47: Cultivating Healthy & Organic Love Ft. James Benefico: expand your physical & spiritual health

In this episode we are joined by our friend and brother James Benefico! James is the founder of Organic Muscle and a fellow devotee to a conscious and organic physical and spiritual life. Offering great vulnerability and knowledge James shares his journey of overcoming obesity, excessive alcohol use, shame, and more.

Together we all explore our journeys discovering and cultivating physical and spiritual health to support this world in further accepting, understanding, and ultimately healing the global health epidemic we are facing.

We can’t wait to see a healthier and more organic world and we leave you in love with this offering for contemplation: where in your life can you cultivate more health and love? 🤍

Visit this link and use code LOVE15 once per customer for 15% off your entire Organic Muscle purchase!

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You can connect with James on Instagram @ jamesbenefico and @ organicmuscle

You can find all of Organic Muscle's products on Amazon and at www.organicmuscle.com

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Learn more about the Loving Consciously community at www.lovingconsciously.net and connect with us on Instagram @loving.consciously @loving.consciously.podcast @amerislovesyou

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
dedicated my life to natural health and kind of helping people heal physically because I feel

(00:05):
like that's a huge step on the journey to healing spiritually and emotionally. Loving consciously
is literally meditating on the greatest commandment and going out into the world with the intention
to live that commandment. Envision in your mind the people I see today, what does it look like to
love them? What I learned during fasting is that I'm in control. Before then I was a slave to the

(00:30):
voice in my head. Eat, do this, do that. This forced me to finally stop and recognize that voice
and realize that I actually had the power to control my own actions. So universal advice
is pay attention when you eat. It's very simple. Honestly in life in general, just pay attention
to reality. What is reality trying to show you? The clarity you gain from sitting with your pain

(00:57):
soberly is priceless. There's so much wisdom in sitting with that pain and like honestly asking
God, God, what is this pain supposed to teach me right now? What is the lesson here? We're not
designed to be obese. You cannot thrive being obese. Yes, you could be a great loving person.
God created all of us for a mission. It makes it way more difficult to do our mission in this world

(01:21):
when you're tired all the time, when you have trouble moving, when you lack confidence. How can
you give your gift to the world as effectively? I think the whole fat acceptance movement is
anti-human and if you have that, that hurdle, that issue, it's meant for you. The way out is through
and that's why fasting or giving something up for a period of time is so great. You get off autopilot

(01:47):
and you really start thinking about your relationship with that and if you just make the decision to do
it again, it's a conscious decision as opposed to just automatic unconscious behavior. That's
something that your soul wants to overcome because on the other side of overcoming that is incredible
light and gifts and God's love that you could share with the world. So that's why I'm against

(02:10):
the fat acceptance. It's actually interfering with people's spiritual journeys and eventually you
just kind of hit a wall and be like, what if I tried something else? Because this shame, like first
of all, it sucks, it's painful, but it doesn't really seem to be helping all that much. Why don't
I flip this to self-love right now and compassion for myself? That is not the spirit of God, like

(02:37):
fear and shame. So when you flip and be like, hey, how would an angel talk to me, right? How would Jesus
talk to me about this situation? How would an enlightened being talk to me? What would the angel
say? You know, what would my higher self say about it? Welcome home to the Love and Consciously

(02:57):
podcast. My name is Ameris and my name is Eric and if you are like us, nobody talks to you how to love.
We are best friends and life partners here to vulnerably and authentically share our journey
while exploring the sacred realms of love, consciousness, relationship, spirituality,
and all that they encompass. The intention of this show is to help you consciously relate to

(03:18):
yourself, others, and everything else in this universe. Together, we can embody a more intentional
and fulfilling way of giving and receiving love. Loving consciously. Through eight years together,
we have had the opportunity to overcome deep patterning and programming, as well as trauma
related to mental health, addiction, pregnancy loss, infidelity, and immense grief. After six

(03:40):
years of experiencing these challenges with no knowledge on how to heal or love each other,
we separated. After us both spiritually awakening and recommitting, we formed our conscious partnership
and have spent the last two years cultivating a divine union founded on unconditional love,
devotion, and commitment to personal growth. Thank you for joining us and doing the work

(04:01):
alongside us as we explore this beautiful world of love and consciousness to co-create a new world
of love. As you courageously walk this path, remember to have grace with yourself and know
that you have both the capacity to love consciously and the power to always choose love.
Namaste and welcome back to the Loving Consciously podcast. We are coming to you from

(04:26):
Florida today on this guy's incarnation day, aka birthday, and we're here with a very special guest
and just so excited to be talking about you and your story and the magical things that you are
bringing to this world. So before we get into all of that, I'd love to welcome James. Thanks so much
for being on the show today. Thank you. It's great to be here. It's awesome to see you all, you know,

(04:50):
a new beautiful friendship. Yes, exactly. Well, I would love to start before we ask you our intro
question. Why don't you give us a little bit of background on who James is and, you know, maybe
as deep as you want to go into your journey. It's all welcome here. What got you to this
place that you're at in your life right now? Sure. Well, it's been a wild ride. I feel like I've

(05:14):
lived several lives in one. When I was younger, I was like a very overweight guy, you know, wanted
to be a rapper, had that whole phase, you know, Italian American culture. I was my nickname was
actually the gaavone, which means like a gluttonous pig, because I just loved eating so much. And I

(05:37):
wore it as a badge of honor. But eventually, my eating habits and my drinking habits started
catching up with me. And when I moved to Texas, I had a rude awakening, I guess you could say,
when I realized that I was quite overweight and just felt terrible in my own body. So I began my
own weight loss journey. And along that path, I started taking pre workout supplements. And they

(06:03):
would make me super sick, you know, jittery, anxious feeling like I was gonna have a heart attack.
So that's when I got the idea. I was like, I just wanted to use a healthy pre workout. Is that too
much to ask? And nothing existed. So I don't know why, but I became absolutely obsessed with that
idea. I think God wanted me to do this. And it just kind of flowed through me. And I got together

(06:27):
with a friend, we raised some money and started organic muscle, which makes healthy organic
pre workouts and other fitness supplements. It's really interesting how God just kind of chooses
you for certain things. I'd never expected to do this in my life. But I was just filled with this
energy, like I was activated to do it. And it's just a it's a great mystery how these things work.

