The Wellness Driven Life Show

Letting go of a dream does not make you a failure. Dr. Kimberly Robinson, a 31-year NASA veteran, former astronaut trainer, and former CEO of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, talks about the astronaut who changed the course of her life at a high school awards ceremony, the eyesight rule that closed the door on her own astronaut dream, and why she stopped defining herself by one title. A NASA astronaut in a blue flight suit flew in on a T-38 to hand a Birmingham high school student an award, and that student decided on the spot what her life would be. She never caught the astronaut's name, and she spent years trying to find her so she could say thank you. She also talks about taking over the U.S. Space & Rocket Center when it could not promise to pay her salary, and what young people around the world are looking for when they picture a technical career: the next handhold, not the whole route up the mountain. ▶️ Watch the full conversation on YouTube: https://youtu.be/XFQgXbK226I CHAPTERS 00:00 The astronaut who flew in on a T-38 00:20 What if one moment you didn't choose set your course 01:28 Meet Dr. Kimberly Robinson 03:51 Faith and belief in yourself 04:38 Prayer, meditation, and choosing the day 05:07 The award that changed everything 06:31 "Women shouldn't be in this field" 07:35 The astronaut dream that didn't happen 09:05 "Women of True Grit" and the grain of sand 11:06 The eyesight rule 12:14 "Now you've waited too long" 13:04 A missed dream doesn't make you a failure 14:26 Finding another route to the same vision 15:27 Don't define yourself by one title 18:11 Turning around to help others 19:30 "We may not be able to pay your salary" 21:06 Tuskegee Airmen, Victor Glover, and the look in kids' eyes 22:16 You can't see yourself in a career until you see someone doing it 24:03 Training astronauts 24:56 Looking for the next handhold 26:08 Years spent trying to say thank you 28:07 The moon landing was a human achievement 30:01 Where to find Kimberly WHAT YOU'LL TAKE AWAY A dream you never reach can still set the direction of your whole career. Most people don't need the whole route up the mountain, just the next handhold. Nobody pictures themselves in a career until they meet someone doing it. ABOUT DR. KIMBERLY ROBINSON Dr. Kimberly Robinson spent 31 years at NASA, starting at Marshall Space Flight Center as a propulsion engineer. She trained astronauts, helped develop the Space Launch System, and served as payload mission manager for Artemis I. She led the U.S. Space & Rocket Center as CEO from 2021 to 2025, and was inducted into the Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame in 2025. Kimberly Robinson on LinkedIn STAY CONNECTED Every episode: drivenlivin.com/the-wellness-driven-life-show Newsletter: drivenlivin.substack.com/subscribe The Drive Collective: drivenlivin.com/community PRODUCTION CREDITS Hosted and executive produced by April Chavez. Video production by Manlee J. Chavez. Music by Steve Stuntz. Guest agreements and disclaimer: drivenlivin.com/guest-agreements

AI overwhelm is the feeling that everyone else already figured this out. Eliot Prince, an AI coach and the founder of Prince AI Training, breaks down the one hour a day that changed his work, why human expertise matters more as AI becomes a commodity, and why nobody has a head start on you. Eliot went from twelve-hour shifts in France to fitting five days of work into eight hours, and the method was slower and simpler than most people expect. He talks about the project that was going to fail, the wedding in Greece he was not going to be allowed to work through, and what he did with the hours once they came back. ▶️ Watch the full conversation on YouTube: https://youtu.be/_1XTPLBglZk CHAPTERS 00:00 When everyone has AI, what is left 00:27 What does a person do with the hours once they come back 01:33 Meet Eliot Prince 03:28 Twelve-hour shifts in France and the laptop dream 05:17 The biggest project of his career, and a wedding in Greece 06:16 One hour a day, do or die 06:47 Five days of work in eight hours, without the exhaustion 08:51 Falling into teaching 10:04 The tap on the shoulder in the pub 13:55 Wrapping a warm blanket around the fear 15:58 AI as a mirror, and finding your zone of genius 17:52 Thinking with a framework, not just a prompt 20:53 Rehearsing the difficult conversation 21:41 Retirees writing their memoirs 24:52 Your expertise still matters 26:13 The only thing left is human 27:22 You are not behind WHAT YOU'LL TAKE AWAY One hour a day inside your working day is enough, and the payoff arrives slowly and then all at once. When everyone has the same tools, your people become the advantage, so creativity and connection matter more. AI can spot the patterns in your own work that the people around you are too close to see. ABOUT ELIOT PRINCE Eliot Prince is an AI coach and the founder of Prince AI Training, and he leads AI curriculum at The Uncommon Business. He teaches professionals to work with AI in a way that gives time back instead of filling it, through his YouTube channel, a newsletter of more than nine thousand readers, and live workshops. He lives in Cornwall in the southwest of the UK. eliotprince.com STAY CONNECTED Every episode: drivenlivin.com/the-wellness-driven-life-show Newsletter: drivenlivin.com/newsletter-sign-up The Drive Collective: drivenlivin.com/community PRODUCTION CREDITS Hosted and executive produced by April Chavez. Video production by Manlee J. Chavez. Music by Steve Stuntz. Guest agreements and disclaimer: drivenlivin.com/guest-agreements

