PODCAST · arts
Inner Work with Steli Efti
by Steli Efti
The (strictly no-business) podcast that shall never become yet another to-do item in a busy CEOs life. A storytelling playground and save space for irresponsible experimentation. We willll talk martial arts, ponder the nature of life, have conversations with weirdos and misfits, shamelessly fail in public, and share what we learn along the way.
Episodes
-
164: Random Beach Musings From Halkidiki
I’ve been spending the last few weeks of summer at the beach in Halkidiki and have made a daily ritual of swimming in the ocean each morning. While the water here is typically known to be gentle and serene, it recently has been much more turbulent and unsettled. I’ve had to adjust my swimming...
-
163: Krishnamurti on the Simple Truth Within You
We won't find truth outside of us. There's no system, no organized set of teachings, no framework of thinking that will lead us to truth. Ultimately, the only place where we find truth is within ourselves. Reading passages from Jiddu Krishnamurti's Total Freedom reminded me once again of this big...
-
162: I Lost My Teeth (And Maybe a Bit of My Mind) In a Weird Dream
I’ve been having so many intense, vivid dreams lately - so intense that I feel tired and unsettled even after waking up. I knew these dreams were trying to tell me something about myself that I couldn’t see with open eyes during the day, but I didn’t feel like analyzing them or dealing with them…
more -
161: Demons by Dostoevsky: How to Laugh From the Heart & The Dangers of Snap-Judging People
I’ve been reading Demons by Dostoyevsky and there are two small anecdotes from the book that immediately resonated with me—two topics that many of us as humans deal with throughout our lives. The first is the impulsive act of judging others too quickly and the arrogance we must overcome to give…
more -
160: The Brothers Karamazov
Today I want to share with you one of my favorite books of all time, The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky. I loved the experience of reading this book so deeply that I already can’t wait to read it again. It does a wonderful job of portraying many major life themes in a profoundly delightful…
more -
159: Creating Inner Harmony: How to Unite Conflicting Parts Within Yourself
Rather than feeling present and peaceful, I felt fragmented and frustrated in recent weeks. My nights were filled with uneasy sleep and weird dreams. And in the course of the days, I struggled with confounding urges: When I worked, I wanted to take a break. When I took a break, my mind kept...
-
158: 3 Months After Darkness
I recently finished listening through about a hundred mini recordings from my week in total darkness, which was a very intense experience to relive. While reflecting on my dark retreat and the time since then, I’ve realized it’s been a very challenging and intense 3 months for me post-darkness. I...
-
157: I'm Definitely Not Above This
This topic is something we’ve touched on previously but it’s a theme that keeps popping up for me. It’s the notion of “you are not above this”. I keep finding myself in situations where a thought or feeling arises that I’m not comfortable with and my first instinct is to reject it. I think to...
-
156: Because the Wheel Keeps Spinning
We all know life is full of ups and downs, yet it’s so easy for us to get frustrated and torture ourselves when the pendulum of life suddenly swings from blissed out harmony to chaos and struggle. We must remember that life is a wheel that keeps spinning. These moments and feelings, both good and...
-
155: This Moment Still Has a Lot to Give
Great joy overcame me one day before the end of my dark retreat: I was about to go back into the world. Tomorrow I would see my children, embrace them, give them all my love, and receive theirs. An almost ecstatic bliss enveloped me, and I wanted to cherish this state as much as possible. But…
more -
154: Don't Be Spiritual. Be Honest Instead.
There’s a quote by Byron Katie that’s been stuck in my mind. It reads, “Don’t be spiritual, be honest instead. It’s very painful to pretend yourself beyond your true evolution.” I love it because it ties back to this inner work journey I’ve been on of going deeper within my own psyche and…
more -
153: How to Do the Work - I’m Overwhelming Everything Right Now
I recently came back to a book I read many years ago called Loving What Is by Byron Katie. She has a really great self-inquiry method called The Work that I’ve been putting into practice daily for the last couple of weeks. It’s a very simple 4-question framework that is so practical and pragmatic...
