B Is For Being

I attended Blazing Swan this year and interviewed people anonymously with the intention of providing an open space for the open expression of fears, doubts and insecurities which may be causing some tension within. From my experience, taking the time out to acknowledge these inner-tensions has helped me bring more ease and clarity to what's going on inside me, and has allowed me to go on to enjoy more connected and authentic interactions with myself and those around me. I was so surprised at how openly people were sharing with me that I began to share some really deep conflicts of my own. There are quite a few vulnerable moments in this episode.

Being afraid to make mistakes can keep us from taking action on things we want to create, the places we want to explore and the people we'd like to connect with. Knowing that we can generate our own sense of value and that our value is constant no matter how many mistakes we make can help us move forward into the world unrestricted by the fear we could mess things up. In the first Adventure Episode of the podcast, I ride towards a lighthouse on Rottnest Island and take a look at the dynamics of this fear and share some of the techniques I've found helpful in re-discovering my inner-value which remains unchangeable by any external circumstance.

Comfort zones are great! But when we feel stuck due to the fear of experiencing something unfamiliar, our sense of well-being suffers as we aren’t able to grow and develop in accordance with our natural drives to create, explore and experiment. Just being aware of the ways we can become stuck from taking action can help us readjust how we approach unfamiliar experiences and make it easier for us to step outside our comfort zones.

Beliefs are powerful. They control our interpretations and reactions to ourselves and the world we experience around us, but often we’re unaware of which beliefs are running in the background of our lives. Most of the time beliefs don’t cause us too much trouble, but in the case of “I’m not good enough and I need to be better,” this belief has the ability to keep us fighting our own natural drive for self-expression and cause us quite a bit of unhappiness in the long run. In this episode I outline why beliefs are so powerful, where this troublesome belief of “I’m not good enough,” comes from, and how we can use our own emotional reactions as tools for uncovering the beliefs we hold – ultimately empowering us to choose to live in accordance with this core negative belief or not.

We shape the experiences of our lives by how we choose to invest our energy. But a lot of the time we aren’t aware of how we’re investing this energy, in ourselves and in other people. Becoming aware of the dynamic between our actions and the resulting experiences can remind us that we decide how we invest, and ultimately, how we experience ourselves and those around us. In this episode I share some of my own realisations from past energetic investments, and take a look at the experiences which occurred as a result.

Without understanding how authentic self-expression works it's very difficult to know what it is and how to go about practicing it. A lot of people talk about being yourself, "Yeah, just be authentic! Just be you!" This is great but how do you actually live authentically? In this episode I break down, plainly and simply, the components that make up authentic expression. I give some examples of what authentic expression looks like and how we can use our fears to uncover our limitless, indwelling authentic flow. Enjoying the Podcast? If you're enjoying the podcast and think it's worth sharing, it helps tremendously if you leave me a review on iTunes (you do need iTunes installed for this). Your review helps others find the show and hopefully they'll also get some value out of it. Enjoy the episode!

The decision making process can be used to empower us instead of leaving us feeling confused and stuck, and not having any idea of what we should do. Peter, Sam, Mike and Benjamin sit around the kitchen table to discuss what goes into making big decisions and some of the ways we can make this process easier for ourselves. Getting advice from other people can be incredibly helpful when making tough decisions, but learning how to approach this advice can mean the difference between doing what other people think you should do and doing what you want to do. But sometimes it's not so easy knowing what it is we want to do, knowing which way we'd like to go, or which decision to make and why. In this episode I share a technique which helps me break down tough situations and make decisions which support my personal growth and sense of well-being.

Bringing myself back to the present moment has been the number one most helpful thing in just being myself and not feeling like I should be any other way than I am. When I first heard about coming back to the moment, I didn’t understand what it was and how to get there. Where is this ‘present moment’ you speak of? What does it feel like? What's it going to be like when I do get there? In this episode I share some of my experiences with the present moment and how it has dramatically reduced the power of the self-critical thoughts and feelings which were running rampant in my mind and body. I go into the techniques which have been the most effective for coming back into the moment, and take a look at some of the common doubts and difficulties which can show up as you exploring the present moment more and more.

