This is our 150th episode! Thank you so much for your support. I'm so grateful for getting to do what I love to do. Make sure you have a cuppa tea and get cozy, or bring me along on your drive or your walk while I share a little bit of the cosmos, energies, personal stories, and reflections on this special milestone!   In This Episode:  My intention for starting this podcast in 2018. The celestial bodies of Mercury and Jupiter and how these planets affect our beliefs. The North Node in Gemini and The South Node of Sagittarius. Our perspectives and beliefs were shaped by how we were raised as children.  What does awakening mean? Why I changed this podcast name from Chase Wild Hearts to Awaken and Align back in 2019. What I learned during Mercury Retrograde in Libra and during Libra season. Why is it important to continue to awaken? The Full Moon in Aries and a little bit of Tarot: The four of wands and The Emperor. Looking forward to Scorpio season, the nodal shifts, and the rest of 2021.  FULL SHOW NOTES YouTube Channel Laura Chung Instagram Awaken and Align Instagram Moon Circles via Patreon - Choose from 3 tiers Connect with Awaken and Align: If you enjoyed the podcast and you feel called, please share it and tag me! Subscribe, rate, and review the show wherever you get your podcasts. Your rating and review help more people discover it! Follow on Instagram @awakenandalign Let me know your favorite guests, lessons, or any topic requests. 

Awaken and Align

Episode 150: Awaken and Align With Laura Chung

In This Episode: How Brittany and Laura met. Brittany and Laura's intention for starting The Werk Podcast. Our experiences in the wellness and spiritual industries and why speaking out against microaggressions, appropriation, and other harmful practices is a part of the work. the work that white people and BIPOC have to do in order to heal and evolve How American history glosses over the contributions of BIPOC and important moments in history.  The different types of privilege we all experience and why conversations regarding power and privilege need to include intersectionality.   Fetishization and mysognoir that BIPOC women experience.  The work that Brittany and Laura believe White-bodied and BIPOC folks need to do.    FULL SHOW NOTES Laura Chung Instagram Brittany Simone Anderson Instagram The Werk Podcast Instagram Awaken and Align Instagram Awaken and Align Website YouTube Channel Connect with Awaken and Align & The Werk:   If you enjoyed the podcast and you feel called, please share it and tag us! Subscribe, rate, and review the show wherever you get your podcasts. Your rating and review help more people discover it! Follow on Instagram @awakenandalign @thewerkpodcast Let us know your favorite guests, lessons, or any topic requests. 

THE WERK Episode 06: Continuing The Werk - Acknowledging What is In Order to Create What Can Be With Brittany Simone and Laura Chung

Another mercury in retrograde episode brought to you by 5 previous guests on the Awaken and Align Podcast. We've all had that gut feeling, that deeper knowing to follow something that is not rational. It's a feeling you can't deny but many people do because it's not logical. In this episode, these 5 guests share their aha moment; that awakening moment that changed everything.    FULL SHOW NOTES YouTube Channel Laura Chung Instagram Awaken and Align Instagram Moon Circles via Patreon - Choose from 3 tiers Connect with Awaken and Align: If you enjoyed the podcast and you feel called, please share it and tag me! Subscribe, rate, and review the show wherever you get your podcasts. Your rating and review help more people discover it! Follow on Instagram @awakenandalign Let me know your favorite guests, lessons, or any topic requests. 

