Gratitude Blooming Podcast

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we dive into our relationship with the natural world through the Gratitude Blooming theme of community, represented by the Bleeding Heart flower. Our guest, Ryland Engelhart, co-founder of Kiss the Ground, shares his thoughts on how we can improve our relationship with nature by spending time and attention on it.  He invites us to imagine building a relationship w...

Send us Fan Mail This week, we interview Katrina Spade, the founder of Recompose, a company that provides funeral service by composting the dead. Inspired by the Gratitude Blooming Wildcard - Lilac, Katrina shares her personal journey and experiences that led her to this work, including her childhood growing up in rural New Hampshire and her background in architecture and design. She explains how...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the podcast, "Impermanence - embracing loss," we dedicate it to our beloved podcast producer, Brian Vasquez, who recently passed away. Brian was a self-taught and Grammy-nominated audio producer who never forgot the magic of audio and had a deep appreciation for the craft. He will always be remembered for his love for sound and storytelling.  Brian’s l...

Send us Fan Mail In this podcast episode, Belinda Liu and Omar Brownson sit down with the multi-talented Kameron Green to talk about her relationship to time and how she uses this time of year to reflect on her accomplishments, set intentions, and create an ongoing practice for the new year.  Kameron shares how the pandemic has changed her, both personally and professionally, and how she has shift...

Send us Fan Mail Join us for a special episode of the Gratitude Blooming Podcast as we explore the theme of forgiveness with author and optimist Simon Sinek. In this captivating conversation, we delve into Simon's personal and professional experiences with forgiveness and how it has impacted his life.  Simon also shares his thoughts on the concept of heartfulness as the new mindfulness and of...

Send us Fan Mail As we transition to a new year, we revisit the concept of tenacity and how it is represented by the dandelion. The dandelion is a symbol of transformation, going from a yellow flower to a white puff ball to seeds. Similarly, we can transform our minds by practicing gratitude and shifting our focus from negative thoughts to positive ones. This helps us to cultivate a growth mindset...

Send us Fan Mail In this intimate conversation, we look back and look forward on the year and the lessons our team has learned from being in close connection to nature.  Belinda talks about how nature has been a profound and lifelong learning experience for her and how it is accessible and universal to everyone.  Omar shares about the importance of gratitude and mindfulness in allowing us to adapt...

Send us Fan Mail In this podcast episode, author and therapist Jor-El Caraballo talks about the importance of presence, permission to grow, sensitivity, memory, security vs. safety, and belonging.  He compares himself to an orchid, a plant that needs very little water, and encourages listeners to focus less on creation and more on spontaneity. He also mentions the importance of consent, disclosure...

Send us Fan Mail At the heart of Gratitude Blooming is art. All the art is an attempt to bring some kind of healing into the world.  According to the artist and co-founder Arlene Kim Suda, even if the expression of a work reaches just one person at a time, it feels like the slow work needed to build the momentum to create the world we hope and dream to live in. This week we talk more about the pow...

Send us Fan Mail What can bloom from your vulnerability? This week, we explore the theme of vulnerability represented by the winter rose with zazen practitioner Angela Oh. She invites us to imagine vulnerability as choosing the unknown, even if it’s scary. Being vulnerable means walking hand-in-hand with courage.  Angela Oh is a renowned civil rights lawyer (though she would never say that of hers...

Send us Fan Mail We're taking a step back this week to explore the question of "Why gratitude?".   One answer is self-care. The brain has a biological bias to focus on the negative and gratitude disrupts this bias. This negative instinct sits in our amygdala, which while only the size of an almond is nearly as old as the dinosaurs.  The other "why gratitude", and the one t...

Send us Fan Mail Our Full Length Conversation with VC Tang on Self Care inspired by the Allium Triquetrum/3-Cornered Leek (Card #10)   We're cooking up some gratitude this week with this long-form interview with VC Tang on the theme of self care as it relates to community care.  We hope this conversation inspires you to nourish yourself by cooking and eating with others! VC is an author, cook...

Send us Fan Mail Our full-length conversation with Pastor Keith PK Jenkins on Growth and the Grapevine (Card #33) This week, we’re excited to preview an upcoming episode on the theme of Growth and the grapevine by sharing our long-form interview with Pastor Keith PK Jenkins. Keith is a strong leader who through humility and compassion gains access to the hearts of other leaders. His honesty and in...

Send us Fan Mail Teacher and thought partner Norma Wong (Norma Ryuko Kawelokū Wong Roshi) joins us to reflect on everything from ancestry to neuroscience to her own childhood influences. Abbot of Anko-in, an independent branch temple of Chozen-ji, Norma articulates the Collective Acceleration of this moment, which also serves as the title and inspiration for the second season of our podcast.  Insp...

Send us Fan Mail This week’s theme of Wholeness embraces both the light and shadow. Artist Arlene Kim Suda shares this inspiration from Jun'ichirō Tanizaki — 'Were it not for shadows, there would be no beauty.’ We are encouraged to remember the beautiful grays and that our wholeness will never destroy us.  Joined by the intuitive and thoughtful strategic advisor and executive coach Steph...

Send us Fan Mail Life is not a script. It is a conversation. Life is going to life. How are you connected to it?  Cultural anthropologist and culture keeper Dr. Erika Powell shares when she learned to pray from a Lakota elder. In a meadow in South Dakota, the elder shared: everything is alive and everything is listening to you.  Before this moment, she asked whose inbox was getting my prayers. Whe...

Send us Fan Mail Being there for each other. That’s the core inspiration for bar owner and author Cedd Moses. He says, “It’s not worth growing unless we can be there for each other.” He is on the path to redefine the hospitality industry with his bars and company Pouring with Heart, which is also the title of his new book: Pouring with Heart: The Essential Magic Behind the Bartenders We Love. This...

Send us Fan Mail This week we invite you to alchemize your belly breath. To transform pixels to atoms. To go from digital to analog. With guest Dr. Paul Chengpo Wang (aka Sifu Paul), we invite you to retreat into your well-being and wholeness. The Gratitude Blooming theme is patience, represented by the chamomile. Our artist Arlene Kim creates her first animated gif, a fun and delightful homage to...

Send us Fan Mail There is a myth about scarcity. When we connect to each other the separation and supremacy that rely on the idea of scarcity fall away. Inspired by the rose of sharon, this week we talk abundance with poet, strategist, designer and philanthropic and capital advisor Taj James of Full Spectrum Labs.  His father from Alabama and his mother with Scandinavian roots via the midwest, for...

Send us Fan Mail Play with this moment. It may give you an opportunity to dance with the sublime. This week we talk with community leader and environmentalist Effie Turnbull Sanders and explore the theme of Reverence inspired by the Gratitude Blooming sunflower.  Last year, Effie brought the Gratitude Blooming Circle practice to her team at the University of Southern California where she is the VP...

Send us Fan Mail Explore the Gratitude Blooming theme of Perspective through the agapanthus flower and a conversation with author and co-founder of the Center for Wild Spirituality Victoria Loorz. She reminds us, as does the art, that what is unnamed is forgotten.  We are invited to listen to the wilderness, which can be translated as the voice that speaks. When we listen first, then we can be in...

Send us Fan Mail This week we explore the theme of tenacity, represented by the dandelion, with artist and musician Radhika Vekaria. Even after a big life challenge, Radhika shares that the heart doesn’t need protecting. It’s protecting us. Hearts don’t break, only our expectations. She found we can always recharge the heart with love and breath.  The digital artwork of the dandelion is juxtaposed...

Send us Fan Mail This week’s podcast theme of discovery is expansive from the deeply personal to the full human experience. The digital artwork takes us beyond the day and into the night. The agave flower opens up to the cool light of the moon and pollinating bats.  Balancing being a social entrepreneur and parent, Kabira Stokes joins us to share her unique story. She can trace her Quaker roots to...

Send us Fan Mail Flower: Redwood Blood memory can be described by your ancestral and genetic connection to language, songs, spirituality, and teachings. Your ancestors are in you all the time and everything they experienced is in you. And you have an opportunity to heal and grow in each moment.  This week we are joined by Arella Trustman M.A, a member of the Walker River Paiute Tribe of Nevada who...

Send us Fan Mail After receiving several requests to feature more from our conversation with Zeneca - Enjoy this episode featuring our full length conversation with @Zeneca33! Check out our recent episode on Friendship and our highlights from this conversation here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1795496/10943052-want-emotional-freedom-the-stoic-secret-is-in-your-reactions-according-to-zeneca_33.mp3?d...