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    Christianity

    Opening Minds, Opening Hearts

    Are you seeking to deepen your interior life through the practice of Centering Prayer? Do you have a desire to develop a closer connection to the divine as well as those around you?

    Opening Minds, Opening Hearts is a podcast for both the curious meditator and long-time practitioner of Centering Prayer. On each episode, hosts Colleen Thomas and Mark Dannenfelser will reflect on the method of Centering Prayer with some friends of Contemplative Outreach who share their personal experiences of encountering God through the prayer, and through their work in the world. Topics discussed will include New Monasticism, the value of silence, the practice of contemplation and the call to social action.

    Through this podcast, we hope to provide new perspectives on the future of this prayer in the rapidly changing spiritual and technological landscape. Centering Prayer is a practice and a gift and we are excited to share this blessing with our listeners.

    Advertise

    Copyright: © Copyright Contemplative Outreach

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    Latest Episodes:
    S4 EP7: All of You is Welcome with Jim McElroy Oct 04, 2026
    Show notes

    When 12-Step recovery meets the contemplative tradition, something profoundly practical emerges. Jim McElroy has spent decades at that intersection, sharing how Centering Prayer and the Welcoming Prayer offer those in recovery a new relationship to pain, not an escape from it. In this conversation, through vulnerable storytelling and the wisdom of Thomas Keating, Jim explores healing as integration rather than elimination, and how both practices bridge the language of 12-Step powerlessness with the contemplative language of consent.
    Featured Resources:

    • 12 Practice for Daily Life: The Welcoming Prayer - Twelve Steps, Thomas Keating: https://youtu.be/i7VcDwgTyas?is=ga1OmV6AkbfCejnp
    • Welcoming Prayer resources: https://cp12stepoutreach.org/welcoming-prayer/
    • 12StepOutreach Centering Prayer resources: https://cp12stepoutreach.org/
    To connect further with us:
    • Visit our website: www.contemplativeoutreach.org
    • Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prayerofconsent
    • Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prayerofconsent
    • Check out our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@prayerofconsent
    Stream and Download the Opening Minds, Opening Hearts Podcast NOW for FREE on Apple Podcasts, Amazon and Spotify!
    S4 EP6: Healing Happens in the Body with Heather Ruce Sep 20, 2026
    Show notes

    In this episode, we are joined by Heather Ruce, a spiritual director and somatic practitioner, to explore how healing truly happens in the body. Heather shares how understanding the nervous system and integrating somatic practices deepen rather than compete with Centering Prayer. Together, we explore what it means to include our whole self in the divine therapy, how the body holds unintegrated material waiting to be processed, and why practices like orienting to our senses and opening to pleasure are essential companions to our contemplative practice.
    To connect with Heather, check out:

    • Her website: heatherruce.com
    • Her Substack: https://substack.com/@heatherruce
    • Her Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heatherruce/

    To connect further with us:
    • Visit our website: www.contemplativeoutreach.org
    • Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prayerofconsent
    • Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prayerofconsent
    • Check out our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@prayerofconsent

    Stream and Download the Opening Minds, Opening Hearts Podcast NOW for FREE on Apple Podcasts, Amazon and Spotify!
    S4 EP5: We Are Always Returning Sep 06, 2026
    Show notes

    We're back after a short break, and we're now at the mid-season mark of season four. In this episode, we step back from guest conversations to reflect on what we've been learning and the themes that have emerged so far.
    We explore what it means to bring our pain into the light, reflecting on suffering as a kind of fracture and separation, and unpacking the paradox that we are already whole while also needing to do the patient work of dismantling the false self. And at the heart of it all, we consider why we are always returning: to the sacred word, to our wholeness, to each other, and to God.
    To connect further with us:

    • Visit our website: www.contemplativeoutreach.org
    • Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prayerofconsent/
    • Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prayerofconsent/
    • Check out our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/coutreach
    Stream and Download the Opening Minds, Opening Hearts Podcast NOW for FREE on Apple Podcasts, Amazon and Spotify!
    S4 EP4: Accepting Our Basic Core of Goodness with Howard B Jun 07, 2026
    Show notes

    This episode weaves together three healing modalities: 12-step recovery, psychotherapy, and Centering Prayer, through the wisdom and lived experience of Howard B. Howard shares what it truly means to accept our basic core of goodness as our true self, and why that acceptance becomes the foundation from which we can look at our shadow and false self. Together, we explore how this radical acceptance, grounded in the belief that we are loved unconditionally, transforms not only how we see ourselves but how we show up in the world.
    To connect further with us:

