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137: Conor O’Brien- Villagers

August 2, 2016 1 Comment

Conor O'Brien The One You Feed — Photo by Caroline Vandekerckhove- https://dimlylitstages.com/

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This week we talk to Conor O’Brien about celebrating our uniqueness

Conor O’Brien is an Irish singer and songwriter for the band Villagers.

The band came to prominence in 2010 with the release of their debut album, Becoming a Jackal. Released to critical acclaim, the album was shortlisted for the 2010 Mercury Prize and the Choice Music Prize. The band’s second studio album, {Awayland} was released in 2013. It won the Choice Music Prize that year and was also shortlisted for the 2013 Mercury Prize. Their 2015 record Darling Arithmetic quickly became on of Eric’s favorite records of last year. It also won an Ivors Award for Best Album of the Year.

In This Interview, Conor O’Brien and I Discuss…

The One You Feed parable
Using art to explore our inner challenges
His “meditation” song
His song about smiling into the void- Nothing Arrived
Embracing the difficult
How most music tries to cover up the cracks in life
How music that seems sad can be very comforting.
Being part of something bigger
Realizing how little we know
Becoming more comfortable talking about his sexuality
Being an introvert
The sweet relief of knowing nothing comes for free
Looking for shortcuts in life and how they don’t exist
Why being on The One You Feed is sort of like going to a therapist
How therapy is less accepted in Ireland as much as America
Having faith in the things that make you different
Finding the things in ourselves that are unique and magnify them
The mood in Ireland after the referendum on gay marriage
Humility in a celebrity driven culture

Conor O’Brien Links

136: Brad Warner

July 26, 2016 1 Comment

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This week we talk to Brad Warner about not being a jerk

Brad Warner is an ordained Zen teacher and author of the books There Is No God And He Is Always With You , Sit Down and Shut Up and Hardcore Zen. He’s also a writer for the Suicide Girls website, bass player for the hardcore punk rock group 0DFx (aka Zero Defex), star of the movies “Shoplifting From American Apparel” and “Zombie Bounty Hunter M.D.,” director of the film “Cleveland’s Screaming!” and former vice president of the US branch of the company founded by the man who created Godzilla.

His latest book is called: Don’t Be a Jerk: Other Practical Advice from Dogen, Japan’s Greatest Zen Master – A Radical but Reverent Paraphrasing of Dogen’s Treasury of the True Dharma Eye

In This Interview, Brad Warner and I Discuss…

The One You Feed parable
His book, Don’t Be a Jerk and Other Practical Advice from Dogen, Japan’s Greatest Zen Master
That we become the people we need to become
How a person can be a buddha one minute and a jackass the next
That once you realize what your “negative” urges are, they become less attractive for you to respond to
The answer to the question, “How do you strive to be a better person AND accept life exactly as it is?”
That the most intelligent course of action is the one that benefits everyone involved
How one of his teachers said that you need to hold an equal amount of faith and doubt
The idea that thoughts are just the secretions of your brain the same way your stomach acid are the secretion of your stomach
According to the Zen practice, there is nothing other than what exists right now
The powerful truth that Brad Warner states: “you can always improve your situation but you do so by facing it, not by running away”
The mistake that’s made when designating certain things as “self”
The role of nature as it relates to the dharma according to Dogen

Brad Warner Links

135: Michelle Segar

July 19, 2016 Leave a Comment

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This week we talk to Michelle Segar about making lasting change

Michelle Segar, PhD, is a motivation scientist and author of critically acclaimed “No Sweat! How the Simple Science of Motivation Can Bring You a Lifetime of Fitness” . She is also the Director of the Sport, Health, and Activity Research and Policy Center (SHARP) at the University of Michigan, and Chair of the U.S. National Physical Activity Plan’s Communications Committee.

Her evidence-based ideas about what motivates people to choose and maintain healthy behaviors is changing the conversation across fields. She consults with global organizations on these issues and delivers keynotes and sustainable behavior change trainings. She ran with the Olympic Torch at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.

In This Interview, Michelle Segar and I Discuss…

The One You Feed parable
Her book, No Sweat: How the Simple Science of Motivation Can Bring You a Lifetime of Fitness
How considering a different “why” for starting to be more physically active can be helpful
That why we engage in physical activity and what it is that we do are critical when it comes to us sticking with it
How too many “whys” dilute their positive effect on us
Intrinsic vs Extrinsic goals
How answering the question, “What kind of physical activity did you enjoy doing as a kid?” can be important
That we should start doing what makes us feel good and stop doing what makes us feel bad when it comes to physical activity
That any physical movement is better than none at all – Everything counts!
That flexibility is a strategy for success when it comes to sustained physical activity in your life
The vicious cycle of failure
The sustainable cycle of self-care
That it’s important to focus one complicated behavior change at a time
The self-care hierarchy

Michelle Segar Links

134: James R Doty

July 12, 2016 Leave a Comment

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This week we talk to James R Doty about the power of compassion

James R Doty, MD, is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at Stanford University and the Director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University School of Medicine. He completed his undergraduate education at the University of CA, Irvine and medical school at Tulane University. He trained in neurosurgery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and completed fellowships in pediatric neurosurgery at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia.

