Elena Brower spent two decades as one of the most visible yoga and meditation teachers in the world, stages of thousands, a growing platform, the whole forward-facing life. Then she started doing the opposite. She got quieter. She trained as a chaplain. She began sitting with people in hospice, in silence, holding nothing but presence. Her new book, Hold Nothing, draws on that journey and on an ancient Chinese sutra that became her compass: Welcome nothing. Refuse nothing. Reflect everything. Hold nothing.

This is a conversation about what happens when the drive to impact as many people as possible gives way to the desire to impact as few as possible, as quietly as possible. We explore what Elena's time in hospice has revealed about presence as the ultimate offering, the hidden cost of living a double life while teaching wholeness, how the practice of letting go transforms the closest relationships in your life, why silence is the thing most of us are allergic to and also the thing we most need, and what it actually means to prepare, through every small daily choice, to die a good death, and why that might be the clearest definition of a good life.

A deeply honest, quietly powerful conversation for anyone in midlife who is beginning to sense that the most important work ahead isn't about building more, it's about becoming less.

You can find Elena at: Website | Instagram | Episode Transcript

Next week, we're sharing our conversation with Dave DeSteno about the 'spiritual technology' that can lower your stress and mortality risk, even if you don't consider yourself a person of faith.

Check out our offerings & partners:

• Join My New Writing Project: Awake at the Wheel
• Visit Our Sponsor Page For Great Resources & Discount Codes

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It’s getting late, you know you “should” go to bed. But you just can't…or won’t. You tell yourself, just one more episode, or a few more minutes of scrolling, or a little more work to sneak in. It seems innocuous, but what if it was actually causing a world of harm? To your health, relationships, state of mind, performance at work, and more?

Our guest is Vanessa Hill, PhD, a leading sleep scientist and Research Fellow at CQ University, who specializes in the science of bedtime procrastination. She is a Science Communication Fellow at the Museum of Science and an expert in how our digital habits shape our rest.

And today, we’re talking about:

• The near-addictive quality of sleep procrastination, and the hidden reason for it
• The surprising research showing why blue light might not be the sleep villain we’ve been told it is
• Why your "night brain" finds it nearly impossible to “do the right thing, and get to bed”
• The one habit that often matters more than the total minutes spent on your phone
• Why common sleep advice often fails, and what to do instead

If you find yourself stuck in a cycle of late nights and tired mornings, you are not alone. Listen to this episode to discover a more compassionate, science-backed way to reclaim your rest and feel like yourself again.

You can find Vanessa at: Vanessa's Substack | Instagram | Episode Transcript

Next week, we're sharing a conversation with Elena Brower about the wisdom of emptiness and the art of showing up to your life completely.

Check out our offerings & partners:

• Join My New Writing Project: Awake at the Wheel
• Visit Our Sponsor Page For Great Resources & Discount Codes

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Do you ever feel like you are just a reaction to other people's needs? Not just for days, or months, but years, maybe even…decades? It is easy to slip into a life where others take the wheel and leave you breathless, trying not to crumble. And you find yourself, in the middle years of life, wondering where you, the real you, went.

The cycle of autopilot busyness can feel like an invisible cage that keeps you from the life you once dreamed of living. Today, we explore how to break free and move from a state of constant frenzy to a place of grounded intention and ease.

Host Jonathan Fields is the founder of Good Life Project and creator of the Sparketypes. After a health crisis forced him to leave a high-pressure law career, he has spent decades researching what it actually takes to flourish.

• How Reactive Life Syndrome ends up controlling so much of our waking hours
• How other people’s agendas end up defining our daily existence.
• How to break out of the cycle of reactivity and reclaim a sense of agency and intention
• How to build practices and skills designed to bring peace and purpose back into your life

If you are tired of being dragged through your days and want to start choosing your life again, this episode is for you. Play the episode now to discover the 6 practical ways to get unbusy and feel alive again.

Episode Transcript

Next week, we're sharing our conversation with sleep scientist Vanessa Hill, about the science of bedtime procrastination and why your 'night brain' craves that extra hour of scrolling even when you know you should be sleeping.

Check out our offerings & partners:

• Join My New Writing Project: Awake at the Wheel
• Visit Our Sponsor Page For Great Resources & Discount Codes

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.