
Who Thought We'd Be Here?
Both seeking answers from the Universe as they turned 30, co-hosts and longtime pals Steven Aigner and John Pugh found themselves improving in ways their younger and much more wild selves could have never seen coming. They began conquering and healing their past selves with unfamiliar mindfulness tools like meditation, yoga, breath-work, journaling, reading transformative books, and experimenting with mind expanding remedies.
Ignited by a passion to help others struggling with complex problems of their own and a desire to create a new narrative surrounding men's mental health in today's modern society, they created their first collaborative podcast "Who Thought We'd Be Here?" This podcast is all about exploring the boundless potential within ourselves, and to inspire each and every one of us to be fearless in our own unique human experience.
Their goal is to make mindfulness more accessible for folks all around the world, and express the genuine benefits of redesigning your life in a more thoughtful way.
We'd love for you to join us on this spiritual journey, as we try to shine a little light into what it really and truly means to be a good human in this Universe.
NEW EPISODES WEEKLY!!!
A mental health podcast with two guys who never would have thought they'd be here podcasting. Hosted by Steven Aigner (@_itssteve__) & John Pugh (@jay_pugh).
Find all of our full length episodes and content here:
https://linktr.ee/whothoughtwedbeherepod
Who Thought We'd Be Here?
Bring Peace to Your Mind & Harmony to Your Body with the Healing Power of Sound Therapy
Vinny Colandrea aka "The Reverb Yogi" joins JP & Steve to explain how he uses sound and vibration to guide people out of mental loops and back into present awareness. He defines his work as intentionally redirecting attention so people can “open the space to heal themselves” rather than being stuck in repetitive narrative talk therapy.
He traces the arc of his practice from childhood music, through listening to teachers like Alan Watts and Eckhart Tolle, to a turning point when a gong bath produced a deep experience that pushed him from hobbyist to practitioner. He describes buying bowls and gongs, slowly building gear, and being invited to play at yoga classes before committing more fully to the work.
Vinny talks about keeping a firefighting career while developing sound work — he frames both as service, and describes bringing gongs into the firehouse to normalize different expressions of masculinity and presence. He emphasizes blending identities rather than forcing a split between “work” and “life.”
The episode covers both experiential and practical terrain: what a sound session feels like, how people often arrive skeptical and leave surprised and expanded, how sound helps people step out of story and into “timeless inner awareness,” and why physical vibration can feel viscerally different from recorded sound. Vinny explains instrument choice and notes that many of his gongs sit in the low bass range producing a bodily vibration you don't often feel in everyday life.
He also shares practical daily practices and technologies that support presence: Shambhavi Mahamudra (a 21-minute Sadhguru practice he does), using driving or running as opportunities for awareness, and simple prompts to pull attention into the present. Vinny describes entrainment (the grandfather-clock metaphor) — how a room’s dominant energy pulls less-stable energies into sync — and how holding calm leadership in a room changes outcomes.
Vinny addresses plant medicine and psychedelics with nuance: he’s seen powerful, useful experiences (ayahuasca, psilocybin, cacao), stresses intention and setting, and shares a specific ayahuasca retreat where diet and careful preparation allowed medicine to convey precise insights. He frames plants as tools that can expand pathways to presence when used responsibly, not as escapes.
You can find Vinny on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/reverb_yogi/
View his upcoming events here: https://bio.site/reverbyogi
And his website here: https://www.reverbyogi.com/
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Shout out to our favorite neighborhood screen printer JOKER INK https://www.jokerink.com/
NEW EPISODES WEEKLY!
"Who Thought We'd Be Here?" is hosted by Steven Aigner and John Pugh.
https://linktr.ee/whothoughtwedbeherepod
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