This week’s episode of Be On Air features brilliant speaker and host of the Rising podcast, Nistha Dube. Nistha is a mindset coach, writer and aspiring motivational speaker. She attended Virginia tech university and graduated with a bachelor’s in cognitive and behavioral neuroscience with a second major in psychology. Today Nistha creates content across social media and mentor’s individuals in achieving their personal and professional goals.
In this episode, we discuss how to use social media platforms for coaching with an emphasis on TikTok and Clubhouse as well as discuss Nistha’s journey of developing a brand, YouTube channel and podcast. We dive into the topics of spirituality and astrology to learn more about her perspective on life, how technology is changing global consciousness and much more.
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00:00 – Introduction
03:08 – What started the Rising podcast?
07:02 – How Beyond the Skin manifested?
08:52 – Staying positive with TikTok
14:09 – Podcasting as a media for creators
20:33 – Are we consciously connecting on a global scale?
28:59 – Growing up with astrology and reaching a spiritual awakening
39:46 – Nistha’s publishing journey
42:54 – Final Thoughts
Nistha Dube : [00:00:00] I think oftentimes in our society, we’re so cluttered. We have so many expectations from other people that become our own expectations and create our own beliefs about ourselves and these narratives about our lives.
But I think with space, there’s a lot of answers that we deeply want that come from inside of us.
K.Lee Marks: [00:00:46] Hey, Hey. Hey, welcome to be on air I’m K.Lee marks and I am interviewing. Someone extraordinary today. It seems like I say that about all my guests, but I can’t help it. There’s so many extraordinary people. Nistha is a mindset coach writer and aspiring motivational speaker. She attended Virginia tech university and graduated with a bachelor’s in cognitive and behavioral neuroscience with a second major in psychology.
Today Nistha creates content across social media and mentors individuals in achieving their personal and professional goals. Her longterm mission is to create intentional learning in schools, across the world and empower individuals to live a life of purpose. She recently published her first poetry book beyond the skin, which is now available on Amazon.
And I’m really excited to talk to her about her podcast rising as well. There’s, there’s so much that we’re going to get into. So stick around, there’s going to be a lot of value and a lot of awesome topics. Nistha. Welcome to be on air. It’s great to have you
Nistha Dube : [00:01:50] Hi K.Lee! Oh my gosh. I love that intro. First of all. And it is so cool to be here and finally sit down and chat with you. Um, I know we’ve been talking for a couple of days now, so just excited to dive into today’s conversation.
K.Lee Marks: [00:02:04] Yeah, there’s so much, so I. I think we were on clubhouse. There’s a room called, uh, the Gita for millennials or was it Hinduism for, I don’t remember the club or the room , yeah, maybe you remember
Nistha Dube : [00:02:15] Gita for millennials you’re spot on yeah.
K.Lee Marks: [00:02:17] Gita for millennials. And so there, there’s some amazing people in there and someone who you’ve interviewed was in there on your podcast.
Uh, w what’s his name? .Yeah. So, yeah. Just a great vibe room, amazing conversation. They were reading the Bhagavad Gita, which for those of you who don’t know as well, one of the most important scriptures and books and in the Vedic tradition of India, uh, like you could compare it to the Bible.
It’s very, very old. Uh, it translates to the song of God. It’s a conversation and it’s, uh, it’s a book that seems to be appropriate for any time. So that was my first, uh, that’s. That’s where I first found you and then kind of started to. Listen to your podcasts, see your book. And there’s just like so many amazing things that you’re sharing and especially your mission to create intentional learning in schools really resonates with me.
And, you know, as a, as a jumping off point, like what made you start this podcast? What made you write this book? Like how did you start to broadcast yourself? Why, why did you do that?
Nistha Dube : [00:03:20] Yeah. And I think that’s a really important question as well, that, um, isn’t normally asked to a lot of, a lot of creators because I think that at least for me, it was sort of this ripple effect.
Um, graduated college last may. So 2020 had been out of college for about a year now. And I think for me, it was really just like a matter of. Do I want to get into the corporate world and get a job, or do I want to kind of pivot and do something that at least to me feels a little bit more on par with what I’m really passionate about.
And I think that COVID was definitely sort of that factor that catalyst that helps me really sit down and ask myself that question because in college I never really had, because I was always distracted by conversations, by classes, by expectations. And so, um, it was really last March where I had this conversation with myself of like, okay, you’ve always.
You know, had this passion for communications. Obviously you enjoy the behavioral sciences. How can you sort of coalesce and combine both of those interests to do something, um, and help people like at a, at a larger platform. And I would make these little Snapchat blogs for a couple of my friends about spirituality.
And I would keep that open to literally like, 10 people, because I was so kind of insecure about sharing these spiritual beliefs, or I guess now they’re slowly becoming a little bit more talked about and people are shedding light to them, but at the time it was still something I was insecure about. And so, um, this was about a year before last March.
