Beyond Trauma

In this episode of Beyond Trauma, I’m joined by Sarah Peyton to explore the transformative practice of Nonviolent Communication (NVC) and how it invites us to see the “flow of life” moving through each person.
We discuss why communication becomes so difficult when nervous system reactivity, attachment patterns, and unmet longings come into play. Sarah explains how self-compassion helps us stay grounded in moments of conflict—and why recognizing the freeze response as a natural survival strategy is essential.
Together we unpack:
How holding the question of another’s beautiful longings changes how we listen
The role of nervous system safety in helping others hear us
Clean emotional words versus blame-based language
How attachment style influences vulnerability and communication patterns
How to navigate conversations with people we deeply disagree with—without losing connection
If you’ve ever wondered how to stay loving and regulated in hard conversations, this episode offers both neuroscience and heart.
Sarah Peyton, author, Certified Nonviolent Communication Trainer and neuroscience educator, integrates constellations, brain science and the use of resonant language to heal trauma with exquisite and warm gentleness. Sarah teaches and lectures internationally and is the author of four books on relational neuroscience and self-compassion: Your Resonant Self: Guided Meditations and Exercises to Engage Your Brain’s Capacity for Healing, the companion Your Resonant Self Workbook: From Self-sabotage to Self-care, and Affirmations for Turbulent Times: Resonant Words to Soothe Body and Mind, and The Antiracist Heart: A Self-Compassion and Activism Handbook, co-authored with Roxy Manning, PhD. Find her at www.sarahpeyton.com.
Your support keeps this podcast going! Please consider donating if you found this episode helpful.
Follow Lara at Website | Instagram | YouTube
Intro & Outro Music by Daniel Zaitchik

In this episode, I sit down with Lawrence Susskind—city planner, mediator, and MIT professor—to unpack how consensus actually gets built in complex, high-stakes settings. From urban planning to Arctic governance, Larry shares what it takes to bring the right people to the table—especially those with less formal power—and how they can meaningfully influence decision-makers.
We explore what it means to be a “pracademic,” blending theory with real-world practice, and dive into the often-misunderstood concept of stakeholder assessments. Larry outlines ground rules for productive negotiation, the critical role of a neutral facilitator that everyone trusts, and how to ensure agreements don’t fall apart after the deal is signed. We discuss the importance of cross-cultural communication, power dynamics in global negotiations, and why trauma-sensitive mediation is essential when communities carry historical and lived harm into the room.
Larry Susskind is Ford Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT. He currently teaches undergraduate and graduate courses at MIT, including Cybersecurity for Critical Urban Infrastructure, Renewable Energy Facility Siting, Theory and Practice of Environmental Planning, Negotiation and Dispute Resolution in the Public Sector and Entrepreneurial Negotiation. He co-founded the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School with Roger Fisher 40 years go and is Vice-Chair for Pedagogy and Head of the Teaching Negotiation Resource Center. He is founder of the Consensus Building Institute, a not-for-profit that provides mediation services in resource management disputes around the world.
---------------------------------------
Your support keeps this podcast going! Please consider donating if you found this episode helpful.
Follow Lara at Website | Instagram | YouTube
Intro & Outro Music by Daniel Zaitchik

What happens when politics begins to tear families—and communities—apart?
In the wake of the murder of Charlie Kirk, I spoke with Bill Doherty—family therapist, author, and co-founder of Braver Angels—about how political polarization is straining relationships and what it takes to begin repair. Drawing on family and couples therapy, Bill explores how the dynamics of divided households mirror our national divide, and how structured dialogue can help people see beyond labels and into one another’s humanity.
Bill shares what actually happens inside Braver Angels workshops, how this work has changed him personally, and what each of us can do—right now—to ease political tension in our own families and communities.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
Why political conflict so often breaks families apart
How therapy principles apply to healing political divides
What makes Braver Angels conversations work
How to lower defensiveness without giving up your values
Practical steps for bridging political tension in everyday life

Bill Doherty is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Family Social Science at the University of Minnesota, where he taught marriage and family therapy for 38 years. Following the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, he cofounded Braver Angels, a citizen initiative bringing conservatives and liberals together to counteract political polarization and restore the fraying social fabric in American society. Braver Angels now has volunteers working in all 50 states. Among his awards is the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Family Therapy Academy.
---------------------------------------
Your support keeps this podcast going! Please consider donating if you found this episode helpful.
Follow Lara at Website | Instagram | YouTube
Intro & Outro Music by Daniel Zaitchik

In this re-aired episode, I’m joined by Greg Nardi (E-RYT 500, C-IAYT) for a nuanced conversation about what trauma-informed yoga actually means — particularly when viewed through the lens of yoga therapy.
Greg shares how yoga supported his own healing from childhood illness, anxiety, and depression, and how decades of study — including extensive training in yoga therapy, long-term study in Mysore, India, and leadership within trauma-informed programs — shaped his commitment to consent-driven, person-centered, and trauma-responsive practice.
Together, we explore:
How trauma-informed yoga differs from — and overlaps with — yoga therapy
Why choice, agency, and nervous system awareness are central to healing
What ethical, trauma-responsive teaching actually looks like in real classrooms
How yoga therapy supports both individual healing and broader social change
Why trauma-informed approaches matter not only for survivors, but for all students
Greg brings clarity to common misconceptions about trauma-informed yoga, offering grounded insight for yoga teachers, therapists, educators, and practitioners seeking approaches that are clinically informed, accessible, and rooted in respect for lived experience.
✨ This episode is being re-released in anticipation of our upcoming Trauma-Informed Yoga Teacher Training on January 24–25, where Greg and I will be teaching together. This training is designed for yoga teachers, therapists, and educators who want to deepen their understanding of trauma-responsive practice, consent, and embodied safety.

Yoga teachers shape experiences that can either support healing or inadvertently cause harm—yet most yoga teacher trainings still leave graduates profoundly unprepared. In this episode, Certified by Unprepared: The Dangerous Gaps in Yoga Teacher Trainings, I sit down with my friend and colleague Michelle Lehrman to pull back the curtain on why so many YTT programs miss the mark.
Despite teaching yoga for more than 25 years, I’m asked almost daily to recommend a solid teacher training—and the truth is complicated. Programs vary dramatically, evolve constantly, and too often reinforce outdated, unsafe, or shame-based approaches. Michelle and I explore some of the most troubling patterns, including:
Forced hands-on adjustments and the pressure to accept physical touch
Shaming or silencing students and teachers who think or move differently
Rigid, one-way interpretations of an ancient and inherently adaptable practice

Michelle is a certified 200-hour and trauma-informed yoga instructor who has taught in New York City since 2016, currently at Crunch (yoga and spin), Sacred Space Astoria, Lionheart Health, and with private clients. I first met her through the Three and a Half Acres Yoga Trauma-Informed Teacher Training, where she began to unlearn harmful norms and rebuild her teaching from a place of choice, agency, and compassion.
A New Way Forward: Trauma-Informed Training for Yoga Teachers and Yoga Therapists
If you’ve ever left a YTT feeling unprepared, overwhelmed, or unsure how to support students with real-world bodies and histories, you’re not alone—and there is a better way. Join my Trauma-Informed YTT this January 24th-25th. Details HERE!