ChangeMaking Connections

Beth Berila
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ChangeMaking Connections is a monthly podcast exploring the journeys of change leaders striving for deep societal transformations. Hosted by Beth Berila, this show delves into the intricacies of sparking change, from personal evolutions to communal shifts. Here, we celebrate the challenges, triumphs, strategies, and possibilities that spring from a life dedicated to social justice. Join us in connecting with experts across various fields as we unpack the mechanisms of initiating meaningful change in our lives, communities, and the world.

  1. 1D AGO

    Joy Is Also Wisdom: A Practice with Dr. Monika L. Son

    In these turbulent times, many of us are feeling burned out, overwhelmed, and focused on what needs to be done. Dr. Monika Son reminds us that joy is a critical practice for our wellbeing, for sustainability, and for liberation. Joy is our birthright. Not just the big joys, but the everyday ones. In this episode, Dr. Son offers a heart-felt practice to help us (re)connect with everyday joy. Dr. Monika Son (she/her/ella)is an educator, consultant, trauma-informed facilitator and sacred guide and space holder, with over two decades of experience at the intersection of psychology, education, and social justice. She is also a longtime student in the Soto Zen Buddhist lineage, and a graduate of the Upaya Zen Center’s Buddhist Chaplaincy program, where she serves as a mentor for current students. A trained psychologist and expert facilitator, Dr. Son works to create spaces that are values-centered, prioritize relational care and respect for the inherent dignity of all beings. Her spiritual care focuses on stewarding resilience, compassion, and meeting the truth of suffering in these times, including cultivating healing from systemic oppression, fostering collective accountability, joy, and vision. As a native New Yorker, daughter of Dominican immigrants, and mother of two mixed-race sons, Monika embodies a deep commitment to belonging and lineage. Connect with MonikaMonika’s websiteMonika's Substack Transcript

    16 min
  2. Grounding Ourselves, Welcoming What Is With Sage Hayes

    APR 9

    Grounding Ourselves, Welcoming What Is With Sage Hayes

    Sage Hayes, a skilled healing arts practitioner committed to collective liberation, offers us embodied practices to ground ourselves. Acknowledging that many of us are carrying trauma, both generational and ongoing in the face of current events, Sage offers us practices to meet what is with compassion. We can look for resonance and understand our bracing as the protective mechanism that it is. We aren't trying to fix or change what is, but simply to be with it. We are simply practicing being with in a more embodied way. Often that opens pathways to more choice. In this deeply compassionate and invitational episode, Sage offers us ways of understanding what we might be experiencing and working with it. May it be of support for you. A video version of this episode is available here. SAGE HAYES For over 25 years, Sage has cultivated a unique, integrated approach to therapeutic change and transformation—one that honors the intelligence of body, lineage, and relationship. Sage Hayes (she/he/they) is a devoted healing arts practitioner who believes deeply in both individual and collective liberation. Their work weaves together the exploration of lineage, embodied presence, and emergent relational care—threads braided into a practice that supports people in reconnecting with themselves, their histories, and the living systems around them. A Somatic Experiencing practitioner for over two decades, Sage also brings a rich background in bodywork, including massage and biodynamic craniosacral therapy. Their practice expands beyond the therapy room into the realms of movement and community as an ecstatic dance DJ and a facilitator of family and systemic constellations. Nestled off the coast of Maine on Peaks Island, Sage stays attuned to tidal and seasonal rhythms—walking the pine-needle paths and granite shores with their dog, Thelma Jean. Links for Sage:Website: www.embodiedliberation.com Instagram handle: @sagehayes

    51 min
  3. Welcome to Season 3: Practices to Tend Our Hearts

    MAR 31

    Welcome to Season 3: Practices to Tend Our Hearts

    This welcoming message opens Season 3. The theme of Season 3 is Practices to Tend our Hearts. In the midst of ongoing turbulence in our global world--of the last couple months and years--has created the need for changemakers to show up again and again for ourselves, each other, and for justice. It's been a lot. So rather than having hour-long conversations, this season will offer short practices of care. Somatic practices to support our wellbeing and keep us rooted in what we care about. This season will be shorter--a couple episodes. The first episode will be longer to offer some framing. The following episodes will be shorter practices. May you tend your heart. Care for yourself and others. Root in what you care about as we keep showing up for liberation.

