Episode Summary

Deb Dana L.C.S.W. joins the How Humans Work Podcast to illuminate how our nervous systems dance between the ancient survival responses and the instinct to be in states of connection and safety.

As an author, renowned Polyvagal Theory lecturer, Deb expertly and compassionately guides us through the ins-and-outs of Polyvagal Theory (PVT), and how it can help us find a more regulated nervous system. At the core, we explore the powerful, bottom-up role of our vagal nerves play in our ability to find safety and connection. Consequently, this show is also a profound conversation about the role of our nervous systems in healing, relationships, stress, and trauma.

Throughout a delightful episode, Deb offers heartfelt insight into our human experience as she emphasizes the need for co-regulation and the impact of trauma on our nervous system responses as well as the intersection of Internal Family Systems and Polyvagal Theory. Together.

Finally, we explore how environments and collective aspects challenge the nervous systems across contemporary society. Here Deb highlights the importance of creating safe environments for healing and connection has in changing how society handles.

In this episode you will learn:

• How Polyvagal Theory provides a framework for understanding our nervous system.
• What Neuroception is and how our nervous system perceives safety and danger through neuroception.
• What the vagus nerve is and how it plays a crucial role in regulating our emotional states.
• Why Regulation is essential for accessing curiosity, play, and connection.
• The difference between Stress and Trauma responses, and how we can work with them.
• How the vagal break helps manage heart rate and emotional responses.
• Why understanding the nervous system can lead to more effective therapy.
• Insight into the influences on the collective nervous systems, societal dynamics and healing.
• Why creating safe environments is key to facilitating healing personally and societally.

Deb Dana L.C.S.W., is a renowned clinician, consultant, author, and international lecturer specializing in the application of Polyvagal Theory to trauma treatment and therapy. With a deep understanding of the autonomic nervous system and its role in shaping human behavior and relationships, she has become a a leader in brining PVT insights into practical tools for therapists, healthcare providers, and individuals seeking healing.

Deb is also the developer of the Rhythm of Regulation clinical model, which integrates Polyvagal Theory into therapeutic practices, emphasizing safety, connection, and co-regulation as the foundation for emotional and psychological well-being. Additionally, Deb has authored several influential books, including The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy: Engaging the Rhythm of Regulation and Anchored: How to Befriend Your Nervous System Using Polyvagal Theory, as well as the co-edited work Polyvagal Exercises for Safety and Connection.

YouTube Chapters:

00:00 Introduction and Background

02:11 The Role of the Nervous System in Human Experience

08:25 The Vagus Nerve: Anatomy and Function

Episode Summary

The storied and kind-hearted Jai Uttal drops into the show for an extended conversation about music, monkey gods, gurus, India, sobriety, family, and ultimately the spiritual path of healing through love.

We begin with an exploration of Jai’s current practice of hyper-local kindness in a world where that resource is becoming increasingly scarce. From there we dive into Jai’s latest musical offering, Hanuman Chalisa for World Peace. Not only does Jai share with us the intimate practice he’s had with this widely venerated chant for over five decades, but he walks us through the creative context in which his first published recording of the Chalisa came to life. In his telling we gather the rich array of inspirations that bring about his creative gifts.

Gradually, Jai invites us into the richness of his life, as he retells how the winding threads that have made up the fabric of his life came to be. We come to understand the overlapping events and energies of kirtan, India, gurus, dreams, drugs, anxieties, singing, but mostly love and family, have been ripples of his life.

Along the way we hear about his intersections with Steve Jobs, Ali Akbar Khan, Neem Karoli Baba, Ram Das, and others. We hear about his initiation into kirtan, Indian classical music, and his profound relationships that unfolded with musical and spiritual masters. We also hear about the struggles with finding his voice, performing, and managing the pains of life with drugs and alcohol before he found his true loves in his wife Nubia and in becoming a father to his son, Ezra.

In the beginning, middle, and end, the beloved monkey god, Hanuman, walks with us, serving as a back-drop of Jai’s own spiritual journey as he realizes the profound and ordinary teachings love and devotion have in his, just like every other human life. A beautiful conversation that bares the heart in a way that we can’t help but be moved by.

About: Jai Uttal is a husband, father, neighbor, and friend. He’s more widely know for being a Grammy nominated sacred music composer, recording artist, multi-instrumentalist, and ecstatic vocalist. Jai combines influences from India with influences from American rock and jazz, creating a stimulating and exotic multi-cultural fusion that is truly world spirit music.

Jai has been leading, teaching and performing kirtan around the world for close to 50 years, creating a safe environment for people to open their hearts and voices.

In this snap, bonus episode, show host Jef Szi riffs on what he is calling, 'Alpha Masculinity,' as it emerges alongside Donald Trump election to a second presidential term.

In his eclectic style, Jef begins the show sharing his experience on a beautiful November night in San Francisco and going to see Leif Vollebekk in concert with his wife. Contrasting that with the pre-show UFC experience, Jef leans into evolution, mating strategies, and ironies that are unfolding as the majority of American Voters embrace the "big man" attitude and style of Donald Trump.

