Relationships Let's Talk About It!

Gregg Levoy is a lecturer and seminar leader in the areas of business, education, and human potential. As a speaker, Gregg has delivered workshops and keynotes for organizations such as Microsoft and the Smithsonian. He is an eloquent writer whose books, Vital Signs: Discovering and Sustaining Your Passion for Life and Callings: Finding and Following an Authentic Life, reflect his mission of helping people find and sustain their passions in life and has been rated among the Workforce Information Group's Top 20 Career Publications.

In this episode, Gregg and I explore the challenges and grief we experience in the time of COVID-19 due to the loss of touch. We discuss how the pandemic has us in "stranger danger" mode and how avoiding physical touch in light of social distancing can affect us mentally and physically. We illustrate what it's like to experience social distancing for a single person who lives alone and describe alternative ways we can satisfy our need for physical touch while we're isolated. We also discuss how we, as a society, may need to relearn and re-approach how we consent to physical touch and how we can address the difficult emotions we feel due to the loss of physical connection.

"We're grieving the loss of physical connection. That arm slung across the shoulder is worth its weight in gold. They're not just toss-away gestures." - Gregg Levoy

This week on Relationships! Let's Talk About It:

• Why the loss of touch during the pandemic is heightened for people who live alone
• Harlow's monkey experiment and why physical touch is like a social glue
• The science of physical touch and how its lack compromises our immune systems
• Why physical touch is more essential than the other senses
• Exploring our relationship with touch
• Alternative means of giving others and ourselves physical touch in light of social and physical distancing
• The grief we feel over the loss of physical touch
• How physical and social distancing can benefit the dating scene
• Why some people aren't comfortable with physical touch
• How and why the people in the U.S. were touch-deprived even before the pandemic
• Learning the ways of consenting to touch in light of COVID-19
• Being in touch with difficult emotions due to the pandemic, social isolation, and loss of touch

Related Content:

• What Is a Generous Conversation
• A Conversation Between Two Young Elders
• Heartbreak: Getting Wacked by Love
• Releasing Tension: The Courage to Feel
• Following Personal Passions and Taking Risks Can Nurture Your Relationships
• Men's Friendships: The Challenges and Rewards
• The Importance of Self-Inquiry in Building Healthy Relationships

Connect with Gregg Levoy:

• Gregg Levoy Website
• Gregg Levoy on Facebook
• Book: Callings: Finding and Following an Authentic Life by Gregg Levoy
• Book: Vital Signs: Discovering and Sustaining Your Passion for Life by Gregg Levoy

Let's Talk About It!

Thanks for tuning into this week's episode of Relationships! Let's Talk About It - the show to help you forge deeper, more meaningful connections and relationships with those around you. If you enjoyed this week's episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts, subscribe to the show, and leave us a rating and review.

If you have a relationship question you'd love to have answered, visit our podcast page to leave us a voice message. Your question may be featured on a future episode!

Don't forget to visit our website, like us on Facebook at HeartShare Counseling, join our Relationships! Let's Talk About It Facebook group, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Share your favorite episodes on social media to help others build better, more meaningful relationships.

And if our content has helped you forge deeper connections and more meaningful relationships, be sure to help support the show by visiting our Support the Podcast page!

Theme music "These Streets" provided by Adi the Monk

Cathy Courtenay is a Conscious Relating Coach who brings her heart and listening skills to everything that she does, whether it's dance or Body-Mind Centering. She is a true gift to the relational world, and through leading the Art of Circling, Cathy cultivates a safe space for people where they can stand in their truth and experience what is real for them. Responding to life's call to find truth, Cathy is committed to a mission of helping uplift humanity and develop profound compassion and empathy in the world.

In this episode, Cathy and I explore and demonstrate the art of circling and how it can cultivate relational skills between couples. We discuss how society has conditioned us to be solutions-oriented and how we tend to be uncomfortable with simply being present for another person. We describe the different kinds of noticing and illustrate how we make assumptions on or judge our experiences. We also underscore the role of curiosity in practicing the art of circling and detail how couples can establish circling as a daily practice.

