The Mind Mate Podcast

Matt Noffs is the co-founder of the Street Universities and CEO of the Noffs Foundation, Australia’s largest drug and alcohol treatment service provider for young people under 25. The Noffs Foundation works with young people for up to 5 years after leaving treatment. Young people’s drug use dropped by over 50% – that’s for all drugs – after finishing residential treatment, while criminal activity also dropped by a half. Where 1 in 2 young people were experiencing suicidal ideation on entering the program, only 1 in 10 still felt suicidal on leaving. The Street Universities focus on issues related to drugs, mental health, employment, education and crime, and over 10,000 young people frequent one of their 7 locations across Australia each year. In 2011, the Federal Government wrote to the Noffs Foundation stating that the Liverpool Street University had significantly contributed to crime reduction in the Liverpool/Fairfield areas. Matt is the author of the bestselling ‘Breaking The Ice’. His latest book ‘Addicted?’, which he co-authored with Kieran Palmer is published by HarperCollins and is in store now. Matt, both in his role at Noffs Foundation and HRA was recently one of the driving forces behind Australia’s first pill-testing trial. Matt can be found at: twitter.com/mattnoffs noffs.org.au/blog

Siobhan Lou is a Breathwork Meditation Healer, all the way from the Scottish Highlands! After involving herself in a few Breathwork classes in Bali—whilst working as a head trainer/coach at a functional training facility—she was deeply moved and is now inspired to help others gain a greater sense of self-awareness, practice being mindful and reconcile with past traumas and “stuck energy”, having completed her Healing training in New Mexico, USA. Siobhan works hard to provide people with the tools to heal themselves, leading to greater fulfilment, authenticity and clarity. In doing so, Siobhan is excited to help people holistically, through movement and mindfulness, cultivating lives with purpose. Siobhan also loves her two incredibly cute Beagles, ‘Archie’ and ‘Abbey’, as well as drinking coffee with her partner. You can out more about breathwork and Siobhan on Instagram: @siobhanloubreathwork

On this weeks episode of the podcast I talk about the ways you can stop procrastinating. I believe there are two ways to stop procrastinating: one of them is to reduce the chaos of your To Do list or schedule. What I mean by this is that often times we like to get all of our tasks done in one day and that inevitably leads to disappointment because our expectations have not been met. So to set more realistic expectations it can be a great way to simply reduce the amount of tasks needing completion per day so that you actually can move the needle and progress. Often times also our specific tasks are far too ambiguous and this leads to too many decisions that need to be made which also leads to procrastination because the more decisions we have to make the more energy we use. If our tasks are far more specific, we will be much more likely to get them done because we won't have to make so many decisions. In a sense, we will be able to flow into task completion. So have some foresight when you are preparing for your To Do list. I recommend organising your To Do list or scheduled the night before so that you know exactly what we have to do the following day and can simply get stuck into doing it. Accountability can also be a great way to keep you on the path. Be honest, and let a friend or someone you trust know that you would like to have these things done and if you don't have them done, come up with some dire consequences for your procrastination. Have some fun with it though! After all, this is about you becoming a better version of yourself and what could be more enriching than that!

Dr. Nicole LePera is a Holistic Psychologist who believes that mental wellness is for everyone. She evolved her more traditional training from Cornell University and The New School to one that acknowledges the connection between the mind and body. Dr. LePera views mental and physical struggles from a whole person perspective and works to identify the underlying physical and emotional causes. She understands that balance is an integral part of wellness and empowers individuals to heal themselves, supporting them on their wellness journeys. Dr. LePera founded the Mindful Healing Center in Center City Philadelphia.  She recently expanded her work online creating a platform for teaching these often overlooked components of mental wellness to individuals and practitioners around the world.

This episode is a breakdown of some of the topics discussed in my third book, "Yes I'm Fine, Just Thinking". A pertinent snippet reads: "We must cultivate self-awareness but if we do not integrate what we learn, we will remain depressed, anxious, unsure, existentially confused and ruminant. We must apply what we learn about ourselves and the world we inhabit swiftly and forthrightly—stumbling and failing inevitably—so that personal growth may ensue. Many of us recognise the importance of knowledge, both within and without, but rarely are we taught how to integrate it, thereby consolidating intelligence into wisdom. As Jim Kwik so eloquently states: “Knowledge is not power—it has the potential to be power, but only becomes power when you apply and use it. Remember: unless you apply what you’re learning, your reading will be shelf-help over self-help. Nothing works unless you work, everything changes when you act.” It is, as Kwik alludes to, all well and good to read a book, engage in debate, meditate, entertain periods of isolation and solitude, journal, speak with a therapist, digest psychoactive chemicals and dispense with hobbies and routines but if we do not apply what we learn, we will not change. By definition, action precedes change. Thinking, alone, will get us nowhere, despite the fact that thinking is by all means a necessary re-navigation tool, both evolutionarily and psychologically speaking. But we must remember that thoughts do not determine identity. Actions determine identity because to act means to value one thought—or many—over another at any given time."

Osher Günsberg (born Andrew Günsberg), widely recognised by his former stage name Andrew G, is a British-born Australian television and radio presenter and journalist who is best known as the host of the reality TV series The Bachelor Australia, The Bachelorette Australia and Bachelor in Paradise Australia. He is also the narrator of the factual TV series Bondi Rescue as well as the host of the music talent show The Masked Singer Australia.

Melissa is a certified Neuro-Linguistics Programming, Hypnotherapy, Timeline Therapy Practitioner, Soul Realignment® Practitioner, Trainer and Creator and Certified (IICT) Trainer of Root-Cause Therapy. In 2016 she Co-Founded The Centre for Healing in Australia. She focuses on the emotions around our decisions and has spent the last 5 years refining her healing practice and combining countless modalities to be able to innovate the best therapies deliver exceptional results for all of her clients. She is intelligent, yet caring and upholds her focus on creating a safe and non-judgmental space for her clients to be able to heal from trauma and decisions in their life to stop negative patterns and start living from love, rather than fear. From relationships, to addictions, anxiety, depression, financial blocks and other mental health issues.

There are many blocks on the healing path.  Each block has its own story; hearing into them is David Elliott’s gift. Author, teacher and healer David Elliott has spent over two decades helping and inspiring clients from around the world to heal their deepest fears, blocks and negative beliefs. Though no client is the same, the formula he uses never varies. "My primary work as a healer is to remind and reconnect people to the power of love. Self-love is the starting point for anyone seeking healing in their life."

Chris Desmond sits down to conversations with guests to explore those uncomfortable areas we all have. We’ll talk about uncomfortable things that they’ve done or are in the process of doing. We’ll talk about uncomfortable ideas that they’ve had, or ideas that challenge society’s comfortable beliefs. Because everyone has a different comfort zone and different threshold for discomfort we’re going to speak with a wide array of people from a whole lot different walks of life to get their perspectives.

Conni is a writer, YouTuber, photographer and entrepreneur on a mission to help others explore themselves deeply, overcome inner blocks and share their creative gifts with the world. She is passionate about mindfulness, breathwork, plant medicine, psychology, philosophy and the creative process. Many years of depression, anxiety and chronic pain motivated her to experiment with endless healing modalities and learn from a variety of teachers all around the world. She runs the CREATE podcast and is the co-creator of The Breath Circle. Website: www.conni.me / Instagram: @conni.biesalski / Twitter: @connibie / YouTube: youtube.com/connibiesalski