    3 min
  4. Remembering Our Interdependence to Shape the World We Want with Sherri Mitchell-Weh’na Ha’mu Kwasset

    06/03/2025

    Remembering Our Interdependence to Shape the World We Want with Sherri Mitchell-Weh’na Ha’mu Kwasset

    In this episode, Sherri Mitchell-Weh’na Ha’mu Kwasset discusses remembering our kinship to one another and to all living beings as a path to reconnecting and interdependence. She offers the wisdom of rooting in our values and shaping the emergence of the world we want to create. Full of hope, discerning insight, and applied practice, Sherri sheds light on a path to a better world. Sherri Mitchell-Weh’na Ha’mu Kwasset Sherri Mitchell -Weh’na Ha’mu Kwasset, is an Indigenous attorney, activist, and author from the Penobscot Nation. She received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Arizona’s Roger’s College of Law, specializing in Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy. She is an alumna of the American Indian Ambassador Program, and the Udall Native American Congressional Internship Program. Sherri is the author of the award-winning book, Sacred Instructions; Indigenous Wisdom for Living Spirit-Based Change, which has been published in four languages. She is also a contributor to more than a dozen anthologies, including the best seller, All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis, along with Resetting Our Future: Empowering Climate Action in the United States, and My life: Growing Up Native in America. Sherri is the founding Director of the Land Peace Foundation, an Indigenous educational organization that focuses on Indigenous leadership, environmental justice, land rematriation, and kinship building. The Land Peace Foundation has provided training for some of the largest environmental NGO’s on the planet, helping them develop better policies and procedures for engaging with Indigenous Peoples living on the front lines of climate change. They also curated an eight-part series with the Global Council on Science and the Environment that provided training for thousands of scientists and scientific scholars from more than 40 countries, highlighting Indigenous scholarship and traditional knowledge. Sherri was also key member of the development team for the ACE Mandate of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), under Article 6 of the UNFCCC and Article 12 of the Paris Agreement. This framework was adopted by the Biden Administration and is currently being used to provide education, engagement, training, and workforce development for climate action in the United States. Sherri serves as a Trustee for the American Indian Institute, she sits on both the Global Indigenous Advisory Council and the North American Advisory Council for Nia Tero’s Indigenous Land Guardianship Program, and is a board member of the Post Carbon Institute. Sherri is the recipient of several human rights awards, including the Mahoney Dunn International Human Rights and Humanitarian Award and the University of Maine Alumni International Human Rights Award, and her portrait is featured in the esteemed portrait series - American’s Who Tell the Truth. And, she is the convener of the global healing ceremony, Healing the Wounds of Turtle Island, a gathering that has brought more than fifty-thousand people together from six continents, with elders from 40 Indigenous nations, to focus on healing our relationships with one another and with our relatives in the natural world. Sherri Mitchell Website Land Peace Foundation Show Notes Journey of Peace & Friendship Sacred Instructions: Indigenous Wisdom for Living Spirit-Based Change, Sherri Mitchell  Transcript

    54 min
  5. Being (y)our Authentic Selves: Countering Anti-Trans Attacks & Supporting Trans Communities with Teo Drake & Alex Kapitan

    05/20/2025

    Being (y)our Authentic Selves: Countering Anti-Trans Attacks & Supporting Trans Communities with Teo Drake & Alex Kapitan

