Before It's Too Late

In today’s episode, my guest is John Koenig from Rhode Island, who is an experienced past-life regression hypnotist, an instructor of hypnotists and the author of “MY AUTOBIOGRAPHIES: Past Life Exploration for Personal and Spiritual Growth” amongst other books. Very recently, he created – with AI’s help – the world’s first oracle system to reflect the collective wisdom of humanity. In our conversation, you will learn about the benefits of past life exploration, about how it helps to gain an ever broadening perspective on life, especially for those who are born into adversity. What are we here to learn in this lifetime? John says, once we can see and ask from that perspective, we understand that we actually CHOOSE all the good and bad that occurs to us. For that we learn and help others learn about what our task is in this lifetime. Most of all, John shares, past life explorations remove the fear of death. I found it fascinating to learn from John about how he developed what is truly a next level oracle card system: he asked Chat GPT to comb through all published human wisdom- from all philosophy, religions, psychologists and thinkers of all kinds - to find 64 principles that humanity has determined are essential for living a good life and for human evolution. He then took these 64 principles and designed an oracle card deck, that has been funded on kickstarter. Hear for yourself about the compelling outcome and how it helps to open your mind to different perspectives on life….that’s where the magic happens, as John puts it. We’re excited to have you as our guest on Before It’s Too Late today, John Koenig! More info at www.theuniversalmind.com

This is Before It’s Too Late….I’m your host, Christiane zu Salm. Let’s learn together what matters most in life. We are grateful to speak with psychedelic life coach Sinclair Fleetwood in today’s episode. She is also the host of the Psychedelic Integration Podcast and an expert for helping people with the integration of plant medicine into their everyday lives. Sinclair is sharing with us her heart wrenching wild journey from having been an addict to alcohol, sex, drugs and food in her early twenties towards her transformation into a conscious life, being in service of others and hence of the greater good. Daddy issues were her big theme. Over 10 years ago, her father got arrested, ended up in prison, and received 2 life sentences. Tragically, he died in prison, and Sinclair recounts how she afterwards burned his ashes at the temple of Burning Man in Nevada. This is when her path towards plant medicine began. “After taking ayahuasca, I was able to process my anger towards my dad, really connect to it, feel it, release that space and fill it with compassion and understanding”, she states. We’re learning from Sinclair how plant medicine like mushrooms, ayahuasca and san pedro provide a path to wholeness and freedom. ”We are holistic beings, but most of us go through life compartmentalized”, she says, explaining to us how we best integrate plant medicine after taking them. On our way to wholeness, it is important to start at our bodies, as they give us constant feedback about our state of mind. And only then work towards our thoughts…I loved Sinclair’s intriguing insights and wisdoms she shared in this wonderful conversation. We’re excited to have you as our guest today on Before It’s Too Late, Sinclair Fleetwood! Please check out Sinclair’s website for her amazing services at https://sinclairfleetwood.com and The Psychedelic Integration Podcast is available on all major podcast platforms.

It makes me very happy to speak with Dr. Alex Wills in today’s episode. Alex Wills, MD, is a board-certified psychiatrist, who has developed an innovative approach to how to deal with our emotions. He has developed the Radical Emotional Acceptance Method to help patients heal from issues ranging from past traumas to interpersonal struggles in their marriages. Just now, he has published a book with the title: “Give a F*ck, Actually: Reclaim Yourself with the 5 Steps of Radical Emotional Acceptance (January 2023, Skyhorse), offering a timely and persuasive counterargument to the runaway bestseller The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck. In this episode, Alex argues that there are no bad emotions – only bad reactions to powerful and often painful feelings that Radical Emotional Acceptance can teach us to process. We are learning from him that on the flipside of every painful emotion is a desire. These painful emotions are actually supposed to hurt us as badly as they do. They are trying to get our attention and let us know the importance of a situation or relationship. Dr. Wills is taking us through the 5 steps of his fascinating Radical Emotional Acceptance (REA) Method and explains how practicing this method helps us to develop a better relationship with all our emotions instead of suppressing them. He compares human emotions to colors, which are just there. Very importantly, we’re also talking about how this method can help with parenting children. I loved when Alex said: “Imagine what a wonderful world we would have, if children learned from the very beginning naming their emotions, building emotional vocabulary and simply accept them”. We’re excited to have you as our guest today on Before It’s Too Late, Dr. Alex Wills!

