In this episode, I talk about the idea that clarity is some passive “aha” moment that just falls into our lap, when in reality, clarity is an active decision that we must all make. Listen to find out why we all need clarity, and what you can do when you think you’ve found clarity, but suddenly, good ol’ doubt starts to creep back in. P.S. Be sure to grab the Rebel Buddhist Toolkit I created at RebelBuddhist.com . It has all you need to start creating a life of more freedom, adventure, and purpos...
Sep 08, 2022•8 min•Ep. 121
I was thinking how maybe like 5 years ago, I would have done the damn episode, thinking I had more of an obligation to crank one out that spend time with my kid, or to try and sleep, because it was “work” and I was the primary breadwinner, so no excuses in order to provide. I’m really grateful that now I have so much more clarity about how to prioritize my life, but whew…being raised by an immigrant Filipinx mama who sacrificed so much for me makes choosing self care and small precious moments h...
Sep 01, 2022•28 min•Ep. 120
Today we talk about how to write your personal manifesto and why it’s worth doing. In this episode you’ll learn: // Why you should bother writing a manifesto // How to use a manifesto when you’re not motivated to do what you need to do // Three questions that make writing one easy // Something you can do today, right now, to get started Resources: // Grab a copy fof the Rebel Buddhist Manifesto here // Ep. 7: Know Your Values - The Rebel Buddhist Manifesto // We recommend you use Canva for templ...
Aug 25, 2022•17 min•Ep. 119
I’ve noticed that when I am aligned and mindful, I show up more often as the person I want to be. So that’s why I meditate when I don't feel like it, or when it feels like the last thing I have time for is to sit on my ass on my cushion. What is devotion and where does it come from? And how can we use it when we aren’t religious? Devotion can be a really loaded word for a lot of people and isn’t used a lot in the West. For me, devotion used to have a very heavy weight to it for me. Like it was a...
Aug 18, 2022•26 min•Ep. 118
This week, I’m revisiting one of my favorite topics: Psychedelics & Spiritual Practice. I’ve used psychedelics in clinical settings and have found them to have a unique place in the treatment of mental health disorders. But I’m personally very interested in their use for spiritual purposes. Especially because, in my own clinical experience, many mental health issues have a strong root in spiritual and existential challenges. When we really look at the intention for spiritual practice or use ...
Aug 11, 2022•40 min•Ep. 117
In this episode, we talk about rites of passage: not just how we can celebrate external and internal moments of growth and maturation, but also how to overcome society’s biggest challenges we face as we grow towards our Soul Purpose. Contrary to popular belief, psychological adolescence isn’t just confined to our teen years, and soul development isn‘t about age, or even external accomplishments. True psychological adulthood can’t be meaningfully defined as what happens in our 20s or what degrees...
Aug 04, 2022•33 min•Ep. 116
If you’re like me, after you finished college, you found moments in your life when your friendships with others changed. Maybe you wanted to grow and evolve spiritually, and they did too. But you’ve also probably walked away from friendships that, for one reason or another, no longer served you. Some could see moments like this as a positive change, but for many of us, it can be really lonely… even before the isolation of the pandemic. And we’re like, “How the heck do we do that, again?” I hate ...
Jul 28, 2022•24 min•Ep. 115
The assumption that accumulating things (homes, land, power, cars, the “right” body) leads to more happiness causes a lot of resistance to living simply in Western culture. Ajahn Succito said, “wise renunciation goes against the current of gain.” So, if we really want freedom from the suffering that the mind creates, we have to be prepared to challenge the assumptions of gain and loss. We do that in this episode. Renunciation about cultivating the intention to loosen our attachment and grasping,...
Jul 21, 2022•32 min•Ep. 114
One of the common themes I see with my coaching clients is a need/want to get so much done, but not knowing where to start. The to-do list and project ideas are endless and it all seems really important. And the really annoying part is that when we look at the lists and get overwhelmed, we end up doing nothing instead. The secret is that it’s NOT all as important as it might seem. So how do we narrow down that list and figure out what ACTUALLY needs to get done? First, identify your big goals. N...
Jul 14, 2022•11 min•Ep. 113
This week, I’m hard at work studying for my post-doctorate certification from my amazing condo in Hawaii. But trust me… even though I feel like I’m livin’ the life on a tiny piece of paradise, the current events in the world and here in the U.S. are fresh in my mind. Especially since the beginning of the week was July 4th… a day that is supposed to represent freedom and equality. Anyway, all of this has inspired me to bring back one of my Greatest Hits about massive action vs passive action and ...
