Tea Break With

Travel Afar, Journey Within

The title of this episode is drawn from a Zen Buddhist text. As we close the year, I aim to do so with a meaningful opening to the world and the planet, inspiring a vision of unity and peace. In today's new consciousness, traveling has become much more than relaxation, entertainment, or cultural exploration. A new dimension has emerged—travel as a catalyst for personal transformation and positive impact. Specific travel agencies now offer experiences designed to create change in your life while leaving a meaningful footprint where you go. As my guest, Jennifer Holmes, eloquently puts it, travel is about "making connections that build bridges between cultures, transforming your inner world, challenging your assumptions, igniting your passion for positive change, and possibly altering the course of your life." Together with Jennifer, we'll delve into this transformative vision of travel. How can this new paradigm of traveling align with your deeper life mission? Let's explore how stepping into this conscious way of travel can spark profound personal and global transformation. "One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.'' -- Henry Miller Jennifer Holmes enjoyed a 20+ year career in the public sector with the State of Wisconsin, serving in a leadership role first in the Department of Corrections and then with the Department of Transportation. She has also worked in the business sector both as a Tour Business Manager with Feld Entertainment where she toured and conducted business globally with Monster Jam, Marvel Universe Live, and Disney on Ice, and with Ravn Alaska as Manager of Airports. Jennifer decided to take early retirement and realized that she could combine her passions for travel and creating a positive impact for the planet and start a travel agency rooted in meaningful, purposeful vacation travel. This is how Joyous Journeys was born. Now Jennifer spends her time helping others achieve their travel dreams. Besides the wonderful clients she has, Jennifer also partners with non-profits, life coaches, speakers, and others to create retreats and group trips that align with her mission of connecting hands and hearts with love globally through travel. During her spare time, when she's not traveling herself, you can find her on or in the water, or at one of her volunteer assignments with the US Coast Guard Auxiliary, the National Kidney Foundation, Donate Life, and various ocean and beach cleanup organizations.

Adapting Mind and Body for Conscious Evolution

Life is made of continuous changes, both in nature and in human reality. Throughout history, humans have adapted to the planet's transformations. So why is there such a focus on neuroplasticity today? Because, amid the profound shifts occurring in our environment and in social, political, cultural, and spiritual realms, our capacity for neuroplasticity is more crucial than ever. While neuroplasticity itself is not a new or mysterious concept, understanding its impact on our lives and mind-body evolution is essential. In this discussion with Isabelle Annick, a Healing Artist, Wellness Practitioner, and Educator, we explore how enhancing neuroplasticity can empower us to actively participate in conscious evolution. So, let's take our mind-body connection to another level. "Our brains renew themselves throughout life to an extent previously thought not possible." (Michael Gazzaniga) Isabelle Annick is a Healing Artist, Wellness Practitioner and Educator. She sources from her multidisciplinary training and life practice in the fields of Yoga, Energy Healing, Sacred Sound, Somatics and Clinical Hypnosis, to weave individual and group experiences for well-being, personal development and creativity in the face of change. Her approach focuses on felt-sense dynamics addressing memories, traumas, perceptions and beliefs, for the purpose of reframing and integrating the natural seasons and life cycles woven in the complexity of the human experience. She is an advocate for counterculture practices rooted in silence and deep listening, symbiotic relationship with the rhythms of the natural world, and going beyond spirituality to develop the necessary maturity and consciousness the modern world beckons. You can sign up for her newsletter or events at https://bio.site/Isabelle.Annick [https://bio.site/Isabelle.Annick], and follow her on IG @womb_heart_fire

I Meditate. So, What's next?

