The Inner Frontier with Jonny Miller

Defence Against the Dark Arts of Distraction with Jay Vidyarthi

Jonny Miller — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 09:29:44 -0600

In this conversation with designer, mindfulness teacher, and friend Jay Vidyarthi — we explore how to reclaim agency in the age of the attention economy without rejecting the magic of technology.

We discuss why mainstream narratives about digital distraction often leave out empowerment, how to build healthier relationships with technology, the nuanced role of AI, the sacred responsibility of attention and why awareness is the first “spell” in your own defense against the dark arts of distraction. Listen to this conversation and learn how to enjoy the best of tech while setting boundaries around the worst of it!

Connect with Jay

📚 Check out Jay's brilliant book 'Reclaim Your Mind'
💌 Subscribe to Jay's free newsletter 'Attention Activist'

Explore More from Jonny

👋 Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller
🫁 Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
🎴 Order our deck of Calm Cards (these make great gifts)
📱 Check out Stateshift — our brand new iOS + Android app
📝 Take the Nervous System Quotient (NSQ) Self-Assessment (totally free)
💌 Sign up to The Inner Frontier Newsletter

🫁 Episode Sponsor — Nervous System Mastery

This is my flagship 5-week bootcamp designed to equip you with evidence-backed protocols to cultivate calm and emotional regulation. Our 8th cohort will run in Fall 2025 ~ and applications are currently open. My sense is that if this conversation resonates with you, then you'd likely be a great fit for our upcoming cohort. This curriculum represents my attempt to distill everything I've learned in recent years about creating the conditions for our nervous system's flourishing. It's run in an intensive cohort-based way since this is, in my experience, the most efficient way to embody and practice the protocols.

Previous students have shared how partaking improved their sleep and quality of relationships and tapped into deeper states of joy, clarity, and confidence in their lives. We've had over 1000 students have completed this training, and many have said that it has been the most impactful thing they've ever done for their personal growth — so if you're intrigued at all, you can find more details and apply to join this year's cohort over at nsmastery.com

Further Ways to Support the Podcast:

🎙️ I use Riverside to record all of my podcast conversations (it's so much better than zoom for podcasting!)
🎧 I also use Transistor to host this podcast, it's fricking awesome, and I would highly recommend.
😎 RaOptics make the world's best Blue Blockers – I wear these anytime I'm out of the house after dark, and it makes a huge difference!
🤖 I use AI wizardry from Castmagic to help with each episode's show-notes + timestamps
📝 Test out my favourite journaling app using journal prompts that have made a huge impact in my life.

Harnessing the Power of Belief with Nir Eyal

Jonny Miller — Mon, 22 Sep 2025 08:59:07 -0600

Nir Eyal is a New York Times bestselling author and behavioral design expert. We had a wide-ranging conversation on curiosity, identity, and the unexpected ways that beliefs that shape our lives. Nir shared why curiosity is a superpower for self-improvement, the role of community in mental well-being, why “pills don’t teach skills” when it comes to mental health, why testing and rewiring our beliefs is essential for personal growth, and how living with integrity aligns us with our deepest values.

Show Notes:

• Why curiosity is a superpower for self-improvement
• How beliefs shape reality — and how to rewire them
• Spotting and dismantling limiting beliefs that hold you back
• The link between integrity, values, and intentional living
• Why “pills don’t teach skills” in mental health
• The role of identity and labels in shaping behavior

Connect with Nir

📚 Sign up for his (fantastic) newsletter over at nirandfar.com

🫁 Episode Sponsor — Nervous System Mastery

Further Ways to Support the Podcast:

Behind the Scenes of Nervous System Mastery

Jonny Miller — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 10:59:11 -0600

This is a special one-off episode in which the tables are turned — Ocean Kiani interviews Jonny and leadership coach Ben Ward.

We discuss how the training has evolved over time, including some of the teaching philosophies and experimental mindset that underpin everything we do, as well as explore the profound impact that nervous system work has had on our lives.

Learn More About Ocean + Ben

Ocean Kiani, alongside helping Jonny grow + run Nervous System Mastery, is a somatic movement practitioner, writer, and movement coach. Connect with Ocean on: oceankiani.substack.com
Ben Ward is an experienced leadership & organisational coach who partners with leaders and teams to navigate complexity, grow people, and unlock breakthrough progress. Connect with Ben on: explore-change.com

🫁 Episode Sponsor — Nervous System Mastery

Further Ways to Support the Podcast:

The Five Pillars for Improving Male Fertility with Josh Paigen

Jonny Miller — Wed, 10 Sep 2025 08:46:53 -0600

This conversation is with men’s fertility expert Josh Paigen — whose path took him from a childhood fascination with the natural world to helping men and couples prepare for healthy conception. We explore the alarming global decline in sperm count, why preconception health is about far more than simply being able to conceive, and Josh’s five pillars of male fertility: sustenance, purity, exercise, rest, and mindset.

Along the way, we dive into the roles of nutrition, environmental toxins, circadian rhythms, and even inherited trauma in shaping reproductive health — and how small, intentional lifestyle shifts can have a profound impact on future generations.

You can expect to learn

• Why sperm count is plummeting (and why this matters)
• Five pillars of male fertility you can start today
• How diet, toxins, and lifestyle shape reproductive health
• Sleep, stress, and mindsets’ hidden role in fertility
• Epigenetics: how trauma and health choices get passed on
• Simple changes that can boost fertility and overall vitality

[Timestamps]

05:43 Understanding Preconception Health
11:54 Sperm as a Biomarker for Health
17:27 Nutrition and Sperm Health
23:50 Understanding Everyday Toxins
29:22 Minimizing EMF Exposure
38:19 Circadian Rhythms and Hormonal Balance
47:56 Mindset and Holistic Health
55:35 The Interconnection of Health and Fertility
01:00:58 Understanding Epigenetics and Trauma
01:08:36 Challenging Myths in Fertility

Connect with Josh

🌱 If you'd like to work with Josh and improve your fertility head over to Mandrake.health

🫁 Episode Sponsor — Nervous System Mastery

Further Ways to Support the Podcast:

Tackling the Mental Health Crisis using Ketamine-Assisted Therapy with Dylan Beynon

Jonny Miller — Mon, 01 Sep 2025 07:00:00 -0600

Dylan is the founder of the ketamine-assisted therapy startup “Mindbloom” — He also shares what they’ve learned so far from running nearly 700 thousand guided ketamine sessions, his idea that "There’s no magic pill, but there is a magic program". and how he’s been dealing with a recent Wall Street Journal hit piece attempting to discredit his company. I also shared some of my own recent experiences with ketamine assisted somatic journeys and the impact that it’s had on my own life.

Learn More About Dylan + Mindbloom

⚡ See if you would qualify for Mindbloom's Psychedelic Assisted Therapy
💬 Follow Dylan on twitter/X

Time-stamps

00:03:34 Growing up in poverty with a schizophrenic mother and severely mentally ill sister
00:06:09 Finding escapism through fantasy books as a bullied child
00:10:08 Breaking point: Fighting back against bullies and developing defensive mechanisms
00:11:44 Discovering positive psychology and questioning his happiness for the first time
00:15:56 First MDMA experience abroad - "one of the three most important moments of my life"
00:17:18 Transformation from deep pessimist to rational optimist
00:20:40 Family tragedies: Mother and sister's overdose deaths
00:29:47 The critical importance of preparation, experience, and integration
00:31:16 Why at-home therapy beats clinical settings
00:35:00 Setting intentions as a forcing function for internal safety
00:38:33 Evolution of Mindbloom's music program links to world-class compositions
00:44:30 AI-powered journaling and integration tool
00:56:57 Jhana meditation and combining somatic work with ketamine
01:02:41 The concept of "super well-being" beyond just treating illness
01:04:58 How mental health professionals underestimate what's possible for patients
01:09:31 How J&J patented S-ketamine (Spravato) at 88x the cost of generic
01:10:49 Media capture: Big Pharma provides 13-25% of news advertising revenue
01:11:04 Mindbloom suing Wall Street Journal for false Matthew Perry death claims
01:09:12 The biggest insight from ketamine: remembering the "why"
01:21:44 50 million Americans on SSRIs vs. 200,000 on ketamine therapy
01:24:55 Veteran suicides: 6,205 per year
01:26:54 Dylan's father's suicidal depression and recovery through Mindbloom
01:21:00 Transition to proactive healthcare and personalized medicine
01:31:17 Mindbloom's new whole health offering beyond just ketamine
01:51:10 Ultimate goal: Eliminating the mental health crisis entirely
01:52:14 "Human capital is what drives everything on this planet"

🫁 Episode Sponsor — Nervous System Mastery

Further Ways to Support the Podcast:

Common Pitfalls on the Path of Inner Transformation with Joe Hudson

Jonny Miller — Sun, 24 Aug 2025 16:21:23 -0600

Joe Hudson is an executive coach for tech CEOs like Sam Altman, and is a cofounder of the Art of Accomplishment. In this in-person interview, we sat down to talk about what I like to think of as the first principles of inner work as well as some of the common pitfalls that often get us stuck along the way.

Time-stamps

00:04 Why does my wife trust Joe more after seeing how little tension he has in his belly?
00:06 How 7 years of breathwork rewired his capacity for authenticity + emotional expression
00:25 The reason self-trust + trust in life are actually the same skill
00:28 Why enjoyment is the most efficient way to work
00:38 How true safety (ironically) requires acknowledging that we're never truly safe
00:43 Why Joe rarely buys into people's stories
00:49 The common trap that stagnates the personal growth of so many teachers (and how to avoid it)
00:55 The hilarious story behind Joe's secret nickname 'Burt McCracken'
01:03 One definition of narcissism is the inability to feel emotions
01:05 The reason that relational work accelerates personal transformation (compared to solo efforts)

Learn More About Joe Hudson + AoA

👨‍🏫 Get discounted access to their courses here
🎧 Listen to the fantastic AoA Podcast (my top 10 episodes)
🎬 Watch Joe's Youtube Videos @artofaccomplishment

🫁 Episode Sponsor — Nervous System Mastery

Further Ways to Support the Podcast:

Unlocking Embodied Leadership with Franziska Gonder

Jonny Miller — Mon, 07 Apr 2025 12:40:55 -0600

Franzi is someone whose work sits at the powerful intersection of nervous system health, emotional resilience, and embodied leadership.

What I admire most about her is the way she weaves personal integrity, deep inquiry, and relational intelligence into every facet of her life — from parenting her three sons to working with founders navigating burnout and stuck emotions. We explore what it truly means to lead from a place of wholeness — and why she believes leadership should be a force for healing, not just productivity. Franzi shares how curiosity became her greatest ally through grief and trauma, and how movement became a portal into somatic healing.

We also discuss the difference between performative boundaries and boundaries that foster deeper connection, how interoception builds relational capacity, and why numbness is often the most potent entry point into this work.

Other topics we touch on include:

🌿 The cost of chronic performance zones & reclaiming peripheral vision
🧠 How somatics and neuroscience go hand-in-hand — and why embodiment is often mislabeled as “woo”
🧒 Her radical, nervous-system-based approach to parenting and education
💡 The power of practicing self-inquiry through the simple questions: Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going?
🫀 And what it means to live a life rooted in belonging, dignity, and safety

This one is rich, spacious, and full of grounded wisdom — I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Connect with Franzi

🖥️ Learn about Franzi's Work
📝 Read Franzi's Writing

Connect + Explore More from Jonny

🐦 Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller
🫁 Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
🪷 Order our deck of Calm Cards (these make great gifts)
📱 Check out Stateshift — our brand new iOS + Android app
📝 Take the Nervous System Quotient (NSQ) Self-Assessment (totally free)
💌 Sign up to The Inner Frontier Newsletter

🫁 Episode Sponsor — Nervous System Mastery

Further Ways to Support the Podcast:

Focusing on What Matters Most with Nat Eliason

Jonny Miller — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 13:31:58 -0700

In this episode, I’m speaking with a friend, author, entrepreneur & prolific writer Nat Eliason.

The timing of this conversation was interesting as we recorded it shortly before the US elections, after which the crypto markets shot back into the mainstream. You’ll hear about the intense emotional rollercoaster he went through, losing millions of dollars in a very short period of time — how it felt to write about this — what he’s learned about cultivating creative endurance with his writing, as well as his perspective on relaxation versus numbing and how our relationship with work pushes us towards coping mechanisms rather than genuine rest.

Official Links

👋 Follow Nat on Twitter/X @nateliason
📚 Read Crypto Confidential
🖥️ Nat's homepage

🫁 Episode Sponsor — Nervous System Mastery

Embracing Twilight Zones, Self-Exploration & Living with OCD with Dan Shipper

Jonny Miller — Tue, 11 Feb 2025 11:52:37 -0700

In this episode, I'm speaking with Dan Shipper — Dan is a friend, the founder of Every, and someone who I consider to be a philosopher founder.

This conversation didn’t go the direction that I thought it would, I had prepared questions exploring the future of AI and technology, but I’m glad we listened to the thread that was most alive — which ended up being exploring Dan’s personal journey with OCD ‌and recent deep dive into Jungian archetypal perspectives — and living on the borders of things — the Twilight Zone that he poetically described. Dan did manage to save me towards the end and loop the conversation back towards AI with a super interesting thesis around how it might allow us to make our intuitions more visible and reproducible in the world.

Official Links

👋 Follow Dan on Twitter
💌 Learn more about Every

🫁 Episode Sponsor — Nervous System Mastery

Further Ways to Support the Podcast:

You Are One Question Away From a Completely Different Life with Marc Champagne

Jonny Miller — Wed, 05 Feb 2025 10:35:00 -0700

In this episode, I'm speaking with Marc Champagne — who after building a journaling app that reached nearly 90 million users and then having to shut it down, emerged with profound insights about the power of transformative questions and the Socratic Method.

In this conversation, we explored:

❓ What it means to ask better quality questions, some of the specific questions that have altered the trajectory of Marc’s life — like “How can I be the most curious person in the room?” or “Whom haven't I thanked lately?”

🧠 And how his research led him to explore practices of Mental Fitness, with many practical experiments that you can run in your own life

I hope you find this conversation as fascinating as I did, and if these ideas resonate, please share them with others who might benefit from learning how to ask better questions of themselves and life.

Official Links

👋 Follow Marc on Instagram
🙏 Learn more about Marc's offerings here
📚 Get yourself a physical copy of Personal Socrates
🎙️ Listen to Marc's Podcast Behind the Human

🫁 Episode Sponsor — Nervous System Mastery

Further Ways to Support the Podcast:

Minimum Viable Woo, Trusting Curiosity & Navigating a Dark Night of the Soul with Tom Morgan

Jonny Miller — Mon, 06 Jan 2025 10:57:05 -0700

In this episode, I'm speaking with Tom Morgan — who after 15 years on Wall Street and experiencing what he describes as a "hellish midlife transition" (which is putting it mildly) has emerged with profound insights about human development and — especially relevant for this podcast – the nature of curiosity itself.

In this conversation, we explored:

🧠 How we might navigate the delicate balance between intellectual understanding and embodied wisdom, especially for high-achieving individuals seeking deeper meaning in their lives

🏔️ An insight about what he calls "intellectual recapture" — which is the tendency, especially among highly educated or successful people, to turn spiritual or embodied practices into yet another achievement to conquer.

⚡ Practical insights about designing personal experiments and the importance of what he calls "minimum viable woo" — finding ways to engage with transformative practices that don't require abandoning our critical thinking.

