Empowering Chats with Susan Burrell

Thriving with Cancer

EP #259 - Thriving with Cancer, An Interview with Jan Adrian, author and Executive Director of the non-profit, Healing Journeys.

 

I am not only honored but so grateful to have Jan Adrian as a guest once again on Empowering Chats. I last interviewed Jan about 2 years ago and since that time she has written a memoir entitled, Coloring Outside the Lines, Surviving and Thriving with Cancer for 30+ Years. 

In this powerful chat Jan shares her life journey about living with cancer for over 30 years and how she came to understand and accept that she was never going to "beat" the cancer. She learned to accept her diagnosis and the many times it continued to show up in her body, even though her initial response was usually, "Oh S**T" she always found her way to the silver lining.

Jan never intended to write a book, she felt there were too many books already written about cancer. However, after much prodding from her friends and those she worked with at her non-profit, Healing Journeys, she realized there had never been a book written from the point of view of living and thriving with cancer. So she decided she would write her memoir with cancer as the focal point.

Jan's book is both inspiring and informative. It is not just about cancer but about resilience, trusting your intuition and your body.  She shares stories from her childhood, including one that began at the young age of 16 when she was diagnosed with an unknown disease. The doctors could not pinpoint what was causing her symptoms or why she was so ill.  She was eventually seen by a chiropractor who primarily used diet to help her body heal.

In her book, Jan describes the many strategies she used for healing, and how she learned that everything that washed up on her beach could be used for the growth of her soul.

To purchase Coloring Outside the Lines and learn more about Jan visit: HealingJourneys.org/coloring-outside-the-lines-surviving-and-thriving-with-cancer-for-30-years-by-jan-adrian/

Her book can also be purchased on Amazon.

To learn more about me and how I show up in the world please visit my website at: SusanBurrell.com

Time for Brave Action

Ep#258 - Time for Brave Action, An Interview with Leadership Coach, Clara Chorley

 

I am honored to welcome, author and career and leadership development coach, Clara Chorley to Empowering Chats. We jumped right into this chat with a new way of defining bravery. And then pulling apart how to access it in our everyday life.

Clara defines bravery by first stating what it is not. It is not what is portrayed in the movies, like the Indian Jones character fighting his enemies in the jungles of South America or the warrior with his sword going off to war to battle the “bad” guys. It is not any of those things but rather something more subtle and powerful.

According to Clara true bravery is very personal and can be very complicated. It is personal because only you can know where it is you need to be brave. It is not what society deems to be brave but rather what your inner voice is calling you to be brave about. It is that ever powerful inner knowing of what you need to do to shift, change or enhance your life.

This sort of bravery requires you to go after the things you really want, not what others are telling you is important or what society deems you need to have or go after, but rather investigating what brings you joy. And it may take both vulnerability and bravery to access that which is calling to you.

People that do more brave things have been shown to heal faster. There have been clinical studies done on this subject. There has also been research surrounding how being braver in your life can also extend your life.

It is all about moving bravely toward who we want to be and what we want to include in our lives. And this includes reaching for your fullest potential and bringing joy into your life.

To learn more about Clara Chorley please visit: ClarityUnlimited.com

To tap into your FREE Clarity Coaching Gift please message Clara directly through her Linkedin page: www.linkedin.com/in/clara-chorley Be sure to mention "Clarity Coaching Gift" and that you heard about this on my podcast Empowering Chats. She is offering these for only a limited time.

To Learn more about how I show up in the world please visit: SusanBurrell.com

Reaching For Your Highest Potential

Ep#257 - Reaching For Your Highest Potential, A Solo Show with your host, Susan Burrell.

Welcome to 2024. I am excited to jump start 2024 and share with all of you what my team and I came up with for our theme this year. As we were brainstorming at the end of 2023 the word potential kept bouncing around in my head.

And so that is how we came to settle on: BE Potential as the theme for Empowering Chats for 2024. The definition of Potential is as follows: Capable of being or becoming. Other words that showed in the definition included: Inherent, hidden, budding future, unrealized and undeveloped.

