#007 Content warning: This episode touches on dementia and assisted dying.

A family dinner. A life-altering announcement. A mother determined not to be defined by her diagnosis.

In this episode, Tanaya and Matt are joined by playwright-director Elisa Williams and actor-educator Caitlin Beresford-Ord to explore Five Minutes to Midnight, a powerful new Perth theatre work about love, agency, caregiving, and the painful question at its centre: how much is too much to ask of the people we love?

What was intended as a conversation about the evolving tradition of theatre soon unfolded into something much more heartening.

Elisa and Caitlin reflect on their own artistic journeys and the history that shaped them, and along the way, they speak of acting as a lifelong apprenticeship, grounded not in certainty but in curiosity, wonder, attentiveness, and faith—a path that parallels the yogi's. They also reflect on larger questions of mortality, technology, and what it means to remain fully present, embodied, and human.

In the words of Caitlin Beresford-Ord on acting:

“It’s about living and breathing in 360. It’s like the wisdom of the four-year-old...the kids’ wonder. That’s the life of an artist...not to lose the same wonder that you had at four because there is so much wisdom in that. It’s noticing. You’ve got to notice as an actor. You’ve got to be aware and receptive. It’s curiosity over certainty. Can I remain curious?”

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

• why Five Minutes to Midnightis not simply an “issues play,” but a layered family drama that asks the audience to do its own emotional and ethical work
• how early-onset dementia, assisted dying, and quantum entanglement can exist in the same theatrical world
• what Elisa and Caitlin have learned through decades of theatre-making, arts education, and collaboration across generations
• why both guests believe theatre should provoke, unsettle, and create genuine human connection
• how AI, live performance, and changing approaches to arts training are reshaping the future for emerging artists

This episode is for theatre lovers, artists, educators, and anyone drawn to stories about mortality, family, care, and the courage it takes to live fully while facing the inevitable end.

Five Minutes to Midnight runs 6–24 October 2026 at The Blue Room Theatre in Perth, Western Australia. Listeners of the show can claim a VIP ticket price by entering the promo code MIDNIGHT15.

To learn more about the book Evolving Traditions: Yoga, Ethics & Modern Practice, the inspiration behind many of these conversations, and to explore our other offerings, visit mindbodycollective.com.au.

If you’d simply like to support the podcast and help keep it going, you can do so from as little as $5 here on Ko-fi.

With gratitude.

#006 In this conversation, Lisa Fabry reflects on the people, practices, and experiences that have shaped her life over time. A yoga therapist, Medical Qigong instructor, nutritionist, author, and editor, Lisa shares her path with honesty and humility, reminding us that healing, growth, and purpose rarely follow a straight line.

Alongside Matt Dyktynski and co-host Tanaya Ti’en, Lisa speaks about the wisdom she inherited, a childhood marked by freedom and life across different parts of the world, and the experiences that drew her toward yoga, qigong, nutrition, and publishing. What emerges is a conversation about how these paths, though distinct on the surface, are connected by a deeper shared practice. Together, they explore why the most transformative healing practices are often the gentlest, and why personalised care matters in a world that so often favours one-size-fits-all solutions. Lisa offers insight into Yoga Therapy, the role of Medical Qigong in her life, especially after long COVID, and the ways these disciplines can work alongside nutrition to support wellbeing. She also speaks about editing as its own healing art.

This is a conversation about wearing many hats and allowing your work to evolve in ways that feel authentic, natural, and human. If you’ve ever felt confined by a single identity, profession, or path, Lisa’s story offers a reassuring reminder that a meaningful life doesn't need to fit neatly into one box. Her reflections offer encouragement to anyone who has felt drawn in more than one direction, or wondered how one life can hold multiple callings.

As Lisa puts it, “Wisdom is the accumulation of knowledge plus experience plus intuition.” That spirit runs through the conversation, inviting us to stay curious, find strength in softness, and trust that our path can take more than one form.

If you’d like to explore Lisa’s work in Yoga Therapy, Qigong, and editing, you can book a free call to connect and learn more.

