Living the Present Moment: Recent Episodes
Joel Ying, MD
In this story, I explore the memories of a doctor-in-training as a resident in the hospital. My memories of the intensive care unit (ICU) are filled with the intense emotion that colors the space between life and death. With these critically ill patients, we sit with them on the brink of death and the edge of life, and we hope that they can make it back over the precipice into healing.
I studied the volumes of information to understand ventilators, infusion pumps, and the many life support machines. I practiced procedures to intubate patients, place feeding tubes, and insert large central lines. I learned to speak with families and deliver news–both good and bad. And I got closer to the unseen force that supports us all and the thing that we call prayer.
Listen to the story: The Intensive Care Unit by Dr. Joel Ying, MD (18 minutes)
This personal story is dedicated to my mom, Vivienne Ying.
This is the current working version of a story that is evolving. I like to think of it as version 2.
At some points along the journey, a story feels like it is ready to be shared. Enjoy!
This story began with an exercise to uncover a memory that would make a good story. As my attention narrowed to a particular moment, I had the feeling that there is a story in here somewhere that I want to tell. This moment with my dad held significance for me. I began to unpack the scenes and emotions of my eight-year-old self from the vaults of memory. Bringing this past moment into the present, I began to reflect on it and ask myself the question: “How did this moment change my life?” I began to unpack related memories, although not all of them made it into the story. Then, I asked myself, “What does this moment mean to my life today?”
Crafting personal stories requires these steps: (1) find a memorable moment, (2) unpack the moment from memory, (3) reflect on the impact that this moment had on your life which might require unpacking more moments, and (4) reflect on the significance it has in the context of your life today. After all this unpacking, the final step is to add creativity to the telling of the story.
If you had asked me why I wanted to become a doctor before I wrote this story, my answer would be very different.
Listen to the podcast, The First Doctor, by Dr. Joel Ying, MD
Why did Persephone eat that pomegranate seed?
As seasons shift and the Spring Equinox approaches, science gives us an explanation. The earth rotates on its axis, and the side that faces the sun has daylight and the other side is in the darkness of night. However, the Earth also revolves around the sun with a tilt in the axis, and this gives us the seasons. When the tilt brings more direct sunlight to the Northern hemisphere for more hours of the day, it brings summer to the Northern hemisphere. The sometimes complicated stories of science allow us to understand the seasons and make sense of the world.
Myths and legends also allow us to understand and make sense of the world. These stories hold knowledge and wisdom in a different way. The Greek myth of Persephone is an origin story that explains why we have seasons. If you remember the Greek story, you do not need science to tell you that the world has seasons. You will remember Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter.
You might dismiss the Greek myth in favor of the scientific explanation, but you would lose the rest of the wisdom captured in the story.
Enjoy my original version of this Greek myth. I’ve reimagined the story of Persephone and Hades… and the origin of the seasons.
Listen to the Podcast: “Persephone and the Seasons” re-imagined by Dr. Joel Ying, MD
“Stop making up stories!” I overhear an exasperated mom talking to her 4-year-old.
In this context, the word “story” has become synonymous with lying, making up fiction, not telling the truth.
However, in the context of the art of storytelling, making up fiction does not mean that a story does not contain a deeper truth, a universal truth, a deeper meaning.
What is Truth? What is Story?
Listen to the podcast.
Storytellers in my tradition look for stories that hold some sort of “magic.” We tell stories that we love–sometimes for reasons that we know and sometimes we just keep telling them until we figure out why.
This story has held me since I first heard it. Folk stories travel across the world and adapt to the cultures that they meet. The wisdom is distilled and often poured into another container. I first heard this as a Jewish story, and it took me some time to track down the original Korean version. I read and listened to several versions, took it down to the bare bones, dreamed on it, combined the elements that spoke to me, and created my own version.
Listen to the podcastThe Spring of Youth … a Korean folk tale, told by Dr. Joel Ying, MD
There are some stories that you do not really know until you’ve heard it directly from the people that have lived it.
Growing up, I knew my parents story of immigration from bits and pieces of overheard conversation, stories gathered second hand told by other relatives, and gaps filled in from similar stories that I have heard. My parents left Jamaica to escape political violence and a failing economy to find a place with a better future for their children.
