Madisyn Taylor, Unmedicated: the 4 Pillars of Natural Wellness

Struggling with chronic fatigue, depression, anxiety? Want to get unmedicated?

Madisyn Taylor is today a world-renowned expert in personal development and alternative healing methodologies and co-founder of one of the internet’s most popular inspirational websites—DailyOM. But before she guided millions of people on the path toward wellness she struggled under the physically, emotionally, and financially draining diagnoses of chronic fatigue syndrome, clinical depression, and anxiety.

After years of medications, therapies, and more medications, Taylor came to a stunning realization—her well-being was up to her. With nothing left to lose, she started her first tentative steps on what would become a program that would help her throw off the shackles of overreliance on medication and gain mental serenity after a lifetime of anxiety disorders and depression.

She’ll share a holistic path to wellness meant to supplement expert medical advice. It presents four basic pillars that build on one another to create a healing foundation of action steps:

•         ONE: Clear Your Mind. How to retrain your brain and open new neurological pathways by learning meditation and reconnecting with nature.
•         TWO: Nurture Your Spirit. Learning to work through fear and self-sabotage and embracing forgiveness to release the pain and help connect to a greater source.
•         THREE: Strengthen Your Body. Understanding how a healthy body supports a healthy mind.
•        FOUR: Find Your Tribe. Discovering the people who will give you a solid foundation of love and support and allow you to be yourself.

You too can become unmedicated!

DailyOM.com

HeatherAsh Amara, Awaken Your Inner Fire

Buy this! Take care of me! Sign this! We need you! Watch this! HeatherAsh Amara shows you how to awaken and consciously tend your inner energy in a crazy busy world that is constantly trying to hook your attention.

We’ll explore the idea of how to use whatever work you are doing—whether it is something you love or something to pay the rent—as a way to build more courage, strength, power, and peace within you. It’s not a rewiring of what you do, but rather of how you do it…

Using the principles and tools that have helped thousands of HeatherAsh’s readers and students, you’ll learn how to:

• Uncover the hidden beliefs and habits that are getting in your way
• Break your cycles of distraction, procrastination, and depletion
• Unclutter your internal and external space to allow calm and clarity
• Awaken, nourish and direct your inner fires—physical, emotional, and spiritual
• And bring the power of the sacred into each challenging moment of your day

The payoff? To experience greater joy and resilience that embraces creative flow with solid emotional ground, energetic drive with quiet rejuvenation—while fulfilling both your real-world daily demands and your deeper purpose here.

"Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." ~ Howard Thurman

Learn more about HeatherAsh Amara: heatherashamara.com

Michael Gelb, The Art of Connection: 7 Relationship-Building Skills Every Leader Needs Now

Michael Gelb

As the current workforce has become more diverse and less hierarchical, connection, and its good friend, collaboration, are more important than ever. More of us can step into the role of leaders who guide others to discover a sense of meaning, purpose, and connection in the workplace. Leaders need to be flexible and adaptable in their relationship-building and communication skills.  

Michael Gelb’s motto is "Connect before solving." He’s discovered that the most powerful catalyst for inspiring creative breakthroughs, and for translating those breakthroughs into sustainable innovations, is to guide people to connect with one another first, before trying to solve a problem.

Gelb shares his seven methods of developing this essential rapport in our professional and personal lives. He reminds us that developing rapport with others is not just a business tool to enhance productivity but a valuable end in itself. He guides us to cultivate the skills we all need to deepen our relationships, broaden our humanity, and transform our lives. 

Learn more about Michael Gelb: MichaelGelb.com

John Travis, MD, Why Dads Leave

John Travis

When John W. Travis, MD, lauded as one of the founding fathers of the wellness movement, became a parent, he was shocked to discover how unprepared he was for the emotional challenges of parenthood.

With his wife and colleague, Meryn Callander, he shares the story of their confident plunge into parenthood and the unraveling of that confidence, as they discovered themselves floundering, exhausted, and struggling to deal with the challenges confronting them. He found out firsthand why dads leave.

Cultural and generational forces are creating an unacknowledged epidemic of disappearing dads—fathers leaving their families, physically or emotionally, soon after the birth of a child.

Nearly twenty years in the making, John’s work provides insights and practical ways of preventing and healing the insidious and devastating impact of this dynamic. He has created the website ConnectedAndThriving.org which is full of resources, understanding, and hope for men—and the women who love them.

