It's Never Too Late To Change Your Life

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Embark on an emotional odyssey with me, Chris Kushnier, as I recount my transformative experiences during the Yoga Effects Bikram Teacher Certification in Bali. This isn't just another training; it's the crucible where students metamorphose into teachers, emerging with the wisdom to breathe new life into their worlds. You'll hear about my own evolution during my third pilgrimage to this life-altering program and get an inside look into the profound choices that can catapult us into a realm of living that's as authentic as it is exhilarating. We'll delve into the inspiring story of Ian Young, the visionary CEO of YogaFX, whose pivotal decision redirected his path from financing a gym to shaping the destinies of aspiring yoga masters.

This episode is more than just a recounting of events; it's an intimate exploration of the courage required to chase dreams and the invigorating vitality of embracing change. I'll share the unexpected aliveness that comes from surrendering the old and the critical choice of selecting happiness over the comfort of the status quo. Through my journey and Ian's impactful narrative, you'll find a heartfelt call to action to live deeply and to seize the opportunities for personal growth that are often cloaked as challenges. As we close this chapter, I send out the warmest Namaste with a hope that you too will find the courage to make the life-enriching choices that resonate with your soul.

Featured Poem:

The Cost of Saying No

Sometimes the words that flow

Are the hardest ones to write. 

I try to let them go,

But my brain put’s up a fight. 

Ironic how the things you know,

Just never seem quite right-

While the things you know are oh so wrong,

Are the only things in sight. 

And when the right thing shows up at your door

And you try to turn it down,

What you learn is that the cost of no

Is so much heavier than the crown.

Saying yes to all your hopes and dreams

Is so much more than what it seems

Because pursuing happiness 

Is to discover what life means. 

It’s never over till over 

But it’s all part of the dream;

Because over is what closure does,

And it is never what it seems.

I made the choice to rise,

Because there is no compromise

Between the choice of living life

Or spending life pursuing lies.  

Possessing everything you want

Brings the ultimate surprise;

That it’s only once you’ve lost it all

That you truly feel alive. 

. 

#BGIR #Motivation #MentalHealth #Discovery #Mindfulness #intentionalliving #Meditation #Yoga #Selfhelp #themotionalhealer #growth #journey #explore #wonder #manifestation #intention #sayyes #yougotthis #choice #yesyoucan #poetry #poeticjourney #poetryinlife #thebrokestguyintheroom

BGIR.ME

Episode Transcript

(00:05):
Welcome back to The Brokest Guyin the Room.
This is Chris Kusznir.
Today's the first day followingthe 2024 YogaFX Bikram Teacher
Certification here in Bali,Indonesia.
This is my third Yogafx BikramYoga Teacher Certification and

(00:28):
it's remarkable to me how everytime, every time, it's the same
incredible emotional journey.
This day is the day wherestudents have become teachers
and are essentially released togo wreak havoc upon the lives
they left behind, and trulywreaking havoc is really kind of

(00:53):
what I'm talking about.
You know, Ian says something,and when I say Ian, of course, I
mean Mr Ian Young, CEO of YogaEffects, master yoga Teacher.
For my money, the mostincredible yoga teacher on the
planet.
This guy has a way aboutpulling things out of you that

(01:17):
you didn't even know were there,and he pulls them with such
strength that they become theoverwhelming new presence, the
emperor's new clothes.
The naked body that is behindis changed indefinitely in spite
of this invisible cloak thatgoes before it, and people rise

(01:39):
and something just comes alive.
What's an interesting feelingfor me always, as I always seem
to be one who stays behind andwitnesses this and experiences
it.
Changing your life is aremarkable thing, and even more

(02:04):
remarkable to me is how manypeople feel trapped in their
lives, how many people feel thatthey cannot do this, and so
many of them come here and leavechanged and then go out and
inspire, cause, create influenceand just deliver change to so

(02:29):
many other individuals.
It's never too late to changeyour life, and that's what
today's episode is really about.
It's about the power ofchanging your life.
It's about the power ofallowing yourself to dream.
It's about the incrediblejourney that you can go through

(02:49):
when you allow yourself to betouched and inspired in a way
that empowers you to touch andinspire other human beings.
There were so many times in mylife where I thought I should be
done dreaming, where I thoughthow dare I have the audacity to
reach for something that isn'tfor me?
Because I can never possiblyfucking reach it.
And the moment that you let goof that last part, the I can

(03:14):
never possibly reach it part youfind yourself not only reaching
but grasping a hold and totallyowning things that you who just
couldn't have possibly everdreamed.
And once you have them, youcouldn't possibly dream of ever
letting them go.
And you realized that theselittle choices that you made in

(03:40):
those moments, you made themwhat seemed simple in reality
was the great climb of your lifewhere everything these dreams
were at stake.
You could have gone a differentway In class, Ian and when I

(04:03):
say Ian, I mean Mr.
Ian Young, CEO of YogaFX, oneof the most incredible yoga
teachers I've ever encountered,one of the most inspiring human
beings I've ever encountered.
He talks about how he's changedhis life a few times.
I'll focus on how he found yogaand how he found Bikram Yoga.

