**Please note this call is on Friday, rather than our usual Saturdays."Losing all of the basic functions of being a human being was the greatest teacher," says musician and composer Madhu Anziani. "It was an opportunity to go fully into the teachings I had received around energy, sound, and vibration."In a baseball cap, hoodie, and jeans, Madhu sta…

**Please note special time for this call."Each of us lives in many different worlds. There's the world of work, the world of our family, and our inner worlds. These worlds inside are the ones we're most responsible for, because no one else can take care of them." - Ajaan GeoffThanissaro Bhikku, an American Buddhist monk of the Kammatthana (Thai For…

**Please note special time for this call.As Parag Agarwal started moving up in his 35-year global career with Fortune 500 corporations, he began to notice a lot of suffering around him. “I used to sit in a car with my son next to me playing with a toy while there were kids outside who were begging. Pretty early on, I decided I wanted to do somethin…

Mary Ann Brussat learned as a young teenager how to see the sacred in the everyday, and in every culture and context. When her South Dakota-based family moved to Karachi, Pakistan, in the early 1960s so her father, a physician, could work with a USAID-affiliated project for Pakistani doctors, Mary Ann became foundationally trained to be open to and…

Life's one non-negotiable is to be loved and to see our love make a difference. - Matthew T. Lee"Are we becoming more fully alive through Education?" After a decade of conventionally successful research and university teaching as a sociologist, Matthew T. Lee, Ph.D., found himself meditating upon this existential question. It triggered a shift in h…

**Please note special day for this call to accomodate for our guest Moshe's weekly Shabbat practice. "When you're open to meaningful coincidences, opportunities will present themselves to you all the time." Rabbi Moshe GershtRabbi Moshe Gersht found himself at a pivotal decision point early in his life. At 18, he chose to leave school in response t…

"Why is it that certain people are vulnerable to life's slings and arrows and why are other people more resilient?" Dr. Richard Davidson, Ph.D, felt guided by this question, and dedicated himself to developing insight into how our brains regulate our emotions.But in 1992, Richard was inspired by the Dalai Lama to revise his initial question and ins…

Let's talk about boundaries. What is the right way to make them. How do you even decide what boundaries to set? Listen in and find out and then if you want more, go to https://michelle-spexarth-coaching.ck.page/d63d6b01c3 and watch the class I teach on the complete way to set those boundaries!Di Michelle Spexarth

In this episode I will talk with you about 3 areas of our life where listening to your gut will help you to make choices that will be more in alignment with what you want.Di Michelle Spexarth

**Please note special day and time for this call."Creation is moving toward us; life is moving toward us all the time. We back away, but it keeps pushing toward us. Why not step forward and greet it?" -Rev. Roshi Joan HalifaxIn a catastrophe-turned-blessing, Roshi Joan Halifax discovered her rich inner world at four years of age when she contracted…

Margaret Jacobs grew up in the American West but, like many others, never considered the history of the place she grew up in as particularly interesting or worthy of study. "There was, and still is, so much mythology around" the West, she said. "I had not been interested in this kind of 'boots and spurs' or 'wagon wheels and sunbonnets' type of his…

In this episode I talk about how getting stuck in research can block or slow us down from healing. I also talk about how cortisol in our body and that survival mode that we get stuck in becomes an addiction we may not even realize and first steps to getting out of it.Di Michelle Spexarth

"Make the world your Temple." In 2019, Sarah Tulivu had been given this clear instruction by two Taoist masters, including her direct teacher, Master Waysun Liao. At the time, Sarah, ordained as Fong Yi, was living and training full-time as a monk in a Taoist temple in Lago Atitlan, Guatemala. For six years, she had practiced meditation and the emb…

The thread binding together Shaylyn Romney Garrett's perhaps unorthodox career path - spanning diverse fields of research, writing, activism and social entrepreneurship - is community. "I've studied it, experimented with it, been fascinated by it, and been frightened by it," she says, adding poignantly, "I often feel that community is something I h…

Cornelius Pieztner, currently a high-impact financial professional, spent the first 45 years of his life at Camphill - a network of intentional communities co-founded by his father Carlos Pietzner. The communities were designed for children and youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Through his interactions and work with teenagers …

"Disability is not the characteristic that defines you; it's the characteristic that others project onto you, and it's up to us to change those perceptions." - Haben GirmaAs the first deafblind graduate from Harvard Law School, Haben Girma aims to help eradicate "ableism" in society, the assumption that disabled people are inferior. "We are not inf…

"For a child who has been struggling to read, discovering how to crack the code of reading is like learning to do a magic spell that suddenly opens the whole world to you. You are getting a passport to an entirely different future in which you can trust your ability to shape your life, and change your world." -- Rayna DineenA passionate educator, s…

When Dr. Akil Palanisamy recounts his recovery from a debilitating illness during medical school, he says it began with two words: "bone broth." In hindsight, this may not sound so surprising, because Akil (or "Dr. Akil," as his patients know him) has been a doctor, author, and educator at the forefront of the food-as-medicine movement for the past…

No individual can truly thrive without looking inward. The same is true for societies. - Thomas LegrandAuthor and sustainable development leader Dr. Thomas LeGrand invites us to co-create a new development paradigm focused on "being" and human flourishing instead of a materialistic "having." Through his work as a social scientist, spiritual search,…

Danny Almagor and Berry Liberman are pioneers of impact investing in Australia. In 2007, the married couple founded "Small Giants", a rare 100% impact family office that invests in businesses driving positive impact for people and planet.Sounds like a dream job? But this wasn't the dream they started with.As a child, Danny wanted to be an astronaut…

We all have triggers, but how do you deal with yours? Here I offer you some ways to work through those and create something new for yourself.Di Michelle Spexarth

How does it feel to see yourself as an "error" in the system? When you try out over 40 jobs and you fit into none?From system error to futurist, Ali Mahlodji discovered his sense of purpose in the midst of his life's difficulties. Having zigzagged his way from refugee to technology entrepreneur and CEO to global thought leader, he helps children an…

Let's normalize the good and the bad. Listen to what I have to say about the negative and positive aspects of life. And then tell me your thoughts after you've listened!Di Michelle Spexarth

"Every person - every place is a map to somewhere else." - Michael NyeAlejandro went hungry as a child and describes hunger as a "lion in your stomach that wants to be fed." Christine became a mother at 15 and expresses her hopes to "build a home across the street from my parents." Taylor reflects on her brother who lives with mental illness: "The …

Stephen Lewis, a social catalyst of community transformation and healing, was shaped by the classroom and medicine making activities that existed within his grandparents' kitchen. Without a college education, Stephen's grandparents held degrees in the practice of hospitality, leadership formation, and business. They were wise elders, farmers, food …

"All bodies are radiant but not all radiance is visible: stars radiate visible light; planets and donkeys and couches radiate infrared waves. (If your couch is emitting visible light GET UP IMMEDIATELY!)" -- Amy LeachEverything is visibly illuminated under Amy Leach's virtuosic pen. Whether she's writing about beavers, migratory birds, mesquite tre…

"We must remember we are exhaustible. We need renewal. Silence, quietude, time alone, naturally gives that. Then we can come back in to serve others in small ways. That we do. Then we take time for renewal. Jesus, the Buddha, Mahatma Gandhi and all the great sages recognize the importance of connection with others to serve, then step back from that…

**Note: This is a special experiential and participatory workshop. The movements will entail sitting or working on the floor. Please wear comfortable clothing and find a quiet, carpeted or lightly padded area.What allows painful events to continue affecting us over time? How can we transform our relationship to these events, to reduce their traumat…

Are you wondering how to work with an abuser or toxic person that continues to speak in a disrespectful or hurtful way? Come along with me and I'll teach you the way to work with this situation that helps you take back your power and start healing. Also! Come check out www.gglife.org for all your student athletes. I am so thrilled to be a part of t…

*** This will be an interactive workshop that is two hours, not the customary 90 minutes. See the description below for more details.To Mayuka Yamazaki, a high-level business executive who sits on the boards of three Japanese public companies, ikebana -- the ancient Japanese art of floral creations -- is not just about arranging flowers. It is abou…

Last week we talked about gaslighting and I felt it was appropriate to include Trauma bonding here too. In this episode we talk about how the victim gets bound to the abuser and what that looks like. If you have any questions or would like to visit with me more about this, please feel free to reach out to me: mspexarth@gmail.com Facebook: https://w…

As a seven-year-old living in Shiraz, Iran, Ari Honarvar stood on the rooftop of her home with her family one night, a "simmering terror brewing in her belly." Beholding the sky, she was aware that their electricity was just shut off, warning of an imminent attack. Missiles shot across the darkness. Sirens blared throughout the streets. Then, from …

