A Quest for Well-Being

— Women are ever-changing as you go through your cycle each month and as your hormones fluctuate. Heather Wolcott teaches us what is happening hormonally in the body each week of our menstrual cycle, as well as how to eat, exercise, and leverage our emotions to create balance and a deeper connection to our female body. You will know the optimal weeks to fast vs feast, lift heavier weights vs. HIIT, write a book vs. give a TED-Talk, and much more based on how different your body is each week of your cycle. Valeria interviews Heather Wolcott  — She is a National Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach, an ADAPT-Certified Functional Health Coach through the Kresser Institute and has over 20yrs of experience as a Holistic Nutritionist working 1-on-1 with clients to help them achieve their health and wellness goals.  She was also a Johnny G Certified Spinning Instructor and worked in the fitness industry for 20 years. Her expertise is in using functional medicine’s approach to finding the root-cause of her clients’ issues and helping them optimize the 4 Pillars of Health which include: Sleep, Stress (Mindset), Movement, and Nutrition, in their lives. She also has deep passion and knowledge on longevity and anti-aging protocols in attempt to help people avoid cognitive decline, neurodegeneration, and improve their healthspan. Heather partners with people who desire change and want more out of the life they are living so they can grow into newer versions of themselves and reach their wellness goals. She lives in Franklin, TN with her husband and 2 kids, and works with people across the country To learn more about Heather Wolcott and her work, please visit: https://heatherwolcott.com/ IG: @heatherjohnsonwolcott FB: Heather Johnson Wolcott                 — This podcast is a quest for well-being, a quest for a meaningful life through the exploration of fundamental truths, enlightening ideas, insights on physical, mental, and spiritual health. The inspiration is Love. The aspiration is to awaken new ways of thinking that can lead us to a new way of being, being well.

Do you find yourself resisting life? Or feeling like something is missing? Do you find yourself looking for something more? If you're like Alicia Eichmann, you wish you knew the deeper meaning of life. You suspect it is there but somehow it remains elusive. You've been to church but somehow you didn't find the answers you were looking for. You feel your soul calling you deeper but you're not sure what that means, or where to start. Alicia knows exactly how you feel. She has been where you are, and her book “Becoming Spiritual: How I Found Empowerment and Inner Peace Without Leaving the House” is her story of how she got from discouraged and disillusioned to joyful, empowered and free. Through Alicia’s searching, she identified 10 major paradigm shifts for the spiritual seeker. These are mental and emotional shifts that she made that make up the essence of her spiritual transformation.   In this episode, Valeria Teles interviews Alicia Eichmann.                                                              Alicia is a writer, researcher, theologian, spiritual director, and life coach who is passionate about facilitating a shift in our cultural understanding of religion and spirituality. She writes and teaches on the practical application of modern spirituality in order to heal division, apathy, and despair, and help us chart a new way forward together. She has a master's degree in religious studies from Regent University and is a licensed growth coach with Lifeforming Leadership Coaching. Her professional background is in websites, marketing, and project management. She has 9 years of experience as a Marketer at SimonHouses.com, and 3 years of experience as a Research Assistant for an internationally recognized New Testament scholar. In her book, Becoming Spiritual: How I Found Empowerment and Inner Peace without Leaving the House, she shares the story of her journey growing up in the church, losing her faith, and then recovering a more flexible and resilient spirituality. She shares her story, along with major spiritual paradigm shifts that she discovered along the way, including the authors that led her to them, and guides the reader in beginning to make these shifts as well.   To learn more about Alicia Eichmann please visit her website http://aliciameichmann.com/alicias-soul-adventure/    For Intro-free episodes: https://www.patreon.com/aquestforwellbeingpodcast Podcast Page: https://fitforjoy.org/podcast   ** Bio intro and outro one by Heidi Lynn Peters. 

