Emily is a meditation guru, founder of Ziva Meditation, and a published author with her new book Stress Less, Accomplish More! In our conversation with Emily, we cover some interesting background to her exceptional journey, talking about her childhood in Florida, moving to New York City, the sadness she was confronted with when she achieved her dreams. Many meditation gurus and wellness teachers are not born into their roles, but find their calling through other work and the path that life takes them on. Our guest today is a great example of this trajectory.Emily Fletcher believed from a very young age that all she was born to do was perform on Broadway, and for her younger years this is the path that she pursued and experienced a lot of success on. It was only with the realization of the disconnect between so-called success and happiness that Emily began to search outside of performance for her fulfillment. It was here that she found meditation. Discover the events that led up to her finding meditation, and what turned her from a practitioner into a teacher. We learn why she retired from acting, and some of her dreams for the future. So, to hear all this and so much more from a truly inspiring friend, be sure to listen in!Send us a text message. We'd love to hear from you!

Many of our luminaries on At the End of the Tunnel have become inspirations after some very dark times, and today’s guest is no different. Shaka Senghor spent 19 years in prison, with a total of seven years in solitary confinement. From growing up in a loving, multicultural neighborhood, and being an honor-role student, Shaka struggled as a teenager, and ended up in the dark underworld of crack cocaine, where he was beaten, abused, shot, and ultimately convicted of murder. To keep moving forward during his incarceration, Shaka turned to literature and writing. His first published book, Writing My Wrongs was written in just 30 days and was the catalyst to his meteoric career.Tune in to hear the breadcrumbs throughout Shaka’s life that gave him the confidence to write, and how his prison manuscripts touched the lives of other inmates. Shaka describes the challenges he faced trying to write in prison, and the relentless hustling he did to continue as a writer after he was paroled. We discover the importance of manifesting (and backing it up with hard work), and how being true to yourself allows others to relate to you. We find out what his latest book, Letters to the Sons of Society, means to him, and why he chose to introduce the book with a story about his father and some sneakers. Join us in this inspiring episode, with a true luminary in this tumultuous time. Send us a text message. We'd love to hear from you!

Today's guest is Aaron Alexander, an expert in corrective exercises, nutrition, and structural integration, and in this episode, he unpacks the functional approach that he has developed called the Align Method. You may have heard Aaron on his informative podcast, the Align Podcast, and if you have not yet read his book, The Align Method, it comes highly recommended too! In an increasingly congested world of health, wellness, and fitness influencers, there are many competing theories for how to achieve peak performance, improve your image, and gain the highest degree of physical and mental actualization. Many of these, however, overlook the basic principles and foundational ideas that have allowed us to survive and thrive as a species. In our chat, we get into some of Aaron's fascinating backstory, the winding road he took to his current career and perspective, and how he chose to adapt the elements and wisdom of different methodologies and package it for his clients. We get into the influence of his family, how his priorities evolved over time, both in life and work, and some of the fascinating research that underlines Aaron's ideas. To hear it all from this wonderful guest, please join us today on At the End of the Tunnel.Send us a text message. We'd love to hear from you!

Kenneth E. Nwadike, Jr. is an American documentary filmmaker, motivational speaker, and peace activist popularly known as the Free Hugs Guy. Ken is the founder of the Free Hugs Project, which gained popularity as he made major news headlines for his peacekeeping efforts and de-escalation of violence during protests, riots, and political rallies.In today’s episode, Ken shares some insight into his upbringing, from playing with his favorite toy, a Lamborghini Countach Micro Machine, to sleeping in homeless shelters to a full track and field scholarship, and how he came to recognize the power of his story to inspire others.Tuning in, you’ll learn how he managed to shut down Hollywood Boulevard for 10,000 runners, why he believes that it was fate that he missed qualifying for the Boston Marathon by just a few seconds, and the story behind the viral moment when he hugged a white police officer in riot gear at the Charlotte protests following the shooting of Keith Lamont Scott in 2016, plus so much more!Ken’s courageous work as a peace activist is helping to heal and narrow the social, political, and racial divide that exists throughout the US and his energy, passion, and love are changing individual behaviors and group interactions for the better.His story is an example of how every single hardship that we face, almost without exception, will one day come into play when we eventually find our purpose, so make sure to tune in today to learn more about the Free Hugs Guy and the power of love in the face of fear and hatred!Send us a text message. We'd love to hear from you!

No one is going to give you permission to take a leap of faith. If anything, they'll tell you all the reasons why you shouldn't make the leap, why you should play it safe instead. Today, you’ll hear some short clips from Lunch on Me Founder, LaRayia Gaston; transformational teacher, Kute Blackson; bestselling author of Top Five Regrets of the Dying, Bronnie Ware; DEUCE Gym Founder, Logan Gelbrich; Sounds True Founder, Tami Simon; the singing doctor, Dr. Steven Eisenberg; spoken word artist, Saul Williams; and Los Loosers Founder, Mariana Blanco. As you’ll discover from these special guests (who have all previously been featured on the podcast), it takes constant reframing of our experiences to learn to trust our inner guidance, especially when times are tough! Hearing stories like these can help you see that, at the end of the day, if we want to maintain our sanity, if we want to keep the light turned on inside, then taking that leap of faith is our only option. Oftentimes, the sooner we take it, the better things turn out. That's the intention behind sharing not just this compilation but every story on At the End of the Tunnel; to inspire you to trust your intuition, to follow your heart, and to take those leaps of faith! Tune in today to learn more about the power of resilience, commitment, rejection, and perseverance, and so much more!Send us a text message. We'd love to hear from you!

