Simple Daily Practice Radio With Peggy Freeh

Heather couldn’t find a way to heal from a cystic tumor on her ovary.  She had it surgically removed, but her symptoms still persisted.  She tried alternative medicine, and she still had no relief.     She met a woman who had been to see John of God, a healer in Brazil who channels the spirits of past doctors and saints.  Immediately, Heather knew she had to go.  She spent over two weeks in Brazil.  By the time she left, her physical symptoms were gone.   And she had started on her spiritual path.  She began meditating regularly, moved to Hawaii and wrote her first book.  As she continued on her path, she found daily practices were a vital part of her exploration and expansion.     Listen to Heather’s story of how she found and followed her spiritual path, the practices she has used along the way, and how she now helps others to find their own paths as well.  Be sure to listen to the guided meditation she shares to activate your destiny in 2015 (the link is below).   In this interview, Heather shares: the d

Britt Nemeth loves photography.  To her, it’s an ineffable and heart driven experience.  She strives to not just make pretty pictures, but to capture the essence of each particular person, place or thing she shoots.   When she is taking photographs, she was deeply in that presence that makes photography so special for her.  But running her photography business took her out of that presence much of the time.   A friend asked her to the 5 day #blackandwhitechallenge.  Britt agreed, not thinking too much off it.  From the first day, she was hooked.  It took her back to what she loved most about photography and it inspired her to create her own 365 black and white photo challenge for 2015.   Listen to her story of what’s shifted for her in the first month of this practice, and check back for updates on how it’s going throughout the year.   In this interview, Britt shares: the 5 day black and white challenge that got her started the new 365 day challenge she has created for 2015 what’s shifted in her photogr

Pernelle has been writing professionally for 12 years, 7 years as her main job.  The writing came in fits and starts.  She would go through massive creative spurts and produce tons of work in no time.  And then she won’t write for a few weeks or a month.  Then she’d have another creative spurt.   This way of working depleted her.  She would have one of these creative bursts and then feel empty and think she couldn’t do it again.  She knew she could write, but she didn’t know how to make it a sustainable activity for herself.   So she started experimenting.  At first, she set up her schedule to write in the afternoons.  Then she tried writing first thing in the morning.  The she added some meditation before writing.   All the experimenting had paid off.  Pernille has a solid writing practice that supports her and allows her to bring her creative work into the world in a way that feels nurturing and sustainable.  Listen to her story of how she worked out the details of her practice, what she does now, and how i

Jenn Hand knew she had issues with anxiety and depression.  When she started seeing a therapist, she didn’t connect those issues to her difficulties with food.  She had been alternating between restricting and binging - crazy eating was just her everyday experience.   Her therapist asked Jenn to start keeping a food journal - just what she ate and when she ate it.  Then the therapist asked her to add how she felt after she ate.  That was challenging.  Jenn wasn’t used to looking at her feelings. She had been stuffing them down with food instead.   Slowly, she started to see her patterns of disordered eating.  She was able to use her journal as a place to meet her experiences with love and acceptance, and she has found a new level of peace with food and with her life.   Listen to Jenn’s story of how journaling helped her develop the self-awareness to heal her disordered eating and how she continues her journaling as a vital part of her daily self-care.   In this interview, Jenn shares: how she got started wi

Claudia Olivie explains the 4-7-8 breathing practice she teaches to reduce stress, and then guides you through a short practice session.

In her early 20s, Claudia was going nonstop.  She was in college and working, regularly going two or three days without sleep.  Her body started breaking down and she got to the point where it took her 20 minutes to read one sentence.   She was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder and her life came to a standstill.  She used the scientific research skills she had developed in college and started looking for answers.  She discovered how her chronic stress contributed to her illness.   She found many, many ways to address stress, so she called on another skill she had developed during college - how to experiment. She took what she learned and created daily practices to bring them into her life.  Some worked and some didn’t, and she was able to gradually find her way back to full health and a blissful life.   Listen to Claudia’s story of what daily practices she used to reduce her stress level, how she she found what worked and what didn’t, and all the amazing changes she’s seen in her life.  Also check out Cla

  Kelly didn't really realize how important quiet time in the morning was to her.  Before she had children, she lived and worked in London and had at least an hour of quiet time to herself every morning. Even on the underground, she would have her eyes closed or bury herself deep in a book.   Then she had her first baby. She was not prepared for that sudden lack of quiet morning time before she had to be with other people. Waking up each morning and jumping into mommy mode was incredibly challenging for Kelly.   Gradually, Kelly found her way back to that quiet morning time. At first, it was just on the weekends when her husband let her sleep in and have some extra time to herself. Then she challenged herself to take 15 minutes before her kids got up to set herself up for the best day possible. Building on that success, Kelly has even found other ways to add daily practices to her busy life. Today Kelly has a morning practice she can't imagine living without. It’s developed slowly over time and continues to c

