Shot By Brock

Of all the things we can do to nourish ourselves, sleep is perhaps the most vital. Alongside food and hydration, sleep is the thing that helps us to function at our best, with clarity and confidence. So vital is it, that lack of sleep can slow us down and make life harder. And severe tiredness can also begin to affect our decision-making abilities, our self-esteem, our courage, our grip on reality and our mental health. Getting enough rest, and good quality sleep, then, should be a crucial part of our toolkit if we are to live and act effectively, with conviction, and integrity. At our best, moving joyfully towards our potential. At its most fundamental, Yoga Nidra is the practice of sleep. As Tracee Stanley, the world-renowned practitioner of Yoga Nidra, states in her book, Radiant Rest: “rest is vital to thriving.” But there is more to Yoga Nidra than simply catching some good quality zees. Through deep relaxation we gain access to a deeper part of ourselves that is beyond the cognitive mind, beyond languag

As we hopefully begin to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, we step into the harsh light of a world on fire. Social injustice, climate change, corruption, inequality have never appeared so prominent. A landscape of crisis begging to be solved, and the failed detritus of all previous attempts at stewardship are calling for a new approach. Is a spiritual revolution the answer we’re looking for? And what would that look like in a world where the genie of materialism has been out of the lamp far too long to be pushed back in? Perhaps, instead of looking for answers ‘out there’ we should follow the advice of Thich Nhat Hanh, who said, “the way out is in.” But is contemplative introspection really the answer? Can that lead to the real change we need, or is it merely turning our backs on the problems of the world? In this episode of Conversations on Living (the new name of this podcast) I speak with Jeff Krasno, founder of Commune and The Wanderlust Festival, about how we can first do the work on ourselves that is r

People like us don’t do things like that. People like us, with our low self-esteem, our lack of confidence, our imposter syndrome, our insecurities about what other people think, about how we’re not good enough, talented enough, clever enough, lucky enough, don’t realise grand vision. We don’t start companies. We don’t take on massive projects. We don’t change the world. We leave that sort of thing to the others. The successful. The charismatic. The gifted. Those other people, who are not like us. But what if they were exactly like us. What if those people over there, doing the big thing, taking on the big challenges, realising the visions and changing the world, were exactly like us. Filled with insecurities, struggling to keep the faith, wrestling with how to face the day. Yet facing it nonetheless. Today I’m talking with Richard Hardiman, who is the founder of CEO of RanMarine. His company makes aquatic robots – automated drones that go into the sea in ports and harbours, and clear the plastic and other wa

What happens when we get quiet, push past the distractions of the world around us and the noise within us, and come face to face with whatever lies deep inside? What monsters are waiting for us when we turn the volume down and listen to what is whispering beneath the hubbub? And how can we be sure that they’re monsters at all, and not instead, angels, keen to shine a light on our true authentic selves? What happens when we shed all that we are not, and tune into everything that we really are. I’m Chris Brock and this is Conversations on Living, and podcast about how to be well, do well, and live well. And these are just a few of the questions that I tackle in today’s episode with Donna Bond, spiritual psychologist and author of the book Original Wisdom: Harness the Power of the Authentic You. Donna believes that if we can harness the courage to push past the fear, push past the cultural, societal and experiential programming of the ego-mind, and tap into the intrinsic, essential self that lies beneath, we can

Being who we came here to be, living and experiencing life in a way that is authentically ours, and remaining true to ourselves, is incredibly difficult when, from our earliest days, we become encumbered with the experiences of culture, the programming of society, and the big and small traumas of life. Whether or not we’ve been through catastrophic events or situations, the low level stress of life, of getting by, doing and being our best every day, in world that seems – according the to 24-hour news cycle – increasingly broken and divided, is traumatic. As we’ve explored in previous episodes of this podcasts, our emotional, mental, physical and spiritual selves are all closely interlinked, often to the point of being indiscernible from one another. So when negative patterns appear repeatedly in our behaviour, in our mental and emotional wellbeing, our health, or even our circumstance, the cause of our problems might be just as likely to come from within as from without. In this episode I’m joined by psycholo

