The Gathering Room Podcast

The state of the world right now is unnerving. In this episode of The Gathering Room, she shares how we can start to heal the parts of us that are in pain or despair over the state of things. Martha says that when we experience trauma, shock, fear, or loss, our psyches can split into different parts to help us cope. To heal this loss of integrity or wholeness, we need to unite all the parts of ourselves that are hurting. And we do this by loving them unconditionally. In this episode, Martha walks us through a powerful visualization exercise to help us access our deepest capacity for love, hope, and joy, so we can welcome the suffering parts of ourselves to “be warmed by the fire of love.”  As she describes it, “We have to come together as individuals held by the intelligence of nature, by the consciousness of the universe.” When we can love all the different parts of ourselves, including our sorrow, our fear, our anger, we can love the people around us. And when that happens, vibrant communities begin to form—like Wilder, the “sanctuary for the bewildered” that Martha created with Rowan Mangan. As Martha shares, “Everything I’ve seen online from the people I respect most, whether they’re politically savvy people or psychologists or community organizers, everybody’s saying the same thing: ‘Join something. Connect, connect, connect.’” Shock, overwhelm, fear, and rage are ameliorated as we connect with others who are feeling the same way. And this coming together of the shards of all of us could be what creates the calm beyond the storm. If you’re feeling devastated or uncertain, isolated or afraid, and you want to learn how to let faith, love, and hope guide you to connection and the next right step, don’t miss this reassuring episode of The Gathering Room. CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did you know that the right hemisphere of your brain is doing supercomputer-level processing all the time, whether you’re aware of it or not? Wild, right? Martha calls the right hemisphere “the magician” because it can come up with the most amazing, brilliant solutions to very difficult problems, seemingly out of thin air.In this episode of The Gathering Room: Awakening Your Magician, Martha talks about how we can activate our highly creative right hemispheres, so we can solve the problems in our lives—and in the world.And the best part is, reawakening your own creative genius can actually be a lot of fun! To learn how to use Martha’s 4 C’s (calm, curiosity, courage, and feeling cornered) to rev up your right hemisphere and start solving problems as if by magic, tune in to this fascinating episode, which also includes Martha’s Space, Stillness, and Silence meditation. CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this Gathering Room, Martha talks about the “heart healer” within every person. When we’re heartsick, this is the only thing that heals us. Learn how to access your own heart healer in this very popular episode! (Originally aired: January 15, 2023) CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're not trained to think of a spiritually led life as being hilarious or silly or goofy. But as Martha reminds us, laughter is the beginning of prayer.In this episode of The Gathering Pod: Letting the Force Steer Your Life, she talks about the difference between spiritual faith and religious faith, and how to connect with and trust spiritual energy (aka the Force) to guide you. When you do, you’ll be in for some truly delightful surprises!As Martha puts it, “The universe is not your butler. The universe is a continuous aspect of your consciousness that loves for you to play with it.” Listen to the full episode to hear some incredibly fun stories about manifesting with integrity, learn more about the overlap between play and spirit, and participate in Martha’s guided Space, Stillness, and Silence meditation. CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some people have a bullseye picture of their purpose in life and are headed straight toward it. However, this is extremely rare. Why? Martha says it’s because we live in a culture dominated by left-hemisphere thinking, which pulls us toward anxiety and socializes us to do as we’re told and acquire material wealth. In this episode of The Gathering Room podcast, Martha talks about following your curiosity to activate the right side of the brain, which is where our passion lives. And our passion is what leads us to our life’s purpose.If you want to start looking for things that draw your attention (rather than push yourself toward the things you think you should do), and you’re ready to prepare yourself to follow your curiosity wherever it leads, tune in to the full episode—it may contain just the spark you need! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of The Gathering Room, you’ll learn how little you really have to do. If you think that sounds too easy, change what you think, not what you do. Come see how! (Originally aired: January 8, 2023)   CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is there something you’re trying to get done? Something you really, really want, but you're struggling?While our culture teaches us to “never give up the struggle,” in this episode of The Gathering Room, Martha is talking about how taking breaks and allowing for rest can lead to unexpected improvements and breakthroughs.As many Gatherers know, Martha’s been working on watercolor painting for months now, and she finds it extremely challenging. Recently she had to take a break from it, and when she finally got back to her easel, something strange happened… Her hand just knew what to do! As Martha describes it:“It was like everything I’d been experimenting with had sunk into my nervous system. And actually, when the brain learns a new skill, especially if it learns playfully, it does start on the top of your brain and then it literally sinks in. The more you do it, the more it goes down toward the core of your brain, and you get better and better at it. And it doesn't feel like it’s you doing it anymore—it feels like magic.” If you’d like to learn how to get the kind of rest that leads to magical breakthroughs—Martha’s favorite ways include sleep, laughter, puzzle-cracking, and more—be sure to listen to the full episode. You’ll also be able to take a restful break as she leads you in her favorite meditation.Don’t miss it! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you been struggling to climb pyramids of power, education, wealth, or anything else our culture teaches us to value? Are you ready to find (or return to) your true nature instead?In this episode of The Gathering Room, Martha is talking about the importance of “be-wilder-ing” ourselves and the transformative power of making authentic connections.She says that if we can get far enough from society's rules and be willing to break them in some ways—and also be willing to look deeply within ourselves—we will go back to what nature wants us to be.If we can find our true selves, there's only one task we need to save the world, and that task is three simple words: “Find the others.” With her brand-new online community, Wilder, Martha feels even closer to fulfilling that mission!As she tells us, the technology we now have for gathering together is a tool in the hands of the Divine, and with the Wilder Community, it has evolved into a kind of wild space where we can become ourselves and find the others.If you can go wild, you will find where you're meant to be—where there’s nowhere to go and nothing to strive for, but everything to love, enjoy, experience, and savor. “That's why we're here,” Martha says. “We are here to enjoy this world.”To learn more about finding and embracing your true nature, connecting with others, and using your integrity to navigate life's challenges—and also hear about Martha’s exciting experiences in the Wilder community—be sure to tune in!Martha also shares book recommendations, answers listener questions, and leads you in her Space, Silence, and Stillness meditation, emphasizing human imagination and its potential to create positive change in the world. Don’t miss it! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are times when really important things are happening, and we really care about the results. At such times, it’s hard not to get stuck in that awful place between hope and fear.In this episode of The Gathering Room, Martha is talking about how hope and fear are on the same continuum. The moment you get attached to a hope, you’re also afraid it won't happen. And the moment you’re afraid of something happening, you also hope that it won’t.As it says in Martha’s favorite book, the Tao Te Ching, “Hope is as hollow as fear. Whether you go up the ladder or down, your position is shaky. When you stand with your two feet on the ground, you will always keep your balance.”Hope and fear are fundamentally future directed, Martha says, so to get off this shaky ladder and plant your feet on the ground, you must bring yourself to the present moment by practicing mindfulness and equanimity.When we are mindful, we are fully present and aware of our surroundings and sensations, and with equanimity, we can maintain a calm state of mind, regardless of challenges.To hear Martha’s insights on how to step off the shaky ladder, ground yourself in the present moment, and mother yourself during difficult times, don’t miss this encouraging episode, which includes Martha’s guided meditation to connect with peace, compassion, and joy. CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can you remember times when you’ve experienced pure joy?Martha recalls some key moments that led her to make joy her strategy for living, and she’s talking about it in this episode of The Gathering Room.The dictionary defines a strategy as “a plan of action or policy designed to achieve a major or overall aim." We all want to experience joy, and yet we have a society that tells us joy is not a strategy—that we should be strategizing to achieve success instead. But until you have joy, Martha argues, what good is a strategy of success? There is no point in having success without joy.So, how do you make joy your strategy?All the way to joy feels joyful, Martha says, and that feeling is letting you know you’re on your right path— because joy is what we all are in our essence. When we feel misery or flatness or bitterness, the message is that we’ve gotten off track and need to change course.Martha urges us to turn toward joy and join with other people by sharing our joy and asking what we can do to help others experience more of it. Because as joy grows, it more than multiplies! To find out how to connect with joy even in times of pain or sorrow, learn the difference between happiness and joy, and join Martha in a meditation to help open yourself up to joy, be sure to listen to the entire joy-filled episode.  CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s a saying Martha likes that goes, “A hundred years before you were born, God drew a circle around the place you're standing now."  In other words, you are here because you are meant to be here—but  from this place, you can literally go in any direction!  So what is the best next step for you to take? That’s what Martha is talking about on this episode of The Gathering Room podcast.  She shares all of the things she’s been “nerding out” over in her quest to discover her best next step: the adjacent possible, liquid networks, and what Dylan Thomas called “the force that through the green fuse drives the flower.” The “adjacent possible” means something that can happen but hasn’t happened yet, and we humans are in an adjacent possible right now—it’s possible to fix everything that is broken, given the technologies we have and the ideas that we come up with. Martha says that when there's a big thing that wants to happen, the information and ideas necessary to come up with it are hidden in a kind of mosaic: We’re all equipped with different fragments that only make sense when we come together. “Whenever I am close to a best next step,” she says, “the hair on my arms prickles a lot. I feel sort of guided to certain books. I get obsessed with songs and I look them up and the lyrics give me ideas, and I am drawn to certain other people.”  Martha shares how to sense when something wonderful is coming—something delicious and delightful and exhilarating and new that you've been preparing for your whole life—and allow the intelligence of nature to show you your best next step toward it.  