Courage to be Curious with Adina Tovell
179 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 9 ratingsWhich question will be the one to transform your life, your leadership, and your most precious relationships for the better? After feeling shamefully frustrated at the age of 43 that I could not answer the simple question, ‘What makes you happy,’ I went on a quest to find the answer. I couldn’t locate it in the many books I read, people I talked to, or adventures I pursued. Rather, the answer was revealed over time as I asked myself a simple question again and again and had the willingness and patience to discover the answer. Since that moment, I have embraced Courageous Curiosity as a way of life and this podcast is where I - along with my valued guests - share how we engage with courageous curiosity. It has absolutely transformed our lives, our leadership, and our relationships, and we are excited to see how it will transform yours for the better as well.
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Episodes
If the Stars Came Out Every 1000 Years
April 19, 2019 09:00 - 16 minutes - 11.2 MBMonday is Earth Day and as part of our month-long exploration of the Yama of ASTEYA or NON-STEALING, this week’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant explores our relationship with the earth. As a species, we have stolen both from the earth and from the future of the planet, yet we can also find amazing sources of hope. Please join me in this atypical episode in which I share a powerful speech by Paul Hawken, renowned entrepreneur, visionary environmental activist, and author in which he ...
Why We Steal From Our Relationships
April 12, 2019 09:00 - 16 minutes - 11 MBOn today’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant we begin our exploration of the Yama of ASTEYA or NON-STEALING. This Yama challenges us to look at the ways in which we steal from our relationships with others, from the Earth, from our future, and from our own happiness in our attempt to fill the gaps of lacking inside ourselves. It is a deeply powerful exploration and one that I have found to be transformative in my life. So, do a check in with yourself…. Do you feel courageous enough to ...
When Does the Truth Change
March 29, 2019 10:00 - 14 minutes - 9.66 MBOn today’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant we continue to explore the Yama of SATYA or Truthfulness. We look at the fluidity of Truth by getting curious about what our truth is built upon. In other words, at all times, the things we know and believe to be true are based upon our current knowledge, set of experiences, and understandings. What happens when our knowledge, experience and understand expands? Does our truth change? Would we be willing to let go of a truth and make room for...
Truthfulness in Our Relationship with Time
March 22, 2019 09:30 - 13 minutes - 9.57 MBStruggles with time management... Lost time... Not enough time... Time flying too fast... On today’s episode, we explore the ways in which we are truthful and not truthful in our relationship to time. Time is the one resource that we can never get more of… Once it is gone, it is gone? Given how precious it is, do we treat it as a sacred resource or do we squander it on things that really do not add to the quality of life? Tune in to today’s episode and let’s great real about our relationsh...
When It’s Scary to Speak Our Truth!
March 15, 2019 10:00 - 15 minutes - 10.5 MBOn today’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant we explore the struggle that often arises when we find ourselves torn between something we want to do or we feel is good for us and what others want or feel is good for us. In our exploration of SATYA or Truthfulness, we recognize that acknowledging our truth can be difficult especially when it feels like following our path distances us from others we care about. We want to belong and we want to grow, but sometimes these goals come into con...
When We Lie to Ourselves
March 08, 2019 11:00 - 16 minutes - 11.1 MBOn today’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant we explore what it really means to live in truthful relationship with ourselves and others. Non-truthfulness often doesn’t look like a lie, but rather like pleasing, self-sacrificing, remaining silent, hiding, or avoiding. Non-truthfulness means showing up as who we believe others want us to be. Non-truthfulness means withholding information or expression that is important for us and for relationships. And non-truthfulness has impactful cons...
Can We Honestly Love Others if We Don't Love Ourselves?
February 22, 2019 11:00 - 23 minutes - 15.9 MBThis week’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant is the final one in our series on AHIMSA or Nonviolence. It takes on a very challenge idea - Can we honestly love others when we do not fully love ourselves? If we are hard on ourselves, can we freely and selflessly really care for others? It is a powerful question and challenges us to look very deep inside. Please join me for this exploration. It is honestly a reckoning that has changed my life.
