What actually drives your goals — shame or purpose?

In this episode of Back to the Breath, we explore the two most common motivators behind our actions and decisions. Many of us pursue fitness, success, relationships, or personal growth — but the why behind those pursuits matters more than we realize.

Is your motivation coming from fear, comparison, and feeling “not good enough”? Or from alignment, values, meaning, and a deep sense of purpose?

Using real-life examples (including fitness, career, and inner self-talk), this episode breaks down:

• Shame-based motivation vs purpose-based motivation
• Why shame can produce results — but often leads to burnout
• How your inner dialogue shapes fulfillment and self-worth
• Why purpose creates long-term motivation and peace
• Practical ways to shift from shame into purpose using breathwork, awareness, and self-compassion

If you’ve ever felt driven but exhausted… successful but unfulfilled… or motivated yet harsh with yourself — this conversation is for you.

Thanks for taking the time to listen. Feel free to reach out with any feedback, or if you'd like to collaborate in any way. Peace!

@daltonrdan on Instagram

In this episode, I break down how to overcome fear in the moment using practical tools for emotional regulation, confidence, and mental health. We explore what fear really is, why it exists, and how it shows up in the body—especially in social situations, vulnerability, relationships, and personal growth.

This episode is designed to help you move through fear, anxiety, and overwhelm, whether you’re struggling with self-confidence, social anxiety, avoidance, or feeling stuck. If you’re feeling afraid right now, you can skip directly to the tools section for grounding techniques, breathwork, and movement-based practices to calm the nervous system and take action.

In this episode, we cover:

• What fear and anxiety are and why the nervous system creates them
• Physical fear vs. emotional fear (social anxiety, rejection, vulnerability)
• How fear shows up in the body and causes freeze or avoidance
• Simple movement and grounding techniques to break fear states
• Breathwork tools for calming anxiety (Wim Hof Method, physiological sigh)
• Using connection, community, and support to regulate emotions
• Overcoming avoidance and taking action despite fear
• Letting go of shame and self-judgment around anxiety and fear

Who this episode is for:

• Anyone dealing with fear, anxiety, or overthinking
• People working on confidence, courage, and self-improvement
• Men navigating vulnerability, relationships, and personal growth
• Anyone wanting practical tools for mental health and emotional resilience

Resources mentioned:

• Wim Hof Method (breathwork for anxiety and stress)
• Physiological Sigh (popularized by Andrew Huberman)
• Support groups, men’s groups, and 12-step communities

Thanks for taking the time to listen. Feel free to reach out with any feedback, or if you'd like to collaborate in any way. Peace!

@daltonrdan on Instagram

In this episode, I dive into my personal relationship with video games and explore what it means to be a healthy gamer. I share how gaming went from a source of comfort and escape in my teenage years to something that sometimes held me back socially, physically, and emotionally.

We talk honestly about the negative side effects of over-gaming—including isolation, lack of exercise, dating struggles, and a false sense of accomplishment—and how video games can quietly replace real-world growth. I also break down practical ways to build structure and boundaries around gaming, so it can stay a fun part of life without taking over.

This episode is especially for anyone who feels gaming may be impacting their motivation, relationships, career, or overall fulfillment—and wants a healthier balance.

Gaming Addicts Anonymous (GAA) – A 12-step support group for people struggling with compulsive gaming
👉 https://www.gamingaddictsanonymous.org

 (Online meetings available)

Thanks for taking the time to listen. Feel free to reach out with any feedback, or if you'd like to collaborate in any way. Peace!

@daltonrdan on Instagram

A guided meditation for relieving stress and improving sleep quality.

Tips for breathing:

1. Inhale through the nose ~ into the belly
2. Exhale through the mouth ~ making a "shhh" sound
3. Prolong your exhales for deeper relaxation

Thanks for taking the time to listen. Feel free to reach out with any feedback, or if you'd like to collaborate in any way. Peace!

@daltonrdan on Instagram

The purpose of this guided meditation is to give the listener space to feel into any unpleasant or uncomfortable emotions they may be experiencing.  

Before you begin: 

• Get some headphones
• Stretch
• Get comfortable

Explanation of the practice:
When experiencing emotions or feelings we deem "uncomfortable" we tend to numb ourselves. When we numb using substances, food, TV,  or other things, we are causing more discomfort in the long term. The best thing we can do in these instances is give our self space to feel these emotions. Often times these emotions are communicating something to us and require our attention. If we allow these feelings & emotions the space to be felt, we are more likely to draw insight from them and we are able to incorporate this insight into our lives.

What does incorporating these emotions look like?

• Making a shift in lifestyle
  • Diet
  • Sleep
  • Exercise
  • Screen-time
  • etc...
• Change in behavior
  • (Maybe you are behaving in a way that is causing you stress)
  • People-pleasing
  • Interactions with people
  • Lack of interactions with people
• Relationship Shift
  • (Maybe you are engaging in relationships that are inauthentic and are draining you)

Often the overwhelming emotions and feelings you experience are a result of these things so your body may be communicating that something needs to change. This is an opportunity to feel and learn anything you can from the experience.

Music credit: (All songs can be found on Pixabay)

• Intro: Just Relax - Lesfm
• Setup: Nature - Lesfm
• Body Scan: Meditation & Gentle Nature - Rockot
• Meditation: Valley of Silence - AlanFrijns
• Outro: Nature - Lesfm

Thanks for taking the time to listen. Feel free to reach out with any feedback, or if you'd like to collaborate in any way. Peace!

