Stories of Astonishing Light with KJ Nasrul

Are the arts and creativity endangered species? KJ and Adam Roberts discuss the creative community's pivots at the one year anniversary of COVID's world premiere.  One of KJ's podcasting besties, Adam Roberts, is the founder of Arts in America, a media company moving the arts from the margins to the mainstream. He hosts the Arts in America podcast, exploring how creatives survive and thrive during a global pandemic and #BlackLivesMatter.

Adam has nearly twenty years of experience in nonprofit management with such organizations as the Huntington Theatre Company, Phillips Academy, and the Handel and Haydn Society. Join in this passionate conversation about saving arts from extinction at a time when they are needed most. 

Takeaways:.
1. Finding the innate good . There is good in all our tasks no matter how little, messy or uncomfortable. 

2. Priority and preciousness of now. We have been gifted this unique time with our loved ones. 

3. Creators and artists in America are vastly diverse.... though this is not reflected in mainstream communities. 

4. Devastation and tragedy awaits us if the arts cannot be supported in the rebuild, Post-COVID.  Now is the time for boards of directors, benefactors and sponsors to model and advocate for the essentialness of arts in America.   

5. Artists are survivors. The creative community thrives in pivotal times. 

6. Self care can be nuanced, quiet and extremely profound…Tiny love letters may heal your sanity and your marriage. 

Please Rate and Review This Podcast if our stories have astonished you as well.
https://ratethispodcast.com/astonishingstories  BONUS- Every review you leave enters you into a drawing to win a FREE 1:1 consultation with me!

Episode Mentions: 

• Online at artsinamerica.org
• The Arts In America Podcast on Apple
• Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook: @artsinamerica 
• Ep 33 Ad background music: A KJ Original Composition - "Butterfly" 
• Ep 33 Outro background music: A KJ Original Composition - "Seashell" 
• Intro  & Outro background music: Canada Lo Res by Pictures Of The Floating World 

Connect With KJ & Bliss Begins Within 

• IG:  @MusingsOnOther @BlissBeginsWithin @AdopteeSociety
• Receive KJ's Updates: Email List 
• Website: https://blissbeginswithin.com  
• 1:1 Time With KJ:  https://blissbeginswithin.as.me
• 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  

KJ's brief solo mic check today touches on Clubhouse, The 100 Day Project, adoptee storytelling and the revelatory return of the auditory sense. KJ acknowledges how impactful sound [and the absence of it] has been in her creative process. Then, stay a few moments to enjoy a sound bowl session courtesy of Sound Healer Breanna Blair.  And start your day with KJ's quiet seashell meditation. 

Takeaways: 
1. Creativity is thriving.  Most of KJ's current projects are rooted in sound.  Her #100Dayproject focuses on music, lyrics and the physical and emotional responses invoked.

2. The shift to aural  feedback removes the Visual Pressure and stimulation. 

3. Music encourages new family rituals. The Nasruls bond over Otis Redding and Miles Davis lately, not TV. 

4. Clubhouse resurrects the art of compassionate conversationsand active listening.  Reminds us how to authentically react and respond.

5. Introducing a very personal passion project today- Adoptee Society.   A central resource for adoptees and their families for connection, storytelling and mental health support. Fellow adoptee Alex @voicesoftheadopted and KJ are developing a course on the foundations of Adoption. Want to join the conversations starting on Clubhouse? Start here with this quick survey...

Please Rate and Review This Podcast if our stories have astonished you as well.
https://ratethispodcast.com/astonishingstories  BONUS- Every review you leave enters you into a drawing to win a FREE 1:1 consultation with KJ!

