It's Called Happenness

Have you ever felt drained and like your life was just blah even after picking up a new hobby? Did you ever stop to think that maybe the hobby isn’t nourishing the right senses that your inner child is yearning for.    What is our inner child? Do we all have one? The answer is yes, as we age we gain more responsibilities and different tasks, goals, and likes and dislikes, but did we ever think to look back to the core of it all.    In the typical hustle culture it is so easy to drift away from our hobbies, activities that we love, and moment that brings our all our senses back to life. Which in the end what we are doing is healing your inner child while and in return making happenness moments.   In this episode, Angie & Nicole talk about how to balance the adult and child within, what are different ways that we can explore our senses in a safe space and/or a new uncomfortable space. 

Do you remember the last time you thought “What if...?”  Our minds like to takes us through “What if” scenarios usually in moments that we are upset, not feeling our best. We then end up getting even more frustrated and just stop and think what would my life be like if I chose this path or what would my life be like if I didn’t.  Due to the pandemic and all that we are experiencing right now, we truly understand and most likely appreciate Time more than ever. Time is the most valuable thing that we have in this life. The decisions we make can keep us moving forward or they can keep us at a standstill and make us feel as we are reliving in the past because we can’t let go of the different scenarios we play out.  We talk about one of the strongest decisions Angie had to make recently of going back home to the US but something that she doesn’t look back on. She shares different tactics to do before you dive into that spiral thought of what-if scenarios. All things we are missing and planning before traveling become available again.  But the most important point of this conversation is to ask yourself, are you living your life the best way possible that you are not asking yourself anymore, what if? 

Have you ever had a friend tell you about a book and you immediately know that you're not only definitely going to read it, but you know it'll be a book you'll revisit throughout your lifetime? Well that's how this conversation went. Nicole read The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom about two years ago. It shaped the way she thinks now, and applies the four agreements into her life as much as possible. The four agreements that the author Don Miguel Ruiz wrote about are nothing out of this world, but they are at the same time. They're so simple, yet more times than not we overlook them. Sometimes, you need to see to believe and/or be reminded of things to put them into action. Tune in to hear what the four agreements are and how they relate directly to happenness. We hope it inspires you to read the book, or in some cases re-read it.

Stephanie Jean Andrews is a multiethnic hobby enthusiast and author of the book The Mindful Hobby: A 30 Day Journey into the Power of Hobby as Self-Care.  She joined us in this episode and shared with us her happenness moment of The Mindful Hobby. We talk about: 🔸 How a funeral led to the creation of The Mindful Hobby 🔸 Permission to play 🔸 Seasons of hobbies/mood-based hobbies 🔸 The western culture and hobbies 🔸 Sense of community 🔸 Hobby vs mindful hobby 🔸 Hustle culture and self-care 🔸 It’s never too late to start a hobby 🔸 Take time for yourself She encourages meaningful reexamination of hobbies in our culture and believes hobbies can serve as the ultimate antidote to burnout. Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, Stephanie has lived in Oregon, Mexico, and currently resides in San Diego, California with her husband and two cats. She can be found on Instagram @TheMindfulHobby Tune in to listen to Stephanie’s story and the importance of hobbies and self-care.    Connect with us on: Instagram Facebook LinkedIn Pinterest

In the current times we are all living in, it is so easy to lose our purpose. Purpose in our actions, jobs, careers, hobbies, but do we ever start with asking WHY we are doing all these things? The book Start With Why by Simon Sinek explains that the reason why some are more successful than other is because the focus is on the why, not the what. The book specifically talks about success in business, but in this bookmark[it] episode, Angie talks about how we can apply starting with why in our personal, day-to-day lives. We talk about: Communicating and being clear on your why. Your how and what should reflect your why. Building your how and what based on your why. Focus on the why and everything else will take care of itself. And that's what we call #happenness

We've all tried at one point in time to find what is our natural way of feeding our soul, mind and body with the right foods. Though the idea of what is right or wrong on how to fuel our bodies might be different for everyone, listening to Rachel's journey is the perfect way to start. At the end of the day we all want the same thing and that is to feel our best, which truly starts with properly feeding our body. Rachel Santana, Founder of Health is Hot and Holistic Nutritionist joined us in a conversation about her holistic journey beyond food. She talks about not only being cautious of the foods and drinks she was consuming but other aspects people don’t usually mention, which need to be brought to the surface in order to understand to break those negative eating habits. Rachel decided to start Health is Hot to give that helping hand to others that wanted to have a healthy relationship not only with food, but also from within and for her clients to love themselves but from the outside and inside. Some of the things we talk about: What is @healthishot Having a healthy relationship with food Goal setting when starting out a new health journey Her Happenness moments that started with Plant Medicine How to find the balance between Joy and Eating habits, because it doesn't have to be just one She also gives us the inside scoop about some things she’s working on for Health is Hot that you don’t want to miss. Episode is live! Be sure to tune in to feel inspired by such a wonderful soul that @rachelsantana is (link in bio: @itscalledhappenness)

