Francesca Maximé: WiseGirl

https://www.moma.org/collection/works/81795?sov_referrer=theme&theme_id=5133&effective_date=2020-08-28

https://www.moma.org/calendar/galleries/5133?

Constantin Brâncuși

Fish

Paris 1930

On view

MoMA, Floor 5, 500

This sculpture is the last of the seven Fish Brancusi created, and the largest. It attests to the artist's deep interest in movement; not only does its heavy body, made of flecked blue-gray marble, evoke aquatic motion, it rests on a pivot that once allowed the work to spin. Even when still, the work changes as one moves around it. Broad and horizontal, the marble transforms into an attenuated sliver from particular points of view.

https://www.moma.org/calendar/galleries/5133?installation_image_index=1

Constantin Brâncuși

Fish

Paris 1930

On view

MoMA, Floor 5, 500

This sculpture is the last of the seven Fish Brancusi created, and the largest. It attests to the artist's deep interest in movement; not only does its heavy body, made of flecked blue-gray marble, evoke aquatic motion, it rests on a pivot that once allowed the work to spin. Even when still, the work changes as one moves around it. Broad and horizontal, the marble transforms into an attenuated sliver from particular points of view.

Sandor Iron Rope is the President of the Native American Church of South Dakota, and also a board member of the Indigenous Peyote Conservation Initiative. Learn more about and donate to the IPCI at ipci.life.

Sacred Plant Medicine

Francesca asks Sandor how we can avoid further exploitation of sacred plant medicine, such as peyote, during the psychedelic decriminalization movement. Sandor talks about the need to have awareness and mindfulness around using these powerful medicines. He shares how his people have struggled to protect this medicine, and how the decriminalization effort has lost the sense of respect it needs in an attempt to move too quickly.

“It’s been a battle since day one to protect our medicine, and grandmas and grandpas have been jailed for utilizing this medicine, peyote. They have been jailed for even practicing our way of life. Now, when you come and understand that history, you can understand a little bit of why we don’t want our peyote in this decriminalization movement, because it’s bio-cultural.” – Sandor Iron Rope

Ram Dass talks about understanding the risks and rewards of using psychedelics on Here and Now Ep. 183

Indigenous Peyote Conservation Initiative (20:15)

Sandor explains how his organization, the Indigenous Peyote Conservation Initiative, has allowed reconnection, regeneration, and conservation of the sacred peyote medicine. They are also teaching their children about the spiritual harvest of the medicine, ensuring the knowledge is passed on. Francesca talks about the short-term thinking of Western culture.

“Everything is about the transfer of energy. Energy is moving, energy exists in all things. Positive and negative energy exists. And when we generate this prayer through positive energy, we are creating this aura, this spiritual aura of energy. And we are projecting the energy upon our medicine, and we are asking it something to help us with. That has been missing.” – Sandor Iron Rope

Roxy Manning PhD and Sarah Peyton join Francesca for a conversation on how we can effectively respond to racism with truth, compassion, and an antiracist heart.

Roxy Manning, PhD is a clinical psychologist and NVC facilitator who loves to guide groups from discord toward values-driven solutions that work for everyone. Her own inner work, coupled with her professional experience, has grown her capacity to meet people with varying levels of education, disparate life experiences, and the most intense feelings in ways that help them feel heard, respected, supported and loved. She has worked globally with individuals and groups committed to social justice and has consulted with businesses, nonprofits, and government organizations around the U.S., wanting to move towards equitable and diverse hiring practices and workplace cultures. Find more at www.RoxanneManning.com

Sarah Peyton, international constellations facilitator, Certified Trainer of Nonviolent Communication and neuroscience educator, integrates constellations, brain science and the use of resonant language to heal personal and collective trauma. Sarah teaches and lectures internationally and is the author of three books: Your Resonant Self: Guided Meditations and Exercises to Engage Your Brain’s Capacity for Healing, it’s companion – Your Resonant Self Workbook: From Self-sabotage to Self-care, and Affirmations for Turbulent Times: Resonant Words to Soothe Body and Mind. Discover more at SarahPeyton.com

Please support Roxy & Sarah’s Kickstarter Project: Two Books: Antiracist Conversations & The Antiracist Heart

Antiracist Conversations // The Antiracist Heart

Welcoming Roxy Manning PhD and Sarah Peyton to ReRooted, Francesca invites this dynamic duo of social justice reform, antiracism, neuroscience, education, and trauma healing, to share the powerful inspiration behind their transformational new two books: Antiracist Conversations & The Antiracist Heart. To start, Roxy shares contemplations around how we address and respond to racism, while Sarah offers grounded self-regulation for overcoming implicit biases and facing racism.

