sports performance coach

Our guest today is AGAPI STASSINOPOULOS, best-selling author of the new book Speaking with Spirit. Her previous books include Wake Up to the Joy of You and Unbinding the Heart. In this latest book, Agapi encourages all of us to tap into the power of secular prayer to help us manage our minds and find the calm, tranquility and rootedness we need to flourish in a fast-shifting world. It was a great pleasure to have this dear friend on the podcast again. We talk about the general need for ppl to travel inward as opposed to seeking joy from the material, external world. We also talk about how self-worth can hijacked if we don’t find it from within and how moving beyond your ego is where real peace, grace, surrender and calm lives. 

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About Agapi:

AGAPI STASSINOPOULOS is a best-selling author and speaker who inspires audiences around the world. In her previous book, Wake Up to the Joy of You: 52 Meditations and Practices for a Calmer, Happier Life, she takes readers on a journey and inspires them to let go of what doesn’t work and instead create the lives they really want. Agapi was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and then moved on to receive her master’s degree in psychology from the University of Santa Monica. Her previous books on the Greek archetypes, Gods and Goddesses in Love and Conversations with the Goddesses, were turned into PBS specials. She is currently conducting workshops for Thrive Global, a company founded by her sister, Arianna Huffington, to help change the way we work and live. Agapi has spoken and conducted meditations at many organizations and companies including ABC Carpet & Home, Women’s Health Magazine, Museum of Modern Art, IBM Watson, SAP, Pandora Radio, CVS Corporate, Weight Watchers, PepsiCo, Google, Nike, Starbucks, Fortune Health Conference, and The Heart Association, amongst many. She divides her time between New York and Los Angeles and was born and raised in Athens, Greece.

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Follow  Agapi:

https://thriveglobal.com/authors/agapi-stassinopoulos/

https://www.instagram.com/agapisees/?hl=en

https://www.linkedin.com/in/agapi-stassinopoulos/

Follow  & Attend the World Happiness Fest:

http://happinessfest.world/

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More on this Podcast: https://www.calmandfreepodcast.com/

For more from Host Pooja Mottl:  https://www.poojamottl.com/

Podcast Producer: https://www.go-toproductions.com/

Twitter @PoojaMottl: https://twitter.com/poojamottl

Instagram: 

@TheCalmandFreePodcast https://www.instagram.com/thecalmandfreepodcast/

and @PoojaMottl https://www.instagram.com/poojamottl/

LinkedIn: @PoojaMottl  https://www.linkedin.com/in/poojamottl/

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Special Thanks : 

Kris Kosach of the TPR Podcast for lending her VO for our Podcast Intro: https://www.sites.google.com/view/textproserocknroll/home

Jessica Panian https://www.jessicapanian.com/ for her help with our graphic design: https://www.jessicapanian.com/

In this special exchange, Pooja and Professor Negi discuss the central tenants and urgency of compassion, a focus of His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Dr. Negi expands on how although humans have made tremendous progress from an outward, material standpoint, we have neglected to develop the core inner values that lead to contentment and inner peace. In other words, we have been focused on educating the mind, while forgetting to educate the heart. 

Dr. Negi shares how compassion is linked to the idea of safety and security in a world with so much diverse thought, biases, and differing groups of people. It is in this kind of world, especially, that people need to feel safe. He shares that at the heart of compassion is a sense of meaningful, tender connection with each other, and that creates a sense of security and trust, happiness and love.

Pooja and Dr. Negi also uncover the links between traditional Tibetan Buddhist mind training practices called "Lojong", which systematically look within, closely observing what triggers our emotions. This scientific examination parallels some of the main practices and strategies used in CBT, originating in the 1960's by Dr. Aaron Beck, globally recognized as the father of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and one of the world’s leading researchers in psychopathology.

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LOBSANG TENZIN NEGI, Ph.D. is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics at Emory University, formerly the Emory-Tibet Partnership. Prof. Negi is also a Professor of Pedagogy in Emory University’s Department of Religion and the founder and spiritual director of Drepung Loseling Monastery, Inc., in Atlanta, GA. 

Over the past two decades, Prof. Negi has been a pioneer of compassion training programs for adults and children and he has contributed to the development and burgeoning of compassion science through his research initiatives and collaborations. 

