Leslie starts this episode sharing some thoughts from a therapy session years ago. Leslyn explains her “totem pole” theory about depression, anxiety, and living an authentic life. The conversation steps into gear as the ladies discuss character strengths and how they support authentic living. Listeners are directed to a web location where they can identify their strengths and the discussion elaborates on how they support good living.

The term ‘authentic’ is explored as each of them share stories and life experiences about how being ‘inauthentic’ affected their lives. Listen in to see if any of the conversation resonates or to hear a few nuances to help you grow toward a more authentic self.

Leslie and Leslyn dive further into the conversation of reincarnation and consider possibilities of why souls may return over and over again. The supposition is based largely on work from Dr. Brian Weiss and Dr. Roger Woolger, both experts in the field of past lives. The conversation centers on their contention that we return to learn Love and perfect our human capacity for it.

Leslyn shares how her personal research over several decades has shaped her philosophical and spiritual views. Leslie’s contribution to the conversation starts where many people are - a curiosity that is confusing with traditional ideas based in Christianity and their conversation touches on the potential for those two perspectives to merge peacefully.

They reiterate how to use the Reincarnation Journal (found on the website) for the goal of identifying elements that may indicate a past life.

As an introduction to the possibility of reincarnation, Leslie and Leslyn introduce their audience to Dr. Brian Weiss, Dr. Ian Stevenson, Roger Woolger, and Dr. Puryear - researchers who have spent entire careers investigating the potential that our souls come back again and again. They consider the question of whether or not our souls are ‘reborn’ into different bodies throughout time with the underlying goal of perfecting our ability to know the virtue of “love”.

Leslyn shares stories of personal experiences that indicate the potential for past lives. She invites listeners to consider alternative to established beliefs and suggests that a belief in reincarnation may indeed coincide with religious beliefs. They direct listeners to resources to use for more information.

This is the first of two conversations that speak to the possibilities of reincarnation and why it makes sense. While it’s impossible to discern its validity, it is likewise impossible to prove otherwise so listen to both episodes and think about your own experiences.

Leslie and Leslyn have designed a ‘reincarnation journal’ to assist you in considering if a past life memory is sitting under your subconscious awareness. It is available on the Try This At Home website under ‘free resources’.

In this episode, Leslie and Leslyn share stories of judging and also of feeling judged. They explain that the practice of being judgmental is rooted in personal pain that gets triggered. As is typical with their suggestions, it is recommended that the first step in breaking free from judgment is to raise awareness of one's tendency to be judgmental as well as those times when we feel the recipient of judging attitudes.

They share expertise from professionals who recommend identifying the type of triggers that activate old wounds - sending us into a spiral of assumptions and critical assessments. They offer specific advice and techniques to work on eliminating judgment as a method of interaction; noticing that it is in direct opposition to the state of love.

Using Gabrielle Bernstein’s six step process for releasing judgment as a blueprint, Leslie and Leslyn run through ideas and tidbits to help you cope with judgments as they pop up with an introduction to the ultimate goal of forgiveness all around.

In the final episode of our discussion motivated by Rachel Held Evan’s book ‘Inspired’, Leslie and Leslyn center their discussion on curiosity about the stories we hold onto and questions we might benefit from asking.

They elaborate on some key points from the last few chapters of the book and challenge a few habits of Fundamentalist clergy. Some of the basic elements of modern organized religion are discussed and contested. They debate the use of the pronoun “he” to reference God and contemplate how it is problematic in a world poised to empower women.

Leslie and Leslyn ponder how the words we use actually matter and shape our thoughts and behaviors. Such is also true in religion and the views that are adopted.

They talk about what they got out of reading the book and surprisingly, it’s uniquely different. While they agree that God is Love and that a journey toward becoming Christ-like is a shared value, they take away different messages.

They go on to skim the surface of the question of whether or not education changes the way you think of the bible and ultimately, of one’s religion. While many people with significant scholarship are deeply religious, the dominant ideology of educated people at-large tends to be more liberal.

The central view of challenging ideology - no matter it’s basis - is reinforced throughout this series. They maintain that the most constructive effort one can make personally is to consider a large gamut of possibilities and to seek alternative points of view for a well rounded - and informed - perspective.

Leslie and Leslyn begin by discussing the challenging question “What is a day?” as it pertains to the Creation story in the bible. Can we believe in science and the bible at the same time? This conversation starts by challenging some basic thoughts while we share our individual views.

How do you envision God? We sit back and share ideas of ‘what’ God may be. We share thoughts on why religion personifies God and what kind of challenges that presents.

Rachel Held Evans speaks about the bible and the stories it tells. Leslie and Leslyn dive into how the bible is often interpreted by each readers perspective and why that may be problematic. They challenge the use of biblical ideology when it offers a convenient rational for behavior that is obviously ‘unloving’.

They strongly encourage listeners to sit back and ask questions to challenge beliefs; whether or not they align with the goal of love. They challenge the classification of ‘Christian’ and the stories we tell ourselves about the preconceived notions of that meaning. The conversation continues with a call out to keep asking questions.