In June 2016, on my way to a storytelling open mic with the theme “Fathers,” I stopped at my parents house for lunch. The Moth is a non-profit that promotes “true stories told live,” but I could not think of a story to tell that evening. I had a sudden epiphany that I should talk to my father to get a story idea.
I sat with my a parents in the family room with the TV off (something strange for them), and I began to ask a few questions. The seed for this story began as they opened up and told me the story for the first time in their own words. On one level, I had known the story, but I did not understand the emotional truth of the story until after that conversation.
I can still see my father thoughtfully searching for the words to answer my questions and my mom sitting on the other side of the living room interjecting her own words with a humorous smile.
I still did not have a story ready to tell for that June 2016 event. However, the seed for this story had already started to grow. Several months later, the open mic theme was “Money.” With the realization that money was a theme in this story, I crafted the initial version. I put my name in the basket for The Moth StorySlam, but I was not one of the lucky ones chosen that night.
Fortunately, I have made my own luck. As a producer of events, I have found many other venues and audiences to tell this story. As a living entity, this story continues to grow–expanding, changing, flowering, and often getting pruned.
Listen to the current version.
“Show me the manner in which a Nation or community cares for its dead and I will measure with mathematical exactness the tender mercies of its people, their respect for the laws of the land, and their loyalty to high ideals.”
~ William Ewart Gladstone
In this podcast story, I explore the tradition of Ninth Night in Jamaica and celebrate the life of my Uncle Charlie.
It was a gift to be able to perform this story at a family reunion in 2019. In the audience were Uncle Charlie’s grandchildren who had never met their grandfather. The entire family was moved by the experience. It was a moment of healing, and I often return to the story when I need healing.
It has also been a gift to hear the many stories that others share about their families, cultures, and traditions after hearing this story.
Perhaps you will share yours.
“Don’t go into the graveyard after dark!”
Perhaps like my friend, Janis McCall, you grew up with this warning. But really… is there anything to fear in graveyards?
“Personally I have no bone to pick with graveyards,” said Samuel Beckett.
However, every story has a reason to be told. This story comes to me from Scotland, part family story, part history, part cautionary tale… and all parts spooky because it’s completely true.
Unsure of how to proceed, the young soldier prayed silently while he continued to pace. As if summoned by some invisible force, he homed in on one of the flag-swathed caskets. “I know this man,” he thought. His arms seemed to move of their own accord, placing the roses he held atop the coffin.
~ Excerpt from Patrick O’Donnell’s The Unknowns
I have this odd practice in public libraries. When I feel the calling, I will walk randomly through the shelves and listen for the book that is calling me. I love to walk to sections that I have not been to before. I will wait to feel the pull. A cover, a title, a picture, an interesting spine, a word, something about the book draws my attention. I open the book to a random page and begin to read… sometimes, I keep reading…. sometimes, I take it home.
On one of those escapades through the public library, I encountered The Unknowns: The Untold Story of America’s Unknown Soldier and WWI’s Most Decorated Heroes Who Brought Him Home by Patrick O’Donnell. The black and white hardcover stood out at the end of a shelf. I flipped to the middle, and the origin story of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier came to life in vivid detail. I flipped back a few chapters, and the personal accounts of WWI brought me into the trenches to see the war from a perspective that I had not experienced. I knew of the grand scale of “the war to end all wars,” but now I was faced with the personal stories through the eyes of the pallbearers that were chosen to bring the Unknown Soldier back home to America. The personal sacrifices of these decorated war heroes and the atrocities that they witnessed became even more real.
When I’m not called to these random adventures through the public library, I’m the kind of person that usually reads from cover to cover. It’s the obsessive-compulsive personality trait lodged inside my brain. I took the book home. I went into a deeper dive into the history of WWI, the aftermath, and a nation in mourning for her fallen heroes. I reviewed other sources. I felt the calling to tell the story of this National Monument. As I told people about the story, I realized that this was a forgotten story. I prepared the story for a live event on Veterans Day 2022. There are some things that we should NEVER FORGET.
