Less Stress Podcast

In this podcast episode we bravely delve into unpacking two foundational things in brave leadership: courage and vulnerability. Join us for this conversation with Jannecke Bugge, the co-founder of Brave Leadership in Norway. Support us on Patreon @lessstress. Your support can do wonders! For any inquiries: contact@lessstress.com www.lessstress.com

In this podcast episode, we delve into the concept of interconnectedness and its implications for personal and collective growth. Join us as Gabriele engages in an insightful conversation with Sahana Sriskandarajah, a clinical psychologist who has ventured beyond traditional perspectives on psychology.S Support us on Patreon @lessstress. Your contribution can do wonders!

Boundaries are a tough topic, especially when it comes to any relationship. We often crave acceptance and recognition by dismissing our authenticity for that. We think if we're are more available, always present and positive, that's the only way to be liked. As Gabor Mate says, this society praises those that self-betray or dismiss those close to them. The society normalized hyperavailability, overworking, stress, self-betrayal for the good of others, and so on. That is because we are often afraid of our authenticity and true needs, tapping into and expressing them drives us into a fear of rejection by those close to us and larger society. In fact, true needs and boundaries create health, spaciousness and real intimacy. By supporting ourselves and communicating what we need to others, we express our wants for honesty and real connection. -- Tess Jewell-Larsen empowers women professionals, entrepreneurs and high-achievers to leave burnout and stress in the ashes while they achieve balance, clarity, and creativity in their work and daily life. Tess is a certified mindfulness coach, experienced yoga teacher and a Yoga Therapist in training. Tess emphasizes breath support, mindful movement, stress management, nervous system resiliency, mindset and lifestyle shifts, and taking small steps that build up, so that her clients feel more joyful, balanced, and optimistic, and thrive no matter what obstacles come their way. Connect with Tess: website: https://tessjewelllarsen.coach/ instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tessjewelllarsen/ facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tessjewelllarsencoaching linkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessjewelllarsen/ Episode created by Živilė Virkutytė Edited by Martynas Žukauskas Music by Irmantas Kaseta

#14 episode I will start with a  description from Gerard Fromm's, PhD, book "Travelling Through Time; How Trauma Plays Itself in Families, Organizations and Society": 'Sometimes that learning has to do with trauma: the way in which what can’t be emotionally contained, thought about or spoken in one part of a system is passed along, with disorganizing, sometimes heartbreaking consequences to another'. Gerard Fromm, Ph.D., is a psychologist-psychoanalyst who spent his clinical career at the Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. He is a Distinguished Faculty member and former director of the Erikson Institute, a Fellow of the American Board and Academy of Psychoanalysis, a Distinguished Member and past president of the International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations, a founding partner of College Health and Counseling Services Consulting, and the current president of the International Dialogue Initiative, which works to bring a psychological understanding to societal conflict. He currently maintains an organizational and clinical consulting practice. Through the IDI, he has designed and led a number of training workshops and case conferences on Large Group Identity and Societal Conflict. His books include Taking the Transference, Reaching toward Dreams: Clinical Studies in the Intermediate Area and, most recently, Traveling through Time: How Trauma Plays Itself out in Families, Organizations and Society. With Vamik Volkan and Regine Scholz, he is the editor of We Don’t Speak of Fear: Large Group Identity, Societal Conflict and Collective Trauma, to be published in February, 2023, by Phoenix Publishing House. Join us for FREE online session for a soothing Christmas, on 21st December 6.30pm (Oslo), 7.30pm (Vilnius) time. December can be consciously or unconsciously a fast paced and stressful month, that like a vortex takes us in together with many other triggers. However, in between we can have moments experienced with awareness and slowness, that may offer us true joy and happiness even on a cellular level. Quick register to receive a link - https://forms.gle/WaH8xCXGXchT5rnv7 Support us on Patreon - patreon.com/lessstress

In our #13 episode we sat with Gabriele and had a complex, enriching conversation with peace psychologist Ufra Mir, looking at holistic ways to build and work on peace not only as a concept, but an embodied way of being, thinking and relating. Ufra Mir is the first and only peace-psychologist from Kashmir, having earned her degree from USA and UK. She has introduced her peace-education, peace-psychology and transformation programs at various schools in Kashmir, in addition to working with youth, orphans, widows, teachers, students, artists and other professionals in Kashmir through the modalities of leadership development, critical and creative thinking, emotional intelligence and well-being, stress management and mental health. She is a founding member of a think tank called Kashmir Institute, and also runs her own NGO, Paigaam: A Message for Peace. Ufra's TED talk on the conflict of war and peace - Ufra Mir: The Conflict of War & Peace | TED Talk Join us here: www.lessstress.info Support us on Patreon - Less Stress is creating Podcasts | Patreon Social media: IG - @less.stress.art FB - lessstress - Created by Zivile Virkutyte and Gabriele Sabunaite Edited by Martynas Zukauskas 

