A Quest for Well-Being

— Wicca is a Nature worship that assumes that duality is complementary—not adversarial. Like other opposites, evil and good coexist; they define each other. While there are such things as evil spirits, the more we focus on positive energies and build our alliances with the Spirit realm, the stronger and more protected we become. In wholism, evil is the Shadow Power of good. It is seen as wounded or misguided energy that expresses itself as negativity, cruelty, fear, greed, war, and ignorance, which harms the greater good, such as fouling the water or clear-cutting a forest. For the most part, energy is neutral by nature and guided by intention. In other words, the assumption in Wicca is that we empower what we focus on.

Valeria Teles interviews Suzy Peltier — the author of "Ancient Wisdom for Modern Needs: Discovering Taoist Wicca."

Suzy Peltier, also known as Lady Red Hawk, has served the Lord and Lady as well as the principle of holism for over thirty years as a certified massage therapist, hypnotherapist, Reiki master teacher, shaman, Interfaith minister, auxiliary

chaplain for UCSF Medical Center, third-degree Wiccan high priestess, and founder of the neo-Wiccan tradition of Taoist Wicca.

With a background in medical anthropology and a degree in holistic health, Suzy was intrigued by the use of ritual as an ancient healing tool. She wondered, How does ritual work?

What makes this ancient art form so adaptable that it was used for healing, worldwide, for thousands of years—by cultures with very different belief systems? There had to be something practical about it, so why is it virtually absent from modern culture? She wondered how ritual works and if it could be used to address the epidemic of stress and other modern ills. Could ritual help restore the balance, belonging, and empowerment missing in our current cultural values?

Twenty-six years ago, she gathered a few friends together to run a unique spiritual and social experiment to explore these questions. This experiment evolved into the practice of Taoist Wicca, with practitioners and small covens across the U.S., and an email Circle list, offering an extended

Wiccan and Reiki community to people across the globe.

She has written and hosted two internet radio shows. Spiritually Speaking: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Needs can be found on voiceamerica.com/show/2033/spiritually-speaking and Hidden Connections: Exploring the Body/Mind/Spirit Complex produced by elevatedradiofm.com is archived on suzypeltier.com. Her videos discussing the sabbats and other exciting conversations can be found at www.youtube.com/user/mssuzypeltier.

To learn more about Suzy Peltier and her work and to subscribe to the email list and receive original writings, updates of events, meet our talented coven members, download individual rituals, packing lists, and other support materials, please visit: taoistwicca.com and suzypeltier.com

— This podcast is a quest for well-being, a quest for a meaningful life through the exploration of fundamental truths, enlightening ideas, insights on physical, mental, and spiritual health. The inspiration is Love. The aspiration is to awaken new ways of thinking that can lead us to a new way of being, being well.

— A central dilemma for spiritual seekers, and perhaps for all human beings, is learning how to live with one part of our awareness rested into the profound stillness of the unconditioned mind, while simultaneously being fully engaged in the unique context of our lives. This is an art that requires years of practice. To accomplish this balance of stillness and movement we must be deeply rooted in the paradoxes of human existence. We must recognize ourselves as both form and formless, as a unique event in time and space, and also a timeless essence that transcends physical, psychological and cultural conditions. We must understand ourselves as beings with biological, psychological and cultural conditioning, and also as timeless wells of emptiness from which creation has mysteriously sprung. The practitioners that I have known that have embodied this moment of creation when emptiness flows into form and form into emptiness have a particular kind of energy about them. They transmit a timeless presence and transcendent quality of Being while simultaneously being fully focused, clear and deeply available in every moment. They are luminous, flowing, relaxed, fully present in the complexity of every context, and see the world with an admirable sense of objectivity. They are not "stuck"…. Writes Michael

Valeria Teles interviews Michael Robbins — He is a psychotherapist, Taoist teacher, poet, and visual artist who works in Somerville Massachusetts.

