Spirituality & Health Podcast: Recent Episodes
Spirituality & Health Magazine
Join Rabbi Rami Shapiro as he interviews spiritual teachers, health experts, authors, and more from the pages of Spirituality & Health Magazine.
Dr. E. Elisabet Lahti is an awarded educator, international speaker, and the founder of Sisu Lab that helps individuals everywhere think deeply about excellence in how we operate as humans and to tap into our innate capacity for virtuous fortitude. She's the researcher of 'sisu' for which her journey began when she was called to reinvent herself in the aftermath of major trauma and later attended a master’s program at the University of Pennsylvania to study applied positive psychology. Consequently, she ran and cycled 2400 km across New Zealand in 50 days to study how humans overcome and even grow through extreme challenges. Her work has been featured at CNBC, BBC, Forbes, Business Insider and so on. Elisabet´s book "Gentle Power: A Revolution is How We Think, Lead, and Succeed Using the Finnish Art of Sisu" published by Sounds True is an invitation to foster the constructive and life-expanding side of our inner power and thus, leave a legacy that creates empowerment for everyone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Allan Hamilton, MD, is a Harvard-trained brain surgeon, a decorated Army veteran, and Regents Professor of Surgery at the University of Arizona as well as a life-long horse trainer. His next book on the human brain is Cerebral Entanglements—How the Brain Gives Value and Meaning to Our Private and Public Lives, to be published by Knopf in the Spring of 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Myles Mellor is one of the top crossword writers in the world. Published in over 1000 magazines, newspapers and web outlets. Over 20,000 crosswords published worldwide. Supplying theme crosswords, diamond crosswords, syndicated puzzles, cryptograms, diagramless crosswords, word search, sudokus, anagrams, and word games. He can be reached through his website at www.ilovecrosswords.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Since 2007, Light has personally taught thousands of people from all walks of life how to enjoy a daily meditation practice in a self-sufficient way, and he’s positively impacted many more practitioners through his books, videos, and popular TEDx talk on the 5 Most Common Meditation Myths. Light facilitates workshops and retreats around the world, and gives talks on happiness, mindfulness, inspiration, and leadership. He’s written three bestsellers: The Inner Gym: A 30-Day Workout for Strengthening Happiness (L&G Publishing, 2015), and Bliss More: How to Succeed in Meditation Without Really Trying (Random House, 2018), and Knowing Where to Look: 108 Daily Doses of Inspiration (Sounds True, 2021). His next book, Travel Light: Spiritual Minimalism to Live a More Fulfilled Life (Sounds True, 2023), is based on his experiences as a “one-bagger” nomad. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Susan Bauer-Wu is the President of the Mind & Life Institute, an organization cofounded by the Dalai Lama in 1987 to bring science and contemplative wisdom together to better understand the mind and create positive change in the world. In her work with Mind & Life, she has championed “human-earth connection” as a priority. She began her career as a registered nurse specializing in oncology and end-of-life care, and later completed PhD studies in psychoneuroimmunology. She has held leadership, teaching, and clinical positions in nonprofits, higher education, and health care, and is the author of Leaves Falling Gently: Living Fully with Serious & Life-Limiting Illness through Mindfulness, Compassion & Connectedness. In her free time, she is outdoors as much as possible, gardening and hiking the Blue Ridge mountains. To learn more, please visit https://www.mindandlife.org/. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Cheryl Pallant is an author, poet, energy healer, somatics coach, teacher, and dancer. She has several published books, most recently the nonfiction work, Ecosomatics: Embodiment Practices for a World in Search of Healing. Her book on contact improvisation, Contact Improvisation: An Introduction to a Vitalizing Dance Form, is considered the go-to book on the topic. She is a regular contributor for Spirituality+Health Magazine, facilitates Writing From the Body workshops internationally, teaches at University of Richmond, and co-leads the Integral Meditation group in Richmond VA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Steven Washington is the author of Recovering You: Soul Care and Mindful Movement for Overcoming Addiction. As a former professional dancer who performed on Broadway in Disney’s The Lion King, his love of movement inspired him to become the highly acclaimed qi gong and Pilates teacher that he is today. Steven lives a joyful life of recovery and is passionate about helping others as they navigate towards health and happiness. Visit him online at www.stevenwashingtonexperience.com.
His essay "Move for Recovery" is featured in the January/February 2023 issue of Spirituality + Health.
In this episode, Steven and Rabbi Rami talk about overcoming addiction, soul care, and practicing mindful movement.
Clark Strand is the author of Seeds From a Birch Tree: Writing Haiku and the Spiritual Journey and Now Is the Hour of Her Return: Poems In Praise of the Divine Mother Kali. He is the co-founder of an international, non-sectarian rosary fellowship dedicated to sharing the messages of Our Lady and the co-author, with Perdita Finn, of The Way of the Rose: The Radical Path of the Divine Feminine Hidden in the Rosary. For more information, visit wayoftherose.org.
His essay “Wake Up to the Dark” is featured in the January/February 2023 issue of Spirituality + Health.
In this episode, Clark and Rabbi Rami talk about harmful technology, evolutionary sleep patterns, and the Divine Feminine.
Dr. Ken Mogi is a neuroscientist, writer, and broadcaster based in Tokyo. He is the author of Awakening Your Ikigai and The Way of Nagomi. He has published more than thirty papers on cognitive science and neuroscience, and over one hundred books in Japan covering popular science, essay, criticism, and self-help. His books have sold close to one million copies.
In this episode, Ken and Rabbi Rami talk about harmony in disagreements, the five pillars of nagomi, and finding purpose in your current moment.
Dr. Joanna LaPrade earned her MA and PhD in Jungian and Archetypal Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute in Carpinteria, California. She is now the founder of Aion Psychotherapy and a practicing Jungian psychologist in Colorado. Her therapeutic work focuses on helping clients find a meaningful connection to their inner worlds.
Joanna is the author of Forged in Darkness: The Many Paths of Personal Transformation, a book that unites self-discovery with mythology to handle an important dilemma of our times—how to live with the darkness in life, reminding us that we have more ways of accepting and growing from the deep and dark places within us than we ever thought possible. Joanna is an educator who has taught, lectured, and written extensively on the Jungian and archetypal perspective. For more information about her work, visit www.aionpsychotherapy.com
Joanna’s essay “The Ascent” appears in the November/December 2022 issue of Spirituality & Health.
This week, Joanna and Rabbi Rami dive deep into depth psychology, archetypal energies, and the power of initiation.
Julie Peters is a yoga and meditation teacher, counselor, and Tarot reader based out of Edmonton, Alberta. She is a staff writer for Spirituality & Health and the author of two books: Secrets of the Eternal Moon Phase Goddesses: Meditations on Desire, Relationships, and the Art of Being Broken and the Canada Book Award-winning Want: 8 Steps to Recovering Desire, Passion, and Pleasure After Sexual Assault. She offers live and on-demand yoga as well as one-on-one sessions online through her website juliepeters.ca. Follow her on Instagram @juliepeterswellness.
Her article "Decolonizing Therapy" is featured in the November/December 2022 issue of Spirituality & Health.
In this episode, Julie and Rabbi Rami talk about Freudian therapy, cultural colonization, and therapy for women.
Dr. Deborah Threadgill Egerton is a psychotherapist, spiritual teacher, and IEA-certified Enneagram practitioner, consultant, and coach. She’s the founder and president of Trinity Transition Consultants, and the author of Know Justice Know Peace: A Transformative Journey of Social Justice, Anti-Racism, and Healing through the Power of the Enneagram.
The book is reviewed in the November/December issue of Spirituality & Health Magazine.
In this episode, Deborah and Rabbi Rami discuss the Enneagram, anti-racism, and how to counter "othering."
Ari Wallach is a futurist and the founder and executive director of Longpath Labs. A sought-after speaker on innovation, AI, and the future of public policy, Ari Wallach’s TEDTalk on longpath thinking has been viewed by 2.6 million people and has been translated into 21 languages.
His new book is Longpath: Becoming the Great Ancestors Our Future Needs. Ari was interviewed for the November/December issue of Spirituality & Health.
In this episode, Ari and Rabbi Rami talk about planting trees for future generations, win-win relationships, and how to develop longpath thinking.
Adrienne van der Valk is a writer, podcaster, certified meditation and yoga teacher, recovery mentor, co-founder of REVA Recovery Support, and co-host of The Hangover Liberation Society podcast.
In her work as a trauma-informed recovery mentor, Adrienne teaches meditation and movement techniques to help her students align their minds and bodies with their vision for their sober lives. She draws on her background in social work and education as well as her personal journey with alcohol use disorder and years of research on the neuroscience of addiction to create her groundbreaking mentorship curriculum.
As an anti-racist feminist, she also speaks, writes, and teaches about the social and political roots of addiction. Adrienne’s work has been featured on the Messages & Methods and Not Your Little Lady podcasts, as well as Shout Out Atlanta, Real Food Whole Life, The Sober Curator, and Spirituality & Health. Download a free chapter from her forthcoming book Big Sober Energy at bigsoberenergy.com.
