Naming the Real

What happens when moral reasoning is replaced by comparison and outrage? In this episode, we name what may be the greatest moral fallacy of our time: the  "yeah, but"  fallacy—the habit of justifying our own behavior by pointing to the failures of the other side. We explore how this entrenched way of thinking corrodes conscience and threatens the American Republic. And as we launch this new series...

In this fourth installment of the Somatic Series, we explore how trauma is embedded not simply through overwhelming event but through the body's incomplete survival responses. Stress, overwhelm, and trauma are energies which can become trapped in our bodies as long as our survival responses remain unfinished. How do we release and discharge these energies and find freedom? In this episode, we expl...

To be human is experience stress as well as being on a trauma spectrum. In this episode—part three of the Somatics Series—we define trauma in relationship to stress, in connection with Polyvagal Theory. Trauma is the energy of overwhelm in which we feel (and then, most often, come to believe) that we don't have the resources to make life work. This episode concludes by introducing the pathway out...

In this second episode in the Somatics series, we explore Polyvagal Theory as a tool for raising awareness and befriending your body. Exploring the three central states in Polyvagal Theory (safety/connection, fight or flight, and shutdown), as well as the freeze state that most humans get stuck in, we name practices for getting your body unstuck and moving forward towards flourishing.

In this episode—the first in a new series about befriending our bodies—we explore how awareness of our body's feelings, experience, and sensation is the engine of sustained change. In a society in which we are encouraged, implicitly if not explicitly, to dis embody—to dissociate from embodied awareness—we begin to lay out a path towards fully inhabiting our bodies and, thus, our lives. This, as th...

In this final conversation with Celtic thinker and author John Philip Newell about his book 'The Great Search,' we explore themes of returning to the wisdom of childhood and learning to encounter the light of the world in the midst of darkness. What emerges is a map for navigating the challenging landscape of our contemporary culture, with its emphasis on external power over inner wisdom. As we re...

At the center of our cultural crisis is a battle for reality—for the role of facts, objective law, and thought itself. As mainstream media is derided as "fake news" and blatant lies become rampant, it starts to feel like we are in a shell game with the truth. Meanwhile, long-held Constitutional norms are violated and the rule of law and due process are threatened. All of this is facilitated, in pa...

At the center of our cultural crisis is a clash of values. The current administration's actions reflect an age-old paradigm: us versus them, winners versus losers. It is driven by animal kingdom values, where "might makes right." In this episode, we explore a different paradigm and a different set of values for transcending such limited thinking.

We are living through perilous times—an age of anxiety, crisis, and polarization. In this return to the Our Cultural Crisis series, we explore the 9 mechanisms—emotivism, blindness, tribalism, victimization, moral posturing, de-humanization, outrage, one-sidedness, and violence—that drive our current predicament. These dynamics are as old as time but pertinent as ever. By naming them, we can engag...

Transformation ultimately has less to do with thinking our way into change than living into it in  bodies that have been trained to feel and be fully present. In this episode, we explore a way to create a strong foundation for ongoing transformation by not only recognizing glimmers—moments that slow your body down into an experience of calm and beauty—but challenging yourself to experience more gl...

In this third conversation with John Phillip Newell, author of The Great Search and numerous books on spirituality, we explore what we talk about when we talk about "oneness." Oneness, as Carl Jung, Julian of Norwich, and Jalaluddin Rumi help us discover, is an archetypal way of experiencing reality. In simple, pragmatic ways, we can grow our awareness of oneness—of our interconnectedness with all...

There are many competing formulas for happiness. In this episode, exploring the tale of Abd al-Rahman III and his fourteen days of fulfillment, we look at two such formulas. What emerges is a conclusion backed by science: only experiences of beauty and connection make our lives meaningful and, therefore, happy. What then, do we find most beautiful and how do we pursue it? If we can name this, we c...

