Library
Blog: Reflections on the Spring Equinox
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
On the day of each equinox and solstice, I make a point of spending some time alone in the early morning hours at the Sacred Stream Center in Berkeley, CA. The center was the home of a Lutheran church for almost one hundred years. It has beautiful stained glass windows and large open wood-paneled spaces carefully crafted by Finnish carpenters in the early 1900s. The sun always rises through the arched stained glass behind the main altar, illuminating the room in a spray of rainbow light.
This morning on the spring equinox of 2020, I am here to check on the center to make sure the repair on the roof is keeping out the rain. We are almost a week into the Shelter in Place Order due to the coronavirus pandemic. It is always quiet in the sanctuary in the early morning, but this morning it is especially still. The usual sound of starting cars and people heading off to work is absent. There is no laughing or singing from the neighborhood children who often pass by as they walk to the school down at the other end of the street.
Blog: Life in the Time of COVID-19
By Laura Chandler
I’m fired up! I just read the most myopic “opinion” piece on a well-respected news site and it has me boiling. Not only is the news site prominent, the positioning of this opinion piece was, too. I like opinion pieces. I often learn things when I read them. However, after reading this, I was left feeling irritated and wondering how anyone could find this opinion useful. I am not going to site the article here, simply because I feel when people behave in this way, they are pretty clueless that they are behaving badly, and I don’t want to bash anyone. What I would like to do is point out the significance of focusing on what is important and what we all have to learn. This isn’t going away anytime soon, and we need to develop some tools for coping if we haven’t already.
Video: Navigating Coronavirus Fears: Part 7
In this video series, Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. and Laura Chandler offer thoughts on how to maintain a steady course during the #coronavirus pandemic. In this segment, Laura and Isa talk about freaking out and cultivating trust. Also, Isa offers an inspiring story about a Tibetan monk.
Podcast: Episode 60: Matthew Fox and Robert Thurman: Cultivating Peace in Difficult Times: Part 2
On this episode, we return to the archives to bring you part two of this historic conversation between Christian theologian Rev. Matthew Fox and Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman. In this talk, moderated by Isa Gucciardi, Bob and Matt offer thoughtful and sometimes humorous ideas about how we can cultivate peace individually and collectively. They talk about what led them to their respective spiritual paths and how they have navigated obstacles along the way.
Video: Navigating Coronavirus Fears: Part 6
In this video series, Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. and Laura Chandler offer thoughts on how to maintain a steady course during the #coronavirus pandemic. In this segment, they talk about how people are adapting to the new normal of the virus and Isa offers a guided meditation for centering if fear arises. This segment features a special appearance by celebrity guest, Yam.
Video: Navigating Coronavirus Fears: Part 5
In this video series, Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. and Laura Chandler offer thoughts on how to maintain a steady course during the #coronavirus pandemic. In this segment, they discuss the healing power of nature and several alternative therapies for these times. Please note, they are not medical doctors and encourage you to check with your healthcare professional when treating any illness.
Video: Navigating Coronavirus Fears: Part 4
In this video series, Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. and Laura Chandler offer thoughts on how to maintain a steady course during the #coronavirus pandemic. In this segment, they discuss the fears that are arising during these times and how to deal with our own fear, the fear of others, and the concerns that arise when we are away from loved ones.
Video: Navigating Coronavirus Fears: Part 3
In this video series, Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. and Laura Chandler offer thoughts on how to maintain a steady course during the #coronavirus pandemic. In this segment, they talk about how to create internal structures for stability, parenting during these times, and creating greater communication pathways. Isa also offers a short meditation on kindness.
Video: Navigating Coronavirus Fears: Part 2
In this video series, Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. and Laura Chandler offer thoughts on how to maintain a steady course during the #coronavirus pandemic. In this segment, they talk about how to create structures when you are feeling destabilized, and they focus on some of the positives arising out of this time.
Video: Navigating Coronavirus Fears: Part 1
In this video series, Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. and Laura Chandler offer thoughts on how to maintain a steady course during the #coronavirus pandemic. In this segment, they talk about how to maintain patience, tolerance, and trust when the world around you panics.
Blog: Resisting Fear: Courage and Determination in Hard Times
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
These are difficult times for many people. Many of us have been increasingly distressed about the political situation, the destruction of the natural environment, the deterioration of social networks, and increasing financial insecurity. Now we have an invisible threat to our health in the form of the coronavirus that is spreading rapidly around the world.
Given all of the conflicting information about the virus, we are trying to discern what is real and what is not. It is difficult to make decisions about daily activities because the presence of the coronavirus and its effects are so unpredictable. It is in times like these that a spiritual practice is especially helpful because it provides a compass that is not dependent on external opinions or other people’s fears and hopes.
Video: How the Shamanic Journey Illuminates the Inner World
In this talk from Embodied Philosophy’s Virtual Empowerment conference, Isa Gucciardi describes the role of the shamanic journey in traditional contexts and how it can be adapted into the modern therapeutic setting to transform inner experience.
Podcast: Episode 59: Matthew Fox and Robert Thurman: Cultivating Peace in Difficult Times: Part 1
On this episode, we dive into the archives to bring you a historic conversation between Christian theologian Rev. Matthew Fox and Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman. This talk on Cultivating Peace in Difficult Times took place at the Sacred Stream Center in 2017 and was moderated by Isa Gucciardi. We will be releasing this talk in three parts over the next few weeks. In part one, Bob and Matt offer thoughtful and sometimes humorous ideas about how we can cultivate peace individually and collectively. They talk about what led them to their respective spiritual paths and how they have navigated obstacles along the way.
Blog: How Integrated Energy Medicine Heals
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
Integrated Energy Medicine is the most subtle aspect of Depth Hypnosis, and also one of the most important features of the model. In addition to providing access to information about subtle experience influencing presenting symptoms, it is an important tool in healing.
With Integrated Energy Medicine, fields of light and sound can be focused by practitioners and guides to help clients move through resistance and blocks. These fields are used to support clients working at any level. They are especially helpful for those who are venturing into new and sometimes uncomfortable spaces within themselves for the first time. They can also be used to reconfigure and retrain patterns of experience and behavior arising from the deepest levels of the psyche.
Article: Breathing through Discomfort: What Yoga Taught me about Depth Hypnosis
By Denise Colby, Ph.D.
“Yoga saves your life.” It was my trademark phrase around the yoga studio, and what I offered to anyone who asked for my opinion on the practice. In my nearly 20 year engagement with yoga, I’ve found the practice to influence and mirror just about every aspect of life off the mat. Like my relationship to Depth Hypnosis, it started out as a tool I engaged with for a particular purpose and eventually became a way of life. These two practices weave themselves together into a beautiful tapestry of healing and transformation for this very corporeal, very human experience that we are all having. What I have found over the years is that there’s a lot of Depth Hypnosis in yoga, and a whole lot of yoga in Depth Hypnosis. A mindful dedication to this combination of practices creates a powerful vehicle of transformation to support the healing process.
In Depth Hypnosis, we are deeply engaged with the process of encountering ourselves in all of our darkest spaces. The shadow self is bravely and compassionately explored so that we can heal our trauma and unwind the false beliefs and patterns that we have held about ourselves and reality for much of our lives. Depth Hypnosis is a somatic practice that addresses trauma or energetic imbalance through the body itself, ultimately re-wiring our circuitry to bring about understanding and peace in our past and current experience. For those who have suffered bodily trauma or other experiences that have made the body feel like an unsafe place to be, a significant piece of the work of Depth Hypnosis is simply reestablishing safety and connection to the body. This is no small feat.