References Listen to my podcast, “Never Forget” * Check out the book, The Unknowns: The Untold Story of America’s Unknown Soldier and WWI’s Most Decorated Heroes Who Brought Him Home* by Patrick O’Donnell
This spooky Halloween season, I got a chance to perform at Leu Gardens in Orlando, Florida, with the cast of “Haunting Tales,” formerly called “Ghosts in the Garden.” Last Friday, the morning was beautiful, but the afternoon brought torrential rains. Will people still come? The organizers talked about cancelling the show. Ninety minutes before the performance, the rain slowed and stopped. Ticket holders started coming in with their lawn chairs and picnic baskets of food, beer, and wine. In the middle of downtown Orlando, this 50-acre botanical gardens opens its gates for an evening show every Halloween season. The historic Leu House on the property is covered with spooky decorations, stage and sound system are brought in, and this year 500 ticket holders spread out over the lawn to see the show!
Mitchell O’Rear has produced this Halloween show at Leu Gardens for 29 years! He is a master performer of the scary story, but sometimes adds a little fun. (He will also be performing at the Florida Storytelling Festival in January 2023.) Mitchell opened our “Haunting Tales” event with this children’s song from the early 20th century. The topic is heavy, the images funny, and he adds a different twist to the ending that had people jumping out of their seats. The exact origin of the song is unknown. A version of the song was popular among the British and American soldiers in WWI, and you can find it in many WWI song book collections.
Most people know that the hearse is the large vehicle that carries the coffin to the funeral. Strangely, this song carries the theme of death into a children’s song. After hearing it once, the words got stuck in my head. Be careful! Listen at your own risk.
The Hearse SongDon’t ever laugh as a hearse goes by
For you may be the next to die
They wrap you up in a big white sheet
From your head down to your feet
They put you in a big black box
And cover you up with dirt and rocks
And all goes well for about a week
And then your coffin begins to leak
And the worms crawl in, the worms crawl out
The worms play pinochle on your snout
They eat your eyes, they eat your nose
They eat the jelly between your toes
A big green worm with rolling eyes
Crawls in your stomach and out your eyes
Your stomach turns a slimy green
And pus pours out like whipping cream
You spread it on a slice of bread
And that’s what you eat when you’re dead
And the worms crawl out, the worms crawl in
The worms that crawl in are lean and thin
The ones that crawl out are fat and stout
Your eyes fall in and your hair falls out
Your brain comes tumbling down your snout
And the worms crawl in, the worms crawl out
They crawl all over your dirty snout
Your chest caves in and your eyes pop out
And your brain turns to sauerkraut
They invite their friends, and their friends too
They all come down to chew on you
And this is what it is to die
I hope you had a nice goodbye
Did you ever think as a hearse goes by
That you may be the next to die?
And your eyes fall out and your teeth decay
And that is the end of a perfect day
Don't think of a purple elephant!
What do you do? ... You think of a purple elephant.
Let's use the science of the mind in our favor. What you focus on is what persists. Let's practice shifting our focus onto space. If your mind goes to the tightness and dense spots, just shift your focus back to space.
Meditation is training the mind. As we focus on space, we also focus on possibility, openness, and ultimately healing.
Listen to today's meditation by Dr. Joel Ying, MD.
What if you could hit the pause button?
If your inner storyteller is moving down from one worst case scenario to the next, the stress and tension are building up. The body does not distinguish between real stress and imagined stress, so when the mind (and the news) is playing the same story over and over again. It might be time to hit the pause button.
In this meditation, we reclaim the story that is running and tune into moments of inspiration, peace, and beauty. The body takes a break from the real (and imagined stories) running through our heads. We harness the power of our inner storyteller to imagine another scene and allow the tension of the body to release.
Learn the technique of Square Breathing to balance the nervous system. When we are stuck in an anxiety state of chronic sympathetic overdrive, breathing meditation can activate the parasympathetic relaxation and down-regulate the nervous system. The breath is always in the present moment. As we slow down to meet the breath, the nervous system will find balance.
Square Breathing
Imagine a SquareInhale (as you travel up the left side in your mind's eye)Hold (as you move across the top from left to right)Exhale (as you travel down the right side in your mind's eye)Hold (as you move across the bottom from right to left)Repeat
“Meditation is like a gym in which you develop the powerful mental muscles of calm and insight.”– Ajahn Brahm
In this time when everyone is struggling with mental balance, I have decided to use this podcast/blog to create a series exploring the types of meditation and offering audio online.
