Meg Walker and Sneha Suresh (Part 1)
Listen to us talk about the origin stories behind our podcasts, how crazy different the careers we are pursuing and how podcasting was never part of our plans.There’s a power in vulnerability that we often don’t realize until we witness it ourselves and how grief is such an un-tameable emotion.We talk about what community means to us, lessons we’ve learnt in our lives and experiences and about the non-profits close to our hearts.Beautiful metaphors and lessons we’ve experienced and moments that forever changed our lives.We have an open conversation about community, life, mental health and everything in between.
We are Community.
Grow-Learn-Connect
Together
Instagram: @mykindofpeoplepodcast
@themegmethod
Meg Walker and Sneha Suresh (Part 2)
In part 2 of this incredible chat we have open, authentic and candid talks about our relationship to nature and what it means to us.
Our experiences with meditation, especially with our PTSD and how Vipassana Meditation changed Meg’s life. We talk about when we feel most ourselves and how important it was for us to create spaces to have conversations.
Another very interesting chat for me personally was discussing our relationship with the word pride and finding it within ourselves to accept what we’re proud of about ourselves.
We are Community.
Grow-Learn-Connect
Together
Instagram: @mykindofpeoplepodcast
@themegmethod
Sarah and I were lucky to meet through a project we did together and from the first meet, I knew I wanted her on perspectives and I cannot even describe how excited I was when she said yes!
Sarah is the executive director of the incredible organization, Good Grief Network and also all round wonderful human being. In this discussion we delve in Sarah’s journey with mental health, why it’s so important to her to speak up and share stories. We have a very candid conversation on the masks we live our lives with and why being vulnerable is so important to both of us.
Another beautiful topic we dived into was community and it was incredible to hear Sarah’s interpretation of community and how she believes it is one of the biggest coping tools we all have and I couldn’t agree more.
Sarah shares her experiences with therapy and how mental health is so much more than just the voices in our heads.
Make sure you check out the incredible work of Good Grief Network and if you haven’t seen it already, take some time out to watch the incredibly important discussion we had on the intersection of Mental Health and Climate Change with Imperfect Eco-Hero and Start the Wave!
We are Community.
Grow-Learn-Connect
Together
Insta: @goodgriefnetwork
In this installment we’ve dived into why it’s so important to feel our feelings and the role feelings play in our lives, why it’s so incredibly pertinent that we complete our cycles of stress and not run away from it.
We talk about Sarah’s interpretation of meditation, how important community is to us,and the incredible organization Good Grief Network and the work they are doing and we dive into the overlap of Mental health and Activism and how it’s so important to acknowledge the impact and how we define Activism.
We are Community.
Grow-Learn-Connect
Together
Emy Taliana and Steph Margeth (Part 1)
It’s a special chat for a special day. Sometimes the universe really does things that you can not explain as anything other than a cosmic alignment of stars. I met Emy and Steph through a series of events that have basically changed my life and I cannot even begin to describe how much I absolutely adore these 2 individuals. Having the opportunity to talk about meditation and breathwork, Pride Liberates (A GAY ANTHEM IT TRULY IS), Soul family, friendship and music and so much more The universe brings people together that are truly meant to meet, that’s what happened with Steph and Emy. It was an absolute honor to be able to hold space for this beautiful conversation and it shouldn’t surprise you, we’ve got more than 1 part! Thank you both for allowing me to hold space for your truths, thank you for showing up in this world as you are and thank you for being a part of MindMatters. I have so much love, admiration and gratitude for you both.
We are Community.
Grow-Learn-Connect
Together
Insta: @emytaliana
@margethi
Steph Margethi and Emy Taliana (Part 2)
I cannot stress enough the power of creativity and its role in the collective healing of this world we so deeply need. In part 2 with these incredible individuals, we delve into the discussion of community and what it means to them and where they found and how they experience it.
These 2 souls love each other so much and have such a beautiful friendship, it shows in this picture and it can be felt as you listen to these 2 talk. My heart was filled with so much light, love and gratitude as we had these chats!
We talk about the power of creativity and the healing they’ve found within it and how they use their creativity to share that light and healing with others. Emy and Steph tell us about their inspirations in life and what about music they feel connected to.
Emy and Steph share their journeys and perspectives so authentically and vulnerably, it was nothing short of a privilege to be able to share this space and be a part of this discussion.
Thank you so much to the both of you for trusting me and allowing me into this space.
The episode is out on all the platforms now!
We are Community
Connect-Grow-Learn
Together
I introduce D2 as one of the kindest and most considerate individuals I’ve ever met and I will forever defend this statement. In this chat I get to dive into some very important conversations on mental health and being a parent, their approach to tackling these conversations, how the Covid Situation impacted their lives as well. D2 is also an incredible artist and we get to dive into the beautiful overlap between creativity and healing and what their lighthouses are. We talk about their work, their support systems and why it’s so important to them and D2 was also so kind to tell us more about their journey with their gender and coming out as non-binary. Thank you so much for taking the time to chat D2 and trusting me to hold this space.
We are community.
Connect-Grow-Learn
Together
Isaias Hernandez, the QueerBrownVegan, was so kind as to take some time to join me on MindMatters and we delved into such important conversations. Isaias tells us his journey to becoming the Climate educator he is today and what put him on this journey. Isaias also highlights the intersectionality we need to stop turning a blind eye to in the climate justice movement. Isaias also shares his experiences from college, dealing with racism, and gives us some advice on how to introduce sustainability in our lives. We have a candid discussion on how privilege plays a role in activism, and how important the principle of “accountability” in any movement. Another important perspective we got a chance to talk about was the idea of perfectionism in the climate movement and activism as a whole and the impact on our mental health and Isaias shares what nature means to him.
