Everyday Mindfulness Show

Latest Episodes:

141: Basics of Business Mindfulness with Marc Lesser Jan 06, 2020

Show notes

“You must learn one thing - the world was made to be free in.” David Whyte Holly interviews Marc Lesser, executive coach, speaker and author who has been at the forefront of this movement before it was on the radar, Marc Lesser, often dispels the myth that this is a new idea to bring mindfulness into work. Dōgen Zenji, the founder of Zen in Japan, wrote a treatise on bringing mindfulness into work. It was written as instructions to the head cook. Lesser ironically found himself as a head cook in a monastery, so he took this to heart early on. Dōgen writes that one should always work with three minds; joy mind, grandmother mind and wise mind. Marc’s explains his definition of mindfulness: Mindfulness is humanness - being curious about the human dilemma. Questions Holly and Marc explore are: What does it mean to be fully human? How has the definition of mindfulness changed? How can this support me in becoming a more effective leader? What is the difference between effectiveness and wellness? What is the silliest or most stern objection that you’ve gotten regarding mindfulness? Is meditation the only tool to be mindful or are there other tools? Is there truly a way to have work life balance? Marc shared a story about leading a group of high level executives through meditation and mindfulness practices under the guise of “attention” training; being present with their breath and taking time to stop and be present. He wants to bring awareness to executives and their teams that everything they do and everything they don’t do, and everything they say and they don’t say will have influence. Marc’s continued practice is bringing awareness to the influence that executives have within their companies and business circles. As a former employee with Google, Marc shared that Google adopted mindfulness practices into their core wellness initiative. Marc admits that he has a bias toward meditation as the main tool to implement mindfulness. He says, “Meditate with your monkey mind!” and Holly follows with “give it a cookie, thank it for showing up, and go back to your practice.” He says that burnout is being out of alignment, with values, with the true nature of business and how people get lost in how business can blur the lines of ethics and caring for people. Some sense of full alignment is aspirational. Marc’s favorite quote: “Be joyful though you’ve considered all the facts.” Wendell Berry. In the midst of the gaps that exist, be committed to considering all the facts, make decisions and go with the facts that you with in the present moment. Marc shares the seven practices from his book Seven Practices of a Mindful Leader. Love the work. Do the work. Don’t be an expert. Connect to your pain. Connect to pain of others. Depend on others. Keep making it simpler. If you can focus on the first and the last, love what it is you’re doing and continue doing it with heart. Alignment comes when you find all the ways to make it simpler by eliminating all the distractions and only focus on what is most important in the moment. Marc’s focus for 2020 is to help social leaders with mindful meditation combined with mindful finance and operations - combining the inner and outer work to get the work done. You can find out more about Marc at https://www.marclesser.net/ Marc leaves the listener with “I wish we would spend more time promoting peace,” as well as a line from poet, David Whyte, “You must learn one thing - the world was made to be free in.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

140: Finding Your True North with Jane Stevenson Dec 27, 2019

Show notes

A New view on ROI (Return in Intention) Holly interviews Jane Stevenson, Managing Director of Magnetic Minds in South Africa. The two shared a connection through stories that flowed together on stage at a South Africa conference in 2019. As the managing director of Magnetic Minds, Jane’s company helps reframe mindfulness in ways that serve organizations in planning for their teams goals and future big picture. Her purpose: Finding True North. Personalized business solutions that equip leaders and teams to magnify results and impact. Magnetic Minds brings teams together to help them shift their mindsets in safe spaces to have conversations about where they want their teams to go. Some of the questions that Holly and Jane unpack are: How do conversations within ourselves magnetize the right people to us? Who am I? Why does success in business not feel like success in my heart? Are you showing up and following the plan that you committed to? What is your purpose on earth? Am I winning? How to Reframe what success means - no more winners or losers. We are all wanting to feel like more than just the jobs that we do. We tend to focus on our jobs as the centers of our lives, but is this the most mindful way to live? Purpose is far bigger than profit! Jane mentions Elan Musk and his opening up his intellectual property to the world, and how his example of sustainability over profit is the perfect example of living with purpose. Collaboration brings a much higher influence than working alone and in isolation. Holly and Jane discuss global challenges such as violence against women. More questions that they address are: How can we use the negative stories and build purpose driven collaboration around these? What are we doing to affect change? How do we become part of the solutions? How could anger create the answer? Sometimes we need anger to move into a state of brilliant action. Jane actually uses Holly’s book, Everyday Mindfulness, as one of her tools to give herself a framework for setting daily intentions. Jane leaves listeners with “Don’t ever think of it as a failure, but as a revelation of how to not do things in the future.” Find out more about Jane’s work at http://www.magneticminds.co.za/ or email her at jane@magneticminds.co.za Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

