The Urban Monk podcast with Dr. Pedram Shojai

🎙️ Dr. Pedram Shojai exposes the invisible thief stealing your peace, presence, and authentic self-worth: social media comparison culture. 🎯 What You'll Learn: Why your brain—evolved for tribes of 150—now compares you to billions of curated highlight reels 24/7 The five-step neuroscience behind the comparison spiral (from comparison trigger to deepening spiral) How chronic "not enoughness" drives anxiety, depression, elevated cortisol, and inflammation The difference between true inspiration and toxic comparison Practical protocols: three-breath awareness practice, ruthless curation, and the 100-day digital fast 🔑 Key Insights: "Your insecurity is monetizable. Algorithms are designed to keep you scrolling because attention equals profit." "Everyone is struggling. Everyone's on a journey. Everyone carefully curates what they share. You're comparing your full reality to everyone else's highlight reel." "True inspiration elevates and energizes. Comparison depletes and discourages. The test: Do you feel better or worse after closing the app?" "You don't need to be better than anyone. You just need to be more yourself. Your worth isn't comparative—it's intrinsic." 💡 Action Steps: Practice the three-breath awareness technique before opening social media Ruthlessly curate your follows—unfollow anything that triggers inadequacy or makes you feel "less than" Try the comparison exit protocol: Name what you're feeling, ask what you're afraid it means, redirect to interoception Daily check-in: What matters to me today? What are my values? What's my body telling me? 🎧 Perfect for: Anyone struggling with social media anxiety, chronic comparison, imposter syndrome, or seeking external validation instead of authentic self-worth. 📚 Mentioned Resources: Stanford's Behavior Clinic (BJ Fogg) - research on Instagram's addictive design Research linking 3+ hours daily social media use with 3x higher depression rates 🌐 Connect with Dr. Shojai: Website: theurbanmonk.com Books: The Urban Monk, Inner Alchemy, The Art of Stopping Time, Focus Documentaries: Interconnected, Gateway to Health, Trauma, Conscious Parenting #UrbanMonk #SocialMediaDetox #MentalHealth #SelfWorth #Mindfulness #DigitalWellness #Anxiety #Comparison

🎙️ Discover why deliberately stressing your body might be one of the most powerful health interventions available—hormesis: the principle that low to moderate doses of stress trigger beneficial adaptations that make you anti-fragile. 🎯 What You'll Learn: The science behind cold therapy, strategic fasting, and exercise as consciousness-expanding tools The adaptation cascade: from immediate stress response (minutes) to long-term resilience (months) Four-week cold therapy progression protocol (300% norepinephrine increase, 250% dopamine boost) Three-level strategic fasting approach: from time-restricted eating to multi-day fasts Traffic light system for monitoring your capacity and knowing when you're overdoing it 🔑 Key Insights: "The right stress at the right dose with adequate recovery makes you anti-fragile. Not just resistant to stress, but improved by stress." "These practices aren't just physically beneficial—they're consciousness-expanding tools disguised as physical challenges. The therapeutic benefit may come from forced engagement of multiple awareness streams simultaneously." "Comfort doesn't build capacity. Your body is designed to adapt, but only when you give it a reason to." 💡 Action Steps: Start the four-week cold therapy protocol: Week 1-2 with 30-60 second cold shower endings Implement time-restricted eating with 12-16 hour fasting windows to build your foundation Use the traffic light system: Green (stable energy, good sleep) = continue; Yellow (declining energy, irritability) = ease up; Red (chronic fatigue, illness) = take 3-5 days off 🎧 Perfect for: Anyone looking to build resilience, optimize health through strategic stress, or expand consciousness through physical practices. Essential for biohackers and wellness enthusiasts. 📚 Mentioned Resources: Temple Grounds community resources Urban Book Academy monthly book readings Upcoming clinical trial with 150 participants (collaboration with Dr. Jeff Bland) Cold therapy protocol: 50-59°F for 2-10 minutes post-adaptation 🌐 Connect with Dr. Shojai: Website: theurbanmonk.com Books: The Urban Monk, Inner Alchemy, The Art of Stopping Time, Focus Documentaries: Interconnected, Gateway to Health, Trauma, Conscious Parenting #UrbanMonk #Hormesis #ColdTherapy #Biohacking #IntermittentFasting #HealthOptimization #Resilience #WimHof #AntiFragile

