Spiritual Practices Beyond the Surface with Stefan Burns

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Join me, Giana Giarrusso, as I welcome back Stefan Burns, a former geophysicist turned spiritual Truth seeker. Together, we challenge the sensationalism that can plague astrology, urging a shift from fear-based predictions to tapping into personal intuition. Stefan shares his transformative journey from the scientific realm to the spiritual, highlighting the importance of interpreting astrological events through one's own lens and acknowledging the potential biases of spiritual leaders.

Our conversation takes a deep dive into the search for deeper truths, transcending surface-level interpretations of spirituality and cultural beliefs. We examine historical patterns and their lasting impact on modern thought, questioning the need for external validation in a world eager for certainty. Influenced by figures like Graham Hancock, we emphasize the value of questioning established narratives and staying open to alternative perspectives. It's a reflective journey that encourages listeners to embark on their own paths of self-discovery, filtering information through their personal truths rather than blindly following authority figures.

As we navigate the complexities of spiritual growth and the essence of practices like yoga, the discussion expands to the transformative power of mindfulness and meditation. We explore how stepping out of familiar ideologies can lead to profound personal growth, using metaphors and anecdotal insights to illustrate the journey. From understanding and integrating diverse experiences to addressing the challenges of maintaining yoga's true essence amidst its evolving practice in the West, we celebrate the delicate balance between openness and discernment in our quest for lasting change for a better tomorrow. Tune in to discover how these insights can inspire your own path to self-awareness and transformation.

Connect with Stefan:
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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
welcome to the nearly enlightened podcast.
I'm your host, gianna tiruso.
I am joined again by stefanburns.
Welcome back hello, hello.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Thank you for having me back on.

Speaker 1 (00:11):
Let's have a fun conversation yeah, I'm glad to
have you back.
Um, we had a lot of positivefeedback about your last episode
.
Everyone really loved.
It, resonated, um, and yeah, sowe were chatting on Saturday
and I kind of want to bring thatback here on the podcast.
It's a little bit of a hot takeabout astrology and just like

(00:33):
the healing sphere in general,some things that you are going
through in your own kind ofhealing journey, and I'd love to
talk about it here because Ithink it is so important and
it's something that trulyresonated with me as well.

Speaker 2 (00:47):
Let's light them up, yeah.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
I love a hot take, anything.
Anything hot take or like thatkind of shakes people up is
really good, like this week'sepisode that just came out today
we actually talked politics andlike some pop culture things

(01:10):
that are going up.
So like I love talking aboutthose hot button topics because
I think it's important and Ithink it's really healthy to
have these conversations thatare maybe a different
perspective or point of viewthan people are used to.
And I think it's important tohave those conversations in a
respectful way to talk thingsout, because I think that's how

(01:32):
progress is made.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
I guess maybe my hot take has evolved a little bit
too since we last talked,because of a few things that
I've just been kind of witnessto, you could say, and so the
the main point was just that,like, I've been studying
astrology a tremendous amountsince it kind of came into my
sphere and it's really helped mein a lot of ways and has

(01:59):
someone that came in from themore scientific perspective and
had a career in geophysics andgeology and then shifted into
these more spiritual domains andbe more open to all these
things and incorporating thatinto just my worldview, and that
went in line with everythingthat I share on my YouTube
channel, which is veryeducational, informational and

(02:21):
has benefited a lot of people.
As I get that feedback, um,astrology has been super useful,
but I just I just been seeing Iguess this is always a thing,
but it just seems to be veryloud right now with people like
wanting like the exact answer toeverything for the future and

(02:44):
like astrology needing tosupport that, or looking at
astrological transits that areunfolding and some of them you
could call quite tense, like allthese different squares, for
example, which typically is atense aspect if you have what's
called a grand cross where youhave a square on each quadrant.
That's supposed to be very,very tense, but then sometimes

(03:07):
nothing really seemingly comesof it, and I think that's
because these energies sometimeswork in more background,
mysterious ways.
But there's just like thislet's say, an astrologer sees
this grand cross and then turnsit into this massive thing, like
we are going to see theapocalypse on the 17th of

(03:29):
September or something Right,and then what happens is that
this person may have a littlebit of a following or an
authority, and then so someoneelse runs with it and now you
get this whole feedback loopwhere no one's really looking at
the source.
Material is important, first off, to actually, let's say, look
at these transits yourself, butthen also like to feel into them

(03:51):
yourself, because just whatsomeone else feels into it
doesn't mean that's going to bewhat you get out of it.
Um, and like kind of youconnecting to intuition and
spirit and say, hey, what isthis about for me or for the
collective?
And so we just get this likerunaway chain reaction and and

(04:12):
so then everyone gets reallyworked up and like in a fritz
and it long term, if, like thesethings don't happen, it makes
it.
You know, astrologers look badand then these people are just
looking for like the next, likebig rush, so then they just go
right to the next thing.

Speaker 1 (04:28):
And of course, this is not just astrology, this is
really all aspects of oursociety yeah, and I kind of have
a hot take with this and it'sum, a lot of people who are in
this sphere as leaders and doingthis work.
They're kind of cloud, and Isaid this to you on Saturday.

(04:49):
They're kind of clouded bytheir own experiences and
perceptions and we're notgetting like an unbiased look at
what these aspects or planetaryalignments really mean.
It's clouded by personalexperiences and point of views
and that's great in some ways,but in some ways it can be

(05:10):
dangerous, like I've noticed.
I've stepped back from astrologymyself because a lot of the
astrologers that you see onInstagram and you know on reels,
on TikToks, they are fearmongering, like I have just seen
a lot of that recently like,don't go out in the full moon,
it's dangerous.
And to me it's like that isdangerous because if you're, if

(05:36):
that's what you're putting outthere and you're planting the
seed in people's minds, um, thatthis is going to be like a
dangerous and like bad daybecause of the full moon, you're
planting that seed for someone,so that's what they're going to
attract anyways.
So it's like whatever you'reputting out there is the
frequency that's going to matchyou.
So if you're putting outfear-based astrology, then

(06:00):
that's what's going to come backto you is like these fear based
experiences.
So that's kind of my issue withastrology and not just
astrology, but, just, like, Ithink, a lot of healers and
leadership positions in generalis that it's not coming from

(06:22):
like these are the facts, theseare strictly the facts and this
is what it is it's.
It's coming from this cloudedpersonal perception, like I
don't think God is dropping intoyour channel and being like
don't go out into the full moon.
I mean maybe, but like I don'tknow, I just don't think that
that's the way that the worldworks and I think, if that's

(06:42):
what you're putting out, that'swhat you're going to attract.
So if you're constantlylistening to these healers or
these astrologers that areputting out these kind of fear
based channelings, information,whatever you want to call it,
like, that's what you're goingto call into your fields.
And you know we live on a planetof duality and we experience

(07:03):
the full range of human emotions.
So not everything is going tobe like pleasant rainbows,
sunshine, unicorns, like I amfully aware of that I've been
very candid about, like the lastcouple of years of my life, and
like the ups and the downs, andevery person experiences that.
So I think it's reallyimportant to have, um, to be

(07:28):
deciphering and to use, to tapinto that, your own heart space,
and, and I think, with lookingfor answers outside of ourselves
, that's where, like the, thedanger comes in.
So we want to be fear, uh, likefear mongering ourselves, like
just be aware of that, like tapinto yourself and see how that

(07:48):
feels for you, because I knowfor me, like listening to some
of these astrologers, like I'vedone a mass on following of of
different astrologers and justlike spiritual leaders in
general.
Just that's what they'reputting out.
That just doesn't resonate withme anymore, like I, I don't
know.
That's that's where what comesup for me.

