The Hoffman Podcast

Christy Foley is a dynamic connector, life explorer, and philanthropist. She’s also Vice-Chair of the Hoffman Board of Directors. Christy attended the Process two decades ago, just two weeks after her father graduated. The Hoffman Process was the first step in Christy’s spiritual journey. To this day, Hoffman remains one of the three most profound experiences that completely transformed her life. She shares that a transformation happens at the Process that “you can’t go back from.” In doing the work of the Process, we leave our week there with an awareness we didn’t have before. This profound awareness allows us to see situations or patterns more clearly and respond wisely with a more conscious choice. If we get caught in the pattern, we can forgive ourselves, choose again, and move on. After the Process, Christy embarked on a spiritual journey that has taken her to many places, but most importantly deeper into her inner world. She tears up as she talks about living in the presence of the unknown. It’s living from her heart. In her words, it is “where the magic happens.” In this generous conversation, Christy speaks of the trap of our attempts at perfection. As she says, to be human is to be imperfect. There’s a great relief in that. We hope you enjoy this conversation with Christy and Drew. More about Christy Foley: Christy is a dynamic connector, life explorer, and philanthropist. She participates in the global community as an accelerator of ideas and vision and is passionate about our interconnectedness to all life on this planet. With her consulting and philanthropic efforts, Christy supports projects that foster spiritual development, social justice, and community building. She serves as Vice-Chair of the board of The Hoffman Institute and is a board member of Las Cumbres Ranch Educational Fund. Previous board services include A Sense of Home and Veterans Path. Christy is also a member of Forward Global. Christy is a marketing, communications, and business development veteran having spent her career immersed in the technology, media, natural food products, and nonprofit industries. She holds a bachelor’s in Industrial Organizational Psychology from Pepperdine University. When Christy is not exploring the world, she spends her time between Santa Barbara, CA, and Bend, OR. Learn more about Christy at TheFoleyConnection.com. Follow Christy on Instagram. As mentioned in this episode: Negative Love Syndrome: Find out more about the Negative Love Syndrome in A Path to Personal Freedom and Love Liza Ingrasci, President and CEO of the Hoffman Institute Raz Ingrasci, Founder of Hoffman International and Hoffman teacher and coach July 2009 Forgiveness Garden White Sulphur Springs • Fire at White Sulphur Springs • The Forgiveness Garden at White Sulphur Springs, dedicated to Christy’s Dad, Ted Foley. After the Glass Fire of 2020, the Forgiveness Garden remained despite the destruction of the land around it. Oprah’s Wildest Dreams tour Picadilly Circus Mount Kailash Tanzania Pamela Anderson • The Last Showgirl Trailer • Cookbook Joe Dispenza Right Road Visioning at Hoffman Hoffman Q2 Intensive  

Arielle Ford, author, and love and relationship expert, joins Drew for this episode centered on change, truth-telling, and having as much fun as possible. Arielle came to the Hoffman Process in the early ’90s on recommendations from her sister Debbie Ford and her friend Joan Borysenko. Seventeen students were at the Process alongside Arielle. Their Process was held in the Big House at Esalen Institute in Big Sur. Raz Ingrasci was one of their teachers. One of the most powerful takeaways from this conversation is Arielle’s realization of the need to have as much fun as possible. People she meets ask her how she became so happy. As Arielle shares, she learned to be a happy person at Hoffman. As someone who has worked in the personal growth world for decades, working with many well-known experts in the field, Arielle has stories to tell. She shares some fascinating ones in this conversation. Arielle is now in an in-between place with her career. Her life story helps us understand how she has learned to relax in a new unknown place. Arielle shares much life wisdom in this engaging, joyful conversation. We hope you enjoy it. More about Arielle Ford: Arielle Ford is a love and relationship expert and a leading personality in the personal growth and contemporary spirituality movement. For the past 25 years, she has been living, teaching, and promoting consciousness through all forms of media. Her mission is to help people find love, keep love, and most importantly, be love. Arielle is a gifted writer and the author of 11 books including the international bestseller, THE SOULMATE SECRET: Manifest the Love of Your Life With the Law of Attraction. She is also the author of TURN YOUR MATE INTO YOUR SOULMATE: A Practical Guide to Happily Ever After, devoted to exploring a simple, fun, and effective way to attain groundbreaking shifts in perception so that you can embrace and find the beauty and perfection in yourself and your mate. Arielle has been called “The Cupid of Consciousness” and “The Fairy Godmother of Love.” She lives in La Jolla, CA with her husband/soul mate, Brian Hilliard, and their feline friends. Join her newsletter at www.soulmatesecret.com. Discover more at ArielleFord.com. Get her free online dating guide at www.arielleford.com/kiss. Follow Arielle on Instagram and Facebook. As mentioned in this episode: Raz Ingrasci: Founder of Hoffman Institute and Hoffman International, and a Hoffman teacher. • Listen to Raz Ingrasci on the Hoffman Podcast Liza Ingrasci: CEO and President of the Hoffman Institute. Esalen Institute Quote that Drew shared: “In losing the sense of the unseen, people have come to fear the unknown.” Michael Meade Debbie Ford: The Dark Side of the Light Chasers Deepak Chopra • The Chopra Center Wayne Dyer Marianne Williamson Louise Hay Joan Borysenko, PhD, Bestselling author, and Hoffman Advisory Council Chair • Listen to Joan Borysenko on the Hoffman Podcast Jungian Shadow Work JFK University 12-Step Meetings Omega Institute Jimmy Kimmel and Aunt Chippy on YouTube Chemicals released when we laugh: • Oxytocin • Dopamine The Four Agreements

Roanne Adams, founder and Chief Creative Director of RoAndCo Studio, is our guest today. In this wide-ranging conversation, Roanne and Sharon cover many topics. You’ll hear them speak of self-care, the spiritual journey, relationships, and business, to name a few. What stands out is Roanne’s commitment to putting her Process into practice, personally and professionally. It’s often fascinating how people learn about the Hoffman Process. Frequently, it comes through word of mouth. In Roanne’s case, she heard about it from her financial advisor after receiving difficult news. Roanne walks us through this moment with candor and grace, a moment that brought her to the Hoffman Process. As a visionary business owner in the design world, Roanne knows the creative and often turbulent world of entrepreneurship well. Through her Process, she found clarity. She also realized that part of her purpose is to serve others. Roanne deepened her capacity for self-care and her ability to pass this knowledge on to others through her work. We hope you enjoy this conversation and learning about Roanne’s journey of change through her rich life stories. More about Roanne Adams: Entrepreneur, visionary, and holistic thinker, Roanne Adams is the founder and Chief Creative Director of RoAndCo Studio, a creative agency based in New York and Los Angeles known for its artful and strategic approach to branding and design. Founded in 2006, the studio quickly gained recognition for Roanne’s intrepid ability to build scalable brands from the ground up. Over the past two decades, Roanne and her team have launched a myriad of brands across various industries, from startups to Fortune 500 companies, including Google, Estée Lauder Companies, Kin Euphorics, and many more. As one of the few female Creative Directors and studio owners in the industry, she prioritizes nurturing opportunities for women leaders—working with nonprofits and being honored as a UN Women’s Champion for Change. Throughout her career, Roanne has won numerous awards, served on the AIGA New York chapter board, and was named one of New York’s most outstanding design professionals by T Magazine. In 2016, she created Romance Journal, a magazine devoted to raising collective consciousness through the female lens, donating 100% of the proceeds to charities. Roanne just launched State of Feeling, a transformative curriculum delivered through retreats and workshops for women founders and leaders, helping them align their personal purpose with their businesses. She is also embarking on a new regenerative hotel project in Todos Santos, Mexico called Oraphae with her husband, Johnny Wahba (also a Hoffman graduate). With a passion for healing, sustainability, and regeneration, Roanne infuses beauty and meaning into every endeavor. Social Media: Instagram: Roanne RoAndCo State of Feeling Oraphae Hospitality LinkedIn: Roanne RoAndCo As mentioned in this episode: Quad Check: A practice to support you in checking in with all four parts of your Quadrinity: Spiritual Self, Intellect, Emotional Self, and Body. To practice Quad Checks with others, join our virtual Quad-Check at 8:00 am PT on Instagram. We also hold an Appreciation and Gratitude practice daily at 6:00 pm on Instagram. Todos Santos, Mexico

Anna Switzer, PhD, outdoor educator, science educator, and educator of educators, shares her Hoffman Process experience and her deep expertise in partnering with Nature’s innate processes for healing and connection. In 2012, on the recommendation of her medical doctor, Anna came to the Process. Due to the high level of stress Anna was experiencing, her doctor said she should consider doing some emotional work. Within a few months, Anna was at the Hoffman Process. She loved the camaraderie of her Process cohort and remembers many ‘anchor moments’ in her group and alone as she spent time outdoors on the grounds around White Sulphur Springs. Anna’s mission statement is, “Helping heal the human spirit and natural world through facilitation of mutually positive experiences between the two.” The focus of her work is to try to bring herself and others back into “right relationship” with the natural world. Anna shares some practical practices you can use to help heal your relationship with the natural world. We hope you enjoy this rich and healing conversation with Anna and Liz. More about Anna Switzer, PhD: Anna Switzer, PhD is an outdoor educator, science educator, and educator of educators. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Physics, a master’s in Oceanography, and a PhD in Education. Alongside teaching, Anna derives her most consistent inspiration from the outdoors. She has spent thousands of hours exploring diverse landscapes and waterways; including incalculable time with students of all ages. Anna has worked for several prominent organizations including National Geographic Society and Outward Bound. At National Geographic, she was the Program Manager for Outdoor and Experiential Education. She is also certified as a Nature-Connected Life Coach. Anna’s mission relates to helping heal the human spirit and the natural world through the facilitation of mutually positive experiences between the two and creating and utilizing tools for reflection that invite new behavior. Anna loves sharing life-enhancing ideas, tools, and practices with others. Her first book is License to Learn: Elevating Discomfort in Service of Lifelong Learning (Atmosphere Press, 2021). She is writing a second book now that includes a big portion on the processes of nature connection: a big topic in this interview. Anna is also progressing toward ‘owning’ the artist title; watercolor and mixed media are her favorites, especially as whimsical expressions of her love of the outdoors. You can see her artwork at annaswitzer.com. Follow Anna on Instagram and LinkedIn. As mentioned in this episode: Hoffman tool: Recycling White Sulphur Springs, Hoffman’s old retreat site Current Hoffman Retreat Sites: Hoffman Retreat Center in Petaluma, CA Guest House in Chester, CT Sanctum, Alberta, Canada Speaking about Nature and the Hoffman Process: • Dr. Dan Siegel on the Hoffman Podcast • Trecey Chittenden on the Hoffman Podcast Quote shared: “There is more in us than we know if we could be made to see it; perhaps, for the rest of our lives we will be unwilling to settle for less.” ― Kurt Hahn The Natural Intelligence Toolkit by Anna • Practices: Feel the Pull and Wander With a Question Nature Connection Life Coach

We welcome Lori Raudnask, Operations Manager for Hoffman Institute, Canada, and an international speaker, entrepreneur, and author in her own right, to the Hoffman Podcast. Lori guides Canadian students through their pre-Process journey and oversees Hoffman Process, Canada operations. She has coached, trained, and mentored thousands worldwide and received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. Lori came to the Process at the suggestion of an acquaintance who had a great experience there. Lori shares how the Hoffman Process was “like a bulldozer going through” her garden, “getting to the root of” her patterns.” It was that life-changing. As operations manager, Lori is all in on supporting students through the journey of the Process working with them to make sure they’re ready. She’s worked for many years with Canadian graduates through groups she named, Continuing Your Journey. Lori held group meetings in her living room, bringing together graduates of the Process, some of whom hadn’t been contacted for more than twenty-five years. Some even drove two hours to get to these monthly meetings. Hoffman USA has called these meetings Hoffman graduate groups. Hoffman Canada now does the same. What drives Lori is the desire to serve people and to help them win big in their lives. We hope you enjoy this delightful and informative conversation with Lori and Drew. If you decide to take the Process in Canada, you’ll meet Lori and be glad you have. More about Lori Raudnask: Lori is an international speaker, entrepreneur, and author who has coached, trained, and mentored thousands worldwide. She has mastered the sales process building a team that generated well over 100 million dollars in direct sales. Lori has launched the careers of hundreds of successful entrepreneurs worldwide. For decades, she has dedicated her life to helping others win big. Lori has produced and hosted the TV, show Persistence Pays, and is the author of Persistence Pays: How getting what you want is easier than you think. She received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and was chosen as Stoney Creek’s Citizen of the Year for her community service. Lori believes that if we are persistent, we can have anything we want; she does mean everything! Lori’s ultimate goal is to help people live happy, fulfilled lives and bring out the best in themselves. Her role as Operations Manager for Hoffman Institute, Canada, fulfills that dream. She has been married for 42 years has two children Megan and Kyle and is blessed with four grandchildren. Discover more about Lori and Persistence Pays, here. As mentioned in this episode: Site of the Canadian Hoffman Process: Sanctum Retreat, Canada Caroline, Alberta Calgary, Alberta The Raven River by Sanctum Retreat Peter and Maureen Kolassa, previous owners of the Hoffman Process Canada Grad groups – Canada Grad groups – US Liza Ingrasci: Liza is the CEO of the Hoffman Institute Foundation. She received her BA in Developmental Psychology from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 1974. Throughout her career, she has held executive positions in national seminar companies, where she was responsible for enrollment and alumni participation. She has been with the Hoffman Institute since 1990. Ongoing support for graduates of the Process: US, Canada 1-Day Graduate Refreshers Toronto, ON: Living Your Vision, November 30, 2024, with Hoffman teachers Barbara Burke and Jamie MacRae. Single Choice Motherhood

Sarah Abrams and Virginia Benson Wigle join host Sharon for this warm-hearted conversation about their friendship, their Process experience, and the non-profit they founded, The Starfish Connection. Virginia attended the Hoffman Process at the urging of her husband, John. Years later, John passed away. Virginia, in turn, passed the Hoffman Process on to Sarah, and then to her new husband. Giving the gift of the Process to someone ready and willing to attend is a profound way to pass along the gifts discovered during the week. The seed for The Starfish Connection came from John’s dying words – “Our story.” The vision for The Starfish Connection, the non-profit Virginia founded, began as storytelling. Now, it focuses on giving gifts to people needing momentary help without expecting anything in return. John’s gift continues to grow with numerous gifts given through Starfish. This conversation begins with what’s possible in a friendship when two people have had powerful transformations in the Process and have come to trust each other profoundly. The way that Sarah and Virginia are there for each other is what gives their friendship such a strong foundation. We hope you enjoy this heartening conversation. Follow The Starfish Connection on Instagram. You can reach The Starfish Connection by email at [email protected]. More about Sarah Abrams: Sarah Abrams is a seasoned entrepreneur and has navigated various industries with curiosity and creativity. As the Executive Director of The Starfish Connection, she demonstrates her commitment to fostering community through giving and sharing her love of writing and storytelling. Her journey as a serial entrepreneur underscores her versatility and passion to create products and services that serve her community. From launching a software startup to creating a floral and event company, and a children’s toy store, Sarah has a history of innovation and adaptability. Her ventures showcase her creativity and her knack for sustainable business practices. More about Virginia Benson Wigle: Virginia Benson Wigle is the founder of The Starfish Connection, the nonprofit organization whose mission is to make a difference, one life at a time by providing crisis funding grants to individuals and families facing sudden financial crises. Virginia has passionately served in the nonprofit sector throughout Santa Barbara County for over thirty years. Before devoting her work full-time to The Starfish Connection, Virginia spent twenty years at Planned Parenthood of Santa Barbara, Ventura, and San Luis Obispo in varying positions from clinic staff to education, and administration. She ultimately served as Vice President of Education before retiring in 2015. She also served two terms on the California State Legislative Committee for Planned Parenthood affiliates in Sacramento. As mentioned in this episode: Planned Parenthood Hoffman Q2 Intensive      

Annie Looby, Hoffman Process Senior Facilitator in Australia and Gestalt Psychotherapist is our delightful and wise guest today. For much of her life, Annie has had an extensive career in the performing arts, including film, television, and theatre. Then, in 2014, Annie found the Hoffman Process. She decided to do the Process after witnessing the change in her husband after he completed it. During her Process, Annie experienced a shame attack so painful that she wanted to leave. Her teacher guided her to see that everything Annie was looking for was just on the other side of this painful moment. If Annie could just stay with it, she would find what she was looking for. In this pivotal moment, Annie found the strength and resolve to stay. Listen in to hear what she discovered on the other side. While in her Process, Annie realized that the work of the Process was the work she’d been searching for to do in the world. Annie’s first step to becoming a Hoffman teacher was to study to become a therapist. She returned to school for graduate studies in psychotherapy. From there, she trained to become a Hoffman facilitator and has worked for Hoffman since. Annie is fascinated with the human condition and why we are the way we are. Over time as a teacher, she learned to lean back and trust the Process. Listen in as Annie shares her wisdom and experience of teaching the Process. More about Anne Looby: Annie is a Senior Facilitator of the Hoffman Process in Australia as well as working privately as a Counsellor and Gestalt Psychotherapist. With a background in the performing arts, Annie is also an accomplished actor (NIDA), producer, and teacher with more than 30 years of experience. The arts have been a major focus of her life and she has an unwavering belief in the power of creative expression as a healing force. Whether music, art, theatre, or literature, Annie loves the human capacity to create meaning in all expressive forms. As a Facilitator of the Hoffman Process, Annie has witnessed first-hand the power of this deep and life-changing process. “I continue, each time I teach the Process, to deepen my understanding of the beauty, frailty, and resilience of the human spirit – it is an absolute privilege to bear witness to each participant’s courage and inherent goodness.” Discover more about Anne on Linkedin and Wikipedia. As mentioned in this episode: Four Stages of Competence: Unconscious incompetence Conscious incompetence Conscious competence Unconscious competence Volker Krohn – Director, Hoffman Australia; Hoffman Supervising Facilitator Chair, Hoffman International Listen to Volker on the Hoffman Podcast Kerri Chinner was Annie’s Process teacher. Annie shares that Kerri no longer teaches the Process but remains a beloved team member. The Paradoxical Theory of Change Transference Awareness Hell: In Awareness hell, we are aware of the patterns that we have that we wish we didn’t have. We see them but don’t yet know how to change. To get out of awareness hell, our work to grow and transform must include three additional steps for change to happen These three steps are Expression, Compassion, and New Ways of Being. All four make up the Cycle of Transformation.