Bailey started with a twice weekly yoga practice.  She was dedicated to it, because she needed it to survive her busy life as a burnt out therapist working 70 hour a week.   She wanted to shift her business from working in person to working with people online.  As she shifted her business, she reevaluated everything about her life, including her morning routine.  She experimented with different activities, fine tuning what she did until she felt grounded and ready for her day.   But that wasn’t enough.  When she found herself working on her computer late every night, she experimented again - this time with her evening routine.  She played around with both routines, finding a way to create bookends for her best possible day. Listen to Bailey’s story of how she went from using daily practices to survive to how she she uses them now to create her ideal life one day at a time and thrive.

At 21, Katie was a mess.  She had been struggling with a severe eating disorder throughout college.  She entered an outpatient treatment program to find a way out of the craziness.   She connected with a mentor who helped her see what was going on - Katie wasn’t able to feel her feelings, and the disordered eating was her way to avoid her looking at them.  Her mentor recommended Katie sit on a meditation cushion and feel her feelings.  But Katie just couldn’t do it. She couldn’t sit still.  She couldn’t quiet her mind.     She bought a journal on a whim one day and started writing.  That did it. Katie was finally able to see and feel her feelings.  She was able to get them out and be completely honest with herself for the first time. That let her be honest with other people and show up more authentically with the people around her.   Listen to Katie’s story of how she used journaling to connect with herself on a deep level, why she continues to journal every day, and all the gifts journaling has brought her.

On one hand, Andy’s life looked great.  He had a great job abroad developing software.  But after two acquisitions, the work environment turned toxic and he knew he had to get out.  He started journaling, and connected with a new vision for his life.   He knew he wanted to work at home and spend time writing, but he couldn’t connect to what his core message was.  About a year after he left his job, his mom died of cancer.  Andy reflected on her life and death, and found the message he most wanted to share - making moments matter.     While that insight helped him focus, he was still floundering, trying to create a successful business based on his inspiration.  He started meditating every day, and it helped him find the focus and clarity he needed to move forward.   Listen to Andy’s story of how he went from working in a toxic environment to building a life affirming business, how his mother inspired his big vision, and all the practices that have supported him on his journey.

Cate had been working in global change politics in Washington, D.C.  She was called to study natural healing to help people become more awake to their bodies and their ecosystems so they could make better decisions for their own health and the health of the planet.   She connected most with yoga and Ayurveda, yoga’s sister science of health and healing.  She went through an intense period of studying both, learning a very traditional approach.     These practices revolutionized her connection to herself and the world around her.  While she started out following the prescribed habits as she was taught, she came to connect with these habits at a new, deeper level, transforming them from habits to practices. Listen to Cate’s story of how she learned these Ayurvedic health habits, how she has worked with them over time, and how they have become her daily practices so she can share herself and her work with the world

Catarina had been practicing Kundalini yoga and loving it.  It helped her feel more grounded and calm.  But she noticed that it wasn’t helping her feel more energized or joyful.  And while she liked doing the meditation at the end of the Kundalini yoga class, she found it wasn’t something she liked doing on her own.   She learned about laughter yoga while Googling for information on kids’ yoga.  She had been facing some challenging times in the her life, and she was so intrigued with the idea of just laughing that that she signed up for a weekend teacher training as her first experience.     It was an intense and amazing experience for her.  She was able to tap into that joyful side of herself that she had lost touch with.  She has since found many different ways to include laughter yoga into her day as well as share it with other people in her life. Listen to Catarina’s story of what it’s like to practice laughter yoga, how she integrates it into her life and all the different benefits she has received from

Catherine Just wanted to be a stay at home mom for her son Max’’s first three years of life.  She knew she couldn’t get those years back, and she wanted to be as present as possible.     And like most stay at home moms, she cherished naptime, her one chance to spend time alone and get some other things done. Max didn’t always want to nap, though.  Catherine would try to rock him to sleep, and some days, he would just look at her and laugh.     One day, she decided to do the whole thing differently.  She took her iPhone with her to naptime and lay down next to Max.  After he fell asleep, she took a picture of them together.  She saw how much of the present moment she had been missing, focusing on getting somewhere else and being somewhere else.  Instead, she found a simple way she could always bring herself back to the present moment.   Listen to how this practice has changed Catherine’s life and the other practices she does inspired by Max.

