Commune with Jeff Krasno

We strut through life confident that we are the thinker of our thoughts and feeler of our feelings. But, of course, that conception of reality is itself just a thought or a feeling. When we rigorously examine the nature of thoughts, feelings and sensations, we discover that we rarely are their sole authors. Commusings is our Sunday morning newsletter where we take a moment to think deeply on the topics of spirituality, philosophy, and culture. To sign up, visit onecommune.com. And for more musings and quotes, connect with us on Instagram at @onecommune.

Dr. Caroline Leaf is a communication pathologist and cognitive neuroscientist and the author of Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess and Switch On Your Brain. Today, she and Jeff discuss the difference between the mind and the brain, the power of neuroplasticity, and her research-based method to reduce anxiety, stress, and toxic thinking. You can learn more about Commune at onecommune.com. And connect with us on Instagram at @onecommune and @jeffkrasno.

Grief is something we all go through at some point in life. We don’t choose grief, it chooses us. The question is how will we deal with it when it arrives at our doorstep. This is Murray's story of loss and recovery. Commusings is our Sunday morning newsletter where we take a moment to think deeply on the topics of spirituality, philosophy, and culture. To sign up, visit onecommune.com. And for more musings and quotes, connect with us on Instagram at @onecommune.

Dr. Klutts has both an MD and a PhD in biochemistry and is at the forefront of determining COVID policy for the entire veterans affairs system. As social media swirls with confusion, shaming, and vitriolic exchange around the topic of COVID, vaccines, and the Delta variant, we hope this episode can provide clear, grounded information based on the latest information. You can learn more about Commune at onecommune.com. And connect with us on Instagram at @onecommune and @jeffkrasno.

This week's essay is from Laurie-Beth Robbins (“LBR”), a regular Commune contributor and eternal optimist who gets individuals excited about life. Here she reminds us to just FLY THE PLANE, and not let a little turbulence get in your way. Commusings is our Sunday morning newsletter where we take a moment to think deeply on the topics of spirituality, philosophy, and culture. To sign up, visit onecommune.com. And for more musings and quotes, connect with us on Instagram at @onecommune.

This audio workshop is an extended excerpt of Charles Eisenstein's Commune course, Political Hope. Our politics run on a mentality of war, and war mentality rests on the story of separation. The problem, as the saying goes, is that if you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. If our go-to solution is to find the enemy and defeat them by force, we become blind to any other way of solving problems. To watch Charles' full course, sign up for a 14-day free trial of Commune Membership at onecommune.com/trial.

We tend to think of ecological solutions in terms of personal sacrifice or technology, but if one’s ability to “eco-sacrifice” is really a test of privilege, and if clean technology here is still exporting toxic waste over there, is meaningful progress possible down that path? Fortunately, there is a simpler option — as old as human history. To sign up for our weekly Commusings newsletter, visit onecommune.com. And for more musings and quotes, connect with us on Instagram at @onecommune and @jeffkrasno.

Can teaching martial arts actually reduce violence? In this episode, Jeff talks with Brazilian jiu-jitsu master teachers Ryron and Rener Gracie about the wide-reaching benefits of jiu-jitsu, including how police training in this technique helps them better de-escalate conflict and reduce excessive force. They also discuss jiu-jitsu as a form of meditation and method for instilling reason and rationality in the human brain during moments of extreme tension. Watch Rener and Ryron's Commune Course, Jiu-Jitsu for Self-Defense at onecommune.com/gracie. You can learn more about Commune at onecommune.com. And connect with us on Instagram at @onecommune and @jeffkrasno.

Today's episode is an excerpt from the Commune course, Healing Conversations with Justin Michael Williams. If you are looking to improve the quality of your conversations – particularly difficult conversations – you can try this Commune course free for 5 days at onecommune.com/healing. This particular lesson really gets at the heart of the program: Calling people out doesn’t work. No matter what has occurred, shaming or blaming someone else shuts down the centers of their brain that activate learning and growth. So of course they get defensive — it’s built into human biology. That’s why it’s critical to learn how to call people forward. Calling forward is an INVITATION. We are calling them toward something new. And in the process, we must also be willing to be called forward ourselves. You can learn more about Commune at onecommune.com. And connect with us on Instagram at @onecommune.

Prude or prurient. Mary or Jezebel. Why does Western culture have such a schizophrenic relationship with sex? In this Commusings Jeff walks a middle path between extremes. To sign up for our weekly Commusings newsletter, visit onecommune.com. And for more musings and quotes, connect with us on Instagram at @onecommune and @jeffkrasno.