Episode 1: Introducing the Enlightened-ish Podcast

Welcome to Enlightened-ish with Brad Wetzler. In this first episode, Brad discusses the who, what, where, when, and why of his new podcast. We humans have big brains that serve us in many ways. But our thinking brains also cause trouble for us, particularly when we forget how flawed and flat wrong our thoughts can be.  Our thinking brains can wind up causing us to become more separated from others and even ourselves. Meanwhile, we humans have big hearts, the feeling part of us that unites us and allows for cooperation and even love. Yet, over time, our hearts can become armored up and difficult to access. Brad proposes that, in the Enlightened-ish Podcast, he will seek to build a bridge between the thinking brain and the heart.  Through storytelling, reporting and inquiry, and occasional interviews with guest experts, Brad, an award-winning journalist, author, adventure writer, and yoga teacher,  hopes that the Enlightened-ish Podcast will become a home and a community for spiritual seekers and others interested in how we can live meaningful lives and heal from our individual and collective traumas that prevent us from living our best life together. 

Brad Wetzler is the author of the new memoir INTO THE SOUL OF THE WORLD: MY JOURNEY TO HEALING (Hachette Go). You can buy the book on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Into-Soul-World-Journey-Healing/dp/0306829304/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1683471841&sr=8-1

This powerful memoir shares an adventure journalist’s story of a decade-long, round-the-world quest to overcome his drug addiction and to understand and heal from past traumas. Suffering from PTSD and severe depression from past trauma, battling an addiction to overprescribed psychiatric medication, and at the rock bottom of his career, journalist Brad Wetzler had nowhere to go. So he set out on a journey to wander and hopefully find himself—and the world—again. Into the Soul of the World is Wetzler’s thrilling, impactful, and heartrending memoir of healing—physically, emotionally, and spiritually. An adventure journalist at heart, Wetzler mixes travelogue with empowering insights about his inner journey to better care for his own mental health. Journey with him as he travels across Israel and the West Bank, before moving on to India, a candle-lit cave on a mountaintop in the Himalayan foothills, and a life-changing encounter with a 100-year-old yogi. Wetzler's writing is full of the poignant, amusing, and occasionally heart‑breaking situations that unfold when we finally decide to confront depression (or any mental health struggle) and declare ourselves ready to heal: How do we heal our past and thrive again? What does it mean to live a good life? How can we transform our suffering and serve others? His answer: live to tell the story and find the humility and courage to be the best human you can be.