the Alt-Normal

On episode 19, we welcome the sage wisdom of Beth Weinstein, a spiritual business coach helping current and aspiring entrepreneurs, coaches, spiritual leaders and healers align with their purpose and grow their business so they can help more people, create consistent income, and have an online business working from anywhere on earth! She is also the founder of the “Psychedelics, Sacred Medicines, Purpose and Business” annual summit, where she hosted Rick Doblin and Paul Stamets to name a few legendary pioneers in the field.

“When you experience certain powerful psychedelic experiences, all of a sudden you see for example, ‘That’s what life would be like if I lived from my heart. That’s what it could be like.’”

The old story of working so hard to make a good living and life is simply falling away. In its place, we examine the new story of doing what you love and living abundantly from it, with tools like psychedelics, Burning Man and Vipassana (though there are infinite more) to help us come back into alignment and find our true path forward to create this New Earth. Her own experience of “coming out of the psychedelic closet” is one example of how each individual story creates the change we all want to see. 

Other consciousness-expanding topics we cover include:

• Why it’s not enough to just be spiritual, but to integrate activism into our spiritual practice for growing an abundant heart-centered business

• The importance of “coming out of the psychedelic closet” to fully integrate our transformational experiences

• What the embodiment of sacred medicine, purpose and business looks like

• Reexamining the need for a “certification” to start a psychedelics integration coaching business

• The new story of embracing both spirituality and abundance in 2021

• Envisioning the spiritual business space in 10 years

More about the show: https://www.digseedgrow.com/thealtnormal-podcast

Produced by Resonance™, the creative practice of Dig | Seed | Grow

This show is hosted at Destination Outpost, a coliving and coworking community based out in Bali.   

On episode 18, we dial deep into the power of pleasure with Aimee Batuski, a Pleasure and Intimacy Expert committed to helping women live turned-on, connected, satisfying lives. She is the co-founder of Desire on Fire, a retreat company based in California. Through her virtual and in-person work leading workshops and retreats all over the world, she’s taught hundreds of women how to create wild, confident intimacy, hot sex, and fulfilling relationships.

Pleasure goes beyond just the juiciness of sexuality, kink and orgasm (though those are very much welcome and explored). Rather, it expands into how we show up in the world in our full capacity to feel ALL the feels of our “divine energy.” The simplest pleasure of presence can become the creative catalyst for everything else we dance with in life. For starters, we can begin to honestly assess all the ways in which we distract, numb out and disconnect to our bodies (drinking, eating, buying, overanalyzing…) and move more fully into feeling ourselves exactly as we are, even if that means being more honestly with the other polarity of pleasure -- pain. Coming into the balance with the inner feminine is an invitation to stretch that muscle of pleasure. 

“What in this moment would have this be 10% more pleasurable for you?” This reflective question and many more pleasure practices come through in this liberating conversation. Other topics we cover include:

• What’s missing in cultural discourse about healthy sexuality in the aftermath of #metoo 

• What does the goddess archetype actually mean (and yes, it’s for anyone to claim, including your 100 year old grandma)

• Pleasure is a “nutrient and medicine” and arguably just as important as our basic physiological needs 

• How to navigate pain and pleasure simultaneously, and find the pleasure beyond the pain

• The difference between erotic and sexual power on the pleasure path

• The forgotten, neglected or shadow parts of women that are most craving to be seen

• Pleasure practices to play with in the time of COVID

• Envisioning the culture of pleasure in 10 years

More about the show: https://www.digseedgrow.com/thealtnormal-podcast

Produced by Resonance™, the creative practice of Dig | Seed | Grow

This show is hosted at Destination Outpost, a coliving and coworking community based out in Bali.   

On episode 17, we enter all things quantum physics and quantum creation with Intuitive Guide and Mentor, Alex Malorodov. Through unlocking people’s understanding and embodiment of quantum reality and intuitive abilities, Alex opens his clients to experience a life of deep meaning and freedom. Alex bridges the business and spiritual world, having earned his MBA from Columbia and spending years in the venture capital space. 

