The Hoffman Podcast

This episode with Felipe Jain, M.D. is so full of amazing things, that it’s hard to describe all you’ll hear.

Felipe did the Hoffman Process when he was twenty-five. He was in his third year as a medical student at Harvard Medical School. He was driven and ambitious, but found relationships a challenge for him. One of the wonderful moments Felipe remembers from his Process is when his emotional self finally got to speak up for himself and stand up to his intellect. He shares how amazing it was to experience the magic of this child within himself – a wonderful, beautiful, and fun child.

Now, many years later, Felipe is a Psychiatrist, a Researcher, a Neuroscientist, and a Professor at Harvard Medical School. As you’ll hear in this episode, Felipe, through the Process, found and continues to develop a beautiful balance between all four aspects of his Quadrinity. He also has been able to use aspects of his Process experience as well as some of what he learned there in his work as a Psychiatrist.

One magical part of this episode is how Felipe describes his experience of Being. A meditator for over thirty years (he started at age 13 or 14), he has deepened his relationship with people and nature by coming to know how to shift perspectives and learn to truly take in what another is experiencing. Felipe describes the evolution of Being and the nature of Being through metaphor and physics. You’ve got to listen to and feel what he shares.

Be sure to take time to discover more about Felipe’s work and the resources he’s made available to us all.

More About Dr. Felipe Jain, M.D.:

Originally from San Rafael, CA, Dr. Felipe Jain, M.D., is the Director of Healthy Aging Studies at the Depression Clinical Research Program of the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. His research group aims to develop new guided imagery and mindfulness tools for people caring for loved ones with chronic illnesses. Additionally, his lab studies objective brain connectivity, stress hormones, and other biological markers of psychotherapy treatment. This research is funded by competitive grants from the National Institutes of Health and private foundations.

Dr. Jain also treats patients – predominantly with treatment-resistant depression – in private practice. He is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Felipe teaches medical students tools for resilience and serves on the MD Advisory Board of the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. He also supervises psychiatry trainees in the number-one ranked Massachusetts General Hospital-McLean psychiatry residency program.

Dr. Jain’s most recent endeavors include studying smartphone delivery of psychotherapy, researching brain activity occasioned by psychedelics, writing a book on guided imagery and mindfulness, and creating a startup based on his mobile application platform development. When not working, he enjoys meditating, crafting poetry, reading sci-fi, playing tennis with his two children (ages 7 and 9), hiking in the Middlesex Fells, and laughing for no reason on his back porch.

Dr. Jain is also a Hoffman Institute Foundation Board Member. We are grateful for his willingness to share his expertise, experience, and love to further Hoffman’s goal of bringing peace to the world one person at a time.

Find out more about Dr. Jain here.

As mentioned in this episode:

14 Billion years: the age of the Universe

Quark:
“A quark (/kwɔːrk, kwɑːrk/) is a type of elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter.” Wikipedia

Lao Tzu (or Laozi):
6th-century BC ancient Chinese philosopher and writer Lao Tzu, is believed to be the author of the Tao Te Ching. He is also “the founder of philosophical Taoism and a deity in religious Taoism and traditional Chinese religions.” Wikipedia

The Tao Te Ching:
“The Tao Te Ching, along with the Zhuangzi, is a fundamental text for both philosophical and religious Taoism.” Wikipedia

FernHillCenter.org:
Free resources that Felipe mentions in this episode. Fernhill Center is “dedicated to freely spr...

Listen in as Karen Tiber Leland shares with us about the power of being tapped into your Spiritual Self. Karen went through a very rough time after doing the Hoffman Process. Through this time, she realized that her connection to her Spiritual Self was “hardwired in.” She realizes how this being so helped her to navigate such a hard time in her life.

Karen also speaks about the power of being able to name your emotions in business. She tells us, “The Process isn’t about indulging your feelings and dramatizing them. It’s about the recognition and clear expression of them. And the responsible expression of them.”

