#10 - Dean Pohlman - What Men's Work Actually Is (And Why Most Men Avoid It)

#10 - Dean Pohlman - What Men's Work Actually Is (And Why Most Men Avoid It)

Dean Pohlman | manflowyoga.com [http://manflowyoga.com] YouTube: youtube.com/manflowyoga [http://youtube.com/manflowyoga] Better Man Podcast: available everywhere Dean Pohlman built Man Flow Yoga starting in 2013 by recording videos in his college apartment. What started as a fitness-focused yoga brand for inflexible men slowly became something else — a community asking harder questions. What kind of person do I want to be? Where am I not showing up? How do the behaviors I adapted as a child negatively impact who I am today? He just finished a men's retreat when we sat down. And what he shared is some of the most honest conversation on this show. In this conversation: * What men's work actually is — and why most men avoid it * The David Goggins approach vs the softer path — and why setting the weight down is harder than keeping it on * Why the biggest fear underneath all of it is the same: fear of not being loved * The merry-go-round analogy — you're already there, you just need to step off * Why men exist in the space between okay but not bad enough — and what finally forces the work * How yoga develops the body awareness that allows emotional awareness * The 90% improvement in anxiety and depression when phones are taken away for two weeks * The 28-day AI journaling challenge Dean built for himself — and how to build your own * The closing answer — sharing your struggle honestly, and breathing together

#9 - Mike Bledsoe - When AI Takes Over, What's Left for Humans?

Mike Bledsoe has been a lot of things — CrossFit pioneer, founder of Barbell Shrugged, entrepreneur, somatic student, ayahuasca journeyman, and now an AI power user who conducts every business task inside an AI platform. He's the kind of person who goes deep in so many directions that when he speaks about where things are going, you pay attention. We started talking about AI and the singularity. We ended up talking about identity, breath, sovereignty, and what it means to be a human being when the machines take over the doing. In this conversation: * The singularity — nobody knows where it's going, not even the smartest people in the room * Why everyone's identity being wrapped up in their job is about to become a massive problem * AI can only take you as deep as you're willing to go yourself * How Mike used AI deep research to solve a blood work issue that a $2,000 doctor's visit couldn't * Why the entire scientific method is built for pharmaceutical companies — and what that means for everything else * The blood work distraction — how optimizing his panels was keeping him from feeling * Smooth breathing — a diagnostic tool for finding where you're storing emotion in your body * 99.9% of reality is a total miracle — and why letting go of needing to understand is where wisdom actually comes from * It's not that big of a deal — the line that stuck 0:00 Mike Bledsoe — Barbell Shrugged, somatic work, AI power user 2:02 The singularity — nobody knows where this is going 9:33 Everyone's identity is wrapped up in their job. That's about to be a problem. 57:06 AI can only take you as deep as you're willing to go yourself 1:06:26 How AI solved a blood work problem a $2,000 doctor couldn't 1:32:05 The entire scientific method is built for pharmaceutical companies 1:37:04 99.9% of reality is a miracle — and that's okay 1:43:37 Smooth breathing — the simplest somatic tool you already have

#8 - Matt from Chroma - Why Your Indoor Light Is Harming You (And What to Do About It)

https://getchroma.co [https://getchroma.co] (Code BROOKS for 15% off) We spend 90% of our lives indoors under flickering fluorescent lights, wondering why we feel off. Matt has been building Chroma for seven years to solve exactly that — not from a fear-based, everything-is-killing-you mindset, but from one of abundance. What are the most important light signals your body is missing and how do you bring them back? In this conversation: * Why almost every biological function is circadian driven — and what that means for how you live * The cortisol-melatonin relationship and why cortisol in the morning is your friend * Cyan light — the main circadian driver most people have never heard of * Why your lights are flickering in a way you can't see but absolutely feel — and how to check right now * Red and near-infrared light — what they actually do and why intensity matters less than consistency * 90 seconds of Chroma = roughly 2 hours of most panels — the math explained * Sun safety done right — progressive overload, not avoidance * Why zoos take better care of their animals' light environments than any office building * What's coming next from Chroma — screw-in bulbs, fluorescent replacements, full room solutions * How dialing in your light environment is one of the best tools for quieting the mind

#7 - Erin Nolan - What Happens When You Draw With Your Eyes Closed

Expressing Journaling starts June 20: https://www.rewildingimagination.us/classes/p/expressive-journaling-summer-2026 [https://www.rewildingimagination.us/classes/p/expressive-journaling-summer-2026] Erin's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erinolan/ [https://www.instagram.com/erinolan/] Erin's Substack: https://erinolan.substack.com/ [https://erinolan.substack.com/] Erin Nolan spent 15 years designing apps and websites for companies like Twitter, the New York Times, and Etsy. She was good at it. And quietly going numb. When she finally left tech, she went back to her journals — the ones she'd been keeping for years that people always wanted to know about — and built something new around them. Her work is called somatic visual journaling. It's not about making something pretty. It's about using creativity, art, and the body as a way to access what's actually happening underneath the overthinking. In this conversation: * Why imagination is not just your imagination — where does it actually come from * The idea party — how to get all your ideas out so they stop paralyzing you * Low skill, high sensitivity — why you don't need to be an artist to do this * The BASE framework — breathing, actions, sensations, emotions — and how to turn it into a journal page * Why drawing with your eyes closed can be more honest than drawing with them open * The Golden Buddha and alchemy — turning lead into gold through expression * The two strangers who made the same flower without any instructions * To rest is to reassure — how a journal page helped Erin make peace with an impossible decision * Honor, play, process, inspire — the four types of journal entries that cover everything * The Life Noble Note journal and Tombow markers — exactly what to get if you're starting 🎙️ Nothing Is Wrong is a podcast about trading self-improvement for self-discovery — so you can stop fixing your life and start living it. Not in the future. Right now.

#6 - Salim Najjar - HRV: The Trojan Horse for the Journey Inward

Salim Najjar: https://thathrvguy.com/ [https://thathrvguy.com/] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thathrvguy/ [https://www.instagram.com/thathrvguy/] NuCalm (Code BROOKS for 15% off): https://nucalm.com/free-trial [https://nucalm.com/free-trial] The conversation delves into the concept of HRV as a 'Trojan Horse' leading to an inward journey, understanding stress and inflammation, the importance of flexibility and nervous system sovereignty, HRV as a language for self-regulation, the 'Art of the Heart' framework, hormetic stress and reframing, and intentionality and purpose in relation to HRV and overall well-being. The conversation delves into the power of intention, the impact of hormetic stress and bioharmonizing, the significance of NSDR and Newcom technology, the importance of emotional regulation and feeling, the concept of heart-brain coherence and HRV, and the value of compassion and unity in the world. Takeaways * HRV as a compass for understanding the body's needs * The importance of reframing stress and intentionality in doing * The role of flexibility and nervous system sovereignty in HRV optimization Intentionality shapes perception and response * Balancing sympathetic optimization and parasympathetic restoration is key * NuCalm technology aids in achieving parasympathetic state * Emotional regulation is essential for somatic healing * Heart-brain coherence influences HRV * Compassion and unity can transform the world Chapters * 00:00 The Trojan Horse of HRV * 12:04 Flexibility and Nervous System Sovereignty * 18:54 HRV as a Language and Self-Regulation * 28:56 Hormetic Stress and Reframing * 35:54 Intentionality and Purpose * 42:09 Hormetic Stress and Bioharmonizing * 49:56 Emotional Regulation and Feeling * 01:01:29 Heart-Brain Coherence and HRV