We are used to needing to push forward and produce or “work on” things, even in therapy. Healing, however, occurs when we become passive. It is something we receive, rather than being something we make happen. In order to become passive, we have to feel a sense of safety.A Single Tree Podcast による

Silence/contemplation/meditation are paths to healing. Our organisms (bodies) are usually bent on helping us avoid difficulty and keep us feeling “put together” in our environment. If we become “meta” to ourselves and the responses, then we have opportunity to encounter ourselves and things we have been avoiding and make some shifts in our response…

As organisms (bodies), we respond to our environment automatically without conscious awareness. The ways we do this make up various parts of our experience as humans and even form elements of what we think of as our personalities. We tend to think of these responses as “problems,” but there is no reason to pathologize or judge these adaptations tha…

We’re another year older and have become more focused on our collective experience of stress and trauma. All of us experience difficulty which has an effect on our bodies over time, even as we are unaware. De-pathologizing our adaptive responses to difficulty and setting ourselves free from blame are the first steps to getting to healing. Healing i…

Trauma theory is helpful in understanding how our nervous systems respond in stressful situations. We can also learn to navigate the different levels of nervous system activation, even when dangerous and life-threatening events occur. We tend to avoid these difficult things in our lives because we do not believe in our ability to experience intense…

In his book In An Unspoken Voice, Peter A. Levine identifies four portals to spiritual awakening, as in the Buddhist and Taoist traditions. They are death, mediation, sex and trauma. In these experiences, humans experience profound surrender, and our nervous systems, which normally seek safety and control, are overwhelmed. Perhaps we can practice t…

There are layers to our human experience – perception, thought, emotion and sensation. It is important to pay attention and understand what is happening at each of these levels, but they, in and of themselves, are not the fullest or deepest experience of existence. There is a deeper sense with which we can connect – “underneath” all these layers. T…

Effective teachers are guides which help us find our way to truth, not just dispensing "answers." And when we suspend judgment of everything we do and think, we can experience our inner reality as it is and move toward healing and shaping it.A Single Tree Podcast による

Religion puts forth right belief and right action (morality). If we stay in a dualistic mindset, it will not allow us to explore and know reality and ourselves deeply. We can have practices which allow us to take in what is, and give us better ability to have freedom in shaping behavior.A Single Tree Podcast による

We discuss our belief systems' role giving structure to our morality and ability to know what is true. These are structures that are helpful for a time and then it is helpful for our spirituality to move beyond them, into a non-dual way of knowing and experiencing God and reality.A Single Tree Podcast による

We discuss our personal paths to non-duality. We are all raised to think from a dualistic, black-or-white perspective, but inevitably our experiences lead us to a place where that type of thinking no longer works. We must find something larger that helps us interpret our experience and the world around us with a different mind.…

Judging everything – our circumstances, our inner experiences and other things and people – is a tendency we all have, and widely accepted as a normal way our brains work. It is a necessary function of our thinking in the first part of our lives, but then it is important for us to take on a non-dualistic or non-judging stance. It helps us have a mo…

We often want to define ourselves and set ourselves apart from others by identifying ourselves with a category or group and by being the heroes in our own stories. We also seek to establish a sense of comfort and stability at all costs. Life comes along and hands us interruptions, irritants and inconveniences that seemingly throw us off course, but…

Growth as human beings means expanding our container to let in more and more reality. We often don’t engage in this type of work because it means we will leave behind comfort, safety and others who are like-minded, but expanding consciousness doesn’t mean we are better than others or that we cannot continue to agree and hold space for others’ views…

There are two seemingly opposing forces at work in all living organisms: the drive to change and the drive to stay the same. The conservative/progressive divide in our culture indicates this dynamic is at work intensely right now. We must continue to talk to one another, believe change is possible and practice awareness of these seemingly opposing …

Conversations are grinding to a halt and relationships are strained due to the current political gridlock. To develop a dialogue that will help move us forward, we must seek to understand the deeply held values in ourselves and others. We must also seek to hold two seemingly irreconcilable things in tension with one another to get to something new.…

We tend to look at others and focus on ways they can change, rather than practicing vulnerability, which can help us experience transformation. Transforming ourselves will help us be part of change, and also help us practice non-violence. Being able to engage in vulnerability makes us more powerful because we become unflappable in the face of threa…

