Serene Readiness in Challenging Times - Eric Maisel, Ph.D. - ND3857

In this time of global uncertainty good poems can soften the heart and help us face another day with curiosity, wonder and hope. It gives us another lens to view the world and helps bring what is often unseen into view. Poetry opens us to feel our connection to one another and to nature. It gives us the opportunity to recalibrate our perspective on our place in the world.Jane Hirshfield is the author of nine books of poetry and two collections of essays. She has edited and co-translated four books presenting the work of world poets from the past. Her books have received the Poetry Center Book Award, the California Book Award, and the Donald Hal-Jane Kenyon Prize in American Poetry. Her poems appear in a wide range of prestigious outlets. A resident of Northern California, she is a chancellor emerita of the Academy of American Poets. She presents her work at literary and interdisciplinary events worldwide. She has authored many books including The October Palace (HarperCollins 1994), The Lives of the Heart (Harper Collins 1997), Women in Praise of the Sacred (HarperCollins 1994), Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry (Perennial 1998), After (Harper Collins 2006), Given Sugar, Given Salt (Harper Collins 2001), Come, Thief (Knopf 2011), Ten Windows: How Great Poems Transform the World (Alfred A. Knopf 2015), The Beauty: Poems (Alfred A. Knopf 2015) and Ledger (Alfred A. Knopf 2020)Interview Date: 4/16/2020    Tags: MP3, Jane Hirshfield, despair, praise, ghazal, resilience, coronavirus, humility, self-quarantine, poetry, Shikantaza meditation, activism, Badlands, beekeepers, interdependence, Kent State Wick Poetry Center, memory, reminiscing, Arts & Creativity, Meditation, social change/politics, science

Prager shares many stories and practical examples of words that heal. She empowers us to be more effective in helping others in need as she explores the power of Verbal First Aidtm. She shares particular words and phrases that are most effective in assisting the healing process when someone is in fear, shock, stress, or trauma. Judith Prager, Ph.D., CHt, is a clinical hypnotherapist with a PHD in psychology and a practices in the Los Angeles area. As a consultant to Cedars-Sinai Medical center, she developed a “Guided Imagery for Surgery” series of pre-intra-and post-operative and ICU creative imagery CDs that has been used with significant results in a pilot program in the Cardio-thoracic Surgery Unit. She’s trained physicians, nurses, and first responders across the U.S. in hypnotic language for pain and stress relief in emergencies and interactions with children. She presents keynotes and talks at conferences and medical centers. She is the author of Journey to Alternity: Transformational Healing through Stories and Metaphors (iUniverse 2000), What the Dolphin Said (Self published 2017), and The Worst Is Over: Verbal First Aid to Calm, Relieve Pain, Promote Healing and Save Lives (revised edition) (Judith Acosta) (Self Published 2014)Interview Date: 4/3/2020    Tags: MP3, Judith Prager, Judith Acosta, nightmares, Deepak Chopra, imagination, listening, sheltering in place, energy fields, energy medicine, isolation, talking with kids, grief, earthquake in Szechuan, PTSD, Verbal First Aidtm, suggestions in altered states, Brenda Peterson, Stephen King, Gabrielle Giffords, dolphins, Personal Transformation, Psychology, Parenting, Health & Healing, Death & Dying

Many gems of wisdom unfold here such as, “Being spiritual is inhabiting our humanness so thoroughly that the part of the universe that lives in me comes out and connects with the part of the universe that lives with you.” Other topics discussed are: being present and being absent as well as considering the difference between what we stand for and what we stand on. Mark Nepo is a poet, philosopher and a most eloquent spiritual teacher. In 2015, he was given a Life-Achievement Award by AgeNation and in 2016 was named by Watkins: Mind Body Spirit as one of the Most Spiritually Influential Living People. He was part of Oprah Winfrey’s The Life You Want Tour in 2014 and has appeared several times with Oprah on her Super Soul Sunday program on OWN TV. As a cancer survivor, Mark devotes his writing and teaching to the journey of inner transformation and the life of relationship. He is the author of many audio learning projects and over 20 books including Reduced To Joy (Cleis Press 2013), Seven Thousand Ways To Listen: Staying Close To What Is Sacred (Free Press 2012), The One Life We’re Given: Finding the Wisdom That Waits in Your heart (Atria Books 2016), The Way Under the Way: The Place of True Meeting (Sounds True 2016), Drinking from the River of Light: The Life of Expression (Sounds True 2019), The Book of Soul: 52 Paths to Living What Matters (St. Martin’s Essentials 2020)Interview Date: 1/14/2020   Tags: MP3, Mark Nepo, wholehearted, halfhearted, integral, integrity, values, Wizard of Oz, presence, absence, listening, illusion, maya, circles, Friedrich Nietzsche, Japanese dog named Hachikō, belief, immersion, excellence, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Chinese philosopher, Mencius, Personal Transformation, Spirituality, Philosophy, Psychology