You can read her essay “Mindfulness Over Merlot” on the Spirituality & Health website.
In this episode, Adrienne and Rabbi Rami discuss sobriety, substance use disorder, and the power of mindfulness.
Adrienne van der Valk is a writer, podcaster, certified meditation and yoga teacher, recovery mentor, co-founder of REVA Recovery Support, and co-host of The Hangover Liberation Society podcast.
In her work as a trauma-informed recovery mentor, Adrienne teaches meditation and movement techniques to help her students align their minds and bodies with their vision for their sober lives. She draws on her background in social work and education as well as her personal journey with alcohol use disorder and years of research on the neuroscience of addiction to create her groundbreaking mentorship curriculum.
As an anti-racist feminist, she also speaks, writes, and teaches about the social and political roots of addiction. Adrienne’s work has been featured on the Messages & Methods and Not Your Little Lady podcasts, as well as Shout Out Atlanta, Real Food Whole Life, The Sober Curator, and Spirituality & Health. Download a free chapter from her forthcoming book Big Sober Energy at bigsoberenergy.com.
You can read her essay “Mindfulness Over Merlot” on the Spirituality & Health website.
In this episode, Adrienne and Rabbi Rami discuss sobriety, substance use disorder, and the power of mindfulness.
Carrie Wilkens, PhD is co-founder and clinical director of the CMC in New York City, NY; Long Island, NY; and Washington, DC. She is cofounder of CMC: Berkshires, a private inpatient/residential program employing the same treatment approaches in Western Massachusetts, and cofounder and president of the CMC: Foundation for Change, a nonprofit organization with the mission of improving the dissemination of evidence-based ideas and strategies to professionals and loved ones of persons struggling with substance use through the Invitation to Change approach.
Wilkens is co-author of the award-winning books, Beyond Addiction, and The Beyond Addiction Workbook for Family and Friends: Evidence-Based Skills to Help a Loved-One Make Positive Change (New Harbinger), which was featured in Spirituality & Health's Sept/Oct 2022 feature "Books We Love." She is also contributor to a user-friendly workbook, The Parent’s 20 Minute Guide.
In this episode, Carrie and Rabbi Rami discuss addiction and recovery, caring for loved ones in addiction, and using curiosity to encourage change.
Mark Nepo moved and inspired readers and seekers all over the world with his New York Times-bestseller, The Book of Awakening. Beloved as a poet, teacher, and storyteller, Mark has been called “one of the finest spiritual guides of our time.” His books have been translated into more than 20 languages.
His latest book, out now, is Surviving Storms: Finding the Strength to Meet Adversity. His essay “To Admire” is featured in the September/October issue of Spirituality & Health.
In this episode, Mark and Rabbi Rami discuss the “dark night” of mankind, how to counter fracture and divisiveness, and the sweetness of mindful moments with loved ones.
Dr. Rachel Goldsmith Turow is a psychotherapist in private practice, a research scientist, and an adjunct faculty member at Seattle University and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She has trained hundreds of individuals to use mindfulness, self-compassion, and cognitive behavioral skills to transform their self-criticism into self-encouragement and to cultivate resilience.
An excerpt from her most recent book, The Self-Talk Workout: Six Science-Backed Strategies to Dissolve Self-Criticism and Transform the Voice in Your Head, is featured in the September/October print issue of Spirituality & Health.
In this episode, Rachel and Rabbi Rami chat about self-talk vs. self-esteem, the writing process, and the healing power of mindfulness.
Dr. Rachel Goldsmith Turow is a psychotherapist in private practice, a research scientist, and an adjunct faculty member at Seattle University and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She has trained hundreds of individuals to use mindfulness, self-compassion, and cognitive behavioral skills to transform their self-criticism into self-encouragement and to cultivate resilience.
An excerpt from her most recent book, The Self-Talk Workout: Six Science-Backed Strategies to Dissolve Self-Criticism and Transform the Voice in Your Head, is featured in the September/October print issue of Spirituality & Health.
In this episode, Rachel and Rabbi Rami chat about self-talk vs. self-esteem, the writing process, and the healing power of mindfulness.
Julia Cameron is the bestselling author of more than 40 books, fiction and nonfiction, as well as a poet, songwriter, filmmaker, and playwright. Commonly referred to as the Godmother or High Priestess of creativity, her tools are based in practice, not theory, and she considers herself "the floor sample of her own toolkit." Her book The Artist's Way has been translated into 40 languages and has sold more than five million copies to date.
In this episode, Julia and Rabbi Rami talk about the story of Adam and Eve, casting off shame, and her latest book, Seeking Wisdom: A Spiritual Path to Creative Connection.
Julia Cameron is the bestselling author of more than 40 books, fiction and nonfiction, as well as a poet, songwriter, filmmaker, and playwright. Commonly referred to as the Godmother or High Priestess of creativity, her tools are based in practice, not theory, and she considers herself "the floor sample of her own toolkit." Her book The Artist's Way has been translated into 40 languages and has sold more than five million copies to date.
In this episode, Julia and Rabbi Rami talk about the story of Adam and Eve, casting off shame, and her latest book, Seeking Wisdom: A Spiritual Path to Creative Connection.
Awyn Dawn is a pagan high priestess who has been working with spiritual seekers for nearly 10 years. After being incarcerated and overcoming her own life challenges, Awyn dedicated herself to the pagan path and now teaches others in the Colorado prison system.
Awyn’s second book, Paganism on Parole: Connecting to the Magic All Around, is scheduled for release in November of 2022. Her article “Prison and Paganism” is featured in the July/August 2022 issue of Spirituality & Health.
In this episode, Awyn and Rabbi Rami talk about reincarnation, working with the old gods, and deepening faith while incarcerated.
Awyn Dawn is a pagan high priestess who has been working with spiritual seekers for nearly 10 years. After being incarcerated and overcoming her own life challenges, Awyn dedicated herself to the pagan path and now teaches others in the Colorado prison system.
Awyn’s second book, Paganism on Parole: Connecting to the Magic All Around, is scheduled for release in November of 2022. Her article “Prison and Paganism” is featured in the July/August 2022 issue of Spirituality & Health.
In this episode, Awyn and Rabbi Rami talk about reincarnation, working with the old gods, and deepening faith while incarcerated.
Machiel Klerk is an award-winning social entrepreneur whose latest book is Dream Guidance: Connecting to the Soul Through Dream Incubation.
His essay “How to Get Guidance From Your Dreams” appeared in the May/June issue of Spirituality & Health. You can learn more about Machiel at machielklerk.com.
In this episode, Machiel and Rabbi Rami chat about the source of dreams, Jungian psychology, and how to pose questions to our own dreams.
Rabbi Rami Shapiro is an award–winning author of over 36 books on religion and spirituality. He received rabbinical ordination from the Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion and holds a PhD in religion from Union Graduate School.
Rami is also the contributing editor at Spirituality & Health magazine and hosts the Spirituality & Health podcast.
In this episode, guest host Sarah Bowen chats with Rabbi Rami about the presence of the divine, mindfulness and mantra, and Rabbi Rami's new book, Judaism Without Tribalism: A Guide to Being a Blessing to All the Peoples of the Earth.
This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Life is full of twists and turns, stress, changes, grief, moments of growth, and moments where we feel like we’re taking a few steps back. It’s important to show up for yourself through all of the struggles that life can bring.
BetterHelp online therapy is here for the twists and turns, and will assess your needs and can match you with your own licensed professional therapist in less than 48 hours. Special offer for Spirituality & Health listeners: get 10 percent off your first month at betterhelp.com/spiritualityhealth.
Brian D. McLaren is an author, speaker, activist, and public theologian. A former college English teacher and pastor, he is a passionate advocate for “a new kind of Christianity”—just, generous, and working with people of all faiths for the common good.
He is a faculty member of The Living School and podcaster with Learning How to See, which are part of the Center for Action and Contemplation. He is also an Auburn Senior Fellow and is a co-host of Southern Lights.
In this episode, Brian and Rabbi Rami discuss progressive religion, political extremism, and Brian’s book Do I Stay Christian?
This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Life is full of twists and turns, stress, changes, grief, moments of growth, and moments where we feel like we’re taking a few steps back. It’s important to show up for yourself through all of the struggles that life can bring.
BetterHelp online therapy is here for the twists and turns, and will assess your needs and can match you with your own licensed professional therapist in less than 48 hours. Special offer for Spirituality & Health listeners: get 10 percent off your first month at betterhelp.com/spiritualityhealth.
Mara Branscombe is a mother, writer, yogi, artist, teacher, mindfulness leader, ceremonialist, and spiritual coach. She is the author of “Ritual As Remedy: Embodied Practices For Soul Care.”
Mara is passionate about weaving the art of mindfulness, self-care, creativity, mind–body practices, and earth-based rituals into her life and work, and she has been leading community ceremony since 2000.
In this episode, Mara and Rabbi Rami discuss divine timing, modern mysticism, and how to take care of the energy body.
