Explore Your Core

Explore Your Core

The Explore Your Core podcast talks with people who have paved their own path in the creative, adventurous or entrepreneurial field and explores how the followed their passions and purpose and built the resilience to keep persevering elisemarcianti.substack.com

  1. 12/22/2025

    Lucy Bartholomew

    I’m joined by Lucy Bartholomew, one of Australia’s top trail runners, who’s been absolutely crushing it on home soil recently. She came onto the scene young and has a lot to share from what she’s learnt on this episode. Outside of finish lines and course records, Lucy shows what it means to be authentic and follow her curiosity. Lucy has been shaping the narrative of how we view the sport and our bodies, and we talk about her journey over the last 12 years, how her attitudes changed and how she’s kept the love for the sport. With her job as an athlete, which is not only unpredictable but also high-pressure, she shares how she remains calm with her main supports- her Dad and dog, how she finds a feeling of home when on the move, and what community provides her. Lucy talks about her mindset, that you can only control two things: Your effort and your attitude. “If you lead with curiosity, excitement and confidence, you can’t lose, but if you’re using it as something to prove or to release negative emotions, you’ll only get so far” She’s changing the narrative on how we view distances, what it means to be successful in the field, and how we view our bodies- watch out as she’s a force to be reckoned with!You can follow her on socials here. Until next episode, Explore Your Core Thanks for reading Explore Your Core! Subscribe for free to keep up to date with the latest episodes. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit elisemarcianti.substack.com

    43 min
  2. 12/07/2025

    Brooke McIntosh

    In this weeks episode I am joined with Brooke McIntosh. She’s taken things to a whole new level, after completing a 1600km run from Pilbara to Perth in 2023, she decided to run 14,200kms around Australia for suicide prevention with a mission to help spark ‘just one more’ conversation. Even after these two huge feats, this is only the beggining for Brooke as she continues to make ripples in this space. I first came across Brooke’s film ‘Impact to Ignite’ at the Gutsy Girls Film Festival, and later down the track got to meet up with her in Melbourne during her run around Aus and I’ve been able to see her skyrocket firsthand as she continues to shape what we know to be possible and the way we talk about mental health.It took a head-on car crash for Brooke to realise things weren’t okay. In the middle of her FIFO work, she had some big realisations and the seed and for the run began here in the workplace. On the podcast, we talk about finding the courage to do things that scare you, even when you have no prior proof to back you and what it takes to be courageous. She talked of some of the tools she used to improve her self-esteem, the way she speaks to herself and how to build a brighter outlook on life. She also states how having a sense of community and connection has impacted her wellbeing and why it’s so important to have. She speaks on how getting diagnosed with ADHD acted as a permission slip to live outside the box, do things differently and go all in. ”I said to myself, if I wasn’t to do this, how many lives would I not be impacting, or how many people am I doing a disservice to by not sharing my voice, by not creating the impact, by not being all of me and bringing all of me” You can follow Brooke’s journey on socials, her website and can donate to Blue Tree Project here. Until next episode, Explore Your Core Thanks for reading Explore Your Core! Subscribe to stay up to date with new episodes. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit elisemarcianti.substack.com

    52 min
  3. 11/03/2025

    Jessa Gilbert

    In this week’s episode, I’m joined by Squamish artist and backcountry guide, Jessa Gilbert. Jessa’s approach to life seeps into her work, art and everyday- she has a knack for finding joy. Jessa has recently produced a short film “Drawn in” and done a live painting at the BANFF Film Festival and over the years has collaborated with brands such as Burton, Yeti, Leatherman and Roxy, as well as done graphics for the Women’s Adventure Film Tour and been in numerous mural festivals. Her works are brightening the towns and mountain slopes and bringing joy to so many places and spaces. As well as an artist, Jessa is a backcountry splitboard and hiking guide who froths the outdoors. In this episode, we talk about her journey to becoming an artist and guide, her change in identity after injury, imposter syndrome and the power of having a team to make ideas come to life. “Seth Godin talks about imposter syndrome as this beautiful moment where you’re at the cusp of what you know and what you don’t. And it’s actually a really good place to be if you’re trying to do something new or different, because it means that you’re stepping outside of your comfort zone and into a new arena.”We also talk about the similarities in art and adventure in it’s ability to foster curiosity, bring joy and learn through trial and error. “It’s like, you gotta be good in your own head. You can be your best ally and your worst enemy on the same day, multiple times, but it doesn’t help you to beat yourself up.” You can follow her epic journeys and works on socials, watch her film "Drawn In" and find out more about her on her website. Until next episode, Explore Your Core This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit elisemarcianti.substack.com

