Hosts Soroosh and Dennis celebrate the 50th episode and reflect on their two-year journey of podcasting. Subscribe to our newsletter here They discuss personal growth, the importance of vulnerability, and the lessons learned through their conversations about men's health and emotional well-being. Soroosh shares his journey of self-discovery, the challenges he faced, and how podcasting has helped him become more vocal about his feelings. The episode emphasizes the power of connection and the sign...
Jun 10, 2025•40 min•Season 1Ep. 50
In this episode of Hearts Wide Open, hosts Dennis and Tamara delve into the complexities of relationships, particularly focusing on the dynamics of living together. They explore the importance of communication, understanding emotional triggers, and maintaining individuality while navigating the challenges that come with cohabitation. The conversation highlights the significance of conflict resolution, the evolution of attraction, and the cultural perspectives surrounding living together before m...
May 27, 2025•28 min•Season 1Ep. 49
Moving in together sounds like a dream—but for many men, it can also be an emotional rollercoaster. In this episode of Hearts Wide Open, Dennis opens up about the mental and emotional shift of going from long-distance dating to sharing a home. From unexpected doubts to communication struggles and moments of real growth, we explore the messy and beautiful side of learning how to really live together. This is a raw, honest take on men’s mental health in relationships, and how living together can c...
May 13, 2025•26 min•Season 1Ep. 48
Reiss talks about how he quit drinking for the first time. On this episode of Hearts Wide Open, The Men's Health Podcast, Dennis sat down with Reiss Silva, personal trainer and coach to world champions, medalists and world record holders and regular men just like you! Reiss opens up about the journey of quitting drinking, giving up alcohol for the first time and offers valuable thoughts as he tells his inspiring, not so easy story. The two share personal stories as they dive into the most import...
Apr 22, 2025•37 min•Season 1Ep. 47
Men’s mental health and aging as a man —what a combo. In this special birthday episode, Dennis turns 33 and dives headfirst into what it really feels like to be a man in his 30s , reflecting on life not quite going as planned, the weird pressure to "have it all figured out," and the little existential crisis that can sneak up with every passing year. Turning 30 used to feel like the beginning of adulthood… now 33 feels like a weird milestone no one warned us about. From the nostalgia of our earl...
Apr 08, 2025•18 min•Season 1Ep. 46
Most men ignore their heart health—until it’s too late. Don’t be one of them. Discover the secrets to heart health for men and learn heart disease prevention strategies that could save your life. In this episode of Hearts Wide Open, the Men's Health Podcast , host Dennis sits down with Michelle Routhenstein , a leading cardiology dietitian and preventive cardiology nutritionist from EntrielyNourished.com . They dive deep into the biggest risk factors for heart disease prevention , how gut health...
Mar 25, 2025•28 min•Season 1Ep. 45
Going home as an adult can feel like stepping back in time. No matter how much we’ve grown, family dynamics and personal growth often clash, making us feel like a younger, outdated version of ourselves. In this episode, I share my experience of visiting home while staying in a BnB instead of my childhood home—and how it completely changed my relationship with myself and my family.Why does going home as an adult sometimes feel like going backwards? How do family dynamics and personal growth shape...
Mar 11, 2025•11 min•Season 1Ep. 44
Resilience isn’t something we’re born with. Resilience can be developed. How? That’s exactly what we talked about with Paul Doughty! Paul is a published author who’s just released his new book “Resilience My Ultimate Superpower: Empowering Young Lives to Overcome Challenges”. We asked Paul what resilience means to him, what role resilience plays in his life and why he is helping young people specifically in becoming more resilient. Paul has had a LIFE! From growing up with domestic violence to l...
Feb 25, 2025•40 min•Season 1Ep. 43
Franz tried to get therapy for the first time and got rejected on the phone. On this episode Franz opens up about his story and how he stayed on course to eventually get professional help. He also talks about shame and shows us a new perspective, how shame is part of all of our life's in ways we sometimes cannot see. Today Franz changes the way we perceive shame and works with individuals like you and me to help "un-shame" them. Make sure to give this one a listen! Franz even does a small guided...
Feb 11, 2025•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 42
How do you successfully build and maintain lasting friendships? And how can a friendship evolve when it's over a long physical distance? Is this even possible? Dennis sat down with his longterm long-distance friend Ruan in Brazil to discuss friendship and more! Did you know that 1 in 5 men say that they do not have a single friend? His friends form Ruan's support system and he opens up about the time when they literally picked him up from a very dark place and saved his life. Ruan also talks abo...