Cory Britt was sober for four years before coming to the Hoffman Process in June of 2024. As Cory shares his life story and recovery story with Sharon, he touches on many painful parts of his life and many joyous ones, too. In a raw and detailed way, Cory leads us through his journey from addiction to freedom. For two decades of alcoholism, Cory held incredibly poignant life dreams and aspirations while at the same time not knowing how to break free of addiction so he could follow them. His dreams terrified him because he had no idea if he would ever live them. He started drinking when he was twelve. This way of life was all he knew. Like many students, Cory had to wait almost six months to attend the Process after enrolling because it is usually fully booked six months ahead. Cory knew the Proess was coming, which was a beacon of hope during his wait. He chose to utilize the many tools he’d learned to navigate a life of sobriety, to consciously dig deeper as he moved closer to his time in Petaluma. Post-Process, Cory feels joy and excitement about his dreams and vision. He knows who he is and understands who he is. He is proud of who he is. His mind is quiet. There’s space there. Cory is free now to live the life he dreamed about for all those years. As he says, “All that space I have in my head now, and all that free time in my head, all the amazing shit that I can do with it? That is the Hoffman pouring out of me every day.” **Be aware that this conversation contains explicit language and mentions substance abuse. Please use your discretion. More about Cory Britt in his own words: I’m a stay-at-home dad and full-time student, passionate about helping others. With a love for the outdoors, from trail running to hitting up the ski slopes, and working out in the gym, I seek the deeper meanings in conversation, while always enjoying the little moments in life. Just over four and a half years ago, I was at the lowest point of my existence. The deepest and darkest holes you can imagine, with little to no light in sight. After crawling from the depths of my hell, I began to rid myself of demons and transform my lifestyle. I started by switching careers. I became a student and completely overhauled my daily nutrition, all while seeking refuge for my mental well-being. In a couple of months, I’ll have earned my degree in studies in education. I’m following this with a master’s in secondary education, paving a potential path to educational leadership in the future. To say I am excited to be in the classroom full-time is a drastic understatement. My love for children begins at home, with my five-year-old son and two-year-old daughter. Watching them grow has been the greatest gift; the joy they bring me each day is unmeasurable. Through many dark days, droves of discipline, and unwavering consistency, I have begun to build the life I always dreamed of. For so long I was merely drifting along in search of meaning, now I am living and loving the beautiful space I occupy on earth. I intend to use all my pain, suffering, and the reclaimed happiness and joy, to affect change and inspire those who may feel lost or need help on this journey we call life. Through love and peace, I will continually embody and radiate my light. As mentioned in this episode: The Rich Roll podcast • Ken Rideout on the Rich Roll podcast • Ken Rideout on Instagram Ed McClune, Hoffman teacher and coach • Listen to Ed on the Hoffman Podcast “When there is no enemy within, the enemy on the outside can do you no harm.” African Proverb “Suck the bone marrow out of life.” Words shared by Cory Another quote about the marrow of life from Henry David Thoreau “I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms…”    

Alysse Godino, Money Coach and Founder of Saffron Money tells her story of transformation during her week at the Hoffman Process. But like all stories of transformation, it begins long before her time at Hoffman. When the Maui fires hit, Alysse was preparing to fly to California for her Process. She wondered if she should go, wondering if it made sense to go during a time of such emergency. But she knew it was the right time, and her transformation was fueled by her grief of what was happening on the island she loves. When Alysse returned home to Maui, she was ready to contribute to rebuilding her community. It was time to put the inner change she experienced into external action. This is a beautiful example of Love’s Everyday Radius. What caused Alysse to enroll in the Process wasn’t any big traumatizing event. Rather, it was something that she noticed happening inside of her. On the outside, her life was good, even great. But on the inside, she felt an anxiety that wasn’t tied to anything apparent. She would come to see, after her week at Hoffman, that she’d been living with an unconscious internal level of anxiety and anger for a long time. Through her work in the Process, she let go of it all. We hope you enjoy this powerful story of healing and love, community and rebuilding, loss and new life. More about Alysse Godino: Alysse has worn many hats in her 32 years. A San Francisco native, NCAA Division 1 athlete, Cornell University graduate, investment banker, Maui resident, founder, financial advisor, consultant, soul surfer, earth lover, and Hoffman graduate. After graduating from Cornell University, Alysse went straight to work as an investment banker in New York and San Francisco. After ~5 years of the corporate grind, Maui came into Alysse’s life. At a moment’s notice, she decided to retire from her corporate finance career and pursue a life on Maui. Almost 7 years later, Alysse surfs daily (sometimes twice daily if the waves are good) and runs her growing financial advisory business, Saffron Money, which focuses on helping millennial women and couples build 7-figure wealth. Discover more about Alysse and her business at www.saffronmoney.com. Follow Alysse on Instagram and Saffron Money on Instagram. As mentioned in this episode: Maui fire, August 2023 – Cause Maui fire, Lahaina rebuilding Saffron Money – Maui wildfire update  

Leila Day, journalist, co-creator/co-host of The Stoop, and freelance podcast show-runner, is our guest this week. She and Drew sat down for an in-depth conversation about story, belonging, and the Hoffman Process. Always a lover of story and storytelling, Leila shares that she fell in love with podcasting as a creative way to format personal storytelling. She says podcasting keeps her curious; when she’s not curious, she knows something is off. Leila realized a lack of curiosity was a lack of interest in others and life. With this realization, she knew the light within her was dimming. This is what brought her to the Hoffman Process. At the beginning of her Process, Leila kept to herself and her teachers noticed. Being there felt like she often felt in her childhood – the only Black kid surrounded by white kids. She found herself observing rather than engaging. Her teacher encouraged her to take control of this pattern and actively deconstruct her pattern of disengaging under these circumstances. Leila did and what happened in response was powerful. She realized she was stunting her growth in a place built for her to grow. Her curiosity and light were reignited in her remaining days at the Process because she chose to do it differently. She reclaimed the wholeness and fullness of who she truly is. We hope you enjoy this intimate, honest, loving conversation with Leila and Drew. More about Leila Day: Leila Day is a journalist and co-creator and co-host of The Stoop. An award-winning podcast, The Stoop focuses on Black stories. She won the Gracie Award for an episode on The Stoop titled, Inside These Walls. Leila received her Gracie at The Alliance For Women In Media Foundation’s 48th Annual Gracie Awards Gala. She’s also a freelance podcast show-runner who has hosted and edited podcasts for Marvel, CBS Universal, NPR, Netflix, and many others. As a former NPR station reporter, she’s often speaking on unique ways to combine journalism and storytelling. Follow Leila on Instagram and Twitter/X. Follow The Stoop on Instagram. As mentioned in this episode: The Stoop: A podcast about stories from the Black Diaspora. Higher Ground Media: Podcasts for the Obama’s production network. Winning the Gracie Award: Image of Leila receiving her Gracie award wearing her fabulous dress. Taken at The Alliance For Women In Media Foundation’s 48th Annual Gracie Awards Gala.  

Michael Wenger is a Hoffman teacher and past Director of Hoffman International. In this conversation, he shares stories of the early days when the Hoffman Process was first introduced in European countries. This is a delightful conversation about the Hoffman Process’s early days, how the Process spread internationally, and about Michael and his spiritual journey.** Michael first learned about the Process in August ’86 from his brother who participated in the first European Process. Michael then participated in the second European Process in early ’87. Both of these were taught in Germany. Students of these first two Processes then opened Hoffman Institute centers in Germany, France, and Austria, helping to begin to spread the Process throughout Europe. Michael decided to become a Hoffman teacher himself. Fluent in four languages, he helped Bob Hoffman translate the teachings he experienced in English into the four languages he knew. Eventually, Michael helped establish the Hoffman Institute in Italy alongside his sister, Hoffman teacher, Lisa Wenger. Over the years. Michael taught the Hoffman Process within various cultural settings. He came to see the various ways that each culture approached the work differently. Michael shares how each culture approaches the work differently. As he says, the cultural differences become clear because the Process is the same no matter where it is taught. ** This episode mentions substance abuse and is marked explicit for language. Please use your discretion. We hope you enjoy this conversation with Michael and Drew. More about Michael Wenger: After an adventurous youth exploring many limits of lifestyles and consciousness, working as a DJ, Barman, and Actor, Michael met Bob Hoffman in 1987 and attended one of the first Hoffman Programs in Europe. Being fluent in four languages, Michael then followed Bob who was introducing Hoffman to many different countries, thus being able to move quickly through the training to become a Hoffman Process Teacher under the supervision of Bob. In 1990 he assisted his sister Lisa in introducing the Hoffman Institute in Italy and facilitating the Hoffman program for over thirty years. For eight years he also worked as one of the three executive directors of Hoffman Institute International. (Photo, L-R: Michael, Bob Hoffman, Lisa Wenger, Beatrice Wenger) For the past few years, apart from occasionally teaching the Hoffman Process, Michael has been dedicating his time to exploring non-dual awareness and meditation, facilitating retreats (www.camminoaperto.info) inspired by Pir Elias Amidon, Rupert Spira, Ramesh Balsekar, and many other mystical teachers. He lives in the hills above Lugano, Switzerland. As mentioned in this episode: ’68 Hippies Michael’s Brother died of AIDS Canary Islands Celebration of Integration: This portion of the Process experience happens toward the end of the week. This is when students begin to integrate the parts of their Quadrinity. The Quadrinity is the four aspects of self: Spiritual Self, Body, Intellect, and Emotional Self. Stanley Stefancic, former Hoffman teacher. • Stanley’s obituary • Listen to Stan on the Hoffman Podcast Lisa Wenger • Listen to Lisa on the Hoffman Podcast Non-Dual Spirituality Western Sufism Paradox White Sulphur Springs, St Helena, CA • Home of the Hoffman Process for many years. California’s oldest retreat site was nearly destroyed in the Glass Fire. • Read more about White Sulphur Springs Hoffman International  

In this insightful episode with author and podcaster, Liz Moody, Liz shares a powerful truth not often spoken about – that healing can come from a place of joy. Liz graduated from the Hoffman Process in early 2024. As she shares with Drew, even though she found healing in the more painful parts of the emotional work, Liz shares how she found joy pivotal to her healing process. In speaking about moments when her Process breakthroughs happened, Liz talks about the power of the relationship between pain and joy, and compassion and anger, as places where something powerful happened. Compassion for her parents allowed for the suppressed anger she felt at them to finally emerge. Holding both the pain and joy of her experience helped her understand that healing doesn’t always come from pain. It can come from feeling joy, safety, and community, too. One of the highlights of this episode is when Liz and Drew speak about the power of doing the Process from the understanding that there is nothing wrong with you and you don’t need to be fixed. Knowing that you have everything you need within you to heal and grow allows you to settle into a deep trust in the Process as it carries you through the week. We hope you enjoy this powerful conversation with Liz and Drew. More about Liz Moody: Liz Moody is the host of the top-rated ‘The Liz Moody Podcast,‘ author of bestselling books ‘Healthier Together: Recipes for Two—Nourish Your Body, Nourish Your Relationships‘ and ‘Glow Pops,’ and a popular online content creator who has helped millions of people transform their lives. Her new book, ‘100 Ways to Change Your Life: The Science of Leveling Up Health, Happiness, Relationships & Success,’ draws from Moody’s more than a decade of experience in the health and wellness world, serving as a new kind of personal development book — one that empowers readers to craft their unique, best life based on the habits they want to form, the problems they want to solve, and the parts of their life they want to take to the next level. A longtime journalist for publications including Vogue, Marie Claire, and goop, an online creator with a social media following of more than 1+ Million, and the founder of Healthy Convo Co, a conversation game company designed to facilitate fun and life-changing conversations, Liz previously served as food director for mindbodygreen, a leading wellness website where she led content strategy for the food section. A regular speaker, panelist, and podcast guest, Liz shares her own deeply personal anxiety journey that led her to where she is now and actionable, fun, and science-based ways for everyone to live their best lives. Find out more about Liz here. Listen to her podcast here. Follow Liz on Instagram and TikTok. As mentioned in this episode: Extroverted Introvert Structured fun Whimsical: “Whim naturally came about as a shortened form of whim-wham, and whimsy and whimsical eventually followed. Whimsical now describes more than just decisions made impulsively, but things resulting from an unrestrained imagination, as in “whimsical children’s book characters.” Agoraphobia Neuroscience Negative Love Syndrome: …as described in The Path to Personal Freedom and Love, written by Bob Hoffman Dr. Elissa Epel on Stress and on the Liz Moody podcast Heidi Krahling, Hoffman’s Chef • Listen to Heidi on the Hoffman Podcast Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation • by The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community Dr. Lauren Cook – The Millennial Midlife Crisis on the Liz Moody Podcast Dr. James Doty on The Liz Moody Podcast: Manifest Like a Neurosurgeon  

Nailah Blades is a Life and Leadership coach and a lover of the great outdoors. She’s our last non-grad guest in our short series of four non-grads. Nailah is passionate about exploring the natural world. She and her family are avid outdoor enthusiasts. A portion of Nailah’s work is also in the great outdoors. She invites women of color to return to nature, a space that has always belonged to them too. Nailah isn’t a graduate of the Hoffman Process, but her work in the world matches the ethos and values of the Process. At one time, Nailah knew she wasn’t doing the work she was meant to do. After a bit of exploration, she found her calling. Since then, she’s followed this call to diversify the outdoors, to guide people back into the wild and beautiful world of nature. As you listen to Nailah and Drew, you’ll hear Nailah’s commitment to the community of women she serves. The call to return to nature has been a thread through many of our episodes. The outdoors can be a healing and regenerative place for everyone. As Nailah shares, for many people, layers of marginalization serve as barriers to the outdoors. For women of color, returning to the outdoors is an embodied reminder of the great power of knowing that the land, seas, and mountaintops are places where everyone belongs. More about Nailah Blades: Nailah Blades is a Life and Leadership coach who helps leaders tap into their power to build personal and professional lives that are whole, good, and full of possibility. She founded Color Outside, a community for Black, Indigenous, and women of color who are ready to create unapologetic, soul-stirring lives through outdoor adventure. Through high-touch coaching that integrates the outdoors, Nailah teaches her clients how to go from languishing to flourishing in every area of their lives. Her work centers on the belief that when we stand in the truth of our authentic selves, we can live and lead in a way that creates real change in our world. Nailah is the author of Joyful by Nature: Outdoor Adventure as Women of Color. Created for the modern woman of color, Joyful by Nature is a guide to reconnecting with nature and reclaiming your place in the outdoor community. When she’s not coaching or speaking you can find her hiking with her husband or playing intense games of hide-and-seek with her two tiny kids. Find out more about Nailah at NailahBlades.com. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter. As mentioned in this episode: Salt Lake City, Utah Marginalization Wyoming Park Service Be Bear Aware Campaign – Promoting Safety for People and Safety for Bears Since 1976 Sundance Resort Audre Lorde Bell Hooks Adrienne Maree Brown • Emergent Strategy book • Biomimicry Outdoor Afro Latino Outdoors Unlikely Hikers Joyful by Nature, by Nailah Blades

Teacher, counselor, and attorney David Bedrick has developed a profound method for helping people unshame their shame. In this third episode of our short non-grad series of four, David and Drew dive deep into a conversation about the true nature of shame and how to heal it through what David calls Unshaming. While David is not a graduate of the Process, his work is very closely aligned with the work of the Process. As David says, “Shame is an internalized vision of oneself. It creates feelings, but they are not feelings.” According to David, to heal shame, someone must truly witness us. In telling our story of what happened, we need to be heard, seen, and understood. We need to be humanized, not stigmatized or pathologized. He says we must be “witnessed for being a human being who’s been through an experience. That’s unshaming. That’s humanizing.” We hope you enjoy this profound conversation on the nature of healing shame with David and Drew. **This episode mentions physical and sexual violence and may not be suitable for all listeners. Please use your discretion. More about David Bedrick: David Bedrick, JD, Dipl. PW grew up in a family marked by violence. While his father’s brutality was physical and verbal, his mother’s denial and gaslighting had its own covert power. This formative context introduced David early to the etiology of shame and instilled an urge to unshame. Professionally, he was on the faculty for the University of Phoenix and the Process Work Institute in the U.S. and Poland and is the founder of the Santa Fe Institute for Shame-based Studies where he trains therapists, coaches, and healers and offers workshops for individuals to further their own personal development. David writes for Psychology Today. He’s the author of Talking Back to Dr. Phil: Alternatives to Mainstream Psychology and Revisioning Activism: Bringing Depth, Dialogue, and Diversity to Individual and Social Change. His new book is You Can’t Judge a Body by Its Cover: 17 Women’s Stories of Hunger, Body Shame, and Redemption. North Atlantic Books will publish David’s upcoming book, The Unshaming Way, in November 2024. You can preorder The Unshaming Way here. Discover more about David at DavidBedrick.com. Follow David on Instagram and Facebook. As mentioned in this episode: The Wounded Healer Archetype Elisabeth Kübler-Ross: “The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” Dr. Larry Nassar Somatic Brené Brown Allopathic medicine      