From the moment we are born we are acted upon by the influences of the world we are born into. The programming of things like language, culture, aesthetics, behaviour, and etiquette all start to imprint themselves upon us. And so too do experiences, expectations, incidents and accidents, joy and happiness, and also trauma and hurt. All of these things embed themselves in our memories, our neural pathways, our subconscious, and ultimately our ego, our identities, our inner narratives, and this, crucially, impacts the way we perceive the world, and interact with it. This then, in turn, has huge implications for our quality of life. If we go smiling into the world, sometimes the world smiles back. But with all of these things from our world and our experiences imprinted upon us, it can be difficult to see where we end, and our baggage begins. And when this baggage begins to weigh heavy upon us, and ultimately impacts the direction and quality of our existence, we can very easily start to believe that life, and t

What does it mean to be “always on”. To have the entirety of human knowledge in your pocket, and to know what’s happening right this minute on the other side of the world… all the time? What does it mean to be “always available”. To be contactable, ready to respond at a moment’s notice. Never nowhere, always somewhere. Of course this all has its benefits, right? But is it necessarily healthy? This week I’m speaking with Christina Crook, author of the book The Joy of Missing Out: Finding Balance in a Wired World. She believes that being constantly connected to the 24-hour news cycle, having our relationships moderated by social media algorithms, being addicted to a constant flow of information that is curated by others who might not have our best interests at heart – and let’s not forget the dopamine hit that comes from getting another ‘like’ or another ‘follow’ – is not only bad for us, but is sapping the life out of our days, and replacing it with stress. In this conversation we talk about why the need to be

What does it take to do something new, a new career perhaps, and to build something bigger than yourself? What do you need in order to keep turning up even when failure and rejection seem to be the lay of the land? How much of finding success it is about experience and know-how, and how much of it is about attitude, courage, find the angles that work, and finding the energy to keep showing up when you just can’t face another day? Today I’m chatting with Kelly Robinson, the founder of the Kelly Robinson Team of real estate agents working in New York City. She decided to try a career in real estate when her acting career, which was propped up with other jobs, wasn’t going in the direction she wanted it to go. But building something new wasn’t just about turning up and working hard. It become facing failure and learning the hard way – and still persisting despite it all – until she learned to navigate the landscape and, ultimately, make it her own. In this conversation Kelly generously shares her experiences abo

When we think about nature, or we talk about spirituality, it’s easy to see it as something ‘other’. Something disconnected from the modern world that we have to live in, day to day. We save it for the weekend or for our morning meditation sessions, and we view the wisdom of the ancients as something quaint – but certainly not something that we should bring into the office. But this cultural disconnect could actually being doing us more harm than good. By turning our backs on nature, and creating lives that are more processed than ever in terms of what we consume – both into our bodies and our minds – we are making ourselves ill, or at the very least, living lives that are lacklustre and dull. What if, instead, we were to find a way of connecting with the spiritual wisdom of nature, of ancient cultures, and bring into our daily lives – in a way that didn’t seemed perfectly, well, natural. This week I’m speaking with Ben LeVine, he is a herbalist and co-founder of Rasa. It is a coffee alternative made with ada

To celebrate the release of Martha Beck's recent book, The Way of Integrity, we're replaying our episode from 2020. Here are the original show notes: ---- I have a favourite quote by the Swiss psychoanalyst, Carl Jung: “Beneath the threshold of consciousness, everything was seething with life.” This notion – that there is life beyond what we know in the physical world of systems and money and society and iPhones – is reflected in a drawing called Three Worlds by M.C. Escher. It depicts a lake with fallen leaves floating on it. Beneath the water you can see a beautiful carp swimming, and reflected on the surface of the water are the now leafless trees. What these two works, from Jung and Escher, toy with is the idea that at any one time, we are not simply inhabiting one world, but there are others that exist right alongside it. Indeed, with practice we can even tune in to other ways realities, by seeing past the superficial distractions up here on the surface of the water, and adjusting our own perspectives

