Mindful Warrior Radio

On Episode 43 of Mindful Warrior Radio, we welcome Prime Hall— former Marine Raider, entrepreneur, master trainer, and founder of Deep End Fitness and the Underwater Torpedo League. Prime has trained and empowered thousands — from service members in Iraq and Afghanistan, to Olympic athletes, professional teams, and high-level executives. A human performance enthusiast, Prime helps people unlock results, turn obstacles into opportunities, and access flow under pressure. Prime has also authored the book, F.R.E.E. Your Mind and Unlocking Flow, sharing his journey from pain to purpose. Prime co-founded Operation Resilience, supporting veterans, Special Operations Forces, and professional athletes with mental health, transitions from military careers to civilian life, and securing community resources. Prime’s goal is to empower leaders and warriors at the top of their fields to create ripple effects of impact across the world. In this episode, Prime shares his personal story and the experiences that have shaped his work today. We explore the power of influence without authority, the role of breath in peak performance, and the mindset required to access flow under pressure. On leadership and influence without rank, Prime reflects on his time in the military, “I was a private for my first three years with no rank—I lost it every year. What I learned from that experience is that I didn’t have rank, but I still needed to get things done and work well with others. You don’t need rank to lead. You just need to find an in, a common ground, and a mutual respect so you can line up shoulder to shoulder with anyone and complete the mission.” Reflecting on moments of chaos, Prime shares how critical it is to unlock performance quickly and intentionally, “Whether we were on a mission and suddenly got attacked, or we were inside our compound and got attacked, we would need to go from just going through your day on autopilot to, like, Boom! Now we need to really unlock performance fast. How do we do that? Focus, relaxation, economy of motion, flow versus drag, and efficient breathing. But what I noticed is that whenever chaos would break loose, like in Afghanistan for example, the first instinct is to move and do whatever you think is most important first. What I learned over time is that the most important thing under chaos is finding some cover, getting behind a wall where you’re protected for a second, taking a deep breath, and then prioritizing your thoughts: what’s most important now, what really needs to happen first, and what’s the most optimal way to do that?” On the concept of “drag,” Prime expands beyond the physical to the mental, “We talk about physical drag, but there’s also mental drag—the stories we attach to ourselves: ‘I’m not a good swimmer,’ or ‘I failed at dive school.’ The first step is awareness. When we can notice and acknowledge that mental drag, we can start partnering with the mind instead of fighting against it. The mind’s job is to keep us alive and assign meaning to everything. When we become aware of that, we can begin to work with our mind, not against it.” To learn more about Mindful Warrior and Mindful Warrior Radio, follow us on Instagram @therealmindfulwarrior and visit www.mindfulwarrior.com.

On Episode 41 of Mindful Warrior Radio, we welcome Dr. Lisa Firestone — Clinical Psychologist, Director of Research and Education at the Glendon Association, and Senior Editor at PsychAlive.org. Dr. Firestone is the coauthor of numerous articles and book chapters and has written several books with her father, Robert Firestone, including The Self Under Siege, Conquer Your Critical Inner Voice, Creating a Life of Meaning and Compassion, and Sex and Love in Intimate Relationships. Her extensive clinical training and research in the areas of suicide and violence have led to the development of several widely used assessments, including the Firestone Assessment of Self-Destructive Thoughts (FAST), the Firestone Assessment of Suicide Intent (FASI), and the Firestone Assessment of Violent Thoughts (FAVT), applied with both adults and adolescents. In this insightful conversation, Dr. Firestone explores how reframing our relationship with stress can transform our quality of life, presence, and performance. If you’ve ever wanted to transform the way you think about stress—and learn how to make it work for you instead of against you—this episode is a must-listen. She explains that “we’re all going to experience stress in our lives, but when we shift our mindset about it, our entire experience changes. Stress isn’t just one thing—it’s how we perceive it. If we see it as exciting and challenging, our bodies respond very differently than if we see it as overwhelming or life-threatening.” Dr. Firestone challenges the common misconception that mindset work is simply about “thinking positively.” She notes that “mindset isn’t about tricking ourselves into thinking positively—it’s about changing how our nervous system responds. If you interpret a situation as dangerous, your body goes into fight-or-flight or even shutdown mode. But if you see it as a challenge, you can overcome it. It can be motivating, energizing, and even improve your performance.” One of her favorite techniques for reframing stress is surprisingly simple. “Replacing the word ‘stress’ with ‘challenge’ can be powerful. A challenge is something you can choose to take on, approach with curiosity, and even decide to walk away from. That simple reframe reminds us that we have agency, and that we can choose how we respond.” She also shares practical wisdom for building resilience over time. “We can train ourselves to respond differently to stress. That means growing our ability to handle it with self-compassion, preparing where we can, and letting go of what we can’t control. The more flexible and adaptable we are, the more we expand our boundaries—and the better we perform in all areas of life.” You can learn more about Dr. Lisa Firestone’s work at www.drlisafirestone.com, www.psychalive.org, and www.glendon.org. To learn more about Mindful Warrior and Mindful Warrior Radio, follow us on Instagram @therealmindfulwarrior and visit www.mindfulwarrior.com.

