Waves of Joy

PODCAST UPDATE: New episodes now MONDAY ONLY -- If I am not moving across the country, I am likely traveling across the country; either way, you can usually find me living out of a suitcase. Not anymore! My life has drastically changed as my boyfriend and I packed up and moved far away from family to the west coast where I am attending school for at least 4 years. This entire transition has been t...

Life is rushed. We categorize everything from grocery shopping to online dating as urgent and important, leaving us unsatisfied and exhausted at the end of each day. A life of to-do lists will leave you gasping for air, wishing you had more than 24 hours in a day. Today, we deep dive into the scientifically proven Eisenhower matrix. In building a solid framework around what to do immediately, what...

These last 8 weeks have been an absolute whirlwind. The struggles, the strength, the suffering, and the triumph are going to make a solid chapter in my next book. Today I deep dive into an honest life update. What changed between Cam and I after my near-death experience, how we have kept our new relationship thriving with medical school, gut repair after pain medicine, and how cutting your hair ca...

What happens to your body when your brain is thinking? Have you ever thought, I don't want to get out of bed; life would be fabulous if I could just lay here all day? I mean, if you haven't thought this are you even human? haha! Today, we are deep-diving into what thoughts are, what happens to your body when you think, and how to change your thoughts and change your body! 𝓍𝓍𝒮𝒽𝒶𝓊𝓃𝒶 𝒯𝒶𝓀𝑒𝒲𝒽...

I would like to think I treat each day as a gift and not a given right. I pray, I meditate, I spread kindness, I find joy in hardships, and I love fearlessly. Being a good person doesn't mean scary, and rare occurrences will be devoid in your life. I am a case study, and this week changed my life forever. A ruptured hemorrhagic ovarian cyst, bleeding internally, emergency surgery, and so much...

Angela Duckworth, author of the book Grit says it best. "Grit is about having what some researchers call an "ultimate concern”–a goal you care about so much that it organizes and gives meaning to almost everything you do. Grit is holding steadfast to that goal, even when you fall down, even when you screw up, even when progress toward that goal is halting or slow. Talent and luck matter...

When I was about 5 years old, I almost drowned. I can't tell you I remember much of anything besides what my parents shared with me, but that being said, as an adult, the feeling of drowning ebbs and flows with different seasons of my life  Between work, finances, friendships, relationships, and health how is one person supposed to stay joyfully afloat day in and day out? In the midst of adul...

If it hurts, and you let it hurt, you are healing. Breakups suck, or so we've been conditioned to think anyway. How many times have you been through a breakup? Maybe it was on your terms, and maybe it wasn't; either way, I bet you didn't throw some big party and post all over social media about it. Often, when we decide not to elevate our relationship, we label ourselves as failures...

Expertise is everywhere. We’ve all gotten good at various things in our lives, but that level of understanding comes with a burden. We start to view things in a very specific, rigid way. A way that fits the narrative of our experience and knowledge thus far in life. We have trouble seeing things from a different perspective any longer. Today we deep dive into using the beginner’s mind to engage in...

It's not what you know, it's what you do! How many times a day do you convince yourself that you don't have time to do what you know you need to do? Maybe it's pre-packing your lunch, walking outside in nature, checking in with your partner, washing your face, or meditating. We are EXCUSE masters! Trust me when I say that every day I can find a million reasons not to get up at...

Have you ever thought about doing something and then convinced yourself you weren't "enough" for whatever that thing was? Maybe you wanted to be a race car driver or maybe you wanted to be a scientist and study off the coast of New Zealand with more plants than people or maybe you wanted to be a mother, but you thought you would never be as good as your friends. As humans, we get ca...

Do you like to cook or bake? Me too!! Well, if you are anything like me when you cook, you follow the recipe to a T, but when you bake, you pinch and throw ingredients in a bowl without any way to ever replicate the same recipe twice. The reality is, sometimes it is insanely delicious, and other times, well, maybe you hit up the local ice cream shop and give the cookies to the neighbor. Either way...