(06:52):
So yeah, I started the company 10 years ago. And we have, you know, many thousands of customers
dedicated my life to natural health and kind of helping people heal physically, because I feel
like that's a huge step on the journey to healing spiritually and emotionally. That's such an important
call out on the end there. Like, they're so intricately linked, you know, like, they say you

(07:15):
can do all the physical work in the world, you can eat organic, you can work out, yadda, yadda,
detoxes, but if you're not doing the spiritual work, you're gonna stay stagnant and vice versa,
right? You can do all the meditating and spiritual work you want. If you're not eating healthy and
taking care of your physical body, you're also gonna stay stagnant. So thanks for calling out.
Yeah, it's it's a very holistic system. And I honestly, this goes against my business, but

(07:38):
I honestly think like the mindset and mentality is more important than the diet and nutrition aspect,
because there's people out there who really don't eat healthy, but they have such an indomitable
attitude about life. And they're so loving that they're just like glowing, they have that energy,
which is mind boggling to me, because if I eat a Big Mac, I feel like I'm gonna die. So I'm just,

(08:02):
I guess I'm weak, you know, but for people like myself, I have to eat when I'm not eating healthy,
my I see what happens to my emotions and my mindset, it really can plummet. So everyone's
built different, some people are built different, and they can just have crazy stamina and endurance

(08:24):
and energy without a healthy diet. For many of us, though, it's a foundational aspect. Yeah, we have
to, we have to have our ducks in a row with diet and nutrition and sleep and other elements
to function properly. Yeah, I mean, it what we put in our body is the fuel that we're giving it to
create more of itself to heal to have the energy to keep moving. And at least for myself and in

(08:50):
the journey of health and wellness, I noticed that when I did the cleanse and I started eating
healthy and my body detoxed from essentially feeding it poison, it changed like the chemistry of my
body changed in that it was significantly more sensitive to things that I would just eat and

(09:13):
be fine with before. Yeah, it's like, no, you've given me healthy food. This is the fuel that I need.
And I only accept that now. And it helps, it's really helpful because it can be really easy,
you know, food has been one of my escapisms during my journey of being like, okay, I'm feeling a
type of way, let me go eat a sweet or go go find some sort of dopey hit from food. And by the body

(09:40):
kind of changing its chemistry and saying, no, we're not going to accept those things anymore.
It's an aid for me to stay on my path and to stay right and make sure that I'm feeding it the things
that it needs. Yeah, it's so important. It's like we have that, that directive system internally,
it's like when we get off the path, our body, especially when you're attuned to this stuff,

(10:04):
it lets you know in very strong terms that like, hey, you're beyond this now, like,
you used to be able to do this, but it can't slide. It's like you can feel your frequency and
vibration dropping. And when you're attuned to your body, and it's just amazing how many people
live completely out of attunement with their body. Like, it's really, it blows my mind,

(10:29):
but I was there at 1.2, I know how it is. You become completely dull to the sensations.
Yeah, yeah. Well, we're already getting so deep into it. And I definitely want to keep going,
because I have a lot of questions I want to ask you around. So like, health and fitness and this
journey you've been on, but bringing it back to the beginning real quick. So we had the pleasure
of meeting you earlier this year at Confluence and then getting together a couple of times in

(10:52):
Austin and keeping up since. And you know, I didn't, I knew a lot of what you just shared,
like I knew about your weight journey, which I'd love to ask you about as well. And I also knew
about kind of like your drinking and partying journey, which we obviously share that journey
with you. I know we're both, I think you just hit a year without alcohol, is that correct?
Yeah, it's more than, actually I did, I had a couple glasses of wine at my best friend's wedding.

(11:17):
Oh, yeah.
You know, I'm actually really happy I did it because it was incredible to see how it made
me feel for the next two weeks from having a couple glasses of wine. I noticed, well, first
of all, I noticed everything I ate, this was in Italy. I was in my best friend's wedding in Italy.

(11:38):
I was like, all right, I'm gonna have some wine. But before that, I was in Italy, I was eating
whatever I wanted. And I was lean, I had abs. As soon as I drank everything I ate, the rest of the
trip stuck to me, like it went straight to my, my breasts and my, my gut, which was really
interesting how it completely just a couple glasses of wine changed my metabolism for two weeks after

(12:03):
my anxiety, I had zero anxiety on the trip, the last two weeks of the trip, crazy anxiety, literally
felt my consciousness get like dulled down. So it was such a cool experiment to be without alcohol
for over a year and then have a couple glasses of wine. And the difference is incredible in your

(12:25):
state of consciousness. But anyways, what were you saying before that? I went off on a tangent.
No, it's okay. For listeners too, they may not be able to see that was a sarcastic. Oh, no, I was
totally teasing. Yeah, we're actually we're, I think in a few days, we're at 11 months, you know, we
committed to a year. And we've talked about it. And we're like, Oh, maybe a glass of wine. I don't
know. And I'm more than anything excited to see, like, like you said, like how it's going to make

(12:48):
us feel after so long. Thank you for sharing your, you know, the overview of your story. And,
you know, from your weight loss journey to the drinking and all of that. I didn't realize you
wanted to be a rapper. I don't know why I think that's really funny. And I actually think you'd
probably be really good at it. But before we get any deeper, we have an intro question that we ask
everyone on this show. So I'd love to hear what does loving consciously look like in your life?

(13:13):
Well, the, I think the consciously part is so essential. Being conscious of love, right? And
on exercise, I love to do, you know, Aaron, Aaron always talks about the greatest commandment,
our friend Aaron Abki, we talk about all the time the teachings of Jesus, and what they mean
living today. And I like to take the greatest commandment and meditate on it. So it's love,

(13:37):
God, and love your neighbor, right? And to me, loving loving consciously is literally meditating
on the greatest commandment and going out into the world with the intention to live that commandment.
Envision in your mind, the people I see today, what does it look like to love them? And how would I

(13:58):
how do how do I want to be loved myself? And how would everyone I interact with throughout the day?
How can I be loving to them? And it starts with understanding how I like to be loved. So I like
to be told the truth, but in a kind and loving way. I like when make people give me genuine,

(14:21):
authentic compliments. I like when people are generous. And I like when people spread joy. Right.
And I think a lot of people can agree with those basic foundations. So for me, I try and practice
loving kindness, just being loving and kind to everyone you meet, practicing forgiveness.
Yeah, I think it's essential to like take time to pray and meditate about loving consciously.

(14:47):
It's a beautiful answer. This is my favorite part of the show, because the answers are just
they're epic and they're so diverse. And we get so much wisdom in asking people like how that's
manifesting in their experience. Yeah, yeah. Big shout out to Aaron. We did an episode with him
a couple guests ago. And it's no surprise our highest performing episode ever. The gospel of love,

(15:10):
right? The perfect thing. And I just can see y'all like just working out in the gym and just like
talking about Jesus and love and all these things. Well, I'd love to dig into your story more because
you know, I've heard bits and pieces of it. And I think it's such a beautiful example of
both authenticity, but also, you know, kind of turning that pain into that purpose, right?

(15:33):
Like you shared you have this, you know, Italian, you know, Italian American culture, which corrects
me if I'm wrong, but I kind of see and perceive Italian culture to be very food based. And yeah,
and being overweight and then obviously turning to alcohol. And so what was that journey like for
you? And you know, most importantly, like, how did you kind of break out of that? Or I guess you

(15:54):
could say, how did you wake up if you want to say that? Yeah, that's a good question. When I was younger,
it was just the culture. I just thought it was just the way things were to binge eat and to binge
drink. That was totally normal. Actually, it was considered masculine. Like, oh, we're men, we eat
and we drink. That's what we do. So the brainwashing was strong. And I love, I love all the guys I

(16:22):
grew up with. They're amazing people. I think it took me moving out of Connecticut, where I grew up.
And that opened my eyes a bit. But I stayed in the same kind of I had all the momentum from the
drinking and eating. So I just picked those habits back up in Texas. It was a dead end. It just leaves

(16:42):
you in life in general, when something feels good now and feels shitty later, like that's the voice
of I've been studying Kabbalah a little bit. And they say the voice of Hasatan, it's always a win-lose.
Whispers in your ear for pleasure now and pain later, where the voice of the Holy Spirit or
whatever the voice of God is always a win-win. But it often involves a bit of positive suffering now

(17:12):
for a greater reward in the future, where everyone benefits. That's how you could discern between
the voices, right? So really drinking and eating was the voice of Hasatan. Look, you don't feel
good right now. But if you eat this shit, if you drink this beer, you'll feel better for a little bit.

