Shows
Liberated BeingSelf-Love as a Language of the Body with Vanessa ScottoThis talk is an excerpt from a longer guest teacher gathering with Vanessa Scotto which took place on May 15th 2020. Vanessa Scotto may sound familiar to you- she is a very dear friend of mine the co-creator of a podcast we ran together for 4 years titled Bliss and Grit which was dedicated to embodied awakening. She is a Teacher, Mentor and Coach in private practice who has dedicated over two decades to exploring the dynamic interplay of the Mind, Body and Spirit. She holds two masters degrees in both Traditional Chinese Medicine and Transpersonal Psychology; and is...2020-11-1221 min
Bliss and GritA Fond Farewell and What's NextWe are sadjoy to announce that this is the final episode of Bliss+Grit. Coincidentally it's publishing almost exactly at the 4-year mark of when we began. This has been such a fulfilling project for both of us. It's created huge shifts in our personal evolution and a chance for us to connect as friends who live long distance to one another. But most importantly it's meant so much to hear from all of you that it's also had a useful and beneficial impact on your lives. It's been so touching to receive so much feedback that this little...2020-08-2600 minBliss and GritYou're Not Doing Anything WrongIn our recent conversation with Matt Kahn we talked about his first golden rule: you've done nothing wrong. It's timely then that we both are up against some old internal narratives about things we have done "wrong" or that are "wrong" about ourselves. As always, we are examining these truisms from the inside out. In this episode we look at what hooks us into narratives about wrong-ness, and ways to work with that when it arises. How do we un-velcro ourselves from seeing ourselves as the thoughts or beliefs? How do we invite genuine tenderness in for the one...2020-05-0500 minBliss and GritSpiritual Maturity and Surrender: A Conversation with Matt KahnMatt Kahn is a spiritual teacher and empathic healer who is the author of the bestselling books Whatever Arises, Love That, and Everything is Here to Help You. His newest book, The Universe Always Has a Plan: The 10 Golden Rules of Letting Go is what we gathered together to discuss today. Currently, we are all living through a global pandemic together. Instead of a typical "book interview" instead we discuss how the new spiritual paradigm is relevant to our current challenging times. As Matt says, we have all be invited into a collective, global dark night of the soul...2020-04-0700 minBliss and GritCan We Bio-Hack Ourselves into Better States of Mind and Being?Can we bio-hack ourselves into better states of mind and being with embodied “positive thinking?” Today we are discussing neuro-reprogramming methods and the effects they can have on your body and mind- including ways in which they can create harm. Last year we both engaged with a program called Dynamic Neural Retraining Systems (DNRS) and in some ways this conversation is an update on how that program helped us since so many of you ask. (We have experienced health shifts and reduced anxiety just to name a few.) From a larger perspective though, we are having a broader conversation on h...2020-03-0300 minBliss and GritWhat is Trauma?We speak a lot about trauma and healing from trauma on the show, but we've never done an episode that truly asks the question, "What is trauma?". Drawing on inspiration like Dr. Edith Eva Eger and Peter Levine we look at if PTSD should drop the "D" for disorder, what it means that trauma is a charge, and if that's true, how do we "discharge" that charge? It's a very humanizing and hopeful take on trauma and we hope it's helpful to all of you.2020-02-0400 min
Conversations With a Wounded HealerVanessa Scotto and Brooke Thomas - Bliss and Grit“Wounded healer points back to something that we both hold really sacred, which is like, we're all human beings here. And we're never not human beings as long as we're in one of these things called the human body.” ~Brooke Thomas Vanessa Scotto is a Counselor, meditation teacher, and Chinese Medicine practitioner whose work integrates spirituality and psychology. In her early 20's, Vanessa's own struggle with depression and anxiety catapulted her on an academic and personal journey. Along the way she earned two Master’s degrees and logged over 20 years of clinical practice. Brooke Thomas has been...2020-01-1548 minBliss and GritHealing the LineageToday we are discussing healing that is not a part of our individual histories, but instead is carried in us- in our very dna- from our ancestors. It might seem like a not-so-cheery New Year's Eve episode, but actually we find this point of view to be surprisingly relieving. It opens up so much space to meet our experience and tempers some of the more shame-oriented points of that personal healing can sometimes take on. We discuss what ancestral trauma feels like when it arises, and some of our own experiences as we discovered that the pain we were...2019-12-3100 minBliss and GritFrom Codependence to InterdependenceCo-dependency has been such a big pattern for both of us that we’re back again deepening our conversation on the differences between co-dependency and interdependency. Meaning, what would an end to co-dependence look like in relationships? The pictures we can receive about what it means to heal co-dependency can be someone who does not empathize and is not moved into service by the suffering of others. This couldn't be farther from the reality of empathic souls. Of course we care when people suffer, and of course we want to help- often it’s genuinely loving to offer our supp...2019-12-1700 minBliss and GritThe Deep Heart with John PrendergastToday we are speaking with our special guest John Prendergast. This is our second time speaking with him to our great delight. John beautifully integrates the awakening path with psychotherapy. He is a licensed Therapist,and a former adjunct professor of psychology at CIIS. He is also the author of two books, today we are talking with him about his most recent book. The Deep Heart. We talk all about what he means by this phrase “the deep heart” and what can happen when we are able to land there and experience it. We get into themes around developmental trau...2019-12-0300 minBliss and GritWhen Change Comes to Something You Love*This episode contains upcoming changes to the format of Bliss + Grit. Please tune in to stay up to date. It’s different to change to get out of pain then it is to change out of an intuition or a new vision. In this weeks episode we’re exploring meeting change and transformation, and most specifically, what happens when something you love changes; when rather than moving away from something painful, you’re getting the internal signal to change something you love or have valued in the past. This conversation is arising out of a recent process of cha...2019-11-2600 minBliss and GritOr Maybe You're Perceiving Something Accurately?Today we are talking about how ingrained the impulse can be to always automatically look at “What is it about me? What am I doing wrong? What do I need to heal? What’s wrong with me that I am... being judgy, feeling angry, feeling overwhelmed and exhausted?” Are these feelings a signal that there is yet more material we need to heal so that we can always be “better” at tolerating things? Or are there perhaps things that we are accurately perceiving are out of alignment for us, or are taxing or overburdening us? In this episode we...2019-11-0500 minBliss and GritIdeas About AwakeningWe have talked about spiritual teacher misconduct before from the point of view of what to be wary of and