Women's Spirituality

CIIS students and alumni reflect on the moments that changed everything — inside and outside the classroom.

Tantra and Yoga are practices rooted in Indic spiritual traditions that share long, intertwined and complex histories. Often, we encounter tantra and yoga as forms of exercise, self-care, sex, or as pathways to personal wellness. However, these powerful, multifaceted practices are much more than that.

In this episode, Dr. Anna Corwin, Chair of the CIIS Women’s Spirituality Program facilitates an illuminating conversation between Dr. Sundari Johansen, Assistant Professor of Women’s Spirituality, and Anjali Rao, yoga practitioner-educator and author of Yoga as Embodied Resistance.

This episode was recorded during an in-person and live streamed event at California Institute of Integral Studies on October 16th, 2025. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

It is possible to heal ourselves and our planet if we are open to the power of integrating multiple and often conflicting views. In their lives and work, authors and CIIS faculty members Alka Arora, Jeanine M. Canty, and Sara H. Salazar demonstrate this power and possibility.

In this episode, we are joined by these three inspirational scholars for a conversation exploring their personal and professional experiences straddling social and ecological issues and how navigating these edges has surfaced new models and practices for collective healing.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on October 1st, 2025. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

In 1979, Loretta Ross was a single mother who’d had to drop out of Howard University. She was working at Washington, DC’s Rape Crisis Center when she got a letter from a man in prison saying he wanted to learn how to not be a rapist anymore. At first, she was furious. As a survivor of sexual violence, she wanted to write back pouring out her rage. But instead, she made a different choice, a choice to reject the response her trauma was pushing her towards, a choice that set her on the path towards developing a philosophy that would come to guide her whole career: rather than calling people out, try to call even your unlikeliest allies in. Hold them accountable—but do so with love.

A Black Feminist, activist, professor, and author, Loretta has spent five remarkable decades in activism.  She’s deprogrammed white supremacists and taught convicted rapists the principles of feminism and it’s worked because the power of Loretta Ross’s message comes from who she is and what she’s lived through.  

Join CIIS Women’s Spirituality Professor Dr. Alka Arora for a powerful and inspiring conversation with Loretta about her life’s work and her latest book Calling In, a memoir-manifesto-handbook about how to rein in the excesses of cancel culture so we can truly communicate and solve problems together. Loretta discusses how using conversation instead of conflict—by focusing on your shared values over a desire for punishment—is the more strategic choice if you want to make real change.  

Whether in the workplace, on a college campus, or in your living room, learn how to transform frustrating and divisive conflicts that stand in the way of real connection with the people in your life.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on Wednesday, April 2, 2025. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Women’s Spirituality Co-Chair and Associate Professor Annette Williams is retiring this year after an illustrious career.

Michelle Tea is best known for her book, Modern Tarot, which is now a cult classic. Her latest book, Modern Magic, explores her magical roots. Sharing how she crafted her own magical practice, Michelle offers a framework to tap into the distinctive magic that lies within each of us, a framework that incorporates queer, feminist, anti-racist, and intersectional values.

In this episode, self-described DIY witch, professional tarot reader, author, and feminist icon Michelle Tea is joined by arts-based, psychedelic-assisted ancestral psychotherapist Camara Meri Rajaberi for an illuminating conversation that explores modern magic.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on November 6th, 2024. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

The Department of Women's Spirituality honors International Women's Day by challenging oppression, sharing wisdom, and fostering justice, liberation, and community healing.

For Afro-Indigenous intuitive healer and scholar Jennifer Vest, being an ethical psychic means being of service and learning how to navigate the thorny issues and unique risks inherent to intuitive work. In her latest book, The Ethical Psychic, Dr. Vest explores how and why energy workers must be of service, authentic, and self-aware. They must learn from their mistakes, embody sensitivity to client needs, be humble, and listen to a higher source.

