Towards a Greater Life
39 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 3 years ago - ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsHi, I'm Celyn! I'm a health, wellness, and personal growth enthusiast. Towards A Greater Life is a way of life - it is the belief that when we have greater health, we create greater lives and vice versa. It is also the drive to never settle, yet be so present and grateful for right now. It combines the science of health and wellness, and the art of personal development to not only be healthier physically but also feel happier mentally.
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Episodes
#36 Building a Solid Financial Foundation (ft. Travis Yoh)
December 21, 2020 10:00 - 45 minutes - 31.3 MBWith or without an economic crisis, building a solid financial foundation is so important for peace of mind, which leads to less stress and better health! It's always about health on this platform and you know it. :) In this episode, Travis Yoh, entrepreneur and Marketing Director of PHP, is here not just to inspire us with his amazing story but also to give us some financial wellness tips. I do urge you to take some notes (I know I did!) as we prepare to go into the new year with lots of...
#35 Balancing a Day Job, Passion Business, & Social Media (ft. Ann Nguyen)
November 23, 2020 10:00 - 41 minutes - 28.5 MBIn this episode, I spoke to Ann Nguyen, lifestyle blogger and Creator and Founder of Create Inspire Co. Ann hold a day job, blogs, creates content for her social media channels, and single-handedly manages her business, Create Inspire Co. Needless to say, I am inspired for her passion and hard work and I hope you will feel the same! Click here https://www.hellobody.com/?coupon-code=REFFNPMDTVLUJ to get 30% off your order from HelloBody! Connect with me: Email: [email protected]...
#34 Social Media Cleansing (ft. Mae-Lily Romaguera)
November 09, 2020 10:00 - 50 minutes - 35.1 MBJust like everything, social media is an incredibly helpful tool but can also be toxic for us especially when it dictates our lives and pull us away from living and being in the present. In this episode, Mae-Lily Romaguera, a Health and Wellness Coach, is here to share tips and hacks that help you re-claim social media. This episode is full of simple action steps that you can take away and implement in your life today. Be sure to tag or connect with me on Instagram to let me know what action...
#33 Make Healthy Eating a Lifestyle (ft. Yaye Diallo)
November 02, 2020 10:00 - 44 minutes - 30.5 MBDiets are one of those things where some people swear by it and others despise it to the core. In this episode, I chat with Yaye Diallo about what makes a diet successful. Why does it work so well for some and doesn't for others? Yaye shares her story of being loaded with painkillers to eating her way out of both the need for painkillers and pain. To register for the Live Foods Class with Yaye, head over to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/live-foods-masterclass-tickets-127666500941# to regist...
#32 Are you understanding mental health accurately? (ft. Alexander Chao)
October 26, 2020 09:00 - 1 hour - 43.2 MBDo you really know what mental health is? What it involves? What are the differences between mental health and mental illness? In this episode, I chat with Alexander Chao, a mental health advocate who has been through it himself and is now dedicating his work to promoting mental health and ensuring nobody has to go through any of it by themselves. Trigger warning: This episode contains dialogue around suicide and suicide ideation. Click here https://www.hellobody.com/?coupon-code=REFFNPMD...
#31 Entertainer, Educator, and Breast Cancer Survivor (ft. Sarah Flynn)
October 19, 2020 09:00 - 1 hour - 41.7 MBOctober is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and I am incredibly grateful to share Sarah Flynn's story and journey in fighting and winning breast cancer, not once but twice! Breast cancer affects 1 in 7 people now and instead of encouraging you to do your self-exams and pin-up the pink ribbon, I'm here to bring you the realities of this journey from the point of view of a survivor. From the realities of radiation and a funny story about blue breasts to the inability to put laundry to wash, care ...
#30 Designing your Dream Career and Life (ft. Denitresse Ferrell)
October 12, 2020 09:00 - 56 minutes - 38.8 MBClick here https://www.hellobody.com/?coupon-code=REFFNPMDTVLUJ to get 30% off your order from HelloBody! Book(s) shared on this episode: What Got you Here Won't Get you There We spend most of our adult lives working at our jobs, we identify with it and associate ourselves with our work and/or organizations - it only makes sense that we make that time meaningful and one that creates our dream life. In this episode, I chat with Career and Professional Development expert, Denitresse Ferrell ...
