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What if storytelling isn’t about performance—but about helping meaning emerge? Monster Baby co-hosts Ted and Lisa welcome back dear friend, storyteller, and teacher Corey Rosen to discuss his new book, A Story for Everything. The trio starts the conversation by taking a brief review look at his first book, Your Story Well Told (1:24), before [more…] The post Monster Baby Episode #109 A Story for Everything with Corey Rosen appeared first on Anima Learning.

What do we gain, and what do we lose, when we say yes? After a long Monster Baby stretch apart, Ted and Lisa begin by catching up and acknowledging the recent loss of two dear Podcats (2:46). Ted then shares the story of his move to Shanghai (6:09), describing how an improvisor’s mindset helps him [more…] The post Monster Baby #108 Saying Yes to Shanghai — Saying Maybe to AI appeared first on Anima Learning.

What does it mean to be engaged? Big news from Monster Baby land: Lisa got engaged! For Episode, #107 she and Ted take the opportunity to explore just what that means—both in a marital sense and in an improv and mindfulness sense. They start by playfully acknowledging some technical difficulties (2:03) before Lisa tells the [more…] The post Monster Baby #107 Getting Engaged appeared first on Anima Learning.

How often do YOU hold eye contact? Why or why not? If you’re like Ted and Lisa of the Monster Baby Podcast, there’s a lot there—for both mindfulness and improv—within the world and practice of eye contact. After a short improvisational riff on raccoons (1:32), Ted introduces his reasons for wanting to explore the topic [more…] The post Monster Baby #106 The Eyes Have It appeared first on Anima Learning.

What’s been cooking in Ted and Lisa’s improv and mindfulness kitchen over this last while? It’s been a few months since the Monster Baby crew gathered for an episode so it’s time to get caught up! Ted starts the conversation off by sharing “Wordle Haiku,” a new creative delight that he and a loyal Monster [more…] The post Monster Baby #105 Kickin’ It Back Up! appeared first on Anima Learning.

How does a “silly verbal tennis match” become a profound spiritual practice?  Inspired by the intro “Clanging” game they played on the immediately previous Monster Baby episode #103, Ted and Lisa invited the game’s creators, Dion Flynn and Josh Radnor, to come on the podcast themselves—and they accepted! For context: Dion Flynn is a writer, [more…] The post Monster Baby #104 Clanging! (A Conversation with Dion Flynn and Josh Radnor) appeared first on Anima Learning.

Who are you? Answering that question well may require more angles than we usually think of. After starting with a delightful new game (“Clanging”, introduced by Dion Flynn and Josh Radnor) (2:25), Ted and Lisa consider some of the primary lessons about identity from the world of mindfulness, including the Buddhist notion of non-self (14:06). [more…] The post Monster Baby #103 You Contain Multitudes (Considering Identity) appeared first on Anima Learning.

It’s so fun to make stuff up together! That’s one of the truths that Ted and Lisa uncover in conversation with their dear friend, Dan Klein, master teacher of improvisation in the drama, Graduate School of Business and the Hasso Platner Institute for Design (“d.school”) at Stanford University. (He’s also the same Dan perilously mentioned [more…] The post Monster Baby #102 The Joy of Collective Imagination: A Conversation with Dan Klein appeared first on Anima Learning.

What if we put relaxation first? Inspired by mindfulness practitioner Bill Morgan’s book, “The Meditator’s Dilemma,” Ted and Lisa explore the value of putting relaxation in front of other forms of meditation, improv included. They start by musing about Lisa’s recent time in Paris and the value of French croissants (2:06), after which Lisa acknowledges that [more…] The post Monster Baby #101 RE: Relaxation appeared first on Anima Learning.

Time for a celebration and retrospective—Monster Baby reaches 1oo episodes! Welcome to the party, people—Monster Baby has reached a milestone! In honor of this, the 100th episode of Ted and Lisa’s “curious romp through the worlds of mindfulness and improvisation,” the pair takes a look back to remember and to give thanks for the good [more…] The post Monster Baby #100 Celebrating the 100th Episode! appeared first on Anima Learning.

Rhythm and improvised poetry can lift the highs and heal the lows. For Monster Baby Podcast episode #99, Ted and Lisa link up with San Francisco freestyler, improvisor, music-maker, comedian, actor, Larry martial artist, activist, spiritual practitioner, and all-around good guy, Larry Dorsey, Jr. Larry starts the conversation explaining the history behind the “Junior” in [more…] The post Monster Baby #99 Freestyle Life Supreme (A Conversation with Larry Dorsey, Jr.) appeared first on Anima Learning.

What makes a home “home”? Sparked by Lisa’s move into a new apartment, she and Ted consider the many elements that go into feeling at home. The two warm up with a playful new spontaneity game called “A or B” that you can play right along with (1:35) and then explore what’s making Lisa’s new [more…] The post Monster Baby #98 Coming Home appeared first on Anima Learning.

Making friends with inner voices can be fun—and healing. For Monster Baby episode #97, Ted and Lisa are joined by fellow Applied Improvisor Kat Koppett to discuss (and play!) her mindfulness-and-improv-blending exercise, “Inside Out.” Lisa starts by asking about Kat’s inspiration for exploring mindfulness (2:12) and about how mindfulness has affected her life so far [more…] The post Monster Baby #97 Inner Voices (a conversation with Kat Koppett) appeared first on Anima Learning.

Good ensemble members make great humans. Continuing a conversation from the previous Monster Baby episode, Ted and Lisa chat more with improvisor and author Dan O’Connor, discussing his new book (co-authored by Dr. Jeff Katzman), Ensemble! Using the Power of Improvisation and Play to Forge Connections in a Lonely World. This episode starts with a [more…] The post Monster Baby #96 Ensemble! A Conversation with Dan O’Connor, Part Two appeared first on Anima Learning.

A good ensemble can cure the loneliness blues. For Monster Baby episode #95, come join Ted and Lisa for Part 1 of their conversation with improvisor and author Dan O’Connor, celebrating the release of his new book, Ensemble! Using the Power of Improvisation and Play to Forge Connections in a Lonely World. Dan starts with [more…] The post Monster Baby #95 Ensemble! A Conversation with Dan O’Connor, Part One appeared first on Anima Learning.