Michael has studied and taught the Taoist practices of Tai Chi, Qi Gong, Nei Gong and Taoist meditation for more than 4 decades and continues to study these arts with high level masters whenever he has a chance. As a psychotherapist he works with individuals, couples, families and groups, leads retreats both in this country and in Europe and supervises therapists in his unique integration of body-oriented, systems informed, existential/psychoanalytic and spiritually based therapy both virtually and in person. He has published two book chapters and many articles on a variety of topics as well as two books of poetry all of which are available on his website. As a visual artist he has exhibited his work in a variety of venues. He is also a student of the Austrian mystic Thomas Hubl, and a member of the Ridwhan School founded by A.H. Almaas.

To learn more about Michael Robbins and his work, please visit: michaelrobbinstherapy.com

— This podcast is a quest for well-being, a quest for a meaningful life through the exploration of fundamental truths, enlightening ideas, insights on physical, mental, and spiritual health. The inspiration is Love. The aspiration is to awaken new ways of thinking that can lead us to a new way of being, being well.

—When there has been a betrayal in a relationship, this leads to an emotional injury, and if not addressed through understanding and forgiveness, it can lead to resentment or termination of the relationship. But how do you go about tackling the journey of forgiveness together?

Priscilla Rodriguez says that it will not be a comfortable experience, but it can lead to a closer and more intimate relationship. In this episode, we discuss forgiveness and what the forgiveness process looks like.

Valeria Teles interviews Priscilla Rodriguez — She is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Texas and owns an online boutique private practice called Modern Wellness Counseling.

Priscilla's private practice's sole mission is to give couples and individuals the tools they need to make their relationships thrive. Priscilla and her team of contract clinicians focus on helping adults reclaim their connections with others, whether that be healing emotional trauma and betrayal, learning how to manage anxiety and stress, or finding ways to love oneself.

To learn more about Priscilla Rodriguez and her work, please visit: modernwellnesscounseling.com

— This podcast is a quest for well-being, a quest for a meaningful life through the exploration of fundamental truths, enlightening ideas, insights on physical, mental, and spiritual health. The inspiration is Love. The aspiration is to awaken new ways of thinking that can lead us to a new way of being, being well.

— Strength training as we know helps us build muscle and get stronger, but that's not all. Through this process, we are also reshaping our metabolism enabling our bodies to burn more calories at rest. The more muscle we have on our body the more energy output we have, which allows our body to break-down our fat stores in order to meet this new demand. Also having a higher muscle mass percentage improves our body composition. This is our lean mass to fatty mass ratio. Having a lower body fat percentage helps us better manage our weight in the long run. Strength training can often lead to a higher after-burn effect. This means that the body continues burning calories even after the workout is over. ~ says Noelle

Valeria Teles interviews Noelle McKenzie — she is the Co-Founder Of Leading Edge Personal Trainers, ACE certified personal trainer and level 1 Kettlebell certified, which is when she learned she had an act for helping people achieve life-long fitness goals.

Leading Edge Personal Trainers is a black-owned NYC-based family business that was launched back in 2008 by Kern and Noelle McKenzie Alexander. They care most about the success of their clients and make sure they are always leading with the client's best interests at heart. Over the years Leading Edge has helped hundreds if not thousands of people become more confident in their bodies and what they can do. They instill mindful healthy habits and a personalized progressive exercise training program that transcends what their clients do in the gym to further enrich those clients' day-to-day lives. Leading Edge's goal is to have every client improve his/her quality of life and the relationship with his/her health and fitness. Nobody should have to suffer from chronic pain, and thankfully Leading Edge has been able to help so many of their clients live pain-free.

To learn more about Noelle McKenzie and her work, please visit: leadingedgeny.com

— This podcast is a quest for well-being, a quest for a meaningful life through the exploration of fundamental truths, enlightening ideas, insights on physical, mental, and spiritual health. The inspiration is Love. The aspiration is to awaken new ways of thinking that can lead us to a new way of being, being well.

