This week PBS is airing a new 3-part series called “This Emotional Life.”  The first part, “Family, Friends & Lovers,” aired last night.  If you missed it, you can watch part 1 online.  Part 2 airs tonight; part 3 airs tomorrow night.

Here’s a description of the series from the website:  “The series opens a window into real lives, exploring ways to improve our social relationships, cope with emotional issues, and become more positive, resilient individuals.”

I watched the first 20 minutes of part 1 and found it very compelling … I thought it was very good.  I plan to watch the rest of part 1 and the rest of the series.

By the way, according to the website, this series is part of a two-year, multi-platform project that aims to create awareness, understanding and solutions surrounding emotional well-being.

This is a very important project, in part because the healthier all of us become emotionally, the more loving this world will become, and the more healing it’ll experience.  Way to go, PBS!

If you watch some of the series, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Link TV’s new program Global Spirit bills itself as the first “internal travel” series.  The program focuses on spirituality and features a wide range of perspectives.

Online you can watch program segments and full episodes.  Here are some past episodes:  “Forgiveness and Healing,” “In Search of Ecstasy,” and “Earth Wisdom:  For a World in Crisis.”

I watched the first episode, “The Spiritual Quest,” and enjoyed it.  Guests Karen Armstrong (author of A History of God and other books) and Robert Thurman (professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University) shared pieces of their spiritual journeys and some thoughts about spirituality and religion.

I look forward to more episodes (here’s a list of upcoming episodes).

(Side note:  I’m a fan of Karen Armstrong.  Here’s a great interview with her from Salon Magazine.)

According to its website, Ode Magazine and online community is for intelligent optimists.  The magazine and online community features inspiring stories of people making a difference in the world.

You can experience the current issue of the magazine online.  I say experience because some articles include compelling videos, such as the video below which features Krishnammal Jagannathan speaking about India’s complex caste system, and what it’s like to be labeled an “untouchable.”

Lastly, as you may know, I’m drawn toward anything involving pie.  So, naturally, I was drawn toward an article in the current issue entitled, “Mission Pie teaches city youth about food.”

Karen Heisler, co-founder of Pie Ranch (yes, Pie Ranch!) and Mission Pie, said something I’ve been saying for years:  “Pie is a great vehicle to work with.”

(Thank you, “Downtown” Scotty Brown, for introducing me to Ode.)

Last night I listened online to a GREAT one-hour seminar with psychotherapist and Buddhist meditation leader Tara Brach, whom I deeply admire and adore.

In the seminar, Brach (in photo at left) shared some thoughts about the causes of emotional suffering and ways to heal.

In particular, she talked a lot about “the trance of unworthiness” (i.e., self rejection or low self esteem), how it limits us, and what we can do to heal from it.

Great, great stuff.  I love and appreciate Brach’s perspective.  It deeply resonates with me.

Good news: Tomorrow (Saturday, Feb. 7) you can listen to the seminar online for free (but you will need to register).  It’s playing every two hours, starting at 10 a.m. ET and going until midnight.

(The seminar was presented by The National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine.)

Tara Brach is a psychotherapist and Buddhist meditation leader based in the Washington, D.C., area.  Here’s a great five-minute centering exercise she calls a “sacred pause.”  (I love Brach’s voice.)  Enjoy.

I’m excited that more and more Christian spiritual leaders are embracing emotional development and integrating it into the fabric of their churches and organizations. One of the pioneers is pastor Peter Scazzero, author of The Emotionally Healthy Church (which was extremely helpful for me) and Emotionally Healthy Spirituality (which I haven’t read but have heard good things about).

Scazzero’s philosophy is this: It’s not possible to be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature.

In the mid 90’s, Scazzero’s marriage almost collapsed, and that prompted he and his wife Geri to seek help. They both realized that they were emotionally immature in some ways and they began to heal and grow emotionally. They repaired their marriage and then set out to help repair the church they were leading, New Life Fellowship in Queens, New York City.

For the past twelve years or so, Scazzero and his wife have worked hard to integrate emotional development into their church (which is no easy or simple task!), and they’ve also been creating and hosting conferences for pastors on emotionally healthy spirituality.

Here are some resources that might be helpful:

+ The 2009 Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Conference | The conference takes place May 1-2. Here’s a blurb from their brochure: “[The conference is] designed for men and women in leadership eager to be equipped in the application of emotional health and contemplative spirituality. In this two day intensive conference we will provide biblical background and practical experiences that will launch you on a pathway of deep transformation and equip you with tools to take emotionally healthy spirituality into your church, leadership, and ministry.”

+ Free Online Video of Peter and Geri Scazzero Telling Their Story | In this short, well-done video, the Scazzeros vulnerably share their story. This may give you an even better understanding of where they’re coming from. (Note: On the Emotionally Healthy Spirituality home page, in the right-hand column, you’ll find a link to the video, “Pete and Geri’s Testimony.”)

