May 13, 2024 • 30 mins
When life throws a spanner in the works, it's tempting to question the universe's plan. Join me as I recount my own surprising journey, where reluctance to hit the gym turned into a life-affirming habit, and synchronicities pointed me toward profound truths. This episode is a candid exploration of how I've managed Crohn's disease not with medication, but through diet and exercise, challenging the standard American lifestyle and its impact on our health. Along the way, I share how embracing these changes has brought me not just better physical health, but a deeper connection to the world around me.
Listeners will also find inspiration in stories of personal growth through adversity and the pursuit of purpose. From struggling with anemia while maintaining a rigorous fitness regimen to the eye-opening health revelations experienced abroad, I discuss how these challenges have fueled my passion for helping others. Discover the power of purpose through my endeavors to build a school in Bali and the unexpected friendships that blossom from shared moments of vulnerability. This conversation serves as a reminder that life’s obstacles are often stepping stones to finding our true calling, and that staying attuned to the universe's nudges can lead us to a more fulfilling path.
#BGIR #Motivation #MentalHealth #Discovery #Mindfulness #intentionalliving #Meditation #Yoga #Selfhelp #themotionalhealer #growth #journey #explore #wonder #manifestation #intention #sayyes #yougotthis #choice #yesyoucan #poetry #poeticjourney #poetryinlife #thebrokestguyintheroom
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome back to the Broker's Guy in the Room.
This is Chris Kushnier, yourhost.
Today's episode is aboutsynchronicities.
Yesterday, I recorded anepisode that was entitled God
Laughs when man Plans, and sortof.
(00:26):
The general point of theepisode was that when as often
happens we set out a plan and weembark on executing that plan
and obstacles and passes areotherwise come up, what do we do
?
In my experience, when thishappens, it's the universe hard
(00:53):
at work, trying to redirect ourattention to something else.
What's been remarkable about itis that today now, normally, I
don't share the uneditedrecordings with just about
anyone I'll share them with mywife and I share them with my
(01:14):
producer so that they can, youknow, become finalized.
Today, though, I met threedifferent people.
Uh, randomly, you know allrandom occurrences If you
believe in random occurrences,which I, I don't happen to
believe in random occurrences,but in each one of these cases,
(01:39):
what I recorded and wroteyesterday seemed infinitely
relevant, and wrote yesterdayseemed infinitely relevant, and
it's funny because, when I wokeup this morning, I was feeling
largely unmotivated.
I was feeling very homesick.
I thought I would just have aday of rest.
(01:59):
I thought I would have a daywhere I just, you know, stayed
in the room and reflected oneverything that's been happening
, everything that's going tohappen, everything that's going
on.
But around lunchtime I startedto feel that itch to go exercise
(02:20):
, to go work out.
I was like, you know, I haven'thad a leg day in a while.
Maybe I should go.
And so I went to brother's gymhere in Batabolong in Canggu,
bali, which is a small gym thatI've come to really love.
(02:43):
A real gym, you know, not anInstagram gym, but a real gym
where people actually go totrain.
I love it because there's no ACand so even on a light day, I
leave with a sweat that'svigorous enough to have to wring
out my shirt.
And those of you that followknow that I have Crohn's disease
(03:05):
and I've learned that a bigpart of regulating my Crohn's
disease is to sufficiently heatmy body up to keep my system
working the way that it needs to.
If I take more than two, threedays off, I start developing
bloat and, it seems, my systemstarts to slow down, and that's
(03:28):
the beginning of the end.
If I make any bad dietarydecisions during that time
period, you could say I'minevitably fucked, for lack of a
better way to say it.
Excuse my profanity, but it'srelevant to express just how bad
(03:48):
the pain gets.
Anyone with Crohn's knows whatI'm talking about.
When you have Crohn's disease,crohn's disease essentially
behaves like rheumatoidarthritis.
So if you can imagine havingarthritis of the guts, okay.
So if you can imagine havingarthritis of the guts, okay.
Inevitably what happens is youstart to develop inflammation
(04:09):
inside your system, and thatinflammation causes blockages
and causes friction, and thatfriction can lead to ulcers.
