Tantra and Yoga are practices rooted in Indic spiritual traditions that share long, intertwined and complex histories. Often, we encounter tantra and yoga as forms of exercise, self-care, sex, or as pathways to personal wellness. However, these powerful, multifaceted practices are much more than that.

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In this episode, Dr. Anna Corwin, Chair of the CIIS Women’s Spirituality Program facilitates an illuminating conversation between Dr. Sundari Johansen, Assistant Professor of Women’s Spirituality, and Anjali Rao, yoga practitioner-educator and author of Yoga as Embodied Resistance.

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This episode was recorded during an in-person and live streamed event at California Institute of Integral Studies on October, 16th 2025. You can also watch it on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube channel. A transcript is available at ciis.edu/podcast. To find out more about CIIS and public programs like this one, visit our website ciis.edu and connect with us on Instagram @ciispubprograms.

*

Some podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links below.

*

We hope that each episode of our podcast provides opportunities for growth, and that our listeners will use them as a starting point for further introspection. Many of the topics discussed on our podcast have the potential to bring up feelings and emotional responses. If you or someone you know is in need of mental health care and support, here are some resources to find immediate help and future healing:

*

-Visit 988lifeline.org or text, call, or chat with The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988 from anywhere in the U.S. to be connected immediately with a trained counselor. Please note that 988 staff are required to take all action necessary to secure the safety of a caller and initiate emergency response with or without the caller’s consent if they are unwilling or unable to take action on their own behalf.

*

-Visit thrivelifeline.org or text “THRIVE” to begin a conversation with a THRIVE Lifeline crisis responder 24/7/365, from anywhere: +1.313.662.8209. This confidential text line is available for individuals 18+ and is staffed by people in STEMM with marginalized identities.

*

-Visit translifeline.org or call (877) 565-8860 in the U.S. or (877) 330-6366 in Canada to learn more and contact Trans Lifeline, who provides trans peer support divested from police.

*

-Visit ciis.edu/ciis-in-the-world/counseling-clinics to learn more and schedule counseling sessions at one of our centers.

*

-Find information about additional global helplines at befrienders.org.

*

LINKS

*

Podcast Transcripts: https://www.ciis.edu/podcast

*

California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) Website: https://www.ciis.edu/

*

CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/ciispublicprograms

*

CIIS Public Programs Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ciispubprograms/

*

Mental Health Care and Support Resources:

https://988lifeline.org/

https://thrivelifeline.org/

https://translifeline.org/

https://www.ciis.edu/ciis-in-the-world/counseling-clinics

https://befrienders.org/

In her work, sex therapist and author Dr. Lucie Fielding seeks to move trans sexualities from the margins of gender-affirmative clinical practice to centering pleasure and sparking creativity and empathic attunement within the client-provider relationship. In the latest expanded second edition of her groundbreaking book, Trans Sex, she offers new concepts such as gender-pleasure and solidarity to bring theory to practice and features contributing trans and gender expansive authors working at the intersections of sexuality and gender.

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In this episode, CIIS Human Sexuality faculty and Trans Sex contributor Dr. Roger Kuhn has a conversation with Dr. Fielding exploring tools and strategies for trans and gender expansive folks and allies for circumventing limiting understandings of the erotic and opening a potential universe of pleasure that celebrates our polymorphous bodies.

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This episode was recorded during an in-person and live streamed event at California Institute of Integral Studies on October, 9th 2025. You can also watch it on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube channel. A transcript is available at ciis.edu/podcast. To find out more about CIIS and public programs like this one, visit our website ciis.edu and connect with us on Instagram @ciispubprograms.

*

Some podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links below.

*

We hope that each episode of our podcast provides opportunities for growth, and that our listeners will use them as a starting point for further introspection. Many of the topics discussed on our podcast have the potential to bring up feelings and emotional responses. If you or someone you know is in need of mental health care and support, here are some resources to find immediate help and future healing:

*

-Visit 988lifeline.org or text, call, or chat with The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988 from anywhere in the U.S. to be connected immediately with a trained counselor. Please note that 988 staff are required to take all action necessary to secure the safety of a caller and initiate emergency response with or without the caller’s consent if they are unwilling or unable to take action on their own behalf.

