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Offering Everything to the Divine

Tosha Silver is a veteran spiritual teacher and the author of Change Me Prayers: The Hidden Power of Spiritual Surrender. She runs the online Living “Outrageous Openness” school, which guides participants in discovering their own “inner love.” In this inspiring episode of Insights at the Edge, Tosha and Tami Simon speak on offering ourselves and our situation to the divine—especially during tough or troubling times. They also talk about the importance of knowing how to receive, and why so many find it difficult to do so. Finally, Tami and Tosha discuss the importance of clearing clutter from our lives and how to write our own prayers for personal change. (65 minutes)

James McCrae: Why We Need the Art of YOU

Where does creativity come from? How do we uncover our authenticity and deepest expression in a society that would have us cover it up to fit in? What is the connection between creativity and healing? Join Tami Simon in conversation with poet, artist, and author James McCrae as they discuss these questions, the role of the artist today, and his new book, The Art of You: The Essential Guidebook for Reclaiming Your Creativity.

A wonderful listen for creatives of every type and anyone who’s ever had the thought, “I’m not creative,” Tami and James talk about the courage to choose authenticity; the magnetic nature of vulnerability; creativity as a spiritual path; intuition as a portal to the invisible dimensions; emotion: the energy that fuels creativity; shadow work and the “creative purge”; the yin and yang of creativity; cultivating the soil; giving your ego the appropriate job; the metaphor of the sunflower; listening: the first stage of creativity; social media, art, and technology; viral ideas and the origination of the term meme; curiosity and the spirit of exploration; and more.

Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com.

Taoist Sexual Secrets

Tami Simon speaks with Rachel Carlton Abrams and Lee Holden. Rachel is a medical doctor, specializing in family medicine, and the author of The Multi-Orgasmic Woman and The Multi-Orgasmic Couple. Lee is a licensed acupuncturist and an internationally known instructor in meditation, t’ai chi, and qi gong. Rachel and Lee discuss the wisdom of ancient Chinese Taoist sexual secrets, and how we can apply these practices to enhance the flow of sexual energy in our bodies. (48 minutes)

Andrew Holecek: Dream Yoga, Part 2

Andrew Holecek is an author and spiritual teacher whose work blends a background in ancient Tibetan Buddhism with the leading edge of contemporary Western thought. With Sounds True, he has released the book Dream Yoga: Illuminating Your Life Through Lucid Dreaming and the Tibetan Yogas of Sleep. In the fascinating second part of his interview on Insights at the Edge, Andrew speaks with Tami Simon about pressing beyond lucid dreaming and into the actual nighttime practice of dream yoga. They talk about illusory form yoga and invoking specific imagery within dreams to cultivate positive qualities. Finally, Andrew describes the ability to actually meditate within dreams—as well as the doorways to personal inquiry this practice can unlock. (78 minutes)

How to Breathe With Your Whole Body

Blog header - How to Breathe With Your Whole Body Sounds True blog

Spending time in the woods—or shinrin-yoku (“forest bathing”)—has been proven to significantly strengthen our immune system and increase our overall happiness. The forest air triggers our bloodstream to produce 40 percent more natural killer cells, which help fight harmful viruses, bacteria, and other illnesses. The tradition of forest bathing goes back a long time in Japan’s folk medicine, but it has its longest history in China and Taiwan and has been called senlinyu there for centuries.

Ancient knowledge about healing from nature is also found in traditional Chinese medicine. Numerous exercises from qigong are designed to “absorb the chi of nature” and are carried out mainly in forests or green areas with trees. Even the qigong masters of the past apparently knew that nature not only heals in the form of plant- and mineral-based pharmaceutical substances, but also by a person simply being present in a green space and breathing. In qigong, absorbing the chi of nature is always associated with breathing techniques.

Xiaoqiu Li, a two-time Chinese state champion in wushu (traditional Chinese martial arts), taught me the following exercise for “whole-body breathing.” This specific exercise helps you to take in the healthy forest air quite intensely and to release old air and harmful substances very consciously. You will especially feel the purifying effects of this exercise in your body if you are a smoker or live in a polluted city.

Look for a place in the woods that appeals to you and that has an even surface to stand on, and then follow these steps:

  1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and as parallel to each other as possible, with your knees slightly bent and arms relaxed at your sides.
  2. “Open” your chest cavity by lifting your arms up in the air away from your body, in the form of a circle overhead, as if you were a tree revealing its mighty crown to the sky. Take a deep breath in while doing this, starting in your stomach and continuing to fill up your chest with air.
  3. When your arms meet over your head, guide them down in front of your body, holding them together and parallel to each other. Simultaneously begin to breathe out, making fists with your hands while squatting down.
  4. At the end of these movements, slowly press your elbows against your body at stomach level. This pressing of the elbows and curving of your body help your lungs to empty themselves entirely.
  5. Repeat these movements slowly and mindfully and try to make everything as smooth as possible.

Excerpted from The Biophilia Effect: A Scientific and Spiritual Exploration of the Healing Bond Between Humans and Nature by Clemens G. Arvay.

Clemens Arvay - The Whole-Body Breathing Exercise Sounds True BlogBorn in 1980, Clemens G. Arvay is an Austrian engineer and biologist. He studied landscape ecology (BSc) at Graz University and applied plant sciences (MSc) at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna. Arvay examines the relationship between humans and nature, focusing on the health-promoting effects of contact with plants, animals, and landscapes. He also addresses a second range of topics that includes ecologically produced food along with the economics of large food conglomerates. Clemens G. Arvay has written numerous books, including his bestseller The Biophilia Effect. For more, please visit clemensarvay.com.

 

 

Summer Super Sale - The Biophilia Effect

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Ep 6: The H-Word

When it comes to the state of our world, the concept of hope can feel elusive. Joanna teaches Jess that the future may be uncertain, but that means that there’s still room for something beautiful to happen. This episode offers insights into embracing uncertainty, cultivating joyousness, and understanding the intricate interplay between hope, courage, and action.

In this episode:

  • “Active hope” is about acting in service of the future we hope for
  • Whenever Jess asks about hope, Joanna talks instead about courage 
  • When hope eludes us, courage and our devotion to life remain steadfast

We recommend starting a podcast club with friends or family to do these practices together. Links and assets to help prompt reflection and build community can be found with every episode on WeAreTheGreatTurning.com.

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