Rise 2 Realize Podcast

In this episode of the Rise 2 Realize Podcast, we explore where your emotional suffering really comes from. Most people try to fix their lives on the outside, without seeing the inner conflict that quietly drives their mental and emotional pain. I explain how two main inner personas shape your experience: the Vulnerable Self, which carries your old wounds, insecurities and unprocessed feelings; and the Conditioned Self, which tries to hide all of that behind masks of strength, capability and perfection.  These two parts pull you in opposite directions and create a constant tug‑of‑war inside you—one of the deepest sources of stress, anxiety and feeling stuck. As you begin to recognize these personas in your daily reactions, you can slowly step out of their battle and move toward a more authentic, free and peaceful way of being.

In this episode of the Rise 2 Realize Podcast, I introduce the "Not‑Real Self" – the version of you built from fear, expectations and old survival strategies. Even if your life looks fine from the outside, this hidden self may be the reason it still doesn't feel truly fulfilling. I explain how the Not‑Real Self is formed through family expectations, cultural roles and emotional wounds, how it shows up in your daily choices, and why living only from this adapted self creates a quiet sense of emptiness. You'll also receive a simple, practical exercise to help you start recognizing your Not‑Real Self in real situations, and begin your personal transformation back to your Real Self.  Arda Ozdemir, Spiritual Mentor and Author "The Meaning of Life"

The other day I was wondering about the phenomenon of bullying and started contemplating about what bullies really want. And this quote streamed into my consciousness. "He bullied his friends to get their attention, because receiving hate filled the emptiness of love he felt." Certainly, I had my share of being bullied in my life, more than I'd like to - but I never thought about what bullies really wanted from me when they were putting me down and mocking me. Did they want my attention? Did they feel threatened by me? Did they want to engage or have an interaction? After all, maybe they, like all of us, want to feel loved, they want to feel that they matter. Join me to explore these concepts for deeper insights and understanding. 

How do you prepare yourself emotionally for a social gathering that you're anxious about? How can you stay centered and grounded against all potential family drama, especially these times over the holidays? What can you do to break free from the negative experiences that you had faced in previous years? Please join me in this episode as we explore together some practical answers to these questions. Arda

In this Episode 63 "Levels of Consciousness, Stairway to Happiness", I'd love to introduce you to the levels of consciousness and how you can use this knowledge to live a happier life?  First of all, did you know that your consciousness level is 100% correlated to how happy you are and how smoothly your life flows?  If you'd like to get to those high-flowing, you better start climbing up the stairs of consciousness.  Well, if you decide to do so, you have to rise through 3 very distinct levels of consciousness. I'm sure you know the first one. Most of us are pretty much stuck there, and suffering on a daily basis. Yup, the first level is the Sub-Consciousness. Where you don't know what you're doing, and why you're doing it? Listen on to learn the other 2 levels of consciousness, and find out what level you live most of your life on.

In this episode, I'm sharing a guided meditation to help you Ease Pain using Breathwork called, 3 by 3.  Over the last 15 years, I watched hundreds of my clients reduce the intensity of their pain and stay calm and relaxed by using this breath technique.  Some of them even felt a sense of power and control over their body. I hope you can achieve similar results.   

The death of Arda's father was not a surprise, as he had been very ill over the past 3 years, experiencing a slow decline. Nevertheless, the loss of a father or a mother, whatever the relationship, evokes feelings, emotions, and reminiscing about what was and what could have been. Join Arda on his trip to Turkiye and listen in on his thoughts on life, death, yearning, loss, and accepting the inevitable fate awaiting us all. Reflecting on these most recent experiences, Arda has returned with a renewed commitment to live life even more consciously, to its fullest potential, where harmony, bliss, and balance reign. The parting gift of those who leave this earthly realm is to find their calling, embrace their loved ones and enjoy the moments of the present.

Arda is guiding you how to quiet your mind, and calm your thoughts with a simple breathing technique, called Square Breathing.  In this technique, you'll draw an imaginative square with every movement of your breath.  Every time you inhale, you'll count to 5. Then, you'll hold your breath for 5. Next, you'll exhale slowly while counting to 5, and finally, you'll hold your breath out for a count 5 to complete the cycle. Let's do a few cycles of Square Breathing together.  

Even though an emotional reaction is neither good nor bad, at the end of the day, it is an energy drainer, leaving you feeling depleted afterward. Worse yet, these situations often lead to conflict with others, leaving you even more exhausted and drained. Negative thoughts rush into your head and occupy your mind for hours, for days—maybe even for weeks. Sometimes you can't easily shake them off or let them go, and with little energy left for anyone or anything else, you feel stuck and lost, blaming the situation and other people for your unhappiness. Upon closer look, though, these situations and people seem to repeat in your life. When the cycle of emotional reactions and depletion of your energy continues, you start to feel more stuck, lost, and confused. Join the conversation between Elizabeth and Arda to learn more about the reasons behind your emotional reactions and what to do when you find yourself in reactive state of judging others.