Official Links

👋 Follow Tom on Twitter/X @tomowenmorgan
📝 Read Tom's Writing at The Leading Edge
✏️ Apply to join the Leading Edge Community

🫁 Episode Sponsor — Nervous System Mastery

Further Ways to Support the Podcast:

🎙️ I use Riverside to record all of my podcast conversations (it's so much better than zoom for podcasting!)
🎧 I also use Transistor to host this podcast, it's fricking awesome, and I would highly recommend.
😎 RaOptics make the world's best Blue Blockers – I wear these anytime I'm out of the house after dark, and it makes a huge difference!
🤖 I use AI wizardry from Castmagic to help with each episode show-notes + timestamps
📹 Want to create a Hollywood-quality home studio? Get in touch with Kevin Shen here & save $500 with code JONNYSENT500OFF
📝 Test out my favourite journaling app using journal prompts that have made a huge impact in my life.

Meet the Man Reimagining Neuroscience: Michael Edward Johnson

Jonny Miller — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 11:21:22 -0700

I’m speaking with theoretical neuroscientist Michael Edward Johnson — who, after spending seven years researching consciousness and writing the book Principia Qualia, has developed a revolutionary theory that could fundamentally change how we understand trauma, meditation, and human wellbeing.

Mike’s theory of ‘latches’ — what he calls vasocumputation — may provide a testable and concrete biological mechanism for how trauma gets stored in the body, and how to release it effectively.

This sounds nerdy and abstract, but it’s my belief that if his claims can be tested and validated — it would revolutionize the medical system and allow somatic modalities or MDMA-assisted therapy to be compared and tested side-by-side in their efficacy and we could harness the scientific method for ways to release trauma.

Official Links

👋 Follow Michael on Twitter/X @johnsonmxe
📝 Read Michael's Research + Writing on opentheory.net
✏️ Michael's deep dive twitter thread on Vasocomputation

🫁 Episode Sponsor — Nervous System Mastery

Further Ways to Support the Podcast:

🎙️ I use Riverside to record all of my podcast conversations (it's so much better than zoom for podcasting!)
🎧 I also use Transistor to host this podcast, it's fricking awesome, and I would highly recommend.
😎 RaOptics make the world's best Blue Blockers – I wear these anytime I'm out of the house after dark, and it makes a huge difference!
🤖 I use AI wizardry from Castmagic to help with each episode show-notes + timestamps
📹 Want to create a Hollywood-quality home studio? Get in touch with Kevin Shen here & save $500 with code JONNYSENT500OFF
📝 Test out my favourite journaling app using journal prompts that have made a huge impact in my life.

Overcoming the Inner-Critic, Reclaiming Aliveness & Learning Somatic Intuition with River Kenna

Jonny Miller — Wed, 11 Sep 2024 17:54:04 -0600

I’ve been following River’s substack essays for a few years now and I feel a real kinship with his irreverent and genuinely unique perspectives — as well as his talent for self-experimentation and weaving together esoteric yet incredibly practical concepts which he uses for self-exploration.

In this conversation, you can expect to learn:

💬 How River was able to use somatic-based practices to go from experiencing an incessant inner-critic and suicidal ideation, to almost no inner-dialogue and opening up access to his emotions.

🧠 We explore the dynamic between what he calls Systems Mode that dominates our culture vs. a more Spontaneous Mode of being.

💀 We both riff on how the ideas of Bill Plotkin are essential for these times, and what it means to ‘die well’ in order to become genuine adults and experience a sense of aliveness.

Official Links

👋 Follow River on Twitter/X
📝 Read River's substack essays
👨‍🎓 Check out River'sexcellent course Somatic Resonance

Connect + Explore More from Jonny

🐦 Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller
🫁 Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
🪷 Order our deck of Calm Cards (these make great gifts)
📱 Check out Stateshift — our brand new iOS + Android app
📝 Take the Nervous System Quotient (NSQ) Self-Assessment (totally free)
💌 Sign up to The Inner Frontier Newsletter

🫁 Episode Sponsor — Nervous System Mastery

Further Ways to Support the Podcast:

🎙️ I use Riverside to record all of my podcast conversations (it's so much better than zoom for podcasting!)
🎧 I also use Transistor to host this podcast, it's fricking awesome, and I would highly recommend.
😎 RaOptics make the world's best Blue Blockers – I wear these anytime I'm out of the house after dark, and it makes a huge difference!
🤖 I use AI wizardry from Castmagic to help with each episode show-notes + timestamps
📹 Want to create a Hollywood-quality home studio? Get in touch with Kevin Shen here & save $500 with code JONNYSENT500OFF
📝 Test out my favourite journaling app using journal prompts that have made a huge impact in my life.

How to Conquer Public Speaking Anxiety with Tristan de Montebello

Jonny Miller — Thu, 05 Sep 2024 09:34:53 -0600

In this conversation, I’m speaking with my good friend and cofounder of Ultraspeaking Tristan de Montebello. Tristan has an incredible story of training to become a finalist in the World Championship of Public Speaking in just seven months.

In this conversation, you can expect to learn:

📣 Tristan's radical approach of focusing on impromptu speaking rather than scripted speeches
💬 Unlocking capacity for self-expression & why the key starts with learning to speak before you think
🎴 How they developed games for practicing more authentic self-expression
🧠 The magic of what Tristan calls ‘The Butler in your subconscious’

Official Links

Inspired by Tristan's insights? Dive deeper into the world of authentic, powerful communication with Tristan’s Ultimate Speaking Playbook. He created this free email course to offer practical tips and strategies to help you speak with confidence and clarity. 👉 Get the Ultimate Speaking Playbook

📣 Check out Ultraspeaking
👋 Say hi to Tristan on Twitter/X

🫁 Episode Sponsor — Nervous System Mastery

Further Ways to Support the Podcast:

🎙️ I use Riverside to record all of my podcast conversations (it's so much better than zoom for podcasting!)
🎧 I also use Transistor to host this podcast, it's fricking awesome, and I would highly recommend.
😎 RaOptics make the world's best Blue Blockers – I wear these anytime I'm out of the house after dark, and it makes a huge difference!
🤖 I use AI wizardry from Castmagic to help with each episode show-notes + timestamps
📹 Want to create a Hollywood-quality home studio? Get in touch with Kevin Shen here & save $500 with code JONNYSENT500OFF

Optimizing Your Life for Enjoyment with Ali Abdaal

Jonny Miller — Mon, 26 Aug 2024 11:47:40 -0600

A few years back Ali decided to quit his job as a junior doctor in the UK to become a full time YouTuber. Since then his career and life has skyrocketed — he’s built a channel with over 5.5 million youtube subscribers and recently published a New York Times Bestselling book called ‘Feel Good Productivity’

In this conversation Ali shares:

😨 His experience with imposter syndrome whilst writing his book
🧠 Recent insights around 'leaving mental health on the table'
⚖️ How he’s been intentionally de-optimising his life
❓ The radical question of what would life and business look like if you optimized for enjoyment?
🎬 What advice would he give to me as someone in the very early stages of starting a new Youtube channel

It’s a phenomenal conversation, also thanks to our friend Marc Koenig, recorded in beautiful 4K video which you can watch on youtube if you wish.

Official Links

🎬 Ali's Youtube Channel
📚 Ali's Book Book Feel-Good Productivity

🫁 Episode Sponsor — Nervous System Mastery

🎙️ I use Riverside to record all of my podcast conversations (it's so much better than zoom for podcasting!)
🎧 I also use Transistor to host this podcast, it's fricking awesome, and I would highly recommend.
😎 RaOptics make the world's best Blue Blockers – I wear these anytime I'm out of the house after dark, and it makes a huge difference!
🤖 I use AI wizardry from Castmagic to help with each episode show-notes + timestamps
📹 Want to create a Hollywood-quality home studio? Get in touch with Kevin Shen here & save $500 with code JONNYSENT500OFF

Leadership and the Longing to Belong with Jerry Colonna

Jonny Miller — Wed, 21 Aug 2024 08:47:48 -0600

I’m speaking with co-founder of Reboot Jerry Colonna. Jerry is one of the most infamous executive coaches in the world — with a reputation for making CEOs cry and asking devastatingly poignant self-reflection questions.

In this conversation, we explore:

🕷️ Jerry's inner journey discovering his mythopoetic identity and how that has informed the coaching work he is so known for
🙇‍♂️ The idea that one measure of a leader is the numerous of people who feel safe enough to belong
🌍 The root causes of the global intimacy disorder that our culture is experiencing
❤️ The very human tension between longing and belonging that we all experience on some deep level.

I walked away from this conversation deeply moved by Jerry’s sincerity and hope that some of his wisdom is passed on through this audio artifact that we are miraculously able to partake in.

Official Links

📚 Jerry's latest book Reunion
🙋‍♂️ Executive Coaching Company Reboot

🫁 Episode Sponsor — Nervous System Mastery

🎙️ I use Riverside to record all of my podcast conversations (it's so much better than zoom for podcasting!)
🎧 I also use Transistor to host this podcast, it's fricking awesome, and I would highly recommend.
😎 RaOptics make the world's best Blue Blockers – I wear these anytime I'm out of the house after dark, and it makes a huge difference!
🤖 I use AI wizardry from Castmagic to help with each episode show-notes + timestamps
📹 Want to create a Hollywood-quality home studio? Get in touch with Kevin Shen here & save $500 with code JONNYSENT500OFF

Discovering the Hero's Journey to Wholeness with Ben Katt

Jonny Miller — Sat, 17 Aug 2024 12:07:57 -0600

Ben is the author of the phenomenal new book: The Way Home: Discovering the Hero's Journey to Wholeness at Midlife. I was really excited to talk to Ben because the hero’s journey has been a framework that I still use myself as a way of orienting and meaning making. Ben shares how his own life has been a series of spiraling journeys, embodying the hero’s path.

In this conversation, you can expect to learn:

📚 Challenges of refusing the call to adventure
🤷‍♂️ The transition between evasion and embracing the unknown.
🧘 The work of Bill Plotkin, and how it's influenced his life
👣 Exploring the significance of wandering as a means of revelation
🎁 A powerful concept of giving your gift in a generative way

Official Links

📚 Ben Katt's Book — The Way Home: Discovering the Hero's Journey to Wholeness at Midlife
👋 Follow Ben on Instagram

🫁 Episode Sponsor — Nervous System Mastery

Further Ways to Support the Podcast:

🎙️ I use Riverside to record all of my podcast conversations (it's so much better than zoom for podcasting!)
🎧 I also use Transistor to host this podcast, it's fricking awesome, and I would highly recommend.
😎 RaOptics make the world's best Blue Blockers – I wear these anytime I'm out of the house after dark, and it makes a huge difference!
🤖 I use AI wizardry from Castmagic to help with each episode show-notes + timestamps
📹 Want to create a Hollywood-quality home studio? Get in touch with Kevin Shen here & save $500 with code JONNYSENT500OFF

Insights from Groundbreaking MDMA Research with MAPS Therapist Marcela Ot’alora

Jonny Miller — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 10:28:14 -0700

Marcela Ot’alora worked as the lead co-therapist and principal investigator for all of the MAPS — which stands for Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies — MDMA-assisted psychotherapy studies. She has also been designing curriculum and training therapists associated with MAPS.

In this conversation, which we recorded together in our home here in Boulder Colorado, we explored how she found her way into this work over three decades ago, possible tension I perceived between the clinical aspect of these studies and the sacredness of the work, how she trains therapists in the rare art of being able to hold space for deep transformation, and what she believes is happening that has led to the extraordinary results that the MAPS trials have created — a 71% reduction in otherwise untreatable symptoms of PTSD.

Official Links

👨‍🔬 MAPS MDMA Research and Resources (link)

🫁 Episode Sponsor — Nervous System Mastery

Further Ways to Support the Podcast:

🎙️ I use Riverside to record all of my podcast conversations (it's so much better than zoom for podcasting!)
🎧 I also use Transistor to host this podcast, it's fricking awesome, and I would highly recommend.
😎 RaOptics make the world's best Blue Blockers – I wear these anytime I'm out of the house after dark, and it makes a huge difference!
🤖 I use AI wizardry from Castmagic to help with each episode show-notes + timestamps
📹 Want to create a Hollywood-quality home studio? Get in touch with Kevin Shen here & save $500 with code JONNYSENT500OFF

Courage as a Measure of Our Heartfelt Participation with Life with David Whyte

Jonny Miller — Mon, 01 Jan 2024 11:23:48 -0700

I'm choosing to republish this episode that I had with David Whyte four years ago, because I had found myself revisiting his timeless book Consolations’ and rediscovering wisdom that felt appropriate for these times — which has remained within an arm's reach of my bedside ever since I first discovered it. It ratcheted open my mind to a new perspective on the definitions of words like Ambition, Courage and Heartbreak, that I thought I previously understood.

I’m not sure how to even begin to describe exactly what David does. On paper, he's an acclaimed poet, a writer, and a philosopher. But to my mind, after having spent a magical week with him on the Irish Atlantic coastline on one of his poetry walking tours, I feel like he's a true elder with a deep philosophical curiosity and gift for weaving together our inner and outer worlds in what he calls 'the conversational nature of reality’.

It’s a wide-ranging conversation, and towards the end, we cover some really interesting ground on the questions he believes we’re living our way into as a society and how childhood is the act of growing older whilst adulthood is the act of growing younger back into body back into our birthright visionary experience of the world.

Official Links

👋 Follow David on Twitter, Facebook or Youtube
📝 Read the full transcript (with my photos of Ireland) over on Medium
🚶‍♂️ Apply for one of David's upcoming walking tours in Ireland, the Lake District, Tuscany & New Zealand
👀 Watch David's TED Talk 'A lyrical bridge between past, present and future'
🖥️ Find out everything else David is up to at davidwhyte.com

Episode Sponsors

🩸 Inside Tracker — One of the things I've changed my mind on in the past year is the value of getting blood panels taken prophylactically (ideally every six months, according to Dr. Peter Attia) rather than waiting until you have a health issue. Inside Tracker recently added hormone testing alongside a bunch of other important biomarkers that aren't included in traditional blood panels (ApoB, for example). Despite generally feeling great, my most recent set of results showed that I have some work to do to reduce levels of inflammation, and I'll be following some of their dietary + supplement recommendations to address this asap. So I highly recommend making this something you make time for at least once or twice yearly. Save 20% here

🥶 The Cold Plunge — I reached out to the founder of the plunge, Ryan after hearing his powerful story on the Danny Miranda podcast. I've shared how getting in icy cold water every day helped me to move through intense grief, and taught me what it meant to surrender. These days I use their plunge every, single, day. It's like a high-stakes meditation—a mirror into my own internal state. The Plunge team have done a phenomenal job architecting what I consider as the world's best cold plunge (it doesn't get grimy like the converted chest freezers that I used to use). For optimal health benefits, I recommend deliberate cold exposure for 11 minutes per week total. Save $150 with the code CURIOUS. Learn more about their revolutionary new Plunge.

🫁 Nervous System Mastery

Further Ways to Support the Podcast:

🎙️ I use Riverside to record all of my podcast conversations (it's so much better than zoom for podcasting!)
🎧 I also use Transistor to host this podcast, it's fricking awesome, and I would highly recommend.
😎 RaOptics make the world's best Blue Blockers – I wear these anytime I'm out of the house after dark, and it makes a huge difference!
🤖 I use AI wizardry from Castmagic to help with each episode show-notes + timestamps
📹 Want to create a Hollywood-quality home studio? Get in touch with Kevin Shen here & save $500 with code JONNYSENT500OFF

The Reason Self Development is Fundamentally Flawed with Steve March

Jonny Miller — Mon, 18 Dec 2023 13:05:01 -0700

In this episode, I am speaking with Steve March — who is, although maybe lesser known in the public sphere, what he has created with Aletheia, which we will get into — is, to my mind, a revolutionary innovation in the realm of human development and how we orient to personal growth.

Expect to have your paradigm of personal growth turned upside down as we cover:

⚖️ Self-development vs. Self-unfoldment, which points to why so much of the personal development industry and individual efforts to self-improve are doomed to fail from the outset. And how might we make a New Year resolution as unfolding, with no improvement?