Episode 149: Words of Wisdom: Awakening, Intuition, & A Deep Knowing

Michelle Cassandra Johnson is an activist, social justice warrior, author, anti-racism consultant and trainer, intuitive healer, and yoga teacher and practitioner. She has led dismantling racism work in many settings for over two decades and has a background and two decades of practice as a clinical social worker. Michelle’s work centers on healing from individual and collective trauma, coming back into wholeness and aligning the mind, body, spirit, and heart.  She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of William and Mary and a Masters degree in Social Work from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She has worked in several non-profits and served as an elected official and on many non-profit boards of directors. She has led Dismantling Racism Trainings with large corporations, small non-profits, and community groups, including the ACLU-WA, Duke University, Google, This American Life, The Center for Equity and Inclusion, Auburn Seminary, Kripalu, Yoga Alliance, and Lululemon, and many others. Michelle published Skill in Action: Radicalizing Your Yoga Practice to Create a Just World in 2017 and her newest book, Finding Refuge: Heart Work for Healing Collective Grief was published by Shambhala Publications in 2021. She teaches workshops in yoga studios and community spaces nationwide and is on the faculty of Off the Mat, Into the World. She was a Tedx speaker at Wake Forest University in 2019 and has been interviewed on several podcasts in which she explores the premise and foundation of Skill in Action, along with embodied approaches to racial equity work, creating ritual in justice spaces, our divine connection with nature and Spirit, and how we as a culture can heal. In 2020 she created her own podcast, Finding Refuge, which explores collective grief and liberation and serves as a reminder about all the ways we can find refuge during unsettling and uncertain times and of the resilience and joy that comes from allowing ourselves to find refuge. In This Episode:  The awareness that comes with awakening and how this relates to social justice. Why embodiment is the key to healing racism.  If White bodied folks don’t have the resiliency to do this work, what will it take? Rest as a necessary tool for activism. The work that White bodied people have to do. The work that the BIPOC community has to do.  The practice of remembering and how we can have grace and compassion for those who are remembering. FULL SHOW NOTES Laura Chung Instagram Brittany Simone Anderson Instagram The Werk Podcast Instagram Awaken and Align Instagram Awaken and Align Website YouTube Channel Connect with Awaken and Align & The Werk: If you enjoyed the podcast and you feel called, please share it and tag us! Subscribe, rate, and review the show wherever you get your podcasts. Your rating and review help more people discover it! Follow on Instagram @awakenandalign @thewerkpodcast Let us know your favorite guests, lessons, or any topic requests. 

THE WERK Episode 05: Spiritual Activism - Your Spiritual Practice As A Pathway To Create Social Change and Liberation With Michelle Johnson

Laura Chung is a New York based Reiki Master and Meditation Teacher. She has her Masters in Industrial and Organizational Psychology and spent most of her adult life in corporate America following a traditional life path. After achieving what most people would call a “successful” life, she did not feel any happier or fulfilled. On a quest to find her true purpose in life, she quit her job in 2017. She became nomadic and traveled the world; stopping by places like India to become a certified Kundalini Yoga teacher. She has worked with shamans, astrologers, energy healers, sages and eventually becoming a Reiki Master herself. Somewhere along this journey, she realized that the secret to life is within you. Laura’s purpose here on earth is to teach you how to co-create your DREAM LIFE with the Universal Laws and by guiding you through your awakening, healing, and transformation. I'm an Aries sun, Aquarius moon, and Sagittarius rising.    Like always friends, bring your calendar and notebook to mark some dates and take some notes! October is a month of energetic shifts!    FULL SHOW NOTES YouTube Channel Laura Chung Instagram Awaken and Align Instagram Moon Circles via Patreon - Choose from 3 tiers Connect with Awaken and Align: If you enjoyed the podcast and you feel called, please share it and tag me! Subscribe, rate, and review the show wherever you get your podcasts. Your rating and review help more people discover it! Follow on Instagram @awakenandalign Let me know your favorite guests, lessons, or any topic requests. 