In this second conversation with Nolan Kim, director of Power Coaching, we explore more practices for befriending the body. We begin with a dive into the science behind cold plunging and how a simple breathing practice from Wim Hof can radically boost your immune system. Nolan also outlines a number of exercises that will help you ground in your body, lower your blood pressure, and do the hard thi...

Breathing well is central to living well. In this conversation with Nolan Kim, director of Power Coaching, we explore the simplest practices for transforming your sense of presence and power through the transformation of your breath. But this is bigger than breath: ultimately Nolan invites us into a conversation about how to truly choose life while we draw breath, because our time is too precious...

One of our most profound capacities as humans is the ability to re-story our lives. In this final episode of the storytelling series, we explore the movement from shame to compassion/self-compassion. This is primarily a somatic or embodied process, allowing our bodies to release the stored vital energy that may have become stuck in our system, with groaning, yelling, and whatever else creates emot...

As a conclusion to the storytelling series, we explore one of the hardest things we ever learn to do: refusing self-judgment and embracing every part of us with compassion. Self-compassion has nothing to do with going soft on ourselves or giving ourselves a pass; in fact, it demands ruthless self-awareness and integrity. It is the death of our ego's self-focus and, for many, a path to the Divine....

We have four "characters" in our brains: two in our left hemisphere and two in our right. These characters have vastly different concerns and focuses, and when we find ourselves mired in the more self-absorbed or anxious characters, we can feel really stuck. In this episode, following the work of Jill Bolte-Taylor, we explore a way of getting unstuck. By knowing these characters and addressing the...

Imposter syndrome is a very specific type of tyranny, under which many labor. It is the fear of being found out, of being exposed, of being revealed a fraud. It destroys freedom and consumes energy, leading to exhaustion. In this episode, we explore the roots of imposter syndrome and a pathway for confronting it—even stopping it right in its tracks—for the sake of freedom, courage, and hope.

The goal of life is, in some sense, simply to become present. In this episode, we explore micro mindfulness, through which we can train and habituate our bodies to live in a relax, restful, and regulated state (in polyvagal theory, what is called a ventral-vagal state). By recognizing "glimmer moments"—moments of everyday beauty and peace—and then training our brains and bodies to be fully present...

In this second conversation with John Philip Newell, we explore how Celtic spirituality informs a movement back to the soul and to the earth. By framing our core human essence as well as the material world as good (contra much of the dualistic philosophy and theology that has guided Western history), we can discover deeper ways to be human beings. Guided by thoughts from Newell's newest book, The...

In this short, we explore the power of immersing one's self in a simple four-word phrase: "It's not about me." It's a mantra that has the power to reorient our thinking and our entire neurobiology, as we learn to see ourselves as a small part of something much bigger, removing the pressure that can build up when we take our ego, our emotions, or our sense of self too seriously. In the second half...

We live in a left brain world. The brain's left hemisphere is generally concerned with being explicit, certain, and in control. The right hemisphere, in contrast, is focused on story, metaphor, space, and connection. Shifting to the right brain can open up a world of possibility, as we become more concerned with what we experience and how we're connected and less concerned with being right. In thi...

We all have automatic negative thoughts and beliefs that can keep us stuck. What's to be done? In this episode, we explore how the unresolved arousal in our stories can lead to beliefs that produce terrible fruit in our lives. And we explore the resource within our agency to renounce those stories, advocating for our freedom. Finding this "hell no" energy within us can be challenging and vulnerabl...

Meditation is great, its benefits incredible. And…most of us resist it. Not just because we are busy, but because meditation—like any space of quiet—would have us face stories and beliefs that we prefer to avoid. In this episode, we explore our resistance to meditation and, hand-in-hand, a practice that may help us look forward to learning meditative practice like never before. This episode launch...

Every story is an arousal story, because arousal is the soul's ultimate energy: we long for connection and become panicked at the possibility of disconnection. Arousal, in this sense, is far greater than sexual arousal—it is the energy animating all things. In this episode, we explore the idea of resolved arousal and unresolved arousal, with plenty of story examples and illustrations. Ultimately,...