In this episode, we sit down with Sarah Steel, author and host of Let’s Talk About Sects , an award-winning independent podcast about which the New York Times said, "Come for the satisfying pun in the title, stay for the deeply researched chronicles of all kinds of cults." We discuss a topic that’s often misunderstood but deeply important, especially in the world of spirituality: the nature of cults. With cult documentaries becoming a regular feature on streaming services, and the word ‘cult’ be...
May 04, 2025•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 38
We are excited to share with you this conversation on an important subject for many women in our community – the rite of passage known in our modern world as menopause. We are joined by Ayurveda practitioner and Vedic wisdom holder Erandati Benjamin from Inner Soma. Erandati has a diploma in Ayurveda from the Australasian Institute of Ayurvedic Studies (AIAS) and a Masters in Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine from Maharishi International University (MIU) in Iowa, USA. Her focus with patients is ...
Jan 25, 2025•1 hr 13 min•Season 1Ep. 37
In this episode Laura Poole speaks with her colleague and friend Joh Jarvis from The Light Inside - a not-for-profit foundation which takes meditation into prisons and jails across the United States. The Vedic perspective is that all change in life begins with a shift in consciousness. This is why meditation is the foundation for bringing us into right action. But those who really need meditation may not have access. This is why Joh and The Light Inside exist. What we talk about. Joh’s journey o...
Apr 22, 2024•1 hr 52 min•Season 1Ep. 36
This content may be emotionally challenging and includes trauma, violence, and sexual abuse. If this doesn’t feel the right time for you to listen, we recommend circling back when you’re ready. We are not providing any professional advice, only sharing a personal story and perspective. Please seek professional help if you need support – we shared some services that you can access via our show notes. For Melbourne based designer Yeojin Bae, fashion has always been her creative expression for wome...
Jan 14, 2024•2 hr 47 min•Season 1Ep. 35
This time of year can be very full, fast paced, and involve a lot of doing, we thought it would be timely to share this short podcast episode from our teacher Kathleen O'Brien. Our hope is that it softens the busyness this time of year can bring. In this episode you'll be reminded that life is a constant process of unfolding. We need reminding because when everything is rolling along smoothly it can be easy to see the big picture. But when life gets challenging or we’ve been ignoring change, lif...
Nov 01, 2023•22 min•Season 1Ep. 34
This podcast episode refers to suicide and its impact. Please seek professional help if you need support. A list of mental health and counselling resources can be found in the show notes. In this episode Laura Poole joined by Melbourne-based artist and storyteller, and fellow Vedic meditator, Ryan Abramowitz to talk about an important subject that can be shrouded in shame and stigma – suicide. Ryan is the author and artist of ‘Elegy for an Elephant’, a picture book he has been working on these p...
Jul 11, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 33
Laura Poole is again joined by Vedic astrologer Blaine Watson to talk all about Guru Purnima – the full moon night that occurs once a year where we honour the guru and all teachers in our lives. We go a beautiful journey exploring what a guru is (and is not), the relationship of guru to transcendence and love, stories from Blaine’s time with his guru, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and other great gurus and saints. We finish with how we can observe the Vedic celebration of Guru Purnima and gain the ausp...
Jun 21, 2023•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 33
This episode comes from a group meditation Q&A where a student asked about falling asleep in meditation and why it keeps on happening. We explore why meditation is a practice of two-fold revealing and the importance of allowing cosmic intelligence to take the drivers seat in life. If you’ve ever fallen asleep while meditating, we hope this gives you a new perspective to see everything is just as it should be. We hope you enjoy! What we talk about: Why meditation is a practice of two-fold rev...
May 29, 2023•26 min•Season 1Ep. 32
Something we’re passionate about in our community is women’s health, and in this episode Laura Poole is joined by Ayurveda practitioner and author Chasca Summerville who some of you may know from Instagram as Alchemy of Ayurveda . Chasca’s real speciality is Ayurveda for women sharing holistic ways to rejuvenate and wisdom to empower women to be their own healers. In this episode we explore all of this, with a focus on one ritual – yoni steaming - which changed Chasca’s life and healed her from ...
May 09, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 31
This is a new offering on our podcast of shorter wisdom sessions shared from our teachers. Of things we have been exploring in group meditations, mentoring sessions, and in our personal lives. This episode came from a question at group meditation: ‘How do I trust life? How can I surrender and have faith when things just don’t see to be going ‘my way’ or as I had hoped they would go?’ Kathleen explores a different take on trust, shifting our perspective from a life based in faith, trust, and beli...
May 01, 2023•18 min•Season 1Ep. 30
This is a new offering on our podcast of shorter wisdom sessions shared from our teachers, of things we have been exploring in group meditations, mentoring sessions, and in our personal lives. This episode is about the idea that meditation can cause you to avoid doing the ‘real work’ - the harder, emotional, deeper work of change. Laura Poole shares a perspective that helps us understand what’s really going on when people use meditation to spiritually by-pass what’s needed, and how we can empowe...
