Somewhere between the human being you know yourself to be and something you can only call mystery—that's where this one lands. In this Point of Insight, Tami Simon follows...
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Tami Simon’s in-depth audio podcast interviews with leading spiritual teachers and luminaries. Listen in as they explore their latest challenges and breakthroughs - the leading edge of their work.
Tami Simon’s in-depth audio podcast interviews with leading spiritual teachers and luminaries. Listen in as they explore their latest challenges and breakthroughs – the leading edge of their work.
Suffering is created by the mind’s demand that reality match its preferences, and the attempt to control the world only deepens the sense of disturbance. Spiritual growth comes from letting go of these egocentric demands, accepting reality as it is, and refusing to engage with the inner voice that insists things should be different. When this letting go occurs, life becomes an act of effortless service, where actions arise naturally from the unfolding moment rather than from personal desire.
Trauma doesn’t show up in what we remember. It shows up in how we react.
This week, Tami Simon speaks with Dr. Tian Dayton—award-winning scholar, senior fellow at The Meadows, and author of Growing Up with Addiction: How Adult Children of Addicts Can Heal Family Trauma, Complex PTSD and Codependency—about what it means to grow up inside a family shaped by addiction, and what it actually takes to heal.
Drawing on decades of clinical work, her own lived experience, and her innovative Relational Trauma Repair (RTR) method, Dr. Dayton explores the neuroscience of relational trauma and the embodied, experiential path through it.
Join Tami and Tian to explore:
Why addiction is a family disease—and how process addictions like workaholism and overeating leave the same marks as substance use
How childhood trauma gets stored in the body, not the story—and why you can’t think your way out of complex PTSD
The neuroscience of overreaction: why triggers feel present-tense even when they’re decades old
Cognitive and somatic distortions—and how to recognize when the past is hijacking the present
Psychodrama and Relational Trauma Repair: the power of talking to instead of about
Timelines, social atoms, and letter writing as tools for putting fragmented memories back in order
Why healing is a discipline—and what it means to take ownership of your own darkness as a path to freedom
Whether you grew up in a home shaped by addiction or simply recognize the patterns Dr. Dayton describes, this interview offers both a map and the courage to begin the journey.
Listen now and start where you are.
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.
People rely on external goals for their inspiration and happiness. But the sense of happiness is actually experienced inside and, with right understanding, can be an unconditional state of being. Conditions for our happiness exist because we have stored past disturbances that must be avoided if we want to feel okay inside. True liberation comes from letting go of these inner blockages, staying open to life, and choosing happiness regardless of what happens.
We don’t realize how tightly confined we are to our personal mind—its thoughts, beliefs, preferences, past experiences, and suppressed emotions. This represents such a tiny subset of reality compared to the vastness of what actually exists. Spirituality is about transcending that limited frame of reference and opening up to a world that is not filtered through our ego. Every moment is part of a vast cosmic unfolding, and the key to joy and spiritual freedom lies in expanding awareness beyond oneself.
Dr. Lise Van Susteren is a psychiatrist in private practice in Washington, DC, and has served as an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University. With her writing partner, Stacey Colino, she has authored the new book Emotional Inflammation: Discover Your Triggers and Reclaim Your Equilibrium During Anxious Times. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Dr. Van Susteren joins Tami Simon to discuss the modern condition she calls emotional inflammation, the primary drivers behind it, and her innovative RESTORE process for coming back into balance and wholeness in our lives. (1 hour, 2 minutes)
The pathless path is the practice of accepting and handling reality exactly as it appears rather than trying to resist or cling to it. Every experience that disturbs us reveals stored energy patterns inside us that life brings forward for healing and release. Spiritual growth comes from relaxing through these energies, allowing them to pass through, and using every moment of life for your liberation. In essence, life is your guru.
Much of our inner suffering arises from the accumulation of unresolved emotional experiences stored within. By learning to release these blockages and letting life’s events pass through without resistance, you can reconnect with your natural energy flow, which fosters love, creativity, and harmony. By practicing self-awareness and nonjudgment, and using life’s challenges as opportunities for spiritual growth, you can rediscover your true nature and live in a state of inner freedom, compassion, and fulfillment.
What creates the inner disturbances that cause us to struggle? At the root, teaches Michael Singer, lie the polarities of desire and fear: the psyche’s need to hold on to what it likes and push away what it doesn’t. In this episode, Michael reveals how inner freedom arises not from struggling with these forces but by allowing their natural flow of coming and going to pass right through us.
Living in the present moment frees you from the burden of past experiences and anxieties about the future. Emotional and psychological blockages, formed by resistance to the past, will inevitably distort your mind’s view of reality and limit happiness. By practicing mindfulness, acceptance, and inner purification, you can learn to live in the present moment and embrace life’s challenges with enthusiasm and openness rather than fear and resistance.
Transcendence is the state of fully experiencing life while maintaining inner peace, regardless of circumstances. It is not detachment or avoidance of life but rather embracing all moments as they unfold without resistance or preference. This openness enables a state of joy and inner harmony, transforming preferences and fears into acceptance and love. Ultimately, transcendence aligns you with universal consciousness, allowing life to flow freely within and through you.
Why do people experience so many problems in life? If you look objectively, you will see that problems arise because we have deeply ingrained preferences about how life should unfold. These manifest as desires and fears that are rooted in our unresolved experiences from the past. True freedom and joy can only be achieved by letting go of this stored negativity and embracing life as it unfolds. Ultimately, fulfillment comes not from controlling external circumstances but from inner alignment and openness to life’s flow.
Acceptance and surrender are key spiritual principles that focus on embracing reality as it is and using it to let go of inner resistance and turmoil. Seen in this light, life’s challenges are not problems; they are opportunities for growth and spiritual evolution. For example, karma is not a punishment but a learning tool encouraging you to evolve consciously. By practicing acceptance and surrender, individuals can achieve clarity and respond to situations thoughtfully, which fosters great spiritual growth.