Shortly, trauma is an overwhelming experience that is difficult to process in the moment of its happening. The outcome is usually stress, absence, numbing. According to trauma expert Thomas Hübl, when we have many nervous systems that have trauma in their unconscious, we are all part of systemic collective trauma experience. As Kosha says, "it's one process, the individual, ancestral, collective trauma – it's an entangled All in a space of interbeing." Good news is that the transcript of this conversation are being also translated into Lithuanian and will be available soon in reading format. Kosha Joubert is a current CEO of the Pocket Project, former leader of the Global Ecovillage Network. She holds an MSc in Organizational Development, is an international facilitator, author, coach and consultant, and has worked extensively in the fields of sustainable development, curriculum development and intercultural collaboration. Kosha grew up in South Africa under Apartheid and has been dedicated to the healing of divides and collective trauma ever since. Kosha has received the Dadi Janki Award for engaging spirituality in life and work and the One World Award for her work with. She serves as host and mentor on Thomas Hubl online courses and was a co-host of few Online Summits on Collective Trauma. Join us here - https://www.lessstress.info/

Meet us here in a conversation with a psychotherapist and somatic therapist Lana Korotkova. With Lana I connected in that in-between space, we spoke the language of interdisciplinarity with ease and embodiment. I guess that holistic expression that comes from her is what made us to sense each other so well from the beginning.  She says: 'I have a strong feeling that I am both a psychologist and a dancer. When one of these parts are not present - I get into a meaning of life crisis. Therapy work makes it so special to be able to be there for the other person and feel their trust. Seeing how they grow is very gratifying. Movement helps me to feel alive and helps to process and express what is piled up in my head. In a more standard language - in my work I use elements of Gestalt and Body-Mind Gestalt Therapy, mindfulness and somatics by Integrative Bodywork and Movement Therapy institute founded by Linda Hartley.' She graduated from Petersburg state Uni as a social psychologist, did Masters in Clinical Psychology in Leiden Uni, Netherlands.  

Conversation include brain-body connection and vagus nerve, stress and fear, Polyvagal theory, spirituality and how far has the research evolved in trying to understand body-brain relationship and what does still remain unknown. Dr. Rajbhandari is an Assistant Professor in the departments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr. Rajbhandari obtained her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she studied the role of the amygdala sub-regions in regulation of stress and sensorimotor gating. Dr. Rajbhandari did her postdoctoral work at the University of California-Los Angeles, where she studied fear and stress regulation via the amygdala. At the Icahn School of Medicine. Dr. Rajbhandari’s team focuses on the brain, vagus nerve and body mechanisms of fear, stress, and anxiety to understand how the body communicates with the brain in regulating these functions. Dr. Rajbhandari has also been a lifetime yoga practitioner since her childhood in Nepal. She teaches Yoga classes in her spare time and also the spiritual aspects of Yoga. Find Abha on Instagram - @neuro.namaste.nature.nourish  Less Stress is a multidisciplinary project connecting trauma, embodiment, body practices, neuroscience, yoga and art, exploring links and dialogues between them to help us to connect to our human system holistically. For future suggestions or collaborations, please contact us lessstress.art@gmail.com You can now support our Podcast on Patreon: Creator Home | Patreon Follow us on: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/less.stress.art/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/lessstressart/ Episode created by Živilė Virkutytė Editing by Donatas Kaikaris Music by Irmantas Kašėta #lessstress #lessstresspodcast #healing #bodymoving #traumaintegration #holistichealth #resilience

