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Blog: Conscious Parenting Part 2: Children’s Highest Potential
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
If I had to define one goal that we, as parents, must do our best to attain, it would be to protect and cultivate our children’s highest potential in the world. Naturally, every child’s highest potential has its own expression. Every child has a set of gifts that she brings into the world that resonate with the child’s deepest calling. You will find that I use the phrase “highest potential” interchangeably here with “a child’s deepest calling,” “the child’s most authentic expression,” and “the child’s gifts,” because each of these offers a different view and definition that points to the complexity of the deepest aspects of our children.
But how do we support our children’s authentic expression in the world?
Blog: Conscious Parenting Part 1: Six Essential Questions for Parents
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
I am a parent of two children, and I have been counseling and teaching families and individuals for more than twenty years. Over the course of the last ten years, I have seen many of the central issues around parenting shift drastically, mainly due to the more central role that technology now plays in the family.
The challenges that parents face today in raising children are very different from the challenges their parents faced. Not only do parents have to figure out how to function on less sleep, they also have to determine the role they want technology to play in their children’s lives. As parents find themselves with less time than they would like to be able to devote to parenting, they have to come up with clear strategies for enrichment, discipline, and many other important issues. This is difficult when people find themselves trying to navigate the issues around work-life balance, and face down issues such as self-doubt and guilt about the choices they must make.
On the Air: Inner Truth Podcast Episode #001: Conflict As A Gateway To Peace with Isa Gucciardi
The Inner Truth podcast looks at the central questions of human life, what does it mean to be human, and how can we be fully alive? Inner Truth explores answers to these questions through ancient and contemporary spiritual wisdom along with insights from the fields of psychology, philosophy, and mythology. It also looks at the role of shamanism, meditation, and reconnection with nature as tributaries into the inner self, the wellspring of our inner source in knowledge.
In the premier episode, Inner Truth host David Newell catches up with Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. – Founding Director and lead teacher of the Foundation of the Sacred Stream – to talk about conflict, the ways we can take steps to resolve it, and how it can be gateway to profound internal growth and healing.
Blog: Mindful Leadership Part 2: Finding the Leader Within
An Interview with Hal Adler
Editors’ note: Hal Adler is a certified Depth Hypnosis Practitioner and Executive Coach. His daylong workshop on Mindful Leadership will be at the Sacred Stream Center on February 3. In this second installment of a two-part post on Mindful Leadership, we talk to Hal a bit more about his coaching work and the upcoming course.
Podcast: Episode 36: Lori Nairne: Homeopathy
On this episode, Laura Chandler dives into the Sacred Stream archives for a 2015 interview with homeopath Lori Nairne, who died unexpectedly this past August. In this talk, Lori explains how homeopathy works and focuses on the many uses of the popular remedy, Arnica. Also on this episode is an excerpt from a homeopathy class Lori taught at the Sacred Stream in which Lori looks at remedies for anxiety. And Isa Gucciardi stops by the studio to talk a little about Lori and some of what is coming up at the Sacred Stream Center in 2018.
Blog: Mindful Leadership Part 1: Leading with Intention
By Hal Adler
Editor’s note: Hal Adler is a certified Depth Hypnosis Practitioner and Executive Coach. His daylong workshop on Mindful Leadership will be at the Sacred Stream Center on February 3. In this first installment of a two-part post on Mindful Leadership, Hal addresses the relevance of the self-transformation models of Depth Hypnosis and Applied Shamanic practice to people who lead others.
When people decide they want to grow and develop themselves in their careers, the skills they usually start building first tend to be externally focused. People might want to be hirable in new ways or in new industries, and they also may want to help more and be of service more. Eventually, what people come up against isn’t the challenge of the work they are doing but the challenge of themselves:
Blog: A New Year’s Resolution: Manifesting a Life You’ll Love
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
One of the biggest hurdles in manifesting what you want in your life is creating clear intentions. When it comes to setting goals, many people have a conscious yes operating along with an unconscious no. I often find this to be true of people who say they want to be in a relationship, but cannot seem to manifest one. These people spend lots of time and money on self-help books, dating services, even therapy, but still find themselves alone.
Blog: Why Homeopathy?
By Corey Weinstein, MD
Editors’ note: This guest post is by Corey Weinstein, MD, a recently retired physician and leading practitioner of homeopathy in the SF Bay Area with 42 years of homeopathic medical practice. Corey will be teaching Homeopathy in the Home, a course on how to use homeopathic remedies effectively and safely for common conditions, on February 7. The course will be offered in-person in San Francisco and as a live conference call. Following is his account of how he was drawn to the field of homeopathy.
