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Practice You with Elena Brower: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Elena Brower
Content and conversations for times of transition and change.Join me in discussion with renowned luminaries and dear friends to explore life's myriad transitions, our understandings and our responses. What does it mean to be present, to shift our perceptions, to engage with the world meaningfully, with dignity and care? With respect for the ancient practices and the modern wisdom that continue to inform and elevate our exchanges, each episode is an invitation to Practice You.
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- 1 weeks ago40 min
Episode 243: Merissa Nathan Gerson
On the nuances of grief and loss, personal rituals, and our willingness to be transformed. 0:00 — Introduction and Guest Introduction 3:04 — Marissa's Personal Story and Grief Journey 7:38 — Building a Grief Plan 13:24 — Understanding Trauma and Its Impact 17:27 — Boundaries and Self-Care 22:52 — The Role of Prayer and Rituals 28:22 — Memorializing Losses and Rituals 32:18 — Connecting with Nature and Finding Support 37:46 — Conclusion and Final Thoughts Merissa Nathan Gerson is the author of Forget Prayers, Bring Cake: A Single Woman's Guide to Grieving, and her writing appears in Modern Love for the New York Times, The Atlantic, Playboy, Tablet, CNN.com and beyond. Merissa trained in Shambhala Shamatha meditation, graduated with an MFA in Writing and Poetics from Naropa University, is a certified Sivananda yoga teacher, and holds an MA in Jewish Studies with a focus on inherited trauma as well as sex and gender from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. She was the Inherited Trauma consultant to Amazon's Transparent and is the daughter and granddaughter of war refugees. She is currently training to be a rabbi. Forget Prayers, Bring Cake: A Single Woman's Guide to Grieving came out in 2021 from Mandala Press for Simon & Schuster. This book is a companion for these times. As McArthur Genius Kiese Laymon describes: "Merissa Gerson has created a neon treatise on the art and necessity of grieving."
- 3 weeks ago43 min
Episode 242: Ann Tashi Slater
On tending to our interdependence, living life fully, and dying with attention and equanimity. 0:00 — Introduction 1:34 — Overview of Ann's Book "Traveling in Bardo" 3:55 — Personal Reflections on Grandmother's Funeral 7:20 — The Role of Practice in Embracing Impermanence 16:15 — Living with Attention and Interdependence 34:57 — Authenticity and True Nature 42:09 — Conclusion and Final Thoughts Ann Tashi Slater writes for The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Paris Review, and Granta, among others, and is a contributing editor at Tricycle. She presents and teaches workshops at Princeton, Columbia, Oxford, Asia Society, and The American University of Paris, and was a regular speaker at NYC's Rubin Museum of Art during the museum's 20-year run. Ann's new book, Traveling in Bardo: The Art of Living in an Impermanent World was released by Balance/Hachette in September, 2025. TRAVELING IN BARDO explores how we can find meaning and happiness in a world where change is the only certainty. Interweaving explorations of "bardo" between-states in relation to marriage and friendship, parents and children, and work and creativity with stories of her Tibetan ancestors and Buddhist teachings on the fleeting nature of existence, Slater illuminates what the teachings have to tell us in our contemporary lives. She relays vital wisdom from Tibetan culture, giving us a bold, new framework to navigate moments of change and live life fully. With a foreword by Dani Shapiro, the book has been praised by Elizabeth Gilbert, Melissa Febos, Sharon Salzberg, and Julia Alvarez, among others, and has been selected as a "Must-Read" by the Next Big Idea Club, co-curated by Malcolm Gladwell. In the midst of this shifting landscape, Slater invites us to embrace impermanence in a powerful way, rooted in ancient wisdom. During over forty years of writing and speaking about her Tibetan-American heritage and the relevance of Buddhism in Western society, Slater has come to see how Tibetan bardo views on impermanence can transform the way we live. A luminous guide to navigating transition and impermanence, it offers us the opportunity to find happiness in an impermanent world.