#29 How to Use Overwhelm to Positively Transform your Life (ft. Sharon Jones)
October 05, 2020 09:00 - 33 minutes - 23.2 MBClick here https://www.hellobody.com/?coupon-code=REFFNPMDTVLUJ to get 30% off your order from HelloBody! Book(s) shared on this episode: Game of Life and How to Play It by Florence Scovel Shinn In this episode, I chat with Sharon Jones, a therapist with over 30 years of experience. She has worked with adults and children alike and is here to share her knowledge and information on how we can not only overcome overwhelm but to also use it to positively transform our lives. Connect with me...
#28 Using Flowers to Boost Positive Energy (ft. Walene Buckage)
September 28, 2020 09:00 - 47 minutes - 32.3 MBIn this episode, I chat with Walene Buckage (Certified Flower Essences Practitioner and Life Coach) to learn more about flower essences therapy - what it is, how it works, what is it used for. Book(s) shared on the show: Women who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D To grab your free 4-step guide to be motivated for ANYTHING head over to towardsagreaterlife.com! It is a step-by-step guide to help you find and stay motivated for anything that you want to be or do in your lif...
#27 Three Things you Should NOT Do to Find Motivation
September 21, 2020 09:00 - 30 minutes - 21.3 MBMotivation is such a tricky and unpredictable thing but to increase your chances of being and staying motivated, these are three things you should not be doing when trying to find motivation. To grab your free 4-step guide to be motivated for ANYTHING head over to towardsagreaterlife.com! It is a step-by-step guide to help you find and stay motivated for anything that you want to be or do in your life. Head over to towardsagreaterlife.com to book a FREE Discovery Call to identify areas in...
#26 Do you TRULY know who you are?
September 14, 2020 09:00 - 24 minutes - 17.1 MBIt's so good to be back after a long break and even better to be back to give you all the updates on where Towards A Greater Life is going forward into the future! We are no longer just a podcast but a podcast with personalized coaching and consulting services to help you be healthier, feel happier, and live greater! Plus a little story down memory lane on how this way of life was started. To grab your free 4-step guide to be motivated for ANYTHING head over to towardsagreaterlife.com! It ...
#25 The language you speak could affect your health (ft. Daniel Roque)
June 22, 2020 13:00 - 25 minutes - 17.6 MBDaniel Roque is a Master of Public Health graduate from NYU with a niche in the intersectionality between immigration and health. He is a first-generation American and an immigration activist. In this episode, we chat about how immigration affects health in many ways from the language you speak (or don't speak) to your living conditions to politics and policies affecting health. Connect with me Instagram: @celynng Email: [email protected] Website: www.towardsagreaterlife.com C...
#24 Finding JOY
June 15, 2020 14:00 - 28 minutes - 19.9 MBIn this episode, I share 4 tips with you on how to find joy and how to prioritize joy in your lives. Joy is truly something many of us lack in our lives. We seem to cruise through life and forget to prioritize things that make us happy, we think about things but never action them, we think if only this and if only that, then I'll be happy. I ask many questions in this episode but one of the biggest ones is "if you had 5 years left to live, what would your every day look like?" Connect with ...
#23 Black Lives Matter
June 08, 2020 09:00 - 15 minutes - 10.6 MBFor a long time, I didn't know how to speak up against racism but this week was a week of firsts for me. It was the first time I went out to join a protest and march and it was the first time I took a stand against racism on a blog post. I understand for many this may not be easy and it may be uncomfortable. You may think yes, I don't agree with what is happening but it's too big or there's nothing I can do or it's an "American problem" or you simply feel afraid. In this episode, I just want...
