YOUNIVERSITY - Pursue Life Fearlessly

Alexa was an ambitious and creative 19 year old with high hopes for her future. Sitting in class one afternoon, she noticed a huge lymph node pop up on her collarbone. She had been feeling fatigued and experiencing symptoms like night-sweats and rashes. Putting all of that together, she went to the doctor and a few weeks later she was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Throughout her journey to heal, Alexa learned that trusting her inner voice and being in touch with her own vulnerability were the keys to beating the illness. Alexa is now a published author and spends her days trying to inspire others to take action in their own lives.

On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/alexacucch

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/alexacuc

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexacucchiara

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/alexacucch

This week, Annmarie talks with Rahul Kulkarni, a social entrepreneur who created and runs The Sukhi Project, a mental health advocacy and technology company that seeks to bridge the gap between mental wellness and culture understanding. Sukhi means happy in Sanskrit and that’s what they exist to promote.

Rahul knows how to stay calm in the eye of a storm, trust whatever is occurring, stay focused on his goal and remain flexible and agile when conditions change. Listen in as we explore how he is calling upon his talents, skills and work ethic, combined with his meditation practice, a deep trust in himself and the world to pursue his passion and fulfill this vision to build a bridge between peoples cultural background and mental health. 

The Sukhi Project Website: https://www.thesukhiproject.com

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/thesukhiproject

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesukhiproject

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-sukhi-project

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesukhiproject

On this week’s episode, Annmarie talks with Satvik Sethi, a mental health advocate and student at Binghamton University. They discuss Satvik’s mental health advocacy work, which began when he was in junior high school. He also recently created a Covid-19 website: a place for people to get all the reliable information they need in one place. They wonder how the world might be changed by this pandemic, including for the better. As work and school transfer to online interaction rather than in-person, they imagine remote work will become more accessible for people with disabilities and other challenges.

Satvik on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SatSethi14

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/satviksethi

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/satviksethi

Runaway: https://www.runawayapp.com

Project Covid: https://project-covid.lfrinternational.org

Carleigh Berryman grew up in a family of wildly successful entrepreneurs who valued and appreciated the older generations. In college, Carleigh resisted the tempting urge and social pressure to pursue a lucrative Marketing Consultant path and instead successfully secured seed money for a unique virtual reality company for seniors.

In American culture, we spend very little time investing in our elderly populations. Her company - Viva Vita - is a tech-enabled services business that disrupts that impulse by selling virtual reality tours as an activity to retirement communities to bolster their activities calendar, appear attractive to future customers and to engage their populations in a novel way for better mental wellness.

In this interview, we discuss the formation of Viva Vita, what it takes to stand up for your idea (even when it’s not popular), the challenges of entrepreneurship, the value of a strong mentor and how to take care of yourself through all of that.

Carleigh is a rare breed, both a head and heart-centered leader who encourages people to be open to the world, embrace uncertainty, work hard with genuine passion and, most important of all, care deeply about your work. 

More Viva Vita: https://www.vivavita.org

More Carleigh: https://www.carleighberryman.com

Hawat Kasat has spent each moment of his life trying to leave the world a little better than he found it. He identifies as an Artist, Author, Educator, Yoga Instructor, Community Organizer, and Non-profit Leader; in our interview, however, he reveals that he most identifies with the label of Poet.

In this episode, Hawah tells us about his experiences on the front-lines of social activism early in his life, as well as the time he spent in India learning how to meditate. Both sets of experiences - the political and contemplative - created a visionary leader who now runs One Common Unity, a non-profit he co-founded over 18 years ago that supports peace education and the building of a non-violent culture through music and art.

We learn that the common threads in all of Hawah’s experiences are curiosity, consciousness and joy. And while he always feels like there is more to be done, there’s no question that he’s an example to us all for how to make a positive impact on the world.

More Hawah: https://hawah.us

This week, we continue our two-part conversation with Fran Roth, from the wildly popular Instagram account How Do You Adult? 

We start this episode by walking through Fran’s college experience and how she navigated that time with authenticity, vulnerability and, ultimately, a trusting relationship with her own feelings. Fran then opens up about her relationship with her boyfriend and gives us excellent advice about how to adult rin work and life. She closes with her definitions of success, happiness and a vision-cast for the future of her Instagram account.

Follow Fran: instagram.com/howdoyouadult

Fran Roth started sketching her feelings as a hobby and her friends told her what she was making was really good. As the doodles grew in popularity online, Fran followed her impulse to buy an iPad to create more digital drawings, got an instagram account and the rest is history. Her wildly successful account How Do You Adult? now has nearly 195,000 followers and that audience grows daily.

Annmarie and Fran talk about feeling your feelings, managing anxiety, the purpose of panic, how to communicate your desires with respect and creating space for our fullest and most authentic expression. 

Follow Fran: instagram.com/howdoyouadult

Mark your calendars - Season 2 of YOUNIVERSITY kicks off on Wednesday, March 4th with Part 1 of a two-part special episode featuring Fran Roth, the creator of the wildly popular Instagram page HOW DO YOU ADULT.

In the meantime, enjoy this trailer that looks back at last season and forward to what we're cooking up next.

One anecdote to stress, anxiety and overwhelm is to bring more conscious play into your day. This week we are talking about the importance of balance between work, rest and play! So many of us forget to play and think play is not important as grown-ups. We take everything so seriously!  We believe we don't have time to rest, relax, play, and chill out, so we push ourselves until we get sick, overwhelmed or exhausted. When we honor our need to rest, renew and play we re-charge and maximize our energy. We are then more available for creativity, innovation, well being and productivity. The play brings us back to a state of flow.

We are exploring appreciation and what it really means to pay attention to the things we are grateful for. What you appreciate grows or increases in value.  Listen in this week as I talk about the power of appreciation. I show you HOW to cultivate gratitude and talk about why it can help reduce the stress, overwhelm and anxiety we all experience. When we feel good, we are in a far better space to do good. Join us in the challenge. Take 2 minutes a day to sit quietly and reflect on ONE thing you are feeling grateful for.  Just ONE thing a day. And notice how you feel, and maybe let us know.