*

-Visit thrivelifeline.org or text “THRIVE” to begin a conversation with a THRIVE Lifeline crisis responder 24/7/365, from anywhere: +1.313.662.8209. This confidential text line is available for individuals 18+ and is staffed by people in STEMM with marginalized identities.

*

-Visit translifeline.org or call (877) 565-8860 in the U.S. or (877) 330-6366 in Canada to learn more and contact Trans Lifeline, who provides trans peer support divested from police.

*

-Visit ciis.edu/ciis-in-the-world/counseling-clinics to learn more and schedule counseling sessions at one of our centers.

*

-Find information about additional global helplines at befrienders.org.

*

LINKS

*

Podcast Transcripts: https://www.ciis.edu/podcast

*

California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) Website: https://www.ciis.edu/

*

CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/ciispublicprograms

*

CIIS Public Programs Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ciispubprograms/

*

Mental Health Care and Support Resources:

https://988lifeline.org/

https://thrivelifeline.org/

https://translifeline.org/

https://www.ciis.edu/ciis-in-the-world/counseling-clinics

https://befrienders.org/

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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It is possible to heal ourselves and our planet if we are open to the power of integrating multiple and often conflicting views. In their lives and work, authors and CIIS faculty members Alka Arora, Jeanine M. Canty, and Sara H. Salazar demonstrate this power and possibility.

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In this episode, we are joined by these three inspirational scholars for a conversation exploring their personal and professional experiences straddling social and ecological issues and how navigating these edges has surfaced new models and practices for collective healing.

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This episode was recorded during a live online event on October 1st, 2025. You can also watch it on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube channel. A transcript is available at ciis.edu/podcast. To find out more about CIIS and public programs like this one, visit our website ciis.edu and connect with us on Instagram @ciispubprograms.

*

Some podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links below.

*

We hope that each episode of our podcast provides opportunities for growth, and that our listeners will use them as a starting point for further introspection. Many of the topics discussed on our podcast have the potential to bring up feelings and emotional responses. If you or someone you know is in need of mental health care and support, here are some resources to find immediate help and future healing:

*

-Visit 988lifeline.org or text, call, or chat with The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988 from anywhere in the U.S. to be connected immediately with a trained counselor. Please note that 988 staff are required to take all action necessary to secure the safety of a caller and initiate emergency response with or without the caller’s consent if they are unwilling or unable to take action on their own behalf.

*

-Visit thrivelifeline.org or text “THRIVE” to begin a conversation with a THRIVE Lifeline crisis responder 24/7/365, from anywhere: +1.313.662.8209. This confidential text line is available for individuals 18+ and is staffed by people in STEMM with marginalized identities.

*

-Visit translifeline.org or call (877) 565-8860 in the U.S. or (877) 330-6366 in Canada to learn more and contact Trans Lifeline, who provides trans peer support divested from police.

*

-Visit ciis.edu/ciis-in-the-world/counseling-clinics to learn more and schedule counseling sessions at one of our centers.

*

-Find information about additional global helplines at befrienders.org.

*

LINKS

*

Podcast Transcripts: https://www.ciis.edu/podcast

*

California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) Website: https://www.ciis.edu/

*

CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/ciispublicprograms

*

CIIS Public Programs Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ciispubprograms/

*

Mental Health Care and Support Resources:

https://988lifeline.org/

https://thrivelifeline.org/

https://translifeline.org/

https://www.ciis.edu/ciis-in-the-world/counseling-clinics

https://befrienders.org/

Life is perpetually, endlessly filled with change: new jobs and new loves, unfamiliar places and faces. And entwined in that change is loss: loss of what was or is, or what could have been. Amid this shifting landscape, author Ann Tashi Slater has found power in embracing impermanence through the Tibetan Buddhist belief in the intermediate state of bardo.

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In this episode, Ann is joined in an illuminating conversation with CIIS Professor in Transformative Inquiry Fernando Ona. Ann shares insights from her latest book, Traveling in Bardo, and examines bardo in relation to marriage, friendships, parents, children, work and creativity along with stories of her Tibetan ancestors and the Buddhist teachings on the fleeting nature of existence.