#22 It's Not Just What You Eat But HOW You Eat
June 01, 2020 09:00 - 31 minutes - 21.9 MBWe often hear the phrase "you are what you eat" and as much as that is true, HOW you eat is equally as important as well. Good eating habits can be so simple and easy to adopt but yet very powerful. It helps with lots of gastro discomfort or symptoms and most importantly, it sends the accurate signals to your brain and informs it to activate the digestion process. In this episode, I break down why how you eat is just as important as what you eat and I share 4 incredibly simple tips on how yo...
#21 When Medication Isn't Always the Answer
May 24, 2020 09:00 - 30 minutes - 20.7 MBA quick disclaimer that I am not against medication and I am truly grateful for the existence of them. I do not advocate that you stop taking your prescribed medication without speaking to your healthcare providers. However, I do think that medication is being over-prescribed and over-used. In our current society of instant gratification, the prescription pad and pills have become the first-line tool in every condition. Not to mention that in certain situations, the pills being prescribed ar...
#20 Do you ever feel like life is zooming past? + my graduation thoughts
May 18, 2020 09:00 - 17 minutes - 12.3 MBI have graduated! Yes, at the time this episode is released, I'll have a few more letters after my name. But that's not the main question I'm asking in this episode. The main question is, do you ever feel like life is zooming past and you're standing still? Not quite sure where the time went or what you've achieved? Well, that is the question that suddenly hit me the other day and I wanted to know if you ever felt the same way?
#19 When Positivity Turns Toxic
April 20, 2020 09:00 - 23 minutes - 16 MBToo much of one thing can become a bad thing, even if that thing is a good thing per se. Everything needs balance and so does positivity. This week's topic was inspired by two things that I saw/experienced online: (1) a post about toxic positivity, (2) an IG live of two influencers talking about influencers (LOL!) Despite my platform always advocating for positivity and self-help, I understand how positivity in itself can become toxic too. Thus, the existence of a state of only accepting pos...
#18 Let's talk about stress, baby
April 13, 2020 09:00 - 33 minutes - 23.2 MBLet’s talk about stress, baby! (do read it the way you would sing it!) So, what really is stress? Something that every single person would undoubtedly experience to some degree and at some point in their lives. But what does it really do to your body? How does stress affect our body and contribute to so many lifelong diseases like type 2 diabetes? Yes, stress can make you sick- I mean big time sick. In this episode, I break down what happens when you’re stress and give you three quick and ea...
#17 Are we losing ourselves in this crisis? (ft. Joann Wang)
April 06, 2020 09:00 - 36 minutes - 25.1 MBWhat is identity? What do we in our everyday life identify as? Are they healthy or unhealthy identities? Is it being shaken at this time of crisis? Are we even aware of your identity and who you are? With the rising unemployment rates as a result of COVID-19, many may be questioning what our identities are now that jobs are lost and life is uncertain. In this episode, Joann Wang and I about all of the above and more! Joann is a great friend of mine, a school counselor, and an all-around amaz...
#16 WFH: Happy Stories to Brighten your Day!
March 30, 2020 09:00 - 23 minutes - 16.4 MBThis series is inspired by quarantine orders, stay-in-shelter orders, movement control orders, working from home orders, and everything in between, as a result of COVID-19. At times like this, every single thing we are exposed to about the crisis can be very stressful and draining because it simply is very depressing. In this episode, I just really wanted to bring together some happy and positive things that people are doing with hopes to brighten your day just as much as it had brightened m...
#15 WFH: Staying Sane at Home
March 23, 2020 09:00 - 26 minutes - 18.3 MBThis series is inspired by quarantine orders, stay-in-shelter orders, movement control orders, working from home orders, and everything in between, as a result of COVID-19. Staying home and working from home can be overwhelming and stressful when you know you just lost a little of your freedom of going wherever you would like to go. In this first episode, Haley and I share five tips on how to stay sane while being at home. We give you some tips and tricks that we've been using as people who ...
#14 We are Resilient!
March 16, 2020 20:00 - 34 minutes - 23.5 MBAdversity, crisis, emergency, worry, anxiety, and uncertainty happen to everyone every single day. It could be something huge like how the human race is fighting a war against COVID-19, or it could be something completely relatable and seemingly small like spilling coffee on your shirt before the day has even started. Despite everyone facing hardships every day, there’s always that one person you know who has faced adversity after adversity and yet rises above it all achieving bigger, greate...