This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Life is full of twists and turns, stress, changes, grief, moments of growth, and moments where we feel like we’re taking a few steps back. It’s important to show up for yourself through all of the struggles that life can bring.
BetterHelp online therapy is here for the twists and turns, and will assess your needs and can match you with your own licensed professional therapist in less than 48 hours. Special offer for Spirituality & Health listeners: get 10 percent off your first month at betterhelp.com/spiritualityhealth.
Fariha Róisín is a multidisciplinary artist, born in Ontario, Canada. She was raised in Sydney, Australia, and is based in Los Angeles, California. As a Muslim queer Bangladeshi, she is interested in the margins, liminality, otherness, and the mercurial nature of being.
Her work has pioneered a refreshing and renewed conversation about wellness, contemporary Islam, and queer identities and has appeared in The New York Times, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, Vice, Village Voice, and others.
In this episode, Fariha and Rabbi Rami discuss relationships with God, "McMindfulness," and who really benefits from the wellness movement.
Natalie Goldberg is the author of fifteen books, including Writing Down the Bones (Shambhala, 1986), which has sold over one million copies, and has been translated into fourteen languages.
For more than forty years Natalie has practiced Zen Buddhism and taught seminars in writing as a practice.
In this episode, Natalie and Rabbi Rami discuss writing, aging, and the beauty of Zen practice.
Rachel Allyn, PhD has been a licensed holistic psychologist for almost 20 years. She specializes in body-mind medicine, relationships, and intimacy issues. She helps individuals and couples cope with their moods, life transitions, and relationship challenges. A certified yoga teacher, Dr. Allyn incorporates the body into her sessions and leads therapeutic body-mind workshops and retreats. She recently released a book called The Pleasure Is All Yours: Reclaim Your Body's Bliss and Reignite Your Passion for Life.
In this episode, Rachel and Rabbi Rami chat about pleasure practices, the human condition, and the idea of "bodyfulness."
Sweta Srivastava Vikram is an international speaker, best-selling author of 13 books, and Ayurveda and mindset coach who is committed to helping people thrive on their own terms. She also teaches yoga, meditation, and mindfulness to survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence as well as incarcerated men and women. She lives in New York City with her husband.
In this episode, Sweta and Rabbi Rami discuss the healing power of Ayurveda, the benefits of daily practices, and how to start writing.
Paul Denniston is the founder of Grief Yoga. Denniston is certified in Hatha Yoga, Vinyasa Flow, Kundalini Yoga, Laughter Yoga, Restorative Yoga, and Let Your Yoga Dance. He also has taught movement at the Stella Adler Academy in Hollywood. He has combined elements from many forms of yoga to help heal grief. In this episode, Denniston and Rabbi Rami discuss the origins of Grief Yoga, Denniston’s spiritual journey, and managing anger, among other topics.
Sarah Bowen is an animal chaplain, multi-faith spiritual educator, cofounder of Compassion Consortium, and author of Sacred Sendoffs: An Animal Chaplain’s Advice for Surviving Animal Loss, Making Life Meaningful, & Trying to Heal the Planet. As a member of One Spirit Interfaith Seminary’s faculty, Spiritual Directors International, the Association for Pet Loss and Bereavement, and several recovery communities, Bowen supports all beings regardless of their species or belief system. Bowen is also a co-founder of Compassion Consortium, the first interfaith, interspiritual, and interspecies spiritual community.
Zenju Earthlyn Manuel is an African-American Soto Zen Buddhist priest, author, poet, diviner, and medicine woman of the drum whose practices are influenced by Native American and African indigenous traditions. Her new book is The Shamanic Bones of Zen: Revealing the Ancestral Spirit and Mystical Heart of a Sacred Tradition. Her book was reviewed in the March/April 2022 issue of Spirituality & Health.
A. H. Almaas (aka A. Hameed Ali) is a Kuwaiti American author and spiritual teacher who writes about and teaches spiritual development informed by the “Diamond Approach.” His new book is Keys to the Enneagram: How to Unlock the Highest Potential of Every Personality Type.
Apolo Ohno is the most decorated American at the Winter Olympics and was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 2019. In today’s episode, Rabbi Rami and Ohno explore Ohno’s new book, Hard Pivot.
Rabbi Rami and Ohno start their conversation discussing the 2022 Winter Olympics currently going on in Beijing, before pivoting (pun intended) to focus on Ohno’s book. They dive into Ohno’s expedition into a life beyond speedskating, and the uncertainty, curiosity, and alienation that came along with retiring from the sport that had been the center of his life for so long.
Annabel Streets is a writer of highly researched, award-winning author of both narrative and practical nonfiction. She occasionally writes under the name Annabel Abbs, a pen name she is using for her forthcoming nonfiction book Windswept: Women Who Walked. Under the name Annabel Streets, which she uses for her practical nonfiction, she is coauthor of The Age Well Project. She is also the author of the novels The Joyce Girl and Miss Eliza’s English Kitchen. Her new book, 52 Ways to Walk: The Surprising Science of Walking for Wellness and Joy, One Week at a Time, is reviewed in the March/April 2022 issue of Spirituality & Health.
Morgan Harper Nichols is a mixed-media artist, Christian musician, writer, and autism advocate. Her work has been featured in collaboration with Target, Starbucks, Anthropologie, Athleta, Aerie, Barnes & Noble, TJ Maxx, and more. Nichols’ new book Peace is a Practice: An Invitation to Breathe Deep and Find a New Rhythm for Life examines stories from her own life and the lives of people around the world to find one common thread among humanity: We all long for peace. See Nichols’ essay, art, and poetry featured in the March/April 2022 print issue of Spirituality & Health on shelves February 23rd.
Vanessa Chakour is an herbalist, holistic arts educator, environmental activist, and the founder of Sacred Warrior. Sacred Warrior utilizes experiential learning to explore plant medicine, martial arts, wildlife conservation, meditation, and more. Chakour’s new book Awakening Artemis: Deepening Intimacy With the Living Earth and Reclaiming Our Wild Nature, a healing guide that blends practical plant-based knowledge and spiritual reconnection for deeper communication with and respect for the natural world, is on-sale now.
Grace Ji-Sun Kim, Professor of Theology, author, S&H contributor, and the host of Madang podcast returns to the Spirituality & Health Podcast to discuss her new book Invisible andher experience at COP26 Summit.
Reverend Dr. Jacqui Lewis is the first female and first Black Senior Minister at the historic Collegiate Church in New York City, which dates to 1628. Her new book, Fierce Love: A Bold Path to Ferocious Courage and Rule-Breaking Kindness That Can Heal the World was featured in Spirituality & Health’s Books We Love 2021 and is available now. Read Rev. Lewis’ guest column in the September/October 2021 issue.
Shelly Tygielski is the author of Sit Down to Rise Up: How Radical Self-Care Can Change the World and founder of the global grassroots mutual aid organization Pandemic of Love. Her work has been featured by over 100 media outlets, including CNN Heroes, The Kelly Clarkson Show, CBS This Morning, the New York Times, and Washington Post.
Tygielski’s book Sit Down to Rise Upwas reviewed in the November/December 2021 issue of Spirituality & Health.
Lisa Broderick is a business executive, social entrepreneur, and founder and Executive Director of Police2Peace—an organization devoted to reshaping policing in America. Her new book is All the Time in the World: Learn to Control Your Experience of Time to Live a Life Without Limitations.
In this episode Rabbi Rami and Broderick explore two startling claims: “You can control your experience of time” and “You can live without limitations.” They dive into the science of brainwaves and states of consciousness and sleep through the lens of time, developing a limitless nature, and much more.
Pamela Seelig’s journey began after a diagnosis of Bell’s Palsy, which led her to leave her high-stress Wall Street job and seek out alternative medicines to begin her healing process—which brought her into the world of yoga and meditation. She has now been practicing yoga for over 25 years. Seelig’s new book Threads of Yoga: Themes, Reflections, and Meditations to Weave into Your Practice was featured in Books We Love in the September/October 2021 issue of Spirituality & Health.
John Pavlovitz is a pastor, writer, and activist. His blog, Stuff That Needs To Be Said reaches a diverse worldwide audience. He is the author of such books as A Bigger Table: Building Messy, Authentic, and Hopeful Spiritual Community, and Hope and Other Superpowers: A Life-Affirming, Love-Defending, Butt-Kicking, World-Saving Manifesto. His new book is If God Is Love, Don't Be a Jerk: Finding a Faith That Makes Us Better Humans.
Robert Thurman is Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University, and co-founder and president of Tibet House US. A close friend of His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama for over half a century, Bob is the first ordained American Buddhist monk in the Tibetan tradition. A passionate activist for the plight of the Tibetan people, a skilled translator of Buddhist texts, and an inspiring writer of popular books on Buddhism—Thurman’s newest book is Wisdom Is Bliss: Four Friendly Fun Facts That Can Change Your Life.