More about Karen Tiber Leland

Karen is the best-selling author of The Brand Mapping Strategy: Design, Build and Accelerate Your Brand. Karen is also president of Sterling Marketing Group, a boutique branding & marketing firm working on personal, business, and CEO branding. Her clients include LinkedIn, Google, American Express, and Marriott, among others.

A best-selling author of ten traditionally published books, Karen’s books have sold more than 450,000 copies. Karen writes for Inc.com. and has spoken at Harvard, Stanford, and TedX. She’s also a frequent guest of the media and has been interviewed by CNN, CNBC, Fox, and Oprah.

Karen currently serves on the Hoffman Institute Advisory Council. She’s a former board member and has facilitated board and staff retreats. Karen has also led leadership development programs and advised on Hoffman branding and marketing. Find out more about Karen, here.

Welcome to Season Two!

We are thrilled to open with Stan Stefancic, retired Hoffman teacher and former Director of Special Projects for the Institute. Stan shares his stories of the Process (including working with Bob Hoffman), as well as his life’s work in helping to create a more socially just and caring world. For Stan, “...the Hoffman Process was a life-changing experience. I made many profound discoveries. I also encountered my Spiritual Self, and my own intrinsic worth and value. This meant that I could enjoy what I was doing for its own sake rather than proving through achievement that I was lovable.”

Stan initially studied Civil Engineering while working as a bricklayer/stonemason apprentice. Upon completing his apprenticeship, he changed direction, earning a BA in English and American Literature. Stan became active in politics and social change in college. He then earned an M.Div. degree at Harvard Divinity School.

While studying for a Ph.D., he began working with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and met Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King inspired Stan to leave his graduate study and become a Unitarian Universalist Minister. He became deeply involved with the Civil Rights Movement and participated in meaningful social and political change. A minister for more than 40 years, Stan has served churches in six states. He served on many nonprofit Boards, including Common Cause, ACLU, and Planned Parenthood. Stan has also served as a citizen lobbyist focusing on Campaign Finance Reform and ethics and conflict of interest legislation. Stan was honored as Citizen Activist of the Year in 1998 for his contributions to the passage of a Citizen’s Initiative resulting in Arizona being one of four states to pass Public Funding of all elected State Officials.

A Major Life-Turning Point

A major turning point in Stan’s life occurred when he participated in the Hoffman Process. He had recently resigned his position as Senior Minister after five tumultuous years and was trying to determine what to do next. Then a friend introduced him to Bob Hoffman, who invited him to experience the first 8-day residential Process and become Vice-president of the Institute. Immediately after completing the Process, Stan also began training as a Teacher.

After teaching and training teachers for six years in the USA, Europe, and Australia, Stan left the Institute for a time to pursue other interests. He was a business consultant and did “crisis interventions” with churches where he was able to heal the wounds, repair the organizations, and stimulate growth. “I could not have been successful in those crisis situations had I not done the Process and learned how to stay present, authentic, focused, and deal with transference and projections.”

Stan rejoined the Institute in 2000 as Director of Special Projects and Process teacher. He retired in 2011. Presently, he is writing a Memoir. Stan and his wife Marianne, who is a psychotherapist, live in San Rafael, CA.

Tami Tack & Kim Worrall graduated from the Hoffman Process in 1996. They took the Process a second time after it was rejuvenated from an 8-day Process to 7 days. Tami and Kim have been stewards of this work ever since. For over 15 years, Tami has been a graduate group leader in the Portland, Oregon area.

Tami and Kim speak to the power of learning to trust in and live from the Spiritual Self and softening into its care. Kim first realized that his nature had a spiritual aspect during the Process. Tami and Kim share stories from their post-Process past to illuminate how vital this aspect of our Quadrinity has been to leading joyful lives.

You’ll hear Tami and Kim speak about how the Process work has been vital to their relationship. The Hoffman Process supports not only our internal transformation. It also transforms our relationships. When two partners have completed the Process and followed it up with the Hoffman Couples Retreat, the work can deepen the quality and power of your relationship.

