For Twin Cities listeners, Dr. Smalley will be discussing the value of moderate amounts of dark chocolate and red wine at a special Well Within event in Lake Elmo on February 16, from 6:30-8:30pm:, Protect Your Heart with Wine and Chocolate

NOTE: Host Mary Treacy O’Keefe and Naomi Rhode will be featured presenters at an upcoming conference in Minnesota on January 20-21:, Fire of Hope: A Girlfriends Getaway for God

In Step Two, you need to know what your highest values are (health, family, fun, creativity, etc) and write them down. Align spending of your time, energy, money, and other resources with your values. In Step Three, share your spiritual and intellectual assets and tithe your time, talents and treasures. Look for opportunities for using your spiritual and intellectual gifts to help others and be happier and live longer. For controlling spending, it’s important to write down all purchases and track spending habits and use affirmations. For more information and a free report from Dr. Brown, please visit www.spirited-solutions.com.

In this week’s “meant to be” story, host Mary Treacy O’Keefe shares an anecdote about Well Within’s Circle of Life Coaching Circle which enables partipants to learn various self-care tools and techniques.

At the end of the interview host, Mary Treacy O’Keefe shares a ‘meant to be’ story about a sign from her deceased father that encouraged her to begin her own writing career.

For more information, please visit www.harriethodgson.com

We discuss various types of pain and why sometimes it remains after an injury or illness has healed. For example, sometimes pain is manifesting unresolved stress, possibly from childhood, or from traumatic events in adulthood. Certain personality traits (which affects how you respond to stress and how much pressure you tend to put upon yourself) and gender also affect pain levels. According to a self-diagnosis assessment developed by Dr. Schubiner, the first step of treating pain is understanding it, including how negative emotions (fear, anger, bitterness, etc.) are often barriers to recovering from pain. Believing that you can recover is another important aspect of the healing process, as are various integrative techniques including meditation, mindfulness and acupuncture. For more information, please visit www.unlearnyourpain.com.
NOTE: Dr. Schubiner will be giving a free presentation on Unlearn Your Chronic Pain on Wednesday, September 21, 7:00 to 8:30 p.m at The Marsh in Minnetonka, MN.

Join us for a lively discussion of how to embrace midlife as a self-assured Queen. Donna shares her own story of becoming a healer and ceremonialist, including ideas about turning the challenges of middle age into opportunities for growth and leadership. Through the use of reflection and ritual, women are encouraged to embrace the gifts and talents they are meant to share with the world.

At the end of the interview, host Mary Treacy O’Keefe discusses her own ‘meant to be’ midlife story of leaving a lucrative corporate career to become a hospice volunteer and founder of Well Within, a nonprofit holistic healing center. For more information about Donna Hennes, please visit www.donnahenes.net.

At the end of the show, host Mary Treacy O’Keefe, shares a “meant to be” story about how getting rid of clutter enabled her family to find a letter, written 45 years earlier, that comforted her family after her father died.

“I didn’t want to turn my mother into a case study,” says Dr. Nancy Rappaport of her book.  While her mother may or may not have been Bi-Polar, Nancy chooses instead to focus on her personal feelings toward her mother, and how her loss changed her life.  Currently 19 years older than her own mother was when she died, Dr. Rappaport examines her life with Mary Treacy O’Keefe: Has she surpassed her mother? What’s it like to share her mother’s looks as well as her name?

What are the signs to look for when someone is contemplating suicide? Are the treatments for clinical Depression and/or suicidal tendencies the same or different? How should someone you know, on the verge of suicide, be treated?  Learn the answers to all of these questions and many more!

At the end of the show, host Mary Treacy O’Keefe shares a “meant to be” story about a comforting “sign” that occured three times within the week after the suicide of her son’s best friend.

Additional helpful resources: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-TALK, www.save.org, and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

“Emotional Intelligence is our ability to recognize and to manage our own emotions and the emotions of others around us,” starts Deutschendorf.  Whether or not we can actually control the emotions of others is debatable; however, Deutschendorf claims that, with practice, we can certainly influence the emotions of those around us in our favor.

If you were to die today, would you be able to die knowing you’ve accomplished everything that you wanted to?  Are you happy with the way you’re living your life?  Fifteen years ago, Harvey Deutschendorf asked himself these very questions and found that his answer was “no.”  But then he discovered Emotional Intelligence and his life took a turn.  Listen in as Deutschendorf and O’Keefe discuss how you can apply these same principles to your own life to be able to live the life YOU want.

