This episode was inspired by a podcast interview between Brene Brown and her guest, Amy Web, on the Unlocking Us podcast in which they discuss the impact of the accelerating pace of change and transformation taking place in the world today. They refer to us as Gen T- which is everyone living on the planet during this time of rapid change, a time which cannot be defined by a the number of years, as this change is continuous, ongoing, and no one knows where or how it will resolve itself....

Have you ever experienced the worst thing that ever happened in your life turning out to be the best thing and a blessing?  My guest this week, Rhema Flowers, has authored a chapter in the book, The Turnaround:  How the Worst Thing Became the Best Thing.    In this episode, she shares the three main takeaways she learned while going through a very difficult time in her life with the loss of her beloved older sister and how that experience inspired her to create and live the life of her...

In this time of rapid change and transformation, at times, you might have felt awash in emotions, feelings, body, or other issues that threatened to hijack your ability to function normally.    Welcome to the club!  You are not alone!  Many of us are right there with you!   Fortunately, there is a way out!  My guest this week is Cindy Shumaker, also known as the "Calming Engineer".    Cindy Shumaker is a Certified eutaptics® Advanced Practitioner. Her expertise is in the field of...

 Any extroverts in the house?I'm guessing "yes", since chances are good, if you follow this podcast, you likely are an extrovert or at least have those tendencies.  I used to be one too, but today, I consider myself a "Chilled-Out Extrovert", a seeming contradiction, I know. Because my experience is that those old tendencies are still in me and every so often they burst forth in a frenzy of activity that takes my breath away. Literally! Couple that with my Aries moon, having recently been...

 Welcome to the 100th episode of The New Beyond!   As many of you know, I began this podcast a little over 2 years ago as a kind of legacy project for my 80th birthday.   And we’re now 2 years and 100 episodes down the road and I’m still here!  And so are you!  And this community has grown and I’m celebrating that with all of you.   Recently, I surveyed the people who regularly listen to this podcast and among other things, I inquired : “what are the biggest challenges in your life right...

 My guest this week is Alicia Strunk, a New Hampshire native, now residing in Ireland.   Full disclosure- Alicia is my assistant and has supported me in the production of this podcast for the better part of the past year.    During this past year, Alicia’s pregnancy was a common topic of our discussions.   We delighted in talking about the journey of pregnancy, motherhood, and all that it calls forth for a woman.   It was impossible not to share her excitement around the coming...

 In this week’s episode, I tackle the subject of positive thinking and why I am not a fan.   My point of view is that there is no such thing as positive thinking. There is only thinking.  Thoughts are neither positive nor negative. They’re just thoughts.   I further suggest there are no positive or negative feelings. There are only feelings. Following this line of thought, I further suggest there are no positive choices or positive results. There are only choices and results.  I’m also...

 My guest this week is Lisa Kalmin. We have been colleagues in the business of transformation and leadership development for many decades. She is also a mindset coach, speaker, corporate trainer and at the age of 51 became the mother of twin boys!    For the past 35 years, Lisa has coached and trained over 25,000 people in the principles and techniques to transform their lives.   In this week’s episode, Lisa and I take on the subject of the Bad Ass Woman (BAW).    What exactly is a...

In Part 2 of The Hardest Thing episode begun a couple of weeks ago, we take a deeper dive into why it's so difficult to be in the present moment. I encourage you to listen to Part 1 before listening to this episode, where we lay out the foundational premise of this conversation. This week, we pick up where we left off and explore what is truly meant by the terms "Trust and Surrender", and why they are so hard to do, especially when we don't like or don't want what is happening in the...

It’s Aquarius season here in The New Beyond and that means it’s also birthday season.  As a double Aquarian, (sun & rising signs), I am about to celebrate my 82nd birthday.  So, this week’s episode is a bit self-indulgent, if you will allow, as I reflect on being in my 80’s as an Aquarian being, which is anything but ordinary.    We are living in extraordinary times, and I think it takes great courage to be a human being on the planet right now.  As an 82 year-old, I am so far from the...

  Get ready to be inspired!   My guest this week, M. Teresa Lawrence, who has one of the most inspiring stories I’ve heard in a very long time.   She is an award-winning author, international speaker, and leadership coach. She is the founder and president of the Trueness Project, a non-profit dedicated to empowering children and adults to cherish their imagination and own their power to write their own narratives.  Hear the amazing story of how Teresa and her family came to the U.S. as...

This is the first part of at least two parts in this important discussion. Stay tuned for part 2 and perhaps more. What is the hardest thing you’ll ever do?  Can you imagine?    Perhaps you look back at your past and contemplate about all the hard things you’ve already done.  You might reflect on getting through hard things you didn’t think you could do.  Perhaps how you got through that experience might inform you about how you’d approach other hard things in your life.   You might think...