It can lead to a whole number,a whole suite of discomforts,
(04:30):
I'll call it.
And so most people who don'twant to make life changes,
dietary changes, end up takingmedication that stops their body
from having this response.
The problem is is that thisdisorder is an autoimmune
(04:51):
disorder, and so that medicationthat's going to cause your body
not to react is also going tocause your immune system not to
be able to fight infection ornot to be able to fight back,
because it's a suppressant, animmunosuppressant okay, that's
the best that western medicinehas to offer.
(05:15):
My personal journey, I'velearned that lifestyle change,
you know, exercise, healthyeating, meditation, breath work,
yoga is a much better solution.
In fact I would call it a cure,but that's not suitable to
(05:36):
western medicine, you know.
I mean, for christ's sake,humera costs about ninety
thousand dollars a year and forthat ninety thousand000 a year
and for that $90,000 a year youget something that makes you
feel better at the moment.
But, like most Western medicine, alleviates one system, one
symptom and replaces it withanother.
(05:57):
And I went down that road.
You know, I took Humira forlike two years and during that
two-year period I was sickconstantly.
I would catch any cold, any flu, anything that came around my
way, and it wasn't working forme.
You know I got tired of beingon the medical hamster wheel.
(06:18):
I was sold a lie and I'm surethere's people out there with
Crohn's who might disagree withme, whatever.
But I can tell you this I'm thehealthiest I've ever been and
right now I haven't had stomachpain in weeks.
The difference is I'm out of theAmerican poison system of food
(06:49):
system of food.
I'm not eating foods that arecompletely drenched in
pesticides which cause leaky gutand a whole suite of other
symptoms.
I've been able to eat cleanfood here.
Now I also prepare most of mymeals.
You know I shop at localmarkets.
I cook almost every meal, mymeals.
You know I shop at localmarkets.
I cook almost every meal.
I avoid things like dairygluten, in my case onion, garlic
(07:10):
, potato, apple, broccoli, stalk, anything that's high in FODMAP
, but the only exception to thatrule has been cabbage.
Cabbage falls high on theFODMAP diet, but I don't eat raw
cabbage.
You know it's mostly sauerkrautfor the probiotics that help my
(07:37):
gut and, as a result, I've hadvirtually zero inflammation and
zero stomach pain.
But I digress.
I tend to focus on this becauseCrohn's has ruled, dictated and
otherwise steered most of mydecisions and most of my life.
Crohn's disease can be crippling.
Some people end up withcolostomy bags.
(08:00):
Some people end up withsections of their colon removed.
Some people end up undergoingfecal transplants.
I mean, there's a whole numberof different things that people
do to manage this disease.
I can tell you that I havesuccessfully managed this
(08:21):
disease through a disciplinedlifestyle, a disciplined diet
and a dedication to addressingit, first and foremost with
meditation, with yoga, withbreath work, with proper diet
and with daily fitness and withdaily fitness.
(08:44):
But that's not as easy as justsimply taking something, which
is what Western medicine wantsyou to believe, and it's a lie.
It's a lie.
Medicine is not medicine if itsimply masks one system, one
(09:08):
symptom, and replaces it withanother.
That's essentially no greaterthan a painkiller and it was not
good enough for me.
And I can tell you, as a resultof the decisions I've made and
the life choices that I've made,I am 39 years old and I am in
the best shape of my life.
I'm done being poisoned, and inthe West this is so hard.
(09:38):
It's amazing how easy it is todo here Now.
Now, I've been in Bali forabout three months and I can
tell you it's damn remarkablehow easy it is to do here Now.
Now, I've been in Bali forabout three months and I can
tell you it's damn remarkablehow easy it is to do here.
You know the only difference Ishop at local markets.
I buy farm fresh food.
If I, if I want to have protein, I go and buy fish that was
(10:00):
caught this morning.
Or I go and buy, you know,chicken that was killed this
morning and I and I apologize ifthis offends anybody, I'm not
vegan, I'm not vegetarian.