Connie Zweig is a psychotherapist, former executive editor at Jeremy P Tarcher Publishing, a columnist for Esquire Magazine and a contributor to the LA Times, the author and co-author of several books on the psychology of the shadow. Her newest book is the Inner Work of Age: Shifting from Role to Soul.
In this episode Rami and Zweig discuss aging and midlife, fear, changing careers, cultivating deeper awareness, and more.
“During our midlife period of life, we're all empire-building. We're building families and careers and our ego development is peaking. Then as those responsibilities begin to fall away, whether it's in our 50s, or 60s, 70s, or 80s, and there's a shift in the structure of our days and the demands and the stress on us, most people get disoriented. They don't know where to turn. They don't know what's meaningful to them anymore.”
Alejandro Mandes is a social worker and theologian. He is the founder of Immigrant Hope and is devoted to equipping immigrants with the tools to find the hope of the gospel, a path to legal residency, and a home and church that accepts them. His new book is Embracing the New Samaria: Opening Our Eyes to Our Multiethnic Future.
Read our review of Embracing the New Samaria: Opening Our Eyes to Our Multiethnic Future from the July/August issue of Spirituality & Health.
Mandes asks “Who aren’t we reaching?”
In this episode Rami and Mandes discuss the multiethnic future of the Christian church, opening the doors to all individuals of all races and cultures, salvation outside the church, God’s love and image in humanity, and much more.
“I think we try to understand God in paradigms we set up that are not always crystal clear. And I’m okay with that abstraction.”
Tao Lin, is a novelist, poet, essayist, short-story author, and artist. He has published numerous novels and novella, two books of poetry, a collection of short stories, a memoir, and an assortment of digital content. His latest novel is called Leave Society, and a review of the book appears in the July/August 2021 issue of Spirituality & Health. Tao Lin, welcome to essential conversations.
In this episode, Rabbi Rami and Lin discuss the philosophical nuances and therapeutic benefits of microdosing and recreational drug use, Daoism, autism, death and “leaving society,” and much more.
“When I first got really disillusioned with my life ... I took a big dose of psilocybin and that combined with listening to a lot of Terence McKenna, made me have this idea that I should leave society, leave the life I had in New York City where I was really depressed. Then at that point, I realized that I didn't know what I would leave towards.”
Susan Cross describes herself as a “well-wisher to ravens, bears, bumblebees, rattlesnakes, and coyotes.” She is a burial shroud maker, a rawhide hand drum and rattle builder, a ceremony writer, a gardener, an old mother, a tour driver, a self-proclaimed grief-stricken naturalist drowning her sorrows with single malt scotch, and a weary but wonder-filled pilgrim.
Cross has written a number of essays for Spirituality & Health, including her essay “Rethinking Burial: Burial Shrouds and More Ideas” featured in the July/August 2021 print issue. She is also the author of a new book called A Fleeting Presence: Fieldnotes From a Crone.
In this episode Rabbi Rami and Cross discuss the presence of the crone in all people— regardless of gender—burials, heritage, the “Disney-fication” of the feminine, and much more.
Michelle Cassandra Johnson is an activist, social justice warrior, author, anti-racism consultant and trainer, intuitive healer, and yoga teacher and practitioner. Her new book is Finding Refuge: Heartwork for Healing Collective Grief.
Read our review of Finding Refuge from the July/August 2021 issue of Spirituality & Health.
Rabbi Rami and Johnson start by defining racism throughout history. They explore ethnocentrism, white privilege, generational trauma, radicalizing yoga, the problematic nature of “color-blindness,” and more.
“We are in physical bodies and yet we are not our bodies. But we need to recognize what our bodies are doing to other bodies as we remember our divinity. … We can hold both of these at the same time.”
Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati is an acclaimed author, speaker, and spiritual leader initiated into the order of Sanyas in the year 2000 by His Holiness, Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji, one of India’s most revered spiritual leaders. Sadhvi also holds a PhD in psychology. She’s the author of several books including By God's Grace, and Come Home to Yourself.
Her newest book is Hollywood to the Himalayas: A Journey of Healing and Transformation.
In this episode, Rabbi Rami and Sadhvi discuss encounters with the Divine Mother, coming home to spirituality and to oneself, non-denominational experiences of god, and awakening to a new spiritual quest that feeds the soul.
“I had this extraordinary experience, just spontaneously immediately of oneness, and connection, and awakening, and union, and ecstasy, and perfection, perfection of myself, perfection of the universe, perfection of my place in the universe, oneness with this incredible mother goddess. I experienced her, I experienced her presence on every level of my being.”
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James Jeffrey spent nine years in the British Army, serving in Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan, before attending journalism school in Austin, Texas. Since 2012, he has freelanced in America and the horn of Africa. His work has appeared in Irish Times, The New Humanitarian, CNN, and many more.
Read James Jeffrey’s article in the July/August 2021 issue of Spirituality & Health: “How to Bring the Camino Vibe Into Your Life.”
In this episode of the Spirituality & Health Podcast, Rabbi Rami and James Jeffrey discuss the Camino De Santiago, an ancient pilgrimage through the landscape of France and Spain, and the concept of walking as a spiritual practice. They explore Jeffrey’s experiences having done the pilgrimage twice and how readers can access the pilgrimage vibe from their own homes via the “mini-pilgrimage.”
“On the Camino you can be walking for every day for five weeks, by the third week you really do enter this incredible stage—this repetitive pilgrimage act of walking going all the way back to Abraham—it takes your mind and heart to another place.”
Neal Allen is a coach and author of Shapes of Truth: Discover God Inside You, a book that lays out 35 qualities of God that can be experienced by humans as they exist inside each person.
In this episode, Rabbi Rami and Allen discuss these qualities, highlighting the “big 5”—joy, strength, will, compassion, and power. They also explore the divine objects or “white pearls” each human has within them, conformity, and the innate capacity of humans to be good.
“When I talk about God I’m not quite talking here about the overall God, the God that’s outside you, inside you, that permeates everything … what I write about and talk about is an ability that we have to notice, and discover, and retrieve aspects of God that are particularly useful to us as human beings.”
Read the magazine: spiritualityhealth.com
Kristen Neff is an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at University of Texas, Austin, specialist in self-compassion research, and author. Her new book is Fierce Self-Compassion: How Women Can Harness Kindness to Speak Up, Claim Their Power, and Thrive.
Read Neff’s interview by Spirituality & Health’s Stephen Kiesling in the May/June 2021 issue.
Tracee Stanley doesn’t want you to fear rest. Stanley is a yoga Nidra lineage holder, meditation and self-inquiry teacher, and co-founder of the Empowered Wisdom Yoga Nidra School. Her new book is Radiant Rest: Yoga Nidra for Deep Relaxation and Awakened Clarity.
Be sure to read Stanley’s essay, “Embrace the Transition” which appears in the May/June 2021 issue of Spirituality & Health.
“We have been out of balance for quite some time, and I think that the pandemics—the multiple pandemics—that we find ourselves in right now, whether it be covid, whether it be racism, whether it be climate crisis … they all to me have a thread of not honoring the divine feminine.”
In this episode, Rabbi Rami and Stanley discuss yoga Nidra, “the yoga of sleep,” as it connects to the divine feminine, the earth, and the self. They explore the essentiality of the divine feminine and the return to the mother—and how such a return can offer humanity a “new story.”
Later they discuss the necessity of yoga Nidra practice in recognizing the Self, and how the practice allows the expansion of Self in the face of oppression.
They close out their conversation with the idea that yoga Nidra is the act of total surrender, that the practice of yoga Nidra is counter-culture to the grind mentality, to trauma, and that it is okay to let go and just rest.
“Yoga nidra is this process of completely non-doing and releasing of thought—it’s a place of no thought.”
Grace Ji-Sun Kim is a Korean-American theologian and Professor of Theology at Earlham School of Religion. She is the author and editor of 20 books, a contributor to Spirituality & Health online and in print (Tune in for her upcoming article in the July/August 2021 issue!), and the host of Madang podcast hosted by The Christian Century.
In her recent digital article for Spirituality & Health, “Body Prayer for Every Day,” Kim discusses her mother’s journey with prayer and ways you can engage in whole-body prayer, citing the practices of Julian of Norwich (1343–1416).
In this episode, Rabbi Rami and Kim jump around Kim’s work from books to articles as they discuss the intersectionality of identity and religion, why we love labels, and how the Korean language evolves our ability to speak about God. They also dive into Kim’s first book, The Grace of Sophia: A Korean North American Women's Christology—in which they discuss the feminine dimensions of God and the divine feminine.
“I hope people will retrieve, and welcome, the feminine dimension of the divine. It’s so liberative, it brings us together. And even in the old testament, it talks about God as the mother hen, and there are feminine images of God. But because we live in a dualistic world, we kind of separate the two, we can't seem to kind of welcome both of them.”
They close out their conversation in a discussion of responsible doing as a means to knowing, and how praying with the whole body—beyond just words—can bring you closer to your religion and your understanding of God. Whole-body prayer, Kim explains, is a holistic approach to prayer.
