Guest: James O’Dea, author and former president of the Institute of Noetic Sciences 

What do you think of when you hear the word “resilience”? Many people associate the word with strength, adaptability, or a toughness that can overcome the fiercest of challenges and unexpected change. In this episode, we’re talking with James O’Dea, former president of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, former Washington office director of Amnesty International, and former executive director of the Seva Foundation. 

James joins our podcast host, Deborah Rozman, to discuss why resilience is so key to both our personal growth and to humanity’s collective healing. They talk about the qualities of resilience we all need today in the face of growing personal, social, and global stress and uncertainty. James has witnessed the terror of war, massacre, civil upheaval, and a coup d’état. He has also witnessed the personification of resilience in people with a tremendous courage to uphold their heart values regardless of their circumstances. 

James explains in this episode why resilience isn’t just the ability to bounce back after a toxic disrupter or a stressful time—resilience is an energy we build in our system through honoring and living heart values, such as care, compassion, kindness, and generosity. 

This episode closes with a heart meditation to build resilience in our lives and to co-create a reservoir of regenerative heart energy that we can access anytime, to reduce stress and increase our capacity to remain resilient.

About our guest:

James O’Dea is the award-winning author of The Conscious Activist, Cultivating Peace, and Soul Awakening Practice. He is a former president of the Institute of Noetic Sciences as well as the former Washington office director of Amnesty International, where he met with U.S. presidents and foreign heads of state and represented Amnesty International to the World Conference on Human Rights. He was the executive director of the Seva Foundation and worked with the Middle East Council of Churches in Beirut during a time of war and massacre, and he lived in Turkey during civil upheaval and a coup d’état.