Tanis Fishman is a modern day mystic who has spent her life exploring different levels of consciousness to find deeper meaning in the human experience. Questions about the meaning of life and a search for something more has been on her mind since she was a toddler. Over her lifetime, she’s been gifted with two profound experiences that proved this feeling. One being an out of body experience and another an explosion of enlightenment. In this episode, Tanis shares that part of her journey with us. She also lends her knowledge about Yoga Nidra, a deep meditation technique that can bring you to a place beyond conscious limitations.
Episode 19: Story of Trust, Surrender & Worthiness with Lisa Hillyer
Meet Lisa Hillyer, yoga teacher, life coach and world traveller. She works with dedicated motive to guide people back to themselves and reconnect to the person that’s always been within. She lives her life joyously and with deep purpose. As you would’ve guessed, it took some stumbling to get here. Also a lot of hard work. A lot. There was that time when she moved to Australia and all her dreams came true but she found herself feeling miserable. She had to do some digging on the inside to figure out what that was all about. Then there was that time that she went to India and the culture shock kept her in a flurry of confusion and blocked senses. She was left with little choice but to learn the lesson of surrender and trust. When you look at the big picture, it was actually the stumbling that helped her find her way; and that’s the story that she’s here to tell. In this episode, Lisa shares with us how she went from miserably numbing herself to living a life adorned with love, travel and worthiness.
Episode 18: Another Dream, Lived with Kristy Dhaliwal
People who takes leaps and say yes to what they truly want have good stories to share. These stories are inspiring, leaving us feeling uplifted and motivated to take on the world. In this episode, we talk with Kristy Dhaliwal, an amazing gal who has taken leaps to find her path. She’s a massage therapist, entrepreneur and yoga junkie. Her path wasn’t always clear though and there was some searching to be had before she found what she loved. She shares her story of how she found her passion and built a business with it. She also gives us a couple tips on how to get rid of those annoying knots in our muscles.
Episode 17: Navigating the Rapids of FEAR. A Candid Conversation.
Transitions are never easy even if it’s a change for the better. And it’s even scarier when we are taking a leap of faith. But what if we let the FEAR guide us rather than hinder us? It’s been an interesting journey. FEAR has become a frequent friend (I didn’t see this coming!) and I’ve been doing a lot of getting to know it better. And I do…I think. It sticks its scary face all up in mine but rather than running away, I’ve developed a relationship with it. Afterall, it still counts as a feeling. And if it’s one thing that I know for sure, our feelings are here to guide us. This one’s a bit crasser than the others, but it’s still here to shows us something. When we take that perspective then we can begin to get curious rather than hide. I recently had such a good conversation with my friend Alison about this. Being the wonderful soul that she is, she ended up recording it for me to do with it what I will. I wasn't sure if I wanted to make an episode out of it because it's such an intimate look into my journey. Oh the FEAR of being SEEN! But here's the thing, it really was a great conversation and I think it might spark something in you too this so with excitement much anticipation, I’ve decided to share my journey with you!
Episode 16: Mindfulness + Food: How combining them can help you live more fully w/ Sally Powis-Campbell
“To be mindful is to be fully present with whatever we are doing. If you are drinking tea, just drink your tea. Do not drink your worries, your projects, your regrets. When you hold your cup, you may like to breathe in, to bring your mind back to your body, stop your thinking, and become fully present. In that moment, you become real and the cup of tea becomes real. In this state of true presence and freedom you enjoy simply drinking your tea."
- Thich Nhat Hanh
In a nutshell, Sally Powis-Campbell is a mindful helper for kids and the kid in all of us. If you want official titles then she’s a psychologist, yoga teacher, meditation guide, food artist, mindful food event curator, writer (book in the works), and competitive trail runner! Her craft is the marriage of her two biggest passions: mindfulness and food. Mindfulness is slowing down and focusing. Taking pause to become aware of all five senses, tuning into your inner and outer world without attachment. This simple practice gives you the power to live more fully. Food is pretty straightforward, so we think. But what’s your relationship with food like? Not many people consider this. In fact, it’s kind of difficult to come up with an answer if you’ve never thought about it before. Good thing Sally’s here! She teaches us how to create a connection with food so that we can eat mindfully and ultimately, live more fully. She begins by bringing us through a six minute tea meditation. It’s one of the most beautiful meditations I’ve ever done and it’s not to be missed. So come on, grab your cup of tea (or any beverage of choice) and plug in those ear buds!