-
152: Treat Everyone Like a Child (Especially Yourself)
I've been pondering a quote lately from my favorite Dostoevsky book, The Brothers Karamazov, which reads, "we ought to treat everyone like little children, and most importantly ourselves." It got me thinking about the way we are with our children - how loving, patient, lighthearted and…
more -
151: When Our Plans Don't Pan Out
When I was 18 all I wanted to be was successful, which at that time to me just meant rich. I pictured myself with the fancy car, expensive apartment and crushing it as a business man like Gordon Gecko in Wolf on Wall Street. But something I’ve been reflecting on lately is how glad I am that plans…
more -
150: How the Crushing Weight of My Expectations Made Me Wanna Quit on Life
Ever wake up and think of all the things you gotta do, and it just destroys you? I can't tell you how many times I woke up feeling miserable because of everything I'd have to tackle on that day. In my younger years, it would actually make me cancel everything and fall into a depression. Later I...
-
149: All your problems start with a lie (Dostoyevsky's truth)
Nothing in this world is harder than speaking the truth", wrote Dostoyevsky. And the longer I live, the more I realize this to be accurate. So many of life's problems boil down to struggles with truth. It's not just the lies we tell others: It's mostly the lies we tell ourselves, the truths we'd...
-
148: The Only Reason You’re Ever in a Hurry
How often in life are we hurrying from one task to another on any given day? Or rushing hastily to reach the next big milestone ahead of us? I've been pondering this recently and had the realization that when we are in a hurry to do something, it's usually because there is an underlying fear of...
-
147: This Has Been Tried. This Is Certain (Love Conquers All Doubt)
I've experienced love in so many new ways over the past year, have deepened and widened my relationship with and understanding of love so much—I was almost tempted to call this episode "The Power of Love", like a cheesy pop song. In this episode, I share some of these experiences, and how they...
-
146: The Numbing Speed of Life (What Coming Out of Darkness Has Taught Me)
Spending a week in complete darkness would be an intense experience. That I knew. What I didn’t anticipate was how intense it would be to come out of the darkness. In fact, re-entering normal life was an even wilder adventure than the dark retreat itself, and it profoundly changed the way I view...
-
145: The Light of Inner Darkness (My Dark Retreat Experience, Part 2)
Darkness has illuminated my inner world. With nothing to see outside of me, I began to see things clear within: fears I didn’t know I grappled with. My complicated relationship with love. Mysterious light visions. While I shared the physical aspects of my dark retreat experience in episode 144…
more -
144: Into the Darkness - My Dark Retreat Experience, Part 1
I recently attended a dark retreat. I was in complete and utter darkness, alone, for an entire week. It was one of the most intense things I've ever done and I haven't really shared much about it with anyone until now. In this episode, I will share the physical experiences of living in true...
-
143: Turn Anxious Thoughts Into Peaceful Presence
Recently I spent a week in complete darkness at a dark retreat. And very soon, I was faced with something I didn't expect: Anxiety. I wasn't even halfway through my first day of darkness, and out-of-control anxious thoughts kept appearing, and I had no idea how I'd make it through a week of...
-
142: The Young Monk, the Old Monk, the Tiger and the Barking Dog
I’ve been pondering a story for the last couple of days that I want to share with you. It’s a story I first heard at an ashram a few months ago about a young monk, a tiger and a barking dog. While it didn’t really move me at first, it’s been recently popping up in my mind, so in this episode I’m...
-
141: Listen to the Echoes Inside of You
I just spent a week at a darkness retreat - all day and night for an entire week, I was alone in a room in complete darkness. It was a very intense experience - it felt like climbing Mount Everest with your mind. I knew returning to “normal” life after would be an adjustment, particularly since…
more -
140: The Miracle of You
An important point that I need to keep remembering is that it’s truly a miracle how adaptable we are. The capacity of a human being to heal and transform and overcome obstacles is tremendous. We are always healing, fixing and overcoming. We need to remember that no matter what difficult…
more -
139: The Feeling Was Inside of You Before You Knew
How much of who you are in this very moment can you fully see and accept? It’s one of the hardest questions that life asks of us every day. In this episode, I discuss the human experience of how different situations bring out feelings that are already deep within us and the courage needed to seek...
