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.
Thank you to all of you to make The Nishant Garg Show successful and take it to the next level. It would not have been possible without your support. I hope this mission will help you live mindfully and learn new habits and routines to live with abundance and manage the struggles and challenges of life.
Here is a list of the Top 30 episodes downloaded/listened to in the decreasing order of the downloads in 4-5 weeks of publishing an episode. Each episode is unique and dear to me. I owe a huge thank you to all the listeners and guests on the show.
Please enjoy. Thank you so much for all your support. Your support drives me to do the work. This belongs to you all.
The Nishant Garg Show:
This show is about extracting information on Mindfulness, Personal Development, Spirituality. I am on a mission to spread Mindfulness and I’d love for you to join me in this movement. For any questions, please contact me. If you have enjoyed listening to my podcasts, please subscribe to the new podcast updates on Itunes please provide your reviews on Itunes which will really help me.
This podcast is brought to you byFriday Newsletter. If you’d like to learn more about what I am reading, new documentaries, what I am learning new, recent podcast updates, things I am experimenting with, or anything —which I share extensively in my weekly short and sweet “Friday Newsletter”. No spam ever! I hate that too!
This post highlights a few samples of new newsletter emails I send out every Friday to all the subscribers. You can find the newsletter link here. The email contains details about what I am learning new, recent podcast updates, things I am experimenting with, books I am reading, or anything. It could include details on Mindfulness practices, Happiness, Psychology Mental Health, and much more!
This podcast has been listened to in 32 countries per Spotify in 2021. I’ve interviewed “185+” world-class experts in the last 23 months(as of writing this post) and you will have the access to their tried and tested knowledge that stands the test of time.
Life can be hard at times. It can be hard to cultivate peace and calm when there is a lot going on with work, family, kids, and the world. Healing is possible. My mission is to help people get in touch with their emotions and feelings and be a source of healing.
Below you’ll find 6 different examples of emails I’ve sent out this year. As I am evolving as a human being, my learnings tend to differ from week to week.
Let’s begin and please enjoy. If you like this list, please share the newsletter link with your friends or whoever you think might benefit from it. Thanks in advance.
This post is a selected excerpt from my interview with Ora Nadrich. I read the whole transcript and highlighted the important sections that I personally want to read and revisit. For my own convenience, I decided to put the highlighted sections in this post so that you can also learn something new or remind yourself of the things you already know.
Below are some of the things I am learning and enjoying:
Marketing legend Seth Godin with Guy Kawasaki: Seth studied Computer Science at Tufts University, followed by obtaining his Masters in Business Administration at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. As a champion of talent, Seth is the ultimate advocate for the global conversation on business and marketing. Seth leads the marketing conversation and pushes it forward with his ideas.
Josh Waitzkin and Tim Ferriss on The Cave Process, Advice from Future Selves, and Training for an Uncertain Future: Most of the great performers that I’ve known or competed against or worked within different fields just had this beautiful connection between their areas of dysfunctionality and brilliance. Sometimes the very thing that helps them excel in their professional life, or their artistic life, or their competitive life, is something that in their personal life can be a little bit awkward.
This post is a selected excerpt from my interview with Ora Nadrich. I read the whole transcript and highlighted the important sections that I personally want to read and revisit. For my own convenience, I decided to put the highlighted sections in this post so that you can also learn something new or remind yourself of the things you already know.
Check out her new book Mindfulness and Mysticism: Connecting Present Moment Awareness with the Higher States of Consciousness.
Upon awakening, I try and retrieve a dream. I’ve done a lot of dreamwork over the years. I love to dream catch. I love to not hurry out of bed but to try and remember the journey that I took in a dream state, which is your unconscious. And, I love to spend some time in bed doing that. I never jump out of bed quickly, or I do a bit of meditation in the morning — a breathing meditation, and it’s really more of a meditation of gratitude. I really acknowledge that I’m one more day alive and connected to the breath. So it’s a mindfulness-awareness meditation upon awakening.
My dream work has been very extensive and there’s something called dream interpretation or dream amplification. And really what I encourage people to do with the work that I do, which is in the area of mindfulness, which is the practice of being aware. And I say, take a couple of minutes just to see if you can retrieve a dream because it might have a very special message for you that your unconscious presented to you in a dream state and and it can be really very illuminating
Cultivating a calm state of being:
I think each of us has our own true nature which is the essence or perhaps what can also be called one’s Buddha-nature. It’s just really maybe who we are and I think that if we accept who we are and we allow for our true essence to come forward, we can discover that it is probably much calmer than when we are engaged in life. French philosopher, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, which says we are spiritual beings having a human experience. And it’s our human experiences that really sometimes take us out of those calm states.
