Commune with Jeff Krasno

We recognize the importance of self-reflection, but there is also tremendous value in stepping back as a business or a family to contemplate the bigger picture, the higher purpose, the deeper “why” behind it all. As we embark on our first company off-site, here are some thoughts on the value of briefly disengaging from the “world of the 10,000 things.”

Today’s show is about what it means to be an advocate: why and how and with what intention we should speak up for the causes we care about. We’ve pulled excerpts from three Commune courses: • Finian Makepeace talks about the importance of the “second person” who makes an idea available to new, broader audiences. • Marianne Williamson shares with us the difference between “speaking up” and “tearing...

What comes after the job, the money, the power? Why do we seek these things if not, in the end, for happiness? And is happiness simply a chemical symphony in the brain that we can hack into, or does true contentment lie somewhere ineffably beyond our physiology? Today, Jeff offers an orchestrated monologue of his thoughts on happiness. Learn more about Commune courses and events at onecommune.com.

Modern allopathic medicine is brilliant at treating acute trauma, but it’s a big problem when we try to treat chronic health issues with the same approach. Today on the show Jeff speaks to Kelly Noonan Gores, writer, producer and director of the documentary Heal. She explains how our medical system throws drugs at symptoms instead of understanding and treating the root cause of the disease. This i...

How can we remember those who have died with more than just love and pain? David Kessler’s insights in this podcast are both professional and intensely personal. For decades he taught doctors, nurses, counselors, and first responders about end of life and trauma. Yet despite that knowledge, his life was upended by the sudden death of his twenty-one-year-old son. His journey through that tragic los...

Hardship, loss, loneliness. These aspects of the human experience can be doorways for finding meaning in life. According to Michael B. Beckwith, founder of the Agape International Spiritual Center, the key is asking yourself the right questions. Don't ask, "What is the meaning of this suffering?” Instead explore, "Based on this obstacle, how can I imbue my life with greater meaning?” Today, Jeff a...

Dr. Jolene Brighten is a women's health naturopathic medical doctor and author of Beyond the Pill. She believes every woman (and the men in her life) should get to know her hormones, because only by understanding how her body works can a woman make informed, healthy choices about interventions such as birth control. Hand-in-hand with education, Dr. Brighten also believes we need to flip the script...

When life starts to overwhelm us, it can feel like there's nowhere to turn. Stress and anxiety comes in all shapes, sizes, and emotions. But what if we learned to turn inward and start to heal our minds from the inside out? Suze Yalof Schwartz founded Unplug Meditation to help you find the meditation that clicks with your personality and neurology. When that magic match is made, meditation meets y...

Byron Katie became severely depressed while in her thirties. Over a ten-year period, her depression deepened, and for the last two years, Katie was seldom able to leave her bedroom. Then one morning, in the depths of despair, she experienced a life-changing realization. Katie saw that when she believed her thoughts, she suffered; when she didn’t believe her thoughts, she didn’t suffer. What had be...

Is it possible to remove all suffering from our lives? What is the difference between happiness and joy? Danielle LaPorte took this on as a research project for 10 years, and the metaphor she now uses is simple: Joy is the atmosphere, and happiness is the clouds passing through. Joy is foundational. And from that foundation you can begin to unpack your suffering. You can assemble the tools to for...

Dr. Mary Pardee is a functional medicine and neuropathic doctor who specializes in gastroenterology. Often these days we hear the words, "gut health". But what does it actually mean? Our bodies, and especially our guts, are all built differently and it can become easy to end up going down the wrong gut health path when you're not aware of what's right for you. Learn how, in working with your docto...

We often consider the fight for global warming as simply the elimination of greenhouse gasses. We need more fuel efficient or electric cars, more solar, and more wind power... But that only slows the dive toward catastrophe. Regenerative agriculture actually sequesters carbon and restores the earth to balance. Finian Makepeace, founder of Kiss the Ground, works with farmers and businesses to show...

