Well, this year has certainly taken a turn for the unexpected!

On Tuesday, January 7th, the Palisades Fire broke out in LA and we evacuated that evening, and didn’t return back to LA for 3.5 weeks.  

In this solo episode, I share some reflections from the last several weeks. I highlight some themes:

1. When timelines shift (and grounding into this…)
2. Impermanence (everything is constantly changing)
3. Spiritual bypass (& the impulse to want to fix, rather than feel)
4. Giving and receiving (the flow and intertwining of these energies)
5. Living closer to the truth (& the discomfort of this!)

I hope you enjoy, and as always feel free to reach out with your thoughts!

If you want to get in touch, email me at [email protected] or reach out to me on Instagram at @vickylizette.

Welcome to the last episode of 2024 on the Voices of Wisdom Project!!

This week, I have a conversation with Bri Rubin, a Human Design specialist and coach. She is an artist as well as a yoga teacher and is devoted to exploring and experimenting with both ancient and modern spiritual technologies.

This was a really fun conversation to have – Bri is intimate with Human Design and very beautifully explains what goes into this system and why it’s so revelatory for the times we live in. I hope you’ll find it useful!

In this conversation, we:

• Cover the basics of Human Design – what is it? Where does it come from?
• Why HD stands out amongst other frameworks to understand ourselves
• How we can use this knowledge for greater alignment
• Ways that we can MISinterpret our charts
• The breakdown of Generators, Projectors, Manifestors, and Reflectors
• How Human Design can help us to live a de-conditioned life
• And SO MUCH MORE!

You can contact Bri for a reading at www.brirubin.com, or contact her directly on Instagram: _brirubin_

If you’d like to reach out to me, you can always do that by emailing me at [email protected] or by DM’ing me on Instagram @vickylizette.

Cheers to 2025!

On this week’s episode of the Voices of Wisdom, I have the great pleasure of talking to Anne Upczak-Garcia, the author of the heart-wrenching, deep, beautiful story in the book Among Walkers. 

Being the daughter of a Venezuelan family, this book broke my heart into pieces. Not only did it illuminate a migrant crisis (the ramifications of which I was not fully aware of) but it also illuminated my own sadness of being disconnected from my homeland.

In this podcast episode, we talk about:

• What Venezuela was like in the 90s
• How Venezuela got to this point + a few historical events
• Why Anne wrote this story as an American woman
• Why Anne decided to give the book a happy ending
• What happens when a government has so much control
• The heartbreak of being disconnected from one’s homeland
• And so much more!!

Anne is a writer, mother and educator. She writes because she believes it is important to tell stories, to listen to stories and to pass stories along to children. She writes in her journal, she writes for work and she writes fiction. All of these types of writing free her mind and help her spirit grow. She is available for readings, podcasts, presentations or workshops. Just reach out!

You can contact Anne on her website: https://www.anneupczakgarcia.com/

To purchase the book, click here: https://www.amazon.com/Among-Walkers-Anne-Upczak-Garcia/dp/B0C8S9TJ1P

Her book is also available on Barnes & Noble & Apple Books.

To get in contact with me, you can always email [email protected] or follow me on Instagram @vickylizette. I love hearing how these episodes land for you!

Welcome back to the Voices of Wisdom and one of my favorite guests to have on the show, Sheira Kahn!

Sheira is a staple on the Voices of Wisdom because of her playful depth, practical insight, and generous heart. 

She is also an eating coach as well as a Marriage & Family therapist. She developed a body of work called Eat in Peace, in which she supports her clients to transform their relationship with food and their bodies so they can live their lives to the fullest. 

My experience of Sheira is that she is brilliant, and as a former bulimic, is intimate with what it takes to heal our relationship with our inner selves from the inside out. 

To check out Sheira’s work, head over to www.eatinpeace.love. Sheira is one of the most loving people I have ever met, and I cannot recommend her work enough!!

In this week’s sweet episode, we dive into:

• What learning to love ourselves really looks and feels like
• How loving ourselves can be deeply vulnerable and courageous
• How to balance the superego 
• The importance of adopting an observer perspective
• What the difference is between ego-syntonic and ego-dystonic
• Why we must learn to love ourselves before relationship
• & so much more!

If you’d like to let me know what you learned on this show or would like to reach out to say hello or inquire about coaching together, you can do so at www.vickyaldana.com or via Instagram @vickylizette. 

