Asheville Awake Podcast

After 30 years in the fashion & beauty industries, our guest, Anastasia Piper shifted to the non-profit sector in Development. Then, she coached and consulted on building community through positive change and transition. Formally the creator of Spirit of Change in Los Angeles and San Diego, California, Anastasia recently moved to Asheville, North Carolina to expand into Spiritual growth through Healing Transmissions as an inspirational intellectual medium. Her mission is to empower...

It wasn’t until she quit her day job, got quiet and still, and asked the Universe to bring more purpose and meaning to her jewelry that artist Margaret Goodson Graham really began to make what she was meant to make: Centering Pendants. Her new line of work is incredibly inspiring. Drawing from her experiences with yoga and meditation, her journey in art began at a young age: appreciating artwork by M.C. Escher, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Ansel Adams on the walls of her childhood home; looking...

Annie Riker is an artist and designer who loves exploring mountains, forests, coffee shops, and the unknown. She works from her home studio and lives with her husband and son in beautiful Asheville, NC. For 15 years, she served clients in design firms and ad agencies, and for a big nonprofit in Washington DC. After the birth of her son, she felt a strong desire to spend more time with him—but that meant making the tough decision to leave her big career behind, and it also made her realize...

Owner and founder of Namaste in Nature, a brilliant Asheville based company that creates unique experiences that combine yoga, meditation, and hiking into one guided trip. Lauded by Forbes, Asheville Citizen-Times, Mountain Xpress, and Romantic Asheville as “the thing to do when you come to Asheville”. This 'hippie job' that Miranda created for herself is quickly becoming a household name in North Carolina and beyond. And that has everything to do with Miranda Peterson. She is a powerful...

Whether she’s serving as a cultural ambassador in Thailand, studying traditional Indian Classical Music in India, leading a song circle, or reading Zen Tarot cards at Earth Magick downtown, Meredith’s path is one that embraces wholeness and cultivates divination in the present moment. In this interview, we weave our way through a myriad of topics that permeate the human condition and invoke the truth about the sweet creature that is our body and the role of the mind as a hurricane like...

Joy Resor is a local author and founder of Joy on Your Shoulders (J.O.Y.S) is an evolving company dedicated to inspiring changes in ourselves to create changes in our world. Joy healed into her given name after 53 years, and her being and work in the world are called to inspire peace, love, and joy. Her books are blessing readers all over the place - hooray! 1. Go In Joy! An Alphabetical Adventure, a book of essays and poems to inspire joy. 2. Go In Joy! Venture to Your Center - Journal...

Sam Kearney a professional artist, nerd, and neurodiverse human who loves to cheer on other creatives! She believes the world always needs more beauty, more color, and more contrasting and interesting perspectives. If you’re an Appalachian nerd hiker, you may know her work from Fox & Fir Design (www.foxandfirdesign.com), an environmental project that helps support eco-non-profits across the Southeast. After more than a few heartfelt coffee/tea chats with creatives from all different mediums...

Recorded in Chaing Mai, Thailand, this episode explores the subtle healing magic that is Thai Massage or Thai Yoga Bodywork. An instrumental teacher in the field of Thai Massage, Michael Sitzer dives deep into what Thai Massage really is, what it's like to lead a retreat in Thailand, and how the practice of Thai Massage can be a spiritual path. Michael has been exploring and sharing exceptional bodywork for two decades... Starting his professional career with a ten-year immersion at the...

Jessica Chilton of SPARK (www.JessicaChiltonSPARK.com) is a Business Coach and Expressive Arts Therapist who has helped thousands of people around the world to love and liberate their truest self and unleash the work they’re uniquely designed to do. Through her signature program, Love Liberate Launch (www.LoveLiberateLaunch.com), Jessica blends business building with spiritual growth, personal transformation, and creative expression to help rising entrepreneurs create the business they were...

Caroline Whatley and Erin McGrady are the team behind Authentic Asheville. They are Squarespace web designers, photographers and travel writers, advocates for National Parks and public lands, adventurers on the lookout for safe and friendly LGBTQ places and spaces, and trail runner enthusiasts with a penchant for craft beer. They love meeting new people. Say hey at www.authenticasheville.com Learn about this amazing couple as we chat about: 1. How Authentic Asheville came to be. 2. The best...

