The Other Side of Things

By: Michael Brant DeMaria Ph.D.
  • Summary

  • No one knows everything, but everyone knows something no one else knows. In this time of crisis and chaos in culture and nature there is a dire need for honoring all sides of things. We have lost the art of nuance and subtlety. On The Other Side of Things Michael will take you on a deep AND accessible way of looking at yourself, others and the world so you can find a lucid sanity grounded in deep mystery. We will be exploring taboo topics around love, sex, death and madness. You can always check out his Musitations podcast for creativity as a healing, meditative modality as well.
    ©Michael Brant DeMaria 2023
    Show More Show Less
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2
Episodes
  • The Other Side of Things (Ep 06) - "Intimacy with All Things" with Alyssa Morin
    Nov 11 2024
    00:00 Introduction01:17 Who is Alyssa Morin?02:22 Michael's early trauma03:35 Gwyneth Paltrow Love, Sex and Goop04:00 What is Somatic Sex Education? 05:00 Alyssa's background in Zen, Soulwork and being a minister's daughter.06:00 Alyssa's journey to SSE and what it is.09:35 Let me dive into everything during her first Saturn Return11:00 Caffyn Jesse and healing circumcision trauma13:00 Zen practice as a prelude to SSE14:50 The power of lineage and containers15:45 Dogen, "Enlightenment is intimacy with all things." 19:00 Sitting with whatever arises.20:50 Eros/Life Force and Aliveness.23:00 Eros/Psyche/Natura - bringing opposites into relationship and longing.24:00 Meaning of Rilke's phrase, "Go to the limits of your longing." 28:50 How do you bring a soulcentric/soulwork approach to your work?29:50 The Soulwork Lineage of Bill Plotkin and her teachers32:30 Sexuality, Trauma and Initiatory experiences and finding meaning in the suffering36:00 Art as Ritual/Ritual as Art37:40 Self-designed Ceremony41:00 Losing the Sacred42:00 The Verdant Collective 45:11 Women exploring their belonging and regulating their nervous systems47:00 Pleasure and Please have the same root word - does this please you?48:50 The power of listening49:30 Your sexuality is yours!50:00 Somatic Sex Education in more detail51:40 Your arousal IS the event55:30 Closing Comments and ThoughtsI came across Alyssa's work as part of my own healing journey after watching the riveting and painful documentary American Circumcision. It triggered some old trauma's from multiple surgeries I had between the ages of birth and age 7. It hit me really hard. I came across the work of Caffyn Jesse who offered a free online training for those who may have been traumatized by the experience. It was life changing. She was one of the founders of Somatic Sex Education, and it turned out I would later discover trained Alyssa. When I went to explore this area of healing further I came across Alyssa's website which was VERY different then most of those working in the space. Having grown up Catholic, I was struck first that she was a minister's daughter, secondly that she practiced Zen meditation (something I had done since the age of 18) and thirdly she worked within the lineage of Bill Plotkin, Ph.D., the author of such books as Soulcraft and Nature and the Human Soul. I trained with Bill in the 90's and worked closely with him on my way to being a wilderness vision fast guide for many years. I knew immediately the kinship in our backgrounds would make Alyssa the perfect resource for me to work on my own deeper healing of my childhood trauma's. I'm so glad she has agreed to be on the show. You'll truly enjoy her depth, authenticity, heart and soulful sharing of her wisdom. A bit more about Alyssa:Alyssa Morin is a soulcentric Somatic Sex Educator, and Relationship and Intimacy Guide. Her work with individuals, couples and groups traverses a wide range: from practical, applicable, matter-of-fact sex education and problem-solving, to sensual, inexorable, earth-shattering magick, to clear self-knowing — all through the body. And on her website:Connection, yes. Making babies, got it. But pleasure? Fun? A way to express and come to understand the many sides of myself, a portal into altered states of consciousness? All of that was buried under fear, embarrassment, misunderstandings, trauma, and shame.The journey to where I stand now, a Somatic Sex Educator, was a winding and meandering one. Undergraduate studies in college lead to a degree in journalism, taught me to think for myself, and revealed that most of the questions I was interested in asking would not be answered – probably could not even be asked – in the ivy covered halls of academia.Twenty-two years spent in gymnastics facilities, as both athlete and coach, taught me much about the body, its mechanics, its beauty and grace. I learned of sacrifice and devotion, pain and frustration, triumph and failure, friendship and betrayal. I learned what humans need to relax into and trust another to catch them as they hurl their bodies through the air, while refining a capacity to look deeply into complexity and find and name the simple adjustment that can change everything.Deep dives into the relational practice Circling, as well as Zen Meditation, and Women’s Culture and Community, along with medicine journeys and soul work, slowly peeled back layers to reveal the truth that had perhaps existed all along: Embodiment, sexuality, eros, intimacy, and relationships are my work.Alyssa's website: https://www.alyssamorin.org/The Verdant Collective Website: https://www.theverdantcollective.com/Michael's website: https://michaeldemaria.com/
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 3 mins
  • The Other Side of Things (Ep 05) - "All The Honey" with Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer #poetry #healing
    Aug 24 2024

