Consciousness Explorers Podcast

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The Consciousness Explorers Podcast (CEP) is an experiential sandbox for mind and body hosted by Tasha Schumann and Jeff Warren. Each episode is a real-time adventure, where a different guide takes us through a short meditation or personal growth practice

Jeff Warren & Tasha Schumann

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    • Jan 25, 2024 LATEST EPISODE
    • infrequent NEW EPISODES
    • 50m AVG DURATION
    • 25 EPISODES

    Ivy Insights

    The Consciousness Explorers Podcast is a fascinating and enriching podcast that offers a diverse range of modalities and ideas for meditation practice. As a beginner in meditation, I appreciate the buffet of different techniques and concepts that are explored in each episode. It is both grounding and exciting to listen to these teachings, and it sparks many thoughts and ideas for my own practice.

    One of the best aspects of this podcast is the variety of guests and topics covered. Jeff Warren, along with his co-host Tasha, brings on guests who are experts in their respective fields and offer unique perspectives on consciousness exploration. From Buddhist teachers to lucid dreamers to mindfulness experts, each episode provides a fresh take on meditation and expands the listener's understanding of the mind.

    Another great aspect is the lighthearted energy and humor that Jeff and Tasha bring to the discussions. They create an inviting atmosphere where listeners feel comfortable exploring new styles of meditation outside of their normal routine. The format of practicing followed by discussing helps put words to experiences and allows for deeper insights into one's own practice.

    While there aren't many negative aspects to this podcast, one possible drawback could be that some episodes may not resonate with all listeners. Each episode explores different modalities and ideas, which means that not every episode will be relevant or interesting for everyone. However, given the wide range of topics covered, there is likely something for everyone within this podcast series.

    In conclusion, The Consciousness Explorers Podcast is an adventure-filled exploration into various modalities of meditation and consciousness. It offers practical wisdom, insightful discussions, and a lighthearted approach to deepening one's understanding of the mind. Whether you're a novice or an experienced meditator, this podcast has something valuable to offer in expanding your mindfulness practice.



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    Latest episodes from Consciousness Explorers Podcast

    Season 2 is landing! Watch the Trailer

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 25, 2024 8:21


    Hello Friends!Jeff Warren & Tasha Schumann here with some exciting news for 2024 and beyond! The Consciousness Explorers Podcast has evolved into … *drumroll* …

    The Sensual Self with Ev'Yan Whitney

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 16, 2022 50:55


    In today's episode (the Season 1 finale!) we get slow and personal with Ev'Yan Whitney, sexuality doula, podcast host, and author of Sensual Self. “Sensuality” often gets lumped in with sexuality… Ev'Yan wants to change that, to tease apart these two aspects of being human and demonstrate how everyone can connect with a more sensual version of themselves.Ev'Yan's 19-minute practice is a tour of the senses. Take your time. The pacing of Ev'Yan's guidance – the way she encourages us to pause and savor each sense – is part of its sensual magic.Afterwards we have a wide-ranging conversation, from issues of sensuality and consent, to how sex changes over time in relationships, to the fundamental right of pleasure. Many of us feel guilty talking about pleasure, as though it were somehow frivolous or self-indulgent. For Ev'Yan, in a world that is continually forcing us out of our bodies, out of safety, out of softness … “Pleasure in such a world is an act of resistance.”“When we feel good, we do good … so feel good!” It's the perfect way to finish our season.Season 1 Finale Message from Tasha & Jeff:Thank you so much to all our listeners for an incredible 1st season! We've had so much fun this past year, creating these 23 episodes of mind-body adventure. We (and our awesome producer Timmy) will be back in the fall with a BRAND NEW SEASON of exploration and consciousness-expanding guests! In the meantime, drop us a note if there's a guide or a subject you're keen to explore with us.And of course, if you'd like to support our time-and-resource-intense labor of love, consider contributing to our Patreon! Have a wonderful summer ❤️Ev'Yan's Links :• Sensual Self podcast• Sensual Self book• Ev'Yan's website• Ev'Yan's instagramSupport the show

