The Podcast

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Podcast Episode 14:  Angela Montano


Angela Montano is a sought after key-note speaker and workshop facilitator as well as the host of the popular podcast The Angela Montano Hour/Prayer On The Air. Her podcast has listeners from over 32 countries, whose purpose is to lift one another and the world in prayer.

Transcript

Alison : I have no memory anymore. Right now, I don’t know whether my head is jammed with files. Are you, Jean? I think you look like Jean. I don’t remember anything. Okay. I do know that we’re going to do an interview, right?

Jean: Yes. This is with Angela Montano. And I actually reached out to her because, I saw something in my inbox and it was all about prayer. And as a spiritual practitioner, that really piqued my interest. So I opened it up and I saw that this woman, Angela, offers an hour of prayer on the air with Angela Montano, and it’s absolutely gorgeous. She uses the power of prayer to help shift consciousness. People just sign up and you can type in or speak to her directly and tell her what your challenge is and she prays for you. Her prayers are not the typical type of prayer, which most of us think. Well, I’ll speak for myself, that I grew up in thinking prayer was more like a beseeching request, but this is a like a quantum, very expansive prayer. And it’s beautiful.  What do you think?

Alison : Well, I felt like for me, prayer has changed so much, like when, you know, raised by Catholicism and having going to church and a Catholic school. It felt like it was like the Our Father, the Hail Mary, more like something outside of myself could help me. And then we learned, when I was at the church with you, Jean, a more positive, reaffirming type of prayer. And what I love about Angela is she’s accepting of it all. She accepts all prayer as a way of helping yourself, helping others and connecting with our True Consciousness or True Being, right?

Jean: Angela has a beautiful website and she talks about “rethink prayer.” So many of us, including myself have been schooled in in affirmative prayer, and I forget that when I’m in a challenging situation, I can stop and pray. And whether it’s just, oh, help me God or Universe… please figure this out for me, whatever that is. You know, it’s really tapping into a power that is greater than ourselves, beyond the little thinking mind that is constantly analyzing and trying to figure it out on its own will.

Alison : And what I love too is Angela’s voice. She’s like –  okay, so just sit back, listen, and really like, just let it wash over you –  because She’s amazing.

Jean: She is such a delight.

Alison : It is such a treat because I want to just say that I think that what you Angela, bring to the table is a renewed passion and a new awareness around prayer.

Angela: Thank you.

Jean: I love that. And, just a little side note, I went to North Hollywood Church of Religious Science, and I’ve taken a few classes, also at the Agape Church with Dr. Michael Beckwith. So I know that’s where you studied, yes?

Angela: Yes, that’s right.

Alison : That’s beautiful.. And you’re a practitioner?

Angela: I am a practitioner,licensed through Agape, licensed through the Centers of Spiritual Living. But really what I do with prayer for me has gone beyond the affirmative prayer method, which is beautiful and wonderful and a revelation. And I’m so grateful I was trained in it. And there’s just so many portals to enter into prayer.  I’m just so grateful to be available to prayer and entering into it in so many ways. Like, if you’re terribly depressed, to pray affirmatively is very, very hard. There has to be another way.

Alison : Could you explain that a little bit more? So you said you go beyond affirmative prayer, right? So for the listeners, can you just give a little snippet of what affirmative prayer is and then how you’ve moved sort of beyond that?

Angela: Right. Okay.

Jean: And one little thing, start with a prayer of supplication then a prayer of affirmation.

Angela: I’m going to start with affirmative prayer. Then speak to what you’re saying, Jean, and then go on to the beyond. So what’s amazing and revelation like a revelation about affirmative prayer for those who’ve studied it and know it, it’s got a technique to it. So many people I work with who have even grown up in religion so often I hear no one really ever taught me how to pray. You know, it’s like, bow your head and guess we’re doing it, you know, and we don’t really know what we’re doing. And so one of my big things I really want people to know is prayer has existed for centuries before the first religion was ever formed. So a lot of times we think like, Prayer is a product of religion. You know, prayer comes out of religion. That’s not true. And I’m not against any religion at all. And in truth, religion has contributed greatly to prayer. And yet prayer is this instinct to reach beyond whatever current mindset you’re in, out of which suffering is occurring. And I really do believe that is an instinct. Like we have the instinct to breathe, the instinct to eat, the instinct to sleep. Prayer is a spiritual instinct that I think we’ve lost contact with in a in a felt sense. And so I hope in my work with Rethink Prayer, I’m helping people rethink prayer to then enter into some kind of intimate, authentic experience of that reaching beyond. And even when I say reaching beyond, it sounds like I’m meaning like reaching beyond out there.

Angela: Where is God out there? I don’t mean that, I mean the Beyond…that is… I don’t know what kind of direction to tell you? I could say the beyond that is within? But within where? Do I mean behind my belly button, in my spine, like where is the within? So within our consciousness,you know, a metaphysical perspective is where we are a consciousness appearing as a body, like our body is within our consciousness. You know, that’s really extraordinary to think that. So when we talk about reaching beyond, I just mean beyond the limited way I’m thinking about something that is making me think there’s no way out, something will never get better from here, right? So what’s so beautiful about affirmative prayer is it solves a problem for a lot of people where they don’t feel connected to any kind of higher power, whether we call that higher power the existence of a kind of divine grace, whether we call that higher power God, spirit, love, beauty. How do I connect to it? So in affirmative prayer, there’s actually a technique. When I learned it, there were five steps. Now they actually have a six steps. But how I learned it is you just begin with God is. So God is, means Love is. Peace is and joy is. So you would use these verities of God. We would think of the qualities of God being love, peace, joy, forgiveness, compassion, prosperity and plentitude.

Angela: And so you just begin, no matter what with, God is these qualities of God, these qualities of Love exist. And then you do something that’s very radical in step two, which is I am one with this Presence of God. So I may not feel joyful at all. So I’m saying joy is and I am the Presence of joy. So I don’t have any contact maybe in this moment with joy, but I’m declaring it in prayer. And then step three is realization, where you realize not only is God, God is and I am one with this Presence, number three is whatever is concerning me… whatever it is, it can’t pay my rent, boyfriend broke up with me, I don’t know where my child is, we’ve gotten a really frightening diagnosis in my family that you then realize this presence is in the midst of whatever concerns you. At the center and circumference of this thing, that’s scaring you. So you bring your awareness to infinite possibility related to something that maybe has you quaking in fear. And then from there you say thank you. You release the prayer and you let go. So what’s so amazing about affirmative prayer and just catch that word affirmative. I am affirming that I am one with this greater, higher power than I am currently aware of. And I’ve seen amazing things happen for people through affirmative prayer. Now, prayer of supplication, I love that prayer too. When I originally learned, affirmative prayer, affirmative prayer was considered to be like for more conscious people, you know, like we’ve evolved beyond needing help, you know, because we know God isn’t outside of us.