Our brand-new episode, no. 58, opens up with an interesting discussion about two monks, Ekido and Tanzan, having a debate about whether helping a girl to cross a muddy road is a noble thing to do or is to be avoided, because it's  against their sacred oath of "thou shall not near women!" How did Tanzan move on so quickly, without being bothered by either Ekido's judgment or his own violation of a sacred rule, while Ekido got all jumbled up in his mind and couldn't let go of what he saw? Is it because, as an older monk, Tanzan is more trained in controlling his thoughts and reactions than Ekido? Does he have more willpower? Has he done more med- itations, recited more mantras? Before we answer these questions, let's remember not to be too critical of Ekido. You and I are not that different from him. We all naturally react to people or situations that don't align with our values or belief systems. It's part of life to judge and react to others' negative attitudes, bad behaviors, annoying personalities, condescending actions, or critical words. What shall we do?  Listen to Elizabeth and Arda unpack this spiritual story and explore answers to why we judge others. 

Do you realize that we all live life according to restrictive and limiting patterns stemming from thoughts and beliefs we hold true about ourselves and the world around us? Check it out: As children, we register and conform to the attitudes, mindsets, and ideologies of our parents, teachers, friends, family, and society. As we age, we are replete with messages about ourselves that simply aren't true, but we believe them to be true. As adults, these old ways of thinking no longer serve us. Still, we continue to act and react using an outdated script, responding to a cast of obsolete characters. Want to break free of the old and embrace the new? Arda shows the way to a more fulfilling and authentic life.  

Are you feeling stuck? Confused? Lost? Not sure if you are coming or going? Maybe you should read Arda's book, The Art of Becoming Unstuck. In this exclusive interview, Arda explains why he wrote a life skills training guide, a manual to live your best life right now. As you listen, you will learn how to identify and become aware of self-defeating belief systems and patterns acting like sandbags, weighing you down, and keeping you in the doldrums.    No matter how stuck you feel today, the key to fulfillment is within you. Learn to rise above challenging situations, difficult people, and negative thoughts. A happy and rewarding life is within reach. Join Arda's podcast to explore the path to ultimate happiness.  

In this first episode of the Ask Arda Podcast Show with Elizabeth Ouellette and Arda Ozdemir, you will dive deep into the very personal life of Arda himself. From Turkey to Australia and finally to the US, you'll learn how Arda turned his life upside down, inside out, to follow his inner calling to help others become unstuck and live a life of their dreams. From VP, Finance in a high-tech Silicon Valley company to founding Rise 2 Realize Coaching School and Ask Arda Coaching Platform, he's been living indeed his dream life.  Through coaching over the last 15 years, and close to 5,000 clients, he has developed an impressive, transformational and state-of-the-art 5-step Power Method to help hundreds of clients transform their lives and show up in life as their best Self. Let's learn about Arda, his movement, and his mission to bring more joy, happiness and fulfillment to the world.  

Life is an emotional rollercoaster ride. One moment, you're up, feeling happy, and next, you find yourself down and feeling anxious and depressed.  Your emotional reactions contribute to this rollercoaster ride. Whenever you react, you lose energy , you lose momentum, and eventually, you lose your happiness.  In this guided meditation, Arda walks you through the Rise 2 Realize 3 by 3 Breath Technique to help you regulate your emotional reactions to achieve emotional balance and mental clarity for a smoother flow in life.  Arda recommends practicing this technique at the end of each day as part of your daily review to release the negative impacts of the stress and emotional reactions out of your body. Contact Arda at [email protected] with questions and comments. 

In this video, Elizabeth, Beth, Jon and Arda discuss powerful tips for you to have a stress-free holiday this year. They covered: 1. How to navigate difficult people and situations in holiday gatherings 2. What our favorite "go to" communication strategy is to handle difficult conversations and arguments 3. Which one is a better strategy, "I feel" statements or Aikido (leveling) or Open-ended questions? 4. How do you bring curiosity when interacting with your family members that you already know? 5. How to set and keep your self-boundaries (tip: through grounding :) so that you don't exhaust yourself after spending so much time with family? Enjoy! 

In this episode, Arda, Elizabeth, Beth and Jon explore the process of forgiveness and how it affects our emotional and mental well-being. They discuss what forgiveness really means. According to The Art of Becoming Unstuck, page 225, forgiveness is defined as "releasing of others from their responsibility to act in a certain way according to our expectations, beliefs or value systems." In a way, this release brings acceptance which offsets the judgment we hold against others. They also explore the factors that help us or prevent us from forgiving others, as they discover that forgiveness is a process that benefits the person who forgives more than the person who is forgiven. And finally, they share the essential communication strategies, especially I-Feel statements and Open Ended Curious Questions, to foster the process of forgiveness, and facilitate a deeper connection between the forgiver and the forgiven. 