Jul 07, 2022•24 min•Ep. 112
This episode is all about releasing one of the most common toxic patterns many of us have (and that easily that hooks me, personally): judgment and blame. Judgment and blame are really pervasive in our workplaces, our personal relationships, and in society at large. As we’ve experiences, it causes a lot of suffering when we label others as “wrong” or “bad” in some way. We can also get hooked by blame, and when it becomes habitual, it also keeps us stuck. These reactions can arise with little thi...
Jun 30, 2022•48 min•Ep. 111
This past week when I was on a silent retreat, as the days went by and we all got deeper into our meditation practice, I could see that people were walking really slowly...taking long pauses to enjoy the nature around us; stopping and touching the leaves of a bush and even petting it in appreciation; gazing at a wild turkey and laughing at all its sounds and attempts at impressing us with displays of their feathers, or perma-grinning up at the full moon. If any of us had been wearing tie-dyed cl...
Jun 23, 2022•28 min•Ep. 110
This past week I went to Maui with my good friend, Angela on a bit of an informal retreat. We had an absolute blast together - not just because we share so much in common and can laugh until we almost pee ourselves, but also because we both realized what we could change and what we couldn’t. We chose happy. A lot. Over and over. On one of our last days, we hiked up to a small peak at Haleakala for a super early sunrise and perched ourselves on a rocky outcrop between two boulders with only a han...
Jun 16, 2022•10 min•Ep. 109
In 1991, my life seemed perfect. I had just started at UCSC, my first choice for schools, not just because of the amazing reputation of the rebel professors, but also because of the ancient redwood forests and proximity to the beach - nature was important to me, and this place had it ALL. I had a blast doing new things like skinny dipping, drum circles, and mushroom journeys with friends, majoring in clinical psychology (which I couldn’t get enough of), loving my classes… I had a great boyfriend...
Jun 09, 2022•44 min•Ep. 108
When it comes to the practices of lovingkindness & compassion in Buddhist psychology, it’s pretty well understood that if we only practice these things, we can end up getting attached to the way we think things are supposed to be. … And want to run off into the mountains when things don’t go as we want them to. We want to check out. Withdraw. … Or we may grasp and struggle with the world rather than serving it. We resist and we fight. This is why equanimity if often taught along with compass...
Jun 02, 2022•32 min•Ep. 107
During a ceremony on my last meditation retreat, I looked this woman in the eyes and she was sobbing (with joy) and BAM! I started sobbing - also with joy - for how beautiful and precious the moment was. I didn’t stop, the entire ceremony. I had an immediate response to her tears of joy. And I could not reign that shizzle in. For the life of me. On the other end of tears, as a nurse, a midwife, and also a death doula, I’ve witnessed a lot of suffering - I’ve delivered stillborn babies and sat wi...
May 26, 2022•24 min•Ep. 106
Today is about the question, “Who am I?” We talk about why it matters and how we hold it in a context where we debate if we even exist on certain levels. Specifically - I want to talk about the concept of non-self and and Ultimate Oneness as well as how - and if - this can exist simultaneously alongside the concept of the individual soul. I’m going to do this while reminding you that I’m no philosophy or theology expert, and that I’m sharing my own experience of this debate along the path - and ...
May 19, 2022•32 min•Ep. 105
I just got back from a semi-silent retreat at what I consider to be my current home meditation center, Spirit Rock in California. I say semi-silent because between our silent periods, we would meet for about 4 hours a day to discuss topics we were studying together in a 2-year program. This particular retreat was all about sīla (in Pali), or ethics. We’ll go into more detail in a bit, but the idea is that when you speak and act in alignment with your integrity (or ethics), you’re naturally happi...
May 12, 2022•47 min•Ep. 104
Hey hey, Rebels! This week will bring to you another Rebel Buddhist Greatest Hits Episode about how to live with contrasting beliefs… while I go on my long-awaited semi-silent meditation retreat. (I had almost canceled due to COVID, but I’m officially out of the risk window and tested negative! I’ll be back with a new episode next week. _ We are all complex beings, made up of contrasts. Discipline and wildness. Security and freedom. Worldly and divine. There are dichotomies everywhere. It’s part...
May 05, 2022•31 min•Ep. 103
I had a recent client who had a really tough time with letting go of the “how” before allowing herself to be happy, relaxed, and free. Everyday she felt anxious and even downright panicked because she didn’t have “The Plan” for how to create the life she wanted. I feel like all of us can relate to this, right? We often want focus on how to create the amazing things we want. We decide what we want to create, then we spend a lot of time wondering about how it will work. The logistics of it all. I ...
