The Gathering Room Podcast

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.

You’ve heard of the fight and flight reflexes, but what about flop and fake? Flop and fake (also known as fawn) are two of the other responses in the polyvagal system, a theory about how our nervous systems adapt to stress and the environment. Fake/fawn is a people-pleasing response, and flop means you just lie there unable to drum up motivation.  In this special “Listen Again” episode of The Gathering Room, Martha’s talking about polyvagal theory and how to regulate your nervous system when it gets hijacked by fight, flight, flop, fake, or freeze. One of the things polyvagal theory says is that we can never go into a calm, alert state unless our nervous systems are interacting with one of four things: self, others, nature, and spirit. The good news is that Martha has a process to help you do exactly that! If you’re feeling frazzled, overstimulated, or overwhelmed and you need some relief, tune in and let Martha guide you back to your center of calm. With a few prompts, you can start to regulate your nervous system and become conscious of the beauty, joy, and love all around you. 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.

For this special “Listen Again” episode of The Gathering Room, Martha is sharing her conversation with Dr. Richard Schwartz, the brilliant creator of Internal Family Systems (IFS), a wonderful therapeutic model that Martha loves using! IFS provides an optimistic, empowering framework to help us focus on the different “parts” of our personalities so that we can shift into a state characterized by curiosity, calm, confidence, and compassion. Tune in for their conversation about Richard’s latest book, YOU ARE THE ONE YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR: APPLYING INTERNAL FAMILY SYSTEMS TO INTIMATE RELATIONSHIPS, which is available at all major retailers.  If you’re interested in learning more about IFS, you won’t want to miss this one! 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 in the mood to make some magic?  Martha is! And in this special “Listen Again” episode of The Gathering Room, she’s sharing inspiration from Suzanne Eder’s book, What You Want Wants You, to help you reconnect with your true desires so you can follow the path to your soul’s fulfillment. While our culture teaches us to associate desire with selfishness and even depravity—a.k.a. “base desire”—Eder’s book says this is a misinterpretation. Instead, real desire is an expression of the one soul that is the basic ground of being for all of us. As Martha elaborates, we’re all pure divine essence, and to be in physical form is to perceive an apparent separation between ourselves and all other things. The truth, however, is that we are all one. Tapping into that truth and being kind to the self are the ways we spark magic. To learn how to drop the illusion of separation, get in touch with your true desires, and start creating a life that works for you like magic, don’t miss 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.