“Why podcast now?” The reasons why you should listen to podcasts during STAY-HOME period and some of my favourite channels/personalities ~Part 1~

【NOTE】This blog was originally published in May 25th, 2020 on another blog platform.

・Why Podcasts "NOW"?

I have become a huge fan of the podcast this year and been listening to more and more episodes on it especially during this time of the quarantine/stay home situation due to Covid-19 outbreaks.

The best thing about the podcast to me is that I still get to spend time on other kinds of stuffs (e.g. cooking, doing laundry, or just strolling around the neighbours) while listening to it.

That’s right, you are quenching your boredom thirst without feeling like you are attached to your smartphone 24/7. Currently been on a practice of “Online Detoxification” myself, which I will be talking about in a separate article, a realization of this idea was a whole awakening that made me got even more into this community. The fact that you can rewind the episode when you accidentally miss out on what’s been said is also something I consider a plus on the podcast. Besides, an enormous amount of learning you’d get just by casually listening to it is beyond your imaginations!

So today I thought I’d share with you guys some of my faourite channels/personalities on the podcast community. Although the contents being more leaning towards my interests would be the case as the list utterly relies on my personal recommendation, I believe most of them are equally educational to you guys up to some extent as they cover a wide variety of topics.

However, I’d say the list is especially highly recommended if your interests cover a topic such as

Mental/Physical Health (from a wide variety of aspect), Stress/Anxiety Management, a Growth Mindset, building self-esteem, Food and Nutrition, mindfulness, Sex Positivity, Feminism, Contents Creations, Recovering from Childhood Traumas/Inner Child Healing, etc.

So without further ado, let me now dive into some of my favourite podcast channels.

・My favourite channels

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■ On Purpose - Jay Shetty
■ Deliciously Ella - Ella and Matthew Mills
■ glenwood "HEART TO HEART" - 長谷川潤
■ The Lavendaire Lifestyle - Aileen
■ The Self Love Fix - Beatrice
■ コータの漢方的養生チャンネル - 早川コータ
■ Doing it! With Hannah Witton – Hannah Witton

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[Note]

I have decided to break this list into two parts, so the first three channels will be the ones explained in this article (hence the part 1)!
Languages in the bracket beside hosts show the ones spoken in each podcast channel.

1．On Purpose – hosted by Jay Shetty (English)

Needless to say, Jay Shetty is one of the most well-known internet personalities in the world.

He is an Award-Winning Storyteller, podcaster, and also a former monk (yes, a monk!).

What I especially like about his podcast is his dedication to making his content as authentic as possible. He invites guests from various backgrounds and fields (from a neurologist to 50 Cent!), who often share their raw experiences and learnings in their life. Each episode mostly focuses on the importance of a Growth Mindset and how to make it into a real-life practice. Every episode is very insightful so you’d most likely feel like an hour+ talks have just flown by so fast.

Aside from his actual contents, his listening skill and the attitude towards his guests is one of the many things I enjoy on his channel. He has such a powerful way to draw more out of the guests, and of course, delve more into their stories. Besides, I always feel as if I could see his huge smile and joy manifesting on his face when listening to the channel as it projects his passion on each topic, and that he enjoys every single conversation with them.

~Some of my favorite episodes from "On Purpose"~

■Lisa Bilyeu: ON The Importance Of Having A Growth Mindset & Keeping
Agreements With Your Partner
■Jada Pinkett Smith: ON How To Heal Your Past & Love Yourself Again
■Kunal Nayyar: ON How To Stop Obsessing About The Future & Programming Your Mind For Peace
■5 Things To Never Do In a Rush and Slowing Down in 2020
■Jay Shetty Interviews His Wife for the First Time (To be honest I enjoy every episode of him with his wife Rhadi!)

2． Deliciously Ella – hosted by Ella and Matthew Mills (English)

As you can see from its title, this podcast’s main topics include, but not limited to the aspect of nutritional health and how it affects our daily lives. After being diagnosed as Postural Tachycardia Syndrome coupled with autonomic nervous system disorder in 2012, Eleanor Mills, the main host of this podcast, was determined to look after her diet and lifestyle which lead her to a whole foods-centric, plant-based diet. She then started journaling her culinary experience online as she found herself being unmotivated due to her symptoms, as well as being utterly ill-equipped with cooking skills. This online journal is the famous blog of hers, "deliciouslyella.com", which has now turned into a famous brand, “Deliciously Ella”, run by Ella and her husband Matthew Mills. In her channel, she (sometimes together with Matthew, who is her husband and a business partner) discusses a wide variety of topics with her guests from food/diet myths, mental health, mindfulness, to the reality of running a business. It’s hard to choose my favourite episodes as most of the topics covered on her channel resonate with my interests as well, but here I picked a few of them for you as a starter.

~Some of my favorite episodes from "Deliciously Ella"~

■Do We Need a Digital Detox? (with Tanya Goodin; a founder of Time to Log Off)
■Plant Power; Eat Yourself Healthy (with Dr. Gemma Newman; specialized in holistic health, plant-based nutrition and lifestyle medicine)
■Creating a more mindful life (with Steffy White; an international Yoga teacher)
■Human Kindness (with Rutger Bregman; a Dutch popular historian and author)
■Morning Routines (with Hal Elrod; the international bestselling author of Miracle Morning)

3． glenwood "HEART TO HEART" – hosted by Jun Hasegawa (Japanese)

Jun Hasegawa is one of the most popular models/TV personalities in Japan, currently based in Hawaii, in which she grew up till 14 years old when she got scouted by the model agency in Japan. Being a massive fan of her since 11years old myself, this podcast was not to mention something to die for when I discovered. She explores a wide variety of topics with her guests from vulnerability, environmental issues, PMS, meditation, a famous Konmari method, and a lot more. By listening to her podcast, you can feel her peaceful, aloha vibes as well as discovering her curiosity and rawness through each episode. I just admire that she is willing to share with her listeners her learning process of embracing all the imperfections, and the vulnerability in those ups and downs in life. Also, if you’re someone willing to learn Japanese and consider yourself as an auditory learner, this might be a good place to start as she sometimes asks her guests to elaborate a bit more about some of the Japanese words and phrases they’ve mentioned since Japanese is not her mother tongue as well!

~Some of my favorite episodes from "glenwood HEART TO HEART"~

■第4回 Aging Gracefully | Guest: 百々千晴
■第6回 The Power of Meditation | Guest: 水谷洋子
■第9回、10回 The Power of Aromatherapy | Guest: アネルズあずさ
■第16回 Water | Guest: 橋本淳司
■第19回、20回 Space | Guest: 縣秀彦

So those three channels make the first half of my favourite list of podcast personalities.

Hope you also enjoy listening to them!

Peace! ☺