About this episode

Mark Walsh interviews Henry Shukman about the relationship between awakening, trauma, and embodiment in spiritual development.

In this episode, I speak with Zen teacher, poet, and mindfulness app co-founder Henry Shukman about awakening, trauma, and the relationship between meditation and embodiment. Drawing on his own journey—from a childhood marked by chronic illness and emotional pain to a profound spontaneous awakening that led him to decades of Zen practice—Henry shares why genuine spiritual development is about becoming more fully human, not escaping our experience. We explore what this means for coaches and therapists, examining the relationship between awakening and psychological healing. Henry reflects on why insight alone is rarely enough, how trauma shapes the body long after the mind has moved on, and why contemplative practice and therapeutic work are most powerful when they support rather than replace one another. Together, we discuss the tension between transcendence and embodiment, the limits of spiritual bypassing, and the importance of integrating profound states into everyday life. The conversation also explores the role of poetry as a language for experiences that cannot easily be explained, the wisdom that lives beneath conceptual thinking, and what it means to trust a deeper…

More episodes of The Embodiment Coaching Podcast

• 778.The Hormonal Intelligence Coaches Need - With Harry Pitcher · July 21, 2026 · 51 min
• 776. Embodied Trauma Work in Times of War - With Kateryna Timakina · July 7, 2026 · 45 min
• 775.The Coaching Paradox: Finding Transformation Through Stillness - With Nic Askew · June 30, 2026 · 57 min
• 774. Coaching Across Cultures: What Every Coach Needs to Understand - With Tamara Tan · June 23, 2026 · 55 min
• 773. How Coaches Can Stay Calm in a Dysregulated World - With Mark Walsh & Dr Helen Machen-Pearce · June 16, 2026 · 57 min
• 772. Coaching for Meaning: Beyond Goals and Happiness - With Mark Walsh & Dr Helen Machen-Pearce · June 9, 2026 · 56 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Embodiment Coaching Podcast podcast page.