In this dynamic dialogue, Scott Schwenk and guest Maude Hirst dive right into the heart of navigating through a series of major life changes with so many unpredictable elements at play.

Together they explore the courage and real life changes it takes to trust the quiet signals of the body over the loud arguments of the mind.

Maude pivoted from a life of performing and a familiar life as an actress on a hit TV show to training to help people grow through meditation and breath and within a short bit of time was married and gave birth to her first child.

Maude shares the deeply personal story of the moment breathwork and meditation first cracked something open inside her — a moment that revealed just how disconnected she had been from herself. What followed was a profound shift: from logic to intuition, from performing to presence, and from searching outward to listening inward for the way forward.

Maude Hirst is a Meditation Practitioner, Founder, Coach, Author, and Speaker, specialising in making meditation and its life changing benefits accessible to all.

Maude was an actor best known for playing Helga in the hit TV show Vikings before becoming a leading wellness practitioner and founder of the bespoke meditation company EnergyRise and co-founder of wellbeing consultancy Home of Connection.

She is based in London but teaches globally. She runs a virtual members club for the mind, corporate wellbeing events, private mentorships, a meditation app and wellness retreats. Her sessions deliver a transformational internal experience, encouraging people to find personal well-being through rediscovering their confidence and unique strengths. www.maudehirst.co.uk

INSTAGRAM

https://www.instagram.com/maudehirst/



Scott Schwenk 

Scott’s teachings, courses and master coaching guide leaders, seekers and creatives to explore the embodiment of their deepest selves in service of thriving on all levels of being, both individually and relationally.

You can receive a free guided meditation and explore Scott’s courses, workshops, retreats, training and master coaching at https://scottschwenk.com and can find him on Instagram @thescottschwenk.



Maude Hirst on Trusting Intuition Over Logic

In this expansive and eye-opening conversation, Scott Schwenk sits down with globally recognized energy healer and author Charlie Goldsmith to explore the mechanics of how we can heal deeply and powerfully, beyond what our limiting beliefs tell us is possible. 

Charlie shares a radically simple but profound teaching: growth is not about fixing yourself — it’s about feeling what you feel without rejection. From parts work (healing shadow) and overwhelm to generational conditioning and the true nature of money, this dialogue reframes suffering, healing, and success through the lens of acceptance.

Charlie also leads a powerful guided practice to help listeners directly experience what it means to let an emotion “come home.”

This episode is a deep dive into inner peace, energy healing, and the subtle shift that changes everything.

Charlie Goldsmith

Recognised internationally for his work, Charlie Goldsmith has spent almost thirty years practicing and sharing his approach across public, clinical, and research settings.

Charlie Goldsmith spontaneously discovered his healing ability at 18. He quickly realized both how misunderstood and how powerful it was. Recognizing the lack of credibility and opportunity in the field, he has dedicated his life to bringing credibility and driving real, lasting change in this area.

Charlie became the subject of TLC’s TV series The Healer, which followed his work and offered a closer look at his unique approach. Despite ongoing skepticism around energy medicine, many people—including medical professionals—expressed surprise at what they observed during his sessions.

He now collaborates with hospitals, universities, and health institutions, where is work is part of ongoing studies. In addition to this research, Charlie continues to share his teachings through live events and his book Human Medicine, which outlines the mechanics of emotion and the inner world. He has also developed Ennie, a platform designed to bring more clarity, credibility, and accessibility to the field of energy work. Across all these initiatives, Charlie remains committed to creating greater understanding between energy medicine and modern medicine.

Scott Schwenk 

Scott’s teachings, courses and master coaching guide leaders, seekers and creatives to explore the embodiment of their deepest selves in service of thriving on all levels of being, both individually and relationally.

You can receive a free guided meditation and explore Scott’s courses, workshops, retreats, training and master coaching at https://scottschwenk.com and can find him on Instagram @thescottschwenk.

