In this heartfelt interlude episode of the Fierce Authenticity Podcast, Shirani reflects on the four-year anniversary of the podcast's launch and shares personal insights into her journey over the past year and a half. Touching on themes of collective trauma, burnout, and the unraveling of old power structures, Shirani highlights the emergence of new systems rooted in love and community. Encouraging listeners to embody love in tumultuous times, she offers resources and support for those navigating change and transformation.

Reflecting on the four-year anniversary of the podcast, Shirani celebrates the healing messages shared and the impact on the community.

Discussing the dissolution of old power structures and the emergence of new systems, Shirani emphasizes the importance of leadership rooted in love and compassion.

Offering tools and resources for navigating challenging times, Shirani introduces the "Embody Love" workshop series designed to support individuals in leading with purpose and creating thriving workplace cultures.

Encouraging listeners to find like-minded communities and learn from those further ahead, Shirani emphasizes the importance of connection and support on the path to creating a more equitable world.

By sharing insights on healing, magic, and potency in the midst of chaos, Shirani inspires listeners to tap into their innate power and contribute to the shift towards a more loving and just society.

"We are literally decomposing and composting those old systems of power."

"Embodying love is the secret successful leaders are missing."

"Reduce stress and increase clarity by leading with love."

"Find your like-minded people, learn from those further ahead, and lead with love."

"The new way of being is already emerging, and you are at the forefront of that."

Shirani M. Pathak is a transformational coach and consultant with a background in social work and mental health care. After experiencing clinical burnout following 18 years in direct service roles, Shirani made the decision to shift her focus towards supporting leaders in creating love-led cultures within their organizations. With a deep commitment to healing, empowerment, and social justice, she brings a unique perspective to her work in guiding individuals and groups towards a more equitable and compassionate world.

Shirani M. Pathak's Website

Revolutionary Love Project by Valerie Kaur

Don't miss the full episode for a deep dive into healing, leadership, and embodying love in transformative times. Tune in for more insightful conversations and enlightening content from the Fierce Authenticity Podcast.

It's been 8.5 months since we last spoke here on the podcast and boy oh boy, are we due for an update. What a wild wild world we're living in.

Here's another real, raw, unedited, unfiltered interlude from my heart to yours. 

We take the first bit to catch up on what's been happening around here, including the challenges that come with being a changemaker doing counter-cultural work. Then we take a deep dive into the state of the world the last 40 days since the events of October 7 between Israel and Palestine. 

We zoom out, take a big picture perspective, and then we bring in it. 

I am no expert on matters in the Middle East, or on politics, or on religion, but what I am is an expert in human behavior, trauma, and relationships, so that's the perspective that I bring here. 

There's a ton of shame out there in the world and in this part 1 episode, we are unshaming that for you and inviting you into the power of using your voice, even if it's only a small whisper. 

In part 2 we will dive in a little deeper. 

When listening to this episode, take your time and consume it slowly. It's a big, deep episode, and I guide you through it the way I would hold space in a private session - with lots of room for breaks and nervous system regulation. 

[00:00:05]: Hello, welcome back, and the update

[00:16:30]: On Israel and Palestine

Links mentioned:

Receive my 3-part email series on the shadows of oppressor and oppressed: 

https://shirani.myflodesk.com/oppressionshadows

Receive my regular emails:

https://www.shiranimpathak.com/connect

Links: 

To connect with us on the complimentary private newsletter community, be sure to visit www.shiranimpathak.com/connect 

Find Me on Social Media: 

Our hashtags are #fierceauthenticity and #showupbeseengetlove 

If you're loving the episode, take a screenshot, share it on social, and tag me in your post! 

Instagram: @shiranimpathak 

Donate to the work: 

Shirani on PayPal 

*Some of the links used may be affiliate links. It will cost you nothing extra to use my links, but I may earn a commission if you use one of my links. This is one way to financially support the podcast.  

Real. Raw. Unedited. 

Tune in as I share what's been on my heart over the past few weeks since you've last spoken with me.

I talk about:

• Internalized racism and oppression

And so much more.

Links: 

Take the next step and sign up to get my emails:

Ready to go all the way? Send me a message:

https://www.shiranimpathak.com/contact

Find Me on Social Media: 

Our hashtags are #fierceauthenticity and #showupbeseengetlove 

If you're loving the episode, take a screenshot, share it on social, and tag me in your post! 

Instagram: @shiranimpathak 

As I look back on the pandemic there is one thing that keeps coming to mind, and that is how it made a lot of us slow down and reevaluate our lives; how it made us aware that we were living on autopilot and that we’re not being our true authentic selves.  

