"We are being held in all moments.”
~ Erica Skone-Rees   

KJ welcomes her friend and creative collaborator Erica Skone-Rees to the Astonishing Story Gallery today. Erica is a mindfulness & meditation teacher, chronic illness warrior, and healing arts practitioner. For the last 3 and 1/2  years, she has navigated recovery from mold toxicity and Lyme disease which required her to identify and embrace her own resourcefulness. Erica is dedicated to living her full potential, at her highest vibration; her Heart's Work is to empower others to do the same. 

Compassionate Considerations:

• Your pain may reveal your purpose. 
• Invite your discomfort into a dialogue, and request it impart its wisdom upon you. 
• Even on your darkest days, you can find joy. 
• Create space with nonjudgmental observation and pauses to embody wise action; to become responsive instead of reactive.

Episode Mentions - Erica Skone-Rees: 

• Web www.WovenPathWellness.com
• Insta:  @Woven_Path_Wellness 
• *Mention this podcast ("SOAL") and receive 30% off a group or class! 
• Ep 72 background music is composed & performed by KJ Nasrul
• Intro & Outro music: Canada Lo Res by Pictures Of The Floating World 

Please leave a review for this podcast if our stories have astonished you as well.   https://ratethispodcast.com/astonishingstories

Connect With KJ & Bliss Begins Within
Only three spaces left in June to work with KJ 1:1 in an intimate experience!  Rediscover your creativity while replenishing and re-narrate your familial stories so that you can continue sharing your medicine with the world.

Schedule a chat with KJ here >> Healing Our Healers and Creativity & Compassion Days

• IG:  @_KJCreates_ & @BlissBeginsRetreats
• Web: https://blissbeginswithin.com  
• Join us in Bali to recover your hidden creative artistry 
• Receive invitations for monthly creative gatherings  https://bit.ly/BlissBeginsList 
• Clubhouse @kjnasrul 
• Facebook & Twitter

Support the show

Follow KJ in her worldly adventures, and receive notifications for when her next events (Creative Recovery Workshops, Bali Wellness Retreats, and Storyteller Evenings) take place.
- Join The Story Squad and receive Love Notes Here
- Visit her website here: Bliss Begins Within.com

Showing up messy, showing up [40 minutes!] late, showing up Real. This is what Self Care looks like for KJ- sitting with streaky mascara in her car outside her massage therapist's studio, holding a Live Instagram #mondayswiththemuse session.

After this solo show, stay for a sneak listen from next week's guest Erica Skone-Rees of Our Woven Path Erica is a mindfulness guide, chronic illness warrior, and healing arts practitioner. She guides us into the present with an invitation to arrive wholly. 

Considerations: 

• How do you practice self-care? 
• Do you prioritize time and spaciousness to honor rest, reset, and self-compassion?
• Are you engaged with the surrounding Creative Intelligence? 
• Do you like the IG  Lip Ring Filter? Because KJ sure does. 

Want to work with KJ? Only one space in May remains to work with KJ 1:1 in an intimate container of replenishment, rediscovery, and release of familial stories in order to continue uplifting others. Bookings in June and July are beginning to fill up! Reach out to sign up for Healing Our Healers and Creativity & Compassion Days

Enjoying the podcast? Please leave a review for this podcast if our stories have astonished you as well. Your words and thoughts are the fuel for this little listening gallery.  https://ratethispodcast.com/astonishingstories

Episode Mentions 

• Pop Up Creativity Workshop: Rediscover Your Hidden Healing Artist 4/30/22
• Creatives' Coworking Cohort is Opening its Doors on May 8th! DM Suzanne & KJ to sign up! 
• Join KJ in an intimate 1:1 Intensive or Small Group VIP Days
• Meet Erica Skone-Rees of Our Woven Path 
• Ep 72 background music is "Seashell" Composed & performed by KJ Nasrul
• Intro & Outro music: Canada Lo Res by Pictures Of The Floating World 

Connect With KJ & Bliss Begins Within 

• Work With KJ - Psychology Today 
• IG:  @MusingsOnOther @BlissBeginsWithin @AdopteeSociety 
• Website: https://blissbeginswithin.com   
• KJ on Clubhouse @kjnasrul 
• KJ on Facebook & Twitter

Support the show

Follow KJ in her worldly adventures, and receive notifications for when her next events (Creative Recovery Workshops, Bali Wellness Retreats, and Storyteller Evenings) take place.
- Join The Story Squad and receive Love Notes Here
- Visit her website here: Bliss Begins Within.com

Author and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP) Karen Sprinkel Ancelet joins KJ today in a conversation about bridging our highest identities so that we can truly thrive even while there is suffering. 

