The Creative Soul Podcast

In this episode, Leya tunes in from Peru and shares about her personal relationship to plant medicine and how cannabis has been a tool to support her creative and spiritual practice. She shares how her relationship has evolved with it, the lessons it teachers her, how she uses it as a ritual, the fine balance between using plant medicine consciously/unconsciously and how to tell the difference wit...

In this episode, I get to talk with my sister, Sarah Van Doren. Sarah is the mother to two beautiful boys and lives in New York City. We talk about what it was like growing up in a huge, unique, artistic family, what doing ballet full-time as a child taught her about life, what she didn't expect about motherhood, the difference between her first and second pregnancy, post-partum anxiety, and t...

In this episode, Leya shares how creativity has been a healing act for her while doing deep, inner work in therapy. She shares what she's been learning and working on in therapy and how she has been using creativity to help in the healing and feeling process. Creative Resources Mentioned: Leya's Poetry Book: Mermaid Musings: Stories of Sea, Sex, and Spirituality I Remember by Joe Brainard...

Christina Irvin of GlowGlowJuice HD is a creative, guide and teacher who helps others embrace their authentic selves through Human Design. She is a traveler, a self-professed weirdo, way too into Harry Potter and all things magic, says hello to every creature she sees and truly believes in the power and potential of every person. In this episode we talk about healing and managing chronic illness t...

In this episode, Leya shares fun, personal stories about what she learned from the past month traveling solo through Mexico! She shares what led her to start solo traveling, the benefits of solo travel, what she learned from taking her first in-person yoga class since pre-pandemic, how a practice helps you evolve, developing perspective, and what the Basilica of Guadalupe taught her about meaning....

Sarah Mac is a Creative Business Coach who supports creative entrepreneurs to hit 5-figure months in fun ways in their dream business. She helps her clients to share their unique gifts through powerful storytelling that magnetizes dream clients to their offers with ease. Originally from the UK, Sarah is now based in New York. She's also a songwriter and performer. In this episode, we talk abou...

In this episode, Leya shares about her travels to Mexico City, and explores the global identity crisis, finding home, and belonging, and navigating change and transition. She shares the ways in which creativity can be a practice for presence and shares a writing exercise that will help tap you into your senses and the present moment. Creative Resources Mentioned: @viendamaria The Diary of Frida Ka...

Sydney Weiss is a lawyer and the creator, host, and producer of Seek The Joy Podcast , your go-to podcast for heartfelt storytelling and conversations on all things self-love, joy, connection, wellness and spirituality. Sydney’s greatest mission is to uplift and empower others to find their authentic voice, encourage them to step into their vulnerability and courage, all to seek their joy and brin...

Britt is a certified health coach, spiritual life coach, podcast host, entrepreneur, energy healer, plant-based nutrition advocate, speaker, and integrative wellness enthusiast. She utilizes the concept of bio-individuality as her guiding principle to helping overwhelmed women embrace the fact that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to life. Her unique approach combines ancient wisdoms, quantu...

In this month's solo episode, Leya shares a life update and her tips for using creativity as a grounding practice. She shares two practices that have been helping her stay grounded in times of stress, overwhelm, and facing the unknown. PLUS she shares a special 10 minute guided meditation for grounding into your body and the earth. Meditation starts at 12:34 Meditation music licensed by BlueTr...

Jordy Alexander aka Xndr is a director and startup addict currently based in Kauai. After creating his first viral video in 2013, "Hallway Swimming" he was blown away by the power of leveraging the internet. He spent the next seven years traveling and developing social content, documentaries and commercials for brands and influencers. Today, he is building Obtainable.io, Cibukan, Logos MMX...

NICOLE GULOTTA is the author of Wild Words: Rituals, Routines, and Rhythms for Braving the Writer’s Path and Eat This Poem: A Literary Feast of Recipes Inspired by Poetry, which was inspired by her blog of the same name. Her winning poetry chapbook, Migration, was published by Flyway: A Journal of Writing and Environment at Iowa State University. As the founder of the Wild Words community, she hel...

Katrina Markoff is the CEO and Founder of Vosges Haut-Chocolat and is the recipient of numerous accolades including being named one of  The Top 100 Most Creative People in Business  by  Fast Company ,  Fortune Magazine’s  40 Under 40 , the  Bon Appétit   Food Artisan of the Year Award , and “ THE innovator in chocolate to lead the US through the next 30 years ” by  Food & Wine Magazine . She w...