So as you enter this new year I invite you to take a few minutes or more, maybe 15 or 20 to sit in the quiet and listen. If you journal, have that handy as well. And ask yourself:

• What is my potential?
• Am I living it?  
• OR Is it undeveloped?
• Or hidden?
• Does it feel safe or daunting to step into my potential?

For me personally, I believe that becoming my full potential takes a lot of bravery and courage. And yet as I develop my potential, I feel more bountiful and more expansive.  2023 for me was about expanding . . . and now it’s about expanding into my full potential. Again, I invite you to do the same. To explore your inner landscape and see all the possibilities laid out for you.

I think it’s really about reaching for that high frequency of love. Growing into your potential is necessary for our individual growth and for the greater good of humanity.

It can be a wonderful adventure where you can access your abilities and become more aware of who you are.

So again, as I welcome in the new year of 2024 I encourage you to join me on this journey and make Empowering Chats a regular part of your podcast listening. I hope to inspire and encourage you to stay curious and expand into your potential.

 

From Cradle to Career

Ep#256 - From Cradle to Career - An interview with Nadine Templer, Senior Director of Volunteer Programs for the non-profit, HOPE Worldwide.

This is the month of giving and every year in December I like to focus on ways we can give to others in our life that do not necessarily involve material gifts. One of the ways I do this is by including discussions and interviews with people who are involved in the nonprofit world. So in that vein I am honored to introduce Nadine Templer, the Senior Director of Volunteer Programs for the non-profit, HOPE Worldwide. This organization has been around since the 1990s.  It has been serving people since the AIDs epidemic in South Africa.

They are an international organization that serves many people all over the world. 

Nadine lives in Nepal and works specifically to impact the people of Nepal. For the last 30 years HOPE worldwide has run a sustainable educational program for the poor and under-served children of Nepal. The school teaches the children that are the poorest of the poor. Many of these children come from families that have migrated from the Himalayas and the villages of Nepal. Many of these families come to Kathmandu in search of work and their children do not go to school. Those are the children that are enrolled in the school. It is an elementary school that goes from preschool to the 5^th grade. The classes are small and the children are fed 2 meals a day. Nadine shared that the children are very energetic and eager to learn. Over half of the staff are graduates of the school and the perfect fit for this school as they understand the background and the life these children are living.

Many of the kids are provided with scholarships so they can continue their education and most importantly HOPE worldwide follows through with this kids until they get to University and get a job.

Nadine had this to say, “We are very proud of the sustainable practice we have created. We do that by engaging with the child until they are in a career. We like to live by the saying, From Cradle to Career."

I shared with Nadine how this practice for me comes down to how “one person” can lift up others – all it takes is one person to begin the change and make a difference.

Anyone who wishes to give to this program specifically can do so through the HOPE worldwide website and they can give directly to the Nepal program by specifying that when they donate.

It’s all about learning how your gift can help others and volunteering is also another way to find joy.  And the lessons we can learn from the many communities around the world are endless.

To learn more about HOPE Worldwide or to donate please visit: Hopeww.org

To learn more about me and how I show up in the world please visit: SusanBurrell.com

The Gift of Giving

Ep.# 255 - The Gift of Giving - A Solo Show with your host, Susan Burrell

Another year has come and gone. Hard to believe.  As many of you know the theme for this year was, and still is “BE Expansive.” I hope through the many shows we presented this year you have all found ways to expand your minds and tap into your willingness to explore new frontiers and be present with the truth of who you are. Personally, I think that’s a gift that you can give directly to yourself.

And speaking of gifts. December is also the month of giving or as I like to say it, “The gift of giving” because when you give to yourself you are also giving to others and when you give to others you are giving to yourself.

For the past few years my team and I have gotten together to give assistance to others by way of donating to non-profit organizations. It has been a powerful process for me and for my team to know we are giving to organizations that can assist others.

Some of the organizations that I continue to support include: Canine Companions, Planned Parenthood, ASPCA (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) and International Rescue Committee.

I am calling to all of you to look inside your heart and think about giving in order to help someone you may never meet. There are many non-profit organizations to explore that likely fit into something you’d like to donate to. By giving in this way, I believe we create ripples of love that go out into humanity while also being a way of being of service to others.

I hope you give the gift of love not just to yourself but to others as well this season.