As Director of CCARE, Dr. Doty has collaborated on a number of research projects focused on compassion and altruism including the use of neuro-economic models to assess altruism, use of the CCARE developed compassion cultivation training in individuals and its effect, assessment of compassionate and altruistic judgment utilizing implanted brain electrodes and the use of optogenetic techniques to assess nurturing pathways in rodents.

Dr. Doty is also an inventor, entrepreneur and philanthropist having given support to a number of charitable organizations including Children as the Peacemakers, Global Healing, the Pachamama Alliance and Family & Children Services of Silicon Valley. Additionally, he has endowed chairs at major universities including Stanford University and his alma mater, Tulane University. He is on the Board of Directors of a number of non-profit foundations including the Dalai Lama Foundation, of which he is chairman and the Charter for Compassion International of which he is vice-chair. He is also on the International Advisory Board of the Council for the Parliament of the World’s Religions.

He is the author of Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon’s Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart

In This Interview, James R Doty and I Discuss…

The One You Feed parable
His book, Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon’s Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart
The impact of compassionate acts on our brain, health and well-being
How early in his childhood he felt like a leaf being blown around by an ill wind
The four key lessons that, when learned, changed the trajectory of his life
The difference between you and your inner voice
That when you create the internal circumstances for reaching your goal, that allows for the possibility of the outward circumstances to align themselves for your own success
A scientific perspective on the connection between the brain and the heart and the rest of the body
The types of practices that can improve your vegal tone and why that matters
The important role that attachment early in life plays in the quality of health later in your life
The important role that connection with others plays in your health throughout your life
That being of service to others is what gives life meaning

James R Doty Links

133: Parker J Palmer

July 5, 2016 2 Comments

Parker J Palmer- The One You Feed — Photo Credit: Dan Kowalski, Bainbridge Island, WA

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This week we talk to Parker J Palmer about finding wholeness

Parker J. Palmer, is the founder and Senior Partner of the Center for Courage & Renewal. He is a world-renowned writer, speaker and activist who focuses on issues in education, community, leadership, spirituality and social change. He has reached millions worldwide through his nine books, including Let Your Life Speak, The Courage to Teach, A Hidden Wholeness, and Healing the Heart of Democracy.

Parker holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California at Berkeley, as well as eleven honorary doctorates, two Distinguished Achievement Awards from the National Educational Press Association, and an Award of Excellence from the Associated Church Press. In 2010, Palmer was given the William Rainey Harper Award whose previous recipients include Margaret Mead, Elie Wiesel, and Paolo Freire. In 2011, he was named an Utne Reader Visionary, one of “25 people who are changing your world.”

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In This Interview, Parker J Palmer and I Discuss…

The One You Feed parable
That wholeness is not about perfection but it’s about embracing all that we are
His book, Hidden Wholeness: A Journey Towards an Undivided Life
What the idea of “the Soul” means to him
His experiences with clinical depression and the lesson he’s learned, a.k.a. “the pearl of great price”
What “the divided life” is
That we need BOTH community and solitude
The voice of depression
The important concept of, “If you can’t be in community, watch out for being alone and if you can’t be alone, watch out for being in community.”
The idea of “The Circle of Trust”
That sometimes giving advice to someone is like giving CPR to people who can breathe for themselves & when we give them CPR, we’re actually inhibiting their own capacity to breathe
The importance of letting another person work their way to the answer themselves
His book, Healing the Heart of Democracy
What he has to say about the current state of politics
That rather than looking at the right vs left division in politics, another view is to look at the people who think they can’t do anything politically and have given up vs the activists
That our founding fathers really got it wrong when defining who “we the people” are
The important role that conflict brings to our form of government
The Five Habits of the Heart that are important to healing the heart of democracy
The definition of “eustress” (hint: it’s the antonym of distress)
The two ways that the heart can break
Ways people who hold very different viewpoints can come together to find common ground
That when it comes to ideologically contentious issues, the more you know about another person’s story, the less possible it is to despise that person, no matter how different they may be from you.
And that the more you hear about that person, you may not change your mind, but you re-forge the human bond, ensuring that you are in right relationship with them which is more important than just being right
The Courage and Renewal Center

Parker J Palmer Links