The Gathering Room Podcast

As life in this day and age gets more unpredictable, the best plan you can make is one you’re willing to change. On this episode of The Gathering Room, I talk about the paradox of living by signs and symbols, and why absolutism, whether in science or religion, will tank you when life keeps right-angle-turning. I’ll share what Asian traditions taught me about the present moment, and how...

I’ve spent a lot of my life “reconstituting” my memories, and I didn’t even know I was doing it! On this episode of The Gathering Room, I talk about Memory Reconsolidation Theory—how we can change the emotional impact of painful memories without changing the facts of what happened. I’ll help you look for one tiny good thing connected to a difficult experience, t...

We’re living through a “phase transition,” but I believe it’s what our souls signed up for. In this “Listen Again” episode of The Gathering Room Podcast, I explore why the chaos of our times isn’t a sign of collapse, but of metamorphosis. Using the metaphor of ice to water to steam, I talk about how relaxation is the key to navigating radical change. I&rsq...

I’ve discovered a new favorite psychologist, Dr. Marisa Franco, and in this Gathering Room, I’m talking about her book Worth: The New Science of Self-Esteem and Secure Attachment. We’ll get into how self-esteem differs from self-worth, why praise can backfire, how sitting with our wounded feelings helps build self-worth, and why the Tao Te Ching says success can be as dangerous a...

Did you know you were born a creative genius? All of us are, but we’ve been socialized out of it by the structures of culture. Why? Because the culture wants everyone the same, and genius doesn’t homogenize well. However, I believe our genius never stops calling us, and in this favorite “Listen Again” episode of The Gathering Room, I share how you can recognize—and fo...

As many of you Gatherers know, lately I’ve been feeling that something is changing in this world in a profound way...and I don’t think I’m the only one. There’s a sense of irrational hope, a strange joy, an anticipation that something wonderful is happening amidst all the horrors. On this favorite Listen Again episode of The Gathering Room, you’ll hear about my &ldquo...

Everything’s shifting in our world today—like ice turning into water turning into steam—and we don’t know what’s coming next. This time on The Gathering Room, I share why doing what you know doesn’t work in unprecedented times, and what our timid new shelter dog is reminding me about taking small, slow steps. I also talk about quelling anxiety and broadening our...

This time on The Gathering Room, I offer up a thought that’s helped me and my clients for years: We’re all meant to live in peace—that’s our real home. I share why chasing the future keeps us anxious, and how dropping into peace in the present moment is what actually allows good things to find you. We also do our guided meditation, and I answer listener questions on time, m...

Sometimes in life, things go bash and bonk us right in the face, knocking us completely out of the way we were living. When life shatters our familiar patterns this way, we look around in panic and ask, “Oh my God, what do we do now?” In this episode of The Gathering Room, I share how to step onto what I call Square One—the magical, liminal threshold where your old identity disso...

Recently I asked for a sign that a painting I’d been working on was the right course for me. The next day, a stranger’s near-death story described my painting almost perfectly. That coincidence reminded me of James Carse’s book Finite and Infinite Games. One is built on winning; the other on continuing to play. In this Gathering Room, I explore how shifting from chasing status to...

Sometimes there’s a book that stops me in my tracks, and that’s what happened when I found the work of Tracee Stanley. Today she joins me to talk about her new book, Living Ritual , which is timely not just for me, but for all of us. We discuss distraction as the great thief, how to honor transitions with sacred intention, and the new consciousness rising in the world. Tracee also shar...

I’ve noticed a pattern lately: hard workers, high achievers, people with strong identities all saying the same thing— “I just have to stop.” I’m taking it as an invitation. Like fascia releasing into strange, unplanned shapes, we may need to give up who we thought we were to receive what we truly need. In this Gathering Room, I talk frozen shoulders, trauma shaking, a...