🎙️ Fecal Microbiota Transplant (FMT) is emerging as a breakthrough treatment for patients who've exhausted conventional and functional medicine options. Dr. Pedram Shojai talks with Dr. Jason Klop and neuroscientist Dr. Shaina Cahill about how this ancient practice is now backed by modern science and delivering remarkable results. 🎯 What You'll Learn: Why FMT works by transplanting an entire healthy ecosystem rather than isolated probiotic strains Rigorous donor screening process (only 1% of applicants accepted into the program) Clinical results: 52-week sustained IBS improvements, over 50% ulcerative colitis remission, autism behavioral changes Proper preparation protocols combining antibiotics with antifungals to create optimal environment Critical lifestyle factors needed to maintain results long-term (diet, sleep, stress management) 🔑 Key Insights: "FMT transplants ecosystems, not isolated strains. The synergy of complete microbiome communities—bacteria, fungi, metabolites working together—creates lasting change that single probiotics cannot achieve." "Parkinson's patients show GI issues 10-15 years before diagnosis. The body gives early warning signals through gut symptoms—don't wait until disease is severe." "For patients who've tried everything and been told they're 'probably crazy' by conventional medicine, FMT offers evidence-based alternative that addresses root causes rather than managing symptoms." 💡 Action Steps: Complete the FMT candidate questionnaire if you've exhausted conventional options: theurbanmonk.typeform.com/to/AhnnLHTS Understand the preparation phase: antibiotics + antifungals + bowel prep create optimal environment Commit to lifestyle changes: diverse prebiotic-rich foods, avoiding toxins, proper sleep, stress management essential for maintaining results 🎧 Perfect for: Anyone suffering from chronic gut conditions (IBS, IBD, Crohn's, SIBO), autoimmune diseases, neurological conditions with gut-brain connections, or those who've been dismissed by conventional medicine. 📚 Mentioned Resources: FMT candidate questionnaire and consultation with trained PA Clinical trial with limited spots for comprehensive tracking GMP licensed facility by Health Canada for manufacturing safety 🌐 Connect with Dr. Shojai: Website: theurbanmonk.com Books: The Urban Monk, Inner Alchemy, The Art of Stopping Time, Focus Documentaries: Interconnected, Gateway to Health, Trauma, Conscious Parenting #UrbanMonk #GutHealth #FMT #Microbiome #IBS #IBD #CrohnsDisease #GutBrainConnection #ChronicDisease #FunctionalMedicine #Autism #Parkinsons

Dr. Pedram Shojai delivers a transformative guide on developing interoceptive awareness, which is the ability to sense and interpret your body's internal signals before minor symptoms become major health crises. He uses the powerful analogy of a car's check engine light to illustrate how most people ignore their body's warning signs, choosing to "tape over" symptoms rather than investigate their root causes. Drawing from functional medicine principles, he explains why modern culture has systematically disconnected us from our body's intelligence through the "no pain, no gain" mentality, constant stimulation, caffeine dependence, and a medical system focused on symptom suppression rather than prevention. The episode breaks down the body's four-phase warning system, from subtle whispers weeks before a crisis to full-blown alarms requiring medical intervention. Dr. Shojai provides a comprehensive three-level framework for reclaiming body awareness: daily two-minute body scans, weekly pattern recognition exercises, and monthly deep-dive investigations into symptom clustering and root causes. He explores how your vagus nerve network, inflammatory markers, and multiple interconnected body systems communicate constantly through energy patterns, digestive signals, nervous system regulation, and hormonal cycles. Learn how catching issues at phase one through improved interoceptive awareness could prevent a health crisis years down the road and transform your relationship with your own health and wellbeing.

