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You might describe Nick Mayhew Smith’s spirituality first and foremost as immersive. Driven by a desire to touch, see, and experience, Nick has travelled the length and breadth of the UK, seeking out Britain’s holiest places. In each place, he did as the monks and hermits did – whether that’s sleeping in a remote cave, feeding the animals, wading naked into an icy sea to pray, or rowing out to isolated islands. What is it about nature based practices that draws us? Why were they so central to the Celts? And why has mainstream Christianity conveniently forgotten about them today? Join us for a rich/fascinating conversation where you’ll discover:  🔹 The spiritual significance of skinny dipping  🔸 The Celtic ritual for putting right your relationship with creation  🔹 How the landscape influenced Celtic culture and practice  🔸 What drove the Celt Christians to embrace sacred trees instead of cut them down (like they did in continental Europe)  🔹 The saint who influenced (and instructed) early monks to pray in the nude–and why  🔸 How to recover a sense of the numinous in your own life Nick Mayhew-Smith is a theologian and travel writer whose work is dedicated to recovering ancient Celtic wisdom. His books include The Naked Hermit, a book on Celtic spirituality, Landscape Liturgies, Britain’s Pilgrim Places (a walking pilgrimage guide published by the British Pilgrimage Trust), and Britain’s Holiest Places, which has been turned into a BBC series. He is an honorary research fellow at Roehampton University, where he works with the Susanna Wesley Foundation on a range of environment and theology projects, and lives in London with his wife Anna. _______________________ ✨ WELCOME TO SPIRITUAL WANDERLUST ✨ Contemplation. Embodiment. Mysticism. Mischief. Join former nun and neuroscience aficionado Kelly Deutsch as she interviews contemplative teachers, embodiment experts, psychologists, and mystics about the untamed frontiers of interior life. Each episode is jam packed with life-changing stories, spiritual practices, and powerful insight to support your journey toward wholeness and divine intimacy. ✨ For FREE resources for your own spiritual journey (like the Psycho-Spiritual Maturity Assessment!) - check out spiritualwanderlust.org. 🌱 HAVE SPIRITUAL QUESTIONS? 🍃 Leave us a voicemail at spiritualwanderlust.org/ask for the chance to have your spiritual question answered live!

What do dancing and playing have to do with theology? Join us for a rich, embodied conversation with our very special guest today, Cynthia Winton-Henry. Cynthia is the co-founder of Interplay, a worldwide “movement” movement - a community of practice that uses dance and play and spontaneity to unlock the wisdom of the body. Tune in to learn:   🔹 Why *ease* is essential for both the body and the spirit   🔸 The exact techniques she uses to detach from heavy group/cultural dynamics (so important for all us HSP/empaths out there!)   🔹 Why sensitive folks (HSPs/empaths) need “credentialing”–and why it has nothing to do with degrees or letters after your name   🔸  The forgotten practice of the ancestors that helps you regulate your nervous system.   🔹 The key to unlocking our tendency to control   🔸 Why you need a spirit team–and where to find them   🔹 Why play is the secret sauce for everything –Plus 2 embodied exercises you can do with us live! Cynthia Winton-Henry is a dancer, celebrated teacher, artist, and life-long mentor in somatic spirituality. Her books include Chasing the Dance of Life, Dance: The Sacred Art: Discovering the Joy of Movement, Move: What the Body Wants, and the soon to be published The Art of Ensoulment, which accompanied her popular year-long course by the same name. Cynthia curates a community (complete with creative arts/spirituality courses!) at the Hidden Monastery (found at https://cynthiawinton-henry.com), and writes on Substack (https://substack.com/@cynthiawintonhenry). Her book, The Art of Ensoulment, a creative workbook/art journal/*experience* is out August 1, 2023.

