Curious Humans with Jonny Miller

Joe Hudson is many things — he's a Venture Capitalist and renowned executive coach, but beyond that, he is a rare example of someone who in my perspective has accessed some profound truths about the human experience and is putting himself out there into the world helping others to find greater joy and ease in their lives. ***❓  We begin with his perspective on wonder and explore what makes for the capacity to ask transformational questions.🤩  He then shares his VIEW framework—which stands for Vulnerability, Impartiality, Empathy & Wonder—and how life-changing it can be if we're able to truly inhabit these states of being.🔥  We both then begin to unpacking the concept of emotional fluidity, why it's very different from emotional management and dive into specific examples of unclogging the tube of anger, Joe's process for dissolving shame (in which I become the guinea pig and it gets real for a few minutes)Joe also mentions his experiences doing naked breathwork, the one-two punch tactic he used to use to get out of speeding tickets, why selfishness is a word used to get children to do what their parents want and why you have to allow your heart to break a little to increase your capacity to love.***I was quite taken aback by how many of my recent Nervous System Mastery students had taken Joe's 'Connection Course' and how tremendously impactful they shared it had been in their journeys of self-exploration and finding greater depths of emotional maturity.I rarely (if ever) promote other courses, but having listened to Joe's 'Art of Accomplishment' podcast episodes, heard from several of his students whose lives have been transformed by his work as well as the depth of our recent conversation I believe his work and methodology deserves to be shared more widely.So to this end, I'd like to make the case for at the very least considering the 'Connection Course' that he's offering—it's very reasonably priced ($300) and uses a “cohort of two” learning format that combines the power of cohort-based learning with the flexibility of a self-paced course.It's an opportunity to access workshops usually only reserved for elite execs and combines 20 years of Joe's research into dozens of spiritual traditions + robust psychological frameworks, also backed by the more recent findings from neurological research."This course is a unique approach to relationships with yourself and others. It dramatically changes your ability to accomplish what you want in your life with ease and joy. It will help you examine the way that you show up at work and in your personal life, all through training a mindset that leads to more connection and more satisfying relationships."So there you have it—a wholehearted recommendation to first listen to the podcast conversation with Joe and if the themes of emotional exploration resonate, then definitely check out the amazing podcast and self-paced connection course linked below for a deeper dive.>> You can use the code CURIOUS to save 10% on Joe's course here << ***Links to Joe & the Art of Accomplishment👨‍🎓  Art of Accomplishment Connection Course (link)🎙️  Art of Accomplishment Podcast (link)📸  Art of Accomplishment on Instagram (link) 💬  Joe Hudson on Twitter (link)

In this episode, I speak with my good Twitter friend Malcolm Ocean. Malcolm is many many things, but first and foremost I consider him to be not only relentlessly curious but also prolific in sharing his practical philosophy mostly through the medium of thoughtful Twitter threads.I predicted that the experience of listening to this conversation might be a little like the feeling of being trapped inside a pinball machine bouncing between unrelated topics... but in fact, what unfolded was a really satisfying dance around parallel threads which centred around our mutual interest of human attention and perception — and how these theories have deep practical value our daily life.Some of the topics we danced around include:❓ The value and art of holding questions, and sitting with deep uncertainty.🔥  His case for an aliveness-based productivity system and discussing why to consider even setting goals in the first place.🧠  How the barely known ideas contained in 'Perceptual Control Theory' have shifted his outlook on life and how these theories connect to the work of Iain McGilchrist's findings on the differences between our left and right brain hemispheres.🌎  We talked about our 'domino memes' as a way of attempting to articulate the different levels of impact that we're hoping to make in the world and I also really appreciated his framing of what he calls 'negative effort' which is a way of saying the creative work that we can't not do — and ideas for how we might incentivise this on a wider scale.Relevant Links👋  Find Malcolm on Twitter: @malcolm_ocean (and his thread collection) 👀   Read his blog: malcolmocean.com❓  Ribbonfarm blog post on 'Questions are not just for asking'🧠  His superb Divided Brain Twitter primer🎲  His 'Domino Meme' (and my domino meme)📚  A cheeky bootleg copy of 'Making Sense of Behaviour' (the actual book is out of print)

Kelly Wilde is an artist, podcaster, performer, meditation mentor and poet who has been exploring the intersections of soul explorations, creative work and rewilding. She also happens to be my wife, and this episode fell on our 18-month anniversary — it’s a particularly juicy conversation and easily the most personal conversation that I've aired to date.In this conversation, we dance around a range of personal topics including: 🪨  Reflections on the last couple of decades of her life—from existential reckonings, identity crises, multiple career paths and rock-bottom moments that she has been through—and how these challenges have given way to a deeper clarity, knowing herself more intimately and beginning the process of what she describes as rewilding the feral aspects of her psyche.🧘  This led into the story of our experience at a 10-day meditation retreat we attended in Mexico last year, and how reflecting on death led to us getting married a mere two weeks later.❣️  We also talk about our reflections on the value we found from working with a couple's therapist, early on in our marriage and how being aware of what she calls the skeleton woman archetype has helped us to navigate rocky moments along the way in our partnership.I hope you enjoy this intimate conversation with the love of my life, Kelly Wilde.***Where to find Kelly on the Interwebs:📸   Instagram: @kellywildexo🎙️  Podcast: Wild on Purpose  👩‍🎨  Website: kellywilde.art

