The Unplug Podcast: Activated Living for Truth Seekers and Critical Thinkers in a Collapsing World

This week I speak with my partner, Deb Gleason and my paradigm-altering mentor and friend, Louise LeBrun about reclaiming wholeness, expanding consciousness and reconnecting to our deepest core essence through the food choices that can become a portal to our soul. Beyond vegan is an exploration of consciousness through food by making the invisible, visible so that we can make choices that align with our inherent compassion for life.

Alice Forrest is a passionate about healing our world. She has a Bachelor of Science in biodiversity and conservation and is involved in a wide range of organizations and conservation activities dealing with the plight of our oceans. She combines her education with her activism uniting head with heart in the most engaged way.

“The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for white, or women created for men.” —Alice Walker This week, we explore the burgeoning new world of animal law. As old patriarchal systems continue to collapse, its becoming increasingly evident that legal systems worldwide are designed to protect the perpetrators of the destruction of life. We only need to look at how frequently those who perpetuate violence and destruction against animals, women and the earth either get off scott-free or with a token slap on the wrist. This is no longer cutting it! It takes someone with an immense amount of integrity to immerse themselves into a corrupt system to create change. This week’s conversation is with an amazing truth-seeker who is courageously venturing into the dysfunctional abyss of today’s legal system to create transformation from the inside out. Camille Labchuk is a warrior of truth on the front lines of change who is working diligently to hold old systems accountable to truth and life. Camille is the executive director of Canada’s legal voice for animals, Animal Justice. She’s worked to advance the interests of animals for well over a decade. As a lawyer, Camille represents individuals and organizations in animal law cases, defends animal advocates, and seeks out litigation that enhances the interests of animals. As an advocate, Camille’s work includes documenting the commercial seal kill on Canada’s East Coast, exposing cruelty in farming, and campaigns against trophy hunting, circuses, zoos, aquariums, shark finning, puppy mills, and more. She is a frequent lecturer and media commentator on animal issues. In this week’s show we explore: • What is animal law? • Species discrimination within the legal system. • How society is more compassionate than our system will acknowledge. • Exposing Canada’s annual seal slaughter. • Inspiring critical thought for cultural transformation. • How law doesn’t lead society, society leads law. • Bringing darkness into the light with animal agriculture. • Ag-gag laws: silencing truth and criminalizing compassion. • The accelerating momentum of animal law. Many of the conversations on this podcast are with change-makers who are creating a better world from outside of the cultural system. Few are with change-makers working within the cultural system. But we need it all. I’m honoured to bring to you this week’s conversation with my inspirational friend, Camille Labchuck. SHOW NOTES: • Animal Justice website. • Animal charter website. If Deb’s words hit home and you find value in her work, please donate:

“If you hear a voice within you say “you cannot paint,” then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.” —Vincent van Gogh This week’s podcast shines a light on one of the dark corners of our mind—the inner critic, whose lone purpose is to keep us “safe”…at the expense of our soul. In this engaging, inspiring, spontaneous, and fun conversation with Sunshine Coast musician and keynote speaker, Lowry Olafson, we also explore the creative impulse within and how to honor our inner muse. In this week’s show we cover a lot of ground including: • The internal judgement that often flares up when we finally accomplish our dreams. • How to navigate the voice of the inner critic. • How action and movement is often the spark for creative flow. • The non-linear aspects of creativity and inspiration. • How comparison diminishes our self-worth. • What is the essence of courage. • The power of gratitude. • What is true success? • Finishing what you start. • How creativity fills us from the inside. Lowry is all about living your truth. His stories, songs and beautiful voice take us by the hand as we accompany him on a journey of overcoming obstacles. He inspires each of us to live as though we mean it. Enjoy this week’s conversation with Lowry Olafson about navigating the inner critic, honoring your creative muse, and living a deeply authentic life. SHOW NOTES: • Lowry Olafson’s website for his music, keynote presentations and workshops. • Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way on Amazon. • Bird By Bird by Anne Lamott on Amazon. • War of Art by Steven Pressfield on Amazon. • Walking in This World by Julia Cameron on Amazon. • Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert on Amazon. If Deb’s words hit home and you find value in her work, please donate:

“No water, no life. No blue, no green.” —Sylvia Earle Nicole McLachlan is a passionate 25 year old ocean advocate living down under in the Gold Coast of Australia. Nicole’s greatest passion is to bring awareness to marine conservation issues into the hearts and minds of the masses. She’s also passionate about teaching an appreciation for our wild oceans and marine ecosystems to the youth of the world. Nicole has spent countless hours above and underwater bearing witness to the plight of sea life in our oceans. She’s worked with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society documenting and exposing the brutality of the Japanese dolphin and whale slaughter. She’s been an active advocate for the protection of the Great Barrier Reef. She’s attended meetings of the International Whaling Commission meeting to give voice for young people around the globe against the slaughter of marine mammals. Nicole has also been an active ambassador for the ocean with her tireless speaking gigs that include educational talks at schools, universities, and events. And, if that’s not enough, she’s also in the process of creating a teen marine conservation documentary titled, “In Our Hands”. Nicole’s most recent campaign project has been to raise awareness about the damage caused to marine life by shark nets and drum lines (which we speak about in this show). Because of the antiquated mentality of the Queensland government, indiscriminate lethal methods are used for shark control along Queensland beaches that not only kill sharks, but also dolphins, sea turtles and a plethora of other marine life. After repeated frustrating attempts to speak with political representatives about non-lethal methods for dealing with sharks only to be shut down, silenced and ignored, Nicole decided to up the ante. On February 6, 2016, she went on a hunger strike, with the ultimate goal of increasing the protection for both humans and marine life off the coast of Queensland. The purpose of the strike, was to: • Mobilize the Queensland and Australia-wide general public to urge the Queensland State Government to invest in non lethal alternatives to shark mitigation efforts within the state as well as phasing out lethal shark control methods. • Raise public awareness of and highlight the destruction caused by lethal shark control programs to both marine life and humans. • Encourage public support for non lethal alternatives to the current shark control program in Queensland. A big mission, but one that could easily be handled with Nicole’s passion-filled heart. In this week’s show we discuss: • The Japanese dolphin slaughter. • Inspiring critical thought in children for transformative action. • The true nature of sustainability. • The dire state of our oceans. • Living simply and close to nature for an abundant life of love and meaning. • Why coral is such an important part of our ecosystem. • What is ahimsa and how it supports Nicole’s campaign. • What are shark nets and drum lines and why they are so damaging to marine life. Nicole’s passion is palpable. She also exudes a zen-like wisdom that is far beyond her years. Enjoy this enlightening conversation with ocean warrior, Nicole McLachlan. SHOW NOTES: • Nicole’s hunger strike website. • Nicole’s petition to protect marine life and humans along the Queensland Coast. • The Cove documentary on Youtube. • Blackfish documentary. •

“We’ve all been given a gift, the gift of life. What we do with our lives is our gift back.” —Edo It’s been said that the Earth has existed for more than 4.5 billion years. In this unfathomable time frame, human beings, in their modern form, have been in existence a mere 200,000 years. The patriarchal civilization that we’re familiar with has been around for 6,000 years. And the industrialization of the world commenced in the 19th Century. Historical authorities tell us that the beginning of industrialization, along with the domestication of animals and agriculture, was the pivotal time period that set humanity on a course of self-destruction. In the relatively short history of our species, we’ve now arrived at a critical juncture where the separation-based mindset of humanity from the natural world poses an alarming threat to continued life on this planet. The wounds of this conflict run deep and are a reflection of our individual and collective disconnect from the very source of all life—Gaia—Mother Earth…home. After thousands of years of patriarchal rule, our selfish, abusive, destructive, and consumptive ways are now deeply entrenched in the human psyche. According to Carol P. Christ, “Patriarchy is a system of male dominance, rooted in the ethos of war which legitimates violence, sanctified by religious symbols, in which men dominate women through the control of female sexuality, with the intent of passing property to male heirs, and in which men who are heroes of war are told to kill men, and are permitted to rape women, to seize land and treasures, to exploit resources, and to own or otherwise dominate conquered people.” Is it any wonder why we stand where we do today? Integral to our collective healing is the remembrance of our sacred feminine essence. This has nothing to do with woman/man gender, and everything to do with energy and principle. The sacred feminine principle is the source of our connection to love, life, truth, and creation. It is the embodiment of our deep unity with Gaia—the very force of love, life, truth, and creation. Gaia is who we are in our deepest core essence. We are not separate. And yet we’ve been living a collective illusion where we believe that we are. What we do to the Earth, we do to ourselves. What we do to ourselves, we do to the Earth. By silencing our sacred feminine essence, we’ve forgotten who we are and have thus forgotten our connection to life…to Gaia. Patriarchy is a system of belief created by man, for man. It is steeped in fear and separation and is therefore not aligned with life. Any living force existing in a polarized, imbalanced state, ultimately becomes a force of destruction. The greatest destruction of the patriarchal mindset is the destruction of the true Self through the ongoing perpetuation of fear. The effects of patriarchy have hurt us all. However women have been particularly impacted by being stripped of all value and significance. We have been censored, ridiculed, silenced, mocked and judged for our emotional intelligence, intuition, and feminine wisdom. We’ve been raped, tortured, abused, sexualized, objectified, diminished, and discarded. We’ve been subjected to genital mutilation, child marriage, enslavement, sex-trafficking, female infanticide, stoning, burning at the stake, and drowned as witches. The consequences of this deeply entrenched collective experience over thousands of years is encoded in the psyche of women worldwide. As a result, we’ve forgotten who we are, and patriarchy wants to keep it that way. But what if we break free from the cultural enslavement of patriarchy? What if we, as women, choose to remember who and what we are. What if we direct our own healing toward the healing of the Earth? This is the work of Clare Dakin, passionate Earth warrior and founder of TreeSisters, a campaign created to build a global network of women to help...