Lisa is offering listeners a discount on her popular course, Yoga for Healthy Bones, which weaves together yoga, qigong and nutrition. Use the code YHB44 at checkout to receive the discount.

Other helpful links in this episode:

• Master of Science in Yoga Therapy, Maryland University
• Amy Wheeler at Optimal State
• The Yoga Therapy Institute

Other offerings:

If your cup needs replenishing, Tanaya and Matt would love you to join them from 15–20 April 2027 for their next Great Southern Renewal Retreat in Denmark, W.A. To learn more, reach out here.

If you’d like to explore these themes more deeply, you can also pick up a copy of Evolving Traditions: Yoga, Ethics & Modern Practice. To find out more about the book, the retreat, and other offerings, visit us here.

#005 Phil Bedworth has lived several lifetimes in one body, and in this conversation he explains how all of it shaped the man he is today. 

Matt and Tanaya speak with Phil about the remarkable breadth of his life, from rugby league and the British Army to homicide investigation, counterterrorism, local government, and eventually stage and screen. Through every reinvention, emerges a portrait of a man guided by service, adaptability, and an instinct for saying yes to whatever life asks of him.

We discuss how a working-class upbringing in West Yorkshire shaped his outlook, why he left elite sport and later policing, and how acting became a new form of service and self-expression. Along the way, Phil opens up about the values his mother gave him, the pressure of expectation, and the mindset that kept pushing him toward whatever felt most alive. 

Phil also shares candid reflections on family, feedback, risk, and the importance of trying to become a better person over time, along with the principle he still lives by and the simple advice he'd give his younger self. It's a conversation about service, reinvention, and ultimately, personal evolution. Essential listening if you love stories about unexpected career pivots, hard-earned wisdom, and people who refuse to stay in one box for too long.

To connect with Phil, you can find him at Double Shot Creative Management. 

Other Offerings 

If you’ve been feeling like your cup needs some replenishing…Matt & Tanaya would love you to join them from April 15 to 20, 2027, for their next Great Southern Renewal Retreat in Denmark, WA. If you’d like to know more, send an expression of interest to [email protected] and we’ll send you the details.

And if you’d like to explore some of the themes covered in these conversations more deeply, you can also grab a copy of the book that has inspired many of them: Evolving Traditions: Yoga, Ethics & Modern Practice. To find out more about the book, the retreat, and other offerings, visit mindbodycollective.com.au.

Follow The Evolving Traditions Podcast on Instagram at @evolvingtraditionspodcast, and listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.

Enjoying These Offerings?

If our work has supported or inspired you in some way, and you’d like to return the love, a virtual cuppa on Ko-fi would be warmly received. Every contribution helps us keep this podcast and our other offerings alive, growing, available to the community, and means so much!

🎶🎼🎵🎻 Original theme music: La Chambre — by T. Ti’en, A. Watts, N. Lam and B. Bourke

#004 In this episode of The Evolving Traditions Podcast, Matt and Tanaya sit down with counsellor, parenting educator, and lecturer Clare Christie for an honest conversation about parenting, connection, and the village we’ve lost. Together, they explore how parenting has shifted across generations, why so many modern parents feel overwhelmed, and what children most need to feel safe, secure, and supported.

Drawing on more than 20 years of experience working with children, parents, and families, Clare shares practical wisdom as well as reflections from her own parenting journey. The conversation touches on how childhood patterns can shape the way we raise the next generation, and how healing, honesty, and self-awareness can help us do things differently.

They also discuss screen time, social media, fear-based parenting, the loss of community, and why children don’t need perfect parents — they need connection, safety, and adults willing to repair, reflect, and keep showing up. If you are a parent, caregiver, educator, or simply someone still unpacking your own upbringing, this episode offers reassurance, insight, and a more compassionate way to think about raising humans.

