Steven Washington - Teachings & Insights

Author Info for Steven Washington Coming Soon

Also By Author

podcast

Steven Washington: “My Recovery Is Non-Negotiabl...

Steven Washington — December 2, 2025

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

You Might Also Enjoy

podcast

Post Views: 8,097

Michael Singer: Living Untethered

Michael Singer — January 13, 2026

What would change if you could witness your thoughts and emotions without being consumed by them? What if the energy you seek through external circumstances has been flowing within you all along, simply waiting to be untethered?

This week, Tami Simon revisits a beloved conversation with Michael Singer—bestselling author of The Untethered Soul and its profound sequel, Living Untethered: Beyond the Human Predicament. Michael is also the author of The Surrender Experiment and the creator of Sounds True’s transformative online course Living From a Place of Surrender.

Join Tami and Michael to explore:

The seat of awareness and what it means to truly be “in there” • The three-ring circus of consciousness: sense perceptions, thoughts, and emotions • Shakti—the energy flow within that either expands or contracts based on our internal blockages • Samskaras: the stored impressions from past experiences that shape our present reactions • Practical techniques for letting go: positive thinking, mantra repetition, and witness consciousness • The profound process of transmutation—how blocked energy transforms into love when we stop resisting • The difference between the conditional lower heart and the boundless spiritual heart • Why “you must die to be reborn”—letting go of who you think you are to discover who you really are

If you’re ready to stop bothering yourself about the moments in front of you, to untether from patterns that no longer serve you, and to discover the inexhaustible source of energy already flowing within—this conversation offers a clear, practical roadmap home.

Listen now and discover what it means to live untethered.

podcast

Post Views: 8,637

Richard Rudd: The Soft Journey to the Future Human

— January 6, 2026

What if the challenges we face—both personal and collective—are signs of humanity crawling up the reed, preparing for a metamorphosis as dramatic as a dragonfly’s transformation?

This week on Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon speaks with Richard Rudd—a teacher, mystic, award-winning poet, and founder of the Gene Keys. Richard shares the story of his remarkable three-day awakening at age 29, when he experienced what he now understands as glimpses through “the future human”—a state of pure light, intelligence, and complete absence of fear. This experience led him to develop the Gene Keys, a synthesis of ancient wisdom traditions with modern understanding that helps people transform shadow patterns into creative gifts.

Join Tami and Richard to explore:

Richard’s extraordinary awakening and memories of both past and future consciousness
The dragonfly as an allegory for humanity’s evolutionary metamorphosis
Why 2026-2027 may mark a critical turning point—”the year of the closing door”
The Gene Keys system: transforming 64 shadow patterns into gifts and divine attributes
The art of contemplation as gentle, patient transformation
Why fear increases as old paradigms decline—and what’s emerging beneath the surface
Strange attractors and signs that systems are preparing for quantum leaps • Heart intelligence versus AI and the resistance of remembering what’s real
How doubt, corruption, conflict, and other shadows contain hidden gifts of inquiry, equilibrium, and peace

If you’re sensing both the collapse of old structures and the emergence of something new, this conversation offers poetic wisdom for navigating the threshold between worlds.

Listen now to discover the contemplative path through transformation.

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.

podcast

Post Views: 12,927

Frank Ostaseki: “I’m Allergic to the Notion of a G...

— December 23, 2025

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.

For more with Frank Ostaseski:

Year to Live Course (Spirit Rock Meditation Center)

Spirit of Service (Upaya Zen Center)

Awareness in Action: The Role of Love (Upaya Zen Center, Frank Ostaseski & Sharon Salzberg)

Author Info for Steven Washington Coming Soon

Also By Author

Steven Washington: “My Recovery Is Non-Negotiabl...

You Might Also Enjoy

Michael Singer: Living Untethered

Richard Rudd: The Soft Journey to the Future Human

Frank Ostaseki: “I’m Allergic to the Notion of a G...

Menu

Listen to Sounds True playlists on

Connect With Us