Bridget had a regular daily practice for years.  With her professional background in psychotherapy, hypnotherapy and energy healing as well as her devotion to her own spiritual path, she experimented with a wide variety of spiritual practices.   She struggled with the effects of an acrimonious divorce and adrenal fatigue.  Then one day, she got an intuitive hit that she needed to go to Cape Town.  At first, she thought is was just for a holiday, but as she got closer, she realized she was supposed to move there.  She got rid of most of her belongings and put the rest in storage in London.  And off she went to Cape Town even though she thought she was crazy.   She wasn’t crazy after all.  She regained her health, meet her soul partner and wrote a novel.  And before, during and after the transition, her practices changed to support her.  She continued some practices, dropped others, and added new ones.  All throughout, her practices were able to support her throughout the process.   Listen to Bridget share abou

In 2004, Shane joined in the infantry in the 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, Bravo Company.  During the four years he served, he faced many challenging missions, including recovering bodies after Hurricane Katrina, evacuating 10,000 Americans out of Lebanon, and training Iraqi police and Army personnel.   Months after his honorable discharge, he was coughing up blood and was rushed to the emergency room.  He was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism and told that he would have to be on blood thinners for the rest of his life.  He had gone from being strong and healthy to feeling weak and useless.   He reevaluated his situation and made some big changes.  He moved to a 26 acre farm in Connecticut and started farming, eating only food he had grown.  And he started taking daily walks in the woods.  Exploring the woods, he was able to find a sense of peace and connection to himself that he had lost during his years of service.   Listen to Shane’s remarkable story of his experience in the Marines, what he did to recover

Andrew learned tai chi fifteen years ago.  He learned the whole form thoroughly, but he was busy with his life as a teacher, and he practiced haphazardly for more than a decade.     He also started his own website in 1994, blogging on a wide variety of topics that inspired him.  When he committed to practicing 100 days of Tai Chi in 2006, it only seemed natural to blog every day about his experience.  He did a few 100 days cycles, blogging the whole time.   Then, three years ago, Andrew saw some of his old blog posts from his 100 day challenges and decided to start practicing tai chi every day, this time committing for a full year.  He added in other practices as he felt inspired, and he blogged about his experience.   At the time of the interview, Andrew had completed 2 years and 220 days of his practices and blogging about it.  Listen to his story of how his daily practices have changed his life and how blogging has added to his experience.

Tara had lived in London her whole life.  After one especially bad year (a big break-up, depression, and overworking to distract herself from what was happening), she decided to move to the coast and start again.   She had always been interested in healing and alternative therapies.  She found a teacher in her new city who taught her tai chi and she began to practice regularly.  It was slow going.  She didn’t see results right away, but gradually she began to feel better.  The depression went away and she felt calmer and more patient.   She also found her way back to creating art.  Her depression had made it hard for her to get through the day, much less pick up a paintbrush.  She didn’t develop a daily art practice, but instead created a variety of short term art practices as her needs and interests changed.   Listen to Tara’s inspiring story of how the connection she has built with her daily tai chi practice supports and nourishes all her artistic activities, allowing her to live a life of balance, harmony

Amy had been seeing various gratitude practices and challenges going around social media.  When a friend started the 100 Happy Days Challenge (take a photo of something that made you happy for 100 days), she was intrigued.     She went to the website, and decided to do it.  It felt doable to her.  She was already taking and posting photos every day, and her schedule looked very stable for the next 100 days, so she dove in.   She found that the challenge really did shift her viewpoint from what she didn’t like in a situation to what she did.  It wasn’t just the 5 minutes it took to take the photo and post it to social media.  She found herself noticing what was making her happy throughout her day.   Hear Amy’s story of how this practice has changed her life and her experience of daily practice.  Amy will be back with short follow up interviews so you can hear how her experience with this practice changes over time.

Laurie went through a series of losses.  She withdrew from the world, isolating herself more and more. She continued to study with many different teachers, but she became more reclusive and isolated.   She eventually saw how disconnected she was, from the world around her and from herself.  She drew all on she had studied, and created a morning mindfulness practice.  The core of the practice was going outside every day to the same spot and sitting there for at least 20 minutes.     But sitting for at least 20 minutes was not Laurie’s problem.  She loved sitting there so much that she had to set an alarm to remind her to go in, sometimes sitting as long as 2 hours.  Her feeling of connection was coming back, bringing her to tears every day for the first two years.   Laurie shares in beautiful detail how she practices today, the influences that have meant the most to her, and the deep connection she has regain with herself and the world around her.

Ana Goncalves shares a morning renewal meditation.  It will help you connect with who you are, so that you can feel lighter and brighter and believe that everything is going to work out wonderfully in your day.