Episode 148: The Astrology of October 2021 With Laura Chung

Marilu Shinn has held a private practice as  a Shamanic Practitioner since 2012  Her formal training includes the Four Winds Society  as well as an ongoing apprenticeship with the Nusta Medicine Women of Peru.  Her own healing journey and reclamation of her Ancestral Wisdom brought her to embody the Ancient Wisdom Traditions of Peru and  to share the Medicine and Beauty of this Lineage as a path towards Empowerment and Embodied living.  Her mission and passion are to reconnect Women with their Authentic Selves; to awaken their somatic awareness through Shamanistic practices and to reconnect them with their innate Sacred Womb Wisdom as the foundations for leading fulfilling, whole lives.  Marilu holds international retreats and Earth Based Ceremonies  in the Santa Cruz mountains and anywhere where Medicine is needed. She works privately with both men and women.  In This Episode:  Marilu defines decolonization as a process of remembrance and reclaiming our knowledge and wisdom from the lands our ancestors came from.  Reclamation as a way of healing. Purging the ways in which we were conditioned by Whiteness. Integrate and call back which belongs to our ancestors. Is there ever an appropriate time for White and White passing people to practice indigenous ways? Marilu’s views on calling out on social media. Is the responsibility on BIPOC to call-in, out, forward? Spirituality and social justice go hand in hand. True spirituality is acknowledging shadow aspects. Reparations includes speaking up and giving back. The sacred medicines lose their groundedness and power through non-indigenous practitioners. Grandmother ayahuasca has a symbiotic relationship with indigenous people. The work that BIPOC have to do which includes speaking our truth and reclaiming our abundance. The work that White-bodied people have to do. Marilu explains why the New Earth is not the new age. Decolonizing starts with what you put your energy towards, how are you colluding? Why 5D living is bypassing.  FULL SHOW NOTES Laura Chung Instagram Brittany Simone Anderson Instagram The Werk Podcast Instagram Awaken and Align Instagram Awaken and Align Website YouTube Channel Connect with Awaken and Align & The Werk: If you enjoyed the podcast and you feel called, please share it and tag us! Subscribe, rate, and review the show wherever you get your podcasts. Your rating and review help more people discover it! Follow on Instagram @awakenandalign @thewerkpodcast Let us know your favorite guests, lessons, or any topic requests. 

THE WERK Episode 04: The New Earth Is Not The New Age - Reclaiming The Indigenous Prophecies

Malaurie grew up in France and comes from a long line of psychics and witches. (her mother, her grandmother, her great grandmothers, her great uncle…Anyhow, you get the idea). It’s in her DNA. She has been doing readings for many years. Malaurie loves helping people find a sense of peace and clarity.   Malaurie tries to keep it real and simple. No gimmicks, no pretenses, no bullshit. She says it herself "I'm not a crystal ball, but I can enter into a conversation with your guides and ancestors and see what they have to say. The answer might not always be what you want to hear but it is always grounded in love and with your greater good in mind." In This Episode: How Malaurie developed her psychic mediumship gifts. The difference between a psychic and a medium. Can anyone be a medium? What happens to souls after they have transitioned? Why some souls do not cross over to the other side. How Malaurie protects herself from Spirits. Malaurie's opinion on humanity's lessons with covid, the pandemic, the vaccines, and etc. Are we passing the test? What are “downloads?” Malaurie’s suggestions on how to know if the downloads are based on truth. Malaurie’s thoughts on studying mediumship and spiritual practices vs developing your innate talents. The most important thing you need to do to channel Spirits. FULL SHOW NOTES YouTube Channel Laura Chung Instagram Awaken and Align Instagram Moon Circles via Patreon - Choose from 3 tiers Connect with Awaken and Align: If you enjoyed the podcast and you feel called, please share it and tag me! Subscribe, rate, and review the show wherever you get your podcasts. Your rating and review help more people discover it! Follow on Instagram @awakenandalign Let me know your favorite guests, lessons, or any topic requests  

