Episode 76 — The Opposite of Trying

How much of your life do you spend straining and efforting only to spin your wheels and ultimately burn out? In this episode, Joe and Brett peel apart the layers between ‘trying’ and effortless action. They acknowledge the value of each way of being across various life contexts and discuss the role emotional fluidity plays in freely navigating the spectrum — from trying to its polar opposite.

Episode 68 — Q&A – Expressing ‘Anger At’, Playing with Depression, Alone But Not Lonely, Following Connection, Desire and Patience Through Deep Work

Joe and Brett celebrate a banner year of podcast growth by answering questions directly from listeners. In this episode, we explore: (3:20) Anger – feeling, expressing, and receiving ‘anger at’ a person (11:07) Presence – staying with ourselves in complex and fast-paced group situations (15:23) Depression – what is it, and how can we play with it? (21:26) Alone, but not lonely – how our sense of connection evolves through deep work (25:16) Desire – staying in touch with our wants as craving subsides (30:38) Mental health – relating to family or friends with mental health challenges (35:38) Patience – insights and practices to be patient with ourselves and our growth.

Episode 61 — Triggered! — Relationships Series #2

In this follow-up on the recent episode “How Relationships Reveal Us”, Alexa joins Joe and Brett to dive deeper into the premise that we’re all attracted to the partners who trigger us the best. We discuss how trigger and attraction are related and how avoiding the feelings underneath our triggers can produce relationship dynamics that last for years if left unexamined. Learn to recognize and welcome your own triggers as well as those of a partner, finding the empowerment to draw boundaries and share desires from a place of kindness.

Episode 59 — How Relationships Reveal Us — Relationships Series #1

Brett and Joe address curiosities from listeners about how to approach relationships in a healthy way, riffing on the observation that we find ourselves attracted to the people who most perfectly hook into our triggers, traumas, and projections. Seeing this pattern as a feature rather than a bug, relationships become a vessel for deep healing and personal growth.

Episode 58 — The Beauty of Grief — Emotion Series #9

Anthropologist and coach Alexa Anderson joins the podcast again for a deep dive with Joe into the emotional and practical value of grieving fully. “Without the grief we recreate the cycle. Without the grief we relive the trauma. Without the grief we don’t find the freedom on the other side of the limited identity.”

Episode 54 — The Upright Apology: Accountability Without Shame

Apologies are commonly associated with shame, power games, or beliefs about who’s right and who’s wrong. In this episode, we talk about the freedom to be had in making apologies without shame and in full ownership of our experience. “When you make an apology that’s upright, that’s empowered, it feels fantastic. You feel strength in it. You feel responsible. You feel empowered.”