“Letting go gives us freedom and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If in our heart we still cling to anything — anger, anxiety, or possessions — we cannot be free.” — Thich Nhat Hanh This week, we’re looking at letting go through the lens of forgiveness. In sharing her courageous journey forgiving her father, Dr.Michele Harper illuminates that forgiveness not only offers us peace in the present. It becomes a compass to live in pursuit of it. 

“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique…It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.” — Revered Choreographer Martha Graham This week, Bob Roth shares how we can keep the channel open. Renowned Transcendental Meditation teacher and CEO of The David Lynch Foundation, he’s learned that creativity isn’t as mysterious as it seems. Instead, it flourishes in “the genius lounge:” a network in our brain he introduces us to in this snippet. 

In this episode snippet, pilates and wellbeing leader Erika Bloom illuminates our body's quest for equilibrium and invites us to approach the balance question from a new lens.  What is one signal your body is giving you this week? How might you slow down and listen to it?   

“In the moment of pause, there is something sacred.”  This week, we’re excited to share an invitation to pause and appreciate the beauty around us from Reverend Jen Bailey, Founder of Faith Matters Network and Co-founder of The People’s Supper.  What feels sacred to you? How might you pause to honor it this week?   

“Your past shapes your present. It doesn’t have to define your present.”  In this episode snippet, psychotherapist and Frame Co-founder Sage Grazer illuminates the impact of the stories we tell ourselves and how to rewrite them to serve our wellbeing. 

In this episode snippet, author and renowned life coach Martha Beck illuminates how we can awaken to our inner freedom and live in integrity to sustain it.

We often hear that awareness is the greatest agent for change. Our guests teach me it’s also a gift of understanding.  Insight around how dopamine influences our behavior is one I carry with me from Dr. Anna Lembke, Professor of Psychiatry at Stanford and Chief of their Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic. Her description of dopamine deficit states offers a moment of clarity when I find myself engaged in a habit I know doesn't serve me.  Habits can be a source of stress or sustenance. In this episode snippet, Dr. Lembke illustrates the pain-pleasure balance that drives them and how we can harness them for good. 

When Maggie Doyne was 18 she saw a young girl breaking stones to sell in a dried riverbed in Nepal. She was taking a gap year until Hima stopped her in her tracks. All she could think was: “What am I supposed to do? In this moment, in this life? What are we, as a human family, supposed to do and be?” Maggie’s initial calling to send Hima to school was the seed of a mission that soon became the BlinkNow Foundation, which now encompasses a thriving children's home, school, women's center, and more. It’s also the place where she became a mother to over 50 children and supports the flourishing of hundreds more. Maggie devotes herself to her calling through love —“not in a rose colored glasses kind of way. In a way of: How do we use love as a tool for peace and joint humanity? It is a powerful restitution.” We gain a glimpse into what love makes possible in our conversation about her stunning memoir, Between the Mountain and the Sky.

This week, we’re illuminating life’s most beautiful moments with an exercise from Dr. BJ Miller, Mettle Health Co-founder and hospice and palliative medicine physician…  “Close your eyes and think about this last week. Where — even for a millisecond —  did you get the feeling that everything was okay, even if it's falling apart?  Oftentimes, it's an aesthetic moment — a sunset, a meal, laughing with a grandkid — some connection to the world where time melts away. There's no need for a past or future. You're just present in that moment.  Now, we're paying attention in this more subtle way. Let’s work with that. Keep an eye out. Take a picture. Then, we can explore stringing together these moments.”  Dr. Miller’s question isn’t just an invitation to savor these moments. It’s a calling not to miss them.  In this episode snippet, we discuss opening our hearts and daring to be moved.  What beautiful moments can you string together this week? How might you fully appreciate them? 

In leadership, as in life - there’s no greater currency than Trust.  Without it, no relationship, let alone team or organization can endure. Reflect for a moment on the last time someone in your inner circle betrayed your trust - How did it make you feel?  Likely not great - and regardless of the emotion, it’s a feeling that won’t easily be forgotten.  On the flip side, think about a relationship where trust is unequivocal -  and the influence that has on your sense of self and the relationship with the other individual and/or company? Each of us has stories that reflect our experiences with Trust - both positive and negative; still, the widening trust gap in society begs an urgent call for reexamining the very essence of Trust in business and in life.  I was excited to have this conversation with Stephen M. R. Covey because few have had the global access to leaders and leadership as he has.  Having worked with leaders in fifty-five countries, he has a strong grasp of what   distinguishes elite leaders, and why the “Trust and Inspire” model is in complete alignment the leadership demands of today.