In this deeply thoughtful episode of Bridging Generations, host Howard Snooks (76) sits down with Yehuda Halevi (23), host of the Shells and Shadows podcast, for an honest, wide-ranging conversation that defies the typical "Boomer vs. Gen Z" narrative.

At the intersection of Howard’s decades of experience in clinical social work and Yehuda’s deep dive into Depth Psychology, Internal Family Systems (IFS), and Male Initiatory Work, they model what it looks like to meet across generations with curiosity instead of judgment. Together, they explore how wisdom, vulnerability, and respect can flow both ways to address the unique pressures of the modern world.

Inside the Episode

• The Roots of Generational Tension: Howard and Yehuda discuss why we resist change and how "dissing" other generations is often a projection of our own fears.
• The Loneliness Epidemic in Young Men: A look at the loss of tribal rituals, grounding traditions, and the "primal" part of masculinity that technology has yet to replace.
• Masculinity in Transition: Exploring the "Integrated Man"—moving beyond just "providing and protecting" to embrace heart, soul, and emotional expression.
• Shadow Work & Technology: Yehuda introduces the concept of giving the "Shadow" a seat at the table—learning to use technology and even psychedelics as conscious tools for growth rather than weapons of distraction.
• The Evolution of Love: From "bubbly" chemistry to "adversarial love," the duo examines how partnership acts as a friction that refines rather than destroys the individual.
• Wisdom Transmission: Howard shares his journey from the psychiatric wards of Sheridan, Wyoming, to finding the "person-in-situation," highlighting what modern culture has lost in its rush to digitize human connection.

Key Takeaways

"When a generation is extremely challenged, there is an equal and opposite strength and gift that comes with that naturally." — Yehuda Halevi

"Giving advice is hardly ever useful... 'What do you mean?' is a much better question. It allows someone to find the answers within themselves, and that is where the power lies." — Howard Snooks

Steven Brandwayn strips the performance away from meditation. It isn't about reaching a state of "zen." It is about recognizing when you’ve been pulled off center and building the "bounceback muscle" to return. We map the internal courtroom where Fear, Doubt, Shame, and Guilt—the Four Henchmen—run the show. This is a grounded guide for anyone sick of being hijacked by their own mental chatter and ready to reclaim ownership of their internal world.

Sparks of Wisdom:

The Bounceback Muscle: Meditation is the practical training of your capacity to return to center after a trigger. It’s gym work for the mind.

The Four Henchmen: Fear, Doubt, Shame, and Guilt. They aren't enemies to be killed; they are protectors that need to be sat down and questioned.

The Judge: The specific internal voice that humiliates and paralyzes. Name him and his style to strip him of his authority.

Narrow vs. Broad Awareness: Suffering happens when you get stuck in the narrow lens of your own problems. Wholeness requires the ability to zoom out into the awe of creation.

Metacognition as Freedom: You are not your identity or your frontal lobe's image of yourself. You are the observer.

The AIAI Framework: A four-step process for change: Awareness, Intention, Alignment, and Integration.

Memorable Moments:

“Meditation teaches you what center feels like so you can return to it.”

“You’re not your identity—you’re the one observing it.”

“The problem isn’t fear. The problem is avoiding fear.”

“What you refuse to face continues to run you.”

“Awareness is freedom. Presence is power.”

The Integration: Identify which of the Four Henchmen is riding in your front seat today. Don’t try to kick them out of the car. Sit with them, unpack what they are afraid of, and then move them to the back seat. You are the pilot; they are just passengers.

Inspired and want to learn more? Check out Steven's website to learn more and connect: https://iitree.co/

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—#ShellsAndShadows #Purpose #CareerAdvice #Philosophy #SelfTranscendence #MeaningOfLife #PersonalGrowth

In this deeply personal episode of Shells and Shadows, I sit down with my uncle, Brian Rosen. While we have always been family, we sit down for the first time to open up about a hidden scar that few talk about: we were both sent away from home as young men.What starts as a conversation about the shock of being placed in a boys' home evolves into a profound reflection on forgiveness. We discuss the moment we stopped blaming our parents and started seeing them as humans—young, struggling, and often ill-equipped to handle the situations they were in.Together, we explore the difficult truth that sometimes, the decision to send a child away isn't an act of abandonment, but a "selfless act" of desperate love.Key Topics & Takeaways:The Shared Experience: Comparing our stories of being uprooted at age 11 and age 16, and the grief that felt like a "death" of our old lives.Humanizing Our Parents: Realizing that our parents were only kids too, dealing with their own struggles, and doing the best they could with what they had.Breaking the Cycle of Blame: How we moved from feeling like "bad kids" to understanding that these circumstances were not our fault, but are now our responsibility to heal.The "Selfless Act": A new perspective on why parents make the heartbreaking choice to place their children in programs, and the immense love required to do so.Finding Meaning in Chaos: How living with diverse groups of boys (from gang members to court-ordered placements) expanded our worldview and empathy.Memorable Quotes:"I look back at my 11-year-old self and understand that it wasn't really his fault.""We are given what we need... even though sometimes it feels like quite a bit more than we can handle.""What does it take for a parent to make that decision? ... It takes a hell of a lot of love.""It was a selfless act... for them to have the strength really to recognize that that's what you needed."