We welcome physician, author, educator, and thought leader, Zach Bush, MD to our podcast. Part of our non-grad series, Dr. Zach is not a graduate of the Hoffman Process but his work speaks to the nature of the unburdening of self that also happens through our highly transformative Hoffman Process. In this conversation, Dr. Zach and Drew speak of the unburdening of patterns as just the first step. Then, once we know our authentic nature, we can explore who we truly are in relationship to nature. As a doctor and researcher, Dr. Zach shares with us about the isolated human cell that becomes cancer and how that relates to human beings. Isolation can keep us in a state of disharmony and dysfunction. Coming back into connection and community with other people can heal us, just as the human cell heals when it returns to a connection as part of the larger soil of the body. After we complete the Process, we must find a place or community where we can be our newly awakened selves. This is how we keep unburdening, growing, becoming. According to Dr. Zach, the deep belief that we were kicked out of nature is the root cause of our wounds. And with that belief comes a deep-seated sense of scarcity in all areas of our lives, especially, as Dr. Zach says, “love, acceptance, and God itself.” We must heal humanity’s root wound – the belief that Nature abandoned us. Nature never did. Nature is our gateway and mirror to healing. We hope you enjoy this profound, expansive, and enlivening conversation with Drew and Zach Bush, MD. Photographs of Zach Bush, MD are by Leia Vita. More about Zach Bush, MD: Zach Bush, MD is a physician specializing in internal medicine, endocrinology, and hospice care. He is an internationally recognized educator and thought leader on the microbiome as it relates to health, disease, and food systems. Zach Bush, MD founded *Seraphic Group and the non-profit Farmer’s Footprint to develop root-cause solutions for human and ecological health. His passion for education reaches across many disciplines, including topics, such as the role of soil and water ecosystems in human genomics, immunity, and gut/brain health. His education has highlighted the need for a radical departure from chemical farming and pharmacy, and his ongoing efforts are providing a path for consumers, farmers, and mega-industries to work together for a healthy future for people and the planet. Zach Bush MD’s work in for-profit and nonprofit arenas creates avenues for collaborative action for all stakeholders in our global community for a regenerative future of health for the planet and our children. Discover more about Dr. Zach at ZachBushMD.com. Follow him on Instagram, Facebook, X(Twitter), and YouTube. As mentioned in this episode: Mitochondria Hippocrates Traditional Chinese Medicine Yogic traditions: Ayurveda Qigong Tai chi Microbiome A Course in Miracles Hospice and Palliative Care Buckminster Fuller

Welcome to Season 9! We begin this new season with a mini, four-episode non-grad series highlighting guests whose work is harmonious with the work and ethos of the Hoffman Process. Our first non-grad guest is musician, activist, and award-winning filmmaker, Michael Franti.** As you listen to Michael’s life story, you’ll hear him speak of his feelings of abandonment and being an outsider. These feelings echo much of the work done during a week at the Hoffman Process. With eloquence and an open heart, he tells us his story of adoption, living with alcoholic parents, and what healing these wounds can look like. His life story is beautiful. As Michael says, you’ll see what a generous gift it is to tell one’s story. Originally recorded as part of an ongoing collaboration with Modern Elder Academy, Michael and Drew met in person in Santa Fe to record this conversation. Chip Conley, co-founder of MEA, chimes in at the end. This is a deep, fun, vulnerable conversation. We hope you enjoy it! **Please note that this episode is marked explicit for language and some content. More about Michael Franti: Michael Franti is a globally recognized musician, activist, and award-winning filmmaker revered for his high-energy live shows, inspiring music, worldwide philanthropic efforts, and the power of optimism. Throughout his multi-decade career, Franti has earned three Billboard No. 1’s with triumphantly hopeful hits “Sound of Sunshine,” “Say Hey (I Love You)” and “I Got You,” as well as six Top 30 Hot AC singles, 10 Top 25 AAA Singles and three Billboard Top 5 Rock Albums. Spearhead’s Follow Your Heart was released in June 2022 and debuted at No. 2 on the iTunes Pop Chart behind Harry Styles. Praised by American Songwriter as “an energizing batch of songs that spotlight the common threads that connect us,” Franti & Spearhead’s 13th studio album Big Big Love is available everywhere now. It features 17 tracks co-written by Franti, reflecting his tenacity, inclusiveness, and optimism. Franti & Spearhead are currently on the Togetherness Tour in 2024. They bring their dynamic and invigorating shows to Soulrockers across the U.S. This tour includes a return to the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre. With 60+ dates through the summer, the Togetherness Tour kicked off at the Tortuga Music Festival on April 6 in Fort Lauderdale, FL. The Bay Area native resides in Bali when he is not on tour. Michael owns Soulshine Bali, a 32-room top-rated boutique hotel in Ubud, Bali. Soulshine Bali focuses on joy through wellness and music, offering unique retreat opportunities and accommodations. They also host special events and celebrations. Franti continues to foster community on and off stage with a wish-granting non-profit, Do It For The Love. which brings those with life-threatening illnesses, veterans, and children with severe challenges to concerts worldwide, fulfilling over 3,500 wishes and touching the lives of over 15,000 people to date. Find out more: You can find out more about Michael at MichaelFranti.com. Follow Michael on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter(X). HoffmanInstitute.org/donate As mentioned in this episode: Reverend Cecil Williams: “Joy is the intersection between the human and the Divine.” • Glide Memorial Church • Michael singing at Rev. Williams’ memorial Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia The Munchies band – Bali, Indonesia Lynne Twist • Listen to Lynne on the Hoffman Podcast: Love’s Immense Power Robert Mirabal • Taos Pueblo: Home of the Red Willow People Gulf War HIV Soul The Multiverse Modern Elder Academy (MEA) • Chip Conley – Listen to Chip Conley on the Hoffman Podcast: Wisdom and the Ultimate Spirituality Rick Rubin: Art vs. Craft – “If you know what you want to do and you do it, that’s the work of a craftsman. If you begin with a question and use it to guide an adventure of discovery, that’s the work of the artist.” The Beatles Chuck Berry University of San Francisco The Phoenix Hotel in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District The Esalen Institute Joie de Vivre Hotels Maslow’s hierarchy of needs Collective Effervescence • coined by Émile Durkheim • Dacher Keltner on Collective Effervescence The Togetherness Tour • with Michael Franti, Steven Marley, Trevor Hall, Trombone Shorty, Bombargo    

We wrap up season 8 with Dr. Kulreet Chaudhary and her powerful, dynamic conversation with Sharon. Dr. Chaudhary is a neurologist, neuroscientist, and Ayurvedic practitioner. She combines modern neuroscience with ancient wisdom. She also coaches executives of large corporations on how to connect. Dr. Chaudhary completed the Hoffman Process in 2022. She shares a powerful, pivotal moment from her Process. She was paired up with another student, which provided the perfect invitation to be messy. As she tells us, she’s been trained to keep things clean in her life and work. But at this moment, she let go. Kulreet shares, “I don’t think I have ever been that emotionally messy in my entire adult life.” She tells us that because of her willingness to let go fully into her emotional messiness, she also found a freedom she’d never felt before as an adult. After she completed the Process, Dr. Chaudhary dove into the Hoffman practices and tools. For about six months, she embraced a daily practice to deepen the transformation that had happened during her Process. It is hard to describe what happened to Kulreet after diligently working with the tools and practices. What stands out is how, in the moment of incredible transformation and healing, Kulreet was holding herself in a profound, unwavering self-love. Holding herself in the radiance of this self-love, the darkness she thought was within her shattered. It wasn’t at all what she’d thought it was. This is the raw power of self-love. We hope you enjoy and benefit from this profound conversation with Kulreet and Sharon. We’ll see you again in the second half of August for our next series of conversations. More about Dr. Kulreet Chaudhary: Meet Dr. Kulreet Chaudhary, a neurologist, neuroscientist, and a pioneering voice in Sound Medicine and Ayurveda. Combining modern neuroscience with ancient wisdom, Dr. Chaudhary has helped thousands achieve health goals they never thought possible. She passionately advocates for a wellness-based medical system that empowers patients, moving beyond traditional disease-focused approaches. Dr. Chaudhary is the acclaimed author of “The Prime: Prepare and Repair Your Body for Spontaneous Weight Loss” and “Sound Medicine: How to Use the Ancient Science of Sound to Heal the Body and Mind.” She has shared her insights on national platforms like The Dr. Oz Show and Home & Family. With decades of experience, Dr. Chaudhary continues to advance medical research, participating in over 20 clinical studies on conditions like multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s disease. Her work includes pioneering stem cell therapies and uncovering ancient Siddha Medicine texts in India. As part of the Healthy Directions family, she’s developing an at-home wellness program to help millions lead healthier, happier lives. Discover more about Dr. Chaudhary’s unique approach to wellness at www.drkulreetchaudhary.com. Follow her on Instagram and Facebook. Article: The Connection Between the Gut and Brain in Ayurveda (https://www.healthydirections.com/articles/ayurvedic-medicine/ayurveda-gut-brain-connection) As mentioned in this episode: Dark Side Stomp (Check) Ayurveda Medicine Siddha Medicine Tradition Star Wars – Return of the Jedi Enlightenment  

Equine Assisted Coach and soon-to-be-published author, Leslie Kornstein, is our guest today. Leslie and Liz sit down for this powerful conversation about healing and coming into a wholeness of self that includes what Leslie calls our social self, the aspect of ourselves she discovered learning from the horses she worked with. Leslie experienced a delayed emergence of language until age five. Her early challenge became a unique gift as she developed sensitivity to people’s energy, empathy, and understanding of others’ unspoken feelings. Leslie shares her journey to becoming the coach and author she is today. Throughout her story, you’ll hear her weave this deep sensitivity to aspects of life that often go unnoticed by most of us. Leslie attended the Hoffman Process in 2004. As she tells us, she found the language of the Quadrinity to be a gift. It allowed her to listen to the parts of herself that were in pain. Through this exploration, she was able to heal on multiple levels. She found more healing working with horses herself and then becoming an Equine Assisted Coach. We hope you enjoy this heart-opening and thought-provoking conversation with Leslie and Liz. More about Leslie Kornstein: Up until high school, Leslie was language-challenged. However, her other attributes invited positive peer guides who supported and guided her. After receiving her Master’s degree in 1975 she married and during the next decade became a dedicated teacher, evaluator of learning challenges, and creator of a resource room for children with learning challenges in a NYC public school. Leslie was moved to adopt a son and daughter due to her physical inability to carry her own children and her near death from a ruptured ectopic pregnancy. This created a family for all to benefit from. In the ’90s, Leslie was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. She then realized an inner knowing that healing was a whole-body process. Leslie became a Breathwalk instructor, learned meditation from Deepak Chopra, and completed the Hoffman Process giving her permission to forgive herself and those in her sphere of influence. She trained to be a Hoffman Facilitator. Leslie went on to study Spiritual Psychology at The University of Santa Monica (USM). She followed those studies by becoming a personal coach and training as an Equine Assisted Coach. Now, Leslie works on her ranch in Reno Nevada assisting others with her equine coaches. She has integrated her life experience and extensive educational background to guide others through their healing and growth journeys. For years, Leslie envisioned a fable being written as a preface for the book she’s been working on with Robert Stokich. One evening K. Alden Peterson, Leslie’s partner, became very curious about SPIES, went to sleep, and dreamt of the fable, which is now the preface to “Lies, SPIES & Butterflies: where individual stories abound, exponential powers emerge, and reimagined lives flourish.” Stay tuned as Leslie & Robert’s book and Alden’s children’s fable will be available by 2025. Find out more about Leslie on Facebook and Instagram. As mentioned in this episode: Equine Assisted Coaching Near-death Experience (NDE) Ectopic Pregnancy Chron’s Disease The Seat of the Soul by Gary Zukov Spiritual Psychology at The University of Santa Monica Sentience Horses as prey animals

Elaine Duncan, Hoffman Process graduate, and strategy and development consultant, shares her touching story about growing up in a family with numerous adopted siblings. She came to the Process over a decade ago. One thing Elaine remembers and cherishes about the Process is the copious amount of laughter she experienced and the feeling of deep connection, laughter, and joy. Elaine was the only child in her nuclear family until her parents adopted their second child, a boy younger than Elaine. Elaine’s mother was a social worker who believed deeply in the need for and benefits of international adoption. Living her values, she adopted many children from around the world. While the home was full of children, with both parents often gone, Elaine eventually came to feel adrift in her own home. She eventually found solace in her relationship with her grandmother. When children are adopted, they have to find their way to a sense of belonging. But what is it like to be the only biological child, the oldest, and then bounce around in the middle position over time because so many siblings join the family? While Elaine wasn’t adopted, she and her life to come were deeply affected by adoption. Listen in as Elaine shares how many children her mother (through two marriages) adopted and the deeper lessons Elaine learned. Elaine speaks of being a connecter in her life. She draws people to her and creates community wherever she goes. As she tells us, she has found it to be a sense of community that has always saved her. Unsurprisingly, Elaine has recommended the Hoffman Process to numerous people over the ten-years-plus since she completed the Process. We hope you enjoy this heartwarming and connecting conversation with Elaine and Drew. More about Elaine Duncan: Elaine Duncan is a strategy and development consultant inspired by nature, healing the planet, and regenerative practices. She is writing a memoir on growing up as the only biological child in a large multicultural family. Elaine and her husband, David, live in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado with their dog, a Brittany named Shilo. Follow Elaine on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Read Elaine’s articles on Medium. As mentioned in this episode: Social Work International Adoption The Donahue Show Oprah Winfrey – Anchor on Baltimore News Station Latter Day Saints AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) Connector Landmark Raz Ingrasci, Founder Hoffman International, Hoffman teacher and coach • Listen to Raz on the Hoffman Podcast The Hoffman Process Feelings and Sensations List White Sulphur Springs The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk, MD Gabor Maté Triggers Transference Quad Check The Quad Check is a practice to support you in checking in with all four parts of your Quadrinity: Spiritual Self, Intellect, Emotional Self, and your Body. To practice Quad Checks with others, join our virtual Quad-Check at 8:00 am PT on Instagram. We also hold an Appreciation and Gratitude practice each day at 6:00 pm on Instagram. SGA – Student Government Association Mentorship Hoffman Couples Retreat The Q2 Intensive Twelve Step Sponsorship    

Roxy Hayde, Hoffman teacher and member of the Hoffman UK team, is our guest today. She came to the Hoffman Process after a lifetime of trying to hold it all together behind a deeply defended heart. At a very young age, Roxy knew that to feel safe she would have to learn how to control everything and everyone around her and not let herself feel vulnerable. Through the Process, she dropped into a very soft place and came to parent herself in a way she’d never known. Roxy and her emotional child have fostered a beautiful relationship. She tells Drew how her inner child is often present with her when she teaches the Process. Roxy describes her deep fear of vulnerability and how she hid herself behind the archetype of a strong, successful woman. That kept her from having real connections with the people in her life. Now, she connects deeply with people and also connects people in marriage as a wedding celebrant. Roxy is a celebrant who celebrates love with an open, vulnerable, radiant heart. We hope you enjoy this conversation with Roxy and Drew. More about Roxy Hayde: Roxy joined the Hoffman UK team in 2018 and is now a supervising Hoffman Teacher. After completing the Hoffman Process in 2014, she became deeply passionate about it and its transformative effects. Roxy has completed numerous courses and trainings that inform her work with clients and groups. When not teaching in a Process, she coaches, trains teachers, and is a Humanist Wedding Celebrant (non-religious officiant) in the UK and abroad. A lover of all things ritual, she creates bespoke, one-of-a-kind wedding ceremonies for couples. In her downtime, she loves traveling and beach walks with her dogs in Brighton, England, where she now lives after nearly two decades in London – much of which was spent working in the music industry. Discover more about Roxy here and follow her on Instagram. As mentioned in this episode: Liverpool, England • Toxteth riots, 1981 Margaret Thatcher Shame statements at the Process referenced by Roxy: During the Hoffman Process shame is explored as a false identity, an unconscious or subconscious belief about oneself. Shame is part of the human experience. Self-abandonment The archetype of a Strong Independent Woman. Enneagram – type 7 Treacle – “any uncrystallized syrup made during the refining of sugar.” Regent’s Park Jelly Babies Care Bears Eckhart Tolle and Kim Eng C0dependency Dark Side – Dealing with your Dark Side. Florence House Joseph Campbell The Hero’s Journey Dark Night of the Soul    

Tami Tack & Kim Worrall graduated from the Hoffman Process in 1996. They took the Process a second time after it was rejuvenated from an 8-day Process to 7 days. Tami and Kim have been stewards of this work ever since. For over 15 years, Tami has been a graduate group leader in the Portland, Oregon area. Tami and Kim speak to the power of learning to trust in and live from the Spiritual Self and softening into its care. Kim first realized that his nature had a spiritual aspect during the Process. Tami and Kim share stories from their post-Process past to illuminate how vital this aspect of our Quadrinity has been to leading joyful lives. You’ll hear Tami and Kim speak about how the Process work has been vital to their relationship. The Hoffman Process supports not only our internal transformation. It also transforms our relationships. When two partners have completed the Process and followed it up with the Hoffman Couples Retreat, the work can deepen the quality and power of your relationship. We hope you enjoy this conversation with Tami, Kim, and Hoffman host, Sharon Mor. More about Tami Tack & Kim Worrall: Married since 1987, Tami and Kim enjoy traveling and exploring the inner world of relationships and spirituality. They host a monthly spiritual Living Circle and have participated in Thom Bond’s Compassion Course for two years, an outgrowth of Nonviolent Communication (NVC). Tami and Kim sing together in local choirs and volunteer with CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) to work with children in foster care. They live in Tami’s childhood country home which they have named Harmony Hill. Enjoying an active life, they hike, bike, and kayak. They are deeply grateful for all that Life has brought them and look forward to the next adventure. More about Tami Tack: Tami first experienced the Hoffman Process in 1996, then again in 2015 after the Process was rejuvenated. Passionate about Hoffman Graduate Groups, she led the Portland group from 2009 to 2023, mentoring other leaders beginning new groups. She is a retired school counselor and therapist and has always loved working with people of all ages. Another passion of hers is music, expressed both through piano and voice. Classically trained in piano, she discovered in her 40s that she could compose music and recorded three CDs of her original piano solos. Singing with many choirs, she directs the Lower Columbia chapter of Threshold Choir whose mission is to sing at the bedside of the dying. The proud mother of two delightful adult children and grandmother to four, she prioritizes family and heart connections. More about Kim Worrall: Kim discovered the Hoffman Process in 1996. In 2014, he repeated the HQP, remembering that he is not his patterns—imagine that! A major takeaway was that he has a Spiritual Self. He is curious about how things work, from human thinking and behavior to galaxies and microbes. He is a retired teacher and counselor, a former pilot and mountain climber, and a father and grandfather. Formerly singing in the Portland Opera chorus, he now sings with a local men’s ensemble. Having been interested in magic since he was a kid, Kim has produced magic shows and always carries a bit of magic with him. He loves to travel for its broadening view of our world and people. He is learning the value and strength of vulnerability. As mentioned in this episode: Engulfment Bob Hoffman Hoffman Couples Retreat Hoffman tool: Embodied Recycling Graduate Groups Virtual (Zoom) Grad Meetings are held in four time zones – Pacific, Mountain, Central, and Eastern. Hoffman Process Rejuvenation Neural Pathways Threshold Choir Religious Science Ed McClune: Listen to Ed on the Hoffman Podcast Prayer Wheel

