Aldea Spiritual Community – Details, episodes & analysis

Enjoy this in-depth conversation with Naturopathic Doctor Jaden Hawkinson, as we explore what it means to live a balanced life of spiritual, emotional, and physical wellness through the lens of "holism".

What if we saw our health and wellbeing as more than just symptom management, but as a holistic system where diverse parts interact and work together? What if we pursued "side benefits" instead of simply tolerating "side effects?

Learn more or work with Jaden:

https://www.jadenhawkinson.com/

https://genesisnmc.com/

This Pride Month, we’re reflecting on what true inclusion means—not just in theory, but in practice, in our communities, and within ourselves. This message explores the sacred value of belonging, especially for those who have historically been excluded from spiritual spaces. Inclusion isn’t just a feel-good idea—it’s a necessary foundation for healing, identity, and even survival.

We dive into the complexities of creating safe spaces, acknowledging the layers of trust and vulnerability needed before genuine self-expression and love can emerge. You’ll hear reflections on how inclusive communities like Aldea have had to take bold stands in the face of resistance—and why that fight still matters.

Ultimately, this is an invitation to each of us to examine our internal and external “tables”: Who do we welcome? What parts of ourselves have we yet to embrace? And what might it look like to move toward a deeper, more expansive love—for ourselves, for others, and for the world?

Quotes: 

1. Kevin Garcia

   “I’m telling you my story because not everyone has survived to tell theirs… bad theology kills… I attempted suicide twice… spent most of my life hating myself and abusing my body with drugs and alcohol… bad theology is killing all of us.”

2. Dr. Thema Bryant

   “You cannot heal in a space that is unsafe. Safety is not a luxury; it is a necessity for wholeness.”

3. Brené Brown

   “We cultivate love when we allow our most vulnerable and powerful selves to be deeply seen and known. And that can only happen when we are safe.”

4. Kevin Garcia

   “Inclusion isn’t about tolerating difference—it’s about celebrating the divine in every expression of it.”

5. Ram Dass

   “Treat everyone you meet like God in drag.”

6. Barbara Brown Taylor

   “The hardest spiritual work in the world is to love the neighbor as the self—to encounter another human being not as someone you can use, change, fix, help, save, enroll, convince, or control, but simply as someone who can spring you into spiritual reverence.”

7. Brian McLaren

   “Why would I trust a God who is less merciful than I am? If I can imagine a more loving God than the one I’ve been taught, maybe that’s the Spirit inviting me to grow.”

8. Desmond Tutu

   “Inclusive, good societies try to accept people as they are—even those whose acceptance of others is still evolving.”

9. Richard Rohr

   “True inclusion doesn’t just welcome the outsider, it calls everyone into deeper maturity, including those who resist it.”

Join us for the first part of a powerful 3-week series leading up to Easter, where we explore the deeper meaning of resurrection—not as a destination or dogma, but as a universal pattern found in nature, in our lives, and in our spiritual evolution.

Through stories big and small, we’ll trace the arc of transformation: death, grief, and the often-unrecognizable rebirth that follows. Using the image of the caterpillar transforming into a butterfly, we’ll explore the hidden potential that emerges when we allow the familiar to fall away.

This series is an invitation to examine what’s dying in our individual and collective lives, and what might be trying to be born. We’ll reflect on the moments that force us into cocoons—loss, identity shifts, and life transitions—and what it takes to come out the other side with wings.

It’s a spiritual take on transformation for anyone who’s ever asked: Is there more than this? Could something better be waiting on the other side of this pain? What if the breakdown is actually the beginning of becoming?

In this message, we touch on psychology, mysticism, nature, and personal growth—honoring voices from Christianity, Buddhism, mystics, and even pop culture. If you’re in the in-between, the not-yet, or the breaking open, this message is for you.

Quotes: 

“What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.” — Richard Bach

“If you wish to escape from prison, the first thing you must realize is that you are in prison. If you think you’re free, no escape is possible.” — G.I. Gurdjieff

“People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.” — Thich Nhat Hanh

“The caterpillar dies and the butterfly is born. Death and resurrection are two aspects of the same process. To die is to be reborn, to die to the old is to be born to the new.” — Osho

“Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable.” — Mary Oliver

Check out the finale of "The Great Beyond" with a message addressing the question, "is there life after death?"

