The Mindful Truth: Recent Episodes
The Mindful Truth
The goal of this podcast is to profile people from all walks of life, to learn from them and to question them. This is an interview-based show providing a broad and comprehensive introduction to all things mindful: successful mindsets, practical philosophy, meditation and mindfulness techniques that can hopefully help you in your own personal journey.
Host Bio: Benedict R. Carrizzo is an award winning journalist whose work includes "Hidden In Plain Sight: Sensory Processing Disorder," a 30-minute audio documentary for which he received an Associated Press Award at just 23 years old.
Joshua Schapiro is a professor at Fordham University who translated the wisdom of 19th century Buddhist teachers for 21st century audiences.
Wali Collins is an international headlining stand up comedian, actor, producer, author and entrepreneur. He believes in living a regretless life through Y'Nevano (you never know).
Something a little bit different... a documentary I did when I was in college.
This documentary is both an exploration and personal account of Sensory Processing Disorder. The experts guided me to a greater understanding of my own affliction. SPD, as it's abbreviated, is neurological condition that's characterized by difficulties in processing sensory information. In layman's terms, the senses of smell, taste, sound, sight, and touch are all out of whack. And this could include the vestibular and proprioceptive systems, which involve sense of balance and space respectively. This disorder, like autism (ASD), is a spectrum disorder, meaning no two people with SPD are alike. It affects everyone differently, as each person has their own processing strengths and difficulties.
When I was a young child, I would literally shake when a train came by, unlike all the other children who ran up to it excitedly. When I was in preschool, I was the only kid who couldn't touch cow udders on a field trip because I was so freaked out. I had some repeated movements (which, in the context of autism, is called "stimming" behavior), and I struggled with schoolwork whenever an excessive number of things were going on in the classroom. Turns out lots of people have a hard time concentrating in this context, but for children with SPD it could be much worse. This could be mistaken as ADHD or OCD: two disorders with symptom crossover. Fortunately, I had occupational therapy and at-home treatments that worked, but I realize now that not everyone is so lucky.
While it's real to me, it's not to everyone. There's currently a fight to get this affliction listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. This means it's not currently recognized as its own thing; it's only considered a symptom of autism by the American Psychiatric Association. I do recognize what I believe to be real could be a combination of other disorders or something else entirely, so I'm looking at this with a journalist's objective eye.
Donna Drake is an international award-winning creative artist, writer, producer and actress. She created "Live it Up!" to share positive messages of hope and inspiration.
Vince Glasser is a certified instructor of the Transcendental Meditation technique, a twice-per-day dive into a state of "restful alertness."