i want what SHE has

Today I have the ultimate honor to share my conversation with June Millington , a Filipino American guitarist, songwriter, producer, educator, actress and writer. She was the co-founder and lead guitarist of the all-female rock band Fanny , which was active from 1970 to 1974. After leaving the band, June went in pursuit of her spiritual path, continued to make music, collaborate, act, write and is...

It's the return of Marielena Ferrer and our monthly conversation inspired by Espiritualidad y Politica , which ponders ideas related to society's relationship with money, cultural integration, sustainable development, and participation in public life. The overarching message is that it is possible and necessary to marry the art of living (spirituality) with the art of coexisting (politics) to achi...

Today I have the honor of speaking with Shulamit Elson, and we begin the show hearing about her experience in losing her daughter to leukemia just over a year ago and how she moved through the tremendous grief of this experience. This flows into a conversation about Shulamit's own journey into finding her soul's purpose and the healing sounds that form the basis of her work today.  She is the crea...

Today I wander into the Festival of Samhain and share some traditions or rituals that may inspire you. This includes a conversation and experiential practice to contemplate the lives of our ancestors based off of the book, My Grandmother's Hands by Resmaa Menakem . P.S. the show officially starts around minute 11, but I thought the superstition conversation with my colleagues was thematically appr...

Today I am talking sisterhood and politics with three fabulous women, but first up, I share an interview I did, BC (before Covid), of Mikayla Haggerty, Marlea Catoosa, Ruby Friedman from the Golden Fleece 4H Sheep Club Dutchess County. I met them 2 years ago while attending the Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck, NY. I wanted hot apple cider and they were selling it, which made me curious about...

Welcome to another installment of our monthly excursion into Politics and Spirituality with Marielena Ferrer,  a socially engaged visual artist and art educator. She serves on the Kingston Arts Commission and Diversity Equity and Inclusion Task Force. Ferrer studied architecture at Central University of Venezuela and later earned a certificate of distinction in “Leadership and Empowerment” from Sp...

Today I get to chat (and laugh) with Dr. Melissa Cioffi, PT, the owner of New Quest Physical Therapy , a mobile physical therapy practice specializing in pelvic health Mel Cioffi is a doctor of physical therapy who “frees active folx with vaginas from endless kegels and garbage exercises so they can get their damn lives back." She's participating in the O+ Festival offering a class, "Beyond Kegels...

On today’s show I share my conversation with Therese Shechter, award-winning filmmaker and writer, and the founder of the feminist production company Trixie Films .  Her work fuses humor, activism, and personal storytelling to disrupt what's considered most sacred about womanhood. She is a Canada Council for the Arts grantee for her documentary My So-Called Selfish Life which is having its World P...

On the show today I get to speak with Kia Abilay  an Akashic Records Teacher and Certified Healing Touch Practitioner, Energy & Intuitive Communicator and a One Spirit Minister. For many years she worked as a practitioner in the Wellness Center at Omega but for the past year has been working on a book sharing stories from her work and lessons about the gift of listening. The book is titled The Gif...

It's the second Moon-Day of the month and the return of Marielena Ferrer ! She was a contributor to the book Espiritualidad y Politica which was published 10 years ago, and we're using that book to seed conversations relating to spirituality and politics. Marielena is the Executive Director of Humanamente — a diversity and inclusion consulting organization, Chair of the Athena Network New York — a...

New Moon Blessings to you! Today, I take us through a New Moon Ceremony where we get to open ourselves up to the healing power of Forgiveness and then with that new shift in energy, step out of our boxes and into our magical selves. The great awakener Uranus guiding us to get weird. Gather your ceremonial items, water, journal and find a comfy space for this special show. Here's the playlist I use...

Today's guest is the very inspiring Anyssa Lucena . She helps women climbers gain confidence by teaching them how to overcome self-limiting beliefs, get stronger and live an empowered life through climbing. As a former rock climber, when I heard about Anyssa and her work, my curiosity led me to her website where I learned more about her background, and her story was so inspiring that I wanted to i...

Jayla Kai grew up in Woodstock, a town synonymous with the pureness of music. It evokes a togetherness where the community has each other’s back and the culture is almost symptomatic of its people (Dylan, Bowie, Van Morrison, Levon Helm). Kai cites a handful of local musicians who have served as key mentors to her. Kieran Hebden (Four Tet), is one of these key mentors who has inspired and encourag...

