Ep5 Let's Be Honest

Have you been in recovery, or working on emotional or spiritual growth for a while, and feel stuck? How do you navigate the inevitable highs and lows, the ebb and flow, of life in general? Do you think that just because you are not where you "should" be, that you are doing something wrong? 

Have you ever felt overwhelmed or intimidated by the idea of meditation? What aspects of it are challenging to you? Do you think meditation is only for those with a specific mindset or spiritual practice? 

Ginny and Amanda discuss the mental, emotional, and physical benefits of meditation, address common misconceptions which hold people back from meditating, and guide you through various types of meditation in this inspirational and informative show!

They talk about:

• An amazing study by the David Lynch Foundation conducted in inner city schools that proved meditation works to lower rates of violence, increase attendance rates, and raise GPA's. Link below. 
• Physical benefits of meditation including lowering levels of stress, inflammation, and blood pressure as well as enhancing concentration. 
• Different practices such as transcendental, contemplative, and Metta meditation.
• The mantra Amanda uses (and millions of other people) during Metta meditation that puts her in a state of oneness with herself and every living thing on Earth.
• Meditation as a tool to tap into your higher consciousness and find your purpose.
• Amanda's personal meditation practice including a grounding technique, an original prayer (patched together from various sources), cord cutting, and chakra clearing. 
• The importance of breathwork and the science of engaging the vagus nerve to bring a sense of calm. 
• An inner child meditation to bring you to a state of self-love and self-worth.
• And much more!

CORRECTION: The neurotransmitter that activates the calm response when engaging the vagus nerve is acetylcholine...not acetylcholide.

Links mentioned in show:

The David Lynch Foundation study: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWTF1SA7OVU

Amanda's website to receive her monthly newsletter soon to include meditations, as well as to receive her free guide, "5 Principles to Be All In" https://www.amandamckoyflanagan.com/

*Email your thoughts about this show or if you have an idea for another show to solrisingpodcast@gmail.com.

*If you like this show, please subscribe, share, and leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review.

Sol Rising is now also on YouTube. Check it out at https://www.youtube.com/@thesolrisingpodcast

Follow Sol Rising at https://www.instagram.com/solrisingpodcast/

Follow Amanda at https://www.instagram.com/amandamckoyflanagan/ 

Follow Ginny at https://www.instagram.com/theflippinphoenix/ 

Ginny's furniture rehab website: https://theflippinphoenix.com/

Get Amanda's book, Trust Yourself to Be All In at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C4M137BJ or https://www.amandamckoyflanagan.com/ 

Music credit: "Surfer James" by Tom Deis. Source: Premiumbeats.com.

What does it mean to have a "spiritual personality?" Do you know yours? And where exactly are you on your spiritual journey? 

Melissa Ebken, host of the Pursuing Uncomfortable podcast, coach, and pastor (definitely not your typical pastor!) will help you define which of the 4 spiritual types you lean toward: sage, feeler, mystic, or advocate. Advancing the work of Corrine Ware on spiritual types, Melissa breaks down each type and explains how understanding your type can help you to make the most of your spiritual practices. 

We also delve into:

• How knowing your type will help you to identify the parts of you that need healing in order to serve your spiritual growth and the world around you better. 
• How each type is dynamically connected to another with the intention to help you grow.
• The example of journaling and how each type might journal based on their motivation for seeking.
• James Fowler's "Five Stages of Faith," which is similar to Maslow's hierachy of needs but translates to spiritual development. 
• The importance of knowing context of scripture before making an assumption as to its meaning.
• The uniting spiritual thread that ties every human being together is that our body, mind, and soul is one entity and we each have that one entity in common. 

Make sure to sign up for Melissa's "20 Questions to Understand Your Spiritual Personality!" Go to https://www.lightlifeandloveministries.com/ to be placed on the waitlist and get a special bonus for signing up early!

Notes: The Pursuing Uncomfortable podcast episode Melissa references at the end of the show is called "The Bibles Blessing of Same-Sex Marriage."

You can find all things Melissa at:

Discover Your Spiritual Personality:
https://www.lightlifeandloveministries.com/spiritual-personality

Pursuing Uncomfortable (Book):
https://www.lightlifeandloveministries.com/pursuing-uncomfortable-book

Pursuing Uncomfortable (Podcast):
https://www.pursuinguncomfortable.com/

Website:
https://www.lightlifeandloveministries.com/

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/melissa.ebken/

YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6eA1kGsPkdfTswd9jO8hMw

*Email your thoughts about this show or if you have an idea for another show to solrisingpodcast@gmail.com.

*If you like this show, please subscribe, share, and leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review.