“People focus on the speaking aspect of prayer, that is the most highly valued way of prayer—through our speaking—which is also going back to this problem of dualism, we have separated everything up, compartmentalized. ... If we move away from this dualistic way of prayer, we can pray with our bodies, with our hands, with our feet, with our minds, with our words, with our language—it becomes a more holistic approach.”
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Lyanda Lynn Haupt is a naturalist, writer, educator, and the author of six books, including Mozart's Starling, an account of the composer's relationship with a unique bird who sang a version of his Piano Concerto No. 17 in G major. In her latest work, Rooted: Life at the Crossroads of Science, Nature, and Spirit, Haupt writes about how science, poetry, mysticism, and the traditions of earth-based cultures all point to the truth that we are interconnected and pose the “essential question of how to live on our broken, imperiled, beloved earth.”
In this episode, Rabbi Rami and Haupt discuss the scientific reason that being in the natural world is so therapeutic to humans, the “industry” of forest therapy, solitude, and the innate human connection with nature.
“For millennia mystics and poets and earth-based indigenous cultures and children have known that we are at our healthiest, our wisest, our most creative, in our most embodied sense of wellness when we are in the natural world.”
They also explore the idea of “shedding” otherness, separateness, elevation, pretense, and comfort in order to become in deeper relationship with the earth and gain an understanding that “we are standing on holy ground.”
Haupt and Rabbi Rami close out their conversation with the notion of “fruitful darkness” and why Haupt doesn’t equate darkness to being bad or negative, but rather, a part of the life-bringing cycle.
Dr. Peter Lovatt is a dance psychologist, former professional dancer, and current teacher at the Royal Ballet School in London, UK. He is the founder of the Dance Psychology Lab at the University of Hertfordshire and has been a featured speaker alongside Barack Obama, Oprah, and Sir Richard Branson.
Rabbi Rami and Dr. Lovatt discuss the universality of dancing within the human condition, how dancing is scientifically proven to improve your mental and physical health, and how dancing is the window to the human soul.
Hala Khouri has been teaching yoga and movement for over 25 years. As a trained psychologist, she does clinical work with people struggling with trauma, depression, and anxiety. She trains clinicians and yoga teachers as well as educators and non-profits to be trauma informed. She and Rabbi Rami discuss her new book, Peace from Anxiety: Get Grounded, Build Resilience & Stay Connected Amidst the Chaos.
Brian McLaren is a leading voice advocating for a new kind of Christianity. He was featured in Spirituality and Health’s January/February 2021 issue as one of the seven trailblazers who are helping define the future of spirituality.
He and Rabbi Rami discuss McLaren's latest book Faith After Doubt, and the dangerous rise of right-wing Christian nationalism.
This week it is our pleasure to interview Luvvie Ajayi Jones. Luvvie is an author, a sought-after speaker, and a podcast host who thrives at the intersection of comedy, technology and justice. She penned the New York Times bestselling I’m Judging You: The Do-Better Manual. Her latest book is Professional Troublemaker: The Fear-Fighter Manual. Who is a professional troublemaker? They are the necessary truth-tellers in the room. Listen to the podcast to find out why they are so vital. @Luvvie
Rabbi Rami's guest this week is author Natalie Goldberg. She is the author of 15 books, including the classic Writing Down the Bones, (Shambhala, 1986). Her new book is Three Simple Lines: A Writer's Pilgrimage into the Heart and Homeland of Haiku.
This episode’s guest is Maci Daye. Daye is a licensed professional counselor, a certified Hakomi therapist, and certified sex therapist. She and Rabbi Rami discuss the connection between spirituality and sex, and how mindfulness techniques can be used to rediscover erotic potential.
Rabbi Rami’s guest this week is Rev. Jes Kast. She is a pastor at Faith United Church of Christ in State College, Penn.
Rev. Kast is featured as one of the trailblazers in the Jan./Feb. 2021 issue of Spirituality and Health, in the feature story “7 Spiritual Radicals.” It interviews seven leaders who are redefining contemporary religion and making it more inclusive.
This week, Rabbi Rami speaks with Kevin Anderson, Ph.D. Dr. Anderson is a psychologist, life coach, author, and speaker. His recent books include Now Is Where God Lives: Nested Meditations to Delight the Mind and Awaken the Soul and The Inconceivable Surprise of Living: Sustaining Wisdom for Spiritual Beings Trying to Be Human.
Using a playful approach to words, such as with nested meditations, can be a form of cognitive therapy, Anderson says, helping us deal with stuck emotions and maladaptive thoughts.
Listen to the episode to learn how to use the technique.
Individualism and capitalism are simply not working. Author Sarah Wilson talks with Rabbi Rami about the challenges we face as humans, such as climate change and racial injustice, and proposes healthier systems to heal a fractured world.
Robyn Moreno is a certified yoga teacher, trained life coach, and practicing curandera (Mexican folk healer).
In the past, she led a go-go life in publishing and as an Emmy-nominated TV host. But internally, she was in crisis—with unresolved childhood trauma and deep burnout. She calls this a soul crisis.
Moreno found deeper roots, and healing, when she transitioned from media maven to modern curandera, rediscovering her family’s Mexican culture—and herself. She and Rabbi Rami discuss her journey to studying an earth-based wisdom tradition that her great-grandmother had practiced, curanderismo.
Who do you want at your deathbed? We do not like to think about such things, yet we will all die, and wrestling with such finitude can actually make our lives richer. Rabbi Rami’s guest this week is Lydia Dugdale MD, an associate professor of medicine and director of the Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at Columbia University. She is an internal medicine primary care doctor and a medical ethicist.
Dr. Dugdale is a frequent contributor to Spirituality & Health, and her new book, The Lost Art of Dying (July 2020), explores hopeful perspectives on death and dying—and living with intention—via the lost medieval practice of ars moriendi.
Ars moriendi were originally two texts from the medieval era and when taken in the context of the Bubonic Plague, death was literally all around. The idea is you do not know when death will come upon you, so you need to always be ready and prepare for a good death. It sounds morbid, but doing the work can make life more meaningful. Take, for example, reconciling with family before it is too late.
Dugdale finished her book prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and while it is thankfully not the Plague, death is again front and center in our culture.
Dr. Dugdale and Rabbi Rami discuss, for example, the important difference between dying alone and lonely dying. At the height of the pandemic, she reports working in the hospital and seeing, due to the shortage of PPE that would have allowed closer human contact, patients dying in a very lonely way, Dugdale. “To have patients die and have their last contact be through an iPad, it was a tragedy not only for the patients and for their families, but also for the doctors and nurses.”
So what happens when we die? For more on that, you will have to listen to the podcast.
From a very young age, Jacqueline Suskin felt called to the path of poetry. Her most recent book is Every Day is a Poem (Sounds True, 2020), and she is the author of six other books including The Collected, Go Ahead & Like It, The Edge of The Continent Volume One, The Edge of The Continent Volume Two, Help in the Dark Season, and The Edge of The Continent Volume Three.
With her project Poem Store, Suskin has composed over 40,000 improvisational poems for people who chose a topic in exchange for a unique verse. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, and other publications. She is also featured on the cover of the November-December 2020 issue of Spirituality & Health.
Poetry is having a huge renaissance. Suskin credits this partly due to shorter attention spans among the reading public, but also a desire to reach the heart of the matter, to connect more quickly with that which is vital. Poetry is an accessible tool for people, she notes, that can help us “sift through the chaos and enjoy being alive.”
It is the combination of micro and macro content that makes poetry so special, Suskin says. She and Rabbi Rami also talk about how poetry is similar to prayer, and how it can translate suffering into something meaningful.
Listen to the whole podcast to hear this beautiful conversation.
For more on Suskin’s poetry, teaching and other work, visit her website.
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Lama Rod Owens is a Buddhist minister, activist, yoga instructor and authorized Lama (Buddhist teacher) in the Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism. Owens holds a Master of Divinity degree from Harvard Divinity School and has given talks, retreats and workshops around the U.S. and internationally. He is considered a leading teacher of his generation.
In this week's podcast, he and Rabbi Rami discuss Owens' latest book, Love and Rage: The Path of Liberation Through Anger.
In this electrifying conversation, Rabbi Rami talks with the Most Rev. Michael Curry. He is the presiding bishop and primate of the Episcopal Church.
They discuss his new book, Love is the Way, and how Jesus has over the millennia been turned into a meeker and milder version than the radical figure he may have actually been at the time. He was founding a nonviolent movement, true, but he was challenging the status quo.
“I think it would have been lovingly unsettling to be around Jesus,” says Curry.
“The way of love calls out injustice. I grew up hearing the language of love within the context of the civil rights movement,” explains Curry. “This is how we were intended to live, and this is why it has such positive energy.”
Do not miss listening to this amazing conversation between Rabbi Rami and Bishop Curry.
Rabbi Rami’s guest this week is Jaimal Yogis. Yogis is an award-winning writer and frequent speaker, and we are delighted to have him gracing our September/October 2020 cover, along with his insanely cute son.
