Some podcast apps may not display links from our show notes properly, so we have included a list of links at the end of this description.
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Why do we assume romantic relationships are more important than friendships? In this episode, clinical psychologist Margaret Boucher has an illuminating conversation with NPR journalist Rhaina Cohen on the power of platonic partnerships and how the thrill, intimacy, and commitment we seek is often found through meaningful friendship. 
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Sharing insights from her years of original reporting and social science research, Rhaina argues that we undermine romantic relationships by expecting too much of them and diminish friendships by expecting too little of them. At a time when many Americans are spending large stretches of their lives single, widowed, divorced, or feeling the effects of the "loneliness epidemic," Rhaina challenges us to ask what we want from our relationships—not just what we’re supposed to want—and helps us to examine how we define a fulfilling life.
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This episode was recorded during a live online event on July 31st, 2025. You can also watch it on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube channel. A transcript is available at ciis.edu/podcast. To find out more about CIIS and public programs like this one, visit our website ciis.edu and connect with us on social media @ciispubprograms.
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We hope that each episode of our podcast provides opportunities for growth, and that our listeners will use them as a starting point for further introspection. Many of the topics discussed on our podcast have the potential to bring up feelings and emotional responses. If you or someone you know is in need of mental health care and support, here are some resources to find immediate help and future healing:
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-Visit 988lifeline.org or text, call, or chat with The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988 from anywhere in the U.S. to be connected immediately with a trained counselor. Please note that 988 staff are required to take all action necessary to secure the safety of a caller and initiate emergency response with or without the caller’s consent if they are unwilling or unable to take action on their own behalf.
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-Visit thrivelifeline.org or text “THRIVE” to begin a conversation with a THRIVE Lifeline crisis responder 24/7/365, from anywhere: +1.313.662.8209. This confidential text line is available for individuals 18+ and is staffed by people in STEMM with marginalized identities.
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-Visit translifeline.org or call (877) 565-8860 in the U.S. or (877) 330-6366 in Canada to learn more and contact Trans Lifeline, who provides trans peer support divested from police.
*
-Visit ciis.edu/ciis-in-the-world/counseling-clinics to learn more and schedule counseling sessions at one of our centers.
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-Find information about additional global helplines at befrienders.org.
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LINKS
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Podcast Transcripts: https://www.ciispod.com/
*
California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) Website: https://www.ciis.edu/
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CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/ciispublicprograms
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CIIS Public Programs Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ciispubprograms/
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Mental Health Care and Support Resources:
https://988lifeline.org/
https://thrivelifeline.org/
https://translifeline.org/
https://www.ciis.edu/ciis-in-the-world/counseling-clinics
https://befrienders.org/

Dr. Rhaina Cohen: On the Power of Friendships

“Swallowed Down” is one of the rawest and most physical songs on the album.
It confronts the lifelong habit of swallowing emotions instead of expressing them — the anger, fear, shame, expectations, loneliness, and all the words that were never spoken but buried deep inside the body.

The song frames emotional suppression as something the body remembers long after the mind has moved on.
Every swallowed moment becomes weight.
Every forced silence becomes tension.
Every “I’m fine” becomes a layer the body carries until it can’t hold it anymore.

The verses describe how these stored experiences rise back up, not as thoughts, but as physical sensations — proof that nothing truly disappears just because it was pushed down.
The chorus hits with painful honesty:
He has swallowed things that were never his to carry.
And now they sit inside him, shaping how he feels, breathes, reacts, and lives.

The bridge is a confession:
for years, he acted as the “trash can” of his own history, absorbing everything, letting nothing out, believing that this was strength.
But the body kept the score — and eventually presented the bill.

By the final chorus, the song shifts from confession to decision.
He chooses to stop swallowing his life and start living it.
It won’t be easy.
It won’t be quick.
But it starts with the truth.

“Swallowed Down” is an emotional exhale —
a declaration that the cycle ends now.

Swallowed Down

“In every bond lives a shade of truth,
whispered gently through love’s quiet colors.”
Color Of Us is a heartfelt pop track that explores the subtle shades of connection, trust, and the truths that relationships quietly reveal. Some colors are bright, some are soft - but every shade tells a story.

Credits:
Song Title: Color Of Us
Artist: RudhraYoga (P Hari Kiran)
Lyrics, Concept & Vocals: RudhraYoga (P Hari Kiran)
Music & Production: RudhraYoga (P Hari Kiran)
Mixing & Mastering: RudhraYoga
Project: RudhraYoga Originals | RudhraYoga Conscious Music Series

Follow for more conscious and soulful music:
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@rudhrayoga
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rudhrayoga_
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7zXATFiun0dOZtvvuSzit9
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/in/artist/rudhrayoga/1848484109
YouTube Music: https://music.youtube.com/channel/UCO_-A-hVGxU8mVGKSTHSBxw

Thank you for listening and supporting my music. 🩵



Color Of Us

So take me home…
Before I ruin something good on accident, again
Before I talk myself out loud into abandonment
Take me home, take me home, take me home….

