sarah blondin on living from the heart

sarah blondin is  a storyteller, author, and meditation guide, who unceasingly ruminates on the complexities and nuances of life and the human heart.she is the author of heart minded: how to hold yourself and others in love, has over 630,000 followers on insight timer where she has been teaching meditation since 2016, iand the creator of several online courses including the deepest self and coming home to yourself. sarah is also the writer for the popular substack publication, sarah blondin: stories and meditations. a place of deep connection and intimate sharing. real words from a real life, from the heart, from the depths.in this tender and soul-stirring conversation, we explore what it means to live a heart-centered life in a world that feels increasingly fast, noisy, and pressurized. through honest reflections, personal stories, and gentle wisdom, sarah illuminates how we can meet life’s intensity without abandoning ourselves, the beauty and complexity of living with an exposed heart, embracing both joy and pain, and finding grace in the willingness to feel deeply.Some things we talk about…the polarity of the heart: how to both brace and bend under life’s pressuresparenthood & tenderness: motherhood as both a practice of protection and letting go while remembering our own vulnerability.the cost of openness: how much of our heart to expose, and the risk and aliveness that come with remaining open.practices of return: sitting under trees, slowing down, journaling, and breathwork as daily ways to come back to heart presence.writing as self-intimacy:  not to transcend life but to be witness to all of it: the chaos, grief, and beauty.resistance & trust: how bracing against life severs trust with the heart, and how forgiveness of life’s demands softens us back into connection.the risk of being seen: why tears, tenderness, and honesty feel vulnerable in public spaces, and how choosing to be visible can be a radical act of leadership.devotion to the heart: living a heart-centered life is not a single choice but a lifelong devotion—a relationship that deepens over time.catch up on past episdoes with extraordinary teachers, guides and artists here.  receive a weekly slow inside ritual here. and follow me on instagram @daphnecohn

such a tender, gorgeous conversation with elena. in her words and in her pauses, you feel the power of presence. you feel how different the world can be, how different the world is, when we arrive here. in this moment. this life.elena brower is a mother, mentor, poet, artist, volunteer, bestselling author, and host of the Practice You podcast. she’s been teaching asana since 1999, practicing Zen meditation since 2020, and received the Buddhist Precepts from Roshi Joan Halifax at Upaya Zen Center in 2023. now a candidate for Buddhist chaplaincy, elena offers her time in hospice and penitentiary settings.her weekly live yoga practices and meditations are featured on Glo; she offers retreats and workshops a few times a year, and her spoken-word poetry can be heard on Above & Beyond’s Flow State albums—for which she received an RIAA-certified Gold Record for her writing on “Don’t Leave.”elena is the creator of several online courses, including Perceptive Parenting and Simplify, helping us reimagine our priorities so we can experience more meaning each day. her bestselling journals and books explore the seasons of life and the art of deep listening. her next book, Hold Nothing, will be published by Shambhala Publications in late 2025.in this conversation we explore the nature of spiritual practice, love, presence, and self-remembering in challenging times. we talk about the role of respect in practice, the healing power of rewriting past memories, letting go of identity, and the sacredness of preparing for death as a soulful, grounded inquiry into how we live, love, and serve.take your time with this conversation. let elena’s wisdom soak through until it becomes your wisdom.  allow her presence to bring you home. to bring you here.00:00 Introduction and Warm Welcome01:12 Exploring the Concept of Respect05:18 Personal Reflections on Relationships10:15 Rewriting Memories for Healing23:37 The Practice of Zen Meditation28:25 Understanding the Self Through Letting Go34:59 The Softening of the Self36:48 Exploring the Concept of Original Face38:11 Invitation to Love Yourself38:42 The Role of Rigor and Certainty in Self-Love41:08 Loving Oneself to Serve the World45:41 The Power of Presence Over Problem-Solving47:01 The Practice of Being Present50:44 Teaching and Presence in Challenging Contexts54:13 Managing Mental Noise and Allowing the Mind to Rest55:22 Embracing Fear and Trauma01:02:15 Gratitude and Closing Thoughtslisten to past conversations with guests like poet david whyte, activist valarie kaur, author rob bell, artist julia cameron and dozens of others at daphnecohn.com

