The Sassy Southern Yankee

In episode #60, Michele and I share how expanding your Network of Authenticity transmutes loneliness, fear and shame into connection, joy and well-being.

Your spirit, your feelings and your authentic contribution really do matter. Our world needs the most radiant and gorgeous aspect of your being to come forward and shine brighter. One thing that truly helps is having supportive and conscious relationships which nurture the best in each other to come forward. I hope you enjoy this video. Let me know what you think.

Show notes, images and URLs can be found at:

As we stand for our desire to create a #newnormal that truly reflects the beauty and radiance of our spirits, we acknowledge that art plays an integral part in this play. As Americans, this means even more to our hearts and souls. We have always been a spirited nation. It's time to make sure our spirits are honored, acknowledged, seen, appreciated and tended to - like a good garden. Please let us know how we can help you stand strong in the authenticity of your truth, of your spirit, of your full expression.

This episode is a gateway between the shock of Corona and Creating a new normal. It's about standing strong in our power as we step forward. We discussed archetypes and spirituality in this conversation so get ready for something new 🙂. Much love, Debbie and Michele

In this episode, Amy Gregory, an awesome elementary public school teacher who holds a PhD in Spanish linguistics, joins us for an authentic conversation about the beauty, power and importance of emotional literacy. At home and at school, emotional resilience is generated when children learn to honor their full spectrum of emotions. Emotional literacy gives us the freedom to connect with others and the power to walk with self-confidence. Every good parent wants their children to be happy. Emotional literacy gives us the capacity to increase our joy.

You can find our Courage to Connect curriculum at www.connectionsuperhero.com or https://joybasedliving.com/connectionsuperhero/

It’s Debbie Happy Cohen and Michele Stone here at Joy-Based Living with a special program for you. We would like to invite you to treat yourself to an inner bath of appreciation, personal presence, kindness and honor. Allow yourself the beauty of experiencing relaxation and aliveness at the same time. You deserve this quality time and attention. This is a great way to fill your cup. Much love.

Negotiating was the theme for episode 54.  Negotiating for Joy, negotiating a new normal and even negotiating a new podcast schedule!  

Today, Michele and I literally walk you through the process of negotiating for the things we truly wanted for ourselves, in order to contribute to the world.  This is a gem of a podcast and you’ll get a lot out of it. We hope that this conversation helps you to become a negotiator for JOY in your own life. You deserve it!

What do you do when you feel lost and are trying to hone in on your heart? Michele and I share our stories on how we learned to listen, become coachable, hold each other accountable while strategizing negotiating for joy.  We also share some funny stories about Doritos and lightening bugs… You’ll want to listen to this one!

In episode 52, Michele and I delve into the realm and comfort of the new normal. We discuss how being dedicated to co-authoring our podcast has helped us develop our Why's in the world. Which has also allowed us to connect more to holding space for others and what is emerging for them and the rest of the world. It's all so beautiful and we are so honored to share this time with you! Enjoy!

Michele and I did it again. Today’s episode was #51 and we talked about having Good Enough Love with ourselves and others. This podcast is a great one to listen to, especially if your having a rough day. Or week. Or moment. 

Negative feelings can arise due to difficult experiences but they can also be triggered by positive events. We'll share with you some of the things that help us turn our emotions around and get back on track. At the very least, you’ll be inspired listing some of your positive qualities, attributes and accomplishments.

Michele and I invited Kam Showers, a dear friend of mine to join us tonight on our podcast. Kam is a professional singer and blesses us with her rendition of “When you wish upon a star.” to which Michele and I both cried. You have to hear it to share in the experience. Enjoy!

Tonight’s podcast was number #50!!  While Michele and I wanted to jump and down with Joy for reaching the 50th episode, yet, we felt tender and wanted to revel in a space of presencing.  So… we did.   We shared two different types of meditations, one from fellow Joy Based Living member, Claudia Dose and Debbie also lead an embodiment meditation.   They were both so nice!  Talk about self-care.  Please listen and feed your soul.  Please note, if you are driving, you may not want to wait play this particular one.  Just saying!

Episode #49 was amazing! Michele and I talk about her stepping up into the limelight with her virtual art classes during this retreat. We tap into how the "Joy Cycle" has helped her and the others at Joy Based Living step up and out into the spotlight on social media and in real life. Listen in and see how you can recognize where you are in the cycle of Joy, Expression, Expansion or Safety!

How are you doing with managing your time, energy and attention these days?  In this episode, Michele and I explored how having important activities that are NOT urgent,  enriches our daily lives.  We also discussed the importance of having clear intentions as well as meaningful rituals that activate the senses.

Michele and I invited Kam Showers, a dear friend of mine to join us tonight on our podcast. Kam is a professional singer and blesses us with her rendition of "When you wish upon a star." to which Michele and I both cried. You have to hear it to share in the experience. Enjoy!

