Opening Minds, Opening Hearts Podcast

Opening Minds, Opening Hearts is a podcast for both the curious meditator and long-time practitioner of Centering Prayer. During each episode, hosts Colleen Thomas and Mark Dannenfelser will reflect on the method of Centering Prayer and the teachings of Thomas Keating with some friends from the contemplative community who share their personal experience of encountering God through the prayer, and through their work in the world. The podcast provides new perspectives on the future of contemplative prayer in the context of the evolution of culture, technology, and consciousness.

In season three, we are shifting the dialogue to honor Thomas Keating‘s legacy of hosting interspiritual dialogues by embracing guests from various spiritual traditions. We want to learn about contemplative prayer from their perspective. In Keating’s later works and teachings, found in books like Reflections on the Unknowable, God is All in All, and his poetry penned in The Secret Embrace, Father Thomas explores Christian nonduality, or unitive consciousness, experienced as a Oneness with God and with all of creation. Our conversations this season are grounded in these common “points of agreement” that emerged amidst Father Thomas and his friends at the Snowmass Conferences held between 1984 and 2004.

Join us this season as we take the posture of student, friend, and listener. The transformative practice of Centering Prayer opens us to the infinite wisdom and experience of what Father Thomas and friends called – Ultimate Reality.

The podcast Opening Minds, Opening Hearts is free and available to all.
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Welcome to Season 3 of Opening Minds, Opening Hearts

Listen to “Welcome to Season 3 of Opening Minds, Opening Hearts!” on Spreaker.

This podcast can also be listened to on:
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Season 3 Episodes:
Season 2 Episodes:
Season 1 Episodes:
Support the podcast
Season 3 of Opening Minds, Opening Hearts is made possible through the generosity of donors as well as a grant from the Trust for the Meditation Process*, a charitable foundation encouraging meditation, mindfulness and contemplative prayer.
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Hosts:
Colleen Thomas

Colleen Thomas is an ordained minister, Spiritual Director, writer, and podcast host.  A longtime practitioner of Centering Prayer, she serves as the Diversity Outreach Coordinator for Contemplative Outreach Ltd. She worked in television in Los Angeles for 15 years before relocating to her hometown of Washington, D.C., where she serves as the Pastor of Spiritual Formation at Peace Fellowship Church. 

In 2020 she founded Soul Care LA to offer contemplative prayer groups, workshops, and retreats for young professionals, creatives, and BIPOC communities. Colleen holds an MA in Theology and Art from Fuller Theological Seminary and a certificate in the Art of Spiritual Direction & Retreat Leadership from the Spirituality Center at Mount St. Mary’s in Los Angeles, CA. You can discover more about her work, her writing, and her spiritual direction ministry at https://soulcarela.com/

Mark Dannenfelser, MA, MPS, LPC

Former program coordinator for Contemplative Outreach International, Mark Dannenfelser is a certified MBSR teacher, licensed professional counselor, certified spiritual director, and a registered yoga teacher. Mark’s professional interest is in working at the point of intersection between mind-body practices and healing, especially in the areas of trauma, addiction, prolonged grief, anxiety, depression, and chronic stress. His passion, supported by in-depth training in varying modalities, is to foster healing, integration, and equilibrium within the individual, society, and the natural world by increasing awareness of and care for our inner and outer landscapes.

With Master of Arts Degrees in Counseling Psychology and Pastoral Studies in 1990, Mark founded a private mental health group providing psychotherapy to individuals, couples, and groups. In 2009, after earning Certificates for Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness Mentor Training from the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society™ (CFM) at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center he founded the Mindfulness Center of Atlanta. 

Mark lives in Atlanta, Georgia where he is also an affiliated spiritual director at the Ignatius House Jesuit Retreat Center. You can learn more about Mark’s extensive background and training, and his work at: https://www.mindfulnesscenteratlanta.com/

To connect further with us:
Find us on Instagram: Contemplative Outreach Ltd (@contemplativeoutreachltd) • Instagram photos and videos
Like us on Facebook: Contemplative Outreach | West Milford NJ | Facebook
Check out our YouTube channel: coutreach – YouTube
This podcast is produced by Rachael Sanya www.rachelsanya.com

Sponsors:

Made possible, in part by a grant from the Trust for the Meditation Process, a charitable foundation encouraging meditation, mindfulness and contemplative prayer. *To find out more about the TMP foundation, please visit: www.trustformeditation.org