In Our Nature

This episode discusses lying in the foetal position in a dark room and the desire to drink gin during the day while hiding under a duvet. Can you relate? 

‘Normal’ life has become rather peculiar, what with all of the ecosystem-destroying and mental-health-shredding shenanigans that seem to prop up the economy. 

Join me as we explore:

• The stark contrast between "normal" and "natural"
• The many ways modern life has veered away from natural rhythms and balance
• The implications of our unnatural norms and how they shape our mental health and the planet
• What happens when we are out of sync with our inherent nature
• The role of the individual (that’s you) and the role of everyone else when it comes to our disconnection and dissatisfaction

Mentioned:

We’ve Made up What Mental Illness Is (And Who Decides What’s Normal Anyway?)

"All Of This" (gestures around wildly) "Is Not in Our Nature"

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Looking for fascinating insights into the intersection of human behaviour and our planetary predicament? Curious about the connection between our stories and our systems? This one’s for you.

My guest is Sarah Patterson: President of Common Earth, delightful human, and a catalyst for my own ecological awakening.

Join us as we talk about:

- The dual power of our incredible human gift of imagination—its ability to create and innovate, but also its potential to trap us in false or harmful narratives.

- The importance of systems thinking in understanding, well… everything.

- How our personal and collective stories shape our inner and outer worlds.

- What this all has to do with our climate challenges and our own experiences of being human at this time.

- How meaningful change really happens, no, really

This episode invites you to rethink your relationship with the world and your relationship with your own thinking. That sounds hard, but they go together beautifully.

About Common Earth:  

Common Earth offers education to help build a holistic understanding of the various forces involved in our current climate challenges. They have a series of unique and comprehensive learning programmes coming up, designed to deepen understanding of climate and socio-economic issues from a broad perspective. These courses are funded by Common Earth.  

Next intake is early September, so check them out soon if you are interested:  https://commonearth.com/courses/

Question, comment, idea for the show? Email [email protected].

Thanks for joining us today you wonderful little bean.

Welcome to the first episode of In Our Nature, where we explore the invisible forces, currents and stories shaping our inner and outer worlds.

In the episode today: 
- An intro to the pod, the questions we will ask and how it (and me) wants to serve you
- Reflection on the shift from the Inner Peace & Other Cool Shit podcast and the natural evolution of the podcast’s themes.
- Asking why are we so busy, anxious, and overwhelmed in a world full of time-saving technology?
- The importance of context in shaping our experiences and understanding the world. How context influences our thoughts, beliefs, and the questions we ask.
- Preview of upcoming themes: the role of thought in shaping our world, the invisible currents at play, and how to reconnect with what is truly in our nature.
- Introducing the idea of the cosmological context pie 
- ....and I am joined by a very special guest who has some constructive feedback. 

If you would like to see yourself and the world a little more clearly, please join me for this new season. 

Feedback, questions, comments are welcome via [email protected]. 

Get news, updates and nice things by joining my Friends List: Siobhanfriel.com/subscribe. 

Thanks for being with me. 

Absolutely everything is interconnected in astonishing dynamic ways that we are only beginning to understand. The In Our Nature explores these connections, along with the unseen but profoundly influential currents, systems, cycles, patterns, stories, and constructs that shape both our inner lives and the world around us.

Join me as we look beyond our personal experience and our individual thoughts and feelings,  to the place where environmental, societal, historical, ecological and mythological contexts meet and mingle with our mental health and planetary moment.

The In Our Nature pod wants to shed light on the hidden connections and deeper patterns that are shaping this extraordinary time we are in, helping us see more clearly as we make our way forth. I hope you'll join me. 

Today's episode is asking you to check in with yourself to see if the podcasts, courses, books and so on are helping with your enjoyment of life and your journey of less anxiety and more peace.

And if not? I’m offering you a sneaky exit. 

Join me to explore:

• Why you might want to leave behind the “helpful consumption” of solutions to anxiety and other feelings 
• How real insights and epiphanies often come from lived experiences rather than theoretical understanding
• Signs you might be ready to just take what you have and get out there, including an overemphasis on understanding concepts before taking action, attempting to reconcile different ideas and paradigms and feeling the need to have an insight before making changes in life
• Realising you have a “magic car” and what that means for the ride of life
• Ok, the above sounded like an icky cliche but I shall leave it in
• …And Anxious Alice says a wise thing

 Thanks for listening. You rock.

Today I am joined by Certified Change Coach, meditation teacher, loving mother and delightful human Rebecca Gardner.

Becca guides people in transforming their relationship with their minds and came to the work she now does through her own journey of anxiety, overthinking and worry which many listeners may resonate with.

Join us to explore:

• The role of thought in creating our fear of the future 
• How an understanding of our minds might help when it comes to navigating longer term, enormous issues such as economic and climate breakdown
• The inner compass and voice of wisdom that each of us has
• Recognising, trusting and cultivating the wisdom of our children in particular
• The nature of overwhelm 
• …and much more, including musing on what a turtle might say is the secret to life. 

