You’re listening to Your Life on Purpose:  the podcast that helps  you feel less like a cog in a machine by connecting the dots between life, your passions, and what the world needs, all in under ten minutes.   Music I’m your host Mark Guay and welcome my friends to season 2 of Your Life on Purpose. On this episode, I’d like to share with you a story that happened in my life when I went to college. It wasn’t a major event back then, yet now I realize that this small dot in my life...

On this episode, I’d like to talk about life’s greatest dance and how you can join this tango. Because I see this all the time…. High School degree? Check. Bachelor’s degree? Check. Enrolled in Master’s degree program? If I can’t get a job first, check. Enter the dance and keeping optimism alive. For many, leaving college can be a bit of a downer. It’s easy to lose the optimism that’s the aura of a college campus. Why? For many people -- regardless of age and including myself -- it’s...

I talk a lot about the power of writing on this show and a lot of you have asked me to dive a bit deeper into how to write, specifically, how we can use writing as a tool to discover the self. Because as Joseph Campbell reminds us: It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure. So, that’s what today’s episode is all about. Fifty or so of us sat around the room, ready to begin a group meditation which would be followed...

I'm about to venture out to Breakneck mountain to meet with an old friend whom I haven't seen in ten years. I'll be off in the woods for the day, but promise to come back tonight to read your emails. Before I walk into the wild, I want to share with you what I learned from my recent trip back home. I learned the art of direct compassion. ---------------------------- I sat across from my father, stared into his eyes for an entire minute and said three words he hadn't heard a lot while...

Today, I’d like to talk about love. No, not the kind of love you’re thinking about. I’m talking about platonic love for the self and others and I learned it while on a yoga and meditation retreat at Blue Spirit in Costa Rica. I just came in from practicing headstand and have poured my second cup of java. Thanks for joining me today. The howler monkeys screamed outside and the humid air hugged my skin like a warm blanket. I sat down and faced a woman who I barely knew and placed my hand on...

Today, I’d like to share with you a story that I haven’t shared with many people. It involves my Placenta, Star Constellations and Ego-less Existence. It’s what I learned while floating in a sensory deprivation chamber for 90 minutes. Here we go: I closed the door behind me and looked down at my new home: a one-foot deep tub of salt water meant to float my body and deprive me of my senses for the next 90 minutes. I laid down in the dense salty tub, ready to float into bliss, as the lights...

Yoda the cat keeps jumping on my lap with his mouse toy as we play fetch and I keep reminding him that it’s Your Life on Purpose work time. But he doesn’t seem to understand, so if you hear a mouse squeaking toy, that’s him saying hello. I just poured a delicious cup of coffee and am thinking of my students who -- about to enter their last year of school- are struggling to find clarity in their life’s direction. Today’s episode is all about finding clarity. Because, let’s face it: we all...

I have to be honest. Many times I find myself so caught up in the future that I forget all that I already have with me. Yesterday was one of those days where I drifted from a mindset of gratitude: — As the beautiful Hudson Valley sun shone on my face, I couldn’t help but think about the beaches of Kauai once again. — I did my first press into handstand last night, but I barely acknowledged this physical feat. Instead, I immediately thought about how one day I’ll be able to do what that...

I’d like to share a quick story about climbing fish and transformation. Not too long ago, my good friend Phil tried something in New York that no one has done before. He created a website that would connect people based on the books that have inspired them with the only requirement to meet for a conversation. The idea came out of Einstein’s quote: “If you ask a fish to climb a tree, he’ll spend his whole life believing that he’s an idiot.” I took part in the experiment and every week, I...

I just returned from a New York City and wanted to share with you a quick story. It involves a Jungian analysis workshop that I took part in and a sailboat. —————- I must confess: I’m a recovering daydreamer. All my life, I’ve struggled to focus in on the present because my mind so quickly would drift to Neverland. In school, at work, in yoga class, in flight — these are just a few of the many times my mind has wandered. Living in the present — to “be here now” — is the core of living...

So, many of you know that I recently received my 200 hour yoga teacher certification over a 6 month intensive training regiment. And I’d like to share with you something I learned through my experience of spending months twisting and lengthening my body so that I looked more like Gumby. This story is about finding balance, literally and figuratively in our lives. It’s so easy to go the extremes of lethargy or overdoing it. The middle path is always a lot freakin harder (well, for me at...

The air smells of suntan lotion and barbecue sauce and after spending the majority of the past day walking through an outdoor sculpture park these words from Michelangelo continue to swirl in my mind. He once wrote when asked about his sculpting: “The marble not yet carved can hold the form of every thought the greatest artist has.” “The marble not yet carved can hold the form of every thought the greatest artist has.” Let’s dissect Michelangelo’s words and talk a bit about creating art. I...

3 Ways to Find Focus Amid Distraction It’s a holiday weekend in my local village as I sit here and record this podcast. In just a few hours fireworks, BBQs, and picnics will have dot the streets like stars in a country sky. It’s quite a beautiful display of community pride and family love, yet as much as I tried to plan ahead, I still find myself with some work I need to finish before diving into the festivities. Does this ever happen to you? Perhaps if you work from home like I do much of...

