Episode 35 - YASKING Book Club: The Untethered Soul (Part 1) – The Inner Voice

Ever feel like your thoughts are running the show? In this first episode of our Untethered Soul book club series, Arturo and Anthony dive deep into the concept of the "inner voice"—that nonstop mental chatter shaping your emotions, decisions, and sense of self.

Through Michael A. Singer’s powerful teachings and personal stories, the kings unpack:
✨ Why your thoughts are not your true identity
✨ How to differentiate between inner wisdom and mental noise
✨ Practical tools to observe thoughts without getting hooked
✨ Why detaching from the voice is key to emotional freedom
✨ How to build your ‘observer muscle’ through consistent practice

Arturo opens up about how his inner critic turned career success into anxiety, while Anthony reflects on struggles with self-worth and financial fear. Their raw examples show how easily we give our power away—and how freeing it is to step back and observe.

Whether your inner voice is a loud bully or a subtle saboteur, this episode will shift your perspective on who you really are. Spoiler alert: You are the awareness behind your thoughts—not the thoughts themselves.

🎧 Listen in to start unhooking from mental chatter and embracing your inherent wholeness. Ready to go deeper? Grab The Untethered Soul and join us for this 7-part journey into radical self-discovery.

📲 Follow the kings for more wisdom & wit:
Anthony: @coachcatalino (TikTok)
Arturo: @arturodiaz (IG), @arturodiaznyc (TikTok)

Tune in to "YASKing with Anthony and Arturo" on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Don't forget to subscribe and follow Anthony on TikTok at @coachcatalino and Arturo on IG at @arturodiaz and TikTok @arturodiaznyc

Transcript

YASKING The Untethered Soul Book Club (Part 1) – The Inner Voice

Arturo Diaz 

Welcome to YASKING with Anthony and Arturo. I'm Arturo Diaz 

Anthony Catalino

And I'm Anthony Catalino

Arturo Diaz 

Today we're kicking off something special, a series of episodes exploring the powerful lessons from the Untethered Soul by Michael A Singer. Think of this as our YASKING book club, where we dive deep into the ideas that transform the way we see ourselves and the world today. We're starting with one of the biggest game changer for self awareness, the voice in your head, that non stop commentary running through your mind that shapes your emotions, decisions and even your confidence. But what if you didn't have to believe everything it says? Buckle up, buttercups. Are you ready to YASK the big question, what if you aren't your thoughts, but the observer of them?

Anthony Catalino

This has been one of those books that I have picked up time and time again. I've shared it with a lot of people, and it just it hits home. I feel like it's an easy read for most, and it makes sense. You know, I not everyone's ready to read it, but quite possibly, if you're listening to this, it is your time. And to get us started, I just wanted to read the preface, really book, the preface, the preface to the book that I think will help you grasp the understanding of why we're diving into this today. Michael Allen Singer starts off by saying, when I sat down to write the Untethered Soul, the intention behind the book was very simple. I wanted to share a path to complete inner freedom with anyone willing to receive it. Spiritual growth should not be difficult or esoteric. It should be simple, clear and intuitively obvious. Freedom is the most natural thing in the world. It is, in fact, our birthright. The problem is that we have scared this simple truth with our mind, emotions and preferences. The Untethered Soul takes us on a journey in which we directly experience the innate truths within us. We discover who we are by letting go of who we are not this deep inner journey is not intended just for mystics or scholars. It is a journey back to the seat of self, and it can be taken by anyone. Make sure you hear that. It doesn't matter what skin color you have or what religion you believe in, this can be really understood by anybody. So we welcome you to lend your ear, open your heart and have this conversation with us today. I'm super excited. 

Arturo Diaz 

I am too, and we start off with the inner voice. So let's start with a big realization that voice in your head, it's not actually you, because recognizing that voice in your head is the first step to reclaiming your power. So Anthony, what is the inner voice? 

