Movers Shakers and Social Changers

In December 2024 I embarked on a 5 day solo retreat in a dark room. It was the most challenging experience I’ve ever had. Also the most profound .This chat is with Adrien, my neighbor, and was recorded the same day I left the retreat.  It was my first time sharing my experience with anyone . So I hope you find it insightful and if you are drawn to the darkness I hope it helps you find clarity . I couldn’t have done this without the loving support of Hesam and Josephine @innerpatience . So if you’re interested I recommend you check them out 

Hey everyone, I'm super excited to share this bonus episode where I appeared as a guest on my dear friend's Adrien and Ingrid's podcast, ' Unhurried life.'I'm hoping you'll both learn a little bit more about me and also meet two people close to my heart, whose podcast I love!In this bonus episode we discuss what an unhurried life means to us, the concept of stress, how to build resilience and the capacity to move between rest and activation and how that capacity grows in relationship and communityHere is a link to their podcasat and substack:Unhurried Life Podcast | Ingrid Lillo de Botmiliau | Substack

In this conversation I discuss with Ruby May the importance of grief in turbulent times. We talk about the necessity of grieving together, the challenges of feeling such a strong emotion and how numbness often arises. We discuss how radical it is to just be with emotions without trying to fix them in a culture that has normalized not feeling and the necessity of coming together in non-judgemental, non-fixing compassionate spaces.You can find Ruby's substack here: Ruby May | SubstackAnd more about me here on instagram : @lukebache

This conversation with John Philip Newell, the author of ‘Sacred Earth Sacred Soul: Celtic Wisdom for Reawakening to What Our Souls Know and Healing the World ,’  felt like a coming home .We talk about the Celtic Christian teachers, who over hundreds of years have all seemingly shared the same message; That we as humans are wise and innately divine and that the Earth is sacred. John Philip helped me open my eyes and ears to look and listen for the wisdom that already lies within,  in each other and in our alive surroundings which I found to be a refreshing spiritual guidance . The message in his book and this conversation continue to give me encouragement and hope that we can create a better world together . You can find more about John Philip Newell and his retreats at : Earthandsoul.orgYou can find more about John Philip Newell and his retreats at : Earthandsoul.orgHost : Luke Bache Instagram : @lukebache

Ebyan has been one of my biggest sources of inspiration over the past months, since we met. Through her words and ways of being she has invited me to access my qualities of bravery, nobility and fierce tenderness in the face of injustice and suffering in the world.Hence why I'm so thrilled to share this conversation where we discuss many things, including; how to tend to  gratitude and grief, despair and hope, and how to stay rooted to the natural wisdom of the heart in such polarized times.You can find more about Ebyan on Instagram -@EbyanZanini

Mark Gober is the author of the book, 'An End to Upside down Thinking,' and I wholeheartedly believe this book is going to play a significant role in changing, how we as humans view the world, each other and life in general. Strong words indeed..In the book Mark explores compelling scientific evidence from a diverse set of disciplines ranging from psychic phenomena to near-death experiences to quantum physics that all point to the same thing..... The brain does not produce consciousness.If this is the case, which the evidence provided suggests, imagine the implications on every level. I hope you enjoy this episode and I strongly encourage you to read the book. WOW

This is one of the most important and at the same time, fun and inspiring conversations I’ve ever had! I had a huge smile on my face for days after.Today I speak with Rob Hopkins, the author of ‘What is to What if.’ We talk about the importance of unleashing the power of imagination and longing to create a beautiful future that our hearts know is possible. We discuss the importance of stories to inspire hope and discuss the individuals and communities around the world who are doing heartfelt amazing action now-and creating brighter futures for us all. You can find Rob at: Robhopkins.netHosted by : Luke Bache 

This was one of the most fun and inspiring conversations I've ever had.Laurel Airica is the author of the thought provoking and brilliant book, 'Word magic' and has spent her life turning words inside out to investigate the power they hold.  Words shape language, the way we see the world and each other and therefore have the power to entrap us or set us free. Laurel aims to inspire us to bring more awareness to the words we speak so that we can collectively upgrade the English language and take the evolutionary leap from humankind to Humankindness.To learn more about Laurel's work please find her on wordmagicglobal.com

I have always been a poetry lover and yet Kim Rosen's book, 'Saved by a Poem,'  has dramatically deepened my relationship to poetry. This touching conversation with Kim echoed within me for days after. Kim describes poetry as, 'the power of the word meeting the language of the soul.' In an uncertain world, 'Saved by a poem' is an emphatic call to cultivate the ever renewable resources of the heart. Through poetry Kim believes, the unspeakable can be spoken, the unendurable endured, and the miraculous shared. I encourage you to find a comfortable and quiet place to listen to this conversation where we share poetry from Rumi, Mary Oliver, Leonard Cohen, Stanley Kunitz, Marie Howe, Emily Dickenson and Jason Shinder. Enjoy the heart opening ride!

Today I talk to Abir Ballan regarding the ethical principles of public health and the reasons why vaccines should never be mandatory. This is the inch we must not yield if we want to live in a free society. I believe this is one of the most important conversations I have ever had.Abir has a Masters in Public Health and a background in psychology, and education.  She is a member of the Executive Committee at PANDA who are a group of multi-disciplinary professionals, who perceived the global reaction to Covid, and lockdown in particular, as overwrought and damaging to the point of causing a great tear in the fabric of society. As a politically and economically independent organisation. PANDA stands for open science and rational debate, for replacing flawed science with good science and for retrieving liberty and prosperity from the clutches of a dystopian “new normal”.

