Almost Awakened – Almost Awakened

Today Bill talks about 4 observations about human behavior 1.) That we need to be protectors of others Stories rather than one who hijacks the narratives of others. 2.) That we need to work on being present and not getting lost in the mind chatter that can overwhelm us and prevent us from showing up for others. 3.) That we need to learn that when in an argument we move from tangent to tangent such...

Today we dive into how to handle conflict differently. The conversation centers around what is needed to help people get out of lizard brain and to help another to feel heard creating the space needed to keep a conflict from devolving. The conversation helps us understand how fear affected us hundreds of thousands of years ago and how we evolved to create new mechanisms of fear when we created lan...

Mekael and Bill utilize this episode to discuss the this George Floyd moment. His death, the protests and riots, the systemic racism in this country, the police abuse, and most importantly the ethnocentricity and tribalism that all these abuses and inequalities are rooted in. RESOURCES: https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/fall-2018/what-is-white-privilege-really https://www.cpt.org/files/Undoing%20...

Mekael and Bill sit down with Steve Conlin from Five Wives Vodka to discuss the The History of their company and the challenges that their company has faced in getting their product out and how the alcohol industry generally is developing. As a side tangent we also touch on the history of the Barrison Sisters. We discuss the religious and religious deconstruction influence on their brand and how t...

Today Mekael and Bill sit down with EMDR Therapist LaDawn and discuss Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing.  Discussing how this therapeutic approach deals with trauma and help patients to heal and repair. LaDawn Dewitt What is EMDR How Does EMDR Work? EMDR Taking a Closer Look

Scott Jeffrey is an author and is the founder of CEOsage, a transformational leadership agency and resource for self-actualizing individuals . Scott is a voice of wisdom in several fields and one of those is Shadow Work. You can read Scott’s guide on Shadow work HERE . In today’s conversation we hear Scott’s wisdom around why we hide and why we create unhealthy mechanisms to prot...

Jared Clavin belonged to a religious system where alcohol was forbidden. Then Jared discovered his system didn’t have all the answers. As he begin questioning his faith he in turn had to question all the things his faith told him were good and were bad including alcohol. Once Jared stepped away from the faith of his Childhood he was now free to experiment for the first time with alcohol and...

Mekael and Bill discuss Body Image today. How different Genders perceive their bodies, what things we humans feel shame over, and How we can be healthier in how we treat others and ourselves. RESOURCES: Body Image: Not Just About Your Body: Jessi Kneeland: TED Battling Our Bodies: Understanding and Overcoming Negative Body Images Uncomfortable in our skin: the body-image report It’s Not Just...

Mekael and Bill discuss three things today. First they review some of their thoughts from last weeks conversation with River about ethical non-monogamy. Second Bill discusses some recent Shadow work including a sound bite from the hit TV show Criminal Minds. Lastly Bill and Mekael discuss Kinks and Fetishes including Bills discovery and sharing of how own kink. RESOURCES: MindHunter TV Show Crimin...

Mekael and Bill sit down with River who chooses along with her primary partner to live in the space of Non-Monogamy.  Today we talk about what that looks like in terms of how someone approaches this lifestyle.  How someone begins conversations about this part of themselves.  How someone initiates conversations around the pro and cons of monogamy and the pros and cons of non-monogamy...

Today Bill and Mekael sit down with Author Spencer Wright regarding his book “How to think” . The discussion revolves around how we humans can be more rational with the beliefs we hold. We discuss at length the feasibility of completely shedding Ego and yet the merits of shedding some portions of ego in order to have the critical thinking skills necessary to shed false absurd beliefs w...

Today Mekael and Bill talk about what has gone on over the last month.  The passing of a loved one, what they and their lovers are reading, the saving of a baby and essentially just catching the listeners up after a month of chaos.  They also spend a few minutes to talk about entering the drinking culture as a 40 year old adult. Resources: Sex At Dawn Bill Rescuing a baby and it making N...

