704. Anna Yusim

Posted on April 18, 2024 by Rick Archer

Dr. Anna Yusim is an internationally recognized, award-winning, Board-Certified, Stanford, and Yale-educated Mind Body Spirit Concierge Psychiatrist & Executive Coach with a Private Practice in New York, California, Connecticut, and Florida. She is the best-selling author of Fulfilled: How the Science of Spirituality Can Help You Live a Happier, More Meaningful Life. As a Clinical Assistant Professor at Yale Medical School, Dr. Yusim is presently creating a Mental Health & Spirituality Center at Yale. With clients including Forbes 500 CEOs, Olympic athletes, A-list actors and actresses, and the Chairs of academic departments at top universities, Dr. Anna Yusim helps influential people achieve greater impact, purpose, and joy in their life and work.

After working as a neurobiology researcher with Dr. Robert Sapolsky Ph.D. and completing her studies at Stanford, Yale Medical School, and the NYU Psychiatry Residency Training Program, Dr. Yusim felt that something was missing from her life. In her quest to find it, she traveled, lived and worked in over 70 countries, while studying Kabbalah, learning Buddhist meditation, and working with South American shamans and Indian gurus.

Dr. Yusim has published over 150 academic articles, book chapters, scientific abstracts, book reviews, and articles for the lay public on various topics in psychiatry. A frequent contributor to CNN, Fox News, ABC, and NBC, she has been a guest on hundreds of national and international TV shows, radio programs, and podcasts.

As a highly sought-after speaker, Dr. Yusim gives keynotes for physicians and professionals all over the country and the world on topics related to mental health and spirituality, preventing burnout, physicians as meaning-makers, and resilience. For healthcare professionals, corporate leaders, and community members, she also conducts workshops to empower individuals to sharpen their intuition, cultivate authenticity, awaken self-compassion, enhance their capacity for empathy, and improve their ability to connect with others.

Website: annayusim.com
YouTube channel

Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group.

Interview recorded April 14, 2024

Video and audio below. Audio also available as a Podcast.

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703. Constance Casey

Posted on April 4, 2024 by Rick Archer

Constance Casey, MDiv, is an author and teacher providing spiritual guidance for those interested in living a gentle and peaceful life.

Constance offers guidance for those entering deeper practice into the nature of reality and adjusting to a shift in consciousness. Her awakening occurred in 2008.
She has been practicing in the contemplative arts for over 40 years– first through her years in recovery, and then, as she deepened in Buddhist practice in 2007—which she shares in her memoir.

She’s a graduate of the Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leader Program. Some of her teachers include Trudy Goodman and Jack Kornfield.

Constance obtained a Master of Divinity focusing on religious studies and went on to do hospital chaplaincy work. As an interfaith hospital chaplain, she offered compassionate care for patients and families while embracing the spectrum of human experiences. She is also authorized by Naropa University to teach meditation.

Constance’s practice is primarily informed by the suttas in Theravāda Buddhism where she has developed her own online classes, the most recent one is called Clearing Skies: Dispelling the Clouds that Hinder Us, and she leads support groups for dedicated meditation practitioners.

Through her experience she respects and values your unique spiritual practice and journey while supporting you to find balance and significance in the face of adversity. Constance will encourage you to attune toward being more mindful and aware for release and serenity.

Her first book called Time for Awakening: A Memoir shares her story of awakening and deeper meditation practice and is what brings her to our meeting today.

Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group

Summary and Transcript of this interview

Interview recorded March 30, 2024

Video below. Audio coming soon.

YouTube Video Chapters:

00:00:00 – Welcome to Buddha at the Gas Pump
00:05:13 – The Levels of Receptiveness to the Dharma
00:09:13 – “Just Who Do You Think You Are?”
00:13:05 – A Snowy Awakening
00:16:54 – Healing and Bonding with My Sons
00:20:17 – Parenting as a Spiritual Practice
00:24:11 – A Fly on the Wall
00:28:09 – Tools of Recovery
00:31:31 – Ethical Structure in Spiritual Circles
00:35:14 – The Vicious Cycle of Repressed Discomfort
00:40:09 – Seeking Further
00:43:44 – Simplifying and Finding Fulfillment Within
00:47:39 – Expressing Experiences Through Art
00:51:17 – Finding Balance in Self-Care
00:54:59 – Honoring the Need for Rest and Balance
00:58:35 – The Power of Meditation and Personal Growth
01:01:38 – Constance’s Carpentry Journey
01:04:44 – The Importance of Speaking Out and Trauma (Conversation)
01:07:29 – Seeing the Teacher as a Human Being and the Absence of Hierarchy
01:10:27 – The Indescribable Experience of Awakening
01:14:19 – Following the Way
01:18:32 – Psychological, Theological, Sociological Perspectives
01:22:14 – The Power of Kindness in Movies
01:26:42 – The Intimacy of Stream Entry
01:30:45 – The Support of a Teacher
01:33:33 – The Association for Spiritual Integrity
01:37:43 – Factors of Enlightenment and the Hindrances
01:41:38 – Hindrances in Meditation Practice
01:45:49 – Cultivating Tranquility and Equanimity in Meditation
01:49:05 – The Benefits of Meditation and Inner States of Being
01:51:48 – Closing Remarks

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

699. Brad Laughlin & Anna Breytenbach

Posted on February 11, 2024 by Rick Archer

Brad Laughlin is the author of Living with Enlightenment—A Journey of Love, which is about his 25-year life-partnership with Leslie Temple-Thurston, a teacher of enlightenment, and the profound spiritual transformation he experienced. With Leslie, he is co-author of two books, The Marriage of Spirit—Enlightened Living in Today’s World and Returning to Oneness—The Seven Keys of Ascension.

Brad is dedicated to finding innovative ways of helping people to awaken spiritually and to find love, joy and inspiration during these times of great change. Using ancient Truth teachings, yogic practices and spiritual psychology, he offers simple yet powerful practices for dissolving old, limiting ego structures that keep us trapped in negativity, pain and fear. Brad’s transformative events are based on the principles of integration and unity consciousness, which help us to know our own inner Divinity—who we truly are.

Brad and Leslie are co-founders of the nonprofits, CoreLight.org and Seeds of Light.org, CoreLight’s humanitarian arm, serving marginalized communities and AIDS orphans in South Africa. Brad has a bachelor’s degree from Duke University. He is an American by birth, considers himself a global citizen and lives in both South Africa and the United States.

Anna Breytenbach is an internationally acclaimed professional interspecies communicator with over 20 years’ experience. Native to South Africa and currently based in Europe, she mentors and consults globally. Her focus is exclusively with wild places and beings, facilitating peaceful interventions and greater understanding. This includes predator research, wilderness protection, anti-poaching assistance, reforestation initiatives, wildlife management and rehabilitation. She is currently taking a sabbatical from her usual teaching and public appearances to write a book.

Anna’s passion is raising awareness and advancing the relationships among human and nonhuman animals, on both the personal and spiritual levels. Her work is the subject of the documentary movie “The Animal Communicator”, watched by tens of millions of people (and a few of their pets), available on YouTube.