Mindful U at Naropa University

New MindfulU Podcast episode: The Journey of a Poet with poet, Naropa Summer Writing Program faculty, and Brown University professor Eleni Sikelianos. In this episode, Eleni shares the unconventional path that led her to a life of poetry—from hitchhiking around the world to synchronistic events that brought her to Naropa for an MFA. She reflects on how her writing has transformed over the years, the beauty and importance of ecopoetics, the practice of deep listening, her thoughts on AI, and the many unexpected places she draws inspiration from. Special Guest: Eleni Sikelianos.

Laird is an alumnx of Naropa's MFA Creative Writing program, former Naropa core faculty and Summer Writing Program faculty for 15 years, author of 9 novels, and current professor of writing at Brown University. In this episode, he takes us on the journey of finding his writing voice, the experiences that allowed him to become a published author and teacher, and what he believes about what it takes to make it as a writer. Special Guest: Laird Hunt.

A new podcast episode is out: A Look at Career & Life. Curious what Career & Life Services at Naropa has to offer you as a student or alumnx? Jessica DelCastillo, Senior Director of Academic Advising and Career & Life Development, and Danielle Swaser, Associate Director of Career & Life Development, sat down with MindfulU podcast host, David Devine, to share what career & life support looks like and what they offer—from interviewing and negotiations skills to strengths assessments, career workshops, and career change exploration. This episode helps you understand what's available to you as student, future student, or alumnx looking for support in developing an aligned career. Special Guests: Danielle Swaser and Jessica DelCastillo.

Did you know that translating poetry from one language to another is an art unto itself? In our latest episode of Mindful U podcast author, translator, and veteran, Bill Porter, who goes by the pen name Red Pine, takes us through the process of finding the true heart of poem that's hidden beneath words. Hear his journey of how he began translating thousand-year old Chinese poetry and Buddhist and Taoist texts, and how that has shone a light on the nature of language itself. As a translator, he sees language as an experience that cannot be replicated and perfectly transformed from one into another, but when we dance with the rhythm that's behind words themselves, and immerse ourselves in the world view of another we can find the true heart and meaning of an author. Special Guest: Bill Porter.

Mitchie Takeuchi is the writer and producer of the "The Vow From Hiroshima" a film about an atomic bomb survivor in Hiroshima who has dedicated her life to nuclear disarmament and activism. Mitchie is also a descendant of survivors of the atomic bomb and the film follows their friendship and mission to abolish nuclear weapons worldwide. On this episode, Mitchie shares about her life and work, how this film came together, and the impact she hopes it will have on nuclear guardianship and more. “Nuclear weapons and humanity can't coexist” Special Guest: Mitchie Takeuchi .

Reggie Hubbard is a yogi, political campaigner and activist, speaker, and meditation instructor. On this episode he speaks to working with grief and how to heal, he tells his story of how he aligned his professional and spiritual life into an integrated path of purpose, and he explains why he believes mindfulness is essential to political activism. Special Guest: Reggie Hubbard.

Artist, author, and leadership development trainer, Rosi Greenberg, breaks down the concept of the inner critic and redefines imposter syndrome. Our inner critic isn't going anywhere, but it can become an ally when we come into relationship with the wisdom that underlies it. She also examines imposter syndrome as something that is often a product of systems of oppression and in recognizing this, how can we look at systems change while also applying compassion to ourselves and our current experience. Special Guest: Rosi Greenberg.

Hear from Harmony Kwiker on the magic that is gestalt therapy. Harmony is a visiting professor of Naropa's master's program in Mindfulness-Based Transpersonal Counseling. She shares about how the gestalt therapy model has helped her bridge her spiritual path with a practical way to help others and provides a framework to treat patients as equals who are empowered in their own healing journey to come into contact with the deepest parts of themselves. Special Guest: Harmony Kwiker.

Our latest podcast with Jen Berlingo, MA, LPC, ATR is out today! Jen is a Naropa Alumnx of the MA Transpersonal Therapy program, a practicing coach, licensed therapist and author of her new book Midlife Emergence: Free Your Inner Fire. In this episode you'll hear about her Naropa experience and how getting a degree in counseling served her true calling of art, therapy and coaching after leaving the corporate world. She also shares her journey of coming out as queer in midlife and what it looked like to alchemize her midlife transition into a Midlife Emergence of true authentic living. Special Guest: Jen Berlingo .