Conni and I have collaborated on a number of projects over the years and we've both followed remarkably similar paths from the world of entrepreneurship into the world of breathwork & nervous system science. In this conversation, Conni starts off by sharing some of her personal journey, her various heartbreaks and compartmentalisation of her sexuality that led her from being a very successful travel writer into being a prolific creator in the world of personal development and ultimately to the work she's doing now as a breath coach. From there we pretty rapidly dive go into the nitty-gritty aspects of breathwork and unpack some of the nervous system neurobiology that we've both been learning... including: 🌬️ How some of the functional breathing practices have impacted her life and the lives of the clients she works with, what it means to have a dysregulated breathing pattern and how to begin correcting this.🫁  She goes on a myth-busting roll, talking about common misperceptions around the role of CO2, we both share our concerns with Wim Hof training and riff on the importance of honing our sixth sense of 'interception'. 🧠  How helpful it has been for us to gain an embodied understanding of the difference between our 'Ventral' & 'Dorsal' branches of the parasympathetic nervous system.🤯   This episode might feel like a lot of information if you're just hearing this for the first time, but I encourage you to stay with it my hope is that there will be some real nuggets for everyone listening regardless of how much knowledge you currently have.– – – – – 👨‍🎓  Nervous System Mastery Online BootcampRegain control of your body + mind — cultivating effortless calm & sustained focus. Upon completion of this intensive 5-week Bootcamp you will be equipped with science-backed protocols & have built your own personalised "Human Operating System" — enabling you to regulate stress in real-time, rewire breathing patterns & reset your nervous system.  Dates: Oct 17 – Nov 22Learn more here: nsmastery.com– – – – –🙋‍♀️  Where to find Conni Online🖥️   Website + blog: conni.me💌   Her awesome newsletter: flow + wonder🎙️  Conni's 'CREATE' podcast📸   Instagram: @breathwork.alchemy🐦  Twitter @connibe

In one of the longest and most wide-ranging episodes to date, this conversation is with filmmaker, poet, relationship coach and utterly unique human being Alice Frank—who is here as she says to proudly "eff the ineffable".Her book 'My Real Name Is You' has been loved by Eckhart Tolle said 'My favourite poem I ever heard' and Jason Mraz who shared: 'Her words are alive the same way notation can fly off a page and become sweet music.'I'm slightly at a loss for words attempting to describe the ground that we covered but I will add that she is one of the most present people I've ever met and has a truly astounding capacity to articulate the great mysteries of life. Here's a sampling of where our conversation led:✨ Her spiritual awakening that lasted for a decade and what her experience was of being no-one (and the challenges of living so deeply in the present)... followed by what she described as her 'breakup with god'.😆 Why we lose touch with our sense of play and why we should strive to 'relieve reality of its seriousness'. I loved that one of her favourite mantras is 'Can you imagine if it mattered? Can you imagine if it mattered?' ❤️ Her journey from the depths of polyamory to more recently getting married, reframing un-conditional love to 'all-conditional' love & how she now coaches couples to remember what this even means. 🎴 Her current meditation practice and why she created a 'silent retreat in a box' — a beautiful series of mantra cards to create your own home meditation retreat (definitely check this out!)***Explore Alice's Homepage + Portfolio // UniamoryConnect with Alice on Instagram // @uniamory

Max Stossel is an award-winning poet (whose short films have been seen over 40 million times) advisor to Tech for Humanity, successful filmmaker and all-around wise human who I'm grateful to call a brother.In this poetic + lyrical conversation we explore:🖋️ The journey that led him from designing notification systems at a social media company to exploring the art and science of attention.📱 The dangers of smartphone addiction + practical questions as users that we can be asking ourselves📝 How he describes his work as a blend of poetry, standup comedy and storytelling💔 How he's found the courage to lean into painful experiences and get curious about heartbreak🦅 How his writing workshop on avoidance and imposter syndrome led to my publishing a short poetry book.🙋‍♂️ His experience and insights from leading men's groups and how this work has changed his life for the better***See Max in action // wordsthatmove.comConnect with Max on Twitter // @MaxStossel