From Powerlessness to Love
February 15, 2019 14:10 - 14 minutes - 10.1 MBThis week’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant continues our exploration of AHIMSA or Nonviolence. It explores how accepting, ignoring, or indulging our own powerlessness leads us to states of violence toward ourselves and others. There are so many ways that we experience powerlessness in relation to the world around us as well as in relationships. In the end, remaining in this state will always keep us from love - love of ourselves and others. Take a deep dive with me this week… Let’s...
Remaining Calm When the Storm Rages
January 25, 2019 17:02 - 17 minutes - 12 MBThis week’s podcast begins our exploration of AHIMSA or Nonviolence. In Eastern thought, non-violence is so valued that it stands as the very core foundation of all yoga philosophy and practice. Ahimsa was the foundation of Gandhi’s approach to changing the world But what does Ahimsa, non-violence, actually mean. It cannot - and is not - as simple as not hitting or physically harming another person or even another creature. In this week’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant, we begin the...
Conscious Authentic Living
January 18, 2019 10:00 - 15 minutes - 10.4 MBOn today’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant, I introduce the concept of the Yamas and Niyamas: Yogic Ethical Principles, why I have selected this as our focus and offer some queries to begin the journey. If you are ready to be guided on a deep dive into living consciously and authentically, tune in and join me. I can’t wait to journey with you!
How to Close Out 2018
December 28, 2018 11:00 - 20 minutes - 14.3 MBOn today’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant, I offer some guidance on one way to marking this moment in time and bringing closure to another year of precious life. As it is said, how we do anything is how we do everything. If we want to be more present, take some time to be present in this transitional time. If you want to feel more loving, take this moment to experience all the love that is present in your life now and that you have been gifted over the course of the year. Whatever i...
Turn Energy Sapping Gatherings into Energy Giving
December 14, 2018 11:00 - 15 minutes - 10.6 MBOn today’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant, I offer some teachings from Deborah Adele’s The Yamas and Niyamas to help guide and center us when our hearts can feel heavy, closed or burdened. How can we engage during the moments that typically trigger those draining emotions and have a different experience? How can they become energy giving instead of energy-sapping?
Be Someone’s Angel Today
December 07, 2018 11:00 - 22 minutes - 15.5 MBOn today’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant, my colleague and friend, Jodi Silverman, founder of Moms Who Dare Communities, and I debrief the month-long You Matter Marathon. We exchange stories and experiences related to handing out YOU MATTER cards and discuss subtle and highly conscious ways we can all continue to let people know they matter - all year long.
Food: Unpacking Our Love-Hate Relationship
November 23, 2018 15:21 - 43 minutes - 30.2 MBDuring the month of November, we have been exploring Courageous Connections with food. In this episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant, dear colleague and friend, Dr, Christine Kiesinger and I decided to get very raw in talking about our complicated relationship with food and eating over the years. At this time of year when we are surrounded by food, we talk about how complicated our relationship with food and eating can be, how it affects us emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually...
How to Fight Hunger Effectively
November 16, 2018 11:00 - 34 minutes - 23.4 MBOn today’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant, I had the privilege of speaking with Samantha Retamer, Communications Coordinator and Elizabeth Sanon, Manager of Food Acquisition Partnerships at Philabundance. Philabundance provides food to over 90,000 people per week in the greater Philadelphia area and does incredible work to drive hunger from our communities and end hunger forever. What was amazing to me was how much I did not know about the organization and the amazingly innovative ...
The Best Medicine You Can Eat
November 09, 2018 11:00 - 33 minutes - 23 MBIt is amazing that an act that we perform so many times a day (and that is essential for our survival) can be so complicated, but as our guest on today’s podcast will share with us, the choices we make around food are at the center of our wellness. On today’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant, we talk with Jessica DeLuise, founder of Eat Your Way to Wellness, a holistic wellness practice committed to educating people about the power of food and guiding them to make choices that support...