Sol Rising is now also on YouTube. Check it out at https://www.youtube.com/@thesolrisingpodcast

Follow Sol Rising at https://www.instagram.com/solrisingpodcast/

Follow Amanda at https://www.instagram.com/amandamckoyflanagan/ 

Follow Ginny at https://www.instagram.com/theflippinphoenix/ 

Ginny's furniture rehab website: https://theflippinphoenix.com/

Get Amanda's book, Trust Yourself to Be All In at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C4M137BJ or https://www.amandamckoyflanagan.com/ 

Music credit: "Surfer James" by Tom Deis. Source: Premiumbeats.com.

What do you do when you reach a stumbling block on your road to success? Do you consider it the end, a sign of failure, or do you view it as a minor setback? Do you believe you will reach your goal without needing to see the final destination? Do you trust the process?

Ginny and Amanda are so excited to bring you this special episode with guest Toks Aruoture, a British-Nigerian businesswoman and the founder of The Baby Cot Shop, a luxury baby furniture brand based in London. Toks also hosts the acclaimed podcast, Living Inside Out with Toks, which focuses on entrepreneurship, faith and mindset. 

Join the ladies as they discuss how to navigate bumps (sometimes painful ones) on their journey toward their dreams. Toks is an amazing speaker who articulates thoughts and ideas with great depth while providing easy-to-use tools to stay focused through life's unavoidable "hiccups."

This uplifting and motivating discussion explores:

• How setbacks are really just detours to something better
• How fear hinders our ability to trust and blinds us to what is truly possible
• How to reinvigorate your "sight" while experiencing the pitfalls which accompany all success
• How to go with the flow and let the river take you where it needs to while trusting your Higher Power to deliver you to your highest good and purpose
• Practical tools to experience a shift in mindset when feeling stuck or hopeless
• The importance of not minimizing emotions that come up when we stumble and how to embrace and acknowledge every season of life
• Toks' "Bank of Evidence" she keeps to validate herself and her dreams when she's feeling down

Listen to Toks' TED Talk at https://youtu.be/2PEFKRx2j_4?si=krjt52rfP66I2z6b 

Listen to Living Inside Out with Toks Aruoture on Apple Podcasts 

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/living-inside-out-with-toks/id1511756128

and on YouTube

https://youtube.com/@ToksAruoture?si=AJ-zuns2enD3Nl9m

Follow Toks on IG @toksaruoture and on Facebook at https://m.facebook.com/Toksaruoture/

Learn more at https://toksaruoture.com/ 

The Pearl Jam song Amanda talks about is called "Unthought Known" and the tarot deck she refers to is The Psychic Tarot by John Holland.

*Email your thoughts about this show or if you have an idea for another show at solrisingpodcast@gmail.com.

*If you like what you hear, please subscribe, share, and leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review.

Sol Rising is now also on YouTube. Check it out here:

 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMLVw3A81mtE2VVTshXBIQA 

Follow Sol Rising at https://www.instagram.com/solrisingpodcast/

Follow Amanda at https://www.instagram.com/amandamckoyflanagan/ 

Follow Ginny at https://www.instagram.com/theflippinphoenix/ 

Ginny's furniture rehab website: https://theflippinphoenix.com/

Get Amanda's book, Trust Yourself to Be All In at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C4M137BJ or https://www.amandamckoyflanagan.com/ 

Music credit: "Surfer James" by Tom Deis. Source: Premiumbeats.com.

Do you prefer to partner up with people while achieving a goal or to run solo? Do you create best with others or on your own? 

Join Amanda and her guests Danielle McCombs, a Co-Active Certified Professional coach & Kristy Olinger, a communication consultant, as well as co-hosts of The Opposite of Small Talk podcast—a show that focuses on connection, reflection, and social justice—to discuss the importance of partnership, and learn how Danielle & Kristy tackle tough conversations (aka Big Talk), topics they purposefully do not shy away from. 

Other valuable points of conversation include:

• Finding purpose through podcasting/spreading a message.
• The sense of belonging that comes from aligning with and being a part of a larger community.
• Why Danielle & Kristy (and Amanda & Ginny) were drawn to each other for their podcasting endeavor, and how their natural gifts complement each other.
• Kristy describes how difficult conversations and certain perspectives will result in losing listeners and how that indicates they are having meaningful conversations.
• Kristy's experience with negative comments and her decision to leave them up for others to learn something through the exchange.
• How their willingness to listen to alternative perspectives creates humility and open-mindedness.
• Growing through the process of feeling supported as well as criticized. 
• Hard conversations break down the walls to allow vulnerability and honesty to appear, and how these moments help to foster intimate conversations in their personal lives. 

Listen to The Opposite of Small Talk at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-opposite-of-small-talk/id1484434210. 

Follow the show at https://www.instagram.com/theoppositeofsmalltalk/

*Email your thoughts about this show or if you have an idea for another show at solrisingpodcast@gmail.com.