Ali Smith, Atman Smith, and Andres Gonzalez are inspiring examples of what it looks like to build a successful non-profit that utilizes yoga and mindfulness to empower communities. They are the founders of The Holistic Life Foundation, a Baltimore-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to nurturing the wellness of underserved communities—whether that's in schools, detention centers, drug treatment centers, mental illness facilities, recreation centers, group homes, colleges, senior centers, and more. HLF is run by BiPOC and demonstrates a deep commitment to learning, community, and stewardship of the environment. In this episode, they talk about the programs they run, the inspiration that fuels them, and their new book, Let Your Light Shine, that goes into their personal practices that led them to this work and inspires their own lives. Check out this episode to get inspired about the possibilities that mindfulness and socially engaged entrepreneurship have in store for our world. Special Guests: Ali Smith, Andres Gonzalez, and Atman Smith.

In this episode we're diving into the world of creative entrepreneurship with Nova Han. Nova is the Creative Director for Electric Forest Festival, String Cheese Incident, and much much more. She discusses how she got started in the space, what her work looks to today, and how her creative vision keeps evolving. Check out this episode to hear an inspiring conversation of what it looks like to follow your passions and gifts, even as you're creating it as you go. Special Guest: Nova Han.

In this episode we're joined by Dr. Stephanie Yuhas, the chair of both Eco Psychology MA program and the environmental studies BA program at Naropa University. Dr. Yuhas discusses the topics of climate grief, eco anxiety, and how to mobilize and ease these states into helpful action for our planet. She also talks about the various career paths available to students studying Ecopscyhcology and Environmental Studies and why these are needed in our world going forward. Check out this episode to hear a rich conversation on climate, ecology, and psychology! Special Guest: Stephanie Yuhas.

In this episode we're joined by Dr. Ietef aka “DJ CAVEM”, international eco-hip hop artist, chef, organic gardener, and food justice advocate. DJ CAVEM shares about the important cross pollination of art and sustainability, and how food justice and ecological responsibility translate into equity for all.  He also talks about celebrating companies that go green and encouraging brands that listen when they're called out, energizing our youth to be in contact with plants and soil, and building brave spaces in our communities that address the many inequities of modern society.  Check out this episode for an inspiring talk on the impact of art on our relationship to food, climate, justice, and nature!  Special Guest: DJ Cavem.

We are happy to have calligraphic artist, Barbara Bash, join us to discuss her creative journey over the years—from the precision of Western calligraphy to the spontaneity of big brush stroke and what unites them. She also talks about the 3 primary principles of contemplative art: Heaven, Earth, and Humanity and how these become gateways that attune you into the aliveness of the moment. Check out this episode to hear this rich conversation! Special Guest: Barbara Bash.

Valeria McCarroll, PhD, joins us to discuss Somadelics, Pursuing Life with Psychedelic Support & Intentional Integration in this thought-provoking episode. Also discussed is being in 'right relationship' with the medicine, trauma responses, honoring the medicine's lineage, and transformational justice. After the episode, find more on ValeriaMcCarroll.com and Somadelics.com. "I am deeply curious about, you know, there's now studies that are emerging, or that have been emerging around using psychedelics to heal racial trauma and using psychedelics to address the impact of injustice in our society. I am particularly curious about because I like taking these frameworks and bringing them inside, what would it be to — to take principles and understandings of restorative justice and — and transformative justice and scaffold bodies of work so that people can do that work internally so that they can transform the parts of themselves that oppress and have been oppressed into right relationships so we can be in right relationship inside ourselves? Because I think that's really, you know, if we sort of look at all of what's happening in the world is the play of consciousness coming to know itself, we're just projecting our own undigested stuff around power out there. And so if we can do that work internally, then maybe we can do that with other people in a good way." - Valeria McCarroll "Somadelics is a contemporary path of spiritual awakening, a weaving that is inspired and informed by the traditions of classical nondual Tantra, modern psychedelic medicine, and somatic psychology. Somadelics synthesizes luminous practices for awakening radiant embodiment." -ValeriaMcCarroll.com Special Guest: Valeria McCarroll.

Dr. Jennifer Bacon is a strong proponent of taking action in activism. That is why she created the course "Sacred Activism" at Naropa - to empower a community to make strides in equality, anti-racism, and social justice. Her children's book, I Am an Antiracist Superhero! will be published by Bala Kids in 2023. Pre-order her book HERE (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/729592/i-am-an-antiracist-superhero-by-jennifer-nicole-bacon-illustrated-by-leticia-moreno/) Special Guest: Dr. Jennifer Bacon.

