Shows
CIIS Public ProgramsDr. Manvir Singh: Understanding ShamanismSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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This is the CIIS Public Programs Podcast, featuring talks and conversations recorded live by California Institute of Integral Studies, a non-profit university located in San Francisco on unceded Ramaytush Ohlone Land.
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Harvard-trained anthropologist and author Manvir Singh has traveled from Indonesia to the Colombian Amazon, living with shamans and observing music, the use of state altering substances and Indigenous curing ceremonies. In this episode, he is joined by psychology professor, transpersonal psychotherapist, and independent...
2025-11-061h 06
CIIS Public ProgramsJohn J. Prendergast: On Opening Your Deepest GroundSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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In Dr. John J. Prendergast’s decades of experience as a psychotherapist and spiritual teacher, the area of the body that’s most difficult for people to connect with—given our survival fear and trauma—is our physical and energetic ground. In his work, he finds this area in the lower belly and at the base of the spine remains largely unconscious and deeply defended by most individuals, while most spiritual traditions tend to avoid or...
2025-10-031h 05
CIIS Public ProgramsKazu Haga: On Fierce VulnerabilityWe are living in a world where the depths of division, violence, and destruction can no longer be ignored. Escalated forms of harm require an equally escalated response. Yet social movements often use tactics that tend to escalate an “us vs. them,” “right vs. wrong” worldview not conducive to healing. Activist, trainer, and practitioner of nonviolence and restorative justice Kazu Haga argues this binary worldview is at the heart of what is destroying both our relationships and our planet. If healing is our goal, we need social movements that center relationships.
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In this episode, Kazu is joined by Assistant Professor at Calif...
2025-09-0453 min
CIIS Public ProgramsCarla Fernandez: On Renegade GriefThis is the CIIS Public Programs Podcast, featuring talks and conversations recorded live by California Institute of Integral Studies, a non-profit university located in San Francisco on unceded Ramaytush Ohlone Land.
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Shaped by her own experience with the death of her father and her time co-founding The Dinner Party, a leading peer-support organization for people who’ve experienced a major loss, author facilitator Carla Fernandez’s work pushes back on the death-denying culture we live in. For too long, grief has been treated as something pitiable, simply sad, to be gotten over as soon as possible. But after 15 years of bein...
2025-08-0758 min
CIIS Public ProgramsJennifer N. Levin: On Generation CareSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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More than 10 million millennials are caring for aging parents before they've been able to fully launch their careers and consider starting their own families, and that's not including the incalculable numbers of people affected by long COVID. Writer and caregiver Jennifer N. Levin was 32 when her father was diagnosed with a rare degenerative illness. As she struggled with few resources and little support, she created Caregiver Collective, a national online support group for millennial...
2025-07-031h 09
CIIS Public ProgramsLoretta J. Ross: How to Start Making Real Change With Those You’d Rather CancelSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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A Black Feminist, activist, professor, and author, Loretta J. Ross has spent five remarkable decades in activism. She’s deprogrammed white supremacists and taught convicted rapists the principles of feminism and it’s worked because the power of her message comes from who she is and what she’s lived through.
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In this episode, Loretta is joined by CIIS Women’s Spirituality professor Dr. Alka Arora for a powerful and inspiring conversation about her life’s w...
2025-06-051h 04
CIIS Public ProgramsJessica Lanyadoo: On Navigating Through the Astrology of These TimesSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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In challenging times, it can be important to access a multitude of healing pathways, and we can use astrology as a supportive tool to understand both the current moment and access our personal and collective agency.
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In this episode, Humanistic Astrologer, psychic medium, and author Jessica Lanyadoo is joined in an illuminating conversation with CIIS Associate Professor Sonya Shah on the astrology of these challenging times. Jessica discusses what’s happening in the stars ri...
2025-05-0158 min
CIIS Public ProgramsDean Spade: On Liberating Our Relationships for a Better WorldSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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Lifelong activist and educator Dean Spade dares us to decide that our interpersonal actions are not separate from our politics of liberation and resistance. Many activist projects and resistance groups fall apart because people treat each other poorly, trying desperately to live out the cultural myths about dating and relationships that we are fed from an early age. How do we bring our best thinking about freedom and justice into step with our desires...
2025-04-241h 02
CIIS Public ProgramsAida Mariam Davis: On Kindred Creation and Black FuturesSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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In her work, author, organizer, and designer Aida Mariam Davis explores the historical and ongoing impacts of settler colonialism, making explicit the ways that extraction, oppression, and enslavement serve the goals of empire—not least by severing ancestral connections and disrupting profound and ancient relationships to self, nature, and community. Her recent book, Kindred Creation, is a call and response to dream and design better worlds rooted in African lifeways: a path to Black fr...
2025-04-171h 02
CIIS Public ProgramsNicole Russell-Wharton: On Breaking Generational SilenceSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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Generational silence is a term applied to families who have experienced suppressed thoughts or repressed emotions for at least two generations. Generational silence addresses both the cycle and impact of issues like substance abuse, religion, racism, education inequality, and parenting. In her latest book, Breaking Generational Silence, mental health expert Nicole Russell-Wharton speaks from her Black experience about how slavery left an intergenerational impact on her family and how understanding and healing the root...
2025-04-031h 00
CIIS Public ProgramsRichard Tarnas: On Depth Psychology, Spirituality, and the Human JourneySome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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This special episode features CIIS Professor Emeritus and cultural historian Richard Tarnas sharing illuminating insights into the nature of human consciousness and the cosmos. In this talk, Richard explores one of C. G. Jung’s most crucial contributions to psychology–the recognition that the unfolding of a human life is at a deep level a spiritual journey. He also explores the powerful archetypal principles and forces that deeply influence human experience and behavior.
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This epis...
2025-04-021h 28
CIIS Public ProgramsDr. Debashish Banerji and Dr. Sara Granovetter: A Jungian and Zen Approach to the Untamed Self in the Ten Oxherding PicturesSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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The Ten Oxherding Pictures is an image series that visualizes the Buddhist training path to enlightenment. The Ten Oxherding Pictures have served as a spiritual teaching tool for centuries, guiding seekers through the steps of awakening. But how are these images relevant today?
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In this episode, CIIS professors Dr. Debashish Banerji and Dr. Sara Granovetter have a conversation about posthumanism, the Oxherding series, the Jungian individuation process, and the disowned wild self. Together, they...
2025-03-261h 06
CIIS Public ProgramsRōshi Norma Wong: An Indigenous & Zen Perspective on Living Into a World Beyond CrisisSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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In this episode, 86th generation Zen master and Indigenous Hawaiian leader Rōshi Norma Wong is joined by CIIS Associate Professor Sonya Shah for an illuminating conversation exploring spiritual activism and how to envision co-creating new worlds from one in crisis.
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They discuss Norma’s latest book, When No Thing Works, in which she inquiries into the ways we can live well and maintain our wholeness in an era of collective acceleration and explores way...
