The Gentle Rebel Podcast

As a highly sensitive multipotentialite, Yvonne Kjorlien has many creative interests, passions, and pursuits. She studies scattered and scavenged remains to help increase the recovery rate of human remains in outdoor contexts, enabling law enforcement personnel to close forensic cases and provide closure for families. She is also an author, blogger (The Reluctant Archeologist) and writing coach fo...

In this episode of The Gentle Rebel Podcast , I speak with Margarit Davtian who is a consumer rights activist, social scientist, and “cult slayer”. She exposes deceptive marketing practices, cult psychology, and New-Age conspirituality trends in the coaching industry. Margarit, one of the founders of Ethics For Coaching , helps individuals seeking support in life coaching, business con...

Over the past few years, there have been a bunch of developments in sensitivity research. In this episode of The Gentle Rebel Podcast , I share some reflections on the Second International Conference on Sensitivity Research. Michael Pluess, Francesca Lionetti, and Corina Greven oprganised it through The University of Surrey. In all honesty, academic presentations aren’t really my cup of tea....

Can Artificial Intelligence help us embrace, explore, and celebrate our human creativity and sensory sensitivity even MORE deeply? In this episode of The Gentle Rebel Podcast, I speak with Marc Winn about the impact of generative AI on our creative spirit. We step beyond the unhelpful binary debates that tend to view the complex tangle of technology adoption as all good or all bad. We begin with t...

If you're a freelancer or solo practitioner, you likely need to wear many different hats to keep your business going. It can be tiring and confusing at times. An understandable trend in the age of algorithmic social media is people donning the social media marketing hat more and more, sometimes at the expense of their core craft. In this episode of The Gentle Rebel Podcast, I chat with my friend,...

Adam Grant explores how our practice can lead to boreout in Hidden Potential. In this episode of The Gentle Rebel Podcast, I dive into this idea and reflect on the role of playfulness in maintaining our motivation with the things that matter most. We consider the distinctions between burnout and boreout and delve into the contrast between obsession and passion. I ask how the demands and pace of hu...

Humour is a VERY important sense. Without it, we risk taking ourselves so seriously that we lose all perspective. Our sense of humour is a core part of gentleness (firm back, soft front) because it allows us to move through the world with greater flexibility and openness. We all have this sense! But it takes practice to remain humourously sensitised to the world around, within, and between us. In...

Life coaching can be shrouded in confusion. In this episode of The Gentle Rebel Podcast, I chat with Megan Malone, delving into the joys and challenges of coaching. Together, we dissect why some view it sceptically and explore avenues for life coaches to reverse the negative trends and misconceptions. Megan is an International Coach Federation (ICF) certified coach and has a Master's in Organisati...

After experiencing challenges with panic attacks, Aaron Espe figured out how to build a career that works for him. Aaron is currently a full-time songwriter based in Nashville Tennessee. In this episode of The Gentle Rebel Podcast, I chat with Aaron about songwriting, creativity, and adapting to creative adversity. I first heard his music in 2012 when I was presenting the music podcast, Lost on Ra...

I’m always slightly wary about the use of "superpower" to describe high sensitivity . In this episode of The Gentle Rebel Podcast, Scott Barry Kaufman and I discuss research around high sensitivity and the implications of elevating human traits as superpowers. Sensitivity is a "Beautiful and Complex Trait" Scott points out that sensory processing sensitivity is one of many beautiful and complex hu...

In this episode of The Gentle Rebel Podcast , I sit down with artist Ben Cowan who kindly invited me into his kitchen for a chat about “Art That Makes You Think”. Through his visual satire, Ben adds dark and comedic twists to many of the familiar logos, brands, and packaging that have become part of our cultural furniture. I first encountered Ben earlier this year at the Spark-Ignite s...

After turning a building due for demolition into a creative community space in the centre of Coventry, Alan Denyer had an epiphany. People aren't actually all that boring. He's a changed man. And a delightful guy! It was a joy to spend an hour chatting about the importance of accessible spaces for creativity and art in any community. In this episode of The Gentle Rebel Podcast, you will hear my co...