Gandhi once said, “The most violent weapon on Earth is the table fork.” Dr. Will Tuttle asks us to consider one of the primary driving forces behind a whole network of problems we face as human beings is the mentality of violence, exploitation, exclusion and privilege that is required for us to eat animal foods. Will Tuttle, Ph.D., is a professional pianist, composer, and teacher who holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. For more than two decades he has presented at progressive churches, vegetarian and human potential conferences, and intentional communities throughout the United States. He trained in Korea as a Zen Buddhist Monk and has worked extensively in Tai Chi, Yoga, and meditation. He also works with his artist wife Madeleine Tuttle who contributes to his presentations, books, and albums. He is the author of many books including: Your Inner Islands: The Keys to Intuitive Living (Will Tuttle - revised 2017), The World Peace Diet: Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony (Lantern Books 2005), He also has many original piano albums including: Ascension: A Journey Beyond and Islands of Light.Interview Date: 1/12/2020   Tags: Will Tuttle, vegan, veganism, vegetarian, vegetarianism, plant based eating, Stephen Gaskin, The Farm, grass fed meat, free-range chickens, animal agriculture, ahimsa, non-harmfulness, compassion, Donald Gilbert, intuition, Buddhist five precepts, Buddhist four immeasurable, microbiome, complex carbohydrates, sacred feminine, Health & Healing, Meditation, Spirituality, Social/Change/Politics, Peace/Nonviolence

Next to birth, death is one of our most profound experiences. Dying is not without its pain but it can be meaningful and we can decide to be more aware and more conscious in how we orient ourselves toward the inevitable end of our lives. Dr. Miller advises us to be clear on our “goals of care” and to “participate.”B.J. Miller is a hospice and palliative medicine physician who has worked in many settings, inpatient, outpatient, hospice facility and home. He now sees patients and families at U.C.S.F. Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. Miller speaks all over the country and beyond on the theme of living well in the face of death. He’s also the founder of the Center for Dying and Living. BJ Miller is co-author, with Shoshana Berger, of A Beginners Guide to the End: Practical Advice for Living Life and Facing Death (Simon & Schuster 2019) Interview Date:12/3/2019   Tags: BJ Miller, hospice, medical directives, advance directives, advance care planning, silver tsunami, Health care systems, chronic pain, suffering, acute suffering, acute pain, resistance, palliative care, hospice, pain management, death certificates, prognosis, Steve Scheier, prognosis declaration, Death & Dying, Personal Transformation

Mackey writes both prose and poetry and has published many novels and books of poetry. She reveals her writing and creative process and how each kinds of writing requires a different approach and describes her process of “creative trance” that helps her to move into her own unconscious. She takes us from Western Kentucky to the Brazilian Rainforest.Mary Mackey is a novelist, screenwriter, and poet. She’s Professor Emeritus of English and former Writer-in-Residence at California State University, Sacramento. During her twenties, she lived in the rain forests of Costa Rica. Recently, she’s been traveling to Brazil incorporating her experiences in the tropical rainforests into her fiction and poetry. She's the author of The Year the Horses Came (HarperSanFrancisco 1993), The Horses at the Gate (Amazon Digital Services 2011), The Fires of Spring (Amazon Digital Services 2011), The Village of Bones: Sabalah’s Tale (Earthsong Series) (Create Space Independent Publishing 2016) and Immersion (iUniverse 2013)Interview Date: 11/27/2019  Tags: Mary Mackey, poetry, Eric Hoffer Book Award, Harvard, creative trance, automatic writing, Amapa, Richard Evans Schultes, ethnobotany, the Amazon, Jaguars, Western Kentucky, the Brazilian rain forest poems, writer’s block, publishing, Art & Creativity, Women’s Studies, writing

