The Downward Facing Spiritual Spiral

Combating the Cultural "Insecurity Blanket"

How do you feel after you stare at TikTok or IG for an hour? How about thirty minutes of watching the news? Compare that to your emotional state of mind after watching silly cat videos? Notice a difference? HA. I'll consider this "Part 2" of a podcast I recorded earlier this season. For today's episode, I'm still thinking a lot about how we react to certain stimuli in our day to day to lives. From the news, social media, the onslaught of texts and information that enters our periphery each day, how does all of that information make us feel? Does it make us feel an overabundance of joy or is it wearing us down and making us feel a deep level of anxiety. I was compelled to dive further into this topic because I just recently listened to a wonderful pod where Marc Maron has an insightful chat with novelist, Shalom Auslander. It's a powerful chat about how so much of the energy in our culture, whether intentionally or not, has the potential to suck so much of the joy out of our lives. Does the actual world we inhabit mirror the world that is promulgated on television? Pay attention to how you feel after you spend just 10 minutes on your phone compared to going for a walk in nature without the grip of technology. SUPER stoked to be back for Season 5. As always, thanks so much for listening and being so incredibly supportive. It's also always helpful if you share the show with your friends or maybe head over to iTunes and write a quick review.  I'd also love to hear from you so please reach out on IG @eddiecohn with any questions. Thanks again for listening. I appreciate YOU!

What the Heck Happened to The Bear? (Every Second Didn't Count)

And here we go! Season 5 of The Spiritual Spiral continues on. For today's episode, I just HAD to talk about the latest season of The Bear. A little context, I'm a HUGE fan of season 1 and 2. From the acting, the storylines, the music, the hypnotic and frenetic pace of the show, I'm all in! So WTF happened to Season 3?! Sure there are still moments of fantastic TV and even when The Bear is mediocre, it's still pretty darn good, but seriously, what the heck happened? Now you may be wondering, why do I care so much about The Bear? Great question! See, I believe that when art is AMAZING, then that goodness trickles down and inspires other artists to want to make fantastic art. Whether it's TV, film, music or books, fantastic art is contagious. It gets people talking, it creates a little "buzz" in the air. Which is why I'm so bummed out when a show, with such an impressive track record, ultimately fails. Did the creators run out of fresh ideas, did they feel rushed by HULU or maybe their egos got in the way of the creative process? We may never know the answer, but I try and unpack it all in today's episode. I even play a few clips from The Prestige podcast where the hosts also try and dissect what in the world went wrong? Okay, so on with the show. I'm stoked to be back for Season 5. As always, thanks so much for listening and being so incredibly supportive. It's also always helpful if you share the show with your friends or maybe head over to iTunes and write a quick review.  I'd also love to hear from you so please reach out on IG @eddiecohn with any questions. Thanks again for listening. 

When It's All "GREAT Theater"

HERE WE GO. Episode 2 of Season 5 of the Spiritual Spiral podcast is LIVE. So let me ask you. Have you noticed how there's A LOT of news outlets? No? Well, we've got X, I mean Twitter, I mean X. Free Press, FB news, Apple News, The Times, The Post, good old Fox, The Globe, CNN, CSPAN, MSNBC. I could keep going and going. Kind of like the Energizer bunny. They keep going and going. So, I have a question for you. After you watch the news, how do you feel? Anxious? A little fidgety? Brain fried? TMI? Yep, thought so. Okay, so I have another thought. Imagine a world where there's NO MORE NEWS STATIONS. No more 24-7 access to "breaking news." Doesn't that sound heavenly!?  Don't you think the world would be a much more relaxed place if we didn't have to get body slammed with all that news? And here's something else for you. How often do you make decisions, try out new restaurants, or make impressions about people or places not based on your own experience, but instead, it's based on someone else's opinion or experience. Look, I get it. We're busy. If you're going to fly to London for a vacation, you wanna make you don't miss all those hip restaurants with the fancy 5 star reviews. But what about your own ability to make decisions? Are you coming up with your own ideas, making decisions all on your own OR are you allowing someone else to make decisions for you? Oh, and I also talk about how the internet has created a new type of addict, the info addict. I pack a lot in, in today's bite size episode. I'm stoked to be back for Season 5. I have a fancy new cover photo courtesy of my pal Rony Peters and if you're into music, I've released some new tunes on Spotify. As always, thanks so much for listening to the show and being so incredibly supportive. I appreciate YOU! It's also always helpful if you share the show with your friends or maybe head over to iTunes and write a quick review.  I'd also love to hear from you so please reach out on IG @eddiecohn with any questions. Thanks again for listening. 

