Returning to the Center

On This Walk

We spend so much of our lives on the periphery. What matters most is at the center—and yet we get pulled away, time and time again.

This was a perpetual state for me for too long. I would get lost in life’s demands and obligations. I thought I was chasing the most important thing – success, achievement, image – but that was just my conditioning.

So how do we come back? How do we not only wake up to the pursuits that pull us away, but also go deeper into what needs these pursuits pretend to fulfill?

For that to occur, we need both space and an understanding of the many patterns at work.

I was fortunate to quite literally find myself journeying next to a fellow explorer, Andrea Bendewald. She exudes both an aliveness and also a deeper centeredness you can sense in her gaze. And it’s no wonder, based on the past couple decades of her journey and the practice at the core of her work.

And as I pictured stepping into this conversation with Drea, I could see our other sister, Alexis Pokorny Kahlow, who one could say has spent time traveling in similar circles!

In This Episode

• (01:25) How my ‘hero’s journey’ started six years ago
• (04:54) How do we return back to the center?
• (09:16) How Andrea realized she was off center, listening to “the voice”
• (13:07) How chasing corporate success led Alexis from her path
• (16:07) Finding answers in the circle
• (23:24) Alexis’ pivot to her spiritual journey
• (27:31) Andrea’s processes, and working with women from all walks of life
• (34:00) Spiritual evolution through circling
• (47:36) How Alexis uses the seasons to help clients visualize life
• (53:11) The most prevalent seasons in Alexis’ and Andrea’s lives
• (1:00:15) What does it mean to care for ourselves, and how can that help us find center?

Notable Quotes

• “I get something out of every circle I lead or sit in and very often something comes through me that I had no idea needed or wanted to be spoken. So that can be the gift that comes from [it] – the deep listening, if we're holding space and really listening and letting each person's story enter us and change us. And because we're kind of practicing a more conscious way of being together, I can feel it where I can feel it go, ‘Oh, that was designed for me. That's what I came here to receive is that one nugget of truth. That is somebody else's truth. But now is also my truth.’” – Andrea (16:07)
• “I'm a big believer in meeting people where they are. And, you know, the women that I'm working with, we start with some grounding and attending and attuning practices, like just landing in our bodies. What do you feel? Where do you feel in your body? What's the sensation presenting it as? And then we'll share just simply on that, because the muscle that I'm hoping to help them develop is that pause, becoming more sensitive to actually what they're feeling, and then being able to verbally communicate that, to be able to hear themselves.” – Alexis (25:57)

Our Guests

Known originally as an actress, Andrea Bendewald is also a mindfulness coach, circle facilitator and founder of The Art of Circling, a spiritual practice based on ancient ritual that uses group mindfulness to empower individuals, strengthen communities and enhance productivity. Through sharing stories, deep listening and interconnected meditation, The Art of Circling heals and transforms lives.

Alexis Pokorny Kahlow is a performance-based mindfulness expert, author and CEO of Open Deltas. Before launching her own company, Alexis spent over a decade as a top-performing corporate sales leader at Cisco, where she first introduced mindfulness to her own team. She is the author of a book called “Out of the Grind and Into the Flow” and currently works with Fortune 500 companies to provide corporate mindfulness training.

Resources & Links

On This Walk

• https://www.facebook.com/dlukeiorio
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukeiorio/
• https://instagram.com/dlukeiorio
• https://instagram.com/onthiswalkshow