It is easy to see increasing polarization in our culture about racial tensions and other issues. Our first response to these social issues tends to be taking one side or the other. The rhetoric in our culture is tense and lends itself to rigid stances and power-grabbing. We must examine our own nervous system responses to find within ourselves the …

We are in solidarity with those affected by violence and those who live in fear because of it. Many of us are experiencing tension after violence toward people of color and ensuing riots. In this episode, we discuss ways to respond to tension and the threats we experience in order to establish complex responses which can lead to peace and reconcili…

This coronavirus pandemic has presented us with prolonged exposure to stress and the realization we are in a larger context than we may have thought. We are used to seeking and attaining comfort and predictability that is not available to us right now. We discuss how we can let our trauma and stress move through us and come out the other side unsha…

We seek to avoid that which resembles death: pain, trauma and the darkness within us. Our nervous systems alarm us of what seems dangerous, but our bodies are built to move us through potentially traumatic events adaptively. Life is full of mixed experiences: life and death are happening at once. We can accept them both.…

We’re back with our first episode in a while, so of course, we’re talking about death! Without having a death wish, we can learn to accept and facilitate the little deaths that are happening in our lives all the time. It is useful to learn how we can die these little deaths well - sometimes on purpose, like in self-sacrifice and non-violence.…

Dr. Scott joins us for a discussion about his approach helping people rewrite their stories using Narrative Therapy, as well as the connection between our stories and spirituality. He also does psychological testing to help people grow a deeper awareness of their strengths and places to grow.A Single Tree Podcast による

Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Amber Girrens joins us for a discussion about healthy eating and how our nutrition and physical health affect our mental and emotional well-being. We all know we need to make healthy and balanced choices when eating, but it’s difficult to know where to start. There’s a lot of misleading and confusing information ou…

Addiction medicine doctor Daniel Warren joins us for a discussion about his work helping people get from addiction to recovery. How we view addiction can change the way we treat it, but also can set people free to have more personal autonomy and the ability to find meaning and enter recovery. The goal is not just to help them quit using, but to bui…

Therapist Whitney Mosier joins us to talk about sex and intimacy. Instead of seeing sex as just a way to get our desires fulfilled, we can see the sexual relationship as an opportunity for growth and healing. Our sexual relationships illuminate insecurities which can be addressed and worked through in safe relationships when we practice vulnerabili…

Therapist Jenny Helms returns to discuss her work helping people with Eating Disorders and body image issues. She talks more in-depth about our relationships with food and developing a healthy view of food and our bodies, treatment options and what you can do if you or someone you know may be struggling with an Eating Disorder.…

Therapist Jenny Helms joins us for a conversation about shame and shame resilience, ideas taken from author Brené Brown. Jenny specializes in treating eating disorders and has significant experience working with females (and males) struggling with eating issues, body image issues and shame. She shares part of her own powerful journey from which she…

Our default motivation is to protect and promote ourselves. If we are going to make decisions based on not just what is good for ourselves, we will have to take a look at the values we espouse and consider becoming self-sacrificial. This has powerful implications for our personal and corporate lives, but can help us achieve a balance of energy that…

We all reach points in our lives when we are confused or conflicted about what to do. At these times, we likely need to employ a deeper form of decision-making we often call discernment or intuition. More than just evaluating pros and cons, discernment/intuition involves letting the decision work on us, which can make it take on a different meaning…

Bringing about the "life energy" in our own and others’ lives seems to be one of the irreducible phenomena that gives our lives a sense of meaning. We contribute to growth and creativity which transcend the things we can see and touch. We all have access to this life energy in our will to live and keep moving forward in hope. We are glad to be with…

There are many ways to influence others, not focusing on changing them, but on being our authentic selves in relationship. We can also have influence on those around us is by practicing trust and acceptance. If we are responsible to pay attention ourselves and trust and support others as they find their way, we just may find ourselves being able to…

Stress is our environment’s way of telling us change is needed. The most responsible thing we can do when we encounter stress is to examine ourselves and not rely on our same old rigid approaches. It’s about more than just eliminating stress or practicing good self-care. It’s about meeting stressful situations as opportunities to grow. Modeling app…