    Trans communities are being targeted in deeply inhumane ways in this cultural moment. How did we get here and what can we do to support trans communities? In this powerful and timely episode, Teo Drake and Alex Kapitan offer insightful context for how, when, and why the current attack on Transgender communities arose. They trouble the disinformation and narrow gender constructions fueling these attacks. Drawing powerful links between reproductive justice, attacks on immigrants, and the attacks on trans communities, they show how the far Right has eroded the rights of bodily autonomy and the rights for people to be who they are. With their characteristic radical welcoming and deep compassion alongside their fierce political analysis, Teo and Alex offer practical ways for trans folx to take care of themselves in these dangerous times and for cisgender people to advocate for justice for trans communities. GuestsTeo Drake is an organizer, a teacher, and an artisan who works in wood and steel. As a queer and trans long-term HIV/AIDS survivor, the practices and philosophies of yoga and Buddhism have been both life-saving and provided the foundation for his organizing and teaching. He is a co-founder of the Transforming Hearts Collective, a collective dedicated to the spiritual care and liberation of queer and trans people, and has served in leadership in several different organizations in the worlds of HIV/AIDS, LGBTQ advocacy, faith and spirituality, well-being, and anti-oppression, including being a founding member of the Transgender Law Center’s project Positively Trans and serving on the faculty and board of Off the Mat, Into the World. His writing can be found in the anthology Yoga and Body Image and at the blog Roots Grow the Tree, and his artisan crafts can be found at The Tinkering Gnome. Alex Kapitan is a community minister, educator, organizer, fellow co-founder of the Transforming Hearts Collective, and founder of the language project Radical Copyeditor. Alex's work is rooted in helping people live their values in deeper ways by unlearning oppressive ways of being and working to create the world we want and deserve to live in. With a background in faith-based organizing, book publishing, and activism, Alex does interfaith LGBTQ work, supports faith groups in practicing radical welcome, and also regularly offers workshops and presentations on conscious language for publishing companies, media organizations, and other groups. Links for Teo and Alex: Transforming Hearts Collective: www.transformingheartscollective.orgThe Tinkering Gnome: https://the-tinkering-gnome.comRadical Copyeditor: https://radicalcopyeditor.com  Show Notes:Resources from Teo and Alex to support advocacy, activism, and awareness: For great 101 materials, we recommend this collection from the Trevor Project: https://www.thetrevorproject.org/resources/category/gender-identity For a concise overview of facts about trans youth, we recommend this Washington Post piece: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/04/22/transgender-child-sports-treatments/  For info on U.S. anti-trans legislation and state-by-state details, we recommend Trans Legislation Tracker (https://translegislation.com) and Movement Advancement Project (https://www.lgbtmap.org/equality-maps) For an overview of the anti-trans movement and debunking of anti-trans disinformation, we recommend this episode of Ezra Klein's podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/if-you-read-the-g-o-p-s-anti-trans-policies-youll-see/id1548604447 For breaking news and excellent trans-led reporting, we recommend Erin in the Morning: https://www.erininthemorning.com For people of faith, we also have resources available through our collective: https://www.transformingheartscollective.org/online-courses  Transcript Image description of cover art: teal background, white and black text. Images of Alex and Teo smiling at the camera.

    1 hr
  6. Becoming Agents of Spiritual Possibility: Living Yoga Practice with Susanna Barkataki

    05/06/2025

    Becoming Agents of Spiritual Possibility: Living Yoga Practice with Susanna Barkataki

    In this episode, Susanna shares about her new book, Ignite Your Yoga: How to Live, Practice, and Teach as an Authentic Yoga Steward. We discuss her journey in writing this book and her first one, Embrace Yoga's Roots. Yoga is a practice for self, community, and for a better world. We talk about how yoga philosophy, traditions, and practice can shape our lives, our parenting, our relationships, and how we show up in the world. As we practice, we can avoid both religious dogma as well as cultural appropriation; instead, we can embrace yoga with integrity and by doing so, access our inner power and truth in ways that can shape how we show up in the world. Susanna BarkatakiSusanna Barkataki, M.Ed. Yoga Therapist, is a trailblazing yoga leader and visionary, known for honoring yoga’s roots. Founder of Yoke Yoga, a social yoga app offering micro-practices for quick peace, she brings yoga to all, solving everyday problems. Susanna founded the award-winning Ignite Institute for Yogic Leadership and Social Change, training students in YTT 200/300 to create social impact with yogic tools. She’s the author of the #1 International Bestseller Embrace Yoga’s Roots: Courageous Ways to Deepen Your Yoga Practice and leads transformative wellbeing programs, consulting with organizations like Yoga Alliance, Peloton, and CBS. Susanna's work is reshaping the future of yoga, making yogic wisdom accessible to everyone, everywhere. Susanna's website Ignite Institute Transcript

    48 min
  7. Companions in Process: Interdependence in Climate and Disability Justice with Naomi Ortiz

    04/22/2025

    Companions in Process: Interdependence in Climate and Disability Justice with Naomi Ortiz

