The Existentialists Podcast (2024)

21/06/2021

Last episode of Season 2!

In this episode, the hosts invite you, our listeners, to encounter the fundamental conditions of human existence by providing your own response to the challenges that these conditions bring to your own life. Specifically, we are discussing how we can encounter and personally respond to the basic fact that we are here in this world: “I am here but can I be?” Moreover, we are not just here but we are alive, we experience emotions and engage with life and relationships: “I am alive but do I like being alive?” Next, we are also our unique person, distinct and different from others: “ I am myself- May I be myself?” Finally, to encounter and realize our existence we are confronted with the question of meaning: “I am here, alive, I am myself but for what, what is the purpose or meaning of my life?” As you listen to the dialogue among your hosts, we invite you to engage with these four questions: “Can I be?”, “Do I like being alive?”, “May I be myself?” and “For what am I living?”- and provide your own personal answer to these questions as a way of engaging deeply with your existence.

We have enjoyed bringing our encounter series to you - stay tuned for Season 3 this fall!

07/06/2021

In this episode, the hosts discuss encountering our own moral conscience understood as a personal capacity of sensing what is right in a given situation. In contrast with moralistic attitudes or a priori prescribed percepts about right or wrong, encountering our moral conscience means encountering ourselves as persons, and trusting our own capacity to sense what is right. Listening to and following our moral conscience requires courage and vulnerability to trust our inner moral compass and our capacity to sense what is right and to do justice to what is right.

24/05/2021

In this episode, we discuss what it is like to encounter pain in various forms. Chelsea shares a personal vignette of living with pain and how it relates to one's relationship with life, the body, and identity.

22/05/2021

Our body is not just a firm, protective physical structure that supports our existence but is also filled with life and is experienced as alive, akin to Sartre’s (1943) lived body (Leib) or body-subject. The aliveness of the body-subject is experienced as vibrant emotionality in addition to sensuality and interoceptive experiences. Physically, we experience the goodness and beauty of life in and through our bodies. As sensual beings, we enjoy food, art, nature, the pleasures of the senses, and take comfort in all these. Embodied experience is imbued with emotionality. The sensorial pleasures or comfort as well as the physical pain are accompanied by affective overtones and emotions. Our emotions are clearer and more powerful when they resonate and are expressed through our bodies. Through our bodies we relate to ourselves, to each other, and to the world. We are embodied relational beings and our bodies are meant to communicate, relate, touch and love. Moreover, we also relate to our own body. We like and appreciate our body as good and beautiful, and we enjoy its sensuality. We experience our body inwardly as a rich source of life and beauty.

22/05/2021

Take a moment. Have a big stretch. Breathe deep. Sink into your skin. How is your body doing today?

10/05/2021

Existential Analysis acknowledges the body as a fundamental given of the human being and existence. Together with the psychological, and the noetic (spiritual) anthropological dimensions, the body represents a constitutive dimension of the human being. Embodiment represents as a holistic, integrated experience of the body, mind and spirit. In this view, the body represents the primary physical structure of our existence, the sensual, earthy connection to life, ourselves and others, the receptacle of our person, and the vehicle for our acting in the world, and becoming. This view contrasts with the prevalent objectifications of our bodies in our current world by overemphasizing the appearances, external standards of beauty and intense scrutiny of the outer aspects of one’s body such as shape or weight. This way, our bodies become objects of constant scrutiny and evaluation devoid of life and existential meaning.

09/05/2021

Finding ways to remain open to change and to deal with changes in a personal, intentional way is important both in everyday life and in therapy.

Here are some possibilities that we invite you to try: slowing down to notice the almost imperceptible changes that happen to all of us over the course of a day, cultivating small changes in our daily life (e.g., trying something new and voluntarily changing a favourite routine), becoming more adventurous and open to new experiences, reading and traveling, connecting with other cultures and places where we’ve never been before, dreaming and imagining (e.g., a dream that we had as kids about what we wanted to be when we grow up), or deliberately renouncing some habits or routines even if they provide a sense of safety and stability.

To hear more, check out Season 2 Episode 6: Encountering Change

09/05/2021

Episode 6's Existential Question is here!

Let us know your thoughts - how did you change?

26/04/2021

In this episode, the hosts discuss how we encounter change in our lives, our responses to change, and how we could deal with change in a more personal, intentional way. Whereas change is omnipresent in our lives and it can take many forms, some people tend to be worried about change and try to avoid it out of fear of unpredictability, of the unpleasant or painful consequences or of the destabilizing effect of change. Notwithstanding these possible outcomes that may accompany change, as human beings we are in a continuous process of change and becoming. Adopting an aversive or avoidant attitude towards change may lead to stagnation, possible underdevelopment of some capacities and increased distress or “stuckness” when we will-unavoidably- encounter change sooner or later. Hence, finding ways to remain open to change and to deal with changes in a personal, intentional way is important both in everyday life and in psychotherapy.

25/04/2021

Encountering the transcendent feels like...