Jessica Kizer, PhD and Professor of Sociology, shares her powerful life story. One of the main threads of her story is the deep feeling and sense of not belonging. Through her story, we can understand how identities, roles, and circumstances can cause us to feel as if we do not belong in this world as we are for who we are. You’ll also hear Drew reflect to Jessica: “…that’s stereophonic not-belonging on overdrive.” Through her studies in Sociology, Jessica began to understand how societal forces shape our lives societal constructions, and choices made by others. A myriad of steps and people brought Jessica to the Hoffman Process. On her first day, she felt that all-too-familiar pang of not belonging. She saw that she was the only Black person there. This was the reality. Immediately, she felt a familiar pain of distance from everyone. But in the first few days, she experienced a shift. You’ll hear Jessica share a moment when she saw that we can have very different life stories but arrive at the same place, feeling the same things about ourselves and our place in the world. This was when she began to focus on “our commonalities and not on our differences” in her time at the Process and after. As a mixed-race, neurodivergent person who teaches Sociology at a top university, perhaps Jessica’s story is one we can identify with because we don’t share those same identities. The patterns of not belonging, having to prove our worth, and feeling like we are in the wrong place, are common patterns among us. Jessica’s experience, wisdom, and understanding, both academically and personally, shed a powerful light on the human experience. We hope you enjoy this conversation with Jessica and Drew. More about Jessica Kizer: Jessica Kizer was born and raised in a multigenerational, multiracial family in the South Bay of Los Angeles County. Her spiritual journey led her first to Hoffman Essentials and then the Hoffman Process in June 2023, where she experienced deep healing for herself and her family. As a result of her experiences growing up Black, Puerto Rican, and Indonesian and neurodivergent in a neurotypical world, she developed a strong sense of justice, equity, and inclusion, which led her to a career as a sociology professor. In her courses, Jessica creates educational experiences so that everyone can learn and, in turn, helps students learn how to communicate sociological research in a way anyone can understand. In her courses, students tutor elementary school students and then write and illustrate sociological storybooks for the children’s home libraries. They also participate in intergenerational and interracial dialogues on race, research, and create podcasts on racial inequality, which they share with elders. Jessica loves going on walks and talks, journaling, and finding adventure in the everyday. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, their two cats, and two dogs. Follow Jessica on Instagram. As mentioned in this episode: Hoffman Essentials Jehovah’s Witness Marni Battista – Listen to Marni on the Hoffman Podcast EMDR Brainspotting Kristin Neff – Listen to Kristin on the Hoffman Podcast Quad Check: The Quad Check is a practice to support you in checking in with all four parts of your Quadrinity: Spiritual Self, Intellect, Emotional Self, and your Body. To practice Quad Checks with others, join our virtual Quad-Check at 8:00 am PT on Instagram. We also hold an Appreciation and Gratitude practice each day at 6:00 pm on Instagram. Left Road, Right Road

Johanina Wikoff, PhD, sits down with Drew for a conversation about consciousness, the Hoffman Process, psychedelics, relationships, and deep inner healing. As someone who has always been “drawn to explore the mysteries of life,” Johanina began exploring psychedelics when she was a teen and in college. She lived off-grid in deep nature and homesteaded while raising her children. Eventually, she was called to return to school for graduate studies, earning her PhD and becoming a therapist and educator. During these years through her practice, and for decades with clients, Johanina has explored the mystery and terrain of the inner world. Although she’d known about it for decades before going, Johanina attended the Process in 2010. She found the Hoffman Process to be deeply healing. As she shares, “The Process is a brilliant way to embody what was lost in a way that is deeply healing…When we are able to feel the full range, the depths, the heights, the full – the whole catastrophe of our emotional life then we’re not owned by denying, our energy isn’t tied up in pushing away or clinging sentimentally to it. … It’s all part of life and so are we.” Johanina has a mantra she follows and shares with those she works with. “Be open, interested, and curious.” It’s a good mantra, especially as we open to new territory, whether in our lives or our inner world explorations. Many of our guests say this way of being helped them get the most out of their Process experience. We hope you enjoy this deep conversation with Johanina and Drew More about Johanina Wikoff: Johanina Wikoff, M.A., PhD is a therapist and educator. She has been working in the areas of body-mind healing, couples therapy, consciousness studies, and the therapeutic use of psychedelics since 1979. With her husband, Andy Milberg, a senior Hoffman Process teacher and coach, she created Dare To Love Again, a body of evolving relationship work. Discover more about Johanina and Dare to Love Again here. As mentioned in this episode: Andy Milberg, Hoffman teacher and coach. • Listen to Andy on the Hoffman Podcast. Ayn Rand Psychedelics Living Off-the-Grid Homesteading Breathwork Ajijic, Mexico • Lake Chapala Peak experience Hoffman Tools Mentioned: Left Road, Right Road Map  

Rector of Dharma Gate Buddhist College in Budapest, and Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Gabor Karsai has practiced Buddhism and mindfulness for decades. His Hoffman experience was “magical” and one of profound healing and forgiveness. It’s also a story of how important it is to listen to our body’s signs of distress and heed the message it is trying to tell us. Over the past few years, Gabor began to experience physical symptoms of stress daily upon waking. While he was very uncomfortable each morning, the symptoms would end and he’d head off to work. Eventually, his daughters’ concerns and his good friend’s advice, led him to stop and accept that something was wrong and he needed to take time off. His friend’s advice and recommendation eventually led him to the Hoffman Process. Gabor’s experience is not unusual. Many of us experience the effects of stress on our bodies without taking the time to stop and wonder why they are happening. Our bodies tell us what is going on in our inner world. They try to speak to us to let us know something needs to be resolved and healed. Gabor found this healing during his week at the Process in Canada, in January 2024. We can practice mindfulness and become very conscious, yet there can be a current underneath consisting of old pain, unhealed patterns, and emotions waiting to be released. When the Intellect runs the show, the body and emotional self suffer. By the time Gabor found the Process, his Intellect had already conceded. This opened the door for him to a magical experience of profound healing. We hope you enjoy this conversation with Gabor and Sharon. More about Gabor Karsai: Gabor Karsai, based near Budapest, Hungary, is the Rector of Dharma Gate Buddhist College in Budapest, and Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies, specializing in process philosophy, phenomenology, and the enactive approach. Since 2021 he has also been Managing Director of Mind & Life Europe, an organization founded by Francisco Varela and the Dalai Lama, fostering interdisciplinary dialogues in the field of contemplative science. Over the last 20 years, Gabor has had extensive management engagements, including as CEO at KOGART Holding Plc. (Hungary), Director of the Spirit of Humanity Forum (Iceland), the Education for Peace Foundation (Switzerland), and CEO at the Ling Jiou Mountain Buddhist Society (Taiwan). He combines practical experience running a not-for-profit organization with a deep appreciation for contemplative practice and science. Learn more about and connect with Gabor on LinkedIn. As mentioned in this episode: Hoffman Institute Canada Hungary Dharma Gate Buddhism Mind & Life Europe Expression Work The Truce – Internal Dialogue between Intellect, Body, and Emotional Self Dorothy Holden, Hoffman teacher and coach • Listen to Dorothy Holden on the Hoffman Podcast Sanctum Retreat Center, home of Hoffman Canada Hoffman’s Focused Discovery Coaching  

Award-winning storyteller in television, film, and literature, Matthew Weiner, is a recent graduate of the Hoffman Process. Matthew is the creator, executive producer, writer, and director of the television show, Mad Men. Matthew shares that his biggest fear in doing the Process was losing his creativity; if he healed his trauma, he’d no longer be creative. Now on the other side of the Process, Matthew knows his fear was unfounded because, through his deep work of transformation, he learned that making art is part of healing trauma. As a comedy writer, Matthew shares that often negative self-statements get a laugh. And yet, that inner negativity, including when it is pointed at ourselves, is, as Matthew says, “not sustainable.” Releasing harmful negative patterns and the negative love we learned as children brings freedom and a lightness that is hard to imagine until you discover it within yourself. A particularly beautiful and wise reflection from Matthew comes when he speaks about childhood. He shares that, as children, we see ourselves as a “supporting player” in our parents’ lives, not realizing that each of us is actually “the star” of our childhood. Toward the end, Matthew shares the importance of reflecting on his experience during the Process and after. Post-Process, people have told him he’s different, his voice has changed and he’s softer. Like many of our guests, Matthew sees value in this process of reflection through conversation on personal transformation. We know there is also great value in witnessing another’s experience. We hope you enjoy this wise, reflective conversation with Matthew and Drew. More about Matthew Weiner: Matthew Weiner is a nine-time Emmy Award winner and five-time WGA Award-winning storyteller in television, film, and literature. Among his range of credits are two of television’s most successful and critically lauded shows: creator, executive producer, writer, and director on Mad Men, which was distinguished with the Peabody Award, and executive producer for The Sopranos. Weiner was also the creator, executive producer, writer, and director of the original contemporary anthology series, The Romanoffs, set in seven countries around the globe. Weiner’s debut novel, Heather, The Totality, was published by Little, Brown and Company. You can discover more about Matthew Weiner here. As mentioned in this episode: Esopus Magazine article. Quote: “Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, I don’t have anything on paper despite years of constant rejection. In showbiz, all bad news has come through agents and in the form of phone calls. Even early on. I don’t know that I would have saved them if I had gotten them. They’re like bad reviews for me, best skimmed through and then briefly obsessed over before being mentally discarded. I’ve come to realize rejection is now part of my process. I am not used to it by any means, nor do I expect it, but it both sharpens my resolve that my ideas are new and also drives me to professionally outlive the resistance of the gatekeepers. If I wait patiently they will either move on, reconsider, or become brave enough to try something new. Rejection, as painful as it is, is nothing more than a delay.“ – Matthew Weiner Mindful Self-Compassion (Kristin Neff and Chris Germer) Listen to Kristen Neff on the Hoffman Podcast. Listen to Chris Germer on the Hoffman Podcast, Livia Soprano David Chase Terry (Terrence) Winter Robin Green Mitch (Mitchell) Burgess TM (Transcendental Meditation) About the song, Try a Little Tenderness Try a Little Tenderness by Otis Redding Fawlty Towers: Don’t mention the war! Wizard of Oz Hoffman Teacher, Barbara Comstock Listen to Barbara Comstock on the Hoffman Podcast The cargo ship that took down Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge Sigmund Freud Id: the part of the mind in which innate instinctive impulses and primary processes are manifest. SuperEgo: the part of a person’s mind that acts as a self-critical conscience, reflecting social standards learned from parents and teachers. Hoffman Terminology: Awareness Hell: In awareness hell, we know we are aware of our patterns and the things we do we wish we didn’t do, but we are still unable to change. We understand but feel stuck in this place of hell even though our awareness keeps expanding. To get out of awareness hell, our work to grow and transform must include three additional steps for change to happen. These three steps are Expression, Compassion, and New Ways of Being. All four make up the Cycle of Transformation. The Hoffman App (on iPhone): Your journey to discover your authentic self does not end after the Hoffman course. Rather, it is just the beginning. The Hoffman App is here to support you as you continue this journey, today and far into the future. The app contains guidance, practices, and visualizations to inspire and help you achieve your goals. We li

Visual thinker, author, and Hoffman Process grad Brandy Agerbeck shares her ideas on creativity, visual thinking, and innovative ways to get what’s rustling inside us out onto paper. Brandy speaks with light-hearted wisdom on creativity: what it is, tools to apply in service to it, and the challenge we face from what she calls the ‘inner and outer critic.’ She’s been in touch with her creative spirit from a very young age, so she holds an approach to creativity stemming from a vast archive of lived experience. Brandy came to the Process to unload the heavy baggage she carried from her childhood, her mother’s death, and the relationship she had with her father. As an atheist, she had no idea what to make of the idea of a spirit guide. But in the spirit of the Process, she said, “Well, this is uncomfortable. I don’t have an answer for this. So, let’s see who shows up.” This is the openness that Brandy brought to her Process and that she brings to the classes she teaches. You’ll love hearing who showed up in response to this open invitation. If you’re looking for some great tools, powerful insights, and a generous spirit around creativity and learning to move forward with your creative ideas and dreams, pull out a piece of paper, grab a pen, and settle in for this conversation with Brandy and Liz. You’ll come away with useful, practical tools and nourishment for your Spiritual Self. More about Brandy Agerbeck: As a child, Brandy immersed herself in drawing for hours. Back then, she drew anything her bucking bronco of a brain could dream up, creating a safe escape between herself and the piece of paper. Decades later, Brandy Agerbeck still delights in drawing, now as an international speaker and visual thinking pioneer. Built off her 2013 TEDx talk, Shape Your Thinking, Brandy broke down the complex and conceptual skill set into learnable pieces. Bundled together in her latest book, The Idea Shapers: The power of putting your thinking into your own hands, she teaches you visual thinking as your lifelong tool to shush your inner critic, organize your thoughts, and erase overwhelm. Curious to learn more? Join Brandy at her monthly visual thinking Q+A, Drawing as a Verb. Discover more about Brandy here. Follow her on Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. As mentioned in this episode: OTTO The symbol for OTTO, Brandy’s Spirit Guide, that she had tattooed on her wrist after graduating from the Process. Visual Thinking Baby Butler – Read one woman’s experience with a baby butler. Graphic Facilitation Spatial Reasoning Kinesthetic Learning Doodle/Doodling Inner Critic Quadrinity Check-in/Morning Quad Checks and Evening Appreciation and Gratitude: Join us on Instagram for a daily Quadrinity Check at 8:00 a.m. PT and an Appreciation & Gratitude practice at 6:00 p.m. PT.

Neuroanatomist, Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, joins Drew on the podcast to share her latest insights on the brain, from the inside out. Occasionally, we host guests who are not Hoffman Process graduates. Dr. Taylor is not a Process graduate but shares vital science and insights about the human journey of transformation. Her knowledge of the brain can guide us to a deep sense of peace through active, personal choice. With her profound expertise in brain anatomy, Dr. Taylor was able to study her own stroke while it was happening. Over eight years, she slowly worked her way back to full brain functioning. She has come to understand the four parts, or characters (as she calls them) of the brain. Dr. Taylor suggests we get to know each of these characters intimately. She suggests we name them and listen to their needs. When each part is heard, it can lead us to inner peace because every part is understood and valued for what it does and how it feels. This can replace our stress, fear, and anxiety with feelings of joy and peace. Our brain is designed to help us grow and meet challenges. When we know our brain from the inside out, we can find the deep peace we yearn for. And, we can be part of the change toward lasting peace for everyone. We hope you find this fascinating and insightful conversation with Dr. Taylor and her wisdom a useful tool as you navigate your life. More about Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor: Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is a Harvard-trained and published neuroanatomist now affiliated with the Indiana University School of Medicine. In 1996, she experienced a severe hemorrhage in the left hemisphere of her brain causing her to lose the ability to walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of her life. Her memoir, My Stroke of Insight, documenting her experience with stroke and eight-year recovery spent 63 weeks on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list. Her most recent 2021 book is WHOLE BRAIN LIVING: The Anatomy of Choice and the Four Characters That Drive Our Life. Dr. Taylor loves educating everyone about the beauty and resiliency of our human brain, and how we can live a more peaceful and satisfying life. In 2008, she gave the first TED talk to go viral on the Internet. Her talk now has well over 29 million views. In 2008, Dr. Taylor was chosen as one of TIME Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World.” Furthermore, she was the premiere guest on Oprah Winfrey’s “Soul Series” webcast that same year. Learn more about Dr. Taylor and listen to her many talks on the brain here on her website. Follow her on Facebook. Watch reels on the four parts of the whole brain living on Instagram. As mentioned in this episode: Schizophrenia Neuroanatomy Craniotomy Left and right Hemispheres – talk by Dr. Taylor 2008 TED talk by Dr. Taylor Your Left Brain is a Bully – talk by Dr. Taylor Unleash Your Right Brain – talk by Dr. Taylor

Globally recognized Executive Chef, consultant, and author, Doug McNish, began his amazing career when he was 15 years old. Decades later, after winning numerous accolades and awards, Doug yearned to come to know his true self. When he arrived in Petaluma to do the Hoffman Process in 2023, his highest intention was to find out who he truly is. Doug’s journey is a story of the transformative power of self-love, determination, and persistence we find within when we are serious about making changes in our lives. Once weighed down by insecurities and unhealthy habits, in his darkest moments, Doug found solace in food and substances, leading to a struggle with obesity and addiction. Even though he didn’t know where it would take him, Doug was serious about changing his life. His work before, at, and after the Process has led him to a place of strength, sobriety, and unwavering self-acceptance. Doug shares, “No matter how far we’ve strayed from our true selves, redemption is always within reach. With courage, self-love, and a willingness to change, we can rewrite our stories and emerge stronger, happier, and more authentic. We are worthy of a life filled with joy, purpose, and fulfillment.” Content Warning: Please note that this episode mentions childhood traumatic experiences, addictions, and disordered eating. It is marked explicit for a few f-bombs. It might not be suitable for all listeners. More about Doug McNish: Doug McNish began honing his skills at the age of 15, quickly learning all the intricacies of the food service industry. Adept in his field, by the age of 20, Doug knew that he needed to make a change after watching footage of a slaughterhouse. He went vegetarian, and months later adopted a fully vegan lifestyle. He positioned himself as a pioneer in the vegan food movement, courageously aligning his career path with his morals at a time when veganism was relatively unknown. Since then, Doug has become a globally recognized Executive Chef, consultant, and author. He’s been featured on national and international television, regularly consults, inspires, and educates international audiences, and has authored multiple cookbooks. His bestselling Eat Raw, Eat Well, won a Gourmand Award for the Best Vegetarian Cookbook in the world. Raw, Quick, Delicious, Vegan Everyday, and Comfort Food Recipes for a Vegan Lifestyle all won the Gourmand Award for Best Vegan Cookbook in the World. In 2017, Now Magazine’s Reader’s Choice Awards awarded Doug the title of Best Chef in the City in his hometown of Toronto, Ontario. As a pioneer in the vegan movement, Doug’s work has helped make vegan cuisine go mainstream, devoting himself to his vocation and activism in the name of ethics, health, and the environment. Follow Doug on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. As mentioned in this episode: Jamie Oliver Gordon Ramsey Kimberly Carroll Scooter Braun Jay Shetty Eckhart Tolle    

