Most people living outside places like Tulsa, OK have a certain assumption about the visibility of queer people here…and not a flattering one. So it might surprise you to know that it’s teeming with artists in the queer community. And as someone who grew up here, my guest Chris Vanndy is leading the charge as a creative and community leader to make…

What do you think when you hear the word “guru”? For many people, nothing flattering comes to mind. Sanal Bhanu Rajan used to get hung up on the term, recognizing that people don’t like those who proclaim themselves as such. Regardless of the descriptive term anyone wants to use to describe what he does, he’s a spiritual teacher and thought leader …

Do you feel trapped in a cycle of anxiety, trepidation, and always feeling like you’re just waiting for the next shoe to drop? You’re inside an invisible spiritual prison--energetically stuck, burned out, and unfulfilled. After 20 years of working in an organizational psychology career, Gabrielle Pimstone found herself desperately unhappy in the jo…

If your two-years-ago self could see you now, how surprised would they be? I’ve come a long way in two years, and now I couldn’t imagine my life now back then. But the substance of my growth and evolution–the foundation, if you will–is faith, and how people tend to misuse or misunderstand it, either. In this episode of the Words of Love podcast, yo…

You won’t find the devastation of Black Wall Street in history textbooks. Most of the country didn’t know about it until a few years ago. Like the district itself, it was erased, and it’s only one example of such historical neglect. It’s why my guest Dr. Amy Aldridge Sanford was so adamant about including chapters on history and activism within her…

Last week, you heard about how my alter ego Nagasaki was about to go off on someone over the phone...until I decided to just hang up. This week, I’m letting you in on a session with my peer coach Jessica Matchett, that ties into a repeating theme I want all listeners of this podcast to embrace for themselves. In this episode of Words of Love, you’l…

This episode is quite a departure from what I'm used to delivering to you and what you're used to seeing from me. This episode, though, is so essential. It has stimulated so much growth for me because it was the necessary work that I needed to learn how to make space for all of my humanity. Sometimes, shit happens that threatens to bring your alter…

You can do much to greatly impact people with just a few hundred dollars...or a high school education. John Giordano has contributed profoundly to the wellness industry. He’s an addiction expert and specialist in holistic mental health and trauma recovery. He’s appeared on many TV and radio stations and written 80 scientific peer-reviewed research …

Tattoos used to be taboo (except among the bikers and rock stars). Back in the day, you wouldn’t dare show them in the professional workplace. But we’ve come quite a way since then. From neighbors to high society celebrities, we see people from all stripes of life with body art in the form of tiny tattoos, sleeves, and even the full body. My specia…

From mythology to Godzilla’s King Ghidorah to that funny meme online, the three-headed dragon is such a popular motif. Yet, those heads can also represent the shadows you need to fight to get out of the low points of your life. What if, for example, the three dragon heads represented divorce, death or a loved one, and depression? My guest Jeremy Mu…

Within all of us are spiritual and universal truths we recognize before we’re born. Some of us remember those truths while we’re still here in physical form. And while these journeys can share similarities, we also have unique attributes we bring to the table. Take Mark Weisman, for instance. He went from being a minister to a modern-day Shaman and…

Is there a disconnect between what you do and the results you want to get? Do you feel like you’re not making the difference you want in the world? My guest Dr. Joe Sherman has always enjoyed helping out and getting to know other people beyond superficial levels. They were the seeds that put him on the road to becoming a pediatrician. At some point…

Have you ever heard someone with such a powerful and inspiring story that you just had to know what happened next in their journey? Well, it's time to celebrate and welcome back Dr. Swati Kumari to be part of the conversation again. She is a Nepali-trained physician and fertility specialist who practiced in Nepal and is doing her OBGYN residency in…

Have you ever had (or do you currently have) a health issue you’ve tried to solve, but nothing seems to work? For years, Dr. Lynn Carey suffered from chronic pain and illness after having scoliosis surgery as a teenager. Nobody knew how to help her beyond the painkillers and antibiotics…until someone introduced her to something that helped her not …

You’re not just what you do to earn a paycheck. What you do to fulfill your passion, engage in your creative ability, and so much more helps make up the kaleidoscope of different colors and angles that is you. And ancient and modern tools are available to help you discover these different sides of yourself. My guest, Johnny Neang, who participated …

If you were to Google images of meditation right now, what would you see? Chances are you’ll see many people of color; for much of the world, the face of meditation is brown. During my recent 10-day Vipassana retreat, I met Alberto Chagolla and Fernando Santillan and bonded over meditation. We also bonded over our shared experience as people of col…

We all walk down that road of struggling with the self and accepting, embracing, and expressing who we really are. You’ve probably felt compelled to hide something about yourself that was considered “out of the norm” by your family, culture, religion, etc. But it’s still authentically you and always waiting to shine through. Many times on this show…

