When was the last time you asked: What’s next for me?

In this 4th segment of the series, Making Connections with Donna Apidone, we explore TransForMission—a five-step framework for personal transformation that Donna began in the wake of loss. This class and book have been guiding seekers and lifelong learners toward meaning and purpose for over 20 years.

Discover what can happen when a room full of people commit to the sacred work of becoming who they really are.

We also learn about the uncanny evolution of the popular book and podcast, Drive-Time Meditations--perfect for setting a centering tone during commutes.

This conversation is about transformation that lasts—what it takes, what it gives, and why it never stops deepening. If you’ve ever wondered what your life is here to say, this episode will speak to you.

 This is part three of the five part series Connecting with Donna Apidone. In this conversation, you'll hear how Donna cultivated real connections with her many NPR Morning Edition guests--even when she thought she didn't like them!

The purposeful compassion beneath these connections also infuses how and why she still listens to a LOT of news--every day! Her stories and perspective show us how we can hear news stories with an empathetic heart--which brings about more change than we may realize.

Hear valuable tips towards the end for finding the most reliable news sources.

This episode, Interfaith Ministry and Bridging Worlds, is Part 2 of the series, Making Connections with Donna Apidone. Here we follow Donna's path to ordination through an interfaith seminary in New York City, while still hosting Morning Edition.

Fueled by her desire to connect more deeply with herself and others, Donna experienced what continues to help her bridge diverse perspectives and people groups through nurturing genuine connection--in both ministry and media. We hear how she makes speaking to 100,000 people a personal experience.

We also discuss how we all have the capacity to embrace our vulnerability, and how that leads to meeting people where they are, deepening our empathy and cultivating real connections.

Join me, Colleen Akiko, in this series Making Connections with Donna Apidone—a voice many know from NPR’s Morning Edition, but whom I cherish as a deep thinker, a storyteller, and a truly radiant person.

In Part 1: An Unlikely Beginning, we hear how Donna started her career in broadcast journalism by ignoring common sense advice.

We move on from there to explore the art--and heart, of navigating difficult conversations with grace, curiosity, and authenticity.

If you’ve ever struggled with hard conversations—whether in personal relationships, at work, or within yourself—this episode offers wisdom and tools to help you navigate them with more ease. Tune in for a heartfelt and empowering discussion!

In this final episode of Rising Through Trauma Into Healing, we explore how totally serving a less-than-perfect leader can reflect our own unclaimed power within, and become a catalyst for growth.

This fourth segment, Healing From Betrayal by Discovering Our Indweller, explores how the deep pain and trauma of betrayal can mirror our unhealed inner wounds. We discuss how losing faith in a leader, ideology, or relationship may feel devastating, but it can also clear space for authentic wisdom.

Angelika brings us on an inner Hero’s Journey, where we discover surprising allies and learn to trust our Indweller--our deep knowing, our inner Guide, where the answers we seek emerge in stillness and awareness. From there we shift into LIVING our truth for the most lasting ripple effect in the world.

We end this series with a joyful Angelika song, celebrating the continuous unfolding of being fully present.

This third segment of Rising Through Trauma into Healing, finds us lingering at the veil between the earthly and the afterlife, in Cherishing Wholeness and Purpose in Life. Angelika gives a fortifying message to those struggling with suicidal thoughts. Feel free to share it with a dear one who may be questioning how deep pain can open into deep transformation.

We discuss the empowerment of realizing our purpose for being here, and the real value of doing our inner work. Healing happens through staying present, not trying to escape.

Also, have you ever considered the hurtful impact of giving your inner child spiritual lectures? Hmmmm...

We discuss how cherishing EVERY aspect of ourselves makes all the difference. Angelika also introduces a deeply effective healing modality, Cognitive Movement.

Enjoy this animated conversation infused with joyful wisdom for transforming our personal and collective realities. And remember, if you'd like to continue processing the content in your quiet moments, journaling prompts are available on the Bonus Content Page at Songrise.live.

In our second segment with Angelika Schafer, Embracing Pain in Transformation, you'll hear insights on the profound shifts in consciousness currently occurring on Earth.

Angelika also opens her own story around food addiction and its roots, and a personal experience that demonstrates the wholistic nature of inner healing.

We explore the interconnectedness of all beings and the power of nonresistance--accepting all our emotions as part of the human experience.

Angelika also shares her life lessons in how our conscious evolution requires intention, effort and grace.

You'll come away with inspiration for setting new patterns in difficult times, and some practical tools for transformation. We're uplifted as we celebrate our living, co-creative relationship with the Divine as expressed in Angelika's healing work--an open door for us all!

This is the first of a four-part series titled: Angelika Schafer: Rising Through Trauma into Healing. I'm excited to introduce my dear friend, Angelika Schafer. She's a generous soul who overflows with profound wisdom and global experience as an integrative coach, healing practitioner, recording artist, teacher, retreat leader and interfaith minister.

In this segment, From an Ocean of Pain to the Power of Song, we discover how pain can be transformed into purposeful healing. Angelika describes her journey that began in post war Germany, of transmuting the pain of ancestral and personal trauma into Self-discovery and healing--first for herself, then others through her music and other modalities like Cognitive Movement.

You may find yourself seeing how your own hardships might hold seeds of growth and transformation as well. And how healing itself is an ongoing journey--one that took Angelika from Germany to Alaska, India, and where she now lives off the grid in northern California.

As Angelika shares about her purpose in healing through music, you'll savor a taste of this in one of her ethereal songs at the end.

Feel free to access some Self-reflective journaling prompts for this and all episodes on the Bonus Content Page at Songrise.live.

What is We Be The Change about, how did it germinate, and who's the lady asking questions behind the mic?