It's no coincidence there are so many documentaries, podcasts, and books focused on cults at this time. While they have existed forever, our ability to connect and share information quickly is new. Rapid communication online supports the exposure of toxic and harmful practices with possible justice...and it also helps the same practices to spread.  Many cult-like ("culty") behaviors can be found in your daily life. It may be in the products you buy, the affiliations you make, the groups you...

Let's take a trip together, shall we? A trip inside....for 30 minutes [and more, if you desire].   **THIS IS A GUIDED MEDITATION. DO NOT LISTEN WHILE DRIVING, WALKING, etc.** Just LISTEN. You deserve to take some time to yourself. So please lay your body down, relax, and listen to my voice for about 30 minutes.    Before you begin, please bring kind and conscious awareness to your intention.  If you have never experienced a guided meditation, here's what you should know about this...

“It’s not so much what’s going to happen when we die. It’s about how we are going to live…and what our legacy is going to be while we’re here.”    This episode featuring Maureen Kafkas is a philosophical conversation between friends. Few aspects of life are as certain or as difficult to face as death, yet Maureen’s experiences have ultimately created expansion and growth. Through her professional and personal experiences, she has supported and advocated for the dying while balancing her own...

So many humans are filled with unnecessary worry. Worry steals your time and energy. It sends you spinning all the threads of possibility or potential devastation around things that haven’t even happened yet. It is a vibration rooted in fear.  No matter what it is that you may be worried about today, I assure you that there is a better way to approach this emotion when it arises. You may have even created a habit of worrying so you're not even aware it's happening. It’s time to release your...

Get ready for some real talk that incorporates the spirit within you. We are all feeling the squeeze and the burden of the times we are living. We may even feel powerless to change anything in our personal lives, much less for the collective.    The good news is that no single person bears responsibility to “fix things” on this planet. We may ask why we are here and what our purpose is when we feel stripped of our power. This episode is going to deliver some guidance for you. Some of it is...

CW: brief reference to gun violence   If you have ever felt your emotions spiraling out of control, this episode is for you. I recently faced a dark night of the soul and am sharing three key approaches that I took to get back on solid ground.   What we often do when faced with deep challenges in life is to try to tamp it down and keep forging ahead with our daily lives. Some of us feel this is our responsibility or even our purpose: to shake it off, move on, and continue to show up when...

"It’s okay to have a glitchy conversation. I would rather have a glitchy, imperfect conversation than no conversation at all."  Charlotte's husband and the father of her children didn't give her that option in 2007. He simply opted out of a family outing on a typical Saturday and said he was going to take a nap. Only that's not at all what he did.  That's the opening of her newly released memoir. What unfolds from that point in time is how Charlotte became a single mother navigating her...

I don't know about you, but I'm already primed for a "do over" of welcoming the new year. And I've decided to make it so, because the LUNAR new year is upon us. I am personally grappling with some things, so I giving myself grace and acknowledging that I get to decide what is true about me and I get to decide when, where, an how to celebrate...me. I highly recommend this practice!  View the video version on my YouTube channel. Find all of the ways to connect with me here (including through...

More and more Americans seem to be getting on board with the concept of Dry January, which is abstaining from alcohol for the entire month. With drinking solidly ingrained into our culture, that can be difficult for some.  This episode does not go into all of the benefits and tactical approaches (like "mocktails"). While Dry January continues to grow in popularity, there is one thing that is rarely talked about: how your mind and body will respond as the days and weeks ahead unfold. This is...

I am... Let us be here now.  I love being present. We are now here or nowhere. We got this. Let's DO THIS.   Join the What Lights You Up Facebook group to engage with like minds! Other ways to connect with me here. Intro/outro “Feeling Free” by Martin Riopel  

As we enter the frenzy of the holiday season (holi-daze), I want to offer you some alternatives to the way you have been experiencing this. We are often gathering with extended family and some relationships may be strained. We frequently find ourselves saying yes to everything offered (because what would they think if we said “no”??) only to find ourselves maxed out, stressed out, overwhelmed and waiting for it all to be over.    The offer in this episode is to ask yourself one question...

Here are the details to sign up for the "Let Them" series that begins on November 2, 2022 and continues each Wednesday through the month. It is FREE and it is freeing to release the angst you may be feeling around politically charged topics.  Take ~4 mins to listen to what this (and future) conversations will be about. Sign up now and you're automatically enrolled in the full series. You can opt in/out of topics as you wish (although I strongly encourage you to explore the hard things).  ...