🍃 The Four Depths Model — and how different modalities work differently with different depths. Leveraging emergence by exploring the radical question of 'What if nothing is missing? What if we are whole?'

🧠 The Neuroscience of Enduring Transformation — take-aways from Steve's paper for using micro-practises within a 5-hour window to take advantage of the heightened window of neuroplasticity.

🚶‍♂️ 4x Actionable Principles — to explore the concept of poetic attunement in your own life — including an invitation to let go of any self-improvement agendas and specific blindspots to pay attention to.

Official Links

🙋‍♂️ Learn about upcoming Aletheia Offerings: integralunfoldment.com
📝 Steve's recent paper on the neuroscience of enduring transformation (link)

🫁 Nervous System Mastery

Further Ways to Support the Podcast:

🎙️ I use Riverside to record all of my podcast conversations (it's so much better than zoom for podcasting!)
🎧 I also use Transistor to host this podcast, it's fricking awesome, and I would highly recommend.
😎 RaOptics make the world's best Blue Blockers – I wear these anytime I'm out of the house after dark, and it makes a huge difference!
🤖 I use AI wizardry from Castmagic to help with each episode show-notes + timestamps
📹 Want to create a Hollywood-quality home studio? Get in touch with Kevin Shen here & save $500 with code JONNYSENT500OFF

How to Win the Game of Life with Khe Hy

Jonny Miller — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 09:30:07 -0700

Khe Hy is a dear friend, creator and philosopher in residence at Rad Reads, which is a business he started after leaving a 7-figure salary on Wall Street. He is a dedicated Father, host of the superb Examined Life podcast and makes time to get in the ocean and surf every single day.

In this conversation, you can expect to hear:

- How Khe has worked through his feelings of self-doubt
- Exploring his insights from wrestling with desires for fame and validation.
- The question of 'Winning the Game of Life' has evolved for him over the years into a pursuit of Aliveness.

Official Links

📝 Check out Khe's writing over at RadReads
🎙️ Listen to his podcast The Examined Life
🐦 Follow Khe on Twitter/X @khemaridh
🎬 Watch his YouTube Videos @radreadsco

🫁 Nervous System Mastery

Further Ways to Support the Podcast:

🎙️ I use Riverside to record all of my podcast conversations (it's so much better than zoom for podcasting!)
🎧 I also use Transistor to host this podcast, it's fricking awesome, and I would highly recommend.
😎 RaOptics make the world's best Blue Blockers – I wear these anytime I'm out of the house after dark, and it makes a huge difference!
🤖 I use AI wizardry from Castmagic to help with each episode show-notes + timestamps
📹 Want to create a Hollywood-quality home studio? Get in touch with Kevin Shen here & save $500 with code JONNYSENT500OFF

Increase Your Nervous System Capacity with Ryan Duey

Jonny Miller — Wed, 08 Nov 2023 09:31:08 -0700

Ryan Duey is an entrepreneur, podcaster, the founder + CEO of Plunge.com and as you'll hear in this episode, a remarkably self-aware and courageous human.

Over a decade ago, Ryan had what he calls his “greatest gift” — a head-on motorcycle accident in Thailand. This near-death experience catapulted Ryan into a journey of self-inquiry, leading him to the jungles of the Amazon, the inside of a float tank.

In this conversation, you can expect to learn:

⚖️ How to balance of selfishness and selflessness
❄️ His relationship with surrendering into the cold
🏫 The Importance of Rethinking Success in the Public School System
🏆 How he shifted his definition of success to go from being externally focused, to internally.
💪 How the path of entrepreneurship & intimate partnership, continues to increase his nervous system capacity

Official Links

🎙️ Listen to Ryan's podcast The Journey on Spotify
🥶 Save $150 on their Revolutionary Cold Plunge: plunge.com/curious
💬 Follow Ryan on Twitter @RADuey

🫁 Nervous System Mastery

Further Ways to Support the Podcast:

🎙️ I use Riverside to record all of my podcast conversations (it's so much better than zoom for podcasting!)
🎧 I also use Transistor to host this podcast, it's fricking awesome, and I would highly recommend.
😎 RaOptics make the world's best Blue Blockers – I wear these anytime I'm out of the house after dark, and it makes a huge difference!
🤖 I use AI wizardry from Castmagic to help with each episode show-notes + timestamps
📹 Want to create a Hollywood-quality home studio? Get in touch with Kevin Shen here & save $500 with code JONNYSENT500OFF

The Value of Wilderness-Based Rites of Passage with Brooks Barron

Jonny Miller — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 12:31:59 -0600

Brooks Barron is an experienced leadership coach specializing in nature-based initiations and rites of passage — to help the leaders he works with explore their vulnerability, find their inner wisdom, and surrender to the flow of what wants to come through them.

In this conversation, you can expect to learn:

- Brooks' definition of wholeness as a human being
- The difference between the desire to make an impact in the world from above the line vs. below the line.
- How he shifted out of victim consciousness and took 100% responsibility for his life.
- The dynamics of being nice versus being kind
- The importance of vulnerability and healing
- The benefits he sees in going through a vision quest or wilderness-based rite of passage
- How this enables us to transition into psychological adulthood.

Timestamps

[00:04:07] Positive impact, burning out, seeking purpose, profound change

[00:09:22] Embrace all aspects, shift from fear to love.

[00:14:04] Curious about the good versus bad dynamic.

[00:22:06] Struggling with climate change; personal healing journey.

[00:23:57] Driven by impact, trust, acceptance, and growth.

[00:30:34] Vision quest: therapy vs. transformation, death and rebirth, shift into trust.

[00:37:51] Unfamiliarity pushes people to embrace change and growth.

[00:42:42] Sacred wound: discomfort that creates beauty.

[00:51:45] Struggling to balance passion, responsibility, and self-care.

[00:54:01] Ego keeps me from acknowledging my needs.

[01:01:09] Importance of fitting in while embracing uniqueness.

[01:04:44] "Awakening experiences lead to divine connection, but require rigor."

Official Links

💬 Follow Brooks on LinkedIn
📝 Read Brooks' latest Substack writing
✨ Apply for the Power Awakening Leadership Program
🙋‍♂️ Learn more about Brooks's upcoming leadership training + coaching

Connect + Explore More from Jonny

🐦 Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller
🫁 Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
🪷 Order our deck of Calm Cards (these make great gifts)
📱 Check out Stateshift — our brand new iOS + Android app
📝 Take the Nervous System Quotient (NSQ) Self-Assessment (totally free)
💌 Sign up to The Inner Frontier Newsletter

🫁 Nervous System Mastery

Further Ways to Support the Podcast:

🎙️ I use Riverside to record all of my podcast conversations (it's so much better than zoom for podcasting!)
🎧 I also use Transistor to host this podcast, it's fricking awesome, and I would highly recommend.
😎 RaOptics make the world's best Blue Blockers – I wear these anytime I'm out of the house after dark, and it makes a huge difference!
🤖 I use AI wizardry from Castmagic to help with each episode show-notes + timestamps
📹 Want to create a Hollywood-quality home studio? Get in touch with Kevin Shen here & save $500 with code JONNYSENT500OFF

How to Find Your Inner Light with Matt Maruca

Jonny Miller — Sat, 30 Sep 2023 17:08:34 -0600

Show Notes

Matt Maruca is the founder of RaOptics, who make, I think it's fair to say objectively, the world's best blue-blocking glasses — but more importantly, he is in my view a radical citizen scientist, self-experimenter, and articulate communicator — and what's more he's only 24 years old. Which, given his depth of knowledge and wisdom, is somewhat mind-blowing for someone of his age.

This conversation didn't go the way that I had expected. I'd been reading journal papers and studies on photobiology, mitochondrial health, and how to optimize our light environment... but fairly quickly it became clear that this wasn't the direction that the conversation wanted to go. I think a former version of me would have wanted to stick to the script — but instead we veered off into a fascinating tangent into Matt's explorations into spirituality and what he describes as surrendering to life.

In this conversation, you can expect to learn:

👹 The effects of repressing anger on depression and health
🔆 The benefits of light therapy and being in tune with your circadian rhythm
⚡ Why Matt believes that humans are beings of energy and electromagnetism
🌱 The important distinction between vitalistic and mechanistic perspectives for personal growth
🙇‍♂️ The power of surrendering to life or how he stopped acting like he was a victim to life.

Timestamps

[00:01:36] Matt's curiosity about health and wellness led them to explore various aspects of their own well-being, including diet, nutrition, supplementation, and eventually light therapy. He discovered that cellular dysfunction, particularly in mitochondria, plays a significant role in disease and that environmental factors and lifestyle choices can impact health.

[00:09:04] Challenges led to self-reflection and a shift in mindset. Learning from Dr. Joe Dispenza's teachings, joy is found by opening oneself and surrendering limited beliefs and emotions. Change starts from within.

[00:20:28] Matt discusses their background in studying light and electromagnetic energy in relation to health. They criticize the mechanistic approach of Western medicine and promote the idea of tapping into the body's natural healing power. They express skepticism towards the carnivore diet's claims of healing and share personal experiences.

[00:43:54] Matt discusses their journey towards understanding health, wellness, and spirituality, emphasizing the importance of changing one's perception to create a better external experience.

[01:05:32] The idea of being greater than we think and considering limitless possibilities.

[01:13:12] The writer's goal is twofold: personal growth and creating an ethical company. They want to awaken people to the importance of inner light and bridge the gap between their products and spirituality. They believe that cultivating inner light is crucial for human evolution.

[01:18:33] Jesus is seen as a profound and humorous figure in personal spiritual development.

Official Links

😎 Ra Optics (affiliate link) — http://www.raoptics.com/nsmastery
👋 Follow Matt on Instagram + Youtube — @TheLightDiet
💡 Buy Warm Edison Bulbs on Amazon — https://a.co/d/aAV3tqb

🫁 Nervous System Mastery

Further Ways to Support the Podcast:

🎙️ I use Riverside to record all of my podcast conversations (it's so much better than zoom for podcasting!)
🎧 I also use

Have We Solved Mental Healthcare? Exploring Psychedelic Therapy for Lasting Transformation with Dr Michael Yang

Jonny Miller — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 10:45:53 -0600

Dr Michael Yang is an integrative medicine specialist based in Los Angeles who specializes in Ketamine treatment. I had an absolute blast with Michael and honestly feel a renewed sense of optimism for the medical system knowing that there are doctors like him treating patients.

In this conversation, you can expect to learn:

💊 Ketamine's clinical use and its role as a psychedelic in his clinical practice
🧠 How to increase the squishiness of your brain
😬 Why suffering might make us uniquely human
🤔 A primer on Aztec existentialist philosophy
😲 The incredible benefits of inducing awe in patients

Timestamps

[00:02:31] Categorically curious; downfalls, psychedelics, and intellect.

[00:07:58] Passion for history and diverse experiences.

[00:12:49] Moved from Bay Area to LA for MBA. Ended up running mother's clinic. Frustrated with pace of medical development.

[00:19:11] Capitalism triggers, struggling with community, broad picture. Ketamine and psychedelics require personal experience.

[00:21:32] Book titled "Scared and Horny" explores human experience.

[00:32:26] Ketamine's varying capabilities as a drug.

[00:37:22] Exploring psilocybin and ketamine experiences - transcendent.

[00:42:24] "Awe-inspiring experiences fuel transformation and growth."

[00:51:33] Exploring cultural practices and personal transformation.

[01:01:31] Struggle with global theory and meaning crisis: Suffering as a test for AI. Psychedelics and future of AI.

[01:06:36] Suffering is critical to our survival.

[01:18:47] Outline program, contemplate, change, be present.

Official Links

✉️ Email Michael at: drmichaelyang@gmail.com
👨‍⚕️ Learn more about his Clinic

🫁 Five to Thrive — this is a free email course that I've created to teach anyone how to build nervous system regulation in just five days. It contains hundreds of hours of my own research distilled into five days of practical knowledge. Enrolment is totally free. You can sign up here: fivetothrive.email

Further Ways to Support the Podcast:

🎙️ I use Riverside to record all of my podcast conversations (it's so much better than zoom for podcasting!)
🎧 I also use Transistor to host this podcast, it's fricking awesome, and I would highly recommend.
😎 RaOptics make the world's best Blue Blockers – I wear these anytime I'm out of the house after dark, and it makes a huge difference!
🤖 I use AI wizardry from Castmagic to help with each episode show-notes + timestamps
📹 Want to create a Hollywood-quality home studio? Get in touch with Kevin Shen here & save $500 with code JONNYSENT500OFF

A Radical Playbook for Full Aliveness with Jim Dethmer

Jonny Miller — Fri, 08 Sep 2023 09:46:51 -0600

Jim Dethmer is co-author of the bestselling book 'The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership' and is one of the most sought-after executive coaches in the world. It was an honor to speak with Jim, and I had the sense that I was sitting in the presence of someone who really had spent a lifetime embodying and living what he teaches.

In this wide-ranging conversation, you can expect to learn:

🙋‍♂️ How to use the Sedona method for yourself
👐 What it means to live an undefended life
👊 How to take radical responsibility for your emotions
💚 What it means to 'SAFE' yourself rather than be at the mercy of the external situation
🗣️ Why leaning into difficult conversations and revealing your experience is key to aliveness
🧰 Practical strategies for having clearing conversations and practicing radical honesty

Official Links

🔨 Free resources on The Four Pillars of Integrity, Emotional Intelligence,
📚 The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership: A New Paradigm for Sustainable Success

🫁 Nervous System Mastery

Further Ways to Support the Podcast:

🎙️ I use Riverside to record all of my podcast conversations (it's so much better than zoom for podcasting!)
🎧 I also use Transistor to host this podcast, it's fricking awesome, and I would highly recommend.
😎 RaOptics make the world's best Blue Blockers – I wear these anytime I'm out of the house after dark, and it makes a huge difference!
🤖 I use AI wizardry from Castmagic to help with each episode show-notes + timestamps
📹 Want to create a Hollywood-quality home studio? Get in touch with Kevin Shen here & save $500 with code JONNYSENT500OFF

Derek Sivers on How to Negotiate Anything, The Joys of Parenthood & Why Nothing You Believe is True

Jonny Miller — Wed, 23 Aug 2023 12:21:13 -0600

When I first started this podcast, I had Derek Sivers in mind as the archetypal curious human — and to this day, I think of him as one of the most interesting and provocative philosophers of life. His career path involved joining the circus as a ringleader, then becoming a professional musician and touring, building a company and selling it for $22 million dollars, then giving most of the money away to charity, then becoming a TED speaker and author... to now where he's a minimalist living in New Zealand as a full-time dad.

In this conversation, you can expect to learn the following:

🏙️ His unexpected love affair with Dubai
🤔 Why nothing you believe is actually true
📝 How he journals to find sanity for himself
🤝 What he's learned about negotiation skills
🛠️ Why he created a 'Making Room' in his house
🗺️ How it's possible to have too much freedom in your life
👨‍👦 Why he feels that his son is his best friend and soulmate

Timestamps

[00:08:56] Derek didn't have much curiosity until later in life.

[00:12:20] Rebellious streak seeks balance in all situations.

[00:18:55] Having total freedom can feel disorienting.

[00:25:17] Choose independence, then commit for best results.

[00:29:14] We don't really know why we do things.

[00:35:00] Journaling: Derek's way to process thoughts and find clarity.

[00:43:32] Brain awake, busy day of writing.

[00:49:48] Sister's chaotic household convinced me: no kids.

[00:54:45] Choosing mice for breeding: defying expectations.

[00:57:08] Teach kids to talk confidently and be makers.

[01:05:56] Money obsession feels like a mental disorder.

[01:10:52] The Red Cross can't do much, donate wisely.

