Tattoos and Torah

What is the relationship between wellness and self-sovereignty?  This week, Rabbi Iggy hosts Ceasar Barajas, an award-winning singer, dancer, actor, yoga teacher, and Navy Veteran.  Their conversation pulls from Ceasar’s wide-ranging skills and experiences, meandering through complex themes of activism around mental health, recovery, and gender.  Ultimately, this is a conversation focused on liberation.  Rabbi Iggy and Ceasar wonder together, how we can free ourselves by creating internal wellbeing?

Modern life sometimes has a way of disconnecting us from the complexities of our deeper feelings, emotions, and truths.  How can we prevent this erosion of ourselves?  How can we unearth our more authentic selves?  This week, Rabbi Iggy makes the case for spiritual counseling, a process that can help us examine who we are, why we are here, how we make meaning, and how we understand our pain.  Rabbi Iggy synthesizes wisdom from his decades as a practicing spiritual counselor as well as the most recent empirical studies on spiritual counseling.  This episode is for anyone interested in asking the bigger questions and pushing their personal growth.

How can we overcome our shame and guilt through spirituality? 

This week, Rabbi Iggy sits down with Rabbi Alfredo Borodowski, “The Bipolar Rabbi,” a trained philosopher, personality type interpreter, and therapist who specializes in the blending of spirituality and mental health.  Together, the two rabbis grapple with change and growth, personality types, and mental health.

If you’re interested in connecting spiritual wisdom with mental well-being, this conversation is for you.

How can spiritual bypassing limit our ability to provide each other support?

This week, Rabbi Iggy ruminates on toxic positivity and spiritual bypassing. By acknowledging that spirituality includes all aspects of life, not just the positive, we can learn to more fully support ourselves and each other.

If you want to discover tools to be supportive without engaging in spiritual bypassing, this episode is for you.

How are mindfulness and recovery practices informed by culture, heritage, race, and gender?

This week, Rabbi Iggy speaks with Meghan Stewart-Wills, a renowned mindfulness coach with Unified Mindfulness. A multi-racial Black woman based in Ottawa, Canada, Meghan's work in local school boards supports youth in anti-discrimination and wellness initiatives. Together, Rabbi Iggy and Meghan map out the nexus of personal recovery and addiction recovery. They explore complex issues of race, the whiteness of recovery spaces, and the role of privilege in recovery.

If you are interested in the intersections of self-restoration, restorative justice, and recovery, this episode is for you!

Have you ever wondered where god resides?

This week, Rabbi Iggy discusses imminence and transcendence, and how to make sense of these concepts in our own lives. By investigating why some people believe god is near and others don't, he illuminates the role the divine can play in your recovery. In this short episode you can expect many questions... and maybe a couple of answers along the way.

If you're interested in exploring your own relationship to god and how this examination can enhance your recovery, this episode is for you!

How can someone build a meaningful, enriching life out of adversity, trauma and hardship?

Rabbi Iggy speaks with T'Shuvah Center's Director of Counseling, Jeremy Pool about building a life of meaning through addiction, incarceration, and family challenges. In this episode you'll learn about forgiveness: how to ask for it, how to be able to offer it, how to forgive the world and most importantly, yourself.

If you want to learn how to rise above challenges by leveraging the power of forgiveness and acknowledging the joy and gifts life has brought, this episode is for you!

How can meditation and community guide us to the wisdom of our hearts?So much of what we do flows from our heart. HeartRise Movement founder Jessie May Wolfe has made this spiritual truth the center of a movement, focused on building a community that engages in active meditation to awaken the inner intelligence of their hearts. In this episode, Rabbi Iggy and Jessie have a heart to heart on spirituality, connection, creativity, and meaning. As Jessie puts it, “a universal call to ignite the radiant heart power in all of us”.If you are interested in finding purpose, strength, and integrity through wellness and connection, this episode is for you!

What is the difference between an apology and an amends? In this episode of Tattoos & Torah, Rabbi Iggy discusses the amends process, and how taking this step strengthens our connections with others (and profoundly enhances our recovery!) If you want to learn how to approach this process, from setting intentions to making plans to get started, this episode is for you!

What happens when a comedian and a rabbi meet during the ten days of awe?In this midst of the "10 Days of Repentance", Rabbi Iggy and comedian Alex Edelman discuss the intersection of comedy, social commentary, art, and general Jewish angst. They explore the complex relationship between Jewish identity, humor, and remorse, and how it informs their own approach to the high holy days.If you like to find humor in the darker side of life, this episode is for you!