Mar 29, 2023•29 min•Season 1Ep. 29
This is a special episode for everyone who knows and loves Pandit Baskaran AKA Panditji. Panditji is a Vedic meditation teacher, pandit, and man of bliss consciousness. You may have had the great blessing of being on retreat with him in India, experiencing the bliss and joy of being in his presence. This episode is devoted to sharing Panditji’s life story and wisdom. We hope you enjoy and get sore cheeks from smiling as much as we did. What we talk about in this episode. Panditji’s life story Tr...
Mar 12, 2023•54 min•Season 1Ep. 28
Welcome back podcast family! This week we’re sharing an empowering and vulnerable conversation between two of the Mahasoma team, Laura Poole and Kathleen O’Brien. Kathleen has a story that is both unique to her journey but also relatable for so many of you out there. Kathleen openly shares with us her experiences with health and challenges living with chronic conditions like eczema and allergies. We explore what to do when nothing is working, being your own healer, and healthy ways to relate to ...
Nov 11, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 27
This episode was recorded while we were in the south of India, in Tamil Nadu, staying at the Sri Narayani Holistic Centre for Ayurveda and Siddha Medicine. Our Vedic meditation teacher Laura Poole had the honour of speaking with the head doctor there – Dr Janani – all about Siddha Medicine for spiritual enlightenment and how you can experience this healing for yourself at the Sri Narayani Holistic Centre. The centre is one of the many projects of Sri Sakthi Amma , who is an avatar, an incarnatio...
Nov 07, 2022•44 min•Season 1Ep. 26
In this episode we chat with water researcher, activist and educator Isabel Friend. Isabel’s expertise is bringing modern scientific understanding together with ancient ancestral wisdom. Isabel shares a vision with practical strategies that helps people transform their relationship to water, increasing physical, mental, emotional, and environmental health for all beings. If you don’t yet have a deep reciprocal relationship with water, if your health or the state of our world is important to you,...
May 08, 2022•1 hr 32 min•Season 1Ep. 25
This episode is a Mahasoma team effort as we come together to answer your questions. We get a lot of inquiry on social media , emails, and group meditations, so we thought podcast episodes would be a great way to share more. We will be exploring your questions, sharing our real life experiences, and tapping into relevant themes/happenings we’re going through as a collective. In this episode we hope to give you some insight into who we are, how we came to meditation, and how the Vedic wisdom can ...
Apr 21, 2022•58 min•Season 1Ep. 24
This episode is all about the Vedic celebration known as Navaratri – the nine nights of worshipping the goddess at the two new moon equinoxes of the year. We wanted to share with you some of the deeper meanings and understandings of this celebration, and how you can tap into this flow of time to create greater health and vitality for yourself, your family and your community. We asked the wonderful teacher Prashanti de Jager to share some of the wisdom he has gained over the last 32 years of enga...
Mar 31, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 23
In this episode our Mahasoma teacher Laura Poole and the delightful repeat guest on our podcast, our Vedic astrologer Blaine Watson, talk all things transcendence. With both Laura and Blaine teaching Vedic meditation, a transcending meditation technique, we wanted to share the deeper understanding of transcendence, and help you recognise the profound nature of what you may already be experiencing every day. What we talk about in this episode. What transcendence actually is What are thoughts What...
Mar 13, 2022•1 hr 41 min•Season 1Ep. 22
In this episode we chat with incredible permaculture teacher, psychologist, Ayurveda expert, and barefoot yogi Ian Trew, exploring the physical, psychological and spiritual world that is permaculture. Our Mahasoma teacher Laura Poole completed her permaculture PDC course with Ian at Noosa Forest Retreat and fell in love with the way he spoke about ecology and nature, weaving in psychology, the Vedic worldview, indigenous wisdom, and personal development. It was an inspiring and very intense few ...
Dec 13, 2021•1 hr 38 min•Season 1Ep. 21
In this episode we chat with Celeste Tesorerio - a name well known in luxury fashion industry both within Australia and abroad. As Sustainability Manager of Roland Mouret and a member of the British Fashion Council’s Positive Fashion Committee, Celeste has worked with brands including Vivienne Westwood, Stella McCartney, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen and Balenciaga as well as big retailers such as Net-a-Porter, Matches and Selfridges. Celeste also spent five years directing her ow...
Nov 28, 2021•1 hr 32 min•Season 1Ep. 20
This episode we have the enlightening Vedic astrologer Blaine Watson back for another juicy session sharing his deep wisdom and experience of the Vedic science and technology known as yajña . On the surface it looks like a fire ceremony, where Vedic pandits are sitting around the fire, offering ghee and other sweet-smelling items, alongside chanting specific Vedic mantras to connect with the desired deity. What may look like an esoteric, occult, or religious practice, is actually a precise Vedic...