    Direct Pointing with Angelo Dilullo

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 9, 2022 56:44


    Our guest today is Angelo DiLullo, a medical doctor and author of a fine book called Awake: It's Your Turn. Angelo points directly to the true nature of self / consciousness / or whatever you want to call this bizarre ululating mystery we all seem to be living inside. He probably wouldn't even say he “teaches” this, since all he really does for his guided practice is describe his own experience of operating in a world without a sense of a panicked separate self running around going “I gotta get more stuff!” In fact, the whole conversation is a direct pointing. And what is Angelo pointing Tasha, Jeff, and  our listeners to? His term for it is “unfiltered reality.” Which turns out to be right here, right now, only we overlook it, on account of our enthralment to thinking and the organizing structures that lie below thinking. This shit is so fun. That's why we do it. We like the existential shivers, the shiver-me-timbers, the sense of beautiful ordinary that settles all around as we get wide and full of Being (beans!), trembling righhhht at the threshold of …. of what? Of almost getting it? – but getting what? If it can't be got, if it's already right here? Etcetera etcetera and so on and so forth. What pleasurable times we had conversing about perceptual distortions and the need for emotional work and metabolizing energies and the twitchy “sphincter of the mind” and the tragic way Jeff has reified awareness and thus will probably never get enlightened and that's fine at least he still has most of his hair (not for long Dad!). The EndAngelo's 12.5 minute nondual "direct pointing" begins at 9:28 and ends at 21:52. Links:Angelo's book: Awake It's Your Turn https://books.simplyalwaysawake.com/#Angelo's youtube channel, Simply Always Awake: https://www.youtube.com/c/SimplyAlwaysAwakeSupport the show

    The Body's Intelligence with Philip Shepherd

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 2, 2022 55:10


    In today's episode, we're joined by author and embodiment expert Philip Shepherd. Philip is also an actor, and thus a wonderfully entertaining tour guide. He takes us into the body's “grounded sensitivity” – really the perfect phrase for it, a place both of exquisite intelligence and dependable common sense. Under Philip's careful guidance, we explore how to move past the mind's imaginary constraints, softening and merging with the world around us. It's an ambitious itinerary with many practical take-aways. Come feel reality beyond the head! To go straight to Philip's grounded sensitivity practice, it begins at 3:59 and ends at 18:03.Links:• Philip's website: https://embodiedpresent.com/• Philip's online courses: https://embodiedpresent.com/experience/online-learning/Support the show

    body intelligence philip shepherd
    Unconscious Bias with Rima Dib

    Play Episode Listen Later May 25, 2022 57:56


    Today we're joined by Rima Dib, a good friend of Tasha and Jeff's who also happens to be an expert in unconscious bias and anti-oppression education. Rima teaches workshops about difference – race, age, gender, sexual preference, ability – to people around the planet. She makes it fun. Is this possible? Yes, it turns out. We laughed our asses off. In Rima's words, “If it gets too heavy, we're gonna want to put it down. By keeping it light, we can carry it longer.”Fun doesn't necessarily mean comfortable. Her acting and word association practices are very revealing. We go with our first flash or gesture, before we have time to edit our responses for popular consumption. Gulp. Thus Jeff squirms in his seat as various juvenile biases are uncovered. Fortunately, we also learn how our unconscious biases are NOT the same as our chosen values. So there's a lot of healthy normalization here. For Rima, everyone has biases; healing and change begin by bringing them into our awareness.Our conversation is very lively! We explore everything from “cancel culture” to Mr Clean to educating your kids about bias and dealing with racist babies. This is good medicine my friends. Thank you Rima, we love you.The first practice of identifying our embodied biases begins at 10:50 and ends at 19:25. The second practice, where we visit “the attic of our imaginations,” begins at 32:53 and ends at 37:56.Links• Rima Dib's "Harmony at Work" website: https://harmonyatwork.ca/team/rima/ • The Harvard Implicit Bias Test: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.htmlSupport the show