On episode thirty-nine of Mindful Warrior Radio, I host Aleca Hughes McPherson, Head of Portfolio and Platform at Highland. Aleca brings deep experience in strategy, operations, and leadership—supporting founders and scaling early-stage companies. She began her career at Catalant Technologies, rising from sales to a key role in strategic operations. A former captain of Yale’s Women’s Ice Hockey team, Aleca also founded the Mandy Schwartz Foundation, honoring her late teammate, and serves on the board of the Hockey Humanitarian Award—an honor she once received. In this episode, we dive into how Aleca helps build strong leaders, winning teams, and healthy, high-growth companies.In our interview, Aleca shares the impact of sport on her career today. “Through sport, my parents taught us so many foundational life lessons. It’s such a big part of who I am—and who my brothers are. I imagine it’s the same for you with water polo. Within 10 seconds of being on the field, the ice, or in the pool, you know who someone is. Do they pass the puck? Do they backcheck? Are they excited when their teammate scores? I learned those lessons playing pickup hockey with my brothers, often with a bit of a chip on my shoulder—no one passed me the puck, so I had to go get it and make a name for myself. That mindset really propelled me forward.”Aleca explains what Highland looks for in a founder. “At Highland, when we’re evaluating a founder, I think about how I show up to those conversations and what we’re really looking for. One of the key things we look for is strong founder–market fit. You often hear about product–market fit, which is of course important. But for us, founder–market fit is equally critical. Who is this individual? Why are they pursuing this particular problem or opportunity? What makes them so deeply passionate about it that they’re willing to go all in?”Aleca shares one of Highland’s most frequently asked questions when evaluating a founder. “One of the first questions we ask ourselves when evaluating an opportunity is: Is this a founder I would work for? It’s really a question of ‘work with’ or ‘work for.’ Like—would you leave your current role to go work for this founder? I ask myself that, and so do our general partners, some of whom have been in the business for 25 or 30 years. We have a concentrated portfolio and make a very limited number of investments per fund, so this isn’t just a throwaway question—we take it very seriously.”To learn more about Mindful Warrior and Mindful Warrior Radio, follow us on Instagram @therealmindfulwarrior or visit www.mindfulwarrior.com.

