Bridger of Worlds
The Bridger of Worlds podcast is an in-depth walkthrough between the world of matter and world of spirit. I struggled with porn addiction for close to fifteen years, and all of this led me to discovering some very crucial and beautiful things about not only the physicality of my existence, but the spirituality of it as well. Since then, I‘ve been building bridges that have served me in feeling more whole and well-integrated. I’ve now made it my mission to share with you whatever it is I’ve learned.
Themes, topics and healing modalities such as spiritual embodiment, psychosomatic practices, Shadow Work, Masculine/Feminine energetics, conscious sexuality and archetypal meanings are brought to the forefront in order to raise awareness around what is out of sight because it is only from there that new life can ever emerge.
The greatest paradox of the human condition is to live amongst duality as we seek unity. This is a podcast honoring both and in doing so, creating the loving connections and honest-to-raw conversations we so desire in our lifetimes.
Bridger of Worlds
Facing Fear: Transformation Through Authentic Expression
In this deeply heartfelt episode of the Bridger of Worlds Podcast, host Ioannis Kokkinos explores the power of authenticity and vulnerability in personal growth and healing. Kokkinos shares his transformative journey from being a teacher and guide to simply being a human being who expresses his truth. He opens up about the challenges of navigating life in the age of social media and the internet, discussing how these platforms shape our perception of reality and the growing need for escapism.
Drawing from his personal experiences, Ioannis courageously discusses his struggles with porn addiction, bullying, and the emotional toll they took, leading him to hide from the world as a way of coping. He emphasizes the importance of confronting difficult emotions like shame and fear, particularly when in a communal space.
The episode also delves into the concept of imposter syndrome, addressing how self-limiting beliefs and self-doubt can hinder personal development. Kokkinos encourages listeners to push through these barriers and connect with themselves and each other. He underscores the transformative power of sharing your story openly and the healing potential that comes from being vulnerable in community.
The episode concludes with Ioannis reaffirming his commitment to creating a real and supportive space for healing, growth, and connection, inviting listeners to embrace authenticity in their own lives.
Hi everyone, welcome to another episode of the Bridger of Worlds podcast. I am your host Ioannis Kokkinos. Thank you so much for joining me. If you're on YouTube watching, thank you for tuning in. If you're on one of the podcasting platforms, thank you for tuning in as well. So when I started this podcast, I did have the intention of keeping it as real and as authentic and as even intimate as possible.
So the last few episodes have been mostly about, you know, kind of teaching and guiding and sharing a bit of my personal journey and my personal story throughout the things that I've found fascinating and interesting as far as spiritual schools of thought are concerned.
The Need for Authenticity
But today I kind of want to get out of teacher slash guide mode.
I just really want to be a human being in front of a camera, in front of a mic,,
expressing truth and authenticity. I think this is what we need right now. I need this. I believe many, many, many people out there need this. Like, social media is great, the internet is great, but I think we've lost the ball a little bit around what is real and what is not real, what is true and what is not true anymore.
I know it is a platform where a lot of like joy is expressed, travel, leisure, luxury, and that's all beautiful, right? It's a part of life. But it's not the whole picture, and I think a lot of people who are on social media, who are on the internet, who are on these platforms are also finding These outlets to sort of escape from their own lives now.
I'm not calling you out in any way shape or form I do it. We all do it, right? We want to kind of go on these platforms We want to go on the internet for a sense of forgetting Reality and like escaping maybe something that we're having a hard time with or that We're just in a more challenging difficult situation in life then we'd like to be.
Personal Struggles and Overcoming Addiction
So today I want to just express that coming on here, speaking my truth, sharing some tidbits about my personal journey, getting on a microphone, getting in front of a camera, talking about spirituality, talking about death, talking about grief, talking about sex, and I barely scratched the surface with what I intend on sharing as far as my personal story is concerned especially and regarding sex and sexuality because as I previously mentioned And the episodes in the earlier episodes I did struggle with porn addiction So that is what catalyzed basically My healing journey my spiritual journey my sexual awakening And my work in conscious sexuality and masculine and feminine energetics and of course shadow work,
Which basically , holds it all right. Shadow work is everywhere. No matter what the trauma, no matter what the hardship, the adversity, no matter what the challenge, we're always working with the shadow. We're always working with whatever it is we've suppressed, rejected, and denied within us. So because of my experience with porn addiction, my knee injury, there was always a sense of hiding from me.
