Overcoming! with MaddyG

"Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes."  Carl Jung

So many of us seek happiness, validation and self esteem from external sources. One never knows, however, when anything and everything can be taken away from us. It is imperative that we use whatever tools and teachers we can find that lead us to the path of awakening to our real selves. It is only when in balance that we can realize and recognize who we truly are and that our mind, body and spirit are one.  We are interconnected with all that is, and it is in cultivating the stillness of the mind that we can be restored and renewed at the deepest level. This allows our inner radiance to shine through, find peace and connect with the specialness in all of us. As we tap into and experience our real power, we quiet the emotional clutter that creates blockages and pain.  Close your eyes, relax and listen as Walter's energy and words inspire and lead us on the inward journey to love, tranquility and joy.

“you must want to spend the rest of your life with yourself first” ― Rupi Kaur, Milk and Honey

Tune in soon to Podcast 15:  "Healing Ourselves and the Planet."  Interview with Jada Fire, Dakshina Kalila

More great interviews and stories to come! No topic is off limits! Please support, review and share. So tune in and tap into your own indomitable spirit!  Lets kick some ass together!  Check out my book on Amazon: tinyurl.com/yv5nca8d.    Also check out my past (and future) podcasts on  https://tinyurl.com/3dueyrn5 and on Facebook at "Overcoming with MaddyG" 

“Find a place inside where there’s joy, and the joy will burn out the pain.” – Joseph Campbell

I grew up in a world of pain, poverty and feeling like I didn't deserve anything but the misery I was surrounded with. Once I began to really feel this pain,  I also realized how fabulous and magnificent I always was and am.  On the other side of pain is awakening and transformation.  I found that what was buried along with the pain, was my beauty, self-respect and self-love. I am finally now living my own life, filled with joy and gratitude.  We all have different struggles, but no matter what, we can tap into our own inner healer/alchemist and rebuild ourselves into the beautiful beings we actually are.  We can embody and live our truly sacred relationship with ourselves and others.  Living our lives true to the core and heart of who we are.  No longer riddled with self doubt, self sabatoge, and constant negative self talk.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgYczUH-QWQ

“Find out who you are and be that person. That’s what your soul was put on this Earth to be. Find that truth, live that truth, and everything else will come."  Ellen De Generes

Tune in soon to Podcast 14:  "Balancing Duality-Cultivating Inner Radiance."  Interview with Walter Beckley, Mind Gym Breakthrough Leader

More great interviews and stories to come! No topic is off limits! Please support, review and share. So tune in and tap into your own indomitable spirit!  Lets kick some ass together!  Check out my book on Amazon: tinyurl.com/yv5nca8d.    Also check out my past (and future) podcasts on https://open.spotify.com/show/6pJWCRjidpUNWlC8h1iZXw

“Instead of resisting any emotion, the best way to dispel it is to enter it fully, embrace it and see through your resistance.” – Deepak Chopra

Tune in and listen to Janet Bychek talk about what made her go into counselling, her personal life experience,  and fabulous explanation of what EMDR is and does.  She radiates kindness, intelligence and provides outstanding information.  I am extremely grateful to her in every way. 

Hear about what led me to EMDR and how much it helped me. EMDR has been a gift in helping me process the trauma I endured throughout my daughter’s battle with cancer and her ultimate death. More recently, it has also been extremely valuable in my understanding and reparenting of myself, as I’ve finally begun working on my childhood trauma. It is helping me to reclaim and recover who I actually really am.  Identity built on trauma is like building a foundation on quicksand.  It takes courage to feel your pain and rebuild, and it also takes courage to listen.

Please turn up the sound to hear Janet properly.  There were some technical issues I could not resolve.  While the sound quality might not be the best.  The interview itself definitely is. 

“When embraced and accepted, negative emotions can be a powerful catalyst to positive change in one’s life and can lead to a deeper feeling of meaning and authenticity.” – Dr. Paul TP Wong

Tune in soon to Podcast 13:  "Healing Ourselves and the Planet."  Interview with Jada Fire, Dakshina Kalika

More great interviews and stories to come! No topic is off limits! Please support, review and share. So tune in and tap into your own indomitable spirit!  Lets kick some ass together!  Check out my book on Amazon: tinyurl.com/yv5nca8d.    Also check out my past (and future) podcasts on https://open.spotify.com/show/6pJWCRjidpUNWlC8h1iZXw

