Sunday, December 14, 2014

Episode Eleven- Kate Janke-Munding

In this interview, we hear from Kate Janke-Munding, a Bay Area meditation teacher. Mindfulness practice has been at the core of Kate's life since 2004. Her teaching style and techniques stem from traditional Buddhist meditation and philosophies, coupled with secular mindfulness methods and applications. Kate started teaching mindfulness in the Oakland schools in 2008 for Mindful Schools. She soon after became the Director of Training and developed mindfulness training programs for educators, parents, psychologists, and health care providers. In 2012, Kate started Heart-Mind Education to continue developing her work in the classrooms as well as direct training to faculties. In her career, she has had the privilege of teaching mindful awareness and compassion to over 2000 K-12 students and about 2500 professionals working with kids. Kate is also a co-founder of Compassionate Leaders Bay Area and part of the Spirit Rock/ Insight Meditation Society Teacher Training. This interview originally aired live on KALX 90.7 FM Women Hold up Half the Sky on Saturday December 13th, 2014. 


Episode Ten- Barrie Sterling

In this interview, I spoke with Barrie Sterling, a local shamanic artist who goes by B$. We talked about her life, her art, and heard a few of her pieces. 
Barrie Sterling has been an artist her entire life. Her work has taken on many incarnations, beginning with pencils and paints followed by both film and digital photography. She has dabbled in video work and in the creation of installations. From jazz, to modern, to ballet, to belly dancing. Music has always been a passion, but has only recently revealed itself as a medium she could work with. This began primarily through the discovery that she could rap (experimentations spurred upon by a distaste for most of the lyrics she was singing along to and the realization that she has mad swagger.) Her exploration into this musical form of poetry has also split off into more “conventional” poetry writing as well as through song. Her work is deeply embedded in the world of spirit. With each creation she deepens her intimacy with intuitional forces and, she hopes, spreads that energetic understanding to those who experience her work. She understands herself as a co creator, a conduit through which the collective energy can flow and merge with her individual voice. This makes her creations Shamanic or magical in nature (Barrie happily accepts the accurate title of Witch, or High Priestess of the Goddess, as well). She has a number of artistic identities, some of which have names. As a rapper she has gone by Beasta and (more recently) B$. Live eviL is her identity when she is behind the scenes as a music producer. Smallfruitsilver graces instagram with her photographs and helps with social media in general. There is also a fifth identity that has requested she remain largely private. Barrie is interested in themes such as the earth, nature spirits, channeling, color and pattern, alternative healing, rhythm and tone, deep reaching honesty, the Divine Feminine (and Masculine), creativity, intuition, and the Great Mystery that connects us all. 
This Interview originally aired live on KALX 90.7 FM Women Hold up Half the Sky of Saturday November 15, 2014.