Wiser Now

Joana Leite de Castro is from Porto, Portugal. A bright student throughout her school years, when the time came to pick a Bachelor's degree, Joana elected Business Management at Católica University in Porto. Her dream was to become the CEO of Coca-Cola or Google. After graduating with distinction, Joana got a job at a US pharmaceutical company where she worked in the nutrition department for three years.

Though, in theory, she was living the dream, Joana soon realized she was unfulfilled. She decided to quit, pack her suitcase, and venture to Africa to build a school from scratch upon invitation from a US friend. Throughout the following years, with the money she had saved in her corporate job, Joana traveled the world in search of something…something she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

After a less glamorous three-month experience on a farm in Australia, where, despite the beautiful surroundings, existential melancholia knocked on her door, she moved back to Porto and slowly but surely started a path toward becoming a yoga teacher. Joana now runs the lovely Shambho Yoga Studio in Porto which you can find out more about here.

Together we unpack Joana's story of becoming to discover insights and better questions to accompany us on our own journey of living into maturity more wisely.

Themes:

• Joana's early background;


• Joana's experience as a global marketer at a US multinational pharmaceutical company;


• The thought process that led Joana to leave behind her corporate career;


• Joana's travel adventures;


• Joana's decision to pursue yoga as a life and career path;


• Limitations and the transformative potential of Western Yoga;


• Some of Joana's tools to live intentionally.

Credits:

• Creator & Host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Carlota Guedes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠


• Music Audio Producer & Editor: ⁠Carlos Sierra⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

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What career path should I choose?—an all too prevalent question if you are a youngster (in age or at heart) like us. What if, instead, we asked: What do I want to experience? Where is there growth for me?

With a Ba in History from the University of Porto and a Ma in History from the University of Edinburg, Mariana is a former academic and writer who published her first fiction book, The Voices - an existential journey across the multitudes contained in our internal worlds - with only 24 years old. More recently, Mariana transitioned into the corporate world, working as a consultant in London.

Together we explore Mariana's motivation to switch "careers" with the pursuit of self-knowledge at its foundation.

Themes:

• Mariana's early confrontation with death and the afterlife;


• The role of mentors & masters;


• How Eastern mysticism shifter Mariana's life view;


• Mariana's experience with writing, academia, and the corporate world;


• Relationships as a bridge to the beyond;


• How it can feel demotivating to be so far from your "goals" or ideal self" as a youngster and what to do about it.

References:

• The Anarchist Banker by Fernando Pessoa.

Credits:

• Creator & Host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Carlota Guedes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠


• Music Audio Producer & Editor: ⁠Carlos Sierra⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Subscribe to our newsletter and contribute to the Waking Youth Project ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow us on social media ⁠here⁠.

Happiness. What is the role of this word in your life? Does it signify a goal? A choice? A state? Does it resonate with you? Perhaps you find terms like fulfillment, purpose, or meaning more useful? What about your relation to melancholy? In what ways are happiness and melancholy connected? If they conversed, what would they say to one another?

These are some of the questions we contemplate with Dr. Ibrahim Al-Marashi. Our hope is to become more intimate with these terms to perhaps discover novel ways in which they can shape our human experience in a wiser manner.

This interview was originally recorded during the Happiness Week at IE University in Madrid. 

Dr. Ibrahim Al-Marashi is a visiting professor at IE University and an Associate Professor at the California State University of San Marcos. Ibrahim holds a Ph.D. from Oxford University on the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait.

Themes:

• The (un)usefulness of happiness as a concept;


• Definitions of happiness across time;


• The ingredients for a fulfilling life;


• The importance of meeting one's shadows toward a more wholesome experience of well-being;


• Ibrahim's personal experience with psychotherapy;


• Some resources to manage melancholy;


• A few comments on why and how to find ethical motivation on a planet in crisis. 

Credits:

• Creator & Host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Carlota Guedes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠


• Music Audio Producer & Editor: ⁠Carlos Sierra⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Subscribe to our newsletter and contribute to the Waking Youth Project ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow us on social media ⁠here⁠.
References:

• Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert


• Man's Search For Meaning by Vitor Frankl


• Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb


• Don't Look Up

How might we contribute to the planet's regeneration while pursuing our creative curiosities and material prosperity? - is the question that accompanies this episode.

Grounded in Giancarlo Canavesio's story of becoming, in this conversation, we explore how a former investment banker boldly transitions into a career in film production and, later on, regenerative hospitality and agriculture in the hope of gathering perspective and tools on how to create a life-affirming career path.

Giancarlo is a former investment banker in London and NY, documentary producer, and owner of Mangusta productions and Mangu.tv. He's recognized as one of today's best producers of mind-expanding themes such as conscious capitalism, mysticism, indigenous wisdom, plant medicines, and consensual non-monogamy. His documentaries 2012: Time for Change:  and From Neurons to Nirvana made the lists for best social change docs. More recently based in Ibiza, Giancarlo is involved in regenerative projects in the fields of hospitality with Difuso and agriculture with Terra Viva Ibiza.

Themes:

• Giancarlo's early contact with movies;


• Giancarlo's background studies and activities in business and investment banking;


• Giancarlo's waking up moments that led to his career transition and deepening of his self-discovery journey;


• Giancarlo's career transition;


• How we might pursue creative endeavors while ensuring our material prosperity;


• Exploration of the 4P's methodology developed by Giancarlo and his wife Stephanie Canavesio;


• How Giancarlo reminds himself to not sleepwalk through his waking state.

Credits:

• Creator & Host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Carlota Guedes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠


• Music Audio Producer & Editor: ⁠Carlos Sierra⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Subscribe to our newsletter and contribute to the Waking Youth Project ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow us on social media ⁠here⁠.

