Stories of Astonishing Light with KJ Nasrul

"To truly choose to love is heroic" - bell hooks

It's the final episode of 2021. Today, KJ holds space to honor themes and threads of this unparalleled year: the practice of self-compassion by setting boundaries, participation in creativity, and listening to the dialogue of our body.
Compassion is activism.

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

Have you thought about starting your own podcast? Join KJ and dear friend Suzanne Dressler this Winter in an intimate Creatives' Cohort to learn how to launch your own show with the surrounding support of other new podcasters.  Email KJ ([email protected]) with questions!

Listen in to the Fan Favorites of SOAL 2021:  

•  Ep 44 - on  Somatic Psychology with Arielle Schwartz     
•  Ep 31 - on Gut Health, mental wealth with Lauren Bryson 

Episode Mentions: 

• The  Majesty of bell hooks 
• Closing Compassion Meditation gifted from  Fresh "Lev" White 
• Intro & Outro music: Canada Lo Res by Pictures Of The Floating World 
• Ep 63 background music is composed & performed by KJ Nasrul

Connect With KJ & Bliss Begins Within 

• Work With KJ - Psychology Today 
• IG:  @MusingsOnOther @BlissBeginsWithin @AdopteeSociety 
• Website: https://blissbeginswithin.com  
• Receive love notes & invitations for 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  

Join KJ and enchanting Voice Actor Amanda Sellers in an uplifting conversation about vocalizing our requests for The Good. Amanda is the mother of 2 amazing boys, a musician, a Voiceover mentor, and a meditation teacher. She has also co-founded TheVoiceOverSchool.com and is the creator of the #1 Mindfulness tool, Abundance Wands. You’ve probably heard her dulcet voice across campaigns for mega brands such as Axe, Nike, Apple and Roomba! Her bedtime meditation for kids and her happy morning guided visualizations are regularly featured favorites on Insight Timer. 
Whether in a resilient response to burnout, or in lulling her young son to sleep, Amanda helps listeners explore the ways our voices call in wealth, creativity, and wellness. 

Takeaways:
1. Courage to start new projects can be driven by the question: "What's next, Dreamer?"

2. For combatting Imposter Syndrome:  move through it, feel the fear, do it anyway.

3. The most successful voice talent speaks from the heart and not of the head. 

4. Tips for Self-Compassion:  a) Practice gratitude by writing down five things for which you're grateful; b) Write down your goals as if they've already been achieved; c) Verbalize mantras to aid your gratitude and compassion practices: "Thank you for this day. "Thank you for these little moments; and, "look for The Good." 

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: 

• Amanda Sellers VoiceOver 
• The VoiceOver School  
• Abundance Wands
• Amanda on Insight Timer 
• Amanda on Instagram @missamandasellers 
• Ep 62 background music is composed & performed by KJ Nasrul
• 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 the last Wellness Workshop of 2021!  Compassion & Boundaries During the Holidays   Register for FREE here! Or email us at [email protected]
• Website: https://blissbeginswithin.com  
• Receive love notes & invitations for 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  

When and how did you know you belonged?  When and how did you know you had found your tribe? Today, KJ jams with her Karaoke crew--The Magical Cartographers--about the nuances and complexities of belonging and how our desire to connect with others shapes our decisions and the way we show up in the world every day. 

Today, in addition to reminiscing about Def Leppard concerts, KJ introduces you to three astonishing, spicy women who are mapping out the uncharted territories through storytelling, with the mission to create space for folks to gather and share their experiences about being authentic, doing things differently, and bringing voice to diverse ideas and perspectives. This is all in an invitation for you to do the same. Please join us? You are always welcome in this tribe,  Healers. 

Takeaways and Considerations:
1.   We are absorbing, sensitive creatures in our youth. 
2.   How is your idea of belonging informed when you found no representations in the “outside world” that looked like you? 
3.  Where do the weirdo kids, the feral ones, the dreamers fit in? 
4.  Is belonging about being accepted for who we truly, genuinely are? 
5.  Whom in your life fits that description- of accepting and supporting you in all your facets? 