author of radiant rest and the luminous self and yoga nidra teacher, tracee stanley, explores the profound significance of deep rest and its transformative power on our lives, the differences between sleep and intentional rest, the importance of creating a sanctuary for ourselves, the modern struggles of perpetual exhaustion, the hurdles to genuine relaxation, and how rest can reconnect us with our inner wisdom, support healing, and empower us to show up more fully in our lives. this conversation will change your perception of rest and show how essential rest is not just to nourishing our body but to caring for our world.this is one of those conversations that can alter you forever.in this episode we explore:• the concept of deep, intentional rest beyond mere sleep• the societal perceptions that undermine the value of rest• the notion that many of us are collectively exhausted and often unsure how to genuinely rest  • the challenges of overcoming ingrained feelings of unworthiness, shame, and the pull towards constant productivity• the significance of sacred practices, the wisdom of ancient traditions, and the transformative potential of truly embracing rest.• the importance of stepping into one’s power through rest and• exploring the true teachers of deep rest, the goddess, and the state of consciousness00:00 Introduction and Warm Welcome00:14 Exploring the Power of Deep Rest01:59 The Challenge of Rest and Worthiness02:47 Intentional Rest and Overcoming Shame07:45 Rest as a Path to Clarity and Power11:21 Creating a Rest Practice22:21 The Sacredness of Rest29:09 The Goddess and Deep Rest54:09 The State of Consciousness as a True Teacher55:29 Final Thoughts and Gratitudeyou can learn more about tracee stanley, daphne cohn and listen to all past episodes at daphnecohn.comyou can receive sacred words, living rituals and somatic practices that guide you gently through a fast and fraying world here.

srimati is one of my heroines and i do not use that word lightly. i look to her often as a model of how to live a courageous, honest, spirit-led life. it was a tremendous honor to have this conversation with her.srimati “has spent decades seeking the divine in all of her life experiences. living from a deep place of devotion, srimati is a living spiritual guide devoted to reminding others of their spiritual nature so that they too can experience the full presence of their existence.”srimati is the author of the best-selling cookbooks, this cheese is nuts!, the plantpower way; italia and the plantpower way. she is also host to her own internationally acclaimed podcast, for the life of me with over 1,000,000 downloads in just two years. she is the founder of srimu artisanal not cheese and the spiritual community, water tiger.“srimati is a mystic, mother, musician, artist, author and healer who is a powerful living example of how to love ourselves more so that we can live our unique design in full and expansive self-expression. when we live in this frequency, we bless all life around us.”some things we talk about: how to live from the heart instead of the mindliving as a sovereign beinghow srimati begins and ends each dayour most important role in lifehow to live all of life as a devotional journeya gorgeous guided meditation andour greatest superpowermay this conversation inspire you to go within: to the raw, wild, expanse of mystery that is your beating heart, vibrating body, pulsing life in order to go beyond to utter the sacred: your words, dance, painting, art.to listen to past episodes go to daphnecohn.com

nina lombardo is a woman devoted.it’s in the way she speaks and the way she moves, in what she teaches and what she lives. it’s in her body, her heart and her whole being.“nina is a yogic intimacy teacher and wisdom keeper of the sacred feminine arts. she supports women in embodying their most authentic spiritual and sexual expressions so they can experience the soul-ravishing unions they crave with life, with their lovers, and with the divine” through her online programs, her one-on-one client work and in person-retreats.all of her work is “informed through her unwavering devotion to her own inner practice” and her work in the world.you will hear her devotion when you listen. you will feel her devotion in your body. and her devotion will awaken yours.some things we talk aboutthe difference between romantic love and the love of the universeher journey into free, unbridled self expressiondevotion as the main driving force, as the anchorhow to meet the outer world while staying devoted to one’s inner truthwhere physical desire meets spiritual desirehow we bring awareness into the body andthe marriage between discipline and surrendermay this conversation inspire you to go within: to the raw, wild, expanse of mystery that is your beating heart, vibrating body, pulsing life in order to go beyond to utter the sacred: your words, dance, painting, art.to listen to past episodes go here.to read my most intimate writings on living a sensual, body-based life go here.to receive weekly embodiment practices go here.  

i first met allana pratt over 13 years ago when i interviewed her for a summit i was hosting on pleasure and sensuality. i loved her candor, kindness and deep devotion to her work.allana is an intimacy expert, the podcast host of intimate conversations, and author of six books. she has interviewed whoopi goldberg and alanis morrisette, coached leeza gibbons on dancing with the stars and been featured on huffington post, people magazine, forbes, CBS, ABC, FOX, TLC, iHeartRadio, the GoodMenProject and more.“for the past 20 yrs, allana’s brave willingness to heal her own heart and come home to herself makes her authentic, relatable and credible in her proven coaching programs and intimacy retreats. her wisdom, exuberance and raw transparency inspire the deep soul work required to create a solid intimate relationship with one’s self first, which naturally attracts and enhances an ideal open-hearted partnership that lasts. she’s a small town canadian girl living in rural wyoming who is honored to love the sh** out of humanity.”some of the things we talk about in this conversation are:creating an intimate relationship with the universehow to choose joy in the face of pain and sufferingthe portal back into the bodyhow allana healed herself after a very painful crisisthe first step to manifestingthe most potent vibration to send out to the universeyou can learn more about alana and her work at allanapratt.com and you can catch up on all past episodes at daphnecohn.com  

