Be Mythical

This week's show is with Mark Matousek is the author of two acclaimed memoirs, Sex Death Enlightenment: A True Story (an international bestseller) and The Boy He Left Behind: A Man's Search For His Lost Father, as well as When You're Falling, Dive: Lessons in the Art of Living, and Ethical Wisdom: The Search for a Moral Life. A former editor at Interview Magazine, he is a featured blogger for PsychologyToday.com and the Huffington Post, and has contributed to numerous anthologies and publications, including The New Yorker, O: The Oprah Magazine (contributing editor), Harper’s Bazaar, Yoga Journal, Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, and The Saturday Evening Post. A popular speaker and teacher, he offers courses in creativity and spiritual growth in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Europe, based on his book, Writing To Awaken: A Journey of Truth, Transformation, and Self-Discovery. A founding member of V-Men (with Eve Ensler), an organization devoted to ending violence against women and girls, he lives and works East Hampton, New York. His most recent book is Mother of the Unseen World: The Mystery of Mother Meera (Random House). In this conversation, Mark and I explored the topic of writing for self enquiry. Mark teaches a method of using writing as a path for transformation, we delved into how and why it works and then Mark gave some practical suggestions to get you, the listener started. I found this an incredibly insightful episode and I've personally adopted Mark's method since recording the show. The changes I've noticed in that short times have been unbelievable - more awareness of my shadows and surprisingly to me, more freedom to write and share my truth publicly too. I’d love to know what YOU think about this week's show. Let’s carry on the conversation… please leave a comment below. What you'll learn from this episode: Writing as self enquiry works because it gives us distance and perspective on our thoughts, just like any forms of self enquiry, it's just easier to see something when it's out of your mind and written down. Don't write for an audience, don't worry about perfection, or grammar. Just write to the question, for yourself. Give yourself permission not to do anything with your answers that come up in the writing. The practice is about asking and answering the questions, not necessarily taking action. Write every day, for around 15 mins and then review a day or two later. Don't edit unless it's to deepen on something. Ask the questions that matter most to you. Here's a couple that Mark mentioned on the show: Take five minutes to write about a story you tell yourself on a regular basis that you know isn't true. Take five minutes to write about what you would do if you were free (whatever freedom means to you).

This week's show is with Darren Deojee, Darren is all about bringing Positive Masculinity your way. He is firmly rooted in the Oral Tradition and the Toltec Mysteries and their irreplaceable power to bring transformation, realisation and connection. With 10 years teaching, and over 20 years practical experience in Toltec Gender and the Art of Spelling and Sound, his approach has transformed the relationships, perspective and personal power of thousands over the years. He calls his work Mental Healing to tackle a western pandemic he refers to as ‘mental disembodiment’ and return us to our indigenous nature of Integral Mind and embodied language. Darren lives in Suffolk, England, is in a committed long term relationship, and has 4 children. This week’s show is a part two to last week's episode with Darren, in this conversation, Darren and I explored his incredible understanding of Toltec wisdom on gender and gender relativity and why this is something that is applicable to those of us living in today's world. This isn’t a conversation that’s being had in the world right now, it is deep, deep stuff. It's not really the most easy of listens but it's unbelievably worthwhile one, it’s packed with gold.  

This week's show is with Darren Deojee, Darren is all about bringing Positive Masculinity your way. He is firmly rooted in the Oral Tradition and the Toltec Mysteries and their irreplaceable power to bring transformation, realisation and connection. With 10 years teaching, and over 20 years practical experience in Toltec Gender and the Art of Spelling and Sound, his approach has transformed the relationships, perspective and personal power of thousands over the years. He calls his work Mental Healing to tackle a western pandemic he refers to as ‘mental disembodiment’ and return us to our indigenous nature of Integral Mind and embodied language. Darren lives in Suffolk, England, is in a committed long term relationship, and has 4 children. In this conversation, Darren and I explored what's going on for men living in today's modern world. There's a rise in addiction, suicide, escapism, and depression. Men have got to point of feeling shame about being a man, even judging of themselves for it. Darren believes the answer is in healing of the connection to the gifts of the masculine. We dived into what he means by those gifts, why he sees them as the answer for not just men but our world as a whole, and how we can heal that connection.

This week's show is with Alison Armstrong, Alison’s exploration of human behavior began in 1991, with her decision to study men, “To find out how I was bringing out the worst in them. And hopefully, how to bring out the best.” Her success in understanding men naturally led to studying women’s behavior and making vital connections between the two. Armstrong distinguishes human instincts that compel both men and women to behave in ways that contradict and undermine our own purposes, goals, values, needs and relationships. She offers partnership-based alternatives giving millions of people access to more fulfilling lives, loving relationships, stronger families and productive organizations. Armstrong is a sought-after speaker and thought-leader amongst people with the desire to live empowered lives. Alison’s philosophy and approach is frequently referenced and taught by other authors, speakers, business consultants and therapists. In this conversation, Alison and I explored what inspired her work in studying men to understand them better. We spoke about how we can live in a way that honours our natural strengths and allows men and women to complement each other instead of being in conflict or competition with each other.  This show went far deeper than I expected! Alison talked about our evolutionary instincts, how simply asking better questions can change our perception, and our growth in consciousness. This truly was a corker of a show!