Feel It. Don’t Fight It. Charlie Goldsmith on Growth Without Resistance

In this heartfelt conversation, Scott Schwenk welcomes author, poet, and teacher Elena Brower for a luminous dialogue centered on her new book Hold Nothing. Together, they explore what it means to live—and love—with radical honesty, spiritual discipline, and open-hearted presence. Elena shares the intimate stories, somatic wisdom, and poetic insights that shaped this newest offering, weaving themes of motherhood, grief, recovery, and devotion. A timely conversation about courage, creativity, and choosing to hold nothing back.

Elena Brower – Teacher, Author, Artist

Mother, mentor, poet, artist, volunteer, bestselling author and host of the Practice You Podcast, Elena Brower graduated Cornell University in 1992, designed textiles and apparel for almost a decade before shifting her focus to yoga, meditation, writing and art. Teaching asana since 1999, studying and practicing Zen meditation since 2020, she received the Buddhist Precepts from Roshi Joan Halifax at Upaya Zen Center in 2023. Now a candidate for Buddhist Chaplaincy, Elena offers her time in hospice and penitentiary settings. Her bestselling journals and books explore stages of life and listening. Her next book, Hold Nothing, just published by Shambhala Publications is available now..

Elena's Perceptive Parenting audio course is a key resource for parents; her signature course Simplify serves hundreds in reimagining priorities in order to experience more meaning every day, and she's also the founder of free global podcast The Matter of Menopause. Her weekly live yoga practices and meditations are featured on Glo; she offers retreats and workshops a few times a year, and her spoken word poetry can be heard on Above & Beyond's Flow State albums, for which she's received an RIAA-certified Gold Record for her writing on "Don't Leave." Elena works to elevate bright futures for girls, women and children through her support for Girls on Fire Leaders, On The Inside and Free Food Kitchen.

Scott Schwenk

Scott’s teachings, courses and master coaching guide leaders, seekers and creatives to explore the embodiment of their deepest selves in service of thriving on all levels of being, both individually and relationally.

You can receive a free guided meditation and explore Scott’s courses, workshops, retreats, training and master coaching at https://scottschwenk.com and can find him on Instagram @thescottschwenk.

Stillness, Surrender, and the Sacred: Elena Brower on Holding Nothing 

In this heartfelt conversation, Scott Schwenk welcomes author, poet, and teacher Elena Brower for a luminous dialogue centered on her new book Hold Nothing. Together, they explore what it means to live—and love—with radical honesty, spiritual discipline, and open-hearted presence. Elena shares the intimate stories, somatic wisdom, and poetic insights that shaped this newest offering, weaving themes of motherhood, grief, recovery, and devotion. A timely conversation about courage, creativity, and choosing to hold nothing back.

Elena Brower – Teacher, Author, Artist

Mother, mentor, poet, artist, volunteer, bestselling author and host of the Practice You Podcast, Elena Brower graduated Cornell University in 1992, designed textiles and apparel for almost a decade before shifting her focus to yoga, meditation, writing and art. Teaching asana since 1999, studying and practicing Zen meditation since 2020, she received the Buddhist Precepts from Roshi Joan Halifax at Upaya Zen Center in 2023. Now a candidate for Buddhist Chaplaincy, Elena offers her time in hospice and penitentiary settings. Her bestselling journals and books explore stages of life and listening. Her next book, Hold Nothing, just published by Shambhala Publications is available now.. 

Elena's Perceptive Parenting audio course is a key resource for parents; her signature course Simplify serves hundreds in reimagining priorities in order to experience more meaning every day, and she's also the founder of free global podcast The Matter of Menopause. Her weekly live yoga practices and meditations are featured on Glo; she offers retreats and workshops a few times a year, and her spoken word poetry can be heard on Above & Beyond's Flow State albums, for which she's received an RIAA-certified Gold Record for her writing on "Don't Leave." Elena works to elevate bright futures for girls, women and children through her support for Girls on Fire Leaders, On The Inside and Free Food Kitchen.