how to choose an integrity teacher(s). In today's episode, as more allegations come forward about yet more spiritual teachers, we're talking about it from the point of view of how ideas about what awakening is can get things into troublesome territory. In this episode we discuss: - What awakening is not - How people use the word "awakening" in many different ways- sometimes to discuss enlightenment, sometimes to discuss realizations about the nature...2019-10-2900 minBliss and GritWhy Does Deep Emotion Feel Overwhelming?This week we are answering a patron’s question about something that is up for them in their life. It contains a lot of nuance about how to be with other people’s emotions without feeling overwhelmed, as well as how to receive kindness and love without feeling overwhelmed by that either. The shortened version of the question is: “When I do let myself feel my emotions deeply I frequently get super overwhelmed and times that I am center of attention or receiving heartfelt love and support are still very uncomfortable for me in groups. Why is it so difficu...2019-10-1500 minBliss and GritFrom Fawn to Fierce: A Conversation with Jane Clapp Today on Bliss + Grit we are speaking with our special guest Jane Clapp. Jane is a departure from our typical guest who speaks on spiritual awakening, but we love all that she has to say about trauma informed mindfulness and nervous system regulation interventions to transform overwhelm. She is a mindful strength and movement coach, a trauma informed embodied resilience expert and a Jungian Analyst in training. Brooke took a class with her called Fawn to Fierce that she really appreciated and we thought this topic of moving from Fawn to Fierce was perfect for all of us, and...2019-10-0800 minBliss and GritUntangling the Imaginary Audience In this episode we both speak about limiting identities we are each up against that are related to hiding. How might our genuine values be co-opted by ego identities that keep us small? How do these identities require an unfriendly imaginary audience? And when we engage in this kind of “othering”, via imagining other people as the judge and jury, how do we project an unfriendly universe onto everyone in advance of any actual friction? Once we can see that all operating, how do we untangle these subtle layers so that we can experience more and more of life without bein...2019-09-2400 minBliss and GritLiving From TruthToday we are discussing what we could call living from truth. I had an experience not long back where a mentor of mine was asking me to say exactly what I wanted, and I noticed a freeze response. This opened up for me a new depth of experience around what it really can feel like to live from truth, as opposed to following the momentum of past conditioning and habits. Many of us say we want to be authentic or know our true nature, or the truth of reality, but what does that really mean? We’re kicking it of...2019-09-1700 minBliss and GritSuffering is Optional: A Conversation with Gail BrennerToday we are talking with Dr. Gail Brenner, a clinical psychologist whose practice and teachings are unique because of her non-dual perspective grounded in deep and practical truths about peace and happiness. She is the author of two books, The End of Self-Help, and Suffering is Optional. We are primarily discussing her most recent book, Suffering is Optional. You can find more on Gail’s work at www.gailbrenner.com. In this episode we talk about: What Gail means by “optional suffering” since we know we experience suffering in our lives. What conditioning is and how it affec...2019-09-1000 minBliss and GritMeet Brooke [Flashback Tuesday][Flashback Tuesday] In the second episode Vanessa interviews Brooke so that listeners can get to know her a bit and hear the shape her path has taken and is taking thus far. For more information on Bliss + Grit, or to get information about one-on-one coaching with Brooke Thomas or Vanessa Scotto, please visit www.blissandgrit.com. To become a supporting member and join our forum please visit www.patreon.com/blissandgrit2019-09-0300 minBliss and GritMeet Vanessa [Throwback Tuesday][Throwback Tuesday] In the first episode Brooke Thomas is interviewing Vanessa Scotto about the shape her path has taken and is taking thus far. For more information on Bliss + Grit, or to get information about one-on-one coaching with Brooke Thomas or Vanessa Scotto, please visit www.blissandgrit.com. To become a supporting member and join our forum please visit www.patreon.com/blissandgrit2019-08-2700 minBliss and GritEmbodying Yin: A Conversation with Jeannie Zandi [Flashback Tuesday][Flashback Tuesday] In this episode we are speaking with our very special guest and friend Jeannie Zandi. Jeannie has been on our show before and today is offering some profound, must-hear insight on yin and yang that we are so excited to share with you. Our conversation touches upon so much including what true power looks like, the imbalances our culture has perpetuated, what healing would look like through the lens of yin and how we can move forward together in dismantling the conditioning that has led to so much pain. For anyone exploring healing o...2019-08-2000 minBliss and GritBeing Presence: A Conversation with Neelam [Flashback Tuesday][Flashback Tuesday] Our guest today, Neelam, is a direct disciple of Papaji, and she has been holding satsang internationally since 1996. She runs the non profit, Fire of Truth Satsanga. Neelam’s unequivocal commitment to truth helps students turn inward again and again to release underlying patterns of conditioning which block the recognition of their true nature as Presence. The clarity and discriminating wisdom that are intrinsic to this awakened state are given freely by Neelam through Spiritual Inquiry, as she invites her students into the same recognition of truth that her teacher Papaji transmitted to he...2019-08-1300 minBliss and GritWhat If It's All Conditioning? [Flashback Tuesday][Flashback Tuesday] In this episode we’re excited to catch up with each other and integrate some of what we have experienced recently in the presence of so many amazing guest conversations, in particular our recent one with David Thomas. We’re exploring conditioning, again, but after being with David we’re posing the question to ourselves “what if it’s all conditioning?” What if, while we are in ego consciousness, all of our thoughts are simply products of our culture and lineage that become habitual? And if so, what would that mean about how we can shift out of...2019-08-0600 minBliss and GritAllowing Heaven: A Conversation with David Thomas [Flashback Tuesday][Flashback Tuesday] Today we are talking with David Thomas. David is a self-realization teacher, speaker, and writer living in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Through the practice of Self-inquiry and meditation, he has acquired a deeper understanding of the inner self and true liberation. David now seeks to support individuals in their pursuit of self-realization through his writing and speaking. The insights he shares within his videos, quotes, and poems are created to help nurture the healing of individuals seeking release from their pain and suffering. All of his teachings come from his personal experience, so he gives an...2019-07-3000 minBliss and GritLiving From the Heart: A Conversation with John J. Prendergast [Flashback Tuesday][Flashback Tuesday] John J. Prendergast, PhD, is a psychotherapist, spiritual teacher, and founder and editor-in-chief of Undivided: The Online Journal of Nonduality and Psychology. John met his first teacher, Advaita master Jean Klein, in 1983 and began studying with one of