Like I needed to hide from the world and I needed to like stay in a corner and keep quiet. I was targeted for bullying as well throughout high school and this made me want to hide even deeper and further into a dark hole. So the fact that I'm coming on here. You know being so exposed and being on the internet and being online And i'm thinking there's one part of me that's thinking well people don't want to hear this because they're on the internet.
They're on social media they don't want to hear about adversity. They don't want to hear about hardship They don't want to hear about difficult experience in life They don't want to hear about addiction, but then another part of me is saying well we all face challenges and difficulties and hardships and we're basically all here to help each other Through it and I'm not the first to be doing this by no means am I the first or plenty of men and women online sharing their stories It's doing the work, offering help, offering healing, offering support.
And there are a lot of men and women that I've listened to that I've followed teachings , That I've felt inspired with their stories that have led me to this point. So I'm not the first person to be doing something like this, and I'm not the last person to be doing something like this, and I do hope more people start coming out and just sharing their story.
It doesn't necessarily mean we're all going to be motivational speakers or we're all going to be healers or we're all going to be addiction recovery advocates But I do solemnly believe that we are all here to help each other in some way shape or form so for me to be here is extremely challenging because It is a big trigger point for me.
The story behind this trigger is that I'm a target and you know what I may be expressing like my deepest darkest secrets But it doesn't matter because I do believe people are out there If I'm a person that has wanted and needed to hear this throughout my healing journey and to think and feel that I'm not alone in what I'm experiencing, then I have to believe that there are others out there as well.
And this is why I'm here. This is why I do the work for me. But in reflection to that, it is a service that I'm offering to the world, to the collective, and to the people around me. So to be here speaking into a microphone, looking into a camera is. Challenging for me because as I said, it puts a target on me, but that's only because of a story and experience that I have with being bullied.
And it is a story that really crippled me throughout my life. It's not a story I got over after high school. It's not even a story I got over throughout my twenties. It's not even a story that I got through even throughout my thirties, I was becoming more aware. I was becoming more conscious, of course, but there was always this deep aching feeling that I had to hide for whatever reason, that I was not worthy, that I was not good enough. And I think, believe, and actually know that a lot of people Live this lie. It's living a lie. To believe that one is not worthy is a lie. To believe that one is not good enough is a lie.
To believe that one is not capable of doing something they set their minds to is a lie. I'm here today to say That we are worthy, we are capable, and that we can learn to go beyond whatever it is we thought we could say. This is the foundation of human nature. This is the core reason of why we are here. We are here to learn. We are here to experience. We are here to grow and we are here to love.
I just want to keep this podcast, the space as real and as authentic as possible. As I said in episode one, it's like a friend is coming over, we're having coffee, we're having a chat, and we're just opening up about the things that are alive inside our hearts.
I know I'm on a camera. I know I'm behind a microphone. I do, I guess, in a sense, need to go into performance mode a little bit. But, I'm human. You're human. We're all human beings. And As much as we all love to not have a certain suffering, or a certain hardship, or a certain pain in our lives, we cannot negate the fact that is all a part of life.
And because porn addiction for me was that form of escape, back then there was no social media, so going online and watching porn was like the ultimate form of escape because I was neglecting my pain, I was neglecting my suffering, I was neglecting my grief, And I have learned that this is not at all the way we are not to use escapism as a form of self denial, self rejection, and self suppression.
Escape is nice from time to time. Obviously, if we want to go on vacation or on a holiday, we want to just do something to kind of break our routine, to step outside of our reality. That's all fine and great, but we cannot use, , social media, these platforms to chase perfection, to chase the ultimate life that, you know, somebody else may projecting that they have, Which in reality, we don't even know what's really going on.
The Power of Vulnerability and Community
Some of my biggest breakthroughs some of my most powerful revelations have come within Community experiencing community whether that was going to a circle going to a retreat going to a workshop There's something very powerful and healing when we're able to come together and witness each other in Our process and in our journeys.
We see each other through each other through my personal experience When I've been in circle or I've been to a workshop I've been to a retreat and you know, it's my time to open up about something. It's my time to share something and I share something intimate.
