformation! and their commitment to the spiritual journey. In this episode, we talk about:
- How to distinguish the "judge" part of our ego and free ourselves from its voice so we can be who we're really meant to be
- Scott's personal journey of finding his voice, his community and his self-expression
- How COVID 19 is putting pressure on the individual self, the ego structure, and how these challenges offer us an opportunity to grow
- A lens on Easter as a metaphor for personal transformation that, for the first time in my life, offers real meaning for how we can celebrate this holiday as a family
- And Scott's beautiful words of support: "No matter what’s going on in our lives, we are the expression of something much greater and all things are working for good, even though in the world around us, it’s hard sometimes to imagine that that could be the truth. And so as we just breathe into it and and say, 'what is mine to do today?'"
As we look for ways to raise spiritually connected children, inspiration abounds! Today's guest, Rabbi Caryn Aviv, beautifully shares practices and lessons from Jewish spirituality that we can all learn from. Did you know that Jewish practice doesn't require belief? Frankly, having been raised in a Christian context, I thought prescribed beliefs were at the core of all religions. Caryn will share more on this as well as:
- An inspiring description of "Jewish time" as circular rather than linear
- How the weekly practice of coming back to center, Shabbat, includes rest (menucha), connecting to what's important and sacred (kiddusha), and experiencing joy (oneg) with such pleasures as yummy food and intimacy
- How Judaism sees God as both masculine and feminine, with feminine being the indwelling sacred presence within all of us (so beautiful!)
- The meaning behind Passover and the Jewish coming of age celebration, which they call "Be Mitzvah" at Judaism Your Way
Caryn is a Rabbi and the Education Director at Judaism Your Way, an independent organization that offers innovative opportunities to connect Jewishly for all Jews and loved ones. Caryn holds a PhD in sociology and anthropology, taught Jewish Studies at the University of Colorado and the University of Denver, and is the author of three books: Queer Jews, New Jews: The End of the Jewish Diaspora, and American Queer: Now and Then.
Spring is here! While we're at home with our kids, what a great opportunity to make starting the garden a family project. Truth be told, I've always taken the shortcut of buying plants in containers. But this year...seeds! Our guest, Lilly Steirer, shares with us the ins & outs of growing seedlings along with a lot of other gardening wisdom.
Lilly is a passionate chef & gardener who teaches the kids' Cooking From the Garden program at Slow Food Denver. She's also the co-host of Sustainable Colorado, where she and her husband share their family's adventures in minimizing waste during their Zero Waste Year.
In our conversation, Lilly shares:
- Techniques for growing seedlings that may be surprising if the last time you learned to plant seeds was pre-school - and which plants make the best candidates for seedlings
- How to grow a salad in a pot
- The most "traumatic" and important part of gardening that most people skip
- How most of us garden the way conventional farming is done, and better approaches for biodiversity and thriving crops
Links:
Sustainable Colorado Podcast
Instagram: @sustainablecolorado
In light of the uncertainty in the world today, we're delighted to have Becca Armstrong back on the show. Becca is a psychotherapist and hypnotherapist who brings wonderful perspective on how we can thrive in the face of uncertainty and transform anxiety. Becca's work goes beyond the conscious into the subconscious, which controls 95% of what we think, feel and do. Her insights into what's really happening in your subconscious will surprise you and give you new access to how struggles like anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, ADD and ADHD can be transformed. We talk about:
- A simple self-care shift we can all make tonight to feel better and be healthier
- The “what if” game…and how to shift out of “catastrophizing” and into the "now"
- A powerful 3-minute exercise that transforms your energy and brings you into coherence - a state that can positively impact not just those around you, but radiate out to up to 750,000 people.
- A new lens on depression that shows how it works like a "circuit breaker," protecting you from being overwhelmed by unprocessed anger or sadness...and how to resolve it
- How anxiety is like a "solicitor" that will keep knocking on your door until you get the message...and how to recognize and release the feeling beneath the anxiety
Links:
Becca Armstrong
In this episode, we talk with Rabbi Amy Grossblatt Pessah about her new book, Parenting on a Prayer: Ancient Jewish Secrets for Raising Modern Children. Amy shares the wisdom she gained as a mother of three children and a long-time Jewish educator. Whether or not you are Jewish, the themes and lessons here are universal. We talk about:
- Finding parenting inspiration in values and prayers shared in the Jewish prayer book
- The important role of intuition in parenting - and how to tap into it
- Powerful lessons our kids can teach us about presence
- The insight that “If you have no art, your soul has no voice” and how we can support our children to find their artistic expression
- How by listening more, we love more — and how the love languages can help us love our kids the way they want to be loved
- And, Amy shares an inspiring story that captures the power of unconditional love
Links:
Learn more and connect with Amy at A Soulful Journey
Find Parenting on a Prayer at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Ben Yehuda Press
Creativity! What could be more important as we set our kids up to live their best lives? I believe creative is at the very heart of who we are as human beings. It's why we're here -- and it's the key to expressing our truest selves.