Meditation does not require a quiet mind. Jeff Patterson, founder of The Yielding Warrior and Portland Tai Chi Academy, breaks down the five regulations of the meditative arts, the three pillars of yielding, and why getting distracted fifty times in twenty minutes is fifty repetitions of finding your way back to center. Jeff has spent 37 years in the meditative and martial arts, 32 of them teaching. He tells the story of the two monks and the mud puddle, which is really about what we keep carrying, and he lands on the practice underneath it all: catching the first sign of imbalance before it gains momentum. ▶️ SUBSCRIBE so you don't miss what's next: https://youtube.com/@thewellnessdrivenlifeshow?sub_confirmation=1 EPISODE CHAPTERS 00:00 "You're still carrying her" — the two monks 00:54 What if the strongest thing you could do is stop pushing 02:48 Chopping wood, the first school, and the Marine Corps 03:40 The boxing coach who changed everything 05:10 "Isn't that for old people in the park?" 07:42 The five regulations of the meditative arts 08:12 Regulating the body, and what your posture is telling you 09:35 The myth of the quiet mind 10:21 Distracted fifty times, and why that is the practice 11:20 The mud puddle, told in full 12:26 Mental health, and what we choose to leave behind 14:39 Why the euphoric state is not the point 15:55 Yielding, broken into three pillars 16:47 Physical yielding, redirecting force instead of meeting it 17:34 Mental yielding, and the first sign of imbalance 18:54 Emotional yielding, the decision before the emotion 19:35 Why everyone yields, and why almost no one sees it 22:31 Six months in the basement, and the day it clicked 27:32 The free Yielding Warrior app 29:07 One year of consistency, and the cave you do not need WHAT YOU'LL TAKE AWAY 🌀 Why yielding is redirecting force rather than giving in, and why it works in a conversation the same way it works in a push 🧘 The myth that meditation means a quiet mind, and why getting distracted fifty times in twenty minutes is fifty repetitions of finding your way back to center 🌿 What one year of consistency gives you, and why you do not have to retire to a cave to get it ABOUT JEFF PATTERSON Jeff Patterson is the founder of The Yielding Warrior and Portland Tai Chi Academy, where he has taught Tai Chi, Qigong, breathwork, and meditation for 32 years, with 37 years of his own practice behind it. He holds black belt equivalency across Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Eskrima, Muay Thai, Kenpō, Tai Chi, and Qigong, and he is the author of "The Yielding Warrior." Jeff's free app (reset practices, ritual practices, tracker, journal): https://app.theyieldingwarrior.com https://theyieldingwarrior.com/ https://www.youtube.com/@TheYieldingWarrior STAY CONNECTED Get the newsletter: https://drivenlivin.com/newsletter-sign-up Join The Drive Collective: https://drivenlivin.com/community Visit Driven Livin': https://drivenlivin.com PRODUCTION CREDITS Hosted and executive produced by April Chavez. https://www.linkedin.com/in/aprilmchavez/ Video production by Manlee J. Chavez. https://www.linkedin.com/in/manleejchavez/ Music by Steve Stuntz. https://www.youtube.com/@stevestuntz9303 The views expressed by guests on The Wellness Driven Life Show do not always reflect those of April Chavez or The Wellness Driven Life Show. For more details and a disclaimer, visit https://drivenlivin.com/guest-agreements. #TheYieldingWarrior #JeffPatterson #Yielding #TaiChi #TWDLS