- experiencing something beyond oneself
- experiencing something greater than oneself
- an intense emotional experience ranging from awe to terror
- contacting something that cannot be generated at will
- experiencing the wild, feral, and untamed
- being laid bare, naked
- majesty
- reverence
- being "caught up" or "swept up", captivation, being enthralled
- nothing else exists at that moment but it and I

Check out Episode 5 of Season 2 for more on encountering the transcendent.

And stay tuned for our release of Episode 6 shortly!

24/04/2021

We'd love to know what awe feels like to you and in what encounters you've experienced it.

Let us know!

12/04/2021

In this episode, the hosts discuss encountering the transcendent; broadly understood as that which is experienced as beyond oneself, greater than oneself and which usually yields an intense emotional experience ranging from awe to terror. Rudolf Otto called this “the numinosum” and coined the name “mysterium tremendum” to denote this unique experience could be marked not only by awe and joy but also by inner trembling and fear. Various cultures, spiritual practices or philosophies refer to the transcendent as the sacred, God, the realm of deities, Being, or the “ultimate concern” (Paul Tillich). The human experience of being in the presence of something larger than oneself towards which one has an attitude of awe or reverence can occur in various circumstances during one’s life such as in front of the majesty and beauty of nature or exquisite artwork, during spiritual practices (e.g., prayer or meditation) or when confronted with an intense experience that takes one outside oneself and brings it in contact with a transcendent realm of experience. Existential Analysis recognizes the human capacity of self-transcendence and the spiritual or noetic dimension of the human beings as central to who we are as persons. The capacity to self-transcend is unique to human beings and it is intimately linked with experiencing meaning, belonging and fulfillment as well as with the sense of being connected to a larger context and purpose. While self-transcendent experiences cannot be pursued or generated by one’s own will, we can cultivate certain conditions and attitudes that may confer openness and receptivity to such experiences both in our daily life and within the therapeutic context.

06/04/2021

Desire is dynamic and it creates movement and striving within us. By alluring us towards something outside ourselves, desire invites us to leave our self-preoccupation and opens us up to encountering something outside ourselves that we experience as good or pleasurable. Desire creates a state of tension and a propensity that infuses our life with dynamism, zest, and direction: when we desire, we do not ask ourselves what we might need or want. We know what we want, and we want it intensely.

The hosts also discuss what happens when we experience no desire, lack of desire, and too much desire. Check out Episode 4 of Season 2 for more.

28/03/2021

In this episode the hosts talked about desire, how we encounter desire in our lives, the existential significance of desire, various issues that surround experiencing desire such as the fear of desire, unfulfilled desires, or lack of desire, and how to honour and live our desires authentically and responsibly.

Desire is a fundamental human capacity to be attracted or drawn by something or somebody (the object of desire), or to experience yearnings for something or somebody that sometimes we might have not even known and yet speaks to us and calls our name. For the better or worse, desire is a powerful force in the human existence, a strong motivator, and a source of vitality. While there are dangers associated with desire, from an existential perspective, desire points to how we are reached by and connect with life, and how alive we feel. It reveals what we truly want, our deepest heart yearnings. It discloses our truest longings and attractions even if we are not willing to admit those. This way, desire reveals us with respect to the pathic dimension of our existence. Desire invites us to leave our self-centredness and to open up to encountering something outside ourselves that we experience as good or pleasurable.

Lack of desire or avoiding our desires may lead to a flattened emotional life, chronic emotional tiredness, boredom, difficulties making decisions, and lack of fulfillment. Paying attention to our desires is essential for a rich, vital existence and deepens our self-knowledge and authentic responsibility whereas negating our desires exposes us to the danger of mindlessly acting out on impulse or to an impoverished, devitalized emotional and relational life.

22/03/2021

Although thinking about death tends to elicit anxiety and it is very often avoided - particularly in the Western death-denying culture - the awareness of our own mortality brings up critical existential questions: given that I will die for sure and my life is finite, how should I live? Am I living the way I want to or in a way that corresponds to myself? Am I living my life or someone else’s life? Reflecting on the possibility of our own death ultimately represents a reflection upon our life, how we live, and what we care about. How we are investing our finite time and what matters to us.

19/03/2021

Tune into our episode to hear the hosts discuss death in its various forms and take some time with this existential question. Is an awareness of death something you experience daily, weekly, monthly, or...?

15/03/2021

Thank you, fellow existentialists! We are humbled and thrilled by the support from our global audience with listeners from 49 countries tuning in.

Please let us know what you want to hear us talk about and we'll do our best to make it happen.

14/03/2021

In this episode, the hosts discuss death and encountering the possibility of death amid the ordinariness of our everyday life. Even when we are feeling protected or in control, safe and stable, the possibility of death is always present in our lives in myriad ways, and nothing can fully protect us from it. At any time, at any moment, we could die, and we know for sure that such a moment will arrive for each of us within a limited span of time. The breath of death is omnipresent in ourselves and in the world: from the decay and disintegration observed in the natural world, the ending of each day, the seasons of our lives, our aging, our losses, witnessing the death of loved ones or the death of our dreams to encountering our own death. As Heidegger wrote, as human beings we are “being-towards-death” and by turning towards and encountering our mortality we have the chance to live an authentic existence, appreciate and care for life, and find meaning and fulfillment in our existence. Ultimately, encountering the very real and certain possibility of our own death addresses us personally and invites us to take up our own existence and live fully and meaningfully.