Speaker 2 (08:11):
Well, it's interesting because anytime I go
out and look at the full moon Ifeel great.
I know same.
I'll do meditations and spendsome time out there and I mean
it's good to be aware of theseenergies and there are times
where the energies are moretense than others, like you just
mentioned.
I mean, that's life and so it'sgood to be aware of that.
But then there is like thistendency to put on this extra
level or layer.

(08:32):
And then, yeah, I you know oneof the beautiful things about
the I guess you could say thespiritual community, like
whatever that even means, right,but one of the nice things is
that it's it's fairlydecentralized.
You could say, like you know,you have the church and you have
the bible and you have the pope.
That's very centralized.
Of course there's all theselittle churches doing their own

(08:54):
things now too and kind ofbreaking off from the mold.
But you still see theconditioning with, like this,
let's just say, like thecatholic church very strongly,
um, but in the spiritualcommunity it's kind of all over
the place.
You have Buddhist beliefscoming in, you have Hindu
beliefs coming in, zen and allthis stuff all mixing together.
It's just really cool.

(09:14):
So I think in general, there's alot being done.
That's right there, but theredoes seem to be this
undercurrent that people— andthere's multiple of these
undercurrents uh, some of them,like you call them, like
underground rivers, where it'slike good, like clean, pure
information, you could say, orexperiences.

(09:35):
But then there's others whichare definitely polluted, which a
lot of like influential peopleI can tell are tapping into and
using for material or forjudging, like making assessments
on, let's say, the currentquality of time, like these
astrologers, right, and assomeone that has, like, not just

(09:56):
immediately hooked up my pumpto these underground rivers to
pull water, I've actually gonethere as best I can.
You know we're only human, butI've gone there as best I can.
You know we're only human, butI've gone there as best I can to
actually like test the quality.
I found a lot of these arequite polluted.
I'm like there's not really anyevidence to support this At
least I haven't found it yet, orI will then read the evidence

(10:17):
that someone then presents forthis statement, right, and it
actually that research paper,let's say, does not support what
they're saying.
It's actually the opposite.
And so there's like this surfacelevel that a lot of people
interact with, but not manypeople go deeper, which is a

(10:38):
little unfortunate and it'ssurprising to me because I mean,
I feel like I'm almost alone inthis journey and, looking a
little bit below that surfacelevel, like how are there out of
if we just take a percentage ofpeople right, 10 000 people,
let's say, only one person isactually going to the
underground river and looking atit and seeing what it looks

(11:01):
like and sampling it?
Why is it such a small, small,small, small percentage?
Like that is the spiritualjourney is to like go within
yourself to examine and findthese truths right, and you're
not just being given somethingand fed something and then just
rolling with that right.
It's to investigate, you getthis information but then you
run it through your own truthfilter and so in many ways that

(11:24):
that, um, that just behavioralpattern that people have, that
goes all the way back to like,let's say, early Christianity
has not changed, it's just beengiven a new veneer on top.
Yeah, so that's what we reallyneed to change.

Speaker 1 (11:40):
Yeah, and so I think we've put a lot of um, like
we've given astrology a lot morepower than it, than it needs to
have, because I think we arelooking for, like that instant
gratification of like oh, I wantthe answer now, like I want
somebody else to tell me you'reputting the power outside of
yourself.
And I grew up Catholic.
I went to Catholic school for12 years, so I studied the Bible

(12:03):
back to front and now I I'vetalked about it a little bit on
this season Like I'm going backthrough the Bible and reading it
with spiritual eyes, and notthrough like the Catholic lens,
but just through, like like aspiritual lens.
And I thought it was sointeresting that literally on
the first page of the Bible,interesting that literally on

(12:29):
the first page of the Bible,chapter one, right there, it
says God gave us the sun, themoon and the stars to tell time.
And you talk about likepolluting, what it means, like
Christians, catholics, nowbelieve that astrology is bad,
it's witchcraft.
But like it is literally on thefirst page of the Bible, God
was like here, this is how youtell time Stars, sun, moon Like

(12:51):
how did we get here?
How did we arrive that it'switchcraft?
Like that's crazy.

Speaker 2 (12:56):
But at the same time, they'll use the phrase that
says there'll be signs in thesky, with the stars and the sun
and the moon, to say thatrapture is coming.
So, uh, yeah, I don't know.
We're just in a weird place interms of like humanity, where
people are just like sodesperate.
I guess we're you know we'rewe're primates, we're monkeys.

(13:18):
We like to hold on to things.
Right, we're used to swingingaround in trees, and right now
we're in this transition.
It seems like I'm just using ametaphor here, but it's like we
leapt off of a tree, right, andwe're used to swinging around in
trees, and right now we're inthis transition.
It seems like I'm just using ametaphor here, but it's like we
leapt off of a tree, right, andwe're like swinging through
space to get to the next tree.
The next tree is going to befull of fruit and it's much more
abundant.
It has shelter and everything.
Let's hope.
Right, this could be calledlike new earth, but right now

(13:41):
people are like reaching out,trying to grasp anything, but
there is nothing, because it'sjust air.
We are in this age of air.
We look at the astrologicalenergies, we know that we're in
an age of air.
Um, that's going to continuefor a while, so maybe that's
just our human tendency to tryto reach out and grab something
even if there's nothing there.

Speaker 1 (13:59):
We just have to get comfortable with that yeah, I
think that, like collectively,like we've all gone through the
these phases individually, oflike these spaces of
transformation where you're likein between, and I think that's
where we are collectively and inhumanity, and I think that you
know it's very polarizing thenext couple weeks the election

(14:21):
is coming.
There's like a lot of division,a lot of just like again, fear
mongering, and we are in thatspace of like there's there's
nothing to really do.
There's nothing to really doexcept for be like.
We kind of are in that we'relike in the middle of the
pendulum swing.

Speaker 2 (14:41):
Yeah, that's a good one, yeah, and I just, I, I just
, and I also see us likeappealing to authorities.
And then, uh, just recently,like uh, I mean, I don't have no
problem sharing this here onthis podcast.
Uh, you know, I, I really likeuh, there's a gentleman a
british chap, you probably knowhim called graham hancock, right
, he talks about ancient lostcivilizations and he's written

(15:03):
books.
I haven't read the books,though I probably should, um,
but I've watched uh, his firstseason on netflix with ancient
apocalypse and it's so funny,danielle uh, who was on just
before you this week's episode.

Speaker 1 (15:17):
She talks about this exact show.

Speaker 2 (15:20):
Okay well.
I've listened to some of hispodcasts and I like some of his
information, and so when I wasback in September, I was invited
to a podcast with Matt Bellcalled the Limitless Podcast,
and he's great because he reallyjust provides a very open
container and gives you a lot ofspace and will let you fully

(15:43):
elaborate on your thoughts andthen comes in with good,
interesting things to talk aboutafterwards or steers it.
You know very nice guy.
Uh, I think he's a pisces, soit makes sense.
Um, and so I was on his podcastin september.
We had a wide-rangingconversation about all the
things I talked about mychannel's, like four hours long.
It was great.
And then he was telling me thathe was going to have Graham

(16:05):
Hancock on because he really isinto these ancient civilizations
and lost history and he hasthis whole.
Matt has this whole Egyptianvase collection.
You know these ultra engineeredand precise vases made out of
stone.
They don't know how they'remade, and so that's like the
perfect person to have on thepodcast is Graham.
And so that's like the perfectperson to have on the podcast is
Graham.
So there's like all thiscontroversy around this British

(16:27):
chap Graham and he's, you know,with archaeologists and
everything and he's upset witharchaeologists for being so
authoritative and for trying tolike cancel him and this, that,
whatever, right.
And so a lot of people areresonating with that, because
that is a current theme rightnow of like trying to cancel
people's sense or whatever.
And so, uh he's, there's anupwelling support for him right

