Episode 158 Toward A Better Life with Kevin Pennell

0:00:00 Episode Preview

0:01:01 Dance of the Druids by MortenA (Used By Permission)

0:04:09 Episode Opening:

• The podcast that features like-minded people sharing stories, ideas, and activities, on what we can do to generate a Better Life individually and collectively.
• Submissions:
• Be a part of the show by sharing your prose, music, poetry, or storytelling. Just send them to me [email protected]. If it's audio, please send it as an MP3 file.
• Subscribe
• AND Spread the word and keep following for magical insights into Earth Based Spirituality, self development, and self care.
• Free Discovery Call
• By the way, if you'd like to dive into self-care, self development, or distance shamanic work, drop me a line [email protected] for a free discovery call.

0:07:30 Insights of Imbolc with Kevin Pennell

• Kevin Pennell is the Podcast Host and Producer of Toward A Better Life a Licensed Massage Therapist, Hypnotherapist, Shamanic Practitioner, and a Bardic member of the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids. He's also an Usui Reiki Master, and Instructor for various self-help and continuing education workshops with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Spurgeon College. As a healing facilitator, he devotes his life to being a "hollow bone" or tool to bring about "Compassionate Healing". Kevin also writes, honing his love of writing through journalism. As an author, he applied his biographical and spiritual insights to complete the work Two Feathers: Spiritual Seed Planter that shares the life and spirit of Ken Two Feathers.

0:20:34 Guided Meditation for Honoring Imbolc

0:39:31 First Blush of Spring by MortenA (Used By Permission)

0:43:10 Episode Closing Thoughts

Connections:

MortenA

• Music and More: https://soundcloud.com/search?q=MortenA

Toward A Better Life

• Website: https://towardabetterlife.com/
• Kevin Pennell: https://towardabetterlife.com/contact/

Episode 157 Toward A Better Life with Kevin Pennell

0:00:00 Episode Preview

0:00:43 Episode Opening:

• The podcast that features like-minded people sharing stories, ideas, and activities, on what we can do to generate a Better Life individually and collectively.
• Submissions:
• Be a part of the show by sharing your prose, music, poetry, or storytelling. Just send them to me [email protected]. If it's audio, please send it as an MP3 file.
• Subscribe
• AND Spread the word and keep following for magical insights into Earth Based Spirituality, self development, and self care.
• Free Discovery Call
• By the way, if you'd like to dive into self-care, self development, or distance shamanic work, drop me a line [email protected] for a free discovery call.

0:03:19 Interview with Shilah

• Shilah is a Bardic member with the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids. She says that while Google may be good for some things, Shilah believes connecting, learning, and growing happen in the more "human" realm. She calls herself an artist of the Fae Folk which can be seen in her magickal creations that honor the Fae Folk and related realms. She's walking her path in Earth Based Spirituality and is sharing glimpse of her life as a Hedge Witch in this episode of Toward A Better Life.

0:51:05 Episode Closing Thoughts

Connections:

Shilah

• Contact Through Instagram: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/shilahthebard?igsh=MWZ3YXRhamlxdXQ1MA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

Order of Bards Ovates and Druids

• Website: https://druidry.org/

Toward A Better Life

• Website: https://towardabetterlife.com/
• Kevin Pennell: https://towardabetterlife.com/contact/

Episode 156 Toward A Better Life with Kevin Pennell

0:00:00 Episode Preview

0:01:01 I'll Play For You by Mark Firehammer (Used by Permission)

0:05:34 Episode Opening:

• The podcast that features like-minded people sharing stories, ideas, and activities, on what we can do to generate a Better Life individually and collectively.
• Submissions:
• Be a part of the show by sharing your prose, music, poetry, or storytelling. Just send them to me [email protected]. If it's audio, please send it as an MP3 file.
• Subscribe
• AND Spread the word and keep following for magical insights into Earth Based Spirituality, self development, and self care.
• Free Discovery Call
• By the way, if you'd like to dive into self-care, self development, or distance shamanic work, drop me a line [email protected] for a free discovery call.

0:08:25 Interview with Mark Firehammer

• Mark Firehammer is the founder of the Creative Humanity Alliance, a growing ecosystem of artists, educators, and innovators using creativity as a catalyst for cultural healing and human reconnection. Their mission is simple but urgent: to use art and creative practice as keys to unlock the connection that modern life too often makes us forget. As an author, creator, and entrepreneur, Mark's work—including the novel The Echo and the Voice—explores how imagination can repair culture and guide us toward a more human, more fulfilling life.

