How do you feel about your body? How much do you connect with your body and its unique appearance, abilities, and limitations? How do you connect your body and your spirituality? And how has your spirituality impacted your relationship with your body? When we speak about spirituality we often sound like our bodies are not really part of us, like they're just a temporary dwelling until our 'real selves' leave them behind to go to some otherworldly, disembodied bliss. And even our cultural obsession with physical beauty has done nothing but shame most of us for not reaching its standards. Most of us feel alienated from our bodies at least to some extent. And that can never lead us to love ourselves well or to live our best lives.

That's why, in this episode of the EvoFaith Podcast, we’re exploring how loving ourselves includes loving our bodies. We’ll talk about why most of us struggle with the body we have and long for a body that’s different. And we’ll see how a healthy relationship with our bodies fits into a healthy spirituality.

You can find the transcript of this episode on the EvoFaith blog.

And you can access this podcast in video format on our YouTube channel.

And you can find more content and resources to help you to show up fully, authentically, and courageously on the EvoFaith website.

Music: https://purple-planet.com

If we want to live fully and show up fully, courageously, and authentically in our lives and relationships, we need to be willing to get to know ourselves with all the good and bad, the light and darkness within us. We cannot love ourselves if we don't know ourselves, and we cannot love others if we don't love ourselves. Unfortunately, too many of us are strangers to ourselves, and our loves and relationships suffer as a result.

In this episode, we’re exploring something that is surprisingly often overlooked in spiritual and religious teachings—learning to know and love the stranger within us.

You can find the transcript of this episode on the EvoFaith blog.

And you can access this podcast in video format on our YouTube channel.

And you can find more content and resources to help you to show up fully, authentically, and courageously on the EvoFaith website.

Music: https://purple-planet.com

Oliver Cromwell Portrait from Ann Longmore-Etheridge’s Flickr Page

A central question we ask ourselves as human beings is this: What is a good life? We all want to live a life that feels meaningful and fulfilling. We all want to feel fully alive and to show up fully, authentically, and courageously in our lives and relationships. But how do we do that?

Every single day we are flooded with messages telling us how we can experience the good life. On our television sets and phones, on the internet and in our emails, on billboards and notice boards in every public space, we are given images of places, people, and things that represent the best possible human life. And we are told that we, too, can enjoy such a life if we just buy this product or follow this guru or sign up for this course or vote for this political party.

But is that really what the good life is about? Is that how you picture the good life? What do those three words mean to you: the good life?

In this episode, I want to talk about the ingredients we need if we are to create a good life for ourselves.

You can find the transcript of this episode on the EvoFaith blog.

And you can access this podcast in video format on our YouTube channel.

And you can find more content and resources to help you to show up fully, authentically, and courageously on the EvoFaith website.

Music: https://purple-planet.com

When we talk about the good life, we automatically end up in the realm of spirituality. And that’s because spirituality connects us with the basic tools and practices that have been tried and tested through the ages and that have been found by all sorts of people from different cultures and walks of life to be effective in helping us to find a good life. Essentially, spirituality can wake us up and lead us to our best life.

In this episode I want to talk about what I believe we all want, and what is at the heart of every spiritual quest: the good life. ‘The Good Life’ is the holy grail of human life and spirituality, but we don’t always know what a good life really is. We too easily get caught up chasing ‘bright shiny objects’ that we think will make our lives good, but that usually leave us disappointed or even broken. That’s why one of the most important questions we can ask ourselves is this: what is a truly good life for me? And in this episode, I want to explore what the answer to that question might be.

You can find the transcript of this episode on the EvoFaith blog.

And you can access this podcast in video format on our YouTube channel.

And you can find more content and resources to help you to show up fully, authentically, and courageously on the EvoFaith website.

Music: https://purple-planet.com

It is pretty common for us to think of some people as 'spiritual' and others as not. But we all seek to understand the big questions of our lives and world in some way - which means that we are all spiritual. We're just not all spiritual on purpose. We don't all practice an intentional spirituality and we don't all include spirituality as a significant feature of our lives. But when we realise that we need something to wake us up so that we can show up fully, authentically, and courageously in our lives and relationships, we inevitably and unavoidably find ourselves dealing with spirituality.

In this episode, I want to talk about why everyone is spiritual and why that matters. I also want to explore what you can do to be more mindful and intentional about your own inherently spiritual nature.

You can find the transcript of this episode on the EvoFaith blog.

And you can access this podcast in video format on our YouTube channel.

And you can find more content and resources to help you to show up fully, authentically, and courageously on the EvoFaith website.

Music: https://purple-planet.com

In this episode I want to talk about ‘spirituality’: What is it? How does it relate to religion? Is it still relevant or valuable? And why would you need spirituality or spiritual practice anyway?