Is Emotional Intelligence something we’re all born with?  Something we have to develop?  Something we learn?  And why do some people seem to have more of it than others?  “The first step is the recognition that there are certain areas we need help in,” says Deutschendorf, on how to become more attune with one’s EI. “We can’t just read about it, we have to actually do things.”

For more on the secret to unlocking your inner control of your emotions, tune in now!

Throughout the episode, Drs. Okun and Nowinski encourage individuals and families to cope with terminal illness in collaboration with the patient. They present a 5-stage model of grief that reflects the contemporary realities of extended death and dying. We’ll discuss in depth each of the five stages: Crisis, Unity, Upheaval, Resolution and Renewal. This show provides invaluable information, not only to families living with a terminal illness, but it encourages all of us to prepare for the inevitability of the end of our lives. When we do this, we can focus on living fully for however much time we have to live.   Are you ready to grieve in a whole new way?

At the end of the show, host Mary Treacy O’Keefe, shares a “meant to be” story (from her book, Thin Places: Where Faith is Affirmed and Hope Dwells) that demonstrates how her own family successfully navigated some of the issues that emerged during the final days of her father’s life.  Keep the Kleenex box handy: This is one heart-felt episode you’re not going to want to miss!

As one of the leading experts on wound healing and one of America’s Top Doctors in the early ’90s, Dr. Knighton established wound healing clinics early in his medical career.  Knighton was subsequently one of a small group of experts from the Wound Healing Society to create medical definitions of wounding and healing that today are used throughout the world.  In his new book, he explores how the physical nature of wounds–and the healing process involved–can be transposed to healing emotional and even spiritual wounds.

Dr. Knighton discusses the roles of forgiveness, EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) massage therapy, and vitamins in enhancing healing.  “Emotional wounds are very humbling.  So are physical wounds.  But especially emotional wounds [because] they force the process of growth,” says Knighton.

He also shares information about a third type (in addition to embryonic and adult stem cells) of stem cell, called “wound-derived stem cells.”  These stem cells were first discovered in late 2009 in his research lab and may speed up the healing process in the future.

And stay tuned to the very end to hear host Mary Treacy O’Keefe share a “Meant to Be” healing story about how her own recovery from Breast Cancer surgery eventually motivated her to open Well Within, a nonprofit holistic wellness center in Woodbury, Minnesota!

KC Craichy starts off the interview by explaining his motivation for writing his most recent book–going into detail about his own obesity as a young adult and his wife’s former health issues.  Is the Super Health Diet truly “the last diet you will ever need?”  KC says “yes!” and is here to explain why.

“Hydration is a huge issue,” says KC.  What’s the best way to get hydrated?  If you said “Water” then you’re on the right track!  But what kind of water should you drink? What’s the best filtration system? Of the bottled water brands, which is the best?  And what about herbal tea?  Wouldn’t you like to know before putting any old thing into your body?

Is the Fountain of Youth real?  According to KC, in a sense, it can be: Through diet.  He goes on to explain that if one focuses on nutrients rather than calories, they’ll not only feel better, but they’ll look better too!  Are you ready to look younger?

KC Craichy also discusses Sarcopenia (which can result from not getting enough protein), the benefits and drawbacks of fasting, and why we shouldn’t snack between meals.

Are you tired of being overweight, unhealthy, and unhappy?  Then maybe it’s time you listened in on this informative episode!

Many falsely assume that sex trafficking is only in “other” countries, but it’s right here in the United States.  Host Mary Treacy O’Keefe and Rachel Lloyd discuss the annual statistics of girls being lured into prostitution in the US (most of them between the ages of 12 and 14!).  How do these young girls become involved in this lifestyle?  Does this lifestyle stem from a background of trauma and abuse?

“I thought I was an adult. I was 13 and I thought I could handle everything…” says Rachel of her troubled childhood.  Rachel’s emotional vulnerability eventually lead her to a life of domestic trafficking.  Rachel then goes on to explain the stigma behind prostitution and why changing the language–the semantics of the term–can help people get past their assumptions and misconceptions on the issue of sexual exploitation.