(17:34):
So gradually the pain just became too much. It's like the suffering of not drinking,
or the suffering of fasting finally became more appealing than the suffering of looking at myself
in the mirror and being very unhappy with what I saw, or the suffering of being lonely because I

(17:56):
was hungover and I would stay inside all day, not talk to anyone, right? Eventually the suffering
became too much and I was open to change, you know? So that's in a nutshell the philosophy of it, I guess.
No, I think we'll probably both want to reply to that because as we've shared on the show,

(18:18):
and I think we've discussed with you at different times, like addiction, if we want to use that word,
or to use that word loosely, those are just labels we put on things, but that experience of
deep suffering and using something to kind of numb that suffering temporarily that then causes
more suffering is something we've both navigated at multiple points in our life. My first round,

(18:42):
also love Kabbalah, I'm super obsessed with Kabbalah, but my first round obviously being with
Meth and heroin, so went hard, you know, and then had many, many, many years of recovery,
and then when my father was killed, started drinking, you know, in excess, like very, very
out of control drinking, and it's just really interesting, like what you said was so powerfully

(19:04):
true, and I think anyone listening to this that's had any type of experience of using anything in
the world to numb uncomfortable feelings, you reach a point where the pain of changing, it's
less than the pain of keeping the way you are. I guess we could call that rock bottom, there just
becomes like this level of spiritual sickness that I think every soul is different, like it's a meter,

(19:26):
we all have our spot, so just thank you for sharing that because it's always a nice reminder
for us, you know, of how far we've come, how far you've come, and really just showing people like
this, there is a better way, you know, you don't have to feel like shit, like you're gonna feel
like shit for a little while, right, all that stuff that we've stuffed down and added in, you know,

(19:48):
toxically and poisonously, like we're gonna have to purge that out, but so it's on the other side,
right, though, and it's like you were saying that I love that win-win voice of God analogy,
that's really beautiful. Yeah, that's really powerful, thank you very much for sharing, James.
The stories of chasing pleasure and avoiding pain, you can see that in pretty much everybody's

(20:11):
existence, and you know, for me it was taking into account the law, the law of diminishing return,
right, you do something and it's never gonna give you the same amount of pleasure as the first time
you did it, and so you have to do it to more intensity and more intensity and more intensity
to feel the same baseline, and eventually you get to a point where that doing that thing to its

(20:38):
highest intensity will not cover up the suffering anymore, because when we choose to escape utilizing
food, utilizing pornography, utilizing alcohol, drugs, partying, social media, whatever it may be,
right, what we do is we put those things away, those emotions that we're avoiding,

(20:58):
and we store them with interest, and they keep coming back, and so the next time we feel that,
we're not just feeling the pain or the suffering of the current moment, but all of the compounded
suffering of the past that we've put away, and that's why we're needing more and more and more
stimulation. The journey of this podcast and why we have shared so much of our suffering

(21:25):
in an attempt to help other people is because like you found out and like we found out,
there is another way. There is a way through and that is to feel those feelings, to allow
the positive suffering to meet it with love and to let it pass through rather than,
you know, shunning it and pushing it away, because through that we get to enjoy life.

(21:51):
There's this thing that happens for me when I start utilizing something to escape a negative
feeling in that it no longer becomes something that I enjoy, it almost becomes something that I need,
right? And so I turn the things that I once found pleasure in into a need, and I no longer

(22:12):
find pleasure in them. And by reversing that and saying, I no longer need this to be happy,
I can take care of myself, I can sit with my own emotions, I can regulate the joy of that experience
comes back. And you can actually heal your relationship to going out and dancing or

(22:34):
having a meal, you know, you do it in a healthy way. And then it feeds your soul rather than
taking away from it. And when you have that healthy relationship, there's not the associated guilt and
shame, which is such a toxic emotion to when I used to numb myself with substances and things like
that would always be this aching shame in the back of my mind and in my heart that knew that what I

(23:00):
was doing was wrong and was not the right path. So it would somewhat help, but it would be offset
by the shame I would feel about the situation. So yeah, the other thing I was going to say is that
regarding the win-win, the clarity you gain from sitting with your pain soberly

(23:25):
is priceless. Like there's so much wisdom in sitting with that pain. And like, honestly, asking
God, God, what is this pain supposed to teach me right now? Like, this is my reality right now.
I'm in pain. Why? What is the lesson here? And there's always so much wisdom in all pain.

(23:46):
So you could even argue that's the purpose of pain on a philosophical level.
Yeah, it's a really beautiful point. I was hearing something while y'all were talking. I heard
something really beautiful once. I don't even remember where and it's just randomly coming up to
be shared right now, but it was about shame. And it was saying like the kind of a more,

(24:08):
you know, it's dualistic and there's obviously a lot to it, but a beautiful way of looking at it
is like it's that higher, your higher self, right? Your soul is kind of like in your ear.
Like it always knows what's not an alignment. And so, you know, it manifests as shame, right?
Because our egos are in control, but like it's inherently coming from a good place of our soul

(24:30):
being like, Hey, Hey, this is not your highest expression, you know?
Yeah, there's power in it. Yeah, absolutely. And you know, for listeners, like I have found for me
in my journey, like sometimes asking like, where's the lesson in this? Or like, what am I supposed
to learn? Like I'm not there yet, or I'm not maybe open enough to like be open to the lesson yet.

(24:52):
And so if you want to take it back a step, I found it really helpful to just say like, okay, God,
where are you in this? You know, like show me you in this or like show me the opportunity for love.
Yeah. Lots of different ways to, to reach out.
That's beautiful. Yeah.
I'd love to hear a little bit about your health journey. It's something we're really passionate

(25:14):
about, you know, we were, oh God, man, I mean, eating Taco Bell and all the fast food and,
you know, all the things drinking and, and yeah, just very, very toxic.
Un unhealthy lifestyle. Like how did you go about that journey? What's that been like for you? I'm,
I'm sure it's still forever ongoing, but you know, it's so holistic. And I think to a lot of people

(25:38):
when they start there, we'll just say healing journey, consciousness journey, like there's a
moment and I'm curious if you had this moment, but like there's this palpable moment of realizing
everything in my life is toxic, like it all has to go. It's almost like this dismantling of
like, there's literally nothing in our home that wasn't every cleaning product, hygiene

(26:00):
products, beauty products, food product, it was all poison. So yeah, I'm curious if you're, if you
feel called, like let's hear about that journey for you and maybe just how you've navigated it
and any advice you have to listeners as they're navigating that. Sure. Well, there's been several
different stages to my health journey. My way lost journey started when my friend told me I was fat

