The meat-heavy diets of our companion animals have a huge carbon pawprint. While cats are compulsory carnivores, dogs are omnivores and can live -- in fact, thrive -- on a fully plant-based diet. (Case in point: a British border collie named Bramble was fed as a Vegan and lived to 25 -- the Guinness record for dog longevity.) On this episode, Diana Laverdure-Dunetz, a canine nutritionist with a Masters degree in animal science, shares the how's and why's of feeding dogs in ways that will make them happy and healthy without animal products. Diana's book: The Plant-Powered Dog: Unleash the Healing Powers of a Whole Food Plant Based Diet to Help Your Canine Companion Enjoy a Healthier, Longer LifeWebsite: Plant-Powered Dog: Vegan Dog NutritionistFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/theplantpowereddogIG: https://www.instagram.com/plantpowereddogLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Founder of The Black Vegan Experience, Vonettia Calloway is a Biblical Christian, a mom, an exceptional middle school science teacher, and the wife of a U.S. Army combat veteran who suffers from PTSD. She wrote a beautiful children's coloring book, My Color Is Coconut, about biracial children, in memory of a little girl named Aniyah who was proud to say, "My color is coconut." Aniyah lost her life in a house fire and Vonettia wrote the book in memory of this child and as a gift to her parents. The proceeds go to the family and other families who have lost children. And you'll discover in this episode how this woman is a gift to everyone who encounters her.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nina Hayes was drawn to mysticism as a little girl in Catholic school, and she discovered yoga early. She was also stricken in her mid-teens with a digestive disorder that led to twenty surgeries. In overcoming everything from fear of dying to the shame of living with an ostomy, her spirituality deepened and this incredible woman is using everything she's learned an experienced to help others. Through Blossom Ostomy, she works with people who have experienced similar surgeries and her vision is to have this service in every hospital in America. She also teaches yoga, Jivamukti lineage, and gives yoga retreats in such luminous locales as Bali and Tulum. And as the "Enlightened Chef," she offers private chef services and the "Enlightened Supper Club" in LA.In this hour, we discuss applying spiritual principles to real life, what it is to be a "food empath." and yoga that goes deeper than physical postures. If you're looking to be inspired, look no further.www.ninahayesmission.comwww.blossomostomy.comIG: @ninahayesmission@blossomostomyLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ruby Warrington is English and gorgeous and real and funny and brave -- and really good writer. She started her career in magazine journalism in London and did that whole glossy thing for several years, but her soul called her to other things, right about the time her truelove drew her to the U.S. She started The Numinous, an online zine for people interested in the Big Picture, and then wrote Material Girl, Mystical World, an exploration of all things magically alternative. Around this time, she decided that her life might be better without alcohol, but perhaps not the swearing-off/"I am an alcoholic" kind of sober, perhaps something with more of an elastic waist, more suitable for herself and others seeing themselves as "sober curious." So, she wrote of book of that title and started a movement. Then she began helping others' books to birth with Numinous Books, a multi-faceted author support and publishing company. So, what's missing? Children. And in her stunning new book, Women Without Kids, Ruby looks at others like herself -- she simply didn't care to be a mom in this life -- and at women who may have wanted children but, for any of a dozen reasons, don't have them. We speak in this interview to all those women, and to others who can't imagine a life without offspring, and even to those like me who are mothers but won't be grandmothers. This is rich and deep. Enjoy.Ruby Warrington's website: https://www.rubywarrington.comAmazon links:Women Without Kids: The Revolutionary Rise of an Unsung SisterhoodSober Curious: The Blissful Sleep, Greater Focus, Limitless Presence, and Deep Connection Awaiting Us All on the Other Side of AlcoholMaterial Girl, Mystical World: /the Now Age Guide to a High-vibe LifeInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/rubywarrington/Ruby's appearance on the Main Street Vegan PodcastLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ashley Byrne has been taking a stand for animals since she was a teen and she now does this officially through her role with Peta. Today, we tackle dressing without guilt and looking fabulous in your own skin without appropriating anybody else's. Of course you don't wear fur, but what about wool? Feathers? Down? Tune in to learn the grim realities of these materials' origins and the eco-chic alternatives that are populating the runways, plus the human rights abuses inherent in the leather industry and how luxurious -- and earth-friendly -- Vegan leather has become.Ashley Byrne and PETAVictoria Moran Writer, Speaker, Animal Advocate, and Spiritual