Angela: We’re one with God. So, you know, we’re not begging and beseeching. That’s praying amiss. But I don’t believe that. I actually believe help is a beautiful prayer. And I believe it’s a prayer of high self esteem, because if anybody can just say help, they’re declaring they’re worthy of help. And even Michael Beckwith, who you mentioned, Jean, he told a story once about he was, I think in Costa Rica, he was swimming and he got pulled out by a tidal wave, like no, I don’t know, by a riptide, you know, And he was trying to swim back, He was getting super tired and he was really beginning to doubt he was going to make it back, And he even began to think. I didn’t think I would go this way, but this could really be it for me. And he said spontaneously, with no thought, something deep, deep, deep down within him moved through him, and it was just the word, “help.” And he said right after that, this huge wave came and pushed him into the shore. So, I mean, I love help. It’s one of my favorite prayers. And I probably do it every day. You know, I think of we need a toolbox of prayer perspectives and modalities. Because there’s just not one way to pray. Just like you don’t get dressed in the exact same thing every single day. I practically do. But I mean, normally you know, you might, you know, different seasons, different clothes. It’s kind of different seasons, different portals into I like to call it the prayer field. I didn’t coin that term, I heard that from Reverend Coco Stewart, who is also of Agape. And I was part of the pastoral care ministry there for about ten years. And it’s just like delivering things to the prayer field. It’s like delivering. Where we would be very constricted in our perspective to a possibility greater than we can imagine. You know, Emily Dickinson says dwell in possibility. I think that’s another great word for higher powers is just possibility.

Alison : And when you say your prayer has moved beyond that, could you give us an idea of what that might look like?

Angela: And maybe I’m not being perfectly accurate in saying beyond, it includes that and more. So when when I think of other ways that I pray, that I think is very good…. I did create a kind of prayer method called the vulnerability prayer. And it just starts with like, you know, I need and everything I think I need, I want everything I think I want. And then I offer all these needs and wants to the deep reality of peace that we all are and let go. And I feel very cleansed by that prayer. I mean, vulnerability is a strength, not a weakness. And sometimes I’ve taught affirmative prayer for decades, and a lot of times students like, am I doing it right? Am I doing it right? It’s almost like you’ve got to be so convicted and declaring God is, I am and right in the midst of this, God is. And sometimes, you know, it’s like, well, I can’t be vulnerable. And so I love the vulnerability prayer. Um popular, oh I don’t know how many years ago, maybe 7 or 8 years ago it became I think pretty well known, his Hawaiian method of prayer – Ho’oponopono,  Are you aware of that one?

Alison : Yes. Yes.

Angela: So that is an interesting method of prayer. And I’ve seen many people, you know, do different versions of that. I don’t know if you would like me to speak about that.

Alison : Sure.

Jean: Yeah.

Angela: Well, Ho’oponopono is this prayer that the story goes… That this man worked in a psychiatric ward where there were psychiatric patients who were criminals and they were imprisoned and instead of meeting with them, he sat with their files, and he did a prayer where he said, “I’m sorry, please forgive me, thank you, and I love you.” And so, when he’s saying I’m sorry, that’s a deep, mystical perspective on prayer. He’s saying, I’m sorry that whatever happened to you has happened to you. He’s taking even responsibility for what happened to them. Like somehow on my watch, this is happening. He’s saying I’m sorry for my perspective of you and society’s perspective of you. We’ve perceived you as other, as bad, as criminal. So it’s a deep Compassion in I’m sorry. And then the please forgive me, it’s offering all that one must go through in being so utterly misunderstood to end up with a mental illness and a record, you know, like like how many moments were missed for that person? So it’s like, please forgive me. Please forgive our world. You know, please forgive everyone…When I’m saying please forgive me, please forgive every teacher, every parent, you know, every one that may have held you that that didn’t… So I’m sorry. Please forgive me. And then thank you. Is the assumption that the gratitude is filling the space. And then I love you is the healing infusion of love. And as the story goes, there was that ward people got well and moved on to better situations in their life.

Alison : That’s gives me chills.

Angela: Yeah, I actually do that one practically every night. And what I often say I’m sorry to, at this point in my life, is just I say I’m sorry to the day, because I know every day is utterly miraculous. Like I bit into a blue actually a BlackBerry earlier. And it’s like, how do I describe that alone was amazing. And yet, how many moments do I miss? You know, when am I critical and damning something rather than blessing it? You know, when am I not seeing what’s really being offered to me in the day? How much love and joy and peace and prosperity am I missing? Because I’m caught in a loop in the divided mind where I’m going to name this good, this bad.  You know, the outside of my house needs to be repainted right now. So now that’s bad, you know? And then, you know, I’ll go in and what else needs to be improved? Or so I, of course, do my best to live in praise and I fail every day. So I love that prayer because I like to ask the day for forgiveness, like all the things I missed. I don’t know. It cleanses me.

Alison : I love that. Yeah. Yeah.

Angela: I told my girlfriend I did that. She goes, Oh, Angela, I think you’re like a martyr. But I don’t feel that way about it. I feel, you know.

Jean: It suits you and thank you for sharing that, because those of us that are on a, I mean we’re all on a spiritual path, but those of us that it looks more obvious, Um you know, when we say we’re sorry and we’re consciously really choosing our words in that moment, it doesn’t mean… We know our intention behind saying it.  I love what you said, Angela about the moments we miss, because if we can really hold on to the perception that everything is a miracle…who is it? Albert Einstein that said everything’s a miracle or not?

Angela:  I don’t know who said that. I think he might. I don’t know. I want to say Walt Whitman. Everything is a miracle or nothing is.

Jean: But it wasn’t me…haha

Angela: Do not quote me. Do not quote me.

Jean: The other thing I wanted to bring up and thank you, you’ve already given our listeners so much beauty from what you just said, on your Monday Rethink Prayer, I love when you say, “I am more interested in love.” You know, you say that sometimes to whomever you’re holding space for and praying. Can you just talk about that? Like how or what advice or what tips can you help all of us that are listening to you be more interested in love? Because that is so healing.

Angela: You know being interested in love, Is being interested in ourselves. It’s being interested in our own true nature. And there is love and there’s the experience of fear. And in a way, every moment is a choice between love or fear. The Course in Miracles teaches us love or judgment, but judgment and fear are you simultaneously in that or use synonymous synonymously in that text.  And so fear, if we think of it as an acronym- false evidence appearing real. So. I don’t know why I mentioned the thing about, you know, and I know it’s a very superficial could not be more superficial example, but my house needs to be painted on the outside, right? So I look at it and there’s a place where the paint is chipping. And when I’m critical of it, it’s because with that chip, I’m moving into fear. So anytime we’re feeling we need to rank, we’re in fear. Any time we think we, you know, any kind of survival mentality is fear based. You know, we’ve got to get higher, we’ve got to get better. Even self esteem is like, we’ve got to get high self esteem. And how do we get high self esteem? Well, I’ll compare myself to other people. I think I’m doing better than them. I’m not doing as well as those like we’re trying to rank ourselves. That is fear and it grips most of us. I think unless we’re completely in a communion with our own true nature, most of us are susceptible to this feeling of less than, you know, worried about our survival.

Angela: How are we measuring up? So when I say I’m more interested in love, I really am more interested in love. But for me, I have to turn back to love because fear grabs me right? The minute I’m critical of a house that’s keeping me warm, keeping me safe… I mean, who cares that the paint is chipping, You know? I will get it painted at some point or something else done. But I, In my deepest authenticity, I really love my house and I’m more interested in loving it, in praising it, in appreciating it and being grateful for it than in being critical. So when I say on my podcast Prayer on the Air, I’m more interested in love, I’m saying that to myself and all of us like, can we together as a prayer collective be more interested in love? Now what’s so interesting to me is loving feels so much more natural. Fearing does not feel natural. It feels like something’s off. You know, it feels like a pretty, you know, common habit. I’m used to this, but it doesn’t feel natural. I sometimes say it’s like kind of like wearing shoes that are too small and you’re like, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, But you keep wearing them.  You stand in love..you ground in love. And it’s like, oh, these are the most comfortable shoes. Like we’re all equipped to be loving and to love what is. And prayer is always about bringing whatever is, into alignment with that broader, you know, energy within us and in the world of love.