Jan 28, 2025•55 min•Season 1Ep. 41
Soroosh sat down with Nikki from the Hearts Wide Open Family and discussed a variety of issues and topics related to relationships. Nikki is a psychologist and somatic movement coach who's recently joined the Hearts Wide Open family and supports us in organizing events for our community online and offline in the Netherlands. Wanna join one of our events? Stay tuned on our Instagram and/or subscribe to our newsletter via our website! On this episode Nikki opens up about growing up without a prese...
Jan 14, 2025•57 min•Season 1Ep. 40
Join our end of year team call where we review the year, look back at a big Movember month and what we wish for ourselves and everyone else in 2025. This one is a relaxed behind the scenes call where we go through some of these questions. We wanted to share this call with you to let you get to know the hearts wide open team behind the scenes. We wish you all a good start to the next year and hope to see you back with Hearts Wide Open in 2025, no matter if it's going your way or not. Want to talk...
Dec 24, 2024•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 39
Salsa teacher Cris unpacks his recent Ayahuasca experience with Dennis! Hear about how he got to taking the substance and what it ultimately did for him in healing the relationship with his parents. Note that this is Cris' personal experience and Ayahuasca can be different for every individual. When parents grew up with tough love and have a hard time receiving love, what can you do as a son or daughter to support and help their healing? Breaking generational cycles is hard work, but when succes...
Dec 10, 2024•47 min
Pro public speaker Jelmer and Soroosh sat down to talk about his rocky path of becoming a public speaker! Jelmer was interested in speaking as a kid then started doubting himself due to what other people believed, but eventually ended up going for it anyway years later. In between, Jelmer went through a corporate career that almost made him burn out, overcoming self-doubt, experiencing therapy for the first time. All of this unpacked in this episode! On top of that Jelmer shares his best tips fo...
Nov 26, 2024•53 min•Season 1Ep. 37
Dennis sat down with Stijn Herpers from the Man-up club to talk about Stijns story, what shaped him, how he is dealing with moving out of his parents and more. Stijn truly showed up for this one and opened up about sabotaging himself and his relationships, why he started the Man-up club and therapy at the age of 17. This conversation is truly wholesome, Dennis and Stijn are talking about serious things with a smile on their faces and even go into the question "how to sit on a date?". Join and li...
Nov 12, 2024•42 min•Season 1Ep. 36
Dennis interviewed Juriaan, a Dutch man who is travelling around the globe by bicycle! You've heard right! By B-I-C-Y-C-L-E. You probably know that Dutch people love to get from a to b by bicycle, but what makes a person want to do that around the entire planet? This is exactly what we've asked Juriaan in this episode. He talks about his motivation behind doing this challenge, how it supports his own mental health and how he wants to make a difference for others too, by raising awareness and fun...
Oct 22, 2024•45 min•Season 1Ep. 35
We explore the hidden ways negativity can manifest in our lives and how we can recognize when someone’s negative attitude is a reflection of their own struggles or just a part of who they are. Feeling Tense? It Might Be the People Around You. Have you ever noticed tension in your body that seems to linger for days, weeks, or even months? Sometimes, stress and negativity from the people around us can creep into our lives unnoticed, leaving us feeling drained and overwhelmed. It could be the const...
Oct 08, 2024•37 min•Season 1Ep. 34
We interviewed our yoga teacher about her philosophy, the PSOAS muscle and how it stores emotions that want to be released and how we can learn this. Priscilla talks to us about the light and shadow, the yin and yang, why she loves working with men and what a healthy man is to her. We discover why it’s so important to restore the balance and create a safe space for all genders to support connection with self and others. We also dive into men and women healing by themselves vs. healing together a...
Sep 24, 2024•55 min•Season 1Ep. 33
Life moves in cycles and this episode is testament to that. Dennis has been through a transformational experience at the start of the month, which realigned him to his purpose and values, brought him back on track in terms of the direction he was taking in life and left him with clarity of what his north star is. Dennis takes you on a journey throughout this experience: What happened to him at the start, how he was all of the sudden able to deal with topics he'd felt stuck with and how this enab...
Sep 10, 2024•44 min•Season 1Ep. 32
In this episode, we talk about attachment theory. Attachment theory talks about how we attach in romantic relationships with a partner and how it relates to the love and care we receive as a baby or child. Our guest is Rita Bliven. Rita has a lot of experience in the field of attachment theory and opens up about her own personal story on attachment which starts with a child kidnapping. She also coaches Dennis and Soroosh on their past love relationships and how attachment styles played a role th...
