Solemn Place

In the final installment of this conversation, Doc Mitchell discusses the impact of negative thinking, the challenge of living with pain, and the practices that help cultivate a stable mind. Together, we explore meditation, prayer, presence, and the importance of orienting life around guiding principles rather than fleeting emotions. Doc shares practical insights on staying grounded in the present...

What if reality is better understood as a process than a thing? In part two of our conversation, Doc Mitchell joins yuko uno and yuka una to explore classical Chinese thought, the changing nature of experience, and why concepts like identity, time, and certainty may not be as fixed as we imagine. The discussion touches on Buddhism, Christianity, personal cultivation, and the idea that much of what...

Before he became a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Doc Mitchell was a curious kid learning the names of plants in the forests of California. In this first conversation, Doc shares stories from his early life, his travels through South America, encounters with curanderas, and the experiences that ultimately led him toward a lifelong study of healing. Along the way, we explore the role...

yuka una sits down with yuko uno to explore his history with music. From the first songs he ever wrote to the sound he carries today. Together, they move through a time capsule of melody and memory, reflecting on how music has carried them through life’s highs and lows. They discuss how interacting with music shapes who we become and how it ultimately led to the conception of Solemn Place. Music i...

yuka una and yuko uno discuss suffering and our relationship to pain. Suffering is subjective. What may be a positive experience to one may be a negative experience to another. Desire and preferences breed suffering. They dive into the idea that wanting things to be a certain way creates aversion and opposition to what is. How pain is inevitable and suffering is optional. yuko speaks to his own pe...

yuko uno speaks with his guest yuka una about hope and death. They discuss the light on the other side of life. yuka una is a hospice nurse who has a passion for assisting people in dying well. She shares some of her experience of sitting with over 2,000 people in their last moments. She shares what she’s witnessed at the bedside: the fears, the peace, the beauty, and the light. yuko also shares s...

In this first episode of the Solemn Place Podcast , yuko uno reflects on healing through his journey in music. He shares the inspiration behind Solemn Place , a spiritual community in Santa Cruz, California, dedicated to music, healing, and communal gathering. Solemn Place exists to explore spiritual teaching and personal healing through the vessel of music and community. In this episode, yuko tal...