2025-03-181h 04
CIIS Public ProgramsSasha Sagan: For Small Creatures Such As WeSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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As we approach the first season change of the year, we are finding ourselves inclined to revisit this conversation centered on time and ritual featuring author Sasha Sagan and CIIS Interdisciplinary Arts professor Carolyn Cooke.
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Sasha Sagan was raised by secular parents, the astronomer Carl Sagan and the writer and producer Ann Druyan. They taught her that the natural world and vast cosmos are full of profound beauty, that science reveals truths more wondrous...
2025-03-101h 01
CIIS Public ProgramsMichelle Tea: On Modern MagicSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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Michelle Tea is best known for her book, Modern Tarot, which is now a cult classic. Her latest book, Modern Magic, explores her magical roots. Sharing how she crafted her own magical practice, Michelle offers a framework to tap into the distinctive magic that lies within each of us, a framework that incorporates queer, feminist, anti-racist, and intersectional values.
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In this episode, self-described DIY witch, professional tarot reader, author, and feminist icon Michelle Tea...
2025-03-041h 02
CIIS Public ProgramsDr. Betty Martin: On the Wheel of ConsentSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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For over 40 years somatic sex educator Dr. Betty Martin has explored the nuances of consent. In her framework and book, The Wheel of Consent, Dr. Martin traces the fundamental roots of consent back to our childhood conditioning. As children, many are taught that to be “good” we must ignore our body’s discomfort and be compliant. As adults, this conditioning remains with us until we unlearn it. The implications of this approach to consent educat...
2025-02-2658 min
CIIS Public ProgramsJoanna Ebenstein: On Befriending DeathSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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Talking about death is often deemed morbid or taboo, but to fully embrace life, scientists, psychologists, and spiritual leaders all agree—contemplating death is the key to living a life with meaning. In this episode, Joanna Ebenstein, author and founder of Morbid Anatomy—an organization exploring the spaces between art and medicine, death and culture—is joined in conversation with CIIS faculty and Chicane philosopher Saraliza Anzaldúa exploring how to befriend death.
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Sharing insight...
2025-02-201h 02
CIIS Public ProgramsLorraine Besser: On the Art of The InterestingSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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Emerging research in psychological and philosophical circles is showing us that there is more to the good life than past or current conversations suggest. Psychological richness is the missing piece to the good life, and, Lorraine Besser, a founding investigator in these studies, shows how we can add it to our lives by making them full of what she calls the Interesting—experiences that captivate and engage our minds, stimulate new thoughts and emotions, an...
2025-02-1353 min
CIIS Public ProgramsKari Grain: Critical HopeSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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Each person has a unique, ever-changing relationship to hope. Hope alone can be transformational—but in moments of despair, or when you’re up against profound injustice—it isn’t enough on its own. As we enter a new year full of complicated hopeful feelings, we are finding this episode from our archives to be timely.
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In this episode, CIIS Chief Diversity Officer Rachel Bryant has a conversation with transformative learning and social justice educator...
2025-02-061h 00
CIIS Public ProgramsEmily Marinelli: On Our Love of Movie Sequels from the ‘80s and ‘90sSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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When a film touches us, makes us laugh, and has that feel-good spirit, we want more of it. We want a sequel! In this episode, psychotherapist and CIIS Assistant Professor in the Integral Counseling Psychology program Emily Marinelli is joined by therapist and activist DDS Dobson-Smith for a conversation exploring the psychology of movie sequels from the 1980s and 1990s.
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Sharing personal stories and insights from their latest book Comfort Sequels, Emily dives deep...
2025-01-3056 min
CIIS Public ProgramsDr. Marie Thouin: On the Power of Positive Empathy in Consensual Non-MonogamySome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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In the context of non-monogamy, compersion or the emotion of positive empathy is understood as sharing our partner’s joy regarding their other intimate relationship or relationships. Drawing upon her seminal research with consensually non-monogamous individuals, author and mindful dating and relationship coach, Dr. Marie (two-un) Thouin, unravels the complexity of compersion in her recent book, What is Compersion?, the first ever book to offer a comprehensive model of compersion and a practical roadmap to...
2025-01-2359 min
CIIS Public ProgramsCamille Sapara Barton: On Tending GriefSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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Majority cultural norms in the United States suppress our ability to truly feel our grief and each person’s experience with grief is as unique as the grief itself. Writer, somatic practitioner, and artist Camille Sapara Barton’s take on grief speaks directly to the ways that BIPOC and queer communities and individuals disproportionately experience unique constellations of loss. In their work, Camille honors every experience: The loss of displacement from homelands, severed lineages and...
2025-01-161h 04
CIIS Public ProgramsLangston Kahn: On Shamanic Tools for Reclaiming Wholeness in a Culture of TraumaSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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In anticipation of our upcoming workshop exploring shamanic tools for liberating our true longing with author and shamanic healer Langston Kahn, we are revisiting his conversation with energy worker and spiritual practitioner Maryam Hasnaa. In this deep conversation, Langston and Maryam discussed ways we can address the root of past trauma and heartbreak to reclaim our personal and collective power.
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This episode was recorded during a live online event on January 26th, 2021. You can...
2025-01-091h 06
CIIS Public ProgramsTricia Rainwater: On Repairing Ties to Indigenous Ceremony and Culture Through ArtSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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Choctaw multimedia artist Tricia Rainwater’s wide-ranging work is rooted in themes of identity and grief. Her artistic practice offers a perspective through the lens of a Choctaw survivor. In her most recent series, Falama: to return, she shared a sustained desire to repair ties to ceremony and culture. To create Falama, she set out on the Trail of Tears, the route followed by five southeastern tribal nations—including her own ancestors—when they were f...
2025-01-021h 01
CIIS Public ProgramsDr. Thema Bryant: On Trauma Recovery and Reclaiming YourselfSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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Dr. Thema Bryant is a psychologist and leading mental health expert with more than two decades of experience in clinical psychology and trauma recovery. As a trauma survivor herself, she knows that trauma and everyday challenges can cause us to disconnect and fall into survival mode. In her latest book, Reclaim Yourself, she shares accessible and practical steps toward creating the life you want while processing stress and trauma.
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In this episode, CIIS Vice...
2024-12-191h 01
CIIS Public ProgramsPrentis Hemphill: On What it Takes to HealSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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As we continue to navigate years of collective upheaval, are there ways for us to face the complexities of our time with joy, authenticity, and connection? Prentis Hemphill, embodiment practitioner, therapist, and activist, shows us that we don't have to carry our emotional burdens alone.
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In this episode, Prentis is joined by comedian, author, and filmmaker W. Kamau Bell in a grounding conversation exploring the principles of embodiment awareness and how we can create...
2024-12-1258 min
CIIS Public ProgramsDevon Price: Laziness Does Not ExistSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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This week, we are diving into our archives in preparation for the northern hemisphere’s upcoming winter season which brings with it a call for all earthly beings to rest. In this episode, we are revisiting CIIS Integral and Transpersonal Psychology program director Kendra Diaz-Ford’s conversation with social psychologist Devon Price.