Do you experience anxiety? If so, what are your tools to deal with anxiety? In this episode, no. 51, Arda, Elizabeth and Beth, Rise 2 Realize Life Coaches, discuss anxiety and how to overcome it when you experience it next time in your life. They covered the following questions: 1. What is the difference between stress and anxiety? The terms are sometimes interchanged, but there are important differences. 2. How does anxiety become a life limiting pattern? It's so interesting and strange that no matter what we do, situations that cause anxiety keep repeating in our lives. 3. What can we do to overcome anxiety and break free from these patterns? Rise 2 Realize Power Method outlines three steps: 1. awareness 2. understanding 3. acceptance 4. How can we help others with anxiety, even if we do not experience it ourselves? If you'd like to know more, schedule a free 30-minute consultation call and experience how the Rise 2 Realize Power Method helps you ease the intensity of your anxiety, and guides you to overcome.

In this 50th episode of The Art of Becoming Unstuck podcast show, Elizabeth, Beth, Jon and Arda discuss everything about People Pleasing: Are you a people pleaser? What are your tendencies? How do you feel after you "people please"?   How do you break free from your People Pleasing tendencies? What are the communication strategies that can help you set boundaries? How did you become a People Pleaser? What to do with the guilt - and the fear that you feel when you start saying no to others and yes to yourself?  All answers are in this episode. Listen in. Join the conversation.

A few months ago, Valeria Teles, Fit For Joy (fitforjoy.org) interviewed me for her podcast show, A Quest for Well-Being, and graciously permitted that interview to be republished on Rise 2 Realize podcast. So here it is, an intimate, spiritual conversation exploring the purpose of life, higher conscoiusness and ultimate happiness. Enjoy!

Are you aware of your perceptions that give meaning to your life? Do you know your emotional reactions are direct result of your perceptions? Join the conversation. Enjoy.

As irritating as they can be, triggers are actually here for a reason. They serve as an invitation to understand the root cause of your emotional reactions in life. The message that each trigger carries is a substantial one because every time you're triggered, you have a chance to learn about your Self. 

Join the conversation between Elizabeth, Dionne, Beth and Arda about how to regulate your emotional reactions.

Law of Life #2: Life is not meant to be heavy or confusing. Our fears make it so. And our fears create the emotions we feel, when we get triggered by the challenges of life. Join in the conversation between Beth, Dionne, Elizabeth and Arda and reflect on your repressed fears that may be the cause of your emotional reactions toward life.

Join in the conversation between the certified Rise 2 Realize life coaches, Beth, Lisa and Dionne on Law of Life #1 of The Art of Becoming Unstuck. You have questions about life? Meet us on Thursdays at 5pm PST on Rise 2 Realize YouTube channel. What this episode is all about: Limiting life patterns are the fabric of life, the structure within the matrix, the system designed to push our buttons and tighten our comfort zones so that we must search for answers. All patterns force us to go inward to find our inner strength. In other words, they're meant to serve as guidance on how we can take our lives back from the governance, the stronghold, and the influence of our subconscious internal programming. We must consciously work to take our lives into our hands so we can rise above our limiting life patterns, above the matrix, and respond to others, and to life, in a completely different way that preserves our mental and emotional balance. Only from that state of balance can life open doors for you, for me, and for everyone, leading us together to new possibilities and positive experiences in life, where we can all find more love, joy, abundance, fulfillment, and meaning, which is the Ultimate Happiness that we all deserve as our highest potential in life.

Would you like to experience success in your job search, in your dating, in your family life, in your career, in your projects, in your personal goals, in forming healthy habits? Practice this guided meditation 11 minutes a day to shift your energy, and to bring success into any area of life you desire.   

The following self-observation meditation is designed to train your focus and sharpen your concentration so that you can create a mental space to consciously respond to life's challenges.  You'll see that doing this practice 3 minutes a day will bring you mental clarity and emotional balance within a few weeks.

How can we achieve mental and emotional balance by breaking free from the matrix? How can we live free from others' expectations? How can we set our own value system and stop following others' values as ours? How can we realize a level of happiness that doesn't rely on others?

Negative life patterns are the fabric of life, the structure within the matrix, the system designed to push your buttons and tighten your comfort zone so that you start to search for answers in life.  All patterns force you to go inward to find your inner strength.  In this episode, join me to explore the deeper intricacy of these patterns and why they exist in your life.

