Gratitude Blooming Podcast

Send us a textIn this episode, we dive into our relationship with the natural world through the Gratitude Blooming theme of community, represented by the Bleeding Heart flower. Our guest, Ryland Engelhart, co-founder of Kiss the Ground, shares his thoughts on how we can improve our relationship with nature by spending time and attention on it. He invites us to imagine building a relationship with nature like having good friends, and emphasizes the importance of tending to and reveling in the living world. Join us as we discuss the significance of putting time and attention into our relationship with nature and learn how it can bring joy and fulfillment to our lives.The nonprofit Kiss the Ground is on a mission to awaken people to the possibilities of regeneration and the name of their organization was inspired by this Rumi poem. Today, like every other day,we wake up empty and frightened.Don’t open the door to the study and begin reading.Take down a musical instrument.Let the beauty we love be what we do.There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.- Rumi, 13th centuryLearn more about Kiss the Ground at https://kisstheground.com and watch their film on Netflix. We hope you enjoy the closing practice of nurturing quality time with a fresh cut flower or potted plant inspired by Ryland's own relationship with nature! --- Join us live on substack to participate in our monthly community practice: https://gratitudeblooming.substack.com Create an intentional practice or give meaningful gifts with the Gratitude Blooming card deck, notecards, candles 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!

Send us a textThis week, we interview Katrina Spade, the founder of Recompose, a company that provides funeral service by composting the dead. Inspired by the Gratitude Blooming Wildcard - Lilac, Katrina shares her personal journey and experiences that led her to this work, including her childhood growing up in rural New Hampshire and her background in architecture and design. She explains how composting and gardening were a part of her early awareness of the cycles of life and death, and how her work with Recompose is focused on creating a more natural and sustainable way of dealing with death. She also talks about the challenges and successes of starting and growing her business, as well as the legal and societal hurdles she faced in this field. Additionally, she shares her thoughts on the funeral service industry and its impact on the environment and the rising conversation around end-of-life and climate change grief. The goal of Recompose is to make composting the default solution and to create a gathering of community to legalize and prove that it is safe. With this in mind, Katrina aims to make the entire experience, including decomposing human bodies, beautiful and to create rich topsoil in 30-60 days.Enjoy our closing practice on thinking about your own legacy and what you want to consciously leave behind!--- Join us live on substack to participate in our monthly community practice: https://gratitudeblooming.substack.com Create an intentional practice or give meaningful gifts with the Gratitude Blooming card deck, notecards, candles 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!

Send us a textIn this episode of the podcast, "Impermanence - embracing loss," we dedicate it to our beloved podcast producer, Brian Vasquez, who recently passed away. Brian was a self-taught and Grammy-nominated audio producer who never forgot the magic of audio and had a deep appreciation for the craft. He will always be remembered for his love for sound and storytelling. Brian’s love for audio began at two years old with his first Fisher-Price cassette recorder. On any given day, this small wonder of technology gave his imagination permission to run wild as a sportscaster, a preacher or a musician. He would always remind us that “sound is eternal.” We also feature our conversation with Karen Mack, the founder of LA Commons, an arts organization that helps communities tell their stories and artists create dynamic works of public art, including with nature. Karen shares her insights on how art and community work together to create meaning, and how technology can both connect and disconnect us from each other. She also reflects on the importance of imagination and the beauty of nature. We hope you enjoy the closing practice of listening with presence as a way to cherish the relationships that truly matter to you!Support for Brian Vasquez’s family can be made here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/lets-rally-for-brians-battle-against-leukemia--- Join us live on substack to participate in our monthly community practice: https://gratitudeblooming.substack.com Create an intentional practice or give meaningful gifts with the Gratitude Blooming card deck, notecards, candles 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!

