Attaching to God: Neuroscience-informed Spiritual Formation

In this episode on early Christian monasticism, Geoff and regular guest David Clayton explore how the Desert Fathers and Mothers understood sin as discorder (of all kinds) and how asceticism was a path toward freedom to love God and others. They discuss sin not merely as rule-breaking but as patterns that impair clear seeing, free choosing, and loving well. Asceticism is presented as training that frees the heart by reshaping habits, while emphasizing grace, mercy, and the hope to “begin again” each day.
Dive deeper in our new book, Landscapes of the Soul: How the Science and Spirituality of Attachment Can Move You into Confident Faith, Courage, and Connection, and learn about our trainings and other resources at embodiedfaith.life.
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Check out our Attaching to God 6-Week Learning Cohort.
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What if you have more power over how you experience your life than you think? What if you could learn how to change the patterns that are keeping you stuck? What if there is a life-changing art of self-brain surgery?
Geoff and Cyd Holsclaw interview neurosurgeon, trauma survivor, and author Dr. Lee Warren about the shift from feeling like a helpless “patient” to acting with agency like a “doctor.” Drawing from bereavement after his son’s death and the breakthroughs of functional MRI observations, he shows us how the mind can transform the brain.
Find out more about Dr. Lee Warren here.
Dive deeper in our new book, Landscapes of the Soul: How the Science and Spirituality of Attachment Can Move You into Confident Faith, Courage, and Connection, and learn about our trainings and other resources at embodiedfaith.life.
Stay Connected: 
Check out our Attaching to God 6-Week Learning Cohort.
Join the Embodied Faith community to stay connected and get posts, episodes, & resources.
Support the podcast with a one-time or regular gift (to keep this ad-free without breaking the Holsclaw's bank).

You often hear that we live by the stories we tell about our lives and the lives of others. But how does that actually work? It works through our imaginations, that part of the mind that allows us to see what’s deeper, that ‘something more’ of experience, that reality bigger than the world. 

Dr. Justin Bailey joins the show to talk about how the imagination dwells at the heart of discipleship and spiritual formation, how it helps us go deeper than just believing and behaving, and how we can grow it. 
You can connect more with Dr. Bailey at his website and his Substack. 
Dive deeper in our new book, Landscapes of the Soul: How the Science and Spirituality of Attachment Can Move You into Confident Faith, Courage, and Connection, and learn about our trainings and other resources at embodiedfaith.life.
Stay Connected: 
Check out our Attaching to God 6-Week Learning Cohort.
Join the Embodied Faith community to stay connected and get posts, episodes, & resources.
Support the podcast with a one-time or regular gift (to keep this ad-free without breaking the Holsclaw's bank).

Host Geoff Holsclaw interviews Dr. Kyle Strobel (Institute for Spiritual Formation, Talbot School of Theology) about his book When God Seems Distant: Surprising Ways God Deepens Our Faith and Draws Us Near. 
Kyle explains “early consolation” as a common season where God gives pleasure and zeal that can mask unformed character, and how this can be followed by “the desert” where these early consolations are removed.  But these seasons are God’s gift to reveal the heart and grow love.
Follow Dr. Strobel on his Substack.
Dive deeper in our new book, Landscapes of the Soul: How the Science and Spirituality of Attachment Can Move You into Confident Faith, Courage, and Connection, and learn about our trainings and other resources at embodiedfaith.life.
Stay Connected: 
Check out our Attaching to God 6-Week Learning Cohort.
Join the Embodied Faith community to stay connected and get posts, episodes, & resources.
Support the podcast with a one-time or regular gift (to keep this ad-free without breaking the Holsclaw's bank).

During this Easter week, Geoff and Cyd Holsclaw talk about how we walk by faith, and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7), but that this isn't just blind faith. They discuss walking by faith, emphasizing that Christian faith is relational trust and attachment rather than merely ideas, and that faith crises often begin with emotional wounds and ruptures in church relationships that later get translated into doctrinal doubt.
They argue resurrection faith is not blind, citing reasons why it is reasonable to believe that Jesus really was raised from the grave. They close by reflecting on trust in everyday relationships, Jesus’ experience of betrayal, Psalm 121, and Aaron's Blessing.
Dive deeper in our new book, Landscapes of the Soul: How the Science and Spirituality of Attachment Can Move You into Confident Faith, Courage, and Connection, and learn about our trainings and other resources at embodiedfaith.life.
Stay Connected: 
Check out our Attaching to God 6-Week Learning Cohort.
Join the Embodied Faith community to stay connected and get posts, episodes, & resources.
Support the podcast with a one-time or regular gift (to keep this ad-free without breaking the Holsclaw's bank).