Uh, I'm severely anemic also and, uh, this causes me because of
my intense fitness regimen.
Uh, this caused me to battlewith dizziness, with
(10:23):
lightheadedness, and uh, quitefrankly, that's all right.
You know, I push through it.
I take breaks in the gym when Ineed to, and I keep pushing
forward, and I do this in hotenvironments.
I'm also a hot yoga instructor,a Bikram yoga instructor, and
(10:44):
anyone who's ever been in a roomwith me knows that.
You know they can attest to thefact.
Yeah, I have to take my back alot.
I do.
I get the spins, I get dizzyand I can't see straight, and I
got to go lay down on my backand I do so until it stops, and
then I get back up and I startagain.
(11:04):
I push myself to discomfort,and in discomfort I grow.
All good things are born ofdiscomfort.
You've heard me say that before.
Grow All good things are bornof discomfort.
You've heard me say that before.
As a result, though, I feelamazing.
Look at that.
How wonderful is that?
(11:25):
Now, it'll be interesting forme to record when I go back to
the States, because whatsystematically has been is that
every time I come here forseveral months, I feel amazing.
And then I go back to theStates, because what
systematically has been is thatevery time I come here for
several months, I feel amazing,and then I go back to the US and
I'm subject to all the poisons,not just the food, but the damn
media, the fear mongering, allof it, all of the consumptions
(11:48):
that lead to my body to react ina negative fashion, and then I
have symptoms, in any case,going back to synchronicities.
So today I thought I was goingto take a break, but I but I,
(12:08):
listening to my body, you knowmy body crave the exercise, so I
give it the exercise.
Body, you know my body cravedthe exercise, so I give it the
exercise.
Then I was going to come backand, uh, and just do some
creative work, um, but it's aSaturday, uh, there's a place
not far from here called Valley,that's, that's relatively new,
it's, it's a pool restaurant andbar, and so I thought, you know
(12:32):
, maybe I'll just go there andcheck it out, restaurant and bar
.
And so I thought, you know,maybe I'll just go there and
check it out.
Well, starting, starting on myjourney there, um, I met, uh, I
met one person there who was ona journey, who's trying to live
in Bali, she's trying to move toBali, uh, and she's trying to,
(12:54):
um, become a teacher, coach,instructor here.
Her desire is to help peoplechange their lives, her desire
is to help empower people, andthis is the same path that I'm
on, you know, the majordifference being is that I'm not
really, you know, I can't be acoach, and the reason for that
(13:15):
is because I have variousdifferent enterprises and I know
for a fact that I couldn't giveenough attention to any one
person to offer to be a coach,and so I very intentionally
choose not to do so.
What I do do is do this podcast.
I write poetry and I make apoint to be aware, when I'm
(13:39):
around, individuals who couldbenefit from what I have to
offer and I offer it for freebecause I'm not looking for that
to be a source of income and,quite frankly, that allows me to
offer my gift to other people,my healing, my growth, in a
matter of purity that's freefrom any financial motivation or
(14:02):
anything like that, and as aresult of that, I've been able
to change people's lives one byone, and I've received more
reward from that personally thanany amount of money could have
ever offered.
And you know, I'm so fortunateto be in that position and
that's not to downplay or naysayanybody who's in that field who
(14:27):
does do it for money, becausethey do help people as well.
My situation is just different.
You know, I have otherenterprises that I'm focused on
for financial gain, and this isa labor of love, and so I'm very
fortunate to be in thatposition.
But, in any case, thisparticular person was struggling
(14:50):
to make this transition and Iwas able to kind of, through
telling her my story, give hersome reassurance that when
you're on a purpose-driven path,that the universe tends to line
things up in your way to helpyou accomplish your objective.
It's, it's an incredible thingwhen you become aware of it.
(15:15):
Once you become aware of it andyou see it, it's undeniable,
you know.
But it's hard, because whenyour pockets are hurting and
you're worried about survival,uh, in her case, she's worried
about being able to stay here,you know, and, um, nonetheless,
uh, she was the first personthat that the rough draft of the
(15:37):
episode that I recordedyesterday and the thing that I
wrote yesterday, I mean justspoke directly to the
conversation and so I felt movedto share it.
