Many of us here in the U.S. were shocked and disappointed by the results of yesterday’s Presidential election. It seems as though hatred has won the battle against love. But Gia and Karen present a new mindset to adopt as we look at this event to help us rise above it and make the best of what feels like a very bad situation. They talk about the positive outcomes that arise from starting over again after a destructive experience and why we must remember to keep loving and not descend into fear or hatred.
In this episode Gia begins by sharing Something Positive: a program in an elementary school in Baltimore that teaches children breath work and meditation instead of sending them to detention. They send a misbehaving child to a “Mindful Moment” room for reflection and some calming meditation. This program has yielded very positive results for the school – well done!
Next Gia and Karen talk about how to regain trust after you’ve been betrayed by another person or by life itself. It’s important to learn some recovery skills so that betrayals don’t cause us to spiral down into victimhood or fear. The conversation includes:
betrayal is a normal part of life – everyone is just human, trying to do the best they can
ultimately our trust should be in ourselves and our own Divinity rather than in people or things outside of ourselves
if we truly trust ourselves and our higher power then we don’t need anyone else in our lives to be totally trustworthy
betrayal can cause us to contract in fear and make ourselves small for self-protection if we don’t learn how to cope with it
even if we’ve healed the past we have to be open to betrayal happening again – have equanimity and compassion for others who are just being human
be able to take the Galaxy view and recognize that life has no guarantees and offers us many different opportunities to learn our lessons
betrayal is one of the biggest lessons we each must learn – so accept from the outset that life is going to bring this experience
we can allow others to be who they are when we place our trust within – we don’t require others to be perfect for us
we can become bitter if we expect our God to always prevent “bad” things from happening to us – this is a misunderstanding of what life is all about
Tips for regaining trust:
turn to prayer and meditation when you feel hurt or betrayed
accept your feelings rather than judging them
trace your own life journey and recognize all of the unexpected things that have happened, both surprises and disappointments; look for patterns in the ups and downs and recognize how life is teaching you certain lessons
consider that your current betrayals may be pointing you toward old wounds that still need to be healed
focus on loving yourself even more, especially when you feel fear
know that you have the power to take care of yourself and to make the highest choices for yourself
Remember: It’s Just Life! with all its crazy ups and downs – the more your emotions rise to the surface the faster you are growing and evolving! Be a Spirit Warrior and a Change Pioneer – join our community and help us forge new territory in life!
As always we love you and send you tons of joy! Thanks for sharing this journey with us! Leave us your comments and go to iTunes to post reviews for this podcast. See you next time!
Today Gia shares her current personal situation in which life is “on pause” due to her roommate’s hospitalization after a bike accident. This unexpected event is the stimulus for a great conversation about the opportunities available when life’s tragic occurrences force us to take time out from our day-to-day busy schedules. The discussion includes:
why times of crisis are opportunities for transformation
reminders that we are not really in control over most of life – we are passengers, not the drivers of our “life vehicles”
how hospitals are sacred spaces
the process of healing from a conscious perspective: mind vs soul
the importance of being still and waiting to see what’s next
Take-home messages:
respond to every crisis with love, not fear
see the blessing in “the pause”
embrace whatever happens in your life
As always, we are here to share with you our own personal journeys through life’s ups and downs so that you will know that you are not alone and YOU ARE LOVED!
Take good care of yourself, spread love wherever you go, and remember that It’s Just Life!
Today Gia and Karen start off with Something Positive: the story of a dog who “adopted” an ultra-marathoner by running alongside him during an event in China.
Then they talk about the experience of having unexpected obstacles show up when following clear guidance. They offer their own best tips for coping with these sudden “stop signs” on the path of progress:
reframe the situation – see it as a need for better timing or an opportunity to learn more
let go of attachments to the outcome of your guidance
learn to trust the wisdom of the Universe
be curious about life’s mysteries
have patience and let life unfold with its own timing
journal about obstacles and the feelings that are arising
choose a totem as a daily reminder of your Divine guidance
don’t take the obstacles personally
Karen shares this quote by Rumi:
A new moon teaches gradualness and deliberation and how one gives birth to oneself slowly. Patience with small details makes perfect a large work, like the universe. What nine months of attention does for an embryo forty early mornings will do for your gradually growing wholeness.
We love, love, love you and are so glad you are joining us on this journey. Sending you positive energy to help you get through all your obstacles! Be sure to send us your comments and leave reviews on iTunes at this link.
Today Gia and Karen share all their favorite stories from the 2016 Olympics! They’ve selected 6 take-away lessons learned from the athletes of these games and you can be inspired by them too:
Get back up again after you fall. Stories of 2 runners who fell during their events and got up to complete their races.
Do your best – you are enough. This is the story of the lone athlete on the team from the tiny country of Tuvalu who came in tied for last place in his event.
Don’t feel sorry for yourself. You’ll hear about a member of the Syrian refugee team and how she helped save the lives of 20 people as they were escaping the war in Syria.
