#334 – The Fear Project with Jaimal Yogis

Transcript

Jaimal Yogis is an author, journalist, and outdoors-man. His first book, a coming-of-age memoir called Saltwater Buddha, was praised by The Times of London, The Age, Publishers Weekly, The San Francisco Chronicle, and is currently being made into a film. Jaimal’s second book, The Fear Project, is a personal and journalistic investigation into our most primal emotion. To report the story, Jaimal plunged into the water with great white sharks, surfed waves as tall as four-story buildings, visted some of the world’s most cutting edge neuroscience labs, and interviewed some of the top extreme athletes and psychologists.

A graduate of Columbia Journalism School, Jaimal’s magazine reporting has won awards like the 2005 Leslie Rachel Sanders Award for Social Justice Reporting, a 2007 Maggie Award for ‘Best Magazine Feature,’ and two Scripps Howard reporting scholarships. In 2010, The Common Wealth Club voted him ‘The New Face of San Francisco Media’ for his popular writing in San Francisco Magazine, thebolditalic.com, and The San Francisco Chronicle. His stories have also been published in ESPN Magazine, AFAR, Runner’s World, The Surfers Journal, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, and many others. He has been a guest-lecturer at UC Berkeley, Columbia University, and San Francisco State. Jaimal lives in San Francisco with his wife, Amy, and his son, Kai.

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2 Comments

PC Leong on January 17, 2013 at 9:54 pm

For me, (and to paraphrase Marshall McLuhan) the messenger is the message, and what a powerful message the man himself is. He certainly walks the (Buddha) talk in recounting experiences that he has personally encountered.

On a personal note, this show is highly relevant in a synchronistic sense because I have been preparing myself to face and transcend a deep-seated fear. It was deeply gratifying to hear Jaimal’s perspective and approach on just such an endeavour. Thanks, Jaimal.

At a professional working level, what Jaimal said about there being no one-size-fits-all intervention on fear desensitization, and that a nuanced approach is required makes profound sense. I think it is this fine discernment of the application of solutions and interventions that is – and always has been – what differentiates the effectiveness of recommendations, or otherwise.

Thanks, Jaimal and Dr. Dave, for a quality show.

Richard Powell on January 19, 2013 at 11:14 am

I echo PC Leong’s comment about the nuanced approach to fear desensitization being the best one. When I first saw the intro to this episode I thought, “oh brother, what does this guy know?” I was thinking it was going to be another, “grasp the thistle” message full of manly man talk, but wow, was I pleasantly surprised.

Jaimal, I really appreciate your genuine style and the honest way you shared about your own fears, and about how fear can be a barrier to relationships and other things in life we want to dive into. Illustrates Brene Brown’s findings that vulnerability and courage are linked.

I love the idea that desire is a curious antithesis to fear. I think you have struck on a true Kierkegaardian dialectic. When you talked about fear being primal, but desire/attraction being even more primal — wow, that really made sense for me and was actually elating.

I realized that my own outdoor activities of late have been an attempt to balance fear with attraction. Now I have a whole new idea to explore!

Dave, thanks for your own enthusiastic endorsement of Jaimal’s work. It helped me stick with the interview and boy did that pay off. Your own reflections on your youthful daring activities now made more sense to me.

Another outstanding interview. Jaimal’s book is going on my wishlist.

Thanks,

Richard

PC Leong on January 17, 2013 at 9:54 pm

For me, (and to paraphrase Marshall McLuhan) the messenger is the message, and what a powerful message the man himself is. He certainly walks the (Buddha) talk in recounting experiences that he has personally encountered.

On a personal note, this show is highly relevant in a synchronistic sense because I have been preparing myself to face and transcend a deep-seated fear. It was deeply gratifying to hear Jaimal’s perspective and approach on just such an endeavour. Thanks, Jaimal.

At a professional working level, what Jaimal said about there being no one-size-fits-all intervention on fear desensitization, and that a nuanced approach is required makes profound sense. I think it is this fine discernment of the application of solutions and interventions that is – and always has been – what differentiates the effectiveness of recommendations, or otherwise.

Thanks, Jaimal and Dr. Dave, for a quality show.

PC
Richard Powell on January 19, 2013 at 11:14 am

I echo PC Leong’s comment about the nuanced approach to fear desensitization being the best one. When I first saw the intro to this episode I thought, “oh brother, what does this guy know?” I was thinking it was going to be another, “grasp the thistle” message full of manly man talk, but wow, was I pleasantly surprised.

Jaimal, I really appreciate your genuine style and the honest way you shared about your own fears, and about how fear can be a barrier to relationships and other things in life we want to dive into. Illustrates Brene Brown’s findings that vulnerability and courage are linked.

I love the idea that desire is a curious antithesis to fear. I think you have struck on a true Kierkegaardian dialectic. When you talked about fear being primal, but desire/attraction being even more primal — wow, that really made sense for me and was actually elating.

I realized that my own outdoor activities of late have been an attempt to balance fear with attraction. Now I have a whole new idea to explore!

Dave, thanks for your own enthusiastic endorsement of Jaimal’s work. It helped me stick with the interview and boy did that pay off. Your own reflections on your youthful daring activities now made more sense to me.

Another outstanding interview. Jaimal’s book is going on my wishlist.

Thanks,

Richard