SHE'S BACK! Ladies, theydies, and gentlemen - tune in for the uplifting magic that is Jaguar Womban! Those who got to witness her on Naropa's campus already know. And those who haven't can feel her healing aura through this episode. Jaguar is a multi-dimensional healing artist, medicine woman, a visionary Mother of the womb nation. She also works with herbs, ancestral channeling, poetry and ceremonial plant medicine. She flew from Oaxaca, Mexico to meet us in Boulder, CO as the Honored Artist in Residence Keynote for our 2022 Naropa Community Practice Day. We welcome her back to her alma mater and also the Mindful U podcast! Her message today "Words Do Not Teach" is a part of her work in the "conjuring the language of the liminal spaces" of energy healing. Tune in to hear more on her journey to the Womb Nation Mother she has become. **Instagram - @jaguarwomban (https://www.instagram.com/jaguarwomban/?hl=en) Jaguar's Linktree (https://linktr.ee/Jaguarwomban) Cover Photo by Daniel N. Johnson Find Daniel's work on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/danieljohnsonis/?hl=en)** Special Guest: Jaguar Womban.

Today, our beloved professor of the Religious Studies Program and the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics, Andrew Schelling, joins us to discuss language, the page as a performance, and the bravery to pursue writing as a spiritual practice and state of mind. Andrew's work involves around 20 odd books of writings and edits along with being a translator in Sanskrit. He has taught at Naropa for over 30 years. Big Quotes: “Where does breath come from? And then how do you record that on the page? How do you work with line breaks? How do you work with punctuation, stanza breaks, so that you can capture on the page? You know, that's why I say the page is a performance.” “With a creative art, you can say there's a goal, which is becoming an accomplished writer, or musician or whatever, or generating great work, but you can't see it until you're there. It's a whole different kind of world.” Tune into this episode to hear this rich discussion on developing writing as a spiritual practice and state of mind. Special Guest: Andrew Schelling.

Netanel Miles-Yepez is a Sufi Pir (Sufi spiritual guide), Doctor of Divinity, and World Wisdom's Professor at Naropa. He is also an artist, an author, a religious scholar, a spiritual teacher and a Co-Founder of The Heart Fire Festival. His focuses and studies are with Sufiism. In this episode, we hear him speak about Sufiism, developing a deeper understanding of religion, and what connecting to his own religion did to assist his soul path. Special Guest: Netanel Miles-Yepez.

The 14th Dalai Lama's wisdom is largely accessible to the English-speaking world because of today's honorary guest. In this episode, we hear Thupten Jingpa speak fondly of his monk-hood as a compassionate Tibetan child, the divine alignment that cast him as the principal English translator to the Dalai Lama, and his Holistic appreciation for the contemplative model of education exemplified by schools like Naropa. Please join us as we welcome our inspiring friend into our hearts and minds. Please share this episode with a compassionate friend of yours and subscribe to the Mindful U Podcast for more educational conversations like this. Wisdom & Traditions Department of Naropa University (https://www.naropa.edu/academics/graduate-academics/wisdom-traditions-department/) The Institute of Tibetan Classics - Founded By Thupten Jingpa (https://tibetanclassics.org/) The Frederick Lenz Foundation (https://fredericklenzfoundation.org/) "I understand the word contemplative, as a way of bringing an approach that emphasizes self awareness, paying attention, and also bringing conscious intention into what you do. And tempered with, you know, important fundamental human values that we share. And if we broadly mean this by the word contemplative, then clearly, this is something that needs to be, you know, brought into any education system across the world. Because, even though you may speak different languages, may live in different parts of the world. But when it comes to fundamental human reality, we are all sharing this one small planet, which is now facing existential threat from climate crisis, as well as, you know, the pressures of globalization, putting on all of us to really find a way to live where peaceful coexistence based on mutual respect and understanding becomes an important part of our challenge, important part of the requirement, if we want to save the world, you know. So, in all of these, some element of contemplative education has to be necessary." -Thupten Jingpa Langri, Mindful U Podcast Special Guest: Thupten Jinpa Langri.

*Join Jordan at this science-backed training on Sept 6th "Compassion-Based Boundaries: An Introduction with Jordan Quaglia, PhD" (https://www.naropa.edu/event/compassion-based-boundaries-an-introduction-with-jordan-quaglia-phd/) *"In this workshop, Director of Naropa's Cognitive and Affective Science Lab, Jordan Quaglia, PhD, offers an introduction to what he calls compassion-based boundaries, a science-backed framework that provides practical skills for navigating complex interpersonal situations." "But if someone has trained their attention in a particular way to be more open and receptive, there might be even a different felt sense to someone listening to you from that perspective. So, I think that's not a bad sort of just little example of thinking how it is that training our own mind, training our own attention and intention and awareness can have ramifications for others in our life as well. And it offers us the potential I think, to be generous with our minds. And you could say generous with our hearts. If we have more attention available in the sense that we've grown this capacity to pay attention, then we can be more generous with our attention without it feeling like we're depleting ourselves." Register Here (https://www.naropa.edu/academics/extended-campus/compassion-boundaries/) September 6 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm $40 – $49 Special Guest: Jordan Quaglia.

