#16 How Indigenous Cultures Can Teach Us About Spirituality and Children with Bruce Alderman

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Bruce Alderman, MA is affiliate faculty in the College of Psychology at John F. Kennedy University. In 2005 he received his master’s degree from JFKU in Integral Psychology, with an emphasis on Transpersonal Counseling Psychology.  Prior to working at JFKU, he worked and studied abroad for several years in Asia, including teaching courses in creative writing and inquiry at a Krishnamurti school in India. His current areas of interest include Integral Theory and practice, transpersonal psychology, integral postmetaphysical spirituality, among others. In this enlightening podcast, Mr. Alderman shares his insights on listening to, talking with, and honoring children, based on what he has learned from his travels, his spiritual teachers, and from raising his own son.

“You are enough. Trust in life.”
— Bruce Alderman's advice to his 5 year old self
“...Meeting them where they are at, meeting them with more questions and not necessarily with answers, but trusting them to look together with you to something deeper.”
— Bruce Alderman, on talking to children

NOTES

  • Bruce recently launched a YouTube channel that includes conversations with friends and colleagues in the field of Integral Spirituality. Integral Theory is psychologist Ken Wilber’s philosophy, which integrates multiple psychological, scientific, religious and spiritual practices into one cohesive model.

  • While teaching in South Korea, Bruce was deeply saddened by the soul-crushing effect that expectations and pressure to succeed had on children and young people of all ages.

  • In contrast, in Indonesian cultures, particularly Bali and Java, children are spontaneously alive, creative and kind to each other. Children are considered sacred and are cuddled, loved, included in art, music and culture.

  • In Indonesia, both the light and the dark are honored in ceremonies and other aspects of culture.

  • Bruce’s impetus to become a teacher was largely due to the spiritual teacher Krishnamurti, who stressed the importance of interacting with children in a way to prevent them from becoming overly conditioned by society… not “shut down into narrow boxes.”

  • “I to I” is the practice of sitting with someone unconditionally with no expectations, also called “disidentification” because one lets go of the fragments of themselves that they hold on to to survive.

  • Dream Yoga is a Tibetan practice of using visualization as we fall asleep in order to remain lucid in our dreams. In so doing, problem solving, creativity and adventure become more accessible.

  • Words of wisdom:

    • Trust the capacity of children beyond what we expect. Listen. Allow them to express their ideas. Our culture tends to infantilize children.

    • Children have an incompleteness that needs the shaping of the world, but they possess an openness and capacity for communing with the world that we tend to shut down.

    • As adults it is important to try to reclaim our childlike qualities. Although it won’t be the same as it was, it can reconnect us with aspects of our potential.

  • Click HERE to read the full text of the William Wordsworth poem, Trailing Clouds of Glory.

You can Subscribe and Listen to the Podcast on Apple Podcasts. And while you’re there, please leave me a Rating and Review.

We do care what you think! What would YOU like to hear on the Interviews with Innocence Podcast? Click HERE to send us your thoughts.

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RESOURCES:

CONNECT WITH MARLA:

Do you have a spiritual story or an experience that you have experienced or a young child has shared with you?  Please contact Marla and share your story.

Thank you!

#15 Helping Others Embrace Their Spiritual Gifts with Jane Thompson

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Jane Thompson had a profound near-death experience in 2008 which changed her life dramatically.  Initially she struggled to integrate the aftereffects of her near-death experience, but after overcoming these challenges, she knew it was an important part of her life's path to compassionately help others to embrace their own spiritual gifts and sensitivities. Jane's focus is now on helping and healing others, serving as an intuitive healer, psychic medium and spiritual gifts coach for adults and children around the world, many who struggle with the unique challenges associated with their spiritual gifts.

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“These kids are really tuned into their intuition and they can provide some amazing insights... they’ll come up with things that’ll blow your mind.”
— Jane Thompson, on Spiritually Gifted Children
“The mind-quieting practice is so important for adults and kids.”
— Jane Thompson

NOTES:

  • In Jane’s practice she helps adults navigate coping with newly acquired spiritual gifts, and guides the parents/caregivers of spiritually gifted children.

