Unwritten You: Rediscovering Our Unstoried Selves Deneen Bowen & Deli Moussavi

In this episode, we talk with an amazing woman, yoga & sanskrit instructor & mentor,  singer & chanter, Claudette Evans, about the healing power of chanting & vibration, when she felt brave and what romance novel she is currently reading

You'll hear: 
How Claudette uses mantra and chanting as grounding and healing tools for her yoga studentsThe work of others around using sound vibration for physical healingThis episode's prompt and what stories it conjures for Claudette, Deli and DeneenOur recent "joygasms" - small and large moments of joyful presence in our lives 
Tag us at @unwrittenyoupodcast on IG to leave a comment! Leave us a review at:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unwritten-recovering-our-unstoried-selves/id1607908452

Jena's prompt is from her manuscript, Fierce Encouragement for Writing + Life: 201 Writing Prompts to Help You Dig Deep, Quiet the Critic, and Discover the Power of Your Voice in the Wider World – 10 Minutes at a Time
Guest: Claudette Evans
IG: @claudette_yoga
Seattle Yoga Arts
8 Limbs Yoga
Cornish School of the Arts
American Sanskrit Institute
Insight Timer (LeeAnn Rimes)

Prompt by Jena Schwartz (writer & writing coach) 
From her manuscript: Fierce Encouragement: Book of Prompts
Courage
"This is what we do for a living - we dance with the Resistance, we do not make it go away. You cannot make it go away - you cannot make the voice go away, you cannot make the fear go away, because it is built in. What you can do is when it shows up, you say 'Welcome! I'm glad you're here. Let's dance about this.'"
Seth Godin 
Your Writing Prompt: Tell me what was brave. Start your freewrite with these words: "It was brave of me to..."  Or write about a time when you felt the fear and did it anyway. 
Books
P.I.T.A.
by Brooke Blaine
What Do You Do With an Idea?
by Kobi Yamada, illustrated by Mae Besom

Sound Healing Research
Strang Cancer Prevention Institute (Dr. Mitchell L. Gaynor)
Sacred Sound Institute (no website available)

Music
Penny Fischer
IG: @pennies
Kyle Smith
IG: @riggszthewanderer

Who is Deli?
Her Iranian heritage, coming to America, growing up in Cali, her first real job in a 90’s pioneering streaming media tech company, launching a leadership development company, writing as an avocation and life as a healer. 
Who is Deneen? 
Her family’s many moves, figure skating, working in educational technology (though she wanted to be a drama teacher), elevating student voice through the one woman show she created and toured, and an undiagnosed illness. 
How did we meet?
The role of education in both their lives as facilitators and keynoters and parents, including bonding over IBM Selectric typewriters.
How did being courageous allow us meet?
Deneen created a show she wrote and performed as a keynote on student voice that led her to a workshop Deli was leading. How we need to be in community, not isolation (thank you, Barbara Sher!), to realize the dreams of our hearts.
What if you knew that everything was going to be OK?
"What If You Knew" - poem by Jena Schwartz
The stories we tell ourselves...paths as of yet untaken.
What are our Joygasms?
In-person concerts with my 13-year-old daughter (Deneen)
Our friendship story and EAGLE MANIA (Deli)
Joy as a revolutionary act.

Original Music by Penny Fischer & Kyle Smith

In this episode, we talk with wonderful human being, writing coach and group leader and poet, Jena Schwartz, on International Women's Day, about the power of transitions, big and small.

You'll hear: 
How Deli met Jena  when she joined Jena's online writing programsHow Jena's masterful prompts have come to be part of the structure of Unwritten You PodcastHear this episode's prompts and Jena, Deli and Deneen in conversation over the promptCatch each of their recent "joygasms" We bring you this special 1-hour episode as Jena's prompts going forward will be part of the structure of our episodes and will help launch our conversation. Our conversations are not pre-planned -- we consider topics, and we answer the prompts on the spot as we record. One of the biggest reasons we launched this podcast was to heal and grow through conversation, by speaking things out loud, in the moment, as they come in. 

Tag us at @unwrittenyoupodcast on IG to leave a comment! Leave us a review at:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unwritten-recovering-our-unstoried-selves/id1607908452 

Deep gratitude for Jena's generosity in allowing us to use her prompts for our podcasts. Our hope is that you take each prompt and use it for yourself, in your journal writing and to open and kickoff conversations with friends, family, and even strangers who cross your path. 

