This week, I’m publishing my first solo episode that is not about a  book that I wrote. For long-term listeners, you may remember my previous solo episode was about my recent book, Knowing Where To Look.

I’ve recently rebranded the podcast, and it's no longer At The End of the Tunnel. It’s now called The Light Watkins Show. 

This episode will take you back to how the podcast started  in 2020, what was going on in the background, and what the original intention of the show was, and how it's evolved over the last couple of years. I’ll also talk about where I would like for the show go in the foreseeable future.

So this is a part autobiographical, it's part masterclass, and it's part manifesto. And I plan to do many more solo episodes in the future.  

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Today, we are re-visiting one of my favorite podcast episodes, which is my conversation with Bronnie Ware, the former palliative nurse from Australia who wrote the blog post, Top 5 Regrets of the Dying, which went viral and eventually went on to become a bestselling book.

Here are their top 5 regrets:

I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life that others expected of me.

I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.

I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.

I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

I wish that I had let myself be happier.

How she came to be a palliative care nurse was fascinating, as it was very much happenstance. In short, Bronnie was just nomading, and she needed a place to stay, and the woman who offered her room and board ended up passing away shortly after, and Bronnie was there to help with her transition. And that’s how she discovered her gift of presence.

Give it a listen (or a re-listen).

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So this week I'm speaking with author, speaker and meditation thought leader, Mr. Ben Decker. Ben grew up as a member of the Church of the Latter-day Saints. He also began meditating and traveling the world on spiritual pilgrimages and mission trips. And then he decided to enter the priesthood as a teenager. But a battle with addiction and depression caused him to change his mind and search for a different type of career. He ended up doing a 180 by going to Los Angeles and becoming a publicist.

And after rising up through the ranks and becoming one of Hollywood's biggest publicists, particularly for Playboy Bunnies, Ben had a dear friend died by suicide, and he felt somewhat complicit in his friend's unhappiness and depression.

So he decided to leave his prolific career in PR, and he went back to his roots by starting his own field of study, which he called collaborative religion.

Then Ben helped to open a religiously pluralistic spiritual center in Venice Beach, California called Full Circle, which is where he and I first crossed paths because I rented that space to help host one of my inspirational variety shows that I was doing at the time called The Shine. And Ben went on to become a prolific teacher and author of books on meditation.

He's now written four books, most recently publishing Modern Spirituality: A Guide To The Heart of Mindfulness Meditation, and The Art of Healing, which became a bestseller. And he's also the host of the Modern Spirituality Podcast. 

And as always, we dive deep into the backstory of how Ben came to be the author and teacher that he is today. And what's notable about almost all of my episodes was that there was always a moment where the guests decided to take a big leap of faith in the direction of what they identified at the time as their purpose. Sometimes, they were motivated by curiosity, other times they were motivated by pain. Ben's case was more of the latter. 

So if you're on the fence about making a switch in your path to something that feels more aligned with where you currently are, I think you're going to find this episode very inspiring.

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The never-ending dietary debates can make getting the right information about what you should be eating seem like an insurmountable challenge. But while nutrition is a complex and evolving field of study, choosing a healthy and ethical diet does not have to be impossible. 

This is the message that our guest today, Simon Hill, wants to bring to the world. Simon is the author of The Proof is in the Plants, and the host of The Proof podcast, through which he aims to educate people on the science around a plant-based diet, while also reviving popular understanding and appreciation for the scientific method. 

This work emerged out of Simon's own journey with nutrition and veganism, and we get to hear all about his story in today's conversation, with Simon doing a great job of bringing this personal narrative into the global context of issues such as heart disease, and climate change. 

So to hear it all from our great guest, listen in today!

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Caregiving is still a misunderstood and under-celebrated role in today's society. For this episode, we welcome J Smiles to talk about her amazing story of caring for her mother, launching a career in comedy, and how she managed to navigate these difficult terrains. 

Soon after her father's passing, J Smiles’ mother was diagnosed with two forms of dementia, and it took a minute for her to realize that the deterioration she was seeing in her mother was not just grief. 

The process surrounding her mother's diagnosis and treatment was a tricky one, and J Smiles generously opens up, sharing the biggest challenges and the lessons she learned through them. 

She notably talks about how she began to talk differently about her role as her mother's caregiver, relinquishing the early methods involving avoidance and shock. J Smiles tells us all about becoming an advocate for caregiving, and what it means to normalize these conversations about sensitive topics. 

This leads to our exploration of her work as a conscious comic and how she started this branch of her life as an escape before pouring her lived experience and authentic self into her routine. 

Today our guest also has her own podcast, called Parenting UP!, in which she brings together all these areas and themes in a show that is truly her, so make sure to give that a listen, as soon as you finish with this great episode!

