Voices from around the Circle: As a heart share for you all, I sat down with Rena, a hospice volunteer, death doula, and regular participant of our death cafes.  She discusses her Jewish heritage and spiritual traditions, her work as a hospice volunteer, and how she prays. Rena’s an incredibly grounding presence at our cafes - a compassionate wisdom-keeper, her words are gifts to our community, and I wanted to share her insights with you.  I hope you all enjoy her words as much as I do. 

 

These Voices from around the Circle podcasts are not about me: I minimize my questioning and interjection - this podcast series is meant to center voices other than mine – I have a blog, I have a platform, I am in my head all day and honestly crave other narratives and experiences for my own growth, perspective, and integration.  In this way, as well as many others, community can be our medicine.  I also believe that everyone has wisdoms worthy of greater reach and stories that will bring you to your knees.  In our social-media-obsessed, celebrity-focused culture, it is easy to forget that we all can offer inspiration to one another, serve those in our reach, and that the real work and wisdom of life is not in generating Instagram likes, but in LIVING, SERVING, LOVING, REMEMBERING. #LifeIsNotASpectatorSport Rena, like many others on my podcast and many of you, is doing just that – serving others through her presence and being a catalyst for the sacred. 
 

Deepest of bows to you all, our community, and to Rena, for her time.  Please feel free to share this track or comment – where do you find the sacred? How do you pray? (spoiler – even atheists pray; prayer is not limited to theistic traditions).


Interested in joining us for a death café?  Watch my website at ignitewell-being.com or see the global project here to find days/times that work for you: https://deathcafe.com/
 

Be well, wilds

Ignite well-being: Voices from around the Circle_Rena

Hi lovely listeners and supporters, thanks for tuning in. It has been awhile. 

As a trained s*xuality counselor and educator, I’ve been facilitating spaces and conversations about s*x out of a recognition for how critically healing they can be on the individual and collective level. Here, I want a podcast that highlights empowerment and pleasure of community members, as a way of creating more accessible/approachable (short and non-celebrity) and affirming conversations and spaces. 

Pleasure and empowerment are self-constructs. You get to define what they mean to you, so as a listener, your experience and definitions will differ from our guest, which is perfect. Leaning into difference helps deconstruct supremacy culture and it’s related hierarchies of people.

In our first episode, I speak with a dear friend and community member, Janelle, about her experience. Please like/love this episode to appreciate her vulnerability.

Interested in working with me?, or attending a Pleasure Cafe?, see my EventBrite here: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/allison-mitch-41024584863 and Calendly here: https://calendly.com/ignitewellbeing-naperville

Thanks, loves, for doing the brave work of being, living, and loving. Deepest bow

S*xual Empowerment (#1)

Thank you, listeners, for tuning in to another conversation around sexual empowerment 🖤 I’m a trained sexuality counselor and educator so sex is often on my mind and is a focus of many conversations. 

But why are these conversations important for everyone? Because our culture views sexuality as taboo or when we discuss it, it is often out of lack, deviance, and limiting norms. Hearing others share their positive experiences gives us a new emphasis and a window in to what is normally private.

Note: This participant preferred to remain anonymous, so I will not tag them. But they did mention off recording how important my community offerings have been in their journey, including the circles and pleasure cafes. Thank you, love, for that endorsement.

This series is in continual development, and I can’t wait to grow it more. Want to talk to me?, find me on Calendly and we can work together https://calendly.com/ignitewellbeing-naperville or find related events here https://www.eventbrite.com/o/allison-mitch-41024584863

S*xual Empowerment (#2)

Thank you for joining me for a meditation.  We will delve through various layers of the self to find the parts of ourselves that give us meaning, that feel important, that are the That after layers are shed.  

Please set up your space so it is conducive to meditation - perhaps a candle, closed doors, pillows/bolster/blankets, and a journal and pen or pencil.  

We will explore several layers of self in this meditation, but please do consider others as well: your past, present, future, your ancestors, your relationship to earth, your thoughts, your emotions, your ability, your race, your age, your memories, your culture, your looks, your money, your friends, your partners......the only limit is meditation time and imagination. 

