Conversations With Elders: Episode 10 (Ft Dr Simon Whitesman)

Conversations With Elders: Episode 10 (Ft Dr Simon Whitesman)

Makgathi Mokwena in conversation with Dr Simon Whitesman on cultivating space for joy amidst suffering.

Simon Whitesman (MBChB) practices medical psychotherapy at Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital in Cape Town. He is the coordinator of the post-graduate certificate training in Mindfulness-Based Interventions at Stellenbosch University’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.

He is a Director and Chairperson of the Institute for Mindfulness South Africa (IMISA) and co-directs the first Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programme offered in South Africa. Simon has received certification as a teacher in MBSR from the University of Massachusetts Center for Mindfulness and in psychoanalytic psychotherapy from the South African Institute for Psychotherapy.

This is another instalment in the ongoing conversation between Simon and Makgathi as they explore cultivating space for joy amidst suffering. Find out more about Simon and his work.

Conversations With Elders: Episode 7(Ft Keitumetse Gwangwa)

Conversations With Elders: Episode 7(Ft Keitumetse Gwangwa)

In this episode of conversations with elders Makgathi Mokwena speaks to Keitumetse Gwangwa.

Keitu Gwangwa, an arts event and entertainment manager, formed Ndebi Creations as the vehicle that moves the cultural and heritage promotion and preservation initiative in Africa. After having worked with many artists and leaders, learned from African Cultural custodians and researched African indigenous knowledge systems, Keituletse saw it important to create a Ndebi Creations which would through art and Media promote African Culture and Heritage. Through the artistic projects produced, Ndebi Creations aims to encourage pride in Africans for their history and identity.

Indigenous African Heritage has a place in today’s modern society, through a series of projects, we aim to create a platform that will bring unique and rare performances, music, arts, and crafts to the fore front of African celebrations. We aim to be the chosen enlisters of illustrations of African identity. Culture is an active driving force within African societies, many significant stages in life are acknowledged by cultural activities, which raise moral, share insight and unite all involved. These are important elements of our inheritance. There is great value in our indigenous knowledge systems, sciences, ceremonies, spiritual wisdom that can play a role in illuminating how we came to be who we are. Cultural identity is the common thread weaving us, making us recognisable, giving us distinction. It is the secure understanding of self that raise confident communities, raises productive, responsible members of society.

Keitu believes that once people can find pride in their culture and heritage, they are proud of their identity and thus seek to preserve the quality of that which defines them. Preserve as in remain as authentic as possible to the original intention that was created in defining what is African.

“A man finds his identity by identifying. A man’s identity is not best thought of as the way in which he is separated from his fellows but the way in which he is united with them.”

Leadership Maturity & Fallback In Times of Crisis

Leadership Maturity & Fallback In Times of Crisis

Lucille Greeff will share her experience in the field of identity and leadership maturity during this talk, including practical ways of supporting ourselves during this time.

We lead within a context and the current Covid-19 context is one that is challenging, complex and uncertain. This is the kind of context that forges who we are as human beings and leaders. Many of us will regress or fallback into earlier stages of maturity during this time, some of us will use this time to build the scaffolding for a more mature way in the world.

Who do you choose to be in this time of anxiety and change in the world? How will you lead and grow?

Speaker: Lucille Greeff

Lucille Greeff is a Chartered Organisation Development (OD) practitioner and leadership development specialist. She is a Director with Aephoria Partners and has been a longstanding faculty member with WorldsView Academy. Her work focuses on leadership maturation, systems maturation, diversity and inclusion and complex adaptive change. She is the co-author of the Aephoria Identity Map, an assessment used globally to measure Enneagram style and leadership maturity.

Podcast in association with WorldsView Academy: https://worldsviewacademy.com/od-talk-27-may-2020/

Conversations With Elders: Episode 6 (Ft Lucille Greeff)

Conversations With Elders: Episode 6 (Ft Lucille Greeff)

Lucille Greeff

Lucille Greeff is a Chartered Organisation Development (OD) practitioner and leadership development specialist. She is a Director with Aephoria Partners and an Enneagram teacher and practitioner. Her work focuses on leadership maturation, systems maturation, diversity and inclusion and personal transformation. She is the co-author of the Aephoria Identity Map, an assessment used globally to measure Enneagram style and leadership maturity. Lucille also facilitates Vision Quests, a wilderness rite of passage, in South Africa.

Conversations With Elders: Episode 5 (Ft Simon Whitesman)

Conversations With Elders: Episode 5 (Ft Simon Whitesman)

Simon Whitesman (MBChB)

Simon Whitesman practices medical psychotherapy at Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital in Cape Town. He is the coordinator of the post-graduate certificate training in Mindfulness-Based Interventions at Stellenbosch University’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.