— Shamanic healing includes a huge body of ancient wisdom "technologies" for engaging nonphysical beings in the spirit realms to assist humans in healing, evolving and harmonizing ourselves, our communities and our relationship to All That Is. "We are on the brink of a phenomenal healing revolution with new, radical understanding and breakthrough technologies emerging continually. I desire to spark your imagination and fuel your inquiry into the realms of spirit-based energy healing and to wish you well as a fellow traveler through the Great Mystery of Being." – Judith

Valeria Teles interviews Judith Hoaglund — She is the author of "Embody Wholeness: Journeys into Energy Healing, Altered States and the Quantum Field."

To Judith Hoaglund, guiding people in deep personal healing, self-discovery and empowerment is her life's passion. Over the past 3 decades, she has studied and employed a wealth of both ancient and modern techniques to promote healing on all levels of being. In addition to traditional shamanic techniques of energy work such as cleansings, extractions and entity removal, she utilizes guided hypnosis journeys to facilitate her client's connection with helping spirits and guides. These light-filled beings assist in performing soul retrievals, healing trauma, PTSD and illness, clearing energy blockages, past life trauma and impediments, ancestor healing, unbinding spells, curses and unhealthy connections, and more.

Every one of us carries archived trauma, either personal, ancestral, transpersonal or all three. To be born into a physical body is to inherit some form of trauma. The energy blockages created by this suffering, sooner or later, create illness. In working through these layers of challenges, Judith has travelled extensively and worked with numerous healing modalities including Sufi mysticism, Andean shamanism, Reiki, breathwork, meditation, hypnotherapy, plant medicine and with a variety of Native and shamanic healers. Yet it has been through guiding and assisting others toward healing that her creative gifts have blossomed. She has been inspired to create a synthesis of techniques that open the doors for clients to receive extensive personal and family healing, as well as enduring spiritual guidance that transforms their lives.

Energy healing and shamanic techniques open us to the realms of quantum reality that are potentially unlimited in scope and are thus effective both in person and remotely. In her private practice, Judith works with clients by guiding them through deep, introspective journey work at her home in Sonoma County, California. She also offers session by phone and internet. Her recent book details step-by-step guidelines that anyone can follow to learn these healing techniques, and she also offers workshops for in-person training of shamanic healing.

To learn more about Judith Hoaglund and her work, please visit: judithhoaglund.com

— This podcast is a quest for well-being, a quest for a meaningful life through the exploration of fundamental truths, enlightening ideas, insights on physical, mental, and spiritual health. The inspiration is Love. The aspiration is to awaken new ways of thinking that can lead us to a new way of being, being well.

— What if everyone actually is doing the best they can, at that moment in time, with the potential to change in the very next second to another best they can. Each one of us is doing the best we can, bending, adapting, to the world. Who am I to say that the way you bend is wrong? Who are any of us to judge each other like that? We each may have a preference, but if we judge each other we will just get angry and defensive. When we change the paradigm from incredulous to inquisitive, we encourage an opportunity to explore the others perspective. That is how Dr. Joe uses his I-M Approach. To wonder with a patient who they are and why they do what they do. For all of us to wonder who we are and why we do what we do.

Valeria Teles interviews Dr. Joseph Shrand — the author of " Unleashing the Power of Respect: The I-M Approach."

Dr. Joseph Shrand is Chief Medical Officer of Riverside Community Care headquartered in Dedham, Mass. He has been a Lecturer of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and an adjunct Faculty of Boston Children's Hospital. He is triple Board certified in adult psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry, and a diplomate of the American Board of Addiction Medicine. Dr. Shrand hosts a weekly radio show on WATD 95.9 FM, The Dr. Joe Show: Exploring who we are and why we do what we do. He is the author of Manage Your Stress: Overcoming Stress in the Modern World, Outsmarting Anger: Seven Strategies to Defuse our most Dangerous Emotion, the winner of the 2013 Books for a Better Life Awards, 2013 Psychology self help category, The Fear Reflex: Five Ways to Overcome it and Trust your Imperfect Self, and Do You Really Get me? Finding Value in Yourself through Empathy and Connection. Outsmarting Anger has recently been republished in paperback due to demand. Among colleagues and staff, he is affectionately called "Doctor Joe," as he was "Joe" in the original children's cast of the PBS series "Zoom."