"The more curiosity you can bring in, the greater the ability there will be for more understanding, connection, and intimacy." - Cathy Courtenay

This week on Relationships! Let's Talk About It:

• The art of circling and how it can help couples develop relational skills
• The importance of authentic communication between couples amid the pandemic
• How circling can help us sit with our experiences, whether they're good or challenging
• Our tendency to correct and fix people in contrast to just being present with them
• Demonstrating two exercises in the art of circling
• The importance of expanding and practicing our emotional vocabulary
• Practicing the art of circling without the need to solve a problem or arrive at a goal
• The two different types of noticing and what it means to observe without judgment
• Falling into the blame game when we feel shame and why we need to own our experiences
• Establishing the practice of circling as a daily habit
• Why it can be challenging for some people to practice the art of circling

Related Content:

• What Makes A Relationship Worth Doing the Hard Work
• Difficult Conversations
• Falling in Love
• Helping Men Learn to Connect with Women

Resources Mentioned:

• Book: Rising Strong: How the Ability to Reset Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brene Brown

Connect with Cathy Courtenay:

• Cathy Courtenay Website
• Cathy Courtenay on Facebook

Let's Talk About It!

Thanks for tuning into this week's episode of Relationships! Let's Talk About It - the show to help you forge deeper, more meaningful connections and relationships with those around you. If you enjoyed this week's episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts, subscribe to the show, and leave us a rating and review.

If you have a relationship question you'd love to have answered, visit our podcast page to leave us a voice message. Your question may be featured on a future episode!

Don't forget to visit our website, like us on Facebook at HeartShare Counseling, join our Relationships! Let's Talk About It Facebook group, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Share your favorite episodes on social media to help others build better, more meaningful relationships.

And if our content has helped you forge deeper connections and more meaningful relationships, be sure to help support the show by visiting our Support the Podcast page!

Theme music "These Streets" provided by Adi the Monk

Trusting employees is crucial to the growth of a company. Whether you're leading a Fortune 500 company or a three-person podcast production company that operates remotely, you need to foster good relations by giving employees autonomy and freedom. That's the wisdom of Kate Astrakhan, an audio engineer and technical podcast producer. She is the founder of Podcast Network Solutions, a podcast post-production company that testifies her love of storytelling and audio broadcast. Through her company, Kate demonstrates what it means to be an empowering leader whose actions are based on faith and values systems.

In this episode, Kate and I discuss how she leads her business and the people she works with. We explore how appreciation can encourage positive behavior and how giving autonomy and freedom empowers their genius. We describe the role of trust in business relationships and emphasize the value of helping employees through tough times. We also examine the impact of letting employees work on what they love and encouraging employees to grow in their area of genius.

"Let your team be the mayors of their world. Empower them to rule their area of genius in service to clients and company." - Kate Astrakhan

This week on Relationships! Let's Talk About It:

• The fear of going out of the box
• The best thing about podcasting for Kate
• The impact of giving employees autonomy to make decisions
• How encouraging employee development and growth benefits a business
• The role of trust in allowing employees to flourish and its relationship with reliability
• How Kate uses her value systems as the foundation of everything she does
• The power of emotionally supporting employees
• Motivating individuals in a team and directing workers to let them do what they love
• How appreciation can magnify the behavior you want to see from an employee
• Why Kate decided to start a business and become her own boss
• Kate's advice to business leaders who want to motivate their employees
• The pitfall of leaders who micromanage their team
• Producing a podcast as a birthing process and personal practice
• How trust in a business partnership can foster innovation, especially in a crisis like COVID-19

Related Content:

• The Power of Appreciation
• The Importance of A Personal Practice
• The Challenges of Workplace Relationships
• The Relationship of Business Through the Lens of Giving
• Trust and Company Culture: A Conversation With A Former Fortune 200 Company CEO

Connect with Kate Astrakhan:

• Podcast Network Solutions Website
• Podcast Network Solutions on Twitter
• Podcast Network Solutions on Facebook
• Podcast Network Solutions on LinkedIn
• Email: [email protected]

Let's Talk About It!

Thanks for tuning into this week's episode of Relationships! Let's Talk About It - the show to help you forge deeper, more meaningful connections and relationships with those around you. If you enjoyed this week's episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts, subscribe to the show, and leave us a rating and review.