I share something vulnerable or personal. , and that space of no judgment is present. That space of the witness is present. This is just powerful, powerful stuff. Because there's the sense of connection.
There's a sense of coming together . In all our solitude, right? We come there as single entities. , we may think we're the only ones suffering, or we only, we're the only ones that have a certain issue or have a certain, you know, struggle. Lo and behold, most of us, if not all of us are struggling in some way, shape or form with the same core feelings and emotions.
It doesn't mean we all have the same stories. It doesn't mean we all have the same, surface level experiences. But in some way, shape or form, we're all struggling with grief. We're all struggling with shame. We're all struggling with guilt. We're all struggling with fear. And I was such a big advocate of like hiding all these emotions, right?
Like growing up, and as I talked about in the previous episodes about like needing to feel hyper masculine, obviously, You cannot be a man and feel fear. You cannot be a man and feel shame. You cannot be a man and feel guilt. You cannot be a man and feel grief. You cannot be a man and feel, right? Like, that was the ultimate narrative within my mind.
And it really paralyzed me. It froze me. It got me very, very stuck in life. I've missed out on amazing relationships, amazing romantic experiences, intimate experiences, friendships. I'm not going to sit here and say that I regret anything because I do believe that everything that every single scenario, every situation was a thread connecting to another thread that has led me to this point because if not for those experiences, I probably wouldn't be here speaking and creating a podcast, creating the space and offering the space for support, healing consciousness and love.
But there was that gnawing feeling of like, I need to hide, I need to not participate.
I need to do a certain thing to be deemed a certain someone. I need to have a certain thing to be deemed a certain someone, but I've learned that vulnerability and being open and exposing our truth no matter where we are at. Is the ultimate form of connection? Is the ultimate form of giving and receiving love?
Is the ultimate expression of being alive?
There's been quite a few days that have passed since my last recording of the previous episode
Embracing Fear and Transformation
And there is a wall that I hit, right?
Because even though we're striving and excited for change and new beginnings, that imposter syndrome. Will always kick in right an imposter syndrome is a voice inside our heads inside our minds inside our psyches telling us Who are we to do the new thing? Who are we to say that thing? Who are we to do something new to embark on a new adventure?
Who are we but that is just the programming that is just the egos conditioning That is basically just the trauma that we've experienced that wanted to keep us small, safe, and protected. Because this very much parallels to what I experienced as a teenager, right? Like, Getting bullied and wanting to hide and basically choosing to cower through life.
That is the narrative. That's the source of the voice telling me right now, Who the fuck are you to get in front of a microphone? And who the fuck are you to get in front of a camera and to try and help people to try and Offer service to try and offer some form of. Healing and enlightenment.
And it's funny, because as I say that out loud, it's not about being angry at that voice. Right. And we can, we can get very frustrated when that voice comes through telling us that we're an imposter and that we can't do that thing. We can't say that thing.
It can be very frustrating, but it's also an opportunity to witness it. It's also an opportunity to hold space for it. And as I just mentioned. It really is just that smaller, younger version of me. That experienced whatever he experienced, you know, moving through high school, moving through adolescence, , the parts of me that didn't know how to hold space, that didn't know how to offer a container.
But I get to do that now because of what I experienced. Even though we hit a wall and, you know, we want the breakthrough, we want the breakthrough. The revelation, that struggle, that strife that we experienced right before the breakthrough is very significant.
It's not random and it's not for nothing. It is that struggle of, well, okay, this is who I used to be, this is what I used to think, this is what I used to believe, fine, it's fair, it is fair, because obviously it came from somewhere, but I don't necessarily have to follow or even believe that because that is not who I am anymore.
That is not my truth anymore, because for a very, very long time, that was my truth. My truth was that I'm not worthy, that I'm not able, that I'm not capable, that I'm not man enough, that I'm not in shape enough.
So, it just comes to show, no matter what the story, no matter what your struggle, no matter what your voices are inside your head, no matter what the narratives are, most likely, They have something to do with fear, they have something to do with shame, they have something to do with guilt, they have something to do with grief.
These are like the core emotions we all struggle with. And as frustrating and annoying and ridiculously unwelcome they are, they're not going anywhere. So we have to deal with them. We have to offer the space, we have to, you know, give them some breathing room.
