Many of the beliefs that govern our adult lives were formed long before we had the ability to question them. Ideas about worth, safety, obedience, and belonging often take root in childhood and early environments where approval and survival were closely linked. What begins as adaptation can quietly harden into identity.

In this conversation, I'm joined by Amy Green Smith, a certified life coach and hypnotherapist whose work focuses on self-worth, nervous-system awareness, and belief change. Drawing from both personal experience and years of client work, Amy reframes people-pleasing, overachievement, and self-criticism as learned survival strategies rather than personal shortcomings.

This episode originally aired in fall 2024, and felt worth resurfacing after Amy recently popped up on my Instagram feed sharing a series of powerful reflections that echoed many of the themes we explore on this show.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How dogmatic or rigid upbringings shape our inner critic and sense of worth
• Why people-pleasing is often a nervous-system response, not a personality trait
• The overlooked fawn response, and how it shows up in high-functioning adults
• The difference between self-talk and self-sentiment
• What it means to "deconstruct" beliefs we never consciously consented to
• How intuition and the inner critic can emerge from the same internal system
• The science behind hypnotherapy and subconscious belief change
• How to choose yourself without losing empathy, nuance, or grace

Do you want to feel more worthy? Get a better handle on your inner critic (or...intuition)? Reach out to Amy Green Smith today on ⁠Instagram⁠ or ⁠LinkedIn⁠, or visit her at ⁠amygreensmith.com⁠.

Connect with Nikhil to learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Untether Your Life⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and other projects:

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I first connected with this week's guest - Freeman Fung - through the Mindvalley community. At the time, both of us were actively questioning inherited templates around success, identity, and growth. What began as a conversation about travel quickly revealed itself to be something deeper - a reflection on consciousness, culture, health, and what it actually means to live intentionally in a complex world.

That context feels especially relevant now. My son is currently sailing around the world through the Class Afloat program, and I'm watching in real time how immersive, lived travel can fundamentally reshape how someone understands themselves and their place in the world. This past fall, my own travel through France, Spain, Germany, and Portugal was in service of helping get him situated and positioned for that journey - and along the way, I was reminded how learning even a few words of a new language can instantly change the quality of connection.

Freeman speaks from lived experience. Growing up in Hong Kong, traveling through more than 35 countries, navigating burnout and chronic illness, and integrating ancient Eastern wisdom with modern life, his perspective is grounded, cross-cultural, and deeply human. This is not travel as performance or escape - it’s travel as engagement and transformation.

In this episode, we explore Freeman’s philosophy and the experiences that shaped it - from solo travel and global citizenship, to confronting inequality firsthand, to rebuilding health through responsibility, integration, and self-mastery.

This is a cross-cultural, deeply personal conversation about identity, consciousness, community, and the courage to untether from inherited expectations in order to live with more intention.

Topics we cover:

• Travel as a catalyst for identity and personal transformation
• Growing up in Hong Kong and navigating global cultural conditioning
• Burnout, chronic illness, and rebuilding health through integration
• Money as an amplifier of values rather than a solution to inequality
• Witnessing global inequality firsthand and reframing success
• Language, culture, and connection as doorways to empathy
• Community as an antidote to isolation and survival-mode living
• What it really means to untether your life

About Freeman Fung

Freeman Fung is an international speaker, author, certified life coach, and global citizen. He is the author of Travel to Transform, a book that blends travel memoir with personal development, exploring how movement across cultures - and inward - can accelerate growth and self-mastery. Originally from Hong Kong, Freeman has lived, worked, and traveled across more than 35 countries and currently resides in Australia.

Learn more at traveltotransform.com

Follow Freeman on Instagram: @freemanfung.global

Want to learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Untether Your Life⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and other projects? Let's connect!

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In this milestone 100th episode of Untether Your Life, we revisit a wide-ranging and timely conversation with Mas Vidal Maheshananda - teacher, author, and founder of Dancing Shiva.

In today's climate of intense geopolitical unrest around the globe, this conversation is exactly what is needed in 2026. Mas brings a grounded, integrative perspective on yoga, Ayurveda, and spiritual practice - not as lifestyle accessories, but as practical frameworks for living with clarity, resilience, and balance.

The episode is being reshared around January 5, the birthday of Paramahansa Yogananda, whose teachings - and the broader Self-Realization Fellowship lineage - have deeply influenced Mas's approach and worldview.

Mas also appears in Awake: The Life of Yogananda, and in The Natural Law, a film by documentary filmmaker Amish Shah, who has also been a guest on Untether Your Life.

