People suffer because they view life through the lens of stored past experiences, projecting fears and desires onto the future. Because of this, they become trapped in endless...
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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.
Join the New York Times bestselling author of The Untethered Soul, The Surrender Experiment, and Living Untethered for this free series of curated teaching sessions, recorded at his Temple of the Universe yoga and meditation center.
When we’re open, we feel joy, love, and inspiration; when closed, we feel heavy, sad, and lifeless. Most people try to fix these varying states by outwardly seeking what makes them feel good and avoiding what makes them feel bad. But spirituality asks, why we are not always okay inside?
The reason is that consciousness, the true self, becomes distracted by the objects of its awareness—thoughts, emotions, and external events—and identifies with them. This false identification forms the sense of “I” with all its likes and dislikes, causing the outer world to determine the state of the inner one. As we relax and release these stored preferences, our inner energy flows freely, restoring our natural state of joy, love, and union with the divine.
There are two viable spiritual paths: one is reaching upwardly to touch your higher self, and the other is working inwardly to release the blockages that keep you bound to your lower self. The latter encourages radical self-honesty, acceptance of reality, and daily inner work to stop resisting life and start letting go of stored blockages that create suffering. Through this surrender-based path, the natural upward flow of energy is restored, leading to lasting well-being, freedom from disturbance and, ultimately, full spiritual liberation.
How do we find our way through crisis when the path forward feels unclear? How can the stories we tell—and the stories we receive—serve as guides through times of profound change?
This week, Tami Simon speaks with Leah Lamb—a writer, creator, and founder of the School for Sacred Storytelling. Leah works at the intersection of myth, healing, and personal transformation, bringing together storytellers from around the world to tell the visionary stories our time needs. She has a background in wilderness guiding, social work, theater, and environmental media, and she’s created a new learning series with Sounds True called Sacred Storytelling: How to Tell Stories That Open Hearts and Heal the World.
Join Tami and Leah to explore:
The original role of storytellers as healers, guides, and memory keepers across cultures
How the world was “sung, spoken, and chanted into being”—and what that means for us today
The difference between fantasy and dreams, and how to ground visionary stories in truth
Working with the “flexible heart” and emotional resilience through storytelling
Deep listening as the foundation of sacred storytelling—listening to nature, community, and the unseen realms
How crisis reveals what truly matters and brings communities together
The practice of asking for “medicine stories” when you feel lost or stuck
Storytelling as a form of consciousness that can guide us through fear and overwhelm
The mysterious connection between whales, memory keeping, and human storytelling
How to offer stories as gifts that provide exactly what someone needs
If you’re seeking guidance through uncertainty, hoping to reclaim your voice as a creator, or wondering how to tell stories that serve life itself, this conversation offers both inspiration and practical wisdom for the path ahead.
Learn Sacred Storytelling with Leah Lamb. Step into this ancient art and learn how to share stories that open hearts, heal the world, and ignite change with master storyteller. In Leah’s 5+ hour audio course Sacred Storytelling, you’ll unlock your creativity, find your unique voice, and unearth the wisdom within your own life experiences. Learn more at https://www.soundstrue.com/products/sacred-storytelling
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
This episode explores the powerful role of Eros (sensual love) and Thanatos (death) in fueling our connection to the world as we contribute to the Great Turning. Joanna and Jess discuss how we might learn to see our world as our lover (and as our self), the gifts of cultivating a sensual connection with the world, and how facing mortality can make the gift of being alive feel even more precious. They also reflect on the closeness of Joanna’s own death, which Joanna sees as “going home” to rejoin the cycle of life.
In this episode:
Using our love and awareness of impermanence as fuel for activism
Discovering ways to truly feel interconnected with all life through sensual presence
Reflections on mortality and our place in the cycle of life
We recommend starting a podcast club with friends or family to do these practices together. Links and assets to help prompt reflection and build community can be found with every episode on WeAreTheGreatTurning.com.
Micah Mortali is the director of the Kripalu School, a certified yoga teacher, and a longtime wilderness guide. With Sounds True, he has published Rewilding: Meditations, Practices, and Skills for Awakening in Nature. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon speaks with Micah about humanity’s growing disconnection from the earth and how “rewilding” can help slow that trend. They talk about rewilding both as individuals and as part of whole ecosystems. Micah also shares the story of an intense, revelatory trail encounter with a bear and comments on the “species loneliness” of urban environments. Mulling the sense of grief they have for humankind’s effects on the environment, Tami and Micah consider how modern people can grapple with being in exile from the natural world. Finally, they discuss the barriers many have to reentering nature, as well as ways to initiate your own rewilding experience no matter where you are.(64 minutes)
What do psychology and spirituality have in common? In this podcast, Michael Singer discusses how both psychology and spirituality help us illuminate the nature of the human mind and the mystery of consciousness. When we resist experiences we find uncomfortable, he explains, we begin to “make a mess” of our inner lives. Through the teachings and practices made available in spirituality and psychology, we can do the work of cleaning things up, purifying the flow of our life-force energy and returning to the ecstatic states we were meant to live in.
Once we realize that the higher self lies beyond our thoughts and emotions, we’ve taken an important first step. But anyone who’s had this insight knows that the journey has just begun. “If you think you can quickly free yourself from the power of the mind and the heart,” Michael Singer teaches, “you are in for a surprise.” Here, he guides us into the work of freeing ourselves through our choices and our continual commitment to spiritual practice.
What do you truly want? Wealth? Recognition? A perfect relationship? At our core, reflects Michael Singer, what we really want is to be happy: to dwell in a place of joy, love, and freedom from fear. In this episode, he shows how our thoughts and emotions lead us astray with solutions and goals… and how to experience the deeper, complete part of our being that transcends both external events and the misguided perceptions and tendencies of the mind.