    Spontaneous Thinking with Shinzen Young

    Play Episode Listen Later May 18, 2022 58:37


    Meet Shinzen Young, a long-time instructor of mindfulness, author of The Science of Enlightenment, and now co-director of the “Science Enhanced Mindful Awareness” or “SEMA” Lab at the University of Arizona. Shinzen is Jeff's OG meditation teacher. He is both a scholar of comparative mysticism, and a highly creative designer of strange and beautiful (and practical) meditation techniques.In this episode, instead of trying to banish thoughts, we drop into a "global unfixated state," and allow creative images and words and associations to spontaneously unfold. Both Shinzen's exposition and his guided practice are quite precise – so much so that Tasha kind of bristles against them, which makes for a lively discussion afterwards. But if you're patient, and able to trust what Shinzen is pointing to, it can lead to genuine insight. Thinking can shift from something rigid and constrained, to something more free-flowing and intuitive and even wise.This matters. For Shinzen, the best of humanity comes through via our creativity and intuition. In his words, we can train ourselves to “let nature take over.” Shinzen himself demonstrates this at the end, when he comes apart during an emotional discussion of Japanese Noh theater. Much good stuff on the “deep mind,” subconscious processing, and the better angels of our nature.So: here we go … like “seaweed in a tide poodle”!Links:Shinzen's website: https://www.shinzen.org/His YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/expandcontractHis original “Science of Enlightenment” audio series from the 90s. In Jeff's opinion, this series – NOT his more recent book of the same title – is one of the smartest things ever created on the subject of meditation.Shinzen's “Unified Mindfulness” training program: https://unifiedmindfulness.com/His “Science Enhanced Mindful Awareness” Sema Lab at the University of Arizona: https://semalab.arizona.edu/Support the show

    Tarot and the Imagination with Tatianna Morales

    Play Episode Listen Later May 12, 2022 52:45


    Today we hang out with the incomparable Tatianna Morales – aka @tatiannatarot – a Brooklyn-born spiritualist, priestess, and Tarot diviner! Together, we plunge into the imagination, learning how the age-old tradition of reading Tarot cards can give us insight into our personalities and our life situations. It turns out we're meeting Tatianna at the very moment her own relationship to Tarot is changing. And not only hers: there's a revolution happening out in the culture – artists and enthusiasts are creating their own tarot decks, imagining new archetypes to better reflect the realities of 21st century life. As we discuss, this is one way that culture and consciousness change and evolve.So how do we give listeners their own personal Tarot reading? Tatianna starts by asking listeners to think of a question or theme they want to explore. Then all of us – Jeff and Tasha too – choose a number between one and three. Tatianna pulls a card for each number and does a reading for each. Listen closely to the reading for the number you choose! All the readings are fascinating, as examples of how Tarot works and the kinds of dynamics they help us explore.Much goodness here and a wonderful animated discussion afterwards. Enjoy!Practice begins at 8:52 with Tatianna's readings from 10:30-19:36; Jeff and Tasha get a personal reading from 20:17 – 32:38, and finally our general discussion begins at 32:38. Links:- Tatianna's website: https://www.tatiannatarot.com- Tatianna's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tatiannatarot/ Support the show

