Navigating Modern Challenges: Practical Spirituality and the Quest for Joy with Shabnam Mogharabi

The One You Feed

Eric Zimmer, The One You Feed

Education, Self-improvement, Religion & Spirituality, Health & Fitness, Buddhism, Mental Health

4.6 • 2.5K Ratings

🗓️ 11 November 2025

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode, Shabnam Mogharabi discuss navigating modern challenges and explore practical spirituality and the quest for joy. Shabnam shares insights from positive psychology, the importance of community, and strategies for embedding well-being into workplace culture. The conversation highlights embracing imperfection, reframing adversity, and building habits that foster hope and connection, offering listeners actionable tools for personal and collective growth. Exciting News!!!Coming in March, 2026, my new book, How a Little Becomes a Lot: The Art of Small Changes for a More Meaningful Life is now available for pre-orders! Key Takeaways: Exploration of spirituality and its practical application in modern life. Discussion of resilience and the importance of community in spiritual growth. The significance of focusing on a few key social issues, such as education, women's rights, and immigration. The parable of the two wolves and its relevance to parenting and personal development. The relationship between spirituality and religion, including the positive aspects of religious traditions. The role of creativity as a fundamental expression of spirituality. The concept of joy as a resilient state of mind grounded in positive psychology. The critique of traditional workplace wellness programs and the need for cultural integration of positive psychology. The importance of intentional practices, such as community building and "noticing," in spiritual development. The impact of societal challenges, such as isolation and a crisis of meaning, on individual well-being and community connection. For full show notes,⁠ click here⁠! Connect with the show: ⁠Follow us on YouTube: ⁠⁠@TheOneYouFeedPod⁠ Subscribe on ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠ or ⁠Spotify⁠ Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠ If you enjoyed this conversation with Shabnam Mogharabi, check out these other episodes: A Soul Boom Discussion on Mental Health, Spirituality, and Connection with Rainn Wilson Spiritual Journeys with Rainn Wilson & Reza Aslan Rainn Wilson (from 2016) By purchasing products and/or services from our sponsors, you are helping to support The One You Feed, and we greatly appreciate it. Thank you! This episode is sponsored by: ⁠Uncommon Goods ⁠has something for everyone – you’ll find thousands of new gift ideas that you won’t find anywhere else, and you’ll be supporting artists and small, independent businesses. To get 15% off your next gift, go to ⁠UNCOMMONGOODS.com/FEED⁠ ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠: Post your job for free at linkedin.com/1youfeed. Terms and conditions apply. ⁠Persona Nutrition ⁠delivers science-backed, personalized vitamin packs that make daily wellness simple and convenient. In just minutes, you get a plan tailored to your health goals. No clutter, no guesswork. Just grab-and-go packs designed by experts. Go to ⁠PersonaNutrition.com/FEED⁠ today to take the free assessment and get your personalized daily vitamin packs for an exclusive offer — get 40% off your first order. ⁠Grow Therapy ⁠– Whatever challenges you’re facing, Grow Therapy is here to help. Sessions average about $21 with insurance, and some pay as little as $0, depending on their plan. (Availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plans. Visit ⁠growtherapy.com/feed ⁠today! ⁠AGZ⁠ – Start taking your sleep seriously with AGZ. Head to ⁠drinkag1.com/feed⁠ to get a FREE Welcome Kit with the flavor of your choice that includes a 30 day supply of AGZ and a FREE frother. ⁠Smalls⁠ – Smalls cat food is protein-packed recipes made with preservative-free ingredients you’d find in your fridge… and it’s delivered right to your door. For a limited time, get 60% off your first order, plus free shipping, when you head to Smalls.com/FEED! No more picking between random brands at the store. Smalls has the right food to satisfy any cat’s cravings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	If we are curious and we are constantly exploring the world and asking questions, not always seeking answers, but really thinking about what are the biggest questions we have to grapple with, that's actually what opens more doors to enlightenment.
0:12.8	And so that's why education is really important to me, because again, there's spiritual roots for it from my perspective.
0:27.7	Welcome to the one you feed.
0:32.4	Throughout time, great thinkers have recognized the importance of the thoughts we have.
0:39.7	Quotes like garbage in, garbage out, or you are what you think, ring true. And yet, for many of us,
0:45.9	our thoughts don't strengthen or empower us. We tend toward negativity, self-pity, jealousy,
0:51.8	or fear. We see what we don't have instead of what we do. We think things that hold us back and dampen our spirit. But it's not just about thinking.
0:55.7	Our actions matter.
0:57.2	It takes conscious, consistent, and creative effort to make a life worth living.
1:02.0	This podcast is about how other people keep themselves moving in the right direction, how they feed their good wolf.
1:10.8	We live in a world that isolates us, floods us with bad news, and erodes our sense of meaning.
1:17.6	Shabnam McGarabee is fighting back with joy.
1:21.2	She's the founder of the Joy Brigade, a storyteller, and co-author of the Soul Boom
1:26.3	Workbook with Rain Wilson. In today's episode,
1:29.5	we unpack how joy isn't an emotion, it's a mindset. She shares how her faith, her family,
1:36.5	and years of work in positive psychology have shaped her view of resilience, creativity,
1:42.2	and what it really means to feed the good wolf. This one is
1:46.9	rich, thoughtful, and grounded in real tools. I'm Eric Zimmer, and this is the one you feed.
1:53.8	Hi, Shabnam. Welcome to the show. Hi, Eric. It's nice to be here. I'm excited to have you on.
2:00.1	You recently co-wrote a book with Rayne Wilson,
2:03.2	who's been a guest on this show a few times, and it's called the Soul Boom Workbook, Spiritual Tools for
2:09.5	Modern Living. And we're going to get into a lot of that book here shortly, but we'll start like we
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 7 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Eric Zimmer, The One You Feed, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Eric Zimmer, The One You Feed and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.