And when we hear what they have to say, when we hear, you know, where they're coming from, and it's really just a matter of self protection, self defense, right? It's a smaller, younger part of you. So it just basically wants to feel safe. When we, from our current present state, are able to offer that safety, offer compassion, offer witnessing, that is how we build bridges.
That is how we Start to integrate parts of ourselves that have been severed and disassociated from each other.
I wasn't sure what was going to come through today. But I told myself, no matter what the imposter syndrome is telling me, no matter what my fear is telling me, no matter what my shame is telling me, show up, show up as you are. And if I need to express that I'm afraid, if I need to express shame, if I need to be vulnerable.
Do it, do it, do it, do it. I've already experienced the power, the love, the healing, the connection that is available when people are vulnerable. When we come together in community, when we go to a circle, a retreat, a workshop, even online, as I mentioned, plenty of men and women that I've heard, whether it's been on a Ted talks or they've shared a story on social media.
I've heard a lecture, something, right? Like I'm not the first or last person that's going to do this, but it is challenging me, but that does not mean that I don't do it.
So there is. Plenty more to come. I just wanted to remind myself Why I started this podcast and why I'm here doing what I'm doing. I Do intend on sharing more tidbits of my personal journey. I do intend on sharing more on conscious sexuality, porn addiction recovery, you know, what can porn addiction look and feel like for a young individual, for a young male?
I mean, I know there are also a lot of women struggling with porn addiction, but , this is an epidemic that is affecting a lot of men. I do eventually also want to start men's work, to create community within men. And to also basically see what wants to come through as I keep making and creating space for this.
Because we also need to meet life halfway. We can say what we want to manifest. We create the vision boards. We say the mantras, right, of what we want to manifest. But sometimes true manifestation. Is also doing something is also showing up a certain way is also letting life. No, yes, I'm ready. Okay. I want this thing that I've been asking for, and I'm showing you by taking a certain action that I'm ready for it.
And we're allowed to feel fear, right? sometimes we think we need to completely get rid of fear to do something. We actually need that emotion of fear to drive us. Fear is a driver when harnessed and used properly.
Fear is a driver, the driver to push past. What we thought was possible for ourselves, what we believed was possible for ourselves, we need the fear, you can get up on stage, you can get up on a platform, you can come to a space like this, you can lead a retreat, , you can close the biggest deal of your life. You can, um, show up to the most important presentation of your life, right? You can show up with fear. It's the fear that we need in order to Transform. In order to transform the fear and in transforming the fear, we also transform ourselves.
So, real talk, ladies and gentlemen, real talk here today.
Conclusion and Gratitude
I'm very grateful for all of you who have joined me on this journey. I know this is just the beginning. Sometimes I just, I do feel like I'm talking to four walls, but it does not matter. Um, I know how good this is for me as well. Right?
Like, yes, I'm here in service, um, trying to offer any form of healing and support and medicine that I can, but I also know how good this is for me as well. We also do need to touch base with ourselves from time to time. Even when we're in relationship, even when we're coming together, we're in partnership.
We can never, ever, ever lose that connection with ourselves because love starts with us. We want to love the world. We want to love our partners. We want to love our friends. We want to love our families. All that starts with us. . I will leave it here for today.
I'm so grateful for you. I'm so grateful for this podcast, for this space that I'm able to do this. That social media and the internet allows me to do something like this. Right? So we do need to use all these platforms for the greater and higher good. And not just a form of, , escaping reality and and even disconnecting from ourselves and, , avoiding the work that needs to get done.
So this is a space that will constantly remind you the work that does need to get done. This is a space that reminds you that, okay, doing the work can be grueling, can be challenging. But. It's so worthwhile and this is hopefully a space that will feel safe, illuminating, enlightening, healing,.
for whatever journey you are on and whatever journey you are headed toward. Okay. So I will be back next week. If you appreciate this video, if you're on YouTube, please hit that like subscribe button. I so greatly appreciate that. If you're on one of the podcasting platforms, thank you for tuning as well.
If you think a friend or a family member may benefit. From these words, please go ahead and share this content. It does motivate me and help me improve and grow as a content creator as well. of course you can find me on Instagram with my full name, Ioannis. kokinos. All right. So. I will be back next week. And as always, please remember that you are the medicine and I am just the messenger. Thank you very much.