“Girls have been trained by society, period, but often times by their pimps, not to trust other girls,” says Rachel Lloyd.  “Girls come in like ‘I don’t want to be in a program with all girls.’”  But, in the end, GEMS becomes their family.

This is an episode that will inspire you like no other Hope, Healing, and WellBeing ever has before.  Don’t miss out!

Kessler starts off the interview by sharing what made him decide to write his new book.  He goes on to share how the death of his mother (he was 12 at the time) affected not only his entire life, but his entire life’s work.  “I came away from that somewhat scarred,” admits Kessler. “I’m really a product of that day [my mother died].”

On the subject of his new book, Kessler explains the meaning behind the title: Visions, Trips, and Crowded Rooms: Who and What you See Before You Die.  He also explains the format of the book and the type of research that went into creating it.  Not only does Kessler’s latest book include interviews with doctors, patients, priests, and rabbis on the subject of “what happens immediately before death,” but he’s also included a look at death “visions” from a historical and literature perspective… and a legal perspective?  Kessler explains how the “Law of Hearsay” can be bent for someone’s “dying words.”

Kessler shares his personal experiences of being with people when they’re dying and shares his advice on how to remain calm and completely at ease when faced with the death of a loved one.  Kessler says, when comforting someone on their death bed, he tries to bring about the feeling of “We may see each other again and this might not be the end” and encourages others in similar situations to do the same.  O’Keefe agrees, having touched upon this subject in her own book, Thin Places.  And what advice did Mother Teresa give Kessler on the subject before her own death?

Listen in to what you can learn from the dying.  Find out what might happen when you die.  And learn how it all ties into living a life of hope, healing, and well-being.

Dr. Dike refers to “midlife” as “[age] twenty-five to dead.”  There’s a vast amount of time in which the so-called “midlife crisis” can occur.  And what of the typical midlife crisis cliches?  The husband who gets the red hot convertible and the new younger girlfriend?  Do any of the common conceptions hold up in the real world or are they myths created by Hollywood?  What does a real midlife crisis look like?

Looking back at the original definition of “crisis” (a decision), Dr. Dike explains that the midlife crisis that’s experienced by so many is actual a “moment of awakening”–a moment in their lives where they must make an important decision.  A turning point.  Dr. Dike also talks about the three biggest mistakes that people going through this turning point make.

Divorce, children growing up and moving out, retirement…  Any number of things can trigger a midlife crisis.  “I’m here to take the struggle and the drama out of a midlife crisis,” says Dr. Dike.  Whether you’re “frozen” and even though you could make a change for the better in your life, you don’t; or if you’re taking the opposite destructive path and “burning [your life] to the ground;” Dr. Dike has advice for YOU.

Remember, “midlife” isn’t the end of your life.  It’s not too late to achieve your dreams and have a better, more fulling life.

The fear of being a burden to their loved ones runs strong in many elderly parents.  “Sometimes they start to hide or deny that they need help or find it tremendously difficult to ask for assistance,” says Fan, addressing this troubling issue, adding, “It’s really our job to find out what is going on in their hearts.”  Fan then details the 9 Questions Everyone Should Ask Their Elderly Parents before it’s “too late.”

Learn “why caring for aging parents on your own is dangerous to your health and what to do about it.”  Learn how to address your parents’ living situation.  How to find a good nursing facility.   Learn how to put together a plan over time.  And how to handle the situation if you live far away from your parents.  Fan encourages early–and frequent!–communication with elderly parents and dishes out practical tips and advice for adult children in all stages of the “Should I or Shouldn’t I?” parents-into-a-nursing-home dilemma.

Fan also discusses the resentment many senior parents feel about “role reversal” (they were telling you what to do your whole life and now you’re telling them what to do!) as well as the difficulties that come with raising children of her own while attempting to be a caregiver to her parents.

O’Keefe also brings up the “Magic Bullet” mentality that many caregivers have when it comes to seniors and food.  “We [think we] can give them a can of Ensure or whatever [and they'll be fine],” says O’Keefe.  Fan displays her skills as a dietician and tells why a “food first” mentality is important when making seniors as comfortable–and healthy!–as possible.

From food to family to living arrangements, April Fan has the answers.  Tune in!

