Gratitude Blooming Podcast

Send us a textLife is not a script. It is a conversation. Life is going to life. How are you connected to it? Cultural anthropologist and culture keeper Dr. Erika Powell shares when she learned to pray from a Lakota elder. In a meadow in South Dakota, the elder shared: everything is alive and everything is listening to you. Before this moment, she asked whose inbox was getting my prayers. When she connected to the life all around her, everything changed. She says, your purpose is to be human and to have this human experience. To connect to our shared humanity, the light and dark.The artist Arlene Kim Suda shares this theme of prayer through both her drawing of the rhododendron juxtaposed with three triangles. She also read a piece from the poem Ash Wednesday by T.S. Eliot, which includes the beautiful paradox: "Teach us to care and not to care / Teach us to sit still." How do we build compassion and be non-attached? All of this is an invitation to be less judgemental. We all want to feel connected to something bigger than ourselves. 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!Check out the new Gratitude Blooming journaling notecards at www.gratitudeblooming.com.If there’s a project, idea or vision you’d like to bring to fruition or clarity, Erika is the creative midwife that you want to guide you & help you navigate the process & journey.  Fostering transformation at the personal & professional levels as well as creating workplaces & cultures where employees thrive are at the heart of Dr. Erika Powell's work and teaching. Dr. Powell is bilingual in Spanish, holds a doctorate in Instructional Technology & Design from the University of Virginia, and a MS.Ed in Intercultural Communication from the University of Pennsylvania, and a BA in Cultural Anthropology from Haverford College.https://thepowellconsultinggroup.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!

Send us a textBeing there for each other. That’s the core inspiration for bar owner and author Cedd Moses. He says, “It’s not worth growing unless we can be there for each other.” He is on the path to redefine the hospitality industry with his bars and company Pouring with Heart, which is also the title of his new book: Pouring with Heart: The Essential Magic Behind the Bartenders We Love.This week we explore active listening, moving from technical skills to human skills and with Cedd Moses we are reminded of the aphorism that culture eats strategy for breakfast. His company is 450 people strong and his vision is to grow to 2,030 by 2030 based on values of lovingkindness. His book starts with this quote: "In the past, jobs were about muscles, now they're about brains, but in the future, they'll be about the heart." -Dame Minouche Shafik, London School of EconomicsScience also supports this heartfulness approach. Meditation leader Jack Kornfield shares that researchers like Richard Davidson have amassed evidence that measurable changes to our brain and nervous system occur 10x faster when heart practices like compassion and lovingkindness are incorporated with mindful attention.The flower for this podcast is inspired by the gardenia and the theme of gentleness. The art is an animated gif, which moves a soft pink circle into the black and white sketch of the gardenia. It creates the feeling of permeability and invites us to soften our edges. How would you interpret the art? 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!Check out the new Gratitude Blooming journaling notecards at www.gratitudeblooming.com.Find more about Cedd Moses here: https://www.pouringwithheart.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!

Send us a textThis week we invite you to alchemize your belly breath. To transform pixels to atoms. To go from digital to analog. With guest Dr. Paul Chengpo Wang (aka Sifu Paul), we invite you to retreat into your well-being and wholeness. The Gratitude Blooming theme is patience, represented by the chamomile. Our artist Arlene Kim creates her first animated gif, a fun and delightful homage to Takashi Murakami. Her chamomile flowers light up as guides to joy and restfulness. When Dr. Wang is not traveling around the world to teach or treat patients, he enjoys training and being in nature, meditation, and retreat. Besides application of classical acupuncture, Chinese medicine, neigong, martial arts, calligraphy, guqin, and perennial philosophy, his interests include scientific findings in photobiology, quantum biology, the autonomic nervous system, the mirror neuron system, the microbiome, telomeres, epigenetics, mitochondrial disease, intergenerational trauma, and the fundamental forces.Dr. Wang earned a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Integrative Biology with an emphasis on human locomotion and biodynamics as well as minor studies in Chinese philosophy from the University of California at Berkeley. He also attained a Master of Science in Traditional Chinese Medicine (MSTCM) and a Doctorate in Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine (DACM), both from the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine. He is professionally accredited by the California Acupuncture Board as a Board Licensed Acupuncturist (LAc). His official certifications as a Sifu of WingChun (詠春拳師傅), WingChun Fifth Technician Grade (詠春第五級技士), WingChun Combat Instructor (詠春技擊教師), and Escrima Fifth Level (武器第五段士) are conferred from the International Academy of WingChun (IAW).Website: daocenter.comEmail: info@daocenter.comInstagram: @sifupaulwangFacebook: /paulcwangSubstack: daology.substack.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!