"Last time I sang the national anthem, I was on ecstasy." (Powers, 2018, maps.org (https://maps.org/news/bulletin/black-masks-rainbow-bodies-psychedelics-and-race/)) Nicholas Powers, PhD, is a writer. His no-BS approach to humanitarian literature has caught the eyes of Wall Street Journal, Truth Out, and The Independent. Tune in for a bold conversation on how a future on psychedelics might look. https://indypendent.org/authors/nicholas-powers/ Powers, N. June 15, 2018. "Black Masks, Rainbow Bodies: Psychedelics and Race." [Maps.org.](https://maps.org/news/bulletin/black-masks-rainbow-bodies-psychedelics-and-race/) https://truthout.org/authors/nicholas-powers/ https://www.naropa.edu/event/psychedelic-alchemy/ Psychedelic Alchemy guest speaker Nicholas Powers, PhD, believes that psychedelics must leave the lab and therapy office to give humanity a chance to reimagine itself, and challenge our current path of self-destruction. Remarkably, personal therapy mirrors what happens in social movements: wounded souls return to their real selves, real bodies often discarding former identities like old skin. But according to Powers, we must go beyond healing the individual to healing our history and collective trauma.

Spring Washam "clocks in" at a job many of us here at Naropa day-dream about: Hosting entheogenic plant ceremonies at a retreat space in Costa Rica. This episode is a colorful glimpse into her world of combining meditation, detoxifying nutrition, integrative practices, and sacred plant medicine in what she calls "accelerated earth school". Spring is the author of two books, A Fierce Heart: Finding Strength, Courage and Wisdom in Any Moment and her newest book, The Spirit of Harriet Tubman: Awakening from the Underground. She is a a pioneer for meditation & mindfulness in diverse communities and is one of the founding teachers at the East Bay Meditation Center, located in downtown Oakland, CA. She also studied meditation under renowned teacher Jack Cornfield and now has the same spirited impact with her own teachings. Spring's website is rich with both audio. & video teachings and I highly recommend checking it out. On her website, you will also find a range of remote and in-person group classes & retreats. https://www.springwasham.com/ Special Guest: Spring Washam.

Tai Amri: "I started Allies in Action at Naropa while I was there as a student, and also was the editor of Tendril, which was a journal on diversity. And that really came out of my feelings of like, man it's really hard being black in Boulder, and being black at Naropa was also very difficult. And — and I was getting triggered all the time, and micro-aggressions, which I didn't have language for at the time - I just like, I'm not gonna be able to graduate from here if I don't do something to try to change it. And Allies in Action was really like - how do we address unaddressed privilege and oppression in the school environment? And I feel like B.L.A.C.K Lawrence tries to do a lot of that, as well as how do we create space for black creators in a place where there's not a lot of us.” Beautiful Ashe: Memoirs of A Sweet Black Boy and Other Poems Beautiful Ashe: Memoirs of A Sweet Black Boy Tai Amri (https://www.blurb.com/b/10758753-beautiful-ashe) In This Episode: -Influence of Music in Writing -Black Studies & Black Aesthetics -Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics -Black Literature & Arts Collective of Kansas -Tai Amri Original Spoken Poetry -Elegba - Trickster God, African Deity -Obatala - African Deity of Peace & Creativity -Pantheon of Orishas -Influential Teachers of Color at Naropa -Soltahr Tiv-Amanda (http://soltahr.com/) Soltahr.com -Malaika Pettigrew Remembering Malaika (https://www.malaikapettigrew.com/) Tai's Favorite Jazz Musician: This Is Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers on Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DZ06evO3S0ZGe?si=2099b70fa06a41f9) http://artblakey.com/ More Influence: Tito Puente This Is Tito Puente on Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DZ06evO44lISP?si=1210829a48dc426e) Bob Marley Legend - The Best of Bob Marley and The Wailers on Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/album/4jKeipwuUTjlx9USNYdhZn?si=OEDpa9jVSCuln-dmZ9tDSg) Poetic Influence: https://soniasanchez.net/ Sonia Sanchez (https://soniasanchez.net/) https://whitmanarchive.org/ Walt Whitman (https://whitmanarchive.org/) https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/amiri-baraka Amiri Baraka - Poetry Foundation (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/amiri-baraka) Naropa's Office for Inclusive Community (https://www.naropa.edu/about-naropa/naropa-mission-and-values/office-for-inclusive-community/) Get To Know Your Host: Apple: David DeVine: An Intimate Interview and Mindful U Year In Review (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/david-devine-an-intimate-interview-and-mindful-u-year/id1293885372?i=1000423270893) Spotify: David DeVine: An Intimate Interview and Mindful U Year In Review (https://open.spotify.com/episode/1HYmXIB6XJbrPwpAfiXMK5?si=d31325fbc7e149a4) Your Next Noteworthy Listen: MU 79: Anthony Gallucci: Re-Establishing Masculinity (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mu-79-anthony-gallucci-re-establishing-masculinity/id1293885372?i=1000465892494) Special Guest: Tai Amri.