Scott Schwenk 

Scott’s teachings, courses and master coaching guide leaders, seekers and creatives to explore the embodiment of their deepest selves in service of thriving on all levels of being, both individually and relationally.

You can receive a free guided meditation and explore Scott’s courses, workshops, retreats, training and master coaching at https://scottschwenk.com and can find him on Instagram @thescottschwenk.



In this episode of The Choice to Grow, Scott Schwenk is joined by systems thinker, educator, and inner development guide Dr. Abigail Lynam. Together, they explore what it means to lead during planetary transformation—how our internal development shapes our external impact. From generational healing to the science of interconnectedness, Abigail shares her path through grief, shadow, and emergence. A profound dialogue on belonging, leadership, and the conscious evolution of systems and self.



Abigail Lynam

Abigail Lynam is a guide for transformation—of self, of systems, of the shared life we inhabit. As a coach, facilitator, and creator of transformative learning journeys, she invites individuals and groups into deeper presence, expanded perspectives, and more awake, whole ways of leading and living.

She serves as senior faculty for Pacific Integral’s Emergent Leadership and Generating Transformative Change programs, offered on three continents, and teaches in Fielding Graduate University’s PhD program in Human and Organizational Development. A teacher candidate in Integral Polarity Practice, she is also a developmental coach and scorer with Stages International and a qualified administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory.

Rooted in adult developmental psychology and informed by awareness-based, embodiment, and relational practices, Abigail’s work bridges inner and outer transformation. She is particularly passionate about the interdependence of individual and collective development—bridging divides, cultivating capacities for emergence, and supporting the awakening and unfolding of humanity in service to all life.



Scott Schwenk 

Scott’s teachings, courses and master coaching guide leaders, seekers and creatives to explore the embodiment of their deepest selves in service of thriving on all levels of being, both individually and relationally.

You can receive a free guided meditation and explore Scott’s courses, workshops, retreats, training and master coaching at https://scottschwenk.com and can find him on Instagram @thescottschwenk.



Emergent Leadership for a Thriving Planet with Abigail Lynam

In this riveting conversation, Scott Schwenk welcomes journalist, award-winning author, and intention researcher Lynne McTaggart, known for her groundbreaking books The Field, The Intention Experiment, The Power of Eight and more. Together, they explore the potent science and consistently miraculous results of focused group intention, consciousness beyond the brain, and how shifting our perspective from “me” to “we” may just heal the planet. From the quantum field to collective healing experiments, this episode dives deep into how intention and interconnection can reshape our reality.

Lynne McTaggart, one of the central authorities on the new science and consciousness, is the award-winning author of seven books, including the worldwide bestsellers The Field, The Intention Experiment and The Power of Eight. She is also cofounder of the international magazine What Doctors Don’t Tell You (www.WDDTY.com), and the architect of the Intention Experiments, a web based “global laboratory” to test the power of intention to heal the world.A highly sought after public speaker, Lynne is consistently listed as one of the world’s 100 most spiritually influential people.

Scott Schwenk

Scott’s teachings, courses and master coaching guide leaders, seekers and creatives to explore the embodiment of their deepest selves in service of thriving on all levels of being, both individually and relationally.

You can receive a free guided meditation and explore Scott’s courses, workshops, retreats, training and master coaching at https://scottschwenk.com and can find him on Instagram @thescottschwenk.

From Me to We: Unleashing the Miraculous for Global Change with Lynne McTaggart

In this rich and multidimensional conversation, Scott Schwenk is joined by Saniel 

Bonder and Linda Groves-Bonder—founders of the Waking Down in Mutuality work—for a dialogue on what it means to live a fully awakened and fully human life. Together, they explore the paradox of recognizing ourselves as being radiantly whole simultaneously with flaws and lots of room to grow, the power of mutuality in relationships, and why awakening doesn’t mean erasing your ego.  This episode is a deep dive into radical embodiment, healthy shadow work, and the courage to be known and shows how relationships hold a mirror up for the ongoing inner work.