In this episode, Dr. Vest is joined by CIIS Associate Professor and Chair of the Women’s Spirituality program Annette Williams for an illuminating conversation exploring how psychics and energy workers can build an authentic, equitable, and culturally sensitive healing practice.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on October 27th, 2022. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

When we understand and engage with our dreams we can tap into a special, deeper kind of healing. The process of healing is not about putting the same pieces back together, rather it is about reclaiming what is already within us that could not be broken—the essence of who we are as individuals and as interconnected parts of a greater whole.

In this episode, author and health and wellness practitioner Kathleen Webster O'Malley shares her practices of using our dreams to heal unwanted patterns and live more authentically. She is joined in conversation by mindfulness, trauma and racial healing leader Jenée Johnson.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on November 3rd, 2022. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Black Queer Feminists Cara Page and Erica Woodland’s work focuses on political and spiritual liberation grounded in Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and Queer and Trans healing justice lineages. Their work guides individuals through the history, legacies, and liberatory practices of healing justice—a political strategy of collective care and safety that intervenes in the generational trauma caused by systemic violence and oppression.

In this episode, Cara and Erica discuss their recent collaboration as editors of the anthology Healing Justice Lineages, a profound and urgent call to embrace community and survivor-led care strategies as models that push beyond commodified self-care, the policing of the medical industrial complex, and the surveillance of the public health system.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on February 2, 2023. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Koans are the record of provocative, and often paradoxical, exchanges between Zen masters and their students developed in medieval China. In her practice and writing, renowned Zen teacher Joan Sutherland reimagines the koan tradition with allegiance to its root spirit and to its profound potential for vivifying, subverting, and sanctifying our lives.

In this episode, Joan is joined by clinical psychologist Megan Rundel in a conversation exploring how practice with Zen koans makes us permeable to the joys and the anguish of this life—and to the primordial mystery we glimpse behind the veil of the everyday.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on July 27th, 2022. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Between 2016 and 2018, essayist and humor writer Elissa Bassist saw over 20 medical professionals for a variety of mysterious ailments. Elissa had what millions of American women had: pain that didn’t make sense to doctors, a body that didn’t make sense to science, and a psyche that didn’t make sense to mankind. Then an acupuncturist suggested some of her physical pain could be caged fury finding expression, and that treating her voice would treat the problem. It did.

In her memoir Hysterical, Elissa shares how growing up, her family, boyfriends, school, work, and television all had the same expectation for a woman’s voice: less is more. Elissa shares her journey of a voice lost and found and discusses new ways to think about a woman’s voice—where it’s being squashed and where it needs amplification.

In this episode, Elissa is joined by novelist and MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts and Writing Professor Carolyn Cooke for an empowering conversation about how girls and women internalize and perpetuate directives about their voices and explore ways for them to unmute, listen to themselves, and use their voices again and again without regret.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on December 7th, 2022. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

What is the role of holistic and spiritual wisdom in social justice education? How do we address the disconnect between our social justice aspirations and institutions that are mired in bureaucratic processes?

In this episode, CIIS Dean of Faculty Development, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Danielle Drake and Women’s Spirituality faculty member Alka Arora address these questions and more in an illuminating conversation on how integral education—when understood through a critical feminist lens—can be a profound means of social transformation.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on September 6th, 2023. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Sonya Renee Taylor is a world-renowned activist and thought leader on racial justice, body liberation, and transformational change. Her best-selling book, The Body Is Not an Apology, offers a radical framework for self-love and has helped many to identify and dismantle bodily-based hierarchies to build new worlds of possibility and justice.

In Sonya’s newest book, The Book of Radical Answers, she provides honest, empowering and age-appropriate answers to real questions from young readers about health, sex, gender, race, and justice.

In this episode, CIIS Dean of Faculty Development, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Danielle Drake joins Sonya for a healing and transformative conversation that explores how we can open ourselves to seeking radical answers to the world’s most pressing and painful questions, and how we may find our own liberation through the journey.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on October 25th, 2023. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

The I Ching, also known as The Book of Changes, is a 3000-year-old Chinese divination text. Many use the I Ching as a tool for life guidance, spiritual practice, and ancestral connection. It is a revelation of metaphysical philosophy, epistemology, and ethics, as well as a book of occult secrets.