Episode 15: Find Your Intuition with Naomi Parker
This episode is just as multifaceted as the guest itself. Naomi Parker is based in YYC and is a mom, biologist, yoga teacher, and energy healer. She takes us through not just one, but two stories and brings us into territories that are unknown to most of us. Story One. A yoga journey. Naomi shares how she found yoga and how she eventually ended up becoming a yoga teacher. The conversation enrichens as she shares her passion about pranayama (breath work) – the importance, benefits and tips on how to do her favorite breathing exercise. It is here that we begin to sense she’s not an ordinary yoga teacher. This leads to Story Two. The unfolding of an energy healer. Naomi opens up about how she eventually honed into her gifts in energy healing after casting it aside for three decades. Keep an open mind as she takes us into the world of the esoteric. Seriously. If you think your mind is open, open more! Topics extend beyond the energetic flows of our bodies and into a world that many of us have probably never heard of before....
Episode 14: A Lifelong Learner, A Heart Calling. With Kate Mak
Kate Mak is one of YYC’s favorite yoga teachers. A mover and shaker who pursues tirelessly to create community. Her classes usually include an eloquent flow, something new and a cheesy joke or two. She’ll tell you a story about the ancient deities or maybe sing to you while playing the harmonium. As a student, you just know that you are in good hands. You can be sure that the space is held, you’ll learn something new and most importantly, you’ll walk out of your practice feel oh so good. So how does a yoga teacher learn to seamlessly incorporate movement, yoga teachings, excitement and laughter to their class so well? Keep on learning! For real. Kate has a voracious appetite for learning and never plans to stop. That’s how she eventually found herself in an NYC ashram. In this episode, Kate shares her story about how she finally heeded to the calling of her heart, transforming from a young neuroscientist who was unsure of her path and into a glowingly happy yoga teacher who travels around the world for a living. She teaches about the importance of being a lifelong learner and lets us in on her next journey as she makes even bigger waves in the community by creating her very own yoga teacher training.
Episode 13: One Man's Unfolding with Matthew Keleman
Life is a great unfolding and when we surrender we open ourselves to deep meaning. Our perspective shifts and we become attuned to the sacredness of being. Our experiences in this life become keen and insightful. Perhaps as we place our feet on the Earth we suddenly become aware of how connected we are to nature, more than we’ve ever felt before; or perhaps we look up at the stars and it’s like as if we’re seeing them for the first time, we can gaze upon these gems all night long. We are humbled at how beautiful life can be. We learn to embrace that our paths come in many forms and that there is no formula and no “straight” path. We’re all the same in that we will eventually arrive at the same destination but each individual’s story is unique. Love, joy, heartbreak, spiritual awakenings…sharing stories of our personal journeys can inspire, build compassion, bring understanding, and ultimately help weave us even closer to this human experience.
This episode is exactly that as Matthew Keleman, a Calgary based yoga teacher, shares with us about his own unfolding. We had a deeply meaningful conversation and it was an honor talking to him as he came open with nothing but his authenticity. A truly beautiful soul – so many layers, so reflective and he frames his experiences in such a poetic manner helping remind us of the eloquence in life if only we let ourselves see it....
Episode 12: Reiki noun /’reIkI/ (ray-keeey) Oh, there’s healing energy all around us. Well what’s the scoop on that? with Alishia Alibhai
Alishia Alibhai is a Social Psychologist, Reiki Master, and Soul Coach. She started off entrenched in the academic side of things but also had a deep seated knowledge that there was something more that she could be doing to help people. Partway through her graduate studies, she found a course for Reiki and eagerly hopped on board. She opened up her business, Divine Bliss, in 2009 and has been sharing her healing and knowledge since then. With a PhD in psychology and all three levels of Reiki training, Alishia offers a unique standpoint for understanding the world of energy. On the one hand her academic background provokes her to seek hard proof and evidence but on the other, her Reiki training has taught her to trust by experience and through the heart, even if you cannot see with your naked eye. I was so excited to meet her because that’s the world I live in too! One foot in our tangible earthly world, and one foot ready to take flight to trust in an inner wisdom that cannot be seen. Alishia was a wonderful sport as I peppered her with all sorts of questions to try to understand this Reiki business. What is it exactly? How can it help us? How does it work?...