I then left that place.
I stopped at my favorite localstore, live, which has it's a
whole foods market.
It's where I'm able to buy livecrafted sea moss, and their own
(16:00):
store made sauerkraut and someother natural products and
remedies, and I love that littlestore.
It's a family owned businessand it's right here on Batu
Majan in Canggu.
And, you know, I walk outsideand I'm standing across a guy,
and I noticed the fact that I'mstanding across.
(16:21):
So I say, hey, man, what's up,how are you?
And immediately we start havinga conversation and he reveals
that his ex is undergoing a bitof a mental crisis and, you know
, is struggling.
And I realize again that what Ihad just recorded last night
(16:43):
could help this person and speakto this person, and so I felt
moved to share it.
And then again I end upspeaking to another random
couple.
All of this in the span of likeless than an hour, you know, and
(17:04):
I realized that this is why Ifelt the pull to leave.
Ironically enough, the guy thatI was talking to, you know he
tells me that he had just beencaught up and was delayed in
doing so.
I don't know exactly what hewas up to, but he said you know,
I couldn't figure out why thesepeople were wasting my time,
but had they not been wasting mytime, I wouldn't have ended up
(17:26):
standing here talking to you,and it's kind of remarkable to
me.
And it's kind of remarkable tome.
See, I've become fully awareand fully certain that there are
no chance occurrences.
There's no such thing.
You know, we find ourselves inthe positions that we're in
(17:47):
because the universe has placedus there for a certain purpose.
The universe has placed usthere for a certain purpose and
at this point in my life, I'm soaware of that that my eyes are
wide open at all times, becauseI know every situation I get
into, every person that I'mgoing to interact with, if I'm
(18:10):
aware enough to realize themeaning, the purpose of it, that
there is something there, thatit is not simply random, that
these synchronicities line up toprovide us an opportunity to
execute something.
Most people walk through theirlife with blinders on and then,
(18:36):
later on in their life, lookback and they go oh yeah, you
know hindsight's 2020.
If I would have seen that, thenI would have done this.
Well, the moment that Irealized hindsight is 2020, I
realized that means we all havean opportunity to exercise our
foresight, because it is notpossible for hindsight to be
(18:59):
2020.
Without that meaning that allthe signs were there for us to
recognize if we were able toopen up our foresight.
And so the reason I'm choosingto record this episode is
because I want to invite you allto have an exercise in this Not
(19:23):
to be cliche, but to stop andsmell the roses, to see the
things that are being placed inyour way, in your life, so that
you can start to recognize them,because they, in all likelihood
, have been placed there for you.
They have been placed there foryou to recognize, for you to
(19:45):
respond, to react to and changeto.
From the moment that I becameaware of this and that I started
really responding to it, mylife's changed.
My life's changed.
(20:07):
Now, every day I look for theseopportunities, because in each
one of them I find opportunitiesto change people's lives, and I
would never get tired of beingtold you changed my life forever
or you helped me realizesomething.
Even in addition to this, when Iwas getting my arms tattooed
(20:30):
with all of my mantras and allof my motivational phrases,
which line both my left andright arm, even that experience,
there was another gentleman inthe room who was getting a
double portrait of his son andof his sister who passed away
from an overdose, and this was apowerful experience for me,
(20:54):
because this man endured so muchpain during this process and
watching him go through it.
You know, I'd kind of walk byand I would just offer him
different different forms ofencouragement, even if it was
just a silent nod, even if itwas just a thumbs up, and in the
(21:16):
moment, you know, I was justbeing me, I wasn't really
thinking much about it.
Uh, and as a result of that,you know, I've I've developed
what's probably going to be alifelong friend.
He called me today, while I wasat the restaurant, to tell me
how special that experience wasand how I became a part of that
experience for him forever.
These are the things that I nowlive for, because they uplift
(21:41):
me, they offer me so much, theyoffer me so much fulfillment, so
much motivation and so muchaffirmation to keep doing what
I'm doing.