In this essential Urban Monk weekly call, Pedram explores the critical distinction between sleep quantity and sleep quality—revealing why many people who log 7-8 hours still wake up exhausted. Drawing from his experience owning sleep labs, he breaks down the architecture of restorative sleep, identifying common saboteurs from blood sugar dysregulation to environmental factors. The discussion provides practical, actionable protocols for optimizing deep sleep and REM cycles, emphasizing that better sleep—not more sleep—is the key to energy, healing, and cognitive performance. Pedram demonstrates how sleep optimization begins the moment you wake up, making it the foundation for every other health practice.

When Martha Carlin's 44-year-old marathon-running husband was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2002, she applied her auditor's mindset to examining the evidence behind this "old person's disease." What followed was a remarkable 20+ year journey from studying food toxins to pioneering targeted probiotic therapies. In this episode, Martha shares how she discovered the connection between gut bacteria and Parkinson's symptoms, developed probiotics that significantly improved her husband's condition, and is now working on therapies for Crohn's disease and post-antibiotic gut restoration. She also reveals the hidden dangers of glyphosate, explains why the "magic bullet" approach fails for complex diseases, and discusses the future of microbiome medicine.

In this poolside conversation, entrepreneur Eric Farewell shares his transformation from a workaholic aviation CEO to a presence-focused coach helping executives escape the trap of their businesses. After building multiple seven-figure companies but sacrificing his health and relationships, Eric's brother's tragic death at 22 became the catalyst for change. Unable to walk due to emotional trauma manifesting physically, he discovered somatic healing, breathwork, and nervous system regulation. Through years of intensive inner work, Eric learned that presence—not productivity—creates true success. He now teaches entrepreneurs how to replace themselves in their businesses (it took 8 people to replace him), build systems that create freedom, and most importantly, heal the childhood programming that drives destructive work patterns. His philosophy: boundaries create presence, presence creates wisdom, and wisdom creates leverage that transforms both business and life.

In this episode of the Urban Monk Podcast, Dr. Pedram Shojai interviews Mark Fox, a NASA rocket scientist turned inventor who has adapted PEMF (Pulsed Electromagnetic Field) technology for pet health. After discovering the technology 27 years ago when his own dog developed arthritis, Fox has created affordable, portable devices that help pets with anxiety, inflammation, pain, and various health conditions. The conversation explores how this same technology used for humans is proving remarkably effective for dogs, horses, and cats, offering a drug-free alternative for common pet ailments like separation anxiety, arthritis, and stress from fireworks or travel. 🐕 Transform Your Pet's Health Today: Get the same PEMF device Dr. Shojai uses on his dogs - proven to reduce anxiety, ease pain, and improve quality of life. Available at https://resona.health/transform-your-dog-urban/  

Dr. Matt Wilyonson, a former Navy orthopedic surgeon and current Chief Medical Officer of Woobie.io, shares his powerful journey from serving 10+ years in the military to becoming a fierce advocate for veterans navigating the broken VA (Department of Veterans Affairs) disability system. The VA is the U.S. government agency responsible for providing healthcare, benefits, and support to military veterans, but as Dr. Wilyonson reveals, it often fails those it's meant to serve. After witnessing firsthand how hardworking service members were being shortchanged by bureaucratic red tape while serving as a primary care doctor for Marines, Dr. Wilyonson made it his mission to help veterans get the disability benefits they've earned through their military service. In this eye-opening conversation, he exposes how the VA systematically denies or minimizes legitimate service-connected injuries and conditions, discusses the hidden epidemic of veteran mental health struggles, and offers hope through his company's honest, membership-based approach to securing proper disability ratings and compensation.

Dr. Dennis Hooper, founder of Real Time Laboratories and a pioneer in mycotoxin testing, shares his personal journey from growing up in Nevada's nuclear testing zone to becoming a leading expert in environmental toxicity. After his family and community developed widespread autoimmune diseases from nuclear fallout and mining toxins, Dr. Hooper dedicated his career to understanding and testing for environmental toxins, particularly mycotoxins from mold. He discusses the widespread nature of mold exposure, the importance of proper testing methods, and why treating the whole patient—not just symptoms—is crucial for recovery. Dr. Hooper emphasizes the role of glutathione supplementation and comprehensive environmental testing in helping patients overcome toxin-related illnesses.