Spring Washam joins Chris Grosso for a conversation about working with the fertile grounds of suffering, cultivating the fierce heart, and how plant-based medicine can help with trauma.
Spring Washam is a meditation teacher, author and visionary leader based in California and Peru. She is the author of A Fierce Heart: Finding Strength, Courage and Wisdom in Any Moment. Spring is considered a pioneer in bringing mindfulness-based healing practices to diverse communities. She is one of the founders and core teachers at the East Bay Meditation Center, located in downtown Oakland, CA. Spring is also a contributor to the BHNN Guest Podcast. Learn more about her at springwasham.com.
Life Isn’t a Fairytale
Chris welcomes Spring and asks about her experience growing up in a low-income community in southern California. Spring talks about using all of the pain and suffering around her as grounds for fertile growth. She details her spiritual journey, some of the difficulties she has encountered as a person of color in the spiritual community, and how the East Bay Meditation Center came to be.
“Nobody was doing anything to me, it wasn’t that I felt there was racism or ageism directed at me. It was that I didn’t see myself reflected anywhere [in the spiritual community], and then that began to take a toll on my heart in a powerful way, suffering began to arise there.” – Spring Washam
Spring Washam leads everyone down the Yellow Brick Road on BHNN Guest Podcast Ep. 61
The Fierce Heart (25:30)
Chris brings up Spring’s book, A Fierce Heart. They discuss the concept of the fierce heart, and how to begin to cultivate it. Spring talks about working with heavy emotions and traumatic experiences, and how love and compassion are great entry points onto the spiritual path.
“The fierce heart is the heart that can hold the beauty of life, but also the heartbreak.” – Spring Washam
Plant-Based Medicines (39:25)
Chris asks Spring about working with plant-based medicines as a way of dealing with trauma. Spring talks about her experience with plant-based medicines in Peru, and how she has incorporated that into her retreats. She ends with a note about staying connected to love, compassion, and the Sangha.
“If anything, my work with the plants has deepened my devotion to living in the present moment.” – Spring Washam
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