Alison : You know, it’s interesting. I was reading or listening about you and it sounded like in your maybe it was high school years, you had a lot of things happen. And it made me think, I wonder whether that sort of fear or trauma helps crack open this desire for awakening? Do you know … And do you think that, You know, because you can’t really turn on the news without that, do you think, what do you think,  that’s indicative of something going on with humanity? Or it’s just those two things sometimes rub up against each other for me. Do you know?

Angela: Yes, I do. So, number one, I suspect that is what happened to me. You know, in high school, I broke a bone in my neck and was close to being paralyzed as a gymnast. My boyfriend and friend were killed in a car accident right after going to the mall to get my Christmas present. And something happened to a family member, that was quite devastating. And it all happened within a three week period. And I was almost in the car with my boyfriend and friend, and it was Just very interesting that I was not. And after that, I moved into a very deep grief before then, you know, I kind of was just. You know, I was definitely, you know, on track to do everything I could to please my mother and be a good girl and all that stuff. But I hadn’t experienced anything like this. And I had a moment. I couldn’t participate in gym class. And I was walking around the track and I was watching people laugh and play, and I couldn’t even locate a smile anymore. I couldn’t even Imagine one. And I just saw a tunnel and it was like I was dropping deeper and deeper in it. But as I was walking, it began to appear to me almost like physically, and in this physical thing I saw, I realized I could put my hands like in the tunnel and my feet and I could stop myself. And so and then I looked up and I saw this light and I began physically, this is all happening in an image. I’m just walking around the track in reality. But I started to inch toward this light and I had lots and I have had through my life many mystical experiences, supernatural experiences since then. And I think that, you know, began my journey. I mean, of course, like everyone’s journey, it went many, many different ways. And so I have a what I suspect, what I sense is happening on the planet today in this time of such equal disequilibrium, you know, is that the heart of humanity is opening and I think of the World Wide Web and like what’s allowing us to communicate, the way we are right now, as being the awakening of the global mind, if you will. Like you and I could pretty much learn anything. We’ve got information because of the web like it used to be information was power because it was rare to have the information. Now nothing about information is rare. What’s rare now? What humanity needs now is of the heart. And when I say of the heart, I mean of God is compassion.

Angela: Compassion is the rare healing elixir and currency we’re opening to. And trauma and compassion are very interestingly, interestingly linked. And so I feel like we’re going through trauma after trauma after trauma collectively, and it is breaking our hearts. It is breaking our hearts. And we want to numb ourselves. We want to not watch the news. We want to just we’ll all be in my corner of the world where everything’s okay. Or if we’re in a corner of a world where not everything’s okay, maybe we’re just trying to cope. I think what I want to do and I want to allow prayer to help me and I think all of us is might our hearts break open? Might our hearts break open. And when you let when I let when we let our hearts break open, we’re willing to lose. We’re willing to lose. And everything about our culture, especially in America, is win. Don’t lose. Yeah. So it feels so counterintuitive. And it’s it’s not. It’s it’s actually the opposite of that survival. Fear based in fear based instinct to rank, rank, rank, rise, rise. Rise up the ladder. We have to be willing to lose and in loss, as the Buddhists say, there is gain. But we are not trained for this. We got to feel our way into this prayerfully.

Alison : All right. That’s beautiful. Because so many times, um, it’s interesting because we have a lot of friends who’ve studied a Course in Miracles or are very, very spiritual, religious bent. And then lately, I know so many people that are atheists. And I think it’s so interesting that you talk on your website and also other talks about prayer for atheists, because I you know, I have one very, very, very good friend that does not believe in God, will not say it. And he got very sick and he could not believe all the love he got. And I said. That’s God. He was like, nope, you know? And I’m wondering, could you address that a little bit? Because people don’t talk about that. Yeah.

Angela: I’m so curious about that. Like when people say I don’t believe in God, I really wonder what they’re not believing in. And are they not just believing in the concept of God? The construct of God? You know, some male figure or something outside of us that could save us but doesn’t.  So many people today, you know, 1 in 5 Americans call themselves spiritual, but not religious. And in their sense of reality, they’ve been able to expand and mature their sense of God to include not simply a being, but a state of being. A state of being. You know, what I love about the 12 step program is there’s such an open mindedness, they just call it higher power if you’re in a 12 step program and you can work with your own imagination, whatever helps you relax into that kind of possibility. It doesn’t have to be a being. Now, what’s so interesting about atheists and prayer, there’s a bit written, not a lot, but I’ve read through a number of conversations of atheists who are completely at peace and feel very good about their intellectual decision and clarity about not being a believer in God. And yet they report, I keep wanting to pray. Why am I desiring to pray if I don’t believe in God? And is it just something, a habit in the reptilian part of my brain that won’t let go? What is it? And I love this one blog I read by an atheist named JD Mauer, and it’s entitled, Why As an Atheist, I pray?  And his feeling is, in terms of human potential, it’s reported that we may use 10% of our brain, right? There’s a lot more human potential that we have yet to access. And for him that’s considered like the higher power. And so how do we get at that? How do we get at that? And he experiences prayer as a method to access greater potential in solving his problems. So I might call that greater potentiality… Love, God, and he calls it, you know, Human potential that prayer allows him to access.

Alison : Hm. That’s interesting. Yeah.

Jean: Especially how semantics the words get all twisted. And you know, if you say the name Jesus, people just some people really love it and some people just turn their head, you know. And, I think we’re coming to a point where we have to drop so much of the language, which which is a form of separation and just really feel into each other’s— where is that person coming from? Like okay, maybe they don’t use the same words as I do, but I’m not going to try to make my point here. Try to get them to use my language, you know? Um, I think going back to what you said, Angela, that being compassion, whether whatever your beliefs are in.  My my husband used to say, Jeannie,  I’m not religious, I’m not spiritual. And I’d say, okay, well, sometimes it’s like if a tree said, okay, I’m not nature, right? You know?

Angela: Yes.

Jean: I said, I’m not going to arm wrestle you here. You know, Um, I said, You are A loving, loving human being. You are super kind. You are super generous. You think of others. You’re compassionate.  Yeah. Guess I am.

Angela: Boy, you’re so right, you know? Words seem to get in the way. And in this time of polarity and tribalism, you know, we’re not traversing to others very well. Polarity means I can’t even imagine how you think what you think. Like, not only do I not agree, like, I can’t even imagine it, right?  So this tribalism, this resistance to traverse to other, like what do you mean by the word God? What are you talking about? When I think of the word God, for me in my heart, it is that which is too vast to be named.

Alison : Yeah.

Angela: You know, it’s synonymous for me with mystery. And somehow, I’m able to have an intimacy and a relationship with mystery and intimacy. You know, and I don’t know why and how someone else is another way. But those words, they do seem to get in the way. But I love what you also are saying about compassion, because perhaps as our hearts continue to break open, we will reach for one another. We will Be curious enough to listen to one another. We might just feel so alone and isolated. We’ll finally want to hear from another.  What do you mean? What are you talking about?

Alison : That’s so, so, so true.  Do you have every day or maybe not a spiritual practice that you follow that maybe you could tell our listeners on us about?

