Stay ConnectedContent and conversations for times of transition and change.
Join me in discussion with renowned luminaries and dear friends to explore life’s myriad transitions, our understandings and our responses. What does it mean to be present, to shift our perceptions, to engage with the world meaningfully, with dignity and care? With respect for the ancient practices and the modern wisdom that continue to inform and elevate our exchanges, each episode is an invitation to Practice You.
Copyright: © 2019 Elena Brower
Co-Founder of Flavorpill and EVRYMAN Sascha Lewis on creating community, leadership, the experiential evolution of what it means to be a man, and becoming full-spectrum humans.
Length: 59:30 Timecodes:
1:25 Yoga on the Great Lawn. Flavorpill. Reggie Watts. Buddy Wakefield.
5:00 Yoga at MoMA. Pipilotti Rist exhibit. Michael Rothman. Art of Yoga at the Guggenheim.
8:48 How can culture be more accessible? Quiet Mornings at MoMA.
10:58 Evryman organisation. Dan Doty. Men from all walks of life. Permission to be raw and emotional.
21:17 Men's work at highschool, prisons, military. Aaron Blaine.
24:53 Me Too movement. How are we going to evolve? Men learn by doing and experiencing.
30:55 Committing more time to family. We yearn for presence. Full spectrum human.
32:57 Difficult moments. Slowing down. The power of knowing that we're heard.
33:50 Creating the container for this work. It's a practice.
35:25 Co-ed groups. Wanderlust Wellspring. Beautiful displays of humanity.
37.00 Collective healing journey. Evolution.
37:49 World War II. Trauma. Fathers.
40:33 Critical work. Meaningful connections. Change is in our hands.
42:58 Unravelling micro-traumas. How are you really feeling?
45:20 Men are leaning in. All denominations. Support and accountability.
47:54 Self-worth. Work statements. What is your edge?
51:53 Favorite view.
53:56 Prayer as a sense of reverence.
57:27 Men's Emotional Leadership Training (MELT). Esther Perel.
Resources:On prioritizing the behaviors that lead to awakening. On the kindnesses, and the softening. On breathing as physiological healing.
Length: 58:29 Timecodes:
0:45 One simple thing. Overcoming the divided self. Our untapped potential.
2:54 Hierarchies in yoga. The unknown. Yoga is a practice of knowing who you are. Listening so we know what to do.
6:52 Reading Siddhartha at 15. Who am I? What am I doing here? What do I do next? Self-referral.
9:35 Being established in your awareness.
10:28 Listening and prioritizing.
12:42 Eight limbs of yoga as responsibilities. Spontaneous behavior of an awakened person.
17:20 Distracted mind is not a bad thing.
18:00 The energy that is watching.
20:25 Reorganization of the brain and yoga poses.
24:24 Eddie's daily practice.
24:52 Breath as the easiest way to move inwards. Resonance Breathing. Nostril Breathing. The Breathing App
35:06 Strengthening and balancing the nervous system.
40:21 It is actually hard to be kind and peaceful. Why we need these practices.
41:55 The Vagus Nerve and heart health/ inflammation/ emotion. Vagal Tone, the smooth flow of current to/from the brain and gut. Dr Stephen Porges Physiological basis for transcendence. Posture, Breathing, Vocalization and Behaviour.
52:44 Inflammation.
53:13 Favorite view.
53:44 What Prayer means to Eddie. Invitation.
ResourcesSiddhartha by Hermann Hesse Dr Stephen Porges The Breathing App https://eddiestern.com One Simple Thing Episode 14, referencing some of our discussion The Breathing App (it's free and brilliant)
Gabrielle Bernstein is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Universe Has Your Back and has written five additional bestsellers. She was featured on Oprah's SuperSoul Sunday as a "next-generation thought leader," and The Oprah Winfrey Network chose Gabby to be part of the "SuperSoul 100," a group of 100 people whose vision and life's work are bringing a higher level of consciousness to the world. The New York Times identified her as "a new role model." Gabby appears regularly as an expert on The Dr. Oz Show and co-hosted the Guinness World Record largest guided meditation with Deepak Chopra. Her seventh book, Super Attractor, comes out in September 2019. For more on her work, visit gabbybernstein.com.
Length: 34:15 Timecodes:
1:34 How Gabby inspired Elena during her recovery. May Cause Miracles book
4:00 Reframing. Re-aligning. Allowing rock bottom to be the place where the light enters.
5:50 If it isn't real, it can't be shared.
7:03 Being authentic and vulnerable, but also knowing when not to be.
