Life Full On: The Art of Living Fully

Andrew is a brilliant guest to have on a podcast dedicated to reimagining religious practices because Chief Executive of Humanists UK (formerly the British Humanist Association). We dive into all manner of questions from the limits of critique, the lessons we can draw from religion and much else besides.
Andrew is also President of Humanists International. Together with A C Grayling, Andrew edited the Wiley Blackwell Handbook of Humanism (2015) and he is the author of Secularism: Politics, Religion, and Freedom (Oxford University Press, 2017) and Secularism: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2019).
He has written on humanist and secularist for The Guardian, The Independent, The Times, and New Statesman as well as for various journals.
Andrew has represented Humanists UK and the humanist movement extensively on national television including on BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and Sky, as well as on programmes such as Newsnight, The Daily Politics, Sunday Morning Live, and The Big Questions.
He has also appeared on BBC radio programmes such as the Today programme, You and Yours, Sunday, The World Tonight, The World at One, The Last Word, and Beyond Belief as well as on other local and national commercial radio stations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Do you want to really feel alive? Do you to feel like you’re living a meaningful life? Do you want to feel more connected to your values?
We’re spending time with Professor Tanya Luhrmann from Stanford University. She’s a psychological anthropologist known for her studies of modern-day witches, and charismatic Christians who is particularly interested in how culture shapes their spiritual experiences.
Tanya Luhrmann is a rock star in the anthropology world.
She was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2003, president of the Society for Psychological Anthropology for 2008 and was given a Guggenheim award.
Tanya's work is relevant because through her research of spiritual communities (and in this interview) she breaks down exactly how religious people bring their beliefs to life. Techniques that you - whether you're religious or non-religious - can use to make what is most important to you real in your every day.
There's so much in this conversation and I can't wait for you to hear it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

That was our guest Tiu de Haan who is a Ritual Designer, Creative Facilitator and Idea Doula. James and I will speak to this midwife of creativity about the power of rituals. There are ideas in here that can be applied to business, failed projects, grief and many more. 
I learnt something fascinating about Tiu’s upbringing which made me see her in a whole new light. It also helped me understand why she is able to translate esoteric creative and spiritual ideas into the language of the 21st century.
You’ll find out why Tiu has worked with Google, The World Economic Forum, the UN, L’Oreal and more.
If you loved the ideas in this podcast and want to delve into them deeper, then check out the Lifefulness Community. We meet online for group coaching sessions twice a month, which explore these life-changing concepts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy famously wrote "All happy families are alike, but every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way".
Join our interview with author Robert Kolker whose book 'Hidden Valley Road' explores a family that pushes that dictum to the absolute edge.
This conversation explores the themes that are brought up in his extraordinary book 'Hidden Valley Road'. The book chronicles the schizophrenia that haunted the Galvin family, who were considered 'the most mentally ill family in America'.
The Galvin parents had twelve children (10 sons and 2 daughters) but six of the boys would meet untimely ends due to schizophrenia.The book is a tour de force that gives an insight into schizophrenia, family dynamics, the nature of mind and much else.
The characters of the Galvin family seemed plucked from The Royal Tennenbaums, the mental breakdowns from Jacob's Ladder, and the America we see is straight from Easy Rider.
'Hidden Valley Road' was an instant #1 New York Times best-seller and selection of Oprah's Book Club that was named a Top Ten Book of the Year by the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and Slate; one of the year’s best by NPR, the Boston Globe, the New York Post, and Amazon; the #1 book of the year by People; and one of President Barack Obama’s favorite books of 2020.We'll explore the science of schizophrenia, the lessons he learnt and try to take in this incredible tale. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gabija Toleikyte is a neuroscientist who received training as a coach while doing her PhD in neuroscience. We're speaking to her because she wrote a brilliantly title book called 'Why The F*ck Can't I Change?'.
Here are some takeaways from the convo:

1. Learn about your amygdala - when it feels threatened then it can shut down your rational brain.
2. Amygdala Soothing activities help to ‘deactivate’ your stress.
3. When you don’t feel safe and secure your limbic (mammal) brain will take over.
4. Taking deep breaths where you breathe out longer than you breathe in soothes your amygdala.
5. Big changes threatened your amygdala, so take small steps when making change.
6. Write 50 reasons why you want to start a new habit - this will make your rational brain want it.
7. Write 50 reasons you want to stop a habit - this activates pain centres.
8. Amygdala triggers build up over time - as you get older you’ll have to work harder to take risks.
9. The congregation is an amygdala soothing machine - so get involve with Lifefulness.