And if you are looking for additional ways to bring calm to your inner landscape as you navigate the busy holidays, I invite you to explore my guided meditations on Insight Timer which can easily be accessed via my website.

If you need a special gift for someone in your life who may be struggling with finding their purpose, I highly recommend my book, “Live An Empowered Life, A 30-Day Journey Book,” also found on my website. It is accompanied by videos and journal prompts to assist and guide you through this 30-Day Journey.

 

To learn more about the non-profits I mentioned in the show please visit:

GriefAndHappiness.com

aspca.org

PlannedParenthood.org

Canine.org

rescue.org

To learn more about how I show up in the world visit: SusanBurrell.com

To access my guided meditations, visit: InsightTimer.com/SusanBurrell

To purchase my book or my affirmation cards please visit: SusanBurrell.com/book

Communicating With Your Pets

Ep.# 254 Communicating with Your Pets. An Interview with Joan Ranquet.

My guest for this episode of Empowering Chats is Joan Ranquet. She has a unique niche in life. She is an animal communicator, an educator, a TEDx Speaker and the author of Emotional Freedom Technique for Animals and their Humans, Creating a Harmonious Relationship through Tapping.

I love this book. It is organized and easy to follow. Joan clearly spells out how EFT techniques can be applied to your pets.

I asked Joan to explain what EFT is and how she translated it into working with animals. Joan started out as an animal communicator. And what she found was that EFT – Emotional Freedom Technique, worked for her when dealing with high emotions and so she felt it could also be used to help animals. Joan describes EFT as: Tapping with your fingers on a series of acupuncture points which are connected to meridians in your body. And those meridians are connected to organ systems and in Chinese Medicine they believe each organ holds an emotional value. The points we focus on are calming emotional points.

One of the aspects of this human / animal relationship that Joan touches on in her book is the way we humans see life through a “human” lens whereas animals see it differently and yet we think our pets see the world in the same way.

The more we know about our pets and how they need to function in their world the better we will be as owners. One of Joan’s goals is to have her book available at shelters where new pet owners can utilize EFT or tapping to help their pet acclimate to a new life. Many shelter animals have been abused or neglected and consequently may have behavioral issues that can be addressed with tapping. 

The tapping technique works similarly for pets as it does for humans insofar as tapping on the same meridian points. The difference is that the pet owner is doing the tapping on the animal and using a reassuring voice coupled with loving affirmations.  This technique has proven to make a difference.

Joan’s whole goal is to help animals be their better self and we as pet owners can help support that. Joan has several books out that all speak to animal lovers and how we can learn to better communicate with our pets and be loving, supportive pet owners.

 

To learn more about Joan Ranquet please visit her website at: JoanRanquet.com

To purchase her book, Emotional Freedom Technique for Animals and their Humans, visit: Innertraditions.com/books/emotional-freedom-technique-for-animals-and-their-humans

To learn more about how I show up in the world visit:SusanBurrell.com

The Hidden Layers of Infertility

Ep.#253 - The Hidden Layers of Intertilty. An Interview with Maria Novotny and Robin Silbergeid

I am honored to welcome Maria Novotny and Robin Silbergeid to Empowering Chats. I am thrilled to have these two women on my show today. They have a powerful story to share and one that appears in the book entitled, Infertilities, A Curation.

These two women, along with Elizabeth Horn put this book together as a result of their shared experiences around infertility. It all started with Elizabeth co-finding the ART of Infertility, for which she has curated thirty exhibits since its inception in 2014. Maria is the co-director of The ART of Infertility. This exhibit was the recipient of the 2018 Hope Award for Innovation given by RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association for its work communicating patient experiences through arts programming. And Robin is a writer, a teacher and a scholar who has led many writing workshops and professional conference panels on topics related to infertility. These 3 women collaborated in getting this book put together to highlight how the use of visual art, poetry and creative non-fiction could and did have a hand in helping people from all walks of life heal from the diagnosis of infertility.

I started this empowering chat by quoting the opening passage in the book, Infertilities, A Curation. 

