Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Practice You with Elena Brower
| Titre | Date | Durée | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Episode 253: Shermin Kruse | 03 Oct 2026 | 00:51:09 | |
On the clear connection between stoicism and empathy; the gift of learning to bear challenges with steadiness.
Shermin Kruse is a globally recognized author, law professor, negotiation consultant, TEDx producer, and author of Stoic Empathy. Born in Tehran during political upheaval, she immigrated to Canada as a child and earned degrees in philosophy and neuropsychology from the University of Toronto, followed by a law degree from the University of Michigan. Her work lives at the intersection of ancient wisdom, neuroscience, and the art of negotiation; and her life is the proof of what she teaches. She spent nearly two decades as a partner at Barack Ferrazzano, a prestigious Chicago law firm, representing Fortune 500 clients in high-stakes negotiations, cross-border transactions, and corporate litigation. She is currently a professor at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, where she teaches stoic empathy negotiations, leadership, and global transactions; her book Stoic Empathy is required reading for the advanced negotiation course there. As founder and executive producer of TEDxWrigleyville, she has produced and scripted over 80 TEDx and TED talks and performances with millions of views across dozens of countries, and has delivered three TEDx talks herself on advocacy, stoicism, and strategic empathy. She serves on the boards of the ACLU and RefuSHE, has founded multiple NGOs, and has been recognized as one of the nation's top 100 Women to Watch by BizWomen Magazine. She is also the author of the novel Butterfly Stitching and the textbook Global Transactions and Regulation. Shermin lives in Chicago with her four children. | |||
| Episode 252: Dr. Shefali | 19 Sep 2026 | 00:48:53 | |
Vital parenting practices to cultivate confidence, purpose and inner power in an increasingly anxious world.
Dr. Shefali is a clinical psychologist, New York Times bestselling author, and the founder of the Conscious Parenting movement. Blending Western psychology with Eastern wisdom, she has redefined how families understand selfhood, connection, and the inner life of children. Trained at Columbia University, Dr. Shefali has spent decades guiding parents beyond patterns of fear and control toward presence, authenticity, and inner transformation. Her groundbreaking work explores the hidden forces that shape identity, relationships, and the way we inhabit the world—creating a path for both children and the adults who raise them to awaken and evolve. "The greatest gift you can give your children is your own transformation." | |||
| Episode 251: Billy Wynne | 12 Sep 2026 | 00:51:42 | |
On encountering and easing the past, creating the conditions to feel and offer compassion, and equanimity as practice.
Billy Wynne is a health and wellbeing entrepreneur, Zen Buddhist, mindfulness meditation teacher, and author of The Empty Path: Finding Fulfillment Through the Radical Art of Lessening, which was published by New World Library in March 2025. He founded Impact Health, a mission-driven consultancy, Awake, an alcohol-free bar, and other companies. Billy has served on several boards, including Operation Smile, 365Health, Cherish Children Adoption International, the Zen Center of Denver, and Colorado's Natural Medicine Advisory Board, which is implementing the state's psychedelic therapy program. He received a BA in Government and Religion from Dartmouth College and a JD from the University of Virginia. He is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Buddhist Studies from the Institute of Buddhist Studies. Billy lives in Carbondale, CO with his wife, son, and two shih-poos, Oscar and Archie. Their daughter is in college. | |||
| Episode 250: Charlotte Rotterdam & Pieter Oosthuizen | 29 Aug 2026 | 00:43:33 | |
On the wisdom of open awareness and the benefit of the simplest practices in our daily life.
Partners in life, practice, and parenting, Charlotte Rotterdam and Pieter Oosthuizen draw on decades of dedicated study and practice to share the rich teachings of Tibetan Buddhism and their application to modern life. They've served as faculty at Naropa University, are senior teachers at Tara Mandala Retreat Center founded by Lama Tsultrim Allione, and teach globally. Their recent book, Skymind: The Radical Path of Open Awareness (Shambhala, 2026), highlights the nature of mind teachings of the 11th century Tibetan yogini Machig Labdron and their relevance in our everyday lives. Amid life's relentless challenges, uncertainties, and endless striving, how do we find a sense of ease, clarity, and connection? Skymind offers a way to step back from life's constant push and pull and discover the spaciousness and wholeness that has always been within you. Inspired by the revolutionary teachings of Machig Labdrön, an 11th-century Tibetan yogini who pioneered a radical approach to inner freedom, this book introduces Skymind meditation—a practice that helps you cultivate clarity, compassion, and resilience by resting in the sky-like nature of your mind. Through simple exercises, contemplations, and Machig's powerful verses, you'll be guided to meet life's challenges with courage and radical acceptance. These teachings invite you to embrace every part of your experience—even the emotions and thoughts you'd rather avoid—and discover the freedom that comes from including everything in your awareness. Whether you are new to meditation or a seasoned practitioner, Skymind offers profound insights and practical tools to help you live with authenticity, ease, and a heart as vast as the sky. | |||
| Episode 249: Vanessa Barboni Hallik | 15 Aug 2026 | 00:33:21 | |
On ecosystem restoration; building coherent, sustainable supply chains into the garments we wear; creating resilience in our systems, our bodies, our hearts.
Vanessa Barboni Hallik is the founder, co-CEO and Executive Chair of Another Tomorrow, a B Corp Certified end-to-end sustainable luxury brand with a mission to model a regenerative and resilient model for fashion, including a digitized blockchain-based product infrastructure delivering transparency, authenticated re-commerce, and additional digital to physical engagement. She is an active speaker on innovation, digitalization, regenerative supply chains, and new business models and has been featured in The New York Times, Fast Company, Bloomberg, Forbes, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Cultured Magazine, and Vogue Business for her work among others, and is one of Wallpaper* Magazine's USA400, the Inc Magazine 500, and Worth Magazine's Worthy100. Prior to founding Another Tomorrow, Vanessa was a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley, where she held several leadership roles in the emerging markets institutional securities business. Throughout her career she has worked across global markets and managed culturally diverse and cross-border teams. While at Morgan Stanley, she served as a Trustee on the Board of the Morgan Stanley Foundation and represented the firm at the Council on Foreign Relations. She likewise chaired the Fixed Income Philanthropy Committee, during which she initiated and subsequently led the firm's mentoring program with East Side Community High School, in partnership with PENCIL.org. | |||
| Episode 248: May Lindstrom | 01 Aug 2026 | 00:45:50 | |
On learning how to be in your skin, one surprisingly human tale, and ways to care for our tender selves.
