Practice You with Elena Brower Elena Brower
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- Society & Culture
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Content and conversations for times of transition and change.
Join me in discussion with renowned luminaries and dear friends to explore life's myriad transitions, our understandings and our responses. What does it mean to be present, to shift our perceptions, to engage with the world meaningfully, with dignity and care? With respect for the ancient practices and the modern wisdom that continue to inform and elevate our exchanges, each episode is an invitation to Practice You.
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Yael Schonbrun PhD
On shifting the way we perceive our capacities as humans and as parents, focusing on relational connection and possibility.
(4:14) – Mindset shift for work-parent conflict. (13:28) – Work-parenting challenges and unhelpful labels. (18:50) – Embracing challenges and finding opportunities in life. (26:50) – Managing stress and finding resilience through self-compassion. (33:18) – Nonviolent communication and parenting. In Work, Parent, Thrive, Yael shares practical strategies from clinical psychology and social science to better manage the conflict and enhance enrichment in work, parenting, and the balance of these meaningful roles. While these strategies won’t create more hours in the day, they can shift how we label our experiences, revise the stories we tell ourselves about working and parenting, and recognize the value we get from each role on its own, and in combination with one another.
Yael Schonbrun, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist, assistant professor at Brown University, co-host of Psychologists Off the Clock: A podcast about the science and practice of living well, and mother of three. Yael’s academic research explores the interaction between relationship problems and mental health conditions. She has authored chapters in several books and has written dozens of scientific articles. In her private practice, writing, and podcasting, Yael uses evidence-based science to help individuals and couples learn to manage work, parenting, and marriage in more effective and fulfilling ways. She draws upon treatments that integrate ancient Eastern philosophy with scientifically backed practices. Yael’s writing on work, parenting, and relationships has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Greater Good Science Center, Behavioral Scientist, Kveller, Lilith Magazine, The Wise Brain Bulletin, Psychology Today, and Motherly. Her new book is Work, Parent, Thrive: 12 Science-Backed Strategies to Ditch Guilt, Manage Overwhelm, and Grow Connection (When Everything Feels Like too Much).
Yael lives outside of Boston with her husband and their three small comedians.
https://yaelschonbrun.com/
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Mia Maestro
On the Way of Tea, the practice of service, the meaning of presence and the medicine of silence.
(1:46) – Tea, presence, and mindfulness. (5:48) – Tea, meditation, and prison reform. (11:52) – Buddhist chaplaincy training and tea practices. (16:26) – Acting, producing, and healing. (22:37) – Meditation, mindfulness, and Zen Buddhism. (32:14) – Music, prison reform, and personal growth. Mia Maestro most recently wrapped Oscar-nominee Jose Rivera’s Castro’s Daughter, directed by Miguel Bardem. She appears in the Apple+ Scott Z. Burns’ climate change anthology Extrapolations starring opposite Ed Norton.
Mia is a citizen of the world, traveling, surfing, scuba diving, and warming her spirit through the practice of Cha Dao, The Way of Tea. She’s passionate about prison reform and serves tea to the incarcerated through Healing Dialogue and Action in the state of California.
https://miamaestro.com -
Osprey Orielle Lake
On the ecological, mythical and cultural understandings that shape our history of extraction and exploitation, and how one conversation can truly make a difference in our future.
(1:42) – Reconnecting with nature and protecting forests. (11:41) – Feminism, patriarchy, and earth-centered traditions. (17:11) – Regenerative farming and indigenous knowledge. (22:40) – Indigenous worldviews and language revitalization. Founder and executive director of the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), Osprey Orielle Lake works internationally with grassroots, BIPOC and Indigenous leaders, policymakers, and diverse coalitions to build climate justice, resilient communities, and a just transition to a decentralized, democratized clean-energy future. She sits on the executive committee for the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature and on the steering committee for the Fossil Free Non-Proliferation Treaty. Osprey’s writing about climate justice, relationships with nature, women in leadership, and other topics has been featured in The Guardian, Earth Island Journal, The Ecologist, Ms. Magazine and many other publications. She is the author of the award-winning book Uprisings for the Earth: Reconnecting Culture with Nature. Osprey holds an MA in Culture and Environmental Studies from Holy Names University in Oakland and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area on Coast Miwok lands.
https://ospreyoriellelake.earth/
https://www.wecaninternational.org/ -
Stephen Jenkinson and Kimberly A. Johnson
On death, grieving, service, and releasing our fixation on redemption.
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Dr. Pamela Ayo Yetunde
On fostering spiritual kinship and community, a plea to stay in the fold of love and civility, and recipes to fortify the truth of our interbeing.
(3:40) - Facing grief and loss as a chaplain. (10:21) -Buddhist retreats for intergenerational healing. (18:55) -Narcissism and the Buddhist Path to Authenticity. (25:11) - Intergenerational wisdom and mindfulness. (31:25) - Buddhist teachings and meditation practice. (37:03) -Ethics, gratitude, and relationships. Dr. Pamela Ayo Yetunde is a pastoral counselor, writer, instructor and speaker. She did her post-doctoral work at Harvard Divinity School, earned a Doctor of Theology in Pastoral Counseling from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, GA, earned her M.A. in Culture and Spirituality from Holy Names University in Oakland, CA, and her law degree from Indiana University of Law. She is a Community Dharma Leader certified by Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, CA. Her articles appear in Buddhadharma, Lion's Roar, Journal of Buddhist-Christian Studies, Religions and Feminist Theology. She is an interfaith pan-Buddhist practitioner. Ayo is the author of three books: Casting Indra’s Net: Fostering Spiritual Kinship and Community (2023, Shambhala Publications). Black and Buddhist: What Buddhism Can Teach Us About Race Resilience, Transformation and Freedom co-edited with Cheryl A. Giles (2020, Shambhala Publications). Buddhist-Christian Dialogue, U.S. Law, and Womanist Theology for Transgender Spiritual Care (2020, Palgrave Macmillan).
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Dani Shapiro
On the signals transmitted across generations, the evolution of secrets, and the resonances felt through timelines and dimensions.
Customer Reviews
Enlightening
Listening to Elena and her guests is both uplifting and calming. It occurred to me after listening to several podcasts of hers, I am actually ‘practicing me’ in a better way. It’s helped me contribute to community in a more confident and well informed way. Elena’s kindness and authenticity that she shares is a rare gem.
Thank you
Thank you for such a beautiful show. Always from the heart. Deep wisdom and insights shared. I feel safe and at home when I listen. I am grateful to be apart of this community.
Beyond Inspiring
Elena’s thoughtful conversations with incredible people, has helped me implement a sustainable meditation practice, guided me on communication with my kids, and pushes me to love myself more. It is a huge dose of inspiration. Thank you Elena for creating and sustaining this.