Claim OwnershipThe Tension of Emergence: Thriving in a world that remakes, not breaks
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© 2025 Jennifer England
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What if the tension in your life isn’t something to resolve—but something to revere?
Welcome to Tension of Emergence, an audio sanctuary where we meet the fertile edge of transformation—not by bypassing discomfort, but by alchemizing it.
Hosted by Jennifer England—human rights advocate, Zen practitioner, and former executive—this podcast explores the friction that arises when we’re called to lead, create, or heal during times of profound change.
A space for holding paradox, Tension of Emergence invites you into intimate conversations with artists, philosophers, scientists, and change-makers. Together, we expose the fault lines of outdated paradigms and imagine new ways of being with creativity and embodied wisdom.
If you’re craving subversive happenings and radical encouragement as you walk the edges of personal and collective change- come join us.
65 Episodes
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In this practice episode, Jennifer England invites you into the courageous act of consenting to be undone. Drawing on her recent conversation with cultural worker and author Stephen Jenkinson (Matrimony: Ritual, Culture and the Heart’s Work), Jennifer reflects on how, in a world filled with urgency, grief, and collapsing certainties, true participation requires both patrimony (our inheritance of grief, beauty, and obligation) and matrimony (a ritualized consent with the unseen). From this lar...
In this festive wedding season, what if matrimony wasn’t here to affirm the intensity of love between two people but a courageous submission to the unknown? Jennifer speaks with Stephen Jenkinson—cultural activist, author, ceremonialist—about the necessary burdens of love through the ritual of matrimony. With characteristic poetic edge, Stephen challenges the Western obsession with autonomy, authenticity and safety and gestures toward a redemptive cultural project: one of radical hospi...
What if feeding what you love—even in the face of despair—could be your most vital climate practice? In this episode, Jennifer offers a guided practice inspired by a recent conversation with climate educator and author Sarah Jaquette Ray, who invites us to face the monstrous scale of climate change not with more fixing, but with more loving. Together, they explored the emotional toll of activism, the trap of numbness, and the surprising resilience we access when we stay rooted in what brings ...
When it comes to climate anxiety, most of us swing between utter despair or self-protective numbness. In our doom-scrolling attention economy, these are natural, but not always helpful, responses. In this episode, Jennifer speaks with climate scholar, educator, and author of A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety Sarah Jaquette Ray to explore how we might move through the heaviest of climate emotions—without turning away, burning out, or losing touch with what we love. They explore: The toll of bur...
In this companion to my conversation with Joshin Byrnes on The Vowing Mind, here's a short practice of seeing those you love—and those you judge—with fresh eyes. We all carry fixed ideas of who others are: the reliable one, the difficult one, the person we think we've got dialed. In this guided meditation, you’ll be encouraged to loosen those ideas, and to meet others anew, with curiosity and compassion. This practice will help you recognize the complexity and unfolding nature of those around...
How can you stay present to a world that breaks your heart open—without hardening or turning away? What is right action when there is no right answer? In this episode, Jennifer talks with Joshin Byrnes—Zen teacher, former AIDS activist, and founder of Bread Loaf Mountain Zen Community—for a deeply honest conversation on his evolving expressions of activism and spirituality as he wrestles with and practices ethical action in a time of trouble. Together, they explore: Growing out of enem...
Ever find yourself caught in a loop of analyzing what you're feeling—trying to think your way through the ache, the confusion, the rage, the numbness? Or find that it feels easier to let your mind fix or solve the hard things rather than sense in or move with them? In this short practice episode, Jennifer England invites you into a somatic experience of feeling—beyond story, solving and fixing. Inspired by her recent conversation with therapist and writer Lisa Olivera, you’re invited to...
What if pain isn’t something to fix or escape—but a wise, living presence asking for our attention? In this episode, Jennifer sits down with writer and therapist Lisa Olivera for a heartfelt conversation about relating to pain as a wise teacher, rather than an adversary. Drawing from Lisa’s personal journey—shaped by early experiences with a culture that teaches us to avoid pain—they explore: The social narratives that keep us from feeling fullyThe role of somatic practice in understanding ou...
Ever feel awkward in trying to express, connect or attune to another? Ever interpret your awkwardness as a failure? In this short practice episode, Jennifer England invites us to explore mispronunciation not just as a linguistic slip, but as a relational metaphor. Inspired by recent conversations with X'unei Lance Twitchell, you’re invited to notice the moments you "miss the mark" in connection—and to consider what might be fertile, even beautiful, in the in-between. You’ll be guided th...