Apr 28, 2022•19 min•Ep. 102
In the past, I’ve talked a bit about imposter syndrome and why it totally makes sense that it arises because of the societal structure we live in (hello consumer-based, patriarchal society). Today, I want to share an amazing tool that I started to use to overcome my own imposter syndrome. Because yes… it still pops up. And whether or not you have a business like me, imposter syndrome and self-doubt will arise in your life, too: in relationships, at work, or even when we plan a solo trip or try t...
Apr 21, 2022•19 min•Ep. 101
This week is Episode 100 of the Rebel Buddhist Podcast! If you’re new to the pod, then welcome! If you’ve been around for a while - welcome BACK! Today, I want to talk about how to know if you’re making progress on your spiritual path. Often, we think we’re not, but it’s usually because we are attached to our expectations… how we think progress is supposed to look. By now, I’m sure you’ve heard that being attached to expectations can really screw us in the end and make us pretty unhappy. Our per...
Apr 14, 2022•22 min•Ep. 100
Are you confused about what your purpose is – your soul purpose ? If so, this Episode is for you, because confusion about one’s purpose is often a sign of something more insidious going on. I noticed a pattern in my Adventure Mastermind groups when people are confused about their purpose. It seems so...legit to say we are confused. We can think, “I am so confused about what I’m supposed to be doing! I want to be clear first so that I don’t waste time, money and energy on the wrong thing. If only...
Apr 07, 2022•13 min•Ep. 99
You may have heard me say that being an entrepreneur can be filled with spiritual growth. I still believe this 100%. I have never expanded my comfort zone, dug deep with my limiting beliefs, learned to cultivate deep compassion for myself, and committed to serving others so much that I was willing to do scary shit as I have when being an entrepreneur. Sure, my work in refugee camps in war zones and other challenging humanitarian environments helped me to act on compassion for others - but it was...
Mar 31, 2022•28 min•Ep. 98
To a lot of people, the words psychedelic and spiritual are paradoxical. But the use of psychoactive substances in shamanic, religious, and spiritual practices is found throughout history, with evidence from thousands of years ago. In this episiode, we will be talking about psychedelics and spiritual practice and if there is a helpful role for them…or the potential harm. Let’s start with some definitions: Psychedelics are a class of psychoactive substances that produce changes in perception, moo...
Mar 24, 2022•38 min•Ep. 97
So many humans are on edge right now. A lot of this uncertainty has been going on since before the pandemic and this recent war… and there will be unrest and epidemics all over the world at any given time. I say this not to diminish what is going on, but to remind you that this week’s topic can be of benefit at all times, because there is never any predictability or guaranteed security. Impermanence is a law of nature. But we can still find a way for us to best navigate and stay human amidst it ...
Mar 17, 2022•31 min•Ep. 96
Last week, after DAYS of countdowns and chaos, my daughter and I packed up, grabbed the dog, and got on a flight to Hawaii. We were already over the Pacific ocean when the pilot announced they would have to turn around because of issues with their communication system. So we fly back, get in line for another plane, and then I get called up to the gate agent, who told me I couldn’t be on the next flight because my dog had to be on a flight that landed before 11:30pm. Uh oh… I’m already exhausted ...
Mar 10, 2022•27 min•Ep. 95
Hey, my wild and whacky humans! Well, life rarely goes as we expect, right? This week, it was my travel plans that were affected… on my way to my home in Hawai’i, no less! So in solidarity of the absolute chaos I’ve been attempting to weather this week, I wanted to bring you a new Rebel Buddhist Greatest Hit: The Power of the Pause. Because we could all use a moment to stop, take a breath, and re-align these days! I’ll be back next week with a new episode where I dive even deeper into why we nee...
Mar 03, 2022•38 min•Ep. 94
If you’re new to the squad, you may not have heard about my weekly live streams every week in the Rebel Buddhist Facebook group. They’re called “Wake the F*ck Up Wednesday,” and since they’re in the morning for most of us in the U.S., a lot of people think the name is because I’m a morning person and I really love to wake everyone else up with explicatives like, “Hey! Wake the F*ck Up!” While I often start the live stream that way, it isn’t why I named it that. That story starts over a decade ag...
Feb 24, 2022•25 min•Ep. 93
This episode is all about being a leader in this world and our own lives every day. It’s about entering the room and turning the vibe into what you see would be the most skillful at the time - instead of automatically letting that vibe affect and change you, which is more reactionary. Sort of like the difference between a thermostat – which regulates the environment – vs a thermometer, which reacts to the environment. Here’s an example many of us have experienced: you’re on a plane and all of a ...
Feb 17, 2022•13 min•Ep. 92