🙏 The Science of Gratitude: Dr. Debra Gonsher Vinik on why thanking more, not wanting more, builds real resilience. Gratitude gets dismissed as a soft sentiment, or lumped in with tarot cards and crystals. Dr. Debra Gonsher Vinik makes the harder case: gratitude is a measurable science with real effects on the body and brain, and it holds up even when life breaks your heart. A six-time Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker, Ph.D., and CUNY Professor Emeritus known as the Gratitude Wrangler, Debra returns to The Wellness Driven Life Show to talk about her newest film, "I Thank, Therefore I Am." Watch the full episode and SUBSCRIBE so you don't miss what's next: https://youtube.com/@thewellnessdrivenlifeshow?sub_confirmation=1 EPISODE CHAPTERS 00:00 A 9% longer life, the study that opens the show 00:24 The hook, and welcome to the show 01:35 Meet Dr. Debra Gonsher Vinik 02:38 From the opioid films to gratitude 05:37 The 2:30 Mincha Moment, a practice since 2010 08:22 Why gratitude gets lumped in with tarot and crystals 09:34 Gratitude for cynics: the 50,000-nurse study 11:22 The brain science: Christina Karns and Joel Wong 12:22 Gratitude as a habit you build 13:55 Sign me up: the case for an easy practice 14:18 Tammy Treadwell, from hardship to Harlem seafood soul 17:10 A quick break 18:16 Love, and gratitude when life is hard 21:35 Jeff Johnston, gratitude through loss 23:30 The little things, and malted milk balls 24:19 Clarence, and the ripple effect of one sentence 27:28 Where to find Debra, and a grateful goodbye WHAT YOU'LL TAKE AWAY 🧠 How a gratitude practice measurably changes the brain and body 💛 Why gratitude holds up in burnout and grief, not only on good days ⏸️ A simple 2:30 daily pause you can start today ABOUT DR. DEBRA GONSHER VINIK Dr. Debra Gonsher Vinik is a six-time Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker, a Ph.D., and CUNY Professor Emeritus, known as the Gratitude Wrangler. Her films have taken on food insecurity, the opioid crisis, and immigration, and her newest, "I Thank, Therefore I Am," grounds gratitude in neuroscience and lived story. https://www.gratitudewrangler.com STAY CONNECTED Newsletter: https://drivenlivin.com/newsletter-sign-up The Drive Collective: https://drivenlivin.com/community Driven Livin': https://drivenlivin.com PRODUCTION CREDITS Hosted and executive produced by April Chavez. Video production by Manlee J. Chavez. Music by Steve Stuntz. The views and experiences shared by guests are their own. Guest agreements and disclaimer: https://drivenlivin.com/guest-agreements #GratitudeForCynics #DebraGonsherVinik #IThankThereforeIAm #ScienceOfGratitude #TWDLS

How to rewrite the subconscious programs running your life. This is Part 2 of our conversation with cell biologist Bruce Lipton, author of "The Biology of Belief." In Part 1, Bruce showed us that our genes do not run our lives. We do. Now comes the part that changes everything: how you actually rewrite the programming you have been living inside, and why the science of it reads like a story of hope. In Part 2, you'll explore: - Why "The Matrix is a documentary," and the red pill nearly everyone has already taken - The three ways to change a subconscious program, and the one that never works - The science that says spirit is real: your cells as antennas, and the broadcast that makes you you - Why the new evolution is cooperation, not competition, and what it asks of us now CHAPTERS 0:00 We are the caterpillar in the cocoon 0:56 Welcome back: this is Part 2 2:38 "The Matrix is a documentary": the red pill 3:22 Falling in love, and stepping out of the program 5:00 You were programmed before you were born 7:49 Three ways to rewrite your programming 8:41 One: self-hypnosis in the theta state 10:10 Two: habituation, the Renee Zellweger lesson 14:05 Three: energy psychology and super learning 16:39 The science of spirit: your unique antennas 19:11 The body is a TV, spirit is the broadcast 21:20 Each of us is a piece of God 22:01 You were born into heaven 25:33 The new evolution: you need less than you think 31:18 Evolution is cooperation 32:43 Closing: it's all consciousness ABOUT BRUCE LIPTON Bruce H. Lipton, PhD, is a cell biologist and a pioneer of epigenetics, the science of how the environment and our perceptions shape genetic activity. A former research scientist at Stanford University School of Medicine, he is the bestselling author of "The Biology of Belief," which has reached readers in more than 50 languages, along with "The Honeymoon Effect" and "Spontaneous Evolution." His new book, "Beyond Darwin: How Epigenetics, Quantum Science, and Cooperation Shape Humanity's Future" (BenBella Books), is out August 18, 2026. Pre-order "Beyond Darwin": https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Beyond-Darwin/Bruce-H-Lipton/9781637749364 More from Bruce: https://www.brucelipton.com START WITH PART 1 "Beyond Darwin: Bruce Lipton on the Cocoon Before the Butterfly": https://youtu.be/1S5gxVmbhl8 ABOUT THE SHOW The Wellness Driven Life Show is a Driven Livin' production, hosted by April Chavez, where each week a guest helps us look at what it means to live well, in body, mind, and spirit. Each premiere includes a live quiz in the chat. Subscribe for new episodes every week: https://youtube.com/@thewellnessdrivenlifeshow?sub_confirmation=1 Go deeper with us at https://www.drivenlivin.com With thanks to BenBella Books. #BruceLipton #Epigenetics #BeyondDarwin #SurvivalOfTheMostConscious #WellnessDrivenLifeShow