Jena's prompt in this episode from her manuscript, Fierce Encouragement for Writing + Life: 201 Writing Prompts to Help You Dig Deep, Quiet the Critic, and Discover the Power of Your Voice in the Wider World – 10 Minutes at a Time

Prompt:  The Transition

"In the space between chaos and shape, there was another chance." 
- Janette Winterson 

Then she woke up, woke up from where she was, 
where she had dwelled upon and not from, 
stepping over the exposed roots and piles 
of leaves and laundry and bills, a sopping sponge
 unable to hold another drop, as if driving
 in a downpour and cursing the futility
 of windshield wipers against the force
 of the deluge, finally surrendering to the storm
 she pulled over, stepping out of the car
 and standing on the shoulder, drenched 
instantly to the bone, until it was her own
 water breaking again, that warm flood
 a kind of terrible ecstasy delivering her
 to a trailhead where she walked up and up
 into the fecund woods, leaving the trail
 to find a small gravel clearing, laying
 her coat on the ground, raising her arms
 to the white sky of welcome home, 
crouching, bearing down, reaching for
 steady breathing and primal sound, 
alone but for the scurry and scamper
 of woodland creatures foraging for food,
 a safe haven from the relentless tide
 and crashing contractions, goddess pose,
 hint of a smile, a ringing in her ears
 as if always being called forth, a whisper,
 You can do this. Ice chips, soft hand, 
clammy forehead. You are not crazy. 
Pilot light in the belly ignited, shaky
 legs now steady, drishti on a dried red leaf, 
single point, breath rounding the corner
 from wilting to worthy, depleted to daring
 yes she dwells upon and not from, too tired 
to dream, then rises again, chooses again,
 her one wild and precious life, saving herself
 first—let the bleeding begin, loosen
 the tourniquets of fear—finally baring
 her teeth to the cold November wind. 
(2011)

Your Writing Prompt: Tell me about the transition. When you sit down to write today, begin with the words, "The transition was _________ than I expected."

Link to Jena's poem, Imagine:  https://www.jenaschwartz.com/blog

Our theme song, Birds, was written and produced by Penny Fischer and Kyle Smith. In this episode, we talk to them about this song, their creative process and how they walk into the unknown. Join us for insights, laughter and, of course, joygasms!

Shout outs to all the music venues and musicians mentioned in this episode:

Penny Fischer
@pennies (IG)
linktr.ee/aonecentcoin
"The Rain" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHbyAmf3Qmk
Produced by: Amit Amram

Kyle Smith
@riggszthewanderer (IG)
riggsz.hearnow.com

Nectar Lounge in Fremont, Seattle
@nectarlounge (IG)

Lana Del Rey
@lanadelreybr (IG)

Sammy Rae & the Friends
@sammyraemusic (IG)

KEXP - The Roadhouse Show
https://www.kexp.org/shows/Roadhouse/

What have you received that you didn't even know you wanted or needed?

This is our question for this episode. We share our own personal stories and talk about the power of giving voice to those stories. We invite our listeners to use this question in their own lives to prompt reflection with themselves and connection with others. And, as always, we share our recent JOYGASMS!

In this episode, we refer to the following fabulous women. Please explore their stories and incredible offerings to the world!
Cheryl Strayed: https://www.cherylstrayed.com/
Tara Brach: https://www.tarabrach.com/
Tierney Sutton: http://tierneysutton.com/

Yes, we are! Welcome to our podcast!

We are two dear friends, Deneen & Deli, who believe in the power of saying our stories out loud -- from the painful to the joyful -- so that we can write  new stories of life from open and strong hearts. Until we know and accept exactly where we are, we cannot know where we are headed.  This podcast is unscripted and unwritten with an unknown destination.

Join us for our first conversation in which we get clear about our intentions, the structure of future episodes and our hopes for building a community where we share stories, create possibilities and have "joygasms." Let's keep writing into our lives, together.

Inspiration for the title of our podcast came from the song
"Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield

Original music for our podcast is the song
"Birds" by Penny Fischer and Kyle Smith

Hosts: Deneen Frazier Bowen & Deli Moussavi