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Kyle Chayka on Minimalism May 21, 2020

Show notes

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.

David Kessler, grief expert May 07, 2020

Show notes

“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.

Jeana Naluai, Native Hawaiian healer Apr 23, 2020

Show notes

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.

Podcast: Spirituality in the Time of Coronavirus, Part 3 Apr 10, 2020

Show notes

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!

Podcast: Spirituality in the Time of Coronavirus, Part 2 Mar 31, 2020

Show notes

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.

Podcast: Spirituality in the Time of Coronavirus, Part 1 Mar 27, 2020

Show notes

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.

Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Expert Shauna Shapiro, Ph.D. Mar 13, 2020

Show notes

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.”

Teacher, healer, and author Spring Washam Feb 27, 2020

Show notes

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.

Rosary Experts Perdita Finn and Clark Strand Feb 14, 2020

Show notes

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.

Dr. Will Cole, functional medicine specialist Jan 31, 2020

Show 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.

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