    Effortless Meditation with Peter Russell

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 28, 2022 53:29


    Today's episode: Peter Russell. Peter started out as a theoretical physicist, a student of Stephen Hawking's, until sometime in the early 70s he made his way to India and had his brain blown open. He became one of the West's early proponents of meditation, and in the 80s wrote several seminal books on consciousness and technology. He's had a big influence on the culture of meditation in general and on Jeff in particular – Jeff tells the story of meeting Peter in San Francisco back in 2008 and afterwards getting “let go” tattooed on his forearm.Appropriate then, that Peter's new book is called Letting Go of Nothing. What does “letting go” actually mean, and why do so many meditation teachers go on about it? We explore this in real-time, as Peter guides us in a wonderfully simple and accessible “effortless meditation” practice. Afterwards, very relaxed, we lazily discuss whether all this effortlessness is really just cheating and won't actually get us anywhere. “Thinking you need to get somewhere is exactly the problem!” says Peter, or something like that. And on we go, a deep dive into the ordinary perfection that is already right here. This is good medicine.Peter's 12 minute effortless meditation practice begins at 7:55 and ends at 19:58.Apologies for the rustles and muffles – sound improves after the first ten minutes.Links:Peter's WebsitePeter's Book: Letting Go of Nothing Peter's Youtube ChannelSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/explorerspod)

    The Feldenkrais Method with Donna Ray

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 21, 2022 45:25


    Meet psychotherapist and Feldenkrais teacher Donna Ray. In this episode, she makes us move! Ok, more like she makes us sit in chairs and roll our eyes and turn our heads a bit and suddenly everything feels better. Welcome to the subtle art of micro-movement. Donna shows us how small physical adjustments in the way we hold ourselves can change both our experience and our body's overall functioning. She's a true adept – Donna has been teaching this method for over 40 years, ever since Moshe Feldenkrais first brought his system to North America.Like much of what we explore at CEP, the radical nature of Feldenkrais is hard to capture in words. Not a problem – your body doesn't need words, it learns for itself by doing, and, in the doing, awareness expands. This is about repatterning the nervous system so that all parts can function in a more vital and free and integrated way. Ultimately it's an exploration of pleasure as the basis for how to live inside our bodies. Thus we end our conversation with a few PG remarks on Tantric sex, and call it a day.  Donna's 16 minute Feldenkrais practice begins at 9:02 and ends at 25:20. Links:Donna's website: http://donnaray.comThe main resource for Feldenkrais: https://feldenkrais.com/Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/explorerspod)

    Addiction & Self-Compassion with Valerie Mason-John

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 14, 2022 52:07


    Today we're joined by the UK-based Valerie Mason-John, also known as  Vimalasara, a leader in the field of mindfulness for addiction and trauma.This episode is about the ways we get disconnected from our bodies and our lives, and the role self-compassion can play in bringing us home. We explore this in the context of our addictions – even addictions we don't realize are addictions, like, in Vimalasara's words, “stinking thinking” and technology. And we explore it in the context of contemporary challenges like coronavirus, and the institutional racism and violence directed to Black bodies. For Vimalasara, the medicine is self-compassion – delivered with fierceness and strength. She guides us into a 16-minute meditation she calls the “five basic needs of the heart.” And then at the end of our time together, she guides a sobering inquiry into what she calls the “five questions of the shaman.” One of them – “when did you stop dancing?” – kind of drops a bomb into your brain!To go straight to the “five basic needs of the heart” practice, it begins at 3:35 and ends at 19:33.Links• Valerie's website, where you can also find all our resources on recovery and addiction https://www.valeriemason-john.comSupport the show

    Technology-Enhanced Meditation with Dr. Baron Short

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 7, 2022 57:59


    Today we're joined by Dr Baron Short, an Interventional Psychiatrist at the Medical University of South Carolina, and co-founder of Zendo, an electronic device that purports to enhance both the experience and the long-term benefits of meditation.How might a direct current of electricity to the brain affect our meditation? This is not a hypothetical question. All three of us – two hosts and one guide – wire up, select the highest possible setting, and ride out the hum. Tasha and Baron go to Bliss-land. Jeff goes... somewhere else!Baron's guidance is lovely and supportive and useful for everyone  – you do not need electronic pads to get something out of this meditation. In fact, his 14-minute practice is a kind of guided tour of meditative landmarks many of us experience, from “the body drop” to the “stickiness of thoughts” and more.After the practice, we get into an animated discussion about the pros and cons of technologically-enhanced meditation. Do we need it? Why or why not? Have we always been enhanced, and what might a more enhanced evolutionary future look like? Much ensues from the Zendo tingle!To go straight to Baron's 14-minute guided meditation, it begins at 14:00 and ends at 28:00.LinksZendo website: ​​https://zendomeditation.comDr Short's clinician page at the Medical University of South Carolina: https://providers.muschealth.org/sc/mount-pleasant/edward-baron-short-md-mscrSupport the show