    • Visit our website: www.contemplativeoutreach.org
    • Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prayerofconsent/
    • Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prayerofconsent/
    • Check out our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/coutreach
    Stream and Download the Opening Minds, Opening Hearts Podcast NOW for FREE on Apple Podcast, Amazon and Spotify!
    S4 EP3: Bringing Our Trauma Into God's Presence with Lawrence Hamilton May 24, 2026
    Show notes

    Welcome back to Opening Minds, Opening Hearts. In this episode, we are joined by Lawrence H, who was introduced to Centering Prayer while serving time at Folsom State Prison in 2009 and has since dedicated his life to sharing the practice with others. In a conversation full of honesty, hard-won wisdom and real hope, Lawrence shares what it truly means to bring our trauma into God's presence and allow it to be transformed. Together, we also explore the dark night of the soul and how Father Thomas Keating understood it not as something to be feared but as a profound and hidden work of divine therapy that carries us toward deeper freedom.
    More about Lawrence’s prison ministry:

    • Prison Contemplative Fellowship: https://youtube.com/@pcf_praestolari?si=viiL99d4tJDxq5ey
    • Catholic Prison Ministries Coalition to view the documentary Holding Still: https://www.catholicprisonministries.org/holding-still
    To learn more about the mission of Contemplative Outreach’s Prison Outreach Service Team (COPOST), visit: https://www.contemplativeoutreach.org/prison-outreach-homepage/
    To connect further with us:
    • Visit our website: www.contemplativeoutreach.org
    • Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prayerofconsent/
    • Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prayerofconsent/
    • Check out our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/coutreach

    Season 4 of Opening Minds, Opening Hearts was made possible in part by a grant from the Trust for the Meditation Process, a charitable foundation encouraging meditation, mindfulness, and contemplative prayer.
    We are extremely grateful for their support [of TMP] and would be grateful for any additional support that you, as a listener, might offer. Your donation helps Contemplative Outreach [us] to freely offer the wisdom of the contemplative tradition and Centering Prayer to all who are interested.
    If you are a grateful listener and would like to support this podcast, go to: https://www.contemplativeoutreach.org/opening-minds-opening-hearts-podcast-donation/ to make a donation of any amount.
    This season of Opening Minds, Opening Hearts is produced by Rachael Sanya
    S4 EP2: Becoming Who We Already Are with Reverend Nhien Vuong May 10, 2026
    Show notes

    Welcome back, everyone! We are so glad you are joining us. In this episode, we are joined by the Reverend Nhien Vuong, contemplative teacher, ordained minister, founder of the Evolving Enneagram, and author of The Enneagram of the Soul, for a deeply personal and illuminating exploration of the Enneagram as a sacred companion to Centering Prayer on the journey of divine therapy. Together, we explore what it truly means to move from a life shaped by the question 'what is wrong with me?' to the lived and felt knowing that we are already whole, and the profound and practical ways the Enneagram and Centering Prayer work together as companions on the same journey toward wholeness and freedom.
    To connect with Nhien, check out:

    • Her Evolving Enneagram Community: https://www.evolvingenneagram.com/
    • Her YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@evolvingenneagram
    • Her Enneagram of the Soul Book Journey Training & Certification Program: https://evolvingenneagram.com/enneagram-of-the-soul-facilitator-training
    • Her Contemplative Practices & the Enneagram 12-week cohorts: https://evolvingenneagram.com/contemplative-enneagram-community
    • Her (New!) Mighty Networks Contemplative Community: http://bit.ly/472KcnC
    To connect further with us:
    • Visit our website: www.contemplativeoutreach.org
    • Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prayerofconsent/
    • Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prayerofconsent/
    • Check out our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/coutreach
    Stream and Download the Opening Minds, Opening Hearts Podcast NOW for FREE on Apple Podcast, Amazon, and Spotify!
    S4 EP1: Helping Each Other to Wholeness with Pamela Begeman & Matt Scrimgeour Apr 26, 2026
    Show notes

    Welcome back to Opening Minds, Opening Hearts. In this episode, we are joined by two dear friends and beloved members of the Contemplative Outreach family, Pamela Begeman and Matt Scrimgeour, for a warm and honest dinner table conversation about Centering Prayer as divine therapy. Drawing on decades of lived experience with the practice, our guests share how Centering Prayer has been the foundation of their own healing journeys, and what it truly means to be restored to our fundamental core of goodness.
    To connect further with us:

    • Visit our website: www.contemplativeoutreach.org
    • Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prayerofconsent/
    • Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prayerofconsent/
    • Check out our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/coutreach
    Stream and Download the Opening Minds, Opening Hearts Podcast NOW for FREE on Apple Podcast, Amazon and Spotify!
    S4 Trailer Apr 19, 2026
    Show notes

