Practicing Presence with Elena Brower

Today's show was  a big moment for the show and me personally, as I had the high honor of having a sweet, heartfelt conversation with one of my role models and personal teacher, Elena Brower.  Elena's insights on personal growth and creating a life that doesn't need alteration promise to leave you inspired and motivated.

She gives us an intimate look into her journey with zen Buddhism, her transformative hospice training experience, and her practices that have helped her release self criticism. As we traverse this path with Elena, you’ll find yourself inspired by her dedication to her service of impacting others lives and her personal practices.

Elena opens up about her personal struggles with addiction and the dramatic lifestyle changes she undertook to embrace a yogic lifestyle. Get ready to be inspired by her powerful testament to the transformative effects of mindfulness and yoga. She shares her journey of overcoming the need for external validation, her connection with essential oils, and how these elements have aided her to discover her most authentic self. Elena's courage and resilience promise to touch your life with potent insights.

In a world that's constantly vying for our attention, Elena teaches us the art of attention, and the role of intuition in decision-making. She helps us understand how to lead an artful life amidst overstimulation. Be prepared to hear about her latest offerings, her writing ventures, and her volunteer service work. 

Please find Elena's transforming body of work and mentorship here.

Don't forget to check out the Stop Drinking, Start Living Portal of Empowerment to apply these concepts to your own life, today! Join here.

Transform your relationship with alcohol by focusing on yourself. Discover how to fulfill your needs without alcohol's help. Understand your body's signals, leverage your emotions, and expand your desires for real, lasting pleasure.

Join "The Naturally Sober Woman" self-study course, where you'll learn everything I teach my clients in a compact, affordable, lifetime access package. 

Awakened sobriety! Discover how to fulfill your needs without alcohol's help, labels or missing out! Expand your desires for real, lasting pleasure.

Join The Awakened Sobriety Self Study Course, where you'll learn everything I teach my clients in a compact, affordable, lifetime access package.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 1:33

Do you ever feel like you're out growing alcohol, that you are longing for a deeper connection to life? If alcohol is keeping you playing small and feels like the one area you just can't figure out, you are in the right place. Hi, my name is Mary Wagstaff. I'm a holistic alcohol coach who ended a 20-year relationship to alcohol without labels, counting days or ever making excuses. Now I help powerful women just like you eliminate their desire to drink on their own terms. In this podcast, we will explore the revolutionary approach of my proven five-shifts process that gets alcohol out of your way by breaking all of the rules, and the profound experience that it is to rediscover who you are on the other side of alcohol. I am so thrilled to be your guide. Welcome to your journey of awakening. Welcome back to the show. My beautiful listeners, I couldn't be more thrilled and honored to offer you a beautiful interview with one of my personal teachers and although we haven't yet met, this woman has influenced me in a way that not many people have through her presence, her pure presence, the energy of her grace and her attention that radiates from just witnessing you and has really been one of your biggest teachings to me by far. It's so amazing to see how much we can express without words. It is an articulation of your mannerisms, your subtle pauses and your words that are placed just like a well-aligned asana. You are a masterful practitioner of the art and science of yoga and meditation since 1999 and teaching worldwide for large stadiums now which is amazing and intimate retreats, and I know you as a regular contributor to the wonderful online movement and mindfulness platform where I found you, called GLOW, a platform that literally, I think has saved my life in so many ways, and your podcast Practice. You is a beautiful weaving of lifestyle offerings, thought-provoking conversations and education on wellness topics that are presented to your audience in a thoughtful and investigative way to support our personal development and self-inquiry and, amongst many other things, you're a mother, a mentor, a poet, an artist, a volunteer bestselling author, and I have a feeling you are a wonderful friend. You are also an advocate for many humanitarian efforts and many. You offer many wonderful courses and programs that we'll talk about today as well, for us to deepen our practice of presence. You're also an essential oils advocate and consultant and educator, one of the things I'm hoping to get into on today's show. So, without further ado, welcome to the show Elena Brower. Thank you so much for being here.

Speaker 2: 4:45

Thank you so much for having me dear one. Thank you, mary.

Speaker 1: 4:49

Yes, you are welcome. I had to improvise a little bit with your bio from my own personal first-hand experience, so I hope that's okay. Those are the best.

