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Gratitude Blooming Podcast

Latest episodes

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Oct 27, 2023 • 23min

Be in the World with Tenderness

Send us a textImagine a world where tenderness takes the political stage and grace is nurtured enough to birth something beautiful. In today's heart-to-heart, we sit within the hard cracks and rubble of life, armed with a gentle energy, exploring how we can endure the world's heaviness without being swept away by it. Drawing inspiration from Bayo Akomolafe's call for a politics of tenderness, we invite you to join us in this moment of vulnerability as we turn to the Gentleness card from our deck, a beacon created in a moment of overwhelming emotion. We delve into the importance of creating a space for discomfort to arise and the necessity of channeling a tender energy before taking action.But, our journey doesn't stop at tenderness; forgiveness, too, holds a vital place in our discussion. Ever experienced the therapeutic power of art and music? We're inviting you to pause, reflect, and embrace the themes of healing and forgiveness, creating room for the discomfort of change. Light a candle for healing and listen to our song Forgiveness, for yourself and your community. Reflecting on the anemone card from our deck, a symbol of forgiveness, we navigate through the strength it takes to weather challenging times and the energy required for true forgiveness. Remember, tenderness, grace, gentleness, and forgiveness are the pillars we need in our lives, and this conversation hopes to serve as a gentle reminder.--- Create an intentional practice with your own Gratitude Blooming card deck, notecards, candle and much much more at our shop at www.gratitudeblooming.com. Learn more about our co-hosts and special guest for Season 4: Co-host Belinda Liu | Hestia Retreat Centers Co-host Omar Brownson | Trickster's Guide to Immortality on Substack Special Guest Dr. Paul Wang | The Dao CenterIf you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to leave us a 5-star rating and review. Your feedback is valuable to us and helps us grow. Share your thoughts and comments by emailing us at hello@gratitudeblooming.com. We love hearing from our listeners!
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Oct 5, 2023 • 36min

The power of a good (or even an uninvited) pause

Send us a textHave you ever wondered how the power of pause can lead to achieving more? Today, we're joined by Emily Lynn Wendell, who takes us on her personal journey of battling an autoimmune condition while simultaneously building a business. Despite the challenges, Emily's story is one of resilience and creativity. She likens her experiences to building wire sculptures one wire at a time, a testament to her patience and determination.Taking a step back from medical school due to her health situation, Emily redirected her passion for medicine into exploring integrative medicine, art and somatic work. Her unique blend of modalities, coupled with the importance she places on play and joy, makes for an intriguing insight into managing difficult circumstances. Emily's journey offers valuable lessons on the role of curiosity, patience, and playfulness in maneuvering through life's challenges.In our closing conversation with Emily, we delve into the theme of self-cultivation and the journey of finding hope. Emily opens up about her use of Human Design to find focus amidst her health journey and the role of meditation in connecting with inner strength. Drawing inspiration from the Gratitude Blooming card deck, she shares her insights on patience, hope, and gratitude. Emily's journey serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of self-care, patience, and the transformative power of a good pause.Join us to listen to the Gratitude Booming x Window Seat music collab: Self-care.Find more about Emily's journey on IG at @emilylynn415--- Create an intentional practice with your own Gratitude Blooming card deck, notecards, candle and much much more at our shop at www.gratitudeblooming.com. Learn more about our co-hosts and special guest for Season 4: Co-host Belinda Liu | Hestia Retreat Centers Co-host Omar Brownson | Trickster's Guide to Immortality on Substack Special Guest Dr. Paul Wang | The Dao CenterIf you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to leave us a 5-star rating and review. Your feedback is valuable to us and helps us grow. Share your thoughts and comments by emailing us at hello@gratitudeblooming.com. We love hearing from our listeners!
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Sep 27, 2023 • 30min

How do you find your authentic courage?

