This podcast explores how mindful presence shapes personal growth, from healing trauma to living mindfully. We cannot force personal growth through sheer willpower or simplistic formulas. We grow as we stay present and engaged while navigating the complexities of life. This approach to mindfulness is informed by the practice of therapy. Mindful presence is an essential part of the living process of change. It involves engaging with what happens as it happens. A recurring theme is Embodied Presence. I bring my perspective as a therapist to short talks and conversations with thoughtful guests.
Latest episodes
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33 min
Staying Whole in Conflict Through Mindful Presence
Conflict is not the enemy of love or of mindful presence. Serge Prengel and Russell Delman explore how staying present in difficult moments turns friction into personal growth. Sta…
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31 min
Inside a Trauma Therapist’s Mind with Glenn Fleisch
Step inside a therapist's process with Glenn Fleisch, Ph. D. LMFT, who brings 40 years of California clinical practice and extensive training in existential psychology and Focusing…
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12 min
Somatic therapy without body mindfulness?
When a client struggles to access body awareness, double downing on somatic techniques can feel like a demand. Exploring what happens when 'I don't know' opens a gap between therap…
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35 min
Aziz & Maoz: An Israeli and a Palestinian Refuse to Be Enemies
Therapist Serge Prengel speaks with peace activists Maoz Inon and Aziz Abu Sarah, co-authors of The Future Is Peace. Both having lost family to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, th…
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28 min
Presence Over Polarization: Discovering the Vibrant Center with Kirk Schneider
Therapist Serge Prengel speaks with existential humanist therapist Kirk Schneider about finding a "vibrant center"—an active, embodied state of presence, openness, and discernment.…
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22 min
Procrastination as a freeze response: Everyday Somatics with Jennifer Tantia
Host Serge Prengel talks with therapist Jennifer Tantia about somatics beyond trauma, exploring how everyday task avoidance, such as writer's block, is rooted in the body's freeze…
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18 min
Beyond Screen Addiction: Reclaiming Presence in the Attention Economy
This episode explores how the trillion-dollar attention economy targets ancient evolutionary survival mechanisms, turning screen addiction into a broader systemic issue. Rather tha…
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20 min
Meditation as a Living Process: Moving Beyond Forced Stillness
Exploring an experiential approach to meditation as a living process, this conversation reframes practice beyond trying to force calm or achieve stillness. Alexandra Pfohlmann and…
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50 min
Systemic shame & trauma healing: From isolation to connection: Merete Holm Brantbjerg
Merete Brantbjerg explores how moving from individual isolation to collective connection transforms trauma healing. She shares how systemic shame and societal avoidance create phys…
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42 min
Janina Fisher: Healing Trauma & Unblending From Our Fragmented Selves
Janina Fisher shares an active, trauma-informed approach to working with emotional fragmentation and trauma response. Instead of digging for forgotten memories, she highlights how…
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14 min
Looking Past Political Autopilot: Scary Does Not Mean Powerful
A subtle moment of reflection reveals how mindful awareness can interrupt our automatic, autopilot reactions to overwhelming political events. By moving past immediate emotional ou…
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29 min
Gentle Presence with John Amodeo: Turning Anxiety & Defensiveness into Connection
Therapist John Amodeo explores gentle presence as an embodied mindfulness practice for navigating real-time relational tension. Rather than forcing composure or relying on willpowe…
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22 min
Memory Reconsolidation: How Real Therapeutic Change Happens
Insight alone does not produce change. Real transformation happens when an experience touches us deeply enough to update old, rigid patterns. Exploring the parallel between memory…
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12 min
Meditation as Engagement: Mindfulness Is Not a Spectator Sport
Mindfulness is often defined as passive observation, but real clarity comes from active, embodied engagement. By shifting focus from mental clutter to present physical experience,…
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24 min
Where do you feel it in your body? Embodied Therapy When the Body Doesn’t Show up
What happens in embodied therapy when a client can’t answer, "Where do you feel it in your body?" When turning inward triggers tightening, blankness, or evasiveness, it isn't a fai…
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24 min
Where do you feel it in your body?
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50 min
Mindful Presence & Embodiment: A Conversation with Andrew Rosenstock
Therapist Serge Prengel speaks with Rolfer Andrew Rosenstock about embodiment as a living process rather than an abstract concept. Dropping pre-planned agendas, they explore real-t…
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52 min
Stephen Batchelor: Mindfulness Beyond Dogma & Rigid Rules
Stephen Batchelor joins therapist Serge Prengel to discuss how meaning emerges through encounters, practice, and real-time engagement rather than rigid doctrine. They explore movin…
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28 min
Embracing mindful connection & its transformational power
Serge Prengel and Bruce Nayowith explore the power of mindful human connections and their vital role in personal growth.
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26 min
Andrea Ruhland: Autism & Mindful Parenting
Andrea's journey as a mother to a daughter on the autism spectrum. This heartfelt conversation conveys a down-to-earth sense of the complexities and rewards of mindful parenting.