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This episode was recorded during a live online event on September 18th, 2025. You can also watch it on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube channel. A transcript is available at ciis.edu/podcast. To find out more about CIIS and public programs like this one, visit our website ciis.edu and connect with us on social media @ciispubprograms.

*

Some podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links below.

*

We hope that each episode of our podcast provides opportunities for growth, and that our listeners will use them as a starting point for further introspection. Many of the topics discussed on our podcast have the potential to bring up feelings and emotional responses. If you or someone you know is in need of mental health care and support, here are some resources to find immediate help and future healing:

*

-Visit 988lifeline.org or text, call, or chat with The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988 from anywhere in the U.S. to be connected immediately with a trained counselor. Please note that 988 staff are required to take all action necessary to secure the safety of a caller and initiate emergency response with or without the caller’s consent if they are unwilling or unable to take action on their own behalf.

*

-Visit thrivelifeline.org or text “THRIVE” to begin a conversation with a THRIVE Lifeline crisis responder 24/7/365, from anywhere: +1.313.662.8209. This confidential text line is available for individuals 18+ and is staffed by people in STEMM with marginalized identities.

*

-Visit translifeline.org or call (877) 565-8860 in the U.S. or (877) 330-6366 in Canada to learn more and contact Trans Lifeline, who provides trans peer support divested from police.

*

-Visit ciis.edu/ciis-in-the-world/counseling-clinics to learn more and schedule counseling sessions at one of our centers.

*

-Find information about additional global helplines at befrienders.org.

*

LINKS

*

Podcast Transcripts: https://www.ciis.edu/podcast

*

California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) Website: https://www.ciis.edu/

*

CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/ciispublicprograms

*

CIIS Public Programs Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ciispubprograms/

*

Mental Health Care and Support Resources:

https://988lifeline.org/

https://thrivelifeline.org/

https://translifeline.org/

https://www.ciis.edu/ciis-in-the-world/counseling-clinics

https://befrienders.org/

In this episode, CIIS Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness professor Sean Kelly has a deep and fortifying conversation with psychotherapist and author Francis Weller.

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Together they explore ways of moving together through the anxieties, difficulties, and sacred transitions of 21st-century life. Featuring insights from Francis’s latest book, In the Absence of the Ordinary, this conversation frames our current era as a rough initiation—an upending experience of profound trauma and transformation that demands us to reorient our ways of thinking, being, and relating.

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This episode was recorded during an in-person and live streamed event at California Institute of Integral Studies on September 10th, 2025. You can also watch it on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube channel. A transcript is available at ciis.edu/podcast. To find out more about CIIS and public programs like this one, visit our website ciis.edu and connect with us on Instagram @ciispubprograms.

*

Some podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links below.

*

We hope that each episode of our podcast provides opportunities for growth, and that our listeners will use them as a starting point for further introspection. Many of the topics discussed on our podcast have the potential to bring up feelings and emotional responses. If you or someone you know is in need of mental health care and support, here are some resources to find immediate help and future healing:

*

-Visit 988lifeline.org or text, call, or chat with The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988 from anywhere in the U.S. to be connected immediately with a trained counselor. Please note that 988 staff are required to take all action necessary to secure the safety of a caller and initiate emergency response with or without the caller’s consent if they are unwilling or unable to take action on their own behalf.

*

-Visit thrivelifeline.org or text “THRIVE” to begin a conversation with a THRIVE Lifeline crisis responder 24/7/365, from anywhere: +1.313.662.8209. This confidential text line is available for individuals 18+ and is staffed by people in STEMM with marginalized identities.

*

-Visit translifeline.org or call (877) 565-8860 in the U.S. or (877) 330-6366 in Canada to learn more and contact Trans Lifeline, who provides trans peer support divested from police.

*

-Visit ciis.edu/ciis-in-the-world/counseling-clinics to learn more and schedule counseling sessions at one of our centers.

*

-Find information about additional global helplines at befrienders.org.

