Podcast appearances and mentions of jonni pollard

Vedic wisdom and meditation teacher Jonni Pollard reflects on today's growing wave of people seeking to create space and internal alignment in a noisy world. The co-founder of 1 Giant Mind explains to Christopher Michael why having a practice is more important than ever and how "internal reckonings" produce meaningful, reliable, and profound shifts in mindset and outcomes. "What's happening right now is a wonderful opportunity in the making for humanity to evolve," says Jonni. Creativity is rooted in authenticity that is accessible only when we are fully present to ourselves, and our purpose is in the now. In this episode, the master of mindfulness discusses the fractures generated by today's polarized social, political, and economic environment. How can we challenge ourselves to get engaged, reject disconnection, and focus on weaving together a more inclusive culture, reflecting our common energetic field and responsibility to one another? Episode Highlights: What's Contemporary Now? Jonni's state of consciousness and the way he nurtures his relationship with what's happening in the present moment. The dismantling of ideas and expectations that have shrouded our responsibility to one another and the world at large. Today's psychology and neurology are inseparable from the mandate to open consciousness and shift away from denial. The great "What's next?": Pandemic disorientation has taught us that listening to our internal compasses is paramount. Attachment explained: Jonni contemplates universal intelligence, a vast spectrum of possibilities across one energetic field. Binary thinking: How rigid thought patterns entrap us in conflict and isolation. Consideration and self-reflection: the keys to open conversation and collaboration. Polarization manifests as fear of the "other," a gross misconception that falsely negates our fundamental oneness of being. Jonni weighs in on the burgeoning market for meditation in a society managing massive anxiety, depression, and constant stress on nervous systems. The relationship between meditation and creativity: When we restore and realign our minds and bodies, we see our true natures emerge and authentically flourish. Meditation shifts us from a hyper awareness of the external world to an inner experience that resonates more meaningfully, deeply, consistently, and reliably. Underlying the feelings that seem terrifying or stubborn is a place that is resolved, deeply aware, intelligent, confident, and powerful inside each of us. The call to action: If we're not fully engaged, we are susceptible to negative influences and ongoing disconnection. Meditation is a platform for taking ownership of—and reversing—this state of being. Transmuting stress: Sensations can bedevil us if we don't develop tools to witness, rather than identify with, them. Meditation opens up immense space and freedom to ride through anxiety and observe thought patterns without being engulfed by self-judgment or getting overwhelmed. What can a meditation practice yield? Agility through awareness and a deep understanding of priorities and values. Challenge yourself: Is what I'm doing coming genuinely creative, purposeful, or relevant? Or am I in survival mode, hustling to get by?

Jonni Pollard, cofounder of 1 Giant Mind and author of The Golden Sequence, talks with J about Vedic Meditation and the universal nature of our existence. They discuss going from punk kid to spiritual lover, Bija mantras, creating a movement around social and environmental coherence, scaling group meditation to alter the larger fields, a meeting with the Dalai Lama that changed everything, the split within science, guru function, prying open subtle dimensions, and the innocent instinct to nurture a deeper sense of belonging   J. Brown Yoga Online Teacher Training - starts Jan 2023   To subscribe and support the show… GET PREMIUM.    

“What's Contemporary”, the galvanizing platform, has returned in a new podcast format, which felt more fitting for our ever-consuming and insatiable query. This season's conversations feature returning contributors like Glen Luchford, Ezra Petronio, and Emma Summerton alongside newcomers including Amber Valletta, Ferdinando Verderi, Lucien Pagès, Jaime Perlman, Hung Vanngo, Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, Kevin McIntosh Jr, Sam Visser, Benjamin Huseby and Serhat Isik, Jonni Pollard, and Zinnia Kumar. Tackling the threads that weave the contemporary patterns of today's culture, “What's Contemporary Now?” brings forth compelling discourse from leading thinkers who share their thoughts around intriguing topics like the metaverse's emerging marketplace, what beauty means today, the likelihood of building a present-day heritage brand, as well as discussing a myriad of other perspectives and ideals. Subscribe now to listen to a new episode each week.

In this episode I'm joined by one of my dear friends and teachers, Jonni Pollard. Jonni is a renowned meditation teacher and founder of 1 Giant Mind and the 1 Giant Mind Teacher Training Academy (which I studied under). He's authored a book called The Golden Sequence and travelled the world sharing his wisdom. In this episode we dive deep into many topics relating to parenting, flow state, meditation and even transhumanism. It's a juicy one.  Dive in. 

I truly enjoyed getting to speak with Jonni, and felt myself sinking into the conversation in a deep way. One of the most inspirational parts of the discussion for me was when we walked through the Four Golden Insights, which are the pillars for the work Jonni does. Life is Sacred Love is our Nature – we serve, nature, and find connection Wisdom is our Power – Jonni talks about finding the intelligence of love, and reconciling the appearance of resistance and opposites. We also talked about “embodied leadership power, which equals the ability to influence the environment around us.” Wisdom can enliven and awaken the truth of who we are 4. Fulfillment is our Purpose – we find our purpose by fully understanding who we are Resources Jonni Pollard's website The Golden Sequence by Jonni Pollard on Amazon   Jonni Pollard and I talk about: His earliest sparks of joy as a child – playing with other kids, playing games, and any kind of games where he could evolve and find excitement Being a multipassionate, where he reflected that he felt that the many different things he enjoys in his life are all just different ways that his soul and purpose is revealing itself The filters that we use from the outside looking in, and how it changes the way we see ourselves The desire of creative beings to become expressive Our conditioning as children and the pervasive ideology that we learn as young people How adopting and conforming to social ideals causes immense suffering The four golden insights that set the pillars for the Golden Sequence What happens when energy does not flow naturally The dissonance that fear creates Why we need to connect to our purpose and our humanity Jonni's thoughts How to Jump Start Your Joy: wake up and connect to the world around you, meditate for success and to affirm your humanity, and to show your best connected self to whomever you first have contact with in the morning  

Karma  कर्म, a concept often misunderstood by most, is commonly translated as "action that binds", and it is basically any action that is determining our direction or pathway in life. When it comes to those we call our family, our karma acts as the underlying universal intelligence that bound us to these people. Understanding this concept, how to transcend and work through our already existing karma and how to avoid creating more of it, is a fundamental aspect of the path towards liberation or moksha, as called in the Vedic sciences. In this episode we not only dive into the concept of karma, but also explore how it intertwines with our familial relationships and how one can work through one's karma to reap the benefits of a frictionless life (kriya क्रिया). IN THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS:

Welcome to this week's episode of The Vedic Conversation, hosted by Vedic Meditation teachers Rory Kinsella, Derrick Yanford and Anthony Thompson.In this episode we talk with 1GiantMind founder and Vedic Meditation teacher Jonni Pollard about this journey to spirituality and how he views the relationship with 1GM and Vedic Meditation.http://www.jonnipollard.comhttps://www.1giantmind.comIf you're interested in learning more about Vedic Meditation, get in touch with the teachers below if they're in your area.Derrick Yanford (New York): https://www.yourbestselfmeditation.comAnthony Thompson (London): https://www.mindmojo.coRory Kinsella (Sydney): https://www.rorykinsellameditation.comTo share stories, suggest topics or ask about teachers in your area, drop us a line through our website: http://thevedicconversation.comMusic by The Ramsgates: http://theramsgates.com

ON AIR co-founder, Lori Ann Ferreri is a multifaceted artist, performer and mindfulness guide based in Paris and NYC. Lori Ann embraces movement as a second language, which she weaves into her work as a creator, whether it be an immersive performance art experience or sequencing a yoga practice. Working on Broadway as a dancer and actor for 20 years led Lori Ann to discover and appreciate yoga. She earned her 500-hour yoga teaching credential with Moda Yoga and continued her education under Dina Tsouluhas and Valerie Verdier. Most recently, she completed teacher trainings with Schuyler Grant, Susanna Barkataki and Matt Phippen and earned her meditation teaching certification under Jonni Pollard. Lori Ann is a senior teacher at Modo Yoga NYC and developer and producer of global wellness retreats and mindfulness-focused events with her project, 4th Wall. Driven by her deep curiosity and commitment to continued learning, Lori Ann harnesses her mediums of art and motion in designing and imparting ever-evolving practices for well-being and personal growth.