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Like many Americans, Devon Price believed that productivity was the best way to measure self-worth. Dr. Price was an overachiever from the star...
2024-12-051h 03
CIIS Public ProgramsDr. Roger Kuhn: On Two-Spirit Identity and the Body as a Portal to FreedomSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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What role does dominant culture play in how we experience the sensations, thoughts, feelings, and deeper existential mysteries of our bodies? Dr. Roger Kuhn, a Poarch Creek Two-Spirit Indigequeer activist, artist, sex therapist, and somacultural theorist, believes that Two-Spirit people hold a unique and valuable perspective. Straddling colonial imposition and tribal significance, Two-Spirit identity offers a powerful decolonizing framework to achieve freedom and navigate the toxic systems of domination that impose upon the precious...
2024-11-2858 min
CIIS Public ProgramsPeter Levine: On an Autobiography of TraumaSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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Renowned developer of Somatic Experiencing Dr. Peter A. Levine changed the way psychologists, doctors, and healers understand and treat the wounds of trauma and abuse.
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In this conversation with CIIS professor of somatic psychology Rae Johnson, he shares his own experience of severe childhood trauma and how he helped thousands of others before resolving his own trauma. Sharing insights from his recent memoir, An Autobiography of Trauma, Dr. Levine explains how being guided through...
2024-11-2158 min
CIIS Public ProgramsBianca Laureano: Vital Voices From the Frontlines of Human SexualitySome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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Historically, the field of sexuality research in the United States has not included the experiences and wisdom of racialized sexologists, educators, therapists, or professionals. Instead, sexuality professionals have been trained using a color-free narrative that does an injustice by both excluding their work as well as failing to offer a fuller examination of how they expanded the field and held it accountable.
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In this episode, educator and sexologist Bianca I Laureano is joined by...
2024-11-141h 01
CIIS Public ProgramsChristopher Marmolejo: On Tarot and Divinatory Literacy for LiberationSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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Christopher Marmolejo is a Brown, queer, and trans writer, diviner, and educator who uses divination to promote a literacy of liberation. In their latest book, Red Tarot, each card’s interpretation is further bolstered by the teachings of Toni Morrison, bell hooks, Paulo Freire, José Esteban Muñoz, and others in an offering that integrates intersectional wisdom with the author’s divination practice—revealing tarot as an essential language for liberation.
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In this episode, Christop...
2024-11-0757 min
CIIS Public ProgramsAlice Wong and Mia Mingus: On Disability IntimacySome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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Alice Wong is an acclaimed disabled activist whose work and writing has shaped the modern conversation around disability. As the founder and director of the Disability Visibility Project, her work foregrounds the stories of those living with disabilities and paints a vibrant picture of disability media and culture. In her latest book, Disability Intimacy, Alice uses her distinctive voice to highlight and curate stories of intimacy. More than sex, more than romantic love, the...
2024-10-3159 min
CIIS Public ProgramsJudith Orloff: On the Genius Of EmpathySome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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Empathy is so much more than feeling deeply—it holds transformative power to heal ourselves, strengthen our relationships, and amplify our purpose. Psychiatrist and bestselling author Judith Orloff presents empathy as a daily healing practice and a form of emotional intelligence accessible to all. Drawing on insights from neuroscience, psychology, and energy medicine, Dr. Orloff’s newest book, The Genius of Empathy, shows us how to access our sensitivities, soothe our nervous systems, and stop...
2024-10-241h 04
CIIS Public ProgramsDr. Judy Ho: On the New Rules of AttachmentSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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Did you know that attachment styles impact more than romantic relationships? As it turns out, most of us are thinking about Attachment Theory all wrong, and in her recent book, The New Rules of Attachment, triple board-certified clinical and forensic neuropsychologist Dr. Judy Ho provides clarity. Grounded in the science of attachment, Dr. Ho’s game-changing approach shows that our attachment style impacts every aspect of our lives. Moreover, we can all learn to be...
2024-10-1753 min
CIIS Public ProgramsAlexis Nikole Nelson: On Food Justice Through ForagingSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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Alexis Nikole Nelson aka Black Forager uses her platform to engage with millions—yelling, singing, and celebrating the hidden bounty of edible plants waiting to be found in our backyards, on our nature hikes, growing from our sidewalks and in our parks across the world.
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In this episode, Alexis is joined by CIIS associate professor, activist, and licensed creative arts therapist Britton Williams for an engaging and joyful conversation about Alexis’ life and work, food...
2024-10-101h 06
CIIS Public ProgramsLayla K. Feghali: On the Land in Our BonesSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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This is the CIIS Public Programs Podcast, featuring talks and conversations recorded live by California Institute of Integral Studies, a non-profit university located in San Francisco on unceded Ramaytush Ohlone Land.
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Layla K. Feghali is a cultural worker and folk herbalist who lives between her ancestral village in Lebanon, and California, where she was raised. Her work is dedicated to restoring relationships to earth-based ancestral wisdom as an avenue towards eco-cultural stewardship, healing, and...
2024-10-031h 03
CIIS Public ProgramsIjeoma Oluo: On Being a RevolutionSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes (see below) properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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In the #1 New York Times bestseller So You Want To Talk About Race, writer Ijeoma Oluo offered a vital guide for how to talk about important issues of race and racism in society. In Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America, she discussed the ways in which white male supremacy has had an impact on our systems, our culture, and our lives throughout American history.
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But now that we better understand these sy...
2024-09-261h 03
CIIS Public ProgramsBayo Akomolafe: On Postactivism as a Pathway for Healing Ourselves and Our WorldSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes (see below) properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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Bayo Akomolafe is a posthumanist thinker, philosopher, poet, author and founder of the Emergence Network, a planet-wide initiative that seeks to convene communities in new ways in response to the critical, civilizational challenges we face as a species. Through Bayo's writings, speeches, and work he inspires new ways of thinking and being in the world, inviting us to ask questions that undermine everything we are told to believe.
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In this episode, Bayo...
2024-09-191h 00
CIIS Public ProgramsAbigail Rose Clarke: On Returning Home to Our BodiesSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes (see below) properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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Writer and somatic facilitator Abigail Rose Clarke reminds us that truly meaningful embodiment practices nurture our relationships among self, nature, and community. In her latest book, Returning Home to Our Bodies, Abigail offers guidance for harnessing the vitality of curiosity and experimentation, accessing nature as a path to possibility, embracing the necessity of difference, exposing the lie of universal isolation, uncovering the truth of endless capacity, and exploring awe as a driving forc...
2024-09-121h 02
CIIS Public ProgramsThomas Hübl: On Embracing Interconnection for Healing TraumaSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes (see below) properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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Thomas Hübl is a renowned teacher, author, and international facilitator who works within the complexity of systems and cultural change. In his most recent book, Attuned: Practicing Interdependence to Heal Our Trauma, Thomas examines how our world’s profoundly complex challenges demand a new level of human collaboration.
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In this episode, Thomas is joined by CIIS faculty Drew Dellinger for an empowering conversation on healing our world through understanding our interconnectedness and...