We are happy to speak with D. Neil Elliott today. Neil shares with us his fascinating transformational journey, when he was a highly educated professional engineer, had a successful career, an amazing wife and family, but things were not all what they seemed to be. Neil was in a dark place. In this episode, he is talking about how he then, quite by accident discovered a Higher Road and how he, by traveling that road, found the key to fundamentally transforming his life. Neil is explaining to us his scientific discoveries behind his transformation and how science works together with spiritual concepts in order to explain the truth of our existence in a factual, rational and engaging way. In particular, he is discussing consciousness within a biological framework, as consciousness is something that happens in our bodies. For that everyone who is interested can follow this path as well, he has written a book with the title: “A Higher Road: Cleanse Your Consciousness to Transcend the Ego and Ascend Spirituality”.” Today, Neil’s goal is “to bring this world to another era of love and peace” by helping his clients take this Higher Road. D. Neil Elliott, we’re excited to have you as our guest on Before It’s Too Late today!

Before we get to introduce our today’s guest, I would like to let all my loyal listeners and steadily growing subscribers know that we’ll be taking a creative break with this podcast. Recently, I was lucky enough to get invited to co-creating an artwork, and this will require my full attention. Since such a project has always been my dream, I’m thanking you for your understanding and loyalty. Please stay subscribed – we will be back as soon as possible! So, in the last episode before our creative break, we’re speaking with truly amazing and wise Scottie Jeanette Madden. I was absolutely moved throughout our entire conversation, by the clarity, profoundness and urgency with which she is talking about the circumstances of her life as a transgender woman. These circumstances are existential, as transgender humans, especially black transgender humans, are being oppressed and even killed in today’s America. “There is an active push to eliminate us in this country”, Scottie says. She is sharing with us her story, how much she suffered from having had no one to go to and no one to understand, and how hopeless she felt before she came out at about 20 years into her marriage with her wife Marcy. And how they, after Scotties transition, managed to build their love on new truthful grounds. When I was trying to understand the reasons behind why her community is so unwanted, she says: “I can’t understand why they are so blind. I stand in front of you: I am a woman. And I don’t understand why I don’t have the agency to declare that myself”. Rising more and more above, Scottie has some wise thoughts around those who fight transgender humans with so much energy even though this community is so small. And then she takes my favorite perspective: the deathbed-perspective. In the end, she says, they will be confronted with their own hatefulness. Maybe then they will see. “The real cost in all of this is the cost of our own souls”, she declares. Please welcome Scottie Jeanette Madden in this powerful conversation on Before It’s Too Late today! Scottie’s Ted Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/scottie_jeannette_madden_what_would_my_father_say https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottie-jeanette-madden-69b17b5a/ https://www.zuzubean.com/

In today’s episode, my guest is the artist and art teacher Kathryn Cameron. Kathryn is talking about what it took for her to pursue an artistic education and career, what her parents said and how she managed to make a living before she could live from selling her art. Being a teacher at the New York School of the Arts for ten years, she is explaining to us what specifically she enjoys about teaching art. Also, Kathryn is sharing with us an existential moment that really transformed her and how she created the largest piece of work so far as a consequence. Ever since, she states, she lived a life true to herself, being at the service of her art, and not letting the art be at the service of her. I was intrigued by this wise insight and also by the amazing energy, with which she conveyed her thoughts around what it really means to be an artist. When I asked her about her advice for future artists, she came up with a surprising answer. Hear for yourself, and also, how beautifully she articulates her legacy around her art work…. We’re excited to have you as our guest on Before It’s Too Late, Kathryn Cameron! https://www.kathryncameron.com/ https://www.newyorkschoolofthearts.org/

In today’s episode, we are talking with our guest Connie Steele about what really matters in the future of work for the millennials and Gen Z. A 10 years business strategist and marketing consultant with her own firm Flywheel Associates, Connie is sharing with us in the first part of this episode her story, how she found the courage to pivot out of a corporate role, as she felt she “wasn’t’ able to be all of me”, as she puts it, as the youngest, a female and employee with children. At the time, work, whatever it would be, needed to fit into her life – and not the other way round. Since this has shifted enormously over the last years, Connie has conducted and recently published an interesting study on the New World of Work and Life, in which she wanted to understand what do people really want out of work, career and life. In the second part of our conversation, she is talking about the key findings of the study, which are fundamentally about aligning personal purpose and professional advancement. So what does it take for companies to make that happen so that their employees can be successful? How do you really achieve alignment? – I’m asking her. I was intrigued by Connie’s energy - which I felt to be much in alignment – with which she wants to progress what is a matter of her heart. “As my legacy…” she says, “ I want to bridge the gap that commonly exists within people and that in organizations, such that we can come together with a shared understanding. This is how we can create momentum collectively”. Connie Steele, we’re excited to have you as our guest on Before It’s Too Late today! Her recently published book “Building the Business of You: A System to Align Passion and Growth Potential Through Your Own Career Mash-Up” is the first book to help professionals and entrepreneurs navigate the new world of work while aligning personal purpose and professional advancement. It is available on amazon. The study is available at flywheelassociates.com