You’re most likely familiar with Dr. Dan Siegel and his pioneering work to understand the mind and help us live more joyfully. You probably aren’t familiar with his childhood story in which his joy and innocence set in motion the death of something he dearly loved. When Dan arrived at the Hoffman Process retreat site and stepped out of his car, he was immediately greeted by one of the rabbits who lives on the over 180 acres there. When he saw this rabbit, an array of feelings and sensations swept through his body. A few days later, as Dan’s Process was well underway, a fawn and its mother would open the door wider into the deep work of Dan’s Process. The Hoffman Process offers a science-based, courageous week of transformation. It’s a week of experiential learning incorporating everything, including the land and everything alive. It opens the door to what Dan calls “the plane of possibility,” also referred to as Love by Dan. With one foot in the practical science and the other in the world that opens us to the spiritual aspects of our nature, we step into the possibility and opportunity to heal what has often followed us nearly our entire lives. In this nearly-an-hour conversation, Dan shares his journey of studying the mind and the results and insights of his decades of research and practice with his clients. Drew, our host, and Hoffman teacher Marc Kaplan join in for this amazing conversation. Marc was Dan’s teacher at the Process and together they share insights into much of what transpired for Dan. Dan’s deeply delightful and joyful qualities thread their way through this conversation. What a gift. More about Dr. Dan Siegel: Dr. Dan Siegel is a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine and the founding co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA. He is also the Executive Director of the Mindsight Institute, which focuses on the development of mindsight and teaches insight, empathy, and integration in individuals, families, and communities. Dr. Siegel has published extensively for both the professional and lay audiences. His five New York Times bestsellers are: Aware: The Science and Practice of Presence, Mind: A Journey to the Heart of Being Human, Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain, and two books with Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D.: The Whole-Brain Child, and No-Drama Discipline. His other books include Personality and Wholeness in Therapy (coming November 2024), IntraConnected, The Developing Mind, The Pocket Guide to Interpersonal Neurobiology, Mindsight, The Mindful Brain, The Mindful Therapist, and Becoming Aware. He’s also written The Yes Brain and The Power of Showing Up with Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D. Parenting from the Inside Out with Mary Hartzell, and NowMaps with Deena Margolin, LMFT, and NowMaps, Jr. Dr. Siegel also serves as the Founding Editor for the Norton Professional Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology, which currently contains over 80 textbooks. For more information about his educational programs and resources, please visit, DrDanSiegel.com and MindsightInstitute.com. Follow Dr. Siegel on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. More about Marc Kaplan: Marc’s life purpose is to support people in finding and using their authentic voice. In addition to teaching the Hoffman Process, Marc is an esteemed music educator, producer, conductor, and coach. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music and Political Science from The George Washington University. “The Hoffman methodology is the foundation of my spiritual practice. It helped me discover that I have choices, enabling me to step into my dignity, and live my life from a place of love.” When Marc first did the Process in 2011, he envisioned being a father, and now he is one. He lives in Westchester County, NY with his wife and two daughters. As mentioned in this episode: Consilience • Edward Osborne Wilson used the term “consilience” to describe the synthesis of knowledge from different specialized fields of human endeavor. • E. O. Wilson is the author of Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Attachment Theory Narrative Scientist The Role of Narrative in Science Neuroscience Dr. Siegel brought 40 scientists together to study and discuss the true nature of Mind. What’s the difference between the brain and mind? Mental Chaos, Rigidity, and Integration • Finding Flow Between Chaos and Rigidity • Exploring Chaos and Rigidity in the Self Complex Systems Emergent Properties Systems Thinking Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) John O’Donohue, Poet and Philosopher The Wheel of Awareness • The Hub Practice • The Plane of Possibility and Childhood Trauma Dan’s book about the Process – Soul and Synapse – is not yet published.          

Darla Murray Loomis has been a seeker for much of her life, traveling the world to find what she longed to find. Each place she went, she found something meaningful. But, Darla didn’t find what she was looking for out in the world – she found it within, what Darla calls this treasure inside herself. When Darla came to the Hoffman Process, she’d already found this treasure. What brought her to the Process was the realization that she had emotions stuck inside ready to be set free. Darla was ready to free herself through the work of the Process! Through the work of the Process, the cathartic work, especially, Darla found the freedom she was looking for. She took the opportunity afforded by the strong container of the Process to acknowledge, feel, and express her anger. Darla came to respect her anger and know that it has a purpose. Darla shares how doing the Hoffman Process “unclogged the channel“, the channel through which the divine source expresses itself through her. As an artist and creative, she keenly knows the need to keep this channel open. This is a truth-telling conversation about how difficult it can be to live a surrendered life, be authentic, and speak the truth of your being. This is Darla’s intention. She speaks of it with sincerity and humility. More about Darla Murray Loomis: Darla Murray Loomis has created nurturing, creative spaces and places in the beauty and spa industry in small businesses for over three decades. She’s a third-generation entrepreneur in her family. As a successful business owner, author and artist Darla has been a leader, teacher, and mentor inspiring other women to honor their feminine heart to guide a profitable business, and to create workplaces that create harmony between people, the planet, and profits for the business of life. Darla lives by the clarity of her example, demonstrating a balance between work, family, self-care, fun, and exploration. Darla is a teacher and mentor empowering women creatives and entrepreneurs. She has traveled the world studying different spiritual traditions to continue her transformation and healing. She loves sharing the way, through her personal adventures and transformational journey to inspire others to create a life they can call their own, while authentically recovering our voices and self-expression. Darla explores her deepest and truest self through the art of play and creativity. Darla believes all that nurtures strengthens. She lives in Telluride, Colorado, with Peter, her husband of 23 years. She loves art, mountain biking, hiking, and traveling. Find out more about Darla at TruthBeautySpirit.com. As mentioned in this episode: Ah Haa School for the Arts in Telluride, CO The movie, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe The Feminine/Masculine or Yin/Yang Sides of Creativity Quote Drew references: “There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium; and be lost. The world will not have it. “It is not your business to determine how good it is, not how it compares with other expression. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.” ― Martha Graham, American modern dancer, and choreographer. Flow-state, named by the psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi in 1970. “Surrendering to the arms of the creative.“ Writing that came out of Darla’s meditation. A Blended Family Shamanism Mother Meera and the Power of Silence: Our Lady of Medjugorje, Bosnia Herzegovina. • Virgin Mother apparitions Darla’s Art:     Darla refers to this image called River of Tears in the episode.

Patricia Martin, a 1998 graduate of the Hoffman Process, has spent 30 years studying people and ideas that change the culture. She is the podcast host of Jung in the World. and is at the forefront of curating ideas of technology, culture, and humanity. Listen in as Patricia and Liz converse about the Hoffman Process, the healing that happens when we bend toward the Light, and how resiliency is the medicine for our chaotic times. Patricia came to the Process because she saw, firsthand, how a friend had changed by doing the Process. She saw her friend’s radiance and wanted to “have what she was having.” She says she arrived at the Process “on her knees.” Using a metaphor of growth and photosynthesis, Patricia speaks eloquently of the nature of the Process and the Light. When enough patterns, stories, beliefs, and identities are transformed, the true nature of who we are can find the Light again. What Patricia recalls was the most healing during her Process was finally being able to grieve the death of her father who died when she was 10. Her mother became very depressed and Patricia became a parentified child – expected to take on parental duties at too young an age. As someone who has studied ideas that change the culture for decades, Patricia notes the chaotic nature of these times. She says that we are going through “the death of meaning” right now. This is what happens right before a renaissance – or re-birth – takes place. Patricia suggests that we can navigate these times with more serenity if we clear away the debris from our inner world. In short, what we do at the Process, is this clearing away. It is this death and rebirth that paves the way for a personal renaissance in our lives. More about Patricia Martin: Patricia Martin has spent 30 years studying people and ideas that change the culture. Currently, her focus is on the digital culture and our changing sense of self. She is the author of three non-fiction books on cultural trends and holds an MFA in writing from Bennington College and an MA in Irish Culture and Literature from the University College, Dublin. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Slate, PBS, and Huffington Post. She is certified in medical narrative from Duke University. Patricia is a graduate of the Jungian Studies Program at the C. G. Jung Institute of Chicago where she teaches writing and hosts the popular podcast Jung in the World. You can discover more about Patricia at Patricia-Martin.com and Wikipedia, and follow her on Instagram and Twitter(X). Patricia’s Books: Made Possible By: Succeeding with Sponsorship (2003) RenGen: Renaissance Generation – The Rise of the Cultural Consumer and What it Means to Your Business (2007) Tipping the Culture: How engaging Millennials will change things (2010)   As mentioned in this episode: Parentification (Parentized) Bob Hoffman’s Negative Love (Download PDF) Grief and Children Photosynthesis Cultural Archetypes American Library Association • The Network of Public Libraries in America (larger than McDonalds franchise) • Installed base of information exchange Vinton (Vint) Cerf: A father of the Internet Al Gore Bill Gates 25 Communities – Bringing Main Street to the Information SuperHighway NY Times 1994 article 1994 Research Paper Information SuperHighways European Renaissance: The Last Mass Cultural Outpouring of Creativity before now, according to Patricia Martin. Rome, Italy Sistine Chapel Social Conditions that existed just before the Renaissance One of the rules of a Renaissance: Death comes first – • The Dark Ages • The Plague Systems of Meaning The Ancient Layers of Rome Christopher Lasch, author of The Culture of Narcissism Jung Quote: “At the bottom of every life there is a task and when we address it our lives can move in a new direction.” CC Jung      

When Os Alvarez speaks of the newfound emotional intimacy he now knows in his relationships and the power of living from his heart, you can feel the depth of his heart as he speaks. Os had a profoundly life-changing experience at the Hoffman Process in 2019. As he saw the effect that his childhood patterns had on his childhood and adult life, he came to find great compassion for the beauty of the child that still lives within him. Os now brings the power of this intimacy to his work as a personal and business strategist. The son of a prominent Venezuelan politician whose name he was given, Os shares stories of the difficulties he experienced growing up in this environment. While his family was very loving and supportive, life was challenging growing up under these circumstances. As an adult, these patterns eventually caused what Os calls existential suffering. In 2014, Os divorced. In 2015, his best friend and business partner, a person he loved and was very close to, died from cancer. Before these events, he experienced a panic attack for the first time. But these two losses pushed Os to start on a journey. He began to meditate. He went to Costa Rica to try Ahyuasca. And then, he found the Hoffman Process. Os shares that during the weekend after the Process, he felt his heart fully open. But even more than this, the Process gave him a framework and tools to take into his life moving forward so he could continue the work to transform patterns and come to appreciate seeing his blind spots. If you ask Os what the most profound change is in his life now, it is his relationships – the people and the intimacy in them. He recently married again, and on that day he felt gratitude for these beautiful, emotionally intimate relationships. This podcast is about bringing the transformation we experienced during the Process into our lives so that this transformation can radiate into the greater world. Os’ story is a beautiful example of Love’s Everyday Radius. More about Os Alvarez: Os Alvarez is more than just a personal and business strategist; he’s a companion on your journey to success and fulfillment. With a deep-seated commitment to helping founders and entrepreneurs flourish both in business and in life, Os brings a unique blend of authenticity and expertise to the table. His own transformative experience, transitioning from a scripted life fueled by ambition to one imbued with meaning and purpose, catalyzed by the loss of his closest friend, ignited a passion for guiding others toward their truest selves. As co-founder of The Real Authentic Way, Goodness Education, and The Local Leaders Collective, Os creates spaces where individuals can authentically connect and thrive. Os serves as a trusted coach for members of esteemed organizations like Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) and Entrepreneurs Organization (EO), while also lending his guidance as an Endeavor Miami Mentor. A graduate of Yale University with an MBA in Finance and Strategy, Os resides in Miami, where his dedication to holistic growth and genuine connection permeates every aspect of his work. Follow Os on Instagram and LinkedIn.   As mentioned in this episode: Psychedelics Ayahuasca Costa Rica Os’ Father Panic attack Victim Consciousness (Mentality) – • Unraveling the Mindset of Victimhood Chopra Center Meditation Rhythmia Center, Costa Rica Quote Os mentioned: “I inherited half my father’s friends and all his enemies.” — George W. Bush The Local Leaders Collective in Miami Brené Brown Ian Salvage, Os’ Hoffman teacher/coach Hoffman Tools Mentioned: Trigger and going within. Compassion and Non-Judgment. Contraction and Dark Side -Using a flashlight within. Check out these Hoffman tools, practices, and audio tools    

Kevin Rempel, 2014 Paralympic bronze medalist in sledge hockey, is today’s guest. Listen in as Kevin shares his incredible life story and the wisdom he’s gained. Kevin was paralyzed in a Motocross accident when he was 23. He was never supposed to walk again, but, as he says, he made it to his feet to walk again with a little bit of luck and a lot of hard work. Four years earlier, his father, was paralyzed in a hunting accident. His father severed his spinal cord, making it impossible for him to walk again. Kevin thought that he and his father would draw closer together after his accident; instead, it drove them further apart. Kevin came to understand that what was happening was a negative love relationship with his father. This discovery prompted him to attend and complete the Hoffman Process. Driven to be different from his father, Kevin worked hard in his drive to walk again. It ultimately took him four years to fully stand and walk on his own, day in and day out. You’ll hear a lot of love, understanding, and wisdom in Kevin’s story about his father. He shares how his attitude toward and understanding of his father changed after the Process. Kevin’s transformation comes from seeing that his father was a good Dad, yet he had patterns. It is a testament to Bob Hoffman’s words, “Everyone is guilty, no one is to blame.” Kevin realized his second chance at life wasn’t from learning to walk again. Instead, his second chance came when he learned to love himself and live as someone who truly loves himself. Discover more about Kevin Rempel: Kevin Rempel is a 2014 Paralympic bronze medalist in sledge hockey. After being paralyzed at the age of 23, Kevin not only learned how to walk again, but overcame the mental battle of both depression and living with a disability to rebuild his life, and eventually reach the Paralympic podium in sledge hockey. Kevin is an expert in change management, mental health, and resilience, delivering his inspirational message about adopting The Hero Mindset, where you focus on small things that make a big difference to help you too, become a hero in your own story. Kevin is the author of, Still Standing: When You Have Every Reason To Give Up, Keep Going. In addition to corporate presentations, Kevin is also a business coach for athletes and leaders using strategies from The Hero Mindset Blueprint to help build confidence, adopt healthy and predictable patterns, and accept radical responsibility in cultivating a confident and empowered mindset to drive results and embrace change. Discover more about Kevin here. Follow Kevin on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. As mentioned in this episode: David Neagle, Business Coach Motocross Negative Love Relationship with Parents: Described in A Path to Personal Freedom and Love. Download PDF. Kevin’s Valentine’s Day post on Instagram. Kevin shares his full-sleeve tattoo on Instagram, which contains themes from his Process. Kevin’s experience at the Hoffman Process: https://kevinrempel.com/blog/the-hoffman-process-seven-days-to-change-a-lifetime/  

In 1991, James Flaherty, MCC, founder of New Ventures West, graduated from the Hoffman Process in Virginia. After completing the Process, both James and his wife, Stacy, began to sponsor the Process in Virginia. They found the retreat site, enrolled people, scheduled the teachers, and transported them to the retreat site. They did this for six Processes over a few years. As James says, they were, and still are, deeply committed to the Hoffman Process. Often, our hosts ask our guests if there was a pivotal moment in the Process that has stayed with them. For James, it was when he had an epiphany about the gifts he knew he had to offer to this world. When he heard his teacher tell him that he was a powerful person, he felt a weight drop from his shoulders. He realized he could give his gifts to the world in a “better way.” James walks us through the kind of coaching training that New Ventures West offers. He articulates beautifully what happens to our hearts when we are young, how heartache can squash our innate goodness, scarring us so our goodness can not get out into the world. James offers how healing it is when we act for the sake of others. In doing so, we receive much in return. With loving generosity, James thanks Hoffman staff and faculty for all they do to support this powerfully transformative work offered through the Hoffman Institute. Thank you, James. We hope you enjoy this heart-opening conversation with James and Sharon. More about James Flaherty: James Flaherty, MCC, founder of New Ventures West, is the author of the seminal text, Coaching: Evoking Excellence in Others. He has developed a uniquely effective approach to adult education by integrating discoveries in linguistics, developmental psychology, sociology, philosophy, and biology into the practical and customized methodology known as Integral Coaching®. He coaches executives, managers, and leaders throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. James lives in San Francisco with his wife and has an adult daughter whom he adores. In addition to being a voracious reader, he practices yoga and qigong. James owns a large collection of CDs, mostly in the classical, rock, and jazz genres. He enjoys theatre and travel. He is a longtime Zen student, studying with Norman Fischer of Everyday Zen. You can find out more about James on his website and on LinkedIn. As mentioned in this episode: New Ventures West, founded in 1987 The Vagus Nerve Some research from Boston College about mentors and mentoring and people dedicated to assisting others had much more happen for them than those who were not. (10:39 marker) Fernando Flores, Chilean engineer, entrepreneur, and politician.            