Learn more about John Travis MD: ConnectedAndThriving.org

Suzanne Scurlock-Durana, Reclaiming Your Body: Healing from Trauma and Awakening to Your Body’s Wisdom

Suzanne Scurlock-Durana

Traumatic experiences are a part of any life—from the emotional shock of someone’s careless words in childhood to intense physical injuries to life-threatening emergencies to assaults. Unresolved trauma becomes lodged in our body, blocking the ability of its communication system to share its wisdom. So we flounder when making decisions, remain in less-than-ideal or unsafe situations, and/or end up living a life that truly isn’t ours—while our body is madly signaling us with the solutions we seek.

Suzanne Scurlock-Durana has spent thirty years studying the gifts of the body and teaching thousands how to reclaim them, giving us ways to reconnect with our body’s inner guidance system of sensation, imagery, and inner knowing. “Your body is designed to guide you, keep you safe, and bring you full vitality and pleasure. It is the vehicle through which you create and manifest your thoughts and dreams into reality,” writes Suzanne. She shares how to reclaim lost parts of ourselves, tap into our body’s wisdom, and better navigate our lives.

Learn more about Suzanne Scurlock-Durana: healingfromthecore.com

Sandra Marinella, The Story You Need to Tell: Writing to Heal from Trauma, Illness, or Loss

Sandra Marinella

Most of us have a story inside waiting to be told. Sandra Marinella can help. She’s done years of pioneering work with veterans and cancer patients, as well as teaching writing and researching its profound healing properties.

Riveting true stories illustrate her methods for understanding, telling, and editing personal stories in ways that foster resilience and renewal. She also shares her own experience of using journaling and expressive writing to navigate challenges including breast cancer and postpartum depression.

Marinella explores how our myths, our metaphors, and our meaning are born of the stories we choose to tell. Each of the techniques, prompts, and exercises she shares helps us “to unravel the knot inside” and move forward toward greater well being.

Learn more about Sandra Marinella: www.storyyoutell.com

Theresa McKeown, The ABC's of Being Me

Thersea McKeown

You’re a kid, you’re special, and you matter! Theresa McKeown shares a lively, enriching book designed for the enthusiastic child - and the child at heart.

Twenty-six works of art, one for each letter of the alphabet, illustrate a character trait, and each one gets its own bubbly and cheerful poem. Kids get to write what each one means to them, creating a permanent reflection of how they viewed themselves and their world right then.

Part journal, part scrapbook and part photo album - each completed book will be a personal time capsule to be opened, remembered and cherished over the course of a lifetime as we look back on the roads we've taken. It’s a gateway to meaningful conversation about core values between parents and children in any grade of elementary school. What was it...is it...like to be me? And it’s fun! 

Learn more about Theresa McKeown: www.theabcsofeverything.com

Clint Emerson, 100 Deadly Skills: Survival Edition, The SEAL Operative’s Guide to Surviving in the Wild and Being Prepared for Any Disaster

Clint Emerson

Do you know what to do in an active shooter situation, or how to apply trauma medicine after a catastrophic event? What’s the most important thing to do if you’re stuck on a desert island or being boarded by pirates?

Retired Navy SEAL Clint Emerson spent 20 years in operations around the globe. Now he’s created the essential survival guide, as adapted from the missions, training, and protocol of special operations, to combat the real threats of today’s complex world.

He’ll share how to defeat a range of life-threatening scenarios, from being lost in the woods, to escaping a theater shooting, creating improvised water filters, eluding a wild boar attack, and defending against home invasions, using  low tech or “no-tech” tools.

Clint Emerson is a decorated hero and a survival expert we need to combat today’s crises. 

Learn more about Clint Emerson: www.clintemerson.com  escapethewolf.com

Cathy Wild, Wild Ideas — Creativity from the Inside Out

Cathy Wild

There’s a depth you’re meant to explore. A flow you’re meant to find, where treasures await discovery. Take a transforming journey into the heart of who you are. Unlock and access your creativity, power, joy, and more. Delve below the surface of your life on an intimate journey through the seven stages of the creative process.

Counselor, artist, and author Cathy Wild shares her own deeply personal story as well as provocative insights gleaned from her many years in private practice. Discover your authentic voice while exploring timeless themes that compel creative expression—curiosity and imagination, mystery and mourning, chaos and clarity, suffering and gratitude and many more. Feel deeply supported as you unlock the mysteries of your own creative power. 

Learn more about Cathy Wild: CathyWild.com 

James Cordova, The Marriage Checkup: A Scientific Program for Sustaining and Strengthening Marital Health

James Cordova

Marriages don’t whine like children or bosses, but we have to pay attention to them or they can get sick or just plain tired.