I’ve been enjoying learning about Masculine and Feminine energies. Masculine and Feminine are not gender-based. All humans have it, if you believe it or not. It’s so interesting to see that how much we overvalue one energy over the other. Rather, it’s about finding a sweet healthy spot in these energies.
In this blog, I list resources about Toxic Masculinity and Feminity.
This post covers 3 in-depth articles on awakening and connecting your Divine Feminine. These resources are very in-depth and help you understand from basics to advanced.
a) Divine Feminine: 9 Ways to Awaken the Holy Fire of Shakti: Contrary to popular belief, the Divine Feminine isn’t limited only to females. The Divine Feminine is an energy that we all possess, no matter where we are on the gender spectrum (or lack thereof). As a force that is responsible for organizing, ruling, fighting, building, and dominating, masculine energy is certainly useful – but only up until a certain point. If all of life is a process of growth, of maturation, Divine Masculine energy still hasn’t evolved to its fullest potential.
It’s still an awkward, self-conscious, and insecure force that has come to believe (like a naive child) that power comes from overshadowing others. But it doesn’t. What it has failed to learn up until now is that true power comes from within. True power is shown through the mature Divine Masculine acts of mercy, integrity, honesty, and accountability. But all things in life have a dark side – that is an intrinsic realization we must come to terms with on our spiritual journeys. We need to be aware of our shadow selves in order to move into the light.
Masculine and Feminine are part of every human being. We can’t deny one over the other. These are the energies, we all have it, and we get to integrate both of them. It’s a myth that Masculine is strong and Feminine is weak; only males have Masculine energy and Females have Feminine energy – these are the myths.
I was attending a healing retreat where I realized how much I hesitate to connect with certain kinds of men and women. It’s all at the unconscious level. This realization has embarked me on the deep study of Masculine and Feminine energies, how to integrate and embrace these.
Below are some resources I’ve found to be useful for getting started.
a) 7 Kinds Of Healthy Masculine Energy That Inspires True Love To Grow: A man who is confident in his masculinity won’t feel threatened by a woman who is more successful than him. He will want to support you in creating your dreams alongside you. A man who is constantly swayed by those around him isn’t grounded in his own truth.
b) What The Divine Masculine Is All About (And How To Balance It With The Divine Feminine): Divine masculine and divine feminine energy exist in all things—people included. Not to be confused with male versus female, divine feminine and masculine energies can be accessed by all of us, and part of the spiritual path is getting them into a state of balance. Here’s an introduction to divine masculine energy, plus how to tap into yours.
I’ve known Sean for about 6 months and I’m impressed by his vast amount of knowledge in multiple dimensions. We both are part of a collective where we get to hang out with really amazing people to discuss all the facets of life. This collective is led by Dr. Mickra Hamilton and I’m grateful to interview her on the podcast. Listen to the interview.
While at a weekend retreat sitting on the couch, he was explaining “Seven layers of reality” to a mutual friend Sidney. I was sitting next to Sean and I said – wait, and asked him “how about you write a blog post on this fascinating subject” and I’ll share it with a wide audience. As you know, I only place content on this platform that I enjoy and learn from. This piece from Sean is remarkable and it might take you several reads to understand it. If you’ve questions, I will get those answered as well. I’m still learning this model and I couldn’t wait to publish it.
Before we do a deep dive, let’s see who Sean is:
Sean Sessel is the head of The Oculus Institute and a voracious learner with a fervent belief in the ability of the individual to better himself or herself. Through the Awaken program (which shows people how to escape burnout jobs and craft careers that truly inspire them), Sean has found a means of enduring impact. Many thousands have been inspired by the introductory presentation, and Sean has personally worked with over a thousand different people on solving the problems discussed therein, including entrepreneurs, Fortune 500 executives, and professional athletes. His career advice has also been cited in numerous media outlets, including Business Insider and AskMen.