Chelsea Javier, actor, writer, and filmmaker, has always been a creative person and visual artist. But she was also risk averse. She stayed in jobs that were close to what she wanted rather than the real thing – until she did the Hoffman Process in May 2018. In her early to mid-twenties, Chelsea went through what she calls a dark period.* During this time, she moved back to her family home and sought the help she needed. As she began to transition to a new life, in one of those ‘sliding door’ moments as she calls it, she met her now-husband, Paul. He had, just two days prior, completed the Hoffman Process. Two years later, Chelsea did the Process. There’s a beautiful back-and-forth between Chelsea and Drew about the Process itself, and the experience of trusting yourself. As Chelsea shares, through her work at the Process, she discovered that there truly is no limit to how deeply you can feel, heal, and live. She knows how to handle rejection with strength and resiliency and she’s not afraid to reach for what she wants. Chelsea is also a past Hoffman Mandala contest winner. The 2024 Mandala Contest is currently open until February, 29th. If you’re interested in submitting your art, check out the Mandala Contest theme, rules, and submission guidelines. *Content warning, please use discretion: In this episode, our guest speaks about her history of depression and periods of suicidal ideation. We understand that this sensitive topic may not be right for all listeners. If you or someone you know is in crisis, please reach out to a local mental health hotline or emergency services. Remember, you are not alone, and there is help available. Suicide Resources National 988 Crisis Line – call or text 988, or chat 988lifeline.org Crisis Textline: text TALK to 741741 Trevor Project: text START to 678-678, call 866-488-7368 (support for LGBTQ youth) Veterans Crisis Line: Call 800-273-8255 or text 838255 Disaster Distress Helpline: Call 1-800-985-5990 or text TalkWithUs to 66746 More about Chelsea Javier: Chelsea Javier is an actor, writer, and filmmaker living in Los Angeles with her husband Paul Sprangers, their rescue bunnies Hammy and Yoshi, and their giant sulcata tortoise Lou. They co-run their production company American Lagomorph and released their first feature film, Smile or Hug, (starring Chelsea opposite Danny Trejo, directed by Paul), on Amazon, Apple TV, and Tubi, last year. Chelsea recently appeared on the CW show Walker and dreams of being a series regular on a dramedy TV show like Six Feet Under (her favorite show!). Chelsea completed the Hoffman Process in 2018 and was not working in entertainment (aka following her dreams!) before doing the Process. She previously worked as an art teacher and often writes about art and teaching life in her scripts now. Outside of work, she loves spending time with family and friends at the beach, roller skating, traveling, and conversing about mental health. Follow Chelsea on Instagram. As mentioned in this episode: Hoffman Q2 Intensive: Beyond Mom & Dad Lou: • Chelsea’s Giant Sulcata Tortoise named Lou. • anthropomorphize: verb, attribute human characteristics or behavior to (a god, animal, or object). Hoffman Process teachers mentioned: • Jane Biondi, Retired • Barbara Comstock – Listen to Barbara on the Hoffman Podcast Couples Coaching: Flexible, one-to-one phone or Zoom coaching with a certified Hoffman Coach. Brené Brown on joy being the most difficult and terrifying emotion to feel. Graduate Groups: Glendale/Pasadena/Montrose Area, California Leader: Monica Lomenzo Danny Trejo in Chelsea and Paul’s first feature film, Smile or Hug. Danny plays the role of Dr. Hoffman Garcia. (Chelsea’s Easter egg leading to Hoffman)

We kick off season 8 of the podcast with an uplifting, truth-telling conversation with Brooke Baldwin. TV host, documentary director, journalist, bestselling author, and Hoffman grad, Brooke finally shares the truth of what happened when she left CNN and the transformational journey she embarked on shortly thereafter. When Brooke left CNN, her heart cracked open and she set off on a transformational journey. She found her way to the Hoffman Process in January 2023. Brooke describes her experience at Hoffman as the Big KaBANG of her transformation. Now, she can see that things happened, and are happening, for her rather than to her. Just shy of two months after Brooke left Hoffman, she traveled to the Dominican Republic to shoot her new reality TV show, The Trust. With her Hoffman experience still fresh, Brooke showed up with Light streaming from her chest and found herself bringing the language of Hoffman and patterns directly to reality TV. One lovely highlight of this episode is how, together, Brooke and Sharon explore and reframe recurring patterns in Brooke’s life. Listen in as Brooke beautifully reframes her patterns in real-time with Sharon. Welcome to season 8 of the Hoffman Podcast. We hope you enjoy this dynamic episode. **Please note that this episode is marked explicit because it contains a couple of F-bombs and might not be right for everyone. More about Brooke Baldwin: Brooke Baldwin is a TV host, documentary director, journalist, bestselling author, and Hoffman grad. Brooke most recently hosted a TV series called The Trust which you can currently watch on Netflix. For over a decade, she anchored her own live daily news show on CNN. She was renowned for her versatility, authenticity, and humanity at the news desk. Brooke is also the author of the bestselling book Huddle: How Women Unlock Their Collective Power, redefining the ‘huddle’ to explore how women lean on one another to provide support, empowerment, inspiration, and the strength to enact meaningful change. Brooke splits her time between New York City and Los Angeles. She is a proud graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a dual degree in Journalism and Spanish. Follow Brooke on Instagram and TikTok.   As mentioned in this episode: CNN Dominican Republic The Trust, Netflix Brooke’s Book, Huddle: How Women Unlock Their Collective Power Brené Brown • Candle Blower-Outers    

For our season 7 finale episode, we’re taking you behind the scenes with co-host Drew Horning and executive producer Julie Daley. The idea came about when Drew and Julie met in person for the first time the day after Thanksgiving – over three and a half years after starting this podcast together. It’s pretty amazing that people can work together so closely to create something near and dear to them, and have never met in person. But the real story is why the podcast came into being, to begin with. It has to do with you, our listeners, graduates of the Process. In the first few months of the pandemic, the podcast was just one of a slew of new projects initiated by the Institute in service of staying connected to and supporting our graduate community. Along with others, Drew and Julie came together to brainstorm how to create the first Hoffman Institute podcast in April 2020. Sound engineer, Walt Hubis, joined us and in the middle of May 2020, after releasing our first three episodes of the Podcast, we were off and running with the release of our fourth episode. In time, both Sharon Mor and Liz Severin joined as co-hosts. We’d found our team. We hope you enjoy learning a bit about how all this came together and the “why” behind what makes doing this so meaningful for us. Happy New Year to you and yours. The Hoffman Podcast will return with season 8 in February 2024. We look forward to sharing conversations with a whole new group of graduates with you. About Drew Horning: Drew Horning is a former licensed private practice psychotherapist with a Master’s in clinical work from the University of Michigan. He is trained in EMDR, Mediation and Dispute Resolution, Gottman Couples Counseling, and Brené Brown’s Daring Way. He also hosts a podcast on relationships and coached high school basketball. Drew published his book, Grappling: White Men’s Journey from Fragile to Agile, in May 2021. Drew values his role in calling forth students’ courage and supporting them on their healing journey. He recalls how amazed he was at the speed of change during the week of his Process. “Sure, there was work to do once the week was over; but I was able to tap into parts of myself and what I wanted for my life in ways that I had never experienced before … despite years of therapy.” Drew lives in Boulder, CO with his wife of over 20 years, Genny, and their two children. About Julie Daley: Julie Daley is the executive producer of the Hoffman Podcast. It is her great joy to work in support of the Hoffman Process. Julie did her Process in August 2002. There, she experienced deep, abiding love and boundless joy. Julie left knowing she had been deeply transformed. A graduate of Stanford University, Julie is also a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC) and a certified teacher of Creativity in Business, a course originally taught at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. Julie loves supporting others in coming home to their Essence and finding their courage to share this essential, creative nature with the world. Julie enjoys artistic expression through writing prose and poetry, dancing, painting, and photography. She is the author of Here: Poems, Prose, and Photography. Julie lives in the Bay Area and is a grandmother to six beautiful, treasured human beings. As mentioned in this episode: Walt Hubis, Sound Engineer for the Hoffman Podcast • Listen to Walt on the Hoffman Podcast Sharon Mor, Hoffman Podcast co-host • Listen to Sharon and Drew on the Hoffman Podcast Liz Severin, Hoffman Podcast co-host • Listen to Liz on the Hoffman Podcast Jason-Aeric Huenecke, Hoffman Process Graduate, and Podcast guest • Listen to Jason-Aeric on the Hoffman Podcast Jack Rafferty, Hoffman Process Graduate, and Podcast guest • Listen to Jack on the Hoffman Podcast Ian Salvage, Hoffman Process teacher, and coach; Hoffman Podcast 100th episode guest • Listen to Ian on the Hoffman Podcast Hoffman Essentials 2-Day Virtual course • Listen to the Hoffman Essentials Podcast Episode

Sadie Hannah, beloved Hoffman teacher and coach, shares with us her experience of profound transformation in the Hoffman Process as well as navigating the transformation she has continued to experience since. Her story reveals the richness, beauty, and possibility available on the other side of suffering. Content Warning: this episode contains sensitive content that details the near death of a child. It may not be suitable for all listeners. As a 31-year-old mother of two when she came to the Hoffman Process, Sadie felt broken. She’d experienced the life-changing near death of her four-year-old son and her resuscitation of him by doing CPR. As she tells us, her son survived, but the experience shattered her sense of self as a mother. In one pivotal moment during the Process while deep in her expressive work, Sadie experienced the profound realization that no matter how angry, uncontrolled, and messy she got, the Light remained. Regardless of how upset and disappointed she was with herself, she knew she was worthy of love and knew she remained connected to the Light. Sadie connects her realizations about the nature of suffering with her early days of training to be a nurse practitioner. Then, she hoped to avoid feeling others’ suffering. Now, through the transformation she’s experienced, she opens to the suffering in our world as a conscious decision. As a Hoffman Process teacher, Sadie guides her students with the same vulnerability and love she so clearly embodies in this conversation. We hope this heartfelt conversation with Sadie and Drew opens you to a more conscious relationship with what lies on the other side of suffering. More about Sadie Hannah: Sadie Hannah holds a Master’s in Science from the University of California, San Francisco. After a 20-year history in Western medicine, she is committed to helping clients move beyond their most fundamental challenges (learned behavior). Sadie is a member of the teaching faculty at the Hoffman Institute and the medical staff at Stanford Children’s Hospital. Sadie is a licensed Nurse Practitioner and a member of the medical staff at Stanford University with a background in pediatric oncology, pediatric end-of-life, and children’s cancer research. Sadie’s unique blend of experience allows her to meet others in their fundamental urge to grow, heal, and transform in a truly authentic way. Where neuroscience meets heart, Sadie works with individuals and groups, guiding her clients not outward but inward, toward the depths of their being, as they navigate important transitions in life, relationship, career, and culture. In her most important work, Sadie enjoys being a mother to her three young children. She loves exploring the edges of her physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual capacity through exercise, nutrition, mindfulness, and embodiment practices. As mentioned in this episode: Stanford Children’s Hospital Pediatric Oncology PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) Costa Rica • Monkeys of Costa Rica Hoffman Institute teacher training

Today, we change things up a bit. While we usually focus on the full Hoffman Process, today’s episode illuminates our 2-day Hoffman Essentials program. Join Drew and Jessie, Tiffany, Katy, and Marta, for this in-depth reflection on their journey through the Hoffman Essentials program. They each have a moving story that brought them to the Essentials program and each came for different reasons. What you will hear from them is how this powerful virtual work brings profound gifts of healing we hadn’t yet heard articulated in such beautiful ways. In the early days of the Pandemic, Hoffman faculty and staff got to work creating. We were clear that the work of transformation afforded by the Process must continue even as the world was shutting down. But, after over 5o years of the Process being done in person, could elements of the Process and the promise of transformation they hold, work in a virtual setting? Could people, strangers in real life, come together and, after two days, realize how much they have in common and lean on the essentials of the Hoffman Process and their commonality for personal inner growth? As you’ll hear Drew say, the answer is a resounding, YES! Our guests speak to many of these. They mention the Quadrinity and how to access each of the four parts. They share how they’ve transformed conditioned ways of reacting and thinking. Self-compassion is a key piece to this weekend of learning and growing. Some speak of the healing they found in the specific places in their home where they did the course, or outside during the Self-forgiveness guided exercise they were given. You can hear self-kindness and self-acceptance in their stories. There is a clear sense of love for where they are in their healing journey and their lives. The Hoffman Essentials program Hoffman Essentials is a live, virtual 2-day Hoffman Essentials program where Hoffman teachers guide students through experiential activities, individual assignments, and engaging discussions to bring more understanding, love, and aliveness to your life. The experiences and learning from this program are designed to provide useful tools and practices you can carry with you for a lifetime. As Marta shares, the Essentials program is a “great way to ask for help.” With a consistent 5-6 month waiting list to attend the week-long Process in the US, our Hoffman Essentials program supports those who cannot or don’t want to wait to begin the work of change. We are grateful to our guests for sharing their stories of transformation through this program. Discover more about the 2-day Hoffman Essentials virtual program. Meet our guests: Jessie Wei Dr. Jessie Wei is a mother to two amazing sons. She’s also an integrative and functional medicine doctor and a former OB/GYN who had the great privilege and honor of taking care of thousands of women over seventeen years. Jessie is the author of two books about returning to wholeness and true love. Tiffany Komasara Rev. Tiffany Komasara, J.D., M. Div. is a non-profit professional with over 25 years of experience leading, advising, and working for religious and social service groups, schools, and arts organizations. Tiffany currently serves as pastor of Boulevard Presbyterian Church in Grandview Heights, Ohio. There, she regularly uses mindfulness practices, self-awareness, and cognitive therapies in her ministry. Katy Grainger Katy is a mother of two adult daughters and is married to her high school sweetheart. She lives in Hawaii. Five years ago, Katy lost both her lower legs and seven fingertips to septic shock. Katy now shares her story to spread sepsis awareness. Marta Campanella Marta Campanella, whose friends describe her as sunshine, is a mom to her 10-year-old son. She loves her job selling Real Estate in Naples, FL; her other passion is teaching and practicing yoga. Marta is always up for adventure and travel, and if she can bring her sweet dog Harold along, it’s a bonus. As mentioned in this episode: A Medium article by Duncan Riach where he mentions the Hoffman Process. Sepsis and Amputation Information (shared on Katy’s website). It takes 90 seconds for an emotion to pass. Compassion fatigue during Covid in the caring professions. Tibetan Buddhism Pema Chödrön Hoffman tools and vocabulary: Hoffman Tools The Quadrinity – The intellect, emotional self, body, and Spiritual Self. Left Road/Right Road – Making a choice (download the PDF). Hoffman’s Cycle of Transformation Morning Quad Checks and Evening Appreciation and Gratitude: Join us on Instagram for a daily Quadrinity Check at 8:00 a.m. PT and an Appreciation & Gratitude practice at 6:00 p.m. PT. Recycling – a tool to transform a negative pattern into a positive alternative. Guided Imagery – words and music to bring forward imagery to bring about some beneficial effect. The Hoffman App: Hoffman Daily Practice Meditations and Visualizations Hoffman webclass calend

Stella Horgan, beloved UK Hoffman Process teacher and so much more, shares with us this wide-arching, panoramic view of her singular life. Stella calls upon us to heal and find our full glorious potential as human beings, reminding us we are valid and that we are in the driver’s seat of our lives. Content warning: This episode contains explicit material and may not be suitable for all listeners. Stella takes us across time, lands, cultures, and the many lives she has lived all in this one lifetime. She begins in South Africa, her beloved homeland in the painful years of apartheid and the way those years shaped her. Stella travels to Australia and shares with us a bit about her ten years living there. While there, Stella found the Hoffman Process. She came to the Process in the early ’00s with a desire to heal. Stella shares with us the powerful, transformational apex of her Process when she experienced knowing she is loved and valid exactly as she is. She left the Process knowing she wanted to become a Hoffman teacher, which she did there in Australia, beginning her journey to be a part of the healing of this world. We then journey with Stella back to her beloved South Africa and the majestic white lions, women’s healing and empowerment, and permaculture education. Since becoming a teacher, Stella has taught the Process in Australia, the UK, Canada, and the US. Stella shares stories about the era of apartheid in South Africa and how it affected her and her future life trajectory. She has dedicated her life, personally and professionally, to healing trauma and shame. You will be deeply moved by Stella’s stories and words of hard-won wisdom about the inherent worth and validity of every human being. More about Stella Horgan: Stella Horgan is an artist, Director of South African impact NPO Zingela Ulwazi Trust (ZUT), a Senior Supervising Facilitator of the Hoffman Process (UK), a board member of the Australian wildlife advocacy group For the Love of Wildlife, and a coach, facilitator of groups, and workshops. She lives between the UK and South Africa. In 2022, Stella and the ZUT team created the first Centre for Women’s Independence in Acornhoek, Mpumalanga, South Africa, offering learning experiences to rural women in Food Security (permaculture/regenerative practice), Livelihood Security (small enterprise development), Personal Security (self-defense skills to respond to and prevent harassment and assault), all woven through with Stress Reduction techniques. They formed a thrilling partnership in 2022 with American Zach Bush and his Farmer’s Footprint addressing food security, nutritional diversity, and regenerative practice, through permaculture and planting a food and medicine forest of 2000 trees in a denuded local village. Stella has worked with dozens of Civil Society organizations in urban and rural contexts addressing environmental and human rights issues. She is fuelled by her love of nature and guided and enriched by her work with the Hoffman Process. Her main mission is to find ways to rebalance human life with nature to create regenerative, happy ways of living where all may thrive. Enjoy Stella Horgan’s artwork here. Discover more about Stella and Zingela Ulwazi Trust (ZUT). Follow Stella on Instagram and Facebook. As mentioned in this episode: Stella has taught the Hoffman Process in Australia, the UK, Canada, and the US. (Pictured is a US Hoffman teaching team with (bottom row, L-R) Lecia Arye, Stella, Amy Thompson, Aerin Lim, Searl Vetter, and Drew Horning (top). Johannesburg, South Africa Apartheid Apartheid, the History White Supremacy Christian Nationalism Bright Blue “Weeping” Original Music Video “It wasn’t roaring, it was weeping.” Hillbrow, Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, South Africa The Anti-Apartheid Movement in the 1990s Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) The Soul’s Code, by James Hillman Thembisa, South Africa Hoffman Process Australia Team Volker Krohn – Founder, Director, Supervising Facilitator, Hoffman Australia – Listen to Volker on the Hoffman Podcast Craig Tunnell – Supervising Facilitator, Hoffman Australia Kerri Chinner – Supervising Facilitator, Hoffman Australia The Dandenongs (and the old-growth forest) outside Melbourne, Australia Bob Hoffman School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE), Australia Hoffman Teacher Training Interspecies Communication Global White Lion Protection Trust Kruger National Park, Timbavati Game Reserve Linda Tucker – Keeper of the White Lions White Lions – the Guardians of Life, An Apex Predator Acornhoek, Mpumalanga, South Africa Permaculture Sekwannele Self-defense – “Enough is Enough” 10 Trees – Zach Bush – Regenerative Agriculture Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Calico fabric, Embroidery thread Baboons of the African Bush Drakensberge (Dragon’s) Mountains: “The Afrikaans name Drakensberge comes from the name the ear

