Jump Start Your Joy

Pamela Seelig began her yoga journey more than 25 years ago when an illness (Bell's Palsy) interrupted her Wall Street career. As part of her recovery from that diagnosis, she she began meditating and it brought her some amazing results. Not only did it speed up her recovery, but the impact of meditating at during that time in her life led to a lifelong pursuit of sharing yoga wisdom with others. In this interview, she joins me to talk about Stress Relief, Meditation and "Threads of Yoga," her new book. What that means for you is whether or not you are currently practicing yoga, there will be something for you to glean from this conversation. We talk about: The importance of breath and breathing to calm down Calming your nervous system. Meditation and the various kinds of meditation that can help you deal with every day stress Santosha, which means contentment or gratitude in Sanskrit Breath practices to try right now, or anytime you need to re-center Her new book I feel like this weaves in so beauti

Comfort and Joy is the new theme for Season 7 and I'm thrilled to sharing all about "intentional comfort." After spending time in the messy middle, over the last 18 months our nervous system needs a pause and a reset and some intentional comfort. So that's what we're looking at in this episode. Here's what you'll find: 1. Intentional Comfort: It's the mindful activity of embracing comfort, and finding down time for yourself. It's important because we're all been in a "trauma vortex" since early 2020. (hat tip Ilene Smith) 2. What's the messy middle? (it's this weird undefined time we've been in, where we don't fully know when this pandemic will end, and know that we can't get back to where we were.) 3. It's time drop the idea that we should embrace "courage over comfort" or "living your big bold life" without balance of intentional comfort. 4. Introverts and highly sensitive people need to slow down and embrace comfort to be in a good place in their lives. 5. That we need comfort for comfort's sake. We need t

Welcome to Jump Start Your Joy's Top 10 of Season One. As I round out the 6th Season of the podcast, I found myself wanting to take a look back at how the show started. Season One was magical, and memorable in so many ways. You can read the full episode notes on my website. Here's the sampling of who you'll hear in this episode: 1. Kathleen Davies, from Episode 1. She is a preaching pastor in Houston Texas, and my former room mate at Yale Divinity School. 2. Matthew Wood, Senior Sound Editor at Skywalker Sound and the voice of General Grievous in the Star Wars universe. Matt and I attended grade school together, and he shares how George Lucas chose him for the General Grievous role. He was on Episode 3. 3. Molly Larkin, a life coach, and registered nurse. We discussed Loving Kindness in Episode 10. 4. Liz Ross, advertising agency veteran and past president of Periscope agency in Minneapolis. We talked about leadership and putting people first in Episode 21. 5. Lexi Koch, a life coach and farmer. We talk

Stasia Savasuk is an amazing style coach, has an outstanding Tedx Talk, and is the founder of Stasia’s Style School. She’s joining me on the show, and I’m delighted to share this interview. We giggled our way through our discussion, and had a hilarious time talking about style, what lights us up, how to find what kinds of styles fit YOU, and, all about Stasia’s inspiring story of becoming an entrepreneur. In this episode, Stasia and I talk about: Her early entrepreneurial work as a child, collecting and selling worms How she broke up with style, and wore very bland clothing for many years That one size fits all is bullshit How to discover style that works for you and reflects who you really are How to get in touch with who you really are What it looks like to belong to yourself How her differently abled child has taught her so much about inside out congruency Her thoughts on how to jumpstart your joy: asking yourself how you want to show up, don’t participate in body shaming, and getting outside Resources S

Andrea and I are talking about the many ways that you can make some noise, own your strengths, and speak your mind. It’s a big topic, and it could not come at a better time. At the heart of making noise is first getting comfortable with accepting the unique things that make you great. I know that many times, it feels more comfortable to play down your strengths because maybe somewhere back in your childhood or formative years you were told that you shouldn’t bring too much attention to yourself, or “brag” about what you are good at. The thing is, that’s all a bunch of BS. Each person on this planet has a very unique set of talents and gifts, and it’s your job to uncover them and share them with others. When you get stuck in the messaging that you need to hide your talent or play down what you do best, it means that you are not owning all of who you are. And it means that you are playing into fear: the fear that you’re not enough and the fear of outshining others. The truth is that no one wins when you hide yo

John McEuen reached out to share 2 new songs with us, and I'm releasing "Hey Joe" with the Oak Ridge Boys, and "Back in History" with John Russell in this episode as we listen to John talk about his book, the Life I've Picked. I could not be more excited to share this week’s interview. John is one of the most celebrated and best known banjo players in the world, and has had a long and exciting career in music. It was amazing to get to speak with him about his book, “The Life I’ve Picked,” his early days at the magic shop in Disneyland (where he became friends with Steve Martin), and about being the first American musical group to tour Russia in 1977.  I also loved getting to hear about John’s creative process, and how much he delights in creating music to share with others. You can hear the joy in his voice as he talks about his experiences. Plus, he talks about “bone records” which made to bootleg music into Russia in the 70s, and that is not something you are gonna hear on any other podcast today. Get all t