139: The First Step: Take Imperfect Action with Karla Merrell Dec 20, 2019

Show notes

After meeting during one of Holly’s Mindfulness and Sales speaking engagements, Karla Merrell, Owner, President of MNG Events is The Event Maximizer was excited to work with Holly, as she felt a strong connection to mindfulness and how she uses it in her business. She says that sometimes in the world of sales, we need to be reminded of awareness during the sales process. In her business, Karla focuses on helping entrepreneurs make the first step. She has a mindset of considering quality rather than quantity when identifying networking targets. Her vision is to help as many new entrepreneurs as she can, focusing on women entrepreneurs. Questions that Holly and Karla address are: What is the first step to creating with mindfulness? What did you put in your mind before stepping into a situation? How can you flip the script on a negative view to creating opportunities? What is your 2020 vision? What makes you great? Everything that we accomplish starts with taking the first action. So much of what we set out to accomplish, only comes to fruition by taking action - even if the first action is imperfect. While the mind may say that it’s imperfect, the world sees it as the perfect next step. Life expands to the ability that we are willing to believe in that expansion. Find out more by contacting Karla Merrell on Facebook. Instagram: @theeventmaximizer Website: http://www.mng.events/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

137: Breathe Your Way Thru the Holidays One Possibility at a Time with Rebecca Kordecki Dec 06, 2019

Show notes

Breath is life! After 25 years in a health and fitness career, Rebecca Kordecki always felt along her journey that she was meant to do more in a different way. She was completely focused on working with people from outside in, through fitness and nutrition, but she felt that she was always meant to touch people from the inside out. Her big “Aha” moment came when she discovered breath work three years ago and she realized that she found the tool to help herself and others - from the inside out. She had been excavating through her own work and it became such a great tool that she started teaching it to her clients and in classes. She says that it has never failed her. Holly highlights how different kinds of breath work techniques are the perfect way to insert into applied mindfulness into people’s busy schedules. Rebecca shares that the beauty of breath work has so many facets that will calm, energize, induce sleep, reduce asthma, and release trauma. She suggests Box breathing, or a four by four. It goes as follows: inhale for four counts, hold for four counts, exhale for four counts doing this for six to eight cycles. There are variations that can be applied, such as inhale for four, hold for seven, exhale for eight. The point is to just BREATHE consciously! She mentions her teacher, Dan Brulé, the world's foremost expert and renowned pioneer in the field of breathwork, and leader of the worldwide Spiritual Breathing movement. She wanted to share his outlook on playing with every single breath. Play with the inhale, the hold and the exhale. Just breathe... and play! Learn more about Dan at https://www.breathmastery.com/. The biggest gift you can give yourself is a big inhale and a big sigh of relief exhale. Create space, release anxiety. Create levity. Try incorporating people in whether you’re a busy mom, salesperson, manager, leading a small group, just play with breathing together. The question they presented for audience consideration for the break was: Can I be willing and open to allowing all the possibilities and opportunities that are showing up around me right now? After the break Holly shares that she has a word of the year - this year’s word is “allowing”, which was the perfect segway for being open to the opportunities, and Rebecca’s new book that will be released in 2020: Flip Your Switch. Rebecca got the idea when she was questioned about how she came out of the childhood and addition to cocaine - what was the trick? How did you flip your switch? She feels that surviving these came through many different techniques and the book is a result of gathering her remembrance of all the things that she did to get to where she is, fulfilling her purpose. Rebecca asks, “Do you choose to stand in your story, or on your story and inspire from it and spin gold. She offers a two weekend The Breath Zone Teacher training can be a great way to deepen a personal practice as well as become a teacher of her method. About Rebecca Kordecki (from www.rebeccakodecki.com) Rebecca Kordecki, the creator of Booty Slide and owner of RK FIT, has enjoyed a robust 20-year career as a Beverly Hills Celebrity Trainer, Group Exercise Teacher, Diet Coach, Corporate Wellness Advocate and Speaker. Also, Rebecca is now offering wellness retreats in resort locations. You can spend 3-5 days away with Rebecca and a small group of like-minded people in a beautiful and relaxing setting. During the retreat, you have daily workouts with Rebecca while getting away from the daily grind and with Rebecca’s Booty, Body and Breath approach to refreshing and recharging every aspect of your being, you will head home with valuable tools to sustain a healthy and balanced life. You can also find more about Rebecca at: www.thebreath.zone Instagram handle: @rebeccakordecki Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