In today’s episode, we’re speaking with best-selling author, certified coach, speaker, trainer and podcaster Dom Brightmon, who empowers and equips others to share their stories and helps them unlock their inner value through reading, writing and podcasting. You will for sure enjoy his amazing sense of humor with which is doing all of that. Because of his own podcast “Going North” , in which Dom features authors that share their life experiences to help others advance themselves, he was listed as one of the top ten self-help podcasters in the world alongside Brendon Burchard, Gretchen Rubin, Lewis Howes and Steve Olsher. While in high school, Dom took a summer job at a public library to gain professional experience. Because of his love for books, he has later on written and published 2 books himself, one of which became a bestseller. It is called “Stay The Course: The Elite Performers 7 Secret Keys to Sustainable Success”. In this conversation, we will learn from him about the MITCH-concept from this book, which are 5 branches of Self Awareness: Mental Awareness, Influences Awareness, Time Awareness, Connection Awareness and Habit Awareness. I loved how Dom states, that for him, it is all about encouraging yourself and others, based on self-awareness, as this is the major key to lead performance. Also, you will hear from him what the 3 skills are that millennials should develop and eventually master. And, of course, how he wants to be remembered. Please welcome wonderful Dom Brigthmon on Before It’s Too Late today!

We are very excited to speak with community-based sociologist and criminologist Dr. Kimya Nuru Dennis today. Kimya is invested in supporting the needs of people with minoritized and underserved demographic-and-cultural identities and experiences. In this important conversation, you will learn from her why she is criticizing the typical diversity, inclusion and antiracism trainings especially at schools, police departments and medical-health providers. She is talking about why she finds these trainings and workshops a waste of time, how no change will be achieved by them but what needs to be done in order to move the needle to more equity. I was very impressed by how bluntly and honestly she is calling out the power majorities who will claim “…that they have made an effort and then feel good about it”, but not changing anything. “Every human has prejudice, every human has assumptions and bias, the difference is in the people having the ability to act on it”, Kimya makes clear. We will hear from her, how she encourages people to focus on the outcome wanted: focus on what’s happening in families, communities, schools and changing policies and practices there, not waiting for the laws. And: read literature! Let’s listen to Dr.Kimya Nuru Dennis on Before It’s Too Late today!

It makes me very happy to speak with Tanya Selvaratnam on the topic of intimate violence today. Tanya is a writer and an Emmy-nominated and multiple Webby-winning producer in the areas of arts and social justice. Also, she has written 2 important books, one of which are talking about in this episode: It is called “Assume Nothing: A Story of Intimate Violence”, and in this book, Tanya shares her story of how her relationship with former New York State attorney general Eric Schneiderman initially felt like a perfect match but then devolved into abuse. I was deeply impressed by Tanya’s courage to come forward with her experience of intimate abuse, since way too many women suffer from it in silence. Statistics say that 1 in 3 women experience emotional, physical and/or verbal abuse mostly by an intimate partner once in their lifetime. Sadly, since the outbreak of the pandemic, cases of domestic violence have increased. The United Nations Women calls it the Shadow Pandemic. In that context, Tanya’s book becomes ever more relevant. And very helpful. In this episode, we will learn from her how we all can help others spot signs of intimate violence (which can be sometimes very hard for the person in the relationship) and how to stop and prevent it in their own lives. Tanya talks about how important it is to encourage bystanders to become upstanders. “It’s everyone’s responsibility to stand up for the dignity and safety of everyone else and not just watch”, she states. Also, we are talking about what intimate abuse has to do with the love we received in our early childhood years. You will hear from her if she after all still believes in love and in romantic relationships and also, what she wants her legacy to be as a person, who deeply cares about social justice in our world. We’re proud to have you as our guest on Before It’s Too Late today, Tanya Selvaratnam! https://linktr.ee/tanyaturnsup Order her book Assume Nothing @TanyaAuthor on Twitter, IG, FB