S2 E8 Friend of the Devil: Pain, Forgiveness and the Loving Gaze

S2 E8 Friend of the Devil: Pain, Forgiveness and the Loving Gaze

In this episode, Stan and Tucker sit down face to face with their friend Haymitch St. Stephen — artist, meditation guide, and author of Friend of the Devil. Haymitch shares how a devastating accident in high school shattered his simple view of the world, how losing close friends to suicide led him to ask a question he can't stop chewing on, and what he's learning about self-forgiveness, the loving gaze, and what it means to truly flourish. Together they explore how the same storytelling mind that makes us uniquely human can also undo us — and how dropping out of our heads and into our bodies, whether through art, dirt, or a single deep breath, can create the distance we need from the stories that run us. This is a conversation about pain, presence, and the courage to turn toward what hurts.

S2 E7 Inner Waves, Resistance, and the Freedom of the Watcher

What if every difficult feeling you've ever had was simply a wave that hadn't finished moving through you? In this episode, Stan and Tucker explore the wave-like nature of the inner world — every thought, emotion, and urge rising, peaking, and falling — and what happens when resistance turns the water of our experience into molasses or even ice. Stan shares a story of a wave that nearly broke his nervous system and what his older, wiser self would say to the version of him caught inside it. Together they trace a quiet freedom that becomes available when we learn to watch the waves rather than be tossed by them. Closes with a guided practice on resting in the witness.

S2 E6 Stepping Beyond Your Known World: The Unfolding Inner Life with Thomas McConkie

What happens when the God you thought you knew takes off the mask — and reveals something more expansive than you could have previously comprehended? In this episode, Stan and Tucker sit down with teacher, author, and developmental guide Thomas McConkie to explore the vast, sometimes terrifying landscape of the inner world. Thomas shares his own journey from leaving the faith of his childhood, to going all-in with Buddhist practice, to a profound shift in identity that opened his heart back toward Jesus and the faith of his youth with new eyes. Together they explore how spiritual growth unfolds developmentally, why the "no self" teaching isn't what most people think it is, and what it means when prayer stops working the way it used to. Thomas offers a beautiful framework — teacher, community, and personal practice — as the through line across all traditions, and closes with a guided visualization to help listeners connect with the spiritual resources already present in their lives. Whether you're in the middle of a faith crisis or simply hungry for what's next, this conversation is an invitation to trust the unfolding. More of what Thomas McConkie offers can be found at lowerlightswisdom.org Thomas Wirthin McConkie is the author of the following books: At One Ment: Embodying the Fullness of Human Divinity Navigating Mormon Faith Crisis: A Simple Developmental Map ------------------------------------------------------------ Information on Harmony Road Retreats can be found at: https://www.harmonyroadretreats.com/ At Harmony Road Retreats, we know the difficulty of faith journeys. They can shake our relationships, our sense of community, and our sense of hope in the future. We also know how valuable it is to have a safe space where you can explore your experience. We seek to create an atmosphere where both those who do and those who don’t participate in religion will find relevance, emotional safety, and peace. When we find harmony inside of us, we tap into wisdom and guidance that will help us navigate life’s most challenging situations, enabling us to make confident decisions from a place of peace.

S2 E5 The Frequency of Harmony

What if the most important shift in your life isn’t changing your circumstances—but changing your state? In this episode of The Call to Harmony, Tucker and Stan explore what it means to find and shift your “state of harmony”—the inner frequency that shapes how you experience everything from relationships to stress to the present moment itself. Most of us move through life assuming that what happens around us determines how we feel. But what if that’s only part of the story? What if we can learn to notice our current state—and gently shift it—without needing anything external to change? Through personal stories, spiritual insight, and real-time reflection, this conversation explores: * What it actually means to be in a “state of harmony” * How dissonance shows up in the body and mind * Why awareness is the first step to any meaningful shift * The idea that you may have more influence over your inner state than you think You’ll also be guided through a simple practice to help you notice your current state and experiment with shifting it through acceptance, presence, and openness. Because harmony isn’t something you achieve once and hold onto. It’s something you can return to—again and again—by learning to notice… and gently tune what’s already within you.

S2 E4 The Ground That Doesn't Move

Exploring Belief, Shame and Startling Freedom in the Inner World. In this rich conversation, Stan and Tucker welcome therapist and author Paul Peterson — whose work sits at the intersection of psychology, spirituality, and the full human experience — to explore what it means to actually inhabit your inner world. Paul traces his own journey from living "one step behind" his interior life to discovering the surprising wisdom hidden inside shame, suppressed anger, and the deeply held beliefs we carry about ourselves. Together, the three explore what it looks like to name one of those beliefs, honor the role it played in your survival, and then — gently, playfully — wonder what life might look like on the other side of it. This episode touches on body awareness and inner sensation, the thinking mind and the deep paradox at the heart of Paul's book Always Whole: An LDS Perspective on Being While Becoming that the more we rest in what is unchanging within us, the freer we become to feel everything. The episode closes with a quietly beautiful guided practice to help you find — and rest in — that ground. If you're interested in Paul's Book, here is a link to it's Amazon page: https://a.co/d/04n25JY3 ------------------------------------------------------------ Information on Harmony Road Retreats can be found at: https://www.harmonyroadretreats.com/ At Harmony Road Retreats, we know the difficulty of faith journeys. They can shake our relationships, our sense of community, and our sense of hope in the future. We also know how valuable it is to have a safe space where you can explore your experience. We seek to create an atmosphere where both those who do and those who don’t participate in religion will find relevance, emotional safety, and peace. When we find harmony inside of us, we tap into wisdom and guidance that will help us navigate life’s most challenging situations, enabling us to make confident decisions from a place of peace.