our favorite teachers, Adyashanti, in 2001. For 23 years John was also a professor of psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco where Vanessa Scotto went to grad school. He is the author of an amazing book called In Touch; How to Tune In to the Inner Guidance of Your Body and Trust...2019-07-2300 minBliss and GritThe Art of Shifting: A Conversation with Loch Kelly [Flashback Tuesday][Flashback Tuesday] Today we are having a conversation with Loch Kelly. Loch is the author of Shift into Freedom, and the creator of the recent audio course offering through Sounds True, Effortless Mindfulness Now. He is a meditation teacher, psychotherapist, and founder of the non-profit, Open-Hearted Awareness Institute. Loch has collaborated with neuroscientists at Yale, UPenn and NYU. He has been teaching seminars, supervising clinicians and practicing awareness psychotherapy in New York for 30 years. It’s also worth mentioning that he teaches in our favorite lineage, the human being lineage! Which makes him a perfect te...2019-07-1600 minBliss and GritOur View of Healing and TransformationFor this episode we zoomed out and explored: What is Bliss+Grit about exactly? More specifically, after nearly three years, 127 episodes and lots of personal healing, inquiry, and exposure to different teachers and practices: What is our working model of healing and transformation? How does conditioning store in us and how to we untangle that? And, importantly, if we aren’t our conditioning, what are we? It’s an ongoing lived inquiry more than a nailed down blueprint, and it’s more about building bridges between systems that are evocative of human potential rather than of picking a team and de...2019-07-0900 minBliss and GritEnergy Medicine: A Conversation with Jill BlakewayIn this episode we are sharing our conversation with our guest Jill Blakeway. Jill is the founder and director of The YinOva Center in New York City and the author of several books, including her most recent book Energy Medicine. She is the host of CBS Radio’s popular weekly podcast, “Grow, Cook, Heal”, which Vanessa Scotto has been a guest on, a teacher of gynecology and obstetrics at the Doctoral Program at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine and a renowned authority on alternative medicine and women’s health. For more information on Jill Blakeway go to www.yinov...2019-07-0200 minBliss and GritThe Fawn ResponseThis is one of our favorite kinds of conversations: where the nervous system, trauma responses, and the spiritual path intersect. We are looking at the four F’s of trauma response: fight, flight, freeze, and fawn. We are talking about how these normal, healthy responses can become identities and therefore keep us from fully nourishing lives. And in particular we are honing in on fawn, also called please, appease, or tend and befriend, since we haven’t spoken in as much detail about this particular response. But boy howdy do we know it from the inside out! If you cons...2019-06-2500 minBliss and GritThe Gratitude Prescription: A Conversation with Will Pye [Part 2]This is the second part to last week’s conversation with the author, speaker, and teacher Will Pye on his newest book, The Gratitude Prescription. We first interviewed Will almost a year back on his book Blessed with a Brain Tumor and enjoyed our talk so much that we invited him back to hear more about what he calls ‘radical gratitude.’ As someone who had a spiritual awakening in the aftermath of receiving a diagnosis of brain cancer, we find his teachings and recommended practices of gratitude to be very embodied, grounded and deep. We left off last we...2019-06-1800 minBliss and GritThe Gratitude Prescription: A Conversation with Will Pye [Part 1]Today we are speaking with Will Pye for a second time! Will is an author, speaker, and teacher, and we had our first conversation with him about his first book, Blessed with a Brain Tumor, and today we are talking about his most recent book, The Gratitude Prescription. The embodied practice of gratitude has become a centrally important part of our own practices this year, and so we wanted to talk with Will about the deeply experiential practice of gratitude and how it is fundamental to the functioning of the human being, and how it can actually change your l...2019-06-1100 minBliss and GritNeurosculpting: A Conversation with Lisa Wimberger [Part 2]Today we are sharing the second part of our conversation with our guest Lisa Wimberger. Lisa is the creator of Neurosculpting, which is a self-directed neuroplasticity protocol. Specifically, it is a mental training process that quiets our fight-or-flight center and activates our prefrontal cortex, which is the mind’s seat of our compassion and empathy. We had so much to discuss that we made this interview a two-parter. In this episode we are talking about: How energy relates to your nervous system. The importance of focusing on your body in your spiritual practice. How our past narra...2019-06-0400 minBliss and GritNeurosculpting: A Conversation with Lisa Wimberger [Part 1]We have a special guest today: Lisa Wimberger. Lisa is the creator of Neurosculpting, which is a self-directed neuroplasticity protocol. Specifically, it is a mental training process that quiets our fight-or-flight center and activates our prefrontal cortex, which is the mind’s seat of our compassion and empathy. Needless to say, we had a lot to talk about. In fact, We so many shared passions and inquiries in common with Lisa that we are airing this conversation as a 2-parter. Stay tuned next week. If you want more information on Neurosculpting you can visit neurosculptinginstitute.com I...2019-05-2800 minBliss and GritFear of Being “Too Much”Have you ever worried that if you were to truly shine as bright as you could you would make others uncomfortable? Or have you noticed moments where you shut down your own potential or thriving? You also may believe that your needs, your emotions or your presence is just simply too much for people. The fear of “being too much” can be a very common one, especially in empathic circles, and can create patterns of inhibition that keep us settling for less-than. We’ve experienced this fear in our own lives, in our own ways, and that’s why in this...2019-05-2100 minBliss and GritWhen the Rules Don’t ApplyToday we are talking about the rules we may have made in our lives, that at some point, gave us a frame of reference in how to navigate life in a sane and mature way. Also, those moments in life when we are asked to figure out if those rules are to be followed to the letter, or if a more subtle discernment is called for. In our discussion: The benefit of “rules” and how they can help us navigate new territory. How rules can also keep us in needlessly small lives. How to discern the differ...2019-05-1400 minBliss and GritSpiritual Teacher Misconduct In this episode,we are speaking about the phenomenon of spiritual teacher misconduct. From shaming and judgment to outright abuse, there is a long history of spiritual figures engaging inappropriately with those they’re meant to guide. Yet these days it seems as if there is a new teacher exposed every few months. This is a big topic, that we could barely scratch the surface on, but in light of our recent discussions on relationships and safety, and because we do speak about so many teachers, we felt like it was time to add our voices to the conversation. We to...2019-05-0700 minBliss and GritBasic Trust (Flashback Tuesday) This week is a flashback Tuesday! This episode, titled The Implications of Basic Trust, originally aired in September of 2018. We both remember this conversation as the beginning of what