So last year in March, I was like, how about, I kind of decide to start a YouTube channel and see where it goes. And I wasn’t really going into it with this whole, like, Okay, this is going to be a full-time thing. I’m suddenly a brand. Now it was just, it was more experimental that kind of led to me experimenting with Tik Tok because it’s shorter videos, 30 to 60 second videos.
whereas on YouTube, I would go anywhere up to like 10 minutes or over that got really draining pretty soon and I kind of like the tik-tok dynamics. So I stayed there, stayed talking about personal development, spirituality manifestation, which happened to get people really excited on Tik TOK. I think manifesting is one of those things that gets a lot of traction.
And so I noticed that, and I noticed so many people reaching out to me, asking for help around manifesting and leveling up in personal development. And so that’s where I kind of was like, what if I just decide to offer. One-on-one coaching and help people with that and really personalize these manifesting, you know, techniques or methods or healing modalities to individual clients.
And then, something in me was like, you need to start it. It was like an inner pull and I’m sure you’re so familiar with, you know, listening to your intuition and honoring these like, Inner nudges that we get, but there is something in me that was like, you got to start a podcast. And that was something that before I had never really thought of, um, I had never thought of just putting myself out there on an audio only platform, I guess, because I never really listened to podcasts too much.
I would watch YouTube videos more be on Instagram, more be on TikTok, but podcasting was never really something that crossed my mind up until I got this like sort of nudge. This was around the summertime. So I had been doing YouTube and doing tik tok and so I just started with like a close friend of mine.
I was like, let’s just hop on air, use anchor, and just talk about like our views around spirituality and personal development. And then it became a weekly thing and it became a thing where I was constantly asking people to come on my show. And now I’ve ventured into solo episodes as we talked about off air.
so that’s where Rising came into play. And then with my book beyond the skin that was writing has always been a part of my life since I was little. I’ve always just kind of. Been into creative writing and poetry and storytelling. And so it was something that I kind of had on the back burner for about a past year and a half now.
have a writing poetry, Instagram, that’s the cover right there. Thanks K.Lee . But yeah, so I kind of was pushing it off and I was finding excuses to not really get to it. Um, and I don’t know why that is and Something in me back in like January is like another one of those pulls where I was like, I need to write this and have it out in the world now.
And I think that seeing a Tik TOK video about a girl who talked about her whole process and publishing her own poetry book was really catalyzing for me. Cause I was like, oh, this is how you do it. I originally had so many questions about that process. And I think seeing that Tik tok for me was like, oh, okay, this kind of straight forward.
And so that book is honestly just. A creative outlet of my own journey with self discovery and spirituality, you know, everything else I do on TikTok on, you know, my, former YouTube videos, my podcast episodes. They’re very practical, um, coaching as well. It’s very informative, but with the writing it’s So, so different.
It’s a lot of literary devices and visualization and kind of, you know, it’s, it’s very open to interpretation. And so that’s where beyond the skin came from, that’s sort of my most recent project, um, that I have out in the world. So, yeah.
K.Lee Marks: [00:08:32] Yeah. And, uh, I think that’s one of the fun things about art and poetry is that it is open to interpretation.
So there’s a more of an exchange that happens with your audience or your, or your. Your readers, right? Is that they contribute to the meaning. It’s not just one way, you know, and I think that that opens it up to be really engaging. And, you know, I’m speaking of engagement and tik tok and how you’re using this, first of all, that’s extraordinary.
I mean, Tik TOK is a little overwhelming. It’s so much short videos and just so much momentum in there. I’m really curious. What do you think about it? And what do you, you know, obviously you’re putting all this really awesome content into it and there’s so many kids on there. There’s also so much darkness on there.
There’s some, there’s so many almost like. Inappropriate is not the right word, but they’re, it’s, it’s mixing kids and adults in ways that can feel unsafe. And, and so I’m just curious, like how, how do you navigate it and how do you kind of see it evolving and continuing to be a source of light and a source of hope and not a source of, you know, darkness and pain.
Nistha Dube : [00:09:39] Oh, that’s such a powerful question. I’m so happy that you asked that because it’s another question I’ve just never been asked before, but, um, yeah, a lot of people have this impression of tik tok . When I tell people, like I make content on there for the ones who aren’t on the app, they’re like, oh, isn’t that like a platform for kids?
And that’s what I thought too. I was like, oh, there’s probably just a ton of high schoolers on this app. And when I first got on it, that is the impression, um, that I, that I got there as well. And so I was surprised because on my four U page, every now and then. There’ll be like a psychologist or a life coach, or, um, there’s like a niche for everything there’s cleaning talk and there’s cleaners and professional maids on there and showing off what they do, which is awesome.
There’s, you know, which talk where they talk more about the spells and the intuitive side of things. And it’s, it’s really cool to see there there’s dental talk or like dentists and, you know, come on and talk about hygiene. And so, yeah. I just never would have expected that from the app. And that’s kind of what got me feeling very comfortable talking about spirituality because I’m like, oh, there’s a whole side of manifestation that people are.