In this episode, we talk with Elsie Ritzenhein, an expert in creativity and author of Awakening Your Creative Voice: Women in a World of Possibility. Elsie shares with us from her more than 50 years of experience as an educator and leadership consultant. We talk about:
- How the arts - music, dance, and visual arts - are proven to help kids more effectively integrate what they learn in their academic studies
- Four key concepts and practices for building your creative muscle - intuition, both/and, mindfulness, and improvisation - and how to cultivate them with kids
- The importance of play and risk-taking
Links:
Elsie Ritzenhein Website
Awakening Your Creative Voice: Women in a World of Possibility (Amazon link)
Elsie's creativity model is available on the episode page at soulpathparenting.com
Did you know that our subconscious mind is "programmed" by the age of seven? Did you know that 95% of our thoughts, feelings, and actions are controlled by our subconscious? And, did you know there are modalities that can "reprogram" the subconscious mind in as little as 15 to 20 minutes so that we can remove limiting beliefs, heal trauma, and create a life filled with joy and empowerment? Well, listen on!
In this episode, we talk with Becca Armstrong, a psychotherapist also trained and certified Hypnotherapy, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) tapping, and Psychological Kinesiology.
In this episode, Becca shares with us:
- How our subconscious works
- How therapeutic modalities like Hypnotherapy, EMDR, and Cooperative Integration work at the subconscious level to quickly clear interferences and rewrite the subconscious
- How healing and aging can be dramatically shifted at a cellular level with changes in the subconscious
- And, how to coach kids to handle fears and anxiety by changing they way they relate to the situation. (Did you know kids are only born with two hardwired fears? Everything else is learned. Fascinating!)
Links:
Becca Armstrong
Becca's Heal & Achieve Podcast
Have you ever considered that the cause of your child’s physical or emotional pain might not be something in the 5-sensory world, but rather energetic? In this episode, we explore the dynamics of energy with Ashley Lee, a leader in the field of Pediatric Advanced Energy Healing. In addition to being an energy healer, a medical intuitive, and psychic, Ashley also has over 30 years of experience as a Pediatric & Newborn Cardiovascular Critical Care Nurse. She combines energy work with a deep understanding of human physiology. In her practice, Ashley works with kids who are psychic, highly conscious, and highly sensitive and their families so that they can understand their gifts and thrive. Ashley is also the founder of the Center for Conscious Kids, a listing service for families to connect to consciously aware practitioners and service providers.
In our interview, Ashley shares insights that the parents of any child will find helpful around how to help our kids understand and deal with energy. We talk about:
- What energy is and how we perceive it
- The psychic ability we are all born with
- Beyond RECEIVING intuition and energy, awareness of how and what we what we GIVE
- What it means to be “highly sensitive” and how to help highly sensitive kids
- Going beyond raising kids to be independent and cultivating interdependence
- How to help kids sort for what energy is theirs, what isn’t, and what to do about it
- The energetic causes of allergies
Links:
Ashley Lee Healing
Center for Conscious Kids
Viral video of dad holding space during his toddler's tantrum
As we think about how to set our kids up to live their best lives, of course, education is an important part of it. This week, we talk Dr. William Spady, a leading thinker in the field of education who has been challenging the status quo and shifting the paradigm for more than 50 years. Bill asks the question: What kind of human beings do we want to send out the door? His Outcome Based Education (OBE) model shows us a profoundly inspiring answer to this question.
Bill was a professor at Harvard and has written 10 books, including his most recent, Bringing Heart and Soul to Education. His next book is due out later this year.
In this episode, we'll talk about:
- The systemic problems of our “educentric” system, a time-bound factory model of education
- An inspiring alternative to our curriculum-based model that believes "all students can learn & succeed, but not on the same day, in the same way"
- The 4 principles of OBE: clarity of focus, expanded opportunity, high expectations, and design down
- A new way of thinking about the outcomes of education: competence, creativity, collaboration, consciousness, compassion.