What’s Wrong With That Avocado?
November 02, 2018 10:00 - 28 minutes - 19.8 MBToday’s podcast kicks off our month-long exploration of courageous connections to food. On today’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant, we talk with Vanessa Paige, Philadelphia Market Manager for Hungry Harvest, a company on a mission to end food waste and hunger. As Vanessa shares, we regularly throw away huge amounts of perfectly good food while so many people live in a state of food insecurity. Tune in and learn about Hungry Harvest’s innovative approach to addressing both issues and ...
The 5 Year Marriage - A Courageous Connection Indeed!
October 19, 2018 00:42 - 18 minutes - 12.4 MBOn today’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant, I share about a concept that I found absolutely curious, fascinating, and powerful: The 5 Year Marriage. When I first heard the phrase, I was confused. Curious, I listened more deeply. The 5 Year Marriage not only offers a framework for a deep, intimate relationship but a model way of thinking about all aspects of our lives. Enjoy!
Responding to a Horrible Week
October 12, 2018 11:00 - 10 minutes - 7.4 MBThis past week of the hearings on Kavanaugh nomination was extraordinarily difficult for most of us individually and was further fracturing to us as a society. We are in a no-win situation at the political level - one that is pushing us full steam ahead in the direction of amplifying divide and battle. It literally feels like it is fracturing the foundation of our united states. On today’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant, I do not discuss the nature of the hearings, but rather what...
Overcoming Barriers to Forgiveness
September 21, 2018 13:47 - 25 minutes - 17.7 MBThis week, I observed the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, the annual Day of Atonement and the conclusion of a 10 day period dedicated to reviewing who we have been over the previous year and clearing the path to showing up with even more intention and goodness in the coming year. A major theme in these 10 days is forgiveness and atoning for any times we have missed the mark in acting in treating ourselves and others with loving kindness. But forgiveness is not always easy. On today’s episode ...
How to Ask the Right Questions
September 07, 2018 17:11 - 16 minutes - 11.6 MBOn today’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant, I am beyond excited to introduce you to Courage to be Curious’ new swag - 156 Game-Changing Questions to help us Live Lead and Love courageously. Three decks of cards, 52 questions in each, dedicated to Living a conscious life, Loving and connecting deeply, and Leading with intention and influence. Listen in and explore this new opportunity to ‘pause worthy’ questions!
Two Simple Words Can Change the World
August 24, 2018 11:30 - 21 minutes - 14.8 MBOn today’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant, I have the immense privilege of talking with Cheryl Rice, Coach, Speaker, Social Entrepreneur, and creator of the YOU MATTER MARATHON! The You Matter Marathon is a simple and powerful way to create a never-ending ripple of positive connection. You don’t want to miss this episode because listening to it can change how you show up in the world today. By introducing you to a single action you can begin performing right away, you can transform ...
Don’t be Vulnerable...Unless...
August 17, 2018 14:43 - 14 minutes - 10 MBVulnerability is scary and uncomfortable. That’s the definition of it, right? So why would we do it? Why would we put ourselves out there in a vulnerable way? Well, on today’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant I do my best to make the case because I honestly believe that it is through the sharing of our vulnerability that we create courageous connection. Having had an amazing experience at a seminar where I had the privilege of watching people share their vulnerability on stage, I know...
What Does it All Mean? Adventure Part IV
August 10, 2018 12:08 - 17 minutes - 11.9 MBOn today’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant, part IV of this series on the Unexpected Adventure, I take you deep inside my own inner world. After spending a week with Jerome in Atlanta, interviewing him so that we might gift him and his family a memoir of his life, I asked myself the question, “What was this about for me?” As you know, this endeavor was not part of my ‘work,’ but rather a pursuit of my heart. So I got curious with myself… Why did I feel called in this moment? What was...