Regina Smith, Masters in Contemplative Psychotherapy & Buddhist Psychology from Naropa, has a contemplated what a thriving mission, culture, and inclusivity-driven community could look like. Regina and her Naropa team are mirroring this vision in order to make it less of a dream and more reality. Tune into this episode to catch a glimpse of her insights and find out how you can help. Episode Links: Nikki Giovanni (https://nikki-giovanni.com/) Poetry: Cotton Candy On A Rainy Day (https://nikki-giovanni.com/works/poetry/cotton-candy-on-a-rainy-day/) Ubuntu I Am Because We Are (https://www.ttbook.org/interview/i-am-because-we-are-african-philosophy-ubuntu#:~:text=In%20practice%2C%20ubuntu%20means%20believing,no%20tensions%2C%22%20said%20Ogude.) Novel: Feminist Accountability Buy it at the Boulder Bookstore (https://www.boulderbookstore.net/book/9780814777152) Big Quotes: "One of the things I know is that I'm not the one who knows, I've decided to demote myself from being the one who knows. So, I can just tell you about my experience, I can't tell you whether it's the ultimate truth." "How do we become okay with not being special or important or central, but rather becoming what's needed for the collective to thrive?" Get To Know Your Host: Apple: David DeVine: An Intimate Interview and Mindful U Year In Review (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/david-devine-an-intimate-interview-and-mindful-u-year/id1293885372?i=1000423270893) Spotify: David DeVine: An Intimate Interview and Mindful U Year In Review (https://open.spotify.com/episode/1HYmXIB6XJbrPwpAfiXMK5?si=d31325fbc7e149a4) Your Next Noteworthy Listen: 02. Judith Zimmer-Brown: The Science and Practice of Compassion (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mindful-u-at-naropa-university/id1293885372?i=1000393315902) Special Guest: Regina-Smith.

Mission, Culture & Inclusive Community is a new division at Naropa University. It was created post murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor - when the push for closer alignment with unconditional peace was necessary for the conscious evolution of our Naropa community as mindfulness leaders. Learn more about the work this division is doing at Naropa from Jamelah - Restorative Community Coordinator & Amanda - Senior Director of Mission, Culture & Inclusive Community - in this Mindful U Podcast episode. Learn more about: -Transformative Justice Practices -Enhancing & Repairing Community Systems -Self-Regulation -Pro-Active Community Building -The Importance of Trust & Relationship Building Learn a term: -J.E.D.I. Conflicts - Justice. Equity. Diversity. Inclusion. Get To Know Your Host: Apple: David DeVine: An Intimate Interview and Mindful U Year In Review (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/david-devine-an-intimate-interview-and-mindful-u-year/id1293885372?i=1000423270893) Spotify: David DeVine: An Intimate Interview and Mindful U Year In Review (https://open.spotify.com/episode/1HYmXIB6XJbrPwpAfiXMK5?si=d31325fbc7e149a4)** **Your Next Noteworthy Listen: Travis Cox: Ecopsychology & Psychedelics (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/travis-cox-ecopsychology-and-psychedelics/id1293885372?i=1000552233730) Special Guests: Amanda Aguilera and Jamelah Zidan.

Travis Cox, PhD is back after our first conversation, four years ago, this time adding on the lens of psychedelics to look at ecopsychology as a radical intervention. Explore the negative consequences of our disconnect from planet, personal, and spirituality and how it intersects and impacts ecopsychology when we introduce psychedelics to explore reconnected. Special Guest: Travis Cox, PhD.

"But it's also a lot of sort of ordinary people who have tried everything else, you know, veterans, first responders, sexual assault survivors, people who have already been through years and years of therapy and different kinds of medications, people with substance abuse, people who have had suicide attempts. So the fact that the FDA has given MDMA and psilocybin, it's now been demarcated with a status called breakthrough — which basically just means that the results have been so efficacious, that drugs are sort of given the status and expedited when it seems like the results are so promising." Special Guest: Sara Lewis .

