In this episode, you'll discover:

• Whether mystical states are just neurons firing or something science can't explain yet
• Why human morality keeps evolving and what that means for the stories we call truth
• How to use technology to train your focus without losing the magic of transcendence

Have you ever noticed how the though ts that torture you most aren't even yours?

They're hand-me-downs. Scripts you inherited from parents who inherited them from their parents. Cultural programming that told you productivity equals worth. That rest is laziness. That your value comes from how much you can do for everyone else. You've been running on these thoughts for so long you forgot they're just thoughts. Not truth. Just noise.

Most people think meditation is about becoming calm. It's not. It's about seeing the machinery. The way your brain spins the same stories on repeat. The way it reaches for distraction the second discomfort shows up. The way it convinces you that scrolling Instagram or buying another thing or staying busy will make you feel better when really you're just running from yourself.

I spent years doing that. Chasing experiences. MDMA, plant medicine, skydiving. Anything to feel something other than the hollow ache of not knowing who I was underneath all the performance. Those experiences cracked me open. But they didn't teach me how to stay open. That's what meditation did. It taught me that the version of me chasing dopamine hits wasn't broken. She was just afraid to sit still long enough to meet herself.

Today our guest is Ariel Garten, neuroscientist, psychotherapist, and founder of Muse, the brain-sensing meditation headband. She's lived with undiagnosed ADD her whole life and used meditation and neuroscience to literally rewire her brain.

Links from the episode:

• Show Notes: mindlove.com/423
• Join the Mind Love Collective
• Sign up for The Morning Mind Love for short daily notes to wake up inspired
• Support Mind Love Sponsors

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• Why your body rebels when you're living someone else's script
• The third option between toxic masculinity and invisible masculinity
• How real masculine power actually improves intimate relationships

What if the price of being the "good guy" is losing yourself completely?

I'm so tired of hearing women complain about where all the good men are. You know what I think? They're out there. They're just so busy trying not to be toxic that they've made themselves invisible. We've swung from one extreme to another. Now instead of dealing with assholes, we're dating ghosts.

You've got two terrible options in the dating world. Door number one: the obvious red flags who think emotions are for weaklings and leadership means being the loudest jackass in the room. Door number two: guys who are so terrified of taking up space that there's nothing actually there. Sure, they're nice. Sure, they're safe. But they're also the type to suggest going Dutch on the first date because making any kind of move feels too risky.

Men are killing themselves at three times the rate of women, but they won't ask for help. And honestly? I get it. The message they're getting is confusing as hell. Be vulnerable but not weak. Be strong but not aggressive. Lead but don't be controlling. No wonder they're paralyzed.

The thing is, we're all paying for this mess. When the men in our lives are walking around dead inside, our relationships suffer. Our kids learn that strength means shutting down. Everyone loses when half the population is too scared to show up authentically.

Carl Jung wrote about the wounded healer. The person whose deepest pain becomes their greatest gift. A lot of men have learned to be incredibly sensitive to everyone else's feelings because they've completely numbed their own. They'll bend over backwards to make you happy while slowly suffocating inside.

Today our guest is Isaac Wathen, a men's coach who helps guys move from people-pleasing to actual leadership. After his own health crisis forced him to face how disconnected he'd become, Isaac figured out how to reclaim masculine power without becoming a total dick about it.

Links from the episode:

• Show Notes: mindlove.com/422
• Join the Mind Love Collective
• Sign up for The Morning Mind Love for short daily notes to wake up inspired
• Support Mind Love Sponsors

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• Why your brain rewards comparison and what to do about it
• How ancient mammal wiring drives modern addiction patterns and self-sabotage
• The real reason happiness chemicals fade and how to retrain your response

Ever notice how you can't stop comparing yourself to other people, even when you know it makes you miserable?

There's a reason for that. And it has nothing to do with social media, your childhood trauma, or some defect in your personality.

It's because your brain works exactly like a goat’s.

I know that sounds strange. But stay with me. Because understanding this one piece of mammal brain science explains why you scroll Instagram feeling inadequate, why you can't stop reaching for that thing you swore you'd quit, why happiness never seems to stick around as long as you want it to.