May Lindstrom is the Founder, Skin Chef, and CEO behind the luxury organic skincare brand, May Lindstrom Skin. Since its official launch in 2011, this small-batch, indie-beauty movement leader has been featured in Vogue, W, BAZAAR, The New York Times, GOOP, Town & Country, and coveted by a deeply loyal following. May's mission is to inspire a relationship and connection to sense and self, and in her world, this happens through the loving and intentional care of the skin. The invitation? Skin is intimate: lean in. This episode will surprise and delight you. Instagram: @maylindstromskin maylindstrom.com.As a listener of the Practice You Podcast, when you purchase $150 at this link, you'll receive your choice of a travel-sized gift. | |||
| Episode 247: Dr. Jessica Shepherd | 18 Jul 2026 | 00:43:47 | |
Generation M brings education and clear inspiration for perimenopause into menopause and beyond.
Dr. Jessica Shepherd is a menopause expert and board-certified OBGYN specializing in menopause and longevity care. She is the Chief Medical Officer for Hers and founder of Sanctum Med + Wellness, her Dallas-based holistic practice focused on optimizing women's health and aging. Her book Generation M has helped shape the modern menopause conversation, and she is a trusted media expert featured on Good Morning America, The Today Show, CNN, and more. Through her clinical work and education, Dr. Shepherd empowers women to take a prevention-forward, science-backed approach to physical, sexual, and emotional wellness. Generation M Modern Meno community | |||
| Episode 246: Kristoffer 'K.C.' Carter | 04 Jul 2026 | 00:25:07 | |
On the path to power through peace, our surprising energetic fingerprint, and practicing self-compassion.
Kristoffer Carter ('KC') is the author of Permission to Glow: A Spiritual Guide to Epic Leadership, which guides his team's coaching of Fortune 500 executive leaders. He is the CEO and founder of Epic Leadership, which has created a meditation practice for thousands. Kris's teachings have been featured in Men's Health, Fast Company, Thrive Global, and Good Life Project podcast. Kris sits on the Board of Directors of Yoga Alliance, and serves the global work of Paramahansa Yogananda, author of Autobiography of a Yogi. He teaches at Kripalu, and on Substack, via his column Permission to Chill. Kristoffer lives in Northeast Ohio with his three children. | |||
| Episode 245: Dr. Lauren Tober | 20 Jun 2026 | 00:34:01 | |
On bridging psychological insight into the yoga space, infusing everything with choice and invitation.
Dr. Lauren Tober (she/her) is a Clinical Psychologist, Yoga Teacher, author of Mental Health Aware Yoga: A Guide for Yoga Teachers, host of the A Grateful Life Podcast, mother-of-two, spiritual seeker, beach-lover, book-reader, world-traveller and an eternal student of life. She has been a practicing psychologist and yoga teacher for over 20 years and is the founder of the Yoga Psychology Institute where she teaches yoga teachers about mental health, mental health professionals about yoga, and offers programs for anyone interested in the intersection of yoga, psychology and living a good life. With a passion for health, healing, happiness and awakening, Dr Lauren integrates the best of western psychology with yogic wisdom, both on and off the mat. Her work is soulful without being new-agey. It's evidence based without being clinical. It's authentic, heartfelt and life changing. Find out more at www.yogapsychologyinstitute.com. Lauren's new book - Mental Health Aware Yoga: A Guide for Yoga Teachers - www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/book Lauren's masterclass - How to Teach Yoga for Nervous System Regulation - www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/how-to-teach-yoga-for-nervous-system-regulation/ | |||
| Episode 244: Amy Kurtz | 06 Jun 2026 | 00:32:21 | |
On navigating chronic illness with grace, the courage it takes to name what's invisible, and the quiet revolution of believing yourself.
Amy Kurtz is a trailblazing author, certified health coach, patient advocate and speaker dedicated to empowering patients to reclaim agency over their physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. A distinct voice in the health space, Amy's work has been heralded by Dr Mark Hyman, Kris Carr, and many more. Lena Dunham named Kicking Sick one of her "Top 10 desert island books of all time" in New York Magazine. Amy has been featured on Oprah Daily, Good Morning America, The Boston Globe, NYMAG, Fox, and more. In her debut book, "Kicking Sick: Your GO-TO GUIDE for thriving with chronic health conditions," Amy shares her journey of living with chronic health conditions and provides a roadmap and actionable guidance to help readers manage debilitating conditions and live fully. Amy's second book, But You Look Fine, Trapped in the Hell between Sick and Well and How to Break Free, breaks the silence about the crucial, painful, pervasive, and yet all too common phase of healing from chronic illness that has long gone overlooked… until now. | |||
| Episode 243: Merissa Nathan Gerson | 23 May 2026 | 00:40:41 | |
On the nuances of grief and loss, personal rituals, and our willingness to be transformed.
Merissa Nathan Gerson is the author of Forget Prayers, Bring Cake: A Single Woman's Guide to Grieving, and her writing appears in Modern Love for the New York Times, The Atlantic, Playboy, Tablet, CNN.com and beyond. Merissa trained in Shambhala Shamatha meditation, graduated with an MFA in Writing and Poetics from Naropa University, is a certified Sivananda yoga teacher, and holds an MA in Jewish Studies with a focus on inherited trauma as well as sex and gender from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. She was the Inherited Trauma consultant to Amazon's Transparent and is the daughter and granddaughter of war refugees. She is currently training to be a rabbi. Forget Prayers, Bring Cake: A Single Woman's Guide to Grieving came out in 2021 from Mandala Press for Simon & Schuster. This book is a companion for these times. As McArthur Genius Kiese Laymon describes: "Merissa Gerson has created a neon treatise on the art and necessity of grieving." | |||
| Episode 242: Ann Tashi Slater | 09 May 2026 | 00:43:27 | |
On tending to our interdependence, living life fully, and dying with attention and equanimity.
Ann Tashi Slater writes for The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Paris Review, and Granta, among others, and is a contributing editor at Tricycle. She presents and teaches workshops at Princeton, Columbia, Oxford, Asia Society, and The American University of Paris, and was a regular speaker at NYC's Rubin Museum of Art during the museum's 20-year run. Ann's new book, Traveling in Bardo: The Art of Living in an Impermanent World was released by Balance/Hachette in September, 2025. TRAVELING IN BARDO explores how we can find meaning and happiness in a world where change is the only certainty. Interweaving explorations of "bardo" between-states in relation to marriage and friendship, parents and children, and work and creativity with stories of her Tibetan ancestors and Buddhist teachings on the fleeting nature of existence, Slater illuminates what the teachings have to tell us in our contemporary lives. She relays vital wisdom from Tibetan culture, giving us a bold, new framework to navigate moments of change and live life fully. With a foreword by Dani Shapiro, the book has been praised by Elizabeth Gilbert, Melissa Febos, Sharon Salzberg, and Julia Alvarez, among others, and has been selected as a "Must-Read" by the Next Big Idea Club, co-curated by Malcolm Gladwell. In the midst of this shifting landscape, Slater invites us to embrace impermanence in a powerful way, rooted in ancient wisdom. During over forty years of writing and speaking about her Tibetan-American heritage and the relevance of Buddhism in Western society, Slater has come to see how Tibetan bardo views on impermanence can transform the way we live. A luminous guide to navigating transition and impermanence, it offers us the opportunity to find happiness in an impermanent world. | |||
| Episode 241: Allison Deraney | 25 Apr 2026 | 00:28:17 | |
On the identities we no longer need, the alchemy of recovery, and mourning the person we used to be.