2024-09-0554 min
CIIS Public ProgramsJenée Johnson: On Reclaiming African-Centered Joy and Well-Being Through MindfulnessSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes (see below) properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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African-centered scholars often point to mindfulness and meditation as important practices for those of African ancestry to tend to their inner landscapes and heal from the harm of systemic and internalized oppression. For Jenée Johnson, the Founder and Curator of The Right Within Experience, a mindfulness immersion program for people of African ancestry, mindfulness is a tool to cultivate a liberatory lifestyle of joy and well-being. These are the human rights a...
2024-08-2956 min
CIIS Public ProgramsBenebell Wen: On Practicing Divination With the I ChingSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes (see below) properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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The I Ching, also known as The Book of Changes, is a 3000-year-old Chinese divination text. Many use the I Ching as a tool for life guidance, spiritual practice, and ancestral connection. It is a revelation of metaphysical philosophy, epistemology, and ethics, as well as a book of occult secrets.
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In this episode, celebrated occultist and scholar Benebell Wen is joined by certified professional tarot reader, creator, and author T. Susan Chang...
2024-08-221h 00
CIIS Public ProgramsJacqueline Suskin: On Seasonal Practices and Rituals to Awaken Creative ExpressionSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes (see below) properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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The seasons and cycles of nature have incredible power to affect everything in our lives—including our creativity. Author and poet Jacqueline Suskin’s latest book, A Year in Practice, is a seasonal guide for creative seekers offering holistic practices to find clarity, activate hope, and honor nature all year long.
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In this episode, Jacqueline is joined by expressive arts therapist and CIIS Counseling Psychology programs professor Jenna Robinson in a conversation abou...
2024-08-151h 03
CIIS Public ProgramsJason Butler and Genesee Herzberg with Gisele Fernandes: On Integral Psychedelic TherapySome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes (see below) properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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In this episode, CIIS professor and clinical psychologist Jason Butler and clinical psychologist Genesee Herzberg are joined by psychotherapist and mentor in the CIIS Center for Psychedelic Therapies and Research Gisele Fernandes-Osterhold for a conversation exploring how psychedelic medicine can be incorporated into contemporary psychotherapy.
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Together, Jason, Genesee, and Gisele examine the practice of psychedelic therapy and offer practical guidance for cultivating a highly effective, ethically grounded, and integral approach to psychedelic...
2024-08-081h 17
CIIS Public ProgramsCharlotte Saenz and Zara Zimbardo: On Community Building and the Zapatista MovementSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes (see below) properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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The Zapatista movement emerging from Chiapas, Mexico over the past three decades has impacted people all over the world who struggle to liberate themselves from colonial capitalism and Cis-Heteropatiarchy.
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Between 2012 and 2019, several delegations of CIIS students, staff, and faculty traveled to Chiapas. There they attended various educational encounters that compose part of what CIIS faculty Charlotte María Sáenz calls “Zapatista Seed Pedagogics,” a way to describe the mutual education between Zapati...
2024-08-011h 04
CIIS Public ProgramsLyla June: On Personal, Collective, and Ecological HealingSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes (see below) properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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Dr. Lyla June is a renowned Indigenous musician, songwriter, poet, hip-hop artist, human ecologist, and community organizer. Her music and message center around intergenerational and inter-ethnic healing and are poetic articulations of Indigenous philosophies. Through her vibrant art across mediums and extensive community organizing efforts, Lyla offers pathways forward for Indigenous liberation and creates solidarity for Indigenous communities and their allies.
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This episode was recorded live in San Francisco on November 3rd, 2023...
2024-07-251h 26
CIIS Public ProgramsSonya Renee Taylor: On Radical Answers for Personal and Collective LiberationSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes (see below) properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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Sonya Renee Taylor is a world-renowned activist and thought leader on racial justice, body liberation, and transformational change. Her best-selling book, The Body Is Not an Apology, offers a radical framework for self-love and has helped many to identify and dismantle bodily-based hierarchies to build new worlds of possibility and justice. In Sonya’s newest book, The Book of Radical Answers, she provides honest, empowering and age-appropriate answers to real questions from yo...
2024-07-181h 02
CIIS Public ProgramsL. Frank and Catalina Gomes: Voices From California Indigenous Languages and Cultural RevitalizationSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes (see below) properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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Across what we now call California, Indigenous communities are fighting to protect and preserve languages, cultural practices, and ways of being.
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In this episode, Two-Spirit Tongva/Ajachmem artist and tribal activist L. Frank and Ramaytush descendant and Founder of Muchia Te' Indigenous Land Trust Catalina Gomes share their personal journeys of learning and reconnecting with their tribal languages and discuss the fight for the visibility of Indigenous languages and cultural practices across...
2024-07-1151 min
CIIS Public ProgramsKai Cheng Thom: On Falling Back in Love With Being HumanSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes (see below) properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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Kai Cheng Thom grew up a Chinese Canadian transgender girl in a hostile world. As an activist, psychotherapist, conflict mediator, and spiritual healer, she's always pursued the same deeply personal mission: to embrace the revolutionary belief that every human being, no matter how hateful or horrible, is intrinsically sacred.
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Her latest book, Falling Back in Love with Being Human, is a transformative collection of intimate and lyrical love letters that offer a...
2024-07-041h 04
CIIS Public ProgramsLarisa Garski and Justine Mastin: Caring for Yourself and Your ClientsSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes (see below) properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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The planet is burning and flooding, divisions and conflicts between people are on the rise, and we’re are all processing the collective trauma of a global pandemic. Among therapists and healers, burnout is rampant; hopelessness and despair as well. As a healing practitioner, how can you practice good therapy when you feel like the world is ending?
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In this episode, psychotherapists Larisa Garski and Justine Mastin are joined in a conversation wi...
2024-06-2756 min
CIIS Public ProgramsJames Canton: On Journeying Into the Landscapes of Our AncestorsSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes (see below) properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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In his latest book, Grounded, James Canton recounts his journey into the places where our ancestors experienced profound emotion—otherwise known as numinous experiences—to help us better understand who we are. In this episode, scholar and CIIS faculty in Philosophy and Religion Laura Pustarfi joins James for an inspiring conversation exploring how the sacred can be accessed by looking to the past, to our ancestors and where and how they fostered spir...
2024-06-201h 04
CIIS Public ProgramsMinaa B.: On Moving Past Trauma and Adversity TogetherSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes (see below) properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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Healing doesn’t happen in isolation, and one of the best ways to move past individual trauma is through connection and community—healing ourselves and one another.
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In this episode, wellness coach and licensed therapist Minaa B. is joined by trauma and racial healing leader Jenée Johnson in an inspiring and practical conversation on the power of collective healing in moving past trauma and adversity.
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This episode was recorded during a live...
2024-06-1358 min
CIIS Public ProgramsAlka Arora and Danielle Drake: On Feminist Approaches to Integral EducationSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes (see below) properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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What is the role of holistic and spiritual wisdom in social justice education? How do we address the disconnect between our social justice aspirations and institutions that are mired in bureaucratic processes?
