The Power of Choosing You with Deborah Santana
Take Back Your Mind
Michael B. Beckwith
5.0 • 825 Ratings
🗓️ 29 April 2026
⏱️ 58 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today, Michael speaks with Deborah Santana. Deborah is an author, activist, philanthropist, and spiritual seeker whose life journey bridges music, service, and deep personal transformation. In her memoir, Loving the Fire: Choosing Me, Finding Freedom, she shares the path of leaving a 34-year marriage to music legend Carlos Santana, reclaiming her authentic self, and walking through life's challenges with courage, faith, and spiritual practice. Through her foundation, Do A Little, whose name is based on the Bishop Desmond Tutu's aphorism, "Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world," Deborah supports women, girls, and communities through education, healing, and empowerment.
Conversation Highlights Include:
-What it means to "love the fire," and how life's challenges can become a doorway into real spiritual growth and transformation.
-The moment of choosing yourself, and what it takes to step into a more authentic and purpose-aligned life.
-How a lifelong spiritual foundation and meditation practice can anchor you through major life transitions.
-Recognizing when you've outgrown certain relationships or roles, and allowing yourself to evolve with honesty and compassion.
-A clear and practical way to begin claiming your truth through stillness, self-inquiry, and reflection.
-Why fear can keep you stuck in familiar patterns, even when you know something in your life needs to change.
-How to stay engaged in the world while remaining grounded in a deeper spiritual awareness.
-A simple daily practice that strengthens intuition and helps you stay centered and connected throughout the day.
-The importance of listening inward instead of being guided by external expectations or validation.
-How living with courage, service, and intention creates deeper fulfillment and a meaningful impact on others.
Next, Michael closes with a guided meditation that invites you to remember your true identity beyond conditions and reconnect with your inner awareness.
🪷 Get Deborah's memoir, Loving The Fire, here - https://deborahsantana.com/ and across social media. Explore her philanthropic work here - https://deborahsantana.com/do-a-little.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I have a part at the end of the book that says how to walk through the fire. |
| 0:04.9 | And one of the first things I say is you have to sit and find out who your authentic self is. |
| 0:10.3 | If you don't know you, then you won't be able to make this journey authentically. |
| 0:15.9 | And I think a lot of people know when they're not in alignment with their purpose. |
| 0:20.0 | But they don't do anything because, number one, there's a lot of fear know when they're not in alignment with their purpose, but they don't do anything |
| 0:21.3 | because, number one, there's a lot of fear. Number two, you're not quite sure where you're going |
| 0:26.6 | to go. And so you have to sit with the side. You have to sit in the silence and you have to ask |
| 0:34.5 | the questions. Am I happy? Am I in alignment? And if the answer is no, then you have to seek, questions, am I happy? Am I in alignment? |
| 0:41.6 | And if the answer is no, then you have to seek, well, what's missing? |
| 0:44.4 | And, you know, it's a big journey to walk through the fire. |
| 0:53.2 | So I suggest that people really join a meditation group, you know, do something that's going to enliven your spirit. |
| 0:57.8 | And then look at your life. Who's adding beauty and love? Who's detracting? Who's bringing you down? Move towards the attractions. Move away from |
| 1:03.9 | that, which is bringing you down. I mean, it's so simple, right? It's simple, but it's still |
| 1:07.3 | difficult for people. It is. Because people use a lot of energy to cope |
| 1:11.4 | with their uncomfortability. Rather than make the move, they figure out a way to be comfortable |
| 1:16.3 | with that which they should not be comfortable with. Peace and Rich's blessings. I am Michael B. |
| 1:21.7 | Back with the host of Take Back Your Mind. your mind, the podcast. |
| 2:03.6 | I'm your host, Michael Bebekwith, the founder of the Agapa International Spiritual Center. |
| 2:08.6 | And as you know, on a weekly basis, I get to have wonderful conversations with individuals |
| 2:13.6 | who are making a mighty difference on the planet, who have some level of spiritual |
| 2:18.6 | insight and awakening, and I get to bring them to you so that you get to feel into their essence |
| 2:25.8 | and allow for their journey to impact yours. Today I have Deborah Santana. Welcome. Thank you. |
... |
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