It goes like this, Infertility begins slowly, quietly with questions and uncertainty . . . and infertility begins with a growing awareness that making a family won’t be easy. It Won’t happen after a month or 3 or maybe even a year. Infertility begins with the choice to have a child. Infertility begins in the doctor’s office with tests and diagnostics codes. Infertility begins with sex. Infertility begins with asking a friend to donate sperm. Infertility begins with the arrival of blood each month . . . with a new cycle . . . with optimism and possibility . . . a first attempt at IVF . . . each treatment cycle can work or not.

The written and visual art in this book presents emotional beginnings with individuals wrestling with the diagnosis of infertility and what it means to build family in various contexts.

It's an emotional process. And both Maria and Robin shared what it is like to live with infertility and what it means for those women or men, or single “want to be parents” who identify as transgender or LGBTQ to get this diagnosis.

This book boldly illustrates how creativity can help people heal.

One review states, in part, “This daring collection harnesses the power of the arts to dismantle isolation and stigma, letting the light shine through to reveal the hidden layers of the infertility experience.”

I am so humbled and grateful for the work these amazing women have done individually and collectively to bring this topic to the forefront. The healing use of art and creative writing has been a gift for those suffering from infertility. I highly recommend this book for anyone who has been a support for someone suffering with infertility or if you yourself have had a firsthand experience with this diagnosis, know that you are not alone.

To purchase the book visit: Wsupress.wayne.edu/books/detail/infertilities-curation

To learn more about me and how I show up in the world visit: SusanBurrell.com

A Roadmap Through Trauma

Ep. #252 - A Roadmap Through Trauma, an Interview with Mary Firestone.

Emotions is the theme for this month. And I am always fascinated to find out who is going to fit into this theme and what I am going to learn.

And for this episode of Empowering Chats, I am honored to introduce Mary Firestone. Mary is an inspirational speaker and an author. Mary is the author of, Trusting the Dawn, How to Choose Freedom and Joy after Trauma. I met Mary at a winery in California when I was personally dealing with my own trauma. And her book spoke to me.

It took us a bit to get here – but after I met her, I knew I just had to have her on my podcast.

Here's her personal story. This is an excerpt from the introduction to her book: It was more than 5 hours before I was rescued from my bathroom countertop where I huddled wet and pregnant . . . I was shaking from the cold and fear from being trapped by millions of gallons of mud . . . for much of that time I thought my husband and 4-year-old son had been swept away in the mudslide . . . I thought my life was over . . . I watched this river of mud crumple a neighbor’s house and hurtle it down the hill away from me . . . On my right the majority of my house had twisted backwards and washed away . . . not only was my living room gone, but my panic surpassed anything I had ever known when I realized the window looking back at me was my 4-year-old son's bedroom and I thought he was in it.

Mary’s personal story of surviving this trauma is what led her to write this book. This mudslide occurred in early 2018, right after the Thomas Fire raged through much of Southern California in late 2017. The land was barren from the fire and ripe for mudslides which occurred when torrential non-stop rain hit many of the coastal cities including Santa Barbara and Montecito.

And so, I led the interview by asking Mary the question, How can trauma be a gift? Mary explains that for her the gift came in the form of her intellectual thinking brain going on hiatus so her body could get in touch with what she identifies as the Divine, recognizing that some people call this their higher self or The Universe. She saw this as a gift because it allowed her to tap into recognizing her fragileness and the beauty of being human. Being human, according to Mary, means we get to experience not just the joy and love that comes with our human life but also have an appreciation and a connection to that higher frequency because of the trauma some of us experience.

And this experience is what led Mary to research how others who had lived through trauma learned to overcome and compost the trauma so that they too came out the other end with more light, more joy and more understanding of what it means to be human.

Mary’s book is not just full of research but tools we can all use to overcome trauma and recognize when we are taking the label of “victimhood” and using it as a crutch to stay stuck. Mary shares stories of other victims who survived extreme trauma and did not become lifelong victims. Mary talks about healing from the inside out so we can tap into our inner landscape for healing.

Mary offers many well researched facts, and experienced information about how to heal from trauma. Whether you are dealing with your own trauma or dealing with the traumatizing events going on in the world, there is something here we can all learn from. So even if you think you don’t need to know about trauma or heal from it – on some level we are all touched by it.

