The SuperHuman Academy Podcast

Today, I have a guest for you that I totally hit it off with. Her name is Amy E. Smith, and she is a life coach who specializes in helping you have the hard conversations. She helps you say no without looking like a total jerk. And she coaches people and speaks all over the world all over the country through her brand The Joy Junkie, and she uses her roles as coach, writer, podcaster, and speaker to help individuals really empower themselves get to a point of self-love and confidence, where they can communicate authentically, openly, and honestly. You might ask: what's superhuman about that? But honestly, I think it is one of the skills that has helped me really grow as an individual. And... just the morning of recording this podcast, I was having this exact debate with someone very close in my life. So we recorded an episode on it, and I was very lucky that Amy happened to be on the docket for this week's episode. In it, we talk about a lot of very very interesting stuff from emotions, responsibility, emotional maturity, communication styles, and inner dialogue. It sounds all really touchy feely, but actually it was an incredible episode. I think you'll definitely see that we hit it off! Let me know what you guys think!

This week is a special episode for a couple different reasons. For one, we are continuing my format of coming a little bit less prepared to the interviews and just seeing where it takes me, and I think you guys will agree that the interviews tend to come out a little bit more interesting, a little bit more engaging, when I just roll with the punches and explore my curiosity. The second reason that this episode is special is because we're covering a topic that's actually pretty close to my heart and politically close to my journey of becoming superhuman, and that is the quest to stop drinking alcohol.   We are joined today by Ruari Fairbairns. He's an entrepreneur, he's a speaker, he's an oil broker of all things, and he's a father of two girls. He and his partner founded One Year No Beer, which is basically a challenge to help people get alcohol free and focus on fitness in a more communal and a little bit more modern approach than some of the other ways that people quit alcohol. They have tens of thousands of members all over the world who are transforming their lives following simple and science backed shifts in mindset. In this episode, we talk about all kinds of different benefits for giving up alcohol. We're going to talk about ways that you can give up alcohol and ways to really assess if this is something that is right for you. As I said, this is something that's provided a lot of value in my own life, from improved health to forcing me to develop my own social skills, and you'll hear a lot about that in the episode as well.

Greetings, SuperFriends, and welcome to another special episode. This week, I want to elucidate an idea or framework that I’ve been developing and pondering on for quite some time. It’s an idea I have for a certain type of people. A group that I like to call “Iceberg People.” And in this episode, I’ll not only explain to you who they are, but also why (and how) to become one.

In this episode, we sat down with Mark Aramli. Mark is the inventor and principal engineer for the patented BedJet CCS. Mark's first engineering role was at United Technologies, builder of the space suit for NASA. His engineering responsibilities included the space suit primary life support system (PLSS), specifically elements relating to heating, cooling and climactic comfort of the interior space suit environment for the astronauts. But he's also worked on some other VERY interesting projects, as we learn in the episode. My goal in the episode was to dive deeper on sleep than we have on previous episodes. Specifically, I wanted to learn about temperature, and how it effects our sleep. And, as always...Can we hack it? It's a great episode, and I know you're going to love it.

Today, we’re joined by Caroline Miller, author, public speaker, coach, and expert on “grit.” For almost three decades Caroline has been a pioneer with her ground-breaking work in the areas of goal setting/accomplishment, grit, happiness and success. She is recognized as one of the world’s leading positive psychology experts on this research and how it can be applied to one’s life for maximum transformation and growth. In 2015 she was named “one of the ten Positive Psychology coaches to follow.” Caroline has also been featured in hundreds of magazines, newspapers and other media around the world for several decades, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, US News and World Report, ABC, CBS, NBC, NPR and CNN. She’s even published an impressive 6 books, including Creating Your Best Life, Positively Caroline, and Getting Grit. In this interview, I wanted to dive into a topic we haven’t covered much at all on the show: grit, or, as I understand it, tenacity and perserverance. What is it? What does it help with? How does it work? Can you learn it? Of course, Caroline offered all of that - but much, much more. We go into her story, the role of passion, the power of patience, and much, much more. I just know you're going to love this episode.