Send us a textWelcome to a journey of courageous self-expression, a voyage across the realms of identity, gratitude, and remembrance. How do you find your authentic courage? In today’s conversation, we explore this question, and so much more. What's more, we have a new segment – a heartfelt invitation around the beautiful questions that reside in our lives. Join us as we engage with you, our listeners, to unveil the questions you are holding.Beat by beat, we’ll navigate the dynamic concept of courage, and its myriad manifestations, especially when fear tries to cloud our vision. Also, as a part of our ongoing collaboration with the Japanese American National Museum, we’re taking on themes of empathy and democracy. Adding to our exploration, in a few weeks, we will be joined by our esteemed guest Lea Endres, co-founder and CEO of Nation Builder, sharing her insights into the practice of democracy. As we delve into the Gratitude Blooming deck, we’re setting our sights on these evolving themes, culminating our journey with a music practice amplified by the power of infinite possibility. So, grab your headphones and join us as we tune into courage and mindful expression.--- Create an intentional practice with your own Gratitude Blooming card deck, notecards, candle and much much more at our shop at www.gratitudeblooming.com. Learn more about our co-hosts and special guest for Season 4: Co-host Belinda Liu | Hestia Retreat Centers Co-host Omar Brownson | Trickster's Guide to Immortality on Substack Special Guest Dr. Paul Wang | The Dao CenterIf you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to leave us a 5-star rating and review. Your feedback is valuable to us and helps us grow. Share your thoughts and comments by emailing us at hello@gratitudeblooming.com. We love hearing from our listeners!
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Sep 15, 2023 • 32min

Reframing Fear and Embracing the Unknown: A Creative Journey

Send us a textReady to reframe fear and the unknown as fertile ground for creativity and change? Our illuminating conversation aims to inspire you to do just that. We explore the "J-curve", a trajectory of change that involves embracing failure and loss, while co-creating a future outside traditional conventions. The dance between fear and creativity forms the heart of this episode. We invite you to consider the vital role of the unknown in collective change and how artists harness this uncertainty. While fear can stifle, it can also spark creativity when viewed through a lens of joy and playfulness. We also discuss the concept of 'enough', inviting you to examine the roots of your fears and construct metaphorical houses to safeguard your dreams.Let's take a moment to reflect on how we protect our dreams. We focus on the power of gratitude and freedom, discussing ways to shield our dreams from fear and nurture playfulness for resilience. We bring to light the significance of creating space for failure from an Asian-American perspective and how the unfamiliar can lead to rewilding our hearts. It's more than a discussion; it's a journey into the unknown. Are you ready?Also, listen to the wildcard song from our Garden of Healing album for inspiration. --- Create an intentional practice with your own Gratitude Blooming card deck, notecards, candle and much much more at our shop at www.gratitudeblooming.com. Learn more about our co-hosts and special guest for Season 4: Co-host Belinda Liu | Hestia Retreat Centers Co-host Omar Brownson | Trickster's Guide to Immortality on Substack Special Guest Dr. Paul Wang | The Dao CenterIf you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to leave us a 5-star rating and review. Your feedback is valuable to us and helps us grow. Share your thoughts and comments by emailing us at hello@gratitudeblooming.com. We love hearing from our listeners!
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Sep 1, 2023 • 34min

Reciprocity: Beyond a 'debt of gratitude'

Send us a textThere is more to reciprocity than giving back. Our guest, Christine Liboon, a PhD student in Education, is here to take us on a deep exploration of her findings. She shares her fascinating research around the Filipino concept of 'utang na loob', which she and her colleagues are redefining as a gift rather than a debt. We also explore the symbolism of currency as not merely monetary exchange but a representation of a promise or a commitment.The second part of our journey with Christine leads us into an important conversation about self-care, joy and reciprocal relationships. Drawing from her personal experiences, she underlines the essence of rekindling joy in activities we love, the significance of introspection, and the need to rebalance life. She makes us rethink kindness and gentleness, not just as virtues, but as tangible bridges connecting self-care and community. As a parting gift, we invite you  to embrace and feel the power of gentleness through music. So, get ready to be inspired and challenged in equal measure in this enriching episode.--- Create an intentional practice with your own Gratitude Blooming card deck, notecards, candle and much much more at our shop at www.gratitudeblooming.com. Learn more about our co-hosts and special guest for Season 4: Co-host Belinda Liu | Hestia Retreat Centers Co-host Omar Brownson | Trickster's Guide to Immortality on Substack Special Guest Dr. Paul Wang | The Dao CenterIf you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to leave us a 5-star rating and review. Your feedback is valuable to us and helps us grow. Share your thoughts and comments by emailing us at hello@gratitudeblooming.com. We love hearing from our listeners!
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Aug 21, 2023 • 31min