We live in uncertain times. While that is perhaps always true, many of the things that I was certain about just a couple months ago have changed and continue to change. The world is full of 24 hour news updates, but sometimes I need to take a break from the worry and anxiety. The brain needs time to relax.
Guided Imagery Meditation
Today we'll explore a type of meditation that does just that. I laughingly call it ... "Go to your happy place." Guided imagery meditation uses the imagination to travel to your favorite relaxing place. Whether self-guided or guided by someone else, guided imagery as meditation can decrease the stress levels and bring us back to balance.
This type of meditation calms your nervous system from the fight-flight-freeze of anxiety and panic. It allows you to enter the rest-digest-relax state of being. This "mini-vacation" helps the nervous system get unstuck from the chronic anxiety state and find balance.
Meditation: Imagine Your Favorite Place
Silence all the media, devices, and distractions. The world and the news updates will be there when you return.Find a comfortable position and space where you won't be interrupted. (If you share space with others, consider doing this as a group.)Optional: Use a timer. Start with 5 - 10 minutes.Decide if you will do this in silence or with music. If you decide on music, find something that is calming without words that will blend into the background.Here is the important step. Activate your imagination. Imagine going to your favorite place. Arrive there and activate all of your senses of sight, sound, smell, touch, maybe even taste. What does your skin feel like? Is there sunshine or wind? As you look around, what do you see? What sounds do you hear? Let your self experience this place. Explore and walk around if that feels right.If your thoughts intrude and take you somewhere else, just bring yourself back to your favorite place and start again. Meditation is a practice that trains the mind.When the timer goes off (if you choose to use one), allow yourself to come back slowly to your present moment with the renewed sense of this small vacation from the "real world."
Guided Imagery Meditation
If you have trouble "going to your favorite place" on your own, then guided imagery might be for you.
I've included a guided imagery meditation that will take you to one of my favorite places--the beach. Try it out and see if this type of meditation is for you. Enjoy!
"Storytelling is not a lost art, but a found art!"
Mary Lou Williams moved to South Florida to retire from a career in teaching and decided to take up a second career as a professional storyteller.
In this interview …
How and why someone would become a professional storyteller?What is storytelling anyway?Where do you get stories to tell?Learn the history of the National Storytelling Festival.
Find a local storytelling group in Florida at flstory.com.
Living the Present Moment – Podcast Interview Series
“People of Passion and Purpose, Doing Interesting Things, Living the Present Moment”
Recorded: Fri Feb 21, 2020, Music: Happy African Village by John Bartmann
"What we are hungry for in the Western world is a reanimation of spirit." ~ Prof. Stephen Cavitt The shaman enters the dream-like state to bring back wisdom, guidance, and healing. There are many ways to navigate the multiple layers of reality. One of those ways is the drum. Many shamanic traditions use the hypnotic beat of the drum to induce a shamanic journey into altered states of consciousness.
Stephen Cavitt was called to explore the shamanic teachings while in university also studying creative writing and poetry. What do these two very different areas of study have in common? For him, both shamanic healing and creative writing bring closer contact with the sacred in this world. The shamans believe that everything has a spirit with which we can connect and communicate, everything is alive, everything is sacred. For poetry, the whole goal is to express that which is beyond this physical world.
In his academic life, he now teaches English at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) in Fort Myers, Florida. As a healer in the shamanic tradition, he performs individual sessions and group workshops.
Join Dr. Joel Ying and Prof. Stephen Cavitt as they explore the shamanic teachings, the spirit of the drum, and the ceremony of drum-making workshops.
Interested in a drum-making workshop? Contact Stephen Cavitt at professorcavitt@gmail.com. In this interview …
What is a shaman? Learn how the drum can induce the dream-state of the shamanic journey. Discover the spirit of the drum.
Living the Present Moment – the Podcast Interview Series “People of Passion and Purpose, Doing Interesting Things, Living the Present Moment”
Recorded: Wed Jun 12, 2019; Released: Mon Oct 28, 2019
Background Music: (public domain) Happy African Village by John Bartmann
“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” ~Hippocrates The term "plant medicine" is often appropriated today to mean the mind-altering substances like ayahuasca, mescaline, and psylisibin. These "plant medicine" ceremonies have become trendy as a quick route to escape the mundane ordinary world and have a "spiritual experience."