Episode Mentions: 

• The 100 Day Project - Honor your creativity! 
• Adoptee 101 Course Survey www.surveymonkey.com/r/V563ZKH
• Doula, Sound Healer, Yoga Teacher: Breanna Blair 
• Seashell Meditation Video
• Intro  & Outro music: Canada Lo Res by Pictures Of The Floating World 

Connect With KJ & Bliss Begins Within 

• IG:  @MusingsOnOther @BlissBeginsWithin @AdopteeSociety 
• Clubhouse: @kjnasrul 
• Website: https://blissbeginswithin.com  
• FREE Guide- Connect To Calm  https://bit.ly/4StepsToCalm
• 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  

Connect with the powerful healing properties of food! Today KJ chats with Nutrition Consultant, Lauren Bryson.  Lauren  discovered the world of holistic healing after experiencing her own personal health crisis  in which she bounced in and out of hospitals for years and received countless unneeded prescriptions and misdiagnoses. Reclaiming her power, Lauren found remedies for her body imbalances using nutrition and holistic lifestyle practices.

Today's chat highlights Lauren's goal of educating and empowering clients in learning the healing properties of food (including the coolest gig- teaching Elementary school kids how to Cook For Life ) and the fascinating gut-brain connection.  Plus, listeners are introduced to the ultra sexy topic of microorganism communities  = The  Microbiome.

Takeaways:.
1.  Bio individuality means every body is different.
2.  Stay in tune with your own body, participate in intuitive eating. 
3.  Become  friends with nutrient-dense whole foods.
4. Avoid Nutrition Bandits like refined sugar, processed foods, artificial flavors, GMOs. 
5. Practice mindful eating, minimize distractions.
6. Plants are power. They are highly anti inflammatory, and super high in antioxidants. Plant rich diets are proven to lower risk of developing many chronic illnesses.
7. Our gut and brain are connected.  There is a link between our microbiome digestion and mood immunity and overall wellness.
8.  Accurate diagnoses maybe scary, but it also means you have Step One in your healing journey. 
9.   Nutrition Knowledge is powerful knowledge. 
10.  Be childlike in curiosity and wonder; use your five senses.
11.  Self Care activities can be small and intentional to create essential, lasting impact.

Please Rate and Review This Podcast if our stories have astonished you as well.
https://ratethispodcast.com/astonishingstories  BONUS- Every review you leave enters you into a drawing to win a FREE 1:1 consultation with me!

Episode Mentions: 

• IG:  @laurenemersonwellness
• Email: [email protected]
• www.kidscookingforlife.com
• www.baumanwellness.com
• Ep 31 Ad background music: A KJ Original Composition - "Butterfly" 
• Intro  & Outro background music: Canada Lo Res by Pictures Of The Floating World 

Connect With KJ & Bliss Begins Within 

• IG:  @MusingsOnOther @BlissBeginsWithin @AdopteeSociety 
• Receive KJ's Updates: Email List 
• Website: https://blissbeginswithin.com  
• 1:1 Time With KJ:  https://blissbeginswithin.as.me
• 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  

In this bright, buoyant episode, KJ welcomes entrepreneur and marketing strategist Ellen Yin to chat all the ways we women (of all colors, shapes, ages and sizes) can be the CEOs of our dream businesses and lives. We are the changemakers!

Topics today flow from Craigslist Baby Grand Pianos, Gilmore Girls ambitions and identifying priorities of cultivation for a successful business.  Ellen is the founder of Cubicle to CEO, an online membership teaching entrepreneurs who sell client services how to make their first $10K month - without a large audience.  She has been featured on the TODAY show with Hoda & Jenna and in several publications like Authority Magazine, BlogHer,  Databird Business Journal and Disrupt Magazine.

Ellen is also the host of the award-winning Cubicle to CEO Podcast, which features weekly interviews with successful female founders and has been downloaded in over 100 countries worldwide.

Takeaways:
1. You CAN be paid using your skills and gifts and doing what excites you. 
2. Solutions come from taking action; dreams become fruition from experience 
3. Become aware when our lives and our schedules are in response to other peoples' urgencies and expectations. 
4. Consistent introspection is key- Ask yourself: What is the significance of this task? Does this have a significant, long term impact in my life?
5. Self Care and effective business building means investing in yourself, building knowledge and connections with strong mentors. 
6.  Prioritize and cultivate relationships above all else.

Please Rate and Review This Podcast if our stories have astonished you as well.
https://ratethispodcast.com/astonishingstories Every review you leave enters you into a drawing to win a FREE 1:1 consultation with me.  Let's hear it, Friends!