felt like a big shift for each of us, the kind of epiphany that seems so obvious, but is in fact quite huge: that we can trust this life. Even when it’s agony. Even when it’s joy. Even when it’s boring... By the time this began to be a real lived experience for us, we had sat with the phrase “trust your life” for at least a couple of years. So it...2019-04-3000 minBliss and GritPresence as a Love LanguageOur last several episodes have been circling around the theme of relationship and connection. This week we’re continuing the conversation by sharing our thoughts on what we could call, “the love language of presence”. We’ve noticed personally that what truly bonds us to others, and lets us feel loved, is presence in the form of interest and curiosity. Yet, our cultural and familial models are often missing this key ingredient. In this talk, we cover a tangible way to look at if you’re present, how ego-agendas can lead to self-fulfilling prophecies, how an overstimulated nervous system can pull y...2019-04-2300 minBliss and GritFinding Safety Today we are honing in on how we find safety in the world and in our relationships, whether those relationships are with intimate partners, or our children, friends, coworkers,etc. We are deepening the conversation from our last two episodes: the episode on awakened relating with Lynn Marie Lumiere, and last week’s episode on the “how” of self-love. In particular we are using the lens of Stephen Porges’s Polyvagal theory to look more closely at what happens when we don’t detect safety, and the magical things that can happen when our nervous systems do detect safety and therefore do no...2019-04-2200 minBliss and GritHow to Heal With Self-Love If you’ve listened to the podcast in the past you know how much we value the practice of meeting ourselves with tenderness and love. In this episode, we are going into much greater detail about what it tangibly looks and feels like to heal through self-love. Our conversation covers everything, from neuroscience to personal experiences, to practical exercises where we can learn how to bring love to the parts of ourselves that need it the most. As we shift to meeting ourselves with a genuine experience of loving-kindness we can rewire and release the conditioning that has created so mu...2019-04-0900 minBliss and GritAwakened Relating: A Conversation with Lynn Marie Lumiere Today we are having a conversation with Lynn Marie Lumiere, a psychotherapist and the author of the book Awakened Relating: A Guide to Embodying Undivided Love in Intimate Relationships. Reading from the description of Lynn Marie’s book: Our natural state is to love and be loved. From deep within, we’re compelled to seek connection. Yet relationships remain a struggle—even for the most spiritually enlightened among us. Traumatic experiences, insecure attachment, and especially the false but commonly held belief that we are separate, both from each other and from the love we seek, can cause endless problems in ou...2019-04-0200 minBliss and GritTaking the Vertical Path Today we’re showing our age by speaking about a concept from the book, The Seat of the Soul, that was written 25 years ago by physicist and author Gary Zukav that was just re-released. In this book, Gary describes the difference between what he calls the vertical path, or the path of the spirit, and the horizontal path, the path of form, and how where we choose to put our attention and energy can impact our lives. We thought this would be a fun and relevant conversation as so many of us, even on a spiritual path, still can get hung u...2019-03-2600 minBliss and GritEverything is Here to Help You [Flashback Tuesday] This week we are having a flashback Tuesday! This episode was originally recorded in June of 2018 with our special guest Matt Kahn,and we figured we could always time travel a little! If you listen to Bliss and Grit on the regular, you are probably well familiar with Matt. But if you aren’t, he is an empathic healer and teacher who is very dear to my and Vanessa’s hearts. We hope you enjoy revisiting(orhearing for the first time!) this episode. Matt has an uncanny ability to bring the wide open miraculous and root it right down into...2019-03-1900 minBliss and GritKnowing Is Not Enough In this conversation we are speaking about the difference between intellectual knowing and lived, felt experience when it comes to healing. We’ve all seen firsthand that knowing something often isn’t enough to create a transformation in our lives. For example, we can know that we shouldn’t be so hard on ourselves yet continue to criticize ourselves relentlessly. This conversation seems simple at first, but in exploring our own path of embodied transformation takes a few interesting twists and turns through topics like intergenerational trauma, being forgiveness, and finding existence in your own body. 2019-03-1200 minBliss and GritSurrendering the Burden This week we are deepening our conversation on co-creation by looking at how powerful handing your burdens over to God, Life, Source, whatever word you choose, can be. How do we let go of the ownership of our struggles, without bypass? And what happens when we do? Ultimately this conversation takes a close look at how we can be in such deep relationship with life that we know we are it, and that we are being supremely taken care of by it, even in the midst of suffering. And, when we hand our suffering over, we begin to live a l...2019-03-0500 minBliss and GritThe Subtle Impacts of Judgment This week we’re taking a deeper look at judgment. We are all familiar with the voice of the inner judge that is habitually dissecting people, situations and even ourselves. This judge may be more obvious and critical, or it may be more subtle, showing up as the voice of “great advice” you give others in your mind on how they “should” live. Either way, it’s useful to explore how is the judgment impacting you? What is it serving and creating? And most interestingly to us, what would life look and feel like if we lovingly released the habit of judgmen...2019-02-2600 minBliss and GritVision Pulls You Today we are basically observing a different aspect of the nitty-gritty of transformation than what we spoke to last week. In this case, the moment when you are right up against the mechanics of your conditioning and you can truly feel the edges, or the wall to what you are even able to conceive of, or feel safe enough to receive, into your life. We talk about the simple and profound beauty of discovering what one would truly like to have in their life as the walls of conditioning crumble more. And about how powerful it can be to...2019-02-1900 minBliss and GritThe Nitty Gritty of TransformationWe’ve been active in some pretty big transformational processes these days, which got us thinking about how rare it is for people to speak about the actual nitty-gritty of being a human going through these kinds of moments. From what happens in the brain and body when you’re in the middle of healing, to what may pop up psychologically as you uproot the causes of your suffering, we’re bringing some light to what it’s been like us to be up close and personal to our own active journey with internal transformation.2019-02-1200 minBliss and GritCo-CreationToday we are taking our “Turn Towards or Turn Away” episode a few steps farther. We are way out on the edge of what is an alive inquiry for us, in short, we are pondering co-creation. What is cultivating a deep relationship to life? How is what we are talking about different than, and also how is it related to, the, I’m gonna say it, the Law of Attraction or manifestation talk. I suppose we are at the beginning of