Today’s podcast is with Heidi Stead, the director of Steadfast Language and Learning. 

Heidi has a master degree in English Linguistics and has created a range of products that support students, especially those preparing for their HSC.

As so many dyslexic individuals I have worked with are struggling with grammar,  I have invited Heidi to be on my podcast and not only help students with that, but even more so in structuring their creative ideas into essays that mirror these wonderful ideas.

Often with visual, creative learners, their imaginative stories get lost between their mind and the paper and they fail to produce even a pail resemblance to the richness of their fantasy. 

Heidi’s materials represent a scaffold to enable students to structure their grand ideas, demystifying the process of learning English literacy.

It may be challenging for students to see a need to know terms and grammar points which they may never use again, so Heidi wants to simplify and clarify the essence, so students can improve their English skills more every year, realising that grammar is as relevant as ever to reflect our thoughts and ideas.

With the help of card games that Heidi designed,  students refresh the recollections of definitions and examples. Most students have heard the grammar terms without knowing the deeper meaning and use. Heidi agrees that it may not be so important to know every single grammar term, but rather recognise what the purpose is and how to apply it in literature.

Her slogan for High School students “Learn like Crazy, without Going Mad” wants to help her students to learn a lot, yet not get overwhelmed either.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the chat and I’m sure you’ll get a new appreciation for grammar too.

Otherwise I’ll need to comfort you too with the favourite grammar joke: there – they’re – their

Find Heidi Stead on:

http://learnatic.com.au/

Silvana La Pegna (author of ‘Everyday Miracle Maker’) 

It’s with great pleasure I’m introducing Silvana La Pegna today, who was a former client of mine, and has since become a great friend too.

Silvana had never been labelled or diagnosed as dyslexic, but describes how, sitting on the coach one day, she kept pondering what block was holding her back from achieving her dream, the dream of writing her own book.

During the assessment she saw a montage of her school life, wishing she had known about her dyslexia, which would have prevented a lot of struggles and self-esteem issues. Having the assessment confirm her dyslexia, Silvana recognised it as being an enormous blessing.

Connecting the dots made her cry with relief that finally she had found an answer… and a way to get some support to correct dyslexia and write that book. It wasn’t easy, she had to marshal in her huge mind to make her book easy to read, she had to cull content that her circular, holistic mind had constructed.

The book (Everyday Miracle Maker) brought together her new ability to process information in writing, with the amazing energy healing work Silvana is known for in her practice, teaching intuition to professionals: Top executives and CEOs, bringing together 7 essential ingredients to make life more fulfilling.

I couldn’t have been prouder of her, when I was invited to the book launch in 2017.
https://www.silvanalapegna.com/

https://artofcommunicating.com.au/
I have enjoyed talking to my former colleague at Toastmasters, a dear friend of mine and someone I admire very much: Charmaine Burke, an expert in communication and leadership.

Her business, ' Art of Communicating -  the Power of You', enables her clients to communicate who they are and how they are influencing and impacting the world.

She explains that everything we do in life requires us to communicate better, be it in relationships, in business or as a manager and leader. 

Charmaine formed a business around the confidence of communicating authentic power to be comfortable around public speaking, expressing ourselves, conveying our message. 

We are discussing the importance of leadership and confidence, especially in today’s times, where we are hungry for inspiring leaders with empowering messages.

Charmaine talks about the feelings, thoughts, actions and beliefs around confidence.

She gives examples of confidence stances, mindfulness and how to make a speech punchy, relevant, have an intriguing hook to start with and a memorable close.

We are learning how important it is to make a speech relevant to the audience to deserve their full attention, make it clear what we are talking about, who we are, our credibility to stand there and inform, entertain, inspire or engage someone. 

Charmaine clarifies how important it is to answer possible questions, before they are asked, to tell people how long a speech will be, and to summarize the content of the message at the end. 

The podcast ended up being more of a conversation that flows evenly between Charmaine and myself, but I am sure you will glimpse many gems for your next speaking engagement.