(16:49):
now.
Well, he went on to thelimitless podcast with matt and,
um, again, we all have our ownmoods and sometimes we're here
there we're more hectic, othertimes we're more calm, relaxed.
But he was just like totallyunable to even like catch a
breath for just even like asecond.
And and he seemed almostannoyed that matt was in the

(17:14):
room, like yes, it's matt'spodcast, but it's almost like he
just wanted an uninterruptedtwo and a half hours of talking.
And when matt then did come inwith a question or something
like this, he was justconstantly kind of like uh-huh,
yeah, like trying to immediatelylike get back to him.
And uh, we talked about theshumar resonances when I was on

(17:36):
the matt podcast, the limitlesspodcast, and how they could be
this information network thatancient cultures communicated
with just kind of through theirmaybe shamanic practices and
things of this nature.
So you'd think that'd be anidea that Graham would like love
to explore.
So Matt proposed it to him andhe just like brushed it off

(17:58):
within like just a few secondsand went right back to his
original kind of like tiradeagainst archaeologists not being
open-minded and like closed offand it just put it.
Just put this figure in a newlight for me and kind of put
this into perspective, becausewe have these authorities and
that if they say certain things,we really like them right, or

(18:19):
because they are touching onsome trigger point.
But then, like, the reason thatis such a um, a hot stone for
this graham hancock guy isbecause he displayed many of the
same traits that he is rallyingagainst in that podcast.
All of a sudden, like whoa, hebasically did the exact same
thing that he's accusingeveryone else of.

(18:41):
Maybe it wasn't done, as youknow, as bad, but he couldn't
find like two seconds to be likehmm, that's an interesting idea
, let's think about it.
Or like to let matt speak.
Like matt was going to read, Isent him a message explaining
what they were.
He was going to read throughthat.
So there you could actually belike here's what this is, what
are your thoughts on it?
And he kept interrupting him tothe point where matt was then

(19:04):
just like, okay, know what,here's the short of it gave him
like a 10 second spiel whichwasn't sufficient to garner any
curiosity or interest, and thenjust moved right on, and so it's
clearly just like shutting downand not interested in exploring
these other ideas.
And that's kind of the wholepoint of, you know, for this
person being open to lostcivilizations and ideas and

(19:25):
technologies and stuff.
And so you see that, even withthese people that are really
speaking about that, and sothat's just something that
happened after our conversationthat I've been just kind of
meditating on because I justwant to make sure, like
personally, I don't fall intothat right.
I think it's important for usto not be what we are fighting

(19:46):
against.

Speaker 1 (19:47):
Yeah, and I think that that is the case for a lot
of us, Like when we kind of hatesomething about somebody or
don't like something aboutsomebody that's outside of
ourselves, like that's usuallywhat we don't like about
ourselves.
Or like I know that Gemini'sgot a really bad reputation for
being like flighty and all overthe place, but, um, somebody put

(20:10):
it into perspective for me,like using me as an example.
It's like I'm really good, Likeyeah, I could have my mind
totally made up about something,but if you come to me with new
information and I analyze it,like I have no problem changing
my mind.
And yeah, like maybe it comesoff as like flighty or or
whatever, and I even notice itwithin this podcast.

(20:31):
Like this podcast is now threeyears old a little more than
three years old, I think.
I think we're going on fouryears, Um, and yeah, crazy, Um,
and some of the things in theearlier episodes I listened to
and I'm like like I don't knowif I think that way anymore and
I think that that's a reallyimportant part of the human
journey and learning and growing, and I think it's totally

(20:55):
healthy to change your mind andto be open-minded and to allow
yourself to take in newinformation.
You don't have to take it as theletter of the law, but to allow
yourself to be open to like Isaid earlier in this podcast
having conversations and beingopen and respectful.
And you don't have tonecessarily agree with the

(21:16):
person that you're talking to,but you can disagree in a
respectful way where both people, both parties, can get their
point of view across, and then Ireally do believe that that's
how progress happens.

Speaker 2 (21:30):
I guess where we are.
Like, the metaphor that popped,the vision that popped in my
mind is that, like, a lot ofpeople are like mice in a cage,
right, and maybe, maybe you'vebeen raised in this cage your
whole life, so you know the cage.
And then something or someoneor some group, whatever comes
along and is like here is thisnew space that you can enter

(21:56):
into, right, let's say the firstcage is all about like you're,
you're all for the government.
Let's say, right, there's abillion things that this could
be, or all for the church,whatever.
And then this other like personor group comes along and says,
hey, I have this space for youwhere it's like anti-government
or anti-church or whatever,right.
And so the mice are like sohappy to go to this new cage,

(22:20):
but it just looks different, butstill a cage.
And meanwhile there's the otheroption, which is very much what
you and I are talking about,which requires a lot more
self-empowerment and for you toconfront actual fears and
uncertainty, which is just hey,open up the door and what's
outside the cage?
Because that's a huge spacewhich accommodates so, so, so

(22:42):
much and gives you the space tobe able to change your mind,
right, based on new evidence orjust beliefs or experiences, and
lets you, you know, explore theworld and see other cultures
and see how they operate andpick up and choose what you like
and all this stuff, right.
And so I guess we're still verymuch in a cage mentality.
That's just kind of how I'mseeing it and I just I would

(23:05):
just like to encourage morepeople to look at that open door
because it's always there,right To look at that open door,
see what's outside and actuallymaybe take some steps out of
that, because I feel like that'swhat I've done the past few
years and it's radicallytransformed my life for the
positive and it's also elevatedmy perspective.

(23:26):
I mean, there's still, ofcourse, always things to do and
work to be done, whatever right,but definitely definitely like
I have a bit more of an eagleeye perspective now, and so I
could have.
Just, I was very excited to seethat podcast with Graham on the
Limitless podcast, because I'vebeen there, I've been talking to
Matt.
He was pumped up to have him on.

(23:47):
He just released this AncientApocalypse show.
You know it's like this isgreat, more info, hopefully new
research came out.
The show so far is good, butnow I'm kind of a little turned
off from it, just from thiswhole thing.
But then, like kind of, I wasstill able to see the currents
that were unfolding.
I wasn't so blind and so inthat camp to not kind of see

(24:11):
some of these dynamics play out.
And I kind of felt for my buddyMatt, because you know, it's
like he, I felt like he wasn'tbeing respected either in that
instance and, yeah, it justrubbed me the wrong way.
And you see, that with a lot ofthings and I just it's just a
mindfulness thing.
It's just a mindfulness thing.
That's what it is.
It's.
Are you just mindful of theother person or your space, your

(24:32):
environment?

Speaker 1 (24:33):
And and, I think, remembering too that these
people of authority are humanbeings.
Like a lot of times we tend toput teachers, any kind of
teachers, not just spiritualteachers, but just any kind of
authority figure.
We tend to put them up onpedestals, forgetting that
they're they're human and um,I've seen it a lot in the yoga
world where it's like, ooh, thisbig teacher, big fancy teacher

(24:56):
Like we're putting, like they'reinfallible, they can do no
wrong, like they're amazing, butlike then you really get to
know them and you're remindedlike, oh, they're human, they're
still battling the ego too.
And I think that's probablywhat came up.
I mean, I haven't listened tothe podcast and I'm actually
like I only know the showbecause my friend Danielle, who
was on the podcast for you, shewas talking about it, so I'm not

(25:20):
really like too familiar withit, but it sounds like it's
coming from a place of like egoand constantly being put up on
that pedestal where it likegives you this God complex of
like, just like what I say goesand I don't know.
There's no room for that in thespiritual world and I don't
think I think we're movingbeyond it societally too, like
there's just no room for thatenergy anymore.