David Fishof is an American music producer, sports agent, and the founder and CEO of Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp. Listen in as David weaves his stories, shares his big heart, and guides us through his Hoffman Process transformation. In 1999, David came to the Process to understand why he couldn’t “keep his marriage.” He was successful in his career and knew, in his heart, that he was a good guy. His parents had been married for 50 years and yet, he’d been unable to save his marriage. David wanted answers and he was willing to do whatever it took to find those answers. Between the time he turned in his pre-work and arrived for his Process, David’s father passed away. Upon Raz Ingrasci’s urging (David’s Process teacher), David decided not to postpone his Process knowing that it would be a potent time to do the deep work he was ready for. David had a wonderful relationship with his father. Even so, he was able to come up with a large number of traits that he’d adopted from his dad. Transforming these helped guide him closer to the answers he was seeking. Eventually, David came to see and know more clearly the passionate man he has always been. By healing the pain of his past, the confusion that had clouded his true passions cleared. He stepped into work that fed his passion and started the Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp. And, he deepened his faith, discovering he could weave his Quadrinity Check into his daily prayers. A fabulous storyteller, boy does David have stories to tell about the world of Rock and Roll, the power of the element of surprise, and so much more. Please enjoy this conversation steeped in the power of storytelling and vibrant vulnerability. Discover more about David Fishof: David Fishof is an American music producer, sports agent, and the founder and CEO of Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp. Born and raised in New York City, David began his career representing acts in the Catskill Mountains. He became a sports agent, representing Phil Simms, Lou Piniella, Randy Myers, among others. While he was working as a sports agent, David began to also produce live rock and roll tours working with Ringo Starr, The Monkees, Roger Daltrey, and many other popular acts. David has been recognized as a creative and innovative force in the entertainment industry with a career spanning over four decades. David’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp allows everyday people to play alongside world-renowned rock stars. His camp reflects David’s deep passion and appreciation for the transformative power of music in people’s lives, both personally and professionally. Rock Camp: The Movie, illustrates David’s impact on the world of rock music. David has written three books, Putting It on The Line, a book about his experiences in the world of sports and entertainment, Rock Your Business: What You and Your Company Can Learn From The Business of Rock and Roll, and Rock Camp: An Oral History: 25 Years of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy Camp. Learn more about David and Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. Read more about David here and here. You can learn more about Comedy Fantasy Camp on Instagram. As mentioned in this episode: Rock and Roll Tours: Happy Together, Dirty Dancing, The Monkees – ’86, and Ringo’s All-Star Band Comedy Fantasy Camp with Jay Leno, Adam Carolla Practical joke (on YouTube) played on David Fishof by the All-Starr Band. Rockers and actors mentioned: Ringo Starr (All-Starr Band) (Yellow Submarine) Joe Walsh (the Eagles) Bruce Springsteen Mickey Dolenz Nils Lofgren (E Street Band) Clarence Clemons, aka The Big Man “Levon” Helm (the Band) Jim Keltner John Denver Billy Preston Nick Mason (Pink Floyd) Paul McCartney (Something) The Living Years: Listen to The Living Years Mike and the Mechanics Paul Carrack, lead singer Bournemouth, England Abbey Road Doug Blush, Director Rock Camp: The Movie Amidha – Jewish daily prayer Rabbi Cantor The Holocaust: Auschwitz Buchenwald Hoffman and David through the years: David with Raz Ingrasci and Ed McClune in 2012 on VoiceAmerica. • Other guests on Hoffman’s Radio Shows Read Rock and Roll Will Save Your Soul: Interview with David Fishof for our October 2008 newsletter, the Light News. Hoffman tools, teachers, and terminology as mentioned in this episode: Hoffman graduate retreats: Graduate (weekend) Q2 Intensive Hoffman Couples Retreat Relationship Intensive Liza Ingrasci, Hoffman CEO and Board Member Raz Ingrasci, Founder, HIF, Board Member, Hoffman teacher (listen to Raz on the Hoffman Podcast) Ed McClune, Hoffman teacher and coach (listen to Ed McClune on the Hoffman Podcast) Hoffman Tools: Quadrinity Check-in Recycling

Dorothy Holden, beloved Hoffman teacher and coach, did the Hoffman Process in 2004 and became a teacher in 2007. In this conversation with Drew, Dorothy shares her journey from the reactive patterns she learned as a child to the wisdom she’s developed over the years of serving others and teaching the Process. Growing up, Dorothy was the 3rd of 5 kids and the only girl. Her home life was stable. At the same time, there were no rules to speak of, which could be both fun and very chaotic. At a very early age, Dorothy developed a pattern of self-responsibility and learned to take care of herself. And, through this, she developed a sense of rigidity and judgment. As a deep core reactive pattern, this has both helped her and hindered her in her life. After doing the deep healing work of the Process, Dorothy’s main takeaway was she fell in love with herself, without reservation. Dorothy speaks of what she’s learned from teaching over 100 Processes. She helps her students release fear and anxiety-based resistance to go deeper into their Process so they can drop into their essential nature during this transformative week. Dorothy shares about how to continue practices consciously so that life doesn’t get in the way. Finally, she speaks to the power of somatic knowing as an embodied sense. This knowing can guide our lives, as is often explained through the core Hoffman tool, Be-Do-Have. More about Dorothy Holden: Dorothy Holden is a Registered Clinical Counselor with a therapy practice that specializes in helping people navigate transitions and find meaning in their lives. She strives to support each person on their unique journey toward self-awareness and personal fulfillment. Dorothy has an MS in Counseling Psychology (University of Calgary), a B-Ed (Dalhousie University), and a BA in Psychology (McGill University). She lives in beautiful Victoria, British Columbia. Dorothy has supported hundreds of Olympic and national athletes in Canada with personal development and career planning. She also volunteers as a counselor and support group facilitator for an integrative cancer care agency. In Dorothy’s own words: I love teaching the Hoffman Process and other Hoffman programs. The Hoffman vision is creating world peace, one person at a time.” I live in beautiful Victoria, British Columbia with my husband, who is a retired lawyer and a Hoffman graduate. We have 2 adult children and 4 grandchildren. Our daughter’s family lives near us, so I get lots of opportunities to chase those rascals around. Our son has just moved his family to Switzerland, and so we are learning how to stay connected while living on different continents. I am an active hiker, swimmer, reader, and traveler, and still have a small private practice as a therapist. My passion is supporting people in navigating the transitions in their lives…including health, relationship, and career issues. As mentioned in this episode: White Sulphur Springs: For over two decades, the Hoffman Process was held in St. Helena at White Sulphur Springs. The retreat site burned in the Glass fire of 2020. The Hoffman Process retreat site was relocated to our current home in Petaluma, CA. Read a love letter from White Sulphur Springs written in the early days of the pandemic. Calgary, Alberta, Canada • University of Calgary Right Livelihood: “According to the Buddha’s teachings, Right Livelihood is a way to earn a living that doesn’t harm others or oneself. In defining Right Livelihood, the Buddha named five types of businesses that lay people should not engage in.” Read more Shifting perspective Canadian Olympic and national athletes. The San Juan Islands Hoffman terminology mentioned in this episode: Hoffman Tools and Practices: Vicious Cycle Left Road: Part of the Left Road/Right Road perspective Presence Vulnerability Authenticity Reactivity Self-love Transference Be-Do-Have Patterns and the Negative Love Syndrome: To learn more about patterns and the Negative Love Syndrome, download A Path to Personal Freedom and Love. Self-compassion: Based on work from Dr. Kristin Neff and Chris Germer, PhD, there are two types of self-compassion. Listen to Kristin Neff on the Hoffman Podcast. Listen to Chris Germer on the Hoffman Podcast. Somatic knowledge – a felt sense of knowingness: Out of this, we know what to do in any instance. Article: A Brief Into the World of Somatics  

This is a remarkable conversation with Blake Mycoskie, serial entrepreneur, philanthropist, and best-selling author. Blake graduated from the Hoffman Process in 2017. Before his Process, Blake had been a hard-driving athlete and a highly successful entrepreneur. He came to the Process because life had suddenly become more complex for him. He felt ‘untethered’ on the heels of a lot of recent life changes. Often old patterns make it hard to move with the change that comes, even when we’ve chosen those changes. Blake felt a lot of resistance at the beginning of his Process. He knew that he had achieved great success in the world and believed that his patterns had helped him get there. However, through the Process, with the guidance of his teacher, Blake eventually came to see that his patterns were keeping him from living a truly authentic life guided by his Spiritual Self. Since graduating, Blake has sent many friends to the Process, as well as hundreds of people he didn’t know personally but supported financially to attend. As you’ll discover, Blake vulnerably shares the truth of what he is experiencing in his life right now. He tells us that the Process was his jumping off place into spiritual work. After he graduated, he began to do many retreats and became active in the world of plant medicine. As you’ll hear, Blake is in the immediate experience of a deeper call to go within. He refers to this moment in his life as a dark night of the soul. Blake knows something is here for him and he’s determined to live following his Spiritual Self no matter where it takes him, despite how uncomfortable this is. We hope you enjoy this profound conversation with Blake and Sharon. Discover more about Blake Mycoskie: Blake Mycoskie is a serial entrepreneur, philanthropist, and best-selling author most known for founding TOMS Shoes and is the person behind the idea of One for One®, a business model that helps a person in need with every product purchased. A simple idea grew into a global movement: While traveling in Argentina in 2006, Blake witnessed the hardships faced by children growing up without shoes. His solution to the problem was simple, yet revolutionary: to create a for-profit business that was sustainable and not reliant on donations. Blake’s vision soon turned into the simple business idea that provided the powerful foundation for TOMS. Since its inception, TOMS Shoes has provided almost 96 million pairs of shoes to children around the globe. Blake’s latest philanthropy passion has taken him into the world of psychedelics. He’s giving about 25% of his net worth to support research into the medical and mental health potential of psychedelic drugs. Born and raised in Texas, Blake currently resides in Marin County with his wife, kids, dog, and cat. In his free time, you can find him outside enjoying nature. Discover more about Blake here. As mentioned in this episode: Blake’s adopted son, Wubetu Blake mentions his adopted son Wubetu and an article. Read the story of how Blake and Wubetu met and the amazing journey Wubetu took to reconnect with Blake and open his life to something new. Venture Capital Psychedelic medicine • Psychedelic vs. Plant medicine Dark night of the soul Hoffman terminology mentioned in this episode: The Negative Love Syndrome: • To find out more about the Negative Love Syndrome, download A Path to Personal Freedom and Love. Hoffman Tools: • Vicious Cycle • Right Road Self-compassion: Based on work from Dr. Kristin Neff and Chris Germer, PhD, there are two types of self-compassion. Listen to Kristin Neff on the Hoffman Podcast. Listen to Chris Germer on the Hoffman Podcast.

Jen Davis, beloved Hoffman Process teacher and coach, sits down with Drew to share her journey from a heartbreaking loss to celebrating a whole new life and a brand new love. Jen did the Process in 2016 at White Sulphur Springs. What brought her to the Process was the shocking divorce she was going through due to her soon-to-be-ex husband’s heartbreaking infidelity. Jen was in great pain. She shares that her life at that time felt like a Lifetime movie, but the pain she was feeling was very real. The Process helped Jen turn away from the details of the situation she found herself in and turn toward herself for healing. As she says, it would have been much easier to continue to blame her ex for cheating and getting someone else pregnant. But in her week at the Process, Jen was able to see her part in what had happened and then take responsibility for her own life. Through her deep and dedicated work during the Process, Jen was able to find compassion and forgiveness for both herself and her ex. By the end of the week, she had found her way back to herself and was ready to move on with her life. After leaving the Process, Jen divorced, moved into a new home, and began to live a new life. She decided to start dating again, but this time from an empowered place of joy and self-love. Eventually, she found love, She married her new love, Mitchell, just this past summer. Toward the end of this rich conversation, Jen shares her journey to becoming a Hoffman teacher. Her certification came at a deeply painful time when her father was dying. She was able to share with him that she was a newly certified teacher and share with him the joy she felt in her new life. We hope you enjoy this beautiful conversation with Jen and Drew. Discover more about Jen Davis: Jen lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with her husband (and Hoffman grad), Mitchell, and her dog, Allie. She cultivates joy through hiking, baking, live music, and a regular gratitude and compassion practice. Jen is a Midwesterner at heart, loving anything with cheese and summers on the lake. She is passionate about spiritual and personal growth, animal-assisted therapies, and women’s empowerment. Jen received her Master’s of Clinical Social Work from the University of St. Thomas specializing in youth and families. She worked for five years as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with the Madison Metropolitan School District providing mental health crisis stabilization for youth and families. Jen hopes to continue building her private practice as a Child and Adolescent Therapist. Currently, Jen works as a Hoffman Teacher and Coach, as well as a coordinator of the Hoffman Graduate Group Programs. Jen first attended The Process in 2016 at White Sulphur Springs. As mentioned in this episode: White Sulphur Springs: For over two decades, the Hoffman Process was held in St. Helena at White Sulphur Springs. The retreat site burned in the Glass fire of 2020. The Hoffman Process retreat site was relocated to our current home in Petaluma, CA. Read a love letter from White Sulphur Springs written in the early days of the pandemic. The Peace Garden (forgiveness garden) at White Sulphur Springs Hoffman Faculty: • Jo Mattoon, Listen to Jo on the Hoffman Podcast • Crystal Jenkins Hoffman Process Teacher Training Awareness Hell: In awareness hell, we are aware of our patterns and the things we do we wish we didn’t. But we are unable to change. We understand but feel stuck in this place of hell even though our awareness keeps expanding. Our work to grow and transform must include three additional steps to get out of awareness hell. These three steps are Expression, Compassion, and New Ways of Being. All four make up the Cycle of Transformation. Learn more about Hoffman tools. Attachment Styles and Theory The Golden Gate Bridge    

Attorney, Junior (Elbert) Smith, generously shares his journey to, and at, the Hoffman Process. In doing so, he gives us a view into how patterns and trauma affect how we see ourselves and how we journey through the world. Content Warning: This episode contains graphic descriptions of trauma. Please use your discretion. Junior shares his life story beginning with his parents’ journey to a better life taking them from Mississippi to Compton, California. With great fondness, he shares his memories of those early years growing up in Compton. These times were filled with connectedness, community, and joy. In the ’70s, though, things changed in his hometown. There was more discord and violence in his community and he began to take in that trauma. He responded by going more into his schoolwork and joining the ROTC, eventually, years later, graduating from law school. Through the process of sharing his stories, Junior weaves his way to coming to Hoffman. He then takes us to the heart of his time at the Hoffman Process when, in a profound moment, “Spirit was able to enter into him.” After doing deep, hard work to release the patterns and trauma, he found joy and radiant light. And, as he says, he felt love, real love, for the first time. Junior articulates this profoundly intimate moment of opening to his Spiritual Self in such a way that you can feel the depth of his transformation. We hope you enjoy this beautiful conversation with Junior and Drew. Discover more about Junior (Elbert) Smith: Elbert Smith, better known as Junior, was born and raised in Hub City, Compton, California. Junior cultivated grit, resilience, and the dream of a better life while growing up in Compton. His lifelong spiritual journey inward led him to the Hoffman Process, where he was able to heal his intergenerational trauma and reclaim his life and joy. Junior is a licensed attorney and serves as a senior advisor for a technology company in Southern California. He enjoys caring for his three cats (POTUS 44, Kenya, and Pelusa), reading poetry, learning to play the electric guitar, and his newfound appreciation for nature. Follow Junior on Instagram. As mentioned in this episode: The South, Mississippi, in the 1950’s Jim Crow Ku Klux Klan Slavery Racism Compton, California, aka Hub City: Compton is known as the “Hub City” because of its position as almost the exact geographical center of Los Angeles County. Changes in Compton during the ’70s Colorism: The brown paper bag test White Supremacy A Near-Life Experience: “We’ve all heard of near-death experiences, but what is a near-life experience? I would define it as a life characterized by distraction, disconnection, and dissatisfaction. It’s a life that doesn’t feel fully lived; a life that we are not completely engaged in and present with; a life that leaves us feeling that something is missing, despite how relentlessly busy we are.” Chris Kresser. Read more… JROTC – Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps “JROTC offers valuable lessons in leadership, character-building, and citizenship.” read more… Tony Robbins Firewalk Funnel Cake Vania, Coach, and Jeremiah, Therapist The murder of George Floyd Ron Settles Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Janelle Martin, Marriage & Family Therapist, MA, LMFT, | EMDR Reiki EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) Philando Castile Modern Elder Academy (MEA) Listen to Chip Conley on the Hoffman Podcast Transitional Intelligence (TQ) – Workshop by MEA on YouTube: Esalen Institute Center for Mindful Self-Compassion Listen to Kristin Neff on the Hoffman Podcast Jazz John Coltrane: “American jazz saxophonist, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music.” More about the Hoffman Process as mentioned in this episode: 2-Day Hoffman Essentials Faculty (mentioned by Junior): Danny Kim Barbara Comstock, Listen to Barbara’s story on the Hoffman Podcast Dorothy Holden Ian Salvage, Listen to Ian’s story on the Hoffman Podcast Regina Louise, Listen to Regina’s story on the Hoffman Podcast Dominique Samari, Teacher Candidate Kevin Eyres, Listen to Kevin’s story on the Hoffman Podcast Nita Gage, Listen to Nita’s story on the Hoffman Podcast Liza Ingrasci, Hoffman Institute CEO The Cycle of Transformation: The cycle consists of four steps (see below). Each step is completed in the order of the cycle. Moving through the cycle transforms the pattern from a negative way of being to a new, positive way of being. Process Graduate Groups Hoffman Process Small Group: When you attend the Hoffman Process, you will be part of a small group for the week, within the larger group attending your Process. A Process teacher leads each small group and is the teacher for each person in that small group. Cathartic Release Work (Bashing) Daily Instagram Check-ins: •