9:28 The Universe Has Your Back. To teach is to learn.
10:29 Addiction Recovery. Spirit Junkie How this book helped Elena to feel comfortable talking about Spirit.
12:37 Judgment Detox
14:01 Small steps can get you to where you need to be.
14:40 What inspired Gabrielle to create Spirit Junkie Masterclass. Yogi Bhajan: "I am not here to create disciples, i'm here to create teachers."
18:30 When you earn abundantly for the work that you do, you can make an even bigger impact on the world.
19:45 Remembering that your healing is your message and your teaching.
20:17 Marketing as a way to provide help where there is a need.
21:45 How to be abundant doing the work you feel called to do.
23:43 How Gabby holds space as a teacher. Knowing how to open to the light, while also having boundaries.
28:16 Postpartum anxiety. Importance of seeking help. Postpartum Support International . The Pregnancy and Postpartum Anxiety Workbook
32:00 Gabby's favorite view.
32:50 Prayer as conscious contact with a higher power of your own understanding.
ResourcesMay Cause Miracles by Gabrielle Bernstein The Universe Has Your Back by Gabrielle Bernstein Spirit Junkie by Gabrielle Bernstein Judgment Detox by Gabrielle Bernstein Postpartum Support International The Pregnancy and Postpartum Anxiety Workbook Learn about Spirit Junkie Masterclass
On Nature as musical instrument, pauses as assets, honouring the elders, everyday ceremony. Includes a bonus track of Ram Dass x East Forest.
Derived from the German translation of his last name, East Forest (aka Trevor Oswalt) creates a hypnotizing brand of music for old souls that blends achingly emotional wordlessness, ambience and contemporary classical touches with a touch of pop sensibilities and electronic flavors. Based in Boulder Utah, Oswalt performs internationally and is armed with a live show that is continually evolving; sometimes performing solo, sometimes with a string section, and often with theatrical elements and cinematic projections. With experiences offering music in a hospice, as well as backpacking explorations throughout the wilderness of the world including the Amazonian jungle searching for spiritual answers, his music is a connected journey that's been dubbed "a revelatory excursion in sound" (Under The Gun) that invites listeners to "go on a journey of self discovery" (Earmilk). He's been featured on NPR's Second Stage and Tiny Desk Contest, and shared the stage with artists ranging from Trevor Hall to Crystal Bowersox (Amer. Idol), Bluetech to Moby. His 2016 collaboration with MC YOGI, Ritual Mystical, went #1 iTunes Electronic, #8 Billboard Dance and #2 Billboard New Age.
EAST FOREST's newest release, "RAM DASS" is a full length album releasing in collaboration with the acclaimed spiritual teacher. In June 2018, East Forest was invited to Maui to record brand new teachings from Ram Dass. After capturing these words of wisdom East Forest returned to his studio to compose the soundtrack to beautifully support each songs' subject. Covering topics such as dark thoughts, nature, the soul and so much more, these songs are full of inspiration. The album will release in four "chapters" throughout 2019, culminating in a full length release on August 9, 2019. Trevor Hall and grammy nominated artist, Krishna Das are among the featured artists who make guest appearances on the 14-track album.
1:45 How Trevor began making music to recreate the feeling of infiniteness from experiences with Psilocybin.
10:35 Recognising plants and fungi as tools that are there for us.
12:19 Work with Ram Dass on album
13:52 Maharajji Neem Karoli Baba. Ram Dass. Krishna Dass.
15:25 Chapter 2, Your Guru. Ram Dass. Relevant teachings. Love everyone. Tell the truth.
17:38 What it was like recording with Ram Dass. The Spiritual Whitehouse. No one is on the outside.
22:28 The importance of witnessing and honoring the elders.
25:59 Ram Dass' Trust and Devotion. Loving awareness.
28:16 Live concert as an opportunity for ceremony. Planting seeds in people's consciousness.
31:10 Building bridges. Making things attainable for anyone.
33:55 Forgiving himself. Being ok with it all. Ease. Maybe there's really nothing to do. Being conscious is enough.
35:55 It's all sacred. It's all prayer.
38:15 Meditation courses scored by East Forest.
38:47 I am loving Awareness track closes out the podcast.
SHOW NOTESeastforest.org Cultivating Spiritual Intelligence Audio Meditation Course Art of Attention Audio Meditation Course
On the subtlest interior shifts we can make to conduct currents of sweetness within and around us.
