What does it mean to “compose yourself”?  The usual definition is to calm down and control yourself, but Martha has a very different meaning in mind, and she’s exploring it in this episode of The Gathering Room: How to Compose Yourself. As Martha defines it, you are literally composing your life—the being that you are—through the act of creating something new. Whether it’s a watercolor you’re painting, a meal you’re preparing, a business you’re building, or a child you’re raising, the act of creation is also creating you—and according to Martha, this is the actual point of creating. (Not, as the culture would have us believe, to make money from it.) Tune in for the full episode to learn more of Martha’s insights about the beauty and importance of creating “for no reason” and to participate in her guided meditation on imperfection, impermanence, and the essence of creativity.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is there something you really want to do, but the thought of it absolutely terrifies you? 😱Martha has been there many times, and that’s what she’s talking about on this episode of The Gathering Room: Doing the Thing You Think You Cannot Do.If you’re facing something in your life that you want to do but it makes you anxious, Martha says to remember that 99% of every original thing that has ever been done has been done by someone who didn’t think they could do it. In other words, you’re in good company! 🏆Listen to the full episode to find out how to recognize when it's love that wants you to do something that scares you—and how to work up the courage to run at it full speed. Martha also adapts her Silence, Space, and Stillness meditation to soothe your anxiety about the things you're scared to do.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sometimes we’re hit with a change so big it knocks us for a loop. We look around in a daze thinking, “NOW what?” 🦋 Welcome to what Martha calls “Square One” in The Change Cycle, a unique framework she developed to help people understand and navigate life’s transitions. 🦋 As Martha explains, life's changes aren't things we plan in our calendars. They are fundamental metamorphoses. You will go through the four Squares of the Change Cycle over and over throughout your lifetime. And Square One is about not knowing exactly what to do or what will happen next.  🦋 It’s about letting go and waiting to see what kind of butterfly you’re going to become. If you’re in Square One and feeling scared or confused…and you want to learn how to get through it with grace and ease, then this episode is a must-listen. You’ll also be able to cultivate an immediate sense of calm by joining Martha in her Silence, Space, and Stillness meditation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are you someone who makes New Year’s resolutions? Martha enjoys making one (yes, one) each year—and she always keeps it!  In this episode of The Gathering Room: A Year of Peace, she talks about her resolution to increase her brain’s wellbeing by dropping demands that have an overriding feeling of negativity and tend to make her brain shut down. Research that has shown that our brains work best when we can answer YES to two questions: Am I safe? Am I loved unconditionally? After basic survival, Martha says, love is the next imperative. When we feel safe and we feel loved, it’s amazing how fast we can learn, how much we can create and do—and how much happier our lives can be. Tune in for the full episode to learn how to let go of the demands we place on ourselves for no good reason, hear about some of the demands Martha has dropped so far, and join her for her guided Space, Silence, and Stillness meditation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you ever struggle to do things you know you have to do, even though you don’t really feel like it?We’ve all been there—including Martha—and she’s talking about it in this episode of The Gathering Room: Keep Swimming. Humans are the kind of creatures that can get so focused on a dream that even if that dream seems impossible, or the work it requires feels like a total slog, we can make ourselves keep going.Martha watched a movie about long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad, who made several failed attempts to swim from Cuba to Florida. Despite serious setbacks, Diana kept going back and trying again—and she finally achieved her goal at the age of 64.On her final successful attempt, Diana’s coach jumped into the water to swim alongside her, which Martha says is something we sometimes have to do for each other.We may not be able to touch each other, but we can still swim alongside each other like a pod of dolphins, encouraging each other to keep going—because the effort will be worth it.Tune in to the full episode, Ep 146: Keep Swimming, for more encouragement to keep going despite challenges and to participate in Martha’s guided Silence, Stillness, and Space meditation.LINKS Nyad film CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes  Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did you know that everything around you is conscious and responding to you in various ways?It may sound woo-woo, but Martha says there's a tremendous amount of legitimate scientific research to support this idea!When we’re willing to acknowledge that we don't know everything about the universe, and we’re willing to play with the idea that the universe is conscious, very interesting things start happening…In this episode of The Gathering Room: How to Play with the Conscious Universe, Martha talks about the synchronicities and “God winks” that occur when we realize we're all one field of consciousness.To learn how to start picking up what the universe is actually saying to you—and feel its deep calm as Martha guides you through her Silence, Stillness, and Space meditation—be sure to listen to this fascinating episode. LINKS The Conscious Universe by Dean Radin, PhD The Elephant Whisperer: My Life with the Herd in the African Wild by Lawrence Anthony Plant researcher Monica Gagliano See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did you know that the right hemisphere of your brain is doing supercomputer-level processing all the time, whether you’re aware of it or not? Wild, right? Martha calls the right hemisphere “the magician” because it can come up with the most amazing, brilliant solutions to very difficult problems, seemingly out of thin air.In this episode of The Gathering Room: Awakening Your Magician, Martha talks about how we can activate our highly creative right hemispheres, so we can solve the problems in our lives—and in the world.And the best part is, reawakening your own creative genius can actually be a lot of fun! To learn how to use Martha’s 4 C’s (calm, curiosity, courage, and feeling cornered) to rev up your right hemisphere and start solving problems as if by magic, tune in to this fascinating episode, which also includes Martha’s Space, Stillness, and Silence meditation.LINKS NASA study on creative genius Mann Gulch Fire of 1949 CONNECT WITH US Follow Martha on Instagram The Gathering Room Show Notes  Join Martha for a Live Episode of The Gathering Room via Facebook See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some people have a bullseye picture of their purpose in life and are headed straight toward it. However, this is extremely rare. Why? Martha says it’s because we live in a culture dominated by left-hemisphere thinking, which pulls us toward anxiety and socializes us to do as we’re told and acquire material wealth. In this episode of The Gathering Room podcast, Martha talks about following your curiosity to activate the right side of the brain, which is where our passion lives. And our passion is what leads us to our life’s purpose.If you want to start looking for things that draw your attention (rather than push yourself toward the things you think you should do), and you’re ready to prepare yourself to follow your curiosity wherever it leads, tune in to the full episode—it may contain just the spark you need!Episode Links Jill Bolte Taylor  Josh Waitzkin Daniel Coyle Elizabeth GilbertSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you ever feel like your life is a crazy quilt? Martha says that creating your life is the ultimate creative project, and that’s what she’s talking about in this episode of The Gathering Room. Each of us is given all the material to make a life—a human body, a set of circumstances, and a set of abilities—and the life we make from that material is ours to determine in this day and age. Sometimes it feels like we’re just piecing things together helter-skelter without a pattern,  crazy-quilt style, but Martha says there’s nothing crazy about it. “Crazy” is trying to follow the pattern the culture gives us, using only the materials it wants us to have.  