Lonny Shavelson, M.D. is a national leader in medical aid in dying, reframing it as compassionate end-of-life care rooted in honest conversation, emotional support, and patient choice. He dispels myths equating it with suicide, explains safeguards against coercion, and highlights the importance of multidisciplinary, whole-person care.Lonny Shavelson, M.D is a California physician best known as a national leader in medical aid in dying for terminally ill patients. Dr Shavelson worked for nearly three decades as an emergency department physician in Berkeley, California, and later served as a primary care doctor in a clinic for immigrants and refugees. He's a founder and Board Chair of the Academy of Medical Aid-In-Dying, where he helps develop best practices, clinician education, and policy in this emerging field. He has also consulted widely with hospitals, ethics committees, and state efforts to implement aid-in-dying laws. He is the author of A Chosen Death (Simon & Schuster 1995) and Medical Aid In Dying: A Guide For Patients And Their Supporters (American Clinicians Academy on Medical Aid in Dying, 2022) Interview Date: 12/12/2025.  Tags: Lonny Shavelson, Medical-aid-in dying, endoflife care, hospice, terminal illness, patient autonomy, coercion and safeguards, disability rights concerns , death doulas, suicide vs aid in dying, Death & Dying, Health & Healing, Social Change/Politics, Personal Transformation

Leffers explores consciousness through Spiral Dynamics reimagined as “facets” rather than hierarchy, from survival and belonging to care and authentic living, each with love-based gifts and fear-based shadows, and highlights practices like meditation to support this unfolding. Regina Leffers, Ph.D. is the retired Director of the Center of Excellence for the Built Environment, and Professor of Sustainable Construction for the College of Engineering at Purdue University in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Her undergraduate degrees are in Psychology and Philosophy, and her doctoral degree is in Philosophy from Purdue University. She teaches classes on consciousness and meditation and has practiced meditation since 1980. She is the author of: Sustainable Construction and Design (Pearson 2009), I Am A Miracle Magnet: (In Ten Easy Steps) (CreateSpace 2016), The Green Age: Transforming Your Life Choices for the 21st Century (Green Age Press 2011), What Is Consciousness (Regina Leffers 2019), Rethinking the Heart of Being Human (CreateSpace 2013), My Darling: Memoirs of a Buddha Girl (Regina Leffers 2023) and This Is Consciousness (Regina Leffers 2025)Interview Date: 12/5/2025   Tags: Regina Leffers, consciousness, facets of consciousness, Spiral Dynamics, levels of consciousness, love and fear, brainwaves, alpha brainwave, forgiveness, gratitude, trauma and healing, abusive father, neurofeedback, meditation, heart–brain coherence, HeartMath, empathy, belonging, individuation, compliance, risk and reindividuate, care and empathy, authentic living, connectivity, synchronicity, spiritual growth, self-development, polarization, othering, Religion, Science, Spirituality, Personal Transformation

The RAIN Process (Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Nurture) reminds us to pause and reconnect with a wise and compassionate presence allowing us to align our lives with our hearts. It can assist us when we get lost in unconscious, mental, emotional reactivity, fear, and are living on “autopilot.” RAIN is a healing process available to us that opens us to our inner radiance. Tara Brach, PhD, is an internationally known teacher of mindfulness, meditation, emotional healing, and spiritual awakening. Tara is the senior teacher and founder of Insight Meditation Center of Washington, DC. and she produces a weekly podcast. She is the author of many books including Radical Compassion: Learning to Love Yourself and Your world with the Practice of RAIN (Viking 2019), Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha (Bantam 2004) and True Refuge: Finding Peace and Freedom in Your Own Awakened Heart (Bantam 2016) Interview Date: 1/24/2020   Tags: Tara Brach, RAIN Process, Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Nurture, mindfulness, fear, shame, anger, somatic, allowing, Viktor Frankl, grasping, compassion, pushing away, frustration, beliefs, reactive trance, ocean of lovingkindness, Jarvis Masters, Ruby Sales, white privilege, Personal Transformation, Meditation