While the discovery of quantum physics dates back to the early 1900s, its mainstream curiosity has taken off recently thanks to the work of Dr. Joe Dispenza, helping people all around the world heal chronic illnesses and transform their lives in unprecedented ways. As a quantum creator, Alex brings this practice down to earth in a highly practical way (given his engineering background) and cuts right through the noise. Since the universe works vibrationally, all we have to do is to commit to embodying the vibrational identity of the person we wish to become. Nothing is impossible or off the table here. Helping us discern between “embodiment” and “visualization,” he says the practice comes down to creating a full sensorial experience to feel our way into our manifestations, rather than simply thinking our way to them. The old story is to default to the question, “why is this happening to me?” Instead, to crack the code of “reality architecture” and create something new, we have to ask a different question. Infinite possibility and power await us on the other side!

In this multi-dimensional conversation, we go wide and deep across the following:

• His “spiritual coming out moment” from the world of venture capital to quantum creator and intuitive guide 

• Translating the language of quantum creation, and demystifying concepts like “timeline shifting” and “wizard codes”

• How to start the quantum journey and importance of designing experiments to get comfortable and expand outside our comfort zone

• How his engineering studies at Johns Hopkins overlaps with his capacity to engineer his reality (“code yourself for discomfort” to deepen your spirituality)

• How to make the impossible possible in everyday life (not just when meditating under a tree or drinking medicine in the jungle)

• Exploring the line between quantum creating and unrealistically shooting for the impossible

• How does surrender factor into the quantum lifestyle 

• Envisioning “Quantum Advisors” in the government and business innovation space (and what culture might look like in 10 years)

More about the show: https://www.digseedgrow.com/thealtnormal-podcast

Produced by Resonance™, the creative practice of Dig | Seed | Grow

This show is hosted at Destination Outpost, a coliving and coworking community based out in Bali.

On episode 16, we immerse our curiosity in all things relationship, love and conflict navigation with best-selling author Eri Kardos, also one of the most highly-referred relationship coaches globally, working with clients across 6 continents ranging from top tech executives to Hollywood celebrities to World-Champion athletes. She is known for her passion in helping powerful people create even more powerful relationships. She authored the best-selling book, Relationship Agreements: A Simple and Effective Guide for Strengthening Communication, Reducing Conflict, and Increasing Intimacy to Design Your Ideal Relationship. Before embarking on this path, Eri was a former leadership development professional at Amazon.com where she discovered that for her to have the greatest organizational impact (and feel most alive), she wanted to focus on relationships. Thus began her path.

With loneliness being the #1 public health crisis ahead of obesity in the US, there is clearly opportunity for a new relationship story to come through. While the old world model of relationship has been distorted in duty, obligations and the “should’s,” the new emerging story points to ever expansive choice and possibility. Possibility for consciously meeting our core wounds and inner toddlers with greater curiosity, intentionality, vulnerability, juiciness and relationship agreements that live and breathe alongside our own evolution. No right or wrong here.

In this incredibly invigorating and juicy conversation (with much homage paid to our mutual relationship hero, Esther Perel), we arrive at some powerful takeaways, including:

• What is really going on behind closed relationship doors during lockdown

• From corporate leadership development to whole person coaching, how she made the big leap to radically redesign her life, traveling abroad full-time with her husband and 2 kids

• What is the basis of a relationship agreement and who it’s for 

• How to navigate the living breathing relationship agreement during a global lockdown 

• How to know when a relationship is worth fighting for and when to call it quits

• How to expand our definition of “kink” and the power of play in a relationship, including N.I.C.E dates

• If you’re single, how you can prepare yourself for entering a conscious relationship (if you so choose)

• Her ingenious idea to roll out “Love on Lockdown,” for couples all around the world to consciously show up for the growth of their relationship

More about the show: https://www.digseedgrow.com/thealtnormal-podcast

Produced by Resonance™, the creative practice of Dig | Seed | Grow

This show is hosted at Destination Outpost, a coliving and coworking community based out in Bali.

