Eileen Robertson Hamra - author, speaker, yogi, holistic health and life coach, and impact investor - is authentic, inspiring, resilient, full of strength and grace. In this episode, she shares about her powerful, uplifting, and devastating journey of losing her husband, and father of her three children in a tragic plane crash. Years later, with a deep inner-calling to guide others to tap into their own inner strength, Eileen wrote her memoir, Time to Fly. Her story is full of grief, tremendous sadness, rawness AND incredible resiliency, possibility, joy, miracles, abundance and love. Eileen talks about how joy and pain coexist, that by surrendering into her grief and anguish, her heart simultaneously cracked open again to hope, growth, and new love. We chat about her spiritual awakening through trauma and pain, the choice to turn her agony and tenderness into purpose, all the various messages and signs that showed up after Brian’s death that led her to Mike, feeling Brian’s energy and spirit all around (and in dreams), “leaning in,” making space for love and expansiveness, new purpose, and deeper family. While interviewing and listening to Eileen, I laughed, cried, got the chills, and felt deeply inspired. This woman is beautiful - inside and out, honest, compassionate, and brave. I encourage you to pause, grab a tissue or two, and to open your heart to Eileen’s story and sharing.

Leah Webb, founder of and certified health coach at Deep Rooted Wellness, is one fierce, inspiring mama, avid micro-farmer, and wellness warrior. She strongly believes that food is medicine, and that with education, tools, and empowerment, positive transformation and deeper healing are possible. In this episode, Leah dives into her own compelling, raw and powerful story. She shares about disordered eating, discovering gardening and intuitive nourishment, her passion for continuous learning and education, and how her two children have become her greatest teachers, with various chronic health conditions and their incredible resiliency, strength, and playful spirits. We chat about vulnerability and strength, patience, grief, acceptance, choices, crying, nature, being in the mud, finding light in the darkness. Leah opens up about parenting, her passion and business, self-care, serious food allergies, cystic fibrosis, pouring endless hours into learning how to meal prep and cook efficiently, then writing and sharing her valuable journey, strategies, and recipes in her cookbook, The Grain-Free, Sugar-Free, Dairy-Free Family Cookbook. Truly inspiring, knowledgeable, heart-felt, and bold, Leah enlivens and empowers all those who she crosses paths with. This episode is chock full of so much compassion, deliciousness, beautiful and raw sharing, and so many practical tips around health, food, gardening, and life. Tune in, perhaps grab a pen to take some notes, and marinate in the richness.

I was SO excited to connect with Emily Spencer, physical therapist and certified yoga teacher who specializes in pelvic health. I had the pleasure of meeting Emily years ago at a yin yoga class in Portsmouth, NH, and immediately felt drawn to her incredible warmth, positive light, deeply kind heart, and passion for health, healing and empowerment. And I remember being so curious about her story and what led her to dive deeper into the pelvic health realm.

So, yes! We finally made it happen and it was truly such a privilege to listen to Emily share about all the different layers from her own journey of being a fierce, young athlete to suddenly hitting puberty and feeling so confused and uncomfortable in her own body and world. She touched on shame, wanting to simply hide, to finding yoga in college, discovering greater courage, self-love, connecting with a renewed sense of power in her body through her practice and education. We chatted about the gift of movement and dancing ourselves to freedom, self-expression, pure joy. We talked about the various reasons people seek out Emily’s expertise and guidance and the importance of deep listening. Other topics discussed in this episode include endometriosis, how absolutely essential relaxation is (especially for the pelvic floor), vulnerability, pleasure and intimacy, bladder bootcamp, the Pelvic Health and Yoga Collective Group that Emily created on Facebook to support women to learn and understand more about pelvic health, yoga, and self-compassion. Emily is truly a gift to this community and world; her passion and work are extremely invaluable. Pause, tune into her sharing, inspiration and knowledge, and also learn more about her @pelvicyogi on Instagram. Enjoy!

Erin Holt of Erin Holt Health is one kickass, inspiring, bold functional medicine nutritionist and entrepreneur. And she pours her passion (understatement) into her purpose every single day. At heart, she is a researcher and scientist, consistently enrolled in some form of online program or training to further enhance her knowledge and skills; she also spends hours keeping up with the latest research around health, wellness, nutrition. It’s a strong self-expectation, core responsibility and non-negotiable in her mind if she is going to show up and support others effectively and powerfully in their own health journeys and transformations.

In this episode, we dive there… to Erin’s core, heart, curiosity, mission in life. Erin shares about what self-care and nourishment look like for her - now, during COVID-19 as well as pre-pandemic (although not a lot has shifted for her). She talks about what her body has taught her, learning to set hard boundaries, knowing her strengths, her love of nature and how it, along with meditation, softens her and automatically invites her to drop out of her head and down into her body. Erin opens up about her autoimmune condition, being her own advocate for her health, her recent scare, and the powerful gifts her sickness gave her.

I cherished the opportunity to connect with Erin and appreciated her patience with me as I learned the ways of remote podcasting and shook off some of my rustiness (stumbled over my words a few times). Although there were so many more questions about her direct business and vision I originally intended to ask, I loved being able to simply land in the present and flow in conversation together. Erin is truly a gift to this world with her knowledge, purpose, and offerings. Learn more about her at eringholthealth.com and get informed and empowered with her amazing podcast, The Funk’tional Nutrition Podcast, found on iTunes. Enjoy!

