Edge Within with Mat Davenport

Welcome to episode 20 of Edge Within with Mat Davenport.In this powerful conversation, I sit down with Heath Jones, emergency nurse, Army combat medic, oil rig medic, gym founder and relentless adventure-seeker, to explore what it really means to be physically, mentally and spiritually alive at every age.From walking into the Bondi Junction shooting armed with nothing but training and instinct, to surviving over a decade of chronic back pain and suicidal lows, to rebuilding himself into a man now chasing Ironmans, big waves and sand marathons at 48, Heath shares a story of raw resilience that will shake you awake.We go deep into questioning medical narratives, why chronic pain colonises the mind, how training hard makes life easier, the hidden loneliness of business ownership, and why discipline is the ultimate form of freedom.This episode is for anyone who has been told what their limits are and refused to fully believe it.TOPICS COVEREDLife is more than merely living itRecognising when you are too comfortableWalking toward the Bondi shootingTreating casualties 350m from homeCalm under fire: training the nervous system for chaosWhy community only bonds after tragedy12 years of chronic back pain and suicidal lowsQuestioning the medical narrative and trusting your own bodyThe razor blade metaphor for chronic painTeaching his younger self he was capableLaunching Active and Ageless gyms through CovidThe loneliness of wearing a brave face in businessTrain hard, make life easyDiscipline as freedom: meal planning, routines and decision fatigueThe triad of health: body, nutrition and mindsetNever too late to back yourselfFOLLOWGuest: https://www.instagram.com/heathjones1.618/Edge Within: https://www.instagram.com/edgewithinpodcastMAT: https://www.instagram.com/rawmatdavenportTIMESTAMPS0:00 Welcome and Heath's Philosophy1:19 How to Know When You're Too Comfortable2:27 Mat on Numbness and Chasing the Rush3:39 Adventure from Childhood: Always Outside4:32 Emergency Nursing, London and Joining the Army6:26 Oil Rig Medic: Autonomy and High Pressure7:54 What Healthcare Taught Him About Wellness10:27 Walking Into the Bondi Shooting12:38 Overriding Police and Treating the Wounded15:40 Secondary Devices, Fear and Getting to Work17:08 Heart Rate Didn't Move: Calm Inside the Chaos20:13 Life in Bondi After the Shooting24:26 Connection Without Catastrophe26:39 12 Years of Chronic Back Pain Begins30:30 Close to Tapping Out: His Mum Kept Him Here31:14 Running Along a Razor Blade35:14 What Finally Shifted the Recovery39:15 Why Medicine Treats Symptoms Not Causes44:42 Question the Narrative on Your Own Body47:27 Teaching His Younger Self He Was Capable49:28 Train Hard, Make Life Easy53:19 Launching Active and Ageless Gyms Through Covid59:43 Delegating, Trusting Staff and Empowering Teams1:01:49 The Loneliness of Wearing a Brave Face1:05:10 The Triad of Health: Body, Nutrition and Mindset1:08:34 Discipline Is Actually Freedom1:11:27 Values He Lives By1:13:09 The Dream: Live Life to the Fullest at Any Age

Welcome to episode 19 of Edge Within with Mat Davenport.In this grounded and genuine conversation, I sit down with Roy Grant, surfer, builder, founder of Ink & Foam a man who has spent 68 years learning to adapt, stay curious and live with gratitude, to explore what it really means to build a life on your own terms.From navigating multiple father figures and eight different schools to opening a surf shop in his 50s with no roadmap, Roy shares the wisdom of a man who learned everything the hard way. We explore generational programming, the lost art of real communication, health as the foundation of everything, and why purpose doesn't retire when you do.We dive deep into surfing as a teacher of patience, the courage to walk through unknown doors, what healthy masculinity actually looks like, building InConform from passion not profit, grief and death without fear, and why the world needs more honest conversations between generations.This episode is a reminder that it's never too late to begin again, and that the most important things in life are patience, kindness and the guts to be yourself.TOPICS COVEREDSurfing as a life teacher: patience and discomfortThe lost art of dropping in unannouncedGenerational programming and unconscious parentingCovid, sovereignty and critical thinkingThree father figures and a turbulent upbringingMentors who shaped Roy's character and work ethicBuilding InConform: purpose over profitHealthy masculinity and the peaceful warriorGrief, death and the spirit that lives onFatherhood as the greatest rite of passageWalking through the unknown door with pure faithPatience, gratitude and the message to the youngFOLLOWInk and Foam: https://www.instagram.com/inkandfoam.au & https://www.inkandfoam.com/Roy Grant: https://www.instagram.com/surferoy26Edge Within: https://www.instagram.com/edgewithinpodcastMat Davenport: https://www.instagram.com/rawmatdavenportTIMESTAMPS0:00 Welcome to the Chaos: Rolling With It0:55 What Surfing Really Teaches You5:34 Mat on Letting Go of What Isn't for You6:49 Ashes to the Ocean: Life, Death and Reincarnation8:34 The Miracle of You Being Here10:27 An Educated Mind Can Entertain Any Subject12:49 Covid, Coercion and Critical Thinking15:33 Unconscious Parents and the Generational Loop18:27 The Death of Dropping In: Real Communication Is Disappearing21:43 Laid on the Bed and Chose Action Over Self-Pity22:24 If You're Not Yourself You're No One27:49 Leaving School at 15 and Building Anyway43:15 Patriotism, Roots and Belonging52:45 Mentors Who Filled the Father Gap1:00:29 Introducing InConform: The Brand and the Why1:05:02 The Peaceful Warrior: What Healthy Masculinity Looks Like1:10:02 It Keeps Me Alive: Purpose in the Later Chapters1:15:10 Patience, Gratitude, Gut: Message to the Young1:22:16 Facing Death Without Fear1:25:32 Becoming a Father: The Biggest Rite of Passage1:32:22 Yesterday History, Tomorrow Mystery, Today a Gift1:39:09 The Octopus, Blue Zones and Passing Down Knowledge1:50:50 Walking Through the Unknown Door1:52:24 Discipline, Routines and Knowing When to Rest1:53:06 Wrap Up and Gratitude