136: Mindful Technology Choices That Will Save Your Life with Jim Spellos Nov 29, 2019

Show notes

Jim Spellos is the President of Meeting U., whose mission is to help people become more productive and comfortable with technology. Holly talks with him about the past ten years or so that they’ve known each other and how a health crisis helped Jim implement a routine of meditation, exercise and a new eating lifestyle. As mindfulness returned, he supported it with technology and apps that helped him find restaurants and places that were conducive to his new healthy lifestyle. He and his wife implemented their new eating regimen based on Mark Bittman’s book, Vegan Before 6pm (VB6). Jim also shares that he is building a community through Patreon.com. He offers courses for subscribers for $5 a month. He shares various content to help subscribers stay up to date with changing technology, through his Minute Tech video education series. Check it out at https://www.patreon.com/jspellos. One support tool that Jim is particularly passionate about is In Case of Emergency or I.C.E. apps. He encourages listeners to download one ASAP so that first responders have critical information that is easily accessible in the event of an emergency. Jim encourages people to not be afraid of using technology to balance their lives. Jim delivers over 150 keynote and educational sessions annually on how to use technology more efficiently. In 2015, Jim was named one of the Meeting Industry’s trendsetters by Meetings Focus magazine. He is a faculty member at New York University, teaching in the School of Professional and Continuing Studies since 1990. He has been honored with both their Award for Teaching Excellence and their Outstanding Service Award. With a passion for helping people and companies understand what’s new in current and future technology including the latest information about virtual & augmented reality, and artificial intelligence. Find out more about his work at https://www.meeting-u.com/. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

135: Create Your "Grategy" All Year Long with Lisa Ryan Nov 22, 2019

Show notes

“Grategy” = Gratitude Strategy Lisa Ryan, Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), talks with Holly about making gratitude matter and how she turned a major bump in the road into a success strategy. One day, she woke up and by lunch, she found herself without a job. Fortunately she had implemented a gratitude practice about a year before her job left her. Not knowing what she was going to do, she asked herself what she could be grateful for and what came to mind was a goal list that she had written many years prior. She realized in that moment of gratitude, that she had already accomplished many of her goals. She said to herself, “I’m going to laugh about this someday, why not now?” and she set out to recreate herself. Out of this time was born a career as a best-selling author and international, award-winning speaker and trainer. Ryan’s programs focus on positive workplace culture, inter-generational communication, employee acquisition, engagement, retention, and gratitude strategies (“Grategies”) for personal and professional development. Her down-to-earth approach and willingness to share best practices have proven to be a winning formula for her clients. With her clients, she highlights the power of authenticity. She recommends feeling the depth of whatever emotion that is being experienced, and then find what can be appreciated. These conversations about gratitude raise the energy of a room and halts the negative spiral where so many find themselves. Most talk about gratitude for friends, health, family, education and the “things” that they have. Lisa encourages people to find the surprises and be grateful for the little things - running water for example. Lisa’s daily gratitude practice includes a morning and evening journal. Her morning journal gives her gratitude in advance. She also writes on the ABC’s of gratitude - using the letters of the alphabet, she writes all the things associated with each letter, giving the monkey mind something to do in alphabetical order. Write a hand written thank you card every day. Lisa shares that she takes pictures with her clients and makes a card to send to that client as a thank you. Sometimes it isn’t about the cards, or the handwriting, its about the show of gratitude! Use every day technology well: tweet your gratitude! She also gives her clients thank you cards to send out. One of her clients buys a sheet of stamps every month and sets a goal to use all of them. With her “S.H.O.W.” (Self, Health, Others, Wealth) and THANKS programs, she teaches leaders that gratitude grows employee engagement. She encourages leaders to start meetings with a positive note, catch employees doing something well and recognize staff for what they contribute. Since 2011, Lisa has used a weekly gratitude thought of the week to engage her loyal followers. It includes a quote, a story, a lesson and an action. From this, she says that she gets the gift of heartfelt responses and authenticity with her subscribers and readers. What can you be thankful for in advance as the holiday season unfolds? Lisa says “gratitude is very easy to do and very easy not to do.” Challenge yourself for 30 days to write down 3-5 things each day, and at the end of the month you’ll see that it works! Create your own “Grategy!” Contact Lisa Ryan at https://lisaryanspeaks.com/ or email her at lisa@grategy.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