— The world is constantly nudging us—pulling, pushing, cajoling us—toward our heart’s longing and our true expression of joy. Yet our conditioned mindsets can resist these gentle but insistent signals, too often dismissing synchronicity and serendipity—the very language of this magic—as little more than accident or annoyance. Playful but potent, Be the Magic nudges us, too, showing us how to open ourselves to this ever-present guidance to live a more peaceful, passion-filled, and enthusiastic life. With deep wisdom and a light-hearted tongue, Diane Pienta serves up personal stories and lessons learned, in a collection of uplifting and actionable daily practices designed to train us—our minds, our bodies, and our hearts—to become joyfully tuned-in to the guidance presented to us at every turn. Pienta’s clear, strong vision provokes us to fully recognize that we inhabit this beautiful planet for a mere blink of an eye, and Be the Magic shows us that when this grand realization is nourished by small daily acts, our magic inevitably blooms—in our own lives, in the lives of others, and in the world herself. Valeria interviews Diane Pienta — The author of “Be the Magic: Bite-Sized Nuggets of Wisdom to Feed your Joy, Nourish your Soul and Open your Heart.” Diane is also a forest therapy guide, healer and creativity mentor who loves to help others reclaim and share their unique gifts through spiritual tools of all types. Her life is devoted to Nature, Creativity, Connection & Community. A passion for helping others has been a thread throughout her previous 25-year business career in the hospitality, consulting and real estate fields.  A cancer diagnosis, chronic infections and subsequent adrenal burnout redirected her to a spiritual and alternative path of healing.  She credits the power of Nature, Creativity, Energy Medicine, Sound and Spirituality with her health and loves to share so that others can live a vibrant, joyful life. Diane spent the last 20 years experiencing, studying and sharing numerous healing modalities and she intuitively weaves Nature, Art, Writing, Sound and Movement in her work. She understands how knowing one’s gifts and sharing them with the world is a pathway to peace and healing. Offering forest therapy walks, qigong classes, writing and creativity workshops, sound healing sessions and individual coaching sessions, Diane creates space for others to play and discover their own innate wisdom.  She has deep compassion for people who are in transition periods and loves assisting others to “unlearn” limiting beliefs and patterns. As a writer, Diane uses words to heal and create peace. She loves and honors the land deeply and is devoted to help others reclaim their connection to this magical world. In her spare time, she can often be found hugging a tree at sunrise, dancing with the moon, fiddling, felting or gathering wonder-makers to frolic and picnic at sunset. In addition to her healing certifications, she holds a BS from Cornell University, a certification in Positive Psychology from Whole Being Institute and has studied at the Radcliffe Institute. To learn more about Diane Pienta and her work, please visit: https://www.dianepienta.com/

— Throughout the centuries, psychiatric disorders have caused more emotional and physical suffering than any other human condition, yet despite modern advances in neuroscience, the underlying cause of these perplexing conditions remains unclear. Also lacking is an understanding of the manifold ways that the underlying driver of mental illness can affect physical health. However, all of that could be about to change thanks to God’s grace and the tireless efforts of the many clinicians, researchers, and thinkers around the world who have continued to probe virtually every aspect of human psychology, biology, and behavior in an effort to solve the mystery of mental illness. The integration of their hard work and one doctor’s relentless efforts to get to the root of mental illness has led to a new hypothesis that integrates the traditional belief that nearly all psychiatric disorders are caused by environmental stress with the emerging belief that nearly all psychiatric disorders are caused by brain pathology. The new hypothesis, which is the first to combine psychology, biology, neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, neurocircuitry, neuroarchitecture, molecular genetics, and mind-brain dynamics to explain virtually every phenomenon that has been observed in psychology and psychiatry, is based on the simple premise that psychiatric symptoms are driven by pathological hyperactivity in the brain circuits that correspond to them. The most common cause of this hyperactivity is cognitive-emotional stress superimposed upon a constitutional hyperexcitability of the neurological system. The recognition of this simple but elusive dynamic is beginning to revolutionize the treatment of mental illness. It has catapulted Dr. Binder’s success rate in treating a wide range of psychiatric disorders, including major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, OCD, PTSD, and schizophrenia, from around thirty percent to nearly one-hundred percent and reduced the average time to symptom- reduction from around six months to six days! What’s more, this pathology-based approach to treatment is more normalizing, more sustainable, and more affordable than any other treatment modality yet developed. To learn more, listen to this episode! Valeria interviews Dr. Michael Binder, a holistic adult and adolescent psychiatrist, neuroscientist, and pioneer of the first comprehensive psychophysiological hypothesis of psychiatric disorders. With more than thirty years of clinical experience treating a wide range of psychiatric disorders, Dr. Binder has published 25 peer-reviewed scientific articles, 7 books, and 45 educational YouTube videos. Over the last twenty-five years, he has enjoyed a success rate that is now approaching 100% and, due to his extraordinarily high patient retention rate, has been able to observe the long-term sustainability of his treatment approach, thus validating his work more strongly than most research studies are designed to do. Despite having trained at some of the best psychiatric teaching hospitals in the Untied States, Dr. Binder was, early in his career, disappointed to find that less than half of his patients were responding adequately to psychological and pharmacological interventions. Moreover, even after consulting with some of his most distinguished professors, Dr. Binder’s success rate in treating patients remained unacceptably low. However, unwilling to accept the limitations of psychiatric care at that time, Dr. Binder began to pray for his patients and ask God to help him develop a more effective treatment approach. The Lord answered his prayers by alerting him to his own need for spiritual healing. He also began to enlighten him about the underlying cause of mental illness, a revelation that has taken the doctor more than two decades to fully grasp, implement, and reduce to writing. In January of 2024, Dr. Binder completed The Racing Mind: Brave New Insights Untangle the Ancient Mystery of Mental Illness. The doctor firmly believes that this 336-page, comprehensive textbook of psychiatry, which has been more than twenty years in the making, would, if turned into a curriculum for every psychiatric training program in the country, bring a swift end to the mental health crisis! Beginning in April of this year, The Racing Mind, which is valued at $3,000.00, will, for a limited-time introductory offer of $250.00, be available at BinderFoundation.com. To learn more about Dr. Michael Binder and his work, please visit: https://drmichaelbindermd.com/, https://www.binderfoundation.com/ and https://www.youtube.com/@binderfoundation