[01:17:38] Negotiate Anything by Herb Cohen is a book full of relatable stories that emphasize the idea that everything is negotiable. The author, a professional negotiator, shares his experiences and challenges the notion of non-negotiable things. It's a thought-provoking read that sticks with you.

[01:21:05] Book: "You Can Negotiate Anything" - rating: 10/10. Talks about realizing power in any situation. Prisoner example shows hidden power. Violence comes from feeling powerless. Realize your power in any situation. Must-read.

[01:27:15] Movies portrayed sex as something men want, women don't.

[01:32:45] Dubai is a fascinating, diverse and foreigner-filled place.

[01:38:45] Python: a newfound love, Dubai.

[01:44:21] Aspiration: be read even after death.

Official Links

✉️ Email Derek personally here: derek@sivers.org
📚 Derek's Book Reviews
🙋‍♂️ Derek's /now page
📖 Buy his masterpiece How to Live (don't buy on Amazon!)

🫁 Nervous System Mastery

Further Ways to Support the Podcast:

🎙️ I use Riverside to record all of my podcast conversations (it's so much better than zoom for podcasting!)
🎧 I also use Transistor to host this podcast, it's fricking awesome, and I would highly recommend.
😎 RaOptics make the world's best Blue Blockers – I wear these anytime I'm out of the house after dark, and it makes a huge difference!
🤖 I use AI wizardry from Castmagic to help with each episode show-notes + timestamps
📹 Want to create a Hollywood-quality home studio? Get in touch with Kevin Shen here & save $500 with code JONNYSENT500OFF

Becoming Fully Yourself, What AI Wants, Family Rituals & Rites of Passage with Kevin Kelly

Jonny Miller — Tue, 16 May 2023 10:10:50 -0600

Show Notes

A large part of my personal motivation for creating this podcast — is the privilege of speaking with those who I consider to be elders, those who have lived their lives to the absolute fullest and have stories and insights to share with younger generations about what it means to truly live well.

And this conversation with Kevin Kelly turned out to be exactly that. You'll probably want to have a pen and paper handy to take notes, and it was so rich with practical wisdom — in part because that was the subject of Kevin's new book — called 'Excellent Advice for Living'

Some of the pieces that resonated most with me were:
- How his curiosity and obsession with tinkering & making things paved the way for his later career
- Why giving your time away is by far that's the most valuable thing that you can offer
- The immense value in designing family rituals and rites of passage
- Why he believes that AI will eventually want to have an identity and a name and will act as a forcing function to propel us forward — like children do, to be better than we would have been
- Finally, why we should attend as many funerals as possible — and endeavor to become fully ourselves

⏳ Timestamps

[00:05:07] Thoreau and the Whole Earth catalog were influential in shaping the interviewee's passion for inventing their own life and stripping down to the minimum to achieve contentment. Thoreau was a mentor and hero while Stuart Brand was a greater influence.

[00:09:15] Deep listening means trying to hear what's unsaid, not just focusing on responding. It involves being affected by what's being said, not just hearing it like a recorder. Many people don't truly listen and miss out on understanding.

[00:13:08] The worthiest projects take five years to complete, but prototyping is important too, and only one five-year project should be focused on at a time. Anything worthwhile should be accounted for as a five-year project.

[00:17:14] Textual content is created as reminders of timeless wisdom from past philosophers and religions. Advice includes putting things back where they were found and deciding not to be outraged for a day. These reminders are short and condensed, meant to be easily remembered and applied.

[00:20:50] Invest in a donor appointed fund that grows and can be given to high leverage charities, which teach people to fish rather than just giving a fish. Volunteering and donating time is the most precious thing to give.

[00:25:19] Parents celebrate their kids' coming-of-age at 21 with a small ceremony where they cut a symbolic cord, give them their last check, and allow them to drink legally. The event sometimes includes wagers or promises, and kids add their own innovative participation. One child ate paper with advice written on it.

[00:30:30] Create family rituals to provide stability, consistency, and a sense of anticipation for children, which will become part of the family identity and provide comfort in adulthood.

[00:34:21] The author believes that technology has tendencies that are independent of humans, and that consciousness, sentience, and identity may be inevitable for technology. He thinks that technology may want a name.

[00:40:36] The goal is to fully become yourself with the help of others, it's a long process involving constant self-challenge and it's the key to accomplishments. Attend funerals to hear about character over achievements. The question to ask is "who do I want to become?".

[00:47:02] AI development will force us to question what we want the AI to be like, as they will carry biases and issues of average humans. It will lead to a discussion of how we can make ourselves better as well.

Official Links

📚 Order Kevin's book 'Excellent Advice for Living'
👋 Follow Kevin on Twitter @kevin2kelly
🖥️ See Kevin's homepage and extensive bio — kk.org

Episode Sponsors

🌬️ Othership Breathwork App — I've written at length about why breathwork is like the operating manual for your nervous system, and I have been highly impressed by the app that the Othership team has created. You can choose between guided daily practices that will up or downshift your state, as well as breathwork journeys that focus on embodiment for cultivating intimacy, athletic performance, or preparing for sleep. Exclusive to The Inner Frontier listeners, you can get a three-month subscription at zero cost to take it for a spin. Claim the three months

🩸 Inside Tracker — One of the things I've changed my mind on in the past year is the value of getting blood panels taken prophylactically — ideally every six months, according to Dr Peter Attia — not waiting until you have a health issue. They recently added hormone testing to their plan, which already includes important markers like ApoB, vitamin D, magnesium, cortisol, and a bunch more (47 biomarkers in fact!) I received some super actionable supplement changes and dietary shifts based on my results and I'm noticing the shifts already. Save 20% here

Further Ways to Support the Podcast:

🎙️ I use Riverside to record all of my podcast conversations, it's so much better than zoom for podcasting
🎧 I also use Transistor to host this podcast, it's fricking awesome, and I would highly recommend.
😎 RaOptics make the world's best Blue Blockers – I wear these anytime I'm out of the house after dark, and it makes a huge difference!
🤖 I use AI wizardry from Castmagic to help with each episode show-notes + timestamps
📹 Want to create a Hollywood-quality home studio? Get in touch with Kevin Shen here & save $500 with code JONNYSENT500OFF

Is Kyle Kowalski the World's Most Curious Human?

Jonny Miller — Tue, 02 May 2023 10:49:05 -0600

Today I'm speaking with Kyle Kowalski — who might be one of the most well-read humans and certainly most relentlessly curious humans that I've ever met — in fact as he shares in this episode, he believes that his purpose or Ikigai in life is to synthesize lifelong learning that catalyzes human development.

As the title of this episode suggests, we nerded out on so many fascinating topics — we discuss how Kyle's crisis and burnout transformed him, discovering the Concept of Intentional Living, how he created Ikigai 2.0, Navigating the Four Stages of Ego Development Theory and how they act like filters of reality, the idea of the Birth Lottery and much much more.

Official Time-stamps

[00:05:57] "Finding Purpose: How a Crisis Transformed Me"
[00:13:57] Exploring the Crisis that Transformed a Life
[00:18:44] "Discovering the Concept of Intentional Living"
[00:24:47] "Ekigai 2.0: The Evolution of a Viral Meme"
[00:28:48] "Phased approach to evolving money mindset"
[00:42:02] "Navigating the Four Stages of Personal Development"
[00:45:56] "Warren Buffett's Thought Experiment Reveals Life's Lottery"
[00:52:01] "The Illusion of Free Will: Liberating Realizations"
[00:59:57] "Challenging Modern Myths of Cognition"
[01:08:05] "Unlocking the Power of a Synthesizing Mind"

Official Links

👋 Say hi to Kyle on Twitter
🖥️ Check out Kyle's Sloww community
📚 Explore his popular posts + epic book summaries

Further Ways to Support the Podcast:

Growth Loops, Fertile Uncertainty & Ayahuasca Revelations with Anne-Laure Le Cunff

Jonny Miller — Tue, 25 Apr 2023 09:48:48 -0600

This is my second conversation with Anne Laure — I reached back out after I read a powerful account of her transformative experience drinking Ayahuasca 9 months ago and how following this experience, in her words, she is 'not depressed anymore, I quit drinking… And, for the first time ever and truly happy to be alive'.

So we do a deep dive into her plant medicine experience she had, her reflections since that experience — as well as why linear goals are inherently fragile as compared to what she calls growth loops, how her relationship to ambition shifted after Ayahuasca, her favourite mental model, liminal vs. liminoid spaces, the importance of metacognition and much more!

Episode Timestamps

[00:04:05] "The Hyper Focus of ADHD: Blessing or Curse?"
[00:12:06] "Leaving Silicon Valley: Finding a New Path"
[00:18:26] "Overcoming the Shame of Functional Depression"
[00:25:04] "Experiencing Ayahuasca: Effects and Intention Setting"
[00:38:45] "Psychedelics Increase Brain Rewiring: Emerging Evidence Shows"
[00:47:00] "Mindful Recovery: Checklist vs Listening to Body"
[00:49:56] Embracing the Liminal Space: Redefining Ambition.
[00:54:19] "The Power of Letting Go of Fear"
[00:59:08] "Mastering Growth: The Simple Process of Experimentation"
[01:05:16] "Importance of Metacognition for Growth Group Success"

Official Links

👋 Follow Anne Laure on Twitter
👪 Join the NessLabs community or read her top essays

Further Ways to Support the Podcast:

Transforming Fear into Excitement with Extreme Sports Athlete & Executive Coach Brett Kistler

Jonny Miller — Thu, 30 Mar 2023 15:48:29 -0600

This is a powerful conversation with executive coach Brett Kistler — entrepreneur and executive coach who spent much of his life traveling the world full-time as an extreme sports athlete while building a remote software company. Brett also co-hosts the Art of Accomplishment podcast with Joe Hudson, who was a previous guest on this podcast.

We unpack many things, including how BASE jumping acted as a hard reboot on his mind and how he uses his emotional inquiry practice to stay alive in extremely risky situations.

🔗 Official Links

🎙️ Listen to Brett and Joe on the Art of Accomplishment podcast
👀 Watch Brett's superb Ignite Talk
🖥️ Check out Brett's offerings on his website
👋 Find Brett on Twitter @airkistler

Connect + Explore More from Jonny

🐦 Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller
🫁 Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
🪷 Order our deck of Calm Cards (these make great gifts)
📱 Check out Stateshift — our brand new iOS + Android app
📝 Take the Nervous System Quotient (NSQ) Self-Assessment (totally free)
💌 Sign up to The Inner Frontier Newsletter

Brushes with Insanity, Insights from Solitude & The Inner Adventure with Daniel Thorson

Jonny Miller — Wed, 22 Mar 2023 10:40:15 -0600

This is a special episode with Daniel Thorson — who I initially came across through his super podcast called 'Emerge' and later learned that he was living as a full-time monastic at the Monastic Academy in Vermont — where after a series of conversations, he persuaded me to come and sit for a 10-day retreat — which I just returned from myself recently.

I found this was an immensely rich conversation, and I'm grateful to Daniel for opening up about some of the experiences he had recently during 73 days of solitude and silence (which he described as the most profound experience of his life) — during which he had some brushes with insanity but emerged (no pun intended) on the other side with some very hard-won insights to share.

🔗 Official Show Notes 🔗

💬 Find Daniel on Twitter @dthorson
🏛 Learn more about the Monastic Academy
🎙️ Listen to Daniel's powerful conversation with Soryu Forall on Emerge
🎙️ Link to Buddhist Geeks podcast mentioned by Daniel

The Orchestra of Ancient Healing Wisdom & Practices with Dr. John Churchill

Jonny Miller — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 11:14:52 -0700

Dr. John Churchill spent 15 years training and teaching “Great Seal” meditation in an Indo-Tibetan lineage and is a founding member of the Integral Institute led by the well-known philosopher, Ken Wilber.

Over the last 25 years, John has developed his style of practice — an integrated Fourth Turning path — that weaves together somatically based contemplative practices that integrate psychodynamic healing, adult development, and meditation.

This was an incredible conversation that touched on how 'trauma fuses our awareness to our attentional system', his views on how to integrate plant medicines and psychedelics into this work and what he calls the 'fundamental interior science breakthroughs'.

🔗 Official Show Notes

🧘 Learn more about John's 250hr Planetary Dharma meditation training via Samadhi Integral
✨ Work with John and Nicole on their upcoming psychedelic dharma program

Exploring Somatics, Breathwork & Emotional Fluidity with Jonny Miller & Christofer Lövgren

Jonny Miller — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 10:39:40 -0700

This is a slightly different type of episode — in which my friend Christofer interviewed me for his superb DO EXPLAIN Podcast. I enjoyed the conversation so much that I decided it was worth releasing here as well. This is one of the deepest dives I've done on all things related to emotional fluidity, and various modalities for working with somatics and finding wholeness. Christofer was such a superb conversational partner and I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

🔗 Official Links

🎙️ Subscribe to Christofer's awesome podcast Do Explain
💬 Follow Christofer on Twitter

Connect + Explore More from Jonny
🐦 Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller
🫁 Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
🪷 Order our deck of Calm Cards (these make great gifts)
📱 Check out Stateshift — our brand new iOS + Android app
📝 Take the Nervous System Quotient (NSQ) Self-Assessment (totally free)
💌 Sign up to The Inner Frontier Newsletter

Deep Fix: Exploring Hakomi & Ayahuasca as Antidotes to Addiction with Alex Olshonsky

Jonny Miller — Thu, 26 Jan 2023 11:34:41 -0700

My brother Alex Olshonsky ~ aka. "Olo" ~ is a dear friend. We've spent time together in Guatemala, and he is fast becoming one of the most prominent voices on addiction and the psychedelic renaissance.

We dive into Olo's personal story of breaking free from his proclivity to taking a cocktail of narcotics whilst working in high-growth tech startups ~ and his powerful journey navigating his addiction.

We discuss concerns, risks & hopes for the rise of entheogens ~ what he learned from spending time with the Shipibo indigenous lineages, how we both got a little 'messed up' from studying post-modernist philosophy, navigating the 'woke, anti-woke culture wars' his definition of false urgency + socially acceptable addictions, unpacking the modality of Hakomi ~ a lesser-known method of somatic psychology & much more.

🔗 Official Links

📝 Alex's Writing & Coaching ~ Deep Fix
💬 Find Alex on Twitter
🍵 Natura Care Program ~ link

Connect + Explore More from Jonny
🐦 Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller
🫁 Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
🪷 Order our deck of Calm Cards (these make great gifts)
📱 Check out Stateshift — our brand new iOS + Android app
📝 Take the Nervous System Quotient (NSQ) Self-Assessment (totally free)
💌 Sign up to The Inner Frontier Newsletter

In-Depth Protocols for Nervous System Thriving with Grimhood

Jonny Miller — Fri, 25 Nov 2022 08:46:50 -0700

Today's guest is Daniel—who goes by the name of 'Grimhood' on Twitter. I've been a subscriber to his Patreon account for a while and was so impressed with his immensely well-researched and in-depth that blended his knowledge of pharmacology with indigenous systems of medicine.

In this conversation, we unpack a handful of these protocols that he shares, including a deep dive on all things Magnesium, why so many of us are deficient in it, why you're almost certainly not getting enough and how to dose correctly. Then we dive into his protocol for dealing with OCD and anxiety, the importance of seeing sunrise and sunset daily to set the circadian rhythm and much more.

Just a heads up that this episode does get into the weeds with a lot of detail, but if you'd like the summary of Daniel's protocols, I recommend finding his Patreon page linked in the show notes and finding his in-depth resources there.

🔗 Links

💊 Find Grimhood on Patreon
💬 Follow Grimhood on Twitter @Grimhood

Human Zoo Counter-Measures & Breaking Breath-Hold Records with Erwan Le Corre

Jonny Miller — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 09:25:17 -0600

Today's guest is Erwan Le Corre.