 “Only in the darkness can you see the stars.” —Martin Luther King Jr. I have a confession, I love speaking with people on the path of self-exploration; people who are hungry to live authentically from their purest essence. This week I have the honor of speaking with Katherine Maas, a long-time Unplug podcast listener living in the beautiful country of Switzerland. Katherine’s story is one that so many can relate to. She grew up feeling lost, confused, and not understanding her place in the world. She felt disconnected from herself and found solace in food and alcohol. At the age of 19, her father died and the grief she denied removed her further from her core. Katherine suffered from a wide range of conditions including: depression, anxiety and eating disorders. Like so many in today’s culture, she lacked the necessary awareness for healthy self-expression. Her decision to numb out became her coping mechanism in a world that was too dark and difficult to navigate. After 10 years of battling food and alcohol addiction, she had an internal epiphany that demanded she stop her self-sabotaging ways. Many past attempts to break free from the grips of her addictions were unsuccessful, but in that one pivotal moment, everything changed. After years of deluding herself, she decided to live authentically with full transparency. She’s since been on an extensive journey of healing and self-exploration that has empowered her to be more of who she’s always been meant to be. She’s now sober, anxiety-free, and hungry for self-expansion. At its simplest, addiction is attachment. Attachment comes from the denial of truth fueled by the mind’s habitual tendency towards distraction from the authentic self. This is what creates the spiritual bankruptcy that Katherine once struggled with. This week’s Unplug podcast is an exploration of our culture of addiction and how we’re taught to disconnect from our inner world at the expense of our souls. When we feel lost and afraid, we often search outside of ourselves for something to fill the void: food, alcohol, drugs, exercise, shopping, gambling, sex, and the list goes on and on and on. But as many of us know, these behaviors only lead to a greater internal disconnect. They not only hurt ourselves, they hurt our world. This week’s conversation is raw, candid, open, and vulnerable. We delve into a wide range of topics including: • The lost, invisible child syndrome. • Seeking safety and control through addictive behaviors to fill internal vacancies. • Eating disorders as a tool for emotional release. • Stopping the binge/purge cycle. • The cultural theft of our souls. • The cultural coma of self-disconnect. • Seizing the threshold moment of change. • What is spiritual bankruptcy? • How breath and meditation can eliminate anxiety. • What is authentic intimacy? • The transformative power of sharing our truth. • The empowering space of awareness between reactivity. • How changing your thoughts changes your world. • Following the breadcrumbs of life and saying yes to yourself (repeatedly). • Breaking through fear and creating more expansive comfort zones. • The quiet presence of courage. • What is GOYADI and how it can change your life. This week we speak openly about being lost and found, and how the road to our authentic Self—our capital “S” Self—is expansive, deeply fulfilling, and unending. Enjoy this authentic and open-hearted conversation with a beautiful young woman who had the courage to say yes to her Self! SHOW NOTES: • Within the Flow Yoga. Katherine’s website. • Louise LeBrun’s WEL-Systems website.

“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” —Confucius Multiple chemical sensitivity is a common ailment affecting millions of people daily. Web MD defines multiple chemical sensitivity as follows: “Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) is also called “environmental illness” or “sick building syndrome.” It refers to a variety of non-specific symptoms reported by some people after possible exposure to chemical, biologic, or physical agents.” In my own life, I can attest to experiencing unpleasant reactions when subjected to perfumes and other unnatural scents, commercial cleaning products, cigarette smoke, painting materials, bleach, and a variety of other unnatural chemical odors found in today’s society. MCS is considered “controversial” by the status quo medical profession, quite possibly because of their inability to prove the impact on those who experience it. Strange don’t you think? It seems like an obvious no-brainer that ingesting unnatural chemicals through our nose or skin would impact our health. But leave it to “science” to create a gray zone where common sense should prevail. In this week’s episode, I speak with Lisa Ireland, founder of Pure Body Care, a British Columbia company dedicated to creating chemical-free, Earth-kind body, home, and pet care products. Lisa’s story is an inspiring one. An unexpected diagnosis of an aggressive form of multiple sclerosis in 2008 prompted her to determinedly explore ways to defy her bleak prognosis. Medical professionals predicted that by now, she would be confined to a wheelchair, “drooling and in diapers”. But her dedication to researching alternatives, along with her stubborn persona (her words) have empowered her in ways that have not only defied her prognosis, but have also surprised the medical community. Through her plethora of research, she discovered how the chemicals used with unconscious abandon in our everyday lifestyle, plague us with a variety of frightening autoimmune issues and other ailments including MS, ALS, various cancers, Chrohn’s disease, and arthritis to name just a few. Lisa made the decision to become her own research subject and vowed to reduce the chemicals in her own household and life. Because of her perseverant nature, along with her dedication to reducing chemical use, she’s altered the course of her disease. Despite the odds, Lisa is still driving, walking, and through her own inspiring discoveries, working hard to make a better world for many others. Lisa is passionate about a better world. Through her own journey of exploration—both inner and outer—she’s now helping many others wean themselves from chemical dependency so that they not only feel better, they also leave a lesser footprint on the Earth. We explore a wide range of topics in this week’s conversation, including: • The link between chemicals and autoimmune disorders. • Living with multiple sclerosis. • How we become addicted to our emotions if we don’t properly express them. • Emotional maturity. • Taking ownership for life and empowering ourselves along the way. • When we calibrate for the behavior of others, we compromise our authenticity. • When we own our triggers, we empower ourselves. • The 80/20 rule. • How the man-made chemical revolution is harming our health. • The power of critical thought for making empowered choices. • How chemical toxicity builds up through our skin. • The power of individual choices for shifting the paradigm. • Every dollar spent is a vote for how we wish to see the world. • How we blindly accept status quo at the expense of life. • The toxic cycle of “easy”.

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson The dictionary defines self-worth as, “the sense of one’s own value or worth as a person.” In a world that teaches us to play small, is it any wonder that self-worth is one of the biggest issues to plague our personal and collective consciousness. Respecting oneself is one of the most crucial aspect of life. How can we expect others to respect and appreciates us if we can’t even do this for ourselves? So many people remain in crappy relationships and meaningless jobs because they simply don’t believe they deserve better. The issue: self worth. When self-worth is compromised, resignation and complacency prevail and life becomes nothing more than a humdrum, status-quo existence. Robert Tew once said, “Respect yourself enough to walk away from anyone or anything that no longer serves you, grows you, or makes you happy.” I couldn’t agree more. Self-worth is an inside job. As this week’s Unplug podcast guest, Janne Robinson writes, “When we act in alignment with ourselves, and with truth and fire and love and authenticity, we will never fail” Janne is a freelance writer, poet, speaker, animal activist, and powerful voice for female empowerment. She’s a fellow Canuck—living in Victoria, BC—who writes for a plethora of inspirational online journals including: Elephant Journal, Huffington Post, Yogi Approved, Red Flag.org, Meraki, Folk Rebellion, Careerhearted, and Wild Woman Do. Janne’s work empowers people to live authentically from their truths. Transparency is how she walks her talk. At 26 years young, she packs a heck-uv-alot of wisdom into her worldly offerings! This week, we organically explore a wide range of topics including: • The power of manifestation—for better or worse. • We are all worthy! • How we need to face our sh*t head on to reduce its power over us. • You are what you love and not what loves you. • Dealing with reactions and criticism. • Dealing with the inner critic and the crowd of gremlins in our head. • Expanding our comfort zone. • Self-worth is only damaging when we give it away. • Knowledge comes from words, wisdom comes from experience. • Being willing to play big and come alive! • Scarcity is an excuse to play small. • “No” is a complete sentence. • Breaking up with friends who don’t support and align with our purpose. • What is true feminism? • Empowered activism. • Finding passion in our pain. Janne is voice to be reckoned with and an inspiration for us all. Enjoy this week’s empowering conversation! SHOW NOTES: • Janne Robinson website. • I’m Breaking Up with Unworthy blog post. • Screw Finding Your Passion post by Mark Manson. • Unschooling/Living School podcast with Ange Arbuckle and Naomi Irons. If Deb’s words hit home and you find value in her work, please donate:

“Passion is the love of turning being into action. It fuels the engine of creation. It changes concepts to experience…. Never deny passion, for that is to deny Who You Are, and Who You Truly Want To Be.” —Neale Donald Walsch Passion is the fire that drives us to express who we really are. It is the voice of the heart pleading for expression. To deny passion, is to deny life-force. To acknowledge passion is to come alive! The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines passion as, “a strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement for something or about doing something.” Passion in action is what changes the world. Jan Ditchfield is the founder of The Tandem Project (formerly known as Won with One), an organization created to support people who are blind and visually impaired realize their dreams as athletes in the sport of triathlon. But the Tandem Project is about so much more than triathlon. It’s about healing, empowerment, community, compassion, and caring. Inspired by a tragic event that altered the course of her life, Jan uncovered a passion that drives her to this day: to break down the labels that define our humanity and empower the essence that unites us all. Triathlon is the catalyst used to empower people who are blind, visually impaired, and sighted. But the work that Jan and her team do with the Tandem Project far exceeds any outcome on a race course. It translates directly into the lives of the people they serve—empowered lives with a renewed sense of meaning. This is an inspirational conversation with a women who was deeply affected by a sudden event that led to the birth of an idea (initially conceived a scribbled napkin), and the eventual manifestation of a full-blown organization that is now empowering and healing so many lives once lost. This week, we explore topics such as: • How we are not our labels. • Creating safety for authenticity. • Empowering people to help remember their essence. • How pain is a powerful gateway to purpose. • Bridging the gap between “different”. • Creating allies through community. • How labels shroud our essence. • Breaking down barriers to our humanity. • Who are we without our labels? • How being driven by passion means being equally fueled by fear. • People are looking for inspiration rather than information. • How “playing it safe” is a life of status quo. The bigger we become, the more we affect others. The more we affect others in a positive way, the more we feel fulfilled. The greatest gift we can give to ourselves and to others is to be passionate and bold. Enjoy this week’s episode and allow Jan Ditchfield to light up the way. SHOW NOTES: • The Tandem Project website. • Won with One website. • Learning to Listen blog post. Are you inspired by this podcast? If so, here’s how you can fan the flame for the message: If Deb’s words hit home and you find value in her work, please donate:

“Of all the things that human beings make and do for each other, it is the unquantifiable ones that contribute most to human happiness.” —Charles Eisenstein There’s a commonly held belief that money is at the root of all evil. Until recently, there was a large part of me that believed this to be true. But I now know that money can also be at the root of immense good in this world. The problem with our cultural machine is that it doesn’t support life. As a result, the bulk of the world’s monetary wealth belongs to people in systems that inculcate, suppress, control, and numb our minds while transmuting, pillaging, sickening, and destroying life. The greatest world riches belong to the corporate players in destructive systems such as animal agriculture (i.e. Tyson, Perdue, Cargill), biotechnology/GMO’s (i.e. Monsanto, Dupont, Syngenta), pharmaceutical giants (i.e. Novartis, Pfizer, Proctor and Gamble), mainstream media moguls (i.e. Time Warner, Viacom, News Corp.), junk food giants (i.e. Pepsico, Nestle, ConAgra), chemical/pesticide companies (BASF, Bayer, Dow), environmental rapists (BP, Exxon, Koch Industries, ), banks (where to even begin…), and politicians (all of them—bought and sold by corporations). These are just a few in the endless list of players who reap the financial benefits of our culture of death. At great expense to the Earth, the profiting puppetmasters of this dysfunctional cultural machine go to great lengths to ensure its survival. As a result, the concept of money often gets a bad rap. To make matters worse, our hand-me-down belief systems create notions of scarcity that prey on the survival fears of our primitive reptilian brains. It’s lunacy! But you see, this entire mess is not the fault of “money”, because money is simply a nominalization. It isn’t real. The paper and metal that represents “money” is real, but money itself is a mere concept that we attach significant meaning to. And oh, the dysfunctional, stress-filled relationship we’ve created around this crazy concept. You see, money is not at the root of all evil. Consciousness is. And what is evil anyways? In my world, it’s simply a label for the separation from one’s true Self. If we get real with ourselves, we can see that the consciousness we attach to “money” is at the root of so much suffering. Money could be sticks, stones, or garbage from the street. Instead, it’s become little more than fluctuating numbers on a computer screen, or occasionally, metal and paper. The relationship we’ve been taught is real is often what creates so much angst around money. In essence, our collective consciousness around money is yet another metaphor for our separation from truth and life. Because of our death-affirming culture however, we often feel as though our hands are tied. Ironically, because of the deeply entrenched modern cultural system, we must support the death culture in order to survive—at least to some degree—unless we live in a self-sustaining cabin in the woods where we can’t be found by the moguls who “own” vast swaths of the Earth. In order to meet our basic needs, we need money to buy the food locked up by grocery corporations (unless we grow our own or have year-round access to farmers markets). We need money to pay rent to the landlord or bank (aka “mortgage”). We need money to pay for water, hydro, internet, and transportation. The hypocrisy of the human experience is enough to make anyone who cares about life want to act out in rebellion (guilty as charged). No wonder our collective relationship with money is so painful. But what if we reframed our relationship with money? What if we mindfully live our lives in the kindest way possible—where our choices align as closely as possible with life? What if we do work that leans towards life, or better yet, honours the life-affirming cry of the soul? What if we actively engage with like-minded,

“What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.” —Richard Bach There is little doubt in the minds of the masses that an acceleration is occurring on planet Earth. What exactly this means is difficult to articulate. In a world teetering on the brink of economic collapse, war-driven holocaust, and ecological catastrophe, we are collectively being challenged to examine who we are. We’ve reached a time in our evolutionary history where we’re being forced to ask ourselves what we’ve allowed ourselves to become to arrive at such a dangerous impasse. In order to honestly answer this question, we must turn inward. This inward journey brings us closer to the truth in our own soul and awakens us to the potential of who we’re meant to be. Many people can feel that humanity is undergoing a process of change. The final outcome is uncertain, but the prevailing feeling is that a new humanity—an upgrade so to speak—is currently being birthed. As the tired old story of patriarchal domination continues to implode on itself, many people are now questioning their concept of self and of reality. In order for us to transform individually within this growing collective movement, it is imperative to be sourcing our own truth from within. The answers for the changes that this world needs don’t exist somewhere outside of ourselves, but deep within the framework of our own essential being. The transformation of caterpillar to butterfly is a powerful metaphor that accurately describes the process of change we are now experiencing as a species. As Anodea Judith writes in her book, Waking the Global Heart (p.35): “When a caterpillar nears its transformation time, it begins to eat ravenously, consuming everything in sight. The caterpillar body then becomes heavy, outgrowing its own skin many times, until it is too bloated to move. Attaching to a branch (upside down, where everything is turned on its head), it forms a chrysalis—an enclosing shell that limits the caterpillar’s freedom for the duration of the transformation. Within the chrysalis a miracle occurs. Tiny cells, that biologists call “imaginal cells,” begin to appear. These cells are wholly different from caterpillar cells, carrying different information, vibrating to a different frequency—the frequency of the emerging butterfly. At first, the caterpillar’s immune system perceives these new cells as enemies, and attacks them, much as new ideas in science, medicine, politics, and social behavior are viciously denounced by the powers now considered mainstream. But the imaginal cells are not deterred. They continue to appear, in even greater numbers, recognizing each other, bonding together, until the new cells are numerous enough to organize into clumps. When enough cells have formed to make structures along the new organizational lines, the caterpillar’s immune system is overwhelmed. The caterpillar body then becomes a nutritious soup for the growth of the butterfly. When the butterfly is ready to hatch, the chrysalis becomes transparent. The need for restriction has been outgrown. Yet the struggle toward freedom has an organic timing.” According to this week’s Unplug podcast guest, Sailesh Rao, humanity has reached the end of the caterpillar stage and is deep in the midst of a powerful transformation. This is very good news! Sailesh is the founder and Executive Director of the environmental organization, Climate Healers, an organization dedicated to healing the Earth through simplicity and compassion. As stated on the Climate Healers website, “A truly compassionate lifestyle leads to conscious simplicity and restores equity in human societies.” Climate Healers core guiding principle states that, “Compassion for all creation is infinitely sustainable.” It goes on to say that, “A global adoption of a simple vegan lifestyle exemplifies compassion for all creation in all ou...

“Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action.” —Benjamin Disraeli There’s a lot of crazy stuff going on in the world lately. Between our altered planet, repetitive mass shootings in the United States, global terrorism, heightened racism, misogyny, and xenophobia, it appears that species homo sapien is being flushed down the toilet. In a time when the planet needs us most, the violent events on the world stage are in many cases, causing more division. But you know the old saying, “united we stand, divided we fall”. My belief is that our collective unity will be instrumental in birthing a radically new world … but not without a whole lot of chaos along the way. Gaia is awakening with greater force. This cannot be denied. She’s awakening outside in the natural world, and she’s stirring a deep awakening inside – a sacred, primal awakening that has been silenced by an oppressive and violent patriarchy for thousands and thousands of years. We are all wounded by it: women, men, animals, and nature. We have all been deeply hurt, and my feeling is that to find our way back, we need the powerful force of Gaia to lead us. Because we’ve collectively severed our ties to her, we’ve severed our ties to ourselves and all those we label as “other”. But Gaia is forcing us back into the web of life and we have the choice to answer the call … or to fall. When we reconnect to Gaia, to ourselves, and to each other, we reclaim the power of our voices. Our actions then become more potent in their life-affirming nature. This week’s Unplug podcast guest, author Mary Pipher, speaks very well to this. Mary is the author of, The Green Boat: Reviving Ourselves in Our Capsized Culture, a book about facing the reality of the mess we’ve collectively created on this planet, owning our deepest feelings of grief and despair, becoming more whole in the process, connecting with like-minded community, and uniting for paradigm-altering action. Abuse of power thrives in our silence, but it dissolves in our light. Mary’s experience opposing the Transcanada Keystone pipeline in her hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska is a perfect testament to this. This week, we discuss a number of inspiring topics such as: • How if we act as if we have power, we create it out of thin air. • How action is the antidote for despair. • How action ignites hope. • How willful ignorance is about both knowing and not knowing (i.e. knowing that something is wrong, but refusing to acknowledge it). • What is the transcendent response. • The difference between distractional intelligence and actionable intelligence. • How we are the change we’ve been waiting for in the world. • How we must own our despair and grief in order to allow the process of transformation to morph into action. • How like-minded community is the terracycle for social change. • How we must find ways to regularly experience bliss to counterbalance all of the grief in the world. • How the healthiest human reaction to stress and pain is to be present to the beauty of the world. As Mary writes in her The Green Boat, “Neuroscientists have discovered that the human mind functions best when it acts as if there is hope and organizes itself to make good things happen. We can never fully know the significance and impact of our individual actions, but we can behave as though our actions have significance. That will create only good on the earth and will allow us to function in a sane and intelligent way.” Enjoy this week’s inspiring conversation. SHOW NOTES: • Mary Pipher’s website. • The Green Boat: Reviving Ourselves in Our Capsized Culture

Escalating problems in today’s‚ world are cause for great concern. From war and terrorism to factory farming and heart disease. There’s no question that something has gone seriously awry with species homo sapien. But perhaps the most frightening problem threatening the very fabric of life on planet Earth is climate change. Decades of warnings have fallen on deaf ears and what was once totally avoidable, is no more. The stark reality is that we now live on a very sick planet. Sadly, this dismal reality gains little media traction because it can’t seem to hold it’s weight against Canada’s “sexy” new Prime Minister or Donald Trump’s latest xenophobic slur. So what is this really telling us? It’s telling us that the greatest crisis of our time is the crisis of consciousness that has separated us from the web of life. Author Mary Pipher writes in her book The Green Boat, “Humans have spent 95% of our history as hunter-gatherers and we are still hardwired for this life. We are built to find food and shelter, reproduce, spot nearby dangers, and enjoy being with others. It’s almost impossible for us to grasp problems on a global scale with our Neolithic brains.” In other words, with the Neolithic consciousness perpetuated by the status quo, ignorance and denial are so much easier than facing up to the collective transformation required to get us out of this mess. But here’s the deal, we can’t solve a problem that we refuse to discuss. We must break the spell of silence, feel the overwhelming grief that comes from losing what we love, and wake up to the radical actions required to transform this world. Buddhist scholar and environmental activist Joanna Macy speaks of three cultural stories currently playing out: 1) The Story of Separation: This is the story that has removed humanity from the web of life. It’s a story of great ignorance that has us blindly carrying on with our consumptive, destructive ways. 2) The Great Unravelling: This is the story of breakdown that we are witnessing as antiquated cultural systems break apart. It is also the story of mass species extinction, ecosystem failure, and runaway climate change. 3) The Great Turning: This is the story that will transform our world. It is the shift in consciousness that is happening at an accelerated grassroots level where the patriarchal love of power is being transformed by the power of love. This love is balanced in wholeness and fueled by soulful activism, passion, resilience, simplicity, compassion, community, collaboration, creativity, and cocreation. It is the recognition that the time of the lone wolf is over and that we must work together in unity to create the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible. The Great Turning is a powerful grassroots movement that is eluding the radar of mainstream culture because it has no leader and it isn’t visible as a single identifiable entity. Yet it’s laying the foundation for a new cultural nervous system based on our sacred connection to life. To plug ourselves back into the web of life, we must remember that we are not humanity protecting the animals, the rainforest, the ocean, and the earth. We are the animals, the rainforest, the ocean, and the earth protecting themselves through our unique piece of autonomous humanity. By falling deeply in love with the Earth, we reclaim our primal, nurturing instinct and become the force of nature that this world so desperately needs. By choosing the story of The Great Turning, we become integral players in a grassroots revolution that will revive the pulse of the Earth. And as Margaret Mead once said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. With our every word, choice, thought, and action, we have the power to heal or harm the world.

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart.” —Helen Keller We are all made of physical material. Our bodies can be seen, felt, moved, and touched. Yet there is so much more to who we are. We are energy. We are soul, spirit, heart, conscience, mind and emotions. Physically, the heart is the most powerful muscle in the body. Non-physically — from a spiritual perspective — the heart is where soul, spirit and consciousness reside. Spiritual heart refers to the core of our being. In the Far East, its been said that the innermost channel of the heart is the non-dual channel – the seat of our essential nature. Non-duality is the philosophical, spiritual, and scientific understanding of non-separation and the fundamental oneness with all living beings. When our hearts connect, we are joined as one in unity regardless of race, gender, age, or species. This is who we truly are at our core. Qualities of our essential nature include pure love (without conditions), compassion, kindness, joy, courage, strength, truth, wisdom, freedom and peace. These pure essential qualities manifest personally as authenticity, integrity, autonomy, joie-de-vivre, caring, empathy, competence, harmony and dignity. In our fast-paced, hyper-distracted, technologically addicted, and spiritually disconnected world, many people have closed off their hearts. As a result, the prevailing cause of death in today’s world is heart disease. Ironic don’t you think? The solution to this dire crisis of heart disconnect is utterly simple. Breathe. Relax. Feel. Unplug from the race and reconnect to life. Since 1991, the HeartMath Institute has been sharing a similar message with millions of people around the globe. Bridging spirituality with science, the HeartMath Institute has researched and developed reliable, scientifically based tools to help people bridge the connection between heart and mind, and also to deepen their connection with the hearts of others. The HeartMath Institute has scientifically proven what Eastern spiritual traditions have known for centuries: that the heart is the source of our greatest, most expansive life-affirming intelligence. Through HeartMath’s extensive body of work, they have irrefutable proof that the heart is so much more than a physical pump, it’s our true spiritual powerhouse. This week, I have the honor of speaking with HeartMath’s Executive Vice President, Howard Martin. Howard has been instrumental in assisting Doc Childre, founder of HeartMath, in the development and teaching of HeartMath’s programs since its inception. Along with Doc Childre, Howard is the co-author of the popular book, The HeartMath Solution. Howard is also a key spokesperson for HeartMath and has conducted hundreds of news media and documentary film interviews including CNN Headline News, ABC Good Morning America, and ABC World New Tonight. This week, we speak about many things heart-related, including: • How life is about continuous growth. • Bridging science with spirituality. • Redefining the heart: How the heart is so much more than a physical pump. • How the heart is the strongest source of bio-electricity in the body (40-60 times more powerful than the brain). • What are electromagnetic fields and why they’re so import for our emotional health. • How our collective thoughts and emotions can alter reality. • What is the Global Coherence Initiative? • The importance of the energetic ecology of the earth. • Energetic sensitivity and staying grounded in turbulent times. • The importance of patience to remain centered. • How the heart can create miracles if the mind doesn’t interfere. • How intuition is our greatest intelligence in the emerging new paradigm.