Kani Comstock, beloved Hoffman teacher, first learned about the Process in 1985 from her brother who was working with Bob Hoffman. Her brother gave her Bob’s book to read. “Blown away‘ by what she learned, Kani completed the Process in January 1986. Kani became the Hoffman Institute’s Director shortly after and, together with Bob, started Hoffman International a few years later. Following this, she became a Hoffman teacher and taught until her retirement almost three decades later.

Kani’s whole family has done the Process, including her mother, her three siblings, and some of her in-laws. She shares a particular moment from her Process when she fully realized the powerful hold negative patterns have on us. As she worked to release the patterns she had taken on from her mother, she realized they kept trying to reassert themselves within her. She was able to see and feel their tenacity. She came away realizing just how important the work of the Process is in helping people find the freedom to live from their own essential nature.

Kani’s effervescent spirit and joy are evident in this conversation with Sharon. Kani has loved the Hoffman Process from the day she first learned of it. She loves that the Process offers a place where we can come to know ourselves as our true selves. Educated as a scientist, Kani shares how she has learned to listen to and follow the voice of her Spiritual Self or Essence as she sometimes refers to it.

As a driven workaholic, I discovered an ease I had never known before when I completed the Hoffman Process. It was February 1986, just months of the new 7-day Process residential format. Soon after that, I was asked by Bob Hoffman to direct the Institute, organize its growth, bringing it to other countries around the world. In 1990, I also became a Process teacher which became my true love. I slowly transitioned into full-time teaching and coaching. Bob was delighted when Marisa Thame, Director of Hoffman Institute in Brazil, and I collaborated to write, Journey into Love: Ten Steps to Wholeness. Journey into Love is available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Later in collaboration with my sister, Barbara Comstock, also a Hoffman Teacher, we wrote, Honoring Missed Motherhood: Loss, Choice, and Creativity.

Initially, I earned a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and a Master’s in cell physiology and biochemistry. I was working on my Ph.D. when a personal tragedy led me to dramatically change my path. I moved to Tokyo to teach English as a Second Language (ESL) and eventually became the first non-Japanese to direct the Japanese school. Four years later and back in the United States, I founded a college-based ESL center and internationalized the college curriculum. Next, as Vice-President of a student exchange organization, I designed programs and traveled regularly to Asia, finally experiencing China, a childhood dream

Barbara Comstock, Kani’s sister and Hoffman teacher

Ashland, Oregon

What is Hospice?

Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon.

Chris Germer, Ph.D. was terrified of public speaking and thought he had an anxiety disorder. He soon discovered, though, that what he had was a shame disorder. Through developing a self-compassion practice, Chris was able to heal his fear of public speaking and the shame that was behind it.

While Chris’ personal story is remarkable, what is even more so is what he came to learn about healing shame. He shares that healing our negative core beliefs (like we do in the work of the Process) heals shame because they are one and the same. Healing our relationship with love and with ourselves and others leads to self-compassion. By developing this practice of self-compassion, we can know again our natural joy and playfulness.

As a renowned clinical psychologist specializing in self-compassion, Chris’ work with self-compassion is well-aligned with the work done at the Hoffman Process. Prior to this conversation with Drew, he studied the research that has been done on the efficacy of the Process and the amazing results the Process brings about. Chris shares with us a bit about why the Process is so effective at healing what gets in the way of our relationship with love.

Chris Germer, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist and lecturer on psychiatry (part-time) at Harvard Medical School.  He co-developed the Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) program with Kristin Neff in 2010. Together, they wrote two books, The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook and Teaching the Mindful Self-Compassion Program. MSC has been taught to over 250,000 people worldwide.

Dr. Germer is also the author of The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion. He’s also a co-editor of two influential volumes on therapy, Mindfulness and Psychotherapy, and Wisdom and Compassion in Psychotherapy. He is a founding faculty member of the Center for Mindfulness and Compassion, at Harvard Medical School, and the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy, Cambridge MA. Dr. Germer also maintains a small psychotherapy practice in Arlington, Massachusetts, USA.

Learn more about Chris, here. Follow Chris on Instagram and the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Compassionate Friend exercise:

Kristin Neff:

Listen to Kristin Neff on the Hoffman Podcast

Harry Harlow:

Brené Brown podcast with Chris Germer

Beloved Hoffman teacher and coach, Chris Sansone, completed the Hoffman Process in November 2013. Chris came to the Process feeling challenged in every area of his life, except for his good health. After doing deep work in the Process, Chris experienced a profound simplicity in how he healed his past and forgave his parents.