Before The Oculus Institute, Sean was Director of Quantitative Research and Co-Portfolio Manager at Tectonic Advisors, a Registered Investment Adviser with over $1 billion in assets under advisement. Prior to that, he worked as an Associate at Boston Consulting Group, where he specialized in consumer survey analysis and organizational structures. Sean received his B.S. in Bioengineering from Rice University. Throughout this time, he has also been involved as a founder, equity hire, or board member in 12 different startups and 2 different nonprofit organizations.
His hobbies include traveling, games of calculation (including chess, backgammon, various card games, etc.), CrossFit, mixology, and Muay Thai.
IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: LSD and Psychedelics are illegal in many countries, and even possession can carry severe criminal penalties. None of this post constitutes medical advice or should be construed as a recommendation to use psychedelics. There are serious legal, psychological, and physical risks. Psychedelics are not for everyone—they can exacerbate certain emotional problems, and there have been, in very rare cases, fatalities.
As the saying goes, if you don’t have twenty minutes to practice meditation, practice for an hour.
Being mindful means that we must feel every emotion we experience in every moment, without disengaging and letting our emotions manage us.
This post highlights a written interview with Keren Tsuk, Ph.D. I sent her a few questions and she’s been kind enough to send me the responses. It’s my honor to bring forth her experiences in this short post. I’ve absolutely loved her answers which feel meditative to me.
Keren Tsuk, Ph.D., is a keynote speaker, consultant, and thought leader in 21st-century leadership sought-after speaker, As the founder and CEO of consulting firm Wisdom To Lead, she specializes in the development of senior management teams and corporate leadership. Tsuk guides companies and senior management teams to reach their full potential using various techniques in the field of mindfulness. She is also the author of Mindfully Wise Leadership: The Secret of Today’s Leaders.
Nishant: What books—or even movies and documentaries—would you recommend to someone who wants to live a meaningful life? What books have you gifted the most, and why?
Keren: One book that had a deep impact on me was The Alchemist, about an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago who consults a Gypsy fortune-teller about the meaning of a recurring dream. The fortune-teller interprets the dream as a prophecy, telling the boy that he will discover a treasure at the Egyptian pyramids. After Santiago sets out, he meets various people on his journey. From everyone, he learns something about the world, and, in particular, he learns how to realize his true self from a wise alchemist. As he progresses, his challenges increase. He needs to believe in himself and in the journey. The story demonstrates that to fulfill our calling in the world, we need to search within ourselves, while also being open and curious to the signs outside that help us find our path.
I truly believe that each of us has wisdom, and nobody can know about ourselves more than we each do. This is the reason I called my company Wisdom To Lead: In order to lead, we need to connect to the wisdom within ourselves.
What touched me most from this book is that even on our challenging paths, everyone has a present to bring to the world. This present is our unique quality and calling in the world.
In order to fulfill your calling, you will also need to find your unique path. While you move forward in life, and people around you will show you the way, give you signs, open doors for you, and connect you to the people you need to meet to fulfill yourself. They will teach you what you need to learn along the journey. And as you go in your path, you need to connect deeper to your inner self and overcome fears and distractions. And as we get closer to our treasure and fulfillment, the challenges get bigger and we may have to face our fears. However, this is a sign that we are on the right path. We need to dare to get out of our comfort zones to experience the meaningful lives we wish for ourselves.
Another meaningful book is: When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times by Pema Chodron, which teaches us how to handle uncertainty and adversity. When I read the book, it gave me a wider perspective on challenging situations and how to handle them. Each and every one of us goes through tough times especially today under pandemic conditions that are transforming the world. We are experiencing uncertainty, ambiguity, and complexity. It looks like the uncertainty is here to stay. This is why being present and being able to navigate in uncertain and challenging times is a crucial skill that we need to embrace and nourish.
At the beginning of her book, Chodron shares a difficult experience she went through when her husband divorced her and her life fell apart. She felt a lot of anger and fear. However, this turning point brought her closer to her mission in life, as she encountered Buddhism and went on a path to become a teacher. In the end, she was thankful for the experience, and that is a major theme of the book—the idea that life is all beginnings and endings. Moreover, she talks about becoming familiar with fear and looking it right in the eye so that we can really come to terms with what we feel that we cannot address. This resonated with me so much; this is what being mindful truly means. Being mindful is to feel our various emotions without disconnecting from them, and choosing freely how to react instead of being managed by our own feelings and emotions. So, if I feel fearful right now, I will accept that —that part of me feels scared right now but I won’t let this fear paralyze me. Acknowledging fear allows us to keep on going toward our goals.
The Blog of Nishant Garg 