We humans have a tough time of it. When everything seems to be going great, it is easy to get swayed, thinking this "honeymoon" will last forever. The same goes when everything seems to suck. In this episode, Carla and Arlaana talk about the Buddhist concept of the Eight Winds: prosperity versus decline; prestige (reputation) versus humiliation; praise versus criticism; and, finally, pleasure versus pain. We examine each of these using examples from our own lives and discuss what we can do to stop getting swayed and influenced by our environment: to be firmly rooted so that we are not toppled by any "wind" that comes along.

In this episode, Carla interviews Chuck Black, former owner and four-star chef of The Gallery Café and Restaurant on Edisto Island, SC (and former owner of Arlaana Restaurant on Daniel Island, SC) and how he achieved what seemed impossible: starting up a restaurant with his wife with hardly any funds, no experience, no formal culinary training, and, most of all, NO KITCHEN. Chuck was able to accomplish the unthinkable: serving four-star meals with just four microwaves and an oven "on an island in the South", proving that sometimes the most challenging circumstances are the best to achieve your dreams.

Where and what is hell? Where and what is Enlightenment? It is all within you, along with the other "eight worlds" that exist simultaneously. The good news is that since they are all inter-connected, you can – at each moment of your life – transform your destiny. No need to "hang out" in hell, hunger, animality and anger, and on it goes. In this episode, Carla and Arlaana discuss this important Buddhist concept, giving examples of each world and how to pull yourself up from the bottom worlds into the higher, happier worlds.