On episode thirty-seven of Mindful Warrior Radio, I host Marina Mayer, Co-CEO & Founder of SWAY, a firm dedicated to building resilience in organizations with bodies in mind. With 18 years of experience in multidisciplinary environments, Marina is an Organizational Development and Leadership Psychologist specializing in talent strategy, executive coaching, and scaling cohesive organizations. Her award-winning research, How Movement Moves Us, explores the untapped potential of the body in facilitating the cognitive, emotional, and social processes of leadership and high performance. When asked why the body plays a critical role in leadership performance, Marina explains, “Before our brain has a chance to form a thought or generate a behavioral response, all input first enters through the body—processed by our sensory perceptions and neurons—traveling up to the brain, where it first reaches the emotional center before moving to the thinking center and finally emerging as behaviors and actions. To create true transformation and meaningful intervention, we can’t separate what is inherently connected.” She further addresses the interconnection between the body, mind, and performance, “But by only talking about bodies in the space of wellness, we’re essentially saying, ‘Use your brain to perform and your body to unwind.’ And I think that’s false. We can either try to perform by shutting down our bodies and ignoring what they need, or we can recognize our bodies as partners in performance.” Marina highlights the impact of bodily engagement in daily life, “When we sit at a computer all day without engaging the body, we miss opportunities to enhance our performance, sharpen our cognition, and enhance our connections with others.” To learn more about Mindful Warrior and Mindful Warrior Radio, follow us on Instagram @therealmindfulwarrior or visit www.mindfulwarrior.com.

Maggie Steffens: Captaining Olympic TeamsOn episode thirty-five of Mindful Warrior Radio, we welcome Maggie Steffens. Maggie is a professional water polo player and four-time Olympian on Team USA. Named to the Women’s National Team at 16, Maggie has continued to represent her country at every major international championship since. At 19, she was a member of the 2012 gold-winning squad at the London Olympics, where she played alongside her older sister, making them a truly dynamic duo! Not only did the Steffens sisters bring home gold, but Maggie tied the Olympic record with 21 goals and earned the title of team MVP.Four years later, Maggie led Team USA to a second consecutive gold medal as the captain of the U.S. Women’s Water Polo team at the Rio Olympics. In 2019, she made history by leading the team to their first-ever three consecutive FINA World Championship titles. A year later, at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she helped the team secure yet another gold medal.Maggie won three National Championships (2014, 2015, and 2017) at Stanford University where she graduated with a degree in science, technology, and society in 2017. She also earned NCAA Tournament MVP honors, and received multiple accolades, including MPSF (Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) Player of the Year.Maggie continued her studies at Stanford, completing a master’s degree in management, science, and engineering and then went on to play professionally in Budapest and Barcelona before returning to Long Beach, CA in the summer of 2019 to train for her third Olympic games.On Mindful Warrior Radio, Maggie tells us that the goal of leadership as a team captain is to “trust yourself enough to let go and trust your preparation.” She explains that the advantages of doing so are being able “to be yourself, not only out of the water but also in it, whether it’s taking a risk, going for the shot, or swimming a bit faster when it matters. It’s about building trust in yourself, and in turn, trusting others—your teammates, your coaches, and the shared mission of the team. Reaching that level of trust is hard, but it’s a big part of what allows your light to shine. After all, it’s hard to let that light shine if you don’t have trust in yourself, others, and a common purpose.”About the leadership challenges of being a team captain, she says, ‘I’m constantly thinking about the team, even as I’m going to bed. Of course, I’m focused on how I can improve, but I also ask, what does the team need? What does each player need? How can I approach each situation? Being captain has really emphasized that responsibility. I’m always thinking about the team; that’s just who I am. And it can be challenging to balance fostering team development and harmony while still putting in the effort to become the person I want to be.”To learn more about Mindful Warrior and Mindful Warrior Radio, please follow us on Instagram @therealmindfulwarrior and check out our website at www.mindfulwarrior.com