Episode 11: Upgrade Your Food Game with Malcolm Saunders
Malcom Saunders is the founder and owner of Calgary’s health food joint, the Light Cellar. With products like reishi mushroom, chaga powder and your choice of cacao nibs, paste or powder, he’s opening up a whole new world of health foods to this city. The store also has an elixir bar so that you can get your superfood fix as you shop. In today’s episode we hear about how this world traveller found his passion in food. Malcolm also gears us up with tips, advice and a new perspective on how to eat. Spoiler alert: it’s more basic than you think...
Bonus Episode: BALI DREAMS. Recounting the Trip of a Lifetime with Kim Phan and Nat Phung
I traveled to Southeast Asia for the very first time in March 2016 and it easily became one of the best travel experiences I’ve ever had. I spent half of my time in Bali and I’ll never forget the people, culture, luscious flora, and fragrant cuisine. In this episode, I have the pleasure of recounting the discoveries of this beautiful island with my travel mates. Below you’ll find a photo gallery of the moments we talk about in the podcast (a picture is worth a thousand words!) and a summary of the tips and lessons learned that we shared. If you’re planning to travel to Bali I hope you gain some helpful tips. At the very least I hope you enjoy in sharing with these memories! ...
Episode 10: Wake up! Listen, Redefine Success and then Find It with Christopher Lawrence
From corporate maven to business owner, Christopher Lawrence is a life coach who found his calling after spending fifteen years in a job that he felt empty in. The transition didn’t come easy – in fact it took many difficult lessons including death and medication to give him the wisdom that he has now. Knowing the utter importance of doing what you love, Chris now pours his heart into coaching people toward discovering their dream job.
Join in as we discuss how to define what success really means, the thoughts that hold us back and why it’s important to definitely try. Chris shows us how to overcome our obstacles with some fresh nuggets of wisdom, including a very generous offer for a free 90 minute personal life coaching session! Read on to see how to book with the promo code…
+ Key Nuggets: (click here)
- Money doesn’t bring you happiness but sometimes it seems that somebody has to reach a point of experiencing financial satisfaction first to really understand this. At least that was the case for Chris
- Where you steer your car is where you’re going to head. A helpful metaphor for understanding the power of belief
- There is a village available to support you but you need to make yourself available to them to help you
- Redefining failure vs. success: We tend to think of success as a one single point to get to and anything short of it is failure, but what if we think of failure as the one single point and success is everything is in between
- It’s scary to navigate murky waters….but it’s scarier to not have tried. We are scared and we come up with a lot of “what ifs”. The antidote question to those are “…and then what?”. Continue to answer the questions and you’ll see it’s not so bad
- Chris’ single most impactful tool for success: Write down your goals.
- Go deeper and write down why they are so important to achieve, create an emotional attachment
- Write down the steps needed to achieve this
- Write down all of the obstacles that can get in the way and come up with ways to overcome each of those obstacles. Remind yourself how resourceful you are and remember that overcoming obstacles is actually part of the momentum
- Another question to ponder: What problems have you overcome that you’ve been able to find solutions to? Because that skill is transferrable to your other issues
PROMO CODE:
Chris is giving away a free 90 minute session with him, available until the end of the year, December 31st, 2017. In this session he will set you up with a motivational map, help you get clarity on where you need to go next, identify obstacles currently in your way, and action items for how to get there. This offer is available to listeners in all locations.
Go to www.ChangeMyLifeCoaching.ca > click on ‘our team’ > look for Christopher Lawrence > Book a 'top 3 motivator' strategy session > enter promo code MONKI2017 under 'coupon'
Resources:
Book: The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg – talks about how to set yourself up for success Book: Biology of Belief by Bruce Lipton – talks about the science behind power of belief Iyanla Vanzant – The speaker feature on Oprah that said ‘life will jerk you if you don’t take the subtle signs’
One of Your Biggest Lessons So Far:
It’s not going to go the way that you want it to, but it doesn’t mean that it can’t still be amazing.
