The Numinous Podcast

Today's podcast is a conversation with a woman who first came to me as a client, and who became a dear friend. Louise is the mother of three boys, a politician, and has been quietly building a professional practice as an energy healer. I asked Louise how she balances her spiritual life with the demands of high profile public service and also how she deals with the social scorn that comes from working with intuition.   Louise and I spoke over Skype (the few periods of poor reception pass quickly). Louise was at home in Stockholm, Sweden.

Episode 10 The Numinous Podcast with Carmen Spagnola is a show about Intuition & Spirituality, featuring interesting conversations with everyday folks about the mystery of life. The Numinous School is a self-paced online intuition development program for people who want their self-awareness to make a difference in the world. On this week's show, I'm delighted to welcome the founder of the eWomen Network, Sandra Yancey. I asked Sandra about reconnecting to her centre when she's running a massively successful business. Sandra shared the intimate story of the series of tragedies that finally culminated in a life-changing moment at her mother's bedside as she lay there, at the threshold of death. It's a touching conversation. In 2000 from a room above the garage of her Dallas, Texas suburban home -- with limited entrepreneurial experience -- Sandra boot-strapped her way to create one of the largest and most decorated business networking organizations in North America. Today eWomenNetwork is a multi-million dollar enterprise in six countries with 118 chapters that helps thousands of women grow their businesses. The organization produces over 1,000 women’s business events each year, including one of the largest 4-day International Women’s Business Conference in North America. Recognized by the International Alliance for Women as one of the world’s 100 Top Difference Makers and by CNN as an American Hero, the eWomenNetwork Foundation she created has awarded cash grants to 94 non-profit organizations and scholarships to 132 emerging female leaders of tomorrow. If you live in North America, very likely, there's an eWomen network chapter near you. If you're a woman in business, you should really look into membership especially if you hate networking. I have found their very structured Accelerated Networking process gives me something to focus on and do at the events so I'm not just standing there holding up the wall all night. It's how I built my in-person business and forged the deepest friendships of my life. You may not be as lucky as me (the Victoria chapter is particularly wonderful) but isn't it at least worth a look? Follow Sandra on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to get up close and personal - she really does engage with her tribe which has now swelled to about half a million members.

Episode 9 The Numinous Podcast with Carmen Spagnola is a show about Intuition & Spirituality, featuring interesting conversations with everyday folks about the mystery of life. The Numinous School is a self-paced online intuition development program for people who want their self-awareness to make a difference in the world. This week, my guest is my very own teacher, Dr.Jonni Gray.  After seeing Jonni as a client, I ended up training with her in past life regression. In this conversation, I ask Jonni about the role of meditation in her work, and we talk about the tendency of some spiritual paths to create a hierarchy of realms. Jonni gives her take on the nature of the spiritual realms based her her nearly three decades of experience as a spiritual counsellor and channeler. Jonni has helped tens of thousands of individuals source the answers to their questions of purpose,  passion, deeper connection with self, others, work, Soul, and the Universe.  When describing her work to people, she says, "I'm not a shrink, but an expander." You can expand along with Jonni with her wonderful meditation downloads. I'm telling you: she gives the best voice in the business! She also tweets every morning and it's a great way to focus your alignment for the day. And of course Facebook is a great way to show your love or engage with Jonni if you enjoyed the show or have follow up questions.

Today I'm talking to my friend, Sarah Selecky, about the parallels between the writing and working with intuition. We also give metaphor the love it deserves. Sarah is a dual citizen of Canada and the United States and grew up in Southern Indiana and Northern Ontario. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia, and her writing has appeared in the top Canadian magazines and quarterlies such as The Walrus, The New Quarterly, and The Journey Prize Anthology, among many others. This Cake Is for the Party is her first book, which was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, shortlisted for the Commonwealth Prize for Best First Book, and longlisted for the Frank O’Connor Short Story Award. She is also the creator of the groundbreaking online writing program, Story Is a State of Mind, and online writing school, The Story Intensive, which includes collaborations with Margaret Atwood, George Saunders, and others. She divides her time between Toronto and the rest of the world. You can find Sarah at www.sarahselecky.com and on Twitter @sarahselecky. I am not a fiction writer but I want to be because of Sarah's course. It has made my speech writing better, my course writing better and my articulation better. It's a gift you should give yourself if you have to write for your work but you're "not a writer".  You're welcome.