Talking about, um, on this platform, I agree with you about the slightly more dangerous, you know, uh, unsafe content that might expose kids to certain themes that they’re not ready for. I think about that a lot about like, what that must be like in terms of long-term effects or repercussions for elementary schoolers who now have iPhones who are on these apps and seeing certain trends or, um, And I, you know, unfortunately for that, I really don’t know.
I think that’s one of those, like repercussions of having technology be so accessible nowadays. And, um, you know, that can also translate into more of like a parenting concern where it’s like, when are you going to let your kid have a phone? Because I think it’s just all in the app itself. I think another conversation for the people who program it and code it could be, are there certain divides or age restrictions or, you know, are they going to create extra, like.
I guess sections in the algorithm to sort of separate the content based on what it is. That’s again, another conversation, but I think in terms of de-stigmatizing or at least removing this, like connotation of what people think the app is, I think it’s just. Having conversations like these and normalizing it more, repurposing your content everywhere, which is awesome to see people repurpose it on Instagram reels or put it on their story.
Cause then I have people DM-ing me and being like, oh my gosh, I want to make content. And I didn’t know, you could get clients or leads from tiktok and I’m like, you can do it all. You can get podcasts guests. You can, you know, and I, I tell people openly I’m like, I haven’t put money into my. Marketing myself.
I haven’t put money into ads at all because I’m organically getting people from TikTok and making these connections from there, which is awesome. So, um, yeah, I think that like, With any social media platform when, when it first comes out or becomes mainstream or there’s a lot of talk around it for the people who aren’t on it, it can be very easy to view it in a certain light.
I think right now, clubhouse is like the trending thing. And for people who aren’t on clubhouse, they might view it in a very certain manner, like, okay, it’s only for entrepreneurs, you know, what am I going to do on clubhouse? And then when you get on the platform, you realize how many different types of personalities there are.
And so I think with tiktok, I really. Whoever’s listening to this. I encourage you. If you want to get a message out in the world, um, get on the platform. You can make a seven minute video or seven second video. I’m sorry. And it can go viral and you don’t know where that traction can take you. Um, I think it’s, it’s really underrated the power of the TikTok algorithm and what it can do for you if you’re interested in being a creator so.
K.Lee Marks: [00:13:23] Really really clearly laid out there. Thank you for that. That is great points across the board and yeah, I think as technology develops and evolves where we’re, we are. Negotiating that with each other and with ourselves, like what, what form that will take. And one of the things that really interested me about you and your bio is that you have that mission to create intentional learning in schools.
And, you know, there’s this hashtag learn, learn with Tik TOK or learn on Tik TOK. I don’t know the exact hashtag, but I know they’re trying to. Bring more educational content in. And I don’t know if you know the real rap with Reynolds, he’s a YouTube influencer in education. He’s a incredible teacher. And I interviewed him on the podcast, several episodes back, and he, he partnered up with Tik TOK to do more educational content.
So there’s so much inspiration and hope there. I’m really fascinated. And I talked to everyone about this because I just, I love the power that podcasting has, uh, especially for education and for youth. And I’m wondering, like, what is your perspective on this platform? And you know, now that clubhouse exists and stuff, but what, what do you think about podcasting as a media for creators?
Nistha Dube : [00:14:33] I think it’s growing too. And I don’t know if that’s just like a result of me being in this space. So I’m more open and receptive and aware of the is, you know, it’s the same with getting on TikTok getting on YouTube. You just are thrown into this whole new space and, um, But, but I think there’s power in just creating in general, right?
Like whether it’s TikTok or clubhouse or whatever. Um, I think something really powerful that I heard on clubhouse in one room is that not every platform is going to work for everyone. And sometimes people will. Try and put themselves into like certain platforms and make content there and they won’t see their results.
And the lady who was saying this on clubhouses, I think she had tried either to take talk or YouTube, some video based platform and it just wasn’t working for her, but she blew up on clubhouse. And so I think for her, that was her revelation. That audio format is just what works like she’s, she’s good at moderating rooms and leading conversations and that’s her strength.
And so, um, with podcasting, I think it’s like. Being cognizant of, are you good at interviewing? Are you good at listening? Can you also lead conversations and navigate them in a way that makes it engaging for listeners to hear? Um, if, if it’s an audio only podcast like mine is, it’s like I have to be mindful of that and understand that people who are listening might not stay the entire time.
Whereas VR show is different. It is. It’s more video-based so you probably have this engagement that’s a little bit longer. Um, so it’s, it’s little things like that to be aware of, but I think there’s just so much room for podcasting. And I think that another almost limiting belief that I want to break is that people think that you need to have a certain expertise to even start a podcast.
You just need to have a story or a perspective or an opinion and be willing to show up that goes for any platform. Um, but podcasting specifically, like, even if you don’t want to have guests on your show and you don’t have interviews, you can just go on there and talk about your own life for like eight minutes.