1:14:32 Walk The Heavens by Mark Firehammer (Used by Permission)

1:18:46 Episode Closing Thoughts

Connections:

Mark Firehammer

• Website:https://markfirehammer.com/
• Contact: https://markfirehammer.com/contact/
• Creative Humanity Alliance: https://creativehumanityalliance.org/
• Mark Firehammer Music: https://markfirehammer.com/music/

Toward A Better Life

• Website: https://towardabetterlife.com/
• Kevin Pennell: https://towardabetterlife.com/contact/

Episode 155 Toward A Better Life with Kevin Pennell

0:00:00 Episode Preview

0:00:50 Winter Solstice by Awenfire (Used By Permission)

0:04:57 Episode Opening:

• The podcast that features like-minded people sharing stories, ideas, and activities, on what we can do to generate a Better Life individually and collectively.
• Submissions:
• Be a part of the show by sharing your prose, music, poetry, or storytelling. Just send them to me [email protected]. If it's audio, please send it as an MP3 file.
• Subscribe
• AND Spread the word and keep following for magical insights into Earth Based Spirituality, self development, and self care.
• Free Discovery Call
• By the way, if you'd like to dive into self-care, self development, or distance shamanic work, drop me a line [email protected] for a free discovery call.

0:08:25 Bear Facts of Introspection with Kevin Pennell

• Kevin Pennell is the Podcast Host and Producer of Toward A Better Life a Licensed Massage Therapist, Hypnotherapist, Shamanic Practitioner, and a Bardic member of the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids. He's also an Usui Reiki Master, and Instructor for various self-help and continuing education workshops with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Spurgeon College. As a healing facilitator, he devotes his life to being a "hollow bone" or tool to bring about "Compassionate Healing". Kevin also writes, honing his love of writing through journalism. As an author, he applied his biographical and spiritual insights to complete the work Two Feathers: Spiritual Seed Planter that shares the life and spirit of Ken Two Feathers.

0:24:46 Guided Meditation to Connect with Bear Medicine

0:42:24 Episode Closing Thoughts

Connections:

Awenfire

• https://soundcloud.com/awenfire

Toward A Better Life

• Website: https://towardabetterlife.com/
• Kevin Pennell: https://towardabetterlife.com/contact/

Episode 154 Toward A Better Life with Kevin Pennell

0:00:00 Episode Preview

0:00:40 Episode Opening:

• The podcast that features like-minded people sharing stories, ideas, and activities, on what we can do to generate a Better Life individually and collectively.
• Submissions:
• Be a part of the show by sharing your prose, music, poetry, or storytelling. Just send them to me [email protected]. If it's audio, please send it as an MP3 file.
• Subscribe
• AND Spread the word and keep following for magical insights into Earth Based Spirituality, self development, and self care.
• Free Discovery Call
• By the way, if you'd like to dive into self-care, self development, or distance shamanic work, drop me a line [email protected] for a free discovery call.

0:05:51 Interview with Teri M Brown

• Terri M Brown: Born in Athens, Greece as an Air Force brat, Teri came into this world with an imagination full of stories to tell. She now calls the North Carolina coast home, and the peaceful nature of the sea has been a great source of inspiration for her creativity.

  Not letting 2020 get the best of her, Teri chose to go on an adventure that changed her outlook on life. She and her husband, Bruce, rode a tandem bicycle over 3000 miles across the United States from Astoria, Oregon to Washington DC, successfully raising money for Toys for Tots. She learned she is stronger than she realized and capable of anything she sets her mind to.

  Teri graduated from UNC Greensboro with a multitude of degrees – majors in Elementary Education and Psychology and minors in Math and Sociology – she just couldn't settle on one thing! While homeschooling her four children, she began her writing career by focusing on small businesses, writing articles, blog posts, and website content.

  In 2017, after finally getting out of an emotionally abusive 14-year marriage, Teri began dabbling in fiction, a lifelong dream. Upon winning the First Annual Anita Bloom Ornoff Award for Inspirational Short Story for a piece about her grandfather, she began writing in earnest, and published her debut novel in 2022, Sunflowers Beneath the Snow, a historical fiction set in Ukraine. Her second novel published in 2023, An Enemy Like Me, takes place during WWII. Her latest novel, Daughters of Green Mountain Gap, a generational story about Appalachian healers came out in January 2024. In June 2024, her short story, The Youngest Lighthouse Keeper, came out in the anthology Feisty Deeds: Historical Fictions of Daring Women. Her latest book, 10 Little Rules for a Double-Butted Adventure (Feb 2025), is an inspirational look at the life lessons she learned riding across the United States on a tandem bicycle. In April, her first children's book, Little Lola and Her Big Dream, will launch.