Speaker 2: 4:58

Yes, you know, when I'm interviewing people on my podcast, they're always so happy when I improvise with my own personal love.

Speaker 1: 5:04

Okay, wonderful. I always love to start on a positive note, an inspiring note, and I would just love to know. You have so many beautiful offerings and lifestyle practices that you're sharing with your audience. What are you delighting in these days that really feels like it's just for you.

Speaker 2: 5:22

So sweet, thank you for that question. Yeah, these days I've just completed a hospice training to be a hospice volunteer, and what delights me the most is going over to the Zen Center nearby and taking a seat, mostly in the morning but sometimes in the evening, sit and just enjoying the sitting. I'm getting to know myself and learning how to kind of release all of the drama and ridicule inward ridicule, inward criticism Learning it so clearly because sitting for many hours you get to really have a look at the humanity and the disconnect that is so prevalent within ourselves. And I'm slowly it's taking years, but I'm slowly learning how to let those thoughts go when they come in the day, you know, during an effort that I'm making. Yeah, and it feels really good.

Speaker 1: 6:36

Well, it shows. It definitely shows. Tell us how. I'm curious about your transition into studying Zen, because I know that's been a big part of your life for the last few years. How did that arrive for you?

Speaker 2: 6:51

We moved to actually during COVID in March 2020, out to the Southwest. When I moved here, I discovered Roshi Joan Halifax was here. I thought that she was in Northern California, but in fact she's here and instantly began working with her online, taking as many online courses as I possibly could and then culminating in taking the precepts the Buddhist precepts last year or earlier this year really and then I'm starting the chaplaincy training in this coming year, which is very exciting for me. I'm feeling very honored to do it and to learn how to care for people in the most vulnerable situations feels very natural for me right now.

Speaker 1: 7:46

Yeah, yeah, what an honor and what an undertaking as well. Right, the dedication? Yeah, so beautiful. It seems like a natural progression, for you know, from your yoga studies and teachings, into this active service. Is this the same practice that is your go-to when things aren't okay?

Speaker 2: 8:13

Well, it's one practice. It's called zazen. You know it's the simplest practice I've ever done. It's just about sitting and allowing the seat, the quiet, the silence, the stillness, the effort toward keeping still, to be a way, in a way of sort of keeping yourself aware and awake. Eyes are open, Cast down on the floor in front of you One is tall, front body is soft. There's a quality of awareness that is sort of there's no boundary to it, you know, boundless and there's also this emptiness that slowly is creeping in where the moment I sit, there's like a switch and I feel blank in the best possible way. Everything has been left in the car that I need to tend to and I'm finally getting these pockets of time, not the whole sitting, not an entire hour or 25 minutes, but a few minutes at a time. There's a space and I'm just savoring it and not attaching too hard to it. It sounds like pleasure, though. Does it feel pleasurable? I wouldn't say pleasure. I'm trying not to, you know, sort of set things up for this or that, but I would say that it's useful Almost everything that I do, and there's a quality of courage and a sense of agency that I'm feeling in releasing a lot of misperceptions about myself and surrounding things.

Speaker 1: 10:16

Thank you for sharing that. I think that that sounds like a lovely invitation for others to continue to examine new practices, because I think even with the practice of yoga there is an evolution, but it does open you up to the benefits of other traditions and so, yeah, I love that. And that kind of brings me to our next question about you transitioning into the yoga world, because I know that you had started your journey through, you know, going to university in a different way. I believe it was through design and art. What was the catalyst for your transition into yoga and then making it as big a part of your life as you have?

Speaker 2: 11:09

I graduated in 1992 and with it a very short time, my boyfriend's mom and sister took me to a yoga class. That's really how it happened. It was at Allen Fingers studio at the time, which was on 56th Street. It's called Yoga Zone. Beautiful gal teaching the class. I was used to taking ballet, where everybody was just yelling at me and that felt like normal and you know, okay, this is a good workout and this feels really special. Quote, unquote and air quotes. She was so. She was very tender and very clear in her instruction. There was a quality of knowing that I was in the right place at the right time. I could feel it so clearly and boom, it was just like that. There wasn't a question that this would be a lifetime practice for me.

Speaker 1: 12:14

Yes, and how? How quickly after that did you start teaching?

Speaker 2: 12:21

Well, it would have been almost nine years later. I've been a lot of other careers I was at the time I was a textile designer woven textile designer. Three days after graduating from college, I started working in a domestic mill and it was a great job, really, just super well paying. I was surrounded by other women who were some were my age and some were a bit older and we were creating and it was beautiful. We were basically there in the height of the sort of boom into creative menswear in the early 90s mid 90s and I did that for about four years. Then I decided I was going to go back to school to teach art to kids. Oh, no pardon. First I went and worked for two other clothing companies, pardon me. One was an independent, beautiful dressmaker in New York and I basically just did every job for her, from PR to photography, to, you know, everything, sales, everything. And then I started working for Jonah and David, which was I don't know if you recall, but a really well known shoe company that started branching into clothing and when they did, I was the assistant to the designer and moved to Italy. That was it. I was there for a number of months at a time, for about two years, and then that ran its course. I realized that I really wanted to go back to school and I wanted to do something for somebody. I didn't know what it was and I realized that it was going to be art for kids and I went back to the new school, to grad school and studied art education for children and it was wonderful During that time. There was one day that I had off and I went to a class at Crunch and Cindy Lee was teaching the class and I loved her style. She was so, you know, sort of I don't want to say crass, but you know just kind of brave and brazen and funny and personal, and it was different than any other class I'd taken. And at the end I went up to her and I thanked her and she said I'm starting a teacher training. Would you like to apply? And I was like, sure, why don't you give me the questions? And I'll think about it. She gave me the questions and within like two weeks I was sewing pages, pieces of art to answer all the questions. And that was that. I was in the training. I was 1997, eight, and I started teaching shortly after that. Training ended for her and it was wonderful.

Speaker 1: 15:16

Wow, I can see you in all of these roles and it seems like you know just leaving living a very intentional life from early on. Would you say that's true for you?

Speaker 2: 15:31

It's doing my best. I was also in and out of addiction to marijuana and you know, sort of abusing my body and then going back and being really nice to it. No, there was like it was not easy.

Speaker 1: 15:48

Yeah, I mean life right, the human predicament, navigating it all. Well, that's a good segue and transition into, you know, living a yogic lifestyle and you know, at least, being aware of what that means and being in the place of resonance. You know it's like when you're on the mat. We can have these deep moments of connection alignment physically, but also alignment with the deeper layers of the subtle self. And then there are these external factors, addiction being one of them. So how, what was what? How did it become apparent to you that there were these things alcohol, marijuana that weren't going to be a sustainable part of your life, were they weren't going to be able to be a sustainable part of your life?

Speaker 2: 16:46

It took a really long time, actually Like a really long time. This was many years later. I pulled out of all that when I was 44. No so 15 or so years later, with a pause for about three years to have my kid and to breastfeed him, and then, after the breastfeeding ended, I just found myself in a room with a couple of friends who were you know, pretty hilarious weed smokers and we were just like, let's do it, and that was that. You know, I was back in for probably another five to seven years. It was in and out, you know, and when I finally realized it was time, it was just taking over my mind. You know, every morning I'd wake up and I was thinking about okay, what time, what time? And I knew that that was a problem.

Speaker 1: 17:48

So how did you use the practice of yoga, or the I mean any practice how did you transition away from that lifestyle? And that I would like? What I like to call is is alcohol exhaustion or or overwhelm, right when it's not even like you're consuming something all the time, but you're you're thinking about it.

Speaker 2: 18:12

You know, I, when I first got sober, it was less about the practice, like taking care of my body was always a priority, so that was always a thing, but it was less about the practice and more about art making. So the time that was being freed up not smoking every morning after I dropped the kid off at school, I was free to make art and I started making art. That was how I got out of it.

Speaker 1: 18:48

What did that do for you making art? What was the shift?

Speaker 2: 18:56

You know, it was more like it was more like the time that was being wasted became so apparent and the time shifting into creation was so apparent, so delightful, and it felt so natural and so important. And that's kind of where that's kind of what happened. I just fell in love again with creativity and that gave rise. That time gave rise to all the courses that you have done for so many years and the ways in which they get executed. My collaboration with Michelle, that creative time, gave rise to all of that.

Speaker 1: 19:47

Would you say it was a reclamation of the feminine in some way?

Speaker 2: 19:54

You could. I mean. Sure I wasn't really thinking about it like that, but I like that sort of slant. It's interesting. It's more like this moment where I am actually really happy to create and be the most sort of true version of myself, and that true version has with it all of the feminine qualities of creation.

Speaker 1: 20:40

Yes, your most authentic self, and that's what we want for you and for everyone listening. All of you are welcome here. One of the things Because I work privately with women, one-on-one, who are struggling with, I think, what I call a journey of reclamation connecting to a deeper sense of meaning. But having searched for it through these external, through external validation, external resources and alcohol and a lot of times other substances being one of them and they struggle with the mental overwhelm of the urge, of the craving, of being in the same circumstance but showing up authentically, what advice would you have for someone? Or how did you make it through those times where maybe you did have an actual urge or craving, or even just your mind, the mind of the habit. That well-worn pathway was trying to pull you back in, coax you back in, with it's clever thinking as it will.

Speaker 2: 21:57

Right, the advice. I don't love giving advice, frankly, but I think if I was being asked, I would say just keep yourself open to seeing how this habit, this practice whatever it happens to be is hurting you potentially. That would be the advice, and so there's nothing like to do except stay open and aware.

Speaker 1: 22:28

Yeah, yeah, and we work on cultivating the witness consciousness a lot and just taking a step back and seeing yourself from the most loving, compassionate eyes. That's possible and that's a practice in and of itself to show up and support ourselves in that way, but I think it's the practice that's worth trying to cultivate for the rest of our lives self-compassion. One of the things that I know about you and another connection that I had with you through, I believe, one of your mentors through doTERRA, is your education on essential oils. So can you tell me what kind of role that has played in your journey, because it is something that I actually use in my private program? All of my clients receive a special essential oils blend and we use it for cognitive repatterning and present moment experiences. But I would love to know about your experience with essential oils because I love them.

Speaker 2: 23:38

Beautiful. Thank you for the question. They have been a part of my life for the last 30 years. I was able to be careful how I talk about them because the oils, for me, they really do activate the healing pathways in my body, in our bodies, and help our bodies to do the work of healing that needs to be done, that's being blocked by so many other practices and habits. The oils open up those pathways. For me, the first way was skin that's what I can say, just like the most incredible change happened when I started using oils on my face. I don't want to give them too much credence, but it was pretty significant the clarity and the glow that I started experiencing from using the oils. Then I started seeing how they worked digestively, respiratory system, even muscular support and then I really started paying attention and I decided at a certain point, probably about 10 years ago, that I could teach yoga for the rest of my life. But I wanted to have some kind of work that involved other parts of my mind, where I would help other women to earn money, where I could be selling something that I actually used. I learned, of course, that selling products is probably the best way to create a stable income and at the time I was a single mom and I was like I could not even imagine selling this single product. And then somebody presented the fact that I could be selling the oils and I use them all the time everywhere, in my home, my bag, everywhere. So I started to think about that and when I began sharing, it was this really natural process of teaching what I knew to be true from my own experience. And that was it. I grew a business and it was a wonderful business and many people still to this day hundreds, not thousands of people are able to pay for their oils, support their family and create a comfortable little nest egg for retirement, even pay for their kids' school with their income, and that makes me really happy. Plenty of folks didn't choose to go that route and I totally understand that. The ones who really did and they went for it, they really just they're shining.

Speaker 1: 26:54

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 26:56

And it's really nice to see that After all these years, it's still happening.

Speaker 1: 27:01

Yeah, it's amazing the impact on the individual and then the wellness on so many levels. Yeah, that's really profound. I love that. Yeah, there's essential oils everywhere too here. I can't even keep track of which one I need at the time I need it. But for me and I agree with the skincare practice I don't know if it was marketing or how we've been sold, but I kind of always had this idea that putting oil on your face was not a good thing and I started doing it and it was really transformative through the process of cleansing and moisturizing and all of the things. And, yes, I love that practice as well. But for me, the essential oils have really become such a ritual and this little gift that I can give to myself truly anywhere. It's just such a great tool to have wherever you go. So I'm a huge advocate. So thank you for making that accessible to so many people.

Speaker 2: 28:10

Yeah, it's been fun. I think the most fun was just the creation of so much content. Every time I teach my team or new people, I record it and I put it onto this beautiful website where people can come and study for free, totally free. Huge archive of instruction and just experience more than anything.