I’ve done that in a couple of solo episodes and it was awesome to hear that you enjoy those and, um, So it really just depends on finding which method works for you. As I said earlier, YouTube for me found that to be very, very draining. I don’t know what it was. Maybe it was the longer shoots I’m having to edit, which is just quite draining.
But with podcasting, I don’t feel that way. Like I’m able to have a conversation and I’m so in it that it feels organic and then I lose track of time. So it’s cool. And I think with being able to have a conversation on air, you’re also like. Especially with you because you’re like, I like asking this question for everyone.
If you’re able to do that and ask consistent questions to people from nine different backgrounds, you’re going to get nine different perspectives. And that’s awesome. So I definitely think there’s scope for podcasting, especially now that we have anchor. Um, I know that you use this format, which is awesome.
I use anchor totally free and accessible, and I’ve had like in the past year, A handful of friends start their own podcast and they’re just doing it through anchor and it’s so easy to use and accessible. So.
K.Lee Marks: [00:17:34] That’s wonderful. That is, that is really great. Yeah. anchor.fm is without a doubt. If, if you have to, like, if you’re only going to see someone once in your life and you just want to help them out and they want to do the podcast thing, it’s like just download anchor FM. And then you know ahhh….
Nistha Dube : [00:17:48] I tell everyone that, and they’re like, this is so easy. I’m like, yeah, I’m telling you like, and that’s the thing is as technology progresses, you’re going to have like, An equivalent for that almost with so many different platforms. If you’re just going to have the ways to keep putting yourself out there and realize that it’s not as hard as it once was because it isn’t.
And now you can monetize off of all of these platforms. There’s tick-tock creator fund. Obviously YouTube people have built in established careers off of that already. Um, with anchor, like you can record your own sponsorship elements and throw them in the show. And monetize off of that. And then eventually as you grow, start doing these collaborations with more people sponsorships, and that can become a whole career too.
Like Joe Rogan took off and that’s what he does full time. And you know, there’s no pressure to be at that level, but I’m just saying that there’s just so many ways now to add on revenue streams. Even if you work a full-time job and you want to do this on the side, like. Can be, it can be a five to nine hobby.
My friend has a show called the five to nine, so he works his day job, and then he does his podcasting and he makes content on Tik TOK and it’s getting into photography. So, yeah, he also recently started his show and it’s it’s wild. And I think even with him, it’s like he had, I don’t know if you know the real Ryan rye on, um, TechTalk.
He’s really big now. I think he’s at a couple million and he, um, does the raw whole, sorry, not Brian. Why don’t I say for a whole, the real raw whole wri? Um, he has some really funny content. Um, he’s an actor as well as an investor, so he has to. Platforms, the layman investor and the real Rafael rye. And so my friend had him on his show as his first ever guest.
And so I’m just saying this for inspiration, for anyone listening, you can slide into anyone’s DM DMS nowadays. And if they are willing to talk to you, that is a whole connection and a conversation and opportunity at your fingertips. And I think it can also be daunting for many people because they’re like, how do I find guests?
How do I get clients? Like all these questions, but it’s really a matter of just reaching out and saying, hi, that’s what you did with me. And that’s why we’re here right now. And I think that those decisions are also quite underestimated. Um, re-haul Bri again, is that like 2 million on Tik TOK? My friend got in touch with him in a matter of like, A couple of days and they, they talked for two hours on a show.
So it’s incredible what social media can do. And I think, um, people might still sleep on it, but I would just kind of plant that seed of start, started thinking about it. If you ever do want to get into creating.
K.Lee Marks: [00:20:23] I love, I love it. It’s a really good message. I think people are overwhelmed by all the options.
Uh, Though it is the new media to communicate. And so I, you know, I kind of want to talk to you about from the neuroscience background and with clubhouse happening, right. Sometimes I feel like I I’m, I can’t say intellectually put it into words and it’s more of a feeling for an intellectual idea, but I’m, I’m feeling like the planet is connecting its, its neurons together.
I’m feeling that sort of a unity consciousness happened, especially on clubhouse because you have all these people having conversations and, and trying to like go out and do change. You have the whole crypto world. And it reminds me of like my celiac or like the fungal, the fungal networks in the soil.
And I’m curious if you’ve had a similar kind of thought of like, are we, are we all communicating kind of synchronistically at the same time? Or I’m curious your thoughts?
Nistha Dube : [00:21:19] That’s a really cool question. I feel like I’ve said this about every question you’ve asked, because I don’t think about things necessarily that way.
And I it’s almost like when you ask that question, the way that I interpreted it less from a neuroscience standpoint, but more from a spirituality standpoint of like, I think that the collective consciousness, we are just ascending and not to get too esoteric on here, but I’m sure you’re familiar with, you know, okay.
You’re right. I might as well, you told me to be myself. So, I mean, I guess here we go, but like age of Aquarius, that’s where we are right now. There’s so much information. I think that as a society we’re slowly unlocking from years and years ago, like law of attraction stems. We were just talking about the bhagavad gita earlier.