If you’re ready to take that best next step, be sure to tune in for the full episode, where Martha also shares the best next step she’s most excited about in her own life. Don’t miss it! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did you know that joy is your birthright as a human?Finding joy is one of Martha’s favorite topics, and that’s what she’s talking about on this episode of The Gathering Room! Martha says that joy, like beauty, is its own excuse for being, and she shares ways we can look for and experience joy, even in the midst of difficulty.She quotes a Jack Gilbert poem that says, "We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world.” Meaning, we must find joy wherever we are. Martha clarifies that joy is not the same thing as happiness. Happiness is what you feel when something you do succeeds, or you recover from an illness, or someone you love comes back from far away. Happiness is wonderful, of course, but joy goes much deeper. Joy is something that says, "I am here on an experience-gathering mission, and my soul loves adventure and is not afraid to suffer." Martha says that joy is what gets you through this world because it reminds you that you are not of this world. It is something more lasting, more powerful, and more loving than your physical experience could ever be.To hear how Martha found joy during some difficult times in her own life, learn easy ways to find joy if it's been eluding you for a while, and get inspired to jump for joy wherever you see it, tune in for the full episode. You can also join Martha in meditation for a little “energy bath” of joy. Don’t miss it! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you ever try to make forward-thinking plans, but then you get hit with surprises you never saw coming?Martha says it seems to happen to her about once every six months… For example, because of a recent trip to Costa Rica, where she happened to befriend the incredible women of Sleep-Works, she’s now a sound sleeper (and a morning person!) after a lifetime of insomnia.Trying to make plans in a world of escalating change is a challenge, Martha says, because there’s just no way to plan for everything that’s going to happen. In this episode of The Gathering Room, she talks about how to move forward by embracing change and uncertainty—and the delightful surprises that can come your way when you do.Martha’s method is to keep a wide-open mind and throw herself upon the mercy of the universe. If something feels good to her soul (and by “good” she means a feeling of complete peace washing over her) then she moves toward that thing in a very specific way.“In my life,” she says, “I have found that the sense of being pulled by my heart and soul is a kind of yearning mixed with peace—and trust that I'm meant to have what I deeply desire.”That feeling is what has always pulled Martha forward, and it's the reason she started teaching her Wayfinder Life Coach Training program—she wanted to teach people to find their path forward the way she does.As she started getting cohorts of new Wayfinder trainees, she’d ask why they joined the program, and fully 85% would say they had no idea, which filled her with the joy of connection: "Yes! My people! They're out there!"To hear more about how you can work toward perfect integrity, learn to recognize the feeling of pull or push that can guide you to your true yearning, and move toward your next wild and wonderful experience, tune in for the full conversation!This episode also includes Martha’s guided Space, Stillness, and Silence meditation to help you bring your attention off the reasons you do things in the outer world, so you can focus on the field of connection that’s pulling you toward what you're meant to do next. CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are you someone who likes making vision boards?  They’re a fun way to direct your attention—and because whatever we put our attention on tends to show up in our consciousness and in our lives, vision boards can be powerful tools for healing and for helping you manifest your desires. In this episode of The Gathering Room, Martha shares how to create a vision board, starting with digging deep into your preferences to find out what you truly want (not what you’ve been socialized to think you want) and allowing yourself the time and space to be creative.  Then, Martha says, you’ll start “constellating an economic ecosystem.”  Constellating means coming together by natural forces, so you sit in the center of your desire and your creativity, and the things you want—such as more income, good health, happy relationships—will start forming around you like a constellation. Any place on earth where you have space, energy, and water, you're going to get ecosystems. And the same is true with each of us, Martha says. Our yearning is the energy, our creativity is the water, and the space is the time we give it in our lives. Society has traditionally taught us that we should get one job, keep it until we retire, and that one job is where we’ll get all our money forever. So we’re not used to seeing our personal economy as a complex system of things.  However, because of technology and competition, the old way of doing things is collapsing, and it’s become more feasible in our economy to have an economic ecosystem. To create one you need liberated deep desire, plus liberated creativity, plus time—and a vision board can help. To learn Martha’s steps for making vision boards that create thriving economic ecosystems in your own life, join her for this fun and inspiring episode! She’ll also lead you in a meditation to help your deepest desires and the infinite power of your creativity do their magical work. CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did you know that we’re energetically connected?We all have the ability to feel each other’s energy: if someone is happy and calm, we can feel it, and when someone is angry or dangerous, we can feel that as well. What’s more, we’re each projecting our own energy all the time.However, when you’re not aware of the energy you’re giving off, you inadvertently create what Martha calls “energetic dark spots”—and these make you vulnerable to people with negative energy who want to prey on you in some way.In this episode of The Gathering Room, Martha talks about how you can mend any energetic dark spots you may have and create an integrous energy that is calm, pure, and doesn't attract negativity.She’ll walk you through the process she uses to heal her own energy shields—using questions she learned from the work of Byron Katie—and she’ll also lead you in her Space, Silence, and Stillness meditation to help you visualize the energy that connects us all.Plus, Rowan Mangan will join Martha at the end for a very exciting announcement, so be sure to tune in for the full episode! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Waves of shame. They're icky, they're toxic, and they're not easy to escape. In this episode of The Gathering Room, Martha is talking about how we can move past this particularly intense form of anxiety and swim on to better horizons.Shame attacks us at the level of basic self-identity and makes us believe that our vulnerabilities are permanent, personal, and pervasive. It also wants us to keep secrets and hide things. So, Martha says, by being open and sharing our humiliating moments—the opposite of what shame wants us to do—we can actually reduce our feelings of shame. And often, the more embarrassing your “shameful” moment, the more it can be turned into a freeing kind of humor that helps you feel safe. To learn how to share your vulnerabilities safely through openness, humor, and the step-check-step method, don’t miss this liberating episode. It also includes Martha’s guided Silence, Space, and Stillness meditation—with a special devotion to the parts of you that have ever felt shamed. CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Many of us have heard about the mind-body connection, but have you ever tried sense-memory therapy? Martha recently lost her sense of smell to a sinus infection, and instead of worrying that she'll never get it back, she's trying sense-memory therapy—she holds her favorite pine-scented candle close to her nose while relishing the memory of smelling that candle. Recalling positive sense memories creates connections in the brain that reinforce positive, joyful times instead of fear or anxiety, and that's what Martha is talking about in this episode of The Gathering Room. Martha believes this methodology can help with every aspect of life—from physical ailments to social anxieties to financial struggles and more—and literally bring the good times back! We can even touch into the memory of what it was to be pure spirit, completely unafraid, and create brains that can go to the place of no suffering, deep wisdom, and the peace that passes all understanding. Want to learn how? Tune in for the full episode, where Martha will also guide you through a powerful Space, Silence, and Stillness meditation to help you drop out of matter and connect with the deepest sense memory. Join her! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did you know you were born a creative genius? All of us are, Martha says, but we are socialized out of our genius by the structures of culture. Why? Because the culture wants everyone the same, but genius doesn’t homogenize well. However, your genius is still calling to you, and in this episode of The Gathering Room, Martha shares how you can recognize—and follow—its call. She says your genius will have three main characteristics: It hides in plain sight—it’s the thing that for you is so easy you think surely anyone could do it. (Spoiler alert: They can’t!) It makes you curious. When you see something that’s related to your genius, you perk up and go "Hmm…” If it makes you curious, your mind is already shaping itself around that activity. It makes you feel something called the “rage to master” where you not only feel curiosity, you feel an ache in your heart that says, "Oh, if only I could do that!" If it’s aligned with your genius, you’ll get the “ignition message” to begin doing that thing. Martha says that when something that's connected to your genius pulls you in and won't stop pulling you in, the worst thing you can do is decide that the time for you to do that thing has passed—because it is never too late. Sometimes it's an inspiration, sometimes it's a state of consciousness, sometimes it's a way of healing, sometimes it can't be even seen.  “Anything can be part of your genius,” Martha says. “Just go for it!” To find out more about the genius that’s calling to you and how you can answer the call, be sure to tune in for the full episode! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The world can be a hard, inhospitable, downright hostile place, and people can quite often be less than kind. Yet Martha says that by practicing what she calls “kindness in motion,” we can start to change the whole complexion of the world.  Martha defines kindness in motion as “kindness while doing things” and she’s sharing how to do it in this episode of The Gathering Room. As Martha describes it, all of our perceptions come through the filter of the mind. The voice in our heads that we think is coming from the outside actually isn’t. So, as she tells us, “we can unilaterally shift the screen inside the head so that it only brings kindness.”  This means that if there's something that's frustrating you, as you go through it, be as kind to yourself as you would be to a very vulnerable child who has never tried it before, using what Martha calls Kind Internal Self Talk.   Tell yourself things like: You are okay. You’re doing so well. You're doing things a lot of people couldn't do.  This is amazing. This is going to work out fine.   There’s always a place where you can be kind to yourself, Martha says, and soon you’ll start to see your self-kindness reflected back to you from others. To hear some inspiring stories of kindness in motion (plus a couple that might crack you up), tune in for the full episode, where Martha will also lead you through her Silence, Stillness, and Space meditation. Be extra kind to yourself and join her! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do you respond when you’re in a painful situation and there’s no way out? The answer is paradoxical. Come learn how to do it with this week’s Gathering Room! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.