spirituality | FutureSeeds

The Science of Happiness: moving through fear and finding purpose, with Shadé Zahrai

In this episode, I interview Shadé Zahrai. Shadé is a coach, entrepreneur, keynote speaker and mindset expert. She has the most impressive portfolio: Telstra Women’s Business Award, New York Times, Yahoo Finance, Forbes, Adriana Huffington’s Thrive Global, Westpac, and TED and TEDx presenter. In this conversation we explore a model for happiness through the lens of positive psychology, namely the PERMA Model. We then go on exploring the 5 types of inner critics that keep us from fully thriving and living a life free from judgement.

The Science of Happiness: 5 areas of fulfillment and 5 inner critics, with Shadé Zahrai

In this episode, I interview Shadé Zahrai. Shadé is a coach, entrepreneur, keynote speaker and mindset expert. She has the most impressive portfolio: Telstra Women’s Business Award, New York Times, Yahoo Finance, Forbes, Adriana Huffington’s Thrive Global, Westpac, and TED and TEDx presenter. In this conversation we explore a model for happiness through the lens of positive psychology, namely the PERMA Model. We then go on exploring the 5 types of inner critics that keep us from fully thriving and living a life free from judgement.

How meditation can improve our communication and heal society, with Susan Barnes

My speaker for this episode is Susan Barnes. Susan has an amazing story. In the first part of her life, she was the controller of a hedge fund, before becoming a meditation teacher, personal growth facilitator and artist. In episode 17, we discussed meditation in relation to work and purpose. And in this episode, we discuss the impact meditation can have on our mental health, communication, relationships, and even its potential in healing our civilization. We discuss deep listening versus needing to be right, the imbalance of feminine and masculine in decision-making roles, and the link between love and meditation. I invite you to listen to this conversation until the end as I always find my speakers’ message to the world to be the most beautiful part of my interviews.

Meditation, purpose and work

In this episode, I interview Susan Barnes. Susan has an amazing story. In the first part of her life she was the controller of a hedge fund, before becoming a meditation teacher, personal growth facilitator, and artist. In our conversation she develops what it was like to have a high-level job in finance, and to feel misaligned with her purpose. We explore the delicate balance between our outer life – the work we do and our existence within society – and our inner world or spiritual reality. We even dwell on questions such as “how to stay in a state of stillness even while being an active, goal-oriented person”.

Does everyone have a Calling?

This is the first episode of a new series on Purpose and Meaning. There are many interesting aspects to this topic but very early in this exploration, I became obsessed with the question: “How is it that some feel a compulsion to do something grand – to “have an impact” as the modern vocabulary puts it – while some others do not? I get to ask Caroline Myss this question, and her answer is at least thought-provoking if not brilliant. It got me captivated and brought together many pieces of the puzzle that I originally found incompatible. I invite you to listen to this short interaction I had with Caroline and her very particular way of perceiving personal growth.

Embracing the brokenness of the World

How can we keep a healthy mind in times of crisis? In this interview, Eli and Gangaji offer an invitation into a lesser-known path, one that teaches that surrendering to the raw reality, to the pain, can actually bring us great love and compassion.

In this episode, I allow you to witness and listen to the questions I ask along my way, and the answers I admit to being true. I share a vulnerable moment of my life in which I get up on stage in the role of the student, and speak to Eli and Gangaji, standing as the teachers.

I ask a naive question, although it’s one that comes up for a lot of people: “How can I regularly be faced with the B.S. and the pain happening in the world, and still come from a place of ‘The world is perfect’ ?”. I invite you to listen to their answer. It involves total surrender to the naked, raw reality of our experience of life, and how deeper wisdom and compassion can result from it.