The Art of Surrender: Making Peace with Your Choices

Send us a textEver feel like life's pace is too fast? Ever wish you could just press the 'pause' button and breathe? Well, you're not alone. Join us with yoga instructor, Susie Lee, about the power of slowing down, leaning into uncertainty, and finding balance amidst chaos. Susie shares her personal journey with discovering the Gratitude Blooming card deck, which she now uses as a tool to infuse her yoga classes with intention and harmony. Pausing creates room for profound clarity and connection.As the conversation unfolds, we discover how disruption can be a doorway to infinite possibilities, rather than an obstacle. We explore the art of surrender, the joy in receiving, and how nature can aid us in cultivating a sense of wholeness, particularly during unsettling times. We also explore how Susie's creative role with Gratitude Blooming is helping us create beautiful new products that serve as tangible reminders for us to stay grounded and connected. This episode is a rich exploration of the intersections of gratitude, intention, and balance in our everyday lives. You won't want to miss it!--- Create an intentional practice with your own Gratitude Blooming card deck, notecards, candle and much much more at our shop at www.gratitudeblooming.com. Learn more about our co-hosts and special guest for Season 4: Co-host Belinda Liu | Hestia Retreat Centers Co-host Omar Brownson | Trickster's Guide to Immortality on Substack Special Guest Dr. Paul Wang | The Dao CenterIf you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to leave us a 5-star rating and review. Your feedback is valuable to us and helps us grow. Share your thoughts and comments by emailing us at hello@gratitudeblooming.com. We love hearing from our listeners!
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Aug 4, 2023 • 27min

The Power of the Collective Pause

Send us a textHow can a simple pause unlock the magic of co-creation and our collective superpowers? Join us as we explore the intentions behind Arlene's latest pop-up art exhibit, "The Forgiveness Reflection Booth", and how pausing to connect with found objects in nature can bring comfort, kindness, joy and wonder to our everyday lives. We also focus on the theme of self-care as a powerful reminder from nature of  how nurturing others and our planet can serve as an extension of caring for ourselves.  Enjoy this journey of discovery, healing, and growth.  Let's bloom together!  Meet us in Los Angeles for our live podcast event series with the Center for the Preservation of Democracy.  Or...  join us on a nature retreat this fall by emailing us at hello@gratitudeblooming.com.--- Create an intentional practice with your own Gratitude Blooming card deck, notecards, candle and much much more at our shop at www.gratitudeblooming.com. Learn more about our co-hosts and special guest for Season 4: Co-host Belinda Liu | Hestia Retreat Centers Co-host Omar Brownson | Trickster's Guide to Immortality on Substack Special Guest Dr. Paul Wang | The Dao CenterIf you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to leave us a 5-star rating and review. Your feedback is valuable to us and helps us grow. Share your thoughts and comments by emailing us at hello@gratitudeblooming.com. We love hearing from our listeners!
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Jul 27, 2023 • 56min

Art and Inquiry: Pathways to Empathy and Democracy

Send us a textWhat if you held the power to direct the energy of democracy through your personal feelings and actions?  We promise to illuminate this connection as we explore the intersection of art, empathy, and democracy in this live recording at The Democracy Center with director Jim Herr.The journey delves into creating space to pause and reflect on non-attachment, gratitude, and mindfulness. We reveal how kindness and compassion can enrich your daily life, and the profound impact of nature in helping us connect with our hearts. There's also a discussion with the audience around the themes of intention and curiosity in gratitude and their potential to foster empathy, the concept of impermanence, and how curiosity can help us understand our world better. We traverse the power of emotional reflection and connection, and how they can bring us closer to understanding ourselves and others. There's a profound discussion on the power of language to share our stories and build community, and how art and inquiry help us navigate our feelings. Lastly, we'll uncover the power of music, control, fear, and how connecting with our emotions can help us shape our world.--- Create an intentional practice with your own Gratitude Blooming card deck, notecards, candle and much much more at our shop at www.gratitudeblooming.com. Learn more about our co-hosts and special guest for Season 4: Co-host Belinda Liu | Hestia Retreat Centers Co-host Omar Brownson | Trickster's Guide to Immortality on Substack Special Guest Dr. Paul Wang | The Dao CenterIf you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to leave us a 5-star rating and review. Your feedback is valuable to us and helps us grow. Share your thoughts and comments by emailing us at hello@gratitudeblooming.com. We love hearing from our listeners!
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Jul 21, 2023 • 33min