    55 min
  4. 10/19/2025

    Matt Glover

    For episode 89 of the Explore Your Core Podcast, I am joined by Matt Glover, Lead Guide at Forest Therapy Victoria and Director of MGA Counselling Services. I went down to Mount Dandenong to join Matt as he led a forest therapy session as part of a Zorali x Forest Therapy Victoria event. What I experienced over the following 3 hours was remarkable. He spoke about how time in nature can lower cortisol levels, increase calmness and mood and that mindful walking can induce ‘soft fascination’ which allows us to recover from overload, increasing creativity. As well, he spoke about how the trees emit phytoncides, natural compounds that protect plants and boost our immune systems when inhaled all of which I got to experience firsthand. He mentioned how shared forest therapy experiences increase social bonding, lowering isolation and enhancing wellbeing, which is why experiences like this are more important than ever. I then had the honour to chat further with Matt on the podcast, where he shares his story with Forest Therapy. Forest Therapy or Shinrin-yoku (“forest bathing”), started in Japan as a response to rising stress and burnout and is a slow, sensory immersion in nature that invites presence, mindfulness, and connection to the natural world- you could say you return to ‘nature time’ which is far slower than the speed we often operate at. In the episode, we talk about the role of storytelling, metaphors and how feeling a sense of belonging is important for healing. He raises the term Biophillia, ‘Bio’ meaning life, ‘phillia’ meaning love, so ‘a love of life’ and the biophillia effect, which refers to the health effects we receive when we connect with the natural world. We talk about how we can bring more of that connection with nature into our daily lives such as eating outside, gardening and having more greenery inside and chat about the idea of a nature prescription. And if you were already persuaded how healing nature can be here’s a few more incredible things time in nature does:-Increase Natural Killer cell activity which is important for fighting viruses and cancer cells which effects can last days to weeks- Interoception which is the awareness of internal body signals improve and supports emotional clarity and resilience- Increases social bonding, lowering isolation - Decreases heart rate and blood pressure and breathing deepensYou can find out more about the Forest Therapy Experiences with Matt Glover here and on socials, and his counselling services here. The new book will soon be released and available through Zorali. Until next episode, Explore Your Core This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit elisemarcianti.substack.com

    44 min
  5. 09/04/2025

    Pauly James

    On episode 89 of the Explore Your Core Podcast, I talk with Pauly James, who is currently riding 18 000kms around Australia for youth mental health. He joins me in the middle of his trip, having just crossed the WA border. On this episode, Pauly talks about his experience with depression and how he realised it’s never too late to rewrite the narrative. With this realisation, he had the idea of riding around Australia to shine a light and inspire people, raising money for Human Nature . “You hold the pen to the script that you get to write for your life.” In 2022, Pauly started to see that nothing was working, so he committed to trying everything he hadn’t done yet. This ended up in traveling the world for 9 months- from exploring Volcanos to the Himilayas, to hiking the Camino De Santiago. This opened his eyes up to a world he didn’t know existed- one that was far more expansive than the walls we was confined to thinking ‘this was it’.He realised how changing his environment could change his perspective and went on a mission helping other people change their environment through an organisation called Human Nature which is a youth mental health service that focuses on youth empowerment through outdoor therapy. Episode now live! You can donate to Human Nature on his website. Be sure to follow along the journey on his socials here.Until next episode, Explore Your Core Subscribe to stay up to date with the latest episode on the Explore Your Core Podcast. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit elisemarcianti.substack.com

    47 min
  6. 08/21/2025

    Eric Philips

    Eric Philips is no stranger to the unknown- he has pioneered his life around exploring where people haven’t gone before. This venture has led him to become a polar explorer, guide, and astronaut as well as an educator and author. Eric’s feats are nothing short of remarkable, from becoming the first Australian alongside Jon Muir to ski both the North and South Poles, pioneering numerous new routes to the South Pole and a sea-to-sea crossing of Greenland by using skis, kites and kayaks. He was also onboard Fram2 which was the first spacecraft to fly in polar orbit, spending almost 4 days in space and completing 55 orbits over the North and South Poles. Eric shares his earliest recollection being fascinated by space; that was when he was 7 years old, watching the first moon landing on a black and white TV in his school classroom. It wasn’t until years down the track when he crossed paths with someone while guiding that this dream was able to come to fruition. On the podcast, Eric talks about his journey, how he knew what to follow when there was no clear path ahead and how he navigated staying on track even when ‘the longitudes inevitably pull you in different ways’. Eric also talks about his space travel and polar expeditions and we discuss the different ways of going about it, how expeditions allow for time to disconnect and the challenges we face with constant stimulation. “Go back to what makes the blood surge through your veins, what makes your heart skip a beat when you see something that inspires you… follow that little lead, chances are it’s going to take you to amazing places.” Episode now live! Subscribe to keep up to date with new podcast episodes You can follow him on socials and find out more on his website as well as the space missin with F2 here. To find out about upcoming Svalbard and Greenland expeditions, head over to Ice Trek. Until the next episode, Explore Your Core This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit elisemarcianti.substack.com

    57 min

About

The Explore Your Core podcast talks with people who have paved their own path in the creative, adventurous or entrepreneurial field and explores how the followed their passions and purpose and built the resilience to keep persevering elisemarcianti.substack.com

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