Speaker 2 (25:42):
Yeah, I mean that's one reason I've been analyzing
it is because I mean, as wetalked about at the very
beginning, like those thingsthat kind of trigger you.
There's a little bit of that inyourself.
So I mean, my YouTube channelis starting to become successful
and I can see that dynamicstart.
It could very well play out,but I'm young and still like
let's get this formattedproperly now.

(26:04):
I really want to see thisclearly.
So then I don't fall into thisdynamic myself, and that's
really the idea.
And like I recognize that he'sjust a human being, as anyone is
, and so you know it's not theend of the world and it's really
just like you know, just do orwatch or read what resonates
with you, and that's the simpleend of it.

Speaker 1 (26:25):
Flexing that discernment muscle is important.

Speaker 2 (26:29):
Yeah, and you don't need to keep going with it
either.
So, and I guess that's just, wehave these things that are
trying to constantly pull us in.
So, like this example I gave iskind of in my life trying to
pull me in, right, you could saythey're like these vortices,
but politics is a huge one,right, for, like most people,

(26:53):
and I think a lot of the battleis honestly just recognizing the
vortex for what it is, seeingit that you're trapped in it,
and then just making intentional, like putting intention towards
swimming out of that vortex.
And it may not happen overnight,but with time you will then get

(27:13):
outside that whirlpool and allof a sudden the water's calm,
your mind is calm, and that'sreally, I mean, half the battle.
Just being like not battle butjust being comfortable with
yourself is being able to be insilence with yourself and not
have to constantly bedistracting yourself for
everything.
So you need, we need to kind ofremove ourselves from these

(27:36):
vortices and then just have thatexperience of stillness outside
of them, to then kind of getcloser to those experiences of
like Satori, right, where it'slike temporary enlightenment,
where you're in a flow state andyou're not thinking about all
these things that are worryingyou.
You're just completely enmeshedin the present and the now, and

(27:57):
anyone can access that prettyeasily if they've channeled
their energy and focus towardscreative projects or things that
really light them up, theirpassions, et cetera.

Speaker 1 (28:06):
And it's a.
It's a practice.
This is what I remind studentsin my, in my yoga classes all
the time.
Like you come here so I canpush you outside of your comfort
zone.
Like you know, if I know somany people, I hold you in
goddess, I hold you in chairpose for a really long time,
like people are throwing hate myway, and I keep reminding

(28:27):
people like, first of all, thisis temporary, this too, shall
pass.
Second of all, you're here so Ipush you out of your comfort
zone.
Your brain is telling you tocome out.
That's a lie.
You can stay, you're strongenough, you got this Right.
And if you don't have that likethat's, that's what it is too.
It's like the practice ofovercoming the mind.
Like when the mind tells youyou want to come out of the pose

(28:48):
, that's really when the workbegins, and I've had teachers
tell me that since I startedpracticing 13 years ago and my
practice wouldn't have expandedif the second I got
uncomfortable in a pose.
It's like okay, time to comeout.

Speaker 2 (29:03):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (29:07):
So it's like allowing yourself to be uncomfortable in
those spaces, like we.
I think we just always want tobe like comfortable in that safe
little space and our brainwants to keep us there.
But there's there's magic instepping out of that.

Speaker 2 (29:18):
Yeah, the cage or the open, not even the open room,
the open world.
Of course, I do have to tellthe story about when I had a
mouse and I accidentally leftthe cage door open once and the
cat got the mouse.
Oh no, you do have to becareful, folks, but you know,
that's why you have to build upthese skills and trust yourself.

(29:41):
I think that's really what itgets to.
But I wanted to ask you yousaid that you get, like you know
, people are quote unquotehating you for the long chair
pose.
Like, do you feel that in theclass?

Speaker 1 (29:52):
Oh yeah, you see the faces, you know immediately.

Speaker 2 (29:55):
And.

Speaker 1 (29:55):
I'm an energy reader.
I've read energy since I was achild and, like I can, I can
feel it coming my way.
And then, of course, when Ibring it up to everyone's
attention, like then, you getthe giggles like oh yeah, she's
right.

Speaker 2 (30:07):
That's interesting, just because whenever I'm in
that situation in yoga class,right, and the person's like
doing this long countdown, I'mlike happy, I'm like this is
great, like finally like enoughstimulus or like really pushing
it, and I don't know, I justnever thought of a yoga like a.
I just never thought about howyou could have hate in a space
for yoga.

(30:27):
It just seems so.
How's that even possible?
I mean, the whole point is togo there third eye inward, like
nine, to entertain thosefeelings.

Speaker 1 (30:38):
See, I think.
So.
I started practicing regularly13 years ago and yoga was very
different than than it is now.
So before you could not find aclass that was less than 90
minutes.
It was 90 minutes and that wasit.
And now I think we've wateredthe practice down a lot because
we've made it a fitness class,so it's like just part of like

(30:59):
the gym schedule.
So we've watered it down.
Most yoga classes now are 60minutes.

Speaker 2 (31:05):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (31:06):
And that extra 30 minutes makes a big difference.
And we've kind of taken theother limbs of yoga out of it,
right, like we only when we goto a physical practice of yoga,
like most teachers I'mgeneralizing, this isn't
everyone.
I know some peers that go waybeyond, but for the most part on

(31:27):
a surface level.
That is what it is.
The yoga class is just likethis 60 minute fitness class.
You can even see it.
My students are going to laughwhen they listen to this episode
.
But we have been dialing backChaturanga a lot because what,
what we know here in the west,chaturanga, high plank to low

(31:47):
plank we made up here in thewest.
It doesn't exist the way umlike that in the east.
And traditionally, if we lookat the traditional texts, it
wasn't like that at all.
It was more of an um.
I think they call it like eightpointed chaturanga.
I don't know the Sanskrit wordfor it, so don't come for me,
but they're coming, I know it'sit.

(32:09):
So you lower, you shift forward, you lower down its toes, knees
, hands, chest, chin on the matand then it's a pull through to
Cobra or upward facing dog.
So it's not a push up at all inthe East and I've been bringing
it to my classes the last likeweek and a half or so.
And there are some people whoare very open-minded to it.

(32:33):
They're going to give it a try,they're going to go for it.
And there are some people whowon't listen to me at all.
They're still doing theirpushup, they just want the
fitness, like they don't care umabout anything else, and I just
think that's interesting tolook at, like as an observer,
being in front of the classroom.
I teach about 10, teach about10 to 14 classes a week, so it

(32:55):
really gives interesting thepeople who are not willing to
step out of their comfort zone.
It's like that's what we'rehere for.
Like that's the true essence ofthe practice is to move beyond
what the mind is telling you.
It's not a physical practice,like the physicality of it is a

(33:17):
happy side effect, but reallyit's about being more flexible
of the mind, um, being moreflexible of the mind.
And in the yoga sutras, in theancient texts, basically
anything that is not that purefocused list state is called a
disturbance of the mind.
So even even like the happyfeelings, like joy, happiness,

(33:39):
love, what you know, whateveryou want to put in there, um,
they are all considereddisturbances of the mind from
Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, and Ithink that that is so
interesting, that theseexperiences that we're having in
the yoga class, of these upsand downs, of being
uncomfortable, of bliss, of allof this it's literally all

(33:59):
considered a disturbance of themind, and the point of it is to
focus your mind and stay in that, that place of center.
So it's meant to distract you,it's meant to pull you out.
Another thing that I always talkabout in my yoga classes is, if
you're taking a hot yoga classlike there's no evidence that
the heat has any effect on yourmuscles, like it is purely about

(34:22):
making you uncomfortable, it isdesigned to hot yoga class is
designed to make you feel likeyou're going to die.
So that you work through thosetransitions of the mind of, like
you know your mind's like holyshit, it's hot in here.
Like, oh my God, I think I needwater.
Like all of these, this journeythat your mind goes through.
It's purposely meant to takeyou there so that you can

(34:44):
practice like letting that goand being like okay, this is
temporary, this too, shall pass.
Like let's stay in this placeof center.
Let's stay in this place withthe breath, and this, too shall
pass.
So I just I think it'sinteresting.
We've definitely like watereddown the practice, um, and you,
you see it everywhere, right,like even with what we were
talking about with astrology,like I think that it kind of

(35:06):
comes back to the same themes.

