Turn Toward the Fear: Why Stillness Is the Hardest (and Most Healing) Thing You’ll Ever Do with Akshay Nanavati
Release Date: 07/16/2025
Let’s Talk About Poop: Trusting Your Gut with Marina Ortega
The Vitalist
In this episode, Dr. Keiko sits down with Marina Ortega, founder of Scottsdale Hydrotherapy and Trust Your Gut, to explore the fascinating and often misunderstood world of colon hydrotherapy. Marina shares her personal journey from debilitating constipation and chronic illness to becoming a leading voice in gut health and detoxification. Together, we dive into the science, history, and surprising emotional layers of gut healing. You’ll learn why supporting your drainage pathways is essential, how the gut is directly tied to immunity and mood, and what you can expect if you’re curious about...
info_outline
The Most Counterintuitive Healing Advice You’ll Ever Hear with Wes Kress (014)
The Vitalist
From growing up in a cult religion to facing years of childhood trauma, autoimmune disease, and a body in constant distress, Wes Kress’s story is not one of defeat, but of radical transformation. In this episode, Wes opens up about the hidden feedback loops that keep us stuck, the biology of emotional pain, and why true healing has nothing to do with fixing yourself and everything to do with listening to the truth your body has been telling you all along. We explore the patterns that wire shame into survival, why most people unknowingly run from the very thing that could set them free, and...
info_outline
Numb Is a Feeling: How to Work with the Emotions You Can’t Name with Coach Micheline Green (013)
The Vitalist
In this episode of The Vitalist, master life coach Micheline Green invites us into the complex terrain of true transformation. Drawing from over two decades of experience, including her early work investigating child abuse and her training in Integral Coaching, Micheline reveals what it really takes to shift deeply embedded patterns. Together, we explore: Why real change happens beneath the psychological immune system How fear shows up in disguise: as rage, anxiety, depression, or numbness The role of the “loving witness” in releasing trapped emotion Autonomic signatures beyond fight,...
info_outline
Healing Isn’t in Your Head: Why You Can’t Bypass What Lives in Your Body with Brittny King (012)
The Vitalist
What if the stories you’ve been telling yourself—about your worth, your happiness, your healing, aren’t the truth? In this raw and revelatory episode, Brittny shares her journey from high-performing “happy girl” to a deeply embodied woman rewriting generational patterns. From hiking Mont Blanc on her honeymoon to navigating postpartum anxiety and uncovering childhood trauma through motherhood, Brittny holds nothing back. She’ll show you how a single belief like “everything is figureoutable” can become a lifeline, why you can’t outthink a dysregulated nervous system, and how...
info_outline
Music as Medicine: How Your Heart Can Rewire Your Nervous System at 60 BPM with Barry Goldstein
The Vitalist
What if music isn’t just something we hear, but something our bodies remember? In this powerful episode of The Vitalist, Grammy-winning composer, producer, and sound healing pioneer Barry Goldstein joins us to explore music as medicine. From heart coherence to brainwave entrainment, Barry breaks down how rhythm, intention, and vibration interact with the nervous system, emotions, and even the cells of the body. He shares his journey from burnout as a mainstream record producer to becoming a “musitarian”, someone who uses sound to uplift humanity. Through personal stories, scientific...
info_outline
Turn Toward the Fear: Why Stillness Is the Hardest (and Most Healing) Thing You’ll Ever Do with Akshay Nanavati
The Vitalist
Let us be real with you: most people aren’t actually afraid of failure, pain, or fear itself. They’re afraid of being still long enough to feel any of it. In this episode, Dr. Keiko sits down with Akshay Nanavati, a former Marine, ultra-endurance athlete, and author of Fearvana, who went from addiction and self-harm to attempting the first ever solo ski crossing of Antarctica, pulling a 420lb sled. And no, this isn’t about becoming fearless. It’s about building the courage to face the parts of yourself you’ve been running from. We talk about: Why fear isn’t your enemy, it’s...
info_outline
From Overwhelm to Inner Wisdom: The Get Quiet Method Explained with Elaine Glass (009)
The Vitalist
In a world that praises the hustle and drowns us in noise, what if the most rebellious thing you could do… is get quiet? In this soulful conversation, Dr. Keiko sits down with Elaine Glass, author of Get Quiet, transformational coach, and former dental hygienist, to explore what actually happens when we stop doing and start listening. Elaine has sat with over 40,000 people. She’s heard their fears, their stress, their longing for peace. And what she’s found is something we all need to hear: healing doesn’t happen in the noise. It happens in the stillness. You’ll hear the story...
info_outline
What No One Tells You About Your Cycle, Your Gut, and Getting Pregnant with Dr. Samantha Ess (008)
The Vitalist
If you’ve ever wondered why your cycle feels off, what your gut has to do with your fertility, or how to actually prepare your body to conceive, this episode is for you. In this powerful conversation, Dr. Sammie pulls back the curtain on what most women were never taught about their bodies. From cycle literacy and hormone balance to gut health, environmental toxins, and the truth behind “unexplained infertility,” we dive into the real, root causes that impact your ability to get pregnant and how to heal them. Whether you're just starting to think about having a baby or you've been trying...