Erwan is many things, including the founder of MovNat ~ which is a synthesis of his passion for physical competency with his love of movement in nature. More recently, Erwan also became a US national static breath hold record holder.

In this conversation, we talk about what he describes as the challenges of 'Hamster fitness' & movement poverty predicament and some of his ideas for what he describes quite brilliantly as Human Zoo counter-measures. We also dive into (pun not intended) some of the benefits of practising breath-holding, increasing your CO2 tolerance ~ and how he can hold his breath for over 8 minutes.

🔗 Official Links

🫁 Erwan's latest Breath hold work training program
📸 Erwan on Instagram @erwanlecorre
🌳 Learn more about his MovNat training
💬 Connect with Erwan on Twitter @erwanlecorre

Mental Resilience, Cognitive Canaries & High-Stakes Decision Making with Retired Poker Pro Chris Sparks

Jonny Miller — Fri, 07 Oct 2022 11:53:42 -0600

Chris Sparks is a one-of-a-kind human; he's a retired professional poker pro who was once ranked one of the top 20 players in the world.

But in recent years, he has applied himself to coaching and running workshops on decision-making, systems thinking, and peak performance. And as you'll hear in this conversation, he is not only brilliant but also wise.

Before we hit record, I said to Chris let's record a masterclass in mindset for staying calm and making good decisions in high-stress environments ~ and he didn't really disappoint.

Our conversation ranged from talking about tools he used to stay calm or shift his state during high-stakes poker games and how he eliminated mental distractions in critical moments. He shared some meta-principles that he learnt through poker but applies to life more broadly—as well as how his approach and philosophy around productivity have shifted over the years.

I deeply enjoyed this conversation with Chris, and I have a sense that you will too. I'll also mention that Chris has what he calls a 'performance assessment', which I've linked in the show notes ~ that provides a series of excellent questions to reflect on.

🔗 LINKS

📝 Take the Forcing Function Self-Assessment
💬 Find Chris on Twitter @SparksRemarks
🎙️ Listen to Chris' Podcast
👨‍🎓 Signup for Chris' Feb 2023 course on 'Team Performance Training'

Connect + Explore More from Jonny
🐦 Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller
🫁 Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
🪷 Order our deck of Calm Cards (these make great gifts)
📱 Check out Stateshift — our brand new iOS + Android app
📝 Take the Nervous System Quotient (NSQ) Self-Assessment (totally free)
💌 Sign up to The Inner Frontier Newsletter

The Art & Science of Leveraging Your Physiology with Aaron Alexander

Jonny Miller — Thu, 15 Sep 2022 09:18:23 -0600

Aaron is a pioneering manual therapist and movement coach, founder and creator of the Align Method.

I'm currently looking at Aaron's book (The Align Method) & it's one of the books that has most impacted my relationship with not just fitness and movement, but a new philosophy of seeing the world as a playground and the fact that I'm recording this whilst squatting ~ is in part thanks to the wisdom and research that he shares.

This is one hell of a fun conversation packed with big ideas and super practical takeaways ~ we range from talking about the value of play and emotional fluidity ~ to post-ejaculatory experiences and a mini-masterclass in how to leverage your physiology & posture to change how you feel.

“I believe the way to obtain true, optimal health is through aligning our mind, body, and movement. The fundamentals are simple and I’m here to help.”
– Aaron Alexander

~~~

🔗 Resources & Links to Aaron's Work

👋 Follow Aaron over on Instagram @alignpodcast
🎙️ Listen to his phenomenal podcast 'Align Podcast'
📚 Grab a copy of Aaron's book The Align Method
👨‍🎓 Explore Aaron's upcoming 6-week course

~~~~~~

Connect + Explore More from Jonny
🐦 Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller
🫁 Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
🪷 Order our deck of Calm Cards (these make great gifts)
📱 Check out Stateshift — our brand new iOS + Android app
📝 Take the Nervous System Quotient (NSQ) Self-Assessment (totally free)
💌 Sign up to The Inner Frontier Newsletter

Achieve More, Grind Less & Increase Your Aliveness with Michael Ashcroft

Jonny Miller — Thu, 01 Sep 2022 16:44:05 -0600

It's always fun to have conversations with friends and this one, in particular, has been several years in the making. If you're interested in meditation, breathwork or getting more done with more joy then this episode is a must-listen.

Some of the themes we unpack include: what it means to 'expand your awareness', exploring the space and freedom between stimulus + response, what it means practically to 'escape grind mode' and what we both mean when we talk about increasing our sense of 'aliveness'.

~~~~~~

🔗 Resources & Links

👋 Follow Michael over on Twitter @m_ashcroft
👨‍🎓 Learn more about Michael's Course at expandingawareness.org
✍️ Read Michael's Essays on Every

~~~~~~

Connect + Explore More from Jonny
🐦 Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller
🫁 Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
🪷 Order our deck of Calm Cards (these make great gifts)
📱 Check out Stateshift — our brand new iOS + Android app
📝 Take the Nervous System Quotient (NSQ) Self-Assessment (totally free)
💌 Sign up to The Inner Frontier Newsletter

New Frontiers of Breathwork: Translating the Language of the Breath & Cultivating Nervous System Resilience with Ed Dangerfield

Jonny Miller — Wed, 22 Jun 2022 19:30:58 -0600

In this episode, Edward Dangerfield and I do a deep dive on a new modality of breathwork, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Facilitated Breath Repatterning ~ or FBR for short ~ will be globally recognised in 4-5 years' time and that the research that is beginning here in Bali will go on to make some significant discoveries about the connection between breathing patterns + patterns of behaviour.

As you'll hear in this conversation, what I believe is truly unique about this mode of breathwork ~ is that it is both scientific in its approach, involving the practitioner 'reading the breath' of the client, and then making facilitations that often elicit profound shifts. I'll also add that my capacity to hold myself through intense experiences and feel comfortable expressing emotions has been transformed by this work.

Since recording the initial conversation with Ed (link) I completed a 400hr training with him and the team here in Bali. But despite having literally hundreds of hours of conversations with him, I learnt so many new things myself from this conversation.

~~~~~~

Some of the highlights were:

🕵️‍♂️ Ed describes what I consider to be his superpower for paying attention to subtle cues that he's noticing and tracking in clients ~ like a real-life Sherlock Holmes ~ everything from their posture to their tone of voice and the words they choose ~ which then allows him to make generally highly accurate hypotheses about their breathing patterns and how this shows up in their lives.

🫁 He walks us through an imaginary breath translation ~ so that you as a listener will get a sense for this art of reading and interpreting the language of breath. I also loved hearing him articulate the connection between capacity for dynamic breathing and dynamic thinking ~ the very tangible effects on health and lived experience of having Maladaptive breathing patterns.

🚀 And finally some of his bold ideas for the broader impact that this emerging modality of FBR might have ~ running large-scale studies, working with leaders of organisations to move them from moving overachievers to high achievers & an idea to design a breathwork-specific wearable device that could enable self-guided journeys to be run safely.

~~~~~~

🔗 Resources & Links

🎙️ Listen to my first conversation with Ed back in 2019 (link)
📚 'Nurturing Resilience' by Kathy Kain (link)
📸 Ed's Instagram: @edwarddangerfield
🖥️ Breathwork Bali Website (link)
🎙️ Related conversation on Functional Breathwork with Conni Biesalski (link)

🌎 Recommended International Breathwork Practitioners

SF/Bay Area – Jonny Miller (link)
Bali – Multiple Practitioners (link)
London – Jamie Clements (link)

What Creates Lasting Transformation? From Homeless Heroin Addict to Prolific Podcaster + Behaviour Change Coach with Eric Zimmer

Jonny Miller — Sun, 10 Apr 2022 11:00:00 -0600

🎙️ Episode Overview

You might have come across Eric through his award-winning podcast ‘The One You Feed’ where he has interviewed hundreds of the wisest and most inspiring humans on the planet.

He's also a father, serial entrepreneur, behaviour coach, and author on a quest to understand how we might live more intentional lives.

And we get into the impact that these conversations has had on his life and perspective over the last decade, but we begin with the chapters of his life before the podcast — at age 24 Eric was living out the back of a van, spending $300 a day on his heroin addiction and up to 50 years in jail.

We dive into this transformational journey of recovery—the gifts and challenges inherent in the AA program as well as his thoughts on what created the conditions for both his addiction and the sobriety that followed.

It was interesting to see how Eric and I share a mutual fascination for questions around how to take insights and apply them to everyday life—and the parallels between the Spiritual Habits group program that Eric hosts with the work that I’ve been involved with around resilience and researching the nervous system.

🔗 Show Notes + Links

🎙️ Subscribe to the 'One You Feed' podcast on Spotify
👨‍🎓 Learn more about Eric's 8-week Spiritual Habits Program
🖥️ Watch his superb TEDx talk on the battle of changing your behaviour

The Pathless Path & The Magic of Non-Doing with Paul Millerd

Jonny Miller — Mon, 28 Mar 2022 22:39:11 -0600

Paul and I first met 3 years ago at an event in Portland—he had recently left his job in corporate consulting and we bonded over how lost we'd both felt at times.

Later that week I gave him a copy of 'The Three Marriages' a book by David Whyte where he talks about the Pathless Path that is required for anyone looking to do or create something original.

Fast-forward to today and Paul has just published his first book — Called the Pathless Path — which is his roadmap of sorts for those of us who might have had the boldness to quit the default path & taking an experiment-based approach to figure out how to live well.

Some of the themes we dive into are:

🤔 How he has been exploring the magic of non-doing
❓ Some of the most powerful questions he uses during curiosity conversations with others who are looking to take the leap.
🎢 How to navigate the painful reality that family + friends might not understand his decisions to walk away from a successful career.
📚 Some of the things he believes hold most people back from living more intentionally & the big breakthrough moment he experienced in the midst of writing his book.

***

🔗 Links
📚 Get your copy of The Pathless Path
🖥️ Subscribe to Paul's excellent newsletter and listen to his podcast.
🐦 Connect with Paul and say hi on Twitter

Connect + Explore More from Jonny
🐦 Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller
🫁 Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
🪷 Order our deck of Calm Cards (these make great gifts)
📱 Check out Stateshift — our brand new iOS + Android app
📝 Take the Nervous System Quotient (NSQ) Self-Assessment (totally free)
💌 Sign up to The Inner Frontier Newsletter

Being in Service to Life with Charles Eisenstein

Jonny Miller — Thu, 17 Mar 2022 23:56:14 -0600

🎙️ Episode Overview

I'm thrilled to bring you this conversation with philosopher, writer & activist Charles Eisenstein. For those of you who aren't familiar with Charles' work—it's no exaggeration to say that his ideas contained in his books and writing have shaped my personal worldview more than any other author I can think of.

What I appreciated about this conversation was his deep presence and at times a refusal to answer my question because he felt like there was a deeper and more real question beneath the surface. You can feel the urgency in the tone of his voice, the deep sense of how much is wrong with the world and his sincere desire to not bypass this deep discomfort.

I've re-listened to this conversation several times myself and some of what really stood out for me was:

👽 Our mutual sense of confinement, wrongness and alienation that we felt growing up in middle-class education — he described how he wrestled with this question of ‘who marooned me on planet crazy’.
👐 His earnestness to be "fully available" and to be in service to life and his belief that it’s actually technically 'easy' to heal the planet, but our consciousness is getting in the way
🌎 We also touched in on the state of the world and how he believed that grief for the dying world is actually what is required for the world not to die.
🎅 Making the case for getting truly serious about being selfish & why laziness is a message that points towards how our life energy wishes to be expressed.
📚 Why Dr. Seuss' Myth of the Grinch is so relevant for our times and what we can learn from seeing today's world through a more mythic lens.

🔗 Show Notes + Links
💌 Subscribe to Charles' superb substack newsletter
👀 Explore his thought-provoking essays from the past decade
🌎 Two of Charles' Books: A More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible & The Ascent of Humanity
👨‍🎓 His self-paced online courses (the gift economy + exploration of masculinity are highly recommended)
📹 Curated youtube videos containing some of his biggest ideas

📚 Two Books Mentioned by Charles
📖 Charles favourite story growing up: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norman Juster
🎄 A myth for our times: How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss

Connect + Explore More from Jonny
🐦 Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller
🫁 Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
🪷 Order our deck of Calm Cards (these make great gifts)
📱 Check out Stateshift — our brand new iOS + Android app
📝 Take the Nervous System Quotient (NSQ) Self-Assessment (totally free)
💌 Sign up to The Inner Frontier Newsletter

Meditation Myth-Busting, Finding Alignment & Living an Effortless Life with Michael King

Jonny Miller — Sun, 09 Jan 2022 20:57:33 -0700

This is a really unique episode—Michael King has been a mentor of mine and dear friend for nearly four years now. If it weren't for some of our conversations I'm not sure that The Inner Frontier would even exist, at least not in the form that it does today.

I find some of his perspectives and approaches to meditation and life so refreshing and my goal for this conversation was really to tease out some of the ideas and radical concepts that he has shared with me privately over the years.

Some of the questions we explored:

😬 What is the case for living life from a place of ease rather than over-efforting — which is something that I've wrestled with for a long time, as well as how our experience of reality is shaped by who we are and our beliefs.
🧘 Some common meditation myths and pitfalls that he sees with meditators with varying levels of experience as well as how he recommends navigating the landscape of meditation and the vast number of options and traditions and approaches out there.
📝 And finally, he also shares a really powerful framework for feeling into and moving through any challenging emotional experience or resistance.

***

Michael is also launching the third iteration of his Meditation Teacher Training early next March which I was a student in two years ago. What I learnt in that training profoundly shaped not only my work as a founder coach but also deepened my own practice and my relationship to my own mind and emotional landscape. So if training to become a meditation teacher or deepening your own practice is something that calls to you, I would absolutely recommend getting in touch with Michael. He's generously offering The Inner Frontier listeners, $200 off the 2022 training — just mention Inner Frontier when you reach out.

***

🔗 Links
🧘 Check out the Meditation Teacher Training 2022
👋 Find Michael on Instagram @kingsmeditationandmentoring

Connect + Explore More from Jonny
🐦 Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller
🫁 Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
🪷 Order our deck of Calm Cards (these make great gifts)
📱 Check out Stateshift — our brand new iOS + Android app
📝 Take the Nervous System Quotient (NSQ) Self-Assessment (totally free)
💌 Sign up to The Inner Frontier Newsletter

Blueprints for Civilisation, Post-traumatic Growth & Re-imagining the Role of the Human with Dr. Zachary Stein

Jonny Miller — Thu, 23 Dec 2021 18:37:53 -0700

I'm really thrilled to be bringing you this philosophical deep dive with truly I think one of the most radical and thoughtful thinkers of our generation.

Dr. Zachary Stein is a co-founder of The Consilience Project—which publishes novel research and explores questions surrounding global risk mitigation and existential threats facing humanity. He is the Academic Director Center for Integral Wisdom and the author of 'Education in a Time Between Worlds' – which I've personally gifted myself to many friends and shifted how I think about the future of schooling.

In this conversation, we cover some truly fascinating territory, because of his multi-disciplinary approach Zak has a truly unique perspective on some of the biggest questions of our time.

To give you a sense of what to expect in this conversation:

🙏 We began with a model of what it means to move into the perspective of post-traumatic growth...
🌱 He shared a thought experiment of 'Nous Arc' which asks the question of what seeds of ideas could be stored such that they could reboot human civilisation.
🫁 We talk about the role of nervous system regulation in models of adult development
🌎 Zak's diagnosis of 'Global Intimacy Disorder' and re-imagining what it means to be human and his work to start the conversation for a new kind of global philosophy called cosmo-erotic humanism.