Anthony Catalino 

Oh, it's a mental dialog. And if you are telling yourself right now, I don't have a mental dialog, what is he talking about? That is bananas. That exactly is the mental dialog that we're talking about. Believe it or not, the more you ignore it and you just kind of let it get loud, it literally shapes your reality. Make sure that we're paying attention to them and allowing ourselves to become the observer, which is the end goal here. 

Arturo Diaz 

I think of the inner voice as that constant mental chatter that judges doubts and replays past experiences. Mine loves to replay awkward conversations. It loves to like, remind me You're so cringy Arturo, you're so cringy. Imagine if someone followed you around all day critiquing everything you did. That would be exhausting, but most of us allow our inner voice do exactly that without ever questioning it. 

Anthony Catalino

I mean, think about it like is it ever really satisfied? It goes from one extreme to the other. It will root you on but then it will tear you down just the same. And we believe it like it's part of us. 

Arturo Diaz

And that's the funny thing, is you begin to realize, when you meditate on us, we really or where you ponder this, that you are not your thoughts. You're merely the one who hears them. And it's often said that thoughts are like passing clouds and that you are the sky, and you don't have to attach to every passing storm. So if we aren't the voice in our heads, why does it have so much power over us? Because there's a relation to thoughts create emotions. Your mind tells a story. You can choose to believe it, and then you feel emotions based on it. So an example, I text someone, they don't immediately respond, and the voice in me says they're mad at me, and then anxiety kicks in, when, in reality, I had no idea. And so it's in this way that your thoughts, their inner voice, can shape your reality,

Anthony Catalino 

And it does, as long as you allow it to be in control, which to me, one of the biggest life lessons I learned from working with a coach was for me to Learn control that I'm, you know, hold on to my life in control of my so called ship, if I am the captain of my ship, being controlled so we can get from one point to other safely. 

Arturo Diaz 

Yeah, because, if you choose to believe everything your mind says you you live in a reaction mode. And because thoughts can shape emotions would shape actions, uncheck thoughts or a position where you're just believing all the thoughts that come through your inner voice leads to unnecessary suffering. But the moment you can observe without reacting, you reclaim your power, 

Anthony Catalino 

Which we'll get into in a little bit, because, you know, we'll get, we'll get into some ways on how to reclaim that power and how to become the observer. But I think what's most important is just, just just, you know, sit there for a moment and and have can you notice that this dialog exists, that this mental chatter, whatever you want to call it. Now, we're not talking about people world as a schizophrenic. We're just talking about the average Joe. It's any, any human being experiences this, anybody. We all do, like I said, it's never satisfied. It's either like, happy or sad. And one moment, it can change a completely different story. And one thing that he really gets into in the book is talking about how this dialog, this mental chatter, the more emotions that we hold on to, the more life experiences that we have yet to work through and let go of and restore. So to say, the louder it gets, the more emotional we become, the louder the voice gets. And I don't know about you, but there's been times where I'm like, Shut the up, especially when I'm frustrated or really angry, it just gets louder and louder. And instead of implementing strategies, which we'll get into shortly, on how to calm it down, become more present, breathe through it. It's just going to kind of take control over you. It's gonna so called Take the wheel, 

Arturo Diaz

Because the voice is shaped by past experiences, childhood conditioning, fears. It often replays old doubts and insecurities rather than the objective truth. And the more you engage with that inner voice, the louder and more persistent it gets. I've had one small worry spiral into an all day anxiety fest, because I fed the voice instead of ignoring it. I listened to it. I believed everything it said. So your mind loves to talk, but you don't have to take it seriously. It's just noise.

Anthony Catalino  08:38

And it's not even you. It's literally not you. We are the awareness, and this is where it might get a little interesting for some of you. We are the awareness, being aware that it exists. We are simply the observer, observing that there's chatter going on. 

