Chris Grosso The Indie Spiritualist

Chris is joined by Michael W. Taft, author of "Mindful Geek," to talk about mindfulness in the modern age. Michael W. Taft is a meditation teacher, bestselling author, and neuroscience junkie. As a mindfulness coach, he specializes in secular, science-based mindfulness training in groups, corporate settings, and one-on-one sessions. Michael is the author of several books, including the bestselling The Mindful Geek and Nondualism: A Brief History of a Timeless Concept.

Author, Cheryl Abram, joins the show to talk about her books, spiritual journey and the importance of telling the truth. Cheryl Abram is a mother of four, a writer and a public speaker. She lives in Northern Virginia and when not working at her full-time job, she blogs and hosts meetings on applying the non-dual and diunital perspectives to your everyday life.

This week on The Indie Spiritualist, Colette Baron-Reid joins Chris to talk about her newest book, Uncharted, and her upcoming Oracle school. Colette Baron-Reid is an internationally acclaimed intuitive counselor, Psychic Medium, Spiritual Teacher and host of the TV shows Messages From Spirit and The Adventures of the Motorcycle Medium. She and Chris explore how we manifest our reality, concepts of the soul, and tuning into our inner oracle.

Chris sits down with author Samantha Bennett to talk about being in the moment, focusing on changes that are doable, and realizing that everything is perfect just the way it is. Samantha Bennett is a writer, speaker, actor, teacher and creativity/productivity specialist and author of the bestselling, “Get It Done: From Procrastination to Creative Genius in 15 Minutes a Day." Samantha Bennett is the creator of the Organized Artist Company which is dedicated to helping creative people get unstuck, especially by helping them focus and move forward on their goals.

Chris interviews scientist and mindfulness teacher, Shinzen Young, about the power of mindfulness practice and bringing it into the modern world. Shinzen Young is an American mindfulness teacher and neuroscience research consultant. His systematic approach to categorizing, adapting and teaching meditation has resulted in collaborations with Harvard Medical School, Carnegie-Mellon University and the University of Vermont in the burgeoning field of contemplative neuroscience. Shinzen Young is known for his interactive, algorithmic approach to mindfulness, and often uses mathematical metaphors to illustrate meditative phenomena. He is the author of The Science of Enlightenment, Natural Pain Relief and numerous audio offerings. Shinzen leads residential retreats throughout North America. In 2006, he created the Home Practice Program. These phone-based mini-retreats are designed to make deep meditation practice accessible to anyone in the world regardless of their location, health situation, and time or financia

On this episode of The Indie Spiritualist, Chris chats with Ilona Ciunaite about fear, truth, and helping each other along the spiritual path. Ilona’s search for truth started in 2002, when for the first time she “experienced the silence of the thinking mind, a sweet sense of being, contentment, peace,” and “feeling at home.” In 2010 she discovered Jed McKenna’s books, which were a shock to her belief system and catapulted her “out of hypnosis” and toward the realization that all she believed was not truth. It wasn’t until the initial deconstruction was done, after months of painful self-inquiry, that Ciunaite felt at peace: there was an emptiness, a not knowing, a not believing anything about anything. Then the last step was taken and the separate self was seen to be an illusion. Together Ciunaite and Nezhinsky published a book, Gateless Gatecrashers, that consists of conversations leading to self-realization, and which can be downloaded for free at Liberation Unleashed. Liberation Unleashed is a global m

Chris sits down with author Matthew Fox to talk about spirituality, activism, and mystic Thomas Merton. Matthew Fox is the author of over 30 books including Meister Eckhart, The Hidden Spirituality of Men, Christian Mystics, and most recently A Way to God. A preeminent scholar and popularizer of Western mysticism, he became an Episcopal priest after being expelled from the Dominican Order by Cardinal Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict XVI. You can visit him at http://www.matthewfox.org.

