Today I’m joined by  Niscinta Dasa from Think Gita, an organisation whose work is all about taking the Bhagavad Gita out of the realm of academic study and into something people can actually use — daily, practically, in the midst of ordinary life. 

Think Gita is inspired by the word by word translation of this 5,000 plus year old story by AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada. 

In this podcast ‘Nish’ explains how the the Bhagavad Gita gives us a useful reflection of the science of relationships and how we can reciprocate love according to individual discernment. 

We also talk about the sacred resonance of Sanskrit language and why it’s relevant to spiritual growth. 

Why finding a teacher helps us discover, through the Bhagavad Gita, what lies within our hearts and how practice sustains our spiritual nature. 

Book references:

Gita Life by SB Keshava Swami

Paths To God by Ram Dass

To find out more about what is offered go to thinkgita.org

Today I’m joined by Emily Cobie — Kirtan leader, yoga teacher, and founder of Oh Shala Festival, often described as the only Bhakti festival in the UK,  held each year in the grounds of Penn House in Buckinghamshire.

We talk about why her yoga teacher training in India led her to create a Yoga and Wellness Festival rooted in Bhakti.

To find out more about the festival please link here:

https://www.ohshalafestival.com/tickets

or for the latest updates go to Instagram @ohshalafest

This episode explores an intersection of spirituality, psychology, and the body—kundalini energy, and a modern approach known as kundalini clearing.

Our guest, Simon TANDREE, is a practitioner working the body’s natural energetic system. His focus isn’t on forcing dramatic awakenings, but on gently releasing stored tension or blockages—patterns shaped by stress, trauma, and life experience.

Traditionally, kundalini is described as a latent energy at the base of the spine. In certain spiritual traditions, this energy can awaken and move through the body, often associated with heightened awareness, emotional release, and sometimes intense physical or psychological sensations.

In modern interpretations, it’s often framed as a transformative life force. 

Rather than trying to “activate” kundalini, Simon’s unique approach is about clearing resistance—allowing the body to process and release what it’s holding, at its own pace. 

So if you’re curious here is a conversation about energy, experience, and the ways we try to understand transformation.

LINKS:

During the show Simon made reference to the following:

Kundalini. The Evolutionary Energy in Man by Gopi Krishna: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/91210.Kundalini

VortexHealing Divine Energy Healing:

https://vortexhealing.org/

Advaita Tantra with Igor Kufayev:

https://igorkufayev.org/

Kundalini: The Secret of Life by Swami Kipananda and Swami Muktananda:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/286248151689

And finally to connect with Simon Tandree for one2healing or training:

https://www.embodiedstillness.com/

An exploration of the sonic science of mantra as found in both meditation and chanting. This episode looks at the meaning of mantra and its basis in Sanskrit language plus why it is an essential tool for bringing clarity to the mind and regulating the nervous system. 

There is also a dialogue about the spiritual background of mantra including some practical guidance. 

In the final part of the podcast you will find a guided chant to use as a meditation mantra of your own.

This episode’s guest is Emily Cobie, a Kirtan leader, Bhakti festival organiser and yoga teacher - who trained in India.

She can be contacted here:

https://www.theopenshala.com/

linktr.ee/theopenshala

She is the organiser of Oh Shala, the only Bhakti Festival in the UK, held on 10/11/12 July, 2026 in the grounds of Penn House in Buckinghamshire.

https://www.ohshalafestival.com/

During the conversation reference is made to several mantras. Here are the Sanskrit words with advice on English pronunciations.

Om (Ah-Oo-Mm) also Om as A-U-M

Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha (Ohm Gam-Ga-Na-Pah-Ta-Yay Nah-ma-ha)

Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya (Ohm Nah-Moh Bha-Ga-Va-Tay Va-Soo-De-Vah-Yah)

Om Namah Sivaya (Ohm Na-Ma Shi-Va-Ya)

Om Mani Padme Hum (Ohm Mah-Nee Pahd-May Hoom)

For some time I have wanted to go on a personal retreat from people, devices, distractions and my familiar surroundings. Inspired by my partner, I took myself off to an island to stay alone and most importantly include a long fast.

I found somewhere quiet, three hours away from where I live and stayed four nights.

The purpose was to have an inward journey to investigate my most important issues and bring to light the conditioning beneath the surface.

This episode is a recording made at various intervals during those four days in isolation and without food.

