『The Urban Monk podcast with Dr. Pedram Shojai』のカバーアート

The Urban Monk podcast with Dr. Pedram Shojai

The Urban Monk podcast with Dr. Pedram Shojai

著者： Pedram Shojai
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Join Dr. Pedram Shojai, New York Times bestselling author and acclaimed filmmaker, for deep conversations about living with balance and purpose in our chaotic modern world. As "The Urban Monk," Dr. Shojai brings a unique perspective as a former Taoist monk, Doctor of Oriental Medicine, Qigong Master, and creator of multiple documentary series including "Interconnected," "Gateway to Health," and "Trauma." Each week, he explores the intersection of ancient wisdom and modern science with leading experts, sharing practical tools for stress management, energy optimization, and conscious living. Whether you're a busy executive, overwhelmed parent, or anyone seeking more meaning and less chaos, this podcast provides actionable insights for transforming your daily life. Dr. Shojai is the author of bestselling books including "The Urban Monk," "Inner Alchemy," "The Art of Stopping Time," and "Focus." His no-nonsense approach combines Eastern philosophy with Western practicality, making ancient wisdom accessible for modern living. Perfect for listeners interested in mindfulness, wellness, productivity, and personal development. New episodes every week. 🎧 Featured Topics: Stress Management, Energy Healing, Mindfulness, Productivity, Ancient Wisdom, Modern Wellness, Work-Life Balance, Conscious Living 📚 Books: The Urban Monk, Inner Alchemy, The Art of Stopping Time, Focus 🎬 Documentaries: Interconnected, Gateway to Health, Trauma, Conscious Parenting 🌐 Website: theurbanmonk.com© 2025 Urban Monk Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. スピリチュアリティ 代替医療・補完医療 衛生・健康的な生活
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  • Your Nervous System Has a Ladder

    Your Nervous System Has a Ladder
    2026/07/06

    🎙️ Most people oscillate between stressed and crashed without ever finding ease. Dr. Pedram Shojai breaks down why that's not a willpower problem, it's an architecture problem. Drawing on Stephen Porges's polyvagal theory and Deb Dana's ladder framework, he maps the three rungs of the nervous system and introduces three gates (acoustic, facial, and breath) that can shift your state in under two minutes. No equipment required.

    🎯 What You'll Learn:

    • Why the nervous system has three distinct rungs: ventral vagal safety and connection, sympathetic mobilization, and dorsal vagal collapse, and why most people get stuck cycling between the bottom two
    • How the three Dantians in Daoist practice map directly onto polyvagal theory, and why fluency across all three matters more than trying to live permanently at the top
    • The three gates to ventral vagal: the acoustic gate (humming activates the vagus within one to two breaths), the facial gate (softening eyes and unhinging jaw signals safety in ten to twenty seconds), and the breath gate (longer exhales boost heart rate variability)
    • Why the retreat high fades fast without daily practice, and how consistent repetition builds the speed and reliability of returning to ease

    🔑 Key Insights:
    "Most people oscillate between stressed and crashed. It's not a willpower issue. It's an architecture issue."
    "Replace 'what's wrong with me' with 'what rung am I on right now.' That reframe alone changes your relationship to your own state."
    "Nervous system state isn't identity. The gates offer a way back rather than a life sentence."

    💡 Action Steps:

    • Pause for one minute before each meal and run all three gates: three cycles of quiet humming, soften the eyes and release the jaw, then inhale for four counts and exhale for eight. Notice which rung you're on without trying to fix it
    • Track your rung at morning, midday, and evening this week. Note your personal signals of dorsal collapse versus sympathetic activation, and which gate feels most accessible

    🎧 Perfect for: Anyone stuck in cycles of stress and burnout, people who feel great after retreats but can't hold the state at home, or those ready to move from understanding polyvagal theory to actually using it.

    📚 Mentioned Resources:

    • Stephen Porges (polyvagal theory)
    • Deb Dana (polyvagal ladder framework)
    • Bessel van der Kolk (trauma research)
    • Yellow Dragon Monastery and the Daoist three Dantians

    🌐 Connect with Dr. Shojai:

    • Website: theurbanmonk.com
    • Books: The Urban Monk, Inner Alchemy, The Art of Stopping Time, Focus
    • Documentaries: Interconnected, Gateway to Health, Trauma, Conscious Parenting

    #PolyvagalTheory #NervousSystem #StressRelief #Vagus #Mindfulness #Breathwork #Wellness #UrbanMonk #HealthPodcast
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    32 分
  • Your Bad Mood Might Be Inflammation

