This week Nicola and Di chat with the wise and insightful Dr. Shefali. Dr. Shefali is a world-renowned clinical psychologist, international parenting expert, and a New York Times bestselling author of 7 books including The Conscious Parent, The Parenting Map and A Radical Awakening among others. She’s also the host of the Parenting & You podcast, founder of the Conscious Parenting movement and has been a guest several times on Super Soul with Oprah. 

In this episode we talk to Dr. Shefali about what it means to be a conscious parent and how you can become aware of your patterns and belief systems by recognising that your child is a mirror to your unresolved issues. It’s not only our children, we talk about the powerful way that all relationships are like mirrors that show us where we still have places to heal and lessons to learn. Dr. Shefali shares some great examples from her own life as a parent, and how we can practically begin to break down our patterns and not project our expectations onto our children. She helps us understand that there’s no such thing as a perfect parent or a perfect human - we are all learning and evolving. 

Dr. Shefali shares about her childhood in India and how she always knew she wanted to leave because of the inequalities she witnessed there. At the age of 21 she moved to the United States, where she studied at the California Institute of Integral Studies and Columbia University and began integrating Western psychology and Eastern philosophy in all of her work. 

We also talk about her book A Radical Awakening, which helps women see how to break free from societal expectations and live authentic lives. Dr. Shefali talks about the choice we are sometimes faced with between being authentic to ourselves or authentic to the views of others, and that the greatest gift you can ultimately give others in your life is to choose to be authentically yourself. 

This is such a beautiful and powerful episode, whether you’re a parent or not, because all of Dr. Shefali’s wisdom can be applied to any relationship in your life. We’re so grateful we had this time with Dr. Shefali, who joined us all the way from New York, and we hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did. 

This episode is proudly supported by Montgomery Investment Management, trusted experts helping you build and protect your financial future. For further information, please contact David Buckland, Chief Executive Officer or Rhodri Taylor, Account Manager on (02) 8046 5000 or investor@montinvest.com

We’ve created a special offer for our Back Fence listeners to use at Positive Energy. Listeners can get a 10 class pack for $150 (save $90) or 25% off an unlimited membership for 3 months. Use code: BACKFENCEPE to activate your special offer. 

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30-Day Free Access to the Conscious Circle Community - https://courses.drshefali.com/circle-giftpass

Radical Awakening Bali Retreat - https://radicalawakeningbali.com/ - Use code AUSTRALIA500 for $500 off 

Conscious Parenting & Life Coaching Institute - https://coaching.drshefali.com/ - Once your application is approved, use code AUSTRALIA for $500 off tuition.

Watch Alicia Keys reading a poem from A Radical Awakening by Dr. Shefali here - https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJjpHupvgUQ/

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