This episode is about discovering your innate ability to self-sense the energy system, with expert Janell Rae. We talk about the nature of the human energy system and its relationship with the physical body. Janell uses her near 30 years experience as a healer to guide you towards sensing your own body.

She explains that everyone has an innate sensing ability and shares a simple technique for bringing your awareness into patterns, places of stuck-ness and discomfort.

She also sheds light on how resistance and interruption from the mind is a useful tool to focus on what most needs our healing attention.

Ram Dass is among the world’s most influential spiritual teachers and kicking off season two is an interview from India recorded with someone who had an amazing awakening experience meeting Ram Dass. 

Whilst staying at Amritapuri Ashram in Kerala, the home of spiritual leader and humanitarian Amma, I met a devotee named Madhava. In 1973 he met Ram Dass and experienced a one to one awakening process and he recounts what happened in this interview.

Ram Dass, who died in 2019, famously experimented with psychedelics in the 1960s whilst being a psychologist at Harvard and later Stanford universities. He wrote many best-selling spiritual books based upon his experiences travelling India and meeting his guru Neem Karoli Baba.

In his book about living the Bhagavad Gita titled ‘Paths To God’, Ram Dass wrote about the ‘process’ which Madova experienced for himself.

How do you really feel about your mother? Was she a loving role model? Is she emotionally present? Did she guide and support you emotionally as you grew up in the family home?

Like it or not, our parents wound us and give us conditioning and issues to work through. For most people, their mother is the strongest influence during the early years of life and likely to have been the source of the most conditioning. Often it is the mother’s presence that sets the tone of the household.

To bring awareness into this difficult subject I invited my life partner Christine Robinson to have a conversation about recognising our mother wounds. She is a Heart-Centred Life Coach working mainly with women which allows her to have a deep understanding of this area of life.

She also experienced a difficult childhood and relationship with her own mother which she is able to reference during this frank and open conversation.

During the podcast Christine recommended a helpful book on this subject: 

The Emotionally Absent Mother: How to recognise and heal the invisible effects of childhood emotional neglect. It’s author is Jasmin Lee Cori

You can connect with Christine on Instagram @christinerobinsoncoaching

My personal journey into exploring my father wounds brought me into contact with the unique talent that is Scott Grace, author of Mindful Masculinity: A Book for Men and the Women Who Love Them. 

Scott Grace is a much sought-after singer, speaker, workshop leader, life coach and stand-up comedian (who used to open for Robin Williams and Dana Carvey).  He rose to prominence opening for rock star authors and personal growth celebrities such as Deepak Chopra, Louise Hay, Ram Dass and Byron Katie. 

Scott’s book tackles overcoming the innate driving desire to live up to dad’s or one’s own expectations, the addiction to not feeling, transforming the inner critic, becoming aware of the fear of fear, transcending the compulsion to fix things for a romantic partner, grieving lost ideals and painful experiences, releasing the hold the ego has over heart, letting go of anger and rage self-or-other-inflicted, and much more.

Our 45-minute or so conversation covers many things including the nature of masculine love, how we over compensate, grief and shame in relationships and parenting offspring and ourselves.

He’s probably the most entertaining guest I have had yet on the podcast and our chat also includes a song written to and from his mother and a brilliant improvised poem.

To hear the song again please use this link:

 Mother and Son by Scott Grace

During the interview Scott referenced a poem by Kahlil Gibran titled ‘On Children’ which you can read in full here:

https://poets.org/poem/children-1

To connect with Scott and his work please visit his website here:

https://www.scottsongs.com/

On YouTube here:

https://www.youtube.com/@scottgrace

You can find him on Facebook here:

https://www.facebook.com/scottkgrace/

My search for more information about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) led me into this conversation with multi-disciplinary therapist Richard Osterfield from London, UK. 

He has been working with people suffering this condition for most of his adult life due to growing up in a military family.

An expert in this field, Richard developed a new treatment technique with Nottingham University and has also explored many different holistic approaches to treatment of PTSD.

In this podcast we cover the nature of PTSD and why many conventional treatments fall short of a cure.

Richard gives helpful signposts for self-diagnosis and what to look for in people who may be subject to PTSD.

He also gives an insight into how he works with his clients using VortexHealing® tools.

For more information about Richard please visit his website elitesuccessclinic

NOTE TO THERAPISTS: A video from Richard explaining how to help clients with PTSD is available upon request. Please email me at [email protected]