The Reality Check Podcast

Are we doomed to repeat our past? To inflict upon our children what was inflicted upon us? If we are a product of our genetics intersecting with our environment, how can we break the cycle once and for all?

In this episode I story of my past and why that has led me to give away all 17 of my books for free.

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No talking. No writing. No touching. Just 10+ hours a day meditating for 10 days straight…

In this episode I share my experiences on a 10 day silent retreat at Dhamma Aloka, under the instruction of S.N. Goenka where I learnt the technique of Vipassana meditation. Here I share the lessons learnt, the insights acquired, and give my analysis of the experience.

Simply put, it was one of the most profound (and painful) experiences of my life.

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What do you do when you are genetically predisposed to have negative reactions to antidepressants, have lost your job, have had little success with talking therapies, and have not yet processed the trauma of the past?

Answer: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)

This episode is a collaboration with Dr Jenelle Tupek, director and founder of Balanced Membranes Heath Education, and the host of the Rewriting The Script podcast.

Jenelle interviews me, discussing my experiences with how TMS saved my life and my mental health journey in general - we talk about the nature of mental health treatments and the different options available.

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What is scarier: sitting in silence or the fact that you are afraid to sit in silence?

In this episode I discuss how technology has granted us the ability to endlessly occupy the space that was once filled with silence. The benefits of which are obvious: education, entertainment, content and connection - but at what cost? What do we lose by blocking off access to such a fundamental aspect of the human condition? What is the value of silence?

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It feels like every tradition has a prescription on how you should sit; where to hold your hands, what to do with your eyes, and how you should handle sleepiness and pain are all prescribed.

For advanced practitioners, these suggestions should be heeded, but for beginners, they can be a hindrance - one that can be so off prescriptive and off putting that it may cause said beginner to stop practicing.

Simply put, the perfect posture is the one that keeps you meditating.

In this episode, I share with you a talk that I have released on Insight Timer - the #1 meditation app for sleep, anxiety, & stress.

Connect:
Web: zachary-phillips.com
Social: @zacpphillips

Current offerings:
- Hunt Your Own Shadow: free 12 week email course
- Insight Timer: guided audio courses & free meditations
- Skillshare: video courses on personal development
- How To Get Your Sh!t Together: the last self-help book you will ever read
- Bound To The Wings of a Butterfly: best selling poetry collection
- How To Write Evocative Poetry: a guidebook for unlocking creativity
- 1 on 1 Coaching & Mentoring: Video Calls & Voice/Text Coaching

Part product of the past, part vision for the future, part desire to live a meaningful life, part belief that I can make a difference …

In this episode I break down the reasons why I feel compelled to share my soul online, discussing the journey I took to get here and where I am hoping to go.

If you are wanting an in depth look at ‘my why’, this is for you.

Links mentioned:
Under The Influence, Reclaiming My Childhood
How To Get Your Sh!t Together
Poetry, From A Dark Night Of The Soul

Connect:
Web: zachary-phillips.com
Social: @zacpphillips

Current offerings:
- Hunt Your Own Shadow: free 12 week email course
- Insight Timer: guided audio courses & free meditations
- Skillshare: video courses on personal development
- How To Get Your Sh!t Together: the last self-help book you will ever read
- Bound To The Wings of a Butterfly: best selling poetry collection
- How To Write Evocative Poetry: a guidebook for unlocking creativity
- 1 on 1 Coaching & Mentoring: Video Calls & Voice/Text Coaching

How much of our reality do we create? Not from a ‘woo woo’ sense, but as a function of the result of the interaction between our past and our particular genetic predispositions?

If we have faced significant life challenges, and have a fearful disposition, there is a chance that we will view the world and our future pessimistically.

Alternatively, if we have had success, and have a positive disposition, then more than likely we will approach the world with hope.

In this Reality Check Podcast episode I begin with my poem ‘Reflections Of The Self’, using it as a starting point for discussion and contemplation

Connect:
Web: zachary-phillips.com
Social: @zacpphillips

Current offerings:
- Hunt Your Own Shadow: free 12 week email course
- Insight Timer: guided audio courses & free meditations
- Skillshare: video courses on personal development
- How To Get Your Sh!t Together: the last self-help book you will ever read
- Bound To The Wings of a Butterfly: best selling poetry collection
- How To Write Evocative Poetry: a guidebook for unlocking creativity
- 1 on 1 Coaching & Mentoring: Video Calls & Voice/Text Coaching

Buy more. Do more. Be more. Consume more. Watch more… This seems to be the mantra of modern society and it is kill us.

We are losing our communities, forgetting our art, and wasting our lives, all in pursuit of an ever diminishing in value dollar and ever rising expectations to keep up with the proverbial Joneses.

In this episode I read the poem ‘capitalistic desire’ from my book Wage Slave: The Unpaid Overtime Edition, and discuss the hypocrisy I feel as an artist living within a capitalistic society.

The difference between expectation and reality is often the source of significant discontent.

Life trains us to search for ideals: the perfect partner, job, life, outcome. Unfortunately this almost never arises and even if it did, it would be fleeting.

Thus there is a real potential for ongoing and almost contentious self inflicted suffering. Thankfully, happiness is closer than you think. By embracing mindfulness we can begin to see and address the impact of our expectations.

In this episode, I share with you a talk that I have released on Insight Timer - the #1 meditation app for sleep, anxiety, & stress.

Connect:
Web: zachary-phillips.com
Social: @zacpphillips

Current offerings:
- Hunt Your Own Shadow: free 12 week email course
- Insight Timer: guided audio courses & free meditations
- Skillshare: video courses on personal development
- How To Get Your Sh!t Together: the last self-help book you will ever read
- Bound To The Wings of a Butterfly: best selling poetry collection
- How To Write Evocative Poetry: a guidebook for unlocking creativity
- 1 on 1 Coaching & Mentoring: Video Calls & Voice/Text Coaching

What greater gift can you give someone than the gift of presence? When you are fully present, mindful, and in the moment, you are able to give all those around you access to the best version of you, and thus the moment they are in with you.

In this episode, I share with you a guided meditation that I have released on Insight Timer. It is based on the intersection between the following two quotes:

‘See how you are literally free of the future, for the simple reason that it hasn’t and will never arise. There can be no other moment. Feel how that is so. How it is impossible to get ourselves into some other moment, for there is no other moment, and no other reality but, than what is presently here, this instant...’ - John Astin

‘If there is peace in your mind you will find peace with everybody. If your mind is agitated, you will find agitation everywhere. So first find peace within and you will see this inner peace reflected everywhere else. You are this peace.’  – From H. W. L. Poonja a.k.a. Papaji

This track was inspired by my course on Insight Timer, ‘Daily Contemplations For Living An Examined Life’

Current offerings:
- Hunt Your Own Shadow: free 12 week email course
- Insight Timer: guided audio courses & free meditations
- Skillshare: video courses on personal development
- How To Get Your Sh!t Together: the last self-help book you will ever read
- Bound To The Wings of a Butterfly: best selling poetry collection
- How To Write Evocative Poetry: a guidebook for unlocking creativity
- 1 on 1 Coaching & Mentoring: Video Calls & Voice/Text Coaching

Web: zachary-phillips.com
Social: @zacpphillips