Wisdom Keepers: Dimensions of Remembering What Matters Most
Sara Vatore
In this episode of the Wisdom Keepers series, I am honored to welcome back my friend Susan McNamara for a third conversation—this time within the container of Wisdom Keepers. Susan’s presence and perspective have continued to offer something rare and essential, which is why returning to dialogue with her felt both natural and necessary. Together, we explore the profound art of “remembering what matters most” in an increasingly loud and confusing world. We dive into the essential process of distilling our lives to find the intersection of universal truth and lived experience, moving beyond the noise of technology and external agendas to reconnect with our own inner authority.
Susan shares how her own journey of discovery led her to trust the body as a primary source of wisdom, teaching us how to differentiate between cultural "shoulds" and our authentic needs. We dive into the importance of reclaiming our own "no’s," resisting the addiction to constant information, and finding the medicine in the stillness of winter to truly own our lives.
Susan McNamara is a woman who cares deeply about how we are living and how it is that we treat ourselves, each other, and the planet. She is the founder of The Healer Within: A Unique Online Health & Healing Community for Women and the author of the book, Trusting Your Body: The Embodied Journey of Claiming Sacred Responsibility for Your Health & Well-Being as well as Remembering What Matters Most.
Susan is a Certified Holistic Health Counselor, Professional-Level Kripalu Yoga Teacher, Shamanic Practitioner, and Journeydance Guide. She is trained in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, holds a Masters in Counseling Psychology and is trained and educated at the doctoral level in Clinical Psychology. She writes a weekly blog on life, health and healing for “out-of-the-box’ thinkers at medicine4thepeople.com.
Inside this episode, we explore:
The practice of distilling our life experiences to discover the intersection of universal truth and lived wisdom
Navigating the noise and confusion of the modern world to reconnect with the deeper "remembrance" of who we are
Remembering what matters most as a living compass in a loud agenda-driven culture
Susan’s personal journey of mining her childhood to discern between cultural "shoulds" and her own embodied values
The lifelong discovery process of saying "not this, not that" as a path back to personal alignment
Using no's and moments that feel off as generative starting points for uncovering individual truth
Resisting the addictive pull of information overload in order to honor the winter call for stillness, depth and inward listening
The distinction between supportive self-exploration and the shadow of using information to bypass one's own inner authority
Cultivating inner authority as a way to make intentional life choices without the weight of external judgment or guilt
The art of stock-taking through attunement to the body’s messages and thought patterns during quiet time alone
Navigating the alchemical process of transforming personal friction into the fire of spiritual creation
I hope you enjoyed this installment of the Wisdom Keepers series! To learn more about Susan’s community, books, and meditations, you can visit her at rememberingwhatmattersmost.com.
If something in this conversation moved you, stirred remembrance, or sparked an “aha,” I’d love to hear from you at sara@saravatore.com.
More Wisdom Keepers to come.
Links:
Listen to Dimensions of Susan McNamara
Listen to Dimensions of Holding Space for Yourself
Learn more about how you can work with Sara
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Medicine of the Moment
The Fire of Phoenix Rising --the medicine of transformation, where what no longer serves is burned away and something truer is reborn.