Shows
The Dark Night of the Soul Unwrapped11. "I hadn't realised that it wasn't just me going through it." With Paul CurrieAfter fifteen years of disciplined meditation and spiritual seeking, Paul hit a brick wall. He got ME/CFS, lost his job, his ideas about spirituality crumbled, and he lost interest in all the teachings he had tried so assiduously to follow. With no role in life, and no sense of direction, he felt like he was falling into a bottomless pit. Occasionally, a deeper sense of peace came out of nowhere, but he doubted himself, calling himself crazy. Eventually, after several years, he found himself ready to have a role in the world again.Amongst other things...2025-07-1452 minThe Dark Night of the Soul Unwrapped10. "It only needs one other person to have been to that place to disperse the loneliness." With John AblettHaving been interested in mythological and spiritual artwork from a young age, John went to university to study comparative symbolism. At twenty-one – while feeling directionless and reading intense philosophy, including Krishnamurti – his sense of self completely disintegrated. He dropped out of his degree course and, for about six months, became a barefoot guru (having left his shoes in an art gallery). He travelled and taught, living in the homes of people who supported him, until he realised that the guru phenomenon – or "circus", as he calls it – didn’t feel congruent. He went back to his family, volunteered at a playgrou...2025-07-1453 minThe Dark Night of the Soul Unwrapped9. "I couldn't be for myself at first what I was for others." With Li MeuserFollowing on from our first conversation, Li and I begin with the hamster wheel that is capitalism, colonialism and imperialism, and the effects of living within power structures that threaten us in a variety of ways, depending on who we are. We talk about how it was impossible to keep up being an efficient cog in that wheel during our dark nights, and how it’s natural to no longer want to participate in “this deadening culture.”We discuss the “con job” that often masquerades as spirituality; how the dark night rattles the construction of personhood and all our id...2025-07-141h 04The Dark Night of the Soul Unwrapped8. "I wanted to be as real as real could be." With Li MeuserLi’s first dark night began when a relationship suddenly ended, and they found themself beset by heartbreak, their survival strategies stripped. Some time later, an abusive intimate relationship took Li even deeper in, splitting them open in what they describe as “a total unravelling of the wounded me.” They started to feel all the fear – and other emotions – that they’d been masking, denying, avoiding, and hiding. Slowly, Li began to feel the excruciating pain of aloneness and separation – which was, eventually, freeing – and gradually came into a remembering of interconnectedness.In this episode, we talk about fa...2025-07-1450 minThe Dark Night of the Soul Unwrapped7. "It's very much a question of what works for the individual." With Dr Mike RushMike recently completely his PhD on the empirical evidence for interventions in spiritual crisis. Always interested in myth, magic, and mysticism, he has extensively studied religious and spiritual phenomena through the lens of transpersonal psychology. His research brings much-needed academic attention to an experience so often overlooked by both the spiritual and therapeutic worlds, and is deeply informed by his work supporting people going through spiritual crisis.In this episode, we talk about a central aspect of Mike’s research; the strands of what he broadly refers to as grounding – the practices, attitudes, and behaviours that might supp...2025-07-141h 00The Dark Night of the Soul Unwrapped6. "Once you unlayer all the layers, you start to see yourself as you are." With Hany Ezzat Hany’s dark night began in earnest in his forties, although he’d been aware of feeling different since he was eight. As a child, he’d tried to express to the adults around him what he was experiencing, but it wasn’t until a therapist suggested many years later that he was in a dark night that he began to understand what might have been happening throughout his life. After going through countless rock bottoms and navigating blindly in the dark, he started to follow his own river and found himself gradually coming back to his life.Amongs...2025-07-1450 minThe Dark Night of the Soul Unwrapped5. "I see your suffering. Your suffering is real. Your suffering matters." With Jessica EveFollowing on from our first conversation, Jessica and I delve into the moment she first heard the term ‘spiritual bypassing’ and realised that’s what she’d been doing, and we explore the rejection or exclusion of the body which is central to spiritual bypassing. Based on our childhood experiences, we touch into cPTSD (complex post-traumatic stress disorder) and the extent to which many of the teachings of self-negating non-duality mirror the messages of narcissistic abuse, shaming the self and its expression. We reflect on being drawn to the teachings that replicated our survival strategies and how, in Jessica’s words, “...2025-07-1356 minThe Dark Night of the Soul Unwrapped4. "I want all of these broken pieces to be part of me." With Jessica EveJessica’s dark night began a few years after she became immersed in the teachings of self-negating nonduality as a way to silence her ruminating mind