It has been great fun and insightful to interview Josh Langley, an award-winning  author all the way from Western Australia.
Josh Langley writes children books with the aim to give children inner resilience.
Titles such as  "Magnificent Mistakes and Fantastic Failures" and "Being You is Enough", or a new one called "Being Wildly Kind" give you an indication of the beautiful messages children receive.
Josh's books empower children and give them confidence, as he wishes he had received when he was a child. In a way these books are written for his eight-year old self.

Having been a daydreamer himself, he is happy to write about what he used to daydream about and get paid to daydream. 

The quirky books inspire kids to be kinder to themselves and to others. Josh even draws his cute drawings himself, like the iconic giraffe that has become one of his mascots.

Abigail Marshall lives in California and  is - in my opinion - THE authority on Dyslexia , because there is hardly anybody who has done more research into different methods of treating dyslexia.  

Abigail is the author of: 

Learn the Key Signs of Dyslexia and Find the Best Treatment Options for Your Child

 Abigail's own son had been struggling with dyslexia and was called lazy at school and didn't get the help he needed. Like for so many other parents, it became the catalyst for her search for answers.  Abigail is very eloquent in explaining the connection between emotional triggers, the mind's challenge to gain orientation  and the resistance to learning we naturally develop. The inner resistance, especially when pushed to do something that is beyond their capacity, just reinforces that inner voice that says, "I can't, I won't, it's never going to happen."

Most dyslexic children develop a coping mechanism, which we call an old solution, in order to get through school, which may be to daydream, to avoid, compensate, struggle, feel sick or frustrated and in Abigail's son it was disruptive behaviors, so he would be sent out of class and could avoid doing what he couldn't do.

After researching and trying different methods, she found the Davis Method very effective for her and her son. She also trained with Ron Davis and became  the webmaster of www.dyslexia.com.

Together with Ron Davis, she has written the book: 'Autism and the Seed of Change' ,
which gives her an even deeper insight into mindsets that may present with both dyslexia and autism. 

Matthew and Henry came all the way from New Zealand fo 2 week program back in 2013. Matthew is telling me all about his son going from strength to strength since and how the creative talents are serving him well today.

It is always a pleasure to hear back from past clients and get their side of a story, their journey out of dyslexia and into a fulfilling life.

Although I don’t work with clients that way anymore, it still fills me with joy and often lifelong bonds are created this way, which I truly treasure.

Thank you to Matthew for being so open and insightful, a real pleasure to listen to.

Michelle Pearce is Sydney based naturopath and a personal development coach. She has a Bachelor of Naturopathy degree from Nature Care College in Sydney.

Over the years, her philosophy and practice have evolved into providing her clients with the strategies that assist them to achieve a deeper sense of health, vitality, wholeness and purpose in life by applying her knowledge and expertise in nutrition, herbalism, mind-body therapies and energy healing techniques.

Alongside the traditional therapeutic tools like remedial massage, meditation, sound or hypnosis, Michelle uses in her practice the cutting edge technology – photobiomodulation and pulsed electromagnetic field therapy (PEMF). It was PEMF which has helped my husband to release a lot of physical pain around arthritis in knees and hips.

Physical and emotional pain may be the driving force for people to contact Michelle. She will guide them to access the wisdom within, to discover the root cause of their suffering.

Having been a client of Michelle’s I can attest to the efficacy of her approach, as well as her soft and caring nature.

Find out more about Michelle’s work on her website: www.healthhappinessnow.com
or on IG or FB under the same name.

Ghislaine has an amazing way of helping her clients in a holistic way that goes well beyond the modalities she has studied and practiced for many years. She has now expanded her original practice of kinesiology and breath-work to now include topics such as spiritual psychology and energy medicine.

In this podcast she explains what these terms mean and how they benefit her clients. We get a glimpse into the world of kinesiology, how and why muscle testing works in bypassing our mind and unlocking  muscle memories.

With the aim of facilitating the body to regain equilibrium, she has first hand experience by having applied all these techniques on herself. Everything that has helped her to transform, she is now practicing under the umbrella term 'conscious energy medicine'.