    Hypnosis with Dr. David Spiegel

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 31, 2022 49:54


    Today we're joined by Stanford psychiatry professor Dr. David Spiegel, an expert in the clinical use of hypnosis. David is co-author, along with his late father Herbert Spiegel, of Trance and Treatment, a classic work on hypnosis published by the American Psychiatric Association. And therein lies a story … almost 20 years ago, Jeff interviewed David's 92-year old father Herbert Spiegel. Not just interviewed – Dr Spiegel managed to hypnotize Jeff, demonstrating to him first-hand the strange persuasive power of this mind-body intervention. Now listeners can get their own taste. David's first practice is a guided hypnosis session – essentially, he tries to hypnotize you. Then, depending on your suggestibility, he offers a specific therapeutic strategy for working with anxiety. David's second short guided practice is an exploration of our innate hypnotic capacity. Hilarity ensues, as Jeff and Tasha observe their own dissociated arms tingle and float.Our conversation explores the nature and neurobiology of hypnosis, how it is different from meditation, and the under-appreciated potential of hypnosis to help with all kinds of health conditions, from addiction to chronic pain to anxiety. As David says, “all hypnosis is self-hypnosis.” This is a safe, internally-directed healing modality that ultimately does not depend on experts, or medication, or anything except a willingness to open yourself to experience. The first 10-minute hypnosis session begins at 8:05 and finishes at 17:51. The second eye-roll / arm floating test begins at 25:05 and finishes at 31:00. To use the Eye Roll Test to figure out your own innate hypnotic capacity, check out this illustration from Jeff's book, The Head Trip. LinksDavid's Self-Hypnosis App, “Reveri”: https://www.reveri.com His Stanford Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences webpage: https://profiles.stanford.edu/david-spiegelDavid's clinician page: https://stanfordhealthcare.org/doctors/s/david-spiegel.htmlDavid and his father Herbert Spiegel's classic book: Trance and Treatment: Clinical Uses of Hypnosis: www.appi.org/Products/Psychotherapy/Trance-and-Treatment-Second-EditionThe Eye Roll Test: https://jeffwarren.org/everythingelse/illustrations/the-spiegel-eye-roll/Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/explorerspod)

    Breath as Medicine with Therese Jornlin

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 24, 2022 58:29


    Today we're joined by Jeff's good friend Therese Jornlin, teacher of meditation, yoga, and qi gong. Much happens in this episode! Therese re-introduces us to our breath as both medicine and guide. We learn how the specific way each of us breathes reflects our particular mental patterns and habits. The breath can show us where we're stuck, and it can show us how to find a way through.  This is really an exploration of the wisdom of cycles: the inhale and the exhale, the up and the down, even life and death. We learn how Therese helped Jeff manage his bipolar symptoms, and how an appreciation for nature's cycles can help all of us better manage life's highs and lows.There are actually two practices in today's episode, one long and one short. Therese's primary 17 minute practice begins at 6:03 and ends at 23:37. Her shorter two minute “whisper breath” practice begins at 47:11 and ends at 49:27. Links:• Therese's website • Therese's TED Talk: Reclaiming the Wisdom of Female Intelligence• Therese's coursesSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/explorerspod)