When you stitch together the unique elements of your life to make something that brings you joy and a sense of purpose, that is actually very sane—what Martha calls a “sanity quilt.”  Listen to the full episode to learn how to see beauty in the fabrics of your life so you can make your own warm and wonderful “sanity quilt.” You’ll also be able to participate as Martha guides you through her Space, Stillness, and Silence meditation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Martha says one reason we humans are a strange species is because we love to make jigsaw puzzles—beautiful pictures that we cut up into tiny pieces and disassemble, and then put back together. And we don’t like them to be too easy!In this episode of The Gathering Room: Solving the Puzzles of Our Lives, Martha talks about the way problems in our lives are like puzzles, and how it often can be more joyful to have a puzzle than not to have one. These puzzles are the life situations given to us by circumstance. “If we can get into a state of relative relaxation,” Martha says, “and then look at even a very scary problem in our own lives, we can start to appreciate the kind of puzzles our brains like to solve.”To learn how to approach the problems in your own life like a jigsaw puzzle—and solve them in a way that supports your awakening and can help transform the world—tune in for the full episode. It also includes Martha’s guided Space, Stillness, and Silence meditation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You’ve heard of the fight and flight reflexes, but what about flop and fake?Flop and fake (also known as fawn) are two of the other responses in the polyvagal system, a theory about how our nervous systems adapt to stress and the environment. Fake/fawn is a people-pleasing response, and flop means you just lie there unable to drum up motivation.In this episode of The Gathering Pod: The Way Back to Happy, Martha’s talking about polyvagal theory and how to regulate your nervous system when it gets hijacked by fight, flight, freeze, flop, or fake.One of the things polyvagal theory says is that we can never go into a calm, alert state unless our nervous systems are interacting with one of four things: self, others, nature, and spirit. The good news is that Martha has a process to help you do exactly that!If you’re feeling frazzled, overstimulated, or overwhelmed and you need some relief, tune in and let Martha guide you back to your center of calm. With a few prompts, you can start to regulate your nervous system and become conscious of the beauty, joy, and love all around you.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're not trained to think of a spiritually led life as being hilarious or silly or goofy. But as Martha reminds us, laughter is the beginning of prayer.In this episode of The Gathering Pod: Letting the Force Steer Your Life, she talks about the difference between spiritual faith and religious faith, and how to connect with and trust spiritual energy (aka the Force) to guide you. When you do, you’ll be in for some truly delightful surprises!As Martha puts it, “The universe is not your butler. The universe is a continuous aspect of your consciousness that loves for you to play with it.” Listen to the full episode to hear some incredibly fun stories about manifesting with integrity, learn more about the overlap between play and spirit, and participate in Martha’s guided Space, Stillness, and Silence meditation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Be prepared to stop.” This is serious life advice, Martha says, because no matter what we’re doing (or how much we want to continue doing it), at some point we’re going to get interrupted by life.Whenever we have to stop something we thought was going to continue indefinitely—like a job, for example, or a marriage—it can really hurt. In this episode of The Gathering Pod: When Stopping Is the Way to Go, Martha talks about how we can make peace with inevitable interruptions by embracing another perspective:“In the flow of time in this earthly existence, stopping and starting are the same thing—every time we stop doing something, we start doing something different.”Tune in to participate in a guided meditation with Martha and learn how you loosening your attachments can ease the pain of stopping, so you can start observing the delicious flow of life.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are you familiar with polyvagal theory?  It may sound highly scientific, but Martha says polyvagal theory has a profound effect on spiritual practice as well, and she’s talking all about it in this episode of The Gathering Room: Dropping Anchor. The polyvagal nerve is a system of nerves connecting the brain to various parts of the body, and it plays a key role in our response to stress—either revving us up or shutting us down.  And according to the work of Deb Dana, it’s also involved with our sense of joy, compassion, love, and connection with higher consciousness through the part of the polyvagal nerve called the ventral vagal. Martha says that even when we feel overwhelmed, the ventral vagal state allows us to anchor into a state of joyful, peaceful relaxation and hold that state of being even amid chaos. To learn how to stay anchored in peace when others are in fight-or-flight or shutdown mode, tune in for the full episode. Martha even guides you through a ventral vagal exercise along with her Silence, Stillness, and Space meditation. Don’t miss it!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s The Best of the Gathering Pod, and this week we’re revisiting another listener favorite from the vault—Episode 110: How to Let the Light In.In this episode, Martha talks about her “rage to master” and the paradox of imperfection: While we can try our hardest to produce perfect results, we must accept that we’ll always make mistakes. It’s this combination of effort and grace that allows us to let the light into our lives.To find out more, be sure to listen to the full episode!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’ve got another Best of the Gathering Room episode for you today, a listener favorite called Building on Bright Spots. In this episode, Martha talks about finding and following the almost invisible “bright spots” in your life whenever things feel dark and cloudy. Because clouds are illusions, it's always possible to find little breaks in the clouds and see the clear points of truth that can guide you home.  To find out how, tune in for the full episode—which might turn out to be a bright spot for you!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While Martha is out on vacation, we’re bringing you The Best of the Gathering Room—a treasury of Gatherers’ favorite episodes—starting with: How to Heal Your Heart. Many of us believe something outside ourselves can heal us when we're heartsick, but Martha says the opposite is true. The heart can heal itself—if you know how to access the "heart healer" within you.  To learn how to come into integrity so that your inner “heart healer” can do its valuable work, don't miss this popular episode!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gatherers—I'm thrilled to be joined by Dr. Richard Schwartz, the brilliant creator of Internal Family Systems (IFS), a wonderful therapeutic model that you may have heard me talk about before because I love using it!IFS provides an optimistic, empowering framework to help us focus on the different “parts” of our personalities so that we can shift into a state characterized by curiosity, calm, confidence, and compassion.I hope you’ll tune in for our conversation about his latest book, YOU ARE THE ONE YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR: APPLYING INTERNAL FAMILY SYSTEMS TO INTIMATE RELATIONSHIPS, which is available at all major retailers.You can follow Dr. Richard Schwartz on:Twitter @ifs_model Instagram @internalfamilysystemsFacebook at InternalFamilySystemsLinkedIn at InternalFamilySystemsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you been feeling depleted? So many of us are tired, so much of the time. To find out what we can do about it, join Martha for this episode of The Gathering Pod: Filling the Well.Martha points out that there are many situations in human life that are analogous to drought— times when our energy feels like it’s drying up. The good news is that there are sources of energetic replenishment always available to us.With enough spiritual practice you can actually get to a place where you feel the dewpoint of Spirit filling you up with the energy that never fails—what Martha calls the “water of life.”To learn more about filling your spiritual well with renewed energy and joy, don’t miss the full episode! You’ll also be able to join Martha’s guided Silence, Stillness, and Space meditation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did you know there is a powerful connection between spirituality and mental health?Martha recently read a book about this subject—The Awakened Brain: The New Science of Spirituality and Our Quest for an Inspired Life by Lisa Miller—and she’s talking about it on this episode of The Gathering Room: The Benefits of Awakening.Martha believes in the transformative power of spiritual awakening, which she defines as being what you are in your true essence, once you’ve discarded illusion. While spiritual enlightenment in this lifetime may be an impossible goal, stories of spiritual awakening abound.Listen to the full episode to hear more—and as Martha says, “Let’s all wake up together!”