It’s not a stretch to say Dave Denny is what Thomas Merton would have looked like today, had he lived. Both avid writers, teachers, interspiritual pioneers, activists, and hermits–they share a depth of wisdom that is borne of silence. Join Father Dave Denny and I to learn:  🔹 How living in the Middle East changed his life forever  🔸 What steaming hot tamales can teach us about the sacramentality of the world  🔹 What, in his 13 years of teaching mysticism, his students were most surprised by  🔸 What it might look like to be a contemplative activist Dave Denny describes himself as “poet, priest, and desert rat.” Setting out to be a journalist, Dave’s life took a turn when he became a Carmelite monk at the Spiritual Life Institute for 30 years. Since then he has dedicated himself to writing, interspiritual dialogue, and teaching, while living the life of a hermit. Dave is the co-founder of the Desert Foundation, which invites people of all walks to explore the intimate depths of their own heart. Find out more about the Desert Foundation’s retreats and contemplative workshops at sandandsky.org. _______________________ ✨ WELCOME TO SPIRITUAL WANDERLUST ✨ Contemplation. Embodiment. Mysticism. Mischief. Join former nun and neuroscience aficionado Kelly Deutsch as she interviews contemplative teachers, embodiment experts, psychologists, and mystics about the untamed frontiers of interior life. Each episode is jam packed with life-changing stories, spiritual practices, and powerful insight to support your journey toward wholeness and divine intimacy. ✨ For FREE resources for your own spiritual journey (like the Psycho-Spiritual Maturity Assessment!) - check out spiritualwanderlust.org. 🌱 HAVE SPIRITUAL QUESTIONS? 🍃 Leave us a voicemail at spiritualwanderlust.org/ask for the chance to have your spiritual question answered live!

Join us for our *first ever* Ask a Spiritual Director a Question! Host Kelly Deutsch invites one or more guest spiritual directors to answer your burning questions. Leave us a voicemail at www.spiritualwanderlust.org/ask! Today, repeat guest Karl Thienes (and spiritual director at Spiritual Wanderlust) joins Kelly to discuss: 🔹 (01:20) Life after deconstruction.  After weeding out what doesn’t work, how do I start reconstructing my spirituality? Where to begin? (Question from Amy B.)  🔸 (19:22) What do I do when health issues are standing in the way of my dreams?  Karl and Kelly discuss longings, inner work, and the secret to uncovering God’s will. (Question from Judith W.) 🔹 (37:20) How do I get out of a rut?  Does God get tired of hearing my mistakes over and over? Karl and Kelly discuss the real root of our attachments and “sins,” and how to unearth it. (Question from Mark R.) What other questions do you have about life, spirituality, relationships, suffering, mysticism, prayer, etc? Leave us a voicemail at spiritualwanderlust.org/ask for a chance to have your question answered LIVE! Looking for a spiritual director? We have hand-picked some of the best contemplative, trauma-informed, delightful spiritual directors out there. Check them out at spiritualwanderlust.org/team! _______________________ ✨ WELCOME TO SPIRITUAL WANDERLUST ✨ Contemplation. Embodiment. Mysticism. Mischief. Join former nun and neuroscience aficionado Kelly Deutsch as she interviews contemplative teachers, embodiment experts, psychologists, and mystics about the untamed frontiers of interior life. Each episode is jam packed with life-changing stories, spiritual practices, and powerful insight to support your journey toward wholeness and divine intimacy. ✨ For FREE resources for your own spiritual journey (like the Psycho-Spiritual Maturity Assessment!) - check out spiritualwanderlust.org. 🌱 HAVE SPIRITUAL QUESTIONS? 🍃 Leave us a voicemail at spiritualwanderlust.org/ask for the chance to have your spiritual question answered live!