It comes from, you know, those Vedic texts and philosophies, but now it’s becoming mainstream. And so I think that the way that I almost interpreted your point when you were asking that question is like, I think that we are all just slowly becoming more awake to these, these concepts over time. I think that as books and resources, like.
Not a huge fan personally, of the secret, because I think it could still portrays a law of attraction and a very spell like manner. I’m so not a fan of that, but I think that as we’re slowly putting out these resources out there, power of the subconscious mind and getting people to understand how their thoughts translate into reality, we’re able to kind of connect in a more.
It’s almost like a love based manner, a very soul based way. We’re able to come from that deeper. Um, I think peace within us, as opposed to this like intellect that we always clutter our minds with. And I know it’s something that a lot of us struggle with today as well. But you hear nowadays in the corporate world, people trying to integrate mindfulness and meditation and spirituality into the workplace, which is really cool.
So it’s interesting. Cause I think that on clubhouse, I’ve definitely noticed. A lot of these conversations around these topics and how to integrate that with business or with finance or marketing And so I think less from a neuroscience perspective is more from a spirituality point moving forward. I just feel like humanity is headed in that direction slowly but surely.
And seeing it for those who are open-minded and receptive to hearing it. Um, but with neuroscience , because I know that that’s the question that you asked. I feel like with plasticity. We’re constantly growing. We’re constantly expanding our neural networks. The more that we open ourselves up to new skills.
And at the same time, if you don’t work those muscles and you don’t work on those skills, you also kind of lose those neural maps over time. And it becomes more difficult to partake in those activities. Cause you, you almost like lose that muscle memory. So I think it really is a matter of what you’re engaging in.
Versus who you’re talking to and what their background is and what their interests are. I’ve been in some rooms on clubhouse where you can feel the energy and vibration like the Gita rooms or any room. Honestly, that Rishi hosts that we were both in, I’ve just always noticed such peace in those rooms, but I’ve been in some of the rooms where it’s more about marketing and how to be a millionaire.
And it’s like 200 people in there and I just. I can feel the low vibrational energy. Cause you can tell that a lot of it it’s coming from a fear-based place. Um, So, yeah. I don’t know if that answers the question, but that’s just something that I’ve noticed.
K.Lee Marks: [00:24:54] Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I feel that about clubhouse too.
Yeah. I think it’s, it’s, it’s more of an exploration and, and I’m, I’m really benefiting from your, your brain right now. So I just kind of going back into it, first of all, and the spirituality aspect, I think that, uh, especially with quantum. Mechanics and the more physics progress is we’re, we’re realizing how fuzzy reality is.
You know, we’re realizing that it’s not as hard as we thought it was. It’s a little bit, there’s more gaps in between it and that. I think that facilitates spirituality and I’m bracketing people if you’re listening or so kind of, have you ever heard this book Ender’s game? Now it’s a really good book, uh, but there’s an alien race in it.
And they, they are basically sort of like giant ants and there’s a queen and the queen is sort of the mind and it’s a hive mind kind of thing. And so that’s sort of what, I’m the sensation that I’m getting sometimes when I’m on clubhouse is like this hive mind. Being built, especially with podcasts and especially with live streams and especially with clubhouse and all that is our ability to communicate across our planet has, has increased so much and exponentially and the instantaneousness of it.
We can communicate at the speed of whatever the transmission is and it’s allowing us to make a movement forward in a velocity that is, is way different than ever before. Does that make sense?
Nistha Dube : [00:26:27] That makes a lot of sense. Yeah. I T I have thought about that so many times in terms of like, can this be detrimental just to your mind?
Yeah. That’s I have that thought quite frequently. I need to take breaks off of it because you can just hop from room to room and clubhouse. Like you can be in a room. The one we were in about the Geetha or reishi has held so many rooms about Vedic philosophies and you have moderated them and there’s feel this intense piece.
And then you can just kind of scroll on your dashboard and clubhouse and investing Bitcoin marketing, how to be a millionaire travel stories. Like it’s all just accessible. Um, and when we get used to that, we don’t know how to stop. So our brains have kind of now become decent-sized to the dopamine hits, you know, so we need to like, Stay on clubhouse longer.
We needed to hop into more rooms. I noticed now, like I I’m pretty good about daily meditation. That’s like right after I finished meditating, I need to grab my phone and be scrolling on it. Or if I’m making my coffee, it’s like, I can’t just stand still and make it it’s like something needs to be playing in the background.
And so I think that there definitely. It is, there’s a lot of neuroscience elements going on there in terms of like your brain, actually getting habituated to these patterns and dependent you need more and more. And now I think neuroscientists are classifying social media addiction as an actual real addiction.
It’s not just a little joke anymore that our parents used to say to us when we were growing up, but I really think it’s a very real thing.
K.Lee Marks: [00:28:00] Yeah. Yeah. It’s, it’s really intense to see children who are put in front of the screen and I’m not judging you anyone, if you’re, if you’re doing this. Cause I totally, totally get it.