I'm BACK and Life's Constant Duality

I'm baaaaaaack. That's right, a BRAND NEW season of the Spiritual Spiral Podcast is here. After a four month hiatus, I finally felt inspired to hit that good old "record" button and bring the show back. I'm going to do things a little different and break the show up into seasons. I know, SUPER FANCY. I just can't keep up with the pace of society and while I've tried to keep the pedal on the gas, and release new episodes each week, throughout the whole year, it's just not possible. Don't worry, I'm fine. The show will go on. I just need to be a little more intentional when it comes to releasing new episodes. Ok, so on to the show. After a quick re-introduction, I chat about what's kept me out of the podcast circuit, what I have in store for SEASON 5, and I finish by chatting about the force of duality. What happens if two opposing ideas are true at the same time? What would happen to all the constant bickering in the world, if we all just accepted that two things can be true at once. Maybe the world would be a lot quieter? Less yelling? Sounds heavenly. Stay tuned for a great season where I talk about music, "trauma", new TV shows like The Bear and Baby Reindeer, ALGORITHMS (they're soooo sexy) and I'm going to talk about ways to balance technology with quiet time. Tech is here to stay. Duh. Social media isn't going anywhere so maybe it's time to embrace this fast paced world and do what we can to achieve more balance in the face of all this tech. Thanks for listening! Stoked to be back. Oh and did you notice the NEW cover photo? Pretty fancy. Photo by my pal Rony Peters. And as always, thanks so much for listening to the show and being so incredibly supportive. I appreciate YOU! It's also always helpful if you share the show with your friends or maybe head over to iTunes and write a quick review.  I'd also love to hear from you so please reach out on IG @eddiecohn with any questions. Thanks again for listening. 
 

Is Everything Potentially Life-Threatening?

So many potential reasons to be nervous in today's society but how often are our own fears simply overblown thanks to our blurred perception of reality? Today on the Spiritual Spiral, a quick episode about fear and why I'm trying to rewire my brain's perception of fear. I've dealt with anxiety for a large portion of my life, but I feel my perspective surrounding fear shifting to a healthier and much more manageable space. With the "horrific"(not my word choice) rain storm "pounding" down on Los Angeles, I felt compelled to share a little perspective on fear and anxiety. Where do our fears come from? Are they warranted or is our imagination running wild? Hopefully today's episode will help you think more about your own fears and if they're truly justified, or are you simply responding to a culture that potentially thrives when people are scared. As always, thanks so much for listening to the show and being so incredibly supportive. I appreciate YOU! Please check out my latest song on Spotify by clicking HERE or you can watch the video by clicking HERE. Remember, my book SSAFY can be purchased by visiting SSAFYoga.com or on Amazon by clicking HERE and if you enjoy today's episode and you want to support the show, PLEASE subscribe to the podcast on iTUNES or Spotify. It's also always helpful if you share the show with your friends or maybe head over to iTunes and write a quick review.  I'd also love to hear from you so please reach out on IG @eddiecohn with any questions. Thanks again for listening. 
 

