web01.fireside.fm Mon, 20 Apr 2026 17:21:33 -0500 Fireside (https://fireside.fm) Mindful U at Naropa University - Episodes Tagged with “Mental Health” https://mindful-u-at-naropa-university.fireside.fm/tags/mental%20health Thu, 20 Nov 2025 08:00:00 -0700 As the birthplace of the mindfulness movement in the United States, Naropa University has a unique perspective when it comes to higher education in the West. Founded in 1974 by renowned Tibetan Buddhist scholar and lineage holder Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Naropa was intended to be a place where students could study Eastern and Western religions, writing, psychology, science, and the arts, while also receiving contemplative and meditation training. Forty-three years later, Naropa is a leader in ‘contemplative education’, a pedagogical approach that blends rigorous academics, contemplative practice, and experiential learning. Naropa President Chuck Lief explains, “Mindfulness here is not a class. Mindfulness is basically the underpinning of what we do in all of our classes. That said, the flavor or the color of mindfulness from class to class is really completely up to the individual faculty member to work on—on their own. So, what happens in a poetry class is going to look very different from what happens in a research psychology class. But, one way or another the contemplative practices are brought into the mix.” This podcast is for those with an interest in mindfulness and a curiosity about its place in both higher education and the world at large. Hosted by Naropa alumnus and Multimedia Manager David DeVine, episodes feature Naropa faculty, alumni, and special guests on a wide variety of topics including compassion, permaculture, social justice, herbal healing, and green architecture—to name a few. Listen to explore the transformative possibilities of mindfulness, both in the classroom and beyond! en-us episodic Thoughts and Instruction on Mindfulness in Higher Education Naropa University As the birthplace of the mindfulness movement in the United States, Naropa University has a unique perspective when it comes to higher education in the West. Founded in 1974 by renowned Tibetan Buddhist scholar and lineage holder Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Naropa was intended to be a place where students could study Eastern and Western religions, writing, psychology, science, and the arts, while also receiving contemplative and meditation training. Forty-three years later, Naropa is a leader in ‘contemplative education’, a pedagogical approach that blends rigorous academics, contemplative practice, and experiential learning. Naropa President Chuck Lief explains, “Mindfulness here is not a class. Mindfulness is basically the underpinning of what we do in all of our classes. That said, the flavor or the color of mindfulness from class to class is really completely up to the individual faculty member to work on—on their own. So, what happens in a poetry class is going to look very different from what happens in a research psychology class. But, one way or another the contemplative practices are brought into the mix.” This podcast is for those with an interest in mindfulness and a curiosity about its place in both higher education and the world at large. Hosted by Naropa alumnus and Multimedia Manager David DeVine, episodes feature Naropa faculty, alumni, and special guests on a wide variety of topics including compassion, permaculture, social justice, herbal healing, and green architecture—to name a few. Listen to explore the transformative possibilities of mindfulness, both in the classroom and beyond! no mindful u, higher education, mindful university, school of buddhism, contemplative education, psychedelic therapy, psychedelic assisted therapy, psychedelic chaplaincy, colleges in colorado, boulder colorado university Naropa University naropamoment@gmail.com 111. The Power of the Body: A Look at Somatic Counseling and Dance/Movement Therapy https://mindful-u-at-naropa-university.fireside.fm/9 65766a92-2644-4ec2-8d21-e6c1cda12a7f Thu, 20 Nov 2025 08:00:00 -0700 Naropa University full Naropa University In this episode, Heather Sutton, MA, LPC—somatic counselor, Dance/Movement Therapist, and chair of Naropa’s Somatic Counseling program—joins us to explore the healing intelligence of the body through somatic therapy and dance/movement counseling. 48:56 no In this episode, Heather Sutton, MA, LPC—somatic counselor, Dance/Movement Therapist, and chair of Naropa’s Somatic Counseling program—explores the healing intelligence of the body through somatic therapy and dance/movement counseling. Drawing on more than twenty years of clinical practice and her leadership in adaptive movement, Heather shares her journey from dancer to therapist and clarifies the distinctions between dance/movement therapy and body psychotherapy. She explains why not all experiences have words—and how movement helps us navigate difficult emotions, reclaim safety in the body, and stay with sensation long enough to learn from it. Heather also explores real-world applications of somatic counseling, the nuances of Naropa’s two somatic concentrations in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, the central role of emotional attunement in therapeutic relationships, and how embodied practice fosters resilience, presence, and transformation. Special Guest: Heather Sutton. somatic therapy, dance therapy, movement therapy, somatic counseling, Naropa, healing, transpersonal, somatic, counseling, mental health In this episode, Heather Sutton, MA, LPC—somatic counselor, Dance/Movement Therapist, and chair of Naropa’s Somatic Counseling program—explores the healing intelligence of the body through somatic therapy and dance/movement counseling.

Drawing on more than twenty years of clinical practice and her leadership in adaptive movement, Heather shares her journey from dancer to therapist and clarifies the distinctions between dance/movement therapy and body psychotherapy. She explains why not all experiences have words—and how movement helps us navigate difficult emotions, reclaim safety in the body, and stay with sensation long enough to learn from it.

Heather also explores real-world applications of somatic counseling, the nuances of Naropa’s two somatic concentrations in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, the central role of emotional attunement in therapeutic relationships, and how embodied practice fosters resilience, presence, and transformation.

Special Guest: Heather Sutton.