1:09:01 Episode Closing Thoughts

Connections:

Teri M Brown

• Website: https://www.terimbrown.com/
• Contact: https://www.terimbrown.com/contact.html

Order of Bards Ovates and Druids

• Website: https://druidry.org/

Toward A Better Life

• Website: https://towardabetterlife.com/
• Kevin Pennell: https://towardabetterlife.com/contact/

Episode 153 Toward A Better Life with Kevin Pennell

0:00:00 Episode Preview

0:01:18 Gunshae - By Lady Eve (Used by Permission)

0:07:09 Episode Opening:

• The podcast that features like-minded people sharing stories, ideas, and activities, on what we can do to generate a Better Life individually and collectively.
• Submissions:
• Be a part of the show by sharing your prose, music, poetry, or storytelling. Just send them to me [email protected]. If it's audio, please send it as an MP3 file.
• Subscribe
• AND Spread the word and keep following for magical insights into Earth Based Spirituality, self development, and self care.
• Free Discovery Call
• By the way, if you'd like to dive into self-care, self development, or distance shamanic work, drop me a line [email protected] for a free discovery call.

0:11:59 Interview with Lady Eve

• Lady Eve is a musician, artist, and the owner of Singing Pines. Eve grew up in Atlanta and spent summers in Appalachia basking in the aroma and nurturing her deep love and appreciation of trees and the forests while playing in mountain streams. Eve is a certified forest bathing guide by the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy, and enjoys sharing her passion for soundscape and sensory/somatic experiences. As a Bardic Druid (with the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids) and an active Zazen practitioner, she incorporates meditation and subtle awareness throughout her endeavors. Her artistic advocacy focuses on the connection between music, environment, accessibility and wellness. In 2016 she began to lead an ongoing series of soundwalks, which gives the public opportunities to experience natural surroundings through listening techniques, meditative breathing, and contemplative focus. In recent years, the soundwalk program has grown into an artist residency called the ACA Soundscape Field Station at Canaveral National Seashore, and an accessibility program for blind and partially sighted youth called Young Sound Seekers, sponsored by the National Park Service. These programs highlight the growing importance of environmental sound (soundscape) on the quality of health for all living creatures. As a musician and soundscape artist, she uses field recordings, electronic music, spoken word, and classical oboe in her compositions and collaborations. She has performed at several venues throughout North America.

1:10:12 Meiji Sunbeams by Lady Eve (Used by Permission)

1:19:54 Episode Closing Thoughts

Connections:

Lady Eve

• Website: https://www.singingpines.co/
• Contact: [email protected]

Order of Bards Ovates and Druids

• Website: https://druidry.org/

Toward A Better Life

• Website: https://towardabetterlife.com/
• Kevin Pennell: https://towardabetterlife.com/contact/

Episode 152 Toward A Better Life with Kevin Pennell

0:00:00 Episode Preview

0:01:02 Dark Night of the Soul by Spiral Dance (Used by Permission)

0:06:34 Episode Opening:

• The podcast that features like-minded people sharing stories, ideas, and activities, on what we can do to generate a Better Life individually and collectively.
• Submissions:
• Be a part of the show by sharing your prose, music, poetry, or storytelling. Just send them to me [email protected]. If it's audio, please send it as an MP3 file.
• Subscribe
• AND Spread the word and keep following for magical insights into Earth Based Spirituality, self development, and self care.
• Free Discovery Call
• By the way, if you'd like to dive into self-care, self development, or distance shamanic work, drop me a line [email protected] for a free discovery call.

0:04:07 Interview with Rachael Schmidt

• Rachael Schmidt, author of Common Sixth Sense, is a mindfulness-based self-development coach, mentor, and educator with more than twenty years of experience helping people awaken to their fullest potential. She has worked with teenagers, Fortune 500 leaders, and everyone in between, guiding them to live more authentic and connected lives. Schmidt teaches mindfulness integration at the graduate level and is the founder of the consultancy, Common Sixth. You can learn more at www.commonsixth.com.

1:01:49 Deep Peace to You by Awenfire (Used by Permission)

1:05:30 Episode Closing Thoughts

Connections:

Rachael Schmidt

• Website: https://commonsixth.com/
• Contact: https://commonsixth.com/contact-rachael-schmidt/
• Order Rachael's Book: https://commonsixth.com/book/

Spiral Dance

• Website: https://spiraldance.com.au/

Awenfire

• On Sound Cloud: https://soundcloud.com/awenfire

Toward A Better Life

• Website: https://towardabetterlife.com/
• Kevin Pennell: https://towardabetterlife.com/contact/

Episode 151 Toward A Better Life with Kevin Pennell

0:00:00 Episode Preview

0:00:55 Episode Opening:

• The podcast that features like-minded people sharing stories, ideas, and activities, on what we can do to generate a Better Life individually and collectively.
• Submissions:
• Be a part of the show by sharing your prose, music, poetry, or storytelling. Just send them to me [email protected]. If it's audio, please send it as an MP3 file.
• Subscribe
• AND Spread the word and keep following for magical insights into Earth Based Spirituality, self development, and self care.
• Free Discovery Call
• By the way, if you'd like to dive into self-care, self development, or distance shamanic work, drop me a line [email protected] for a free discovery call.