Allison Deraney is a woman in recovery from alcohol who credits sobriety for waking her back up to her first passion—writing. Currently a licensed real estate attorney, running her own business, she's writing more creativity into her days via her Substack, Dare To Be, and working on her first book, a memoir about the healing and revealing as we recover from the ambiguous loss of self-abandonment. Dedicated to speaking up and speaking out about living a conscious sober life, Allison lives in Massachusetts with her husband, two kids, and two rescue dogs, spending her free time wandering and wondering in nature, and cheering her kids on from the sidelines of the basketball court. Allison's book-to-be is about grief; not the traditional kind, though there is some of that in there. The biggest lesson she's learned in recovery is this: Rejecting grief, in all its iterations, is a form of self-abandonment. Grief requires that we surrender to it. So does addiction, compulsion of perfection and aging. It's a book that explores how my midlife journey is intersecting with the deeper parts of recovery in the most terrifying and beautiful way. It's a unique book in that it is written during the transformation. Because I am still in it. Sobriety has been my portal to Divinity and I'm here, feet planted on the threshold, weaving words to capture the experience as best I can. https://allisonderaney.substack.com Here are Allison's three favorite posts from her Substack, DARE TO BE, out of an immense pull to write through her sobriety. https://open.substack.com/pub/allisonderaney/p/setting-off-our-own-fireworks-a95?r=rkt4u&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false | |||
| Episode 240: Amber Romaniuk | 11 Apr 2026 | 00:36:21 | |
On the root causes of emotional eating, tools with which to begin your healing process, and gifting yourself grace as you go. And you're not broken.
Amber Romaniuk is an Emotional Eating, Digestive and Hormone Expert, with 12 years experience helping high achieving women create a level of body confidence, intuition and optimal health through powerful mindset healing, self-care and overcoming self-sabotage with food. She does this through addressing the key negative thoughts, patterns and limiting beliefs that keep women stuck in the same behaviors for years and decades, that they haven't been able to break. Resources: Emotional Eating Quiz | |||
| Episode 239: Annette Knopp | 28 Mar 2026 | 00:38:12 | |
On the undeniable gift of becoming our own ally, when personal healing becomes shared, universal healing.
Annette Knopp is a meditation teacher, somatic counselor, and nature mystic who favors an integrative approach to living in wakeful and embodied connection. For twenty years she has mentored clients on their unique journeys of healing and awakening. She spent nine years living in India, Japan, Australia, and the Netherlands before moving to the US on a religious worker visa. In 2009 Annette and her husband Stephan opened the Blue Spirit Retreat Center in Nosara, Costa Rica. Today she divides her time between Costa Rica and Woodstock, New York. In the US, she is often teaching at the Upaya Zen Center and Omega Institute in Rhinebeck.. Mystic Nomad: A Woman's Wild Journey to True Connection https://www.annetteknopp.com/book. | |||
| Episode 238: Kino MacGregor | 14 Mar 2026 | 00:34:04 | |
On practice as a continuous evolution of form, care and depth, and sustaining the light of our teachers as an act of love. Kino MacGregor is a Miami native, happiest on the beach with a fresh coconut. She's a poet at heart, always stopping to smell the flowers. She also the founder of Omstars, the world's first yoga TV network, and her message of spiritual strength reaches practitioners the world over. With 1m+ followers on Instagram and over 500k subscribers on YouTube and Facebook, she's sought after as an expert in yoga and international yoga teacher, inspirational speaker, author of four books, producer of six Ashtanga Yoga DVDs, a writer, vlogger, world traveler, and co-founder of Miami Life Center.
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| Episode 237: Light Watkins | 28 Feb 2026 | 00:34:17 | |
On the tortoise approach, the seven-day ask, the gift and truth of less being more, and the practice of no-complaints-whatsoever.
For over two decades, Light Watkins has helped leaders and teams embed presence into how they live, lead, and connect. His approach elevates performance not by pushing harder, but by helping audiences show up more fully. Light is the author of five bestselling books on happiness, mindfulness, minimalism, and transformation. His TEDx Talk on rethinking mindfulness is approaching a million views. Known as "The Presence Whisperer," Light delivers keynotes that are humorous, heartfelt, practical, unforgettable. | |||
| Episode 236: Jiryu Rustchman-Byler | 14 Feb 2026 | 00:38:25 | |
On the practice of sitting, walking, becoming, and living as yourself, precisely where you are.
This long-awaited new book from Shunryu Suzuki: Becoming Yourself: Teachings on the Zen Way of Life, edited by Jiryu Rutschman-Byler and Sojun Mel Weitsman, is one of my favorite books of 2025. Jiryu Rutschman-Byler is a Soto Zen Buddhist priest and teacher in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, with dharma transmission from Sojun Mel Weitsman. Jiryu has trained residentially in Zen temples since 1996, and currently serves as a co-Abbot of San Francisco Zen Center through his role as Abiding Abbot of Green Gulch Farm Zen Center. Shunryu Suzuki was one of the most influential spiritual teachers of the Twentieth Century and a founding father of Zen in America. Suzuki's Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, first published in the U.S. in 1970, is considered one of the most important Buddhist books in modern history, and has been translated into more than thirty-five languages. A Japanese priest of the Sōtō lineage, Suzuki taught Buddhism in the United States from 1959 until his death in 1971. He was the founder of the San Francisco Zen Center and the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. While contemporary Buddhist figures such as His Holiness The Dalai Lama, Thích Nhất Hạnh, and Pema Chödrön are more familiar to American audiences, Shunryu Suzuki was among the first Buddhist teachers with cultural influence in the West and was the first to establish a lasting practice community in the U.S. Importantly, the warmth, humor, and simplicity of Suzuki's teachings made Buddhism accessible. For decades, the San Francisco Zen Center has preserved an archive of Suzuki's original audio teachings, most of which have never been edited or published. Becoming Yourself: Teachings on the Zen Way of Life offers newly available teachings by Suzuki, exploring a practice he describes as fundamentally about "becoming yourself." Rather than offering a philosophy or even a set of techniques, Suzuki points to a way of being, and calls readers to the simple practice of zazen, or "just to sit," as the expression of a fulfilling life and grounded ethical orientation. Becoming Yourself is a result of the painstaking efforts of the Zen community over many years. Archiving, transcribing and interpreting Suzuki's intention clearly and accurately proved to be very challenging work. The final editor and compiler of the book is Jiryu Rutschman-Byler, a senior teacher and co-Abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center. As we learn in these pages, "becoming yourself" is not meant to be understood as an idea but rather tried out as a way of being. It is a practice of deeply connecting with how it feels to be alive in your surroundings, whether on a meditation cushion or not, and stepping forward from that connection. It is opening to your life, wherever you are, and finding right there a deep well of innate wisdom, compassion, and care. | |||
| Episode 235: Miguel Rios | 31 Jan 2026 | 00:35:25 | |
On the Tao Te Ching as guide through recovery, allowing our process, and the generative medicine of stillness.
