HITW120 | Josh Schrei | The Emerald Podcast

Topics: Yoga, Spirituality, Myth, Storytelling, Psychedelics, Personal JourneyEpisode Description: We track the long and winding road Josh Schrei has travelled, from his childhood bouncing around Zen monasteries and ashrams, to his career in the music business working with the Beastie Boys, to finally finding his true calling as a teacher, storyteller and podcast creator.Intro Text:On this episode I speak with Joshua Schrei, creator of The Emerald podcast. On The Emerald, Josh explores many aspects of human experience through a unique and artful interweaving of myth, poetry, music, conversation and personal reflection.My 2018 YouTube documentary The Shamanic Roots of Yoga is similar in form to what Josh does with The Emerald, combining voiceover commentary with music and scriptural references, and touches on a topic that he later covered in an episode on the shamanic third chapter of the Yoga Sutras. I initially found out about his podcast when that episode came out and people started messaging me, saying, “Hey, you should check out this guy, he’s interested in the same things you are.”And it’s true, I feel a kinship with Josh, and find that we are often exploring the same ground around the same time. I’m glad I got to finally meet him and have this conversation. To me it’s evidence that men don’t have to be in competition with each other, and that actually, if we can relax our egos and appreciate each other, we discover (often to our surprise and delight) that male colleagues can be a source of camaraderie, support and inspiration.Josh is a fellow musician, teacher and lifelong explorer of stories, scripture and spiritual practice, which made for a rich and enlightening conversation about how his unconventional upbringing and early interest in storytelling, music and theatre were the seeds for what has unexpectedly grown into a meaningful livelihood as writer, teacher and podcast creator.Enjoy!