Arturo Diaz  08:57

And you don't have to over identify, or actually identify with all the thoughts that come through your head, you don't have to have to identify all the emotions that come into your system. You could just see his energy in motion and breathe through it. So how do we how do we stop letting the voice run the show, 

Anthony Catalino  09:17

Run our lives, yeah...

Arturo Diaz  09:19

How about instead of getting lost in your thoughts, can we watch them like an outsider next time your mind says, I'm not good enough, can you pause and notice it? And can you get to the point where you say, oh, there's that whole thought. Again, interesting, because Anthony is right, like we are the observer, and the way that I was able to confirm that intuitively with myself. Was when I read that concept in the book, I have noted that in multiple times in my life, I have actively debated with my inner voice, 

Anthony Catalino  09:50

Yeah, i have. 

Arturo Diaz  09:56

 I have talked  like, What are you doing? Why are you sabotaging this? Like, I don't need to panic about this. Like, can you stop being afraid of this? 

Anthony Catalino  10:04

Like, think about it. Like, if you looked at it like a best friend. Art mentioned earlier, if you're literally hanging out with this so called voice all the time, and if a best friend treated you like that, voice treats you mind you. These are just thoughts rolling through like art said, they're like they're like clouds. It's a really great practice when you learn to meditate, when you practice meditation, When thoughts come in, you just see them as clouds, as they're just passing by. And you don't want to choke them, you don't want to hold them. You want to let them go. 

Arturo Diaz  10:36

Yeah, so actually, I have five methods on how to detach from the inner voice. Number one, become the observer. Number two, label it as noise instead of believing your thoughts, label them. That's just my fear voice. That's my inner critic talking, or that's just a random mental loop. Number three, interrupt the pattern when the voice starts spiraling, do something physical. Take a deep breath, stretch or shake out tension. Or say today, brain number four, don't fight it, ignore it. Argue with the voice. Gives it more power instead, just let it pass, imagine your thoughts are clouds in the sky. They come and they go, but you don't have to chase them. And number five, use meditation or silence. Sitting in silence helps you notice how much the voice runs in the background, and the more you practice quieting your mind, the more peaceful you become. 

Anthony Catalino  11:38

How many of you are afraid of peace? How many? How many have let that voice tear you down? So so much in life that you that's it's led you to believe that you don't deserve the peace. And what if that was just your conditioning within your subconscious programming that has convinced you so many times that you that now has become your current reality. I know, for a while the way I used to feel about myself, that's how I felt, whether it was, you know, overweight or underpaid or a terrible, you know, human being undeserving because I was gay. I let that eat away at me for so long, until I realized I had a choice to interrupt it to not so so called believe it, because, remember, we think something like 30 to 70,000 thoughts a day, and because we've gotten so used to playing the same ones on repeat, we we like narrow our attention and focus on certain thoughts that have been programmed into our subconscious that We're continuing to carry with us. We're continuing to believe, because that voice will arise again as the more we get emotional, the more that is stored within our our systems are very intelligent bodies, all the past, all the traumas, all the you know, lack of belief in oneself, that all gets louder because there's so much energy built up inside of you. So how about we learn to release it? 

Arturo Diaz  13:05

Alright. I have a suggestion, the next time you find yourself with a racing in our inner voice, how about you step back and observe your thoughts for 30 seconds. Don't judge notice and what kind of things is your mind saying on autopilot, 

Anthony Catalino  13:22

Write it down too. I would maybe even go another step, write it down, and then really look at that. Is that true? Now, mind you, your voice will probably say, Yes, it will, but that's from the programming. 

Arturo Diaz  13:39

The voice in your head doesn't need to be controlled. It just, it just it just needs to be ignored, and you need to recognize it for what it is. It's your mind trying to be useful, because it the way it operates. It tries to game out worst case scenarios. It's trying to protect you. But when you look at the reality of life, there aren't any wolves at the door. The Apocalypse isn't hanging in there, you're fine. We're gonna be fine. 

