The Book Serenity Podcast

The Power of Daily Reflection: How Journaling and Reading Change Your Life

The Power of Daily Reflection: How Journaling and Reading Change Your Life
Book Serenity Podcast
Do you ever feel overwhelmed, disconnected, or stuck in the same patterns, even though you’re doing everything you’re “supposed” to do?
In this episode of the Book Serenity Podcast, Dr. Guadalupe Vanderhorst Rodriguez explores how daily reflection through journaling and intentional reading creates awareness, emotional clarity, and inner calm. She shares why these simple practices have been used across cultures for centuries—and how they gently reshape the mind and spirit.
You’ll discover how just a few minutes a day with a journal and a meaningful book can help you release emotional weight, gain clarity, and reconnect with your purpose. This episode shows how reflection turns daily moments into powerful tools for personal growth and self-trust.
Listen now and begin your own reflection practice today. Explore journals and inspiring books curated for mindful living at BookSerenity.com.

What Your Body is Trying to Tell You: Wisdom Beyond Western Medicine

What Your Body Is Trying to Tell You: Wisdom Beyond Western Medicine
Book Serenity Podcast
Do you ever feel tired, tense, anxious, or “off”—even when tests say everything is normal?
In this episode of the Book Serenity Podcast, Dr. Guadalupe Vanderhorst Rodriguez explores why symptoms are often messages, not mistakes. Drawing from holistic and traditional wisdom, she explains how the body communicates through fatigue, pain, digestion, sleep, and emotions—long before illness takes hold.
You’ll learn how to recognize patterns, listen to your body with compassion, and take small, practical steps that support balance and healing. This episode empowers you to move beyond confusion and begin trusting your body as a guide rather than seeing it as a problem.
Listen now and discover how tuning into your body can transform your health from the inside out. Explore books and resources that support whole-person healing at BookSerenity.com.

Ancestral Stories that Were Never Written Down

Ancestral Stories That Were Never Written Down
Book Serenity Podcast
Have you ever searched your family history and felt the silence where stories should be?
So many ancestors lived full, meaningful lives—yet their stories were never written down. Women, Indigenous families, enslaved people, immigrants, and everyday ancestors were often left out of official records, leaving generations wondering where they truly come from.
In this episode of the Book Serenity Podcast, we explore an important truth:silence in the records does not mean absence in history.
Through gentle storytelling and lived genealogical insight, Dr. Guadalupe Vanderhorst Rodriguez shares how ancestral stories still exist—in whispers, in context, in survival, and in the lives we live today. You’ll learn how to listen beyond documents, honor oral history, and recognize the deeper ways our ancestors speak to us.
This episode offers a powerful shift—from feeling disconnected from your roots to understanding that you are part of a long line of resilience, wisdom, and strength. When we reclaim untold stories, we don’t just learn about the past—we heal the present and preserve the future.
If you’ve ever felt drawn to your ancestry but unsure where to begin, this episode is for you.
* Explore books that honor untold ancestral stories at BookSerenity.com* Become a keeper of memory*Walk forward knowing where you come from

