Contemplify

You know that old story of a successful criminal defense lawyer who quits practicing law to start a bean to bar chocolate factory? Yeah...it’s a new story for me too. But that is the story of Shawn Askinosie. Shawn is a remarkable human being. Not because Oprah Magazine named him “One of 15 Guys Who Are Saving the World” or because Forbes named his small batch, award winning chocolate factory, Askinosie Chocolate ‘One of the 25 Best Small Companies in America’ (both of which are true by the way). It’s because Shawn holds a contemplative vision for his life and business to create a more just and loving world. Askinosie Chocolate is a direct trade business that profit shares with their partners, the cocoa farmers, from around the world. Shawn and his team are recasting how a profitable business can operate in the world with integrity, passion and humility. In this conversation you will get a taste for Shawn’s values as he shares about his experience as a Family Brother at Assumption Abbey, how he recognizes the relationship between joy and sorrow, the lasting impact of his 6th grade teacher, why he wanted Askinosie Chocolate to be direct trade, profit sharing and open book management from its inception,... and what the hell he means by the phrase, ‘It not about the chocolate, it’s about the chocolate. This is just a taste of Shawn’s deeply empowering book, Meaningful Work: A Quest to Do Great Business, Find Your Calling, and Feed Your Soul. You can buy the book, Meaningful Work, wherever beautiful books are sold. To learn more about Shawn visit (and order chocolate) at askinosie.com.  

“The Sunday Letters are always a thoughtful and welcome stop during my week. You get a moment to pause, to consider and to reflect … and Jana often leaves you with a question to keep you thinking long after you’ve finished reading. I love these letters and find myself forwarding them regularly to friends and family.” - Reader, The Sunday Letters Have you ever wanted to be a writer? Maybe the type of writer with an acute eye for detail that maintains a deep connection with your readers. This is how I would describe the curator and writer of The Sunday Letters, Jana Marie. The Sunday Letters is a weekly newsletter on contemplative thinking. I don’t know about you, but Sundays continue to hold the air of naps, spiritual questions, and Swedish pancakes.This is how Jana describes Sundays - ‘In their characteristically gentle way, Sundays present us with what is so often a much-needed opportunity for stillness. A time to reconnect and re-center, they allow us the space to check in with both ourselves and others.’  It is from this still space that The Sunday Letters have been written by Jana these past 3 years. She has readers spanning the globe, one of which is this lowly podcast host. In this exchange you were learn how Jana dropped out of business school to discover a path that felt more akin to her way of being in the world, how the Stoic philosopher Seneca has been shaping her view of reality, and how The Sunday Letters came to be in the world. You can sign up for The Sunday Letters at thesundayletters.com. Learn more about Jana Marie at jmarie.ca or find her on Instagram @janajm. 

Thich Nhat Hahn is a world renowned Zen Master, author of more than a 100 books and in my opinion, a winsome meditative stroller. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr nominated him for a Nobel Peace Prize in 1967. Then in 1982, Thich Nhat Hahn founded a community called Plum Village in the south of France. In 2008, a young man was ordained a monk at Plum Village. The young man’s brother is a filmmaker, Max Pugh, who was in attendance reflected upon this experience of bearing witness to his brother’s ordination as a Buddhist monk. Later, Max Pugh would Direct and Produce the film Walk With Me: A Journey Into Mindfulness Featuring Thich Nhat Hahn. Max has crafted a remarkably meditative film about the Plum Village that his brother joined. In our conversation, Max shares how he was asked to make a rock and roll road documentary about Plum Village without the sex and drugs, how the ringing of chimes can break the unconscious noise, and what Thich Nhat Hahn taught him about being a parent. You can learn more about Max at maxpugh.com, walkwithmefilm.com or on Instagram @maxpugh1

Ali Kirkpatrick is a writer, speaker, retreat leader, part-time university instructor and business owner. But if i was going to name her post in the world it would be as an ambassador of love. Ali is taking over reins as host for Contemplify for 5 episodes in this miniseries called, Practice Without Preaching: Creating a Family Spirituality. The central beauty of this mini-series is that it holds the potential for you to reflect, question, celebrate and imagine how your family explores the spiritual terrain. Like all authentic explorations you might be challenged by what you discover...rest assured that Ali is a trustworthy guide and fellow traveler. This is episode 5 of Practice Without Preaching: Creating a Family Spirituality.