To connect with Clare in Perth, W.A, or via Zoom, find her on LinkedIn or email at [email protected]

Upcoming offerings

Join Tanaya and Matt for the next Great Southern Renewal Retreat in Denmark, WA, from April 15–20, 2027. For details, email [email protected] 

Follow The Evolving Traditions Podcast on Instagram, and listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.

Explore more through the book Evolving Traditions: Yoga, Ethics & Modern Practice, and at mindbodycollective.com.au.

Enjoying These Offerings?

If our work has supported or inspired you in some way, and you’d like to return the love, we’d be over the moon if you shouted us a virtual cuppa on Ko-fi from just $5. Every contribution helps us keep this podcast and our other offerings alive and available to the community, and means more than you know!

🎶🎼🎵🎻 Original theme music: Une Chanson — by T. Ti’en, A. Watts, and N. Lam.

#003 Here we take a peek at the evolving tradition behind Evolving Traditions. Matt sits down with his wife and podcast co-creator, Tanaya, to explore the personal path that led her to Yoga Chikitsa (Yoga Therapy), writing, and a lifelong study of the relationship between mind, body, and healing.

Together, they discuss inherited wisdom, the role of suffering, and why the best kind of yoga, may indeed be the yoga that entices you far beyond the postures, into the subtle realm of the metaphysical body. 

Tanaya shares the ideas behind her books, Evolving Traditions: Yoga, Ethics & Modern Practice, and Yoga Therapy: The Kosha Evaluation Method & The HIMAP Approach—covering ethical practice, compassion, presence, mental flexibility, and finding a path that evolves as you do.

They also unpack the difference between a yoga class and personalised Yoga Therapy, and reflect on the pressures of modern wellness culture. 

Tanaya also shares details of the upcoming Mind Body Collective Great Southern Renewal Retreat in Denmark, Western Australia, running April 15–20. To learn more or register your interest, visit Mind Body Collective.

In this episode

• The family wisdom that shapes us—and the lessons we choose to carry forward
• Suffering, resilience, and finding meaning through difficult seasons
• Yoga as a living, evolving practice rather than a fixed system
• The Yamas and Niyamas: kindness, truthfulness, self-study, non-grasping, and more
• Why mental flexibility matters more than physical flexibility
• The difference between yoga classes and Yoga Therapy
• Presence & equanimity as tools for meeting uncertainty, grief, and change
• How to begin on the path of yoga with clarity and intention

Resources mentioned

• Evolving Traditions: Yoga, Ethics & Modern Practice
• Yoga Therapy: The Kosha Evaluation Method & The HIMAP Approach
• Mind Body Collective: mindbodycollective.com.au
• Great Southern Renewal Retreat, Denmark, Western Australia — April 15–20

• • Buddhist Society of Western Australia: bswa.org

#002 In this episode of Evolving Traditions, Tanaya turns the lens inward for an intimate conversation with her husband and co-host, Matt Dyktynski—actor, comedian, and all-around performer.

From his earliest lessons at home and a childhood full of characters and classic Blackpool humour, Matt traces the beginnings of a career that would take him from emerging alongside talents like Essie Davis, Cate Blanchett, Matt Day, Frances O’Connor, and Nadine Garner to a rich and varied life in show biz.

The conversation spans Matt’s expansive work across stage, screen, radio, stand-up, and voiceover—from films including Love and Other Catastrophes, Japanese Story, and Heaven’s Burning, and the SBS series Reckless, to breakfast radio on Mix 94.5 and his hilariously cringe-worthy long-running Kmart voiceover as Josh.

They also explore the realities behind the glamour of the arts: the discipline of drama school, the sting of rejection, the importance of authenticity, and the resilience required to keep going in an industry shaped by chance and change. Matt speaks candidly about addiction, recovery, aging, creativity, and the challenge of staying true to yourself while navigating comedy’s shifting boundaries and the rise of AI.

Fresh from the stage at the Heath Ledger Theatre, where he has just performed his final show in The Diary of Anne Frank, Matt chews the cud on the responsibility of portraying real people and the enduring power of live performance to connect us through our shared humanity.

