Becoming Conscious

A 23-year-old full-time nomad and mother of one that I had the beautiful opportunity of meeting while in Guatemala joined me to speak on her experience with a natural/water birth, listening to our bodies, learning from our children, choosing a conscious approach to educating her child and what it’s like to travel as a mother. You can find more of char on her Instagram (@charemilyk) and her motherhood-focused Instagram (@followthemoonmotherhood). Get full access to Becoming Conscious at becomeconscious.substack.com/subscribe

I’m joined by Daniel Garner (part of the O.G Rose Duo), a philosopher, intellectual, and fascinating thinker. In this episode, we discuss everything from creativity to rationality, from aesthetics to infinite formlessness and death drives. Here you can find their essays, audio essays + interviews, Instagram, and Twitter.You can listen to this episode of Becoming Conscious on Youtube. Get full access to Becoming Conscious at becomeconscious.substack.com/subscribe

Nora White is such an inspiring human being that uses sexuality & tantric practices to explore the human experience. In this conversation, Nora speaks on using tantra to see the divine in the material and how we can engage with every moment in a tantric way in drawing forth our full presence in every instance of life. We also explore our cultural shame around sex and how we may begin to work with it.+ Overview of Topics Discussed* Nora’s journey and the war on consciousness* understanding love on the physical, emotional, and mental levels through Tantra* the tantric way of life is recognizing the divine in the material and commanding one’s full presence in every moment - every instance of life is Tantric* working with polarities* sexual practices for energy-work and transcendence* the freeing power of being vulnerable, authentic self, completely naked in an intimate space* sexual trauma we’ve all inherited from the toxic social climates we’re born into* and how to begin to unpack the layers* the innocence of pleasure* repressing and being at war with our own nature and our own desires is when denying pleasure becomes unhealthy* dropping all of yourself into the very moment, the human can get an experience of life that’s so much richer and more fulfilling than ANY material dreams can bring* noticing dissonance between the head and the heart* the work is getting to a full-body yes (mind, heart, gut) during sex and sexual practices* getting in touch with the signals our body is sending us while in situations of intimacy Get full access to Becoming Conscious at becomeconscious.substack.com/subscribe

In this podcast, I’m joined by Katrina Michelle. Katrina is a holistic psychotherapist who practices from a transpersonal and humanistic framework that centers around cultivating psychospiritual growth at both the individual and cultural levels. For her doctoral thesis, she conducted research on Exploring Resistance to Spiritual Emergence, which I found particularly fascinating.In this conversation, we discuss Katrina’s story, the various types of spiritual resistance, and what to do when the terror/disorientation/crippling experiences arise, creating cultural frameworks to hold various types of spiritual experiences, and the tremendous powers/dangers of psychedelics as a tool for finding (and often losing) meaning in life and how to avoid some of the common pitfalls of psychedelic use.  Check out Katrina’s film in the making: https://www.whenlighteningstrikes.com/home Get full access to Becoming Conscious at becomeconscious.substack.com/subscribe

Susanne Cook Greuter is internationally known as the leading expert in mature ego development and self-actualization. In this episode, Susanne and I explore:* using metaphor and story to better understand Ego Development Theory* overcoming the idea that everyone needs to convert to your worldview* the necessity of every stage of development* the fantasy of integral — and the delusion that stage yellow will save us* conventional stages mastering integral theory without embodying it* EDT as the stories we tell ourselves* knowing what it’s time to drop stage theory and perceive reality directly* the developmental process defined as the degree of not-knowing* deconstruction process as perceiving reality without concepts* simplicity on the other side of complexity* values and virtues as more important than stage development* developed human beings who can be quite contemptible vs. simple human beings who are generous, humble, and in service to humanity* the myth of the self-made man and the interdependence of all thing* how some systems thinkers may still be operating at the expert-achiever stage of development* language as central to meaning-making* colonization of the western mind* english as being phenomenologically limited, yet fundamental to development at the same timeIf you’re interested in learning more about Susanne’s work I’d recommend starting here: Introduction to Ego Development Theory. Get full access to Becoming Conscious at becomeconscious.substack.com/subscribe

Ethan Kahn and I explore:* metaspirituality* spirituality outside of the common contexts we find it in* discernment in the spiritual developmental process* the importance of maintaining the diversity of spiritual traditions* toxic solipsism in modern spiritual communities — solipsistic awakening* ways in which absolute and relative truth isn’t as straightforward as we may think* how something can be true, not true, both, and neither all at the same time* upgrading relativism beyond naive pluralism* spirituality as beyond any single paradigm or conception of spirituality* why science is not antithetical to spiritualityHere you can find Ethan’s youtube channel, website and forum called Everything Explained where he speaks on everything from cessation to nonduality to paranormal phenomenon. Get full access to Becoming Conscious at becomeconscious.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode we discuss:* survival anxiety* a multi-contextual lens on the world* the necessity of studying multiple different perspectives* different modes of knowing* operating from being mode and the beauty of existence* diving deeper into introspection* uncovering self-delusion* holism as having a long-term horizon* moving beyond right and wrong* focusing on the generator frequency behind other’s words* noticing that most of our individual problems stem from a lack of holism Get full access to Becoming Conscious at becomeconscious.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode we explore:* survival anxiety as contrary to experiencing holism* survival anxiety as a mechanism that perpetuates separation/fragmentation* attaining security through a deeper lived experience of interdependence and adding value to the systems that I’m a part of* understanding the self as relationship / as interdependency* how science dismisses higher-order phenomenon* every part is indispensable to the whole* life is an emergent property arising out of complexity* capitalism as exploitation of higher-order phenomenon and reducing all value to reductionistic lower order phenomenon* all human action is geared towards holism and harmony* all evil in a system is happening because the conditions are there for it to thrive* psycho-pathology as a byproduct of systemic fragmentation* game a dynamics in the media* taking responsibility for more of reality* understanding systemic health in the body and in the collective Get full access to Becoming Conscious at becomeconscious.substack.com/subscribe

We dive into:* non-linearity* emergent properties of systems* a systems approach beyond cognition and rationality* the un-pinndownable nature of systems* to cognitively understand a system is inherently to reduce it down* the importance of context in systems* holism as an antidote to navigating the information age* feeling into the emergence/complexity in order to act in a trans-rational manner* systems are affected by things that are intangible; like love, truth and freedom.* reciprocal feedback loops* the importance of context in moving beyond toxic pluralism* the intuitive nature of feeling into the emergence of a system* bottom-up sensing to respond more effectively to reality* inter-disciplinary reality as being more real than a categorical reduction of reality* fragmentation as the root cause of the meta-crisis* realizing that because we’re a part of systems that every action is deeply meaningful and has a deep impact on everything* systemic health = degree of harmony within the system Get full access to Becoming Conscious at becomeconscious.substack.com/subscribe

* Deep Polarity in Dating* Approaching dating and relationships from a place of unity consciousness* There’s no separation between meeting a women and anything that happens in the relationship, it’s a deep exchange of energy* Tantric Philosophy — the play of duality with masculine and feminine energies* Sex as the universe creating itself* Awakening experiences as a prerequisite to deep relating* Mind as feminine, nondual witness as masculine* Viewing dating through an integral lens* Stages of development in the dating process Get full access to Becoming Conscious at becomeconscious.substack.com/subscribe