Simon's energy is tricky to describe. Perhaps the best way to describe it is in the form of a recipe: Take one handful of spontaneous joy, a generous portion of raw creativity, and a delicate serving of sensitive curiosity and compassionate caring. (I'm not really sure what sort of recipe this is. It's more of a list of things which describe Simon's energy.) Working and living in Germany, Simon earns a living as an illustrator. He lives a humble yet action-packed life which includes (but is not limited to) rock climbing, art-battles and backflips. But unlike an artistically-gifted mountain climbing hedgehog, he's also published multiple illustrated books which are packed with his flowing creativity, including his most notable book to date – Jackson Norby - a collaborative project between himself and the imagination of Lenn - a four year old child. Why I wanted to talk with Simon. Being someone who has struggled to express myself freely, Simon's authentically flowing self-expression instantly captured my at

This week I'm computerless. With no computer to edit, I deliver a raw, completely unperfect, stream-of-consciousness about why indulging in perfectionism is depriving people from experiencing our inherent value. Our unique ideas, insights, creations and expressions. The world deserves to experience that value.

When I first heard about the idea of a 'self-relationship' I had no idea what it was. How do you have a relationship with yourself? Do you start talking to yourself, taking yourself for walks, smooching with your reflection in the mirror? In this episode I take a look at my journey with establishing a caring relationship with myself and how it's helped me express myself with less fear and doubt. I also look at some of significant changes I've encountered on this journey: healthier relationships, more grounded and relaxed perception of the world, and some doubts which were telling me I was doing something wrong by taking care of myself.

Our negative thoughts and feelings certainly have a tremendous power behind them. It's easy to dwell on these negative feelings, entering into endlessly looping fears, doubts and criticisms – 'What if I'm not good enough?' 'I should be more ...' 'I shouldn't be so ...'. Becoming aware of our body as a single point of reference where all our experiences take place – thoughts, feelings and sensations – we can use our body's awareness of these experiences to break out of these loops of negativity and take the positive action we desire.

This week I take a walk with Elly Jarvis, theater performer, poet and all-round delightful person. We cover a lot in this episode. We get into co-dependency, finding a sense of balance in life, and sharing what we make with others even if we don't think it's good.

I've struggled for a long time with starting and finishing big projects. I wanted to talk with someone who seemingly doesn't have any difficulty completing big projects. Is it as easy as it looks? What's going on behind the scenes? I sat down with my friend Ira to find out more. Ira and I talk about his early life growing up in Santa Cruz, California. And how his parents' approach gave him the space and support to explore his own interests. Ira tells me about how his long-term project CITIZENSTAND begun and how he's managed to make over a thousand videos for this project alone. We also get into the process behind choosing a project you can commit to, and some of the things we can expect to encounter along the way – including two different types of fun. Ira leaves me with some helpful advice on how to move through the tougher times in life with a simple change in perspective.

I've found that overtime the relationship with myself has become stronger simply by listening to what I need and taking action on that feeling. In this episode I talk with my good friend Anika about how she takes care of herself and why she feels it becomes so much harder when we’re around our loved ones. We also talk about how our parents show us to interact with those around us, and why getting some space for yourself, away from your family, can be so helpful in discovering a sense of who you are. Anika leaves me with some helpful advice on how not to be a perfectionist so I can get out of my own way and just make stuff.

So this is it! The very first episode of the B is for Being podcast. It's been a long time coming. I've been planning and preparing for this for months now, but that didn't stop me from being sick during the recording of this episode, so please excuse all the strange swallowing noises I'm making I've always been fascinated by people who were just doing their thing. They wouldn't ask anyone for permission - they were just doing what they were doing because that's what they wanted to do. For a long time I've struggled with the belief that whatever I did wasn't good enough. It has affected almost every aspect of my life: my relationships with others, my creativity, but most significantly, the way I treated myself. I found out that by allowing myself to just be as I am (including all of the negative thoughts) has given me the space to express myself more freely without worrying about what others will think, or whether I'm doing it right. As a result of allowing myself to just be as I am, my friendships have d