There is this interesting thing humans do on a day-to-day basis. We run around like chickens with our heads cut off, thinking if we move quicker, we can get more things done, and maybe, just maybe, it'll feel like we gained more time in a day. We chase our "picture of the preferable future" in exchange for the abundance and joy of the present moment. Yet, we all know those people wh...

With the recent tragic loss of people near, far, young and old, I couldn't help but reflect on my life transitions over the last 33 years.  What I have found is that everything starts with how you see it. When was the last time you did a handstand to gain a new perspective? We are stuck in what we tell ourselves, which is often far from the truth. Today we talk about returning to those prime...

Today deadlines, finish lines, and goalposts are all things hindering and not helping you. You’re overwhelmed. You aren’t wrong about the pressure. Your boss, aunt, bus driver, and woman at the ticket kiosk: everyone would like you to go a bit quicker.  But you can’t paint the second coat first; you just can’t. As humans, we love immediate gratification, but when you genuinely think about how your...

According to the Theory of Needs by David McClelland, there are three main drivers of motivation, a need for achievement, a need for affiliation, and a need for power. Have you ever thought about why you do what you do? Whether it be going back to school, changing careers, starting a family, or traveling the world solo, deep down, you have a driving motivation.  Maybe it’s an impressive achievemen...

When was the last time you went to the beach? When was the last time you built a sandcastle at the beach? Maybe it was last week, but likely it was 10 years ago or more. This reference may initially seem irrelevant though I would tend to disagree as these handcrafted, fleeting creations have taught you life lessons since childhood. Today we deep dive into what it means to begin again while finding...

We often tell ourselves if we make more money, we will be happier; if we fit into size 2 jeans, we will feel more beautiful; if we ignore burnout and try to be everything to everyone, we will receive more recognition. Speaking from experience, all of these beliefs are lies we tell ourselves to avoid facing what is uncomfortable in our current reality. In actuality, when we make more money, we spen...

Holy shit, this year of life brought me an insurmountable amount of joy.  It turns out that trusting your gut instincts,  regular meditation, working less, and traveling more will bring you all the health, healing, and happiness in the world. In one year, I manifested buying my first home, backpacking Europe, meeting my person, gaining clarity on my doctorate program, and SO MUCH MORE! On today&ap...

Karma means action. Physics shows that for every action, there must be an equal and opposite reaction. Depending on your previous actions, this could create wholehearted happiness or immense suffering. Whatever happens, is the result of Karma being released, which, no matter how you view the situation, is a good thing and an opportunity for future growth. Today we deep dive into releasing your kar...

Have you ever asked yourself why is this happening TO me? Often this is our first reaction when something unpredictable manifests in our lives. What if we rephrased this in the slightest but most transformative way to say, why is this happening FOR me? I have said time and time again that nothing in our lives is an accident; no matter how difficult, magnificent, or strange it may seem, it is meant...

How you slow down, how you keep things simple, and who you surround yourself with is the true definition of a life well lived. Today I have the pleasure of sharing the mic with Alexa Helman, a kick-ass, truly authentic young lady whom I met just a few months ago through Toastmasters. Her energy, vulnerability, and free spirit are contagious. Our conversation today is real and raw, speaking about h...

"Whenever you know what is lacking, you know more clearly what it is that you desire. In other words, in the midst of sickness, your desire for wellness is always clearly amplified." There are countless moments in our lives when we just don't know what to do. Typically, we obsess over finding answers and regaining control without regard to our vibrational alignment. The truth is we...

Risk is ubiquitous (found everywhere) in daily life. People weigh the costs and benefits of important life decisions involving medical treatments, financial investments, leisure time activities, and life partners. What I have found is that calculated risks always win. In dropping expectations, we release control, and we let go of what makes us so-called "successes or failures" in life. T...

What better time to learn and incorporate new techniques for improving mental health and healing the body than May, Mental Health awareness month? It seems farfetched to think the colors around you directly affect how you learn or your energy levels, but they do. Color is part of the electromagnetic spectrum, a wavelength of energy, so it should be no surprise that it has wide-ranging effects on l...