"I felt those children need to breath, dance and move, to get those painful experiences out of their bodies". With Rebekah we talked about truly embodied life experiences, having quite a beautiful friendship history beyond this conversation. We discussed Rebekah's book and what resources it required to write it, the power of the body moving and how crucial is to connect mind-body system to integrate traumas. You will hear some personal stories that we think are important and relatable to understand each other better as humans in our shared stories. You will also find topics such as gender stereotypes, social-emotional skills and imposter syndrome. There's huge power in safety in relationships, and hope you will sense some of this in the episode. Rebekah Pierre is the founder of a social enterprise named Gymtherapy and is a practicing social worker, working as part of a safeguarding team for a Local Authority in London. A music graduate, dancer and linguist, Rebekah is passionate about using a variety of artistic disciplines to approach social-emotional issues from a creative angle. Rebekah has worked as a choreographer, musician and educator in the UK, Canada, Spain and Chile. Find Rebekah's book "Gymtherapy" on Amazon - Gymtherapy: Developing emotional wellbeing and resilience in children through the medium of movement: Pierre, Rebekah: 9781138504820: Amazon.com: Books Less Stress is a multidisciplinary project connecting trauma, embodiment, body practices, neuroscience, yoga and art, exploring links and dialogues between them to help us to connect to our human system holistically. For future suggestions or collaborations, please contact us lessstress.art@gmail.com Or follow us on: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/less.stress.art/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/lessstressart/ Episode created by Gabrielė Šabūnaitė and Živilė Virkutytė Editing by Donatas Kaikaris Music by Irmantas Kašėta #lessstress #lessstresspodcast #healing #bodymoving #traumaintegration #holistichealth #resilience

‘Creativity is the expression of your essence, the innate lifeforce’. In this episode the ‘Less Stress Podcast’ co-founders together with an art psychotherapist and healer Freya Cecily Mann are exploring foundations of creativity, its flow as well as blockages and their origins. We also are looking at different conditionings, influencing art creation process from suffering/pain space vs integrated/embodied flow space. How our bodies can sense the truth about the origins of the art, bypassing only mental understanding. And highlighting the importance of embodying the authenticity through inner and social engagement during creativity process. Freya Cecily Mann – a British artist (Foundation in Art and Design at Winchester School of Art), art psychotherapist (MA Art Psychotherapy at University of Hertfordshire), anthropologist/sociologist (MA in Anthropology and Sociology at University of Glasgow), medium and doula, currently based in Oslo, Norway. Freya has worked for over 23 years with people and organizations in places of break down, moving them into a place of strength and transformation. She offers immense intuitive skill and ability to reconnect systems that are in disrepair. You can reach Freya on:  Email: freyamann78@gmail.com Facebook  -  https://www.facebook.com/theessentialthread Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theessentialthread/ Less Stress is a multidisciplinary project connecting trauma, embodiment, body practices, neuroscience, yoga and art, exploring links and dialogues between them to help us to connect to our human system holistically.   For future suggestions or collaborations, please contact us lessstress.art@gmail.com Or follow us on:  Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/less.stress.art/  Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/lessstressart/ Episode created by Gabrielė Šabūnaitė and Živilė Virkutytė Editing and music by Irmantas Kašėta #creativity #creativeflow #creatingfrompain #artashealingtool #selfregulation

In this episode one of my long time dreams came true. Thanks to Surya Ashtanga studio in Vilnius for organizing a 3 day workshop with Eddie Stern, we had a chance to record a podcast with Eddie Stern in person. Walking the streets of central Vilnius and talking about common humanity felt to simple and so secure, like practicing Yoga sequence in my living room via zoom. This conversation with Eddie feels so simple and yet so enriching. I'm fascinated by his quality to speak about deep topics while also grounding them in material understanding in such a gracious manner. Respecting all people no matter their 'level& of understanding be that in yoga, science, politics or life, feels such an embodied and compassionate way to be and live. I believe that this conversation will find you interested in a way that you can relate and take some simple practices with you. I truly feel that deepest spirituality lies in deep witnessing of oneself, others and simplicity of life. #lessstresspodcast

In this short episode, I'm sharing my own poem on grief and heartbreak, and its delicacies. I invite you to meditate on these things, and perhaps even invite your inner intimate lover. More about LESS STRESS: https://thelessstress.com/

In this episode we contemplated how psychology and spirituality can interconnect and compliment one another on our healing path. Join us in this conversation with psychologist, philosopher Gunnar Gjermundsen. Support us on Patreon @lessstress. Thank you! For any inquiries contact us at contact@thelessstress.com https://thelessstress.com

Meditation for ease, deeper connection and authentic expression. Follow us @less.stress.art https://thelessstress.com/

