The Urban Monk Podcast

2020 is off to a wild start! The world is chaotic. How do we find a calm respite while balancing work, children, dinner, and errands that take over our lives? Pedram discusses how he uses qi gong to still the chaos of the world.

Marijuana and its various forms are getting a second look from both the general public and the medical community. The scientific community is diving deep into research of CBD and its potential various medical applications to heal but without the psychoactive effects. What is the new research on the healing properties of CBD? Pedram Shojai welcomes guest Leonard Leinow to discuss how CBD can help patients heal.

Contemporary life provides us with infinite opportunities. We can immerse ourselves in the vast, enticing world of digital media. But living in this 24/7 hyper-reality comes at a steep cost: left unchecked, it poses serious risks to our physical and mental health, relationships, and even the ability to control our thoughts. David Perlmutter, MD joins Pedram Shojai on The Urban Monk Podcast to discuss how the culture around us can affect us. Based on the latest science, Dr. Perlmutter reveals the mental hijacking that undermines each and every one of us, and presents the tools necessary to think more clearly, make better decisions, strengthen bonds with others, and develop healthier habits.

Stem cells were once controversial due to their method of acquisition but the research has advanced and there are new ways to gather stem cells. The benefits of using stem cells to heal are great and Pedram Shojai himself has been using stem cells to help heal a previous hip injury of his under the supervision of this week's guest, Dr. Harry Adelson! How do stem cells work and where are doctors now getting them from? What is the success rate and what can someone using stem cells reasonably expect?

Flint, Michigan was only the tip of the iceberg. From big cities and suburbs to the rural heartland, chemicals linked to cancer, heart disease, obesity, birth defects, and lowered IQ routinely spill from our taps. Many are to blame: the EPA, Congress, a bipartisan coalition of powerful governors and mayors, chemical companies, and drinking water utilities—even NASA and the Pentagon. Meanwhile, the bottled water industry has been fanning our fears about tap water, but bottled water is often no safer. So then what is the solution? Pedram Shojai welcomes author Seth M. Siegel back onto The Urban Monk Podcast to discuss the current state of drinking water how to ensure the water coming out of your tap is safe to drink.

When you invest your money in either the banks or on Wall St. have you ever considered what your money is actually doing? What impact does your money have when you put it into a savings account or a retirement fund? Is your money going towards companies that you would want to do business with? And how can you tell if a company is actually doing good, not just on a financial sheet, but for the world and its environment? Martin Whittaker, founding CEO of JUST Capital, takes out the guesswork when trying to find ethical places to invest your money. He joins Pedram Shojai on The Urban Monk podcast to discuss the current state of finance and how that is impacting the world at large.

Toxins are everywhere and they're difficult to avoid. Even when we try our best we may still be exposed to harmful toxics that affect our health and wellbeing. What sort of toxins are we being exposed to regularly and how do they affect us? Pedram Shojai welcomes Urban Monk Podcast regular Tom Malterre back to the show to discuss the ongoing research into endocrine disrupters that mess with our lives.

Are women showing off their full authentic selves? Traits labeled as "feminine" such as sensitivity, intuition, or feeling emotional were once disparaged as weaknesses and both men and women were encouraged to shut down these aspects of their personalities. Author Amy Stanton challenges old and outdated perceptions that feminine traits are weaknesses and the book The Feminine Revolution revisits those characteristics to show how they are powerful assets that should be embraced rather than maligned. It argues that feminine traits have been mischaracterized as weak, fragile, diminutive, and embittered for too long, and offers a call to arms to redeem them as the superpowers and gifts that they are.

Many people enjoy a glass of wine whether it be with dinner or just a way to unwind after a long day at work, but have you ever thought about what's actually in your wine? Wine doesn't actually list the ingredients on the bottle. Well Todd White of Dry Farm Wines joins Pedram Shojai on The Urban Monk Podcast to discuss exactly why that is. Todd also talks about the process in which wine is mass produced and the troubling toxins that may actually be the cause of some headaches associated with wine. What does it take to remove the wine of these toxins? What is the end result for the taste and flavor of the wine?

