Highest Self Podcast 348: Discover Your Dharma with Sahara Rose

Iโ€™ve been on so many incredible podcasts to share my new book Discover Your Dharma and wanted to share one of my favorite interviews by my friend Shannon Algeo of SoulFeed Podcast. In this conversation, he interviews me on my new book and we go deep into various topics including path of least vs most resistance, types of resistance, Dharma Archetypes, sharing your story and more.

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TRANSCRIPTION

Episode 348: Discover Your Dharma
By Sahara Rose

[00:12]
Namaste. Itโ€™s Sahara Rose and welcome back to The Highest Self Podcast, a place where we discuss what makes you, Your Soul’s Highest Evolvement.

[00:19]
I am so excited to share with you that my book โ€œDiscover Your Dharmaโ€ is officially out in bookstores globally and I am shook by how well it is doing. People are loving it! They are sharing that it is the exact book that their soul has been calling them to read; that it is such a wonderful blend of your girlfriend talking to you, laying you the real facts and spiritual wisdom, truths, that resonate and permeate deep within your soul. And people are sharing that they are binge listening to the book or reading the book, it is available on audible (Apple Books as well), so if you love the Podcast, you could actually hear me read the book to you.

[01:00]
And I know that feeling of when youโ€™re listening to a book and youโ€™re just so engulfed in the words and you just canโ€™t help but continue to read it or listen to it and I feel like I rarely get that feeling, itโ€™s really hard for me to find a book that I feel so resonant with, so it literally means everything that you are having that type of experience with the book.

[01:21]
And so many of you are also sharing that youโ€™re getting the book on audible and then realizing that there are so many just workshop practices within the book, journal prompts, questions, things to help you go deeper. Iโ€™ve created so many different frameworks in there to really support you in taking action on your Dharma and having so much clarity on where to put your energy towards. So, itโ€™s been amazing to hear you guys creating your Dharma Blueprint frameworks and mapping out what this yearโ€™s going to look like and listening to it while reading it and doing the journal prompts and being so committed to this work.

[01:55]
And really, right now, especially in 2021 (now that weโ€™re in) this is the year of living our Dharmas. We know what it feels like to be disempowered, we know what it feels like to give up our power to the news, to the media, to waiting for things in the outside world to get better, and this is really the time for us to reclaim our sovereignty; to realize that we are the ones that we have been waiting for, and that we canโ€™t wait until thereโ€™s no longer any bad news in the media to live our lives, we have to just start living our lives and creating the types of worlds that we want to be a part of.

[02:31]
So, it really feels timely that this book is coming through at this really significant moment that weโ€™re in, this shift that weโ€™re in and to remind people to commit to what it is that their soulโ€™s came on this planet to create, to experience, to express, to embody, and that it can feel like the right thing to do is to wait or to give up your power or to think someone else is going to solve all the things because we see everyone around us doing that. But really, this is the time to focus on what can I actually create a sustainable solution for. Is it pre-schools that foster early childhood education? Is it herbal medicines? Is it new forms of architecture that you use natural resources in a really beautiful way? Is it coaching people through their heart-breaks? What is it that your soul came here to shift? And to really focus on that and see something through; to commit to something; to create results; to create lasting impact.

[03:34]
We know what itโ€™s like to just, you know, think that reposting something is going to get rid of the problem, and it doesnโ€™t. And weโ€™re all being called to show up and serve in different ways โ€“ we have the Activists, the Visionaries, the Teachers, the Nurturers, the Warriors, we have all Nine Dharma Archetypes, and when we can fully tap into them and embody which are ours, not think โ€œOh, well, they want me to be like this, so now I should be this or I should be that. Iโ€™m going to be more accepted if Iโ€™m like thisโ€. You are the Sims the Universe designed you to be so rock, rock your archetype, rock your personality traits, your interests, your curiosities, your excitement โ€“ these are all the breadcrumbs that are guiding you towards your Dharma.

[04:15]
So, if youโ€™ve not gotten the book yet, head over to my website (at the link in Bio) – iamsahararose.com/dharma over there you will find all the links for Amazon, Barns and Nobles, Booktopia, Indiebound, your local Indie bookstores, all sorts of places that you can get this book. And, you can submit your receipt on my website, now, youโ€™ve got to do this step if you want to get my bonuses.
So, I have created epic bonuses for you. I have my Discover Your Dharma Meditation; my Dharma Embodiment Practice which is a 12-minute dance along practice with me that we will actually embody our soulโ€™s purposes and get into the right energetic vibration to receive them; as well as my Tapping EFT Practice for discovering and embodying your soulโ€™s purpose.
So, again, head over to my website iamsahararose.com/dharma and you will find everything right there, submit your receipt and get those bonuses in your email.

[05:10]
So, I have been on so many beautiful podcasts sharing about this book. Being interviewed by all sorts of people, probably different podcasts that you listen to as well, if you just search on iTunes my name, youโ€™ll find them. But I really wanted to share one of these interviews with you because here, on the Podcast, you guys hear me interviewing different incredible people and you guys donโ€™t get to really hear my being interviewed by someone else. And I wanted to share a conversation that I had with one of my friends Shannon Algeo who has a podcast called The SoulFeed Podcast. And this was just one of my favorite conversations because him and I are friends, weโ€™ve been friends for a couple years and heโ€™s someone that really read the book and sat with it and pondered it. So we were able to have a really beautiful conversation where we were able to look at some of the concepts of the book in a deeper way and further deepen our understanding of this work. And thatโ€™s what I love, actually, so much about the book, now, being out is I get to hear your perspectives on it and what you took away from it and what was resonant with you and what you have questions on and how itโ€™s shown up for you. So, this was really an opportunity to go further into my own truth, my own understanding of these concepts by having a beautiful conversation with a dear friend.

 

[06:28]
So, Shannon Algeo is the host of The SoulFeed Podcast, he is an amazing meditation teacher as well as an author. Heโ€™s been on the Podcast before, heโ€™s going to be back on soon, and it was just so nourishing for him to hold this space, to interview me and to really be able to have a real deal conversation that is both grounded and philosophical, to talk more about what โ€œDiscover Your Dharmaโ€ can really feel like, especially today in the modern world.

[06:54]
So, without further ado, letโ€™s welcome me, interviewed by Shannon, on The Highest Self Podcast.
_____________________________________________

[07:00] Advertisement
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[08:37] End of Advertisement
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[08:39] Interview:

[08:39] Shannon:
I was taking in your tone and how easy it is. Your writing is so easy to feel and read and absorb and hear. I can really hear you and feel you and get what youโ€™re saying in every sentence. And itโ€™s so beautiful, itโ€™s just one sentence leads to the next and itโ€™s a combination of you sharing your stories then also giving very practical tools for people to check in with themselves.
So, first of all, having just written a book, congratulations on writing an awesome book!

[09:13] Sahara:
Thank you! Itโ€™s a journey! I think with writing a book, I, while writing it, it was very just stream of consciousness of like โ€œOkay, what was I thinking on my own journey of finding my Dharma and my Purpose? Okay, my block was this. What would I tell myself now to that person?โ€ So, itโ€™s very, just basically me talking to myself and me talking to that person whoโ€™s like โ€œI know I have a Purpose but Iโ€™m not sure what it is and Iโ€™m not really sure what to take action on and Iโ€™m really confused and Iโ€™m kind of overwhelmed but Iโ€™m really jazzed up about it!โ€ And if that is you right now, I feel you and what is awaiting you is so much more than you could ever imagine. And I donโ€™t mean this to sound corny and โ€˜follow your dreamsโ€™, but itโ€™s for real. I genuinely didnโ€™t think I had a Purpose, I thought that itโ€™s just something like a Santa Clause story youโ€™re told as a kid and you grow up and you realize that itโ€™s not real. And Iโ€™m so glad that I was able to move past that belief and be in the experience that I am now, and thatโ€™s what I want more than anything for every single person listening right now.

