Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the demands and pressures of your life? Do you struggle to find a healthy way through the daily ups and downs? Do you wish for a fairy godmother to wave her magic wand and take care of everything on your to-do list so you can catch your breath? (I’m raising my hand over here on that last one!)

Most of us want lives filled with joy and ease but our choices often set us up for something very different. Even if we’re making the best choices we can, the pressures of modern life are hard to juggle.

It’s helpful to have a path to follow, a structure or practice that helps guide us toward a more ease-filled life. Today we’re talking about applying the ancient wisdom of yoga principles to busy lives in practical ways. Yoga is MUCH, MUCH more than just a body-stretching path to fitness!

My guest this week is Pleasance Silicki, a teacher, coach, magic-maker and community builder. She’s the author of the e-book Delight: Eight Principles for Living with Joy and Ease, and co-founder of the National Kids Yoga Conference. She also founded Lil Omm Yoga, a former yoga studio in Washington, DC, now an online community. Today we are talking about slowing down, simplifying, and giving ourselves permission to be ENOUGH.

“We aren’t taught to pay attention to the subtle inner parts of our bodies.”

What you’ll hear in this episode:

• How yoga added value and changed the course of Pleasance’s life
• Dealing with the pressure from outside expectations
• How yoga gives meaning, clarity, purpose, and intention
• The emotional release of yoga
• The energy body and inner work
• How yoga affects pregnant women and new moms
• The huge growth in popularity of the National Kids Yoga Conference
• The Eight Limbs of Yoga: a path to the art of living
• The history of yoga and the teacher/student relationship
• True yoga vs. “yoga-inspired” fitness
• Commitment of concentration
• Being an example of kindness and generosity
• Truth-telling
• Paying attention to harmful thoughts
• Awareness and acknowledgement
• Alignment vs. Balance
• Saying NO so top priorities can be YES
• How to pause and weigh choices
• How to break the “feast or famine” cycle that leads to burnout
• Contentment in the yoga tradition

Resources:

www.lilomm.com

www.lilomm.com/giveaway  (Get Pleasance’s ebook for FREE!)

Welcome to Season 2 of Create Your Magical Life!

This year in addition to talking about the ways we can make life more magical for ourselves, we’ll also be talking to people who will encourage us to make life magical for others. Guests will continue to encourage us to look inward, increasing our self-awareness, self-understanding and connection to our highest selves. We’ll also turn our gaze outward, to deepen connections and increase our awareness and understanding of the world around us. It’s my belief we are being called on to walk our talk in ever more powerful ways. We want to strengthen our inner light so we can help illuminate the path forward into a more beautiful, more just, more magical future.

We’re diving into the deep end today with a conversation I’ve been having a lot in my personal life but that people, especially white people, are often afraid to have “out loud” for fear of saying the wrong thing.

Diversity. Racism. Privilege. What do all of these words really mean? And why is this conversation vital to our collective evolution as spiritual beings having a human experience?

My guest is Desiree Adaway, who is a master at leading difficult conversations on race, class, and gender. As a consultant, coach, and strategic business professional, Desiree specializes in the challenges of organizational transitions and projects related to racial equality and social justice. As a person of color in America, she speaks out eloquently about racism, oppression, privilege, and diversity.

What you’ll hear in this episode:

• How we define ourselves according to racial norms
• Racism: overt, subtle, and systemic
• Racism is prejudice plus power
• White supremacists and white separatists—do you know the difference?
• How racism is embedded in many areas of our culture
• Institutional racism and structural racism—What are they and where are they found?
• Hashtags: Do they REALLY help?
• Spirituality and social justice
• What white privilege really is
• How to analyze your bias
• How oppression has been perpetuated
• Being polite vs. raising hard issues
• Why being “colorblind” is NOT the answer
• How to teach kids about diversity
• Topics covered in Desiree’s Diversity is an Asset class
• Reaching out to people of color in genuine ways

Resources:

www.desireeadaway.com  (Find Desiree on Facebook, too.)