    00:00 Introduction
    01:40 Who is Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer?
    03:10 All The Honey
    04:20 How did you become a poet?
    07:50 What opened your heart as a child?
    08:19 A poem a day.
    09:20 "I wrote the first bare line...pure wisdom...pure foolishness"
    10:40 Poetry and dealing with darkness and her son's death.
    14:00 Turning Towards What is True.
    14:43 It doesn't have to be good, it just has to be true.
    16:00 How my daily practice of writing helped me not shut down.
    16:34 Finn's amazing light, compassion and how he shined so brightly.
    21:22 Wrestling with being true - a poem.
    22:50 The friction of contradiction becoming the poetry of paradox
    23:49 POEM: Two Truths (about her son's death)
    26:00 How those we love become more present through their physical abscence...
    27:00 The necessity of creativity to survive the greatest challenges and traumas
    28:40 It is in our most desperate places that we need creativity to survive
    29:00 The importance of community - sharing our creativity with others.
    30:00 Loss is the place beauty starts...
    32:00 Van Gogh and a multi-media project that was so healing
    32:54 A synchronicity with a bunnie appearing during our interview!
    36:00 Vincent Van Gogh's sister-in-law and brother Theo having preserved his legacy.
    37:50 Bearing the fruit we came here to bear.
    40:00 How can we see our story so we can see through the story.
    42:00 POEM: The Invitation
    44:40 Hearing silence more deeply...and silence as a powerful honoring...
    47:00 Who are your people?
    48:46 People of the Twilight
    50:35 Living with a foot in both worlds
    51:37 Rilke and the Darkness - Faith in Night
    54:20 Endarkenment
    58:30 Wanting to Die
    1:03:00 Poignant Mysterious Synchronicities with Finn
    1:06:00 Amor Fati and honoring what happens on the River of Life
    1:10:00 Connecting with those on the other side of things...
    1:13:00 Being with What Is...
    1:14:38 POEM: Going Deeper Into The Mystery
    1:16:43 Spaciousness of Heart
    1:18:55 Being Carried
    1:22:00 NEW BOOK: "The Unfolding" comes out in October

    I came across one of Rosemerry's poem and was immediately hooked by her authenticity and depth in her poetry. After reaching out to her and receiving such a kind response I was so grateful for her willingness to be on The Other Side of things!

    Be prepared for one of our deepest dives on The Other Side of Things. Our soulversation took us into some profound spaces and silences that I found personally so deeply enriching and meaningful. I felt truly transformed by our time together, and I hope you will too.

    Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer co-hosts Emerging Form (a podcast on creative process), Secret Agents of Change (a surreptitious kindness cabal) and Soul Writer’s Circle. Her poetry has appeared on A Prairie Home Companion, PBS News Hour, O Magazine, American Life in Poetry, on Carnegie Hall stage, and on river rocks she leaves around town. Her collection Hush won the Halcyon Prize. Naked for Tea was a finalist for the Able Muse Book Award. Rosemerry has been writing and sharing a poem a day since 2006—a practice that especially nourished her after the death of her teenage son in 2021. Find her daily poems on her blog, A Hundred Falling Veils or a curated version (with optional prompts) on her daily audio series, The Poetic Path, available on your phone with the Ritual app. She is the author of Exploring Poetry of Presence II: Prompts to deepen your writing practice, and her poetry album, Dark Praise, explores “endarkenment,” available anywhere you listen to music. Her most recent collection is All the Honey, and in October, 2024 she’ll release The Unfolding with Wildhouse Publishing. In January 2024, she became the first poet laureate for Evermore, and is helping others explore grief, bereavement, wonder and love through poetry.