Have you ever noticed that the things we enjoy tend to get worked to death in our culture? We push ourselves so hard that we sap the joy out of things we once loved to do. In this Gathering Room, we’re talking about “in-joy-ment.” I’ll share why joy is its own excuse for being, and how you can use your hard-core work ethic in the search for joy. Join me for exercises on rel...

We love to think we can be “set for life.” But the thing is, life isn’t set. It’s not solid—it’s fluid. From my fast-growing chickens to my aging dog Bilbo, I’m constantly reminded that everything changes. In this Gathering Room episode, I share why gripping onto control is actually a form of suffering. Join me as we explore how to stop resisting and inste...

Did you know there’s a whole different way of being when you start to think like water? I’ve been watching the world’s collective pyramid-shaped consciousness—based on rigidity, hierarchy, and materialism—start to dissolve into a fluid, egalitarian consciousness I call “the Pool.” In this episode of The Gathering Room, I offer you a crash course in “...

On this episode of The Gathering Room, I revisit my “silly” spoon‑bending past and discover that it’s not so trivial after all. What if we can access states of well-being and healing that we can offer to other people and the world? I share how near‑death stories, dogs who feel their humans coming home, and our guided Silence, Stillness, and Space meditation share a common theme:...

Did you know that you can change your past? Negative experiences are the things that knock us around enough to seriously change us and lead us to epiphanies and awakenings. By assigning new meaning to old experiences, you can create higher-than-normal levels of joy, compassion, and connection. Join me for this episode of The Gathering Room to find out how to see your past with new eyes and start f...

On this “Listen Again” episode of The Gathering Room, I’m joined by special guest Dr. Lisa Miller, author of The Awakened Brain. In this conversation we discuss the surprising neuroscience of spirituality, ways to awaken your perception of the world around you, and how suffering can expand your spiritual awareness. Dr. Miller also shares some guided meditations to help you access...

In this special episode of The Gathering Room, I got to talk with Jonny Miles—musician, naturalist, and author of the one of the most extraordinary novels I’ve ever read, Eradication: A Fable . We talk about the mysterious process of writing, what it really means to heal a wounded ecosystem, why solitude is essential for original thought, and how great art dissolves our preconceived id...

So many of us are trying way too hard on the path to awakening: straining to let go, striving to stop striving. In this favorite “Listen Again” episode of The Gathering Room, I talk about how you can actually let go of attachment, experience more peace, and access the support that’s always available to you. Tune in to discover the magic that can happen when we allow ourselves to...

In this special “Listen Again” episode of The Gathering Room, I explore the disorienting, identity-dissolving place we enter after major life changes...what I call “Square One” in my Change Cycle methodology. I walk you through all four stages of the Change Cycle, answer listener questions about navigating change, and lead a calming meditation to help you surrender the whee...

In this special “Listen Again” episode of The Gathering Room, I talk about how to live through a time of societal upheaval and how we can still find our footing, even when the road ahead is uncertain. I explore how to navigate systemic collapse through Wayfinding: regulating our nervous systems, resisting panic and polarization, grieving fully, creating beauty, and building circles of...

What if your soul has been leaving you a trail to follow? In this special “Listen Again” episode of The Gathering Room podcast, I talk about tracking animals with my then-two-year-old and how it led me to ponder the question: How do we track our own spirit? In this episode, I share the three signs of a spirit track, how to tell spirit from fear, and why your body is not the enemy. I'll...

In this special episode of The Gathering Room podcast, I sit down with the brilliant Eric Zimmer, author of How A Little Becomes A Lot —one of those rare self-help books that’s easy to read, backed by science, and deeply spiritual. In our conversation, Eric shares his “still points” for embedding tiny shifts into your busy life, “choice points” for building good...

“Always” and “never” feel so satisfying... But they’re almost always wrong. In this Gathering Room episode, I explore how absolutist language keeps us stuck in self-judgment, bad relationships, and susceptibility to false prophets. The antidote is one little phrase: “sometimes, maybe.” This cracks open curiosity, cools down conflict, and tells the truth. A...