Episode Mentions: 

• Free Gift From Ellen: ellenyin.com/getclients  (Access to watch  Ellen's FREE masterclass + download the accompanying workbook on "how to make your first $10K month without a large audience or posting every day")
• Cubicle to CEO Podcast: ellenyin.com/podcast
  Instagram: instagram.com/missellenyin
• Ep 30  Ad music: A KJ Original Composition - "Butterfly" 
• Intro and Outro music: Canada Lo Res by Pictures Of The Floating World 

Connect With KJ & Bliss Begins Within 

• Instagram @MusingsOnOther @BlissBeginsWithin @AdopteeSociety 
• Receive KJ's Updates - Email List 
• Website https://blissbeginswithin.com  
• Schedule 1:1 Work With KJ  https://blissbeginswithin.as.me
• 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  

In her first solo musings of 2021, KJ Nasrul shares a couple of the lessons learned in the shedding of the challenging, grief-filled days of 2020  to fully step into the new year. KJ touches upon her first experience doing a plant based cleanse and she remembers the losses that prompted her to pursue her own healing through compassion and stillness. This reflective episode unwinds with KJ's invocation meditation of compassion and a quiet sound mandala.

Takeaways:
1.  A 10 Day Plant Based Reset brought the clarity and clearing I needed.
2.  The absolute essentialness of Self Care and Compassion
2.   I take inspired action, and the Universe takes care of me
3.   I surrender to creative solutions
4.   In Stillness I receive
5.  Compassion Invocation - Breathing in compassion and kindness for ourselves and others

Please Rate and Review This Podcast if our stories have astonished you as well.
https://ratethispodcast.com/astonishingstories Every review you leave enters you into a drawing to win a FREE 1:1 consultation with me.  Let's hear your thoughts, Healers!

Episode Mentions: 

• Jessica Hernandez Holistic Wellness Coach @sol.body.balance 10-Day Reset Cleanse
• Creatives Do Money Podcast  with Eowyn Levene 
• Move Into Resilience with Pamela Stokes 
• Our Friendly World with Fawn and Matt 
• Compassion Meditation background music: A KJ Original Composition - "Seashell" 
• Ep 29  Ad background music: A KJ Original Composition - "Butterfly" 
• Intro and Outro background music: Canada Lo Res by Pictures Of The Floating World 

Connect With KJ & Bliss Begins Within 

• Instagram @MusingsOnOther @BlissBeginsWithin @AdopteeSociety 
• Receive KJ's Updates - Email List 
• Website https://blissbeginswithin.com  
• Schedule Time With KJ  https://blissbeginswithin.as.me
• 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  

*SURPRISE*  Here is part two of KJ's conversation with Trauma Informed healer, Pamela Stokes. Absorbing lessons learned in her own recovery quest, Pamela created a method called Somatic Release--a synthesis of movement, sound and mindfulness for trauma resolution. We wrap up our conversation by exploring self compassionate practices and Pamela gently guides us through a simple and impactful release technique to create new neural pathways, i.e. new opportunities to live each moment optimally. 

Part Two Takeaways
1. Your body holds such a wealth of knowledge. It is communicating with you always. 

2.  Noticing your pain points is the first step towards healing and RELEASING extremely potent energy, masquerading as stored anger and fear. Once you recognize your body’s pain signals, you'll begin the process of connecting with sensation again.

3. You have the power to retrain your brain in communicating with your nervous system. 

4. Meet in the middle. The In-Between is your body’s optimal functioning place.

5. Self Compassion looks like self curiosity. Listen and explore the stories your body wants to share with you. When you are curious, it may mean you're feeling safe. 