Thank you Isaias for taking the time to share your perspective with us.
We are community
Connect-Grow-Learn
Together
Instagram: @queerbrownvegan
Lena (they/them) is an incredible artist using their art to create healing in this world. Their work heavily focuses on rewriting the narrative of what “ideal bodies” are. They also highlight the intersection of the queer community and body positivity. Lena recently came to the realization that they are a healer and do so with their creativity. They talk about the inspiration behind starting this incredible artwork and how it has personally been a reflection of their life.
We delve into understanding how their journey with understanding their sexuality and gender journey was for them personally and how art was a support they leaned on.
Instagram: @bopolena
Communication is such a powerful tool to regulate emotions and such a heavy influencer on our mental health. In this chat with Amy Fiedler, we delve into her therapeutic practice- her approach and style. We also talk about healthy boundaries, how to set them up and why it’s so important to have these in place. There comes a certain guilt almost when it comes to setting boundaries, why do we feel it? Amy tells us more!
Understand People pleasing, co-dependency, boundaries- how and why all of this affects our mental and emotional health.
Being trauma informed and aware of what trauma is and how it manifests in our bodies is something we got a chance to highlight on this chat.
Ever been a people pleaser? Are you trying to navigate these feelings?
This chat definitely will give you a fresh perspective on how to approach it.
Thank you Amy for taking the time to chat with us.
Instagram: @amythelifecoach
Charlie is a blind disability coach and a very talented musician!
He’s created an incredible experience overlapping the two called “Singing in the Dark Immersion” and he tells us more about the experience on our chat, he was also so kind to announce that anyone wanting to take part in this experience can join using this code “MINDMATTERSSITD” to get 18% off on the entire course!
Charlie takes the time to tell us about how he lives with his blindness, what his journey was to accept it and how he has now turned his passions to creating a space to help others embrace their disabilities as well!
He also took the time to tell us more about the misconceptions in disabilities and we address a very important topic, ABLEISM.
Thank you Charlie for taking the time to chat with us and I hope you all can take part in this experience.
If you are a fan of music and want to embrace more about life this is a beautiful opportunity for you!
Feel free to share it!
Insta: @charliekramervision
Darren is a conversation starter, speaker, artist and activist who’s taken the time to chat with us on some very important and vulnerable experiences of his life. Darren talks to us about his experience with Conversion Therapy and how it was growing up as a black, gay man. He shares his journey with how reconciled his faith even after his experiences with conversion therapy and how it led him on his path to be a worship leader now. Darren doesn’t shy away from talking about his life as a black man in America and as a gay man and the intersectionality of it all. He is an advocate and activist highlighting the racial inequality and prejudices against the queer community. Darren is also an incredible artist and shares his take on the incredible overlap between creativity and healing and the power of vulnerability.We are so grateful that Darren took the time to talk to us and trust us with his story.http://darrencalhoun.com/
Insta: @heydarren
Jenna is this incredible individual that has brought together speech therapy, stroke recovery and crossfit together.Jenna tells us about Fit to Function, an incredible initiative that functional fitness with cognitive rehabilitation in a 1:1 and community-focused environment that benefits survivors of brain injury and stroke.Listen to to learn how Jenna fuses the practices of well being, fitness, community and rehabilitation to help her client’s achieve more than just “good enough” after in-patient services end and the very strong feelings of isolation of life that creep up after brain injury kicks into high gear. This episode is a beautiful example of how powerful and important it is for us to embrace community in our lives!
Thank you Jenna for taking the time to chat with us and telling us about the coolest shiz ever!
Insta: @fittofunctionrecovery
Curtis joins me to have an incredibly vulnerable chat.
When he was 16 years old he was subjected to conversion therapy; an experience he was later able to use to ban conversion therapy in his home State. Curtis has now taken his activism to the next level and founded the Conversion Therapy Dropout Network to bring survivors of conversion therapy together in community and solidarity. The mission of the organization is bridge the gap between survivors of conversion therapy and provide a support network to those harmed by the practice. It was formed to provide a space for conversion therapy survivors (dropouts) to heal and find solace in knowing they are not alone. They believe that knowing others who have experienced the same trauma and sharing your experiences helps heal the deep trauma felt by survivors.
Thank you Curtis for joining me on this chat and sharing your story with us.
Andrea is a Health coach and certified personal trainer who joins us to tell us about the relationship between mental and physical health and how much the two influence one another. We delve into the role of meditation in her own life and what practices have worked for her and that she’s shared through her programs, Body Mind Spirit.
Andrea is no stranger to mental health issues and she takes the time to share her own story and what her relationship with it and why she’s so vocal about the need for mental health discussions. We also dive into the relation between mental health and gut health.
Thank you Andrea for taking the time to talk to us!
Insta: @andreasomer
Mike is an incredibly passionate human being with an incredible story and was kind enough to join me on MM to share it.
Mike went into cardiac arrest at the age of 17 and since then his life has changed. He talks about his lifestyle changes, how this event affected his mental health and how this diagnosis impacted his life choices.
This incident also propelled Mike into creating In a Heartbeat, a non profit doing absolutely amazing work. Mike tells us about the community he found and we chat about his recently written Memoir!
Thank you Mike for joining me and a special shout to @heartcharged for connecting us.You can find out more about the book at www.abigheartbook.com
Catarina Rivera is a disability activist and DIE Consultant. She takes the time to join mindmatters to tell us about her journey, the concept of ablelism and how to recognize it in our lives. We chat about the importance of inclusivity and adaptability in all aspects of life ,social media included. Catarina brings light to misconceptions about disabled individuals that are often perpetuated and she shares the reason and story behind her own platform that she has created and why she took this step.
Insta: @blindishlatina