[10:16] Shannon:
Yeah! I so relate to what youโ€™re saying because I remember when I was in my early twenties and Iโ€™d just moved to New York and I kind of had it in me, I really felt that I wasnโ€™t meant to be doing theater (which I had studied in college, I had studied musical theater) and I was so confused because I had been doing theater for 11 years, I had been singing and dancing, I have been in shows, performing all over and got my Bachelorโ€™s in Fine Arts in this degree, and everyone I knew was going to New York, LA, to become actors, or directors or choreographers, and I just had this feeling in me, I was like โ€œThis is not me. This doesnโ€™t fit meโ€ and I was really devastated because, again, from the time I was 11-22, I was pursuing this one path, the theater. And so, it can be really disorienting to be like โ€œI donโ€™t know why Iโ€™m hereโ€. But I remember, just hearing you share what you shared, reminded me of when I was younger and I was like โ€œOh my Godโ€, I had this craving, this deep, deep desire to be here – the first chapter of your book โ€œWhy the F am I here?โ€ and I feel like I ask myself that question on loop, until I found the yoga mat, which then created this whole path of the last decade for me. So Iโ€™m curious โ€“ letโ€™s roll it back for a second โ€“ your book is called โ€œDiscover Your Dharmaโ€ and Iโ€™m curious how you define Dharma (for readers and when you talk about it).

[11:51] Sahara:
Yeah. So, I see your Dharma as your Soulโ€™s Purpose. Itโ€™s the big reason why you are here, it is your soulโ€™s expression, it is the unique frequency that only you can carry. So I think of it like your mission statement. Now, that mission statement can be to raise the vibration of the planet, to bring beauty to the worlds, to entertain, to make people feel, to nurture and connect, however, under that mission statement there can be many different services. We can have different roles that we play, projects that weโ€™re involved with, careers, jobs etc. so those things are not your Dharma, those are different manifestations of your Dharma but your Dharma is that red thread that connects it all. So you just briefly sharing on that part of your journey, you are an Entertainer. That will always be a part of your Dharma, you are here to be on stage, to make people laugh, to make people feel, to use your physical body as one of your tool-ways for transformation, especially channeling that to other people. So, what was accessible for you at that time was musical theater, youโ€™re like โ€œI know I like to do this type of thing, so I donโ€™t see really many yoga teachers around me, I see this, and theyโ€™re feeling really alive and in their Dharma, and I know I have these giftsโ€. So, that was still you living your Dharma and was in no way a failure, which I know you know right now, but I think a lot of people are like โ€œI must be a failure because I changed my mind, I changed my career, I changed the avenue I was going through. But often times it still is related to your Dharma, itโ€™s just the more you know about yourself, the more truthful the expression of your Dharma will become.

[13:30] Shannon:
โ€œThe more you know about yourself, the more truthful your expression of your Dharma will becomeโ€ I love that and there was some music that came in while you were saying that.

[13:38] Sahara:
Boom!

[13:40] Shannon:
Underscore!

[13:43] Sahara:
And thatโ€™s really what it is. Itโ€™s not about your Dharma is to figure something out and to get it all. Some people are needing to be more analytical in their quest of their Dharma and weโ€™ll talk about, there are three different pathways to get to your Dharma; there are four types of Dharma; we can really look at from these lenses and frameworks, but really what it is, itโ€™s who you are at your core. So I think a lot of times, in spirituality, it becomes ascension and how do I astroproject and raise and become this thing I am not and itโ€™s not that, more so, itโ€™s about remembering, itโ€™s about unraveling, itโ€™s about unconditioning, itโ€™s about being who you already are. So, as children we know that, youโ€™re like โ€œIโ€™m an Entertainer, Iโ€™m here to be in front of a camera and make people feel and use my body doing itโ€ and then a lady makes you think โ€œOh, youโ€™re never going to make money doing that, everyone else wants to do it, youโ€™re too late, youโ€™re too this, youโ€™re too thatโ€ so then you forget. So, understanding your Dharma is just to remember who you already are before the โ€“ in the Vedas we would say the temporary amnesia, which is you forgetting your magnificence, your power, your radiance and letting yourself be the unique you that you incarnated to be.

[14:55] Shannon:
Totally! Oh, my gosh, yes! Youโ€™re speaking my language sister! That is one of the truest things Iโ€™ve uncovered, is that Iโ€™m becoming who Iโ€™ve always been. Itโ€™s like this paradox; itโ€™s the remembering; itโ€™s that Iโ€™m the highest expression of myself, Iโ€™m going to be that best self that Iโ€™ve always known myself to be but maybe somewhere along the road I was taught to hide this quality or cover this up, or do this instead, or mimic this persons version of success. And then all of a sudden that part of ourselves (that part of myself) gets distorted to a certain degree.

[15:36] Sahara:
Absolutely! And I think when we go on any kind of โ€“ often times, I talk about these Five Stages of Dharma Discovery, but the First Stage is you realize โ€œI donโ€™t want to live this life, something needs to change, Iโ€™m not happy here, I donโ€™t know what it is, but I know something needs to changeโ€. That Second Stage, we go into personal development, self-improvement, how do I exercise more; eat healthier; improve myself? And thatโ€™s where I would say that most of the self-help books, motivational speakers, that kind of thing โ€“ itโ€™s focused on the self. And in that Third Stage you realize that you are not that mind and that body youโ€™re trying to improve, thereโ€™s actually nothing to improve. Your focus shifts from trying to improve yourself to knowing yourself โ€“ and this is the stage of self-awareness. Now, in this stage, this is when people can feel like theyโ€™re going crazy, theyโ€™re like โ€œOh my Goddess, how have people been living in this matrix and what is happening?โ€ And you might feel like youโ€™re just losing your shit and no one else around you, and it can actually be a little bit of a frantic time in your life as well but youโ€™re realizing thereโ€™s so much more than you have experienced. Then we enter that Fourth Stage that you find your practices, you find your tools. We kind of speak a similar language, but other people, their language may be more galactic or someone elseโ€™s may be more Buddhist or Feng Shui oriented; you find your tools, your lineages, your pathways, and are able to get yourself to a place that you feel like โ€œOkay, I know how to balance my mind, I know how to take care of my body, but am I living full-time in alignment with my truth? Not quite yetโ€. And this is where I think a lot of my podcast listener, your podcast listeners are like โ€œIf youโ€™re listening to SoulFeed Podcast, you are sipping the kombucha, you are in it!โ€ And you may be fully in your Dharma or you may have been drawn to this podcast because youโ€™re like โ€œThere is this part of my life that Iโ€™m going to this job, and Iโ€™m kind of spending 8 hours a day doing something that I know doesnโ€™t really use my giftsโ€ or โ€œIโ€™m not really sure what to fully step intoโ€ or โ€œIโ€™m a little bit afraidโ€ or whatever it is, and that Stage Five is really when you are you full-time. And when that happens, every single facet of your life must be in alignment with your truth. Because anything thatโ€™s not, will hold you back from your Dharma. And you realize that your Dharma is not about you but rather itโ€™s you being of service to humanity. So the focus really shifts from โ€˜meโ€™ to โ€˜weโ€™. In these Stage Three, Stage Four, itโ€™s very โ€˜meโ€™, very self-care, how do I heal; how do I find my paths, my tools โ€“ and you need that, you actually need to go through that to find your very own thing. But when youโ€™re living in your Dharma, you do that stuff so you can further be of service, and youโ€™re actually fed from a life force thatโ€™s so much greater than anything else that you can do. Thatโ€™s why when you speak to people who are sharing their Dharma, in whatever way, theyโ€™re like โ€œI feel like Iโ€™m just sipping some fairy dust from the cosmos. Iโ€™m just on oneโ€ because youโ€™re actually being fueled by the Universe, because the Universe wants you to be living your Dharma, itโ€™s the only way the worlds can come into balance. And not that thereโ€™s a goal, but itโ€™s really, thatโ€™s actually the point, thatโ€™s actually why youโ€™re here. Itโ€™s just the way that our society has forgotten, it has made that feel like such a far away thing that that feel likes like a goal but itโ€™s actually really your birth right, itโ€™s actually who you already were. So, stepping into your Dharma really comes back to the โ€œAh! This is how life was meant to be lived!โ€

[19:08] Shannon:
I love that; that idea and that experience of remembering that I and each of us has a role to play, has a purpose to fulfill, has a Dharma to unlock, that weโ€™re not just here kind of randomly, fighting for our own survival or even our own thrival of self-improvement and โ€˜let me make myself betterโ€™, but weโ€™re all actually like a true team, like an organism designed to fulfill a certain purpose to make the whole more whole and more functional. I feel like thatโ€™s so much of what this process is, is like โ€œHow do I find my groove in this larger ecosystem?โ€

[19:58] Sahara:
Totally! I like to think of the times of the village – we needed to have the warriors, and the gatherers, and the basket weavers, and the medicine women, and the story-tellers. And one of the beauties of those times was, if you were a child and youโ€™re like โ€œMy dadโ€™s a locksmith but I really love to tell storiesโ€ you kind of sought someone who was doing that, so you were able to apprentice under them and learn under them and learn from that lineage, but what happens now is weโ€™re so isolated that the only two examples we often see are our own parents or whoeverโ€™s around us, so we think that โ€œIf Iโ€™m not doing it the way that itโ€™s been done by the only people that I know, then I must be doing it wrongโ€. So, coming back to the times of the village โ€“ would we want the warriors to be taking care of the kids or the basket weavers to be hunting? We wouldnโ€™t want those things, so why would we want people who are stepping into something that theyโ€™re not born to do, it actually just wonโ€™t function at the level itโ€™s supposed to. And truthfully, there is someone out there that loves to do the things that you hate. So, I used to think โ€œIf everyone had a purpose, then who would clean the floor?โ€ And itโ€™s actually, well, some people really love to clean, or Iโ€™m like โ€œWho would do the back-end of the websites?โ€ – some people really love to do that.
We often think that everyone must love to do exactly what I love to do โ€“ some people would definitely not want to be on a podcast; some people would definitely not want to write a whole book, but weโ€™re like โ€œOf course, why wouldnโ€™t everyone want to do that?โ€

[21:23] Shannon:
But I have to write a book!

[21:25] Sahara:
Exactly! So, if everyone actually just listened to, truthfully, what it is that they are desiring to do, then the world would come completely into balance because we were all designed as the unique Sims characters that we were born to be in. I donโ€™t know if you ever the Sims growing up (the computer game)?

[21:40] Shannon:
I didnโ€™t. I saw it, maybe I saw someone else playing it, I know of the Sims of course.

[21:46] Sahara:
Yeah! The Sims basically was the nerdy ass computer game that you had your own little house and that you can design people. So, youโ€™d make someone really organized, someone outgoing, someone that loves to repair the home, and Source, God, Consciousness, whatever you want to call it, designed us each as these unique Sims characters. So it made you love to do the things that you were meant to do, so you feel good doing them, and dislike to do the things that youโ€™re not supposed to do, so thatโ€™s your own bodyโ€™s mechanism to say โ€œNo, thatโ€™s not my directionโ€. But again, weโ€™ve grown up in this society that we hear โ€œLifeโ€™s tough โ€“ get a helmetโ€ so we think life is a series of unfortunate events and itโ€™s a bunch of sticking it out and doing what Iโ€™m supposed to do because thatโ€™s what makes me a good man or a good wife or a good daughter, or a good whatever it is, and actually living your Dharma is doing something that further energizes you, so at the end you actually want to keep going. At the end of a podcast, donโ€™t you always fell like continuing the talk?

[22:44] Shannon:
Oh totally!

[22:45] Sahara:
Yeah, Iโ€™m always like โ€œWho else wants to talk?!โ€

[22:49] Shannon:
Yeah, itโ€™s like Iโ€™ve come alive and on a roll, I am awakened. I want to ask you about โ€“ so, how do you, or how does a person decipher between โ€œOkay, Iโ€™m in my groove and my Dharma is meant to feel good and my gifts are meant to come outโ€ versus โ€œIโ€™m in my Dharma and Iโ€™m learning a tough lesson that I need to learn and I need to stay in the discomfort so that I can get to that feeling of energized but I might not feel energized in this momentโ€?

[23:24] Sahara:
You know, this is such a major point because I would read spiritual books and theyโ€™re like โ€œFollow the path of least resistanceโ€, I was like โ€œOkay, if I really followed the path of least resistance, I would just become a real estate agent like my parents are telling me to do even though I hate doing it but itโ€™s the thing that theyโ€™re telling me to do and it makes the most senseโ€. So I was like โ€œFollow the path of least resistance โ€“ then my mom wouldnโ€™t have escaped from her country if she had followed the path of least resistanceโ€ or people wouldnโ€™t have battled addiction; gone through poverty if they followed โ€“ that to me, that doesnโ€™t really quite make sense. So, what I realized was โ€“ so, thereโ€™s this core concept in Vedic spirituality that I write about in the book (in Chapter 2) that we were all born on this highway (think of it like a highway and your Dharma is at the end), so you were born on this highway and youโ€™re on cruise control down the highway and thatโ€™s when youโ€™re experiencing the synchronicities and youโ€™re having the right conversations at the right time and youโ€™re feeling inspired and one thingโ€™s leading you to the next and itโ€™s like the Universe is propelling you in the direction of your Dharma that youโ€™re almost taking a back seat and youโ€™re like โ€œOkay, I know Iโ€™m meant to be here because everything is pushing me in this direction and itโ€™s feeling really goodโ€. So that is how life is meant to be lived and thatโ€™s called Kria โ€“ Flow (boundless action by the Universe). Now, on this highway there are many exits, so these exits are like โ€œYouโ€™ll make more money doing thisโ€, โ€œYour parents wonโ€™t be proud of you if you do thatโ€, โ€œEveryone else is moving to New York and doing this thingโ€, โ€œYouโ€™re going to fall behind if you donโ€™t start doing thatโ€ and you see everyone else going off these exits so youโ€™re like โ€œIโ€™m still on this Dharma highway, I donโ€™t even know where this Dharma place is, Iโ€™ve never been there, Iโ€™ve never met anyone whoโ€™s there. Does it even really exist? Everyone else is getting off this highway, maybe I should get off too while I still can; while Iโ€™m still young; while I still havenโ€™t put in too much time and effort towards this thing that I donโ€™t even know if it exists?โ€ So we get off the highway, all of us have at some point. And then the Universe responds in the only way it knows how, which is through how you feel. So it begins with these little pings, this little nudge, this little โ€˜tap, tap, tapโ€™ of youโ€™re feeling anxious, youโ€™re feeling imbalanced, youโ€™re feeling somethingโ€™s off (often times we donโ€™t listen) and then it turns into a knock, knock, knock; youโ€™re having breakdowns, youโ€™re maybe having a panic attack, youโ€™re having fire after fire after fire, but lifeโ€™s tough, get a helmet โ€“ you still donโ€™t listen. And then the Universe is like โ€œYo bitch, youโ€™ve got to listen!โ€ and it could turn into a collision, it could turn into a real breakdown experience, whatever breakdown you need to get to, itโ€™s going to keep showing up for you. And this is not to say that youโ€™re a worse person if you have to get to that point โ€“ Eckhart Tolle was nearly about to commit suicide before he made his transition; I had dire health problems, that was ma breakdown; we all have to get to some point to make that ship, and some people still donโ€™t listen. So, just because you were born with a Dharma, does not necessarily mean you are going to embody it. So thatโ€™s the thing to โ€“ if I have a purpose then shouldnโ€™t I sit back and itโ€™s going to happen? No! Youโ€™ve got free will; doesnโ€™t mean itโ€™s going to happen, it means that you have the opportunity to live it if you listen, if you follow those nudges when itโ€™s feeling off and course correct. So, I like to think of the analogy of weโ€™re on a beach. So, Dharmaโ€™s out in the open waters but to get to the open waters weโ€™ve got to move past the waves. So, to move past the waves, at first you go out and it brings you back to shore and youโ€™re like โ€œUgh, okay, Iโ€™m going to try againโ€, it brings you back to shore, and everyone else is still on the beach, theyโ€™re saying โ€œThereโ€™s no open waters, itโ€™s just foreverโ€; bigger wave after bigger wave โ€“ โ€œI tried to be in a band in college and it failedโ€, โ€œI tried to do this and it failed, so donโ€™t do it, it doesnโ€™t exist, itโ€™s a bunch of hocus pocus and youโ€™re going to end up regretting you even wasted the time!โ€ So you could hang out with everyone at the beach who isnโ€™t happy to be here but they donโ€™t know anywhere else, they havenโ€™t been to the open waters yet, or you can choose to believe something deeper in yourself that they do exist. And every single time a wave knocks you down you learn to maneuver, you learn how to duck it, you learn how to move through it, you become a stronger swimmer. And those waves represent the decisions youโ€™ve made that are not in alignment with your Dharma. So the further away youโ€™ve been pushed from your Dharma โ€“ maybe youโ€™re super, super deep in your career that is not in alignment with your truth and youโ€™ve been living in the bounded action, the Karma, for a very, very long time. Or for some people it may be a faster maneuver, but eventually you move through it and youโ€™re out in these open waters and thatโ€™s when life is meant to be lived, that is the Kria you experience, but youโ€™re going to have to move through the Karma, move through the waves in order to get there.

[28:18] Shannon:
I love that!

[28:19] Sahara:
Sometimes following the path of least resistance requires you to follow the path youโ€™re the most resistant to.