Miguel Rios is an educator, writer, and recovery advocate. By day, he teaches 8th-grade English, helping young people find their voice through literature. By night—and often early morning—he writes poetry, reflections, and spiritual texts grounded in Taoist philosophy, sobriety, and presence. The Way Within Without was born from Miguel's personal journey through recovery. It's the book he wished he had in the beginning: something honest, non-dogmatic, and deeply gentle. Miguel believes healing happens quietly. In stillness, not striving. In simplicity, not performance. His work blends ancient wisdom with modern clarity, inviting readers to return to the calm already within them. He lives in New York and spends his free time walking, reading, and sipping coffee. | |||
| Episode 234: Cecily Mak | 17 Jan 2026 | 00:45:10 | |
On the power of letting go of numbing habit energies, aligning with our intrinsic wisdom, and living a clear life.
Cecily is a mother, author, investor, and founder, the voice behind the ClearLife Movement, the ClearLife Reset, and host of the Undimmed podcast. A former attorney and Silicon Valley executive turned author and investor, she's also the co-founder of Wisdom Ventures. Cecily helps people create undimmed lives of presence and intention, free from the stigma of addiction and the patterns of avoidance that keep us from living fully. Her new book, released January 2026. Undimmed, The Eight Awarenesses for Freedom from Unwanted Habits - https://www.cecilymak.com/book-coming-soon Podcast, Undimmed; conversations with people on an undimming path: https://www.cecilymak.com/podcast ClearLife Reset Supplement (feel amazing as you take a break from drinking): https://www.clearlifereset.com/ | |||
| Episode 233: 2026 Planning Session | 03 Jan 2026 | 01:22:21 | |
Our annual session includes readings from Hold Nothing, emphasizing practice, respect, and structures of encouragement. Join me to sit briefly, address potent prompts intended to create intentionality and spaces of grace for you and yours as you proceed into this year.
Resources Substacks Books
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| Episode 232: Jessie Harrold | 20 Dec 2025 | 00:37:25 | |
For mothers, mothers-to-be and those supporting mothers: On matrescence as transformation; offering the Four Elements model as a map for the rite of passage that is motherhood.
Jessie Harrold is a coach and doula who has been supporting women through radical life transformations and other rites of passage for over fifteen years. She works one-on-one with women and mothers, facilitates mentorship programs, women's circles and rituals, and hosts retreats and nature-based experiences. Jessie is the author of the Nautilus Gold Medal Award-winning book, Mothershift: Reclaiming Motherhood as a Rite of Passage (Shambhala 2024). She is also the host of The Becoming Podcast. Jessie lives on the east coast of Canada where she mothers her two children, writes, and stewards the land. Mothershift: Reclaiming Motherhood as a Rite of Passage Jessie is also the founder of the internationally acclaimed matrescence support program MotherSHIFT, and its sister program for perinatal professionals, The Village. | |||
| Episode 231: Nevine Michaan | 06 Dec 2025 | 00:42:04 | |
On participating in your life by orienting to practice; befriending time to stabilize your mind, meditating polarities to map your world.
Born in Egypt in 1954, Nevine moved to New York at the age of three. In her early 20's, while studying history and comparative religion at Vassar College, she discovered meditation. She understood that there is a function, a formality and a fit to the universe and that yoga is a tool, a technique – a practice with repetition which gives us the opportunity to participate in life with intelligence and joy. Nevine started a daily practice in NYC with renowned yoga instructor Allan Bateman in the 1970s and became fully immersed in what would become her life's work. She began teaching yoga in 1978, and founded the Katonah Yoga Center in Katonah, New York in 1986. Nevine seamlessly relates her approach to yoga through comparing it to the likes of a musician. Her artful use of metaphor is one of her most well honed techniques when articulating her teachings, which are empowered by her practical approach to integrating the mind, the body and the breath. Nevine continues to teach both online and in person through her studio, the Katonah Yoga Collective in Bedford Hills NY and others throughout the community. Number Magic, new 2026 Katonah Yoga Calendar Katonah Yoga practices and theory Katonah Yoga certifications and learn more about our Mentorship Program happening twice a year online: | |||
| Episode 230: Sara Bercholz | 22 Nov 2025 | 00:37:10 | |
On supportive friendship, persistence, practice, and what it means to hold nothing.
Sara Bercholz is a second-generation book publisher. She is co-owner and Publisher of her family business, Shambhala Publications. She is a Buddhist practitioner, yogi, cook, and outdoorswoman. She lives in Boulder, Colorado with her two children, Milo and Dashiell. | |||
| Episode 229: Deva Premal | 08 Nov 2025 | 00:29:39 | |
On respecting the evolution of this life and consistently responding to the call of the brightest light of all.
Deva Premal is a world-renowned, Grammy-nominated mantra singer whose ethereal voice and sacred chant-based music have touched millions around the globe. Blending ancient Sanskrit mantras with contemporary melodies, her work creates a powerful space for inner peace, healing, and spiritual awakening. In collaboration with her partner, musician/composer Miten, she has played a key role in bringing mantra music to a worldwide audience through concerts, retreats, and acclaimed recordings. Deva and Miten's music is celebrated for its depth, purity, and universal resonance, making them beloved figures in the global yoga, wellness, and mindfulness communities. Deva's new album: The Inevitable Blossoming of the Heart | |||
| Episode 228: Megan Dalla Camina | 25 Oct 2025 | 00:41:58 | |
On practices of empowerment, support and the archetypes that instruct and inspire us to evolve.