*

LINKS

*

Podcast Transcripts: https://www.ciis.edu/podcast

*

California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) Website: https://www.ciis.edu/

*

CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/ciispublicprograms

*

CIIS Public Programs Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ciispubprograms/

*

Mental Health Care and Support Resources:

https://988lifeline.org/

https://thrivelifeline.org/

https://translifeline.org/

https://www.ciis.edu/ciis-in-the-world/counseling-clinics

https://befrienders.org/

Some 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.

*

Parts Work, also known as Internal Family Systems, developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz, is a transformative tool that conceives of every human being as a system of protective and wounded inner parts led by a core Self. Parts Work allows you an all-access pass to wholeness by understanding, befriending, and leading the multiple voices within yourself.

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In this episode, CIIS somatic psychology professor Christine Gindi talks with psychotherapist and author Britt Frank about using Parts Work to meet our inner critics, inner children, and inner shadows to help tame anxiety, heal trauma, and overcome self-doubt.

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This episode was recorded during a live online event on August 14th, 2025. You can also watch it on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube channel. A transcript is available at ciis.edu/podcast. To find out more about CIIS and public programs like this one, visit our website ciis.edu and connect with us on social media @ciispubprograms.

*

We hope that each episode of our podcast provides opportunities for growth, and that our listeners will use them as a starting point for further introspection. Many of the topics discussed on our podcast have the potential to bring up feelings and emotional responses. If you or someone you know is in need of mental health care and support, here are some resources to find immediate help and future healing:

*

-Visit 988lifeline.org or text, call, or chat with The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988 from anywhere in the U.S. to be connected immediately with a trained counselor. Please note that 988 staff are required to take all action necessary to secure the safety of a caller and initiate emergency response with or without the caller’s consent if they are unwilling or unable to take action on their own behalf.

*

-Visit thrivelifeline.org or text “THRIVE” to begin a conversation with a THRIVE Lifeline crisis responder 24/7/365, from anywhere: +1.313.662.8209. This confidential text line is available for individuals 18+ and is staffed by people in STEMM with marginalized identities.

*

-Visit translifeline.org or call (877) 565-8860 in the U.S. or (877) 330-6366 in Canada to learn more and contact Trans Lifeline, who provides trans peer support divested from police.

*

-Visit ciis.edu/ciis-in-the-world/counseling-clinics to learn more and schedule counseling sessions at one of our centers.

*

-Find information about additional global helplines at befrienders.org.

*

LINKS

*

Podcast Transcripts: https://www.ciispod.com/

*

California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) Website: https://www.ciis.edu/

*

CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/ciispublicprograms

*

CIIS Public Programs Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ciispubprograms/

*

Mental Health Care and Support Resources:

https://988lifeline.org/

https://thrivelifeline.org/

https://translifeline.org/

https://www.ciis.edu/ciis-in-the-world/counseling-clinics

https://befrienders.org/

Some 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.

*

Why do we assume romantic relationships are more important than friendships? In this episode, clinical psychologist Margaret Boucher has an illuminating conversation with NPR journalist Rhaina Cohen on the power of platonic partnerships and how the thrill, intimacy, and commitment we seek is often found through meaningful friendship.

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Sharing insights from her years of original reporting and social science research, Rhaina argues that we undermine romantic relationships by expecting too much of them and diminish friendships by expecting too little of them. At a time when many Americans are spending large stretches of their lives single, widowed, divorced, or feeling the effects of the "loneliness epidemic," Rhaina challenges us to ask what we want from our relationships—not just what we’re supposed to want—and helps us to examine how we define a fulfilling life.

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This episode was recorded during a live online event on July 31st, 2025. You can also watch it on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube channel. A transcript is available at ciis.edu/podcast. To find out more about CIIS and public programs like this one, visit our website ciis.edu and connect with us on social media @ciispubprograms.

*

We hope that each episode of our podcast provides opportunities for growth, and that our listeners will use them as a starting point for further introspection. Many of the topics discussed on our podcast have the potential to bring up feelings and emotional responses. If you or someone you know is in need of mental health care and support, here are some resources to find immediate help and future healing:

*

-Visit 988lifeline.org or text, call, or chat with The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988 from anywhere in the U.S. to be connected immediately with a trained counselor. Please note that 988 staff are required to take all action necessary to secure the safety of a caller and initiate emergency response with or without the caller’s consent if they are unwilling or unable to take action on their own behalf.