Dear friends for over fifteen years, KJ and Karen "Sprink" explore evidence that healing IS possible. In her work, Sprink acts as a witness to the process and offers direct guidance for how to help one attain the life they want to live with ease and wisdom. 

Compassionate Considerations from this Story: 

• Our healing and self-nourishing can be embodied every day. 
• To begin opening up to deep uncovering/recovery, take 30 seconds. 
• We are conscious, phenomenally-minded mammals
• Rest is an integral part of the whole healing process. 

Please leave a review for this podcast if our stories have astonished you as well.   https://ratethispodcast.com/astonishingstories

Episode Mentions: 

• Web  karensprinkel.com
  TheThrivingSelf.com
• YouTube:  The Thriving Self 
• LinkedIn 
• Facebook 
• Dr. Peter Levine and Somatic Experiencing 
• Multiple Intelligences (Gardner) 
• Ep 71 background music is composed & performed by KJ Nasrul
• Intro & Outro music: Canada Lo Res by Pictures Of The Floating World 

Connect With KJ & Bliss Begins Within
Three spaces are available in May to work with KJ 1:1 in an intimate experience of replenishment, rediscovery, and release of familial stories so that you can continue sharing your medicine with the world.
Sign up to chat here >> Healing Our Healers and Creativity & Compassion Days

• IG: @_KJCreates_  @blissbeginsRetreats
• Web: https://blissbeginswithin.com  
• Receive invitations for monthly creative gatherings  https://bit.ly/BlissBeginsList 
• Clubhouse @kjnasrul 
• Facebook

Support the show

Follow KJ in her worldly adventures, and receive notifications for when her next events (Creative Recovery Workshops, Bali Wellness Retreats, and Storyteller Evenings) take place.
- Join The Story Squad and receive Love Notes Here
- Visit her website here: Bliss Begins Within.com

Question: How sexy are the topics of healthy dirt and regenerative agriculture?
Answer:  SO VERY. 

Especially as we realize how 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 we are: healthy, diverse soil > 𝓃𝑜𝓊𝓇𝒾𝓈𝒽𝑒𝒹 planet > enriched humans > optimal 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 ⁣​​​​​​​​

Lauren Bryson, Certified Holistic Nutritionist, returns to the show to launch the Quarterly Wellness Check Sessions (stay tuned for a sassier name) with KJ!  

Some Nourishing Niblets from today's conversation: 

• Everyone is creative, everyone can cook and be responsible for the nutrients you ingest
• Ask: What time has elapsed between picking the vegetables from their vines and their arrival in my body?  
• Harness your Big Kid Energy:  be curious, be playful, and be adventurous. 

Here’s your homework until our next Quarterly Wellness Check: 

• Plant a tree
• Go play in the dirt 

Please leave a review for this podcast if our stories have astonished you as well. Your words and thoughts are the fuel for this little listening gallery.  https://ratethispodcast.com/astonishingstories

Episode Mentions: 

• Website www.laurenemersonwellness.com
• IG @laurenemersonwellness
• FB https://www.facebook.com/LaurenEmersonWellness/
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-bryson/
• Kiss The Ground (Netflix Documentary) 
• The Biggest Little Farm  ( Indie Film)
• Green Thumb Gang  (FB Group)
• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer (Book)
• Ep 70 background music is composed & performed by KJ Nasrul
• Intro & Outro music: Canada Lo Res by Pictures Of The Floating World 

Connect With KJ & Bliss Begins Within
Three spaces are available in May to work with KJ 1:1 for a day in an intimate experience of replenishment, rediscovery, and release of familial stories so that you can continue sharing your medicine with the world.
Sign up to chat here >> Healing Our Healers and Creativity & Compassion Days

• IG:  @MusingsOnOther @BlissBeginsWithin @AdopteeSociety 
• Creatives' Coworking Cohort is Opening in MAY! DM Suzanne & KJ to join! 
• Website: https://blissbeginswithin.com  
• Receive invitations for monthly creative gatherings  https://bit.ly/BlissBeginsList 
• Clubhouse @kjnasrul 
• Facebook &

Support the show

Follow KJ in her worldly adventures, and receive notifications for when her next events (Creative Recovery Workshops, Bali Wellness Retreats, and Storyteller Evenings) take place.
- Join The Story Squad and receive Love Notes Here
- Visit her website here: Bliss Begins Within.com

 "The Wounded Healer is not someone who was wounded and is now healed. It is someone who continues to courageously break open the self and ego as a means for deep integration." ~Kim Krans, Archetype Deck, HEALER Card

Dearest Ones, how do you as highly sensitive people, healers, and caregivers (because we all give and care for someone else) hold your grief?

