Bliss and Grit

Latest Episodes:

Ep 122: Neurosculpting: A Conversation with Lisa Wimberger [Part 1] May 28, 2019

Show notes

We have a special guest today: Lisa Wimberger. Lisa is the creator of Neurosculpting, which is a self-directed neuroplasticity protocol. Specifically, it is a mental training process that quiets our fight-or-flight center and activates our prefrontal cortex, which is the mind's seat of our compassion and empathy. Needless to say, we had a lot to talk about. In fact, We so many shared passions and inquiries in common with Lisa that we are airing this conversation as a 2-parter. Stay tuned next week.

If you want more information on Neurosculpting you can visit neurosculptinginstitute.com

In this episode we are talking about:

How meditation and spiritual paths can be used to dissociate further into a freeze pattern of the nervous system.
Lisa's extreme experience of a nervous system caught in freeze, and how recovering from this adaptation is different than someone recovering from flight or fight patterns.
Why going from freeze to "bliss" is too big a step.
How to consciously choose when we need to be in our limbic nervous systems versus when we can move to a different state.
How the stories we tell about our lives (internally to ourselves) are built on the foundation of what information our nervous system's received when we were very young.

For more information on Bliss + Grit, to become a show patron, or to get information about one-on-one coaching with Brooke Thomas or Vanessa Scotto, please go to www.blissandgrit.com.

Ep 121: Fear of Being "Too Much" May 21, 2019

Show notes

Have you ever worried that if you were to truly shine as bright as you could you would make others uncomfortable? Or have you noticed moments where you shut down your own potential or thriving? You also may believe that your needs, your emotions or your presence is just simply too much for people. The fear of "being too much" can be a very common one, especially in empathic circles, and can create patterns of inhibition that keep us settling for less-than. We've experienced this fear in our own lives, in our own ways, and that's why in this episode we're speaking about:

How we can manage our own aliveness to make others comfortable
How fear can tell us that our thriving will take away from others or cost us our connection
How to spot those protective strategies and move through them into embodying more wholeness in your life
How sometimes we can be "too much" for others, but that has nothing to do with our essential self

For more information on Bliss + Grit, on becoming a show supporter or on coaching with Brooke Thomas or Vanessa Scotto, please go to www.blissandgrit.com

Ep 120: When the Rules Don't Apply May 14, 2019

Show notes

Today we are talking about the rules we may have made in our lives, that at some point, gave us a frame of reference in how to navigate life in a sane and mature way. Also, those moments in life when we are asked to figure out if those rules are to be followed to the letter, or if a more subtle discernment is called for.

In our discussion:

The benefit of "rules" and how they can help us navigate new territory.
How rules can also keep us in needlessly small lives.
How to discern the difference between a useful rule and one that no longer applies.
Learning how to trust ourselves and have faith in our discernment.
How to let go of holding on to, "I hope I don't screw up" and move forward in life.

For more information on Bliss + Grit go to www.blissandgrit.com

Ep 119: Spiritual Teacher Misconduct May 07, 2019

Show notes

In this episode,we are speaking about the phenomenon of spiritual teacher misconduct. From shaming and judgment to outright abuse, there is a long history of spiritual figures engaging inappropriately with those they're meant to guide. Yet these days it seems as if there is a new teacher exposed every few months. This is a big topic, that we could barely scratch the surface on, but in light of our recent discussions on relationships and safety, and because we do speak about so many teachers, we felt like it was time to add our voices to the conversation. We touch on how this can happen, but more so, what signs we may look for to identify an unethical, unsafe or ego-driven teacher. In our discussion, we cover many topics including:

How a spiritual teacher can benefit us
Polyvagal theory
Intergenerational trauma
Co-dependency
The importance of recognizing the humanity in awakened teachers

We know that people within this community may have been harmed by a teacher and we want you to know that we love you, we support you and we value you. We hope we did some justice to this important topic. May we together help raise consciousness and eradicate abuse in all forms of relationship. For more information on Bliss + Grit go to www.blissandgrit.com

Ep 118: Basic Trust [Flashback Tuesday] Apr 30, 2019

Show notes

This week is a flashback Tuesday! This episode, titled The Implications of Basic Trust, originally aired in September of 2018. We both remember this conversation as the beginning of what felt like a big shift for each of us, the kind of epiphany that seems so obvious, but is in fact quite huge: that we can trust this life. Even when it's agony. Even when it's joy. Even when it's boring... By the time this began to be a real lived experience for us, we had sat with the phrase "trust your life" for at least a couple of years. So it was fun to listen back and note that understanding things and experiencing things are really different. It was also maybe the first time that we mentioned what felt like a side project at the time: connecting the dots between nervous system states and awakening. Something that now feels very front and center to our mission, and is something you have heard a lot about in the last few episodes.