[28:26] Shannon:
Yeah! It kind of brings up what are you resisting and is what Iโ€™m resisting the right thing to resist? Meaning the thing thatโ€™s going against maybe what Iโ€™m told I should be doing โ€“ thatโ€™s a good thing to resist, versus if Iโ€™m resisting even going out to the water and coming up against those challenges โ€“ that type of resistance might be something to avoid, to be like โ€œNo, get out there, go get in your flow, go explore, go make mistakes, go learn!โ€

[28:59] Sahara:
Exactly! Is it your resistance or is it the Universeโ€™s resistance? Those are different textures. Your personal resistance could be โ€œI really, really want a podcast but Iโ€™m so afraid of sharing my voice. Iโ€™m just so afraid of getting on the micโ€ but you know you really want that podcast, it feels expansive for you. So, thatโ€™s the thing I look for. If it feels expansive but scary โ€“ go for it; if it feels contractive and youโ€™re scared to do it, then itโ€™s not for you. So, that doesnโ€™t mean everyone should get on the mic and start a podcast, if thatโ€™s not even your desire, but if it is, youโ€™re going to have to move through those waves and thatโ€™s your unique resistance, thatโ€™s not the Universeโ€™s.

[29:37] Shannon:
Yeah! I want to speak to something that I think can be confusing about Dharma is (at least in my experience, Iโ€™m curious to hear what you think about this) โ€“ there is a certain necessity for trial and error for like โ€œOkay, maybe I need to go and try that thing and really experience itโ€ not just glossify about it, but think about it, experience it and realize like โ€œOh, yes, I want more of thatโ€ or like โ€œOh, thatโ€™s not for meโ€, so I think there is a little bit of patience game that can come in to realizing that sometimes weโ€™ve got to go down the wrong road, sometimes weโ€™ve got to get off of at that wrong highway exit, to realize โ€œOkay, itโ€™s time to get back on the highwayโ€. And so, how do you speak to or what do you have to say to someone whoโ€™s like โ€œI want to know my Dharma nowโ€ but they might just kind of need to be in the uncertainty for a while? Or is there a way to get to certainty faster?

[30:38] Sahara:
So yeah, the more you know yourself, the more self-aware that you are, the more that you fcan eel โ€œOkay, this thing may not me right for me before you actually go and take action, but while youโ€™re harnessing that skill, you learn through the feedback, you learn through the failure, you learn through the action. So, there are three pathways that people get to their Dharma, and it really depends on what type of person you are. Those people who are all or nothing, โ€œI just need to try it, see how it, thatโ€™s called taking the leap, thatโ€™s the first stage. So thatโ€™s when youโ€™re going to quit your job, youโ€™re just going to live in your van and go for it. And the beauty of that, itโ€™s like this kind of all or nothing, youโ€™re going to put everything you have into trying to make this or something work because everything is on the line. However, for some people that feeling could be so stressful that they may freeze. It may actually not help them live their Dharma, it could deter them from it, or some people may have a family that they need to provide for, they canโ€™t go live in their van or move back to their grandmaโ€™s house or whatever it is that theyโ€™re doing, itโ€™s not feasible for them.
So, our society really celebrates he leap and for some people that is the path that they need to take there, just like โ€œIโ€™m going to try it and it might fail and Iโ€™m just going to figure it outโ€. But the other option that I recommend, especially if youโ€™re someone who has more of the Kapha, more of the Earth energy, the Nurturer, you like to kind of test things a little bit, is the transition, which is kind of like the slow fade away break-up. And thatโ€™s when you are not fully quitting whatever it is youโ€™re doing, but youโ€™re testing โ€“ โ€œMaybe I take different courses. I apprentice or intern for someone. I try doing it part-time as a side gig. I write my book in the extra hours of my morningโ€ whatever else it is, โ€œIโ€™m not expecting this thing to support me, especially financially. Iโ€™m, first of all, figuring out what it is, and then when I do figure out what it is, Iโ€™m harnessing enough skill and development at it without having to instantly monetize it too, so it can really be an integrity with my truth, that then, once itโ€™s able to sustain me to the degree in which I need it to, I can then transition into it. So, imagine, Shannon, if you just started your podcast and quit whatever it was you were doing, and youโ€™re like โ€œThis podcast needs to pay my bills! Tomorrow, episode 1โ€ โ€“ it wouldnโ€™t have worked. You wouldโ€™ve had to probably make decisions that you wouldnโ€™t have want to make just to get money coming in. As we know, something like a podcast or a book, it takes time to nurture; it takes time to nurture your community, your own skill etc. So the transitionโ€™s a really option if you want that spaciousness, you want that stability, that safety, however, itโ€™s actually more difficult. And the reason why itโ€™s more difficult is you donโ€™t have that same fire under your ass, you donโ€™t have that same like โ€œIโ€™ve got to figure this outโ€. So sometimes we procrastinate and then weโ€™re like โ€œIโ€™m going to write my book every morning from 6-8โ€ and then โ€œYou know what, Iโ€™m going to hit snooze todayโ€, and then you do it this week, this month, this year and it doesnโ€™t happen. So if you are going to do the transition, you have to set a sense of urgency for yourself through goals โ€“ โ€œBy April 1st my book proposal will be done. Iโ€™m going to get my shop on Etsyโ€ or whatever else it is. So that way works better if youโ€™re more of a calculated risk-taker.
And the third way is the Accidental Dharma. So this is when you actually arenโ€™t looking for your Dharma, it just finds you. Youโ€™re like โ€œIโ€™m just living my life and I just took breathwork class and I know this is what Iโ€™m meant to doโ€ or, I shared an example in the book, my friendโ€™s uncle was an engineer his entire life, in his fifties. And the HR team in his company said everyone needs to take an Art extra-curricular and he randomly chooses pottery (and never done in his life). Gets his hand on that wheel and just feels the earth on his fingers and how alive he feels on that wheel and heโ€™s like โ€œI need to do this every day!โ€ So he goes back every single day and today heโ€™s a full-time potter, he makes cups, bowls, pitchers, all sorts of things. And the first half of his life was being an engineer and the second half is being a potter. Now, this doesnโ€™t mean that heโ€™s special, he couldโ€™ve just as easily have gotten on that wheel and said โ€œUgh, I should do this more often but I donโ€™t have time, Iโ€™m an engineerโ€ and never have fully stepped into that Dharma. So, we all have those accidental Dharmas that have been nudging at us all along and we may not have listened. Shannon, you could have taken your first yoga class and be like โ€œUgh, I should do more yoga but who has the time? I need to get to my next auditionโ€ and never fully stepped into the truth of who you are. So thatโ€™s why I share this โ€˜free willโ€™ component, and itโ€™s such a big part of it, because your Dharma is waiting for you but youโ€™ve got to say yes to it first.

[35:20] Shannon:
I love those! The accidental, the transition and the one thatโ€™s often celebrated by society, is the โ€˜leapโ€™. Thatโ€™s the one where all the Goalcastsโ€™ videos, tell the story, the leap. Elizabeth Gilbert, in her book โ€œBig Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fearโ€ talk about how. I think it was (I could be getting this wrong) but I think it was when her book โ€œEat Pray Loveโ€ came out and it wasnโ€™t until after โ€œEat Prey Loveโ€ was showing to be a huge success, that she quit her job as a bartender, because to her, she never wanted to mix money (survival money) with her creative writing. For her creativity, it just helped her to just keep the writing just purely creative and she made her money tending bar. And then eventually, it just got to this point, it was after she had had epic success that she was like โ€œOkay, Iโ€™m going to receive the money for my book now and be a full-time writerโ€. Thatโ€™s such a good example of transition.
Iโ€™ve had moments of accident, Iโ€™ve had moments of transition, Iโ€™ve had moments of โ€˜take the leapโ€™, and โ€˜take the leapโ€™ does light the fire under your ass, and transition is a little bit softer on your nervous system. And so, I found it helpful, depending on where Iโ€™m at in my life, different things might be appropriate. Like what you spoke to, thatโ€™s brilliant! I love that!

