Lean Into Life Podcast

On Episode 53 of the "Lean into Life" podcast, I was delighted to welcome back on Psychotherapist Sheila Ryan on for a chat. This was Sheilas 4th appearance on the podcast and this time we discussed Christmas, and how its a time of the year which obviously can be fun and joyous but can also be a very tough, sad and stressful time for people. So we talk about the overwhelm that can happen and how we can best navigate through this time with as little stress as possible. It was a really interesting and much needed discussion about this topic and it's covers some really important topics which i'm sure a lot of people will benefit from. Please share with those you think would benefit, tag and rate also if you can, let us know if this episode lands with you. Wishing you all a very Happy and stress free Christmas and wishing you a magical 2024 :) Thanks Michael

On Episode 52 of the podcast, I was delighted to welcome on Nerissa Shea for a chat. Nerissa is a Sport & Exercise Psychology Consultant, Personal Trainer, Yoga Instructor, EIQ Certified Nutritionist and a Professional Irish Dancer. After a successful competitive career in Irish Dance, claiming seven All-Ireland & International Champion Titles, she then went on to work as a Professional Irish Dancer traveling around the world with an array of prestigious dance shows. Dance has played a huge part in her life and heavily influences the approach she takes to health & fitness, 'there needs to be some sort of element you enjoy'. Combining her love of training with the intricacies of the mind is a passion of hers. Coming from a Sport Psychology background she truly believes that mindset is key and her goal is through her content and guidance, people can gain inspiration, motivation and knowledge which enables them to make positive changes in their daily lives. Since launching her business in 2021, she has successfully coached over 150 women on their fat loss journey and has amassed over 200 yoga students, both online and in-person. She feels in order to be the best coach possible for her clients, it is so important to encompass all areas of health – physical, mental, emotional & spiritual. I have been following Nerisaa for a couple of years and was always taken with her enthusiasm, humour and just her passion for what she does and the clients she trains. This was such a great conversation which I am sure you will all benefit so much from. If you like it, please share, tag, rate etc. and let’s get this to as many people as possible. Thanks Michael

*** NEW Podcast episode **** Welcome to episode 51 of the “Lean into Life” Podcast, I was delighted to welcome on comedian Bernard Casey for a chat, Bernard is also an actor, personalised video creator, he goes into schools and runs drama workshops as well as speaking at corporate events. Bernard is from the beautiful fishing village of Portmagee in the wonderful South Kerry. We will talk a bit about growing up here and the influence that had on him. Bernard has grown a huge online following with his videos getting over 15 million views and has also performed his live shows all around the country including the famous Vicar street as well as the INEC in Killarney and the Everyman theatre in Cork, he has also performed in London,, Boston and New York. Bernard is performing in the INEC again this Christmas on the 23rd December with his new Christmas show “Around for Christmas” so we talked a bit about that on this episode too and what you can expect to see. I have seen Bernard there a couple of times and it’s truly amazing show so you should definitely see him live if you haven’t already. I have been really excited for this conversation and I am sure you the listeners will get a lot from it as well. The theme running through this series of the podcast is one of connection and it will be interesting to hear how important this is for Bernard in his live shows and workshops. As Tommy Tiernan quoted about Bernard “A wonderfully well-crafted comedian with a great old school style of storytelling” I couldn’t agree more, and he is a fabulous storyteller, I hope you enjoy this episode and if you do, please share, tag, rate etc. I think a lot of people will get so much from this episode. Thanks to Bernard for giving up his time as we went over time but it just flowed so well that it didn’t seem like it was that long, I hope you enjoy it. Thanks Michael