Dr. Guadalupe Vanderhorst Rodriguez | Healing, History & Legacy

In a world moving at relentless speed, many people feel disconnected—from their health, from their sense of purpose, and from the stories that shaped who they are. They search for answers in fragments: a symptom here, a record there, a memory half remembered. What is often missing is integration—the understanding that healing, identity, and legacy are not separate pursuits, but deeply intertwined.
Dr. Guadalupe Vanderhorst Rodriguez stands at that intersection.
Her life’s work is devoted to restoring what has been forgotten: ancestral stories, cultural truth, embodied wisdom, and the confidence that comes from knowing where you come from—and how to move forward with intention.
Dr. Guadalupe Vanderhorst Rodriguez is a Doctor of Acupuncture, author, genealogist, educator, and founder of Book Serenity. Her journey is one shaped by discipline, mentorship, service, and an unwavering commitment to both healing and historical preservation.
From an early age, she was guided by environments that cultivated excellence and confidence. As a child and young woman in New York, she learned the value of structure and leadership through formative community programs. Music became one of her first teachers. Studying the piano, violin, and viola instilled not only technical skill, but an understanding of foundation—an idea reinforced by her piano teacher, who taught her that mastering the basics opens the door to limitless expression.
That principle followed her into every area of life.
Athletics further refined her resilience. Competitive swimming taught her endurance, discipline, and the importance of moving forward even when the outcome is uncertain. Coaches and mentors emphasized perseverance—not as force, but as steady commitment. These lessons would later reappear in her academic pursuits, professional leadership, and personal research.
Equally influential were the educators who recognized her voice and encouraged her to use it. From guidance counselors who introduced her to spiritual grounding principles, to mentors who urged her to stand before audiences and speak with confidence, Dr. Rodriguez learned that presence matters—and that one’s voice carries responsibility.
Her academic journey led her to higher education, where she not only earned her degrees, but also stepped into advocacy and leadership roles. Serving as President of a Native American student organization, she championed visibility, cultural continuity, and historical truth—long before such conversations entered the mainstream.
In 1980, Dr. Rodriguez began what would become a defining chapter of her life: unraveling her own family history. What started as a personal search—names, records, migrations—quickly revealed a larger truth. Countless families shared the same unanswered questions, the same silences in the historical record, the same longing to understand where they belonged.
That realization transformed her path.
Over the decades, Dr. Rodriguez’s genealogical work evolved into a profound service to others. She became not only a researcher, but a guide—helping individuals and families reclaim their ancestral narratives with accuracy, dignity, and respect. Her research culminated in the publication of Tan Americans of Clinton County, New York in 2006, a meticulously researched genealogical work that preserved lineages often overlooked or misunderstood.
Her work demonstrated that genealogy is not merely about charts and dates—it is about identity, belonging, and healing generational disconnection.
At the same time, Dr. Rodriguez pursued a parallel calling: holistic healing. Drawn to integrative medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine, she earned a Master of Science in Acupuncture and later completed her Doctor of Acupuncture degree in 2023. Her clinical philosophy reflects the same principle that guided her historical work—that the body, mind, spirit, and story must be addressed together.
Healing, in her view, is incomplete without context.
In 1990, her dedication to community took tangible form through the founding of the Clinton Community College Child Care Center—an initiative rooted in compassion and practicality, supporting students and working families by creating access to education without sacrificing family well-being.
Over time, Dr. Rodriguez founded multiple organizations that reflect her integrated vision: Kicotan Acupuncture, Book Serenity, and the Tan American Historical Association. Each serves a distinct purpose, yet all are united by a shared mission—preserving knowledge, supporting wellness, and honoring legacy.
Book Serenity, in particular, represents the culmination of her life’s work. It is not simply a bookstore or media platform. It is a curated space where carefully researched genealogy, historical narratives, wellness education, and ancestral wisdom converge. Through books, podcasts, and educational content, Book Serenity invites audiences into deeper reflection—offering resources that are both intellectually rigorous and emotionally grounding.
The Book Serenity Podcast and YouTube channel extend this mission further, providing a space where stories are restored, voices are honored, and wisdom is shared with clarity and care.
If you are seeking more than surface-level answers—if you feel called to understand your roots, improve your well-being, and live with intention—Dr. Guadalupe Vanderhorst Rodriguez offers a path grounded in experience, scholarship, and compassion.
Through Book Serenity, you are invited to explore genealogy not as a hobby, but as a bridge to self-understanding. You are encouraged to view healing not as symptom management, but as a return to balance. And you are reminded that legacy is not something left behind—it is something lived.
Explore the Book Serenity Podcast and YouTube channel.Engage with books and teachings that honor both history and healing.Begin your own journey toward clarity, confidence, and connection.
Because when you understand where you come from, you gain the power to shape where you are going.

A Woman Who Would Not Be Forgotten: Sarah Ellen Yerby Speaks

A Woman Who Would Not Be Forgotten: Sarah Ellen Yerby Speaks
So many women lived full, courageous lives—yet history barely remembers their names. What happens when their voices are finally heard?
In this moving episode of the Book Serenity Podcast, Sarah Ellen Yerby speaks across generations, sharing the story of the Yerby family—from their Georgia roots to lives shaped by faith, resilience, and quiet leadership.
Through Sarah’s own words, you’ll discover a woman who married, raised children, built a business in a time when women rarely did, and ensured her family’s legacy would not disappear. This is more than genealogy—it is living history, told with heart.
Listen now and be inspired to remember your own ancestors, preserve their stories, and honor the voices that time tried to erase—only on the Book Serenity Podcast.