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gatherers—I'm so excited to be joined by Emma Nadler, author of the lyrical, funny, and heart-healing new memoir, THE UNLIKELY VILLAGE OF EDEN.As a psychotherapist and the parent of a child with disabilities, Emma Nadler is a testament to the resiliency of parents, children, friendships, marriage, and every other manifestation of human love. I hope you’ll tune in for our conversation about her deeply moving and inspiring book!THE UNLIKELY VILLAGE OF EDEN: A MEMOIR by Emma Nadler is available at all major retailers. You can follow Emma on Instagram @emmanadlerwrites and find her on Facebook at Emma Nadler.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’ve all had times in our life when we’ve needed help—and we’ve all had times when we’ve received the help we needed. In this episode of The Gathering Room: How to Look for Help, Martha says that appreciating those times when you’ve been helped in the past is the key to getting help in the future. When we focus on need, Martha says, it creates a lifetime that feels like nothing but need. But when you see yourself as someone who’s always ultimately received help, you begin to see the universe as a friendly place where help is everywhere. To learn how to shift your perspective and start noticing how the universe responds to your appreciation for help, be sure to listen to the full episode!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are more people on earth than ever before… yet so many people are lonely. The thing is, love and friendship aren’t a numbers game. There’s a way to attract the people who are waiting to love you. Come find out how!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Content Warning: This episode includes details of a beloved pet passing. “Keeping your seat” refers to finding the core of peace that is always present at your center. This simple skill changes everything. Listen in to this week’s episode to learn how to do it and the heartbreaking reason Martha had to practice it this week.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of The Gathering Pod: Calm Down, We Can Do Both!, Martha talks about how calming yourself frees the brain to come up with creative ways to get everything your heart desires—even when those desires seem to conflict with each other.Martha recommends that when you reach an impasse in your yearning, push hard against the frustration you feel and let the yearning be bigger—and then let go. That’s when you get calm, which activates your brain’s full creative potential to find solutions you never thought of before! (Note: Martha will be teaching you to trade anxiety for this kind of creative capacity in her upcoming course, “The Art of Calm.” Registration closes soon! Read more and sign up here: marthabeck.com/calm )See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The secret about how to claim that elusive feeling of safety is hiding in plain sight. But it is disguised! Listen to this week’s Gathering Room to learn all about how to feel truly safe.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are three zones we can inhabit. Two will shrink our lives and one will grow them. Learn the difference and how to stay in the sweet spot with this week’s Gathering Room!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, we all go tracking! Your spirit is leaving footprints everywhere; join Martha to learn how to follow them!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We are naturally inclined to focus on things that frighten us. Lies spread six times faster than true facts. In fact, there’s only one thing that spreads as quickly as lies, and that’s Martha’s one-word recipe for us this week. Tune in to find out what it is!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gatherers—I'm so excited to be joined by New York Times bestselling author Katherine May! If you don't know Katherine's work, do yourself an enormous favor and read everything you can that she's written. I hope you'll join me for our conversation about her new book, ENCHANTMENT: AWAKENING WONDER IN AN ANXIOUS AGE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Martha talks about new discoveries showing how drastically the arts can improve our health and our lives. Come learn how to microdose! (With a bonus group meditation at the end!)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our comfort zones are always shrinking or expanding. In this Gathering Room, we discuss how to make sure they keep expanding. You really are braver than you believe!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For this very special Gathering Room, Martha is joined by extraordinary emerging thought leader Melissa Kiguwa. The two discuss why audacity is an underappreciated personal quality and an essential ingredient for an authentic life. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’re encouraged to “fight” in order to feel better, to love better, to be more successful. But what we fight fights back. Here’s another way.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How would it feel to know you were always loved, supported and cared for in every moment of your life? Well, maybe you are. Join Martha to learn how to find the helpers who never leave.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do you respond when you’re in a painful situation and there’s no way out? The answer is paradoxical. Come learn how to do it with this week’s Gathering Room!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this Gathering Room, Martha helps us reconnect with our true desires, which signal the path to the fulfillment of our destiny. (Inspired by Suzanne Eder’s new book, “What You Want Wants You.”)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Martha talks about the “genius, power and magic” of beginning (thanks, Goethe!). She proposes we look at beginning something new as an end in itself so that we can gently coax ourselves into it. Tune in for more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode of The Gathering Room suggests that you use your “discomfort zone” in a gentle but powerfully positive way. Curious? Come find out!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this Gathering Room, Martha discusses the insights and breakthroughs that can only come when we surrender to the fact that we’ve F-ed up. Listen in and find out how!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Martha talks about the paradox of imperfection: trying our hardest to do our best while still accepting that we will always make mistakes. This combination of effort and grace lets the light into our lives. Listen in to learn how!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this Gathering Room, Martha talks about the “heart healer” within every person. When we’re heartsick, this is the only thing that heals us. Learn how to access your own heart healer in this very popular episode! (Originally aired: January 15, 2023)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of The Gathering Room, you’ll learn how little you really have to do. If you think that sounds too easy, change what you think, not what you do. Come see how! (Originally aired: January 8, 2023)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How good are you at taking a break? This week, Martha explains that taking a break starts with letting go of our resistance to what we’re really feeling. Then all kinds of magic can reach us! (Originally aired, December 12, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’re happy to announce that Martha’s bestselling book The Way of Integrity is out in paperback now!  In honor of this new release, we are replaying Martha’s one-hour Oprah's Book Club Edition of The Gathering Room from March 6, 2022.  