On a familial level, sustained ancestor work can help heal intergenerational patterns of family dysfunction. By working with spiritually vibrant ancestors, one can start to understand and transform patterns of pain and abuse, and gradually reclaim the positive spirit of the family.Jul 25, 2017

This is information I found when I started doing research for this podcast.  I have clearly been guided and joined  by my very, very vibrant ancestors in the effort to tell this astounding story.   I am the last of my particular line and I feel the energy of all my ancestors living through me.  There were so many lives unlived, traumatized and shortened.  And all of us,  working together, have created this miracle of beauty, gratitude and power.  Cristina being the most dazzling jewel in our crown.  With the intelligence of my grandmother, the beauty and stylishness of my mother and the warrior spirit of Cristina, I have been a change agent and helped  heal and honor all the generations who came before us.  I also feel immense compassion for all the generations before me, especially my mother and grandmother who had very little education and skills to cope in life. They were women who faced challenges I can only imagine and I know  they are cheering me on.  Cristina's life was cut short in the most painful and traumatic way, but she has made her presence well known in the six years since she passed.  I can feel her enormous gratitude and love as she literally performed a miracle through me.  And I will never be the same again. Just as traumatic experiences can be passed down from one generation to the next, it is also clear that there is an even stronger capacity for overcoming the trauma and building resilence, power and the ability to create miracles.  Viktor Frankl called, “the uniquely human potential to transform personal tragedy into triumph.”  This is what Cristina and I did.  We transformed our suffering, and the suffering of the previous generations, into beauty, joy and love. So listen up and hear the Miracle that Cristina performed on November 16, 2021.  Literally!

Tune in next week to Podcast 12:  PTSD and EMDR. Moving Forward with Hope.  Interview with Janet Bychek, Therapist LCSW

More great interviews and stories to come! No topic is off limits! Please support, review and share. So tune in and tap into your own indomitable spirit!  Lets kick some ass together!  Check out my book on Amazon: tinyurl.com/yv5nca8d.    Also check out my past (and future) podcasts on https://open.spotify.com/show/6pJWCRjidpUNWlC8h1iZXw

“Believe in Your Heart.  Believe in your heart that you're meant to live a life full of passion, purpose, magic and miracles.”

“The reality is that you will grieve forever. You will not ‘get over’ the loss of a loved one; you will learn to live with it. You will heal and you will rebuild yourself around the loss you have suffered. You will be whole again but you will never be the same. Nor should you be the same nor would you want to.”  ~ Elisabeth Kubler-Ross and David Kessler

Losing my daughter Cristina six years ago had and still has a profound effect on me.  I am finally coming to grips with the fact that I know I will never be the same.  However and thankfully, I know she is watching over me now and for that I am very grateful.  I am also extremely grateful to my friend Bruce who has been a loving, compassionate support over these years and I have wanted to do this interview with him since I began these podcasts.  His friendship and book have been a great source of healing and comfort.  His poetry speaks to the heart and soul for those of us who have lost loved ones. And who hasn't lost a loved one sometime in their life?  His words and heart help bring us together in community to share our grief, pain and the many difficult and unexpected emotions that can arise when we lose someone we love.   In reality, grief isn't something you "get over," it's learning to live in a whole new way.  On many levels, grief can be transformative as we integrate it, and recognize that is now a part of who we are.  Losing someone, especially unexpectedly, makes us much more aware of how important the people in our lives are and has the potential to bring us closer together.  Life is short and all we really have is each other. Loss underlines that reality in a way that’s just as beautiful as it is sad.  For anyone who has lost a loved one, whether it was yesterday, ten years ago or knows someone who is grieving, I highly recommend reading Bruce's beautiful poetry book.  Go to his website BruceSterlingLLC.com "Not Enough. Musings on Grief" There you will find comfort, beauty, solace and community.