You may or may not have heard of gaslighting. This is when someone manipulates another person using psychological methods in to questioning their own sanity or powers of reasoning. Come with me and let me share with you how this done over and over again through periods of time causes long term effects with our mental health and physical health.…

Chris Hoffman, a lifelong humanitarian serving in crisis situations in dozens of countries around the world, realized after nearly two decades of intense work in the field that humanitarians often do more harm than good - largely because they themselves are "not well". Being passionate individuals who move from crisis to crisis, country to country,…

Who deals with anxiety or anger or any other issue that makes you feel like your heart is going to jump out of your chest? Come with me while I take you through a story of this in my own life and how I dealt with it!Di Michelle Spexarth

Let me take you through my experience with EMDR therapy and my thoughts about it. I briefly talk about what it is and what it's for. It might be for you and I hope this shines some light on it for you!Di Michelle Spexarth

In July 2021, Neil Douglas-Klotz gave an inspiring Awakin Call: Breathing life into words, prayers, and scriptures. A renowned teacher, scholar, author, and musician who specializes in the native traditions and ancient Semitic languages of the Middle East, Douglas-Klotz shared with this Awakin community his personal discovery of what he calls the “…

How many times do we feel like all the things are out of control? Listen here to see how you can take responsibility at least for you even if everything around you is crazy!Di Michelle Spexarth

"Pay attention to your attention."Amishi P. Jha came to her pathbreaking work studying the neuroscience of mindfulness and attention when, as a young professor of cognitive neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania, she lost feeling in her teeth. She had been grinding them as a profound stress response to burnout from her responsibilities as a…

Let's talk about how to reconnect with yourself. Do you know what you like or don't like? Do you know how to find out? Listen and get started on figuring these things out!Di Michelle Spexarth

**Please note the special day for this event — the call falls on Monday, instead of our usual Saturday time. “The key to creating health,” says Dr. Mark Hyman, “is figuring out the cause of the problem and then providing the right conditions for the body and soul to thrive. It isn’t taking another medication.”Whether he’s in a gray suit or hospital…

David Rothenberg is a writer, philosopher, ecologist, and musician, speaking out for nature in all aspects of his diverse work. He investigates the musicality of animals and the role of nature in philosophy, with a particular interest in understanding other species by making music with them. As a professor of philosophy and music at the New Jersey …

Let's slow it down a bit and look at what we're thinking. We have 60,000 thoughts a day and they can get all jumbled inside of us, leaving us feeling like a frazzled, hot mess at times. When we slow down and get aware of even one of our thoughts, it helps us to see what we are feeling and what it's creating in our life. Listen in to hear what I hav…

Today I want to talk with you about receiving. It's so important for us to be able to do this for so many reason and I outline them in todays podcast. Enjoy!Di Michelle Spexarth

*** Please note the special day for this event -- the call falls on Sunday, instead of our usual Saturday time. When Zachary Shore was a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania, he called his parents to tell them he was dropping out. Legally blind by age 16, his vision had continued to deteriorate, and he found himself socially isolated, fearfu…

I don't want to tell you there are 10 steps because some people will say that's too many and give up or some will say it's not enough but there are 10 steps I give you here to get you onto a good, strong path to healing. Take these to heart and know these were and are my steps, personally tested and done and lived.…

We are living with a global epidemic of injustice, but we've been choosing to ignore it. More than 25 years ago, Vivek Maru told his grandmother that he wanted to go to law school. “Grandma didn't pause,” he recounted. “She said to me, ‘Lawyer is liar.’” Though he went on to fulfill that desire, Vivek soon realized that his grandmother wasn’t entir…

In this episode I share about how we've given away our power and how we can take it back. In abuse, we give away our power by allowing others to make decisions for us or being forced to do things against what we want. I share with you ways to take back your power on your healing journey.Di Michelle Spexarth

Conflict is a part of life, but how we deal with it is completely up to us. Today I share my thoughts on it at different levels with different peopleDi Michelle Spexarth

***Please note the special time for this event, to accommodate the time zone of our guest and other Asia-based participants.“In order to let flowers live, we need to calm ourselves and empty our mind — otherwise, we cannot listen to what flowers tell us.” To Mayuka Yamazaki, a high-level business executive, ikebana — the ancient Japanese art of flo…