To learn more about Dr. Joseph Shrand and his work, please visit: drshrand.com

— This podcast is a quest for well-being, a quest for a meaningful life through the exploration of fundamental truths, enlightening ideas, insights on physical, mental, and spiritual health. The inspiration is Love. The aspiration is to awaken new ways of thinking that can lead us to a new way of being, being well.

— We humans determine ourselves where our space is, from breath to breath, from thought to thought. We can stay in the shadow, worrying and doubting, or we can step into the sunshine with trust.

The universe smiles at you in every blossom, in every bird song, in the sparkling of the stars.

You are unique. You are precious. You are beloved.

Valeria Teles interviews Brigitte Novalis — the author of "The Magic of Inner Silence: How to Connect With Nature and Rediscover Your Joy of Life."

Boston-based therapist and Reiki Master Brigitte Novalis inspires readers across the world to live their best life (The Life You Want) and to find their magical connection with nature (The Magic of Inner Silence). Her beautifully illustrated fairy tales enchant both children and grown-ups alike. Brigitte loves her family, her dogs and cats, Dvorak's Slavonic Dances, and good stories (both reading and writing them!).

In Brigitte's new adventures series, you will follow Anna to the Quentin Academy of Magical Arts and Sciences (Anna and the Missing Child, Anna and the Mysterious Twins, Anna and the Mongolian Princess) and enter a new world where living becomes magical and joyful.

To learn more about Brigitte Novalis and her work, please visit: brigittenovalis.com

— This podcast is a quest for well-being, a quest for a meaningful life through the exploration of fundamental truths, enlightening ideas, insights on physical, mental, and spiritual health. The inspiration is Love. The aspiration is to awaken new ways of thinking that can lead us to a new way of being, being well.

— "My passion is love. To become love. To be love. To open for love and to be in service to love. Love is a state of being, and never a demand. However, we all expect to get love from outside." – says Sabina

Valeria Teles interviews Sabina Rademacher — She is a Love & Relationship Coach, helping women and men break through blocks and finding their authentic Self, so they can stop sabotaging love. In her work with women, she shows them, that we came here for something so much bigger, greater than strategies to attract and care for a man.

Sabina's life has shown her all aspects of "what love is not". she had to learn it herself. Only when she started to focus on finding Her Self, her life changed. Sabina learnt that love is a gift, never a demand, but she – and we all - have been raised in a way, that we get love only when we are NOT who we are authentically, but behave in ways others wish us to, (from childhood on). We are trying to fit in.

Being in international business arena for over 30 years, Sabina coached CEOs in international communication and leadership, where all conversations would always boil down to one sentence: "If I would have more respect, more understanding, more time, more love, then I would be happy, then I would feel better!" This led her to dig even deeper.

Her journey led her to see where she was not listening to her unmet needs and wants and constantly trying to get them fulfilled from outside of her. Sabina found HER true values based on HER needs, was able to establish her boundaries and found her authentic voice again.

This route helped her to Walk Her Talk and align to her highest goals, serving the higher good, helping other human beings who feel the longing in their heart for finding a deeper loving connection to Self and others, without losing their true authenticity and integrity.

Through her own life journey, she was guided over and over back to one question: What would love do now?

This question became the greatest gift in her own life.

During her many years of living and working around the globe, facilitating, teaching and coaching in intercultural communication and leadership skills, she realized that in the end it all boiled down to the one core in all humans: LOVE!

May Sabina's work "Being in Service to Love", which started in 2012 serves to end war of genders and bring peace to this world.

To learn more about Sabina Rademacher and her work, please visit: sabinarademacher.com

Also, visit the pages below for Sabina's online masterclasses:

— Have The Relationship You Want - Making Time & Space For Love.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/have-the-relationship-you-want-making-time-space-for-love-tickets-255864416357

— Walking In Your Soft Feminine Power

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/walking-in-your-soft-feminine-power-tickets-302522732637

— This podcast is a quest for well-being, a quest for a meaningful life through the exploration of fundamental truths, enlightening ideas, insights on physical, mental, and spiritual health. The inspiration is Love. The aspiration is to awaken new ways of thinking that can lead us to a new way of being, being well.

