How To Learn From Your Ancestors | Spring Washam

How To Learn From Your Ancestors | Spring Washam

Our guest argues that looking back on those who came before us can help us understand who we are and why we do the things we do. Plus, a very special request from Dan.

Spring Washam is a well-known teacher, author, and visionary leader based in Oakland, California. She is the author of A Fierce Heart: Finding Strength, Courage and Wisdom in Any Moment and her newest book, The Spirit of Harriet Tubman: Awakening from the Underground. Spring is considered a pioneer in bringing mindfulness-based meditation practices to diverse communities. She is one of the founding teachers at the East Bay Meditation Center, located in downtown Oakland, CA and has practiced and studied Buddhist philosophy in both the Theravada and Tibetan schools of Buddhism since 1999.

In this episode we talk about:

  • How Spring came to write about Harriet Tubman’s life
  • Her work with plant medicine and the shamanic tradition
  • The dream and the “conversations” Spring had with Tubman
  • Why we are all so interested in ancestry
  • How we can deepen our relationship with our ancestors
  • Family Constellation Therapy as a modality for doing ancestry work
  • Spring’s own family history
  • Why she is still processing the experience of writing her book about Harriet Tubman
  • What she means by the “inner underground railroad” and how it is alive today
  • And, how, in the inner underground railroad, freedom equates to nirvana

Content Warning: mentions of suicide

This episode originally aired in February 2023, and we’re re-airing it today for two reasons: first, because it’s awesome; and second, because Spring needs help.  A few months ago, Spring was hit by a delivery truck while crossing the street in Atlanta. She suffered extensive injuries and has been largely unable to work since then. As a result, she's been experiencing some financial distress between her mounting medical bills and her inability to be fully employed.

We’ve teamed up with the meditation teachers Jack Kornfield and Trudy Goodman to start a GoFundMe page to help Spring raise a little bit of money. Jack, Trudy and Dan have all contributed. If you can make a contribution, please do. No amount is too small.

You can find the GoFundMe here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-spring-washams-healing-journey

Related Episodes:

Join Dan’s online community here

Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel



To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit https://advertising.libsyn.com/10HappierwithDanHarris.

Avsnitt(902)

Eileen Fisher, Fashion Icon

Eileen Fisher, Fashion Icon

Eileen Fisher weaves mindfulness and social consciousness throughout her multimillion-dollar clothing company and in her personal life. After being in business for over 30 years, her collections are sold in 65 EILEEN FISHER shops across the country, as well as department stores, and her company backs several initiatives focused on using sustainable fabrics, human rights for garment workers and EILEEN FISHER employee health. But even with the daily stress of managing a clothing empire, Fisher still begins each day with meditation.

5 Okt 201650min

Tony Wright, Exonerated After 25 Years (Bonus Episode!)

Tony Wright, Exonerated After 25 Years (Bonus Episode!)

Tony Wright spent 25 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. This past August, a Philadelphia jury acquitted Wright of the 1991 rape and murder of an elderly woman after his lawyers, including two from Innocence Project, presented DNA evidence that supported his innocence. He was just 20 years old when he was arrested. During his time in prison, one of Wright's lawyers gave him Dan Harris' book, "10% Happier," and Wright started practicing meditation and yoga. He's now learning to readjust to life on the outside.

4 Okt 201628min

Spring Washam, Meditation and Dharma Teacher

Spring Washam, Meditation and Dharma Teacher

Spring Washam was selling timeshares and struggling with depression when she decided to embark on a journey to work on her mind. After looking into psychology texts, self-help books and various forms of meditation, she eventually attended a 10-day meditation retreat that she says changed her life forever. Washam is now a well-known meditation and dharma teacher who started the East Bay Meditation Center, bringing mindfulness meditation practices to the diverse communities in the Oakland, California, area. She also has a somewhat controversial project involving trips into the Amazon jungle and the drug Ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic plant-based tea mixture.

28 Sep 201644min

Alan Cumming, Actor, Author, Activist

Alan Cumming, Actor, Author, Activist

Alan Cumming is an award-winning actor on the Broadway stage and on-screen, a New York Times best-selling author, director, comedian and activist. He's best known for his roles in Broadway's "Cabaret," TV’s "The Good Wife" and as Nightcrawler in "X-Men 2." During the interview with Dan Harris, Cumming talks about his meditation practice and his new book, "You Gotta Get Bigger Dreams: My Life in Stories and Pictures," out this month.

21 Sep 201635min

Elizabeth Vargas, ABC News Anchor

Elizabeth Vargas, ABC News Anchor

Elizabeth Vargas has been known throughout her 30-year career for her strong reporting around the world, her tough interviews and her steadiness during breaking news coverage. But now for the first time, Vargas reveals that she has also long struggled with alcoholism and anxiety. In her interview with Dan Harris and in her new book, "Between Breaths: A Memoir of Panic and Addiction," Vargas shares that she suffered repeated relapses and says meditation and reaching out to others has helped save her.

14 Sep 201645min

Chef Eric Ripert

Chef Eric Ripert

Chef Eric Ripert, of the famed Le Bernardin in New York City, is one of the world's best chefs, an Emmy-winning cooking show host and a cookbook author. But while Ripert was building a name for himself in the heat and the stress of a fine-dining restaurant kitchen, he also became a practicing Buddhist. The chef sat down with Dan Harris to talk about his daily meditation rituals, how he found Buddhism after being raised Catholic, and how he got to where he is today.

7 Sep 201650min

The Minimalists, Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus

The Minimalists, Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus

Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus have been through a lot together. They grew up together in Dayton, Ohio, both in families that struggled to make ends meet. They went on to climb the corporate ladder together and both made a comfortable living. So when Josh discovered minimalism, a practice in which you rid yourself of excess stuff to focus on personal happiness, it wasn't long before Ryan joined him. Today, the two childhood friends live in Montana and host a podcast, a website and have a film called "Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things," all devoted to capturing their minimalism experiences and to help others discover the practice.

31 Aug 20161h

Dr. Michael Gervais, Sports Psychologist

Dr. Michael Gervais, Sports Psychologist

Mike Gervais is a high-performance sports psychologist who works with athletes, most famously as the mindfulness coach for the Seattle Seahawks, on training the mind and body to work together under the intense pressure of competition. Gervais has helped pro-basketball players, golfers, swimmers, snowboarders, volleyball Olympians, hall of famers and a host of other elite athletes find new approaches to reaching peak performance from within. He talks with athletes and entrepreneurs about their experiences on his podcast, "Finding Mastery."

24 Aug 20161h 6min

Populärt inom Hälsa

somna-med-henrik
rss-bara-en-till-om-missbruk-medberoende-2
inga-beiga-morsor
sexnoveller-deluxe
alska-oss
johannes-hansen-podcast
sova-med-dan-horning
angestpodden
brottarbroder
not-fanny-anymore
en-beroendepodd-av-the-house
tyngre-traningssnack
smartare-fitness-podden
dilemma-2
tyngre-radio
halsoveckan-by-tyngre
sa-in-i-sjalen
dodsdomar
rss-sjalsligt-avkladd
en-beroendepodd-av-the-house-2