Authentic Living

Joan Borysenko comes back to the Authentic Living Show to discuss one of the most important features of mental health: the appropriate use of boundaries. We are only recently coming to understand the necessity of appropriate psychological, spiritual and relational boundaries. On this show we are going to really get into this discussion--for the use of boundaries could make all the difference in our ability to live happy, fulfilling lives. Don't miss it.

We tend to think of the feminine in terms of what we understand of gender. But the truth is that gender is one thing, gender identity is another, and femininity is totally another. The feminine is a psychic structure, a way of viewing self, life and other. The feminine is a way of living that has nothing whatsoever to do with gender or gender identity. It also turns out that this feminine way of viewing and living has everything to do with spirituality—which runs well beyond the limits and constraints of religion. Be here for this show. You’ll be glad you were.

According to Dr. Shefahli Tsabary, conscious parenting means turning the traditional notion of parenting on its head. She believes that conscious parenting shifts the epicenter of the parent-child relationship away from the traditional parent-to-child “know it all” approach, to a mutual parent-with-child relationship in which the parent learns alongside the child. With this model, instead of being merely the receiver of the parents’ psychological and spiritual legacy, children function as ushers of the parent’s transformational development. In the traditional model, while parents are trying to lead and mold their children they are also unwittingly passing on an inheritance of psychological pain and emotional shallowness. But with Tsabary’s model children serve as mirrors of the parent’s forgotten self, so that both parent and child help each other to be more authentic. You do not want to miss this enlightening and empowering discussion on conscious parenting.

In an astrological chart we see a configuration called an opposition. It means that two distinct energies in the chart are acting in opposition to each other. Well, we have all kinds of oppositions in our lives, both internal and external. Betrayals, enemies, inner conflicts, closed doors, terminated relationships, our own inner demons and many more things seem to come up in opposition to where we’d like to go, who we’d like to be. What do we do when these things come up? How can we walk into and through such an opposition while maintaining a healthy spirituality? Do such oppositions mean that we are somehow on the wrong path? Are they meant to punish, teach or otherwise admonish us? Today we are going to explore these oppositions for the mystery of their mystical meanings. Don’t miss it.

From a purely spiritual perspective this show will discuss the meaning of those all too commonly used words “The Flow.” What is the flow? How does it work? And how does one get into the flow? Is there something we should be doing to make sure we are always in the flow? And what has being in the flow to do with being present in the divine Self? Putting the word “divine” next to the word “Self” does tend to cause some consternation in the Western world of religion. There is a tendency to think that the divine cannot be associated with the self, unless the self is cleaned up, purified, forgiven, and even then the self is still not considered to be divine. But in the root language of the Bible and in other world religions we find that the Self is divine, we’ve just forgotten. And it has everything to do with being in the flow. Tune in to this important discussion. You’ll be glad you did.

The word spirituality is thrown around quite a bit, with all manner of people calling themselves spiritual. But if you ask them what this word means the definitions vary and are often vague. For many it means to pray a lot. For others it means to meditate a lot. For most it means living a moral life, doing the right thing. For most spirituality must fall under a certain religion. But what if spirituality is not something we do, but something that does us? What if spirituality is a process—much like the process of falling love and building a healthy relationship? What if spirituality is an intimate relationship with self, body, mind and soul, an intimate relationship with others and all of nature, and an intimate relationship with the divine? How would that change things? Tune in to find out.

Since the beginning of time, it seems, we have thought that we had to fight the good fight. We had to fight for good over evil. And so many a person has spent a lifetime trying to discern the difference between the two and trying to err on the side of goodness. But what if you knew that that very battle is doing more harm than good? What if you knew that the battle between good and evil is actually preventing your wholeness? But, you say, how can we stop the battle—won’t evil just take over? That’s what we fear, isn’t it? Yet those who have managed to establish wholeness no longer fight any battles between good and evil—rather they have integrated all aspects of self. Want to know more? Tune in.

The words “being present” have recently become common vernacular. But what do they really mean? Most people mean, by presence, that we are attendant, that we notice; we are aware and responsive. What we don’t always know and are not always present with is the fact that presence is something that heals us, that holds us, that awakens us to the deeper nature of who we are. And practicing presence, yes, means being attendant, aware and responsive—but of and to that deeper essence. What we don’t often know is that our mental and physical illnesses are often made up of lack of presence—that somehow we are floating around outside of our own awareness and we do not connect self to Self. So, today, we are going to be talking about both the floating around and the presence that heals. Don’t miss it.

How do we know that we are on the truest path? Can we discern a truer path through certain spiritual practices? Can Prayer help? Runes, iChing, Tarot, or other methods of alignment? We all want to be in the flow of universal energy. We want to know that we know what we know. We want to feel secure in our knowing. This show is going to be all about that inner knowing. Be here. You’ll be glad you were.

Isn’t that just like how we think? Always questioning ourselves as to which way is “right?” What if those questions about right and wrong just keep us stuck at a level of consciousness that will not take the next step? What if there is a path that rises above right and wrong, a path uses every so-called “wrong” as another note in the song, another story in the tale, another opening in the energetic harmonic? What if we’ve got this thing of right and wrong all wrong? Tune in today to learn how to move to the next level.

While many spiritual leaders are teaching that we should stay uninvolved in the real dilemmas of the world, there are others who are teaching that we are responsible as spiritual advocates for our part in bringing about the essential evolutions of the collective mind. Some are teaching that we should turn off the TV and spend our time in a constant state of bliss by affirming that all of the life out there is just an illusion. Well, I say, if it’s an illusion, it is a collective one, one for which each person is responsible. If we, who understand Oneness, we, who understand the power of love, we, who understand the deep presence of the divine within us; if we back out, if we do nothing, we are responsible for enabling the continuance of the illusion. Tune in today to learn what we mean by spiritual advocacy.