  • Traits in these children vary, but can include the ability to see the spirit world or predict future events. High sensitivity to the emotions and energies of those around them is typical.

  • Jane’s NDE and newly acquired spiritual gifts was overwhelming and resulted in two years of reclusive behavior. Research on NDEs taught Jane that she was not alone in her struggles, and set her on a path to work with others to cope with and embrace their gifts.

  • As an energy healer, Jane encourages the release of negative (low vibrational) energy which causes blockages, while mixing it with the higher vibrational energy and light found in the spirit world.

  • Jane cites an example of a young boy who was observing a man in his room. She worked with his parents to empower the boy to tell the man to go away, thus empowering the boy and opening up lines of trust and communication between the parents and child.

  • To create a high vibrational environment, sage and rosewater are important ingredients, but intention is key.

  • Advice for parents/caregivers:

    • Let them know they are not alone; there are many others like them.

    • Normalize these qualities. Their sensitivities are not the whole of who they are.

    • Love these children through their struggles so they are not afraid.

    • Approach them with a sense of curiosity.

    • Encourage stories, pictures, dolls, role-playing as a forum for expression.

  • Adults can learn from the incredible intuition and insights these children provide.

  • By working with spiritually gifted children, adults can learn to tap into their own spiritual gifts, which can have an opening-up effect on families.

  • Check out Jane’s website, www.safehandshealing.com, which offers more information about her practice, including an Inner Child Healing Meditation and two video teachings.

You can Subscribe and Listen to the Podcast on Apple Podcasts. And while you’re there, please leave me a Rating and Review

We do care what you think! What would YOU like to hear on the Interviews with Innocence Podcast? Click HERE to send us your thoughts.

Would you like to be featured as a guest on the Interviews with Innocence Podcast? Contact Us, and tell us a few words about yourself!     

RESOURCES:

CONNECT WITH MARLA:

Have you had a spiritual experience? Do you have a story that a young child has shared with you?  Please contact Marla and share your story.

Thank you!

#14 A Fascinating Look at Spiritual and Energy Healing with Nic Whitham

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Nic Whitham is Director of Banyan Retreat, a beautiful sanctuary nestled in the heart of Kent in the UK where healing and other spiritual modalities take place.  Nic grew up in a spiritual family, however before he began his spiritual work, he was Executive Director and VP at Goldman Sachs.  Nic now works full time as a healer, with his partner Steven Sui, directing and offering a variety of spiritual and healing programs at Banyan. Podcast listeners will be captivated by this rare glimpse into the world of spiritual healing, trance mediumship, seance and more.

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“It takes many years of practice to be able to invite the spirit world into a safe place with you.”
— Nic Whitham, on Trance Mediumship
“Love is automatically embedded in all that you do in a healing capacity.”
— Nic Whitham

  • Nic Whitham grew up in a family of healers and was exposed at a young age to the remarkable results of energy healing on other humans. He knew early on that this would ultimately be his calling.

  • After a career in finance that took him around the globe, he returned to the UK and the world of energy healing and founded Banyan Retreat with his partner, Steven Sui.

  • There are many kinds of energy healing, including Reiki, Platform Mediumship and Trance Mediumship.

  • In trance healing, a medium invites the spirit world to blend its energy with that of the medium, who needs to be 100 percent submissive to allow this to happen. That energy can then be channeled through the medium to the places where it is most needed.

  • Most energy healing can be accomplished by the healer tapping into universal energy without the need to merge with the spirit world.

  • In Nic’s work, he is able to see people’s auras (colors) which enables him to know which area of the client’s body has issues. He can then channel his energy towards that part of the body that needs repair.

  • Energy healing often requires multiple sessions to be fully effective.

  • Nic described two miraculous examples of using healing practices to cure young children. Children, more so than adults, are more accepting of energy healing because they are less removed from the spirit world and more connected to the aura field.

  • In the US it is difficult to find reputable healers. The UK has its own umbrella organization: The British Alliance of Healing Organizations.