[36:51] Sahara:
Yeah! I think, again, it gives us permission to be who we are in our circumstances because yes, in a perfect world we wouldโ€™ve all gone to a school that from the time we were kids was like โ€œThis is what you love to do, you should just do it all the timeโ€ but weโ€™re in different situations in our lives right now. So for some of us โ€“ the concept of monetizing Dharma is really interesting because we live in a world that currency, in the form of money, is how we survive. So, itโ€™s interesting because in the times of the Vedas or basically any times before money way invented, the healers were supported, the monks were supported. They were offered food by the community, even today in Thailand, they give the monks food every single day. So, I see a lot of people have a hard time in trying to monetize Dharma (even the word โ€˜monetizingโ€™ can be very triggering) if it has a healing component, theyโ€™re like โ€œWell if I love to do and itโ€™s helping others then itโ€™s wrong for me to try to make money off of doing itโ€. So, there comes the point of, like the Elizabeth Gilbert example, that your Dharma will require all of you. It will require your full, undivided focus, it will get to that point. So if you are spending 8 hours a day doing something that 1) is not in alignment with your Dharma, or 2) actually may be diminishing your energy and preventing you from being able to do it when youโ€™re not on hours, then itโ€™s actually withholding you, so youโ€™re going to have to figure out some type of way to monetize this Dharma if you need it to support you. Now, you might be in a situation where youโ€™re supported by someone else or I donโ€™t know, maybe you actually live in an Ashram and you donโ€™t need to make money and then you can just gift it to other people, but I do see a lot of people, when it comes to healing, and other people too because weโ€™re so not used to have this form of guilt of โ€œI donโ€™t know if itโ€™s right for me. I just love helping people, I should just do it for freeโ€.
My mom, I was helping her find her Dharma when she was visiting, I was like โ€œWhatโ€™s your Dharma? Whatโ€™s your truth?โ€ and she was like โ€œMaybe I would be a Life Coach but I would feel really bad ever charging everyone so I would just be a free Life Coachโ€, Iโ€™m like โ€œWell, people arenโ€™t going to listen to what you have to say if youโ€™re like โ€˜Call me whenever you need advice, there are no hours, Iโ€™m just hereโ€™โ€. Thatโ€™s good in terms of a friend but if youโ€™re like โ€œI need to figure out my purpose, I need to make this big changeโ€ and thereโ€™s no framework around it, thereโ€™s no exchange. Even in India, the monks give blessings to the homeless but the homeless must offer them fruit or flowers, there needs to be an energetic exchange there, too. And it todayโ€™s society, what affords are food, etc., crystals, whatever it is that youโ€™re going to buy that actually may be offering the healing back, requires this currency. So, I donโ€™t think itโ€™s a bad thing to try to figure out a business model around your Dharma, or a job, etc., in fact, you doing so is going to afford you more time, more hours, more focus to actually improve and share more, and have the space to offer more of it for free for those who cannot pay for it.
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[41:32] Shannon:
It took me years of discomfort around the monetization of my services, whether that was when I was in New York teaching private yoga or when I started life coaching. And it didnโ€™t really stop me but it took a long time until I stopped feeling heat tingles through my whole body when I would tell someone how much something cost or what the pricing was. Itโ€™s different for everyone, obviously, but I do think that thereโ€™s something to be said for growing into your Dharma, especially where, if it intersects with monetization. Then, once you realize and get grounded and comfortable in the fact that itโ€™s perfectly okay and necessary and beautiful, that you receive money to sustain you to do your Dharma. Now, I donโ€™t have that trigger in my body because I understand, deeply, that I deserve to be supported and that how Iโ€™m supporting others is of value. But before I believed that, it was so โ€“ youโ€™ve got to believe that for it to feel like โ€“ and believe it in your body; believe it in your experience; not just believe it as an affirmation of โ€œI deserve thisโ€, itโ€™s different when itโ€™s in your tissues.

[42:57] Sahara:
A hundred percent! One little thought that helped me when I was going through that too, I was a Health Coach and I was like โ€œIโ€™ll help you with any issues youโ€™ve ever had in your entire life for free. And then I had, itโ€™s $20/h, anything youโ€™ve got, Iโ€™m here for youโ€ and no one was signing up, of course, because I, first of all, youโ€™re not going to come to you for your gravest health issue if Iโ€™m like โ€œ$20/h, anything you got, Iโ€™m hereโ€, it wasnโ€™t going to work. But what I realized because I wasnโ€™t making money doing it, I was like โ€œYou know what, I either have to figure out a way to create money doing this or Iโ€™m going to have to stopโ€. And me stopping is going to mean me stepping into something that I donโ€™t love doing, into becoming a real estate agent or getting the job at the ad agency, or doing something else that I donโ€™t want to do, that isnโ€™t helping the world, that isnโ€™t going to afford me the time to give this for free, itโ€™s just going to have to end. So I would rather figure out a way to create some sort of income doing this so I can continue to grow and learn doing this. And I think, most of the time, there are so many healers out there, and I guarantee you, someone, right now, out there whoโ€™s listening, who has such an incredible gift โ€“ maybe the way they hold space for people is so beautiful or the way that they play the sound bowls or the way they can assess where someoneโ€™s holding onto pain in their body, but because they are so fearful of stepping into it and charging for it, theyโ€™re not doing it. And that means all of those hundreds and thousands of people whose lives have been waiting for them to be affected by, who havenโ€™t been, because they havenโ€™t mastered this one limiting belief that they have. So do it!

[44:34] Shannon:
I love thatโ€™s so much!

[44:35] Sahara:
We need it, we need your services, especially after 2020 (and actually right now too). I started writing this book before 2020 happened, I didnโ€™t know, but what this year showed me more than anything with going through the greatest unemployment rates in our modern history right now and looking at all of the people whoโ€™ve lost their jobs, who donโ€™t know what it is that theyโ€™re going back to. My own husband has lost his entire company, he works in the music industry. And, thereโ€™s an opportunity in that of โ€œWas I loving the job I was in? Was I using my gifts? Was this in alignment with my truth? And how can I use this time right now to maneuver, to get to know myself better, so I can step into something more fully in alignment with who I am?โ€

[45:22] Shannon:
I love that! I was thinking that earlier on our call, Iโ€™m so glad you said that โ€“ the timing of this book, โ€œDiscover Your Dharmaโ€ is so meaningful, I think, with what has happened in the last year. Thereโ€™s such a reckoning of โ€“ I know for me, and the reason that Iโ€™m in school now for psychology (depth psychology) โ€“ it really accelerated my question of like โ€œOkay dude, why the f*** are you here?โ€ Iโ€™ve asked myself that question a million times before and Iโ€™ve gotten a lot of clear answers but itโ€™s interesting how the Dharma refines itself.

[46:00] Sahara:
Yes!

[46:02] Shannon:
And after I wrote my book I was kind of brought to this point of โ€œNow what?โ€ and very aware that there was a deepening that I needed to get into. And I could obviously go way on about that, but I think that this time has been such an important moment for so many of us to be like โ€œOkay, if I were to die of this virus; If I were to be stuck at home with all this free time; If I were to only have this much time left with some of my loved ones; If the world were to completely transform (as itโ€™s transforming), then, what do I really care about doing? What am I really meant to do?โ€ And so, it feels like this book is just a perfectly timed offering for those of us who are in that inquiry with ourselves.

[46:52] Sahara:
Yeah! And I know that feeling that so many people are like โ€œBut I donโ€™t know what I like to doโ€ and just that feeling of defeat when you havenโ€™t found it. I remember people like โ€œJust do what you loveโ€, Iโ€™m like โ€œI donโ€™t know what I loveโ€, or what do I love to do โ€“ hang out on the beach, how am I going to make a living doing that? Be a lifeguard? And thatโ€™s why for me โ€“ Archetypal work, and I know you love the Archetypes too, but Archetypal work was so major because it allows you to see yourself in a framework that you could also see other people in.
So, Archetypes, for those who might not be as familiar with that word, is itโ€™s like Myers-Brigg, Enneagram, even the Goddesses, Doshas, its systems, its frameworks, its personality types, itโ€™s archetypes, itโ€™s ways that we can see ourselves and other people.

[47:37] Shannon:
The Mother, the Goddess, the Priestessโ€ฆ

[47:41] Sahara:
โ€ฆthe Warrior, yeah, exactly! So, Archetypal work, when I was 23 years old and really trying to understand who I was and I was trying these different things, I came across these different archetypal systems and with each system I would learn a deeper aspect of myself. So, when I was writing โ€œDiscover Your Dharmaโ€ I was like โ€œHow can these really relate to a concept of your Dharma, or your Purpose?โ€ And I came up with these Nine Dharma Archetypes.
So, Iโ€™ll start with what Iโ€™m seeing yours as, do a little reading on you!

[48:10] Shannon:
I just want to say, before you do, the pressureโ€™s on because I just took the Dharma Archetype quiz and I was a little surprised by what I got, but okay, go ahead, go ahead.