In this intimate solo episode of Shells and Shadows, we strip away the modern obsession with "finding" our purpose and look instead at how we create it.Reflecting on a recent pilgrimage to the Viktor Frankl Museum in Vienna, I explore the profound difference between what we want from life and what life is asking of us. We discuss the concept of "Self-Transcendence," the evolving nature of our calling, and why the intersection of your natural talents and the world’s deep needs is the only place where true meaning resides.If you feel lost in your career path or pressured to fulfill expectations that don’t feel like yours, this episode offers a new way to listen to the breadcrumbs life is leaving for you.Key Topics & Takeaways:• The Vienna Realization: A personal story from the Viktor Frankl Museum and a moment of clarity regarding career paths and teaching.• The Great Intersection: Why purpose is found solely where your unique gifts collide with the world's reality—not in your head.• Self-Transcendence: Shifting the internal monologue from "What will make me happy?" to "Where can I help right now?"• The Evolution of Calling: Why the purpose you had at 15 isn't the one you need at 35, and how to embrace that shift.• Practical Motivation: Why finding this alignment removes the need to "hype yourself up" for work.Memorable Quotes:"Meaning isn't something you go and look for inside of yourself. Meaning is something you create by responding to life.""Purpose is the thing that meets reality and says, 'I can help here.'""Stop asking 'What do I want from life?' and start asking 'What is life asking from me right now?'"🎧 LISTEN TO THE FULL PODCASTNew episodes drop every week.Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2rcl5H8JgFAw...Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/shel...—CONNECT WITH YEHUDAPodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shelllsandshadow...Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yudahalevi?igsh=...Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@shellssandshadows?...

Young men are lonelier than any generation ever recorded—and most are hiding behind a single word: fine.In this conversation, Yehuda and Baruch HaLevi (author of The Guy in the Glass) sit down to examine the deeper roots of the male loneliness epidemic—not just through statistics, but through lived experience. Phones replacing presence. P*rn replacing intimacy. Education systems that don’t fit boys. The collapse of mentorship, apprenticeship, and real brotherhood.At the center of it all is a question most men avoid:What happens when you finally stop saying “I’m fine” and face the guy in the glass?In this episode we explore...Why “fine” is emotional avoidance—and why it’s so dangerousWhat modern men have lost: mentorship, initiation, and brotherhoodWhat is in your control when the world feels stacked against youIf this stirred something uncomfortable, don’t numb it.Share this episode with one man you trust—and start facing the guy in the glass.Learn more at: www.menspeergroups.com

In this solo episode of Shells & Shadows, Yehuda reflects on Hanukkah beyond the surface — beyond the songs, the food, and even the childhood version of the miracle of the oil.This is an episode about light itself.Drawing from Jewish mysticism, Chassidut, and Kabbalistic teachings, Yehuda explores the ancient metaphor of the flame and the wick:The flame as the soul — always reaching upward, longing to return to its sourceThe wick as the body — imperfect, resistant, grounded, and necessaryIn Kabbalah, the soul longs to ascend. But God does not want disembodied holiness. God wants light in the world. And so the soul is given a wick — friction, resistance, struggle — not to extinguish the flame, but to hold it.Through this lens, Hanukkah is no longer a story about light replacing darkness.It is a story about light being born from darkness.The Greeks were not trying to destroy the Jewish people — they were trying to remove the wick. To preserve form without soul. Culture without holiness. Spirituality without embodiment. And the true miracle of Hanukkah is not only that the oil burned for eight days, but that a small light refused to go out in a world that tried to suffocate it.This episode is for anyone who:Feels worn down, frayed, or spiritually dimThinks they are too flawed to carry lightIs tired of chasing transcendence while avoiding embodimentNeeds permission to show up imperfectly and still matterHanukkah teaches that holiness is not escape.It is presence.It is willingness.It is staying with the burn.You don’t need a lot of light to break darkness.You need one flame that refuses to go out.

In this episode, Ben Duffy and I dive straight into the inner architecture of fear, ego, story, and the strange ways reality becomes “real” only when we grip against it. This is a conversation about the mechanics beneath our lives — the places where psychology, spirituality, and personal myth overlap — and how darkness, when met directly, becomes fuel for growth and creation.

Ben breaks down emptiness in plain language: how your fear, your ego, and even your “self” are built out of stories — and why that’s not nihilistic, it’s liberating.
We talk about nonduality, resistance, and why reality only feels “real” when we’re clenching against it.

From there we dive into ideas like “ein od milvado” (there is nothing but God) and the shattering of the vessels as inner metaphors, mapping them onto emptiness, shadow work, and existential liberation.

We talk ocean metaphors, the “suffering artist,” summoning your own tigers, and why your darkness is often the raw material for your best art, love, and service.

