Episode 98 - Conversations With Serge Prengel Round 2
From Touching Into Presence by Global Community of Bodyworkers
June 8, 2026 · 56 min
About this episode
The episode features a conversation with Serge Prengel about mindfulness, compassion, and the nervous system's role in perception and behavior.
Today's conversation is with Serge Prengel Serge is a therapist who has been exploring creative approaches to mindfulness in therapy and in everyday life. He invites you to join his explorations at https://proactivemindfulness.com/ In today’s conversation, Serge and I explored the distinction between compassion and condoning, and how understanding another person does not require agreeing with or permitting harmful behavior. We spoke about blame, polarization, and the ways people can unconsciously mirror the very dynamics they oppose. Throughout the conversation, we returned repeatedly to the idea that embodied compassion differs from conceptual compassion — that true understanding often emerges not through abstract ideals, but through contact with our own felt experience of fear, defensiveness, threat, and protection. We also explored the nervous system’s role in shaping perception and behavior, including how even subtle moments can activate fight-or-flight responses. Serge reflected beautifully on the importance of pause — not as passivity, but as creating enough space to reassess habitual reactions and discover more skillful ways of responding. Together we discussed safety…
People in this episode
Host: Global Community of Bodyworkers
Guest: Serge Prengel
Topics covered
- mindfulness
- compassion
- nervous system
- embodiment
- self-awareness
Keywords
- mindfulness
- compassion
- nervous system
- embodiment
- self-awareness
- therapy
- polarization
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: proactivemindfulness.com
More episodes of Touching Into Presence
- Episode 97 - Conversations With Russell Delman Round 2 · December 25, 2025 · 59 min
- Episode 96 - Conversations With David Vago · November 21, 2025 · 1h 33m
- Episode 95 - Conversations with Aline Newton and Rebecca Carli-Mills · October 23, 2025 · 59 min
- Episode 94 - Conversations with Will Johnson- Round 2 · August 27, 2025 · 1h 13m
- Episode 93 - Conversations with Michael Shea - Round 4 · August 18, 2025 · 47 min
- Episode 92 - Conversations with Gil Hedley - Round 2 · July 29, 2025 · 1h 2m
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Touching Into Presence podcast page.