Today Bill records an episode on his own giving Mekael a break. Bill had been in Ohio for two weeks sitting by the bedside of his mother who was in the final stage of her battle with Cancer. Today’s episode revolves around Bill’s confronting the death of his mom along with dealing with how we in this country handle the dying, Euthanasia, and if we are doing the best things to relieve s...

Today Bill and Mekael tackle SEX, namely Negotiating Sexuality within a relationship responsibly. Within ethical and legal constraints, we all have the right to push for what we want from our partner (and to suffer the consequences for pushing too hard). Similarly, we also have the right to deny our partner’s requests (and to suffer the consequences for shutting them down). But we need to remember...

Today we just riff discussing some shadow work we faced this week. Bill’s was his wife’s mechanism of feeling like she took something away from someone and then trying to force the person she feels she hurt into righting the ship for her and then punishing them when they don’t help her right her perceived wrong. For Mekael it was her interaction with a friend who challenged her t...

Today we discuss Pride Week in our local community. We discuss the recent local controversy where significant push back in our community over the numerous Pride Flags being put up to bring awareness to the cause and celebrating the week. We then talk about Pride week itself including the the “Dragalicious” Drag Queen show we attended last night. This takes us to discussing Bill’s...

You know those times there is conflict between you and your lover. One of you behaved in a way that annoyed or hurt the other and one of you lashes out in telling the other to knock off their behavior. Before you know it one of you is is being ultra defensive and the other is on the attack trying to fix their partner. and 1 hour later one of you is on the couch and one or both of you are deeply hu...

Today we tackle our first interview with Author and runner Cory Reese. We talk about running and how it ties into life and being present. Please email us your questions and comments at AlmostAwakened AT Gmail DOT Com and visit us at AlmostAwakened.org Find us on Itunes, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, and other great third party Podcast apps. Also please check out our partner Red Roca Coffee , and if y...

Today we talk about FEAR. Is Fear healthy? How do we cope with fear? What are some interesting things about fear such as does fear have a smell? Please email us your questions and comments at AlmostAwakened AT Gmail DOT Com and visit us at AlmostAwakened.org Find us on Itunes, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, and other great third party Podcast apps. Also please check out our partner Red Roca Coffee , a...

Today we talk about Dying and Death. What do we believe about Death and Dying. Thoughts on coping with such.  What happens at death? How to support someone who has lost a loved one?  How to arrive at peace over your own future death?  Please email us your questions and comments at AlmostAwakened AT Gmail DOT Com and visit us at AlmostAwakened.org Find us on Itunes, Stitcher, Google...

Today we talk about Human Connection. What does human connection look like? What levels of intimacy is appropriate with various types of relationships? How do vulnerability and authenticity come into play? And what can we do to extend ourselves in healthy ways into deeper connection with both starbngers and people we love? Please email us your questions and comments at AlmostAwakened AT Gmail DOT...

Today we tackle the Top 5 Catalysts for Awakening. Those would be Meditation, Reading or deep profound learning, Travel, Psychedelic Substances, and Existential Crises. We also throw in a surprise 6th towards the end. We hope you enjoy. Please email us your questions and comments at AlmostAwakened AT Gmail DOT Com and visit us at AlmostAwakened.org Find us on Itunes, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, and...

In Episode 3 we tackle vulnerability. What is vulnerability, when is the risk worth being vulnerable, what do safe space look like, how to lean into it, and so much more. We talk about vulnerability with your sacred stories, with your sexuality, and with who you are at your core. We hope you enjoy. Please email us your questions and comments at AlmostAwakened AT Gmail DOT Com and visit us at Almos...

Part two of the “ Almost Awakened Podcast ” We dive into parts of the book Sapiens written by Yuval Noah Harari . Specifically speaking about how humans evolved to move from tribes whose cohesive mechanism was Intimate Connection to sightly larger groups based on Gossip and eventually onto Myth. We discuss how other great apes use Grooming in place of Gossip and myth and how an Almost...