— "It is truly an honor to work as a psychotherapist and to have the opportunity to witness people as they go through the healing process. I am continually amazed by people's ability to transform their suffering into joy and to find meaning even in their most painful experiences. By developing compassion and forgiveness for oneself and others, I believe anyone can create a more fulfilling life." – writes Dr. Mary Deyo

Valeria Teles interviews Dr. Mary Deyo — She is a licensed psychologist with good credentials, including a Psy.D. from Stanford and an MA from Columbia, as well as great work experience in community mental health, managed health care, hospital settings, and private practice. More important than her education or resume, however, is the wisdom Mary has gained from working with people from all walks of life. What she has learned from the hundreds of stories people have shared with her over the years is that we all struggle, but that we can heal and grow from our experiences.

People truly are resilient.

Mary Deyo earned her Doctorate of Psychology through the PGSP-Stanford Consortium Program and her Masters in Clinical Psychology from Columbia University. She is a trained practitioner in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Time-Limited Dynamic Therapy, and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and she has experience treating clients diagnosed with a range of psychological disorders including Depression, Anxiety, Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, Borderline Personality Disorder, and PTSD.

To learn more about Dr. Mary Deyo and her work, please visit: drmarydeyo.com

— This podcast is a quest for well-being, a quest for a meaningful life through the exploration of fundamental truths, enlightening ideas, insights on physical, mental, and spiritual health. The inspiration is Love. The aspiration is to awaken new ways of thinking that can lead us to a new way of being, being well.

— As a mother, Ingrid Marquez who has watched her son struggle with heroin addiction for almost 13 years, she understands the heartbreak, fear, guilt and the tremendous amount of stress and anxiety one lives with 24 hours a day. Years of trying to save her son, watching him deteriorate, seeing him going in and out of rehabs, jail and close to death, Ingrid realized that she had also lost herself in his addiction. How could she continue to help him or be there for her daughters if there was nothing left of her. This is when she began to go deeper into her studies of meditation and the practice. She knew in her heart this would be her saving grace and it was. Ingrid still of course worries and still cries at times but her practice keeps her present and in the moment. She no longer feels that she is falling into the depths of darkness and despair. She is living once again and so very grateful for all those who have helped her on her journey. One of the most important lessons that she has learned, is to be kind to yourself, honor your feelings, have boundaries and seek help to cope with the vast range of emotions that will come. Remember to take time for yourself and Just Breathe. You are doing your best, One breath at a time.

Valeria Teles interviews Ingrid Marquez — She is a Chopra Center Certified Meditation Instructor and creator of IM Meditation-In-Motion. Ingrid uses her expertise to gently guide students to a place of calm, where they can achieve internal peace and stillness.

Through a carefully crafted method of teaching, she is able to connect with students, and customize the best type of meditation to suit their needs. She is compassionate, dedicated and passionate about the work that she does. Her holistic approach and connection to nature, helps promote an increased sense of wellbeing, and creates a space where students can express themselves freely; letting go of all anxiety, fear, and stress.

Ingrid attributes her passion for teaching to her mentors and instructors who have guided her through this practice over the course of 20 years. She is extremely grateful for having been given the opportunity to study with such respected teachers as Dr. Deepak Chopra, Master Educator Roger Gabriel, Yogini Shambhavi, Dr. David Frawley, and Dr. Sheila Patel.

To learn more about Ingrid Marquez and her work, please visit: ingridmarquezmeditation.com

— This podcast is a quest for well-being, a quest for a meaningful life through the exploration of fundamental truths, enlightening ideas, insights on physical, mental, and spiritual health. The inspiration is Love. The aspiration is to awaken new ways of thinking that can lead us to a new way of being, being well.