A Quest for Well-Being

— "We all have different needs, and what makes one person happy could make someone else miserable." What happens when you try all of the advice to "be happy," and it doesn't work for you? Many people will tell you that being happy is as simple as choosing to think positively. But in reality, we all have a need for validation of our negative feelings. When something is wrong, the last thing anyone needs is to be pressured to be okay, and to be shamed for not being happy. Redefining Positive is a new resource for learning how to use validation to form deeper relationships and connect to each other's vulnerability. It shows examples of how subtle invalidations are built into our everyday speech, and how even minor changes in what we say to each other can make people feel more heard and understood. The book presents a vision for a more validating world – where people can express their real feelings instead of being afraid that society won't accept them, and where we form better relationships based on mutual support and respect for each other's needs. Valeria Teles interviews Nicole Raheja — the author of "Redefining Positive: How to Use Validation to Be a Positive Force in People's Lives." Nicole, who lives in Massachusetts, is the author of two self-help books including her latest work on this book, and All About You: A Personality Quiz Book. Nicole has appeared on the talk show Be My Guest and has given talks on emotional validation at various locations. To learn more about Nicole Raheja and her work please visit: https://www.nicoleraheja.com/ — This podcast is a quest for well-being, a quest for a meaningful life to the exploration of fundamental truths, enlightening ideas, insights on physical, mental, and spiritual health. The inspiration is Love. The aspiration is to awaken new ways of thinking that can lead us to a new way of being, being well.

— "Sometimes you need a radical change. Leverage your past to restart a fulfilling future." Valeria Teles interviews Michael D. Huggins — the author of "Going Om: A CEO's Self-Discovery Behind Bars." Michael D. Huggins is the founder and board president of the Transformation Yoga Project. After receiving an undergraduate degree from Villanova University and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, he worked his way up to being the chief operating officer, president, and chief executive officer of several medical device firms ultimately managing a $2 billion business. In 2009, Mike plead guilty to a misdemeanor as a responsible corporate officer for illegal activity that occurred under his watch of which he was unaware. He and three other executives were sentenced to prison. The high-profile case drew national media attention, and Mike's world unraveled in the blink of an eye as he was whisked to the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia. The yoga he had practiced and taught some years before incarceration turned out to be his salvation behind bars. Upon his release, he declined lucrative offers to return to the corporate world, and instead founded the non-profit organization Transformation Yoga Project, which serves people impacted by trauma, substance abuse and incarceration through trauma-sensitive yoga programs. Specially trained in applying yoga practices for substance abuse recovery and trauma-related issues, Mike remains active in teaching yoga in prisons as seen in the Yoga Journal, and on CBS, FOX, ABC, and NBC News. He is a frequent speaker on tools for empowerment and the power of yoga as a tool for rediscovering your true self. He is also the co-author of the book Yoga for Recovery: A Practical Guide for Healing, and a contributor to several books that focus on best practices for teaching trauma-sensitive yoga and mindfulness to underprivileged populations. To learn more about Michael D. Huggins and his work please visit: https://www.mdhuggins.com / — This podcast is a quest for well-being, a quest for a meaningful life to the exploration of fundamental truths, enlightening ideas, insights on physical, mental, and spiritual health. The inspiration is Love. The aspiration is to awaken new ways of thinking that can lead us to a new way of being, being well.

— "Creative, authentic, loving, forgiving, kind, persistent, prudent, and brave, are character strengths which are elements of good character valued across time and around the world." Valeria Teles interviews Shannon Polly — the author of "Character Strengths Matter: How to Live a Full Life." Shannon Polly is one of the first 100 people in the world to get her degree in positive psychology and has trained over 1500 US Army sergeants in resiliency. Her mission in life is to increase the well- being of every person with whom she interacts. Shannon has built her coaching practice on three pillars. First, clients need to increase their awareness of how their thoughts and beliefs impact their behavior. Second, Shannon leverages her decade long professional acting career to help leaders find their most powerful performance. Somatic (physical) coaching helps leaders understand how their physical presence impacts others. Finally, aligning leaders' roles with their strengths makes them more motivated and effective. Shannon has extensive experience working with mid and senior level leaders in private sector, public sector, and non-profit organizations. Her experience ranges within a variety of industry sectors including high tech, consulting firms, professional services firms, financial services, and U.S. Olympic athletes. She coaches on several leadership development goals ranging from career advancement, management skills, executive presence, leading as a woman, leading a global team, and building strategic relationships. A number of her clients were promoted to senior levels in their organization at the conclusion of their coaching. Shannon received a Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAAP) from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale College. She also has a Graduate Certificate in Classical Acting from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and a Certificate in Leadership Coaching from Georgetown University. Shannon's partial client list includes Google, US Aid, American Express, Deloitte, Georgetown University, The World Bank, US Army, BlackRock, PWC, Logitech, Sony, FDA, APCO Worldwide, and Treliant. To learn more about Shannon Polly and her work please visit: https://www.shannonpolly.com/ — This podcast is a quest for well-being, a quest for a meaningful life to the exploration of fundamental truths, enlightening ideas, insights on physical, mental, and spiritual health. The inspiration is Love. The aspiration is to awaken new ways of thinking that can lead us to a new way of being, being well.