"When we're with people who are reviewing the end of their life or saying goodbye to a loved one, there's this heightened sense of connection and awareness, a lot of times in crisis and sometimes difficulty. Psychedelic journeys can be — not always be easy and expansive, sometimes they're challenging. And so there are a lot of — lot of our training, I think crosses over well into psychedelic therapies. And in particular, chaplains have this capacity to help assess the spiritual and religious landscape for a person before they go into a psychedelic experience. Because what can happen is, you can have a very powerful existential, you know, awareness of like the presence of a being or maybe a feeling of connection and — and then it becomes important to integrate that with your — you know, understanding of the cosmos and the — your religious and spiritual commitments. So people can go into some degree of existential crisis or just transition — it's a very creative space. And chaplains are good at navigating those spaces as they're unfolding. So that's what chaplains I think, have to bring to the field, but at the same time, there are a lot of religious taboos and a lot of teachings within the religious traditions that encourage staying away from psychedelic medicines. And so that conversation is very much happening in the field right now and among religious leaders and professionals and chaplains and it's — it's an interesting conversation that's taking place you know about the right use of these medicines and plants and how we can also do that without harming the communities that they come from." Special Guest: Jamie Beachy.

"When that first object that represents the truth of the belief that I have an emotional issue dissipates or disappears from me, I fall into exactly the state of being that Buddhists call equanimity. That state of contentment and self satisfaction that needs nothing at the moment. I don't just get respite from my emotional issue that I happen to be looking at. I got respite from everything for you know a matter of minutes or hours, or it might stretch a little longer. And the more times I do it, or the more often that kind of respite can enter into it. Because eventually once I've done this 20, 30, 100 times it varies from person to person- I start to believe oh, that's who I am. I'm not the voice up in my head. I'm actually this collection of body objects that's — neither is who I actually am. But this one is telling the truth all the time." Special Guest: Anne Lamott.

"There's gender identity, which isn't actually a problem. It's when it's forced into a limited paradigm or spectrum it can be an issue or when it's forced into a hierarchy. I see us eventually eliminating the hierarchy within these systems of identity and becoming more for lack of a better term, more merit based in our assessment of people's qualities. The re-establishing masculinity group believes that at Naropa to be foresighted and to support these movements we need to begin to get out of the way sort of speak and actually become allies to the anti-misogynistic movements that are occurring in our world. And to do that we ought to be -- we being people whom identify as masculine ought to be not disempowered to engage in that work. We ought to be empowered in our opinion to engage in that work. And the offering that's available of how masculinity is defined and actualized too often is non virtuous and not empowering." Special Guest: Anthony Gallucci.

"I read very widely and was trying to put the pieces together to understand this lifelong question that I had carried. What is the origin of the wrongness in the world, which is presented to us as a series of fragmented isolated atrocities and injustices and horrors -- without any synthesizing narrative that explains why the world is the way that it is? And I really wanted to understand so that I wouldn't be part of maintaining the status quo through pursuing insufficiently deep solutions that may be actually part of the problem. I think a lot of our solutions are part of the problem -- or you could even say our solution templates -- I mean one of them is the war on evil. So, I wanted to -- to get really deep and eventually I came to understand that all of the crises and horrors that we see in the world are an outgrowth of the mythology of civilization. The story of separation is what I call it, which basically says it answers the most fundamental questions that human beings ask. Who are you? Who am I? What is important? How is life to be lived? What is real? What is possible? How does the world work? And our culture answers that in a certain way. And other cultures have answered it different ways." Special Guest: Charles Eisenstein.

"Absolutely. You know we might have an idea about something, but then when you begin to express it from a creative place it's almost like you have to feel into it. If I want to write a poem about sadness it's not just about my ideas about sadness. At some point as I'm writing I need to stop and feel into what does sadness feel like? And then I might even think about a very specific situation in my life that brings up sadness. And then what arises from that place as a poem is coming from a non-conceptual place. Non-conceptual knowing and yet I've expressed something and I might even express it in words like with a poem. So, what we're trying to do in contemplative education is to bring both of those together. So, it's not in spite of conceptual knowing -- concepts are great, thinking is great -- but that there are other ways of knowing that are equally important and maybe if we bring them all together then there's a richness of knowing that begins to emerge." Special Guest: Charlotte Rotterdam.

"I do think here at Naropa specifically we do have a transpersonal orientation, a transpersonal lens that we then incorporate into all of our classes. So, the contemplative education piece is very much interwoven in what we do in the field. And so, we incorporate contemplative practices, we talk about how nature based experiences themselves can be forms of contemplative practice and inquiry. We also do introduce the transpersonal model. So how do we work with those kinds of experiences that the transpersonal orientation has really taken in and not pathologized. And being in the outdoors for many people, depending on the context, also can be quite evocative of experiences that do not fit cleanly into our usual psychological frameworks or when they are they're often pathologized." Special Guest: Miki Fire.

