May You Live Well: Recent Episodes

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This week we have Buddhist monk Chophel Delek on the podcast. Chophel and I have crossed paths a few times in recent years through DNKL Tibetan Buddhist Center for Universal Peace, where Chophel lives and teaches and I have studied from time to time. Chophel grew up in nearby Fairfield, Connecticut and took ordination as a monk shortly after discovering Tibetan Buddhism in his early twenties. In this episode he takes us through the process of making that choice and how his life has shifted since, plus offers valuable tips and tools for working with your mind to create the causes and conditions for a more joyful present and future. I so enjoyed hosting this interview in person in the temple of DNKL and walked away feeling so refreshed and motivated to make the most of every moment of this human life, and I hope this episode brings you the inspiration you might be seeking these days as well.

In this episode we discuss:

• Chophel's Catholic upbringing in Fairfield, Connecticut
• Working at Mercedez Benz as an automechanic
• The life-changing moment of finding the Tibetan Book of the Dead in a Boston bookstore
• Choosing a teacher and the decision to take ordination as a monk
• The struggle of telling his family about wanting to ordain
• The importance of investigating your guru thoroughly
• Chophel's biggest challenge in adopting this tradition
• When we get stuck on certain teachings and how to return to them later
• The choice between Theravada and Mahayana traditions and why he took the more challenging path
• Getting to the roots of mental suffering through analytical meditation
• How to shift from isolation and self-cherishing to connection and kindness
• Reincarnation and connecting past with present
• Utilizing every encounter as an opportunity for practice and shaping future circumstances
• A week in the life at DNKL
• The meaning of his name and how he received it

Links and resources:

• DNKL Tibetan Buddhist Center for Universal Peace
• DNKL full calendar
• DNKL on Facebook
• May You Live Well on Instagram: @mayyoulivewell

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This week we have musician and creativity/business coach Marcie Grambeau on the podcast. Marcie and I crossed paths in Thailand in 2014 when we were both immersed in exploring spirituality and healing, and she has carved out a unique path for herself as a somatic healer of over 10 years, yoga and meditation practitioner, and musician who also has a knack for business. In this episode she shares her story of growing up with a tendency toward perfection in Ann Arbor, Michigan, suffering and healing from adrenal fatigue in her early twenties, cultivating conscious community, and learning to thrive spiritually as well as materially. Besides teaching us about her take on tech, abundance, and figuring out what you want to create in the world, Marcie also discusses how she created her first devotional music album, Into the Light, which you can find on Spotify or in full at purelands.bandcamp.com.

In this episode we discuss:

• Marcie's upbringing in Ann Arbor and expectations of excellence
• Suffering from adrenal fatigue at age 21
• Becoming an empath overnight
• Healing the body through yoga, vegan diet, and connecting with a new community
• Meeting her first Shamanic teacher and initiation into the healing path
• Massage therapy training and getting to know the tech and corporate scene in San Francisco
• Addressing the "broke healer" mentality
• Blockchain, cryptocurrency, and starting her own companies
• Why meditation is a bigger ask of people than we may realize
• Creating her devotional music album, Into the Light
• Psychedelics and sound healing
• Podcasts as places to learn about business (or whatever you're trying to learn about)
• Marcie's top advice for getting unstuck and creating what you really want to bring into the world
• Discovering who we are through new experiences

Links + Resources:

• Marcie on Instagram: @purelandsmusic
• Into the Light album (full)
• Into the Light on Spotify
• May You Live Well on Instagram: @mayyoulivewell

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This week we have coach, organizational trainer, and international speaker Anahita Moghaddam on the podcast. Anahita is a fellow student of contemplative science and we first connected when I attended a talk of hers titled “The Neuroscience of Joy” at a Buddhist center in my hometown of Redding, Connecticut. Anahita has traveled extensively through the world and through the inner workings of the mind and in this episode she offers listeners invaluable glimpses into the contemplative path and all that entails. She brings this lightheartedness and humor when diving into domains of spiritual bypassing and the intoxicating space of spiritual materialism, which left me laughing out loud when preparing this episode for release. She also brings her wisdom and analytical skill to hot topics like leadership, romantic partnership, and resilience. At the end of the episode Anahita mentions that she was releasing an online course which is open for registration, so you can find the link in the show notes to check that out.