What does it mean to live in "The Beautiful State?" Each of our individual lives are full of positives and negatives, of successes and failures, and of suffering. So how might we move past our suffering and enter a more beautiful state of being? Often people think we must overcome entirely our personal sufferings, but the beautiful state isn't about achieving the impossible. It is about creating a...

It's our pod-iversary! We've been doing the Commune Podcast one whole year now, and Jeff takes a look back on some of his favorite conversations. What have we learned this past year and how can we weave these lessons into our lives and relationships? We thank you for being such an important part of Commune and hope you're just as excited as we are for the year ahead! Learn more about Commune cours...

Marianne Williamson is a world-renowned spiritual teacher and bestselling author (Return to Love). She’s also an activist and former congressional candidate. The thread in her career is one of spiritual transformation and political activism, but when Marianne began speaking and writing on those topics, a professional path wasn't really visible. In this episode, we hear about how Marianne carved he...

What does childbirth look like from the doctor’s perspective? And how can women better work with their doctors – and the medical system as a whole – to improve the labor and delivery experience? This week Dr. Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz shares insights, stories, and hospital hacks with Schuyler Grant, host of Commune's 21-day program Empowered Birth. If you are pregnant (or thinking about it), head on ov...

Why does our birth culture treat low-risk women like high-risk patients? And how does that imact birth outcomes? Schuyler Grant, host of Commune's 21-day program, Empowered Birth, talks with midwife Elizabeth Bachner on how to navigate the pressures of the modern medical system and make even a hospital birth more homey. To learn more about the Empowered Birth course and to take the program complet...

"Think for a moment about the stories you tell yourself about childbirth… None of us remember our own births, and many of us don’t even know our mother’s (or father’s) story of how we were born. And the births we hear about are usually the dramatic or traumatic, because a smooth, easy birth doesn’t make much of a story. What’s more, the way babies are born in movies and on TV certainly doesn’t hel...

What does it mean to live a “perfectly imperfect” life? To quote the Tao, “all can see beauty as beauty, only because there is ugliness.” Life is not an "either-or" condition, but a series of "ands." We are beautiful AND may need lose a few pounds. We feel like we are struggling AND we are also exactly where we are supposed to be in our journey. Author and nutritionist Kimberly Snyder is here to h...

Do you really know what’s in your beauty products? You might be putting toxic chemicals on your skin and in your body, and not even know it. Luckily, Joy Reese and Luke Geddie, mother and son founders of Skinny & Co. are on a journey to help heal the beauty industry by creating and providing safe, clean beauty products that are not just edible and good for your skin, but are also good for the plan...

On the one hand, the U.S. Constitution separates church and state, but on the other, our inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is "endowed by the Creator." In this episode, Jeff muses on the spirituality of the founding fathers and how our politics has frequently strayed away from those values. What would a modern political platform look like if we built it on the basis...

Rodney Yee and Colleen Saidman Yee, co-founders of Urban Zen, discuss the importance of contemplative care and how it can help fix a broken healthcare system. When focus is put on healing the patient as a human being and not just simply healing a disease, we can truly get to the core of what ails us. Through the bonds they have with one another and with those around them, they are sharing their ow...

Jeff and his Dad, Richard Krasno, explore the complexities and joys that define what it means to be a father. Through many of life’s, and relationships ups and downs, these things can greatly affect the role a father plays in his children’s lives. But through love, many of those unexpected challenges can be turned into positives. And that can make for a very unique, and meaningful, relationship. L...

Sleep affects every system of the body — everything we do, we do better with a good night of sleep. Enter Dr. Michael J. Breus, aka The Sleep Doctor! With a specialty in Sleep Disorders, he is one of only 168 psychologists in the world with his credentials and distinction. Listen in to learn about chronotypes, supplements, and simple hacks to improve the quality of your rest. Learn more about Comm...

We know our emotions greatly effect our overall wellbeing, but we aren't always in touch with our heart's true desires. Enter Danielle LaPorte - a poet, speaker, author and creator of The Desire Map, a project that's core teaching is about identifying our most preferred states of being. Tune in for this intimate conversation about Danielle's personal journey, and get some spiritual perspective on...