Today I speak with Elizabeth Gross, an herbalist, bodyworker, meditation and yoga instructor, and end-of-life doula based in the Mid Hudson Valley of NY.  Her mission through Selkie Medicinals is to provide optimal comfort and care to people experiencing major life transitions related to birth, sex or dying. Her services include prenatal Thai Yoga herbal bodywork, sexual health focused herbal cons...

Back at it for another round of deep thoughts and wild talks with Mariaelena. The second Monday of the month is inspired by the book,  Espiritualidad y Politica,  which was published 10 years ago, of which Mariaelena was a contributor. She is also the Executive Director of Humanamente — a diversity and inclusion consulting organization, Chair of the Athena Network New York — a psychosocial support...

Today's guest is the profoundly talented Nina Isabelle . She is a process based artist working with perception, action, language, and phenomena. Her practice is a method to sort and solve the inconsistencies of language, memory, and form, and she makes paintings, drawings, photographs, video, sculpture, sound, performance and writing as inquiry into how sensory perception functions as the impetus...

Today I share my conversation with my niece Eva Mae Widmann. She's 12 years old, doesn't consider herself an expert in any way, but I ask her some questions about how she does the things in life that she enjoys, as well as how she motivates herself to do the things she doesn't enjoy. We cover crafts, cooking, sports, the ukelele and self care. Everyone's got something to share with one another no...

Juliet Rania is the founder of The Source , a wellness community in Woodstock, New York. She has been an apprentice of Alessandra Belloni for the past two decades in the Southern Italian Black Virgin tradition and the shamanic healing path of the Tarantella. She is a spiritual representative of Shaykha Fariha Fatima of the Jerrahi Sufi lineage and has taught on Sufism at various venues throughout...

Back at it for another round of deep thoughts and wild talks with Mariaelena and special guest Ulster County Sheriff Juan Figueroa. The second Monday of the month is inspired by the book,  Espiritualidad y Politica, which was published 10 years ago, of which Mariaelena was a contributor. She is also the Executive Director of Humanamente — a diversity and inclusion consulting organization, Chair of...

Following up on my first annual "freedom" themed show , this year, I return to the book, You Are Now Less Dumb , to continue sharing about different cognitive biases we all likely have. Last year I touched on "Narrative Bias" (you are a being capable of logic and reason who falls short of that ideal in predictable ways) and "The Backfire Effect" (when your deepest convictions are challenged by con...

Sonita Alizadeh was born in Herat, Afghanistan under the reign of the Taliban regime. Her family walked hundreds of miles to Iran in the rain and snow to escape. She grew up an impoverished, undocumented, refugee street child in Tehran. Without official papers, she could not attend school until a local non-governmental organization offered assistance; they provided a basic education to undocumente...

Iya Rev. DeShannon Barnes-Bowens , M.S. (Iyanifa Iwalewa Ifasalewa Fasina), is the founder of ILERA Counseling & Education Services, and works as a psychotherapist, professional development trainer, and spiritual counselor. Through ILERA, she offers workshops and programs focusing on: sexuality and spirituality, sexual abuse, vicarious trauma and wellness. Iya DeShannon received a Bachelor’s degre...

Back at it for another round of deep thoughts and wild talks with Mariaelena. The second Monday of the month is inspired by the book, Espiritualidad y Politica, which was published 10 years ago, of which Mariaelena was a contributor. She is also the Executive Director of Humanamente — a diversity and inclusion consulting organization, Chair of the Athena Network New York — a psychosocial support n...

Shalini Pahwa has 20+ years of leadership experience and is currently the QA & Test Competency Leader for the US Client Innovation Centers at IBM. She manages a team ranging from test managers and automation SMEs (subject matter experts) to brand new associates, delivering full testing services to clients across industries. Shalini Pahwa is passionate about diversity and inclusion initiatives at w...

Hello and Happy Memorial Day! Today I spend some time honoring those who've served and set the stage for thinking of a better way of resolving conflict. First part is really stepping into the Chrysalis so that we can re-emerge as something new, a society with a greater balance between the feminine and the masculine, but first I offer some thoughts on the patriarchal nature of war and the military...