Empowering Chats with Susan Burrell

The Abundant Life

EP# 231 - A Solo Episode with Susan Burrell exploring The Abundant Life

We are half-way through 2023. Can you believe it?  And the overall theme this year for Empowering Chats has been “BE-Expansive.” And we have done all sorts of deep dives into energy, nurturing, being playful and experiencing beauty, just to name a few.

For the month of June, we will be plunging into The Abundant Life.  What might that look like for you? I think many times when we hear the word “Abundant” the first images or thoughts that come to mind have to do with money or financial security.  And if we don’t have that then it must mean that we are broke.

You all know me well enough by now that I like to look up words in the dictionary. And so here goes. The definition for "abundant" reads in part as follows: An extremely plentiful or over-sufficient quantity or supply. It’s overflowing fullness and or affluence. 

So, none of that really said anything about money it just said plentiful, quantity, fullness and overflowing. That to me feels much better when I think about my life. I want the idea of abundance to be a sufficient or plentiful quantity of happiness, excitement, harmony. And as I feel those emotions, then abundance in money comes to me and abundance of opportunities present themselves to me. I think that can be true for everybody.

When we focus on abundance, we also need to focus on the positive quality we want to experience an abundance of, an overflowing amount of. I choose joy. I choose freedom. I choose happiness. I have always had these key elements as part of my life’s journey.

It’s about the “richness” of life. It’s about actively seeking the positive and perhaps saying yes to invitations that take you out of your routine so that you too can say yes and welcome the abundance into your life.

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

Embracing Your Missing Element

EP# 230 - Embracing Your Hidden Element. An interview with Feng Shui expert and author, Tisha Morris.

 

Have I told you all lately how much I love my job? My Empowering Chat Podcast introduces me to so many interesting and amazing people. I know I say this often, but I truly love what I do.

My guest for this episode is Tisha Morris, a feng shui expert and author. Tisha’s experience and training with feng shui led her to write her most current book, Missing Element, Hidden Strength.

I asked Tisha to share how she came to write this book. She uses the ancient wisdom of Taoist principles to identify your most challenging element. She goes on to say that everything on the planet is made of these 5 elements: Water, Wood, Fire, Metal and Earth.

And in the same way that we use Feng Shui to balance the energy in the material world it can also be used to balance our inner world.

According to Tisha is it is all about recognizing the elements we each carry and finding our primary element or strength and then the opposite one or the weak missing element, which reflects our untapped potential. It’s is all about the opposites in life or as she puts it the yin and yang, and how we learn to work with both.

Tisha points out how we can tap into our potential by identifying our most challenging element and turning it into our hidden strength.

We can all earn how to access all 5 of these elements to up level our life.

Fascinating stuff!

 

To learn more about Tisha Morris please visit: TishaMorris.com

 

To purchase her book, Missing Element, Hidden Strength visit: TishaMorris.com/books

 

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

 

The Rich Power of Your Chakras

EP# 229 - The Rich Power of Your Chakras, An Interview with Yoga Teacher and Author, Masuda Mohamadi

 

This interview began with laughter. The kind that brings forth playfulness and joy. I am so excited to introduce my guest, Masuda Mohamadi.  She is a yoga teacher and an author. Her book is entitled, “Unlock the Power of Your Chakras.” And let me tell you this is one fantastic and powerful book.

As I said, I started this interview with laughter which is centered in the Navel Chakra. And the laughter was just a natural response to my connection with Masuda and the wonderful pre-interview we had before I started recording this episode. I love my job and the many interesting and fascinating people I get to connect with.

Masuda attended a retreat many years ago that introduced her to the body chakra system. As she explored the body chakra graph even more, she realized she had lost touch with her own body. And this new practice taught her a roadway back into her essence. 

What I absolutely love about this book is that Masuda has included special tools and / or practices within its pages. Including, journaling questions, affirmations, healing practices and the symbols, with descriptions for each Chakra.

And I love that the edges of the book are color-coded according to the corresponding chakra. This makes it easy to explore whichever section calls to you.

Each chapter is dedicated to a specific chakra and helps you have an immersive experience. Masuda combines her many years of yoga experience with current psychology studies and her own experience to help get you closer to your true nature and to deeper levels of love and compassion.

