LIFEFORCE

Singer-songwriter Siva Kaneswaran, who reached international fame as a member of the British boy band, The Wanted, speaks about stepping off the pedestal of fame and fortune and into his own as a solo artist and activist. 

“’Breathe In’ is an introduction to who I am as a person now years later, and the reason why I focused on the breath is because it is one of the most important keys in unlocking your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing.”

Mental Health Advocate and suicide survivor Pooja Mehta has struggled with schizoid anxiety for over a decade, an illness that has caused her to attempt suicide three times. 

“When I hear the voices, when they get really bad, I’m not thinking to myself, “Wow, I wish I could just die,” like I don’t want to be here anymore, all I’m thinking is, “I want to make this stop, make the pain go away,"…It feels like an out-of-body experience. It feels like you’re not in control. Whatever dark tunnel your mind is in is the only thing that’s in control.”

Winner of Canada’s Juno for Best World Music Album of the Year, Kiran Ahluwalia talks about contemporary South Asian poetry and music that brings light to what exists inside us as humans, what binds us, what we yearn for, and what ultimately can free us. 

“There’s seven billion of us on the planet, and there’s seven billion ways of doing things.”

Dr. Vikram Paralkar, physical-scientist-author, discuses his 2020 novel, NIGHT THEATER, a fantastical story set in s small rural medical clinic in India, about a surgeon’s ethical dilemmas in bringing back a dead family to life, exploring the fraught space between life and death, and our very human yearning for what has been lost. 

“Is it possible to have meaning and Is it possible to be of use to another human being in moments of radical uncertainty and ambiguity? I hope the answer is yes.”

Patricia Danaher, Masters in Mythological Studies, talks about ritual and mourning surrounding the unborn – babies who are lost to miscarriage, stillbirth, abortion, and unsuccessful IVF – and the ways we can heal from those deep, and oftentimes silent, losses. 

“The richness of ritual and ceremony…is incredibly healing and calming for us as humans. It’s the metaphor that touches the invisible part of ourselves - our psyche, our spirit, our soul.”

Dr. Puri, Medical Director of the Palliative Medicine and Support Care Service at USC’s Keck Hospital and Norris Cancer Center, and author of “That Good Night: Life and Medicine in the Eleventh Hour," talks about life, letting go, and the human spirit.

“Death and dying are not medical problems; they’re human predicaments. Medicine can’t solve mortality; it’s the humanity and spirituality that we bring to bear on our passages and our loved ones’ passages that is far mightier than medicine at the end.”

Rabbi Shergill, Punjabi singer, songwriter, and guitarist, hailed internationally as the “King of Sufi rock” and a pioneer of Delhi’s rock music scene, speaks about art that catalyzes social change and making music that travels from his heart into the world.

"Art should take everything that exists here right now and crush it and turn it into something which makes sense to us and it should point us to true north."

Best-selling author of twelve books, Sweta Vikram talks about how we can change our patterns of thinking, believing, and living to awaken our best lives.

"No one else is gong to end your suffering or start your suffering; it's only your own mindset."

Chiropractor and spiritual medium, Dr. Daniel Ryan, speaks about the realm beyond this mortal one and how attuning ourselves to it can elevate and transform our lives.

“There comes a point where you trust the unseen more than the seen. When you’re in that place, you’re free.”

Actor-writer-director-composer Shishir Kurup talks about being the audio book voice of Deepak Chopra and the Dalai Lama, reimagining Shakespeare, and writing libretto for the LA Opera. Join us as we talk about the epic journey of storytelling.

"I like telling the small story in a big context because we're all emanations of a greater force. The epic is how we stay tuned to that bigger force."