Before Hoffman, Chris was in commercial real estate. He was well-educated and highly qualified and experienced great financial success. But, he wasn’t happy. As Chris thought about his career moving forward, he remembered the calling he felt when he first started working – helping guide people through transformational growth in some way. Once he landed at the Process, he felt that call again and answered by applying to become a Hoffman teacher.

Now, Chris lives connecting to the frequency of his Soul. He shares that we each have a longing that can feel like melancholy, loneliness, and even wistfulness. As he says, we must attune to our Soul by attuning to this longing. By doing so, we learn to follow the call of our Soul. Listen in and hear how Chris connects with this longing and to a poem he wrote while in deep contemplation with his Soul.

As a Hoffman teacher, Chris says, “To serve and see others open up to who they truly are is a remarkable experience. Students reach inside and find answers within themselves for living fully and authentically.”

As for his own Process experience, Chris shares: “I unearthed two gifts – knowing that my own happiness truly is a personal choice, and deep forgiveness for both my parents and, of myself. These have opened me to loving and living as I had only previously imagined possible.” He adds, “Years ago I had a personal awakening about my role, as a highly advantaged cis-gendered white male in racial and gender inequities. That has broadened my own sense of responsibility and spawned greater personal and spiritual growth in my life.”

Chris holds a doctoral degree in Human and Organization Development. He is blessed with his life partner and wife, Maria Velasco, two sons Kellen and Andrew, and stepdaughter Carina. He lives in Longmont, Colorado, where he enjoys the outdoors, especially fly fishing.

*Rejuvenated Process:

Hoffman Process Visioning:

CTI (Co-Active) Model of Coaching:

Sicilian:

Fielding Institute Doctoral Program:

Myers-Briggs:

I Ching:

A leading researcher on self-compassion, Kristin Neff’s work is closely aligned with the work of the Hoffman Process. In this engaging, inspiring, and educational conversation, Kristin shares her research, deep knowledge, and life experience with us to illuminate why self-compassion is such a powerful practice for human beings.

Drew and Kristin speak to the understanding that what happens to us when we are young isn’t our fault, but our healing is our responsibility. As Kristin shares, “…there’s no other body/mind and particular point in time and space that’s in the right position to take responsibility other than you.” This succinctly and clearly sums up the practical reason why it is up to each of us to take responsibility for our own lives.

Listen in as Kristin shares a powerful story about her son who is autistic. He was in a very emotional state while on an overseas flight with her. Through this story, Kristin explains how the neuroscience of emotional regulation helped her to help him regulate his emotional state.

Kristin shares that compassion has three components: kindness, mindfulness, and humanity. “Compassion is grounded in a sense of shared humanity.” At its core, compassion is the understanding that we are doing the best we can, moment to moment. That we are human beings. We are part of a much larger whole. Moment by moment, we are doing the best we can, learning and trying with care and love. If we learn this, things become much easier to deal with.

Drew and Kristin then move into a discussion of how self-compassion supports us in the areas of global challenges such as climate change and social justice work. This is where Kristin begins to speak about the two aspects of compassion – tender compassion and fierce compassion. Fierce compassion is needed in all of us to help create a world that is just, safe, and supportive for all.

Kristin Neff is currently an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. She is a pioneer in the field of self-compassion research, conducting the first empirical studies on self-compassion nearly twenty years ago. Kristin has been recognized as one of the most influential researchers in psychology worldwide. She is the author of the bestselling book Self-Compassion.  Along with her colleague Chris Germer, she developed the empirically-supported Mindful Self-Compassion program and co-wrote The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook.  Her latest book is Fierce Self-Compassion: How Women Can Harness Kindness to Speak Up, Claim Their Power, and Thrive. For more info go to www.self-compassion.org. 

Thich Nhat Hahn:

Internal Family Systems:

Kevin Eyres:

Chris Germer, Ph.D.:

The fierce self-compassion graphic that Drew and Kristin mention.

We wrap up season five with A Taste of 2022! 

Co-hosts, Drew Horning, Sharon Mor, and Liz Severin come together to reflect on magical moments from the episodes they hosted this year. Together, they share the podcast moments that shine a light on the magic that so often happens during the Process.