We spend so much energy trying to fix ourselves. Trying to stop comparing. Trying to feel content. Trying to be happy all the damn time. But what if the problem isn't you? What if your brain is just doing exactly what it evolved to do?

Today our guest is Loretta Breuning, founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and author who spent decades studying how mammal brain chemistry shapes human behavior. After observing goat social dynamics at a farm, she uncovered patterns that completely changed how she understood human conflict, competition, and happiness.

Links from the episode:

• Show Notes: mindlove.com/421
• Join the Mind Love Collective
• Sign up for The Morning Mind Love for short daily notes to wake up inspired
• Support Mind Love Sponsors

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What you'll discover in this episode:

• The real reason most people never question their predetermined path
• Why exhaustion might be your signal to pivot everything
• How to build a business when you have zero evidence yet

What if the life you've carefully planned isn't the one you're meant to live?

There's this moment that happens when you're living someone else's version of your life. You might not even realize it at first. You're checking all the boxes, following the plan, doing what you're supposed to do. But something feels off. Something feels hollow. Maybe you've felt it too. That gnawing sense that the dreams you've been chasing might not actually be yours.

That's exactly what happened to our guest today. Picture this: you're 22, fresh out of college with a prestigious degree, job offers waiting, and the golden path to success stretched out in front of you. Then you fall in love while studying abroad and suddenly everything you thought you wanted feels like someone else's story.

Today our guest is Samantha Smith, an entrepreneur and personal brand strategist who helps women build authentic businesses around their unique gifts. She's built a successful coaching practice and podcast after walking away from everything that looked right on paper to follow what felt right in her heart.

Links from the episode:

• Show Notes: mindlove.com/420
• Join the Mind Love Collective
• Sign up for The Morning Mind Love for short daily notes to wake up inspired
• Support Mind Love Sponsors

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Here's what you'll discover in this episode:

• Why your triggers are actually doorways to freedom
• How to tell if you're healing or just recycling trauma
• The difference between spiritual growth and ego transformation

When does healing become just another addiction?

I used to think healing meant fixing all the broken parts of myself. Like I could somehow surgically remove every wound, every trigger, every uncomfortable emotion and emerge as this perfectly polished version of who I was supposed to be. But that's not healing. That's spiritual bypassing dressed up in self-help language.

What I didn't realize is that healing can become its own trap. You can get so addicted to the process, so comfortable in the identity of "someone who's working on themselves," that you never actually arrive anywhere. You just keep circling the same wounds, having the same breakthroughs, collecting the same insights like spiritual trophies.

Real healing looks more like standing at an intersection, recognizing you're about to road rage at someone who cut you off, and suddenly seeing that your anger has nothing to do with them. It's about that part of you that's still 12 years old, desperate to be seen and validated. The part you've been trying to silence for decades.

Today our guest is Nicholas Cassius Clay, an integrative coach and founder of Being One World who helps people cut through the healing fog to find real clarity. He combines everything from ancient wisdom to neuroscience, helping clients actually complete their healing cycles instead of endlessly circling them.

Links from the episode:

• Show Notes: mindlove.com/419
• Join the Mind Love Collective
• Sign up for The Morning Mind Love for short daily notes to wake up inspired
• Support Mind Love Sponsors

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this conversation, you'll discover:

• How to recognize when you're "sleep talking" through life

• The four types of conversations that reveal communication patterns

• Why most promises fail and how commitment builds trust

How many relationships have you damaged because you had to be right?

Most of us learned how to communicate from our families, our schools, our cultures. We picked up these conversational habits without ever questioning them. We argue to be right instead of learning something new. We make promises we can't keep because we're too uncomfortable saying no. We tell ourselves stories that limit who we can become, and we don't even realize we're doing it.

I used to think good communication was about being articulate or winning the argument. I thought if I could just find the right words, I could make people see my point of view. But what I discovered through my own journey is that most of our conversations happen on complete autopilot. We're not really listening. We're just waiting for our turn to speak. We're defending positions we never consciously chose.