Through his center, Prof. Negi has developed and now oversees three programs, which are dedicated to expanding compassion and engaging in research. In 2004, Prof. Negi developed CBCT® (Cognitively-Based Compassion Training), a secularized contemplative program based on Tibetan Buddhist mind training practices that deliberately and systematically works to cultivate compassion. He also oversees SEE Learning™ (Social, Emotional and Ethical Learning), a program that develops and implements curricula for kindergarten through university level education for the education of heart and mind. The third program of the center is the Emory-Tibet Science Initiative, a program he developed, at the invitation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, to develop and implement a comprehensive modern science curriculum specifically for Tibetan monastics. 

 Prof. Negi was born in Kinnaur, a remote Himalayan region adjoining Tibet. A former monk of 27 years, he began his monastic training at The Institute of Buddhist Dialectics in Dharamasala, India and continued his education at Drepung Loseling Monastery in south India, where in 1994 he received the Geshe Lharampa degree. Prof. Negi completed his Ph.D. at Emory University in 1999; his interdisciplinary dissertation centered on traditional Buddhist and contemporary Western approaches to emotions and their impact on wellness. His current research focuses on the complementarity of modern science and contemplative practice.

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Follow  Dr. Negi's work:

http://www.tibet.emory.edu

http://www.drepung.org

https://compassion.emory.edu/

https://seelearning.emory.edu/node/5

https://compassionshift.emory.edu/

Follow  & Attend the World Happiness Fest:

https://worldhappiness.foundation/fest/about/

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More on this Podcast: https://www.calmandfreepodcast.com/

For more from Host Pooja Mottl:  https://www.poojamottl.com/

Podcast Producer: https://www.go-toproductions.com/

Twitter @PoojaMottl: https://twitter.com/poojamottl

Instagram: 

@TheCalmandFreePodcast https://www.instagram.com/thecalmandfreepodcast/

and @PoojaMottl https://www.instagram.com/poojamottl/

LinkedIn: @PoojaMottl  https://www.linkedin.com/in/poojamottl/

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Special Thanks : 

Kris Kosach of the TPR Podcast for lending her VO for our Podcast Intro: https://www.sites.google.com/view/textproserocknroll/home

Jessica Panian https://www.jessicapanian.com/ for her help with our graphic design: https://www.jessicapanian.com/

Ali Kershner is an entrepreneur, coach and creative at the Art of Coaching and formerly a Sports Performance coach with Stanford University and their 2021 Womens Basketball National Championship team.

Originally from Palo Alto, California, she was a student athlete at DUKE University where she was captain of the Blue Devils Womens Soccer team. 

In this special episode Ali and I talk in detail about why embracing change is a necessary life skill, and has been since time immemorial, an insight found in various ancient philosophies but especially relevant in todays fast-moving world. We also talk about shedding beliefs about identity that may be holding you back as well as how to re-examine your personal definition success in a way which brings you calm and inner peace. 

Follow  Ali:

The Art of Coaching Website: https://artofcoaching.com/

@Kershner.Ali on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kershner.ali/?hl=en

@AliKershner on Twitter: https://twitter.com/alikershner
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More on this Podcast: https://www.calmandfreepodcast.com/

For more from Host Pooja Mottl:  https://www.poojamottl.com/

Podcast Producer: https://www.go-toproductions.com/

Twitter @PoojaMottl: https://twitter.com/poojamottl

Instagram: 

@TheCalmandFreePodcast https://www.instagram.com/thecalmandfreepodcast/

and @PoojaMottl https://www.instagram.com/poojamottl/

LinkedIn: @PoojaMottl  https://www.linkedin.com/in/poojamottl/

Special Thanks : 

Kris Kosach of the TPR Podcast for lending her VO for our Podcast Intro: https://www.sites.google.com/view/textproserocknroll/home

Jessica Panian https://www.jessicapanian.com/ for her help with our graphic design: https://www.jessicapanian.com/

In this episode, Gerry welcomes on co-founder of Cressey Sports Performance, Pete Dupuis.

Pete handles much of the business side of things for the global sports performance and baseball training brand that is Cressey Sports Performance and has a great perspective for sport and strength coaches who need help advancing their careers.

Additionally, Pete has great takes on college experiences for athletes and what the journey was like that lead him and Eric to start Cressey Sports Performance years ago. 

Whether you are a sport coach, strength coach, athlete or even parent, this episode will be great in terms of giving you a well rounded look at the culture of a sports performance gym, the path from college to career and what it takes to make it in life and business.

All that and more on this episode of Muscles and Management!

Energy Captains Cameron Lynch and Whitney Holtzman talk with Special Guest Sports Performance Coach to the Stars Darelle Noel