In this episode, I welcome my dear aunt, Cristina Carbonell, to discuss what is occurring in Venezuela. Often omitted from major news outlets, the crisis in Venezuela is ever-present and ever-growing and there’s no end in sight. Awareness from the international community is KEY to change related to the situation in Venezuela.

I hope you’ll enjoy this long conversation and this knowledge on how Venezuela got to where it is today.

Below is a comprehensive list of resources & links on topics that were mentioned during this conversation:

• Ana Milagros Parra: https://x.com/amilagrosparra/status/1818055235681792279

• Political prisoners: https://foropenal.com/presos-politicos/ 
• Follow on IG @foropenal @OlnarOrtizBare

• Fake Christmas: https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/03/venezuela-Nicolas-maduro-christmas

• Increasing political violence and gross Human Rights violations: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/10/un-international-mission-reveals Gross-human-rights-violations-venezuela

• Evelyne Laurent Perrault Ph.D., Assistant Professor at New York University (NYU): https://www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/evelyne-laurent-perrault/

• Dalencourt, F., & Mamami, P. (2013). Bolívar y Haití: Alexandre Pétion frente a lahumanidad. Guaraguao, 18(44), 99–122: http://www.jstor.org/stable/43487961

• Orinoco Mining Arc – Information https://sosorinoco.org/en/

• Plan de Gobierno de María Corina Machado – Privatización de PDVSA: https://conmariacorina.com/es/programa-de-gobierno (see page 11)

• Observatorio de Ecología Política de Venezuela: https://ecopoliticavenezuela.org/

• Interviews with Emiliano Terán Mantovani
  • https://canalguardabosques.com/2018/10/18/emiliano-teran-mantovani-el-arco-minero-es-hoy-una-politica-de-ajuste/ (in Spanish)
  • https://www.epohi.gr/article/49939/emiliano-teran-mantovani-h-kyvernhsh-ton-hpa-protima-na-ehei-sth-venezoyela-mia-kyvernhsh-poly-pio-d (in Greek)

• Carbon Majors Study 2017: https://cdn.cdp.net/cdp-production/cms/reports/documents/000/002/327/original/Carbon-Majors-Report-2017.pdf?1501833772 ; 

• News article about PDVSA’s role in carbon emissions: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/09/revealed-20-firms-third-Carbon-emissions

• Carbonell Betancourt, Cristina Margarita; Scarpellini, Marcela (2021). Venezuela, Oil and Climate Change: Overcoming Nostalgia. In: Leal Filho, W., Luetz, J., Ayal, D. (eds) Handbook of Climate Change Management. Springer, Cham.: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22759-3_242-1

This week, I have the honor and privilege of sitting with Ihab and Ora Balha, a married couple from the Holy Land whose love crosses numerous divides to model a new possibility for union, courage, and reconciliation. 

In this episode, Ihab tells the beautiful story of his past, starting with his father being the only one of his siblings to stay in Jaffa after the Nakba in 1948. He shares how he released the hate in his heart and ultimately found the love of his life. 

Ora shares about the profound work that has come from wanting to raise their kids in a culture of peace and in an environment that values our shared humanity. She also lets us know how we can get involved in their growing movement.

Ihab and Ora’s love is a transcendent one – it bridges families, religions, lands, cultures, languages… and their non-profit, The Orchard of Abraham’s Children, was birthed out of this strong intention for peace in the Holy Land.

Today, the Orchard of Abraham’s Children is a growing network of nine bilingual kindergartens, an elementary school, a community center, and an interfaith spiritual home, that serves over 20,000 families and community members across the region and beyond. You can learn more about the organization here: https://www.orchardofabrahamschildren.org/. There is a link to donate on their website, and this link will take you directly to the donation page: https://www.orchardofabrahamschildren.org/copy-of-support-us If this conversation impacted you, please share it with your friends and family!

You don’t want to miss this exciting conversation with Whitney Woodcock, an Austin-based crypto mentor for women who want financial empowerment, to shift their relationship to money and to build lasting freedom.

She escaped her corporate engineering career in 2020, withdrew her 401k, invested it in crypto, and turned it into a value of half a million dollars which has allowed her over the past 3 years to travel the world, enjoy life without having to work and live a fulfilling life.

Now, as the crypto market is heating up, she helps women replicate her results on their own, and welcomes them into the crypto world — the aligned and simplified way. Whitney’s vision is for more women to live life on their own terms, and shift big wealth into the hearts of the good.

In this conversation, we dive deeper into:

• If crypto is spiritual and what that means
• How Whitney learned (& now  teaches) many spiritual lessons through money
• What crypto teaches us about reality
• What it means to align to the future
• How to take care of our nervous systems through volatility
• How the last 4 years have been a time of big awakening
• & so much more!!