Angela: Yes, I have. I have such a long spiritual practice. I mean, it’s just gotten added on to through the years and don’t do 100% of it every single day. But I meditate and I have time I spend in prayer. I do yoga. I journal. I probably do everything you all do, you know, and you know, I do really like to say to people, you know, the practice of prayer. I’ve been interviewed and they say even that term feels radical to me. Prayer practice, like we know a yoga is a, you know, can be a practice meditation practice, you know, prayer as a practice. So when I bow my head in prayer, I do like to bow my head. I think of the head bowing like is all my stinking thinking, all my analytical everything, you know, all my fear based things, all my arrogance. And, you know, I like to bow it. And when I bow it, I think of bowing it to my heart. I’m not talking about the physical organ of my heart, but I, I allow that to symbolize the, the greater expression of, of the divine. And just that will even feel good. And sometimes I do Silent prayer. Because I do feel at this point, for me, the prayers pray me and I go in and out of a lot of different modalities. I pray for a number of people and a number of things. It’s kind of strange to be a professional prayer, you know, so I’ve got like, you know, I’m in it to win it for a lot of people. And when I say that, I mean I’m in it to really hold the space of possibility for a number of people. So, you know, I pray several times a day and probably hours a day.

Alison : And it’s interesting when for a long time I was raised very Catholic and I’ve had so many changes in where I where my heart lies now. But it was interesting because when I was young, I thought if we said a prayer for someone named Bob, right now, I asked can you do one for me? I didn’t realize that by doing it for Bob, you are doing it for me. So I think it’s beautiful that you are saying that you’re holding because then I feel like you’re praying for me and mine and Jean. And that you are actually praying for everyone, because I believe that there’s no separation between myself and the people you’re praying for… But I used to like I used to try to glom on. Yes. You know.

Angela: Yes. Yes. And that’s okay, too. But that’s a that’s an advanced state of consciousness to realize your oneness with, Bob. And to know that as Bob is being prayed for, you are being prayed for. I actually in my podcast, I do a lot of reminding of that, like, and remember, as we pray for so and so feel how that is for you, feel how that is for a loved one.

Alison : And that all the healing that you’re creating there, you are creating healing for what we were talking before about the trauma.  That everyone seems to be involved in. I think we’re all involved in it. Yes.  Thank you.

Angela: You’re so welcome. Thank you.

Alison : Thank you very, very much.

Jean: Angela, before we sign off, can we can we do a little prayer together?

Angela: Yes, of course. And what would you like me to pray about for?

Jean: I think just just well-being for humanity and compassion.

Angela: Yeah. Okay.

Angela: Yeah. So we begin right now with just a few breaths where we’re willing to be still and quiet. You know, one mystic said that God is the breath within the breath. So as we breathe, might we consider that God, the vastness that is too great to be named,  The mystery that is only and always love. Could it be? Closer to me than the breath I even breathe within the breath? Could it be that with me, that with you, this Intelligence, this Love that knows no fear? Might I have? Might you have? Might we have a capacity to drop the fear, the worry, the anxiety. And the terror, the anguish, the despair and enter into the possibility of peace, of love, of joy, of lightness. Might the solution to the constriction of trauma might it be right here, right now with you? With me? With us? And might we let go? Might we let go? Might we let go? Maybe we could let go of one one trillionth of a percentage of our resistance. Any time we let go we’re opening to the divine that is right here with us. And from this willingness to let go, and if we’re not willing to let go, maybe we were willing to be willing. Just any openness to let go of our perspective that, “Oh, things are going to get worse. I don’t see how they’re going to get any better. Where are we going to go from here? Nobody’s solving the problems that need to be solved.” Can we go from that to any time we enter into compassion, we’re entering into a vibrational frequency of solution.

Angela: So might we open to compassion? And I do mean the compassion of each and every one of us. My compassion plus your compassion. Expands compassion for all of us. And even though there’s only one compassion, as each of us opens the door to our own portal of compassion, we’re setting the stage, we’re creating an environment where others will find it easier and easier. And what is compassion? Compassion is heart connection. Compassion is non-judgment. Compassion is forgiving. Compassion is understanding for not understanding. And I claim something magnificent is happening right here and right now as we join together in a welcoming of compassion. I accept that the power of prayer is upon us and there is no geographical limitation to prayer, that this prayer is everywhere on this earth, in all the waters of the oceans, in the air, in each and every heart of our beloved human family. And I truly open to something magnificent has happened as we have held this space for the dawning of global heart opening, the dawning of increased and expanded compassion. I let it be trusting the living word of Truth, of God, of Love spoken through And as me, I deliver it, to an unfailing, responsive, loving, friendly universe. Uni-verse one song. And in this release and in this let go, I allow And let it be. I allow and let it be. May we allow and let this compassion be and let it flourish. So be it. And so it is. Amen.

Jean: Amen

Alison : Amen

Alison : Thank you. And I love that you said might and may. That is a real gift. Thank you so, so much. I could listen to you all day.

Angela: Oh,  I would love. I could just and chit chat. I’m a my favorite thing to do is chit chat. You know, talk and just talk. So thank you. It’s such a pleasure.

Alison : Thank you for spending this time with us.

Jean: Yes, Thank you for you, what a gift.

Alison :  Yes. Thank you very much. So nice! Have a great day.

Angela: You too.

Alison : Bye bye.

Alison : I so enjoyed her, Jean. That’s how I’m going to talk from now on. What do you think? Does it suit me?

Jean: Not really. You know?  Her voice is stunning and her heart soothing.

Alison : And maybe you’re right. Maybe it’s just her heart is so open.

Jean: Yeah, I think, you know, she has done so much inner work, and the proof is in the pudding and that she shares this with others. And I think that’s what it’s about also, is that once we accept the gift of love for ourselves, then, you know, we turn around and extend that love to others. And love is not like this little, push over doormat. It is a force that is exquisite.

Alison : And I loved when she says might, the might in her prayer, which leaves up an opportunity and also like might, might the answer be here might I allow this because then you’re at a point of choice, like positive choice and might doesn’t feel like you have to, you know, it just feels like it’s an allowance. It’s an allowance and a willingness and it’s so gentle.

Jean: I love it. Yeah, that is why I tune into her Mondays, you know, it’s a beautiful platform. It’s so generous of her to to offer this. And, you know, whether you have a challenge in your life or whether, you know, the your pond is kind of calm. Just listening to her is a gift to yourself.

Alison : Might might we be ending?

Jean: We might.

Alison : Do you feel complete?

Jean: I do.

Alison : All right. We’re saying goodbye. Thank you so much for listening. Take care. Okay. Bye.

Podcast Episode 13: Rhiannon Menn

The Lasagna Love founder started this grassroots movement of helping neighbors by delivering food during the pandemic. Three years later, Rhiannon is still passionate about kindness and Lasagna Love is now a nationwide force with over 35000 volunteers helping over 1 million individuals.


Transcript

Alison: Hi, Jean.

Jean: Hi Alison… You’re so funny.

Alison: Am I?

Jean: Yeah, you are. I love doing these with you.

Alison: I love doing them with you too. And today speaks to my heart because today we’re talking about lasagna.

Jean: Yes. I love lasagna. I love it.

Alison: And it’s got all those A’s in it. It’s perfect.

Jean: We get to speak with Rhiannon Menn.

Alison: She is the founder of the Lasagna Love Initiative. She just started making a tray of lasagna with her little daughter and giving it to neighbors. And it has become a huge national movement.

Jean: Yeah, she’s been on shows like Good Morning America, Kelly Clarkson…

Alison: Right. I think The Today show, too, everything. It’s been amazing how this has taken off and she is the most down to earth person.