In A Taste of 2022, our co-hosts weave together Process memories our guests shared with the wisdom our co-hosts have gleaned from teaching the Hoffman Process and hosting this podcast.

Specifically, Drew, Sharon, and Liz touch on various subjects, such as the power of cathartic expression, the need to clear away what gets in the way of living as our true nature, and the reclaiming of lost parts of ourselves. They even highlight one graduate’s fearless reckoning with God. Like every episode of The Hoffman Podcast, these stories highlight how graduates’ lives and the lives of those around them are changed as a result of their work in the Process. In listening, we bear witness to how change ripples out into the world through the everyday radius of one person’s life. Our podcast offers beautiful windows into the healing that happens in the Process.

Intrigued by what you’ve heard in the clips? Then listen to the full episode of each Hoffman graduate highlighted. Meander through this list of episodes to discover more about graduates of the Process and how taking the Process supports the kind of change within you that transforms your life and the lives of those around you.

The Hoffman Podcast will be back for season 6 on February 16th. See you in 2023!

S5e7: Amanda de Cadenet – A Vegan Protein Bar in a Snickers Wrapper

S4e13: Arielle D’Angelo – Coming Out and Coming Into Self-Love

S5e11: Monique Petrov – Waking Up With New Eyes

S5e13: Anne Hockett – The Body Expresses What We Repress

S4e04: Ken Druck – Leaving a Legacy of Love

S5e5: Ian Salvage – Aligned in the Goodness That I Am

S5e9: Jeff Snipes – Awakening Spirit, Reimagining Education

S5e3: Ryan Miles – Love is a Birthright

S4e02: Katie – My Sobriety & The Hoffman Process

S4e01: Liz Severin – I Know We Will Get Through This

Dr. Michelle Robin, chiropractor, author, and healer, completed the Hoffman Process in 1997. After decades of a life of service to humanity’s well-being, Michelle has a lot of wisdom to share.

In this conversation with Liz, Michelle reflects back on her time at the Process and the 25 years since. Michelle came to the Process because she realized she’d lost her sense of joy. She left with the profound realization that she isn’t broken and never was. She shares that she left no longer carrying that dark cloud of not-enoughness.

Michelle shares her sense of and vision for a life of well-being. One of the beautiful takeaways from Michelle is how vitally important it is to be part of a community, especially one that is vibrantly alive and caring.

Listen in to hear this wisdom about living a vibrant life. And listen all the way to the end to hear Michelle’s wishes for you and the coming year.

Michelle is the founder of Small Changes Big Shifts®, Big Shifts Foundation®, and the Kansas City Wellness Consortium®, but more importantly, she is a visionary for the well-being of many generations.

With a 30-year chiropractic practice in Kansas City, Michelle has become a national influence and memorable leader in the wellness industry. Her simple framework – called the Quadrants of Well-Being – is the key to what many people have been looking for when it comes to discovering their best life. Michelle has spent the majority of her career helping people make small changes that ultimately create the biggest shifts in their well-being.

As a chiropractor, author, teacher, holistic healer, podcast host, unshakable optimist, international speaker, and passionate advocate for generational change, Michelle has left an impression on thousands of lives by helping them find their unique path to wellness and enriching their purpose in life.

Learn more about Michelle on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Find out more about Your Wellness Connection on  LinkedIn and Facebook.

Crystal Jenkins:

A Path to Personal Freedom & Love:

Chiropractic:

Dr. Richard Yennie:

Chinese Medicine & Three Sources of Chi (or Qi):

Qigong:

Feng Shui:

Pickleball:

Hoffman Grad and former Hoffman teacher, Devi Cavitt Razo, did the Hoffman Process in 1996. She went on to teach the Process for 17 years. During her time at Hoffman, Devi also served as Process and Faculty Director, VP, and Director of Teacher Training.

In this episode, Devi shares a pivotal moment from her Process. It was a particularly difficult day during her time there. Devi noticed that she wasn’t crying nearly as much as her Process mates. They all seemed to be shedding many tears. Then, later that day, Devi fell to her knees weeping deeply as she realized how much she wanted things to be different in her life and how much she loved her parents. This was a huge breakthrough for her as she realized that our feelings don’t come when we think they should. Rather, if we stay open with the intention to heal, things move and change in their own time.

How did she first hear about the Process? Upon leaving the Process, Devi’s friend came to visit her to tell her she just had to do the Process. Hearing this, Devi immediately knew it was right for her and signed up. During her Process, it became clear to Devi that she was meant to teach the Process.