What Constitutes a Life? - Unexpected Adventure Part III
August 03, 2018 10:30 - 24 minutes - 16.6 MBOn today’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant, join us for Part III of the Unexpected Adventure. After following a Courageous Connection formed on a train ride, I had the privilege of interviewing Jerome Dorn from IndaHouseMedia about his extraordinary life for the purposes of writing his memoirs. On today’s episode, I share the ‘Unexpected Doors’ that Jerome began opening for me as well as a glimpse into what defines the life of a person. What defines our life? What directs our life? J...
Unexpected Adventure - Part II
July 27, 2018 11:30 - 26 minutes - 17.9 MBWe are two days into the Unexpected Adventure and our heads are spinning. What began as the seedling of an idea to explore the life of a fascinating man I met on an Amtrak train has turned into an adventure with surprises and twists and turns we could never have anticipated. On today’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant, Part II of the Unexpected Adventure, my courageous co-traveler Lisa and I share how the experience of delving deeply and curiously into the life of someone else unlea...
The Unexpected Adventure - Mini Series Part I
July 20, 2018 11:00 - 14 minutes - 9.89 MBThis is totally new and I hope you will join me on this Unexpected Adventure! At the end of April, I met a traveler on an Amtrak train, someone absolutely fascinating. To be honest, I often meet people on trains or waiting in line somewhere or on planes, etc… And it is not even the first time I have exchanged contact information with someone (not in a romantic way!). But this one ranks as something more of a Courageous Connection leading to an Unexpected Adventure because never before have I...
Shhh! This is a SILENT Connection
June 29, 2018 14:08 - 12 minutes - 8.47 MBWhen is sharing silence the most powerful way we can connect? We are so acclimated in our culture to fill space with words and time with doing, that moments of silence, particularly during a conversation or when spending time with friends and family, can feel really awkward. However, in this week’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant I get curious about the opportunities for deep connection that lie in the negative space of silence. Whether you are someone who feels completely uncomfor...
How Humble Are Your Connections?
June 22, 2018 21:22 - 11 minutes - 7.95 MBThis past week I was in Costa Rica and had the humbling experience of not having the words to be able to communicate effectively with native speakers whose language is different from my own. There is so much to learn from this space of feeling humbled. On this week’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant I get curious about what it would mean to bring this level of humility into our everyday communications? What might we do better if we did not assume that someone who shares common vocabul...
How to Connect During Times of Loss and Sadness
June 15, 2018 12:59 - 11 minutes - 7.97 MBOn this week’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant I am taking on a topic that is very close to my personal world right now. Having just experienced the loss of my father and noticing many people around me who are also navigating the loss of loved ones or difficult times, I wanted to discuss what it means to courageously connect during times of loss. It is not an easy time for many of us and it has taken me a number of experiences of loss to find a means of connecting courageously. I hop...
How Courageously Connected Are You?
June 08, 2018 13:52 - 17 minutes - 12.4 MBThis week’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant is inspired by one of the courageous young leaders who participates in one of my corporate Leadership Development Programs. She asked, how do you create Courageous Connections? Her question was in fact inspired by personal experience with someone she knew who was very skilfull at this and she wanted to know more about how she could advance her own practice of connecting deeply. This episode is dedicated to this amazing young woman. In it, I...
How Emotions Create a Gateway to Courageous Connection
May 17, 2018 20:06 - 21 minutes - 15 MBI used to feel very awkward when people around me would be sad, angry, frustrated, filled with shame, or disappointed. I could give them a hug, but beyond that, I either wanted to get far away from them and their dark space or I tried all my tricks to get them out of the ‘bad mood’ they were in. None of this was really helpful for me or them. On today’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant I not only provide some useful strategies for showing up in these challenging moments but also discu...
Celebrate with Real Connections
May 11, 2018 15:48 - 17 minutes - 12.3 MBThe month of May is always filled with lots of celebrations… Mother’s Day, graduations, weddings, reunions, and more. The celebrations are great times for friends and family to come together, but in my experience, it is easy to just go through the motions of meeting and greeting and never feel connected to anyone. On today’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant, I offer an alternative. Questions are one of my primary tools for igniting a meaningful connection and in this episode, I sugges...
