15 - Yael Shy - Listen to Yourself
Deep Sit Podcast
I have a wonderful guest on today and I'm very excited to share this conversation with you. In thinking about the message of today's conversation I was reminded of a comment I recently heard make when he was . They were talking about Tim's recent silent meditation retreat and the benefits of them, and seeking out master teacher to help with your practice. I'll admit, taking a few days for silent retreat, even a few weeks, months maybe, sounds pretty good to me. But I do see my desire for that experience as an example of looking for answers or...
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14 - Daron Larson - Don't Try to Be Mindful
Deep Sit Podcast
Today on the show we are going to hit mindfulness head on and talk about how we might be getting tripped up by the practice, and how, according to my guest, we might be doing it wrong. Now don't interpret that as a judgement or criticism, but more like permission to take some of the pressure off. I know that over the years of practicing sitting meditation, I've had times where I get a little caught up in the practice, looking for it to do something for me, or I'm watching my meditation streak of days in a row. Then there are these great apps and tools and podcasts to equip us...
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13 - Atz Kilcher (5/5) - Getting On With It (and a Bonus!!)
Deep Sit Podcast
Congratulations, you made it to part 5, the final segment of my epic interview with Atz Kilcher. And while each episode stands on its own, it makes sense to start from the beginning to hear it in sequence to get a full understanding of his journey and the range of wisdom you can glean from his life experience. This episode is a great wrapper for everything we've talked about. I called it "Getting on With It" because for one, that's how Atz ends this segment, but also because for every hardship, every bend in the road, every moment of despair,...
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12 - Atz Kilcher (4/5) - The Victim & Resolution
Deep Sit Podcast
Today is Part 4 of my interview with Atz Kilcher, and after 3 hours of digging deep into the conflict and trauma that Atz has work so hard to overcome in his life, we finally find his Mother, Ruth. I found it interesting that it took us this long to talk about her, but even more interesting when Atz told me he originally intended to write his new memoir, Son of a Midnight Land, about her. But maybe just as it took us 3 hours to finally talk about her, he needs more time to dig into the complexity mystery of his Mom. Surprisingly,...
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11 - Atz Kilcher (3/5) - PTSD
Deep Sit Podcast
We've made it to the half way point in my interview with Atz Kilcher, and after two and a half hours you might expect we'd be getting close to wrapping up, possibly running out of things to talk about. Not the case here, everything up until this point was really just a warm up. As we enter hour three of our conversation we address PTSD, a debilitating mental and emotional disorder that has gone by many names in history, but is perhaps just now getting the attention it deserves in society. This is a topic very near and dear to Atz as he has dealt with...
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10 - Atz Kilcher (2/5) - Generosity & Rejection
Deep Sit Podcast
Today I continue my interview with Atz Kilcher. This is Part 2 and is where Atz really started to help me personally. I don't know if I mentioned this in the intro to Part 1, but my experience sitting with Atz for a day was life changing, and I don’t say that lightly. I don't do this podcast to report the news, or simply deliver someone else's message. My main objective when I sit down with someone is to learn and find the guiding wisdom that I can integrate into my own life. It sounds quite selfish when I put it that...
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09 - Atz Kilcher (1/5) - Hard Work
Deep Sit Podcast
Part 1 - Hard Work: Today I'm kicking off my interview series with . I felt like I sat down with someone, who at the age of 70, with perhaps nothing left to prove, is on the brink of discovering the true or perhaps ultimate meaning and purpose of his life. Atz is the son of Alaskan homesteaders, gaining unexpected fame late in life on reality TV on the series , and of course he is father to , one of the greatest singer-songwriters of our time. But amazingly, Atz might just now be hitting his stride in a way that is probably unimaginable...
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08 - Shinzen Young - Arrive Where You Started - Pt 2
Deep Sit Podcast
Arrive Where You Started - Part 2 Today I have someone very special on the show, one of the most respected and well-known teachers of mindfulness and meditation. His name is , and his recent book, , immediately caught my attention because I've never thought of enlightenment in scientific terms before, and of course what really turned me on to meditation was how neuroscience has captured what happens in the brain. Given that the word enlightenment is even hard for some people to say without feeling they've gone full on new-aged hippy, talking about it more...
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07 - Shinzen Young - Arrive Where You Started - Pt 1
Deep Sit Podcast
Arrive Where You Started - Part 1 Today I have someone very special on the show, one of the most respected and well-known teachers of mindfulness and meditation. His name is , and his recent book, , immediately caught my attention because I've never thought of enlightenment in scientific terms before, and of course what really turned me on to meditation was how neuroscience has captured what happens in the brain. Given that the word enlightenment is even hard for some people to say without feeling they've gone full on new-aged hippy, talking about it more...
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06 - Normal is Overrated - Pilar Gerasimo
Deep Sit Podcast
From the moment we sat down for this conversation, my guest today gave me a sense of genuine inspiration to be a better person, to be a more authentic person, living with gratitude, acceptance, and grace. Her name is , and many of you know her as the founder of , which she ran for 15 years. But now she has embarked on some new ventures including a wonderful podcast calledwith her co-host , she has developed a concept calledwhich forms the basis for an upcoming book. We will get into all of that in this conversation, and her perspective on how to approach...
info_outlineToday on the show I bring you someone who is bound to put a smile on your face because of his positive attitude and terrific sense of humor, but he will also challenge you to consider your relationship to what is perhaps one of the most uncomfortable and perplexing problems we face across the globe. Mark Horvath isn't just an advocate for homeless people, he was that homeless guy, and he's now well-known for starting a non-profit media company called Invisible People, which through video offerings on it's website, YouTube, and social media channels, gets up close and personal with people living on the street.
His videos are raw and unedited, giving full transparency by focusing his lens, and our attention, on people who most of us will walk or drive past just about every day. What he did for me with his videos was give me an opportunity to hear the answers to questions I'm basically too afraid to ask when I see a homeless person – what happened, how did you get here, and how can I help? And he isn't trying to paint any pictures here or even make you feel bad or guilty for their situation. He's bringing awareness to a condition that he believes can be solved, but unfortunately sees as getting much worse unless we take start taking action
The first reason I wanted to talk to Mark was to understand what drives him to do this work. He is someone who lives with a clear sense of purpose and in his own words he has never felt closer to a destiny in his life, than he does right now. How many of us can say that? And what would it take for us to find such an acute awareness of our purpose or meaning in life.
We kick off the conversation with Mark's take on mindfulness and meditation how pain can drive people to introspection. You see, Mark doesn't believe he was called to do this work, but that he was forced. And as uncomfortable as that might sound, it's what gets him out of bed each day to live a fulfilling life. We talk about his life story, his personal experience with being homeless, some of the solutions and ideas he has for ending it, but also what worries him. We get into how someone struggling with homelessness possibly finds purpose or meaning in life. And you won't want to miss how he describes the meaning in his life.
It won't take long for you to recognize how Mark is spilling over with passion for his work and the energy he brings to this interview just about obliterated the outline I had prepared in doing my research. I had intended to start out right away with his backstory and become familiar with his life up until becoming homeless. But in our pre-interview banter we started talking about his take on mindfulness and meditation. And I'm glad I captured it because this provided a philosophical framework and baseline that shows up as we progress through his life and his life's work. But a little randomness is what makes this conversation so good....he is genuine, honest, and very fun to talk to. So please welcome Mark Horvath, founder of Invisible People.
Thanks for listening,
PF