Oct 04, 2021•1 hr 48 min•Season 1Ep. 19
In this episode we speak with the divine Paige Hasaballah, otherwise known as Delta Venus . Delta is a visual communicator and intuitive conduit whose art and offerings are primarily about exploring consciousness. She works with her Egyptian lineage incorporating ancient spiritual practice into her creative expression. Her aim is to create space for the experience of oneness. Each artwork is designed to be lived with, meditated on, and experienced through. You can see her work by following @delt...
Sep 20, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Season 1Ep. 18
In this episode, we hear from Caroline Blanco - Mother, Vedic Meditation teacher, creative consultant & mentor. She lives and works on Bundjalung country nurturing individuals and teams to create, birth and live with deeper connection, purpose & freedom. After a deep healing journey from her traumatic first birth, Caroline recently free birthed her 2nd child undisturbed at home and in this episode she shares with us her learnings and experience. * Trigger warning * - In this episode we t...
May 18, 2021•1 hr 39 min•Season 1Ep. 17
In this episode Mahasoma teachers Laura Poole and Sarah O’Brien come together to talk about Sarah’s journey into Vedic meditation. Sarah’s comes from a background in legal advocacy. After finishing her law degree, Sarah jumped straight into working in human rights and administrative law, which was what she had spent her 7 years at university hoping to do. In a pretty short period of time, she witnessed the way we currently try to make change in the world and it began to feel that for her, the le...
Feb 03, 2021•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 16
In this episode our Mahasoma teacher Laura Poole speaks with our Vedic Astrologer, Blaine Watson. Vedic Astrology, or ‘Jyotiṣa’ as it is called in Sanskrit, has become an increasingly popular way of taking care of one’s future. Jyotiṣa means the ‘best of lights’. It’s the Vedic science of bringing awareness or light to the evolutionary process of life, predicting what’s coming and revealing that which is hidden from view, so we can adapt, adjust our behaviour, make better decisions and create gr...
Jan 20, 2021•2 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 15
In this episode we are joined by our dear friends, Daniela Prema and Sole De Riccio from Soma Shakti, to talk about postpartum care and how to apply the wisdom of Ayurveda to create greater health, nourishment, and vitality. What we talk about What an Ayurveda postpartum doula is Why it is such important support to have The sacred window of the 40-days after birth Foods to eat and avoid Ayurvedic herbs to take Massage and belly wrapping The role of meditation as a newborn mother How as women we ...
Oct 14, 2020•1 hr 25 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Up next on the Mahasoma Podcast we have author, speaker and relationship coach John Gray. He is the author of the most well-known and trusted relationship book of all time, Men Are from Mars, Women Are From Venus . It was the #1 best-selling book in the 90’s and one of the top 10 most influential books of the last quarter century. John joins us on the Mahasoma podcast to talk about the world of intimate relationships. What we talk about Role-mate vs. soul-mate relationships Understanding hormone...
Oct 03, 2020•1 hr 59 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Today we have a brilliant, thought-provoking, challenging and just all round awesome episode for you all! Vedic meditation teacher Laura Poole is in conversation with Meg Ulman of Artist as Family . Meg lives with her partner Patrick, their sons Woody and Zephyr and their dog Zero in Daylesford, Victoria on a ¼ acre permaculture plot. It’s home to their ‘ School of Applied Neopeasantry ’ at Tree Elbow University on Djaara peoples' country . They live a life of deep connection to Nature and commu...
Sep 09, 2020•1 hr 34 min•Season 1Ep. 12
This episode, Vedic meditation teacher Laura Poole is in discussion with Simon Borg-Olivier on 'The Misconceptions of Modern Yoga'. Simon is a biologist, physiotherapist and yoga teacher based in Sydney, Australia. He has spent decades sharing his incredible knowledge of the human anatomy and physiology, and is a master at teaching the foundations of traditional yoga to a modern audience. Simon’s motto for life is “Tense less, stress less, breath less, think less, eat less.” We love this and hop...
Aug 25, 2020•1 hr 27 min•Season 1Ep. 11
In this episode Vedic meditation teacher Laura Poole is in conversation with Craniosacral master therapist Etienne Peirsman , sharing with our community his life's work. Etienne has spent over 40 years developing and teaching Craniosacral, which is a profound technique that incorporates meditative depth into therapy. What we talk about What craniosacral is - the therapy side and the ‘non-doing’ meditative side How Etienne’s near-death experience brought him to the practice How to heal our hearts...
Aug 24, 2020•57 min•Season 1Ep. 10