Have you ever been struck by someone’s depth of presence?  Like when you meet a wise, holy person. The depth of their presence overwhelms us, floods our body with their peace. Have you ever wondered what's going on on a biological level when this happens? Or, wondered why it's so much easier to feel grounded when we meditate with others vs. on our own? Or maybe been curious about how life's traumas impact the contemplative life? Get ready, everyone - this is one of my FAVORITE intersections. 🤩🤩 Neuroscience and the contemplative life. Embodiment and spirituality. The mystical and the muscles, minerals, and membranes. In today’s episode I speak with Dr. Bonnie Badenoch, who specializes in precisely this intersection. Bonnie is an interpersonal neurobiologist *and* a contemplative! She has spent decades researching how that connection, and most importantly, presence, impacts our bodies. You might think of her as the Brene Brown of presence-- combining lots of heart with accessible research. Tune in to learn: 🔹 What happens in your body when you’re deeply present 🔸 How trauma impacts contemplative life 🔹 What neurobiology tells us is the one key to healing trauma 🔸 The myth of self regulation  🔹 The hidden cause of our over-rationalization (why we always seem to be head-dominant instead of heart or gut - and how to change that!) 🔸 What happens in our brains during ego death 🔹 How polyvagal theory revolutionizes our understanding of the nervous system Bonnie Badenoch, PhD, LMFT is a therapist, mentor, and author who delights in integrating the discoveries of relational neuroscience into the art of therapy.  For 28 years, her work has focused on supporting trauma survivors and those with significant attachment wounds reshape their neural landscape to support a life of meaning, resilience, and warm relationships.  She is the co-founder of Center for Brain-Wise Living, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering awareness of the brain, mind, and relationships in the service of creating a more awake and compassionate world. At this stage of life, Bonnie enjoys mentoring those in the helping professions through offering longer-term immersion trainings in the embodiment of interpersonal neurobiology principles.  Her books include Being a Brain-Wise Therapist, The Brain-Savvy Therapist’s Workbook, and The Heart of Trauma. People are saying that these books fill the gap between science and practice with clarity, compassion, and heart. _______________________ ✨ WELCOME TO SPIRITUAL WANDERLUST ✨ Contemplation. Embodiment. Mysticism. Mischief. Join former nun and neuroscience aficionado Kelly Deutsch as she interviews contemplative teachers, embodiment experts, psychologists, and mystics about the untamed frontiers of interior life. Each episode is jam packed with life-changing stories, spiritual practices, and powerful insight to support your journey toward wholeness and divine intimacy. ✨ For FREE resources for your own spiritual journey (like the Psycho-Spiritual Maturity Assessment!) - check out spiritualwanderlust.org. 🌱 HAVE SPIRITUAL QUESTIONS? 🍃 Leave us a voicemail at spiritualwanderlust.org/ask for the chance to have your spiritual question answered live!

Welcome to season 4 of the Spiritual Wanderlust podcast! I can’t think of a better way to start the season than a conversation with contemplative teacher, Carl McColman. Carl has been in the Spiritual Wanderlust vibe for decades: he’s a writer, retreat leader, podcaster and spiritual director. While Christian himself, he also finds himself drawn to all those juicy intersections between Buddhism, Pagan traditions, and Christianity.  Join us for our conversation to learn:  🔹 The 2 key figures that made Carl a contemplative 🔸 The one piece of advice from a Trappist monk that changed his life 🔹 His two realizations that led him to rewrite the Big Book of Christian Mysticism 🔸 Why paradox is important for the mystic 🔹 The gifts of the dharma - and how you can decide if interspirituality is right for you 🔸 Why monasticism is key to Celtic spirituality 🔹 Carl’s coming out story and God’s pronouns Carl has written numerous books, including An Invitation to Celtic Wisdom, Befriending Silence, Unteachable Lessons, and Eternal Heart: The Mystical Path to a Joyful Life. One of his most popular books, called the Big Book of Christian Mysticism, is going to be releasing its second edition in August of 2023. Carl and his wife live in Georgia, where he is a lay member of a Trappist community, the same kind of religious community that Thomas Merton was a part of. Want to join Carl for a live class? Carl will be teaching our upcoming masterclass on Celtic monasticism for the Celtic Spirituality School. Learn more and register at celticschool.org! Learn more about Carl’s books, blog, events and more at anamchara.com. _______________________ ✨ WELCOME TO SPIRITUAL WANDERLUST ✨ Contemplation. Embodiment. Mysticism. Mischief. Join former nun and neuroscience aficionado Kelly Deutsch as she interviews contemplative teachers, embodiment experts, psychologists, and mystics about the untamed frontiers of interior life. Each episode is jam packed with life-changing stories, spiritual practices, and powerful insight to support your journey toward wholeness and divine intimacy. ✨ For FREE resources for your own spiritual journey (like the Psycho-Spiritual Maturity Assessment!) - check out spiritualwanderlust.org. 🌱 HAVE SPIRITUAL QUESTIONS? 🍃 Leave us a voicemail at spiritualwanderlust.org/ask for the chance to have your spiritual question answered live!