How do you respond when things don’t turn out as you hoped they would? It was lovely to pause for a chat with my friend, Cameron Airen recently. It had been a while since our previous recorded conversation (back in 2018). A lot has changed for all of us since then! Cam is no exception. On this weeks episode of The Gentle Rebel Podcast , we discuss what happens when things don’t turn ou...

In this episode of The Gentle Rebel Podcast, Dorcas Cheng-Tozen joins me to discuss her book, Social Justice for the Sensitive Soul . What draws highly sensitive people towards it, and how can we navigate and engage with the issues without burning out? I was particularly interested in considering how sensitive nervous systems are attuned to the needs of a community as a core response to the biolog...

Do you ever feel overwhelmed and confused by the unending conveyor belt of new labels, healing methods, and training programmes, all professing to be the missing piece in the puzzle of your life? Is the polyvagal theory another one? We are often sold the latest systems and interventions requiring expert knowledge. We throw our money at solutions with no fixed destination and a never-ending supply...

When navigating a season or environment of change, we need things we can trust. But what does it mean to trust someone or something? Where does it come from? The word derives from the root "Deru" (firm, solid, steadfast), the same etymological foundation as the word tree. It brings an image of strength through flexibility, adaptability, and dependability to meet the moment's needs. A tree is ancho...

What is your biggest momentum killer when it comes to making a change, launching a project, or embarking on a meaningful pursuit? If you're anything like me, it might be…a lack of celebration. In this episode of The Gentle Rebel Podcast, we explore the importance of celebrating success and how intrinsic it is to momentum in almost any endeavour. By success, I don't mean external rewards and appear...

A recent Photoyoga exercise sparked a fascinating Haven discussion about taking up space in the world and how uncomfortable some of us find it at times. If you ever feel bad about "being a burden", "holding people back", or "drawing too much attention", this episode of The Gentle Rebel Podcast is for you. In our June Open Kota session, Tuula encouraged us to capture our inner critic with a name an...

"If we are going to understand and appreciate each other’s differences, then we need to be able to trust the space between us.” Charlie Jones & Brigid Russell (From Trust in the Spaces Between Us ) Connection isn't always about closing the gap between us. Sometimes it's simply about recognising the space that exists. Allowing it. Trusting it. Letting go of our need to possess and control it. Just...

What do the photographs you take and choose to share say about you? What might your photos be saying TO you? I wonder if you’ve ever thought about those questions before? Photoyoga For Your Mind started in 2017 as an organic combination of creativity, movement, and inner listening. It grew from a place of burnout and a quest for healing and recovery. In the wake of burnout, Tuula researched...

Would you say you're an ambitious person? What does ambition mean to you? After rediscovering an old review for the Atlum Schema LP, I was reflecting on this word. It celebrated its fourteenth anniversary in June, and I found the full video of the launch show from Harbour Lights Cinema in Southampton. The review said: “This is an ambitious, almost audacious debut from Atlum Schema. Back in the mid...

"Rituals are to time what a home is to space: they render time habitable." Byung-Chul Han (The Disappearance of Ritual) In a restless, noisy, rushing world, rituals are symbolic actions that give us a sense of home. They are anchors in the flow of time. They anchor us somewhere before and beyond time. We poke at these ideas in this episode of The Gentle Rebel Podcast. What are the differences betw...

We recently finished reading The Courage to Be Disliked: How to Free Yourself, Change Your Life, and Achieve Real Happiness by Kishimi and Koga in The Haven Book Club . In this episode of The Gentle Rebel Podcast, I share reflections inspired by the five nights of discussions between the philosopher and youth in the book. It's been great to look at the book over four months, and I'd be up for doin...

How can we nurture environments and habits for playful mischief and gentle rebellion in our lives, relationships, and communities? In this episode of The Gentle Rebel Podcast, I chat with Emma Bearman, the founder of Playful Anywhere , whose mission is to catalyse creativity, inventiveness and playfulness at home, work, and on our travels. Episode Contents* The Transformative Power of Playfulness...

Are you spontaneous? Can you go with the flow when plans change or if something catches your attention and invites you to follow it? In this episode of The Gentle Rebel Podcast, we look at the characteristics of spontaneous people and explore how we might add more spontaneity into everyday life. This was the topic of our Haven Theme Kota when we chatted about creating conditions for more spontaneo...