Speaker 2 (35:09):
So why do we feel this need to dilute everything?
Like if we buy this, let's say,like cherry juice, and we just
we're not able to drink it, orcranberry juice, for example,
we're not able to drink it byitself, and so we need to water
everything down.
Like, are we so weak now thatwe just don't have the
constitution for it?

Speaker 1 (35:29):
Like, I think it's a mental weakness and I think
that's why, like some of theteachers who are teaching these
principles, like people eitherlove them or they hate them.
Like if you have the mentalfortitude, this is going to be
kind of a hot take.
But if you have the mentalfortitude to like sit with that
discomfort, then like great, I'myour teacher.
But if you are kind of weak inthe mind, like I should be your

(35:52):
teacher, but like you probablydon't have the to see it through
, and like that's sad but Ialways see it as like I'm
planting the seed.
So even if somebody comes to myclass and they absolutely hate
it, like I planted a seed forthem and that seed will
hopefully grow and flourish andmaybe they'll find the teacher
that's for them so that they canovercome these disturbances of

(36:13):
the mind and I think it'simportant to recognize that
there are these ebbs and flowsin life, and so just I mean like
when I'll use myself as anexample with the gym.

Speaker 2 (36:26):
Like, I like to go to the gym, I like to push myself,
and I used to do that in a verytense way with like
powerlifting in the past and hadsome really strong lifts, and
now they're much weaker becauseI've been traveling.
I finally just settled down andso that got me excited to start
going back to the gym andgetting everything back up again
and being more consistent withyoga and things of that nature.

(36:46):
Well, it's like okay, I landedin San Diego and then within
just a couple of weeks, I had togo back to Pennsylvania for a
month to see family and shipthings back.
So that threw all that off.
And then, right when I got backto San Diego again, I was like
great, let's hit it.
All of a sudden I got sick, andthat was like a week long,
which was very surprising, butit happened.

(37:08):
And so you have like these.
Sometimes these waves come inthat will like push you down,
and so you may find yourself nownot as fit or maybe not as
mentally strong you could say interms of as mindful, whatever
it is right, kind of pushing youdown.
But again, it's just what isyour vector direction?

(37:30):
What is your orientation like?
Are you still pointing up, youcould say, and wanting to make
progress here, there, whatever?
And you're not going to stopthese external waves, you know,
hitting your shores.
But so long as you just setyour direction, and that's with

(37:52):
a whole bunch of very small,intentful, mindful decisions and
practices, then eventuallyyou'll climb back over those
setbacks and then sometimeswaves come in your favor, right,
and quickly accelerateeverything.
And so I just feel like that'svery important to recognize that
we do have these external wavescoming in and when they do not

(38:14):
to second guess yourself andthinking that, oh, I'm now being
lazy or I'm just weak or this,that whatever it's like, maybe
it's just a very it's like atsunami, for example.
But once you can finally bobyour head up again, you'll
realize that you still have theright direction, which is
towards, you know,self-actualization and greater

(38:37):
spiritual development andgetting closer to those satori
moments or enlightenment or God,and just being a better person,
right, if you just want to God,and just just being a better
person, right, if you just wantto really boil it down as being
a better person.
So it's important to recognizethat.
I mean we do have thoseexternal influences coming in at
times.

Speaker 1 (38:53):
Yeah, and honoring those seasons of life, like I,
um, I don't know, I don't Idon't think I've ever talked
about this but um, like probablytwo years into teaching yoga, I
took a two year break fromteaching yoga because it just
outside things happen.
I was like not really happywith where the community was in

(39:14):
my area and just thought like itwas watered down and there was
a lot of people that were likeposers, that were part of the
community and I just didn't wantto be a part of it.
And I took a two year breakfrom from teaching Cause I just
I didn't know if I wanted tocontinue down and that was like
part of the season of of my lifeand I don't think I would have

(39:36):
gotten back to teaching or beenso successful in coming back if
I hadn't taken that break andjust like pushed through.

Speaker 2 (39:45):
Yeah, I mean those external waves that come in.
They make us stronger so longas we survive them, and so it's
important to keep workingagainst that or sometimes to go
with that, if that's easier, butstill maintain your overall
course trajectory.
I mean I go through thosephases with yoga where I'll do a

(40:09):
lot of classes and then I justkind of stop going to classes.
I mean I go through thosephases with yoga where I'll do a
lot of classes and then I justkind of stop going to classes.
I do a lot of self-practice,yeah, and I find that really
nice.
But yeah, I just want to seesociety less divided right and
less sure of themselves.
I would like to see societylike less sure themselves
because everyone thinkseverything is this, that exactly

(40:31):
, like whatever.

Speaker 1 (40:31):
Like black and white yeah.

Speaker 2 (40:33):
Oh my God, and it's like, can we just remain open to
these ideas?
I think one of the reasons whyin this podcast with Graham
Hancock, with my buddy Matt, thereason why he didn't even
really want to consider thisinteresting proposition about
the Shumar residences being thisinformation exchange layer for
ancient cultures and that's whywe see, let's say, pyramids in

(40:54):
Mexico and pyramids in Egypt andpyramids in Southeast Asia or
similar iconography and thingsof this nature is because he
already has his explanation forthat and so this is a contrary
explanation.
I don't think that they have tobe oppositional.
I think they're very muchharmonious together.
But I also haven't spent 30years writing books and, you

(41:17):
know, speaking about this andmaking you know my, my claim on
this, and so I can be open toall this stuff.
But I think it's because itkind of challenged what he had
already set and believes in,that it was like let's not even
entertain this idea.

Speaker 1 (41:33):
Yeah, let's not go there.

Speaker 2 (41:35):
Yeah, even though it's like that's the thing with
the spiritual community.
If we get back to like firstprinciples and I don't think
calling it the spiritualcommunity is the right way to
call it right but just thisgroup of people that just seems
to be more open to things, wejust have to remember that kind

(41:56):
of foundational ethos and notlet ourselves be put into camps
and then mice cages, becausethose forces are always working
there to do that.
And so just remaining very openand you can take in information
from this person, you can takein your own experience over
there and then integrate themtogether however, however it

(42:16):
resonates and however you seefit, but just being just being
open to this stuff.
And so that's why I like itwhen people present interesting
ideas, but then I look into themright to see if there's
anything to them.
I don't just take it at facevalue.
That's the other thing too.
It's like be open butdiscriminating.

Speaker 1 (42:32):
Yeah, even this podcast, like don't take
everything.
I say I'm, I'm a student ofthis as well, like I, yeah, I'm
a teacher, but I'm also, likeforever a student.
And I don't think that, when itcomes to these kinds of
philosophies that there's like adestination, it's, there's,
there's no destination, it'sjust it's I don't know, I don't
know what it is yeah, I meanit's.

Speaker 2 (42:55):
I find it really interesting.
Uh, considering the youtubechannel, you have the podcast
and I'm sure you notice at timesthat some of the content that
gets released just reallyresonates with people and it's
almost like this energetic, likefinishing an energetic puzzle,
and sometimes there's a certaintransmissions that occur, and

(43:16):
we're not the only ones doingthis, of course, it happens in
all aspects of life but it'slike we're really just fractals
of God or universe that arehelping people put puzzle pieces
together and to make that ahamoment and it's not even
necessarily the like thisconversation specifically.

