What happens when a man spends seven years as a monk chasing enlightenment… only to walk away and question everything he was taught?
Azra sits down with former monk and trauma educator, Matthew Zoltan, to explore his extraordinary journey from shearing sheds in rural Australia to monastic life in India and Australia — and the pivotal experience that led him to leave it all behind.
Matthew opens up about becoming a monk at just 18, why he walked away from conventional spirituality, and how his own lived experience shaped a radically different perspective on trauma, healing and the body.
Together, Azra and Matthew unpack why trauma may not just live in the mind, but in the body, why many people struggle to access painful memories, and what might be missing from traditional approaches to healing.
This episode explores powerful ideas around emotional pain, nervous system responses, meditation, memory, spirituality and what it really means to heal.
In this episode, we cover:
- Why Matthew became a monk at just 18 years old
- What life was really like living as a monk in Australia and India
- The moment everything shifted and he began questioning monastic life
- Why he says traditional meditation may not work for everyone
- How unresolved trauma can live in the body
- Why some people struggle to remember traumatic events
- The connection between stored emotions and physical symptoms
- Why healing may require feeling, not suppressing, difficult emotions
- His thoughts on spirituality, religion and modern mental health
- What he believes many traditional therapy models are missing
Timestamps
00:00 – Introduction: Why Matthew became a monk at 18
05:00 – Life inside a monastery and the search for enlightenment
14:30 – The physical experience that changed everything
22:30 – Why Matthew was eventually asked to leave monastic life
31:00 – What spirituality gets wrong
42:00 – His philosophy on meditation and self-awareness
52:00 – Trauma: why the body remembers what the mind forgets
1:05:00 – Why people struggle to access painful memories
1:16:00 – The limits of traditional trauma therapy
1:22:00 – What healing trauma really looks like
About Matthew Zoltan
Matthew Zoltan is a former monk, meditation teacher and trauma educator whose personal journey led him to develop his own perspective on emotional healing, embodiment and human behaviour. Drawing from years of lived experience, meditation and working with thousands of people, Matthew explores the connection between trauma, memory and the body.
Connect with Matthew
Website: Website: https://bit.ly/4upNOuM OR https://bit.ly/46Y153H OR https://mattzoltan.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-zoltan-7ab8521bb/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@matt_zoltan
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