Anthony Catalino  14:02

Yeah. But mind you, if you believe the voice the inner critic, you're gonna you're gonna believe otherwise that's gonna with that is what's gonna create your reality. So if you want a new reality, afresh with new insights and more love and more appreciation for self and more fun, got to start paying attention to the fact that you're the observer, that it's actually not you. Your thoughts are not you. So can you share a story of an experience that you've had that you recall the inner voice derailing you? 

Arturo Diaz  14:36

I have so many moments in my life when my inner voice took over that I had to ask myself which one to pick!  But one that stands out was during a time when I was getting recruited constantly. I felt like every three to six months I'd have a new job opportunity. Yeah, on paper, it was an incredible position to be in. I should have felt confident, excited, even empowered, but instead I was drowning in anxiety, and that was because my inner voice would not shut up. It would say things like, what if this is the wrong move? What if I leave a good thing behind? What if this new job doesn't work out? What if I fail? And instead of trusting my intuition, I got stuck in this loop of second guessing. My inner voice took what should have been a celebration and turned it into fear. Looking back, I can see how completely unnecessary that suffering was. The reality is I had worked hard to be in demand. I was getting recruited because I am good at what I do. But my inner voice, my mind, wouldn't let me enjoy it. It was obsessed with making the right choice, as if there is a perfect, risk free path. If I had stepped back and observed my thoughts instead of engaging with them, I could have saved myself so much stress, because at the end of the day, no matter what path look, I was going to be okay. I just needed to trust myself and take the next step with confidence instead of fear, 

Anthony Catalino  16:07

Plus overall be kinder to yourself. Is it interesting how the voice can, like, take us down a path of, instead of listening to your brilliant we would love to offer you, you know, a position....the voice starts, you know, from the old program, the voices that start to arise, that we start to listen to and entertain are the ones that don't believe it. Oh, that can't be me. . 

Arturo Diaz  16:31

Yeah, Do you have a personal moment where you had to detached from your inner voice? 

Anthony Catalino  16:36

I mean, nothing specific comes to mind other than a story that I've shared before in the past, I believe, through this podcast where I remember, like having a job. I was living on 12th and eighth in the West Village in New York City. Had a wonderful apartment, and we would just pay rent, Johnny and I, and I'd already start worrying the voices would already start daunting me that I didn't have enough for month next month's rent. And I always just thought that was so backwards, because I had a job, I had that security that we all seek in life, but the voices would get so loud that I didn't have enough, that I wouldn't have enough. And it only occurred to me years later, after doing, you know, going through a lot of personal development and working with a coach, that I learned that I believe that I wasn't enough. Not only did I have deep beliefs within me with surrounding money scarcity, but I also didn't believe that I was enough. So that was gonna, that was gonna become my reality, that I wouldn't have enough. I remember just drowning, literally sitting there on the couch like sweating, drowning in these thoughts, arguing like back and forth, never satisfied. But I will say, the more I've meditated, the more I've learned how to become present, the quieter it gets, the less it comes around. And now when it comes around in my life, currently, I just laugh. I laugh right through it. It's almost like I'm feeding it loving attention. Instead of scarcity attention, I'm just giving it love. I'm just laughing through it. And maybe that is that could be like a an anxiety response to discomfort, but it's almost like same thing with fear. I know fear is not real. I've detached myself so much from fear, so I just start to move my body around, shake out that energy and smile, because that in itself will diminish and start to let those thoughts kind of go away. 