(26:22):
and he did it. He was kind of out to be honest with you, but it was a incredible experience for
it was a life changing experience because I went home and I was standing in the mirror looking at
myself like, dang, he's like, I was so mad at him. I was like, you're fat. You suck. But then I realized

(26:43):
he was right. I'm the type of person when I make a decision, I like go all in. So I was like, I'm
just going to fast. I'm going to fast for a couple of days. So that's what I did. And it was the best
thing I ever did. I probably didn't do it like the right way to fast to start, but it was great
that I just went for it. What I learned during fasting is that I'm in control. Before then,

(27:08):
I was a slave to the voice in my head, eat, do this, do that. This forced me to finally stop and
recognize that voice and realize that I actually had the power to control my own actions. That's
where it really started. Regarding diet, I was actually a big proponent for like, even though I

(27:29):
had a plant based supplement company, I would eat a more animal based diet and then supplement with
herbs and greens and fruits. It helped me get lean. But within the last year, you know, I've had this
this really interesting change in my consciousness where I just haven't wanted to participate in

(27:53):
any kind of cruelty towards animals. So I've become plant based and I haven't eaten meat in about a
year. And that's been a really interesting journey because I never expected to be plant based ever.
I thought vegans were the strangest people on earth. I thought they were stupid and they didn't get it.
And now I basically am one. So it's been very humbling. I would say anything, whether you're

(28:16):
animal based, vegetarian, whatever, I think it comes down to experimentation. First of all,
you want to get the cleanest food you possibly can, whatever you're eating, really paying attention
to how you feel after you eat certain things because everyone's different. And a food that

(28:36):
complies well with someone's system may not be in harmony with another person's system.
So universal advice is pay attention when you eat. It's very simple. Honestly, in life in general,
just pay attention to reality. What is reality trying to show you? I eat this and then I have
diarrhea. I want, huh, interesting. Okay, maybe just pay attention to what you eat and pay attention

(29:04):
to the signs of your reality. So that's the universal advice I give. Honestly, even journal about it.
I'm not big on tracking your food, but it is useful to do for a week to get a general idea
of how much you're eating. It just makes you more conscious of what you're actually eating.
I always recommend eat organic as much as you can. If you are eating meat, try to be conscious of

(29:30):
where that meat is sourced from. I mean, if I think every human being can agree that even if we eat
meat, it would be preferable if that animal didn't suffer as much, if it lived a better life.
You know, if you're ingesting that kind of pain and suffering, that could potentially affect your
consciousness. I've noticed my consciousness has really changed since I've stopped eating meat.

(29:52):
I feel way more, I feel like I live, I love more consciously. Like I feel way more love for all
beings and compassion for the play of animals that I completely disregarded before. So that was
kind of a convoluted at all over the place answer. No, and they do also sense something you said in

(30:13):
the beginning that, oh, I love it. You were like, fasting helped you become conscious of the voice.
Right? We could use a million different words in terminology. You know, listeners don't get lost
in the words. You know, you can call it your ego, you can call it whatever you want to call it.
But there is that like that incessant kind of voice that everyone is so identified with, right?

(30:37):
You know, and we're, that's what we say when we say the great awakening is people are waking up to
that voice. They're waking up to their spiritual nature. They're waking up to their egos. And
I think it's really interesting that fasting was the thing that helped you become aware like,
oh, wait a minute, like I'm the awareness behind those thoughts. I love that so much. And I love,

(30:58):
we obviously love and support everyone's past. We also are plant based. I have a really interesting
journey with that and that I was just kind of born that way. Like I literally remember being a very
small child. I've always hated eggs. I've always hated milk and I've always not liked meat. Like
I would sit at the table, you know, three, five, seven years old and watch my family eat like

(31:22):
bloody steaks and I would cry. Like it was just, it never resonated with my soul. And you know,
also on the flip side devil's advocate, like for example, when I was pregnant, I did choose to
partake in meat products because it's what my body was asking for. You know, I already have a blood
disorder and anemia. And so it was at that time, we didn't have the knowledge and skills to get it

(31:43):
through plants. And so it changes and it flows. But yeah, you reach this point. I don't I personally
not saying it doesn't exist. Don't come at me in the comments, but personally, I don't know anyone
who goes on a very long and deep consciousness journey and hasn't ended up at this place of,
you know, not spiritually wanting to eat animals or at least not in a deeply reverent way where,

(32:07):
you know, they were raised with intention and care and allowed to live their life and,
you know, organic ways. So yeah, just thanks for sharing your experience on that.
It's really powerful to see different people's pathways to consciousness,
because I feel like God really doesn't meet you where you're at. You know, I never considered
fasting as that as that avenue. But the first time I fasted, it was because I was experiencing

(32:36):
such identification with that voice of saying, eat this thing you need to eat. You know, for me,
I've been skinny most of my life. I've been very lean, struggled to maintain my weight, had
small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, and just had a lot of gut issues for the majority of my life.
And that became part of my identity of like, okay, that that is something that I am,

(33:02):
not something that I am experiencing. And so for most of my life, I was just like, cool,
I have to eat a lot of food in order to barely maintain my weight and live a pseudo healthy
lifestyle, a lot of food. But what I was doing was I was actually just pouring a whole bunch of
unhealthy food into my system, you know, obsessed with protein obsessed with drinking these shakes

(33:27):
that were not healthy for me, frozen chicken nuggets that I was like, I just need to eat
a lot of this, right? It was more about mass versus quality. I noticed when we switched to a
healthier diet, during our first pregnancy, I was like, okay, this is our, this is our child,
you know, this is my partner that I am feeding. What do I want to put into their body? And that

(33:49):
was the conscious change for me. I grew up in a Catholic Hispanic family and so very meat based
diet, a lot of meats and potatoes, some veggies, but you know, that was just me. And so I started
feeding my partner and in that, it kind of started from laziness of like, well, I don't want to cook

(34:10):
two things, you know, cook a meal for me and a cook a meal for my partner. So let's try it,
let's just try this plant-based thing for a little bit. Let's figure it out. And so I started doing,
you know, the frozen plant-based like beyond burgers and stuff like that. And because I was
attached to the, to the foods that I was eating, I didn't want to sacrifice the enjoyment that I

(34:31):
was receiving from food in exchange for eating a healthier lifestyle, right? I didn't want to just
eat a salad for the rest of my life. And in that journey, I found, oh, you don't, you don't have to
sacrifice at all, actually. You can have the same more delicious foods and not feel like crap afterwards,

(34:53):
not have that density and not have that heaviness. And, you know, plant-based alternatives was kind
of the stepping stone for me in that sense. And then I realized, oh, those are all poison as well.
Because you go, you go to- There's some good ones now, but yeah, there's like, there's really
bad ones. There's actually really cool brands coming out that it's like three ingredients. It's

(35:16):
like mushrooms and salt and like one other thing. Oh, fantastic. I love that. So it's pretty cool.
But yeah, there's other ones that you want to steer clear from. Yeah, I'll take a look into that.
It's been the best journey ever because it forced, well, you, I don't cook, but it forced you to learn
to cook in this way. And we, I mean, we eat like kings and queens now. Like he makes everything