Jean: She’s beautiful inside and out. And I just want to give a shout out to my friend Lynn Hirsch, who is one of the Lasagna Love volunteers over in Atlanta.

Alison: She’s yummy.

Jean: She’s totally yummy. So I love learning about these wonderful humans that are thinking and doing things outside the norm… that support other people.

Alison: Exactly. And anything to do with lasagna has got to be good, right? Let’s just admit it. And so this interview was so wonderful because she’s so down to earth and she makes us laugh. At one point she says, well, before that, I wasn’t doing anything except raising kids in a trailer while she’s pregnant, which just makes me laugh. Like, I think she’s a superhuman or something.

Jean: I do think that phrase, if you want something done, give it to a busy person.

Alison: Yeah, it’s true.

Jean: That’s you.

Alison: That’s you too.

Jean: Is it?

Alison: Absolutely. Well, all right. I think you’re going to love her and love this talk. So we’ll be back after.

Jean: Hi! Thank you for doing this.

Rhiannon Menn: Oh, my gosh. Thank you. I’m so grateful.

Alison: I’m Alison.

Jean: And I’m Jean.

Rhiannon Menn: Nice to put a face to your names on Zoom.

Jean: Thank you. Well, we are so impressed with your idea, your brilliant light bulb idea that has had such a wonderful rippling effect.

Rhiannon Menn: Thank you. I mean, on the one hand, yes, I started making lasagnas in my kitchen. So I think technically it’s my idea. But on the other hand, I like to say this was a giant accident fueled by the passion and generosity of just thousands of people. They were feeling helpless like I was and wanted to do anything they could to support families in their community. So this is really about their passion.

Alison: It’s amazing. Could you tell us a little bit how it started or how like what you just said, this discovery that you could actually do this and pass it out?

Rhiannon Menn: Absolutely. I think back and I remember this all started at the beginning of the pandemic. And I was standing in my very small kitchen in our apartment in San Diego. And I just I remember feeling helpless, like there were no volunteer opportunities. I was hearing stories from friends and people I didn’t know very well. You know, we all went to social media, right? So we’re all scrolling. And I’m hearing, you know, people have lost jobs. People are, you know, scared to travel. Grocery stores are out of toilet paper and food. And I just remember thinking, oh, my gosh, you know, this is, what’s happening and what can I do? And there was nowhere that would take volunteers because you couldn’t do anything in person. And I remember even looking for a blood drive and it was hard to find one in the area. I remember there was a blood shortage early on and I just I looked at my husband and I said, I’m going to start making meals. I’m going to find people that need them. You tell me when our grocery budget has run out. And we we were lucky enough that we got a giant Costco delivery through Instacart and we wiped everything down with alcohol. And I made anything that I could get my hands on. And I still remember posting for the first time in a couple of San Diego moms groups. And just the outpouring of love and the women who messaged me privately saying, you know, I didn’t want to say anything publicly in the group, but like, we could really use this now and they would share their story.

Rhiannon Menn: And and some of them were heartbreaking even in those early days. And I think naively, I thought, okay, I’ll make some lasagnas, I’ll make some chicken and rice. This will all pass in a couple of weeks and we’ll be back to normal. And then it didn’t. And somewhere around four weeks, I started getting messages from people saying, hey, I don’t I don’t need a meal, but are there enough families to go around? And I thought, what a question. You know, are there enough families who need help? Absolutely. I don’t know how to find them, but I will. And I just remember, you know, trying to get into all these different groups, you know, buy nothing groups and community neighbor support groups anywhere where I thought there might be people who needed help. And I started setting up Google sheets for these women who were kind enough to want to cook as well. And one thing turned into another and their friends saw them posting and their friends saw them posting. And I started getting emails from Florida and Iowa and Georgia. And I just kept saying, yes, I’ll I’ll figure it out. I’ll figure it out. And we did. And now here we are three years later. We fed almost 1.5 million people. And it’s just mind blowing to think of the impact that we’ve had.

Alison: Wow! Are you serious?

Rhiannon Menn: I am. Yeah. We’ll hit actually, you know, probably this week or next we’ll hit 1.5 million people who’ve been impacted by this.

Alison: That’s amazing. Really.

Jean: Wow. And your daughter helped you?

Rhiannon Menn: She did. And she still does.

Jean: How old is your daughter now? Because, you know, I looked you up a little bit. A little bit of Facebook. Your website.

Rhiannon Menn: We post about her less but yeah. So she just turned six.

Alison: So she was three.

Rhiannon Menn: Yeah, she was three when the pandemic started and my son was one. And so he didn’t really understand what was going on, but she, she knew things had changed, right? She could no longer have playdates. The parks were closed. And we wanted to let her we wanted her to be aware that there were families who who were walking through hard times. And what did that mean? And so she was there for the very first lasagnas, and she used to come with me on deliveries. And I still remember, um, and we see this a lot now, but one of the first families that requested she was a mom and she had a son who was immunocompromised and she was she was scared to go to the grocery store and it was his birthday. And she was just like, Hey, if you could just bring a lasagna, at least he’ll have something special to eat for dinner. And I told my daughter, you know, Hey, there’s a little boy and it’s his birthday. Like, what do you think? And she’s like, I think we should make him a card. And she made him a card and she made him cookies. And so we were able to deliver. And that’s, I think, the beauty of lasagna love is that we’re not just bringing a meal. You create a personal connection with these families. And that has an impact beyond what they’re putting in their stomachs. And sometimes we’re inspired by a story that, like, I just feel called that I’m supposed to do something extra. And it’s great that she could that she felt that, too. And she could be a part of that. And we made this little boy birthday something more than than it would have been otherwise.

Alison: First, I think it’s amazing when I think back what all of us went through during the pandemic.

Rhiannon Menn: Yeah.

Alison: And the strength and the courage for so many people to get through it. And the amount of grief and hope. And on a soul level for the world, it’s amazing. And the fact that you were participating in such a beautiful way. Were you always a volunteer? Was this something that was very common for you to do?

Rhiannon Menn: Yes and no.

Alison: So be a hero?

Rhiannon Menn: I do not know. I’m honored. I do not consider myself a hero by any means. I like to cook for people, and I’ve found a happy place doing that. But, you know, from a very young age, I remember volunteering with my mom and I’ve talked about this with her since then. And I think she in a very different way than me, spent a lot of time like, you know, feeding people and making sure that she could show that love and that sustenance through food. And so I would cook with her. You know, I remember being, you know, what, seven, eight, nine and cooking for the library bake sale or I would sing at nursing homes during the holidays for people who didn’t have family. And I think it was she just raised me that this was what you do. You put goodness out because that’s that’s part of being human. And I think that continued on through my high school and college and post years but always as sort of a, you know something I did on the side or something when I had time.

Rhiannon Menn: But I think it was always a driving force. And then it’s actually interesting because right before Covid hit, you know, my husband and I did a lot of personal reflection on where we were in our lives and what we wanted to do and sort of rewrote what our lives mission was. And I really, truly felt that mine was to serve others in some way, that that was my life’s purpose. And I just I didn’t know how that was going to happen. And it felt like to some degree, I manifested. What happened at the beginning of Covid, that it was, you know, because people felt, you know, you can remember back to how you felt. Some people, you know, were really driven to get out there and do what they could. But, you know, other people, they’re  their primary emotion was fear. And they turned inward or they turned to social media or they hid. And all of those are natural responses. But how you handle those emotions, I think isreally it was interesting to watch people take different paths.