In this episode, celebrated occultist and scholar Benebell Wen is joined by certified professional tarot reader, creator, and author T. Susan Chang for an illuminating conversation on Benebell’s historic new translation and annotations of the I Ching which brings the power and mysticism of The Book of Changes to our contemporary world.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on February 15th, 2024. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Layla K. Feghali is a cultural worker and folk herbalist who lives between her ancestral village in Lebanon, and California, where she was raised. Her work is dedicated to restoring relationships to earth-based ancestral wisdom as an avenue towards eco-cultural stewardship, healing, and liberation.

In this episode, Layla is joined by initiated Priestess, Energy Worker, Medicine Woman, and Flower Practitioner Maryam Hasnaa for a profound conversation that invites us to remember our roots, to deepen our relationship with the lands where we live in diaspora, and is a beckoning call towards belonging, healing, and freedom through tending the land in your own bones.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on April 4th, 2024. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Empathy is so much more than feeling deeply—it holds transformative power to heal ourselves, strengthen our relationships, and amplify our purpose. Psychiatrist and bestselling author Judith Orloff presents empathy as a daily healing practice and a form of emotional intelligence accessible to all. Drawing on insights from neuroscience, psychology, and energy medicine, Dr. Orloff’s newest book, The Genius of Empathy, shows us how to access our sensitivities, soothe our nervous systems, and stop absorbing the emotions of others.

In this episode, Dr. Orloff is joined by empath, spiritual seeker, and intuitive healer Laura Rowe for a conversation about igniting empathy as a superpower for transformative personal healing, deeper relationships, and more potent work in the world.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on April 24th, 2024. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Christopher Marmolejo is a Brown, queer, and trans writer, diviner, and educator who uses divination to promote a literacy of liberation. In their latest book, Red Tarot, each card’s interpretation is further bolstered by the teachings of Toni Morrison, bell hooks, Paulo Freire, José Esteban Muñoz, and others in an offering that integrates intersectional wisdom with the author’s divination practice—revealing tarot as an essential language for liberation.

In this episode, Christopher is joined by arts-based, psychedelic-assisted ancestral psychotherapist Camara Meri Rajabari for a conversation that moves beyond self-help and the Hellenistic frame of tarot to reclaim it for liberation, self-determination, and collective healing.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on March 23, 2024. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Exploring the Department of Women's Spirituality and celebrating with two events

Dr. Keller crossed over on the morning following the Winter Solstice as the light and lengthening of days returned to the northern hemisphere.

The American Dream as it has been defined for more than a century is about the well-paying job, the nuclear family, and upward mobility. But what both clouds and defines that dream is the distance between us, our neighbors, and that we, our communities, are defined by the dichotomy of winners and losers. What has been lost in many people’s day to day and in the larger American Dream is the key element that helped many of us to succeed in the first place—community.

In this episode, author and activist Mia Birdsong is joined by Rachel Bryant for a conversation on reclaiming family, friendship, and communities. Sharing insights from her book, How We Show Up, Mia highlights how we can return to our inherent connectedness to find strength, safety, and support in vulnerability and generosity, in asking for help, and in being accountable.

This episode contains some explicit language. It was recorded during a live online event on April 22, 2021. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

What would it be like to live in a well-rested world? For far too many of us, we have claimed productivity as the cornerstone of success. Brainwashed by capitalism, we subject our bodies and minds to work at an unrealistic and damaging pace. In this world, rest, in its simplest form, becomes an act of resistance and a reclaiming of power because it asserts our most basic humanity.

Tricia Hersey, aka the Nap Bishop is an artist, theologian, and the founder of The Nap Ministry, an organization that examines rest as a form of resistance by curating sacred spaces for the community to rest through Collective Napping Experiences, immersive workshops, and performance art installations. Tricia’s work is rooted in spiritual energy and centered in Black liberation, womanism, somatics, and Afrofuturism.