 And know that how tightly your cling to an identity or how easily you allow it to shed - that may change over time.  

I wish you new awareness about yourself on your journey to yourself.

Deep breaths, hands at your back.  Until next time. Namaste.

The wild self - what is that essence that is you?

CW: discussion of suicide

Thank you for tuning in, soundcloud listeners and broader community.

In this episode, I interview Dr. Jennifer Wright-Berryman, a social worker, suicidologist, and researcher looking into equality in death care for our pride community. 

We spoke over zoom, so my apologies for less ideal sound quality, but I GOT TO TALK TO A LEGEND so I will take it.

I hope you find this podcast informative and inspirational.  Please get your wishes in writing in a way that is legally supported in your state.  Be well, community!

Jennifer’s website: https://jenniferwrightberryman.com/

Email address (how to reach her to participate in her research): wrigh2jb@ucmail.uc.edu

Twitter: @jenlwberry

Link to one of her articles: https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/EHPNVKDYITYTN9NIIWWN/full?target=10.1080/07481187.2022.2143937

Resources mentioned in the podcast (not hyperlinked in SoundCloud; if you want the links, please email me or Jennifer)

The Order of the Good Death

Funeral Consumer Alliance

Resources not mentioned, but provided by Jennifer:

SAGE

Information about death and equitable deathcare (including having conversations about death)

Welcome to Death Cafe

Trans Death Care Advocacy and Resources - TalkDeath

Death Over Dinner

Information about funerals, memorials, and body disposition

GREEN BURIAL COUNCIL - Welcome

Soil Transformation, Body Composting | Earth Funeral

Unique Cremation Jewelry and Cremation Glass Art – Spirit Pieces

| CREMATION INK ® |

International End of Life Doula Association (inelda.org)

NATIONAL HOME FUNERAL ALLIANCE - Home

Services — Sara Murphy, PhD, CT (deathdoc.com)

Bio Urn, Tree Burial, Cremation Tree — The Living Urn

Information about end-of-life and death care planning

Cake: Create a Free End of Life Plan (joincake.com)

Home (chosenfamilylawcenter.org)

Who has the legal right to make decisions about your funeral? - Funeral Consumers Alliance (funerals.org)

Home Funeral Laws | Nolo

National Resource Center on LGBTQ+ Aging (lgbtagingcenter.org)

Welcome to the LGBTQIA+ Aging Project (fenwayhealth.org)

CenterLink | The Community of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) Centers (lgbtcenters.org)

Podcasts and Webseries

Death, et seq. | (deathetseq.com)

Deathcare Decoded on Apple Podcasts

The Death Studies Podcast

TalkDeath Webseries - TalkDeath

Death in the Afternoon (libsyn.com)

Inequality in death care with Dr. Jennifer Wright-Berryman

So very excited to share a professional recommendation with you all - Shannon, LMT, of Awaken Massages and Skin Care. In our podcast, she discusses her offerings and what makes her and her business unique.

Find more about Shannon and Awaken here:

https://www.awakenmassages.com

https://instagram.com/awakenmassages?igshid=ajgncxaffvqt

Shannon also mentions Dr. Jess Enderby, DC. Find more info about Dr. Jess here:

https://instagram.com/dr.jessenderby?igshid=wl6suc9bafnk

#SupportSmallBusiness #WomanOwnedBusiness #Massage #lmt #GiftOfWellness

Podcast: Fitness & Wellness Professionals - Shannon with Awaken Massage

Welcome back to our Fitness & Wellness Professionals podcast, in which I highlight local professionals worth considering for your fitness/wellness/prevention needs.

In this episode, I interview Mary Lou Savino, owner of Be Fit Physical Therapy & Pilates, in Downers Grove, IL. Her clinic offers one on one physical therapy with a Pilates specialty, as well as women’s health, dry needling, laser therapy, and even care for your four legged loved ones. 