Are you feeling overwhelmed? Too many thoughts in your mind? Use this incredibly effective tool, Square Breathing, whenever you want to quiet your mind and create a peace of mind. 

Why do we attract the same people when we're dating, why are we running into same arguments with our partners, why do we have the same type of boss wherever we work? Wait a second! Does life really repeat itself?

An invitation for you to embark on a journey toward Inner Calmness in three simple steps. What are these steps? 1. The Square Breathing, also known as Box Breathing to first calm your mind. 2. Then, the Single-Focus Self-Observation meditation to sharpen your focus. 3. And finally, the Double-Focus meditation to activate the tranquility of deeper sensations in your body. It's time to say goodbye to chaotic, hectic, fight-or-flight response life, and get into a neutral, flow state toward inner calmness.

We all emotionally react to people or situations that don't align with our values or belief systems. It's part of life to judge and react to others' attitudes, bad behaviors, personalities, actions, or words. And nothing's wrong with these emotional reactions, but maybe they hold the cues for what really make us feel stuck.

Would you like to rise above the difficult people, stressful situations, people's attitudes, conflicts and arguments? Arda guides you through a powerful meditation introducing a profound technique to help you to ward off future triggers.

The next wave of deeper exploration of who I am and what life is about has led me to this profoundly transformative POWER Method that came to life from the teachings of Gurdjieff, the ancient studies of Yoga Nidra, the Buddhist meditations and Qigong.

I was thirty-nine. I had worked my way up the corporate finance ladder in Silicon Valley. Even though I was enjoying my success in the corporate world as an executive, for some reason, I started getting sick. Physically exhausted and sleep deprived, I began suffering from sinus infections along with my anxiety and depression. That's where my search for healing started. And this is the story what came next.

Arda Ozdemir, the author of The Art of Becoming Unstuck, reads a few pages from his book, and provides his unique commentary to start a dialogue with his readers. In this episode, he talks about his early childhood memories where he couldn't be himself and how all these situations made him feel stuck and lost. 

Today, we'll embark on a journey together to understand the deeper meaning of happiness. We will challenge the societal norms and others' expectations, as we explore ways to figure out who we are and what we want from life.

There's a phenomenon called Pandemic Burnout. How do you manage it? How do you recover from it? Join in the conversation between Arda Ozdemir and Julie Jobak and learn about the practical tools and solutions to navigation the challenges of pandemic and thrive for a better life.

It's Saturday morning, my friend and I are heading to Half Moon Bay, a beautiful local beach in San Francisco Bay Area and we happen to discuss the story about the Blind Men and The Elephant, exploring what it means to have different perspectives on things. Well, we're now approaching the merge from Highway 280 to 92. And there's some traffic. It's a beautiful Saturday morning. Everybody's heading to the beach. Two lanes merging into one. And I can't believe it. A driver cuts me off when it was my right of way to merge. I'm pissed off. And here's what my friend and I talked right after.

It's anybody's guess, when this pandemic is going to be over. What's certain is the uncertainty. Nothing is normal anymore. And, wherever we're going, we're going to adapt to a new normal. Today, I'm sharing 3 powerful tips that will help you A.C.E. these crazy times and find a way, your way to thrive now!

Guided meditation to release the negative emotional charge from the body and activate the joy and child-like playful energies for the upcoming holidays during pandemic.

Do you live a conscious life? Do you make your own decisions? After all, what is consciousness? Well, it's a state where you are awake and also aware of your surroundings. Wait a second! Who lives like that – 24/7 – awake and aware?

During challenging times, you might be overwhelmed and consumed by your negative thoughts and emotions. During this 12-minute guided meditation, you will learn how to release them and return to a more balanced, calm and grounded state.

We're going through some tough times, and it's very natural to panic and give in to fear. And you're not alone feeling stressed and overwhelmed. We are all in this together. At the same time, you know very well how much stress and fear affects your immune system.   While you reflect on what's happening globally and around you, I invite you to bring your attention inward, and take charge of your own immune system. Here's a guided meditation to help you cope with stress and boost your vitality.

Julia gets crystal clear about her holiday expectations and connects with how she can manage her stress and enjoy it to the fullest during the season.

Dave thinks financial fears are what is driving his reactions, but when he focuses inward he realizes his priceless value system.

Zendel updates us on his last session and then we dive deep into another trigger that reveals Zendel's true desires. 

Zendel is triggered because his GF is on IG all the time. Listen to Arda take Zendel from reacting to responding using the Rise 2 Realize empowerment method. 

Redefining Masculinity with 2020 Vision. Has the "man box" stifled you in any areas of your life? Listen to Julie and Arda discuss this important topic and what the future holds.

Do you stress over finances? Listen to find out the value of it all.