Tune in next week to Podcast 11:  Healing the Generations.  Ageless and Timeless

More great interviews and stories to come! No topic is off limits! Please support, review and share. So tune in and tap into your own indomitable spirit!  Lets kick some ass together!  Check out my book on Amazon: tinyurl.com/yv5nca8d.    Also check out my past (and future) podcasts on https://open.spotify.com/show/6pJWCRjidpUNWlC8h1iZXw

“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.”  ~ Thomas Campbell

Wrestling is overcoming obstacles. Every drop of sweat, every black eye, and every mile run reinforce that the will to train sets winners apart. Unknown

Take another journey with your Bronx Warrior Goddess and listen as Eric Miller, Head Instructor of KDC Martial Arts talks about his evolving relationship with Cristina, why he got into Martial Arts, and most especially, how to be, and what it means to be a Warrior in today’s world. And doing do this in every area of life, manifesting itself as integrity, determination, courage, and an unwavering zest for life.  Hear how Cristina was renewed and rebuilt through her training with Eric. Cristina was my beloved daughter, and one of the many fun things we did throughout her life was wrestle with each other. It was fun, helped bring confidence, resilience, strength, agility and lots of laughter into our lives.  I had no idea, in light of her battle with leukemia and the effects of the bone marrow transplant, that our wrestling in some ways, was also preparing her for what was to come. Eric helped uncover and reveal the shining diamond that had been buried under the pain and suffering of so many years. It was her martial arts training with Eric that truly brought forth the Warrior Cristina always actually was. The reality is, whether our struggles are in our personal, physical, professional, spiritual, or political lives, we are called on to be Warriors and our truest best selves. Being a Warrior means discipline, dedication and the integration of our physical, mental and spiritual aspects, all working together for healing, moving forward, and courageously facing whatever life throws at us. Exploring this unique side of ourselves is a means of helping to internalize mindfulness, while meeting life's challenges with an intensity of spirit that never wavers.   So sit back, relax, and let Eric’s words and energy lift you up, soothe, inspire and educate you, always with love. Listen up and tap into your own Inner Warrior. It has been my honor and pleasure to do this interview with Eric.  It has so warmed my heart and filled me with love and gratitude.  And I know Cristina really enjoyed it too…

Tune in next week to Podcast 10: Beyond the Veil. An Interview with Bruce Sterling, Poet and Author of “Not Enough. Musings on Grief.”

More great interviews and stories to come! No topic is off limits! So tune in and tap into your own indomitable spirit!  Lets kick some ass together!

"Let your plans be dark and as impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt." - Sun Tzu

“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.” Maya Angelou

“And now, born from the ashes, she’s a warrior in bloodied black.” ― Amie Kaufman

Join me, your Bronx Warrior Goddess, as I take you on this intimate journey and we explore some issues I have struggled with my entire life; issues that were totally exacerbated by the illness and death of my daughter. While much of this story is personal, it is also true that most of us have experienced some type of adversity or trial at some point in our lives.  We never know what life will throw at us. I never would have imagined that my daughter would be diagnosed with leukemia, or the hideousness of a trump presidency and a pandemic of epic proportions. And what do we do in light of circumstances that cause us pain, anger and suffering? I found that there is spiritual guidance and tools available to help us on the path to self discovery and healing.  We don't only overcome, but we can also thrive, grow and become our own truest and best selves! I share the tools I’ve learned about and used to “start over,” to grow in self-love, rebuild, renew, and restore on every level. I am finally learning to rejoice and celebrate myself! To be, feel and acknowledge who and how I truly am. We can choose to let go of the past. It does not have to dictate the present or future. We can be, and are, our own Heroines and Heroes. This knowledge is a gift I will never let be taken away from me again.  I’ve learned this late in life. But it’s never too late.  Late bloomers bloom best! No matter where we are in our lives, we can always "start over." And, of course, deepest gratitude to my blessed friends and family, without whom this inward journey could never have happened! As one of us rises, all of us rise! We are all connected.  So fasten your seatbelts! Let’s bloom, and laugh and cry together. Better Than Before!

Tune in next week to Podcast 9: Wrestlers and Warriors! An Interview with Eric Miller, Head Instructor. KDC Martial Arts

More great interviews and stories to come! No topic is off limits! So tune in and tap into your own indomitable spirit! Lets kick some ass together!

"Genuine fearlessness arises with the confidence that we will be able to gather the inner resources to deal with any situation that comes our way."   Matthieu Ricard

"Make your life a story worth telling. You only get one shot at this existence, and one day when you’re gone the most important thing you’ll leave behind is the legacy of the life you lived. Make sure you make it is a story you’re proud to have others tell."  Adam Braun

When I read “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” by Maya Angelou, it hit a very deep chord.  I think that's some of the reason I wrote my book "Love in Action..."  I needed to tell Cristina's and my story.  I couldn't bear to keep holding it inside of me. Another story that I've really needed to tell, is about being in the Patriot Party, the Coalition with the Panther Party, and my friendships with Judy, Turco, and Paul. We were all war buddies at one of the most tumultuous times in this country and the world.   To say it's a total honor and pleasure to culminate this series with Paul is nowhere near how grateful and proud I am.   It's  beyond anything I could have/would have imagined. But here it is!  I learned alot about Paul... his view of our friendships when we were all in Baltimore, his background, experiences with the Panther Party, the community programs he initiated and worked on, and what he sees going forward in his life now as an elder.  Paul just exudes kindness, courage, intelligence, and heart. He totally supported and encouraged me every step of the way to make this interview happen. Very grateful!  So fasten your seatbelts!! enjoy, be inspired, educated, and of course, laugh and cry! 

