CTZN

In this episode, we are talking about love. Not the mushy, romantic kind of love. But Real Love - how to love when it’s hard or less obvious; how to love when we don’t agree; how to love in the face of so much division and oppression.

And we are turning to the incredibly wise Sharon Salzberg, meditation master and and best-selling author. Sharon has been teaching Metta meditation, or loving kindness, since 1974. She’s been seminal, not just in bringing meditation and mindful practice to the west, but in modernizing the practice, making it relatable and accessible. Her latest book, Real Love, does just that. In our conversation, we tackle everything from loving our enemies to empathy burn-out to befriending our inner critic and to voting as an act of love.

If this episode resonates for you, we’d love for you to take a screenshot and tag us on Instagram stories @ctznwell and @sharonsalzberg, and click below to tweet:

“Real Love is not about letting yourself off the hook. Real love does not encourage you to ignore your problems or deny your mistakes or imperfections. You see them clearly & still opt for love.” @sharonsalzberg on #CTZN Podcast with @kkellyyoga @ctznwell ctznwell.org/ctznpodcast

More about this episode:

Sharon’s book really challenged my ideas about love, especially given the state of the world. It’s hard to love people who are perpetuating harm and separation. But if I’m being honest, I equally struggle with loving myself. And whenever I’d hear or read about self love, I’d roll my eyes. It just seemed impossible to me. Instead I had my own flavor of love - one that was conditional and perfectionist. A perspective, I realize, that is not very different from the culture of scarcity and supremacy that is profiting off of the idea that love or worthiness must be earned; that one must be “good enough” to get or give love.

But that’s not what Sharon is talking about. Instead, she offers a more complex and inclusive perspective on real love. She says: “Real Love is not about letting yourself off the hook. Real love does not encourage you to ignore your problems or deny your mistakes or imperfections. You see them clearly and still opt for love.”

Love has the capacity to exist beyond difference and division, beyond imperfections and mistakes. And when we understand real love for ourselves, we can understand it for others - especially when it’s hard. What Sharon is teaching, and what I’m learning for myself, is that love, too, is a practice.

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Tarana Burke set the #MeToo movement in motion long before the Harvey Weinstein scandal, the Alyssa Milano tweet or the Time’s Up campaign. It actually began more than a decade ago in Alabama to support brown and Black survivors of sexual violence. Since then, the call has gone viral, and Tarana is on a mission to help survivors navigate what comes after the hashtag. Whether you're a survivor or an ally, everyone has a place in this movement, she says. And as you’ll hear in this interview, she is proving that a movement of radical healing is not only possible, it’s happening.#MeToo is not just a movement for white cisgender women. It's about giving young people language, survivors a way forward, and the community coming together to combat sexual assault.

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Check out the MeTooMvmt.

If this episode resonates for you, we’d love for you to take a screenshot and tag us on Instagram stories @ctznwell and @taranaburke, and click below to tweet:

“If we don’t center the voices of maringalized people, than we are doing the wrong work” @taranaburke @kkellyyoga @ctznwell #CTZN ctznwell.org/ctznpodcast

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She's blunt, brilliant, hilarious, and an abundance of wisdom. Seane Corn is a world renowned master yoga teacher, but to just call her a yoga teacher feels absurd. She is a provocative and moving public speaker. She's the founder of the nonprofit, Off the Mat Into the World, which has trained over 5,000 people in how to bridge personal transformation and social change. And she's about to be an author for her first book, which knowing her, will be a juicy “tell all” about her journey from spiritual practice to social action. But, what you will experience of Seane on this podcast, and what I know of her in person, is that she is relentless in her pursuit of truth and transformation.

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Buy Seane’s Book Revolution of the Soul

Check out Seane’s website for upcoming events

If this episode resonates for you, we’d love for you to take a screenshot and tag us on Instagram stories @ctznwell and @seanecorn and click below to tweet:

We can’t stand on the sidelines. We cannot sit back and have magical thinking that suddenly this is all going to transform without actually getting involved. @ctznwell @kkellyyoga @jerseycorn #CTZN ctznwell.org/ctznpodcast

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Today, we are talking with Marianne Williamson, spiritual activist, best selling author, and total bad-ass. But what most people don't know about her is that she is a political powerhouse. In this episode, we’re talking about the relationship between spirituality and politics, how to be a strong woman in today’s world and getting back to loving America again. I call Marianne Williamson the matriarch of our movement. Because she’s not just bringing it on the spiritual front, she is bringing it on the political front and blazing a trail for what she calls integrative politics - a politics that is rooted in love and humanity and what we are here to do for one another.

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Check out her website for upcoming events, lectures and courses.

Buy her book Healing the Soul of America

If this episode resonates for you, we’d love for you to take a screenshot and tag us on Instagram stories @ctznwell @kkellyyoga @mariannewilliamson and click below to tweet:

“I don’t see politics so much a part of my spiritual practice, I see it as a part of my human practice. And i see my spirituality is about being human” @marwilliamson @ctznwell @kkellyyoga #ctznpodcast https://ctt.ac/dpEbw+

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Reverend angel Kyodo williams, born and raised in New York, is an ordained zen priest and sensei. She is acclaimed author of Radical Dharma and Being Black: Zen and the art of living with fearlessness and grace, and that is a perfect title to describe her. She is a force of nature. In this episode, Rev angel talks about how we need to hold the intersectional complexity of who we are in America and how we came to be here. She challenges us to go beyond what is politically correct or socially acceptable and do the simple and radical thing of practicing justice and being in relationship with one another.

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And check out her website for events, lectures and social syllabi on allyship and inclusive feminism.

Buy Radical Dharma: Talking Love, Justice & Liberation

If this episode resonates for you, we’d love for you to take a screenshot and tag us on Instagram stories @ctznwell and @zenchangeangel and click below to tweet:

We are looking at a pivotal point in our nation's history where we can take a turn towards very different america. And the question is “what side of that conversation are we going to be on?” @zenchangeangel @kkellyyoga @ctznwell #CTZNpodcast ctznwell.org/ctznpodcast

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