(43:37):
You know we haven't talkedabout anything I would say super
mind-blowing or whatever right,but it might just be that final
little moment or thing thatdoes finally click something for
someone that's.
That's like that is what'ssuper, super important,
impactful, and then sets thatlong-term trajectory change, and
so that's really the goal Idon't know if I heard this

(43:59):
episode like five years ago.

Speaker 1 (44:01):
It might have.
It might have been a big ahamoment for me yeah, we, we, I.

Speaker 2 (44:06):
I think that's it.
We're really hoping to deliveraha moments and they come in a
whole bunch of ways, but Ipersonally can rest happy if I
deliver a lot of aha moments toother people around the world.
I mean, I already have.
If I continue to do that, Ithink that is a life well lived.

Speaker 1 (44:26):
Yeah, 100,000 YouTube youtube subscribers.

Speaker 2 (44:28):
That's something to celebrate yeah, and people
really seem to be resonatingwith that and liking some of the
things I do and I just I, I Ijust want to stay very open and
grounded.
I'm it's actually kind of funnybecause all these, uh, all
these astrology memes would be,um, I mean maybe, well, this is
an audio format, but it's wouldbe.

(44:50):
I mean maybe, well, this is anaudio format, but it's.
You have the really low IQperson.
It says Gemini is a crackhead,and then, and then you have the
100.
I'm going to take personaloffense to that, that's right.
And then you have the 100 IQperson saying Gemini is just
like any other astrological sign.
You know there's all thesenuances and other placements.
Make up the chart and say tolook at the whole thing.
And then you have like the 200IQ person saying Gemini is a

(45:16):
crackhead.
And what I find so refreshingabout this is that you're
actually I feel like you're verygrounded for Gemini.

Speaker 1 (45:22):
That is the biggest compliment that I could ever
receive from anyone.

Speaker 2 (45:27):
Because I'm a Virgo, so we're both ruled by Mercury.
So Mercury is all aboutinformation and pulling these
things and has an inherentduality with Mercury.
This book that I read by AlanLeo, called Astrology for All,
talks about how Mercury is theintegration of.
What did he say?
He says the integration of Ithink it was the sun, moon and

(45:49):
Venus all together.
So it's like this higherspiritual principle.
And so there is this you know,when you are very how do you say
this?
When you are really in touchwith the spiritual truths, that
is very grounding.
And so there is, I think, a acertain if you can get past that

(46:10):
surface level, kind of geminior virgo nature, that mercurial
nature which is just alwayswanting more information and
flighty or just wishy-washy orjust kind of hasn't made up
their mind, right, if you getpast that, I think there's a
tremendous amount of gold inthere, because you still retain

(46:31):
that property of being able tosee all these things and
integrate it.
But there's this deeperspiritual truth foundation.
That's really important.
Everyone has their own way ofaccessing that and that's really
key.

Speaker 1 (46:44):
Yeah, and I think for me it was going within, and for
a long time I was.
I think that's why, like I said, if I heard this podcast like
five years ago, it would havebeen a huge aha moment for me,
because I was always searchingfor those answers outside of
myself.
I was going to people tofacilitate Reiki for me, or I

(47:05):
was going to tarot card readersor whatever.
It was always searching forthese answers.
And then when I really stoppedpushing away the practice of
meditation and using my owntools, that's really when things
opened up for me and I kind ofgot this more grounded spirit,

(47:25):
because before that it was notthe case at all.
I was your classic likecrackhead Gemini, that's like
all over the place, here, thereand everywhere, and I naturally
have like a high energy.
I have a lot of fire in mychart, so I naturally have like
a lot of energy, a lot of fire,energy, which can be very
intense for some people, and Ithink that learning how to

(47:47):
ground just helped me channel itin a better way.
So now it's like received alittle bit better and I think
that's why I ended up with apodcast.
I ended up teaching I'm like,oh, I'm kind of always on stage,
but I think if I didn't findthose roots and been able to
really ground myself, then Idon't think I would have been as

(48:08):
successful in these kind ofspaces.

Speaker 2 (48:12):
I have a very similar kind of progression.
I feel like to you, in that Ithink everyone has their own
gifts and talents and passionsand we need to find outlets for
those that are very healthy andconstructive and benefit others
generally, right, and when we dothat, a lot of the other stuff
which is noise, just kind offades away.

(48:33):
But if we're not doing that,then I think that's when we get
into this like I need to belearning, like, let's say, I
need more information all thetime.
The future is uncertain, what'sthe future hold?
I need some guidance.
Because now it's looking to theexternal, as you mentioned, and
so I find that journey to theinternal really came through

(48:54):
okay, what are my natural,latent, god-given talents and
abilities and how can Iappropriately channel those?
And then, if I do thatconsistently, all of a sudden
all the other stuff which was abig priority or focus because
there was this like inherentamount of uncertainty and you
could say fear, right, this isthat all goes back to fear at

(49:17):
the end of the day, that kind ofjust dissolves away.
Would just like to encouragepeople to pursue more of their
own skills and talents andpassions and then just try that
out for three months and seewhere that takes them.
Um, that's something I have toremind myself with is like, I

(49:39):
mean, there's a lot of stuff Ihave to do now and so it's like,
am I just gonna spend my timelike scrolling through things
and reading other viewpoints andhot takes or whatever, or am I
going to, like take that time Icould have done this, that, done
that kind of wasteful activity,or am I going to spend that 20
minutes doing this thing that Ithen won't have to do tomorrow,

(50:01):
like get the kitchen clean orsome of these other things, like
get my space like nice, get mybusiness stuff, like done, set
ready, everything in order, andjust making those micro
decisions?
I really do the big picturestuff.
I really truly 100% believethis.
The big picture stuff andseeing that and having these

(50:22):
grand manifestations, you couldsay it really does come down to
making sure that every smalldecision that you make is done
in alignment with higher spirit,or at least a very high
percentage of them, because noone will bat perfect, but if you
just consistently, nine timesout of 10, are making the right
decisions, everything else willfall into place.

Speaker 1 (50:45):
Yeah, I love that.
I that's something that I'mworking with now is like being
consistent and that energy ofconsistency because, again, I'm
a Gemini, so this is sometimes apractice for me, but when, like
I've seen it with the podcast,this is the first year that I've
been super consistent withepisodes and it's flourished,

(51:09):
it's absolutely flourished andI'm blown away and humbled by it
.
And I think it comes back toalso what you kind of touched on
is like using your gifts to bein service, and that was
something that really hit for meOnce I learned these tools.
It was immediately like, oh,okay, this has lessened my
anxiety, depression, whatever.

(51:31):
Now I'm going to use this andI'm going to like scream it from
the rooftops and be like youcan heal your anxiety with
breathwork and just being inservice to other people.
I think there's something thatis so fulfilling about that,
like it's different when we'researching for ourselves, like
yes, that's fulfilling too.

(51:52):
But once you have that, it'skind of like okay, now what and
this goes back to what we say inthe episode with Danielle is
going back to community, goingback to like loving your
neighbor and like not havingyour head buried in your phone
when you're walking down thestreet like smile at a stranger.

(52:12):
It's that human connection andthat being of service that's
really going to like move theneedle forward as far as
humanity goes.

Speaker 2 (52:22):
Yeah.
I guess in my humble opinion ifwe get to snap our fingers and
get rid of phones, I wonder whatour society would look like
three months later uh, I'm likeso torn about this, though,
because if that was the case,like we wouldn't be able to do
this yes, yes so I I don't knowI'm I'm torn about it like I.