 

To learn more about Masuda Mohamadi I invite you to visit her website: MasudaMohamadi.com

 

To purchase, Unlock the Power of Your Chakras visit: MasudaMohamadi.com/the-book

 

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

Wild & Free

EP# 228 - Wild & Free - An Interview with Author, Kris Franken

I am so excited to welcome my stellar guest, Kris Franken. She is an author, mentor and healer. Her latest book is entitled, Wildhearted Purpose. Embrace Your Unique Calling and the Unmapped Path of Authenticity.

Chapter one of her book opens with the following quote:  

“It is in our nature as humans to seek happiness and pleasure in our lives. When this is healthy and balanced these inner states are clear indicators that we’re connected to our truth, but without meaning we lose our balance and sense of purpose, as you initiate your vision, meaning will bring depth into the picture as pleasure brings elevation.”

According to Kris, balance and meaning bringing us into our truth. This is a powerful statement and a theme that flows throughout Kris’s book, Wildhearted Purpose.

The idea for this book and its title came to Kris years ago. When it first appeared for her she found it glowing bright and it spoke to her. So much so that years later it became the title for this book.

The title, in Kris’s words says so much. She finds that it’s connected to the heart and it expresses everything about what she does. When she began mentoring people she encouraged people to go into their own wilderness and discover their wildness.

She gave herself permission to be wild and messy.

For Kris “wild-ing” is living in the wildness of nature. It’s finding the balance. Often, she feels we take the word “meaning” as feeling too strong and dark . Kris feels it is really about finding love and playfulness, and balancing the giving and the receiving. It’s tricky but doable to find your "meaning" in your life.

The book was written as a permission slip to everyone to do exactly what your heart wants to do. And that was her intention in writing this book.

As a rebel, Kris does not follow a map. She resists structure and people or society telling her what she “should” do. And in her quest for balance, she found her wild and playful side and follows her own drumbeat. And thus encourages her readers, her audience to do the same.

To learn more about Kris Franken please visit her website at: KrisFranken.com

To explore her book, Wildhearted Purpose visit: KrisFranken.com/books

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

Tap Into The Playful Side of Life

Ep. #228 - Tap into The Playful Side of Life - An Interview with Inspirational Teacher and Author, Jim Dreaver

 

This episode of Empowering Chats features an interview I did in July of 2014 when I hosted my radio show with Inspirational Teacher and Author, Jim Dreaver. Much of what we talked about still holds true, even today.

Jim Dreaver is the author of, End Your Story, Begin Your Life.

He is originally from New Zealand and moved to California in the mid-70s to attend chiropractic medical school. During his last year of study he began to experience health issues. His health became so compromised that he began to fear death and he could not sleep. What began as overwhelming fear soon turned to enlightenment as he began his spiritual quest.

With the help of meditation and books by spiritual leaders he began his healing process. He settled in California and opened his chiropractic practice.

According to Jim we are storytelling people – but we are not our stories – we are constant and pure consciousness.

In this interview we tackled the questions of how to awaken and open up to life, and how to find the playfulness and joy in living.

Jim feels that many times it is the deep suffering that aids people to “wake up” and take notice of their lives. And being on the path of awakening is really about being tuned into the whispers. Those whispers may accompany you on your life path and are there to alert you to your story and to perhaps even to that which you need to let go of, or move away from. This could be the beginning of your awakening. It’s different for everybody and yet the overall theme is the same for everyone.

And ultimately is it about accepting the ebb and flow of life and moving with it rather than against it.  It’s about finding the playfulness and allowing life to envelope you in all is beautiful glory, accepting the good and the not so good.

For more on Jim Weaver please visit: JimDreaver.com

To learn more about his book, End Your Story, Begin Your Life visit: JimDreaver.com/index.php/books

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

Moving from Tragic to Magic

Ep#227 - An Interview with Dream Therapist and Author, Kelly Sullivan Walden.

My guest for this Empowering Chats episode is the charismatic Dream Therapist and Author, Kelly Sullivan Walden.  The title of her latest book caught me off guard, it’s called: A Crisis Is a Terrible Thing to Waste.

Kelly tells her story with humor and authenticity. She has a way of bringing humor into places that are uncomfortable and dark. I think she is an amazing storyteller. The Chapter titles in her book alone are sarcastic and funny. Some of those titles include: You Can’t Plug in Here, The Hippie and The Hypocrite, Infinite Pie and My Ass is on The Line.