*If you like what you hear, please subscribe, share, and leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review.

Follow Sol Rising at https://www.instagram.com/solrisingpodcast/

Follow Amanda at https://www.instagram.com/amandamckoyflanagan/ 

Follow Ginny at https://www.instagram.com/theflippinphoenix/ 

Ginny's furniture rehab website: https://theflippinphoenix.com/

Get Amanda's book, Trust Yourself to Be All In at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C4M137BJ or https://www.amandamckoyflanagan.com/ 

Music credit: "Surfer James" by Tom Deis. Source: Premiumbeats.com.

Are you considering how your words and actions are received by others? Or are you saying things because, well, someone needs to say them. Do you feel like you need to have an opinion about everything? 

Ginny & Amanda discuss the Buddhist philosophy of communication which suggests we put all communication through this test: Is It True? Is It Kind? Is It Necessary? Join them in a passionate conversation about how words and actions create energy and the affect that energy has on the world. 

They also discuss:

• Our responsibility to make sure we are focusing on connection rather than impulsively and selfishly saying what we think needs to be said regardless of effect. 
• The power of your words: It's not what you say but how you say it that will have the greatest impact. 
• Tips to slow down when you feel the need to speak up immediately, specifically at the holiday dinner table. 
• Emotional maturity and discipline are the two basic principles necessary for respectful, thoughtful communication. 
• How this topic plays out specifically when dealing with addicts/alcoholics as well as friends and family who are in toxic relationships. 
• How taking the longview about a situation can help alter or temper your response.

*Email your thoughts about this show or if you have an idea for another show at solrisingpodcast@gmail.com.

*If you like what you hear, please follow, share, and leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review.

Follow Sol Rising at https://www.instagram.com/solrisingpodcast/

Follow Amanda at https://www.instagram.com/amandamckoyflanagan/ 

Follow Ginny at https://www.instagram.com/theflippinphoenix/ 

Ginny's furniture rehab website: https://theflippinphoenix.com/

Link to Amanda's book, Trust Yourself to Be All In: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C4M137BJ or https://www.amandamckoyflanagan.com/ 

Music credit: "Surfer James" by Tom Deis. Source: Premiumbeats.com.

Does music move you? Does it hit you in the right spot at exactly the right time? Do you believe that the universal connection of music holds the power to heal the collective, to bond us together regardless of race, gender, or political affiliation? Ginny and Amanda do! And so does their special guest Patrick Thrasher. 

Ginny and Amanda had the pleasure of speaking with Patrick Thrasher for their first guest interview (and first video—check it out on YouTube!). Their insightful conversation explores the power of music to bridge our divided society and bring healing to the collective. 

They also discuss:

• Music as a form of therapy
• Patrick's eclectic range of guests on his podcast Let's Talk With Patrick, and his mission to unify people through talking about mental health, especially as it relates to men. 
• Favorite songs that evoked emotion, impacted, and inspired each of them at different times of their lives; Amanda's story of a song that saved her life not once but twice. 
• Ginny and Patrick's days of making and playing music with other musicians, and the energetic connection found in collaboration that is unlike any feeling they've experienced. 
• How collaborating on music is one antidote to depression caused by isolation. 
• The necessity of music makers to create original, meaningful music as a pathway to bring authenticity and vulnerabiilty to our much hardened world. 
• And much more!

Patrick can be found on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/pthrilla/ 

Let's Talk With Patrick Podcast:  https://open.spotify.com/show/0pGU5yK6ybIiy3RQkngsXU?si=b0f0f6f6bbdf4dae

*Tell us your thoughts about this show or if you have an idea for another show. Email Ginny and Amanda at solrisingpodcast@gmail.com.

*If you like what you hear, please follow, share, and leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review.

Follow Sol Rising at https://www.instagram.com/solrisingpodcast/

Follow Amanda at https://www.instagram.com/amandamckoyflanagan/ 

Follow Ginny at https://www.instagram.com/theflippinphoenix/ 

Ginny's furniture rehab website: https://theflippinphoenix.com/ 

Link to Amanda's book, Trust Yourself to Be All In: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C4M137BJ or https://www.amandamckoyflanagan.com/ 

Music credit: "Surfer James" by Tom Deis. Source: Premiumbeats.com.

Are you unhappy in your marriage? Wondering where the butterflies went? Are you constantly feeling let down by your partner, convinced someone else will make you happy? Do you keep attracting the same kind of person who cannot meet your needs?

Ginny and Amanda wrap up Season 1 by exposing the truth about falling in love--what it is and where it disappears to. They explain two similar schools of thought around the topic, both with the mission of coming home to your True Self by healing childhood wounds. 

