The Questioning Podcast

Social justice is a term heard often these days, but if someone would ask me to define social justice - I realized I wouldn't be able to do it. Thankfully I was joined by two organizers of "Festival Y?!" who we had a discussion on what is social justice really, digging into the meaning of intersectionality and more. Learn more about Festival Y?! here: https://www.facebook.com/events/314616616367745/ Festival Y?! will bring together a number of debates, workshops, performances on topics ranging from climate issues to feminism to LGBTQIA+ and workers' rights.

Accepting and owning yourself can lead to amazing things. James Kavanagh is the perfect example of that. We talk with James about everything from becoming a social media sensation to creating your own business to questioning your sexuality and how the sooner you own yourself - the better.

I was recommended by numerous people to talk to Christopher Hein, an Aikido Sensei who also went on a Martial Arts Journey to train mixed martial arts and BJJ after already receiving a black belt in Aikido. Sensei Chris in this talk offers a lot of unique perspectives and really well developed thoughts, while also describing his own unique approach to Aikido.

Aikido is famous for its philosophy, yet how do you actually practice it off the mat in a practical way? If Aikido is introduced as a means of personal development, shouldn't Aikido instructor educate themselves in personal development practices outside of Aikido? These and many more great questions are discussed in this episode of Rediscovering Aikido featuring Nathanael Chawkin - former Aikido practitioner, coaching expert and mixed martial artist.

Being a teacher/instructor is a huge responsibility, which unfortunately is not always taken with the right care and attitude. In this video I share how my first Aikido instructor influenced me when I was 14-18 years old learning from him and how his lack of critical thinking and other actions had a negative influence in my development over the long time.

What would it be like if someone was a capable fighter and lived by Aikido philosophy? Francisco de los Cobos is that person. In this episode of Rediscovering Aikido I talk with Francisco about his martial arts biography, whether Aikido right now is in a crises, how you can not be a pacifist if you are incapable of violence and much more.

Depression is a commonly misunderstood mental health issue, yet sometimes we know little about it since we mostly hear hearsay. In this episode of The Questioning Podcast though I am joined by Salome Thornton, who is an individual of rare honesty and she openly talks about her own experience of experiencing depression, having parents who suffered from depression, losing friends due to depression, but also on overcoming it, what helps with it and what common dangerous myths are out there.

Spirituality often promises healing from long time traumas and a path to enlightenment and better life, yet down this path many spiritual communities actually end up involving its participants into cult like structures and behaviors. In this conversation former cult member Rokas Leo and behavioral therapist Lynda Heffernan who share an experience of being involved in the same spiritual cult, share and discuss their experiences, what gets people into spiritual cults to begin with, why it is difficult to leave a cult and much more. • Learn more about Lynda Heffernan here: www.akaizenmind.com • Links suggested by Lynda: - https://bit.ly/2XMPP7j (Carl Jung and the Spiritual Problem of the Modern Individual) - https://bit.ly/3f1Dy4p (Tommy Tiernan Portrait of an Irish Session)

Yoga has many benefits, but it also has a dark side to it's culture that is often left unspoken of. This is why I was happy to talk with Mark Walsh who has the proper experience and knowledge of the subject and also doesn't hold back from speaking the truth in such subjects as abuse and abusive culture often found in Yoga. In this conversation me and Mark talk about the abuse and victim culture commonly seen in Yoga, why it happens in the first place, how neglecting your dark side can lead to worse problems and more. • Learn more Mark Walsh here: https://embodiedfacilitator.com/mark-walsh/

Yoga can be a wonderful healing practice yet it can also be a dangerous one. While many people speak loud about the benefits of Yoga, I find that too few are speaking out about the dangerous side of it, or has the appropriate knowledge to be able to talk about it. Thus when I got a chance to talk to Martyna Kościesza a medical doctor who is now a professional Yoga instructor, I couldn't miss this chance. In this conversation we talk about what areas specifically can be dangerous in Yoga and should be practiced with care, why hyper flexibility in Yoga is not necessarily the goal, the importance of choosing the right Yoga instructor's certification and much more. • Learn more about Martyna Kościesza here: https://yoga-martyna.ch/

I was surprised to learn that even singing has a dark side that needs to be pressure tested. In this episode of the Questioning Podcast I am joined by Philippe Castagner (aka Mister Opera) who is a professional opera singing and also the founder of the Vocalist Chat Hub which is working towards reducing toxicity between singers and creating a healthy culture of singing pressure testers. Check out Philippe's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/pcastagner And the Vocalist Chat Hub: https://www.facebook.com/groups/427489748074451/

For years I believed that if I wanted to help people - I should become a spiritual teacher. Eventually I opened my own school and worked hard to be a good spiritual teacher to my community, but as time moved on I started to realize that I was potentially doing more harm than good. In this episode of Lessons Learned The Hard Way I share what I discovered to be the downside to spiritual teachers and openly speak about my own personal mistakes being one. Here you can find the previous episode of Hard Lessons where I speak about the often hidden downside to Yoga, from my personal experience: https://youtu.be/kivsGL6vkYA

Everybody once in a while thinks what it would be like to open your own coffee shop. Few of us do. Even fewer of us manage to do it successfully. Yet Juljano Kapllani, owner of Unfiltered Coffee Co knows his game and shares the challenged, successes and failures in opening his very own specialty coffee shop. Learn more about Unfiltered Coffee Co and Juliano Caplani here: https://www.instagram.com/unfiltered_coffee_co/

Yoga can be a wonderful, but also dangerous practice based on what information you choose to believe in it. In this great conversation with Salome, a Yoga instructor focusing on the science side of it we talk what Yoga myths are out there, what can be done about that and we also touch the subject of mental health and depression, a very important question for today's situation in the world.

Any charity can be a hit or miss. Sometimes even with the best intentions a real difference isn't made. In the very first episode of the Questioning Podcast I am joined by Raimond Mwaringa of the Dreamers' Association which is trying to make a real difference in Kenya by giving opportunity for underprivileged children to receive an education and also supporting local communities by creating long lasting change such as building irrigation system, supporting local farming, creating wells and more. Learn more about the Dreamers Association and Raimond Mwaringa here: https://www.thedreamers.ch/ More about The Questioning Podcast: Welcome to the podcast which is showing examples of how the process of questioning and critical thinking may improve not only our lives, but also the lives of others. This podcast features various individuals out of various fields as they share how they applied critical thinking and questioning successfully into their work and lives. The Questioning Podcast is a part of "The Journey" YouTube channel which is a project seeking to inspire more people to apply critical thinking and questioning to improve their own and the lives of others. Check out The Journey YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/rokasleo