+ Peter Scazzero’s Blog | Great stuff. I really enjoyed his two most recent posts: “Top 10 Turning Point Lessons” and “Jesus the Lord of Delight.”

+ Finally, see below a great video of Scazzero giving a brief overview of “emotionally healthy spirituality.” He produced this video for his church.

Yesterday I listened to a powerful episode of Speaking of Faith called “Yoga:  Meditation in Action.”  Host Krista Tippett interviewed Seane Corn (in photo at left), an internationally renowned yoga teacher based in the Los Angeles area.

Tippett and Corn discussed, among other things, how yoga can be a helpful tool for emotional and spiritual development.

I was so impressed with and inspired by Corn’s heart and loving spirit.  She clearly has done a lot of internal work, and she talks about it very articulately.

Her story is fascinating.  She was sexually abused when she was a young girl; she grew up in a blue collar family; she never went to college; she moved to New York City when she was seventeen and waited tables and partied hard; she struggled with OCD and at age nineteen realized it was interferring in her life; also at nineteen she took her first yoga class, and yoga helped her with her OCD and in many other ways; years later she moved to the Los Angeles area to train as a yoga teacher.

Corn is also an activist and works with sexually exploited children and those with HIV/AIDS.  She’s the National Yoga Ambassador for YouthAIDS and co-founder of Off the Mat, Into the World.

Some things to check out:

+ Corn’s interview with Krista Tippett.

+ A video of Corn doing “body prayer”; a video of Corn talking about vinyasa flow yoga.

+ Tippett’s journal entry about her own recent journey with yoga and why it’s a new passion.

+ Corn’s website (which is beautiful):  www.seanecorn.com

I’m a huge fan of the radio program Speaking of Faith, hosted by Krista Tippett.  During my recent heoric road trip — heoric because I was driving an ‘87 Toyota Corolla — from San Diego to Chicago, I listened to several episodes of Speaking of Faith.  Here are a few episodes I really enjoyed:

+ The Ecstatic Faith of Rumi |  Rumi was a 13th-century Muslim mystic and poet, and he wrote about love in an incredibly evocative, provocative and profound way.  I want to read more of his stuff!

+ Brother Thay:  A Radio Pilgrimage with Thich Nhat Hanh | I love and greatly admire this Zen Buddhist monk, who’s now in his eighties.  I’m blown away by how deeply and profoundly he understands and embodies love.

+ The Soul in Depression | Tippett, who has struggled with depression, interviewed a few people who experienced spirituality in a new way through their struggle with crippling depression.  One of the people Tippett interviewed is author Parker Palmer, who wrote the books Let Your Life Speak and A Hidden Wholeness.

There are so many more fantastic episodes, and you can download them or listen online.  Check out the archive.

Shadow Work coach Alyce Barry recently wrote a great article called “Learning About My Holiday Shadows.”  In it she explains how being aware of our holiday shadows (and our strategies for surviving the holidays) can help us love ourselves and others better during the holidays.

A few years ago, Alyce wrote a longer, more detailed article called “Holiday Shadows We Know and (Don’t) Love.” In this fantastic article, Alyce gives even more examples of holiday shadows — her examples may help you identify some of your own holiday shadows.

Also, Alyce just produced a CD called Home for the Holidays:  Tips for a Practically Shameless Holiday Season, which is designed to help you get more of what you want from the holidays and have a practically shameless season.

The CD includes insights and tips on:  dynamics going on under the surface when a family gets together for the holidays; family roles, and why we play them; shadow-y behaviors in family members, and what they mean; what to do if you see shadows in yourself; and much more.  The CD also includes two exercises to help you prepare to go home for the holidays.

On the Home for the Holidays page, you can download the CD or order a physical copy.  I plan to download a copy (which costs just $9.95).

Enjoy the articles and the CD.  I hope they’re helpful.  I’d love to hear what you think!

The Washington Post and Newsweek have teamed up to produce a fantastic interview series called “Divine Impulses.”

Journalist Sally Quinn interviews influential thinkers, spiritual leaders, celebrities and politicians about their “divine impulses,” or their understanding of the Divine (or God) and spirituality and how that influences their lives.

Quinn interviews a wide range of people, who offer a wide range of perspectives. Some of the folks she has interviewed include: Rick Warren, pastor and author of The Purpose-Driven Life; Deepak Chopra, author and spiritual teacher; Ashley Judd, actress and activist; Joel Osteen, author and pastor; Caroline Casey, astrologist; and Desmond Tutu, archbishop and activist.

Check out the list of interviews and enjoy watching the interviews online. (And don’t be surprised if you end up watching all the interviews in one sitting!)

Below are highlights from one of my favorite interviews, the interview with religion historian Karen Armstrong, who wrote the best-selling book A History of God.