Speaker 1 (52:42):
I mean, I think that, being a millennial, I think
we're really lucky because wegot to see like life before and
like kind of moved through thetechnological boom.
But my family is still in, someof my family is still in Italy.
So before the internet wasreally readily accessible,
before phones were basicallymany computers, like when we

(53:06):
called them we would have to geta calling card and like we
would talk to them for fiveminutes.
It was like hurry up, like sayeverything you need to say in
five minutes and then hang upand like we'll talk to you again
in four months.
And now it's like, oh, I canjust shoot them a message and
they get it instantly.
So I'm always torn about thisand I think it's really how you
use it.
It's like how technology isused and having that balance of

(53:29):
like okay, time to unplug, likeI love nighttime, my phone goes
on airplane mode, I shut thewifi routers down and like
having that balance.
And sometimes it's hard to doCause like yeah, I want to lay
in bed and scroll, but I knowthat it's that mental discipline
to like shut it down and justbe done with it and allow time

(53:51):
of just being with my legs upthe wall and just a little
breath work.

Speaker 2 (53:57):
Yeah, I guess we were given these tools and I guess
maybe that's also the human.
If we zoom out to like themillion year picture, maybe that
is the evolutionary journeythat we're being given right now
.
As humans, because of all thedifferent animals, we are the
only animal that really usestools to a very developed degree

(54:20):
.
I mean, a chimpanzee with astick fishing for termites or
something isn't then able to usethat stick to just kind of
scroll around or whatever right,like we have these amazing
tools.
It's not just phones, it's awhole bunch of things Also like
breathwork, whatever right, allthose tools.
And I think maybe ourevolutionary push now is like

(54:42):
can you we're going to give youthese tools, can you use them
appropriately?
Can you the good ones?
Can you use them when you needthem rather than ignoring them?
And then the bad ones, or theones that have this potential to
be abused, can you limityourself to use them when only
appropriate?
And I guess that just comes backdown to consciousness.
And was it that you really want?

(55:04):
Like, what do you?
What do you really want and howmuch of that desire that you
have within you is, let's say,programmed right?
Because if you've beenprogrammed with these external
desires that actually aren'tresonant with your spirit, then
you will do those things,whereas I mean, a good example

(55:26):
could be someone that is, like,not comfortable with their body,
and so their Instagram isfilled with all these model
pictures, right, and they'rescrolling because they're like I
want to be like that.
I want to be like that.
It's like, well, you were justgiven the body that you're given
.
You can do all these things tomake it as nice as possible, but
you'll never look like thatmodel, because they're a
different person and so that'slike a behavioral program.

(55:48):
Maybe that person was given ata young age, um, and so we just
needed to like how do we findthose non-resonant energies?
Because that's what you couldlike kind of boil it down to is
it's like some energy, thoughtform that lives in our biofield,
our aura, our fascia, body.
How do you find those?

(56:10):
And then like, purge them out.
I mean, yoga is a great way ofdoing that, breathwork is a
fantastic way, but you have todo those things in the first
place to do that.

Speaker 1 (56:19):
Yeah, and sometimes that's the hardest part is
showing up and getting there.
I mean, I probably since I was13, I had a very close family
member who would say go to yoga,you should try yoga.
And I was always like no, no,no, no, no.
And then something happenedwhen I turned 20 and it just
clicked and then it's becomelike a regular part of my life.

(56:42):
But I think I've talked aboutthis in the past.
It goes way beyond to likepatterns of self-sabotage, like
sometimes those are programmed.
Actually, I would say 99% ofthem are programmed and they're
from ages like zero to nine.
And I've gone through the breakmethod with busy gold and she

(57:06):
talks a lot about this and it'sall about brain repatterning and
stopping those self-limitingbeliefs and getting back in the
driver's seat of your life tomake those decisions, to like
stop those, those brain patternsthat are creating bad habits,
bad behaviors, self-sabotage,like you name it, and to rewire

(57:27):
your brain to recognize them andto choose differently.

Speaker 2 (57:32):
And I think that's a really hard path to take and I
do hope that people in humanityare are leaning towards that so
that we can see a bettertomorrow it really is like this
integration period, after youhave some sort of experience, to
then integrate that and so likea classic example that we have
a ton of research on now wouldbe psychedelics.

(57:53):
Let's say you take a little bitof mushrooms or whatever and
you have this altered perceptionof reality.
And my experience withpsychedelics is that when you
have non-resonant energieswithin your let's just call it
biofield, but really just like awhole quantum thing, right?
Just like you have thesethingsresonant energies within
your let's just call it biofield, but really this is like a
whole quantum thing, right?
Just like you have these thingsthat aren't, they're like the

(58:14):
not self, right, you haveyourself god-given.
Then you have these not selvesthat are maybe attached to you
or your environment.
You notice things in yourenvironment, whatever I find
those all of a sudden stick outreally clearly like everything
is that's good and healthy, islike green, and then all of a
sudden stick out really clearlylike everything is that's good
and healthy, is like green.
And then all of a sudden yousee it's like bright, neon,

(58:34):
purple light or something that'slike clearly something that you
need to identify and like fix.
You could say it's made veryapparent, it's.
I don't actually see thesecolors, but that's just the
metaphor, um, but it's reallythe integration I mean.
They've they've done researchwith different psychedelics
showing that you can administera psychedelic.
And this is for, like mice,like the study that I'm

(58:55):
referencing.
They gave this like novelpsychedelic to mice and when
they uh, and then there was likethis learning maze test that
they had afterwards and they hadto the mice that were given the
psychedelic, they consistentlydid that learning task
afterwards and kept at it.
That's when they showed atremendous amount of brain

(59:17):
plasticity and rewiring of theirreward patterns because they
were doing this maze evenwithout being given a reward,
like a little treat, whereas themice that weren't given it
would not do the maze withoutthe treat.
But meanwhile, of course,getting better at the maze is
better for you, because nowyou're, you know, a little

(59:38):
smarter, a little sharper thingsof this nature.
But they took that maze away.
They gave the psychedelic andthen took the maze away for like
a week.
It didn't, none of the effectsclicked and the plasticity
didn't click.
And so I think that's animportant part of this is like
just being aware of thatintegration period and being

(59:58):
aware of the consistency thatyou need to show throughout that
.
And so, in the classic examplethis is not what I'm like, let's
say, recommending to people,this is just an example that's
very well researched is that youcan give a psychedelic, and
then there's that integrationperiod where you should then
meditate on what came up for you.
You know, journal, however, youwant to do that work through

(01:00:19):
that, um, but this goes for awhole host of things, and you
could do all the psychedelics inthe world.
But if you don't do thatintegration, you're just going
to be in a karmic loop now whereyou're not addressing these,
these things that are there andnot actually.
You see that bright, neon,purple light, but you're not
actually grabbing it and movingit out of your space, and so

(01:00:42):
it's like you see it and then itfades back and everything's
like the same muted colors again, because now you don't have the
heightened perception.
And then you see it again.
You're like, oh yeah, I forgotthat thing was there, and then
it fades back and it's just likethis loop.
But that integration is really,really important.

Speaker 1 (01:00:57):
Yes, I talked about this in my yoga classes too,
because Shavasana is anintegration pose, so you see it
in the people who are.
Like when Shavasana is comingup, they're like grabbing their
mat, they're leaving.
It's like you're missing thebest part of the practice, Like
if you don't integrate whatyou've just learned, like what
was the point of being here atall?

Speaker 2 (01:01:18):
Shout out to Stephanie at oh my Yoga in Camp
Hill, pennsylvania, because shehad an awesome class.
It was a lot of fun, but shealways gave us a super long,
juicy shavasana.