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

Episode Mentions: 

• Website: Move Into Resilience 
• Podcast: Move Into Resilience 
• Instagram: @MoveIntoResilience 
• Feldenkrais Method 
• Hanna Somatics
• Ep 28 Outro background music: A KJ original piano composition "Seashell" 
• Intro and Outro background music: Canada Lo Res by Pictures Of The Floating World 

Connect With KJ & Bliss Begins Within 

• Instagram @MusingsOnOther @BlissBeginsWithin @AdopteeSociety 
• Receive KJ's Updates - Email List 
• Website https://blissbeginswithin.com  
• Schedule Time With KJ  https://blissbeginswithin.as.me
• 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  

Can mindful movement heal buried trauma? "YES", says Pamela Stokes. In today's episode, KJ chats with Pamela, a trauma informed healer with an extensive background in biology, education, movement and music. From early dreams of dancing on Broadway in NYC, to teaching biology as a Science Specialist, Pamela was aware of a constant companion--pain. She sought balm for the discomfort of fibromyalgia through inquiry into neuroscience and sensory-motor training.  Absorbing lessons learned in her own recovery, Pamela created a method called Somatic Release--a synthesis of movement, sound and mindfulness for trauma resolution. This conversation is so rich it expanded to grant space as KJ and Pamela touch on everything from Entomology, religion and trauma healing through neuroplasticity. The body speaks its story loud and clear, and Pamela provides counsel on how to truly listen. 

Part One Takeaways

1. Our bodies are a wealth of information.  We are impactful and powerful when we bring awareness to our physical vessels. 

2.  We can release our body's stored energy (in a variety of forms- anger, grief, unaddressed trauma) once we reposition ourselves, turn inward, to actively create new pathways and habits. 

Question:  Are you willing to unlearn what you've been conditioned to do all this time?

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

Episode Mentions: 

• Website: Move Into Resilience 
• Podcast: Move Into Resilience 
• Instagram: @MoveIntoResilience 
• Feldenkrais Method 
• Hanna Somatics
• Ad background music: A KJ original piano composition 
• Intro and Outro background music: Canada Lo Res by Pictures Of The Floating World 

Connect With KJ & Bliss Begins Within 

• Instagram @MusingsOnOther @BlissBeginsWithin @AdopteeSociety 
• Receive KJ's Updates - Email List 
• Website https://blissbeginswithin.com  
• Schedule Time With KJ  https://blissbeginswithin.as.me
• 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  

In Season Two's  debut, KJ connects with Eowyn Levene,  a massage therapist and money coach. Through a membership community, podcast (Creatives Do Money) and 1:1 work, Eowyn guides self-employed artists, creatives, and healers in mastering their money and building financial stability to fuel a creative future.  This conversation explores compassionate ways we can shift our relationship with a "charged and tender" topic for many (including KJ): money.  

Takeaways: 

1. Radical Acceptance means surrendering to Now. 
2. The emotion and struggle in our relationship with money is REAL due to our primal associations and base, human needs (safety, health, acceptance). 
3. Money management can be a neutral tool that grants us freedom to support people and causes that are meaningful. 
4. Day to day money awareness is the key to building new habits and creating long term stability.
5. Eowyn dispels three belief patterns that creatives hold about money today 1.) Money is the root of all evil 2. Money is unsexy  3) Income is more important than managing what we already have. 
6. Stories are just stories. We can revisit, revise, and we can retell. 
7. Presence and accountability are two of the most courageous and compassionate actions we can take. 

Please Rate and Review This Podcast ..if our stories have astonished you as well.

Episode Mentions:  Eowyn Levene 

• Website: www.plumtreemoney.com
• Creatives Do Money Podcast - https://plumtreemoney.com/podcast/
• Instagram - @plumtreemoney
• Book Recommendation Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With The Heart of a Buddha by Tara Brach 
• Self Care Practice  Wild Soul Oracle Deck 
• FREE GUIDE: 3 Simple Steps To Improve Your Finances Even When Your Money Is A Mess ️
• Ad background music: A KJ Original 
• Music for Show Outro: Canada Lo Res by Pictures Of The Floating World 

Connect With KJ & Bliss Begins Within 

• IG @MusingsOnOther @BlissBeginsWithin @AdopteeSociety 
• Get on KJ’s Email List 
• Website https://blissbeginswithin.com  
• Schedule Time With KJ  https://blissbeginswithin.as.me
• 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  

In the final episode for 2020, KJ returns to an interview that left a lasting impression for weeks after the session ended. It's striking how timely this replay is, featuring Valerie Zaric, discussing future proofing our careers, and preparing for the unexpected.  I love this interview because in less than 38 minutes, Valerie provides action packed recommendations we can use RIGHT NOW. We can better position ourselves for success even as we transition into the new year. This conversation offers steadiness at a time we need it most.  