Please leave a review for this podcast if our stories have astonished you as well. You could be the next SOAL Spotlight Listener Review featured on the show! https://ratethispodcast.com/astonishingstories

Episode Mentions: 

• All The Things Jocelyn Lindsay  https://linktr.ee/jocelynlindsay
• All The Things Ish Modak https://www.instagram.com/ishmodakmd/
• All The Things Mel Morris https://link.wtfwithmel.com/
• Intro and Ep 61 background music: Original Piano Compositions written & performed by KJ
• 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 Love Letters from KJ https://bit.ly/BlissBeginsList 
• Facebook & Twitter
• Clubhouse @kjnasrul 

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 this season of gratitude, KJ names appreciation for burning out, coastal train rides, and actress/director Kristen Stewart. This Tiny Astonishment almost wasn't published; the podcast was nearly placed on an indefinite hiatus. 
How does one come back from bouts of exhaustion and overwhelm, especially during these charged and tender times? KJ shares her recommendations for reconnecting with joy and creativity, even if you feel you've lost it wholly, even when you don't expect it. First step-  embrace your #Other. Secondly, give into it.
 
Takeaways: 

1. Go back to the Beginning
2. Allow it to be effortless
3. This is not your first time (accomplishing, succeeding!) 
4. Listen to the landscape
5. Celebrate the joyful lesson  

Please leave a review for this podcast if our stories have astonished you as well. You could be SOAL Spotlight Reviewer featured on the show! https://ratethispodcast.com/astonishingstories

Episode Mentions: 

• Opening Poem:  Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver
• A Quiet Landscape Podcast  with Margaret Soraya:  KJ's recent interview on self-care, compassion and  creativity  
• Ep 12 Tiny Astonishments:  Embrace Your Other 
• Musings On Other Blog - KJ's first forays into public storytelling from 2010
• Kristen Stewart in the movie Spencer 
• All Ep 60 background music is composed & performed by KJ Nasrul

Connect With KJ & Bliss Begins Within 

• Work With KJ - Psychology Today 
• IG:  @MusingsOnOther @BlissBeginsWithin @AdopteeSociety 
• Website: https://blissbeginswithin.com  
• Receive love notes & invitations for 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  

It's another SOAL Special featuring an Astonishing #WOCHealer! Ms. Noor Pinna is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and transformative mindset coach. She helps women break free from the barriers of shame, emboldening them to advocate for themselves and their communities, and to embody resiliency. 

Noor guides women to celebrate deeply nourishing self-care rituals byway of designing healthy boundaries and reframing any cognitive dissonances. She has administered mental health services internationally, notably in the support of Afghan women.

KJ and Noor, instant kindreds, dive into charged topics including  the cost of shame, our discomfort in honoring our accomplishments, and the curious and glorious bravery of what is deemed the “ Midnight Brain".

The episode opens with Noor’s reading of her own exquisite composition, a poem that garnered the attention of Ted Talk organizers, and led to an invitation to share her musings on Shame Resilience from the massive TedX stage. Noor is in the process of publishing her first book, The Sun Still Rises. 

Takeaways: 

• Comparison is a killer, a robber of joy 
• Our unique stories are our assets
• Shame carries a high cost 
• What is your Midnight Brain prompting you to do? 
• Celebrate and Honor every step of your creative process 
• A Shame Resilience Practice:  a) Body scan b) Notice where the discomfort is in the body c) Observe in curiosity d) Engage in conversation with the tension and uncomfortable thoughts e) Listen 

Please review this podcast if our stories have astonished you as well. You could be SOAL Spotlight Reviewer featured on the show! https://ratethispodcast.com/astonishingstories

Episode Mentions: 

• TedX Talk: https://youtu.be/2Kg7BIjA3p0
• Website: www.noorpinnacoaching.com
• Instagram: @Noor_Pinna  
• Facebook: Noor-Pinna-Coaching 
• Facebook group:  Resilient Mindset 
• Book Rec: The Body Is Not An Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor 
• Ep 59 background music: Original Compositions written & performed by KJ
• Intro 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 Love Letters from KJ https://bit.ly/BlissBeginsList 
• 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  

Today KJ opens the  SOAL listening gallery for a story from Shanna Windle, an attorney turned holistic-subconscious mind-hacker with a mission of helping  us utilize the natural resources within ourselves to make changes and regain control in certain arenas of our lives. Using the award- winning  approach of Rapid Transformational Therapy Hypnosis, Shanna guides her clients towards finally, completely breaking negative patterns in emotions and behaviors that have kept them from living their full potential.

In the aftermath of grief and loss, including a divorce and the death of her mother, Shanna experienced the deterioration of her own emotional and physical well being. She sought answers to rising questions about mental wellness, maladaptive behavior patterns, and sustainable health which led Shanna to the decision to leave a 15-year career in law. She created a holistic health and Rapid Transformational Therapy practice based in Florida, Shine Wellness.