    Connecting to the Land with Warren Hooley

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 17, 2022 55:30


    If you live in the US or Canada, you may have noticed a movement to acknowledge local indigenous groups who've historically lived in a particular territory. For example, Tasha and I live in Toronto, Ontario, which is also where our nonprofit meditation community group –  The Consciousness Explorers Club or "CEC" – operates. These days, at the beginning of every CEC retreats and meditation sits, even our virtual events, we say some version of "The CEC operates on the traditional territory of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and the Mississaugas of the Credit, and is covered by Treaty 13." We say this as a way to situate us in an actual physical place. And we say it because we support the movement of truth, justice and reconciliation for Indigenous peoples in this country. It's been too long in coming.In today's episode, we explore the inner practice of territory and ancestor acknowledgement. Our guide, Warren Hooley, comes from a mixed indigenous and western background. He lives in the Syilx (Okanagan) Territory in Penticton, British Columbia, where he runs workshops on Facilitation, Indigenous Allyship, and Compassionate Communication. He also teaches at the Consciousness Explorers Club. Warren has really wrestled with this question of why territory acknowledgment matters, and how to engage with it in a way that is real and meaningful for the practitioner. His beautiful guided practice is really a ceremony, complete with drum and singing. It has three parts: an acknowledgment of local indigenous groups, an exploration of our own ancestral roots, and finally connecting in a personal way with our own local landscape.Warren's 21-minute practice starts at 7:00 and ends at 28:00.Links:• Warren's bio: http://cecmeditate.com/faculty/warren-hooley/Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/explorerspod)

    The Wakeful Body with Lama Willa

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 10, 2022 51:42


    Meet meditation teacher Willa Blythe Baker. Willa is an authorized Lama in the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, and author of our new favorite book: The Wakeful Body: Somatic Mindfulness as a Path to Freedom.She guides us in a practice called GROUND – an acronym that describes progressively more subtle and expansive "layers" of somatic experience. We drop from the physical body, to the subtle body, and finally into the causal or nondual “body” of awareness itself. For Willa, the whole process is about “waking down” – in her words, “metabolizing, not transcending.” We also explore how to work with trauma in our body, and what it means to genuinely “befriend” our experience. Willa's 15 minute GROUND practice starts at 7:57 and ends at 23:12. Links:• Willa's book: https://www.shambhala.com/the-wakeful-body.html Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/explorerspod)

    Radiant Rest with Tracee Stanley

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 3, 2022 53:53


    Today our explorer-in-residence is Tracee Stanley, a longtime student and teacher of Yoga and Tantra, and author of Radiant Rest: Yoga Nidra for Deep Relaxation and Awakened Clarity. We've explored rest before on this pod, but not quite like this! When we sit and attempt to let go, what gets in the way? What messages about safety and worthiness are hiding in our nervous system?For Tracee, rest is about sanity, empowerment, and resistance. Resistance to our own self judgements and the pressures of dominant culture. We talk about all of this from a place of rest. To prepare for this week's practice, prep a space where you can get cozy. There is also a short journaling practice, so have a notebook and pen on hand.Tracee's 20 minute deep rest practice begins at 4:03 and ends at 24:03 with lots of juicy, insightful discussion after!Just an extra note: our ambition with the “Mind Bod Adventure Pod,” as Tasha calls it, is to become part of your daily or weekly practice regimen. It is a place to explore a broad understanding of practice – from quieter meditation and movement practices, to more engaged life and work and communication practices. To do this in real-time, together. And then, after, we talk honestly about our own experience, as a way to help you get clearer about yours. In this way, we both connect to helpful practice resources, and we develop more confidence around being our own teachers and mental authorities.The other part of this is exploring what kind of conversation emerges after we do a practice – when we're still influenced by the practice itself, when it is still in our nervous systems, as it were. That's one reason it's important to actually do the practices. They help us see what else might be important. They can change the way we live and relate and listen and communicate.So let's party! And by "party," we mean close our eyes and do practically nothing.Links:• Tracee's website: www.traceeyoga.com• Tracee's Deep Relaxation Course on Commune• Tracee's Yoga Nidra TrainingSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/explorerspod)