Valerie and KJ examine questions such as: 

• What would Future Me do today?
• How can we address uncertainty and overwhelm? 
• What might we need to confront  tomorrow because of new revelations today?

TAKEAWAYS 

1. Address all the uncertainty by taking control in small manageable chunks
2. Another Definition of Resilience: Moving through Trauma and being stronger because of it. 
3. This worldwide Health Crisis is producing surprising results. Witness more confidence, and the ability to better embrace/or tolerate discomfort
4. One tip to maintain/sustain balance:  Schedule in Family Time. Use Block Scheduling
5. You can connect with your dream interviewees/clients by networking in an authentic way, from a place of service. 

Please Rate and Review This Podcast   https://ratethispodcast.com/astonishingstories if our Stories have astonished you too.

Links To Topics Mentioned In This Episode

• Website: ValerieZaric.com
• Podcast: Future-Proof Career 
• Instagram: @ValerieZaric
• Beautiful Chorus on YouTube 
• Book Recommendation: Good To Great by Jim Collins 
• Music for Ad + Ep 25 Outro : Original Piano Composition by KJ Nasrul 
• Music for Intro & Outro: Canada Lo Res by Pictures Of The Floating World

Connect With KJ and Bliss Begins Within 

• IG @MusingsOnOther and @BlissBeginsWithin 
• Healing Our Healers Live Coaching Program Schedule a Hello Call with KJ Here  
• Email List http://bit.ly/BlissBeginsEmailList
• Website  https://BlissBeginsWithin.com 
• Work with KJ https://blissbeginswithin.as.me/
• Facebook and Twitter 
• Want to create and send beautiful emails? Try Flodesk for free your first 30 days and 50% off thereafter! Use this link 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  

KJ and Mia Hagerty consider the pivot from the cerebral  to the expressive physical via making films.  There is confidence in our creative abilities, even before we have the language for it. Mia is an artist and transracial adoptee, born in China and raised in Michigan, amongst a multicultural household with an American mother and Portuguese father. As a self-taught filmmaker, she creates nonfiction work that explores the curiosity, adventure, and wonder of the human experience. 

TAKEAWAYS: 

1. Say the thing even before you're the thing. Claim it aloud. Telling people what you are and what you do.  Confidence is in the repetition of showing up and logging that information- every time you show up- as evidence! 
2. You’re already creative by doing, but you’ve redefined it, dropped out of being cerebral, and into physical expression. 
3. Breaking free of the rigidity-- once you’ve established it as foundation- is your launch pad! Try something new, even if uncomfortable. It’s movement, which is better than inaction.
4. Things do not need to be so hard. Make it manageable until you can use the materials that are accessible to you. Cut it in half, cut it in half again, and again. It will become familiar and inspiring again. 

Please Rate and Review This Podcast  if our Stories have astonished you too. For every review you leave,  you're entered into a drawing to win a 30 minute FREE 1:1 Counseling/Coaching Session with ME! 

In This Episode: 

• Website:  https://MissinginActionProductions.com 
• Instagram: @aimformia
• Elle Luna - Artist, Author, Mentor  https://elleluna.com/ and  IG @elleluna 
• Background music Ad + Outro: KJ’s Original Piano Composition
• Music for Show Outro: Canada Lo Res by Pictures Of The Floating World 

Connect With KJ & Bliss Begins Within 

• IG @MusingsOnOther  @BlissBeginsWithin @AdopteeSociety 
• Interested in KJ’s Compassion and Creativity Healing Series? Email KJ: [email protected]
• Get on KJ’s Email List 
• Website https://blissbeginswithin.com  
• Work with KJ  https://blissbeginswithin.as.me
• Facebook and 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