Today's story is as transformative and inspiring as any that we have had on this podcast. After an interesting and mostly healthy childhood, Arno Michaelis' teenage angst quickly turned into hatred and racism as he became involved in skinhead and white supremacist groups through his entanglement in the punk scene. This led to more and more violent and dangerous activities and for many years he walked a path of fear and anger, becoming increasingly estranged and distrustful of everything good in his life.Our guest unpacks just how this process happened and the insidious ways that bigotry can creep into our lives when we are exposed to certain things in vulnerable states. We also get to hear about the social climate of this time during the '80s and '90s and how different groups and gangs clashed and connected.Ultimately some pivotal moments allowed Arno to reevaluate his philosophy and prejudice. From becoming a father to a conversation with an elderly black woman at McDonald's certain forces pulled Arno away from the world of combat and aggression that he dived into as a young man.The last part of our chat with Arno is spent looking at his life and work since distancing himself from white nationalism, and he talks about the campaigning he did for Barrack Obama, the books he has written, and the community work he continues to do with the Forgive Project. Tune in to hear it all!Send us a text message. We'd love to hear from you!

Today’s guest, Leah Marville, TV Host, model and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss Barbados World 2009. When Leah Marville lost her father at a young age, all she could think of was supporting her mother in Saint James, Barbados. When a person is living life in survival mode, many of the choices they make are unconscious. It is only by processing our pain that we can hear our inner voice and begin to live in alignment with it. The choices Leah made to pick up modeling and eventually get a law degree were all based on survival. Along the way she did amazing things like win Miss Barbados and start a charity, making her life look perfect from the outside. However, one day she realized that she was not fulfilled and undertook a deep therapy program. All of this led to her starting Life and Lemonade TV, a catalog of interviews and stories of incredible people who show us, example after example, that life's lemons can always be turned into lemonade. In this episode, you’ll hear the full story of Leah’s transition from survival to intentionality. We also talk to her about the value of leaning into the emotions we feel and the growth that comes with taking a leap of faith into the unknown. Be sure to tune in today!Send us a text message. We'd love to hear from you!

For years, today’s guest lived out of his car and was hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. As if life weren’t difficult enough, he then spent two years in prison for smuggling heroin. Yet, it was through these challenges and the other tragedies he experienced that Garrain Jones found his purpose and was able to completely change the trajectory of his life. He is now a transformation coach, motivational speaker, serial entrepreneur, and the author of the number one bestseller, Change Your Mindset, Change Your Life, and his story has inspired thousands of people around the world.In today’s episode, Garrain offers us some insight into his backstory and he shares the lessons of love, leadership, and transformation that he has learned along the way. Tuning in, you’ll learn about the importance of doing what makes you happy, the craving for recognition that led Garrain to a life of crime in the first place, and the story of the homeless person who enlightened him with these simple words: change your mindset, change your life. We also touch on Garrain’s relationship with God, himself, and other men, as well as how he came to realize that motivating and inspiring others was his true calling.Garrain’s powerful story of transformation will help take you out of your everyday sameness and transfer you to a state of everyday greatness. To find out how he found the light at the end of his tunnel, make sure to join us today!Send us a text message. We'd love to hear from you!

Today’s guest, Latham Thomas, is a celebrity doula and maternal wellness maven, and the founder of Mama Glow, a global women’s health and education brand serving women along the childbearing continuum and leading a revolution in radical self-care.  Mama Glow also offers a globally recognized doula immersion program, attended by women from all corners of the globe.Named one of Oprah Winfrey’s Super Soul 100, supports women in embracing optimal wellness and spiritual growth as a pathway to empowerment. By centering fertility, pregnancy, new motherhood, and everything in between, Latham seeks to elevate the conversation around reproductive justice and share her passion for birth equity. She is also a graduate of Columbia University and the author of book two bestselling books; Own Your Glow: A Soulful Guide to Luminous Living and Crowning The Queen Within and Mama Glow: A Hip Guide to Your Fabulous Abundant Pregnancy. In this episode, Latham shares the lessons in self-care that she learned by watching her mother and her grandmother growing up and what the spiritual experience she had during childbirth taught her about birth as an invitation to heal and expand in both body and spirit.We also touch on the importance of community, committing to your calling, and being a little stubborn sometimes, and Latham shares her words of wisdom for listeners looking to build a life they don’t have to escape. We hope you’ll join us for this soulful conversation to learn more about Latham Thomas’ backstory and find out how the vision she had while she was in labor eventually led her to create Mama Glow!Send us a text message. We'd love to hear from you!

Today’s guest is Caroline Burckle, a professional athlete who swam in the Beijing Olympics in 2008. After being mentally and physically wrecked by the end of her experience with competitive sport, she co-founded RISE Athletes, a virtual mentoring program where professional and olympic athletes empower youth athletes with transferable skills to impact sport and life performance, helping to better prepare them for the mental and physical challenges of navigating athletic competition at the highest level.Caroline spent a decade in pursuit of her Olympic goal and spent a decade thereafter understanding her pain, and it is this work that helped her blend art, mindset, and sport to discover herself, her shadows, her light, her movement, and her purpose.In this episode, Caroline reflects on her role as a ‘feeler’ and the belief systems she created at a young age that equated self-worth with achievement. She also speaks candidly about her mental health journey and shares how the work she does today was informed by her own mental health struggles as an athlete, as well as her current mission to help others understand how we can utilize our emotions as information rather than suppressing them. We also touch on the mind-body connection, healing trauma through Somatic Experiencing, and Caroline’s past and present perceptions of success, plus so much more!This conversation provides a fascinating peek behind the curtain of what it's actually like to be an Olympic athlete. It also offers further evidence that your purpose is likely hiding in whatever you perceive to be your biggest obstacle in life. Make sure to join us as we dive into the backstory of Caroline Burckle and see exactly how a swimming pool in Kentucky became the gateway to finding her purpose!Send us a text message. We'd love to hear from you!