— “If you want to live a more fulfilling and loving life, you have to dig deep into your pain and own it in your body. We are human beings. We come with negative and positive emotions. Allow yourself to be human. Being human is being love.” Valeria interviews Ker Yang — She is a licensed marriage and family therapist and specializes in emotionally-focused therapy for couples and individuals founded by Susan M. Johnson.  Ker Yang started her journey in search of love when she entered her graduate studies in 2014 as a result of an unhealthy relationship. Clinical experience/education and being a client, herself were the perfect combination in aligning Ker Yang to understand what love means which has been a healing and spiritual journey. She has learned that love is about doing what your heart desires with a supportive team. This requires being accepting of all of your emotions including your pain. Although the journey is challenging, she believes that everyone has the strength and courage to survive it and come out on the other side. Therapy with Ker Yang is simply just being human. Being human is being love. Ker Yang is dedicated to helping others be on a similar healing journey and heal one heart at a time. To learn more about Ker Yang and her work, please visit: https://www.keryanglmft.com/

— Our body keeps somatic traces of all our traumatic experiences. When exposed to a stimulus that reminds the body of a past danger, the viscero-somatic memory linked to this danger is reactivated, creating the base of a disruptive emotional response. Emotional Resolution  — EmRes® — helps the body recognize that the perceived danger is nowadays obsolete. EmRes® allows the body to integrate traumatic information and to tune-in to our current reality instead of reacting through a past memory. To do this, we commit to experiencing the viscero-somatic response, without controlling our physical sensations or our environment. EmRes® connects you to the origin of a difficult emotion through your physical sensations and modulates the unwanted emotional response permanently. This simple yet rarely used physiologic capacity is innate to all human beings. Valeria interviews Cedric Bertelli — He is a recognized expert in Emotional Resolution® (EmRes®), a revolutionary approach to emotional healing that has transformed the lives of countless individuals.  As the Founder and Director of the Emotional Health Institute, Cedric has dedicated his career to helping people overcome stress, anxiety, depression, PTSD, and other debilitating emotional patterns using the EmRes body of work. At the Emotional Health Institute, Cedric and his team provide trainings and education to mental health professionals, coaches, and educators, helping them to integrate Emotional Resolution into their practices. In addition, Cedric works directly with clients, providing individualized support and guidance to help them overcome emotional challenges and improve their overall well-being. To learn more about and her work, please visit: https://www.cedricbertelli.com/ and https://www.emotionalhealthinstitute.org/

— Mindful eating is more than just chewing your food slowly; it's about cultivating a deep awareness of the entire eating experience. Mindful eating is paying attention to your food, on purpose, moment by moment, without judgment. It is an approach to food that focuses on your individual awareness of the food and the experience of the food. It has little to do with calories, fat, protein or number of carbohydrates. Always come back to the basics: Breathe and check for hunger. Assess your food with all of your senses. Slow down, place your spoon or fork down between each bite. Investigate your hunger; make a point of checking in with your body part way through the meal. Chew your food thoroughly, 35 to 50 times per bite. Savor your food, this includes mindfully choosing what you are eating. Valeria interviews Jennifer Heard — She is an Integrative Wellness Specialist dedicated to transforming lives.  Her journey is deeply rooted in personal experience, having overcome the challenges of Celiac disease. This struggle ignited her passion for natural medicine, mindfulness-based nutrition, and the pursuit of optimal well-being. Armed with a Ph.D. in Natural Medicine and an array of certifications, including Mindful Nutritionist, Health & Nutrition Life Coach, MBSR, and yoga therapist, Jennifer is committed to guiding individuals on their paths to vibrant health. Her unique blend of academic knowledge and personal resilience allows Jennifer to connect with clients on a profound level. To learn more about Jennifer Heard and her work, please visit: https://www.naturaljenn.com/

