600 Podcasts and Counting...
Subscribe to Insights at the Edge to hear all of Tami's interviews (transcripts available, too!), featuring Eckhart Tolle, Caroline Myss, Tara Brach, Jack Kornfield, Adyashanti, and many more.
Most Recent
Gabor Maté: Healing into Wholeness in a Toxic Culture
Celebrated author and physician Dr. Gabor Maté has become one of the world’s foremost voices on the journey of healing from trauma—in large part because it is a path he walks himself. In this podcast, Tami Simon speaks with Dr. Maté about his new book, The Myth of Normal, sharing breakthrough insights into the nature of trauma and some of the necessary steps for our personal and collective recovery.
Give a listen as Tami and Dr. Maté discuss the truth of our interconnectedness; disease as a process, not a distinct entity; self-compassion and honoring our suffering; an inquiry practice—the happy childhood challenge; the emotional work that healing requires; the concepts of wholeness and recovery; the essence of trauma—disconnection from the Self; experiencing your own natural goodness; psychedelics and the veil between the conscious and the unconscious; closing the gap between science and the practice of medicine; learning how to say no before your body does; and more.
This episode first aired live and on video on Sounds True One. To watch Insights at the Edge episodes live and on video, and to access additional bonus Q&A, please visit join.soundstrue.com to learn more.
Christopher Willard: How We Grow Through What We Go Th...
Most of us are familiar with the concept of post-traumatic stress. Fortunately, there’s another way we can respond to extreme adversity. This is what researchers call post-traumatic growth—and it’s something we’re all biologically “hardwired” to access, to turn even our most difficult experiences into a source of resilience and strength.
In this podcast, Tami Simon speaks with clinical psychologist and author Dr. Christopher Willard about “how we grow through what we go through”—which is also the title of his new book. Tune in as they explore how meditation can literally be lifesaving; avoiding the trap of spiritual bypassing; the “10,000 joys and 10,000 sorrows” of our lives; embodiment practices and nervous system self-regulation; mindfulness and the capacity to respond rather than react; the practice of stretching the breath; acting ourselves into a new way of thinking and feeling; how there are many ways to healing and recovery—and finding the best for yourself; the power of posture; the connection between self-compassion and personal transformation; the practice of putting your hand on your heart; becoming a source of co-regulation for others; the concept of downstream and upstream reciprocity; and more.
Miranda Macpherson: The Transforming Power of Ego Rela...
Many of us struggle to truly live what we believe spiritually. What if closing that gap wasn’t about trying harder, but something quite the opposite? “Through the practice of ego relaxation,” teaches Miranda Macpherson, “we can stop trying to beat ourselves into spiritual shape and yield instead to an unshakable presence within.”
In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon speaks with Miranda about taking a more feminine approach to spiritual seeking and why that involves creating an atmosphere of unconditional love. Miranda explains ego relaxation, her unique process of letting go of all the qualities that maintain the illusion of being separate from the rest of existence. Considering the roles of trust and vulnerability on the spiritual path, Tami and Miranda discuss what it means to be a channeler of grace. Finally, Miranda leads us in a guided practice for discovering the mountainous presence already available in each moment.
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Here in this body are the sacred rivers…
The commitment to our immediate embodied experience is the most radical commitment we could ever make. To commit to this life – right here, right now, as it is – is the unbearable and direct path into the love and freedom that we all so long for. When sadness comes calling, grief appears, shame arrives, anxiety comes for tea, do not mistake them for ordinary visitors, for they have been sent from beyond. Inside every feeling, each sensation, and every flow of emotion is a secret doorway into the center of the heart. Let us allow these guests to reveal to us their gifts, turning toward them, for they have come to show us the way home.
In the words of the great tantric sage Saraha, “Here in this body are the sacred rivers: here are the sun and moon as well as all the pilgrimage places… I have not encountered another temple as blissful as my own body.” Whatever we are offered in this day – the beautiful, the challenging, the heartbreaking, the painful, the difficult – let us allow this life to touch us in the most unprotected way. Let us somehow be willing to risk everything for this one and only rare experience, allowing each and every person we meet to matter deeply.
Let us make this pilgrimage into and through the cells of our heart, learning its secrets; and through the strands of our DNA, sailing down the sacred rivers which make up this precious human body. And, finally, let us behold the movement of love as it washes through every organ, reorganizing our entire somatic sensual reality into a vessel of kindness and attuned empathic presence, filled with a profound care for this life and for all beings everywhere.
An Evening with Pema Chödrön and k.d. lang
Bestselling author and beloved meditation teacher Pema Chödrön has touched the lives of millions with her down-to-earth guidance for becoming happier, “saner” people in an ever-changing and challenging world. Grammy®-winning recording artist and Buddhist practitioner k.d. lang has likewise been a source of inspiration worldwide through her music, songwriting, and soaring vocals.
Learn more and purchase tickets here!
An Evening with Pema Chödrön and k.d. lang is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join these two extraordinary women who are both uniquely gifted “instruments of the dharma,” helping us to soften and open our hearts. Moderated by Sounds True publisher and founder Tami Simon, this night of discovery and insight will support both The Pema Chödrön Foundation and Tools for Peace.
Our evening will begin with a dialogue with Pema Chödrön, who will share her insights into life’s “big questions”—including how we can begin to face uncertainty and engage the unknown—along with practical guidance in becoming more vulnerable, authentic, and present with ourselves and with each other. Then k.d. lang will join the conversation, speaking about her personal approach to creativity and the roles that trust, devotion, and surrender play in that process, the surprising parallels between the journeys of the artist and the meditator, and more.
Our evening concludes with a special musical performance by k.d. lang, who will offer a selection of songs with a piano accompaniment, buoyed by the incredible acoustics of Royce Hall.
Learn more and purchase tickets here!
Kundalini Awakening
Tami Simon speaks with Dr. Lawrence Edwards, president of The Kundalini Research Network, as well as the founder of a kundalini support website, kundalinisupport.org. He is also a contributing author to a new anthology published by Sounds True entitled Kundalini Rising: Exploring the Energy of Awakening. Lawrence has practiced and taught meditation for over 35 years, is a board-certified neurotherapist, a licensed psychotherapist, and has been on the faculty of New York Medical College since 1998.
Lawrence discusses his own experiences with kundalini energy, the subtle body, and the kind of transformation that is possible with kundalini awakening. (53 Minutes)