Adventurer Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kathleen Kastner is an author, yogi, fitness expert, animal rescuer, and committed Vegan. We talk about her new picture book, Karma Cats to the Rescue -- based on a true story of two house cats who help a stray kitty acclimate to having a forever home -- and also about Kathleen's personal journey. (Here's a tidbit: she moved to San Diego from her native Kansas in 1993, went to her fitness job at a local hospital, and her first personal training client turned out to be Dr. Deepak Chopra.) We talk about her commitment to animals and Vegan living, and then turn to a fascinating assessment of yoga, as it's presented in the West, from someone who owned a yoga studio for sixteen years. The long and short of it: yoga really is yoga philosophy, the quieting of the mind, and the physical postures are supposed to help with that, not make all of us seventeen and double-jointed. Injury is legion among yoga enthusiasts in midlife and later, and we discuss how to avoid being sidelined (also how to get yoga's vegetarian roots more rooted in the 2023 "yoga world"). Kathleen Kastner website Instagram @kathleenkastnerwriterFacebook Kathleen Kastner Writer Find Kathleen Kastner on YouTube and check out Vegan VitalityYoga's Path to Weight Loss by Kathleen KastnerMain Street Vegan Podcast Other references from the episode:Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa YoganandaAwake! (documentary film about Yogananda)Main Street Vegan Podcast Diet for a New America, by John RobbinsBe Still and Know, by Thich Nhat Hanh Victoria Moran Podcast Listener's Group on Facebook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marrying Myself  is the debut novel from Chrissy Benson -- writer, attorney, and Main Street Vegan-certified Vegan Lifestyle Coach. In this thoughtful conversation, Benson connects the dots: romantic love, self-love, animals, food choices, life choices. The novel's protagonist is a Vegan whose journey to finding love takes a curious, and curiously satisfying, turn. And the author is a remarkable woman who shares her life journey and unfolding awakening.Get the book Marrying Myself by Chrissy BensonCheck out her author web site at ChristineMelanieBenson.com Find writer, speaker, animal advocate, and spiritual adventurer Victoria Moran here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Journalism is a tough business, with magazines and newspapers perishing at a steady clip and an largely unvetted Internet providing content from writers who are largely underpaid. Karen Asp, however, is remarkable: a professional journalist and author with a food, health, and fitness specialization and a reputation so solid she's one of the few full-time freelance writers making it -- acing it, in fact -- in the brave new world. In addition to sharing with us her writer's life in 2023 -- and some snazzy tips for youthful aging from her book Anti-Aging Hacks -- Karen lets us in on her other life as a companion animal rescuer. Tune in to hear her gripping story of volunteering for one of the shelters tasked last year with transporting beagles from the Envigo facility in Virginia, a breeding plant producing dogs for the research industry.Connect with Karen on Instagram: @karenaspwriter and Twitter @karenaspwriterFind out more about Karen Asp And mentioned in the closing segment: Main Street Vegan Academy, training Vegan Lifestyle Coaches & Educators, https://mainstreetvegan.comLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join the plant based nutrition movement. Victoria talks with Kimberly Campbell, Director of Culinary Education and Development at PlantPure and the daughter in law of Dr. T. Colin Campbell, the "science father of the modern plant based nutrition movement. Kimberly is the author of the book PlantPure Comfort Food: Over 100 Plant Based and Mostly Gluten-Free Recipes to Nourish Your Body and Soothe Your Soul. Discover new whole food recipes and plant based recreations of traditional family dishes with no oil, often no gluten, and lots of rich, satisfying flavor.Find out more about Victoria Moran writer, speaker, animal advocate, and founder of Main Street Vegan AcademyFind out about Main Street Vegan AcademyLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kimberly Wilson is my style role model, embracing the effortless savoir faire of a Parisian woman -- but she grew up in Oklahoma. She is a psychotherapist, pet loss grief counselor, adult ballerina, eco/activewear designer, author, podcaster, and longtime yogini who created a studio named in the Top 25 on earth by Travel & Leisure. In this fast-paced and utterly uplifting conversation, we cover personal style, yoga, altars, animals (pigs and pugs, in particular, since Kimberly's nonprofit is PigsandPugs.org), Paris (of course), and the big, bright year that's ahead of us. Follow Kimberly at www.kimberlywilson.com. (Note: We mention at one point a pig sanctuary in West Virginia. To the best of our current knowledge, this sanctuary is no longer in existence.)TDJ by Kimberly (fashion line) IG - @tranquilitydujourA Year of Tranquility Lifestyle Planner www.KimberlyWilson.com Find out more about Victoria Moran Author, Speaker, Animal AdvocateLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices