Welcome to another new episode of the Mother’s Quest Podcast, one I’m sharing after a short break, so I could focus on transitioning my children into the new academic year, welcoming in the Jewish New Year and supporting my parents as my father recovers from bypass heart surgery (he is doing much better and already plotting to get back on the golf course!)
During this time of reflection and connection to family, it feels right to bring forward this episode on ancestry with Nicka Smith, a professional photographer, speaker, host, and documentarian with more than 19 years of experience as a genealogist.
I learned about Nicka through my friend and previous podcast guest Jenjii Hysten, one of Nicka’s biggest cheerleaders, who regularly acknowledges Nicka’s expertise in African ancestored genealogy and her ability to connect young people to their ancestry. Nicka’s experience and accomplishments are vast: she has edited and designed volumes of family history that include narratives, photos, and genealogical information and is the host of BlackProGen LIVE, an innovative web show focused on people of color genealogy and family history.
Using Nicka’s life experience, this episode goes deep in how to give ourselves permission to step into becoming our own family historians, the importance of connecting the threads of our ancestors to who we are today, the challenges and emotions involved in tracing genealogy for African American people whose ancestors were enslaved, and the idea that we can become today the ancestors we aspire to be for our descendants by taking the political and social action our times demand.
With Nicka’s guidance, I’ve started the process of connecting the threads of my ancestors. To be honest, I was a little skeptical that I would find anything particularly interesting. But, while visiting my parents in Los Angeles, my mother and I stayed up late on the couch looking on ancestry.com at documents connected to her mother, my grandmother, Ruth.
My mother shared details about Ruth’s life in a previous episode’s dedication, that I’ll link in the show notes. We knew that her mother had married (what we say in Yiddush) a “nogoodnick” who left my grandmother destitute with three young girls to raise on her own.
That night on the couch, we found a strange named document connected to my grandmother’s records titled Hebrew Orphan Asylum of New York City. We clicked on the link and soon saw evidence that my grandmother and her youngest sister had been left in the care of an orphanage. But that some time after, my great grandmother, came back to get them. My grandmother, who was only 2 at the time, never spoke of this to us and may not have known. But now my mother and I know that our ancestor, against the odds, found a way to reunited with her children. Had she not, my grandmother’s fate would surely have been different, and my mother and I might not have been here today.
I know now that my discoveries as my family historian are just beginning. I hope this episode and what I uncovered about my great grandmother give you permission to step into becoming your family historian, to explore the untold stories of your ancestors, and to weave the threads between yourself, your ancestors and your descendants, that will help you more fully live your E.P.I.C. life.
Much appreciation,
Julie Neale
In This Episode We Talk About:
- How a simple hobby back in college turned out to be Nicka’s passion and purpose in life.
- The diverse community and landscape that shaped Nicka’s worldview
- The layers to Nicka’s “genealogical cake” including revelations she learned about her family ancestry: the Native American blood in her family, the fact that her great great grandfather was legally married to a white woman in the late 1800’s, and that her ancestors were enslaved on the same plantation for more than 30 years by a slave-owner from western Massachusetts.
- Nicka’s ancestor who took great risks to advocate for his birthright as a Cherokee Freedmen to the Committee on Indian Affairs and the impact that had on Nicka.
- How Nicka’s 3 year old son teaches her to experiment and to explore new experiences
- How we can use tools like ancestry.com and a database of documents to help us explore our lineage..
- The life-long trauma experienced still by Nicka’s grandmother’s grandmother, in her 90’s, from being forcibly separated from your parents during their enslavement and how that connects to the children separated at the border today.
- The case of Plessy vs. Ferguson and how the descendants of slaves and slave owners now unite to fight for civil rights
- The threads that connect us to who we are across generations and the ways that Nicka’s ancestors activism have shaped her own.
- Nicka’s challenge for me and for you to step into the role of family historian
Resources and Topics Mentioned:
Nicka’s Website
Black ProGenLive – Nicka’s YouTube show with twice monthly broadcasts feature a panel from BlackProGen and friends discussing a myriad of topics in the world of genealogy.
