Shows
In Our NatureHow to Explain Your Terrible Sense of Fear & Dread to Someone Who Really Doesn’t Seem to CareMy normal pod workflow is still interrupted by the demands of …well…being an earthling in these times trying to serve people outside of the normative economic rules while also staying rested and fed? As such, in today’s episode I’m drawing from one of the resources I use in my classes, and you can read a version on my website tooThis one is for the people waking up to the severity of our entangled systemic breakdown, who feel profound fear and dread for the world, but struggles to connect with others who don't see...2025-07-2516 minIn Our NatureWhere I Explain Our Worsening Mental Health to My Friends’ DogToday is a bit different. My original pod is delayed so I'm reading part of a resource I use in one of my classes, there's also an adapted version on my website.Join me as, during a walk with Bella the dog, we look at:The profound links between our mental well-being our planetary well-being, and our economyHow and why the implications of these connections are somewhat obscuredWhat happens when our frenetic, consumer mindset infiltrates everything (and how it affects our dogs!) The "beast" (non-dog, non-human) that operates completely i...2025-07-0220 minIn Our NatureFeeling Stuck? It’s Because One of Your Most Crucial Human Skills Is Going ExtinctAnother title for this pod could be: "My clients are complaining that I don't fix them fast enough"Today we're poking around how our click-and-collect, same day delivery, frenetic consumer mindset has infiltrated everything, including how we do therapy, coaching, rest, and healing....and how this is all causing the the quiet but catastrophic extinction of one of our key human capacities....patience.Join me to explore:Why your impatience is getting worse (me too) How colonial-capitalist systems rewired us to hate slowness, uncertainty, and processWhat we lose when we l...2025-06-1240 minIn Our NatureThe Transformative, Luminous Power of Honouring Our Pain: with Kathleen Rude & The Work That ReconnectsToday I'm joined by the wise, kind and amazing Kathleen Rude — a long-time facilitator of The Work That Reconnects among many other roles and passions — to talk about the incredible alchemical magic of honouring our pain. Yes: pain. Feeling the painful feels. Beholding them. Honouring them. Come join us:Kathleen guides us through an exploration of what the Work That Reconnects actually is, and why frameworks like this really matter more than everWhy our grief, rage, anxiety and despair are not flaws to fix or manage...2025-05-201h 05In Our NatureAre You Feeling Your Feelings … or THINKING Your Feelings? (And Why Your Answer Really Matters)Most of the people I work with think they know how to feel their feelings. They are feeling their feelings all the time, they tell me. But many of them are wrong. Are you wrong? I was totally wrong. Because many of us are not feeling our feelings. We are THINKING our feelings.And the distinction really, really matters, now more than ever, as our planet faces challenges of an unprecedented entangled scale. Join me to explore: How our modern culture (including therapy, coaching, and spirituality) teac...2025-05-0237 minIn Our NatureWhy You Might Be Feeling a Bit Crazy: The Maddening Paradoxes of our TimeIf you feel like you’re quietly losing your mind while the world carries on like everything’s normal, then I have good news: You are not only quite sane indeed but pretty amazing. Let’s be friends. In this episode, I roll out the picnic blanket of shared madness and invite you to sit on it with me while we explore the paradoxes and absurdities that make the nice people feel like they’re the crazy ones.We touch on:What I mean by "mad" and "crazy" The way paradoxes and contradictions dog our lives...2025-04-1239 minIn Our NatureThat Mean Voice In Your Head Is Not You. It's Just a GoblinYou know that inner voice that tells you you’re lazy, unlovable, unproductive, failing in life, worthless and ugly? Many of us listen to that inner voice, taking it very personally and thinking there's a lot of truth behind the yelling. But this episode reveals that the voice is actually just a goblin..a particularly shouty little creature who thrives in individualist cultures obsessed with growth, productivity, accomplishment and personal responsibility.Join me to...meet the goblin and understand how they were born understand the goblin's ideological lineagelearn why lovely, principled, wonderful peopl...2025-03-2631 minIn Our NatureWhat Happens When Our Spiritual Grounding & Our Meaning-Making