Library
On the Air: The Myths That Make Us: Isa Gucciardi
The Myths That Make Us host, Erick Godsey, believes we each have an unconscious story about who we are and what kind of world we’re in. This story, our myth, influences our goals, desires, mindset, and happiness. On this podcast, his goal is to help people identify the myths that make them.
Special Announcement: Sacred Stream Listed as a Top Place to Try Shamanism on Head + Heart
We are thrilled that the Sacred Stream has been named one of the top places to explore Shamanic ceremonies in San Francisco by Head + Heart, an online platform that helps connect people with mindful events, experiences and community across the USA and Canada. The Sacred Stream offers classes and training programs in Applied Shamanism, including certification in Applied Shamanic Practice & Plant Medicine Integration. For more information about our classes and training programs, visit our Applied Shamanism website. Here you can find articles, videos, podcasts, and other resources to support you in your study of shamanism.
Blog: The Wisdom of Black Elk
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
As a child, the indigenous peoples of North America fascinated me. I lived in northern Mexico, home to a Native American people known as the Huichol. Their relationship to the land, kindness, and gentle strength spoke to me. The way they moved in their world seemed in perfect balance. Whenever I could sneak away from my parents, I would spend time with the locals who taught me about horses, plants, and generosity of spirit. Inspired by these friends, I made a study of all the great Native American chiefs and shamans by reading everything I could find on them in the local library. Red Cloud, Cochise, and Crazy Horse were all people I admired for the way they maintained their dignity and inspired their people despite overwhelming odds. One of my favorite of these leaders was the visionary Sioux medicine man, Black Elk.
Podcast: Episode 55: Rajeev Taranath: Sarod Master
On this episode, Laura Chandler interviews Rajeev Taranath, one of India’s foremost classical musicians and a master of the sarod. At 87 years old, his career has spanned over four decades and drawn accolades from critics and audiences throughout the world. Rajeev is a distinguished disciple of the late legendary maestro Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, and was part of Khan’s musical family that included the great sitarists Ravi Shankar and Shrimati Annapurna Devi. Laura and Rajeev talk about Rajeev’s expansive career, perspectives on music and creativity, and his call to Indian Classical Music.
Blog: Encountering the Self: My Journey with Depth Hypnosis
By Denise Colby, Ph.D.
The most critical choices I have made in my life have rarely been the ones that were researched, well thought-out, and intentional. At best, I’ve stumbled into them, and many times I’ve been full of resistance and struggle. These have been the watershed moments that could only be seen and understood in retrospect. Only after I’ve witnessed how a single, hesitant “Yes” could totally change the course of my life. There have been a handful of these critical moments, but perhaps the most significant has been my encounter with Depth Hypnosis.
Blog: The Sacred Land of Menla: A Season of Ceremony
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
The fall season is upon us and I am reminded how, for many people, now and in times past, this is a time for gathering together to mark the change of light and to give thanks. The act of ceremony brings us into deeper communion with ourselves, with others, and the natural world around us. To mark this season of the fall equinox, I gathered with a group of students for a drum circle in the sanctuary of the Sacred Stream Center. When the drumming began, the late afternoon light filled the wooden rafters that arched over us. It streamed in through the century-old stained glass, dimming bit by bit in much the same way the days will shorten and the light will continue to dim until we meet again at the winter solstice drum circle, when the cycle will reverse and the days will grow longer once more.
Blog: Creating a Value System for your Child
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
When you are a parent, it’s necessary to understand your own value system. As a parent, your responsibility is to guide your child to the best of your ability. One way you can guide them is by knowing what your values are and teaching them to your child by example. If you don’t know what your values are and what values you want to impart to your child, it is important to sit down and figure them out.
Podcast: Episode 54: Dawson Church: Mind to Matter
On this episode, Laura Chandler is joined by researcher and author, Dawson Church. Dawson is the author of the bestselling book and breakthrough in epigenetics, The Genie in Your Genes. His latest release, Mind to Matter: The Astonishing Science of How Your Brain Creates Material Reality, explores the cultivation of peak brain states in daily life.
