In this episode of the Rise 2 Realize Podcast, we explore where your emotional suffering really comes from. Most people try to fix their lives on the outside, without seeing the inner conflict that quietly drives their mental and emotional pain.

I explain how two main inner personas shape your experience:

1. the Vulnerable Self, which carries your old wounds, insecurities and unprocessed feelings; and
2. the Conditioned Self, which tries to hide all of that behind masks of strength, capability and perfection.

These two parts pull you in opposite directions and create a constant tug‑of‑war inside you—one of the deepest sources of stress, anxiety and feeling stuck.

As you begin to recognize these personas in your daily reactions, you can slowly step out of their battle and move toward a more authentic, free and peaceful way of being.

In this episode of the Rise 2 Realize Podcast, I introduce the "Not‑Real Self" – the version of you built from fear, expectations and old survival strategies. Even if your life looks fine from the outside, this hidden self may be the reason it still doesn't feel truly fulfilling.

I explain how the Not‑Real Self is formed through family expectations, cultural roles and emotional wounds, how it shows up in your daily choices, and why living only from this adapted self creates a quiet sense of emptiness. You'll also receive a simple, practical exercise to help you start recognizing your Not‑Real Self in real situations, and begin your personal transformation back to your Real Self.

Arda Ozdemir, Spiritual Mentor and Author "The Meaning of Life"

In this episode, Arda's introducing his revolutionary emotional mastery technique, 3 x 3 Breath. 

Before you practice this technique, please first identify your trigger event, your emotional reactions and the physical sensations related to them. 

You can fill out Arda's Daily Review form at https://www.rise2realize.com/daily-review and follow the guidelines. 

After identifying all the components in the form, come back and let Arda help you discharge your emotional charge and bring the intensity of your emotions to more managable levels. 

If you'd like to learn more on how to effectively regulate your emotions, please get a copy of Arda's latest book, Emotional Mastery for Relationships: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0989810437

The other day I was wondering about the phenomenon of bullying and started contemplating about what bullies really want.

And this quote streamed into my consciousness.

"He bullied his friends

to get their attention,

because receiving hate filled

the emptiness of love he felt."

Certainly, I had my share of being bullied in my life, more than I'd like to - but I never thought about what bullies really wanted from me when they were putting me down and mocking me.

Did they want my attention? Did they feel threatened by me? Did they want to engage or have an interaction?

After all, maybe they, like all of us, want to feel loved, they want to feel that they matter.

Join me to explore these concepts for deeper insights and understanding.

How do you prepare yourself emotionally for a social gathering that you're anxious about?

How can you stay centered and grounded against all potential family drama, especially these times over the holidays?

What can you do to break free from the negative experiences that you had faced in previous years?

Please join me in this episode as we explore together some practical answers to these questions.

Arda

Welcome to Rise 2 Realize Podcast where we rise together in consciousness one question at a time – but for what – to realize a better, healthier and happier life!

I’m Arda Ozdemir, and here’s today’s question:

What can I do when I’m in a conversation with someone who’s trying to bully me? They’re simply trying to intimidate me by putting me down. I usually ignore them and leave the situation. Is that a good approach?

I’ve been talking to thousands of people in the last fifteen years, and one common theme among all these people was that everyone felt stuck.

Even though they knew the feeling, but they didn’t know where they were stuck.

So today I thought it’d be a great idea to explore together how we can identify where exactly that feeling of stuckness comes from.

To illustrate this phenomenon, I have a very intriguing tale that I’d like to share with you. It may give us some ideas. Maybe we can draw even some parallels to our own life experiences. And if we’re lucky we can even learn some valuable lessons.

Hope you'll join the conversation and receive some valuable insights. 

Thank you for listening.

Arda

In this Episode 63 "Levels of Consciousness, Stairway to Happiness", I'd love to introduce you to the levels of consciousness and how you can use this knowledge to live a happier life?

First of all, did you know that your consciousness level is 100% correlated to how happy you are and how smoothly your life flows?

If you'd like to get to those high-flowing, you better start climbing up the stairs of consciousness.

Well, if you decide to do so, you have to rise through 3 very distinct levels of consciousness.

I'm sure you know the first one. Most of us are pretty much stuck there, and suffering on a daily basis. Yup, the first level is the Sub-Consciousness. Where you don't know what you're doing, and why you're doing it?

Listen on to learn the other 2 levels of consciousness, and find out what level you live most of your life on.

In this episode, I'm sharing a guided meditation to help you Ease Pain using Breathwork called, 3 by 3.

Over the last 15 years, I watched hundreds of my clients reduce the intensity of their pain and stay calm and relaxed by using this breath technique.

Some of them even felt a sense of power and control over their body.

I hope you can achieve similar results.

The death of Arda's father was not a surprise, as he had been very ill over the past 3 years, experiencing a slow decline. Nevertheless, the loss of a father or a mother, whatever the relationship, evokes feelings, emotions, and reminiscing about what was and what could have been.

Join Arda on his trip to Turkiye and listen in on his thoughts on life, death, yearning, loss, and accepting the inevitable fate awaiting us all. Reflecting on these most recent experiences, Arda has returned with a renewed commitment to live life even more consciously, to its fullest potential, where harmony, bliss, and balance reign.

The parting gift of those who leave this earthly realm is to find their calling, embrace their loved ones and enjoy the moments of the present.