In this week's episode, Amrit interviews Jonni Pollard, a recognized meditation and wisdom teacher, speaker, author of “The Golden Sequence: A Manual for Reclaiming Our Humanity” and host of the 1Giant Podcast where he is interviewed by curious minds looking for insights on meditation and the wellbeing of our humanity.Get Jonni's book here: https://inspiredevolution.com/recommends/jonni-pollard/He is the co-founder and executive director at 1 Giant Mind, a multi-national charitable organisation established to reduce stress related mental illness and lifestyle disease by delivering free digital meditation and education programs to those in need.Jonni believes that the actual global crisis we are all undergoing is ingrained in our disconnection from our true purpose and responsibility of belonging.Amrit and Jonni talk about the importance of rediscovering your authentic human nature, learning how to reclaim it as your greatest power, and finding fulfillment through seeing the change and impact you can make in the world.As far as Jonni can remember, he instinctively has been devoted to honouring his spirit. As a teenager he had a foundational perspective towards humanity which he wasn't willing to let go of. It was hard to conform with things that had no meaning to him, so he would define himself in some other way that society was demanding, becoming rebellious and isolated in his own beliefs.Jonni had a deep desire to belong, but this non-acceptance was causing a deep pain in his heart. This eventually led him to India where he engaged in the teachings of some of the greatest masters. He received insight and support in the process of his revolutionary awakening.Jonni discovered who he truly was and embraced it, who we are as a species and our responsibility as individuals. He adopted the foundations of how to process every speck of information that could then render into knowledge and finally be embodied into wisdom.He came to realize that the whole sense of wholeness comes from the understanding that we belong to the greater whole and are intimately connected. That our humanity is expressed in some kind of framework that we all belong to. It is being aware of the needs of the greater whole and how we bring our individuality to serve that, elevate that, and ensure that it is stable and balanced.Ever since, he has been on this beautiful journey of self discovery. Now he teaches Vedic Meditation and is a teacher of the ancient Vedic wisdom. This knowledge is foundational to our existence and offers a completely inclusive perspective on everything that correlates with our yearning to unify with each other and all of nature.Jonni and Amrit dive deep into the system of creation, maintenance and dissolution that are paramount to nature and human existence and why so many of us are resistant to change.Whatever we have been maintaining for such a long time and is no longer relevant, gets relegated into a process of dissolution and dissolves. All that does not work is here for a reason. It is here so something new can evolve; a new creation. When we are so deeply traumatized by the environment that we have created, neurologically we become more resistant to change. The part of the brain that is capable of creating and innovating, gets shut down so it can face the danger ahead of us. Jonni refers to “trapped in a cycle of desperation and survival” when talking about this resistance. This means that we are always on the lookout and ready to either fight or flee for our lives, which makes us feel anxious, worried, afraid and so much more. And the only way to guarantee safety and security is through the accumulation of things outside ourselves. Survival mode disconnects us from ourselves. Jonni shares practices to gain access to the place where wisdom lies deep within. He affirms you must introduce new habits to change the physiology of your nervous system and brain, referring to confronting past trauma and then coming to terms with your power. This can only happen if you are willing to first sit in discomfort and accept your negative thoughts and feelings. The purpose of this is to establish a habit of identifying the moment in which you find yourself in conflict, and revert it to a deeper state. The only way to access it is by cultivating it through meditation.Within each one of you is an unexplored power to create the change you dream of. This change benefits you as an individual and the community as a whole, allowing every single one of us to break through toxic beliefs and constraints.“There is nothing more elevated than being in the presence of someone who demonstrates your worthiness because that is the thing that awakens the human heart; It inspires the heart almost involuntarily to reciprocate.”“The world can only change through micro conscious activism where human hearts open, connect and share”About Jonni Pollard:Jonni Pollard is an internationally recognized meditation & wisdom teacher who has dedicated his life to sharing ancient knowledge gained from some of the greatest living masters of our time. He specializes in teaching the art of embodying our true nature to live the most meaningful life possible.Studying and teaching for over 2 decades, today Jonni is based in New York City and travels the world, teaching meditation, running workshops and retreats, and acting as a personal and corporate consultant. In addition, he leads mass meditations and speaks at major cultural and lifestyle events. The foundation of his teachings stems from the timeless Vedic tradition. The core of his teachings focus on embodying our deepest nature of love.Jonni is also the co-founder and creator of the 1 Giant Mind Learn Meditation course and the 1 Giant Mind Teacher Training Academy. These programs have taught over 250,000 people from around the world to meditate.Jonni Pollard's book:“The Golden Sequence: A Manual for Reclaiming Our Humanity”: https://inspiredevolution.com/recommends/jonni-pollard/Tune In: Welcome Jonni Pollard to Inspired Evolution!:(00:00:00)How wisdom and knowledge became Jonni's path:(00:56)Shift from “rejecting” to “belonging”:(05:59)About ways to sustain humanity going forward:(10:02)About what clicked into Jonni when facing another philosophy:(23:03)Practices to access the knowledge that lies within us:(28:21)About the resistance people have looking within:(40:55)Inspired Evolution according to Jonni Pollard:(53:30)Favourite questions asked on Jonni's podcast:(54:38)Mentioned resources:Vedic Tradition - Mentioned in timestamp (05:59) - Conversation about belonging; revolutionary awakeningMeditation according to Jonni Pollard: “Meditation is a practice that establishes the foundation of the self beyond the intelectual reckoning. It exposes you through the direct experience of what you are, which is essentially a dynamic intelligent abstract field of awareness that has the capacity to respond to any challenge or demand that appears at odds to reconcile.”Connect with Jonni Pollard:Website: http://www.jonnipollard.com/ Organisation Website: https://www.1giantmind.com/ 1 Giant Mind Podcast: https://www.1giantmind.com/podcast Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonni-pollard-98a18b85/?originalSubdomain=au Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jonnipollard Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonnipollard/ 1 Giant Mind Twitter: https://twitter.com/1giantmind?lang=en Join the Inspired Evolution Community:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InspiredEvolution/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/InspiredEvo/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/InspiredEvolution/ Website: https://inspiredevolution.com/ Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/inspiredevolution. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Do you need to meditate to manifest?In this episode, I unpack the myths around meditation and share some life changing perspectives which will, in fact, help you manifest your desires. In this episode I reference 1Giant Mind and Jonni Pollard's excellent podcast https://www.1giantmind.com/podcastI also make a fleeting mention of Glennon Doyle's book Untamed and I'm linking it here because every woman should read this book https://untamedbook.com/ Want to join me LIVE for the recording of the next episode?Every Thursday morning at 7am Melbourne time I will be LIVE IN MY FREE FACEBOOK GROUP That Crazy Thing Called Life (JOIN HERE -->  https://www.facebook.com/groups/TCTCLife/ ) AND on Instagram emily_thatcrazythingcalledlife recording these episodes LIVE. I am answering YOUR questions about love, life, business, mindset, manifestation, relationships and the cluster-fuck of being UNASHAMEDLY HUMAN. All you need to do to have your question answered is email my team info@emilychadbourne.comAll questions will remain anonymous.  Here are all the links you'll ever need! ~ WAKE UP WITH EM! Join here http://www.emilychadbourne.com/wakeup/ ~ Sign up for my Fri-YaY emails https://www.emilychadbourne.com/friyay/~ Follow me on Insta instagram.com/emily_thatcrazythingcalledlife/~ #JoinTheHub https://www.emilychadbourne.com/hub ~ Email  info@emilychadbourne.com And please do me a solid favour and let all of your mates know if you loved this episode. If you listen on iTunes please rate and review. Share the Spotify link through your social media and tag me in your insta stories using the hashtag #unashamedlyhuman Thank you. I am so very grateful to you and I'm here to support you.Keep being brave!

"Dear Em, Do you have any tips for remaining positive? I live in the UK and although things are opening up again here, 2020 has taken its toll. Homeschooling, partner working from home and the general upheaval has been hard to deal with. I'm trying to stay positive and grateful but it's hard." Want to join me LIVE for the recording of the next episode?Every Thursday morning at 7am Melbourne time I will be LIVE IN MY FREE FACEBOOK GROUP That Crazy Thing Called Life (JOIN HERE -->  https://www.facebook.com/groups/TCTCLife/ ) AND on Instagram emily_thatcrazythingcalledlife recording these episodes LIVE. I am answering YOUR questions about love, life, business, mindset, manifestation, relationships and the cluster-fuck of being UNASHAMEDLY HUMAN. All you need to do to have your question answered is email my team info@emilychadbourne.comAll questions will remain anonymous.  In today's episode I also refer to this podcast by Jonni Pollard from 1 Giant Mind https://www.1giantmind.com/podcast Here are all the links you'll ever need! ~ WAKE UP WITH EM! Join here http://www.emilychadbourne.com/wakeup/ ~ Sign up for my Fri-YaY emails https://www.emilychadbourne.com/friyay/~ Follow me on Insta instagram.com/emily_thatcrazythingcalledlife/~ #JoinTheHub https://www.emilychadbourne.com/hub ~ Email  info@emilychadbourne.com And please do me a solid favour and let all of your mates know if you loved this episode. If you listen on iTunes please rate and review. Share the Spotify link through your social media and tag me in your insta stories using the hashtag #unashamedlyhuman Thank you. I am so very grateful to you and I'm here to support you.Keep being brave!

On this episode I shared an amazing conscious conversation with Jonni Pollard Jonni is a Spiritual teacher and the cofounder of 1 Giant Mind.  We dive deep into:- Awakening to the truth of self- Why so many people are ignoring their truth- Why we feel so disconnected from ourselves- The true meaning of belonging- How to step into our truth- The power of meditation- How to gain more inner peace- What our purpose is on earth- The perspective gained through challenges- The importance of letting go & surrenderingAnd so much more! This conversation was incredible! Jonni has such a beautiful & simple way of explaining his perspective and learnings.  This was such an awakening conversation for myself. I love his mindset, his energy and his willingness to self enquire  to grow. You can really hear his passion for living life in his truth throughout this whole episode.  I really enjoyed this and I hope you do too.   Watch on youtube: http://bit.ly/TheConsciousPodcast------------------------------------------ Follow Jonni on: Instagram: www.instagram.com/jonnipollardwww.1giantmind.com  -----------------------------------------Keep updated on our Podcast socials:Instagram: http://bit.ly/2MCfRmXFacebook: http://bit.ly/2AUFg5JYoutube: http://bit.ly/TheConsciousPodcast https://linktr.ee/theconsciouspodcast Follow me (Carlo Cirillo) on:Instagram: http://bit.ly/carlo_cirillo Facebook: http://bit.ly/carlocirillo Youtube: http://bit.ly/CCTVyoutube www.carlocirillo.com  ------------------------------------------ Podcast Sponsors:  BLOOM Appwww.instagram.com/bloomapp Baxter Blue 10% off code “CARLO10” https://www.baxterblue.com.au

Evolving from the work we did with the 5 Prana Shaktis in the previous podcast, this preamble & practice focuses on Back Bends, alternative vinyasa and applying the deeper philosophical insight the teachings offer. Jonni Pollard has been an inspiration to me and I share in my preamble (forgot to give a shoutout) his reduction of the teachings to this brilliant statement from his book The Golden Sequence: "Life is sacred. Love is your Nature. Wisdom is your Power. Fulfilment is your purpose". This book is a recommended read to inspire a recommitment to the practices for anyone. 5 Principle powers of creation expressed through the experience of our being.  Iccha Shakti: the unlimited power of will, determination and drive to fuel us and to become the unstoppable force in fulfilling our intention, purpose and experiences in our lives. Jnana Shakti: the boundless power to know from our intuitive wisdom of discernment from real and unreal, truth and untruth, virtue and non-virtuous.Kriya Shakti: the ability to choose wise actions, that are aligned with your intentions and purpose, guiding you skilfully to fulfillment. Cit Shakti: the power of an illuminated mind, clear, undistracted, undistorted. To fully awaken to the light of knowledge resting within and expand in that light. Ananda Shakti: the known experience of being whole, complete, at one with all. Filled and embraced in Pure Conscious Awareness that is always present. Bliss, serenity, peace.

If you've ever wanted to reclaim the power of your humanity, then do we have The Golden Sequence show for you! Today I'll be talking with Jonni Pollard, best known for his creation of the 1 Giant Mind and the Learn Meditation Smartphone app, and the author of a brilliant new book, The Golden Sequence. And that's just what I want to talk with him about today, about tapping into Vedic wisdom to break through our toxic beliefs and conditioning, and create authentic loving connections with everyone and everything around you. Key Points Discussed: What happened when Jonni Pollard starred worldwide in Heartbreak High? How'd he end up traveling in India? What was the self-judgment he was feeling, and why? What's the Vedic perspective of reality? What is the Golden Sequence? What's the heart of our crisis today? What is survival mode? What's it mean we're distracting ourselves to death? What is our evolutionary mismatch? What are the four golden insights? What's the practice of affirming the four golden insights? What does it truly mean that life is sacred? What is meant that love is our nature? What is wisdom and how is it our power? What does it mean that fulfillment is our purpose? What's the importance of meditation? How do we begin? How do we recognize the sacredness in our lives and of our lives? What is witnessing and why is it so important? What can we learn from a visit with the Dalai Lama about friendliness? What's the importance of being of service? What's the power of a daily practice? What are a few key items to include in our daily practice? Additional Resources: JonniPollard.com www.1GiantMind.com ……. For free meditations, weekly tips, stories, and similar shows visit: www.InspireNationShow.com To support the show and get even more great tools, tips, and behind-the-scenes access, visit: www.Patreon.com/InspireNation And to follow Inspire Nation (and the lives of Michael and Jessica) on Instagram, go to www.instagram.com/inspirenationlive

