Live Well. Be Wise

Deepening the well-being conversation---the podcast that finds the Gold in your stories of hardship and the connection to Wise action and lived Wellness! Hosted by Kari Lyons-Price & Dorrinda Carlson.

Our Mission:
Sharing stories that reconnect the divide within us and between us through the shared human experience. Sparking connection, inspiration and possibility that helps our community be a place where we can connect, learn and grow—together!

Here's how it all began...

"Hey Dorrinda, let's do lunch."

"Ok, any special occasion?"

"Nope, just wanna connect and feast in your presence." (oh and I also have an idea for a podcast?!)

The brainstorm began and even though we both work in the mental health & wellness field, we quickly ruled out a Wellness podcast because of how overdone they already are. We felt they primarily skim the surface with a repeat loop of ''expert" advice, gimmicks and trends. We wanted to go deeper--much deeper.

What's the real story I wondered, "how do some people manage to be well amidst all kinds of hardship and others with every resource known to humankind, can't even catch the tail of what it means to be well."

What is that thing within us that motivates us to be well--to find our wellness? We're not talking about a health goal or a number, a state that is achieved. We're talking about wellness as a state of mind; contentedness, balance, or an optimal state of being.

And then the VISION fully landed...

At Live Well. Be Wise, we are on a mission to engage with people beneath the "doing" and the products, to find out how wellness is a living, breathing, personal thing that gets shaped through life itself!

Told directly to you by the individuals who have lived it. No experts, no products, and no judgment. Raw, powerful, real life stories told by everyday people about how they met the challenges and hardships of life and came out the other side.

At Live Well. Be Wise we answer the questions:

how do we learn and grow through the storms of life?
what is the wisdom process? how do we cultivate it on purpose?
And...how does our wisdom process inform our wellness?

Live Well. Be Wise is based in North Central Washington State and is explicitly a community-based podcast. This is a place to hear the stories of your neighbors. To celebrate diversity in all ways and to bridge the divide between us; culturally, economically, politically and personally.

Through the shared human experience called, "story" we hope to connect each of us to one another. To recognize parts of ourselves in our neighbors story. And to allow this shared humanity to be an anchor for building connection, community and goodness, one day at a time.

Reach out, share your story, be inspired to cultivate your own wisdom path through hard things. We are 100% in this together!

Kari & Dorrinda

All Episodes

Live Well. Be Wise

"Life is Happening For Me"

September 27, 2025 • Kari Lyons Price • Season 1 • Episode 8

If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to heal at the deepest layers possible, question everything, leave integral parts of yourself behind, and come out the other side with a smile on your face, you must meet Blake Suzelis.

His story of hardship begins at birth, when he is born with his intestines on the outside of his abdomen, a condition called gastroschisis. He has not only survived the prognosis given to his mother of 3-years old, but has gone on to become a mental health practitioner and now a doctor of Mindbody Medicine. Through decades of physical challenges, cancer diagnoses and a 17-day coma while visiting Peru, Blake shares how he has found himself again and again— awakened. All of which have birthed his incredible 3-part healing system that he teaches through his work at Vital Evolution.

His story is one of profound grit, grace and healing. Blake is a clear teacher and role model of what it means to embody a growth mindset, to Live Lucky, and be committed to learning to Live Well and Be Wise.

Bio:

Dr. Blake Suzelis, PhD, Mindbody Medicine, is a holistic therapist, researcher, and cancer warrior whose work bridges science and spirituality to understand the innate ability to heal. After being born with a birth defect, diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and surviving near-death experiences, Blake devoted his life to understanding spontaneous remission — leading the first quantitative study on the mind-body-spirit role in cancer healing. He is the founder of Vital Evolution, the only Three-Phase holistic cancer retreat model in the U.S., where he guides individuals through a transformative mind-body-spirit healing approach combining neuroscience, epigenetics, spirituality, and lived wisdom.

Resources:

1. 3- Part Healing Guide: www.vitalevolution.com/healingguide

2. Blake's websites:

www.vitalevolution.com; www.liveluckytherapy.com; www.blakesuzelis.com

3. Blake's Podcast:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vital-evolution/id1637349654

4. Blake's Healing Retreat in East Wenatchee On October 25, 2025. https://www.vitalevolution.com/event-details-registration/awaken-your-bodys-healing-power-in-wa