Jay Glazer: Relentless HealingOn episode thirty-three of Mindful Warrior Radio, we welcome Jay Glazer, NFL Insider for FOX Sports’ FOX NFL SUNDAY and part of FOX FOOTBALL THURSDAY. Jay is renowned for breaking major NFL stories year-round, prides himself on hard work, and strives to deliver accurate reporting. He also hosts Bellator MMA fights on the Paramount Network. Jay brings a unique perspective from his background in UFC hosting and analysis. A natural on Podcasts and in front of the camera, he is fun, authentic, and outgoing. Jay’s unique personality always shines through in intimate conversations as well as on the biggest of stages.Jay initiated the first MMA training program for professional athletes which is now used by over 1,000 athletes. Recently, he and his team trained All-Pro athletes including Von Miller, Aaron Rodgers, Odell Beckham, Bobby Wagner, Andrew Whitworth, Jadeveon Clowney, Lane Johnson, Cam Jordan, and the entire New Orleans Saints team at Unbreakable, his elite performance training center in West Hollywood. Each spring, Jay directs NFL training camps to prepare players physically and psychologically for their team camps.With all his accomplishments, Jay is most proud of launching MVP (Merging Vets & Players) in 2015, a charitable organization that supports veterans and former athletes in transitioning to civilian life. MVP hosts workouts and counseling sessions both in person and virtually across several cities. (You can learn more about MVP at vetsandplayers.org.)On this episode of Mindful Warrior Radio, Jay talks openly about how his healing journey taught him to love himself from the inside out.He shares this insight from a recent healing retreat:"This monk told me, 'I need you to sit in your pain.'”I said, “I am with my pain every day.”He said, “No. You experience your pain every day; I need you to sit in it.”And I was like, “I've never heard it put like that before.'"He also unpacks the healing power of moving through pain. "A lot of times, you don't want to do it because it's painful. But to get to anything good, you've got to go through something bad. Everything I have experienced has made me unbreakable: push your breaking point, come through the other side of that tunnel, and nothing else can break or hurt you."And ultimately, what surprised him the most from his healing journey was “how many people have been hiding this and how many have expressed gratitude.” He says, “I've had a bunch of people tell me I saved their lives. They were contemplating suicide until they read Unbreakable or heard me on my podcast. Something resonated; they felt they were not alone, and they changed their minds. That's the coolest thing."To learn more about Mindful Warrior and Mindful Warrior Radio, please follow us on Instagram @therealmindfulwarrior and check out our website at www.mindfulwarrior.com.

On episode thirty–one of Mindful Warrior Radio, we welcome Dr. Lisa Firestone. Dr. Firestone is a Clinical Psychologist and the Director of Research and Education at the Glendon Association and Senior Editor at PsychAlive.org. She is the coauthor of numerous articles and book chapters and a coauthor with her father Robert Firestone on several books including The Self Under Siege, Conquer Your Critical Inner Voice, Creating a Life of Meaning and Compassion, and Sex and Love in Intimate Relationships.Her involvement in clinical training and research in the areas of suicide and violence resulted in the following assessments: Firestone Assessment of Self-destructive Thoughts (FAST) and (FASI) and the Firestone Assessment of Violent Thoughts (FAVT) for adults and adolescents.A national and international trainer and presenter, Dr. Firestone speaks on topics including couple relations, parenting, and suicide and violence prevention, assessment, and treatment. She continues to serve as a clinical psychologist in private practice and a consultant on the management of high-risk clients.Dr. Firestone joined me for an informative and insightful conversation on how the critical inner voice presents and behaves.Here is how she describes the negative impact of the critical inner voice. “In our adult lives, the critical inner voice holds us back a lot. It encourages us to engage in behavior like self-sabotaging. It tries to talk us out of taking risks that are positive and in our own self-interest that would open our world or expand our abilities.” And she normalizes the feelings that accompany change. “There's no change without anxiety,” she tells me.Dr. Firestone highlights the importance of identifying the critical inner voice. She says, “The biggest thing is we need to identify it. We need to understand what's our critical inner voice and what's us. And recognize when we're not on our own side because we cannot do anything to move on from it when we're still just believing it. If you're still just believing all the ways it's defining you, you're not going to make it.”You can learn more about Dr. Lisa Firestone’s work at www.drlisafirestone.com, www.psychalive.org, and www.glendon.org.To learn more about Mindful Warrior and Mindful Warrior Radio please follow us on Instagram @therealmindfulwarrior and check out our website at www.mindfulwarrior.com.