(35:38):
from scratch and literally everything. And it's exquisite. We have shrimp scampi. We had Alfredo
the other night and it's all plant-based, all organic, all from scratch. So I mean, I'm gonna
try out your cooking. I'll send you some stuff. Really what it was is it was an exercise in
taking our power back, right? When we realized the food that we were consuming was poison and we

(36:02):
were the only ones that had the ability to change what we're eating, it was then on me to figure
out, okay, how am I going to feed myself and how am I going to feed my family in a healthy way
without sacrificing the joy of eating, right? And mushrooms was a big tool for me in that sense,
coconut milk. And just finding the replacement of taste and texture in a healthy way. And then

(36:32):
you can create and it becomes a work of art and creates soul in the food where you pour your love
and your energy into it. And it's more than just the nutrition, but the energetic and the spiritual
factor of consuming this food that's made with love. You were talking about consuming meat from
animals who have suffered and how that suffering passes on to us. That's a very real thing, you

(36:56):
know, when we consume food that's made and prepared from somebody who's experiencing negative emotions,
anger, who is suffering themselves when the food itself has suffered, these are all aspects that
go into our nourishment. It's not just the physical food, it goes way beyond that. 100%. Yeah, you

(37:17):
know what it makes me think of? I'm a, this is an interesting segue, but I'm a huge rege fan,
like I love roots rege. To me, it's like divinely inspired spiritual music. I've always just felt
a deep connection to authentic roots rege. And I've been thinking why, why Rastafarianism is

(37:37):
a small religion. There's like 30,000 Rastafarians in Jamaica. There's maybe 500,000 worldwide.
How has this tiny religion made a form of music that has just touched the whole world? And I believe
it's because of this concept of liberty or they call it Eitel food. Rastafarianism, in my opinion,

(37:59):
has retained like the true essence of the Asinian kind of Nazarian form of Christianity and Judaism,
which absolutely rejected the killing of animals for food. And the food you're talking about making,
it reminds me of like these Rastafarian recipes that are filled with life and cooked with love.

(38:23):
So I think the reason Rastafarians have been able to create such beautiful divinely inspired music
is because of the food they eat. And really it's the state of their hearts where they don't want to
hurt any animals. They eat the cleanest food straight from nature cooked with love, like you
said. And that taps them in to the spiritual world in a way where they could create this beautiful

(38:49):
music. That's genius. I can't wait to text one of our friends and tell them and I'm about to turn
you on. I don't know if you've heard of presence with a Z. No. I'm going to send him to you after
this. And for our listeners, we did an episode with him. It's really special. He's a conscious music
artist that's in that kind of realm of music and it hits different. You're going to love him. And

(39:14):
we had him on the show to talk about truth and all these things. And he performed in the show.
And when we saw him perform for the first time, we both were like, why is it occurring right now?
Like, and I've been thinking about it obsessively for this whole year. Like, what is it about this
human beings music? And what you just said, like that is really insightful. It's like making my
brain kind of explode right now. Awesome. I can't wait to hear his music. Yeah, for sure. You know,

(39:39):
listeners as well. Check it out. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful music. It's got me thinking
so much about like, everything is spiritual, right? This is something Aaron teaches on and I love
so much. We as a collective humanity, just, we just don't get it, you know, and it's so, so, so
understated and I can't state it enough. Everything is spiritual, right? Everything that we do,

(40:02):
everything that we eat, everything that we create, it's all intricately linked. Like, you can't,
you can't not affect everything in your experience. You know, it's all, it's all interwoven,
I guess is what I'm trying to say. And so it would make total sense, you know, just like the scenes,
what you are eating and that energy is translated into the music you're creating,

(40:24):
into the food you're creating, into the children you're creating, right? And so,
if you're listening to this, you know, sometimes I know for us both, like, it can be a challenge on
the personal development journey to like feel motivated for yourself. And so maybe that helps
people, you know, feel motivated for, for the planet, for your music, for your work, for your
children, whatever it is that you're creating is also being affected. I just love that so much.

(40:48):
Another thing that you touched on that I'd love to get your thoughts on, because I don't know if
it's still a conspiracy out there. I don't really like dive into the mainstream media, but you talked
about organic, which is going to lead us perfectly into your company, organic muscle. But here in
this family, we are very avid about being organic. I wouldn't even say whenever possible, we're

(41:08):
organic or we don't buy it. Like with our food and our products and feel really passionately about it.
And I obviously want to caveat this, you know, I understand it's not perfect. And I know that
there's, you know, government involvement and all these things. But given the two choices,
I do really passionately feel and have personally experienced the taste difference, the nutritional

(41:29):
quality difference, the difference in my body. So I love if you'd share your thoughts on, obviously,
you're passionate about it, right? It's in your company name. What are your thoughts on, you know,
organic and the organic culture of this country? Yeah, well, it's, it's exploding right now. I mean,
the conscious that's about organic, especially with all this RFK stuff at HHS, it's, it's really

(41:52):
interesting. I'm fascinated to see what's going to happen. I interviewed RFK once and he had
incredible energy. Like I've met politicians and stuff before and this guy was just built,
like you could see the light in his eyes, like he has a true love for humanity. We'll see what
happens there. I don't think these agricultural companies and big pharma are going to go out

(42:15):
without a fight. They have so many entrenched interests and a huge motive to get in the way of
this. So we'll see what happens. You know, I got faith that good things will happen because our
organic program right now is not perfect by any means, you know, places like Italy have much

(42:36):
stronger programs. But the alternative is so bad, at least with organic here, you have safeguards that
glyphosates, neonicotinoids, some of these toxic pesticides are not being sprayed all over your
crops. And I mean, I get notifications for scientific studies about glyphosates. So I see them
all the time and it's bad. Like, can you share, I'm sorry to interrupt you, assuming some listeners

(43:03):
may not know, can you just give a little bit of background on what glyphosate is? Because
I think it's going to become in their awareness very soon, but just in case they don't know.
It's the most common industrial pesticide used in the United States. And studies have shown it
causes a host of issues, whether you have brain cancer, which does not sound like fun to me,

(43:28):
a host of bladder issues, skin issues, you name it, there's so many. And we see the massive
reductions in sperm counts and fertility. And many people theorize that is also linked to glyphosate
so I mean, the United States is just so unhealthy. It's unbelievable. When you go out and about,

(43:49):
you could see, it makes me sad because so many people don't even know that they're caught in
this trap. And it's just not normal. I don't know if this is controversial, but it is not,
we're not designed to be obese. You cannot thrive being obese. Yes, you could be a great,
loving person. But I think God created all of us for a mission. And it makes it way more difficult

(44:16):
to do our mission in this world. When you're tired all the time, when you have trouble moving,
when you lack confidence, how can you give your gift to the world as effectively? So I sympathize
with people who suffer with obesity and health issues because I've been there. But the whole
fat acceptance thing, I think is a real, it's a real injustice to the potential of every human

(44:44):
being, you know, it's okay to be overweight, but you should be mindful that you're not living your
full potential in that state. Just like if you're a drug addict, look, if you're a drug addict,
I hate you at all. Of course not. I love you. But you're probably not doing your full potential

(45:05):
in your current state. And it doesn't make me hateful to say that, you know, hey, you could
probably make a bigger impact on the world if you weren't smoking crack all day. It's not hateful.
It's loving actually to tell someone the truth. So I think the whole fat acceptance movement
and like get the jab for a Big Mac type mentality is anti human. It really is anti human.