Welcome to episode 18 of Edge Within with Mat Davenport.In this raw conversation, I sit down with Zac O'Brien. MMA fighter, creator, and one of the most unfiltered humans I've met. From rehab at 19 and multiple rock bottoms to going viral from a Thailand fight, Zac holds nothing back about addiction, suicide attempts, the night he nearly bled out, and how martial arts became his survival.We explore the real breakthrough: how he fights is exactly how he lives, and the self-sabotage in his losses mirrors every other area. This is for anyone navigating the messy in-between of becoming, searching for purpose, or choosing between who they were and who they're meant to be.TOPICS COVERED• Rehab at 19 and visiting rock bottom more than once• Substance abuse, self-sabotage and the addictive reward cycle• Nearly bleeding out and the night everything changed• Martial arts as survival, purpose and identity• How I fight is how I live• Self-sabotage in the cage and in life• Suicide, dark nights and seeing the light through• Fasting as an emotional and spiritual practice• Social media, going viral and protecting your why• Mentors, men's mental health and lived experience• The path of growth is a lonely road• Being a warrior in a garden• Heartbreak, love and what a man actually needs• Be you so the world can have youFOLLOWZac: https://www.instagram.com/zzacobrienn/Edge Within: https://www.instagram.com/edgewithinpodcastMat Davenport: https://www.instagram.com/rawmatdavenportTIMESTAMPS0:00 Ice Bath Intro and First Wim Hof Experience3:11 Why He Started Using, Running From Pain4:44 Rock Bottom Was Not One Stop6:53 I Know Why Men Take Their Lives8:36 How Martial Arts Saved His Life10:10 The Addictive Part Is Still in Me13:02 The Danger of the Fighter Identity14:22 Dream After Fighting, Farm, Family and Surfing19:40 The Night He Nearly Bled Out21:23 How the Gym Killed His Ego25:42 Crying in the Car, Proud of Himself38:05 Fight Day as a Spiritual Practice42:48 How I Fight Is How I Live45:47 His 15-Year-Old Took Over in the Cage49:16 Losing His Life Savings to Crypto54:33 Suicide Attempts He Never Processed1:00:09 Alchemy Not Sulking1:03:41 Speaking Your Truth Will Cost You1:13:07 Book the One-Way Flight1:20:28 Going Through It Not Sitting In It1:22:43 The Path of Growth Is Lonely1:39:03 Having a Child Gave Me Purpose1:40:29 Disappointment Is Redirection1:48:51 Finding the Right Therapist Is Like Dating1:53:10 ADHD as Superpower and Super Problem2:02:27 Vulnerability Creates Real Friendships2:22:48 More Lover Than Fighter2:24:33 Watching the Farm and Feeling It All2:25:28 Finding a Woman Who Believes in You2:33:07 If I'm Not Triggering People I'm Not Doing Enough2:37:41 Be You So the World Can Have You

