Ciis Public Programs & Performances

We know our planet is in trouble and we’re seeing direct effects on human heath as a result. It’s estimated that we have fewer than 60 harvests left in our world’s soil and that our oceans will be 70 percent more acidic in just 30 years. These aren’t doomsday prophecies—this is our realistic future if we don’t act now. Author and policy expert Erin McMorrow believes that we can heal our planet by restoring our natural connection with the Earth and the divine feminine. Through her work and her writing, Dr. McMorrow teaches us how to transform ourselves, our socioeconomic systems, and the environment that sustains us by aligning with the natural cycles of the Earth. In this episode, Dr. McMorrow is joined in a conversation with renegade economist Della Z Duncan. They discuss Dr. McMorrow’s book, Grounded, in which she explores both the ecological and spiritual basis of our existing climate crises as well as wisdom and tools to initiate a transformation to save our soils and our souls. This episode was record

As the effects of aggressive policing and mass incarceration harm historically marginalized communities and tear families apart, how do we define safety? In a time when the most powerful institutions in the United States are embracing repressive and racist systems that keep many communities struggling and in fear, we need to reimagine what safety means. In this episode, community leader and lawyer Zach Norris is joined in a conversation with CIIS professor and restorative justice expert sonya shah about how we can shift our mindset and embrace a new vision for public safety that overturns more than 200 years of fear-based discrimination, othering, and punishment. This episode was recorded during a live online event on March 23, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com. You can also watch a recording of this and many more of our conversation events by searching for “CIIS Public Programs” on YouTube. CONTENT ADVISORY - This episode contains mentions of violence and death by suicide.

Healthy boundaries. We all know setting healthy boundaries can help us to achieve work/life balance, cope with toxic people, and enjoy rewarding relationships. But what does “setting healthy boundaries” really mean? How can we successfully express our needs without offending others? In this episode, licensed counselor and relationship expert Nedra Glover Tawwab is joined in conversation with licensed psychologist Elizabeth Markle. They discuss Nedra’s book, Set Boundaries, Find Peace in which she shares techniques to identify and express our needs clearly and without apology while unravelling the root problems behind codependency, power struggles, anxiety, depression, burnout, and more. This episode was recorded during a live online event on March 31, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com. You can also watch a recording of this and many more of our conversation events by searching for “CIIS Public Programs” on YouTube.

Most of us understand grief as sorrow experienced after a loss—the death of a loved one, the end of a relationship, or a change in life circumstance. According to author and Buddhist end-of-life caregiver, Breeshia Wade, grief is bigger than what’s happened to us, larger than a reaction to a one-time event. It is something that is connected to what we fear, what we love, and what we aspire to. Drawing on stories from her own life as a Black woman and from the people she has midwifed through the end of life, Breeshia connects sorrow not only to specific incidents, but also to the ongoing trauma that is part and parcel of systemic oppression. She broadens the mainstream conception of grief to explore its intersections with race, gender, social justice, and trauma. In this episode, licensed clinical psychologist Bree McDaniel has a conversation with Breeshia about her life, her work, and her latest book, Grieving While Black: An Antiracist Take on Oppression and Sorrow. This episode contains explicit lang

Empaths not only sense other people’s emotions, but also absorb them—sometimes to their disadvantage, often leading to overwhelming sensory overload and feelings of confusion or low self-esteem. Their willingness to help and please others might make them prey to opportunists or cause them to give away more energy than they can afford. But international speaker, cancer survivor, and author Anita Moorjani argues that it’s possible to turn this onslaught of emotional burden into a powerful tool. In a time when traits like sensitivity, kindness, and compassion are sorely undervalued, Anita helps empaths navigate obstacles they may face and identify what makes them unique. In this episode, May Elawar, CIIS Professor in Women’s Spirituality, talks with Anita about her latest book, Sensitive Is the New Strong, as well as her life and work teaching others to harness and foster their empathic gifts in today’s difficult, fear-based world. This episode was recorded during a live online event on March 17, 2021. A tr

On each Tuesday of this month, in celebration of Asian, Asian-American, and Pacific Islander voices, we are revisiting conversations from our archives that feature AAPI writers, thinkers, artists, and healers. Today we are revisiting an episode from February 2020 in which Kazu Haga is joined by CIIS professor and restorative justice expert Sonya Shah for a conversation about his life, Kingian Nonviolence, and his book, Healing Resistance. Because CIIS' history and identity is indebted to the wisdom traditions of Asian cultures, we are particularly called upon to stand in solidarity with the AAPI community. We share in the feelings of helplessness and grief of this moment, and there is nothing that we can say or do that will change the loss of life or the historical legacy of anti-Asian violence in the United States. We hope that in hearing these episodes—again or for the first time—listeners are provided opportunities for connection and healing. This episode contains explicit language. A transcript is av

