Change is Possible

What happens when the pain you buried years ago starts speaking through your body, your anxiety, your depression, and your life?

Brian sits down with Nicoline Walsh for an honest conversation about trauma, depression, energy healing, self-connection, Reiki, inner safety and the parts of ourselves we often leave behind.

Nicoline shares how childhood sexual abuse, hidden pain and high-functioning depression shaped her life, even while she was succeeding in the corporate world and raising a family. She also speaks about the heartbreaking experience of supporting her daughter through suicidal thoughts while facing her own mental health struggles.

Together, Brian and Nicoline explore what it means to reconnect with the younger parts of ourselves, how trauma can live in the body, why healing is not always easy to explain, and how practices like therapy, Reiki, body scans, forest bathing and energy work helped Nicoline find her way back to herself.

They also discuss Brian’s own experience of working with Nicoline, the limits of language when talking about healing, the tension between science and mystery, and why self-connection, self-soothing and safety are at the heart of real transformation.

This is a conversation about the pain we carry, the body’s quiet wisdom, and the courage it takes to finally listen.

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Connect with Nicoline and her work with eling Forest on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠

Connect with Brian
⬛ Get ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠FREE access to Brian’s online courses⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
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Sponsors: Founded by the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Fabulous Pharmacist, Laura Dowling⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, I'm delighted to partner with ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Fabuwellness⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, a company dedicated to empowering your health with science-led, nature-inspired supplements.

We're also delighted to continue our partnership with ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Kyne Foundation⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, with whom I'm closely collaborating on a special project that aligns with our joint mission to nurture youth well-being in Ireland.

Chapters

00:00 Intro
00:30 Holding pain as both mother and daughter
05:00 Childhood trauma and the roots of depression
09:00 Moving from corporate life into healing
13:30 Understanding Reiki and energy work
19:00 Brian’s experience of trauma held in the body
24:30 How memories can carry emotion and belief
33:30 Exploring evidence, scepticism and lived experience
43:30 Why some healing is hard to put into words
50:30 Reconnecting with younger parts of ourselves
57:30 Body scans, self-soothing and feeling safe
1:03:00 Stories of transformation and release
1:11:00 Nicoline’s work and where to find her

Keywords:
Nicoline Walsh, Brian Pennie, Change Is Possible podcast, trauma healing, childhood trauma, inner child healing, Reiki healing, energy healing, depression recovery, suicidal thoughts, mental health, body keeps the score, somatic healing, self connection, inner safety, forest bathing, The Healing Forest, healing trauma, emotional healing, trauma and the body, anxiety, high functioning depression, spiritual healing, holistic healing, trauma recovery Ireland

In this bite-sized episode of Change Is Possible, Dr Gabor Maté explores why modern life keeps us chasing more.

More pleasure.
More success.
More distraction.
More consumption.
More escape.

But beneath that constant striving is a deeper question:

What pain are we trying not to feel?

Gabor also reflects on addiction, trauma, modern culture, healing, and why the path to change often begins by looking at what we are running from.

The full conversation with Dr Gabor Maté is available now on Change Is Possible.

What if the biggest risk to your health is not what you feel today, but what you keep ignoring over time?

Brian sits down with Dr Paddy Barrett for an honest conversation about heart health, prevention, mortality, behaviour change, sleep, stress, and what it really means to live well.

Paddy is a cardiologist, author of Heart: An Owner’s Guide, and a leading voice in preventative health. In this conversation, he explains why heart disease can develop silently for decades, why symptoms are often a poor warning system, and why the earlier we act, the more power we have to change the direction of our lives.

Brian and Paddy explore the difference between risk factors, disease, and events, why time is one of the most misunderstood factors in health, and why prevention is not about fear... it is about creating the freedom to live with more energy, clarity, and choice.

They also discuss Paddy’s idea of lifespan, healthspan, and soulspan, the problem with waiting for a wake-up call, why sleep is one of the foundations of health, and how mortality can sharpen our understanding of what really matters.

This is a conversation about time, health, mortality, meaning, and learning to live before life forces you to pay attention.

⁠⁠Click here⁠⁠⁠ and subscribe for more conversations on transformation, recovery, resilience, and human potential.

Connect with Dr Paddy Barrett on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and here's his website where you can join his amazing newsletter.

Connect with Brian
⬛ Get ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠FREE access to Brian’s online courses⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
⬛ Buy Brian’s memoir, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bonus Time⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
⬛ Follow Brian on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
⬛ Follow Brian on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Sponsors: Founded by the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Fabulous Pharmacist, Laura Dowling⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, I'm delighted to partner with ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Fabuwellness⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, a company dedicated to empowering your health with science-led, nature-inspired supplements.