- Apr 25, 202628 min
Episode 241: Allison Deraney
On the identities we no longer need, the alchemy of recovery, and mourning the person we used to be. – Introduction and Background of Allison Derani – Allison's Journey and Grief in Recovery – Parenting and Self-Abandonment – The Ambiguous Grief of Self-Abandonment – The Liminal Space of Sobriety – The Importance of Listening to Questions – The Practice of Slowing Down – Closing Thoughts and Future Plans Allison Deraney is a woman in recovery from alcohol who credits sobriety for waking her back up to her first passion—writing. Currently a licensed real estate attorney, running her own business, she's writing more creativity into her days via her Substack, Dare To Be, and working on her first book, a memoir about the healing and revealing as we recover from the ambiguous loss of self-abandonment. Dedicated to speaking up and speaking out about living a conscious sober life, Allison lives in Massachusetts with her husband, two kids, and two rescue dogs, spending her free time wandering and wondering in nature, and cheering her kids on from the sidelines of the basketball court. Allison's book-to-be is about grief; not the traditional kind, though there is some of that in there. The biggest lesson she's learned in recovery is this: Rejecting grief, in all its iterations, is a form of self-abandonment. Grief requires that we surrender to it. So does addiction, compulsion of perfection and aging. It's a book that explores how my midlife journey is intersecting with the deeper parts of recovery in the most terrifying and beautiful way. It's a unique book in that it is written during the transformation. Because I am still in it. Sobriety has been my portal to Divinity and I'm here, feet planted on the threshold, weaving words to capture the experience as best I can. https://allisonderaney.substack.com Here are Allison's three favorite posts from her Substack, DARE TO BE, out of an immense pull to write through her sobriety. https://open.substack.com/pub/allisonderaney/p/setting-off-our-own-fireworks-a95?r=rkt4u&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false https://open.substack.com/pub/allisonderaney/p/its-been-a-whole-hand?r=rkt4u&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false https://open.substack.com/pub/allisonderaney/p/my-permission-sticks-they-still-keep?r=rkt4u&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
- Apr 11, 202636 min
Episode 240: Amber Romaniuk
On the root causes of emotional eating, tools with which to begin your healing process, and gifting yourself grace as you go. And you're not broken. – Introduction – Self-Sabotaging Behaviors and Societal Conditioning – Emotional Eating and Coping Mechanisms – Building Awareness and Coping Strategies – Healing the Relationship with Food – Practical Recommendations for Blood Sugar Management – Conclusion and Encouragement Amber Romaniuk is an Emotional Eating, Digestive and Hormone Expert, with 12 years experience helping high achieving women create a level of body confidence, intuition and optimal health through powerful mindset healing, self-care and overcoming self-sabotage with food. She does this through addressing the key negative thoughts, patterns and limiting beliefs that keep women stuck in the same behaviors for years and decades, that they haven't been able to break. Resources: Emotional Eating Quiz Free 30 minute Body Freedom Consultation Amber's podcast Amber's YouTube Amber's Instagram
- Mar 28, 202638 min
Episode 239: Annette Knopp
On the undeniable gift of becoming our own ally, when personal healing becomes shared, universal healing. – Annetta Knopf's Journey and Book Introduction – Challenges and Insights in Writing the Book – Personal Trauma and Healing – The Concept of Femininity and Masculinity – Practical Practices for Healing and Transformation – Final Reflections and Gratitude Annette Knopp is a meditation teacher, somatic counselor, and nature mystic who favors an integrative approach to living in wakeful and embodied connection. For twenty years she has mentored clients on their unique journeys of healing and awakening. She spent nine years living in India, Japan, Australia, and the Netherlands before moving to the US on a religious worker visa. In 2009 Annette and her husband Stephan opened the Blue Spirit Retreat Center in Nosara, Costa Rica. Today she divides her time between Costa Rica and Woodstock, New York. In the US, she is often teaching at the Upaya Zen Center and Omega Institute in Rhinebeck.. Mystic Nomad: A Woman's Wild Journey to True Connection https://www.annetteknopp.com/book.
