Tami Simon speaks with Gangaji, an American-born spiritual teacher dedicated to sharing the path of freedom through simple and direct self-inquiry. This year marks her twentieth year of teaching and sharing the essential message she received from her guru, Papaji, on the banks of the Ganges in 1990. She is the author of the Sounds True book The Diamond in your Pocket: Discovering Your True Radiance. Gangaji discusses the challenge of working with difficult emotions, the power of humiliation, and the endless nature of spiritual awakening. (47 minutes)
Tami Simon speaks with Shinzen Young, a pioneering meditation teacher, the founder of the Vipassana Support Institute, and an expert in the field of pain management. With Sounds True, Shinzen has created several programs to help people work with physical and emotional pain through meditation, including a book/CD called Break Through Pain. Additionally, Shinzen has called upon his decades as a meditation teacher to create an introductory audio program on meditation: Meditation. Shinzen discusses what science and meditation have in common and how these two fields can collaborate in the future to create technologies of awakening. (69 minutes)
Tami Simon speaks with Joan Halifax, who is an anthropologist, Buddhist teacher, and the author of The Fruitful Darkness, Shamanic Voyages, and The Human Encounter with Death, co-written with Dr. Stanislav Grof. In 1994, Joan created a project called “Being with Dying” to help health care professionals learn how to care for dying patients in a compassionate, mindful fashion—and which was the source for her Sounds True audio training course, Being With Dying: Contemplative Practices and Teachings. In this episode, Joan speaks about the powerful insights on living that she has learned from her years of caring for the dying—including the greatest gift that we can give another person. (67 minutes)
Gustavo Ferrer, MD, is a pulmonologist who specializes in end-of-life care and has been named one of the best doctors in the nation—including Most Compassionate Doctor—by US News & World Report. With Sounds True, he has published Graceful Exit: How to Advocate Effectively, Take Care of Yourself, and Be Present for the Death of a Loved One. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon talks with Dr. Ferrer about our society’s anxiety around death and how he tries to alleviate it for both patients and their families. Dr. Ferrer advocates strongly for a conscious approach to dying, especially when it comes to getting one’s affairs in order so that death does not become even more of a burden for loved ones. Tami and Dr. Ferrer also discuss the need for open, honest conversations about dying and why this can actually help alleviate our fears around the process. Finally, Dr. Ferrer recounts the time he spent with the Warao people of South America as a young medical student, describing how their acceptance of death and grieving as a people greatly influenced his current approach to end-of-life care. (60 minutes)
Bliss out on baby, mi amor. Love your chichis. Admire your soft curves, your delicate belly, and the way you require intentional care. Everything deep comes to the surface as you pour sweat, milk, blood, and tears onto your sheets. I want your postpartum to feel blissful, so here are five tips to help you make that happen.
1. Make a postpartum plan.
You can’t plan exactly the way the birth will pan out, but you can plan the details of your postpartum support. Bodywork, meals, laundry, and childcare for your other children are some things to consider. Use this book as a guide to feel into what nonnegotiables you’ll need in place during la cuarentena.
2. Don’t DIY postpartum.
There’s a time and place for self-reliance. Postpartum ain’t the time. Postpartum traditions are community centered. Once you know that you’re pregnant, surrender to other folks holding you. Waddle that ass to circles with like-minded familias who you know would be down for mutual support. This is why we have the Indigemama community and so many other comunidades who are dedicated to saving our lives.
3. Shift your mindset.
One of the biggest internal challenges I see postpartum people go through is the mental chatter that puts a wall up, barring any chance for outside support. When we’re socialized into struggling and then rewarded for doing things on our own, it’s easy to feel guilty asking for help. You might be distrustful of other people’s capacity to fulfill your needs. How many times have you heard women say, “If you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself”? This belief sets postpartum people up for anxiety, stress, depression, and overwhelm. If you want postpartum done right, you have to feel in your body that you are worthy of being venerated; you must feel that you are deserving of being held.
Paying homage to you is paying homage to nature itself. Give your potential supporters that opportunity to connect with creation.
4. Repeat after me: affirmations, affirmations.
It’s easy to feel ashamed to ask for what you need. It’s normal to feel guilty when you see how hard people are working for you. Give yourself a pep talk: I allow myself to be cared for. I accept this help. I trust that I can be held without lifting a finger. I surrender myself to the love and labor of others. I soften and allow myself to be carried. I want you to do this every moment that you need it. When you affirm that you’re doing the right thing over and over, then eventually it becomes second nature.
5. Support your romantic relationship.
Postpartum is stressful AF! Those of us with multiple children can tell you that the little ones tend to take precedent over romantic relationships. But after a while, that really weighs down a union. Plan relationship goals. When will you start to date again? What’s the plan for one-on-one time? Who are the people who hold you and your partner(s) up as a sacred union? What baggage can you each decide to let go of now? What support can each of you get individually from healthy older couples who are content with each other? What can you appreciate about each other during la cuarentena? What words do you need to say to each other when the going gets tough? Nurturing a healthy, loving relationship with each other when you’re parenting children is a practice of discipline.
This excerpt is from Thriving Postpartum: Embracing the Indigenous Wisdom of La Cuarentena by Pānquetzani
Pānquetzani
Pānquetzani comes from a matriarchal family of folk healers from the valley of Mexico (Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlaxcala), La Comarca Lagunera (Durango and Coahuila), and Zacatecas. As a traditional herbalist, healer, and birth keeper, Pānquetzani has touched over 3,000 wombs and bellies. Through her platform, Indigemama: Ancestral Healing, she has taught over 100 live, in-person intensives and trainings on womb wellness. She lives in California. For more, visit indigemama.com.
Responding to an undeniable inner impulse for deeper understanding and purpose, Moshe Gersht left behind a successful career as a musician to study the Torah in Jerusalem. Today, he writes and teaches about the connections between Judaism, mystical wisdom, the mind, and our collective human struggles. In this compelling conversation with Sounds True founder Tami Simon, Moshe discusses his new book, The Three Conditions: How Intention, Joy, and Certainty Will Supercharge Your Life.
Give a listen to this inspiring podcast exploring: trusting that things will get better; holding space for peace and joy amidst chaotic situations; the underlying current of the oneness of infinity; being with our pain instead of fighting it; the search for success versus the search for meaning; finding language for our inner experience through the Torah and Jewish mysticism; the opportunity to connect with God in every moment; the analogy of the seed bursting with potential; the movement of life, of which we are all a part; stepping into “the infinite patience”; the qualities of a supercharged life; choosing the level on which you will experience life; the psychological and spiritual shifts we initiate through the three conditions of intention, joy, and certainty; why “what you focus on, you feel”; building momentum on the path to healing; the fallacy of “finished”; realigning with our essential purpose and our inherent goodness; the anatomy of transition and having faith in yourself; being a spiritual antenna; the two directions challenges can take us; and more.
Note: This episode 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 join.soundstrue.com.
