Awakening is a podcast series based on the book Be Love: A Book About Awakening, written by Ned Burwell and published in May 2018.

The Awakening podcast series was created to give you the tools to live a more purposeful and peaceful life through Ned’s teachings.

Introduction

We introduce listeners to author and guide Ned Burwell through his personal story. Ned tells listeners about his struggles with depression, which ultimately led him to consider suicide. At his lowest point, he remembered the words of a doctor he had recently met, and these would be Ned’s salvation, the first step to his awakening.

We also discuss briefly why simply being happy isn’t realistic, and why being purposeful is the answer.

Session One

The Mind: Did you know that you experience up to 100,000 thoughts per day? Incredible, isn’t it? Alarmingly, though, a majority of these thoughts are negative. In this session, we explore the mind’s tendencies, learn how to better manage and use our minds, and discuss why it is so important to simply be cognizant of what is going on in our minds from moment to moment, from day to day.

Session Two

Beyond The Mind’s Desire: Do your desires serve your soul, or do they serve your ego? It is easy to become swept up by the temptations that life presents to us. We are bombarded daily by TV, radio, and online ads urging us to buy this, do that, travel here or there, and it can be easy to fall victim to desires. Many people believe (understandably!) that happiness exists in getting the things we want, but the reality is that after we attain these things (the luxury car, the perfect condo, those amazing shoes), it is only a matter of time before our minds come up with the next thing to chase. If we have peace within, however, we no longer require temporary relief through the acquisition of thing after thing after thing.

Session Three

I Am Strong: How do we walk through our vulnerabilities? What lies beyond our fears? What happens when we pour devotion into our life? How do we become empowered? These are some questions that are answered in this session. It also contains some powerful wisdom to help us live beyond our fears and find ourselves in a far more empowered state.

Session Four

I Am Love: This is a fundamental chapter in this series. Sometimes it can feel nearly impossible to choose love when we are put in a challenging position. But what would happen if you chose love more often than not? You may be surprised at how choosing love will affect not only your inner self but the world around you. This is a particularly powerful session that will leave you feeling energized.

Session Five

Awakening To The Moment: If we spend more time being distracted from the moment we are in, how much of life are we actually experiencing? It is absolutely essential that we live in the moment that we are in. This is the only way that we have the opportunity to experience life the way it was meant to unfold.

Sessions Six and Seven

Relationships: This two-part section of the series will help you examine both your relationships with others and (perhaps more importantly) your relationship with yourself. You cannot possibly love another until you love yourself, and with that in mind, Session Six talks about how to work towards that. Session Seven discusses how you then move on to having a loving relationship with another.

Session Eight

Letting Go: The baggage that you hold on to from your life experiences can hold you back from living a purposeful and love-filled life. But that baggage serves a purpose — otherwise, why on earth would you be willing to carry the weight of your traumas on your back for as long as you have?

Buckle up: this is a very heavy session, and personally one of my absolute favourites in this series. A lot of what is said in this session spoke to me on a very personal level and woke me up. I hope it does that for you too.

Session Nine

Finding Our Purpose: Have you ever wondered whether you are truly living a life that is purposefully yours? Are you using your heart to guide your decision-making? Do you ever hold yourself to old standards or cling to how you used to be, rather than focusing onwhat you can become? Instead of saying “I can’t,” learn to say “I will,” and watch your world begin to change.

Session Ten

Unity: This is the longest episode in the series and contains a wealth of stories from Ned’s own life experiences. We discuss how people often try to see themselves in other people, and how this is one of the most common ways we try to relate to others. We also discuss the importance of examining the qualities in others that we value in ourselves; the value of striking up conversations in person; and how to live more in the world than on social media.

Session Eleven

Meditation: Is it a practice or a study? How do we meditate? What are the benefits to it? Can anyone do it? Is it even real? These are all very valid questions that Ned himself had about meditation when he was first beginning. Ned now has a great deal of experience with mediation and shares some tools that beginners and experienced practitioners alike may find helpful. He also dispels many myths and misunderstandings about the practice.

Session Twelve

The Creative Side of the Soul: Both Ned and I feel that this is one of the more far-reaching and compelling episodes of the series. Ned discusses his ideas about creation and how it works according to what he believes. Do your best to maintain an open mind with in this session, because your mind may have a difficult time getting around some of the concepts we present. Whether you choose to believe what you hear or not, the topics will stimulate your thinking and get those creative juices flowing!

Session Thirteen

Free Will versus Willingness: As we approach the end of this series, you may have become more aware of just how profoundly your life can be changed. The only question to consider now is whether you are willing to surrender the will of your mind and accept the will of your soul.

A word of caution, though: you may feel like a whole new new you after all the work we’ve been doing together, but the old you is tenacious. It’s still standing directly beside you, and it has enough momentum to take over the new you. This is a fancy way of saying that you will have a lot of sideways movement, backward movement, and of course, forward movement on your trek to enlightenment. This session clarifies that this is 100% okay and to be expected.

Session Fourteen

After the Awakening: In this final session of the series, we recap what an awakening is and what life CAN be like.

Work towards being love. Put love into your life and everything around it. Don’t continue being tormented by your past: be brave, and be accepting of your future. Life is a wonderful gift.

All material was prepared from the book Be Love: A Book About Awakening, by Ned Burwell.

Quote reads by Viking M.

Music for this series was written, performed, and recorded by Etienne Mason.

Music in Introduction by CO.AG Music.