Links:
williamspady.com
This episode is about joy and happiness. As we've explored how we set our kids up to live their best lives on this podcast, one theme has become clear: We parents have to be pursuing ours. So, today, I’m sharing stories from my own life. It may sound weird because I literally never hear anyone say this, but my life is overflowing with joy. I have a life, marriage, and family that exceeds anything I ever imagined. Of course, it wasn't always this way. In fact, there were some huge limitations standing in the way of my happiness. But finally a decade ago I had the breakthrough that changed everything. If you are still look to create more joy and happiness in your life, I hope that my story may have some seed of inspiration or insight so you can have a life beyond your wildest dreams too. That's my wish for all of us.
In this episode we talk with Steve Sachs, the co-director of Alaya Preschool, which draws on the wisdom of the Shambhala Buddhist tradition to inspire its approach to early childhood education. Steve has been an educator for 40 years and has wonderful insights and inspiration to share from his time at Alaya, 24 years in Montessori, and experience teaching in the Early Childhood Education program at Naropa University. He’s also a co-director of Family Camp at the Shambhala Mountain Center.
In this episode, we talk about:
- Meeting each child in the present moment
- How to handle big emotions
- Cultivating connection, kindness, self-acceptance, and non-competition
- And a wonderful practice for handle the situation when child has hurt another child in some way that has been transformative in our household.
I found this conversation so inspiring…and I hope you do too!
In this episode, we finish part 2 of our conversation with Pat Windom, a life path counselor with a Masters in Theology and special intuitive gifts. She reads past lives, understands universal law and uses her gifts to show us that we are all much more than we think we are.
Pat is also a parent and step parent to 6 adult children (including 2 with special needs) and grandmother.
In this episode, we talk about:
- Why and how, at a soul level, children choose their parents
- How karmic groups work
- The benefit of looking at past lives
- Pat's insightful answer to my daughter's question, "What’s going to happen to me when I die?"
Links:
patwindom.com
In this episode, we talk with Pat Windom, a life path counselor with a Masters in Theology and special intuitive gifts. She reads past lives, understands universal law and uses her gifts to show us that we are all much more than we think we are.
Pat is also a parent and step parent to 6 adult children (including 2 with special needs) and grandmother.
This episode is like a condensed master class! We'll be talking about:
- How she discovered her gifts
- The importance of defining our life’s journey and knowing who we really are
- Why it's important for parents to "put their own oxygen mask on first" and make time for themselves
- How we all come in with masculine and feminine energy, what it has to do with the gender we chose in this life, and why it's important to balance the energies
- What the move from the Piscean Age to the Aquarian Age (which started in 2012) means for for us, our children, and the planet. (This explains sooo much of what we see going on in the world!)
- How to use questions powerfully in times of conflict with kids
This is the first of a two part interview with Pat. Enjoy!
Links:
patwindom.com
In this episode we talk with Michal Berg about how we can support our kids' development socially and emotionally, and also spiritually. Michal is a parenting coach, creator of the Parenting the Soul course, and CEO of the non-profit Spirituality for Kids International, Inc. (SFK). SFK's award-winning spiritual social-emotional learning curriculum has taught nearly 85,000 kids, in 21 countries to tap into their inner strengths and see their true potential.
In this episode, we talk about:
- Managing emotions; both managing ours and how to coach them with theirs
- Defining SQ and how to help your kids cultivate it
- Developing resilience
- Building compassion
- The most important thing you can say when your child is facing struggles (Spoiler alert: it’s a question, not a statement)
Episode Links:
Spirituality for Kids International, Inc.
Michal Berg
Parenting the Soul
Tryna Cooper is co-founder of Journeys for Conscious Living and a master of metaphysics. She was raised Christian, married a Jew, and has studied with a Native American elder for many years. She’s an amazingly wise and spiritual woman, and I am blessed to call her my mother-in-law as well.
In part 2 of our conversation, I get to ask a question that was part of my motivation for starting this podcast. My husband is one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met. And his two sisters are equally wonderful, loving, giving, happy people…yet they're all completely different! So, what's the secret to raising such great humans? Let's find out!