Professor James Cordova of Clark University wrote The Marriage Checkup to help couples assess the strengths and weaknesses of their relationship and to develop strategies for strengthening its health. It’s a two-session assessment and feedback program that helps us look at intimacy, sexuality, co-parenting, managing money, and communication, "the marital health equivalent of the annual physical or the every-six-month dental visit.”

We can avoid the emotional turmoil associated with conventional marital counseling since we are simply receiving safe and routine feedback about potential problems in our marriage. Like physical health, the health of a relationship can be developed to greater levels of fitness and resilience to illness; even healthy couples can benefit from these exercises. 

Learn more about James Cordova: wordpress.clarku.edu/coupleslab/

Sarah Elliston, Lessons from a Difficult Person: How to Deal with People Like Us

Sarah Elliston

Sarah Elliston never realized she was "a difficult person," as she harangued people until she got her way, threw temper tantrums, and talked over her bosses. In her family, where she felt bullied, the only way she knew how to get attention was to voice her opinion, loudly!

She wasn't mean-spirited. She was just trying to do what she thought was RIGHT for herself and everyone else! Until a kind but firm boss pointed out that she was not only disrupting the office, but impeding her own professional advancement.   

Sarah started on the journey to leave behind the difficult person, and became the woman who teaches others how to deal with difficult people. She’ll share tips on how to awaken the challenging personality, and change both the relationship and the environment. You’ll learn ways to resolve personal conflict, implement negotiation skills with positive results, and relate in a non-confrontational way in working out disagreements with friends, family, neighbors and business associates.

Learn more about Sarah Elliston: www.sarahelliston.com

Henry Fersko-Weiss, Caring for the Dying: The Doula Approach to a Meaningful Death

Henry Fersko-Weiss

How can the dying and their families bring deep meaning and comfort to care at the end of life?

Henry Fersko-Weiss describes a new way to support and guide people through the dying process; the end-of-life doula model adapted from the work of birth doulas. It honors the life of the person who is dying, offers them control over how they approach their death, and thoroughly supports loved ones.

That model encompasses summing up and planning work with a patient and family; continuous, around-the-clock vigil work; and reprocessing the loss with loved ones soon after the patient’s death. The dying person, their family, and caregivers can transform the experience from one of fear and despair into one that is uplifting and even life-affirming.

Learn how to give the last gift you can to yourself or someone you love.

Learn more about Henry Fersko-Weiss: inelda.org

David Bedrick, Revisioning Activism: Bringing Depth, Dialogue, and Diversity to Individual and Social Change

David Bedrick

If you're feeling pulled towards some sort of activism but aren't sure what, join us here! David Bedrick helps us broaden our vision to include how the social/political world impacts the inner lives of people, how dialogue across diverse viewpoints can impact hearts and minds, and how psychology can play a role as a social-change agent. 

Bedrick deconstructs racism by looking at divergent views of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He deconstructs sexism by critiquing the diet industry and the way women feel about their bodies. Bedrick brings this same psychological eye to understanding societal problems (e.g., gun control, addiction), national celebrities (e.g., Robin Williams, Lance Armstrong), and popular psychology’s failure to create sustainable change. He provokes critical thinking, feeling, and dialogue.

It’s a daring call to empower activism and see ourselves as individuals intimately woven into a web of relationships and social issues.

Learn more about David Bedrick: davidbedrick.com

Thomas Sterner, Fully Engaged: Using the Practicing Mind in Daily Life

Tom Sterner

Are you fully engaged, present in this moment, completely content? Our culture encourages our minds to be overactive, anxious, longing for the future or regretting the past.

Thomas Sterner, bestselling author of The Practicing Mind, shows us how simple shifts in perspective — such as learning to center our attention on the process of what we are doing instead of what we are trying to achieve; using goals as guides instead of reminders of what is left to be done; and learning to work without judgment about the process — can completely transform the experience of going through each day.  

He says, “Everything in life comes from practice. No matter how small or inconsequential we think it is, everything we do, from brushing our teeth to getting through a scary job interview, comes from practice, the deliberate repetition of an action with an awareness of what we want to achieve.” And it works!

Learn more about Thomas Sterner: tomsterner.com

Jeanine Staples, The Revelations of Asher: Towards Supreme Love in Self

Jeanine Staples

How do you behave in love: Main Chick, Side Chick, Bonnie, Bitch, or Victim? Have you known the terror of emotional, psychological, or physical violence, and does that impact the way you show up in relationships and how you operate in the world?