At the end of the interview I said that this was also to honor Judy and Turco. And that is absolutely true.  But the reality is, it's also to honor all those who literally gave their lives and their freedom for something greater than themselvesI This series is a testament to the people and a movement that overcame incredible odds, facing constant repression, murder and incarceration.  In the interview, Paul mentions Eddie Conway, who was Turco's cellmate in 1970 in Baltimore City Jail.  Eddie was just released in 2014 after serving over 43 years in prison when a judge finally ruled the jury had been given improper instruction. 

Tune in next week to Podcast 8:"Starting Over. Rebuilding, Restoring, Renewing.  Surviving to Thriving. ACA and Meditation.  

More great interviews and stories to come! No topic is off limits! So tune in and tap into your own indomitable spirit!  Lets kick some ass together!

“No empire lasts forever, no dynasty continues unbroken. Some day, you and I will be mere legends. All that matters is whether we did what we could with the life that was given to us.”― Krishna Udayasankar, Three

"The truth is, that hole in your heart, exactly the same size and shape of your child, will never ever go away, but the love that oozes from it has more power to change the world than anything I’ve ever known.” Angela Miller

Take this journey with your Bronx Warrior Goddess and hear how my training and experience in the original Rainbow Coalition with the Panther Party gave me the courage, resilience and tools to help my daughter fight for her life in her battle with cancer. We were two warriors who struggled, cried, and laughed together as we overcame whatever was thrown at us. We faced overwhelming odds as Cristina and I stood up to the cancer treatment and its many consequences.   I had to be Activist Mama and guard my daughter always. I was the Lioness at the door and also had to be all the love, beauty and joy possible in a world  filled with only pain and uncertainty.  This story illuminates incredible courage, resilience and grace, showing how a mother and daughter found light no matter the darkness, hope where there was none, and love when there was only terror and exhaustion.   Watch Shirley MacLaine  in "Terms of Endearment." This brief scene reminds me of exactly how I felt most of the time.  And what I actually had to do sometimes.  I wish she would have shared her academy award with me! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1AIroyiLEM.

Next week I will interview  Paul Coates,  the former Defense Captain of the Baltimore Branch of the Panther Party.  This will be extremely interesting. Definitely tune in. So listen up! And let’s kick some ass!

Every moment is an organizing opportunity, every person a potential activist, every minute a chance to change the world. Dolores Huerta

"The truth is, that hole in your heart, exactly the same size and shape of your child, will never ever go away, but the love that oozes from it has more power to change the world than anything I’ve ever known.” Angela Miller

Take this journey with your Bronx Warrior Goddess and hear how my training and experience in the original Rainbow Coalition with the Panther Party gave me the courage, resilience and tools to help my daughter fight for her life in her battle with cancer. We were two warriors who struggled, cried, and laughed together as we overcame whatever was thrown at us. We faced overwhelming odds as Cristina and I stood up to the cancer treatment and its many consequences.   I had to be Activist Mama and guard my daughter always. I was the Lioness at the door and also had to be all the love, beauty and joy possible in a world  filled with only pain and uncertainty.  This story illuminates incredible courage, resilience and grace, showing how a mother and daughter found light no matter the darkness, hope where there was none, and love when there was only terror and exhaustion.   Watch Shirley MacLaine  in "Terms of Endearment." This brief scene reminds me of exactly how I felt most of the time.  And what I actually had to do sometimes.  I wish she would have shared her academy award with me! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1AIroyiLEM.

Next week I will interview  Paul Coates,  the former Defense Captain of the Baltimore Branch of the Panther Party.  This will be extremely interesting. Definitely tune in. So listen up! And let’s kick some ass!  

Every moment is an organizing opportunity, every person a potential activist, every minute a chance to change the world. Dolores Huerta