Do you need a gratitude adjustment? Michele and I examine that delightful question, as well as Leveling Up, how to Not Give a Hoot, soccer stories with Michele's son and so much more. Take a listen and let us know whatcha think.

Michele and I explored how raising children is quite like raising ourselves and learning how to trust, what to believe in and tapping into our creativity and intuition. Enjoy as we take an imaginary trip around the globe and listen to what the trees have to say as well.

Just prior to this podcast, Michele was in tears. Tears of JOY because of an overflowing amount of appreciation she was so lovingly given by a few different people from all around the world.

We hope this conversation inspires you, lifts you and moves you to celebrate the very best in you and to bring your best gifts to the world. Thank you for being with us on this journey. Cheers and blessings to all of us!!

In episode 43, Michele and I offer you a rare peek into how our tribe connects with each other. We talk about how to create and find your true, authentic community. We talk about what it means to be an authentic leader. We explore what it means to have a devotion that transcends emotion. And we also explore what it's like to continually choose joy while taking risks.

In this episode, Michele and I explore at some depth what it means to set your heart free, what it means to help others set their hearts free. And what it means to be Mama Wolf or Bear when necessary.

In this episode, Michele and I decided to change things up a bit. We met on Zoom, so you can see our video below. The process of being recorded was a little bit awkward. Awkward is an awkward word to say and to spell. Why did we do this? Because we had the joy of meeting with Joanne Reed who will be our podcast guest later this week, and her technology wasn't able to access our podcast app where we usually record our audios. So, this meeting and recording on Zoom was a test run which will be made available as a Podcast episode as well.

We hope you enjoy it. Let's take a moment to appreciate ourselves in all of our awkward humanness. It's part of growing and learning and stretching past our comfort zones!

In this meaningful conversation, Michele and I delve into some of the ways we keep our resiliency up, and some of the things we practice that we don't normally talk about because they don't normally come up in everyday conversation. We hope it brings you a sense of strength and greater sense of self-acceptance and self-love.

In this episode, Michele and I have so much fun. Seriously, just give it a listen and write a comment!

TOP 10: Our favorite 1st-world problems to fuss about during quarantine

10 Einstein can't jump on the bed!
9 Propane tank misplaced!
8 Hey! Where's my alkaline water?
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TOPICS

Laughter and Gratitude

In this episode, Michele and I delve into the topics of assumptions, boundaries and speaking up for yourself. We also engage the topic of domestic violence at different levels and talk about inclusive compassion as well as the difficulty of this topic. Then we dig deep and acknowledge our spirituality as well as our gratitude. We end with a prayer.

We wish you the very best in every moment of your life. Thank you for being with us on this journey.

Question for you: What options and opportunities do you have that you might not have seen before?

Michele and I thank you so much for your comments and input. You are helping to shape the course of our podcast and blog posts. Please keep them coming. Please stay healthy. Please take great care of yourself.

Cheers to your magic and your joy!

Topics

A prayer, Covid19

In Episode #34, Michele and I traverse the universe and all sorts of vibrational worlds. We talk about everything from connecting with like-minded souls to art and even climate change. This conversation can be compared to extremely rich and fertile soil. We hope it inspires and moves you and enlivens your imagination.

We hope you are doing well and that you are staying healthy and safe.

In this episode, #33, Michele and I discuss the superpowers of overgivers, as well as their kryptonite. Heads up - the thing I wanted to mention in the first couple of minutes - I forgot to mention until the very end.

This is a very rich and full and awesome conversation for anyone who is constantly exhausted or out-of-balance due to overgiving. Spinning your wheels, feeling like you can never catch up, feeling like you're never doing enough. We love you!

What boundaries need to be in place for you to stay in your integrity and make the most generous assumptions about other people?

• attribution - JBL, subculture of wellness, is an oasis
• honor, feed the COW (see below)
• routine vs novelty, having a healthy combination of both
• projects, communication that keep us in communication with positive people
• being more present in your body
• jet fuel in my cereal - more emotionally literate, conscious of what we bring to conversations, understanding
• being more patient with people who aren't in a personal growth mindset
• watching people spin their wheels
• accepting anger and impatience
• emotional color wheel
• Michele's elephant doodle, daily routine, 20 minutes of art in 2020

Today, Michele and I talked about prioritizing self-care and structuring self-care activities. As we meandered through our conversation, we discovered that ever since she's been practicing self-care, she's lowered her anxiety, she doesn't have insomnia anymore and she has increased her joy substantially! I'd say that's pretty darn good !!! We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did!

Today, Michele and I discuss the nuances of how her life is changing. From decluttering to decorating her new home office to trying a smoked grilled cheese sandwich made by her son who has become quite the culinary explorer. I'm hungry now! We also talk about different forms of psychology and different things you can do to help your child grow the kind of confidence that will be with them throughout their lives.