No longer updated. Look for “Proactive Mindfulness” podcast
Proactive 12 Steps
Claim This Podcastby Proactive 12 Steps
286 episodes
Updated Daily
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Podcast Overview
No longer updated. Look for “Proactive Mindfulness” podcast
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Publishing Since
1/2/2001
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Recent Episodes
September 3, 2025
How we get more present & engaged in life
<br /> Art: SP<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Proactive mindfulness involves being aware of what prevents us from being present and engaged in what we do. It also takes understanding it and dealing with it.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> All of this has to do with how our nervous system deals with interaction. We are wired to get a sense of whether a situation is safe or hostile. This is not an objective assessment but an automatic, unconscious reaction. We are often unconsciously triggered into a heightened sense of danger that is not warranted. That is, we are triggered into reacting to our preconceptions, our baggage, instead of the actual situation. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Fear<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> In other words, fear takes over. And, often, we don’t even know that we’re afraid. We cannot push away our reactivity through willpower. It has to do with fear, and evolution has made fear very powerful because it leads to survival. For the fear to lift, we need to sense that the situation is safe. This means we need to stay present enough to see beyond our baggage. To see the situation as it really is. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Staying present is not an abstract concept. It means being in touch with our body. All of it.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> What fear does, it disconnects us from parts of our body. Just like a circuit breaker cuts off connection when there’s too much intensity. This happens even when we are not aware of being afraid. The disconnected parts are still there. But there’s no flow of information, of energy, going through them. So they’re not available to us. As the brain keeps track of our inventory of resources, some of them have disappeared from that inventory. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> We function with diminished resources, and we’re not even aware of it. Before we can effectively engage with the situation, we need to engage with our body to recover its full resources. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Why we need to engage with our body<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> It seems obvious, and yet this is so different from what we usually do. We keep trying to engage with the situation when we don’t have a full deck, when we don’t have all of our bodily resources available. Instead, what we need to do is first engage with our body to recover its full resources. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Now, that may seem strange. For instance, if your feet are disconnected, what does this have to do with your capacity to think? Of course, there’s the phrase “thinking on your feet.” But it’s just a way of speaking, isn’t it?<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Well, no, it isn’t just empty words. Our nervous system constantly scans our body. When parts are offline, it’s as if they didn’t exist, and our system is unbalanced. Think about what happens if you have a flat tire. Your car still has three functional tires. But the whole system has now become much less able to handle the road. Disproportionately so. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> So we need to engage with our body to recover the disconnected parts. To re-inflate the tire, so to speak.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> How we engage with our body<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Engaging with our body means switching our focus to our body. We need a roadmap. For instance, if my feet are offline at this moment, it will not occur to me to put my focus on them. But my roadmap tells me there’s such a thing as feet. So I can direct my attention toward them and do little experiments in moving them ever so slightly. I start noticing that my feet are responding, ever so slightly. It’s all very subtle. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Being present means engaging. And engaging means being in that process that’s like attunement. It’s subtle. It’s a slow rhythm. Making a move. Taking the time to notice what happens. Adjusting based on that. Noticing. And so on. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />
August 26, 2025
Eric Wolterstorff: Transference as a central lever for healing & growth
<br /> Eric Wolterstorff discusses the complexities of transference and counter-transference in therapy, particularly in the context of trauma. He shares an experience that illustrates the powerful dynamics at play and how they can lead to healing.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Eric Wolterstorff, Ph.D., began his training in the 1990s under leading psychotherapists like Peter Levine, Pat Ogden, Arnold Mindell, and Max Schupbach. His early inquiry into how different methods (psychotherapy, yoga, meditation) yield distinct benefits led him to develop the Trauma Integration Protocol™. With a Ph.D. in sociology focused on how groups respond to crises, Eric has trained clinicians across the globe in topics such as posttraumatic memory, transference, family systems, and trust-building. He has worked at the intersection of trauma, development, and systemic interventions in post-conflict regions, founding Sovereignty First—a consultancy that strengthens collaboration among international social impact networks. He is known for bridging neuroscience (memory systems), group systems behavior (the behavior of groups under threat, and group psychosocial development), and clinical insight into a dynamic, precise teaching style. See <a href="https://www.traumaintegrationprotocol.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">website</a>.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />
August 17, 2025
Julie Nelson: the dynamics of power in a spiritual community
<br /> Julie Nelson is a Zen teacher who has also thought and written about economics, gender, ethics, and ecology. In this conversation, we talk about something that is often bypassed in discussions about spirituality: power dynamics and abuse of authority. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Julie Seido Nelson is a transmitted teacher (Sensei) in the Maezumi Roshi Zen lineage. Her home spiritual community is the Greater Boston Zen Center in Massachusetts, where she resides. She is also a teacher at the Great Plains Zen Center in Monroe, Wisconsin. Her book Practicing Safe Zen: Navigating the Pitfalls on the Road to Liberation was published in June 2025. She has also written for popular Buddhist audiences in Tricycle magazine and on her blog. She is a Professor Emeritus after a career in research and teaching, during which she authored Economics for Humans and many academic publications, some of which drew on a Buddhist philosophy and practice. Having begun Zen practice in about 2004, she has found it to be of immense value. She is deeply saddened when people, either in addition to or instead of realizing the benefits, suffer great harm. See <a href="https://julieanelson.com/category/zen/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">website</a>.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />
286 total episodes available
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