The Tension of Emergence: Thriving in a world that remakes, not breaks

Listening is Your Superpower: Reduce Defensiveness, Increase Connection with Jennifer England

In this short guided practice, Jennifer builds on her conversation with Zen teacher Diane Musho Hamilton and facilitator & executive coach Gabe Kaigen Wilson to explore one underrated superpower in our “growing up” toolkit: listening well.We’ve all been in those harder conversations—at work, with a partner, a teen, or a family member—where we’re either talking over each other or shutting down. In this episode, Jennifer offers a simple, relational practice to slow things down and listen in a way that softens defensiveness and deepens connection.In this episode, you’ll learn:Why reflective listening is such a powerful practice in conflict and everyday conversationsHow to shift from listening to confirm you’re “right” to listening from a place of not knowingHow slowing the pace of a conversation can change the entire field of relationshipJennifer reminds us that reflecting back doesn’t mean you agree. It simply shows that you’ve heard what matters to the other person and are willing to be with it—without rushing to fix, solve, or convince.Links & Resources:Get Diane Musho Hamilton and Gabe Kaigen Wilson's new book Waking Up and Growing Up: Spiritual Cross Training for an Evolving WorldGet Jennifer's bi-monthly newsletter or reach out here Gratitude for this show’s theme song Inside the House, composed by the talented Yukon musician, multi-instrumentalist and sound artist Jordy Walker. Artwork by the imaginative writer, filmmaker and artist Jon Marro.

Defensive to Anti-Fragile: The Path of Waking Up and Growing Up with Diane Musho Hamilton and Gabriel Kaigen Wilson

Jennifer speaks with Zen teacher Diane Musho Hamilton and facilitator Gabriel Kaigen Wilson about walking a spiritual path: not just waking up to our inherent belonging, but growing up into emotional maturity, flexibility, and courage.At the heart of the conversation is the tension many of us live inside—between enlightenment and the ego, urgency and presence, identity and oneness. Diane and Gabe offer practical, compassionate tools for navigating modern complexity without abandoning ourselves or each other.In this conversation, we explore:Why oneness isn’t enough to navigate conflict:  why we need both the spiritual path (waking up) and the developmental path (growing up).How identity can be both a safe home and a tight boundary: why flexibility is essential for compassion, clarity, and connection.How reflective listening calms the nervous system; and becomes a practical, transformative way to stay connected through difference and polarization.Come join us for a light hearted conversation on how to trust the grit and wisdom of our entangled, modern life.  Links & ResourcesGet their new book Waking Up and Growing Up: Spiritual Cross Training for An Evolving World Real Life Programs: training with Diane Musho Hamilton in emotional maturity, conflict resolution and leadershipLearn more about Two Arrows Zen, a practice community co-founded by Diane Musho Hamilton and Michael Mugaku ZimmermanLearn with Gabe (Wisdom Gym and Executive Team Development)Follow Jennifer’s Substack and connect with her work Gratitude for this show’s theme song Inside the House, composed by the talented Yukon musician, multi-instrumentalist and sound artist Jordy Walker. Artwork by the imaginative writer, filmmaker and artist Jon Marro.

Consent to Being Undone: A Simple Practice for When Life Doesn’t Go as Planned with Jennifer England

In this practice episode, Jennifer England invites you into the courageous act of consenting to be undone.Drawing on her recent conversation with cultural worker and author Stephen Jenkinson (Matrimony: Ritual, Culture and the Heart’s Work), Jennifer reflects on how, in a world filled with urgency, grief, and collapsing certainties, true participation requires both patrimony (our inheritance of grief, beauty, and obligation) and matrimony (a ritualized consent with the unseen).From this larger vision, Jennifer distills a simple yet powerful practice:Notice when things don’t go as planned — a delay, an interruption, a conflict.Pause and soften your body’s resistance.Ask: What might open if I allow this moment to undo me, just a little?This practice offers a counterweight to urgency and the need to fix. It nurtures intimacy with the unknown, and a deeper participation in what is always remaking itself.🌿 If you’re navigating transition, longing for ease, or wrestling with the question what is yours to do in a world breaking open, this practice will be supportive.Links & resources—Listen to Jennifer’s full conversation with Stephen JenkinsonMatrimony: Ritual, Culture, and the Heart’s Work For more practices and inspiration from Jennifer get inspiring emails to help you navigate the hard mess of leading and being humanFollow Jennifer on Instagram or LinkedIn Gratitude for this show’s theme song Inside the House, composed by the talented Yukon musician, multi-instrumentalist and sound artist Jordy Walker. Artwork by the imaginative writer, filmmaker and artist Jon Marro.

On Matrimony, Mothering Culture and the Undoing of Self with Stephen Jenkinson

In this festive wedding season, what if matrimony wasn’t here to affirm the intensity of love between two people but a courageous submission to the unknown?  Jennifer speaks with Stephen Jenkinson—cultural activist, author, ceremonialist—about the necessary burdens of love through the ritual of matrimony. With characteristic poetic edge, Stephen challenges the Western obsession with autonomy, authenticity and safety and gestures toward a redemptive cultural project: one of radical hospitality, memory, and the mystery of matrimony as a village-making act.Together they dive into:How matrimony is distinct from weddings and is rooted in mothering culture, not just romantic loveThe lost valence of patrimony, and what it asks of usThe role of the stranger in belonging and village makingWhy being “yourself” might not be the gift you think it isThis conversation reveals how ritual and ceremony thins the membrane with other worlds, makes congress with the divine and helps us honor what's come before —so we might find our place, and responsibility, in what’s yet to come.Links & Resources:Order Stephen Jenkinson's newest book Matrimony: Ritual, Culture and the Heart's Work Learn more about Orphan Wisdom SchoolGet Jennifer’s biweekly newsletter for radical encouragement on the hard mess of being humanConnect with Jennifer on Instagram or LinkedIn Gratitude for this show’s theme song Inside the House, composed by the talented Yukon musician, multi-instrumentalist and sound artist Jordy Walker. Artwork by the imaginative writer, filmmaker and artist Jon Marro.

Feed What You Love (A Practice) with Jennifer England

What if feeding what you love—even in the face of despair—could be your most vital climate practice?In this episode, Jennifer offers a guided practice inspired by a recent conversation with climate educator and author Sarah Jaquette Ray, who invites us to face the monstrous scale of climate change not with more fixing, but with more loving. Together, they explored the emotional toll of activism, the trap of numbness, and the surprising resilience we access when we stay rooted in what brings us joy and meaning.This practice is designed for anyone who feels overwhelmed, powerless, or stretched thin by the weight of the world—and who longs to feel more alive, connected, and steady in the long game.In this episode, you’ll take away:A fresh perspective on grief and anxiety as signals of what you care most deeply aboutA two-part reflective and experiential practice to help you feed what you loveA gentle invitation to discover how ordinary joys can become acts of resistance and renewalJoin Jennifer in this quiet, potent offering—a return to what enlivens, surprises, and sustains us. Because when you feed what you love, you find others there. And together, we remember how to belong.Links & resources—Get an email from Jennifer every couple of weeks to support you in the hard mess of leading and being human. Follow Jennifer on Instagram or LinkedInTalk with Jennifer! Share an insight or ask a question here jennifer@sparkcoaching.ca Gratitude for this show’s theme song Inside the House, composed by the talented Yukon musician, multi-instrumentalist and sound artist Jordy Walker. Artwork by the imaginative writer, filmmaker and artist Jon Marro.