My Personal Favorite Podcasts from 2021 and 2020

Whenever people asked me what my personal favorite podcasts are, I always struggled to answer this. I always responded with a smile — “how can you differentiate among your children, who’s your favorite and who’s not?”

I found myself repeating the same and realized that it’s time to write about it. When something keeps appearing in life, it’s a sign from life telling us something. Better to listen to life as one of my friends says life gives you a curriculum. Well, I finally decided to write about it rather than dodging this question every time.

Yes, every podcast episode is very dear to me as so much work goes behind the scenes. To shortlist my favorite ones was challenging and I had to think about some criteria to limit the list.

The criteria are:

• I’ve become friends with the guests.
• The podcast did exceptionally well beyond my expectations and self-judgments.
• The podcast was very self-satisfying to me even though it didn’t do very well in terms of downloads.
• Guests introduced me to their friends for future guest potential. Therefore, I’ve interviwed 185+ experts from different areas.
• They have coached me in some capacity.
• Guests promoted the hell out of the podcast on their social platforms and newsletters.

Below is the list of podcasts. This list is in the decreasing order of publishing date. It’s not in the order of my favorites.

1) Mo Edjlali — Inner state of being, Mindful Leadership and Contemplative Practices, Uncovering Unconscious Beliefs, Processing Grief and Sad Emotions, and More (#176)

2) William Richards (Bill) — The Promise of Psychedelic Substances, Studying with Abraham Maslow, Psychedelics and Mystical Experiences, Administering Psychedelics Psychotherapy, Origin and The Future of Psychedelics, End-of-Life psychedelic Psychotherapy, and More (#174)

3) Rhonda Magee on Inner Work and Healing Ourselves, Mindfulness in Race and Justice, Resolving Conflicts and Handling Difficult Conversations, and More (#172)

4) Denise Shull — The Role of Emotions in Decision Making, Resolving Mental Blocks, Performance Coach to Professional Athletes, Understanding the Feelings, Experiencing Peak Performance, and More (#169)

5) Dr. Romie Mushtaq — Optimizing Brain Health, Cure for Busy Brain, Restore Sanity, Sleep, & Sense of Connection, Wellness Paradigms, Connection with Divine, Root causes of Depression, and More (#167)

6) Raj Sisodia on Wholeness and Healing, Spiritual Journey in the Himalayas, Mind Maps for Writing, Ayahuasca Experience, Feminine and Masculine Energy, Conscious Capitalism, and More (#159)

7) Ora Nadrich — Questioning your Thoughts, Transformational Thinking, Cultivating Calm and Relaxed State, Mindfulness in Motion, Dream Work, Live True, and More (#158)

8) Debbie Millman on Deep Relationships, Creativity and Growth, The Importance of Therapy, Hope and Resilience, and More (#154)

9) Sarah Sarkis on Mastery, Psychological Flexibility, Emotional Skills and Self-Regulation Practices, Relationship with Risk, Sense of Wellness, and More (#153)

10) Jeremy Hunter on The Quality of Life and Attention, Meaningful and Engaged Life, Why Moments Matter, Japan Bathing Culture, and More (#152)

11) Daphne Rose Kingma — Finding True Love, Coming Apart, Why Relationships End, Living Through Crisis, and More (#150)

12) Patricia Karpas on Self-Reliance, How to Celebrate Mistakes, R.A.I.N. Practice to Handle Challenges, Meditation for Beginners, and More (#142)

13) Michael Ostrolenk— The Emergent Human, Exploring Optimized Mind, Body, Health, Embodied Spirituality, Transcend Limits (#141)

14) Dr. Dyan Haspel-Johnson on Hypnosis, Improving Quality of Sleep, Slowing Down Brain Waves, Altered States, and Much More (#140)

15) Wendy Quan on The Calm Monkey, Beating Cancer, Taking a Leap of Faith, and Much More (#137)

16) Ariel Garten — Co-founder of Muse: The Brain Sensing Headband, Meditation Practice, Kill Your Inner Critic, and Much More (#136)

17) Dr. Susan LaCombe — Coping with Trauma, Emotionally Available Therapist, Somatic Models, Connection of Trauma with Nervous System, and Much More (#135)

18) Ruchika Sikri — Head of Well-being Learning Strategy at Google (#133)

19) Dr. Ronald Siegel — Full Catastrophe Living, Escape vs Engagement, Restoring Moments of Sanity, Healthy Romantic Relationships, and Much More (#132)

20) Dr. Dan Tomasulo — Learned Hopefulness, Science of Happiness and Hope, Cherishing Relationships, The Craft of Storytelling Writing, and Much More (#131)

21) Dr. Maria Sirois — Overcoming Victim Mentality, Happiness in the Darkest Times, Finding Meaning in the Suffering, Lessons Learned from the Hospice Facility, and More (#129)

22) Judi Miller — Healing Inherited Trauma from Ancestors, Forgiveness Recipe, Past Life Connections, 90 Seconds Rule, Reflections to Open Your Heart, and Much More (#128)