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In this episode, CIIS Dean of Faculty Development, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Danielle Drake and Women’s Spirituality faculty member Alka Arora address these questions and more in an illuminating conversation on how integral education—when understood through a critical femi...
2024-06-0658 min
CIIS Public ProgramsRae Johnson: On Embodied ActivismSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes (see below) properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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How do ordinary people with busy lives leverage our actions in support of liberation, justice, and authentic connection? How can activists and social change-makers avoid burning out? How does the body factor into what our social movements might miss?
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Drawing on the somatic arts, trauma-informed psychology, and anti-oppressive movements, scholar/activist Rae Johnson helps us explore and transform the political realities of our everyday lives in a new way: by harnessing the felt exp...
2024-05-3053 min
CIIS Public ProgramsSharon Blackie: On Mythology, Land, and LifeSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes (see below) properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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Today we are excited to announce that we are returning to a weekly episode release schedule, so please make sure to subscribe and look for a new release from us each week starting with the next one featuring a conversation with Rae Johnson on embodied activism on May 30th!
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Sharon Blackie is an award-winning writer and internationally recognized teacher whose work sits at the intersection of psychology, mythology, and ecology. Her best-selling...
2024-05-2300 min
CIIS Public ProgramsChenxing Han: Buddhist Perspectives on Grief and RenewalSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes (see below) properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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How do we grieve our losses? How can we care for our spirits? Immigrant daughter, novice chaplain, bereaved friend, and author Chenxing Han explores these searing questions in her latest book One Long Listening. One of American Buddhism’s most vital new voices, Chenxing illuminates and reexamines Buddhism with new perspectives and invites us to dive into unknowingness.
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In this episode, Chenxing is joined by Associate Professor and CIIS core faculty of As...
2024-05-1657 min
CIIS Public ProgramsRae McDaniel: On Gender MagicSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes (see below) properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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Non-binary therapist, certified sex therapist, and transgender diversity and inclusion educator Rae McDaniel has spent decades exploring gender. Their recent book, Gender Magic, is a first-of-its-kind practical guide to achieving gender freedom with joy, curiosity, and pleasure for transgender and non-binary individuals, gender explorers, and those who love them.
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In this episode, Rae is joined by Poarch Creek Two-Spirit Indigequeer soma-cultural sex therapist and sexuality educator Roger Kuhn for an empowering conversation...
2024-05-021h 05
CIIS Public ProgramsStan Tatkin: On Being in Each Other's CareSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes (see below) properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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At the heart of every healthy, fulfilling relationship lies the unshakable knowledge that we can trust another person with the care of our whole well-being. Yet most of us arrive at our relationships with triggers, traumas, and old patterning that can make this kind of intimacy challenging.
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Renowned psychotherapist and couples therapy expert Stan Tatkin explores all the common complaints and conflicts we encounter in our relationships and provides key insights on...
2024-04-181h 06
CIIS Public ProgramsSara Elise: On the Ingredients for Everyday Abundance and EaseSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes (see below) properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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Author, creative, host, and self-proclaimed "pleasure doula" Sara Elise is on a quest to examine the ingredients of our lives—those essential components that make up our days—in support of systemic transformation and radical change. Sara’s work, and latest book, A Recipe for More, offer a profound and challenging inquiry into the forces that keep us in a state of survival and limitation, asking us to consider a new way to live...
2024-04-041h 03
CIIS Public ProgramsNedra Glover Tawwab: On Breaking Family Patterns to Move ForwardSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes (see below) properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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This is the CIIS Public Programs Podcast, featuring talks and conversations recorded live by the Public Programs department of California Institute of Integral Studies, a non-profit university located in San Francisco on unceded Ramaytush Ohlone Land.
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Every family has a story. For some of us, our family of origin is a solid foundation that feeds our confidence and helps us navigate life’s challenges. For others, it’s a source of pain, hurt...
2024-03-211h 02
CIIS Public ProgramsRichard Tarnas: On the Planets in 2024Some podcast apps may not display links from our show notes (see below) properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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Archetypal astrology is an approach influenced by Jungian and transpersonal psychology that studies the connection between the changing positions of the planets in the solar system and archetypal patterns in human experience and history. The evidence of consistent correlations between planetary alignments and world events, as seen through the lens of archetypal astrology, can provide us with an invaluable larger context for our time.
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In this episode, CIIS Professor Emeritus and cultural...
2024-03-071h 18
CIIS Public ProgramsMerlin Sheldrake: How Fungi Make our Worlds and Shape our FuturesSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes (see below) properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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A massively diverse group of organisms, fungi support and sustain nearly all living systems. Fungi throw our concepts of individuality, and even intelligence, into question. They can change our minds, heal our bodies, and even help us remediate environmental disasters. By examining fungi on their own terms, we are changing our understanding of how life works.
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In this episode, Merlin Sheldrake, biologist and author of the bestselling book Entangled Life, is joined...
2024-02-221h 00
CIIS Public ProgramsTanmeet Sethi: On Reclaiming Joy for Justice and HealingSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes (see below) properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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Integrative physician, author, and activist Tanmeet Sethi’s work focuses on shifting our nervous system and biochemistry into a form of joy at the cellular level. Dr. Sethi has worked globally and locally on the frontlines with the most marginalized communities, as well as with victims of school shootings, survivors of hurricanes, and citizens impacted by police violence. She shares her methods and lessons learned in her recent book Joy Is My Ju...
2024-02-081h 03
CIIS Public ProgramsLisa Kentgen: On Building Vibrant Communities Of BelongingSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes (see below) properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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How can we cultivate the traits of a vibrant community in our own lives and what would it look like to prioritize caring and acceptance in our interactions with others? How can we, collectively, create a climate of true inclusivity, one where our differences both challenge and strengthen us?
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After having meetings with different communities in the United States over the course of two years, psychologist Lisa Kentgen identified some key traits...
2024-01-2558 min
CIIS Public ProgramsSamira Mehta: On the Racism of People Who Love YouSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes (see below) properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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Popular belief assumes that mixedness gives you the ability to feel at home in more than one culture, but the flipside reveals you can feel just as alienated in those spaces.
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Born to a white American and a South Asian immigrant, scholar and essayist Samira Mehta grew up feeling more comfortable with her mother’s family than with her father’s—her white family never carried on conversations in languages that she couldn...
2024-01-111h 07
CIIS Public ProgramsDeborah Egerton: On Social Justice and the EnneagramSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes (see below) properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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For over two decades, Deborah Egerton has been teaching the Enneagram—a popular personality typing tool—as a valuable device for social justice and anti-racism. In this episode Dr. Egerton is joined by Micky ScottBey Jones, Enneagram teacher and multi-faith movement chaplain, for an empowering conversation exploring social justice through the lens of the Enneagram.
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Drawing on Dr. Egerton’s work and latest book, Know Justice Know Peace, their conversation illuminates how the in...