This week's show is Eli Jaxon-Bear  is the author of An Outlaw Makes It Home. A life long search for freedom took Eli around the world and into many spiritual traditions from a Zen monastery in Japan to a Sufi circle in Marrakesh, among others. His search ended when he was drawn to India (1990) where he met his final teacher, Papaji; a direct disciple of the renowned Indian Sage Ramana Maharshi. Confirming Eli’s realization, his teacher sent him back into the world to share his unique psychological insights into the nature of egoic suffering in support of self-realization. Eli infuses his teaching with his teacher’s living transmission of silence and peace.  He presents a unique map of egoic identification as a vehicle for ruthless self-inquiry and final realization of true freedom. His life is dedicated to passing on the transmission of his teacher. Eli founded and currently teaches through The Leela Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to world peace and freedom through universal self-realization, as well as The Leela School In this conversation, Eli shared the power of self enquiry - what it is, how it works and what it can help you to discover. As a bonus, Eli has an incredibly fascinating story himself which illustrates what he's talking about - we explore his time as a revolutionary, LSD and immortal consciousness... It was quite a trip!

This week's show is with Kendra Cunov, Founder of Fierce Grace: Practices of Embodied Wholeness for Women, Kendra has been studying, facilitating, and (most importantly) practicing Authentic Relating, Embodiment Practices & Deep Intimacy Work for the last fifteen years. Kendra has worked with thousands of men, women & couples in the areas of embodiment, intimacy, communication & full self-expression. She co-founded Authentic World, as well as The Embodied Relationship & Intimacy Training Salon, and pioneered some of the most cutting edge relation work on the planet. Kendra has consulted for companies such as Genentech & is currently on staff for 4PC, an elite mastermind for the top 4% of coaches in the world. She works with organizations & leaders, as well as men, women & couples, who know that presence, truth, connection & integrity are our truest access points to success - in business & in love. So in this show, we spoke about what it means to experience life as a woman in today's world and what we need from our environment, from other women and from ourselves. Kendra and I we also aware of the fine line we were dancing between talking about men and women as one homogenous mass and talking "this is what it means to be a woman' as if women have to be a certain defined way. We spoke about feeling like 'the wrong kind of woman' - maybe not feminine enough, feminism, nature, intuition, competition, sex and more. Just like feminine energy, this conversation flowed everywhere!   Although this episode is about women, it's not just for women, if you're a man you will understand far more about women if you listen in too! I’d love to know what YOU think about this week's show. Let’s carry on the conversation… please leave a comment below. What you'll learn from this episode: There's a deep longing in women to be connected to nature. We are moved by cycles which are connected and reflected by the cycles in the natural world and we suffer when we don't find a connection to nature. We don't need men anymore so it's a choice. If we choose to be together, what shall we create? We have the opportunity to create something extraordinary and beautiful. What would be really radical would be to value the work that women typically do as much as we value the work that men typically do. It's about opening up choice. We got sold this lie of a need to compete with other women but what's natural for us is for us to gather together to support, encourage and love each other. The magic that's created in those spaces isn't just powerful for us as women but can ripple out to the world around us. Something aligned to that is what Kendra talked about in terms of the response to adrenaline in women which is to gather! Love that! When we base our culture around what's best for mothers and children, an entire eco-system is created from there which allows the entire community to thrive. The practice that Kendra shared at the end - a regular practice of going in and listening to your body - your mind, your heart, your gut, your vagina. Be incredibly honest about what you hear AND give yourself permission not to follow its guidance too!

This week's show is with Jørgen Rasmussen, who has seen clients professionally as an agent of change for twenty years, the first eight spent running an "Impossibles practice" with a 'no change, no pay' policy. Having deeply explored NLP, hypnosis, non-duality teachings, developmental psychology and meditation, he is the Author of the books Provocative Hypnosis (2008) and Provocative Suggestions (2015). In this show, Jørgen and I explored the illusion of the mind/body split and its implications for our health and wellbeing. We spoke about lots of examples such as how Jørgen's worked with people on their allergies, and the opportunities that can open up for people when they see that the mind-body split is fiction. What you'll learn from this episode: We collectively as a culture agree the mind and body are separate but there's no real basis for doing so and there's plenty of examples of things that don't fit that paradigm, which we then see as exceptions to the rule rather than seeing that they could be pointing to the fact that the split is an illusion. An allergy is like a phobia of the immune system and given the mind/body connection, allergies can often be resolved by someone recognising the way the mind and body act together as one. We collectively agree that certain symptoms are common and then that creates a spike in those symptoms. Even the way we create reality differs between cultures depending on the agreements we've made about how our bodies work.