What do we do when, along the way of our journey, we encounter that deep psychic complex that reaches beyond all we know, and brings us to our knees with a loud I can't. What about those anxieties, those fears, those angers, those impulses that seem to be beyond our ability to stop them, to heal them, to overcome them? Well today we are going to be talking about that very thing. We are going to explore the wisdom of how to heal that which is beyond help. You don't want to miss this show.

We’ve all heard the media reports about cult leaders causing tremendous harm to their followers. But that’s not the kind of false prophecy we are going to be talking about today. Prophecy is truth telling with regard to the nature of the divine and the self. False prophecy is lying with regard to the nature of the divine and self. We all have false prophets within us. And today we are going to differentiate the false from the true prophets within us. Where are we lying to ourselves with regard to the nature of the divine and the self? For to the degree to which we are lying to ourselves, that is the degree to which we lack clear direction, clear guidance about our lives. Don’t miss this one.

Why do we have a body? I mean, if we really are soul, why didn’t we just come here as soul? Is it true that the body is our tempter, our evil-doer, our sickness, our death? Or is there something else going on in the body? Well, our guest for today is going to tell us all something about the wisdom of the body. With her latest book, “The Body Heals Itself” she exposes some of that profound wisdom, teaching, in specific, the various messages the body gives us as it brings us to deeper and deeper levels of consciousness. Having any kind of trouble with your body? Be here for this fascinating discussion.

For years, those of us who serve in the mental health field were taught never to mention anything of a religious or spiritual nature. But now many are researching the elements of spirituality inherent in the therapeutic process, and many are researching the benefits of utilizing those natural spiritual elements of therapy. We are finally being encouraged by ethics boards and the core competencies of our field to provide a spiritual assessment and to check for spiritual problems as a part of our efforts to assist our clients. We are beginning to understand such terms as transpersonal, spiritual crisis, spiritual abuse and spiritual wounds. During this show we are going to discuss and explain the spiritual elements of therapy which will result in greater healing. Don't miss it.

When do we say enough is enough? In this day in which our economic crisis seems to be swallowing huge chucks of what we have previously valued, we are ramping up our schedules and our stress levels trying to get back to how it used to be. And in the process we are forgetting all about our earlier plans to pursue happiness and peace. Wayne Muller, bestselling author of Sabbath, as well as three other books: Legacy of the Heart; How, Then, Shall We Live?; and Learning to Pray, is going to challenge us with the question: What if we already have enough? His latest book, A Life of Being, Having and Doing Enough is the topic of our conversation this week and presents that very same challenge. At some point, rest, retreat and reflection become the answer. At some point we have to say, Enough already! Is today your day?

We are so excited this week to have Dr. Clarissa Pinkoa Estés (Dr. E, as she is affectionately known) back on our show for the fifth time. Bestselling author of “Women Who Run with the Wolves,” which sold over a million copies; and the multi-volume audio series “The Dangerous Old Woman,” and her most recent book, “Untie the Strong Woman: Blessed Mother’s Immaculate Love for the Wild Soul,” which we will be talking about today; Dr. E is also an internationally recognized scholar, award-winning poet, diplomate senior Jungian psychoanalyst, and cantadora (keeper of the old stories in the Latina tradition). Her warmth and wisdom have captivated millions with humor, enlightened discussions and profound insights. The feminine in all of us—male and female—is moved and grown every time she touches us with her stories and gifts from the soul. You are not going to want to miss this one.

With so much information floating around out there in the spiritual world about how to manifest abundance and, in the secular world about how to attain your goals, it’s difficult to consider such concepts as staying in the moment. Michael Brown, our guest today, helps us bridge the gaps. Author of two books we’ll be talking about today, “The Presence Process” and “Alchemy of the Heart,” as well as a DVD entitled “Awakening to Innocence / Inner Sense,” Michael can teach us all how to both release the imprinting of our childhood and begin to experience the now of authenticity. In Michael’s own words “The Presence Process is not about changing who or what we are. This is impossible. Instead, it is about releasing our attachment to our manufactured identity so that we may gently return to an awareness of our authentic Presence.” Who are you, really? Come listen to Michael and explore the inner terrain of yourself.

Joan Borysenko is back this week for the third time to talk with us about guilt, for guilt can be a major block to our resilience factor. Her latest book, “It’s Not the End of the World: Developing Resilience in Times of Change” will be combined with one of her earlier books, “Guilt is the Teacher, Love is the Lesson” in an in-depth discussion of this devilish master craftsman of our lives. In the extreme, many of us live whole lifetimes driven by guilt and responsibility for other people’s stuff. But most of us worry over guilt at least some of the time. It works us over and compels us at times to do things that are not only unnecessary but often come down to downright interference with other people’s lives. And it eats at us from the inside out, through that niggling little voice that just won’t seem to let go until we finally give into it. Well this week, we are going to help it let go. Don’t miss this important discussion.

Maybe we can de-stress in these times by turning down the volume of the terrible news we are getting almost daily. But the answer to real peace runs deeper than that.  Many of us have heard that what is happening “out there” is “just an illusion." But is it?  Perhaps, since we are living here on planet earth we need to consider having at least one foot here, even as the other is walking in another dimension. The answer here is to step into the truth. To step into the truth of our nature. To step into the truth of the power and presence of who we truly are. To learn to trust the process of divinization that is always a part of our unfolding evolution. Tune in to this important message to learn how to find peace in the time of turmoil.