Saniel Bonder and Linda Groves-Bonder have developed a relational, integrative, and readily accessible breakthrough approach to spiritual enlightenment and wholeness best known as Waking Down in Mutuality®. For over three decades, as pioneering coaches of this embodied process they’ve taken enlightenment from remote temples and ‘Olympic athletes’ of spiritual practice, evolved it into a humane, ethical process and realization, and conveyed it into the towns, households, and workplaces of everyday people globally. 



Born in 1950, Saniel was a Harvard Honorary National Scholar, earning a B.A. in Social Relations. After completing his spiritual quest, he has spent 30+ years “democratizing” awakened living with Linda and others. He has authored many spiritual books, including Waking Down and Healing the Spirit/Matter Split, and two novels. 



Linda graduated from Ball State University with a B.S. in Art Education. A singer-songwriter, photo stylist, and artist, she toured with an international band and has released two solo albums, I’m Here and Joy of Being. Since 1996 she has focused with Saniel on teaching intensive transformation through their total suite of offerings, now known as the Human Sun HEART Work™. 



Learn more about Saniel & Linda and Waking Down® at www.sanielandlinda.com and check out their main introductory offering at maxjoyinfo.com.  









Scott Schwenk 



Scott’s teachings, courses and private mentoring guide leaders, seekers and creatives to explore their deepest selves in service of thriving on all levels of being, both individually and relationally.



You can receive a free guided meditation and explore Scott’s courses, workshops, retreats, training and master coaching at https://scottschwenk.com and can find him on Instagram @thescottschwenk.





 Radiantly Whole and Perfectly Flawed: Saniel Bonder & Linda Groves-Bonder

In this spacious and soul-touching dialogue, Scott Schwenk is joined by Carl Lindeborg—founder of the Flow Festival, wellness entrepreneur, and integrative guide through the thresholds of the human spirit. Together, they explore what it means to return to wholeness in a fractured world—how to meet intensity with breath, how to turn fear into fuel, and how the practices of presence, nature connection, and conscious leadership can realign our deepest purpose. With stories from his journey through burnout, fatherhood, entrepreneurship, and stillness, Carl offers luminous reflections on living from the inside out.



Deeply curious about human development, Carl Lindeborg has sought out learning in many places, from studying with the Dalai Lama at his home in Dharamsala to participating with global networks like Conscious Capitalism.  With a Masters from the Stockholm School of Economics and first career as a management consultant, Carl has worked for over twenty years with people and organizations in change as an advisor, consultant and teacher, both in Sweden and internationally.  



Carl has extensive experience as programme director and faculty member at SSE Executive Education, Oxford Leadership and Companions for Leadership. He’s been a guest speaker at Harvard Business School and published some 25 articles in the Swedish business magazine Affärsvärlden.



Carl just recently released his newest book The Authentic Shift: Inner Development for a Changing World.







Scott Schwenk 



Scott’s teachings, courses and private mentoring guide leaders, seekers and creatives to explore their deepest selves in service of thriving on all levels of being, both individually and relationally.



You can receive a free guided meditation and explore Scott’s courses, workshops, retreats, training and master coaching at https://scottschwenk.com and can find him on Instagram @thescottschwenk.



Transforming Burnout and Fear Into Fuel and Leadership: Carl Lindeborg's Journey to Wholeness

In this soul-deep episode, Scott Schwenk sits down with Hawaiian mystic and intuitive guide Keoni Hanalei for a profound conversation on returning to wholeness. Keoni shares powerful teachings from the land and from his own awakening—what it means to listen to the “inner Earth,” how trauma disrupts our sacred geometry, and why healing isn’t about fixing, but about remembering. With humor, raw honesty, and visionary depth, this dialogue is a call to reclaim our divinity, live in coherence, and recognize that we already belong.

A conversation that maps the mystical and the embodied with stunning clarity.