“I had no fear of failure because I had no expectations.” — Annie Tarasova In life, it’s so easy to get caught up in expectations, whether it’s your own, your parent’s, society’s… but we must remember that it’s just that… expectations. We are our own worst critic and when we let that go, we can live a life of purpose filled with Happenness moments. Annie is an independent artist on a mission to inspire you to look within, as she believe all the answers to your questions are found in your inner world. She started DreamyMoons in 2016, initially created to inspire her to paint more when she felt like she lost touch with her creative side. Through making art again, she connected with her inner child and fulfilled her childhood dreams of creating her own books. Some of the things we talk about: 💫 What is @dreamy_moons 💫 Contributing to the world through art 💫 How Annie started selling her art on Etsy and now it’s a full blown international business 💫 Reconnecting with your inner child, everyone has one 💫 How Annie’s diet helped her tap into spirituality 💫 Having no expectations and therefore no fear of failure 💫 Being your own worst critic and letting go of self-doubt She also gives us the inside scoop about the 2022 Year of Growth Book and two new items she’ll be launching in early March! You won’t want to miss it. Be sure to tune in to feel inspired by such a wonderful soul that @AnnieTarasova is.

What if someone told you that feeling the worst feeling and pain every was actually one of the most rewarding experiences of their life? In this episode, Nicole opens up about her Ayahuasca Ceremony Experience. It starts with Rapé, which in short is used to reach a greater level of consciousness. It is powdered tobacco plant blown through the nostrils. The feeling is as unpleasant as it sounds.  After that settles in, the Ayahuasca is consumed. Ayahuasca is a ceremonial tea made from an Amazonian plant, quite bitter in taste, which is prepared by a shaman. The word comes from two Quechuan Indian words: “aya” meaning spirit, ancestor, and “huasca” meaning vine, together it means “the vine of the soul”. It is important to note that the ceremony is as important as the plant itself. In Nicole’s experience, she was in the ceremony led by a shaman and a psychologist to guide her through the process. Nicole talks about the joy of realizing that such pure love exists in the world because of what she experienced, how angry she didn’t realize her inner child is, and how scary but enlightening it is to know there is a lot of work to do, but without these revelations she may have never found herself in the position to confront certain things. Ayahuasca is not for everyone, and you should do your own research whether or not it is something you want to consider. Different people react differently and have different experiences. This is Nicole’s story; we invite you to listen. Have you ever heard of ayahuasca? What are your thoughts of it?   Connect with us on: itscalledhappenness.com Instagram Facebook LinkedIn

January is still here and we've been in this Pandemic for almost a whole year and that's a bit shocking. We had the honor to have a conversation with Mental Health advocate, Megan Gallagher, to talk about the importance of Mental Health as a whole, particularly in these times. Young adults are suffering in the classrooms and Megan talks about what they can do to cope and have a better school rhythm as well as how every working adult is phasing pandemic fatigue. We are facing a rise in anxiety and depression cases now more than ever. By having this conversation, we hope to inspire others to open up if they are struggling, and helping to be part of the movement to stop making mental health a taboo subject. We are devoted to make this world a healthier place to live in. Megan also mentions her book that will be launching in March and we'll be doing a giveaway closer to the release date! Stay tuned.

It's the first week of the year, we're pumped and we want to take this opportunity to start the year fresh. But we are aware that sometimes goal eagerness and noise can cause toxic positivity. "What is that?" you may ask. Basically, it's on an overload of positivity, and yes there's such a thing. Nowadays with social media, we are bombarded with information and people giving their two cents. It makes it so easy for us to lose sight and our focus on our goals and/or intentions. We not only consume information, but we start comparing or setting expectations based on someone else's life. On this episode, Angie and Nicole discuss on how to change the focus of goal setting. It's in the pre-meditation of how you're setting that goal is where the magic happens. We want you to jump into the year ambitious but with ease. Remember, everyone is going at their own pace. Tune in to learn different methods on how you can set your goals for this year. As it's been concluded in studies, it takes 21 days to create a habit. We're starting an accountability challenge on January 11. We are holding each other accountable by being accountability partners in order to make the most out of our goals. Join us! We'll all be rooting each other the entire way.

In life, there are some things that you can't control and other you can. Angie & Nicole decided to conciously dedicate August 2020 as a month to focus on body wellness. Body wellness is something that has to be done intentionally, which is one of the reasons why it can be hard for some to stick to it. In this episode, we talk with Vero from Body by Vero and Glow with Vero about the good, not so good, and everything in between when it comes to body wellness. It's safe to say that we've all had moments in our lives where we are super dedicated and focused on our physical wellbeing and feeling great, and then something happens and we fall off track. Been there. Done that. And guess what? It's OK! Vero talks about her body wellness journey and also how through the years she's been able to grow a community empowering people to not only be physically fit, but mentally as well. Listen till the end as we have a special announcement to share with you all!

