I am beyond excited to interview Integrative Adult and Child psychiatrist Dr. Andrea Best, my colleague from UCLA Child Psychiatry fellowship!
We are both passionate about bridging science, spirituality and psychiatry.
We are reuniting after almost 20 years and have found that through our experience as mothers, doctors and healers we have been on a parallel path of spiritual growth and wisdom.
We both INSPIRE and EMPOWER and EDUCATE our patients to remember their inner power to BE their own healers.
We discussed the importance of AWARENESS, SELF LOVE and ALTRUISM in managing our Human Experience and times of going through our own personal crisis to our thrive moment to moment…..
I am Dr. Andrea Best and I have been a practicing physician, treating children, adolescents, and adults for 24 years. I practiced general medicine and psychiatry in various medical groups in the past, then began my own private practice in 2005, that integrates Western and Eastern medicine/psychiatry approaches. I provide consultations in Integrative Medicine and Holistic Psychiatry for individuals, groups, and company executives around the country.
I am an advocate for the use of mindfulness, meditation, and nutrition to prevent and treat disease. I advocate for all health insurance plans to include to include comprehensive integrative medicine and wellness approaches. I advocate for all elementary schools to teach mindfulness, so students have the benefits early and prior to attending middle and high school when so much occurs. I advocate for and teach a model of integrative health, recognizing there is no separation of body systems, including the brain and no separation of the born worthy individual from a Benevolent Source.
I enjoy teaching and speaking about the various models to view HEALTH. I teach medical students, residents, parents, and international groups how to assess symptoms, how to determine a broad differential diagnosis list, and how to offer a broad array of Western and Eastern treatments.
In my evaluations I discuss alternatives to medication and ways to use the least amount of medication, for the shortest duration, when possible. There is no shame in taking medicine however the removal of shame and negativity is key. I teach how to feel complete and whole, which relates to FREEDOM in all areas, including one’s health.
If you have not seen the movie it is essentially about the same day over and over again with slight variation.
Let’s face it ~ summer is going to be unique and challenging for all of US.
Unemployment rates are unprecedented.
Those that are fortunate to be employed are faced with adaptive working from home vs. outside of the home routine challenges.
Child care in a world of social distancing is not easy to come by depending on your quarantine crew comfort level and your family support system.
Most summer camps are closed for social distance challenges and we are all struggling to keep on track with our own unique wellness plans especially during this unimaginable time in history.
Deciding how to move forward from varying stay at home pandemic plans are unique to you and your loved ones health.
Remember it is not one size fits all.
Following a routine that includes daily exercise, good nutrition, regular sleep, recreation, laughter, creativity and mindful social distancing is key for a healthy and fun summer.
Tune in here:
My co-host, Cathleen O’Toole was kind enough to provide a tentative “Summer Schedule” that she will attempt at her home. I stress tentative as we all know how important it is to be ADAPTIVE and healthy!
It was an honor being interviewed by Dr.Elizabeth Yuko, a freelance writer and bioethicist.
She and I could not believe that two doctors (she has a Ph.D. in bioethics!) would meet via an article she was writing for the New York Times Style Section.
After a dynamic interview about pandemic robes and casual wear she and I found out about our shared interests in ethics, mental health, gender and so much more!
I plan to interview her on the Dr. Denise Show in June.
Prior to her interviewing me I tuned in and my inner voice said “You are supposed to know Elizabeth for > reasons than this amazing & fun interview.”
It is so important to be mindful and also to have fun whenever we can!
This pandemic and being solo with my son for 10 weeks in quarantine with him doing zoom school and seeing patients via telehealth appointments has birthed the statement, “We are the robe family.”
He says this every time we finish our respective work days and change into our comfortable gear while in quarantine/stay at home mode.
Thank you for having me on your podcast to talk about COVID recovery, life during COVID while working and having the family all together, and our ventures (pre-pandemic) to the far reaches of the planet! First, I want to apologize that a little “frog” was in my throat during the entire conversation! But that is life in full-res with all of its imperfections, right?
I wanted to put a spotlight on a couple points for the listeners…. now more than ever before, we are becoming acutely aware of compassionate and adaptive leadership – what it is… and what it is not. From this time going forward, we will each, individually and as a collective, need to strengthen our agility muscle. This across multiple dimensions – physical, mental, spiritual and metaphysical. Historically, we were able to operate under a linear mentality, with structure, and great predictive ability based on high probabilities. That is no longer the case. In order to be innovative for the future, agility is a secret sauce ingredient.
We also spoke about online learning and how it is working for some students and not working for others. There are variables in this equation that need to come together for a successful knowledge exchange. It is an immediate imperative that teachers become gifted at the art of teaching online. It is not enough to just move a lecture from a classroom to an online platform. There are nuances to making it engaging, and using the tools of the platform strategically for success. The other aspect is the student, themselves. Some are going to thrive online and others will flounder. It will be incumbent again upon the teachers to pay attention to those struggles and help. All of this to say that, we have been appreciating that teachers have a tough job since #stayathome began. Imagine their job now going forward to manage content in person and online. Distance learning is here to stay. How it morphs into F2F learning is TBD. We will need to construct a better reward system for our educators (and for that matter our health care workers). This brings me to the next point that we covered….
Big business’ role in society. Business Roundtable announced last summer a change to the definition of a business. Previously held – Friedman economics that business role is profit for profit’s sake. Moving away from that, businesses role is also to have purpose and be socially responsible. That means, they have a role to play in the well being of our society and the sustainability of our planet. Luckily, over 60% of CEOs – in a recent survey by Fortune – said that the change to include purpose and a broader “stakeholder” responsibility is not new for them. They are on that road. Only 4% of the surveyed CEOs said that they don’t agree with this new framework. So, we do have the majority of our corporations thinking about broader impact, in addition to their profits. Having done my dissertation on Corporate Social Responsibility, I want to caution everyone in thinking that this is easy to accomplish and merely a task of turning on a switch. This is complex work, it is continuously evolving, and it is never ending. Nobody gets to “arrive” in their CSR. It is a continuous journey for these organizations and their leaders. It is a regenerative engaged learning process. There will be mistakes made along the way, errors in judgment, and poor decisions; for me, it is all in HOW these companies handle their stumbles when they happen and how they grow their CSR as a result. After all, nobody is perfect. Companies are make of people. Therefore, companies are imperfect. I always like to say that “culture is to an organization and character is to an individual.” I believe in the strength of having core values that lead decision making and a vision that looks to the future in a contributory way. (In other words, run away from – don’t walk – any company who says their vision is “to be the best in the world.” That is a self-centered vision and is not aspirational to all of its stakeholders, except maybe the investors.) A vision needs to be bold, and… well, visionary! haha. Doing the right thing means also doing it the right way. You can learn more on my website: itcsr.com.
You asked me who my favorite CEO is right now, and I said that it is Ed Bastian of Delta Airlines. I never thought that I would answer that question with someone who runs airlines because I think that often they take advantage of their customers – charging us for different seats in economy, for example. Down right ridiculous. The pandemic has been a little wake up call to them. They have had to get more customer-centric, health focused, and socially responsible. One thing that I have been paying attention to in the media is which CEOs have opted to not collect a salary for the rest of this year… in order to preserve jobs of their employees. First and foremost, Simon Sinek says it best that the C-level leaders are the alpha lions. They reap the benefits of that position in good times. But in battle? the expectation is that they go first to defend the herd. All options should be exhausted first before laying employees off. Even furloughs are better because employees keep their health care benefits. Under no circumstances should a CEO, who collects millionS every year, think it is ok to keep their salary for these next few months while some of their employees will undoubtedly be struggling to stay in their homes, feed their families, keep things going.
It is truly an honor to bring this interview with Kaliyani to all of you.
When we allow ourselves to be open to our Highest Level of Awareness, it is unimaginable what can unfold…
Kaliyani’s journey reveals her path of continued awakening, service, creativity, inspiration, and birthing of the Divine Feminine that is within US ALL.
Listen HERE:
Kaliyani is a spiritually inspired visionary, modern mystic, community builder and a passionate midwife to the rebirth of the Sacred Feminine in our collective consciousness. Her Soul purpose is reflected in her work as artist, writer, producer, soul coach, and facilitator of women’s sacred circles.
Kaliyani’s Conscious Media Company, Stargate Alliance has among other projects, since 2009 collaborated in the co-execution of a peace platform Peacelink and it’s world music concert Peacelink Live; the documentary Secrets of Love and a feature film, A Winter Rose.
Between 2014 and 2018 she has released two singles, Nammu’s Invocation and Tears For Inanna, which music videos together have garnered over 3.5 million views, with the first one reaching #2 on the billboard hot singles chart in 2017. Her work as a soul coach and facilitator of Women’s Sacred Circles, once only through word of mouth, will soon be accessible to all through KaliyaniSundari.com
Kaliyani’s latest dream project is a non-profit organization called GAEA Foundation, which acronym means Global Alliance for Equality Awareness. GAEA has a dual commitment to assist in the protection, healing and education of women and their children victims of domestic violence and to the funding of conscious media that brings awareness to women’s issues and gender equality.
For more on Kaliyani’s Media and Music you can now visit stargatealliance.net and kaliyanimusic.com , as for her soul coaching and Foundation, you can make a note to check KaliyaniSundari.com and GaeaInternational.org soon in 2020.