He is a Director and Chairperson of the Institute for Mindfulness South Africa (IMISA) and co-directs the first Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programme offered in South Africa. Simon has received certification as a teacher in MBSR from the University of Massachusetts Center for Mindfulness and in psychoanalytic psychotherapy from the South African Institute for Psychotherapy.

Simon and Makgathi continue the conversation on another podcast available on the IMISA website if you want to delve deeper. https://waking-up-in-south-africa.simplecast.com/episodes/being-mindful-of-loss

Conversations With Elders: Episode 4 (Ft Claire Creighton)

Conversations With Elders: Episode 4 (Ft Claire Creighton)

Claire Creighton is on a mission to help people remember who they are and to live with purpose from their heart. She does this through Shamanic Soul Retrieval healing, teaching Shamanic Journey workshops, Surrendering into the Heart meditation courses and Live with Purpose courses.

Claire Creighton is a shamanic healer. She studied EFT (emotional freedom technique) and is a qualified EFT practitioner. Claire also has a diploma in counselling skills from Kingston College of Further Education in London and a certificate in the foundation of modern psychology from Birkbeck University in London.

For more amazing videos check out our podcast page.

Also, to read more about Shamanic healing and Claire checkout the Infinity healing website

Conversations With Elders: Episode 3 (Ft Nina Callaghan)

Conversations With Elders: Episode 3 (Ft Nina Callaghan)

Nina Callaghan is the South African Chair for the Children’s Radio Foundation. Before that she was a TV journalist at ENCA for eight years. And before that, a theatre performer, a life she still dabbles in from time to time. Nina Callaghan is also a board member for Open Streets Cape Town and sits on the advisory council of the Mothertongue Project, an arts organization for and by women and youth. She is currently studying towards her MPhil in Sustainable Development at Stellenbosch University, and is a researcher at the Centre for Complex Systems in Transition.

For more amazing videos check out our podcast page.

Also for more information on the Children’s radio foundation checkout out there website.

Conversations with Elders: Episode 2 (Ft Rod Suskin)

Conversations with Elders: Episode 2 (Ft Rod Suskin)

Rod Suskin is well known as an astrologer and sangoma in Cape Town and has been in practice in both fields for over 30 years. He has a special interest in traditional medicine both in the African and European contexts, and his interest in medical astrology has led him to study the history of medicine and its relationship with cultural belief systems about health and healing. He has lectured regularly at both the University of Cape Town and University of Stellenbosch medical schools on traditional medicine, history of medicine and integrative medicine.

His astrology is grounded firmly in the tradition and ancient principles but contextualized in the modern world with the modern practice of astrology. He teaches astrology in a three-year Diploma course at the online Rod Suskin School of Astrology. Both his course and his consultations are widely sought after. His work is well known internationally in his field.

Rod is the author of a number of astrological books including Cycles of Life and Synastry, published by Llewellyn (USA, as well as the books on spirituality Soul Talks and Soul Life published by DoubleStorey Books (SA). He also contributes regularly to a variety of publications in South Africa and was commissioned to write about the national astrological chart for the official parliamentary newspaper. He has also created and published a meditation CD and a range of astrology software.

Rod had astrology slots on national TV for 9 years and on Cape Talk radio on for 17 years. He currently has his own show on CTV which attracts a viewership of over 30,000 per week.

He has recently completed an MA in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology at the University of Wales where he specialised in the relationship between cosmology and healing practices.

To find out more on Rod Suskin checkout his website: http://rodsuskin.com/

Also, for more amazing videos check out our podcast page.

Conversations with Elders: Episode 1 (Ft Mmatshilo Motsei)

Conversations with Elders: Episode 1 (Ft Mmatshilo Motsei)

Mmatshilo Motsei is an author, speaker and spiritual life coach with a keen interest in integrating ancient teachings with modern innovations. This emphasizes the union of intuition, logic, spirit, science and community based leadership that encourages a compassionate engagement with people and the environment.

For over 10 years, she worked as a founder and CEO of ADAPT, an organisation based in Alexandra Township in Johannesburg using holistic methods in addressing domestic and sexual violence in urban and rural communities.

In 1995, she was seconded to the Ministry in the Office of President Mandela to start a process of formulating policy for women’s empowerment. She has worked with various public and private organisations in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Somalia, USA, Canada and Europe.

In honour of her work, she received numerous awards including the International Human Rights Award in New York as well as the United Nations Habitat Scroll of Honour Award for her work in involving men as part of the solution to violence against women. In 2007, she was a finalist in the South African Woman of the Year Award. In October 2008, she was a finalist for the Africa Prize Leadership Award, The Hunger Project, New York.

She is at home in nature, mostly around mountains and rivers. It is from Mother Nature’s serenity and tranquility that she re-aquaints herself with who she is. As aptly described in one of her poems titled Moondance

“It is when I dance to the moon that I know my name”

For more amazing videos check out our podcast page.

Also checkout Mmatshilo Motsei website.