Hey spiritual adventurers! We want to hear your questions. We’re about to start the 4th season of the SW podcast, and want to know: What are your longings? Your conundrums? Curiosities? What do you want to hear us talk about? Go to spiritualwanderlust.org/ask to leave us a voicemail for the chance to have your question answered LIVE by myself and a guest spiritual director. Each month, we’ll have one episode dedicated to this new series, Ask a Spiritual Director a Question. And if you don’t know what spiritual direction is? That’s okay - you can ask about that too! By doing so, you’ll be helping us create episodes that are tailor-made, hand-in-glove, fit to the shape of your longings. What are you wondering about? Grief? Spiritual bypassing? Boundaries? How to respond to a persnickety friend in the most spiritual way possible? Let us know at spiritualwanderlust.org/ask. We look forward to hearing your questions! _______________________ ✨ WELCOME TO SPIRITUAL WANDERLUST ✨ Contemplation. Embodiment. Mysticism. Mischief. Join former nun and neuroscience aficionado Kelly Deutsch as she interviews contemplative teachers, embodiment experts, psychologists, and mystics about the untamed frontiers of interior life. Each episode is jam packed with life-changing stories, spiritual practices, and powerful insight to support your journey toward wholeness and divine intimacy. ✨ For FREE resources for your own spiritual journey (like the Psycho-Spiritual Maturity Assessment!) - check out spiritualwanderlust.org. 🌱 HAVE SPIRITUAL QUESTIONS? 🍃 Leave us a voicemail at spiritualwanderlust.org/ask for the chance to have your spiritual question answered live!

Have you ever wondered what Celtic spirituality is, exactly? I mean, we're familiar with Saint Patrick and Celtic music and nature-loving, but what's all the fanfare about? Why has the interest in Celtic spirituality exploded in the past decade? Because these are questions that poked and prodded me in the past - and because I've often been asked by spiritual directees for a good summary-- I put together a ten minute mini podcast. In it, I reveal the two pillars of Celtic spirituality, and why we crave them! Check it out! Into the deep, Kelly PS - If you're really curious about the Celtic world, be sure to check out our Celtic Spirituality School! We've invited all the experts - from John Philip Newell to Esther de Waal and Ilia Delio - to teach about topics like praying with the landscape, thin places, soul friends, and Celtic mysticism. Check it out at www.celticschool.org! PPS - We purposely made it affordable for everyone (micro pricing! scholarships!), so no one would be excluded! Leave us a voicemail at https://www.spiritualwanderlust.org/ask for the chance to have your spiritual question answered live!

Get ready for a real deep dive, ya’ll. From his childhood in oppressed Poland, to being an undocumented immigrant in the US, meeting Christ in India, and founding a new monastic community, Father Adam Bucko’s story has given him a razor-sharp vision into the meaning of life. Join us to learn: 🔸 What gives Adam hope in the midst of so much suffering and pain 🔹 What it means to travel into our despair–and how that can provide us a “container in which grace can descend” 🔸 The role of the Black Madonna in Eastern Europe 🔹 How meeting a homeless child in India changed his entire life path 🔸 His top 6 favorite Eastern European saints–and why we need Saint Faustina more than ever Join us as we navigate some of life’s most tender paths. Father Adam Bucko is a spiritual director, activist, and Episcopal priest (with dreads!). After growing up in Eastern Europe, Adam went on to spend many years working with homeless youth in New York, through his award winning organization, the Reciprocity Foundation. He has long been dedicated to a life of engaged contemplation, and is remembered for being a founding father of the New Monastic movement. He currently serves as a director of The Center for Spiritual Imagination, and is a member of The Community of the Incarnation, a ‘new monastic’ community dedicated to democratizing the gifts of monastic spirituality. He is the author of several books, including his latest, Let Your Heartbreak be Your Guide: Lessons in Engaged Contemplation. To learn more about Father Adam, visit FatherAdamBucko.com, or check out his Center’s webpage, spiritualimagination.org. _______________________ WELCOME TO SPIRITUAL WANDERLUST. Contemplation. Embodiment. Mysticism. Mischief. Join former nun and neuroscience aficionado Kelly Deutsch as she interviews contemplative teachers, embodiment experts, psychologists, and mystics about the untamed frontiers of interior life. Each episode is jam packed with life-changing stories, spiritual practices, and powerful insight to support your journey toward wholeness and divine intimacy. For FREE resources for your own spiritual journey (like the Psycho-Spritual Maturity Assessment!) - check out www.spiritualwanderlust.org. Leave us a voicemail at https://www.spiritualwanderlust.org/ask for the chance to have your spiritual question answered live!

