Arts and Healing Podcast

Sandra Hobson is a counselor and consultant to individuals and organizations who are interested in using art and indigenous wisdom for personal, community and environmental healing. She has been an advisor to the Arts and Healing Network since its beginning in the mid-90's.

A world-traveler, Sandra has studied with shamans and native healers from diverse cultures including Peru, Nepal, Ecuador, Mongolia, and more. She carries that wisdom into her counseling practice and into her recently published book, Rituals for Life's Milestones, which includes 15 rituals that anyone could use to create deeper connection and meaning in one's life.

You can learn more about her book at charleshobson.com/books/rituals.html.

Dr. Bernie Siegel is the author of The Art of Healing: Uncovering Your Inner Wisdom and Potential for Self-Healing. Bernie retired from general and pediatric surgical practice in 1989, and has since dedicated himself to humanizing the medical establishment's approach to patients, and to empowering patients to induce their own healing.

After studying the use of crayon drawings by patients faceing life-threatening diseases, Bernie founded Exceptional Cancer Patients to facilitate self-induced healings. Bernie realized that we can aid our bodies' innate propensity to heal through what are currently seen as uncoventional practices, including drawing, visualization, dreams, love, and laughter.

You can learn more about Bernie's work and his books at berniesiegelmd.com and follow him on Twitter at @BernieSiegelMD.

For over ten years, artists Richard Lang and Judith Selby Lang have been collecting trash together on Kehoe Beach in Point Reyes National Seashore in Northern California, and turning it into playful and powerful works of art that raise awareness about ocean pollution. The plastic they collect has become everything from sculptural wall art to digital prints, a wedding dress, jewelry, a mobile car sculpture, and more. Ultimately, their work combines fun and passionate obsession with a thoughtful message about ocean pollution, recycling and creative re-use.

In June 2010, the Arts and Healing Network's Director, Mary Daniel Hobson, interviewed them at their home and studio in Forest Knolls, CA about art, passion, collaboration, collecting, the importance of place, and the tragedy of plastic polluting our oceans. Judith and Richard were also one of the 2009 recipients of the AHN Award.

You can learn more about their work at beachplastic.com, and read anecdotes about their plastic collecting and artmaking on their blog, Plastic Forever.

If you are interested in learning more about the problem of plastic pollution and how to be part of the solution, Judith and Richard offer the following resources:

Beth Terry at Fake Plastic Fish shares helpful tips for living plastic free.

Dr. Hideshige Takada of International Pellet Watch is tracking nurdles, and could use your help with his research.

Plastic Pollution Coalition is an organization committed to stopping plastic pollution.

Project Kaisai is a nonprofit seeking to understand the scale of marine pollution.

Timothy McLaughlin is a poet, teacher and the founder of the Spoken Word Program at the Santa Fe Indian School (SFIS). This program empowers students to create original poetry – which incorporates Native languages and philosophies – and then perform that poetry for diverse audiences locally, nationally, and internationally. He and his students have received numerous awards and have been featured on many radio and television programs. You can learn more about the SFIS Spoken Word Program at www.sfisspokenword.org.Originally from Washington DC, Timothy has been teaching in Native communities since 1997. He was named the University of Virginia Madison House Alumni of the Year in 2007 for his dedication to service work. Timothy has also produced the poetry CD, Moccasins and Microphones: Modern Native Storytelling Through Performance Poetry, and is the editor of the book Walking on the Earth and Touching the Sky: Poetry and Prose by Lakota Youth at Red Cloud Indian School (Abrams Books 2012). His writing has appeared in several publications, including The Declaration and Radical Grace.