Common Threads: An Interfaith Dialogue
Jun 17, 2026 · 59 min · 11 segments
In the chaos of today’s world, we’re all searching for meaning. The wellness industry has sold us a promise that we can find it if we just buy the right products, attend the right retreats, and follow…
Fred StellaHost[upbeat music] From WGVU Public Media, this is Common Threads, an interfaith dialogue with host Fred Stella.
[singing]
Hello, I'm Fred Stella, president of the Interfaith Dialogue Association, an affiliate of the Kaufman Interfaith Institute.
The wellness industry has sold us a promise that we can find it if we just buy the right products, attend the right retreats, and follow the right celebrity gurus.
But is this true? In Beyond Wellness: How Restoring the Religious Roots of Spiritual Practices Can Heal Us, award-winning religious ethicist and professor Liz Bucar embarks on a quest to answer these very questions and to get to the heart of spiritual but not religious activities, from detox diets to sound baths.
Crafted as both a confession and a researched manifesto, Beyond Wellness draws on personal reporting, historical case studies, philosophy, and pop culture anecdotes to help you find ways to build more authenticity into your engagement with spirituality.
Because the reality is, when we approach practices like yoga and ayahuasca as fitness routines and life hacks, think Gwyneth Paltrow and the rise of wellness influencers, we miss out on the sacred wisdom they have to offer us, ethical frameworks, long-term commitment to a community, systemic understanding of suffering and sickness, insights into human nature, and more.
While she's been a scholar of religion for over 25 years, Bucar herself does not have a religious affiliation, but is drawn to the spiritual practices that promise to improve one's life, just like most people.
Her unique perspective and academic background led to this deep dive to unearth how religious contexts can help everyone, even those without a religious identity, in the search for real well-being.
Bucar tries out each practice in the book herself, yoga, psychedelics, detox diets, and more.
The root idea is that by digging into the real and often ancient religious traditions behind these practices, from Buddhism to Christianity and beyond, we can make them more meaningful, ethical, and effective without the potential unpleasant baggage of joining an organized religion.
Whether it's as simple as setting an intention for a yoga asana or as complex as re-evaluating what a higher power is, it's time to understand, experience, and simply get more out of our spiritual practices.
Liz Bucar is a religious ethicist and professor of religion at Northeastern University, as well as a certified Intensati and Kripalu yoga instructor.
Her popular writing has appeared in The Atlantic, the Los Angeles Times, Teen Vogue, and The Wall Street Journal, and she's an author of four books, including the award-winning Stealing My Religion and Pious Fashion.
She lives in Brookline, Massachusetts, and we welcome to Common Threads Professor Liz Bucar.
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[upbeat music] From WGVU Public Media, this is Common Threads, an interfaith dialogue with host Fred Stella.
[singing]
Hello, I'm Fred Stella, president of the Interfaith Dialogue Association, an affiliate of the Kaufman Interfaith Institute.
The wellness industry has sold us a promise that we can find it if we just buy the right products, attend the right retreats, and follow the right celebrity gurus.
But is this true? In Beyond Wellness: How Restoring the Religious Roots of Spiritual Practices Can Heal Us, award-winning religious ethicist and professor Liz Bucar embarks on a quest to answer these very questions and to get to the heart of spiritual but not religious activities, from detox diets to sound baths.
Crafted as both a confession and a researched manifesto, Beyond Wellness draws on personal reporting, historical case studies, philosophy, and pop culture anecdotes to help you find ways to build more authenticity into your engagement with spirituality.
Because the reality is, when we approach practices like yoga and ayahuasca as fitness routines and life hacks, think Gwyneth Paltrow and the rise of wellness influencers, we miss out on the sacred wisdom they have to offer us, ethical frameworks, long-term commitment to a community, systemic understanding of suffering and sickness, insights into human nature, and more.
While she's been a scholar of religion for over 25 years, Bucar herself does not have a religious affiliation, but is drawn to the spiritual practices that promise to improve one's life, just like most people.
Her unique perspective and academic background led to this deep dive to unearth how religious contexts can help everyone, even those without a religious identity, in the search for real well-being.
Bucar tries out each practice in the book herself, yoga, psychedelics, detox diets, and more.
The root idea is that by digging into the real and often ancient religious traditions behind these practices, from Buddhism to Christianity and beyond, we can make them more meaningful, ethical, and effective without the potential unpleasant baggage of joining an organized religion.
Whether it's as simple as setting an intention for a yoga asana or as complex as re-evaluating what a higher power is, it's time to understand, experience, and simply get more out of our spiritual practices.
Liz Bucar is a religious ethicist and professor of religion at Northeastern University, as well as a certified Intensati and Kripalu yoga instructor.
Her popular writing has appeared in The Atlantic, the Los Angeles Times, Teen Vogue, and The Wall Street Journal, and she's an author of four books, including the award-winning Stealing My Religion and Pious Fashion.
She lives in Brookline, Massachusetts, and we welcome to Common Threads Professor Liz Bucar.
