Sidesteps

Rabbi Alon C Ferency
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Toward a Spiritual-Cultural Renaissance:  The Way Forward Is Sideways www.eclecticcleric.com

  1. hace 2 días

    What Happens When We Stop Resisting Movement? (with Lara J. Day)

    What can dance, qigong, trauma release, and the changing seasons teach us about creativity, healing, and spiritual life? In this episode of Sidesteps, Rabbi Alon Ferency speaks with movement teacher, qigong practitioner, and author Lara J. Day about embodiment, nervous system regulation, creativity, and reconnecting with nature as a spiritual practice. Together they explore neurogenic tremoring and trauma release, the transition from dance to yoga to qigong, the wisdom of the body's natural healing responses, and why modern culture often teaches us to suppress movement, emotion, darkness, and rest. The conversation also examines winter solstice rituals, the origins of modern holidays, homeschooling and creativity, parenting, aging, and the role of faith and surrender in times of crisis. Topics include: • Qigong and energy medicine • Trauma release and nervous system healing • Dance, creativity, and embodied practice • Seasonal living and winter solstice traditions • Spirituality, nature, and the experience of God • Parenting, education, and lifelong learning • Faith, grief, and letting go of control If you've ever wondered how creativity, movement, and nature can become portals to healing and meaning, this conversation is for you. https://www.larajday.com   https://www.amazon.com/dp/1582708843?lv=shuf&bestFormat=true&social_share=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_H73CX65BDB4NJSJ71YWM&channelId=704&ref_=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_H73CX65BDB4NJSJ71YWM&plpRedirect=mhFallback

    55 min

  2. 27 may

    Through Three Camps

    This guided imagery is inspired by Numbers 4 - 7 (Parashat Naso) and the ancient teaching of the three camps surrounding the wilderness sanctuary. In this journey, you move inward through three sacred circles of belonging. First, the camp of Israel: the place of family, friendship, memory, and human connection. Here, you reflect on the people who hold and shape your life. Then, the camp of the Levites: the realm of music, creativity, devotion, craft, and passion. This is the fire of your gifts, your voice, your art, your calling. Finally, you enter the camp of the Shekhinah, the innermost sanctuary beyond words — the quiet place of soul, mystery, Divine presence, and deep benevolence. Through breath, visualization, and reflection, this meditation invites you to travel from outer life to inner essence, discovering how community, creativity, and spirit form a path toward wholeness.

    14 min

  3. 25 may

    Bedtime Ritual 78

    A gentle nighttime meditation inspired by the ancient Jewish practice of preparing the soul for sleep. This ritual invites you to close the day with softness, honesty, and gratitude — releasing tension, reviewing the moments that shaped you, and returning to yourself with compassion. Through calming breath, reflection, and quiet awareness, you’ll create space to let go of unfinished thoughts and settle the nervous system before rest. Rather than striving to “sleep perfectly,” this practice treats bedtime as sacred threshold: a crossing from effort into trust, from noise into stillness. Ideal for evenings when the mind is crowded, the heart is tender, or the body needs help unwinding. Come as you are — weary, grateful, restless, hopeful — and allow the day to gently loosen its grip.

    14 min

  4. 19 may

    Veronica Moya: Reconnecting You to Childlike Wonder

    Roughly a week ago, Veronica Moya contacted me to appear on my podcast. I had never interviewed anyone here before, and I'm glad I took her up on it. Veronica is multi-faceted with a spetacular personal, professional, and spiritual history: artist, performer, educator, mindfulness teacher.  Our wonderful talk touched upon the soul, creative Sidesteps, the transcendent power of song and other performance, and especially the ways in which childhood is limited by external messages, yet how to reinforce play, creativity, and resilience instead.  Thank you Veronica for being my premier guest! (https://veronicamoya.com) (The song referred to is Soda Stereo's "En la Ciudad de la Furia" with this beautiful live recording: https://youtu.be/FvYwvQt6jO0?si=zH_qcO0T6uSEk_Ji)

    51 min

  5. 13 may

    Family Reunion

    A guided meditation inspired by the Book of Numbers and the great encampment in the wilderness. In the Bible, every tribe gathered in its place — close enough for connection, with enough space for dignity, difference, and belonging. In this meditation, you’ll enter a wide open landscape and slowly create your own sacred camp: inviting family, friends, teachers, ancestors, estranged loved ones, and unexpected guests into the circle. Through gentle visualization, you’ll imagine where each person belongs, how close or far they sit, what gifts they bring, and what healing may emerge simply from being gathered together beneath the open sky. Some arrive with joy, others with complexity, memory, or grief. All are welcomed with curiosity and care. This practice offers space to reflect on community, boundaries, belonging, and the deeper question of what it means to make room for one another in the wilderness of our lives.

    14 min

  6. 27 abr

    Bedtime Ritual 77

    A Jewish-inspired bedtime ritual rooted in the ancient practice of the nighttime Shema. This meditation invites you to gently review the day, release what’s unfinished, and soften into rest. With simple breath awareness and a quiet letting go, you set aside worries, offer forgiveness to yourself and others, and entrust your spirit to the care of the night. No striving, no fixing—just being held. A calm threshold between doing and rest, helping you ease mental noise, relax the body, and prepare for restorative sleep.

    19 min

  7. 23 abr

    Pride Affirmation

    A grounding meditation on pride as a steady, honest recognition of what is good in you. Often dismissed or distorted, pride here is reclaimed as clarity—the ability to see your efforts, your growth, your character, and to name them without apology. Through gentle reflection, you’ll be guided to notice specific qualities you respect in yourself: moments of courage, persistence, creativity, care. This is not inflation, but right-sizing: standing in your own life with dignity and awareness. A quiet strengthening of self-trust, rooted in truth and attention.

    3 min

  8. 23 abr

    Laughter Is the Best Medicine

    A short, playful meditation designed to gently unlock laughter from within. Through simple breath, subtle sound, and a relaxed smile, you’ll ease the body out of tension and into lightness. This practice doesn’t force joy—it creates the conditions for it, inviting a natural sense of humor to emerge. The line between breath and laughter begins to blur, awakening the body’s innate rhythm of release. You may find yourself smiling, chuckling, or simply softening. Either way, this is a space to reconnect with levity, to hold your own seriousness more loosely, and to remember that laughter can be a quiet, restorative form of presence.

    3 min
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Toward a Spiritual-Cultural Renaissance:  The Way Forward Is Sideways www.eclecticcleric.com

Información

  • Creador
    Rabbi Alon C Ferency
  • Años de actividad
    2012 - 2026
  • Episodios
    20
  • Clasificación
    Apto
  • Copyright
    © Copyright Rabbi Alon C Ferency. All rights reserved.
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    Sidesteps