— “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. But when I became a woman, I put away childish things. We need to all start speaking as an adult, thinking as an adult and reasoning as adults.” Valeria interviews Tamiko Powell — She is the author of  “The Word: There Is No Other Way.” Tamiko, a native Californian, author, and advocate for morality and ethics, presents herself as an Independent Candidate for the presidency of the United States. Her journey from childhood to adulthood has shaped her belief in the importance of speaking, thinking, and reasoning as adults. Tamiko envisions a united America that prioritizes the well-being of its citizens and strengthens the nation's moral fabric. She calls for open-mindedness and change, emphasizing that her candidacy offers a path to a better future. Tamiko stands ready to lead the nation toward a brighter tomorrow, urging voters to embrace her vision for a more cohesive and ethical America. To learn more about Tamiko Powell and her work, please visit: https://tamikoforpresident.com/

— When we go through trials, we end up dying to some part of ourselves, and that not only carves us into a new person with greater resilience and capacity for change but also one who understands that death on all levels is simply another rite of passage. As we walk through the dark places in our life and accept our losses, we die to what the ego and mind mistakenly think is the best life path for us. The darkness helps us touch into our vulnerabilities, and each loss allows us to die just a little more, so that when life takes from us, creation brings something new into our lives. Any life form that stops growing dies. In nature, death is not an end. Death only leads to new creation, opening doors to new dimensions of reality. This is true whether we physically leave our bodies to engage in a new adventure of life or if we stay here as a polished stone ready to be kind to ourselves and be in service to all of life. Valeria interviews Sandra Ingerman — She is the author of  “Walking through Darkness: A Nature-Based Path to Navigating Suffering and Loss and many other titles.” Sandra Ingerman, MA, a world-renowned teacher of shamanism, is recognized for bridging ancient cross-cultural healing methods with modern culture. She’s taught for 40 years, including workshops worldwide on shamanic journeying, healing, and reversing environmental pollution using spiritual methods. Sandra is a licensed marriage and family therapist, professional mental health counselor, and a board-certified expert on traumatic stress. Watkins Body Mind Spirit magazine honored her by including her in their 100 Most Spiritually Influential People of 2020. She was also chosen as one of the Top 10 Spiritual Leaders of 2013 by Spirituality and Health magazine and was awarded the 2007 Peace Award from the Global Foundation for Integrative Medicine. She’s authored 13 books, including Soul Retrieval: Mending the Fragmented Self... Medicine for the Earth... Walking in Light... and The Book of Ceremony: Shamanic Wisdom for Invoking the Sacred in Everyday Life. Sandra and Hank Wesselman's book, Awakening to the Spirit World: The Shamanic Path of Direct Revelation, won both the 2011 COVR (Coalition of Visionary Resources) Visionary Award and the 2011 IPPY (Independent Publisher Book Award). Since the 1980s, thousands of people have healed from past and present traumas through Soul Retrieval, the classic cross-cultural shamanic healing method Sandra teaches. Sandra is recognized for bridging ancient cross-cultural healing methods into our modern culture addressing the needs of our times. Sandra is known for gathering the global spiritual community together to perform powerful transformative ceremonies as well as inspiring us to stand strong in unity, so we do our own spiritual and social activism work while keeping a vision of hope and being a light in the world.  She is passionate about helping people to reconnect with nature.  Sandra joined in partnership with Renee Baribeau to create a weekly, 30-minute podcast called The Shamans Cave. Coming out soon is Sandra’s new book she co-wrote with Llyn Roberts on Walking Through Darkness: A Nature Based Path to Navigating Suffering and Loss. To learn more about Sandra Ingerman and her work, please visit: https://www.sandraingerman.com/