(45:36):
You know, I just want to save space because I'm sure, you know, you can feel the palpable energy
change. Like there may be some people listening to us that were just triggered. And how difficult it
was for you to say what you just said, because it is true. Eric and I share this experience a lot.
And I think it's become, it's become so normalized, which just blows my mind. Like we'll be in a crowd.

(46:00):
You know, at this point, we've seen 45 out of 48 states will be in a crowd New York City,
you name wherever it is. And I just had palpable moments of looking around. And I'm like, wow,
like 90% of the people are overweight and unhealthy. And I think what's happened is it's
become so normalized. And it's everyone that people that are only a little overweight, they're

(46:21):
like, Oh, no, like I'm just fluffy or this is this is normal. I have some meat on my bones. And
we don't really understand, you know, look back, look at our ancestors, like,
weanness is in our nature, right? Like it really is. And it's just, I'm with you, James. Like I do,
I get really, really sad, like just looking at so many people, especially people that are like

(46:44):
morbidly obese, and they can barely walk and barely function. And it's like, it's bringing
me back to this video, I think, to be honest, I don't even know who shared it. I don't know,
I'm thinking Alex sec, but there's this video going around. And it was like, you know, you're
not this you're being poisoned, you're not you're not depressed, you're being poisoned,
you're not overweight, you're being poisoned. And it just like went through all of these labels

(47:05):
that like the system or matrix doctors, you know, Western medicine psychology will give you.
And it was like, you're being poisoned. And I used to be like, before my consciousness journey,
like, Oh, you know, that's their choice and blah, blah, blah. And I can see now from this much higher
perspective, how much this world specifically America, it is, it is atrocious has been manipulated,

(47:30):
lied to, and frankly, poisoned, I actually feel really strongly about that word, like,
we are being poisoned. You know, when you look at the exact same product that's here,
and that's in the UK, we are being poisoned. And I think it's uncomfortable to talk about. And
the more that we get comfortable talking about like, like you said, like, you're just as equal

(47:51):
and valid and beautiful and whole and perfect. And you can also be unhealthy. And how can we
start to deconstruct this like narrative that it's cool or okay, or whatever to be unhealthy.
Yeah, the reason why so when you study Kabbalah, you know, everyone has their to cool in their

(48:11):
baggage. And on the other side of that, if you could overcome that, that's when you can truly
give your gifts to the world. So I think for a lot of people, part of their baggage, their souls
journey, something they need to overcome is a health issue, or obesity, or even being poisoned.
That's something that your soul wants to overcome. Because on the other side of overcoming that is

(48:35):
incredible light and gifts and God's love you that you could share with the world. So that's why
I'm against the fact acceptance, because you're it's actually interfering with people's spiritual
journeys. It's any any problem, any hurdle in your life has a gift attached to it. And if you have
that, that hurdle, that issue, it's meant for you. The way out is through. So it'd be like, I don't

(49:04):
know, what's this, any situation in life, if you just go like this, no, no, no, no, no, no.
It's there's no growth there, you know, yeah, absolutely. You gotta face it. Yeah, something
that you both touched on that I feel is at the core of this, this opportunity for me to
have this opportunity for growth in the collective is denial. It's this state of living in the denial

(49:31):
of truth. Because for me, when I finally accepted I was experiencing a sexual addiction was the
moment that I gave myself the opportunity to make a different choice. You know, for you,
when you were looking the mirror, and you said, Oh, man, he's right. You know, that gave you the

(49:54):
opportunity to make a choice. Yes, to change that. It's not until we actually take a hard look
at the reality that we are being faced with, with an honest lens, and being open to truth,
rather than denying it and putting our labels on it and saying like, Yeah, but I really like,

(50:15):
you know, this food, you're talking about the food journal and taking note of like,
how does this thing make me feel after I eat it? I love toaster strudels. I'm just gonna say that.
As since I was a kid, I love to eat toaster strudels. They make me feel awful. Every single time,

(50:36):
it's a high dopamine hit. And then it my body does not process as it well. When I was a kid,
I would get full body hives. And I would still want to eat this thing. Because to me, I enjoyed it
as a kid. I was like, I want to eat this thing that tastes good. I don't care about the repercussions
of for a week being covered in hives, going to school looking like I had chickenpox every day.

(51:01):
I didn't care. And that's what I see our brothers and our sisters doing living
unhealthy lifestyles and it doesn't always just have to be food. It's the media we consume. It's
the spiritual content we consume. It's how we live our life. If we're not living a holistic and
healthy life, we are choosing suffering for ourselves. And it really hurts to see,

(51:25):
it really hurt to see myself doing that, but it hurts even more to see my brothers and sisters
doing that. And like you said, with every challenge, we get a gift. Yes, we get the gift of being able
to overcome that and learn that lesson for ourselves so that we can see and observe it in others
and help and lift them and become of service. We cannot shift from the state of being separate

(51:49):
and being living in a self serving way until we actually love ourselves enough to shift out of
that state because when we do, we then can see that state and other people. And then we have the
tool to help them. You were able to come and through your journey of overcoming obesity and

(52:11):
living a healthy life, you've created this beautiful gift of organic muscle and given this
to the world. It's through facing the challenge that you decided that you were going to come here
and face that you were able to bring the healthiest, in my opinion, the cleanest and the best tasting

(52:32):
organic supplements I have ever had, your protein powder. I had it for the first time after I got
it from you at Confluence and I went to work out and I felt my body absorb it. Like I because
because I'm present with my body and working out and how I feel before and after I work out before

(52:54):
I was taking the mainstream supplements, every time my body would get bloated, it would reject it,
and I knew I wasn't actually getting the nutritional benefits, but I was taking it psychologically
because I felt like I needed to take that to maintain my weight. With your products, I take them
and I feel my body accept them and be nourished by them. What more could you ask for from a

(53:23):
supplement company? That only came because you fought through the challenges and birthed something
new into this world. Thank you. That was so beautiful. Thank you for saying that. Yeah,
I mean, it's a gift. It really is a gift to share this with the world and everything we,

(53:45):
all of our products, I use and we develop them because we wanted to use them ourselves, you
know? And I just find it amazing. I think a lot about some other companies that maybe don't
sell the healthiest things and I just, it's such a different state of consciousness because
how can you sleep knowing that? Maybe they're in the denial or they don't understand, but for me,

(54:13):
like what you just said just filled my spirit up so much and that's why I do this, to really help
people because that is the best feeling in the world for me, knowing that this is making a positive
impact. So thank you. I really appreciate that. That was beautifully said. He's totally not kidding
too. And this is the perfect segue into the last thing I want to talk to you about here,

(54:34):
which is organic muscle. I remember, well, I remember when we were at Confluence and you were
like, yeah, I have a, you know, I have a health supplement. I don't even think you said organic
and immediately we were like, I don't know. And you were like, yeah, we're very picky. And you were
like, it's organic, it's plant based. And of course, then we're like, chihuahua ears. You know, we're
like, wait, what? What did he just say? And I'll never forget he had like a pre-workout sample