This week on The Indie Spiritualist, Chris talks to Kelvin Young from Advocacy Unlimited. Kelvin Young is the Assistant Executive Director of Advocacy Unlimited/Toivo Director and believes that healing begins from within. After many years of battling with drug addiction, anxiety, and depression, he began his healing process in prison. While incarcerated, Kelvin learned about the transformative powers of meditation, which helped him look within to find inner peace in a very hostile and restrictive environment. Chris and Kevin talk about the struggles along the path to recovery and what Toivo is doing to help others heal.

Chris speaks with Dr. David Berceli about his innovative approach to therapy for patients suffering from trauma and addiction.  

Chris sits down with Brad Warner to share his wisdom and experiences as a Soto Zen priest as well as his new book, “Don’t Be a Jerk: And Other Practical Advice from Dogen, Japan’s Greatest Zen Master.” Brad Warner is the author of Don’t Be a Jerk and numerous other titles including Sit Down & Shut Up, Hardcore Zen, and Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate. A Soto Zen priest, he is a punk bassist, filmmaker, Japanese-monster-movie marketer, and popular blogger based in Los Angeles.  

Chris sits down with spiritual teacher Sally Kempton to discuss the divine feminine, compassion and bouncing back from hard times. Sally Kempton is a powerful teacher of applied spiritual wisdom, known for her capacity to kindle meditative states in others and to help students work with meditative experience as a framework for practical life-change. She teaches teleclasses, retreats, and workshops, and is on the faculty at Esalen and Kripalu.

Chris brings on Damien Echols to discuss Ceremonial Magick and the spiritual path. They explore the practice and the important role it has had in Damien's life. Damien Echols is a ceremonial magician and artist who lives in NYC with his wife and cats. He spent 18 years on death row for a crime he did not commit and wrote the book "Life after Death" about his experiences.

This week on the Indie Spiritualist, Chris has an insightful conversation with the spiritual teacher and author, Gabor Maté, about trauma, addiction, and recovery. What do we get out of our addictions? How does trauma cause us to disconnect from ourselves and dismiss our own experience? Gabor raises these important questions and provides guidance to rise above our suffering and self-abuse so that we may better care for ourselves and our loved ones.   Show Notes Addictions Are Not The Problem – Gabor and I discuss how addictions are not the problem but instead are the person’s attempt to solve a problem in their life.   Growing Up – Gabor and I explore the emotional and psychological conditions of children and their environment while growing up as a key component of the root cause of addiction.   Trauma, Addiction, and the Brain – Gabor talks about the relationship between trauma, our brain, and addiction.   Making Change – Gabor breaks down how we can begin to understand and then work with the traumas in our

On this episode of The Indie Spiritualist, Chris has on poet and author, J. Ivy. As a performance poet & author, Ivy’s passionate delivery always leaves spectators transfixed in a state of inspiration. His motto, “Dreams Don’t Come True, They Are True” has guided him from his hometown Chicago to hundreds of cities. J. Ivy’s new goal to get one million people to write a letter to their fathers is themed as “One Million Letters Written, One Million Hearts Healed!” This campaign’s mission is to help inspire healing through writing for children and adults who have grown up in fatherless homes, which will in turn help to prevent this hurt and imbalance from being perpetuated. Listen to Chris and J go deep about family, forgiveness, and inspiring the next generation.   Show Notes Chicago – J reminisces about his childhood years when he was still known as James Richardson and what it was like growing up in Chicago during the late seventies and early eighties. Changes – J talks about his experience of being a you

In this episode of The Indie Spiritualist Podcast, Chris has a compelling discussion with Ram Dass. From addiction to finding compassion for Donald Trump, Ram Dass shares his perspective on the spiritual path and using love to overcome our darkest moments.  