It's a more dangerous environment for the brain than ever before in history. A neurotoxic "perfect storm" that assaults the brain and self on all levels – physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. No one escapes the weakening effects of this mysterious and invisible epidemic. Rates of anxiety, depression, and cognitive decline have skyrocketed and keep climbing. Medication and conventional treatments have failed to stop the mental health crisis, even if they suppress the symptoms. Until the real cause is discovered and treated, things will keep getting worse. Dr. Cortright's work is the first guidebook that shows, step-by-step, how to navigate the neurotoxic minefield of modern life, so you can function at the highest levels of creative productivity, without the exhaustion and burnout. It brings together the newest research in neuroscience, nutrition, and psychology to reveal the complex sources of this neurotoxic stew. And most important, it offers a way back towards our own peak intelligence and radiant brain function, so we can show up and participate in the world at full mental capacity. Valeria Teles interviews Dr. Brant Cortright is the author of the #1 Amazon bestseller: Holistic Healing for Anxiety, Depression, and Cognitive Decline. His previous bestseller is The Neurogenesis Diet and Lifestyle. He is professor emeritus with the California Institute of Integral Studies. Dr. Cortright is a licensed clinical psychologist with a private practice in San Francisco as well as online. He also has an online coaching and consultation practice focused on brain health, anxiety, and depression. He is the author of two previous books, Psychotherapy and Spirit and Integral Psychology: Yoga, Growth and Opening the Heart (both by SUNY Press. To learn more about Dr. Brant Cortright and his works, please visit http://brantcortright.com — This podcast is a quest for well-being, a quest for a meaningful life to the exploration of fundamental truths, enlightening ideas, insights on physical, mental, and spiritual health. The inspiration is Love. The aspiration is to awaken new ways of thinking that can lead us to a new way of being, being well.

— "Making intuition intentional in your personal or professional life." Valeria Teles interviews Maryann Kelly — The Founder of Intuitive Services Insight®, Medium, Mentor, Speaker, Author, Holistic Energy Practitioner. Following a successful 33-year corporate career working globally, Maryann made a shift to follow her intuition. She went from corporate executive roles immersed in meetings, and metrics to being a Medium, Mentor, Speaker, Author, & Holistic Energy Practitioner understanding how the universal principles of metaphysics, energy, and intuition allow communications with those passed over. These same principles of intuition also explained her insights regarding others' holistic health. Maryann is passionate about trying to alleviate client suffering. "Sometimes the root cause of suffering is elusive. Being a Medium, I have been able to accelerate the identification of the root cause," says Maryann. Intuitive Services Insight® is a Center of Energy Excellence, COEE, integrating a non-invasive set of modalities such as Past Life Regression; Cord/Entity Removals; Residential Property & Vehicle Clearings; Emotional Freedom Tapping (EFT); and Scalar Wave which can help both identify root cause and enable, for example, elusive layers of Complex Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (Complex-PTSD); & Tension Myositis/Myoneural Syndrome (TMS) to be addressed while empowering the client for daily living along the way. Maryann's decades in corporate combined with her intuition expertise offer professionals a unique mentoring experience to remove obstacles and change undesired patterns for personal and career benefit. Maryann's continues to work globally as her clients, who are both people and pets, are from: USA, Canada, Spain, Portugal, United Kingdom, Ukraine, Sweden, Jordan, China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Australia & Africa. She earned certifications in both Advanced and Mastery Medical Intuition (Tina Zion Programs), Light Grid and Advanced Light Grid; Level I & II Reiki; and Animal Communication (Joan Ranquet Program) in addition to her university degrees in Finance & Information Systems. She also further complemented her depth by completing the Donna Eden Online Energy Medicine Curricula & Energy Healing for Animals. To learn more about Maryann Kelly and her work please visit: https://www.intuitiveservicesinsight.com/ — This podcast is a quest for well-being, a quest for a meaningful life to the exploration of fundamental truths, enlightening ideas, insights on physical, mental, and spiritual health. The inspiration is Love. The aspiration is to awaken new ways of thinking that can lead us to a new way of being, being well.

