In this Business Blast podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews Nicole Ananda, a certified surrogate partner, Reiki master, tantric practitioner, and founder of Ananda Integrative Healing Group. Nicole shares a personal love story that illustrates resilience after loss, emphasizing that love is always possible. She warns that pornography can create maladaptive neurological patterns leading to sexual dysfunction, especially in men, and advises avoidance. Her business advice centers on following one’s passion and fostering supportive communities, noting how a network of women has helped scale her practice. She counsels younger selves to learn self‑soothing to reduce drama and impulsivity, and defines happiness as freedom from others’ judgments. Nicole recommends Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now for mindfulness and cites Mahatma Gandhi’s quote “Where there is love, there is life” as a guiding principle in her healing work. The episode concludes with her website, anandaintegrativehealing.com, as the primary online contact point. Sponsor mentions for Anchor and Authors Unite appear at the start.
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Thank you for listening to the Business Blast podcast. So for all my listeners out there that have been wanting to do your own podcast, I'd like to introduce to you Anchor. Anchor is a one-stop shop for recording, hosting, distributing, and monetizing your podcast. So before I found Anchor, I had never actually done a podcast because all the research that I had gathered made it seem very complex. Then I found Anchor, and Anchor makes podcasting extremely simple. So if you want to do your own podcast, go to anchor.fm/start. I can't wait to hear your podcast. Welcome to the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode. Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Nicole Ananda with us. She is a certified surrogate partner, Reiki master, and tantric practitioner. She is the founder of Ananda Integrative Healing Group, a holistic practice dedicated to helping men, women, and couples heal sexual dysfunctions, integrate their sexuality, and improve their relationships. So welcome to the show, Nicole.
Thank you.
Of course. Grateful to have you here, Nicole. We'll dive into the first one. The first question I have for you is, what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
That is a tough one. That is the hardest one that I had to come up with an answer for, I'd have to say. And I think probably the best story of my life is my love story. Because I have had, I've had a lot of difficult relationships in my life. I've been through some trauma, some abuse. And then I met a man when I was 38 years old, who was 22. And we had this huge age difference. He was from Russia, so we had a cultural difference as well. And he ended up being one of the most amazing teachers, you know, my soulmate. We spent 3 years together, and then he died of a heroin overdose. And when he passed away, I kind of felt like my life was over, and I'd never meet anybody who I could love like that again. And surprisingly and amazingly, my very first boyfriend from when I was 14 appeared in my life again. And he was divorced at that point. And he helped me actually through my grieving and mourning for my other partner. And then we ended up being together and we just got married on New Year's Day of this year.
Wow.
So I think the underlying message for that is that, you know, no matter how difficult things are, no matter what we go through, there's always love out there for everyone. And you should never give up on that possibility. Wow.
Yeah, thank you for sharing that. The next one I have for you, Nicole, is what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
This one is very easy for me. I would say the most valuable piece of information that I can give to— mostly this applies to men, but it applies for everyone— is avoid pornography at all costs. Most of the men that I work with in my practice have sexual dysfunctions like erection or orgasm issues that are a direct result of their porn use. And they have no idea that they're harming themselves and creating maladaptive neurological patterns that negatively affect their sexual functioning because nobody's told them this. And I, you know, I don't— we don't have any kind of moral judgment against using porn, but I really would just caution young men, against using it, men who are divorced or not in relationship, because it totally trains your brain to cue your sexual response to visual input and variety of scenes and simulation rather than one partner. And so men who use a lot of porn, or not even a lot, even just use it moderately and use it every time they masturbate, end up not being able to function properly with a partner.
Hmm. And what is your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry specific.
For that one, I'd say it's just follow your passion. If you're inspired, you'll inspire other people and everyone needs the help and support of other people to be successful. So I think a good leader knows how to spark and cultivate passion in others so that when they're working in support of your dreams, they're also following their own dreams. And I found that I got I got pretty far working on my own and creating this business on my own, but what is helping me take it to the next level is this amazing group of women who are supporting my dreams and I'm supporting theirs. And it's all because, you know, I'm, I'm following my passion and supporting theirs.
Yes. And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
That would be learn to self-soothe. I think you can avoid a tremendous amount of drama and impulsive behavior in your life if you're able to sit with your feelings and deeply connect with yourself, because this makes you a stronger and calmer person. And this is something that I teach most of my clients, because a lot of them come to me with anxiety and, you know, an inability to be in their body and sit with their feelings. And so they're stuck in their head all the time, and it makes them miserable.
And in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
For me, I'd say the key to happiness is not worrying about what other people think about me. Because this has allowed me the freedom to fully be myself. And that feels amazing. And it makes me feel totally free and very happy.
And what is the best book that you've read? And what was the number one thing you learned from that?
Um, it's hard to choose a best book, but I'd say, you know, the book that I recommend, and I have all my clients read is The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. Because this book helped me have a deeper understanding of how to be fully present and let go of attachment to the past and worries about the future. And I think it's a really accessible book for learning to be more mindful in your life and kind of really connect with yourself more deeply.
And what is your favorite quote and why?
My favorite quote would probably have to be by Mahatma Gandhi. And The quote is, "Where there is love, there is life." And this is my favorite quote because I believe that love is the reason why we're all here on this planet and what we're all searching and striving for. And I found that, you know, through my work and also in my personal life, love has a tremendous power to heal. And it's the main tool that I use in my practice to help people heal themselves.
I agree. Thank you so much for coming on, Nicole. The last question I have for you before we let you go is, where is the best place for people to find and connect with you online?
You're welcome. And the best place for people to find me is on my website at anandaintegrativehealing.com.
Perfect. Thanks again for joining us. We appreciate it.