Jonni Pollard is the founder of 1 Giant Mind and is one of those people who absolutely radiates bliss and joy which permeates the hearts of any individual who comes into close proximity with him.Jonni has experienced the dynamics of anxiety in plentiful throughout his life, and has overcome a lot to now serve as a world-renowned meditation and wisdom teacher.IN THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSSExploring the infinite possibilities and capabilities of life and taking action.Jonni being seduced by the notion of being a recluse.How can I make whomever I come into contact with have the truest experience of themselves by virtue of them being in my presenceAnxiety - The charge of energy that doesn't have a grounding. Like an electrical wire that doesn't have a grounding. It is wild and can run anywhere and inappropriately fills lines of energy that don't require or need to receive that charge. Misdirected energy.Forces of energy and electro-magnetic frequencies creating a distortion on our planet that invariably have an impact on us human beings. People are confronted by the potential of their power, and it is generally resisted because of an underlying sense of unworthiness.The Cause of Every Single Disease - Mistake of intellect (pragnyaparadha).Ayurvedic methods to pacify anxiety.Give your attention generously wherever you feel there is a deficit.How to help others who experience anxiety and nourish their existence and spirit.Leadership.The importance of normalising meditation in society.+ more.ABOUT JONNI POLLARDJonni Pollard, program founder and head teacher of 1 Giant Mind, is a world-renowned meditation teacher who has studied how to unfold human potential for over 20 years under great masters in the East and West.His programs, including 1 Giant Mind's Learn Meditation app, have taught more than 250,000 people how to meditate.Jonni is at the forefront of authenticity in the meditation teacher landscape, making practical translations of ancient teachings for a modern lifestyle.RESOURCESJonni hosts the 1 Giant Mind podcast where he answers questions relating to meditation and personal development from a live audience.Jonni is also the author of The Golden Sequence: A Manual for Reclaiming Our Humanity, on Benbella books.SUPPORT THE SHOWPlease leave a review below (I love to read every single one).SHARESpread the word! Tell your family, friends, neighbors and all your social mates.Share this episode on Facebook / Share this episode on Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/donate/?token=y_kaqK9wLLV2hJsCYl7mFwBcEPNGyuzRIZuHMW5dxoRj2vyQJPvcov1xOO9ZUsn_lG-6Km&country.x=AU&locale.x=AU)

Andrew Sealy is an embodied heart leader, yoga artist, and connection catalyst. He is known for his transformational teachings of self-love that remind students of their true power for transformation and embodied purposeful living. Andrew’s creative approach to teaching Yoga as a healing art has earned him the role of guiding celebrity clients, spotlight at conscious music festivals, and the opportunity to lead transformative luxury retreats worldwide.  He is known globally as a mindful life enthusiast and a wellness activist. Andrew embodies prolific knowledge while positively influencing and empowering his students. Andrew Sealy’s teachings aim to answer the question: How can we adapt to create and evolve to sustain?  In this episode, you’ll hear from Andrew on: [11:25] How to align to your purpose and the importance of maintaining a daily meditative practice that allows you to tap into source and enables your mind, body and spirit to attune to your essence.    [14:34] Andrew’s dharma – having a positive impact on all environments that he is a part of. No matter where he is, Andrew is able to live his Dharma if he’s able to bring a sense of happiness and joy to his surroundings.    [15:31] The beginning of his journey into yoga and the fortuitous circumstance that led him to attending a Yoga Journal conference. Whilst there he took part in his first ever Vinyasa class led by Sri Dharma Mitra that left him hooked and ignited his passion for yoga.   [27:51] The deepening of Andrew’s practice and the growing awareness that yoga is not just a place to develop physical abilities, but a means to heal trauma. This belief impacted his teaching, leading him to create classes that are designed for students to feel comfortable and able to release trauma.   [37:25] The significance of 1 Giant Mind, a system of meditation taught by Jonni Pollard, in enabling Andrew’s yoga practice to reach a higher level. Through developing a greater understanding of what it means to be reflective, he was able to tap into the void and utilize this information for ascension.   [45:08 ] Taking the plunge into creating and sharing from the heart even when it's scary, uncomfortable and requires risk taking.  Plus, the balancing act between following your passion whilst also trying to generate enough income to sustain yourself.   [49:44 ] Andrew’s advice to those whose jobs do not feed their soul – take the time to reflect and understand if what you’re currently doing is serving your happiness and longevity.  Be present with who are you right now, and the person you want to be, as you need a vision of where you wish to go in order to become more mindful in the present. Announcements: Reconnect to your divine Self this December. Join me and Veronica Lombo on an    immersive retreat in Bali: henrywins.com/bali
 Join me for upcoming workshops in NYC and Texas: henrywins.com/events
  Links from this episode: Light on Life: The Journey to Wholeness, Inner Peace and Ultimate Freedom by B. K. S. Iyengar — Grab a copy of Andrew’s recommended book
 Andrew’s Yoga Revealed Podcast Interview with Seane Corn
 1 Giant Mind - Learn to meditate in 12 easy steps and start feeling happier and less stressed Looking for your next book to read? Check out the list of every book recommended on Dharma Talk
  Get in touch with Andrew: https://www.andrew7sealy.com/ - Check out Andrew’s schedule and view upcoming retreats.   Follow @andrew7sealy on Instagram Reach out directly to Andrew via his email at andrew7sealy@gmail.com  Support the Podcast: If you find this podcast valuable you can support it directly by visiting: henrywins.com/donate  

The Inspiration of the Four Golden Insights I truly enjoyed getting to speak with Jonni, and felt myself sinking into the conversation in a deep way. One of the most inspirational parts of the discussion for me was when we walked through the Four Golden Insights, which are the pillars for the work Jonni does. Life is Sacred Love is our Nature – we serve, nature, and find connection Wisdom is our Power – Jonni talks about finding the intelligence of love, and reconciling the appearance of resistance and opposites. We also talked about “embodied leadership power, which equals the ability to influence the environment around us.” Wisdom can enliven and awaken the truth of who we are 4. Fulfillment is our Purpose – we find our purpose by fully understanding who we are   Jonni Pollard and I talk about: His earliest sparks of joy as a child – playing with other kids, playing games, and any kind of games where he could evolve and find excitement Being a multipassionate, where he reflected that he felt that the many different things he enjoys in his life are all just different ways that his soul and purpose is revealing itself The filters that we use from the outside looking in, and how it changes the way we see ourselves The desire of creative beings to become expressive Our conditioning as children and the pervasive ideology that we learn as young people How adopting and conforming to social ideals causes immense suffering The four golden insights that set the pillars for the Golden Sequence What happens when energy does not flow naturally The dissonance that fear creates Why we need to connect to our purpose and our humanity Jonni’s thoughts How to Jump Start Your Joy: wake up and connect to the world around you, meditate for success and to affirm your humanity, and to show your best connected self to whomever you first have contact with in the morning   Resources Jonni Pollard’s website The Golden Sequence by Jonni Pollard on Amazon 1 Giant Mind Podcast 1 Giant Mind App

In Part 2 of the Season 4 Finale, host Paula Jenkins counts down the top ten most downloaded episodes. Listen to short clips from Jonni Pollard, Stasia Savasuk, Jess Ekstrom, Sharon Prentice, and Renee Linell and hear the favorite solocasts, too.   To get links to all of the episodes, click here.

In this episode I chat with Jonni Pollard, who played Alan Bolton on the Australian teen drama TV series Heartbreak High and was part of the first generation of Australian aggressive inline skaters to travel internationally and contribute to the innovation of the sport.

Jonni Pollard is a personal development and wisdom teacher for some of the world's most successful entrepreneurs. In this episode of A Life Of Greatness, Sarah and Jonni talk about how breaking through society's toxic conditioning and following your intuition allows you to live your life's true purpose.   Follow Sarah: Instagram: instagram.com/alifeofgreatnesspodcast Facebook: facebook.com/sarahgrynberg Twitter: twitter.com/sarahgrynberg Website: https://sarahgrynberg.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Studying and teaching for over 2 decades, today Jonni is based in New York City and travels the world, teaching meditation, running workshops and retreats, and acting as a personal and corporate consultant. In addition, he leads mass meditations and speaks at major cultural and lifestyle events.  The foundation of his teachings stems from the timeless Vedic tradition. The core of his teachings focus on embodying our deepest nature of love. Jonni is also the co-founder and creator of the 1 Giant Mind Learn Meditation course and the 1 Giant Mind Teacher Training Academy. These programs have taught over 250,000 people from around the world to meditate.

Studying and teaching for over 2 decades, today Jonni is based in New York City and travels the world, teaching meditation, running workshops and retreats, and acting as a personal and corporate consultant. In addition, he leads mass meditations and speaks at major cultural and lifestyle events.  The foundation of his teachings stems from the timeless Vedic tradition. The core of his teachings focus on embodying our deepest nature of love. Jonni is also the co-founder and creator of the 1 Giant Mind Learn Meditation course and the 1 Giant Mind Teacher Training Academy. These programs have taught over 250,000 people from around the world to meditate.

Another day, another KYŌ question to rock your Mental Fitness! Is this the greatest use of my time in this moment? This reflective questions comes from Jonni Pollard, EP8 Wishing you the very best in your Mental Fitness today! And never forget, you're an amazing human. Check out our digital journal KYŌ for more prompts to help guide your daily reflection!

Everyone is doing it these days, it seems. Meditation was our muse. Everyone is doing it these days, it seems. Meditation is losing its spiritual baggage and going mainstream as the new exercise of today’s greatest leaders and influencers. If you listen to our Habits show you hear it over and over as a primary staple for our esteemed guests consistent strategies for success. So of course I wanted to ask you, the listening audience. Do any of you actually meditate? And why, what do you get out of it. Then I couldn’t help but ask the follow up question, if you do NOT meditate...why not? We received more responses than I anticipated, I honestly didn’t expect so many people to be meditating. But we got into sticky areas, like can you meditate and be a Christian? Can you meditate while driving a car or reading your Bible. I enhanced the conversation of course, by having Jonni Pollard himself co-host with me and folks, he was just brilliant in candidly answering the hard questions. I came out of the discussion more convicted than ever. Jonni is an international meditation expert and guru and in show 671 we talked directly about meditation and freeing ourselves from...ourselves. Again, the point isn’t meditation. It’s a means to an end. It was a fascinating conversation and was prompted by Michael Hyatt sharing that he used Jonni’s top ranked meditation app, One Giant Mind, every day. It prompted me to finally give it a try. And...I’m trying! This is a show worth listening to so you can decide if you want to start meditating, or decide it’s not for you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wouldn’t we all like to know what is essential and what is frivolous in our lives? Maybe we think we subconsciously know, but I for one would be interested in getting it all out on the table. This is our habits show and our muse today is Jonni Pollard, founder of the to ranked meditation app, One Giant Mind. He was our guest in show 671 where we discussed, how to free ourselves from...ourselves! No surprise that a mainstay habit of Jonni’s is meditating. But it was the financial spoke where he discussed asking himself what was essential and what was frivolous. I just saw the concept as being relevant to all the spokes and all of life. I also appreciated the guiding light of his Career spoke being another question he asks himself, “How can I be of best service?” Mentally? Another questions he asks, “How can I be better?” It’s a show of brilliant questions. Check out Jonni’s podcast, One Giant Mind. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonni Pollard is renowned for bringing meditation mainstream via his organization and app, 1 Giant Mind. In show #667, Michael Hyatt referenced using the 1 Giant Mind app as part of his daily spiritual habits, and more than half of all guests on The Ziglar Show are attesting to using meditation as a primary part of their daily habits and routines. While meditation seems to often have spiritual undertones to it, it is ultimately brain training. An example; if you are familiar with the sport of biathlon that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting, after vigorously skiing for a distance the athlete must then stop and calm themselves in order to shoot a very small target. In our lives, we tend to go, go, go and then struggle to hit the small targets of success we desire. Jonni uses meditation to help us daily calm ourselves in order to be present and fully useful and able as we target our most valuable goals. It is not rest so much as fuel. Jonni states that most of us are prisoners of ourselves. Of our own minds. We never stop to gain control of and over our thoughts, anxieties, worries, and never-ending duties and roles. We tend to "rest" by escaping and entertainment, which is more like a pause than a refocus and recalibrate. This is an equipping message that really drove home what we are missing and what we can gain with taking a moment daily to really be present in our own minds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Hannah chats with Jonni Pollard, an internationally recognized meditation teacher and author, and co-founder of 1 Giant Mind, to discuss meditation and the impact it has on one’s self, body and mind.Jonni shares his beautiful journey into meditation, which he discovered at a young age as a solution to helping him overcome a severe intolerance for anxiety. He quickly was able to realize the impact it had on his life and it became the core focus of his personal and professional path. Jonni has spent a good part of his life helping others learn meditation and the immense value it can add to their lives and those around them.Tune in to listen to this incredible interview with Jonni, where he not only shares his story but also some profound insights from his book, The Golden Sequence. We guarantee you will walk away in awe of Jonni’s ability to open your mind, and with a deeper understanding of how meditation can be a vital tool to increase self-awareness and help you live the most meaningful life possible. https://www.aust.la/blogs/magazine/jonni-pollard-meditation-and-reclaiming-our-humanity

My guest this week is Jonni Pollard, who specializes in teaching the art of embodying our true nature to live the most meaningful life possible. In this episode we explored his inspiring vision of our deepest nature, our true purpose, and our capacity for fulfillment.   