*

-Visit thrivelifeline.org or text “THRIVE” to begin a conversation with a THRIVE Lifeline crisis responder 24/7/365, from anywhere: +1.313.662.8209. This confidential text line is available for individuals 18+ and is staffed by people in STEMM with marginalized identities.

*

-Visit translifeline.org or call (877) 565-8860 in the U.S. or (877) 330-6366 in Canada to learn more and contact Trans Lifeline, who provides trans peer support divested from police.

*

-Visit ciis.edu/ciis-in-the-world/counseling-clinics to learn more and schedule counseling sessions at one of our centers.

*

-Find information about additional global helplines at befrienders.org.

*

LINKS

*

Podcast Transcripts: https://www.ciispod.com/

*

California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) Website: https://www.ciis.edu/

*

CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/ciispublicprograms

*

CIIS Public Programs Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ciispubprograms/

*

Mental Health Care and Support Resources:

https://988lifeline.org/

https://thrivelifeline.org/

https://translifeline.org/

https://www.ciis.edu/ciis-in-the-world/counseling-clinics

https://befrienders.org/

Some 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.

*

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.

*

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 researcher Susana Bustos for a conversation exploring the spiritual practice of shamanism, one of the most mysterious religious traditions.

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This episode was recorded during a live online event on June 6th, 2025. You can also watch it on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube channel. A transcript is available at ciis.edu/podcast. To find out more about CIIS and public programs like this one, visit our website ciis.edu and connect with us on social media @ciispubprograms.

*

We hope that each episode of our podcast provides opportunities for growth, and that our listeners will use them as a starting point for further introspection. Many of the topics discussed on our podcast have the potential to bring up feelings and emotional responses. If you or someone you know is in need of mental health care and support, here are some resources to find immediate help and future healing:

*

-Visit 988lifeline.org or text, call, or chat with The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988 from anywhere in the U.S. to be connected immediately with a trained counselor. Please note that 988 staff are required to take all action necessary to secure the safety of a caller and initiate emergency response with or without the caller’s consent if they are unwilling or unable to take action on their own behalf.

*

-Visit thrivelifeline.org or text “THRIVE” to begin a conversation with a THRIVE Lifeline crisis responder 24/7/365, from anywhere: +1.313.662.8209. This confidential text line is available for individuals 18+ and is staffed by people in STEMM with marginalized identities.

*

-Visit translifeline.org or call (877) 565-8860 in the U.S. or (877) 330-6366 in Canada to learn more and contact Trans Lifeline, who provides trans peer support divested from police.

*

-Visit ciis.edu/ciis-in-the-world/counseling-clinics to learn more and schedule counseling sessions at one of our centers.

*

-Find information about additional global helplines at befrienders.org.

*

LINKS

*

Podcast Transcripts: https://www.ciispod.com/

*

California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) Website: https://www.ciis.edu/

*

CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/ciispublicprograms

*

CIIS Public Programs Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ciispubprograms/

*

Mental Health Care and Support Resources:

https://988lifeline.org/

https://thrivelifeline.org/

https://translifeline.org/

https://www.ciis.edu/ciis-in-the-world/counseling-clinics

https://befrienders.org/

Some 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.

*

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 undervalue the opening of the ground.

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However, with the correct understanding and quality of attention, we can consciously open our multidimensional ground and, as a result, experience a felt-sense of inner safety and stability that supports the full flowering of inner peace, freedom, and loving awareness—a truly embodied spirituality.

*

In this episode, Dr. Prendergast is joined in a conversation with CIIS core faculty in the graduate department of East-West Psychology Dr. Sara Max Granovetter that dives deep into our personal, archetypal, and universal ground. Sharing insights from his years working in sensing and inquiry practices as well as his latest book, Your Deepest Ground, Dr. Prendergast explains how we can begin to see through the false ground of our early conditioning and limited identity.

