001: Waking Up with Ryan Weiss

I was feeling frustrated and stuck in my former career as a TV and film producer for a company I no longer felt aligned with.

For about a year I woke up every morning and said to the Universe,

"What would you have me do? Show me!”

🦋

Meet Ryan Weiss

Ryan is an Emotional Intelligence Coach & Spiritual Teacher. Ryan has dedicated his life's work to creating safe spaces for people, both personally and professionally. Through decades of personal discovery and supporting others he has designed methods and tools for transformation and healing.

His passion is helping others explore spirituality, health, and creativity in order to develop a deeper connection with themselves, others, and the world around them.

Can you describe the experience (wake-up call) that served as a catalyst for you to change the direction of your life?

I was feeling frustrated and stuck in my former career as a TV/film Producer for a company I no longer felt aligned with. For about a year I woke up every morning and said to the Universe, "What would you have me do? Show me!" As a way to leave the company, I was quietly developing three film projects that I was deeply passionate about and excited by. But, one fateful day, all three projects fell apart within a 30 minute time period.

As upsetting as that was, a very clear part of me knew that this was an answer to a prayer. I took it as a communication that it was time to leap. That day I quit my job and spent the next year focusing full-time on my passions - Spirituality, Mental Health, Emotional Intelligence, Relationships and Meditation. I didn't know what I would do professionally but I knew it would have something to do with these genuine passions. And so, I continued my morning prayer...show me!

About a year later, having spent all my savings, fear was intense but so was my faith. A woman who I knew from my entertainment career asked me to begin coaching her. I resisted but Life made it very clear that I was to say yes. That was the beginning of my Coaching career, 14 years ago. I thank God for those three films falling apart and setting me on my journey toward my purpose.

What unknown territory or liminal space are you navigating right now?

I realized at the end of 2023 that I have been supporting artists as my career for over a decade, and while I love it, I forgot that I too am an artist. Currently, I am in the liminal space of knowing there is something new wanting to be created but I don't know what that is just yet. I feel that the way I have been doing my work needs to transform. At times I can feel lost, and then I let myself sit in this in-between and remember that, even though it is uncomfortable, this is where creative possibility lives. It's time for me to reclaim my artistry. One thing I have done to move the ball forward is schedule my first singing lesson this week!

What’s a practice or activity you’re experimenting with right now to reconnect with yourself?

I sit and sit and sit. In the quiet. Not trying to meditate or be anything at all. Just be. No practice or mantra. Just be quiet. As I do so I relax into a deep presence. A swelling feeling of sitting as my Self...not my ego or personality...but my Self.

I have access to this presence in a way I never used to. This is after years of practice. Sitting through the anxiety, the loud voices, the desires to get up and do something.

During the pandemic when anxiety was at an all time high, I created a beautiful, free resource that has helped many people to begin relaxing into their presence called The Sanctuary Challenge. Take a peek. It is a combination of five daily practices with recordings and resources that I have personally used for year.

If you could give your wake-up call a voice, what would they say?

“My sweet, sweet Love. You are exactly what you seek. Stop trying to prove yourself and your worth. You don't need to do anything at all. Stop your search. The searching to become something more or better is actually taking you away from the truth which is that you are already complete and lovable exactly as you are. You need not change a thing. I love you.”

Connect with Ryan on Instagram.