If you have a relationship question you'd love to have answered, email [email protected] or visit our podcast page to leave us a voice message. Your question may be featured on a future episode!

Don't forget to visit our website, like us on Facebook at HeartShare Counseling, join our Relationships! Let's Talk About It Facebook group, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Share your favorite episodes on social media to help others build better, more meaningful relationships.

And if our content has helped you forge deeper connections and more meaningful relationships, be sure to help support the show by visiting our Support the Podcast page!

Theme music "These Streets" provided by Adi the Monk

So often, couples come into my office wanting to change their partner. They highlight how their partner is doing 'this' and not enough of 'that,' as if they're returning a defective item and want a refund. Yet, so rarely does change in our partners happen when they're forced or nagged to do it - at the very least, they'll only feel forced, controlled, and disrespected. And in trying to change our partners, we forget one fundamental thing: that change must start from within.

In this episode, I discuss the essential things you need to practice to inspire change in your relationship. I explain why you need to think about what you would consider red flags before you commit to a relationship and why you need to avoid focusing on your partner's negative characteristics. I share some of my experiences with my wife where we were inspired to change as individuals and reveal the role of respect in bringing about change in relationships. I also explore how appreciation can foster growth and encourage couples to reach their fullest potential.

"That's where change can happen. A safe, vulnerable environment where couples can cultivate themselves in their relationship." - Pripo Teplitsky

This week on Relationships! Let's Talk About It:

• Relationship red flags and non-negotiables
• Influencing the change you want to see in your partner
• The wisdom of older people on committing to relationships and marriage
• Avoiding looking at our partners as DIY improvement projects
• The differences between complaining and criticism and how they spill over into other areas of the relationship
• Fostering positive growth in our partner through first accepting them for who they are
• How criticism and blame takes a partner further from growth and change
• The importance of introspecting over criticizing and blaming a partner
• Why it's necessary to know yourself and your needs before committing to a relationship
• How focusing on fundamental differences and challenges discourages a relationship's connection
• The need to verbalize what a person wants in a relationship and focus on transformation and change
• Why change needs to come from ourselves first before they occur in our partners

Related Content:

• The Power of Appreciation

Resources Mentioned:

• The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work by John Gottman

Let's Talk About It!

Thanks for tuning into this week's episode of Relationships! Let's Talk About It - the show to help you forge deeper, more meaningful connections and relationships with those around you. If you enjoyed this week's episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts, subscribe to the show, and leave us a rating and review.

If you have a relationship question you'd love to have answered, email [email protected] or visit our podcast page to leave us a voice message. Your question may be featured on a future episode!

Don't forget to visit our website, like us on Facebook at HeartShare Counseling, join our Relationships! Let's Talk About It Facebook group, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Share your favorite episodes on social media to help others build better, more meaningful relationships.

And if our content has helped you forge deeper connections and more meaningful relationships, be sure to help support the show by visiting our Support the Podcast page!

Theme music "These Streets" provided by Adi the Monk

If a relationship is a garden, what is the number one thing you could do to make it thrive? You might think it's sex, but the number one relationship booster is appreciation. Appreciation is the most potent tool couples can use to cultivate their relationship with each other, their friends, and their family. My 25-year-long relationship with my wife, Yvonne Rainbow Teplitsky, has grown through mindfully and intently expressing our appreciation.

Rainbow is a brilliant artist, designer, and founder of the Artsy Goddess Studio whose practice of appreciation - not only in her relationship with me but with all of the people around her - has grown and blossomed like the flowers in her garden.

In this episode, Rainbow and I explore how appreciation has defined and deepened our 25-year-long relationship. We share how we began to consciously practice appreciation and how couples can establish appreciation as a practice. We discuss how consistently and meaningfully expressing appreciation can nip the bud of affairs in relationships and explain how a couple can escape the blame game through cultivating appreciation. We also illustrate how appreciation can magnify the potential in people as well as share an example of how Rainbow and I express our appreciation for each other.