See the higher purpose. These stories show how barriers like apartheid, racism, ageism, sexism, misogyny, and religious oppression are being overcome in this Olympic competition.
Be humble and celebrate your competitors. Some Olympians have been gracious in defeat and praised their competition.
Believe in yourself no matter what. Inspirational beach volleyball player Kerry Walsh-Jennings rounds out the stories of our Olympic heroes.
So we hope you will learn from all these courageous athletes and be your own hero!
Tune in next week for another episode! We love you!
Today Gia and Karen start the podcast with a new weekly feature: Something Positive. Today’s positive story is about a woman in Philadelphia who learned that her Uber driver had a son competing in the Olympics but couldn’t afford to travel to Rio to watch his performance. So she gathered her friends together and raised the money to pay his expenses and that Dad is on his way to Rio to cheer for his son! We need more people like that woman who take the time to listen to other people’s stories and act with compassion and generosity.
The subject for today is Impermanence and the discussion includes all of the normal changes we experience as we grow through life. These “little deaths” help shape who we are and occur to gradually break down our attachments and prepare for our ultimate death. But Westerners are resistant to change in general and thoughts of death. We talk about:
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche and how Buddhists prepare for death throughout their adult lives
The need to let suffering change us as we journey through life
The challenges of change for the ego which clings to self-identity
The importance of seeing the Galaxy view to help us through the ego’s struggles in the Garden
The best mindset for coping with change and impermanence
Karen’s new book: The Tao of Death – an adaptation of Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching from the perspective of Death; the book can be used as a daily guide for contemplating death and impermanence – a Companion Journal is available with prompts for daily journaling.
We love you and send you all our support for your journey through change and impermanence! Be sure to leave reviews for us on iTunes and share our podcast with your friends! Until next week take care!
Join Gia and Karen as they talk about mistakes and the purpose they play in our own lives and on a global scale. They’ll get into a serious discussion about recent tragic events and how to look at them from the Galaxy view. The conversation includes:
Why mistakes are necessary to allow synchronicity to occur
How to have compassion for our own mistakes that arise from being human
Why we should not judge others because as human beings we are all capable of any negative behavior
Some tragedies happen to call forth more love and compassion on the planet
“Things are not getting worse but they are being uncovered” so that we can heal the Shadow
Offering support to one group within our society (like Black Lives Matter) does not mean that we are excluding others from that support
We can all come together in our grief over all lives that have been lost
We are one creation and can accomplish anything if we work together and appreciate diversity
We are at a turning point in humanity where we can choose love or fear as we move into the future. Love will help us transcend while fear will lead to falling apart.
The Universe is neutral and desires to manifest as much diversity as possible – there is no good or bad according to the Universe
Healing and integrating the Shadow as we attempt to grow is the best way to become whole
We must each shine our light on our own Shadow first
Ho’oponopono is a perfect way to transform the energy around a tragedy:
I love you.
I’m sorry.
Please forgive me.
Thank you.
You can increase the awareness of the whole by being willing to make mistakes
We love you and support you through any and every mistake you may make! Be sure to tune in every Friday and leave a review for us on iTunes by clicking here.
Today Gia and Karen talk about control: why we want it, why we don’t have it, and how to live in a world we can’t control. They’ll share their own stories of learning how to let go of controlling behaviors and see the “big picture”: we can’t control the external events of life but we can control our perspective on life. The conversation includes these thoughts:
How our society fosters the illusion of having control over life
Why goal-setting may not be the best practice
How to maximize creativity by letting go of control (and have a lot more fun in life!)
Beware of the ego’s tendency to attach to future outcomes
What “surrender” really means
How resistance causes problems
Why you should avoid drama
What gets misinterpreted about the Law of Attraction
Today Gia and Karen get real and vulnerable with a discussion about failure. You’ll hear about an article that inspired this conversation called “What To Do When No One Shows Up To Your Reading” by Matthew Norman (see the link below.) This episode includes:
the entrepreneurial mindset about failure
how spiritual entrepreneurs may see failure differently
Today Gia begins the show by talking about the recent death of a friend and how she was inspired by her grief to review her old journals from 2013 when her grandmother died. She shares the trauma she experienced when she froze while playing a special song at Grammy’s funeral and how she views that situation now. We launch into a discussion about the lessons and grace that can come from our pain and devastation and these topics:
The Violin Metaphor and how being hollowed out is necessary for our music to emerge
What doctors need to learn about healing when the physical body cannot be cured
The pain of grief from the Garden view even when we know that the Soul lives on from the Galaxy view
How after-death connections are not the same as the physical connection was in life
The ongoing pain from the gaps left behind when loved ones die
The role social media can play in grief by allowing us to share our pain with others
How our suffering can help transform us into who we are meant to be
While our show is focused on LIFE, we acknowledge that DEATH is an integral part of life and therefore we must discuss these events that have occurred on our journeys. We hope that sharing these stories will help you with your own pain and loss. We are right here with you, living life one day at a time and doing the best we can on this Planet Earth journey. Here are our links for you:
It's Just Life! 