In this special milestone episode, Leya shares the lessons she's learned over the past year of podcasting, the unexpected gifts she's gained, and the ups and downs that this last year has taught her. She also shares: What to do when you get stuck in the comparison trap How to know which creative project to follow next How to claim your gifts What is "purpose" and how do you find yo...

Hanna Francis is a singer-songwriter and Balkan folk-dance teacher who is obsessed with self-help and believes you can be a little happier *right now* with the intentional use of music (both experiencing and creating). Her songs, weekly blog, monthly newsletter, podcast and YouTube dance lessons are all rooted in the belief that music is a form of therapy and self-hypnosis. She consciously uses th...

Ari Afsar is a singer/songwriter with placements on ABC, Disney, and Amazon. A graduate of Ethnomusicology from UCLA, Afsar just released her Concept Album distributed by Sony Masterworks, "We Won’t Sleep" She is the composer of Broadway-bound We Won’t Sleep the Musical, as named by Playbill. It was developed at the O'Neill NMTC where Afsar won the Lyricist Award. She has been commissi...

Kelly Collins is a yoga teacher and your “go-to” Spiritual Coach and Trusted Advisor to women who are burnt out, uninspired in their career or relationships and feel disconnected from their true selves. Kelly supports clients through a holistic life audit and provides actionable spiritual tools all while using her celebrated methodology Soul Spark ™.  Within a month, clients have stronger relation...

In this month's solo episode, I share a practice that has been meaningful to me throughout the years - creating your own artist retreat! We go over what an artist retreat is, how to set intention, how to figure out what to do on your artist retreat, how to hold yourself accountable, and some at-home artist retreat ideas. I also share about some of the past artist retreats I've taken and th...

Jyoti is the founder of My Wellness Company, a cyclical living mentor, yoga & meditation teacher and holistic wellness practitioner. She is here to guide you back home to yourself and empower you on your journey as you peel back the layers, reclaim your truth & step into your power. She does this using a range of holistic wellness modalities including menstrual cycle mentoring, yogic philo...

Lucy H. Pearce is the author of ten life-changing non-fiction books, including Nautilus Award winners Medicine Woman, Burning Woman, and Creatrix: she who makes. Her writing focuses on women’s healing through archetypal psychology, embodiment, historical awareness and creativity. Her work has been shared internationally in online and print media. Her latest book, She of the Sea, launches in July....

Oliver Butler is a director and theatermaker. He recently directed the Broadway Premiere of What the Constitution Means to Me (Nominations for the Tony Award, Lucille Lortel Award, Drama League Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, and Drama Desk Award; Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama) and can be seen on Amazon Prime, West Coast Premiere of Will Eno's Thom Pain (based on nothing) starri...

In this month's solo episode, Leya goes deep and shares about her personal journey with spirituality. She explores religion vs spirituality, her experience living on an ashram as a teenager, how she got introduced to yoga and meditation, studying yoga in India, traveling to Bali and Thailand, plant medicine, therapy, and lessons in staying present and expanding our consciousness. Creative Reso...

Ashley Sondergaard is a self care coach, a yoga teacher, an astrology enthusiast and host of the Yoga Magic podcast. For 9 years, she has studied yoga, meditation, astrology and mindfulness practices that prioritize self-care and self-discovery. After having her two girls, Ashley discovered the hard way that taking care of yourself first is the only way to take care of others. Today, she supports...

Rukmini Poddar is an artist, designer, and educator. Her creative passion lies at the intersection of emotional wellness and creative storytelling. She is also a self-proclaimed 100dayproject artist and author of the book, 100 Obscure Emotions.  She believes what is most personal is most universal. The sooner we realize how alike we are, the more we can create a culture of empathy and personalism....

Anne Ditmeyer (@pretavoyager) is an American creative coach and workshop facilitator based in Paris, France. She pulls from her background in design, anthropology, art history, and global communication as she helps people Write Your Own Rules and Map Your Path through fun, engaging experiences that encourage exploration and play. She's been blogging at Prêt à Voyager (translation: ready to tra...