Hosted by Matthew Green. Produced by J'aime Rothbard

How can we release old ways of relating rooted in past trauma and instead allow our bodies and hearts to naturally relax together in the here and now?

That fundamental question has guided Danny Cohen's many years of psychotherapeutic training and spiritual practice – and also lies at the heart of his pioneering programme, the Art of Communication, which helps people transform how they communicate and connect in everyday life.

In this illuminating and moving episode, Danny describes how his deep search for ways to restore relational intimacy since his teens was driven by a combination of personal suffering and inspiration he derived from accounts of illumination from spiritual masters.

In 2015 Danny began studying with Thomas Hübl and in 2017, joined the first Pocket Project training. Danny describes the profound influence Thomas's teachings on relational attunement and the mystical principles of trauma healing have had on his work – which is also rooted in insights from Dr Marshall Rosenberg, the developer of Nonviolent Communication, and Steve Hoskinson, creator of the Organic Intelligence approach to trauma healing.

The episode concludes by considering how trauma healing relates to the cycles of collective trauma playing out on the global stage — and the spiritual resources needed to sustain such work in the face of so much darkness.

This episode will speak to anyone seeking a deeper understanding of how trauma shapes our default ways of relating – and how we can reconnect with our natural impulse to meet one another from a place of giving, tenderness and care.

Further Resources:

The Art of Communication

Pocket Project

About Danny Cohen:

After finishing his degree from the Wharton School of Business in 2010, Danny made it his business to explore what had been missing for him in that education. It's been a deep dive into wisdom traditions, psychotherapy training, mindfulness (including 15+ months on silent retreat), systems thinking, mysticism, and Nonviolent Communication. Having worked with thousands of educators in his time as a Guiding Teacher at Mindful Schools, as a founder and senior teacher with hundreds of seekers coming on retreat with Or HaLev: Jewish Spirituality and Meditation, and with CEOs and business executives as part of the core faculty of the Evolve Foundation, as well with many parents, activists, therapists, and people working for systems change, and other human beings around the world, Danny has found consistent principles and competencies across cultures and contexts that open the doors to a more beautiful, effective, and regenerative way of being alive together.