  • Interestingly, healing energy knows where it is needed most. Healing can also be accomplished remotely.

  • Nic highly encourages parents to support their children’s connection to the spirit world, and to talk about their experiences with imaginary friends, etc.

  • Nic described a most extraordinary Christmas Seance at Banyan retreat, where the spirits of children who has been denied happy childhoods were invited to visit and experience holiday gifts and toys.

  • Click HERE to read a wonderful article about Nic and Steven’s work at Banyan Retreat.

You can Subscribe and Listen to the Podcast on Apple Podcasts. And while you’re there, please leave me a Rating and Review.

RESOURCES:

CONNECT WITH MARLA:

Do you have a spiritual story or an experience that you have experienced or a young child has shared with you?  Please contact Marla and share your story.

Thank you!

#13 Children and the Near Death-Experience With PMH Atwater

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Dr. P.M.H. Atwater, L.H.D. is an international authority on near death experiences. A survivor of 3 near-death episodes herself, she has completed over 38 years of research on the subject, and has written 18 books, including her most recent book, “The Forever Angels: Near Death Experiences in Childhood and Their Lifelong Impact”. In her quest for knowledge she has interviewed over 5000 people, including young children who have had such experiences, and older adults who have lived their lives after NDEs. Her immersion in the topic has led her to the firm belief that the near-death experience is not an anomaly, but part of a consciousness transformation or “brain shift”. In this interview, you will learn about how children describe their glimpses of the divine and the many ways their lives are affected as they move forward.

 
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Dr. Atwater’s exuberance is infectious, and her passion for her subject knows no bounds!

“Our souls make certain we remember who we are so we can always make our way back to the lifestream.

God’s breath is what keeps the universe alive.”
— P.M.H. Atwater, Quoting Children

NOTES:

  • Children process near-death experiences much differently than adults do. They typically see a series of three very different lights, and there is always a “father figure” of some sort, as well as animals and birds.

  • When talking to young children after an NDE it is crucial to get down on their level and never have your eyes be above theirs, so that they don’t talk to please the adult.

  • Children find it challenging to be back in “real life” when others don’t understand. There is a longing to return to the light.

  • The near-death experience suggests that there is not an afterlife, but an ongoing life stream.

  • A devastating tornado in Missouri resulted in many children experiencing a phenomena of “butterfly people” who saved them from being caught in the tornado. Could these be angels?

  • Very important to let these children (of NDEs) talk and express themselves; prayer, rituals, centerpieces and alters are encouraged.

  • Accept children on their level and realize the truth in what they say. Respect, honor and don’t judge; allow a child to be a child.

  • Biggest lesson for Dr. Atwater: She is at ease wherever she goes, even in scary places, and has strong trust in her inner guidance.

  • There is much more information on Dr. Atwater’s website, including links to her books as well as a free monthly newsletter.

You can Subscribe and Listen to the Podcast on Apple Podcasts. And while you’re there, please leave me a Rating and Review

We do care what you think! What would YOU like to hear on the Interviews with Innocence Podcast? Click HERE to send us your thoughts.

Would you like to be featured as a guest on the Interviews with Innocence Podcast? Contact Us, and tell us a few words about yourself!     

RESOURCES:

CONNECT WITH MARLA:

Do you have a spiritual story or an experience that you have experienced or a young child has shared with you?  Please contact Marla and share your story.

Thank you!

#12 Using Quietness to Create a Sacred Space with Lacy Borgo

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Lacy Finn Borgo teaches and provides spiritual direction for the Renovaré Institute and is the the DMin (Doctor of Ministry) in Spiritual Direction at Fuller Theological Seminary and at Portland Seminary. Lacy provides spiritual direction for adults and children through Good Dirt Ministries and provides spiritual direction for children at Haven House, a transitional facility for the homeless. Listen to the story of Lacy’s spiritual journey, from her early years in west Texas, to the inner city schools of New York, and then to a simpler life in Colorado where she continued to expand her ministry and her work with young children. This remarkable woman recognizes the immensity of the divine gift that we share when we can sit with children and quietly listen without expectations or judgement. Tune in for another awakening episode of Interviews with Innocence!

