Denizen

Resources:Development in Progress: https://consilienceproject.org/development-in-progress/ To stay connected to all things Denizen, you can sign up for our newsletter at www.becomingdenizen.com.  There we share our latest content alongside community events, educational opportunities, and announcements from our many partner organizations.

If you’re wondering how we might reform capitalism to be less extractive and more regenerative, this conversation is for you.  Our guests Chelsea Robinson and Jay Standish have just published a book, Assets in Common, sharing recent research on what is happening in the most progressive corners of the current economic landscape.   We discuss shared and stewardship governance models, which yield a more equitable, more purpose-driven economy.  Chelsea and Jay relay key findings from his research on how forward thinking entrepreneurs can address constraints they face, which  enable a more progressive economy to scale.  This isn’t a theoretical conversation that leaves you questioning what’s realistic, it is tactical and grounded in case studies. Resources:Assets in Common: Stories of Business and Community Leaders Remaking the Economy from the Ground Up To stay connected to all things Denizen, you can sign up for our newsletter at www.becomingdenizen.com.  There we share our latest content alongside community events, educational opportunities, and announcements from our many partner organizations.

Ted Rau, an expert in collective decision-making and organizational structures, dives into the intricacies of collective power. He discusses power dynamics, highlighting the difference between power-over and power-with, and emphasizes the need for personal empowerment. The conversation explores the significance of consensus in decision-making and the importance of psychological safety within organizations. Ted shares insights on avoiding 'blobs' and fostering effective governance while balancing autonomy with collective goals, making a case for trust and coherence in group dynamics.

In this episode we’re discussing healing trauma, specifically what is required to address trauma at the root: in our nervous systems.  This topic is critical because what most of us don’t realize is how many people live in a perpetually dysregulated state due to unresolved trauma.  This leaves us with an ongoing baseline of reactivity, hypervigilance, and anxiety that spills over into every area of our lives.  Very often our unresolved trauma stems from so far into our childhoods that we are unable to parse out who we actually are at our core from who we become when our nervous systems are stuck in a fight, flight, or freeze response.  ‍Our guest for this episode is Danielle Rubio.   Danielle uses nervous system rewiring, movement therapy, and mindfulness to help her clients do the deep work required to truly address their trauma and live lives of purpose from a center, empowered place.  She is a yoga and meditation teacher, reiki master, and touch therapist who has studied extensively with leaders in the field such as Dr. Fleet Maul, Irene and Seth Lyon, Gabor Mate, and Arielle Schwartz.‍In this conversation Jenny and Danielle discuss:How Danielle defines traumaIts prevalence in the United States and the extent of its economic and social costs to societyWhat trauma actually does to the body and what it looks like when we have an unhealed, regulated nervous systemThe distinction between true healing and bypassing, illustrated by Danielle’s rude awakening after the traumatic birth of her daughterCritical learnings from Danielle's research that inform her practice todayWhat doing the work to heal actually looks like, and why it’s important to do it with supportDanielle's most essential toolsWhat it looks like to live in a more embodied state, addressing trauma as it surfacesThe one thing Danielle wishes everyone knew Resources:Danielle's website: https://danielle-rubio.com/The Body Keeps The Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, Bessel Van Der Kolk To stay connected to all things Denizen, you can sign up for our newsletter at www.becomingdenizen.com.  There we share our latest content alongside community events, educational opportunities, and announcements from our many partner organizations.

In this episode we’re discussing conflict resolution, in particular, the distinction between an adversarial paradigm, that all of us unwittingly hold, and a restorative paradigm, that gets us what we ultimately want: healthy, thriving relationships with those closest to us .  The difference between the two is quite literally life changing. In the former hurt leads to disconnection and distance, with a slow and steady degradation of the relationships that matter most.  In the latter, hurt creates an opportunity for deeper connection and intimacy, which obviously reflects the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible. This deep, provocative, practical conversation will help us all move in that direction.‍Our guest is David Cooley, he is a relationship coach who works with individuals and couples, guiding them to address conflict in a way that restores harmony.   His work interweaves his background in restorative justice with training in nonviolent communication, mindfulness based practices, narrative therapy, somatic work, and attachment theory.  He is also the author of Poly-wise with his partner, Jessica Fern.‍In this conversation Jenny and David discuss:What the adversarial paradigm isHow culture and the criminal justice system affect how we show up in interpersonal conflictThe insidious ways the adversarial paradigm shows up in our beliefs, responses, and internal narrativesHow our conflict resolution defaults impact our nervous systems and the nervous systems of our partnersHow the stories we hold distort how we perceive our partners in moments of conflictWhy all of this leads to increasing disconnect and degradationsWhat the restorative paradigm isThe restorative versions of the believes, responses, and narratives of the adversarial paradigmThe nervous system and how critical self-awareness and self-regulation is to addressing conflict productivelyThe role of fairness in intimate relationshipsThe role of forgiveness and the distinction between repair, expression, and forgivenessHow we can care for our partner's emotional needs without taking responsibility for our partner's emotions and compromising ourselves‍Alongside this episode we are sharing David's incredible handouts with our listeners:Attachment NeedsParadigms of ConflictThe Restorative ParadigmRepair QuestionsCentering Hurt To stay connected to all things Denizen, you can sign up for our newsletter at www.becomingdenizen.com.  There we share our latest content alongside community events, educational opportunities, and announcements from our many partner organizations.