And because of the strength thatI get from these moments, I
have absolute confidence in allthe movements I make elsewhere,
(22:06):
because all of the businessventures that I have going
absolute confidence in all themovements I make elsewhere,
because all of the businessventures that I have going are
all in an effort to enable me tokeep doing things like this and
not charging money for them.
It's a very beautiful thing.
See what I'm working towards inall of these ventures here in
Bali is to one day build aschool where I can work with
(22:30):
underprivileged youth, teachthem English, teach them
environmental awareness andteach them work skills.
And should my other businessventures work out, I should be
able to expand on that and evenprovide them work opportunities
for the future.
See, I'm be able to expand onthat and even provide them work
opportunities for the future.
See, I'm about changing lives.
Now I'm so fortunate to havefound my purpose in this and to
(22:59):
be able to change lives.
To be able to empower humanbeings and help them find their
path to their own personalgreatness helps me find my own
personal greatness, and this isa big part of how, in a two year
span, I've gone from somebodywho would have eagerly and
(23:21):
desperately traded skins withanybody on the planet to
somebody who would stubbornlyand absolutely not consider
trading skins with anyone on theplanet, to somebody who would
stubbornly and absolutely notconsider trading skins with
anyone on the planet.
I don't care what you got, Idon't care what kind of car you
drive, what kind of house youlive in.
No, I'm not interested, becauseI am madly in love with life
(23:42):
and I love what I do, absolutelylove it.
That all comes because I knowwhat my purpose is now.
See, I'm an individual whostruggled with depression and
addiction throughout my wholelife.
It's always been there, rightbeyond the veil, and it's still
(24:04):
there.
If something were to comebetween me and my purpose, that
obstacle would still be there,but as long as I got air in
these lungs, I'm going to keepmoving forward towards this.
I know damn well how lucky I amto be in this position, and
(24:27):
that's why I can't take a singlestep forward.
I know damn well how lucky I amto be in this position and
that's why I can't take a singlestep forward without looking
around me to see who I can movewith me, because every human
being on this planet deserves tofeel how I feel right now, even
if it's just for a moment.
(24:47):
You're going to hear me say thata lot in this show Purpose is
an incredible thing, and whenyou start to become aware of the
synchronicities in your life,you can start to see how there's
always some person you're goingto meet, some circumstance
(25:10):
you're going to find yourself in, that is going to provide you
the opportunity to take one stepcloser towards fulfilling your
purpose, and that is why I'm sosure that the divine is real and
that the universe has a planfor us all.
(25:31):
And when we become aware of it,we start to have the
opportunity to execute what weprior would have called the
impossible.
But it's not impossible.
It's only impossible when weare stuck in a certain mindset,
(25:52):
and the moment we're able tochange that mindset, we're able
to make a change in our livesand in others.
Change your perspective, changeyour life.
A couple years ago, my life wasfalling apart and those
circumstances didn't change.
But what did change was myperspective of those
(26:13):
circumstances, and with thatflip perspective, I was able to
light a fire on my life and spinit around.
And now I'm living out a lifethat I can't even believe is
real, that if you would havetold me I even had a chance at
living a couple years ago, Iwould have called you a lunatic.
But it is real, it isabsolutely real.
(26:35):
So look out for those things.
Don't just bulldoze through yourlife.
Start paying attention to thepeople you come into contact
with, the circumstances andsituations that you find
yourself in, because there is adamn good chance that it was a
(26:57):
universal orchestration designedto help you fulfill a purpose.
Maybe you think I'm crazy.
Maybe I am crazy, but itdoesn't change a damn thing with
regards to what it did for mein my life.
(27:18):
And, quite frankly, what do yougot to lose by taking a stab at
it?
So I beg you, just tomorrow,when you go out and tackle the
day, just slow down just alittle bit.
(27:39):
Start wondering why you meetthis person, why you end up in
this circumstance.
What could it mean?
Does it mean something?