Takeaways 

•  Hypnotherapy defined differently: Guided visualizations with a specific goal in mind. Carry the intention of uncovering the  beliefs that may be obstacles to wholly healing. 
•  Habits are dictated by the subconscious mind. 95% of everything we do- our thinking, our actions and our feelings- derive from our subconscious. 
•  We have the capacity to rewire our thinking patterns to create new habits! Our brains possess the ability for plasticity and flexibility.
• Recalibration through prayer, time spent with kids and family, visualization and connecting with nature are all ways to practice self compassion and restore balance.

Please rate and review this podcast if our stories have astonished you as well. Your review may be featured on the show, AND  you're eligible for a FREE, private 1:1 call with KJ! https://ratethispodcast.com/astonishingstories

Episode Mentions: 

• Website: www.Shinewellness.org
• IG:  @shine_wellness
• TT: shine_wellness_shanna
• FB: @shinewellness.org
• Resource: Marisa Peer, Founder and Creator of RTT 
• Resource: Psychology Today/Hypnotherapy 
• Ep 58 background music, Original Compositions written & performed by KJ
• Intro Music: Canada Lo Res by Pictures Of The Floating World 

Connect With KJ & Bliss Begins Within 

• Work With KJ https://blissbeginswithin.as.me/HelloCall
• IG:  @MusingsOnOther @BlissBeginsWithin @AdopteeSociety 
• Website: https://blissbeginswithin.com  
• Receive Love Letters from KJ https://bit.ly/BlissBeginsList 
• 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  

Childhood friends KJ and Dr. Nina Flores jam about empowered presence as biracial Women Of Color.  Dr. Flores is an Assistant Professor with the Social & Cultural Analysis of Education master’s program in the College of Education at California State University, Long Beach. There she engages students in deep analyses of issues concerning justice, power, and resistance.

Nina's writing and research on topics such as gender-based violence, and harassment experienced at academic conferences has been featured in several esteemed Academic journals including Gender & Education and Journal of Critical Thought and Praxis as well as  national outlets: Washington Post, Huffington Post, Ms. Magazine Blog, Progressive Planning Magazine, and the OC Weekly.

Today KJ and Nina discuss messaging around harassment and safety and the multitude of layers comprising true Self Care, including boundary setting and designing our "Dressed Up" Outsides in both feminine expression and armor. 

Takeaways:

• We can be impactful when we release our material attachments, even if only for minutes
• Self Compassion is multilayered, whole, and an active intentionality 
• What is your armor as you walk out your door today, Ladies? 

Please rate and review this podcast if our stories have astonished you as well. Your review may be featured on the show, AND  you're eligible for a FREE, private 1:1 call with KJ! https://ratethispodcast.com/astonishingstories  

Episode Mentions: 

• IG  https://instagram.com/BellHookedMe 
• Email Nina at [email protected] 
• Book Rec: Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good by Adrienne Maree Brown 
• Book Rec: Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit 
• Ep 57 background music, Original Composition performed by KJ
• Intro Music: Canada Lo Res by Pictures Of The Floating World 

Connect With KJ & Bliss Begins Within 

• IG:  @MusingsOnOther @BlissBeginsWithin @AdopteeSociety 
• Work With KJ https://blissbeginswithin.as.me/HelloCall
• Website: https://blissbeginswithin.com  
• Receive Love Letters from KJ https://bit.ly/BlissBeginsList 
• 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  

Tis the Season! KJ assesses and honors qualities of gratitude for all the challenges and blessings received in the months of August and September. KJ returns with the first Tiny Astonishment (solo show) of Season Three after unexpectedly taking a month off from podcasting to experience a number of fairly significant life events. 

• KJ's husband NN became a US Citizen! 
• She and said American Citizen Husband subsequently got dropped by COVID. 
• KJ quit her 9-5 corporate healthcare job to pursue creative endeavors and to expand her expressive arts and trauma informed counseling practice Bliss Begins Within Psychotherapy.  
• .... and she returned to school. 

September was something special. Nevertheless, KJ welcomes Fall with open arms and a grateful heart.

Please Rate and Review This Podcast if our stories have astonished you as well. Your review could be read on the show, AND you're qualified for a FREE private 1:1 call with KJ! https://ratethispodcast.com/astonishingstories  

Episode Mentions: 

• Book Rec - Crying In H Mart by Michelle Zauner 
• SOAL's Astonishing WOC Healers Series - Meet Yasmin Afrazeh & Judy Tsuei 
• What is EMDR Therapy? 
• Gratitude Meditation  written by Nate Klemp of Mindful.Org 
• Ep 56 meditation music, "Seashell", Composed & Performed by KJ
• Intro & Outro Music: Canada Lo Res by Pictures Of The Floating World 