Links:

• Mangu.tv
  


• 
  2012: Time for Change: An optimistic alternative to apocalyptic doom and gloom, documentary produced by Giancarlo, starring Daniel Pinchbeck


• Big Magic, book by Elizabeth Gilbert


• The Wisdom of Trauma, documentary starring Gabor Maté

What would our romatic relationships look like if, instead of being predefined according to unquestioned default modes, they were customized to the needs and desires of the people in them?

In this episode, Dr. Jorge Ferrer walks us through his work aimed at transcending the binary monogamy-polyamory, culminating in Jorge's coining of the term novogamy.

Guest Bio: Jorge is the author of several books, including Love and Freedom: Transcending Monogamy and Polyamory; and Novogamia Mas Allá de la Monogamia y del Poliamor. Jorge is also a former professor at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology and the California Institute of Integral Studies, where he completed his doctoral research and served as a chair of the department of East-West Psychology. Currently based in Ibiza, Jorge continues to write, give talks and workshops, and provide relationships and psycho-spiritual counseling to individuals and couples.

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay updated here. Follow us on social media here.

Credits:

*Producer, Writer & Host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Carlota Guedes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠

*Music & Audio: ⁠Carlos Sierra⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Humans often make sense of reality in binaries. What would happen if we temporarily suspended such reductionist tendencies in the context of both gender identity and romantic relationship types? Esaú Gozalo will tell us all about it. 

Esaú is a multimedia designer who lives in Segovia, a small town in Spain. He's animated by the intersections across art and tech, social change, and spirituality. 

Themes:

• Esaú's early experience exploring multiple gender expressions;


• Esaú coming out of the closet as both he and they;


• (skip to 46m55s to listen to:) Definition of traditional and serial monogamy;


• Definition of consensual non-monogamy, polyamory, and monogamy;


• Esaú's experience of opening up his romantic relationship;


• How Esaú reminds himself to live a waking life.

Credits:

• Creator & Host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Carlota Guedes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠


• Music Audio Producer & Editor: ⁠Carlos Sierra⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Subscribe to our newsletter and contribute to the Waking Youth Project ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow us on social media ⁠here⁠.
Sources:

• Love & Freedom by Jorge Ferrer


• Clip from Teal Swan about break ups


• Further sources included in our newsletter

How can we know we are not just sleepwalking through our waking state? And if we’re sleeping how might we dream ourselves awake?

Just like we woke up from the trance of childhood into adolescence, what would it take for the youth to initiate herself into maturity? Both the literal youth and the metaphorical adolescent consciousness of the human family as a collective.

This is what this show (and season) is about.

Inspired by the movie Waking Life by Richard Linklater, we’ll explore a range of themes from love and philosophy to self-inquiry and social change to discover how to live into an examined existence.

We invite you to subscribe to this monthly podcast and the newsletter that walks hand in hand with it at https://wakingyouth.substack.com/

The podcast episodes will explore the direct lived experiences of fellow earthlings on a path towards a waking life. And the newsletters will dive into the more intellectual side of things with research-based thought pieces.

Our hope is that, together, we say yes to the challenges presented to our generation by being part of the solution to a planetary emergency while enjoying ourselves in the process.

Host: Carlota Guedes

Music Audio Producer: Carlos Sierra

A bonus meditation from our guest Carmen Mitroi. Enjoy.

In this episode I have a conversation with Carmen Mitroi and Eugen Manole on the definition of spirituality, the usefulness of contemplative practices, and how they can impact our life and beautify our days.

Carmen Mitroi has been teaching Integral Yoga for more than 25 years. She studied Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine at the Chinese Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing and Phytotherapy, at the Hippocrates Institute, Lisbon. She is also graduated in Psychology (Madeira University) and Law (Classical University, Lisbon). She lives in Madeira since 2002, where she founded the Sundari Personal Development Center, that includes the Sundari Integral Yoga School, accredited by the International Association Yoga Alliance.  

Eugen is interested in Buddhism, Taoism, Yoga, Qigong, Tai Chi, meditation, and mindfulness and studied with various Masters in US, China, Portugal, and Romania. He earned a PhD from the University of Greenwich and is a Member of the Editorial Board of The International Journal of Hinduism and Philosophy (UK). He studied and graduated in Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine with the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing. He is Co-Founder of the Sundari Personal Development Center where he is practicing and teaching Traditional Integral Yoga, Qigong, and Tai Chi.

Credits:

• Creator & Host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Carlota Guedes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠


• Music Audio Producer & Editor: ⁠Carlos Sierra⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Subscribe to our newsletter and contribute to the Waking Youth Project ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow us on social media ⁠here⁠.

A conversation with Mareile Paley about:

• her professional and personal path as a traveler, freelancer, and entrepreneur


• her experience in the wellness and retreat business


• our thoughts on social media, generational shifts, self-representation


• how we might catalyze social change


• Mareile's most recent project CALM

Mareile has been working in the Pilates & Wellness Retreat industry for almost a decade. Drawing from her professional background as a graphic designer, multimedia expert, and knowledge management consultant for the United Nations she brings practical talents as well as her unique vision to CALM, her most recent project in Portugal.
Mareile is owner and co-founder of Paleymotion Ltd, a multimedia service company. Her retreat & wellness business Life in Movement Ltd is one of the most recognized Pilates retreat companies and she recently founded www.giveatree.life, an online community platform connecting global food forest and permaculture projects with individual sponsors.

Credits:

• Creator & Host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Carlota Guedes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠


• Music Audio Producer & Editor: ⁠Carlos Sierra⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Subscribe to our newsletter and contribute to the Waking Youth Project ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow us on social media ⁠here⁠.