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TIME STAMPS

  • 0:47 Meet Lacy Finn Borgo

  • 1:47 The start of the spiritual journey

  • 4:46 Lacy’s early education and direction

  • 5:30 The story of Christopher, a young New York inner city child

  • 8:45 The gift of “listening another person to life”, and being fully present

  • 11:05 You don’t always need words to understand, one’s presence can be enough

  • 11:50 The move to Colorado, and the gift of time and space

  • 15:50 Getting in touch with one’s childhood self - an exercise to try

  • 17:00 Describing “soul pings”, or “pings of the Divine”

  • 18:45   Talking to children about prayer

  • 21:30    How the dimensions of the self become integrated during different life stages

  • 22:30    Lacy’s work at Haven House, a homeless transitional facility

  • 24:00 Getting rid of the “shoulds” when listening to children.            

  • 24:25 B.O.W - Body, Openess and Awareness - how to listen to children

  • 26:15 Introducing the new book

  • 29:55   Holy leisure - using quietness to create a sacred space

  • 30:45   More about Lacy’s book

  • 31:40   Lacy’s greatest lesson from children - being open to mystery, wonder, awe and beauty

  • 32:40 Rewiring the brain by daydreaming and looking at clouds

  • 35:14   Final thoughts about the wisdom of children

 
“I knew I wasn’t alone, and I had a sense that I was loved.”
— Lacy Borgo, at 5 Years Old
“A spiritual direction is really a practice of accompanying another as they become awake to the divine.”
— Lacy Borgo
“We’re really moving in a spiral, into the heart and the divine.”
— Lacy Borgo

You can Subscribe and Listen to the Podcast on Apple Podcasts. And while you’re there, please leave me a Rating and Review

We do care what you think! What would YOU like to hear on the Interviews with Innocence Podcast? Click HERE to send us your thoughts.

Would you like to be featured as a guest on the Interviews with Innocence Podcast? Contact Us, and tell us a few words about yourself!     

RESOURCES:

Connect with Marla Hughes of Interviews With Innocence:

Do you have a spiritual story or an experience that you have experienced or a young child has shared with you?  Please contact Marla and share your story.

Thank you!

#11 The Trail Blazer Who Coined Near-Death Experience by Dr Raymond Moody

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Meet the man who blazed the trail and those who have followed in his footsteps. When Raymond Moody MD, Ph.D. began his research into near-death experiences in 1968, he was a skeptic and an atheist. Now he is neither. This psychologist, physician and author is most widely known for his books about life after death and near-death experiences (NDE), a term that he coined in 1975 in his best-selling book Life After Life. 

This fascinating and delightful man, who is both a doctor of medicine and a doctor of philosophy, shares a lifetime of wisdom and experience regarding near-death and the life beyond, as seen through the eyes of a multitide of individuals as well as bystanders and loved ones. He is a firm believer in the afterlife. Listen to this podcast and find out why!

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“I have never been so alive as when I heard that doctor say I was dead”
— Dr. Raymond Moody (Quote From Patient)
“To my utter astonishment, there is an afterlife.”
— Dr. Raymond Moody

TIME STAMPS:

  • 2:34 - How Dr. Moody’s interest began as a child 

  • 9:15 - Common experiences of those close to death

  • 16:00 - Current scientific debate - modern philosophers

  • 17:30 - Common experience of bystanders who “connect” with the dying person

  • 20:30 - Pre-birth memories 

  • 21:59 - Kids’ memories - still remembering the origin

  • 29:20 - George Richie and the Halls of Learning

  • 31:45 - How has Dr. Moody’s experience changed the way he sees life?

  • 33:00 - Jeff Olson’s experience

  • 35:00 - How to find more information about Dr. Moody

You can Subscribe and Listen to the Podcast on Apple Podcasts. And while you’re there, please leave me a Rating and Review

We do care what you think! What would YOU like to hear on the Interviews with Innocence Podcast? Click HERE to send us your thoughts.