Jean: It is really it’s amazing what you were able to accomplish. And I think that’s the power of love. I mean, talk about love in action. You’re really a demonstration of that. Can you tell us now where lasagna love is at? Like, how is the organization? How many volunteers do you have? Is it still very active?

Rhiannon Menn: I’ve been surprised that -Yes,! I think a lot of us thought, okay, you know, we will do this during the pandemic and then you want to consider the end of it. Right? It’s become just part of of our everyday lives now. And people are back to work and kids are back in school. And so will there be a need? And absolutely. I think we still see a need. The need has shifted right before we were delivering to a lot of families who were maybe homebound with Covid or had lost somebody to Covid or had lost their job or had lost child care. And those things are still happening. They’re just not in the news. And they’re there  from a different reason. Right? We’re you know, we’re walking through inflation and other sort of global events, refugees coming over. And so the people that we help might be coming to us for different reasons, but they still need a home cooked meal. And more than that, they need the kindness and connection from someone in their communities. And so we have 40,000 volunteers who have made or delivered lasagna at some point in the last three years. About anywhere between 10 and 15,000 of those are active at any one time. And so we’re still feeding about, I would say, 10,000 people a week. And it goes in peaks and valleys. It’s, you know, sometimes people have more money to spend on ingredients and sometimes they have less. And during the holiday season, everyone gets out to to bake. And so there’s definitely a pattern to it. But we’re still you know, we’re still getting a few hundred new volunteers every week. So there are still people who are inspired to become a part of this, even though it’s not for Covid.

Alison: Right. Right.

Jean: And how does someone become a volunteer? And that’s how I how I met you is through a volunteer.

Rhiannon Menn: Lynn.

Jean: Lynn. Yeah. And she kept saying, this is the kindest person and I’m so happy part of this.

Rhiannon Menn: Well, I think Lynn’s the kindest person in the world. She’s one of our she’s basically a full time volunteer. She delivers. Not only does she deliver lasagna, she helps us find the families who need help on a global level. And she decorates. Have you seen her decorated lasagna?

Jean: No. So?

Rhiannon Menn: So she doesn’t just make lasagna. She’ll make flowers out of red, red and orange peppers. She’ll cook cookie cutters now and she’ll decorate them with mozzarella hearts. She’s done lasagna decorating classes. She takes it to another level.

Rhiannon Menn: I mean, I think part of why it’s grown so quickly is it’s so easy. You know, you go to the website, you sign up as a volunteer, you pick your own schedule. You can say, I want to help one family every month or I’d like to help for a week or I just want to try it once and see how it goes. And we do all the back end matching and I won’t go into the technology, but there’s a lot of it and we try and match people with someone nearby in their community. And so, if I sign up, I’ll get a match and I’ll be able to log in and say, okay, I’m delivering to, you know, Kathy down the street. She has three kids. She’s a single mom. She’s working two jobs, is just exhausted and doesn’t have time to make a meal and would love to be able to treat her kids to a home cooked meal and have a break for a night. And I’ll reach out to Kathy and say, hey, I’m your lasagna, chef. You know, do you make vegetarian? Is that okay? Are there things your kids don’t eat? And so you’re creating that. To your point about love, we’re not just delivering that meal. We’re we’re delivering something that’s made specifically for you. And I think that to me, I wanted to deliver love in a pan. I wanted to deliver kindness. I wanted to bring somebody that hope. And that’s what our volunteers do now.

Jean: I owned a flower shop for about 18 years and one of my favorite jobs was to deliver the arrangement. You know.

Jean: It would be late in the afternoon, early in the evening. And I’d be like, okay, well, I’ll deliver these arrangements because you do get that. It is that giving and receiving are one. It’s so interconnected and we don’t know it because our eyes tell us that, you know, Alison’s here and you’re there and you’re there, but energetically, you know, when I would bring a flower arrangement to someone. I just felt so happy I’d get back in my car and be like, Oh, that was really nice. And they loved it. And there’s no downside!

Rhiannon Menn: I’ve had so much lasagna sauce on my car. No, it’s true. A friend of mine says, you know, the quality of your energy is your intention, right? It’s the intention behind it. If you’re delivering something with love and care, you know, like you are with flowers or like I am with lasagna, the person on the other end feels that. Yeah, but then you also benefit. I think a lot of people feel like, oh, like, you know, volunteering is for the receiver. And I hear day in and day out, you know, people who they’re like, I feel guilty because I get more out of this than the recipients do. And we’ve had people come to us who you would read their story and you would assume they’re a recipient because they’ve walked through some trauma or they’ve lost somebody or they’re struggling with mental health and they’re doing this as a way to heal. They’re giving as a way to heal because there’s so much there’s science that explains why that happens and the science of gratitude and what passing something forward actually does for your mind and your body and your spirit. But it’s true that, you know, as a person who’s given many lasagnas, like, I feel stronger and happier and healthier and like it’s just it’s a beautiful thing that both parties are getting something out of it. And then, of course, there’s you know, there’s the pay it forward. There are recipients go on to do things beyond, you know, they receive a lasagna and then they they either share it or they go. And we hear stories all the time of what our recipients have gone on and done in their community. And I think that’s, you know, that’s a lot of the power. And I think that comes when you have that person to person connection where it doesn’t necessarily come if you stop at a food bank or, you know, it’s which is also critically important, but it inspires a different emotion.

Alison: And how many hours would you say a week that you do this or in involved or a month… Does it take up a lot of your time?

Rhiannon Menn: Me personally.This is all I do. I mean, I have three little kids And a husband and a house And we travel and family and. And a garden. Yeah. No, So. So this is. This is all I get. I had to give up my putting air quotes, my career right. To do this. This is now all I do. And I don’t want to count the hours because I would be embarrassed to say them out loud.

Alison: I think we can get you a badge! That’s what women say. This is all I do. And you have three children. We find that a lot when we talk to women, right?

Rhiannon Menn: Absolutely.

Alison: That you’re like, this is all I do except I’m raising other human beings.

Rhiannon Menn: Which is a full time job, right?

Alison: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So that’s fantastic. How was that for you to make a shift from a career to this? Was that challenging? Did you did you feel like sometimes I feel with careers there is societal norms or was there anything like that for you?

Rhiannon Menn: It’s an interesting conversation because there was definitely tension, but it came in a few different ways. So there was tension between my husband and I, right? Because we were business partners. And so I’m leaving the business, which definitely was a thing that, like, we should not work together. We learned that in working together. But it’s still hard to separate because now all the things I was doing, who takes those on, right? I think the bigger challenge was, you know lasagna love in the early days it was me as a full time volunteer. How do we navigate that? Right as sort of a startup gets off the ground. And I think that can be true when you start a nonprofit or in any kind of entrepreneurship, but especially as a woman, I think we put pressure on ourselves that we have to compensate them. And so how do I compensate for having a job that doesn’t pay me by taking on more things in the house? But then there’s the you know, then there’s the cycle of the burnout and how do you take care of yourself? And. Right. I do think that that’s something that women walk through more often.