"Appreciation expands and grows. Plant their seeds and see them bloom into flowers." - Yvonne Rainbow Teplitsky

This week on Relationships! Let's Talk About It:

• How appreciation made a profound difference in our relationship
• Why appreciation is the most essential tool couples have to maintain and strengthen their relationship
• What a HeartShare Appreciation is and the different levels of appreciation
• The importance of expressing appreciation as soon as you feel it
• Cultivating appreciation as a practice in the relationship
• The value of knowing and communicating how you want to be appreciated and what you want to be appreciated for
• Why it's okay to appreciate your partner for the same things
• How we began to bring appreciation as a practice into our relationship
• The challenge of receiving kindness and appreciation from other people
• Appreciation as a tool to affair-proof a relationship
• John Gottman's ratio of positive and negative interactions
• Getting out of the relationship criticism loop through the power of appreciation
• How appreciation makes us more open and accepting of challenges, accountability, and responsibility in relationships
• Deepening our connection with our son by modeling appreciation

Related Content:

• The Power of Appreciation
• Why Is It Hard to Receive Kindness?

Connect with Yvonne Rainbow Teplitsky:

• Artsy Goddess Studio
• Yvonne on LinkedIn
• Yvonne on Facebook
• Email: [email protected]

Let's Talk About It!

Thanks for tuning into this week's episode of Relationships! Let's Talk About It - the show to help you forge deeper, more meaningful connections and relationships with those around you. If you enjoyed this week's episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts, subscribe to the show, and leave us a rating and review.

If you have a relationship question you'd love to have answered, email [email protected] or visit our podcast page to leave us a voice message. Your question may be featured on a future episode!

Don't forget to visit our website, like us on Facebook at HeartShare Counseling, join our Relationships! Let's Talk About It Facebook group, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Share your favorite episodes on social media to help others build better, more meaningful relationships.

And if our content has helped you forge deeper connections and more meaningful relationships, be sure to help support the show by visiting our Support the Podcast page!

Theme music "These Streets" provided by Adi the Monk

Many of us maintain daily practices. They bring us to a state of a balanced and stable mind. For some, that practice is yoga or meditation, while for others, it could be writing morning pages or creating art. For Corey Costanzo, it's doing didgeridoo meditation sessions. Corey - a colleague and long-time friend of mine - is a master didgeridooist who has been playing the instrument for over 20 years. For over 100 days since the COVID-19 pandemic started, Corey has been hosting 20-minute didgeridoo meditation sessions at Still Point Wellness on Facebook.

Corey is a licensed massage and bodywork therapist, a licensed addictions counselor, somatic experiencing practitioner, and co-owner of Still Point Wellness, a premier Esalen Massage and Salt Water Floatation spa in Asheville. By transforming his morning routine with the didgeridoo to a shared experience with an online community, Corey continues to realize the connection between cultivating personal practices and wellbeing.

In this episode, Corey and I discuss the importance of personal practices. We differentiate routine from cultivating a personal practice and illustrate how our relationships can benefit from the latter. We describe how bringing curiosity and mindfulness into our practice can bring us to a deeper understanding of ourselves. We also explore the overwhelm and guilt people feel when they fail to follow-through on habits and practices as well as share advice on how we can cultivate a daily practice.

"Personal practice is the antidote to a co-dependent relationship. I fill myself with what brings me joy and from there, I meet my partner." - Corey Costanzo

This week on Relationships! Let's Talk About It:

• A didgeridoo meditation with Corey
• Our relationship with our personal practice and how they affect us and our relationships
• How Corey found his connection with the didgeridoo and how he taught himself to play it
• The difference between a routine and a personal practice
• How mindfulness can bring a deeper self-awareness
• The art of breathing and recognizing the connection between breath and anxiety
• The benefits of breathing through your nostrils and how breathing through the mouth can negatively impact our health
• Transforming the Relationships: Let's Talk About It! Podcast from routine to personal practice
• How podcasting has affected my relationship with my wife, Rainbow
• The importance of having an interest or hobby outside of your relationship
• Going back to our personal practice for self-care, self-soothing, and self-regulation
• Learning more about ourselves through diving into personal practice
• The overwhelm and guilt that comes with trying to maintain a daily practice and how to cope with them
• Identifying the link between curiosity and mindfulness

Related Content:

• Emotional Regulation
• Do the Right Thing
• Is Stress Affecting Your Relationship?
• Addictions and Their Effects on Relationships
• Sound and Attunement Healing in Relationships

Resources Mentioned:

• Breath: the New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor

Connect with Corey Costanzo:

• Still Point Wellness
• Still Point Wellness on Facebook
• Still Point Wellness on Pinterest
• Still Point Wellness on Instagram
• Corey Costanzo on LinkedIn

Let's Talk About It!