and disappear her intense emotional suffering. Initially, she experienced the dissolution of her sense of self described by the Neo Advaita gurus, and felt that she’d found the magic wand that would erase her, leaving only boundlessness. Gradually, however, she became increasingly and disturbingly dissociated and unable to relate. Terrified that she might have irretrievably damaged her fundamental human capacities, she embarked on the slow and painful task of reclaiming the parts that...2025-07-1353 minThe Dark Night of the Soul Unwrapped3. "I felt like I'd just fallen into a black hole." With Helen HutchinsonAfter many years of inner healing and therapy work, an inner knowing came clearly to Helen; “I have to keep my heart open, no matter what.” Recognising that she had been living in her head, disconnected from her heart, she took the risk of speaking what was in her heart. Doing so triggered a profound energetic and emotional reaction. It was as if she was looking over the edge of a cliff with no option but to step off.Amongst other things, we talk about having to feel all the material we were never going to reach by o...2025-07-1345 minThe Dark Night of the Soul Unwrapped2. “I was constantly fighting it, and then the fight was done.” With Julianne EannielloFollowing on from our first conversation, Julianne describes how things began to change when she came to a kind of acceptance of the limitations of her physical health. We discuss the difference between the idea of surrendering, and the energetics of being brought to an actual surrender. Our conversation also covers how she sought order in the outer world as a way to control the chaos of her inner world; the layers of shame and judgement around being a victim, and how shaming spiritual teachings can be; searching for enlightenment because it’s too painful to be in our bo...2025-07-1344 minThe Dark Night of the Soul Unwrapped1. "The things we were trying not to face had to be faced." With Julianne Eanniello*Please note that in the first few moments of this episode Julianne mentions the sudden death of a child. If you'd prefer not to listen to this section, skip to 01.15. Julianne’s dark night began with a tragedy, and spiralled when a mystery illness took hold. She lost her job and her home, and had brain fog so bad there were times she couldn’t work out how to feed herself. Previously focused on a successful banking career, she found herself with no choice but to turn inward. She began to explore the perfectionism that masked her sens...2025-07-1350 minThe Dark Night of the Soul UnwrappedIntroducing The Dark Night of the Soul UnwrappedWelcome to the first season of The Dark Night of the Soul Unwrapped, a podcast for anyone who is going through or curious about spiritual emergency, existential crisis, or the dark night of the soul. My guests and I share our experiences of being in - and emerging out of - this lonely and sometimes terrifying terrain, without glossing over the realities. We discuss - amongst many other things - how it relates to trauma, illness, embodiment, spiritual teachings and ideas about awakening, and the state of the wider world. Expect openness, honesty, love, groundedness, rawness, nuance, laughter, and...2025-07-0201 min
Expats in Dubai PodcastInside Media Law with Fiona Robertson: Defamation, AI & Legal Talent | Ep. 49In this episode, we chat with Fiona Robertson, OSN’s Chief Counsel and a dynamic media lawyer in Dubai, with almost 20 years’ experience handling high-stakes legal and reputational risks in the UAE’s fast-moving media scene.Fiona’s journey spans private practice and in-house roles, advising on everything from defamation to digital media crises. She shares candid insights on the evolving legal landscape and the unique challenges media law faces today.Topics include:Why Dubai became homeDealing with hate mail and tough casesPrivate practice vs. in-house - her honest takeHow she selects external...2025-06-2438 min
The LODOWNS6_E1: Will RobertsonHello Legends! In this episode, we've invited Assistant Principal Mr. Robertson to explore the many aspects of post-secondary education. Tackling an arrangement of topics such as affordability, career paths, mental health, trades/apprenticeships, and systemic challenges that continue to prevent marginalized youth from accessing education equally. We unpack the multifaceted reality of what awaits for youth after high school. This episode was made possible by our amazing podcast team. A big thank you to our editor, Anushka Rana; our photographer, Jeffery Jin; our engineers, Fiona Mack and Zonara Syed.2025-06-1242 min
Keep Hope Alive PodcastHarnessing Spiritual Insight for Business Success: Fiona Robertson's Journey from Strategy to ChannelingSend us a textFiona Robertson, a luminary in the world of spiritual channeling and business strategy, joins us for an enlightening conversation about tapping into the unseen to achieve tangible success. Discover how Fiona transitioned from a conventional strategist to embracing her psychic abilities, a revelation sparked during the global upheaval of COVID. She shares her unique ability to 'read' the energies within people's bodies and how aligning thoughts can unlock one's highest potential, both personally and professionally. Through engaging anecdotes, like the unexpected appearance of dragons, Fiona illustrates the transformative power of being open to...2025-02-1258 min