“The more self-regulated we are, the less we are at the mercy of our implicit biases, so the more capacity we have to name what’s happening in our own bodies and be resonate with ourselves, the more we have some ground to stand on to begin to address the structural racism that is terrifyingly comprehensive in our North American world.” – Sarah Peyton

Sarah Peyton & Francesca discuss the effects of white supremacy on neurobiology, on Ep. 41 of ReRooted

History, Grief, & Nonviolent Communication (15:15)

Prompted by Francesca to relay the importance of diving into the history of racism, Roxy shares how doing so is actually learning to move through the stages of grief. Through this lens, she explains how we can use mindful awareness within stages of grief to acknowledge our mourning without collapsing into it. From here the conversation flows into the subtle nuances of nonviolent communication.

“Learning this history is learning to move through the stages of grief. There’s an innocence we have as children where we think we’re gonna be fully accepted and seen for exactly who we are at the capacities we bring, and that moment of realizing over and over again that that’s not the case, we have to go through the anger, denial, all the stages, and whenever we don’t do that, whenever we stop, we actually can get into this really frozen place.” – Roxy Manning, PhD

In this episode of the ReRooted Podcast, Dr. Colin Ross joins Francesca Maximé for a conversation about working with trauma survivors, including combat veterans.

Dr. Colin Ross is an internationally renowned clinician, researcher, author and lecturer in the field of dissociation and trauma-related disorders. He is the founder and President of The Colin A. Ross Institute for Psychological Trauma. Dr. Ross has been running a hospital-based Trauma Program in Dallas, Texas since 1991. He has authored more than 30 books and 250 professional papers. Learn more about Dr. Ross and his work at rossinst.com.

Dissociation and Flashbacks

Francesca welcomes Dr. Ross and they chat about his background in the field of trauma-related disorders. Dr. Ross explains how he defines dissociation, and talks about flashbacks caused by Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Francesca brings up how hard it is for people to let go of trauma, and they touch on how the mental health field can cause mental health problems.

“I always say that a flashback flashes back. If it doesn’t have the quality of flashing back, it’s just with you, it doesn’t intrude. So, in order to have the quality of a flashback, it has to be dissociated, disconnected, stuffed inside somewhere.” – Dr. Colin Ross

The Locus-of-Control Shift (24:40)

Francesca asks Dr. Ross about how he sees shame versus guilt. Dr. Ross brings in his concept of the locus-of-control shift, and gives examples from his work with combat veterans who have shifted the blame about loss of life onto themselves as a way to retain some form of control. He talks about why it might be better to label PTSD as Pre-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

“So the locus-of-control shift is the self-blame, which can lead to both guilt and shame, self-hatred, [and] self-punishment.” – Dr. Colin Ross

A Memorial to Trauma (48:55)

Dr. Ross explores a case where he was treating a woman who was traumatized by sexual abuse. He and Francesca discuss the power of memorials such as the one in Auschwitz, but lament that most trauma survivors don’t have a place like that to put their sorrow and grief. They talk about how addiction manifests as a memorial to trauma, and touch on the ugly history of the mental health field.

“This is what’s missing… Slowing down the empathy, the compassion, holding space, honoring, grieving, having collective ceremony, recognizing one another’s common humanity, that life is precious, that different things are not within our control.” – Francesca Maximé

Get more wisdom and resources from Francesca Maximé at maximeclarity.com.

Physicist, musician, & author, Dr. Stephon Alexander, joins Francesca in a conversation bridging physics, jazz music, race, inspirational teachers, and why it’s important to think outside the box.

Dr. Stephon Alexander is a theoretical physicist, musician and author whose work is at the interface between cosmology, particle physics and quantum gravity. He works on the connection between the smallest and largest entities in the universe, pushing Einstein’s theory of curved space-time to extremes, beyond the big bang with subatomic phenomena. Alexander is a professor of physics at Brown University and the president of the National Society of Black Physicists. In his critically acclaimed book The Jazz of Physics, Alexander revisits the ancient interconnection between music and the evolution of astrophysics and the laws of motion. In his new book Fear of a Black Universe, he invites the field of physics to embrace the unknown. More info: StephonAlexander.com

Ram Dass, Science & Seeking

Introducing another multifaceted being of ‘complex intersectionality,’ Francesca welcomes physicist, musician, and author, Dr. Stephon Alexander, to ReRooted to explore the macro and micro of all things theoretical physics, jazz music, Ram Dass, science, spirituality, race, the universe, and embracing the unknown. To begin, speaking to his upbringing, Dr. Alexander shares how his multicultural background informs his work in science as well as his musical inclinations.