In this episode we discuss:

• Anahita's upbringing in Iran and Germany
• When we question if the ways in which we're living are true to who we are
• Her father's influence in terms of arriving on the contemplative path
• Hitting rock bottom and this initiating Anahita's journey to India
• When books, resources, and teachers show up in moments of despair and confusion—plus what it means to have the openness to receive them at the time
• Spiritual bypassing and the "intoxicating" space of spiritual materialism
• The upward spiral of progress on the path
• Compassion, patience, and resilience—why you shouldn't give up in the face of challenges
• A definition of love and how it can be applied to partnership
• What it really means to love one another with generosity and spaciousness
• Taking radical responsibility for oneself and how that correlates with accessing the power to transform your life and world
• Coaching leaders and emerging leaders
• How to cultivate leadership in your own life

Resources:

• Anahita on Instagram: @anahita.moghaddam
• Anahita's website
• Anahita's online course: Towards a New You
• May You Live Well on Instagram: @mayyoulivewell

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In this episode we have mother, meditator, and creative Deb Owen on the podcast. Deb is a retired school counselor who also happens to be my mom and I’m thrilled to be able to share this conversation with listeners because it’s really been over a decade in the making. Deb shares her story of what it was like to witness my journey as I stepped off a conventional path in my mid-twenties to pursue spiritual studies through slow-traveling some of Asia, and how this brought challenges to our relationship but eventually benefits as well. She also discusses her personal yoga and meditation practice that evolved more recently and how starting to meditate later in life impacted her health, well-being, and relationships. In the show notes you’ll find links to her current creative projects as well as the guided meditation she practices daily.

In this episode we discuss:

• Deb's upbringing and cultural background
• The differences she felt between religion and spirituality
• Introducing her family to yoga in the early 2000s
• Deb's career as a middle school guidance counselor and empathy for others
• The challenges of parenting Alexa when she moved across the world
• The role of prayer and trust during that time
• Why Alexa felt closed off to family whenever she would return home, and how Deb responded to that
• Staying authentic as a parent when an adult child gets judgmental
• Deb's advice to parents whose kids are going through an identity shift or living life differently than they'd like
• Mentorship and bringing meaningful work into the world
• Deb's daily meditation practice and how it's impacted her life
• Compassion, self-care, and caregiving aging parents
• Experiencing life through the heart

Resources:

• Deb on Instagram: @debowendesigns
• Deb's Cookie Cupboard
• Deb's guided meditation
• May You Live Well on Instagram: @mayyoulivewell

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In this episode we welcome traveler, homesteader, and entrepreneur Dwyer Haney to the podcast. Dwyer and I met over a decade ago when we ski raced in the same conference in college and since then he’s lived a pretty incredible life that includes living internationally, solo sailing down the coast of the Americas for 2 years, and now building a homestead in northern Vermont. Dwyer discusses his upbringing and how the confidence instilled in him by his parents that he can learn and accomplish whatever he sets out to do has shaped his pursuits in his adult life—as well as why he learned to sail and how this journey connected him more deeply to nature and a sense of awe. Plus we get Dwyer's take on happiness, interdependence, and building a homestead and fulfilling life. For more on Dwyer’s past and present projects, be sure to check out the links in the show notes!