Episode 147: Soul Messages - A Conversation With Psychic Medium Malaurie Barber

As CEO and Co-Founder of The Cosmos, she creates experiences and content to help Asian women care for themselves, their community, and their world. Their work at the intersection of AAPI identity, somatic healing, and women’s empowerment has been featured in The New York Times, Fast Company, Bustle, Paper Mag, and more. Cassandra’s teachings are informed by 9 years of practice in the healing arts, 300+ hours of training, and a lifelong commitment to social justice and decolonization. She has completed trainings in yoga, trauma-informed mindfulness, reiki, and activism movement trauma healing. In March 2021, Cassandra created Collective Rest, a virtual 1-hour guided relaxation practice. This healing space was birthed in direct response to spikes in anti-Asian hate crimes, including the Atlanta shooting, and ongoing violence towards BIPOC communities. Collective Rest has since helped over 1,000 people around the world to slow down, process our collective trauma in the community, and sleep better. In This Episode: How Sailor Moon activated her as a young child. Her first experience of injustice and how it ran through her body and why it made her focus on reading books and being in her mind. How she started awakening to the injustices of the world by way of the BLM movement. In 2018, she realized that she wanted to divest from White-dominated spaces and start her own to create a space for Asian Women. If BIPOC creates its own spaces, does it create echo chambers? White fragility and building resilience on their nervous system The model minority myth. As an Asian person and doing her own anti-Blackness work The reason why storytelling is so important; especially non-White ones because BIPOC stereotypes are perpetuated. Whiteness as a construct. FULL SHOW NOTES Laura Chung Instagram Brittany Simone Anderson Instagram The Werk Podcast Instagram Awaken and Align Instagram Awaken and Align Website YouTube Channel Connect with Awaken and Align & The Werk: If you enjoyed the podcast and you feel called, please share it and tag us! Subscribe, rate, and review the show wherever you get your podcasts. Your rating and review help more people discover it! Follow on Instagram @awakenandalign @thewerkpodcast Let us know your favorite guests, lessons, or any topic requests 

THE WERK Episode 03: Creating Safe and Trauma Informed Spaces With Cassandra Lam

Samantha Caffrey is of the multipreneur generation, working as a compassionate, mission-driven advocate, creator, publicist and strategist with the aim of elevating the power of women. Her work focuses on demystifying the intersection of sexuality, mental health, creativity, and spirituality—with the intention to destigmatize these topics to create a more equitable future for all.    Samantha works as an expert in growing brand ethos and industry equity through mission-driven communications strategies. Most recently, Samantha represented a family of sexual wellness brands delivering billions of digital media impressions, national media attention, celebrity partnerships and raised awareness of the importance of one’s sexual empowerment.    Along this journey, she has worked with the nation’s leading sexuality experts, while also going on a personal journey with renowned healers and coaches. Samantha recently advanced her mindful and spirituality practices receiving Reiki 1 and 2 certifications in Tulum Mexico, with her teacher Laura Chung.    Samantha has been featured in Well + Good, Buzzfeed, and Just Begin Magazine.   In This Episode:   Samantha's origins story and how she trusted her intuition in accepting a job in the sex toy industry. Harmful "spiritual" rhetoric around sex. Starting the conversation around sexual shame in religious and spiritual circles. Why masturbation should be taught in school and how it can help educate young people and keep them safe. The benefits of Masturbation. Manifesting while masturbating. Taking your power back with pleasure. Sexual awakening and liberation and how it relates to self-empowerment.    FULL SHOW NOTES YouTube Channel Laura Chung Instagram Awaken and Align Instagram Moon Circles via Patreon - Choose from 3 tiers Connect with Awaken and Align: If you enjoyed the podcast and you feel called, please share it and tag me! Subscribe, rate, and review the show wherever you get your podcasts. Your rating and review help more people discover it! Follow on Instagram @awakenandalign Let me know your favorite guests, lessons, or any topic requests 

Episode 146: Sexual Awakening & Pleasure As A Pathway For Self-Empowerment With Samantha Caffrey