My friend and today’s guest, Riessa Monique, is no different. The pandemic made Riessa take a dramatic (yet long overdue) career pivot - from an IT manager to a life coach. Today, she is on a mission to help her clients to see themselves as they truly are - capable of whatever goal they want to accomplish. Now, living her true and authentic life, she is here to share her insights about legacy and why she believes you’re right on track - no matter where you are.  

In today’s episode, we cover: 

• Riessa’s amazing career transformation 

Quotes 

[00:06:53] The pandemic isn't the first time people were wearing masks. We are trained to wear masks, socialized masks and not be our authentic self.

[00:11:46] The legacy is left in the thought process. That is where the true DNA is. And that can go beyond, because I can only birth so many children. But as far as the thought process being left behind and the DNA and how that can have been a trickle down effect, that is more than just having children. 

[00:18:47] I really truly believe everyone was born with gifts and talents. But we have a tendency to play small and shy away from that as if it was scary and not understanding. Even with those gifts and talents, we can have even a greater impact. But we're already having an impact because someone else is watching our life. And we are being an example of something.  

[00:35:02] If I compare the hammer to a microwave, it wouldn't make sense. But who am I to compare myself to anyone else because I, just like you - the listener, am made per my design 

[00:37:21] As far as embracing your own design, even your own quirkiness, your own desires, just know that you are right on track. And for anyone else to tell you you're not on track - have them pull out your design. They don't have it. 

Links: 

To connect with us on the complimentary private newsletter community, be sure to visit www.shiranimpathak.com/connect 

Find Me on Social Media: 

Our hashtags are #fierceauthenticity and #showupbeseengetlove 

If you're loving the episode, take a screenshot, share it on social, and tag me in your post! 

Instagram: @shiranimpathak 

For a transcript of this episode visit www.shiranimpathak.com/podcast 

Donate to the work: 

Shirani on PayPal 

*Some of the links used may be affiliate links. It will cost you nothing extra to use my links, but I may earn a commission if you use one of my links. This is one way to financially support the podcast.  

Today I want to share with you my thoughts on decolonizing, deconditioning and unbecoming. This topic of unbecoming and decolonizing ties nicely into my life right now, as I am leaving my therapy practice behind and stepping into the next chapter of my life. I am decolonizing colonial thoughts about having to stick to one career and putting education above all else 

To me, deconditioning and decolonizing are very similar and in that process is also a practice of unbecoming. As we're doing our decolonizing work and as we're deconditioning, we're also unraveling everything that society has told us that we should be or that we need to be. We’re unbecoming everything that is not authentically us so that we can step into who we came here to be and who we are when we are not following societal expectations. That's what the process of unbecoming is.  

In today’s episode, we cover: 

• The Trojan horse approach to dismantling supremacy culture 

Quotes  

[00:24:22] each and every single one of us has a responsibility to do this inner work of decolonizing, deconditioning, dismantling, demolishing all of this internalized colonialism, the internalized supremacy, the internalized oppression. Each and every single one of us has a responsibility no matter what the color of your skin, because we live in these systems, and each of us has been impacted by it. 

[00:26:23] We're building the new world as we're still living in the old one. So we're constructing from the ruins of what we're deconstructing.  

[00:29:17] You're a human and I'm a human. And we're just trying to do this wild thing called life together, we're all working towards the same, common-shared goal.  

[00:29:38]  We're not perfect, our perfection is not required. It's our progress that we must be making and how we're showing up. 

Links: 

To connect with us on the complimentary private newsletter community, be sure to visit www.shiranimpathak.com/connect 

Find Me on Social Media: 

Our hashtags are #fierceauthenticity and #showupbeseengetlove 

If you're loving the episode, take a screenshot, share it on social, and tag me in your post! 

Instagram: @shiranimpathak 

For a transcript of this episode visit www.shiranimpathak.com/podcast 

Donate to the work: 

Shirani on PayPal 

*Some of the links used may be affiliate links. It will cost you nothing extra to use my links, but I may earn a commission if you use one of my links. This is one way to financially support the podcast.  

If you'd like a different alternative to New Year's resolutions, then this episode is for you. 

Today’s episode is all about those New Year's resolutions aka additional lies that supremacy culture teaches you. 

New Year - New You…ugh, that just irks me.  

Most of us don’t get beyond the first 60 to 90 days of these “New Year's resolutions.” And here's why - because those are some of the additional lies that supremacy culture teaches you to keep you further oppressed. So, join me in today’s episode and start the new year as authentically yourself. 

