Sounds True: Insights at the Edge

Dr. Shamini Jain is a clinical psychologist, researcher, public speaker, and the founder of the nonprofit Consciousness and Healing Initiative. With Sounds True, she's released the new book Healing Ourselves: Biofield Science and the Future of Health. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon has a conversation with Shamini about the interconnections between human consciousness, the biological world, and our ability to heal. Shamini explains "the biofield" and how it relates to both our physical and spiritual selves. She and Tami discuss already existing healing modalities that work with the biofield (such as Reiki and qigong), as well as recent scientific discoveries that support and expand those fields. Finally, Tami and Shamini talk about the essential step of surrendering to the healing process, the mystery and potential of the placebo effect, and our fundamental connection to all of life.

Rev. angel Kyodo williams is an author, activist, Zen priest, and founder of the organization Transformative Change, which centers on the link between inner work, wholeness, and social transformation at scale. With Sounds True, Rev. angel has created a new six-part audio series called Belonging: From Fear to Freedom on the Path to True Community. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon speaks with Rev. angel about how society shapes our sense of belonging, and what it means to take back our power to belong. They discuss how embodied belonging transcends that which our entire sense of self and reality is based upon, and offers us a deep awareness of our essential truth. Tami and Rev. angel also touch on: forgiveness as a healing self-practice, the meaning of true community, and how growing comfortable in our own skin gives us the capacity to heal, enact conscious change, and belong in any environment.

Lama Tsultrim Allione is an internationally known Buddhist teacher and the founder of Tara Mandala, a mountain retreat center south of Pagosa Springs, Colorado. Lama Tsultrim was the first American woman to be ordained as a Tibetan nun by His Holiness, the 16th Karmapa. After four years as a nun, she returned her monastic vows, married, and raised three children. She is the author of several books, including Women of Wisdom, Wisdom Rising, and Feeding Your Demons: Ancient Wisdom for Resolving Inner Conflict. With Sounds True, she has released a new 10-part audio series called The Empowered Feminine: Meditating with the Dakini Mandala. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, we explore the dakini principle in Tibetan Buddhism, and Lama Tsultrim takes us into a meditation that invites us to actually become wrathful dakinis—transforming anger into wisdom and compassion. Tami Simon and Lama Tsultrim also discuss the role of the feminine in the dharma, how Buddhism might be different if it had been articulated by and for women, and why the “fierce and forceful” aspect of the feminine is so urgently needed in our world right now.

Ericka Sóuter has over 20 years of journalism experience and is a nationally recognized voice in parenting news and parenting advice. A frequent contributor on Good Morning America and other national broadcast outlets, she regularly speaks on the issues, trends, and controversies that are most affecting parents and new families today. With Sounds True, Ericka has written a book called How to Have a Kid and a Life: A Survival Guide.  In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon speaks with Ericka about what it means to be a parent today. They discuss why more and more parents are opening up about not just the joys but also the challenges of raising children—and how our definition of "good parenting" is changing as a result. Ericka brings realism and humor to this enlightening conversation, helping parents navigate the expectations versus the realities of parenthood as they tend to their own happiness. "Love is innate," Ericka shares. "Parenting skills are not."

Faith Hunter has nearly 20 years of experience as a yoga and meditation teacher. She is the founder of Embrace Yoga DC and Embrace OM, as well as the creator of Spiritually Fly, a lifestyle philosophy that celebrates our inherent vibrancy and worth. With Sounds True, Faith has written a new book called Spiritually Fly: Wisdom, Meditations, and Yoga to Elevate Your Soul. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon speaks with Faith about what it means to be Spiritually Fly and how we can all live an authentic, joyful life of spiritual flyhood. They discuss the life-changing effect yoga had on Faith’s life and the courageous way she empowered herself to blend classic yoga lineages with sound, ritual, and African traditions to create a practice that is true to her. And Faith describes the “golden glitter”—the inner brilliance—that lies beneath our fear, shame, and other “demons,” waiting to be released into the world.