In this episode, Tricia is joined in a conversation with Damali Robertson on the liberating power of rest, daydreaming, and naps as the foundation of healing and justice. Sharing insights from her latest book, Rest Is Resistance, Tricia casts an illuminating light on our troubled relationship with rest and how to imagine and dream our way to a future where rest is exalted.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on October 20th, 2022. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Yung Pueblo’s (Diego Perez) path to deep healing began after years of drug use had taken a toll on his mind and body. Searching for a way forward, he found that by honestly examining and addressing the anxieties and fears that he had been running away from, he no longer felt like a stranger inside of his heart and mind. Once he dedicated himself to meditation and trusting his intuition, he started to finally feel mentally lighter—with more love emerging from within. This was not an easy journey, and it's one that he is still on, but it showed him that real healing is possible.

In this episode, Damali Robertson joins Diego for an inspiring conversation exploring how we can all move forward in our healing—from learning self-compassion to letting go, to becoming emotionally mature. Drawing upon insights from his life and latest book, Lighter, Diego shares that as our minds begin to stop feeling overburdened with tension, we can reconnect with the present, and the world around us will become more inviting, crisp, and newly vibrant.

This episode was recorded during an in-person and live streamed event at First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco on October 14th, 2022. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

An interview with CIIS Professor Monica Mody about her new book of poetry Bright Parallel, detailing her inspirations as well as her writing and teaching process

An abstract of Dr. William’s essay and part of a series of essays in the new book, Spiritual Healing from Sexual Violence: An Intersectional Guide.

In this episode, comedian, activist, and author Franchesca Ramsey is joined in conversation by author and comedian Sarah Cooper about the many ways we communicate with each other.

This episode was recorded during an event on June 2, 2018 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

We know our planet is in trouble and we’re seeing direct effects on human heath as a result. It’s estimated that we have fewer than 60 harvests left in our world’s soil and that our oceans will be 70 percent more acidic in just 30 years. These aren’t doomsday prophecies—this is our realistic future if we don’t act now.

Author and policy expert Erin McMorrow believes that we can heal our planet by restoring our natural connection with the Earth and the divine feminine. Through her work and her writing, Dr. McMorrow teaches us how to transform ourselves, our socioeconomic systems, and the environment that sustains us by aligning with the natural cycles of the Earth.

In this episode, Dr. McMorrow is joined in a conversation with renegade economist Della Z Duncan. They discuss Dr. McMorrow’s book, Grounded, in which she explores both the ecological and spiritual basis of our existing climate crises as well as wisdom and tools to initiate a transformation to save our soils and our souls.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on March 24, 2021. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Astrologer and psychic medium Jessica Lanyadoo is joined in conversation by M.A. in Somatic Counseling Psychology student and local actor Madeline H.D. Brown to discuss self-compassion, astrology, and why you should never look at your crush’s chart.

This episode was originally recorded live with an in-person audience on March 20th, 2019. A transcript is available below.

Born in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive, mindfulness teacher Sister Dang Nghiem (Sister D) is an inspiration for anyone who has ever suffered from abuse, life-changing loss, severe illness, or the aftermath of war. Her work brings together her experience as a survivor, certified MD, and ordained Buddhist teacher to offer a body-based, practical approach to healing from life’s most difficult and painful experiences.

In this episode, CIIS Integrative Health Studies Professor Megan Lipsett talks with Sister D about her life, her work, and her newest book to learn how the practice of mindfulness can help us access our strength as survivors and tap into the joy of being alive.

This episode contains mentions of abuse, trauma, and violence. It includes a brief guided meditation lead by Sister D. It was recorded during a live online event on January 21, 2021. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

To create a world free from oppression, we have to come face to face with the beliefs, stories, and actions that maintain these systems within ourselves. In Indigenous cultures throughout the world, it's understood that true transformation starts in the body, with a change of heart. But how can we create a new story of transformation and liberation in the world if we haven't learned to heal our own stories?

In this episode, author and shamanic healer Langston Kahn is joined by energy worker and spiritual practitioner Maryam Hasnaa for a deep conversation exploring how we can address the root of past trauma and heartbreak to reclaim our personal and collective power.

