Episodes

The term “polymath” gets thrown around quite a bit these days, with many people positioning themselves as experts in X, Y, or Z. However, a lot of times it's, as they say, "all hat, no cattle." And then there's Erwin B. Valencia who despite wearing many hats - both literally and figuratively, truly embodies the term. Erwin – (aka “E,” or the “Godfather of Gratitude”) is a professional polymath: Wellness Expert/High-Performance Sports Clinician/ Life Coach / Community Nurturer / Non-Profit Found...

Jenny Thrasher is on a mission to "shift the mental health narrative from a fear-based, crisis mentality to one of wellness and empowerment." Through her companies All That We Are and Growing Out of Darkness, as well as her writings, she was able to untether herself from the traditionally dire and hopeless approach to navigating the gut-wrenching journey of loss. This is a topic the tireless mental health advocate is all too familiar with, as her father died by suicide, her own daughter nearly t...

Untether Your Life has taken a deep dive into mental health in the South Asian diaspora, inspired by the lived experiences of host Nikhil Torsekar and his wife Shelly Sood. One facet of this that merits further exploration is how it impacts South Asian males, a topic near and dear to Ankur Varma’s heart. Along with serving as Program Director at Northeast Family Services of Illinois, Ankur launched a valuable Instagram-based resource called Brown Man Therapy which is “on a mission to engage mor...

This podcast is all about breaking free of traditional templates and barriers placed upon us by society. Today’s guest exemplifies this in spades. Shermin Kruse is a first generation immigrant from Iran, Northwestern University law school professor, Global Transactions Expert, former law firm partner, TEDx Producer, author, and mother of 4. Nikhil Torsekar had a wonderful discussion with Shermin about a broad range of topics, including: Shermin’s interest in Star Trek (dating back to college),...

Benoit Kim could be seen as the poster boy for the mission of Untether Your Life, as he has broken free of the traditional templates of success for Asian Americans. Further, he’s gone above and beyond in owning his health, exploring the benefits of psychedelic therapies for managing mental illness both in a personal and professional capacity. Benoit is a former policymaker turned therapist, US army veteran, and host of the Discover More Podcast - a show for introspective thinkers with growth mi...

Today marks the 50th episode of Untether Your Life. We're commemorating this important milestone by rebroadcasting one of our favorite discussions, with Jason Goldberg. Enjoy! And...enjoy some more! Do personal growth books and podcasts make you roll your eyes? Are you tired of hearing the same story of “infinite inspiration” rehashed again and again? Then the guest on this episode of Untether Your Life may be the perfect alternative solution to the dry and heavy content that you’re used to. O...

Mike and Teresa Florence have been married for 24 years and have 3 sons and 1 daughter. Mike spent over 25 years in the global financial services and management consulting industry. Teresa earned a degree in early childhood development and spent 15 years working with children before leaving the workforce to focus on their family. Mike and Teresa always had a passion for mental health and through their own experiences have begun a journey to create a community focused on providing support to care...

Happy New Year! With the start of a new year, kids are likely back to the grind - whether it's at high school, college, or other insitutions of higher learning. So this week's discussion is timely: host Nikhil Torsekar speaks with Jonaed Iqbal, the Founder of NoDegree.com and host of The NoDegree Podcast where he interviews people without college degrees and has them share their stories so others can follow in their path. Jonaed is also a YouMap® certified career coach who has helped hundreds ...

JD Murgolo, aka JD the Jedi, is an author, ACE Certified Health Coach and Personal Trainer, speaker on anxiety and depression, and founder of the mental health community platform Fragile Moments. Host Nikhil Torsekar connected with him to dicuss several topics, including: How JD's background as a middle school Montessori teacher informed his love of helping adults "navigate their emotions" The dubious promise of health and wellness coaches "guaranteeing" elimination of anxiety, or loss of speci...

Spirituality is something that seems quite elusive in a hyper-notified, always-on world where we're glued to our screens, engaged in FOMO, doom-scrolling, or curating our Instagram feed to portray a perfect social and professional life. Justin S. Grant, however, has found a way to artfully blend these two worlds in his book Spirituality for Busy People (an abbreviation of his earlier work Business and Spirituality). In this episode, the Los Angeles, California-based author, entrepreneur, singer,...

Today's episode features a guest appearance by Nikhil Torsekar on an Instagram Live hosted by Shani, a coach based near Lisbon, Portugal who practices breathwork and cold water exposure therapy. After these tools pulled him out of a major depression, he made it his mission to share them with others and help them discover their own power. They touch on numerous topics geared to help you untether your life and break free of "templates," including: The mechanics of methodologies such as SOMA brea...

Today marks a new chapter for this podcast: we launched this initiative a year ago alongside our blog, the book we'd co-authored, as well as an upcoming movie. The core themes are owning your own health - i.e., looking beyond surgery, medication, and cognitive therapy to manage your mental and physical wellness. More broadly, our mission is to help you as the listener "untether your life:" break free of "templates" - professional, cultural, and health-related - that you may have accepted as bei...