As an alternative response to the five toxic lover identities, Jeanine presents a new way of loving and living. She introduces the Supreme Lover identity and illuminates its integral connection to social and emotional justice for and through Black women's wisdom. She gives us the tools to take ownership of our lover identities, and consciously seek greater emotional justice for our lives and communities.

Learn a more conscious way of loving and living in the world.

Learn more about Jeanine Staples: Jeaninestaples.com   and  thesupremeloveproject.com 

Mark Coleman, Make Peace with Your Mind

Mark Coleman

You know your Inner Critic, the voice that says you’re not enough, not good enough, or sometimes...too much.

Renowned meditation teacher Mark Coleman helps us see where it comes from, and what strengthens and weakens it. He’ll share insights into what creates, drives, and disarms the Inner Critic; examples from real people’s healing journeys that inspire and guide; tools we need to begin turning the lens of attention toward our own minds, with kindness and clarity. You’ll learn simple exercises you can immediately put into practice to invite, cultivate, and nurture your best self and make peace with your mind.

“The good news coming out of neuroscience is that your brain and negative habits can change based on how you use your attention,” writes Coleman. “When you see how much your inner critic robs you of peace and well-being, you will be less apt to give it your loyalty and attention.”

Learn more about Mark Coleman: MarkColeman.org

Chetan and Carola, The Book of Destinies

Chetan Parkyn and Carola Eastwood

What is your life purpose? What you are doing here, and are you on the right track to being fulfilled? How can we all live out our destinies?

World-renowned Human Design experts Chetan Parkyn and Carola Eastwood show how to use the place, date, and time of your birth to reveal your specific Life Theme, a unique, consistent, and recognizable undercurrent to your whole lifetime.

“Knowing and accepting your particular Life Theme is truly transformative. Embodying this awareness gives you reassurance and clarification about your unique life purpose. You can attune to your destiny and learn to live creatively through all the challenges, finding fulfillment in knowing you are living in accordance with your truth,” they say. “Discover the life you were born to live.” 

Learn more about Human Design: www.HumanDesignForUsAll.com

Barbara Waxman, The Middlescence Manifesto: Igniting the Passion of Midlife

Barbara Waxman

We’ve associated midlife with future decline and potential disability, a time when people begin to worry about being “over the hill.” The truth is, people between the ages of about 45 and 65 are at the top of the hill, with a life expectancy of nearly 80 years, and many of us will live even longer. Yet our thinking about “age” is stuck in a paradigm from the last century.

Middlescence is a new life stage, filled with potential, vitality and purpose. Backed by quantitative research and the qualitative data collected over Barbara Waxman’s 30 years as a gerontologist, the Manifesto establishes that Middlescents are happier and more purpose-driven than almost any other demographic segment.

She gives us tools and techniques to tap into those qualities so we can be filled with creativity, focus and potential. We can harness our leadership abilities to revolutionize our own lives and those of our family members, as well as revolutionizing our communities, workplaces, and the world. 

Learn more about Barbara Waxman: www.barbarawaxman.com

Kevin Hancock, Not for Sale: Finding Center in the Land of Crazy Horse

Kevin Hancock

Kevin owned one of the oldest family businesses in Maine, and in 2008 the economy was tanking. Then he lost his voice from a rare neurological disorder. He was moved to go to the Pine Ridge Lakota Indian Reservation, in a series of trips strikingly similar to their ancient Vision Quest rite.

In losing consistent access to his voice, Kevin discovered a pathway, a calling, to strengthening the voices of others, which he uses to think differently about the future of Pine Ridge, the future of his business, and the future of tribes everywhere.

Find out how he learned to do less, not more; to look inward for meaning; to bring his business and himself back into balance and prosperity. Along the way, Kevin learns it was his soul's way of getting him to stop working, stop leading, stop caretaking. Find your own growing awareness of interconnectedness, where everybody can live a full, rich life. 

Learn more about Kevin Hancock: www.kevindhancock.com

Sam Bennett, Start Right Where You Are: How Little Changes Can Make a Big Difference

Sam Bennett

Want to change your life, don’t know where to start?

An overwhelmed procrastinator, frustrated overachiever, and recovering perfectionist herself, Sam Bennett knows all the ways we avoid pursuing our dreams and reaching our goals. She also knows how to “get it done.” A friend along the way, she offers small, easily doable changes you can make to achieve your goals and dreams.

She says, “Just because your dreams haven't happened up to now doesn't mean they won't happen. And just because your life, career, or projects haven't gone the way you may have wanted doesn't mean they are not going well. No matter what has happened to you up to now, you have an opportunity to create a new story, beginning right now.” 

Learn more about Sam Bennett: startrightwhereyouare.com