Megan Dalla-Camina is the founder of Women Rising, a global women's empowermentcompany supporting hundreds of thousands of women through leadership, education, and transformational growth. A PhD researcher in women's spirituality, she brings more than 30 years of experience in executive leadership and entrepreneurship into her work guiding women to reclaim their feminine power. Megan weaves ancient wisdom, embodied practice, and modern science to help women awaken to the truth of who you are. Megan is the best selling author of 4 books including Women Rising: The Forces That Hold Us Back, The Tools To Help Us Rise (Wiley), and Simple Soulful Sacred: A Woman's Guide To Clarity, Comfort and Coming Home To Herself (Hay House). | |||
| Episode 227: Susanna Barkataki | 11 Oct 2025 | 00:48:46 | |
On staying true to the practices of yoga by living a life of conscious care and respect.
Susanna Barkataki is a yoga teacher, bestselling author, viral TEDx speaker, and currently pursuing her PhD in yoga philosophy. She is the founder of Ignite Institute and Yoke Yoga. Susanna's new book, Ignite Your Yoga, is a resource for teachers and practitioners alike, replete with prompts, practices, reminders, and respect. | |||
| Episode 226: Heather A. Campbell | 27 Sep 2025 | 00:46:26 | |
On realizing that 'good' is actually more than enough, and the joy of letting go of the exhausting pressure we place on ourselves.
Heather Campbell is a writer, motivational speaker, and CEO dedicated to making people feel seen, heard, and celebrated. As co-founder of Ready Set Recover, and former senior executive at ESPN and Audacy, she intimately understands the toll of overachievement—and the liberation that comes from letting go. Campbell holds an MBA from NYU, a BA from the University of Wisconsin, and after nearly 30 years in NYC now lives in the Berkshires with her husband, children and their dog, Tobin. Heather A. Campbell's New Book, Good Is Amazing, challenges the Culture of Overachievement and Champions the Power of Good. What if striving to be "the best" is what's actually holding us back? In a world obsessed with unicorns, GOATs, and relentless self-improvement, Heather A. Campbell delivers a refreshing—and bold—reframe: good is not just enough. Good is amazing. The relatable, hilarious, and heartfelt moments from her life—like when her mom begged her to become President of the United States, or when an ESPN executive casually told her to "just make the book a New York Times bestseller," anchor a deeper message: the constant pressure to aim higher, do the most, and be the best is exhausting—and it's not working. With wit, warmth, and wisdom, Campbell invites readers to consider a radical idea: What if stopping the chase for perfection and instead embracing good—the joy, simplicity, and genuine satisfaction it brings—is the real secret to success? Each chapter blends real talk, personal insight, and simple, actionable steps to help readers slow down, breathe, and reconnect with what really matters. Parents, professionals, students, caregivers, entrepreneurs—anyone burdened by the relentless pursuit of perfection—will find powerful inspiration here. Good Is Amazing is available now online at Amazon . To learn more about Heather or inquire about speaking engagements, visit heatheracampbell.com | |||
| Episode 225: Daria Burke | 13 Sep 2025 | 00:55:49 | |
On the quiet work of befriending ourselves, and the remembered language of healing.
Daria Burke is an American writer, speaker, and wellbeing advocate. A marketer by trade and a seeker at heart, Daria is a storyteller and sense-maker, weaving together personal experience and the science of healing and transformation to explore new ways of understanding how we choose who we become. Her debut memoir, OF MY OWN MAKING (Spring 2025), is a soulful and scientific exploration of overcoming adversity, healing from childhood trauma, and rewriting one's own story. As a Chief Marketing Officer, Daria was named a 2020 AdAge Woman to Watch whose work has been recognized by Women's Wear Daily, Forbes, Vogue, Town & Country and the Cut. She has written for Fast Company, The Huffington Post, and Black Enterprise, and has appeared on The Melissa Harris-Perry Show on MSNBC. A distinguished alumna of NYU Stern School of Business (MBA) and the University of Michigan (BA), Daria was born in Detroit and now calls Los Angeles and East Hampton home. Daria's memoir OF MY OWN MAKING. Part memoir, part methodology, OF MY OWN MAKING is a soulful and scientific exploration of the power to shape one's destiny and a fearless rallying cry to excavate and examine the stories that define our lives. | |||
| Episode 224: Sophie Grégoire Trudeau | 30 Aug 2025 | 00:55:19 | |
On healing our emotional biography, the unwounded soul within, and the choices we keep making to evolve.
Sophie studied commerce at McGill University and holds a Bachelor's degree in Communications from the University of Montreal, as well as a certificate from the Promedia School of Television and Radio. Deeply passionate about exploring the great outdoors, she loves sports, movement, and yoga. She's the former First Lady of Canada, and she's also certified to teach yoga for children and adults, practicing and guiding meditation and yoga nidra sessions to reset the nervous system and find calm. Her first book, Closer Together (Penguin Random House and KO Éditions), encourages us to better understand the mechanisms of our own personality and the quality of all our relationships — most importantly, the relationship we have with ourselves. | |||
| Episode 223: Rosemerry Trommer | 16 Aug 2025 | 00:35:11 | |
On the facets of grief, the joy in the depths, and the presence we bring. (0:00) — Introduction and Guest Introduction (3:23) — Rosemerry's Son Finn (6:05) — Grief and Connection with Finn (11:53) — Exploring Darkness and Light (18:39) — Metaphors and Connection (24:30) — Meadow and Listening (28:15) — Talking to the Dead (29:53) — Rosemerry's Work and Resources Devoted to helping others explore creative practice, Rosemerry is co-host of Emerging Form, a podcast on creative process, co-founder of Secret Agents of Change (a surreptitious kindness cabal), and co-leader of Soul Writers Circle. She directed the Telluride Writers Guild for ten years and co-hosted Telluride's Talking Gourds Poetry Club for another ten years. She teaches and performs poetry for mindfulness retreats, women's retreats, teachers, addiction recovery programs, scientists, hospice, literary burlesque and more. Clients include Craig Hospital, Business & Professional Women, Think 360, Ah Haa School, Desert Dharma, Well for the Journey, and the Women's Dermatological Society. She performs as a storyteller, including shows in Aspen at the Wheeler Opera House, at the Taos Storytelling Festival, Page Storytelling Festival and the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN. Her TEDx talk explores changing our outdated metaphors. For five years, she performed in the Telluride Literary Burlesque. She has been writing a poem a day since 2006, posting them since 2011 on her blog, A Hundred Falling Veils. In 2023, her poems can be heard daily on