Living from the Soul with Sam Torode

Today I’m happy to be speaking with Pooja Mottl. She’s had a unique career path—going from finance & banking, to cooking & nutrition, to mental & spiritual wellbeing.

Pooja graduated from the University of Michigan and began a career in finance in the late 1990s, working for investment banks including Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch. She left to earn a master's degree in International Relations at the London School of Economics, and then—in a twist—enrolled in the Natural Gourmet Institute’s Chef’s Training Program.

In 2014 she published her first book, The 3-Day Reset: Restore Your Cravings For Healthy Foods in Three Easy, Empowering Days, which was endorsed by Whole Foods founder John Mackey, among many others.

Next, Pooja pursued advanced training in yoga, meditation, and psychology. She now writes and speaks about mental and spiritual health. She created the Calm & Free Podcast, has a blog on LinkedIn, is an affiliate of Stanford University’s psychology department, and is currently preparing a new book and podcast series about what makes for a truly successful life.

In this conversation. Pooja shares her insights on the difference between religion and spirituality; the mind-body connection; finding balance between striving and satisfaction; passing on a spiritual legacy to children; and more.

Visit Pooja’s website & sign up for her newsletter: www.poojamottl.com

This ad-free podcast is supported by Sam’s Torode’s books, including “Living from the Soul: The 7 Spiritual Principles of Ralph Waldo Emerson,” available at www.samtorode.com.

Today I’m excited to be speaking with P.M.H. Atwater, one of the world’s leading experts on Near-Death Experiences (NDEs). After having three near-death experiences of her own in 1977, when there was very little public knowledge about them, P.M.H. began researching other peoples’ NDEs using investigative techniques she learned from her adoptive father, a police officer.

She has now analyzed over 4,000 NDEs and written eighteen books about them. She’s been featured in Newsweek magazine and interviewed by television hosts including Regis and Kathie Lee, Larry King, and Sally Jessy Raphael.

In this conversation, P.M.H. tells the story of her NDEs and shares what she’s learned from over forty years of research, including the four types of NDEs, their common after-effects, the impact of NDEs in childhood, how having an NDE changes one’s views on religion and spirituality, what we can learn from “hellish” NDEs, and what NDEs reveal about the purpose of life.

Visit P.M.H. Atwater's website.

This ad-free podcast is supported by Sam’s Torode’s books, including “Living from the Soul: The 7 Spiritual Principles of Ralph Waldo Emerson,” available at www.samtorode.com.

“All we are is peace, love, and wisdom, and the power to create the illusion that we’re not.” —Jack Pransky

This summer I stumbled across a book about the Three Principles (Mind, Consciousness, and Thought) as elucidated by Sydney Banks beginning in the 1970s. Intrigued, I read more books on the subject and decided to interview Dr. Jack Pransky, a leading teacher of the Three Principles.

Jack has worked in the mental health field since 1968, learned about the Three Principles in the early ’90s, and is now director of the Center for Inside-Out Understanding. He’s the author of many books, including Somebody Should Have Told Us, Parenting from the Heart, and Seduced by Consciousness. His book Modello won the Martin Luther King Storyteller’s Award for exemplifying Dr. King’s vision of “the beloved community.”

Visit Dr. Pransky’s website.

This ad-free podcast is supported by Sam’s Torode’s books, including “Living from the Soul: The 7 Spiritual Principles of Ralph Waldo Emerson,” available at www.samtorode.com.

This is a video created in celebration of Ralph Waldo Emerson's birthday, May 25th, for the online magazine IMAGINE. 

My aim is to show why Emerson's philosophy is as relevant as ever, and inspire people to take a deeper look into his works. I emphasize Emerson's social and political views because they address issues of race and gender that still reverberate today. 

Interspersed with my words are Emerson quotes paraphrased in contemporary language from my books "Everyday Emerson," "Living from the Soul," and "Secrets of the Mind" (available at samtorode.com). 

If your podcast app is audio-only, the video can be watched on IMAGINE or YouTube.

Today I’m speaking with Emilia Ann, artist and champion of creativity. She uses many different media—including poetry, painting, photography, music, and dance—with the aim of being an open channel to whatever the universe wants to express through her.

I started following Emilia on Facebook in 2018, and soon after that she embarked on “100 Days of Creativity,” a personal challenge to work on something creative for one hundred straight days. She didn’t stop there, and now she’s exceeded a thousand days of creative expression.

I wanted to talk with Emilia because I struggle with procrastination and perfectionism when it comes to my own creative projects. If you can identify with that, I’m sure you’ll enjoy our conversation, because she shares some very helpful advice.

At the end of the episode, Emilia recites her beautiful poem, “Unexpressed.”

Go to Emilia’s website and sign up her newsletter and check out her offerings, which include classes and meditations.