KJ returns after spending more than a month in her childhood home caring for her mother who became suddenly, frighteningly ill.

Compassionate Inquiry:
1. How do I make space to breathe and nourish? 
2. How do I handle the changes from a child to a caregiver role? 
3. How can creativity and self-compassion be lifesaving?
4. How do you decide how you'll spend your time and with whom?

KJ discovered she holds a need to connect with other Healers for regeneration, grieving, and releasing untold stories that emerged with becoming a caregiver. 

Want to work with KJ? Only three spaces are available for April and May to work with KJ 1:1 in intimate containers of replenishment, rediscovery, and release of familial stories in order to continue uplifting others. Reach out to sign up for Healing Our Healers and Creativity & Compassion Days

Enjoying the podcast? Please leave a review for this podcast if our stories have astonished you as well. Your words and thoughts are the fuel for this little listening gallery.  https://ratethispodcast.com/astonishingstories

Episode Mentions 

• Jen Morris' (Spotlight Listener)  SOAL Episode: Well Rounded Creativepreneurs  
• Creatives' Cohort is Opening its Doors very soon! DM Suzanne & KJ to sign up! 
• Help For The Helper by Babette Rothschild 
• Ep 69 background music is all composed & performed by KJ Nasrul
• Intro & Outro music: Canada Lo Res by Pictures Of The Floating World 

Connect With KJ & Bliss Begins Within 

• Work With KJ - Psychology Today 
• IG:  @MusingsOnOther @BlissBeginsWithin @AdopteeSociety 
• Website: https://blissbeginswithin.com  
• Join KJ in 1:1 & Group VIP Days 
• KJ on Clubhouse @kjnasrul 
• KJ on Facebook & Twitter

Support the show

Follow KJ in her worldly adventures, and receive notifications for when her next events (Creative Recovery Workshops, Bali Wellness Retreats, and Storyteller Evenings) take place.
- Join The Story Squad and receive Love Notes Here
- Visit her website here: Bliss Begins Within.com

“I wish I could show you when you are lonely or in darkness, the astonishing light of your own being.”  - Hafiz
 
Concluding part two of the conversation about attracting, visualising and accepting gifts,  Beth Hewitt introduces us to her methodology including the strengthening of her intuition with the aid of Oracle Cards she uses in her work.  

Beth Hewitt is a Spiritual Performance Coach, Speaker, Author, and Hostess of the Visualise You Podcast, where she shares the transformational stories of people who have taken a leap to follow their soul calling. She is a gifted intuitive. 

Story Points: 

1. It can be difficult when we're not willing to let go of our preconceived ideas and Shoulds
2.  We'll use these words all of the time without recognizing we are sabotaging ourselves 
3.  Enhance your active listening skills. There is a transformation in being heard & understood. 
4. Pay attention to your defensiveness. Defensiveness is a protectiveness and reminder of compassionate inquiry. 
5.  Beth's Self-Compassion and Replenishment practices include: Surrendering to the flow, detaching from the outcome, and morning meditation to set the tone of the day

Episode Mentions

• The Visualise & Thrive Membership doors will open again soon! Join KJ in The Club! 
• Visualise You Facebook Group  
• Website: BethHewitt.com   
• Podcast: Visualise You
• Ep 68 background music is all composed & performed by KJ Nasrul
• Intro & Outro music: Canada Lo Res by Pictures Of The Floating World 

Connect With KJ & Bliss Begins Within 

• Work With KJ - Psychology Today 
• IG:  @MusingsOnOther @BlissBeginsWithin @AdopteeSociety 
• Website: https://blissbeginswithin.com  
• Receive alerts for upcoming Creativity events with KJ here  https://bit.ly/BlissBeginsList 
• KJ on Clubhouse @kjnasrul 
• KJ on Facebook & Twitter

Support the show

Follow KJ in her worldly adventures, and receive notifications for when her next events (Creative Recovery Workshops, Bali Wellness Retreats, and Storyteller Evenings) take place.
- Join The Story Squad and receive Love Notes Here
- Visit her website here: Bliss Begins Within.com

In a return after a hiatus, KJ FINALLY connects with her dear friend, Beth Hewitt with this intimate two-part conversation. Beth is a Spiritual Performance Coach, Speaker, Author, and Hostess of the Visualise You Podcast, where she shares the transformational stories of people who have taken a leap to follow their true soul’s calling.