I just get it. It’s, it’s really hard to give them every second of your waking life. And the screen is a great way to distract them. But I have seen children who have spent their whole. You know, a couple of first years on the screen and what it does to their attention and to their ability to relay and communicate is pretty intense.
And so I think it’s a, it’s a really important thing, but to kind of. You know, I think that there’s the negative direction. So kind of like you can go too fast in the wrong direction, but then there’s also this benefit of we can all communicate and solve problems. And especially when it comes to youth and education and how to use the technology.
I think we were more equipped to come up with positive solutions to combat some of the negative things. So it’s a, it’s a double-edged sword, like many things, but I wanted to ask you, cause we were talking about the Vedic philosophy and the Gita and. You know, would you, would you speak a little bit about your experience growing up with that as, as your, uh, family’s background and you mentioned you’re into, you know, that your family was into astrology as well.
And what, what is that experience like for you?
Nistha Dube : [00:29:17] Yeah. Um, so growing up, interestingly. Yeah, so my parents have always been into this. They would read their horoscopes. My great-grandfather was an astrologer, as I was telling you, my name was all the letters were picked out based off of like astrology and reading my natal chart and everything for me growing up, I didn’t really resonate with.
Any of those concepts. I used to think that horoscopes were silly. Astrology was fake. All of that. Um, didn’t really have much of a connection to religion or spirituality up until college. And then that’s when I discovered the law of attraction again, when I first came across it, I was like, what is this?
There’s no way you can write things out on a piece of paper and have it come to fruition. And I think, you know, and I think a lot of people who’ve gone down this, like. Spiritual self awakening, self discovery journey. It can relate to this, but once you have that seed planted, you’re going to start to notice weird coincidences coincidences, we’ll say in quotes, but like just weird incidences that happen one after the other that you can’t explain away.
So came across a law of attraction on Instagram posts, thought it was fake. Had a diary entry. I wrote about something, just test it out. Cause I was like, we’re going to see if this manifesting thing is real ends up coming true. Really, really bizarre. And then just like a weird like series of events after that, in terms of like a conversation that I had with a friend playing out in a certain way or a certain sign that I would see in a lot of people make fun of signs and angel members who, who don’t believe in it.
I used to be one of those people, but it’s like, Coming at the most odd times when I have certain thoughts or when I need certain guidance or direction. And so these things just kept happening in a certain manner. And I was like, This is kind of bizarre. And I think the summer after my junior year of college is when I really deep dove into it.
And I was reading all the books and I was actually learning about Hinduism a little bit more and Buddhism a little bit more. Um, and I was meditating a lot. I was watching people on YouTube like Erin Dowdy, Lee or Alexandra Izabelle Plasios just to name a few. And feeling this like disconnect from everything around me.
And I think that was really the summer of like my first wave of this full on spiritual awakening. So I would say what the Gita specifically and with the Vedic philosophies, I didn’t get into that until very, very recently up until I want to say like a couple months ago, to be honest, because even that summer, while I was exploring Buddhism and Hinduism, I kept saying to myself, I am still spiritual and not religious.
Like I resonate with energy. I resonate with all of these principles as reading the, breaking the bad habit of being yourself by Joe Dispenza. And that made so much sense to me cause it was very energy-based and theory based. And I was like, this is what makes sense to me. This is how the world works with this, how the universe works, but not so sure about all of these like institutionalized concepts of, you know, doing certain customs and certain chance just to receive blessings from.
God, those that still didn’t resonate with me at that point. So it took about like a year and a half of me continuously being like, yeah, I’m spiritual, but not religious until very recently. Honestly, I want to say getting on clubhouse and seeing with ether rooms and meeting Rishi. Um, now I’m doing like a daily chanting with him everyday on his zoom calls and learning more about Sanskrit and kind of on my own researching the bhagavagita .
So I think this. Inclination to actually tune into Hinduism as a religion. Came about very organically. For me, it wasn’t something that I could push or force. And now I’m having conversations with my parents about the gita I’m a full believer in astrology. I believe it is a predictive probability based science. That’s what it is.
So, um, and I think that’s another misconception with astrology. People think it’s like, Oh, this horoscope didn’t predict my whatever. So it’s wrong. And I’m like, that’s not Astrology isn’t supposed to be some fortuneteller? Like we have free will at the end of the day, it’s all just based in probability, but I have full, um, respect for that science.
I think it’s very real, um, you know, it came about way before any of the sciences that we call today as the hard sciences. So yeah. it’s, it’s interesting because I think that with this journey of tapping into any, any of these concepts, tapping into spirituality, however you label spirituality or religion, or, um, astrology.
It has to come from an actual acceptance within you and an open-mindedness within you. So that for me happened at different times with all of these concepts, but for me now it’s starting to tie in certain concepts in Hinduism are starting to tie in with spiritual principles that I believed a couple of years ago.