In today’s episode, we cover: 

• Here’s why New Year - New You doesn’t work  

Quotes  

[00:06:47] It wasn't until, of course, years after I quit doing the whole New Year's resolutions thing that I realized, and it clicked and it dawned upon me: “Oh, my gosh, this is because it's another way for me to beat up on myself, and feel bad about myself, and be little and berate myself, to judge myself and criticize myself, to compare myself with others.” That's all it was. 

[00:08:18] You have to actually, intrinsically, inside of yourself, believe that whatever it is that you want to experience, you want to experience it for you. Not because someone outside of you told you how you had to look, behave, what your house should look like. 

Links: 

To connect with us on the complimentary private newsletter community, be sure to visit www.shiranimpathak.com/connect 

Find Me on Social Media: 

Our hashtags are #fierceauthenticity and #showupbeseengetlove 

If you're loving the episode, take a screenshot, share it on social, and tag me in your post! 

Instagram: @shiranimpathak 

For a transcript of this episode visit www.shiranimpathak.com/podcast 

Donate to the work: 

Shirani on PayPal 

*Some of the links used may be affiliate links. It will cost you nothing extra to use my links, but I may earn a commission if you use one of my links. This is one way to financially support the podcast.  

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! But, is it really? 

The holiday season, allegedly the most wonderful time of the year, may not be so wonderful for many of us. Because we've been conditioned under systems of supremacy culture and capitalism, for many of us this is the time to rush, to hustle and to do for others at our own expense. 

Today’s episode is the beginning of a three-part miniseries that will help you get through the holidays in a way that goes counter to supremacy and allows you to experience this time as a time of true love, connection, intimacy and authenticity in all of your relationships! 

In today’s episode, we cover: 

• The importance of slowing down 

Quotes 

[00:05:52] Because this is the time of year where we are sold every single lie and piece of BS about how we need these outside material possessions, that are really only fleeting and temporary, by the way...but how we need these external things in order for us to be happy, in order for our loved ones to feel loved, in order for everyone to feel appreciated and that they matter.  

[00:10:54] I want you to think about what might happen if you were to allow yourself to follow what nature's rhythm was. What if you were to give yourself permission to slow down, to be more internally focused, to turn towards Self to see what you need or what your heart wants to share with your loved ones as opposed to what corporate, and big business, and consumerism and capitalism tell you that you need. 

[00:16:20] When you slow down, when you connect with yourself, when you come into alignment with you, with the Divine Source of something greater than you, when you look to nature for your cues and when you move from there, that's where you'll make your greatest impact on your loved ones. And I guarantee you it is not going to be because you got them the latest iPhone, or the latest gadget, or the latest whatever and especially not if you did it from the energy of hustle and chaos and franticness and scarcity and lack.

As we’re approaching the end of this year, I think it’s safe to say that most of us are thinking about New Year's resolutions, evaluating how this year went and looking at what we want next year to look like. I am no different and that is why I’m so excited to have my first podcast interview of the season with none other than Dimple Mukherjee.  

Dimple is an occupational therapist, word coach and author of "Word of the Year: True Stories About Intentional Living Using the Power of a Single Word," which is now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Her life philosophy is rooted in good health and wellness and she has dedicated the past few years to learning and understanding how profoundly words can shape our lives and boost our mental health. These days Dimple is embracing the art of slowing down, creating deeper meaning and connections, indulging in simple luxuries, while also endlessly parenting her three sons. 

In today’s episode, we cover: 

• How to get intentional with your words and unlock their true power 

Resources mentioned: 

• Word of the Year: True Stories About Intentional Living Using the Power of a Single Word 

Quotes 

[00:22:25] This is probably my favorite piece of the practice, connecting with other people over the words. Now imagine going to a dinner party, and instead of asking someone “So, how was your day? What do you do?”, how about asking “What's your word for this year?” and just watching that conversation go somewhere where it otherwise wouldn't have?   

[00:31:48] The beauty of this practice lies in synchronicities. So be curious, leave your heart open to possibilities, big possibilities, and see where it takes you

[00:33:54] Eventually when you continue with this practice, your words all tell a story of your life.

[00:35:33] As we continue to evolve, our work and our stories continue to evolve, and our words evolve with us. 

Links: 

To connect with us on the complimentary private newsletter community, be sure to visit www.shiranimpathak.com/connect 

Find Me on Social Media: 

Our hashtags are #fierceauthenticity and #showupbeseengetlove 

If you're loving the episode, take a screenshot, share it on social, and tag me in your post! 

Instagram: @shiranimpathak 

For a transcript of this episode visit www.shiranimpathak.com/podcast 

Donate to the work: 

Shirani on PayPal 

*Some of the links used may be affiliate links. It will cost you nothing extra to use my links, but I may earn a commission if you use one of my links. This is one way to financially support the podcast.  