— You should feel like yourself at all times because life's too short. How many times have you felt as though you couldn't see through the clouds and didn't have the energy to part them? What have you tried to change your feelings, including therapy, medication, yoga, and gratitude practices that haven't worked? The feeling of being energized, alert, and upbeat, relaxed & carefree, and comfortable with yourself awaits you with The power of functional nutritional therapist! Valeria interviews Laurie Hammer — She is a functional nutritional therapist helping moms overcome anxiety through practical & nutritional methods. She specializes in balancing the brain through targeted amino acid therapy and brain detox from life stressors whether they be physical, chemical or emotionally driven. Laurie is also a homeschool mom who loves to share on the love for learning and how to provide the best environment and family culture for our kids to thrive in. To learn more about Laurie Hammer and her work, please visit: https://www.lauriehammer.com/,  https://www.facebook.com/takebackmybrain and https://www.instagram.com/thecalmmomcommunity/

— “Humans do not enter a world which is inherently structured. We must give the world a structure which we ourselves create.” ~  Dr. James T. Webb “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released startling new statistics on the rise of deaths by suicide in the United States, which are up 25 percent since 1999 across most ethnic and age groups. These numbers clearly point to a crisis — but of what kind? Many argue that this is a crisis of mental health care, that people are not getting the services they need. The proposed solution is better therapies, more effective antidepressants and greater access to treatment. This assessment may be correct. However, the suicide rate has increased even as more people are seeking treatment for depression and anxiety, and even as treatment for those conditions has become more widely available. An additional explanation seems to be needed. As a behavioral scientist who studies basic psychological needs, including the need for meaning, I am convinced that our nation’s suicide crisis is in part a crisis of meaninglessness.” ~ Clay Routledge Valeria interviews Dr. Sheena Sachdev — She is a licensed psychologist who specializes in Existential Psychology.  She treats individuals struggling with anxiety, depression, relational issues, and trauma. Her phenomenological approach ensures that each individual has a spotlight on their subjective human experience and perspective. Dr. Sachdev is an advocate of group therapy and has initiated several groups at each site she has worked with including: a yoga/meditation group, a mindfulness group, creativity groups, and existential depression and anxiety groups. To learn more about Dr. Sheena Sachdev and her work, please visit: https://www.drsheena.com/

— Thinking about Universal Consciousness as God or All That Is may seem totally abstract and difficult to comprehend. But once you begin to understand how one universal consciousness is primary, and that our “personal” consciousness is a part of that infinite ocean of consciousness, and that consciousness is creative and creates the physical as well as the non-physical, and that the universe, therefore, is one wholeness AND is alive because consciousness is the same as life, and that the One Consciousness is good and desires the experience of life to be good because that is the true expression of wholeness, then you begin to see how the universe and the workings of the universe make complete sense. The universe and God can be understood and related to. Well-being is holistic and includes all aspects of you – body, mind, and spirit – awakening is and should be all about achieving greater well-being. That’s a very good thing, and the goal of awakening should always be a happier, healthier, more abundant you! Valeria interviews Raymond Posch — He is the author of  “Awakening to Wholeness: How to Live Consciously, Creatively, and Abundantly.” Raymond Posch is a podcaster, spiritual explorer and wayshower, folk singer, writer, and speaker. His podcasts are Our Spiritual Life (running 4 years as of December 2023) and New Ways of Being (launched in November 2023). He loves exploring spiritual awakening and the evolution of human consciousness. He is the author of the book Awakening to Wholeness. His earlier career was in information technology and project management. To learn more about Raymond Posch and his work, please visit: https://raymondposch.com/

— Carl Rogers, psychologist wrote in 1959 his view on human nature, that when people are placed in meaningful therapeutic conditions, they will naturally change in a positive direction. Carl Rogers and William Miller (psychologist) have separately shared that this tendency toward reaching your true inner self “it is as natural as a plant’s growth upward toward the light when given adequate soil, water, and sunshine. It is as if each person has a natural mature end-state or purpose (Telos, in Greek) toward which he or she will grow given optimal conditions.” They say that the Telos of an acorn is to become an oak tree; to reach its true purpose. Each action we take as humans is directed towards some Telos (i.e. purpose) and real change involves identifying concrete steps needed to attain Telos. Telos has many terms that describes it in philosophy; goal, completion, or fulfillment; this translates into all walks of life. Valeria interviews Marissa Harris — She is a compassionate therapist dedicated to guiding individuals on a transformative journey toward holistic well-being through sensorimotor psychotherapy.  She is a licensed independent clinical social worker, national board certified clinical social work diplomate, certified substance abuse provider, and certified in mindfulness-based relapse prevention, and a mindfulness-based relapse prevention group facilitator. She has specialized training in trauma informed approaches in Level 2 Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Trauma Informed Stabilization Treatment, EMDR, Motivational Interviewing, and Internal Family Systems approaches. She is also trained in the Institute of Functional Medicine where she explores ways to highlight the intricate link between our emotional experiences and bodily responses. She is currently the owner of Telos Health and Wellness Services, a private practice where she offers individual therapy as well as consultation. Throughout her 25 years in the field, she has served as a steadfast advocate and mentor, guiding and empowering a team of dedicated trauma, medical, and forensic professionals. She shares the honor and privilege of supporting individuals navigating life circumstances that have led to symptoms consistent with PTSD or dissociative disorders. Her focus remains centered on the person and understanding the unique challenges someone could face as a result of their experiences or environment. Exploring a holistic approach, she believes in the power of the body to hold and release emotional pain, trauma, and stress. Through gentle exploration and mindfulness, she helps people reconnect with the innate wisdom of their body at a pace that works for the person she is supporting. She feels the body tells a story and she utilizes a way of listening, honoring, and understanding its language. To learn more about Marissa Harris and her work, please visit: https://www.teloshealthandwellnessservices.com