Would you like to be featured as a guest on the Interviews with Innocence Podcast? Contact Us, and tell us a few words about yourself!     

RESOURCES:

Connect with Marla Hughes of Interviews With Innocence:

Do you have a spiritual story or an experience that you have experienced or a young child has shared with you?  Please contact Marla and share your story.

Thank you!

#10 Interweaving Music, Aromatherapy and Energy Healing with Ellen Whealton

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Ellen Whealton, MA, MT-BC is a board-certified music therapist and energy healer in San Diego California. She has a Masters in Transpersonal Counseling with an emphasis in Music Therapy from Naropa University in Boulder. She is trained in the Bonny Method of Guided imagery and Music, Holotropic Breathwork, Reiki, and Aroma-Release. She is also an instructor for online courses and presents CEUs for music therapists and counseling psychologists around the globe. In this episode, Ellen will talk about her near-death experience when she was still twelve years old and how she fell into a coma for a week after the accident. Being a parent and a wife has transformed her life even more and while she is going through tough times, there’s still a lot of love that supports her through it all. Tune in for an inspirational episode of Interviews with Innocence.

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“It’s different for everyone. It’s music, it’s nature and it’s gratitude and light. These things are always available. ”
— Ellen Whealton, music therapist and healer
“There is that divine energy always available to us”
— Ellen Whealton, music therapist and healer

TIME STAMPS:

  • 2:41     What happened?

  • 3:33     Ellen’s near-death experience

  • 6:45     12 years old but the memory remains clear as day

  • 7:48     Jesus and Buddha

  • 9:18     Why take the direction to heal?

  • 10:53    The outlet - Music

  • 12:46    Kids have more insight into the higher power

  • 14:18 Validate and listen to your child

  • 16:52 Quiet time - why at night?

  • 18:02 Navigate now, change the future

  • 19:43 How to clear, refresh and lower your stress level with oils and other methods

  • 21:50   Intuitive kids - how do you know

  • 23:26   Crystal bowls and soundtracks for mood

  • 25:24   What do kids teach us?

  • 27:32   What helps you through the tough times

  • 32:57  How to use the oils in the right way

  • 34:32   Life began - where would you be without the near-death experience?

  • 35:17    Saint Germain and messages

  • 38:05    How to connect with Ellen

  • 39:19    Recipes for the best therapy 

A Recipe From Ellen Whealton: DIY Peppermint Foot Cream

Here's a great DIY recipe for creating gifts, party take-homes, or for treating yourself to some pampering! It has an invigorating sensation – the combination of aloe and peppermint feels cool and refreshing. Adding the Lavender to this soothes your skin and creates aromatherapy to calm your mind and promote relaxation.

You may like trying this with sugar added to create a DIY body scrub.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup of coconut oil – the kind that's solid at room temperatur

  • ½ cup aloe vera gel

  • 15 drops Lavender essential oil

  • 10 drops Peppermint essential oil

  • Note: You can add more or less of the above ingredients.

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients into a glass bowl or a stand mixer if making a larger batch;

2. Whip ingredients together for a couple of minutes. You'll know it's done when it is light and fluffy!

3. Scoop it into glass jar(s) with an airtight lid(s), then store in a relatively cool spot so your mixture doesn't liquefy too much. Small glass mason jars work perfectly for this!

You can Subscribe and Listen to the Podcast on Apple Podcasts. And while you’re there, please leave me a Rating and Review

We do care what you think! What would YOU like to hear on the Interviews with Innocence Podcast? Click HERE to send us your thoughts.

Would you like to be featured as a guest on the Interviews with Innocence Podcast? Contact Us, and tell us a few words about yourself!     

RESOURCES:

Marla’s Website: http://www.interviewswithinnocence.com

Ellen’s website: http://www.wellnessmusictherapy.com/

Ellen’s Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/wellnessmusictherapy/

Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts

Listen to this episode on Spotify

Connect with Marla Hughes of Interviews With Innocence:

Do you have a spiritual story or an experience that you have experienced or a young child has shared with you?  Please contact Marla and share your story.

Thank you!