Shai Plonski is a co-founder of the Still Light Centre in Toronto, and a skilled trainer of Thai Massage. In this episode of A Congruent Life, Shai discusses wanting to work with his hands, what he learned from working on a carnival boardwalk, his journey to discover Thai massage, the profound meaning of "meta" in his life, and the remarkable power of compassionate touch.

Transcript

Coming soon!

Links

Still Light Centre

Meg Worden is a writer and health coach who focuses on enabling personal freedom through her organization called "Feed Me, Darling." Meg has an amazing story, a part of which includes spending two years in prison for selling Ecstasy tablets during a particularly challenging part of her life, and draws on her insights from that experience in being of service to others.

In this episode of A Congruent Life, Meg shares freely about insights from her life journey so far, including reframing experiences, embracing gratitude, and the remarkable way that she has embraced her past in an honest way, without allowing herself to be defined by it.

Transcript

Coming soon!

Links

Meg's website and blog

@MegWorden on Twitter

"Everything I Know About Freedom, I Learned in Prison" on mariashriver.com

Finding Freedom and Writing Memoirs - Meg Worden and Srini Rao on BlogcastFM

Man's Search for Meaning on Amazon

Meg's live storytelling at Back Porch PDX

Adventures in Unschooling

Eric Plantenberg focuses on enriching the lives of others through his own multi-faceted life. Eric is the co-founder of Freedom Personal Development, has created a retreat called Abundant Living, and is now the "Core Values Ambassador" of Kombucha Mama. And -- by the way -- he's also done significant humanitarian work around the world, summitted Mt. Everest from the north, taken a three-year travelling honeymoon with his wife Michelle, and completed the IronMan Triathlon four times.

In this episode of A Congruent Life, Eric shares compelling stories and profound reflections from his life journey so far, including:

what he learned from a river guide about focusing his energy outward,

how embracing his job as a dog treat salesman opened unexpected doors,

about starting a long-running business with his friend, by pooling cash in a shoebox,

how a professor panned his business plan and advised him to "just go get a job,"

the importance and interplay of passion and authenticity in pursing goals,

giving yourself permission to live the life that you really want, and what that's looked like in practice for his own family,

honoring intuition and internal wisdom when considering big life transitions,

the profound value of "starting with why,"

the difference between authenticity and positivity,

lessons about passion and persistence learned from climbing Mt. Everest, and

how pursuing authenticity requires effort and intentionality.

Transcript

Links

Eric's blog

Eric's TEDx talk: The Anatomy of Results

Abundant Living Retreat

Kombucha Mama

Kids in the Game

Simon Sinek, Start with Why: TED talk, Amazon

In her youth, Julie Dragonfly turned to alcohol, drugs, and sex looking for courage to be herself in the world. Through some significant experiences, she rediscovered the power of music in her own life, and embraced that as another language for self-healing and being of service to others. Leaving her addictions behind and transforming her engineering career into a path as a yoga teacher and healer, Julie travels around the world doing a project she calls, "Sing As I Am," sharing the healing power of sound.

In this episode of A Congruent Life, Julie shares:

how music replaced her addictions as a source of strength and self-confidence,

spiritual experiences that led her to see music as another language for connection,

what came from her music teacher's challenge to share her music in train stations,

the unexpected gift of a small note dropped in her bag,

honoring the pull to share her gifts, "regardless of how I think it sounds,"

difficult lessons about intertwining money and self-worth, and

the challenge and reward of embracing self and living authentically.

Links

Julie's blog

Natalie Sisson is an entrepreneur and traveler who helps others seek freedom by building a location-independent business. She is the host of a website called The Suitcase Entrepreneur and recently published a book by the same name.

In this episode of A Congruent Life, Natalie reflects on her own journey as a nomadic entrepreneur, including:

recognizing for herself that "you either do this now, or you do this never,"

being willing to experience fear head-on in order to move through it,

doing the inner work to identify and prioritize her core values, and staying aligned to them,

staying connected to people close to her while living a nomadic lifestyle,

learning to celebrate both wins and losses,

how one's best work happens when you're being true to yourself.