Feeling a bit trapped by your circumstances, even if you look like you’re living the dream? No matter, you can always choose to break out of your conditioning to discover who you really are. At 40 years old, Dr. Asha Rani looked like she was living her best life. She had the marriage, the kids, the degrees, and the successful dental career. What sh…

When you experience Vipassana, it affects various aspects of your identity. During my recent retreat, I discovered (to my surprise) that my sobriety story was one of them. There was a surface-level impact. But there was also another effect that required effort to receive the beautiful gift that awaits anyone who takes the journey. In this episode o…

Can you sit in silence for 10 days? Many people can’t fathom being quiet for more than a few minutes, much less that long. Six months ago, I couldn’t imagine doing it! But recently, I went on a silent retreat at the California Vipassana Center. For 10 days, I and 50 other men and women had a sacred experience that bore fruit for the mind, body, spi…

We all play a role in fulfilling the creation of something whole and wonderful. Whether you’re an instrumentalist in an orchestra or a member of a surgical team, not one single person can complete the task alone. In this episode of the Words of Love podcast, we’ll explore the parallel between the operating room and the orchestra hall and how the ro…

What is fear doing for you? What is it trying to teach you? How is it serving you? Fear has always been part of our human evolution. It’s what helped us survive the dangerous wild in our neanderthal days. But now we no longer (as a general rule) have to depend on it to prevent ourselves from being eaten due to wandering into the wrong cave. So inst…

Today, I offer you a challenge. In fact, it’s really more than a challenge; it’s the divine assignment you’ve been given. In this episode of the Words of Love podcast, you’ll learn what that divine assignment is and how music encapsulates it. I’ll also briefly discuss how k.d. lang took on the challenge in her special way long before other popular …

In the beginning, there was the word. And we depended on the word to be passed down to us through the ages of Moses, the printing press, and beyond to move us on our voyage through time and space. But no longer. In this episode of the Words of Love podcast, you’ll learn why the most powerful time for us humans to decide and express our simple gifts…

Too often, we suppress the child-like qualities within us. We’re told to leave childish things behind now that we’re adults. But we can always choose to champion some part of our inner child. Musicality has that special quality, and it’s also something we’re all born with that plays a role within us as we move through the world. In this episode of …

There comes a time when everything that came before culminates into an a-ha moment that transforms you. As I sat down to record this episode, I realized that I was resonating in a space that the previous version of me would have never thought possible. Today on the Words of Love podcast, you’ll hear about getting one step closer to full awareness a…

What if, one day, you suddenly couldn’t do basic things or recall a single thing about your life? At the age of 37, Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor had a hemorrhage in the left side of her brain that left her without the ability to walk, speak, read, write, or remember anything about herself. It took her eight years to recover. Now, she’s an author and advoc…

We consistently deal with illness and disease, whether we’re doing so as physicians or patients. But what really lies at the heart of what ails us? After spending so many years with cancer patients, I learned that the needs of the mind and spirit are just as important to me as the needs of the body. It brings us closer to Thomas Edison’s vision of …

We have the chance to do something more important and impactful than the Jeff Bezos or Elon Musks of the world. But will we take it or let the moment pass us by? In this episode of the Words of Love podcast, you’ll hear about the unique opportunity we have right now to do the most important work we’ll ever do. I’ll also talk about the contract I ma…

You’re more than likely guilty of concluding something about someone or something based on what you immediately see. At some point, most are guilty of judging a book by its cover instead of digging in further. For example, if you were to see my friend and colleague, Dr. Jim Smay, you’d immediately think, “middle-aged White man.” And while he is a n…

This world can be a difficult place to live in, and some people have felt it more acutely than others. We know of the history of African Americans in the U.S. during slavery and the Civil Rights era. We sometimes hear about massacres of people over culture, religion, and ethnicity in places like Sudan or Turkey. The current situation in Israel and …

Today has been a long time coming! I consider Tricia Brouk my mentor, coach, and friend. And after a year of working with her, she’s finally a special guest on my podcast. Who is Tricia? She’s an award-winning director, author, producer, and podcaster. With over 30 years of theatrical performance experience, she mentors speakers and has helped put …

Have you had to cope with grief with no friends or family nearby? Dr. Parul Dua Makkar has a powerful story of her own. She practices dentistry in Long Island but has global roots in India, the Middle East, and Canada. But these days, she spends much of her time sharing the story of her younger brother (and only sibling), Dr. Manu Dua. Her life too…

