Soul + Practice: Raw Conversations & Real Practices with Kathy Escobar & Phyllis Mathis

We feel so thankful for the amazing people who come hang out with us and we are also amazed by how much happens in such a short time. As we looked back on where we started in Februrary and what's happened in the world, our worlds, this semester, it's kind of wild. And points to why we need resourcing and support so badly! In this episode, we look back on all of the conversations we've had since Fe...

Connect with Will at wildsoulcollective.org "The soul is like a wild animal — tough, resilient, savvy, self-sufficient, and yet exceedingly shy… When we catch sight of the soul, we can become healers in a wounded world” - Parker Palmer  Learn more about All Souls Boulder at allsoulsboulder.org The Courage and Renewal Center - couragernewal.org  Book both Phyllis and Will referred to - Centering: I...

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Connect with Linsey at https://re-conn-tore.com/

Learn more about Keely's work at keelytaylor.com 

More on Tent of Nations at tentofnations.com  More on The Refuge at therefugeonline.org Replay of 79th Annual Easter Sunrise Service at Red Rocks:   https://www.youtube.com/live/Zj49Uw2gIYw?si=Ol3n08EPqCYD39GU

We loved this conversation with Janel Apps Ramsey, Co-Director of Brew Theology, Doctoral student, climate justice advocate, and a vulnerable leader who is learning how to own her body and live into it--no small task in this world and the systems that want us to be small, disembodied, and compliant. We could feel this conversation in our bodies and hope that you find what you need out of it, too!...

Names of poems and links:  - Poetry of Presence: An Anthology of Mindfulness Poems, editors Phyllis Cole-Dai and Ruby R Wilson | "Trees" by Howard Nemerov - Poetry of Presence II: An Anthology of Mindfulness Poems, editors Phyllis Cole-Dai and Ruby R Wilson - Almond Blossoms & Beyond by Mahmoud Darwish | "This of Others" - Rosemerry WahtolaTrommer | "Today's Headline" (wordwoman.com) - "Try to Pra...

Our friend Melvin Bray's newest book is here, yeah! UnLEARN InEQUITY: An Invitation to Truth and Transformation is a gift to the world and we're so thankful to get to hang out and process what's happening in the world right now through this lens. Equity is a life-long practice that must be done in community. Learn more about Melvin's work at unlearninequity.melvinbray.com

Phyllis turned 70 this weekend, woo hoo! In this episode we process aging well, embracing reality, and leaning into hard-won wisdom. Plus a cameo with Kelli Skoog, here in Denver celebrating this weekend, yay.

It's been a tough weekend, friends, with US and Israel waging war on Iran. We dream for better leadership. We dream of circles of connection and wisdom not towers of unhealthy power and destructive practices. We dream for a more just society not just for ourselves but for our future. Strap in, this one's raw, but that's what Soul + Practice is all about--raw conversations and real practices. Let's...

After we finished recording our last episode Phyllis and Kathy talked to BJ Skoog or a bit and we realized we wanted to process more about how all of this has affected spirituality and relationships, too. That's where we went in this second episode, recorded a week later from Minnesota an Denver, navigating what happens when we have such divergent values with people we once deeply connected to and...

Oh, we feel so grateful for this conversation with BJ Skoog, a long-time friend of Phyllis and a person of hope in these hard times. BJ founded the Richfield Leadership Network in Minneapolis, which is dedicated to strengthening community connectedness. The power of these relationships are being illuminated so strongly in the current situation with ICE occupation in their city and the reality of w...

Well, we needed the Super Bowl this year folks! In this episode we process why it helps us so much and how embodying our values despite the resistance is everything.

After a 6 week break, we're back for Season 9 with a check in, some small signs of hope, bald eagles, poetry, and hopefully a sense of being in this hard stuff together and staying as healthy and connected as we can.

Sorry for the technical difficulties if you listened to two wrong files before we finally got this right one up! But yes, this one starts our weird, too, ha! #practicing. We loved looking back on this past season September-December 2025 and all of the incredible kindreds who came and shared with us. We learned so much together, gathered some resourcing, and felt a little more grounded in the middl...

Phyllis' son Justin Mathis rocks and we're so thankful that we got to hang out with him for a truly lovely conversation about peer to peer support, mental health, and the beauty and power of being alongside other humans offering presence and connection and receiving it, too. Also, the most simple practices make a big difference in stability and healing. Enjoy!

In a world (and season) obsessed with material goods, we decided to focus on some of our favorite things that aren't stuff--simple practices, actions, spaces, places that help us regulate our nervous system and feel more solid and connected to our souls in a destabilizing world. They aren't complex--they're simple. And often so underrated. We had fun and hope you can lean into your favorite things...

We love stories of the long road of freedom and how we find themes and gems of truth in others' journeys, too. In this episode we hang out with our friend Karen Poland, who is a therapist in TX with the Christian Closet, which offers therapy, coaching, and spiritual support services for the LGBTQ+ community around the country and beyond. This conversation about the intersection of faith and sexual...

We've been wanting to have this conversation for while, and we finally did it! Our friend Hannah Wong, a college professor and leader who is passionate about learning, human development, and things of the soul helped us engage with the realities of AI and how it's changing our minds and our culture in powerful and scary ways.

We feel so grateful to get to play with kindreds and gather some extra goodness in the middle of so much hard! We loved hanging out with John Pavlovitz, writer, activist, storyteller, and friend for a little bit this week. He helped us remember how important it is to stay human in a dehumanizing world. It's a gift to be alongside long-term advocates who keep saying stuff that needs to be said and...

Oh, grief! It's a part of life, yet most of us have a very complicated relationship with it. This conversation is about metabolizing grief, learning to integrate it into the human experience alongside others who are trying to be honest about it, too.

We love the Enneagram, and in this episode we thought it would be fun to process what different Enneagram types might be feeling and experiencing in these wild times and offer some possible practices for support and resourcing. We had fun, and the truth is, no matter our type, there's always something we can learn and draw from.

We loved our conversation with Hugh Hollowell, writer, advocate, seeker of beauty, and pastor of Open Door Mennonite Church in Jackson Mississippi. It's exactly the kind of reminders we need right now in what he calls "The Circumstances" the US finds itself in. Learn more about his work in the world at hughhollowell.org and gather some beauty and hope today.

This conversation with Rev. Rob Jerger, who is the Vicar at St. Clare's Episcopal Church in Tyler, Texas (the only LGBTQ+ affirming community out of the 392 churches in that town), made both of us cry. It embodies such a beautiful example of what church is supposed to be - a little pocket of love, safety, freedom, and hope in the middle of this hard and harsh world. No matter what you believe, the...