With curiosity, critique, and invitation, Jef invites us to dive into the instinctual draw toward a renewed Alpha Masculinity with nuance.

Calling on the stories from his late friend, Brent MacKinnon during the turmoil of the Vietnam War as well as the gift of artistry Leif demonstrated in his show, Jef calls us forward into this conversation using all the sensibilities to illuminate the deep need to reconcile ourselves with this force and to find our way with the complexities it presents.

Episode Summary

In episode 42, we take a deep dive into the realm of myth with insightful and heartfelt Chris Skidmore. As an astrologer, psychotherapist and host of the On the Souls Terms Podcast, Chris helps illuminate the meaning and embedded knowledge hidden inside the 1800 year old Roman novel: The Golden Ass. This text is where the first telling of The Marriage of Eros and Psyche is found. Together, Chris and your show host Jef Szi take an extended journey into these rich and poignant tales that are saturated with symbolism, archetypes, relatable folly, and knowledge that help us make sense of our own human condition.

The show begins with Chris sharing about his recent trip to Greece and Italy—the actual landscape where these stories took place. From there we build a Jungian context in the spirit of Marie Louis Von Franz before a recounting of The Golden Ass, where the main character, Lucius, accidently ends up being turned into an ass. Caught is ass-form, Lucius experiences a great deal of folly and suffering. Moved by the elements in the story, Chris and Jef explore the meaning and medicine this overlooked tale offers as we seek to reconcile our own lives with the greater forces and events we experience.

Next, they then turn their attention the Psyche and Eros story. Recounting the events of this monumental myth around love and soul, they drink deeply from the profound images and details found there. In particular, we come to see how this myth offers insights and teaching into the journey of love, of maturation, and our complex dynamics that come with individuation.

With a superb attention to the heart along with beautiful renderings and teachings found in The Golden Ass and The Marriage of Eros and Psyche, Chris offers us perspective on our humanity while simultaneously fostering our connection to the artistic and soulful roots of the ancient Greco-Roman imagination.

About Chris Skidmore: Chris Skidmore is a psychotherapist, astrologer, biodynamic cranial-sacral therapist who resides in Bali. He is also the host of On The Soul’s Terms Podcast. You can learn more about Chris work and check-out his podcast by going to his website.

Episode Summary

In this next adventure into our Systems of Knowledge theme, the highly relatable and beautifully honest Erin Gilmore joins the podcast. This conversation explores how various teachings are points of refuge and healing as we make our way on the path adulting. Erin opens up about her journey with ADHD and the knowledges that have helped her. Specifically, how how the practice of yoga and movement became a foundation for making sense and meaning in her life.

Along the way, we also learn how Meditation with Jeff Warren, Non-Violent Communication practices with Judith Hanson Lasater, and Trauma-Informed Yoga have been anchors for growth and self understanding in the process of becoming. Without pretense our proclamation, Erin offers unvarnished truth about her story and the encounter with life’s uncertainties and changes. From the listening skills that come with NVC or the ritual wisdom found in esoteric teachers, Erin shows us how embracing the knowledges has supported her self-acceptance and strengthened her anchor.

About Erin: Erin Gilmore is a San Francisco-based yoga teacher with a unique modern style. She is also a student and teacher of Non-Violent Communication. Her experiences with Trauma-Informed yoga transformed her life and yoga practice. She lives in San Francisco, California with her husband and two children.

• Try Her Living Room Yoga Class
• Follow Erin on Social

Episode Summary

Alice Treves is seasoned psychotherapist with a background in Hakomi, CBT, Internal Family Systems (IFS), and Psychedelic Assisted Therapy. This is her second time joining the podcast. She and Jef Szi have been together for 27 years and have two daughters.

In this episode we dive into The 9 Negative Thinking Habits, a CBT framework* Alice uses as part of her therapy practice to help both teens and adults. By breaking down each of the 9 Habits (Catastrophizing, Fortune Telling, Mind-Reading, Blaming, I Can’t, Zooming in on the Negative, All-or-Nothing, I Should/You Should, & It’s Not Fair) we peer under the hood of our mental habits. Alice shows us how "The Four C’s" -- catching, checking, getting curious, and changing habitual thinking with helpful thoughts, can improve our cognitive experience.

Along the way, Alice and Jef lean on their marriage and shared intellectual interests to deepen the exploration of our mental capacities by considering how our thoughts are expressions of developmental needs, evolutionary adaptations, and a validation of the parts perspective found in Internal Family Systems Model.

With equal measure of compassion and insight, Alice’s experience gives us a valuable sense that we don’t have to be run by our thought habits. Indeed, there are tools and perspectives that can help change.

In the last portion of this conversation, Alice enrichens our sense of negative thinking patterns by tying them to the archetypes found in astrology. By making a connection between the hard lessons of life (which are attributed to the planet Saturn in astrology) and our encounters with thinking habits, she fosters a greater sense of the mind’s depths and how we can work with our human nature.

About Alice: Alice Treves LCSW is a psychotherapist who works with adults, teens, and families, offering guidance and support for life’s many challenges. To learn more about her practice, you can visit her website.

