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).

Direct download: Mark_Matousek_mixdown.mp3
Category:Interview -- posted at: 11:49am EDT

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.

 

Direct download: Darren_Deojee_Part_2_mixdown.mp3
Category:Interview -- posted at: 11:27am EDT

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.

Direct download: Darren_Deojee_mixdown.mp3
Category:Interview -- posted at: 11:46am EDT

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!

Direct download: Alison_Armstrong_mixdown.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:23am EDT

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