This episode contains explicit language. It was recorded during a live online event on January 26, 2021. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Empaths not only sense other people’s emotions, but also absorb them—sometimes to their disadvantage, often leading to overwhelming sensory overload and feelings of confusion or low self-esteem. Their willingness to help and please others might make them prey to opportunists or cause them to give away more energy than they can afford.

But international speaker, cancer survivor, and author Anita Moorjani argues that it’s possible to turn this onslaught of emotional burden into a powerful tool. In a time when traits like sensitivity, kindness, and compassion are sorely undervalued, Anita helps empaths navigate obstacles they may face and identify what makes them unique.

In this episode, May Elawar, CIIS Professor in Women’s Spirituality, talks with Anita about her latest book, Sensitive Is the New Strong, as well as her life and work teaching others to harness and foster their empathic gifts in today’s difficult, fear-based world.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on March 17, 2021. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Apela Colorado is a traditional cultural practitioner and Indigenous scientist dedicated to creating a bridge between Western thought and Indigenous worldviews. In her latest book, Woman Between the Worlds, Dr. Colorado invites us to explore how Indigenous wisdom resonates in modern life while lovingly teaching us to honor its power, beauty, and potential.

In this episode, CIIS faculty Susana Bustos joins Dr. Colorado for a conversation about her lifelong journey connecting with the essence of Indigenous spirituality and culture, and reawakening to the wisdom of her Native American and French Gaul ancestors.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on November 4th, 2021. Access the transcript below.

Professor Arora focused her talk on the interconnected suffering of all genders under patriarchy and the power of witnessing others’ gender stories

A statement from the Women's Spirituality department for International Women's Day and Women's History Month

Shot at by police as an 11-year-old child for playing baseball in the wrong spot, as an adult Larry Ward continued to experience racialized trauma when his home was firebombed by racists. At Plum Village Monastery in France, he found a way to heal with his teacher, Vietnamese peace activist and Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh.

Now a Zen Buddhist teacher and author, Dr. Ward's work examines the causes and conditions that have led us to our current state, and he finds—hidden in the crisis—a profound opportunity to reinvent what it means to be a human being. This is an invitation to transform America’s racial karma.

In this episode, Women's Spirituality Professor Alka Arora talks with Dr. Ward as he shares what he has learned through his own life and work, and invites us to transform our society and heal our racial karma.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on October 6, 2020. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

What exactly is sexual attraction and what is it like to go through life not experiencing it? What does asexuality reveal about gender roles, romance and consent, and the pressures of society? In her latest book, Ace, journalist Angela Chen set out to further understand her own asexuality by examining the perspectives of a diverse group of asexual people.

In this episode, Angela is joined by journalist Sabrina Imbler for a conversation about what it means to be asexual in a world that’s obsessed with sexual attraction, and what the ace perspective can teach all of us about desire and identity.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on October 29, 2020. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

The stress, conflict, and crises of the outer world are a signal: the time has come to awaken your inner shaman. However, you don’t need to be initiated into concealed mysteries to answer the call from Spirit. Internationally renowned shamanic teacher Marcela Lobos teaches us how to use the maps offered by the shamanic Medicine Wheel and the hero’s journey to activate our inner wisdom and live a self-realized existence of discovery, healing, and wholeness.

In this episode, CIIS faculty and psychologist Susana Bustos has a conversation with Marcela about her life, her work, and her latest book: Awakening Your Inner Shaman: A Woman's Journey of Self-Discovery through the Medicine Wheel.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on May 14, 2021. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Endorsement of the international convocation

Do you fear that growing old means being trapped in a body filled with aches, pains, and losses? Many of us do—especially women. Though our youth-obsessed society is partly to blame, psychologist Susan Sands explains there is a deeper and unrecognized factor—we have never really gotten to know our bodies, to sense and feel our bodies from the inside out.