Does this Connection Belong in My Life?
May 04, 2018 11:30 - 17 minutes - 11.8 MBOn today’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant, we begin to discuss HOW we decide which connections to have and keep in our life and WHERE to place these connections in relationship to ourselves. The truth is that we do not have the same level of connection or relationship with each member of our family or everyone in our circle of friends and acquaintances. Much frustration can come when, for example, someone who brings out the worst in us or frustrates us occupies a lot of space in our...
Creating Courageous Online Connections
April 20, 2018 23:53 - 12 minutes - 8.63 MBAre you online? Are you proud - or uneasy about the number of online connections you have? On today’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant ,I am totally unconcerned with how many connections you have but the ways in which we create Courageous Connection online. What are Courageous Online Connections? What can be transformed through the formation of these connections? Curious….?
Connecting Through Dreams
April 13, 2018 18:38 - 37 minutes - 25.9 MBAre you a dreamer? I mean actually… do you dream at night and are you curious about what the sorted fragments of your dreams mean? On today’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant, I talk with Sharon Pastore and Cara Imperato, co-founders of Dream Girls, a private group dedicated to dream interpretation and enhancing one’s connection to self and life through dreams. In this dynamic conversation we discuss everything from how to form an affinity group among people who share a common interes...
Trade Some Virtual Connections for Some LIVE Ones
April 06, 2018 13:23 - 14 minutes - 9.75 MBOn today’s episode I am talking about those precious LIVE connections that await us beyond the screens of our cell phone and iPads. For me, some of my most beautiful connections happen when I am traveling and this is the case this week. Join me on Wonder Your Way to Brilliant for a journey through a series courageously beautiful connections formed on my recent travel to Colorado.
Courageous Leaders Prioritize Connections
March 30, 2018 11:30 - 35 minutes - 10.4 MBOn today’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant, I am thrilled to welcome Leigh Flemming into the conversation about Courageous Connections in the workplace. What blows me away about Leigh is how deeply committed he is to developing people and how willing he is to do the hard work of Reflective Leadership. Leigh realizes that leading people well does not happen by accident; it is an act of deep intention. In our conversation, Leigh shares about his experience taking on a leadership role, ...
Connect for Our Lives
March 23, 2018 15:35 - 16 minutes - 5.38 MBToday on Wonder Your Way to Brilliant I am talking about the incredible acts of courage that are taking place around the country as our children...students... join together to teach our nation’s leaders what it means to care well for people. Students, teachers, and families are joining together to call out the insanity that has ensued from our failure as a society to value each other over personal greed and self interest. It is a courageous act of connection and one that is near and dear to ...
Connecting at the Start of Your Meeting
March 16, 2018 16:36 - 16 minutes - 15.7 MBWe hold meetings in order to harness the collective energy, wisdom and creativity of everyone in the room, but often we fail to harness all the potential. While there are many reasons why, one is the failure to ensure that all the participants leave behind what they were working on before and find connection with each other. In today’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant, we offer strategies for creating courageous connections among colleagues and collaborators for a better experience at...
An End to Workplace Complaining
March 09, 2018 12:30 - 14 minutes - 5.99 MBHave you ever felt like people at work do too much complaining? Have you ever felt unsettled by the fact that you can find yourself complaining or being more negative at work than you wish you were? This month on Wonder Your Way to Brilliant we are talking about Courageous Connections in the workplace and this week I am taking on better ways for us to connect in the workplace. I am curious about what it would feel like to transform some of the workplace dialogue that focuses on complaini...
93,600 Hours of Your Life
March 02, 2018 13:00 - 20 minutes - 7.85 MBMany people spend more waking hours at work - I calculated it at a minimum of 93,600 hours for most people - than they do with their families or engaged in any other activity, but what’s the nature of the connection we have with the people we spend all that time with? In today’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant I first examine many of the stories that either consciously or unconsciously keep us from investing more in building connections with people at work. I share what I believe t...