Fast forward about 20 years later, although Devi was happy and felt fulfilled in this work, she began to hear the small voice within telling her there was something new on the horizon. The only thing was – she loved her work teaching the Process. How do we decide to go when we love something so much? That’s a question so many of us ask at least once in our lives.

Devi did indeed follow her inner voice to set out to create something brand new. Listen in as Devi shares how she views change and our relationship with it. Although we often fear change and the unknown it brings, with self-trust, self-knowledge, and support from others, we can step out into action on the path to our vision.

Devi Cavitt Razo is the president and co-founder of Aurum Leadership. An international consulting, training, and coaching firm, Aurum is focused on bringing greater aliveness, human connection, and creativity to organizations, teams, and leaders. Devi’s work spans the globe, from the US to Europe and Asia, with offices in California and the Netherlands. Devi created Aurum to bring to life her vision of leaders, organizations, and teams where trust, respect, and relationality are the norms. Her vision to create Aurum grew during her 17 years as a Hoffman Teacher. 

Devi holds degrees in psychology and organizational systems. She has a passion for doing transformative work with mission-driven groups, teams, and organizations, starting with the leaders. Devi’s worked with leaders and organizations from around the world, ranging from tech startups to global accounting firms to non-profits, to spiritual communities. Her work is dedicated to creating organizations where both mission and humans can thrive. 

Devi lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and three beloved stepdaughters. When she’s not traveling, facilitating, envisioning, and creating, you will find her hiking in the redwoods of Northern California. You can learn more about Devi on LinkedIn. Learn more about Aurum on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook. Learn about Aurum’s EoS – Essentials of Self: A Breakthrough Training for Leaders.

Hoffman Teacher Training:

Hoffman Leads Harvard

The Hyde Schools and Hoffman

Frankie Olivieri is a third-generation Italian-American and third-generation owner of historical Pat’s King of Steaks. Listen in as Frankie and Drew talk about family history and doing the Hoffman Process.

People come to the Process when they are serious about change and Frankie is no exception. He believes in the importance of wanting to better oneself and the power of surrounding oneself with those who want to do that, too. In the Process, Frankie saw that his life could take two very different paths. In his work through the Process, Frankie chose, and continues to choose, the Right Road, the road of compassion and taking responsibility for one’s life. This is the life he wants to embrace.

Frankie also shares with us the fascinating family history behind the birth of the Philly Steak and Cheese Steak Sandwiches and his famous restaurant.

Pat’s King of Steaks was established in 1930 by Pat Olivieri. A humble hotdog vendor who wanted something different for lunch, Pat Olivieri made a sandwich of chopped steak and onions on a crusty roll. When a cab driver said he wanted to give it a try, Pat gave him half of his sandwich. The cab driver loved it and the Philly Steak sandwich was born in South Philadelphia.

Over 90 years old, Frankie’s Great Uncle Pat’s legacy lives on in Pat’s King of Steaks. This famous restaurant has been owned and operated by the original Olivieri family since its inception. Frankie E. Olivieri is the current owner of Pat’s King of Steaks.

After graduating from Friends Select School in 1982, Frank was accepted to Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. He was ready to follow his dreams of a culinary degree and four years in Paris, but he got sidetracked. Frankie went on to manage his family’s business. With still unfulfilled dreams of being a Chef, Frankie enrolled in The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College. There, he received a Bachelor’s Degree in Culinary Arts and Sciences.

Next time you’re in Philadelphia, stop by Pat’s King of Steaks, 1237 E. Passyunk Ave (at 9th & Wharton Sts), and say Hi to Frankie!

Pat Olivieri: Along with his brother, Harry Olivieri, Pat Olivieri created the Philly cheesesteak. The brothers opened Pat’s King of Steaks in 1930. Pat Olivieri died in 1970. Harry’s grandson Frank Jr. (Frankie!) now runs the business.

The 1st Rocky Movie and the Orange Toss:

World Famous Italian market, continuously running for 127 years.

Quaker School, Friends Select, est. 1869

The Hoffman High:

Post-Process weekend:

Hoffman Process tools: Recycling/Pre-cycling

The Q2 Intensive Retreat:

Award-winning chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author, Seamus Mullen, is our guest today. Seamus shares how realizing he is not his patterns led to profound healing. Identification with our patterns can perpetuate suffering. When we realize our Spiritual Self can never be patterned we find freedom and a genuine willingness to take responsibility for our lives.