Season 6 has been all about finding joy in the messy middle. In the season finale, I'm looking back and the 5 most memorable conversations I've had with guests over the last year. For each one, I'm sharing a bit about what stood out about our conversation, and, playing a bit of the episode so you can hear them explain things in their own words.  Dr. Jeff Speiss is the author of "Dying with Ease," and he joined me early on in the season. I love that he shared about what he's learned from working with people who are dying, and what we can all do to feel more joy while we are alive. He also talked how listening to someone in a difficult time is often the most profound gift you can give them. Tune in to our original full length conversation in episode 268.  Molly Knoderer and I went to high school together and played softball on the same team. She's a co-owner of Legacy Concierge Services, and an author. Her business works with finding care for the elderly, both in working with families and with aging people. I

A lot of people are talking about FOMO, especially as the US is opening back up after the pandemic. As everything and everyone starts to come out of quarantine and shelter in place, and we are feeling safer about being in public, it seems that a lot of people are feeling he push to rush back into life, and, rush back to returning to life at the same pace we'd all been keeping in the end of 2019 (if not faster). And, many people are layering this return to "normal" with an urgency to catch up for "lost" time, or, trying to cram in more during this time because we fear what's to come after losing so much over the past 16 months. Because 2020 was a total sh*tshow, it's reasonable to be cautious and concerned, but I think it's amping up our anxiety. In this episode I'm sharing about how it's OK to slow down, and it's also totally OK to Opt Out during this transition time. Maybe you realized that you like a slower pace of life while you were in quarantine. Maybe you discovered you needed more quiet time for yourse

In this episode, I'm talking about the term "languishing," which is something that Adam Grant recently wrote about in the New York Times. His article was titled "There's a Name For The Blah That You're Feeling, and It's Called Languishing." When I read it, it struck me that languishing really is one of the predominant emotions that you find in the messy middle. It's languishing. Isn't full on depression. It's not boredom or anger. It's not any of those. It's just that vague feeling, that things aren't great. Adam Grant describes it this way, "Languishing is a sense of stagnation and emptiness. It feels as if you're muddling through your days, looking at your life through a foggy windshield, and it might be the dominant emotion of 2021." And, in reading this I felt similar to the way I did when I read about people naming the feeling of grief that was a predominant emotion at the beginning of the pandemic. It has also given me something to call the annoyance and mild overwhelm I've felt recently, and that I ev

In this interview, I am so honored to be joined by author Sonya Renee Taylor. Sonya is the author of the the New York Times Bestselling book, “The Body is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love.” She just recently released an updated version of that book, and the “Your Body is Not an Apology Workbook: Tools for Living Radical Self Love.” Sonya is joining me to talk all about radical self-love and joy. And, she shares that when we start to love ourselves, we can transform how we interact with others in the world. One of my favorite parts of our discussion sits at the heart of something that has bothered me about joy recently; the question of “how can I embrace joy if that joy possibly comes at the expense of someone else’s freedom, joy, or access to things?” In other words, where does my own privilege enable me to experience joy when others may not have that same access to it. In talking about altruistic joy, Sonya and I talked about how this relates to her frame work of   “interest buying” or “detrime

In this episode, I’m delighted to have Fred Waitzkin return for his second interview, this time to talk about his brand new book “Strange Love.” Fred is the author of “Searching for Bobby Fischer,” which is based on his experiences with his son Josh who was a chess prodigy at age 7. In this new interview, we talk about his latest book (Strange Love), his time during COVID in New York and Costa Rica, and what drew him to write a story based in Costa Rica, and his writing process. What I love about this conversation is the way that Fred talks about his creative process. I find that creating a podcast weekly also takes a good deal of creativity, for my clients and for myself. It’s always interesting to me to learn how other creative people tap into creative flow. Fred uses real life to inspire the events of his book, and he talks about three key things as far as how he goes about writing. In this conversation, Fred Waitzkin and I talk about: – his new book, Strange Love, and how he crafted the characters – his i

In this episode, I am sharing about a couple of parallel "paths" I've noticed in the past few months: those of Labyrinths, making mindful choices about what to do next, and setting boundaries to support those choices and new directions. Your Unique Path In December 2020 I took a week long course and became a trained labyrinth facilitator. The labyrinth has been around for centuries and is a helpful mindfulness tool, and a lovely walking meditation. It struck me that much like there are parallels between the center of a labyrinth and the messy middle of this pandemic. Mindful choices on What's Next This time in the messy middle has offered us a lot of time to think. I hear from other people that they are reflecting about what really matters, what things merit their time, what they really want to do when they can go back out in the world and do things with other people. Boundaries These two things (Labyrinths and honoring one's path) benefit from boundaries. A labyrinth without a clearly marked path is confusi

In this episode, I'm honored to be interviewing Lauren Artress. She is an author, Canon of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, founder of Veriditas, and a spiritual pioneer and a leading force in popularizing the Labyrinth in the US and around the world. I have been fascinated with Labyrinths for years, and this last December became a trained Labyrinth facilitator. I'm excited to have Lauren joining me to talk about her experience with the Labyrinth, The Labyrinth Movement, and how it offers parallels and insights into our lives. In this episode, Lauren and I talk about: - the labyrinth and what it is - her journey in finding the labyrinth in Cathedral de Chartres, France - the role of the labyrinth at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco - both now, and during the AIDS epidemic - the Holy Fool and how it relates to the Labyrinth - Hand labyrinths: how they work and how they came about - The parallels and metaphors of our lives and the walk of the labyrinth Resources Lauren Artress' Website Veriditas Website World La