The Emotional Terrain of Democracy: A Deep Dive into Empathy and Vulnerability

Send us a textEver pondered the intricate dance of empathy and democracy? Well, that's precisely what we set out to explore with our esteemed guests, Sofia Alvarez and Jim Herr, from the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy. Through this collaborative project, we created three reflection booths, inviting people to pause in a public square. Together, we navigated the terrain of emotions, giving individuals the liberty to tap into their own emotions and harness their inner wisdom while we talked about our collective journey.We peeled back the layers of vulnerability, delving into its crucial role in a thriving democracy. The interplay of empathy, power, and vulnerability revealed how these elements can foster a healthy space for emotion sharing, resource pooling, and heartfelt expression. Sofia and Jim lent their insights, shedding light on how our Empathy and Democracy series can facilitate a more in-depth discourse on empathy's role in democracy. We also marveled at nature's role in reminding us of our shared humanity—an essential reality check.In a world that seems swamped with uncertainty, we underscored the gentle power of kindness and trust. We explored the art of gentleness and how to coax individuals into creating safe spaces for themselves and others. Join us for one of our upcoming pop-up art installations at the Japanese American National Museum—an embodiment of our collective journey. Help us weave together the narratives of empathy, vulnerability, gentleness, and democracy—a tapestry that promises to be rich in insights and revelations.--- Create an intentional practice with your own Gratitude Blooming card deck, notecards, candle and much much more at our shop at www.gratitudeblooming.com. Learn more about our co-hosts and special guest for Season 4: Co-host Belinda Liu | Hestia Retreat Centers Co-host Omar Brownson | Trickster's Guide to Immortality on Substack Special Guest Dr. Paul Wang | The Dao CenterIf you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to leave us a 5-star rating and review. Your feedback is valuable to us and helps us grow. Share your thoughts and comments by emailing us at hello@gratitudeblooming.com. We love hearing from our listeners!
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Jul 12, 2023 • 27min

The Alchemy of Gratitude and Intent

Send us a textHave you ever considered how gratitude can be a social adhesive, bringing us together to co-create the world we envision? Join us, as we leap into a profound conversation and art installation centered on democracy and empathy with the Japanese American National Museum and the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy. The partners of Gratitude Blooming open up about our journey of stepping into new roles and the power of learning through the process. There's a goldmine here about the development of empathy and coherence that you don’t want to miss.Our discussion takes an interesting twist as we turn our focus onto the art of intention and the fuel it provides to realize our dreams. Get ready for an inspiring story about harnessing the power of intention, attracting the right people and opportunities to create flourishing opportunities. We dive into practical ways of integrating gratitude into your life, from daily meditation to the use of Joy candles. And as we wrap up, we reflect on the symbol of tenacity: the dandelion, card number six from our deck. The resilience it portrays is not just in its ability to grow anywhere, but also in its healing properties. Will you join us as we explore the art, collaboration, and the extraordinary synergy of intention and gratitude?--- Create an intentional practice with your own Gratitude Blooming card deck, notecards, candle and much much more at our shop at www.gratitudeblooming.com. Learn more about our co-hosts and special guest for Season 4: Co-host Belinda Liu | Hestia Retreat Centers Co-host Omar Brownson | Trickster's Guide to Immortality on Substack Special Guest Dr. Paul Wang | The Dao CenterIf you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to leave us a 5-star rating and review. Your feedback is valuable to us and helps us grow. Share your thoughts and comments by emailing us at hello@gratitudeblooming.com. We love hearing from our listeners!

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