Coming to the Table Post about Researching Slaveholding and Slave Trading Ancestry
Birthright: 8 Generations of Cherokee Freedmen and Our Story of Redemption
Plessy and Ferguson: Descendants of a divisive Supreme Court decision unite to create a civil rights organization
Ancestry.com – start here to set up an account and step into your own role as a family historian
Family History Is at the Heart of Pixar’s Coco
Kamala Harris’ remarks on Separating Families at the Border and How We Will Be Judged Harshly
Episode of the Mother’s Quest Podcast with the dedication from my mother to my grandmother Ruth
Episode with my father David Lieberman, inspired by an oral history and genealogy workshop I attended
This Episode is Dedicated by:
Carrie Caulfield Arick, the founder of Ya Ya Podcasting, a company that helps podcasters put their best voice forward. She’s spent over ten years putting together her own family tree and assists her father, historian at Seabreeze Park in Rochester, NY piece together the stories of notable park guests and employees through genealogical research.
You can connect with Carrie on Facebook, Instagram or through her website.
This Week’s Challenge:
Nicka challenges everyone to give yourself permission to step into the role of family historian. Sign up for an account with ancestry.com and begin with yourself to trace your family tree backward. Investigate to trace your own lineage and see how history repeats itself.
Take a deep dive, and ask yourself these questions: How did we get here? Who immigrated? Why? And apply that to your present.
Announcements:
Join the Journey to Right Livelihood
We start today, Thursday September 26th!!
I’m so excited to embark on this program, Journey to Right Livelihood as a learner. And as an affiliate, I’ll also be offering Mother’s Quest bonuses to deepen the experience for members of my community who decide to come along too.
If you’re interested, you can learn more at this link and also come over to my private facebook group, where I had a conversation with the founder, and one of my teachers and mentors, Lindsay Pera.
Click www.mothersquest.com/community to request to join and listen to our conversation
What My Open Heart Surgery Taught Me About Coaching
Read the blog post HERE
Support the Podcast
If you’d like to make a contribution to Mother’s Quest to support Season Three of the Podcast and/or help provide coaching scholarships for mothers, follow this link to make a contribution.
If you would like to “dedicate” an upcoming episode to a special mother in your life, email me at julie@mothersquest.com
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Mother’s Quest is a podcast for moms who are ready to live a truly E.P.I.C. life.
Join in for intimate conversations with a diverse group of inspiring mothers as they share how they are living an E.P.I.C. life, Engaging mindfully with their children (E), Passionately and Purposefully making a difference beyond their family (P), Investing in themselves (I), and Connecting to a strong support network (C).
Join our community of mothers to light the way and sustain you on your quest at https://www.facebook.com/groups/mothersquest/
We are welcoming back the 5-Day Mussar Yoga Challenge, which officially kicks off today. This is in line with my podcast episode with Edie Raphael last year on Mussar and this season of renewal. Come along for five daily prompts in the Mussar Yoga Challenge at the Mother's Quest Facebook Group.
Mussar is an ancient Jewish practice that invites us to contemplate, journal on, talk in community about... a character trait in our lives, for a specific period of time, in this case 5 days.
I'm fascinated that the "middah" we picked last year, "order" is also the issue I identified to work on without fully realizing it.
Have you heard of Mussar before or did you participate in the challenge last year? What do you think about it? Do you have your own rituals or practices for reflection and renewal this time of year?
Listen and learn more in my podcast episode with Edie if you want to go deeper.
PLUS Would love to support you in a one-on-one 90 minute Clarity Session if you want to go deeper. Special rate through Sept. 19th. You can book your session here https://mothersquest.as.me/FallClaritySessionSpecial
Ep 28: Mussar Yoga for Reflection and Renewal with Edie Raphael Brotman
Hello and welcome to the Mother’s Quest Podcast that I’m bringing to you at the start of the Jewish New Year. The holiday kicks off a ten day period, known as the Days of Awe, between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the day of Atonement.
This time of year, regardless of your religious faith, is a season of reflection and renewal, as our children get settled into a new school year and the leaves begin to change color. I wanted to take advantage of this time to turn inward and create an opportunity for change not only for myself but also for members of the Mother’s Quest Community.
I decided to reach out to mindful mother, Edie Rafael Brotman, author of the book “Mussar Yoga,” to learn from her how she approaches self-improvement through blending the ancient Jewish practice of Mussar and the ancient Eastern practice of Yoga.
Edie’s book was a trusted resource in a Mussar class I took a few years ago. I was enthralled by the process and know that the experience planted seeds for Mother’s Quest. So, when I reached out to Edie to see if she’d share her approach on the podcast and then lead a 5 day challenge in the Facebook Group and she said “yes,” I was thrilled.