A graduate of Columbia Journalism school, Yogis is featured in our annual Books We Love feature. He has an impressive body of work, including three coming-of-age/journalistic memoirs: Saltwater Buddha, The Fear Project, and All Our Waves Are Water. His latest is a children’s picture book, Mop Rides the Waves of Life. It is about a free-spirited kid (hmm, that hair looks familiar...) who loves to surf. His mom teaches him how to meditate, and he makes the connection between sitting on his surfboard and meditating, learning how to ride emotions and allowing them to pass like waves.
He and Rabbi Rami discuss the metaphor of the ocean and how it relates to the divine and how we are all connected.
“The Rumi saying,‘You are not a drop in the ocean, you are the entire ocean in a single drop,’is something I always come back to, both on a spiritual level and also on a quantum physics level,” says Yogis.
And Rabbi Rami adds, “Just as it is never too late to learn to surf, it is never too late to learn to be spiritual.”
This week, Rabbi Rami puts on his wellies and garden gloves to interview celebrated gardener Sue Stuart-Smith. She is also a prominent psychiatrist and psychotherapist, and the author of the book The Well-Gardened Mind: The Restorative Power of Nature. It weaves together stories about neuroscience, psychoanalysis, and how gardening can heal us mentally and physically.
The book is especially timely in the time of COVID-19, she and Rabbi Rami discuss, as planting seeds and caring for living things helps us feel grounded when the future feels so uncertain. To feel calmer and more relaxed in a flourishing landscape may even be hard-wired into our brains from our earliest days as a species, explaining our continued enjoyment of the therapeutic effects of horticulture today.
Being fully present in a garden is also much like meditating, says Stuart-Smith, as it is a mindful focus. After 20 to 30 minutes out in the garden or nature, the human body experiences lowered stress hormones and blood pressure. Raising our own food also provides people with a sense of pride and connection, providing community-strengthening benefits, she says.
What if you live in a urban high rise and have no patch of soil to call your own? Indoor potted plants can provide benefits, too, assures Stuart-Smith. “They boost mood and concentration, and just the effect of caring for a plant has tremendous importance,” she says. “Caring for something, nurturing something ... can sustain us.”
Did you know we can reverse-engineer happiness and contentment by warming up our body’s own neural circuitry? That is the essence of the new book, Neurodharma: New Science, Ancient Wisdom, and Seven Practices of the Highest Happiness, by Rick Hanson, PhD.
In this episode of the podcast, he and Rabbi Rami have a very deep conversation about Buddhism, the Buddha (who Hanson likes to see kind of as a coach), and Reality with a capital R. But there is practical, actionable advice here, too. Listen and enjoy!
“Our birthright is innate resilience,” Dr. Rangel says. The question is how to build that up, and nurture it.
This week, Rabbi Rami is talking with one of Spirituality and Health’s newest contributors, Dr. Josefa Rangel. Dr. Rangel is a board-certified internist and integrative medicine specialist who trained at Stanford University School of Medicine, the University of California San Francisco, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and The Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine. She also recently completed training in medical advocacy.
Dr. Rangel has practiced integrative medicine since 2005. Her belief in the body’s innate capacity to heal led her to establish the Innate Medicine Clinic, in search of a new paradigm in medical care.
“Sickness and death are part of life,” she discusses with Rabbi Rami. From her perspective as a healer, the goal is to tap into inner vitality, as opposed to try to be well at all times, which is simply not realistic.
“We have inner knowing that any living thing wants to thrive, so that is view we want to take. We respond with skillful means.”
This week’s guest is Sarah Bowen. Bowen is an award-winning author, multifaith spiritual educator, animal chaplain, and is completing postgraduate work at Chicago Theological Seminary on the intersection of human spiritual values and animal welfare.
She and Rabbi Rami discuss how we humans tend to categorize animals into groups, such as the ones we love, the ones we eat, the ones we wear... Bowen says, “Those of us who are interested in theo-ethics are really keen on trying to have conversations and figure out how far do we extend compassion, rights, relationships,” to animals other than ourselves, becoming, basically, less species-centric.
A lot of people’s theology leaves out many sentient beings, Rabbi Rami and Bowen discuss, but if we expand compassion outward from ourselves, it is inevitable that we need to examine our behavior and ethics toward animals.
“We were doing spine surgeries on anxiety, and it doesn’t work,” David Hanscom, M.D. tells Rabbi Rami. Hanscom is former spinal surgeon. His most recent book is Do You Really Need Spine Surgery? Take Control with a Surgeon’s Advice.
After more than 32 years of surgical practice (and 15 years of suffering through chronic pain himself) he quit in 2018 to focus on teaching people how to break through cycles of chronic mental and physical pain, without undergoing surgery.
Hanscom teaches pain-sufferers to use a variety of techniques, such as expressive writing, meditation, how to make use of sensory input, and here is an interesting one: Never talking about chronic pain with anyone except your doctor. Listen to the podcast to find out why.
This is the final episode in Rabbi Rami’s special four-part series on how to stay healthy from social, psychological, and spiritual perspectives during the COVID-19 crisis. This week, Rabbi Rami focuses on the Buddhist practice of metta, or lovingkindness, which fosters compassion. This practice encourages us to wish others well, and allows us to be free from fear.
Rabbi Rami bases some of the conversation on the work of Sharon Salzberg, and her seminal book, Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness.
As Salzberg explains metta, “We open continuously to the truth of our actual experience ... metta is the sense of love that is not bound to desire, that does not have to pretend things are other than the way they are overcomes the illusion of separateness, of not being a part of the whole. Metta overcomes all the states that accompany this fundamental error of separateness: Fear, alienation, loneliness, and despair.”
Metta softens your heart and allows you to act compassionately. It will change how you engage with others, Rabbi Rami promises us, which may actually change how others interact with us in turn. In this podcast, he will teach you how to try the metta practice. Listen to the podcast to give it a go.
Rabbi Rami’s guest this episode is Kyle Chayka. He is a weekly columnist for Pacific Standard. As a writer and critic, his work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, New York Magazine, and Rolling Stone, among many others. He began his career as an art critic, and his new book, The Longing for Less: Living with Minimalism, is more in that vein than offering methods for organizing your spice rack.
Cultivating a deep sense of self is possible through minimalism, and Chayka and Rabbi Rami discuss minimalist artists like Agnes Martin, who explored minimalism as a way to find transcendence, or Donald Judd, who used box forms to find the essence of itself, something that was true in and of itself, which has relevance in spirituality. They also discuss how living in a minimalist way can mean allowing something to be exactly what it is, without putting our own story upon it. This can be a challenge when it comes to allowing other people to live their own lives.
For more of this inspiring and enlightening conversation about minimalism and how it relates to art, Buddhism, reality, and dealing with other humans, listen to the whole episode.
“Your loss is not a test, it is not a blessing, it is not a plan. Loss it what happens in life. Meaning is what we make after,” says David Kessler. Kessler is one of the world’s foremost experts on grief. He coauthored On Grief and Grieving and Life Lessons with famed psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, who pioneered the concept of the five stages of grief.
He and Rabbi Rami discuss his new book, Finding Meaning. Kessler wrote the book while processing the grief over his own son’s death.
Based on Maui, Jeana Naluai is a trained physical and massage therapist who shares her Native Hawaiian cultural healing practices with students through retreats and trainings, and at her spa in the town of Makawao.
For the past 10 years, she has taught lomilomi, a Hawaiian traditional massage and healing tradition. She and Rabbi Rami discuss how lomilomi was used for medical treatment such as tissue massage and bone setting, but also had a spiritual and holistic purpose. Together, they explore how lomilomi can help the world today.
This is the third episode in a four-part podcast series on maintaining spiritual and emotional wellness during the COVID-19 crisis.
Rabbi Rami’s guest today is his friend and colleague at the One River Foundation, Frank Levy. Based in Alabama, Levy is the retired Bureau Chief of Public Health Preparedness for the Houston Department of Health and Human Services, and former Director of Interfaith Relations at Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston. He frequently lectures on public health preparedness.
Levy makes three key recommendations for what we can do during the COVID-19 pandemic. Listen for the tips, and be well!
This is the second of our four-part series of short Essential Conversations podcasts. Today’s guest is Rev. Dr. Gordon Peerman. Dr. Peerman is an Episcopal priest and a psychotherapist in private practice in Nashville, TN, and the author of two books, The Body Knows the Way: Coming Home Through the Dark Night and Blessed Relief: What Christians Can Learn from Buddhists about Suffering.
He and Rabbi Rami discuss how to best listen to our friends and loved ones in this time, and how we can use those same skills to observe our own emotions.
In this special four-part series, Rabbi Rami gives counsel on how to stay healthy from social, psychological, and spiritual perspectives during the COVID-19 crisis.
This week Rabbi Rami interviews Shauna Shapiro, Ph.D. She is a professor and clinical psychologist who is one of the leading scientists studying the effects of mindfulness and self-compassion on wellbeing. Her new book is Good Morning, I Love You: Mindfulness + Self-Compassion Practices to Rewire Your Brain for Calm, Clarity + Joy.