It’s that time of year…election time! A “woo hoo” response could be sarcasm or it could be the knowing that sweet relief from campaign ads is right around the corner. Also, some of you do truly enjoy this season (and it shows). In episode 131, I introduced the concept of a “Let Them…” series. What better way to kick it off than with the sticky subject of politics! Don’t skip this one if you think I’m going to lay bare my own beliefs and try to convince you to see things my way. Quite the...

Let them judge you. Let them talk about you. Let them be catty.  Let them…   …because they are going to do it ALL anyway!    I will soon be kicking off a series of “let them” moments that we are all too painfully familiar with.    Sign up links are coming soon. In the meantime, check out this episode and be sure to join the What Lights You Up Facebook Group. This is where we have all of the behind-the-scenes and judgment-free conversations around the topics of this podcast. This...

In this life, we are often faced with decisions. In fact, we make them all day, every day. Yet there are times when those decisions are very heavy and life-changing. How do you know when to call it quits? This is a very personal and individual approach. Few in your life will tell you this. I am willing to do that. To be clear, not make the decision FOR you or even guide you toward what I think might be “right” for you. Only you can know this. May this episode support you when you need it.  ...

Society has been telling us for years now that we should be aware of what may trigger others and plan accordingly. That may work with friends and family, but how does this play out in an online space, for example? Are we to take full responsibility for the reactions of others that we don’t even know or may never meet? Some do believe this, but that’s not how I roll. Our triggers are internal signals that something within us needs to be explored and hopefully resolved. They are as unique and...

Let us take a moment today to not only acknowledge the mundane parts of life or those things that might send your emotions into a frenzy; let us also notice that WHEN things arise in our lives that aren’t playing out according to your plan, how do you react? Do you lash out or do you feel more grounded in certainty? Will you try to promote your worthiness and value (a solid default trauma response) or will you stay grounded and calm in the face of the storm? In this episode, I will share how...

If you have ever been cut off or rejected by a family member, this one’s for you! I see you. Perhaps no one in your life has shared with you that you are more powerful than you know. Perhaps others have held you back from what you really wanted to do because they were bitter or fearful. This is your opportunity to break the cycle, and it’s why I’m here. It’s not too late to step into who you were really meant to be. We don’t have to parrot our parents and our grandparents. In fact, it’s...

#TBT from December 2020: Have you ever found out that people are talking about you? Of course, you have! It’s what people do to entertain themselves and we have surely been doing it since the dawn of time. This really only becomes a problem when you allow yourself to create a story about you around their talk. Still, we will bend over backwards to try to prevent it from happening. To try to control the perceptions and the narrative. Stop it. You’re going to lose that battle every time. In...

Can you identify the ways that you have already evolved in your life aside from your appearance? Sometimes, it’s not easy to pinpoint when it comes to the things that we can’t see. We may now do things differently than we did when we were much younger. We may have evolved the way that we think and how we perceive others, which is in line with the purpose of this podcast (congrats, you’re in the right place!).     There are so many ways that we shift and change. From the childhood...

Join me for Sunny’s version of a film study as I share my recent viewing of the movie, “Thirteen Lives” and making connections with humanity throughout the telling of that story. The film follows the true story of the harrowing rescue of twelve boys and their soccer coach from a complex and intricate cave system in Thailand. This was a worldwide news event in 2018, so if you don’t want spoilers, check in with the Internet beforehand. 😉 I am going to share the connections that I made with the...

Mastered the art of avoiding conflict? Does the thought of confrontation make you super uncomfortable? Often, we’ll only speak our truth out loud if we have a high degree of certainty that it’s going to work out in our favor. We don’t want to feel bad, nor be responsible for someone else feeling bad. Yet when we start to allow ourselves to recognize that we are actually big deals as human beings, it becomes easier to navigate this life. It becomes clearer to see where your power truly lies....

This is a rhetorical question as most of us don’t have a single moment. The toning down has been more of a slow burn over a lifetime thus far. It comes at us from all angles. When we are children, we don’t even notice it. As adults, we may catch ourselves and wonder why we aren’t being real at times. We may not see it at all, because it hasn’t been explored. We are all in different places of our journeys. I want to encourage all of us to bring our inquisitive inner child to the table more...