Speaker 1: 28:34

Wonderful. Well, we'll make sure people have access to all of that. And I know on Glow you have a series incorporating yoga and essential oils practice. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Speaker 2: 28:48

That series was really special actually and I had to keep it super basic and due to FTC and FDA various government sort of restrictions and codes, I kept it really simple but I shared from my heart what oils kind of dovetail with the practice. Well, wow, I really enjoyed creating that and I recently received a couple of emails I don't know why Out of the blue, from people who are just like yeah, that was such a wonderful program, are you going to do any more like that? You know, I don't know, I'm really at the mercy of what works for Glow when I create. So they tell me kind of oh, we'd love this duration, this level, this kind of vibe, and I just follow along. But I think that that oils program gets a lot of love and it makes me happy to see that and it's a nice way to learn the basic oils orange, tea tree, lavender the basic things.

Speaker 1: 29:58

Yeah, because the oils and for those of you listening that don't have essential oils practice or you haven't been engaging with essential oils the oils have this beautiful way and this is just my perspective of meeting. It's like an adaptogen in some ways, where I feel like it meets, meets me where I need the medicine the most. But they offer these different qualities for, you know, for energetic purposes and relaxation purposes and clarity purposes and body purposes all the things Elena already said but it's just such a vast array too of connecting with the deep, deep, deep wisdom of nature of plants and their allyship to us and their generosity to our experience as humans. That's also been a part of my experience with the essential oils. So, yeah, I love it. Well said, sister. Thank you.

Speaker 2: 31:01

I'm sure I could be much more kind of eloquent as you just were, but wow, the idea that are you know the intelligence of the plants and how it impacts us physiologically is always so delicious to me. Thank you for bringing that out.

Speaker 1: 31:23

Yeah, of course it's, you know, and I think in our context here on the show too, it's something that I just so encourage people to find different ways to step into the wholeness of our experience as an integral part of what's happening here, not just on the planet but even, you know, in the cosmic field as well, but being part of nature and it just it's one of the things that helps me tap in and tune into that, because without that, for me, without that constant reminder or that expression you know, like you were talking about earlier in your practice of Zen, it's like we've got to clear this clutter out constantly, and engaging with the natural world and her medicine and whatever way that is, I think, is such a beautiful tool to journey back to sobriety and just to reclaim the essence of who you are.

Speaker 2: 32:25

So, yeah, I feel that very strongly. There's a big part of the practice has to do with kind of letting go of whatever limitations I think exist so that I can just be true to myself and, yeah, this was part of that. I still feel very connected to the plants, to the practice of teaching about them and, yeah, no hesitation there still.

Speaker 1: 32:55

Yeah, and that's I mean that says a lot, something that'll continue to span the test of time. You know kind of like the practice of yoga, and I just wanted to ask you briefly because I have just such a love affair with yoga. I've been a practitioner for 24 years. I love thinking about the fact that I have been a yoga practitioner for longer than I was a drinker. There's just something about that that feels really special to me. Yeah, and can you talk to me about the evolutionary process, like yoga as a tool for evolution for the individual? How has that shown up for you?

Speaker 2: 33:37

Yoga as a tool for evolution.

Speaker 1: 33:40

Yeah, like supporting your growth and meeting you where you're at.

Speaker 2: 33:44

Yeah yeah, I'm just thinking. Yeah, it's funny. There are certain periods of time where I get to record almost every day a class in the morning for GLO, because I'm going to be away for periods of time study and practicing, and the periods of time when I get to practice yoga every single morning, you know, with great intention, I've already written out the class, I put on the mic, I, you know, set up the tripod and I really go for it full throttle. Whether it's a Yin practice, a Hatha practice or a Vinyasa practice, no matter what level, I'm really there and I'm really in my body and I feel so thankful for the practice. I don't know if I would be doing it as intentionally, as strongly as I would be, without needing to record things. But wow, when I have these weak strings of days three, four, five days in a row, my body feels incredible and my mind feels relaxed and I think that's where we're all moving toward, because when we die, as I've learned in hospital care, the more relaxed the mind, the easier the death. I hope that answers your question.