In her latest book, The Inside Story, she offers a much-needed guide for helping us understand, befriend, and support our bodies as we grow older. In this episode, Dr. Sands is joined by Integrative Health Studies Professor Meg Jordan for a conversation exploring how the powerful tools of embodiment can help you experience aging as a vital, optimistic, and transformative journey.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on April 27th, 2022. Access the transcript below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

A statement from the Women's Spirituality department on the occasion of International Women's Day 2022

The powerful new volume was edited by East-West Psychology Professor, Debashish Banerji and Professor Emeritus, Robert McDermott.

Carol Patrice Christ was and will remain one of the foremothers and most brilliant voices of the Women’s Spirituality movement

On the Occasion of March 8 - International Women's Day and Women's History Month

Mainstream feminists rarely talk about meeting basic needs as a feminist issue, but food insecurity, access to quality education, safe neighborhoods, a living wage, and medical care are all feminist issues. All too often, however, the focus is not on basic survival for the many, but on increasing privilege for the few.

In Mikki Kendall's latest book, Hood Feminism, she takes aim at the legitimacy of the modern feminist movement, arguing that it has chronically failed to address the needs of all but a few women. Drawing on her own experiences with hunger, violence, and hyper-sexualization, she delivers an irrefutable indictment of a movement in flux and issues a ferocious clarion call to all would-be feminists.

In this episode, psychologist and CIIS Professor Danielle Drake talks with Mikki about writing Hood Feminism, her life, and the lessons she has learned.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on September 23, 2020. You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

In this episode Kirah Tabourn, educator, creator, and astrologer of THE STROLOGY, talks with Bay Area astrologer and medium Jessica Lanyadoo about her life and work, her book Astrology for Real Relationships, and how her book—and astrology more broadly—can be applied to a diverse set of relationships and our current times.

This episode contains explicit language. It was recorded during a live online event on August 27, 2020. You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Sherri Mitchell (Weh’na Ha’mu Kwasset) is a Native American attorney, teacher, and award-winning activist who grew up on the Penobscot Indian Reservation (Indian Island), Maine, and is the author of Sacred Instructions: Indigenous Wisdom for Living Spirit-Based Change.

In this episode, she is joined in a conversation with healer and movement builder Brenda Salgado. Together they explore Native American mythology and cosmology as a means of healing our collective wounds.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on August 1, 2020. You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

As the first Latinx person to direct national domestic policy issues, Cecilia Muñoz knows the difficulties of getting ahead without trailblazers to follow.

In her latest book, More than Ready, she offers lessons inspired by both the challenges she faced and the victories she achieved in the White House. Cecilia’s own life and work taught her tactical tools, tools that women of color can look to, and be inspired by, to reach unprecedented levels of power and success—without compromising who they are.

In this episode, Sonia Mañjon, Executive Director of LeaderSpring Center, talks with Cecilia about working through fear, overcoming injustices, facing down detractors, and more.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on July 9, 2020. You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

“Quit being a drop. Make yourself an ocean.” Rumi’s inspiring and deceptively simple poems have been called ecstatic, mystical, and devotional. For writer and activist Melody Moezzi, they became her lifeline.

Melody’s latest book, The Rumi Prescription, follows her path of discovery as she translates Rumi’s works for herself, gaining wisdom and insight in the face of a creative and spiritual roadblock.

In this episode, Professor and Co-Chair of CIIS’ Expressive Arts Therapy program Shoshana Simons talks with Melody about her life and how the wisdom she found exploring Rumi can help us make sense of our modern lives.

This episode contains explicit language. It was recorded during a live online event on May 20, 2020. You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

After observing modern shamanic trainings with a growing concern, clinical psychologist and scholar Anotonio Ramirez began exploring more traditional forms of shamanism by interviewing elder shamans in Latin America.

In this talk, recorded at CIIS on May 21, 2019, Antonio shares his ideas about the dangers of shamanism as it is practiced today in urban areas, how these practices are affecting native shamanism, and suggests ways to avoid falling prey of unethical practitioners.

Celebrate International Women’s Day with Us!

