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In this episode, I speak with comic book artist and author Yumi Sakugawa. Yumi’s book, Your Illustrated Guide to Becoming One With The Universe is a gem and has made it onto a couple of my book recommendation lists.

A good portion of our conversation is centered around one of the ideas in her book: having cake and tea with your demons. This is a metaphor for the spiritual and psychological principle that, instead of avoiding the dark or undesirable parts of yourself, you should face them. Or, as she says: “Invite your demons to sit down and have a slice of cake and a cup of tea.”

It’s an interesting and powerful idea that shows up in psychology, philosophy and religion. It’s also an idea that isn’t talked about nearly enough in the world of self-development. I’d like to change that.

Topics covered

• Yumi reads a (metaphysical) sext (5:00)

• Yumi’s story and background (7:30)

• What Inspired Yumi to write Your Illustrated Guide to Becoming One With The Universe (17:00)

• What Yumi means by “becoming one with the universe” (23:30)

• Why you should invite your “demons” out to play (25:35)

• Strategies for identifying and dealing with uncomfortable emotions (32:00)

• The importance of paying attention (45:00)

Selected links & resources from the episode

• Yumi’s Instagram page

• A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle

• Catching The Big Fish by David Lynch

• Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath

• The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

• Mama Gena’s School of Womanly Arts

• Byron Katie

• Yumi’s website

If you liked this episode, you might also like…

Ep. 3: Mari Andrew - The Art of Self-Expression

Ep. 13: Yung Pueblo - Cultivating Inner Peace

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Ruben Chavez is a writer, personal development educator, and host of The Think Grow Podcast. He has created a community of over 3 million readers across his collective platforms, including his popular Instagram page ThinkGrowProsper. Along with this blog, these platforms are his way of inspiring and connecting with thoughtful, creative, and ambitious people just like you.