Gabija's twitter: @supergcoachingGabija's website: https://www.mybrainduringtheday.com/
You can buy Gabija's book here - we heartily recommend it - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Why-Cant-Change-Insights-neuroscientist/dp/1408714167/
Lifefulness CommunityWe always talk about the Lifefulness Community because that is what we're all about. The next intake of Lifefulness Small Groups are open now.Apply and find out more here.
Thanks so much for listening!
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All around us the old systems of thought, meaning, belonging and identity are collapsing. Humanity is shattering into a million and one digital niches each one with their own myths, values and facts.
Traditionally, the decline of one structure of meaning would lead to a new religious movement of revitalisation.

• But what would revitalisation look like in this secular age?
• Can there be a secular replacement?
• Can we find a society wide message of hope?
• Can we rebuild local communities?

Greg Epstein is the perfect person to speak to about this because he's:
1) the current Humanist Chaplain at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
2) An ordained Humanist Rabbi.
3) The author of the New York Times bestseller 'Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe'.
But, more importantly than all that, he was the judge on FYI's reality TV show 'Married At First Sight'! If this guy can help two people who've only just met stay married, then maybe the world does stand a chance. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Vikas Shah MBE is a remarkable entrepreneur who started his first business aged 14, runs a thriving trading operation today and has coolest side-hustle you've never heard of.
In 2007 Vikas realised the missed long-form interviews that he loved so much and decided to do them himself. Since then he has interviewed the CRAZIEST list of people you an imagine: Maya Angelou, FW de Klerk, Buzz Aldrin, Usain Bolt, Ai Wei Wei, Sir Richard Branson, Moby, Melinda Gates, Penn Jillette, and a ton more.
We spoke about what he learnt from his subjects, and from over 10 years of working on the mother of all side-hustles.
Here are 3 Key Takeaways.
1) Purpose vs Purposefulness: we live in a world of purpose porn. Vikas doesn't think it's healthy for everyone to wave their massive missions around. His solution: Do purposeful work. You don't need to seek a life purpose.
2)The real depths of forgiveness. Vikas shares a story from one of his favourite interview subjects, Holocaust survivor, Iby Knill. In an age of instant judgement, hearing that Iby forgave her captors blew my mind.
3) Life and Death are intertwined mysteries. We need to get more guests on to talk about life and death. We're the Lifefulness Podcast because we're all about life, and this pod digs into it. We need more of this.

You have to get his new book 'Thought Economics' which collects and collates these interviews. It's the ideal loo book.
https://thoughteconomics.com/
The Lifefulness Project: Community
The Lifefulness Project is an experiment in building meaningful community and transforming culture. At it's simplest Lifefulness is a practice dedicated to helping you live your life to the fullest in whatever way that means for you.
The community meets twice a month in Support Teams that provide accountability and inspiration, and are places to discuss idea that are vital to the modern age.
It's also a deep evidence-based methodology, that has been put into practice in comunities and organisations across the world.
To find out more go to www.lifefulness.io/membership
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Today we have a brilliant interview with super coach Michelle Ellman and it's all about boundaries. Michelle's no-nonsense advice has led to her getting over 300 000 followers on social media.
In the ep. we joke around about how on the internet everyone is always telling people to cut boundary crossers out of their life in every situation. The nuanced conversation really helped my understanding of boundary setting and how it's important to be selfish to show self-care.
Here were three stand out points:
1) We don't set boundaries because we don't know how we feel. This rang true for me because it'll sometimes be the next day before I click 'Oh, I should have been angry there'. We have to get in touch with our emotions first.
2) Selflessness is often selfishness disguised as virtue. How often is about control? How often does it come from a place of insecurity? Or out of a feeling that we know best?
Boundaries are frowned upon but our ways to protect ourselves so we can contribute to the world.
3) Boundaries can be thrilling acts of creation. Saying to yourself "I won't let someone treat me in that way" defines who you are. The boundary creates room for you to inhabit. It's basically a loft extension for your personality.
4) One area we disagreed on is whether you can have different boundaries for different people and different places. My own take is that you can, Michelle thought that it was you choosing to allow your boundary to be broken. Who do you think is right?
Michelle has a book out. You should get it.
The Joy of Being Selfish: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-joy-of-being-selfish/michelle-elman/9781787396777
Find Michelle Ellman here:
Website: https://www.michelleelman.com/Twitter: https://twitter.com/scarredntscared/Insta: https://www.instagram.com/scarrednotscared/?hl=en
The Lifefulness Community
The Lifefulness Project is an experiment in building meaningful community and transforming culture. At it's simplest Lifefulness is a practice dedicated to helping you live your life to the fullest in whatever way that means for you.
The community meets twice a month in Support Teams that provide accountability and inspiration, and are places to discuss ideas that are vital to the modern age.
To find out more go to http://www.lifefulness.io/membership.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelifefulnessproject/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thelifefulnessprojectSanderson Jones on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sandersonjones

