“If the soul is not in the body, where is the soul?” I’ve always been intrigued by this question from Walt Whitman. So, it caught my attention when I heard Lauren Roxburgh say that our “fascia is transmitting our soul in our bodies.” Lauren is a pioneer in body alignment, holistic health, and fascia (the connective tissue that wraps under our skin and around our organs like a spider web). Everything clicked when she explained that when there is tension in our fascia—which can manifest as knots and tightness—our life force energy is blocked. She describes fascia as a “living matrix—holding and remembering everything that we experience in our lives.” When we feel overwhelmed by an experience, it gets stored in our fascia. In our conversation, we explore how her healing modality of movement medicine helps us move our emotions and experiences outside of our body, without even talking. Then, with a newfound sense of freedom, shift from trying to control life to becoming more open, receptive, and trusting. Resources: The Aligned Life Studio, where you can experience Lauren’s practices with a free 7-day trial Lauren’s Book: The Power Source: The Hidden Key to Ignite Your Core, Empower Your Body, Release Stress, and Realign Your Life

“What choices will lead me to greater integration and wholeness?” renowned author, meditation pioneer, and teacher Sharon Salzberg asks in her latest book, Real Life: The Journey from Isolation to Openness and Freedom. "We’re told so many stories about who we are and what we are capable of that are given to us. They’re not born of our own clear seeing,” she says. “Being able to step back from our conditioning and really question…When can I breathe? When do I feel like I can’t breathe? One of the things we discover is that it's not through a certain feeling arising, like fear. It's through being enveloped in and overcome by it. So, we don't have to put ourselves down or be ashamed of what we feel. We can see that the way that we relate to our thoughts, feelings, and sensations is going to make a big difference.” In our conversation, we explore invaluable tools to reframe that relationship, and in so doing, discover the expansiveness that is always available to us.

What if you could design your own, custom playbook to guide the pursuit of greatness in every aspect of your life?     Not long ago, the notion of rewiring one’s biology was more sci-fi than reality; still a decade ago, Drs. Leeroy Hood and Nathan Price had the foresight to envision a future where modern science would harness real-time data to make optimal well+being both predictable and accessible to a wider population. Today, their book - The Age of Scientific Wellness: Why the Future of Medicine Is Personalized, Predictive, Data-Rich, and in your Hands - provides a visionary roadmap to equip each of us with the tools to take charge of our well+being.  In it, they demonstrate why our biology is not a fixed entity but a dynamic system influenced by a multitude of factors, including genetics, lifestyle choices, and environmental exposures. Drawing upon their extensive expertise in systems biology and personalized medicine, Hood and Price will convince you that yesterday’s care model is not only antiquated; it’s actually a strong lever that continues to reward fighting disease as opposed to preventing it.  Here’s a glimpse of what we discuss: What is Scientific Wellness & why does it matter now? What did they see a decade ago that’s true today, not true, and most surprising? What’s the essence of optimal well+being, and what role does one’s genome play in it? What does excellence in gut health look like and how does one measure that? What are the key environmental factors that have the most influence on our well+being? What does one’s genome tell us about our cognition and brain health? How does one determine and influence his/her biological age?

When I read the first few pages of Tiny Beautiful Things — a compilation of letters from Cheryl Strayed’s advice column, Dear Sugar — I immediately knew it was going to be healing. This wasn’t a surprise. Everyone who reads Cheryl’s writing knows she’s poetic. Still, Tiny Beautiful Things is different. As I read the letters sharing people’s deepest yearnings and sorrows, the book’s lesson quickly became clear: Being human is messy. Our job is to find the beauty in it. Whereas I’ve long resisted that complexity, Cheryl’s compassionate responses encouraged me to accept it. Still, relinquishing control left me with even bigger questions… How do we live with our grief and suffering? What makes love last? How do we rise up as our better selves? Fortunately, we explored them in today’s episode. Her wisdom on self-forgiveness reflects the invitation of our conversation… “To see ourselves with a sense of that wholeness, to sit by the river and let go of the bad things we did, allows us to see others for their wholeness too, and forgive them as well.” In illuminating the freedom of “allowing what’s true to be true,” Cheryl guides us to that river. I hope her words are as healing for you as they’ve been for me.