Find Becca at her website (https://www.themissingpeacecotswolds.com/) or Instagram @missingpeacecotswolds or on Insight Timer where she is a mentor and teacher: 

Got a question for an upcoming guest or a question, comment or idea about anything else? Email Siobhán at [email protected]. 

Today we're poking at the power of teeny, innocent-seeming words in creating enormous, perilous towers of thought stories. 

Join me to meander through:

• My research project on inner peace and how it led to a little tangent on the power of words
• How seeing the creation of Big Collective Thought releases you from taking your personal, individual thought too seriously
• Exploring how casual historical labels can shape our modern thinking
• Noticing how the recency bias in historical narratives has implications on societal values and norms in the present day (including around productivity, anxiety and progress)
• Links between this and our individual experiences of inadequacy, stress, worry and overwhelm.
• The freedom that comes with recognising how thought patterns are shaped beyond your control - and how seeing your innocence in this can unclip you from your own inadequacies 
• Several questionable analogies 
• 'Nothingburger' is used on the show for the first time
• Anxious Alice is in a sulk 

Mentioned:

Episosde: We’ve Made up What Mental Illness Is (And Who Decides What’s Normal Anyway?)

Episosde: Expanding the Conversation to Meet These Extraordinarily Precarious Times

Episosde: How That Anxious, Restless, Unsettled Feeling Is Originally Created (Clue: It’s Nothing to Do with You)

Email me with  questions, comments,  ideas or if you need support.

Pop your name on my Friends List here for a monthly email with updates, news and suchlike.

Thanks for listening. You're my favourite. 

In today's episode we are exploring how our concepts of mental health and illness are not fixed truths but socially constructed ideas. What’s normal and what’s not is made up via thought and is always changing. 

Those with a diagnosis that doesn’t feel quite right might especially like this episode, along with those who always feel a bit out of place or like they don’t fit in with ‘normal people’ (like me)

Join me to meander through:

• My bent-double moment of laughing in the bathroom that inspired the episode
• How everything in society has “Rules” which are completely made up with our thoughts (but still have real-world implications) 
• Who decides what’s ‘normal’ and what’s a disorder anyway, and why this matters
• How this relates specifically to anxiety disorders, panic disorders, eating disorders and more
• Why recognising the constructed nature of our diagnoses is pretty cool for personal and collective freedom.
• A few funnies from the past
• And Anxious Alice has an insight around this in the realm of parenting 

Mentioned:

If Books Could Kill - The Rules

The Rules book  

Email me with  questions, commens or ideas
Pop your name on my Friends List here for a monthly email with updates, news and suchlike.

Thanks for listening. You rock.

You know how we say that peace and wellbeing are our true nature? Well, have you ever wondered why we are living in times of perilous uncertainty, unprecedented inequality, lack of trust, and political, social and ecological breakdown, not to mention sustained war and conflict?

Me too.

This episode explains some upcoming modifications to the podcast and in the way I work, and I'll be sharing the education, lessons and insights that impelled the changes, mostly inspired by the above question.

Join me to explore:
- The quest which began as an innocent desire to get more of my to-do list done
- How it morphed into a journey which would span the globe (kinda) and touch ecology, politics, history, anthropology, education, mythology, biology and more (and a fair bit of ornithology - birds are cool)
- An illumination of the astonishing role of thought, from creating systems of oppression and destruction down to our the puddle of worry we feel before a work meeting
- Why understanding the power of thought at a collective level is particularly useful and needed in these times.
- How things are changing in the way I work and share as a result of my lessons and insights
- And is Anxious Alice being made redundant?!

Mentioned:
I mentioned in the episode that I am coincidentally moving website and domain host providers and experiencing some downtime as result.

If you want to respond to the episode or pop your name on my Friends List for updates as invited in the show, you can do that here in this google form for the time being. 

Thanks for being with me.

Tired? Yep. Seems many of us are struggling with tiredness as the speed of society gathers pace each year. This episode is about 34 minutes. Take a nap and we'll wake you at the end. There's nothing new here. You know it all already. You just don't like it (and me too).

We'll explore: 

• The increase in tiredness and exhaustion in modern society - is this a thing?
• My experience with tiredness (clue: I did not "coach" myself out of it or transcend tiredness through realisation or insight)
• What place does an understanding about the nature of thought have in a conversation about tiredness?
• Why resting is not as simple as it once was, and why we look beyond naps and sleep to our thoughts, instead, for relief and solutions
• The interconnectedness of all things and why this matters when we are tired (well - it always matters)
• Why understanding the interconnected relationship between mind, body, environment and society is crucial
• Anxious Alice gets fresh 

Mentioned

The article I mention on The 18 Types of Rest We Need

The previous episode discussing the role of society and institutionalised thought in influencing our own experiences: Episode 63: How That Anxious, Restless, Unsettled Feeling Is Originally Created (Clue: It’s Nothing to Do with You)

Also

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