"We need to think about a new quality in our organization where we are not only protesting against the things that are really hurting our communities and neighborhoods, but we're also really cultivating expertise on ideas and visions that we might have for the neighborhood and community. Finding ways that rather than having these issues come forth in competition, that we can actually have a big enough solutions put forth that incorporate. And one of the areas that we have been specializing in is something called Movement for Regional Equity and what that basically means is that the decisions that are made at a regional level are taken up by the community and our metropolitan region." Special Guest: Carl Anthony.

"It's been a great joy and privilege in my life to work with individuals, with communities, with groups—sometimes in traditional organizations and non-profits—sometimes at a community level. We're living in a time where I think we're being called to move from a politics of protest and saying no to one of saying yes, and of governance, and of really learning how to take charge of the basic infrastructure of our lives. Communities are taking back locally produced energy and energy grids. People are working on knowledge about where their water comes from and soil—and also their sense of meaning and community and creativity and art in the broadest sense of: how do we imagine a new culture that is truly inclusive of all?" Special Guest: Paloma Pavel.

"As we open and see that what we're carrying around inside ourselves, what we have created around us is kind of a fear story. When we actually step into the fierce love story that we long for, we start having a much more joyful experience and one where we're not at war with our earth community. One where we're actually welcoming growing things in our backyards and on our roofs, where we're seeing that space is imagined in a whole other way. And also, we do need to live closer together if we're going to preserve wilderness and agricultural land and green space—it's essential that we learn how to be with one another. And we're excited for this moment because we feel that it's probably one of the most energizing, innovating moments that we've ever lived through. And it's accelerating." Special Guests: Carl Anthony and Paloma Pavel.

"We talked about the spiral of the work that reconnects and then you talked about how once you dare to really see and speak what you've wanted to keep at arm's length, once you refuse to turn away and really suffer with your world and then you realize that the world is flowing into you and the living planet becomes alive for you. And then it generates for you. So that's we call seeing with new eyes. Everything looks different. And we use practices that are inspired by what we call deep ecology like the council of all beings. Where we step aside from our human role, which is only the last chapter of our long planetary journey. We've, as we know from the life forms we had in the womb of our mother, you know we had a tail and gills and fins. So that we capitulate that ontogeny." Special Guest: Joanna Macy.

Special Guest: Joanna Macy.

"The pelvic floor muscle tissues are connected very intricately and beautifully, and I feel like it can be complex in some ways to the abdominal muscles. And I think of the pelvic floor as the foundation of a building, it's like the ground level of the body. If the foundation of a building is off or suffering or it's not right, the whole rest of the building is off. So, that's my best metaphor is that the pelvic floor is our foundation. It's so connected to our legs and our feet and the way that we walk and move and dance through the world. And it supports everything above it. So, the reproductive organs, the digestive system, all the organs, the heart, the voice, the throat, and the brain are supported by the pelvic floor. And I've had huge changes in my digestion and rewiring of my nervous system and real cognitive and mood balances from working with my pelvic floor that before, I was trying a million different things to feel better. For me, the pelvic floor is like the Holy Grail." Special Guest: Alicia Patterson.

"Emotional intelligence has completely revolutionized our lives and our business space. And because that's there there's now this foundation around intuitive intelligence. So, this is the next nuance that I'm really passionate to bring in, is that emotional intelligence is foundational and key. But it's not the whole story of how we discern information and how we navigate the world. Even though emotions are supercritical and a big part of that. Intuitive intelligence also weaves in a greater, wider array of data information that we have to be able to learn to discern. So, it's even a little more refined in some ways. So that's what I'm really excited about is bringing this next wave to the business base and then also beyond that too. So that people give themselves more permission to trust themselves on a fundamental level. And bring their empowerment and their gifts forward without apology." Special Guest: Rick Snyder.

"Meditation is so important—particularly training and concentration. How to steady and fix the mind until conceptual thoughts fall away. We live so much in our conceptualizing nature that we can't imagine life without that. But when you start doing this practice, you find out that you can conceptualize, and you cannot. So, learning how to drop into that stillness, as the Buddha calls it, until you come to the absolute stilling of all thought. We think well then, there's nothing. Yes, there is something beyond that, you could never see it before because you were caught in the cycle of conceptualizing. But the other side that the Buddha calls meditation—a pleasant, abiding here and now, touching kind of contentment and peace that the world didn't give you. So, the world can't take it away. But what he called practice was something entirely different. We just need to do more practice, and the practice is not to sit on the pillow. Sitting on a pillow is sitting on a pillow. But to practice is how we handle ourselves in every moment of our waking day—when one is accosting you, taking what is yours and what is criticizing you." Special Guest: Venerable Dr. Pannavati.