In this episode we talked to Eleanor Johnson and River Flows. Eleanor Johnson is a British researcher, writer and artist based in Oslo. She is founder of two companies: Flower Consults and Love Stories. Eleanor on IG: @flowerseleanorflowers Godriver, aka River Flows. 28yrs old from Tanzania, who grew up in Norway. She is a full time corporate lady, self-employed dance instructor & choreographer, who inspires to create an impact through dance and creativity. She founded Flows Agency and co-founded Playdance Tanzania for this reason, create an impact. You’re always welcome to join her pop-classes in Oslo. River on IG: @riverflows. Less Stress podcast is a place where we meet with a variety of professionals from trauma, somatic, psychology, science, spiritual and activism fields to find, sense, feel and talk about our interconnectedness as a way to find, create and integrate new ways of personal and collective living, being and connection. Hosts: Zivile Virkutyte & Gabriele Sabunaite 2023 ©Less Stress

#15 Trauma as a response to an injury/stressor can affect all of us. At the level of the body and its physiology, different people may have similar symptoms, primarily resulting from increased production of hormones (such as adrenaline, noradrenaline, endorphins or cortisol), which are activated unconditionally in a life-threatening situation. The overproduction of hormones – understood as a defence mechanism (or dissociation) – is desirable during an injury since it relieves pain and very often saves a life. However, persistent activation of hormones in post-traumatic reality (i.e. in the post-war world in which a human being does not have to function in fight mode) may cause pathological symptoms at the structural level (i.e. insomnia, irritability, tendency to dissociate, neurological symptoms, depression and mania, psychotic disorders, nightmares, strong excitation, apathy, tendency to substance abuse). This state of constant threat, which is experienced at the physiological/internal level but is inadequate for the reality of the outer world, is usually called “trauma. Małgorzata Wosińska is a genocide anthropologist and psychotraumatologist and a senior lecturer of the NOHA Network on Humanitarian Action at the Faculty of Law and Administration, University of Warsaw, Poland. Her research interests cover a range of topics from critical Holocaust and genocide studies to museum and forensic studies. In addition to her research, she works on a daily basis with witnesses of traumatic events, including war refugees in Europe. BBC interview with Malgorzata: BBC World Service - Heart and Soul, Poland's Jews: Caught between, never home Join us at the workshop on 27th of March, 6pm at Her Space in Oslo. The workshop is on relational well-being, focusing on inner boundaries, inner witness and relating from that space. Registration her: https://forms.gle/ZN5Jtg19UZg5da3A8

In this episode i talked to my somatic therapy and the discipline of authentic movement teacher Cornelia Schmitz. To me our conversation feels as a present pulsation of a living cell - true, unrushed, authentic, unusual, rhythmic and nurturing. We felt rather than talked, yet both sensing, feeling and thinking can be found in this reflective episode. From Cornelia I'm learning active listening of my inner and outer environments, not simply what it says verbally, but also how the energy, emotions and sensations emerge. She's a living example of embodied living, communication and compassion. Cornelia Schmitz began to practice Authentic Movement in 1990 as a student of Linda Hartley and then in 1998 she began practicing the Discipline of Authentic Movement with Janet Adler. The practice has become central to her work and life, bringing her a deep sense of recognition and the longing to be as close as possible to her truth as an embodied human being. Cornelia has worked in hospitals (psychosomatic as well as psychiatric) and in counseling centers. She did three years of scientific research in the Lower Saxon Institute for Criminology. She holds lectures and courses concerning the immune, endocrine, and nervous systems. She also finds expression in visual arts and writing and has followed a healing tradition of inner guidance since 1983.  Cornelia Schmitz has a diploma in Psychology, in Integrative Bodywork and Movement Therapy and has completed training programs as a Gestalt Therapist and Bodyworker, a Client-centered Psychotherapist and as a Psychodynamic Psychotherapist. She has done extensive studies of various forms of Somatics since 1981, particularly Creative Dance, Contact Improvisation, Cranio-Sacral Movement Therapy, Vocal Expression, Aikido, Qi Gong. More on Cornelia's website: http://www.bewegungsgewebe.com/ For future suggestions or collaborations, please contact us lessstress.art@gmail.com You can now support our Podcast on Patreon: Creator Home | Patreon Follow us on: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/less.stress.art/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/lessstressart/ Episode created by Živilė Virkutytė Editing by Donatas Kaikaris Music by Irmantas Kašėta #lessstress #lessstresspodcast #healing #bodymoving #traumaintegration #holistichealth #resilience