In this episode, we explore:

• What actually drives human evolution: competition or cooperation
• Why "dog eat dog" thinking may be effective to a point - but increasingly outdated
• The concept of prana (life force) and why vitality goes beyond calories and macros
• Yoga as a system for managing the mind, not just the body
• Ayurveda as a living framework for diet, lifestyle, and longevity
• The rise of "soft power" culture and why gentler approaches may be more durable
• The role of discipline, simplicity, and environment in spiritual growth
• Why technology can function as a modern stimulant - and how to relate to it more consciously
• The importance of community (sangha) and culture in personal evolution
• How ancient wisdom traditions can remain practical without becoming rigid or dogmatic

About the Guest

Mas Vidal Maheshananda is the founder and director of Dancing Shiva, an integrative school blending yoga, Ayurveda, Vedanta, and Vedic astrology. He is the author of Sun, Moon & Earth and The Evolution Revolution, and the creator of More Life Market, an Ayurvedic superfoods platform.

Mas has spent decades teaching internationally, working with students, practitioners, and seekers interested in applying Eastern wisdom traditions in grounded, real-world ways.

Links & Resources

• Dancing Shiva School: dancingshiva.com
• More Life Market: morelifemarket.com
• Awake: The Life of Yogananda (Documentary)
• The Natural Law (Documentary by Amish Shah)

A Note of Thanks

This episode also marks the 100th episode of Untether Your Life.

A huge thank you to the guests, listeners, and everyone who's been a vital part of this template-shattering journey.

Want to learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Untether Your Life⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and other projects? Let's connect!

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This episode originally aired in March 2023 and is being resurfaced now with added context.

Robert Pardi reached out to me on LinkedIn after listening to a previous conversation I'd had on the show with Prison Break author and leadership coach Jason Goldberg. His message arrived during a pivotal moment in my life - the final days we spent with my beloved father-in-law, who was my mentor and north star in fatherhood.

That timing mattered. Not because of coincidence, but because Rob was reaching out from lived experience. He had already walked alongside his wife through a long journey with cancer and profound loss. What followed was a conversation rooted not in theory or performance, but in meaning, impermanence, and how people actually live through change.

In this episode, we explore Rob's life philosophy, Possibility in Action™, and the experiences that shaped it - from his life in New York City, to working in the Middle East, to building a life in a small mountain village in Abruzzo, Italy.

This is a cross-cultural, deeply personal conversation about grief, imagination, identity, and the courage to act on possibility rather than remain tethered to fear or expectation.

Topics we cover:

• Grief, caregiving, and identity after profound loss
• Impermanence and meaning drawn from lived experience
• Possibility in Action™ as a life philosophy, not a slogan
• Letting go of inherited templates and "shoulds"
• Daydreaming, imagination, and action as catalysts for change
• Redefining success and living intentionally across cultures

About Robert Pardi

Robert Pardi is a three-time bestselling author, life coach, speaker, and retreat facilitator. His work focuses on helping people move from possibility into action through clarity of values, imagination, and consistent, grounded steps. He currently lives in Abruzzo, Italy.

Learn more at robertpardi.com

Books available on Amazon, including Chasing Life, and Possibility in Action

This episode is a rebroadcast of a conversation originally released in August 2023. I'm bringing it back because the themes feel even more relevant today.

My guest is Neelu Kaur, author of Be Your Own Cheerleader, speaker, and organizational psychologist. Neelu works closely with South Asian and Asian women who are navigating burnout, self-advocacy, and cultural expectations in corporate America.

In this conversation, we explore the tension many high performers feel between a collectivist "we" mindset and a workplace culture that rewards individual visibility. Neelu introduces her "I-We speedometer" framework, offering a practical way to move between collaboration and self-promotion without losing your sense of self.

We also get into:

• Why the "your work will speak for itself" mantra often falls short
• How cultural conditioning can shape burnout and perfectionism
• Practical concepts like fit for purpose, reverse classroom, and time confetti
• How tools from NLP, yoga, and Ayurveda can help change not just how we communicate with others, but how we speak to ourselves
• What it really means to become your own cheerleader - at work and at home

This is a conversation about speaking up with integrity, managing energy in a nonstop work culture, and untethering from inherited templates that no longer serve us. Hope you enjoy it.

To learn more about how you can "Be Your Own Cheerleader," visit ⁠neelukaur.com⁠ or connect with Neelu on ⁠Instagram ⁠or ⁠LinkedIn⁠. Her book is also available on ⁠Amazon⁠.

Connect with Nikhil to learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Untether Your Life⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and other projects:

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This episode is Part 2 of my conversation with Shyambo, founder of The Brighter Mindset.