What questions come alive in your mind? How might you see yourself contributing? Drop me a note on twitter... and finally, if this conversation resonates, do consider sharing a link with a friend who might also appreciate it.

🔗 Links
Zak's Homepage // zakstein.org
The Consilience Project // consilienceproject.org
Nous Arc // Zak's talk at the centre for integral wisdom

Connect + Explore More from Jonny
🐦 Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller
🫁 Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
🪷 Order our deck of Calm Cards (these make great gifts)
📱 Check out Stateshift — our brand new iOS + Android app
📝 Take the Nervous System Quotient (NSQ) Self-Assessment (totally free)
💌 Sign up to The Inner Frontier Newsletter

Redefining Emotional Freedom, Exploring Healthy Ambition & Accessing Deep Joy with Joe Hudson

Jonny Miller — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 19:28:19 -0700

Joe Hudson is many things — he's a Venture Capitalist and renowned executive coach, but beyond that, he is a rare example of someone who in my perspective has accessed some profound truths about the human experience and is putting himself out there into the world helping others to find greater joy and ease in their lives.

***

❓ We begin with his perspective on wonder and explore what makes for the capacity to ask transformational questions.
🤩 He then shares his VIEW framework—which stands for Vulnerability, Impartiality, Empathy & Wonder—and how life-changing it can be if we're able to truly inhabit these states of being.
🔥 We both then begin to unpacking the concept of emotional fluidity, why it's very different from emotional management and dive into specific examples of unclogging the tube of anger, Joe's process for dissolving shame (in which I become the guinea pig and it gets real for a few minutes)

Joe also mentions his experiences doing naked breathwork, the one-two punch tactic he used to use to get out of speeding tickets, why selfishness is a word used to get children to do what their parents want and why you have to allow your heart to break a little to increase your capacity to love.

***

I was quite taken aback by how many of my recent Nervous System Mastery students had taken Joe's 'Connection Course' and how tremendously impactful they shared it had been in their journeys of self-exploration and finding greater depths of emotional maturity.

I rarely (if ever) promote other courses, but having listened to Joe's 'Art of Accomplishment' podcast episodes, heard from several of his students whose lives have been transformed by his work as well as the depth of our recent conversation I believe his work and methodology deserves to be shared more widely.

So to this end, I'd like to make the case for at the very least considering the 'Connection Course' that he's offering—it's very reasonably priced ($300) and uses a “cohort of two” learning format that combines the power of cohort-based learning with the flexibility of a self-paced course.

It's an opportunity to access workshops usually only reserved for elite execs and combines 20 years of Joe's research into dozens of spiritual traditions + robust psychological frameworks, also backed by the more recent findings from neurological research.

"This course is a unique approach to relationships with yourself and others. It dramatically changes your ability to accomplish what you want in your life with ease and joy. It will help you examine the way that you show up at work and in your personal life, all through training a mindset that leads to more connection and more satisfying relationships."

So there you have it—a wholehearted recommendation to first listen to the podcast conversation with Joe and if the themes of emotional exploration resonate, then definitely check out the amazing podcast and self-paced connection course linked below for a deeper dive.

>> You can use the code CURIOUS to save 10% on Joe's course here <<

***

Links to Joe & the Art of Accomplishment
👨‍🎓 Art of Accomplishment Connection Course (link)
🎙️ Art of Accomplishment Podcast (link)
📸 Art of Accomplishment on Instagram (link)
💬 Joe Hudson on Twitter (link)

Connect + Explore More from Jonny
🐦 Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller
🫁 Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
🪷 Order our deck of Calm Cards (these make great gifts)
📱 Check out Stateshift — our brand new iOS + Android app
📝 Take the Nervous System Quotient (NSQ) Self-Assessment (totally free)
💌 Sign up to The Inner Frontier Newsletter

The Art of Asking Questions, Incentivising Negative Effort & Deconstructing Human Perception with Malcolm Ocean

Jonny Miller — Thu, 04 Nov 2021 20:29:24 -0600

In this episode, I speak with my good Twitter friend Malcolm Ocean. Malcolm is many many things, but first and foremost I consider him to be not only relentlessly curious but also prolific in sharing his practical philosophy mostly through the medium of thoughtful Twitter threads.

I predicted that the experience of listening to this conversation might be a little like the feeling of being trapped inside a pinball machine bouncing between unrelated topics... but in fact, what unfolded was a really satisfying dance around parallel threads which centred around our mutual interest of human attention and perception — and how these theories have deep practical value our daily life.

Some of the topics we danced around include:

❓ The value and art of holding questions, and sitting with deep uncertainty.
🔥 His case for an aliveness-based productivity system and discussing why to consider even setting goals in the first place.
🧠 How the barely known ideas contained in 'Perceptual Control Theory' have shifted his outlook on life and how these theories connect to the work of Iain McGilchrist's findings on the differences between our left and right brain hemispheres.
🌎 We talked about our 'domino memes' as a way of attempting to articulate the different levels of impact that we're hoping to make in the world and I also really appreciated his framing of what he calls 'negative effort' which is a way of saying the creative work that we can't not do — and ideas for how we might incentivise this on a wider scale.

Relevant Links

👋 Find Malcolm on Twitter: @malcolm_ocean (and his thread collection)
👀 Read his blog: malcolmocean.com
❓ Ribbonfarm blog post on 'Questions are not just for asking'
🧠 His superb Divided Brain Twitter primer
🎲 His 'Domino Meme' (and my domino meme)
📚 A cheeky bootleg copy of 'Making Sense of Behaviour' (the actual book is out of print)

Connect + Explore More from Jonny
🐦 Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller
🫁 Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
🪷 Order our deck of Calm Cards (these make great gifts)
📱 Check out Stateshift — our brand new iOS + Android app
📝 Take the Nervous System Quotient (NSQ) Self-Assessment (totally free)
💌 Sign up to The Inner Frontier Newsletter

Exploring the Three Marriages of Self, Work and Partnership with Kelly Wilde

Jonny Miller — Wed, 13 Oct 2021 21:29:44 -0600

Kelly Wilde is an artist, podcaster, performer, meditation mentor and poet who has been exploring the intersections of soul explorations, creative work and rewilding. She also happens to be my wife, and this episode fell on our 18-month anniversary — it’s a particularly juicy conversation and easily the most personal conversation that I've aired to date.

In this conversation, we dance around a range of personal topics including:

🪨 Reflections on the last couple of decades of her life—from existential reckonings, identity crises, multiple career paths and rock-bottom moments that she has been through—and how these challenges have given way to a deeper clarity, knowing herself more intimately and beginning the process of what she describes as rewilding the feral aspects of her psyche.
🧘 This led into the story of our experience at a 10-day meditation retreat we attended in Mexico last year, and how reflecting on death led to us getting married a mere two weeks later.
❣️ We also talk about our reflections on the value we found from working with a couple's therapist, early on in our marriage and how being aware of what she calls the skeleton woman archetype has helped us to navigate rocky moments along the way in our partnership.

I hope you enjoy this intimate conversation with the love of my life, Kelly Wilde.

***

Where to find Kelly on the Interwebs:

📸 Instagram: @kellywildemiller
🎙️ Podcast: Wild on Purpose
👩‍🎨 Website: kellywildemiller.com

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The Science of the Nervous System, Functional Breathwork Training and Our Sixth Sense of Interoception with Conni Biesalski

Jonny Miller — Thu, 16 Sep 2021 18:45:57 -0600

Conni and I have collaborated on a number of projects over the years and we've both followed remarkably similar paths from the world of entrepreneurship into the world of breathwork & nervous system science.

In this conversation, Conni starts off by sharing some of her personal journey, her various heartbreaks and compartmentalisation of her sexuality that led her from being a very successful travel writer into being a prolific creator in the world of personal development and ultimately to the work she's doing now as a breath coach. From there we pretty rapidly dive go into the nitty-gritty aspects of breathwork and unpack some of the nervous system neurobiology that we've both been learning... including:

🌬️ How some of the functional breathing practices have impacted her life and the lives of the clients she works with, what it means to have a dysregulated breathing pattern and how to begin correcting this.
🫁 She goes on a myth-busting roll, talking about common misperceptions around the role of CO2, we both share our concerns with Wim Hof training and riff on the importance of honing our sixth sense of 'interception'.
🧠 How helpful it has been for us to gain an embodied understanding of the difference between our 'Ventral' & 'Dorsal' branches of the parasympathetic nervous system.
🤯 This episode might feel like a lot of information if you're just hearing this for the first time, but I encourage you to stay with it my hope is that there will be some real nuggets for everyone listening regardless of how much knowledge you currently have.

– – – – –

🙋‍♀️ Where to find Conni Online

🖥️ Website + blog: conni.me
💌 Her awesome newsletter: flow + wonder
🎙️ Conni's 'CREATE' podcast
📸 Instagram: @breathwork.alchemy
🐦 Twitter @connibe

Connect + Explore More from Jonny
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Effing the Ineffable, Re-Imagining Love & Relieving Reality of Its Seriousness with Alice Frank

Jonny Miller — Mon, 21 Jun 2021 01:22:05 -0600

In one of the longest and most wide-ranging episodes to date, this conversation is with filmmaker, poet, relationship coach and utterly unique human being Alice Frank—who is here as she says to proudly "eff the ineffable".

Her book 'My Real Name Is You' has been loved by Eckhart Tolle said 'My favourite poem I ever heard' and Jason Mraz who shared: 'Her words are alive the same way notation can fly off a page and become sweet music.'

I'm slightly at a loss for words attempting to describe the ground that we covered but I will add that she is one of the most present people I've ever met and has a truly astounding capacity to articulate the great mysteries of life.

Here's a sampling of where our conversation led:

✨ Her spiritual awakening that lasted for a decade and what her experience was of being no-one (and the challenges of living so deeply in the present)... followed by what she described as her 'breakup with god'.
😆 Why we lose touch with our sense of play and why we should strive to 'relieve reality of its seriousness'. I loved that one of her favourite mantras is 'Can you imagine if it mattered? Can you imagine if it mattered?'
❤️ Her journey from the depths of polyamory to more recently getting married, reframing un-conditional love to 'all-conditional' love & how she now coaches couples to remember what this even means.
🎴 Her current meditation practice and why she created a 'silent retreat in a box' — a beautiful series of mantra cards to create your own home meditation retreat (definitely check this out!)

***

Explore Alice's Homepage + Portfolio // Uniamory
Connect with Alice on Instagram // @uniamory

Connect + Explore More from Jonny
🐦 Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller
🫁 Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
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Overcoming Imposter Syndrome & Re-Claiming Your Attention with Award Winning Poet Max Stossel

Jonny Miller — Sat, 05 Jun 2021 21:04:46 -0600

Max Stossel is an award-winning poet (whose short films have been seen over 40 million times) advisor to Tech for Humanity, successful filmmaker and all-around wise human who I'm grateful to call a brother.

In this poetic + lyrical conversation we explore:

🖋️ The journey that led him from designing notification systems at a social media company to exploring the art and science of attention.
📱 The dangers of smartphone addiction + practical questions as users that we can be asking ourselves
📝 How he describes his work as a blend of poetry, standup comedy and storytelling
💔 How he's found the courage to lean into painful experiences and get curious about heartbreak
🦅 How his writing workshop on avoidance and imposter syndrome led to my publishing a short poetry book.
🙋‍♂️ His experience and insights from leading men's groups and how this work has changed his life for the better

***

See Max in action // wordsthatmove.com
Connect with Max on Twitter // @MaxStossel

Connect + Explore More from Jonny
🐦 Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller
🫁 Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
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Jamie Wheal on The Meaning Crisis, Hedonic Engineering & Forging a Culture of Post-Traumatic Growth

Jonny Miller — Thu, 20 May 2021 09:51:11 -0600

This is one HELL of an episode with honestly one of the most interesting and radical thinkers of our generation.

Jamie is a renaissance man. He's well known for his work writing Stealing Fire and creating the Flow Genome Project—and as you'll hear in our conversation the book he has just published is unlike anything else you'll ever read.

I see Jamie as being a bridge between the spiritual and the scientific. He's pioneering studies with Johns Hopkins and MAPS whilst wading deep into questions of how to we evolve and mature as humans or in his words—how do we "Stay awake. Build stuff. And help out."

In this conversation which felt more like a science-fiction rhapsody we bounce around between:

🤯 Why we're facing a new Meaning Crisis and the dangers of 'Rapture Ideologies'
🧘‍♂️ The Hedonic Yoga of Becoming experiment he dreamt up and ran with after a conversation with Roland Grifiths at MAPS
💔 We talk about grief and the real need for cultivating a culture of post-traumatic growth
🎮 How he's planning on launching a post-modern religion in hyperspace taking the form of an alternate reality game called Y-ANON.

Truly this has been one of my favourite and mind-bending conversations to date—if you enjoyed it please take a few moments to share on the socials, go out and buy his book Recapture the Rapture and start experimenting with some of the protocols and practices that he shares (Bonus points if you send Jamie a letter telling him what you’ve done!)

***

📚 Buy Jamie’s New Book // recapturetherapture.com
🎙️ Listen to his 'HomeGrown Humans' podcast
📸 Follow on IG // @flowgenome
💌 Subscribe to the Flow Genome Newsletter

Connect + Explore More from Jonny
🐦 Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller
🫁 Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
🪷 Order our deck of Calm Cards (these make great gifts)
📱 Check out Stateshift — our brand new iOS + Android app
📝 Take the Nervous System Quotient (NSQ) Self-Assessment (totally free)
💌 Sign up to The Inner Frontier Newsletter

How to Human: Exploring Soul Initiation, Mythopoetic Identity & The Spiritual Adventure with Depth Psychologist & Wilderness Guide Dr. Bill Plotkin

Jonny Miller — Tue, 04 May 2021 16:11:21 -0600

Dr. Bill Plotkin is a depth psychologist, wilderness guide and visionary ecopsychologist—his work might well be the map that you didn't know you were looking for.

It has been for me an immense treasure trove of practical wisdom and guidance for thinking about my own growth and maturity.

At the end of our conversation, he shared that this was a book written for future generations—and I believe it may take decades before the importance of this body of work is fully understood.

I hope that this conversation will play some role in spreading his ideas—and on that note, in this deep dive conversation we explore:

🤓 His definition for what it means to be a genuine adult (and why he believes 80% of humanity are currently stuck in early-stage adolescence)
🗺️ His map of the five stages of the descent to soul and the path to becoming a true elder
🌎 His 'four facets of mind' as a unique framework for personal development a and cultivating human wholeness
❤️ What he calls 'sacred wound work' a story of the weavings of the Native American Diné people
🔥 What I consider my own mythopoetic identity to be based on an insight during a vision fast in Nepal
🙋‍♂️ The big question that he would have liked to pose to Carl Jung
❓ What it means for him to 'fill one's space with a question'
🏫 His vision for this work to be put into practice by a global network of 'mystery schools'

***

Read Bill's book // The Journey of Soul Initiation
Go Deeper // explore the upcoming Animas Offerings

Connect + Explore More from Jonny
🐦 Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller
🫁 Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
🪷 Order our deck of Calm Cards (these make great gifts)
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Designing a GPS for Navigating Challenging Emotions with Cris Beasley

Jonny Miller — Thu, 19 Nov 2020 08:03:09 -0700

This seeds for this conversation were planted at the end of last year when I was listening to a podcast called ‘Hack Reality’ and Cris shared her phone number at the end of the episode—I sent her a voice memo about the Poet David Whyte... we since became good friends and when COVID hit she followed an intuitive hit to reach out and ended up living with us here in Oaxaca Mexico for a month.

Cris has one of the most eclectic backgrounds you’ll come across. She went from founding a venture-backed AI fashion company, to hosting a podcast about the future of technology, and more recently has taken a left turn into the world of trauma healing and spent the better part of the last three years designing a card deck for exploring shadow emotions—which is about to launch on Kickstarter.