pondering what a “law of attraction” looks like from a non-ego-driven, non-bright-siding or denial perspective. Where does it become not...2019-01-2900 minBliss and GritA New Vision for Relationship: A Conversation with Amoda Maa and Kavi Jezzie HockadayIn this episode, we’re speaking about a new paradigm for intimate relationship with our guests Amoda Maa and Kavi Jezzie Hockaday. Amoda and Kavi have been together for 16 years and have observed the unfolding of an unexpected relationship between them that appears to have a life on its own. They share with us a new vision for how relationships may evolve, as well as an exploration of the ways in which our conditioning can affect our perspective on love. We touch on the difference between conscious relationship and what we could call “awakened” relationship, what co-dependency is and how yo...2019-01-2200 minBliss and GritTurn Towards or Turn Away?After we aired our episode on healing the limbic system we got a similar question from many listeners, phrased in many different ways, but circling around a theme. The question essentially was: for those of us on a path, so much of our instruction, whether in various spiritual and psychological settings, is on how to turn towards our pain. How to really be with what we are feeling and experiencing. Yet Dynamic Neural Retraining Systems, which we had discussed in the limbic system episode, seems to instruct turning away. So what gives? So we wanted to really clarify what...2019-01-1500 minBliss and GritOn Trauma and the Unbound Body; A Conversation with Judith BlackstoneFor our conversation today we are joined by guest Judith Blackstone, who also was one of our mentors. Judith Blackstone, PhD is an innovative teacher in contemporary spirituality. She developed the Realization Process, an embodied approach to personal and relational healing and nondual realization. She is author of several books, including her latest work Trauma and the Unbound Body. In our talk we speak about a subtle field of awareness within each of us that Judith calls Fundamental Consciousness. We cover how traumatic experiences are unconsciously bound into constrictions in our bodies, limiting both our personal expression...2019-01-0800 minBliss and GritHealing the Limbic SystemVanessa just recently returned from doing the DNRS (Dynamic Neural Retraining System) program. You have heard us talking about this program and the book about it, Wired for Healing, in previous episodes, but this is the first time that we talk in depth about it. And because Vanessa was very freshly back from the weeklong program, it was a great chance for me to catch up with her and ask her all about it as we recorded an episode. Vanessa and I are deeply invested in conversations about where our paths and the habits of our nervous systems intersect...2018-12-1800 minBliss and GritCan We Create Through Language?We’re speaking today about the implications of the words we choose. Historically, we’ve bristled at what we perceived as a “turn your frown upside down” approach to language. These days though, we’ve both been called towards exploring the intersection of language, evolution and creation. Could we have been wrong? Might shifting to the use of “positive” language actual impact our reality? Listen in to hear us share our thoughts on the benefits and cautions of bringing attention to the words you use, the dilemma of bypass and judgement, and how healing might just come through making different choi2018-12-0400 minBliss and GritThe Good NewsWelcome to our 100th episode! And I think it’s appropriate that our 100th episode is basically a popcorn episode about what transformative nuggets are sticking with us from so many of our conversations and experiences in recent months. In particular, our recent episode with Neelam, but also what has really stuck with us in other episodes and conversations, and even at the SAND conference. 100 makes for a nice even number to create a kind of bookmark- where have we been with this show and in our lives? We have been engaged in a public healing process- wh...2018-11-2700 minBliss and GritShifting Co-DependencyIn this conversation we’re deep diving into the pattern of co-dependency. We’ve both been co-dependent in our lives and have slowly but surely been working our way through to greater freedom. So in today’s episode we’re looking at what does it actually mean to be co-dependent, how does it affect us or show up in our lives, and of course, ultimately, how can we begin to shift this pattern that can be exhausting, frustrating and limiting to so many of us?2018-11-2000 minBliss and GritBeing Presence: A Conversation with NeelamOur guest today, Neelam, is a direct disciple of Papaji, and she has been holding satsang internationally since 1996. She runs the non profit, Fire of Truth Satsanga. Neelam’s unequivocal commitment to truth helps students turn inward again and again to release underlying patterns of conditioning which block the recognition of their true nature as Presence. The clarity and discriminating wisdom that are intrinsic to this awakened state are given freely by Neelam through Spiritual Inquiry, as she invites her students into the same recognition of truth that her teacher Papaji transmitted to her. In Our conversation with Neelam we...2018-11-1300 minBliss and GritWhat If It's All Conditioning?In this episode we’re excited to catch up with each other and integrate some of what we have experienced recently in the presence of so many amazing guest conversations, in particular our recent one with David Thomas. We’re exploring conditioning, again, but after being with David we’re posing the question to ourselves “what if it’s all conditioning?” What if, while we are in ego consciousness, all of our thoughts are simply products of our culture and lineage that become habitual? And if so, what would that mean about how we can shift out of our chronic patt...2018-10-3000 minBliss and GritAllowing Heaven: A Conversation with David ThomasToday we are talking with David Thomas. David is a self-realization teacher, speaker, and writer living in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Through the practice of Self-inquiry and meditation, he has acquired a deeper understanding of the inner self and true liberation. David now seeks to support individuals in their pursuit of self-realization through his writing and speaking. The insights he shares within his videos, quotes, and poems are created to help nurture the healing of individuals seeking release from their pain and suffering. All of his teachings come from his personal experience, so he gives an inside perspective from being...2018-10-2300 minBliss and GritEp 95: Embodying Yin: A Conversation with Jeannie ZandiIn this episode we are speaking with our very special guest and friend Jeannie Zandi. Jeannie has been on our show before and today is offering some profound, must-hear insight on yin and yang that we are so excited to share with you. Our conversation touches upon so much including what true power looks like, the imbalances our culture has perpetuated, what healing would look like through the lens of yin and how we can move forward together in dismantling the conditioning that has led to so much pain. For anyone exploring healing on both a personal an...2018-10-1600 minBliss and GritWorking with What Feels UnworkableToday we’re talking about when we are so contracted by very real things like chronic illness, chronic pain, or PTSD and we can’t reach a state of gratitude, or relief, and certainly not joy. Instead, we are coping with responses of our nervous systems and our physiology that feel much more akin to being trapped in a