Speaker 1: 35:16

Yeah, that's a great answer and I'm sure the more relaxed the mind, the easier the life to. Right, right, yeah, and I can imagine that the practice like different than being, because, you know, when I go to a yoga class, I'm, I'm full in, you know, I really show up with that intention of being full in and then, like you're saying, I don't know if I, on my own, if I practice, would practice as kind of in it as I do in class, but then practicing on your own, kind of, you know, but for the intention of other people, on your own, but with that same intention of full presence, has to be kind of this mix of has to be a really special experience Because it's your practice, yeah, it's your practice, but your, but, yeah, you're really stepping into it. So I wanted to transition a little bit into business and work and your offerings, but I did want to ask you a couple questions and these are kind of personal for me and I know that some of our audience will definitely relate to this. Just because we're in the world of, you know, media and and just being over, over in a world of over stimulation, frankly and I know that you are, you know, I would consider you a social influencer. I don't know if you consider yourself that, but definitely not. Thank you, I don't know if I even should thank you for that. You know in this public sphere, you know on social media and an entrepreneur in the world where you know lots of you are exposed, exposing yourself to lots of people, how do you practice the art of attention? And in a world where attention is this currency, how do you show up in those spaces?

Speaker 2: 37:18

Thank you for that. I, you know I don't think it's any. There's no separate. You know I'm being attentive here and not going to be attentive here. I feel like what's really important now is how do I practice that everywhere, without prejudice? You know, yes, and it looks like just listen, just really good listening, Really careful, kind listening.

Speaker 1: 37:55

Yes, the best I can do. I love that answer. Yeah, thank you for that. Yeah, and when we listen, we have to pause, we have to slow down. For me, I have to kind of open my eyes a little bit wider or even shift my gaze inward. I'm curious if you are interested in sharing this. How, what is your process for making decisions about the personal projects that you engage in I know you just released a new program, like this week and the brands that you collaborate with. What does that look like for you?

Speaker 2: 38:39

It's pretty easy. It's just my intuition, you know. I don't. I don't. I trust myself and when I am using a product that I love, I will share it. If, as often happens, people send me stuff that I don't resonate with and I just don't share it, and that's okay. It's just like that easy. You know, has to has to be something I'm going to use or I can't share it in good faith, you know yeah yeah, absolutely, and I really feel that with you.

Speaker 1: 39:11

I mean that definitely comes through and with all of the things that you share. And how do you know when it's time to create a new offering? Is it? Is it just a creative spark that comes inside of you, inspiration, or you?

Speaker 2: 39:26

know, I don't know. I really. I think what I know is I create what I need myself. Yes, so I need to simplify and I created a course where I would be forced to go through it and see if it really works, and it was what I needed. I needed more structure, I needed more fluency, I needed more bravery, I needed a little more creativity and, because of simplify, the creation of the course. You would think, oh, she's probably so busy, but in fact, it was actually what caused me to go back to painting after I had lost track of it as a mom, mm, hmm, I mean, I can simplify like a whole course that I created with the help of a really, really dear weekend of time with my collaborator and her husband, who's a great I don't know how to describe it. He's formerly in marketing and in branding and he helped us kind of get very clear on what it was that would be most helpful for the most people. And simplify has served many hundreds of folks and continues to do so, and anytime anyone takes it once, they can come back for the reprise when I do it at the end of each year and just enjoy it with us together. It's so sweet.

Speaker 1: 40:52

Yeah, that sounds like such a beautiful offering. So with that and I feel similar to it's like we. You know, what we need the most is what it's what I'm always talking about. I'm always sharing, you know, the exact practices that I'm going through and the inquiries that are showing up for me, because it's what's aligning the most. And, yeah, Tell us about your work, tell us about your offerings. Where do we want to? Where do you want our audience to come? Connect with you?

Speaker 2: 41:27

Thank you. My website, Alayna Browercom, is really good. Lately I've been really enjoying writing my sub-stack blog and sort of taking other things off my plate. That it was time to just take them off and writing feels very true and natural to me right now. So that is happening and that is probably one of my greatest pleasures. Life is writing for that blog. It's called Softening Time and it's on sub-stack and it's giving me great joy. I'm sort of chronicling this time in my life as I, as my kid leaves the nest and I in some ways also leave the nest and go and studies and dive into that. So I just dive into my sort of volunteer service work and just feels really good.