It is well known that mental healthcare and therapy are not systems that are readily accessible to everyone, especially those from marginalized communities. Created and maintained by white men, most traditional therapeutic practices do not address systematic oppression, ancestral trauma, LGTBQIA+ mental health and wellness, and the general mental, emotional, or physical plight of BIPOC and marginalized communities. Psychologist and CIIS alumni Dr. Jennifer Mullan has spent much of her career addressing these inequities and providing spaces for healing through the use of decolonizing practices like centralizing historical and intergenerational trauma, which she identifies as ancestral trauma. In this episode, educator and sexologist Bianca Laureano joins Dr. Mullan for a warm and powerful conversation exploring how we can tend to our emotional and mental health while also holding systemic oppression accountable. This episode was recorded during a live online event on March 11, 2021. A transcript is avai

On each Tuesday of this month, in celebration of Asian, Asian-American, and Pacific Islander voices, we are revisiting conversations from our archives that feature AAPI writers, thinkers, artists, and healers. Today we are revisiting CIIS Integrative Health Studies Professor Megan Lipsett’s conversation with mindfulness teacher Sister Dang Nghiem recorded in January 2021. Megan talks with Sister D about her work, which brings together her experience as a survivor, certified MD, and ordained Buddhist teacher to offer a body-based, practical approach to healing from life’s most difficult and painful experiences. Because CIIS' history and identity is indebted to the wisdom traditions of Asian cultures, we are particularly called upon to stand in solidarity with the AAPI community. We share in the feelings of helplessness and grief of this moment, and there is nothing that we can say or do that will change the loss of life or the historical legacy of anti-Asian violence in the United States. We hope that in hea

The field of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy has been growing rapidly in recent years with decriminalization efforts moving forward on local, state, and federal levels. Ketamine was first developed in the 1960s as a surgical anesthetic for humans. In recent years, it was discovered that ketamine also has rapid acting anti-depressant and anti-obsessional properties. In this episode, clinician and CIIS professor Gisele Fernandes-Osterhold has a conversation with psychologist Raquel Bennett about her experience working as a ketamine specialist over the past 19 years and the exploding field of therapeutic ketamine. This episode was recorded during a live online event on March 4, 2021. A transcript and additional reference materials mentioned in this episode are available at ciispod.com. You can also watch a recording of this and many more of our conversation events by searching for “CIIS Public Programs” on YouTube.

On each Tuesday of this month, in celebration of Asian, Asian-American, and Pacific Islander voices, we are revisiting conversations from our archives that feature AAPI writers, thinkers, artists, and healers. Today we are revisiting an episode recorded in October 2016 featuring author and hip hop journalist Jeff Chang in conversation with novelist and poet Adam Mansbach on the cultural history—and future—of race in America. Because CIIS' history and identity is indebted to the wisdom traditions of Asian cultures, we are particularly called upon to stand in solidarity with the AAPI community. We share in the feelings of helplessness and grief of this moment, and there is nothing that we can say or do that will change the loss of life or the historical legacy of anti-Asian violence in the United States. We hope that in hearing these episodes—again or for the first time—listeners are provided opportunities for connection and healing. This episode contains explicit language. A transcript is available at ciisp

Joy and resilience: we need both to thrive. But even though resilience is rightly buzzing as a self-care goal, we live in a world that makes it attainable to some and inaccessible to others. In her latest book, Joyous Resilience: A Path to Individual Healing and Collective Thriving in an Inequitable World, Pakistani American Clinical therapist Anjuli Sherin offers a culturally informed, body-centered model of healing accompanied by the compelling and diverse stories of Black, POC, LGBTQIA+, Immigrant, and other marginalized people, who found ways to thrive and embrace joy using this model to heal intergenerational and collective trauma. In this episode, Monique LeSarre, executive director of Rafiki Coalition joins Anjuli for a moving and joyful conversation about her work as a therapist and the lessons she shares in Joyous Resilience. This episode was recorded during a live online event on February 26, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com. You can also watch a recording of this and many more of

On each Tuesday of this month, in celebration of Asian, Asian-American, and Pacific Islander voices, we are revisiting conversations from our archives that feature AAPI writers, thinkers, artists, and healers. Today we are revisiting a conversation from October 2020 featuring journalists Angela Chen and Sabrina Imbler speaking about Angela’s book Ace, what it means to be asexual in a world that’s obsessed with sexual attraction, and what the ace perspective can teach all of us about desire and identity. Because CIIS' history and identity is indebted to the wisdom traditions of Asian cultures, we are particularly called upon to stand in solidarity with the AAPI community. We share in the feelings of helplessness and grief of this moment, and there is nothing that we can say or do that will change the loss of life or the historical legacy of anti-Asian violence in the United States. We hope that in hearing these episodes—again or for the first time—listeners are provided opportunities for connection and heali

There’s much more to astrology than weekly horoscopes, personality types, and predictions for the future. For astrologer and transformational coach Jennifer Racioppi, it is a guide to living in sync with the natural rhythms of the universe to achieve optimal health and success. In this episode, Jennifer is joined in conversation with meditation guide and author Rebekah “Bex” Borucki. They discuss Jenifer's book, Cosmic Health, and explore how living in sync with the natural universe and understanding the connection between astrology, health, and evidence-based personal development practices, can support optimal health and personal transformation. This episode was recorded during a live online event on February 24, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com. You can also watch a recording of this and many more of our conversation events by searching for “CIIS Public Programs” on YouTube.