Links:
If you have any questions for Chris or want to learn more, connect with him through his:
Email: Christopher@ChangeMyLifeCoaching.ca
Website: www.ChangeMyLifeCoaching.ca
Facebook Page: Change My Life Coaching
Episode 9: Canna What? Cannabis! The New Kid on the Block in Natural Healing with Julie Nguyen
Canna what? Cannabis! Smoke it, eat it, bake it, vape it. This mighty little plant is well known for its recreational uses but what can it do for us in terms of health benefits? Join our conversation as Julie Nguyen, GM of Aura Health Studios & Dispensary, explains why cannabis is the rising star of the natural healing industry…
Guided Meditation: Loving Kindness (BONUS Episode)
Singing Bowl of Compassion (Meditation begins 6min 30min)
Break down to build up
Slow down, find your feet
Settle in, go inside
Beauty in breath
Tenderness is strength
Softness, better than a sharp tongue
You are not broken
You are amazing
Embrace the rubble
It’s beautiful to be human
You. Are. Amazing.
An outlet for beaming love and compassion
~ Namaste
Episode 8: The Desire Map – Kick off the New Year (and your life) by Feeling Good First!
When you do your goals this year, try doing the opposite of what you normally do and focus on what feels good first thennnn think about what you should do to attain it. This is exactly the concept that the book, The Desire Map by Danielle LaPorte, introduces. And it makes sense. How often do we set goals that would probably make us feel good if we attained (ex. Buy a house…) it but feels like such a chore when we work towards it (ie. Restricting yourself from even the simple pleasure of a fancy coffee once in a while…). Worse yet, we feel like a failure if we don’t reach it. Even worse, what if it doesn’t make us feel good after we get it! Now that I’ve thought about it, it soooo doesn’t make sense to position feeling good as the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow; and then spend the majority of our time sacrificing, feeling bad or feeling mediocre at best. Nuh uh. I say take a stand for feeling good and use how you truly crave to feel guide your actions. Of course, there’s something to be said about hard work and its necessity in cultivating success, but choose wisely as to where you want to spend your energy. In a similar vein, the book also makes you reconsider your relationship with desire. What does it mean to you...
Episode 7: Trust In the Process with Ambre Comeau
Ambre Comeau is a yoga teacher and a good friend. We met during our yoga teacher training and one thing I’ve always noticed is her ability to beeline for what she wants. From starting a dog sitting business to teaching yoga she seems to achieve it all rather effortlessly. So what’s the trick? We go through Ambre’s story to try to figure out what has worked well for her in her successes and what went wrong when she didn’t succeed. Things get mystical as she introduces me to something called a Sole Path, which is somewhat like personality test except it’s done energetically. She explains how her Sole Path has helped her better settle into her own skin. All in all, the answer is actually quite simple….
Episode 6: Following Your Heart Doesn’t Mean that You Need to Give Up Everything with Natasha Peace
No two snowflakes are alike, and neither are free birds! I am honoured to have interviewed Natasha Peace, who’s one of the teachers who brought me through yoga teacher training. She’s been teaching yoga for 15 years but that’s only part of the story. Her background is extensive and it seems like she’s done almost everything from managing a yoga studio to opening up her own restaurant. This eclectic mix of experience is a reflection of what opportunities can open up for you if you just follow your heart. One of the key messages is that following your heart or passion doesn’t look the same for everybody. It doesn’t mean that you need to give up everything to pursue it. And if you like other things, that’s OKAY, you can do those too....
Episode 5: The 8 Limb Path of Yoga with Dannie Hoult
Dannie Hoult is a dear friend who I had the pleasure of taking yoga teacher training with. Aside from teaching yoga, she also works as a registered nurse. Her experience in these two areas are especially helpful as we dust off the old yoga teacher training textbook and review the 8 Limb Path of yoga. Patanjali, the father of yoga, has put together the 8 Limb Path so that those after him can also learn to reach enlightenment. It’s hard work and I’m pretty sure I won’t reach it in this lifetime. To back that fact up, Dannie and I actually only had time to go through the first limb in detail. I don’t want you to miss out though so here’s how the recipe goes...
Episode 4: A Freebird's Fairytale with Linsey Rankin
Episode 3: Mindfulness with Natalie Phung
Natalie Phung is a colourful soul with intense wanderlust, curiosity, and openness to the world. Time spent with her is guaranteed to be interesting. We tap into Nat’s knowledge as a psychotherapist to learn about mindfulness from a different angle. Mindfulness has its roots in Buddhist religion but it can be practiced by anybody as its benefits are available to everybody. In fact, Nat teaches mindfulness as a tool to her clients. In our conversation, she breaks down the concept to help us better understand this tool and also teaches us ways to incorporate it into our everyday lives. This is an interesting perspective as we begin to connect the gap between the western and eastern side of healing.