One of the best things about hosting a podcast is having the opportunity to talk to amazing and inspiring people from different walks of life. Since January, on my podcast called Living and Loving Each Day, I have had the privilege of interviewing some influential and insightful experts on topics such as mental health, spirituality, personal development, and many who provide an important service to help others. In this blog post, I want to share with you some of the key lessons I have learned from my podcast guests on how to practice mindfulness and self-love in my daily life.

The first lesson I learned was something that keeps coming up for me again and again because we all have negative emotional thoughts that keep coming up.   There is a technique I learned from Dr. Tara Brach, a psychologist and meditation who teaches how to use a technique called RAIN (Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Nurture) to deal with difficult emotions and thoughts. She explained that instead of resisting or avoiding what we feel or think, we can recognize it with kindness, allow it to be there without judgment, investigate it with curiosity, and nurture it with compassion. I like to say that we honour those feelings and ask what they are there to teach us so that we can transform our pain into wisdom and healing.

The second lesson I learned long ago was from Brené Brown, a researcher and author, and I hear her words echoed from many of my guests about being vulnerable.   She teaches how to embrace vulnerability and authenticity as sources of strength and connection. She said that being vulnerable means showing up as our true selves, even when we are afraid of being rejected or criticized. She said that being authentic means living according to our values and beliefs, even when they are different from others’. She said that by doing this, we can cultivate courage and belonging in ourselves and others. I have found that when some of my guests share their story, they share how they embraced their vulnerability, and it helped them to move forward and to see their passions fulfilled.

The third lesson I learned is another one that I am reminded of often when interviewing my guests.  When I became a Certified Happy for No Reason trainer and coach, Marcie Schimoff who wrote the book with the same name, taught me how to find joy and happiness and creativity in every aspect of my life.  Each of my guests inspire me when they share how passionate they are about the work that they do and the service they provide to so many.  I have learned that feeling joy or happiness is not something that happens to us, but something that we create for ourselves. We are our own creators and creativity is not something that we have or don’t have, but something that we express or don’t express.  I am reminded as I speak with each of my guests that by choosing joy, happiness, and creativity over fear and boredom, we can live a more fulfilling and adventurous life.

These are just some of the many lessons I have learned from my podcast guests since January. They have taught me how to practice mindfulness and self-love in my daily life by being more self-aware, compassionate, vulnerable, authentic, joyful, and creative. They have also inspired me to share these lessons with you through this blog post and through my podcast episodes. I hope that by listening to their stories and insights, you can also learn how to look inside yourself and find what you are looking for: validation, love, acceptance, and more. Thank you for reading and listening. If you want to learn more from these amazing experts, please check out their books, websites, and courses. And don’t forget to subscribe to my podcast for more inspiring conversations every week.