Thanks for tuning into this week's episode of Relationships! Let's Talk About It - the show to help you forge deeper, more meaningful connections and relationships with those around you. If you enjoyed this week's episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts, subscribe to the show, and leave us a rating and review.

If you have a relationship question you'd love to have answered, email [email protected] or visit our podcast page to leave us a voice message. Your question may be featured on a future episode!

Don't forget to visit our website, like us on Facebook at HeartShare Counseling, join our Relationships! Let's Talk About It Facebook group, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Share your favorite episodes on social media to help others build better, more meaningful relationships.

And if our content has helped you forge deeper connections and more meaningful relationships, be sure to help support the show by visiting our Support the Podcast page!

Theme music "These Streets" provided by Adi the Monk

It's a question I've encountered in my practice so many times: is love a feeling or an action? Is it both or more of one than the other? If love is a feeling, is it possible to feel it without taking actions that reflect it? If love is a choice, how do we choose to love our partners, friends, and family over many years of challenges? These are all profound and important questions, for they reflect how we show up in our relationships.

In this episode, I discuss whether love is a choice or a feeling and explain why love is a constant action we do every day with our partner. I describe why falling in love is different and illustrate how it's easier to foster connection and attraction at the beginning of a relationship. I share the story of a friend who lovingly took care of his mother, despite his mother's behavior towards him. I also explore the different ways we can show love to our partners and how the power of appreciation has enhanced my relationship with my wife over the many years we've been together.

"We have to show love, not just feel it. We can feel love, but we choose to love every day and every moment." - Pripo Teplitsky

This week on Relationships! Let's Talk About It:

• Why love is an action
• How we don't choose who we are attracted to but can choose with whom we stay in love
• The feeling of falling in love, the courtship stage, and how we choose to maintain the spark
• The work involved with deciding to share a life with a partner
• Why we shouldn't aim to change our partner
• The power to choose your words, your actions, and your perception of your partner
• Choosing to love another begins with choosing to love ourselves
• Giving ourselves the chance to be our best selves and the kind of people we want to be
• How our childhood upbringing affects our perception of what love means
• Changing your attitudes towards your partner's quirks and celebrating their uniqueness
• Examples of how we can show our love to our partner
• How the power of appreciation brings the value of love higher and eases challenging times

Related Content:

• Falling in Love
• What Makes a Relationship Worth Doing the Hard Work
• The Power of Appreciation
• Generosity: Contemplating How We Show Up in Our Relationships
• Difficult Conversations
• Helping Men Learn to Connect with Women

Let's Talk About It!

Thanks for tuning into this week's episode of Relationships! Let's Talk About It - the show to help you forge deeper, more meaningful connections and relationships with those around you. If you enjoyed this week's episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts, subscribe to the show, and leave us a rating and review.

If you have a relationship question you'd love to have answered, email [email protected] or visit our podcast page to leave us a voice message. Your question may be featured on a future episode!

Don't forget to visit our website, like us on Facebook at HeartShare Counseling, join our Relationships! Let's Talk About It Facebook group, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Share your favorite episodes on social media to help others build better, more meaningful relationships.

And if our content has helped you forge deeper connections and more meaningful relationships, be sure to help support the show by visiting our Support the Podcast page!

Theme music "These Streets" provided by Adi the Monk

"It is better to give than to receive." That's an adage we've all been taught. While giving is indeed a gracious act, we're not taught how to receive it - which is equally noble. To fully experience, appreciate, and receive kindness is a gift we give back to the giver. Yet, we sometimes struggle to accept gestures of kindness and, in this struggle, we even think that we're not worthy of generosity. But no matter who you are, where you're from, or what you did, you are worthy of receiving kindness.