In this lively interview, Laura and Dawson discuss the astonishing science behind how our minds create matter. Dawson points to numerous examples of studies demonstrating this, and offers ways of harnessing the power of our minds through meditation, EFT, and cultivating positive thoughts. He also shares some inspiring stories of people profoundly changing their lives by adopting the simple practices in his book.
Article: The Journey: Buddhism and Shamanism at the Crossroads
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
We live in a time of paradox. On the one hand, wars and conflicts of all sorts rage all around us. The Earth is buckling under the effect of them. We also live in a time where there are opportunities for innovative solutions to our situation. We could focus on different types of innovations – technology, new ways of doing business, and more. But here, I would like to focus on the new spiritual and healing possibilities that are emerging to address this crisis. These approaches to addressing the difficulties of the current time can help us explore consciousness in ways that might not be accessible in less tumultuous times.
Blog: Compassion, the US Open, and a Blueprint for Saving the World
By Laura Chandler
Something remarkable happened at the US Open this year when Naomi Osaka (currently ranked #1 in the world in women’s tennis) defeated 15-year-old tennis sensation, Coco Gauff in the third round. Naomi consoled a crying Coco on the sidelines. She told her it was alright to cry, then invited her to stay and join her for the post-match on court interview where she praised Coco for her talent. This display of sportsmanship was not only kind; it illustrated something even more significant about human nature and our ability to be strong and compassionate, simultaneously.
Blog: Overcoming Denial: Part 3
By Denise Colby
It goes without saying that what makes doubt and denial so good at keeping you shackled is that you don’t know what you don’t know. If you can’t see it, how on earth do you begin to heal? There are many ways that truth begins to surface within us, but this is one of the places where a consciousness practice can be quite helpful. In the first part of this article, we discuss some of the ways in which we become aware that things are not as they seem and all is not well. This section addresses what to do once you have made the commitment to move into the light and live in truth.
Blog: Overcoming Denial: Part 2
By Denise Colby
If we have been in deep denial about some aspect of our experience, the revelation of truth will at first be a painful one. Truth will make its entrance in ways that will seem quite disturbing—intrusive thoughts, nightmares, innocuous interactions producing strong emotions, or a general feeling that one is “not OK.” It is at this juncture that we come to a choice: we can stay in denial and find external reasons to justify our internal experience, numbing and modulating using whatever coping mechanisms we have, or we can claim our internal experience as something uniquely personal and get very curious about it.
There are many roads out of denial, but at some point we will have to choose to validate what our body and reactivity is saying over the story we’ve been telling ourselves. This breaking down of an old story — the acknowledgement that we’ve been telling ourselves a false story our whole lives — provides the crack where the light of truth can finally break through to our awareness.
Podcast: Episode 53: Paul Selig: Beyond the Known: Realization
On today’s episode, Laura Chandler is joined by writer, empath, and one of the foremost spiritual channels of our time, Paul Selig. Paul has just released his latest channeled book, Beyond the Known: Realization, which is the 6th in a series described as a “program for personal and planetary evolution as humankind awakens to its own divine nature.” In this episode, Paul explains his relationship to the guides, the process of channeling, and shares insights from the guides about the new book.
Blog: Overcoming Denial: Part 1
By Denise Colby
Of all of the defense tactics and cycles of negativity that we get wrapped up in during our human experience, denial is perhaps the hardest to overcome. It’s insidious and manipulative, yet we cling to it fiercely.
We see denial everywhere we look. It is as rampant on the public and cultural scale as it is in our relationships. The external stage, as always, provides a mirror for our own inner relationship to truth. To live in truth, we must examine further the sources, motivations for, and consequences of denial on the inner stage, for it is only through the resolution of our own rejection of truth that we can begin to clearly see and resolve the external falsehoods that abound.
Article: Mindfulness In Leadership
Work is a lot of things. It’s fun and rewarding, challenging and exciting. It’s also hard a lot of the time and for most of us it can be a place of real struggle.
In order to thrive, today’s leaders need to develop many different kinds of tools. Trainings around things like presentation skills and strategic planning are relatively accessible. The real differentiator though is less about these kinds of visible skills and more about something that might be described as invisible: Mindfulness.