Then I started meeting people who communicated differently. People who could disagree with me without making me feel attacked. People who asked questions that made me think instead of questions designed to trap me. After conversations with them, I'd walk away feeling expanded rather than drained. There was something they understood about communication that I was missing.

Today our guest is Chuck Wisner, a leadership coach and author of "The Four Conversations" who has spent decades studying how conscious communication can transform relationships and unlock human potential. He combines practical tools with deep awareness work to help people break free from unconscious conversational patterns.

Links from the episode:

• Show Notes: mindlove.com/418
• Join the Mind Love Collective
• Sign up for The Morning Mind Love for short daily notes to wake up inspired
• Support Mind Love Sponsors

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• How to spot the signs of high functioning codependency - the difference between healthy helping and compulsive over-functioning

• Why your advice-giving might be hurting more than helping - and how to support people without fixing them

• Two simple questions to ask before saying yes to anything - so you can stop abandoning yourself in the name of being nice

What if being the "strong one" is actually making you weaker? What if all that advice-giving, crisis-managing, and problem-solving you do for everyone else is slowly draining the life out of you?

You don't think you're codependent. You're not sitting around waiting for some addict to come home. You're not needy or clingy or desperate. Hell, you're the opposite—you're the one everyone depends on. You make the money, handle the crises, give the advice, and keep everyone's world spinning. So when someone mentions codependency, you immediately think, "That's not me. Everyone's dependent on ME."

But here's what nobody talks about: there's a brand of codependency that hides behind competence. It looks like strength, sounds like leadership, and feels like love. I spent years thinking my ability to fix everyone's problems was my greatest asset. I was the friend with all the answers, the daughter who managed family drama, the partner who handled everything so smoothly that no one even knew there were problems to handle. From the outside, my life looked like I had it all together. On the inside, I was drowning in everyone else's emotional chaos while completely abandoning my own needs.

Today our guest is Terri Cole, a licensed psychotherapist and relationship expert who coined the term "high functioning codependency" after seeing the same patterns show up repeatedly in her practice with successful, accomplished women. She's the author of "Too Much" and has spent decades helping people recognize and break free from these invisible chains.

Links from the episode:

• Show Notes: mindlove.com/417
• Join the Mind Love Collective
• Sign up for The Morning Mind Love for short daily notes to wake up inspired
• Support Mind Love Sponsors

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this conversation, you'll discover:

• How to spot Wetiko when it's running you and why seeing it clearly breaks the pattern

• The quantum nature of this mind virus and how your healing shifts the collective field

• Why your deepest struggles are actually revelations and how to extract their medicine

Have you ever wondered why the same destructive patterns keep showing up in your family, generation after generation, like some kind of toxic inheritance you never asked for?

Growing up, I knew addiction ran in my family. I knew I came from trauma. It was there in the stories, in the family history, but my dad had been sober most of my life. At least the life I could remember. And maybe that's exactly why I felt immune to it. I was aware. I was conscious. I was going to be different. I'd learned from the past without having to live it.

Until I wasn't different at all.

Until I found myself eight years deep in my own eating disorder, trapped in cycles that felt completely beyond my control. Wondering how the hell I'd ended up becoming the very thing I thought I'd escaped. This wasn't just personal failure. This was something way bigger than me.

What I was experiencing has a name. Indigenous wisdom keepers have known this for centuries. They called it Wetiko. A cannibalistic mind virus that feeds on human consciousness, spreading from person to person, generation to generation.

And right now? This thing is everywhere.

Look around. Families torn apart by politics. Communities fracturing. We're destroying our planet while building technologies that could save us or kill us. Depression and anxiety rates climbing every year. We keep treating these like separate problems. They're not. They're all symptoms of the same infection.

Today our guest is Paul Levy. A pioneer in the field of spiritual emergence, Paul is a wounded healer in private practice, assisting others who are also awakening to the dreamlike nature of reality. He has authored six books, three of which are on the Wetiko mind virus, and is the founder of the "Awaken in the Dream Community" in Portland, Oregon.

Links from the episode:

• Show Notes: mindlove.com/416
• Join the Mind Love Collective
• Sign up for The Morning Mind Love for short daily notes to wake up inspired
• Support Mind Love Sponsors

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.