In this episode, I discuss the difficulties we face in receiving acts of kindness, help, and generosity. I illustrate the vulnerability that comes with accepting a gesture of kindness and how we tend to negate appreciation by pointing out our flaws. I describe how I recently struggled with fully experiencing kindness from my son and share my observations of couples who have difficulties accepting appreciation. I also explain how some characteristics, like perfectionism and self-doubt, can hinder us from receiving kindness and gifts from our loved ones as well as share my advice on how you can practice receiving kindness.

"It doesn't matter what your history is. Down to your core as a human being, you are worthy to receive kindness." - Pripo Teplitsky

This week on Relationships! Let's Talk About It:

• Why and how we tend to deflect or avoid receiving gestures of kindness and appreciation
• What it feels like when your kindness and gifts aren't well-received
• The vulnerability that comes with accepting a gesture of kindness
• Why we need to liberate ourselves from the feeling of obligation when receiving gifts
• Receiving appreciation by taking in deep breaths
• My recent struggle with receiving an act of kindness from my son
• How fully receiving and appreciating a gift or kind gesture is a gift to the giver
• Examples of verbal responses to gifts and kindness and how to practice them
• How perfectionism and control issues can prevent a person from fully receiving an act of kindness
• The self-doubt that impedes us from accepting appreciation and how all humans are worthy of kindness
• How the inability to receive kindness can handicap a relationship
• Reframing our responses to kindness and focusing on the giver's intent

Related Content:

• The Power of Appreciation
• Generosity: Contemplating How We Show Up in Our Relationships
• What Is a Generous Conversation

Let's Talk About It!

Thanks for tuning into this week's episode of Relationships! Let's Talk About It - the show to help you forge deeper, more meaningful connections and relationships with those around you. If you enjoyed this week's episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts, subscribe to the show, and leave us a rating and review.

If you have a relationship question you'd love to have answered, email [email protected] or visit our podcast page to leave us a voice message. Your question may be featured on a future episode!

Don't forget to visit our website, like us on Facebook at HeartShare Counseling, join our Relationships! Let's Talk About It Facebook group, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Share your favorite episodes on social media to help others build better, more meaningful relationships.

And if our content has helped you forge deeper connections and more meaningful relationships, be sure to help support the show by visiting our Support the Podcast page!

Theme music "These Streets" provided by Adi the Monk

An apology, meaningfully and thoughtfully given, transforms. It transforms us, empowering us to take ownership of our actions and behavior. It transforms relationships between couples, paving the way for love and intimacy. It transforms relationships between peoples, giving them the courage to take responsibility for the past and standing up for racial equality and justice.

These are lessons I keep learning in the life I share with my wife, Yvonne Rainbow Teplitsky. Rainbow is an artist, fashion designer, and founder of the Artsy Goddess Studio. Together, Rainbow and I continue to hone our skills in the art of apology. We consistently learn about the truths of apologies and forgiveness, whether it's from our daily interactions with each other or from social and human rights movements like the Black Lives Matter movement.

In today's episode, Rainbow and I discuss why apologizing is as essential in relationships as appreciating. We illustrate how upbringing and social and cultural environments can affect our attitudes toward taking responsibility and asking for forgiveness. We reveal the foundation of giving meaningful and profound apologies and underscore the role of empathy in this foundation. We also share how we apologize to each other and explain how apologizing brings connection and healing.

"A happy marriage is between people who are willing to apologize and forgive." - Yvonne Rainbow Teplitsky

This week on Relationships! Let's Talk About It:

• The value of asking for forgiveness in today's social climate
• How important and impactful apologies have been in our relationship
• Why we emphasize apologizing as much as appreciation in committed relationships
• How Rainbow used to find apologies dreadful but now sees it as an opportunity for connection
• Why the inability to apologize is a source of dysfunction in relationships
• How apologizing paves the way for understanding, intimacy, and empowerment
• The pillars of giving a profound and meaningful apology
• The importance of waiting to be ready before apologizing
• Why an apology shouldn't come with defending or explaining a behavior
• How culture, upbringing, and social environments create negative behaviors around apologizing and taking responsibility
• Creating a bridge for connection by apologizing first
• Why learning to receive an apology is as important as giving it
• Sharing feelings of hurt, discomfort, or shame without disconnection and how to respond to its expression

Related Content:

• The Art of Apology
• The Art of Appreciation
• The Art of Listening
• Maintaining Connection Through Conflict
• Practicing Empathy is Key to Building Trust

Connect with Yvonne Rainbow Teplitsky:

• Artsy Goddess Studio
• Yvonne on LinkedIn
• Yvonne on Facebook
• Email: [email protected]

Let's Talk About It!

