Letting Grow

 In this first interview episode, Claire talks with Laurel Sprengelmeyer, musician and visual artist (aka Little Scream), about her journey from a childhood in the Jehovah’s Witnesses.  Laurel shares what she got from that tradition, her growing discomfort with it in high school and college, and how difficult it was to leave.  

To check out Laurel’s Little Scream albums and some cool merch, visit https://littlescream.bandcamp.com/.

Questions or comments – or your own story of death and rebirth to tell?  Write Claire at [email protected].  Want a deep dive on this topic?  Check out Growing Through Transitions, an online, on-demand course: https://clairevillarreal.teachable.com/p/growing-through-transitions2.  Or visit clairevillarreal.com, to subscribe to my newsletter.

Thanks for listening.  :)

Tibetan teachings on the death process are profoundly inspiring.  Yes, it’s a sad and possibly scary time of letting go of our ordinary sense of self – but what really dies is everything except our true self, which gets to shine through clearly into our experience.  Today’s teaching episode centers on Tibetan teachings about the death process, but we’ll also discuss why it’s difficult to let go into transitions and how we can prepare daily.

In the episode, I mention a couple of books and an important concept, so here are links:

• William Bridges, Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes
• Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, Mind Beyond Death
• Bruce Feiler, Life is in the Transitions

And you can read more about Max Weber’s concept of disenchantment here.

Questions or comments – or your own story of death and rebirth to tell?  Write me at [email protected].  Want a deep dive on this topic?  Check out my online course: https://clairevillarreal.teachable.com/p/growing-through-transitions2.  Or visit my site, clairevillarreal.com, to subscribe to my newsletter.

Thanks for listening.  :)

We all need support to go through the transitions in our lives, and this meditation offers a way to call on our inner wisdom for help and guidance.  This practice begins with relaxing the body, then guides you through a visualization practice that invokes your ability to stay grounded through change.

If this was helpful to you, you might be interested in the course it came from, Growing Through Transitions, which you can find here starting at just $29: https://clairevillarreal.teachable.com/p/growing-through-transitions2

Questions or comments – or your own story of death and rebirth to tell?  Write me at [email protected].  Want a deep dive on this topic?  Check out my online course: https://clairevillarreal.teachable.com/p/growing-through-transitions2.  Or visit my site, clairevillarreal.com, to subscribe to my newsletter.

Thanks for listening.  :)

Transitions often take us through loss and darkness, but we come out the other side transformed and more in touch with our light.  In this episode, I briefly outline the four bardo (in-between) states that the Tibetan Buddhist tradition uses to talk about death and rebirth, the biggest transition we face.  And I introduce the structure of transitions, a way of applying these teachings to the “deaths and rebirths” we all experience within this lifetime.

Questions or comments – or your own story of death and rebirth to tell?  Write me at [email protected].  Want a deep dive on this topic?  Check out my online course: https://clairevillarreal.teachable.com/p/growing-through-transitions2.  Or visit my site, clairevillarreal.com, to subscribe to my newsletter.

Thanks for listening.  :)

What do Tibetan Buddhist teachings on the death and rebirth process have in common with Marie Kondo’s method of tidying by getting rid of anything that doesn’t bring you joy?  They’re both about the process of letting go of the old, reflecting on what’s most meaningful to us, and then growing into a new version of ourselves.

With one episode per week, we’ll talk about the literal death and rebirth process described in Tibetan Buddhism, and we’ll also dig into the gentler forms of transition that we go through within this lifetime: graduating from high school, college, or some other period of education; moving, changing jobs, getting married, breaking up, having kids, having an empty nest, and more.  

Some episodes will be guided meditations, some will be short lessons on these topics, and some will be interviews with experts and with ordinary people going through transitions.  We’ll talk about ancient teachings and how they connect with pop culture.

In season one, we’ll go through the Tibetan teachings on the death and rebirth process, which will give us a kind of template for talking about transitions more generally.

Please subscribe now to let go and grow together.