Increasing Wellness and Recovering Inner Peace

Listen now to the show we did on 11/9/20 on 94.1FM, KPFA.org

https://kpfa.org/player/?audio=344799 

2020 has brought unexpected challenges and losses to all of us. Last week was a nail bitter as we waited to find out who our next President would be. Covid-19 numbers and deaths are going up again, and an end to the pandemic is not in site, and not around the corner.

How do we recover our grounding and some sense of stability? What helps you move from anxiety to calm? Join my guests to discover free and easy ways to calm yourself and protect your health.

AMELIA BARILI Ph.D., travelled the world studying ancient traditions on how to develop good health from the inside out. She received her diploma in Yoga Therapy and Philosophy, in 1972, at Kaivalyadhama Yoga Institute, India. Having studied the Medical Qigong system with old Chinese masters, Amelia is a pioneer at integrating both wisdom traditions. She has brought these ancient contemplative practices into the academic environment and teaches meditative techniques as tools to overcome stress and foster deep learning. She is an award-winning faculty at UC Berkeley and the Osher LifeLong Learning Institute, where she teaches youth and older adults a systematic embodied mind approach for personal and community transformation. She has been teaching workshops nationally and internationally at centers such as Omega, Esalen, and Mount Madonna Center, for over three decades. Her most recent workshops are on “Letting Go of Anxiety, Fear and Depression” and “Cultivating Resilience and Inner Guidance in Uncertain Times”. Since March 2020 she has been offering free Saturday online workshops, in Spanish and English, to assist participants in developing resilience and inner strength when confronted with big challenges. For more information, visit ameliabarili.com

 

Glenn Berkenkamp is a former bodybuilder and fitness expert, and is a storyteller, screenwriter, transformational speaker, walk leader, and the creator of the Writing Into The Now workshop. He is the author of Mastery: Living the Highest You, Would My Heart Think This Thought? and Walking with Glenn Berkenkamp: 35 Wellness Walks to Expand Awareness, Increase Vitality, and Reduce Stress. He has explored and shared ultimate wellness and inspired living through the mind-body-spirit connection for a quarter century. His talks, workshops, and writings elevate our daily experience, unite us in something greater, and bring us to a larger awareness of who we are. From this space, the impossible often becomes possible and the ordinary, beautiful.  He resides in Northern California.

The Doctor Is In

Listen now to About Health on KPFA Radio—94.1FM, (10/26/20)

https://kpfa.org/player/?audio=343939 

Dr. Michael Lenoir and I discussed current health issues, such as Covid 19, disparities in health care for black people, other people of color, and folks who are low income.  

Michael LeNoir, MD, is an allergist in the East Bay, board certified in both the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, and served on the Board the American Association of Certified Allergist. He is also an associate clinical professor at UCSF, and for 20 years he was the Director of Allergy Services at San Francisco General Hospital. He has a special interest in asthma in the African American and high risk communities and genetic polymorphisms. He served as the President of the Northern California Allergy Association. From 1998 to 2000 Dr. Lenoir served as the chair of the National Medical Association’s Allergy and Asthma Section and was the recipient of the first Floyd Malveaux Award. Dr. Lenoir has served as the chairperson of the Underserved Committee of the American Academy of Allergy.

Dr. Lenoir served as the President of the National Association of Physician Broadcasters.  In 1994 and 2001, he received the Ken Alvord Distinguished Community Service Award from that organization. He was one of 50 physicians, nationwide, chosen to receive the Pfizer Positive Physician Award from the American Medical Association.  Additionally, in 1988, he was named the Oakland Citizen of the Year by the Oakland Tribune and named one of America’s leading African American Allergist by Black Enterprise Magazine.  Since 2000, Dr. Lenoir has been named as one of the 200 best physicians by San Francisco or by Oakland Magazine. He has served as the President of the Ethnic Health Institute at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, Chair of the Board of the African American Wellness Project. He has served as a member of the Board of Directors at Children’s Hospital Oakland. From 1981 to 1993, Dr. LeNoir served as the medical editor for KCBS radio, hosting a 2 hour weekly talk show. Since 1985, he has been the CEO of the Ethnic Health America Network that produces the Telly award winning Ethnic Health America Program, a 30-minute TV health magazine at one time aired in 1400 cities nationwide on MBC Network. He continues to do radio and podcast programs, such as Black Doctors Speak collaborating with blackdoctors.org.  He has 4 daughters and 5 grandchildren.

Managing Our Anger and Outrage During Difficult Times

Listen now: https://kpfa.org/player/?audio=342829

KPFA 94.1FM 10/12/20

People are under a great deal of stress these days, which can easily lead to frustration and angry outbursts. Anger is a normal emotion that can help us understand what’s wrong, but problems occur when we don’t know how to handle the anger we feel. Is anger causing health, school, work, or relationship problems for you?

Join us to talk about ways to manage our reactions to frustration, worry, and stress. There is so much division and conflict in our country, it’s no surprise that tempers flare and feelings get hurt.