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If you’ve ever even scratched the surface of diet research, you know there are many misconceptions and lots of loosely interpreted research that many advocates of certain diets will use to vehemently defend their point of view while denouncing other diets. 

Here to help us see through that kind of research is return guest, Max Lugavere, a filmmaker, health and science journalist, and the author of the New York Times bestseller, Genius Foods. He is also the host of the number one iTunes health podcast, The Genius Life, and his most recent cookbook, Genius Kitchen, is number one in the nutrition category on Amazon. Focused on brain health, performance, and longevity, Max shares his research in order to help us eat a well-rounded diet and optimize our health. 

In today’s episode, he speaks candidly his own dietary biases and what he feels are the top five foods that we should all be including in our diet. We talk about lab work transparency, his growing social media platforms, and how he was able to rise above the noise to become one of the leading voices in wellness. 

We also discuss how he approaches engaging with trolls and ‘passionate' commenters, which he gets a lot of, given his position as a prolific health enthusiast! For all this and more from one of the foremost authorities on nutrition, make sure not to miss today’s conversation with Max Lugavere!

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If you were free from fear, who would you have the freedom to be? With her new book, Happy Days, #1 New York Times bestselling author, Gabrielle Bernstein, wants to help you chart a path to heal trauma, unlearn fear, and remember love. 

Gabby has long been loved by her readers as a spiritual teacher, motivational speaker, and catalyst for profound inner change, and Happy Days presents her most powerful teaching yet: a plan for transforming the pain of your past, whatever that may be, into newfound strength and freedom. 

In today’s episode, we have a transparent and vulnerable discussion that took place over two separate conversations, one of which was an IG Live on the day that Happy Days was released in March 2022. 

Listen in as Gabby shares her definition of happiness and offers some insight into the process of clearing space to reconnect with the joy within. She highlights the importance of taking the transition from trauma to profound inner peace one step at a time before sharing some profound advice for tuning into your inner guidance system, connecting with yourself through meditation, and returning to your Self (with a capital S) with courage, compassion, and curiosity! 

For all this and so much more, make sure not to miss this thought-provoking episode with the one and only, Gabby Bernstein!

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In today’s episode of At the End of the Tunnel, we are joined by actor, photographer, and Vedic meditation teacher, Jeff Kober. Many of us have the feeling that something is missing in our lives. We try to fill this void with accomplishments, possessions, relationships, or even drugs and alcohol, but nothing seems to work for more than a moment. And Jeff believes that the reason for this is that we are looking outside ourselves for something that can only be found within. 

Tune in to dive into his backstory, to find out how he discovered his mission of spreading his daily Vedic meditation thought-for-the-day via email, and how it led to the publication of his recent book, Embracing Bliss: 108 Daily Meditations. 

Jeff shares the story of how he found his way from a farm outside of Billings, Montana, to Hollywood, how he hit rock bottom with drugs and alcohol, and why he initially avoided the style of meditation that he now practices and teaches. 

We also touch on some of the powerful anecdotes from the book and Jeff shares what putting them together has taught him about freedom and the willingness to step into the unknown, plus so much more! 

For a fascinating and inspiring conversation with the Vedic meditation teacher that you probably already recognize from some of your favorite TV shows, make sure to tune in today!

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In this show, we welcome Kevin Element Livingston, the heart and mind behind the amazing 100 Suits program, and someone who has taken an idea and run with it, fueled by a lot of belief and willpower. 

We hear from Kevin about his early years in New York City, growing up in Jamaica, Queens, and the difficulties he had in high school that led to him being kicked out. He talks about the job he got as a bank teller and how he started to collect suits from wealthy customers to provide for his community. 

Kevin ties this idea back to the importance that his father placed on being well-presented, and even Eddie Murphy's film Boomerang! We also get into the period in which Kevin was technically homeless, why and how he quit his job at the bank, and some of the milestone moments for his outreach work. 

Kevin has a strong message of taking action, and believes we all have the power to make a difference, so to catch all of this good stuff, listen in with us today!

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Liana Werner-Gray grew up in the Australian Outback, immersed in the wisdom of the Aboriginals. From a young age, she was aware of the value of eating healthy, natural ingredients, straight from the earth, and the dangers of highly processed, sugary foods. Despite this knowledge which was rooted deep within her, her struggles with childhood trauma caught up with her when she reached her teenage years, and she turned to unhealthy food for comfort.

When Liana reached 21, a biopsy revealed a 3.7 centimeter tumor in her lymphatic system. This was the moment her transformation journey began. Armed with indigenous knowledge and the support of a naturopath, Liana completely rid herself of cancer (and later, anxiety and depression) through changing her diet! She has since documented her approach in the form of a blog and 3 different books, and developed her own Anxiety-Free supplement, with the hope of positively impacting the lives of as many people as possible.

In today’s episode Liana shares her inspiring story, and some of the key foods which you should incorporate into your daily diet, starting right now! 

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