This is one HELL of an episode with honestly one of the most interesting and radical thinkers of our generation.Jamie is a renaissance man. He's well known for his work writing Stealing Fire and creating the Flow Genome Project—and as you'll hear in our conversation the book he has just published is unlike anything else you'll ever read.I see Jamie as being a bridge between the spiritual and the scientific. He's pioneering studies with Johns Hopkins and MAPS whilst wading deep into questions of how to we evolve and mature as humans or in his words—how do we "Stay awake. Build stuff. And help out."In this conversation which felt more like a science-fiction rhapsody we bounce around between:🤯  Why we're facing a new Meaning Crisis and the dangers of 'Rapture Ideologies'🧘‍♂️  The Hedonic Yoga of Becoming experiment he dreamt up and ran with after a conversation with Roland Grifiths at MAPS💔  We talk about grief and the real need for cultivating a culture of post-traumatic growth🎮  How he's planning on launching a post-modern religion in hyperspace taking the form of an alternate reality game called Y-ANON. Truly this has been one of my favourite and mind-bending conversations to date—if you enjoyed it please take a few moments to share on the socials, go out and buy his book Recapture the Rapture and start experimenting with some of the protocols and practices that he shares (Bonus points if you send Jamie a letter telling him what you’ve done!)***📚 Buy Jamie’s New Book // recapturetherapture.com🎙️ Listen to his 'HomeGrown Humans' podcast📸 Follow on IG // @flowgenome💌 Subscribe to the Flow Genome Newsletter

Dr. Bill Plotkin is a depth psychologist, wilderness guide and visionary ecopsychologist—his work might well be the map that you didn't know you were looking for. It has been for me an immense treasure trove of practical wisdom and guidance for thinking about my own growth and maturity.At the end of our conversation, he shared that this was a book written for future generations—and I believe it may take decades before the importance of this body of work is fully understood.I hope that this conversation will play some role in spreading his ideas—and on that note, in this deep dive conversation we explore:🤓  His definition for what it means to be a genuine adult (and why he believes 80% of humanity are currently stuck in early-stage adolescence)🗺️  His map of the five stages of the descent to soul and the path to becoming a true elder🌎  His 'four facets of mind' as a unique framework for personal development a and cultivating human wholeness❤️  What he calls 'sacred wound work' a story of the weavings of the Native American Diné people🔥  What I consider my own mythopoetic identity to be based on an insight during a vision fast in Nepal🙋‍♂️  The big question that he would have liked to pose to Carl Jung❓  What it means for him to 'fill one's space with a question'🏫  His vision for this work to be put into practice by a global network of 'mystery schools'***Read Bill's book // The Journey of Soul InitiationGo Deeper // explore the upcoming Animas Offerings

This seeds for this conversation were planted at the end of last year when I was listening to a podcast called ‘Hack Reality’ and Cris shared her phone number at the end of the episode—I sent her a voice memo about the Poet David Whyte... we since became good friends and when COVID hit she followed an intuitive hit to reach out and ended up living with us here in Oaxaca Mexico for a month.Cris has one of the most eclectic backgrounds you’ll come across. She went from founding a venture-backed AI fashion company, to hosting a podcast about the future of technology, and more recently has taken a left turn into the world of trauma healing and spent the better part of the last three years designing a card deck for exploring shadow emotions—which is about to launch on Kickstarter.So as I said, one hell of an eclectic background and as such our conversation dances around between:🔥 Insights from exploring the money stories and the rock bottom moment of having to shut down her company on short notice👣 Learning how to connect with her intuition following an assignment to follow her curiosity walking barefoot around San Francisco❤️ Her experiences working with MDMA and LSD-assisted therapyAnd then things go off the deep end and she talks about a kundalini awakening experience she had in an ancient Mayan Ruin, and about 52 minutes in Cris shares her roadmap and toolkit for people to begin with Shadow work, navigate existential crises and exploring the roots of their repressed emotions and the vision she has for her card deck being used as an Emotional Guidance System.🐉 I thoroughly encourage you to check-out the card deck Cris spent the last three years designing over on Kickstarter.Alright, that’s more than enough rambling from me. If you appreciate this conversation please do give Curious Humans a review on iTunes and share with someone else who you think might appreciate it.

Arthur Worsley is a close friend of mine that I met in Bali where over many dinners together he educated me in the tactics for learning Bhasa, memorising my TEDx talk and really opened my eyes to the world of meta-learning that he has specialised in. Back in the day, he studied neurophysiology at Oxford in the UK and since became conversationally fluent in 8 languages and also applies his learning superpowers to things like ultra-marathon running and collecting wisdom from the crazy number of books he reads.In this wide-ranging conversation, we dive into the simultaneous devastating personal loss and financial gain that he received nearly a decade ago and how that was a catalyst for reinventing himself. He also walks me through how he thinks about procrastination and the four main causes of it, his approach for cultivating and tracking mindful metta moments and some thoughts on how his life may be altered by the child that he and his fiancé are expecting.📚 Read Arthur's book reviews, ongoing meta-learning insights, his habit tracker and (free) book on working less hard here: theartofliving.com