Connect With KJ & Bliss Begins Within 

• Instagram:  @MusingsOnOther @BlissBeginsWithin @AdopteeSociety 
• Work With KJ https://blissbeginswithin.as.me/HelloCall
• Website: https://blissbeginswithin.com  
• Receive Love Letters and Announcements from KJ https://bit.ly/BlissBeginsList 
• Facebook & Twitter
• Want to create and send beautiful emails? Try Flodesk for free your first 30 days! Use this link here to get started

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  

Hey Rebels and Misfits! Welcome to the newest episode of the SOAL Season 3 Mini-Series: Astonishing women of color healers. Today's #WOCHealer  is Judy Tsuei. She's a yoga teacher, Reiki, healer. Writer and speaker on all things, mental health for Asian-Americans. She is the hostess of F*ck Saving Face, a podcast that is both assuring and provocative while empowering Asian Americans to rebel against upholding the model minority standard. Judy aims to redefine what it means to be strong, courageous, and to break taboos placed on us by the generations that came before. 

Judy & KJ explore charged topics today:  

• *Storytelling can bridge generational gaps  and destigmatize discussions around Mental Health. 
• *We can create and be new models for Asian beauty. 

Here's to redefining beauty and wellness for the new line of advocates!
 
Takeaways: 

1. Names,  pronunciation-all  language--is significant in shaping our relationships and our cultural identity. 
2. There are struggles with loneliness and isolation for Asian Americans including those of us who are Biracial Asian Americans.
3. Is there a place for you where you truly felt like you were home? Where you belong?
4. Who creates the definition of “Beauty” in Asian-American Culture? 
5.  Your experience is real, even if no one is talking about it.  ACKNOWLEDGE. It happened.
6. Help Destigmatize Mental Health Issues such as depression and suicidality by talking about it and also addressing it through a lens that is racially considerate.
7. Start with healing ourselves, for when we do, we disrupt, maybe stop  intergenerational trauma.
8. Self Compassion Practices include accepting and receiving love. 

Please Rate and Review This Podcast if our stories have astonished you as well. https://ratethispodcast.com/astonishingstories  Leave a review for your chance at winning a Free 1:1 Consult with KJ! 

Episode Mentions:
Featuring Judy Tsuei 

• Podcast: F*ck Saving Face 
• Website: Fck Saving Face 
• Instagram: @FckSavingFace
• F*ck Saving Face Patreon 
• Ad/show background music: Original piano composition by  KJ Nasrul 
• Intro  & Outro music: Canada Lo Res by Pictures Of The Floating World 

Connect With KJ and Bliss Begins Within 

• Website: https://blissbeginswithin.com  
• Instagram:  @MusingsOnOther @BlissBeginsWithin @AdopteeSociety 
• 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  

KJ jams with her friend Jen Morris on today's new SOAL. Jen is an actor, Certified Health Coach and the host of the Well-Rounded Actor, a show that helps actors become Today’s Triple Threat - mentally, physically and financially WELL. She ardently believes that actors are built for business - and not just show business. She started her first business as a struggling 26-year-old NYC actor and grew it to a multiple 6-figure earning vehicle while continuing to go after her acting goals and do motherhood on her own terms. 

Jen is on a mission to help more actors put their talents to work in high impact, income producing businesses that can give them the leverage they need and fulfillment they deserve.  

Takeaways:
1.  Who are we waiting for to grant us permission to take action? 
2.  Awareness can arrive as an external source offering feedback
3.  Grant grace and the time to others and ourselves to make decisions 
4.  Notice when fear prevents us from stepping in to our alignment.
5.  Imposter Syndrome impacts everyone, even artists and performers.
6.  We have innate talents and skills, but we struggle accepting this. 
7.  Self Care Practices :
         a.  Ask for what  you need 
         b. Realize that not everything is going to be your thing, that's ok.

Please Rate and Review This Podcast if our stories have astonished you as well. https://ratethispodcast.com/astonishingstories  

Episode Mentions:
Featuring Jen Morris-
29 Entrepreneurial Ways Actors Can Make More Income & Impact
QUIZ: Discover Your Actorpreneur Archetype

• Website: MeetJenMorris.com
• Instagram: @meetjenmorris
• FB Group: The Well-Rounded Actor 
• Podcast: The Well-Rounded Actor
• Aycee Brown: Is My Aura On Straight? Podcast 
• Vasthy Mompoint  https://vasthyandfriends.com/
• Ad/show background music: Original piano composition by  KJ Nasrul 
• Intro  & Outro music: Canada Lo Res by Pictures Of The Floating World 

Connect With KJ and Bliss Begins Within 

• Website: https://blissbeginswithin.com  
• Instagram:  @MusingsOnOther @BlissBeginsWithin @AdopteeSociety 
• 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