Listen "Dying to Live with Andy Chaleff, Author and Speaker | Raghu Markus Mindrolling Ep. 611"
Episode Synopsis
Author Andy Chaleff speaks to personal and collective grief, teaching listeners that embracing loss can help us live a more fulfilling life.
Get your copy of Andy’s book, Dying to Live: Finding Life’s Meaning Through Death: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dying-to-live-andy-chaleff/1147787972
This week on Mindrolling, Raghu and Andy have a conversation on:
- Andy’s early experiences with fear, existential dread, and childhood loss
- Andy’s emotional and intellectual process of writing
- Childhood grief, losing a parent, and losing a pet
- Breaking free from a victimhood identity by reframing life’s challenges
- Shifting perspective to see the world with gratitude and compassion
- Processing collective grief in the face of global crises, politics, and inequality
- How to live in love instead of living in fear
- Finding the blessings in difficult circumstances
- The wisdom of Stoicism and learning to “live with death on the shoulder”
- Laughing at the dance between life’s seriousness and absurdity
- Finding the heart-mind in ourselves and providing service to others
About Andy Chaleff:
Andy Chaleff is an author, mentor, and speaker whose life and work are grounded in radical emotional honesty. At eighteen, Andy’s mother was killed by a drunk driver just hours after receiving a deeply personal letter he had written — a soul-baring message he never imagined would be his last to her. That moment became the start of a lifelong inquiry into grief, love, and what it means to live without holding back.
Today, Andy works privately with a select group of clients, from cultural icons to global leaders, offering mentorship rooted in vulnerability, clarity, and deep presence. His work invites people to reconnect with themselves and embrace the parts of life we’re taught to avoid. His books, often called spiritual memoirs, blend raw personal storytelling with existential insight. His newest, Dying to Live, explores how coming to peace with death can open us to the full beauty of life. Originally from California, Andy now lives in Amsterdam, where he directs Amsterdam's Welvaren, a center for coaching and leadership.
“It’s the recognition of fear that is a prime ingredient. It always goes back to fear of death, or, you can say it a different way, impermanence.” –Andy Chaleff
Get your copy of Andy’s book, Dying to Live: Finding Life’s Meaning Through Death: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dying-to-live-andy-chaleff/1147787972
This week on Mindrolling, Raghu and Andy have a conversation on:
- Andy’s early experiences with fear, existential dread, and childhood loss
- Andy’s emotional and intellectual process of writing
- Childhood grief, losing a parent, and losing a pet
- Breaking free from a victimhood identity by reframing life’s challenges
- Shifting perspective to see the world with gratitude and compassion
- Processing collective grief in the face of global crises, politics, and inequality
- How to live in love instead of living in fear
- Finding the blessings in difficult circumstances
- The wisdom of Stoicism and learning to “live with death on the shoulder”
- Laughing at the dance between life’s seriousness and absurdity
- Finding the heart-mind in ourselves and providing service to others
About Andy Chaleff:
Andy Chaleff is an author, mentor, and speaker whose life and work are grounded in radical emotional honesty. At eighteen, Andy’s mother was killed by a drunk driver just hours after receiving a deeply personal letter he had written — a soul-baring message he never imagined would be his last to her. That moment became the start of a lifelong inquiry into grief, love, and what it means to live without holding back.
Today, Andy works privately with a select group of clients, from cultural icons to global leaders, offering mentorship rooted in vulnerability, clarity, and deep presence. His work invites people to reconnect with themselves and embrace the parts of life we’re taught to avoid. His books, often called spiritual memoirs, blend raw personal storytelling with existential insight. His newest, Dying to Live, explores how coming to peace with death can open us to the full beauty of life. Originally from California, Andy now lives in Amsterdam, where he directs Amsterdam's Welvaren, a center for coaching and leadership.
“It’s the recognition of fear that is a prime ingredient. It always goes back to fear of death, or, you can say it a different way, impermanence.” –Andy Chaleff
More episodes of the podcast Be Here Now Network
Integrating Meditation and Psychotherapy with Tucker Peck, Ph.D. & Raghu Markus | Mindrolling Ep.619
08/11/2025
Ep. 309 – Love Binds All Things: What We Can Do to Help the World with Prof. Rajiv S. Joshi
05/11/2025
Bringing Stories to Life with Animator-Producers Jonathan and Miya Eden | CSM Podcast Ep. 60
04/11/2025
Psychedelic Peer Support with Joshua White & Jackie Dobrinska BHNN | Guest Podcast Ep. 230
30/10/2025
Ep. 186 – Bowing at the Feet of God
23/10/2025
ZARZA We are Zarza, the prestigious firm behind major projects in information technology.