Spilling the Wellness Tea #3: Eating should be SIMPLE
March 09, 2020 09:00 - 47 minutes - 32.8 MBWhen did eating become so complicated? When did we all stop listening to our bodies and to random posts online with outrageous claims? When did we stop advocating for our own health and wellness, instead give complete autonomy to someone else? In this episode, Haley and I chat about the ridiculous claims by a “nutrition coach” who hadn’t drunk water in a year. We discussed how we should bring fun back into our lives, be it in the way we eat, move, work, and everything in between. We advocate...
#13 Could sleep be the answer to poor food choices? (Part I)
March 02, 2020 10:00 - 30 minutes - 21.2 MBSleep deprivation, poor sleep quality, and insomnia is definitely an up and coming millennial problem that affects our health and well-being. Our culture has evolved into one that champions the lack of sleep while emphasizing that sleep is a luxury. We all know that when we sleep better, we are nicer, we don't snap as quickly but what about our food choices? Often, staying up late means munching on bags of chips or scooping into tubs of ice-cream or attacking bars and bars of chocolate, then...
#12 Raw Talk: Finding my Path
February 24, 2020 10:00 - 30 minutes - 21.2 MBAs a very soon-to-be graduate, it's super unsettling to not know my path. I want to be honest about my journey in moving towards a greater life- I'm sure everyone knows life isn't always about rainbows and butterflies. This is my first raw talk on this platform where I share my thoughts about being unsure about my path in life, about finding inspiration and motivation to keep creating and keep going, and reminding ourselves that sometimes despite knowing what we want to do, we have to always...
#11 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV): Alternative Views
February 10, 2020 10:00 - 21 minutes - 15.1 MBThe Novel Coronavirus happening right now greatly resembles SARS and just like many others, it is giving me the dark and sad memories of 2002-3. As much as this podcast aims to bring positivity and inspiration every week, I do think it is highly important for me to talk about some of my alternative views about this crisis. This episode isn't about the number of deaths and cases that are slowly creeping up, neither is it about how to prevent the disease or what you should do to keep you and y...
Spilling the Wellness Tea #2: Yoga & Nut Milk
February 03, 2020 10:00 - 1 hour - 49.9 MBFind out what Haley and I have been up to since we launched Spilling the Wellness Tea. This episode is super casual and chatty- we caught up on what we did for the new year, our travel experiences, and the novel coronavirus that is spreading as we speak. Our main wellness trend in this episode is yoga and nut milk. We answered so many questions through our conversation; What does it mean when you cry when you're practicing yoga? How and why yoga can be dangerous for you? Why nut milk isn't r...
#10 Cutting CHOLESTEROL some Slack
January 20, 2020 12:00 - 18 minutes - 13 MBJust like sugar and fat, cholesterol has really been trashed over the years and given such a negative connotation. What many of us are not aware of is that behind this negative halo and tremendous marketing effort by the food industry (i.e. food products that are low in cholesterol, food product that “sucks/absorbs” cholesterol) is more recent evidence. The current evidence shows that cholesterol from food is not associated with all the diseases we thought it was. In fact, cholesterol is a b...
#9 Move It!
January 13, 2020 10:00 - 19 minutes - 13.7 MBMovement can be so difficult when life gets busy, exercise just has to sit on the back end. However, physical activity or movement is of ultimate importance- low levels of physical activity is in fact a major risk factor for early death. So to try and tackle this problem, we can try to create habits so that movement is incorporated and folded into our everyday lives. I came up with 9 different suggestions on how you can move more while not hindering life (too much). This list is in no way co...
Spilling the Wellness Tea #1: Matcha & Self-Care
January 06, 2020 10:00 - 36 minutes - 24.9 MBSTWT: Spilling the Wellness Tea is Towards A Greater Life's first series. In this series, Haley and I come together every month to share a conversation about wellness trends- what they are, how is it good (or not good) for health, and whether you should jump on it! In this first episode, we spilled the tea on matcha and self-care. We talked about the role of the food industry, how celebrities and influencers shifted this trend, and the true meaning of self-care. It's not all about face mask...