Chani Nicholas is a beloved astrologer and queer feminist activist with a loyal online following. For her, astrology isn’t about passively accepting our fate, it’s about action. In her inspirational and socially conscious weekly horoscopes, she encourages her devotees to take control—to confront themselves, their desires, and their needs—to fulfill their potential using the power of the stars.

Recorded live on February 20, 2020 at the Herbst Theatre shortly after the release of her book You Were Born for This: Astrology for Radical Self-Acceptance, this episode features Chani in three parts. Beginning with a chart-reading and conversation with Fania E. Davis, a leading national voice on restorative justice, followed by a conversation with CIIS Professor Sonya Shah, and finishing with questions submitted by the audience.

Somatic therapy combines talk therapy and bodywork to treat a wide range of psychological and physiological conditions, ranging from stress and anxiety to depression and PTSD. Nowhere has somatics proven more effective than in the treatment of trauma.

In this episode, author and somatics practitioner Staci Haines is joined in a conversation with therapist and CIIS professor Emily Marinelli. They discuss Staci’s book The Politics of Trauma: Somatics, Healing, and Social Justice, and share a restorative justice approach to somatic therapy, integrating mind-body healing with social activism.

This episode was recorded during an event on February 6, 2020 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

An equal partner in co-founding the first farm workers unions with Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta has become one of the most defiant feminists of the twentieth century, and one of the most important activists in American history. Now 89 years old, she continues the fight to this day.

In this episode, Latinx studies professor Maria L. Quintana has a conversation with Dolores Huerta about her life and work as a revolutionary and inspirational leader dedicated to activism, feminism, and the future of America.

This episode was recorded during an event in November 2019 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

Abby Chava Stein is the tenth-generation descendant of the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of the Hasidic movement. In 2015, she came out as a woman, and she now works as a transgender activist.

In this episode, Keshet LGBTQIA+ education specialist Randi Reed talks with Abby about her book Becoming Eve: My Journey from Ultra-Orthodox Rabbi to Transgender Woman.

This episode was recorded during an event on January 16, 2020 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

Shaman Durek, a sixth-generation shaman, is the inheritor of a rich legacy of ancient wisdom. He applies this deep-rooted knowledge in a thoroughly modern context—advising everyone from celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow, Nina Dobrev, and royals around the world, to international corporate executives.

In this episode, Kelly Ryan, the founder of Anchor Meditation, has a conversation with Shaman Durek about his life and works. They discuss the shamanic keys outlined in his book Spirit Hacking, and share lessons about how these keys can help you to tap into your own personal power—banishing fear and darkness from your life in favor of light, positivity, and strength.

This episode was recorded during an event on December 19, 2019 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

In her book, For the Love of Men, award-winning journalist Liz Plank offers a witty, insightful, and deeply researched guide for what we can all do about toxic masculinity.

In this episode, Liz is joined by therapist and Bay Area men’s group leader Sarwang Parikh for a conversation about the future of gender roles and how finding a new way forward for men has the possibility to change the world.

This episode contains explicit language and was recorded during an event on November 14, 2019 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California. 

In this episode, Bay Area author and organizer Kim Tran has a brash and enlightening conversation with reporter and linguist Amanda Montell about gendered language and the way it shapes us.

This episode contains explicit language and was recorded during an event on October 10, 2019 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California. 

Gender reconciliation activist and CIIS Women's Spirituality Professor Alka Arora offers an expansive and deeply ecological vision—inviting us to move beyond critique to focus more on the world we want to co-create.

This episode was recorded during an event on September 26, 2019 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

The Wounded Healer

Author and psychoanalyst Pilar Jennings is joined by CIIS Professor Sergio Rodriguez-Castillo for a conversation about the intersection of Buddhism and psychology.

This episode was recorded during an event on August 2, 2018 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

In this episode, author and activist Sobonfu Somé explores the importance of grieving and ritual in Burkina Faso, West Africa and how that tradition can be applied to our lives today. Her work has helped move African spiritual practices from the realm of anthropology to a place alongside the world's greatest spiritual traditions.