Start to peel away at thosequestions, the different
encounters you have with humanbeings, with animals, with the
(28:03):
environment, and you might justslowly start to see things that
you never would have caughtbefore, and your reactions to
those things might open doorsthat you never even knew were
(28:23):
there, let alone had a chance atopening, that you never even
knew were there, let alone had achance at opening.
There are no chance occurrences.
Everything that happens happensfor a reason, but it's on us to
(28:46):
find it and to respond to it.
On that note, I'm going toclose out with something that I
just wrote.
I used to resent all of myhardships.
They were so frequent and sofierce.
I have been tested to my limits, but now my veil cannot be
pierced.
I used to wish for blessings,and blessings I received.
(29:10):
I've learned to celebrate thethings that a younger me once
grieved.
I asked for strength, so I waschallenged.
Now I know how to succeed.
I found faith by breakingbreaking points.
I broke the earth to plant aseed.
Then barren ground would bereborn To produce a brand new me
(29:34):
.
It was only in captivity thatI'd learn how to be free.
Broken Until next time.
My friends, this is ChrisKushnier, with endless love and
gratitude.
Namaste.
Welcome back to the Broker's Guy in the Room.
This is Chris Kushnier, yourhost.
Today's episode is aboutsynchronicities.
Yesterday, I recorded anepisode that was entitled God
Laughs when man Plans, and sortof.
(00:26):
The general point of theepisode was that when as often
happens we set out a plan and weembark on executing that plan
and obstacles and passes areotherwise come up, what do we do
?
In my experience, when thishappens, it's the universe hard
(00:53):
at work, trying to redirect ourattention to something else.
What's been remarkable about itis that today now, normally, I
don't share the uneditedrecordings with just about
anyone I'll share them with mywife and I share them with my
(01:14):
producer so that they can, youknow, become finalized.
Today, though, I met threedifferent people.
Uh, randomly, you know allrandom occurrences If you
believe in random occurrences,which I, I don't happen to
believe in random occurrences,but in each one of these cases,
(01:39):
what I recorded and wroteyesterday seemed infinitely
relevant, and wrote yesterdayseemed infinitely relevant, and
it's funny because, when I wokeup this morning, I was feeling
largely unmotivated.
I was feeling very homesick.
I thought I would just have aday of rest.
(01:59):
I thought I would have a daywhere I just, you know, stayed
in the room and reflected oneverything that's been happening
, everything that's going tohappen, everything that's going
on.
But around lunchtime I startedto feel that itch to go exercise
(02:20):
, to go work out.
I was like, you know, I haven'thad a leg day in a while.
Maybe I should go.
And so I went to brother's gymhere in Batabolong in Canggu,
bali, which is a small gym thatI've come to really love.
(02:43):
A real gym, you know, not anInstagram gym, but a real gym
where people actually go totrain.
I love it because there's no ACand so even on a light day, I
leave with a sweat that'svigorous enough to have to wring
out my shirt.
And those of you that followknow that I have Crohn's disease
(03:05):
and I've learned that a bigpart of regulating my Crohn's
disease is to sufficiently heatmy body up to keep my system
working the way that it needs to.
If I take more than two, threedays off, I start developing
bloat and, it seems, my systemstarts to slow down, and that's
(03:28):
the beginning of the end.
If I make any bad dietarydecisions during that time
period, you could say I'minevitably fucked, for lack of a
better way to say it.
Excuse my profanity, but it'srelevant to express just how bad
(03:48):
the pain gets.
Anyone with Crohn's knows whatI'm talking about.
When you have Crohn's disease,crohn's disease essentially
behaves like rheumatoidarthritis.
So if you can imagine havingarthritis of the guts, okay.
So if you can imagine havingarthritis of the guts, okay.
Inevitably what happens is youstart to develop inflammation
(04:09):
inside your system, and thatinflammation causes blockages
and causes friction, and thatfriction can lead to ulcers.
It can lead to a whole number,a whole suite of discomforts,
(04:30):
I'll call it.
And so most people who don'twant to make life changes,
dietary changes, end up takingmedication that stops their body
from having this response.
