Today, Sam speaks with Yogi, Deep Breather, & Naropa Alumni Eric Kierney! 

Thank you for your sharing your journey with us all, Eric! 

Dani Mae - Breathguidance.com

Today, Sam talks about his research into the effects of storytelling during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The impact of the shared collective trauma on our mental health & well-being | Re-entry, and Resiliency | Polarization in relationships, communities, and more | Stress, Fear, and Distrust | Inability to put ourselves into each other's shoes | Isolation | Connection | Hope | Resilience | Being touched by other people's stories | Empathy & Compassion | An invitation to share our stories | Sharing and listening from a place of loving-kindness | Making meaning our of our experiences | Tapping into Resilience | 

Thank you all so much for listening!

Today, Sam speaks with the Magical Elhoim Leafar! 

Join us as we talk about growing up gay in Venezuela, the experience of discrimination, and the healing journey. 

Feeling overwhelmed by the state of the World | Writing a new book during COVID | Growing up gay in a homophobic & misogynistic culture | Coming out the day before graduating High School | Being Bullied | Living under expectations that were never his to fulfill | Barely escaping being raped | "Hitting a point where I realized I don't really have a life; I was living for them" | Moving to New York with his partner | Experiencing PTSD when in proximity to soldiers | Identifying triggers and communicating about them with those who are closest to him | Finding a chosen family | Having an Auntie who imparted her magical/spiritual practices to him | Studying tarot, spell casting, and becoming his mother's assistant as a boy | Stepping into magic work wholeheartedly | Writing nine books about his work | His 9th book, Manifestation Magic, to be released July 2021 | "The world belongs to people who really believe in other people." |

Thank you, Elhoim, for your heartfelt share, courage, and wisdom! 

Website: elhoimleafar.com

IG: elhoimleafar

Today, Sam speaks with his friend Maya Barak.

Maya is a mom, Biometric Hand Analysis professional, attachment parenting advocate, and certified massage therapist focused on somato-emotional healing, implementing attachment bodywork. 

Homeschooling her two kids during COVID | Putting her business plans on hold to take care of her family | Surrendering to “what is” | Receiving a Hand Analysis session changed her life | Finding out that our genetic “gifts” can be seen in the hands | "It is a proven tool for self-improvement as it uncovers early experiences and learned behaviors that make life a frustrating struggle." | "The Biometric Hand Analysis helped me realize why I was acting, reacting, avoiding, and doing things a certain way. It helped me understand the "why" behind the "what." | Turning to Attachment Bodywork after hand analysis to deepen her healing and understanding | "Where it hurts most is where we need to work" | Discovering what she wanted through self-intimacy, | Finding her calling to help others in the process of her own journey| Making space for the entirety of our emotions | Showing children that we have a rainbow of emotions | Giving ourselves and others permission to feel hurt, angry, and be overwhelmed at times | Breaking the chain of avoiding "negative" emotions | Teaching children to ask questions | "I want my kids to know that everyone is equal and to see them through their heart" | "Be curious, to ask, and to question, dig deep, surround ourselves by people who love you and support us." 

Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom and experience, Maya! 

Maya's Websites:

www.HandsAnalysis.com

www.MayaBarakBodyWork.com

www.KoalaMoms.com

Today, Sam speaks with his friend Rebecca.

Join us as we talk to Rebecca about the various practices that have helped her come into presence, some of her struggles, and the work she is doing in the world.   

Being a massage therapist, a Kundalini yoga & meditation instructor, and a barber | Reflecting on “what I need” in her daily sitting practice | Finding pure acceptance of life through meditation | Experiencing depression and overcoming substance abuse | Cultivating awareness through various disciplines | "Breath creates movement, and movement creates breath" | "We struggle so much with death because we struggle with really living life" | Seeing the beauty that surrounds us | "As long as we are in the human body, there is duality" | Being appreciative for the emotions that flow through us | Ayurvedic practices and the five elements | Consciously using the word love | Constantly evolving and taking new shape | "Everything that surrounds us is inviting us to grow." |

So grateful to have the opportunity to have such a heartfelt conversation with you, Rebbeca. Thank you 💙

Recca's Website: Mocushi.com

Today, Sam speaks with his friend Ty.

Join us as we talk to Ty about his life experience, growing up as a black man in a country that oppressed him and ancestors, and his work in himself and with others to heal.  

Experiencing emotional complexity this year | After hearing the presidential election results saying to himself, "I can take a breath" | Feeling a glimmer of hope for the next administration in the White House | Living in a world where irrational prejudice is in the "ether" constantly | Asking himself, "How can people not find a way to kindness?" | Paradox of feeling compassionate towards others while simultaneously reporting an experience of "terror." | "There is nothing in him that is not in you, you cannot move from othering, you can only move by healing the part of them that lives in me" | "We are here to heal Western civilization." (Malidoma Somé) | Working in prison with inmates about healing and experiencing their wounding through their stories | "The healing is hearing where other people are coming from." | Experiencing the enthusiasm from which the younger generation is stepping into being their authentic selves. | "A better argument doesn't mean others are wrong; it means you've been able to bully them into believing your perspective is strong." | Feeling the importance of multigenerational gatherings at this time | His great grandmother Cora Lena Odom said, "No one is better than you, and you are better than no one!" |

I have so much love and appreciation for you, Ty! 

Email: [email protected]

Today, Sam speaks with his friend Sara S'Jegers.

Join us as we talk to Sara about her art, nomadic life, and life experience during a pandemic.

Adventurer, beautifier, body/mind/soul worker, magician, wonderer/wanderer, child, woman, and a fool. | Maintaining a physical exercise practice | Living a nomadic life | Getting stuck in paradise | Basking in the beauty of Mallorca while sheltering-in-place | Berniecrat, Idealist, and Social justice activist | Slowing down and appreciating nature | Nature as an inspiration for art | Embodied activism | Cyanotypes as a medium | Living in synchronicity | Finding touch as a healing modality | Spreading art into the world | 

Thank you so much, Sara! 

Website: https://www.sarasjegers.com/

Today, Sam speaks with his friend Jasmine Horan.

Join us as we talk to Jasmine about her new book, starting a publishing company, and raising awareness for social & environmental justice:

Author of Gazebo Learning Project: A Legacy of Experiential and Experimental Early Childhood Education at Esalen | Growing up in the counterculture of Big Sur | Gazebo school as an experimental/experiential learning project in the mid-'70s | Breaking the mold of the public schooling system | How Esalen culture contributed to a new educational philosophy for children | Empowering children to be the expert in their experience | Being a Gazebo student, a Gazebo teacher, and a parent of a Gazebo child | "The Power of Play: Brain-body = mind-body" | Dance & movement as intelligence | Mind-body practices create new neurological pathways | Acknowledging her privileged upbringing | Empowering children to be more authentic | "Coming to each moment as my authentic self is a practice" | Raising a bi-racial daughter of African decent | Appreciating the embodied/somatic aspect of looking at racial justice | Empowering her daughter and helping her along this journey of self-love |

Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom, Jasmine! 

Go to www.silverpeakpress.com to buy your copy of The Gazebo Learning Project: A Legacy of Experiential & Experimental Early Childhood Education at Esalen 

Email: [email protected] 

Today, Sam speaks with his friend Johna Goldenflame.

Join us as we talk to Johna about her dedication to her work, the power of EFT, and her hopes for a better world:

"The essence of my work is to facilitate self-growth through healing the pain of the past" | Studying healing arts and esoteric wisdom since childhood | EFT as the backbone of Johna's practice | Using EFT to bring an emotional state of equilibrium | Understanding how the body processes stress | "Some emotions are life-affirming and others inhibit our expressions of life." | Returning to a state of natural life force that wants to express itself | Accessing the ability to discharge negative emotions | Feeling inspired and stable during this time | "One foot in our reactionary, primal selves and one foot in our future" | Always connected to where we're going and seeing the transformation that is happening | The pain and breakdown we experience is necessary to get through this step in our evolution | Learning how to move through emotions fluidly | Being in acceptance of our discomfort | Being able to anchor into belief | We as humans need positive reflections from others. | "Anyone can decide to be powerful." | Looking inward to find the teacher and the wisdom in one's self | The personal and collective call to greatness | Holding space and being loving | Bringing enthusiasm to what’s happening | "We’re all in this together." 

Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom, Johna! 

Johna's Contact: https://www.visionarypowerhouse.life/

& https://www.goldenflame.us/visionary-powerhouse