2023-12-281h 06
CIIS Public ProgramsDahr Jamail: Indigenous Voices on our Changing EarthSome podcast apps may not display links from our show notes (see below) properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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For a great many people, the human impact on the Earth was not apparent until recently, but this is not the case for all people or cultures. For the Indigenous people of the world, radical alteration of the planet, and of life itself, is a story that is many generations long. They have had to adapt, to persevere, and to be courageous and resourceful in the face of genocide and destruction, and...
2023-12-1457 min
CIIS Public ProgramsJessica Wilson: On Rewriting the Story of Black Women’s BodiesThis is the CIIS Public Programs Podcast, featuring talks and conversations recorded live by the Public Programs department of California Institute of Integral Studies, a non-profit university located in San Francisco on unceded Ramaytush Ohlone Land.
The contemporary definition of a “good” or “healthy” body has been centuries in the making, but as eating disorder specialist and storyteller Jessica Wilson writes in her recent book It’s Always Been Ours, “the pure, moral, rule-abiding body has never, ever, been a Black woman’s.” Every day, Jessica sees how the pressure to conform to white supremacist ideals of health and beauty constrict and ha...
2023-11-3059 min
CIIS Public ProgramsDr. Pamela Ayo Yetunde: On Fostering Spiritual Kinship and CommunityIn her latest book, Casting Indra’s Net: Fostering Spiritual Kinship and Community, activist, counselor, and Buddhist teacher Dr. Pamela Ayo Yetunde shares ways of creating kinship and community through the metaphor of Indra’s Net—a universal net in which all beings reflect each other like jewels.
In this episode, Ayo is joined by somatic and transpersonal psychotherapist Deanna Jimenez for a heartfelt conversation that is both a call and a primer for community-oriented models of well-being in our age of polarization and turmoil.
This episode was recorded during a live online event on March 3rd, 2023. We had some techni...
2023-11-161h 04
CIIS Public ProgramsThenmozhi Soundararajan: On Healing The Trauma of CasteCaste is one of the oldest systems of exclusion in the world. It negatively impacts 1.9 billion people worldwide, crippling their quality of life.
Brahmins, who created this system in Hindu scripture, are at the top of the caste system and have benefited from centuries of privilege, access, and power because of it. Dalits, who sit at the bottom of this hierarchy, are branded “untouchable” and sentenced to a violent system of caste apartheid with separate neighborhoods, places of worship, and schools.
Dalit American activist and author Thenmozhi Tenmori Soundararajan has been working to end caste oppression around the world for deca...
2023-11-0253 min
CIIS Public ProgramsResmaa Menakem: On Healing Racialized TraumaResmaa Menakem is a healer, therapist, and a licensed clinical social worker renowned for his bestseller My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies. Resmaa is the originator and key advocate of Somatic Abolitionism, an embodied antiracist practice of living and culture building.
In this episode, CIIS Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Rachel Bryant has a transformative conversation with Resmaa about his recent book, The Quaking of America, and how we can heal the historical and racialized trauma we carry in our bodies and our souls.
This episode was recorded during a...
2023-10-191h 01
CIIS Public ProgramsElissa Bassist: On Unlocking a Woman's VoiceBetween 2016 and 2018, essayist and humor writer Elissa Bassist saw over 20 medical professionals for a variety of mysterious ailments. Elissa had what millions of American women had: pain that didn’t make sense to doctors, a body that didn’t make sense to science, and a psyche that didn’t make sense to mankind. Then an acupuncturist suggested some of her physical pain could be caged fury finding expression, and that treating her voice would treat the problem. It did.
In her memoir Hysterical, Elissa shares how growing up, her family, boyfriends, school, work, and television all had the same expectation for a...
2023-10-051h 07
CIIS Public ProgramsJoan Sutherland: On Awakening with Zen KoansKoans are the record of provocative, and often paradoxical, exchanges between Zen masters and their students developed in medieval China. In her practice and writing, renowned Zen teacher Joan Sutherland reimagines the koan tradition with allegiance to its root spirit and to its profound potential for vivifying, subverting, and sanctifying our lives.
In this episode, Joan is joined by clinical psychologist Megan Rundel in a conversation exploring how practice with Zen koans makes us permeable to the joys and the anguish of this life—and to the primordial mystery we glimpse behind the veil of the everyday.
This episode was record...
2023-09-211h 04
CIIS Public ProgramsCara Page and Erica Woodland: On Healing Justice LineagesBlack Queer Feminists Cara Page and Erica Woodland’s work focuses on political and spiritual liberation grounded in Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and Queer and Trans healing justice lineages. Their work guides individuals through the history, legacies, and liberatory practices of healing justice—a political strategy of collective care and safety that intervenes in the generational trauma caused by systemic violence and oppression.
In this episode, Cara and Erica discuss their recent collaboration as editors of the anthology Healing Justice Lineages, a profound and urgent call to embrace community and survivor-led care strategies as models that push beyond commodified self...
2023-09-0751 min
CIIS Public ProgramsBrian Swimme: On the Cosmic Dimension of Human StoriesOne of the 10 most radical discoveries in human history is that of cosmogenesis, the narrative of how the expanding universe is evolving into stars, galaxies, life, and human consciousness. The challenge to this discovery is the thorny question of how human subjectivity relates to the evolution of the universe. Is there cosmic meaning in our ongoing efforts—like using memory and art—to record our experiences?
Cosmologist and CIIS professor emeritus Brian Thomas Swimme’s latest book, Cosmogenesis, tells the story of how the new cosmology demolished his modern industrial mind, then slowly assembled a new mind, one rooted in the cr...
2023-08-2454 min
CIIS Public ProgramsMark Nepo: On Surviving StormsWe live in a turbulent time with storms everywhere, of every size and shape. And like every generation before us, we must learn the art of surviving them, so we can help each other endure. In his work, bestselling author and spiritual teacher Mark Nepo explores the art and practice of finding the strength to meet adversity by using the timeless teachings of the heart.
In his life’s work as well as in his latest book, Surviving Storms, Mark articulates the heart’s process of renewal and connection with insight and accuracy. In this episode, Mark is joined by CIIS...
2023-08-101h 06
CIIS Public ProgramsRoger Kuhn and Landa Lakes: On Two Spirit Identity and Cultural ExpressionThe term Two-Spirit is translated from a Northern Algonquin word and is used by some Native peoples of North America to signify variations of gender and sexual orientation. The term gained popularity in the 1990s as a counterpoint to colonial terminology used by anthropologists and academics alike to signify practices of nonbinary gender and sexual orientation among the Native peoples of North America.
Despite over five centuries of ongoing colonial terminology and ideology, Two-Spirit people have survived. Now, they are coming together and returning to values and traditions that existed prior to the invasion of the land we now call...
2023-07-271h 01
CIIS Public ProgramsKathleen Webster O'Malley: On The Healing Wisdom of DreamsWhen we understand and engage with our dreams we can tap into a special, deeper kind of healing. The process of healing is not about putting the same pieces back together, rather it is about reclaiming what is already within us that could not be broken—the essence of who we are as individuals and as interconnected parts of a greater whole.