Website: www.divineandhuman.com

Follow her on Instagram: @divineandhuman

This ad-free podcast is supported by Sam’s Torode’s books, including “Living from the Soul: The 7 Spiritual Principles of Ralph Waldo Emerson,” available at www.samtorode.com.

Today I’m speaking with two people who’ve recently published memoirs about their lives in and out of fundamentalist/evangelical Christianity.

Alice Greczyn, author of “Wayward: A Memoir of Spiritual Warfare and Sexual Purity,” is a former devout evangelical who went from homeschool to Hollywood. She’s an actress and model with extensive credits in television, film, and print media. As a thinker and writer, she’s the founder of “Dare to Doubt,” a website offering resources for those seeking to escape or recover from harmful belief systems.

Dave Warnock, author of “Childish Things,” joined the Jesus movement in the ’70s, became a pastor for many years, and then left the church altogether. Diagnosed with ALS in 2019, he’s a frequent public speaker and podcast guest on the theme of “Dying Out Loud.” He’s also the co-host of his own popular live call-in show on YouTube, “That GD Show.”

I read their books last week, then found out Alice happened to be visiting Dave at his rented beach-house this week, so I jumped on the opportunity to interview them both together.

“Childish Things”: www.amazon.com/dp/B09RMBWZX1

Dave’s website: daveoutloud.org

Alice’s website: alicegreczyn.com

This ad-free podcast is supported by Sam’s Torode’s books, including “Living from the Soul: The 7 Spiritual Principles of Ralph Waldo Emerson,” available at samtorode.com.

This week I’m thrilled to be speaking with one of my favorite thinkers, Tim Freke. Based in England, Tim is a philosopher, prolific author, speaker, podcaster, and workshop facilitator.

Tim’s many books include the New York Times bestseller The Jesus Mysteries, and, most recently, Soul Story: Evolution and the Purpose of Life.

This conversation—mainly about harmonizing science & spirituality—gets better and better as it goes along, so be sure to stick around for Tim's inspiring messages towards the end! 

Visit Tim’s website: timfreke.com

This ad-free podcast is supported by Sam’s Torode’s books, including Living from the Soul: The 7 Spiritual Principles of Ralph Waldo Emerson, available at samtorode.com.

This week I’m speaking with singer/songwriter Nathan Landis Funk, who has just released his debut album, Here’s to the Sojourners.

Nathan talks about his years as a Pentecostal faith-healer-in-training, how experience and doubt left him disillusioned, and how music and theater helped him find a new version of faith and community.

A couple stand-out quotes from this conversation: “Music is a vehicle that allows us to reach a higher plane.” And, “Art can help us glue the pieces of our life together.”

Stream Nathan’s album: distrokid.com/hyperfollow/nathanlandisfunk/heres-to-the-sojourners

Visit his website: nathanlandisfunk.com

Follow him on Facebook: facebook.com/nathanlandisfunk

And Instagram: instagram.com/nathanlandisfunk

This ad-free podcast is supported by Sam’s Torode’s books, including “Living from the Soul: The 7 Spiritual Principles of Ralph Waldo Emerson,” available at samtorode.com.

Need some help managing anxiety, overwhelm, and depression about politics?

I do!

So I called up MJ, a California-based life coach who specializes in coaching LGBTQ+ persons and also political activists.

In addition to talking politics, MJ shares the faith journey of a nonbinary & queer Christian. She talks about joining and leaving the evangelical church, living as an Episcopal monk for 3 years, what she learned from being a jail chaplain, and—just recently—becoming an ordained priest.

Here are a few of MJ’s comments in our conversation that stood out to me:

“The reason—or one of the reasons—my soul is incarnated in this human form is to learn to love and be loved.”

“Even the worst case scenario—death—is not a bad thing. It’s just a transition to another state of existence.”

“You are making a difference if you’re making a difference in one person’s life, because that has a ripple effect.”

“If my goal is to make the world a better place, that has to involve everyone—including the people I disagree with and that I feel are really doing harm.”

MJ’s Website

Instagram

Facebook

This ad-free podcast is supported by Sam’s Torode’s books, including “Living from the Soul: The 7 Spiritual Principles of Ralph Waldo Emerson,” available at samtorode.com.

In this reverse episode, I’m interviewed by Omural Ates. We talk about my book Living from the Soul: The 7 Spiritual Principles of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Stoic philosophy, creating a life vision statement, and more.

Omural is a school teacher, fitness instructor, and personal development coach in Texas. He's the creator of Recoding Behavior, www.recodingbehavior.com.

The book Living from the Soul is available at www.samtorode.com.

THE 7 PRINCIPLES:   

1. Trust Yourself  

2. As You Sow, You Will Reap  

3. Nothing Outside You Can Harm You

4. The Universe Is Inside You

5. Identify with the Infinite

6. Live in the Present  

7. Seek God Within