Author: kmcochran

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

A politics worthy of the human spirit. Is it possible? Do we have the capacity to create it? These are questions that we as a country must grapple with now and in the years to come. It is the question Parker Palmer wrestled with in his seminal book: Healing the Heart of Democracy, first published over a decade ago. In the closing episode of this series, I sat down with Parker to discuss what this question calls us into in this political moment.

In this conversation, Parker and I discuss:

• The importance of community building and how getting to know each other as human beings reduces fear and makes politics less toxic.
• How being aware of our own inner dynamics can help us make a positive difference in our communities and country.
• Why change has to come from “we the people,” not politicians in Washington.
• The competing impulses of individualism and community and the contradictions that have shaped our past and continue to shape our present.
• The role of heartbreak in animating political change.
• Five habits of the heart that are needed to heal our democracy.
• Pre-political spaces: what they are and how we use them to develop our capacity to engage politically in healthier ways.
• How democracy puts faith in everyday people and enriches us as individuals.
• How oppression harms the collective and the work we all need to do to address it.
• The intergenerational project that is democracy and how the call for a “more perfect union” is an aspiration that both acknowledges our imperfections and calls us to work toward our ideals.
• Why we should not give up on our country or our fellow citizens.

Spiritual Resources from Parker include:

• The five habits of the heart, which can be found on our Spiritual Practices for Political Engagement Page
• Healing the Heart of Democracy book (Affiliate Link)
• The Healing the Heart of Democracy Hub which includes discussion guides, videos, and workbooks.

Connect with Parker through the Center for Courage and Renewal, on facebook @parkerjpalmer, and through the Growing Edge Podcast and Substack Newsletter.

Connect with me at [email protected] or on instagram @katie.m.cochran.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

What is prayer in the face of an election? In the face of polarization, division, and chaos? I explore this question with Cameron Bellm, a contemplative writer and activist who sees prayer as a deeply human response to suffering.

In this conversation, Cameron and I discuss:

• The intersection of mysticism and activism: how our inner life flows outward into how we treat those around us
• How prayers calls us into deeper relationship with each other
• How incorporating our senses into our prayer life connects us to our humanity and the humanity of our neighbors
• Drafting off the wisdom and experiences of saints and ancestors in our prayer life and in our activism
• How prayer calls us to be better and why this is so needed when we engage in politics
• Attention as generosity and the revolutionary idea of asking, “What are you going through?”
• The perils of dehumanization and the balancing act we must do in fighting against it without dehumanizing those who perpetuate systems of harm
• How prayer helps us look at the sources of hate and division within our own heart
• Writing out prayers as an embodied practice
• How prayer can help us find strength and hope amidst the realities of human suffering

Cameron ends the episode with a Prayer for This Election. Here are links to read, listen, and watch.

Cameron’s prayer and the offerings from all of our guests can be found on our Spiritual Practices for Political Engagement Page.

Connect with Cameron through her website, and on instagram and substack @cameronbellm.

Connect with me at [email protected] or on instagram @katie.m.cochran.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Whatever our politics are, the natural world is something that we have in common. The earth nourishes all of us, regardless of what party we belong to, what policies we advocate, or who we vote for. In this week’s episode with John Philip Newell we explore the mystery of how spending time in nature heals us and discuss how earth calls us into a different way of engaging, one marked by humility, love, and a deep awareness of our interconnectedness.

In this conversation, John Philip and I discuss:

• How to cultivate our ancient mother love of earth
• What nature teaches us about the interconnectedness of all things
• The tragic dualism of seeing our enemy as only evil and ourselves as only good
• How seeing the sacred in nature can help us see the sacred in others
• How nature awakens “body knowing” and why need this knowing in todays world
• The importance of humility in politics and how nature can help us cultivate it
• How lingering in nature can help us hope even in the most dire of circumstances
• How nature calls us to both the “yes” and “no” of love, in politics and in our lives
• The importance of staying in relationship with those who disagree with us

Spiritual practices and resources you can use this election:

• Walking Meditation with Music
• Walking Meditation without Music
• The Great Search (Affiliate Link)

The offerings from all of our guests can be found on our Spiritual Practices for Political Engagement Page.

Connect with John Philip through Earth & Soul and on instagram @sacredearthandsoul.

Connect with me at [email protected] or on instagram @katie.m.cochran.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Politics is a source of chronic stress in many of our lives. It often produces sustained negative emotions that harm our wellbeing. In this episode, Dr. Brett Q Ford shares her research on emotional regulation in political contexts. Her published research suggests that many of our coping strategies help us feel better but also reduce our motivation to engage politically, resulting in a tradeoff where individual wellbeing is enhanced at the cost of collective action or vice versa. However, new research suggests that acceptance and cultivating positive emotions may enable us to overcome this tradeoff so that we can promote wellbeing while remaining politically engaged.

In this episode, Brett and I discuss:

• Politics as a source of chronic stress
• Why politics generates negative emotions
• How people use avoidance, distraction, reappraisal and suppression to cope with negative emotions that arise from politics.
• How those strategies can promote wellbeing at the cost of reduced political engagement
• How new evidence suggests that acceptance and cultivating positive emotions avoid this tradeoff. They both promote wellbeing without reducing engagement, and cultivating positive, socially rooted, emotions actually increases engagement.
• The defensive mechanisms that we often rely on when politics threatens our sense of goodness.
• How acceptance and a growth mindset can enable us to maintain relationships and become better citizens in response to information about our goodness.

Many of the practices developed by our guests incorporate elements of the emotion regulation strategies that Brett recommends:

• Acceptance: See Sharon Salzburg’s election meditation and The Class (which is offering a free 30 day subscription for our listeners)
• Cultivating positive emotions: See Staci Haines on noticing small joys.
• Cultivating social rootedness: See David Gungor’s Mutual Flourishing Playlist and Sharon Salzburg’s loving-kindness meditation.
• Staci Haines’ somatic centering exercise opens us up to the full range of emotions so helps with both acceptance and cultivating positive emotions.
• Marvie Corbett’s workbook provides CBT exercises that you can use for reappraisal for both negative emotions and challenges to goodness.

These are available on our page on Spiritual Practices for Political Engagement page.

Connect with Brett on her website or through X @brettqford.

Connect with me at [email protected] or on instagram @katie.m.cochran.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

The way we conduct politics threatens our safety, belonging, and dignity. In this episode, Staci Haines helps us understand these threats and our reactions to them. She provides a somatic framework for understanding how we can move beyond that reactivity toward a new type of engagement that is grounded in our values and aligned with what we hope for this world.

In this episode, Staci and I discuss:

• How our families, communities, and society influence the way we understand the rules of engagement for the political sphere
• What somatics is and how it provides a pathway for change and the individual and collective level
• Our inherent need for safety, dignity, and belonging and how politics threatens all three
• What fight, flight, freeze, appease, and dissociate look like in a political context
• How somatic awareness, releasing past trauma, and building new practices can move us beyond reactivity
• Why relieving tension is not the goal of healing or political engagement
• The inherent connection between individual and social healing

Spiritual Practices for this Election Season from Staci:

• Somatic Centering for Political Engagement (Video Practice)
• Politics and Trauma 2.0 Online Course
• Free SomaSJ Practice community
• Politics and Trauma book (Affiliate Link)

See our page on Spiritual Practices for Political Engagement for offerings from all our guests.

Connect with Staci on her website or through instagram @stacikhaines.

Connect with me at [email protected] or on instagram @katie.m.cochran.