— The mission of Czar Clothing is to lead and revolutionize the athleisurewear fashion industry by setting a new standard for eco-friendly, responsible, and sustainable practices. We believe in a future where fashion and the planet coexist harmoniously, and we are committed to making that vision a reality. Our commitment to sustainability begins with our innovative 'On-Demand' model. We produce clothing only when you, our valued customers, place orders. We eliminate the detrimental effects of overproduction that plague the fashion industry, reducing waste and minimizing our carbon footprint. Valeria interviews Nick Zellem — He is the founder of Czar Clothing, a trademarked brand that specializes in high-quality sustainable athleisurewear for men and women.  Nick was heavily influenced by his family's eastern European and Russian heritage. He moved to Texas and acquired a business degree in Entrepreneurship from Baylor University before embarking on a successful career in technology sales. Nick conceptualized Czar Clothing over 10 years ago and formally started the company in 2016. In his off time, Nick enjoys yoga, working out, kickboxing, DJing & Video DJing, and has been learning the Russian Language the past few years. To learn more about Nick Zellem and his work, please visit: https://czarclothing.com/

— When it feels like something’s missing If it hurts but you can’t find healing Just look up, know you are loved Just look up; know you are loved   You, don’t have to prove yourself Don’t try to be someone else You don’t have to prove yourself Don’t try to be someone else You are loved! ~ partial lyrics to the song by Stars Go Dim Valeria interviews Linda Bjork — She is the author of  “Crushed: A Journey Through Depression, You Got This!: An Action Plan To Calm Worry, Fear, Anxiety, And Stress and many other titles.” Linda Bjork is the founder and executive director of Hope for Healing non-profit charity and owner of Innovative Joy LLC. She has degrees from Brigham Young University and The University of the State of New York. She has written several non-fiction books. Her podcast, “Linda’s Corner,” and blog, “Two Good Things,” were created to inspire hope, increase joy, and motivate positive change. Linda’s personal mission is to empower people to become their best selves. Linda defines herself as an overcomer.  She has overcome depression, social anxiety, and trauma.  She has overcome self-limiting beliefs, self-sabotage, low self-confidence, low self-esteem and more.  For decades, Linda felt like an imposter, masquerading as someone worth loving and accepting when she “knew” that she wasn’t really good enough.  She now lives a joyful, authentic, fulfilling life.  Linda is passionate about hope, healing, and personal transformation because she has lived it.  She created Hope for Healing non-profit to help empower others to overcome as well.  She has interviewed hundreds of experts and overcomers on Linda’s Corner Podcast so we can help even more people overcome every kind of adversity and life challenge. To learn more about Linda Bjork and her work, please visit: https://hopeforhealingfoundation.org/