Frameworks for Life Stop...Helping?Nice to see you, but this is a non-episode so don’t get too comfy. I'm calling on your input around a theme that’s come up in our recent episodes: what happens when your usual ways of grounding yourself, like your spiritual, philosophical, religious, or therapeutic frameworks and orientations, suddenly feel completely insufficient, particularly in the context of collapse, breakdown and unravelling of systems, structures and species?I’m inviting you to:Share your thoughts, experiences, or questions on this theme for a possible third episode in this seriesAnd / or join a sm...2025-03-0817 minIn Our NatureThe Profound Gifts That Only Collapse & Breaking Down Can RevealJoin me for part two of our conversation on collapse, unravelling and breakdown. It’s way better than it sounds, promise. This one has gifts and treasures! But, it also has some hard stuff, so listen only if you feel up to it. Included in the episode...A reminder that collapse and breakdown aren't failures, but actually a fundamental part of nature’s cycles — whether we’re talking about ecological, social, financial collapse, or your own inner mental breakdown (been there)The massive blind spots in self-help, coaching, and therapy when it comes to...2025-02-2837 minIn Our NatureIt's In Our Nature to Unravel & Collapse (& Why Seeing This Can Actually Help Anxiety)Today we’re talking about the most fundamental of cosmic laws. One that governs everything from stars, to soil, to the thoughts in your mind. A cosmic law that we humans have spent centuries pretending doesn’t exist. A cosmic law that, when honoured and accepted, can strengthen our mental wellbeing as well as the wellbeing of our planet, our communities, our democracies and our relationships. It's the cosmic law of...life and death. Join me as we explore:The fundamental natural cycle of rise and fall, expansion and contract...2025-02-1335 minIn Our NatureWhy We Need The Anxious, Overwhelmed, Sensitive Overthinkers. Right Now. Exactly As You Are. Please ComeIf you relate to being anxious, sensitive, easily overwhelmed or always overthinking every darn thing....this is my call to you.Today we're exploring how these profoundly pathologised traits are, actually, exactly what the world needs right now. Join me as we tinker with: How overthinking and anxiety are misunderstood, undervalued, and categorised as “problems” to be fixed (including by me in past times, which is totally cringe)The connection between anxiety, sensitivity, overwhelm and overthinking with being caring, thoughtful, kind and not an asshOle (and why this is relevant)Why an...2025-01-2443 minIn Our NatureThese Little Thoughts Are Keeping Us Away From Peace & Clarity (And They Aren’t Even Ours)Today we’re exploring the thought patterns that keep us stuck in cycles of overwhelm, guilt, and inaction, and that block change, prevent peace and clarity, and deny us the spaciousness we desperately need in our lives. But these thoughts aren’t yours — they are influenced by broader societal stories and cultural conditioning and we’re going upstream to catch them in the act. So to speak. This episode is a follow-up to What Happens When the Space We Need for Our Mental Wellbeing Is Being Sold off to the Highest Bidder? If you h...2025-01-0842 minIn Our NatureIs It in Our Nature To Be Restless, Unsettled and Anxious?This episode is a re-release from season one that traces a familiar experience: feeling anxious and restless even when there’s ‘nothing to worry about’. Like when one is hiking in the beautiful mountains with a month off work (me).Originally aired when the podcast was called Inner Peace and Other Cool Shit, this episode is an important reminder of the upstream influences on our feelings and experiences. I’m exploring responses to this in upcoming episodes, so this is for the benefit of new listeners (hi, friends) and anyone else needing a refresher. If you...2024-12-261h 02In Our NatureWhy You Never, Ever Feel Good Enough (Even Though You Are Somewhat Amazing)We’re poking our sticky fingers into the feelings of worthlessness and inadequacy that so many of us carry. Why do we think we’re not enough? Where do these thoughts come from? Why are they so persistent and stick around, no matter how 'good' we get? And, why did I write I was a worthless piece of sh!t in my journal for many a year?!Join me as we examine the tangled web of personal thought, cultural narratives, and societal systems that feed these feelings of utter worthlessness––and let’s see what it takes t...2024-12-1341 minIn Our NatureWhat Happens When the Space We Need for Our Mental