Human to Human

Chris Jepson -- On Stillness

There is so much that I love in conversations with Chris Jepson. We are new-ish connection. I love the beginnings of friendship and learning community with Chris. Chris represents something to me that I'm particularly appreciating. He's a younger man (30s) that is asking such conscious questions about life, about meaning, about belonging, about purpose, about contribution. His way of being deepens mine.

Enjoy the listen to our conversation. And then find your stillness. Or find it in my Becoming & Belonging Series (online, Circle-based, hosted presence / learning).

About Chris:

Chris Jepson is a heart-centered leader who helps purpose-driven organizations bridge vision with effective coherent execution. He is a Canadian, a father of one, and a spiritual seeker. Chris has been following his emergent passions for the past 5+ years. This has led him on a journey from renewable energy to conscious entrepreneurship, and from Canada to Costa Rica and back again. Chris writes for joy, learns with endless curiosity, and shares honest reflections from the path less traveled — exploring consciousness, personal mastery, and the art of living from the heart.

 

https://substack.com/@cjepson

https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-jepson/

https://x.com/c_jepson

https://bsky.app/profile/c-jepson.bsky.social

 

Megan Sheldon -- On Ceremony & Ritual

Many years ago, one of my most important mentors and friends offered this advice -- Be Ceremonial! It was an eldering move. It was words that I've come to appreciate at many layers over the years. In both challenge and delight. In fact, these days my Sweetheart and I are crafting ceremony for our upcoming wedding!

Well, Megan Sheldon has organized a body of ceremonial work -- for the big transitions in our lives, and for the day to day tending or who we are as healthy humans. Her and her husband's creation is Be Ceremonial (see below).

Enjoy this listen. Megan and I talk about the why of ceremony and ritual. Megan shares examples. We touch of few deep principles about how ceremony and ritual can bring health, comfort, depth, wisdom.

About Megan:

Megan Sheldon (she/her) is the co-founder of Be Ceremonial, the world’s first guided ritual and ceremony app. Megan is a cultural mythologist, humanist celebrant, and end-of-life doula living and working in North Vancouver, BC, Canada. She has created hundreds of ceremonies for people around the world, focusing on what she calls the ‘seemingly invisible moments of change’, such as pregnancy loss, organ transplantation, divorce, menopause, and living funerals.

Megan offers in-person workshops, virtual training courses, and seasonal retreats. When she’s not crafting ceremonies, you can find her swimming in the sea or meandering in the rainforest with her husband Johan and two daughters.

www.beceremonial.com

Marlyn Diaz -- On Well-Being Thru Nutrition and Lifestyle

Human To Human, The Podcast. It's conversations of learning, connecting. Unperformed. Authentic. Interesting people. A few questions. Human journey. I'm Tenneson Woolf, host. My home base for blog and other resources -- www.tennesonwoolf.com.

Marlyn Diaz is my first guest of 2025. I know her through medical educators that my Sweetheart Dana convenes. What a delight. Marlyn has such encouraging approach to health, to wellness, to wholeness. She's great with the big story. She's great with the day to day. Emotional health. Physical health. Alchemy. Extraordinary in the ordinary.

Transcript is here.

About Marlyn: 

BIO:

Marlyn Diaz is a Los Angeles-based functional medicine nutritionist, author, wellness educator and professional speaker, with over 35 years of experience and a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Food Science from Drexel University. Marlyn blends her extensive knowledge with postgraduate clinical nutrition studies and certifications in FirstLine Therapy and Nutrigenomics—specializing in weight management, blood sugar balancing, detoxification, and metabolic rejuvenation. 

Her unique approach is tailored to meet the dynamic needs of executives, entrepreneurs, creative artists and professionals. Her book, BEYOND RADIANT, is designed to be a guiding light for those seeking health and happiness in midlife. Marlyn Diaz is not just a nutritionist; she is a visionary in health and wellness, dedicated to empowering individuals to lead thriving, balanced lives.

www.marlynwellness.com

 

Why I Blog -- Three Reasons

I'm experimenting to bring a bit of writing to a bit of voice. I've been blogging (writing) daily, Monday through Thursday for the last ten ish years. Today I reflect on three reasons for why I really do that -- to live an attentive life, an appreciative life, and an associative life. Enjoy the listen (3 minutes).