On episode twenty-nine of Mindful Warrior Radio, we welcome Alex Krongard. Alex served in the U.S. Navy for over 30 years, primarily in joint special operations commands and the Navy SEAL Teams. He was a member of SEAL Teams 1, 2, and 7, as well as the Naval Special Warfare Development Group. Alex was the first commanding officer of SEAL Team 7, which he commanded in Iraq from the late fall of 2003 to the spring of 2004. Later he commanded Naval Special Warfare Group 1 with responsibility for the training and readiness of the four West coast SEAL Teams and associated logistics and support units.Alex’s final military jobs were as a counterterrorism director on the National Security Council staff in Washington, D.C., deputy commander of Combined Joint Task Force—Horn of Africa in Djibouti—and Deputy Operations Officer for the U.S. Africa Command. Alex retired in September 2016, as a Rear Admiral, Lower Half.Following retirement, Alex worked as an investment banker with DC Advisory in their San Francisco office, predominately in the cybersecurity and government security services sectors before serving as CEO to The COMMIT Foundation for two years. COMMIT assists military service members with their transitions to post-service life.Alex grew up outside Baltimore, Maryland and graduated from Princeton University with a degree in English Literature and from the National War College with a Masters in National Security Strategy.Alex joined me for an honest, humble, and real conversation about his time in the military. When asked about enacting change through culture, Alex shares, “The scary ones I've run into are cultures that won't change…No matter what you do, you cannot change the culture. And sometimes you're not in the right place. Or you're not in the right job to do it. Sometimes it's a type of work where the traditions are so set in stone that you cannot do anything about it. I think you must know when to say, I can't do this. For elite performers I think that's almost impossible. A lot of elite performers have not just struggled but failed and ruined their reputations because they weren't willing to say, look, I just can't do it.”When asked how you cultivate trust within teams Alex talks about shared knowledge. “Buster Howe, a two-star Royal Marine from the UK, gave us this great talk on trust. And he said trust is adding reliability. Meaning, I can be relied on to get something done. Ability: I'm able to do it. And intimacy. Intimacy being—we can have a conversation about this and not pull any punches and divide it by the perception of self-interest. So, if someone can get nothing from something and they're going to do it for you anyway and they're reliable, capable, and they're intimate with you, that's high trust.” To learn more about Mindful Warrior and Mindful Warrior Radio please follow us on Instagram @therealmindfulwarrior and check out our website at www.mindfulwarrior.com

On episode twenty-seven of Mindful Warrior Radio, we welcome Dr. Lou Cozolino. Dr. Cozolino practices psychotherapy and consulting psychology in Beverly Hills, California. He received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from UCLA and an M.T.S. from Harvard Divinity School. Lou has been a professor at Pepperdine since 1986 and lectures around the world on psychotherapy, neuroscience, trauma, and attachment. With more than 30 years of experience as a psychotherapist and coach, Dr. Cozolino connects, attunes, and interacts with adults, adolescents, and families as they face a wide variety of life’s challenges. Working primarily from a psychodynamic model of treatment, Lou also employs strategies and techniques from other forms of therapy, including CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy), family systems, and humanistic/existential therapeutic interventions. In our recent interview Dr. Cozolino unpacks his theory of and approach to executive functioning. He says, “I was doing psychotherapy, and I thought, well, you can't really talk about executive functioning as a cognitive process alone because the cognitive and emotional networks are all interwoven in the brain.” Dr. Cozolino also tells us that vulnerability is the best place to start when developing executive function. He says we all need “to equate vulnerability with strength. To move forward, you can't hold on too rigidly to the ideas and beliefs that got you to where you are. So, those things got you here, but they're not going to get you to the next step. But people tend to continue to repeat the things that have gotten them to success because it's hard to imagine that they could change and get even more successful.” He also describes the haunting feeling that can lurk inside even the most successful people. He says, “If you're a CEO, you're already successful, but you're not as successful as perhaps you feel you could be. You have this instinct that you have a kind of dark passenger: Like there's something inside of you that's keeping you from moving forward. And I've had