In this episode we discuss:

• Dwyer's upbringing in New Hampshire and building the confidence to try new things
• Landing his dream job as a ski quality engineer for Black Diamond
• Moving to China for his job and working 18-hour days
• What inspired Dwyer to leave his job and live on a sailboat for 2 years
• Awe and the humbling effects of different landscapes
• Dwyer's most intense and life-threatening experiences during his voyage
• Connection to nature as a spiritual experience
• Dwyer's 37 days alone at sea during his passage from the Galapagos to Chile and how this offered deeper insight to sense of self
• The connections between interdependence, happiness, and self-actualization
• Dwyer's transition from sailing life to homesteading
• The goals of homesteading and how things work at Bending Birch Homestead
• Time affluence and letting of of wearing the busyness badge of honor
• Delayed gratification in building a home and a life
• Dwyer's top advice for setting out to accomplish whatever it is you want to do

Resources:

• Dwyer on Instagram: @dwyerhaney
• Bending Birch Homestead on Instagram: @bendingbirchhomestead
• Across Islands and Oceans by James Baldwin
• Voyage of the Rascal
• Cole Forge Stoves
• Time affluence
• May You Live Well on Instagram: @mayyoulivewell

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This week we have meditator and athlete Sasha Dingle on the podcast. Sasha is a mindfulness teacher and coach based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and is also the founder of Mountain Mind Project. Sasha and I have actually never met in person, but our paths have crossed in different ways throughout our lives, starting with ski racing in the same circuits in Vermont as kids, moving to the Rocky Mountain West, and now connecting through mutual interest in supporting people to live fully using tools of meditation, mindfulness, and compassion. In this episode, Sasha shares her story of growing up in Vermont, competing on the Freeride World Tour, and how the ups and downs of being an athlete in the mountains led her toward contemplative practices.

In this episode we discuss:

• Sasha's upbringing and cultural background
• The longing to make sense of ourselves and our worlds
• Competing on the Freeride World Tour
• Sasha's pathway into deeper meditation practice through injury and healing
• Founding Mountain Mind Project and training the mind like you train the body
• The "3D" experience of practicing within Tibetan Buddhism
• Unique mental and public health challenges in mountain towns and communities
• Leveraging the mind for performance in sports, relationships, parenting, and work
• The importance of a teacher and community on the path
• How meditation can actually help you hide from yourself and how to come out of hiding
• Laying the foundation for flow to emerge
• Meditation apps: to use or not to use?
• Working with trauma and grief
• How losing people in the mountains can impact us and how these practices can support healing through that
• Why Sasha encourages group learning

Resources:

• Sasha on IG: @sashadingle
• Mountain Mind Project
• mPEAK 3-day intensive 8/6/21-8/8/21
• Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
• May You Live Well on IG: @mayyoulivewell

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In this episode we have Dana Coman on the podcast. Dana is an L.A.-based hatha yoga teacher, human resources human capital analyst, and hypnotherapist who uses her skills to guide people through therapeutic sessions. Dana and I met at a mutual friend’s Christmas dinner in Koh Phangan in 2014 and I was struck then—as I still am now—by Dana’s energy and enthusiasm for life. And of course that’s common when you’re taking a few years off to travel the world and practice yoga every day, but Dana’s joyfulness seems to grow in unexpected places as well—even, as she’ll share in this episode, in corporate America. Dana also discusses the chapter in her life when she lived at Sadhguru’s ashram in southern India, why she left ashram life and returned to the States, and how harnessing the power of the mind has supported her in cultivating a life she loves.

In this episode we discuss:

• Dana's move to the U.S. and 8 years of of corporate work in Chicago
• Why she left everything to travel the world for 3 years
• Experiences that push us to our growing edge
• The transition from yoga as exercise to yoga as a pathway to liberation
• Dana's choice to move to an ashram in southern India, what her life was like there, and why she transitioned back to the U.S.
• Taking on a spiritual name and embracing all aspects of our identity
• Morning rituals and the one yoga practice/kriya Dana still does daily
• Karma and dharma
• The return to working in corporate and how Dana's experience of it has changed since her immersion into spiritual studies
• Training in hypnotherapy and how this transformed her life
• The subconscious mind and how to work with it

Resources:

• Dana's hypnosis practice
• Intuitive Breathwork
• Dana on IG: dana_coman_cht
• Dana on Facebook: Unlimited You Hypnosis
• Isha Foundation
• Letting Go by David Hawkins

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In this episode, dancer, choreographer, and movement teacher Paul Singh joins us to share about his experiences in the movement form of contact improvisation (CI). Paul first studied dance at the University of Illinois and began dancing contact improv in New York City. He's taught CI around the world and led movement classes for Movement Research, Sarah Lawrence College, and Julliard. A creative force, Paul has deep and insightful shares about what it means to move and be moved, be totally and radically present in the moment, and create space for ourselves and others in the dance and in our lives.