    In this heartful episode, Naomi Ortiz explores their art as a spiritual process of listening to the land, grief work, and the difference between interdependence and mutual aid. As we discuss their new book, Rituals for Climate Change: A Crip Struggle for Ecojustice, we explore what disability justice offers the climate justice movement and what rootedness in place offers to people living with disability. Naomi also shares some rituals to sustain us in these times. Show NotesNaomi's definition of self care, from Sustaining Spirit: "So self-care means being aware of ourselves where we are rooted, aware of what is around us and evolving from the lessons we learn in order to survive and thrive." Naomi OrtizNaomi Ortiz (they/she) is a Reclaiming the US/Mexico Border Narrative Awardee and a 2022 U.S. Artist Disability Futures Fellow. Ortiz's collection, Rituals for Climate Change: A Crip Struggle for Ecojustice, offers potent insights about the complexity of interdependence, calling readers to deepen their understanding of what it means to witness and love an endangered world. Their non-fiction book, Sustaining Spirit: Self-Care for Social Justice, provides informative tools for diverse communities on addressing burnout. Ortiz is a co-editor of the forthcoming anthology Every Place on the Map is Disabled: Poems and Essays. A Disabled Mestize poet, writer, facilitator, and visual artist, their work focuses on self-care, disability justice, and climate action in the Arizona U.S./Mexico borderlands. Website: www.NaomiOrtiz.com  Transcript **Image description of episode cover art: teal background with white and black text. Salmon colored inset boxes. An image of Naomi smiling at the camera wearing hoop earrings and a black sweater decorated with white stars. Naomi is behind a yellow creosote bush.

    50 min
  8. Polyvagal Theory and Intergenerational Trauma of Historically Marginalized Communities with Niloufer Merchant and Devika Dibya Choudhuri

    04/08/2025

    Polyvagal Theory and Intergenerational Trauma of Historically Marginalized Communities with Niloufer Merchant and Devika Dibya Choudhuri

    We discuss the deep value of Polyvagal Theory for showing us how social connection impacts mental health and overall wellbeing. We explore how to apply Polyvagal theory to intergenerational trauma of historically marginalized groups. Our guests discuss what ancient wisdom and collectivist cultures have long known about community support and regulation. This episode also includes practices for resourcing and supporting ourselves in challenging times. Guests Niloufer Merchant, Ed.D., L.P Dr. Niloufer Merchant is Professor Emeritus at St. Cloud State University and a Licensed Psychologist currently in private practice in Minneapolis, MN. Her areas of specialization include working with complex trauma with a focus on trauma related to racial/cultural issues. She is certified in EMDR and trained in several embodied practices. She has presented and published widely on multicultural counseling, cultural competencies, and group work. She has also held multiple leadership roles on local, state, and national levels including American Counseling Association. Throughout her career, Niloufer has advocated for creating safe spaces for people of color in schools, universities, and community settings promoting antiracism and systemic change. She has presented on the application of Polyvagal Theory (PVT) in understanding and healing racial trauma including a TEDx talk which connects the principles of PVT to cultural practices and ancient wisdom. Presently, she serves on the Editorial Team and is a Course Partner for the Polyvagal Institute. Devika Dibya Choudhuri I have over two decades of balancing academic and clinical experience; working clinically with individual and group clients on issues of sexuality, trauma, violence, acculturation, and grief as well as of training graduate students in Counseling on these issues. Using a primarily qualitative research lens, my scholarship and service has included looking at the experience of LGBTQIA collegians, BIPOC clients in counseling, historical and multigenerational trauma, gender and sexuality. Resources "From Intergenerational Trauma to Intergenerational Healing," Dr. Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart The Myth of Normal. Gabor Maté Historic Trauma Resilience Inventory, Dr. Devika Dibya Choudhuri and and Dr. Quentin Hunter, 2023. "Evaluation of the UNREST Questionannaire for Testing the Social Resistance Framework," Roni Factor, Ichiro Kawachi, and David R. Williams Other BIPOC+ Mental Health initiatives Call Blackline Helping the most-impacted folks HEARD We are deaf and disabled people who support deaf/disabled incarcerated people. Indigenous Circle of Wellness We envision a future where our communities flourish in holistic well-being. Indigenous Women Rising Committed to honoring Native & Indigenous People’s inherent right to equitable and culturally safe health options. Latinx Therapists Action Network National Queer & Trans Therapists of Color Network (NQTTCN) Advancing healing justice by transforming mental health The Red Ma’at Collective Committed to creating spaces that promote healing, justice, and empowerment Transcript

    57 min
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ChangeMaking Connections is a monthly podcast exploring the journeys of change leaders striving for deep societal transformations. Hosted by Beth Berila, this show delves into the intricacies of sparking change, from personal evolutions to communal shifts. Here, we celebrate the challenges, triumphs, strategies, and possibilities that spring from a life dedicated to social justice. Join us in connecting with experts across various fields as we unpack the mechanisms of initiating meaningful change in our lives, communities, and the world.

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