This episode was released on the heels of perhaps the most dramatic election of our time—one that will have a serious impact on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and leadership initiatives in corporations throughout the United States. So I felt very fortunate to speak to one of the most compelling and dynamic authorities in this space—Dr. Priya Nalkur.

Priya Nalkur, Ed.D. is the President of The RoundTable Institute, where she leads a global group of coaches and facilitators to help companies build more inclusive leaders and workplaces. She is a professional speaker, coach and facilitator and has taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Heller School for Social Policy and has several courses on Udemy for Business. She is the author of the book Stumbling Towards Inclusion: Finding Grace in Imperfect Leadership.

We touched on so many topics in this discussion, including:

• Priya's innovative framework of JEDI for Leaders and JEDI for Coaches; how the notions of justice and belonging are often overlooked in many well-intentioned DEI intiatives in corporate America.
• How Stumbling Towards Inclusion evolved from a "manual" to accompany the JEDI training to also include her journey—from a child of South Asian immigrants who struggled to fit in, to her time at leading universities in the US (Harvard, Yale), to her current role as an authority on DEI and executive leadership coach.
• The genesis of The Roundtable Institute as a leadership development platform to focus on women and marginialized people, launched in the wake of the tumultuous 2016 election.
• Joseph Campbell's quote about "going into the abyss to recover the treasures of life and stumbling"—and how the notion of stumbling (as well as biking up steep hills in Southern California) plays into leadership.
• The relationship between the activity of dance—in all its forms—and the dynamics of effective leadership.
• Concepts discussed in Stumbling Towards Inclusion, including "lowering the waterline," allyship, and the notion of headwinds and tailwinds in leadership.
• Priya's experience as the child of Indian immigrants in Ontario, Canada, and how that shaped her lifelong mission for inclusion.
• Struggles that we as South Asian parents face in juggling the tasks of assimilating, succeeding in corporate America, while passing our cultural heritage (culinary, dance, musical) to our children.

To connect with Priya and learn more about JEDI, The Roundtable Institute, and her many other initiatives, visit priyanalkur.com or theroundtableinstitute.com. You can also connect with her on LinkedIn or Instagram.

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Since moving to Southern California last year, I've been blessed to cross paths with many souls on a similar journey of spirituality and wellness. I had one of these folks on the podcast a year ago, Kyle Peche, and am now delighted to welcome his wife Sundarri Rodriguez as a guest.

Sundarri is an award-winning actress, musician, and philanthropist. You may have seen her appear in shows on Hulu, indie films, or even local theater. Sundarri is passionate about healing others with sound. She is a performing artist, and plays shows around the Southern California area, with music on Spotify, Apple Music, and other platforms. In 2023 she founded a non-profit organization called Soma Wellness.

Soma is a Christ-Consciousness based non-profit formed to build community and to serve those in recovery with holistic modalities, such as sound-healing, breathwork, and yoga. Please note that Soma Wellness is entirely separate from SOMA Breath, a breathwork modality which we've discussed on the show previously.

NOTE: Soma Wellness is entirely separate from SOMA Breath, a breathwork modality which we've discussed on the show previously.

Sundarri and I discussed many topics, including:

• How a tiger in a South Carolina zoo served as her namesake, and serendipitously led to discovery of sacred geometry, Kriya Yoga, sound healing, and other holistic modalities.

• The false dichotomy that often exists between Eastern and Western forms of spirituality such as Christianity and Hinduism. How many mistakenly see the former as overly rigid or confining, and the latter as too ethereal or abstract. How sages such as Paramahansa Yogananda and Swami Vivekananda help to bridge this gap; how their mission being carried forward today at organizations such as Self Realization Fellowship - where I originally met her and her husband (and former podcast guest) Kyle.

• Sundarri's Southern Baptist upbringing in South Carolina, which exposed her to speaking in tongues, and other spontaneous spiritual practices that she feels have largely faded away in the modern iteration of Christianity.

• The "origin story" of Soma Wellness, which sprung in some part from the tragic loss of her stepfather to addiction at age 45. How the platform combines sound healing, breathwork, yoga, and music to help those in recovery from addiction.

• How Sundarri is able to maintain her strong sense of spirituality, even while working in the music and film industries - traditionally seen by some as being more commercial and lacking in spiritual foundation

• House of Soma - a camping and music Festival held in Southern California, featuring more than 30 acts and the holistic modalities offered by Soma Wellness.

To find out more about Soma Wellness and connect with Sundarri / learn about her journey, please visit healwithsoma.com, or connect with her on Instagram at @ayoitssundarri or @healwithsoma.

Connect with Nikhil to learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Untether Your Life⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and other projects:

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To comemorate the 90(ish)th episode of Untether Your Life, I'm rebroadcasting my appearance on the Happy and Human podcast.

I always walk away from my exchanges with the hosts - my friends Dinesh Melwani and Dr. Seema Desai - with some new insight, an expansion of my network, and at the very least, a good chuckle. This conversation was no exception. It's full of light-hearted banter, mixed with discussion of weightier topics such as breathwork, epigenetics, and the triumphs and tribulations of life in the South Asian diaspora.

In this far ranging conversation, we touch on the following:

• The implication of Bruce Lipton's conceptualization of our body as a community of 50 trillion cells. How this mindset can improve our decision making skills and sense of agency and empowerment.
• The power of Thich Nhat Hanh's mindful breathing techniques (i.e., "In / out, deep / slow") in enabling us to better navigate turbulent times, and help humanity "one breath at a time."
• What it truly means, as members of the South Asian diaspora, to have "made it" vis-à-vis the American dream. The impact on this pivotal success juncture of the Buddhist notion of impermanence, and the concept of asymptotes (pro tip: you may need to dust off your high school math textbook for this episode).
• The true meaning of the practice of "clean living," and how positive self-talk and gratitude factors into this
• How breathwork and humming can stimulate the vagus nerve, and activate our parasympathetic nervous system and the "rest and digest" response, widen our lens and help us move from scarcity to abundance mindset
• The perils of the "if / then fallacy" that many children of immigrants face in prioritizing success over true happiness, fulfillment, and physical and mental health
• Reflections on cold plunges and other practices covered in the Netflix Limitless series with Chris Hemsworth

Interested in checking out other episodes of the Happy and Human podcast? Visit the Instagram page or check them out on Buzzsprout. I highly recommend following these dynamic changemakers on Instagram as well (@dineshmelwani / @dr.seemadesai).

Connect with Nikhil to learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Untether Your Life⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and other projects:

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