the Ritual app, The Poetic Path. Favorite themes include parenting, gardening, ecology, love, science, thriving/failure, grief and daily life. She has 13 collections of poetry, and her work has appeared in O Magazine, A Prairie Home Companion, PBS News Hour, American Life in Poetry, on fences, in back alleys, on Carnegie Hall Stage and on hundreds of river rocks she leaves around town. Her poems have been used for choral works by composers Paul Fowler and Jeffrey Nytch and performed around America. Her most recent collection, Hush, won the Halcyon prize. Naked for Tea was a finalist for the Able Muse Book Award. Other books include Even Now, The Less I Hold and If You Listen, a finalist for the Colorado Book Award. In 2023 she released All the Honey; Beneath All Appearances an Unwavering Peace (a book for grieving parents with artist Rashani Réa); a book of writing prompts, Exploring Poetry of Presence II; and Dark Praise, a spoken word album with Steve Law. She's won the Fischer Prize, Rattle's Ekphrastic Challenge (thrice), the Dwell Press Solstice Prize, the Writer's Studio Literary Contest (twice) and The Blackberry Peach Prize. She's widely anthologized including Poetry of Presence, How to Love the World, The Path to Kindness, Send My Roots Rain, Come Together: Imagine Peace, Dawn Songs, and To Love One Another. She's been an organic fruit grower, a newspaper and magazine editor, and a parent educator for Parents as Teachers. She earned her MA in English Language & Linguistics at UW–Madison. One-word mantra: Adjust. Three-word mantra: I'm still learning. | |||
| Episode 222: Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati | 02 Aug 2025 | 00:51:39 | |
On befriending the mind; when negative emotions have positive outcomes, and the practice of coming home to yourself. (0:00) — Introduction (1:34) — Discussion on Sadhvi's Book "Come Home to Yourself" (3:05) — The Importance of Spirituality (10:58) — Bringing the Mind to Your Side (24:45) — Using Anger Constructively (41:07) — Daily Practice and Service (47:41) — Evening Routine and Community Involvement (49:57) — Closing Remarks and Future Plans Bestselling author, a world-renowned speaker, serving on the United Nations Advisory Council on religion, Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati is a renunciate monk, living in an ashram on the banks of the Ganges River in Rishikesh, India. Originally from Los Angeles, California, and a graduate of Stanford University, she holds a Ph.D. in psychology and has dedicated her life to sharing the profound wisdom from the ancient Vedic tradition of India, as well as serving local communities. Her new book, Come Home To Yourself, is a journey through the heart of householder practices, befriending the mind, mastering the emotions and living a life of exemplary presence.
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| Episode 221: Mara Branscombe | 19 Jul 2025 | 00:38:06 | |
On embodying the creative, intuitive, fortifying feminine spirit at every stage of our lives.
Author of Ritual as Remedy (Findhorn Press, 2022) and Sage, Huntress, Lover, Queen (Findhorn Press, 2023), Mara Branscombe is a yoga and meditation teacher, author, artist, ceremonialist, and spiritual mentor. Teaching for twenty years, she runs international retreats, corporate leadership programs, and online personal development programs. She is a regular contributor for Spirituality and Health and Wanderlust, and lives with her husband and two daughters in Vancouver, Canada. Ritual As Remedy: Embodied Practices for Soul Care https://www.ritualasremedy.com Sage, Huntress, Lover, Queen: Access Your Power and Creativity through Sacred Female Archetypes https://www.femininearchetypesbook.com | |||
| Episode 220: Colleen and Jason Wachob | 05 Jul 2025 | 00:38:08 | |
On our commitment to joy as key to longevity. On prioritizing curiosity, compassion and empathy for true well-being.
Jason & Colleen Wachob are the husband and wife Co-Founders and Co-CEOs of mindbodygreen, the leading independent media platform dedicated to well-being with 15 million monthly unique visitors which they launched out of their Brooklyn apartment back in 2009. Jason is also the host of the popular mindbodygreen podcast, and together Colleen and Jason recently co-authored The Joy of Well-Being: A Practical Guide to a Happy, Healthy & Long Life. Colleen graduated from Stanford University with degrees in international relations and Spanish and Jason graduated from Columbia University where he played varsity basketball for four years. | |||
| Episode 219: Nan Seymour | 21 Jun 2025 | 00:32:09 | |
On our imperiled bodies of water, focusing on the majestic Great Salt Lake, and the urgency of divesting from harm.
Nan created River Writing in order to foster voice and authentic connection. Everyone is welcome in her circles. This community-held writing practice was designed for anyone willing to pick up a pen. A recent PBS documentary highlights River Writing as a method of repair for what is broken in our relationship with the natural world. Her debut poetry collection, prayers not meant for heaven, was published by Toad Hall Editions in the summer of 2021. Nan's story lake woman leaving, a modern myth, was awarded the 2022 Alfred Lambourne prize by Friends of Great Salt Lake. As the poet-in-residence on Antelope Island, Nan led day-and-night vigils on behalf of the imperiled Great Salt Lake throughout the 2022 and 2023 Utah State legislative sessions. During her weeks on the receding lake shore, she assembled the praise poem called irreplaceable, ;a collective love letter containing over 400 individual voices from lake-facing citizens. The epic ode is a community cry for this essential ecosystem's full restoration. In the May 2023 special issue of Desert Report, Nan offers a reflection on relationship with the lake from the perspective of two winter vigils. Nan continues to advocate for Rights of Nature, legally defensible personal rights for ecosystems, including Great Salt Lake. Her work gives voice to their inherent right to live, flourish, and evolve in natural way. The words emerge from a devotion to repairing the breach between humans and the rest of the sentient, singing earth. | |||
| Episode 218: Christie Tate | 07 Jun 2025 | 00:33:00 | |
On the finer practice of friendship, tending to ourselves in order to be present, and learning what it means to be a good friend.
Christie Tate is a Chicago-based writer and essayist. She has been published in The New York Times (Modern Love), The Rumpus, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, Eastern Iowa Review and elsewhere. Kiese Laymon selected her essay, Promised Lands, as the winner of the New Ohio Review's nonfiction contest, which was published Fall 2019. In this episode, we discuss B.F.F., her latest book, which strikes a deep chord of love and understanding. | |||
| Episode 217: Chelsey Luger | 24 May 2025 | 00:39:12 | |
On the ways in which we can respectfully learn from Indigenous cultures about creating instances of meaning, integrity, health and happiness. The Seven Circles encompass a series of interconnected, intersecting circles to help us all live well.