In this episode, author and health and wellness practitioner Kathleen Webster O'Malley shares her practices of using our dreams to heal unwanted patterns and live more authentically. She is joined in conversation by mindfulness, trauma and racial healing le...
2023-07-131h 01
CIIS Public ProgramsDr. Jennifer Lisa Vest: On Being an Ethical PsychicFor Afro-Indigenous intuitive healer and scholar Jennifer Vest, being an ethical psychic means being of service and learning how to navigate the thorny issues and unique risks inherent to intuitive work. In her latest book, The Ethical Psychic, Dr. Vest explores how and why energy workers must be of service, authentic, and self-aware. They must learn from their mistakes, embody sensitivity to client needs, be humble, and listen to a higher source.
In this episode, Dr. Vest is joined by CIIS Associate Professor and Chair of the Women’s Spirituality program Annette Williams for an illuminating conversation exploring how psychics an...
2023-06-291h 03
CIIS Public ProgramsTricia Hersey: On Rest as ResistanceWhat would it be like to live in a well-rested world? For far too many of us, we have claimed productivity as the cornerstone of success. Brainwashed by capitalism, we subject our bodies and minds to work at an unrealistic and damaging pace. In this world, rest, in its simplest form, becomes an act of resistance and a reclaiming of power because it asserts our most basic humanity.
Tricia Hersey, aka the Nap Bishop is an artist, theologian, and the founder of The Nap Ministry, an organization that examines rest as a form of resistance by curating sacred spaces for...
2023-06-1544 min
CIIS Public ProgramsDebashish Banerji and Robert McDermott: On Spirituality and Integral EducationFor over 50 years CIIS has been a leader in transformative integral education. Integral studies, in the founding of CIIS, encapsulated a contemporary academic approach to a spiritual mission.
In this episode, CIIS Haridas Chaudhuri Professor of Indian Philosophies and Cultures, Debashish Banerji, and CIIS President Emeritus and Professor Emeritus in Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness, Robert McDermott have an illuminating discussion on the multitude of meanings of integral, as seen and applied to the spiritual mission in the history and future of CIIS.
This episode was recorded during an in-person and live streamed event at California Institute of Integral Studies on...
2023-06-0152 min
CIIS Public ProgramsYung Pueblo: On the Healing JourneyYung Pueblo’s (Diego Perez) path to deep healing began after years of drug use had taken a toll on his mind and body. Searching for a way forward, he found that by honestly examining and addressing the anxieties and fears that he had been running away from, he no longer felt like a stranger inside of his heart and mind. Once he dedicated himself to meditation and trusting his intuition, he started to finally feel mentally lighter—with more love emerging from within. This was not an easy journey, and it's one that he is still on, but it show...
2023-05-181h 05
CIIS Public ProgramsMimi Zhu: On Not Being Afraid of LoveIn their early twenties, author and artist Mimi Zhu was a survivor of intimate-partner abuse, which left them broken and in search of healing paths to re-learn love. Mimi began writing a collection of powerful, interconnected essays and affirmations that followed their journey toward embodying and re-learning love after their violent romantic relationship. The result is a stunning and provocative book, Be Not Afraid of Love, which like all of Mimi’s work, is a testament to the strength and adaptability humans possess and a tribute to love.
In this episode, Mimi is joined by author and multidisciplinary artist Fariha Ró...
2023-05-041h 02
CIIS Public ProgramsGregg Castro: On Native SovereigntyNative or tribal sovereignty refers to the right of American Indians and Alaska Natives to govern themselves. In some definitions native or tribal sovereignty is an inherent right, whether the tribe is federally recognized or not. But what does native sovereignty mean to Indigenous peoples, non-Indigenous peoples, governments, organizations, and beyond?
Gregg Castro, Cultural Director for the Association of Ramaytush Ohlone, has worked on preserving his Indigenous heritage for three decades as a writer-activist and by educating the broader world about the Ramaytush Ohlone—the Indigenous people of the land now called San Francisco.
In this episode, Gregg is joined by...
2023-04-201h 06
CIIS Public ProgramsChris Martin: On Poetry and Our Neurodiverse FutureSome adults struggle to communicate with students who have autism and try to “fix them.” But what if we found a way to help these students use their natural gifts to convey their thoughts and feelings?
Chris Martin, an award-winning poet and celebrated educator, works with non speaking autistic children and adults, teaching them to write poetry. In his latest book, May Tomorrow Be Awake, Chris introduces the techniques he uses in the classroom and celebrates an inspiring group of young neurodiverse thinkers and their electric verse.
In this episode, queer, transgender, autistic author and educator Nick Walker has a conv...
2023-04-0659 min
CIIS Public ProgramsShefali Tsabary: On Radical AwakeningAs a New York Times bestselling author and renowned clinical psychologist, Dr. Shefali’s work teaches women how to transcend their fears and illusions, break free from societal expectations, and rediscover the person they were always meant to be: fully present, conscious, and fulfilled.
In this episode, Enneagram expert and life coach Lara Heller talks with Dr. Shefali about her latest book, A Radical Awakening, and how to uncover our inner truth and powers to help heal ourselves and our planet.
This episode was recorded during a live online event on August 4th, 2022. A transcript is available at ciispod.com. To f...
2023-03-231h 01
CIIS Public ProgramsBrock Blomberg and Kathy Littles: On the Present and Future of Integral Education at CIIS and BeyondIn this episode, our University’s President Brock Blomberg and Provost Kathy Littles have a unique conversation exploring the present and future of CIIS and what is core to its mission of integral education. President Blomberg and Provost Littles share insights on the current moment at CIIS and beyond, as well as the role higher education plays in our world today. They discuss the creativity, innovation, and expansion required to meet the needs of students and faculty in higher education while responding to trends in an evolving marketplace.
This episode was recorded during an in-person and live streamed event at Ca...
2023-03-0951 min
CIIS Public ProgramsJulia Serano: On Sexualization and SocietyFeminists have long challenged the ways in which men tend to sexualize women. But pioneering activist, biologist, and trans woman Julia Serano argues that sexualization is a far more pervasive problem—it’s something that we all do to other people, often without being aware of it. In her latest book, Sexed Up: How Society Sexualizes Us, and How We Can Fight Back, Julia examines how the stereotypes of sexualization push minorities farther into the margins, and how even the privileged are policed from transgressing, or they also become targets.
In this episode, Julia is joined in a conversation with writer and editor Aben...
2023-02-231h 09
CIIS Public ProgramsFariha Roisin: Who Is Wellness For?Fariha Róisín is a multidisciplinary artist and author who was born in Ontario, Canada and raised in Sydney, Australia. She is now based in Los Angeles, CA. As a Muslim queer Bangladeshi, she is interested in the margins, liminality, otherness, and the mercurial nature of being. Fariha’s latest book Who Is Wellness For? explores the ways in which the progressive health industry has appropriated and commodified global healing traditions. She reveals how wellness culture has become a luxury good built on the wisdom of Black, brown, and Indigenous people while both ignoring and excluding them.