And I’m hoping that the conversation today will inspire you to ask some questions about your own thoughts and experiences around spirituality. And that maybe those thoughts may help you be a little more intentional in your life. 

So what do I mean when I talk about spirituality? In this episode, I want to share a few thoughts as a kind of overview of how I define and experience spirituality. In the next few weeks, I’ll expand those ideas to give a more detailed big-picture view of spirituality. And then for the next few months,  I’ll be exploring the different elements in my view of spirituality in greater depth.

So firstly, for me spirituality is about—to use Sam Harris’ book title—waking up. I prefer to speak of showing up—fully, authentically, and courageously in our lives and relationships. And by this I mean, being fully and authentically present, and engaged with our own lives and the people in our lives. Spirituality is about being mindful, being aware, of what makes life more meaningful, rich, fulfilling, and deep. It’s also about transcending our obsession with ourselves, our perspectives, our needs, our preferences, and our lives. It’s about living fully and vibrantly. Or, to use a phrase that Jesus used in the Gospel of John, spirituality is about growing into an increasingly abundant life.

You can find the transcript of this episode on the EvoFaith blog.

And you can access this podcast in video format on our YouTube channel.

And you can find more content and resources to help you to show up fully, authentically, and courageously on the EvoFaith website.

Music: https://purple-planet.com

Do you find it hard to believe everything your church says you should believe and nothing that you shouldn't? Do you struggle with the lines of right and wrong, in and out, that are drawn in most religious communities? Do find yourself embracing ideas, questions, and beliefs that don't fit into the tight doctrinal boxes of your religion? Have you ever thought to yourself, "If they knew what I really think, they would label me a heretic"? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then maybe it's time to embrace your heretical self, and recognise that a heretic is really just someone who chooses for themselves.

Not everyone who follows their religion's doctrines has a good faith. And not everyone who chooses for themselves what to believe has a bad faith. Authentic, life-giving spirituality is not defined so much by what we believe as by how we believe.

In this week's podcast, we explore why everyone in the world is a heretic, how to get comfortable with your own heretical ways, and how to live as a heretic while ensuring that your spirituality is good and not bad.

You can find the transcript of this episode on the EvoFaith blog.

And you can access this podcast in video format on our YouTube channel.

And you can find more content and resources to help you to show up fully, authentically, and courageously on the EvoFaith website.

Music: https://purple-planet.com

It's strange that for so many people, faith and religion have become about answers, certainties, and attempts to make this unpredictable world predictable. That was not the faith that Jesus lived or taught. On the contrary, Jesus loved questions and mystery and constantly invited people into a life beyond answers and certainties.

In our world of conspiracy theories, fake news, and religious attempts to shape society according to their own self-serving values and practices, a scientific embrace of questioning and following the evidence is not just wise. It is a spiritual practice that leads us into fuller and more authentic life.

So what questions have been out of bounds for you? What questions have you been keen to ask but haven’t? When have you withheld a question for fear of judgement? And when, in your life, has a question opened up a whole new world for you? When has a new question led you to a richer, deeper, and more meaningful life?

This week's episode invites you to welcome questions - especially the ones you weren't supposed to ask - and allow them to lead you into a life and spirituality that is filled with wonder, awe, and new possibilities.

You can find the transcript of this episode on the EvoFaith blog.

And you can access this podcast in video format on our YouTube channel.

And you can find more content and resources to help you to show up fully, authentically, and courageously on the EvoFaith website.

Music: https://purple-planet.com

It's a tragic thing that religion, culture, and our families can all rob us of ourselves and our freedom to live fully, authentically, and courageously. We are told how to think, feel, and behave to such an extent that our thoughts, our feelings, and our actions are no longer our own.

But if we are to find our best, most vibrant, and most meaningful lives, we will need to do the work of finding ourselves again. We will need to reclaim our freedom and own our thoughts, feelings, and actions again. 

An authentic spirituality is one that empowers us to think for ourselves, feel and express our emotions honestly and healthily, and act in alignment with our personal values and priorities while contributing to the greater good. And only such an authentic spirituality can truly empower us to show up fully, authentically, and courageously in our lives and relationships.

If you want to reclaim your freedom and embrace your most authentic life, then this podcast will guide you on the journey.

You can find the transcript of this episode on the EvoFaith blog.

And you can access this podcast in video format on our YouTube channel. 

And you can find more content and resources to help you to show up  fully, authentically, and courageously on the EvoFaith website.

Music: https://purple-planet.com

What are the voices around you that influence you for better or worse? Whose voices have the strongest influence on your thoughts, feelings, values, and actions? Which voices were forbidden to you - by your family, your church, your culture?

How do you discern which voices are worth listening to and which should be silenced? And how do we make engaging with voices outside of us a life-giving and empowering spiritual practice? 

That's what this week's episode of the EvoFaith podcast is all about!