Robert Sweat of Virginia (c.1577–1642): Early Colonial Records, Indenture, and an Unresolved Arrival

Who was Robert Sweat of Colonial Virginia—and was he one man, or two?
In this compelling episode of The Book Serenity Podcast, we explore the life of Robert Sweat (c.1577–1642), tracing his origins in Devon, England, and examining early Virginia records that reference his presence in the colony as early as 1618, as well as a later 1638 indenture record aboard the ship Guiding Star.
Through a first-person ancestral narrative, this episode discusses the realities of life in early Colonial Virginia, the role of indentured servants, surname spelling variations, and the challenges genealogists face when records are incomplete or conflicting. Rather than forcing conclusions, this story honors historical uncertainty while preserving family memory and ancestral truth.
If you are researching the Sweat family of Virginia, early colonial settlers, or the lived experience behind genealogical records, this episode offers insight, context, and respect for the past—inviting listeners to continue the search for truth with curiosity and care.

Kikotan Nation of Virginia: Preserving the History of a Forgotten Indigenous Tribe for the Seventh Generation

 
Much of Indigenous history was never written down—it was renamed, erased, or forgotten.The Kikotan Nation of Virginia, a small Algonquin-speaking tribe who lived where Hampton, Virginia stands today, is one of those stories nearly lost to time.
In this powerful episode, you’ll hear an ancestral narrative told in the voice of the Kikotan Chief, born around 1540, whose life and lineage endured despite violence, renaming, and colonial elimination.
Learn how the Powhatan placed his son, Pochin, as chief, how intermarriage preserved the people, and how Governor Thomas Gates sought to erase the Kikotan's by renaming their homeland Elizabeth City in 1607.
This is not just history—it is survival through memory.
If you care about:
Indigenous history and cultural preservation
Genealogy and ancestral truth
Understanding what existed before Colonial Virginia
Honoring the Indigenous responsibility to the Seventh Generation
This episode will deepen your connection to the land, the people, and the importance of remembering those who came before us.
Listen now to The Book Serenity Podcast and join Dr. Guadalupe Vanderhorst Rodriguez—descendant and historian of the Kikotan Nation—as she preserves this history for future generations.By listening, sharing, and remembering, you help ensure the Kikotan story is never forgotten again.

Elizabeth Wilson (1655–?): A Bonded Woman’s Journey from England to Colonial Virginia

Elizabeth Wilson (1655–?): A Bonded Woman’s Journey from England to Colonial Virginia
Born on September 5, 1655, in Bremhill, Wiltshire, Elizabeth Wilson lived a life that history nearly forgot. Bound as a young woman to service in England, her name survives only in fragments—yet her journey shaped generations.
This powerful historical narrative reveals what life was truly like for a bonded woman in 17th-century England—the labor, the limits, and the quiet endurance. Through Elizabeth’s own voice, readers follow her path from bondage to freedom, marriage, and the dangerous Atlantic crossing that carried her to Colonial Virginia.
Elizabeth’s story is more than genealogy—it is women’s history, social history, and ancestral legacy woven together. If you are drawn to stories of ordinary women who lived extraordinary lives, this account offers connection, resilience, and meaning for descendants and history lovers alike.
Discover more true stories like Elizabeth’s.
Visit Book Serenity to explore a curated collection of historical, genealogical, and women’s history books that preserve voices nearly lost to time.
Honor the past. Understand the present. Keep these stories alive.

Elizabeth Jeffreys of Whitkirk, Yorkshire: An Unrecorded Story

Her name appeared only once in the records.Born in 1679 in Whitkirk, Yorkshire, Elizabeth Jeffreys lived at a time when women’s lives were rarely written—and often forgotten.
In this episode, Elizabeth Jeffreys tells her story in her own voice. Through quiet moments of daily life in 17th-century England, she reveals what it meant to live as a woman whose experiences were never meant for history books—yet whose bloodline would one day cross the Atlantic. Today, her descendants live in the United States, unknowingly carrying the strength, resilience, and legacy she left behind.
This episode invites you to experience genealogy not as dates and documents, but as a living connection between past and present. If you have ever searched your family tree and wondered about the women behind the names, this story will resonate deeply. Elizabeth’s life reminds us that even when history is silent, legacy endures.
To continue Elizabeth’s journey and explore her life in greater depth, discover the book Elizabeth Jeffreys of Whitkirk, Yorkshire: An Unrecorded Story, available at Book Serenity.By reading her story, you help restore a voice history nearly erased—and honor the ancestors who made your life possible.