Episode 62: About Conversation Culture, with Elissa

It’s 2020 and we are polarized. If it wasn’t already obvious, this election has made it completely evident that we are split in two in the so-called United States of America. “Cancel Culture” is a prime example of our polarization, and it’s reinforcing our divisions. What can we replace it with? I suggest: Conversation Culture.

In this solo episode I’ll share the four steps that I believe can help us come back together in conversation: 1) Start with your own body, 2) Get curious and listen, 3) Picture you’re on the same team, and 4) When all else fails, be kind. Join me in promoting #ConversationCulture… let’s go viral with a message of love... 💓

Listen here on Apple Podcasts.

Listen here on Spotify. 

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Show Notes:   

Recap

• 0:00 - This month on the podcast we’re going to discuss conversation and a new paradigm I’m suggesting: Conversation Culture.
• 2:51 - A statement of the problem: we are polarized. We’re stuck in Cancel Culture. 
• 8:55 - How do we create something different? We have to shift paradigms by introducing a third element to our binary: Context.
• 12:12 - In order to understand how we shift the paradigm, let’s also talk about our human nervous systems. When our nervous system is dysregulated, we don’t feel safe. And when we don’t feel safe, we can’t be curious. We can’t have Conversation Culture until we feel safe.
• 19:30 - Step 1 to move into Conversation Culture: Start with your own body. We do our Voice Body Connection Process check in to do so.
• 28:50 - Step 2 to move into Conversation Culture: Get curious and listen.
• 30:10 - Step 3 to move into Conversation Culture: Picture yourself on the same team.
• 32:23 - Step 4 to move into Conversation Culture: When all else fails, be kind.
• 34:23 - What would it look like to connect with each other? To feel safe? To choose Conversation Culture? This is choosing love over fear.

Show Notes 

Elissa's article about Conversation Culture. 

I highly recommend this TED Talk from Celeste Headlee about “10 ways to have a better conversation.”

A member of the Voice Body Connection Membership Community recommended this fabulous article about listening. 

This is the open letter about Cancel Culture in Harper’s. And here’s a useful article about Cancel Culture that I found helpful from The Telegraph, and a response to the open letter.

Sarah Silverman talking about Cancel Culture and her friend who used to be a Neo-Nazi.

Here is Deb Dana’s introduction to Polyvagal Theory. And here’s a previous episode where I talked about it more.

Here’s a bit about safety, comfort, bonding, and curiosity, from my Body-Mind Centering teachers at the Babies Project.

Our recent guest Christina Blacken talked about asking open-ended questions in this episode about how to talk about race.

Here’s Joe Biden on Brene Brown’s podcast.

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• Live voice and movement warm-ups led by Elissa (twenty minutes each 4x/week),
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Production Credits:

Our Editor is Sean Brennan

Our Photographer and Graphic Designer is Laura Sills

Our Videographer is Miguel Garzón Martínez

And our theme song is “Waters of Body” by Strange Weather

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