Pollinate

Carlos Perez left his job as a software developer and fully committed to sculpting. His series, called 'Play', delves into letting go of control, owning our sexuality with a sense of innocence. He shares the nuances of his artistic process and explores what sculpting can reveal about us as artists, observers, and collaborators. His series is impacted by his Venezuelan upbringing, and evokes a pursuit of fuller embodiment, vulnerability and intimacy.

In 2015 the Green candidate won 3%; this past 2019 election, Mike Morrice won 26% of the vote for the Kitchener Centre riding. His campaign saw the largest vote jump of any candidacy across Canada. He raised more than $100,000, more than 60 times the amount raised by previous candidates, and saw an astounding increase in community engagement. All this with no previous political experience. 

Hear how striving to represent what is important to people can make a difference, including some of the his more impactful take-aways. We hope to inspire deeper reflection on democratic engagement.

Also, read the story on The Record: In Kitchener Centre, the Green candidate made history

In this episode, we speak with community organizer of Authentic Relating Toronto and Facilitator of Circling, Taylor Barratt. He speaks to us about these relational modalities that have the potential to expand awareness, reveal blind spots, cultivate meaningful relationships, creates a feeling of being seen,  cultivates presence, authenticity, and personal transformation. He shares with us his personal journey with this practice, including it's impact on his romantic and familial relationships. He highlights some of the scientific research and published theories that aid the continual development of this cognitive practice and it's myriad of applications.

Valentina Leo, an embodied initiator (Dakini) of Traditional Kaula-Tantra lineage of Kashmir Shivaism. She speaks with us all the way from South Africa about the essence of tantra, what it means to be wonder-struck, why we forget about our divinity, what is occurring when we fall in love or resonate with a teacher, and how to access our sexual energy through the pleasures of life.

After spending most of his life avoiding speaking due to a debilitating stutter, Joze Piranian is now a TEDx speaker, the recipient of the Inspirational Speaker of the year award in 2017 and a stand-up comedian who has performed in the US, Canada and the UK in English, French and Spanish. One of his talks went viral online this year ; it was viewed by more than two million people worldwide.  In this episode, Joze shares his tale of overcoming adversity to motivate others to face their fears, overcome their obstacles and skyrocket their true potential in both their professional and personal lives.

Reva Wild takes us into the depths of internal processes by becoming present with the care behind our more turbulent emotions. She reflects on the use of 'core transformation’ process to excavate our deepest needs, and create space to give that to ourselves. We delve into how to create cohesion in relationships instead of creating an 'end product' of our relationships. She touches on the roots of that product driven mindset and how that impacts our ability to learn, play and be present with what is here, hindering us from leveraging our life's possibility.  In this episode we go deeper into re-familiarizing ourselves with ‘play’ as a pivotal component to learning, recognizing impact of our actions and realigning ourselves with our creative pursuits.

This is a special episode, a cathartic portrait of classical theatre school training. 

In January 2018, The Star, CBC News, came out with articles about George Brown Theatre School and it's psychological impact on it's students. Many students have suffered trauma, mental health issues, eating disorders, and anguish after undergoing this pedagogical training.

Read the Intermission Magazine story about the educational reform in Theatre Institutions, and Confessions from Theatre School, as referred to in the podcast.

Thank you to all who agreed to be interviewed for this piece: the artistic director, teachers, students from 20 years, 10 years, 5 years to present. You have helped to paint a fuller picture of our experience.

A deep thank you to all who stepped up in laying the foundations for a healthier, innovative approach to artistic learning. You are helping to lay foundations that many, previously, have fought hard for and failed. You have paved a means for many to find closure. Even still, you paved a healthier means for all emerging artists to realize their dreams.

It is my hope that someone who is suffering from creative, psychological, emotional, spiritual blockages due to the arts education in post-secondary institutions would benefit from hearing this piece, and know that change is possible and is happening.

Indu Iyer, a freelance writer, playwright and painter opens up about her experience in the theatre conservatory, how it accompanied her voyage into 'madness', and how she has used boxing as a tool to heal herself.

WARNING: sound quality suffered due to bad connection, but, don't worry, the content delivers.

In this episode, Katie Christie, a Holistic Nutritionist, speaks about looking at root causes of nutritional imbalances, the impact of different foods on our system, and actionable steps to begin to foster healthy habits. She provides tools to locate the best-accessible foods and gives advice on how to cultivate self-awareness around our self-sabotaging patterns.

Visit SoulFeastKatie

In this episode, Alan Reed, a geomancer, gives advice on how to reduce electromagnetic stress. He speaks about the importance of clean fundamental resources to restore balance in our bodies, how imbalances show up within natural terrain, and exemplified different ways to make a positive impact within our natural environments.