On episode 15, we kick off Season 2 with Jaymin Patel, the founder of Paragons of Possibility — a movement to show the world what IS possible in living a more honest, loving, fulfilled, sustainable, ancestrally-healed, non-trauma-creating way of life. In addition to being a (TEDx) speaker who has delivered 500+ paid talks and being an author of 8 books, Jaymin is a highly sought-after, heart-driven, no-fluff, intuitive coach who has been hired by powerful leaders in the spiritual & transformational communities as well as top leaders of corporations around the world like Kraft, Unilever, and Citibank. He has also pioneered #DADWEEK, an initiative to work with fathers/father figures in deep containers to shift the hallmark of parenting from the old narrative of discipline to a new generation focused on connection and fully expressed authenticity.

In this eye-opening conversation, we unpack what it means to become more fiscally intimate and how a conscious relationship to money can start to widen the aperture on how we form relationships to all other paragons (or models) of possibility within. Topics we cover range from:

• The hero’s journey from advising CEOS of billion dollar companies to taking the big leap to write, speak and inspire people all over the world

• What it means to be an intuitive coach drawing from a corporate background

• How to balance the dance between living from greed/ego and living in true abundance/wholeness

• When creating an ASO (Aligned Signature Offering), Jaymin’s take on the necessity of having credentials 

• A sneak peek into his Transformational Sales Journey, which is his secret sauce to making money 

• Why Jaymin wants to coach Kamala Harris and Jeff Bezos

• The inspiration behind #DadWeek and the impact he’s already seeing in his work with conscious dads

More about the show: https://www.digseedgrow.com/thealtnormal-podcast

Produced by Resonance™, the creative practice of Dig | Seed | Grow

This show is hosted at Destination Outpost, a coliving and coworking community based out in Bali.

Welcome to the Alt-Normal Season 2, a show that centers diversity as a beautiful and absolutely critical force for rebuilding this post-pandemic world that’s actually worth fighting for. In this grave crisis of systems, power and consciousness collapse, lies an opportunity for a massive paradigm shift in how we relate to ourselves, the community and Planet Earth. The matrix is coming undone.

We need a new story for humanity that includes diverse voices, leaning into the complexity of who we are and our emerging zones of genius to live more in our truth for a more sustainable, inclusive, and equitable world. If the most biodiverse ecosystems are naturally the strongest and most resilient, why can’t the same be true for the human species? This show exists to celebrate the magnificent naturally-occurring phenomenon that diversity really is —giving its complexity the rightful place it deserves in culture at large.

In the upcoming season, we take a front row seat into the fearless and bold who embody their zone of genius to impact the world in its current crumbling — changemakers, activists, bridge builders and conscious entrepreneurs creating this new evolution. 

This show is produced by Resonance™, the creative practice of Dig, Seed, Grow. Our mission is to grow resonance between brands and audiences all around the world. 

We record the show at Destination Outpost, a coliving and coworking community based out in Bali.

More about the show: https://www.digseedgrow.com/thealtnormal-podcast

On episode 14, we had the absolute privilege of speaking with Robin Lim, a Filipino-American midwife and founder of Bumi Sehat, a non-profit organization in Indonesia and the Philippines that offers a comprehensive range of allopathic and holistic medical care, covering pre and post-natal care, breastfeeding support, infant, child and family health services, nutritional education, pre-natal yoga and gentle, loving natural birth services. In 2011, she was celebrated as CNN Hero of the Year for her outstanding work in running 6 medical clinics building peace — one baby, one mother, one family at a time. Each baby's capacity to love and trust is built at birth and in the first two hours of life!

Despite the COVID spike in unwanted pregnancies (by up to 420,000 in Indonesia alone according to The Jakarta Post), Bumi Sehat’s heroic midwives are still at the frontlines fighting for a woman’s right to bring a baby into the world gently and without trauma — protecting the most natural thing a woman can do while advocating for optimal humanity, health, intelligence and consciousness at all levels of community, family and planet.