Send us a textIn this podcast episode, Belinda Liu and Omar Brownson sit down with the multi-talented Kameron Green to talk about her relationship to time and how she uses this time of year to reflect on her accomplishments, set intentions, and create an ongoing practice for the new year. Kameron shares how the pandemic has changed her, both personally and professionally, and how she has shifted her focus on self care, reprioritized her values, and let go of things that no longer serve her. She also talks about finding joy in the work that she does, and how that has helped her to love her jobs in philanthropy and in the entertainment industry. Join us for an inspiring and thought-provoking conversation about how to make the most of the time we have.Kameron Green is a multi-talented professional who wears many hats. As the Vice President of Professional Learning & Family Philanthropy at Southern California Grantmakers, she plays a significant leadership role in developing and implementing programs that enable members to increase their knowledge, skills, competencies, and networks. Additionally, Kameron is also a radio personality and producer, currently hosting the “Radio-Free Top 23 Countdown,” and co-hosting the Stellar Award-winning show, “Spread the Word,” on 102.3 Radio Free KJLH-FM and worldwide at kjlhradio.com. With a background in education and marketing, she is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, with a B.A. in Mass Media Communications. Kameron is passionate about mentoring young people of color and inspiring them to dream with purpose.Arlene's story of destiny this week was inspired by this song of Dido: https://youtu.be/f3DFaIovZxcAnnie Lennox and London City Voices perform a choral version of ‘Dido’s Lament’ taken from the 10th Anniversary Edition of ‘A Christmas Cornucopia’--- Join us live on substack to participate in our monthly community practice: https://gratitudeblooming.substack.com Create an intentional practice or give meaningful gifts with the Gratitude Blooming card deck, notecards, candles 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!

Send us a textJoin us for a special episode of the Gratitude Blooming Podcast as we explore the theme of forgiveness with author and optimist Simon Sinek. In this captivating conversation, we delve into Simon's personal and professional experiences with forgiveness and how it has impacted his life. Simon also shares his thoughts on the concept of heartfulness as the new mindfulness and offers some valuable advice on embracing chaos and finding direction without a map. As we enter the new year, this episode is particularly relevant as we reflect on how we want to show up and what we want to experience in the coming year. The anemone flower represents the theme of forgiveness in the Gratitude Blooming card deck. Remember, forgiveness can be one of the greatest gifts we give or receive. Take some time to consider how you can express gratitude for being forgiven.--- Join us live on substack to participate in our monthly community practice: https://gratitudeblooming.substack.com Create an intentional practice or give meaningful gifts with the Gratitude Blooming card deck, notecards, candles 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!

Send us a textAs we transition to a new year, we revisit the concept of tenacity and how it is represented by the dandelion.The dandelion is a symbol of transformation, going from a yellow flower to a white puff ball to seeds. Similarly, we can transform our minds by practicing gratitude and shifting our focus from negative thoughts to positive ones. This helps us to cultivate a growth mindset and become more resilient.As we enter the new year, it's a good time to reflect on this theme of tenacity and how we can cultivate it in our own lives. Remember, we have the power to choose which thoughts we want to focus on and to transform our minds for the better.Please consider making a donation to support the Gratitude Blooming Podcast at https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=XB4YL5S75X6S2 Every donation helps us continue to bring you inspiring stories — and as a thank you, you'll receive a digital card deck subscription worth $200!Go to www.gratitudeblooming to sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date with new episodes and other exciting updates. --- Join us live on substack to participate in our monthly community practice: https://gratitudeblooming.substack.com Create an intentional practice or give meaningful gifts with the Gratitude Blooming card deck, notecards, candles 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!

Send us a textIn this intimate conversation, we look back and look forward on the year and the lessons our team has learned from being in close connection to nature. Belinda talks about how nature has been a profound and lifelong learning experience for her and how it is accessible and universal to everyone. Omar shares about the importance of gratitude and mindfulness in allowing us to adapt to change and be present in the moment. Arlene reminds us of the eternal and our shared humanity through nature.Nature is a source of stillness and presence, and  it can help us to understand the cycles and transitions of life. Experiencing nature allows us to deepen our practices of stillness and presence, and provides an anchor points for understanding the world around us.This week we invite you to take a moment to go outside. Find some soil to put your feet or your hands in. And remember that connection that we all have to the earth that is always available to us.Please consider making a donation to support the Gratitude Blooming Podcast at https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=XB4YL5S75X6S2Every donation helps us continue to bring you inspiring stories — and as a thank you, you'll receive a digital card deck subscription worth $200!Go to www.gratitudeblooming to sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date with new episodes and other exciting updates. --- Join us live on substack to participate in our monthly community practice: https://gratitudeblooming.substack.com Create an intentional practice or give meaningful gifts with the Gratitude Blooming card deck, notecards, candles 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!