    A Psychedelic Sangha with Erik Davis

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 24, 2022 62:20


    Today we meet Erik Davis, award-winning journalist and author, most recently, of High Weirdness: Drugs, Esoterica, and Visionary Experience in the Seventies.Erik guides us in an imagination-based open awareness practice that for him is about cultivating a very specific kind of watchful attention. This turns out to be the perfect setup to discuss one of Erik's specialities: the defiantly unclassifiable weirdness of psychedelic experience.We explore the ins and outs of the current psychedelic revival, the heretical nature of psychedelics as “practice,” even the possibility of the Buddha himself being a psychonaut. Can we scale-up psychedelic use for the mainstream? Do we even want to? And down we go, into a highly entertaining rabbit hole. Erik's immersive 16 minute practice begins at 8:36 and ends at 24:20.  Links:• Erik's website: https://techgnosis.com • Erik's substack• High Weirdness Book• Psychedelic Sangha: https://psychedelicsangha.org • Erik's Guided Psychedelic Meditation Music Album ExperienceSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/explorerspod)

    Love and Rage with Lama Rod

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 17, 2022 60:43


    Today's episode we're joined by Buddhist minister and social activist Lama Rod Owens, author of Love and Rage: The Path of Liberation through Anger. Our subject is anger, something Lama Rod once had to suppress in order to survive as “a Black queer body in America.” He writes: “My fear of death and policing has translated into a self-policing of my anger, to such an extent that if it weren't for my meditation practice, I wouldn't know how to find my anger.”How do we work with the energies of anger in this intense cultural moment? Do we need our anger to keep us motivated in the face of injustice and oppression? For Lama Rod, anger can start us off, but only love will sustain the work. This is the basis of his guided meditation – we connect to love and care as a way to hold both our anger and the “broken-heartedness” that's often found underneath. A deep practice and a very raw conversation with one of the leaders of the next generation of dharma teachers.Lama Rod's 15 minute guided practice on care and anger starts at 11:50 and ends at 27:26.Links• Lama Rod's website: https://www.lamarod.com Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/explorerspod)

    Freeing the Voice with Debora Joy

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 10, 2022 67:31


    In today's episode we're joined by the delightful voice coach and kundalini teacher Debora Joy. Debora guides us through an array of voice exercises, all of them meant to free us from the shackles of bodily restriction. We learn how the way we speak reflects our conditioning, and how opening up our voice can change who we are.This episode is much more interactive than usual, almost all of it a practice. We left this one feeling exhilarated, full of energy and – yes – joy.If you want to go straight to her first meditation to “clear out the garbage” it starts at 6:33 and ends at 10:03. If you want to go straight to the voice exercises they start at 23:34 and continue in various forms till the end of the episode!Links:• Debora's website: https://www.deborajoy.com Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/explorerspod)

    Wake Up to Sleep with Charlie Morley

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 3, 2022 59:47


    Today's episode is an energetic dive into the healing potential of the nighttime mind with Charlie Morley. Charlie is the author of several much-loved books on lucid dreaming, including his newest: Wake Up to Sleep: 5 Practices to Transform Trauma and Stress for Peaceful Sleep. Charlie guides us in two practices: a powerful protection practice inspired by the Bön tradition of Dream Yoga, and a simple Yoga Nidra practice, meant to help reset the nervous system. Both help create a safe and supporting space for overcoming insomnia and getting a good night's rest. We also explore what he's learned about supporting veterans – and regular folks – with PTSD, how to renegotiate our nightmares, and the role lucid dreaming can play in all of this. These are fascinating practices; we had an animated and wide-ranging discussion.To go straight to Charlie's 7 minute sleep protection practice, it starts at 21:30 and ends at 28:20. Links:• Charlie's website: https://www.charliemorley.com • Charlie's book Wake Up to SleepSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/explorerspod)

