In this episode, we are joined by a fantastic lady who uses art forms as a means of spiritual expression. Toni Nagy, is a stand-up comic and filmmaker who has written, edited, directed, and acted in hundreds of videos that have had over 500 million views. Our conversation today revolves around her story, experiences and how her chosen forms of expression have helped shape her spiritual journey.

• Toni tells us about her life story and how she brings her values and visions through filmmaking and comedy.
• The reason why and how she got into acting and comedy.
• How she started to formulate and find her own belief system.
• How the loss of a close friend opened the door to spirituality.
• The story of how she found meditation and Buddhism.
• Toni recalls her first meditation experience.
• Finding out about her brain tumor and what happened next.
• Toni shares how she feels about being in her flow state, her most creative compared to when she was still trying to walk the other way.
• Her plans for the future.

Toni Nagy Instagram

Toni Nagy Twitter

In today’s podcast, we have a conversation with Dr. Eben Alexander MD. Dr Alexander was an academic neurosurgeon for over 25 years, including 15 years at Brigham and Women's Hospital, the Children's Hospital, and Harvard Medical School in Boston. In 2008, he experienced an unbelievable transcendental near death experience that completely transformed his worldview. Since then, he has authored 4 books, became a New Your Times bestselling author, and is now a pioneering scientist, a modern thought leader in the emerging science that truly acknowledges the primacy of Consciousness in the Universe. We’ll talk more about his experience and mind-blowing recovery and transformation from his 7-day coma in this episode.

• Dr. Eben Alexander’s background, studies, and what led him into neuroscience.
• He tells us about his experience days before and after he went into coma in 2008.
• When you're coming through that coma, how long was it before you started to have memory of, of the week-long coma?
• What happens to memories from near death experiences.
• Salient points that happened during his 7-day coma.
• How his coma impacted his thought process and coping with it.
• The story of how his memories came back.
• Talking more about spontaneous healing and the studies around it.
• Discussing spiritual pathways, religion, and meditation.
• The role that consciousness plays in wellness and recovery.
• The importance of the higher soul and how it has an extraordinary healing that can take place. 
• Dr Alexander tells us about the next phase of his journey and working on comprehending the true nature of consciousness. 

United in Hope and Healing Website

Eben Alexander Website

Sacred Acoustics Website

University of Virgina - Division of Perceptual Studies Website

One Mind by Larry Dossey

The Essence of Religions by Christophor Copps

Galileo Commision Website 

“What happens when we die?” That was a daunting question that Dr. Penny Sartori sought to answer. In the 1990s, she was an ICU nurse. An encounter with a dying patient led her to know more about near-death experiences. Her fascination led to passion and purpose. In 2006, she was awarded a PhD for her research about near-death experiences. She has written several publications since 2003, the latest of which was: “The Transformative Power of Near-Death Experiences”.

• Penny shares what attracted her to become a nurse
• That one nightshift that became lifechanging for Dr. Penny
• Reading and researching about near-death experiences
• The mindset shift after talking with people who had near-death experiences
• The commonalities patients go through
• The interesting electromagnetic changes in some patients
• Her best case, Patient 10
• How her study changed her perception of the world
• Reconsidering what Consciousness is, according to Dr. Penny’s research
• Penny’s advice to follow your passion
• The sense of purpose Dr. Penny felt after her patient’s depressing death
• What’s next for Dr. Penny Sartori

Dr. Penny Sartori Website

“I started reading about death. Wherever I went, I had a book about death in my hand. My colleagues all thought that I was really morbid reading about death. But I think it’s when you start to learn about death that you really start to learn about life.”

“What it’s done for me is give me a completely different perspective on life. It’s taught me to live more in the moment as much as I can.”

“The bottom line of the near-death experience is, what people say is that ‘Do unto others as you would have done that unto you’. That’s the golden rule which is at the heart of all of the wisdom and tradition, isn’t it. It’s a very loving peaceful message that people come back with as well. And I think if we engage more with that as a society, I think, perhaps things would be a lot easier. Life would be easier to live as well.”

If you are going through grief or are in the process of finding purpose in your life, this episode is perfect for you. Gracing today’s episode is Jenny Sellers, whose life experiences somehow resonated with mine. We both lost someone we love. I lost my father on 28th of April 2008. Jenny’s fiancé passed on the 28th of April 2014. Sudden and unexpected life events push us to find and rebuild ourselves – including our values, our vision and even our faith.

Jenny’s story was heartbreaking, but she was able to turn it into a beautiful one. Currently, Jenny supports the non-profit organization called Soaring Spirits International, which provides peer-based network, programs, resources, and community for those who are widowed. On her spare time, she shares her gift of spirituality with others, helping them go through their grief. She is also in the middle of rebranding “The Groves of Zen” into “True North and Empowerment”.

• Jenny talks about her beliefs before the death of her fiancé in 2014
• The events that led to the demise of her fiancé
• Jenny recalls her energy & feelings when the event unfolded
• The time Jenny started to search for answers
• Jenny’s tips for those who want to undergo a year of exploration
• How Jenny’s exploration helped her rebuild herself
• Rebuilding during “the year of firsts” after a loss of a loved one
• Realizing that the death of a loved one is also a traumatic experience
• Discovering her gifts after a year of exploration
• Don’t ignore the moment of questioning
• What Jenny’s day looks like today
• How Jenny sees herself in the future
• Jenny describes the last eight years of her life

Jenny Sellers Facebook

The Groves of Zen

“Grief itself comes with a lot of secondary losses that are not really talked about. I think as a culture, we are expected in a year’s worth of time, we have picked up the pieces and the rebuilding should be done.’”

“Give yourself time. Let some of that pressure fall away, that you have to pick it up right away. Just do it in your own time, in your own space, in your own way. Nobody else is able to dictate for you what this is supposed to look like.”

Who better to start this series off, than a person who has played a pivotal role in my moving from procrastination to Podcast, Rick Archer. For more than 5 years, many of the conversations I have listened to at Buddha at the Gas Pump have formed the basis of further exploration and inspiration along my spiritual journey. Rick’s mix of “ordinary” spiritually awakening people is truly inspiring. Rick is a long time spiritual practitioner and learned Transcendental Meditation at the age of 18 and has taught it for 25 years.

• Rick shares his backstory.
• How he started learning about Transcendental Meditation.
• Navigating his past and talking about rewiring.
• Advice for people who are having or going through awakenings.
• His experience during covid.
• RIck shares his journey with Buddha at the Gas Pump.
• The common threads he has seen in over 654 episodes of the BatGap
• The best learnings he wants to share from the 654 episodes of BatGap.
• What one piece of advice for following your purpose, trying to step across that line, and moving into the flow state.
• Rick describes the word enlightenment.

Buddha at the Gas Pump Website

“It can be kind of intense to deal with deep emotional stuff, deep memories, you can get kind of crazy and muddy, and you just have to kind of stay on a routine and ideally, have some kind of a buddy program where people keep an eye on each other.”

“There is such a thing as Dharma, and which is that activity which for which you are ideally suited, and which will bring you the greatest fulfillment, and also enable you to have the greatest beneficial influence.”

“It's always good to have the attitude of a beginner. Because it kind of keeps you humble, keeps you open to new possibilities, you know, where the next horizon might be for you.”