“[Ram Dass] inspired me because he showed those of us who are on an academic path, who prioritize the discursive mind, the intellect, and end up at places like Harvard and Brown—like the Buddha he said, ‘I reached that level, but there’s still more questions that could not be answered in those constructs.’ He is an inspiration for those of us – a seeker, a great scientist. The greatest scientists were like Ram Dass in that way. That idea of being a seeker and being a true scientist are parallel to each other.” – Dr. Stephon Alexander

Ram Dass & physicist Amit Goswami connect science & spirituality, on Ep. 160 of Here & Now

Physics & The Power of a Good Teacher // BIPOC Teacher Empowerment (12:08)

Prompted by Francesca to recount the moving story behind his Ted Talk, Dr. Alexander shares about the inspiring physics teacher and professional jazz musician who changed his life by recognizing and nurturing his innate talent from a young age – propelling and motivating Dr. Alexander on his current paradigm-shifting multidisciplinary trajectory and path. From here, they discuss how having BIPOC in teaching positions empowers us all.

https://complexintegrationmbs.com/

Beatriz & Terry Sheldon MD join Francesca to explore Complex Integration of Multiple Brain Systems, their new innovative psychotherapy paradigm.

Beatriz Sheldon M.Ed, Psych, has practiced psychotherapy for forty years in four languages. She has received specialized post-graduate training in short-term dynamic psychotherapy at McGill University in Montreal, and is director of a psychotherapy training program for advanced clinicians in Vancouver. She and Albert have researched and taught psychotherapy together for 20 years. Albert Sheldon, MD, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Washington, Seattle, has specialized in the research, practice, and training of psychotherapy for 35 years. Dr. Sheldon received a Bush Medical Fellowship to study psychotherapeutic processes from a psychophysiological perspective. The development of the CIMBS paradigm is a result of the Sheldon’s research and teaching experiential psychotherapy to clinicians throughout North America and Europe. More info: ComplexIntegrationmbs.com

Emotional Brain Systems // Care, Connection, Safeness

Welcoming husband and wife psychotherapy duo—Beatriz Sheldon M.Ed, Psych, and Terry Sheldon, MD—to the ReRooted podcast, Francesca invites them to begin with the groundwork of illuminating the various emotional brain systems which make up our present moment human experience. Through this lens, they explore how emotional brain systems like care, connection, and safeness relate to therapy and healing.

“It’s important to get to know what these emotional systems are so that we can have more clarity about our own experiences inside of ourselves, and as a therapist, to get to know the deeper levels of functioning and capacity and resources that we’re all born with.” – Terry Sheldon, MD

Francesca and Dr. Bruce Perry talk trauma, resilience, and healing, on Ep. 55 of ReRooted

Complex Integration of Multiple Brain Systems (12:42)

With groundwork laid, Francesca invites Beatriz and Terry to further unpack the Complex Integration of Multiple Brain Systems, their new innovative psychotherapy paradigm, which aims to heal by “going the other way” – going beneath the fear, by recognizing and allowing our deeper systems’ ability to abide in love in the moment. The Sheldons explain this as a physiological recognition that fear is in the past, while care and trust are in the present.

“There is a physiological change into standing up inside of themselves. When I see that there is this change inside, I immediately ask, ‘What’s happening right now? What are the sensations that are happening right now?’ – Beatriz Sheldon

“Trauma is the puppeteer of the present.” – Francesca Maximé

Learn about embodied change and neurosculpting with Sharon Salzberg and Dr. Rick Hanson, on Ep. 123 of the Metta Hour

Neuroplasticity // Trust, Presence, Unconditional Love (37:37)

Speaking to neuroplasticity, Dr. Sheldon relays the power of following up your therapy session with a walk, physical movement, or meditation—as well as reactivating the same neural pathways when drifting to sleep—to help create lasting traits. From here, the group engages in discourse around very dear themes to Ram Dass and the Be Here Now Network: trust, presence, and unconditional love.

“Trusting what-is on a deeper level, you may not feel like you have access to it, but it’s still there. Not trying to make something happen, but just keep orienting to that neurobiological truth that you are unconditionally worthy, you are unconditionally lovable.” – Terry Sheldon, MD

Dr. Dan Siegel joins Francesca to share the practice of presence, on Ep. 27 of the BHNN Guest Podcast

https://justinvonbujdoss.com/

Francesca Maximé – ReRooted – Ep. 56 – Modern Tantric Buddhism with Lama Justin von Bujdoss

September 22, 2021 | No Comments

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ReRooted with Francesca Maximé

Ep. 56 – Modern Tantric Buddhism with Lama Justin von Bujdoss

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00:00 / 47:51

Lama Justin von Bujdoss joins Francesca to share an authentic and embodied conversation around Tantric Buddhism for our Dharma practice in the modern age.