In this episode, Erica and are diving in to the important topics of racism in the US, and what it means to be an imperfect ally. I had the pleasure of meeting her at ShePodcasts Live, and I was deeply inspired by her presentation there on imperfect allyship and anti-racism. Erica is an an entrepreneur and certified coach, and her work is focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), imperfect allyship, and imposter syndrome. I deeply appreciate her insights on how white people, like myself, can be better allies for people of color. I know from experience that it can be vulnerable to make changes and that there's an underlying fear that we may do something (with good intentions) that is more harmful than helpful. And, that if it's not right, it could backfire. And so many of us freeze and do nothing. The truth is, action is what is needed. We can't continue to do nothing because of our own discomfort. And, the only way to make any change is to start trying it out, in small steps, and in little ways. An

Intuition can give you powerful information about what you want and what brings you joy, but too often we ignore it. What can you learn from intuition, and what can you discover from getting curious about what annoys you?  Get all the show notes and a full transcript at the website. Sign up for Newsletter on my website. Purchase my book, Jump Start Your Joy: Heart-Centered Ways to Find Joy in The Messy Middle

It’s so exciting to have Heather Chauvin back for a second time on the podcast! She has just released her brand new book, “Dying to be a Good Mother” and I was delighted that she reached out to connect again. Our interview is all about her journey with what she learned about self care after being diagnosed with cancer, and how 2020 has changed so much for so many of us.  As a former social worker, and mom of three boys Heather was juggling  family, health and happiness, and in doing so putting her own well being last on her priority list. And then, she was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer just one year after the birth of her youngest son. That’s when she took a hard look own self care, and how to place a priority on her own health, happiness and wellbeing. In battling through chemo, illness, and recovery she realized it was time to start living, not just for her family but for herself. Get all the show notes and a full transcript at the website. Sign up for Newsletter on my website. Purchase my book, Jump Start

During the pandemic, it's been hard to find our joy. In this episode, I share how to change your perspective when the horizon shifts, and how to find joy in the messy middle. Also learn about how to craft an "easy week" to bring more joy to your life.   Get all the show notes and a full transcript at the website. Sign up for Newsletter on my website. Purchase my book, Jump Start Your Joy: Heart-Centered Ways to Find Joy in The Messy Middle

In this interview, I’m delighted to be joined by life coach Mackenzie Eason. She is a love and relationship coach who specializes in helping her clients break free from toxic dynamics, develop emotional mastery, clear up communication, reclaim their power, and cultivate unshakable self love. In other words, she’s the most amazing person to have on to talk about how we look at love, how we can learn to love ourselves, and how we can talk about Valentine’s Day in a very different way. In this episode we are talking all about how to love yourself first, and looking at how COVID and shelter in place has taken a toll on existing relationships. Kenzie and I met through life coach training, and it’s a real treat to have her on the show. She fully embodies joy and love and she’s one of the most genuine and lovely people you’ll ever meet. I love that she’s dedicated her work to helping womxn through the breakups, and that she holds space for them to find transformation and joy on the other side of those hard times. I’

Barron Steffen is a Siddha Yoga practitioner, a big band crooner, and a widower. He is also the author of the book, “The Final Gift of the Beloved: Her Disappearance - 13 Days,” where he shares the story of the death of his wife Dr. Seana Lowe Steffen and the 13 days that follow. It is a joy to speak with him, and it is an honor to have him share his journey of saying goodbye to the love of his life, and the peace and joy that came with that journey. Barron now focuses his life’s work on “The Yoga of Mindset,” a program that helps children and other people to give them the “tools necessary to live harmoniously among our thoughts,” and spread the art of mindfulness. Get all the show notes and a full transcript at the website. Sign up for Newsletter on my website. Purchase my book, Jump Start Your Joy: Heart-Centered Ways to Find Joy in The Messy Middle  

How do we welcome in a new year, after 2020 was full of so many difficult things? In this first interview of 2021, I'm so delighted to be joined by the five podcasters behind "The Best Parts Podcast:" Louise Neil, Nikki Baker Wulf, Laura Lively, Sara Doell, and Kim Romain. Their philosophy is that all parts of our lives are the best parts. I know that there is a really big desire to slam the door on 2020, and call it a dumpster fire. Instead, I want to focus on what is going on for each of us as we enter into a new year That said, there's something that's really juicy about the middle of all of this, because: One: I don't think all the problems that we've come up with and seen in 2020 are just going to end. We've already seen that that isn't true. Two: Much of the turmoil that's been put into motion across the board is also going to stay in play.  Get all the show notes and a full transcript at the website. Sign up for Newsletter on my website. Purchase my book, Jump Start Your Joy: Heart-Centered Way