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We've wanted to interview Nora Bateson for ages because she lives a fascinating life, does great work and is an absolute expert in the field of Complexity and Systems Thinking. The wait was worth it because at the end of our chat James (who has a doctorate from Harvard) said it was THE FIRST TIME he truly understood the subject.
Take a moment to really think about that: James has sat through total brainiacs talking about Systems Theory but it was THIS PODCAST that helped him grok it.
Why should you listen to this podcast?
1) We're living in a world which is not just complicated but complex. This means our normal ways of planning and acting don't really work because we can't understand all the different interactions and relationships. You need to understand complexity to understand the world.
2) Nora shows how taking this idea on isn't just adding an extra mental model, or hot new tool, it is a way of being. When she talks complexity becomes something more akin to spirituality than dusty theory.
3) The reason she's able to communicate it so well is because of her unique background as academic royalty (if such a thing existed). Her ancestors and relations lived these ideas, which means that she is talking through people and their lives, not just through abstract concepts.
Give it a go. There's loads of juiciness inside.
Here's more bumpf on her:
Nora Bateson is an award-winning filmmaker, writer and educator, as well as President of the International Bateson Institute, based in Sweden. Her work asks the question “How we can improve our perception of the complexity we live within, so we may improve our interaction with the world?”.
An international lecturer, researcher and writer, Nora wrote, directed and produced the award-winning documentary, An Ecology of Mind, a portrait of her father, Gregory Bateson. Her work brings the fields of biology, cognition, art, anthropology, psychology, and information technology together into a study of the patterns in ecology of living systems.
Find her at:
The Bateson Institute: https://batesoninstitute.org/The Warm Data Lab: https://warmdatalab.net/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/norabatesonTwitter: https://twitter.com/NoraBateson
Lifefulness Community
You can find the LIfefulness Community here: https://www.lifefulness.io/membership
Thanks for listening!


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Our guest today is one of my favourite people - Shamash Alidina! Shamash is an amazing teacher who spent this conversation exploring brilliant ways to cope with negative thoughts, reduce anxiety and lead a great life.
Here's why you should listen to him:

• He is the international bestselling author of the Mindfulness For Dummies and The Mindful Way through Stress. He frequently pops up in newspapers, magazines and on radio shows.

• Shamash has also co-founded the world's first Museum of Happiness in London. The museum is open to the public, and currently runs events every month, popping up in different locations in London.

• More recently, Shamash has been training practitioners in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. This cutting-edge approach skilfully combines acceptance, flexible mindfulness, values and committed action to help people live a rich and meaningful life.

• He has trained with the father of ‘Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction’, Jon Kabat-Zinn PhD through the Center for Mindfulness in Massachusetts, United States.

Lifefulness Community
We always talk about the Lifefulness Community because that is what we're all about. Check it out here: https://www.lifefulness.io/membership
Thanks so much for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.