I memorize escape routes
Every time I start to care
I wanna run, I wanna stay
But I hate myself for being scared
All the time

If I show you every broken part of me,
Would you put them back together?
Or would you leave and take a piece?

You look at me like it’s easy to stay
When I know I’m hard to keep
And it terrifies me, it terrifies me

I’m not ready for the honesty
Of what you might find inside of me
But God, I’m tired of being so strong

So take me home
Take me home

take me home (prod. everestdidthis)

Tracklist:
1) James Mac & Vall - Try Again (Aaliyah cover)- Sweat It Out
2) Pretty Pink -  Trick (Kelis cover) - Wanderlust 
3) Paul Simon - Homeless (Joris Voorn Remix) - Sony Music
4) Pretty Pink - I Feel It Coming (The Weeknd feat. Daft Punk cover) - unreleased
5) Mat Zo - Colours - Anjunabeats
6) Oliver Heldens - Melody (Original Mix) - Spinnin’ Records 
7) Gnarls Barkley, HI-LO & Danny Avila, Argy & Omnya, Genesi & Meduza -  
Crazy Paradise Aria Ecstasy (DJs from Mars Bootleg) - unreleased
8) Oliver Heldens, Ian Asher & Sergio Mendes - Mas Que Nada - Easier Said
9) The Weeknd - Blinding Lights (Placebo eFx Remix) - unreleased
10) Anyma, Fred again..,Skrillex & Four Tet -
Baby Anyma Again (Dave Dresden Mashup) - unreleased
11) Miike Snow - Genghis Khan (Hook N Sling Remix) - Atlantic Records
12) Kasablanca - Synthetic Blues - Armada Music
13) Charli XCX, Billie Eilish, Mason & Princess Superstar - 
Perfect Guess (Tim T Mashup) - unreleased


All music used with permission.
For promotional use only.
For more info please visit www.djreset.com

DJ Reset - Live at Substance

{ Well, you did it. }
{ MEMORIEL was defeated and not a soul was hurt. }
{ The residents of the dark are forever thankful. } 
{ It's time for you to shatter the GATEWAY and get back to your life. }

J] Hey, Simon? 
J] I know you're busy and all... but wanna just take a look back? Just for a moment?
J] To say goodbye and everything.

S] You know what? Heck yeah. We saved the goddamn place!

\\\
CASTLE RUINS
\\\

J] Neo? You here? Others told us you came back here!

N] WELCOME BACK, JEROME, SIMON.

S] Oh, you look...
S] Different.
J] I'd say you look sick!

N] I UNDERWENT MAJOR REFURBISHMENT USING THE PARTS THAT WERE RETRIEVED FROM THESE RUINS.
N] [But...] WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF YOUR VISIT?

S] Well, we're your friends, remember?

N] [Friends]... YES, [friends].
N] IS ANYTHING I COULD DO FOR YOU?

J] We just wanted to say goodbye, that's all!

N] I SEE.
N] [Well], IN THAT CASE.
N] [Farewell], [friends!]
N] AND REMEMBER...
N] THERE WILL ALWAYS BE TOMORROW.

music by @dbanzao
motif: https://soundcloud.com/top_backdoor/3act

38 - Kudos to the Madmen

Fourteenth from the upcoming release: REDUX - The Acoustic Sessions

A song about waking up with one's friend. 

Original Redux version: https://soundcloud.com/benedict-francis/allwehad

All We Had (Acoustic)

JULES + LEO

Until the End

“Mirror Image” is a gentle, emotional acoustic piece about the gap between how we see ourselves and how the people who love us see us.
It begins with a simple story — a friend looking in the mirror and seeing nothing good left — and how someone else proved them wrong.

That moment becomes a catalyst for the narrator’s own realization:
we often judge ourselves through old, distorted eyes.

The verses capture the vulnerability of standing in front of a mirror and truly looking, not with habit or dismissal, but with honesty.
What appears at first is uncertainty: a version of oneself shaped by old beliefs, old words, and old wounds.
Writing down what he sees becomes a small but significant act — a short, raw, painfully honest list.
But the turning point comes when someone who loves him is given the same task.
Their list is full — full of qualities he cannot yet feel in himself: strength, warmth, courage, kindness, heart.

