Most people don’t really know or have a reason to need to know what a narcissist is unless they’ve had the misfortune of being parented by one or being in a relationship with one - be it romantic or platonic. Narcissism is a broad term and realistically it’s not a label you can just thrust on someone as people often do, it’s a spectrum.

Oh those fantastic fungi …. the mysterious power of mushrooms has been immortalized in the 2018 award winning documentary bearing the same name, a time-lapse journey about the magical, mysterious and medicinal world of fungi and its power to heal, sustain and contribute to the regeneration of life on Earth. But how much do we really know about the mysterious world of fungi?

Upon conducting an analysis of a particular relationship I realized that the signs of a transactional friendship are there early on. A transactional friend is also known as a ‘social climber’. According to the Urban Dictionary, a social climber is those who become friends with someone else if that person has something that they want or need.

Many people here in Bali - The Island of Gods, have already heard of Terra Natural Water Filters, a company founded in 2020 by American entrepreneur Christine Manson. Christine and I had a sit down chat about Terra and about life here on the island. In her own words, Christine told me the story of her incredible company which has caused quite a big splash.

Five years ago I became vegetarian. When I lived in Bali I pushed myself even further to veganism and further yet to raw veganism. A year ago I started craving fish. This craving was coupled with a feeling of lethargy and weakness. So I became pescatarian (a vegetarian who eats fish). Last week I had an appointment with a periodontist to address an onset of rather rapid gum recession. He looked at my gums and told me I was likely anemic.

The word 'Yoga' is derived from the Sanskrit root 'Yuj', meaning 'to join' or 'to yoke' or 'to unite'. As I was taught during my teacher training, the highly physical forms of yoga such as Vinyasa (asana/posture practice), are actually considered the ‘lowest’ form of yoga. The ‘highest’ form of yoga is actually meditation. It is in preparation for meditation - to sit still and focus the mind - that the highly physical disciplines of yoga come into play.

In honor of Earth Day (April 22), I wanted to post a variety of great tips as suggested by Conservation International on how to practice sustainable living. I believe that employing even a few of these practices in your daily life can compound into positive change for the environment and inspire others to do the same.

After the release of Elizabeth Gilbert’s ‘Eat Pray Love’, the little jungle town of Ubud, Bali became a tourist mecca for those seeking to journey back to their core and heal from their childhood wounds, broken relationships, insecurities, shadows, you name it - Ubud, and more recently Canggu, have the cure. Once a thing of magic and wonder, healing just like yoga and more recently, breathwork - has become a trendy, profit driven business.

Truly effective leaders are distinguished by a high degree of emotional intelligence. Without emotional intelligence an individual can possess ‘first class training’, great ideas, an incisive mind but they will not make a great leader. Emotional intelligence may be the deciding factor between decent and great leadership. The chief components of emotional intelligence according to research are self-awareness, self-management, motivation and empathy.

The emotion of fear can be split into two distinct responses, one being emotional and the other being biochemical in nature. The emotional response generally is of an individual nature, whereas the biochemical response is vastly universal.

Visualization works wonders. To what degree you are able to use the process of visualization to manifest results depends solely on your own resolve and your belief in the process. Olympic athletes use visualisation exercises to repeatedly rehearse their athletic performances in their minds before competing. Leading entrepreneurs and entertainers use creative visualisation to create subconscious maps and programs which aid in achieving optimal results in their respective ventures.

Shamanic Breathwork as I have come to understand it is the practice of guiding your breath into a rhythmic flow which induces a state of trance under which you are able to access and clear out trapped emotions, psychological trauma and blocks. Shamanic breathwork transcends the perception of breathing as just a physical phenomenon and allows you to understand the connection of breath within the mental and spiritual planes.

The reality of our world in the present day is that most of us are vastly unconscious of who we are and the subtle and powerful mechanics of how our bodies, minds and this universe operate. Because we are malinformed, we like to hang the responsibility for our own feelings and emotions onto each other.

I have created a small guidance system for you to reference now, and on a daily basis if you choose. It will help you identify to what degree you are standing in your power.

Nik and I bonded over a quick session where he showed me how to do things “properly”. “If you punch like that they’ll break your arm”, “If you don’t guard your jaw with your other hand like this, they’ll smash it to pieces” .. clearly a no-nonsense MY kind of guy.

Most of us, however happy and free, live our lives in service of our egos. Your ego is the part of your mind which mediates between the conscious and the unconscious and is responsible for your sense of personal identity.

Pay attention to the dynamics of you relationships. Do you tend to give more in some or take more in others? Do you change who you are to be accepted by certain individuals?