As most of you know, inner work is the core foundation of the spiritual path. Without it, we’re fumbling around in the dark trying to find our way. There’s no purging, healing, transformation, or awakening without cultivating and understanding your inner life. Tune in this week as we briefly talk about the lost art of inner knowing.

Nothing is more important to mental wellness than a physical sense of ‘where’ someone is in their life and circumstances. There is a specific degree of coordination required with one’s above observer, spirited motivation, and adapting function before the heart can provide the balance it brings. Our full ability to navigate this existence requires the orientation of trueness NOT information. Integrity’s message is: ‘What you see is what you get.’ Listen in as this podcast touches on the realm of what it means to be level, balanced, and true

“The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.” -Jung-

Did you know that more than half of all bottled water comes from the tap. Meanwhile, a million bottles are bought around the world every minute. That’s roughly 20,000 bottles every second. These mind-blowing figures are driven by concerns over contaminated water. Most of us can’t tell the difference. Many of us feel the present is contaminated in the same way. Tune in as we discuss how this is sold to us like bottled water. Meanwhile, these fundamental truths exist: you’re a spiritual being forced to live a psychological reality; the problem is self-correcting by design; and presence - the only thing that exists - is free. We consider it ‘a present’ because the mind takes us to the past or looks ahead only to tease us with the NOW.

Humanistic and existential philosophy assumes that people want to live better lives. In the humanistic view, the assumption is that we strive to be our best selves. In the existential view, the assumption is that we strive to live meaningful lives. While these two concepts are similar and may lead to identical results, capturing an image in our heads to understand them is often difficult. Tune in this week as we briefly discuss the proverbial ‘fishbowl’ we find ourselves in.

Did you know that depression has a history that’s as old as civilization itself. In fact, we can find descriptions of depression in the hieroglyphics, paintings, and statues of ancient Egypt. The idea of a depression well is actually that old. Though we begin this podcast talking about depression a new idea comes through - disturbing presence. As much as I talk about ego interference, it’s important for people to realize that presence is jeopardized by external disturbance daily. Words that seemingly do not belong in the same sentence...disturbing presence...is society’s modern day paradox.

Ernie Vecchio is a mentor, spiritual teacher and trauma psychologist. During his 30+ years career he has treated over 10,000+ patients who suffered severe trauma that ranged from amputation, head injury, sexual assault, and paralysis. Ernie is a Licensed Clinical & Rehabilitation Psychologist who has written four books including his latest release, Feelings & Reason: Activating Your Heart as Compass Despite the Ego’s Interference, an international best-seller in four self-help categories.

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There is a difference between managing our outward behavior and managing our inward emotions, and both affect our signature expression (i.e. soul). While cognitive behavioral therapies (and religion) help provide a set of rules to guide our actions, it is spirituality that offers ways to manage our emotions internally. Those who combine the language and practice of each, are more likely to achieve some form of balance in their lives. But this language is foreign to many of us. This is rooted in the conflict between science and spirituality — between facts and emotional ways to explain the world. The problem is as old as human thought itself. Kant distinguished between theoretical reason (science) and practical reason (morality) and noted that such conflict is rooted in the brain. One tends to suppress the other and humans come to favor one mode of thinking over the other. Tune in as Irma Francis and I discuss how dialogue and language can ‘meet you where you are’ but you have to pose a quality question for this to happen.

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Has life ever punched you in the nose? If you’re normal, it absolutely has. While you were standing there bleeding, how did you interpret the experience? Let me help. You come into the world (before the punch) thinking “This is how it FEELS to be what I am.” Then…as life would have it (after the punch) there is no escaping yet another truth: “This is how it EMOTES to be what I had to become.” One is the experience, the other is the interpretation. Sit with this insight. If you didn’t know, the angst of the human condition is the friction between these two realities! Tune in as Irma Francis and I discuss a small but profound kernel of truth. Let me know how/if it touches you?

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Part of the reason we remember an egoless place is because we come from an egoless place. So, were not discovering this dimension we’re actually remembering it. This suggests that truly spiritual people have a pre-thought memory of being there and want to return. In contrast, religious people define their spirituality as a place where the ego lives. Once forgiven they get to keep their egos —even in death. Tune and as Irma Francis and I discuss a unique distinction between the psychology of secular and non-secular spirituality.