The Gathering Room Podcast

Our culture generally teaches us that anxiety will keep us safe—but really it’s our intuition that does that! In this “Listen Again” episode of The Gathering Room, I explore how to tell the difference between anxiety and intuition, and how to hear what your intuition is trying to tell you.  To find out more about listening to your intuition and how to discover its frequency of joy—and to join me in my anxiety-relieving Silence, Space, and Stillness meditation—be sure to tune in for the full episode! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Explore the magic of curiosity and how it can ignite your passions and purpose. Discover the balance between curiosity and responsibility, illustrated with lively anecdotes from chess and skiing. Dive into the need for rest and how it can foster personal growth, despite societal pressures. Navigate the link between creativity and anxiety, and how moments of rest can lead to emotional healing. Wrap up with a reflective guided meditation, helping you connect with your inner self and find your true purpose.

There’s no question about it—we’re living in chaotic times.  We’re all trying to be happy and at peace, and we often think we need to find external circumstances that are conducive to those states. But did you know that there is a bedrock of stillness and kindness that we can drop into, no matter what’s going on around us?  In this “Listen Again” episode of The Gathering Room, I’ll guide you to this still, calm place through a very special meditation that you can revisit any time you feel tempest-tossed. CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Explore the transformative power of sensitivity as a unique strength. Discover insights on nurturing sensitive children creatively and providing them with supportive environments. Learn practical strategies for self-awareness and compassionate communication in today's world. Shift from anxiety to curiosity to unlock creativity and clarity. Additionally, navigate grief through mindfulness and embrace emotions as tools for personal growth and connection with others. Join guided meditations to foster peace and grounding in your life.

Striving for spiritual growth often leads to anxiety and exhaustion. Discover how letting go can facilitate real transformation and peace. The speaker shares insights on trusting oneself and the importance of solitude in achieving self-alignment. Learn about the dangers of spiritual bypassing and why true progress comes from surrendering rather than overexerting. Experience the magic that unfolds when you stop pushing and start embracing the journey towards spiritual fulfillment.

Feeling lost is a common theme in today’s world of upheaval. The conversation navigates the fascinating journey into the unknown, emphasizing the importance of trusting your internal compass. It delves into emotional challenges during transitions and how environments shape our thoughts. Creative expression becomes a tool for healing and awakening one's identity. Listeners are invited to explore the significance of waiting and finding purpose amid discomfort, ultimately discovering that the path to growth is often found in moments of uncertainty.

Explore the transformative concept of 'pool consciousness,' where rigid hierarchies give way to interconnectedness. Discover twelve signs that indicate you might be part of this awakening, including a surge of irrational hope and changes in your perception of time. Embrace the joy and authenticity blossoming amidst chaos, while navigating emotional waves and synchronicities. Get inspired to connect more deeply with yourself and others, as you shift from traditional life goals to a more fluid, cooperative existence.

For this Gathering Room episode, I drew inspiration from a recent Ani DiFranco concert, as well as Ecclesiastes 3 and the song “Turn! Turn! Turn!”, to explore the unexpected emergence of hope in this time of global upheaval—and how you can learn to access it.  If you’re searching for connection, comfort, or the motivation to keep “dancing,” tune in for the full episode, where I’ll also lead you through a special Space, Stillness, and Silence meditation to help you connect with a deeper sense of community and support.  When we gather together, we can feel wild with hope and art and beauty—and we can dance, even in the middle of the worst place ever. Come join me and find out. CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you ever find yourself wondering if it’s foolish to keep hoping for good things to happen, especially with our world in the state it’s in? Whenever I have this thought, I remind myself that if we stop ourselves from hoping, we cut ourselves off from the creativity that is meant to build what comes next. It’s only by refusing to use the human capacity for hope that we can be truly defeated. On this episode of The Gathering Room, I’m talking about what I call the art of hope, which is both a creative practice and a spiritual one. When you’re hoping but there’s no proof that what you hope for will ever come to pass, there is a temptation to do a spiritual bypass where you just say that you’re in the present moment and don’t care what comes. The problem with that is that we humans were designed to care about what comes!  I firmly believe that there’s not a human group on earth where people don’t hope for wonderful things to happen. Hope is not just an idle longing for more—it’s part of the act of creating a different future.  Sometimes the things we hope for don’t come to pass in the way that we’ve imagined them. But hope without proof is something different—it’s part of the creative arts. And what is coming for you will feel the way you imagine the thing you hope for would feel—but it will be better.  The art of hope is to hope without fear. Hope without fear is faith, and that faith is not hollow because it’s walking out on the word of a consciousness that is somehow part of yourself. There’s something very visceral and plaintive and sweet about hope, something that is uniquely human. You have to surrender to the openness to grief in order to touch that place of hope—that is the art of hope without proof. Whether you’re hoping for green leaves on the trees, a new love, or a brighter future for us all, tune in and we’ll practice the art of hope together—starting with a guided visualization blending gratitude, imagination, and surrender to help you connect with and nurture your hope.  Our hopes—big and small—help create the futures we live into, and the art of hope is a vital, magical part of being human. If you want to become an artist of hope, this episode is for you. Join me! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

All my life I’ve been waiting for a transformation of human consciousness. And I always thought that it would be a gentle and beautiful awakening, essentially like what the Buddha experienced.  I suppose in some universes it might happen that way…but in the universe where I find myself now, I’m seeing massive upheaval and disruption instead. In this episode of The Gathering Room podcast, I’m sharing my reflections on the breakdowns we’re experiencing in the world today—social, political, and personal—and how in the midst of this chaos there is actually the potential for profound breakthroughs. As a breakdown comes down on you, a breakthrough can come up and into you, as if from the marrow of your bones, and it can shift the way you see your experiences. There’s a one-hundred-year-old experiment from quantum physics called the Double-Slit Experiment that I use as a metaphor for how our perception shapes our reality. Because life is both matter and energy, we have the power to see disruptions as waves of potential. In this episode, I’ll guide you through a visualization where you imagine two doors: one leading to a world of breakdowns and fear—what our culture insists is the only reality—and the other leading to a realm of pure love, connection, and infinite possibilities. And here’s the secret: You don’t have to choose one or the other—it’s possible to walk through both doors at once! This visualization can help you go from whatever breakdown you’re experiencing to a breakthrough into something much sweeter and calmer and more reassuring. To learn how to move from breakdowns to breakthroughs and step into a state of love, light, and fluidity, be sure to tune in for the full episode. I’ll also share my daily practices to stay grounded, answer some questions, and lead you in my Space, Silence, and Stillness meditation to help you connect with your Self (with a capital S) and shift from identifying with matter to embodying pure energy and light. Join me! CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.