Rhiannon Menn: Um, and I don’t I think some of that is society putting pressure on it. But I think a lot of it is us interpreting that what we see and saying I have to. And so I think one thing that I’ve been really public about on my like Good to Mama blog and then elsewhere is, you know, it’s you have to take care of yourself first in order to help others. And for some people, helping others is how they take care of themselves. But you know, in my position where this is full time, like I have to make sure I’m making time for exercise and eating and hydration and, you know, spending time with my kids and calling my mom. Otherwise I won’t do a good job at this. But that’s a hard balance to find. And it definitely took a while. And when this first started, we were traveling in a camper van across the country, ostensibly on a family vacation. I would be in a Texas tent outside with mosquito netting with like a folding table and my laptop and a monitor and like a tangle of extension cords. And my husband would be taking the kids on this gorgeous hike. And I’d be like trying to figure out how do I get Google maps to, like match and optimize these 400 volunteers that I have? And it was it was not… it was not sustainable.

Alison: So you were traveling? How long were you traveling in an RV?

Rhiannon Menn: Um, a couple months, yeah. Yeah, we sold our house. And so we were living in San Diego, but had moved there from Boston, went back to Boston to sell our house, drove in a camper van. We left there back to San Diego, and we left some time in August and I think got to San Diego in end of October, beginning of September, maybe.

Alison: You, your husband, a three year old and a one year old.

Rhiannon Menn: And I was pregnant.

Alison: But other than that, everything, everything was fine!

Rhiannon Menn: I think that’s how strongly I feel about what we’re like. We just had to figure it out. I knew there were so many people that needed this, I couldn’t, like, I couldn’t stop. There was just no way… I remember early on and I think I’ve shared this story before, but one of the women I delivered to in those first few weeks, she was a mom taking care of her mom, her sister and her six month year old. And she had lost her income early on due to the pandemic. And she messaged she was like, you know, I’m so sorry to ask our refrigerator broke. I’ve been eating ramen noodles for the last two weeks. Is there any chance you can swing by and bring us a meal? And I remember driving up, she lived in a mobile home and I remember driving up and they’re like, there’s a fridge sitting out front. And I just burst into tears in the car. And, you know, I just like, I was like, I, I can’t. I can’t in good conscience not do this right when there are people who who are being so strongly affected that they can’t feed themselves and they can’t take care of their six month old. And as a mom especially, it was just absolutely not. You know, I’m going to make lasagnas until the grocery store runs out of sauce, which a couple of times they did.

Rhiannon Menn: So we just we made it work. And my husband was incredibly supportive and patient 90% of the time and, and you know, he’s also been an entrepreneur. So he understood that this was what we had to walk through in the beginning.

Alison: It’s interesting because I volunteered for like about 12 years for many, many, many, many hours a week. And I remember trying to stop. And you almost can’t stop because you feel like, well, what about that? What about this person? So I can completely relate to what you’re saying. Where would you like your organization to be like in 5 or 10 years? Is there something you’re looking forward to or are you happy where it is and you just want to continue as is?

Rhiannon Menn: I am happy where it is. I also am…I’m never, like, comfortable with status quo. I always know there’s more that can be done. And I think what’s really unique – we have very like explicit core values, you know, and one of them is around being innovative. And what we’ve done is we’re the first nonprofit, at least that I know of, that on an international scale, has figured out how to match neighbors directly with neighbors to fulfill a need. And right now, that need is being met through home cooked meals. But the mechanism has impact on neighbor to neighbor, that’s what provides the the kindness impact, the mental health and emotional benefits on both sides. And it doesn’t have to be around meals. It could be around I’m knitting you a sweater. It could be I’m mowing your lawn. It could be I’m tutoring, right? It could be any social need. And so I think the really interesting thing is how in the next few years can we figure out where else this platform can be leveraged in the social and the social sector.

Rhiannon Menn: And we’re building right now. We have a wonderful board member, Erin Petersen, who’s led open source projects before. She’s been a CTO and she’s actually raised her hand and volunteered to rebuild our volunteer portal but from an open source. So we have, you know, 100 or so developers who are all coming together and building it. And it means that code will be free to any other organization that wants to come in and use it. And so maybe we’re the ones who take this technology and say, okay, like it’s worked for lasagna. Let’s try it over here with like cakes for foster kids. But maybe it’s another organization that says, wow, like, that’s really interesting. Let me go and take this code and see if I can apply it to this thing we’re already doing to maximize our impact. So I think that’s where a lot of the innovation is. And what I’d love to see happen in five years.

Alison: Fantastic. Is that sort of like Angie’s List for good works. Could be anything. That’s fantastic.

Jean: Wonderful. Yeah. Look how that mushroomed out of a lasagna.

Rhiannon Menn: Yeah. If you had told me this story, I would have told you you were absolutely bonkers.

Alison: How was that for you when you were making these deliveries? Did you ever know any of the people? Like just in the supermarket or friend or and now a ton of friends where you live.

Rhiannon Menn: I am known. I have friends. Friends who live down the street who just a few weeks ago were you know, the mom got Covid and her daughter got Covid. And the dad was like, ah, help. And, you know, so I made a custom lasagna and dropped it off. They can text me and there’s no there’s no shame, there’s no embarrassment. There’s no we look okay on the outside, but we’re struggling in this in this regard. I think that’s a lot of it is normalizing, asking for help and just saying, oh my gosh, it’s okay if you need help for a night or for a few nights. And so I definitely have friends who know that I’m the lasagna lady and they can call me. I’ve never known anybody who I’ve been matched with formally through like our matching system. But I think that’s because people just text me directly.

Jean: Right.

Rhiannon Menn: But I do have families that I’ve delivered to multiple times and I’ve gotten to know their stories and gotten to know what they like. And sometimes it’s…Well, I’ve already delivered you three lasagnas. Would you like something else this time? Right. And so it’s interesting to have that connection in the community. And there are definitely people who I’m walking around and they see my shirt and go, Wait, I know. Lasagna love. Yeah. And that’s always fun for me. I feel really I’m like, oh, I’m like a mini celebrity. But not at all. I just make lasagna. It always feels good.

Jean: So are you writing a blog that that our listeners can go to? And, say someone listening to this podcast wants to become a volunteer? What should they do? And tell me about your blog.

Rhiannon Menn: Sure. So they should go to Lasagna Love. And there’s a few different ways you can get involved so you can sign up to become a volunteer. We would love that. If you don’t like to cook or don’t have the time, you can sign up to donate monthly and that helps us find more people in your community who can volunteer or who need a meal. You can request a meal. Honestly, you know, there’s so many people out there who feel embarrassed to raise their hand. And I’m here to tell you, like we have seen it all and do not do not feel anything but wonderful. And it’s a gift to us to be able to bring it to you. Wow. So I’d say that and then I would say in terms of writing, I do have a blog at Be Good to Mamma.com. I’m taking a little break from it to do Lasagna Love, and I’m trying to figure out what like I keep starting to write a book and then I keep re-figuring out what it’s about so you can keep an eye out for that down the road.

Alison: Do you find it easy yourself to ask for help?