What do you plan to do with your “next lap around our star”?
Nearly everyone, Michael Singer observes, will do the same thing they do every other year of their lives: try to get what they want and avoid what they don’t want. And they’ll be just as unhappy.
Why do we do this? Can’t we liberate ourselves from this no-win situation? Here, Michael shines an optimistic light on the New Year.
“When your personal self isn’t taking over,” teaches Michael Singer, “your heart is full and your mind is clear.” So what stops this from happening? Our fears and our desires.
In this episode, Michael shows us how to replace the never-ending pursuit of what you think will make you OK with that which will actually fill you with unconditional love and joy.
Like a boat sailing on the sea, there are two significant forces guiding our journey through life: the natural forces all around us and the practical skills needed to reach our destinations. Here, Michael Singer explores the essentials for making our way on the spiritual path.
The personal mind is a self-created mental construct formed by holding on to past experiences we have tagged with like and dislike. Whatever we experience passes through this layer of mind, which has the effect of distorting our perception and causing suffering. Liberation requires recognizing that you are the awareness noticing these thoughts, not the thoughts themselves. You can then learn to stop storing new personalized impressions while allowing old ones to pass. In this freedom, you can live in harmony with reality, guided by clarity and peace rather than personal preferences.
The essence of yogic teachings is that the universe is a single field of consciousness vibrating at different rates, manifesting as everything from physical matter to thoughts and emotions. At the human level, consciousness is the unchanging witness of our thoughts, emotions, and sensory experiences. Our sense of freedom is lost when we identify with what we are conscious of instead of consciousness itself. Suffering is created when we develop a false concept of self and try to make the outside world match this concept. Spirituality is not about controlling life to match our concepts but about freeing ourselves from them so consciousness can rest in its true nature, which is one of unconditional joy and peace.
The key to opening the heart is learning not to close it. The heart is very sensitive, and it closes due to stored past impressions that create a sense of fear and the need for self-protection. Thus, people seek external conditions for the heart to feel safe enough to open. But as conditions change, the tendency to close is still there. The true path to living with an open heart is learning not to close, by handling life’s experiences without resistance. Through awareness and practice, one can release stored impressions and live in a naturally open, loving state.
Suffering is not caused by external events but by our resistance to reality and our inability to handle what has already happened. Acceptance means acknowledging reality and our internal reactions to it, not through suppression, but through allowing stored emotional energy to release. Through this process, one becomes peaceful, free from ego-driven preferences, and capable of living in harmony with life as it unfolds.
The steps on the stairway to heaven are not paved with temporary highs or fleeting inspirational experiences. True spirituality begins with self-honesty about your fears, insecurities, and the mental and emotional patterns that dominate your daily life. The path to liberation involves relaxing, releasing, and staying seated in witness consciousness as you pass through your daily challenges. God’s creation is not here to be complained about but to be honored for the deep inner growth your life provides you. The strength to relax in the face of inner disturbance and to act from one’s deepest truth is what raises you step by step toward the divine.
The essence of spirituality is directly experiencing awareness itself. Your thoughts, emotions, body, and external objects are simply things you are aware of. They are not aware of you—you are aware of them. Spiritual growth is learning to remain centered in that awareness, letting experiences pass without clinging or resisting. This allows you to handle reality as it is, instead of as a reaction to your past, and leads to a life filled with love and inspiration.
True spiritual masters are not mystical icons, they are beings who have transcended the distractions of mind and emotion to rest in the constant ecstasy of pure consciousness (Sat Chit Ananda). This is in drastic contrast to the suffering we incur by allowing our preference-driven mind to control our lives. The path back is simple but profound: begin by noticing the reactive nature of your mind, then work on relaxing and releasing those impulsive reactions. Stop always needing life to match your preferences, and instead, learn to honor and appreciate life as a miraculous gift.
Spiritual liberation is not about attaining extraordinary experiences; it is about releasing the internal blockages that keep us from a permanent state of well-being. The cause of suffering is not life—it is our belief that life must be what we want in order for us to be okay. We can learn to let go of this constant sense of lacking by releasing the stored blockages from our past. When this purification takes place, we become open, peaceful, and capable of living with unconditional joy regardless of circumstances.
The natural state of the mind is like calm, still water, teaches Michael Singer. The practice of spiritual surrender—to “relax and release” our resistance to whatever arises in our experience—is the pathway to enjoying serenity of mind no matter what the universe throws your way. In this podcast, Michael Singer uses the analogy of an aquatic bird maintaining its balance on rough water to illustrate what to do and what not to do if we want to stay poised and upright when life gets turbulent.
According to Michael Singer, the only one stopping you from experiencing the heights of divine ecstasy and freedom is you. In this podcast, he describes the real work of the spiritual path as the process of removing our inner blockages and self-made obstacles in order to uncover the natural states of bliss and spiritual liberation that are our birthright. He also discusses discovering “witness consciousness,” the cause of karma, the art of relaxing and releasing resistance to our experience, and more.
The time that we have between our births and our deaths is a great gift. What we do with this time and how we give our lives meaning is the subject of this podcast with Michael Singer. Here, Singer discusses hard yet empowering truths about the fleeting nature of our lives, the inherent flaw in our most common strategies for feeling “okay inside,” why spirituality is never about getting what you want or avoiding what you don’t want, and much more.
What do psychology and spirituality have in common? In this podcast, Michael Singer discusses how both psychology and spirituality help us illuminate the nature of the human mind and the mystery of consciousness. When we resist experiences we find uncomfortable, he explains, we begin to “make a mess” of our inner lives. Through the teachings and practices made available in spirituality and psychology, we can do the work of cleaning things up, purifying the flow of our life-force energy and returning to the ecstatic states we were meant to live in.