Um, One example is like the, the, the, uh, the, the little light that we light with the fire, that candle that most people have maybe seen in, in hidden in Hindi movies actually represents the balancing of the energies and the dark, and it represents the ahtma, the soul. So it was so cool reading about that because my parents would do that every day.
And I was like, what’s the point of doing this? Like, I don’t understand why these customs need to be done. And these rituals like need to be done if you yourself. You know, can manifest things in life, but now it’s all making sense to me. Everything’s tying in together and I’m understanding the value of what religion really is.
And also it’s a matter of, I think. It’s a personal thing, how one decides to navigate which parts of it are man-made and which parts of it. Aren’t, that’s still something that I’m navigating and figuring out. And I don’t know if anyone will ever really have the answer, um, being humans and mortals on earth.
I don’t know, but yeah, that’s kind of like my journey with just. Being open and accepting to all that is sort of for me.
K.Lee Marks: [00:35:07] Yeah. It reminds me of a Rumi quote. What you seek is seeking you. And if you see, if you seek a, a Loveless creator lists material universe, then that’s what seeks you. That’s what you find.
And if you seek a loving relational, uh, reciprocal, Universe then that’s what finds you. And I’m not talking about the actual things that happened because you know, if you’d study the Vedas, then the law of karma, you know, there’s manifest karma, there’s karma from past lives. There’s all sorts of stuff that can go wrong to good people.
And so it’s not about like what happens to you, but I think, you know, talking about the Gita for a second, it, the, the. Some of it has, it has like five levels of secret truths. Uh, according to my, my, my gurudev, my line, and they get increasingly more and more profound, esoteric, and just simple at the same time.
And the one of the like end chapters says abandoned all varieties of religion and surrender to me. So Krishna, who is, who is God or the creator? The male part of creation is saying, just look to surrender to me. Give up all the, all the rules that, that are, are keeping you from surrendering and just surrender.
And, you know, that’s a, that’s a ongoing practice to figure out how to surrender to the universe, but, but being open to synchronicity and being open to messages and being open to insight and inner guidance is, is probably our most direct way that we can. Experience the divine or experienced something deeper than what we can perceive with our eyes and hear with our ears and smell with our nose and taste with our tongue and feel with our hands.
Right. And so, you know, kind of going back to. Being raised in this, I also was raised in, in, uh, Bhakti yoga tradition. And so I feel like it’s important as, as kids of parents who have a spiritual path, we all have to find our own path, even if it’s the same one, you know, like we all have to come to it, uh, because of, uh, inner calling, otherwise it’s coming from outside and it’s not coming from inside, which is the whole point.
Right. And so I bet you, I bet your parents are really happy that you’re, you’re all into this now.
Nistha Dube : [00:37:26] They it’s so funny. Cause my, I was having a conversation with my mom and she was like, yeah. From the experiences that you told me about your freshman year of college and like the pictures that you had send me with your friends, I would have never guessed that you’d one day be spiritual and I like burst out laughing.
Cause I was like, yeah, it was the same for me. Um, and. It’s just weird to think of like how much has changed even from a couple of years ago, for me, the conversations I was having and what I found to be fun. So yeah, my parents are definitely very supportive of where I am, but they always have been. So I think that’s also been helpful because I haven’t felt that like, Hmm.
You know, external pressure as you were just mentioning to follow a certain faith. I think they’ve, my dad will also always say he was like, well, yeah, when you’re older, you’ll just understand, you know, whenever I’d make fun of astrology or horoscopes, he would keep saying that. And I would be like, I would always say, I was like, yeah, I’m never going to believe this.
Even when I’m older and like, Basically now I talk about it on social media all the time.
K.Lee Marks: [00:38:23] Well, and I think an important distinction is you’re talking about Vedic, astrology and Vedic is right. I believe that’s, you’re particularly talking about versus, um, tropical or Western, uh, astrology. And they don’t take account for the procession of the planets.
Uh, and in, in that. And so there, I’m not saying it’s wrong or whatever, but Vedic astrology is its own. Science. And when you have your chart done and you get that experience, it puts certain things into, into context that, that have been really personally helpful. Um, like just to geek out on astrology for a second, I have five planets in my fifth house.
And so it’s really clear. I’m a youth educator have taught K through 12. It’s like gonna have kids around me, whether they’re my kids or other people’s kids, I’m going to be around youth, uh, super creative sound music. Uh, so those kinds of things, it makes sense. And no matter what I do that comes into my life, I can’t avoid it.
It’s fun. So cool. So, okay. Um, I would love to briefly kind of go into, uh, transitioning back onto planet earth here. Uh, the publishing process for your book. So podcasting is one of the best platforms for authors to get their book out in front of people and vice versa. So there’s this symbiosis between authorship and podcasting.
And if you could just in brief, as we’re kind of winding down, uh, share a little bit about your journey with the publishing, because I think that could be really beneficial to some people listening.
Nistha Dube : [00:39:55] Yes. I find that every time I talk about my publishing journey, there’s always someone who benefits from it.