Stylist, author, self-proclaimed vintage junkie and proud mom, Barri Leiner Grant has an artful eye and clever hand for the unexpected. For nearly three decades, Grant has established herself in the editorial and commercial markets—prepping, propping and conceptualizing everything from well-curated trend stories and books to memorable interior design shoots, and shows, ideation and product branding. She is tapped by leading architects, photographers and designers including brands like Crate&Barrel, Cynthia Rowley, SC Johnson, Huggies and Ulta among others, who call on her "trend-spotting" expertise. Grant translates her forward thinking vision into well-curated collaborations. Her background in yoga and meditation ignite a spirited vision to her work and the world around her.
I love to call attention and admiration to the smallest and most unexpected details – it's my secret stamp. – Barri Leiner Grant
Leiner Grant and her partner Marie Moss have created a jewelry company based on their love of vintage. The duo have amassed 1,000s of vintage charms where they customize bracelets that tell the sterling story of a life - one charm at a time. Clients include Michelle Obama and Julia Roberts and have been featured in The New York Times and Elle among others.
Leiner Grant (@blg) has crafted Memory Circles, where those who have experienced grief can gather and share stories of loved ones lost. She lost her mom Ellen in 1993, and has been doing work in this space, including Unmothered Mother's Day classes.
2:30 Barri's path. Making fun out of what you love. Helping people tell their stories.
3:49 Cell phones and kids. Not being the mum that always says no. Trusting. Untangled book by Lisa Damour
8:33 The death of Barri's mother Ellen.
11:35 Do we somehow know when we're dying?
12:38 Ellen's photo albums and her love of travelling.
14:12 Being grateful to know that Ellen treated herself well in her last days.
15:15 Ellen being a single mum, getting it all done and yet also making it an adventure.
16.30 How Ellen and her friend created a jobshare.
17:52 Seeing the inside of people's houses. Who lives in a house like this?
20:27 Assignment: Look around your house and make sure it tells your story. Anything that doesn't, set it aside with a big thank you. If you feel you need more things to tell your story, write down a list of things that would mean something to you.
21:30 How Barri created the jobs of her dreams. Be curious. Get excited. Don't be afraid to ask if there's room. Wouldn't it be great if.../What's missing? See if you can make a job out of that.
26:35 Sankulpa.
28:30 On being where you need to be, with all the help you need. Wanting to make her Mother proud.
31:20 Writing down intentions. Keeping a list of dream jobs. The Memory Circle A place to tell grief stories.
34:39 How talking about the hard things together is the only antidote.
35:24 Knowing you're exactly in the right place. Getting to the other side of heartache and sharing your truth with others to help.
37:00 Divorce. On not speaking negatively about your ex-husband to your children.
39:15 Writing Books. Flea Market Baby . Flea Market Fidos. Jersey Girls: The Fierce and The Fabulous.
45:30 Being open to the making, even if it doesn't make sense yet. Make it an adventure. Keep your eyes open.
46:37 Loneliness. Connecting in person. People just want to be seen and heard.
48:20 Favorite view. Connecting with her sister.
49:55 Meditation practice. Sitting and clearing for what's next.
51:30 Don't be afraid to say what you want and go after it.
RESOURCEShttp://barrileinergrant.com http://thememorycircle.com/ Amy Owen - Yoga Teacher The Smell of Rain and Dust by Martin Prechtel Belonging by Toko-pa Turner Flea Market Baby Flea Market Fidos Jersey Girls: The Fierce and The Fabulous
Former Navy Pilot and co-founder of Walkabout Yoga Liz Corwin on the victories that emerge from perceived failure, the choice to prioritize practice, and the ultimate walkabout.
Liz Corwin is world traveling yoga teacher, storyteller, and creator of Walkabout Yoga Retreats & Teacher Trainings. She is also a 15-year US Navy Officer and former F-18 Navy jet pilot. Today, she still serves as a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy Reserves supporting the Naval War College. She began teaching yoga to the military community while on deployment in 2008 aboard the U.S.S. Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, sharing her practice and experience with other pilots and friends. Since then she has continued traveling the world teaching yoga to both our military community and civilian population as a way to bridge the divide of understanding. Liz's teachings and storytelling focus on deep inner shadow work, redefining strength and the warrior ethos, and embracing vulnerability as we uncover true self-acceptance, self-love, and healing.
She has recently been featured in the New York Times & Yoga Journal Magazine, is the creator of "Walkabout Yoga" Yoga Retreats and the free online video series "Yoga for Military Warriors" in partnership with Gaiam and The Give Back Yoga Foundation, cover model for Beryl Bender Birch's book "Yoga for Warriors" and ambassador for the woman-owned yoga brand KiraGrace.