Facebook groups: The White Nonsense Roundup and White People Do’s and Don’t’s

Showing up for Racial Justice (SURJ)

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Ain’t I a Woman? By Belle Hooks

Race Matters by Cornell West

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Enter the River by Tobin Miller Shearer

The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

Download the article White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh

Is unconditional self-love possible? What does it really mean? And why does loving ourselves unconditionally matter?

My guest this week is Blake Bauer, who believes that unconditional self-love is the path to peace, freedom, and living the life of your dreams. Blake is an internationally-recognized speaker, counselor, and alternative medicine practitioner. He is the best-selling author of the book, You Were Not Born to Suffer. Through private sessions, retreats, and energy healing workshops, Blake helps people all around the world find freedom in all areas of life. When I first met Blake, I was struck by his warm, grounded energy and his clear and loving perspective; I hope that comes through to each of you today.

What you’ll hear in this episode:

• Unconditional self-love: What is it?
• Speak and act based on your truth
• Be true to YOURSELF
• The power of a deep breath
• Be aware of your body
• “I feel, I need, I want”
• What makes us feel alive, well, and happy
• Why we need to be able to be alone with ourselves
• Acknowledge and accept your pain
• Have someone to talk to in an objective space
• Purging through writing
• Fear and anxiety: where the emotional pain comes from
• “The Golden Thread”
• Settling for crumbs of love and attention
• Healthy selfishness vs. unhealthy selfishness
• Selfish reasons why we have children
• Volatile and abusive environments
• Why most people don’t trust themselves
• Reasonable time frames for turning things around
• How to begin with baby steps
• Mindfulness-based practices can help
• Getting “unstuck” in blood, energy, and emotion
• Tools to use to NOT be a victim of your thoughts
• The key to forgiving yourself

Resources:

www.unconditional-selflove.com

You Were Not Born to Suffer by Blake Bauer

How do you feel about change? If you’re like most people, you’re excited and ready for desired changes and completely resistant to everything else. Sometimes even the change we think we want can challenge us immensely when we’re in the midst of it. (Think moving, or starting a new job.)

Change happens—and it often means letting go of some things, experiencing wild inner growth, and taking in more magic as you stay open to possibility. But what if the change you’re in the midst of is unwelcome, difficult, and leaves you scared or sick or just plain miserable? It’s hard to find the magic in THAT kind of change. But we’ve all been caught in unwanted change and that’s what today’s guest is here to talk about. How do you find magic when you’re ill or in pain or suffering?

Grace Quantock is a coach, speaker, author, and consultant from Wales who became ill in her teens. Instead of giving up on life, Grace believed that her dreams were worth pursuing and she found ways to keep moving forward – to keep finding magic in her life – no matter what. She is an award-winning entrepreneur with a global business and a successful non-profit. She helps others go “from sick chick to trailblazer” with humor, compassion, and lots of body glitter. Join us!

What you’ll hear in this episode:

• What it means to be a “trailblazer”
• Grace’s journey through autoimmune illness
• Surviving and living well
• Why Grace creates “healing boxes”
• Why body glitter? (Why not?)
• Rising from the ashes of grief
• This is ME and it’s NOT my fault
• Beware of judgments
• Toolkit for the newly diagnosed (on Grace’s website)
• Stages of healing
• Awareness is a process
• How to answer the question, “So, what’s WRONG with you?”
• How to handle probing questions from others
• Redefining exercise
• Find what WORKS for you
• Micro-volunteering: What is it?
• How illness affects relationships
• How Grace and her husband, Linus, make their relationship work
• How to make your doctor’s appointment NOT be the focus of your day

Resources:

www.gracequantock.com  (Find LOTS of free resources!)

www.helpfromhome.org

www.healing-boxes.com

The Trailblazers Café on Facebook

Sex and Disability by Robert McRuer and Anna Mollow

The Selfish Pig’s Guide to Caring by Hugh Marriott

Do you long for more connection with the magic of the natural world? Are you drawn to the beauty of rocks and crystals but you’re not sure what to do with them?