One of the most hopeful and exciting developments in science has been the discovery of neuroplasticity—that is, our brain continues to change throughout our lives. The good news, Shapiro says, is “It’s never too late to change. No matter what has happened to us. All of us have the capacity to begin again.”
This week, Rabbi Rami interviews Spring Washam. Spring is a well-known meditation teacher and author based in California and Peru. One of the founders and core teachers at the East Bay Meditation Center in downtown Oakland, Calif., Spring has been a pioneer in bringing mindfulness-based healing practices to diverse communities.
This week, Rabbi Rami speaks with Clark Strand and Perdita Finn. They are the co-founders of The Way of the Rose, an inclusive fellowship of rosary friends dedicated to the Earth and to the Lady, “by any name we wish to call Her.”
Strand is the author of numerous articles and books on spiritual practices, including Seeds from a Birch Tree: Writing Haiku and the Spiritual Journey and Waking Up to the Dark: Ancient Wisdom for a Sleepless Age. Finn is a children’s book author and former high school teacher. Their most recent book is The Way of the Rose: The Radical Path of the Divine Feminine Hidden in the Rosary.
While rosary beads are often associated with Catholicism, Strand and Finn are not Catholic. They note that the rosary is for all people, of many spiritual pursuits. Most of the world's religions have included beads, or worry beads, over the past 100,000 years, notes Perdita. “Holding onto the rosary is like holding on to your mother,” Perdita notes.
This week, Rabbi Rami speaks with Dr. Will Cole, a functional medicine practitioner based in Pittsburgh. He is the author of The Inflammation Spectrum: Find Your Food Triggers and Reset Your System.
Despite how much Americans spend on health care, we don’t rate high in health, happiness or longevity. Functional medicine, a newer approach that can complement traditional Western medicine, may be able to boost those ratings. In addition to spending a lot more time with patients than traditional doctors, functional medicine practitioners also aim to quantifying health with lab tests and optimize nutrition with lifestyle changes.
“There is a difference between health span and life span,” Dr. Cole notes. The goal with functional medicine isn’t just to increase life span but also to stretch that health span out, so our bodies do not give out long before the rest of us does.
You may recognize Dr. Christian Conte from the TV show Coaching Bad, or the daily Emotional Management Minutes that air on more than 300 radio stations across the country, or his TEDx talk, “Why I Chose to Go to Prison.” He is hard to miss: a six-foot-tall, muscled, bearded, and tattooed mental health specialist. His latest book is Walking Through Anger: A New Design for Confronting Conflict in an Emotionally Charged World.
He and Rabbi Rami discuss Conte’s Yield Theory, which he created as an effective treatment for anger issues, drawing on the more than 20,000 hours he has spent counseling people. In fact, Conte uses this in his work with violent offenders within correctional institutions, in addition to applying it with sports teams and other organizations.
When dealing with an angry person, Conte says there are three key things: listening, validating, and exploring options.
Listen to the podcast to hear how to apply this technique, and how to deal with anger and other powerful emotions. And yes, we all have powerful emotions. As Conte says, “There are two kinds of people in the world: There are people who have issues and dead people. So if you are currently alive, you have issues, so do I, so does everyone.”
Rabbi Rami speaks with Kelly McGonigal, a health psychologist and lecturer at Stanford University, about her latest book, The Joy of Movement. It looks at how physically moving the body is not only a way to treat depression, anxiety, and loneliness, but also a powerful way to connect and promote cooperation with other humans. It literally builds joy in the body via specific receptors and hormones, she discovered in her research.
Seane Corn is an internationally acclaimed yoga teacher and public speaker known for her social activism, impassioned style of teaching, and raw, honest and inspired self-expression. She's been teaching for more than 25 years, and speaks with Rabbi Rami about her very first book, which was published in the fall of 2019.
"Yoga is about cracking you open," Rabbi Rami notes. "Expanding your heart." Seane and Rabbi Rami speak about this emotional shift and how yoga takes you to a whole new level and how it opens you spiritually.
Rabbi Rami speaks with the husband-and-wife team of Nancy Ellen Abrams and Joel Primack.
Primack is a distinguished professor of physics at UC Santa Cruz and a world-renowned cosmologist; Abrams is an author and speaker. Together, they explore issues about the cultural and social implications of the modern scientific understanding of the universe.
The two have co-authored two books together: The New Universe and the Human Future and The View from the Center of the Universe, and Abrams wrote A God That Could Be Real.
They discuss the universe, God, complexity, and their quest to understand the universe as a whole and the way humans fit in within that.
In this episode, Rabbi Rami speaks with Sensei Koshin Paley Ellison. Paley Ellison is the co-founder the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, the first Zen-based organization to offer clinical chaplaincy training in America. Koshin is also the author of the new book Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up.
Many of us are in what Ellison calls Zombieland. Walking down the street, staring at screens, afraid to talk with one another or to make eye contact. Intimacy, he says, is taking responsibility, both for how we think and how we stay in the present to fully see each other.
Listen to the whole episode to hear Rabbi Rami’s conversation with this dynamic leader and teacher.
“What does it mean to believe in a monotheistic god?” asks Scott Shay, author of the new book In Good Faith: Questioning Religion and Atheism. It in, one of his main goals is to show that it is as rational to be a monotheist as an atheist. Rabbi Rami and Scott discuss the book and Shay's views.
From 2009 to 2017, Sarah Hurwitz worked in the White House, serving as head speechwriter for First Lady Michelle Obama and as a senior speechwriter for President Barack Obama. Her new book explores her deeper exploration of her Jewish faith.
In this podcast, Barbara and Rabbi Rami have a wide-ranging discussion, including talking about some of the Christian traditions that have gotten lost in Protestantism—such as early contemplative practices, and Mary/the divine feminine archetype—that are now being re-discovered and embraced.
Support for this show comes from the International Yoga Festival located at Parmarth Niketan, uniting yogis of every culture, color, and creed together in a one-world yogic family. Come be a part of an expanding global consciousness by registering at https://www.internationalyogafestival.org/register/
Rabbi Rami interviews bestselling author, podcaster and all-around happy guy, Ken Honda. Ken is helping people transform their relationships with money, and has written a new book "Happy Money: The Japanese Art of Making Peace with Your Money."
S&H editor Ben Nussbaum turns the tables on Rabbi Rami and interviews the host of Essential Conversations.
Is It OK to Hog a Table at Starbucks? A closer look at a small thing so many of us do.
Rabbi Rami talks to Stuart Brody about how looking closely at our small actions can help us move closer to who we want to be. An article including a review of his latest book The Law of Small Things: Creating Habits of Integrity in a World of Mistrust is featured in the March/April 2019 issue of Spirituality & Health.
Rabbi Rami talks to Dr. Daniel Siegel about the nature of consciousness, the creation of his meditation practice "The Wheel of Awareness", and the clear benefits of mindfulness. A review of his latest book Aware: The Science and Practice of Presence can be found in the Sept/Oct 2018 issue of Spirituality & Health.
Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., is clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine, founding co-director of the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center, and executive director of the Mindsight Institute. He is also an award winning educator, Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and recipient of multiple honorary fellowships. Co-author of Parenting from the Inside Out, The Whole-Brain Child,andMindsight, and the father of two adult children.
Rabbi Rami talks to Sadhguru about about how he got into yoga for all the wrong reasons, that meditation is not something you do but what you are, and his book Inner Engineering: A Yogi's Guide to Joy. A review of his book can be found in the Sept/Oct 2016 issue of Spirituality & Health. Sadhguru has dedicated himself to the elevation of the physical, mental, and spiritual well-being of all people. He is a sought-after speaker who has addressed leading international forums, including the World Peace Summit at the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, TED, and numerous universities. Sadhguru belongs to no particular tradition and incorporates aspects of yogic sciences that are most relevant for modern-day life into his teachings and practices. His scientific methods for self-transformation have universal appeal. His life and work serve as reminders that the inner science of yoga is absolutely relevant and applicable to our lives today. In 1992, Sadhguru established the Isha Foundation, an international, volunteer-run, nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing all aspects of human well-being. It is headquartered in the United States at the Isha Institute of Inner Sciences in Tennessee and in India at the Isha Yoga Center at the base of the Velliangiri Mountains, near Coimbatore. Supported by over three million volunteers worldwide, the Foundation’s activities range from large-scale humanitarian projects in the fields of public health, ecology, and education to yoga programs for the individual. The objective of all the Foundation’s activities is to empower the individual to realize the ultimate potential within, and to promote a global climate of inclusiveness and harmony. Learn more at innerengineering.com.