    Loving Kindness with Sharon Salzberg

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 27, 2022 45:05


    Today we're joined by Sharon Salzberg, one of the pioneers of Western Buddhism. She's the author of a new book: Real Change: Mindfulness to Heal Ourselves and the World.This episode is all about what's possible when we bring a little (or a lot) more love into our lives.  We explore her take on loving kindness, and learn in real-time how loving kindness can be an antidote to fear. We explore how the practice both synchronizes and conflicts with activism, and how to avoid the "Disney-ification" of loving kindness, among many other topics.To go straight to Sharon's 10 minute loving kindness practice, it begins at 06:26, and ends at 16:22.  Links:• Sharon's website: https://www.sharonsalzberg.com • Sharon's book, Real Change: https://www.sharonsalzberg.com/realchange/ Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/explorerspod)

    The Deep Heart with John Prendergast

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 20, 2022 59:11


    In today's episode: psychotherapist and meditation teacher John Prendergast.John is the author of The Deep Heart: Our Portal to Presence, a book that explores “the convergence of psychological healing and spiritual awakening.” For John, this happens most clearly and powerfully in the depths of the heart. How do we sensitize ourselves to this subtle space?  This is our guide's expertise. John shows us how to rest in the heart as a way to appreciate and embody a different way of knowing and relating. We ask our hearts about our core limiting beliefs, and what it might mean to no longer believe them.It's an emotional journey – sincere and raw and often quite beautiful.To go straight to John's 11 minute heart practice, it begins at 8:42 and ends at 20:03.  Links:• John's website: http://listeningfromsilence.comSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/explorerspod)

    deep presence john prendergast
    The Four Elements with Sebene Selassie

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 13, 2022 39:39


    Today's episode: Sebene Selassie.Sebene is a meditation teacher, integral coach, Indigenous Focusing Oriented Therapy (IFOT) practitioner and author of You Belong: A Call for Connection. She's also one of the most popular teachers on the Ten Percent Happier meditation app.Sebene guides us through the four elements of earth, fire, water, and air. This practice is both powerful and practical. Sebene shows us how to harness the elements to balance our minds and bodies, and how the elements help us understand different aspects of who we are and how we connect to the world around us. A grounding journey into, in Sebene's words, "our own indigeneity."To go straight to Sebene's (12 minute) four elements practice, it starts at 3:00 and ends at 15:22. Links:• Sebene's Website• Sebene's book: You Belong: A Call for Connection Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/explorerspod)

    Liminal Dreaming with Jennifer Dumpert

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 13, 2022 53:32


    Meet Jennifer Dumpert. Jennifer is a San Francisco-based dreamer and lecturer, author of Liminal Dreaming: Exploring Consciousness at the Edge of Sleep. And the edge of sleep is where we go today! We drop like stones into the weird space between dreams and ordinary waking consciousness, and then attempt to recombobulate afterwards into coherent human beings.We find out what liminal dreaming is, why it's such a good practice, and how it can be used to great effect at the opera and with the in-laws. We also get a taste of Jennifer's boundary-mixing personal practice of embedding dreams into the urban landscape, threading the liminal into the lived.To go straight to the 14 minute liminal dreaming practice, it starts at 04:45 and ends at 18:21.Enjoy! Links:• Jennifer's Website: https://jenniferdumpert.com• Jennifer's Liminal Dreaming Website: https://www.liminaldreaming.com and guided Yoga Nidra practices https://www.liminaldreaming.com/practices/  • Join her community and cultivate the wild and visionary experience of the dream: https://urbandreamscape.comSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/explorerspod)

    Podcast Trailer

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 5, 2022 7:22


    Welcome to our trailer, where we venture into what this pod's about, how it came to be, and most importantly, how to nerd out at a rave...The Consciousness Explorers Podcast (CEP) is an experiential sandbox for mind and body hosted by Tasha Schumann and Jeff Warren. Each episode is a real-time adventure, where a different guide takes us through a short meditation or personal growth practice. (That means you're coming too!)Don't forget to hit subscribe and if you want to be notified for each new episode then sign up to our newsletter or follow us on Instagram! New episodes released every Thursday.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/explorerspod)

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