In this episode, Martha shares how you can bring yourself back into wholeness (aka integrity) to allow more peace, freedom, belonging, and joy into your life. She also answers questions from her friends over at Oprah's Book Club and her beloved regular Gathering Room peeps, so you won’t want to miss this very special episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As we head towards another holiday season, this week Martha wants us to know that the most important part of our holiday planning is the “refusal to suffer for imaginary reasons.” To learn to go about this, tune in to The Gathering Room! (Originally aired: December 11, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Martha talks about what to do at those times when you can’t. She teaches us that even when there is literally no way forward, there is still—literally—a way. Tune in for more. (Originally aired: December 4, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Martha talks about waiting—defined by the dictionary as “delaying action until something else happens.” She says waiting is pointless because “something else” never happens; the only thing we ever experience is what’s happening now. Learn how to stop waiting here! (Originally aired: November 13, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you ever felt drawn toward doing something that doesn’t quite make sense? Does it feel warm and exciting for no apparent reason? Pay attention. And listen to this week’s Gathering Room! (Originally aired: November 06, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Martha previews an upcoming book by Suzanne Eder called “What You Want Wants You.” Listen to today’s episode to bring what you truly desire into your life. (Originally aired: October 30, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today we learn to do when we’re in over our heads and sinking in the complexities, challenges and overwhelms of life. Spoiler alert: it’s easier than you think! (Originally aired: October 23, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Martha talks about how to have major insights. It is not what you think. If you need to feel better about a project that seems to be going nowhere, this is the episode you need to hear! (Originally aired: October 16, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What can we do with desires for things we can’t have? This week Martha talks about the experience of wanting. She explains how to turn wanting into an experience of peace and abundance. (Originally aired: October 9, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Martha describes human life as a series of “bounces.” We fly high, we fall down, we hit bottom, and we rise. But it may not work the way you think it does. Have a listen! (Originally aired: October 2, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Martha talks about following the almost invisible “bright spots” at times that feel dark and cloudy. Martha helps you part the clouds of illusion and see the clear points of truth that can guide you home. (Originally aired: September 18, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, special guest Linda Sivertsen joins Martha to talk about the spirit of writing after the publication of her new book, “Beautiful Writers”! (Originally aired August 28, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Martha takes another look at the concept of “surrender”—the kind of surrender that happens when you literally can’t hang on anymore. She goes through a step-by-step process that leads through the anguish of giving up and all the way back to joy again. (Originally aired: August 21, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Martha describes a “brain hack” you can use to drop yourself into bliss with minimal effort. Bring your curiosity and a little daring, try this technique and enjoy the ride! (Originally aired: August 14, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Martha explains why our problems can be our best friends, our path to awakening. Each problem is designed to bother you enough to examine the beliefs that are limiting your soul. Learn how by listening to this week’s Gathering Room! (Originally aired: August 7, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today’s Gathering Room, Martha talks about the “hidden doors” in our lives that keep us from seeing our own enlightened nature. Hint: look in the spaces between words, between thoughts, between sleeping and waking. Enlightenment is waving at you from all the spaces you don’t see. (Originally aired: July 31, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today’s Gathering Room, Martha shares the secret of “ICK,” a new tool for calming your fears and finding the creativity to overcome them. (Originally aired: July 24, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Martha talks about two ways we can use our imaginations. One buys into the culture and leads to despair. The other leads to our destiny and heals our hearts. Watch or listen for more! (Originally aired: July 17, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on The Gathering Room, Martha talks about getting in touch with the parts of ourselves that are afraid, and helping them feel supported and relaxed. (Originally aired: July 10, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of The Gathering Room, Martha encourages all of us to stop striving and struggling—even to improve ourselves—and spend some time celebrating what you've already done. Whatever you've done, you did it! Be proud! (Originally aired: July 3, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Martha discusses how to handle bad news that rocks your world. This involves allowing oneself to “fall apart” in the grieving process, waiting for clarity about what to do next, and moving forward with courage despite your fear. (Originally aired: June 26, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this Gathering Room, Martha addresses the idea that all of us have a metaphysical guidance system working on our behalf. She suggests ways to request this guidance, and to notice the signs that show the request is being granted. (Originally aired: June 19, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Martha reflects on times of instability and uncertainty in our lives. Using the latest brain science, she shows us that accessing our curiosity can unlock uncertainty and lead us in creative new directions. (Originally aired: May 22, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Martha compares our waking life to the dreams we have at night. She describes her method of dream analysis and explains how we can use this to “analyze” every event in our lives. Spoiler alert: It turns out everything is trying to help us! (Originally aired: May 15, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Martha describes how all the worst things that happen to you can become the best things that happen to you. From major life events to the dreams you have at night to the thoughts that run through your head, the things that capture your negative attention are asking you to flip them to their opposites. In this way, they become stepping stones to your awakening. Tune in to learn this superpower! (Originally aired: May 8, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today’s Gathering Room, Martha sets out to connect you with your “Muse”—the thread of passion or curiosity that pulls you toward the creative fulfillment of your life’s purpose. See which method works best for you! (Originally aired: April 24, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Martha digs into the concept of “home” this week: how it seems to elude us, how much we long for it. Bring the part of yourself that feels homeless to the Gathering Room this week and discover how to find your forever home. (Originally aired, April 17, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Martha parses the song “Come Healing,” by Leonard Cohen. She uses the text as a basis for our understanding of the transformation of human consciousness and a lens to understand the good and bad of our own experiences. (Originally aired, April 10, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Martha talks about what to do when your enthusiasm has hit a wall—when you feel stumped and stuck. “The doldrums” happens to us all, but there’s a simple way to cope. (Originally aired, April 3, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of the Gathering Room, Martha talks PRESSURE. Taking it off ourselves, that is. How do we do it? What happens if we can? The answers will delight you! (Originally aired, March 27, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Martha takes on WORRY: that insidious mental autoplay that can ruin any occasion, no matter how joyous! Tune in to learn some simple but powerful tools to ease your troubled mind and discover that every little thing really IS going to be all right. (Originally aired, March 20, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Gathering Room, Martha introduces a radical new approach to healing: being kind to ourselves. You’ll be amazed how powerful this approach is, and Martha explains it brilliantly through her own experience. (Originally aired, March 13, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this unique one-hour Oprah's Book Club Edition of the Gathering Room, Martha talks INTEGRITY! She digs deeper into the ways that you can bring your life into more peace, freedom, belonging and joy. With questions from our new friends over at Oprah's Book Club and from our beloved regular Gathering Room peeps, this very special Gathering Room is sure to delight (Originally aired, March 6, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the Gathering Room this week, Martha tells you how to keep moving towards your heart’s desires, even when they seem unattainable. Also, some juicy listener questions in this episode! (Originally aired, February 27, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Life is full of ups and downs, and most of us get pretty knocked around by it. In this Gathering Room, Martha teaches us a simple psychological step that can instantly make suffering diminish and happiness increase. Listen to learn how! (Originally aired, February 13, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Gathering Room, Martha takes on embarrassment, which ensues when we reveal truths the ego would rather hide. We can react by hiding more (increasing shame) or watching our embarrassment calmly. Try the second option, and you’ll see your ego burning up in real time, leaving you freer. (Originally aired, February 6, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this week’s Gathering Room, Martha talks about a concept that seems paradoxical in the context of our speed-obsessed culture. Look at that thing you think you need to do. Look at the time you’re estimating it will take you. Now double that time. What happens? (Originally aired, January 30, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Martha had an unexpected encounter with a wild animal this past week, and it gave her some insight about what to do when you’re freaking out. Listen in to learn the significance of “pulling over,” the role of co-regulation in dealing with fear and trauma, and the answers to listeners’ questions. (Originally aired, January 23, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Martha is joined this week by Rowan Mangan (https://www.instagram.com/rowan_mangan/) to talk about Ro’s concept of “Wild Inventures,” the idea of reframing our lives according to what is true within us instead of borrowing dreams from the culture. Have a laugh and learn some new skills with Martha and Ro as they talk past adventures, Ro’s passion for kidney beans, and the stillness that comes once you’ve peeled back all the layers of your identity. (Originally aired, January 16, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We hear a lot about flow and ease, and these things are WONDERFUL. Yet part of what makes our human experience worth having is grit. Doing whatever we can to achieve something that our soul craves. Enter GRIT MAGIC. Start it when you don’t feel ready. Send your work in before you feel it’s complete. Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor. Learn how to harness your own grit magic today! (Originally aired, January 9, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this week’s episode, Martha talks about living life the way an improv comedian works on stage. There is no set script, just as there is no set of absolute conditions that we’ll encounter through the coming year. Instead, we can follow the basic rules of comedy. Watch to find out how! (Originally aired, January 2, 2022)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At this time of year, some of us feel joy… while others are mostly feeling dread. If you’re in the second group, watch this week’s Gathering Room. Martha helps you make the worst of the holidays into the best. You can find a link to Dysfunctional Family Bingo in the show notes. (Originally aired, December 5, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stories. They have more power over us than we might think. But we can choose (yes, CHOOSE) to retell stories in ways that can re-train our brains! Join Martha for this week’s Gathering Room and learn how to teach the fear triggers of the brain to chill out. Just in time for the holidays! (Originally aired, November 28, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Gathering Room, Martha goes into the light. She talks about the shift from a bleak and difficult worldview to an experience of life that feels joyful and safe. She calls this the light at the end of the tunnel—but reminds us that the tunnel is one we have to dig ourselves. (Originally aired, November 14, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this week's Gathering Room, Martha talks about the fear that can affect us without our conscious minds ever knowing why. A sight, smell or sound associated with negative experiences in the past can put us into fear or anger without a single verbal thought entering our minds. She explains how to remove the triggers that cause these deep and difficult fears. (Originally aired, November 8, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on The Gathering Room, Martha talks about intuition: how to nurture it, what it feels like, and why you should do what it says! Hear some top stories about times Martha followed her intuition and went where she was sent…and the large and small consequences of these moments. (Originally aired: October 24, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Gathering Room, Martha digs into the difference between getting older and becoming an “elder” of society. Learning to be an elder means aging in reverse—starting from a place where you feel cramped and stiff and then moving into more and more fluidity, joy, and playfulness. (Originally aired: October 17, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What’s the thing about pain? This week Martha talks about what Alan Gordon calls “neuroplastic pain” and some techniques for dealing with pain using only your brilliant brain! Plus, your questions and a Gathering Room huddle for all our peeps going into surgery this week. (Originally aired: October 10, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Martha offers some counterintuitive advice for how to keep going even when our goals feel far-off or the present moment feels difficult. Spoiler alert: the answer is all around you right now. (Originally aired: September 27, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Martha discusses the often tumultuous experience that accompanies a quantum leap in personal growth. Tune in to hear how bad skiing is the perfect metaphor for life changes, how our brains develop new skills through sudden leaps of insight … And how an anonymous mystical text from the 14th century probably holds the solution to your latest personal faceplant. (Originally aired: September 27, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this week’s Gathering Room, Martha talks about the art of asking. How to ask for what you want—whether it’s love, breakfast, or the fulfillment of your wildest dreams—is hard. And our culture has taught us to misunderstand what happens when you ask for what you want. Martha explains how the “calculus of matter” is misleading and how if we can recalibrate into the “calculus of magic,” life can become truly miraculous. (Originally aired: September 19, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this week’s Gathering Room, Martha talks about the times when change picks us up and throws us around. When we reach these “maelstroms” in our lives, Martha says, the key is to surrender as we might in the experience of being dumped by a wave. When the mind surrenders control, we become open to all the natural processes that our souls want to enact through us. (Originally aired: September 5, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Martha shares the secret of her own “second sight”—how being a visual artist has changed the way she physically sees the world. Using her own most recent paintings, Martha explains how she sees when she uses the left hemisphere of her brain versus the right. We all have this ability to turn on second sight, Martha says, and to see the infinite light within every material form. (Originally aired: August 29, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this very special, hour-long Gathering Room, Martha talks to her friend and hero Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor about a subject we all need to hear more about: HOPE. Jill talks about hope in microcosm (the neural networks of the brain), while Martha looks at how the exact same systems and processes function at the macro level of groups of people and ecosystems. (Originally aired: August 22, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Martha has believed all her life that a transformation of human consciousness would take place in her lifetime. Over the