 More likely than not, you’ve heard of the term “toxic masculinity”.    The term, and the condition to which it refers, has permeated American culture, but is certainly not limited to the U.S.  What we call “toxic masculinity today”, has been a dominant part of cultures world-wide for millennia.      Popular and media discussions have used the term to refer to traditional and stereotypical norms of masculinity and manhood. According to the sociologist Michael Flood, these include...

We’re born into it.   We spend our entire life in it.  We wouldn’t get very far without it.  In fact, we wouldn’t survive without it.   And yet, many women spend their lives cursing it, blaming it, shaming it judging it, mistreating it, starving it, overfeeding it, rejecting it, disconnecting from it.    What is going on with women and their bodies?    Shedding light and bringing wisdom to this conversation is my guest this week, yoga therapist, Brandee Safran.    Brandee comes by her...

Welcome to a new season of The New Beyond!  And Happy New Year! This is the beginning of our 5th season and as we begin this New Year, I’m thinking about how what we think of as “time” does not exist.     In truth, time is a human construct.  There is no such thing as “time” as we know it.  Humans have arbitrarily divided eternity into segments and called them seconds, hours, days, weeks, etc.  But in fact, measured time is only a part of our human reality and does not exist in the unified...

As we complete this year, I wanted to leave you with a gift.    So I created a meditation to invite you to look back upon this year, consider it’s challenges and gifts and be grateful for it all.  Regardless of the content of your experiences.    It has all been for your growth, for your learning, even the parts you didn’t like or didn’t want.  Even the parts that caused you pain.  See if you can hold them as gifts, and in time, you will receive the lessons they brought you.    It’s also...

As this year comes to a close, are you finishing strong? Have you completed what you set out to do? Or have you left a lot of "open loops"? “Open loops” is another way of saying “unfinished business”.   Do you have a lot of unfinished business in your life?  Even a little bit can sabotage you.  So let’s get serious about “closing those loops”, completing your unfinished business and finishing this year strong.    The best way to do that is to operate from “Completion Energy” and...

Winter Solstice:  An Homage to the Darkness This episode is a meditation on the Winter Solstice, Dec. 21st, when the shortest day meets the longest night.  It is based on an original piece of Judith’s writing, set to music and invites listeners to sink into, and embrace, the darkness. This meditation is a form of prayer, an homage to the possibilities found only in the dark.  It is an invitation to settle in, become still, and discover what awaits your presence there. In the busyness of this...

So I'm sitting here looking at this Brené Brown quote in which she says “Curiosity is the superpower for the second-half of our lives. It keeps us learning, it keeps us asking questions and it increases our self-awareness “  What has me pondering this topic is that I was taking a course recently and the facilitator asked us to recall a question that we get asked most frequently, to help us identify a subject we might want to turn into a course or a book or some kind of offering.   And THE...

If you have ever struggled with, or perhaps STILL struggle with weight issues, this one is for you.    Chances are you’ve already tried every diet, (Keto, low carb, intermittent fasting, etc.)  taken every supplement, spent hours at the gym and maybe you still haven’t gotten to where you want to be with your weight.    What is the answer?????  Why isn’t the weight coming off?    Well, my guest on the podcast this week, Dr. Kellee Rutley, says your issue isn’t about weight.  And she should...

As we approach Thanksgiving, our thoughts turn to giving thanks for the blessings in our lives.  Yes, even now, in these times of so much uncertainty, anxiety, chaos and stress in the world, it behooves us to consider what we’re grateful for.   You might be in a moment of loss or grieving.  You might be experiencing health or challenges. Our lives are filled with challenges! So why then, turn to gratitude?  How can it help us to navigate these times and make our way through even the most...

In my best-selling book, Beyond the Box, one of the main messages is learning how to be comfortable being uncomfortable.  But what does that mean and how does that work?  Isn’t that a contradiction?   A common strategy nearly every successful person adheres to is learning how to “think outside the box”. This is no longer a fringe idea, relegated to the shadows of polite conversation.   The very idea of “thinking outside the box” not only encourages, but requires, a willingness to be...

Dawnese Openshaw is a master transformational leadership coach. She is a John Maxwell certified leadership coach, trainer, and speaker, author of a book for adoptive moms and of two Amazon best-selling books, The principles of David & Goliath series and the Book of Influence series. At the age of 14, her father encouraged her to read Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People” and she has been a student of leadership ever since. With over 25 years of experience in small...

Given all that's happening in the world today, with multiple wars raging in the Middle East, Ukraine and elsewhere, I'm replaying my interview with Cathy Brooks from her podcast, Talk Unleashed, as we touch on many different topics ranging from my early experiences as trainer, to what it's been like living nearly 50 years in service to a vision and a calling, to the state of humanity on the planet today. Cathy is a consummate communicator. She can talk to anyone, anywhere, about anything....