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]]> In this episode, Heather Sutton, MA, LPC—somatic counselor, Dance/Movement Therapist, and chair of Naropa’s Somatic Counseling program—explores the healing intelligence of the body through somatic therapy and dance/movement counseling.

Drawing on more than twenty years of clinical practice and her leadership in adaptive movement, Heather shares her journey from dancer to therapist and clarifies the distinctions between dance/movement therapy and body psychotherapy. She explains why not all experiences have words—and how movement helps us navigate difficult emotions, reclaim safety in the body, and stay with sensation long enough to learn from it.

Heather also explores real-world applications of somatic counseling, the nuances of Naropa’s two somatic concentrations in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, the central role of emotional attunement in therapeutic relationships, and how embodied practice fosters resilience, presence, and transformation.

Special Guest: Heather Sutton.

Support Mindful U at Naropa University

]]> 101. Midlife Emergence: Free Your Inner Fire https://mindful-u-at-naropa-university.fireside.fm/midlife-emergence 79f96180-0d87-4bb8-88cd-15fafd0d5b93 Thu, 09 Nov 2023 14:00:00 -0700 Naropa University full Naropa University 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. 54:39 no Our latest podcast with Jen Berlingo, MA, LPC, ATR is out today! Jen is a Naropa Alumnx of the MA Transpersonal Therapy program, a practicing coach, licensed therapist and author of her new book Midlife Emergence: Free Your Inner Fire. In this episode you’ll hear about her Naropa experience and how getting a degree in counseling served her true calling of art, therapy and coaching after leaving the corporate world. She also 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. Special Guest: Jen Berlingo . transpersonal counseling, art therapy, art, healing, mental health, midlife, midlife transition, midlife crisis, midlife emergence, Our latest podcast with Jen Berlingo, MA, LPC, ATR is out today!

Jen is a Naropa Alumnx of the MA Transpersonal Therapy program, a practicing coach, licensed therapist and author of her new book Midlife Emergence: Free Your Inner Fire.

In this episode you’ll hear about her Naropa experience and how getting a degree in counseling served her true calling of art, therapy and coaching after leaving the corporate world. She also 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.

Special Guest: Jen Berlingo .

Support Mindful U at Naropa University

]]> Our latest podcast with Jen Berlingo, MA, LPC, ATR is out today!

Jen is a Naropa Alumnx of the MA Transpersonal Therapy program, a practicing coach, licensed therapist and author of her new book Midlife Emergence: Free Your Inner Fire.

In this episode you’ll hear about her Naropa experience and how getting a degree in counseling served her true calling of art, therapy and coaching after leaving the corporate world. She also 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.

Special Guest: Jen Berlingo .

Support Mindful U at Naropa University

]]> 14. Joy Redstone: Compassionate Therapy, Counseling, and Poverty. https://mindful-u-at-naropa-university.fireside.fm/joy-redstone-compassionate-therapy-counseling-poverty af913c35-bc17-4006-9464-5c87f2aed137 Tue, 20 Feb 2018 13:00:00 -0700 Naropa University full Naropa University A person has the right answer for themselves, and to express and ask for their needs to be met. It may not look like the answer that, ideally as a therapist, I might think would be best for them. But they have their own answers within, and every time we can be a conduit or a guide to helping them understand what their internal answers are and to actualize them, that's the gift we have to offer people. 29:13 no A person can look far less healthy than they actually are in moments of extraordinary stress. When we put ourselves in another person's shoes and we have some sense of the weight and the burdens and the stresses and the different directions they're being pulled in, it makes more sense, but we all seem to fall away from remembering that. When someone is fed, their kids are ok, they're housed, and they have what they need - that in itself makes a person infinitely more healthy. We teach a lot about the DSM in the clinic because it’s the language of the mental health field, but it's only a snapshot. I encourage people to remember that - that we're seeing a person at a snapshot in time. Whatever our judgement is about them–despite the fact that we're working in a system that calls for judgement and diagnosis–that it’s just a snapshot. Special Guest: Joy Redstone. A person can look far less healthy than they actually are in moments of extraordinary stress. When we put ourselves in another person's shoes and we have some sense of the weight and the burdens and the stresses and the different directions they're being pulled in, it makes more sense, but we all seem to fall away from remembering that. When someone is fed, their kids are ok, they're housed, and they have what they need - that in itself makes a person infinitely more healthy. We teach a lot about the DSM in the clinic because it’s the language of the mental health field, but it's only a snapshot. I encourage people to remember that - that we're seeing a person at a snapshot in time. Whatever our judgement is about them–despite the fact that we're working in a system that calls for judgement and diagnosis–that it’s just a snapshot.

Special Guest: Joy Redstone.

Support Mindful U at Naropa University

]]> A person can look far less healthy than they actually are in moments of extraordinary stress. When we put ourselves in another person's shoes and we have some sense of the weight and the burdens and the stresses and the different directions they're being pulled in, it makes more sense, but we all seem to fall away from remembering that. When someone is fed, their kids are ok, they're housed, and they have what they need - that in itself makes a person infinitely more healthy. We teach a lot about the DSM in the clinic because it’s the language of the mental health field, but it's only a snapshot. I encourage people to remember that - that we're seeing a person at a snapshot in time. Whatever our judgement is about them–despite the fact that we're working in a system that calls for judgement and diagnosis–that it’s just a snapshot.

Special Guest: Joy Redstone.

Support Mindful U at Naropa University

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