*** NEW PODCAST EPISODE *** Welcome to episode no. 50 of the Lean into Life podcast and to mark the half century I was delighted to welcome on Nicole Lonergan for a chat. Nicole is a professional musician and her main instrument is the fiddle. Nicole’s professional career began at the age of 16, her vast experience on stage provides her a unique skill set, making her one of the most sought after performers of her kind. Nicole achieved and honours degree in music and Irish from University College Cork. She has performed as a resident musician and Irish dancer in Disney world and has appeared on various TV broadcast including RTE here in Ireland and the Fox Network in America. Nicole joined Michael Flatelys “Lord of the Dance” in 2016 and in 2020 went on to become the solo violinist in the Grammy award winning sow “Riverdance”. Nicole has performed in the most prestigious theatres and arenas all over the world visiting 45 countries across 5 continents and has performed for Presidents and members of the royal family. We delve into her musical influences as a child including her amazing Granny Biddy and how she overcame the severe lows of Covid, from losing her passion and income and having to start again to reaching the heights she has since then and as she said herself, she is getting her spark back again for playing. I have seen her play numerous times and she is truly a remarkable musician and performer. If you are in Killarney at any stage, head to Café du Parc in the Plaza hotel at the weekends and you can see her perform for yourself. I really enjoyed this conversation and was great to learn more about how music can transport you to a different place and connect people and audiences together. I am sure you will get so much from this episode. Enjoy :) Please share, rate and comment if you can, think this will inspire a lot of people. Thanks Michael

In episode 49 of the "Lean into Life" Podcast and episode 1 of the new series, i wanted to record a short solo episode on the theme running through this series and that theme being connection and the importance of it especially post pandemic. I talk about the importance of connection not just with others but ourselves as well as discussing he different between loneliness and being alone. I have lots of amazing guests lined up for this series and am really looking forward to having more deep and powerful conversations with people which is something i just have a great passion for. I cant wait for you to hear them. Thanks guys, I hope you enjoy this solo episode and please, share, comment, like and rate. I really appreciate the support. Thanks so much, Michael

Welcome to episode no. 48 of the “Lean into Life” Podcast. I was delighted to welcome for his 4th appearance on the podcast, Mr. Alan Devane from Alan Devane Fitness. Alan is a face to face and online PT, a team and athlete Strength & Conditioning coach and a general all round lovely human being and the most positive person I know  and most importantly a very close friend. A lot has happened in Alan’s life since he was on the podcast last. He has become fully self-employed, he has become a 1st time dad with the birth of his baby Grace and unfortunately he suffered a very bad knee injury only fairly recently so we delve deep into all of those things and how his recovery is going and how the recovery is fueled and sped up by his winning mentality. It was a hugely inspiring conversation of hope amidst challenge and joy from despair. I know you are really going to enjoy it . Thanks a million Michael

New Podcast On Episode no. 47 of the “Lean into Life” Podcast, I had the pleasure of welcoming on Kevin Leahy to the podcast. Kevin is firstly a very inspiring individual which you will see and hear in the next hour or so, he is also a business owner and an Ultra Marathon runner having conquered some amazing physical and mental feats over the last few years which we delves into on the episode. I was hugely inspired after talking to Kevin and his drive and zest to achieve his goals is so powerful and we can all learn from his outlook on life. From being a civil engineer in Australia to thinking there must be more to life and headed off on his travels around South America and finding his purpose which turned into opening up his eco-friendly adventure “Black Sheep” hostel in his home town of Killarney in County Kerry. These adventures whilst travelling started him on the running path and ultimately to the ultra-marathons testing his physical capabilities but much more his mental strength which was tested on many occasions during his Yukon 500km Ultra race in Canada and his 500km race in Sweden which we unpack too. A quote that Kevin stated on the podcast from Henry ford sums him up. And it goes “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right”. Read that gain for a second, if you think you can’t do something, its more than likely not going to happen but like Kevin does in every area of his life, business wise and in his running, he thinks he can 100% achieve what he sets out to do and when you are in that mind-set, there’s no stopping you. A Documentary which is currently being edited by Adrian from Grand View Media will show Kevins journey to reach the challenge he set for himself of 1000km in total racing completed in a short period of time. The documentary will be called 1000km of chaos and you can see a teaser trailer for it on www.1000kmofchaos.com . It is going to be amazing and plenty of highs but also lows of cancelled races during Covid which affected Kevin mentally plus the added stress of his business closing but again showed his resilience and creative mind-set when he opened the coffee Shack at his hostel which has grown and grown in the last couple of years during the lock downs and beyond. You have to listen to this episode guys and please share it everywhere, we all can learn from Kevins outlook in life and I was hugely inspired myself just listening to him speak. Enjoy and thanks to Kevin again for coming in to share his story. Thanks Michael