My guest this week focuses on the big questions of our existence: Who are we? Why are we here? And how can we experience fulfillment? Jonni Pollard describes his inspiring view of our true identity and purpose in his recent book, The Golden Sequence: A Manual for Reclaiming Our Humanity. I loved this book, and strongly recommend you get a copy. As we discussed, The Golden Sequence is not just inspiring, but is highly practical, offering a straightforward plan—the sequence—for remembering who we are, and living in line with our deepest nature. Click this link to find it on Amazon. (A percentage of sales through this affiliate link will be used to support the podcast, at no additional cost to you.) I greatly enjoyed this conversation, in which we covered many fascinating topics, including: The inherent divisiveness of our current political reality Conflict between the teaching of scriptures and the practices of some religious communities The human longing to belong The deep awareness that something in life is missing The problem of defining ourselves through disconnection from others The exacerbating effect of struggling against our discomfort The healing that's possible by moving through our pain Overcoming the propaganda of fear and other painful emotions Reconnecting with the powerful truth of who we are and why we’re here The fundamental sacredness of life The anxiety and pain that come with disconnection from our true nature Living in a way that honors each other and the sacredness of life Ignorance as the most powerful force in the universe What leads us to avoid meditation and other experiences of deep awareness The mismatch between our design and our current environment Fulfillment as an expression of our nature How to experience more grace in our lives Why our enthusiasm for our passions often flags when it's fueled only by self-gain Humor as a reminder of the lightness in life Finding our purpose through unfulfilled needs in the world Giving and receiving love as the fulfillment of human purpose The need for pragmatic tools to apply the principles of mindfulness A brief guided meditation that illustrates his approach to meditation training Jonni Pollard is best known for bringing meditation to the mainstream through his organization, 1 Giant Mind, and its Learn to Meditate smartphone app. As one of the top rated meditation apps, 1 Giant Mind has taught hundreds of thousands of people worldwide how to meditate for free. Jonni is recognized for leading mass meditations at some of the world’s biggest lifestyle events and festivals (Wanderlust, Lightning in a Bottle, The Big Quiet). He also teaches private meditation and personal development for entrepreneurs, CEOs, celebrities, political leaders, and wellness experts across yoga and meditation. Born and raised in Australia, Jonni has lived in Los Angeles and India, and now currently resides in New York City. Connect with Jonni on Facebook and Instagram (where you'll see that he clearly loves being a dad), and visit his website and 1 Giant Mind.

Sharon Prentice is a psychotherapist, spiritual counselor, and author of the book Becoming Starlight: A Shared Death Journey from Darkness and Light. Her journey includes having lost her daughter, and her husband, and then having a shared death experience with him when he passed away. At the time, she experienced the presence of the divine, and was instilled with a sense that everything (including the passing of two people she loved so much) was just as it should be. I’m thrilled to have her on the podcast to talk about her shared death experience, and how that event shifted so many things in her life. Inspired by the Immense Love She Felt in a Shared Death Experience One of the things that Sharon shares in her book and on the show is that at the time of her husband’s passing, she was still incredibly angry and upset with God for the loss of her daughter several years prior. Stephanie was born, and passed away the same day, and Sharon fell into a “newfound love of darkness that I carried with me always. Not as an anchor but a new way of living in the world that I had come to know was cruel and unforgiving and God-less.” This event was spiritually book ended for her when she lost her husband. In the moment that he passed, Sharon felt herself being transported into what she calls Starlight. Surrounded by love, presence, and divinity beyond words, she sensed she was whole, accepted and loved beyond comprehension by a God that she had turned away from. “I felt more whole, more forgiven than I’d ever felt before. I now felt nothing except an all-encompassing love and compassion. My heart held no fear, no anger, no grief, no struggle. I was complete just as I was -- I lacked nothing. Deep down, I suppose I had always known this; I had just forgotten it for awhile.” (pg 123) In our interview, Sharon talks about his even more. What strikes me, and why I find this inspiring is that this love and compassion is something that the Divine holds for each of us. It’s not held for just a few. When I think about this radical acceptance, I wonder what would be possible for myself if I accepted the abundance, love, and compassion that is meant for me? In this episode Sharon Prentice and I talk about: -Her early childhood at Cape Cod, dancing and listening to music -The spiritual nature of the ocean and why it draws us both in -Sharon’s work with the terminally ill, and why she feels it’s her life’s work -The spiritual nature, and root of, all therapy work -Her Shared Death Experience, and how it felt like coming home -Jesus and my favorite passage in the Bible (Father, Father, Why have you forsaken me?” -Centering Prayer and meditation -Her husband Steve’s last breath, and how it provided an entrance into a Shared Death Experience for her -How to jumpstart your joy: wake up with a smile, tell the people in your life you love them, and focused prayer Resources Becoming Starlight: A Shared Death Journey from Darkness to Light by Sharon Prentice on Amazon Sharon Prentice’s Website Sharon Prentice PhD’s Facebook page Other resources for Grief, Death, and Dying: Episode 168: Jonni Pollard on How to Awaken to The Truth of Who You Are Episode 127: Julia Samuel on Grief Works, and the Stories of Life, Death, and Surviving Episode 141: Debbie Augenthaler on Grief, Trauma, and Healing: You Are Not Alone

Episode 75- Do you want to reach new heights through meditation, but not know how? This week's guest, Jonni Pollard, is one of the coolest humans in the space of meditation, specifically Vedic (also called Transcendental) Meditation. Jonni tells us all about his own life circumstances that brought him into the arms of his decades-long relationship with Vedic Meditation. Jonni discusses how he created an ingenious app that makes this meditation practice accessible to a new generation. Tap into the life changing power of this episode, as Jonni lets us in on the secrets of one of the most cutting edge consciousness tools accessible to us.

What is our nature? Are we really wired to be caring and all-inclusive or are we just barely-post-neanderthalic shitheads? Is it practical and authentic to be positive and loving?My talk with Jonni Pollard - founder of the meditation community and app 1GiantMind - digs deep into questions like this as he discusses his new book “The Golden Sequence: A Manual For Reclaiming Our Humanity”. This talk is not to be missed. He speaks in sentences you want to snatch out of the air and shove in your pocket. And it comes with good news: we're a pretty decent species after all. Says Jonni, If you're paying attention, connected and working out the kinks of yourself, your most natural state is joyful and loving. His book provides a bounty of clearly-worded techniques and perspectives to re-align us with this inner nature.This is spirituality brought down to the most human levels, not suspended in mysticism or lofty ideals. This is a place of strength and realness, not fluffy spiritual bypassing. It’s a process that takes work, but it will drive you straight to self-realization - no detours in unnecessary life drama and self-loathing. So much to be explored here...and so much relevance to people living lives and working jobs that are service-oriented. According to Jonni, this is the fullest expression of human potential, and the greatest medium for spiritual growth.Support the show (https://donorbox.org/support-serve-conscious)

When you prepare for birth as a team something truly magnificent can occur.Listening to Jonni Pollard and wife Carla di Mattina's tell the birth story of daughter Saffira Devi is to bear witness to this.As the couple tell Nadine in this episode of the She Births Show podcast, Saffira Devi was born in July in New York City following months of intensive and deliberate birth preparations that impacted both Jonni and Carla in an unprecedented way.It was a journey they began, travelled and ended as a joyous and loving team.“If you and your partner have a solid understanding of each other's needs before the birth then you are in good stead FOR the birth, says Carla. “Because during that time when it was hard, Jonni could give me just one look, and I knew I could do it.”

Jonni Pollard is a meditation and wisdom teacher, with his teachings stemming from the Vedic tradition. He’s the author of "The Golden Sequence," co-founder of the 1 Giant Mind Learn Meditation course and the 1 Giant Mind Teacher Training Academy. As a true multipassionate, he’s also been an actor, and an avid skateboarder and runner. Jonni now works with corporations, individuals and at events teaching others how to “get into the highest state of love to connect to our humanity.” The Inspiration of the Four Golden Insights I truly enjoyed getting to speak with Jonni, and felt myself sinking into the conversation in a deep way. One of the most inspirational parts of the discussion for me was when we walked through the Four Golden Insights, which are the pillars for the work Jonni does. Life is Sacred Love is our Nature - we serve, nature, and find connection Wisdom is our Power - Jonni talks about finding the intelligence of love, and reconciling the appearance of resistance and opposites. We also talked about “embodied leadership power, which equals the ability to influence the environment around us.” Wisdom can enliven and awaken the truth of who we are 4. Fulfillment is our Purpose - we find our purpose by fully understanding who we are   Jonni Pollard and I talk about: His earliest sparks of joy as a child - playing with other kids, playing games, and any kind of games where he could evolve and find excitement Being a multipassionate, where he reflected that he felt that the many different things he enjoys in his life are all just different ways that his soul and purpose is revealing itself The filters that we use from the outside looking in, and how it changes the way we see ourselves The desire of creative beings to become expressive Our conditioning as children and the pervasive ideology that we learn as young people How adopting and conforming to social ideals causes immense suffering The four golden insights that set the pillars for the Golden Sequence What happens when energy does not flow naturally The dissonance that fear creates Why we need to connect to our purpose and our humanity Jonni’s thoughts How to Jump Start Your Joy: wake up and connect to the world around you, meditate for success and to affirm your humanity, and to show your best connected self to whomever you first have contact with in the morning   Resources Jonni Pollard’s website The Golden Sequence by Jonni Pollard on Amazon 1 Giant Mind Podcast 1 Giant Mind App

If you've ever wanted to reclaim the power of your humanity, then do we have The Golden Sequence show for you! Today I'll be talking with Jonni Pollard, best known for his creation of the 1 Giant Mind and the Learn Meditation Smartphone app, and the author of a brilliant new book, The Golden Sequence. And that's just what I want to talk with him about today, about tapping into vedic wisdom to break through our toxic beliefs and conditioning, and create authentic loving connections with everyone and everything around you. The Golden Sequence Self-Improvement & Self-Help Topics Include: What happened when Jonni Pollard starred worldwide in Heartbreak High? How'd he end up traveling in India? What was the self-judgment he was feeling, and why? What's the Vedic perspective of reality? What is the Golden Sequence? What's the heart of our crisis today? What is survival mode? What's it mean we're distracting ourselves to death? What is our evolutionary mismatch? What are the four golden insights? What's the practice of affirming the four golden insights? What does it truly mean that life is sacred? What is meant that love is our nature? What is wisdom and how is it our power? What does it mean that fulfillment is our purpose? What's the importance of meditation? How do we begin? How do we recognize the sacredness in our lives and of our lives? What is witnessing and why is it so important? What can we learn from a visit with the Dalai Lama about friendliness? What's the importance of being of service? What's the power of a daily practice? What are a few key items to include in our daily practice? To Find Out More Visit: JonniPollard.com and www.1GiantMind.com Jonni Pollard On Discovering the Power of Your Humanity Thru the Golden Sequence! + Guided Meditation | Health | Fitness | Inspiration | Motivation | Spiritual | Spirituality | Inspirational | Motivational | Self-Improvement | Self-Help | Inspire For More Info Visit: www.InspireNationShow.com

Do you feel disconnected from yourself? Meditation teacher Jonni Pollard talks about The Four Golden Insights from his new book the Golden Sequence. He also talks about how meditation can help you reconnect with your true self, as well as empower you to live life in your full power.