— Effective Listening is an online healing community dedicated to everyone getting to thrive in this life as themselves. A truly supportive environment is essential for humans to thrive. In order to co-create a better world, we need to learn and practice the art of "Effective Listening." By learning and practicing Effective Listening, we create a supportive environment and empower each other toward self-actualization. Valeria interviews Ilya Parizhsky — He is the founder of Effective Listening, a group process that creates one on one listening partnerships for mutual healing and transformation.  He holds a Masters in Drama Therapy from the California Institute of Integral Studies, and is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California, Oregon, Colorado and Washington, DC, where he practices online couples and individual therapy. Ilya is an expert leader of personal growth workshops and group processes, and has helped thousands of people heal and overcome restrictions to their authenticity. He devotes himself to staying at the cutting edge of the healing arts. He has trained in countless therapeutic modalities, and has taken part in tens of thousands of hours of experiential workshops, and thousands of hours of individual counseling, meditation, yoga, dance and movement, theater, and other self-actualization processes. He continues to vigorously pursue both personal and professional development, and can’t overstate the importance for therapists and healing professionals to do extensive amounts of both professional training and personal healing work in order to be authentically and skillfully available for others. Ilya is also adept at simplifying and boiling down the essence of complex processes. Effective Listening is the culmination of Ilya’s wide-ranging experience and training, and offers an accessible synthesis of powerful personal growth techniques, borrowing from many different disciplines and modalities, but creating something truly unique. In addition to his passion for therapy and healing, Ilya is also a performance artist and stand-up comedian, where he uses his life story and experiences to bring levity, light, and laughter to subjects as deep as the nature of consciousness and the meaning of life, and as silly as multi-lingual animal sounds. Ilya is also a proud father of two young daughters. He is a devoted husband married to his best friend and favorite person on the planet. And he lives in an Ecovillage, which he finds to be an ideal environment for his children to grow up, freely roaming and playing with friends. Ilya has a deep longing and commitment to be of service, and to make the world a better place. He has developed Effective Listening as a means to that end. In his work as a psychotherapist, he is often confronted with the fact that humans need more than a therapy session once a week to thrive. We need a network of supportive skillful humans we can count on. The Effective Listening method is not therapy and is not meant to replace therapy. Effective Listening unleashes the awesome power and natural healing capacity that each of us has inside of us. It gives us a living network of people and a community of practice with whom to share and develop our dormant ability to give and receive love and build the collective resources to create a world that truly meets the needs we have. To learn more about Ilya Parizhsky and his work, please visit: https://effectivelistening.org/ and https://www.ilyaparizhsky.com/

— “When you are grateful, you have positive energy that emanates outward from your being. You become a magnet of sorts, attracting more experiences and opportunities that enrich your life, giving you even more reasons to be grateful. Challenges or problems are reduced or eliminated because, aside from applying practical solutions, you do not give them any power or energy. Life begins to reflect your good back to you in amazing ways. There is always something to be grateful for…” “Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for.” — Zig Ziglar Valeria interviews Jan Lynch — She is the author of  “The Divine Flow of Abundance, winner of the NYC Big Book “Distinguished Favorite” award in 2021. After a successful career in the Airline and Hospitality Industries, Jan began to study how to use Universal Principles in creating one’s own life. From numerous classes and workshops, plus reading uplifting, metaphysical books, she learned how to apply these principles of success to her own life.  She welcomed the beliefs that joy, love, vibrant health and financial freedom are natural birthrights for all. The Divine Flow of Abundance was the result of a “nudge” from the Universe to create a simple and insightful 30-day Abundance Plan that anyone can use in order to realize and accept the limitless prosperity the Universe has for each of us. The two common themes in the book are “Spirit is your Source” and “Be careful what you think because thoughts become things.” Jan is also a Spiritual Practitioner licensed through the Emerson Theological Institute in Oakhurst, California and the co-author of Affirm Your Future: How to use Affirmations to Bridge Your Future.  She is an inspirational speaker and, as a Spiritual Counselor she assists others in creating the life they truly desire. A percentage of sales of Jan’s books is donated to the Harmony Spiritual Center in Fort Worth, Texas. To learn more about Jan Lynch and her work, please visit: https://www.janlynch.com