I was absolutely delighted to welcome John Lenihan to the podcast. John's story from growing up in rural Kerry which has been quoted as being Munsters "Sherwood Forest" to years later standing on top of the winners podium in 1991 in Switzerland winning the gold medal for Ireland in the Wold Mountain running championships is a story that needs to be made into a film. John had an amazing athletic career where he ran on the track getting on the panel for the 1984 Irish Olympic Team, then onto road racing and then onto the mountains. His achievements have been nothing short of outstanding. John won races all over Europe and also at home, winning the coveted annual Carauntoohill Mountain race on 19 separate occasions which is just mind blowing. In his career John ran over 140,000 miles (equivalent to 6 x around the world) , he ran 170 million footsteps and burned through 280 pairs of running shoes :) A feat of athleticism which is so underrated. Decorated Kerry Journalist Con Dennehy wrote a book about john which is published in 2015 called "Tough as Leather" The Story of Sporting Legend John Lenihan, and that is exactly what he is, a legend and please please listen to this story. It will change your life literally. We go though his many highs but also some deep lows especially when he was forced to retire due to a hip injury and wasn't able to compete at that level again and do what he loved. It is a raw and honest portrayal of an athlete who was so gifted and driven to succeed, it will give change your outlook not just on running but on life in general. Thanks John for coming on and sharing your story with my listeners. You have inspired me from our conversation and I am sure it will inspire many others. Enjoy guys Thanks Michael

*** NEW PODCAST EPISODE *** Hey guys, welcome to episode no.44 of the “Lean into Life” Podcast and on this episode I was delighted to welcome Life and Executive Mindset Coach Stephanie Doherty on for a conversation. It turned into 1hr 20 minutes of amazing nuggets and takeaways on various topics including what life coaching really is and what it isn’t, how Steph overcame her own fears to start her own business and Instagram page and how important it is to bet on yourself. We delved into how people live other people’s dreams are not their own sometimes. We go into the topic of confidence and Steph gave some good tips on how we can improve this and how even just making the decision to change can have massive repercussions and stepping outside your comfort zone is the key to self-improvement. Steph is also very passionate about people learning self-compassion and self-love as so many of us talk negatively to ourselves far too much, we wouldn’t speak to anyone else like that so why do we do that to ourselves? It was such a powerful conversation and I really hope you get as much from it as I did. Please share with people in your own circle who you think would benefit. Thanks guys, Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year  Michael

*** NEW PODCAST EPISODE*** IN episode no.45 of the podcast, I was delighted to welcome Gavin Leane to the podcast. I had worked with Gavin a few years ago in a Life Coaching capacity and was intrigued to see how he was. I had heard about his love for Jujitsu and grappling and being part of the SBG Killarney gym. I did not realize however how being part of this “tribe” has had a huge influence on Gavin’s Physical & Mental Health. We talked about how this has saved him really and given him focus and confidence to step outside of his comfort zone in his life away from the gym which is truly amazing to see. It was an immensely powerful conversation which I think everyone could benefit from listening and how finding your own “tribe” who have your back and want you to succeed is massive in life, not just talking about a gym but your inner circle of friends who are your tribe and how important it is to have a positive and helpful tribe which can literally save you. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did listening to it first hand, some very powerful moments in there too. Please share this episode with people you think may have gone through similar trials in their own lives. It is a reminder how you can turn your life around if you find the correct group to surround yourself with  Thanks Michael