Fiona Teng, an activist and writer of “Fatherlessness: The Presence of Dad’s Absence” on The Huffington Post goes in-depth on the challenges of working on one’s traumas and how mindfulness meditation has changed her life. “Mindfulness opens up a space in the conscious mind to let the subconscious stuff come up,” she says. The subconscious stuff are the traumas, PTSD and other things we try to avoid or repress or really don’t want to deal with. One of Fiona’s biggest motivators to continue working on herself and grow personally is to break the cycles of personal and societal traumas such as abandonment, racism, and sexism, etc. and to create healthier romantic relationships. Fiona also answers Torah’s set of questions that she asks every guest on Season 1: In one sentence, why did you leave the Amish, your community or situation? What were some of the challenges you faced navigating a foreign culture? What is your guiding principal in life? What is your understanding of forgiveness? What is your definition of acceptance? Why do bad things happen to good people? Is there a God? IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN: - Why it feels that things get worse—instead of better—when you first start therapy or personal growth work - How meditation helped Torah deal with waiting in line at Starbucks - The only one thing anyone needs to do to break the cycle of trauma and make a positive impact on the world - The freedom that self-worth and self-love give you - The real reason why Torah wrote her memoir LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Fiona’s writing: www.huffingtonpost.com/fiona-teng Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde, a writer poet who explored trauma, racism, sexism and homophobia in beautiful poetic ways and refused to be silenced: www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/audre-lorde Mindfulness Training in 10 Minutes a Day with the Headspace App (Torah likes this site because it’s a good basic, scientific introduction to meditation for beginners): www.headspace.com (free trial) See S1Ep2: Fiona Teng on Growing Up as an Immigrant in California, Fatherlessness, Abandonment and Romantic Relationships for Part 1 of Fiona’s story See S1Ep6: Sovilla and Lucinda Coblentz on Amish Interrogation Methods, Sleep Deprivation and the Innate Desire for Freedom for Lucinda and Sovilla’s insight on manipulation, brainwashing and stifled creativity in the Amish church ******************** Connect with Torah, speaker + memoir author of An Amish Girl in Manhattan: Escaping At Age 15, Breaking All the Rules, and Feeling Safe Again http://www.TorahBontrager.com ******************** Connect with Fiona: www.huffingtonpost.com/fiona-teng