Wellbeing Is Being Sold off to the Highest Bidder?If you feel like your mind, car, house, desk, local supermarket and —everywhere, actually, come to think of it— is chaotic, cluttered, full and busy… …you aren’t imagining it. This one’s for you. Today we’re talking about the crucial need for space in our lives —both internally and externally — and how this is rapidly being sold off, occupied and taken over. Join me as we explore:How the erasure of space—mentally, physically, and environmentally— makes us feel like crapWhat the psycho-spiritual gu...2024-11-2239 minIn Our NatureWhat a Weird Coincidence That Both Our Mental Health and the Earth’s Systems Are More Fragile Than Ever (It’s Like We Are Intimately Connected or Something)You know how we humans can fall apart or lose our sh*t when under too much pressure, stress, or neglect? Ever noticed that that’s what’s happening to our planet, too? The effects of biodiversity loss and climate breakdown are being felt in many places and we humans are breaking down, collapsing, and having meltdowns too. Coincidence? Of course not.Today we’re looking at the striking parallels between our personal mental health and the planet’s wellbeing. Join me to explore: The natural conn...2024-10-3139 minIn Our NatureYou Have a Radically Powerful (But Highly Misunderstood) Gift That Can Transform Your Experience of a World in ChaosOk, you want to know what your radically powerful (but highly misunderstood) gift that can transform your experience of a world in chaos is without listening to the whole epiosde? It's GRATITUDE. ...And if that feels like a disappointing, damp, dribbly answer....then this episode is especially for you. Today we’re revealing gratitude as the profound, fierce, and life-affirming force that connects us to the world around us and NOT the superficial, commodified version many of us in the West grew up with.True gratitude is an enlivening power that counters the emot...2024-10-1240 minIn Our NatureThis Myth About Human Nature Is Making Us Feel Anxious & Worthless (Oh, And Completely Wrecking Our Planet)Today we are poking at the slimy, damaging myth of Homo Economicus—the cold, self-interested, rational creature that modern economics says we all are. This story has shaped our minds, relationships, structures, behaviours and planets (well, at least one so far: Earth, the best one) and has led to utter catastrophe, inside and out.If: you’re tired of being told that selfishness is ’just human nature’ andyou suspect it’s not your fault that you feel anxious, worthless, sh*tty and tired, and(crucially) you enjoy your podcast episodes with a faint backdrop of Aotearoa...2024-09-2232 minIn Our NatureWhy Are We Pretending Normal Life Is Fine When It’s Actually Very Unnatural and Weird?This episode discusses lying in the foetal position in a dark room and the desire to drink gin during the day while hiding under a duvet. Can you relate? ‘Normal’ life has become rather peculiar, what with all of the ecosystem-destroying and mental-health-shredding shenanigans that seem to prop up the economy. Join me as we explore:The stark contrast between "normal" and "natural"The many ways modern life has veered away from natural rhythms and balanceThe implications of our unnatural norms and how they shape our mental health and the planetWhat happens when we are ou...2024-09-1132 minIn Our NatureImagination, Stories & Systems: The Forces Shaping These Times with Sarah Patterson of Common EarthLooking for fascinating insights into the intersection of human behaviour and our planetary predicament? Curious about the connection between our stories and our systems? This one’s for you.My guest is Sarah Patterson: President of Common Earth, delightful human, and a catalyst for my own ecological awakening.Join us as we talk about:- The dual power of our incredible human gift of imagination—its ability to create and innovate, but also its potential to trap us in false or harmful narratives.- The importance of s...2024-09-011h 11In Our Nature"All Of This" (gestures around wildly) "Is Not in Our Nature"Welcome to the first episode of In Our Nature, where we explore the invisible forces, currents and stories shaping our inner and outer worlds.In the episode today: - An intro to the pod, the questions we will ask and how it (and me) wants to serve you- Reflection on the shift from the Inner Peace & Other Cool Shit podcast and the natural evolution of the podcast’s themes.- Asking why are we so busy, anxious, and overwhelmed in a world full of time-saving technology?- The importance of context in sha...2024-08-2624 minIn Our NatureIntroducing: In Our NatureAbsolutely everything is interconnected in astonishing dynamic ways that we are only beginning to understand. The In Our Nature explores these connections, along with the unseen but profoundly influential currents, systems, cycles, patterns, stories, and constructs that shape both our inner lives and the world around us.Join me as we look beyond our personal experience and our individual thoughts and feelings, to the place where environmental, societal, historical, ecological and mythological contexts meet and mingle with our mental health and planetary moment.The In Our Nature pod wants to shed light on the hidden c...2024-08-2301 min