Rhiannon Menn: No. Ironically, no. And it’s interesting. At the beginning, I want to say this was probably September. So lasagna had been around a few months. We had about 400 volunteers. And I was just, you know, I mentioned camper van, laptop tables, extension cords. I was just really drowning. And my husband said, you have to ask for help. I was like, but I can’t. You know, people are all volunteering. I can’t ask them for help. And he really helped empower me to to do that. And I put a post out and people came out of the woodwork. And now we have a volunteer leadership team of over 300 people helping to lead the organization. But that was really hard for me to admit. And then, actually, I had to request a lasagna. About eight months ago, my whole family got Covid. My husband was in the ER for other things and we were just I could barely I could barely, like walk around. I felt like a zombie. And I just remember sitting there and saying, like, this is the moment when I tell other people to raise their hand. Like, you have got to do it. You’ve got to do it. And I went on our website and I didn’t even I didn’t even backchannel. I was like, I want to do this the right way. And I went on the website and requested and our local leader reached out to me and brought me a home cooked meal. And it was one of the most beautiful experiences to be able to sit there and to receive that pan from her and to just understand what our recipients feel and the whole myriad of emotions, right. The gratitude, but also the little bit of embarrassment, but more the happiness and then just the beauty that there’s zero judgment coming my way. There’s a woman just standing there saying, I’m so excited. I hope you like it. I put spinach in it. Right. And to feel like you’re getting help from a neighbor feels so different. And that in and of itself is empowering. So I hope that. I think it takes a lot of strength, actually. I think it’s very brave to ask for help. Yeah, I think there’s a lot of brave things in the world, but I think asking for help and being able to actually go to another human being and say, Hey, could you help me? Or please, I need this. You know, I’m trying to instill that. I have a 22 year old son and it’s hard for him to ask for help. You know, he’s just like, I got it. I got it. And I said, I know you do. And you know, but someday you may not. And that’s okay. And I think it’s really great, too. What you’re doing is allowing someone to actually step up and be brave to ask for help. It’s so beautiful. And I.

Alison: Love that.

Jean: That the karma came around, too.

Rhiannon Menn: No, I love that. Because you’re right. It’s you know, we say there’s no qualification. The only requirement is that you had the courage to raise your hand like that’s all that matters to our volunteers. And that doesn’t work for everybody, but it works for everybody at Lasagna Love. And that’s part of what binds us together. Is this zero question, zero judgment, empowering, positive attitude that everybody deserves help if they’re wondering.

Jean: Do you have a spiritual practice?

Rhiannon Menn: I’m Jewish. But I converted, so I was raised a bunch of different things. Judaism sort of popped in and out of my life through friends. And when I met my now husband, I’ve been trying to find a spiritual practice that felt like it fit. I mentioned to him that my best friend all through high school and college happened to be Jewish, like, thought about converting. And he’s like, you’re just saying that because I’m Jewish. It’s like, no. And so I did. I converted before we got married. And I think one of the things that I love, I think there’s two things. One is the ability to ask questions. And because I’m a very curious person and I like to ask and to have those dialogues even if they’re uncomfortable. And then the other piece is just and I can’t remember the framework, but there’s like a framework for giving. The highest form of giving in Judaism is that you give and you don’t know who you’re giving to and the recipient doesn’t know who it came from and it’s like that, you can’t get anything. You can’t get a thank you, you can’t get anything back. Right. And so I just I love that idea because I don’t need somebody to text me afterwards saying how delicious it was. All I just need to know that I put it out into the world. That’s all that matters. And I know that the universe will take care of the rest of it. And I feel like there are other spiritual practices that I think have that ethos as well. But this one, this one works for me.

Alison: I feel like it’s just a sign of the times that there are so many of us willing to put that out there, you know, and reach out to each other. You’re just such a wonderful person. I wish you would let us know when your book is written and we’ll have you back.

Rhiannon Menn: Thank you so much.

Jean: And you are the personification of kindness. You really are a very high master, masterly way to move through life and to spread kindness and generosity and not, you know, have a lot of bells and whistles around you. So I really. Uh, respect what you’re doing. And I’m so grateful that we had this time together.

Jean: Thank you so much. I can’t wait to see what your kids do.

Rhiannon Menn: You guys are so wonderful and kind. Thank you so much for the opportunity.

Jean: You’re just such a bright light. Thank you so much for moving from your heart. You’re an inspiration.

Jean: Wow, that was nice.

Alison: I love her. Right. Because she just seems like someone you want to hang out with.

Jean: Absolutely right. And when I was doing some a little bit of research on her, she lives in over in one of the Hawaiian islands. But now her kids, she’s got three kids and she’s still going strong with lasagna love. And, you know, she’s just doing living her life, spreading the joys, doing good.

Alison: And when you think that, you think, oh, I can’t really do much. I love that. She says she was kind of frustrated during Covid or felt helpless. And I think there are so many times I think, Oh, what difference am I going to make? What difference is this going to make? You know, you really you do make a difference. The smallest of gesture can have a ripple effect. And look what this incredible woman did. I think it’s great. And she’s so young and a sweetie pie.

Jean: She is. She’s wonderful. So actually after the interview was over,that evening, I made a lasagna.

Alison: That’s the thing. The interview made me so hungry. It made me so hungry to be talking about food and lasagna because I wanted it. I’d be like, just can you send us one, please? Send us a lasagna. She’s so wonderful. Thank you so much for listening. And I think the takeaway is share.

Jean: You’re good.Share your good.

Alison: What? Did you just come up with that? You’re fantastic.

Podcast Episode 12: Greta Muller

Greta Muller presentation coach, author and speaker talks about the book Opening Your Presence – Presenting the YOU You want Others to See. She offers many tips to accessing your authenticity and self-acceptance.

Podcast Episode 11: Dr. Gail Parker

When Jean and Alison interviewed Dr. Gail Parker, they learned that Gail has a Ph.D., is an author, psychologist and a yoga therapist educator. She has authored two book: Restorative Yoga for Ethnic and Race-Based Stress and Trauma and Transforming Ethnic and Race-Based Traumatic Stress With Yoga. She is also the current president of the Black Yoga Teachers Alliance (BYTA) Board of Directors.

Gail’s strength, sense of humor and calm confidence was evident when they spoke. Her passion, curiosity and dedication to her mission is truly moving.

Podcast Episode 10: Cheryl Rice

Speaker, Coach, Author, Cheryl Rice is the heart and passion behind the YOU MATTER MARATHON – No Running Required Movement. She has coined the phrase “mattering”, to spotlight the importance of feeling loved and being acknowledged.

Podcast Episode 9: Dr. Eben Alexander & Karen Newell

Dr. Eben Alexander (author of the international phenomenon – Proof Of Heaven) has co-authored with Karen Newell on Living in a Mindful Universe, which sheds light on the true nature of consciousness and how to cultivate a state of harmony with the universe and our higher purpose.

Podcast Episode 8: Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor

This incredible woman talks with Jean and Alison about the stroke on the left side of her brain which gave Dr. Jill deep insights into the workings of the brain’s functions along with the complexity of the human personality.

Podcast Episode 7: Sarah Dubbeldam

When Jean and Alison saw the online magazine, Darling, they immediately wanted to share it. Founded in 2012, by Sarah Dubbeldam, Darling magazine truly highlights “the art of being a woman”. Sara has expanded DARLING to a multi media corporation that includes a fantastic clothing line. Huge kudos go out to them for expanding the ideals of beauty. How refreshing!

We are so happy that we were able to speak with Sarah about what inspired her to start Darling. She’s completely approachable and down to earth while at the same time has continued to create products that really honors all facets of the feminine.

Podcast Episode 6: Nataly Kogan

Bright and bubbly, Nataly shares with Jean and Alison her recipe for living a happier life which includes acceptance of all emotions. Her history as a refugee from Russia affords us glimpse into the power of her happier living.

Podcast Episode 5: Scarlett Lewis

This heartfelt conversation between Scarlett, Jean and Alison expresses the power of love to shine through deep grief. Scarlett’s Choose Love movement is in response to her son’s murder at Sandy Hook and her mission to relate the practical tools of teaching compassion is infectious.

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