Authentic Living

Mark Nepo is an author, poet, philosopher, beloved teacher and cancer survivor who has, for thirty years, been exploring how we can stay awake and authentic when our wounds make us numb and hidden; how we can minimize what stands between us and our experience of life; how we can create a practice that wears down what thickens around our hearts and minds. And today we are going to talk to him about those very things, as we explore together the meanings and messages of his books, The Endless Practice and Reduced to Joy. The Endless Practice explores how the soul works in the world, and how by engaging our soul in the world, we are shaped by the endless practice of becoming who we were born to be. Reduced to Joy is a book of poems about the nature of working with what we are given until it wears us through to joy. This is a special opportunity to come closer to your own soul. Don't miss it.

Mark Nepo is an author, poet, philosopher, beloved teacher and cancer survivor who has, for thirty years, been exploring how we can stay awake and authentic when our wounds make us numb and hidden; how we can minimize what stands between us and our experience of life; how we can create a practice that wears down what thickens around our hearts and minds. And today we are going to talk to him about those very things, as we explore together the meanings and messages of his books, The Endless Practice and Reduced to Joy. The Endless Practice explores how the soul works in the world, and how by engaging our soul in the world, we are shaped by the endless practice of becoming who we were born to be. Reduced to Joy is a book of poems about the nature of working with what we are given until it wears us through to joy. This is a special opportunity to come closer to your own soul. Don’t miss it.

The terms spiritual abuse have, thus far, only been used to describe how Christian leaders abuse church members. But spiritual abuse runs far deeper and wider than can be described by any one religion. Spiritual abuse is abuse of the human spirit. While it's true that your spirit--your soul--can't really be damaged, it's also true that you can be split off from any conscious awareness of your spirit--and that's what spiritual abuse does. It is possible to live a life complete bereft of any conscious awareness of one's own spirit. That's what spiritual abuse can do. It can happen in any religion, in the spiritual but not religious population, in New Age followers, in New Thought followers, in the Human Potential Movement, and in our homes, in our schools and in our workplaces. Anywhere there is spirit there can be abuse of that spirit. But it can also be healed. Let's talk about it--it's time.

We welcome Dr. E back again to the Authentic Living show this week for the fourth time, this time to talk about her latest book, “Untie the Strong Woman.” For many years, Dr. E has been sending a message to the world that the feminine aspect of humanity is powerful, beautiful and essential. The depth of her understanding of the feminine aspect of human (both male and female ) consciousness has facilitated an increased global awareness of the essentiality of the conscious expression of this power. And that is exactly what we’ll be talking about on this show. Author of the bestselling “Women Who Run With the Wolves” Dr. Estés has also been conducting online events at Soundstrue.com on specific topics relevant The Dangerous Old Woman, topics on which previous interviews have here on Authentic Living have been conducted. This week we are going to learn how to untie the feminine. Don’t miss it.

We welcome Lissa Coffey back to the show today to talk about her wonderful little children's book entitled "The Four Pearls and the Four Squirrels." Lissa is an Ayurveda expert, hypnotherapist, sociologist, author and life coach. And this little book brings together all of her knowledge in one easy-to-understand approach to happiness. Children are subject to so many influences and we, as parents, teachers, relatives and friends of children have that power-to-influence over our children. What are we demonstrating with our behavior, and what are we teaching with our words? The four pearls teach very important tools for living from which all children—and adults—can find happiness. Tune in for your dose of wisdom today.

We welcome Lissa Coffey back to the show today to talk about her wonderful little children’s book entitled “The Four Pearls and the Four Squirrels.” Lissa is an Ayurveda expert, hypnotherapist, sociologist, author and life coach. And this little book brings together all of her knowledge in one easy-to-understand approach to happiness. Children are subject to so many influences and we, as parents, teachers, relatives and friends of children have that power-to-influence over our children. What are we demonstrating with our behavior, and what are we teaching with our words? The four pearls teach very important tools for living from which all children—and adults—can find happiness. Tune in for your dose of wisdom today.

Forgiveness turns out to be just another f-word—for it is fraught with so much misinformation, and laden with such heaviness! But forgiveness is not what we've thought it is. It is not something we can "should" ourselves into. It is not a duty. It is not taking someone back. It is not absolution. It is not tolerating the intolerable and accepting the unacceptable. It is not pity. It is not trying to discover why they did it. It is not a decision to be a good person by forgiving. It is not a decision at all. It is not earned and it is not the magic that makes bad feelings go away. Finally, it is not closure. What it is is far bigger, for more profound and far better than any of the things we have called forgiveness. Today we are going to learn what forgiveness is and what it isn't. Don't miss this important episode.

There are so many ways, dictated by so many others, to be a spiritual person. Many, for example, believe that they should never allow themselves to have a so-called negative thought, or a negative feeling. They believe that doing so not only makes them less spiritual, but it means that they might attract so-called negative events into their lives. But what if there's no such thing as a negative thought or feeling, and no such thing as a negative event? Others believe that repressing fear in the name of love is a spiritual thing to do, and it makes them into a spiritual being. But what if being spiritual means simply being. What if our definitions of spirituality are skewed along the lines of man-made images that have to do with how it looks to others? Many of us are spiritually bypassing and calling it spirituality. This term, coined by Robert Masters, is our subject today. Don't miss it. Be here now.

Marianne Williamson is coming back to the Authentic Living show for the second time this week to talk to us about her latest book, The Law of Divine Compensation: On Work, Money and Miracles. Most of us already know several of Marianne’s other books, including A Return to Love, The Age of Miracles, Everyday Grace, A Woman's Worth, Illuminata, Healing the Soul of America and The Gift of Change, for as Time Magazine puts it, Yoga, the Cabala and Marianne Williamson have been taken up by those seeking a relationship with God that is not strictly tethered to Christianity. We also know that thousands of books have been published on the subjects of work and money. And thousands of others on miracles. But bridging the gap between the work, the money and the miracle—now that’s a subject worth considering. On this, the day after Christmas, you could have a life-changing experience through this discussion. Don’t let yourself miss it!

We’ve got just about three areas of endeavor as adults at which we may feel either successful or unsuccessful: relationship, parenting and work. Two of those areas have something to do with the emotional intelligence.