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 conversations
• How to shift from listening to confirm you’re “right” to listening from a place of not knowing
• How slowing the pace of a conversation can change the entire field of relationship

Jennifer 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 World
• Get 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.

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 & Resources

• Get 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 leadership
• Learn more about Two Arrows Zen, a practice community co-founded by Diane Musho Hamilton and Michael Mugaku Zimmerman
• Learn 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.

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 Jenkinson
• Matrimony: 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 human
• Follow 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.