The one language we all know and can relate to the most is LOVE. No matter where you're from, which culture you grew up in, love is the universal language. And, let's be honest, we all need a little extra lovin' during these trying times in the world. In this episode, we dove into the book The 5 Love Languages by Dr. Gary Chapan. Tune in to explore the different love languages, figure out which is yours and those you care about to grow and work on how you can create better relationships in your life.

Have you thought about your relationship with technology? The racial impact in technology? For some reason, we trust that what we see on ours screens is right. In this episode we talk about the importance of truly understanding data, including continuously questioning sources even those you trust. Join us in this conversation with Dr. Byron Gaskin, an engineer by training and data scientist by profession. He is an active developer of artificial intelligence technologies and gives regular talks on the applications of AI and consequences of using AI. His passions include working on projects where the digital world meets the physical world (example: should we put our phones in airplane mode at protests), exploring how society interacts with technology (example: why do we trust "news" we read on social media), and understanding how technology affects minority communities (example: how can we ensure facial recognition software is accurate on non-white faces). Byron has a Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering and PhD in Bioengineering from the Pennsylvania State University, along with a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Florida International University. If you want to learn more about how AI influences the world around you, check him out on Instagram (@ByronJayJee) and Twitter (@ByronTweetsData)    In the episode, we also talk about COMPAS. This is the Propublica Link we referred to: https://www.propublica.org/article/machine-bias-risk-assessments-in-criminal-sentencing    

America, the world is watching. From Iraq to Prague, we are having this conversation with US Army Soldier, Carson Stewart about racism. In this episode, we talk about empathy, ego, and the need for change. This episode was sparked by recent events in the U.S. On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was killed due to police brutality. And he's not the only one. And it's much more than this. Racism has been an issue. Racism continues to be an issue. So what makes this time different from others? Why is All Lives Matter so offensive? Does white privilege even exists? Tune in to hear his simple and analogous ways of explaining and expressing himself, which have resonated even with those who were having difficulty comprehending the severity for change in our country and the world. We invite to be part of the conversation. Take the time to learn and listen. If you want to see his videos that have gone viral, check out his Instagram @carsonn_city

They say to not live in the past nor the present, to live in the now. But what if re-experiencing past moments in this current life or previous lives help you understand life better, overcome traumas, phobias, and/or bring you closer to your life's purpose. Everyone's experience is different. In this episode, we dive into what is past life regression, hear parts of Nicole's group setting experiences at a Brian Weiss led retreat, as well as Angie's one on one experience with not only past life regression but progression as well. 

Coach. We are all familiar with this term, but do we really know what it means and what having a coach can do for us? In a time where seeking help is less taboo and becoming more of the norm, we are surrounded by different options. Psychologist, psychotherapists, therapists, coaches, and even mentors. How do you know if getting a coach is the right path for you? Olivier Bauduin is a certified professional coach who walks us through the key differences between the options mentioned, and also entices our mind when talking about existential coaching. Never heard of existential coaching? Neither had we! Tune in to find out more. Who knows, maybe a coach is just what you need to start creating happenness moments.

We are always told to be ourselves, but who are we really? Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself: How to Lose Your Mind and Create a New One by Dr. Joe Dispenza is a book that changes the way you think about your personality and reality backed by science such as quantum physics, neuroscience, brain chemistry, and genetics. Angie talks about how this book has blown her mind and made her look at habits in a completely different lens. Angie & Nicole created a worksheet so you can take their learnings and apply it to your life to help you create your new reality, happenness moments. Go to www.itscalledhappenness.com to download it.

Who else feels like they are living in a crazy sci-fi movie? In these times as we try to combat this global pandemic, we are living in uncertainty and that can mean different things for different people. Whether it’s the uncertainty of keeping their job, staying healthy, not knowing when the next time they'll be able to see a loved one, it's important to remember that we are all in this together. In this episode, Angie & Nicole give their perspective on how the situation is being dealt with in the Czech Republic and their worries for the US. Tune in to hear how they've handled living through these times in a foreign country and have adapted to quarantine life. Wherever you are in this world, please stay safe, stay home. We can all get through this. We will all get through this.

Lucie Neumanova and Klara Gajova are two female leaders, entrepreneurs and trailblazers from the Czech Republic. Although they are from the same city, they didn’t interacted with one another until they found themselves living in the same city again, but this time on the other side of the world. This is where their happenness story begins. Lucie and Klara cofounded Femme Palette, a diverse community of female professionals. The community started in Prague in 2018 and is now active in two other cities: Brno and London. It’s been nominated for a couple of Global StartUp Awards and even featured in Czech Forbes. Here’s the story about they’re journey, what they’ve learned, their whys, and how it’s all been possible.

bookmark[it] is a new series on the It's Called Happenness podcast where Angie and Nicole talk about books they've read which have influenced their lives in one way or another. Only Love Is Real is a book written by the well-known psychiatrist, hypnotherapist, and author, and someone Angie and Nicole admire, Brian Weiss. Nicole talks about this book, what it means to have past lives, and how those past lives affect our present life particularly with our soulmates.