Welcome to this enlightening podcast episode where we delve into the art of managing holiday stress and establishing healthy boundaries with family. Tune in to gain invaluable insights, practical tips, and effective strategies for maintaining your peace of mind during the festive season.

Discover expert advice on prioritizing self-care, navigating complex family dynamics, and making the most out of your holidays. Don't miss out on this must-listen episode that will equip you with the tools to thrive during this joyful time of year.

In today’s episode, we cover: 

• Your boundaries are for you 

Quotes 

[00:03:24] If you are trying to set boundaries and hoping that other people will follow through with them and then getting resentful when they don't, do you know what you're doing? You're actually participating in supremacy culture’s sneaky behavior of control. That is what you're doing; you are trying to control another person and how they engage with you. You're trying to tell another person who to be in order to be in a relationship with you. And when you do that, you are putting yourself in a position of superiority, the other person in a position of inferiority. You are elevating yourself to the status of some holier than thou type and you are dehumanizing the person that you are in a relationship with.  

[00:06:20] Clear is kind. It is kind for you to be clear with yourself about what your boundaries and your parameters are when you are considering how you're going to do the holidays. It's kind to be clear with yourself what you will and will not accept when it comes to this season. Even if that what you will and will not accept relates to what you will and will not accept from yourself. And it is also kind for you to very clearly communicate what it is that you need to others and then let go of any expectations or any outcomes, because when you hold on to expectations and outcomes you fall into the behavior of “control is unkind”. So, remember that - clear is kind; control is unkind. Especially when we are directing it outwards towards another person or another outcome or something outside of us, because the reality is we are not God and we're not in control of other people, places and things around us. We are not in control of how other people choose to show up. 

Links: 

To connect with us on the complimentary private newsletter community, be sure to visit www.shiranimpathak.com/connect 

Find Me on Social Media: 

Our hashtags are #fierceauthenticity and #showupbeseengetlove 

If you're loving the episode, take a screenshot, share it on social, and tag me in your post! 

Instagram: @shiranimpathak 

For a transcript of this episode visit www.shiranimpathak.com/podcast 

Donate to the work: 

Shirani on PayPal 

*Some of the links used may be affiliate links. It will cost you nothing extra to use my links, but I may earn a commission if you use one of my links. This is one way to financially support the podcast.  

I am coming to you today as a retiring psychotherapist.  

Being a relationship therapist has been my identity for a long time, but back in January of 2020 (we all know what happened in 2020) I decided to transition from being a relationship therapist into my coaching and consulting business full time. 

This is a huge change, and change is hard. Why? The answer always comes down to the ways that we have internalized systems of supremacy and oppression. So, if you have been struggling with change, it is purely because of the systems under which we reside; the systems under which our brains, our bodies, our nervous systems have been programmed for millennia.  

And in today’s episode, I am giving you the permission to change! 

In today’s episode, we cover:  

• Why I am retiring as a psychotherapist 

Quotes  

[00:11:49] Go ahead and, if that feels right to you, just turn inwards for a moment and see - is there something that has been on your heart, that every time you close your eyes, you see a certain vision and you not been giving yourself permission to go there? Have you been withholding that permission? Or have you been denying yourself that which is truly on your heart, that which you truly desire?  

[00:13:39] Why is it that supremacy culture has made it such that we deny that which we truly desire, that we don't give ourselves permission, that we withhold what it is that we really want? And well, the answer to that is, because it wants you to stay in the status quo. 

[00:19:20] Fear and shame - those are the two biggest things that supremacy culture uses to oppress us. And what do each of those do? They often keep us stuck and frozen, especially shame - it keeps us small; it keeps us hidden, and it keeps us not wanting to be seen. 

[00:19:51] This isn't even about me. There's no lack in me. There's nothing wrong with me that it is so hard for me to make change. This is literally the way the system is designed. 

[00:20:02] When you remove the element of shame, what ends up happening is, because shame isn't shutting you down, you end up being better able to make micro actions and take steps towards that change that you are aspiring to make. 

Links: 

To connect with us on the complimentary private newsletter community, be sure to visit www.shiranimpathak.com/connect 

Find Me on Social Media: 

Our hashtags are #fierceauthenticity and #showupbeseengetlove 

If you're loving the episode, take a screenshot, share it on social, and tag me in your post! 

Instagram: @shiranimpathak 

For a transcript of this episode visit www.shiranimpathak.com/podcast 

Donate to the work: 

Shirani on PayPal 

*Some of the links used may be affiliate links. It will cost you nothing extra to use my links, but I may earn a commission if you use one of my links. This is one way to financially support the podcast.