CHITHEADS with Jacob Kyle (Embodied Philosophy)

In this interview with Dr. Cornel West, originally a keynote event from our July 2021 Spiritual Citizenship Online Conference, co-host for the conference, Oneika Mays, explores the relationship between Cornel West’s spiritual and religious commitments and his political activism. By highlighting the example of his many decades of work, through this conversation we arrive at a notion of what it mean...

Dr. Raj Balkaran is a scholar of Sanskrit narrative texts and the author of The Goddess and the King in Indian Myth (Routledge 2018), The Goddess and the Sun in Indian Myth (Routledge 2020), and several academic articles and book chapters since completing his doctorate in 2015. He is also an avid spiritual practitioner, having been initiated into ancient Indian wisdom traditions by multiple master...

Michelle C. Johnson is an author, yoga teacher, social justice activist, intuitive healer, and Dismantling Racism trainer. She approaches her life and work from a place of empowerment, embodiment, and integration. As a dismantling racism trainer, she has worked with large corporations, non-profits, and community groups, including the ACLU-WA, Duke University, Google, This American Life, Eno River...

Shreena Gandhi is a part of the Religious Studies Department at Michigan State University, where is primarily teaches classes on religion and race in the Americas. She is currently finishing up edits on a manuscript, A Cultural History of Yoga in the United States, which looks at the impacts of race, gender and class on how yoga is practiced and commodified in religious and secular spaces. She is...

In the mid-nineties, Isa Gucciardi began developing Depth Hypnosis as she entered into clinical practice. Her studies, both in academia and in the field of cultural and linguistic anthropology, comparative religion, and transpersonal psychology formed the basis of her approach with clients and students. As the body of work that grew out of her clinical practice became larger, she began teaching ot...

After receiving his Ph. D. in Clinical Psychology from Harvard, Richard Katz began a journey beyond the confines of psychology, into a world of experiences nourished by Indigenous knowledge and its emphasis on spirituality.   He traveled in 1968 to the Kalahari Desert to work with the Ju/’hoansi, Indigenous peoples who, as primarily hunter-gathers, offer a view into the fundamental evolutionary ro...

Françoise Bourzat has been bridging the divide between western psychology and indigenous wisdom for the past 30 years in collaboration with healers in Huautla de Jimenez, Mexico, on the optimal applications of the psilocybin-containing mushrooms for healing and growth . She is the Founder of the Center for Consciousness Medicine and is the co-author of Consciousness Medicine. Françoise was part of...

Prentis Hemphill is a movement facilitator, Somatics teacher, and practitioner, and working at the convergence of healing, collective transformation, and political organizing. Prentis has spent the last 15 years bridging wellbeing and power building as a part of movement building organizations, most recently as the Healing Justice Director at Black Lives Matter Global Network. In 2016, Prentis was...

In this episode we discuss: The roots of pastoral care and chaplaincy  Incorporating the frameworks of Vendantic, yoga philosophy in Hindu chaplaincy Contemplative dimensions of pastoral care, bringing radical compassionate presence in spiritual accompaniment Obstacles to cultivating spiritual health and the epidemic of loneliness in the globalized westernize world  The three elements of Sādhanā:...

In this episode we discuss: 1. The philosophy of yoga nidra, the goddess of yoga nidra and the four states of consciousness.  2. Yoga nidra as a state and as a systematic guided relaxation.  3. Obstacles to rest in our culture. 4. Working with trauma and the importance of safety in moving toward rest. 5. The science of yoga nidra, accessing the place of healing and rejuvenation. 6. The relationshi...

In this episode, we discuss: How yoga communities and the industry have changed during the Covid pandemic. The inspiration for Tia’s new book “The Practice is the Path”. Being comfortable living with uncertainty. Identity and attachment. The significance of dreams and the role of the dream state in breaking the spell of the everyday life.   Emphasizing the “not doing” and shifting the default mode...

In this episode, we discuss: Growing up Indian in a majority white culture, shame and the impact of disconnection from culture. The value of yoga and mindbody practices in medicine and education. Stress, trauma and burnout, and ways in which embodied practices can help. The impact of the pandemic and isolation on us as social beings and the value of yoga and stress relief in times of Covid. Practi...