Quotes from this message ---------------

Gladiator (Film): “What we do in life echoes in eternity”

Alan Cohen: “The most important thing to know about the afterlife is that there is no afterlife. There is only life. Nothing can come after what always is. The forms through which life expresses change, but the energy that expresses through them is unchangeable and eternal”

Ram Dass: “In our Western culture, although death has come out of the closet, it is still not openly experienced or discussed. Allowing dying to be so intensely present enriches both the preciousness of each moment and our detachment from it.”

Carlos Castaneda: “When you need an answer, look over your left shoulder and ask your death.”

Buddha: “The trouble is, you think you have time.”

Inscription on St. Paul's Monastery on Mt. Athos: “If you die before you die, you won't die when you die.”

John 12:24: “Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal.”

Check out the second message in our "The Great Beyond" series as we ask the question: "are we alone in the universe?" 

Quotes from this message---------------------------------------------

World Economic Forum 2020:

“We humans view ourselves as separate, dominant and superior to nature. We see nature as a commodity to buy, sell, extract and exploit for our own interests. For well over a century, academics, thought leaders and indigenous leaders have warned against the commodification and exploitation of nature, and yet this attitude persists. We have developed a dualistic view of our existence on this planet – one that blinds us to our interdependence and interconnectedness with nature, and which has also created enormous divides in our society and across humanity… shift to ecocentric ..

The environmental crisis is in fact a deeper spiritual crisis. We must shift the way we view and relate to nature, and understand that it is a single living organism which is inextricably interconnected. We must adopt an ecocentric mindset whereby we are grateful to and revere nature, rather than consider ourselves superior to it”  

Genesis 22:17-18:

"I will make sure your descendants are as many as the stars of the heavens and the grains of sand on the shores. I reaffirm My earlier promises that your descendants will possess the lands and sit in the gates of their enemies, and from your descendants all the peoples of the earth will discover true blessing." 

Matthew 5:43-44:

"You have been taught to love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you this: love your enemies."

Rainn Wilson: 

“What may be most important about Star Trek is that the human race has worked out its problems on planet Earth through both science and an emotional wisdom comprised of restraint, reason, and maturity. This spiritually and intellectually awakened humanity then seeks to spread and share its evolved nature while exploring the galaxy in a peaceful manner” 

Check out the first part of our new series "The Great Beyond" as we explore the mystics, the power of myth, and the relationship between science & spirituality. 

Quotes from this message -------------------------------------------

Zen Proverb: “Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water.” 

Richard Rohr: "Mystery is not that which is unknowable but that which is endlessly knowable” 

Parashara: “In the leaf, there are innumerable components. It has a boundary, a colouring matter, a sap inside and they are not visible to the naked eye.”

Joseph Campbell: “Mythology is not a lie, mythology is poetry, it is metaphorical. It has been well said that mythology is the penultimate truth--penultimate because the ultimate cannot be put into words. It is beyond words.”

Attributed to the Buddha:  “Imagine someone is trying to show you the moon by pointing at it…don’t mistake the finger for the moon” 

Rumi: “You are not a drop in the ocean, you are the ocean in a drop”.

Richard Rohr: “When God is no longer out there or over there, we have begun the mystical journey”

Joseph Campbell: “People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances with our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive.” 

Alan Watts: “The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.” 

Frederick Nietzsche: ”Life is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be lived.” 

Matthew 10:39: “To find your life, you must lose your life”

Check out our question & response message where our panel tackles various topics such as mental health, the ego, grief & the state of the world. 

Listen to this Father's Day message on healing across generations + reuniting the masculine & feminine within.

For the finale of "The Art Of...." we look at the literal and symbolic "tables" in our lives and how they can be a tool for inclusion and self-acceptance.

Join us as we hear from Michelle Curcio on the power of intention & our limiting beliefs as she explores some themes from Marie Forleo's "Everything Is Figureoutable".