The problem is is that thisdisorder is an autoimmune
(04:51):
disorder, and so that medicationthat's going to cause your body
not to react is also going tocause your immune system not to
be able to fight infection ornot to be able to fight back,
because it's a suppressant, animmunosuppressant okay, that's
the best that western medicinehas to offer.
(05:15):
My personal journey, I'velearned that lifestyle change,
you know, exercise, healthyeating, meditation, breath work,
yoga is a much better solution.
In fact I would call it a cure,but that's not suitable to
(05:36):
western medicine, you know.
I mean, for christ's sake,humera costs about ninety
thousand dollars a year and forthat ninety thousand000 a year
and for that $90,000 a year youget something that makes you
feel better at the moment.
But, like most Western medicine, alleviates one system, one
symptom and replaces it withanother.
(05:57):
And I went down that road.
You know, I took Humira forlike two years and during that
two-year period I was sickconstantly.
I would catch any cold, any flu, anything that came around my
way, and it wasn't working forme.
You know I got tired of beingon the medical hamster wheel.
(06:18):
I was sold a lie and I'm surethere's people out there with
Crohn's who might disagree withme, whatever.
But I can tell you this I'm thehealthiest I've ever been and
right now I haven't had stomachpain in weeks.
The difference is I'm out of theAmerican poison system of food
(06:49):
system of food.
I'm not eating foods that arecompletely drenched in
pesticides which cause leaky gutand a whole suite of other
symptoms.
I've been able to eat cleanfood here.
Now I also prepare most of mymeals.
You know I shop at localmarkets.
I cook almost every meal, mymeals.
You know I shop at localmarkets.
I cook almost every meal.
I avoid things like dairygluten, in my case onion, garlic
(07:10):
, potato, apple, broccoli, stalk, anything that's high in FODMAP
, but the only exception to thatrule has been cabbage.
Cabbage falls high on theFODMAP diet, but I don't eat raw
cabbage.
You know it's mostly sauerkrautfor the probiotics that help my
(07:37):
gut and, as a result, I've hadvirtually zero inflammation and
zero stomach pain.
But I digress.
I tend to focus on this becauseCrohn's has ruled, dictated and
otherwise steered most of mydecisions and most of my life.
Crohn's disease can be crippling.
Some people end up withcolostomy bags.
(08:00):
Some people end up withsections of their colon removed.
Some people end up undergoingfecal transplants.
I mean, there's a whole numberof different things that people
do to manage this disease.
I can tell you that I havesuccessfully managed this
(08:21):
disease through a disciplinedlifestyle, a disciplined diet
and a dedication to addressingit, first and foremost with
meditation, with yoga, withbreath work, with proper diet
and with daily fitness and withdaily fitness.
(08:44):
But that's not as easy as justsimply taking something, which
is what Western medicine wantsyou to believe, and it's a lie.
It's a lie.
Medicine is not medicine if itsimply masks one system, one
(09:08):
symptom, and replaces it withanother.
That's essentially no greaterthan a painkiller and it was not
good enough for me.
And I can tell you, as a resultof the decisions I've made and
the life choices that I've made,I am 39 years old and I am in
the best shape of my life.
I'm done being poisoned, and inthe West this is so hard.
(09:38):
It's amazing how easy it is todo here Now.
Now, I've been in Bali forabout three months and I can
tell you it's damn remarkablehow easy it is to do here Now.
Now, I've been in Bali forabout three months and I can
tell you it's damn remarkablehow easy it is to do here.
You know the only difference Ishop at local markets.
I buy farm fresh food.
If I, if I want to have protein, I go and buy fish that was
(10:00):
caught this morning.
Or I go and buy, you know,chicken that was killed this
morning and I and I apologize ifthis offends anybody, I'm not
vegan, I'm not vegetarian.
Uh, I'm severely anemic also and, uh, this causes me because of
my intense fitness regimen.
Uh, this caused me to battlewith dizziness, with
(10:23):
lightheadedness, and uh, quitefrankly, that's all right.
You know, I push through it.