As a certified nutritionist, Ryin Cornett asks us to open our awareness to the fact that we use "plant medicine" everyday. We use caffeine to alter our mind, to wake us up. Others use tobacco to calm them down. We ingest sugar in power drinks to give us energy. These are all derived from plants.
From his own health struggles, Ryin Cornett has discovered his own path to healing with food as medicine. On his spiritual journey, he has also studied many paths including the "plant medicine" used in shamanic ceremony, even joining an Ayahuasca Church in Orlando.
Join Dr. Joel Ying and Ryin Cornett in this conversation as they dispel some of the myths and explore the topic of plant medicine. In this interview …
What is plant medicine? Discover the role of the shaman in ceremony. What is an Ayahuasca Church?
Find Ryin Cornett online at dietorliveit.com. Living the Present Moment – the Podcast Interview Series “People of Passion and Purpose, Doing Interesting Things, Living the Present Moment”
Recorded: Wed Jun 12, 2019; Released: Fri Jun 14, 2019
Background Music: (public domain) Happy African Village by John Bartmann
"That's not going to happen, it hurt too much just to tell this one, I would never be able to tell the rest of the story." Jim Gregory began to unravel his painful stories with the support of the oral Storytelling community, and he did manage to tell the rest of the story. As a young white man during the 1960's, he traveled into the South with a team of eight in their teens and twenties to champion the cause of Freedom. Only two of them survived. The Race Wars would later come to be known as the Civil Rights Movement.
In his CD, The Hanging of Tom Brown, Jim Gregory gives a first-hand account of people who sacrificed for the cause of Freedom. With masterful storytelling, he brings those times alive and honors those that did not survive to tell their stories. Through the crafting of the stories, he has found healing and catharsis. As a storytelling performer, he often visits schools and communities to bring history back alive, to ensure that it is not forgotten, and bring us hope it will not be repeated.
"If you can take one or two logs out of a beaver dam, the dam collapses ... maybe you just need to reach one or two people," he says. In this interview …
First-hand account of the Freedom Schools of the Civil Rights Movement during the 1960's Telling and healing from difficult stories About his CD, The Hanging of Tom Brown
Find Jim Gregory online at JimGregoryStoryteller.com. Read more about his storytelling CD at HangingTomBrown.com. Contact him at jimgregory2@me.com. Living the Present Moment – the Podcast Interview Series “People of Passion and Purpose, Doing Interesting Things, Living the Present Moment”
Recorded: Fri Mar 29, 2019
Background Music: (public domain) Happy African Village by John Bartmann
Legal Aid is a non-profit private law firm that protects the vulnerable by providing free legal representation to low income families for victims of domestic violence, children who have been abused, neglected, or abandoned, families who are at risk of homelessness, seniors and veterans who are denied access to health care or other benefits, and other groups of at-risk individuals.
Corey Huffman is an attorney with Legal Aid Service of Collier County with a passion for protecting the at-risk children in the community.
In this interview …
Corey Huffman describes Legal Aid of Collier County How the legal system protects children What is it really like in the courtroom
Find Collier Legal Aid online at www.collierlegalaid.org Living the Present Moment - the Podcast Interview Series "People of Passion and Purpose, Doing Interesting Things, Living the Present Moment"
Recorded: Fri Mar 15, 2019
Background Music: (public domain) Happy African Village by John Bartmann
What does it take to build a dream? Maybe an architect. Steven Jallad designs and oversees the building of homes in Naples, Florida. His path to architecture began with a love for drawing and working with his hands. He followed that passion as the thread in his life.
The craft of carpentry during the summers kept his hands working while earning a degree in Architecture from the University of Virginia. Traveling to West Africa with the Peace Corps, he built homes that fit a very different environment. This sparked an interest in green design that took him to Colorado for the next 10 years to build "off the grid" homes - designing in the winter, building in the summer. In 2008, he traded in mountain style for beach style and moved to Naples, Florida. Yet, he hangs on to the thread of passion, continuing to build a dream through architecture.