Sara Clark began teaching yoga 11 years ago in New York City after leaving the world of television post production. She has had the honor of leading workshops and retreats globally, teaming up with top fitness brands and gracing covers of wellness magazines all while sharing tools to support healing the mind and the body. Sara views vinyasa yoga as a moving meditation, an act of resistance against the system and a salve for the soul. Her teachings weave together the practices of meditation, mindfulness and manifestation to support uplifting the spirit and awakening to one's limitless potential.   In This Episode: How Sara’s experience as a Black child in a predominantly White space helped her prepare for wellness spaces.  How Black women are set to a different standard.  Sara’s experience with White fragility and how she’s navigated through microaggressions.  How epigenetics and empathy play a factor in this work with White people. Why safe spaces are crucial for the well-being of POC.  Unlearning: Her life in Grenada during the quarantine, slowing down, and what it has taught her about life. How rest is a form of resistance as a Black woman.  Balancing mindfulness and peace with speaking up.  Energy and the laws of the universe in relation to how we can create the future we want to live.  Her advice for the werk POC have to do and white people.  FULL SHOW NOTES Laura Chung Instagram Brittany Simone Anderson Instagram The Werk Podcast Instagram Awaken and Align Instagram Awaken and Align Website YouTube Channel Connect with Awaken and Align & The Werk: If you enjoyed the podcast and you feel called, please share it and tag us! Subscribe, rate, and review the show wherever you get your podcasts. Your rating and review help more people discover it! Follow on Instagram @awakenandalign @thewerkpodcast Let us know your favorite guests, lessons, or any topic requests 

THE WERK Episode 02: In Process - Deprogramming White Supremacy With Sara Clark

Amanda Michelle is a Spiritual and Holistic Wellness Practitioner currently based in Palm Springs, California. As a direct descendent of the Guarani people in Paraguay, Amanda has spent the majority of her life working with several Indigenous modalities including dream weaving, plant medicine and Indigenous Cosmology. As a transracial adoptee in the early 90's, it was a long and sometimes difficult process in understanding her Ancestral roots which ultimately created a deeper appreciation and connection to the Spirit realms. In 2015, Amanda created Activated Living and is focused on sharing her work in several formats (writing, visual, and audio) to help weave the Mind, Body, Soul/ Spirit connection with Indigenous Wisdom. The depth of her work in the Spiritual and wellness space is to assist and guide others to find their medicine from within.  In This Episode, We Talk About: Amanda's experience growing up with White parents and how that led to her learning more about her ancestral indigenous roots as a Guarani. How lucid dreaming at a young age helped Amanda to connect to her Guarani ancestry. Amanda shares about the Guarani people. What does it mean to break down toxic paradigms? The reason why self-awareness is the first step towards breaking down toxic systems and paradigms. The Spirit of supremacy. Amanda’s observation of the connection with ancestors, being a spiritual orphan, and the manifestation of supremacy. Amanda’s views on appropriation, gatekeeping, and is there a right way to practice indigenous practices? Her thoughts on cancel culture. FULL SHOW NOTES Laura Chung Instagram Brittany Simone Anderson Instagram The Werk Podcast Instagram Awaken and Align Instagram Awaken and Align Website YouTube Channel Connect with Awaken and Align: If you enjoyed the podcast and you feel called, please share it and tag me! Subscribe, rate, and review the show wherever you get your podcasts. Your rating and review help more people discover it! Follow on Instagram @awakenandalign Let me know your favorite guests, lessons, or any topic requests 

THE WERK Episode 01: The Spirit of Supremacy - Breaking Down Toxic Paradigms With Amanda Michelle

We are the duo behind our passion project, The Werk, a podcast and web series to inspire people to do the necessary work. As women of color in the spiritual and wellness spaces, we aim to create a safe space to learn and unlearn. In the first season, there will be 6 episodes airing every Tuesday starting September 7, 2021.  Intention: Decolonizing spirituality and wellness for a more equitable future. In each episode, we will share wisdom, education, and storytelling to raise awareness of the harm placed on indigenous and people of color. With this awareness, we are better equipped to incite change and collective evolution. The goal of The Werk is to create and share thoughts that will expand the minds and hearts of the listeners.    FULL SHOW NOTES Laura Chung Instagram Brittany Simone Anderson Instagram Awaken and Align Instagram Awaken and Align Website YouTube Channel Connect with Awaken and Align: If you enjoyed the podcast and you feel called, please share it and tag me! Subscribe, rate, and review the show wherever you get your podcasts. Your rating and review help more people discover it! Follow on Instagram @awakenandalign Let me know your favorite guests, lessons, or any topic requests 