when i began reading radical wholeness by philip shepherd i cried. these words, this man. how did he put into words what was lining the insides of my soul? how did he know the answers to questions i’d held on to for years?philip teaches embodiment but “unlike the prevailing view of embodiment which involves sitting in the head and ‘listening to your body,’ philip’s approach helps you listen to the world through the body. what the body most deeply understands is that it belongs to the world. what the body most deeply feels is the present. when we join its intelligence, we discover companionship in the world rather than alienation; we recognize guidance where before we saw only obstacles; and we ground ourselves in the security of being, rather than seeking to build security for ourselves with symbols of external value. ultimately, it’s about coming home to yourself.”philip is the author of three books, new self new, new world, radical wholeness and deep fitness. he is the creator of the embodied present process which he teaches online and in workshops around the world.philip is gently and powerfully shifting the way we are in the world. through practices and processes, he is teaching us how to be radically whole and live free.he is one of the most masterful teachers i’ve encountered and it is a great honor to share my conversation with him.some of the things we talk about how to fill your emptiness foreverthe center of stillness in the bodythe only real security in lifewhat lies at the core of our sufferinghow to know your purpose andan extremely powerful yet simple tool for coming into the body and the presentto learn more about philip go here.to catch up on past episodes of the BEYOND podcast go here.

i don’t know how i found rachel rossitto but a handful of words on her website changed the way i understood myself in this world.i had to know more.rachel is a teacher, guide, mystic, and fairy of rose medicine. having devoted the last 16 years of her life to “studying temple arts, earth-based feminine wisdom, eastern spiritual philosophy and practice, plant medicine, energy healing, the way of tea, women’s holistic health and masculine and feminine healing and integration,” rachel has cultivated a deep practice of alchemizing pain into beauty and igniting women’s wisdom, creativity, sensuality, and power.she practices a new paradigm of leadership that holds both softness and strength, born of the body and the breath, connected to the earth, inspired by the rose. her truth arises from a life lived in devotion, expressed through love and offerings.this conversation with her continues to make ripples in my life. it has brought me a new morning practice and emboldened a new way of leading within me.some of the things we talk about are:leading in contrast to the culture – how to root in one’s own truththe story of rachel’s spiritual awakening following 40 days of meditationrachel’s morning tea practicehow to become a magnetic being that radiates beautythe many facets and faces of the femininemay this conversation inspire you to go within: to the raw, wild, expanse of mystery that is 
your beating heart, vibrating body, pulsing life in order to go beyond to utter the sacred: your words, dance, painting, art.you can learn more about rachel at rachelrossitto.comyou can learn more about daphne and all find all past episodes at daphnecohn.com

nadia is the author of three new york times bestselling memoirs, pastrix:the cranky, beautiful faith of a sinner and saint; accidental saints: finding god in all the wrong people, and more recently shameless: a sexual reformation. she is an ordained lutheran pastor and the founder of house for all sinners and saints in denver, colorado, a quirky congregation she served for over 10 years.nadia travels domestically and internationally as a speaker and has been featured on NPR’s morning edition, on being with krista tippett, fresh air, CNN and in the washington post, bitch magazine, the new yorker and the atlantic. international media coverage includes BBC world service, the guardian and magazine features in germany, poland, and switzerland.some things we talk about:  having grace and compassion inside of the pain, the need to be seen as good, the amazingness and the limits of social media, making space for ambiguity, being a leader by going first and never doing it alone.*this episode is a rebroadcast from the art & activism series in 2020for all past episodes go to daphnecohn.com

when i think of daje, i think of power. wide-eyed, full-bodied power. the kind of power born of tension and tightness, emergence and transcendence. power that roots in the earth and spreads, like tendrils, through their poetry, song and space holding.daje is “a storyteller, flower essence practitioner, and space-holder for wild-hearted leaders and creative entrepreneurs. she supports creatives in coming home to their true nature and self-initiating themselves into dharmic creative flow while boldly sharing their medicine with the world.”daje is the founder of “brave school: an institute of dreaming,” creator of “wildboy apothecary” and author at “the story doula.”may this conversation inspire you to go within: to the raw, wild, expanse of mystery that is 
your beating heart, vibrating body, pulsing life in order to go beyond to utter the sacred: your words, dance, painting, art.some things we talk about: how to use creative courage to cultivate belongingessence liberation and how we create wholenessthe catalytic moment that led to daje’s deep connection with spirit and self3 questions for creating a new relationship with moneyregenerative mysticism as a tool for awakeningfor all past episodes go to daphnecohn.com