Jonni Pollard is best known for bringing meditation to the mainstream through his organization, 1 Giant Mind and its Learn to Meditate smartphone app. As one of the top rated meditation apps, 1 Giant Mind has taught hundreds of thousands of people worldwide how to meditate for free. He is also recognized for leading mass meditations at some of the world’s biggest lifestyle events and festivals (Wanderlust, Lightning in a Bottle, The Big Quiet). Jonni teaches private meditation and personal development for entrepreneurs, CEOs, celebrities, political leaders and wellness experts across yoga and meditation. More information on the 1 Giant Mind Teacher Training. Make sure to check out Jonni's newly released book : The Golden Sequence : A Manual for Reclaiming Our Humanity Visit journal.kyoapp.com for full show notes Take our daily reflection app KYŌ for a spin Music: Clouds - Joakim Karud https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9O13PpAoVdI

Find out how to create authentic, loving connections with others, create the changes we desire in our lives and rid ourselves of toxic beliefs, as Dr. Michelle interviews personal development and meditation teacher and author, Jonni Pollard, talk about his latest book, "The Golden Sequence; A Manual For Reclaiming Our Humanity." Hear Jonni help listeners with learning how to stop feeling dissatisfied, helpless and alone in this world of mistrust and chaos. Find out more about Jonni Pollard, and get his inspirational books at: jonnipollard.com

Carla & Jonni share their journey of choosing to birth their first born at home. It’s a beautiful, intelligent, vulnerable, rare and insightful sharing of one of the most incredible things we can do as human beings; bring life into being!Carla opens up about overcoming fear, educating herself, finding her innate power, and whole heartedly going through a woman’s greatest right of passage.Carla Dimattina is a physical therapist, and Jonni Pollard is a meditation teacher and author.

Ahead of releasing his book ‘The Golden Sequence: a manual for reclaiming our humanity’, Jonni shares the invaluable steps for how to come back to your heart. Through letting go your limitations and cultivating the skill of listening to a greater intelligence within.Jonni Pollard is a meditation teacher and author.

Meditation teacher and 1 Giant Mind founder Jonni Pollard discusses how meditation can help your golf game. Also, Alex Myers, Sam Weinman, and Keely Levins talk about about an unusual major championship record and preview the Tour Championship.