Length: 45:09 Timecodes:
0:43 Introducing Liz Corwin. The complicated nature of being thanked for serving.
3:57 What motivated Liz to join the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program at aged 21.
6:30 What brought about Walkabout Yoga. Finding Yoga.
7:50 The intense criticism during Aviation training. Flying under the radar.
10.00 Being a woman in flight school.
10:39 Being broken down to be stronger. How much it requires of you to turn down pieces of yourself.
12:18 Moment of reckoning during a mid-air collision.
18:30 Appreciating moments for what they are, because they might be the last.
19:08 Self-forgiveness. On discovering what self-love really is.
21:02 The aftermath of delayed anger and shame.
23:30 Finding Bamboo Yoga with Ann Richardson Stevens
24:38 Walkabout Yoga. Returning home. Teaching on Military bases. Travel. How it evolved.
28:09 Yoga Teacher Trainings. Nargiza Farrell. Combining Ashtanga and Anusura yoga.
31:07 Discipline was actually: how do I let myself off the hook and stay open?
33:45 Rob Schware Warrior Yoga Series, free videos for military
36.07 The Salute. Gunnery Sergeant Smith.
40:18 Assignment part 1: Find someone you emulate and find yourself in them. What part of you looks like them? Write down the qualities you know you embody or you know that you can embody.
41:28 Favorite view. Future Self meditation. Peter Opperman
43.00 Assignment part 2: Find that one thing that makes you see and feel your vision for a moment. How can you quickly get back to that feeling again and again?
43:42 Prayer as surrender.
RESOURCESUpcoming Walkabout Yoga Retreats www.walkaboutyoga.com
New York Times Article "Yoga & Veterans - A Different Kind of Warrior" https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/19/us/yoga-veterans.html
On welcoming compassion for the string of selves you've ever been, quotes from Hourglass and Inheritance. On the corrosive power of family secrets, and the healing of the secret that Dani uncovered about her origins.
On welcoming compassion for the string of selves you've ever been, quotes from Hourglass and Inheritance. On the corrosive power of family secrets, and the healing of the secret that Dani uncovered about her origins.
About Dani ShapiroDani Shapiro's books include the memoirs, Hourglass, Still Writing, Devotion, and Slow Motion, and five novels including Black & White and Family History. Her work spans diverse subjects from her tumultuous upbringing in an Orthodox Jewish community and the tragic death of her father to her explorations of spirituality and the nature of our deepest relationships. Dani's New York Times best selling memoir, Inheritance, was recently published by Knopf.
Dani's essays and journalistic pieces have appeared in numerous publications including The New Yorker, Salon, n+1, Tin House, and Vogue, and have been widely anthologized. She contributes regularly to The New York Times Book Review and has been broadcast on This American Life.
Along with teaching writing workshops around the world, Dani has taught at Columbia and New York University, and is the cofounder of the Sirenland Writers Conference in Positano, Italy.
In February of 2019, Dani launched an original podcast "Family Secrets" in collaboration with iHeart Media. The podcast features stories from guests who—like Dani— have uncovered life-altering and long-hidden secrets from their families' past.
She lives with her family in Litchfield County, Connecticut.
Length: 48:46 Timecodes:
0:44 Devotion. On questioning identity and forming a new relationship to Judaism.
2:07 Hourglass. What is it to walk with another human being over time? Virginia Woolf quote: "[...] to feel the present sliding over the depths of the past, peace is necessary." Meditation practice.
7:44 Finding compassion for our younger selves. Assignment: Go back to an old journal, read and locate some compassion for your younger self. Then write a poem detailing that compassion.
11:36 Inheritance.The story of how this book came about. Discovering that Dani's father was not her biological father.
18:35 The unknown known. The longing she felt growing up that she didn't understand.
20:54 How quickly the story unfolded, following the genealogy test.
25:25 Recognizing her gestures in her biological father.
26:16 On shying away from certain terminology in donor-conceived world.
27:43 Modern smoke signals.
29:30 How everyone has tried to do the kind thing. What do we owe each other in these situations?
31:43 What it's like to experience people's vulnerability and courage at Inheritance book tour events. The end of secrecy of this kind.
35:35 Difference between sharing a story and crafting a story.
36:20 Returning to yoga.
38:01 Dani's favorite view in Italy.
39:25 What prayer means to Dani. Sylvia Boorstein: an expression of a wish.
43:10 Reading from Inheritance. Dani's Aunt Shirley's words to her as a pure manifestation of love. No one is an accident of history.
46:10 To be born into a human body is the rarest thing.