I began to study homeopathy because of love. In 1970 I had just finished by internship at San Francisco General Hospital, where I had helped organize a free medical clinic for poor people in the neighborhood.
Blog: Lori Nairne and Homeopathy Part 2: Teachings
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
Sacred Stream Board Member and instructor, Lori Nairne, who died last summer, has been in our hearts and on our minds since. Lori was our physician and teacher and as a tribute to her, I would like to share some of her teachings, and also, some teachings from one of the important influences in her life, Samuel Hahnemann.
Hahnemann was trained as a physician in Germany and Austria in the late 1700s, but he abandoned his practice because he thought many of the medical practices of his day (like bloodletting) did not actually help people.
Blog: Winter Solstice: A Long Winter’s Night
By Laura Chandler
The winter solstice occurs on the day of the year when the earth’s axial tilt is farthest from the sun. Simply put, it is the shortest day of the year. It marks that point in time when the shortening of days changes and then begin to lengthen until the Summer Solstice, June 21st, when they shorten again, like the waxing and waning of the moon. Most westerners are not aware of this phenomenon of the sun. In fact, we are rarely attuned to the rhythm of the sky. Instead, we are focused on the gathering speed brought by the holidays.
Podcast: Episode 35: Robert Thurman: Dalai Lama, Man of Peace
On this edition of the Sacred Stream Radio Podcast, host Laura Chandler speaks with Buddhist thought leader and author Robert Thurman about his latest work, Man of Peace: The Illustrated Life Story of the Dalai Lama of Tibet. Catching up with the high-energy scholar is always a wild ride. In this candid episode, Laura chats with Bob on a trip down California Hwy 280, en route to his talk at Googleplex in Mountain View. He opens up about many topics including the Tibetan diaspora, Chinese history, contemporary politics, the role of the Dalai Lama in the world today, and his optimism about the future.
Video: Integrating the Ayahuasca Experience
Isa Gucciardi explores the differences between traditional shamanic cultures and contemporary cultures in working with plant medicines like ayahuasca. She is the author of Coming to Peace, the Founding Director of the Foundation of the Sacred Stream, and the creator of the ground-breaking therapeutic model, Depth Hypnosis. This talk takes place at the Sacred Stream Center in Berkeley, CA.
Blog: Lori Nairne and Homeopathy Part 1: In Memoriam
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
Lori Nairne, a homeopath, emergency room nurse, social justice activist, and adjunct instructor at Sacred Stream, was beloved by many in the community. She passed away in late August. In the falling light of an early November evening, many of Lori Nairne’s friends, students and colleagues gathered at the Sacred Stream Center to honor the life of a remarkable and wonderful person. The following is an excerpt from the homily I offered about her life, work and influence on those around her.
On The Air: New Dimensions Radio: Conflict Is A Gateway For Healing with Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
In this New Dimensions Radio interview with Justine Willis Toms, Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D., explains that people come to hypnosis for help with many addictions such as wanting to quit smoking, wanting to lose weight, drinking, or gambling to name a few. She says, “The truth is that the symptom is the tip of the iceberg…The symptom becomes the path to healing in depth hypnosis.” She shares examples of family dynamics. For instance, one stepfather was resistant to the Coming to Peace process but eventually, with deep listening and patience, the sessions led to a deep healing for the entire family. In her experience as a therapist she has discovered that many times conflicts are rooted in parts of the self that are in conflict within, and these parts drive the conflict externally. She leads her clients in constructive conversations with those internal parts and guides them on a voyage within to explore unconscious motivations. This work involves a spaciousness; it requires one to hold back judgements and jumping to conclusions too quickly. It takes practice and patience to develop the skill to do this Coming to Peace work that applies the Buddhist principles of patience, tolerance, mutual respect, and compassion.
Video: Ayahuasca and the Modern Psyche
Isa Gucciardi discusses the rise in popularity of plant medicines like ayahuasca and the unique issues that people from contemporary societies bring to their work with these plants. Isa is the author of Coming to Peace, the Founding Director of the Foundation of the Sacred Stream, and the creator of the ground-breaking therapeutic model, Depth Hypnosis. This talk takes place at the Sacred Stream Center in Berkeley, CA.