.Welcome to episode 17 of Edge Within with Mat Davenport.In this episode, I sit down with myself.No guest. Just me, a camera, and everything I've been carrying, learning, and living. This is a solo episode from the heart, and it might be one of the most honest & vulnerable things I've put out yet.I talk about what fatherhood actually did to me. Not the highlights version. The real one. The death of my old self that happened quietly behind a newborn and a beautiful partner who needed me when I wasn't ready. I talk about traveling through Asia looking for freedom and finding emptiness. About smoking, drinking, running, and avoiding every hard truth until I hit the floor in a hostel in Thailand and felt absolutely nothing.This one is for the men who are stuck in the loop. For anyone who is numbing, avoiding, and calling it freedom. For every parent doing their best with what they've got.You are not alone. And today is a new day.TOPICS COVEREDHow witnessing birth cracked his values wide openFatherhood as the greatest initiation into manhoodTraveling Asia to escape and hitting rock bottom in ThailandMeeting his partner on an Indonesian beach with a lighter he already hadA 7.9 earthquake months into the relationship and what it builtNine years of partnership, conflict, and growing into woman and manRupture without repair and why most relationships quietly failThe death of self that happens after a baby arrivesRunning, eating clean, not drinking, and still feeling lostThe one missing ingredient: connection to selfPraying for a guide and meeting Nick two days laterMen's work, dropping into the body, and why crying is where the healing livesFeeding the right thoughts in a Gemini brain that visits the darkGiving love to the darkest parts of yourselfForgiveness for who you were before you had the toolsThe vision behind Edge Within and why curiosity is enoughA direct call for men to rise, togetherFOLLOWEdgeWithin: https://www.instagram.com/edgewithinpodcastMat Davenport: https://www.instagram.com/rawmatdavenportTIMESTAMPS0:00 Values and Who I Was Before1:30 Selfishness, Discipline, and What Changed3:16 Fatherhood as the Biggest Initiation to Manhood4:38 A New Purpose: Be Present5:25 Making Mistakes and Facing Them Faster6:37 Nine Years From Boy and Girl to Woman and Man7:49 The Responsibility of Facing Your Stuff9:28 Grief as a Measurement of Love10:31 Rock Bottom in a Hostel in Thailand12:04 Meeting Her on the Beach With a Lighter He Already Had13:33 A 7.9 Earthquake and What It Built14:30 Rupture, Repair, and Why Love Fades16:33 Learning to Hold Space Instead of Fix17:31 Becoming the Father His Daughter Needed18:29 Advice for Men Stuck in the Loop19:53 The Death Happening Inside After the Baby Arrived21:00 The One Thing Missing: Connection to Self21:42 He Prayed. Then Nick Showed Up at a Market.23:38 Why Crying Was the Magic All Along26:05 Choosing Which Thoughts to Feed27:37 Dark Thoughts and Giving Love to the Dark Parts29:16 Forgive Yourself. You Were Doing the Best You Could.30:16 Shifting the Timeline and Raising Your Frequency30:49 The Vision Behind Edge Within33:57 A Message to All the Men: Rise Together

Welcome to episode 16 of Edge Within with Mat Davenport.In this powerful conversation, I sit down with Tom Horne, a father who lost his son Dash just under two years ago, hours after a home birth, to talk about grief, love, masculinity, and what it takes to keep going when your world splits in two.Tom walks us through the day everything changed: the birth of his son, a sudden medical emergency, and the moment Dash passed away in his partner's arms. We go deep into what grief feels like for a man, why there's no guidebook for this kind of loss, and the years-long process of learning to hold space for his partner's pain while finding his own way to feel it.We talk honestly about home birth versus hospital birth, about being conditioned to man up, and about rebuilding a relationship after unimaginable loss. We end on purpose, and the new brand Tom and his partner have built out of the wreckage.This episode is medicine for anyone who has lost someone, anyone supporting a partner through grief, and any man learning that feeling isn't weakness, it's leadership.TOPICS COVEREDLosing his son Dash after a home birthBirth and death arriving in the same dayWhy grief has no fix or solutionThe lack of support systems for grieving fathersGoing back to work to keep the family afloatChoosing not to numb out with drugs or alcoholWitnessing his partner's 12.5 hour birthThe moment Dash stopped breathing and CPR at homeThe out of body shock of traumaHome birth versus hospital birth, the hard truthsWhy grief and love are deeply connectedBeing conditioned to never cry as a manRite of passage and healthy masculinity for the next generationWhether everything happens for a reasonHow grief physically and emotionally ages youRebuilding a relationship through shared griefRethinking funerals, birthdays and how we honor life and deathBuilding Sana Studio out of griefForce versus flow when chasing your purposeFOLLOWTom: https://www.instagram.com/thomasjackhorne/EdgeWithin: https://www.instagram.com/edgewithinpodcastMat Davenport: https://www.instagram.com/rawmatdavenportTIMESTAMPS0:00 Opening Prayer for Dash1:21 Losing Dash, Two Years Later2:33 Birth and Death in the Same Day6:01 Why Grief Has No Fix9:32 No Guidebook for Loss15:08 Keeping the Ship Afloat19:13 Sink or Swim27:23 Witnessing the Home Birth33:36 When Dash Stopped Breathing36:39 This Is Real, This Is Not a Dream44:51 Home Birth vs Hospital: The Hard Truths53:02 Grief and Love Are the Same Coin58:22 Why Tom Never Cried in His 20s1:04:11 Rite of Passage for Men1:12:11 Does Everything Happen for a Reason1:15:48 How Grief Ages You and Relationships1:29:47 Rethinking Funerals and Birthdays1:38:12 Building Sana Studio From Grief1:53:43 Force vs Flow: Chasing Purpose