Libsyn Directory

019 - Your Message And Your Life

Release Date: 10/12/2021

033 - Letting Go, Celebrating, and Moving On

Bowing To Elephants Podcast

Welcome to the final episode of the Bowing to Elephants Podcast. It is with bittersweet feelings that I announce I'm discontinuing the podcast, just for the time being. Life is calling me to address different creative work right now. I appreciate all of you who have steadfastly listened to the show. Here today to help me reflect on the last six months and discuss my next adventure is my friend and cohort, Ben Gioia. What You Hear/Learn/Discover [1:40] Mag explains why she started the podcast in the first place. [03:08] Mag talks about her successes and disappointments with...

032 - Cultural Lens Shapeshifter

Bowing To Elephants Podcast

Jill Mott is a “cultural lens shapeshifter,” photographer, and photojournalist who brings a unique, sparkling energy to everything she does. Armed with only her camera and imagination, she once traveled the world from England to Zimbabwe… with a stop in Italy for art school! Today, Jill teaches and shares her understanding of communication and storytelling — across a myriad of forms — particularly with the camera.

031 - A Gourmet Destination on the Northern California Coast

Bowing To Elephants Podcast

Andrew and Liya Truong are stunningly talented chefs. They own and run Terrapin Creek Cafe & Restaurant in the sleepy, small town of Bodega Bay, California. Their fantastic menu garnered them a Michelin Star in 2011. And they have the love and devotion of Bodega Bay citizens and all those traveling along the coast who happen to stop by for a bite.

030 - The Writer and Her Hammock

Bowing To Elephants Podcast

An author, a poet, and phenomenal woman, Bella Mahaya Carter is a writing teacher and coach who promotes self-awareness and mindfulness. Bella believes in the power of writing to heal and transform lives. She sees publishing one’s work as an opportunity to deepen self-awareness, nourish meaningful connections, and delight in peak experiences while being of service.

029 - Becoming a Scholar

Bowing To Elephants Podcast

A creative soul and lifelong scholar, Sands Hall is a blessing to everyone who meets her. She shares her brilliant spark in many ways: as a teacher, musician, actor, and writer. And today, she joins us to talk about her moving memoir, Reclaiming My Decade Lost in Scientology. In her memoir, Sands shares what first led her to Scientology, the darker undercurrents of Ron L. Hubbard’s leadership, and how she eventually disentangled herself from the Church.

028 - In The Shadow of Poets

Bowing To Elephants Podcast

Meet Author Gretchen Cherington, who, after many years of silence, chose to share her story of abuse. Sexually molested by her father, Richard Eberhardt, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, Gretchen broke decades of silence to share what life with him was really like. Her memoir, Poetic License, is an authentic, brave piece of work.

027 - The Seasons of Life

Bowing To Elephants Podcast

Tania Casselle calls herself a book doctor, a spiritual follower, a therapist, and a teacher. This multi-talented woman emigrated from England to the United States, where she now lives in Taos, New Mexico. She’s received multiple awards for her writing.

026 - Burma & Bodhisattva Vows

Bowing To Elephants Podcast

To listen to Jack Kornfield is to be brought close to his heart and exquisite mind. Come hear him speak about his love for Burma. Listen to his thoughts on renunciation and the spiritual effects of the pandemic.

025 - The Art of Storytelling

Bowing To Elephants Podcast

Today, my honored guest is Michael Katz, a professional storyteller who performs and works with children in the Santa Barbara area and teaches mindfulness in elementary schools. Michael has worked as a storyteller since 1985 and was the host of a radio show dubbed The Katz Pajamas. He also performs at elementary schools, festivals, and illustrious events like the opening of the Disney Concert Hall.

024 - Feeding, Healing, & Loving The Soul

Bowing To Elephants Podcast

If anyone could light up a room or a person's heart, it’s Allison Post. An integrative health coach and somatic educator, Allison is a healer and a lover of all life. Over the last four decades, Allison taught courses in many massage modalities plus breath and bodywork.

More Episodes

Today, we have a guest with a true heart for service. Book writing expert and author Ben Gioia has an unrelenting drive to help people make a bigger impact with their story and message. Using strategies from his book, The Influence With A Heart Method, Ben Gioia helps coaches, consultants, speakers, and solopreneurs write high-quality books and get clients before they’re published.

Ben’s proven method helps aspiring authors get unstuck and get their books done fast! His method opens the door for people enables coaches, consultants, and entrepreneurs of all kinds to create the life they want and a business they love…... so they can make a difference with their message.

Ben and I met as volunteers at Zen Hospice Project in San Francisco, and it’s been such a wonderful friendship and collaboration!

What You Hear/Learn/Discover

[2:52] Ben and Mag discuss the importance of family while Ben shares a story about his great grandfather.

[05:20] Ben explains how he helps others minimize their suffering and live a more fulfilled life.

[8:00] Find out how Ben wrote his second book in a mere three and a half weeks!

[9:05] Ben discusses his transition from traditional marketing to inspiring others to make lasting, positive changes in the world.

[13:25] Mag and Ben discuss their spirituality, and Ben shares why he dislikes labeling his beliefs.

[22:05] Ben talks about his five-week book writing program and the mindfulness techniques he uses.

[29:12] Learn what Ben thinks is his most defining characteristic.

[33:39] Ben explains why he’s “consistently inconsistent” but never gives up.

[37:56] Ben shares his struggles with substance abuse.

[40:00] Mag talks about positive and negative addictions.

Quotes

“By using the tools of meditation, … I can really relax into the feelings and the experience I’m having even the really uncomfortable, unpleasant … feelings because again that’s the pain coming up. But I can [relax] if I don’t get hooked on it, right? If I don’t constrict around it [the unpleasant feeling], if I don’t push it away from me, if I don’t grab on to it, but just relax into it and literally smile into it, then I have an opportunity to just be with that pain as pain. And then let it go, and not let it multiply into suffering.”

“We’re born into a world that has pain as part of the deal. It’s in the contract. Things are gonna hurt physically, emotionally, spiritually … they’re gonna hurt. But I came to understand from my own experiences that the suffering part of it is very often a choice, right? Suffering is what we add on … when we bring other things into the mix beyond just the pain.”