They elaborate vulnerably and powerfully on the following:

• Harville Hendrix Ph.D. and Kelly LaKelly Hunt Ph. D.'s concept of Imago Theory from the book, Getting the Love You Want: The idea that we are drawn into partnership to heal our deepest wounds stemming from childhood.
• M. Scott Peck's M.D.'s psychology around love from The Road Less Traveled, suggesting that falling in love is a reminder of merging with our mothers in infancy.
• Amanda's personal experience with almost ending her marriage after her brother died.
• Difficult relationships are gifts we should be grateful for as they show us what needs to be healed within.
• Painful relationships will continue to show up again and again until you heal. 
• Amanda's belief that many relationship troubles occur after major loss and are due to one's inability to cope with grief.
• The phase that comes after falling in love (real love or true love) is more beneficial to your spiritual and emotional growth than falling in love.
• Amanda's idea that the first break from wholeness occurs at birth when we are separated from the divine and that we spend our entire lives searching for the feeling we experience in the afterlife.

*Email us about your experience with the challenge presented or an idea for a show at solrisingpodcast@gmail.com.

*If you like what you hear, please follow, share, and leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review.

@solrisingpodcast on Instagram

@amandamckoyflanagan on Instagram

@theflippinphoenix on Instagram

Ginny's furniture rehab website: https://theflippinphoenix.com/ 

Link to Amanda's book, Trust Yourself to Be All In: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C4M137BJ or https://www.amandamckoyflanagan.com/ 

Music credit: "Surfer James" by Tom Deis. Source: Premiumbeats.com

Are you overwhelmed with sadness over the amount of people who are losing their lives and their homes due to senseless war? Are you even more angry and fearful about the state of the world today than you were yesterday? Do you feel powerless to alter the trajectory of humanity? Are you desperate for tools for collective healing?

Ginny and Amanda provide insight about how to rise above the fear surrounding the Israel-Hamas war so you can serve the collective as best as possible during this devastating time in history. 

A few important points in this passionate discussion include:

• When anyone on the planet suffers, we all suffer.
• You/we hold the power to shift the energy of the planet and bring peace and love instead of hatred and violence.
• Our collective pain is calling us to heal personally and as a species and we have everything we need to achieve this. 
• All humans have a duty and an obligation to send love to everyone who is suffering no matter what you believe in.
• The 3 major monotheistic religions-Judaism, Christianity, and Islam-all believe in the same God, even though they call that God by a different name. 
• The importance of questioning what you see/hear as well as challenging your own belief system. 
• Tools to harness your light and love during a time of darkness and fear. The main tool being unconditional love for self. 

Listen till the end for Amanda's prayer to help you bring the highest good to you and everyone around you. 

*Recorded on Tuesday, 10/10/23.

*Email us about your experience with the challenge presented or an idea for a show at solrisingpodcast@gmail.com.

*If you like what you hear, please follow, share, and leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review.

@solrisingpodcast on Instagram

@amandamckoyflanagan on Instagram

@theflippinphoenix on Instagram

Ginny's furniture rehab website: https://theflippinphoenix.com/ 

Link to Amanda's book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C4M137BJ or https://www.amandamckoyflanagan.com/ 

Music credit: "Surfer James" by Tom Deis. Source: Premiumbeats.com

Do you feel responsible for other people’s happiness? Do you feel like you have to give an answer or react to a situation quickly? Are you behaving in ways that you know are not true to you, but you do it anyway to lessen anxiety? Do you feel pressure to keep the peace?

Ginny and Amanda go all in on codependency, revealing their own experience with codependency while exposing some hard truths. Insightful acknowledgment of their own behavior will help you to recognize your own codependent behaviors. 

Some of this may be difficult to wrestle with, but this show is deliberately crafted to challenge you to go deep into your well of honesty and self-compassion. If they can do it, so can you! 💗

Some thought-provoking moments to listen for are:

• Independence is not the opposite of codependence; the two can exist simultaneously.
• Codependency has little to do with someone else, and everything to do with you. 
• Many of us create chaos so that we can fix it, thereby giving us value and worth. 
• Codependent people try to control other people in an attempt to create an emotionally safe and secure environment.
• Hypervigilance is a symptom of codependency.
• Codependent behavior is often about your need to be needed.

The Melody Beattie books referenced are: Codependent No More and The Language of Letting Go. 

*Email us about your experience with the challenge presented or an idea for a show at solrisingpodcast@gmail.com.

*If you like what you hear, please follow, share, and leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review.

@solrisingpodcast on Instagram

@amandamckoyflanagan on Instagram

@theflippinphoenix on Instagram

Ginny's furniture rehab website: https://theflippinphoenix.com/ 

Link to buy Amanda's book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C4M137BJ or https://www.amandamckoyflanagan.com/ 

Music credit: "Surfer James" by Tom Deis. Source: Premiumbeats.com