In today's episode I talk to Mattias Desmet who is a professor of psychology at Ghent University in Belgium specializing in mass crowd formation, mass hypnosis and totalitarianism. His work has helped me understand how Western societies provide the necessary conditions for masses to form, historical moments of mass formation and totalitarianism and how we face a precarious moment in history which is forcing us to question what it is to be human.

Robin Rothenberg draws deeply from the authentic lineage of yoga, while also incorporating contemporary understanding of mind-body medicine, the result of years of study in western science. She acts as an educator or bridge between these two seemingly disparate worlds, facilitating clients and teachers in breaking free of habits that are debilitating, and developing a clear plan of action to help themselves find equilibrium and a greater sense of confidence and well-being.

This feels like one of the most important conversations I have ever been involved in.Indra Shekhar Singh is a journalist who has been covering the Indian Farmers Revolution, he has been travelling around India and living within the movement In this conversation, Indra breaks down the law changes that started the revolution and how this stirred 5 million people to unite. He talks about the gift economy that has started and how this movement is firmly rooted in the heart. This revolution is much more than just a No to the law changes! It is a firm yes in protecting the Earth, each other and our future generations. I implore you to listen and get discussing this issue. 

Dr. Colin Alexander is a senior lecturer in political communications at Nottingham Trent University. During the 'covid' times he has been writing expert blogs assessing the way the UK government is using propaganda techniques to spread their communications. His latest blog, 'Understanding the communications surrounding the coronavirus vaccine' called deeply to me, so I contacted him immediately for a chat! I hope you enjoy3 Attachments  

This is a slightly different episode. It is filled with different meditations and invitations into a deeper space. So I invite you to find a comfortable and quite place to enjoy. Susan McConnell is the founder and author of the Somatic IFS model. This talk discusses her life work and her new book that combines left brain practices regarding breath, nervous system and trauma awareness with right brain felt sense and embodiment practices. I find it a deep invitation to dissolve any notion of their being a separation between body and mind or between us and nature.It is built on 5 pillars, Somatic Awareness, Conscious breathing, radical resonance, mindful movement and attuned touch. We discuss each pillar and how they merge together to help someone rest in their deepest self. 

Theresa Njoroge is the founder of the social enterprise Clean Start. Clean Start works with Kenyan women and children impacted by the criminal justice system to restore dignity and hope for a successful reintegration to everyday life.Theresa's inspiration for Clean Start was born when she was wrongly imprisoned for a crime she didn't commit. We talk about her journey, the trauma she experienced, the people she met along the way, the importance of standing in one's courage and truth and the power of spreading action from the heart.

What would life be like to take nothing for granted? How can we learn to live in the great fullness of life without avoiding the muck and the messiness? Kristi Nelson and I discuss these questions and many more in this heartfelt conversation. Kristi Nelson is currently the Executive Director at gratefulness.org and has spent virtually her entire adult life immersed in the rewarding work of non-profit leadership, marrying both social and spiritual change. In her early 30's Kristi was faced with an illness that brought the fleetingness of mortality directly into her awareness. From this she had a heart opening experience of seeing the beauty of each and every moment and asking herself questions such as, ' What place am I acting from in the world? ' What would it be like to marry activism with the heart?' This has led her to many years spent bathed in the intention of grateful living, which is the topic of her beautiful book, 'Wake up Grateful: The Transformative Practice of Taking Nothing for Granted' which can be pre-ordered now. 

Joy Ladin is the author of 11 books including her memoir, "Through the Door of Life: A Jewish Journey Between Gender". A book that moved me to tears several times and caused me to reflect deeply on how I act in the world regarding gender. Joy always felt her body didn't match her soul and in her mid forties she transitioned from male to female identity and became the first openly transgender professor at an Orthodox Jewish Institution. In this conversation we talk about gender, identity, societal conditioning, and unconditional love. 

The capacity to see the world of the 'other' sounds simple but it is not. Yet it is the core of creating a new human history together. The world cafe serves as a reminder and as an inspiration to help us remember our shared heart wisdom. World Cafe conversations bring people together in community and guide them, through their 7 design principles, into ways to discuss important issues, in a safe space allowing them to access their collective wisdom. If you want to know where we are headed as a society and as a global culture I implore you to listen and to read the book. 

A conversation about the life of Dr. James Gordon, the founder of the Centre for Body Mind Medicine. How he went from a peacekeeping child, to a challenging student to facilitating what may well be the world's largest and most effective program for healing population wide psychological trauma . We talk about his definition of trauma, that it’s an inevitable part of life and how this pandemic is traumatizing for us all. We then get to practice some tools from his book, ‘ The transformation ‘ that can be used right now to begin to help and heal so we can we become the people we are meant to be . Please go to Cmbm.org for more info.The music and editing from the talented Ivan Lupaka @ivan_thedj

Internal family systems therapy is both one of the fastest-growing approaches to psychotherapy and a life model that helps one understand and treat human problems by listening inside themselves in a compassionate , curious and revolutionary way. In this episode I speak with the founder Dr. Richard C. Schwartz , we discuss; the model, what are ‘parts’, how it can be used in meditation , relationships and everyday life. The music and episode are produced by Ivan Lupaka.

Frank Ostaseski is an internationally respected Buddhist teacher and visionary co-founder of the Zen Hospice Project. His groundbreaking work has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, and he has been honoured by H.H. the Dalai Lama. In this episode we discuss his life of service and action and his inspirational book, 'The Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully.'