— "To heal is to restore (a person) to spiritual wholeness." Valeria Teles interviews Avinoam Lerner — the author of "The New Cancer Paradigm – Mobilizing the Mind to Heal the Body." Avinoam Lerner is a Cancer & Trauma Recovery Specialist, TEDx speaker, and an author. His innovative approach to cancer wellness and recovery highlights the multidimensional nature of our being, and the need to treat illness not only on the level of the body but also on the level of Mind. He offers patients and survivors seeking to play a more active role in their care, a practical, meaningful, and effective path to do so through his practice, and coaching programs. This path allows participants engage and mobilize the innate creative power of their Mind to revive their body's innate immune response, become more resilient and cultivate a mindset for healing and quality of life. Avinoam believes that for true and lasting recovery we must transcend the mechanistic-reductionist view of disease and recognize that illness is a whole person event. Illness highlights our inherent need to evolve on all levels. It propels us to look deep within and live more authentically. After earning his degree in Holistic Health from the Ridman International College for Complementary Alternative Medicine in Israel in 2000, he was certified by the National Guild of Hypnotists (NGH) as well as the National Federation of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) here in the US. To learn more about Avinoam Lerner and his work please visit: https://www.avinoamlerner.com/ — This podcast is a quest for well-being, a quest for a meaningful life to the exploration of fundamental truths, enlightening ideas, insights on physical, mental, and spiritual health. The inspiration is Love. The aspiration is to awaken new ways of thinking that can lead us to a new way of being, being well.

Valeria interviews Rebecca Kirk — She is a UK-based Holistic Life & Career Coach. She helps people who are feeling stuck and unfulfilled at a career crossroads discover the clarity and belief to choose a path that brings them greater purpose, wellbeing, and joy. By bringing a spiritual approach to career coaching, Rebecca's mission is to enable us to use our work challenge as a catalyst to a deeper awakening. Awakening not only to our true potential but to who we are underneath the roles we play and to the higher force which supports us. Rebecca's own awakening first began when she was living in West Palm Beach, Florida in the late 1990s and working as a Swimwear Buyer. It was triggered by a yearning for something deeper than her work and the material wealth she was surrounded by. After much soul-searching, she moved back home to the UK in 2001 and embarked on a career within the corporate retail world. In 2010, responding to an underlying sense of still being in the wrong job, she then took the life-changing decision to go on a career break to Sydney, Australia. That was where her own life and career transformation truly began, in part thanks to the previously undiscovered joys of Buddhist meditation and Kundalini Yoga. She realized it was time to escape the corporate world for good and started her own business as a Retail & Brand Consultant. She was then able to carve out a more balanced lifestyle and continue some of the practices she discovered in Sydney. And then in 2015, Rebecca had the epiphany which brings us to present day. On a beach on the East Coast of England, she looked out to sea and asked the Universe for guidance on what her next steps were (having felt a calling away from the commercial world once and for all) and the answer was given to her. So, at the age of 40, Rebecca retrained as a Life Coach and embarked on her ultimate career change! Her connection to purpose is something which now brings her immense joy. And she uses her own career change experiences and all the tools and practices she learnt along the way, to enable others to find a deeper connection to their work and a more sustainable lifestyle to go with it. Rebecca's deep-seated connection to spirit is something she is passionate about integrating into her coaching practice and sharing with others, having witnessed the dramatic effects it has had on her own life. She works with clients around the world, providing One-to-One coaching programs and a new Online Career Coaching Course. To learn more about Rebecca Kirk and her work please visit: https://rebeccakirk.co.uk — This podcast is a quest for well-being, a quest for a meaningful life to the exploration of fundamental truths, enlightening ideas, insights on physical, mental, and spiritual health. The inspiration is Love. The aspiration is to awaken new ways of thinking that can lead us to a new way of being, being well.