What does it take to do more, live more, and be more, when our programming, our culture and our society are all designed to keep us right here where we are. And for the most part, that is in a state of dissatisfaction, of unease, of unfulfilled potential? How can we really fulfil our potential, and live beyond the day to day, the mundane struggles and mediocrity, in order to spread our wings and fly to the highest altitudes of our potential? How can we follow in the footsteps of Maya Angelou, when she said “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humour and some style”? It can be done. We can live extraordinary lives, we can be extraordinary people and the truth is, we already are, we just don’t know how to step into it. But Ken Lindner might just have an idea. Ken is the founder of one America’s largest news and hosting agencies, representing some of the biggest names in network journalism. But more importantly – for this podcast at le

It’s said that if you’re not angry, you’re not paying attention. And indeed, all you have to do is turn on the news or take a look at social media, and you’ll find plenty to be angry about. Or sad about. Or worried, anxious, or fearful. But is this any way to live? Scores of studies have shown that the stress caused by being permanently in these sorts of emotional states can lead to a wide range of health issues – both mental and physical. So surely it’s better not to be angry, or sad, or worried, anxious or fearful. But does that mean we’re not taking our world, and our place in it, seriously enough? This week week I’m speaking to Diane Dreher about the Tao te Ching and her 1990 book the Tao of Inner Peace, which has just been re-released to bring it up to date with a world that seems more turbulent, more ill at ease, and more divided than ever. And the message is this, the more we can cultivate inner peace, the healthier we can become in mind, body and spirit, the more effective we can be when we step into

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life,” asked poet Mary Oliver. As children we wanted to be astronauts, movie stars, wizards or unicorns, as grown-ups we generally just settle for a reasonably comfortable existence with something good to watch on TV and a beer at the end of a hard week. As that other great literary mind Zadie Smith said: “what modest dreamers we have become.” So what does it take to live a life of fulfilment, of impact? To leave a dent on our small part of the universe? What does it take to explore what’s possible, and then realise it, and much more, as we step towards our potential and live the life of our dreams. Joining me this week is Nikki Eiberhardt, and she believes that if we align with our purpose – that thing which keeps us awake at night and gets us up in the morning – and set our sights on servant leadership, we can empower ourselves and others to take on the biggest challenges and find audacious solutions. Nikki is professor of business at Miner

We’re surrounded by information, and it’s easy to turn this information into stress within us, allow it to begin influencing how we feel, how we act, and how we experience life. Whether it’s a work deadline, the subtext of an email, the news media, advertising, past experiences, or so-called cultural norms, sometimes we can feel overwhelmed. Sometimes we can feel triggered. Sometimes we just want to yell “stop the world, I want to get off.” But what if there was an easier way of being. A way of feeling, being and acting, that wasn’t dictated by the stories we attached to the information that swim in, but instead chosen by us, for us, in order to experience our days and our lives in the best way possible. And what if it all starts as simply as taking a breath? This week I’m joined by world-renowned meditator, breath work expert, and mindful alchemist, Scott Schwenk. Scott believes that in order to choose our reality, instead of having it chosen for us, and to show up effectively and with our full potential in

In the Ayurvedic tradition, our constitutions are categorised into different types, called doshas. These doshas – Vatta, pitta and kapha – define the best types of food to eat in order to to be healthy, vital, energised and to avoid inflammation and illness. It’s a beautiful idea, and for thousands of years people have adopted this Ayurvedic principle to live a bright and energetic life. But what if we could take it beyond diet. What if we define our ‘type’ and then use this in order to create live a life of fulfilment, meaning, and contentment. This week I’m joined by author and minds expert Jaya Jaya Myra, who turned to ayurvedic principles when doctors couldn’t solve the chronic illness that was costing her not just her health, but also her career, her relationships, her financial stability and more. But as she explored and played with the concepts behind Ayurveda she found that not only did her health improve, but also her wider life, too. This lead her to present an eye-opening TedX Talk, become a televi