Send us a textThere is a myth about scarcity. When we connect to each other the separation and supremacy that rely on the idea of scarcity fall away. Inspired by the rose of sharon, this week we talk abundance with poet, strategist, designer and philanthropic and capital advisor Taj James of Full Spectrum Labs. His father from Alabama and his mother with Scandinavian roots via the midwest, for Taj the spiritual and political were connected like the front and back of his hand. Since the age of six, he was focusing on fixing the world, in particular the idea that man is separate from nature. We are nature. Taj studied with Thich Nhat Hahn in Plum Village where he learned mindfulness leads to concentration and concentration leads to insight. Moreover, he was told by a monk that a river of love flowed through him night and day. He was loved. You belong here. With this insight, he felt the power of being kind, including to yourself, and the importance of paying attention. With inspiration from Howard Thurman, Taj reminds us: “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”Follow Taj James on IG @tlrjames73We 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!Check out the new Gratitude Blooming journaling notecards at www.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!

Send us a textPlay with this moment. It may give you an opportunity to dance with the sublime. This week we talk with community leader and environmentalist Effie Turnbull Sanders and explore the theme of Reverence inspired by the Gratitude Blooming sunflower. Last year, Effie brought the Gratitude Blooming Circle practice to her team at the University of Southern California where she is the VP of civic engagement and economic partnerships. The weekly practice has helped her team become both more vulnerable and playful, which has been important with more remote working. Effie also shares how as a six year old in a rural coal town in Virginia beginning her own dialogue with nature. Her reverence for nature has only grown since then. Active in public and nonprofit service, Turnbull Sanders is currently a governor’s appointee and environmental justice commissioner for the California Coastal Commission. Turnbull Sanders has been an active board member and adviser to the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. 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!Check out the new Gratitude Blooming journaling notecards at www.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!

Send us a textExplore the Gratitude Blooming theme of Perspective through the agapanthus flower and a conversation with author and co-founder of the Center for Wild Spirituality Victoria Loorz. She reminds us, as does the art, that what is unnamed is forgotten. We are invited to listen to the wilderness, which can be translated as the voice that speaks. When we listen first, then we can be in a healthier conversation. And it is important to know that this doesn’t have to be all serious. In fact, the more we play with these practices the faster they become our normal.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!Check out the new Gratitude Blooming journaling notecards at www.gratitudeblooming.com.Learn more about our guest here:https://www.victorialoorz.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!

Send us a textThis week we explore the theme of tenacity, represented by the dandelion, with artist and musician Radhika Vekaria. Even after a big life challenge, Radhika shares that the heart doesn’t need protecting. It’s protecting us. Hearts don’t break, only our expectations. She found we can always recharge the heart with love and breath. The digital artwork of the dandelion is juxtaposed against selected words from Charles Darwin, reflecting the unique relationship between nature and culture. Radhika is an artist delivering ancient eastern philosophies primarily through the medium of music. In her career, she has played on world stages with luminaries such as Prince and throughout Europe with many known artists and bands.  Despite being born in the UK, Radhika was deeply drawn to her African and Indian heritage.   Today she resides in America and throughout her work, whether teaching, speaking or creating, Radhika expresses through to the roots of the Vedic sciences, astrology and practices over 5000 years old.  She is a speaker for causes close to her heart, for sharing knowledge that enliven and encourage clearer choices, creating a world our deeper selves want to experience.  She is driven by the harmonic connection between humanity and the world around and says "Only in finding inner truth will we experience outer peace".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!Check out the new Gratitude Blooming journaling notecards at www.gratitudeblooming.com.Learn more about our guest here:Site: www.radhikavekaria.comIG: iamradhikavTW: radhikavekaria--- 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!