Manifesting for the first time at just four years old, Beth specializes in gratitude & the power of visualisation. She helps people move from being unfulfilled to passionately and purposefully living life with clear intentions.

Story Points: 

• Knowing from a very young age that our work would be NON- Traditional
• Understanding that we are gifted, intuitive beings already
• The majesty and miracles that happen when flow and intuition work in tandem

Episode Mentions: 

• The Visualise & Thrive Membership is OPEN NOW! Join KJ in The Club! 
• Visualise You Facebook Group  
• Website: BethHewitt.com   
• Podcast: Visualise You
• Ep 67 background music is all composed & performed by KJ Nasrul
• Intro & Outro music: Canada Lo Res by Pictures Of The Floating World 

Connect With KJ & Bliss Begins Within 

• Work With KJ - Psychology Today 
• IG:  @MusingsOnOther @BlissBeginsWithin @AdopteeSociety 
• Website: https://blissbeginswithin.com  
• Receive alerts for upcoming Creativity events with KJ here  https://bit.ly/BlissBeginsList 
• KJ on Clubhouse @kjnasrul 
• KJ on Facebook & Twitter

Support the show

Follow KJ in her worldly adventures, and receive notifications for when her next events (Creative Recovery Workshops, Bali Wellness Retreats, and Storyteller Evenings) take place.
- Join The Story Squad and receive Love Notes Here
- Visit her website here: Bliss Begins Within.com

KJ and her friend,  illustrator and author Dingding Hu welcome community over competition by meeting a couple times a month to churn on seedlings of ideas and current experiences. Hailing from China, Dingding is currently based in New York City and she specializes in drawing bubbly characters as well as serendipitous storytelling all of which can be found at her studio and site Hu Is Hungry.

KJ and Dingding discovered the riches of consistent jam sessions as artists, Asian women business owners, trying to form safe spaces for all of us “Weirdo Kids” (coined in KJ and Dingding's first Story Exchange, Episode 43) to gather and riff on concepts that build up instead of tearing down.

Compassionate Considerations 

• Curiosity and collaboration may be the antidote to fears 
• Seek reframe opportunities in all feedback  (or any "Unsubscribes")
• Flip the negative self-talk by noticing the overwhelming evidence supporting The Good that you already do 

Please leave a review for this podcast if our stories have astonished you as well. Your words and thoughts are the fuel for this little listening gallery.  https://ratethispodcast.com/astonishingstories

Episode Mentions: 

• Hu Is Hungry Weekly Newsletter  Monday Mimosas  
• Instagram  @HuIsHungry
• The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron 
• Receive Notes for upcoming Creativity events with KJ  https://bit.ly/BlissBeginsList 
• Ep 66 background music is all composed & performed by KJ Nasrul
• Intro & Outro music: Canada Lo Res by Pictures Of The Floating World 

Connect With KJ & Bliss Begins Within 

• Work With KJ - Psychology Today 
• IG:  @MusingsOnOther @BlissBeginsWithin @AdopteeSociety 
• Want to join our Podcast Creator's Winter Cohort? Contact Us here:  
•  All The Things Podcast with The Magical Cartographers is LIVE! 
• Website: https://blissbeginswithin.com  
• KJ on Clubhouse @kjnasrul 
• KJ on Facebook & Twitter

Support the show

Follow KJ in her worldly adventures, and receive notifications for when her next events (Creative Recovery Workshops, Bali Wellness Retreats, and Storyteller Evenings) take place.
- Join The Story Squad and receive Love Notes Here
- Visit her website here: Bliss Begins Within.com

"Who am I to do this?" This isn't an interview, but rather a  super casual jam session between friends, fellow artists, and podcasters about the fascinating and ever-hovering topic of Imposter Syndrome (IS).  KJ and her friend, the gifted land and seascape photographer Margaret Soraya wonder: Is the pervasiveness of IS due to it having been labeled? Is it across cultures, genders, and all professions?