Guest: 

Michael A. Tompkins, PhD, is a licensed psychologist, co-director and co-founder of the San Francisco Bay Area Center for Cognitive Therapy, Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of California at Berkeley, and an adjunct faculty member for the Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy. Dr. Tompkins serves on the Advisory Board of Magination Press, and he is the author or co-author of 12 books, including My Anxious Mind: A Teen’s Guide to Managing Anxiety and Panic and his newly released book Zero to 60: A Teens Guide to Manage Frustration, Anger, and Everyday Irritations.  He lives in Oakland California, and you can find out more at sfbacct.com and on Twitter at @drmatompkins.

A Better Divorce

According to the American Psychological Association there is one divorce approximately every 36 seconds.  That’s nearly 2,400 divorces every day, 16,800 divorces every week, and 876,000 divorces a year.

Listen now to show aired 9/14/20 on KPFA.org—94.1FM with Ann Gold Buscho, PhD, author of “The Parent’s Guide to Birdnesting, A Child-Centered Solution to Co-Parenting During Separation and Divorce

https://kpfa.org/player/?audio=340955 

Ann Gold Buscho, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in family issues and issues related to divorce, parenting, parenting planning, and coparenting counseling. She is the author of the newly released book, “The Parent’s Guide to Birdnesting.” She has professional and personal experience in nesting, coparenting, step parenting, and single-parenting issues. She works closely with family law professionals to help clients resolve their divorce privately and respectfully. She presents widely at state and national conferences for lawyers, mental health and financial experts on Collaborative Divorce, forgiveness practices, nesting during divorce, and consensual dispute resolution. She co-founded a treatment program for emergency responders where she volunteers regularly. Her husband is a retired police officer and psychologist. When not at work, she enjoys her children, grandchildren, hiking, and writing her next book.

Toxic Chemical Exposures

Listen Now to our show on About Health @KPFA.org— 94.1FM

https://kpfa.org/player/?audio=340172 

We discussed health issues facing our firefighting heroes, and also looked at common chemical exposures that occur in your home, school, and work. We are all exposed to chemicals in our homes that are harmful, but in fact these chemicals can cause great harm to our families and to firefighters.

“Air, water, food, and consumer products should be free of dangerous and untested chemicals. We believe that chemical makers have no right to expose you to concoctions that affect your family’s health. That’s why we work with parents, communities, businesses, workers, and government to protect children and families from toxic chemicals in our homes, workplaces, schools, and neighborhoods.Center for Environmental Health.

“Firefighters face occupational hazards on a daily basis. Now, new research shows they face additional risk just by gearing up. Through research and advocacy we aim to improve public health and end this threat of job-related cancer in the firefighting profession.”   —San Francisco Firefighters Cancer Prevention Foundation. 

 

Judy Levin is the Pollution Prevention Director at the Center for Environmental Health. For the past 10 years she’s been leading the Center’s campaign to reduce the use of toxic chemicals in a variety of products. Most recently, Judy has focused on healthier furniture, carpeting, and flooring. She has amassed hundreds of millions of dollars in buying power from government, higher education, and private businesses who want healthier furnishings, and this in turn has incentivized manufacturers to create these products. Judy was awarded the International Interior Design Association Leadership Award of Excellence for her work in the area of reducing the use of toxic flame retardant chemicals in furniture.

Tony Stefani is a retired Captain with the San Francisco Fire Department. In 2001, after 27 years of service, he was diagnosed with Transitional Cell Carcinoma in his right renal pelvis. After successful treatment Captain Stefani retired in 2003. Three years later he founded the San Francisco Firefighters Cancer Prevention Foundation, a foundation that has been dedicated to the early detection and prevention of cancer in both active and retired San Francisco Firefighters. Captain Stefani has also been involved with the Women Firefighters Biomonitoring Collaborative for the past 3 years and is a dedicated advocate supporting legislation on both the State and National level to reduce toxic chemical exposures to Firefighters and the population in general. He has been the recipient of many awards, including the Heroes and Hearts award, given by San Francisco General Hospital Foundation, which recognizes exceptional community service.

 

 

Pandemic Grandparents

Listen now to me and my guest Allison Briscoe-Smith for a discussion about what grandparents and families are dealing with during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

8/17/20, KPFA.org—94.1FM

https://kpfa.org/player/?audio=339302

 

In the US there are approximately 70 million grandparents, and for too many, physical contact with their young grandchildren has been cut off. Other grandparents have stepped into the role of childcare providers, and some have opened up their homes to their kids and grandkids full time.  How has this pandemic changed your role, and how are you dealing with the anxiety, isolation, or exhaustion from all the changes that have occurred?


Allison Briscoe-Smith, Ph.D., is the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and a full-time faculty member at the Wright Institute in Berkeley, CA. She is also a senior fellow at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center, where she serves as one of the hosts of the center’s popular Science of Happiness podcast. After earning her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from UC Berkeley, Dr. Briscoe-Smith’s research has focused on trauma/Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and how children understand race. She lectures widely and leads workshops on these issues for parents, educators, and many others.