Show NotesOn meditation and the merits we carry as a result of our practice, engaging inward connections, and cultivating heart community, with Diego Perez, the writer known as Yung Pueblo.
Diego perez is the writer behind the pen name yung pueblo. The name yung pueblo means "young people." It serves to remind him of his ecuadorian roots, his experiences in activism, and that the collective of humanity is in the midst of important growth. His favorite word, liberation, took on a deeper meaning once he started meditating vipassana, as taught by s.n. goenka. Through writing and speaking, he aims to support the healing of the individual, realizing that when we release our personal burdens, we contribute to a global peace.
Length: 49:17 Timecodes:
2:00 How Diego sees his work as being a part of helping the collective to grow up.
2:51 Influence of meditation and Vipassana retreats on Diego's writing.
6:30 Diego's morning routine.
7:20 Letting go. It's about unhinging and making peace with the past.
8:47 Remaining connected to Source. Focusing on impermanence, rather than the soul.
10:30 Hafiz's poetry . I have learned so much.
11:30 On expressing impermanence.
13:20 How to get loved ones to begin their journey inwards. All you can do is be a role model.
15:05 The finest results of a good practice: showing more kindness, more respect and less judgment.
16:35 On just wanting to be a gentle person.
17:20 Reading from Inward: Self-love. Social Media as a medium for humanity to talk to itself.
19:35 Luke Storey and 5G. On humans creating the atomic bomb. Instagram timers. Airplane mode.
24:00 The privilege of serving someone who is working on their liberation.
26:05 Time away from phone.
26:33 Diego's favorite view from within.
28:32 Diego and his wife on hanging out with their eyes closed.
29:13 What it's like to go on a Vipassana meditation retreat.
33:38 What prayer means to Diego. Metta.
34:40 The merits of the practice. On wanting to give up, right before the next layer dissolves.
37:20 Reading of Repeat Daily from Inward.
38:05 Making movies in your head vs: letting the tensions go.
39:25 Parenting and the bravery of letting children have their own experience.
42:58 Reading from Inward. "Happiness and gratitude are attractive forces."
45: 03 Working towards a goal vs. the tension of cravings.
47:10 Finding a practice that helps you reach your subconscious so you can release deeply rooted patterns.
ResourcesLuke Storey's The Life Stylist Podcast episode 191 with Dr Jack Kruse
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/23/business/cell-phone-addiction.html
On Rituals, Practices, and Good Listening
On the occasion of the release of 'Rituals for Every Day' by Nadia Narain and and Katia Narain Phillips, we gathered to chat about our own practices of listening, praying and meaning-making.
Nadia Narain is one of the UK's best loved and most respected yoga teachers. For more than 20 years, she has taught everyone from professional athletes to, pregnant women to total beginners and yoga sceptics, how to take care of their outer bodies as well as their inner spirit, she has inspired thousands to slow down, be kind and love themselves where they are. Nadia is also co-author with her sister of the international bestselling book "Self Care for the Real World," and more recently, "Rituals for Every Day," explaining not just why we have to look after ourselves, but how i simple achievable ways.
Resourcesnadianarain.com - Nadia has a range for chemical free candles and perfumes and yoga retreats Notes and Methods by Hilma Af Klint Marie Kondo, The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up Belonging by Toko-pa Turner Luke Storey's The Life Stylist Podcast episode 191 with Dr Jack Kruse: ABC carpet and home. Rituals for Every Day
Length: 40:16
Timecodes:
1:57
Reading from p29 Notes and Methods by Hilma Af Klint https://amzn.to/2LZQZIp
4:31
On trusting the messages that we hear from the other side.
7:24
Remembering that the other benevolent realms are also a part of you. Those forces want our help too. Building friendship. Marie Kondo. On helping being natural.
12:52
Assignment:
17:27
Nadia and Katia's experience of rituals growing up.
19:06
Rituals for breaking up.
20:50
Making the mundane special. Pujas. Physicalized prayer for a project, or another person.
25:48
Reading from Toko-pa Turner's book Belonging https://amzn.to/2YFjRqY
28:00
The lost language of prayer. There are really beautiful, magical things happening despite what gets noisy and loud.
29:20
Spending time on things that are joyful, not necessarily productive.
Assignment: do something, creative or otherwise, where you're not dealing with the outcome, just doing.
31:30
Hilma af Klint passage, on not being discouraged when you don't see results. On growing, and being guided.
35:10
Don't do anything alone. Take a friend by the hand, invisible or otherwise.
36:10
Dr Jack Kruse on The 5G Apocalypse. Stay close to the trees.
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