[48:25] Sahara:
So, in the book itโ€™s like a full assessment so do the one in the book too because youโ€™re not just one or two Archetypes, you are all nine Archetypes in varying amounts.

[48:33] Shannon:
Thatโ€™s what I feel. I feel like, when Iโ€™m reading the prompts of the questions, sometimes I can tell โ€œOkay, that might be the Entertainer oneโ€ and I feel like Iโ€™m all of it.

[48:46] Sahara:
Totally! And there are some that youโ€™re definitely not, too. So, I see you as the Visionary. Okay, so Iโ€™ll start with explaining to you (Visionary is my number one as well), so the Visionary is really here to channel the new paradigm; they are here to see where โ€“ theyโ€™re very future oriented; theyโ€™re very big picture; itโ€™s very inspirational. Like Marianne Williamson and Deepak Chopra and a lot of these spiritual teachers have that Visionary Archetype to them, but theyโ€™re not always spiritual teachers. Someone like Steve Jobs, for example, was a Visionary, he was able to see the way that the future can be, itโ€™s very related to the Vata, the Air Archetype (big-picture thinker).
Now, the secondary one which I see you having (I have as well) and these might not be your order or your order at this moment, is the Teacher. So, the Teacher is someone who learns a lesson in their life and the way that they actually transmute that lesson is to teach it to other people. They actually go through life as almost this Swiffer machine of โ€˜learn the lesson – transmute it; next lesson โ€“ transmute itโ€™. So whatever theyโ€™re speaking on is going to be an obstacle that theyโ€™ve once experienced and Source is actually going to provide them with the exact obstacles they need to overcome, because thatโ€™s a part of their soulโ€™s unique curriculum, as a Teacher, to continue overcoming and teaching about. So, someone who had that breakdown and that breakthrough, who turned their mess into their message, and their pain into their purpose โ€“ thatโ€™s very Teacher Archetype; theyโ€™re learning for themselves.
Now, the Activist, which is one I definitely see you have as well โ€“ is theyโ€™re here to bring about social change; they are here for a more just world. Similar to the Visionary, theyโ€™re here to talk about big picture things, however, the difference between a pure Activist and a pure Visionary (and you can be both like yourself, Marianne Williamson, myself, we have both) but a pure Visionary may be more just focused on how society can grow. Steve Jobs wasnโ€™t an Activist per say, it was more like โ€œHereโ€™s how the future could beโ€ or an inspirational speaker; whereas an Activist is really about causes, it has this more earthly element to it too, of like โ€œThe children are crying. The Earth needs our help. Here are these tangible earthy issues in this manifested form that need to bring about change!โ€ So thereโ€™s a little bit more of a Pitta, a fire to it as well, which I know is one of your doshas. So, it has this lens of viewing the world as โ€œIโ€™m here to help. Iโ€™m here to solve. Iโ€™m here to bring about changeโ€, it has a sense of responsibility to it, whereas a pure Visionary may not have that, as much of that connection, to the worldly issues.
Now, the Entertainer which you have is here to make people feel. So, that doesnโ€™t necessarily mean laugh, it could be, you want to make people cry, think, feel nostalgic โ€“ you just want to make people feel. And the beauty of that is, itโ€™s always been needed. Weโ€™ve had the gestures since the beginning of time, weโ€™ve always needed people to entertain, itโ€™s the only way for us to get through it. Even in the times of the Great Depression we had the jazz artists who were here to just make us feel. So, thereโ€™s such great beauty into actually be able to escape; escapism is not always a bad thing, sometimes we do need to escape or just be entertained or be in our senses. And, each of them has the shadow side. So someone who may be purely an Entertainer, may get lost in the roles that they play in and they might not, truthfully, who they are.
So, the next step, we have the Nurturer. The Nurturer is really here to care and connect; they are here to depth psychology, youโ€™re going to be in a classroom with Nurturers there.

[52:26] Shannon:
This is the one I got on my quiz and I wonder if itโ€™s related to that being such an energy that Iโ€™m cultivating right now?

[52:35] Sahara:
Exactly! Well, because on the quiz too, the answers for Nurturer are โ€œWhat do you care about the mostโ€ and itโ€™s like โ€œFriends and familyโ€. Of course you care about your friends and family but that might not be what it is in relation to your Dharma. For some people itโ€™s friends, family, community, having heart-to-heart conversations โ€“ thatโ€™s their Dharma; and for some people itโ€™s the role that they play.
So, I see Nurturer, definitely, as part of your Dharma but you also have this Activist-Visionary-Entertainer thatโ€™s airing it up, whereas Nurturer is very Kapha, itโ€™s very Earth, itโ€™s very one-on-one with the people, connecting, listening, holding space. So, a lot of people who go into coaching, counseling, teachers, elderly care, nurses, have this Nurturer Archetypes and theyโ€™re super, super heart-oriented.
Then we have the Entrepreneur. The Entrepreneur is here to solve problems as well, but theyโ€™re motivated by profit and impact. So, profit is not a bad thing, they see โ€œThe more profit I can create, the more impact I can createโ€. And they want to see โ€œHereโ€™s a problem and hereโ€™s a system I can create around itโ€, they have a lot more of that Pitta energy to them. So, a Visionary and an Activist may be โ€œWeโ€™re going to save the environment!โ€ The Visionary gives an inspirational talk, the Activist is signing petitions, but the Entrepreneur, that may feel very lofty to them, theyโ€™re like โ€œOkay, weโ€™re going to reduce plastic straw consumption by 200% and weโ€™re going to create this company that has bamboo straws and this is how weโ€™re going to go about doing it and solve this one, very tangible problem and hereโ€™s the solution for itโ€. So, they need a little bit more of a structure, a framework and to really give their all-and-all fire into that. So, people like Gary V, the Shark Tank people. Shark Tank, itโ€™s a super-entrepreneur show, of course, theyโ€™re like โ€œHere are all these world problems but our way going about solving them in not to talk or a petition, itโ€™s to create a business around itโ€. So, that doesnโ€™t mean that every Entrepreneur does that, but when youโ€™re living in alignment with your Dharma, you definitely are.
Then, the ones left are the Warrior. So, the Warrior is here to protect and to lead. So, the Warrior is very physical. A lot of times, fitness, athletes, people who are very in their body have that Warrior energy because they want to set a goal and go for it. They love the feeling of comradery, they want to be a part of a team, and they also get really hyped up when thereโ€™s an underdog or someone that theyโ€™re here to protect. So, AOC, for example, sheโ€™s an Activist but sheโ€™s a Warrior as well; that people love her so much because sheโ€™s willing to speak up for the disenfranchise, stand up for them and use that Warrior combative energy, that she actually thrives in really confrontational situations that a Nurturer would lose their hibby-gibbies in, but that can actually get her more in alignment with her truth and more dedicated.
So, think weโ€™ve gotten through all of them โ€“ The Visionary, Teacher, Activist, Entertainer, Nurturer, oh and the Researcher!

[55:42] Shannon:
The Researcher, yes!

[55:43] Sahara:
So, the Researcher is the last one. So, the Researcher loves to understand things on a really deep level. So, they are the type of people who see something on Instagram, theyโ€™re like โ€œI need to look into this! Iโ€™m not just going to repost, I want to see whatโ€™s going on behind this!โ€ They want to understand the world, not so much โ€œI need to change the worldโ€ but โ€œI need to understand the worldโ€. So they love to be knee-deep in different books and libraries; in data; a lot of scientists; historians; people who really want to go into the past. They really are oriented into what happened in the past because they see history as the biggest indicator of whatโ€™s going to happen to the future. So, the Researcher wants to go into the nitty-gritty, and the shadow side of that is sometimes they donโ€™t take action with that, sometimes itโ€™s just research upon research upon research and itโ€™s like โ€œWell, whatโ€™s the point?โ€
So, with these Nine Archetypes we all have all of them within us but in varying amounts, but I would say thereโ€™s probably five that are your highest ones. And your top two will probably just be with you your whole life. My top two are Visionary-Teacher. No matter what I do those are always me and theyโ€™re going to show up for me. But then my next three are โ€“ oh we didnโ€™t talk about the Artist, Iโ€™ll just briefly say that. The Artist is here to bring about beauty. So, they are someone who โ€“ their Instagram Feed, their house, anything they do is just going to be beautiful. They really care about aesthetics, they care about just the little things that might not matter to someone else. So, theyโ€™re going to bring about beauty. So, thatโ€™s my third Archetype, however, when Iโ€™m in a situation thereโ€™s a cause I really believe in, my Activist Archetype might go up and that might become my third one; or if Iโ€™m really in my business, it might be my Entrepreneur one. So, those are kind of my top five.
So, sometimes those last three can kind of move around in order. Additionally, different traumas can make different ones go higher up too. So, you may have, as a child, learned that the only way Iโ€™ll receive love is if I hold space and listen to other peopleโ€™s problems. So you may have become a Nurturer, but actually really arenโ€™t, you have just taught yourself thatโ€™s the only way I can get love. Or for me, my family came from political imprisonment, refugee, immigration, child marriage, all of these intense socio-political issues, so I had this identity โ€œI need to save the world. I need to help everyone. There are people out there who are in political prisons and all these thingsโ€ and I was like โ€œI have to be an Activistโ€, it wasnโ€™t coming from this space of feeling fully in my heart, it came from this responsibility, and even guilt, of like โ€œFuck, someone needs to save the world so Iโ€™ll just go do it!โ€ If I had taken this quiz when I was in high school, Iโ€™d be 100% Activist โ€“ thatโ€™s me!
But now, Iโ€™ve been able to see, Iโ€™m also the Artist; Iโ€™m also the Entertainer and the Entrepreneur etc. and I have this Activist within me as well.