(55:00):
and didn't end up trying it for a couple of weeks, maybe a month after that. And he came home from
the gym that day and he was like, oh my God, like he was beside himself. He was like, I've never
experienced anything like this. Like I feel like, and I just, I watched him, you know, we've been
together over eight years and I've watched him go through a really painful journey with his stomach

(55:23):
condition, with his weight, you know, with his diet, with all that came with that and specifically
with like protein powders, making him really sick and just watching him kind of like, force feed
this, this shit to his body and be so sick and to see him be able to use your stuff. I'm, we're
looking up at it because there are other people, grab it in a second while you're talking to, we

(55:44):
can show on the camera. Yeah, can you just share a little bit more about organic muscle and maybe
your product specifically, like what makes you so special? Obviously they're organic and plant based
and I also want to share with you real quick before I forget and before you answer this,
we had a friend over the other day, a good friend of ours and he's a lifelong bodybuilder,

(56:04):
professional bodybuilder, stuff like that. Also on a consciousness and health journey and we showed
him your products and he opened it and you know, when you live that life, you live that life and
he just took one sniff and he was like, what the hell is this? Like this smells exquisite. Like he
was about, he's reading the ingredients and he was like, this is like some real shit. Like I think

(56:26):
nice. I don't know what word he used, but it was similar to bougie. He was like reading them,
reading them and he was like, okay, like and pulling it up on his phone immediately. So yeah,
just, we'd love to hear more about organic muscle, what products you have and how you've created this
beautiful baby of yours. Thank you. You guys are so sweet. I really appreciate it. It's nice to know

(56:46):
that it's appreciated, you know, but yeah, we just try to make the cleanest versions of various
fitness supplements that we possibly can use all organic ingredients, non-GMO, glyphosate free,
low heavy metals, verified A plus rating on all of our products. Basically, it's, there's almost

(57:07):
a sense of greed there because it's just supplements I want to personally use. So I developed things
that I want to use myself. And then I figured it's a good way to develop products like,
what do I want? What do my friends want? What do they look for in the products? And that's been our
kind of methodology. But our products included pre-workout. Most people I talk to, I've had

(57:32):
horror stories with pre-workouts where they feel like they're going to crap themselves and have a
heart attack. So that our pre-workout is completely clean and jitter-free. So it's just like, we call
it zen energy. Like you feel really good and you have a ton of endurance and stamina. You don't
feel like that almost manic form of energy. It's very smooth. Yeah. So the main ingredients of that

(57:58):
are beetroot and pomegranate, which are phenomenal foods for circulation and blood flow. And that's
what helps to stamina so much. We also have organic toncataly. We have the only certified
organic toncat on the market, which so that's like the most urban world for naturally boosting
testosterone. The effects are palpable. I'll just say that much. We also have hydration supplements,

(58:22):
greens, reds, protein powder, a whole host of things. So yeah, if anyone wants to check it out,
go to organicmuscle.com. We've got one here and I mean, the packaging is beautiful. I love the logo
too. But you can see here all the fun things, you know, soy-free, dairy-free, non-GMO. But yeah,

(58:44):
some of these ingredients, like he was reading them often, it just, it sounds bougie and amazing.
Like organic Jerusalem artichoke in a win. I don't know what that is, but that sounds really
beautiful. You know, organic millet, organic amaranth, organic pumpkin, hemp, et cetera. So,
you know, no dyes, none of the fake sugars, none of the crap, right? Like no crap.

(59:07):
And what I really appreciated too, like you were sharing the story about the pre-workout,
I went caffeine free for a little over two years because I was experiencing a dependency on caffeine.
And I hit that cold turkey, quick coffee, and was very unhealthily resistant to reintroducing caffeine

(59:31):
into my life because I was like, nope, I cleaned myself from that. I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna
allow that into my experience anymore because caffeine for me equals addiction to caffeine.
And there's this really beautiful experience of slowly reintroducing caffeine into my system
and having a healthy relationship with it. It's one of the main reasons why I never wanted to

(59:53):
try pre-workout. And when you offered me the pre-workout sample when we met, it did, it sat
in the trailer for a little over a month and I was like, I don't know if I'm gonna use
this thing because I just, I don't want to. I don't want to introduce that into my body anymore,
but I trust you. And I wanted, went to go to the gym and the previous night, I didn't sleep at all.

(01:00:18):
Like I was tossing and turning, but I had recommitted to going back to the gym in the time
that we were in Austin. And so I'm like, I'm gonna show up. And I drove up there, I had it with me,
and I was like, I feel like death. I don't, I don't think I can actually go to the gym. I made
just sit there and meditate in the gym and just say, you know, I honored my commitment. And I was

(01:00:41):
like, you know what, I'll try this pre-workout. And within minutes, I felt completely energized
and completely focused in a way that I hadn't felt in a very, very long time. It was extremely clean.
It wasn't that like super high jump up and then crash at the end. It was a very slow build that

(01:01:03):
helped me kind of like move into my workout in a natural way. And then I just, I had the most
intense workout I've had in years. On a night of basically no sleep, just drinking water,
the pre-workout. And then for a good three or four hours into my day, that level of focus and like

(01:01:23):
clarity stayed with me. And then I was able to tackle things around the house.
I remember how you came home from the gym and you popped in the front door. I distinctly remember the
moment now and he was like, he's made some good shit. It's a big hit.
This is one of my favorite testimonials ever. It's such an awesome story.
Yeah, no, it's fantastic. It does. Yeah, it has natural caffeine. And so that, and that's, that's

(01:01:49):
the thing is like, we can't hear really bad. Yeah. Nothing is inherently bad, right? It's our
relationship to the thing. That's why loving consciously, it's about our relationships
to what we're consuming, whether it's cannabis, whether it's food, whether it's our relationships
with others, we can have unhealthy dependent relationships with other people, right? It's
all about how we relate to the thing. And the process that I've found to find to loving consciously,

(01:02:16):
right, has been finding out, where do I have an unhealthy relationship, accept that, see that as
truth, you know, take away the lens of denial and say, okay, I'm going to accept this into my,
to my reality. And then I'm going to stop having an unconscious relationship with that thing.
Sometimes that may mean quitting cold turkey. It means it meant for me stopping drinking coffee

(01:02:41):
for two years. It meant for us having a separation. It meant for, you know, the different things in
my experience to just stop behaving in that way. And then after doing the healing work,
understanding the root cause and tackling that and finding healing, then reintroducing it in a

(01:03:04):
healthy way so that we can come back to loving relationship with that thing, because loving
relationship is not rejecting the thing permanently. It's saying, I'm abusing this thing. I'm going to
take a step back, find out why I'm abusing this thing. And then when I'm in a healed place,
I can come back and reintroduce and find a healed way of relating with that thing again,

(01:03:27):
so that we can reintegrate into our experience. As beautiful, beautifully said, I mean, those are
extremely wise words that I think we can all like implement that kind of thought process
with our own personal hurdles and our own personal on our own personal journey. So yeah,
I couldn't agree more with everything you just said. I have to wonder, like, I'm listening to