Rachel Held Evans stirred a lot of controversy before she died with her book “Inspired” where she challenges the literal understandings of biblical stories. She describes the Bible as “a living breathing captivating and compounding book” that continues to offer guidance and instruction but not when taken literally.

We start the series by sharing our personal faith journeys and begin a debate About the rule of the Bible in those journeys. It’s not a conversation about what’s right or wrong or a conversation geared to change anyone’s mind. We are initiating this discussion in an effort to promote curiosity as we believe it’s the greatest pathway to growth.

We share thoughts about what it means to challenge the mainstream, especially in terms of religion and faith. Faith can be confusing when there are so many ideas and beliefs and we start by sharing our personal questions as they surfaced in our stories.

We hope you listen with an open mind and share your curiosity with us as we have this conversation.

SHOW NOTES:

What is an affirmation? By definition, an affirmation is “the action or process of affirming something” as well as “emotional support or encouragement”. In the New Thought movement, an affirmation is defined as “a carefully formatted statement that should be repeated to one’s self and written down frequently”. As they are formulated, attention is directed so that they are “present tense, positive, personal, and specific”. It’s something you say to yourself… it’s an “I am” statement or an “I have” statement a positive phrases used to challenge negative or unhelpful thoughts.

One of the key theories behind positive affirmations is self-affirmation theory which posits that our sense of self relates to our perceived ability to control outcomes. It suggests that we remunerate on a global narrative about ourselves and that when we believe and completely accept our competence that we act in ways to manifest that belief. Self-affirmations have been shown to decrease health-deteriorating effects of stress, foster better eating habits, and are positively linked to academic achievement.

An affirmation needs to be:

Personal – I, my life, I know, I believe, I trust

Positive – absolute, all, always, in fact, everyday, at all times, in every way.

Specific – (naming the ‘thing’ that you want to affirm)

Present – now, as I breathe, in this moment, at this time, here, am, is.

Example: I am (Personal) always (positive) extending compassion (the ‘thing’) as I breathe (present moment).

It doesn’t have to be in that exact order or using only those words of course, it just has to be meaningful to you.

Leslie and Leslyn suggest strategies to help you create and practice affirmations in an effort to manifest or retrain your thoughts so that they direct your life more positively.

They offer a tip sheet on the podcast website to help you create a set of flashcards for practicing.

SHOW NOTES:

This episode is based on an article from the website The Learning Mind entitled “How Complaining Rewires Your Brain for Negativity and Literally Kills You”. We found it absolutely fascinating and immediately thought of some people who suffer from Chronic illness and realized that they tend to be vocal pessimists.

Leslyn and Leslyn dug into the research and explain the key points.

1. “Synapses that fire together wire together.”

Thoughts are electrical signals that move through the brain. As you think, your brain develops a ‘neural pathway’ to provide efficiency… it is creating a PATH for the thought to travel in the easiest, fastest way so that your thoughts come quickly and automatically. The more you think a particular thought - the faster it can be recalled.

2. The Shortest Path Wins the Race

Therefore, if you continually have negative thoughts, those synapses associated with those negative thoughts will grow even more. This makes it easier to have those negative thoughts. Gradually you will become a more negative person over time and find it harder to find the positive in life.

Essentially, repetition of thought - any thought - will create short and quick pathways that make it really easy for that thought to surface. The shorter the path… the more quickly that thought becomes dominant.

3. Negativity breeds Negativity

It turns out that negative people in our surroundings can also affect us. Think about a crowd turning from a peaceful protest to an aggressive mob in seconds. Or a group of ladies bitching about an absent friend. It is all too easy to get caught up in the moment.

We tend to naturally empathize… or at least our brain takes on the challenge. When we see someone experiencing an emotion, we tend to relate to what that person is going through. It’s the thing that makes us cry in the movie theater or when someone wins an important challenge. Likewise, this happens with negative emotions as well. Each moment you spend in an environment of negativity, your brain is wiring for that persistent attempt at empathy.

4. Negativity produces stress

Stress produces Cortisol. Cortisol is released as an agent in our ‘flight or fight’ response. If we don’t actually fight or flee… the chemical is stored in our blood and too much of it causes: High blood pressure, Lower immune function, Lower bone density, Heart disease, Weight Gain & more.

They discuss complaining antidotes such as self care, time out, mindfulness, self-expression, effective communication, alternate expression, gratitude, and affirmations.

They challenge listeners to increase awareness of complaints and commit to generating an antidote each time.

SHOW NOTES:

For more than two decades now, electronic communication has infiltrated every corner of our lives. An entire generation has grown up with instant contact as an expectation. This episode is a conversation about the pros and cons of communicating electronically.

Because Leslyn and Leslie are both business owners, they talk about the negative side of being constantly available as a professional and the implications of having being reachable 24/7. Leslie shares thoughts about a perception that our cultural norm has developed into the notion that we are all immediately at the mercy of others needs. Leslyn shares ideas of how to set appropriate boundaries with customers, friends and family who might be overstepping accessibility.

As always, they share personal stories that highlight the topic from a variety of perspectives. The notion of ‘instant access’ is dissected in these personal examples and strategies to balance the frustrations are offered.