#8 Thank you, next
December 30, 2019 10:00 - 22 minutes - 15.7 MBHappy New Year!! Instead of thanking exes for lessons learned, in this episode, I highlight the importance of embracing, addressing, and thanking every emotion we feel. We grow up learning to cope and suppress emotions, society "tells" us which emotion is okay to have and which are not. Over time, we forget to address and attend to every single emotion and it can come back to haunt us. Everyone has emotional baggage but instead of bringing it into 2020, let's thank every emotion and encounte...
#7 HO-HO-HO-liday Health!
December 23, 2019 10:00 - 20 minutes - 14 MBOnly two more days until Christmas and a week later, we will be counting down to 2020!! The holiday season can be the greatest but also THE most stressful time of the entire year, with family that you hardly ever see, the awkward dinner moments, certain people who are toxic to you but somehow you have to see them during the holidays, the endless gift list, the long hours of travel, the gossip and chatter, the grocery list, and so on. But this holiday season, I remind myself and you to priori...
#6 Motivation.. Where Art Thou?
December 16, 2019 10:00 - 25 minutes - 17.8 MBMotivation... Something that we always need. Something that we can never quite have enough of. Something that we are always searching for. Sometimes we find it so quickly but sometimes it's just nowhere to be found! This episode I talk about some ways or ideas that I have found useful in getting things done when motivation is just missing in action. You can think about it as finding ways to stay motivated or you can think about it as being productive even when motivation equals nil. Book I...
#5 Is it really earth that needs saving or is it actually humans on earth?
December 09, 2019 09:00 - 23 minutes - 16.5 MBIs it the earth that needs saving from climate change or is it us, humans? Do cow's fart really creat that big of an environmental impact? Why are we talking about climate change now when scientists have been banging on about it for decades? What are some of the direct and indirect impacts that climate change has on human health, besides the obvious air pollution and respiratory symptoms? In this episode, I talk about a few different ideas or ways to think about climate change, which focuses...
#4 Making it Count
December 02, 2019 09:00 - 21 minutes - 14.9 MBIt's DECEMBER and the year is ending, another year will be done and dusted very soon! Instead of counting the year, I have decided to make the year count. It is time to think about how the year went, what have I done or achieved this year, and what can I do to truly close 2019 in the most memorable way. What do you think about at the end of the year? In this episode, I talk about the importance of self-reflection and to not compare ourselves against others. Finally, I urge you to close the y...
#3 Spreading Positivity this Thanksgiving with Simone Bryan
November 25, 2019 09:00 - 29 minutes - 20.2 MBIn our crazy day-to-day, it is easy to forget the little things, forget to be grateful, forget how rich we truly are. Just before Thanksgiving, I talked to Simone Bryan about how to start being more aware by practicing gratitude and how to be the light to others. Simone is one of the most positive, influential, and inspiring people I know. She has shined her light on me years ago and now I hope our conversation can start YOUR light and start this movement of focusing on the good as opposed t...
#2 Let's Eat Greater
November 18, 2019 12:00 - 22 minutes - 15.5 MBOne day dairy is good, the next day dairy is bad. One day meat is good, the next day meat is bad. Nutrition information can be ever so confusing and contradictory. However, instead of focusing on unending baffling information, in this episode, I share some practical tips that you can be aware of or adopt to eat towards greater health. Resources I talked about on this episode: Dagfinn Aune, Edward Giovannucci, Paolo Boffetta, Lars T Fadnes, NaNa Keum, Teresa Norat, Darren C Greenwood, Elio ...
#1 Just Going For It
November 10, 2019 01:00 - 21 minutes - 14.8 MBI feel that in life, we have so many things we want to do or achieve but many of those things end up at the back of our mind and then life takes over and we never do it. Before we know it, not going for those things on that list starts eating on our mental health. Starting this podcast was on that list for me and with the spirit of the first episode, I decided to talk about the 3 reasons why I think we don't just go for whatever we put on that list. Books I talked about on this episode: Yo...