Episode #15
Neuro Relational Integration and Moral Imagination with Dr. Shaleen Kendrick
Music "Dirty Gertie" by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com Summary Joey talks with Dr. Shaleen Kendrick, an open and relational neurotheologian, about how nervous system regulation, spiritual practice, and theology shape each other in real time. The conversation centers on deconstruction, embodied faith, and why fear-based religion can train the brain toward threat instead of compassion.They also explore how curiosity, contemplation, imagination, and liberation-centered interpretation can help people move toward coherence, wholeness, and a more life-giving spirituality. Key topics Neurospirituality - The neuroscience of spiritual and religious experience, with theology asking how those experiences shape us and how we shape theology in return. Neuroplasticity - Repeated thoughts, rituals, and experiences reshape the brain over time. Prediction error - The gap between what people expect religious communities to be and what they actually experience. Coherence - A dynamic, ongoing state of wholeness and integration. Ventral vagal pathway - A physiological route associated with safety, curiosity, compassion, and connection. Moral imagination - The capacity to re-envision reality in more liberating, inclusive, and life-giving ways. Connect · Website · Substack · LinkedIn · Facebook · Neuro Relational Integration References & Mentions · Lisa Miller— The Awakened Brain and The Spiritual Child · Andrew Newberg— work on neuroscience, spirituality, and religious experience · Deb Dana— Anchored and other work on polyvagal theory · Stephen Porges— polyvagal theory · Resmaa Menakem— My Grandmother’s Hands · Paulo Freire— Pedagogy of the Oppressed · Howard Thurman— Jesus and the Disinherited · John Sanders— Theology in the Flesh and Embracing Prodigals · Kelly Brown Douglas— work on moral imagination and liberation theology · Lisa Sharon Harper— work on faith, justice, and imagination · Elizabeth Schrader Polczer, Diana Butler Bass, and Jaime Clark-Soles— resources on Mary Magdalene, the Samaritan woman, and feminist biblical interpretation · Grace Ji-Sun Kim— work on race, theology, and images of Jesus · Tom Oord, Tripp Fuller, and Rob Bell— influences referenced in the opening conversation