— “Life is everywhere, and we are connected to it. In the web of life, everything has a purpose and is part of the ecology of the planet. Our dogs help me see all this. It starts with their curiosity, their need to inspect every little thing on a walk and then do it again the next day. Every being has a purpose. Follow a dog or a child, explore a little, ask one question, which leads to another, and then a whole new world appears before you. Children and dogs. On a walk, the most important thing to do is be curious. We walk for all sorts of reasons. We decompress. We count steps. We listen to music. We make lists. If we are not alone, we talk. Yet if we follow our dog’s nose, if we spend a bit of time wondering about where that plant, that flower, that mysterious jackrabbit — their head and ears peeking out from a bush — came from, and we do it repeatedly, the biosphere emerges before us as astonishing and interconnected. We walk in a sacred space. Life connected; life dependent. Nothing stands, walks, runs, creeps, swims, slithers, sends out shoots or roots independently. Every living creature has a past, a history that takes it back to those single-cell ancestors four billion years ago. It is the great Oneness.” Valeria interviews Hersch Wilson — He is the author of  “Dog Lessons: Learning the Important Stuff from Our Best Friends, Play To Win: Choosing Growth Over Fear in Work and Life, Firefighter Zen: A Field Guide to Thriving in Tough Times and Test of Faith - A Novel of Faith and Murder in the Southwest.” Hersch Wilson has worked (as in jobs he was actually paid for) as a corn pollinator, a ferris wheel operator, a short-order cook, a ballet dancer, an outdoor educator, a soccer coach, a leadership consultant, a pilot, and a writer. The ferris wheel operating was the strangest job. Lots of physics involved. Along the way, he was also a volunteer firefighter-EMT for thirty-three years which culminated in the award-winning book, “Firefighter Zen, A Field Guide for Thriving in Tough Times.“ Most importantly he is the partner of Laurie Wilson, father of two daughters and grandfather of two. For over sixty years he’s also been a dog guardian. He has co-written three national business bestsellers with his father, Larry Wilson, including the award-winning, “Play to Win: Choosing Growth Over Fear in Work and in Life”. Hersch attended Colorado College and quit his junior year to follow his passion, dance. He performed in Canada, Switzerland, and the United States. After that career ended, he graduated with a BA in English from the University of Minnesota. Hersch and Laurie live in Santa Fe, New Mexico with their daughter Sully and two rescue dogs, Toby, a Great Pyrenees, and Maisie, a terrier-chihuahua mix. His latest book is “Dog Lessons, Learning the Important Stuff from Our Best Friends.” You can follow on Medium.com (@HerschWilson), on X (Twitter) (@Bravingfires), on Instagram (@herschwilson)and on his website, HerschWilson.com. You can order Hersch’s books at your favorite bookstore or wherever books are sold OR you can go to our wonderful book store in Santa Fe — Collected Works — order in person or online! To learn more about Hersch Wilson and his work, please visit: https://www.herschwilson.com/             — This podcast is a quest for well-being, a quest for a meaningful life through the exploration of fundamental truths, enlightening ideas, insights on physical, mental, and spiritual health. The inspiration is Love. The aspiration is to awaken new ways of thinking that can lead us to a new way of being, being well. 

— Carolyn’s area of expertise lies in transforming amateur mindsets into a professional outlook, a crucial aspect in the Game of Life. Why does she call it “The Game of Life”? Because, just like any game, life: — Has a beginning and an end. — There are rules to be observed if we want to stay in the game. — There are winners and losers. — It’s not about our worth — it’s about our skills. — We can always improve at it. — We don’t have full control over the outcome, but we do over the process. —It’s got to be fun! On this podcast interview, Carolyn’s intention is not to tout her coaching services but to unveil as many of her 50 principles of living life as a "Pro." Carolyn firmly believes that even embracing a single principle from her handbook can steer you towards a more powerful and purposeful life! Valeria interviews Carolyn Mahboubi — She is a distinguished Life and Leadership Coach who works with some of the most extraordinary and interesting people in the world. Armed with over four decades of leadership and entrepreneurial prowess, she empowers her clients (both young and not-so-young adults) to seize the reins of their lives, families, and businesses, and lead with Radical Responsibility. To learn more about Carolyn Mahboubi and her work, please visit: https://www.carolynmahboubi.com/ and Instagram: @carolynmahboubi_coach

— Throughout Ellen’s 30 years in the industry, the secret ingredient that connected her to her clients wasn't just the food. It was that she crafted her meals like "medicine" and listened when their needs/goals changed. Whether Ellen’s clients were dealing with acne or autoimmune issues, her health-minded recipes would nourish more than their hunger. She has experienced first-hand how our digestive system directly impacts our lives, and it changed the old "You are what you eat" mentality to a mindset focused on "You are what you can digest." Ellen’s mission is to help you improve your gut health so you feel your healthiest – mind, body, and spirit. In her latest book, Gut Driven, and her 3-week Reset 90/10 program, Ellen breaks it down and give you the road map to heal your body, achieve balance, and reset your relationship with food! Valeria interviews Ellen Postolowski  — She is the author of “Gut Driven: Jump-Start Digestive Health to Nourish Body, Mind, and Spirit.” As a health-focused chef, Ellen lives by the well-known motto: “Let food be thy medicine.” It is obvious that eating more fruits and vegetables is in your best interest, but simply knowing that is not enough. By embracing the connection between self-care, better choices, enhanced gut health, cognitive functions, and hormonal balance, we begin to heal. Plus, food inspires! It gives us the opportunity to create and gather in community to enjoy the flavors each season brings. To learn more about Ellen Postolowski  and her work, please visit: https://www.chefellen.com/