In her work, racial justice educator Rachel Ricketts has developed heart-centered and mindfulness-based practices to dismantle white supremacy by addressing anti-racism from a comprehensive, intersectional, and spiritually aligned perspective. In this episode, A-Ian Holt, director of the Institute for Diversity in the Arts at Stanford joins Rachel for a conversation about her latest book, Do Better, an actionable guidebook and a loving, assertive call to do the deep—and often uncomfortable—inner work that precipitates much-needed external and global change. This episode was recorded during a live online event on February 18, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com. You can also watch a recording of this and many more of our conversation events by searching for “CIIS Public Programs” on YouTube.

To create a world free from oppression, we have to come face to face with the beliefs, stories, and actions that maintain these systems within ourselves. In Indigenous cultures throughout the world, it's understood that true transformation starts in the body, with a change of heart. But how can we create a new story of transformation and liberation in the world if we haven't learned to heal our own stories? In this episode, author and shamanic healer Langston Kahn is joined by energy worker and spiritual practitioner Maryam Hasnaa for a deep conversation exploring how we can address the root of past trauma and heartbreak to reclaim our personal and collective power. This episode contains explicit language. It was recorded during a live online event on January 26, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com. You can also watch a recording of this and many more of our conversation events by searching for “CIIS Public Programs” on YouTube.

Whether we feel unworthy, alienated, or anxious about our place in the world, the absence of belonging is the great silent wound of our times. In this episode, award-winning author, teacher, and dreamworker Toko-pa Turner and licensed psychotherapist and CIIS Faculty Rachael Vaughan have a nourishing conversation about what it means to belong and the power of our dreams. This episode was recorded during a live online event on February 9, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com. You can also watch a recording of this and many more of our conversation events by searching for “CIIS Public Programs” on YouTube.

Author, Black feminist, and social justice activist adrienne maree brown has been talking, writing, and celebrating the intersection of pleasure and activism since her much-lauded 2019 book, Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good. In this episode, CIIS professor and restorative justice expert sonya shah joins adrienne for a powerful and joyful conversation exploring how to tap into the full spectrum of our sensual desires and emotional needs while organizing for justice. This episode contains explicit language. It was recorded during a live online event on February 12, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com. You can also watch a recording of this and many more of our conversation events by searching for “CIIS Public Programs” on YouTube.

We all recognize we are living in the midst of a major threshold of transformation, a profound drama facing the Earth community with tremendous consequences at stake. What are the deeper stirrings in the collective psyche today? What is the current planetary situation, and which gods are now in dynamic motion? In this episode, CIIS professor and cultural historian Richard Tarnas provides a state of the world report on the archetypal context of our national and global moment. This episode was recorded during a live online event on February 5, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com. You can also watch a recording of this and many more of our conversation events by searching for “CIIS Public Programs” on YouTube.

Like many Americans, social psychologist Devon Price believed that productivity was the best way to measure self-worth. Dr. Price was an overachiever from the start, graduating from both college and graduate school early, but that success came at a cost. After Dr. Price was diagnosed with a severe case of anemia and heart complications from overexertion, they were forced to examine the darker side of all this productivity. Dr. Price began a thorough examination of what they call the “laziness lie”—which falsely tells us we are not working or learning hard enough. Their in-depth research revealed that people today do far more work than nearly any other humans in history, yet most of us still feel we are not doing enough. In this episode, CIIS Integral and Transpersonal Psychology program director Kendra Diaz-Ford joins Dr. Price in a conversation encouraging us all to let go of guilt, become more attuned to our own limitations and needs, and resist the pressures to meet outdated societal expectations. Th

Born in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive, mindfulness teacher Sister Dang Nghiem (Sister D)is an inspiration for anyone who has ever suffered from abuse, life-changing loss, severe illness, or the aftermath of war. Her work brings together her experience as a survivor, certified MD, and ordained Buddhist teacher to offer a body-based, practical approach to healing from life’s most difficult and painful experiences. In this episode, CIIS Integrative Health Studies Professor Megan Lipsett talks with Sister D about her life, her work, and her newest book to learn how the practice of mindfulness can help us access our strength as survivors and tap into the joy of being alive. This episode includes a brief guided meditation lead by Sister D. It was recorded during a live online event on January 21, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com. You can also watch a recording of this and many more of our conversation events by searching for “CIIS Public Programs” on YouTube. CONTENT ADVISORY: This episode con