Justin von Bujdoss is an American Buddhist teacher and chaplain ordained as a repa in the Karma Kamstang tradition of Tibetan Buddhism by His Eminence Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche. Justin is passionate about the preservation of the heart-essence of the tantric Buddhist tradition in a way that meets the needs of, and simultaneously challenges, the modern western way of life. Justin has served as the resident-lama and executive director of New York Tsurphu Goshir Dharma Center and is Staff Chaplain and Executive Director of the Division of Chaplaincy and Staff Wellness for NYC Department of Correction. Justin has also worked as a full-time home hospice chaplain and teaches dharma in a variety of settings from monasteries, retreat centers and dharma centers, to hospital didactics, CPE groups and at conferences and museums. More info: JustinvonBujdoss.com

Modern Tantric Buddhism: Engaging in Practice

Welcoming Lama Justin von Bujdoss to the ReRooted podcast, Francesca invites him to share the core themes encased within his new book brimming with ancient wisdom translated for our spiritual practice in the contemporary age: Modern Tantric Buddhism: Embodiment and Authenticity in Dharma Practice.

“The book and a lot of the work that I do is rooted at this intersection of Tantric Buddhist practice and chaplaincy, and also a lot of the natural critique, which I think is a healthy thing for practitioners to engage in exploring: how is it that I interact with the tradition that I am practicing?” – Lama Justin von Bujdoss

Learn to embody Tantric Devotion with Ram Dev (Dale Borglum), on Ep. 63 of Healing at the Edge

Embodied Tantric Buddhist Practice: Authentic Wisdom Born of Experience (11:28)

Francesca and Lama Justin von Bujdoss speak to the importance of visualization practices, working with relationships, facing difficulties and apprehensions head-on, and how truly authentic wisdom is born of direct felt experience.

“Authentic wisdom born of experience—I can’t stress the importance of that enough. That is the thing that becomes this fuel that allows us to reinvest in our meditation, double down, and go a little bit deeper.” – Lama Justin von Bujdoss

Take the journey to authenticity with Buddhist writer, speaker, and broadcaster, Kelly Carlin on Ep. 71 of the BHNN Guest Podcast

Breaking Relationship to Habit Mind // Social Justice & Equity Work (30:00)

Sharing on the powerful Tibetan Buddhist practices of Dzogchen and Mahamudra, Lama Justin and Francesca dig deep into the power encased in breaking/disrupting our momentum-driven relationship with our habit-mind through short, but frequent meditation sessions. From here, they dive into how to apply Tantric Buddhist practices to social justice and equity work in the real world.

“There’s a long thread of practice style around a meditation called Mahamudra, which is very similar to Dzogchen, advising people to sit for short periods, like 12 minutes, where it’s really about breaking up the habit, rather than one long grueling session where your mind goes numb and you find yourself suffering. Sometimes there’s more power in breaking up our relationship to habit-mind in these shorter sessions.” – Lama Justin von Bujdoss

Dr. Bruce Perry rejoins Francesca to share on trauma, resilience, and healing, power dynamics and the collective, as well as the stress response and shutting down.

Dr. Bruce Perry is the Senior Fellow of The ChildTrauma Academy a Community of Practice based in Houston, TX, and Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago. He recently authored, along with Oprah Winfrey, the new book, What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing. Over the last thirty years, Dr. Perry has been an active teacher, clinician, and researcher in children’s mental health and neuroscience. You can find more information at www.bdperry.com https://www.childtrauma.org/ https://www.neurosequential.com/nmt

“Awareness is part of the primary process that will lead to change.” – Dr. Bruce Perry

What Happened to You?

Welcoming back Dr. Bruce Perry to the ReRooted podcast for the first-half of a riveting two-part conversation, a delighted Francesca invites him to share on core themes of the new book he just wrote alongside Oprah Winfrey, What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing. Marking the foundations of trauma work created through the diligence of Sandy Bloom, Dr. Perry shares the history and evolution of trauma, resilience, and healing, in regards to race, misogyny, and education systems.

“If every few generations we make tiny little tweaks, you haven’t really changed education. All you’ve done is maintained the existing power structure; you just redecorated it. You have the same house; it’s just got different furniture. When people talk about systemic racism or misogyny – both exist in our public education system. If you get so defensive that you don’t see that clearly, you’ll end up missing a tremendous opportunity to make meaningful change in your systems.” – Dr. Bruce Perry

Learn to get in touch with your nervous system and start to heal through resilience, on, Ep. 106 of the Indie Spiritualist

Power Dynamics & The Collective (11:08)

How do we begin to transform the culture? How can we start to transform ourselves from the inside out? How do we recognize power dynamics at play throughout history and change them now? Inviting in the micro, macro, and mezzo perspectives, Francesca asks Dr. Perry to illuminate historical power dynamics through the lens of U.S. colonization, oppression, and marginalization.