Chelsey Luger is a writer, multimedia journalist and wellness advocate whose work focuses largely on reclaiming healthy lifestyles and positive narratives in Indigenous communities. She is Anishinaabe, an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa (maternal) and Lakota from Cheyenne River and Standing Rock (paternal). She holds a BA in history and Native American studies from Dartmouth College, and an MS in journalism from Columbia University. Luger has written for the Atlantic, Self Magazine, the Huffington Post, Well + Good, Indian Country Today and more. She is a former VJ (on-air talent), script writer, and producer for NowThis News. She is a trainer/facilitator for the Native Wellness Institute and is the cofounder of Well For Culture, an Indigenous wellness initiative. Luger has worked as talent, cultural consultant, producer, content creator and copywriter for brands such as Nike, Athleta On Running and REI. She is originally from North Dakota and now resides in O'odham Jeved (Arizona) with her husband, Thosh Collins, and their children. Chelsey and Thosh are the authors of The Seven Circles: Indigenous Teachings for Living Wellnow available everywhere books are sold. | |||
| Episode 216: Ash Canty | 10 May 2025 | 00:46:54 | |
On serving and shifting the narrative around death, dying and our transition to the other side. On entering into deep heart healing and becoming ourselves.
Ash Canty is a wonderfully queer, Afro-Indigenous-made Psychic Medium and Death Walker, supporting others to consciously and gracefully face their death. Ash's work serves those actively dying as well as those wishing to feel more connected to their own spirit in everyday life. Ash also supports you in connecting with loved ones with mediumship readings, guiding you in transforming your grief into even deeper wells of meaning and aliveness. This work of walking with grief and death found Ash after being diagnosed and hospitalized with a chronic illness called Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. It was in their most challenging days and scariest moments where death was close---that Ash realized what it was they would offer to this world. "It was when I began to face my own death from my long term chronic illness that I was initiated in the astral plane by my grandmother Ida Canty, who was in spirit. She told me I would be supporting others in the physical world, lessening their fear of death and being a bridge of communication from the spirit realm to this physical realm." Certified as a death care provider through Alua Arthur's Going With Grace program, Ash's hope and prayer is to bring about healing from the other side and a profound peace regarding life after death. | |||
| Episode 215: Philipp Samor von Holtzendorff-Fehling | 26 Apr 2025 | 00:32:50 | |
On remembering our original state; the use of quantum energy to boost regenerative competency and overall health.
Philipp Samor von Holtzendorff-Fehling is a coach, conscious entrepreneur, and energy healer. In parallel to a successful international business career, he constantly worked through blockages and barriers that had prevented him from fully connecting with his true self. With that, he also started to see energy fields and developed his unique skills as a healer, and he went through two decades of training in shamanic and other energy healing practices. During his business career, he's worked as an executive for several companies, including T-Mobile International and T-Mobile US, where he served as Vice President. He's the founder and CEO of Leela Quantum Tech and Quantum Upgrade. While he's also a passionate bio- and bio-energy hacker in his personal life, he's also a kundalini yoga teacher, a father of two, loves dogs, and is currently No. 2 in the Tennis Senior US Nationals (Men's 50). https://leelaq.com | |||
| Episode 214: Shirin Etessam | 12 Apr 2025 | 00:20:42 | |
On the six key steps to freeing ourselves from the inside out.
A proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community, Shirin Etessam is an entrepreneur, producer, creator and founder. Shirin founded OML TV, a popular platform dedicated to streaming and curating quality, queer female content, and OML Originals, a female-led production company telling diverse female stories through a vast spectrum of film and television genres. Her book Free to Be leads us away from the prioritization of accomplishment toward a simple, structured, six-week reset for mind, heart and body. Shirin lives in Marin County with her wife and two children. | |||
| Episode 213: Mallory McDuff part 2 | 29 Mar 2025 | 00:40:09 | |
On our last best act, planning for the end of our lives and aligning our end-of-life choices with our values. Exploring new, sustainable practices such as green burial, aquamation, conservation cemeteries, home funerals and human composting.
In this second conversation with Mallory McDuff, environmental education professor, we discuss her book, Our Last Best Act. She is the author of four books, with essays featured in the New York Times, The Washington Post and more. | |||
| Episode 212: Mallory McDuff part 1 | 15 Mar 2025 | 00:46:59 | |
On the women who've designated themselves as voices for the Earth and prioritizing joy amidst the truths of our times.
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| Episode 211: Alua Arthur | 01 Mar 2025 | 00:26:04 | |
On living your fullest life so you can meet the end with grace.
Author of BRIEFLY PERFECTLY HUMAN: Making an Authentic Life by Getting Real About the End, Alua Arthur is the most visible death doula in America today. A recovering attorney and the founder of Going with Grace, a death doula training and end-of-life planning organization, Alua has been featured on The Doctors and in Disney's Limitless docu-series with Chris Hemsworth, as well as Vogue, InStyle, the Los Angeles Times, The Cut, The New Yorker, and the New York Times. Her TED talk entitled "Why Thinking About Death Helps You Live a Better Life," went online in July 2023 and has already received over 1.5 million views. Alua has appeared on dozens of podcasts, and a Refinery29 video feature on Arthur and her work received ten million views across social platforms. For her clients and everyone who has been inspired by her humanity, Alua Arthur is a friend at the end of the world. As our country's leading death doula, she's spreading a transformative message: thinking about your death—whether imminent or not—will breathe wild, new potential into your life. Warm, generous, and funny AF, Alua supports and helps manage end-of-life care on many levels. The business matters, medical directives, memorial planning; but also honoring the quiet moments, when monitors are beeping and loved ones have stepped out to get some air—or maybe not shown up at all—and her clients become deeply contemplative and want to talk. Aching, unfinished business often emerges. Alua has been present for thousands of these sacred moments—when regrets, fears, secret joys, hidden affairs, and dim realities are finally said aloud. When this happens, Alua focuses her attention at the pulsing center of her clients' anguish and creates space for them, and sometimes their loved ones, to find peace. Going with Grace, Alua's work Alua's TED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/alua_arthur_why_thinking_about_death_helps_you_live_a_better_life This has had a profound effect on Alua, who was already no stranger to death's periphery. Her family fled a murderous coup d'état in Ghana in the 1980s. She has suffered major, debilitating depressions. And her dear friend and brother-in-law died of lymphoma. Advocating for him in his final months is what led Alua to her life's calling. She knows firsthand the power of bearing witness and telling the truth about life's painful complexities, because they do not disappear when you look the other way. They wait for you. Briefly Perfectly Human is a life-changing, soul-gathering debut, by a writer whose empathy, tenderness, and wisdom shimmers on the page. Alua Arthur combines intimate storytelling with a passionate appeal for loving, courageous end-of-life care—what she calls "death embrace." Hers is a powerful testament to getting in touch with something deeper in our lives, by embracing the fact of our own mortality. "Hold that truth in your mind," Alua says, "and wondrous things will begin to grow around it. | |||
| Episode 210: Chazz Scott | 15 Feb 2025 | 00:28:20 | |
On the gift of childlike faith, guarding your mind and the crucial connection between your well-being and your success.