(04:28):
Somebody yet came to him andactually asked him to partner
with him on an investment, tosponsor them to go to India and
train under Vikram Chaudry sothat he could open a gym that Mr
Ian would fund.
And rather than financing thatopportunity, ian's curiosity was

(04:51):
aroused, so far to the pointthat he decided to invest that
same amount of money in himself,go and learn this practice so
that he could teach.
And I gotta tell you I, as anindividual, every day, I'm
thankful for that decision thathe made, because had he not done

(05:11):
that, he would have not beenable to change my life.
And had he not changed my life,I wouldn't be sitting here
recording this, you wouldn't besitting here listening to it.
The domino effect goes on andon and the countless people in

(05:32):
my life who I've been able toinfluence, inspire and otherwise
empower, none of that wouldhave happened.
It's just insane what's atstake with every choice that we
make.
We just don't have the idea.
You can't possibly see it.
And inspiration and love andpower is so fleeting a fucking

(05:58):
thing that it's just hard forhuman being to comprehend how
close we come to giving it allup.
This episode is really aboutchanging your life, the way that
Ian did, the way that I did,the way that the 45 people I saw

(06:20):
graduate yesterday did.
I'll apologize in advance if Iget choked up at any point in
this, because the power of thisexperience, whether as a witness
or as a subject or as theinspirer, it gets me every time.
This is the third damn timeI've been through this here in

(06:43):
Bali and every time I think it'sgonna not hit me the same.
And every time I find myselfcrying these powerful damn tears
Because it's truly aweinspiring to me to watch human

(07:05):
beings transform from a singleexperience, myself included, and
then, quite frankly, every timeI see it, I'm reminded of the
transformation that I underwentand that I seem to continue to
undergo.

(07:30):
A few years ago, I was anxiousfrom losing everything that I
had ever built in this world andI was clinging so desperately
to it and, at the same time,everything I had built in this
world had felt so empty to mebecause I had lost touch with

(07:51):
passion.
And then passion found me againand, to use a metaphor, this
was like plugging in anelectronic device.

(08:14):
You can hold this thing in yourhand and know that it's capable
of doing so many things, butwould have that supply of
electricity.
It is a worthless trinket, andthat is how I felt.
I felt like a worthless trinketIn spite of everything that I
did, everything that I had builtas a business owner, as a

(08:36):
former politician, as a father,as a husband, because I didn't
feel good enough and I didn'tfeel worthy and I didn't feel
that I deserved any of thethings that I got.
I couldn't find a way to lovemyself, you know, and I most

(08:58):
certainly didn't think Ideserved to change my life until
the opportunity to change mylife changed my mind.
There will come a point forevery one of you listening where

(09:18):
the thing that you hide away,that dream that you would give
almost anything for that youwant so bad that you're afraid
to say it out loud, that you'reafraid to admit to yourself that

(09:39):
you actually want oh, there'sgoing to come a point where the
universe is going to offer it toyou and not everybody
recognizes that point.
Even fewer yet will pursue itand even fewer yet will

(10:02):
capitalize on it to make ittheir reality.
I'm speaking to you today asthe latter, as one of the
individuals who was so fortunateto recognize it, to reach for
it, to accept it and make itreal.

(10:22):
And my life today as a resultis something I could have never
dreamed and that I can only hopeevery one of you listening will
get to experience.
Obviously, not the samecircumstances.
It's not about what that dreamis.

(10:44):
It's about feeling what itfeels like to put your hands on
the thing you never thoughtyou'd get to touch and call it
your own, to find a way to beable to do something you never
thought you could do and exhibitmastery in it, and let that

(11:10):
knowledge, that experience, thatpower flow through you into
other people and then watch ithappen to them.
Oh, I promise you there are afew feelings in this world, if
any, that will ever be sorewarding.

(11:33):
The life you desire, the lifeyou dream is always a choice
away.
I spent the vast majority of mylife in disbelief of my
previous statement the vastmajority.

(11:57):
I will spend the rest of mylife, without a shred of doubt,
pursuing that dream, loving thatdream, living that dream,
sharing that dream and buildingthat dream for other people.