In this episode I talked to my lecturer Dr. Campbell Edinborough, from the time I was studying theatre in UK. Through his somatic practices used in movement and Stanislavski method  lectures, Campbell is somebody who allowed me to experience the body in space, but from the inside, through that inner awareness that expands to the outer space. That was that moment when I intuitively felt drawn to the somatic experience of life, understanding the space we are in both through our bodies (the inner perception) and our minds. That connection was something that created the shared intimacy with the character and, so crucially, with the audience. Since then, both in my stage work, Yoga and somatic work, I'm looking for the emergence of that inner experience which can be expanded and shared with the space around me. Dr. Campbell Edinborough was appointed as Lecturer in Writing for Performance in the School of Performance and Cultural Industries in the summer of 2020. Before coming to Leeds, he was Lecturer in Drama and Theatre Practice at the University of Hull. His creative practice as a writer and theatre-maker spans the fields of theatre, live art, dance and installation - exploring narrative and text as means for shaping the audience’s imaginative engagement with space, place and the performing body. He's particularly interested in how the ever-expanding fields of contemporary performance practice and digital media provide new ways of conceptualizing the writer’s work. His recent work has explored the role of the writer within the context of interactive and immersive performance. His most recent play, Walking Towards Ithaca, was presented at Hull Truck Theatre and Soho Theatre in 2019. Both his creative practice and teaching are informed by his research into theatre and performance as relational and embodied practices. In 2016, Cambell's monograph, Theatrical Reality: Space, Embodiment and Empathy in Performance was published by Intellect. In 2018, he edited a special issue of Theatre, Dance and Performance Training, devoted to training for immersive, interactive and participatory performance. Campbell's current research is interested in the role of arts and culture within physical education. More on his website: Campbell Edinborough For future suggestions or collaborations, please contact us lessstress.art@gmail.com You can now support our Podcast on Patreon: Creator Home | Patreon Follow us on: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/less.stress.art/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/lessstressart/ Episode created by Živilė Virkutytė Editing by Donatas Kaikaris Music by Irmantas Kašėta #lessstress #lessstresspodcast #healing #bodymoving #traumaintegration #holistichealth #resilience

"The way you memorized your experiences in life, they way you chose to recollect them again and again in life, those memories and ego will play a major role in the way you think and the way you decide in the present moment. So the way I think now has the influence on the way I identify to myself, consciously or unconsciously. How far I am witnessing and how much I am participating in the present?" In this conversation we dived deeper into the layers of our experiences, consciousness and memories, interconnecting them with physics, psychology, epigenetics, spirituality and philosophy. For a multilayered experience.  Yogacharya Arvind is a co-founder of Samyak Yoga, Yogi, a scholar and recently he turned his focus to nature - he founded Samyak Farm & Wellness Retreats. Samyak Yoga - Online Yoga Teacher Training Courses 2021 | Samyak Yoga Follow Arvind on Instagram  - @yogasadhak_arvind   Less Stress is a multidisciplinary project connecting trauma, embodiment, body practices, neuroscience, yoga and art, exploring links and dialogues between them to help us to connect to our human system holistically. For future suggestions or collaborations, please contact us lessstress.art@gmail.com Episode created by Živilė Virkutytė Editing and music Irmantas Kašėta

"I noticed a lot of distrust of science in yoga community, likewise I noticed a lot of distrust of yoga in science community. Skepticism is healthy, but an open mind is necessary, so I think there is a strong limitation on the amount of dialogue between those two groups. Science is amazing and yoga is amazing and there's no reason they can't both be amazing." In one hour conversation we tried to cover many topics that involve nervous system, stress, yoga research, creativity and finding dialogues between two large communities: science and yoga. Jonathan Rosenthal is a resident physician in Neurology in New York, and a Yoga student of legendary Sri Dharma Mittra. Jonathan is also an organizer of Neuroscience and Yoga online conference, that included such speakers and teachers as Eddie Stern, Sri Dharma Mittra, Dr Marshall Hagins and many more. Keep an eye on Neuroscience and Yoga conference: www.neuroyoganyc.com) Follow Jonathan on Instagram (@neuroyoganyc) for more exciting stuff on Neuroscience and Yoga Less Stress is a multidisciplinary project connecting trauma, embodiment, body practices, neuroscience, yoga and art, exploring links and dialogues between them to help us to connect to our human system holistically. For future suggestions or collaborations, please contact us lessstress.art@gmail.com Episode created by Živilė Virkutytė Editing and music Irmantas Kašėta