Kevin Kelly is a renowned author, futurist, and technologist who has spent the past few decades exploring the intersection between technology, culture, and society. He is perhaps best known for his work as the founding executive editor of Wired magazine, which helped to shape the conversation around the internet and digital technology in the 1990s and 2000s. Over the years, Kelly has authored several books, including "Out of Control: The New Biology of Machines, Social Systems, and the Economic World" and "The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future." He has also been a prolific writer and speaker on topics such as artificial intelligence, the future of work, and the impact of technology on society. Our most recent conversation focused on Kevin's latest book, "Excellent Advice for Living," which is a collection of 450 wisdom tweets that offer practical guidance on how to live a fulfilling life. Each tweet represents a nugget of wisdom that he has gleaned over his many years of experience as a writer, thinker, and futurist. We also explored his journey from founding Wired magazine to his present work, and how his thinking about technology and society has evolved over the years. He explained why he has become increasingly interested in the idea of "protopia," and why this state of constant improvement and progress is the gateway to greatness. Kevin's unwavering optimism is singular and has the power to make you question your deepest assumptions - particularly about the future you envision for yourself. Our conversation touched upon a variety of topics including the following questions: How his optimism was tested during the Covid-19 Pandemic and the lessons that emerged? How does the current state of work resemble the future of work he imagined in 2000? The most important thing he's been wrong about/right about during the past few years? Where his best ideas come from? The traits that define the most accomplished Asian entrepreneurs, and what we can gain from them? His recipe for greatness? His most defining characteristic?

Few have a pulse on the science and genetics of aging as Dr. Nir Barzilai. As the director of the Institute of Aging Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, he was the first to discover the “longevity gene” in humans; and in so doing began to hypothesize and demonstrate why centenarians with protective genes live longer, healthier lives and experience far fewer age-related disease. In our conversation, we focus on understanding the correlation between genes, lifestyle, and the resilience of predictable longevity™. Modern science and technology has made it far easier for each of us to take charge of our health; still it requires a major shift in perspective - away from preventing sickness and more towards optimizing well+being. Here are a few of the topics we explore: The barriers to predictable longevity™. The misconceptions of aging. Why anti-aging is its own disease. The genetic code of centenarians. The lifestyle habits that delay aging.

“From wonder to wonder, existence begins.” Lao Tzu’s wisdom is the first invitation we receive in Dacher Keltner’s new book: Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How it Can Transform Your Life. It foreshadows the journey and revelation he offers in it: Awe is a compass towards meaning. “If you listen to the feeling of awe, you’re pointed towards the truth of your existence.” Dacher has been a pioneer studying awe, meaning, and compassion, as a professor at UC Berkeley and the Faculty Director of The Greater Good Science Center. I was first drawn to the book when I heard him share that while we often associate awe with nature, the most common source of awe is human connection. Our conversation is an exploration of how we experience awe across the eight wonders of life, from music to moral beauty, art to the divine. By “claiming openness,” as he shares, we discover it’s closer than we think.

The moment I read the title of Pico Iyer’s new book — The Half Known Life: In Search of Paradise — I was hooked. Yet, the more I read about people’s pursuits, the more I began to question the notion of paradise. “The struggle of your life is your paradise.” — Eido Roshi Pico’s life offers him an intimate understanding of the nature of human longing; Both as a lifelong traveler and a writer who lives in a small town in Japan and often stays at a monastery. So, I was curious… What are our souls longing for when they cry out for home, as the Sufis write? Do we ever get there? And, if not, where do we go? “It’s the longing for paradise that gets in the way of paradise and prevents us from seeing it,” he shares. “When you step into a temple in Kyoto, there's often a Japanese sentence written on the ground that means: Look beneath your feet. In other words, this is paradise. Don't look into the future. This is the paradise we have to discover and make.” In our conversation, Pico awakens us to the countless opportunities we have to do so. His invitations offer us freedom from distraction, as he describes, reminding us of our agency in a highly stimulating world.

The first lesson I learned in The Greater Good Science Center’s Science of Happiness course is that I had the wrong definition of happiness. Happiness isn’t solely our positive states, we learn from Science Director Dr.Emiliana Simon-Thomas. It’s feeling content within our whole human experience, which of course, includes emotions like grief and sadness. What’s the most enduring way to cultivate it? Her research continually leads to the same destination: Connection. ‘We often measure life satisfaction by asking: Have I been successful enough? When the real question is: Who am I in relationship to other people?’ We explore this question in our conversation; Examining it through the lens of meaning and belonging, compassion and forgiveness. The Science of Happiness course is free and an inspiring journey to embark on. Consider beginning with Dr.Simon-Thomas’ episode and taking the class with a loved one.

When Tembi Locke was in her twenties she left a letter in a drawer at a coffee shop that read: "I want to live a life of love and companionship." Her heart-expanding memoir and Netflix series, From Scratch, encapsulates its manifestation across three love stories: With her late husband Saro, daughter Zoela, and mother-in-law, Nonna. From Scratch begins with Tembi landing in Italy for a semester abroad, where she’d soon run into Saro on the streets of Florence. The more I reflected on the book, the more its true gift revealed itself. Their family’s journey navigating life’s great questions — on love and loss, forgiveness and reconciliation — isn’t solely an exploration of the answers. It’s an embodiment of them. We see it in Tembi’s conviction reconciling Saro and his family, after their marriage separated them. In his mother and sister’s bravery answering their invitation in a traditional culture. Then, in their family’s choice to begin anew, rather than relive the past. Throughout, we witness Tembi and Saro’s choice to live fully, despite his devastating illness, and how it was his mother’s love that carried her through his loss. Our conversation is an exploration of what matters most and how we may all embrace it.