In Our NatureThat Calm Mind You Yearn For? The Books, Courses, Coaching & Podcasts Might Not Be Helping (Including This One)Today's episode is asking you to check in with yourself to see if the podcasts, courses, books and so on are helping with your enjoyment of life and your journey of less anxiety and more peace.And if not? I’m offering you a sneaky exit. Join me to explore:Why you might want to leave behind the “helpful consumption” of solutions to anxiety and other feelings How real insights and epiphanies often come from lived experiences rather than theoretical understandingSigns you might be ready to just take what you have and get out...2024-07-1828 min
In Our Nature“We Have an Inner Compass to Guide Us Through an Uncertain Future” With Rebecca GardnerToday I am joined by Certified Change Coach, meditation teacher, loving mother and delightful human Rebecca Gardner.Becca guides people in transforming their relationship with their minds and came to the work she now does through her own journey of anxiety, overthinking and worry which many listeners may resonate with.Join us to explore:The role of thought in creating our fear of the future How an understanding of our minds might help when it comes to navigating longer term, enormous issues such as economic and climate breakdownThe inner compass a...2024-06-301h 12
In Our NatureHow Innocent Little Words Contribute to Big, Prickly Thought-StoriesToday we're poking at the power of teeny, innocent-seeming words in creating enormous, perilous towers of thought stories. Join me to meander through:My research project on inner peace and how it led to a little tangent on the power of wordsHow seeing the creation of Big Collective Thought releases you from taking your personal, individual thought too seriouslyExploring how casual historical labels can shape our modern thinkingNoticing how the recency bias in historical narratives has implications on societal values and norms in the present day (including around productivity, anxiety and progress)L...2024-06-1436 min
In Our NatureWe’ve Made up What Mental Illness Is (And Who Decides What’s Normal Anyway?)In today's episode we are exploring how our concepts of mental health and illness are not fixed truths but socially constructed ideas. What’s normal and what’s not is made up via thought and is always changing. Those with a diagnosis that doesn’t feel quite right might especially like this episode, along with those who always feel a bit out of place or like they don’t fit in with ‘normal people’ (like me)Join me to meander through:My bent-double moment of laughing in the bathroom that inspired the...2024-05-2145 min
In Our NatureExpanding the Conversation to Meet These Extraordinarily Precarious TimesYou know how we say that peace and wellbeing are our true nature? Well, have you ever wondered why we are living in times of perilous uncertainty, unprecedented inequality, lack of trust, and political, social and ecological breakdown, not to mention sustained war and conflict?Me too. This episode explains some upcoming modifications to the podcast and in the way I work, and I'll be sharing the education, lessons and insights that impelled the changes, mostly inspired by the above question. Join me to explore:- The quest which began...2024-05-0348 min
In Our NatureThat Always-Tired Feeling: Thought Problem, Body Problem, or Something Else?Tired? Yep. Seems many of us are struggling with tiredness as the speed of society gathers pace each year. This episode is about 34 minutes. Take a nap and we'll wake you at the end. There's nothing new here. You know it all already. You just don't like it (and me too).We'll explore: The increase in tiredness and exhaustion in modern society - is this a thing?My experience with tiredness (clue: I did not "coach" myself out of it or transcend tiredness through realisation or insight)What place does a...2024-04-1534 min
