Pod craft #4 with Manoj Pavitran.

Manoj is one of those people who don’t fit the box, he joined Auroville ~30 years ago to pursue his calling to explore Sri Aurobindo’s integral yoga. Over the years, Manoj has worn several hats inside and outside the community of Auroville including that of a filmmaker, designer, architect, technologist, coach, educator & institution builder. His knowledge of human psychology, transformative practices, and a subjective view of the evolutionary journey of mankind is deep and fascinating.

In our conversation, we explore human psychological mapping, existential AI questions, limitations of the cognitive mind, purpose, transformation, perspectives on education, data-driven governance, and more.

Manoj's Links:

Films: https://www.youtube.com/@sopanamEFF

Medium blog: https://medium.com/@manojpavitran

Book: https://www.amazon.in/Pilgrims-Infinite-insights-Manoj-Pavithran/dp/9390463181

Self-discovery program: https://www.swadharma.auroville.org

Purnam Institute (courses): https://purnam.auroville.org

Auroville's dream: https://auroville.org/page/a-dream

Outline:

00:00 Intro

Pod craft #3 with Dr Shalini Sharma

In this conversation we tried to steer clear from conventional advice, we explore the mental models of a therapist, degeneration of emotions, extrapolate observations from therapy to societal issues, deconstruct conversation, and browse the therapy landscape in India.

Dr Sharma is a counselling psychologist and therapist with over 2 decades of experience specializing in emotional intelligence and behaviour therapy, she founded 'Pause Walk Run' where she and her team take counselling and therapy sessions for individuals and organizations. She is the author of 2 series of children's books, conducts workshops across the country, and is currently a visiting counsellor at Plaksha University.

There is a video meditation narrated by Sir David Attenborough playing in the background, link below.

Links:

Shalini’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dr.shalinijsharma/

Link for the Yale emotions app - https://howwefeel.org/, https://medicine.yale.edu/news-article/the-how-we-feel-app-helping-emotions-work-for-us-not-against-us/

David Attenborough’s mountain mediation - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIJ5KovxnV4

Sid’s LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/siddharth-j/

Episode link (youtube) - https://youtu.be/WZAaNv1dXFY

Outline:

00:00 Intro

01:00 Mental models employed as a therapist

06:50 Experience of anxiety in the body

11:40 Processing of emotional states - P.A.U.S.E

16:50 Why is it difficult to describe emotions

21:30 Extrapolate observations from therapy to societal issues

27:56 What are therapist red flags?

29:25 Types of therapy & regulations in the field

35:15 Navigating impostor moments

38:25 Disarming in a conversation

41:58 Impact of therapy on therapist’s wellbeing

45:50 Learnings about human nature from working with people in therapy for 20+ years

49:30 Mental health as a career and career prospects

54:38 How to keep a therapist away? ‘Apple a day’ equivalent

59:35 Landscape shift in emotional education, technological advancements

01:06:40 Shalini’s journey to becoming a therapist, challenges

01:09:16 Learnings from working with kids

01:10:40 What’s rewarding about being a therapist

01:12:35 What’s a day in the life

01:14:40 Advice for young people - start making friends with your feelings

01:18:20 What is the purpose of your life

Ribhu is an AI researcher, friend, UCSD grad in cog science and machine learning, co-founder and research lead at an education startup Kaksha.ai, he wants to go live on all continents to experience diverse cultures. He is humble, knowledgeable on a variety of topics, a deep thinker, and a great conversationalist.

1st episode of pod craft with Dr Monika Sharma.