Ruth King is an international teacher in the Insight Meditation tradition, serving on the Teacher’s Council at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California. King formally managed training and organizational development at Levi Strauss and Intel corporations, consulting to leaders on cultural change initiatives. Currently, King teaches the Mindful of Race Training Program nationwide to teams and organizations by combining mindfulness principles with an exploration of our racial conditioning, its impact, and our potential. King has a master’s degree in clinical psychology, and is the author of several publications, including Healing Rage: Women Making Inner Peace Possible and her most recent book, Mindful of Race: Transforming Racism from the Inside Out. Learn more at www.ruthking.net.
Ruth King is an Insight Meditation teacher, life coach, diversity consultant, and the author of Healing Rage: Women Making Inner Peace Possible. She is publishing her new book, Mindful of Race: Transforming Racism from the Inside Out, in collaboration with Sounds True. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon speaks with Ruth about the personal experiences that led to writing Mindful of Race and why the heart can be “a mass weapon of healing.” They talk about the different ways we can interpret current racial narratives and why it takes honest self-examination to discover how one has benefited from a racist system. Ruth explains how mindfulness can open us up to having difficult conversations around racism, colonialism, and other forms of systemic oppression. Finally, Tami and Ruth discuss how “life is not personal, permanent, or perfect” and the necessity of cultivating compassion in all walks of life. (74 minutes)
Ruth King is a life coach and insight meditation teacher of the dedicated practitioner program at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. She’s the author of the book Healing Rage: Women Making Inner Peace Possible. In this special edition of Insights at the Edge hosted by Sounds True producer Kriste Peoples, Ruth explains the difference between anger and rage, as well as how examining the patterns of our rage can help us both understand its source and channel its animating energy. They talk about how rage covers over our soft spots and how the experience of it can lead into fruitful lovingkindness practice. Finally, Kriste and Ruth speak on how a deep understanding of these concepts can help craft healing conversations around racial difference and injustice. (69 minutes)
How do we move beyond fear and separation to experience our true divine nature—especially in times of collective upheaval and uncertainty?
This week, Tami Simon welcomes Paul Selig, a channeler, author, and teacher who has brought through 13 extraordinary books from non-physical guides he describes as teaching from “the upper room.” Born an atheist and trained at Yale, Paul experienced a spontaneous kundalini awakening in 1987 that left him clairvoyant and fundamentally changed his understanding of reality. Since then, he has served as what he calls a “spoken stenographer” for teachings on consciousness, awakening, and our capacity to align with the divine.
Join Tami and Paul to explore:
Paul’s dramatic awakening experience and emergence as a channel
What it feels like to receive and transmit channeled wisdom
The “upper room”—a vibrational state beyond fear and separation
How to recognize when we’re acting from fear versus divine knowing
The clearing process that accompanies spiritual awakening
Why this particular time calls for radical transformation of old structures
The powerful attunement: “I am in God, I am of God, I am with God”
How to maintain trust and openness when part of us still holds back
Practical ways to realign with source amidst chaos and uncertainty
If you’re navigating this time of collective change and seeking a deeper connection to your divine nature, this conversation offers both inspiration and practical guidance for claiming the upper room—that aspect of consciousness where we already dwell in union with all that is.
This conversation offers genuine transmission—not just concepts about awakening, but the palpable presence of realized teachers exploring the growing edge of spiritual understanding together. Originally aired on Sounds True One.
What truly matters when we face the end of life? After decades of sitting at the bedside of hundreds of dying people, Frank Ostaseski has distilled the deepest human concerns into two essential questions: Am I loved? Have I loved well?
This week on Insights at the Edge, Tami welcomes Frank Ostaseski—co-founder of America’s first Buddhist hospice, the Zen Hospice Project, founder of the Metta Institute, and author of The Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully. Frank brings extraordinary wisdom from his pioneering work in compassionate end-of-life care, along with profound personal insights from his own encounters with heart surgery, strokes, and the transformative vulnerability of being “on the other side of the sheets.”
Join Tami and Frank to explore:
The two essential questions that arise when facing death—and what they reveal about living fully now
Why emotional flexibility is the true condition for healing and transformation
How to meet our own fear and pain without abandoning ourselves or others
The practice of “allowing” as a path to both wisdom and compassion
What happens in the dying process: surrender, reconstitution, and coming home
Why Frank is allergic to the notion of a “good death”
The indestructible love that emerges when we keep our hearts open through pain
How to practice dying by paying attention to everyday endings
This conversation is for anyone grappling with loss, change, or the fundamental questions of existence—offering not prescriptive answers, but the profound medicine of honest presence and the recognition that our vulnerability itself is one of our most beautiful human qualities.
This conversation offers genuine transmission—not just concepts about awakening, but the palpable presence of realized teachers exploring the growing edge of spiritual understanding together. Originally aired on Sounds True One.
How do we remain committed to staying sober when grief strikes, when stress becomes overwhelming, or when shame threatens to pull us back into old patterns?
This week on Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon welcomes Steven Washington, a former professional Broadway dancer who has transformed his 23-year recovery journey into a powerful practice of embodied healing. Steven is the author of Recovering You: Soul Care and Mindful Movement for Overcoming Addiction and creator of the SWE Studio, an online community offering movement and meditation support for people in recovery.
In this deeply personal interview, Tami and Steven explore:
Why recovery must be “non-negotiable”—with no conditions attached, regardless of life’s challenges
How shame operates as the linchpin of addiction and the healing power of sharing it with trusted others
The connection between sensitivity and addiction, and how to transform sensitivity from vulnerability into strength
Practical tools for creating a trigger plan that works for both small daily stressors and major life crises
How Qigong and embodied practices help regulate the nervous system and process emotions held in the body
The journey from inherited shame to self-compassion and authentic self-worth
Why asking for help—practiced with small things—prepares us for life’s biggest challenges
Developing a personal relationship with a higher power that feels authentic rather than inherited
If you’re navigating recovery, supporting someone who is, or seeking to understand the connection between embodiment and transformation, Steven offers both practical wisdom and profound compassion for the journey.
Note: This interview originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at https://www.join.soundstrue.com
