The Third Place

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Meeting and understanding one’s needs is a necessary ingredient in creating the emotional safety needed to have depth of conversation. So when we came across these basic goals from Sanatana teaching: Kama (pleasure), Artha (prosperity), Dharma (service), and Moksha (liberation)...

We instantly realized that learning about these aims of life are critical to understanding how to create that safe place for ourselves and for others.

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The daughter of a Reiki Master, Vernika Shukla was raised in India in a family with deep-rooted beliefs in yoga and Ayurveda. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy with a major in Yoga and a Master of International Business degree from Grenoble Graduate School of Business, London, UK. She is also a Pranic healer and strongly believes in healing the mind and body holistically.

Vernika's upbringing, passion for yoga, meditation, and natural remedies motivated her to work with certain formulations which ended up in her launching Kanya - a chakra aromatherapy inspired product line. Her intention with Kanya is to redefine luxury, skin care and take it beyond the superficial level. Products that motivate you to deeply inhale and help you to come back to yourself.

Her undying passion to offer holistic Chaka aromatherapy oil treatments using only the purest, most natural products has blessed Kanya with some of the most prominent 5-star spas in America.

kanyalife.com

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The Third Place Podcast is a weekly podcast that invites listeners into the hard conversations that we have a tendency to avoid.

We “go there” on things such as…

• How anger is beautiful
• How to find presence amidst chaos
• How to have difficult conversations
• How to be an ally
• How to live with grief

The Third Place is a safe place where curiosity is encouraged, differences are welcomed, and empathy is embraced through healthy dialogue.

We've forgotten how to talk to each other… Life has become polarized and dualistic - you’re either with me or against me. To embrace the complex human experience is to see the world through other’s eyes. The Third Place podcast helps with the disconnect. This looks like less conflict and tension and more like a peaceful existence with others. The Third Place podcast restores the art of dialogue.

For additional resources and if you're interested in supporting the work of The Third Place Podcast, check out our Patreon page.

When we hear the word "bias," it is often heard with a negative connotation. In reality, we all have bias and it's neither good nor bad. Ryan Wynett defines bias as "the attitude or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions and decisions in an unconscious manner."

Our biases are based on our personal experiences, and most often through indirect influences. Approximately 95% of all thinking is unconscious, and biases simply help our brains to make decisions process information quickly. Recognizing that we have bias is not intended to be an attack on our character, rather, it's up to us to choose what to do with bias when we see it show up in our minds.

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Ryan Wynett is the Manager of Implicit Bias Initiatives at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center

freedomcenter.org

https://freedomcenter.org/visit/permanent-exhibits/open-your-mind-understanding-implicit-bias/

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The Third Place Podcast is a weekly podcast that invites listeners into the hard conversations that we have a tendency to avoid.

We “go there” on things such as…

• How anger is beautiful
• How to find presence amidst chaos
• How to have difficult conversations
• How to be an ally
• How to live with grief

The Third Place is a safe place where curiosity is encouraged, differences are welcomed, and empathy is embraced through healthy dialogue.

We've forgotten how to talk to each other… Life has become polarized and dualistic - you’re either with me or against me. To embrace the complex human experience is to see the world through other’s eyes. The Third Place podcast helps with the disconnect. This looks like less conflict and tension and more like a peaceful existence with others. The Third Place podcast restores the art of dialogue.

For additional resources and if you're interested in supporting the work of The Third Place Podcast, check out our Patreon page.

Death is a difficult conversation for all of us, but it's even more difficult when someone leaves this world too soon. The grief and soul searching of any parent who has lost a child is gut wrenching and unbearable.

Today, Regina Marie comes onto the podcast to share her story of tragically losing her two year old son, Joey. Regina openly and so vulnerably recounts the moment she lost her son and the many emotions that she was wrestling with during that tragic time, as well as how it impacted the shaping of finding a new purpose and path in life.

Disclaimer: Regina's story is powerful and heartbreaking. Be prepared to listen with tissues nearby!

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Regina is a life coach who has now helped many others navigate death, grief, and loss - seeing that death is not experienced as solely the loss of a person, but also as a transformation and what one chooses to do with it that makes all the difference.

reginamariecoach.com

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The Third Place Podcast is a weekly podcast that invites listeners into the hard conversations that we have a tendency to avoid.

We “go there” on things such as…

• How anger is beautiful
• How to find presence amidst chaos
• How to have difficult conversations
• How to be an ally
• How to live with grief

The Third Place is a safe place where curiosity is encouraged, differences are welcomed, and empathy is embraced through healthy dialogue.

We've forgotten how to talk to each other… Life has become polarized and dualistic - you’re either with me or against me. To embrace the complex human experience is to see the world through other’s eyes. The Third Place podcast helps with the disconnect. This looks like less conflict and tension and more like a peaceful existence with others. The Third Place podcast restores the art of dialogue.

For additional resources and if you're interested in supporting the work of The Third Place Podcast, check out our Patreon page.

The vitriol in American politics was a problem long before Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and the 2020 election. Affective political polarization (not only disagreement on issues but personal contempt and distrust) has been growing between us for at least 25 years, and today there is evidence to suggest that we are now as polarized as we have been since the Civil War. Americans no longer see their political opponents as simply wrong or misguided. They see them as enemies who must be defeated at all costs.

Braver Angels was formed shortly after the 2016 election because they do not accept this division. They reject the normalizing of this extreme polarization and our work is about building civic trust in the USA, healing the wounds between left and right. 

We welcome Beverly and David to The Third Place to learn how we can begin to see ourselves as fellow Americans once again.

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Braver Angels was inspired by the words of Abraham Lincoln, who not only called on Americans to summon the “better angels” of our nature — but called on us to find the courage needed to pursue a more perfect union, “with malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right.”