This week is all about crystals, stones, and healing rituals. Athena Perrakis of Sage Goddess talks about starting out with crystals, how they affect the body’s energy, creating an altar and using rituals to connect to your inner wisdom. Athena is an incredible source of wisdom and gives specific tips and info you can immediately put to good use.

Athena Perrakis left the corporate world to launch the world’s largest and most trusted online source for sacred tools and gemstones. She started her business with a single product, intending to connect the world in a virtual sacred circle, following the rhythm, rituals, and magic of the moon. Online and at the Sage Goddess flagship store, you can now find over 2000 tools and products to help you access your inner wisdom and your personal magical lineage. Join us for this fun conversation!

What you’ll hear in this episode:

• The Basics: Differences between rocks, crystals, and gemstones
• Starting out with crystals
• How crystals work
• Good stones for beginners
• Why your chakras should be balanced
• Overview of the Seven Chakras
• Chakra alignment and clearing (on Athena’s website: Archives)
• Choosing the right stones
• Creating altars
• Ritual: What is it?
• How to create rituals
• Setting up sacred space
• Moon rituals
• How your body responds naturally to moon cycles
• New moon intention journals
• Stones for anxiety, love, abundance/money, grief/sadness
• Athena’s favorite resource: The Book of Stones by Robert Simmons and Naisha Ahsian

Resources:

www.sagegoddess.com

Find out more about Athena’s membership circle and classes: www.sagegoddess.com/register

Do you struggle with building solid friendships? Do you find it difficult to say “no”, even when you really want to? Have you ever been told that you’re just “too nice”? 

Having strong, healthy boundaries is key to living a magical life but traditional boundary advice can be hard to stick to when you’re a very kind person.

In today’s conversation, master coach Randi Buckley shares tried and true methods for figuring out where you end and others begin. For more than 25 years, Randi has worked with prestigious organizations such as AAMPAS (the Oscars organization), Sundance Film Festival, Omega Institute, Stanford University, the Dallas Cowboys, Spa Nordstrom, NBC University, and Youth for Understanding International. In her private practice, Randi guides women through sticky situations and big decisions with kindness and humor (and healthy boundaries too).  

For mindset shifts and practical tips, join us!

What you’ll hear in this episode:

• Randi’s classes: Healthy Boundaries for Kind People and Maybe Baby, and more!
• The profound difference between NICE and KIND
• Why traditional boundary advice won’t work for kind people
• Signs of weak or nonexistent boundaries
• The Shape of You—“Where you end and others begin”
• Practical boundaries for the best YOU
• Common boundary issues
• Feeling unseen or unheard
• How to put boundaries in place with people who think you have none!
• Does your garden have healthy soil?
• Doubts and ambivalence
• How to honor your integrity
• Changing your mind vs. keeping your word
• Being selfish: Good or Bad?
• Following your North Star
• Tools for making decisions with confidence
• Being fearless vs. being brave
• Fear = a messenger

Resources:

http://www.randibuckley.com

What is energy? (And I don’t mean what you remember from high school science!) How about intuition? Does EVERYONE have it? How do you use it in your daily life? Is it possible to stay grounded when life is a steady stream of curve balls? Can you really stay balanced amid the ups and downs? Today’s guest answers these questions beautifully. She also gives helpful tips about finding the right energy healer and how understanding the Chinese five elements can help you celebrate your strengths and find compassion for your weaknesses. 

Meet Megan Potter, a writer, teacher, diviner, oracle, and Chinese Face reader. Megan describes herself as being devoted to expansion, growth and magic. Megan doesn’t just throw around buzzwords, she gives practical advice and simple explanations. She wants you to embrace yourself fully for who you are—without judgment. 

You can find all the show notes at http://www.alanasheeren.com