Looking for a little inspiration as you kick off the new year? This show is for you! As we kick off 2020, I was inspired by the question…what are the keys to creating the lives of our dreams? Based on my life and others', two of the most powerful things I see enabling (or preventing!) this are intention & receiving. So, we created our first round table discussion with three powerhouse women to share their wisdom and experience about exactly that! We talk about:
- setting intentions for what you want to create
- how choosing a word for the year can expand your life in powerful new ways
- how to set and align in energetic priorities that make life juicy
- how the day-to-day intentions you set for your interactions with others can transform your relationships
- why and how we block our own ability to receive what we want
- how being the abundance you want to receive can powerfully unlock it
Our guests for this show are 3 of my favorite leaders in the fields of intuition, personal development, and coaching. If you've listened to previous episodes, they may be familiar!
- Willow Bradner is a psychic and medium who brings her magical powers to helping entrepreneurs gain clarity, supercharge their businesses, and ignite their intuition & powers of manifestation through readings and her program, The Clarity Cure.
- Tamara Ross its the founder of the personal development company, My Life My Design. She trains people to create, manifest and actualize the life of their dreams through energetic mastery.
- Erin Breeze, the creator of Happy Home: Life After Divorce (and my sister!), helps moms turn the disruption of divorce into a powerful breakthrough for themselves and their families.
All three of our guests are also mamas, but this week's show really is for you parents. I believe that in order for our kids to live their best lives, one of the most powerful things we can do is pursue our best lives.
For more wisdom and inspiration from these amazing ladies, check out episodes #1 (Willow), #3 (Erin), and #5 (Tamara).
Happy New Year! Enjoy!
In this episode, we talk with Tryna Cooper about Jesus, the man, the spiritual teacher, the metaphysician. I was raised in a culturally Christian family, but without religion. Since having kids, every year at this time, I wonder, how can I bring spiritual meaning to Christmas? Maybe some of you have had the same curiosity. So, let's explore it! Tryna is a master of metaphysics and co-founder of Journeys for Conscious Living. She shares her path in reconciling her faith with her new spiritual beliefs, her insights from studying the history of Jesus and the lost books of the Bible, and her inspiring perspective about who he was and why he was here.
Links:
Journeys for Conscious Living
In this episode, Bob Tipton, author of What's Right, Not Who's Right, a simple shift to regain our humanity and heal our relationships - at home and at work, shares what he's learned from his career as a transformational change architect working with government and large organizations and, perhaps more importantly, from nearly 40 years of parenting and grandparenting. Given the world we’re bringing our kids up in today, understanding how we can shift from defending positions to finding common interests has never been more important. In this conversation, Bob shares:
- what he believes is at the source of the political animosity we see today
- what he's learned from parenting biological and adopted children
- why it's important to let our kids suffer (up to a point)
- the physiology of emotions and how we can disrupt triggers
- why growing your collection of "used to thinks" is important (and how he used to think that balance was possible!)
- how he loves his kids uniquely rather than equally
- how our energy dictates the outcome of situations
- and, the hardest lesson he's learned as a parent
Bob and Team Tipton have a mission to get What's Right, Not Who's Right into the hands of every elected official in America (435,000 of them!). You can join them here.
Team Tipton has also created a transformation month. Week one is a FREE 7-day course on real, lasting transformational change, focused on What's Right, Not Who's Right,and includes a free copy of the book (shipping and handling required). You can sign up here.
You can find Bob and his team at Team Tipton.
References:
Bruce Lipton: What is Epigenetics?
Bruce Lipton: Biology of Belief (Amazon)
Joe Dispenza: Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself (Amazon)
Yes, meditation is important. But easy? Not so much! (Not for me, at least!) I would love nothing more than to build my own practice AND introduce mindfulness to my kids. And today's guest, Angela Wolf, has the inspiration and answers for how to do just that! She's the founder of Meditot, a Children's Mindfulness and Meditation Academy. If you think your go-go-go kids are the furthest thing from meditation-ready, listen on!
This episode also includes a special "gift" for parents. Angela is writing a book on mantras & mindfulness exercises for parents. She'll coach you through two of them you can immediately use in your own life. I choose calm... I am calm..... (let's do this....)