We're also delighted to continue our partnership with ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Kyne Foundation⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, with whom I'm closely collaborating on a special project that aligns with our joint mission to nurture youth well-being in Ireland.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction
00:30 Listening to instinct and following the right path
06:00 Why heart disease can develop silently
10:30 Understanding risk factors, plaque and heart events
16:00 The four foundations of health
21:30 Lifespan, healthspan and soulspan
29:00 Why there are no guarantees in health
34:00 What creates a true wake-up call
39:00 Statins, risk and the long view of prevention
45:30 Building your health pension over time
50:00 Mortality, meaning and how we spend our time
56:00 Paddy’s North Star and where to find his work
59:00 Sleep, stress and the health trends worth questioning

Keywords:
Heart health, prevention, mortality, longevity, healthspan, soulspan, behaviour change, sleep, stress, exercise, cholesterol, purpose, meaning, living well.

What happens when the person who seems fine is quietly falling apart?

Brian sits down with poet and writer Daragh Fleming for an honest conversation about grief, suicide, depression, masculinity, loneliness, and the emotions so many people struggle to express.

Daragh opens up about losing his best friend to suicide at 17, the years of emotional numbness that followed, and how writing became a way to understand himself and help others feel less alone.

Together, Brian and Daragh explore why so many men find it difficult to speak about pain, how anger often masks sadness, the dangers of the manosphere, and why emotional honesty may be one of the most powerful forms of strength.

Daragh also reads two of his powerful poems, If I Ever Have Boys and If I Ever Have Girls, offering a moving vision of masculinity, womanhood, parenting, and the kind of world we need to build.

This is a conversation about loss, healing, identity, connection, and the quiet courage it takes to say what is really going on inside.

⁠Click here⁠⁠ and subscribe for more conversations on transformation, recovery, resilience, and human potential.

Connect with Daragh on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Connect with Brian
⬛ Get ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠FREE access to Brian’s online courses⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
⬛ Buy Brian’s memoir, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bonus Time⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
⬛ Follow Brian on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
⬛ Follow Brian on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Sponsors: Founded by the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Fabulous Pharmacist, Laura Dowling⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, I'm delighted to partner with ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Fabuwellness⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, a company dedicated to empowering your health with science-led, nature-inspired supplements.

We're also delighted to continue our partnership with ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Kyne Foundation⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, with whom I'm closely collaborating on a special project that aligns with our joint mission to nurture youth well-being in Ireland.

Chapters
00:00 Introduction
00:30 Darragh losing his best friend to suicide
03:20 Depression, numbness and emotional disconnection
08:00 How grief shaped Darragh’s writing
14:30 Masculinity, boys and the manosphere
21:00 Darragh reads If I Ever Have Boys
30:30 Ego, identity and self-worth
42:00 Anger, sadness and emotional literacy
45:40 Darragh reads If I Ever Have Girls
51:00 The words men struggle to say
56:30 Loneliness and modern disconnection
1:01:30 Success, gratitude and purpose
1:08:00 Where to find Darragh

Keywords: Mental health, men’s mental health, grief, suicide, depression, loneliness, masculinity, vulnerability, emotional honesty, emotional literacy, identity, ego, self-worth, healing, poetry, spoken word, Darragh Fleming, Brian Pennie, Change Is Possible

Former MMA fighter Ryan “Chaos” Curtis joins me for one of the most powerful conversations I’ve had on Change is Possible.

Ryan grew up in Dublin’s inner city, surrounded by hardship, addiction, violence, and the need to fight for himself from a young age. But when he walked into an MMA gym for the first time, everything changed. He was humbled, beaten up, and somehow left knowing one thing: he was going to become a world champion.

Years later, while training for a major fight and with the UFC in sight, Ryan suffered a catastrophic spinal injury. His neck broke. He was instantly paralysed from the neck down. Doctors told him this was his new way of life.

Ryan refused to accept that.

In this episode, we talk about the accident, the pain, the fear, the discipline, and the mindset that helped him fight his way back. We also explore self-belief, failure, masculinity, gratitude, addiction, vulnerability, responsibility, and what it really means to become someone you can rely on.

This is not just a story about recovery. It is a story about identity, discipline, and refusing to be beaten by life.

Click here⁠ and subscribe for more conversations on transformation, recovery, resilience, and human potential.

Connect with Ryan on ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠.
Listen to Ryan's Podcast: Made in Chaos.

Connect with Brian
⬛ Get ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠FREE access to Brian’s online courses⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
⬛ Buy Brian’s memoir, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bonus Time⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
⬛ Follow Brian on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
⬛ Follow Brian on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Sponsors: Founded by the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Fabulous Pharmacist, Laura Dowling⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, I'm delighted to partner with ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Fabuwellness⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, a company dedicated to empowering your health with science-led, nature-inspired supplements.

We're also delighted to continue our partnership with ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Kyne Foundation⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, with whom I'm closely collaborating on a special project that aligns with our joint mission to nurture youth well-being in Ireland.

Chapters

00:00 — Ryan’s life-changing moment
04:12 — First MMA gym session
08:46 — Becoming reliable
13:35 — Growing up in Dublin 1
19:18 — Bullying and confidence
25:40 — The psychology of MMA
31:52 — Why Ryan chose fighting
36:45 — The accident
42:08 — Waking up paralysed
47:35 — Refusing to accept it
52:26 — Everything is psychological
57:40 — The accident as a gift
1:02:44 — Discipline over motivation
1:09:38 — Gratitude and Made in Chaos