His personal journey inspires us to find the passion in life and continue to follow the thread. The thread from A to B is not always a straight line. Even as we make choices on how to weave our life, the loom of life takes us each on her own journey. Through ups and downs, sideways and detours, holding onto the thread is not always easy, but that is how to weave a life of passion and purpose.
Listen to our conversation as Steven Jallad takes us into the life of an architect. In this interview …
What does an architect do? How do you become an architect? A personal journey finding passion in building homes
Find Steven Jallad at sjallad@mhkap.com. Living the Present Moment - the Podcast Interview Series "People of Passion and Purpose, Doing Interesting Things, Living the Present Moment"
Recorded: Thu Feb 21, 2019; Released: Fri Mar 1, 2019
Background Music: (public domain) Happy African Village by John Bartmann
In my expanded definition, "medicine" is anything that heals the body, mind, emotions, or spirit. As a physician, this includes the Western medications that I prescribe, but it goes beyond to include so much more. In every conversation, it is important to define the context and agree upon the definitions that we are using. Here my context is the expanded definition of medicine: anything that heals the body, mind, emotions, or spirit. Where will you find your medicine? For me, storytelling is a potent medicine that can heal on many different levels. I am so inspired by its power to heal that I now teach "Storytelling as Healing" at FGCU. In researching for this class, I spoke to many storytellers, and that's how I got in touch with Caren Neile.
Caren Neile teaches "storytelling studies" at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) in Boca Raton, Florida. She is a storytelling performer, an author of books, and a public radio host. She helped to start the Healing Story Alliance, a special interest group of the National Storytelling Network.
Join our conversation as we discuss "Storytelling as Medicine." In this interview …
What is storytelling? The science behind storytelling as medicine History of the Healing Story Alliance ... and more ...
Find Caren Neile online at www.thepublicstoryteller.org.
Recorded: Thu Jan 3, 2019; Released: Sat Jan 19, 2019
Background Music: (public domain) Happy African Village by John Bartmann
Harvest Bee Farms KT Alaimo, owner and manager of Harvest Bee Farms, is passionate about farming. Devoted to biodynamic farming, he grows "good soil" and good produce is the byproduct. As farmers are aging and wisdom is being lost, he is of the new generation of farmers working to preserve sustainable and healthy farming techniques and wisdom.
In this interview, he tells the story of how a college graduate with a degree in history entered the world of farming and the wisdom that he has collected along the way.
One of the books that spurred his journey: Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma
In this interview …
KT Alaimo tells his story of becoming an organic farmer What is USDA organic vs. certified naturally grown vs. biodynamic farming? Learn ways to support locally grown organic farming
Find Kenneth T Alaimo ("KT" or "Ken") on Facebook at Harvest Bee Finca
Recorded: Wed Nov 21; Released: Fri Nov 23, 2018
Background Music: (public domain) Happy African Village by John Bartmann
Interview by Dr. Joel Ying. “People of passion and purpose, doing interesting things, living the present moment.” LivingthePresentMoment.com/podcastshow
“To make the world a better place by making it more musical.” The mission of Music Together has spread to over 3000 locations and over 40 countries. Parents bring their children from infants to 5 years old to a weekly community music experience. With music and songs from around the world, the curriculum creates the safe space for everyone to sing. Yes! Even the babies!
I recently learned about this inspiring organization from Luke Burhenn. Living in Ft Collins, Colorado, he has been attending these community events since his son was a toddler. Now music has become an integral part of their lives.
Learn more by listening to the interview. Watch Video: What Families Say About Music Together The Four Principles of Music Together
All children are born musical. All children can achieve basic music competence—that is, they can learn to sing in tune and dance accurately to a beat. It's crucial that parents and caregivers participate in class and model music-making for their children in class and at home, regardless of their own musical ability. The environment that best fosters young children's musical growth is playful, musically rich, and developmentally appropriate.
In this interview …
What is Music Together? Learn what a typical class looks like. Discover one parent's inspiring experience of bringing music into his child's life.
Learn more about Music Together and find a class near you at musictogether.com.
