Soul Portals: Exploring Psychospiritual Horizons

The Role of Tibetan Yoga in Integrative Medicine, hosted by Cedric Speyer and DeeAnna Nagel, in conversation with Alejandro Chaoul. While yoga has become a common practice for health and wellbeing, the ancient tools of Tibetan yoga remained secret for centuries. Translated as "magical movements," Tibetan yoga can improve physical strength and support positive emotional and mental health,...

The Profound Practice of Gratitude, hosted by Cedric Speyer and DeeAnna Nagel, in conversation with Jo Englesson We welcome in the New Year along with a Soul Portals guest whose leadership upholds the core values of connection, gratitude, and joy. The cornerstone of her practice is gratitude — not just as a feeling, but as a psychospiritual pathway that can regulate our nervous system, reorganize...

Crossing the Bridge Between Rationality and Religion, hosted by Cedric Speyer and DeeAnna Nagel, in conversation with Kyriacos C. Markides Our December guest is a renowned author of books with fascinating firsthand accounts of Christian mysticism within the Orthodox tradition. Originally a sociology professor, Markides’ own journey led from academic agnosticism and skepticism to faith and spiritua...

Cultivating Embodied Spirituality: Being Fully Human, hosted by Cedric Speyer and DeeAnna Nagel, in conversation with Austyn Wells It is a truism for those ‘on the path’ that we are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience. We are not a body with a soul; we are an eternal soul, an infinite Self, inhabiting a temporary body. Yet we find ourse...

Payback Mentality or Peace of Mind: Beyond Retaliation, hosted by Cedric Speyer and DeeAnna Nagel, in conversation with David Richo Our October guest has explored many aspects of psychospiritual development with integrative mastery. He draws on Christian and Buddhist teachings, Jungian psychology, wisdom traditions, and years of therapeutic expertise, applying psychological and spiritual principle...

What can therapists learn about cultural humility by listening to the lived experience of global workers? In this conversation, we explore the evolving landscape of global mission work — where building relationships takes precedence over exercising influence, and mutuality replaces hierarchy. Our guests coach global workers through all the challenges and transitions involved. The Benson’s own stor...

The Enneagram is a widely used, multi-dimensional therapeutic tool revealing the core issues of nine different personality types. Yet beyond the typologies pertaining to increased self-awareness, it is a path of self-knowledge highlighting what matters most on an authentic psychospiritual journey. In this episode of Soul Portals, we will explore the inner territory of soul growth with a view to th...

Our June Soul Portals guest is the author of The Psychology of Spirituality , which is a comprehensive exploration of the interface between the two domains, that in turn informs best practices. Spiritually integrated practitioners seek to explore the ways in which spirituality, religion, and the search for meaning influence their own lives and the lives of their clients. It is based on the premise...

In our last Soul Portals episode, we investigated how individual therapy gains a much broader scope when the existential and philosophical issues we all grapple with are included in the process. This month we welcome a guest whose healing practices actively link our inner wisdom and intuition with the needs of collective consciousness and global evolution. We will find out how Kate, as a multi-mod...

In this episode of Soul Portals, we are honoured to have a guest steeped in existential psychology who understands that the walls of the therapy room cannot just contain case histoires and ‘evidence based’ clinical interventions. Emmy van Deurzen has helped expand the scope of individual practice by reuniting the therapeutic quest with perennial concerns of humankind. Our current global crises obv...

Our March ’25 Soul Portals guest views Qigong energy practices and his musical vocation as intertwined spiritual paths. In this episode we will explore how Qigong can inform the healing arts, specifically in the context of Hua Gong (the style of Qigong that Loz Speyer practices, as a proponent of that school and lineage). Part of the podcast interaction will be experiential – a short participatory...

With Valentine’s Day (and all the mixed feelings it may bring) following our February episode of Soul Portals by a couple of days, we welcome Malcolm Stern, the author of Falling in Love, Staying in Love: How to Build a Strong, Lasting Relationship . When relationship is viewed as a vehicle for soul growth individually and spiritual evolution collectively, it changes the way we approach the comple...