*

This episode was recorded during an in-person and live streamed event at California Institute of Integral Studies on May 29th, 2025. You can also watch it on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube channel. A transcript is available at ciis.edu/podcast. To find out more about CIIS and public programs like this one, visit our website ciis.edu and connect with us on social media @ciispubprograms.

*

We hope that each episode of our podcast provides opportunities for growth, and that our listeners will use them as a starting point for further introspection. Many of the topics discussed on our podcast have the potential to bring up feelings and emotional responses. If you or someone you know is in need of mental health care and support, here are some resources to find immediate help and future healing:

*

-Visit 988lifeline.org or text, call, or chat with The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988 from anywhere in the U.S. to be connected immediately with a trained counselor. Please note that 988 staff are required to take all action necessary to secure the safety of a caller and initiate emergency response with or without the caller’s consent if they are unwilling or unable to take action on their own behalf.

*

-Visit thrivelifeline.org or text “THRIVE” to begin a conversation with a THRIVE Lifeline crisis responder 24/7/365, from anywhere: +1.313.662.8209. This confidential text line is available for individuals 18+ and is staffed by people in STEMM with marginalized identities.

*

-Visit translifeline.org or call (877) 565-8860 in the U.S. or (877) 330-6366 in Canada to learn more and contact Trans Lifeline, who provides trans peer support divested from police.

*

-Visit ciis.edu/ciis-in-the-world/counseling-clinics to learn more and schedule counseling sessions at one of our centers.

*

-Find information about additional global helplines at befrienders.org.

*

LINKS

*

Podcast Transcripts: https://www.ciispod.com/

*

California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) Website: https://www.ciis.edu/

*

CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/ciispublicprograms

*

CIIS Public Programs Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ciispubprograms/

*

Mental Health Care and Support Resources:

https://988lifeline.org/

https://thrivelifeline.org/

https://translifeline.org/

https://www.ciis.edu/ciis-in-the-world/counseling-clinics

https://befrienders.org/

We 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 California Institute of Integral Studies in the Somatic Psychology Department Deanna Jimenez for an inspiring conversation exploring insights from his decades of work in restorative justice and from his latest book Fierce Vulnerability. Kazu invites you to mobilize the power to stop harm by cultivating love to heal it.

*

This episode was recorded during an in-person and live streamed event at California Institute of Integral Studies on May 8th, 2025. You can also watch it on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube channel. A transcript is available at ciis.edu/podcast. To find out more about CIIS and public programs like this one, visit our website ciis.edu and connect with us on social media @ciispubprograms.

*

We hope that each episode of our podcast provides opportunities for growth, and that our listeners will use them as a starting point for further introspection. Many of the topics discussed on our podcast have the potential to bring up feelings and emotional responses. If you or someone you know is in need of mental health care and support, here are some resources to find immediate help and future healing:

*

-Visit 988lifeline.org or text, call, or chat with The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988 from anywhere in the U.S. to be connected immediately with a trained counselor. Please note that 988 staff are required to take all action necessary to secure the safety of a caller and initiate emergency response with or without the caller’s consent if they are unwilling or unable to take action on their own behalf.

*

-Visit thrivelifeline.org or text “THRIVE” to begin a conversation with a THRIVE Lifeline crisis responder 24/7/365, from anywhere: +1.313.662.8209. This confidential text line is available for individuals 18+ and is staffed by people in STEMM with marginalized identities.

*

-Visit translifeline.org or call (877) 565-8860 in the U.S. or (877) 330-6366 in Canada to learn more and contact Trans Lifeline, who provides trans peer support divested from police.

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-Visit ciis.edu/ciis-in-the-world/counseling-clinics to learn more and schedule counseling sessions at one of our centers.

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-Find information about additional global helplines at befrienders.org.

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LINKS

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Podcast Transcripts: https://www.ciispod.com/

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California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) Website: https://www.ciis.edu/

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CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/ciispublicprograms

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CIIS Public Programs Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ciispubprograms/

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Mental Health Care and Support Resources:

https://988lifeline.org/

https://thrivelifeline.org/

https://translifeline.org/

https://www.ciis.edu/ciis-in-the-world/counseling-clinics

https://befrienders.org/