Speaker 1: 42:28

I love the idea of you leaving the nest too. That's very sweet. Yes, tell us about the mentorship.

Speaker 2: 42:40

Also thank you for asking. So this is a simplify happened several years in a row and I love it greatly and it ceases to a me. It doesn't cease to amaze me how much people love it and love going through it again Get. People have gone through it four times, three times. The mentorship was a way for me to, first of all, support myself and, second of all, do it in a way that felt natural and helpful to other people. By it's kind of like an elongation of the crux of simplify over the course of a year. What we do there just lights me up so much. We have a live gathering every month for which I spend anywhere between five and 10 hours amassing information and inspiration for our guidebook for that month's gathering. We go through the gathering. We have such great topics, great talks, wonderful guests and it's like this hour long extended juicy podcast on video. You know I love it so much. And then, over the course of each month, I also create content with various geniuses and luminaries. We've guest expert sessions, foundations, energetics all kinds of content in the portal that people are invited to address at their own leisure, and it's a wonderful group. It sort of waivers between about 300 and 600 people at any given time and the core folks who have been there for the last three years are just so solid, such good people and really care about their own continued evolution, and it moves me. Taking care of them is a great joy.

Speaker 1: 44:48

Yeah, it sounds like a beautiful container, especially for to have that integration period and to be really, you know, focused, like to have the specific focus and guidance throughout each month. And, yeah, I found, you know, as many tools as you can have in your tool bag. There is something about an intentional time to especially to show up with other people who are doing and have an interest in the same work and development. That, for me personally, really, really anchors me and keeps ritual, keeps, you have, my personal evolution at the forefront of the to do list, right, or the you know the endless other things that I could focus my attention on. So, yeah, what a beautiful offering and we'll make sure everyone knows about how to engage with that and find out more. So, elena, would you be interested in reading something to us?

Speaker 2: 45:48

before we get off the call. Oh, I would love that, actually. So I'm sitting in front of my desk right now. I have piles of books all around. I don't have my own book, so I'm going to read something that I have opened for myself. Perfect, just think about what it should be. Yeah, I think it's this. I just ordered a book called True Peace Work Essential Writings on Engaged Buddhism, and there are essays in here from Thich Nhat Hanh, the Dalai Lama, bill Hoax, joanna Macy, bill McKibbin, many others, and I'm going to open up to a page, any page, and okay, here we go. True peace is always possible, yet it requires strength and practice, particularly in times of great difficulty. To some, peace and nonviolence are synonymous with passivity and weakness. In truth, practicing peace and nonviolence is far from passive. To practice peace, to make peace alive in us, is to actively cultivate understanding, loving, love and compassion, even in the face of misperception and conflict. Practicing peace, especially in times of war, requires courage, and this is from Thich Nhat Hanh, one of my teacher's teachers, and this book is a real treasure chest. Again, it's called True Peace Work and it's from Parallax Press that was perfect.

Speaker 1: 47:42

Thank you, yeah, yeah, what a perfect way to end this conversation. Practicing peace is far from passive.

Speaker 2: 47:50

Yes, such lovely questions, mary. Thank you for being so thoughtful and so present with me.

Speaker 1: 47:58

Oh, it was such an honor to share this time and we are on a heading off for ourselves on a big adventure in the Southwest is someplace we're going to be stopping, so maybe I will run across to you on the street or on a hiking trail, but, yes, I just congratulations on all of your growth and just thank you so much for shining your light and your wisdom through your personal practice and shedding it and sharing it with all of us. So, Alayna Brower, thank you so much for being here.

Speaker 2: 48:34

You're welcome. Thank you so much for doing your work.

Speaker 1: 48:37

Thank you so much for being a part of our circle here on the podcast, and if you are really resonating with this work and it's starting to open up and shift new perspectives and possibilities for you, I want to invite you to come on over to check out the Stop Drinking, start Living Portal of Empowerment. It is where we take all of the concepts from the show and not quit alcohol, but commit to a new lifestyle and learning a new way, so that you can develop a new self-concept that goes beyond alcohol, so that you can create a life that does not need alteration. We take a deeper look at the concepts here and then you actually start to apply them to your life, showing up confident and proud as an example of what's possible. Visit my website, marywagstaffcoachcom, and learn how you can become a lifetime member of the Portal of Empowerment today. I'll see you there.