She explains how so many young children are lacking being grounded, being integrated in their bodies first before they can even start to learn. As a kinesiologist she can then test if anything has happened in their lives, sometimes even prior to their birth. These little or big traumas can inhibit learning and they usually get imprinted unconsciously. In a way, her job is to bring to light, what we may not even be aware of, yet still be inhibited by.

Through her work, Ghislaine is able to practically shift these energy patterns and help the individual regain their healthy balance in body, mind and spirit.

Whatever is happening in the child, in the family and on the planet is to be acknowledged, embraced and worked with to transmute our dramas and pain points to deepen the qualities of our lives, individually and collectively.

To contact Ghislaine, connect here:
https://www.harmoniekinesiology.com/contact

Cathleen Ross is a very prolific, successful and versatile author. Cathleen has currently published 15 books, – and many more e-books, mainly focused on female romance. Cathleen also teaches creative writing to her students.

I have not only enjoyed my interview with Cathleen, but I also learned a lot.

At some point I wished I had received that information before I published my own books, which I think would have saved me a lot of time and energy, learning through trial and error.  

As the One Year School is offering the option of helping our students to write their own books, if they wish to do so, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to offer this information to our students now and give them a short-cut to this experience, as I am picking Cathleen’s brain.

Cathleen teaches first of all how to create, start and write a well-structured story, especially a short story, which is easier to accomplish for beginners. Cathleen explains the importance of a good hook to get the reader engaged and drawn into a story, how to introduce a protagonist or a hero to our story and how to create the twists and turns, the suspense that keep us reading a story.  Did you know what ‘high stakes’ are and how to get a good pace for the story?  Cathleen also reveals the importance of making it clear and transparent from the start, what type of story it will be – and how to be intriguing as well.

Beyond writing tips and strategies, Cathleen also give us tips  how to source the best publishing options or how to self-publish a book or short story. 

If you have ever wanted to write and publish your thoughts, fantasy or experiences, this interview will help you on your way to making it a reality.
Enjoy the interview as much as I have!

If you have any questions for Cathleen, you can contact her on: [email protected]

Pete Evans may not need an introduction here in Australia, but as he is often known only for his cooking, as Paleo Pete - or for the controversial opinions that also get misquoted on our media outlets, I wanted to hear Pete's take on it and find out what he is currently up to.
It so happens that his new network started on the day of our interview and if you really want to know more about the 'real' Pete, I'd recommend you join:
https://evolvenetwork.tv/

All his podcasts are there as videos, many cooking shows, tips and recipes, documentaries and insights into his conscious living collective initiative. 

Pete Evans is a celebrity chef, author of a huge range of paleo and keto cooking books, who rose to fame as a judge on My Kitchen Rules, and is now a very passionate podcaster, with his podcast ‘Evolve with Pete Evans’, which I am really enjoying for their different perspective. 
I like Pete's passion to learn from all the fascinating people he is  interviewing, with the aim to educate himself as well as his audience.

We talk about his documentary, 'the Magic Pill' and 'the Paleo Way', as well as his various journeys beyond food and cooking.

During our interview I can almost smell the pork-belly roasting in his oven and I find out why he prefers the paleo diet to a vegetarian or vegan diet. 

Pete eats  fresh, organic, unprocessed food, including plenty of seasonal, fibrous vegetables (including fermented/cultured vegetables), loads of fresh and dried herbs and spices, ethically raised, organic, free range, 100% grass fed meat, game and poultry, organic eggs, sustainable, wild-caught fish and seafood. 

Having seen many clients with gut issues, I have asked why and how the ketogenic diet seems to have a positive effect on brain health, especially with children on the Autistic spectrum.

One of Pete's  books is called HEAL, where he  ventures into other pillars of health and well-being, which he is very passionate about and talks about.

I also ask Pete about the controversy and if it affects him that there is so much negative press around his name and his ventures. Listen to his interesting views and insights - and I have come away with a  picture of a Pete Evans that is conscious of others and very keen to effectively support and help his fellow human beings.