So as I said, one hell of an eclectic background and as such our conversation dances around between:

🔥 Insights from exploring the money stories and the rock bottom moment of having to shut down her company on short notice
👣 Learning how to connect with her intuition following an assignment to follow her curiosity walking barefoot around San Francisco
❤️ Her experiences working with MDMA and LSD-assisted therapy

And then things go off the deep end and she talks about a kundalini awakening experience she had in an ancient Mayan Ruin, and about 52 minutes in Cris shares her roadmap and toolkit for people to begin with Shadow work, navigate existential crises and exploring the roots of their repressed emotions and the vision she has for her card deck being used as an Emotional Guidance System.

🐉 I thoroughly encourage you to check-out the card deck Cris spent the last three years designing over on Kickstarter.

Alright, that’s more than enough rambling from me. If you appreciate this conversation please do give The Inner Frontier a review on iTunes and share with someone else who you think might appreciate it.

Connect + Explore More from Jonny
🐦 Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller
🫁 Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
🪷 Order our deck of Calm Cards (these make great gifts)
📱 Check out Stateshift — our brand new iOS + Android app
📝 Take the Nervous System Quotient (NSQ) Self-Assessment (totally free)
💌 Sign up to The Inner Frontier Newsletter

Mindfulness, Language Learning & The Four Causes of Procrastination with Arthur Worsley

Jonny Miller — Thu, 19 Nov 2020 07:41:12 -0700

Arthur Worsley is a close friend of mine that I met in Bali where over many dinners together he educated me in the tactics for learning Bhasa, memorising my TEDx talk and really opened my eyes to the world of meta-learning that he has specialised in.

Back in the day, he studied neurophysiology at Oxford in the UK and since became conversationally fluent in 8 languages and also applies his learning superpowers to things like ultra-marathon running and collecting wisdom from the crazy number of books he reads.

In this wide-ranging conversation, we dive into the simultaneous devastating personal loss and financial gain that he received nearly a decade ago and how that was a catalyst for reinventing himself. He also walks me through how he thinks about procrastination and the four main causes of it, his approach for cultivating and tracking mindful metta moments and some thoughts on how his life may be altered by the child that he and his fiancé are expecting.

📚 Read Arthur's book reviews, ongoing meta-learning insights, his habit tracker and (free) book on working less hard here: theartofliving.com

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Creating Smart Luck & Engineering Serendipity with Dr. Christian Busch

Jonny Miller — Mon, 09 Nov 2020 11:02:18 -0700

Dr. Christian Busch directs the CGA Global Economy Program at (NYU) and teaches on purpose-driven business, entrepreneurship, emerging markets, and (social) innovation at NYU and at the London School of Economics (LSE). Christian is also the co-founder of Sandbox Network, a leading community of young innovators, as well as of Leaders on Purpose—an organization convening leading CEOs. He has a host of impressive accolades to his name, one of the Davos 50, an RSA fellow and frequently speaks at the World Economic Forum. He's also the author of a fascinating new book called 'The Serendipity Mindset' that we really dive into in this conversation.

🎙️ In this wide-ranging conversation, we talk about what he learned from his near-death car accident at 17, his journey from economics lecturer to writing a book about cultivating smart luck, surefire ways of having dull conversations and some tangible suggestions for building the muscle of serendipity in one's own life.

📚 You can say hi to Christian on Twitter @ChrisSerendip. And I strongly encourage you to get your mitts on a copy of Christian's new book 'The Serendipity Mindset'

Connect + Explore More from Jonny
🐦 Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller
🫁 Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
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The Everyday Wizardry of Ritual with Casper Ter Kuile

Jonny Miller — Mon, 22 Jun 2020 16:00:00 -0600

Casper Ter Kuile is one of the most genuinely joy-filled humans that I have had the pleasure of knowing.

In this conversation we do a deep dive into his new book 'The Power of Ritual' which is out the day this episode airs, it’s honestly a perspective-shifting and heart-warmingly beautiful book on discovering the sacred amidst everyday life and seeing the world through the eyes of ritual. It's a real corker of a conversation! A few of the stories + questions we dive into are:

⛪ Some of his early experiences as a climate activist that unexpectedly led him to Harvard Divinity School
🙏 Redefining what it means for something to be 'sacred'
⏳ Why he loves the powerful idea of liturgical time
🤔 What he considers to be some of the enemies of ritual
📝 How to go about designing your own rituals amidst the lockdown.
❤️ Rituals that we've both created to foster meaningful connection with our respective partners amidst the quarantine
📆 How he has managed to create a secular sabbath for himself (and stick to it for over 4 years)
🧙‍♂️ His favourite Harry Potter scene (this is unexpectedly powerful!)
🎙️ The one lesson that he's taken away from working with the OnBeing team.

***

Where to find Casper on the interwebs

Say hi to Casper on Twitter @CaspkerTK
Join some of the virtual events Casper is leading
Read 'How We Gather' for free online
Join Casper's Newsletter (it's superb)

📚 Finally... I strongly encourage you to get your mitts on a copy of Casper's new book 'The Power of Ritual'

Connect + Explore More from Jonny
🐦 Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller
🫁 Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
🪷 Order our deck of Calm Cards (these make great gifts)
📱 Check out Stateshift — our brand new iOS + Android app
📝 Take the Nervous System Quotient (NSQ) Self-Assessment (totally free)
💌 Sign up to The Inner Frontier Newsletter

Make Your Myth, Face Your Shadow & Own Your Truth with Erick Godsey

Jonny Miller — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 14:00:00 -0600

All I can say is that you're in for a treat with this conversation. Erick Godsey studies the myths that make us—he uses cognitive, evolutionary, and Jungian psychology to help people discover, articulate, and change the stories that rule their lives.

Here is a mere smidge of the ground that we covered:

💊 Erick's view on the broken system of Western medicine and why SSRIs and psychiatric drugs are no better than a placebo.
🎭 His perspective on a psychological model called 'Internal Family Systems' that articulates the multitudes of characters within us all.
🧙‍♂️ The Jungian book on mature masculine archetypes that changed his life and the way he shows up in relationship.
😴 Why it's worth paying more attention to our dreams.
📝 The journal prompt that he would prescribe to someone who is looking at the world in despair right now and feeling overwhelmed with the crises that are unfolding.
🤔 Why no human is equipped with the biological apparatus to perceive the actual world, but that we create models that are useful to us.
✊ The spiritual commitment he made to write morning pages for an hour every day after hitting rock bottom.
❤️ His views on grief as the active process of digesting attachments to love.
🖋️ The tragic beauty of the human condition—that we suffer so much more than we have to, because of the stories that we tell ourselves
🐺 Why the ego is NOT the enemy, but more like a wolf (and how to join forces with it)

Books & Blog Posts Referenced

King, Warrior, Magican, Lover—the book we both read and loved on the four mature masculine archetypes.
The Life-Changing Magic of Journaling—a must-read post by Erick for anyone wanting to go deeper into internal family systems, journaling practices and Jungian archetypes.
Prometheus Unchained—a deep dive into how to share your highest gifts with the world.

Where to find Erick G. on the interwebs

📸 Instagram @erickgodsey
📝 Erick's Ten Blog Posts You Should Read
💌 Signup for his Feasting Fridays newsletter
🎙️ Listen to his Myths that Make us podcast
💰 Support him on Patreon
📚 See the books that changed his myth
👨‍🎓 Join me and take his Make Your Myth online course

Connect + Explore More from Jonny
🐦 Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller
🫁 Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
🪷 Order our deck of Calm Cards (these make great gifts)
📱 Check out Stateshift — our brand new iOS + Android app
📝 Take the Nervous System Quotient (NSQ) Self-Assessment (totally free)
💌 Sign up to The Inner Frontier Newsletter

The Subtle Art of Facilitation with Andi Cuddington

Jonny Miller — Sun, 31 May 2020 18:00:00 -0600

This conversation is with a close friend of mine, Andi Cuddington—I think of her as a modern-day renaissance woman and I’ll typically turn to her for advice if I’m going through something challenging in my life. Andi is just endlessly curious and has a totally unique lens on the world as you’ll hear in our conversation.

She has had a thousand side-hustles and jobs in her non-linear career but many of the dots have connected and she has found her calling designing and facilitating workshops—more than anyone else I've encountered, she has mastered of the art + science of workshop facilitation and we do a deep dive into some of her tips and suggestions as well as:

✔️ Unexpected items on her "Apoco-list"
🤔 How we’re both fuelled by the fear of boredom
🌎 How backpacking in Africa shaped her future career trajectory
🏔️ The intriguring connection between adventure and curiosity
👨‍🎓 Tips for what makes an exceptional facilitation experience
👩‍🏫 Superb advice for those dipping their toes into virtual workshop creation.
🔑 Unlocking the genius in the room, one workshop at a time... and much more!

–– ––

🙋‍♂️ Learn more about Andi's facilitation superpowers here: andicuddington.com

Connect + Explore More from Jonny
🐦 Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller
🫁 Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
🪷 Order our deck of Calm Cards (these make great gifts)
📱 Check out Stateshift — our brand new iOS + Android app
📝 Take the Nervous System Quotient (NSQ) Self-Assessment (totally free)
💌 Sign up to The Inner Frontier Newsletter

Exploring Emotional Intelligence + Perfectionism with Emile Steenveld

Jonny Miller — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 10:00:00 -0600

This was a wide-ranging conversation with emotional intelligence coach Emile Steenveld—previously an Australian model and actor traveling the globe for 12 years—he now works as a coach + facilitator, focusing on the inner workings of the relationship with the self and the mind.

In this conversation we dive into:

🇮🇳 Emile's travels in India, learning lessons of simplicity... defining joy as the happiness that doesn't depend on what happens.
🦆 One of the most interesting tangents the topic of being a recovering perfectionist and what he calls duck syndrome
💪 How to build the muscle of emotional intelligence
🤷‍♂️ And some questions that have been running through my mind around Exploring new definitions of masculinity and how to express fully without fear of judgment.
📝 Journal prompts that Emile uses when starting new projects.

––

🔗 Find out more about Emile's work and coaching here.

Connect + Explore More from Jonny
🐦 Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller
🫁 Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
🪷 Order our deck of Calm Cards (these make great gifts)
📱 Check out Stateshift — our brand new iOS + Android app
📝 Take the Nervous System Quotient (NSQ) Self-Assessment (totally free)
💌 Sign up to The Inner Frontier Newsletter

Making Mischief, Navigating Self-Doubt & Cultivating Leadership with Andy Sparks

Jonny Miller — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 07:00:00 -0700

I talk with Andy Sparks, is the CEO at Holloway, they're building a new way to publish non-fiction books online (and it's gorgeous!) He's an incredibly genuine and self-aware human, it was a real pleasure spending time learning about his journey stepping into a position of leadership and forging his own path in life.

Andy shares really dark moments early on in his career when he was trying to figure out where your sense of self comes from as a young person and figure out his place in the world.

In this episode we also dive into:

😦 What it was like making the decision to close his company (and how he navigated a deep depression that followed)
🤣 The fun story behind his Calvin Hobbes tattoo
👨‍🏭 Why getting an executive coach has been one of the most important things in his professional career
🧰 Some powerful advice he received on how to build a support network from the founder of Masterclass
👐 How he now aims to navigate conflict with his cofounder at Holloway
🙋‍♂️ Taking responsibility for what we feel and why you don't have a choice about bring your kookiness and trauma to work
🤓 We also nerd out on some of his leadership mental models and frameworks that he has gathered over the years of being a founder and CEO

–

📚 Follow Andy's musings on Twitter @Sparkszilla // read his Medium essay on confidence or check Holloway (especially if you're a non-fiction writer).

Connect + Explore More from Jonny
🐦 Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller
🫁 Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
🪷 Order our deck of Calm Cards (these make great gifts)
📱 Check out Stateshift — our brand new iOS + Android app
📝 Take the Nervous System Quotient (NSQ) Self-Assessment (totally free)
💌 Sign up to The Inner Frontier Newsletter

Breathwork, The Cure For Anxiety? with Edward Dangerfield

Jonny Miller — Wed, 08 Jan 2020 09:00:00 -0700

If you haven't already heard of Breathwork, I think it's fair to say that you that you likely will have by the end of the year. It's exploding in popularity, in the same way that yoga and meditation has over the last decade, and I think for good reason.

On a basic level breathwork is the practice of changing your breathing pattern to shift your mental, emotional and physical state... but what I deeply appreciate about Edward is his clinical approach that is backed by years of training, endocrinology research and self-experimentation mapping out the human nervous system.

The aim of this conversation was to create something of a comprehensive beginners guide to breathwork and some of the areas we dive into are:

🏂 Ed's personal journey from being trapped in an avalanche and nearly dying, which led him to being a highly functioning alcoholic and depressive.
😬 His experiences curing anxiety through 1-1 breathwork sessions with his clients
🌬️ Why our thinking is directly influenced by our breathing
🗺️ How he has been able to map certain emotions onto specific breathing patterns.
🧙‍♂️ What he learnt from living with the Canadian Tribal Elders
🙋‍♂️ Some of my personal experiences lying on Ed's breathwork table
📝 Defining capacity + resiliency from the perspective of the nervous system.
😲 Some of the healing that he has witnessed in his time guiding sessions: from a man who relived and processed a near-drowning experience to stories of women who have been able to process experiences of sexual abuse.

Links and Further Resources:
📸 Follow @edwarddangerfield and @breathworkbali
🔗 Check out BreathworkBali.com

Connect + Explore More from Jonny
🐦 Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller
🫁 Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
🪷 Order our deck of Calm Cards (these make great gifts)
📱 Check out Stateshift — our brand new iOS + Android app
📝 Take the Nervous System Quotient (NSQ) Self-Assessment (totally free)
💌 Sign up to The Inner Frontier Newsletter

Imagining Life Beyond Total Work with Andrew Taggart

Jonny Miller — Sat, 07 Dec 2019 20:00:00 -0700

I'm speaking with Andrew J Taggart, a practical philosopher, Zen Buddhist, and entrepreneur urging us to wake up to what we have so far taken for granted.

In this conversation we discuss the thesis of his Total Work Manifesto and why we use our work and productivity to fuel our sense of self-worth and create meaning in our lives, as well as his compelling ideas for how we might break out of this Total Work prison that he calls Way of Loss and the Way of Wonderment.

I should also mention that about one and half hours in, I ask Andrew to imagine an all hands on deck academy, or ecology of practices designed to become whole and integrated humans.

His answer is insightful but the day after our conversation he wrote up an extended reply which he has posted on his blog with the title 'A Tentative Curriculum For Psycho-technologies Of Self-transformation' (it's well worth a read!)

Show Notes:

👋 Say hello to Andrew on Twitter
📝Subscribe to Andrew's ongoing Total Work Manifesto on Substack
👀 Read Andrew's philosophical writing
🖋️ Follow his emerging conversations over on letter.wiki

Connect + Explore More from Jonny
🐦 Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller
🫁 Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
🪷 Order our deck of Calm Cards (these make great gifts)
📱 Check out Stateshift — our brand new iOS + Android app
📝 Take the Nervous System Quotient (NSQ) Self-Assessment (totally free)
💌 Sign up to The Inner Frontier Newsletter

Eating Knowledge & The Art of Productive Disagreement with Buster Benson

Jonny Miller — Tue, 19 Nov 2019 22:00:00 -0700

In this conversation we get into the meaty questions about his new book that's hitting the shelves this week called 'Why Are We Yelling', a whimsical and disarmingly powerful case and strategy guide for having what Buster calls productive disagreement.

We cover three truths or misconceptions about arguments that you have uncovered, why he likes to eat knowledge, he coaches me through the process of engaging in a disagreement around climate change and we talk about some of the enemies of curiosity and what he calls the voice of possibility.

