By Samantha M Harden, PhD
5
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The podcast currently has 53 episodes available.
Tune in to a conversation with my friend and colleague, Betsy Walker an Ayurvedic counselor and owner of Rasa Wellness. We learn about the art of daily living through her deep study and practice of ancient Ayurveda. Ayurveda is a path to physical vitality and wellbeing. We talk about how to apply these concepts in academia and beyond. Overall the discussion is about embracing the nature and purpose of life. Take our dosha quiz! https://www.parcilab.org/doshaquiz Enjoy a free guided meditation at the end!
Other key take aways:
- Ayurveda gives us the knowledge to make choices to serve us in a moment
- Everything is built of elements (selves, season [outside and in life], food, interactions)
- What you consume matters from food to media
- Three aims of Ayurveda:
Regulate agni (digestive fire, poop)
Reduce ama: (toxins)
Increase ojas (immunity, light, glow)
- Rest, digest, and sex: How we're sleeping; what we're consuming and how we're digesting it; use of energy-- energy putting out and energy taking in
- How to balance nourishment and movement when someone else is setting your schedule
- Poets and scientists who have gone mad—too much reception and we need to balance with love and compassion. Life right now is constant seeking and receiving information
- Aiming for peace, love, and stillness
- How to balance when you're in different seasons of life and seasons we’re in
- Happiness is u shaped curve
- Season of grit and grind? Productivity and busyness bias. What to do when you’ve been saying you’ll slow down for 15 semesters
- Svasta – sense of self, realness in who we are and what we’re doing regardless of the phase
- "We feel young when not grounded in time but in ourselves"
- Energetics around you but aims and goals of Ayurveda equip with choice
- Academics spend so much time away from sense of self
- We share practical applications about halfway through! (29 min in)
- Strength and opportunities of each dosha; Awareness is to see where pulled out of balance to pull ourselves back in
- Dosha is your constitution, mental and physical tendencies, natural to you
Vata- that which moves things, air, ether, good day creative, out of balance anxious, flakey. Dancer artist
Pitta that which transforms, fire and water, hot, sharp, oily, charismatic, leaders, fast speech tendencies, out of balance judgement and anger
Kapha, earth and water, nurtures, caretakers, calming, when out of balance stagnation, heaviness, hording, depression
- We can all have the perfect poop
- We have the perfect dosha for our dharma
- Distance between what you’re born with and current energies informs care
- Who you are, what season you are in, you are not broken
- Myth busting like: Ayuvedic cleanse isn’t about restriction. Give your body what it needs to create space for clarity and illumination- extract what you don’t need and create space
- Gives us tools to live a life of peace
- A brief reflection on what happens when you have so many privileges, but your body or mind is still in distress
- Oldest system of wellness and how to appreciate the gifts of this system through cultural appreciation
- Everyone on this earths birthright to feel the best they can feel, recognize where the wisdom came from
- The land where your blood and bones came from- what was medicine for them? That in turn might be medicine for us
- Upholding respect and giving back and showing up in the right way to do honor for this tradition and recognizing anyone walking this earth can have a path to wellness
- I grapple with my need for rest and healing and how dare I seek this; "Who am I to share? Who am I not to!"
- Feel your feelings instead of intellectualizing
- Real recognize real: Just be you!
- A new approach can feel like we have to change, laundry list of things to improve
- Flourishing when you can remain resilient because it's not always going to be smooth sailing; but you have the health, heart, and nervous system takes us through all of it
Connect with Betsy: @rasa_wellness_ for IG
Schedule a consultation: [email protected]
Take our quiz: https://www.parcilab.org/doshaquiz
More about Shakti School: https://theshaktischool.com/
Monika Staab ((soon to be Dr.) is awaiting her certificate for a PhD in adult and continuing education—specifically related to international comparison in educational processes. She shares about the need for courage and vulnerability to step into joy and ease on the academic path. As a dissertation coach, she is in a “learning rhythm” with the clients. And, she reminds us all that when we let go of what other people think (or what we think they think), we can lead with excellence. Monika and I have different characters, peaks, and valleys, but our story is the same...We used our pain to fuel the desire to create higher vibrations in higher education one professor, one lecturer, one PhD student, one person at a time. Systems are slow to change, but we can keep reflecting on our why, what we need, and what do we want to change? Other key takeaways include:
More at:
www.mindyourphd.com
https://www.instagram.com/mindyourphd/
Sign up for a coffee chat!