134: Meditational Journaling: The Mind-Body Peace Journal by Sandra E. Johnson Nov 22, 2019

Show notes

"Intense love does not measure it just gives." - Mother TheresaHolly interviews Sandra E. Johnson, LCSW, and author of Flowers for the Living and Standing on Holy Ground: A Triumph over Hate Crime in the Deep South who joins Holly to discuss her latest release, The Mind-Body Peace Journal: 366 Mindful Prompts for Serenity and Clarity. The journal was born out of Sandra’s work at the South Carolina Correctional Department’s psychiatric hospital. “The inmates showed me no matter how mentally ill they were, they benefited from counseling that included the teaching of mindfulness. Through engaging them in this type of therapy, I watched them make light years of progress in comprehending their psychiatric disorders and how to better cope with them. They loved when I would quote sages like Patanjali and give them mindfulness-based writing exercises to do. Their enthusiasm sparked the idea of creating a 30-day meditational journal for them to complete while attending the weekly group sessions I led.” from https://sandraejohnson.net/about/Coupling this experience with a deep rooted practice of yoga which she started some twenty-five years ago, she created The Mind-Body Peace Journal. She saw that, even for people with severe mental health issues, mindfulness really helped improve the quality of their lives and contends that it can help anyone from any walk of life. Studies have proven that meditational journaling helps with all kinds of physical and mental issues. The author shares how her quotes showed up throughout her life, coming from a long list of her favorite writers, singers, religious and spiritual leaders. “Developing mindfulness offers a way out of the never ending cycle of misery.” Sandra also shares how many times in her life she felt small, disempowered and unworthy. Two of her favorite mantras are “I am enough and “everything is going to be ok.” Both have given her the ability to get through many situations that seemed hopeless. This combined with meditation, prayer and scripture creates the foundation for her spiritual practice and gives her a sense of peace. Holly and Sandra share a discussion about a like minded documentary called The Dhamma Brothers which brings eastern and western meditation program into a southern correctional facility and follows how dramatically ancient meditation program changes the men who participate in the intensive program. Sandra leaves the listeners with encouragement that, “This book is for anyone who wants to connect to the present moment where we find peace and balance in a society that has us worrying about the future and fretting over the past.” Get Sandra’s book here on Amazon, or wherever books are sold. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

133: Stimulate The Leader in Your Life: YOU with Chutisa and Steven Bowman Nov 15, 2019