In Our NatureHow That Anxious, Restless, Unsettled Feeling Is Originally Created (Clue: It’s Nothing to Do with You)It's the first episode back after the summer break and I can't wait to talk about horrid feelings with you. Join me for an exploration on the birth and evolution of anxious, restless, unsettled feelings, and how understanding this helps ease their ickiness so we can return to peace.This episode will meander through: A long intro vividly describing my anxious thought storm while on holiday A reminder of the relationship between thoughts and feelings and the outside worldWhen it's relevant to look at the content of thought itself, and...2024-03-2854 min
In Our NatureHow to Answer Your Own Questions When Everything Is Confusing and WeirdJoin me to explore how we can answer our questions, solve our problems and get clarity and guidance from within.We often want to seek guidance and counsel from others when we're unsure of the way forward, but getting a feel for our own inner guide, and learning to trust it, can be transformative.Luckily, we humans are perfectly equipped with the features that guide us to clarity... although very few of us know or trust this.This episode will explore:Where do solutions and answers come from...2023-12-2938 min
In Our Nature'The Limitless Potential that Lies Beyond Our Habitual Thinking' with Sarah Armitage and Michelle McCartanWhat an honour to have Sarah Armitage and Michelle McCartan as my special guests on the Inner Peace & Other Cool Shit podcast.Both Sarah and Michelle are masterful coaches and facilitators with their own practices working with leaders and organisations. In 2023 they came together to create Pure Potential, a unique offering designed to explore the limitless potential of humans through a shared developmental experience.Sarah and Michelle have a special synergy and I love knowing there are people like these two in the world.Please join us to explore: T...2023-12-081h 21
In Our Nature"The Peace & Calm You Want Is Right There....Really" with Lisa EsileI loved having Lisa Esile as my special guest on the Inner Peace & Other Cool Shit podcast. As well as being a writer and author, Lisa specialises in helping people navigate challenges, understand what their mind is really up to, and tap into their inner strengths and insights. Lisa is also the founder of the Do Nothing meditation school. She is also bloody delightful and I loved hanging out with her. This conversation lingered with me long after we said goodbye.Please join us to explore: A heartfelt discussion on the...2023-11-151h 14
In Our Nature"But My Problems Create My Thoughts, So How Does This Stuff Even Help Me?"Have you ever been musing on the inside-out nature of the human experience and thought..."Feelings come from thoughts, so you say? OK. Maybe. But my thoughts come from the problems in my life anyway. So how does all this stuff about understanding the human experience help me?"If so, me too! And many others. This episode is for you. We'll cover:YAY! My feelings aren't created by my job/partner/lack of worth - they are created by thoughts! But wait - my thoughts are created by those things - huh?Wh...2023-10-2840 min
In Our NatureFrom the Archives: Your Experience Is Always Moving (And Why This Matters)I'm plucking a popular early episode out of the archives, dusting it off and serving it with a side of my fresh-this-morning opinion. Everything is always changing: out there in the world and inside you. Our thoughts, feelings, moods, perspectives, ideas, emotions, opinions and everything else are constantly on the move.For those that haven't heard this one, join me-from-ages-ago to explore:Why it SEEMS like we are stuck in life, and how it's actually impossible to actually BE stuckHow seeing the constantly changing nature of ....every darn thing ever!....helps us relate to a...2023-10-0632 min
In Our NatureThe Ordinary, Everyday Clues That Reveal Our Anxiety-Busting Powers (That We Completely Ignore)Today we are taking a look at the cool clues and hidden hints in everyday life that point to our human design...and why we ignore them or miss them to live in suffering instead!Join me to explore:The incredible powers that we humans have available to us to heal from anxiety, stress and worry and live in more peace and calmThe everyday, hidden-in-plain-sight, ordinary clues surrounding us that can help us recognise and build trust in these powers Why we ignore the clues, or miss them, or not realise their significance How exploring this in...2023-09-2036 min