Edie is a workplace consultant and coach for a business consulting firm called Rewire Inc that leverages emotional intelligence, mindfulness and communication. She has her PhD in Sociology and was an adjunct professor at UVA, Case Western Reserve University and Towson University.
She’s also a highly trained yoga instructor, was named one of Baltimore’s favorite yoga teachers in Baltimore Magazine’s “Best of Baltimore” and co-founded Off the Grid Yoga and Camping Retreats.
In this episode, Edie orients us to Mussar in which character traits, known in Hebrew as “middot,” are the centerpiece of the practice. Edie and I explore her E.P.I.C. life story, how she came to mindfulness and Mussar, and how reflecting on middot in her life has enriched her and her relationships.
Edie also shares how her mother influenced her independence. And how her mother’s untimely death jump-started Edie’s journey to discover Mussar and connect it to Yoga as a bridge to connect Jewish spirituality and her love for physical activity.
I appreciated so much about this conversation with Edie, especially the deep dive into the history of Mussar practice, and how she came to this connection between self-improvement, spirituality and the physical body. I’m so excited to continue the exploration of all of these things, and hope you’ll decide to come along too as we challenge ourselves together during this season of reflection and renewal.
In This Episode We Talk About:
- Why the fall is the perfect time to undertake a Mussar Yoga Challenge
- How I first learned about Edie and her Mussar Yoga Book
- The path of renewal Edie’s mother took in her career, how that impacted her, and how her mother’s passing brought her to Mussar
- The power of mindfulness and daily meditation to become more conscious and aware of emotions as they arise
- Mussar as a way of rewiring your brain so it is in alignment with universal precepts
- The origins of Mussar and the people who pioneered the teachings
- The traditional way to practice Mussar, utilizing self-reflection on one character trait at a time on a continuum, and how Edie blends it powerfully with Yoga
- The connection between body and spiritual growth
Resources Mentioned:
- Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur – Jewish new year holidays
- Mussar Yoga: Blending an Ancient Jewish Spiritual Practice with Yoga to Transform Body and Soul
- What is Mussar?
- Mussar Institute
- Rabbi Israel Salanter
- The Path of the Upright
- Ben Franklin Circles
This Week’s Challenge:
Join the Mother's Quest Facebook Group and do the 5-Day Mussar Yoga Challenge at www.mothersquest.com/community
Announcements:
ARE YOU…
Hopeful that the new school year will be a positive, powerful experience for your child?
Thinking about how best to set your children up for success?
Wondering what new practices you can build into your life and theirs to help make that possible?
Getting lost in all the paperwork and volunteer requests and want to ground yourself in what’s most important?
Ready to focus fully on YOU and YOUR life now that your kids will be in school?
If you’re feeling a similar desire to press “pause” on the busyness as I did and reflect on your vision for this year, what’s working and what needs to shift, and what key guidepost would help you move forward more intentionally, I’d love to support you with a 90 minute clarity coaching session.
You’ll leave with:
Clarity about what matters most to you in your future vision for this year
Reflection on what beliefs/ways of being you want to leave behind and what lessons you want to carry forward
Commitment toward one E.P.I.C. Guidepost and key action(s) that will help you and your children move forward intentionally
✨Fall Special Clarity Coaching Session ✨
A 90 minute session for the price of a 60 minute session
Book By September 19th
Say “yes” if this is calling to you. It’s an investment in yourself and your children.
$198
Just click the link below by Sept 19th to schedule a time at this special rate.
https://mothersquest.as.me/FallClaritySessionSpecial
Whether I have the opportunity to support you now or not, I wish you and yours a sweet and meaningful beginning to this new season.
Support the Podcast
If you’d like to make a contribution to Mother’s Quest to support Season Three of the Podcast and/or help provide coaching scholarships for mothers, follow this link to make a contribution.
If you would like to “dedicate” an upcoming episode to a special mother in your life, email me at julie@mothersquest.com
---
Mother's Quest is a podcast for moms who are ready to live a truly E.P.I.C. life.
Join in for intimate conversations with a diverse group of inspiring mothers as they share how they are living an E.P.I.C. life, Engaging mindfully with their children (E), Passionately and Purposefully making a difference beyond their family (P), Investing in themselves (I), and Connecting to a strong support network (C).
Join our community of mothers to light the way and sustain you on your quest at https://www.facebook.com/groups/mothersquest/