The Spiritual Perspective

Today’s guest, Jessamyn Stanley, is an award-winning yoga instructor, intersectional activist, and author who empowers her audience of over half a million to break down barriers: both those that society has set and the ones that they have created for themselves. Jessamyn would not have been able to achieve any of this if she didn’t break down those barriers for herself and, as is always the case on At The End of The Tunnel, her story involves numerous leaps of faith and moments when she had to put her trust in herself and her capabilities in order to make it happen.As a fat, Black, queer yogi, Jessamyn’s work in the wellness space centers around creating a spiritual home for wellness misfits who may feel displaced, discouraged, or overlooked due to a lack of diversity in the health and fitness community, and she is a leading voice on intersectional identity. In today’s episode, she shares an articulate message of representation and visibility whilst also speaking candidly about the personal battles she has fought with imposter syndrome, mental health issues, and taking up space in an industry where she was critically underrepresented.You’ll learn about Jessamyn’s books, Every Body Yoga and Yoke, and why she says that writing them was a process of awakening for her. We also touch on her Baháʼí Faith, what inspired her to start posting pictures of herself on Instagram, and how she believes we can make the shift to operating from a place of compassion, not fear, plus a whole lot more! We hope you’ll join us for this deeply validating conversation with Jessamyn Stanley, who has found that so much strength and power comes from not being accepted by other people because she had to find that power inside herself. Tune in today!Send us a text message. We'd love to hear from you!

Today’s guest is an author, speaker, activist, and environmental journalist Paul Hawken. Paul has dedicated his life to environmental sustainability and changing the relationship between business and the environment. Due to a health condition and some family drama early on in his story, Paul came to understand that it wasn’t safe for him to be inside, which led him to develop a love for the outdoors. He spent countless hours exploring and learning about the interconnectedness of nature, which ultimately played a pivotal role decades later in what would become his life’s work: amplifying the importance of regenerative agriculture.After leaving home at the age of 14, Paul ultimately found himself at the forefront of the civil rights movement in the Deep South, where he volunteered with Dr. Martin Luther King, John Lewis, and other icons of the movement. Stay tuned, because he shares some incredible stories from that period in his life, including the time he was kidnapped after he was seen taking photos of the Klu Klux Klan! Later, Paul found himself in Boston, where he took over the now famous health food store, Erewhon. Here, he developed an even deeper understanding of the importance of protecting the environment, which led him to become the celebrated journalist, author, and activist that he is today.In today’s episode, we discuss the interconnected nature of Paul’s backstory, his involvement in the civil rights movement and the profound effect it had on him, and the importance of regenerative agriculture, as well as his views on hope, success, unreasonable goals, and how every single one of us can be part of the solution, plus a whole lot more! Make sure not to miss this personal and enlightening discussion with one of the world’s foremost environmental advocates.Send us a text message. We'd love to hear from you!

I’m honored to have Christine Platt, a modern-day Renaissance woman also known as The Afrominimalist. From serving as an advocate for policy reform to using the power of storytelling as a tool for social change, she is focused on doing the work that reflects her practice of living with intention.Her most recent book, The Afrominimalist’s Guide to Living with Less, is a radical re-envisioning of minimalism that focuses on authenticity over aesthetics. A resource for anyone seeking to discover the truth behind their overconsumption as well as how to let go of what no longer serves them, this book encourages mindful consumption, and will hopefully inspire you to fill your life with only the things that you need, use, and love. In today’s episode, we dive into Christine’s backstory, from her love for her local library as a child to becoming a single mother in law school and everything in between, and we connect the dots between her former life of excess and the intentional life of less that she lives now. Tuning in, you’ll learn how Christine’s retail therapy problem coincided with her dissatisfaction with her job, how her decluttering journey began when she rediscovered her love for storytelling, and where her nickname, The Afrominimalist, came from. We also touch on some of her mindful philosophies when it comes to consumption and she shares her advice for listeners struggling with excess or clutter: just pause and take the time you need to do the inner work, because that is actually the most difficult part! Make sure not to miss this story of reinvention, reimagining, and living a life of less, with intention with advocate, storyteller, and minimalism guru, Christine Platt!Send us a text message. We'd love to hear from you!

Real Estate agent and former singer, Jordyn Taylor, like many people who were stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, began to reflect on her purpose in life. She’d had a career in music, she had worked in real estate, and she was very good at both of those things, but she realized that she didn’t feel fulfilled. She started volunteering with a man named Joseph Bradford, who you may remember from Episode 47. Joseph was the one-man food bank who started a nonprofit called the B.A.R.E Truth, which provides supplies, food, and transitional housing to people living without homes. Jordyn volunteered with Joseph in Los Angeles before taking a leap of faith and starting her own nonprofit, Twelve Months of Giving, which spotlights 12 noteworthy nonprofits every year, shining a light on the incredible organizations that are using their time and energy to create lasting change.In today’s episode, Jordyn starts by sharing her favorite activity as a child, swimming, and how that created a sense of freedom for her. We dive into her career journey, which started at the age of 14 when she started singing which took her all the way to Japan, and Jordyn shares her common interest in speaking to and connecting with people, which she believes has driven her throughout her life. You’ll learn how a campaign for the Be The Match bone marrow registry sparked the idea for 12 Months of Giving, what it felt like for Jordyn to finally connect with her purpose, and some of the unexpected benefits she has seen from the project, and Jordyn shares her advice for anyone wanting to start their non-profit. If you can relate to feeling unfulfilled, we hope that hearing Jordyn’s story will inspire you to seek out opportunities to give back or to leave the world a better place than you found it, in whichever way resonates with you. Tune in today!Send us a text message. We'd love to hear from you!