In this episode we discuss:

• Paul's background and upbringing in Illinois
• Why Paul switched from a pre-med to music to dance track in college
• What contact improvisation (CI) is and why it's different from other movement forms
• Bringing identity into the dance and CI spaces
• The healing aspects of CI and renegotiating where you are in relationship to others at all times
• What it means to be "advanced" and what deep listening has to do with it
• The intersection of CI and queer studies
• Embodiment and being patient enough to fall into the body
• How CI teaches us about tuning into our needs and desires
• What RuPaul's Drag Race and Buddhist texts have in common
• Practical tools for embodiment in daily life
• Contact Improv and taking on the world

Links and Resources:

• Paul on IG: @paulsinghdance
• May You Live Well on IG: @mayyoulivewell
• Peaceable Barn Studio
• Leviathan Studio
• Paul dancing CI at the Judson Church

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In this episode I sit down with yoga practitioner, author, and self-care coach Deniz Aydoslu. Deniz and I both spent quite some time studying yoga therapy on Koh Phangan, Thailand, and we’ve also both moved through our own journeys of applying yogic tools for well-being to working through depression. In this talk Deniz shares more about her own background and challenges growing up, what pulled her toward yoga and spirituality, and what she’s learned about the intersections of emotional processing, boundaries, and relationships. We also get some of her top tips for self-care and building a life that you love – not just for the sake of your own joy, but for the well-being of others.

In this episode we discuss:

• Deniz's German and Turkish background and upbringing in Belgium
• Challenges with depression and mental health during adolescence
• Coming to yoga through injury
• Studying psychology and criminology in the UK
• Deniz's journey to Asia for yoga studies and living there for 5 years
• The inner landscape of depression and how yoga helped in the healing process
• The role of purpose: recognizing purpose versus searching for it outwardly
• The wisdom of anger and setting boundaries
• A pivotal realization that led Deniz toward her current partner
• The essence of self-care and what that means for people individually

Links + Resources:

• Deniz's website + free ebook (www.denizaydoslu.com)
• Deniz's book, Messages from the Deep: Calm Anxiety and Lift Depression with Yoga & the Elements
• On Insgagram: @deniz.aydoslu
• On Facebook: facebook.com/therapiesforevolution

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In this episode, meditation teacher and contemplative guide Kirat Randhawa joins us to share her story of stepping onto the contemplative path. Kirat first studied fashion and merchandising in London before moving to New York City, where she became acquainted with meditation and Tibetan Buddhism. She joins Alexa to discuss the nuances of contemplative practice and how she personally navigates this transformative, challenging, and rewarding path. This is the stuff you likely won't hear in meditation class.

In this episode we discuss:

• What to look for when seeking out a lineage or teacher
• Why Kirat connected with Tibetan Buddhism, specifically
• The balance between discipline and ease
• Common misconceptions about mindfulness, especially in regards to healing and trauma
• Moving through loneliness and confusion
• How to cultivate trust and confidence
• Why the dynamics in close relationships can change as you start meditating
• Removing the need to create a hierarchy of good and bad emotions
• How we identify the Self as a brand and how to move beyond this
• What to do when you don't feel like doing your meditation practice that day
• Kirat's top advice for those on or embarking on this path

Links and Resources:

• Kirat's website
• Kirat on IG: @kiratrandhawaaa
• Kirat's offerings on Alo Moves
• Thupten Phuntsok
• Heal Haus

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Welcome to May You Live Well, an interview-based podcast project featuring inspiring individuals from various backgrounds who share how they’ve been influenced by contemplative practices—and how these ways of being have impacted their work, relationships, lifestyles and worldview.