(12:22):
That's what yoga did for me,that's what Bali did for me,
that's what yoga effects did forme, what Mr Ian Young did for
me, all the people here and allthe people back home who made it
possible for me to give this tomyself, so that I could grow

(12:47):
muscles in my soul that I couldhave never imagined could be
real, so that I could embodythis specimen that I just lived
in awe of all the years prior.
It's like being Clark Kent inyour whole life, and one day the

(13:12):
suit you put on when you lookin the mirror is blue, with a
red cape, and suddenly you canfly.
Yeah, that's the extent towhich I feel alive now, and I

(13:35):
feel willing to take that step,that leap, and to experience the
flight that was meant for mefrom the beginning, but that
could have never been realizedby me had I gone a different
direction, made a differentchoice, had I not believed that

(13:56):
I could change my life, had Inot believed that I was worthy
of the life that I wanted?
I think the thing that sticksout to me so much it comes in
every time I'm able to impactanother human being, and here it

(14:20):
happens so quick.
You know, I just show up tothis place on the other side of
the world and every time I comeback here there's people who
just know me and who are excitedto meet me and who, by the time

(14:41):
we're done, have beeninevitably and undeniably
changed by me.
And every single time, Ipromise you, the effect that
that change has on me is greaterthan the one that I had on them
.
It is an amplification, it is acatalyst, it is an inspiration

(15:03):
and it is a reason to keep doingwhat I'm doing.
It's why I walk around withendless gratitude for every
tragedy that I survived, everysuccess that I realized and

(15:30):
every dream that I will realizeand pursue.
I was able to change my life, togo from a person who felt empty
and dead inside and didn't knowhow to love themselves and

(15:52):
couldn't imagine what that couldfeel like.
And now different story,different story I got strength
in me and power in me that Iwake up every morning flying out

(16:13):
of bed.
I just can't wait to share itwith someone else.
I can't because, as I saidbefore, every impact that I make
impacts me times 10.
And I just keep fucking growing.

(16:34):
I keep feeling more and morealive and keep finding myself
reaching for things I neverwould have dared, and reaching
for them with a confidence inthe expectation to grasp them,
and it's beyond incredible.

(16:55):
And so now, year after year, Ikeep coming back here and I keep
changing my life even furtherand keep building on the last
one and the last one and thelast one, and keep looking
forward to the next one and thenext one and the next one.

(17:18):
It's like I sprouted wings thatjust keep expanding and now
have gotten so big that they'vecrossed the damn planet and
given me the opportunity to bewho I always dreamed and do the

(17:41):
things that I would have neverdared to dream.
Why am I telling you this story?
I am telling you this because Iknow how many people are out
there that are still afraid todream.

(18:01):
I know how many people are outthere in jobs.
They hate circumstances thatare uncomfortable, passionless
lives, loveless marriages,whatever it may be and they're
so close.
They're one choice away fromfixing all of it.

(18:22):
And so I'm here to givetestament in hopes to inspire
any one of those people to makethat choice, to cross that
bridge, because the world willbe better from you being better,
and so I don't have to know you, to love you, to care about you

(18:47):
, to want to inspire you and todo every goddamn little thing
that I can do to make thathappen.
And in this case, it happens tobe simply finding a platform to
tell my story, in hopes thatsomehow it should find your ears

(19:08):
and open your eyes and moveyour legs and empower your heart
and your soul that you maypursue your ultimate self and
your greatest happiness.
It's time for change.
The world can be a very darkplace, and yet each one of us

(19:35):
carries within us a light thathas the ability to shine so
brightly that it can eliminatethat darkness.
I want to quickly sharesomething it's called the cost
of saying no.
Sometimes the words that floware the hardest ones to write.

(20:03):
I try to let them go, but mybrain puts up a fight.
Ironic how the things you knowjust never seem quite right,
while the things you know are ohso wrong are the only things in
sight.
And when the right thing showsup at your door and you try to

(20:27):
turn it down, what you learn isthat the cost of no is so much
heavier than the crown.
Saying yes to all your hopes anddreams is so much more than
what it seems, because pursuinghappiness is to discover what
life means.
It's never over till it's over,but it's all part of the dream,

(20:55):
because over is what closuredoes and it is never what it
seems.
I made the choice to risebecause there is no compromise
between the choice of livinglife or spending life.
Pursuing lies, possessingeverything you want, brings the

(21:20):
ultimate surprise that it's onlyonce you've lost it all that
you truly feel alive.
This is Chris Kusznir, yourgracious host, with so much love
and gratitude for yourlistening and so much hope for

(21:42):
the changes to come in your life, should you choose to make them
.
Until next time, my friends, Ilove you all, namaste.