Being successful does not necessarily bring happiness. For my guest Dr. Andrea Pennington, it did the exact opposite: it burned her out, and stifled her spark to the point of deep depression, and cut her off from herself in profound ways. Thankfully, she found her way back.

When I stumbled across this fellow Chinese Medicine and qi gong practitioner's work, and learned we shared a passion for blending paradigms, biohacking and evangelizing self-love, I immediately reached out to get this multi-passionate powerhouse on the show. We talk about: 

• falling into the "success trap:" how getting everything she wanted made her miserable
• how a profound spiritual experience rescued her from a deep depression
• why self-awareness is a pre-requisite for self-love
• the connection between happiness and authentic self-expression
• how qi gong helped her connect to self-love
• how identifying as consciousness itself fosters self-compassion 

Dr. Andrea Pennington is an integrative physician, acupuncturist, meditation teacher and #1 international bestselling author of several books on resilience, mindfulness and self-love. Dr. Andrea’s extensive study of medical nutrition, positive psychology and longevity biohacking led her to create a holistic media platform, In8Vitality, blending ancient wisdom and modern science for enhanced vitality and life mastery.   As Co-founder of the #RealSelfLove Movement Andrea speaks globally to reduce the stigma of mental illness and to support people on their journey to authentic living Andrea is also a highly acclaimed TEDx speaker.  Dr. Andrea has shared her candid insights on resilience on the Oprah Winfrey Show, the Dr. Oz Show, CNN, the Today Show, LUXE-TV, Thrive Global and HuffingtonPost and as a news anchor for Discovery Health Channel.

Get Dr. Andrea Pennington's new book, "I Love You, Me." 

Connect with Dr. Andrea Pennington: http://www.andreapennington.com/

Learn more about Qi Gong: https://brodiewelch.com/meet-qi-gong-yogas-less-popular-cousin/

Ready to embrace all parts of yourself? Check out Brodie's Level Up Your Life course.