In reflecting on her stellar career thus far, Dr. Heather Leach brings a lightness to the journey. She recounts how she started her education but was “there for the soccer”… finding the degree came separately. Unsurprisingly, to me, she found Health and Exercise Science. Through an internship at NASA she learned what the research was… then came a MS and PhD and Postdoc and when we talked, she was in the last few weeks of her sabbatical (academic rest). We laugh and reflect on the journey, trying to lay out some “cheat codes” for you to find joy in your academic pursuits. A lot of it comes down to this: find your passion; dial up what you love, dial down what you don’t love; take sacred rest whenever you can. My favorite share... "What are you going to do with your PhD?... Whatever the hell I want." Other key takeaways include:
When people are told that they are overly sensitive or thinking too much—instead of lauding gifts of insight and protection—they feel isolated and alone, and start to wonder, “Is there something wrong with me?” This was the genesis of Miriam Verheyden’s experience with her own self-doubt, intrusive thoughts and… eventual understanding of depression, alcohol misuse, and PMDD. PMDD is premenstrual dysphoric disorder, which is distinctly different from PMS and is more closely related to hormone imbalances that lead to sever psychological symptoms (like depression, anger) as well as skin, gastrointestinal symptoms, fluid retention to name a few. At the cross-section of being on her 40s, being almost 2 years sober, and having multiple incredible published books out—Miriam brings a voice to women navigating shame and resilience. I almost audibly gasp when she says she doesn't take being called "selfish" as an insult: We are responsible for ourselves, we have to be selfish.
Other key takeaways include:
More at: https://miriamverheyden.com/
Dr. Natalaya Androsova, a writing and dissertation coach, studied linguistics & the communication and cultural aspects of language for her PhD. When I recorded this episode with Dr. Androsova, I felt so seen, safe, and held by her energy and trust with the universe. What I left knowing was that my inner writing critic isn't about my prose: It’s about my inability to prioritize time. Each of us might be “cobblers without shoes” as we pour our heart and soul onto the page, but are not yet published or not published in the way we hope. We talk about our own personal practices, remind you that you are never alone, and encourage you to remember that someone else might benefit from your words. Keep writing, keep sharing, build your trust in yourself, and as Natalya shares, you can borrow her trust in the meantime.
Other key takeaways:
More at:
https://www.writingdissertationcoach.com/
https://www.instagram.com/natalya_androsova_/
When I wanted to speak with someone about how to weave more faith and spirituality into my work as an academic Tamra Andress launched into my mind. Tamra is a best-selling author, spiritual entrepreneur, coach, podcaster, and ordained minister. She also happens to be someone I’ve known since 9th grade. When I stepped away from social media, she was stepping in and up with a colorful platform that “sells words” related to “obliterate(ing) shame and activat(ing) purpose” and putting faith at the forefront of entrepreneurial endeavors. We keep it pretty faith agnostic— so that you can see how spirituality can be an element within any given moment.
Her book, Always Becoming, is on bookshelves everywhere.
And her website: https://tamraandress.com/
Highlights include:
Check out:
Book: Artisan Soul
Mode: Ikigai Finding Meaning in Work and Life
Is a rigid mindset holding you back? Do you have unrealistic expectations of yourself? Can we build flexibility of the mind to assist ourselves-- even our yesterday selves or our younger selves?
We've all had them: An awkward moment. We ruminate and think that we don't belong. Let's use yoga practices to ground, generate internal safety, and look at the situation with new found ease.
- Let's find our emotions.
- Identify the facts
- Visual and make peace with the moment-- that version of you doesn't even exist anymore. Find your feet.
- Visualize a red orb at the base of your spine. Expanding and contracting with your breath to invite stability and safety.
- Wrap by processing what you learned from the moment
We all have those moments that challenge us: Do we belong here? We can use our senses to revisit the moment without being overwhelmed by it.
In this brief guided visualization, we embrace a moment where we felt that we didn't belong, process it, and balance the sacral chakra of connection and creativity.
On this episode, I interview Drs. Dave Pena and Elizabeth Berry. Elizabeth posted on Instagram about pursuing a PhD being anxiety provoking. She wondered: Where are the expectations coming from and why do we (as people) perpetuate it? It’s seen as a rite of passage. Is that reason enough? She thinks, wait my boss and committee members went through this too, and her “brain goes to would I ask these in a different way? Treat myself like they’re treating me?” What happens from the time you’re a PhD student to an assistant professor. We jump right in to dialogue and Dave shares some of his experiences and the conflict between what you want (to gain skills and get out) and what your mentor wants.
We wrap with the challenges of deciding to stay or leave a lab. You have to choose your right kind of hard: What suits your personality, resources, abilities. Other take aways include:
Handles:
Elizabeth: @nature.neuroscience.phd
Dave: @doctor_pena and his start up: stremecoder.com and pluri.design
We make decisions each day. We ruminate on whether it was the "right one." We lose perspective of our safety- our present. And our future. We often go to our "worst case scenario" instead of our "best case scenario." Tune in to this Samma Says for a guided meditation to engage your scenes and identify the best case scenario.
The podcast currently has 53 episodes available.