This past weekend I had the privilege to attend Super Soul Sessions 2 at UCLA.  This was a birthday gift… to me, from me… and I’m pretty sure this one of the best presents I have given myself.  I met my very dear soul sister friend in LA, who was also celebrating her birthday.  It was a weekend filled with celebrating life, friendship and the future.

The lineup for this event featured some of the top inspirational thinkers and thought leaders, including Oprah herself.   It was a very full day with overflowing amounts of inspiration, worthiness and love.  I was certainly high on inspiration and life by the time this day ended.  Surprisingly, the audience included many other thought leaders that were there supporting their peeps, and we had the chance to meet Mastin Kipp, Danielle LaPorte and the delightful Dr. Christiane Northrup.  

All of the speakers showed up to share their truth.  They were vulnerable, relatable and incredibly inspiring.  The common thread of the day was that through our struggles we have the opportunity to find ourselves and choose love.  

Here are some of my highlights...

Shaka Senghor has an incredible life story, you can read about it in his New York Times best-selling memoir, Writing My Wrongs.  His big awakening is that “humans by nature are redeemable” and “redemption is always possible”.  I was deeply impacted by his life story and his current work… if he can choose to change his internal story of himself, anyone can!

Marie Forleo’s big message was “Everything is figureoutable” meaning, you can figure anything and everything out, you just have to do it.  This was something her mom used to tell her when she was growing up and she credits this belief to her huge success.  She ended her talk with “What would you do if you believed ‘everything is figureoutable’ in your bones?".  Such a great question.  I have been watching MarieTV for about 5 years and this year I’m in her B-School Program. She is dynamic and filled with such a warm, loving and giving heart.  If you aren’t familiar with Marie, I strongly suggest checking out her free weekly videos, you won’t regret it.

Amandla Stenberg is 17 years old and the profound wisdom that she shared with us blew my socks off.  My favorite messages of hers are “Love for ourselves and each other is our most powerful tool” and "When I am myself, my real self, I am my most revolutionary".

Are you familiar with Kris Carr?  It was Kris that gave me a sense of control and power after I was diagnosed with breast cancer, and I will be forever grateful.  She was diagnosed with a rare form of stage 4 liver cancer more than 10 years ago, and has made it her life's work to learn how to take care of her mind, body and spirit and share her findings.  Her big message… choose to have unconditional acceptance for yourself “loving yourself in all your glory”.  

Oprah Winfrey opened up about her weight struggle and admits that she has been eating her emotions her whole life.  She has finally made the decision to stop wishing her body was different, thinner or firmer and start thanking her body for all that it has done for her.  She is now truly caring for and respecting her body. She has stopped eating her emotions and is choosing to acknowledge them and deal with them instead.  “The decision for a better life is mine.”  

“Step into the light, it’s already waiting for you to step up and do what you are called to do.”  - Oprah Winfrey

India Arie shared her SongVersation, it was a beautiful mix of talking and singing sharing the wisdom she has gained through her struggles.  She says she is a student of life and the process, which is “breakdown, breakthrough, break the shell, elevate and fly.”  She also sang for us her incredibly gorgeous song I Am Light.  

Dr. Shefali Tsabary wrote The Conscious Parent, which I highly recommend reading if you haven’t already.  She has a revolutionary view on parenting and it is based on honoring your children for who they are and liberating them.  “Our children are not the easels in which we get to paint the life we never had.”  

These talks will be aired on www.supersoul.tv in the near future.  I hope you take the opportunity to watch them.  It's your choice to be open, inspired and...

“Claim the essence that is the phenomenon of your life”. - Oprah Winfrey