Show notes

What would you like to create as your life and your living? In her first team interview, Holly joins Chutisa and Steven Bowman from Australia. This amazing couple have joined forces for the last forty-seven years, living and growing several businesses and their personal lives together. This duo speaks to honoring each other individually and together, as they have grown seven global businesses. They have worked together over a quarter of a century, mastering the art of blending business and building family together. Chutisa loves to write and Steven loves to work with executives who lead companies. Together, they are a powerhouse of mindful leadership knowledge. The duo’s shared motto is, “What would we like to create as our life and our living?” Life is different than living and living is different than life. With this as their driving force, the have created seven global business and tap into the key to having multi streams of possibility. Their secret to running several business, is, as they share “We contribute to one another, though not always physically contributing to each others ventures, we put energy toward them.” The side conversation is that “we never withdraw our energy from any of the businesses.” They are constantly asking “Where does our energy need to be today?” Some of the questions Holly explores with the couple are: How do you handle conflicts? To which Steven presents listeners with the questions: “Are you doing that to prove or to create?” and “What would this be like if I was doing this to create?” How do you overcome bridges to create mindful change into organizations? How do you help people let go of old views of wealth to have a more mindful view? What is your favorite source to expand people’s view? What is on your dream board that is keeping you stimulated to move forward? Wealth is so much more than money. It is about choices and possibilities that we have in the world. Money is the easy bit. The bit that people trip over is their view about money and about how they can get it. The Bowmans advise listeners to not totally buy into other people’s reality. We recommend education about personal finance. It doesn’t matter where or how you start, just start! Trust in yourself and become a conscious leader in your own life. See yourself as your biggest asset. Be the creative source of your life. Chutisa’s new book launches in January, Conscious Leaders for Futures That are Sustainable: The gift of inner leadership. It asks the question: Are you a conscious leader of your own life, if not, who is? She is also working on a YouTube channel to support her work on inner leadership. The Bowmans express that we must continue functioning from a place of curiosity. Asking, “What else can we add to our life?” and to keep asking EVERY day, “How much fun and joy will that create in my life?” Most people have a full time job as wishful thinkers, but taking action is essential. Many people keep wishing but take no action. The universe thrives on change. Keep looking for things that bring change to your life. Know that every choice creates, but never judge any of your choices as good or bad and from that space everything is possible. Steven and Chutisa Bowman are global business advisors, authors and speakers who have spent the past 30+ years working with many top society changing companies and entrepreneurs of our time. The2Bowmans have devoted their career to inspiring people to challenge today’s certainties and consciously create a future of their choosing. They are recognized worldwide as Pragmatic Futurists and “thought leaders” on: Benevolent Capitalism and Benevolence@Work Conscious Leadership for sustainable futures Prosperity Consciousness and Business of Wealth Creation Strategic Awareness and business transformation. See more about Steven and Chutisa on their website at https://the2bowmans.com/ or buy their books on Amazon here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

132: Lawyers Decoded: Essential Mindfulness For Legal Hassles with Melody Kramer Nov 08, 2019

Show notes

Intersection of Emotion and the Law Holly and Melody Kramer explore mindfulness in the legal realm through Melody's book, Lawyers Decoded: Essential Knowledge for Saving Money and Reducing Legal Hassle. Melody is trial lawyer, author, speaker, innovator and visionary who shares her experiences in the legal arena and how she continuously saw a lack of human connection and caring, and wanted to create change in relationships between lawyers and clients. Melody talks about how she has even shifted her fee structures to create a more peaceful resolution timeline, by giving incentives for handling cases more quickly. Some of her recommendation for creating positive outcomes during legal interactions include writing down goals, budget, and expectations so that a client has an upfront understanding of the path they want to forge with their attorney. Kramer also recommends a life affirming approach of writing your own obituary in order to provide insight into the bigger picture of one's legacy and estate planning steps that come from this. Find out more about Melody's work through her website: www.melodyannkramer.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

131: The Golden Book of Humanity: Living As Unconditional Love with Juha Riverhill Nov 01, 2019

Show notes

I am love, I am in my heart, I am listening. In this episode, Holly interviews Juha Riverhill, spiritual teacher from Finland. Juha's inspiration comes from a lifetime of difficulties, from being bullied as a child to a tumultuous divorce in his later years. out of the worst moment of his life. A difficult divorce, overwhelm of the aftermath and the whisper from his spirit guide, Cecelia, led him to channel/write his book, The Golden Book of Humanity. Questions Holly and Juha explore include: How did you come to the understanding of spirit guides? What is something that you may be resisting in your life that gives you an opportunity to find a greater guide in your own life? Where do you start and how can you implement a sense of curiosity in your daily life? How can we ponder and practice the mantra I am love, I am in my heart, I am receiving? The Divine approached Juha in many ways from the time he was a child. He asked to be shown the way to communicate on a deeper level with his spirit guides. During a time in Paris, his time with Cecelia and other guides gained clarity and understanding the gifts they could help him bring to the world. He set a goal of becoming a spiritual teacher. Coming from a Christian background, he always had an understanding of the Holy Spirit, but he came to crave more of a spiritual exploration to a connection with unconditional love. He found this by bringing his living from his head to living in his heart. Through this it fulfilled an aching heart and created a raised vibrational state of sending and receiving perfect unconditional love with his life. Find out more about Juha's book here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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