Nordstrand discusses the ongoing battle with his “enemy,” an addiction to sugar and compulsive overeating, for which he has been in recovery for over 30 years.  “With drugs or gambling–abstinence–you can just stop!…With food addiction, you can’t just stop,” points out O’Keefe of the dilemma many overeaters struggle with daily.  “Everything wonderful in my life today…is related to my recovering from my addictions,” says Nordstrand, pointing to sugar as the number one most detrimental addiction he had to overcome.  “[Sugar addiction] needs to be looked at as a disease,” says Nordstrand.

“Whether it’s carbohydrates which turn to sugar in our bodies, alcohol which turns to sugar in our bodies, or whether it’s sugar, it affects the way people feel and it definiately changed the way I felt,” says Nordstrand.  He and O’Keefe talk about the effects of sugar on the body and how a sugar addiction can contribute to an addiction to alcohol.

“There was just half of me that felt insecure and just not normal,” says Nordstrand, explaining his initial attraction to sugar and other harmful substances.  “I would take it to the edge and say ‘this isn’t working for me’ and then switch to something else,” he says.  Moving from one substance to the next, living a life riddled with addiction, Nordstrand was eventually left with only one substance to abuse that really “worked” for him: Food.

Throughout the interview, Burt Nordstrand details his secret life of shame: A successful businessman to the public and an addict spiraling into the depths of despair in his private life.  Tune in to listen to his struggles, triumphs, and how he learned to pick himself up by his bootstraps and get on with his life–addiction free!

The power of touch is not only beneficial for your infant’s body, but their mind as well:  “The cells of the skin are the same cells that are in your brain so, as you’re stroking the skin, it’s like you’re stroking the brain,” says Dr. Elaine.  Touching is important for your baby’s brain-growth development, their neurological development, their circulation, their hormones, and–as a terrific bonus!–it also relaxes them (and you!).

Dr. Elaine details her experiences helping clients solve their baby troubles through Touch Time massage.  In particular, she discusses a very intense case involving a fussy infant who was driving her parents right up the wall.  With the help of Dr. Elaine’s techniques, the baby girl went to sleep easily for the first time in five months.  Miracle cure?  Perhaps.  Can YOU do it?  Absolutely!

Are you tired of not sleeping through the night?  Are you exasperated beyond belief with the sound of your baby’s crying?  The power of touch can help!  But what are the other benefits of baby massage for you?  “What is going on with the adult is that relaxation occurs and their blood pressure lowers,” explains Dr. Elaine. “The benefits include the adult body as well as the child’s!”

Baby massage isn’t just for parents!  Grandparents, siblings, friends, and other caregivers can reap and share the benefits as well.  Dr. Elaine’s patented methods work well for anyone.  Give the gift of touch today!

Did you know that the philosophies of mindfulness practices can be applied to parenting?  Feigal talks about applying these practices to your parenting techniques–especially when it comes to raising an “intense child.”  Whether your child has ADD, ADHD, autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Attachment Disorder or is simply just too gifted to focus on the mundane things the rest of us consider “normal,” you’re going to want to tune in to this episode.

Are you having trouble engaging your child?  Does your child know just how to press your buttons?  O’Keefe and Feigal discuss what’s going on in your child’s mind–the synapses that fire inside their brain and make them tick–and what you can do to get on board their train of thought.

Feigal also explains the differences between positive and negative reinforcement.  Which is better for your child?  Reward?  Punishment?  A happy medium?  But how to you achieve that “happy medium?”

Are you yelling way too much?  Are you constantly repeating requests to your child, only to be ignored?  You’ve struggled with child problems long enough!  Tina Feigal shares some of her best tips from her new book and helps to get you, and your child, back on track.  Don’t let your “intense child” get in the way of your positive parenting.  You can do it!  And O’Keefe and Feigal are here to help you do it.  Let’s get parenting!

Rabbi Kushner talks about his books and the messages that lie within their pages.  He also reveals a bit about his writing process and talks about an important choice he had to make when his first book tour coincided with 9/11: To go or not to go.  “I said, ‘No, I want to keep on doing what I do.  I want to get on that plane and go around and talk about this message and give people hope and I’m not going to let the terrorists scare me out of doing what I like to do!’”

“Death is the end of life like the period is the end of a sentence–it doesn’t rob the sentence of meaning, it defines what the meaning of the sentence was,” says Rabbi Kushner.  O’Keefe and Kushner hit all the major topics in this interview: Life, Death, God, Success, and everything in-between.

