The Creative Soul Podcast

In this episode, we talk about:

• Creating our creative soul projects
• Being in creative flow and getting "stuck" and how to move through
• Writing retreats
• Using myths and fairytales to tell our stories
• Publishing
• Hero and heroine journeys

Elisabeth Sharp McKetta is a storyteller and the author of thirteen books across genres, including Edit Your Life (2023); Awake with Asashoryu (2022); She Never Told Me About the Ocean (2021). She teaches for the Harvard Extension School Writing Program and Oxford University’s Diploma in Creative Writing.

Connect with Elisabeth: Website

Creative Resources Mentioned:

• Writing the Story by John Franklin
• The Virgin's Promise: Writing Stories of Feminine Creative, Spiritual and Sexual Awakening by Kim Hudson

In this solo episode, Leya shares a letter from the heart on the final processing of 2024 and sets intentions for 2025. Tune into be inspired as you process on your own year and reflect on what 2025 may have in store for you.

We also talk about:

• Beginnings and endings
• Words of the year
• The death of the maiden and rebirth of the mother
• Favorite Creative Soul podcast episodes from 2024

Connect with Leya: @leyavandoren

In this solo episode, Leya shares her reflections, lessons, and celebrations for her 30th birthday! We talk about:

• The importance of reflection on your birthday
• Highlights from her 29th year
• Being proud of how far you've come
• The lessons she learned in her twenties
• Dealing with purpose anxiety, identity, home, and belonging
• The next phase she's moving into for her thirties
• How to deal with being human

We end the episode with a special herbal reading to guide us through the end of the year and new year!

Creative Resources Mentioned:

• Herbal Astrology Oracle by Adriana Ayales

Leave a rating and review as a birthday gift!

Connect with Leya @leyavandoren

Rachael Cohen is a spiritual guide, space holder, Nature connector, intuitive activator, energy transformer and author. She is the creator and founder of Infinite Succulent and Our Infinite Nature. When her experiences as an environmental educator, wild animal specialist and mother left her anxious and distraught over society’s destruction of Nature, Rachael learned to cultivate a creative relationship with plants and Nature that transformed her life and awakened her spiritual gifts.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Creating with nature
• How to deal with eco anxiety and existential dread
• Staying connected in a disconnected world
• Heart chakra imbalance in the world
• Following our authentic joy
• Nature practices to regulate your nervous system
• Why we DO belong on earth

Connect with Rachael:

Website: ourinfinitenature.co

Instagram: @ourinfinitenaturerachael

Rachaels Books:

• Self-Care for Eco Anxiety
• Everyday Plant Magic
• Infinite Succulent

In this special solo episode, Leya shares about how she found out she was 6 months pregnant.

We talk about:

• What it was like finding out at 6 months
• Leya's journey with hormonal birth control & cycles
• The physical experience of finding out you're pregnant in your third trimester
• The spiritual and emotional work that led to this
• The healing retreat Leya attended earlier this year
• Healing mind, body, spirit

Connect with Leya:

@leyavandoren

TW: Leya mentions her personal experience with CSA. Please visit Saprea for more info.

Rebecca Akat is a menstrual cycle coach and the founder and owner of Blume Womb where she guides women to have a deeper relationship to the cycles and seasons of their menstrual cycle.

In this episode, we talk about:

• How to build a relationship with your womb and menstrual cycle
• What cycle and/or hormonal imbalances might mean
• The four feminine archetypes
• The four phases of the menstrual cycle
• The shadow and light of each feminine archetype
• Why the wounded maiden is so prevalent in society
• The transition from maiden to mother

Creative Resources Mentioned:

• Maiden to Mother by Sarah Durham Wilson
• Wise Power and Wild Power by Alexandra Pope and Sjanie Hugo Wurlitzer

Connect with Rebecca:

@blumewomb

In this episode, Leya invites one of the retreat participants from The Creative Soul Retreat, Najma Treadwell to share more about her experience, what she got from the retreat, and what it opened up for her in her life.

Najma homeschools her 6 children, is a birth doula, and community service advocate.

We talk about:

• The importance of investing in yourself
• The fears that come up when we invest in ourselves
• How to take care of ourselves so we can take care of others
• Why self care is the opposite of selfish!
• Connecting to your creative soul
• Najma's retreat experience and what she learned

If you're interested in coming on retreat, our next retreat is The Soul Radiance Retreat, January 17th-20th, 2025 in San Diego, CA.

Find more info here.

Connect with Leya:

@leyavandoren

[email protected]

In this solo episode, Leya shares 5 tips on how to start and finish your creative projects.

We talk about:

• How to show up consistently to your creative projects
• Honoring your creative projects
• Finding inspiration when feeling stuck
• How to find the motivation to finish your creative project even if you haven't touched it in years!
• Playing and having fun to think of your project in new ways!

Connect with Leya:

@leyavandoren

The Soul Radiance Retreat

January 17th-20th, San Diego, CA

Find more info here

Varsha Mathur, J.D, PCC, a certified dating and relationship coach with over seven years of experience, guides clients worldwide to effortlessly find and sustain lasting love with their ideal partners. Through her tailored coaching approach, Varsha empowers both singles and couples to cultivate confidence, ignite attraction, and build partnerships that withstand the test of time.

We talk about:

• What to do if you’re feeling hopeless in the dating process
• Finding clarity on what you want in a relationship/partner
• The importance of knowing yourself both in and out of dating
• The common misconceptions and pitfalls of modern dating
• How to intentionally date
• How to use or not use the dating apps to your advantage
• The difference between therapy and coaching
• Key ingredients for a long lasting relationship

Creative Resources Mentioned:

• The Power of Now by Eckhard Tolle
• If The Buddha Dated by Charlotte Kasl
• Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus by John Gray
• The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman

Connect with Varsha:

Website: coachingbyvarsha.com

THE SOUL RADIANCE RETREAT,

JANUARY 17TH-20TH, 2025

SAN DIEGO, CA

Find more info here.

Anthony Meindl is an award winning writer/director, best selling author, and founder of international Anthony Meindl's Actor Workshop. He's worked with 2-time Golden Globe Nominee Shailene Woodley, BAFTA Nominee Daryl McCormack, Grammy Winner Camilla Cabello, Bridgerton’s Phoebe Dynevor and Simone Ashley, Pop Star Suki Waterhouse and hundreds of others, and is known as the Tony Robbins of Acting Coaches. He has also written 5 best-selling books on creativity and silencing your inner critic, including the groundbreaking, At Left Brain Turn Right, and his newest book UNSTUCK. And is currently in post-production on his second feature film (about the climate crisis), after selling his first film to Hulu.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Protest as a form of art
• The feeling path and how to feel your feelings as an artist
• The risk of sharing your art
• Social media & artists
• The relationship between artist & audience
• How to keep making things and keep the hope alive

Connect with Anthony:

https://www.anthonymeindl.com/

@anthonymeindl