The Werk Trailer

Catherine Urban (NCGR-PAA IV, ISAR-CAP) is the author of Your Astrological Cookbook: The Perfect Recipe for Every Sign. She maintains a thriving consultation practice, creates weekly astrological forecasts, teaches predictive and foundational courses in astrology and writes for NCGR’s Memberletter. Catherine is a mama, astro-mage and recently integrated the art of horary into her practice.    In This Episode: Make sure to bring your calendars and journals to write down important dates and transits because Catherine gives us a lot of ways to move through these energies.  Catherine shares her origins story and how she started studying astrology.  The overall theme and energy of September. Virgo and Libra seasons. The new moon in Virgo The full moon in Pisces Mercury retrograde in Libra and how to work with this transit.  FULL SHOW NOTES YouTube Channel Laura Chung Instagram Awaken and Align Instagram Moon Circles via Patreon - Choose from 3 tiers Connect with Awaken and Align: If you enjoyed the podcast and you feel called, please share it and tag me! Subscribe, rate, and review the show wherever you get your podcasts. Your rating and review help more people discover it! Follow on Instagram @awakenandalign Let me know your favorite guests, lessons, or any topic requests 

Episode 145: The Astrology of September 2021 With Catherine Urban

Seo Kelleher (pronounced Sea-Oh Keh-Li-Hur, she/her) is a Korean American shaman, author, and publisher. She heals and helps others to release what no longer serves them, so they can thrive and live more authentic, aligned lives. She channels her ancestors and Korean shamanic deities in her work.    In This Episode: Seo's origins story; the catalyst to her spiritual journey and how she was led to shamanism. How the Korean American experience is unique and how she was able to heal and integrate both cultures.  How Seo knew that she was being called to embody shamanism. Who are Mudangs and why are they stigmatized? How Seo channels the Korean deities to assist her in her healing work.  We talk about Han and the definition of Han in Korean is something that is unique to the people of Korea and the Korean diaspora. Exploring our indigenous spiritual beliefs and practices is a gateway to our expansion.  FULL SHOW NOTES Kickstarter project, Unlock Your Magic Affirmation and Contemplation Cards YouTube Channel Laura Chung Instagram Awaken and Align Instagram Moon Circles via Patreon - Choose from 3 tiers Connect with Awaken and Align: If you enjoyed the podcast and you feel called, please share it and tag me! Subscribe, rate, and review the show wherever you get your podcasts. Your rating and review help more people discover it! Follow on Instagram @awakenandalign Let me know your favorite guests, lessons, or any topic requests 

Episode 144: Korean American Shamanism With Seo Kelleher

In This Episode: I reintroduce myself and I briefly share my story.  How to navigate through the in-between time. Feeling lost or lacking clarity?  The last decan of Leo and the corresponding tarot card. The waxing phase of the moon.  At this time, pay attention to your inner guidance, signs, and synchronicities that are guiding you the way. Channeled messages using tarot and divination for the rest of your Leo season.  FULL SHOW NOTES YouTube Channel Laura Chung Instagram Awaken and Align Instagram Moon Circles via Patreon - Choose from 3 tiers Connect with Awaken and Align: If you enjoyed the podcast and you feel called, please share it and tag me! Subscribe, rate, and review the show wherever you get your podcasts. Your rating and review help more people discover it! Follow on Instagram @awakenandalign Let me know your favorite guests, lessons, or any topic requests 

Episode 143: Integration: Taking Inspired Actions Towards Your Vision With Laura Chung

Awaken and align the podcast provides you with guidance and support to help you awaken and align to your truth. Laura Chung, the host, realized through her own journey that living the life of your dreams means living in alignment with your highest self and activating your limitless potential. If you're inspired by what you've heard and learned on the show, please subscribe, rate, review and share Awaken and Align with a friend.

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Awaken and Align

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