Our New Year guest, Casey Muze, adds another element to wellness practices such as meditation, mindful movement, prayer, or immersion in nature. Hand drumming is a creative practice promoting resilience, emotional balance, and personal growth. It also offers a multitude of social and psychospiritual benefits, especially when viewed through the lens of bilateral theory. Casey uses drumming for earl...

Good people of privilege are increasingly aware of racial injustice but are often unsure how to venture into challenging dialogues and spaces, and even afraid to ‘go there’. In this episode of Soul Portals, we explore how to value risk-taking in this domain as the path toward a more equitable and just world. The experiences of our guest Rev. Teri McDowell Ott – including learning, teaching, leadin...

In this episode of Soul Portals, we expand the standard view of cancer care to include new approaches derived from integral psychology models. Our guest, Georgia Efremova, is a pioneer in the field of holistically informed cancer care, bringing psychospiritual support and consciousness skills to the discipline of psycho-oncology. She also works with communities nurturing social cohesion and belong...

Our October guest, Gary Lachman, has extensively researched the (secret) history of consciousness – what we take for granted when facing psychotherapy clients – that most of us have a self-referenced inner life to explore in relation to outer circumstances. Yet our present state of self-awareness has fascinating pre-rational antecedents and post-rational potential coming into view on the evolution...

In a culture that has marginalized its indigenous origins, we are seeing the return of the ‘medicine man’ (and woman). Our September guest is one of these, experienced with plant medicine as a catalyst for the psychospiritual journey. His own journey serves as a model for recovering the meaning of our personal lives, as collectively rooted in ancestral wisdom. “In the West, you may feel successful...

Our July guest is a family doctor with a special interest in counselling. A person-centred approach in his own practice formed the foundation for teaching medical students and supervising counsellors. He views patients as persons first and listens closely for the often-inspiring life stories embedded in clinical case histories. By valuing the many elements of what is life-giving for a person, phys...

Our June guest brings a wide array of holistic practices to the realm of mental health. She is on a mission is to inspire the complete empowerment of persons in body-mind-spirit. To do so, Laura guides clients through all phases of core-level, soul-aligned healing, allowing their full potential to be achieved, both personally and professionally. Her personal journey and vocational path have led to...

This month we welcome Ruth Saphir as our guest, who as a professional musician, songwriter, and seasoned music therapist, has delved deeply into the healing qualities of her art form. We all know what a favourite song can evoke, the way it resonates in our hearts and touches our souls. Like the tradition of the Aboriginal songlines, which provide inherited guidance for travellers to reach their de...

With the Jewish holiday of Passover pending, we welcome Arthur Kurzweil as our guest, who as an author, educator, mentor, and publisher has inspired many to explore the profound moral roots and numinous mystical truths of Jewish tradition. In this episode of Soul Portals, we explore the story of Passover as analogous to the personal transformational journey from inordinate ego attachments to the s...

Writing coach and spiritual guide Gay Edelman helps clients ‘compose themselves’ in writing. When imaginative touchstones are elicited and shared, it is a wonderful opportunity to move from dry clinical ground to the fertile soil of soul work. In this episode Gay describes how she is a midwife for the soul, by fostering the cross-fertilization of writing and spiritual self-awareness.  Therapeutic...

With February’s episode of Soul Portals taking place on Valentine’s Day, we look closely at what makes love a psychospiritual practice. Our guests Nico Canon, relationship coach and best-selling author of Grace (2023), with his wife Anastasiia Tumanova, share how their deeply intentional intimate relating is a catalyst for personal transformation. If romance is about being recognized in our essenc...

In this inaugural episode of Soul Portals, we are in round table conversation with guests Michelo Delmonte and Maeve Halpin , authors of Evolution and Consciousness : From a Barren Rocky Earth to Artists, Philosophers, Meditators and Psychotherapists . As the title suggests, Delmonte and Halpin’s book has a wide scope, encompassing both humankind’s evolutionary journey and its parallel in the laye...