Episode links:
Meditot Children's Meditation & Mindfulness Academy
Genius Dad Stops Baby's Crying with Om Chant in Seconds (YouTube)
"Popular Myths About Children's Meditation (Part 1)"
"Popular Myths About Children's Meditation (Part 2)"
"Children May Be More Natural Meditators Than Adults"
Calm (Meditation App)
Headspace (Meditation App)
Cosmic Kids Yoga (YouTube Channel)
This week we’re talking with Tamara Ross, an inspiring leader in the field of personal development...and a personal friend of mine! I have never met someone so committed to having other people have lives they love. She has made a difference for me personally, and I believe she will for you too. There is so much goodness packed into this episode! I made a list of the inspiring ideas from this interview. Here are my top fifteen!:
- What manifestation is and how you’re already manifesting your life - whether or not you’re trying
- How thoughts, feelings and actions create your energy field — and why just “mindset” or “action” isn’t enough
- An experiment you can do to see manifestation show up in your life
- The power of the question “if you could have it all your way, what would life look like?” and how the “either/or” paradigm most people live in prevents them from creating it
- That “paradigm of momming” is dense - and how to create freedom instead
- A window into how flipping the mom & dad parenting roles can look and one of the keys to making it work
- One of the keys to managing your energy — and how to coach kids (and ourselves!) through doing it
- How acceptance can create massive shifts even when you can’t get to gratitude
- How asking your kids questions when they kids hurt themselves can shift the upset to from drama to just a thing that happened so limitations don’t get created
- What it means to raise our kids to know themselves as limitless beings and what happens when we align to labels (like “she’s shy”) instead of our kids’ infiniteness
- What a “limitless being” is — and that Jesus was here to show us what is possible, the mastery that is within all of us
- That the divine feminine is raising on the planet, while and the older patriarchal paradigm is being destroyed. The breakdown of political, economic and educational structures that we see today is making way for the next paradigm in which people step into their own power
- Why your children chose you in order to fulfill their soul path
- How mastering your own energy can transform your relationships with others - without them needing to do anything
- A simple and beautiful explanation of what happens when we die
Links:
My Life My Design
E-Squared (Amazon)
The Basics of Nonviolent Communication with Marshall B. Rosenberg, Ph.D. (YouTube)
This week kicks off the holidays...and with the holidays come family festivities and lots of... food! For those of us not inclined to have a family meal every night of the week (or week of the month...) the holidays are a time when we can slow down and enjoy the fun of cooking for our family AND with our family.
In this week's episode we'll talk with Lilly Steirer, a passionate gardener and chef who now teaches kids to cook locally, seasonally and by tasting their way through food. Through her playful approach to cooking with kids you'll find ways that you can embrace the process and create magic with your kids in the kitchen.
Episode Links:
Pumpkin Muffins
Creamy Cauliflower Green Bean Casserole
Brussels Sprouts
Cooking from the Garden program through Slow Food Denver
This week we talk with Erin Breeze, the strategist and guide behind Happy Home: Life After Divorce and...my sister! Erin will share her experience helping moms tune in to themselves to powerfully navigate life's "divine disruptions" so that they can shine bright for themselves and their kids. We'll also talk about:
- Divorce is not a failure - and the two tired, old archetypes of divorced women we can throw out
- The myth that a happy life is free of struggle
- What it means for our kids and us to live our best lives
- Powerful "Divorce Advantages" (that married people can also tap into if they're aware!)
- Finding purpose & pursuing passions
Links:
Erin Breeze's Website
Facebook Group - Happy Home: Life After Divorce
Also, referenced in the episode:
"Struggle For Smarts? How Eastern And Western Cultures Tackle Learning," NPR, Nov. 12, 2012
Today’s show is about intuition. Intuition is one of the keys to living a fulfilling life; it’s our window into our soul’s desires. We were born with it... but with so many voices - our parents, society, our teachers - many of us stop listening to our inner voice. The good news is, we all have it. It's just a matter of tuning in!
Today we’ll be talking with someone who has intuition as her superpower. Willow Bradner is a psychic and business medium…and a mom. She’ll be sharing with us:
- How we find our intuition and how we cultivate it in our kids
- The no-BS answer to how to find your purpose
- A definition of self-care that will inspire you
- What parents can do to set their kids up to live their full, authentic lives
- Helpful tips for parents with highly sensitive kids
- A fantastic tip for people who struggle to sit and meditate
- A surprising solution for how to get that thing we all want more of…time
Links:
Willow Bradner's Website
The Clarity Cure Program
Have you ever wondered, how do I raise my kids to live their best lives? How do I raise my kids to be spiritually connected without religion...or in addition to our faith's teachings? Or have you thought, I know I want to raise my kids differently than how I was raised, but what does that look like?
This is the show for you! In this episode, I'll share the inspired story of our beginnings as well as a game changing insight for how you both CREATE in your own life and PLAY with your kids that I learned from a leading thinker in conscious parenting.