In Our Nature"We Will Always, Always Find Our Way Back" With Erika BugbeeHow wonderful to have Erika Bugbee as my special guest on the Inner Peace & Other Cool Shit podcast. Erika specialises in working with teens, young adults, and parents through her global coaching practice. She also trains and mentors practitioners, as well as speaking and presenting at international conferences about finding more resilience and peace of mind, and navigating stress and uncertainty. I loved hanging out with Erika; this conversation really illuminates the amazing way we humans find our way back from frenzied overthinking and anxiety. Please join us to explore: 2023-09-011h 11
In Our NatureAnxiety Freedom: Big Fat Myths Debunked (Part 2)Please join me for the second part of our exploration into myths and misconceptions around having less anxiety and more peace. We'll cover:An example of my human brain being a silly billy recently A quick recap of common myths from Anxiety Freedom: Big Fat Myths Debunked (Part 1)The myths and misconceptions you sent in (thanks to those who contributed)What these all have in common Why seeing this is helpful, especially for those that experience a lot of anxiety and overwhelmWhat Anxious Alice has to sayIf you love a blanket-rustling-infused audio experience, a hast...2023-08-2123 min
In Our NatureFrom the Archives: Your Brain Is (Still) Just Being a BrainI'm plucking a popular early episode out of the vault, dusting it off and serving it like an aged cheese. For those that haven't heard this one, join me-from-ages-ago to explore:The normal ways a brain behaves Why a brain being a brain is not a problem to be solved How understanding this can transform our relationship to anxiety, worrying and overthinkingWhat does Anxious Alice think about a brain being a brain? Is she even listening?Also, we possibly set a record for the number of times the word 'dog' is said in one podcast episodeW...2023-07-2728 min
In Our NatureYour Feelings Don't Need an Explanation, Cause or ReasonWe humans love to match our feelings with a thing out there in the outside world, don't we? And no wonder - all of society is set up to reinforce that other people, events, things and situations cause our feelings. But what if that's not true? And what if seeing more around that can make us feel lighter and more at ease in life?Join me to explore- Why it looks like the outside causes our feelings on the inside- Why this might be the wrong way round...2023-07-1330 min
In Our Nature"Well, That's Cats for You"Hello dear friends. Come and join me for a few minutes as I explain why the publishing of the podcast has been interrupted (mostly blaming my cat and taking zero responsibility myself) Then I squeeze in a quick teaching moment about thoughts, before backing away again and letting you know the next episode will be out next week. Ok, that's it. I guess you don't need to listen after all. Mentioned: If you want, pop your name down for updates, events and news here or get in touch at hello@siobhanfriel...2023-06-2804 min
In Our Nature"We Can Be Free To Live Life" With Dr Bill PettitWhat an utter privilege and joy to have Dr William F. Pettit, Jr, MD ("Can I call you Bill?") as my special guest on the podcast. Dr Bill Pettit is a much-loved practitioner, mentor, teacher and guide in the space of the Three Principles, and a retired Adjunct Clinical Professor of Psychiatry. He has worked with many people from many countries over many decades (4!) helping them to realise their innate wellbeing and to live with ease and joy. Please join us to explore: Bill's experience of depression before coming across the tea...2023-06-131h 11
In Our NatureAnxiety Freedom: Big Fat Myths Debunked (Part 1)Us humans seem to think that a journey to less anxiety and more peace will look a certain way. But that’s utter rubbish. We think there’s a path to follow, and that path will have a certain timeline and certain steps and will feel a certain way. Poppycock! Come with me as we explore the common myths we encounter when we look in the direction of anxiety freedom. We’ll see why these myths even exist (clue: it’s our human brains!) and poke at them a bit to shak...2023-06-0225 min
In Our Nature"Your Mind Quiets Itself" With Dave BermanWhat fun to have coach, laughter expert and vibrant human Dave Berman on the Inner Peace & Other Cool Shit podcast. Dave has laughed with people in all 50 US states and in 70 other countries, and he has a unique way of working with people to help them have a more joyful experience of life through their own insights and realisations.Please join us to explore: Dave’s journey from mental illness and medication to travel and laughter and the pivotal insights he had along the wayHow the mind worksThe nature of thoughtHow seei...2023-05-201h 03