The Power of Storytelling - Episode 35
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Welcome back to The Power of Storytelling!
Martha and Brian - thank you for sharing your stories, your words, and your journey with all of us.
This week’s episode reminded me that we can turn our experiences, both difficult and joyful, into our greatest work. No matter what you’ve experienced, you can share the gift of those struggles and triumphs with the world. Don’t hide who you are, don’t hide what you experience, because I promise you someone out there will find their own strength, hope, and joy through your courage to share your story.
It’s truly my honor to share these stories and provide the space here to share a little bit more about the people behind these words. I encourage you to check out Martha and Brian after you listen to this week’s new episode.
*Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this episode are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Seek The Joy Podcast.
Martha Alderson is the author of the best-selling “The Plot Whisperer.” She writes novels for readers, plot books for writers, and most recently Boundless Creativity: A Spiritual Workbook for Overcoming Self-Doubt, Emotional Traps, and Other Creative Blocks for anyone looking to enrich their lives with more creativity and inspiration.
In today’s episode, Martha shares the moment she realized she wasn’t owning her story. She realized she was playing small, hiding behind helping others, and not nurturing her own creativity. It took Martha years before she had the courage to own her story, and her experience. Today, her story is out of the shadows and into the light, and the freedom she feels is unmatched. Martha’s courage to share her story of being molested as a child, and her choice to share it and no longer play small, will remind you that joy is on the other side of every difficulty, trauma, Today, she. lives in her own light, she’s not worried about being judged, and she’s helping other women be empowered and speak their truth. As Martha shares, self-acceptance brings personal power - and no one can stand in your way.
Boundless Creativity is designed to help writers, artists, and anyone feeling creatively blocked move beyond the self-doubt and criticism, past emotional wounds, and habits and patterns that keep you from realizing your artistic ambitions. Using a powerful technique called “The Universal Story”—a four-phase program with easy-to-follow steps and exercises—you’ll learn to identify and dissolve the emotional and energetic blocks that get in the way of your creativity.
Her other books are Writing Blockbuster Plots and Writing Deep Scenes, The Plot Whisperer Workbook, The Plot Whisperer Book of Writing Prompts, as well as several ebooks. Look for her latest novel Parallel Lives: A Love Story coming out summer 2020. She lives and writes in Santa Cruz.
“The freedom that I felt from being released from the struggle with shame and feelings of unworthiness, has allowed me to never again turn my back on myself. To own my story with pride, to see what i’ve worked through and who I’ve become, and to know it’s because of what I suffered, has allowed me to be fully empathetic to others, to be sensitive and intuitive about what other people may be dealing with or hiding. Now, I know that nothing can stop me.”
Brian Hyman is the lead yoga therapist at a prominent addiction treatment center in Malibu, CA. His dedicated and innovative work with yoga and recovery has been featured in interviews with Voyage LA, Recovery 2.0, Heroes in Recovery, and Malibu Times. His writing about recovery, yoga, and wellness has been featured in Mantra Wellness, Insight Timer, and Whole Life Times. Brian is a Legacy Ambassador for lululemon. Brian’s yoga classes, guided meditations, and breathing tutorials are available on Yoga30 and Udemy.com. His audio courses on Insight Timer include “Cultivating a Heart of Gratitude,” “Yogic Principles for Transformation,” and “Recovery: Principles for a Purposeful Life.” Brian has been living life clean and sober since 2009.
In today’s episode, Brian shares his journey becoming clean and sober in 2009. After his mother’s passing, Brian examined his life and his mortality. He hardly recognized himself, and he asked himself, what are you going to contribute to the world with the time you have left on Earth? In that moment of clarity, he chose to reclaim his life, and his path to wellness began. He obtained the spiritual tools necessary to maintain a life of abstinence and serenity. He rediscovered his appreciation for yoga through daily practice, and his perspective changed too. As he combined conscious breath with mindful movement, he realized his purpose was to be of service to other. Brian’s shares his perspective and insights of living a life of pain, to living a life of purpose. His experience turning his misery into his ministry is one of profound transformation, and today he’s combined love and service to share his message and his journey with others.
Brian recently created/published the 30-day audio course "Recovery: Principles for a Purposeful Life" on the #1 meditation app/site Insight Timer. Over 1,100 students around the world have enrolled since the course launched in March 2020.
“What needs to happen to turn our mess into a message of hope, healing and transformation? I believe we must become willing to believe that all things have a purpose, nothing happens by mistake, all experiences are useful, all things are teaching moments, and that seeds of transformation are inherent within our thoughts, words and actions. I believe our collective purpose is this: we are here to share our personal experience, strength, and our hope with others. We are here to share our joy, our inspiration, our authentic selves, and to lend a hand, a heart, a healing glance, thought or prayer.”
To connect with Martha and learn about her new book, visit her website https://marthaalderson.com and on Instagram @marthasalderson Facebook @PlotWhisperer Twitter @plotwhisperer and you can find her new book here
To connect with Brian and his work visit his website https://www.brianhymanyoga.com and on Instagram @brianhymanyoga Facebook @brianhymanyoga Twitter @brianhymanyoga and you can find him on Insight Timer here: https://insighttimer.com/brianhyman
PODCAST WELLNESS WEEK: Sydney is speaking at Podcast Wellness Week on Thursday December 30th at 10am PT!
Join Sydney in conversation with licensed clinical mental health counselor and bestselling author Richale Reed of The Power Within podcast and Amanda Meyncke of the Happiness Spells podcast as they discuss how to get happy!
This panel on positive mindset offers a fresh perspectives and tools for increasing your happiness quotient and empowering ourselves with actionable steps to feel that sense of contentment and joy in our lives.
Register for the event here by selecting FREE PASS. You can also purchase a FULL PASS for $25 to replay recordings of all the sessions at your convenience and access bonus content here!
The event also features two daily live-streamed panels discussing mental health, sleep, meditation, positive mindset, fitness and nutrition with well-known wellness podcasters, along with daily meditations. Check out the full schedule here.
The panels will be livestreamed for free on Podbean via your browser and the Podbean App.
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