How might a willingness to cross thresholds of understanding help us access wilder and more intimate ways of knowing? In this episode Jennifer talks with X’unei Lance Twitchell—Indigenous language teacher, poet and scholar—who shares his deeply personal journey of reclaiming the Tlingit language. From an early longing to connect with his grandfather to challenging the violence of cultural erasure, X’unei invites us into the healing and transformative role language plays in decolonizatio...
What does it mean to be engaged in a world that feels like it’s breaking? In this preview of Season 4 of Tension of Emergence, Jennifer England shares the heart of the new season’s inquiry—a living koan that has been shaping her own writing and leadership: how do we act with love and integrity in a time of rupture and collapse, without rushing to fix or save a world that may not need our saving? With a magical cadre of guests, Jennifer explores tensions we’re told to resolve...
Does joy sometimes feel hard to access? Ever find yourself focusing more on where you’re suffering or experiencing pain? Or perhaps you find it easy in this season of your life but want to experience joy even more? In the last micro-episode of Season 3, Jennifer guides you to amplify joy on three different levels: the gross, subtle and causal. She encourages you to enhance the experience of joy, even amidst pain and includes a suggestion to explore the Buddhist practice of Tonglen if yo...
We’ve been talking about “feeling more” so we can access more wisdom in our leadership, but what if we’re really good at avoiding pain? In the final week of season three of the Tension of Emergence, Jennifer delves into the question of how to work with personal and collective pain with the co-founder of Mobius Executive Leadership and expert in trauma-informed development, Amy Elizabeth Fox. Together they break down the illusory binary between the personal/professional, individual/coll...
Jennifer offers a practice, inspired by her conversation with modern-day mystic and teacher Cynthia Bourgeault. Instead of virtues being a static object we have, they can be thought of as active agents of change. Jennifer offers a two-part practice to help you leverage your unique personal virtues (and power) to transform a current challenge. In this episode, Jennifer shares a personal example and emphasizes the importance of practice as a dynamic process of learning from your dir...
Jennifer talks with modern-day mystic, Episcopal priest, author and teacher, Cynthia Bourgeault about how our global breakdown might be a breakthrough. Weaving together science, philosophy and spiritual traditions they talk about the evolution of human consciousness and how to nourish and feed the collective. In this episode they share- Our shift to an integral structure of consciousness How reciprocity works between the seen and unseen worldsWhat is three-centered awareness...
Jennifer offers a practice to dispel the myth that a regulated nervous system equates to calmness and neutrality. Drawing on insights from somatic experiencing practitioner Kimberly Ann Johnson, she emphasizes the importance of practicing flexibility in your nervous system to manage life's challenges. Jennifer introduces a playful practice of friendly wrestling to help you activate latent energy, track sensation, support an energetic re-set and make way for necessary expression, m...
Transformational growth can be aided by mindset shifts but deeper change is initiated and sustained through the body. Jennifer talks with Somatic Experiencing™ Practitioner, educator and author Kimberly Ann Johnson about how to develop receptivity and activation so you can practice radical responsibility. Together they explore: Why embracing your animalistic nature supports a healthy nervous systemHow to listen to and trust your body's signals Why activating your nervous syst...
Feeling overwhelmed, brokenhearted, anxious or "can't even" these days? Amidst it all, we often want to "take the edge off" to feel better. But what if our "edges" have wisdom we need to hear. Jennifer offers a practice, inspired by her conversation with Madeline Shaw, to help you lean into your 'edginess' and discover what you need most. If you play with this practice and have a story or insight you'd like to share, we’d love to hear from you! Links & resources— For m...
To survive hustle culture, family and career pressures and world affairs we often decompress with social media, our phones or alcohol. In this episode Jennifer talks with social entrepreneur, author and cyclical wisdom devotee Madeleine Shaw about the gift of sobriety in a culture that just wants to take the edge off. In this intimate and honest conversation, they explore- The rise of hustle culture and #GirlBoss How drinking is a socially accepted prescription for exhaustio...
Jennifer offers a practice, inspired by her conversation with Amber McZeal. How might befriending the experience of shame support our collective liberation? Jennifer guides you to explore the unique sensations associated with shame and to get curious about the wisdom it offers. Shame can help you clarify your values and social commitments, especially if you bring a compassionate stance. If you play with this and discover a new way of seeing or experiencing your ‘self’ we’d ...
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