Tehya Sky Podcast   Tehya Sky is a metaphysical guide and healing facilitator who offers retreats and workshops internationally. Her work focuses on helping us integrate our humanity and our divinity, as well as honor our unique callings. Sky lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. For more, visit tehyasky.com   Dysfunction — Tehya discusses her formative childhood years, working in the music industry in LA, and finding her way onto the spiritual path.   Spirituality Today — Tehya and I discuss spirituality and whether people are looking for something different today or not.   Something Different — Tehya talks about what from A Ceremony Called Life offers that many of today’s “self-help” books don’t.   Influences — Tehya shares some of the important influences in her life, and I share about an experience including Radiohead, acid, and the millennium.   It All Is — Tehya and I discuss how spirituality can imbue all areas of our lives.   Vulnerability — Tehya shares about how vulnerability and how accepting our vu

Interspirituality with Kurt Johnson Episode Recap Show Notes: • Early Years – Kurt discusses some of his early life events—including depression, scientific studies and much more—and how they led him to his life’s passion. • Wayne Teasdale – Kurt shares about his deep friendship with the wonderful Brother Wayne Teasdale, the impact he had on his life, and the continuing impact his work has in the world. • Interspirituality – In The Coming Interspiritual Age, Kurt writes, “Interspirituality is the natural discussion among human beings about what we are experiencing. In academic terms, it’s the intersubjective discussion among us all about who we are, why we are here, and where we are going. In the context of religion, interspirituality is the common heritage of humankind’s spiritual wisdom and the sharing of wisdom resources across traditions. In terms of our developing human consciousness, interspirituality is the movement of all these discussions toward the experience of profound interconnectedness, unity con

Podcast Interview Bio Chandresh Bhardwaj is a seventh-generation lineage holder from a family of Indian gurus practicing the Tantric tradition. He is an internationally acclaimed speaker and founder of the Break The Norms Movement, with locations in New York, Los Angeles, New Delhi, and Amsterdam. For more visit breakthenorms.com.   Episode Outline:   • A Family of Gurus – Chandresh talks about his childhood and how he grew up in a family of spiritual Gurus.   • The Seeds of Questioning – Chandresh talks about the passing of his sister and a close childhood friend when he was younger, both of which happened within a few years of one another, and how they became a catalyst that planted seeds of questioning in him, particularly about life and death and meaning and how to live.   • Pain As A Teacher – Chandresh shares how we can use the pain in our lives as a catalyst towards our spiritual growth and development.   • Break the Norms – Chandresh talks about the Break The Norms movement and how that began.   • Tod

Jack Canfield Episode Recap   Bio   You probably know Jack Canfield as the co-creator and co-author of the New York Times #1 best-selling Chicken Soup for the Soul book series which currently has 225 titles in the series and more than 500 million copies in print in 47 languages.   He is also the founder and President of the Canfield Training Institute, which trains entrepreneurs, corporate leaders, managers and sales professionals in how to accelerate the achievement of their personal, professional and financial goals.   Jack has personally helped hundreds of thousands of people on six different continents become multi-millionaires, business leaders, best-selling authors, leading sales professionals, successful entrepreneurs, and world-class athletes while at the same time creating balanced, fulfilling and healthy lives.   Jack is a dynamic speaker and was recently inducted into the National Speakers Association’s Speakers Hall of Fame.   He has appeared on more than 1000 radio and television shows including

Alanna Kaivalya Episode Recap   Bio   Alanna believes Yoga is for everyone and each student can develop the self-empowerment needed to embark on a personal journey to meaningful transformation. On this principle she founded The Kaivalya Yoga Method, a fresh take on yoga emphasizing the individual path while honoring tradition. Teaching students since 2001, teachers since 2003, Alanna has written and developed teacher trainings worldwide for top studios and independently. In January she debuted a comprehensive 200hr-online teacher training with YogaDownload. She holds a Ph.D. in Mythological Studies with an Emphasis in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute, has authored numerous articles and two books: Myths of the Asanas, an accessible practitioner’s guide to stories behind beloved poses; Sacred Sound, a yoga “hymnal,” illustrating the role of chant and mantra in modern practice. Look for her third book, Yoga Beyond the Mat, in Autumn 2016. She lives in New York City with Roxy the Wonderdog.     E