[58:38] Shannon:
Yeah. I actually, during the election, I was in a session with my therapist and really was able to connect, for the first time in such a really experiential potent way, that my Activist, that my need to make a change in the world for the benefit for the world being a safe place to live, was just mirroring my lack of safety growing up in my home (emotionally). So, those patterns that I learned to be combative and fight for my needs or fight for people to โ€“ for my parents to understand each other in certain disagreements was all designed so I could feel safe in my home (in my family of origin) and now itโ€™s on a global, national scale of the Election that was happening and there was that same thing โ€“ so I was able to see that that Activist was coming from a place of trauma that I need to make everything okay so that I can feel safe.

[59:49] Sahara:
Yes! And, thatโ€™s not always a bad thing either. Itโ€™s like your soul also needed to have that experience of growing up with your parents and in your household and as a gay man and not feeling totally safe, your soul needed to have those experiences so you could feel how unsafe and other guy might feel out there who hasnโ€™t come out to his family or someone in their home who has to be there for their parentโ€™s issues and stuff. So you wouldnโ€™t be an Activist if it wasnโ€™t for that. However, if youโ€™re just showing up in that way and itโ€™s coming out of fight or flight rather than โ€˜โ€I feel grounded and safe where I am and I feel inspired to take actionโ€ thatโ€™s when it can turn into the โ€“ and I can speak to this because I definitely was this โ€“ the angry Activist whoโ€™s like โ€œBuckle up, we need to change!โ€ and itโ€™s actually energetically attributing to the problem.

[1:00:43] Shannon:
Yeah! I think that thatโ€™s a key distinction, is to be aware from what space, within me, is this emerging. Is this coming from a place where thereโ€™s a wound that needs healing; thereโ€™s something that needs to get grounded or integrated or processed so that I can come from a more conscious place? Or is it something thatโ€™s already done and Iโ€™m able to just show up and know. To your point, itโ€™s not a bad thing if something that was a wound had now influenced the way that youโ€™re showing up in the world. And we want to be aware of how weโ€™re showing up in the world and if weโ€™re coming from the wound in place or coming from an integrated and healing place within ourselves.

[1:01:29] Sahara:
Exactly, because itโ€™s impossible for it not to be a part of your story. Itโ€™s impossible for it to not impact your Dharma. Of course it is and whether you believe that your soul chose it or not, that a controversial belief, but regardless, it was a part of each of our stories. So, itโ€™s informing us of how we show up, itโ€™s swaying our interests, itโ€™s giving us experience that we can talk upon and help other people move through it. And we know that thatโ€™s a tender spot for us.

[1:02:01] Shannon:
So, I want to ask you about the Dharma Blueprint. So, thereโ€™s sort of like an integration of bringing all these things together that you walk us through the book; going through stages of Discovery and the Archetypes and these different, brilliant systems that youโ€™ve set up for people to kind of find themselves within. And then thereโ€™s the Blueprint where we bring it all together. Can you tell us a little bit about the Blueprint and what happens towards the end of the book?

[1:02:30] Sahara:
Yeah! So, when I was writing the book, I was still knowing that there are some people who really do better when they can list things out; when they feel like theyโ€™re moving through a framework, and the level of security that that does give us of like โ€œOkay, I do have a purpose, even if Iโ€™ve activated my soul and done all these things, I still donโ€™t know what it is. I can go through this process and guaranteed get really valuable information about myself and also how to take action on itโ€ because hereโ€™s my thing on a lot of spiritual books. Itโ€™s like โ€œLive your best life and live your purposeโ€ and the book is done โ€“ how do I do it? For me, maybe itโ€™s my seven planets in Capricorn, but Iโ€™m like โ€œHow do people take action on this, what does it look like, how does it show up in the world?โ€ Because if itโ€™s not showing up in the world, if itโ€™s not my daily life then itโ€™s just going to end up being this cool book I read and I move on. So, your Dharma Blueprint is how you can actually take action towards your Dharma right now. So, Iโ€™ve created these kind of five circles that you go through.
So, the first one is โ€“ whatโ€™s your Dharma Archetype? So, you do your Dharma Archetype assessment, so itโ€™s your top three, top five, whichever Archetypes youโ€™re really resonating with. So your Dharma Archetype is really going to inform how you do something, itโ€™s your lens in which youโ€™re going to view your life with.
The next one are the mediums that youโ€™re the best at. So, there are so many mediums out there โ€“ it could be drawing, it could be organizing, it could be speaking, writing, blogging, systems โ€“ we all have different mediums that come through us. So I recommend and I list a bunch out, but thinking โ€œWhere do I feel that my most expressed self?โ€ If I were to solve a problem, would I do it through building a structure? Would I be in conversation with someone about it? Would I record a video of myself doing it? How would I solve this problem? And thatโ€™s probably going to be some of the mediums that youโ€™re the best at. So, we kind of share mediums of writing, speaking, verbal, throat chakra type of people, but someone else might be creating a formula or creating some sort of physical structure, or something else like that. So, what are the mediums youโ€™re the best at?
Them, what obstacles have you overcome or helped someone else overcome? So, it doesnโ€™t necessarily have to be youโ€™ve overcome, it could be, letโ€™s say your mother had cancer and because you really wanted to support her, you started to learn everything about cancer healing, holistic healing, alternative health etc. so this became a huge passion of yours that even though didnโ€™t have the problem because someone who you deeply care about did, you began to find solutions. Or it could be an obstacle youโ€™ve overcome from loneliness to trauma to whatever else it is that youโ€™ve experienced.
So, the next one is what youโ€™re excited about. So excitement, I call, are breadcrumbs toward your Dharma. Excitement is momentum, it is energy moving you forward. So, your excitement is there for a reason, itโ€™s kind of that dangly thing thatโ€™s like โ€œCome here, come hereโ€ the Universe propelling you towards your Dharma. So what are the things that youโ€™re excite about? Again, right a big old list and it could feel totally random. Iโ€™m excited about spending time with my dog, Iโ€™m excited about my friend coming over, Iโ€™m excited about buying some new plants, Iโ€™m excited about reorganizing my closet, Iโ€™m excited about this. And once you have a list of all those things that youโ€™re excited about, you can look at โ€œWhat do all these things have in common?โ€ That list I just shared is maybe you really love to deeply connect with people, or maybe you love to be in the home, or maybe you love to merge healing with technology, or whatever else it is, but notice, what is it youโ€™re excited about? And often times too, like you shared, you wrote your book and your excitement was โ€œI want to go deeper, I want to go deeper into depth psychologyโ€. I wrote this and I want to go deeper into womb wisdom and divine feminine wisdom. So, thatโ€™s kind of informing you of whatโ€™s next for you. Itโ€™s like that igniting the flame and just getting barely churned up.
And then the last thing are your superpowers. So thatโ€™s the thing that people are like โ€œYouโ€™re so good for doing thisโ€ and things that come easily for you that donโ€™t come for others. And often times itโ€™s hard for us to recognize our own superpowers. So, one little practice I recommend is imagine your friend texted you โ€œI need your adviceโ€. You just see a text on your phone right now โ€œShannon, I need your adviceโ€. What do you think that this is going to be advice about?

[1:07:05] Shannon:
What do I think itโ€™s going to be about?

[1:07:07] Sahara:
Yeah, if you just saw a friend, random friend โ€“ โ€œI need your adviceโ€, what do you think theyโ€™re here to ask your advice for?

[1:07:12] Shannon:
They want to know what they should do to move forward. Or do you mean more specifically?

[1:07:19] Sahara:
Sure, like what to do to move forward. So, youโ€™re good at that. Youโ€™re obviously someone that โ€œWhen Iโ€™m feeling stuck and I donโ€™t know how to move forward, my mind, of all of the experts in my life, goes to youโ€. So that means itโ€™s a superpower that you have. So, often times, itโ€™s easier for us to see the superpowers others see in us than to see them in ourselves.

[1:07:39] Shannon:
Yes, yeah!

[1:07:40] Sahara:
So, letโ€™s say I know it going to be about someoneโ€™s relationship, people are always texting me about their relationships, or their business plan, or what to cook for Thanksgiving, or what to do for this. That means people are viewing you as the expert in that and itโ€™s probably a superpower of yours. Or the little compliments you get โ€“ โ€œYouโ€™ve got such a beautiful homeโ€ or โ€œYou have such a way of making people feel welcomeโ€ or โ€œYou have such a detailed mindโ€ โ€“ those are your superpowers. So, youโ€™ve got to write all of those five things and then write the integration of how they come together. And I share different examples in the book, from Greta Thunberg and Deepak Chopra to friends of mine, a former intern of mine, all sorts of people, so you could actually see what they turn out to be, but putting all of those together will give you โ€“ โ€œOkay, I could create an App about healing the bodyโ€, โ€œI could make a tarot card deck using plus size and people of colorโ€, it gives you this exact thing that youโ€™re excited about, that youโ€™re good at, thatโ€™s your superpower, thatโ€™s your Archetype that you get to just focus on right now.

[1:08:42] Shannon:
Itโ€™s like all of these threads get woven together so that someone can have a clear blueprint of action to move forward.

[1:08:53] Sahara:
Exactly!

[1:08:54] Shannon:
Wow! Wow! Wow! Itโ€™s so good! Itโ€™s so exciting! Do you have a Dharma statement or is there something that you come back to (Sahara Rose), tune into your Dharma โ€“ is it like a vibration or an image or a sentence or word? How do you connect back into it once you sort of know what it is for yourself?

[1:09:17] Sahara:
So, Iโ€™m definitely a body person, like yourself, so for me itโ€™s a feeling in my body. So I look at what feels expansive. So, for me, when I feel expansive, I feel like arms stretched out, I feel elevated, I feel like I could reach forever, I feel like this back ben heart opening. So when Iโ€™m doing something that makes me feel like that, I know thatโ€™s my North Star thatโ€™s bringing me towards my Dharma. And then the opposite of that is contraction. So, for me that feels like being in an airplane for just way too long, where itโ€™s like โ€œFour more hoursโ€, youโ€™re like โ€œFuck! No!โ€ Youโ€™re like โ€œRemember when I could just sprawl out and lie down and jump, remember those days?โ€ And it feels like so long ago! So that feeling of contraction of stuckness. Or another for me is this feeling of combatitiveness, I need to put out the fire and fight the fight, when Iโ€™m in that energy, thatโ€™s my contractive energy, so I know that something needs to change and itโ€™s not in alignment with my Dharma. So I use that as my compass โ€“ is this giving me more energy or is it depleting me from my energy? And thatโ€™s how I really know. And, Iโ€™ll give an example โ€“ I love sharing and being on video and all of these things โ€“ so I always thought one day I want to have a show, how amazing would it be to have a show, but I was doing this video stuff with this team of people, there was a director and seven videographers, it was very show-like, it was for this shorter video thing, and I did not feel expansive, I did not feel that open feeling, even though I thought I would, even though โ€œWell the next logical thing for me to do is go after creating a showโ€ but what I realized was I love being spontaneous; I love the improv; I love the fact that I donโ€™t know what youโ€™re going to say next and you donโ€™t know what Iโ€™m going to say next, and that actually gets me going. Where if itโ€™s like โ€œOkay, from the top. Repeat that againโ€ I actually hate that feeling. So it gave me really good feedback of โ€“ Iโ€™m going to notice that in myself and even though it might feel a little bit like an ego kill to be like โ€œWell, maybe I shouldnโ€™t do a show unless itโ€™s an improv show, Iโ€™m going to listen to that because I know Iโ€™ll be chasing a goal thatโ€™s not in alignment with my Dharmaโ€.

[1:11:27] Shannon:
I love that! Another nod to the fact that we need to experience thing sometimes to discover how it feels in our bodies.

[1:11:36] Sahara:
Exactly!

[1:11:37] Shannon:
Oh my gosh! Sahara Rose! Everyone, go get your copy of โ€œDiscover Your Dharmaโ€, itโ€™s gorgeous! A Vedic Guide to Finding Your Purpose; Forward by Deepak Chopra; so inspiring and you share so many of your own stories and experiences; so easy to read and understand; so many frameworks, like weโ€™re talked about today for people to connect to and apply their own life experience and Dharma too.
So, just congratulations and thank you! And I hope everyone listening gets to really dive into this work and absorb this beautiful framework that youโ€™ve out together for us to get connected deeper into our Dharma and our Purpose. Thank you, thank you, thank you for bringing your Dharma forward! So brilliant and I love talking to you!

[1:12:27] Sahara:
Aww, well this was so much fun, I am just vibrating with joy, it was so in alignment with my Dharma so thank you for the opportunity. I love chatting with you, I love what youโ€™re doing, I canโ€™t wait for your book and thank you for being a soul brother on this planet with me.

[1:12:42] Shannon:
Likewise, thank you so much my love!

[1:12:45] End of Interview
_____________________________________________________

[1:12:45] Sahara:
Special shout-out to Shannon for that beautiful interview! I am so grateful to him for holding that space and for that conversation. It feels so good to be able to talk to you guys about these concepts, to hear your points of view on them and to really live this. This isnโ€™t one of those books that itโ€™s a doctrine, itโ€™s not alive and it just is what it is, itโ€™s really a living text, it is a testament to what I have learned and what I am learning is forever unfolding. And discovering my Dharma is never going to be done, I am forever in this lifetime going to continue to peel back the layers and layers and layers of my Dharma as I remember the truth of who I am โ€“ an expansive soul having a human experience. I am just a mere wave in the entire ocean and whatโ€™s so beautiful about knowing that is that you have the awareness that more ripples and ripples and ripples are going to come through the more that you open. So, I feel like if I wrote this book now it would even have different things in and when I did write it, next year would be the same and same, and thatโ€™s the beauty, I think, of sharing your work. Itโ€™s a moment of time, it is an opportunity to share what you know and encapsulate it and pass it forward like this crystal that connects energy and code and carries its own frequency, and you pass the crystal on but then you continue to crystalize more and deeper information and new threads and thatโ€™s the beauty of it, then that crystalizes and it passes on. So, I am so grateful to be able to share what I have learned so far on this journey and know that the journey ainโ€™t over. So, it has been incredible to be able to experience so much in this lifetime at such a young age and excited for all that is to come.

[1:14:34] Sahara:
So, thank you all for being here. Be sure to grab your copy of โ€œDiscover Your Dharmaโ€ wherever books are sold and submit your receipt on my website iamsahararose.com/dharma to receive my free bonuses, including my Discover Your Dharma Meditation, my Dharma Embodiment Practice, as well as my Dharma Tapping Practice. You can find that link in the show notes (iamsahararose.com/dharma) and I am so excited to share this book with you!

[1:15:00]
If you loved this Episode, I would love to send you a free gift which is the first half of my unreleased book โ€œEat Right for Your Mind-Body Typeโ€œ. This is a different book than โ€œEat Feel Freshโ€œ. My first book ever which is not released anywhere, and I am gifting it exclusively to those who leave a review of my Podcast in the iTunes store. So all youโ€™ve got to do is head over to iTunes where youโ€™re maybe listening to this podcast and leave a review, take a screenshot that youโ€™ve left it and email it over to me at [email protected] and I will send you back the first half of my unreleased book โ€œEat Right for Your Mind-Body Typeโ€œ, which goes all into Ayurveda, Doshas, Plant-Based Nutrition, Body Types – all of the things in a really fun and engaging way. So this is my gift to you for free for supporting the Podcast. Every single review I personally read. It really helps the Podcast be listened to by more people so we can raise the vibration of the planet together, and I am soul grateful to have you on this journey.

Thank you so much for listening and Iโ€™ll see you on the next episode. Namaste.

Episode 348: Discover Your Dharma
By Sahara Rose

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