If you’d like to connect deeper with Whitney, check out: www.queenofmillions.com/start-here

And get free crypto tips here: www.queenofmillions.com/signup 

Say hi to her on Instagram: www.instagram.com/whitney.magic.crypto

And finally, here are some folks she mentioned during the podcast: Anthony “Pomp” Pompliano: www.youtube.com/@AnthonyPompliano

Naval: www.twitter.com/naval

Tim Ferriss: www.youtube.com/@timferriss

If you love this podcast and want to support it, you can donate below. We love and appreciate your support!

Donation Link: https://bit.ly/voicesofwisdompodcast

This upcoming conversation is with one of my FAVORITE guests to have on the podcast: Dr. Eneze Obuaya. An absolutely incredible human being. She is part medical doctor, part spiritual doctor, and she truly bridges the seen with the unseen unlike anyone I have ever experienced. 

Dr. Eneze Obuaya is an Anesthesiologist by trade as well as an Energy medicine practitioner (practicing via the use of metaphysics), a spiritual guide as a certified cowry shell diviner, a certified advanced breathwork practitioner, a certified yoga instructor, AND a fitness enthusiast who brings all her experiences and expertise together to work harmoniously for health and healing.

She graduated medical school from the University of Connecticut and received her Anesthesiology specialty training at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. She also completed functional medicine training from the Institute of functional medicine.

In this episode, we explore:

• Is truth a frequency?
• What’s needed to be able to hear truth?
• What does a healthy body have to do with truth?
• How can we heal so that we are more aligned?
• How to stay intentionally focused on our goals/desires
• And so much more!!

Books we mentioned in this episode:

The Healing Wisdom of Africa by Elder Malidoma Somé

Of Water and the Spirit by Elder Malidoma Somé

If you’d like to contact Dr. Eneze Obuaya, here’s her website: https://ezlivingmd.com/. You can also follow her on Instagram @ezlivingmd.soulphysician. 

Podcast Donation Link: https://bit.ly/voicesofwisdompodcast 

On this week’s episode, we welcome back my Topanga neighbor and friend, Edward Sczudlo. Not only is Edward one of my favorite neighbors, but he’s a Dharma friend. Having met through the local yoga studio, Edward is one of those favorite friends that brings me views of the world that help me to see things more clearly.

The inspiration for this show came unexpectedly. Drinking tea one afternoon, I asked Edward to share about the Buddhist perspective on what I see as horrible things in the world. The conversation that followed moved me and shifted things in such a way that it helped me to digest what I’m seeing in the world. A profound and visceral sense of responsibility for what is being manifested on this planet was born out of that conversation with Edward, so I’m sharing it with you in case it is useful to understand the Buddhist perspective. 

In this episode, we discuss:

• The 3 levels of interdependence
• The nature of mind
• The importance of practicing ethics
• How practicing ethics can evolve our consciousness 
• New ways to think about the crisis’ we are seeing
• & so much more!

To learn more about Edward’s non-profit, check out The Maitri Project here: www.themaitriproject.com. 

I’m just SO excited to share this conversation with all of you. When Sheira Kahn and I get together to record a podcast, magic happens! It’s truly special. 

Back in the Spring of 2022, Sheira and I got together to talk about how to work with the inner critic in a powerful way. This is somethign we can all resonate with – the perennial question of, “how do we work with the chatty, sometimes intense inner critical voice inside?”

In this conversation, we take things one layer deeper by entering into the realm of the ‘Id.’ This is the primal, animal part of ourselves…but as you’ll hear, we have not been fair to this part of the human psyche. We have discarded it, and cast it into the shadows. In doing so, we have robbed ourselves of a much-need connection to the vital, life-force energy. 

In this episode, we’ll dive into:

• Why it’s important to get to know our “Id”, our animal, instinctual nature
• What we weren’t taught in school about the “Id”
• How the “Id” interacts with the Superego and the Ego
• What the possibilities are for your life by interacting with the “Id” – magic can happen!
• Which parts of the psyche correspond to life force energy
• Why we’re so afraid of our “Id”
• How the Wizard of Oz is a tale of integrating shadow
• And so much more!

If you want to work with or find out more about Sheira Kahn, I could not recommend more that you check out her website: https://sheirakahn.com/

As mentioned in the podcast, Sheira Kahn’s upcoming class on disordered eating + the healing available is called “Eat In Peace”