Natalie is generously offering free copies of her book, The Suitcase Entrepreneur, to two lucky A Congruent Life listeners. For your chance to win:

Share this episode on Facebook

Join our community mailing list

Transcript

Links from our conversation

The Suitcase Entrepreneur website

The Suitcase Entrepreneur on Amazon

How to Successfully Crowd Fund Your Dream Idea on Kickstarter

Natalie's books and training

BYOB: Build Your Online Business

Awaken the Giant Within

StrengthsFinder 2.0

The Suitcase Entrepreneur on Facebook

Tess Vigeland is a familiar voice for fans of National Public Radio; she's been on public radio for over twenty years, and for the last decade she was part of NPR's popular national Marketplace program, including serving several years as the host of Marketplace Money.

In this episode of A Congruent Life, Tess reflects on her experience after presenting at the World Domination Summit in Portland last month, including:

leaving her dream job without a safety net ("what the hell are you doing?")

how the WDS audience gave her a gift she'll never forget,

lessons learned from not getting the big job that she was "supposed" to get,

discovering that those that she thought were "not my people" actually were,

learning how to move her identity from "Marketplace's Tess Vigeland" to "just Tess,"

figuring out how to shift from telling others' stories to telling her own story,

questions about why authentic sharing is so unusual,

why she doesn't really see her upcoming book as "Act Four," and

her ongoing challenging journey of "getting back to remarkable."

Links

Video of Tess' presentation at WDS on Vimeo

Transcript of Tess' presentation at WDS

Tess' website

Tess Vigeland on Facebook

Tess Vigeland on Twitter

Reflection posts on #wds2013

Marinus Koning is a retired brain surgeon who is now doing some amazing healing work with children in Ethiopia through the non-profit he founded called "Reach Another Foundation."

In this episode of A Congruent Life, Marinus shares some fascinating stories, including:

the impact that his mother's sacrifice for hungry children during World War II has had on the course of his life,

the deeply learned lesson that "if it's not helping others, it's not worth doing,"

his unique reflections on authenticity that come from having a twin brother,

how he was "accidentally" introduced to mysticism as a teen,

his experience that the art of living is learning how to recognize and appreciate key moments, and

what he learned from drawing blood from a dying man, Ubuntu, inking circles on newspaper, and Winnie the Pooh.

Links

Reach Another Foundation website

Reach Another Foundation on Facebook

Pamela Slim is an inspiring writer and coach supporting personal change and entrepreneurship, and is the author of the bestselling book called Escape from Cubicle Nation.

In this episode of A Congruent Life, Pam shares:

how traveling the world, studying martial arts, and working in a nonprofit unexpectedly prepared her for entrepreneurship,

the fulfillment of supporting others in the hard work of discovering their own path,

her learning that "hating your job intensely is not a business plan,"

the magic that happens when people take charge of their lives,

why she made a conscious choice to prioritize family over book sales and what she wants to model for her kids,

the importance of owning both the choice and the consequence, and

how a variety of work experiences and modalities are all part of one's "body of work."

Links

Escape from Cubicle Nation website

Escape from Cubicle Nation on Amazon

Pam's website

@pamslim on Twitter

Pam Slim on Facebook

Rudi Kennard is a well-being and resiliency consultant in the UK who is a facilitator for the "Three Principles."

In this episode of A Congruent Life, Rudi discusses:

pursuing a long-term passion project even though he couldn't see how it could possibly happen when he began,

a surprising approach to reducing crime and working with the incarcerated and ill,

making personal sacrifices and the meaning of true financial freedom,

letting your heart guide you more than your head, and

a fresh paradigm of mental health that is based on health rather than illness.

Links

Three Principles Movies

Innate Wellbeing

Jonathan Goldman was an acupuncturist in Boston who unexpectedly found himself having a profound transformative experience in a remote Brazilian jungle, and ended up in a protracted legal struggle with the US Government over religious freedom -- and won. He now practices "Transformational Energy Healing" in Oregon.

In this episode of A Congruent Life, Jonathan talks about his desperate prayer as an eight-year-old boy not to be bored, missing opportunities and the power of affirming what you want, his learning that "people living authentic lives would have never predicted what their lives would look like," ensuring that you're not following someone else's plan, and fear and faith being two ends of the same cord.

Links

Essential Light Institute

Essential Light Institute on YouTube