-
138: Who is Your Heart-Donkey?
I’ve been spending my mornings lately reading “The Essential Rumi”. I find his writing to be so beautiful, touching, creative and poetic and I’ve really enjoyed starting my days with reading his words. One of the poems in this collection that has had a profound impact on me is “After the...
-
137: The Challenging State of Non-Doing
It’s been a very large part of my personality to define my self worth and the value I add to the world through what I’ve accomplished in a day. But I’ve learned that no matter how many to-do items I cross off my list, there’s never a sense of completion. I’m now embracing the art form of…
more -
136: The Black Hole of Not Enough
There’s a part of me that’s resurfaced recently that I haven’t had to face in months. It’s the part of me that is relentless in downplaying every single thing that I do - the inner voice that’s constantly whispering in my ear “you are not enough”. This feeling is like quicksand; the faster I try…
more -
135: The Empty Calories of Discussing Other People's Lives
Since moving back to Europe, I’ve noticed how much the conversations around me involve other people that aren’t in the room. Something about this is off to me—gossip isn’t something I consume or surround myself with. I don’t like it or find any value in it. But as I started reflecting and…
more -
134: Do Your Inner Work At Home
Where you do your inner work matters. Spiritual trips like retreats, yoga and meditation are vacations. The real inner work is done in the every day life - in your house, with your family and especially with those people in your life who are the most inconvenient. The ones that get under your…
more -
133: What We Hate, We Embody
This concept is something we’ve discussed in previous episodes, but there’s more to this idea that I want to dig deeper into. It’s the notion that there are two sides to the same coin - that what we hate about others, we embody within ourselves. In this episode, I share a few different stories…
more -
132: The Tyranny of Practicality
“Shut the fuck up and do it anyways” used to be my mantra. I lived my life in such a disciplined, pragmatic way, which was great for producing results but I was so out of touch with my own thoughts and feelings that it was creating a negative impact in my life. I realized there is tyranny in...
-
131: The Hidden Mirror of Truth
You can’t be upset with others and at peace with yourself at the same time. Whatever negative thoughts you observe about someone else or the world around you is a direct projection and reflection of something you’re dealing with within yourself. I've been practicing this for years, and yet, it's...
-
130: I Want to Be a Mystic When I Grow Up
For the last 2 to 3 months I’ve been pondering the concept of mystics and the idea of mysticism. To me, a mystic is someone that is placing the mystery of life at the center of their being. As someone who has lived so pragmatically for many years of my life, I found this concept to be wildly...
-
129: Those Who Don’t Believe in Magic Will Never Find It
I had an interesting experience recently at 4AM one morning where my hands turned into a tree. Not literally, of course, but they felt heavier, thicker, and larger than they really are. To me this was a symbolic display of how I was feeling recently with my two young sons. I had been constantly…
more -
128: The Danger of Puffing Away Clouds of Worry
I recently had such a stressful dream that when I woke up, the feelings of worry, anxiety and guilt within my dream continued to linger long after I was awake. Typically when I have these little negative thought clouds, I’m able to effortlessly puff them away and return to a sunny state of mind....
-
127: What Is Your True Intention?
For the past month I’ve been doing a daily practice of asking myself one specific question multiple times a day. It’s a very simple question and it isn’t some magical, life-changing technique, but it has been extremely illuminating in helping me identify certain patterns in my life. The question…
more -
126: Bring Death Into Your Day
I’ve been genuinely excited about returning to Germany - getting the chance to hug my children and see my mother, my brothers, my friends and loved ones. I had a moment of clarity when thinking about this upcoming reunion, and while it sounds cliche, I realized that every day is a gift. It’s not…
more -
125: My First Water Fast
I recently did a five day water fast, with 4 days of juice fasting (2 leading up to and 2 after the water fast). In this episode, I share how I prepared myself for the fast, what I experienced, and what I learned about my relationship with food and life simply by withholding food for a week....