decades, she’s met more and more people who share this inexplicable belief that a mass “awakening” could change humanity’s future. In this week’s episode, Martha talks about what this transformation might look like and the hope it offers us at this particularly troubling time in history. (Originally aired: August 8, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When a guitar string is plucked, the note will spontaneously resonate with another guitar nearby—provided they are tuned the same. In today’s episode, Martha uses this metaphor to explore the ways that life creates resonances for us when we tune ourselves in certain ways. Martha gives tips for tuning yourself to joy, if this is the frequency you’d like to see matched in your life. (Originally aired: August 1, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this very special Gathering Room, Martha was joined by Anita Moorjani. Anita’s new book, Sensitive Is the New Strong, is a must-read for people who identify as empathic or highly sensitive. In their Gathering Room conversation, Martha and Anita talked about why the world needs its empaths now more than ever, and how to develop a self-love that means we are equipped to give our gifts to the world. Anita’s best tip for this? Learn the art of receiving. (Originally aired: July 25, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’re often told it’s pointless to beat ourselves up for making mistakes, but Martha takes it a step further and says that error isn’t just useful, it’s crucial to getting things right. Making mistakes leads to learning and can also lead to discovery and reinvention. She points out that accidents and missteps led to the discovery of penicillin, photography, even potato chips! The discussion wraps with an exercise to retrain our brains to notice the good in every gaffe. (Originally aired: July 18, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In his book Break Through Pain, meditation expert Shinzen Young says that pain separates us from the divine, and learning to handle it skillfully is akin to grinding it into sand. In this conversation, Martha is recovering from surgery and describes using Young’s book to map and define her pain. She explains that pain is nature calling us to return to our bodies, but it doesn’t necessarily equate to suffering. There is magic in our minds that can transform pain into wisdom. (Originally aired: July 11, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We may conceptualize creativity as a free-flowing stream, but Martha points out that constraint is an excellent source of creative inspiration. When we have all the time and resources in the world, we feel aimless … but given an hour and a socket wrench, we can change the world! Martha shares examples from her own life, showing how every time she faced a situation full of constraints, it catalyzed a creative leap. Every problem contains the raw material for its own solution. (Originally aired: June 20, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Gathering Pod welcomes neuroanatomist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor to talk about her new book, Whole Brain Living, which Martha describes as “brain science from a user’s perspective.” In 1996, Jill experienced a severe hemorrhage in the left hemisphere of her brain causing her to lose the ability to walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of her life. Then she rebuilt it back to full function over the course of eight years, emerging with a truly transcendent worldview. (Originally aired: Jue 13, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most people in our community have explored meditation, centering prayer, or other forms of spiritual contemplation … and may have come face to face with THE VOID. (Dun dun dunnnn.) Martha explains that when people encounter nothingness, they often feel fear and despair. Her own first experience with finding the void through meditation felt that way, but in this discussion she explains how we can transform our relationship with the void into one of creativity and genuine joy. (Originally aired: June 6, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As we move toward life after Covid, many of us are feeling overwhelmed and paralyzed. We’re facing a deluge of decisions demanding attention, causing bottlenecks in our brains that make it impossible to focus on anything at all. Martha explains that the Practical Wayfinding: Creativity Mindset is the answer. Instead of allowing us to freeze up, it helps us remain curious, explore our options, and focus on building solutions. She offers us a few hacks to help us access our creativity under duress. (Originally aired: May 30, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As any artist will tell you, creativity is rarely tidy. Lately Martha has been expressing her creativity by drawing and painting, relishing the trail of brushes, rags, and sketchbooks she leaves in her wake. Then, after working intently on one canvas, she decided she’d RUINED it … before she remembered that before order, there is chaos. When we decide to build something beautiful out of our lives, it will be messy. And when we see the mess, we are very close to success. (Originally aired: May 23, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While promoting her new book, Martha found herself tapped out and exhausted. She quickly realized she hadn’t been using the one skill that helps her manage the rollercoaster of life: non-attachment. In this conversation, Martha explains that despite its somewhat uninviting name, this skill makes our good times last longer and go deeper, and makes our bad times easier to weather. She also explains how it relates to spiders and tells us how to apply it to our daily lives. (Originally aired: May 16, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ever think if you just try harder or achieve more, you’ll FINALLY feel whole and happy? Martha warns us that this is a misconception shoved at us by culture, which insists that fame, money, and accomplishment are the answers to everything. In reality, doing things that don’t feed our souls will be unfulfilling. We must go back to the first principles of what we love, back to the fundamentals of our true nature, to find activities and ideas that will be deeply rewarding. (Originally aired: Apr. 25, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this conversation, Martha reveals several freaky-deaky stories that she couldn’t quite squeeze into her new book, The Way of Integrity! She talks about finding and moving to her ranch in California, meeting a massive rattlesnake, a very unusual flock of turkeys, how she acquired her own personal labyrinth, and more. (Originally aired: Apr. 18, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Just before the release of her latest book, The Way of Integrity, Martha describes feeling pulled in many directions and drifting away from her true self! She describes the ups and downs of preparing to release a huge creative project into the world, and her realization that she must get off the roller coaster of human emotion and back into the truth of her spirit. When your mind, heart, soul, and body are all telling the same story, everything in life flows more easily. (Originally aired: Apr. 11, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Martha identifies as a codependent: someone who helps others even when helping is to her own detriment. Since many of Martha’s listeners have similar personalities, she shares a coping technique she formulated after reading Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss. People who don’t experience empathy, such as narcissists and psychopaths, are very hard for codependents to understand. Managing these relationships means acknowledging that empathy and reasoning are absent, and acting accordingly. (Originally aired: Mar. 28, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This conversation took place right after the Spring Equinox, a time when day and night are equal in length. Martha points out that this is a time of transition and a reminder that life can be experienced cyclically if we so choose. She adds, though, that while we are experiencing spring again as part of a cycle, we are also experiencing this particular spring for the very first time. Perhaps it’s time to start an entirely new life, with fresh eyes and an open heart. (Originally aired: Mar. 21, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In an interview with Inspire Nation podcast host Michael Sandler, Martha explained that living with integrity WILL bring fear into your life. You’ll realize you’ve been betraying your authentic self to coddle people around you. We all do this because social pushback is frightening! Then Michael described the edge between destructive fear and fear we feel despite