So I’d love to like continue talking about it as many times they need. Um, I was just telling you that I kept pushing off writing, uh, to the back burner for so long. And it was only when, on Tik TOK on my, for you page. Girls’ video popped up. Um, she basically talked about her whole publishing process. So for anyone interested, I self published through a company called blurb B L U R B.
You can go ahead and look it up. And they have like all sorts of books that you can publish. So photo books, trade books, mine was a trade book, a smaller poetry book, um, multiple different options, and they provide a software through their websites that you can put everything in and format everything in.
So you don’t have to make your own manuscripts. Separately, which you traditionally would have to do if you were to publish through right. Another platform. So blurb provides a software. You literally just type your content in the layout. It’s all there for you. And when you hit upload, it automatically puts it into their bookstore and then you can distributed it very straightforwardly as well, um, to Amazon and other vendors.
So they kind of do that all for you and you just set your price, whatever you feel like your book is worth and you receive royalties from that. So, um, I think that’s like kind of more of a very basic outlined publishing process in terms of marketing it, put it out there and socials word of mouth is huge.
Even if you’re not a creator, really trying, maybe get your friends who, um, You know, maybe put content out on social media platforms to put it on their stories, um, and just keep talking about it, keep sharing it with people. So I’m just in that marketing phase right now, but yes, that is just the publishing process outlined very briefly.
And I’m sure that, um, K.Lee will put my links down below. So if anyone has like specific questions and wants to reach out to me, um, oh yeah, perfect. My Instagram is all there. You can reach out to me on Instagram and I’m happy to walk you through more of the specifics. If anyone has any questions.
K.Lee Marks: [00:41:56] That’s so awesome. Wow. It’s so it’s so easy and accessible, not easy. It’s still hard, but it is way more accessible than it used to be. And that is really inspiring. And, um, you know, for, for anyone who is considering it, as soon as you publish, you become an author and in. In the world, it’s, it’s helpful to have these titles.
It’s helpful to be able to position yourself as an expert, to position yourself as someone who has accomplished things. So it’s almost like while the book matters in its own, right. And what happens with it matters just doing, it gives you the ability to call yourself an author, which is, which opens up doors and opens a podcast appearances.
So I think that’s super, uh, a very intelligent strategy. For podcasters to, to consider. And if you’ve done a podcast in your you’re, at least at like episode 50, you probably have a book in you. You have some, you have a lot of info by the time you reach episode 50 and vice versa, you can turn your book or your poems into podcasts.
So, um, yeah, as we’re, as, as you know, we’re we are at the top of the hour. Is there any parting words, any final ideas that you would like to share with the audience and, uh, yeah. I just want to open it up for you.
Nistha Dube : [00:43:07] Yeah. Well, first of all, I just wanted to thank you because this is such a unique podcast conversation. I don’t think I’ve ever just like, kind of geeked out this much on a podcast. So I had super, super fun. Um, and yeah, I guess just like any last words, something that I usually touch on. On my social media, just for anyone who doesn’t follow me or in the content I make is I’m really big about like listening to your inner voice and making room for your inner voice, because I really think that that kind of clarity or that room to listen to your intuition is what helps people move forward and make decisions in.
Any aspect of their life. So if you can just take time in your day to kind of put that stimuli aside. I know we spoke a lot about technology and the harmful effects of that in this episode, but really if you can kind of silence your mind for a little bit of the day, if you can maybe put away your phone for the first hour, when you get out of bed or the last hour that you’re awake before you go to bed at night, um, you can take walks with yourself.
If you can just kind of sit in silence. I think that’s really, really powerful, right? Doesn’t have to be for a long, it can be for maybe starting off five minutes of your day. Um, I think that can go a long ways. I think oftentimes in our society, we’re so cluttered. We have so many expectations from other people that become our own expectations and create our own beliefs about ourselves and these narratives about our lives.
But I think with space, there’s a lot of answers that we deeply want that come from inside of us. So just kind of creating that in your day and figuring out how to navigate that in a way that best. Works for you and your routine and kind of staying consistent with that can be really powerful. And I’m just interested in seeing what comes up if anyone does decide to try that feel free to, to DME as well and share any insights or revelations that you may have.
But yeah, Kaylee, thank you once again. Super, super fun today. Yeah, this, this was really fun and I, yeah, that is fantastic. Parting words, self care. Getting off the tech, getting into our body, into our hearts, breathing, drinking, water, being in nature, take off your shoes, feel the ground, all that stuff is really more important than ever more important than ever.
K.Lee Marks: Well, thank you so much. I, this was, this was awesome. I felt like there was so many great, uh, points covered and, um, please. Dear audience, my, my dear beloved audience, please go check out. Uh, tick tock or Instagram, her website, her book beyond the skin, wonderful poems and, um, and her podcast rising. It’s uh, so many great conversations with wonderful people all over the planet.
So I cannot recommend it enough. And for now we are, we are over and out. Take care
