Many of us lead very fragmented lives. If we're lucky, we set aside a couple hours a week to what really lights us up in between our busy "9-to-5"s and hectic social and family obligations.

I find it very inspiring, therefore, to connect with people like this week's guest Sharanya Rao, who succeed in "bringing their whole selves" to their day to day and follow their passion.

Sharanya is an expert on making transitions, having lived in 4 countries, and changed careers from being a commercial litigation lawyer to government and then to becoming a professional coach. Now, as the head of Global Coaching Works and the Artistic Director of Leela - An Indian Community Theatre, she focuses on empowering individuals and developing their potential through Co-Active Coaching, mindfulness and creativity. She is a champion of diversity and inclusion, and a true believer in the power of community.

In this episode, we touch on numerous topics including:

You can connect with Sharanya via numerous channels, notably her LinkedIn profile.

Connect with Nikhil to learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Untether Your Life⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and other projects:

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This episode is a first in Untether Your Life history, in bringing on a husband and wife duo. On the heels of my interview with Amish Shah in 2023, I'm proud to release my discussion with his wife, the incredibly insightful Dr. Puja Shah.

Puja is a visionary poet who shares her voice through written and spoken word, guided meditations, and teaching. Born in Queens, New York to immigrant parents, she defied teachers who questioned her English skills by winning countless poetry and short story awards in her youth.

With over 10 years of nonprofit experience and a long public health career, she has pivoted careers to follow her passion for writing and created a campaign aligned with girls rights awareness causes for her triple award winning novel, For My Sister.

Puja holds a D.M.D. doctorate degree and has completed multiple training courses in yoga, meditation and ancient wisdom. She teaches corporate mindfulness guided meditations and is currently president of The Shah Education and Exploration Foundation, 501c3. For My Sister is her first novel.

Puja and I touched on so many amazing topics in our far-ranging interview, including:

Find out more about Puja's incredible journey and work by visiting her Websites, puja-shah.com and formysisterbook.com. You can also connect with her on Instagram at psnamaste, or check out her guided meditations on Spotify or other streaming platforms under psnamaste.

Connect with Nikhil to learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Untether Your Life⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and other projects:

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I've been blessed to cross paths with some of the most dynamic, impactful souls across the planet through my involvement in Mindvalley, SOMA Breath, and other global communities. One of these is Piotr Ciepiel, who I met during a breathwork retreat in Ibiza, Spain. His evolution - which includes healing from cancer - is a powerful demonstration of the transformation that is possible when we untether our lives.

Piotr, MiFit Mindful Fitness founder, takes his transformative body / mind / energy programs worldwide. A dynamic public speaker, retreat leader, and breath master, he guides people to embrace emotions, vulnerability, and authenticity. A health and wellbeing advocate, Piotr shares his cancer and chemotherapy journey, compelling us to prioritize physical and mental health now.

This invigorating, inspiring discussion, touches on numerous topics, including:

To connect with Piotr and learn more about MiFit and Unpack Yourself, visit him on Instagram or LinkedIn, or check out his Website

Connect with Nikhil to learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Untether Your Life⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and other projects:

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This week marks the 80th episode of Untether Your Life. It's "kind of a big deal" in the podcasting space, where 90% of shows don't make it past episode 3.

For this important milestone, I chose to rebroadcast my appearance on The Life Shift, hosted by my friend Matt Gilhooly - largely to help commemorate the two year anniversary of his incredible podcast. Congrats Matt on this "pivotal" moment!

Matt is an incredible host, who I thoroughly enjoyed speaking with about:

To learn more about Matt and his podcast, please visit The Life Shift Podcast Website, or look for The Life Shift on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also connect with Matt on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.

Connect with Nikhil to learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Untether Your Life⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and other projects:

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One of the goals of this show is to empower you the listener to break free of templates for managing physical and mental wellness. I'm inspired by organizations that facilitate this journey for patients through clinical and technological innovation.

One shining example is Modern Age, a New York City-based startup "on a mission to add millions of years of healthy life expectancy to the world."

We were therefore honored to have their Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Anant Vinjamoori, as a guest on this week's episode of Untether Your Life.

Prior to Modern Age, Dr. Vinjamoori was a product leader at Virta Health, and attended Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard University, and Stanford University for his internal medicine residency, medical degree and MBA, and undergrad degree in biology respectively.

In this episode, we touch on numerous topics, including:

To connect with Anant and find out more about his work at Modern Age, check him out on Instagram and LinkedIn, or visit modern-age.com

Connect with Nikhil to learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Untether Your Life⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and other projects:

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One of the most rewarding parts of hosting this podcast is connecting with brilliant, compassionate polymaths, whose knowledge and experience extend across numerous realms. Dr. Tanmeet Sethi, MD is a prime example. She is an Integrative and Psychedelic Medicine Physician, activist, TEDx speaker, and author of the incredibly powerful book Joy Is My Justice. She’s also been featured on Oprah Daily.

