Meanderings with Trudy

In this first episode in our book review, we’re exploring the information in the Prelude of Dina’s book, “Grief Unleased: Moving from the hole in our hearts to wholehearted.” The Prelude sets the table for the book, sharing her “why” in writing…. which is to dispel the myths around grief, to demystify it in service of living a more full life, so we can better embody our experience and grow as a re...

Feasting… author Martha Beck tells us that feasting has three essential elements: celebration, nourishment and gratitude. That’s what we talk about today in this final episode of the book, and of this 2024 spring season. I will be on break until October, but offering a “Meander Again” set of episodes, recasting my six conversations with Dina Bell-Laroche and her book, which takes us to mid-August....

Connection! This is the chapter where I really feel like the rubber hits the road. We see how the practices support us in our relationship with ourselves, and then we can apply these skills to our relationships in the bigger world. That’s what we cover in this next to final chapter in the book. Feel free to share your thoughts with me at  meanderingswithtrudy@gmail.com . I’d love to hear how your...

Laughter! That’s the focus of today’s meander, as we explore the third last chapter in Martha Beck’s book, “The Joy Diet: 10 daily practices for a happier life.” We visit a laughter yoga class from 2023 on Australia’s sunshine coast and hear from two laughter yoga teachers about the benefits of such a thing. There’s good science behind it too, that Beck explores in the book. I hope you’ll have a r...

In our final meander together with Dina, we explore the final chapter in “Grief Unleashed: Moving from the hole in our hearts to wholehearted.” This Postlude explores the work that Dina is confidently and humbling stepping into, the work of a Grief Doula, which she defines as companioning people in their grief journey. This is such big work, and such important work, as life is full of grief and lo...

In this chapter on play, I feel like I have really “shown my work.” I liked this chapter, and the invitation to make all that you do in your life feel like play. The exercises are great, and I walk through my answer to what my real career actually is and if I am living into that in my every day. Sneak peek: I am!  Feel free to share your thoughts with me at meanderingswithtrudy@gmail.com . I’d lov...

Treats! Everyone loves treats... and they can be a crucial tool in supporting you in the joy diet. They can help offset the inner challenge of taking a risk, and they can reinforce good habits. I hope you enjoy this meander as I share some of the things that I think of as "treats." It's more than chocolate and pizza, I can assure you! I hope you'll take some time to consider what a treat means to...

As the saying goes, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” Risk is the pathway through something that you fear, which paradoxically, helps you grow. Risk is a skill you can practice, and this chapter helps you find your way through.  I hope you’ll enjoy this episode. Please, share my work widely, and give the podcast a review to tease the algorithms. If you have comments or questions, please send the...

In chapter five of Dina’s book, we’re looking at the gifts that come out of embodying our grief, of healing the wounds in a healthy way. I found this chapter a wonderful way of pulling together all the threads of learning in this book. In fact, the invited homework from the previous chapter on continuing bonds helped me with this too.  The notion of post traumatic growth is a centrepiece of this c...

Creativity is this week’s focus in chapter 4 of “The Joy Diet.” I found this chapter really helpful and I encourage you to grab a pen and a piece of paper so you too can work through the exercises she offers. She doesn’t as much talk about creativity as much as invite you into a few practices that help you explore yours, in relation to the desire you may have articulated in the previous chapter. I...

As winter turns to spring, we're going to move chapter by chapter through a book by longtime life coach, Martha Beck. We're always told to live our best lives, but what does that really mean? In this book, coach Beck introduces us to the 10 daily practices that she believes will help us live more joy-filled lives. We're on chapter three, which dives into finding your heart's desire. Today, I meand...

As Angie is taking a pause from the PauseCast, due to her move to Phoenix and her new job, I am taking a little time to do a book review with everyone. We're going to move chapter by chapter through a book by longtime life coach, Martha Beck. We're always told to live our best lives, but what does that really mean? In this book, coach Beck introduces us to the 10 daily practices that she believes...