I'm joined by Ryland Engelhart, co-Founder of Kiss the Ground, a non-profit focused on regenerative agriculture, and the producer of the groundbreaking film, Kiss The Ground on Netflix. He has spent the past 15 years as an entrepreneur and love activist, working in hospitality and building a "triple bottom line" business of organic plant-based restaurants, like Cafe Gratitude and Gracias Madre in Southern California. Ryland has an infectious passion for life and is a cultural catalyst creating transformation through his own organizations and in the world at large. He publicly speaks on the topics of sacred commerce, gratitude, veganism, building community, soil regeneration, and the connection between soil health, human health, and planetary health.Ryland also shares a bit about his journey and the leaps of faith he had to take along the way to find his true calling; being of service to Mother Earth and nature. Tuning in, you’ll learn about the role that plant medicine played in opening Ryland’s eyes to this calling, the detours he took along the way, and how he is now moving the needle on the national and global adoption of regenerative agriculture. Ryland believes that everyone who eats can participate in the revolution of regenerating our soils and healing our planet. Tune in today to learn how!Send us a text message. We'd love to hear from you!

Today's guest, celebrity chef, Serena Poon started a movement called Culinary Alchemy, where she advocates for functional nutrition through the mindful combination of food and healing intuition. She is a trained chef, a Reiki master, and owns a thriving media platform where she highlights changemakers who make the world a better place. Her mission to learn everything she could about the healing power of diet started from an early age when both her mother and her father were diagnosed with cancer only two years apart from one another. While her family was set on Serena becoming a lawyer, she secretly took out loans to go to culinary school instead, feeling like she was guided by something within. Now a leading chef to the Hollywood elite, Serena has set herself apart in a saturated industry through her genuine passion for curating intentional healing and wellness programs designed to help people achieve optimal, sustainable health. In today’s episode, she shares some of the philosophies that were echoed in her household growing up, including the value of hard work and self-sacrifice, which sometimes came at the expense of optimal health.You’ll find out how her parents’ diagnoses shifted Serena’s perspective on success and purpose and what inspired her to take a leap of faith and pursue her dreams of becoming a chef, even when she encountered strong resistance along the way. She also speaks candidly about her own health issues and the divine coincidences that ended up saving her life, as well as how she discovered the importance of allowing others the grace of serving you in the way you serve them. Serena has a powerful message to share about trusting your intuition, being intentional about your energy, and practicing gratitude, so make sure not to miss this inspiring conversation!Send us a text message. We'd love to hear from you!

Today’s guest, Tami Simon, founded Sounds True at the age of 22 with a dream and a tape recorder. Though she had no experience running a business and only a vague idea of what she wanted the company to be, Tami had her guiding principle strongly in place: to disseminate spiritual wisdom. Over its 36-year history, Sounds True has grown into a multimedia publisher that has produced over 6,000 titles, including Light Watkins’ Knowing Where to Look, has been included twice in the Inc. 500 list of the fastest-growing companies, and is North America’s leading publisher of spoken-word spiritual teachings.Partnering with the leading spiritual teachers of our time, including Eckhart Tolle, Michael, Beckwith and Wim Hof, Sounds True now has a successful book publishing program and has scaled to produce events, certification programs, and transformational online learning experiences. Tami hosts the popular Sounds True podcast, Insights at the Edge, which has now been downloaded more than 20 million times. She is also the founder of the Sounds True Foundation, which is dedicated to bringing spiritual education to people who would otherwise not have access.In today’s episode, Tami shares how she discovered her love for audio journalism, the prayer that came to her during a rebirthing session that set the course for her work with Sounds True, and how "disseminate spiritual wisdom” became her code words and guiding principle. We also touch on the existential concepts Tami engaged with as a child, the sequence of events following the death of her father that led to her starting Sounds True, and how she became attuned to the “sound of truth,” as well as why she is so passionate about conscious capitalism and changing the landscape of the work environment. Tune in today for all this and more!Send us a text message. We'd love to hear from you!