In this epis...
2023-02-0958 min
CIIS Public ProgramsJenny Wang: On Reclaiming Mental Health for Asian AmericansOver 18 million people of Asian descent live in the United States today. Many in the Asian American community are experiencing a renewed connection to their identity, inspiring them to radically reconsider the cultural frameworks that enabled their assimilation into American culture. As Asian Americans investigate the personal and societal effects of longstanding cultural narratives, their mental health becomes increasingly important, yet they are the racial group least likely to seek out mental health services.
Through her work and in her latest book, Permission to Come Home, Taiwanese American clinical psychologist Jenny Wang confronts and destabilizes the stigma Asian Americans face...
2023-01-261h 04
CIIS Public ProgramsJudy Wilkins-Smith: On Breaking Emotional Patterns for TransformationFacilitator and transformational coach Judy Wilkins-Smith believes the key to transformation lies in decoding the patterns embedded in your life—unconscious patterns that you inherited from your family system. In her latest book, Decoding Your Emotional Blueprint, Judy shares a variety of strategies and practices to help people detect hidden and multigenerational patterns, recognize their purpose, and then break the cycles, supporting their ability to create an extraordinary life.
In this episode, licensed psychologist and CIIS professor of Community Mental Health Elizabeth Markle joins Judy in a conversation on learning how to break free from the patterns that hold us back...
2023-01-121h 07
CIIS Public ProgramsJeanine Canty: On Returning the Self to NatureIn her work, CIIS professor Jeanine Canty uses the lens of ecopsychology to show that the pervasive and extreme forms of narcissism we find in many modern societies are the result of alienation from the natural world. In her recent book, Returning the Self to Nature, Jeanine shares how we can move beyond a world that revolves around selfish and disconnected identity models, and step into healthy relationships with ourselves, our communities, and our planet.
In this episode, Jeanine is joined by Leslie Davenport, who is the program co-lead for the Climate Psychology Certificate at CIIS, for an inspiring conversation...
2022-12-2955 min
CIIS Public ProgramsTracy Dennis-Tiwary: On Why Anxiety Can Be Good For YouWe all experience anxiety. Regardless of how bad it can feel, anxiety is part of what makes us human and may not necessarily be a bad thing. According to psychologist, author, and anxiety researcher Tracy Dennis-Tiwary, that uncomfortable feeling of uncertainty can be productive.
In Dr. Dennis-Tiwary's work and writing she addresses both generalized anxiety—which we all face—and anxiety disorders, when our anxious reactions and feelings prevent us from functioning effectively. In this episode, somatic and transpersonal psychotherapist Deanna Jimenez talks with Dr. Dennis-Tiwary about her latest book, Future Tense. They explore looking at anxiety in a new way...
2022-12-1559 min
CIIS Public ProgramsKari Grain: Critical HopeHope without action is, at best, naive. At its worst, it tricks you into giving up the power and agency you have to change systems that cause suffering. Transformative learning and social justice educator Kari Grain’s concept of critical hope calls for a spark of passion and an abiding belief that transformation is not just possible, but vital. This is hope in action: a vibrant, engaged practice and a commitment to honoring transformative potential across a vast spectrum of experience.
In her latest book, Critical Hope, Dr. Grain asserts that hope is necessary but hope alone is not enough. In t...
2022-11-0359 min
CIIS Public ProgramsFour Arrows and Darcia Narvaez: On Indigenous Voices and Restoring the Kinship WorldviewAuthor and Professor of Education, Wahinkpe Topa (Four Arrows), and author and Professor Emerita of Psychology Darcia Narvaez have both written and lectured extensively on the need to integrate Indigenous worldviews into every aspect of society—from education to sustainability, wellness, and justice.
In this episode, Four Arrows and Darcia offer a conversational exploration of their most recent collaboration as editors of the anthology, Restoring the Kinship Worldview, which presents the wisdom of Indigenous worldviews and how embracing these precepts can nourish our individual and collective lives in these challenging times through 28 powerful excerpted passages from Indigenous leaders including Mourning Do...
2022-10-0654 min
CIIS Public ProgramsMónica Guzmán: On Having Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Divided TimesJournalist Mónica Guzmán is the loving liberal daughter of Mexican immigrants who voted twice for Donald Trump. Mónica is also the chief storyteller for the national cross-partisan depolarization organization Braver Angels, which brings her to the real front lines of a crisis that threatens to grind America to a halt—broken conversations among confounded people.
In this episode, CIIS Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Damali Robertson talks with Mónica about her life, work, and her recent book, I Never Thought of It That Way, in which she shares ways for us all to have fearlessly curious co...
2022-08-251h 07
CIIS Public ProgramsDeepak Chopra: On the Inner Path to True AbundanceSpiritual teacher and international bestselling author Deepak Chopra believes there is an inner path to prosperity and wealth that—once charted and explored—offers access to the great riches of the universe and life’s unbounded possibilities. In his latest book Abundance: The Inner Path to Wealth, Deepak illuminates this road to success and wholeness, sharing a guide to a life of true power, prosperity, and plenty.
In this episode, CIIS Chair of Integrative Health Studies Meg Jordan joins Deepak for a conversation exploring how to tap into a deeper sense of awareness to become an agent of change in your o...
2022-08-111h 10
CIIS Public ProgramsElizabeth Allison and Natalie Metz: Human Health and Ecological ResilienceThe COVID-19 pandemic continues to more fully reveal injustices, inequities, and imbalances that contribute to climate change, ecological degradation, and economic instability that threaten our individual and collective well-being. This potent time invites us to consider questions like: How can we cultivate individual, collective, and ecological resilience in this unstable new reality? What lessons does the pandemic offer for addressing climate change and human health?
This episode features Natalie Metz, CIIS faculty in Professional Psychology and Health, and Elizabeth Allison, CIIS faculty in Religion and Ecology, in a conversation exploring connections between human health and the health of the planet...
2020-08-0658 min
CIIS Public ProgramsThomas Hübl and Brian Swimme: On Healing Collective TraumaThis episode featuring spiritual teacher Thomas Hübl along with cosmologist and CIIS professor Brian Swimme was recorded during a live streaming webinar on May 9th, 2020.
During their conversation, Brian and Thomas explore the cosmos and discuss ways to move from being a society informed by trauma to a society that heals trauma.
To find out more about CIIS and public programs like this one, including our upcoming online trauma healing workshop with Thomas Hübl, visit our website: ciis.edu
2020-05-141h 02
CIIS Public ProgramsRichard Tarnas: What’s Happening in the Stars Right NowThis episode featuring CIIS professor and renowned scholar Richard Tarnas was recorded during a live streaming webinar on April 23rd, 2020.
In his talk, Richard shares astrological insights into the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, which he describes as “a time in which there are volcanically intense evolutionary pressures for the radical reconfiguration of all life’s structures.”
To see the image referenced by Richard during this episode, visit our website: ciis.edu
2020-04-301h 16