We hope you enjoy this conversation with Tami, Kim, and Hoffman host, Sharon Mor.

More about Tami Tack & Kim Worrall:

Married since 1987, Tami and Kim enjoy traveling and exploring the inner world of relationships and spirituality. They host a monthly spiritual Living Circle and have participated in Thom Bond’s Compassion Course for two years, an outgrowth of Nonviolent Communication (NVC). Tami and Kim sing together in local choirs and volunteer with CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) to work with children in foster care. They live in Tami’s childhood country home which they have named Harmony Hill. Enjoying an active life, they hike, bike, and kayak. They are deeply grateful for all that Life has brought them and look forward to the next adventure.

More about Tami Tack:

Tami first experienced the Hoffman Process in 1996, then again in 2015 after the Process was rejuvenated. Passionate about Hoffman Graduate Groups, she led the Portland group from 2009 to 2023, mentoring other leaders beginning new groups. She is a retired school counselor and therapist and has always loved working with people of all ages. Another passion of hers is music, expressed both through piano and voice. Classically trained in piano, she discovered in her 40s that she could compose music and recorded three CDs of her original piano solos.

Singing with many choirs, she directs the Lower Columbia chapter of Threshold Choir whose mission is to sing at the bedside of the dying. The proud mother of two delightful adult children and grandmother to four, she prioritizes family and heart connections.

More about Kim Worrall:

Kim discovered the Hoffman Process in 1996. In 2014, he repeated the HQP, remembering that he is not his patterns—imagine that! A major takeaway was that he has a Spiritual Self. He is curious about how things work, from human thinking and behavior to galaxies and microbes. He is a retired teacher and counselor, a former pilot and mountain climber, and a father and grandfather. Formerly singing in the Portland Opera chorus, he now sings with a local men’s ensemble. Having been interested in magic since he was a kid, Kim has produced magic shows and always carries a bit of magic with him. He loves to travel for its broadening view of our world and people. He is learning the value and strength of vulnerability.

As mentioned in this episode:

Engulfment

Bob Hoffman

Hoffman Couples Retreat

Hoffman tool: Embodied Recycling

Graduate Groups
Virtual (Zoom) Grad Meetings are held in four time zones – Pacific, Mountain, Central, and Eastern.

Hoffman Process Rejuvenation

Neural Pathways

Threshold Choir

Religious Science

Ed McClune: Listen to Ed on the Hoffman ...

For New Year’s Eve, 2020, we have an intimate conversation with our podcast co-hosts, Sharon Mor and Drew Horning. Listen in as they explore and share many aspects of their Hoffman experiences – as students, teachers-in-training, active teachers, and now as Hoffman Podcast co-hosts.

TRANSFORMATION & LOVE

What you’ll come to know from listening to this soulful conversation is how much Sharon and Drew love each other. They are friends, yes, but more than that there is a palpable sense of family between these two. This love is the kind of love we experience at the Process with our fellow Process mates. When we do this deep work together we come to love each other in a profound way. Sharon and Drew were also in Hoffman Process teacher training together, which, as they reflect on it here, grew them even closer. Sharon beautifully expresses her joy in realizing that, as teachers of the Process, they will grow old together.

Drew speaks about how dangerous the Dark Side’s use of ‘weaponized awareness’ is and how the power of self-compassion is vitally essential to counteract this Dark Side tactic. Sharon talks about how, through the transformation she experienced at the Process, she is now the person she always wanted to be.

SHARON AND DREW ALSO TALK ABOUT:

• The most powerful, pivotal moments in each of their Processes.
• Stories from their childhood years.
• How the transformation they experienced at the Process now looks in the day-to-day of their lives.
• What they would share with students as graduates on day six of the Process.
• A bit of what they’ve learned teaching the Process.
• Their insights and understandings about the power of the Process from the perspectives of both student and teacher.
• And...a little bit about podcasting!

Toward the end, Sharon and Drew consider what it was like to share this time with each other and with you. They discover that intimate, soulful conversations help us learn more about each other in new and amazing ways.