Tanmeet has dedicated her career to caring for marginalized patients all over the globe from Seattle to Puerto Rico to Ukraine, as a senior faculty member at The Center for Mind Body Medicine. She is also a Clinical Associate Professor and a primary clinical investigator there on psilocybin at the University of Washington.

In this episode, Tanmeet and host Nikhil Torsekar touch on numerous topics, including:

To order a copy of Tanmeet’s incredible book please visit her Website, or connect with her on Instagram, LinkedIn or Facebook. You can also check out her Substack titled “Beautiful and Brutal.”

Connect with Nikhil to learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Untether Your Life⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and other projects:

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Two years since our first guest interview episode of Untether Your Life with clinical psychologist Dr. Jyothsna Bhat, many strides have been made in mental health in the South Asian diaspora. This is due to the work of groups like South Asian Americans for Change (SAAFC), co-founded by Rupal Joshi, Keerthi Channarasappa, and this week’s guest - Sumit Shukla.

In addition to this role, Sumit is an accomplished pharmaceutical expert with nearly 15 years of industry experience, a dedicated husband and father, and a passionate mental health advocate.

Driven by personal experiences with depression and anxiety and overcoming alcohol addiction, Sumit established SAAFC with a mission to dismantle mental health stigma and promote holistic well-being in the South Asian American community through arts, education, and community-building events.

Breaking the Silence, Sumit’s YouTube documentary series featuring renowned comedian Nimesh Patel and previous Untether Your Life guest Ankur Varma, serves as a platform for raising awareness and sparking conversations on mental health, particularly among South Asian men.

Join host Nikhil Torsekar and Sumit Shukla this week as we discuss:

Visit the SAAFC Website to learn more about the organization, or get tickets for the The Healing Through Arts gala. You can also connect with the team on Instagram at @saaforchange, or with Sumit directly at @sumit112

Connect with Nikhil to learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Untether Your Life⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and other projects:

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This podcast takes aim squarely at the templates that many of us in the South Asian diaspora grew up with – around the ideal career path, marriage, and managing our mental health.

It’s therefore gratifying to connect with others in the community who question the norms and fight against the status quo that has caused us great turmoil over the years. One of these iconoclasts is Tracy Vadakumchery, aka "The Bad Indian Therapist."

Tracy is a licensed therapist in New York, California, and Florida. She helps South Asian Americans who struggle with toxic guilt, shame, and cultural stress and trauma. Tracy continues to challenge her own toxic guilt and shame as it relates to cultural norms about mental health. She is currently taking on new clients in the above states.

In this episode, she and host Nikhil Torsekar examine many issues, including:

To connect with Tracy, please visit thebadindiantherapist.com, or connect with her on Instagram at @thebadindiantherapist.

Connect with Nikhil to learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Untether Your Life⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and other projects:

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Mental Health is a mixed bag in 2024. I'm thrilled about the community that has blossomed since I launched this podcast two years ago - especially within the Asian diaspora. However, I'm disheartened by the assembly line approach that has evolved as a by-product of the skyrocketing demand for psychiatrists, therapists, and other providers.

In this environment, Dr. Elizabeth Nguyen - a highly credentialed California-based psychiatrist - is a breath of fresh air.

Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, Dr. Nguyen had parents who were refugees from Vietnam who arrived in Honolulu in 1975 at the end of the Vietnam War. She received her BA from Stanford University in Human Biology, her MD from Northwestern University, and her Psychiatry Residency and Child Psychiatry Fellowship training at University of California, Davis.

She started her career in community mental health, with specific interests in cross-cultural psychiatry, the intersection of spirituality and mental health, and the healing power of water and the natural world.

Dr. Nguyen lives in Davis, California, where she is in private psychiatry practice. She is also the author of the book Aloha Vietnam, "a rich journey across the Pacific Ocean to find one’s true home and identity amidst loss, grief, and mental illness."

In this episode, we touch on numerous topics, including:

To learn more about Dr. Elizabeth Nguyen, water healing, multidimensional psychiatry, and her book, please visit multidimensionalpsychiatry.com, or connect with her on Instagram at multidimensionalpsychiatry or waterkeeperscommunity.

Connect with Nikhil to learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Untether Your Life⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and other projects:

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And that's a wrap!

2023 was such a transformational year, thanks in large part to the more than 20 epic souls I spoke with on the Untether Your Life podcast.

In recognition of their contributions to the raising of our collective consciousness, I've published a highlight reel recapping the most impactful moments of our conversations.

I've provided their information below, in case you'd like to learn more about their platforms and / or connect with them.

Connect with Nikhil to learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Untether Your Life⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and other projects:

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