Heart Wide Open Wellness Podcast
Welcome to the Heart Open Wide Wellness Podcast! A space where we explore how to keep our hearts and souls open to growth, healing, and new opportunities—even when life’s challenges make it tempting to shut down.
I’m Hannah Zackney—therapist, yogi, life coach, and creator of Heart Wide Open Wellness, a hub for transformative programs, retreats, and community support.
Each episode, we dive into powerful conversations with inspiring guests from diverse backgrounds—healers, thought leaders, wellness experts, and everyday people who have embraced joy, health, and abundance unapologetically.
Join us as we uncover insights, tools, and personal stories to help you cultivate resilience, embrace change, and live with an open heart.
Let’s journey together!
Heart Wide Open Wellness Podcast
19. Service, Healing, and Sacred Stories: A Conversation with Van Bogardus
In this heartfelt episode of the Heart Wide Open Wellness Podcast, we welcome the incredible Van Bogardus—Marine veteran, retired law enforcement officer, educator, and lifelong servant leader. I first met Van at the premiere of The Sacred Texts of War, a powerful documentary by Christina Mendoza that explores a narrative therapeutic approach to veterans living with combat trauma and PTSD. Van’s story spans decades of service—from enlisting in the Marine Corps in 1967 and serving in Vietnam in 1969, to a long career with the L.A. Sheriff's Department, and then 25 years of teaching at Sierra College. Through it all, Van has remained committed to helping others heal—whether through direct service, education, or his continued involvement in veteran support initiatives.
He also shares his personal journey of love and resilience, including his 58-year marriage to his high school sweetheart, Cheryl, whose presence and support have been a steady force in his life. Tune in for a moving, deeply human conversation about service, trauma, healing, and the sacred power of storytelling.
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