0:04:07 Interview with Joanna Zhang

• Joanna Zhang is the award-winning founder of The Operations Genius and creator of the world's first Fractional VA Service, a revolutionary approach to operational support that gives entrepreneurs the flexibility, accountability, and expertise they need. A sought-after global speaker, Joanna brings more than strategies, she infuses her talks with soul-aligned wisdom, sharing divine messages that inspire founders to lead from their hearts. Her unique perspective comes from her own journey of soul awakening and soul ascension, guided by her spiritual mentor, which deepened her commitment to uplifting others toward personal transformation. Her story resonates with Toward A Bette Life as a reminder that a "better life" begins with inner alignment—and ripples out to touch family, community, and the world. Please welcome Joanna Zhang to Toward A Better Life as we explore Soul Awakening and Personal Transformation

0:58:34 Episode Closing Thoughts

Connections:

Joanna Zhang

• Website: https://operationsgenius.net/
• Contact Joanna Through Her Website

• Website: https://towardabetterlife.com/
• Kevin Pennell: https://towardabetterlife.com/contact/

Episode 150 Toward A Better Life with Kevin Pennell

0:00:00 Episode Preview

0:00:54 Episode Opening:

• The podcast that features like-minded people sharing stories, ideas, and activities, on what we can do to generate a Better Life individually and collectively.
• Submissions:
• Be a part of the show by sharing your prose, music, poetry, or storytelling. Just send them to me [email protected]. If it's audio, please send it as an MP3 file.
• Subscribe
• AND Spread the word and keep following for magical insights into Earth Based Spirituality, self development, and self care.
• Free Discovery Call
• By the way, if you'd like to dive into self-care, self development, or distance shamanic work, drop me a line [email protected] for a free discovery call.

0:05:19 Druidic Perspectives of The 4 Elements with Kevin Pennell

• Kevin Pennell is the Podcast Host and Producer of Toward A Better Life a Licensed Massage Therapist, Hypnotherapist, Shamanic Practitioner, and a Bardic member of the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids. He's also an Usui Reiki Master, and Instructor for various self-help and continuing education workshops with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Spurgeon College. As a healing facilitator, he devotes his life to being a "hollow bone" or tool to bring about "Compassionate Healing". Kevin also writes, honing his love of writing through journalism. As an author, he applied his biographical and spiritual insights to complete the work Two Feathers: Spiritual Seed Planter that shares the life and spirit of Ken Two Feathers.

0:19:35 Guided Meditation to Deepen A Connection to the 4 Elements

0:43:50 Episode Closing Thoughts

Connections:

Kevin Pennell & Toward A Better Life

• Website: https://towardabetterlife.com/
• Kevin Pennell: https://towardabetterlife.com/contact/

Episode 149 Toward A Better Life with Kevin Pennell

0:00:00 Episode Preview

0:01:07 Thanksgiving Address - Michael Douglas - Used By Permission

0:06:40 Episode Opening:

• The podcast that features like-minded people sharing stories, ideas, and activities, on what we can do to generate a Better Life individually and collectively.
• Submissions:
• Be a part of the show by sharing your prose, music, poetry, or storytelling. Just send them to me [email protected]. If it's audio, please send it as an MP3 file.
• Subscribe
• AND Spread the word and keep following for magical insights into Earth Based Spirituality, self development, and self care.
• Free Discovery Call
• By the way, if you'd like to dive into self-care, self development, or distance shamanic work, drop me a line [email protected] for a free discovery call.

0:10:09 Interview with Cindy Caprio Woulfe

• Cindy Caprio Woulfe is a full time mother, certified meditation teacher and wellness advocate residing in Connecticut with her husband and two sons. A University of Colorado at Boulder graduate in Communication and an Institute of Integrative Nutrition alumna, she balances motherhood with her passion for mindfulness practices. A regular contributor to Fairfield County Mom, she offers compassionate guidance for mothers seeking balance amid life's overwhelming moments. Her first book, In the Weeds: A Guide to Saving Your Own Soul on This Crazy Journey Called Motherhood, is available for purchase.

0:57:52 Episode Closing Thoughts

Connections:

Cindy Capro Woulfe

• Website: https://cindycapriowoulfe.com/
• Order Her Book: https://cindycapriowoulfe.com/buy-the-book-1

Michael Douglas

• Website: https://www.maineprimitive.com/
• Contact: https://www.maineprimitive.com/contact

Toward A Better Life

• Website: https://towardabetterlife.com/
• Kevin Pennell: https://towardabetterlife.com/contact/