being safe. Martha offers an exercise to approach that edge safely. (Originally aired: Mar. 14, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After hearing Brene Brown declare that “unused creativity is not benign,” Martha and her family decided to hold a Creativity Day … but when Martha sat down to paint, she found it terrifying and overwhelming! This is because culture trains us to value activities done for money or to help others over activities that help us build meaningful and joyful lives for ourselves. Martha challenges us to push the edge of creativity, past any blocks, until we can feel the euphoric flow. (Originally aired: Mar. 7, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We cannot force fresh starts. They come when they want to come, and they always begin inside of us. Martha describes the feeling of being “fed up” as crucial to catalyzing sweeping change, but also explains the concept of being “full fed.” A caterpillar cannot become a butterfly unless it is full fed, meaning plump enough to sustain its transformation. Fresh starts in our own lives must be similarly resourced or true metamorphosis simply cannot occur! (Originally aired: Feb. 21, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Although many of our cultural stories focus on generosity, selflessness, and giving MORE, Martha uses this episode to stress the importance of reserving resources for ourselves. She points out that when we overgive we may actually prevent people from learning and growing on their own. (And, of course, WE end up drained and exhausted.) Giving should feel joyful, and when it doesn’t, we can absolutely dial it back. (Originally aired: Feb. 14, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do you cultivate vulnerability while maintaining healthy boundaries with others? Striking this balance is especially complicated if we keep ourselves emotionally wide-open or utterly closed-off at all times, tendencies that many sensitive people favor. When we’ve been repeatedly hurt by people or systems, it can be hard to know who and how to trust. Martha offers tactics and resources for connecting with others and sharing ourselves in healthy, safe ways. (Originally aired: Feb. 7, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

No matter where you are in the world, when you hit February you’re likely to hit the doldrums. Martha offers some ideas for keeping our inspiration stoked and burning during tough times and explains that there are many parallels between fire-tending and motivational maintenance. Both require fuel to burn (self-care), heat (energy from other people), and oxygen (truth and integrity). Listen in to find out more about this inspirational triad! (Originally aired: Jan. 31, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We have been socialized to believe that instant gratification is both possible and desirable. It’s neither, of course, and in this conversation Martha reminds us of that fact. She points out that we can do anything one step at a time, including achieving enlightenment! Each step we take toward relief and away from suffering moves us toward the bliss of being. She shares an exercise to help us detach from worry and empower relief in our everyday lives. (Originally aired: Jan. 24, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As world events continue to dish up unrest and upheaval, many people feel more easily triggered than usual. Since there’s so much potential for misunderstanding, Martha suggests we speak every word from the truest truths we possess. That way, if someone is triggered, we won’t react explosively. She also shares the “spot, stop, swap” strategy from Jay Shetty’s book Think Like a Monk as a way to ensure we’re living from our own truth and mystery at all times. (Originally aired: Jan. 17, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Martha says we don’t need revolution, we need a dissolution where personal suffering is washed away by enlightenment. She contrasts mindless rage and mindful anger, explaining that the former feels good in our amygdalas but is entirely unproductive while the latter gives us both insight and impetus to take meaningful action. Martha assures us that learning to dissolve mindless rage will lead us to dissolving our own suffering. (Originally aired: Jan. 10, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The season of resolutions, vision boards, and intention-setting lists is upon us! Martha shares a few stories about the magic of creating mindful lists, including remarkably long ones and ones that describe our ideal partners in extreme detail. She implores those of us who make such lists to consider them tools or guidance systems for attracting what we want. She also explains the differences between big dreams and outlandish fantasies. (Originally aired: Jan. 3, 2021)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sometimes when you think you’re losing your mind, you’re actually regaining your sanity. Martha talks about a colleague who’s coping with the stress of 2020 by buying a huge number of houseplants and explains that this behavior—and other unusual or new behaviors like it—are a reaction to broken culture. She says when culture breaks, our true natures rise. 2020 was challenging, but it also taught our souls what they truly want to be. (Originally aired: Dec. 20, 2020)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The winter holiday season of 2020 has felt uncomfortably different for many of us, and Martha is eager to help reframe our year-end celebrations. Celtic Winter Solstice celebrations are about letting go of the year that’s coming to a close, cleansing, and releasing. She points out that many of us have experienced grief and loss in these past months and walks us through a guided meditation for creating emotional closure. (Originally aired: Dec. 13, 2020)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Money is the single most emotional thing that human beings deal with on a regular basis. As we enter COVID December and much of the world is stressing about holiday gift costs and year-end taxes, Martha suggests we reconceptualize our relationships with money. She points out that committing to work on our emotional connection to money and cultivating an attitude of abundance and generosity can completely transform our financial circumstances. (Originally aired: Dec. 6, 2020)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Martha’s spiritual practices have helped her get through both physical and emotional pain and paved a path to bliss. But now that it’s getting colder, she’s not gravitating toward meditation and contemplation; she’s trading spiritual practice for staying warm in bed! In this episode, she discusses the cyclical nature of intention and relaxation in spirituality. (Originally aired: Nov. 29, 2020)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Every one of us influences the world, but most of us don’t realize this. We focus instead on how much the world has influenced us. Martha points out that we can change this by shifting our attention. If we pay the most attention to people and events that have harmed us, those things will shape us. If we put our energy toward the people and events that have impacted us in positive ways, we can reshape the world as we experience it. (Originally aired: Nov. 23, 2020)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’ve ALWAYS been sensitive to what others think of us, but now we are exposed online to more criticism, bullying, and mockery than we experience in person. Including things people would never say to our faces! Martha talks about how prevalent judgment-fueled anxiety and depression have become in the age of the Internet, explains the Spotlight Effect, and shares a psyche-shielding exercise from psychologist Mario Martinez. (Originally aired: Nov. 15, 2020)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A few days before the contentious 2020 election, Martha delves into how American power systems were born and how they are continuing to evolve. She points out that the changes we’re witnessing can be unsettling (like all changes), which is why many Americans feel intensely fearful and worried. She encourages those of us who can become centers of calm amidst this panic to do so, since our energy has a softening effect on those around us. (Originally Aired: Nov. 1, 2020.)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did you know that at just 5 weeks old, babies hit a major developmental milestone? The new kiddo in Martha’s household has just reached this age and is experiencing the associated burst of neurological development . . . which can be both overwhelming and unpleasant! That got Martha thinking about how adults ALSO experience periods of unexpected acceleration and growth. She shares 7 steps for coping during these tough times. (Originally Aired: Oct. 25, 2020.)