We at a Single Tree Podcast want to share with you the people, writings and ideas that have shaped our thinking and who we are. The podcast exists because of these powerful influences, and we hope some of these ideas have been helpful for you in your journey. We’d love to hear about what has shaped your thinking and ways of being!…

Life is not just about getting all our needs and desires satisfied. There is something important about being dissatisfied and frustrated when we don’t get what we want or need. It helps us move to a different place, to greater awareness, learning and creativity. We can put ourselves in (and are probably already in) situations which produce dissatis…

We are constantly moving toward things that regulate us and give us a sense of security. And we are consistently discovering the need for something deeper. Ultimately, we find a full sense of security in the Presence, God or the Beingness. There are many ways we can discover and rediscover this, and we can see them as successive doorways to finding…

We have two innate desires: to be our own individual selves and to be connected with others. We long to be different and unique, but also want to be accepted and received in relationship. These may seem to work in opposition to one another, but they can actually work in concert. The goal is to develop awareness of and sink deeply into both our sepa…

Finding a sense of value is not about attaining that based on some arbitrary set of criteria. You have inherent value, as do all the other people and matter in the universe. Experience your worth is opening yourself to that truth and to connection with everything around you. It is about receiving rather than achieving. We are thankful to be connect…

The value of anything is dependent on the context in which it exists. There are certain “rules” or criteria that define value in any context. This makes the very idea of self-worth a relative and relational construct. In the largest context, we are not made valuable by what we offer or do, but by our inherent “being-ness” and “belonging-ness.” That…

Finding value in ourselves is more than just thinking positive thoughts about ourselves. It is necessary to encounter and move through guilt and shame to be able to accept our "shadow-side" and shortcomings. If we can enter that work, we can find humility, unity and compassion. Those are the things that lead us to self-love and self-acceptance. Tha…

We experience difficult emotions when we encounter trauma, but then we further confound the process by judging our experiences as wrong or bad. Judgment and shame inhibit the natural process of working through our difficulties. If we can learn to have less thoughts of ourselves and how we should be, we can adapt to stress and trauma in a more natur…

To be human is to be creative. Fostering and cultivating beauty in our lives is a way to process our experiences and make something of our pain. The tensions we experience are the birthplace of our creativity. Everyone is doing this in their own way and people who have been resilient in trauma have a lot to teach us about a creative response to pai…

If we can “hold the tension” inherent in paradox, we can become agents of reconciliation. This type of “triangling” has many applications, including mediating conflict and finding collaborative solutions in relational systems. If we do our part to “hold paradox” for and with others, we can achieve needed connection and creativity. Thanks for joinin…

We all contain paradoxes within ourselves. As well, we encounter paradox in others and the world around us. These seemingly contradictory propositions create tension and ambivalence, but if can “hold the tension" and travel through them, we can find beauty, growth and creativity. Thanks for listening!…

From the time we are born, we are shaped by our experiences. We develop our sense of self based on feedback we get from our environment and inevitably end up with some rigid "programming," which we believe defines who we are. The goal is that we become aware of this programming and develop more flexibility in how we see ourselves. Thanks for listen…

In order to continue expanding our consciousness, we must have an abiding trust in existence itself. Amazingly, we can assimilate even the most difficult of circumstances into a resilient narrative. Life is there to shape us by transforming our "programming" so we can connect with the Largest Self or being-ness and become more flexible and complex …

We form ideas of ourselves through interaction with our environment. The relationships we have with people around us and the feedback we get from our environment reflect back to us important information. We form impressions of ourselves which are discarded as we grow and develop. It's important to know ourselves and be exactly who we are, and be wi…

We naturally judge ourselves and others based on the small self's desire to be valuable, and create safety and control. The goal is that we would be able to suspend our constant judgments of ourselves, others and the world and accept ourselves and others, even in our "mistakes."A Single Tree Podcast による

We have a tendency to analyze and categorize our experiences - of ourselves, others and the world around us. This is a necessary function our brains have, but if we are constantly approaching our life just dividing what we see into "good" and "bad," or other categories, we limit our experience. Non-dualistic thinking is about receiving and encounte…

People's ability to be resilient despite their loss and pain is amazing. How do we continue to move forward and want anything when we are constantly experiencing grief? We are grateful for your input and questions. They help us shape this discussion and make it richer!A Single Tree Podcast による