Meditation is simply a tool not an end. In these challenging times, the need for inner peace, grounding, and centering in our lives—and for our mental health—has never been greater. But what exactly is meditation? In the West, the concept of meditation has often been adapted and diluted in various ways to serve personal wellness and achievement goals. However, meditation goes far beyond wellness. At its core, it is a practice that awakens you to your true nature and aligns you with your life's mission. In this special podcast episode, I humbly offer answers to some of the most common questions I've received from clients and my community. Why has meditation become so popular today? I meditate, so what's next? Let's explore these questions from a Myoku perspective, a Zen mind-body practice designed to bring inner peace and self-realization. The 21st century is about connecting with the "Self", rediscovering our true nature, expanding consciousness, and contributing to conscious evolution for humanity and the planet. It's about embracing oneness as a new worldview—an awakening that is transforming our mindset, our relationship with ourselves, the environment, and the universe. Viviane is the host of the podcast and founder of Myoku, a Zen mind-body alignment practice designed to cultivate inner peace and self-transformation for a meaningful life. She is a member of the Kwan Um School of Zen (USA) and her Buddhist name is Myong Oh. After teaching at university and working on Wall Street in New York City, Viviane chose to pursue her passion to inspire others to awaken, develop their inner leadership, embark on their transformative journeys to their life mission, and contribute to conscious living for a better world. Viviane is an affiliate of several international organizations, including Humanity's Team.org. Through her Myoku coaching, Viviane blends meditation practice with breathing techniques and martial arts movement to cultivate the chi, develop fluidity and grounding/centeredness. She has conducted Myoku workshops in the USA, Canada, France, and Norway. She holds a 2nd Dan in Kyokushin Karate (IKO) and a Tai Chi Chuan certificate from the New York Shaolin Center. Additionally, she is a Usui Reiki Master with a background in kinesiology. Her writing portfolio includes numerous articles on meditation and spirituality published in online magazines like Sivana East, as well as a few novels blending Zen and fantasy. One of her works, The Three Desert Stones, inspired by her childhood in Morocco, is available on Amazon. (www.myokucenter.com / myoku77@gmail.com)

Before Being Healthy, We Must Be Alive

We all know that the era we live in is about breaking free from the dualistic mindset that traps us in suffering. However, this is not easy. The concept of "health" for example has become an obsessive focus in Western culture, to the point that we forget how to live—or even to live at all. Despite advances in quantum physics and neuroscience proving the "oneness" of the universe and in nature, we still approach the human body as a "machine" and attempt to control our health with strategic diets and lifestyles rooted in a dualistic view of life. But health is not merely the absence of disease, and the body is not a machine to be treated with a Cartesian mindset. Health is the powerful and harmonious integration of mind, body, spirit, and karma. What does this mean? Let's explore the dynamic of health and aliveness with Sarah Lascano, a Master Energy Medicine Practitioner and renowned mind-body expert who works with cancer patients and other health concerns. Let's realign "health" with our journey toward harmony in mind-body and Oneness in our lives. "The healing process is the awakening to the original wholeness of life." (Zen master Soeng Hyang Sarah Lascano is an Internationally Recognized Mind-Body Expert, Master Energy Medicine Practitioner and Speaker. She is the founder of Background impressive / how dod and creator of the RayZen Lightwork Technique. She is a recognized holistic and energy healing expert and has been featured in the media. It is her passion to help her clients recover their health when nothing else is working. She merges her medical experience and engineering training with expert healing to help people discover the root cause of their health problems and move forward in health freedom. Website : rayzenenergy.com / sarah@rayzenenergy.com

Deaf Poetry in the New consciousness--Expanding our Reality

Let's revisit our connection to language and expand our understanding of reality. We all know that language shapes our minds and the way we perceive the world. What if, during this shift in consciousness we are experiencing, our standard language was challenged by Deaf poetry as a unique art form? Hearing poetry vs. Deaf poetry introduces a new way of relating to the world, the art itself, and ourselves. Join me and my special guest, Kenny Lerner, as we explore how language in motion (Deaf poetry) can help us transcend the traditional boundaries of spoken words and communication. The new consciousness of the 21st century is challenging all the borders that Western societies have built—culturally, politically, metaphysically, and beyond. Let's see how language can be challenged in turn, opening up something more empowering for all of us in our journey toward experiencing Oneness. "Poetry is stretching language to explore new ways." (Kenny Lerner) Kenny Lerner is a professor of history at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He is also the hearing member of an ASL poetry duo called Flying Words Project along with his Deaf signing partner, Peter Cook. The goal of Flying Words is probably the same as all other poets, to play with language. As luck would have it, ASL is a language of moving pictures. So, Kenny and Peter juxtapose imagery you can see in creating their work. In a sense, Peter is like a three-dimensional living movie while Kenny's voice is the soundtrack that allows the hearing audience to see and understand the images. Much of their work focuses on social issues often combined with the beauty of the world around us. Of course, Kenny's understanding of history has always been integrated into their pieces. Kenny has been featured at the Poetry Days Festival (Dzejas Dienas,) in Latvia, the Annikki Poetry Festival, Tampere, Finland, The Whitney Museum in NYC, and many places in between. Kenny can be reached at: kdlnge@rit.edu