Speaker 1 (01:01:30):
Oh, I love that.

Speaker 2 (01:01:31):
Oh, it was so nice and it was long enough to
actually get into those deeperstates and to do that
integration, whereas a lot ofclasses it's like, okay,
shavasana, corpse pose, and thenit's like three minutes later
they're like, okay, startwiggling your toes.
I'm like I was still wigglingthem the whole time.
I hadn't even calmed down yet.
Like, oh, my god, this is threeminutes for like this 70 long,

(01:01:53):
70 minute long class, like itneeds to be a sufficient length
of time, and Stephanie would dolike these 15 minutes of asanas
or longer, which was like theperfect length, and you know you
could stay there longer if youwanted.
But yeah, that's a reallyimportant thing too.
And I guess that comes back togiving ourselves time,
recognizing that we have timeand that we're not like starved

(01:02:17):
of time.
I think there's like this fearthat we don't have enough time.
It's like we don't but we do.

Speaker 1 (01:02:24):
Yeah, I agree, and it's like what are you using
your time on?
Like my friends or likestudents that are always like I
don't have time to meditate?
I'm like what was your screentime last week?
Oh yeah, do you have time?

Speaker 2 (01:02:39):
I think you just have to reallocate your time say, my
videos are too long on YouTubeand these are, like.
You know, I go in depth intothe science and everything and a
lot of people love it.
Some people like it's too longand that's fine.
Like they're like, can you makelike short form content or
TikToks and stuff.
It's like you're not going tolearn this stuff with the TikTok
and I.

(01:02:59):
You know everyone has their ownway of doing it.
Like for long for like, if Iwas listening to this podcast,
I'd be washing my dishes rightnow, I'd be sweeping up and
cleaning around the house, right.
It's not like I'm just sittingthere listening to it the whole
time, like I'd be doing things,but I'd be actively engaged at
the same time.
So it's like you can find waysto work in this like long form,

(01:03:21):
really deep, impactfulinformation, you could say,
while still getting stuff done,like.
But I guess maybe that's a moremercurial thing where we can
multitask better.

Speaker 1 (01:03:30):
Yeah, I don't know, I always this is like maybe the
Gemini in me, but I speed up theaudio times two and I'm also
doing the things Like your braingets used to it.

Speaker 2 (01:03:40):
Yeah, you can do times two.
Yeah, you know, I recentlystarted editing my videos.
I found out if I hit L on mykeypad for Premiere Pro it.
I found out, if I hit L on mykeypad for Premiere Pro, it
speeds it up and so it makesediting a little faster.
And then when I go back and Ihit L again to slow it down, I'm
like, oh my God, I sound sostupid Because everything is so
slow and it's just, yeah, yourmind does get used to it.

(01:04:02):
Of course I'm not stupid justbecause it's a little slower
than the 2x speed, but you doget used to it.
I do like certain things to beat normal pace.
You can get that timing, butother things that are kind of
informational and you know, it'sjust really about getting all
the info.
Yeah, I mean, speed that guy up.

Speaker 1 (01:04:22):
Maybe that's that's our mercury flexing there.
We just want that informationand we want it in double the
time, like half the time thereis a little bit of a of an
information starved aspect.

Speaker 2 (01:04:36):
I've been encountering that myself where I
just feel like I'm and I.
So that's the other thing.
The reason why this got broughtinto my mind and my sphere is
because I'm grappling with someof this myself and wanting more
and more and more and wantingsome certainty, but you know,
there is no certainty at the endof the day other than yourself
and like what you can do, and sothat's that's why I wanted to

(01:04:56):
jump on here.
So we have this conversation,because I feel like us talking
about this hopefully could behelpful to some other people,
because I really feel like I'mjust picking up on everyone's
their own individual, but I alsofeel like I am very much
picking up on a collective vibewith that and just wanted to to
work through that as best, asbest we could and just to

(01:05:19):
reaffirm some of these thingsthat we know work.
You know, one of the things Isay is that we like work done is
work done.
Like if you were like thepyramids you build a pyramid, no
one's going to take thatpyramid and gize it down.
Right, the big one, the big one.
Like no one's going to take itdown and we have to remind
ourselves that, like you know,with time pay attention to all
these little details the bigpicture starts to materialize.

(01:05:41):
Like all that work is done,it's not going away.
Erosion erosion is a prettyslow process.
Building is a pretty quickprocess, so keep building,
building, building.
Don't worry about erosion.
Take breaks if you need to andeverything will work out.

Speaker 1 (01:05:55):
Oh, I love that.
That's the perfect message andI'm so glad that you came back
on the podcast.
I think this is a really greatconversation and, like I said,
if I found this five years ago,I think it would have been just
what I needed to hear.

Speaker 2 (01:06:08):
Yeah, jump off that cliff go.
I think it would have been justwhat I needed to hear.
Yeah, jump off that cliff.
Uh, don't go out of the cage.
Just make sure you don't do itin a house where there is a cat
that wants to eat you.

Speaker 1 (01:06:17):
Thank you so I know rip rip yeah but cats will be
cats yeah, I mean like the bestpart of felines, I have two.

Speaker 2 (01:06:32):
I mean, that is, that's the journey of life.
Like Molly maybe this is alsothe metaphor Like Molly did walk
out of the cage right, andmaybe that was a step that that
little mouse needed to take, andthen it went through a
reincarnation process and maybeMolly became like a cat or a dog

(01:06:53):
or a human or a bird orsomething.
I don't know.
But I feel like that is kind of, in many ways, the signal that
God needs.
It's not that you need to stepout of the cage and then God's
like okay, I need you to examinethe entire room or the house to
find a little golden cheesenugget.
Maybe you just need to steproom or the house to find a
little golden cheese nugget.
Maybe you just need to step outof the cage to show that you
did it.

(01:07:13):
And then God gives you the nextstage, the reward, the bounty,
whatever it is.

Speaker 1 (01:07:20):
I love that.
My grandmother.
She was a great spiritualteacher of mine and I think,
even though she's passed, shestill is.
But she used to say all thetime God helps those who help
themselves.
So if you're not taking thoseaction steps, like you're
sending mixed messages to him sohe can't give you what you want
, it's like the same thing.
You know you're manifesting andthe people who are like, oh,

(01:07:41):
manifesting doesn't work for me,it's like okay, but you can't
just like sit and think about it.
Like just like sit and thinkabout it, like what are the
action steps you're taking tolike bring that energy towards
you?

Speaker 2 (01:07:50):
yeah, yeah, I find also manifesting is like doing
the thing and then actuallytotally disassociating from that
thing, and that's when thingshappen like oh, let's say like
release a video and I'll take anap, and that's when the videos
blow up.
Yeah, like that, because I'm inlike this unconscious astral
space, and that's when all themagic happens not like

(01:08:11):
refreshing the analytics, likeyeah, exactly, exactly.
So, um, yeah, hopefully ourconversation has some value for
some people.
I I really hope that and I Iappreciate you having me on the
podcast and my mind feels alittle clearer now.

Speaker 1 (01:08:27):
Oh, I love that.

Speaker 2 (01:08:28):
That we can work through and process some of
these individual but also verymuch collective things.
You know we are all one.
You know Dr Bronner's is on mysoap bar, I believe it.
So you know, I hope that thiswas valuable to everybody.

Speaker 1 (01:08:43):
It absolutely was.
Thank you for being here.
It's always a pleasure, open,invite anytime you want to come
back on.
There's always like tons ofgolden information.
I think spirit really guidesthese episodes and whatever is
meant to come out for thecollective is what kind of
happens here.
So thank you for being here.
Thank you all for listening.
If this resonates, please like,subscribe, share with somebody

(01:09:06):
you love and I'll see you nexttime.