A New Artist's Way and Big Magic

When you create, do you ever think of your audience and how your work will be received or do you solely create for yourself? Can art be both a personal and cathartic experience while also being an attempt to connect with an audience? After a brief hiatus from podcasting, I'm excited to be back on the Spiritual Spiral for the first episode of 2024. I find myself in this odd and precarious spot emotionally. On the one hand, I'm thrilled to have new music to share, but living in a world with so many metrics and so many social media platforms, it can also be quite overwhelming. With the constant running tabulations of views, listens and likes, what do these numbers do to the creative process. A friend of mine recently suggested a brilliant book entitled Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. This book has been a lifesaver and a great reminder for myself as to why I create in the first place. I read a quick section from Gilbert's fantastic book and I end the show by playing my latest song. As always, thanks so much for listening to the show and being so incredibly supportive. I appreciate YOU! Please check out my latest song on Spotify by clicking HERE or you can watch the video by clicking HERE. Remember, my book SSAFY can be purchased by visiting SSAFYoga.com or on Amazon by clicking HERE and if you enjoy today's episode and you want to support the show, PLEASE subscribe to the podcast on iTUNES or Spotify. It's also always helpful if you share the show with your friends or maybe head over to iTunes and write a quick review.  I'd also love to hear from you so please reach out on IG @eddiecohn with any questions. Thanks again for listening. 
 

Nathaniel Perales

Today on the Spiritual Spiral, I'm thrilled to welcome Portland based photographer and web designer, Nathaniel Perales, to the show. I've been a HUGE fan of Nathaniel's photography for a long time. So much so that most of the cover photos of my records or singles typically feature Nathaniel's work. He and I begin by dissecting the crazy intersection where technology and social media collide with the intimacy of creativity.  We talk about the emotional ups and downs we feel when we release new art into the world. Nathaniel discusses his personal process as a photographer and we talk about the potential effect social media and tech may be having on autonomy and cultural creativity. We discuss ways technology can ultimately benefit our lives as creators but just as easily warp perceptions and our own expectations when we release new work. We chat about criticism and dwindling attention spans and Nathaniel also talks about what inspired him to first get into photography AND he ends the show by reading an incredible poem. I definitely suggest you check out Nathaniel's work by following him on IG @nathanielperales or visit his website nathanielperales.com.  As always, thanks so much for listening to the show and being so incredibly supportive. I appreciate YOU! Remember, my book SSAFY can be purchased by visiting SSAFYoga.com or on Amazon by clicking HERE and if you enjoy today's episode and you want to support the show, PLEASE subscribe to the podcast on iTUNES or Spotify. It's also always helpful if you share the show with your friends or maybe head over to iTunes and write a quick review.  I'd also love to hear from you so please reach out on IG @eddiecohn with any questions. Thanks again for listening. 
 

Aaron Bethune

Finding purpose, meditation and the meaning of life. Today on the Spiritual Spiral, you're in store for a deep and wonderful chat as I welcome my good friend, Aaron Bethune, to the show. Aaron and I have been talking about doing a podcast together for a LONG time so it's great to finally make it happen. Aaron's another one of those brilliant people I know who is truly a Renaissance man. He's an entrepreneur, storyteller, author, a CEO, a musician and a HUGE fan of the arts. He is also big on meditation so we start off by talking about religion, meditation and what inspires him to take Vipassana retreats each year. We discuss the complex world of spirituality and yoga and what ultimately inspires Aaron to look at life through a more Buddhist lens. We talk about music, PR and standing out as an artist in this tech centric culture and we talk about the positives and potential pitfalls of social media. You can find Aaron on IG @aaronbethune or at his website, aaronbethune.com. As always, thanks so much for listening to the show and being so incredibly supportive. I appreciate YOU! Remember, my book SSAFY can be purchased by visiting SSAFYoga.com or on Amazon by clicking HERE and if you enjoy today's episode and you want to support the show, PLEASE subscribe to the podcast on iTUNES or Spotify. It's also always helpful if you share the show with your friends or maybe head over to iTunes and write a quick review.  I'd also love to hear from you so please reach out on IG @eddiecohn with any questions. Thanks again for listening.