Margaux Maertens, an incredible yoga teacher in the Seacoast Area, is such a bright light in and gift to this community and world. Brave, authentic, bold, full of radiance, rawness, and courage, she opens up in this episode about her struggles with body image, disordered-eating, anxiety, and about how her struggles have led her to discover much deeper strength and healing within. Margaux shares how she initially hated yoga yet kept going back, how hiking in the woods and mountains have become her place of strength, how much she has learned to appreciate slowing down and leaning into her “self-work,” and how she has discovered power, creativity, grace and softness in her practice. Other topics discussed in this episode include snowy days and slow mornings, cats, therapy, venturing out of the comfort zone, vulnerability, navigating social media and what others think, stories, human anatomy, community, what Margaux would say to her little girl-self now. This inspiring soul is truly magnificent! Tune into her sharing and story, and also learn more about her at margauxmaertens.yoga and/or @maine_yogi_ on Instagram.

Rachel Martin, known by many as the founder and CEO of Forward Motion Events, is also a self-proclaimed “personal development junkie,” a profound positive influencer, mom, wife, passionate entrepreneur, and philanthropist in Southern Maine and the Seacoast New Hampshire Region. I remember first witnessing and sipping in Rachel’s powerful, contagious energy as I stood at the edge of Spring Hill Pond and nervously awaited the start of the Pumpkinman Triathlon. I listened to her share her vision, gratitude, and joy for all of us triathletes, volunteers, her family, and the incredible community. And I remember thinking - “I like this woman - her awareness, kindness, empowerment, boldness!” In this episode, Rachel shares about losing her mom at the very young age of 6 and then her dad 6 years ago, how loss has shaped her, how she chooses to show up powerfully every single day with courage, openness to opportunity, passion for spreading positivity and compassion out to her kids, community, the world. Rachel is stepping boldly into her purpose in a deeper way through Rachel Martin Co, creating and cultivating positive community for women to support each other and is also in the process of writing a book about being and living “around the salt” (tune in to learn more :). There are so many nuggets of sharing, beautiful rawness, and wisdom splashed throughout this episode. I left our conversation feeling so lit up, alive, inspired, wanting to pump up the music of life and dance (another hint about Rachel :) )! Tune in, listen, and gift yourself the opportunity to soak up some of Rachel’s magic.

Kristen Carlson shows up in life and in this episode with such courage, vulnerability, strength, and grace. She is a yoga teacher, plant-based chef, holistic nutrition coach in the Seacoast Area and beyond, and is boldly stepping into her light and purpose after losing connection with herself and joy for a few years. Kristen shares about her passion for dancing and cooking as a young girl and then the shift into not feeling good enough and battling disordered-eating, struggling with anxiety and depression, running herself to the ground, trying to control everything around yet feeling numb, alone, empty. Yoga woke her up again and she started to reconnect with self-love, nourishment, her strength, healing, softness. Kristen speaks to the beautiful gift of Yin, her love of hearty, roasted root veggies and local food, the power of journaling, the tremendous support she feels from her mom and a couple other inspiring women in her life. Tune in and listen to this incredible woman share her transformative journey, continuous growth, and purpose.

Stacey Sargent, founder of Inner Presence Healing in Greenland, NH, is a mom, yoga teacher, energy worker, healer, and Self Love Warrior. In this episode, Stacey opens up with powerful vulnerability and courage about her journey from self-hatred to compassion and fierce self love, which, in turn, sparked her to birth her yoga space and healing practice. We discuss the power of words, learning how to tune-in and listen to our inner wisdom and truth, riding (and accepting) the waves of self-criticism, the comparison-mind as well as the swells of joy, magic, ease, and confidence. Stacey shines compassion and light out to the community and this world with her expansive heart and healing energy. Pause, take a deep nourishing breath, and listen to Stacey share her raw and beautiful story.

Krista Maltais, founder and owner of Relief - Parenting Respite and Resource Center in Hampton, NH, is an Advanced Postpartum Doula, Certified Postpartum Doula Trainer, Advanced Lactation Consultant, and simply a powerful, compassionate, inspiring leader in the Seacoast community. In this episode, Krista opens up with courage and vulnerability about her own experience of becoming a mom, coming up against some pressures and assumptions, feeling extremely alone at moments, and craving connection. Her journey supported her to lean into her community, ask for help, and practice receiving necessary and deep support, which ultimately led to the birth of Relief Parenting Center. Krista dives into her passion for supporting moms, parents, and families as they navigate all the different transitions and stages. Relief Parenting Center offers tremendous resources and support for families from educational classes, therapy, much needed rest (yes… the center has 2 respite rooms and on-site childcare), parenting consultations, play-groups, and so much more! Krista is a mom, wife, community connector, nourisher, passionate advocate for family support, and truly, a heart-felt, brilliant woman living her purpose and passion. Tune in to learn more about Krista and this incredible center, and enjoy!

Tammy Miller Traniello, founder and owner of Sweetfern Center for Wellbeing in Kennebunk, Maine, is an incredible healer, Reiki practitioner, intuitive guide, artist, and simply, such a compassionate, beautiful, inspiring soul. In this episode, Tammy shares about her discovery of meditation and energy healing years ago when she was suffering from trauma and major loss. Her experience sparked light and reawakened her spirituality and curiosity, which all led her to her true purpose of supporting others in their own healing process, personal growth and through life changes. We talk about how nature and the ocean nourish Tammy’s soul, her creative gifts of art and singing, her self-care rituals, how much she cherishes community, the power of Himalayan Salt (there is a Himalayan Salt room at Sweetfern!), the ebbs and flows of meditation practice, and continuously coming back to the exercise of surrendering and trusting. Check out sweetfernhealing.com to learn more about Tammy’s offerings and her upcoming R&R Day Retreats. And relax and restore while listening to Tammy’s amazing sharing and wisdom in this episode. Enjoy!