Recorded: Thu Nov 9, 2018; Released: Fri Nov 10, 2018
Interview by Dr. Joel Ying. “People of passion and purpose, doing interesting things, living the present moment.” LivingthePresentMoment.com/podcastshow
"Writer, Teacher, and Mostly Recovered Nerd," Jean Moroney works with ambitious individuals and teams who know sharpening their mental skills will give them a performance edge. She teaches thinking skills that help us make better judgment calls, align motivation with intentions, and cross the finish line sooner. She believes that we can all learn to become better, faster problem-solvers, more confident decision-makers, and more reliable and resilient self-starters.
Jean Moroney has a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from MIT, and another in Psychology from Carnegie Mellon. She has hundreds of hours of training in Marshall Rosenberg’s “Nonviolent Communication,” F.M. Alexander’s technique for body awareness, and Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism. Since starting her consulting business in 1998, she has helped experts from Fortune 500 executives to independent entrepreneurs, artists and writers embark with confidence on new, uncertain projects and finish what they start.
Her consulting company is Thinking Directions, and you can find her online at ThinkingDirections.com.
In this interview …
Learn how Electrical Engineering leads to a career in Psychology Discover what it means to "Manage Your Mind" Willpower vs. Value-Power: Learn about her free online event on Sun Oct 21, 2018
Find Jean Moroney online at ThinkingDirections.com.
Recorded: Wed Oct 10; Released: Fri Oct 12, 2018
Interview by Dr. Joel Ying. “People of passion and purpose, doing interesting things, living the present moment.” LivingthePresentMoment.com/podcastshow
Imagine a Jewish girl born in Columbia attending a Catholic school, nearly converting, running away to New York, then Chicago, then spending 20 years in Jamaica to start Negril Yoga Center, the first yoga center in Jamaica. Raquel Austin's life story is full of twists and turns and plenty of life changes. She shares her story of following her passion, finding purpose, one foot in front of the the other, one day at a time. Her entrepreneurial drive will surprise you.
Even at her age, Raquel is ready to write the next chapter of life changes. Negril Yoga Center is for sale. Check it out online. She is ready to turn it over to the next person who will take it higher. Visit negrilyoga.com In this interview …
Life changes ... twists and turns of Raquel Austin The story of Negril Yoga Center Wisdom, looking back on life
Find Raquel and Negril Yoga Center online at negrilyoga.com.
Recorded: Wed Sep 11; Released: Fri Sep 14, 2018
Interview by Dr. Joel Ying. “People of passion and purpose, doing interesting things, living the present moment.” LivingthePresentMoment.com/podcastshow
Time stood still. Even the air in the room refused to move, when Dr. Larry Friedman launched into a teaching story. As a resident doctor-in-training, we rotate through many different areas of medicine. Looking back at memorable moments during that time, the teachers that captivated me the most were the ones that told stories. In the early 2000's, I still remember the moment when Dr. Friedman told us the riveting story of the race to find the cause of a mysterious illness that would come to be called AIDS and later be attributed to a virus that attacks the immune system, HIV.
Dr. Lawrence Friedman, MD, is the Director of the Division of Adolescent Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine since 1997. He sees patients, teaches medical students and residents, and is active in research with a particular focus on HIV and AIDS in the pediatric and adolescent population. The Special Adolescent Clinic (SAC) for HIV-infected youth serves as a component of the Ryan White CARE Act Part D family-centered efforts in the Departments of Pediatrics and Obstetrics.
I recently contacted him again after more than a decade. As a storyteller, I now realize that his teachings were so captivating because he told us stories. In this interview, he tells us how the story of HIV has evolved over time. With remarkable advances in science, what was once a death-sentence is now a chronic disease. With continued advances, hopefully one day there will be a cure. In this interview …
Learn the remarkable story of the discovery of HIV Discover how the story has evolved over time See the story from different perspectives
Find out more about Dr. Larry Friedman, MD, on the University of Miami Website.
Recorded: Fri Aug 31, 2018; Released: Fri Sep 7, 2018
Interview by Dr. Joel Ying. “People of passion and purpose, doing interesting things, living the present moment.” LivingthePresentMoment.com/podcastshow
If you are like me, fortune tellers are scary! Tapping into some secret knowledge, they make pronouncements about my future. It is as if they are taking away my free will and I no longer have any power to change my life. I am trapped in my life, rather than master of my life.