To meet the current moment, at this time of national crisis, we need more than civility. We need to challenge ourselves to work together when we disagree. We need bravery.

braverangels.org

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The Third Place Podcast is a weekly podcast that invites listeners into the hard conversations that we have a tendency to avoid.

We “go there” on things such as…

• How anger is beautiful
• How to find presence amidst chaos
• How to have difficult conversations
• How to be an ally
• How to live with grief

The Third Place is a safe place where curiosity is encouraged, differences are welcomed, and empathy is embraced through healthy dialogue.

We've forgotten how to talk to each other… Life has become polarized and dualistic - you’re either with me or against me. To embrace the complex human experience is to see the world through other’s eyes. The Third Place podcast helps with the disconnect. This looks like less conflict and tension and more like a peaceful existence with others. The Third Place podcast restores the art of dialogue.

For additional resources and if you're interested in supporting the work of The Third Place Podcast, check out our Patreon page.

Food is such a beautiful representation of cultures from around the world. It can provide that safe "Third Place" where we can all come to the table to learn about each other and see all of the things we have in common with one another.

Today, we welcome Chef Jamie Hunt to give us a behind the scenes glimpse of what it's like to be a private celebrity chef and how those experiences allow her to get to know other people as well as celebrate our many cultures through food.

In order to break the cycle of a pornography addiction, one of the most important things is to find someone who you can be vulnerable with, and who can hold you accountable.

So many people struggle with pornography in isolation, and they are afraid to tell others about their struggles in part because the addiction can also be a source of shame. Just the ability to tell a single person and realize that you're not a bad person if you have an addiction can be a huge weight off of people's shoulders.

We need to talk about pornography in safe places more, because hearing other people talk about it without shame is healing and helpful. Listen in as Jeremy continues sharing his story about how he was able to break free and become a light for others.

Many addictions have similar roots: behaviors or substances that help create temporary moments of pleasure to help us avoid real world pains and traumas.

In this first part of our interview, Jeremy shares how his personal addiction to pornography led to an existential moment of crisis, helping him to realize that his path was not leading towards his happiness; rather, his habit of pornography was contributing towards being unhappy and unfulfilled.

Join us as Jeremy shares his next steps in these moments to pursue Buddhist philosophies towards happiness. This pursuit with mindful practices helped him to see fundamentally why he was struggling with many addictive behaviors and gave him the tools needed to truly break destructive habits.

For many students in college, skills learned are based in theory and can sometimes lack practical application that real world experiences can teach. Helping students find valuable internships is a great way to bridge the gap.

Kristina's personal experiences of higher education as well as passions for coaching others led her to her work at Pathmatch, helping to equip students with practical skills through intern programs in businesses around the country.

Every Adoption and Infertility journey is unique. They each come with their own special circumstances, pains, traumas and moments of joy. Stories of adoption also include the precious life of another human being, yearning to be loved, to be known and to be a part of a family.

In this second half of our interview with Jesse and Doug, we go deeper into their experiences with adoption and foster care. Their story includes a beautiful and pivotal realization that it’s not about bringing children into your family’s story. Rather, you are brought into theirs.

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Jesse and Doug are the founders of Uniquely Knitted - an organization dedicated to healing the traumas of infertility and ending the isolation associated with struggling to grow your family.

https://uniquelyknitted.org/

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The Third Place Podcast is a weekly podcast that invites listeners into the hard conversations that we have a tendency to avoid.

We “go there” on things such as…

• How anger is beautiful
• How to find presence amidst chaos
• How to have difficult conversations
• How to be an ally
• How to live with grief

The Third Place is a safe place where curiosity is encouraged, differences are welcomed, and empathy is embraced through healthy dialogue.

We've forgotten how to talk to each other… Life has become polarized and dualistic - you’re either with me or against me. To embrace the complex human experience is to see the world through other’s eyes. The Third Place podcast helps with the disconnect. This looks like less conflict and tension and more like a peaceful existence with others. The Third Place podcast restores the art of dialogue.

For additional resources and if you're interested in supporting the work of The Third Place Podcast, check out our Patreon page.

Adoption doesn't heal infertility. They are in fact a separate series of painful and beautiful, difficult and emotional moments that 1 in 8 couples have to work through as the plan for a family.

After Jesse and Doug were married, they immediately began to make plans for having the large family they had always wanted. But after five years of trying to conceive, they discovered that they each have serious infertility issues. Going through a variety of infertility treatments over several years, it became obvious, they were not going to be able to conceive a child.

For Jesse and Doug, their story of infertility led them to the journey of adoption. What they did not anticipate was the moments of trauma caused by infertility still came through as they navigated through the adoption process.

We begin hearing their story in this first part of their interview.

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Jesse and Doug are the founders of Uniquely Knitted - an organization dedicated to healing the traumas of infertility and ending the isolation associated with struggling to grow your family.

https://uniquelyknitted.org/

*******

The Third Place Podcast is a weekly podcast that invites listeners into the hard conversations that we have a tendency to avoid.

We “go there” on things such as…

• How anger is beautiful
• How to find presence amidst chaos
• How to have difficult conversations
• How to be an ally
• How to live with grief

The Third Place is a safe place where curiosity is encouraged, differences are welcomed, and empathy is embraced through healthy dialogue.

We've forgotten how to talk to each other… Life has become polarized and dualistic - you’re either with me or against me. To embrace the complex human experience is to see the world through other’s eyes. The Third Place podcast helps with the disconnect. This looks like less conflict and tension and more like a peaceful existence with others. The Third Place podcast restores the art of dialogue.

For additional resources and if you're interested in supporting the work of The Third Place Podcast, check out our Patreon page.