As Angie is taking a pause from the PauseCast, due to her move to Phoenix and her new job, I am taking a little time to do a book review with everyone. We're going to move chapter by chapter through a book by longtime life coach, Martha Beck. We're always told to live our best lives, but what does that really mean? In this book, coach Beck introduces us to the 10 daily practices that she believes...

I was able to view the 2024 solar eclipse totality and captured the sound. It’s a little windy later in the tape, so pardon that part. You’ll note that the geese and the birds do not go silent as the moon obscures the sun. And the crowd, as was the case all over, the crowd are jubilant!  As I listen to this, I am transported back to the experience, and feel the excitement and the wonder all over a...

In chapter four of Dina’s book, we’re looking at this idea of continuing bonds, of continuing our relationship with people who have died, by way of better owning, embodying, and coping with, our feelings of loss.  The thing about death is that we often can’t accept the reality of our loss. Continuing bonds normalizes our desire to maintain a relationship with those who have died, and for this to b...

Change is in the air… this is a special PauseCast with Angie as she prepares to move to Phoenix, Arizona from Almonte, Ont… from Canada to the US. And I am visiting family in Vancouver, BC. So, we sound a little different today, which is fine, and good, and as it should be.  Angie and I explore joy in the concept of change, which probably resonates for each of you, as change is one thing we can co...

I always love visiting nature, and  here in Vancouver, nature is truly just outside the guest bedroom door at my sister-in-law's place. Here, the sounds of a salmon stream that runs through the property are ever-present, and sooth my soul. So, I thought  I would share with you some of that beauty on this holiday week, in March. Chapman Coaching Inc. Royalty free music is called  Sunday Stroll – by...

Today, we pick up some of the threads we left before our break. We start with an exploration of what it means to return – to family, to relationships, to places we used to know – all in the context of stitching reverence and resilience into a cloth that fits us now. Yes, there’s a lot of “R”s in today’s episode – returning, reverence, resilience, ritual, repenting, re-membering, reminding… so many...

In chapter three of Dina’s book, we’re looking at the ways that we attend to our broken hearts. In this meander we show the shifts that Dina is still making in her own grief journey. How, after 22 years, she is finally making space for herself in this journey. It is such a beautiful way of appreciating how we embody grief and it nourishes our own experience in the world. And irrevocably changes us...

I hope you've enjoyed re-exploring joy as seen through the lens of the Enneagram. We covered a lot of ground from wholeheartedness, rebirth, community, ritual, storytelling and a whole lot more. And on this meander, I shared with you a bit about what I've learned about myself as I revisit my "two-ness" this time around. As I look ahead to the end of winter and coming spring episodes, I can tell yo...

Today we do a little recapping, and also reflect the Enneagram into our lives moving forward. How we can play with the characteristics of our type, and begin to learn how to choose how to respond to situations as opposed to simply react in our age-old way. This can create some unease in our relationships because we are acting outside of how others expect us to be… in our personal lives, and in our...

Chapman Coaching Inc. Royalty free music is called  Sunday Stroll – by Huma-Huma Please send thoughts and comments to  meanderingswithtrudy@gmail.com As always, this podcast is sponsored by the guests who give of their time, and by my company, Chapman Coaching Inc. Royalty free music is gratefully received and is called  Sunday Stroll – by Huma-Huma Live life joyfully, and always let kindness...

Soulfulness…what is it? How does it differ from spirituality? Why does it matter? And how does the Enneagram support it? In this meander, we explore how the Enneagram is both a tool and a practice… a tool of information about my type and the other personality types, and then the invitation into awareness, so that when I slow down, I can know myself, and see where my gifts lie, and also how I trip...

We kibbitz around a bit to begin with around unexpected connections in the supermarket, and that old game from the 1990s, Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon… which was really about just how connected we all are in this great big world. We wrestle with expectations, the ones we have when coming new to the Enneagram, how the first level of exploration is seeking information, that’s all. The next level is ab...

What is hope? And what is flow? Back in 2022, Angie and I explored these things… we said that hope is our background program that helps us get up in the morning. It’s actionable and intentional; it empowers us to do what we are here to be. And flow… flow happens when we let go of aspiration and just be who we are at our essence, in this very moment. And when we apply the lens of the Enneagram we a...