Spiritual Elderhood with Illana Berger, PhD

Aging through the lens of night dreams, living dreams, and earth dreams. Dr. Illana Berger guides seekers through life’s initiations through Zen practice, Indigenous wisdom, dreams, and soul-centered transformation. Dr Berger starts out by speaking about koans and how dreams are like them: things to ponder not riddles to solve. We talk about the art of becoming present and how this is true enlightenment. We then shift to talking about the difference between elderhood and simply being old and how we can learn to turn toward our lives with curiosity.

VIDEO short: https://youtu.be/3MtXWOAj6qc?si=qeIWrzeTGbHbJxfs

After the break we talk about Earth dreams and then take a call from Elizabeth from Bellingham who tells us a dream about leading a group of women in a spiritual practice. We end with a question from Max who talks about his experience in tribal communities where elders were integrated into the everyday fabric of the family.

BIO: Illana Berger, Ph.D., Zen Roshi, spiritual counselor, and author of The Journey from Grievance to Gratitude and The Snake and the Four Winds, guides seekers through life’s initiations—aging, loss, and awakening—integrating Zen practice, Indigenous wisdom, dreams, and soul-centered transformation through her teachings, writings, and retreats worldwide.

This show, episode number 337, was recorded during a live broadcast on November 15, 2025 at KSQD.org, community radio of Santa Cruz.

Intro and outro music by Mood Science. Ambient music new every week by Rick Kleffel. Archived music can be found at Pandemiad.com. Many thanks to Rick for also engineering the show and to Erik Nelson for answering the phones.

SHARE A DREAM FOR THE SHOW or a question or enquire about being a guest on the podcast by emailing Katherine Bell at katherine@ksqd.org. Follow on FB, IG, LI, & YT @ExperientialDreamwork #thedreamjournal. To learn more or to inquire about exploring your own dreams go to ExperientialDreamwork.com.

The Dream Journal aims to: Increase awareness of and appreciation for nightly dreams. Inspire dream sharing and other kinds of dream exploration as a way of adding depth and meaningfulness to lives and relationships. Improve society by the increased empathy, emotional balance, and sense of wonder which dream exploration invites.

A dream can be meaningful even if you don’t know what it means.

The Dream Journal is produced at and airs on KSQD Santa Cruz, 90.7 FM. Catch it streaming LIVE at KSQD.org 10-11am Pacific Time on Saturdays. Call or text with your dreams or questions at 831-900-5773 or email at onair@ksqd.org. Podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms the Monday following the live show. The complete KSQD Dream Journal podcast page can be found at ksqd.org/the-dream-journal/.

Closed captioning is available on the YouTube version of this podcast and an automatically generated transcript is available at Apple Podcasts within 24 hours of posting.

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