Season 2, Episode 10: “A Conversation with Dr. Vanessa Lapointe”
Summary: This week, Sujai, Vivek, and Marji welcome noted author, parenting expert, and registered psychologist, Dr. Vanessa Lapointe. “Dr. V” shares her experiences and brilliant philosophy, which you can learn more about by visiting her site and/or following her at dr.vanessalapointe on Instagram, where she is very active.
Her two books are Discipline with Damage, published by LifeTree Media (January 12, 2016) and Parenting Right from the Start: Laying a Healthy Foundation in the Baby and Toddler Years, published by LifeTree Media (October 8, 2019). They're available wherever books are sold and also in audio format.
We hope you enjoy the conversation, and we encourage you to join in by posting your thoughts and questions and comments!
(Note: the theme music is called “Joyful” and was written and performed by Marji, whose music site is www.marjizintz.us. The podcast is produced and edited by Marji as well.)
Season 2, Episode 9: “Empathy Is Patience”
Summary: This week, Sujai, Vivek, and Marji have a lively conversation, kicking it off at about 6:19 when Vivek shares a deeply personal story about living empathy in his closest relationships.
Then, at about 33:43, Sujai offers great insight on relationship fractures, how they happen, and what folks can do about them.
Finally, at about 46:48, Marji recalls a conversation she had had some time ago with a parent who was convinced that grounding a child and revoking privileges is sometimes what you just gotta do when older kids just won’t listen. (Sujai has quite a bit of helpful perspective to share here, too.)
We hope you enjoy the conversation, and we encourage you to join in by posting your thoughts and questions and comments!
(Note: the theme music is called “Joyful” and was written and performed by Marji, whose music site is www.marjizintz.us. The podcast is produced and edited by Marji as well.)
Anchor Tests! - do not publish, Marji!!! :-)
Season 2, Episode 8: “A Conversation with Lelia Schott of Synergy Gentle Parenting Resources”
Summary: This week, Sujai, Vivek, and Marji enjoy a conversation with Lelia Schott, Becoming Gentle’s newest addition to the team! Enjoy this sweet conversation with a wise and compassionate parent coach and educator!
You can learn more about Lelia’s work at www.leliaschott.com and you can visit and like her page at www.facebook.com/synergygentleparenting/.
We hope you enjoy the conversation, and we encourage you to join in by posting your thoughts and questions and comments!
(Note: the theme music is called “Joyful” and was written and performed by Marji, whose music site is www.marjizintz.us. The podcast is produced and edited by Marji as well.)
Season 2, Episode 7: “Teethbrushing, Managing Anxiety, and Handling Criticism & Unwelcome Advice”
Summary: This week, Sujai, Vivek, and Marji enjoy a conversation with each other, discussing brushing teeth (starting at about 5:22), strategies for managing our own anxiety when that rears its head (starting at about 25:30), and some tried-and-true ways of handling unwelcome advice and criticism (starting at about 57:37).
We hope you enjoy the conversation, and we encourage you to join in by posting your thoughts and questions and comments!
(Note: the theme music is called “Joyful” and was written and performed by Marji, whose music site is www.marjizintz.us. The podcast is produced and edited by Marji as well.)
Season 2, Episode 6: “Healing While Dealing, Micro-Self-Observation, and ‘Life Is Like…’”
Summary: This week, in Episode 6 of our podcast series, we have a presentation-format episode for you.
At 4:05, Sujai starts us off with her wise thoughts about Healing While Dealing with adversity and trauma. It’s a challenging topic about a challenging human experience, and Sujai, Vivek and Marji get granular about how a person can heal from trauma even while living through challenging circumstances.
At 42:30, Vivek continues in his micro series. We’ve heard about micro-meditation, micro-self-compassion, and now we get to hear about Micro-Self-Observation. Vivek is, as always, wise, humble, relatable, and engaging. And, there’s a dash of SMABO in there!
And, at about 1:16:30, Marji shares her thoughts about life. More specifically, about how life is kind of like a river. More specifically, about how life is kind of like kayaking down a river.
We hope you enjoy the conversation, and we encourage you to join in by posting your thoughts and questions and comments!
(Note: the theme music is called “Joyful” and was written and performed by Marji, whose music site is www.marjizintz.us. The podcast is produced and edited by Marji as well.)