(Disclaimer: I am a client of this clinic and have had great success with their manual care, something I can’t do to my own body, despite being a PT myself. I do recommend this clinic but do not benefit financially from doing so. I.e. There is no professional conflict with this recommendation)

Find Mary Lou and Be Fit Physical Therapy & Pilates on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/BeFitPTinDG/

Instagram:
https://instagram.com/befitphysicaltherapypilates?igshid=17stsm6axdg4s

And their website: https://befitpt.com

Please note that we recorded over zoom. My apologies for the audio catches. Thank you for listening.

Podcast: Fitness & Wellness Professionals - Be Fit Physical Therapy & Pilates

Podcast: Voices from around the Circle. In this episode, I’m sharing Genis Schmidt, who I met while co-facilitating a circle in Batavia, IL. Genis has a unique spiritual practice and outlook, combining Catholicism, dances of universal peace, nature, and community. Genis is hosting a winter solstice event on Monday 12/21. To learn more, find her on FB or email at wombofchange@gmail.com

Voices from around the Circle is a series I started to share the voices, experiences, and inspirations of the phenomenal people I know in my community (here, circle. Circle is a sacred symbol and you can read more here:  http://wildwomaninthesuburbs.com/the-importance-of-circle/). The podcast is meant to de-center me: I know my thought patterns and loops, I have a platform to share them, and, as a result, many of you know my inner workings too. Yet by getting quiet and really listening to one another, we can learn so much, become re-ignited to a fuller life, and create and care for community. “Attention is the beginning of devotion” (-Mary Oliver). We are all more similar than different but the only way to touch into that is by deeply listening.

Photo is of Genis’ altar

Voices from around the circle: Genis copy

Voices from around the circle: I had the nourishing pleasure of speaking with Caryn MacGrandle, creator of the divine feminine app (https://www.thedfapp.com/v2/dashboard and http://www.findawomenscircle.com ). We talk about her website & app, how it can be used to find circles, and why circles are important. I also ask her about Power, a topic of personal and collective significance - what does it look like and how can we use it differently. 

For more information on her app, please check out her websites, sign up for the newsletter, and consider supporting her app and the connecting work she is doing.

Picture is from a circle I facilitated and Caryn attended, by Jana Blue Photography.

Voices from around the circle: Caryn

I was honored to once again interview a beloved community member @momentsandlight (current interview here and past interview:  https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/9gMxfQLCmF1ocJRa9)

Her spiritual journey is one of integrity, family, community, resilience, and boundless love in the face of adversities (the spouse of someone struggling with addiction, parenting during Covid and a cross-country move), and I am grateful to be able to share her experience and wisdoms with our community.

Find her on Instagram here: @momentsandlight
And her blog: https://momentsandlight.me/ 

Our Voices from around the circle podcast is not entirely selfless for me. These interviews are part of my craft - they create community.  This series emphasizes lives lived in love and purpose and meaning, which is a different flavor and value from what is normally emphasized money, fame, and dominance. Documenting voices of those I hold dear and that inspire me is , in a way, my legacy project. (What is a legacy project? - join us at a death cafe to find out - see https://deathcafe.com and http://ignitewell-being.com )

Please note that I do not have fancy audio editing apps. Interviews are done over zoom, so my apologies for any imperfect sound quality. This interview was cut short but I’m so grateful for her time.

Picture is from pexels. Moments and I are both writers, so this picture made me think of her - writing and speaking in circle.

Voices from around the circle: Moments and Light (#2)

Holistic movement, spiritual, sexuality coach (CHEK Practitioner, PT( DPT), RYT500, reiki master, shamanic practitioner, ecologist, CSC, CSE) utilizing integrative wellness modalities for bodymindspirit on the personal and community level.

Find more information at www.ignitewell-being.com

Topics of professional interest that podcasts will include:

Permaculture
Systems of oppression and their impact on public health
Exercise and movement modalities
Body positivity and diversity acceptance particularly in the fitness industry
Wellness concepts stress, sleep, nutrition, mental health/trauma, spirituality, and how they can impact the physical body
Nature connection & natural therapy
Shamanic practice 
And the taboo:
Death positivity and end of life well-being 
Sexuality and sexual wellness

Ignite Well-Being