Mindful U at Naropa University

110. Art Therapy: Healing the Inner Landscape

July 22nd, 2025  |  1 hr 4 mins

art, art therapy, contemplative, contemplative education, healing, naropa, transpersonal, transpersonal art therapy

In this episode, Michael Franklin, PhD—author, professor, and former chair of Naropa University's graduate Transpersonal Art Therapy program—joins us to explore art as a transformative path for healing the soul.

Franklin invites us into the contemplative language of art—through mediums like clay, paint, and film—and how these move us beyond just self-expression and into uncovering deeper layers of ourselves and our potential. Drawing from his journey into transpersonal art therapy, he explains why art may be the most precise language for emotion, and how fluency in creative practice helps us stay present with our own discomfort so we can more compassionately accompany others through theirs in the practice of Art Therapy. 

104. The Essential Relationship of Mindfulness and Activism

January 9th, 2024  |  1 hr 14 secs

activism, grief, healing, mindfulness, political activism, yoga

Reggie Hubbard is a yogi, political campaigner and activist, speaker, and meditation instructor.

On this episode he speaks to working with grief and how to heal, he tells his story of how he aligned his professional and spiritual life into an integrated path of purpose, and he explains why he believes mindfulness is essential to political activism.

101. Midlife Emergence: Free Your Inner Fire

November 9th, 2023  |  54 mins 39 secs

art, art therapy, healing, mental health, midlife, midlife crisis, midlife emergence, midlife transition, transpersonal counseling

Naropa Alumnx, Jen Berlingo, MA, LPC, ATR shares about the tipping point in her career from corporate world to a master's in transpersonal counseling and art therapy and how that allowed her real passions to lead her life. She shares her journey of coming out as queer in midlife and what it looked like to alchemize her midlife transition into a Midlife Emergence of true authentic living—all detailed in her new book Midlife Emergence: Free Your Inner Fire.

70. Alicia Patterson: Deep Wisdom & Healing of the Pelvic Bowl

April 22nd, 2019  |  49 mins 30 secs

alicia patterson, college, david devine, education, healing, health, higher education, meditation, mindful, mindfulness, naropa, naropa university, pelvic, pelvic bowl, pelvic floor, pelvic wisdom, psychology, somatic, somatic therapy, therapy, university, wisdom, women, womens health

"The pelvic floor muscle tissues are connected very intricately and beautifully, and I feel like it can be complex in some ways to the abdominal muscles. And I think of the pelvic floor as the foundation of a building, it's like the ground level of the body. If the foundation of a building is off or suffering or it's not right, the whole rest of the building is off. So, that's my best metaphor is that the pelvic floor is our foundation. It's so connected to our legs and our feet and the way that we walk and move and dance through the world. And it supports everything above it. So, the reproductive organs, the digestive system, all the organs, the heart, the voice, the throat, and the brain are supported by the pelvic floor. And I've had huge changes in my digestion and rewiring of my nervous system and real cognitive and mood balances from working with my pelvic floor that before, I was trying a million different things to feel better. For me, the pelvic floor is like the Holy Grail."

65. Sue Wallingford: Healing Generational Wounds Through Art Therapy

March 18th, 2019  |  42 mins 48 secs

art, art therapy, college, education, healing, higher education, khmer rouge, naropa, naropa university, psychology, sue wallingford, therapy, university

"Creativity is inherent in us as human beings. I think that we've, in some ways, lost the connection and the right to have our own creativity and our own artistry. For me, just touching into that in of itself is healing. It also takes you into a different part of your brain. It accesses different parts of your psyche and your spirituality and your soul in a way that maybe verbal therapies don't quite touch. And so, it's a deeper more integrated avenue dealing with you know whatever it is that you're working with."

50. Richard Rudis: Therapy through Sacred Sound and Gong Baths

December 3rd, 2018  |  49 mins 16 secs

healing, music, richard rudis

Richard Rudis spent years in Tibet and Nepal, and in the Himalayas, where he met many teachers and many fundamental teachings came forward. At some point, the outline of sacred sound healing became clear, and he introduced the gong once he found a manufacturer who was creating a poly-tonal instrument that was noble enough and had as much expansion of sound, overtones, harmonics, and frequencies that would reflect sacred sound healing as it came from tradition. Then, he started on the journey of offering gong baths.

22. Elaine Yuen: Engaging Our World with Contemplative Practice

April 16th, 2018  |  30 mins 55 secs

contemplative healing, healing, trauma

How do we blend contemplative practice with service in the world? How can we extend ourselves, offer ourselves to that world in an authentic way? One where we're not burning out at the same time? How can we support people both at the peak of tragedy, getting over the most difficult parts, as well as the lasting repercussions? We meet people there, with them, where they are, with an open heart, acknowledging with them moment by moment by moment. I feel that's where our contemplative practices are most supportive, helping us be more present with that moment to moment disillusion. There is one moment - the one moment that is all of our life really. This thought is embedded deeply in Naropa's curriculum.