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Into each life, earthquakes must come. Sometimes they come in the form of a traumatic experience, sometimes a choice, sometimes a global pandemic … whatever the initiating event may be, it has a HUGE impact on your life. In this episode, Martha shares a Zen belief that when shaking starts within our lives, the only safe place to be is within the shaking itself. The most effective way to ride a wave of disruption is complete nonresistance. (Originally aired: Oct.18, 2020.)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Martha believes that material reality is an illusion. That we aren’t physical beings who generate consciousness; we are all part of a consciousness that’s busily generating a physical world. And that none of the good stuff that we’re here to gather is physical. We want the FEELING of being well-supplied, secure, loved. It’s the perception that matters! With that in mind, she shares an exercise to help us recognize abundance all around us. (Originally aired: Oct. 11, 2020.)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Maybe you’ve had a baby. Or a crisis. Or a time in your life when you just couldn’t keep up with all of your normal responsibilities. Since we live in a culture that forces people to believe that pausing our normal, everyday responsibilities is a massive personal failure, you probably felt awful. Martha urges us all to explore self-forgiveness in response to the nasty things our inner critics and our social conditioning scream at us. (Originally aired: September 28, 2020.)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Many of us have been waiting for the world to right itself. But when we focus on waiting, life can become unbearable. When we live in limbo, it creates some degree of suffering. In fact, Martha reveals her belief that the source of most suffering is misplaced focus: concentrating on a possible future and removing our attention from the present moment. She teaches us how to come home to ourselves through the trans-theoretical model of action. (Originally aired: Sept. 13, 2020.)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you noticed that even the busiest, most active people in your life are slowing down? Everyone seems to have an increased need for rest, downtime, and relaxation during these decidedly tumultuous times. Martha points out that this isn’t just natural, it’s radical and revolutionary! In fact, taking time to rest is one of the most seditious things we can do to bring down the patriarchy and resist systemic oppression. (Originally aired: Sept. 7, 2020.)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Having just watched the film “Superhuman,” Martha is eager to talk about miracles! She’s had plenty in her own life—including learning to bend spoons and watching her son Adam create visible balls of light between his hands—and has learned that they are drawn into our lives at particular times. Specifically, when we get into complete alignment with what we feel in our hearts, what we know with our minds, and what we’re doing in the world. (Originally aired: Aug. 31, 2020.)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s a BIG difference between “hitting a rough patch” and feeling the Universe relentlessly pound you into the ground. In this episode, Martha recounts coaching a client who’s definitely in that latter category yet has remained remarkably clear of mind, heart, and spirit. She explains that sometimes life takes wonderful people and beats them down hard, over and over, in order to forge them like samurai swords. (Originally aired: Aug. 23, 2020.)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How can we approach situations loaded with racism, sexism, or other prejudice without becoming angry? Many of us are conditioned to believe that our anger will upset the system and should be avoided at all costs. Martha explains that, while this is true of anger without wisdom, anger that flows from the wise mind is an important source of courage. In fact, we NEED anger to catalyze change, especially in the face of social and racial injustice. (Originally aired: Aug.18, 2020.)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Martha’s dogs, her son, and the COVID virus are teaching her a better way of being in the world. Instead of living life like it’s an endless to-do list, she has been living it as a string of sacred ceremonies. The disruption from COVID has caused her to savor her daily rituals: giving the dogs bits of toast, relaxing with the family before dinner, filling the birdfeeders. Martha shares instructions for making every moment more sacred. (Originally aired: Aug. 10, 2020.)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You may have heard the Buddhist adage that attachment is the root of suffering, but Martha believes it’s actually attachment to desire that’s making us miserable. She points out that if you become attached to wanting something negative to end, it gets worse and it lasts longer. Yet when you grip tight to something wonderful, it slips away! She shares an exercise from internal family systems therapy to help you release your grip on your desires. (Originally aired: Aug. 3, 2020.)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’ve been raised to believe that trying, striving, and constantly creating is the only way to live … but the pandemic has forced us all into a deep stillness. In this episode, Martha urges us to embrace the quietude and allow ourselves to be unbuilt so that we can get closer to our true natures. (This conversation originally aired on July 27, 2020.)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Martha confesses that she—like many of us—is feeling the weight of the racial tensions across America, the worries swirling around the pandemic, the endless economic fears, and more. How do we persevere when things are this hard for THIS LONG? She explains that everything in nature pulses and, if you pay attention, you’ll notice times of pressure and times of letting go. Simply noticing this cycle makes it easier to bear. (Originally aired: July 20, 2020.)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this deeply emotional episode, Martha explains that while every human culture has created a sacred space where people can claim sanctuary, many of us feel unable to access any form of safety in modern times. She offers up a simple way to create personal sanctuary within ourselves through repetition and ritual, allowing us all to build a sacred place where no one can hurt us. (This conversation originally aired on July 13, 2020.)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do we find the balance between healthy skepticism and openness to magic? How can we tell coincidence from manifestations of our own inner power? Martha shares several of her own fabulously magical experiences and gives us a list of things we can do to bring real magic into our lives and recognize it when it arrives. (This conversation originally aired on August 19, 2019.)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Martha dives into this episode by confessing that she thought she had a decent handle on what was going on in the world, but the global uprising against systemic racism made her realize her scope of knowledge was actually very narrow. Now, she is practicing her active listening skills and encouraging us all to do the same, saying that listening is powerful magic, but it does take careful practice. (This conversation originally aired on July 6, 2020.)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Love, understanding, mutual respect. After watching the video of police officers killing George Floyd, Martha is struck by the disconnect between the forces that unite all humans and the atrocious ways we treat one another. She discusses the importance of recognizing the humanity of other people—especially Black people who have been so relentlessly oppressed and targeted—and resisting the urge to “other” anyone who is not exactly like us. (Originally aired: June 1, 2020.)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"After a huge shock to your life, you may find yourself saying that you’re “back at square one.” Martha insists that, instead, you are “on to square one” and that it’s a sign of forward progress. And when we begin moving toward square two, we are so excited about our new selves that we begin to jettison old things: habits and beliefs, but also old clothes and objects. Martha points out that “spring cleaning” is tied to this internal cycle. (Originally Aired: May 26, 2020.)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ready to connect with a community of like-minded seekers? Welcome to the Gathering Pod.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.