-
124: Experiencing God
This episode is a deeply personal one in which I discuss my relationship and experience with God. Even talking about it now is still something I’m getting comfortable with. The way I experience God specifically is tricky business—it’s partially a science, partially an art. I’ve been instilling...
-
123: How to Live a Thousand Lives
As I was meditating recently, I had a realization - something I already knew, but was shifted into crystal clear focus for me. It was a beautiful moment that further clarified my tremendous gratitude and love for books and reading. One of the most amazing experiences to me with reading is that…
more -
122: Next Level Anger Management: Appreciating My Inner Truth Teller
I've spent a good amount of time over the past 2 years working on the anger that I thought I didn't have. And for the most part, I thought that I was good by now—I felt I had a good relationship with my anger. Until something unexpected happened: I got angry, and I hid it (even from myself). And...
-
121: The Impersonating Mind
Listen to your heart. Get in touch with your body. Trust your intuition. All of these are easier said than done, because they require something from the mind it doesn't like to do: relinquish control. The mind always wants to run the show, and it won't hesitate for a moment to pretend to be all...
-
120: Englowment: A Recent Experience Along the Path to Enlightenment?
I recently had an experience where I came close to what I believe enlightenment might feel like. This happened a few days after attending a silent retreat and going on a walk in nature—the intense state of pure love I experienced I'm now playfully going to be referring to as "englowment". It was…
more -
119: Discovering Silence: 7 Ways I Practice Silence Daily
Silence is an essential element of inner work. But in modern life, it's pretty much as rare as a precious metal. It's so easy to always be distracted, constantly consuming some kind of information or entertainment, engaging in some activity—we've got infinite ways to keep our minds busy. You have...
-
118: The Courage to Not Hide Your Struggles
This is part of a conversation we've had in August of 2020, where we discussed the courage it takes to share your weaknesses. Many people think that I don't care what other people think about me—but nothing could be further from the truth. For most of my life, I cared deeply about impressing...
-
117: The Power of Timing
Recently I've been experimenting a lot with timing: changing not so much what I do, not really adjusting my habits, but simply being more mindful of when I do these things. And I found that even doing the exact same thing can have an immensely different impact on my life just because of when I do...
-
116: Bewunderung—Keeping Your Sense of Wonder Alive
There's a German word I really love: Bewunderung. It's commonly translate as 'admiration', but that doesn't quite capture the full meaning of the word. In this episode, I talk about the art of keeping and cultivating a sense of wonder about life, and the people in your life. Shownotes:...
-
115: Study Less, Do More: The Surprising Truths IFS Revealed
I've now been studying Internal Family Systems (IFS) for a long time, and it's taught me so much about myself that I decided to take an online course on it. But I don't really want to learn more about IFS to know IFS. I want to learn more about IFS so I can use it for my own inner work. And so...
We're indexing this podcast's transcripts for the first time — this can take a minute or two. We'll show results as soon as they're ready.
No matches for "" in this podcast's transcripts.
No topics indexed yet for this podcast.
Loading reviews...
ABOUT THIS SHOW
The (strictly no-business) podcast that shall never become yet another to-do item in a busy CEOs life. A storytelling playground and save space for irresponsible experimentation. We willll talk martial arts, ponder the nature of life, have conversations with weirdos and misfits, shamelessly fail in public, and share what we learn along the way.
HOSTED BY
Steli Efti
Loading similar podcasts...
Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Inner Work with Steli Efti have?
Inner Work with Steli Efti currently has 162 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Inner Work with Steli Efti about?
The (strictly no-business) podcast that shall never become yet another to-do item in a busy CEOs life. A storytelling playground and save space for irresponsible experimentation. We willll talk martial arts, ponder the nature of life, have conversations with weirdos and misfits, shamelessly fail in...
How often does Inner Work with Steli Efti release new episodes?
Inner Work with Steli Efti publishes regularly with 162 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Inner Work with Steli Efti?
You can listen to Inner Work with Steli Efti on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Inner Work with Steli Efti?
Inner Work with Steli Efti is created and hosted by Steli Efti.
URL copied to clipboard!