In this Radical Responsibility podcast, I interview Dr. Dan Siegel, Founder of the Mindsight Institute, a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine, and the founding co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA. Also, as the author of 13 books (4 bestsellers), we discuss his vast insight on how to integrate our minds for better well-being and resilience through love, interconnection, and presence.

We also chat about:

-How his three-pillar mindfulness practice training can help us become more resilient.
-Integrating the threat-seeking part of our brain to improve wellbeing and resilience.
-Why our sense of purpose is essential to our resilience.


For more on Dr. Dan Siegel, you can visit his website www.DrDanSiegel.com and www.mindsightinstitute.com

In this Radical Responsibility episode, I interview Tara Brach a meditation icon with over 4 decades of meditation teaching experience. As a clinical psychologist, Tara has a unique ability to blend Western psychology with her Eastern spiritual practices, Tara is also a best-selling author of 4 books. She chats to me, about the trance of unworthiness and how it impacts the racial divide in our society.

I am joined by John Macadams, a dear friend, colleague, and member of the Shambala Buddist Community. With over 25 years of experience in the Hollywood film industry and as a volunteer Buddhist chaplain in LA county sheriff’s jails, John shares about the conditions of prison and his insight into radical responsibility and transformation, even in the toughest of environments.

In this podcast we further discuss:

The interplay between hustling for one’s livelihood and lifelong meditation practice.
The role of compassion and empathy in self-regulation and trauma.
How personal responsibility translates into collective responsibility.
Taking charge of one’s own life, and giving back to the community.

I’m joined by Miles Kessler founder and director of the Integral Dojo and non-profit organization Aikido Without Borders in Israel/Palestine. As an American teacher of Aikido (6th Dan Aikikai), meditation, and Integral Practice, Miles discusses his challenging journey to becoming more mindful and finding his authentic self amidst the different contexts of his original American culture, his learned Japanese culture, and his Burmese adventure in pursuit of the Dharma. He further shares his insights into Integral Theory and Buddhist mindfulness practices and discusses both martial and mindful approaches to working with and resolving conflict.

Together we further discuss:

Miles’s integral perspective on conflict and the possibility of evolution from our hard-wired zero-sum to a positive-sum approach.
How we naturally kick into survival mode in conflict, and how we can fine-tune into our interior states to tune into others with the possibility of realizing “intersubjectivity”.
How chanting Mantras such as this one can help us self-regulate when facing conflict: “I am not passive, I am not aggressive, I am not passive-aggressive. Who am I?”.
The drama triangle, self-regulation, and letting go of the limited self.


For more information on Mile’s offerings, you can reach him at https://theintegraldojo.com/about/

In this podcast, I am joined by Eric Jukelevics, a photographer, videographer, marketer, and contributor to The Mankind Project and The Event. Eric shares how “showing up” in life has got him to where he is as a creative entrepreneur, an actively involved dad, and a Muay Thai.

We also discuss:

What got Eric into the personal evolution work, how scared and small he showed up in the world before his “electrifying” experience of trauma release at The Event.
How Eric’s physical transformation (losing 30 pounds) helped him embrace his capacity to become stronger not just physically but mentally.
How he came to the conscious decision to show up for his health, work, and mostly his daughter as a single dad.
Toxic masculinity and how it’s confused with the behaviors of boys who are yet to become men.
His photography book is a celebration of self-empowerment by using tattooed bodies as a canvas and beautifying them


To reach Eric Jukelevics you can contact him at https://www.ericjukelevics.com/

I am joined by Alan Anderson, a teacher and student in the Shambala Buddist Community for 30 years, and the Founder of Arts and Mindfulness for Academic Progress (A.MAP) where he taught music and mindfulness.

Alan courageously recounts a painful and shameful time, 8 years ago, when he had failed many people in his life, including his Shambala Community. He shares how even with all the shame and loss of identity, how a journey of compassion led him to radical responsibility. In this podcast, he outlines the 7 skills that helped him get through this difficult time.

We further discuss:
How through all the shame, he still managed to find his innate/inherent goodness
Self-deception as a barrier to taking responsibility, and how shifting from blaming others to ownership of Alan’s experience helped him heal.
The power of meditation, and the importance of entertaining a different perspective.
The freedom that comes from no longer hiding away


For more details on Alan Anderson’s book, “When Bad Lands”, you can visit his website https://alankentanderson.com/