Niraj Naik has a highly effective prescription to optimize the health of your mind, body, and soul. He is a certified UK pharmacist, turned holistic wellness, brain training and breath work expert who launched SOMA Breath. Through SOMA, Niraj has trained thousands of coaches in the powerful, scientifically-backed benefits of breathwork, music, dance, and community. Niraj developed a course called Breathwork for Life that is among the most popular on Mindvalley, a personal transformation platfor...

Bipolar disorder is at its core a global issue: although the systems for managing the disease vary from country to country, it impacts more than 45 million people worldwide. With this, it is always enlightening to speak with individuals around the globe who have found strategies for effectively managing the disorder. Oliver Seligman, today's guest, is a prime example: mental wellness coach, advocate, meditation teacher, and author of Befriending Bipolar and The Broker Who Broke Free. Based in E...

One of the most rewarding aspects of the Untether Your Life journey has been collaborating with organizations such as the South Asian American Policy and Research Institute (SAAPRI). SAAPRI is a non-profit nonpartisan organization established in 2001 with the mission to serve South Asian Americans in the Chicago area by using research to formulate equitable and socially responsible policy. Nikhil appeared as a panelist on the SAAPRI Health Equity Project “Movember” panel held on IG Live. The to...

The crux of the Untether Your Life platform lies in "owning your health," through healing practices beyond surgery, medication, cognitive therapy, and other traditional modalities. Additionally, it is all about untethering ourselves from conventional career paths and "templates" handed down over generations - especially as South Asian immigrants. As such, we were very excited to speak with Rahul Kay, Founder and CEO of Sukhi, a company that seeks to reduce corporate burnout and promote wellness...

Paris Prynkiewicz was diagnosed with depression at age 16, while her suspicion of having bipolar disorder was ignored by doctors because her productive life didn’t “fit the mold”. A few years later, she was hospitalized and court-ordered into treatment, leading to a life-changing journey of healing. Podcaster and author of the incredible memoir, Crooked Illness: Lessons From Inside & Outside Hospital Walls, Paris Prynkiewicz is joining host Nikhil to discuss her mental health and how the shame ...

With the publication of her book Saaya Unveiled, Mrinal Gokhale is trying to help break the stigma surrounding mental health, especially in her community. She joins host Nikhil on The Shelly Story this week to discuss the harmful model minority myth, and how it can lead to intense pressures and lack of focus on mental health issues. Host Nikhil of The Shelly Story, and today’s guest, Mrinal Gokhale, reflect on shared similar experiences of being from an immigrant family. Mrinal and Nikhil have ...

“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.” This quote attributed to Albert Einstein describes our collective misunderstanding of the relationship between the conscious and subconscious mind. For those who have experienced trauma, the learned act to rationalize our experiences can mean missing sometimes life-changing information from our subconscious. By tapping into her own intu...

Do personal growth books and podcasts make you roll your eyes? Are you tired of hearing the same story of “infinite inspiration” rehashed again and again? Then the guest on this episode of The Shelly Story may be the perfect alternative solution to the dry and heavy content that you’re used to. On today’s episode we speak with an award-winning entrepreneur, TEDx Speaker, bacon-atarian (that's a vegetarian who still eats bacon), funky sock lover, a former rapper (who opened for the Wu-Tang Clan ...

Being “gifted” doesn’t only refer to intelligence; people can be highly skilled in other areas, such as emotionality, leadership, and interpersonal skills. Neurodiversity captures the broad range of unique strengths of individuals who don’t neatly fit the typical molds that society creates. But who is serving this population of gifted adults? Dr. Tracy Winter, aka the “Nerd Coach,” is on the show to discuss her experience coaching gifted adults and why their quirky brains are so important. She ...

One of the key themes of the Untether Your Life platform is owning your health. Although doctors, nurses, and medical professionals play an important role, we are the ones who are ultimately responsible for optimizing the health of our mind, body and soul. Cain is a prime example of the benefits of owning your health. He transformed his life by going against the one-size-fits-alfl treatment model prevalent in today's healthcare system. After suffering a traumatic brain injury (TBI) as a teenag...

South Asian immigrants face a number of mental health challenges associated with the pressures of straddling two different worlds. The stress that comes with acculturation, trauma, and discrimination has been linked with depression, anxiety, and more, and getting help isn’t always as easy as it seems. Most traditional psychotherapy has been modeled on Western families, which is why today’s guest takes a more collaborative and multicultural approach. Today, we sit down with Dr. Ammara Khalid, a ...

Are you looking to improve your mental health and overall sense of wellbeing? Focusing on deep breathing and gentle poses through the practice of yoga may help! On this podcast, we speak to people from a variety of backgrounds about diverse issues, most notably mental health, but we also love to dive into topics that might be considered outside the mainstream when it comes to managing mental wellness. Today we will be discussing yoga as a mental health management tool. To help educate us and o...