Technology and finance executive, Carsten Sorensen, had a powerful transformation during his Process in 2014. Over the next five years, Carsten worked diligently to transform his core negative patterns. Using his Process tools and doing the deep work, Carsten was able to profoundly shift his life. The Hoffman Process was recommended to Carsten by his therapist, Rick Hanson. Rick said this was a way to take that last step of moving down from the head to the heart. Carsten shares that he had achieved everything in his life through “pure intellect and raw power.” He would just power through it and get it done.” But in mid-life, he knew this way was no longer working for him. And so, he signed up to attend. A few years after his Process, as a CEO, Carsten began to invite employees to attend the Process to experience their own transformation. He knew for certain that the Hoffman Process is a great leadership development tool. Listen in to hear this powerful, articulate, promising conversation about what it takes to be a great leader and how you go about doing so. Some of the areas that Carsten and Liz discuss are how to create safety at work, how to invite employees to attend the Process without pressuring them, his own journey to become more authentic and vulnerable, what he says are the two most necessary qualities and capabilities as a leader, and how you can’t separate work life and home life if you want to be a great leader and happily successful. Carsten is interested in having a conversation with other leaders on how best to use the Hoffman Process as a leadership development tool in the corporate setting. If you’d like to converse with Carsten about this, please reach out to him at [email protected]. Discover more about Carsten Sorensen: Carsten Sorensen is a technology and finance executive with a broad background in a variety of industries and extensive European work experience. A former software engineer, he has over 25 years of experience combining Technology, Mergers, Acquisitions, and Finance, as well as a deep operating background in the organizations he works with. Carsten has worked as a senior executive in fast-growing companies, both private and public, and is comfortable balancing the conflicting needs of high-growth and long-term strategy within the organizations he runs. He is a keen steward of a company’s culture and understands its importance for long-term financial and strategic results. Carsten spent a decade as a partner in private equity, where he was a member of the team overseeing portfolio companies. While working in the private equity field, his responsibilities included turnarounds and technology strategy development. Carsten holds a B.S. from the University of California at Berkeley in Business and Finance and lives with his family in San Francisco. Discover more about Carsten on LinkedIn. As mentioned in this episode: University of California at Berkeley “The last foot and a half are always the hardest.” Rick Hanson, Therapist (the distance from the head to the heart.) Lisa Wenger, Hoffman Teacher and Coach, Founder of the Istituto Hoffman Italia, Milan, in 1990. • Listen to Lisa on the Hoffman Podcast IDEO, a global design company • Read articles on introverts from IDEO. Hoffman Leadership Path at Harvard Simon Sinek Brené Brown, Professor and Writer

Entrepreneur and Mediator, Sisi Maw Takaki, completed the Hoffman Process in February 2019. As a child of parents who immigrated to the US for a better life, Sisi shares with Sharon how the sacrifice her parents made for her affected her and the patterns it created in her. As Sisi shares, we can both adopt and rebel against our parents’ patterns. For Sisi, rebellion was how she reacted to her parents’ expectations of her and her future. What really stands out from this conversation, though, is how deep a transformation Sisi made in how she relates to others and to what now brings her happiness. What used to be a more transactional way of relating transformed into relationships that are based upon mutual dignity and equality. When meeting new people, Sisi now consciously listens and wonders what larger force has brought them together. When she meets people, she now wonders, “How can we help each other?” In the spirit of Love’s Everyday Radius, the name of our podcast, Sisi became a mediator as a way to bring this new relational way of being into her work and her life. She no longer defines success in the same way. Rather than trying to find happiness through material things and financial success, she now finds it through serving others and relating to fellow human beings through her heart. Sisi speaks so beautifully of her experience of work through this new way of human-to-human relationship. More about Sisi Takaki: Sisi Maw Takaki is an Entrepreneur with a few businesses. She is a Residential Real Estate Broker in Hawaii, a Real Estate Investor in Hawaii and on the Mainland, and a Mediator and Founder of Mindful Mediation Matters (M3). Everyone has a story and here’s Sisi’s in her words: “Sisi was born in Myanmar and immigrated to the East Coast in the late 70s and grew up in a household with two parents who were both Physicians. They worked long hours and Sisi was an only child so she stayed at after-school care or was a latchkey kid when she got older. Their family moved from Staten Island, Virginia, to Washington DC, Maryland, and back to NYC where she lived in all the Boroughs except the Bronx. Sisi finally found stability at the United Nations International School in Manhattan. She only applied to one school for college, the State University of NY in Binghamton. She went there after her parents realized Harvard might be a reach for her. Sisi moved to Hawaii one year after she graduated college and met her “wasband” to whom she was married for 17 years. In February 2019, she decided to go to Hoffman because she felt completely empty even though professionally and materially things were better than ever. It was the emptiest existence she had felt and from the outside things were amazing. Her journey to and through Hoffman was really when she felt she started connecting to who she truly is. Sisi wonders how she survived those years of unconsciousness for so long.” You can follow Sisi on Instagram at Mindful Mediation Matters. As mentioned in this episode: Hoffman’s definition of a Surrogate Parent: • A surrogate parent is somebody who provided significant parental responsibility for you prior to the age of 13. These responsibilities may have included: Providing emotional or physical care Disciplining Providing safety, supervision, or control Being a role model These responsibilities may have been in addition to or in place of the care provided by your birth parent(s). Examples of surrogates can include stepparent, grandparent, relative, nanny, boarding school, significantly older sibling, full-time daycare, live-in partner of parent, etc. • Read this Hoffman grad’s story about how the Church was a surrogate parent in her life. Pre-Process Homework Packet: • The homework packet consists of a Confidential Enrollment Agreement and a Pre-Process assignment. A Hoffman enrollment counselor will contact you to explain the required paperwork upon enrollment. You will need to complete these to attend your Process. Gratitude Journal: • Hoffman’s “What I Know” Gratitude Journal can be purchased here. The Quadrinity Check-In • Learn more about the Quad-Check and other Hoffman Process tools here. • Join us on Instagram for a daily Quadrinity Check at 8:00 a.m. PT and an Appreciation & Gratitude practice at 6:00 p.m. PT. The Feelings/Sensations Sheet: • A full-page sheet of feelings and sensations to help guide you to name the feelings and/or sensations you are experiencing in the moment. (Download here.) Mediation: • Mediation Center of the Pacific    

Amy Thompson is a beloved Hoffman Teacher and Coach. In today’s episode, she shares her story of recovery, losing her father, the grief she experienced from his loss, and her experience going through cancer treatment while training to become a Hoffman Process teacher. And, really, Amy shares so much more. Listen in as Amy shares about learning she was accepted into the Hoffman teacher training program at the same time she received her cancer diagnosis. She knew she needed to care for both her body and her spirit. With an assured Yes to both, Amy embarked on a powerful journey of healing all of her Quadrinity through chemotherapy infusions and the work of the Process. Amy and Drew talk about the need to be responsible for our lives. One beautiful thing Amy got from the Process was realizing that her patterns were the source of feeling over-responsible for everyone else. By transforming these patterns into a more positive way of being through her work at the Process, she reclaimed her power. With this power, found she could step more fully into what she calls intense self-responsibility for how she shows up in every moment. Amy says, “Hoffman, for me, was not the end of my journey but definitely a huge milestone in my own recovery, in my own kind of recognition for who I am and this whole being able to be a good human.” Hoffman is a part of Amy’s family. Many in her family have done the Process. Amy’s mother-in-law, Nita Gage, is also a Hoffman Process teacher. Listen in as Amy shares so much more of her life and her Hoffman journey. We hope you enjoy this conversation. Discover more about Amy Thompson: Amy Thompson is a gifted and intuitive mentor and coach with over 20 years of experience as a counselor, retreat facilitator, and teacher. She has a passion for guiding people through transformational change with both groups and individuals from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. She holds a BA in Literature from Dominican University. An artist, Amy is also a sacred ceremony designer and public speaker. She brings with her a lifetime of training, teachings, and knowledge from an eclectic background of work in the field of human holistic mental health. She empowers those who work with her with mindful self-compassion and radical acceptance. Amy shares, “I’ve spent my career in service to others, working with adults and children in multiple arenas, including groups, workshops, coaching, and retreats for personal transformation. There is nothing else in the world as satisfying as watching a student/client create the change in their life that they long for and then thrive in it!” Follow Amy on Instagram. As mentioned in this episode: Buddhist term: Not-self/Non-self or Anattā Recovery: Definitions and more Marin AIDS Project (PDF) Harm Reduction Counseling Harm Reduction Therapy Needle Exchange Program (PDF) Stinson Beach Hoffman Institute Teacher Training Graduate Groups: Hoffman graduate groups are held fairly regularly. The primary purpose of grad groups is for graduates to do their Hoffman tools work together. Each group has a Hoffman-trained volunteer group leader. This leader oversees and leads the programs in alignment with the principles of the Process and Hoffman grad group protocols and standards. Chemotherapy • Chemo port Nita Gage – Hoffman teacher and Coach Burning Man • Burning of the Man • Art Cars Hoffman terminology: Expression and The Cycle of Transformation: The four steps in the cycle are Awareness, Expression, Compassion, and New Ways of Being. All four make up the Cycle of Transformation. Hoffman Tools: • Vicious Cycle – Patterns don’t just come at us one by one. They are clustered in “vicious cycles,” where one pattern can lead to another and then another, forming this “familiar” sequence of feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. Download the PDF found here for more information. • Victorious Cycle – A cycle of patterns that have been transformed into positive alternatives and a positive cycle.

As a young boy, award-winning artist Darieus Legg came to love the ocean. He grew up on a sailboat, eventually sailing to his new home on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi. At the age of nine, Darieus saw his first surfer magazine and the images of surfers reminded him of the dolphins that had followed along his family’s boat. He felt inspired to become a surfer. As time passed, Darieus realized he wasn’t cut out for competitive surfing and began to focus on making art. Eventually, he realized that whatever he was going to be doing needed to be less of “a means to an end” and more of “doing it for its own sake.” With this realization, what began to drive his work were both the pure love of creating and the opportunity to learn more about both making art and himself. Always a sensitive child, Darieus could feel things that seemed really unusual. He tried to toughen up and hide these feelings as he got older but when he was fifteen and his parents divorced, the experience felt ‘life-shattering.’ Later into adulthood, Darieus realized these painful feelings he’d stuffed away were causing him great suffering. Both his work and relationships were suffering, too. It was at this time that Darieus heard about the Hoffman Process from two different sources. What he heard resonated with his experience enough that he enrolled. Darieus had already done many different modalities of deeply spiritual work but they’d mostly been rooted in a solitary practice. For Darieus, being in a community during his Process was deeply healing. We hope you enjoy this animated, soulful conversation with Darieus and Liz. Discover more about Darieus Legg: Darieus Legg is an award-winning artist in five different disciplines of filmmaking. He creates live-action documentaries that use his hand-drawn 2D animations. His animated characters Uncle Wally and Aunty Mai play a vital role in educating the audience. As the featured artist in the 2023 Hawaiʻi International Film Festival, Darieus created the poster, key art, and trailer that plays before every film. His recent short film, Stoker Machine, serves as a proof of concept for asking people what makes them Stoked, and sharing the response through film and animation. Darieus creates aspirational content that explores human ingenuity, creativity, and resilience. He’s directed and executively produced Telly and AAF Gold award-winning content. His work has covered feature film, live-action documentary, commercial, professional learning, and animation. Darieus is the featured artist at this year’s Hawaiʻi International Film Festival. This festival runs from Oct 12-22 on O‘ahu – through Nov 5 on neighboring islands, Half Persian and half Irish, Darieus Legg grew up on a sailboat and on the big island of Hawaiʻi. Under the tutelage of Shane Dorian, Darieus excelled in surfing and competed professionally until he transitioned from surfing full-time to filmmaking in his early twenties. Next, he spent a decade in Hollywood learning from the best storytellers in the world. Still an avid surfer, he loves learning about and being in the ocean. He also loves reading and the magic of the movies. Find out more about Darieus through his website and follow him on Instagram.   As mentioned in this episode: Stoker Machine, Darieus’ film. Professional Surfing: • World Surf League • The history and meaning of Stoked: “So, when you hear an action sports enthusiast saying, “I’m stoked!” it means he/she is excited, euphoric, thrilled, ecstatic, exhilarated, pleased, delighted, exultant, happy, and overjoyed. According to surf historians, the expression became fashionable in California in the 1950s. A bit like the shaka, the “stoke” is strongly linked with surfers and wave riders.” • Surfing Magazine • Skegs (skags/fins on the surfboard) • Shane Dorian, Big Wave Surfer • World Tour Qualifying Series Big Island Hawai’i – Island of Hawaiʻi The Billabong House on the North Shore – tour with Shane Dorian Dolphins: Everything you need to know United States Merchant Marine Vietnam War The Vietnam anti-war movement Persians of Iran Minimalism (the ’80s) John Grisham, Author • The Firm • The Pelican Brief Illustration/Animation New Age Seth Speaks, by Jane Roberts Firewalking on coals TM – Transcendental Meditation Ashtanga Yoga Vipassana Meditation Dzogchen Tim Ferris podcast with Blake Mycoskie of TOMS shoes Neil Strauss The Truth: An Uncomfortable Book About Relationships Listen to Neil on the Hoffman Podcast: Healing as a Path of Honor

Certified executive coach and leadership consultant Kristen Esquivias sits down with Sharon for this intimate conversation about deep personal change, difficult times, and inner growth. Personal work offered through the Hoffman Institute invites students to step into real change in their lives. Wholeheartedly accepting this invitation, Kristen dove into the transformation awaiting her. She has done both the Hoffman Essentials course (2020) and the Hoffman Process (2021). Patterns of perfectionism can be very painful. Kristen describes the heaviness, suffering, and isolation that come from her experience of her perfectionist patterns. They can make life painful and lonely. She shares with us a moment during her Process when she realized that all of her patterns were completely absent. In those moments, she experienced freedom and a profound sense of possibility. Now embodied, Kristen carries this experience forward in her work with clients. Kristen shares how her work in both Hoffman Essentials and the Hoffman Process has helped her navigate the big changes she’s been through over the past three years. These changes have included her parents moving away, her divorce, the pandemic, her kids doing school at home through Covid, and setting out on a new career path as an entrepreneur. She also shares a somatic ritual she uses to bring herself back to the present moment, to give herself comfort and touch, and to give her a sense of belonging and rootedness. We hope you enjoy this insightful episode with Kristen and Sharon. Discover more about Kristen Esquivias: Kristen Esquivias is a certified executive coach and leadership consultant. She has nearly 15 years of experience in Strategy and Analytics roles in Corporate Retail in the SF Bay Area. She now works with individuals, teams, and organizations on personal growth, leadership development, and team dynamics. Kristen draws upon a variety of modalities to support her clients in leading and living a more fully expressed version of their authentic selves. She guides them as they upgrade their inner operating system in support of their growth and expansion. Kristen has an uncanny ability to create a compassionate, safe space for her clients. She brings levity to the depths and fullness of the human experience. She holds deep reverence for the sacred inner work her clients courageously navigate on their journey toward achieving their goals, vision, and greater impact in their world. A mom of two, Kristin is also a certified yoga teacher, a self-proclaimed personal growth junkie, a beach lover, and a sunset chaser. She values connection, authenticity, and growth. Kristen holds a Master’s and an Undergraduate degree in Statistics. She also has a minor in Psychology. She is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) through the ICF. She’s received certifications from the Coactive Training Institute and the Institute for Coaching Mastery. Kristen is also trained in the Enneagram and Leadership Circle 360 assessment. Find out more about Kristen and her work, here. Follow Kristen on Instagram. As mentioned in this episode: 2-Day Hoffman Essentials (H. E.) In this live virtual 2-day Hoffman Essentials program, Hoffman teachers will guide you through experiential activities, individual assignments, and engaging discussions to bring more understanding, love, and aliveness to your life. Become aware of and dismantle the barriers that stand in the way of living your best life. (Please note: This program is for people who have not participated in the Hoffman Process.) The experiences and learning from this program are designed to provide useful tools and practices that you can carry with you for a lifetime. Find out more here. Inner Child Work The Hoffman Quadrinity Process® helps participants identify negative behaviors, moods, and ways of thinking that developed unconsciously and were conditioned in childhood. Working with a Hoffman Coach Hoffman Life Coaches are certified, experienced Hoffman Process teachers. You can work with a Hoffman coach you already know or someone new. Hoffman terminology: Positive Legacy: The positive gifts we receive from our parents. Read a post on our blog that speaks to the power of positive legacy. Awareness Hell: In awareness hell, we know we are aware of our patterns. We’re aware of the things we do that we wish we didn’t do. Yet, we are still unable to change. We understand but feel stuck in this place of hell even though our awareness keeps expanding. To get out of awareness hell, our work to grow and transform must include three additional steps for change to take place. These three steps are Expression, Compassion, and New Ways of Being. All four make up the Cycle of Transformation.