some CEOs tell me that they've even personified it like it's a dark man that visits them at night...and that's just the projection of something inside. So, one of the greatest joys in life is finding someone who's successful but is haunted. And figuring out what else is going on inside of them so that they can free themselves from that. So, they can be done with that and move forward and not just work for a living, but really love working.” Dr. Cozolino explains what happens to executive functioning when we are in a state of fear. “I try to teach everyone that if you are afraid—or if you're highly aroused or activated—that the first executive system inhibits the other two executive systems. When you're scared, there's no real learning.” To learn more about Mindful Warrior and Mindful Warrior Radio please follow us on Instagram @therealmindfulwarrior and check out our website at www.mindfulwarrior.com

On episode twenty-five of Mindful Warrior Radio, we welcome Caroline Burckle, an Olympic athlete, performance coach, and entrepreneur. After her Olympic career, Caroline went on to chase the next high. Even though she had moved on from sports to become an entrepreneur, the desire for validation and feeling she was “not enough” moved with her into her new profession. It was then that Caroline began to explore the interconnection between her bouts of depression, her physical injuries, and her mental health. She figured there must be a better way “to do this.” By this, she meant a deeper understanding of the somatic connection between mind and body. Caroline pursued her interest in the mind-body connection with zeal and went on to earn a Masters in Sport Psychology She also started a company with fellow Olympic medalist, Rebecca Soni, to help youth athletes improve their mental wellness and preparedness. Together, they hired a team of Olympians to mentor and support up-and-coming youth to achieve greater mental-emotional well-being as athletes. Today, Caroline wants everyone to know they can rewrite their script by firing on all cylinders—physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Her professional work blends creativity, empathy, and movement. Caroline believes feelings are information, not a prescription. When we learn how to understand what our feelings are telling us in both our body and mind, we can work with them, not against them. Ultimately, Caroline believes that the goal isn’t just to become great, but to know who you are when you become great. In our recent interview, Caroline talks about the challenges of competing with a dysregulated nervous system. She says, “My worst races...my worst performances were when I was either in fight or flight, or in shut down. Both of those ends of the spectrum can be detrimental to any athlete.” She also describes her post-athletic career healing process. “No one is going to save you. This is up to you. And you have to figure this out and go through this process. And it was not pretty. There were months and months of feeling like I was getting worse. And then you realize you get worse before you get better.” Caroline also reminds us of the importance of identifying behavioral patterns. “If you don’t address it at some point, it will catch up to you because the same patterns you can use to compete and perform well do not necessarily serve you in everyday life.” To learn more about Mindful Warrior and Mindful Warrior Radio please follow us on Instagram @therealmindfulwarrior and check out our website at www.mindfulwarrior.com

On episode twenty-three of Mindful Warrior Radio, I am joined by Suzi Landolphi, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with extensive experience working with veterans. Most recently, Suzi worked as a Senior PATHH Guide at Boulder Crest Retreat (BCR) in Bluemont, Virginia, a privately funded retreat for combat veterans, their families, and first responders. Suzi is one of the co-creators of BCR’s signature program: Progressive and Alternative Training for Healing Heroes (PATHH). PATHH is the nation’s first curriculum-based retreat with eighteen months of follow-up support based on the science of Post-Traumatic Growth (PTG). Suzi’s understanding of and expertise in childhood trauma and it effects on adult development is a cornerstone of the success of the PATHH program. In addition to BCR, Suzi has consulted for The Wounded Warrior Project, Save A Warrior, Veterans 360, The EOD Warrior Foundation, Operation Mend, and Team Rubicon. She is also on the Advisory Board of Merging Vets and Players (MVP), an organization dedicated to connecting and supporting elite athletes and veterans. In 2007, Suzi founded BIG Heart Ranch and Farm (BHR) in Malibu, California she works with clients of all ages to form deep connections with animals to facilitate healing from the effects of trauma. While managing BHR, Suzi also developed an equine therapy model called Horse Inspired Growth and Healing (HIGH) which includes both ground and mounted activities to nurture healing