hell realm. These are the dimensions of reality where we can’t get any perspective, we don’t remember how to meet basic needs, and we spin and deal with quite a lot of suffering on top of the suffering of the i...2018-10-0900 minBliss and GritGradual Awakening; A Conversation with Miles NealeToday we are speaking with Dr. Miles Neale. Dr. Neale is among the leading voices of the current generation of Buddhist teachers and a forerunner in the emerging field of contemplative psychotherapy. He is a licensed psychotherapist in private practice, international speaker, and faculty member of Tibet House US and Weill Cornell Medical College. Miles is author of Gradual Awakening: The Tibetan Buddhist Path of Becoming Fully Human along with its audio companion of guided meditations The Gradual Path. The proceeds for both the book and the program go to supporting the Kopan Nunnery in Nepal. He is also...2018-10-0200 minBliss and GritRadical Gratitude: A Conversation with Will PyeToday we are speaking with Will Pye. Will’s first book is titled Blessed With A Brain Tumor; Realizing It’s All Gift and Learning to Receive. So needless to say, he was a perfect guest for us to have on as a follow up to our basic trust conversation from last week. Will is a social entrepreneur, teacher, transformational coach, speaker and author. He leads workshops and retreats around the world. Will’s second book, The Gratitude Prescription; Harnessing the Power of Thankfulness for Healing and Happiness is due for release this May. He is also the fo...2018-09-2500 minBliss and GritThe Implications of Basic TrustInspired by the teachings of AH Almaas, today we’re discussing a concept he calls Basic Trust. Basic trust is the implicit sense that we are connected, safe, held and supported by life. What fascinated us the most about this concept is the revelation that when Basic trust gets ruptured spiritual aspirations such as surrender, acceptance or letting go can feel out of reach or effortful. Also, how much or how little basic trust you have can affect the quality and experience of your spiritual awakening. In this conversation we explore our experiences and perspectives on basic trust as we...2018-09-1100 minBliss and GritWhy Talk About Awakening?We are happily back from our 6-week break, and in today’s conversation we are talking about what we are talking about! In our 6-weeks to integrate, reflect, and deepen what’s up here at Bliss and Grit, we realized that we haven’t spoken so directly that this show is about what we can call awakening. For many of you who are listeners, that’s no surprise at all, but if we choose to get really direct that that’s what we are devoted to, then it makes sense to talk about what IS awakening? Why does it get a bad...2018-09-0400 minBliss and GritOur Bliss + Grit JourneyWe are 89 episodes in, and almost at our 2 year Bliss + Grit anniversary! So in this week’s episode we’re speaking about what it’s been like for us to do B+G over the last couple of years. From following our own mysterious divine calling, to running a business by trusting life and listening to messages, to reframing leadership to a vision of healing in public, we’re chatting about the inspirations we’ve gathered and lessons we’ve learned throughout our time on the show. We couldn’t have done it without you and we’re oh so grateful....2018-07-1700 minBliss and GritThe Power of WordsToday we’re talking about the power of words- how we are shaped by the words we hear and how we shape our worlds with the words we use. in particular we are looking at how we shape people’s view of who we are with the words we unconsciously use about ourselves. Yet when we head into this territory, frequently teachings crop up, particularly in popular culture, about how we need to edit and suppress ourselves, or pretend to be something other than what we feel. We explore shame, blame, and superstition-free inquiries around how we can shift the...2018-07-1000 minBliss and GritTurning Towards Our TriggersThis week we’re discussing turning towards the ache. We can often either resist the situations that trigger us. Or once we get triggered we can collapse into patterns of shame or blame. What if we instead met our triggers with an attitude of curiosity? What if we leaned into what we were afraid of as an opportunity to grow past the fear? In this conversation we are sharing our recent personal experiences of embracing the attitude of empowerment and moving towards what scares us.2018-07-0300 minBliss and GritExploring the Similarities Between TeachingsAfter a recent request from a listener to share some more details about how we are connecting the dots between all of the amazing teachers we’ve had on the show, we’re doing an integration episode. Recently, we have seen so many similarities between teachings that Loch Kelly shared and those that Matt Kahn offers. They use completely different language, come from radically different backgrounds and offer different tools, yet when you boil it down the overlap is obvious. We are jazzed about what we've been experiencing and seeing since we had the pleasure of having conversations with thes...2018-06-1900 minBliss and GritEverything is Here to Help You: A Conversation with Matt KahnToday we are speaking with Matt Kahn. Matt’s teachings are very near and dear to our hearts and have made a tremendous difference to both of us on our paths, so we were thrilled to do this interview. If you don’t know Matt’s work- he is the author of the books Whatever Arises Love That, and his hot off the press book, Everything is Here to Help You. He is also well known for his abundant YouTube channel, filled with video excerpts from the numerous retreats and events that he holds each year. Matt is a rare b...2018-06-1200 minBliss and GritThe Awakening Nervous System Part 2This week we’re going deeper on a conversation we had a few months back on Awakening and the nervous system. Through numerous personal experiences, recent interviews and a course we’ve been taking with a teacher named Neelam on the Awakening Nervous System, we’ve been getting an even more profound understanding of the role the nervous system may play in recognizing our true nature. From discussing what it means to be present, to the basics of poly-vagal theory and tools we can use to create shifts, we’re exploring the fascinating world of the human nervous system.2018-06-0500 minBliss and GritShift: A Conversation with Loch KellyToday we are having a conversation with Loch Kelly. Loch is the author of Shift into Freedom, and the creator of the recent audio course offering through Sounds True, Effortless Mindfulness Now. He is a meditation teacher, psychotherapist, and founder of the non-profit, Open-Hearted Awareness Institute. Loch has collaborated with neuroscientists at Yale, UPenn and NYU. He has been teaching seminars, supervising clinicians and practicing awareness psychotherapy in New York for 30 years. It’s also worth mentioning that he teaches in our favorite lineage, the human being lineage! Which makes him a perfect teacher to have on Bliss+Grit. We...2018-05-2900 minBliss and GritMeeting AngerIn this weeks episode we’re exploring a listeners question around anger. Many people have been exposed to the damaging effects of anger in their world. Others have been taught that anger is at best a useless emotion, and at worst, a dangerous one. Over time, we can begin to label anger as wrong or “unspiritual,” essentially something “evolved people” don’t feel. Yet, as this listener shared in her letter to us, anger can also be an important step in healing and reaching a genuine place of forgiveness. Join us in exploring the differences between