Learn the difference between why bad things happen to good people and when good things happen to good people.  Learn how to respond and cope when bad things happen to you or someone you love.  Kushner discusses dealing with grief, hope, and struggling with his own religious beliefs when faced with a pain that not only changed his life but defined his character.

How will you be remembered when your time comes to “move on?”  Are you ready to step up and make a difference?  Are you ready to live a life of meaning?

Due to the recent visits from the Dalai Lama around the world, there has been a renewed interest in Buddhism.  Why?  What is it?  And why is it so appealing to today’s society as a spiritual endeavor?  “Buddhism is attractive because it doesn’t seem to come with all the trappings of a traditionalist religion.  So, for people who have had a negative experience with religion in their childhood, Buddhism seems to offer a way to get the fruits without the toxic fruit,” Jennings explains.  “It appeals to Westerners because it seems so grounded in logic…it’s less about blind Faith.”

Jennings examines the differences between traditional Tibetan Buddhism and the more Western idea of “Agnostic Buddhism” practices.  Jennings also addresses the controversy of Buddhism as a religion that does not include a monotheistic god as a part of their devotion.

Is there a connection between the relationship one has with their therapist to the one they have with their Buddhist spiritual teacher?  Jennings says, “In both relationships–if they’re healthy, functional relationships–there’s a deep sense of trust that ‘I can bring all my humanness and all that entails to this person and have it be safely received.’  And in the clinical space, that can feel deeply spiritual.”  The connection between the two deepens every day.  O’Keefe and Jennings talk about how mindfulness practices are integrating themselves into traditional clinical therapy.

Learn how Buddhist practices, mindfulness, and psychotherapy can help you overcome low self-esteem, depression, and live an overall better life!  Tune in!

A medical intuitive known for her innovative approach to self-help, Carol Ritberger talks about developing her intuition on an emotional and physical level to connect with someone in a way, “from a medical standpoint,” that she can connect with their physical body and recognize patterns of thinking, emotion, and energy that can tell her the well-being of the body itself.  “A medical intuitive is a puzzle master,” Ritberger explains of her craft. “It’s a very specific use of intuition for the process of giving a holistic perspective.”

After being declared “medically dead” for just over three minutes in 1981, Ritberger came back to life with the gift of medical intuition.  A left-brained analytical researcher by nature, Ritberger was surprised to be suddenly blessed with the Sight to see the auras of others.  She now uses this gift as a tool to help others find their path to healing.

“Change your thoughts, you change your body, you change your reality… It’s true!”  Whether you well up with anger or have a constantly looming sadness in the back of your mind, you too can use your emotions as a barometer for your physical health.  Learn where your emotions are held, physically, within the confines of your body–and how to release those emotions to cure the physical pains that accompany them.

What’s does Hippocrates have to do with spiritual being?  What’s the difference between a soul and a spirit?  What is the largest living organ in the human body?  What is Energy?  Tune in to find out the answers to all of these questions and more!

Gratitude is one of the emotions included in “Positive Psychology.”  But what is Positive Psychology?  Mary and Patty discuss positive emotions and how it can help you feel better, help to manage your problems, and think more clearly.

Even when you’re alone, you may have moments of clarity where you find yourself feeling “so connected to everyone and everything” and, even though this isn’t one of its more recognizable forms: You’re experiencing gratitude.  Thankfulness has many beautiful and varied forms.  Dr. Patty Hlava discusses the different forms of gratitude (from its more common forms to its complex “spiritual experience” connections), in particular how gratefulness can change and better relationships.

In this interview, Dr. Patty Hlava not only talks about this complex emotion–sharing poignant stories from her own life as well as those of people she’s worked with for her research–but defines it as well.

Gratitude is a “compound emotion” and can benefit your life in many ways: More energy, better responses, less physical pain, better sleep habits, and an overall better felling of well-being.  Learning how to harness this positive energy can increase your happiness by 25% or more!  Feeling grateful “is one of the things that can literally change people’s lives!”

Most importantly, when you practice good will in your relationships, you come into it with more love, more passion, and more understanding.  Dr. Patty Hlava teaches how to use that feeling of thankfulness to get rid of the hostility and resentment in your intimate relationships.

What are you most thankful for?  What are you least thankful for?  What is gratitude anyway?  And how can it benefit you?  If you’ve ever wondered, this is the podcast for you!