Karla McLaren is an award-winning author, social science researcher, and renowned expert in emotions and empathy. Her work focuses on her grand unified theory of emotions, which reconsiders how we think of “negative” emotions and opens new pathways into self-awareness, communication, and empathy. With Sounds True, Karla is the author of the landmark book The Language of Emotions, a book on The Art of Empathy, and a new book called The Power of Emotions at Work: Accessing the Vital Intelligence in Your Workplace. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon speaks with Karla about why the full range of emotions is necessary for us to bring forth our best thinking. They discuss the “toxic positivity bias” that has become the norm in the contemporary workplace, how this leads to widespread suffering and dysfunction, and how we can achieve an “emotionally well-regulated” workplace that works for all of us.

Joyce Marter is a therapist, entrepreneur, speaker, and adjunct professor at Northwestern University. She's the founder and CEO of Urban Balance, a nationwide counseling practice that provides trainings on mental health and success for Fortune 500 companies. With Sounds True, Joyce has written a new book called The Financial Mindset Fix: A Mental Fitness Program for an Abundant Life, which offers practical exercises for cultivating greater financial literacy and resilience. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon speaks with Joyce about how our thoughts and emotions around money shape our financial reality. They discuss how low self-esteem holds us back financially and how we can shift into a “mindset of abundance” that shatters the limitations we’ve created for ourselves. Joyce and Tami also talk about the realities of financial trauma in our society, setting boundaries in our relationships with money, transforming toxic notions we may have of “success,” and mindfulness practices for managing financial shame or anxiety in a healthy, healing way.

Briana Saussy is a writer, teacher, and founder of the Sacred Arts Academy, a school dedicated to the restoration, remembering, and everyday practice of the sacred arts. With Sounds True, she’s written Making Magic: Weaving Together the Everyday and the Extraordinary, as well as Star Child: Joyful Parenting Through Astrology, where she invites us to recognize how the zodiac’s archetypes live within each of us, to honor these differences, and to joyfully raise our children by the stars. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon and Briana discuss the many practices that make up what Briana calls the “sacred arts.” They explore why many of these practices, such as ritual and astrology, have been relegated to the sidelines in modern Western culture, how myth and folklore act as the primary source material for the sacred arts, and how we can participate in the current revival of these practices. They also discuss how astrology can help us better understand our children and the full range of humanness we all embody.

Rha Goddess is an entrepreneurial soul coach and the CEO and founder of Move The Crowd, a movement galvanizing over three million entrepreneurs to reimagine work as a vehicle for creative expression, financial freedom, and societal transformation. She’s the author of the book The Calling: 3 Fundamental Shifts to Stay True, Get Paid, and Do Good, as well as a new audio program with Sounds True, Making Money, Making Change: Build Your Business, Make a Profit, and Serve the World. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon and Rha Goddess talk about the ways so many of us have been indoctrinated into a disempowering relationship with wealth, and how we can break free from this indoctrination by examining six unchecked beliefs almost everyone holds. Tami calls Rha “the liberator” in this conversation, a nod to Rha’s remarkable ability to help us recognize where we need to heal, do the work, and co-create a life in which we make good money doing what our souls are here to do.

Kristin Leal is a yoga teacher and a sadhaka in the ISHTA lineage, as well as a licensed massage therapist, Reiki practitioner, and author. Her popular MetaAnatomy workshops, classes, and online trainings blend serious scientific knowledge, a sense of humor, and a deep connection to the divine within us all. With Sounds True, Kristin has written MetaAnatomy: A Modern Yogi’s Practical Guide to the Physical and Energetic Anatomy of Your Amazing Body. In the book, she helps readers develop a new level of body literacy―a deep and vital relationship with the physical, emotional, and energetic aspects of your being. In this podcast, Kristin guides Tami Simon and listeners into the world of wonder that is the human body, as she unpacks elements of our anatomy on physical and poetic levels. Kristin also guides listeners through three fascinating practices, where you’ll learn to experience and regulate your subtle anatomy in profound ways.