In this incredibly inspiring conversation, we cover:

• What it means to give birth in a gentle way without trauma

• Unpacking the research that shows “being born without trauma is the foundation for having an intact capacity for love and trust”

• Before Bumi Sehat came to Indonesia, how women (especially the country’s most disenfranchised and poor) navigated the pre-natal, birth experience and postpartum care 

• The importance of breastfeeding and why Bumi Sehat places significant emphasis on this versus infant formula 

• What we don’t typically know about a midwife, including her superheroic ability to bring babies into the world without electricity, running water, childbirth equipment or shelter (demonstrated in 2004 when Bumi responded to the earthquake that wiped out Aceh, an island in Northwest Indonesia).

• How Bumi Sehat navigates family planning to support the most vulnerable women in society economically and in health, especially during COVID times

• The gravest challenges as founder and primary fundraiser of Bumi Sehat 

To keep Bumi Sehat’s clinics open during these challenging pandemic times, please consider donating to the NGO in the lead up to “Giving Tuesday” on December 1st. To learn more about this initiative, head here: https://www.globalgiving.org/donate/81399/yayasan-bumi-sehat-ds-pkr-nyuh-kuning/ 

More about the show: https://www.digseedgrow.com/thealtnormal-podcast

Produced by Resonance™, the creative practice of Dig | Seed | Grow

On episode 13, we had the great treat of speaking with Dek Gunarta, a Community Leader in Bali who’s been instrumental in bringing holistic health tourism to Bali and building the local economy back up following the 1998 economic crisis and Bali bombings, bridging the Western and Balinese communities since the early 2000s. Born in an artist and environmentally conscious family (his great-grandfather was the head of The Sacred Monkey Forest restoration project in the early 70’s), he is truly a Renaissance Man involved in wide ranging projects both locally in his village (Compost House, Monkey Forest tourism, environmental and youth development) and in partnership with his wife and business partner Meg Pappenheim (think Bali Spirit, a platform for socially conscious tourism and business; Yoga Barn, one of SE Asia’s biggest yoga and wellness centers; and Bali Spirit Festival, a premier international and holistic wellness and world music destination event that contributes positively to the ecological health, cultural vibrancy, and overall vitality of Bali and greater Indonesia).

In the absence of tourism, Dek has embodied the true activism, resiliency and creative resourcefulness of what it means to be a leader showing up for the community during these incredibly challenging economic times in service of spirituality, humanity and the environment — taking the Balinese philosophy of Tri Hita Karana a rational step further (balance of self, community and planet). With all his projects and businesses combined, he’s still going strong and supporting 300 families, or 1200 people. As history’s showed time and time again, Bali has always turned crisis around into opportunity and abundance — coming back stronger each time. How? This honest and revealing conversation takes us through that journey, including:

• What it means to be a community leader in Bali today 

• How Bali has evolved in the past 20 years and impacted the Balinese people with the onset of health and spirituality tourism 

• The greatest challenge he’s faced during this pandemic, supporting the insurance of 300 families, or 1200 Balinese.

• Deep dive into the lesser known part of the Monkey Forest — the incredibly regenerative Compost House project 

• His vision of Bali with the onset of the second wave of COVID lockdowns 

More about the show: https://www.digseedgrow.com/thealtnormal-podcast

Produced by Resonance™, the creative practice of Dig | Seed | Grow

On episode 12, we unlock the secrets to driving real change through social impact work with Shaunda Brown, a world traveler, entrepreneur, adventurer and community builder. Before beginning her world travels a year and a half ago, she worked with Sofi to build a startup into a $5 billion fin tech company to provide student loan benefits for Americans and founded Goddess Institute to empower women to connect with their divine feminine through exploring their conscious sexuality. Since then, her natural entrepreneurialism and love for Mama Bali led her to pursue many impact-driven projects including co-creating Bali Live (a virtual festival series to raise funds for Balinese livelihood who have been severely impacted by COVID-19), the End of Life Collective at Roundglass (to support end of life conversations and transform this terrain into one of deep engagement) and researching an approach with Circles to implement Universal Basic Income in Bali to create a potentially better financial system.