As the school bells begin ringing for the start of another school year, let’s pause for a moment and think about something that we often don’t reflect on. Just what is school for? Is it to get a job? To evolve our brain? To connect with other intellectuals? Or what? We’ve built a culture that sends its children to school for, at minimum, 20 percent of their life expectancy and we value education on a beautiful visceral level. We’re willing to spend more on a college tuition than a home...

What Blake Teaches Us About Living On Purpose It’s a beautiful day here in New York and as I sip an overly sweetened espresso with chaga mushroom (yes, I know, I’m knew to chaga too for its health properties so we’ll see if I get really goofy at the end of this podcast). I’ve been reading through my old poetry books and  I’d like to share with you some thoughts and reflections on William Blake’s work. When I was in college, Blake’s work taught me a lot about what it means to truly live...

Wake Up in 60 Seconds It’s amazing how the mind works, right? One moment we can be angry and pissed off; in another, happy and gregarious. One moment we can sick; In another, healthy. Take, for instance, the last time I acted on stage. I had just come down with a delicious case of the flu and couldn’t hold down my lunch for the life of me. My roommates stayed far away from me lest they too come down with this stomach bug. How, for the life of me, would I play a carefree and bubbly college...

Since it’s the beginning of a new season, I  think it’s only right that this episode dives into a very deep and personal story of mine: one that I haven’t shared public before. One that took me four years to be able to tell anyone besides my wife. I’m talking about one of the biggest upsets in my life. I’m drinking a hot cup of coffee on this fall-like day in New York and if coffee is your thing, grab your cup and join me. All right, here we go. The story I’m about to tell you involves a...

I took a bit of a sabbatical from the podcasting world to focus on other ventures and am so excited to be back here with you. I just poured a cup of coffee and if coffee is your thing, grab your cup and join me. It’s summer time and just before recording this session, I listened to the New York morning orchestra: traffic hummed in the distance while birds and crickets sang in harmony. Simple everyday things that add spark into my life. To my right, however, I see yet another garbage bag...

All right change makers. I have little bit to share some news with you. When I first launched this podcast in May of 2015, I had no idea it would garner such attention and pull together some of the most passionate and happy people I’ve have ever met. In June when I started getting emails from people thanking me for starting this podcast, I knew I had to pick it up and turn it into a daily podcast. And I did just that. I didn’t know if I could do it, but trusted in myself that I’d find a way...

This past weekend at Omega Institute, I had the privilege to listen to the words and sing with some of the happiest people I have ever met in my life. And I learned something that I’d like to share with you to start this episode. It’s simple and it’s only one question. When you strip away everything — all the fat — all the things that don’t matter — what is the narrative that you’re telling yourself? What is the story you’re telling yourself? I found myself at breakfast and joined in on a...

Last night, I took part in a kirtan ecstatic chant led by the Grammy-award nominee Krishna Das then camped under the stars.  For those who don’t know what kirtan is, my  beginner understanding is that it’s a call and response type of singing that aligns vocal sounds to our chakras. I don’t really know the ins and outs, but what I do know is that it makes me feel really good and keeps me on the positive. And that my friends is a good thing, right? Krishna Das and Radhanath Swami  talked a...

As I get my tent and sleeping ready for a kirtan festival I’m attending this weekend, I’d like to break down a few of the concepts I explored this week.   Here’s the weekly wrap up. If you just tuned in for the first time, make sure to check on the past four episodes to see the longer version of these concepts.   Or there are some people who don’t have 10 minutes in their day, so they only tune in on Fridays. That’s cool with me. So, for those crunched for time, here’s four purpose-filled...

 5 Reasons to Unplug  The crimson Costa Rican sun dipped beneath cerulean blue Pacific as I peered out from the yoga studio atop Blue Spirit mindfulness center in Nosara, Costa Rica.  Perched high on a cliff, I flexed by quadricep and stood firm in Warrior Two in this yoga studio that looks like a bird’s next nestled atop a jungle canopy.  Howler monkeys screamed through the air and birds of paradise soared at my eye level -- majestic and graceful in their freedom.  Time seemed to stand...

  5 Unconventional Ways to Find Your Purpose   Joseph Campbell reminds us that if we follow our own bliss, doors will open that will lead us down our path on purpose. He said, “When you follow your bliss... doors will open where you would not have thought there would be doors; and where there wouldn't be a door for anyone else.”   But you can’t find your purpose. It’s not out there. Your purpose has been with you all along. It’s deep inside you.   To help you unlock the potential...

Sometimes there are moments in our lives that force us to redefine ourselves. A concrete wall can -- at times -- pop up just as we are joyfully walking down our heroic journeys. And man....can this be frustrating or what? Today I’m thinking about Redefining You and would like to share three tips to help you define yourself.  Today’s mantra: “Trust in discovery. Be open to where your feet will land next."  Whenever a concrete wall pops up in our lives, look carefully at the wall. If you...