@daltonrdan on Instagram

Bob Beare is the host of the Deep Waters Recovery Program which is a retreat I've been frequently attending this year. If it sounds interesting, click the link, reach out to me and consider registering. He is also the author of The Creative Fire & Stop Doing Sh*t You Don't Want To Do: A Straightforward Guide to Letting Go of Unresolved Trauma and has been a practicing psychotherapist for the past 25 years.

I met Bob attending the retreats and the weekly men's group he leads and have found him to be a wealth of knowledge. We begin the conversation by discussing the different kinds of trauma (The Trauma Tree: 5 Roots of Trauma) and how they are currently manifesting in people's lives as coping mechanisms. Many of these mechanisms being unconscious which is why I wanted to discuss this. We then discuss the importance of healing this trauma and what that process looks like. We discuss 12 step recovery and different support groups such as ACA and experiential retreats such as Deep Waters. Bob then explains how a proper relationship should form when searching for partnership and intimacy and some common misconceptions about dating and finding love.

Want to learn more about Bob? Check out his website here.  drbobbeare.com

Thanks for taking the time to listen. Feel free to reach out with any feedback, or if you'd like to collaborate in any way. Peace!

@daltonrdan on Instagram

In this episode I talk about Adult Children of Alcoholics & Dysfunctional Families which is a support group based in principles similar to those of Alcoholics Anonymous. I've been attending the support group because I've noticed many dysfunctional behaviors I have. I've been to about 4 meetings so far so I am very new to the program, but I've really resonated with everyone I've met and the stories they tell about their struggles.

I go on to discuss the ACA Framework:

• "The Inner Child"
• "The Critical Parent"
• "The Loving Parent"

Thanks for taking the time to listen. Feel free to reach out with any feedback, or if you'd like to collaborate in any way. Peace!

@daltonrdan on Instagram

Bob Peck is the author of the book, Original Sin is A Lie; a book where Bob explains the teaching of Jesus Christ and how they overlap with other renowned mystics such as The Buddha, Krishna and Paramahansa Yogananda, to name a few, and how these teachings may have been misinterpreted and misused throughout time. Bob is also the director and producer of many festival award-winning documentaries that can be found on his Mind Heart Lens YouTube Channel, my favorite of those docs being The Kingdom Within, which is a film where Bob interviews mystics and spiritual teachers of many different faiths and practices about their differing views on Yoga & God, and how to go about interacting with the divine. Bob is also a student of religious scholarship (as he corrected me for calling him a scholar), a father, husband, and a mystic.

Bob kicks of the episode by explaining what a mystic is, as well as the difference between dualistic and non-dualistic spiritual and religious philosophies. We then discuss the significance of the discovery of The Gospel of Thomas and how it may have influenced the synoptic gospels.. and more importantly why this is relevant amongst practicing Christians and those studying the bible today.

We then go on to discuss the "infallible doctrine" or the idea that the bible is infallible and why this is damaging to our spiritual growth as individuals, and how understanding the different political environments each Gospel was written can help us better understand the teachings as a whole. Bob discusses his infatuation with Jesus and why he believes truly understanding his message is so important.

We then discuss Bob's documentary The Kingdom Within, which is free so check it out! We specifically discuss the different Christian pastors featured in the film and how they had radically different views on how us people can go about interacting and creating a relationship with God.  

Thanks for taking the time to listen. Feel free to reach out with any feedback, or if you'd like to collaborate in any way. Peace!

@daltonrdan on Instagram

In this episode we are joined by Ellie Rome! Ellie is a certified weight loss and emotional eating coach who coaches high achieving women to lose weight, heal chronic health conditions, and transform their relationships with food. Ellie is also the host of the Don't Eat Your Feelings Podcast, a podcast where Ellie gives advice about overcoming sugar addiction and unhealthy eating habits. She also hosts weekly online and in-person breathwork ceremonies and a variety of community based events including an event called Comfort Zone Fridays, where she leads a community of amazing people through yoga, breathwork and cold plunging here in Austin, TX.

If you want to get in touch with Ellie, you can find her coaching here!

As well as her Instagram here @mindfulbellie!

Check out her Comfort Zone Retreats here as well!

In this episode, Ellie talks about her background studying Engineering at LSU and how her struggles with sugar addiction and binge eating led her to become an expert on nutrition and begin coaching women to overcome that same addiction. We also discuss the mental component of addiction and Ellie gives her insight of how we can overcome it using mindfulness practices and frameworks such as IFS (Internal Family Systems). 

We then discuss her Comfort Zone Fridays event and how she started leading it, as well as her retreats and how she began leading those! We also discuss psychedelics, specifically ayahuasca and mushrooms and give some of our experiences with both!
Come check out her events!

Thanks for taking the time to listen. Feel free to reach out with any feedback, or if you'd like to collaborate in any way. Peace!

@daltonrdan on Instagram

In this episode I am joined by Granger Dean Rosipal & Luke Harrison Ford. Granger, Luke and I have been working out with one another for a few months now and decided to kick back and record an episode as we seem to have common interests and always have good conversations.

We begin the conversation by answering some questions based in Positive Psychology such as:

• What are your strengths?
• What are your favorite experiences from this past week?
• What are you most grateful for?

We begin the podcast like this to give each other space to share about ourselves and lives, but more importantly because these questions are shown to increase lively hood and positivity in people's lives! So ask these questions every day!

We then go on to discuss some passion projects we are working on, what steps we are resisting taking in our careers and projects and then our views on spirituality, religion, and whether or not we have free will.

Overall, we have a heartfelt and fun conversation about our lives and our beliefs.

Thanks for taking the time to listen. Feel free to reach out with any feedback, or if you'd like to collaborate in any way. Peace!

@daltonrdan on Instagram