Joining us on the podcast today is none other than Dr. Jim Tucker, a top expert on past life memories and reincarnation. Dr. Tucker is based in North Carolina and we get to have an amazing conversation with our guest about the subject at large, his journey through the field, as well as his reflections on what the study might bring us in the future. We get to explore some real examples from Dr. Tucker's work, stories that he has published in his books, and these examples really lend credence to this kind of endeavor. No matter what your beliefs on the subject, these anecdotes are sure to make you think twice about your assumptions, and possibly even reconsider what you thought you knew. Dr. Tucker maintains a strict, scientific approach to his work, with no past life memories of his own, and merely a fascination with the investigation of others' experiences. We get to talk about the commonalities between the cases, the results of disparate families connecting, and also the reality of public perception of these phenomena. So for all this, and a whole lot more, join us for this fantastic conversation!Send us a text message. We'd love to hear from you!

Like many Black women in America, today’s guest went through a period when she believed that she had to look a certain way in order to be perceived as beautiful, mainly related to her curly, natural hair. After deciding to wear her hair naturally in college and encountering pushback from her own family, Nikki Walton realized the importance of creating a community for Black women who also felt the desire to embrace their natural hair. She started her industry-disrupting and now wildly popular blog, Curly Nikki, to document her natural hair journey, which went on to become the number one natural haircare and beauty blog in the world, reaching millions of women in over 30 countries and influencing the marketing and formulation of products for major beauty brands.From the outside, with all the television appearances, book deals, and sponsorships that come with being unafraid to take a leap of faith and put yourself out there, Nikki was the picture of success and empowerment. On the inside, however, she was struggling with burnout and disillusionment, working 24/7 on building her brand while also juggling being a wife and mother. It all came to a head when she realized that she didn't have a strong enough spiritual foundation to sustain it all. This led her on a spiritual quest, which ultimately culminated in a podcast collaboration with the Be Here Now Network. Go(o)d Mornings with CurlyNikki is currently one of the top 10 spiritual podcasts in the world.In today’s episode, Nikki shares how her relationship with her hair impacted her confidence and her perception of beauty, why she had to learn to acknowledge fear rather than trying to eliminate it, and the key to her success, which was infusing everything she did with her personal story. We touch on the power of finding inner peace, stillness, and light and the value of sharing how you get through your darkest moments in order to help others find their way through theirs. Listening in, you’ll learn the saying that Nikki echoes with her children and how her perception of success has changed as her career and spirituality have evolved. Make sure not to miss this inspiring and uplifting conversation with natural hair guru and spiritual teacher, Nikki Walton!Key Points From This Episode:Learn about Nikki’s upbringing in Missouri and her favorite activity as a child: reading.The mantra she remembers from her childhood: “Don’t let anyone disturb your inner peace.”How she perceived success in those early years and why she decided to study psychology.Nikki’s relationship with her hair and her perception of beauty as a young Black woman.The very real dangers of permanent chemical burns from chemical hair relaxers.How Nikki’s relationship with her hair impacted her confidence and her everyday life.Why she chose Truman State University and started wearing her hair naturally by necessity.How she came to learn about the science of Black hair and the pushback she received from strangers, friends, and even her own family.The pivotal point at which Nikki saw a career opportunity in her personal hair journey.Hear about her decision to take a leap of faith and her intuitive sense for marketing.Nikki reflects on her relationship with fear and ego; how she has learned to acknowledge fear rather than trying to eliminate it.The secret sauce behind the success of her articles: infusing them with her personal story.The rate at which Nikki was producing content for her blog and how it became all-consuming.When she transitioned from her job as a psychotherapist to pursue Curly Nikki full time.Advice for entrepreneurs in the early stages of followinSend us a text message. We'd love to hear from you!

At the End of the Tunnel is a podcast about hope, inspiration, and people who have found their calling. This is likely something we all fantasize about; finding our life’s purpose or our ‘why’, and this week’s guest has a backstory that many listeners will find extremely relatable. It's the story of being seduced by what Light refers to as the acquisitive approach to happiness. In other words, it's the thinking that as soon as you make a certain amount of money, or get promoted, or find your soulmate, then you will be truly happy. From the outside looking in, Manoj Dias had it all. A decorated corporate marketing career, an enviable paycheck, his good looks, but something still felt off. That persistent ‘offness' ultimately culminated in a panic attack at his high-paying job, which then spiraled into 18-months of depression, insomnia, and disordered eating, with the occasional suicidal ideation thrown in for good measure. Then, he discovered the magic of meditation and found what he'd been looking for all along: a connection to something real.Since first being introduced to meditation and embarking on his own journey to become a teacher, Manoj has helped thousands of people to embrace the stillness of mind and body, enabling them to live fearlessly on the path to a happier and more meaningful life. In this episode, we dive into his early childhood in Sri Lanka and his fascination with becoming a Buddhist monk, his deep desire to belong as an immigrant child in Australia, and what he modeled success on as an 18-year-old father. Manoj shares his belief that he wasn’t afforded the power of choice in his career and what meditation taught him about compassion, suffering, ego, and generosity, and we discuss the value of spiritual nourishment, community, and honing in on your purpose. Ultimately, this is an episode about the importance of deeply connecting with what matters to you most, a topic about which Manoj has a wealth of wisdom and lived experience to share, so make sure to tune in today for a truly enlightening conversation!Send us a text message. We'd love to hear from you!