info_outline
Longevity Starts at Your Feet: Dr. Emily Splichal on Barefoot Science, Mobility & What Most People Get Wrong About Walking (007)
The Vitalist
Your feet aren’t just for walking, they’re the foundation of your posture, your performance, and even your longevity. In this episode, Dr. Emily Splichal, functional podiatrist, barefoot science expert, and founder of Naboso, breaks down the overlooked role of the feet in whole-body healing. You’ll learn why 10 seconds of single-leg balance predicts your lifespan, how foot posture impacts your spine and pelvis, and why the way you’re walking might be limiting your mobility, stability, and overall strength. We dive into: The $0 exercise Dr. Emily gives all her patients How your feet...
info_outline
From Himalayan Caves to Healing Chocolate: Lisa Reinhardt on Meditation, Mindfulness, and Cacao as Medicine (006)
The Vitalist
What if the most powerful meditation practice didn't require a cushion, app, or even quiet, but a single piece of chocolate? After 11 years in the Himalayas, living in a cave and studying with Tibetan masters, Lisa Reinhardt returned to the modern world with a mission: to demystify meditation and make presence feel deliciously accessible. In this insightful episode, Lisa shares how she founded Wei of Chocolate and discovered that something as simple as intentionally eating chocolate could soften the nerve system, awaken the senses and reconnect us to our fundamental goodness. ...
info_outlineLet us be real with you: most people aren’t actually afraid of failure, pain, or fear itself.
They’re afraid of being still long enough to feel any of it.
In this episode, Dr. Keiko sits down with Akshay Nanavati, a former Marine, ultra-endurance athlete, and author of Fearvana, who went from addiction and self-harm to attempting the first ever solo ski crossing of Antarctica, pulling a 420lb sled.
And no, this isn’t about becoming fearless. It’s about building the courage to face the parts of yourself you’ve been running from.
We talk about:
-
Why fear isn’t your enemy, it’s your access point.
-
How to stop distracting yourself every time fear speaks
-
Why stillness is the most terrifying (and healing) thing you’ll ever do
-
The neuroscience behind labeling emotions
-
How Akshay went from drug addiction to becoming the most isolated life form on Earth
-
What Antarctica taught him about presence, suffering, and spiritual strength
This episode is packed with wisdom to help you face your fears and finally feel the stuff that’s been trying to get your attention for years. Because the moment you stop performing and start feeling, you begin healing.
So, if you’re ready to do the hard thing?
Be still. Listen. Feel.
Fear is not here to break you.
Fear is here to reveal you.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Akshay’s journey from addiction and self-harm to joining the Marines (1:50)
How “Fearvana” was born and why it’s not the antithesis of nirvana, but the access point. (4:17)
What most people get wrong about “irrational fears” (4:59)
How to engage with fear to build the muscle of courage (5:53)
From avoiding stillness to becoming the most isolated person on Earth—how Akshay trained for fear, one small step at a time (7:24)
The “two darts” of suffering, and how to stop adding to your pain (10:13)
Neuroscience-backed tools to create space between you and fear (12:15)
Akshay’s method for preparing like an astronaut (13:39)
The quote that changed everything for him: “The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.” (15:03)
How moving to three different countries pulled Akshay into drugs, self-harm, and the identity of “the crazy one” (18:01)
How becoming a Marine revealed the purity and paradox of human suffering (19:35)
What makes suffering alone so different from suffering with others (21:38)
The uncomfortable truth: most of us do anything to avoid being alone with ourselves (25:43)
The biggest fear no one talks about: stillness (27:28)
You don’t need a cave, start training your stillness in a closet (28:11)
The mission: 1,750 miles solo across Antarctica, dragging 420 lbs for 115 days (30:02)
Why too much challenge blocks flow (32:21)
How snow, pain, and presence shaped his mindset, and the mantra that kept him going (33:38)
The real barrier to consistency? Knowing you have to do it again tomorrow (35:24)
Day 58: gut pain, possible death, and the moment he finally had to stop (36:17)
How to be with the emotional weight you carry, grief, guilt, shame, and how to stop minimizing it (38:40)
The truth about the past: you don’t have to live in a story you didn’t choose (40:23)
Pushing the edge of identity and why opposites can (and must) coexist (43:06)
Akshay’s most powerful mantra: “I am awakened to the truth that all of reality is an illusion.” (45:16)
His #1 advice if you want to step into your next level: “Be still with yourself.” (48:17)
RESOURCES:
Order your copy of Fearvana
Watch Blackhawk Down
Read Blackhawk Down
Never miss an episode. Subscribe to get notified about what's coming next.
Follow us @TheVitalistPodcast
Visit us @KinfolkOptimalLiving