The chorus opens into a wide emotional space:
their reflection shows a man larger, brighter, and more human than the one he sees in his own mirror.
The second verse explores the painful truth behind it:
we learn ourselves small,
while others often see us in the light.

His blind spot becomes clear — he measures himself by his scars, not by what has survived.
The final message is quiet but powerful:
the path to healing begins when we learn to look at ourselves with the same compassion, truth, and clarity that others already do.

“Mirror Image” is a soft awakening —
a reminder that sometimes, the truth of who we are lives in the eyes of those who love us,
until we are ready to see it ourselves.

Mirror Image

Friendship Mix 1 recorded in my room 06/12/25 🫡🫡🫡🫡🫡🫡🫡🫡

FRIENDSHIP MIX 1 - DJFRIENDSHIP729 (LIVE FROM MY ROOM!^_^)

Piglet sees that Pooh is feeling a little worried about having to say goodbye to Christopher Robin so he decides to thelp him feel better.

Music and Lyrics by Harper Craven
Olivia Conti as Piglet
Orchestrations by Julia Mesuk
Concept Art by Samuel Jack

I'll Be Brave For You

Enjoy "Too Quiet Now" by Jordan Tan. A masterpiece made in Singapore, by a tech-driven and inspired composer. It encompasses the intricacies and feelings of reluctancy of expriencing friendship.

No Mood for This

Friendship

all Glory to the one true God Jesus Christ Almighty

MASKED UP & MISUNDERSTOOD

This is the full reading of our December 7, 2025 meditation message for your enjoyment.

Dec. 7, 2025-Exercising compassion is an act of God.

“Hormones” is a powerful, introspective modern rock track about the body’s automatic reactions — the biochemical echoes of old experiences that still shape how we feel today.
It’s a song about the invisible forces inside us: adrenaline, cortisol, oxytocin, dopamine — all the signals that once protected us, but now sometimes pull us back into emotional worlds that no longer exist.
The narrator describes how a single word, look, or tone can unleash a hormonal response that doesn’t match the present moment.
His body reacts as if danger were still here, even though his mind knows he’s no longer living in the past.
The chorus expands with emotional weight:
hormones can drag him down, make wounds louder, or freeze him in old reflexes — but they can also give strength, warmth, and hope.

The body isn’t just the place where trauma lives; it’s also the place where healing begins.
The second verse opens into softness, showing the other side of biology:
how being held releases warmth,
how success sparks lightness,
how a smile or a kind word can shift the entire emotional landscape.

The bridge delivers the central insight:
maybe it isn’t the world that triggers him —
maybe it’s an inner system still fighting a long-gone battle.
And the path forward is not fighting the body,
but teaching it what is true today.

By the final chorus, the message becomes clear:
hormones influence him, but they do not define him.
He is more than his pulse, more than his blood chemistry, more than his old fear.
He can learn to understand his body — and write new stories into it.

“Hormones” is an emotional conversation between a man and his own physiology —
a song about reclaiming control, compassion, and truth inside the very system that once overwhelmed him.

Hormones

DJ Reset is best know for his work with Beck, Jay-Z, and Pharrell Williams. The New York Post has called him "miraculous". His work has also been featured in Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, People, Popular Science, The New Yorker, The New York Times, The New York Post, The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, Q Magazine, Mixmag, Billboard, Wired and The Village Voice. He has opened for and performed with numerous electronic and hip-hop acts including The Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim, The Prodigy, Chingy, Fabolous and 112. He has performed guest DJ sets on 106.7 FM "KROQ" - Los Angeles, 89.9 FM "KCRW" -Los Angeles, SiriusXM, 104.9 FM "XFM" (London), and 102.3 FM "OUI FM" (Paris) among many others.

DJ Reset composed and performed an original score for an episode of the TV show "Biography" (A&E Networks). His music has also been recently featured on "90210" (CW), "Made" (MTV), The Learning Channel, and several TV commercials.

Ich schreibe, was ich denke, fühle und erlebe. Schreiben hilft mir, Erinnerungen einzuordnen und ihnen Klarheit zu geben. Wenn Gefühle eine Melodie bekommen, entsteht etwas Wunderbares – eine Botschaft, die direkt ins Herz geht.

Für mich ist es ein Ausgleich, ein Stück Selbsttherapie. Die Texte sind ehrlich und frisch aus dem Herzen. Und wenn ich damit jemanden berühre, der genauso fühlt wie ich, freut es mich umso mehr.

Da ich selbst nicht gut singen kann, nutze ich KI für die Melodie und die Stimme. Ich bin dankbar für diese Möglichkeit, meinen Gefühlen Ausdruck zu verleihen.