feeling and acting from anger...2018-05-2200 minBliss and GritI Don't KnowThis week we had the great pleasure of recording actually live and in person! And we had the chance to be together right after Vanessa’s time on retreat with Matt Kahn. So, needless to say, we spent a lot of our time together like the geeks that we are going over her notes. In this episode we went over a portion of her notes that we found particularly resonant. We’re talking about not knowing; And how and why “I don’t know” is a powerful, clear, open, and relieving position to come from.2018-05-1500 minBliss and GritSacred VigilanceIn last week’s episode we touched on the benefits of bringing mindful attention to thoughts and patterns. This week, inspired by a quote from Gangaji, we’re taking it deeper with a conversation on the importance of vigilance. If you’ve been listening to us for a while you know we’re usually speaking on how hyper-vigilance can create tensions and feed fears of unworthiness, yet, we also want to stay alert to ways in which our unconscious programs are running. Moreover, we are served in bringing our attention towards our own innate wholeness. In this episode we kick aro...2018-05-0100 minBliss and GritOveremphasizing SufferingWe’ve talked recently about bypass in the last several episodes as seeking to only feel bliss, to avoid the messiness of a human life and human emotions. Which can bring up the idea that maybe we really need to double down on the grittiness of life in order to be on a genuine path. What about when suffering becomes the bypass of choice- as always, unconsciously and in innocence- we can subconsciously emphasize the struggle. Or over-tolerate the struggle. In which case we lose access to joy, to ease, to the nourishing movements of life. We talk about th...2018-04-2400 minBliss and GritFully Awake and Fully Human; A Conversation with Amoda MaaAmoda Maa is a contemporary spiritual teacher, author, and speaker. After years of spiritual seeking, meditation, and immersion in psychospiritual practices, an experience of the dark night of the soul led her to a profound inner awakening. Her teachings are free of religion and tradition, and she brings to them a deep understanding of the human journey, born out of her own experience. Amoda is the author of several books her newest being Embodied Enlightenment, a book that Brooke and I both loved. It is about the journey of being fully awake and fully human, and we...2018-04-1700 minBliss and GritSpiritual BypassToday we’re diving into the issue of spiritual bypass. As I mention in the episode, I have beef with how common bypass is held up as what the spiriutal path IS. When in fact, it is in direct opposition to what the path is. As Dorothy Hunt says in her book Ending the Search, spiritual concepts and spirit are not the same thing... It is the use of an idea of spirituality that keeps us unconscious” Or as Vanessa says, bypass is using the spiritual path to avoid your shit. Usually while wearing the identifiers we call “spiritual person...2018-04-0300 minBliss and GritEnding the Search: A Conversation with Dorothy HuntIn today's episode we are sharing a conversation that we had with our special guest, Dorothy Hunt. Dorothy serves as spiritual director of Moon Mountain Sangha and is the founder of the San Francisco Center for Meditation and Psychotherapy (SFCMP). Inspired by the legendary sage Ramana Maharshi and Adyashanti, she is the author of several books, including her latest Ending the Search. Dorothy currently offers meditation and satsang gatherings, weekend intensives and retreats, and also sees individuals for both psychotherapy and for what’s called dokusan- a private meeting with a spiritual teacher. For more on Dorothy, pl...2018-03-2700 minBliss and GritLiving From the Heart: A Conversation with John PendergastJohn J. Prendergast, PhD, is a psychotherapist, spiritual teacher, and founder and editor-in-chief of Undivided: The Online Journal of Nonduality and Psychology. John met his first teacher, Advaita master Jean Klein, in 1983 and began studying with one of our favorite teachers, Adyashanti, in 2001. For 23 years John was also a professor of psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco where Vanessa Scotto went to grad school. He is the author of an amazing book called In Touch; How to Tune In to the Inner Guidance of Your Body and Trust Yourself. We...2018-01-0900 minBliss and GritOn Making Yourself a ProblemThis week’s episode is about exploring the ways in which we can come to identify with ourselves as “someone with problems.” Acknowledging aspects of ourselves that are unhealed or messy can be painful, yet we can still have this funny way of seeing and representing ourselves as the broken one. In a recent retreat with teacher John Prendergast Brooke had a revelation that some of her patterning linked back to getting rewarded earlier in life when she wasn’t well. This understanding kicked off a beautiful conversation for us where we explore safety, holding complexity and the real habitual...2017-11-2100 minBliss and GritAwakening FOMOThis week we’re talking about Awakening, or as Brooke lovingly refers to it, the A-word. A few episodes back we spoke on The Nervous System and Awakening. Afterwards we received several follow up questions such as What is awakening anyway? Should I be doing it? Am I missing out on something? Hence the playful episode title Awakening FOMO. Really though, in this episode we get into what our thoughts and personal experiences are on what awakening actually means, why we find it vulnerable to talk about, and of course how we support ourselves in what we believe is th...2017-10-0300 minBliss and GritActually Loving What ArisesIn today’s episode we're talking about what actually loving what arises looks like in practice. We’ve all heard the trite spiritual phrases like “meet whatever arises with acceptance” and “Love everything in your experience” “do not judge yourself or others” and trite as they are, and as frequently repeated as they are, genuinely landing in the deep granular practice that these phrases point to is, well, not the most straightforward thing in the world. Certainly it is super duper foreign to everyone livin gin this time and place. Vanessa and I have a highly unprocessed talk about how that’s showi...2017-09-1200 minBliss and GritPurposeThis week we’re talking about our life’s purpose. Recently Vanessa and I have been seeing this differently in our own lives- why do we frequently, in our culture anyway, chase our “purpose” as, some big identity-defining career goal? Part of why it’s been so interesting for us to untie this is that the whole concept of our lives and who we are get woven into the idea of purpose. There is this way that we can create small boxes for ourselves to live in vs letting things have their own lives. Ultimately it leads us to figuring o...2017-08-0800 minBliss and GritEp 41: The Realization ProcessToday’s episode is a little different! This episode is actually an interview with Judith Blackstone, the founder of The Realization Process- which Vanessa and I both became certified in this spring. I did this interview originally over on my other show, Liberated Body. If you haven’t discovered her work, allow me to introduce Judith to you. She is the creator of The Realization Process, which is an integrated approach to embodiment, psychological, relational, physical healing, and spiritual awakening. Judith is a clinical psychologist and a meditation practitioner and student of contemplative traditions with more than 40 years of expe...2017-06-2700 minBliss and GritEp 40: Identity CrisisIn today’s episode we're talking about the identity crisis that can arise as you heal and transform. Whether we’re talking about gaining more psychological health, or the big ole wake up call of the spiritual path, either way you are eventually going to shed some part of yourself that used to feel like you- both to yourself and to those around you- and then... what happens next?! Vanessa and I are talking about navigating the identity crises that are a natural part of any healing journey.2017-06-2000 minBliss and GritEp 38: The Importance of CommunityIn today’s episode we're talking about the importance of having “people” with you on the spiritual path. If you’re getting curious about- and no longer fully living by- the conditioning of your own life and your culture’s preferences it can be strange... and lonely sometimes. In Buddhism one of the key “jewels” of the path is called the sangha. For those of you who don’t skew Buddhist- it’s basically about having a community of people who can be with you on the path. People who are committed to being with reality. Essentially- people who get the journey yo...2017-06-0600 minBliss and GritEp 36: Acceptance, Enjoyment, EnthusiasmIn today’s episode we're talking about a snippet of Eckhart Tolle’s book A New Earth that caught my eye. He says that if we approach everything in life with acceptance, enjoyment, or enthusiasm then we will- essentially- not be suffering and will be in the present moment. I usually hate things that feel like a blueprint to a happy life but, I gotta say, this one’s got some good bones! Vanessa and I dive into the nuance of what we think exploring this way of being means.2017-05-2300 minBliss and GritEp 33: The Self-Referencing BubbleIn this episode we’re talking about what Vanessa playfully calls the “Bubble of Pain”- aka a circular pattern of self-referencing that leaves us feeling at the center of a painful reality. Many of us have felt how much it hurts to take things personally. Yet even after recognizing the cost, we still can find ourselves stuck, habitually believing that everything is about us- most commonly about how we’re not enough in some way. We’re sharing lots of personal experiences and ideas about how we get stuck in our own bubbles of pain, and more importantly, how we can...2017-05-0200 minBliss and GritEp 28: Chasing HappinessWe are a culture of happiness chasers, as in chasing that thing in the future that is going to deliver happiness. But how is your actual life, your actual feelings, your actual shit- the stuff happening now and not in some magical future- the real path to contentment in our lives? As Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche said “Are you trying to liberate yourself from yourself, or are you willing to really see yourself?” because.... You actually can’t hide from yourself. We all want the same thing -which is for life to not suck! What we’re saying is that the path...2017-03-2100 minBliss and GritEp 26: The Gifts of Grief and DespairIn today’s episode we dive into grief and despair- so cheery of us! But really it is cheery of us! We’re talking about how our culture doesn’t have a framework for how to really sit with and metabolize grief and despair and what the costs of that are. Nobody wants to experience these painful emotions, and so we find all kinds of ways to avoid them. Yet there is also something so alive about it. As Vanessa says in this episode, “Touching into temporality is a really potent wake up force if you let it be."2017-03-0700 minBliss and GritEp 20: Big Me vs. Little MeToday’s episode is another Dear Bliss and Grit show where we answer a listener’s question. This listener is talking about how beneficial meditation has been in her life, and she asks about how she can keep that expanded state while off the cushion and not keep returning to what she calls the “littleness lie”. I think it’s a common feeling that many of us can bump up against and Vanessa and I are certainly not strangers to it! We talk about the insights we have gleaned, our own frustrations, with the twists and turns of the path and p...2017-01-1700 minBliss and GritEp 17: What About Selfless Love?Today’s episode is the first of what we hope will be many where we answer a listener's question. As you may recall, we did a couple of episodes on self love, and afterwards we got a very thoughtful question asking, essentially, “well what about selfless love?” Vanessa and I, as usual, have a lot to say about what we often define as selfless love, and what true self love and selfless love really are. As Vanessa says in the episode, “All love technically is selfless.” Boom.2016-12-1300 minBliss and GritEp 14: Unhooking From the Fear Crazy TrainLast week we started to talk about relating to fear, and then Vanessa’s power went out and we had a cliffhanger on our hands about what tools we use to deconstruct fear. Well it turns out we had a lot more to say about fear because we did a whole deeper layer episode on it. Ok- so fear is GOING to arise in a human life and putting on the blinders or trying Pollyanna approaches, it turns out, doesn’t really work. It just condenses and thickens fear in our systems. So when fear arises- and it usually come...2016-11-2200 minBliss and GritEp 8: Psychology vs. SpiritualityIn today’s episode we’re getting into a long standing debate between psychology and spirituality. Many would say that they are diametrically opposed, but to Vanessa, them’s fightin words... so we get into why they can be viewed as opposing. The conversation then gets into the larger umbrella question of what spirituality even IS. I find “spirituality” to be a pretty corrupted word so I think getting at what we’re actually talking about when we use it to be pretty illuminating. What is truly alive in us? What are our containers? How do we snake charm ourselves an...2016-10-1100 minBliss and GritEp 7: Why MeditateIn this episode of Bliss and Grit Brooke and Vanessa are pondering the question “why meditate?” Their conversation takes them from the effect intention has on a meditation practice to a fiery exploration of the ramifications of detaching mindfulness from the original traditions, to their own personal experiences and struggles with meditating. You’ll get new terms such as ‘slow blink people’ and plenty of opinions as the hosts dive into the bliss and grit of meditation.2016-10-0400 minBliss and GritEp 5: When Truth is a Pain in the AssIn today’s show Vanessa is talking about a hard challenge she is currently up against- something that is true for her, but also very inconvenient for her- so we’re wondering about how we navigate that pain in the ass place that happens over and over and over again in everyone’s life. What is truth really? What happens when you pretend it isn’t talking to you and try and stick your head in the sand? And how do we navigate what Vanessa calls our “control tower thinking” which is that part of ourselves that just wants what it want...2016-09-1300 minBliss and GritEp 3: Why the body?Brooke and Vanessa are pondering why the body is an important, and even crucial, part of the spiritual path. From dreams to scientific research, Chinese Medicine to personal experience, we consider how embodiment might teach us to relate to our practical lives, as well as giving us an experience of something transcendent as well. 2016-08-3000 minBliss and GritEp 2: Meet BrookeIn the second episode Vanessa interviews Brooke so that listeners can get to know her a bit and hear the shape her path has taken and is taking thus far.2016-08-1900 minBliss and GritEp 1: Meet VanessaIn the first episode Brooke Thomas is interviewing Vanessa Scotto about the shape her path has taken and is taking thus far.2016-08-1900 min