Adam Whiting, now a well-known yoga teacher around the world for his smart sequencing and anatomical focus in class, was at one time just trying to understand what was going wrong in his body. After seeing doctor after doctor in Manhattan, trying to diagnose massive dizzy spells, headaches and seemingly random spouts of numbness throughout his body, he was told by all accounts that his body was "fine." "I was diagnosed with having anxiety disorder and panic attacks," Whiting told me. "And it didn't fit for me, because it wasn't presenting itself as anxiety. I wasn't stressed. I wasn't depressed. And in my mind, at that point, my knowledge about anxiety disorder was so limited that I was sort of in denial." At that time, Whiting was working in New York as a musician. But in order to pay the bills, he worked nine-to-five at an insurance agency - a job which, he describes, was a major catalyst for his anxiety disorder and also the catalyst for him finding what he was truly meant to be doing. "A friend introduced me to asana, to postural yoga. After several months of just doing yoga...I could feel the anxiety start to unwrap itself. It was just the most amazing feeling of actually feeling safe in my own skin again." After feeling how yoga helped and healed him, he knew it was something he wanted to teach. From that point forward, he launched into his first teacher training. He began teaching right away, supplemented that with playing music, and didn't look back. And even though it became a greater hustle to make ends meet, it was all building towards a greater purpose, or Dharma, as you'll hear Whiting describe in the episode. He started teaching more and more classes, then began traveling for workshops, and then started running trainings and retreats, all in addition to playing music on the side and weaving it into his teaching repertoire. He describes it as all part of a tapestry in "whatever this career is." Whiting sums it up nicely, but his tapestry is composed of many moving pieces that all move him in the direction where he wants to take his career and his life. From moving to Australia to lead trainings alongside owner of Power Living Duncan Peak, to hosting retreats across the world, to moving back to the U.S. to lead his first 200-hour yoga teacher training on his own, Whiting lets meditation be his guide in setting goals for his future. And rather than setting traditional, tangible goals, Whiting is focused on following his Dharma. He sees those action items to achieve more as the logistics to align in order to go after something bigger. "I absolutely do have goals of running more teacher trainings, of having my advanced 300-hour training up and running, of having a tour in Australia and running retreats in Australia and Bali. But in my mind, I sort of think of them as logistical things to align so that I can look out past that and set my sails towards that journey with the knowledge that the winds are going to blow me somewhere completely unexpected, but also with the the trust that wherever I end up is where I'm supposed to be." Listen to Adam Whiting’s episode of the #WeGotGoals podcast to hear more about how he views Dharma, his purpose and duty in life, and the way he views goals that ladder up to that. Thanks to Cody Hughes for the photo used in this post. You can listen anywhere you get your podcasts (including Spotify!) and if you like what you hear, please leave us a rating or a review. And stick around until the end of the episode, where you’ll hear a goal from one of you, our listeners. (Want to be featured on a future episode? Send a voice memo with a goal you’ve crushed, a goal you’re eyeing, or your best goal-getting tip to cindy@asweatlife.com.)   --- Start transcript: [0:00] Jeana: Welcome to We Got Goals, a podcast by asweatlife.com, on which we talk to high achievers about their goals. I'm Jeana Anderson Cohen with me I have Maggie Umberger and Cindy Kuzma. Cindy: Good morning Jeana. Maggie: Morning Jeana. Jeana: Good morning. Maggie, this week you spoke to Adam Whiting. And you actually got to do that interview from home. Maggie: I did. I talked to Adam who is a yoga instructor. Who I think started teaching in Charlotte, North Carolina. Where I am from. And then has since moved to Australia and then back to North Carolina. But he continues to lead trainings and retreats and experiences across the world. In Bali. In Sri Lanka. In throughout Australia. He's taught at Wanderlust. He teaches in a lot of places. I've always just really respected his classes. I have loved them and I wanted to know a little more about his journey to yoga. How he got to the idea of wanting to teach internationally. Because that is a whole other track of teaching that I don't know a lot about. So I was really excited to get to talk to him and then I was home. So I got to do it in person before taking one of his awesome classes. Cindy: Oh, that's so great and it sounds like not just what he said but how he said it left an impact on you. Maggie: It did. And I didn't even say this to him after. So if he listens to this episode he'll be like, "Oh, she didn't tell me that." But I was noticing how mindful he was as he was answering any of the questions that I asked. Or response to something he would say. And thinking about that a little bit more. And even like closing his eyes. Taking time to answer mindfully. I don't do that always. And so I think we don't always love silence and we kind of mumble through things until we get to the point. But he was just really thoughtful about what he wanted to say. And then speaking to that versus talking around the point at all. So I thought that was probably a testament to, in general, his journey toward mindfulness as a teacher. He didn't begin teaching yoga with this meditation center. He actually talks about this in the episode of being very anxious and having anxiety attacks and not really sure of what was going on in his body. He was a musician in New York. Doing that grind of working other jobs. Sitting at a desk while he was trying to have gigs at night and make it as a musician in New York. He was getting beat down through that grind. And so meditation actually, when he was introduced to it just had him sitting with his thoughts more. And he didn't really like that. And so the Asana practice, the movement piece of yoga was what keyed him into a different way of life. Or a different kind of thought pattern. And that he could get out of that anxiousness mode. So the meditation piece came later as I learned. But it really is like a stronghold to his practice and how he teaches now. Jeana: And Maggie, Adam almost didn't do this interview at all, right? And this isn't the first time this has happened to us. Can you talk a little bit about why he sort of has trouble with the concept of goals? Maggie: Yeah, he asked me like, "Is it okay if I don't really have goals. If we do this interview?" And I always think any input on how people view goals is beneficial. However, you see it. Whether you notice or, you know, want to kind of go down the path that one of these goal-getters goes down. Or you kind of take that at face value and choose something different. That's what's cool about this podcast is there's so many different viewpoints. And he said that he's worked with brands and at companies where setting goals has been a central piece of the puzzle. And so he understands it. And he knows that there's benefits to setting a ten-year vision and going after it. And then really executing on your one-year goals to make that ten-year vision a reality. But for him, what's he's found along the way is that he is much more in tune with the idea of dharma. Dharma he says is widely known as your calling but really it's more like your duty. Like your purpose. Why are you put on this earth? And you've got to find that. You've got to search for that. And then you've got to do it. And so that's really what leads him. And that seems ambiguous. And that can be scary. Like that's scary for me to think about. Just, oh my god, what is the one reason I'm here on this earth. But that doesn't really scare him. That's more of like what lights him up. And I think when he speaks about that you'll hear just how much of a guiding force that is for and all of the teachers he has learned from and how teaches now. Jeana: Well what a mindful way to think about goals and we're so excited to hear this interview with Maggie and Adam. Keep those earpods in goal-getters. There's more to this episode at the end. We'll hear from people just like you out there achieving big goals or trying new things or maybe just setting big goals. [4:56] Maggie: So I'm here with Adam Whiting. Who I have had the pleasure of taking class from many times before he moved to Australia. He's a yoga instructor traveling around the world teaching yoga. Also a musician. You're many things Adam and I'm really, really excited to get to talk to you about your journey as not just a yoga teacher but I mean really as a teacher. For a lot of different people across the world. It's a pleasure to have you on our podcast. So thank you for joining us. Adam: Absolutely. Thanks so much for having me. It is completely my pleasure. Maggie: So I did take your class probably first six years ago. Before you moved. And I remember it was like a Wednesday night, 8-9pm or something. And it was a class that I felt like changed my life. I loved it. Adam: Oh wow. Maggie: Yeah, it was just like the transitions were so interesting and you had such a unique perspective. And I remember the savasana was like 15 minutes long. And I had never had that before. And I so appreciated it. So before we jump into talking all about goals. I would love for the listeners at home to just get to hear your journey to yoga, just really briefly. [6:14] Adam: Yeah, absolutely. The story sort of starts in New York City. And I was living there. I moved up there in 2001. And lived up there for a few years. While I was up there I started getting some pretty massive dizzy spells. Some pretty massive headaches. Some random parts of my body, my arm, my face, my legs, were going numb at random times. And I really wasn't sure what was happening. And after taking a tour around several medical professionals, neurologists, doctors, general doctors, MRIs, spinal taps, blood tests. They basically all came to the conclusion that my body was fine. And I was diagnosed with having anxiety disorder and panic attacks. And it didn't fit for me because it wasn't presenting itself as anxiety. Like I wasn't stressed. I wasn't depressed. And in my mind at that point, my knowledge about anxiety disorder was so limited that for me I was sort of in denial. Saying no these are physical symptoms. These are symptoms that I'm getting headaches, I'm getting dizzy. This is physical things. Something has to be physically wrong with me. And it took this really compassionate doctor speaking to me about. Well, she actually made a bargain with me. She's like listen. I understand where you're coming from but let's put you on these anti-anxiety medications for just a little bit. And if your symptoms go away then we can talk, right. Then if you come in believing that this is actually what's going on with you then we can work around different ways to sort of treat the symptoms. So I agreed. And lo and behold she was right. And immediately, I started sort of seeking different ways to address the issues. Medication worked wonderfully for me but I also knew that it wasn't something that I wanted to be reliant on long-term. And I knew that there were other answers out there for me. So I started looking at meditation as the means to heal and to move on from this. And to be completely honest with you, meditation in and of itself actually made it worse. Because I was at that point, just in this state of just. I didn't realize how stressed I was. I didn't realize how just overflowing with anxiety I was. This was just post September 11th and the city was in turmoil. And the world was in turmoil. And to be there during that time. I didn't really realize how deeply those rivers of anxiety were flowing. So when I was asked to sit in the stillness of meditation it actually triggered more anxiety. And it triggered more panic attacks. So I moved away from that. And then finally, you know, a dear friend of mine introduced me to Asana, to a postural yoga. And after several months of just doing postural yoga I could finally start to feel that sort of barbed wire of anxiety, you know, start to unwrap itself from my being. And it was just the most amazing feeling of actually feeling safe in my own skin again. But like I said, not realizing how unsafe I felt. And then I started exploring more meditation with the postural yoga. And immediately when I felt how amazing this practice was. And how much it served to help me and heal me. I knew it was something that I wanted to teach. Pretty immediately, I knew that this was calling out to me to share. So after getting my first yoga teacher training certification. I just jumped into teaching right away. And, you know, I was young and fresh and so passionate about it. It's funny looking back on those first classes those, you know, six, seven, eight years ago. I sort of shake my head a little bit. Of like, oh my god those classes must have been awful. But I think that's sort of true in any sort of medium you care so much about. And as you grow and evolve and mature, your teaching and your skill and your craft evolves and matures. So hopefully, eight years from now when I look back at the classes I'm teaching now I'll be appalled because I've learned that much more in the eight years. So after teaching. I was in Charlotte, North Carolina for a few years teaching. And I got this amazing opportunity to teach in Australia. This wonderful man, teacher, business owner. His name is Duncan Peak, owns Power Living Australia Yoga. And that is a group of nine studios around Australia and New Zealand. And after some sort of back-and-forth and a wonderful trip to Australia. I agreed to move out to Sydney and help coach their teachers and lead their teacher trainings. And travel around to the cities in Australia where they have studios. And teach classes, run workshops, run teacher trainings and, you know, also run retreats in Bali for our teacher trainings. So it was an amazing few years of really quick growth. Really rapid education on my part. And just to be in that part of the world was unbelievable. It's still some of the most beautiful places I've ever been are there. So I lived there for a few years and it was absolutely amazing. But towards the end of those few years, I could feel these little strings pulling my heart back to America. My family's here and we'd always been really, really tight. And in Australia, just being able to come back once a year was amazing but it wasn't quite enough. And there were some issues with family stuff that were really pulling me back to be home. To be closer with family. And it also sort of aligned really beautifully with my desire to be an independent yoga teacher. Working out in Australia was absolutely amazing but I was also working for another brand. And it was an amazing brand but it was a brand that wasn't Adam Whiting or Adam Whiting Yoga. It was another brand. And there's always been a craving inside of my journey and my career to just speak from my own voice and teach my own trainings in the way that I've learned. And the way that I want to share. Without really, it might sound blunt, but without really having to answer to anybody else. So in moving back to America and back to Charlotte. And running my first teacher training here which is an independent Adam Whiting Yoga Teacher Training. It feels amazing to be able to, you know, put my stamp on the certificates. And say that, you know, these students learned from me. And to be able to craft my own calendar and run my own events. And just sort of again, it sounds blunt, but not to have to answer to anybody else. To be able to craft my own future in the way that I want it is really encouraging and I'm really excited about the next few years. Maggie: I hear probably something that a lot of people would nod their head at and say that they want to be in charge of their own destinies too. Adam: Absolutely. [14:28] Maggie: And that's a huge, like. I can imagine that feeling, that calling inside you. Cause I feel it in me. And I feel like so many people. Especially now, that there are so many avenues to create your own path. That it isn't the 9-5 structure of jobs as much as it used to be. Especially in the recent years. So I wonder, what for you was some of the helpful guides in pushing along this path. To create it for yourself. Because while I know a lot of people want it. It's another to actually go for it and do it. [15:02] Adam: Yeah, absolutely. It's I think my journey is not quite a typical journey. My journey started playing the guitar. As you said, I'm a musician. And I started playing the guitar when I was eleven or twelve. And I was only playing it for a couple of years. And just by sort of coincidence and I think we'll talk a little bit more about coincidences later. The guitar teacher that I had was graduating from college. And he said, "Okay. I'm leaving you. I can't teach you anymore. But there's this amazing school. And I want you to go down for a summer session." So and that was University of North Carolina School of the Arts. And it was between my eighth and ninth grade year. And I studied there for a few weeks. And it was my first sort of time away from home. And I remember I was really homesick. And I think I cried a lot on the phone with my mom. It was terrifying being away from home that young for me. But then basically by the time I got back home from the training or the summer session, the guitar teacher at this university had called my mother. And said that he wanted me to study there full-time. So I studied at this university, at this conservatory for seven years. Through high school, through my undergrad. And immediately that's when I moved up to New York City. And when I got to New York was the first time I ever had that real 9-5 job. And, you know, like any musician in New York, especially. You're a musician which means you're unloading trucks. Or you're a waiter. Or you're, you know, working data entry at an insurance agency. Which is what I was doing in a cubicle from 9-5. And I think that working that job was one of the catalysts for one. One of the catalysts for my anxiety disorder and my stress because I was so deeply unhappy there. But because of that was the catalyst for me getting out. You know, and I remember the day that I quit and it was. I remember walking around. It was in downtown New York, in Manhattan. And I remember walking around after I had resigned. And I was sort of like halfway smiling, halfway crying, like halfway like I don't know how I'm going to make a living now. But I had no choice. It was one of those things that comes up with me quite often is I don't have a choice right now. So this is the path that I'm going to walk down. So from there on out, I pretty much just started hoofing it as a musician. I started teaching lessons. I started performing as much as I could. I recorded an album. And I was still unloading trucks at a Crate & Barrel in midtown at the same time. So I was still working jobs to pay my rent. But there was always this sort of, just this hustle, of you've got to do this. Because you don't really have a choice. And then I moved back to Charlotte. And when I moved back to Charlotte from New York. One, the cost of living was significantly less. So I was really surprised that I could make a living as a musician at that point. You know, gigging on the weekends and teaching lessons. And then teaching yoga. And all of a sudden teaching yoga so sort of started to take precedence. And I started teaching more and more classes. And then I started traveling for workshops. And then I started running trainings. And then retreats. And it was sort of this beautiful crescendo where more and more yoga opportunities were coming and the music opportunities were sort of fading away. And what's beautiful now is that they've both sort of come together. Like I'm still playing music, we're running Kirtans. This, you know, traditional chants in yoga. And recording a cd. And it's sort of come together in this beautiful tapestry of whatever this career is. But I think what you said is really important. Is that I think the definition of career is really changing. That the idea of that 9-5 job that my dad had where he worked for Federal Express from out of college until the day he died. Really it still exists but it's not. I don't think it's really the stronghold that it used to be. And now there's sort of this freedom of creating what you want to create for your life, for your job, for your career. And it still terrifies me. Because I'm sitting here. You know, meandering into my late thirties. And really happy with my career and really happy with where everything is right now. But I'm also thinking about retirement funds and do I want to be teaching yoga when I'm in my fifties. Or what's going to happen and how am I going to create this financial stability that. You know, if I did follow the path of my father or my grandfather that they had the retirement funds and the IRAs and all of this stuff set up which I don't have. And part of me gets really terrified about that and then part of me also is just sort of trusting, right? Part of me just sort of thinks. Okay, well here we are. And this is the path that I'm moving through in this lifetime. And, you know, these first few decades I've figured it out. So hopefully I'll continue to figure it out. Maggie: I think it's a good mentality. I mean if your past is any track record for the future, you will figure it out. So let's talk about big goals. The biggest question that we ask on the podcast is what's one big goal that you've accomplished that you're proud to say that you did and how you got there? [21:07] Adam: It's interesting. I knew that you were going to ask this question and I've spent some time these past couple of days sort of hovering around that question. And I really didn't come up with one goal. Because I'm not really the type of person that sort of makes a goal list. Or a vision chart. And, you know, through my teaching