Send us a textThis week’s podcast theme of discovery is expansive from the deeply personal to the full human experience. The digital artwork takes us beyond the day and into the night. The agave flower opens up to the cool light of the moon and pollinating bats. Balancing being a social entrepreneur and parent, Kabira Stokes joins us to share her unique story. She can trace her Quaker roots to the 1600s in Pennsylvania and Jewish immigrants from Poland, but also grew up in a Sufi Muslim community as a blond white woman. Activated by protesting the Iraq war and seeing the violence in Los Angeles, Kabira founded  Isidore Recycling to recycle electronic waste and hire formerly incarcerated workers. She learned that you don’t fight terror with terror. You don’t fight violence with violence. As a parent and human being, she sought to find empathy. To hear the call of crisis with compassion. To love through discomfort. 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!Check out the new Gratitude Blooming journaling notecards at www.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!

Send us a textFlower: RedwoodBlood memory can be described by your ancestral and genetic connection to language, songs, spirituality, and teachings. Your ancestors are in you all the time and everything they experienced is in you. And you have an opportunity to heal and grow in each moment.  This week we are joined by Arella Trustman M.A, a member of the Walker River Paiute Tribe of Nevada who shares how we can move from victim to survivor to hero. It’s not always linear, but it is possible. The Gratitude Blooming theme of strength is represented by the redwood. The digital art bridges a whimsical interpretation of a redwood illuminated by a full moon with an owl sitting on a series of ascending triangles. Arella Trustman M.A received her Master’s degree from NYU in Psychology with a Clinical focus in May of 2021.  Her thesis, titled, "Healing Indigenous Historical Trauma: Perspectives of Resilience, Resistance, and Decolonization of Treatment” is an exhaustive review from the novel perspective of alternative and resilient responses to histories of oppression.  Her thesis proposed decolonization of mental health diagnosis and treatment with a strengths-based approach and integration of traditional healing practices.  Arella has shifted professionally into Web3 where she leverages her skills to build communities and educate individuals in the space about mental health.  On the side, Arella continues to do consulting work for Stewart Indian School in Carson City, NV and has contributed materials on Indigenous Historical Trauma for their cultural center and a 4th grade level mini-textbook on Nevada Native History for teachers. https://twitter.com/arella_ethhttps://www.instagram.com/uh_ray_luh/?hl=en--- 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!

Send us a textAfter receiving several requests to feature more from our conversation with Zeneca - Enjoy this episode featuring our full length conversation with @Zeneca33! Check out our recent episode on Friendship and our highlights from this conversation here:https://www.buzzsprout.com/1795496/10943052-want-emotional-freedom-the-stoic-secret-is-in-your-reactions-according-to-zeneca_33.mp3?download=trueCollect the Nasturtium NFT with its two pollinating bees and the theme of friendship as a reminder of who you appreciate in your life. It’s also a great way to support us sharing more gratitude in the world. Finally, in the meme spirit of web3, go touch some grass today! Twitter: https://twitter.com/Zeneca_33Newsletter: https://zeneca33.substack.com/Website: https://www.zenacademy.comYouTube: https://youtube.com/c/zenacademy333Discord: https://discord.gg/zenacademyFind encouragement to practice with the Gratitude Blooming cards in our metagarden community on discord: https://discord.gg/MeRrhxKax4We 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! Check out the new Gratitude Blooming journaling notecards at www.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!