"It's said in Tibetan medicine that you have to have all five elements plus karma in order to be incarnated at all. So, even to obtain the precious human body you have to have all five elements in karma. So you're going to choose certain parents and situations. They're going to give you some genetic factors which are going to influence your inner elements and then also you're going to have the diet and the behavior that your mother has during your pregnancy is going to influence it. The outer environment is going to influence it and then very early on in life -- your life situations are also going to influence it. So, family systems, psychology, all of that has an impact on the choices we make. So, somebody could be inherently one type of being and perhaps their family system either didn't recognize or support that and so they made a choice in order to compensate on a psychological level." Special Guest: Nashalla Nyinda.

Brigitte is an herbalist and nutritional consultant of Natural Health with almost fifty years of experience. She teaches Herbal Medicine at Naropa University and The School of Health Mastery in Iceland. She has taught at Omega Institute, Esalen, Kripalu, Sivananda Yoga Ashram, Arise, Envision and Unify Festivals, and The Mayo Clinic. She blogs for the Huffington Post and Care2. She is also a professional member of the American Herbalist Guild. Find out more about Brigitte: brigittemars.com/. Special Guest: Brigitte mars.

"Creativity is inherent in us as human beings. I think that we've, in some ways, lost the connection and the right to have our own creativity and our own artistry. For me, just touching into that in of itself is healing. It also takes you into a different part of your brain. It accesses different parts of your psyche and your spirituality and your soul in a way that maybe verbal therapies don't quite touch. And so, it's a deeper more integrated avenue dealing with you know whatever it is that you're working with." Special Guest: Sue Wallingford.

"You know, we're doing this job dealing with people's problems and not necessarily giving them advice, but just allowing them to tap into their own thoughts and weigh out their own options to create decisions. The more you hold on—you attach yourself to an outcome, then that becomes stressful and then it's not genuine anymore. It's also stressful on the other end of the person that is dealing with the actual problem. So just knowing that you may not see the results—but one thing I have noticed is the maturity that came from my students that I've interacted with—the same situation, but a different outcome of the consequence whenever you're redirected." Special Guests: Deanna Martinez, Jamar Peete, and Ramon Monnie.

"Anything dealing with meditation or anything dealing with children's emotional growth is difficult to quantify. And it's difficult to put a price on it. So, it's difficult for schools, principals in particular to bring programs when you have to pay some people to do some things inside of a school. So, meditation and things of that nature unfortunately will be put on the backburner. And a lot of people's levels of urgency tend be well, low on that on that scale. Because a lot of people just aren't into it themselves. And unfortunately, can't see a broader picture, outside of what's the immediate gratification." Special Guests: Monique Debi and Vance Benton.

"Personally in ten years I see mindfulness implemented in every aspect of life -- whether it's school -- like a school will have like a mindful moment at the beginning of the day and at the end of the day and have alternative suspension rooms where kids de-escalate themselves. It would be cool if you know every business started their day off with the practice. I'm not saying that it's definitely going to get there, but you know I can have high hopes and be optimistic." Special Guests: Ali Smith, Andres Gonzalez, and Atman Smith.

"Art and music is such a visceral thing, and it's so experiential. And storytelling is a way to convey eons of moral compass and tradition as well. Every culture of the world has their own stories, and by telling those you don't tell people, 'This is the exact history, and this is what happened, and this is what happened.' It's more like these myths emerge through these cultures that people really latch on to and people connect with. And so, I was hoping to kind of create this new myth in a way to connect people to nature as well as humanity and compassion for other people." Special Guest: Gabriel Vanaver.

I really enjoy this field so much because it gives you a very practical way of investigating the spiritual mysteries of the world. so that we can gain inspiration to look deeper into ourselves. But also, it is a very practical way of helping people with very difficult problems—people with very powerful kinds of pain and those that feel like they're locked in a body that's going to hurt for the rest of their life, and nothing can be done about it. And then I say, ‘You don't live in reality.’ If it feels like you do and that you're trapped in this pain body, but I can teach you how to alter that. Special Guest: Ian Wickramasekera.

"So, I went to the first summer of Naropa. And, it was not cool to be like a hippie anymore. There was an aggression of turning away from society. So, we encourage students to do meditation practice, but also to cut your hair, become a member of society, get a job, and having sort of this basic sanity notion of just having a quote, unquote normal life. Cleaning up your kitchen and going to work and doing a good job and meditating—like that's all you need. You know, you didn't have to do this fight against society. You just kind of go along with the energy." Special Guest: Jim Jobson.