Arturo Diaz  18:26

And like any muscle, the ability to detach from your inner voice gets stronger the more you use it. At first it feels impossible, because the voice is loud, persistent and convincing. It throws thoughts at you constantly, and because you used to believe in them, stepping back feels really unnatural, but just like training a muscle, the more you practice, the easier it gets. So every time you notice your thoughts, instead of engaging with them, you're strengthening that muscle. So think of it like going to the gym. The first few reps feel awkward. Your muscles might shake. You're not even sure if you're doing it right, but with consistency, you get stronger. The same goes for detaching from mental chatter. Every time you observe your thoughts, instead of reacting, you're reinforcing that you are the observer and not the voice. Over time, that separation becomes second nature. You start to hear the inner critic, but you don't believe it. You recognize old thought loops for what they are, just habits, not the truth, and suddenly there's more clarity, more space between you and the noise in your head. But just like working out, you have to keep showing up. Some days are gonna be easier than others. Some days the voice is gonna be really fucking loud, but the more you practice detaching, the less control has over you, and the more peace you feel, the more power you reclaim. Because when voice no longer runs the show, you get to live from a inner strength instead of fear. 

Anthony Catalino  19:57

How many of you actually desire peace and inner power. I talk a lot about becoming more powerful. My company is called a new kind of power, a power that resides within that most don't even realize is available to them. You're far more powerful than you have any idea, and the longer you voice that in that chatter, it's going to always try to take you down. So as Art said, start to become more aware, or even a step before then, do you desire more peace and love in your life? It has to really begin from that standpoint, and then on a daily practice, you can start to become aware. And this is a practice. It's not going to be easy at first. None of this is that we talk pretty much, none of the none of this is that none of this is that we talk about. But the more you implement these strategies, spending time in the present moment, really being becoming the observer and and he talks a lot in the in the first chapter, literally, your awareness that it's not you is what will make it easier, simply being able to detach yourself from that it will take time be generous with yourself, behind yourself, be graceful. 

Arturo Diaz  21:07

So let's bring this all together. Today, we explored how the inner voice works. White shapes our emotions, and, most importantly, how to step back and detach from it. Remember your thoughts are not you. You are the awareness behind them. That voice in your head doesn't need to be controlled. It just needs to be ignored. And just like any muscle, the more you practice observing instead of reacting, the stronger your inner peace becomes. So here's your challenge for the next 24 hours, just notice your inner voice. What does it say the most? Don't engage. Just observe, see what happens when you give it less power. Thank you for being with us on this journey, and remember, buckle up buttercups. The best is yet to come. 

Anthony Catalino  21:53

I've been doing this for a while, but I still will commit on a daily basis. The reminders are still necessary, because we get off track sometimes 

Arturo Diaz  21:59

Absolutely and when you remember that you don't have to believe every thought that passes through your mind, you gain clarity. Instead of being stuck in mental noise, you actually make choices that align with the life you want. 

Anthony Catalino  22:14

It's up to you to believe them or not. It's up to you to entertain the positive, powerful ones, but the ones that are destructive. That's not you. That's not what you deserve. You've just been led to believe. So the chatter gets a little loud. Sometimes when you're emotional, that's okay, you're human being. It's all complicated, but we don't have to make it as complicated. We don't have to. There are some simple tools that we can implement on a daily basis that will change the trajectory of your life. 

Arturo Diaz  22:39

I'm glad we're doing this. Anthony, I love this book. The Untethered Souul is packed with insights that even if you read just a few pages a day, it could shift the way you see yourself and your thoughts. 

Anthony Catalino  22:51

The chapters aren't very long. I tend to do a chapter a day and just really soak in what the message is trying to teach me. 

Arturo Diaz  22:57

And by the way, we're not making money off 

Anthony Catalino  22:57

No, no. 

Arturo Diaz  22:57

It's just a book that generally changed our lives. And if you haven't read it yet, check it out and join us for the rest of this seven part series as we unpack the Untethered Soul by Michael A Singer.

Anthony Catalino  23:11

Beautiful, love it. It's been a pleasure. And by the way, we're not doctors or medical professionals. We're just here sharing our story and our insights from this wonderful book. 

Arturo Diaz  23:19

All right, Anthony, thank you for the conversation until next time. 

Anthony Catalino  23:22

Thank you, Arturo, Until next  time indeed. Later! 

Arturo Diaz  24:19

YASKING!