Viel Freude beim Hören 🥰

Gruß, Marco Memory

PS: Ehrliche Kommentare sind willkommen – aber bitte keine Angebote, ich kaufe nichts.



I write what I think, feel, and experience. Writing helps me sort out memories and bring them clarity. When feelings find a melody, something wonderful is created – a message that speaks straight to the heart.

For me, it’s a balance, a bit of self-therapy. The lyrics are honest and straight from the heart. And if they touch someone who feels the same way I do, it makes me even happier.

Since I can’t sing well myself, I use AI for the melody and voice. I’m grateful for this opportunity to give my feelings a voice.

Enjoy listening 🥰

Best, Marco Memory

PS: Honest comments are always welcome – but please no offers, I’m not looking to buy anything.

A tech-driven and inspired composer. The music Jordan Tan composes encompasses the intricacies and feelings of life and its relationship with philosophy.

@lolit_96
IG : petitkickdemerde
Clips dispo sur : https://www.youtube.com/@KONFLU3NC3LAB/videos

Born and raised in San Diego, AlliDoisChange is a 20-year-old artist and devoted believer in Jesus Christ as God. Music is his outlet — a way to share his thoughts, faith, and life experiences. Even when his songs aren’t about God, you won’t hear cussing — it’s simply not who he is.

Calm and easygoing by nature, he values collaboration and often works with other artists, encouraging listeners to check out their music as well. His sound drifts between pop, hyperpop, hardstyle, emo, punk rock, and doomer, with lyrics in English, Russian, and Japanese. Each song stems from real emotion and personal stories, inviting listeners to find a piece of themselves in his music.

A take on a Deltarune AU "Deltarune: The Other Puppet" created by Alyona and Sinholder.
///
WILL IT BE DIFFERENT,
THIS TIME AROUND?
\\\
Original AU by @notrealnevereal and https://the-other-puppet.tumblr.com/

https://soundcloud.com/rejona
https://soundcloud.com/sinholderangles
https://soundcloud.com/erkcertia
https://soundcloud.com/dbanzao
https://soundcloud.com/ziyproject
https://soundcloud.com/clust3rpepis
https://soundcloud.com/geefel
https://soundcloud.com/greekletter-serialthing
https://soundcloud.com/brimmstery
https://soundcloud.com/danissimovn
https://soundcloud.com/judy808
https://soundcloud.com/shiroka132
https://soundcloud.com/kanyewest

RudhraYoga is the musical identity of P Hari Kiran - an Indian Violinist, Singer-Songwriter, and Composer whose work bridges Carnatic Classical Music roots with Contemporary and Experimental Soundscapes. Drawing from silence, emotion, and lived reflection, his music blends melody with mindfulness. He explores the space where sound becomes meditation -  and every lyric speaks of unity and light. and visionary, weaving-
Music | Yoga | Psychology | Inner Sciences into immersive emotional experiences.

Each composition is a journey - from the quiet pulse of reflection to the clarity of release, a space where sound becomes memory, and memory becomes meaning.
RudhraYoga is a Conscious Music Creator, Storyteller, and Inner-Sciences Educator whose work blends emotional depth, healing intention, and spiritual philosophy.

Music that holds you when words cannot.
Music for shared humanity.
Music for consciousness.

I’m a songwriter first and last - not a performer. My focus is on the craft of the song itself, which is why my music has such a wide range. I don’t have one sound; I write for other voices and a vast variety of genres.

You won't find my face on a stage or my voice on a mic. My tracks aren't about building my own brand; they’re about creating a mood or a story that comes fully to life through the right singer.

This is a podcast for people who are curious about the world and themselves featuring talks and conversations presented by the Public Programs department of California Institute of Integral Studies, a non-profit university in San Francisco. Listen here or on your favorite podcast app to a diverse array of visionaries, artists, and scholars sharing compelling experiences, offering new perspectives, and expanding creative horizons.

I like to shoot guns and drive trucks and watch football and drink beer and eat chicken wings

reach out to me via social

SoulOpeners is a collection of inspired wisdom, offered to help us understand more fully the purpose of our human and spiritual lives and to provide inspiration as we chart our paths toward a more loving, peaceful existence. The passages presented on social media and at SoulOpeners.org are applicable to all great spiritual traditions of the world. Each is a result of many years of meditation and quiet contemplation. SoulOpeners quotes and inspirational wisdom are offered with the hope that they provide comfort and peace to all. Sign-up at our website to receive a weekly emailed meditation.

DJ, Producer, Songwriter, Follow me on Instagram @djlouisonthemove listen to my music Spotify, Apple Music, Youtube, and the rest of the streaming platforms.

New tracks tagged #friendship