10 Ways to Deepen Intimacy
February 25, 2018 12:30 - 19 minutes - 7.78 MBThe strongest relationships are those in which the partners make a commitment to intimacy. It is so easy to fall into the day to day routine of life or to regularly unload on your partner as the one who has the ‘privilege’ of absorbing all your exhaustion, overwhelm and frustration from life. Whereas intimacy comes so naturally during the early days of a relationship, we can unwittingly lose sight of the fact that intimacy is a choice and a practice, not something that happens automatically....
STOP the Blame Game
February 18, 2018 12:30 - 16 minutes - 6.66 MBHow often do you find yourself blaming, passing judgment on, or getting frustrated with your partner for not doing enough to make you feel better when you are upset? This has been a very familiar narrative for me AND one that I am working hard to break because not only is it very hurtful, but it is completely unfair to my partner. It also usually leaves me feeling way worse and eventually eats away at the trust and love in the relationship. So what’s the alternative? This is what I take on i...
A Context for Love
February 11, 2018 12:30 - 17 minutes - 6.77 MBOn this episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant, we continue the conversation about Courageous Intimate Connections with a discussion about The Context for Love. On one level, we can certainly imagine a relationship in which one partner acquiring two box seat tickets to a hockey game would be received as way more romantic and loving than preparing a candlelit dinner, but why is this the case and how can we use that understanding to deepen and grow an ever more connected and loving relationsh...
Is There a SCIENCE of Lasting Love?
February 04, 2018 12:30 - 20 minutes - 8.25 MBOn today’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant, I begin a month-long journey of thinking about Courageous Connections in our most intimate relationships. Having spent about 5 years coaching individuals and couples who were meeting challenges in their primary relationship significant enough to have them considering divorce and separation or already having begun this process, the one phrase I heard more than any other while I was coaching in these situations was, “I still love my spouse/...
Food or Connection, Which is More Essential?
January 28, 2018 12:30 - 18 minutes - 7.16 MBHave you ever felt really sad or pained by loss or rejection? And which of the following is more likely to occur… Someone tells you that you are taking too long recovering from a broken bone and you should just get over it - OR Someone tells you - or you tell yourself - that you are taking too long getting over the pain of emotional loss or rejection and you should just get over it and move on? In his book, Social: Why Our Brains are Wired to Connect, Matthew Lieberman explains that bo...
How a Single Moment Can Change Everything
January 21, 2018 21:41 - 18 minutes - 7.1 MBOn today’s episode of Wonder Your Way to Brilliant, I talk about how our lives can be transformed through brief and spontaneous moments of connection. As my kids will tell you, I am a connection junkie and will strike up a conversation with just about anyone anywhere. As I have been thinking about this in the context of this year-long exploration of Connections, I am present to the incredible richness this has added to my life. These are not connections that are likely to last a lifetime - s...
Stories that are FATAL in our Quest to Connect
January 14, 2018 13:00 - 18 minutes - 18.1 MBMaybe it’s just me, but I can think of loads of times that I have shied away from making a connection, told myself I couldn’t reconnect with someone because it had been too long, or let a story I had concocted in my head convince me that I shouldn’t connect with someone. I don’t really think it is just me. Despite the fact that the science is clear - we are social beings that are happier in connection, we come up with stories that can be fatal to building, rejuvenating and strengthening our ...
2018 - The Year of REAL Connections
January 09, 2018 12:30 - 27 minutes - 11.9 MBAs we walk through life on a daily basis, we pass and interact with many people. We may have hundreds or thousands of friends on social media, work in a building with hundreds or thousands of people, drive on the road with thousands of other people, and shop online where we do not even see or have awareness of the myriad people serving us. There are TONS of connections, but not always many REAL connections. And my sense is, we are starving for those real ones. I know I am. Join me on this 20...