and yoga I've interacted with several brands who have put me through that sort of, you know, vision statements and ten-year goals and five-year goals and one-year goals. And I think that's very helpful and I think there's a lot to be said for that. But at the same time even when I was doing it. It wasn't really lighting me up. Like it wasn't inspiring me for the future. For creating something that moved me closer towards whatever those goals are. It actually sort of intimidated me a little bit. So I was like well I don't know. I don't want to set this goal that I'm not sure of this house or this family or this career. Like I want these goals and I want these visions but I also want to be able to flow. And if I didn't have that idea of flow in my life. I wouldn't have ended up in Australia or Bali or back here. And I don't think I'd be where I was right now. So there's something to be said for. In yoga, we call it Sankalpa and Sankalpa means intention. In yoga, we speak towards the word dharma a lot. I think it's softly and steadily turning into a phrase that might be a bit overused these days. Or maybe mistranslated is a better way of saying it. But in dharma, a lot of people think of dharma as being your calling. But the more accurate translation actually means your duty. I think that's a little bit more accurate because it's not just what am I inspired to do. It's like what do I have to do? Like why was I put here on this earth? And I have to with everything that I have and with my entire being and with my entire life I have to find that. I have to find my calling. Why I'm here. It's my duty. And for me, instead of charting out ten-year, five-year, one-year. The way that I've sort of navigated through it is more silence. More meditation. More introspection. And when I sort of back away and take those times of stillness and of meditation. I feel like I'm shedding away the layers of the external thought patterns. Of my doubts and of my worry. And of that constant negative chatter that lives in my head and a lot of other people's heads. To just sort of sit in my center. To sit in my being for a little while. And to actually listen. And to listen to what my heart truly wants. And it's in that listening that my compass sort of sets itself. And what the yogic tradition believes is that once you find that connection to your source. That connection to your calling. And you notice, we could several words here. We could use the word the universe, we could use the word divinity, we could use the word grace. But when you start to notice the essences of that force, that power, that energy resonating in your life. That energy starts to notice you noticing her. And she begins to unfold for you. And what I mean by that. One of my favorite quotes which may or may not be tattooed somewhere on my body in some way. Is an Emerson quote which is, "The world makes way for the man who knows which way he is going." It really resonates with the Vedic knowledge, with the yogic knowledge of once you have discovered your dharma. Your path down this life and you set your sails and you start moving in that direction. The world has a beautiful way of creating the path for you. And it's not going to be the path that you think it is. You know, it's not going to be the route that you think you should be going down. But it is a path that if you trust it, it will lead you to somewhere beyond your wildest expectations. So in goals, I absolutely do have goals. Goals of, you know, in 2019 running some more teacher trainings. Of having my advanced 300-hour training up and running. Of having a tour in Australia. And running retreats in Australia and Bali. And these are sort of, I guess we can consider them short-term, one-year goals. But in my mind I sort of think of them as logistical things to align. So that I can sort of look out past that. And like I said set my sails towards that journey with the knowledge and the expectations that the winds are going to blow me somewhere completely unexpected. But also with the trust that wherever I end up is where I'm supposed to be. Maggie: I have a two-part question. Or maybe two separate questions. Adam: Okay. Maggie: First, do you know what your duty is now? [26:55] Adam: Okay, interesting. So good. I'm leading a teacher training here in Charlotte. And we just, and I think a couple weekends ago we just had this conversation. There's this beautiful book. It's called The Great Work of Your Life by Stephen Cope. And it's this modern sort of retelling. Not necessarily retelling but a modern analysis of the Bhagavad Gita. And it talks about all of these characters who've found their calling. And they pursued it. And we had this big conversation with our trainees. And some of them knew and some of them didn't. And some of them were really stressed out that they didn't know. And some of them were really disappointed that they didn't. And some of them weren't sure that it was right. And it was really revealing. And we have a retreat coming up in a couple of weeks where we will go through a process of finding their dharma. Or I don't know that puts a lot of pressure on the retreat. Let's say getting closer to discovering it. In my journey in discovering it and what I've found. And this is through working with an amazing book called the Four Desires written by an amazing yoga teacher named Rod Stryker. He puts you through several writing exercises. In several different manners which pulls away sort of this layered thought of what dharma really is. And I think in Western wrapping we often think of dharma as your career, like your job. And if not that, maybe it's your family. And if not that, maybe it's something along those lines. And when I went through this, these exercises through this book and through working with Rod Stryker. I came upon what he calls your dharma code. And it takes several sort of drafts. And several pages of writing and crossing out and editing and writing and crossing out and editing. And I came upon one, and the person I was working with had me read it out loud. And as soon as I read it out loud. I looked and she looked at me. And she said, "Nope, that's not it." And my feelings were really hurt. And I was like what do you mean, this is it? And she asked me, "Were you editing yourself along the way when you were writing? Were you trying to steer the ship in a different direction? Were you editing along the way?" And I was like "No...yes." And I looked back at what I was writing and I was like totally I was. Because I thought I knew the answer already. And I wasn't leading myself into being vulnerable and open. So we tore it up. We started over again. Rewrote it all over again. And then at the end of this process. She said, "Okay, read it to me again." And the dharma code that I wrote was, "I share my story with the world without hesitation or doubt." And as soon as I said that I saw her face light up. And my face lit up. And she said, "Did you feel that?" And I was like, "I don't know what it was but I felt it." And it was just as soon as I read it, it was this surge of energy running through every cell in my body. You know an energy that we call alignment. And I was like oh, it totally redefined this idea of dharma for me. It's that I've always been a storyteller. As a musician, as a songwriter, as a yoga teacher or a workshop and a training facilitator. It's always been about a story. And sharing a story. And when this dharma code came about saying I share my story with the world without doubt or hesitation. It landed in a way that it didn't define me. In a way of putting boundaries around me. But it defined me in a way of lifting me up and giving myself permission to pursue these dreams with everything that I have. And that's the second teaching of the Bhagavad Gita which we said before. You know, the first teaching is find your dharma. Find why you were put here. Because you being in a body that is breathing and alive right now is nothing short of a miracle. And there's a reason for it. So step one is to find that. And then step number two is to pursue it with everything that you have. With absolutely every cell of your body. And in finding this dharma code. That little, short little sentence. It was, it felt like somebody put a match to my fuse. And all of a sudden just this rocket was about to go off. It felt unreal. Maggie: Like you could almost get out of your own way. Adam: Absolutely. Yes, absolutely. And I was in my way more than I wasn't. And I still am, right? It still happens where I'm just like tripping over myself. Because my mind and my chatter and my doubt gets in the way. But, you know, all it takes is that, those moments of daily meditation and coming back to that dharma code. Which is like, oh yeah. I get it now. Maggie: That actually is a good segway to my other piece of the question. Because I'm interested in hearing you talk about the space in between where you went from being anxious by sitting with yourself and trying to meditate. And then to having such solace with meditation and really cherishing that time. How did you find that? Or how did that progression in your life happen? [33:09] Adam: Yeah, absolutely. For the first several years of my yoga practice, it was really predominantly a postural yoga practice. It was an Asana practice. And meditation was an off and on thing. You know, I would do meditation when I was in teacher training or when I was studying or when I was on a retreat with my teacher. And it was something that I always knew the benefit of. But never committed to a daily practice. And then several years ago, I made a trip to India during a pilgrimage called the Kumbh Mela. And the Kumbh Mela is every twelve years. It's this pilgrimage at the banks of the Ganges River. In a little town Allahabad. Not that little. But it is the biggest gathering of human beings in the planet. I think it's some 80 million people make the pilgrimage to what's known as the Sangam. And the Sangam is the confluence, the joining together of the Ganges River, the Jamuna River and the mystical Sarasvati River. And every twelve years, it's the alignment of the planets is said that that spot in the planet is the third eye of the planet. And every twelve years, the third eye opens. So if you are lucky enough to bathe yourself in the Ganges at this time. It's said it's so holy that your sins are forgiven, your children's sins are forgiven and your grandchildren's sins are forgiven. It was beautiful. It was amazing. It was one of those pilgrimages that words can't really capture. We were staying, our campgrounds for this pilgrimage was about a kilometer downriver from the actual Kumbh Mela. But there were millions and millions and millions of people in this festival ground, pilgrimage grounds and there were 24-hour chants happening. Fires burning. Just millions and millions of people. And that energy was just rolling down the Ganges. The smoke was rolling down the Ganges. You could hear the chants. And it just sounded, in the middle of the night you would wake up and you would just hear [...]. Of just these chants happening and the energy was palpable. It was amazing. And I was there with Rod Stryker and another great teacher. His teacher, Pandit Rajmani Tigunait. And it was there that I really found my meditation practice. We worked a lot with mantra. We worked a lot with different sort of meditation techniques. That finally just sang. You know, it felt like music to me. It felt like a song. And I think, you know, in the years prior when I was working in yoga and trying to find this meditation practice. I couldn't really find it because I didn't really have a teacher. Like I didn't have someone to teach me the technique. You know, it's like trying to do a handstand but you're just alone in your room. And you're just flinging yourself up and down. And there is nobody there to tell you the technique to get into it. Meditation was the same way. So I finally had found a teacher. I had found somebody to lead me into the technique and to guide me and to answer my questions and to relieve my doubt. And so for years after that, I was meditating in this japa mantra practice. Which is a repetition of a mantra. And it's the practice that I've relied on heavily throughout these last several years. And then when I was in Australia I met another amazing yoga teacher, meditation teacher. And his name is Jonni Pollard. And his organization is called One Giant Mind. And his manner and his way of speaking about meditation and teaching mediation is profound in it's simplicity. What he is doing now is he working to strip away all of the pretenses, all of the structure on meditation. That for a lot of people can seem really daunting and really intimidating. And his technique is so simple but it's so refined. So I've started studying with him. And I'm actually right now moving through his teacher training to become a certified meditation teacher in One Giant Mind. And it's this very simple mantra. It's this very simple beautiful process. That you just sit down for twenty minutes twice a day. And right now, that's the practice for me that's having the most profound effects. You know, I will always be a fan of postural yoga. I will always be a fan of moving my body and finding freedom through that movement. But right now, in this sort of journey through the meditation practice which is now spanning a couple decades. Meditation is where I find the clarity, the peace, and the reconnection to myself that I'm so often missing. And in trying to teach others now. In my teacher trainings and in the retreats, the skill and the craft of meditation. It really is learning a new practice and it's creating and cultivating these new habits. But without fail if I can get one of my students to sit down for 30 days straight of meditation, then they're in it. They're in it for life. Because within those 30 days they have noticed such a profound shift in their connection to joy, in their calmness, in their balance, in just their way of being. The way that Jonni Pollack often says it, "You know those points in your life where, you find yourself just happy for no reason. Like you're sitting and watching a sunset. Or you're walking your dog. Or something beautiful happens and just this like really gentle wave of contentment and happiness sort of waves over you, washes over you." He says that's your natural way of being, right? That should not be an anomaly. That should be your regular state of being. And connecting to a meditation practice lets you access that state of being with such ease. And it's been a practice that has saved me several times. And like I've said, I love Asana and I love moving my body and I love sweating. But for me now, the postural yoga practice and the meditation practice are two sides of the same coin that I don't really want to live without either of them. [40:34] Maggie: So the last question which you sort of touched on. And I think maybe it wraps up a lot of the things that we're talking about of kind of getting out of your own way. Or being able to sit to really know where you want to go and where you can live out your duty or your dharma. Maybe that kind of comes up in this question of what's a big goal that you see for the future, that you want and why do you want it? Or how do you plan on getting there? [41:01] Adam: Yeah. About a year ago. Or it's been a little bit more now. A year and a half to two years ago. I had a pretty catastrophic injury. My L4/L5 disc blew and the extruded disc actually wrapped around one of my spinal nerves. And I lost function of my left leg and I lost feeling in my left leg. And coming from a state of yoga aware and movement where I really define myself as a mover. As a postural yoga practitioner. To have that taken away from me was heartbreaking. I mean the pain was excruciating. But it also forced me to redefine where I stand as a teacher in this practice. And after the surgery. And after the rehab. And reintroducing my body into this movement practice was so enlightening. One in terms of what my body was capable of doing. Or more accurately what it's no longer capable of doing. How to be okay with that. But also looking back over the past ten years of moving my body in Asana and being able to see really clearly with. Hindsight is 20/20. Being able to see really clearly the movements that I shouldn't have been doing. The transitions that I shouldn't have been doing. The fighting my body to try to get deeper mobility. To try to get a deeper forward fold. To try to get the legs behind my head. That, you know, in hindsight really was just ego. It was really me just fighting to prove something that was really pointless in the first place. And what I find now that I'm back on the mat, back in my practice. Is that I'm still so inspired by the movement. I'm still so inspired by the Asana. And it is an exploration and it is a joy to find new ways to move. It's an art. It's just like music. It's like songwriting. It's creating a sequence and moving your body through the sequence. It's dance. It's songwriting. It's poetry. But what I've found is that there needs to be science behind the art. There needs to be knowledge behind the art. And in all bluntness and in all openness. I think that is lacking, that knowledge is lacking. Especially in the new yoga teachers around today. Which we were all there. I was a new yoga teacher. And I was just sort of making it up as I went along. But one of my goals now is to. Number one always keep refining the way that I teach. And to keep building my knowledge base so that my knowledge of anatomy, of the biomechanics of the body, of how bodies are supposed to move and how to keep people safe is always growing. But now on top of that. Now that I've become. I've been teaching teachers how to teach. My goal is to educate yoga teachers in how to keep people safe. In how to try to in as many instances as possible avoid the injuries that we all get so often. I mean, yoga is movement and in movement, there is inherent risk. Right, there is inherent risk in hamstring pulls or wrist injuries or shoulder injuries. Like it's going to happen. And, you know, if you compare yoga to American football the risk level is quite low. But what I see is that the level of injuries in this practice is much higher than it should be. And it's much higher than it should be because I think there are inherent flaws in the structure of how we train and certify teachers. Which is a really long conversation probably for another day. But I think it's really important to, number one allow the people who are so passionate about yoga and who really want to teach the yoga to allow them to teach. But I want to in my trainings guide them to teach in a way that is knowledgeable and educated and is capable of moving people through their practice in a safe and empowering way. So in creating my 200-hour program and in 2019 unveiling my advanced 300-hour program. That's really the goal of it. Number one, get people meditating. And as always learn about the philosophy, the vedas, the mantra, learn about the heart of the yoga. But at the same time heavily immerse them in anatomy, in functional anatomy, in alignment. In getting people to understand what safe movements are. What aren't safe movements. What transitions we shouldn't be combining. And how we can continue to watch this beautiful methodology of yoga grow in the amazing expansive way that it has been growing. But to ensure that it's growing in a mindful and responsible way. Maggie: So Adam, how can people find you and listen to you through your new cd? And keep up with where you are and where you're going? Adam: Yeah. So the website is adamwhitingyoga.com and everything on social media. Well, Instagram and Facebook is Adam Whiting Yoga as well. So Adam Whiting Yoga and you can find me anywhere. And the new cd is hopefully coming out sometime in 2019. Fingers crossed. I'm really excited about that. But the partners that I'm working at are touring musicians in Australia. So we have just a little bit to go. So hopefully the stars will align and we'll be able to get that sooner rather than later. Maggie: Thank you so much for joining me on this podcast, We Got Goals. And it was an honor to have you. Adam: The pleasure was all mine. Thanks so much. Cindy: He goal-getters. It's Cindy Kuzma. Just checking in to let you know that we're about to play another goal from one of you, our listeners! If you would like to be featured on an upcoming episode of We Got Goals here on A Sweat Life. You can record a voice memo with a goal you've set, a goal you've achieved, just maybe your dharma, your purpose. Whatever you want to tell us about that's related to goals. Record that, send it to Cindy@aSweatLife.com. And we could feature you on an upcoming episode. Thanks for listening and here is one of your goals. Britney: I am Britney and I am from Southern Indiana. One goal getting strategy that's worked very well for me is keeping my goals to myself. Which is a little different then what some people do. But I've found that it helps me because it helps me make more attainable goals rather than goals I share on social media that maybe are a little more grandious then they should be or aren't quite as fleshed out as they should be. You know, we're in the age where we want to share everything with everyone on social media. And sometimes in my experience, it's worked best for me to just keep it between me and myself. A really good example was when I was finding my new job. I kept it kind of vague when I talked to people about it. And I just said you know I'm hunting. And I wrote down everything I wanted out of my job. I wanted very specific benefits and I wanted a very specific atmosphere and culture. And I just kind of went after it and found it. And it was nice because I wasn't cluttering it with other people's kind of input. And it was just me and my goal. [50:00] Cindy: This podcast is asweatlife.com production and it’s another thing that’s better with friends. So please, share it with yours. You can subscribe wherever you get your podcasts including on Spotify. And while you’re there if you could leave us a rating or a review we would be so grateful. Special thanks to Jay Mono, for our theme music, to our guest this week, Adam Whiting, to TechNexus for the recording studio, and to Kathy Lai for editing. And of course to you, our listeners.

