Jono Fisher: Micro Practice: Loving Kindness

I’m honored to be in conversation with the distinguished business professor George Kohlrieser - who is one of the world leaders incorporating grief into Executive Education.  In this enlightening conversation, we explore:  • How unresolved grief can make leaders cold hearted, emotionally detached and unable to bond with people • Why so many leaders fail to recognise they carry grief  • The obstacles and opportunities for leaders to work through grief  • The “creative force” that is unleashed when grief is metabolized   

For me, this is one of the most important conversations I’ve ever published. In today’s episode, Rosemary Wanganeen shares her personal story of being part of the Stolen Generation, reconnecting with her ancestry, going through a deep grieving process - and ultimately forgiving the atrocities committed on her people.  Rosemary Wanganeen is a proud South Australian Aboriginal woman, Kaurna Elder, and founder of the Healing Centre for Griefology. Rosemary believes that grieving and wellbeing are intimately related - and that the health of Australia’s future rests in our ability to integrate the losses we have in our nation's history. In this episode, Rosemary explores:  • Why indigenous Australians maintained regular grieving ceremonies• The importance of not having the body accumulate “grief energy” • The impact of Plato calling grief "illogical" and a "weakness" • The invitation grief offers for forgiveness and re-kindling spirituality  • Whether Australia will ever have a dedicated “Day of Grieving”   I believe that nothing will heal the soul of Australia more than allowing the pain of our history to enter into our hearts. By finding ways to integrate this grief, we will free up the energy and creativity for a more compassionate future. I urge you to listen to Rosemary and the messages she has received from her ancestors. It means so much to have you here today.  Love, Jono

Like many of you, sorrow has entered my life in a myriad of ways - and it wasn't until I read Francis Weller's book, The Wild Edge of Sorrow, that I began a soulful relationship with grief. Francis Weller is a psychotherapist, author and wise elder who extends an invitation for us to remember what it means to be a Human Being. During this rich conversation, Francis offers beautiful perspectives on sorrow, shame, vitality, beauty making, depression and the “Five gates of grief”. May we all undertake an “apprenticeship with sorrow” and come closer to living and loving more fully. Love, Jono  

This episode is an insight into Jono’s grief work, and how he arrived here. His dance partner in this conversation is his friend (and previous therapist) Kate-Marie Mutsaers. Kate-Marie has over 25 years experience as a community facilitator, somatic therapist, body worker and movement facilitator - walking alongside people in private practice, prisons, disaster settings and dance floors across locations as varied as Central Australia, the Middle East, India, Papua New Guinea and now France where she currently resides.  But Jono didn’t ask Kate-Marie to join him because of her bio. He asked Kate-Marie because of her groundedness, her heart and integrity. She’s a beautiful person to talk with, and she’s been an incredible support for Jono in his life. Jono hopes this conversation gives you a glimpse into where he’s at - and why he’s so drawn to offering grief work during these challenging times. Jono also hopes you also enjoy getting to know Kate-Marie and her stunning presence. Whatever the shape of your grief, it’s never too late to meet it with gentleness and care. This isn’t about wallowing, but remembering how to restore aliveness to our world.  Thank you for being part of this caring community. Love, Jono

This trailer offers Jono's prayer for this podcast - while introducing grief as a gateway into depth and aliveness. This season will explore intimate conversations about grief with somatic practitioners and leaders in business, indigenous wisdom and mythology.

Many of us have been raised to think that men have to act in a certain way. You know the story - be tough, invulnerable, in control, unemotional etc. This has led to an epidemic of loneliness, depression, dysfunction and suicide. This podcast explores some of my experiences and hopefully catalyses a new way of thinking about modern masculinity.

Emiliana Simon-Thomas Phd is the Science Director at the Greater Good Science Centre at the University of California Berkeley. She is one of the leading authorities uncovering the deep roots of human goodness and she specialises in the biological underpinnings of prosocial states like compassion, kindness and empathy and how they benefit well-being and psychosocial functioning. Her programs are hugely popular and offered in online formats for over 400,000 students. During this wide ranging conversation, Emiliana shares how modern science all points to human beings being wired for compassion and connection. At one point, Emiliana said “Biologically, we’re built to dedicate ourselves to each other.” Emiliana also shares how the “achievement model of success” is letting so many people down and the perils of misunderstanding the word “happiness”. Instead, Emiliana speaks of the importance of experiencing our rich and diverse emotions like anger and sadness while also learning how to foster more resilience, connection and meaning.

In this episode, I share some recent experiences of sadness and death. From these experiences, three valuable insights have emerged for me. My hope is that these insights may lead you to a deeper appreciation for life.

Danielle LaPorte is an invited member of Oprah’s Super Soul 100, a group who, in Oprah Winfrey’s words, “is uniquely connecting the world together with a spiritual energy that matters.” She is author of White Hot Truth: Clarity for Keeping It Real on Your Spiritual Path—from One Seeker to Another, The Fire Starter Sessions and The Desire Map: A Guide To Creating Goals With Soul—the book that has been translated into eight languages, evolved into a yearly day planner system, a top 10 iTunes app, and an international workshop program with licensed facilitators in 15 countries. Her website has been named one of the “Top 100 Websites for Women” by Forbes. During this very nourishing conversation we explore topics such as discipline as a path to liberation, how the “lie of inadequacy” drives so many poor decisions and how softness and tenderness could be one of the signs of genuine spiritual maturity.

Marc Lesser co-founded the Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute (SIYLI) with Google engineer and author of the New York Times bestseller, Chade-Meng Tan. He is the CEO of SIYLI taking Google’s #1 training program to thousands of senior executives, entrepreneurs and professionals around the world. Previously, Marc founded a multi-million dollar publishing company, managed a Zen monastery for 10 years and has written three books including ZBA: Zen of Business Administration. He now sits on the SIYLI board with the likes of Arianna Huffington and the VP of Google’s People Development, Karen May. During this very personal conversation, Marc shares his fascinating story from childhood to living in a Zen centre, founding a multi-million dollar publishing company and then teaming up with a Google engineer to create the hugely successful Search Inside Yourself Program. Moved by the pain of loss and the love of psychology and literature, Marc shares what what influenced his path to Zen, entrepreneurship and being part of a vision to create a more peaceful world.