Then towards the end we explore some fun ground around:

📖 Why he's writing a 'Codex Vitae'
🎈 His 100th birthday plans
💀 What death-bed points are
📷 Why he took a photo at exactly 8.36pm every day for almost a decade.

Check out Buster's New Book // Why Are We Yelling: The Art of Productive Disagreement
Buster's Website // busterbenson.com
Buster on Twitter // @buster
Buster on Letter Wiki // Letter.Wiki

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Curiosity, Grief, Wonder & The Privilege of Being Alive with Mike Slavin

Jonny Miller — Mon, 11 Nov 2019 01:00:00 -0700

This was a real honour, Mike is trained as a magician and also the CEO at 'High Existence' — a community and network of practical philosophy and for expanding human consciousness — and he's one of the most articulate and poetic people I've had the pleasure of meeting.

If we can't fall in love with the privilege that we have to be alive, then anything that we try and do from this place of living, is is going to be limited."

Mike and I riff on definitions of wonder, ambition, grief, the role of inviting in the unexpected, the difference between purpose and destiny, and so much more.

Get in touch with Mike on Twitter // where he cultivates wisdom & wonder @highexistence

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Cultivating Curiosity, Self-Authorship & Mindframing with Anne-Laure Le Cunff

Jonny Miller — Fri, 25 Oct 2019 10:00:00 -0600

Anne-Laure is an ex-Googler, a talented writer and part-time neuroscience student. We bounce around between topics that resonated with me personally including: time anxiety, why we don't tend to take curiosity seriously as adults, a powerful technique for personal growth she's developed called 'Mindframing' and her recent decision to leave Google in order to go back to study neuroscience at Kings in London.

Find Anne-Laure on Twitter, read her articles on Ness Labs or sign-up for her Maker Mind newsletter.

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Cory Allen on The Joyful Absurdity of Existence

Jonny Miller — Mon, 23 Sep 2019 10:30:00 -0600

I've been listening to Cory's podcast the Astral Hustle for years now so had so much fun being on the other end of the line and digging into his fascinating mind—he has an amazing gift for walking a line between being ridiculous and playful yet also filled with deep insights and practical tips on mindfulness.

We didn't have time to cover it in this episode but Cory has a background in music and also produces Binaural Beats, which I've been using daily for the last few months to both meditate and focus at work – and you can find these as well as the lowdown on his new book 'Now is the Way' – which is available from today at nowistheway.com 📚

This was another of those conversations that just lit me up 🔥it felt like the time flew by but we bounced between the role of humour in spiritual exploration and the 'upside of impermanence' to some of the more practical aspects meditation, how it changes the way we experience the world and how we can get out of our own way to risk being more human.

"The fragments of the self that are shattered you know the different pieces of you that exist within they’re the broken pieces of the mirror that been through the meditation or through creating the space they have the space to start to reconnect into one singular piece of mirror of yourself so that you can look into it and quote-unquote reflect and then begin to understand what you are and then begin to author your future." – Cory Allen

***

📝Read the full transcript with Cory here.

📚Cory's new book 'Now is the Way' is officially out today and I would thoroughly encourage you all to head over to nowistheway.com and add it to your respective reading lists.

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Tiago Forte on Intuition, Breathwork & What it Feels like to Have a Second Brain

Jonny Miller — Thu, 12 Sep 2019 18:00:00 -0600

🙌I’ve probably said this before, but this feels like my favourite conversation on the podcast so far.

⏰ I woke up at 5am to take the call because of time-zone differences, but by the end I was practically bouncing off the walls with enthusiasm.

📝 Tiago is one of the deepest thinkers of anyone that I follow online, he’s a prolific writer, productivity coach and as you’ll hear in this conversation has built his business to fuel his own relentless curiosity.

🍄 You wouldn’t imagine that productivity systems and psychedelics usually pair well in a conversation, but it turns out they do!

🏫Tiago also shares some powerful personal stories relating to his experiences using breathwork to process anger, how he is learning to tap into his intuition and a vision that came to him for building a school for future in Brazil.

📝View the transcript of the episode here.

🔗Links and resources mentioned:

+ The home of Tiago's writing 👉 Forte Labs
+ The online course we dive into 👉 Building a Second Brain
+ Follow Tiago on Twitter

Connect + Explore More from Jonny
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Astronomy as a Lens to Understand Yourself with Kevin Hainline

Jonny Miller — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 06:00:00 -0600

This was one of those spontaneous conversations that made me feel grateful for having started a podcast...

it was with NASA astronomer Kevin Hainline, recorded sitting next to a stream up in the Spanish pyrenees. We went completely off the deep end and I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that he changed the way I look up at the night sky and sent me into a rabbit hole of researching how different cultures around the world tell stories about the constellations they see.

🦖When Kevin was young he had to choose between dedicating his life to studying dinosaurs or black holes. He chose black holes (although dinosaurs are still very near to his heart).

🍃The surprising reason behind why we have seasons...

🌟Why for Kevin: "The stars are like friends. They comfort me."

🔭How astronomy helps you as a lens to understand yourself and why people should choose a way in which they want to look at the stars.

📚Kevin's personal mission to communicate how important it is that we live in a diverse and interesting and weird world and to celebrate that.

Listener Question >> “What are some of the gateways to awe and wonder for you in the world?”

Find Kevin on the Interwebs
+ Twitter @kevin_hainline
+ His new video series The Stars Connect Us on YouTube

Show Notes:
+ Full Transcript on Medium
+ The Explorer Book

+ The Exploratorium in San Francisco, a temple to curiosity.

+ Infinite Games by James Carse

+ DK Encyclopedia homepage

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Life Lessons from 12 year Old Conscious Fashion Entrepreneur Hanalei Swan

Jonny Miller — Thu, 22 Aug 2019 13:00:00 -0600

Our future is in good hands... it's the 'grown-ups' that have the catching up to do!

📷 Follow Hanalei on Instagram @Hanaleiswan

👚 Check out her conscious fashion designs at http://hanaleiswan.com

Connect + Explore More from Jonny
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The Big Wave Surfer Planting Seeds for Future Generations

Jonny Miller — Tue, 06 Aug 2019 20:00:00 -0600

🏄‍♂️Fergal Smith is a big-wave surfer and pioneering farmer, two words that don't often go in the same sentence.

👨‍🌾He juggles his time between growing veg and paddling into 30ft slabs of Atlantic ocean swells! I spent a couple of days helping out at Moy Hill, getting my hands in the soil and helping the team fill their 90x veg boxes to be sent out that week.

🌳 What I hope comes across in the conversation is Ferg's eloquent sincerity, the courage that it took and his vision to inspire a new generation of 'growers' and planting seeds for future generations (they’ve already planted 18,000 trees!)

❓Listener Question >> “What are some ways that you've found to reconnect with the food you eat?"

Learn more about the Moy Hill project and how you can get involved at moyhillfarm.com or follow their growing adventures on Instagram @moyhillfarm.

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Insights from a Year in Silence, Designing the 'Jedi Warrior Program' & Advice from the Dalai Lama with Joel Levey

Jonny Miller — Tue, 23 Jul 2019 03:35:00 -0600

Joel Levey was one of the first pioneers of mindfulness training back in the 70s, along with his partner Michelle, they worked with Google and NASA and co-designed a secret 'Jedi Warrior' program for the US elite special forces... in this conversation we touch on:

🤔His thoughts on how to be curious in the face of suffering.

👤 Why he chose to embark on a year of silence with his partner Michelle.
🙏 Advice that received from the His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
❓Listener Question >> “How could you bring more mindful moments into your daily routine?”

Joel Levey is respected for being among the very first professionals to introduce the principles and practices of mindfulness and mind-fitness training, interpersonal neurobiology, collective wisdom, deep systems thinking, and contemplative science into mainstream business, medicine, high-education, sports, and government arenas – having begun this work in the 70s.

Learn more about the Levey's work at: http://wisdomatwork.com
Explore their upcoming Learning Expedition: http://learningexpedition.work/

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Rewilding Ourselves on Spaceship Earth with Dan Burgess

Jonny Miller — Tue, 09 Jul 2019 17:00:00 -0600

🌳 Dan has worked with some of the most innovative and inspiring brands, kickstarted a global movement to reconnect kids with nature, founded and built a global creative generosity network and guest lectures on Co-Creating the Emerging Future.

🎧 Oh and he’s also a former club DJ, as well as a trail running surf-loving dad! I was so grateful for the long walks and meandering conversations we shared in Portugal, Dan’s enthusiasm for life is contagious and he’s someone who believes in the extraordinary possibilities for the future 🌎

❓ Listener Question: What are some of your favourite ways to 'Rewild Yourself'?

Find out more about Dan on his website: danburgess.earth or say hi on Twitter @dansolos.

🎵Musical Credits
Thanks so much to the Heinali who generously provided the musical accompaniments.

Connect + Explore More from Jonny
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Chasing Curiosity as a Career Path with Anna Starkey

Jonny Miller — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 13:00:00 -0600

Anna Starkey is a genuine 21st century renaissance woman! In this wide-ranging conversation with dig into:

👨‍🎓 From lecturing on antimatter and working as the 'director of impossible projects' to performing stand-up comedy sketches...
🎙️ producing live arts shows for global cinema and gracing the TED stage with her talk: 'Do Not Press the Big Red Button'... her life is a testament to embracing curiosity as a career path!
👩‍🚀We dive deep into her zig-zag career (which begun with her dream of being an astronaut), the latest research on curiosity as 'the knowledge emotion' and waxing lyrical on her current mission of ushering in a new age of curiosity!

Listener Question >> “What are some of the enemies to curiosity in your life – and how might we nudge others to take it more seriously?”

***

Follow Anna on Twitter @annastarkey – find out about more of her work at outofyourmind.london and check out wethecurious.org to learn more about the incredible Bristol-based museum.

🎵Musical Credits
Thanks so much to the Heinali who generously provided the musical accompaniments.

Connect + Explore More from Jonny
🐦 Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller
🫁 Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
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A Rare Glimpse into the Future of Higher Education with Austin Louis

Jonny Miller — Thu, 27 Jun 2019 07:00:00 -0600

I sat down with Austin in Portland, Oregon and we dive into some of his experience at the fascinating Wayfinding Academy. Hearing his vulnerable story gave me hope.

We talk about the courage required to step outside the curiosity-crippling traditional system into what he called the 'space between stories' and develop new worldviews.

I found it inspiring to see the path that he has now found which feels more aligned with the human he aspires to become.

📝Show Notes:

🏫 I thoroughly recommend that you check out Wayfinding Academy in Portland & their manifesto
📷 Follow Austin's creative adventures on Instagram @AustinLouis_
❓Listener Question >> “What subjects might you include in a curriculum that was fit for the future?” Tag @jonnym1ller on Twitter or Instagram.

🎵Musical Credits >> Thanks so much to the Heinali who generously provided the musical accompaniments.

Connect + Explore More from Jonny
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🫁 Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
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Embracing Uncertainty & Radical Curiosity with Leo Babauta

Jonny Miller — Sat, 22 Jun 2019 13:00:00 -0600

Leo Babauta is the prolific writer of Zen Habits who is joining me from the distant island of Guam 7,400 miles away. Here are a few tasters for what to expect in this wide-ranging conversation:

😨 How Zen Habits evolved into his mission to help others push into their uncertainty.

👨‍🎓 How Leo unschooled and de-programmed his kids to facilitate their own natural state of curiosity.

🚀 Leo's compelling case for why a fully-optimised life would actually suck and risks being the most controlled boring thing possible.

💪 Developing and training 'radical curiosity' to dive inwards even when you don't like what you're seeing—how to hold the pose when you're entire body wants to shut down and run.

🤼 What he's learned about learning and his no-holds-barred debate with Tim Ferriss on the idea of abandoning goals.

🧘‍♂️ The incredible Zen Habits origin story – his path from being in debt, overweight, a smoker and feeling miserable to escaping debt, gaining a following of over a million readers, publishing books on habit-change, finding joy and even running an ultra-marathon!

***

📝 Read the Full Transcript here over on Medium

❓Listener Question >> “How do you feel about the balance between achievement and appreciation?” Tag @jonnym1ller on Twitter or Instagram.

***

🙏 Join Leo's new Fearless Academy and support his mission.
👨‍🎓 Learn more about his Sea Change Habit Academy
🖋️ Join over 2 million readers of Leo's Zen Habits
🐦 Find Leo on Twitter @Zen_Habits

***

🎵Musical Credits
Thanks so much to the Heinali who generously provided the musical accompaniments.

Connect + Explore More from Jonny
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David Whyte on Courage as a Measure of Our Heartfelt Participation with Life

Jonny Miller — Fri, 14 Jun 2019 10:00:00 -0600

There are maybe a handful to times in your life where you discover a book, that you want to keep by your bedside for the rest of your life. And for me that book is David's ‘Consolations’. It ratcheted open my mind to a whole new perspective on the definitions of words like Ambition, Courage and Heartbreak, that I thought I previously understood.

I’m not sure how to even begin to describe exactly what it is that David does. On paper he's an acclaimed poet, a writer and a philosopher. But to my mind, after having recently spent a magical week with him on the Irish Atlantic coastline, I feel like he's a true elder, with a deep philosophical curiosity and gift for weaving together our inner and outer worlds in what he calls 'the conversational nature of reality’.

We recorded this conversation, in David's cottage by a roaring fire. You can probably hear how nervous I felt, especially early in the first few minutes. But what I really hope comes across, is the way that David’s voice casts a spell of sorts that puts those listening (myself included) into a state of reverie and complete undiluted attention.

It’s a wide-ranging conversation and towards the end we cover some really interesting ground on the questions he believes we’re living our way into as a society, and how Trump is a representation of everything that is wrong with the masculine picture of an immature boy that has never grown fully into the world.

❓Listener Question >> "Do you have a favourite poem that you carry with you? How has poetry shaped your life?” Tag @jonnym1ller on Twitter or Instagram.

📝 Show Notes
+ Read the full transcript (with my photos of Ireland) over on Medium

📚 Explore David's work:
+ Follow David on Twitter or Facebook
+ Read 'The Bell & The Blackbird'.
+ Apply for one of David's upcoming walking tours in Ireland, the Lake District, Tuscany & New Zealand
+ Watch David's TED Talk 'A lyrical bridge between past, present and future'
+ Find out everything else David is up to at davidwhyte.com

🎵Musical Credits
Thanks so much to the Heinali who generously provided the musical accompaniments.

Connect + Explore More from Jonny
🐦 Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller
🫁 Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
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Kinaesthetic Literacy & Yoga as a Technology for Cultivating Good Humans with Karina Guthrie

Jonny Miller — Wed, 12 Jun 2019 02:00:00 -0600

Karina Guthrie is a yoga teacher at The Practice with a background in academia studying psychology and philosophy.

We covered a lot of ground, touching on:
📚 why her parents would confiscate abridged books from her as a child and the book she would love to write one day.
🏫 the story of how she left a career in academia to follow her curiosity in the yoga world
🧘‍♀️ the importance of becoming more Kinaesthetically literate in the 21st century
📖 the difference between knowledge and lived wisdom
❤️ favourite untranslatable words
💫 thoughts on yoga as a spiritual technology for re-connecting us with the 'bigness of the universe’ and all that which takes us beyond ourselves.
❓Listener Question >> “What is the project or creative endeavour that you’ve been putting off – and what might be a way to start it before you feel totally ready?”

You can follow her bombshells of wisdom & thoughtful yogic musings @karina.guthrie on Instagram.

Connect + Explore More from Jonny
🐦 Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller
🫁 Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
🪷 Order our deck of Calm Cards (these make great gifts)
📱 Check out Stateshift — our brand new iOS + Android app
📝 Take the Nervous System Quotient (NSQ) Self-Assessment (totally free)
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