Season 2, Episode 5: “A Conversation with Shivani Patel”
Summary: In our Becoming Gentle Conversations series, Sujai, Vivek, and Marji are delighted to have an in-depth discussion with special guest and mom-to-the-pod Shivani Patel, who is not only one of the kindest people and not only one of the most powerfully effective people having an impact in the world, but is also Vivek’s mother. We were excited to talk with Shivani, who is also on the admin team at GPU, about the work she does in the prison system. Her six-week workshop is the most requested workshop by the inmates and also by the staff of the prison because of its effectiveness in helping and transforming the lives of the people who participate.
We chat about the work she does in the prison as well as parenting, dealing with that feeling that we’re not good enough, reading, dogs, and even yogurt!
We think you’ll really love this sweet conversation with this wise, truly delightful, and deeply inspiring person (a/k/a “Mom” to some)!
If you’re not yet in the Gentle Parents Unite Becoming Gentle group, visit www.patreon.com/GentleParentsUniteHealingCircle to learn more and find out how you can join this community and hear these podcasts every week.
(Note: the theme music is called “Joyful” and was written and performed by Marji, whose music site is www.marjizintz.us. The podcast is produced and edited by Marji as well.)
Season 2, Episode 4: “A Conversational Conversation about Stealing/Lying and Unhurried Children”
Summary: In this week’s episode, Sujai, Vivek, and Marji enjoy a loose conversation about things they noticed over the course of the past week. These three friends have much wisdom to share about lying and allowing kids the time and space they need to make sense of themselves and their world. As always, these friends learn from and enjoy each other!
(Note: the theme music is called “Joyful” and was written and performed by Marji, whose music site is www.marjizintz.us. The podcast is produced and edited by Marji as well.)
Season 2, Episode 3: “A Conversation about Hurtful Words and Behaviors, Micro-Compassion, and Unconditioning Our Conditioning”
Summary: In this week’s episode, Marji starts us off at 3:13 with some theoretical and practical ways of looking at and responding to children’s hurtful words and behaviors.
Vivek next (at about 48:18) discusses something he’s been developing, namely micro-self-compassion. And, at about 1:01:49 (61:49), he takes us through a lovely exercise!
Sujai then takes a lovely look starting at about 1:21:47 (81:47) at undoing some of the conditioning that runs our lives and our thoughts and our reactions and the way we see and interact with the world and our kids and each other.
It’s cool the way our three apparently disparate topics actually connect in deep and powerful ways! Enjoy the conversation!!!
(Note: the theme music is called “Joyful” and was written and performed by Marji, whose music site is www.marjizintz.us. The podcast is produced and edited by Marji as well.)
Season 2, Episode 2: “A Conversation with Eric D. Greene, a/k/a 1Awesome Dad”
Summary: Welcome to the second episode of Season 2 and the first of our guest interview conversations! In this episode, Sujai, Vivek, and Marji speak first about some wonderful work that Vivek has been doing (starting about 3:07). Our conversation with Eric starts at about 15:51. (Note: Between about 21:00 and 23:23, Eric discusses the loss of a child. If you are sensitive to that subject, consider fast-forwarding when you get to the 21-minute mark.) Also, know that there is one unbeeped expletive. We had quite a lively conversation!!
To learn more about Vivek’s work, visit his website Meaningful Ideas. (www.meaningfulideas.com) You can also find him on YouTube (www.youtube.com/channel/UCcBBIOHuEjP6fei2xHXgA_w), Facebook (www.facebook.com/meaningfulideas), and Instagram (www.instagram.com/meaningfulideas/).
To learn more about Sujai’s community and the work she and others do, visit (and join) the Gentle Parents Unite Becoming Gentle Patreon group!
To learn more about the work that Marji does, you can visit her website, Peaceful Parent Whisperer, and you can follow her on Facebook and Instagram.
And, to learn more about our guest, Eric D. Greene, visit 1 Awesome Dad (he truly is awesome, as you will hear). You can also find Eric on Facebook and Instagram.
(Note: the theme music is called “Joyful” and was written and performed by Marji, whose music site is www.marjizintz.us. The podcast is produced and edited by Marji as well.)
Season 2, Episode 1: “A Conversation About Failure, Stories, and Phobias”
Summary: Welcome to the first of episode of Season 2! In this episode, Sujai, Vivek, and Marji will follow a slightly different format. They’ll discuss three topics (those familiar and ubiquitous feelings of failure, how to deal with our own stories that often defeat us and wreck the day, and supporting kids through their phobias journey), and instead of three distinct presentations, they will weave the topics into a conversation between three friends and colleagues. Let us know what you think and if you have any questions at all!
(Note: the theme music is called “Joyful” and was written and performed by Marji, whose music site is www.marjizintz.us. The podcast is produced and edited by Marji as well.)