through trauma and to support holistic wellness. In addition, Suzi was the first Clinical Director of Alo House Recovery Centers, a progressive strengths-based, dual-diagnosis treatment community with facilities in Malibu and Los Angeles. Alo and Suzi continue to support veterans and first responders by creating new treatment programs housed at a working horse ranch.Before becoming a licensed therapist, Suzi received a BA in Theater from Middlebury College and worked as a theater, video, and film producer/director. She hosted her own television and radio programs in Los Angeles and is a frequent guest on national talk shows, including The Oprah Winfrey Show.Suzi and I talked about managing life transitions, the connection between self-confidence and self-value, how our childhood impacts every part of our adult lives, how to mitigate triggers and emotions, the role that animals–and horses, in particular–play in healing, the importance of trusting your spirit rather than your thoughts and feelings, and the power of sharing your spirit with others.Suzi talks about the power of self-value: “Confidence comes from value. If your value is about winning, if your value is about the uniform, if your value is about your title and the people you hang out with and then all of that is gone, then most of your value is what you do and not who you are.”Suzi reflects on the human spirit: “Spirit is the basis of our principles. It shouldn’t be our thoughts. It shouldn’t be our feelings. I may be the only therapist who says I don’t give a shit about your thoughts, and I don’t give a shit about your feelings. I care what you do! And spirit is ‘do.’ It’s what you do! It’s how you walk the surface. It’s what you say. It’s who you are with. It’s how you are with yourself and others. That is spirit.”To learn more about Mindful Warrior and Mindful Warrior Radio please follow us on Instagram @therealmindfulwarrior and check out our website at www.mindfulwarrior.com

On Episode Twenty-One of Mindful Warrior Radio, I am joined by Lauren Monroe, an accomplished musician, healer, noted author, and speaker who is also a globally recognized advocate for mental health awareness, PTSD therapies, suicide prevention and crisis healing. These powerful themes are echoed in the music she and husband Rick Allen—drummer for Def Leppard—share to awaken hearts, ease suffering, and activate the souls of those who are ready to create powerful change. Through the Raven Drum Foundation, Lauren and Rick have inspired thousands of people in need with a specific focus on veterans. Lauren embodies warmth and wisdom. She welcomes listeners into her heart with her insights, healing presence, and compassion. I promise, you will want to attend her next live performance!In this episode, Lauren and I discuss a range of topics: how to leverage the intersection of science and spirituality; how to enact the healing power of energy medicine, storytelling, and artistry; how to create and hold healing space; how to amplify heart, intuition, and authenticity; how to pause and pace yourself as a creative; how to protect yourself as a healer and empath; and how to allow yourself to experience the significance a human moment.Mindful Warrior is hosted by Kami Craig, a former elite athlete, Olympic champion, and performance and culture design coach at Mindful Warrior.Our guest on Episode Twenty-One of Mindful Warrior Radio, Lauren Monroe, is an accomplished musician, healer, noted author, and speaker who is also a globally recognized advocate for mental health awareness, PTSD therapies, suicide prevention and crisis healing.Lauren reflects on the power of being with vulnerability to experience flow: “I think some of the most powerful things I’ve been able to do is to be in that state of vulnerability—being afraid on stage in front of people and just wait. Just wait… And I’ve learned that if I just stand there and wait, it’s like a magnet: everyone starts to wait. And this pregnant pause of energy starts to happen. And as soon as I start to feel that begin to integrate, I can start talking and things begin to flow.”Lauren talks about the process of opening to her audience: “For me, being open is to immediately check in with my body because that is a doorway. So, for me, it’s the beginning place, or starting place, to achieve openness when I feel like I am not. To take a breath. I am telling myself to relax and physically open.”To learn more ways to experience and support Lauren Monroe’s mission please visit the https://laurenmonroe.com/ and https://ravendrumfoundation.org/.Enjoy Lauren Monroe’s new album, Messages from Aphrodite Storyteller Edition. Click the following link: https://laurenmonroe.ffm.to/mfa_storyteller.If you enjoyed today’s episode, please take the opportunity to share with a friend, follow Mindful Warrior Radio, and leave a review!To learn more about Mindful Warrior and Mindful Warrior Radio please follow us on Instagram @therealmindfulwarrior and check out our website at www.mindfulwarrior.com