Critical Mind, Embodied Spirit: Recent Episodes
Barnaby Kent
Critical and compassionate enquiries into systems of mind, body, and spirit from the scientific and esoteric to the everyday. Barnaby Kent dives deep into subjects – from meditation to medicine, Yoga to Brazilian Jiu-jitsu – with accomplished practitioners who have already cut through the conceptual jungle so that you, the listener, can get straight to the practical essence of what actually works to transform yourself into a healthier, happier, more powerful person. Ancient traditions or modern methods are often inaccessible or clothed in cultural assumptions from another time and place. Critical Mind, Embodied Spirit is a mix of solo shows and interviews with the world’s leading experts that will hold your hand down the rabbit hole so that you – the 21st century seeker of health, power, and reality – can unpick the conceptual confusion to personally embody universal truths. Hit the subscribe button and get ready to enrich your life.
008 - Both an incredible story and an exploration of logic itself, in this episode I finally tell the unbelievable but true story, in detail, of my first encounter with bioelectrical Qigong. In order to evaluate the story, this episode is also an exploration of cognitive biases and logical fallacies that might lead us away from the truth. If you’re a fan of both critical thinking and embodiment, if you’re drawn to the paranormal or a total sceptic, if you’re an expert Qigong master or have never practiced before in your life, this episode will not disappoint.
To find out more about Rudi and how to study authentic Neigong visit: www.authenticneigong.com
Qigong is a dazzling minefield of rare treasures and disingenuous nonsense, all wrapped up in a language destined to confuse both the casual practitioner and the professional meditator, be they from China or from anywhere else. Where most books on Qigong use the currency of myth, mystery, and a misplaced deference for the esoteric, I’ve taken my encounters with the greatest Qigong masters in China and systematic long-term study of Chinese medicine, meditation and Daoist martial arts as material to make a rational overview of Qigong in plain English to help orient the critical thinker as she or he approaches this tricky topic. From its shamanic roots in Neolithic pre-history to modern biochemistry, I’ve looked at the storied history of Qigong, the difference between structural and bioelectric Qigong, as well as going deep into how modern biology can understand some of the mechanisms that makeup Qigong – like mitochondrial biogenesis and the role of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. This episode is designed as a follow up to the episodes ‘What on Earth is Tai Chi?’, ‘What on Earth is Qi? Part 1 – The Linguistic Perspective’ and ‘What on Earth is Qi? Part 2 – The Physiological Perspective’. Enjoy for free!
006 - What is the essence of all myths? Is science a story? How can we use stories to transform ourselves? What does the future actually look like for our relationship with AI companions?
This packed philosophical episode is a conversation between myself and Damir First. Damir is a master of stories and games – the study of them, the creation of them, and now the use of them to build AI companions made for the augmented reality metaverse.
In this episode we’ve gone deep on the role of stories in human civilization, memetics, whether science is merely a story, Jungian individuation, the current renaissance in storytelling, the monomyth – the Hero’s journey, using stories and games to heal physical and emotional trauma, the use of stories in propaganda, meme echoes, motivational salience, the science of addiction, web 3.0, AI pets, augmented reality and a lot more.