23) Kelly Boys — The Blind Spot Effect, From Autopilot to a Life of Insights, Developing Intelligence, Stepping out of Lifelong Patterns, and More (#126)

24) Kathy Caprino — Finding Brave, The Most Powerful You, Writing Routine, Claiming a Life of Passion (#124)

25) Cara Bradley — Peak Performance Secrets, Flow and Optimized State, Gut-Brain Connection, and More (#121)

26) Henna Inam — Wired for Disruption, Lessons from Ashram, 5 Shifts in Agility, 10 Powerful Questions to Ask Yourself, and More (#120)

27) Michael Bunting — Ethics and Values based Mindfulness, Inner Inquiry Work, Mindful Leadership, Developmental Practice, and More (#111)

28) Elisha Goldstein, PhD — Natural Antidepressants, Greater Purpose, Relieving Anxiety, Building Supportive Community, and More (#107)

29) Janet Attwood — The Passion Test, Mastering Self-Love, Wisdom From Spiritual Masters, The Power of Ritual, and More (#103)

30) Simone Figueroa — Recovering Perfectionist, Bullet Proof Coffee, Canyon Ranch Experience, Shifting Mental Health Landscape, and More (#102)

31) Dr. Tho Ha Vinh — Learning from Thich Nhat Hanh, Gross National Happiness, Buddhist Teachings, Special Education Work, and More (#101)

32) Dr. Margaret Rutherford, Psychologist — Perfectly Hidden Depression , Perfectionism, Self-Acceptance, Mindfulness For Shame and Depression (#98)

33) Rob Dube — imageOne Co-Founder, a Forbes Small Giant, Meditator, Runner, Do Nothing, Morning Ritual, and More (#97)

34) Nicole Tetreault, Neuroscientist – Social Meditation, Therapeutic Writing, Botanical Growth, Cultivating Calm, and More (#94)

35) Raj Raghunathan, Business Professor, Author – If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You Happy? (#95)

36) Dr. Chris Willard on Raising Resilience, Travel, Growing Up Mindful, Meditation Retreats, and More (#88)

37) Alisa Cohn on Startups, Executive Coaching, High Stakes Conversation, Better Decision Making, Meditation, Pausing, and more

38) Mirabai Bush on Loving Everyone, Contemplative Practices, Walking Each Other Home, and more

39) Dr. Alexei Vranich on Thinking like an Archaeologist, Stoicism, Bio-mechanics of Breathing, Meditation, Happiness, and More (#81)

40) Tal Ben-Shahar — Happiness and Relationships Master Class

41) Deborah Rozman, Ph.D. on Heart Intelligence, Coherence, Transforming Stress, Inner Balance, and More (#79)

42) Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, Brain Scientist — Finding Balance between Right and Left Brain, Nine Second Rule, Stroke Of Insight, and More (#76)

43) Michael J. Gelb — How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci, Spiritual Practices, and More

45) Tara Cousineau, PhD on The Science of Compassion, Kindness Cure, Negativity Bias and more

46) Kirk Parsley, M.D. — Former Navy SEAL, Physician to the SEALs, and Sleep Optimization Expert (#68)

47) Dr. Tara Well, PhD – Psychologist, Mirror Meditation Expert, and TED Speaker

48) Guy Kawasaki: Author, Speaker, and Evangelist

49) Colleen Gallagher on Monkey Mind, Suffering, Mindfulness, and Stillness (#59)

50) Katie Grimes – Love Addiction, Love Attachment, Love Avoidance, Toxic Relationship

51) Elizabeth Ross – Intersection of Conscious Mindfulness and Capitalism, Work-Life Integration, Creativity

52) Dr. John Schinnerer – Positive Psychology. Anger Management, Forgiveness, Positive Masculinity

53) Elizabeth Perry — Being in the Now, Surrender, Faith, Detachments, Escapism (#44)

54) Megan McDonough – Living with EASE

55) Dr. Cortney S. Warren, PhD, ABPP – Choose Honesty, Honest Liars, The Psychology of Self-Deception

56) Dr. Beth Kurland, Ph.D. – Reflections for the Mindful Soul, Transcend the Habits of Your Mind & Awakening to Your Fullest Life

57) Jennifer Shapiro-Lee — Coping with Uncertainty, Building Better Mental Health, Grief Process, Psychotherapy, and More

58) Sonya Stattmann – Empowering Ourselves with Boundaries, Gratitude & more

59) Dr. Mickra Hamilton — Lifestyle Strategies, Optimizing Performance, Epigenetics for Precision Performance, and More

60) Allison Jackson – The 3-Legged Wellness Stool: Nutrition, Movement & Spirituality

61) Mark Struczewski – On Success Habits, Routines and Productivity

62) Shelley Brown – Mindfulness at Work and Beyond

63) Podcast with Monica Ortiz — On Evolving Through Mindfulness and Surprising Inspiration

64) Dr. Gabrielle Pelicci Ph.D. – Becoming Whole and Happy through Creativity and Self-Expression

65) Podcast with Mollie McGlocklin- Sleep is a Skill

65) Rha Goddess — Inner Peace, Stay True, Get Paid, and Do Good

Please enjoy.

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