Why do so many of us get love wrong and struggle to find self-love? Lesley-Anne, a former psychotherapist now Vedic meditation teacher and counselor, and mother to Jonni Pollard, poses this important question. Jonni presents a new definition of love that bucks the common conception that love arrives "only when someone else loves you." Rather, love is our most fundamental nature. It's the spontaneous way we respond to life and treat others, so long as we're not overwhelmed by fear. Jonni suggests that love is a self-referenced phenomenon. Though it can elude us, it occurs within. In doubting our lovability, we disconnect from ourselves, and then from others. The conversation comes to a beautiful ending as Lesley-Anne shares her experience with clients and patients who integrate meditation into their lives, and how this is the backbone of self-love.

Jonni is best known for bringing meditation to the mainstream through his organization, 1 Giant Mind and its Learn to Meditate smartphone app. As one of the top rated meditation apps, 1 Giant Mind has taught hundreds of thousands of people worldwide how to meditate for free. He is also recognized for leading mass meditations at some of the world’s biggest lifestyle events and festivals (Wanderlust, Lightning in a Bottle, The Big Quiet). Jonni also teaches private meditation and personal development for entrepreneurs, CEOs, celebrities, political leaders and wellness experts across yoga and meditation. Born and raised in Australia, Jonni now currently resides in Manhattan. Follow Jonni's journey https://www.instagram.com/jonnipollard/ http://www.1giantmind.org/get-the-app Visit journal.kyoapp.com for full show notes. Made possible by our daily reflection app KYŌ. Take it for a spin! Music by Joakim Karud http://youtube.com/joakimkarud

Jonni is an exponent of spiritual teachings predating all religions, and so who better to offer you a closer-to-truth perspective on the greatly misunderstood concept of “God”.  In this conversation, Jonni unravels an unexpected outlook on God.  Not only will his perspective likely align with both your head and heart, but it'll give way to inner, and outer fulfilment.  Jonni suggests it’s less about a belief or non-belief in God, and more about a direct experience with the intelligence of love.  He shines light on the mechanisms people have used over the years to control and seperate people with the concept of God.  And he reminds us of the magnificent intelligence of existence, how it’s all inescapably connected, and how our inherent responsibility and belonging is to the deepest, truest part of ourselves.  Oh, and he also gives you a practical way to experience world peace, right now!

He's gone from a TV star in his native Australia to a meditation rock star on the global stage and is the founder of 1 Giant Mind. Jonni and I have a chat about expansion-of the mind, the heart and how that expansion comes with loving responsibility for nations AND individuals. It all gets much easier with a regular meditation practice. One world, one heart, one giant mind.

Rewiring your brain for success and inner peace... It’s not science fiction, it’s 100% possible. And today’s podcast guest shows us how. Jonni Pollard is the co-founder and executive director of 1 Giant Mind. He specializes in teaching people how to realize the mind's potential, so they can live the most innovative and fulfilling life possible. For full show notes and episode resources head to https://melissaambrosini.com/6 As an internationally recognized meditation teacher, Jonni has dedicated his life to sharing the knowledge of the great living masters of our time. This beautiful being is a constant source of inspiration for me, and I am super grateful to have him on speed dial for those times when I’m feeling frazzled. Get ready to dive deep with this beautiful soul, Jonni Pollard. (P.S. This is the first interview I have ever cried in, so you will have to listen to find out what brought me to tears.) In this episode we chat about: What is our deepest truth as humans, and why the heck does this matter? (12:14) How to call love into your life in 12 simple steps (14:29) The secret to getting unstuck and finding freedom (20:40) Using vulnerability to achieve liberation (34:38) Why courage is our greatest asset (35:48) How to move through adversity (37:55) The importance of surrounding yourself with beautiful beings (23:31) The secret to healing long-term pain and angst (55:58) How meditation can rewire our brains and bring us back to love (44:47) Jonni’s tips for detoxing your body and life (01:04:47) Why Jonni brings me to tears… this is the first time that’s ever happened in an episode. (Listen to find out why.) Plus so much more!   For full show notes, episode resources and quick links to the above timestamps, head to https://melissaambrosini.com/6 The only purpose of this podcast is to educate and to inform. It is no substitute for professional care by a doctor or other qualified medical professional.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Namaste Yogis, This is Andrew Sealy here to welcome YOU to The YOGA REVEALED PODCAST!   Today’s guest is an absolutely brilliant being of mindful compassion! Jonni Pollard is the co founder and executive director of the world renowned, “1 Giant Mind” meditation APP.  He is an internationally recognised meditation teacher who has dedicated his life to sharing the knowledge gained from a select group of living masters with the WORLD.  Jonni’s dedication to preserving the wisdom of meditation through 1 Giant Mind has led him to worldwide lectures that allow these great teachings to resonate throughout time.  Today Jonni Pollard shares  3 key tips to full life empowerment through meditation!     Get ready to DO instead of try... As Jonni reveals how meditation allows our intentions to FLY! On this episode of the Yoga Revealed Podcast.   Thank you for tuning into the Yoga Revealed Podcast.  You can learn more about Jonnie Pollard and his app 1 Giant Mind at http://www.1giantmind.org/ Make sure to check out the app in the itunes market to begin your meditation practice with the assistance of a knowledgable guide. To find out more on Jonnie’s lectures, teachings, and upcoming events, head to http://www.jonnipollard.com/ AND special treat Yoga Revealers!  BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THE YOGA REVEALED BOOK CLUB launching THIS MONTH with special recommendations and reviews from real Yogis just like YOU!  We have a passion for expanding our knowledge and growing a conscious community with your participation So make sure to sign up for our newsletter for Exclusive behind the scene footage and updates.  Namaste… Until next time Yogis,  Live Light Shine Bright! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In Episode 70 of The Real Food Reel we are again joined by Katee Pedicini from Holistic Endurance and Katee and I will discuss the controversial topic of ‘Does this training make me look fat?', covering all things hormones, overtraining, stress and the elusive number on the scales. Show Notes: Find out more and enrol in Holistic Endurance training camps here. RFR 58 The day low-fat died and death by dietary guidelines with Phil Maffetone: http://thewellnesscouch.com///rfr/rfr-58-the-day-low-fat-died-and-death-by-dietary-guidelines-with-phil-maffetone RFR 52 Why meditation is essential for CEOs, elite athletes and everyone in between with Jonni Pollard from 1 Giant Mind:http://thewellnesscouch.com///rfr/rfr-52-why-meditation-is-essential-for-ceos-elite-athletes-and-everyone-in-between-with-jonni-pollard-from-1-giant-mind RFR 45 Endurance, race day fuelling and slowing down to go faster with Dr Phil Maffetone: http://thewellnesscouch.com///rfr/rfr-45-endurance-race-day-fuelling-and-slowing-down-to-go-faster-with-dr-phil-maffetone RFR 44 Adrenal Health with Katee Pedicini from Holistic Endurance: http://thewellnesscouch.com///rfr/rfr-44-adrenal-health-with-katee-pedicini-from-holistic-endurance The post RFR 70: Does this training make me look fat? appeared first on The Wellness Couch.

In Episode 52 of The Real Food Reel we are joined by Jonni Pollard from 1 Giant Mind. Jonni Pollard is an internationally recognised meditation teacher who has dedicated his life to sharing the knowledge gained from some of the great living masters of our time. Today on the show Jonni and chat all things mediation and mindfulness, for CEOs, elite athletes and everyone in between. Show Notes: http://www.1giantmind.org Download the app: App Store Google Play The post RFR 52 : Why meditation is essential for CEOs, elite athletes and everyone in between with Jonni Pollard from 1 Giant Mind appeared first on The Wellness Couch.