A to Zen with Chris Bath

Modern life tells us that the answer to overwhelm is greater efficiency, better systems, and more effort. Yet the deeper solution may be the opposite: returning to the present moment so we can respond with clarity rather than being swept away by constant motion.

In this episode, Elaine Starling speaks with Chris Bath, author of A to Zen, about bridging high achievement with inner peace. Drawing on a physics education at Oxford, a successful career in finance and healthcare leadership, and more than two decades of yoga and mindfulness practice, Chris translates timeless spiritual principles into 26 memorable concepts, practical exercises, and affirmations for everyday life.

You will discover how to balance gratitude for the past and trust in the future while living fully now, why abundance is a lens of possibility rather than a shortcut to material gain, and how small practices involving breath, attention, surrender, kindness, and choice can reconnect you with your agency, wisdom, and authentic self.

Topics Covered

0:00 Why doing more cannot solve the exhaustion created by constant doing

3:05 The Abundance Resonance: breath, Intention, and 78 seconds of energetic alignment

8:44 Why Chris created A to Zen as a bridge between timeless wisdom and a busy modern life

12:02 How noticing your breath flips the switch from mental pressure to embodied presence

13:56 A grounded definition of abundance based on possibility, optimism, hope, and shared potential

17:01 The state of Zen: remaining open and engaged without grasping, comparison, or judgment

19:13 Why moving out of alignment is part of spiritual growth—not evidence that you have failed

22:02 Agency, attention, and balancing the past, present, and future