Kelly writes about how clunky and awkward being human can be. And she points out that we all have similar experiences in this journey we call life.

Kelly’s inspiration for this book occurred on New Year’s Day several years ago as she was setting her intention for the coming year. She contemplated what it was she was supposed to write about. What came through was something she rejected on first impulse. She was directed to write about the worst year of her life, which occurred at the tender age of 21, when she spent a whole year as a stripper.  She had never shared that part of her life with anyone and now she was being prompted to write about it and share it in written form.

Ultimately, in the process of writing her story, she came to love the part of herself that she had hated for decades. Writing about it brought it into her heart and she was able to uncover a lot of shame and finally heal.

What she found as she began to share her story was that it gave others permission to share their experiences.  Little by little she found herself getting more connected to her authentic self and to those in her life.

Kelly and I both believe it’s about embracing all of who we are, including the shame and the shadow side so that we can merge the layers that make up all of who we are as a human. By doing this you become more expansive and you can make room for all of it.

What a beautiful and amazing conversation we shared.

To learn more about Kelly Sullivan Walden please visit: KellySullivanWalden.com

To purchase her book visit: KellySullivanWalden.com/sweet-dreams-shop

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

The Vibration of Spirits

EP-#226 – An Interview with Michelle Welch a Medium and Author of Spirits Unveiled: A Fresh Perspective on Angels, Guides, Ghosts & More

Since childhood, Michelle Welch has experienced spirits and angels that live beyond the veil, that live in the non-physical world. For as long as she’s existed, she has sensed or “seen” angels, fairies, and also those energies or spirits that would scare her. She has never really had the sense or felt the separation between the physical world and the spirit world – many times they would simply blend together.

Michelle and I shared a powerful chat about the importance of acknowledging those energies which many of us empaths feel when the veil is lifted. For me personally I feel I am here to be the light and give love to all that some in contact with. It sounds easy but it’s not. It takes work to be light and spread the love. I believe that is what Humanity is requiring of us right now.

Through a journey of exploration and also denial, Michelle finally learned to embrace her psychic gifts and share them with the world.

We took a deep dive in this Empowering Chat, in order to lift the veil and explore the spirit world. According to Michelle it is not all light and love. She explains that sometimes what we encounter when the veil is lifted, can be unkind and dark. And it’s not about getting scared, it’s simply about understanding that they too exist.

In her book, Spirits Unveiled, Michelle explores all of it, angels and spirit guides as well as the scarier entities like ghosts and demons. She explains the different types of spirits that flow on earth and how to understand these energies. She shows you how to work with different spirits and how to set boundaries.  This book can also help boost your intuition and spiritual practice.

Michelle is a licensed attorney and uses her intuitive abilities to pick juries in high profile court cases. She also hosts the podcast SoulWhat and is the CEO and owner of the Northwest Tarot Symposium and The International Divination Event.

To learn more about Michelle Welch visit: MichelleWelch.com

To purchase her book, Spirits Unveiled: MichelleWelch.com/author

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

The 4 Pillars of Spiritual Wellness

Ep- # 225 - An Interview with Dr. Greg Hammer, Professor at Stanford University School of Medicine, Mindfulness Expert and Author of GAIN without Pain: The Happiness Handbook for Health Care Professionals.

I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to interview this guest for my podcast. I am enchanted and thrilled to welcome Dr. Greg Hammer to this Empowering Chat. Greg is a Professor at Stanford University School of Medicine and wears many hats. He is not only a medical professional in the field of pediatrics, he is also a mindfulness expert and the author of GAIN without Pain: The Happiness Handbook for Health Care Professionals.

Greg began his journey into medicine by following his grander interest in the relationship between the very small and the very large.  His philosophy of seeing life through the lens of connection carried him into studying or “seeing” the human body in the same way. The larger vessel being our body with the smallest particle being the sub-cellular organs that make up these cells, tissues and organs that create the whole of the human body.  This is what led him to medical school.

Greg likes being forced to think on his feet and marrying his mindfulness practice with western medicine.

He has brought together the truth of his being with his knowledge of medicine. He approaches all his patients with compassion and presence. He wants to get to know his patients on a “human” level because this is who he is and how he feels compelled to be when helping his patients with their health issues. And he doesn’t shy away from introducing the mindfulness and spiritual practice to his colleague and to his patients.