Ke’Oni Hanalei is Mū-Hawaiian cultural practitioner who thrives on the island of Maui, Hawai’i. Raised by his traditional Hawaiian grandmother, Kau’ikeonalani, Ke’oni inherited a rich legacy that spans an incredible 1,017 generations and over 20,000 years of ancestral knowledge. This vast heritage deeply informs his Body of Work, which includes the sacred spinal technology known as ‘ULU, the healing properties of botanical fern Medicine, and the profound spiritual teachings of ALOHA MĀ. His cultural practices also includes operating a Hawai’i-based apothecary called PŌHALA.

Scott Schwenk - Master Coach, Spiritual Teacher, Culture Architect

Scott’s teachings, courses and private mentoring guide leaders, seekers and creatives to explore their deepest selves in service of thriving on all levels of being, both individually and relationally.

You can receive a free guided meditation and explore Scott’s courses, workshops, retreats, training and master coaching at https://scottschwenk.com and can find him on Instagram @thescottschwenk.



Living From Wholeness In A World On Fire with Ke'Oni Hanalei

In this illuminating conversation, Scott Schwenk sits down with branding genius, entrepreneur, podcaster, and creative force Matt Gottesman for a powerful dialogue on what it means to grow from within. Together, they explore the distinction between alignment and hustle, why nervous system regulation is the new success metric, and how to live a life that reflects soul—not ego. With stories of personal unraveling and radical rebuilding, Matt shares his own journey of reclaiming purpose, creativity, and the freedom of showing up fully as yourself.



Matt Gottesman is a 3x founder, podcaster and writer... and has successfully intertwined his life’s work with his passions, purpose and interests.



While The Niche is You podcast consistently ranks among the world’s top downloads, featuring conversations that seamlessly weave together business strategy, creativity, spirituality, and personal growth, his writing on Substack continues to command some of the platform’s highest subscription rates... currently ranked #7 in Philosophy worldwide out of 50M.



Nah, Bigger Media, his publishing and production company, has emerged as a powerhouse platform (1B+ impressions, 500M+ video views &amp; 300K+ social media followers) for emerging voices who share his vision of purpose-driven entrepreneurship. 



“We’re not just building brands and businesses; he says, we’re building worlds... not fitting into old spaces but helping redefine new ones.”



With an extensive background, an MBA in International Business and over 20+ years in tech media, he’s worked and partnered with some of the most iconic brands such as Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy.



Links:

Writing: mattgottesman.substack.com

Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-niche-is-you/id1645205346

Website: mattgottesman.com

Instagram: @mattgottesman

Apparel: The Niche Is You

Twitter: @matt_gottesman

Linkedin: /in/mattgottesman





Scott Schwenk - Master Coach, Spiritual Teacher, Culture Architect



Scott’s teachings, courses and private mentoring guide leaders, seekers and creatives to explore their deepest selves in service of thriving on all levels of being, both individually and relationally.



You can receive a free guided meditation and explore Scott’s courses, workshops, retreats, training and master coaching at https://scottschwenk.com and can find him on Instagram @thescottschwenk.





Inner Path, Outer Impact: A Deep Dive with Matt Gottesman

"It takes courage to push yourself to places you have never been before... to test your limits... to break through barriers. And the day came when the risk it took to stay tight inside the bud was mor

The Choice to Grow · Zencastr

The Choice to Grow

"It takes courage to push yourself to places you have never been before... to test your limits... to break through barriers. And the day came when the risk it took to stay tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." ~Anais Nin

What tools, practices and perspectives can help you to thrive more in life? To build your abilities for using challenges and unfamiliar experiences as powerful opportunities to grow and add value?

The Choice to Grow tunes into stories of positive impact. Spotlighting change makers, innovators and trailblazers in wellness, leadership, music, and art whose continual choice to grow is adding value, forging innovation and opening up new possibilitiies around the world.

Each guest is someone who’s met plenty of obstacles and challenges and continues to make the key choice — The Choice to Grow and to keep on growing.

Dialogues, discoveries, tips and tools for an extraordinary life that feels great and inspires others to grow.

"Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly." ~Anonymous