The Mind Mate Podcast

This episode has been long awaited for me and I'm so pumped you get to listen in now! I had the pleasure of sitting down with Elise Carr, 'Sacred Guidance', which is essentially psychology for the soul. We explore some of the more tangible aspects of 'spirituality' and highlight the ways in which those aspects can be practically applied to any life, irrespective of the religious or spiritual views. We also touched upon the ways individuals can build better relationships with themselves and their partners. Sometimes just booking time together, in this day and age, is all that we need! 

This week on the show we had our good friend Chris Desmond, host of the Uncomfortable Is Ok podcast. His whole idea presents itself upon the idea of challenge and discomfort, which leads to self-growth in any given area. He is a shining example of someone who, not only embodies and acts-out his message himself, but also speaks in a relatable and pragmatic way. He just became a father too, which no doubt to all the fathers out there, is something uncomfortable in and of itself! We spoke about some of the neuroscience and spirituality behind 'getting uncomfortable' as well as what YOU can do to get a little more excited about facing challenges in your life. Enjoy!

I met Millsy on a lovely Melbourne winter's day. He walked past me and I couldn't help but stop him (enthusiastically, mind you). We got to talking and he (the legend) agreed to jump on board The Mind Mate Podcast for a chat before I left to Bali.  What intrigued me the most was what followed after his journey with Australian Idol. He found himself on a search for identity, which led him to overseas travels, tasting all sorts of trade jobs and eventually a rekindling love for the theatre and music scene.  Millsy now finds himself starring in plays such as Jesus Christ Superstar, Wicked and Bang Bang!  

Today I had the absolute pleasure and privilege of chatting with AFL great and founder of 'pukaup', Mr Wayne Schwass.  The facilitation of mental health discussion has fundamentally changed the course of my life, from its infancy with my parents and with a psychologist to general dialogue and on podcasts. I can’t tell you how important it is for those suffering in silence as well as all of us to speak from the heart. We are all human beings with only our experiences separating us.  Wayne is a truly inspirational man and I do not say that lightly. His authenticity was completely overwhelming and this clip represents just one of the many times that particular aspect of his character shone through during our chat.  It was so therapeutic to speak to someone like Wayne about OCD, anxiety and depression without any wall and truly, the hour flew!  This podcast is not to be missed!

A really great tool to help combat the high manifestation of anxiety by way of detaching yourself from the signs and symptoms themselves. We also hit the interpretation of dreams and the psychological significance of the aforementioned 'tool' to help in your understanding of emotions! Enjoy this bad boy!

The law of attraction, psychedelics and being personally responsible with Siobhan Macleod!  What a great way (and title of the show) to introduce my partner Siobhan to the podcasting world!

My latest podcast deals with something very close to my heart and that was my relapse (from a year ago now) in my fears associated with Hell and Eternal suffering. To provide a short background story, I awoke one morning (half asleep if that makes any sense) to demonic faces coming at me from all angles before they eventually subsided. In truth, this experience scared the shit out of me and took me right back to where I was three years prior. I was on the phone to my dad at 5am, began thinking of compulsions to perform in order to prevent myself from eternal damnation and felt the panic rising and rising. . . What's great about this experience however, is that the relapse humbled me greatly yet also allowed me to put #tommystencommandments to the test and I'm pumped they worked a treat (for me). The relapse lasted a total of 2 WHOLE days and that's it. . . . Now again, I don't want to be someone saying they have the answers to an anxiety free life because clearly, that would be a lie but I do want to be someone promoting the benefits of self awareness and personal management strategies to which can work absolute wonders and lead to a, more often than not, super fucking happy life! My tools work for me. I'm positive they work for millions of others too but if they don't then that's cool.

Welcome back friends! This episode touched on a few topics (I got a bit excited). We hit up Joseph Campbell's perspectives on ancient myths and religions, anxiety as an emotion—and therefore, the relevance of the term 'recovery'; my book launch which is set for the 1st of November as well as some passages from the Gospel of Thomas which relate to intrapsychological, meditative experiences. A lot of JC's stuff does seem to point to 'awakening' and, from a Jungian perspective, a reconciliation of the conscious with the subconscious mind. Carl Jung coined the phrase 'Individuation' for its reference to the above. Below is a passage of writing for the video I made a year ago about the intricacies of anxiety and its wider concepts. Enjoy! *** One thing I always used to tell myself was that I wanted to be fully 'recovered' and free from anxiety for the rest of my life. I wanted to go back to the way things were and I wanted to control my emotions. Looking back, what I have come to realise is that you can never recover from an emotion because an emotion is as part of you as the back of your hand. It's about learning how your emotions rise and fall and how you interact with the world. It's a change in perspective. I wanted to do this video today as I have been feeling anxious lately and I never wanted to be someone to preach recovery methods or ways to 'kill life'. I just want to speak about my experiences honestly and right now my anxiety emotion is killing me! What a classic.

Hey guys, welcome back. This episode of the podcast combines the old with the new. I recorded the meat of this sandwich last year, in an attempt to bring to the table a conversation about the extreme manifestation of anxiety; panic attacks. But the bread talks about some stuff I've been looking into lately which I think can really help us within our "earthly pursuits", as Carl Jung puts it. That topic is about happiness, meaning and fulfilment, as a triad. I don't think that our goal is to be happy because that's pretty arbitrary—there's no reason to it. I think our goal is to be fulfilled and, if that is the case, then there must be some meaning behind what we're doing that makes us happy. If meaning is to be included, then—to unpack this completely and pose the question—what is it you're doing that makes you happy BUT also is useful and provides a service to others? Let me know what you guys think and as always, I'm bloody grateful for you in taking the time to listen to my ramblings

Alex Deken is a powerlifter and authentic legend. He is the head coach at PTC South Melbourne and 10th all-time powerlifter in the 90kg class. Yet despite these accolades, our episode took on a slightly different approach this week. The first time I met Alex was, as you'll see, on an unreleased episode of AdventureFit Radio. Alex spoke to us about his fear of public speaking or as he puts it, 'self expression'. Immediately after a panic attack, the vibe became authentic and purposeful. Myself, Alex and the other boys sat and spoke about the ways anxiety manifests itself within our worlds. A few months later, I was lucky enough to catch up with Alex for another chat focused more specifically on how both he and I deal with our fears (of public speaking among others) and how communicating, utilising subjective tools and practicing confidence as an adaptable mindset can make all the difference. Enjoy!