“Oppression flows down. It’s an unfortunate characteristic of the human species, that we tend to cluster and create an ‘us & them.’ And so, in the consolidation of power for yourself, it’s always in your interest to have an external marginalized people to basically coalesce your power. That model of gaining power is marginalizing others.” – Dr. Bruce Perry

Stress Response & Shutting Down (17:42)

Speaking to the notion that many humans will naturally exhibit a stress response in the brain when confronted with other people with unfamiliar attributes, Dr. Perry explains how this shutting down of the neocortex makes individuals less open to change and connectivity; and more susceptible to fall into concrete thinking and accepting oversimplified explanations.

“Historically, the major predator of human beings has always been other humans. So when you meet people who are not like you, or have unfamiliar attributes, the default response is to shut down—activate the stress response which will shut down part of your cortex. So instead of becoming more abstract, inclusive, and thoughtful, you become more concrete, categorial, and vulnerable to simple, linear explanations.” – Dr. Bruce Perry

“All biological systems that develop, they develop all kinds of mechanisms to maintain themselves. If people actually had moments where they were fully reflective, they wouldn’t live the way they live. Which means the whole system would unravel, capitalism would unravel, materialism would unravel.” – Dr. Bruce Perry

www.thelotusinstitute.org

Larry Ward Ph.D. joins Francesca to uncover ‘America’s Racial Karma,’ exploring the healing intersection of Buddhism and race in America.

Larry Ward Ph.D. is a senior teacher in Buddhist Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village tradition. He brings twenty-five years of international experience in organizational change and local community renewal to his work as director of the Lotus Institute and as an advisor to the Executive Mind Leadership Institute at the Drucker School of Management. He holds a Ph.D. in Religious Studies with an emphasis on Buddhism and the neuroscience of meditation, and recently released a new book, America’s Racial Karma: An Invitation to Heal. Larry is a knowledgeable, charismatic and inspirational teacher, offering insights with personal stories and resounding clarity that express his dharma name, “True Great Sound.”

Buddhism & Race in America

Welcoming Buddhist teacher and author Larry Ward to the Rerooted podcast, Francesca invites him to share how the vantage point of learning and teaching Buddhism under Thich Nhat Hanh helped inform his timely new book, America’s Racial Karma: An Invitation to Heal. Francesca and Larry take a close look at how our identities are constructed narratives, but still hold a strong reality in our daily lives; before diving into the historical roots of white supremacy.

“I wanted to apply what I had learned through my practice in Buddhism, as well as my scholarly work in Buddhism, to my lived experience of race in America. I wanted to invite people into a deeper look at the human psychology and nervous system interactions that create and sustain white supremacy.” – Larry Ward PhD

Explore anti-racism as a spiritual practice in this podcast focused on the spirituality of racial equality, on Ep. 21 of Sufi Heart

Colonialism & Seperation / God & Interconnection (13:18)

Speaking to the ‘othering’ inherent in colonialism, Larry explains how the idea of being a fixed separate self creates materialism, commodification, and hierarchy – seeing the world as matter, rather than one interconnected god. Uncovering the Buddhist notion of non-self—the interconnection that is the baseline love of reality—Francesca and Larry illuminate how, through spiritual practice, society can begin to heal at its root: the individual human nervous system.

“I’m hoping to contribute to understanding our nervous system well enough to understand how it’s been conditioned by white supremacy, by our own lives, by our families, by our school systems, by our work ethic, by our cultural context, so that we can have enough distance from that to look at it and decide: What do we keep of this? What do we throw away? What do we modify?” – Larry Ward PhD

For more Francesca in conversation on healing racial trauma in the mind and body, tune into, Ep. 43 of ReRooted

Poetry, Pain, & Sensitivity (37:20)

Invited by Francesca to read a deeply moving poem from his book, Larry harkens a powerful bhav (spiritual essence) in exploring the themes of race, racism, identity, impermanence, equanimity, George Floyd, love, and infinity. From this vantage, Larry and Francesca share how to hold pain when dealing with such an immense weight of suffering, by learning how to become more sensitive in your own body and within the spirit.

“Find the ground of no coming and no going. Embrace yourself. Love yourself. Lift yourself up so you can lift all the rest of us to higher ground.” – Larry Ward PhD