    Your Bad Mood Might Be Inflammation
    2026/07/17
    🎙️ Your bad mood might not be psychological. It might be inflammation. Dr. Pedram Shojai unpacks psychoneuroimmunology, the decades-old field showing the brain and immune system are in constant two-way communication, and explains how chronic low-grade inflammation produces sickness behavior: a state that looks and feels exactly like depression, fatigue, and social withdrawal but is actually the brain doing precisely what it's wired to do. He introduces his three fires framework and closes with a guided cooling breath practice to begin addressing all three simultaneously. 🎯 What You'll Learn: How pro-inflammatory cytokines like IL-6 and TNF-alpha hijack tryptophan away from serotonin production and flood the brain with neurotoxic byproducts, physically shrinking the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus over timeWhy a subset of depression patients don't respond to antidepressants because their root cause is inflammation, not serotonin, and why Ed Bullmore argues the neurotransmitter focus was a fifty-year detourThe three fires driving chronic neuroinflammation: the gut fire (intestinal permeability letting LPS into circulation), the signal fire (chronic stress and unresolved threat perception), and the metabolic fire (visceral fat secreting pro-inflammatory compounds)Why ventral vagal activation through slow breathing calms all three fires simultaneously and why psychological work becomes far more effective once underlying inflammation is addressed first 🔑 Key Insights: "A significant portion of what we call mental illness may be a predictable output of chronic immune inflammation, not a failure of psychological resilience." "Cytokines don't just make you physically sick. They make you behaviorally sick. The flatness, the friction, the irritability: that's your brain responding to an immune signal." "Psychological work is valuable but difficult on an inflamed brain. The prefrontal cortex must be functional before deeper insight work can happen." 💡 Action Steps: Identify your dominant fire this week: gut (food sensitivities, dysbiosis), signal (chronic stress, loneliness, unresolved threat), or metabolic (poor sleep, processed food, inactivity). Name what feeds it and eliminate one inflammatory driver for seven days Practice the cooling breath daily: four count inhale, eight count exhale, paired with a visualization of signaling the immune system that the threat has passed 🎧 Perfect for: Anyone with treatment-resistant depression or mood issues that don't respond to standard approaches, people with chronic fatigue or brain fog, or those ready to address the inflammatory roots of mental health from the body up. 📚 Mentioned Resources: Robert Dantzer, University of Texas MD Anderson (sickness behavior research) Andrew Miller, Emory University (inflammation and depression, 2009)Ed Bullmore, The Inflamed Mind (2018) Charles Raison, University of Wisconsin (social threat and inflammatory gene expression) Lights On Program, Module Two 🌐 Connect with Dr. Shojai: Website: theurbanmonk.com Books: The Urban Monk, Inner Alchemy, The Art of Stopping Time, Focus Documentaries: Interconnected, Gateway to Health, Trauma, Conscious Parenting #Inflammation #MentalHealth #Depression #NervousSystem #GutHealth #Breathwork #Wellness #UrbanMonk #HealthPodcast
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    44 分
  • The Gut Is Talking: How Your Second Brain Actually Runs Your Mood

    The Gut Is Talking: How Your Second Brain Actually Runs Your Mood
    2026/07/24
    🎙️ Your gut isn't reacting to your emotions. It's generating a large share of them. Dr. Pedram Shojai unpacks the real science behind the gut-brain connection, showing that the vagus nerve carries roughly ninety percent of its signals upward from the gut to the brain, not the other way around. He walks through the enteric nervous system, explains how it produces most of the body's serotonin and about half its dopamine, and ties the modern research back to Daoist teachings on the lower dantian before leading a live enteric listening practice. 🎯 What You'll Learn: Why the enteric nervous system, with an estimated 500 million neurons, produces ninety to ninety-five percent of the body's serotonin and about half its dopamine, and keeps running even if the vagus nerve is severedHow the four channels of the gut-brain axis (neural, endocrine, immune, and metabolic) connect a damaged gut lining to systemic inflammation that crosses into the brain and shows up as fatigue, brain fog, anxiety, and low moodWhy classical Daoist practice always warmed the middle and regulated digestion before working on higher consciousness, and why you have to fix the gut to stabilize the mood regardless of which system you followThe three gut signals to learn: the baseline hum, the rapid reflexive response to context (faster than the prefrontal cortex), and the recovery signal after meals or stress 🔑 Key Insights: "Ninety percent of vagal signals travel from the gut to the brain. In most cases your emotional states are being generated by your gut, not the other way around." "When mood dips without a clear psychological story, the first move should be a gut inquiry, not introspection." "Supplements support the work. They do not replace eating and lifestyle change. Reducing chronic stress is one of the most powerful microbiome interventions in the literature." 💡 Action Steps: Each morning before coffee or screens, place a hand on the belly, breathe, and journal one sentence on what the gut is broadcastingKeep a food mood log for twenty-four hours, tracing mood shifts back two to four hours to specific foods. Note how quickly the gut settles after meals or stress 🎧 Perfect for: Anyone whose mood, energy, or mental clarity seems disconnected from what's happening psychologically, people with chronic gut issues they haven't connected to their mental health, or those ready to build real body literacy from the second brain up. 📚 Mentioned Resources: Michael Gershon, The Second Brain (Columbia University, 1998) Emeran Mayer, The Mind-Gut Connection (UCLA, 2016) Frontiers in Psychiatry meta-analysis on gut microbiome and major depressive disorder (2019) Upstream App (Pedram's Socratic inquiry tool) Yellow Dragon Monastery training tradition 🌐 Connect with Dr. Shojai: Website: theurbanmonk.com Books: The Urban Monk, Inner Alchemy, The Art of Stopping Time, Focus Documentaries: Interconnected, Gateway to Health, Trauma, Conscious Parenting #GutHealth #GutBrainAxis #MentalHealth #Serotonin #Microbiome #NervousSystem #Wellness #UrbanMonk #HealthPodcast
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    45 分
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