Valeria interviews Pat Sheveland — The Amazon best-selling author of How Do I Survive?: 7 Steps to Living After Child Loss Patricia (Pat) Sheveland has been in the healing profession since she was in her teens. She became a Registered Nurse after high school, beginning her career caring for patients in the hospital setting and ultimately transitioning to a very successful twenty-five-year career as a corporate executive in the medical and claim management field of workers compensation. In 2012, Pat began the reinvention of her life to pursue her dream of being a life coach and was certified by the International Coaching Federation in 2015. Pat sees herself as a healing guide for mind, body, and spirit. She became certified as a Spring Forest Qigong teacher in 2017 and is a certified Funeral Celebrant serving those who are not affiliated with any religion or church. She also is a volunteer at Children's Grief Connection, a non-profit organization providing grief camps for children and their families in Minnesota and Wisconsin. As Pat stepped into her second half of life, she realized her soul purpose: to be a light for those who grieve. Since a very young age, Pat has been very comfortable holding the space of grief for others, especially with mothers who have experienced the death of a child. As a child born into a grieving family, Pat understands firsthand the impact long-term grief from the death of a child can have on a mother and the family as a whole. She began her journey as a coach for grieving mothers by helping her own mother find healing from sixty years of hidden grief after the death of her child. Since that time, many mothers have shared their stories and found purpose and joy in their lives with Pat's compassionate guidance. To learn more about Pat Sheveland and her work please visit: https://www.healingfamilygrief.com/ — This podcast is a quest for well-being, a quest for a meaningful life to the exploration of fundamental truths, enlightening ideas, insights on physical, mental, and spiritual health. The inspiration is Love. The aspiration is to awaken new ways of thinking that can lead us to a new way of being, being well.

Valeria interviews Vish Chatterji — The author of The Business Casual Yogi: Take Charge of Your Body, Mind, and Career Vish Chatterji is an accomplished business leader turned executive coach with a twenty-year executive career spanning the automotive, technology & startup industries. In parallel to his leadership career, he has studied the Indian Wisdom Traditions for the past two decades. Vish now coaches business leaders blending Western management and Eastern wisdom and teaches on a variety of topics at the intersection of business and spirituality. Vish holds a BS in mechanical engineering from Northwestern and an MBA from University of Michigan. He completed his Executive Coach certification at UC Berkeley, trained as a yoga teacher in a traditional Himalayan ashram, completed teaching certifications in Ayurveda & Meditation at the Chopra Center and is a certified Vedic Astrologer. He is also a publicly elected Board Director of the Beach Cities Health District in Southern California. He is a married father of three and in his spare time loves to garden, bicycle and fix things around the house! To learn more about Vish Chatterji and his work please visit: https://headandheartinsights.com/ — This podcast is a quest for well-being, a quest for a meaningful life to the exploration of fundamental truths, enlightening ideas, insights on physical, mental, and spiritual health. The inspiration is Love. The aspiration is to awaken new ways of thinking that can lead us to a new way of being, being well.

Is Mold Making You Sick? Do you have mysterious health problems with no explanations? Mold can lurk without a trace or a scent. If this is happening where you spend time, you could be sick from mold and not even know it. Health problems from mold range from fatigue and frequent infections to kidney disease and even cancer. Find out how to spot mold sickness. Use Dr. Jill Crista's questionnaire to see if you're an unsuspecting target of mold. In her work, Dr. Jill Crista gives us the 5 proven tools to start our recovery from mold sickness. Learn what mold experts know. Arm yourself with reliable, effective ways to conquer mold; including which foods to eat, which ones to avoid, herbs that help, and more. Valeria interviews Dr. Jill Crista — the author of Break The Mold: 5 Tools to Conquer Mold and Take Back Your Health Dr. Jill Crista is a naturopathic doctor and one of the leading experts in the treatment of mold-related illness - not only from her 20 years working with patients, but because toxic mold sprouted in her own home. That experience inspired her to write a book "Break The Mold". It clearly and simply outlines the tools that everyday people can use to conquer mold. Dr. Jill also trains doctors to become Mold-Literate and supports "Mold Canaries" through her membership portal. Her motto: Break the mold, take back your health! To learn more about Dr. Jill Crista and her work please visit: https://drcrista.com/ — This podcast is a quest for well-being, a quest for a meaningful life to the exploration of fundamental truths, enlightening ideas, insights on physical, mental, and spiritual health. The inspiration is Love. The aspiration is to awaken new ways of thinking that can lead us to a new way of being, being well.