Ep 117: Presence as a Love Language Apr 23, 2019

Show notes

Our last several episodes have been circling around the theme of relationship and connection. This week we're continuing the conversation by sharing our thoughts on what we could call, "the love language of presence". We've noticed personally that what truly bonds us to others, and lets us feel loved, is presence in the form of interest and curiosity. Yet, our cultural and familial models are often missing this key ingredient. In this talk, we cover a tangible way to look at if you're present, how ego-agendas can lead to self-fulfilling prophecies, how an overstimulated nervous system can pull you away from presence, ways to experience genuine connection and how the conversation of 'doing vs being' can also apply to the way we communicate.

Ep 116: Finding Safety Apr 22, 2019

Show notes

Today we are honing in on how we find safety in the world and in our relationships, whether those relationships are with intimate partners, or our children, friends, coworkers,etc. We are deepening the conversation from our last two episodes: the episode on awakened relating with Lynn Marie Lumiere, and last week's episode on the "how" of self-love. In particular we are using the lens of Stephen Porges's Polyvagal theory to look more closely at what happens when we don't detect safety, and the magical things that can happen when our nervous systems do detect safety and therefore do not have to be defensive. We ponder what even is defensive behavior beyond the caricatures we typically think of? What are the cultural stories that keep us from experiences of safety? How do we get out of the "you're a problem, or I'm a problem" binary loop? Then we look at how healing really begins to happen, and how healing really takes care of itself, the more we can self-regulate and co-regulate.

Ep 115: How to Heal With Self-Love Apr 09, 2019

Show notes

If you've listened to the podcast in the past you know how much we value the practice of meeting ourselves with tenderness and love. In this episode, we are going into much greater detail about what it tangibly looks and feels like to heal through self-love. Our conversation covers everything, from neuroscience to personal experiences, to practical exercises where we can learn how to bring love to the parts of ourselves that need it the most. As we shift to meeting ourselves with a genuine experience of loving-kindness we can rewire and release the conditioning that has created so much suffering and havoc in our lives and step into a new, brighter experience of life.

Ep 114: Awakened Relating: A Conversation with Lynn Marie Lumiere Apr 02, 2019

Show notes

Today we are having a conversation with Lynn Marie Lumiere, a psychotherapist and the author of the book Awakened Relating: A Guide to Embodying Undivided Love in Intimate Relationships. Reading from the description of Lynn Marie's book: Our natural state is to love and be loved. From deep within, we're compelled to seek connection. Yet relationships remain a struggle—even for the most spiritually enlightened among us. Traumatic experiences, insecure attachment, and especially the false but commonly held belief that we are separate, both from each other and from the love we seek, can cause endless problems in our relationships. As long as our connections are built on this untruth, lasting love and harmony in relationship will elude us. In our conversation with Lynn Marie,we greatly enjoy shedding some light on how being able to contact the experience of awake awareness, or unity consciousness can take us way beyond the endless compromise push-pull game of the separate self, and the ways that"consciousrelationship" continue to keep us limited and constricted. You can find more of Lynn's work at lynnmarielumiere.com.

Ep 113: Taking the Vertical Path Mar 26, 2019

Show notes

Today we're showing our age by speaking about a concept from the book, The Seat of the Soul, that was written 25 years ago by physicist and author Gary Zukav that was just re-released. In this book, Gary describes the difference between what he calls the vertical path, or the path of the spirit, and the horizontal path, the path of form, and how where we choose to put our attention and energy can impact our lives. We thought this would be a fun and relevant conversation as so many of us, even on a spiritual path, still can get hung up on the horizontal "realm" looking a certain way. We also bring in wisdom from Eckhart Tolle's book, A New Earth, as well as personal examples of how we began to view life through the lens of the Soul, rather than the Ego. Find our more information about us and Bliss + Grit at www.blissandgrit.com

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