What is PDA?—with Amy Lakeberg

Julie Busuttil – Executive Function & Intuition

“Meditation is just noticing that your Mind TV is on.” Sound simple? Maybe so … but it’s hard-earned, experiential wisdom by our guest, executive coach & online content creator Toku McCree—who has studied meditation & mindfulness practices from the inside out for decades, including as a practitioner at a Buddhist monastery. You may be surprised to learn the striking similarities between two-plus years of intentional living/monastic life with the bustling day-to-day existence of airport travel. (We were!) In our conversation with Toku, we also learn: * The introspective observation he brings to modern-day dating (& the flip-side that the “there are no good, single men” lament of the Sex in the City days meets when the quintessential “good, single man” doesn’t need to be emotionally ‘fixed’) * What it’s like to observe loneliness as a natural part of the human condition of suffering … without actually wallowing in the suffering part of it * Toku’s interesting other projects—from Substack collaborations to executive training programs to online dating experiments—& how they intersect as one lens to life (that any of us can adopt) Listen & learn alongside host Kealah Parkinson about what Toku calls “the salamander moment,” as well as ways any of us can bring the 360-degree experience of contemplation though monastic living into everyday moments of mindfulness for the average person. || Learn more about our guest on Substack or dating experiment website. (You’ll see he’s happily in a relationship now!) || Meet our show SPONSORS: Coach Kiki & My Moody Daybook. || Want to speak with more confidence about whatever you love? Check out the Confident Communicators Club by Coach Kiki at Skool.

There are 4 BIG LIES that are corrupting the world … … according to our once-again-returning guest, mechanical-engineer-turned-Masters-in- counseling-turned-coach Johanna Smith. She’s used her life experiences to help others. And now she’s helping us to not just see the truth beyond the lies that she identifies in this episode, but she’s also made some really cool merch to help us embody (literally) this new wisdom. Hear Johanna share: - How each of these 4 Big Lies is based in a maladaptive mindset that spans generations of U.S. history - Why connecting with emotion & empathy is often easier than we think—& why it doesn’t even always require us to have lived another person’s same experience to empathize with each other as humans - The differences between confidence & arrogance (& Coach Kiki’s thoughts on the matter) - A real truth bomb: “Human atrocities can be traced back to the notion of superiority.” Jump to 08:00 to hear the real truth Johanna says are behind these Big Lies (superiority/inferiority, entitlement, zero sum thinking & not bearing individual responsibility). Then jump to 40:00 to hear her quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (& more!). || Read the article that inspired this all at Johanna Smith’s Substack. Learn more about Harmonious Balance—& get the new merch!—at HarmoniousBalanceJS.com. || Meet our show SPONSORS: Coach Kiki & My Moody Daybook. || Want to speak with more confidence? Check out the Confident Communicators Club by Coach Kiki at Skool.

Ever heard of “Oppositional Defiant Disorder?” This now-aged buzzword was the hallmark of kid resistance in the classroom & the cause of many caregiving land mines — for parents & teachers around the U.S., & particularly for today’s returning guest Amy Lakeberg. … But when she started tucking into the hallmarks, she found a lot that resonated for her, internally. Over the years, O.D.D. was re-named P.D.A. Amy shares with us the two different phrases this acronym has abbreviated, as well as how these updated name changes mark movement from the outside observer perspective of this diagnosis to the interior experience of living with it every day. In our conversation, we also: * explore the intersection of PDA & the autism spectrum * discuss how burnout relates to this diagnosis/behavior * identify the myths surrounding empathy & PDA — such as its absence * explain why curiosity & mindfulness led our guest Amy down the rabbit hole to learn & teach all that she has on the subject … & why she feels she knows the subject from the inside out Favorite quotes from the conversation: “[PDA is] basically having a very sensitive nervous system.” “[Ask yourself:] What does ‘safety’ mean to me?” (… especially if nervous system safety is different from physical safety.) “We need to stop punishing kids [for non-compliance].” || Learn more about Amy & even more about PDA at her Facebook community page, PDA Self- Help — or visit & join the newly-launched neurodivergent social community, Brainvary Hub. || Hear our first conversation with Amy in Episode 603. || Meet our show SPONSORS: Coach Kiki & My Moody Daybook. || Want to speak with more confidence about whatever you love? Check out the Confident Communicators Club by Coach Kiki at Skool.

Nearly 20 years ago, Edwina Cowell sat on the family room floor & answered The Big Questions (“What is heaven?”; “What is hell?”; “Why do people die?”; “What is love?”) with her 7-year old son & some of his friends with their mothers. It was a moment that was created consciously over time with forethought … & became a lasting legacy for grownups & children all over the globe. Spiritual Playdate curriculum was born from these real-life play dates. Officially launched in 2015 at the Parliament of World Religions, it now reaches & teaches people in many countries these mission-based life skills for kids & their grownups, ages 5–12. Topics span big topics—heaven & hell, living & dying, God—& smaller but just as important ones like gratitude, forgiveness, resilience … & are currently being translated into other languages. In our conversation, Edwina shares: * The deeper origins of this story & how to use the online/printable curriculum * Why the Soul Talks frame all of the curriculum—& uses learning as discovery (via the Socratic Method) * How to deepen (& truly change) the traditional talks on bullying * Who is using this curriculum already (social workers, Sunday School teachers, homeschoolers, families & friends—as well as local volunteer educators to post-war refugees in parts of Africa) Jump to 42:00 to hear Edwina’s take on the roots of social ills (& how Spiritual Playdate opens the conversation to disentangle those roots, so they don’t take hold). And find her profound statement: “We can never get to world peace until we get to personal peace.” || Learn more about MotherFounder Edwina Cowell & this social-spiritual-emotional learning tool at SpiritualPlaydate.com. || SUPPORT OUR SHOW while supporting yourself: Visit our affiliate sites Big Life Journal & Generation Mindful to find products like journals, Calm Down Corner kits, lesson plans & posters & even parenting communities to help you #feelandheal with #moodtools … or visit our affiliate SensaCalm for weighted blankets & plushies—& lots of other sensory tools—for kids & grownups alike. || Meet our show SPONSORS: Coach Kiki & My Moody Daybook. || Want to speak with more confidence? Check out the Confident Communicators Club by Coach Kiki at Skool.