Greetings, SuperFriends, to a very special episode of The Becoming SuperHuman Podcast! Typically, on the show, I interview world class athletes, memory champions, coaches, and more to help you guys understand the skills, strategies, and tools they use to overcome the impossible and achieve superhuman performance in a variety of fields. Today's episode, however, is quite different. In it, I talk about one of the more important rites of passage I've experienced in my own journey towards Becoming SuperHuman. But it's not one you would expect. If previous "special" episodes have taught me anything, it's that you guys love hearing about my own experiences, and enjoy deviating out from the standard format to learn about new and unusual things. Well, this episode will definitely offer that, and what's more, I want to give you guys a heads up that I'll be slowly experimenting with and changing the format of many future episodes to be a bit less formal, a bit less scripted, and hopefully, a bit more fun for my guests and I - so look forward to that. What follows is one part explanation, one part manifesto, and one part experience sharing: It's both a deep insight into my own mind, and a painfully shallow attempt to describe something indescribable. But I'm pretty sure you're going to love it. As always, hit me up on the Twitter Machine - @gosuperhuman - or post a comment on the blog post, which has some special videos and pictures - including a few of yours truly, and let me know what you guys think.

Today we are joined by Cedric Bertelli, an expert in a little-known but interesting practice called Tipi. Tipi is an emotional regulation technique that helps people overcome fear and emotional trauma. It deals with sensory memory, or unconscious body memory. To be quite honest, I didn’t know anything about Tipi at all before this interview, and for that reason, I was excited to invite Cedric onto the show to explain it to us. In this episode, we talk about an interesting and shockingly simple method for overcoming emotional trauma. We learn about “Tipi” and how it works, why and how the method was developed. We discuss the body and the brain, and it’s natural ability to heal itself from literally anything. Cedric doesn’t hold anything back, and shares with you exactly how the method works, so that you can experiment with it at home. Though the method does go against so much of what we think we know about psychological trauma and healing, I encourage you guys to keep an open mind. As I point out in the interview, I felt a little bit like I did when talking to Wim Hof, who has shocked the scientific and medical community with his ability to control the autonomous nervous system with a simple breathing technique - so I encourage you guys to keep an open mind!

Today, we’re joined by Christopher Kelly, software engineer and pro cross country mountain biker by day, and host of the Nourish Balance Thrive podcast, certified Functional Diagnostic Nutrition practitioner, health coach, and all around fitness buff by night. Recently, I had the opportunity to appear on Chris’ show, and I so enjoyed chatting with him that we agreed to do a follow up conversation here on our show. I wanted to learn how Chris became so interested in nutrition, what he learned through his certification, and hear some of the best stuff he’s learned by doing over 150 episodes. In this episode, we talk about a LOT of different things, from autoimmune isolation diets, to health optimization, to immunity, to accelerated learning, blood glucose, diabetes, cold exposure, and a heck of a lot more. Christopher has so much knowledge to share that I couldn’t help but jump around and cover a lot of ground - so I do apologize if it feels a bit like I’m all over the place. All in all, It’s a phenomenally interesting and engaging episode with lots of exciting information, and I think you’re really going to enjoy it!

Today we’re joined by Dr. Andrew Newberg, co-author of How God Changes Your Brain and How Enlightenment Changes Your Brain. If those two titles are familiar, it’s because Andrew’s co-author, Mark Robert Waldman, has been on the show before. Dr. Newberg is a neuroscientist and Director of Research at the Markus Institute of Integrative Health at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, as well as Adjunct professor of Religious studies and Associate Professor of Radiology at the University of Pennsylvania school of medicine. You’ve probably seen him in Newsweek, the LA Times, and more, or seen the byproduct’s of his work, including The Mystical Mind, Why God Won’t Go Away, and Why We Believe What We Believe. My goal with this interview was to get a better understanding not just of neuroscience, but also to understand how it is influenced by our spiritual beliefs and practices. In this episode, we talk about all things neuroscience, and go deeper than we did with Mark Robert Waldman into the cognitive benefits of implementing a spiritual or mindfulness practice. We do take a while to get into the practical and hands-on stuff, but I think you’ll get a LOT out of the surrounding discussion. I learned a lot of interesting things about the brain, but also about the state of neuroscience, what we know about the brain, and some of the challenges facing the scientific field as a whole. Overall, I’m quite sure you’ll enjoy the conversation, and that it will provide you with lots of useful and actionable information!

Today, we’re joined by Vinnie Tortorich, public speaker, celebrity trainer, author, and podcaster. For years, Vinnie has worked with people from all walks of life, ranging from Iron Man athletes to Celebrities, to help them understand how to stay in shape and lose weight. He’s known as America’s Angriest Trainer, because of his views on the fitness and diet industries, and the unfair manipulation they’ve imposed on all of us. You’ve probably heard him every other week on Adam Carolla’s show. In this episode, we talk about a range of interesting stuff, from diet and nutrition to particulars on how weight loss and weight gain actually work. Even though these are topics we’ve covered quite a few times on the show, somehow, I still managed to learn some fascinating new tidbits, and so I think you’re really going to enjoy the episode.