Takeaways & Ponderings
1. Is Self Awareness is key? 
- Knowing boundaries and knowing what is uncomfortable?
- Having the conversations out loud and often will invite increased self-awareness

2. Gain confidence from doing
- Movement invites momentum and un-sticking 
- What happens when resources aren't available to take action?

3. Imposter Syndrome reveals our harsh self-talk 
-   We are harshest on ourselves with comparison and evaluative/critique
-   Would we speak so cruelly towards our best friends? Towards a child who is learning?

Please leave a review for this podcast if our stories have astonished you as well. Your words and thoughts are the fuel for this little listening gallery.  https://ratethispodcast.com/astonishingstories

Episode Mentions: 

• Website  https://www.margaretsoraya.com/ 
• Instagram  https://www.instagram.com/margaretsoraya/
• Facebook https://www.facebook.com/quietlandscapes/
• Podcast: Quiet Landscapes with Margaret Soraya 
• Receive alerts for upcoming Creativity events here  https://bit.ly/BlissBeginsList 
• Ep 65 background music is all composed & performed by KJ Nasrul
• Intro & Outro music: Canada Lo Res by Pictures Of The Floating World 

Connect With KJ & Bliss Begins Within 

• Work With KJ - Psychology Today 
• IG:  @MusingsOnOther @BlissBeginsWithin @AdopteeSociety 
• Join us for our Wellness Series on Self-Care! Email us at:  [email protected]
• Want to join our Podcast Creator's Winter Cohort? Contact Us here:  
•  All The Things Podcast with The Magical Cartographers is LIVE! 
• Website: https://blissbeginswithin.com  
• KJ on Clubhouse @kjnasrul 
• KJ on Facebook &

Support the show

Follow KJ in her worldly adventures, and receive notifications for when her next events (Creative Recovery Workshops, Bali Wellness Retreats, and Storyteller Evenings) take place.
- Join The Story Squad and receive Love Notes Here
- Visit her website here: Bliss Begins Within.com

KJ  invites friend and SOAL fan-favorite Lauren Bryson, a certified holistic nutritionist, back to the show to usher in 2022 with a tantalizing topic: nutrition and gut health to support overall physical and emotional health.

Lauren understands the therapeutic value of real, nutrient-dense food and she recognizes the impact the environment, chronic stressors, and mindset have on our whole health. She created Lauren Emerson Wellness, to guide clients 1:1 on achieving their health goals. She is also a wellness facilitator with Bauman Wellness and teaches kids cooking classes with Kids Cooking for Life.
 
Some nourishing niblets  from today's conversation: 

• 70% of our immune system is located in our gut 
• Feed your [sexy] microbiome with sexy nutrients (oh hiiiii, sauerkraut!) 
• Self Compassion means advocating for and prioritizing our own immunity
• Self Care equals proactive nourishment by getting outside and playing in the dirt! 

 Please leave a review for this podcast if our stories have astonished you as well. Your words and thoughts are the fuel for this little listening gallery.  https://ratethispodcast.com/astonishingstories

Episode Mentions: 

• Website www.laurenemersonwellness.com
• IG @laurenemersonwellness
• FB https://www.facebook.com/LaurenEmersonWellness/
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-bryson/
• Want to join our Podcast Creator's Winter Cohort? Contact Us here:  
• Meet The Magical Cartographers on All The Things Podcast 
• Ep 64 background music is composed & performed by KJ Nasrul
• Intro & Outro music: Canada Lo Res by Pictures Of The Floating World 

Connect With KJ & Bliss Begins Within 

• Work With KJ - Psychology Today 
• IG:  @MusingsOnOther @BlissBeginsWithin @AdopteeSociety 
• Join us for our Wellness Series on Self-Care for the New Year!  Email us at [email protected] for more information. 
• Website: https://blissbeginswithin.com  
• Receive love notes & invitations for creative gatherings  https://bit.ly/BlissBeginsList 
• KJ on Clubhouse @kjnasrul 
• KJ on Facebook & Twitter

Support the show

Follow KJ in her worldly adventures, and receive notifications for when her next events (Creative Recovery Workshops, Bali Wellness Retreats, and Storyteller Evenings) take place.
- Join The Story Squad and receive Love Notes Here
- Visit her website here: Bliss Begins Within.com