This week's show is with Jaclyn Costello. Nothing is more satisfying to Jaclyn than helping people make breakthroughs to understand themselves more deeply. This is the heart of her role as a Spiritual Development Coach at GrowWithSoul.com. Jaclyn's background in spiritual guidance evolved over years of personal work, immersion in sacred, shamanic ceremonies, and one-on-one mentorships with respected teachers & guides. Jaclyn is also an Assistant Professor in the Honors College at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. As well, she is a writer of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. Her work has been published in a variety of literary journals & magazines; she just finished her first novel. In this show we’re talking about different forms of death and rebirth that we as humans can experience, and how and why we might choose to experience death, which is the opposite of what we typically think about death - that it's something we might choose! And lastly, Jaclyn shares her story of a big death that she went through recently and all the changes that have happened for her since. I’d love to know what YOU think about this week's show. Let’s carry on the conversation… please leave a comment below. What you'll learn from this episode: Jaclyn described how almost all types of death are followed by a rebirth - that can be so hopeful and helpful to know as we travel through our own death experiences, which at the time can feel very final and therefore scary. Typically the size of the death is equal to the size of the creation that follows. Understanding that means we can choose death knowing the rebirth to come will be worth it. You can practice self-love in all kinds of ways, some of Jaclyn's suggestions include looking at yourself in the mirror or a photo and feeling love and appreciation for yourself. You can also meditate on the Buddhist poem that Jaclyn shared during the show.

This week's show is with Eliane Sainte-Marie, the founder of Parenting for Wholeness, creator of the acclaimed Clean Parenting Program where she guides parents in experiencing the ease and harmony she promises is possible in families, author of the book Clean Parenting: the Peaceful Parent’s Essential Handbook, and mother to three wonderful adult daughters. She’s passionate about helping parents raise children who are whole, as well as helping them shed what’s in their way of living from a place of wholeness. In this conversation, we spoke about what's wrong with modern day parenting - where typically the focus is on short term results, rather than the long term implications. And what the alternative is... getting back to what nature intended, which not only feels easier and more enjoyable in the short term but also has long term positive impact. This show is for you if the usual mainstream advice doesn't feel quite right - your instincts are telling you that's something off, or you've heard a lot about peaceful parenting but you don't know quite how to make it work, or maybe you're already feeling peaceful parenting is right for you but you're still feeling doubtful because you don't know anyone else who does it that way. What you'll learn from this episode: Instead of looking at latest fad or theories, look at what has worked for human animal over millennia. Though our lives have evolved, our bodies and needs haven’t. Connect with your instincts, trust your own inner voice and values.   Something that's worth remembering is: every behaviour is an attempt to meet a need. If you only focus on addressing behaviour, you’re doing nothing to address the underlying need, whereas if the need is met, the behaviour will naturally disappear.   Come up with mission statement or a set of core values for your family. This can be such a helpful guide for both your children and yourself - you're then all able to check in and ask yourselves whether the current behaviour will create what you most want, in both the short and long term.   Even when you've made the choice to parent peacefully, you'll probably still be surrounded by people who still think the mainstream way is the right way. It is so important to get support from like-minded parents, ideally from people farther along in parenting journey, who have been through your current stages, and can keep pointing you back to your own instincts.

This week's show is with coach, speaker and trainer, Ankush Jain. Ankush is a 3 Principles based life coach and trainer, based in the UK with clients from New Zealand to Canada. He especially enjoys helping clients step into their own inner power and create the lives they had dreamed of. In 2012, whilst enjoying a successful corporate career, he started his coaching training. What this led to was an introduction to the 3 Principles and the start of an incredible journey of personal and business transformation including getting married in 2016. Ankush is the founder of the Powerful Mens Group and has run sold out Powerful Men’s Immersions in the UK for 4 years. Since 2016 he has also run Powerful Women’s Immersions with great success. As well as this he coaches other 3 Principles coaches to do this incredibly important work whilst staying true to their heart and the spirit of the Principles. He was the host of the successful Relationship Series podcast and in 2018 start the new Business Series Podcast aimed at a corporate audience. In this conversation, we explored what's really going on in the creation of a heart-centred business. Do you need to sell a bit of your soul to be successful? Or do you need to starve to do good works? Or is it possible to create a successful business in a way that flows from your heart and allows you to use your head in service of it. And spoiler alert... We absolutely see that it's possible to do just that and we share what makes that happen. What you'll learn in this show: If we're doing work which doesn't come from our heart and isn't having a positive impact on the world - it'll typically not feel good. And what's the point of that? What's the point of having money without a sense of fulfilment and happiness too? And that makes even less sense, when we see we have the choice to be successful and soulful. People and businesses who are heart-centred feel great about doing business and they're magnetic... people want to be around them and people want to give them their business. The more we understand that our own wellbeing is a given, is taken care of, the more we can have fun creating all kinds of things in the world. That's true on the deepest level of understanding of who you really are and also on a practical level of taking care of your physical and emotional needs first. The devil is often in the detail or put another way, how we do anything is how we do everything. If you take a look at the emails you send, the way you ask for money or your marketing - are you truly coming from your heart in all of those places? Can you customers really feel you in all of your interactions with them?