Warm, reflective, and threaded with playful husband-and-wife banter, this conversation celebrates creative life, imperfection, and the traditions we inherit, resist, and continue to evolve.

Matt will be bringing his signature wit to WA Comedy Week this coming August 2026—don’t miss the chance to catch him live in action. Book your tickets here. And for those craving a deeper, more restorative experience, Tanaya and Matt will be co-hosting their Great Southern Renewal retreat in Denmark, WA from 15–20 April 2027—an immersive blend of therapeutic yoga, creativity, and connection in one of Western Australia’s most beautiful landscapes.

To explore the book that inspired this podcast, Evolving Traditions: Yoga, Ethics & Modern Practice, you can purchase your copy here, or get in touch here.

🎶🎼🎵🎻Original theme music by Tanaya Ti’en, Alastair Watts, Ben Bourke, & Nancy Lam, featuring Matthew Dufty on violin and Diane Peters on Harp.

#001 Marriage is one of humanity’s oldest rituals, yet its meaning and purpose are constantly evolving. In this candid episode, your hosts, Tanaya and Matt explore why we still choose to get hitched despite changing societal norms, divorce rates, and shifting ideas of love and commitment. From ancient myths about love as a quest for wholeness to modern visions of partnership as a journey of self-discovery, they unravel the timeless reasons behind tying the knot—and why, ultimately, marriage remains a profound act of human connection.

They delve into how historical power plays and alliances turned marriage into a tool for survival and status; why love stories from Plato to Aristophanes still influence us today; and how modern couples redefine marriage as a growth process rather than a static institution. They break down the significance of patience, communication, and shared values—highlighting real-life secrets from couples married many years, and along the way, dip their toes into anecdotes, philosophical reflections, and practical wisdom about navigating the inevitable fires and cracks that come with two people building a life together.

The stakes are clear—without understanding the deeper purpose and patterns behind marriage, many risk repeating historic mistakes or losing the magic amid routine and disengagement. But with a new perspective, marriage can be a tool for healing, self-growth, and authentic connection—more relevant today than ever before. 

This episode explores the idea of remaining in the proverbial heat of a relationship: staying present through challenge and discomfort in the possibility of growth and deeper connection. Of course, this perspective doesn't apply to relationships involving domestic or family violence, coercion, abuse, or any situation where someone feels unsafe. If you or someone you know is experiencing harm, please seek appropriate support and prioritise safety.

Upcoming Offerings

If you’ve been craving reconnection—with yourself, your special other, or the natural world—a few days in one of the most healing corners of the planet, surrounded by like-hearted humans, might be just what the doctor ordered.

Join us April 15–20, 2027—solo, with a , or with a pal or two—for our next Great Southern Renewal Retreat in magnificent Denmark, WA. We’ll spend 5 nights and 6 days immersed in Mother Nature’s best, coming back to balance.

Keen to know more? Message us at [email protected] and we’ll share the details.

Follow the Evolving Traditions Podcast on Instagram, Spotify, and YouTube.

Grab a copy of Evolving Traditions: Yoga, Ethics & Modern Practice, and find out more about Tanaya and her offerings at mindbodycollective.com.au—where you’ll also find links to retreats, classes, and more.

For all things Matt, don’t miss our next episode for details on where to find him on stage, or on the Perth comedy circuit. 

The Evolving Traditions podcast hosts a series of conversations that question whether the wisdom and traditions that we inherit still hold up in today’s world. 

Hosted by Tanaya Ti’en and Matt Dyktynski, the conversations are honest, unpredictable, and deeply human as they move between marriage, parenting, religion, spirituality, comedy, and beyond. 

They also explore themes from Tanaya’s book, Evolving Traditions: Yoga, Ethics & Modern Practice—the spark that has inspired many of these conversations.

Whether you’re here to question, learn, unlearn, or simply listen, we welcome you. Change is in the air. Something is evolving—and maybe… so are you.

Do you have an Evolving Tradition that needs a closer look? We’d love to hear from you! Reach out at [email protected].