5: Shaking off social stereotypes, and aligning with our truth. With Ben Bidwell AKA the Naked Professor

Nurture & Nourish

Anna meets Ben Bidwell for a refreshingly honest conversation about what it’s like to be a stereotypical ‘successful’ man – and where stereotypes let men and women down.

Traditional masculinity was not serving Ben. At 30 years old, he was doing great on a surface level, but he felt empty and alone. A lucky encounter with a hypnotherapist led him to realise he wasn’t empty. He was just disconnected from his heart. Ben didn’t have the vocabulary or experience to reconnect with himself alone – it took guidance, and the courage to be vulnerable. But he got there, and he now helps other men do the same.

Ben and Anna found many parallels in their respective journeys to living more authentic, fulfilling and joyful lives, and helping others look again at the stories we tell ourselves about who we should be.
In this episode:

• The ‘gift’ Ben had with women (it took him until age 30 to admit it was actually a problem)
• Why the act of sending flowers to his mum was a major symbolic step in Ben’s journey
• How myths male strength led him to ignore his own dysfunction and emptiness
• Why asking ‘How are you?’ is so often a missed opportunity
• What manliness feels like to Ben now
• What he’s gained, and what he’s sacrificed in order to connect with his own heart
• What men and womenstand to gain from challenging stereotypical ‘male’ and ‘female’ traits
• What it means to harness the male and female energies within us all

For more conversations on a healing and nurturing approach to life and self-nourishment, subscribe to the Nurture and Nourish podcast with Anna Anderson.
Find Anna on Facebook, Instagram, or visit Anna’s website.
More about Ben Bidwell AKA

Ben Bidwell, AKA the Naked Professor, is a mindset and purpose coach, writer and public speaker who is living his own purpose by inspiring others to achieve their deepest potential. Having been on his own journey from a masked man drawn to "toxic" behaviours, to an awakened and open soul, his story is deeply authentic & relatable.

In 2021 Ben launched the widely applauded platform for connection and personal growth, Heart Space - www.heartspacecommunity.app

Ben is also the host of the number one podcast show ‘The Naked Professors’, which embraces conversations about mental health in a vulnerable but relatable way.

From this episode:

QUOTES

On the missing piece for ‘masculine’ men:

A big challenge for masculinity and men is that connection is missing, but they don't know what connection is because they never experienced it. They don't even know to go and search. They can feel up to a certain point, but there isn't the true depth of real, real intimate connection.

On why it’s worth doing the work:

if you're disconnected from your heart, there's always going to be emptiness. It's as simple as that. So many men are disconnected from the heart. And without connecting to the heart we're not getting into the truth of what really matters to us.

Links and resources:

Follow Ben on Instagram.