Cory Thorell, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA "Peace, A Choice of Practice + What's Now" (November 2024, 53 minutes)

Cory is a pal. A fellow mischief-maker. A fellow creator. He's got so many streams of learning that he brings to the conversation. Cory and I revisit the theme, Practicing Peace (we had previous podcast conversation in February). And, we leak a little of what we are creating  in the future. Some new offerings that are teasing us forward together.

More on Cory here: https://corytimecoaching.com/

Nadia Von Holzen "Unhurried" (August 2024, 51 minutes)

 

So good to talk with Nadia. It's sharing life, sharing learning. It's exploring the extraordinary in the ordinary. It's commitment to joy. It's weaving that into practicing peace. Enjoy. I did.

About Nadia von Holzen -- Nadia is an experienced social innovator, workshop coach and facilitator. As the founder of Learning Moments, she aims to inspire and challenge people to make space for healthier and happier working and living creatively. Her mission is to provide learning experiences for individuals and organisations, and prompt reflection on ways of thinking and working.
https://linktr.ee/nadiavonholzen

Rowan Francis Simonsen, Skanderborg, Denmark "Connect to Stillness Within" (June 2024, 51 minutes)

What a sweet collage of explorations and insights with Rowan. We go back to first meeting in 2010. It's been years of sporadic yet well-timed connection. Lots of shared inspiration.

This collage includes a bunch. Clarity of the inner lived in the outer. That's peace. Memories of train rides. Invitations to join what you are passionate about. Holding darkness and light. Being available courageously. Leading in. Showing up to uncertainty. Hunger for essentials. Accompanying. Grandparents. A little poetry, "Life Is."

And then some closing encouragements to attend to what is in our cups.

As Rowan named, yup, it is a celebration to be in such ongoing good company and inquiry.

Rowan Simonsen -- https://beehive-productions.mykajabi.com/

Rowan has worked as an experiential educator, with strategic sustainability, leadership development and facilitation of participatory processes, since 2006. A love for learning in and from nature is central in his work as he practices how best to host spaces for conversation and  that deeper connection. He is inspired by a call to build community on a local, regional and global level, focussing on resilience, creativity and critical relationships. He is inspired to leverage the potential of a holistic understanding of the society we are part of.

Toke Moeller, Sejs, Denmark "The Art & The Heart -- Practicing Peace" (May 2024, 58 minutes)

Such a delight! Toke brings it all. The art. The heart. The personal. The professional. The joy. The discipline. The story. The learning. I loved our conversation. I loved the long pauses when I could see Toke thinking. I loved his joy, and mine, to be in such learning and clarity today. As we've done so much over 25 years.

Enjoy listening. I am. And will several times.

Toke Moeller: Toke Moeller is in the discovery of being human by practising and  experiencing personal peace. He is also the co-finder / co-founder of the Art of Hosting, The Flow Game, and The Practicing for Peace dojo. He is also CEO of Interchange, a for-more-than-profit company. He lives in Denmark. https://bio.site/TokeMoeller

Tenneson Woolf, South Jordan, Utah, USA "Attentive Peace" (April 2024, 28 minutes)

A little solo reflection on this one. Fun to do. I track a few thoughts that contribute to my peace path and the most simple of that that I encourage.

- We live Life. Life lives us.
- What has our attention likely has some medicine for our learning and evolution.
- When we develop familiarity with what has our attention (as guide, + some associative ability), we get more of the medicine.
- A few questions that bring us into the simplicity of peace through simple attention.

Enjoy the listen. Thx for hearing the excitement and the guidance.

 

Samantha Slade, Montreal, Quebec, Canada "Peace & Big Self" (March 2024, 55 minutes)

Yup -- so much good. Big self. Staying with. Centering. Unlearning. All of it connected to practicing peace. Great to learn with, dwell with, wonder with. I appreciate Sam's ability and orientation to practice in the small things and in the big things. And so often, to connect some of the things that live near by. 

SAMANTHA SLADE,  Collective governance and participatory leadership, PERCOLAB COOP, Montreal, Canada (www.percolab.com)

Deeply engaged in sustainability transitions and decolonisation, Samantha works on realigning our ways of working, organising, and governing with a living system worldview. She supports organisations and ecosystems in Canada and globally to practice participatory leadership and create more egalitarian and inclusive ways. Co-founder of Percolab Coop, a worker owned applied research lab, author of Going Horizontal (Berrett-Koehler publishers) and TedX Geneva speaker on The Future is in Business as Commons. Grounded in cultural anthropology and education, Samantha develops deep change programs and tools including the game Listen For and the Generative Decision Making method.