- Mar 14, 202634 min
Episode 238: Kino MacGregor
On practice as a continuous evolution of form, care and depth, and sustaining the light of our teachers as an act of love. Kino MacGregor is a Miami native, happiest on the beach with a fresh coconut. She's a poet at heart, always stopping to smell the flowers. She also the founder of Omstars, the world's first yoga TV network, and her message of spiritual strength reaches practitioners the world over. With 1m+ followers on Instagram and over 500k subscribers on YouTube and Facebook, she's sought after as an expert in yoga and international yoga teacher, inspirational speaker, author of four books, producer of six Ashtanga Yoga DVDs, a writer, vlogger, world traveler, and co-founder of Miami Life Center. – Introduction – The Spiritual Journey of Yoga – The Role of Yoga in End-of-Life Preparation – The Importance of Patience and Forbearance in Yoga – Balancing Personal Challenges and Joyful Moments – The Evolution of Kino's Teaching and Practice – Conclusion and Gratitude https://kinoyoga.com
- Feb 28, 202634 min
Episode 237: Light Watkins
On the tortoise approach, the seven-day ask, the gift and truth of less being more, and the practice of no-complaints-whatsoever. 0:00 — Introduction and Overview of Light Watkins' Book 1:56 — The Tortoise Approach and Consistency 6:43 — Personal Experiences and Application of the Tortoise Approach 10:48 — Challenges and Practical Applications 17:53 — Addiction and Meditation Challenges 28:53 — Forgiveness and Purge Challenges 32:44 — Conclusion and Recommendations For over two decades, Light Watkins has helped leaders and teams embed presence into how they live, lead, and connect. His approach elevates performance not by pushing harder, but by helping audiences show up more fully. Light is the author of five bestselling books on happiness, mindfulness, minimalism, and transformation. His TEDx Talk on rethinking mindfulness is approaching a million views. Known as "The Presence Whisperer," Light delivers keynotes that are humorous, heartfelt, practical, unforgettable. https://www.lightwatkins.com/
- Feb 14, 202638 min
Episode 236: Jiryu Rustchman-Byler
On the practice of sitting, walking, becoming, and living as yourself, precisely where you are. – Introduction and Guest Welcome – Gru's Journey to Zen Practice – Elena's Personal Reflections – The Concept of "Becoming Yourself" – The Role of Precepts and Ethical Practice – The Importance of Confidence and Effort – Conclusion and Gratitude This long-awaited new book from Shunryu Suzuki: Becoming Yourself: Teachings on the Zen Way of Life, edited by Jiryu Rutschman-Byler and Sojun Mel Weitsman, is one of my favorite books of 2025. Jiryu Rutschman-Byler is a Soto Zen Buddhist priest and teacher in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, with dharma transmission from Sojun Mel Weitsman. Jiryu has trained residentially in Zen temples since 1996, and currently serves as a co-Abbot of San Francisco Zen Center through his role as Abiding Abbot of Green Gulch Farm Zen Center. Shunryu Suzuki was one of the most influential spiritual teachers of the Twentieth Century and a founding father of Zen in America. Suzuki's Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, first published in the U.S. in 1970, is considered one of the most important Buddhist books in modern history, and has been translated into more than thirty-five languages. A Japanese priest of the Sōtō lineage, Suzuki taught Buddhism in the United States from 1959 until his death in 1971. He was the founder of the San Francisco Zen Center and the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. While contemporary Buddhist figures such as His Holiness The Dalai Lama, Thích Nhất Hạnh, and Pema Chödrön are more familiar to American audiences, Shunryu Suzuki was among the first Buddhist teachers with cultural influence in the West and was the first to establish a lasting practice community in the U.S. Importantly, the warmth, humor, and simplicity of Suzuki's teachings made Buddhism accessible. For decades, the San Francisco Zen Center has preserved an archive of Suzuki's original audio teachings, most of which have never been edited or published. Becoming Yourself: Teachings on the Zen Way of Life offers newly available teachings by Suzuki, exploring a practice he describes as fundamentally about "becoming yourself." Rather than offering a philosophy or even a set of techniques, Suzuki points to a way of being, and calls readers to the simple practice of zazen, or "just to sit," as the expression of a fulfilling life and grounded ethical orientation. Becoming Yourself is a result of the painstaking efforts of the Zen community over many years. Archiving, transcribing and interpreting Suzuki's intention clearly and accurately proved to be very challenging work. The final editor and compiler of the book is Jiryu Rutschman-Byler, a senior teacher and co-Abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center. As we learn in these pages, "becoming yourself" is not meant to be understood as an idea but rather tried out as a way of being. It is a practice of deeply connecting with how it feels to be alive in your surroundings, whether on a meditation cushion or not, and stepping forward from that connection. It is opening to your life, wherever you are, and finding right there a deep well of innate wisdom, compassion, and care.
About Practice You with Elena Brower
Content and conversations for times of transition and change.Join me in discussion with renowned luminaries and dear friends to explore life's myriad transitions, our understandings and our responses. What does it mean to be present, to shift our perceptions, to engage with the world meaningfully, with dignity and care? With respect for the ancient practices and the modern wisdom that continue to inform and elevate our exchanges, each episode is an invitation to Practice You.
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