Send us a textIn this podcast episode, author and therapist Jor-El Caraballo talks about the importance of presence, permission to grow, sensitivity, memory, security vs. safety, and belonging. He compares himself to an orchid, a plant that needs very little water, and encourages listeners to focus less on creation and more on spontaneity. He also mentions the importance of consent, disclosure, and reflection in order to save us from the shadow, which is more than the addict of our psyche.We hope you'll join us on this journey of connecting with nature, culture, and self. Please consider making a donation to support the Gratitude Blooming Podcast and sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date with new episodes and other exciting updates. Every donation helps us continue to bring you inspiring stories — and as a thank you, you'll receive a digital card deck subscription worth $200!Support our listener-driven podcast with a donation today!More about our guest:Jor-El Caraballo is a licensed therapist and cofounder of Viva, a therapy practice with locations in New York, California and Pennsylvania. Caraballo earned degrees in psychological counseling from Teachers College at Columbia University and is the author of the recently published The Shadow Work Workbook: Self-Care Exercises for Healing Your Trauma and Exploring Your Hidden Self now available wherever books are sold. You can keep up with Jor-El and Viva on Instagram. @jorelcaraballo and @vivamentalhealth--- Join us live on substack to participate in our monthly community practice: https://gratitudeblooming.substack.com Create an intentional practice or give meaningful gifts with the Gratitude Blooming card deck, notecards, candles 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!

Send us a textAt the heart of Gratitude Blooming is art. All the art is an attempt to bring some kind of healing into the world. According to the artist and co-founder Arlene Kim Suda, even if the expression of a work reaches just one person at a time, it feels like the slow work needed to build the momentum to create the world we hope and dream to live in.This week we talk more about the power of art - both creating and interpreting it.  Inspired by Oren Slozberg, the Executive Director of Commonweal, we explore Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) as a process of looking at art that leads to deeper understanding and interpretation. The first step is simply to look at the art. What do you see? What colors are used? What can you describe of the plant?Once you have a good sense of what you're looking at, the next step is to start asking questions. What do you think is happening in the illustration? What might the artist be trying to say?What does this remind you of?What is the plant saying? There is no right or wrong answer in interpreting art. It is a practice of making meaning.We appreciate your support and help so we can bloom! Please take a moment to give us 5-stars and share a review. You can always email us at hello@gratitudeblooming.com. We want to hear from you! For the holidays or mindful gifts, check out the Gratitude Blooming shop at www.gratitudeblooming.com.  Use code: BLOOM22 to get 20% off everywhere in our shop!--- Join us live on substack to participate in our monthly community practice: https://gratitudeblooming.substack.com Create an intentional practice or give meaningful gifts with the Gratitude Blooming card deck, notecards, candles 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!

Send us a textWhat can bloom from your vulnerability?This week, we explore the theme of vulnerability represented by the winter rose with zazen practitioner Angela Oh. She invites us to imagine vulnerability as choosing the unknown, even if it’s scary. Being vulnerable means walking hand-in-hand with courage. Angela Oh is a renowned civil rights lawyer (though she would never say that of herself) turned Zen priest turned mediator. She shares how to listen to nature and to be in “right relationship”. More and more her practice is trusting the silence. Right relationship is like the murmuration of birds. Collective movement can happen when we are not too close or too far from each other. Learn more about her at https://gocompassion.org/We appreciate your support and help so we can bloom! Please take a moment to give us 5-stars and share a review. You can always email us at hello@gratitudeblooming.com. We want to hear from you! For the holidays or mindful gifts, check out the Gratitude Blooming shop at www.gratitudeblooming.com. Use code BLOOM22 for 20% off everything in our shop!--- Join us live on substack to participate in our monthly community practice: https://gratitudeblooming.substack.com Create an intentional practice or give meaningful gifts with the Gratitude Blooming card deck, notecards, candles 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!