In this episode, we discuss: Understanding the culture of Contemporary medicine and medicine as an industry. The Ayurvedic approach, addressing the physical, energetic and mental realm. Quantum biology and the Siddha texts - healing from the inside out.  Role of intuition as it informs mastery in healing and any field of work. Science of Sound, biological translation to energy and meaning.  The di...

In this episode, we discuss: Invocation as a tool to invoke the divinity from within us. The celebration of Diwali and the purpose of celebrating festivals. Idols as means to connect to the God within us.  Chanting mantra, contemplating deeper truths, and the main sadhana of Kali Yuga.  The many names of Shiva - infinite expressions of infinite glories. How to understand karma and taking responsib...

Medical anthropologist Alberto Villoldo has studied the shamanic healing practices of the Amazon and Andes for more than 25 years. He is the founder of the Four Winds Society, which trains modern shamans in the practice of energy medicine. He directs the Center for Energy Medicine in Chile, where he investigates and practices the neuroscience of enlightenment. Over the course of two decades with t...

In this episode we discuss: Daniel Simpson’s upcoming book, The Truth of Yoga. Daniel shares his intention and inspiration behind this comprehensive overview integrating contemporary history with scholarly history Differentiating yoga history and yoga philosophy as evolutionary systems of ideas Debunking commonly misunderstood concepts and myths of yoga evolution Connection points to tradition wit...

In this episode, we discuss: Co-sustaining spiritual practice and effective social action. Tips for carving out time for practice/ finding your core practice. Yogananda’s balanced, spiritual and responsible life. Sacred citizenship vs. the myth of rugged individuality. Practice as a wellspring for creativity. Harnessing imagination in the service of recognizing modes of our own experience. Knowled...

Dr. Chris Walling, PsyD, SEP, C-IAYT has been an active leader in healthcare for nearly two decades. His work integrates the developmental, biological, and somatic aspects of the lifespan. His work in academic medicine has included the administration of multidisciplinary leadership teams in hematology-oncology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and geriatric psychiatry. He is a Clinical Resear...

Mirabai Starr is an award-winning author of creative non-fiction and contemporary translations of sacred literature. She taught Philosophy and World Religions at the University of New Mexico-Taos for 20 years and now teaches and speaks internationally on contemplative practice and inter-spiritual dialog. A certified bereavement counselor, Mirabai helps mourners harness the transformational power o...

Lisa Danylchuk is a licensed psychotherapist and yoga teacher trainer whose specialty is bringing yoga into trauma treatment. A graduate of UCLA and Harvard University, Lisa is the founder of the Center for Yoga and Trauma Recovery and creator of the Yoga for Trauma Online Training Program. She has authored three books, serves on the UN Task Force for the International Society for the Study of Tra...

Jeffrey J. Kripal is the Associate Dean of the Faculty and Graduate Programs in the School of the Humanities and the J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought at Rice University. He is also the Associate Director of the Center for Theory and Research and the Chair of the Board at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California. Jeff is the author of eight books, including, most recent...

Alex Auder, recently hailed by the NYTimes as “Yoga’s Instagram Provocateur” ( https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/31/style/yoga-instagram-alex-auder.html ) is a native New Yorker, who grew up in the Chelsea Hotel, where she lived with her mother, the Warhol Superstar Viva, and her sister, the actress Gaby Hoffmann. Besides for being hailed as one of America’s “most influential” yoga teachers, Alex is...

In this episode, we discuss: The utility of righteous anger in activism. Spiritual practice as an expression of disrupting violence in the world. Discomfort as the place where realization and freedom arises from. Orienting to the collective - holding my needs and the needs of the collective together.  The necessity of a commitment to practice for to create change. Dharma as a path to freedom, libe...

In this episode we discuss: Trauma as the root of most of our suffering  Common misperceptions about trauma and stress  6 principles of a trauma-informed approach Incorporating neuroscience and a return to ancient practices What is resilience?  Embodied activism - an everyday activism Making space for healing Nkem Ndefo is the founder and president of Lumos Transforms and creator of The Resilience...

Greta Gaard began practicing Vipassana meditation in 1995 at Common Ground Meditation Center in Minneapolis, MN. An early proponent of ecofeminism, Gaard has written extensively to illuminate the linkages of race, gender, sexuality, species and environmental justice, publishing six books and over 90 articles on ecofeminism, including several that articulate a mindful ecofeminism: "Beyond Gary Snyd...