“The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper." These are the words of Eden Philpots. And since he wrote them in 1918 our senses have certainly got sharper. The Hubble telescope introduced us to the idea of dark energy and billions upon billions of galaxies far beyond our own that we didn’t even know existed.   Today, thanks to the work of Thomas Dalton, we regularly look at atoms through powerful microscopes, even though their existence had been subject to scepticism since they were first suggested by the Ancient Greek scholars Democritus and Leucippus about two and a half thousand years ago.   And if you’ve ever seen an olive grove shimmer in the breeze, but didn’t know how to explain it, you’d know that magic is real.   It makes you think, what else is out there that we don’t yet fully understand. What else are our wits not quite sharp enough to comprehend. And, just like Democritus and Leucippus, what is it that we may just already kn

Do you ever wonder where it all went wrong? Find yourself cursing life for being unfair? Struggle with where you are, why you’re here, or even how things would be if you could only just get your act together and sort your life out? You’re not alone. In fact, I’d wager that most people feel stuck, dissatisfied, or at least a little bit disenchanted – if not with their entire life, perhaps one or more aspects of it. It’s easy to blame everything outside of ourselves for our unhappiness – the thing that was done to us, our bad luck, the injustice of an unfair world. But when we curse the world for all that goes wrong, we also end up wishing the world we bring us that magical payday we’ve been waiting for all along – our big break – and grumbling our days away waiting for it to happen. But its not the world out there that’s going to dish up the good life, but the world within us. The energy we bring to our days, the action we take, our attitude towards what is working for us, and what isn’t. The Sufi poet Rumi

I haven’t read Frank Herbert’s Dune, nor have I seen the recent movie. Scenes from the cult David Lynch film are, however, imprinted on my mind, and I’m not just talking about Sting in his underpants. I’m referring - of course -to the Litany Against Fear, a poetic mantra recited by the Bene Gesserit, and it goes like this: "I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain." Who is this I, that remains when the fear has gone? Maybe somewhat tangentially, but this makes me this think of the words of Pema Chodron: “Only to the extent that we expose ourselves over and over to annihilation can that which is indestructible in us be found.” This fearless I, this indestructible, intrinsic self, could this be who we really are when we strip away all that we have acc

Does your life ever feel like a suit that doesn’t quite fit properly? Do you ever wonder why, no matter how hard you work, how closely you follow the advice and the tried and trusted steps that convention says you should follow, you never seem to get where you want to be? Chances are the life you are living is out of alignment with who you really are. Today's guest is Sam Thiara. Sam teaches at the Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, and the author of Lost and Found, his personal story about retracing his grandfather’s life and discovering himself along the way. His message is that once you dig down and find ut who you really are, you can start to live a fulfilling and rewarding life that is in alignment with your values. Like the stoics, he believes that the route to success is signposted with obstacles, and that this will lead us where we need to go for a happy life, and if keep asking ourselves why, then we’ll get to the truth of who we came here to be. You can find out more about Sam, his ideas, his w

It was Primal Scream who told us “don’t fight it, feel it”. And if ever there are key messages that resonate in the world of mindfulness and personal development, this could be one of the big ones. After all, what you resist persists. Yet resist we do, and most of the time we don’t even know we’re doing it. But every time we feel discomfort or disatisfaction in our lives, it’s our resistance to “what is” that we’re feeling. This anxiety about the future, the worry about the past, never really being present to do the real work that we need to do in order to make our lives better – or even just be happy. Indeed, in the pursuit of happiness, we often focus too much on the thing we’re trying to escape from, rather than the thing that we should be running to. We don’t want to be in debt any more. We don’t want to work in the office any more. We don’t want to be overweight, single, tired…. Whatever anymore. And all these things that we resist, persist. This week’s guest is Dr Travis Fox, who says that the key to ge