Growing up on a rural farm in Vermont, Seamus and his brother cooked meals alongside the rest of the family. Seamus learned early on that he could make others happy if he cooked good food for them. Eventually, his career became an extension of this early learned pattern and belief.

When he arrived at the Hoffman Process classroom, Seamus noticed a wall poster that said, “I am not my patterns.” Seamus took this in as he looked back over his life. Twelve years earlier when he was working to heal from Rheumatoid Arthritis, Seamus’ new functional doctor helped him see that “he wasn’t sick but he had this illness.” This is the difference between identifying with sickness – I am sick – versus having an illness. Through the Process, Seamus worked to heal through the cycle of transformation.

Another big learning at the Process for Seamus was how compassion must be the precursor to forgiveness. Through the Process, he forgave his parents, which brought him freedom and peace. Listen in as Seamus shares a beautiful story of healing and forgiveness that happened post-Process with his father and family.

Seamus Mullen is an award-winning chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author. A health crisis nearly ended his career in 2012. A dramatic re-evaluation of his lifestyle and relationship with food led to a total transformation. In twelve months, he reversed an “incurable auto-immune disease, lost over 80 pounds, and returned to being an active and healthy human. As a nationally recognized leading authority on health and wellness, Seamus is on a mission to help as many people as possible take control of their own health and embrace the remarkable healing power of Real Food!

Seamus can often be seen as a featured judge on the popular Food Network series “Chopped” and “Beat Bobby Flay,” and is a frequent guest on programs such as The Today Show, The Martha Stewart Show, and CBS This Morning where he shares his knowledge of cooking and nutrition. In 2012, Seamus published his first cookbook, Hero Food. In 2017, he released his second cookbook, Real Food Heals.

Seamus lives in sunny Malibu, California, and is the Culinary Director for the Rosewood Sandhill Hotel. You can find him swinging kettlebells, riding bikes, and hiking in the coastal mountains when he’s not cooking or writing. You can learn more about Seamus here, and follow him on Instagram and Twitter.

Pattern Ping Pong:

Functional Medicine:

Do you wonder why the Hoffman Process works so well on many levels? Listen in as Volker Krohn, psychotherapist, Director of Hoffman Centre Australia/Singapore, and Director of Hoffman International shares his experience of and insights into the Process. Born in Germany, Volker found his way to Australia after spending a short time in the United States. In the late ’80s, he attended the second Process ever held in Byron Bay, New South Wales. Bob Hoffman was his Process teacher as well as his Process teacher trainer.

In this conversation between Volker and Drew, we learn some fascinating things about the Process. Volker reminds us that the Hoffman Process is a psycho-spiritual process. As such, it supports the integration of the psychological and spiritual natures within us. With a background as a psychologist as well as his studies in spirituality, Volker shares his sense of what happens underneath the surface of the Process.

Through his experience of decades of teaching the Process, Volker speaks to the heart of what the Process does. He says the Process helps each of us come to live by the intrinsic values of our hearts. He goes on to add that we aren’t our thinking and we’re not our feelings, rather these are aspects of our ego structure. Ultimately, the Process helps us come back into Presence and back into peace with ourselves. Volker beautifully encapsulates the Process as one that re-initiates us into our own humanity and into the family of humanity.

Settle in for this beautiful conversation. Be prepared to come away with a deeper sense of your place in the family of humanity.

Volker Krohn is an accomplished psychotherapist and has been the director of the Hoffman Centre Australia/Singapore since 1991. He is also the director of Hoffman International. He was personally trained by Robert Hoffman in the late 1980s and is a senior supervising facilitator of the Process.

Volker’s extensive professional background includes Family Therapy, Self-Psychology, and Creative Arts Therapy as well as organizational development. He also speaks and writes widely on emotional healing, re-education, and spiritual renewal, through the exploration of early childhood conditioning. Volker is passionate about helping people improve their emotional and spiritual intelligence and has inspired thousands of Hoffman graduates in Australia and worldwide to live from a place of self-acceptance and gratitude claiming compassionate leadership in their lives.

The Arakwal and Bundialung Nation:

Teach Your Children by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young

Two Spiritual Paths:

The Enneagram:

How climate change is affecting us:

University of California research on the Hoffman Process: