Fun & Bliss Show

Monick Halm and Moneeka Sawyer

The Fun & Bliss Show is a weekly invitation for everyone who is ready to stop postponing joy and start living with genuine ease, radiance, and aliveness. Co-hosts Monick Halm and Moneeka Sawyer explore how everyday fun and intentional bliss practices—what they call the Blissciplines—can open the door to clarity, connection, emotional freedom, and a life that feels deeply aligned. Through inspiring conversations, soulful stories, and simple five-minute “Fun & Bliss Sparks,” the show helps listeners reconnect with themselves, soften into presence, and remember that bliss isn’t a far-off dream—it’s a lived, daily experience. This is your space to breathe, to laugh, and to join a global movement where fun is the practice and bliss is the lifestyle.

  1. 6d ago

    Turning Wounds Into Wands: Sisterhood, Self-Love, and Taking Up Space

    What happens when you stop waiting for permission and create the space you know women need? In this episode of The Fun & Bliss Show, Monick and Moneeka sit down with Tiffany Scott, founder and creative director of You Me She Fest, the only festival in Austin built entirely by, for, and around women. Tiffany shares how her experiences of being bullied and excluded inspired her to turn her wounds into wands by creating spaces where women feel seen, celebrated, and connected. She also reveals how she built an ambitious festival without funding, backing, or previous festival experience, and how she keeps moving forward when fear and self-doubt appear. Together, they explore the magic that happens when women feel safe enough to take up space, the surprising advantage of not knowing exactly what you are doing, and the importance of returning to the vision that first lit you up. Tiffany also opens up about turning 50, caring less about what other people think, falling more deeply in love with who she is becoming, and bringing more simplicity, nature, friendship, and play into her life. You’ll discover: • How to turn painful experiences into meaningful purpose • Why inexperience can make you more creative and courageous • How to reconnect with your North Star when doubt takes over • What becomes possible when women feel truly safe and supported • Why taking up space begins with small, everyday acts • How to create more simplicity, play, and bliss in your life This conversation is an invitation to trust what is calling you, claim more space, and become the woman you get to be in your next chapter.

  2. Aug 12

    When Fitness Begins With Love

    What if the secret to lasting change isn’t pushing harder, but creating enough joy, connection, and belonging that people want to keep showing up? In this moving episode of The Fun & Bliss Show, Monick Halm and Moneeka Sawyer sit down with John Watson, founder of Bloom Fitness, a nonprofit creating accessible fitness experiences for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. John never planned to build a movement. After retiring from a 32-year career in mortgage banking, his daughter Emma led him into a world where he saw a profound need: once adults with IDD age out of school, opportunities for movement, community, accomplishment, and connection can become much harder to find. Bloom Fitness began with a few stationary bikes and no grand plan. What happened next taught John something that now shapes everything Bloom does: when you don’t have a plan, you have to listen. John shares how listening to the athletes themselves led to a radically human approach to fitness, one built around safety, fun, community, encouragement, and emotional connection before performance or results. In this conversation, you’ll hear: Why Bloom calls its participants athletes, and why language, dignity, and respect matterThe simple gold-star experiment that revealed how powerful recognition can beWhy John told a frustrated yoga instructor, “Don’t worry about how they respond. Just show up and love them.”How fun and belonging can inspire people to push themselves more than pressure ever couldThe story of an athlete who once resisted exercise and is now approaching 1,000 classesWhy people often improve on their schedule, not oursHow Emma became the unexpected gift that changed John’s life and ultimately helped change thousands of othersWhy John believes we often have transformation backward: connect with joy first, and behavior follows This episode is about much more than fitness. It’s about what becomes possible when people feel seen, celebrated, welcomed, and valued exactly as they are. Because sometimes the most powerful way to help someone grow isn’t to demand more from them. It’s to lead with heart and let everything else follow.

  3. Aug 4

    The Pleasure of Feeling Alive: Play, Intimacy & Permission with Andrea

    What happens when pleasure stops being something you earn and becomes something you allow? In this deeply thoughtful and refreshingly playful conversation, Monick and Moneeka sit down with Andrea, a couples and sex therapist, pleasure advocate, and founder of Peak Couples and Sex Therapy, to explore what it really means to feel alive, connected, and fully yourself. Andrea shares how her fascination with relationships began in high school, why pleasure is essential to mental and emotional well-being, and how high-achieving women can become disconnected from their bodies, desires, and sense of play while managing careers, families, relationships, and endless responsibilities. Together, they explore why pleasure can feel frivolous or unproductive, how guilt keeps women from choosing themselves, and why there is often more time available for pleasure than we realize. Andrea also explains how shame begins to soften through empathy, vulnerability, and safe connection, and why couples do not need to wait until their relationship is in crisis to seek support. The conversation also dives into playfulness in relationships, the connection between life inside and outside the bedroom, the power of novelty and savoring, and the importance of paying attention to the beauty, pleasure, and aliveness already present in everyday life. You’ll discover: Why pleasure is not frivolous, but deeply restorativeHow performance and productivity can disconnect women from themselvesWhy playfulness can reduce pressure and deepen intimacyHow vulnerability becomes an invitation into your partner’s inner worldWhy shame cannot thrive in the presence of empathy and careHow everyday novelty, movement, beauty, and connection can create more alivenessA simple way to begin noticing more pleasure in the life you already haveThis episode is an invitation to slow down, soften the pressure, become curious about what feels good, and give yourself permission to experience more pleasure, play, connection, and bliss.

  4. Jul 28

    Why Pleasure Is Revolutionary

    What if fun is not a distraction from meaningful work, but part of the medicine? In this episode of The Fun & Bliss Podcast, Monick sits down with singer, songwriter, music and podcast producer, music supervisor, and “overall cosmic troublemaker” Kathleen Smith for a joyful, honest conversation about pleasure, creativity, music, and the deeply subversive power of having fun. Kathleen believes that fun is medicine—and that the revolution will be rooted in pleasure, creativity, and feminine energy. Her music has been featured across MTV, VH1, NBC, KCRW, radio stations around the country, and award-winning independent films. As a music supervisor, she has managed and placed millions of dollars’ worth of music and intellectual property for organizations and clients including The Kennedy Center, the National Endowment for the Arts, Hulu, Netflix, ESPN, Showtime, Amazon, and many more. Her work has been described as emotionally charged, fearlessly vulnerable, and powered by a “voice made of sunshine.” In this conversation, Kathleen shares how pleasure and play shaped the making of her record Medicine, why fun can be a form of resistance, and what becomes possible when we stop treating joy as something we have to earn. Together, Monick and Kathleen explore creativity without performance, the courage to follow what feels alive, and why becoming a disruptive force of nature might simply mean refusing to live disconnected from your own delight.

  5. Jul 23

    Your Gift Is You: Finding Joy Beneath the Shoulds

    What if the path to more joy is not about doing more, but learning to pause, listen, and reconnect with who you truly are? In this heartfelt conversation, Monick sits down with author, educator, and transformational teacher Shajen Joy Aziz to explore how our gifts, passions, and lived experiences can guide us toward a life filled with greater joy, fulfillment, and aliveness. Shajen shares how profound loss and adversity shaped her deep empathy and lifelong commitment to helping others feel seen, safe, and supported. She reveals how serving children became part of her own healing journey and why some of our greatest gifts can emerge from the hardest chapters of our lives. Together, Monick and Shajen discuss how to recognize the gifts that already live within you, especially the quiet ones that do not need to be monetized or turned into another achievement. They explore why joy can coexist with grief, pain, and uncertainty, and how simple practices like dancing, spending time in nature, creating space for stillness, and honoring your truth can bring you back to yourself. Shajen also shares the inspiration behind her new book and journal, Discovering the Gift of Joy, along with a powerful reminder for high-achieving women: your work in the world may not be to do more. It may be to learn how to do less. In this episode, you will discover: • How adversity can reveal unexpected gifts • Why your greatest gift may simply be who you are • How to identify the activities that naturally bring you into flow • Why rest and quiet are essential for creativity and joy • How children model presence, authenticity, and play • Why joy does not disappear during difficult seasons • How focused action can turn inspiration into transformation • A simple inner-child experiment to help you reconnect with fun Your Fun Spark for the week: Ask your inner child, “What brings you joy?” Listen to the first answer without editing it, and then go do it. Because joy is not something you have to earn. It is already within you, waiting for space to emerge.

  6. Jul 14

    Choosing the Dream Over the Fear

    What happens when a dream feels deeply meaningful, wildly exciting, and completely outside your comfort zone? In this episode of The Fun & Bliss Show, Moneeka Sawyer steps out of the co-host chair and into the guest seat to share the behind-the-scenes story of creating her first feature film, A Christmas Rescue. Moneeka opens up about the courage it took to move forward as a complete beginner, the challenge of trusting people and a process she could not control, and the daily decision to choose the dream over the fear. She also shares the deeply personal inspiration behind the film, including her experience with infertility and miscarriage, the healing love of her dog, and her desire to help break the silence around stories so many women carry privately. This conversation explores what it really looks like to bring a vision to life when you do not have all the answers. It is a story about learning, surrender, leadership, purpose, and creating something meaningful without losing the joy along the way. In this episode, we talk about: Why Moneeka decided to create A Christmas RescueHow a “practice movie” became a powerful missionMoving forward even when you feel like the least experienced person in the roomWhy courage is often a series of small daily choicesThe three values that guided the production: commitment, joy, and graceCreating a set where everyone felt better because they were part of itBreaking the silence around infertility and miscarriageThe healing connection between people and rescue animalsWhy something can be one of the hardest and most fun experiences of your life at the same timeThis episode is for anyone carrying a dream that feels bigger than their current experience. You do not need to know exactly how it will happen. Sometimes, you simply need to keep choosing the dream over the fear.

  7. Jul 7

    Brave Enough to Be Seen

    Emotional Bravery, True Influence, and the Freedom to Be Seen with Joanna Horton McPhersonWhat if true influence is not about being more polished, more impressive, or more confident? What if it starts with emotional bravery? In this episode of The Fun & Bliss Podcast, Monick Halm and Moneeka Sawyer sit down with Joanna Horton McPherson, a Harvard-trained six-time founder, private advisor, master coach, and creator of the True Influence Method. Joanna shares her personal story and opens up about what it really means to become visible without abandoning yourself in the process. Together, we explore the pressure so many high-achieving women feel to perform, perfect, and present the “right” version of themselves. Joanna offers a different path: one rooted in truth, presence, emotional bravery, and grounded influence. Because it is hard to have fun when you are constantly editing yourself. And it is hard to experience bliss when you are managing how everyone sees you. This conversation is an invitation to stop performing your life and start becoming more fully present inside it. In This Episode, We Talk AboutJoanna’s personal journey and what led her to the work she does todayWhat emotional bravery really meansWhy emotional bravery is different from simply appearing confidentWhat high-achieving women often misunderstand about visibilityHow to tell the truth without feeling like you have to overshareThe difference between a powerful story and a polished storyHow to grow your influence without losing yourselfWhat grounded visibility looks and feels likeWhy fun and bliss become more available when we stop performingThe rituals and Blissciplines that help Joanna return to herselfHow to lead, create, and be seen while staying connected to joyYour Fun SparkChoose one place in your life where you may be performing instead of being fully present. It could be in a meeting, on social media, in your business, in a relationship, or even in the way you answer the question, “How are you?” Then practice one small moment of emotional bravery. Say one honest sentence. “Here is what I really want.” “Here is what matters to me.” “Here is what feels true right now.” You do not need to make a dramatic declaration. You simply need to stop editing yourself for one moment and notice what happens. Do you breathe more deeply? Do you feel lighter? Do you feel more like yourself? Sometimes fun begins with one brave sentence. And sometimes bliss begins the moment you stop trying so hard to be who you think everyone needs you to be. Bonus Content Inside the Fun & Bliss CollectiveJoanna also joined us for a special bonus video inside the Fun & Bliss Collective. This conversation is super fun, juicy, and expansive. We take a deeper dive into the divine feminine, our respective missions, and what it means to lead, create, and be visible from a place of truth, softness, joy, and personal power. Join the Fun & Bliss Collective to watch the full bonus conversation and connect with a community of women who are choosing more joy, permission, play, and aliveness in their everyday lives. Connect with JoannaLearn more about Joanna Horton McPherson and the True Influence Method at: https://trueinfluencemethod.com/

  8. Jul 1

    Food, Belonging, and Delicious Fun

    What if food were about so much more than what’s on the plate? In this deliciously wide-ranging episode of The Fun & Bliss Show, Monick and Moneeka sit down with David Page, two-time Emmy Award-winning executive producer, creator of the Food Network phenomenon Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, host of Culinary Characters Unlocked, and author of Food Americana. David shares his remarkable journey from covering major world events, including the opening of the Berlin Wall, to becoming one of the most influential storytellers in food television. He reveals how a spontaneous pitch became Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, why the show was never really just about food, and how curiosity, timing, and a little luck helped shape his extraordinary career. Together, they explore how food carries memory, culture, identity, comfort, and belonging. They talk about the importance of gathering around the dinner table, the immigrant and Indigenous influences that shaped American cuisine, and why even the most familiar dishes have fascinating stories behind them. David also shares the simple pleasures that bring him joy, from learning something new and experiencing art that moves his soul to classic rock, his wife of 33 years, and an Uncrustable straight from the freezer. This episode is a joyful reminder to stay curious, savor the stories behind what you eat, and find work and interests that make life feel like an adventure. And your Fun Spark for the week? Eat the cannoli.

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
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About

The Fun & Bliss Show is a weekly invitation for everyone who is ready to stop postponing joy and start living with genuine ease, radiance, and aliveness. Co-hosts Monick Halm and Moneeka Sawyer explore how everyday fun and intentional bliss practices—what they call the Blissciplines—can open the door to clarity, connection, emotional freedom, and a life that feels deeply aligned. Through inspiring conversations, soulful stories, and simple five-minute “Fun & Bliss Sparks,” the show helps listeners reconnect with themselves, soften into presence, and remember that bliss isn’t a far-off dream—it’s a lived, daily experience. This is your space to breathe, to laugh, and to join a global movement where fun is the practice and bliss is the lifestyle.

Information

  • Creator
    Monick Halm and Moneeka Sawyer
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    22
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Monick Halm and Moneeka Sawyer