Ali Kirkpatrick is a writer, speaker, retreat leader, part-time university instructor and business owner. But if i was going to name her post in the world it would be as an ambassador of love. Ali is taking over reins as host for Contemplify for 5 episodes in this miniseries called, Practice Without Preaching: Creating a Family Spirituality. The central beauty of this mini-series is that it holds the potential for you to reflect, question, celebrate and imagine how your family explores the spiritual terrain. Like all authentic explorations you might be challenged by what you discover...rest assured that Ali is a trustworthy guide and fellow traveler. This is episode 4 of Practice Without Preaching: Creating a Family Spirituality.

Ali Kirkpatrick is a writer, speaker, retreat leader, part-time university instructor and business owner. But if i was going to name her post in the world it would be as an ambassador of love. Ali is taking over reins as host for Contemplify for 5 episodes in this miniseries called, Practice Without Preaching: Creating a Family Spirituality. The central beauty of this mini-series is that it holds the potential for you to reflect, question, celebrate and imagine how your family explores the spiritual terrain. Like all authentic explorations you might be challenged by what you discover...rest assured that Ali is a trustworthy guide and fellow traveler. This is episode 3 of Practice Without Preaching: Creating a Family Spirituality.

Ali Kirkpatrick is a writer, speaker, retreat leader, part-time university instructor and business owner. But if i was going to name her post in the world it would be as an ambassador of love. Ali is taking over reins as host for Contemplify for 5 episodes in this miniseries called, Practice Without Preaching: Creating a Family Spirituality. The central beauty of this mini-series is that it holds the potential for you to reflect, question, celebrate and imagine how your family explores the spiritual terrain. Like all authentic explorations you might be challenged by what you discover...rest assured that Ali is a trustworthy guide and fellow traveler. This is episode 2 of Practice Without Preaching: Creating a Family Spirituality.

Ali Kirkpatrick is a writer, speaker, retreat leader, part-time university instructor and business owner. But if i was going to name her post in the world it would be as an ambassador of love. Ali is taking over reins as host for Contemplify for 5 episodes in this miniseries called, Practice Without Preaching: Creating a Family Spirituality. The central beauty of this mini-series is that it holds the potential for you to reflect, question, celebrate and imagine how your family explores the spiritual terrain. Like all authentic explorations you might be challenged by what you discover...rest assured that Ali is a trustworthy guide and fellow traveler. This is episode 1 of Practice Without Preaching: Creating a Family Spirituality.

Ali Kirkpatrick is a writer, speaker, retreat leader, part-time university instructor and business owner. But if i was going to name her post in the world it would be as an ambassador of love. Over the past couple of years my friendship with Ali has grown, and so has my awe and respect for her passion to cultivate tools, experiences and resources for families seeking to live out an authentic spirituality. In our conversation today, you will get a sense of who Ali Kirkpatrick is and her infectiously generous spirit, the thoughtful questions and embodied practices that form her spirituality, the path that lead her family to find another spiritual community, and the specific lessons she has learned from her kids and husband, and of course why I asked her to consider creating a mini-series for Contemplify specifically focused on family spirituality. It is my distinct pleasure to share this conversation with Ali Kirkpatrick in this episode and then I’ll get out of the way as Ali takes the reins as host for the remaining 5 episodes over the next 5 days of this mini-series called, Practice Without Preaching: Creating a Family Spirituality. The central beauty of this mini-series is that it holds the potential for you to reflect, question, celebrate and imagine how your family explores the spiritual terrain. Like all authentic explorations you might be challenged by what you discover...rest assured that Ali is a trustworthy guide and fellow traveler.

My guest today is Teresa Pasquale Mateus, a trauma specialist, contemplative practice teacher, author and co-founder of Mystic Soul Project, an organization that engages in a People of Color (POC)  - Centered Approach to Action/Activism and Contemplation/Mysticism. Teresa has written two books, Sacred Wounds: A Path to Healing from Spiritual Trauma and Mending Broken: A Personal Journey Through the Stages of Trauma & Recovery. We cover a lot of ground in our conversation. Teresa shares how the discovery of contemplative practices were integral to her healing process, the significance of language on the spiritual path, her work as a trauma specialist with combat veterans, at Standing Rock and Charlottesville. And lastly, something that I particularly thrilled about, Teresa shares with us about her latest endeavor, Mystic Soul Project and the buzz around the Mystic Soul Conference, a POC-Centered gathering of voices, practices and dialogue on contemplation, action and healing.