About The 9 Negative Thinking Habits: The negative thinking types are sourced from a workbook that helps teens (and adults) work with their negative thinking habits. The title is Conquer Negative Thinking for Teens, written by Mary Karapetian Alvord and Anne McGrath. We thank the authors for their work and insights.

Episode Summary:

Dr. Scott Schmidt joins the podcast to share his knowledge about caring for those with serious illness and those who are in the dying process. As a medical doctor with an expansive background in Emergency Medicine, Hospice Care, and now as a leader in the Primary Palliative Care field, Scott invites us to consider how we go about the realities that surround end-of-life.

Along the way, we get a solid sense of what kind of attitudes, questions, and conversations are needed from both sides of the medical encounter. But don’t be fooled, this episode has teachings for the healthy as much as for those with serious health challenges. In considering the inevitable fate of all bodies, Dr. Schmidt shows us how we can be more prepared and receptive to our individual impermanence at any point in our lives. Indeed, we come to see how forethought can help us be present and feel less overwhelmed in more trying times.

Further on in the podcast, we learn how Scott’s encounters with live-saving measures and his natural inclination toward helping those facing illness and death pushed him forward to being a leader in the Primary Palliative Care approach.

Towards the end of the show, we get a very real glimpse into the difficulty of modern medicine, with its messy and often morally distressing dilemmas.

With depth and humility in the face of the unknowable, this conversation is a remarkable one for both the significances that occur in the latter stages of life, and also with the genuine soulfulness Dr. Schmidt brings to these moving encounters. As he says, navigating serious illness and the inevitability of death is no simple thing.

About Dr. Scott Schmidt: Scott Schmidt is an Emergency Medicine doctor and cultural change leader who is charged with developing Primary Palliative Care competencies.

About Primary Palliative Care: is a subspecialty of medicine, that seeks to plan and address serious illness situations with an orientation to minimize suffering while tending to the whole person. Considered an upstream evolution from Palliative Care, Primary Palliative Care seeks to support Palliative Care competencies in all providers and teams.

Episode Summary

In The Work of Repairing Harm, the warm-hearted Jeffrey Weisberg joins the podcast for a rich and moving conversation about his experience with Peacebuilding and Restorative Justice practices. As the Executive Director and co-founder of the River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding, Jeffrey shares his perspective and insight on the incredible value these practices have for relationships of all shapes and sizes.

With equal amounts of energy, vision, and honesty, Jeffrey walks us through the key questions and approaches of what it takes to repair harm. Whether that is the challenges of refugees in Uganda trying to work through the pressures and hardships of living in a refugee camp, the impact fights on school campuses can have, or the longstanding mistrust between black and brown youth and police departments across America, Jeffrey provides a convincing portrait of how Restorative Justice and other Peacebuilding efforts are a profound resource for dealing with conflict. Specifically, he describes how four key questions and a good dose of thoughtful preparation and finesse, can create a space for repairing harm by discovering 1) What happened? 2) What was the impact? 3) How can we repair the harm? and 4) How can we ensure it doesn’t happen again?

Later in the show, Jeffrey emphasizes the importance of multipartiality in his work. Multipartiality advocates for ensuring all voices are elevated in the Restorative Justice process and equity work in general. It is essential for trust-building across communities with different concerns and experiences, particularly in light of racial disparities still happening. With nuance and humility, we come to learn that, yes, the work of equity requires sincere effort and care from everyone involved.

We also get a powerful glimpse into why truth-telling and deep listening are at the core of repairing human relationships as we discuss the Police Youth Dialogue Model. Police Youth Dialogues bring together Police officers and the black and brown youth in the communities they serve to listen to each other’s experiences. Jeffrey’s tales from these events prove to be a moving and inspiring example of how differences can be bridged through communication.

Throughout Episode #38, we get real and vital pictures of how peacebuilding and restorative justice can transform relationships, support communities, and change the way we deal with transgressions and injuries. Ultimately they offer us a pathway to reconnection. It is an honor to hear tales from one so heartfully committed to doing The Work of Repairing Harm as our guest, Jeffrey Weisberg.

About Jeffrey Weisberg: Jeffrey is the Executive Director and co-founder of the River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding. He has designed, developed, and implemented a wide range of programs and services in his local community of Gainesville, Florida, throughout the United States and in countries throughout the world. His work with youth includes police/youth dialogues, student/educator dialogues, peer mediation, juvenile diversion programs, social/emotional learning, restorative justice, youth empowerment, and coming-of-age programs. For the past 25 years, Jeffrey has served as a Florida Certified State Mediator and mediates cases involving juvenile offenders, family disputes, and conflicts within small businesses and organizations. In addition, he is using Restorative Practices to support the Department of Juvenile Justice, the court system, schools, prisons, and communities to bolster alternatives to the punitive model. He is a founding member of The Peace Alliance. He believes that by training and empowering both youth and adults to learn and practice vital communication skills, we not only create greater connections with others, but we can de-escalate conflict for safer and more productive outcomes.