Tattoos and Torah

What does it mean to live t’shuvah?

This is the question that drives T’Shuvah Center’s unique approach to integrated, personalized recovery. In this episode, Rabbi Iggy digs into the concept of t’shuvah and how powerfully it can transform your wellbeing. By engaging in this daily act of living in truth, repair, and strength, we can become empowered to understand the roots of our behaviors and unlock the capacity to establish new habits, rituals, and ways of living.

This is an episode for anyone who wants to learn more about - and integrate the powerful tool of t'shuvah into your life.

As we enter spring, the season of renewal, how can we plant seeds in the areas of our lives where we’d like to foster more growth?

This week, Rabbi Iggy explores what it takes to build habits. In recovery, there is a basic concept of the first 90 days, a phase where old habits are challenged and new behaviors take their place. Rabbi Iggy discusses the ways we hold ourselves back from growth, and reveals that with intention and compassion, change is possible.

If you want to audit your own spiritual life and learn simple tools to put goals into action, this episode is for you!

Why are contradictions so present in Judaism, and how can they inform our recovery?

This week, Rabbi Iggy ruminates on the many tensions written into Jewish text. With so many conflicting expectations, we are constantly asked to live in the grey areas; to mediate the in-between. For many of us in recovery, learning to embrace dualities is essential.

If you’re interested in building harmony between your internal contradictions (and understanding yourself outside of a binary), this episode is for you!

How can the medical field better address patients with co-occurring substance use disorders and mental illness? That’s the central focus of Dr. Jonathan Avery’s work, the Director of Addiction Psychiatry and Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College and New York-Presbyterian Hospital. 

This week, Dr. Avery joins Rabbi Iggy to discuss the challenges many patients with substance use disorders face when interacting with the medical community - whether it be inadequate training, existing stigma, or limiting psychiatric approaches. Through his research, Dr. Avery advocates for how greater connectivity and compassion in clinical practice can lead to better outcomes. 

Together, Dr. Avery and Rabbi Iggy discuss the importance of therapeutic recovery communities like T’Shuvah Center, and the lessons that can be learned from integrated models of addiction treatment.

How can we move beyond labels to find unity? In order to move beyond labels, we must first understand our own identities. Rabbi Iggy asks us to develop an awareness of ourselves by understanding the difference between what we need and what we want.  Knowing that we all share this human condition can push us to connect with those around us and find unity in times of crisis. How does this relate to the current state of affairs in the world.. Tune in..

Since she got a camera, Diane Conn started taking pictures of strangers. She never stopped, and her collection now stands at over 200,000. 

This week, Diane sits down with Rabbi Iggy to discuss her recent book, Holding Hands, an uplifting collection of strangers holding hands.  

Diane and Rabbi Iggy discuss the therapeutic benefits of Diane’s unique art practices, the nexus of art and spirituality, the rewards of staying true to your vision, and the relationship between art and recovery.

What’s the difference between being a victim and living in victimhood?  This week, Rabbi Iggy ruminates on the problem of victimhood in an episode that synthesizes insights from ancient Jewish history to contemporary culture.  Rabbi Iggy invites us to take stock of our own role in creating our lives.  By identifying our patterns and habits and rethinking our response to life’s tribulations, we can leave victimhood behind and reclaim our sovereignty.

How does trauma manifest itself in the body? That’s a question for anyone with a body—anyone whose stomach might drop at a painful reminder, whose back might ache around the time of a bad anniversary. It’s also the question that drives the work of Amy Lee Flowers, a trauma-informed Kripalu Yoga and Mindfulness educator. 

This week, Rabbi Iggy sits down with Amy to discuss the relationship between our physical existence and our psychological and emotional trauma. Their wide-ranging conversation is full of wisdom for anyone attempting to manage their physical ailments. By finding techniques to check-in with our bodies, like using mindfulness as a recovery tool, we can achieve a more grounded recovery.

There is an old Jewish teaching about the month of Adar, which is just beginning: when Adar begins, we make more joy.  But how do we make more joy?  

This week, Rabbi Iggy imparts his wisdom on how to better manage our relationship with happiness and joy.  Along the way, he drops deep meditations on what it means to be happy, but also many practical tips on how to squeeze more joy

What kind of wisdom can be gleaned from the dark, slow days of Winter? 

This week, Rabbi Iggy encourages us all to find rest, recovery, and our own pace of growth through "Spiritual Winter." Through ritual, deep listenings, observation, and meditation practices, Rabbi Iggy guides us to find opportunity in our current moment. 

This episode is a call to find vitality, interest, and beauty for the remaining winter days.