The 4 Pillars of the GAIN Method are: Gratitude, Acceptance, Intention and Non-Judgement. The GAIN Method was developed by Greg to help people combat negative thoughts and re-wire the brain with daily practice.

They are simple tools and just 3-minutes a day of practice can make a real difference. The GAIN Method is not just for healthcare professionals, it can help anyone who is seeking to overcome anxiety or stress in their daily life. Greg offers easy tools in his book and ways to live.

To learn more about Greg Hammer please visit: GregHammerMD.com

To order Greg's Book, GAIN Without Pain: amazon.com/GAIN-Without-Pain-Happiness-Professionals/dp/1951104013

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

Richard Bach’s Life Adventure

Ep- # 224 - Richard Bach's Life Adventure, A Revisit of a 2014 Interview with Author and Pilot, Richard Bach

We have now entered into the month of April.  It feels like Spring is finally in the air. The sun is shining and the flowers have begun to bloom, at least that’s true for Southern California. I hope that is also true for your hometown as well.

The theme for this month is, “Xiexie” which means Thank You in Chinese.  So, all of this month’s shows will relate to thank you, gratitude or being grateful.

The show I am featuring for this episode of Empowering Chats is an interview I did in 2014 when I used to host a radio show called, “Living Your Inspired Life with Susan Burrell.” It features author and pilot, Richard Bach.

It’s the perfect show to kickstart this month’s theme. In August of 2012 Richard Bach suffered a serious plane crash while flying solo in the San Juan Islands. We talk about this “life adventure,” and what it meant to kiss death and survive it.

He spent a full year in recovery following this accident and he writes about it in his book: “Illusions II – The Adventures of a Reluctant Student.”

Richard learned to be a pilot while in the Air Force in 1954.

His other love was writing. And his life changed one night in 1959 as he walked home and heard a voice behind him say: “Jonathan Livingston Seagull.” He turned around to find that no one was there. He rushed back home to his apartment and when he sat down at his desk, a full movie played out in front of his eyes, showing the seagull’s story. This was the beginning of his famous novel, “Jonathon Livingston Seagull.”

He received 19 rejection letters before it was finally published in 1970 and became a best-seller. It catapulted Richard to stardom and it has remained in print for over fifty years.

To learn more about Richard Bach visit: RichardBach.com

For a library of his books visit: RichardBach.com/books

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

Clearing Energetic Paths

Ep- # 223 - Clearing Energetic Paths, An Interview with Yogi Healer and Author, Lauren Walker

As we wrap up the month of March and the theme for this month which is Energy, I am thrilled to welcome a special guest. Yogi Healer and Author, Lauren Walker. Lauren’s book The Energy to Heal – is all about healing from trauma and stress through the practice of Energy Medicine Yoga.

So, what is Energy Medicine Yoga?

It is a unique healing system that Lauren Walker developed and perfected over many years of study. She practiced on herself and early in her development of Energy Medicine she also worked with those in the military, to help them heal from trauma.

This practice changed how Lauren practiced yoga. She found that with the right tools and practice one could heal their trauma and / or stress.

Lauren works with the 5 elements, which is an energy system that resides in the body and is derived from ancient Chinese medicine. According to Lauren we can explore our life through the lens of these 5 elements in order to become more aware of why we respond to everyday life experiences as we do.

And we can also heal and thrive, and learn more about ourselves through this same lens of the 5 elements.

The 5 elements we explore in this podcast are:

1. Water which appears as Fear and is balanced with Courage
2. Wood which appears as Anger and is balanced with Assertive Action
3. Fire which appears as Anxiety and is balanced with Joy and Inspiration
4. Earth which appears as Worry and is balanced with Self-Love
5. Metal which appears as Grief and is balanced with Faith and the ability to let-go.

 

Most people have a primary element however everyone has a bit of each of these elements.

Lauren’s book is hands on and provides exercises with photos showing what you can do to heal your body. She also offers journaling prompts. Her book teaches you how to respond, rather than react, to triggers so that you can ultimately diminish their effect on you.

To learn more about Lauren Walker visit her website at: EnergyMedicineYoga.net

To purchase her book The Energy to Heal visit: emyogastore.com/products/the-energy-to-heal

To learn more about how I show up in the world I invite you to visit my website: SusanBurrell.com