In this interview, Jamie McCall shatters this stereotype as just one of the traps of the intuitive reader and the client. Intuitive reading can be used as a tool for empowerment. Intuition (whether it is your own or someone else's) can help you makes sense of the world in a new way, show you the patterns of your life, and bring greater clarity in your own motivations and actions. With this new understanding of your own motives and perceptions, new opportunities for change and growth can open.
We use intuition everyday when we decide if someone is "having a bad day" or "in a good mood." We use our intuition as a "gut instinct" when we say "that just doesn't feel right." Intuitive readers using oracle cards, tarot decks, tea leaves, astrology, or any other set of symbols, use the same intuition to create a conversation that can lead to insight and new opportunities. In this interview …
What is intuitive reading? Using intuitive reading as a tool for empowerment Learn about creating a story to stimulate your own intuition Using intuitive reading in life coaching
Find Jamie McCall online at opendreaming.com/jamie.
Recorded: Fri Aug 3, 2018
Interview by Dr. Joel Ying. “People of passion and purpose, doing interesting things, living the present moment.” LivingthePresentMoment.com/podcastshow
“It is our stories that make us human.” In medical school, I learned all the technical details about heart transplant. I studied the medical criteria that makes you a candidate, the drugs required post-transplant, and the labs and physical symptoms to monitor. Yet, what I did not yet learn were the stories. Those stories came later in medical internship and residency. I met the real people and learned their stories of love and loss behind the words “heart transplant.” We sometimes fool ourselves as a culture to believe that medical science can solve all the problems of the “heart” with just a surgery or a medication. However, even when we cannot know all the stories behind the weathered faces that we encounter, it changes our own humanity to acknowledge that there is a story there. It changes how we are present to the facts, how we open to listen, and how we honor time. It is our stories that make us human. In sharing those stories, we can also heal the heart.
My friend, Sonja Greene-Smith, shares her remarkable and inspiring story of growing up with heart problems and eventually needing a heart transplant. She presents her story of faith, hope, and love. She asks us to tap into all the same things that got her through the challenges. “My fear is nothing compared to my faith,” Sonja tells us. Listen to her story. “What a thing looks like is not always what it is.” Hope inspires hope. Faith inspires faith. Love inspires love.
Let her story inspire you.
Recorded: Fri Aug 10, 2018
Interview by Dr. Joel Ying. “People of passion and purpose, doing interesting things, living the present moment.” LivingthePresentMoment.com/podcastshow
"One Life. No Compromises." says Andrew Bustamante in his workshop series. As a US Air Force combat veteran and former CIA intelligence officer, he now brings the skills of international espionage to everyday life.
When you change your perspective to "see your world through the eyes of a spy," you can leverage the skills of influence, intrigue and intent to create advantages in your daily life.
Listen to this interview to discover how you can bring this spycraft into your "one life" with "no compromises." Create the life that you want using his tips and tactics. In this interview …
What is espionage? Using the skills of espionage in everyday life. Learn more about the 3 steps of spycraft: Contact, Exchange, Compromise.
Find Andrew Bustamante online at AndrewBustamante.org.
Recorded: Fri Jul 27, 2018, on LivingthePresentMoment.com/studygroup
Interview by Dr. Joel Ying. “People of passion and purpose, doing interesting things, living the present moment.” LivingthePresentMoment.com/podcastshow
Are you in control of your stuff? Or is your stuff in control of you?
Mary Jo Zeller is a moving consultant. She has supported thousands of families in downsizing, relocating, and getting organized.
She received her Masters Degree in Gerontology in 1978 from the University of Illinois, Springfield. Her service record with older adults spans 40 years having worked in community based services, retirement communities, assisted living and long term care communities. She currently is the Director of MySolutions a service of The Arlington of Naples. Interview by Dr. Joel Ying. “People of passion and purpose, doing interesting things, living the present moment.” LivingthePresentMoment.com/podcastshow In this interview …
What is clutter Tips on tackling clutter How clearing clutter can improve your life
Find Mary Jo Zeller online at www.MySolutions.org.
Recorded: Fri Jul 6, 2018, on LivingthePresentMoment.com/studygroup Books on Clearing Clutter