Mindfulness is the foundation of everything we do. But the road to developing that mindfulness can be quite traumatizing. Chris Salem spent 30 years battling inner demons that originally stemmed from his relationship with his father. But now, he’s a professional keynote speaker, podcaster, and trusted advisor who motivates people and tells them how…

In life, you meet people who just seem to have a profound impact on everyone around them. Thirty-something years ago, I met someone like that in South Carolina: Dr. Tisha Boston Dr. Boston grew up in the projects of South Carolina. Now, she’s a board-certified family medicine physician practicing in Columbia, SC who has spent her career educating y…

Happiness comes in many forms. Many of us have been told that the path to it is to graduate from school, get a job, get married, buy a house, have kids, etc. But what if you wanted to leap into something else--something that doesn’t look like the traditional 9-5, white picket fence existence? So many are afraid to follow their own path. Not my gues…

On some level, we’ve all feared being judged for who we are. It can be subtle in some cases and very apparent in others. Today, I’m joined by a new friend I met in Provincetown, Massachusetts. I went to JC Rea’s salon, and during my visit, she not only got me out of my shell, but we also connected over some profound truths in our conversation...esp…

Today’s show features another blast from my past! I spoke with Miss Beverly (a.k.a. Beverly Stroman), my elementary school teacher who still lives in Orangeburg County, South Carolina, where I grew up. In addition to being a teacher, she’s also been an assistant principal, principal, and district volunteer coordinator. Now happily retired, she devo…

Are you constantly under pressure at work and find that it affects your mindset and your life at home? As a professional, you deal with a certain work ethic culture that makes you feel like you must do certain things to succeed. And that can lead to mental health issues that have you just trying to make it through the day, every day. So, how do you…

As you acquire more educational degrees and higher levels of career achievement, you can gradually forget yourself. Having a mindfulness practice, however, can help you remember. Dr. Lois Ramondetta knows how easy it can be to lose your sense of identity in pursuit of academia and career ladder climbing. She’s a University of Texas professor, a tra…

More than likely, you have a tangible representation of certain moments in your life. Perhaps you have a keepsake from the best vacation you’ve ever had or a ring on your finger that reminds you of your wedding day. But a touchstone can (even unwittingly) serve as a reminder of more painful moments. You might even carry it around with you, literall…

Sometimes, you make an instant connection with someone who becomes a dear friend. And other times, you’re surprised at the connection with someone you didn’t even pay attention to initially. On the day Dr. Jewel Smay and I met, we barely acknowledged each other in the surgeon’s lounge. Since then, though, she’s become a colleague and a friend, and …

You’ve probably gotten a phone call from someone informing you that so-and-so has passed away. And all the while, you were unaware they were even sick! It happened to me recently. If you’ve listened to this show from the very beginning, you’re familiar with Grand #1, who has now transitioned on. But something about the way he lived his life provide…

What if you lost 25 pounds in 28 days? How would that change your life? That’s where Angelique Santana found herself in 2012 when she switched to a vegan diet halfway through her health coach certification. That experience, along with her passion for preparing and cooking raw vegan meals, put her on the path of transforming lives as a personal chef…

Have you ever wondered how people in rural areas of developing countries access emergency medical care? It isn’t as easy as calling for an ambulance to whisk you away to a hospital. My guest today, Dr. Bhuwan P. Ojha, is from Nepal and knows this firsthand (as both patient and practitioner). I met him a few months back and have learned things from …

It’s very easy to think that the world is dangerous. You turn on the news and, as the saying goes, “Whatever bleeds, leads.” There are very real dangers out there. But is most of what makes you afraid to move forward less about actual danger and more the fear of being vulnerable? In this episode of the Words of Love podcast, you’ll learn about what…

Some things are universal. For instance, you can learn lessons from one area (even a very technical one) that apply to other areas of your life (or life, in general). Let’s take the operating room. I recently led a young trainee through a surgical skill and believe some things you do as a surgeon can translate to everyday living, despite the very s…

Sometimes, a tragic event can cause you to contemplate your humanity (or even mortality) and bring on an inflection point in your life. That was the case for my guest today, Dr. Annika Sörensen. Dr. Annika is a medical doctor from Sweden who is also another member of the tribe. And she’s on the show to share her story and how the black hole she fou…

Certain phrases really encapsulate a point of view, life lesson, or way of doing things. I often say phrases (or mantras, if you will) in the operating room to help students and residents incorporate surgical techniques. Today’s episode begins a series of conversations around these mantras, beginning with a term I picked up from Dr. Fred Kipley tha…

Why do you do what you do? Doing the Words of Love podcast has not only helped me grow the substack community but has also helped me grow as a communicator, clinician, healer, and educator. I like to think of today as the beginning of the podcast’s second season. It’s also what I hope will be the first installment of one-on-one coaching conversatio…