    We are so glad you are joining us for what promises to be a rich and deeply personal Season 4 of the Opening Minds Opening Hearts podcast. We’ll be exploring the theme of Divine Therapy: Healing the Emotional Wounds of a Lifetime, inspired by Father Thomas Keating's teaching that the purpose of divine therapy is to bring unconscious motivations to awareness and heal the wounds of a lifetime.
    Our guests this season come from a wide range of disciplines and traditions, and what they share in common is a life transformed by Centering Prayer. Through their stories, we hope you can find yourself somewhere on the journey, too.
    To learn more about Father Thomas Keating’s Spiritual Journey Series//Models of the Human Condition, visit https://www.contemplativeoutreach.org/the-spiritual-journey-series/
    To connect further with us:

    • Visit our website: www.contemplativeoutreach.org
    • Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prayerofconsent/
    • Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prayerofconsent/
    • Check out our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/coutreach
    Season 4 of Opening Minds, Opening Hearts was made possible in part by a grant from the Trust for the Meditation Process, a charitable foundation encouraging meditation, mindfulness, and contemplative prayer.
    If you are a grateful listener and would like to support this podcast, go to: https://www.contemplativeoutreach.org/opening-minds-opening-hearts-podcast-donation/ to make a donation of any amount.
    This season of Opening Minds, Opening Hearts is produced by Rachael Sanya

    Music from Bensound.com. License codes: Z5MRZR8RFEARKTF1 and Z8ATTZIZZVFUOXNC
    Stream and Download the Opening Minds, Opening Hearts Podcast NOW for FREE on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Amazon, etc.
    S3 EP11: May We All Be One Apr 06, 2025
    Show notes

    As we wrap up Season 3 of the Opening Minds, Opening Hearts podcast, we find ourselves reflecting on a season that has been both challenging and enlightening. We’ve had the privilege of engaging in conversations with guests from a variety of spiritual traditions, each offering profound insights into the nature of Ultimate Reality and non-duality from their spiritual traditions.
    It has been all about expansion—of our hearts, minds, and understanding. We’ve explored how our contemplative practices open us up to new ways of seeing and being, helping us move beyond the boundaries of dualistic thinking. The idea of Ultimate Reality as a shared experience, something we can only begin to describe through stories, metaphors, and silence, has deeply shaped our reflections. Our guests invited us to consider how connection, kinship, and the experience of God weave through all of life.
    To connect further with us:

    • Visit our website: www.contemplativeoutreach.org
    • Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prayerofconsent
    • Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prayerofconsent
    • Check out our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@prayerofconsent
    • To learn more about the founding theological principles of Contemplative Outreach, visit https://www.contemplativeoutreach.org/vision/

    Stream and Download the Opening Minds, Opening Hearts Podcast NOW for FREE on Apple Podcast, Google, Amazon and Spotify!
    S3 EP10: Integrating Our Interspiritual Dialogues With a Lifelong Practitioner with Sr. Mary Margaret Funk Mar 23, 2025
    Show notes

    Welcome back, everyone! We’re so glad you’re joining us as we introduce our final guest of the season. It’s hard to believe how quickly this season has flown by, but we’re wrapping things up with a truly special guest in this episode. Sister Mary Margaret Funk is a Benedictine nun who has been deeply involved in interreligious dialogue and contemplative practices for decades.
    Sister Meg shares her profound insights on the teachings of Father Thomas Keating, her journey through various spiritual traditions, and the importance of understanding our thoughts in relation to God. We also explore the nuances of contemplative prayer, the significance of spiritual senses, and the universal quest for Unitive Consciousness.
    To find out more:

    • Check out Thoughts Matter and other books in the Matters Series written by Sr. Meg: https://litpress.org/Products/3572/The-Matters-Series?srsltid=AfmBOorbxobhc-pGCMe32NPCP7iuqPM7gXJukR8NqlF05IFqWCFYfbxd
    • Check out the Monastic Interreligious Dialogue website: https://dimmid.org/
    • Listen to the audio files created by Sister Mary Margaret Funk and Kathleen Cahalan which form the 100-day St. Enda Retreat (click on the dropdown arrow): https://stjosephmonastery.org/retreats/#stenda
    To connect further with us:
    • Visit our website: www.contemplativeoutreach.org
    • Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prayerofconsent
    • Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prayerofconsent
    • Check out our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@prayerofconsent
    • To learn more about Father Thomas Keating’s guidelines for service and principles visit www.contemplativeoutreach.org/vision.
    Stream and Download the Opening Minds, Opening Hearts Podcast NOW for FREE on Apple Podcast, Google, Amazon and Spotify!
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