In this conversation, join TNS Host Michael Lerner with artist and sound healer Deborah Koff-Chapin. 

Deborah Koff-Chapin has been practicing Touch Drawing since it came into her life as a creative inspiration in 1974. She teaches this simple yet profound process internationally. Deborah is creator of the best-selling SoulCards 1&2, celebrating 25 years in print in 2020. This same year she harvested 25 years of work to produce her deck Portals of Presence. Deborah is creator of five SoulTouch Coloring Journals. She is author of Drawing Out Your Soul and The Touch Drawing Facilitator Workbook. Deborah has served as Interpretive Artist at numerous conferences including The Parliament of the Worlds Religions. She also works with individuals to bring subtle dimensions of their soul into form through Inner Portraits.

Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts.

Deborah Koff-Chapin - A Spiritual Biography

An acoustic looping journey through the mossy silence of Putney Woods. This piece drifts without a traditional structure, built around layers of gentle guitar loops and immersed in the ambient sounds of local birdsong recorded on the trail itself. Ethereal and meditative, Whispering Pines invites you to wander off the path and lose yourself in the stillness of the forest.

Part of Trails, a collection of instrumental reflections on the natural spaces of Whidbey Island.

Whispering Pines

The New School presents conversations, book signings, art, and lectures with thought and action leaders of our time. We are a learning community of 4,000 people in the Bay Area and around the world dedicated to learning what matters. 

TNS focuses on the emergent, seeking out the thought and action leaders who are bringing discussion, beauty, and change to the world. We present events and podcast them in many areas: arts and sciences, health and the environment, and inner life. We follow streams of inquiry, including our End-of-Life Conversations, and series on Resilience, Archetypal Psychology, and Healing Circles.

Green Leader is a Whidbey Island-based instrumental project blending funk, soul, psychedelia, and cinematic groove. Drawing inspiration from artists like Tycho, Vulfpeck, Cory Wong, and Thievery Corporation, Green Leader creates lush, rhythmic soundscapes rooted in live looping, improvisation, and deep pocket feels.

With guitar at the helm and a tight rhythm section driving the ship, Green Leader’s music takes listeners on a journey through natural spaces — quite literally. Their upcoming debut album, Trails, is a sonic love letter to the forests, paths, and hidden gems of Whidbey Island. Every track is named after a real trail, each groove inspired by the landscape it honors.

Whether solo or with the full band, Green Leader delivers rich, evolving instrumental sets designed to move both heart and feet. New music drops Summer 2025. Stay tuned, stay grounded.

New tracks tagged #Whidbey