This episode was recorded during an event on February 26, 2016 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

The Women's Spirituality Program honors 100 of the best books in Women's Spirituality and donates them to the CIIS Library

In this episode, writer and commentator Lindy West is joined in conversation by body positivity activist Jes Baker for a conversation on feminism, politics, and activism.

This episode was recorded during an event on October 4, 2018 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

The Women's Spirituality program celebrates its 25th year with a dynamic gathering

Artificial Intelligence engineer Laura Montoya is joined by TechCrunch diversity reporter, Megan Rose Dickey to explore the role of gender in Artificial Intelligence and how it impacts society. This conversation was part of our series on Technology and Consciousness.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on April 18, 2018.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Spiritual teacher and Vedic scholar Acharya Shunya is joined in conversation by CIIS Professor Debashish Banerji to discuss health and consciousness through Ayurveda lifestyle principles.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on March 29, 2017.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Author and therapist Kate Levinson is joined in conversation with CIIS’ Kelly Kelly to discuss the intersection of money, business, and gender.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on April 12, 2017.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Pussy Riot founder Nadya Tolokno is joined by artist and activist Jadelynn Stahl for a conversation about how to triumph in the new political and social landscape.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on October 5, 2017.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Khizr Khan, the Gold Star father who challenged Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign, is joined by CIIS faculty May Elawar for a conversation about what an American looks like and what being a nation of immigrants really means.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on January 3, 2018.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Alexis Okeowo, a writer for The New Yorker, is joined in conversation by Mimi Lok from Voice of Witness to discuss the stories of ordinary people fighting extremism in Africa.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on January 18, 2018.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

In this episode, author Joy DeGruy was joined in conversation by former CIIS Dean of Diversity and Inclusion Denise Boston to explore how trans-generational trauma and systems of oppression influence race relations in America.

This episode was recorded during an event on January 19, 2018 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

Sergio Rodriguez-Castillo examines why it makes sense to invite spirituality into the workplace, and how to do it.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on March 14, 2018.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Stanford Professor and author Leah Weiss is joined in conversation by CIIS Dean of Alumni Richard Buggs to explore practical, evidence-based strategies for using ancient wisdom traditions to improve your work.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on September 5, 2018.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Author and activist Julia Serano is joined by CIIS professor Zara Zimbardo for a conversation about how to make feminist and queer movements more inclusive.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on August 1, 2018.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Activist, author, and former Black Panther Party member Angela Davis talks with CIIS Professor Danielle Drake about her life and work.

This episode was recorded during an event on April 13, 2018 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

Check out this list curated by the Women's Spirituality Program

Learning about suppressed histories and Women's Spirituality is imperative for people of all ages

A Celebration of all Goddesses of the World at the 2017 Glastonbury Goddess Conference

A listing of incredible work accomplished during the 2015-2016 academic year 

A lifetime of meticulous research, photography, and organization of a staggering quantity of mother-line evidence

African American cultural artist wins recognition

Angela Davis has had a tremendous influence on radical scholarship and movement culture over the past half century

Documenting the generally untold spiritual history of women in Northern Africa, Eastern Asia, and Southern Europe in the period from 6 million BCE to 1 CE

The first and only Archeo-Mythology Database in existence

Cat Brooks of San Francisco’s Anti Police-Terror Project is joined in conversation by journalist Manolia Charlotin of The Media Consortium to discuss race, police violence, and criminal justice reform. This event was made in collaboration with public radio program Making Contact.

This episode was recorded during an event on March 16, 2016 in front of a live audience in San Francisco, California.

How CIIS' Women's Spirituality program brings forth the gifts of women

Students, alums, and faculty represent at Utah conference

A Mestiza Experience of the Feminist Intersectionality of Wounding, Healing, Spirituality and Activism

Joan Cichon, Ph.D. (2013) and Viviane Dzyak (2007) graciously offered to share their experience in the program

Take Only What You Need and Give Away

What happens when women put their own spirituality at the center?

A story of synergies in being Ana Castillo's TA

Women's Spirituality alumna Regina Wallace presented a workshop titled, "The Motherline: An Exploration Into Healing Female Lineage Trauma"