This week, we explore how practices labeled as biohacks (i.e., cold plunges) can double as powerful tools for spiritual discipline. Shyambo shares why challenging comfort through the body can translate into patience, clarity, and emotional steadiness in everyday life.

We also unpack a powerful analogy about mental health: if your "basement is flooded," you can’t just keep scooping water out; you have to plug the hole. In other words, cultivating a calmer mind requires being intentional about content we watch, conversations we engage in, and calories we consume.

In this episode, we cover:

Cold exposure as a practice for training the mind, not just the body

• Challenging the five senses to build resilience and self-control
• Why constant comfort can quietly run our lives
• The "plug the hole" metaphor - and how unfiltered inputs overwhelm the mind
• How curating sensory inputs can shift emotional tone and mental clarity

To explore more of Shyambo's work, please visit ⁠thebrightermindset.com⁠, or check him out on ⁠Instagram⁠. You can also sign up for his 2026 Sedona Immersive Wellness Retreat ⁠here⁠.

To connect with Nikhil and learn more about Untether Your Life and related projects:

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This episode explores how spiritual mentorship, emotional equanimity, and intentional social media use can transform an anxious, approval-seeking mind into what my guest calls a brighter mindset. On a day honoring Guru Nanak’s birth and the guru tradition, it felt especially fitting to sit down with Shyambo, a spiritual mentor, founder of The Brighter Mindset, and content creator whose work has reached over 10 million people.

Shyambo shares how his life was shaped by his guru, Pramukh Swami Maharaj, and how trying to "perform" wisdom online led him into depression, imposter syndrome, and a deep misalignment between his outer persona and inner reality.

He opens up about his time in a mindfulness-based recovery program in Sedona, the shift from chasing likes to praying before every post, and why practices like prapti (nothing left to attain), emotional equanimity, and samp (unity) have changed the way he relates to success, comparison, and conflict – especially during tense cultural and political moments.

In Part 1, we touch on:

• What a guru really is, and how modeling a teacher’s inner state is different from just consuming their ideas.
• Shyambo's journey from pre-med tennis kid to spiritual mentor, and how early bullying and cultural barriers shaped his inner search.
• How social media became a "casino of validation" for him – and what finally forced him to step away.
• The role of mindfulness-based recovery in helping him separate ego from service.
• Why he now prays before every post, and how that single intention protects him from FOMO and metrics obsession.
• The concepts of prapti, emotional equanimity, and samp (unity) as antidotes to comparison, division, and reactivity in a post-election landscape.

Note: This is Part One of a two-part series. Part Two airs next week.

To explore more of Shyambo's work, please visit thebrightermindset.com, or check him out on Instagram. You can also sign up for his 2026 Sedona Immersive Wellness Retreat here.

To connect with Nikhil and learn more about Untether Your Life and related projects:

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This episode explores one of the most overlooked drivers of mental health: the quality of our relationships. With a former Surgeon General warning that chronic loneliness can impact the body the same way as smoking fifteen cigarettes a day, the stakes have never been higher. So it felt fitting to sit down with someone who has been a guiding voice in this space since the earliest days of this podcast: Dr. Jyothsna Bhat.

Jyothsna S. Bhat, Psy.D. CMIP is a clinical psychologist, writer, and one of the most respected voices in South Asian mental health. She writes a monthly column for Psychology Today that explores cultural nuance, family dynamics, and emotional well-being. Jyothsna was also the first official guest of Untether Your Life when we launched in early 2022. And in a full-circle moment, she and I originally met nearly thirty years ago as undergrads at Washington University in St. Louis before reconnecting in 2022 through her writing.

We touched on so many topics in this discussion, including:

• Why relationship quality acts like medicine, and how loneliness can silently erode mental and physical health.
• The emotional load carried by caregivers, and simple ways they can protect their well-being without abandoning the people they love.
• Cultural dynamics in South Asian families, and how shame, comparison, and unspoken expectations shape empathy and boundaries.
• The art of asking for space, why it is not rejection, and how creating a healing bubble can accelerate recovery.
• The importance of curating your inputs, including Jim Rohn’s reminder to “stand guard at the door of your mind.”
• Social media as a tool rather than a trap, and how to find your tribe instead of feeding comparison.
• The enduring impact of a single supportive relationship, including how Shelly helped me reconnect with my core essence during a difficult season.
• Practical ways to choose quality over quantity, bring a trusted ally into challenging social situations, and rebuild community with intention.

To connect with Dr. Bhat and learn more about her writing, clinical work, and advocacy, visit her Psychology Today profile or connect with her on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Connect with Nikhil to learn more about Untether Your Life and other projects:

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