Our guest for this episode is Trinity Donnelly MacRae, founder of Divinely Inspired.  On today's show, we're celebrating Trinity's 17 years sober and we talk about the role of spirituality in addiction recovery. We touch on what it's like being "out" in recovery, and the importance of finding our tribe. Recovering addict turned Gratitudaholic, Trinity dreams of living each day in an uplifting way. Her mission is to spread the love - one positive message at a time. The cure for stinkin’ thinkin’? Notes to self, she says. Posted everywhere! And a whole lotta help from your friends. When not designing products for her line of inspirational giftware, Trinity can be found hanging out with her 8  year old guru. Join Trinity on the Divinely Inspired journey and watch your attitude of gratitude grow! To direct some of that divine love your way, Like her Facebook page and sign up for her email list!

My guest for today's show is Elena Lipson, a Divine Self-Care Mentor who helps conscious mamas take care of their most important asset: Themselves! Women work so hard in their businesses and in their lives as mothers, friends, wives, etc. But what is it all worth if they are too tired, sick and stressed-out to enjoy it? That’s the focus of Elena’s programs & retreats. Elena’s passion is to help tune the mind, body & spirit into income, balance & inspiration. In this episode, Elena tells us about coming out of the intuitive closet, the transition from corporate life to coaching, and how she incorporates intuition with her work with clients. Keep up with Elena on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter. Her feed is always inspiring! In this show, Elena references a great book that I also highly recommend, Daily Rituals: How Artists Work, by Mason Curry. (If you don't feel like adding another book to your pile here's the gist of it: go for long walks.)   I also mention The Transformation Game, a game of intention and intuition that originated at the Findhorn Foundation in Scotland. I've been playing it since I was 15 years old and host a monthly game night in my community. Warning: once you start, it's hard to stop. It's a wonderful way to spend a long evening but stock up on snacks and wine!

My guest for today's show is J.B. MacKinnon, author of The Once and Future World: Nature As It Was, As It Is, As It Could Be, and co-author of The 100 Mile Diet: A Year of Local Eating. On today's show, we talk about what people are really seeking in nature, James drops the term "participatory consciousness" as though I ought to have heard of it, and he explains how to will the Universe to present a puffin when you need one. A very cool conversation, indeed. MacKinnon also works in the field of interactive documentaries. He was the writer for Bear 71, a very cool interactive documentary which explores the intersection of the wired and wild worlds through the true story of a mother grizzly bear. Bear 71 premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was named 2012 Site of the Year at the international Favourite Website Awards. His work can also be read in the app for CBC's epic wilderness documentary, Wild Canada. As a journalist, MacKinnon has won more than a dozen national and international awards in categories as varied as essays, science writing, and travelogue. He is a past editor of Adbusters, the ‘culture jamming’ magazine that launched the Occupy movement, and a past senior contributing editor of Explore, Canada’s national outdoors magazine. His stories have ranged from the civil war in Southern Sudan to anarchists in urban North America to the overlooked world of old age among wild animals. You can listen to him read the article to you, Wisdom in the Wild: Why Age Matters Throughout the Animal Kingdom, courtesy of Orion Magazine. It's really beautiful. James is a rock climber, mountain biker, snowboarder, and—yes—a birdwatcher. He lives with his partner Alisa Smith in Vancouver, Canada. Keep up with J.B. on Twitter. Also in this episode, I mention that I'm reading a book by my teacher, Sparrow Hart, called Letters to the River: A Guide to a Dream Worth Living. Sparrow led my vision quest in the Death Valley and I can't thank him enough for his teachings. If you feel called to go on a vision quest, seek him out on his website. Changed my life, in a good way.

Our guest for today's show is Robin Arnold, founder of Locate Your Soulmate.  When it comes to life, Robin has a simple philosophy: Love wide; be positive, generous and kind. Believe in angels. As the creator of Love School, which launches Sept 2014, she’s changing the way people think about Matchmaking. Rather than doing the searching for her clients, she’s teaching them simple and effective ways to do it themselves. Robin is excited to show people that everyone comes into your life for a reason and the journey of searching for your Soulmate can be just as joyful as finding them. When she’s not Love Coaching, Robin is treasuring time spent with her husband & soulmate and their two beautiful girls. She expects miracles to happen in her daily life and is living proof that they do. In this episode, Robin shares the touching story of losing her twin brother, Reece, to a sudden heart attack when he was just 34 years old. Within days of his passing, Reece appeared to Robin in angelic form. She talks about some of the experiences she's had with angels and guides ever since that fateful day.   As you might imagine, Robin's approach to helping her clients find true love was also dramatically influenced by her spiritual evolution. Keep up with her on her blog or Facebook page or get to know her on YouTube!

Part 3 of 3: In this show, Carmen shares the story of her long, dark night of the soul from bankruptcy and welfare to re-emergence.

Part 2 of 3. In this episode, Carmen talks about the first stages of spiritual development, including initiation and threshold experiences.