Rabbi Rami talks to Jacqueline Freeman about the world through bees' eyes and her new book Song of Increase: Listening to the Wisdom of Honeybees for Kinder Beekeeping and a Better World. A review of her book can be found in the Sept/Oct 2016 issue of Spirituality & Health. Jacqueline Freeman is a biodynamic farmer and natural beekeeper who focuses on seeing the world from the bees’ perspective. Working in direct communication with the bee family, she is known for her gentle and understanding ways with bees. Jacqueline authored the book, Song of Increase: Listening to the Wisdom of Honeybees for Kinder Beekeeping and a Better World. She appears in the honeybee documentary, “Queen of the Sun” and was hired by the U.S. Embassy and USDA to work with rural farmers and beekeepers in Dominican Republic using historic methods of respectful beekeeping. Jacqueline’s website, www.SpiritBee.com, has videos of her working in the midst of thousands of bees, free of protective equipment, celebrating the caring and considerate ways humans and bees can exist in harmony.
Rabbi Rami talks to Tony Cointreau about his mentor Mother Theresa and his new book The Missing Element. After an affluent childhood as an heir of the Cointreau liqueur family and a successful theatre career, Tony Cointreau felt that he needed something more meaningful in his life. Even though he had never been exposed to poverty, Cointreau found himself drawn to Mother Teresa’s work with “the poorest of the poor.” In 1989 he flew to India to see her work firsthand and went again in 1990. Upon his return to New York City, Cointreau began volunteering at Gift of Love, Mother Teresa’s home in Greenwich Village for destitute men dying of AIDS. Unexpectedly he found that Mother Teresa made frequent visits to New York and she soon became a mentor and his third “other mother.” His memoir A Gift of Love shares these experiences and the wisdom he gained. On September 10, 2016, The Rubin Museum hosts The Wisdom Matrix: Gyetrul Jigme Rinpoche + Tony Cointreau.
Rabbi Rami talks to Debra Silverman about her spiritual journey, her practical approach to astrology, and her new book The Missing Element. Debra Silverman works on an individual basis as well as in workshops to impart emotional wisdom through a simplified language that describes the qualities of Water, Air, Earth and Fire. She received an M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University and trained for mental health credentials at Harvard and York universities. www.debrasilvermanastrology.com
Rabbi Rami talks to Andrew Holecek about his new book Dream Yoga. A review of his book can be found in the July/August issue of Spirituality & Health. Andrew Holecek is an author, spiritual teacher, and humanitarian. As a long-time student of Buddhism, he frequently presents this tradition from a contemporary perspective – blending the ancient wisdom of the East with modern knowledge from the West. andrewholecek.com
Rabbi Rami talks to Reverend Billy, aka Billy Talen, about his activist background, how reducing consumption is a spiritual act, and his new album The Earth Wants You. A review of his album can be found in the July/August issue of Spirituality & Health. Reverend Billy (aka Bill Talen) is a New York City based activist, performer and author who has spent the better part of 21st century preaching on the evils of consumerism and the crisis of The Earth. Reverend Billy developed his outrageous character preaching on the streets of Times Square, and has since become an international activist figure. He and The Stop Shopping Choir, a radical performance community of singing New Yorkers, stage non-violent creative actions around the world. Find out more about Reverend Billy & The Stop Shopping Choir at www.revbilly.com
Rabbi Rami talks to Stephen Dinan about his new book Sacred America, Sacred World: Fulfilling Our Mission in Service to All. Stephen Dinan, a social entrepreneur and political strategist, is the founder and CEO of The Shift Network, a global provider of online transformational courses and trainings. He was previously a senior staffer at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS), where he was the driving force behind the Shift in Action program; and at the Esalen Institute, where he directed and helped to create the Center for Theory and Research—a think tank for scholars, researchers, and teachers to explore human potential frontiers. A graduate of Stanford University, Dinan also holds a master’s in East-West Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies. He is a member of the Transformational Leadership Council and Evolutionary Leaders groups, and the author of Radical Spirit: Spiritual Writings from the Voices of Tomorrow (New World Library, 2002). Dinan resides in the San Francisco Bay Area with his family.
Rabbi Rami talks to Marianne Williamson about the struggle for happiness, the culture of depression, and her new book Tears to Triumph: The Spiritual Journey from Suffering to Enlightenment. Marianne Williamson is an internationally acclaimed author and lecturer. Six of her ten published books have been New York Times bestsellers. Her books include A Return to Love, A Year of Miracles, The Law of Divine Compensation, The Age of Miracles, A Course in Weight Loss, Everyday Grace, A Woman’s Worth, Illuminata, and The Gift of Change. Marianne has been a popular guest on television programs such as Oprah, Good Morning America and Charlie Rose.
Rabbi Rami talks to journalist Judith D. Schwartz about her new book Water in Plain Sight: Hope for a Thirsty World. Judith D. Schwartz is a journalist whose recent work looks at soil as a hub for multiple environmental, economic, and social challenges and solutions. She writes on this theme for numerous publications and speaks in venues around the world. Her 2013 book "Cows Save the Planet" was awarded a Nautilus Book Award Silver Prize for Sustainability and is among Booklist's Top 10 Books On Sustainability. A graduate of the Columbia Journalism School and Brown University, she lives in Vermont. judithdschwartz.com
Rabbi Rami talks to Hugh Byrne about switching from fast thinking to slow thinking with mindfulness, the beauty of silence, and his book The Here and Now Habit: How Mindfulness Can Help You Break Unhealthy Habits Once and for All. An interview appears in the July/August 2016 issue of Spirituality & Health magazine. Hugh G. Byrne, PhD, is a mindfulness meditation teacher and counselor, and a senior teacher with the Insight Meditation Community of Washington—a meditation community founded by Tara Brach. He has trained for four years with founding Western Insight/Mindfulness meditation teachers, including Jack Kornfield and Joseph Goldstein, and has practiced meditation for 25 years
Rabbi Rami talks to Rosamund Stone Zander about how to embrace the possible and her new book Pathways to Possibility: Transforming Our Relationships with Ourselves. A review of her book appears in the July/August 2016 issue of Spirituality & Health magazine. Rosamund Stone Zander is the author of The Art of Possibility. Trained as a Family Systems therapist, she coaches organizations, teams, and groups, and designs programs that strengthen relationships, promote an ethical outlook, and spur effective action. Ms. Zander has conducted workshops in a wide variety of settings ranging from school systems, medical groups, and corporations, to the World Economic Forum.
Rabbi Rami talks to author Matthew Fox about his new book A Way to God: Thomas Merton Creation Creation Spiritual Journey. Matthew Fox is the author of over 30 books including Meister Eckhart, The Hidden Spirituality of Men, Christian Mystics, and most recently A Way to God. A preeminent scholar and popularizer of Western mysticism, he became an Episcopal priest after being expelled from the Dominican Order by Cardinal Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict XVI. You can visit him online at www.matthewfox.org.
Rabbi Rami talks to Katherine Ozment about insights from her research, a move toward reimagined spiritual rituals, and her new book Grace Without God: The Search for Meaning, Purpose, and Belonging in a Secular Age. A review of her book appears in the May/June 2016 issue of Spirituality & Health magazine. Katherine Ozment is an award-winning journalist and author of Grace Without God: The Search for Meaning, Purpose, and Belonging in a Secular Age. She has worked in publishing for more than twenty-five years, including as a senior editor at National Geographic, for which she once rode a donkey through the desert of Jordan and Israel on assignment. Her personal essays and reported articles have been widely published, including in such venues as National Geographic, The New York Times, Boston, Salon, and Fitness. Born in Arkansas, she graduated from Harvard College with a degree in English and American Literature and received her Masters in Writing from DePaul University. She has lived on both the East and West coasts and now resides in Chicago with her husband, an environmental economist at The University of Chicago, and their three children.
Rabbi Rami talks to John Tarrant clarifies the deeper meaning and uses of a koan, including lightening up your perspective. An interview with Tarrant appears in the May/June 2016 issue of Spirituality & Health magazine. John Tarrant is the director of Pacific Zen Institute and author of Bring Me the Rhinoceros and The Light Inside the Dark. He is the editor of the new online magazine Uncertainty Club.
Rabbi Rami talks to Joshua Becker about his new book "The More of Less: Finding the Life Your Want Under Everything You Own." A review of his book appears in the May/June 2016 issue of Spirituality & Health magazine. Becker is the founder and editor of Becoming Minimalist, a website dedicated to intentional living that was named by SUCCESS Magazine as one of the top ten personal development websites in 2015.
Rabbi Rami talks to Koshin Paley Ellison and Matt Weingast about the journey that brought them to advocating for contemplative care and their new book Awake by the Bedside. A review of their book appears in the May/June 2016 issue of Spirituality & Health magazine.
Rabbi Rami talks to Snatam Kaur about the transformational power of sound and her new book Original Light: The Morning Practice of Kundalini Yoga. She also sings a chant shared by her spiritual teacher Yogi Bhajan. Kaur appears in the Jan/Feb 2016 issue of Spirituality & Health magazine as one of the 100 Trailblazers in Yoga and Ayurveda and begins a new blog with Spiriutality & Health online this June.
Snatam Kaur is a teacher and musician in the Kundalini Yoga tradition, known for her many bestselling kirtan albums. Her new book Original Light: The Morning Practice of Kundalini Yoga is available now. Based in Wilton, New Hampshire, she leads workshops and gatherings across the US. For more, visit snatamkaur.com.