In closing Mary shared the following: You are not alone. This book can be your companion. There is so much hope and avenue for you to find joy and re-ignite your light. Don’t give-up. Seek your solution and take care of yourself, love yourself and you will heal.

To learn more about Mary Firestone and to purchase her book please visit: MaryFirestone.co

To learn more about how I show up in the world please visit my website at: SusanBurrell.com

 

The Power of Emotions

Ep#251 - The Power of Emotions - A Solo Show with host, Susan Burrell

We are now in November. Can you believe it? And our theme for this year of 2023 is BE Expansive. The final letter of “expansive” is the letter “E” representing our focused theme for this month which is “Emotions.”

As many of you know I like to look up the formal definition of words and this is no different. So here goes, the dictionary defines “Emotion” as: A strong agitation of the feeling actuated by experiencing love, fear, hate etc. and often accompanied by physiological changes like heart rate or breathing.

And so, I ask you, how do you deal with emotions? How do you live your life without being emotionally reactive? I think many of us are emotionally reactive and often do react without thinking about the why. Or even taking the time to process the emotion that caused the reaction in the first place.

I believe inner investigation must come first, before we react. This is not easy to do and something I am now consciously working on. I now take the time to pause and investigate my inner landscape to identify what it is I am feeling and what the emotion is trying to tell me. And that goes for whatever emotions I am feeling. It can be fear, anxiety or love and happiness.

For me it is about checking in with myself to see what is lying beneath the emotion. So, for example if I am angry, I check in to see if that emotion is really a reaction to fear or to something else that might be going on. And once I identify what is really going on I can make a conscious choice to respond with love.

Love is the highest emotion and only with love can we overcome all the other stuff going on with our emotions. And sometimes it takes work to reach for the higher frequency of love. Believe me it is much easier to lean into fear or anger then to rise above it and reach for love, and yet it really is what will heal whatever else is going on.

I have used many tools, including meditation, journaling, walking in nature to help me process my emotional angst. If you are looking for ways to get through some of your emotional challenges, find what works for you and begin to make some changes.

If you are interested in stepping into this journey, I highly recommend my book, “Live An Empowered Life, A 30-Day Journey Book.” I offer journaling prompts, affirmations and guided meditations to inspire you.  It's a guided workbook that can help you grow and expand your inner world and your wisdom. I lived it and what I share in the book are those practices that helped me gain wisdom and self-empowerment.

To learn more about how I show up in the world please visit: SusanBurrell.com

To learn more about my book, or to purchase, “Live An Empowered Life,” visit: SusanBurrell.com/book

Dissolving Patterns of Limitation

Ep#250 - Dissolving Patterns of Limitation - An Interview with artist, psychologist and author, Laura Basha.

I know I say this all the time - but I can't help it - I so love my job and the people I get to meet and interview on Empowering Chats.  And this interview is no exception.

In this episode I welcome Laura Basha. She wears many hats. Not only is she a psychologist, she is also an amazing artist and the author of, "The Inward Outlook."

There is so much offered in her book. Spiritual principles, core values and space for your own personal notes at the end of each chapter.

I started the interview by asking Laura to share what led her to write this book.

She said her book is a synopsis of her life’s work and that it took decades of self-practice before she could write it.  This body of work encompasses all she has done in her personal life and also the work she has done with clients over the last 40 years. So much of this work was her own dissolving of  patterns of limitations she had placed on herself. She had to recognize them and then be willing to dissolve them in order to become more authentic.  And then of course she also had to be willing to put herself out there and be vulnerable.

Laura goes on to explain how the simple act and design of being human is both a gift and a challenge. We are creative sparks of the divine. Laura feels it is important to learn how to keep our peace of mind while living in the face of everyday life experiences, including all that we are confronted with in the world. And we can learn to dissolve many of our own self-imposed limitations. Our own peace can transcend to all those we come in contact with.

Laura also offers sections for notes at the end of each chapter as well as journaling prompts to help the reader become more aware of where they are in their life journey.

To learn more about Laura please visit her website at: WhiteBirdRising.com

To purchase The Inward Outlook visit: WhiteBirdRising.com/inward-outlook-book/

To learn more about how I show up in the world please visit my website at: SusanBurrell.com