You may have heard (often) to fire up your metabolism in order to lose weight, but what really does that mean? How are we able to control our metabolism? Dr. Alan Christianson suggests we should focus on our livers to better serve our body. How does the liver control the fat being stored in our bodies? How can we work better to lose extra inches off our bellies? What role does the liver play in suppressing metabolism?

The Urban Monk is back after a hiatus from the podcast. Pedram Shojai has been busy all year filming a new docu-series on the microbiome titled Interconnected! Here he takes some time to sit and just talk about the experience of filming the series and what he learned and the many experts he was able to interview. No guest in this episode, just Pedram at the wheel driving solo.

Dr. Tom O'Bryan is no stranger to The Urban Monk and he returns to talk about what it takes to restore cognitive function. We've all experienced that brain fog where we can't remember where we put our keys or can't connect the name to the face or forgotten birthdays. What causes our brain to slow down and what can be done to bring it back to optimal operation? Dr. Tom O'Bryan has a step-by-step plan to bring our brains back to tip-top shape so that we can live our best lives!

There's a lot of information when it comes to dieting. Things to eat, things not to eat, things to eat at a certain time, times to not eat, how long to eat, how much to eat, eating as much as you want, restricting how much you want to eat, tricking yourself into not wanting to eat, what the hell are we supposed to do? Cassie Bjork comes onto the podcast this week to talk it out with Pedram about all the diets that are circulating around. Paleo, keto, Atkins, what are all of these and which one is right for each person? How can a person even know?

Aimee Raupp is an acupuncturist and herbalist who has worked with scores of women through various issues. Through her experience in the clinic she has come up with a roadmap to heal from autoimmune disease. She transitioned from helping women with poor fertility outlooks to working with patients on a more spiritual and emotional level. How can one attune one's behavior to better serve your own body?

How important is a morning routine? How can what we do in the morning affect the rest of our day? Benjamin Spall has written about this very topic and joins Pedram Shojai to deeply examine the common habits people get into when they wake up. Think about what you do when you wake up. The very first thing. Do you take a moment to appreciate perhaps your spouse? Or are you reaching for the phone to see who's emailed you in the last 8 hours? What affect could this have on our day to day lives? How do we break routines and add in new ones? What positive routines can we fold into our mornings?

Microbes are life forms that are too small to see without a microscope. There are microbes in the soil, in the atmosphere, and even inside every one of us. How do these microbes live? How do they behave? What are they doing inside each and every person and do they affect the person as a whole? Author Eugenia Bone joins Pedram on The Urban Monk to discuss the fascinating micro-world.

Many of us try to do everything we can to stay healthy, but at times it can be overwhelming. Thankfully, Dr. Rangan Chatterjee through his years of experiences as a doctor has worked out four key components to keep focus upon if we want to prevent disease: food, relaxation, sleep, and movement. By focusing on little changes, the multitude of little changes can add up to big results that will make all aspects of life better. What is the best way to incorporate these four pillars into our everyday lives?

Technology in all of its forms is becoming more prevalent in our every day lives. From mobile phones to tablets and video games and social media, it's quite pervasive. For developed adults, we've come to adapt, but how does it affect the development of a child? Pedram talks with psychologist Richard Freed about the studied effects of technology on the developing brain. How much is too much? Is there an acceptable amount of screen time at all for younger children? How can a parent best control the amount of time their children spends in front of the television or holding a tablet?

This week's episode of The Urban Monk is extra special as guest Emily Fletcher was able to actually visit with Pedram and record with him in his own dining room! Emily was a performer on Broadway stages for ten years which is one of the high forms of insanity. She would wake up and head to a theater sometimes not knowing what role she would be performing that evening. In such a high-stress environment, what made her finally settle down to try meditation? Did she have any pre-conceived notions about meditation? How does she make time for meditation in our current world of deadlines and meetings and conferences?

At the age of 22, Leo Galland's son, Christopher, passed away. He was a brain-damaged special needs child who was able to provide uncanny insights. Though Christopher is gone, to Leo his wisdom and presence remains. What is it to feel someone's presence after they've passed away? What is the spirit? How can we feel the spirit of a loved one? How can we connect with our own?