In just days following the success of Bali Live #2, which raised $27k for the Balinese farmers, we sat down with Shaunda to celebrate and dish out about all things community, impact and purpose driven work for the love of humans, including:

• What it was like to work at SoFi and drive the growth that enabled the startup to have significant impact on mounting student loans

• The catalyst that inspired Goddess Institute into being, and Shaunda’s personal practices for connecting to higher consciousness

• Her experience volunteering in the slums of Bangalore, and how this sparked activism to be the change

• With tourism wiped out in Bali (which historically supports 80% of the local economy), what the state of food security looks like today and how Bali Live (and its partners) has impacted those hardest hit

• With tourism spending not likely to return to pre-crisis levels until 2024 (putting as many as 120 million jobs at risk), the need for building local economy from the inside out — and potential for administering universal basic income using blockchain technology for the long-term financial health of the Balinese

• COVID represents both literally and metaphorical death, which has forced us all to confront our mortality — what we can learn about this process with more grace, ease and consciousness, and how Shaunda’s End of Life program is tackling just that

More about the show: https://www.digseedgrow.com/thealtnormal-podcast

Produced by Resonance™, the creative practice of Dig | Seed | Grow

On episode 11, we welcome the lovely Sara Agah Franti in delightful conversation about all things womanhood, authenticity and service. Her big mission is to support women to discover their deepest values so they can live a fulfilling and impactful life. As a child of Baha’i refugees from Iran, she was raised with the values of service and acceptance of all. As a Registered Nurse for 10 years and having earned a Masters of Public Health, her work took her from remote fly-in camps in northern Canada, relief work in Haiti and the Philippines and finally travel nursing in California. After 10 years at the bedside, she was inspired to co-found Do It For The Love with her husband, musician Michael Franti. Together, their work is to use the power of music to inspire hope in those facing life threatening illnesses and severe challenges (having granted 2700+ wishes). With entrepreneurialism in her blood since early childhood, it was no surprise that she and Michael launched a clothing line (Stay Human) and expanded their wellness hotel (Soulshine Bali).

In these overly digital times, we speak candidly about the state of activism. Rather than approaching activism with blame and criticism for those who embraced posting the black square following George Floyd’s murder, Sara centers us back on the human and compassionate — owning the ways we can and should show up authentically, while accepting others where they’re at on their own journey of activism. Through her own life experiences, she’s been a shining example of how to transform adversity into activism and bridge the worlds of healthcare, music and social impact — all while balancing a love AND biz relationship with her other half, musician Michael Franti. She helps us see past the illusion of the superwoman and shift into more compassionate relationship with ourselves and core values.

• Building on her powerful speech at the 2019 Women’s March in Napa, what it was like for Sara to grow up as first-generation Canadian to Baha’i refugees from Iran parents who fled religious persecution in Iran decades earlier.

• How she got into emergency and bedside nursing, and the level of humanity she touched doing this powerful work for 10 years

• Her perspective on nursing during COVID-19 times, humanizing the warrior spirits that are showing up on the frontlines in service

• Moving from “shoulds” to authenticity despite the process being “messy and lonely,” and THAT much more challenging in the face of patriarchy, capitalism and systems of oppression.

• Sara’s personal practices for shifting into greater authenticity (and not always the ones you expect!)

• Transition into marriage with Michael Franti and then motherhood, approaching big life milestones with a consciousness lens (not to mention running multiple businesses, including some with Michael)

• Her message to women out there who want to be superwoman and do it all (in Sara’s words “a strong, smart, outspoken woman can be hard to accept sometimes. I can be strong and that can be my sweetness”)

• How she co-founded her NGO, Do it for the Love, with Michael to use the power of music to inspire hope in those facing life threatening illnesses and severe challenges. And with COVID, how it’s all shifted.

• What the word ‘activism” means to Sara, and how she (and Michael) approach using their collectively powerful platforms to show up in these heightened times of racial injustice.

Follow Sarah at: https://www.saraagahfranti.com

Produced by Resonance™ https://www.digseedgrow.com/thealtnormal-podcast