In this episode we delve deep into how we can live more authentic lives, in alignment with our true selves.‍Our guest is Maria Camara Serrano, co-director of the Hoffman Institute's international division. In addition to her work leading the Hoffman Institute internationally, Maria is trained in Gestalt Therapy, Mindfulness, and Emotion-Focused Therapy.  She has a PhD in psychology and has been studying and practicing Buddhism for over 20 years.  ‍Jenny and Maria integrate both psychology and spirituality into the conversation as they explore the question of how we might live more authentic lives, covering the following:What does it mean to live authentically?Why this topic is so relevant for Denizen's vision for the futureWhy most of us don’t lead an authentic lifeWhat the spiritual traditions have to teach usWhat psychology has to teach usWhat the work to learn to live authentically looks likeWhat the work doesn’t look like, and common ways people misunderstand what the work is or try to bypass critical components of itThe Hoffman Institute’s cycle of transformation: awareness, expression, compassion and forgiveness, and new ways of beingWhat a healthy relationship with our emotional experience looks likeHow we can heal from traumatic experiences stored in the bodyWhy our emotional competence is so important for compassion and forgivenessWhy compassion and forgiveness is an essential part of returning to our authentic selvesWhat it looks like to live authentically in our day to day livesThe role of self love Resources:Hoffman Institute: https://www.hoffmaninstitute.org/The Body Keeps The Score, by Bessel Van Der Kolk To stay connected to all things Denizen, you can sign up for our newsletter at www.becomingdenizen.com.  There we share our latest content alongside community events, educational opportunities, and announcements from our many partner organizations.

In this episode we build on the two part series on consensual non-monogamy by discussing modern family structures and the work underway to support them.Our guests, Alexander Chen and Health Schechinger are both doing remarkable work in this field.In this conversation we discuss:The relationship between consensual non-monogamy and the LGBTQ+ movementWhat family meansWhy this is a civil right issueLegal work underway to support nondyadic partnershipsThe research agendaWhy this is relevant for systemic change more broadly Resources:Modern Family InstitutePolyamory Legal Advocacy Coalition To stay connected to all things Denizen, you can sign up for our newsletter at www.becomingdenizen.com.  There we share our latest content alongside community events, educational opportunities, and announcements from our many partner organizations.

In this episode Jenny and Jessica discuss:The neurochemisty of lust, attraction, and loveConsensual non-monogamy (CNM) and social justice: punitive vs. restorative vs. transformational modelsHow CNM helps us surface and heal trauma and attachment issuesHow CNM teaches us to change dominant paradigms and stories within usWhy CNM leads to a change in consciousness and evolution of the selfHow embarking on a CNM journey is similar to climbing Mt Everest Resources:Polysecure, by Jessica FernPolywise by Jessica FernLove, Actually: The science behind lust, attraction, and companionshipOur Models of Justice are Perpetuating Injustice Jenny's Blog PostWe Will Not Cancel Us: And Other Dreams of Transformative Justice by adrienne maree brownThinking in Systems by Donella Meadows To stay connected to all things Denizen, you can sign up for our newsletter at www.becomingdenizen.com.  There we share our latest content alongside community events, educational opportunities, and announcements from our many partner organizations.

Robert Gilman, an expert in optimal zone resilience and developing new patterns to become less triggered, discusses the optimal zone and defensive zone in our nervous system, breaking the cycle of reflexive response when triggered, optimal zone hygiene practices, healing intergenerational trauma, and the impact of triggers and defensive responses on our well-being.

Jessica Fern, expert in consensual non-monogamy, discusses the prevalence of infidelity and divorce, issues with the modern love story and codependency, and different variations of consensual non-monogamy. The podcast covers best practices in defining reasons and boundaries, the difference between structural and statistical security, and references books by Jessica Fern, bell hooks, and Daniel Schmachtenberger.