My guest this week is Lightworker Shea Olinger. This testimonial captures it all. “Humble, kind, grounded, intuitive, genuine, these are just some of the qualities that describe Shea. Receiving a massage from her is not simply bodywork. Shea is holistic in her approach in that she tends to both your physical needs as well as your emotional and spiritual concerns. Her touch is magical and her intuitive sense of knowing just what areas of the body are calling for attention and what’s needed...

Chronic back pain and the desire to feel truly at home in her own skin led Michèle to take lessons and train to be a teacher of the Alexander Technique. This simple and proven education in the “how” of coordinating body-mind, increases ease of movement by redirecting excessive tension into useful energy. A common result is relief from pain and distress caused by everyday habits, accompanied by a simultaneous increase in awareness/sensitivity while reducing reactivity. Michèle completed the...

Suzannah Tebbe Davis is a contemporary medicine woman who weaves a diverse blend of mind/body/spirit offerings based on over two decades of study in indigenous wisdom traditions and western theoretical practices. Suzannah has also held key leadership positions in social justice issues and systems change. In addition to her private practice, where she offers workshops, retreats, and ceremonies internationally for individuals and groups, Suzannah serves in a leadership role within Asheville...

As a licensed professional counselor, Pripo offers a diverse practice that balances the connection between mind, body, and spirit. He was a practicing massage and bodywork therapist for 18 years. He lived, studied and worked at the Esalen Institute, a renowned human potential learning center in Big Sur, CA, and is a certified Esalen massage practitioner. Pripo also teaches Professional Ethics courses and Somatic Psychology at the Asheville School of Massage and Yoga. His main goal is to help...

Paige’s warm and welcoming style will invite you to stretch, strengthen, balance, move energy, release stress and tension, and cultivate a sense of wholeness you can take with you back into the world. She specializes in gentle, slow-flow, yin, and restorative yoga, including meditation, relaxation, and simple breathwork. In today’s episode, we explore how yoga can be a source of inspiration and support to nourish the body and mind regardless of how messy life can get. Paige reminds us that...

“I wish that we all remember that while we’re connecting with nature, we ARE nature.” ~ Tanya Casteel Tanya takes us on a wild ride through the world of Shamanic Journey Meditations and Cosmic Spirit Animals. We explore the trickster energy of Raven and dive into the details of her latest project with creating Spirit Animal Tarot Cards. www.tanyacasteel.com We chat about: 1. Capturing Spirit Animals with Cosmic Painting and Shamanic Journey Meditation 2. Tarot Card Deck With Wild Messengers...

JoJo believes strongly in the use of prayer and sound for recognizing and remembering our wholeness and dedicates his life to the practice of these arts. JoJo has been a student of yoga, meditation, holistic health, chanting, hand percussion, and fire-Tending for 20 years. Using sound in the exploration of consciousness to connect hearts and minds is his gift and mission. JoJo also facilitates sacred cacao ceremonies employing the ancient remedies of Cacao and Kirtan as our faithful...

A Yoga Teacher, Naturalist & Aromatherapist, Jessica has spent most of her life seeking balance and living in harmony with nature. She is also a yoga therapist, mentor and an avid believer in the power of holistic living to create the life that you have always dreamed of. Our conversation today was full of awesome topics. We talked about aromatherapy, trees, forest therapy, yoga, Jessica’s upcoming retreat to India, and best of all– I learned about Jessica’s story and how she came to find...

Join me as Krystal takes us on a journey that supports and validates the significance of the Sacred Feminine and the importance of women and female values as a way to heal the planet. As a teacher, mother, and healer, Krystal embodies love, wisdom, and compassion. Krystal’s respect for sexuality as sensual, natural and sacred – is empowering and inspiring. We discuss how honoring the Sacred Feminine means especially valuing the innate power and wisdom of woman’s mind, body, and soul, as well...

"Where do we find the optimal place of the nervous system and how do we find it? I believe that one of the ways we find it is through slow mindful practices." ~Kristine Kaoverii Weber Kristine and I dive into the nervous system and tease out the definition of yoga. We discuss: 1. The history of yoga in the west 2. Yoga as a way to build resiliency in the nervous system 3. Yoga for population health 4. Slow yoga vs. yoga as exercise You can find Kristine Kaoverii Weber at www.subtleyoga.com...