Chazz Scott is an author, speaker, mindset and resilience coach. He is the founder of Supra Mentem, a consulting firm specializing in training leaders in peak performance, well-being, and sustainable success. His clients include the D.C. Hospital Association, the Maryland Association of Election Officials, and the U.S. Black Chamber of Commerce. | |||
| Episode 209: Arli Liberman | 01 Feb 2025 | 00:33:34 | |
On sonic gratitude, developing our deeper gifts, the peril of expectation, the potency of the present, and the beauty of self-acceptance.
Arli Liberman is an award-winning screen composer, producer and guitarist who creates vibrant, immersive music for film, TV, multimedia and live experiences. With an unwavering dedication to his craft, Arli's approach to music serves as a transformative force that resonates both on and off the screen. As a screen composer, Arli has worked on a wide range of films, including Sam Kelly's gang movie 'Savage', winning the 2021 APRA Best Original Music in a Feature Film Award. In 2024, he collaborated with Tiki Taane to create the score to the historical drama in Te Reo Māori 'Ka Whawhai Tonu - Struggle Without End' directed by Mike Jonathan, with the theme song 'Hold On To The Dream' featuring Louis Baker, released as a single. Arli composed the original score for NZ film 'The Mountain' (2024), with music by Troy Kingi, directed by Rachel House and produced by Piki Films and Sandy Lane Productions. In 2023, he scored 'Stylebender' a documentary directed by Zoë McIntosh about Nigerian - New Zealand mixed martial artist Israel Adesanya, which was premiered at Tribeca Film Festival. His signature sound can be heard on the 36th America's Cup theme, the opening titles of the FIFA Women's World Cup, The All Blacks Experience at SkyCity, and in the Auckland Art Gallery's filmic exhibition Te Mata. As a solo artist, Arli is also prolific, with his fifth solo album coming out on Bigpop Records, in addition to creating a new collaborative album with renowned composer Rhian Sheehan due out in 2024. Arli's production work on Ngatapa Black's album 'I Muri Ahiahi' earned a nomination for Māori Album of the Year at the Aotearoa Music Awards, and he has performed at MoMA New York and the Montreux Jazz Festival, among other international festivals. Originally from Israel, Arli was a member of the groundbreaking White Flag Project, a pioneering crossover band uniting Palestinian and Israeli musicians. Under the mentorship of platinum-selling English record producer Mark Smulian, he was urged to 'find the back door of the electric guitar sound', which marked the beginning of Arli's journey in developing his sonic identity. In 2009, Arli moved to Aotearoa New Zealand, where he continued to develop his innovative approach to music and began exploring the synergy between composition and visual storytelling. | |||
| Episode 208: Rocío Marte | 18 Jan 2025 | 00:19:14 | |
On rest as our birthright and the vital importance of remembering to pause.
Born in the Caribbean Dominican Republic and living now in Mianjin/Brisbane, Australia, Rocío is dedicated to finding inner resources of ease. Offering Restorative Yoga, Meditation and Nidra for almost 10 years, building bridges with community and world, Rocío is a woman of color, devoted to honoring the space her ancestors missed to pause. Claiming rest today, she nurtures the lineage before her. She encourages us to "Think less. Feel more." | |||
| Episode 207: Melissa Berry Appleton | 04 Jan 2025 | 00:34:57 | |
On growing up at fifty, practice as a modern-day chaplain and cultivating a domestic monastery.
Melissa Berry Appleton is a Buddhist Chaplain, lay ordained in the Soto Zen Prajna Mountain Order, by Roshi Joan Halifax of Upaya Zen Center. Currently serving as a Chaplain with the University of British Columbia Okanagan, British Columbia Interior Health Physicians and the clinical counselling and social work graduate intern practicum program, Melissa has worked as a front-line worker in geriatric cognitive impairments, palliative care, and residential treatment centers for addiction. Almost complete with her Masters of Clinical Counselling in Psychology she's practiced and taught yoga, somatics and meditation for more than 20 years. Melissa is mama to three incredible humans now launching as young adults; her deep commitment to practice in the Domestic Monastery is her greatest source. | |||
| Episode 206: Octavia Raheem | 21 Dec 2024 | 00:35:28 | |
On rest as the way to reclaim your brilliance, at the altar of now.
Octavia Raheem is a mother, author, yoga teacher and practitioner, and activist. She has received national attention for her work training yoga teachers and diversifying the yoga and wellness industry. Her work as a yoga professional focuses on practical tools to teach individuals how to manage stress, anxiety, and fatigue through yoga and meditation in a way that is accessible to all levels/abilities, and restorative to the nervous system. Her work has been featured in Yoga Journal, Mantra magazine, Well+Good, CNN, WXIA, and Atlanta Magazine. Excerpt from Rest is Sacred by Octavia F. Raheem: Divine One of Rest, | |||
| Episode 205: Mirabai Starr | 07 Dec 2024 | 00:37:11 | |
On the temple of your regular life, and the daily practices of attention, surrender and wonder.
Mirabai Starr is an award-winning author, internationally acclaimed speaker, and a leading teacher of interspiritual dialogue. In 2020, she was honored on Watkins' list of the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People. Drawing from 20 years of teaching Philosophy and World Religions at the University of New Mexico-Taos, Mirabai now travels the world sharing her wisdom on contemplative living, writing as a spiritual practice, and the transformational power of grief and loss. She has authored over a dozen books including Wild Mercy, Caravan of No Despair, and God of Love: A Guide to the Heart of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Mirabai has received critical acclaim for her revolutionary contemporary translations of the mystics John of the Cross, Teresa of Ávila, and Julian of Norwich. Mirabai offers the fruit of decades of study, teaching, and contemplative practice in a fresh, grounded, and lyrical voice to a growing circle of folks inspired by the life-giving essence of feminine wisdom. Mirabai continues to teach seminars, workshops, and retreats, both in person and through her online community Wild Heart. She lives with her extended family in the mountains of northern New Mexico. | |||
| Episode 204: Nisha Moodley | 23 Nov 2024 | 00:47:09 | |
On the soul of our work, the re-indigenizing of our minds and the vital force of sisterhood.
Nisha Moodley is an integrative leadership coach that holds her work – and our collective work – within devotional, animist relational ways. Nisha has 15 years of experience leading mastermind groups, online courses, and nearly 60 retreats. She was first trained to work with subtle energy nearly 30 years ago, and has since received in-depth Health Coach and Executive Coach training, become a Family Constellation facilitator, and deepened her practice through breathwork training, Ancestral healing, and archetypal studies. All of these teachings and modalities (and others) are integrated for guidance that works not just on the level of mindset, but also through much deeper listening and moving. Nisha is the mother of two small children, a newbie land steward, constantly seeking to understand the deeper systemic and historical implications of the individual and collective challenges we face today, weaving those considerations into the work as well. | |||