Thanks for tuning into this week's episode of Relationships! Let's Talk About It - the show to help you forge deeper, more meaningful connections and relationships with those around you. If you enjoyed this week's episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts, subscribe to the show, and leave us a rating and review.

If you have a relationship question you'd love to have answered, email [email protected] or visit our podcast page to leave us a voice message. Your question may be featured on a future episode!

Don't forget to visit our website, like us on Facebook at HeartShare Counseling, join our Relationships! Let's Talk About It Facebook group, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Share your favorite episodes on social media to help others build better, more meaningful relationships.

And if our content has helped you forge deeper connections and more meaningful relationships, be sure to help support the show by visiting our Support the Podcast page!

Theme music "These Streets" provided by Adi the Monk

It is a heavy time in America. Viruses are taking the nation by storm - and not just the ones that cause disease. I was young when the Detroit riots in 1967 broke out. Some 50 years later, we still have the same issues: African-Americans are still being oppressed and assaulted by police. Racism is a prevalent issue that all of us need to discuss and resolve. We need to step up our game in addressing the racial prejudice deeply ingrained and institutionalized in our society.

For white people, a part of that means confronting what it means to be white, a question Mana Vermeulen-McLeod is dedicated to answering. Mana is a natural builder, social activist, and life coach. Born in Holland, Mana is a generational European-American who came to the U.S. about 15 years ago. She is committed to confronting her whiteness through education and understanding profound questions about the privileges that come with being a white woman.

In this episode, which was recorded many months ago, Mana and I discuss witnessing our whiteness, white privilege, and how we should tackle racism as white people. We describe how racism is institutionalized in our society and share our experiences with racism and diversity. We underscore the need to teach children about racial prejudice and explain how racism is not going to die on its own. We also discuss how books can help us learn more about racism and prejudice and highlight how we can support each other in unlearning racism.

"We need to think of that deep healing: how are we going to own what our forefathers did? That's a huge piece nobody wants to do." - Mana Vermeulen-McLeod

This week on Relationships! Let's Talk About It:

• The Racism 101 class that sparked Mana's interest in issues about race relations
• Looking at racism from the perspective of what it means to be white
• Our experiences growing up with racism and diversity
• How we all live in a racist society and the institutionalization of racism
• How white people can tackle racial prejudice by looking into themselves
• Book recommendations on unlearning racism and prejudice
• How books can help us learn about racism and white privilege
• Mana's experiences growing up in a segregated environment
• What colorism or shadism is and a controversial Dutch cultural heritage
• Why we need to talk to children about racism
• Why we need to step up our game when it comes to racism and diversity
• Looking at history and ancestry to address racial prejudice
• Supporting each other in unlearning internalized racism

Related Content:

• Women Working in Male-Dominated Workplaces
• Understanding Racism: Relationships are at the Heart of This Work

Resources Mentioned:

• Witnessing Whiteness: The Need to Talk About Racism and How to Do It by Shelly Tochluk
• White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
• White Awake
• Me and White Supremacy Workbook by Layla Saad

Connect with Mana Vermeulen-McLeod:

• Earthaven Ecovillage
• The Work that Reconnects
• Southeast Wise Women's Herbal Conference
• Culture's Edge
• Mana Vermeulen-McLeod on Facebook

Let's Talk About It!

Thanks for tuning into this week's episode of Relationships! Let's Talk About It - the show to help you forge deeper, more meaningful connections and relationships with those around you. If you enjoyed this week's episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts, subscribe to the show, and leave us a rating and review.

If you have a relationship question you'd love to have answered, visit our podcast page to leave us a voice message. Your question may be featured on a future episode!

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Theme music "These Streets" provided by Adi the Monk