(01:03:49):
you both talk and I'm like, and for listeners too, I think this might be like our contemplation in
the episode. We like to give people contemplations. What would the world look like? I'm thinking of
like traditional, I'm not bagging on 12 step stuff, you know, it has a place, but like traditional
12 step of anything, right? It's like, you're, you need absence completely, like you can't have the

(01:04:10):
thing, that same powerlessness mindset, but like, what would it look like if everybody knew, you
don't have to give up the thing forever, you don't have to like never have this thing again, right?
It's not all or nothing, it's just a pause to heal yourself and get in right relationship with it.
And also realizing too, I think this is a beautiful point in this conversation about food and alcohol

(01:04:34):
and all these things caffeine that we're talking about is like, the thing itself is not inherently
bad, right? It's we collectively have desecrated it, right? We've taken nicotine, a very beautiful
natural substance that our brains make, and we've turned it into cigarettes, right? We've desecrated,
you know, cacao and chocolate, we've desecrated, you know, all these different things you can have,

(01:04:57):
sacred ceremonial, different types of alcohol that are not like Jim Beam, I don't know why
that's so in the case of my head, but, and so just that, that offering and that reminder to people
on the show, you know, listening, like, it's just an encouragement to get in healthy relationship,
whatever that looks like, and know that like we don't have to walking this path of health and of

(01:05:18):
spirituality, consciousness, whatever you want to call it, doesn't mean like everything has to go
into garbage, it just means you get to introduce it in its right and purest form, you know, you get
the best of everything. It's about getting off autopilot, or using these substances mindlessly,
and that's why fasting or giving something up for a period of time is so great, because you get off

(01:05:41):
autopilot and you really start thinking about your relationship with that, and if you just make the
decision to do it again, it's a decision, it's a conscious decision, as opposed to just automatic
unconscious behavior, you know. Yeah, just like when you made the decision to have some wine on
your magical trip in Italy, and you know, we do those things like you with caffeine, and we've

(01:06:06):
recently, we haven't actually done it yet, but we've purchased and for me, I'm in a journey of
I want to heal my relationship with tobacco, you know, it's one of the kind of the core three I
heard, I don't know where I heard it, you might recognize it James, but someone said the three
kind of core plants that we've desecrated, and it was cacao, tobacco, and coca, you know, the coca

(01:06:27):
plant, we've turned them into cocaine, cigarettes, and chocolate like Hershey's chocolate, which is
one of the worst chocolate in the planet, and as soon as we heal our relationships to those three
sacred plants, like humanity will be freed of a lot of the demons they have, and so for me, you
know, having been a yeah, I don't remember where I heard it, actually, I think we heard it at the
Xenic dance that we went to with you. I took that very seriously, and I've not stopped contemplating

(01:06:58):
it because, you know, for you, it was food, and for you, you know, it was pornography and things
like that, and for me, a huge one was nicotine, you know, I was a pacaday smoker for years,
especially through my addiction, and then I was a chain vapor for like six years, and
I think in January, I'll have two years since I walked away from my vape, I really want to

(01:07:19):
reintroduce that, and so even now, like four years into my consciousness healing journey, I'm still
still doing this process, right, like we went and purchased some organic tobacco and all the
the things to, you know, commune with that plant, and really looking forward to healing that with
reverence and putting that back into right relationship, because I desecrated the hell out

(01:07:41):
of that plant, so if you're listening, you know, in whatever way, like pick something, whatever it is,
like you start small, you know, where can I have a healthier relationship? Maybe it's with food,
maybe it's with caffeine, nicotine, television, sexual nature, whatever it is, like bringing
more intention to that, it's really profound stuff, so. Well said, well said. Yeah, I did have one

(01:08:03):
question for you. Oh, Eric has a question. Yeah, you mentioned in your journey the experience of
shame and how that played a significant role in keeping you in the same cycle of eating and
the experience that you were in, what was your process in tackling that shame and overcoming it?

(01:08:26):
That's a good question. It's a good question. Well, it's interesting. In a certain way through
shame, you could learn to love yourself and accept yourself. It sounds counterintuitive, but like
the shame led me to such a black hole, like this wormhole of shame, and there was no solutions

(01:08:51):
there, so I'm in my head feeling shame, and eventually you just kind of hit a wall and be like,
what if I tried something else? Because this shame, like first of all, it sucks, it's painful,
but it doesn't really seem to be helping all that much. Why don't I flip this to self-love right now

(01:09:11):
and compassion for myself? So I think it was honestly just like running against a wall over
and over and being like, this is not helpful, this is miserable, and I'm not changing how I want to.
Like let me think about this situation differently. I like to think about,

(01:09:32):
I call it the angel, but you could call it whatever you want, but shame is usually,
like, any voice that like, fear is not of God, like that is not the spirit of God, like fear and shame.
So when you flip him, be like, hey, how would an angel talk to me, right? How would Jesus talk to

(01:09:52):
me about this situation? How would an enlightened being talk to me? And you go through that process,
and it's usually a gentle kind, but real voice. So whereas before you're stupid, you're worth
this, it becomes, look, you made a mistake. Every single human being who has ever lived

(01:10:13):
has made countless mistakes. It's okay, but we could learn from this. So like that to me, it's
like finding that voice of an enlightened being or angel. How would they talk to you about this
situation where you're feeling so much shame about? And it's like always going back to that voice,
finding that voice when you find yourself spiraling into shame. What would the angel say?

(01:10:35):
What would my higher self say about it? So it's catching yourself when you're on autopilot
into the negativity. The last thing I'll say is this is the power of meditation, you know?
Like I'm a follower of Jesus, but so many Christians say meditation is demonic because
demons will come in when you're open. And the funny thing is they're right. When you sit there

(01:11:01):
silently, demons do come in negative energy, negative thoughts, other words for demons, right?
They will come into your mind. And when that happens, you're able to identify them and transcend
them. Otherwise, if you're not meditating, that's it's just autopilot. Those negative thoughts
are blurred into your own thoughts and you don't know the difference. So I would say meditation,

(01:11:28):
watch for the voice of Hasatan. And when it comes, meet it with the voice of God, the voice of an
angel, and have that positive voice overcome the voice of shame. As well said, I love that.
As you were talking, I was hearing, what would love to say? Yeah, what would love to say here?

(01:11:51):
Thanks so much for sharing that. That's really potent stuff. I loved having you on here. I know
we both have. We'll plug everything in the show notes, but I'd love to give you a chance real
quick. Where can people connect with you and all? Where can they find your products, your website,
all those fun things? Awesome. Thank you. Yeah, you can find our products on Amazon,

(01:12:12):
just organicmuscle or organicmuscle.com. You can connect with me on Instagram at James Benafico.
And yeah, it's been such a pleasure, beautiful conversation. You too are beautiful souls and
I'm thrilled to be in Austin. I can't wait to be there, be in that light, recharge our batteries,
give our light to the community, spend more time with you and Aaron and everyone. So we're

(01:12:36):
excited to be in one spot, grounded for some time around like-minded, conscious community.
And Austin's a really good place to come and recharge and fill our cups until God gives us
the go ahead for a different location. Austin is home for now. Yeah. Well, thanks so much for being

(01:12:58):
here, brother. We love you and listeners. Check out organicmuscle and keep spreading that light,
James. We love what you've created here. Thanks, you as well. Thanks.