Aug 27, 2024•45 min•Season 1Ep. 31
In this episode, Soroosh gives the definition of self-sabotage from a technical point of view. How sometimes we set high goals for ourselves and set ourselves up for failure. Are you also inspired by the success story of other people and plan to wake up at 4 am, and then fail? Do you criticise &set high expectations for yourself? We talk about how you too, can plan properly. Furthermore, we dive deep into the patterns and mindset traps that hold us back, exploring practical strategies to bre...
Aug 13, 2024•34 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Lenny shares about his decision to quit Instagram and delete the app on this episode of the Hearts Wide Open Podcast. He deleted Instagram over 2 years ago and talks about the process and impact it has on him today. We also discuss other social media platforms like Twitter / X and how they have changed. We all choose what type of content we consume and in the end it is important to be conscious about where we spend our time. In this episode Lenny even offers to take us through a short meditation...
Jul 23, 2024•35 min•Season 1Ep. 29
Ever wondered why it seems so hard to have an authentic conversation #realtalk with one of your friends, a family member or maybe even a stranger you've just met? Then this episode is for you! In this episode we not only discuss why it can seem so hard to finally see and really talk each other through the thick surface of small talk, people pleasing, playing a role and so on, but ALSO how we can foster more of these spaces and what we can do to be more authentic in our environment and with the p...
Jul 09, 2024•35 min•Season 1Ep. 28
Hearts Wide Open is celebrating its first anniversary! 1 year podcasting about men's health and men's mental health related topics. In this episode hosts Soroosh and Dennis are getting interviewed by former guest Tamara and look back at their highlights, lowlights, learnings and take aways from 1 year of hosting a men's health podcast. The two not only share about the past year, but take a deeper look at some of their learnings and what being a healthy man means to them. They go on giving some h...
Jun 25, 2024•43 min•Season 1Ep. 27
In this episode, Sooroosh and Alican delve into the reality that everyone faces low moments in life, times when the weight of challenges can feel overwhelming. It's crucial to recognize that these experiences are part of the human condition and do not reflect personal failure or weakness. Seeking help is a courageous step, not a sign of inadequacy. Whether it’s talking to a friend, consulting a therapist, or finding solace in a support group, asking for assistance is a proactive way to manage an...
Jun 18, 2024•41 min•Season 1Ep. 26
In this powerful episode, Soroosh and Alican dive into the complex and often painful reality of toxic relationships with parents during the teenage years and even adulthood. As a teenager, dealing with toxic parental dynamics can be particularly challenging. The pressure to meet unrealistic expectations, constant criticism, and a lack of emotional support can lead to severe consequences such as depression, anxiety, and difficulties in establishing personal boundaries. We explore how these toxic ...
Jun 11, 2024•44 min•Season 1Ep. 25
In this episode we tried something new! If you're able to, definitely check out the video version of this episode on Spotify or YouTube, because we're PAINTING as we have this conversation about a variety of thought-provoking topics that we as young men are faced with. It helps us a lot, if you take a moment to let us know what you think about this new format. This week Soroosh asked himself why he obsesses about the reasons why someone rejected him after a date. We're sure you can relate, if yo...
May 28, 2024•56 min•Season 1Ep. 24
On this episode Soroosh and Dennis sat down with Lukas aka @vollblutvater who is an advocate for the equal parenting model and sharing his experience as an involved father on his social channels. Lukas explains what equal parenting or shared care means for him and his wife and why they chose this model. He shares about building a father son connection with his newborn and how equal care looks in practice also talks about the struggles that come with juggling both work and being a parent and why ...
May 14, 2024•57 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Soroosh had a talk with a friend recently and thought he'd bring the topic to the podcast to dive deep and discuss our thoughts on the pressure to perform. What is pressure to perform? What types of pressures are there that we can experience and where do they come from? How do these pressures affect us today and how do we still attach to them? We discuss all these questions and more around the topic of pressure on this episode and share real examples from our own lifes to illustrate how differen...
Apr 23, 2024•58 min•Season 1Ep. 22
We talked to Daley who went from being unhappy as a strategy consultant to working at the zoo. He talks about the dark side of being a strategy consultant, how he discovered his passion for animals and how working at the zoo feels more aligned to his purpose, which ultimately makes him much happier. Daley opens up about how being a "nice guy" worked against him and how he strives to become an "integrated male", embracing all his different components of self: Emotional, physical and psychological...
Apr 09, 2024•57 min•Season 1Ep. 21