• 🌑 How fear builds the sense of a “solid” self

• 🌊 The ocean-and-wave metaphor for identity

• 🐅 Summoning your own tigers (and why your soul does it)

• 🌀 The collapse of old stories and what’s beneath them

• 🎨 Darkness as creative fuel — poetry, art, expression

• 🔥 Why surrender makes your reality more flexible

• ✨ How language, story, and metaphor shape our inner world

Ben: “Reality isn’t real — not because nothing matters, but because everything is more fluid than you think.”

You: “My darkness isn’t a curse. It’s the raw material for the art I’m here to make.”

If this conversation sparked something in you, share the episode with someone who’s rewriting their own story.
And if you want more conversations like this, follow the show, leave a review, and connect with me on Instagram @yudahalevi — it helps these ideas reach more people who need them.

Connect with Ben: @duffdaddy100

Tune into the Spiritual Fxckboy podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@SpiritualFxckboy

#rewriteyourstory #spiritualpodcast #shadowwork #innertransformation #nonduality #emptiness #spiritualgrowth #consciousnessjourney #shellsandshadows #beneduffy #mentalclarity #innerwork

This episode digs into what it means to return to nature—not as a getaway, but as a way of remembering who we are beneath the layers of routine, separation, and modern structure.A barefoot walk in the woods, a brief plunge into cold water, or simply coexisting in silence with the plants in my home became unlikely catalysts for remembering a truth often obscured by the systems we live within: that we are not outside of nature, but expressions of it.What if the mountains we look at each day are not just scenery, but extensions of the same material we are made of? What if plants, stillness, and raw elements are not accessories to our healing, but teachers? This conversation invites us to reconsider division, identity, and the quiet intelligence embedded in the natural world🎙️ In this episode we explore• Nature as a co-therapist in our healing and remembering• The self-imposed barrier between us and the natural world• Integration vs retreat — bringing nature into daily life• Plants as living reminders: guardians, sages, and givers• Expanding identity beyond body and schedule• Acting on moments of reconnection before they fade📩 If this resonates and you’re in Boulder/Denver, reach out — I’d love to have more of these conversations on Shells & Shadows.#NatureBasedHealing#Ecopsychology#InnerReturn#ConsciousLiving#BeyondTheSelf#RootedInPresence#HealingInNature#PhilosophyAndHealing#ModernMystic#ShellsAndShadows

In this season opener of Shells & Shadows, I sit down in Boulder, Colorado with performance coach and facilitator John O’Connor to explore what it truly means to build a life around calling — not certainty.At 23, I often struggle with how to turn what lights my heart into something the world recognizes as valuable. John (now in his 50's) reminds us that our path is not a straight line — it’s a quiet unfolding, a series of experiments led by curiosity, not clarity.This episode is not instruction. It’s invitation.To move one step.To listen.To see every obstacle as an activator.To remember that even a whisper can become the way.🔥 What We Explore📌 Why not knowing is not a weakness — it’s the doorway📌 How to separate identity from behavior📌 Moving from “what should I do?” → “what is whispering beneath?”📌 Why “hell yes or no” doesn’t always serve growth📌 Using nature, listening, and courage as compass points📌 Seeing obstacles as activators, not blocks📌 Why the future belongs to those who can feel, not just perform📌 “If I set an intention, I create it” — the power of identity through actionIf this conversation shifted something in you — even by one degree — share it with someone who’s standing at the crossroads.Leave a review, follow the show, or message me with your reflection.Your stories are what breathe life into this space.Shells crack. Shadows reveal. The path unfolds.

In this powerful episode, AJ takes us on a profound journey of self-discovery, from his troubled teen years to his spiritual awakening in Judaism. Growing up in a dysfunctional family, AJ was sent to a troubled teen program that sparked his first real introspection. Despite the personal growth, the dysfunction in his family remained, leading him to explore new paths for self-improvement.

In college, AJ dove deep into a journey of purification, removing harmful substances from his life one by one, including alcohol, cigarettes, and synthetic drugs. His shift toward healthier living eventually led him to adopt a more natural, holistic lifestyle. But it was his encounter with veganism that truly set the course for his spiritual journey.

After living in Ecuador with a dream of self-sustainability, AJ's path took another significant turn when a fraternity brother’s untimely death led him to explore Shabbat and reconnect with his Jewish roots. This profound loss opened a doorway to a deeper connection with his heritage, leading him on a spiritual journey to Israel, where he found not only his family but his place within the Jewish community.

Join us as AJ shares his life-altering experiences, from a fraternity bro to a man fully aligned with his spiritual journey, seeking a deeper connection with the world around him. He talks about the mystical beauty of Jewish tradition, how he found his home in the teachings of Judaism, and the impactful moment when his spiritual journey aligned with his roots. A story of growth, transformation, and finding purpose against all odds.

Key Topics:

• AJ's early struggles in a troubled teen program and the realization of family dysfunction

• The shift to a healthier lifestyle, purging alcohol, cigarettes, and synthetic drugs

• Veganism and aligning personal ethics with spirituality

• Moving to Ecuador with a dream of self-sustainability and reconnection with family

• The pivotal moment of spiritual awakening through Shabbat and a fraternity brother’s passing

• AJ's journey to Israel and the mystical pull of Jewish tradition

• Finding personal peace and purpose in aligning with one’s roots