    Website: https://www.wordwoman.com/
    Daily poetry blog: https://ahundredfallingveils.com/
    Daily poetry app for your phone: https://app.ritual.io/rosemerry
    Podcast on creative process: Emerging Form http://emergingform.com/
    Newest Book: All the Honey https://bookshop.org/p/books/all-the-honey-rosemerry-wahtola-trommer/18666020
    TEDx: The Art of Changing Metaphors https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXC3-ZFkhDo
    Poetry album on “Endarkenment”: Dark Praise https://rosemerrywahtolatrommer.bandcamp.com/album/dark-praise
    Upcoming Book: Unfolding https://wildhousepublishing.com/the-unfolding/

    Michael's website: https://michaeldemaria.com/

    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 27 mins
  • The Other Side of Things (Ep 04) - Stem Cell Therapy
    Jul 10 2024

    00:00 Introduction
    01:37 Who is Kevin Lucas?
    03:47 Who is Shannon Rogers?
    05:40 How Kevin found stem cell therapy.
    09:45 How Shannon found stem cell therapy.
    15:18 Michael's experience with stem cell therapy.
    19:00 You are not your diagnosis!
    20:45 What is stem cell therapy and how does it work?
    27:20 The rest of the world has been doing this for the last 50 years!
    27:50 In 2015 law changed for us to be able to access in the US.
    29:50 Where do stem cells come from?
    30:30 How does New Hope Regeneration source them?
    31:50 How the newest techniques make it available for most anyone.
    32:50 What are mesenchymal cells?
    33:50 These are from umbilical cords that would simply be thrown away.
    34:17 The wave of the future?
    37:20 New Hope Regeneration's desire to make it more available.
    38:10 What should someone look for when considering options for stem cell therapy?
    43:15 Is there anything that can't get better?
    48:00 Difference between older and younger doctors regarding their support of stem cell therapy.
    49:30 Do your research!
    50:00 80 percent of second opinions give a different opinion. Doctor's aren't all knowing.
    50:40 Becoming a full participant in your own health care.
    51:30 We are more biodynamic than biomechanical.
    52:00 How do people find out more about New Hope Regeneration's options?
    54:00 How my digestive issues kept me from living my life more fully for 20 years.

    I have wanted to share about the experience I had with stem cell therapy for a number of years now and Kevin, Shannon and I finally was able to carve out some time for this very invigorating deep dive into all things stem cell therapy.

    Kevin Lucas is a health & wellness advocate, public speaker, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and consultant that is well known for his commitment to helping patients manage their health challenges and chronic pain. At the beginning of his career, Kevin Lucas of New Hope Regeneration worked as a Board Certified Advanced Structural Integrator. This position allowed Lucas to dedicate himself to alleviating the pain and improving the quality of life of patients suffering from MS, auto immune conditions, Parkinson’s, Fibromyalgia, and a host of other conditions with the capacity to cause pain and discomfort. While aiding patients via therapeutic touch indicative of Structural Integration was rewarding, Kevin Lucas decided to expand his development and the tools at his disposal, leading to him co-founding New Hope Regeneration in 2015. Now, Lucas introduces patients to how Infiniti Cells can be harnessed for their anti-inflammatory, regenerative, and immunomodulatory qualities to strengthen the body’s ability to repair itself. He also works as a consultant for New Hope Regeneration, helping potential patients determine whether Infiniti Cell Therapy is the right path for their needs.

    Shannon Rogers is a curious researcher in the field of human behavior and dysfunction. She has worked professionally and passionately with thousands of people for over twenty years, helping them move beyond abuse and trauma. She blends years of fervent learning with some of the most powerful tools on the planet into her methods. She passionately believes that processing emotions is the key to the fountain of youth, vibrance, and clarity leading to your greatest breakthrough, beyond fear and trauma. She has witnessed people turn back the signs of aging and to discover healing and functionality through her powerful work. She possesses a unique ability to quickly grasp the root of the problem and to compassionately lead you to your greatest potential.

    Kevin's website: https://newhoperegeneration.com/
    Shannon's website: https://www.shannonlynnrogers.com/

    Michael's website: https://michaeldemaria.com/

    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 6 mins

What listeners say about The Other Side of Things

Average customer ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.