04/03/2021

As therapists, we can encourage our clients to turn inwardly to listen and hear themselves rather than listening to all the expectations, judgments and demands placed on them by various people or circumstances in their life. To hear their own voice, to feel their own experience and to live from that intimacy with themselves. The most impactful way to cultivate this attitude is when we as therapists connect with ourselves and listen to ourselves, to our hunches or body sensations as we encounter our clients and when we bring these into the therapeutic dialogue to model inner attunement, presence, and self-encounter. We can encourage clients to encounter themselves by gently inviting them to check-in with themselves regularly (“How are you feeling right now? What do you notice within yourself in this moment?” ), by suggesting them to reflect on what they like and dislike, by encouraging them to take a position and make decisions or by simply inviting a moment of silence, slowing down, gazing inwardly and cultivating silence and solitude. For clients who enjoy journaling, engaging in a written inner dialogue is a great opportunity to discover or encounter oneself. For clients who prefer a more imaginative, dramatized venue towards encountering themselves, we can encourage them to have a conversation with themselves by imagining an inner partner who asks and responds to questions. For artistic people, designing a collage of their inside world and then stepping into a dialogue with its various elements may also be helpful.

28/02/2021

In this episode, the hosts turn their attention from dialoguing about encountering others in and through love towards discussing how to encounter oneself. Simply put, encountering oneself means turning towards oneself the way one would turn towards someone one cherishes or loves and whom one would like to know more deeply and spend time with. Very much like encountering a dear friend or our beloved. Encountering oneself is a lifetime long pursuit. As Carl Gustav Jung wrote, “we meet ourselves again and again in myriad of disguises during our lives”. But how do we know that it is us whom we encounter? How can we know that it is us who show up when we turn our attention inwardly? And what does this look like? What is needed? Tune in and listen to this episode if you would like to find out more about how to encounter yourself and establish a loving, caring relationship with yourself.

27/02/2021

Love is a fully embodied, felt experience but this does not mean that love is just a feeling. Love is a personal activity that aims to connect with and delight in the presence of whom or what we love. An omnipresent quality of the experience of love, regardless of its object, is that it draws us powerfully towards creating closeness and intimacy with whom or what we love, and, in so doing, it allows us to transcend the boundaries of our own self (self-transcendence) and to know the other- person or other nonpersonal entity of event- as who or what they truly are (the essence).

For more on love, check out our episode as well as the show note summary on our website!

25/02/2021

Thank you, Soren!

24/02/2021

We invite you to contemplate and answer Season 2's first Existential Question: How do you know when you have encountered love?

Let us know below or share with us through our website!

14/02/2021

SEASON 2 IS HERE!

The theme of this season is “encounter” understood as a personal activity of seeing and appreciating the essential value of another person or of one’s own. In contrast with the common understanding of encounter as a casual, relatively fleeting meeting between people, in Existential Analysis encounter represents an intentional, sustained, deliberate act of engaging with the essential through open dialogue that addresses and appreciates the person. Encounter is not restricted to meeting with other people. We can encounter ourselves, nature, beauty, love, our body, desire, death or the sacred. Every act in which we show up personally when engaging with various experiences, parts of our world or others, and during which we can see the essential and preciousness of what addresses us as persons is encounter. This season invites you to reflect on your capacity for encounter, what and whom you encounter in your everyday life, and how these encounters deepen and enrich your life and you on a personal level.

13/02/2021

🤗 Hi fellow existentialists! We are excited to announce that Season 2 will be launching tomorrow, February 14. For Season 2, we are doing a season based around the theme of encounter... and tomorrow, we'll be encountering love.

Stay tuned.

19/01/2021

As you will have heard in our latest episode, Janelle will no longer be part of the team. Please head over to our stories to see a goodbye video from her.

We love you, Janelle! We've got some big boots to fill! 💕

05/01/2021

Grief is... a verb, compassion, expression, rhythm, movement, flow, being in touch, emotion, and a dance.

30/12/2020

Existential Question: How do you find yourself going into the New Year?

This is one of those questions where we invite ourselves and our listeners to take a moment and reflect on how you're doing as this year draws to a close and the next one begins. What are you oriented towards presently? If you orient inwards, what do you notice? If you orient outwardly, what do you see?

27/12/2020

New Episode! Grief: Turning Towards Our Losses

In this episode, the hosts engage in a dialogue about grief understood as a personal response of turning towards the losses that we experience. Grief is a quintessential human experience that reveals an experienced loss of the value of life- we may grieve over the loss of a person dear to us, a pet, a dream that we did not have the chance to fulfill, a valuable possibility, and even the loss of ourselves. Anything that we experience as personally valuable gives rise to grief once we lose it. Given the omnipresence of grief in our lives, this episode will focus on how to turn towards our losses intentionally, how to make space for grieving, and how to support those who are grieving. As painful as it feels, grief is, in fact, a way to reconnect with life and with the value of life in the aftermath of a loss.

The Existentialists Podcast

21/06/2021

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24/05/2021

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26/04/2021

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28/02/2021

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