Thank you Kaliyani for Being here at this time in history to inspire US all to truly remember who WE are.
We are so absolutely BLOWN AWAY & grateful that our first DIVA DISCUSSIONS guest is Fashion Icon MATT SARAFA!
xoxo
Dr. Denise & Marjan
Listen here:
ABOUT
MATT SARAFA IS A LOS ANGELES BASED 22 YEAR OLD CELEBRITY FASHION DESIGNER AND REALITY TELEVISION PERSONALITY BEST KNOWN FOR HIS APPEARANCES ON THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF BEVERLY HILLS AND PROJECT RUNWAY JUNIOR. AS THE YOUNGEST DESIGNER TO HAVE EVER SHOWN AT NEW YORK, PARIS, AND LA FASHION WEEK, MATT HAS COME A LONG WAY SINCE HE STARTED DESIGNING AT AGE 7. MATT IS A FULL-TIME COLLEGE STUDENT AT UCLA IN ADDITION TO RUNNING HIS OWN COMPANY AND DRESSING SOME OF THE BIGGEST NAMES IN HOLLYWOOD SUCH AS TYRA BANKS, IGGY AZALEA, LISARAYE MCCOY AND MANY MORE. THE MATT SARAFA BRAND HAS BEEN PUBLISHED BY PRESTIGIOUS MEDIA OUTLETS INCLUDING VOGUE GERMANY, VOGUE ESPAÑA TEENVOGUE, FORBES, HARPER’S BAZAAR, ELLE, GALORE, AND COUNTLESS OTHERS.
Matt & his Diva Mom
Marjan & Rupaul!
What are the chances that Matt and Marjan have the same Diva Inspiration… no other than RUPAUL! I love synergy and synchronicity!
A DIVA moment.. Right?
A message from Marjan after the show:
“Denise I can’t believe the synchronicity of the show. You had no idea I was a modeling scout and placement consultant for John Casablanca’s modeling agency and fashion college which is connecting to Elite!
My last minute oh by the way Denise-did you know I met Rupaul. I was so interested in this man because back at a time where it was not as socially accepted and it was still so new I was intrigued about how this man was diva enough to be himself. I would read autobiographies of people who would inspire me. He was one of them and the fact it turned out to also be Matt Sarafa’s not even knowing this or Matt!! So amazing!!
I am blown away!! Lol!!
I feel now the reason I had to go through so many of my life experiences and meeting so many personalities would be utilized to expand with Diva Discussions. Hey I am unknowingly a diva? Did I graduate no it’s just begun.
There has been so much synchronicity with you Denise too. Long time ago when we first met with Camille I had stated we were going to collaborate one day and now it’s the day. We had both felt it. Bringing inspiration during this time of the pandemic has not only been essential for us but it’s been a surreal time.
Forgive me for being in shock about all of this evolving. I had asked the universe for this and now that it’s appeared I have to just pinch myself and go with it. That yes indeed it is happening. Having met you and to do these inspirational shows with these incredible souls is unbelievable.
What better timing. What better opportunity than validating everyone’s light!” ~Marjan
“10% of every dollar spent will go directly to a charity in order to help those most greatly affected by the Covid-19 crisis. If we all need to wear face masks, lets look good doing it and help people along the way!”
Agree!
I just love it when a “Give It Forward Together” component is built into a vision, fashion item or event!
EnterPromo Code: DivaDiscuss for 10% off Aliki One Line!
Dr. Denise mentioned this bracelet on the show!
Siban (essence: the universe, universal presence) Believing in the unlimited potential of the feminine energy, seeking universal inspiration for all people, imagining possibilities without boundaries, promoting unity and oneness in the universe
****Please message @DrDeniseMD or @marjanimoomoo on Instagram if you have DIVA ideas or comments! BE kind and inspirational. We want to here from you!
Denise was back from her ski trip from Vail, Colorado when she received the call that one of her friends that she vacationed with was in the hospital and Covid-19 positive. She immediately self quarantined and was “flying blind” in mid March when tests were not available.
Listen here to find out her journey of recovery and her thoughts after recovering from the virus:
Dr.Denise Berger focuses on the development of leaders in both for-profit and non-profit organizations. She is a partner at Social Venture Partners. Denise has also been a TedX coach and an Annenberg/CNN Hero Fast Pitch coach. She teaches in the M.A. in Social Entrepreneurship & Change Program at Pepperdine University, and she has been a mentor in Colgate University’s Thought in Action program for college-level entrepreneurship initiatives.
Denise holds an Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership from Pepperdine University and completed her dissertation on Corporate Social Responsibility. She was a Managing Director at Aon Risk Services, where she ran the East Coast operations of the Global Business Unit, which handled the multinational risk management needs of Fortune 500 companies.
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