During this time of Advent - of darkness and winter in the northern hemisphere - our bodies are inclined to hibernate. We curl up by the hearth and wait, attentive to the life pregnant in the darkness. During such a season, what does it mean to give birth to the Holy? In this episode, we are joined by author and bestselling author, Christine Valters Paintner. Together we dive into: 🔸 Why Mary has so many names 🔹 Christine’s favorite name of Mary at this season in her life (it may surprise you!) 🔸 How Christine ended up the abbess of an online monastery 🔹How her love for Jungian thought intersects with her Catholic spirituality 🔸 How the passing of her own mother birthed a book on Mary 🔹Mary as warrior (an image in stark contrast to the placid woman in blue we usually see!) 🔸 What was Hildegard’s favorite name for Mary, and what it has to do with the divine spark! Join us for a delightful conversation about Christine’s latest book, Birthing the Holy. And coming in January, her full Masterclass on the wildly versatile Hildegard in our Women Mystics School! Join us at womenmystics.org. Christine Valters Paintner is the abbess of an online monastery called for Abbey of the Arts, which offers classes and resources on contemplative practice and creative expression. A poet, spiritual director, and part-time hermit, she now resides in Galway, Ireland, with her husband, John. Her several books include Earth, Our Original Monastery; The Artist’s Rule; The Soul’s Slow Ripening; Water, Wind, Earth, and Fire; The Wisdom of the Body; and her latest, Birthing the Holy. _______________________ ✨ WELCOME TO SPIRITUAL WANDERLUST ✨ Contemplation. Embodiment. Mysticism. Mischief. Join former nun and neuroscience aficionado Kelly Deutsch as she interviews contemplative teachers, embodiment experts, psychologists, and mystics about the untamed frontiers of interior life. Each episode is jam packed with life-changing stories, spiritual practices, and powerful insight to support your journey toward wholeness and divine intimacy. ✨ For FREE resources for your own spiritual journey (like the Psycho-Spiritual Maturity Assessment!) - check out spiritualwanderlust.org. 🌱 HAVE SPIRITUAL QUESTIONS? 🍃 Leave us a voicemail at spiritualwanderlust.org/ask for the chance to have your spiritual question answered live!

Poetry and the Contemplative life share a lot in common. Both require an attentiveness to life, a depth of presence, a sort of immersion in reality. Kathy Henderson Staudt is a poet, spiritual director, teacher, and retreat leader who specializes in this overlap. In today’s episode, we’ll talk about: 🔸 How to see the world like a poet (and contemplative!) 🔹 What single experience taught this academic how to live in her body 🔸 The female version of Richard Rohr that lived 100 years ago 🔹 And immerse yourself in some sensual, embodied poetry! Learn more about Kathy, her books, and her retreats at www.kathleenstaudtpoet.com. _______ WELCOME TO SPIRITUAL WANDERLUST. Contemplation. Embodiment. Mysticism. Mischief. Join former nun and neuroscience aficionado Kelly Deutsch as she interviews contemplative teachers, embodiment experts, psychologists, and mystics about the untamed frontiers of interior life. Each episode is jam packed with life-changing stories, spiritual practices, and powerful insight to support your journey toward wholeness and divine intimacy. For FREE resources for your own spiritual journey (like the Psycho-Spritual Maturity Assessment!) - check out www.spiritualwanderlust.org. Leave us a voicemail at https://www.spiritualwanderlust.org/ask for the chance to have your spiritual question answered live!

In this episode, we turn the tables! Our guest host Karl Thienes puts Kelly in the hot seat to ask her all sorts of burning questions about the interior life. Join us to discover: 🔸 What Kelly considers the best kept secret of Christianity 🔹 The role of suffering in the spiritual life 🔸 How we can use inner work to respond to fear (or anger, or judgment, or…) 🔹 What Kelly recommends as the best starting place for contemplative practice 🔸 Why the mystics say community life is critical - even the hermits! 🔹 What our deepest longings can reveal 🔸 The two defining qualities of the mystical life Join us for our first ever interview of Kelly! _______________________ WELCOME TO SPIRITUAL WANDERLUST. Contemplation. Embodiment. Mysticism. Mischief. Join former nun and neuroscience aficionado Kelly Deutsch as she interviews contemplative teachers, embodiment experts, psychologists, and mystics about the untamed frontiers of interior life. Each episode is jam packed with life-changing stories, spiritual practices, and powerful insight to support your journey toward wholeness and divine intimacy. For FREE resources for your own spiritual journey (like the Psycho-Spritual Maturity Assessment!) - check out www.spiritualwanderlust.org. Leave us a voicemail at https://www.spiritualwanderlust.org/ask for the chance to have your spiritual question answered live!