I take breaks in the gym when Ineed to, and I keep pushing
forward, and I do this in hotenvironments.
I'm also a hot yoga instructor,a Bikram yoga instructor, and
(10:44):
anyone who's ever been in a roomwith me knows that.
You know they can attest to thefact.
Yeah, I have to take my back alot.
I do.
I get the spins, I get dizzyand I can't see straight, and I
got to go lay down on my backand I do so until it stops, and
then I get back up and I startagain.
(11:04):
I push myself to discomfort,and in discomfort I grow.
All good things are born ofdiscomfort.
You've heard me say that before.
Grow All good things are bornof discomfort.
You've heard me say that before.
As a result, though, I feelamazing.
Look at that.
How wonderful is that?
(11:25):
Now, it'll be interesting forme to record when I go back to
the States, because whatsystematically has been is that
every time I come here forseveral months, I feel amazing.
And then I go back to theStates, because what
systematically has been is thatevery time I come here for
several months, I feel amazing,and then I go back to the US and
I'm subject to all the poisons,not just the food, but the damn
media, the fear mongering, allof it, all of the consumptions
(11:48):
that lead to my body to react ina negative fashion, and then I
have symptoms, in any case,going back to synchronicities.
So today I thought I was goingto take a break, but I but I,
(12:08):
listening to my body, you knowmy body crave the exercise, so I
give it the exercise.
Body, you know my body cravedthe exercise, so I give it the
exercise.
Then I was going to come backand, uh, and just do some
creative work, um, but it's aSaturday, uh, there's a place
not far from here called Valley,that's, that's relatively new,
it's, it's a pool restaurant andbar, and so I thought, you know
(12:32):
, maybe I'll just go there andcheck it out, restaurant and bar
.
And so I thought, you know,maybe I'll just go there and
check it out.
Well, starting, starting on myjourney there, um, I met, uh, I
met one person there who was ona journey, who's trying to live
in Bali, she's trying to move toBali, uh, and she's trying to,
(12:54):
um, become a teacher, coach,instructor here.
Her desire is to help peoplechange their lives, her desire
is to help empower people, andthis is the same path that I'm
on, you know, the majordifference being is that I'm not
really, you know, I can't be acoach, and the reason for that
(13:15):
is because I have variousdifferent enterprises and I know
for a fact that I couldn't giveenough attention to any one
person to offer to be a coach,and so I very intentionally
choose not to do so.
What I do do is do this podcast.
I write poetry and I make apoint to be aware, when I'm
(13:39):
around, individuals who couldbenefit from what I have to
offer and I offer it for freebecause I'm not looking for that
to be a source of income and,quite frankly, that allows me to
offer my gift to other people,my healing, my growth, in a
matter of purity that's freefrom any financial motivation or
(14:02):
anything like that, and as aresult of that, I've been able
to change people's lives one byone, and I've received more
reward from that personally thanany amount of money could have
ever offered.
And you know, I'm so fortunateto be in that position and
that's not to downplay or naysayanybody who's in that field who
(14:27):
does do it for money, becausethey do help people as well.
My situation is just different.
You know, I have otherenterprises that I'm focused on
for financial gain, and this isa labor of love, and so I'm very
fortunate to be in thatposition.
But, in any case, thisparticular person was struggling
(14:50):
to make this transition and Iwas able to kind of, through
telling her my story, give hersome reassurance that when
you're on a purpose-driven path,that the universe tends to line
things up in your way to helpyou accomplish your objective.
It's, it's an incredible thingwhen you become aware of it.
(15:15):
Once you become aware of it andyou see it, it's undeniable,
you know.
But it's hard, because whenyour pockets are hurting and
you're worried about survival,uh, in her case, she's worried
about being able to stay here,you know, and, um, nonetheless,
uh, she was the first personthat that the rough draft of the
(15:37):
episode that I recordedyesterday and the thing that I
wrote yesterday, I mean justspoke directly to the
conversation and so I felt movedto share it.
I then left that place.
I stopped at my favorite localstore, live, which has it's a
whole foods market.
It's where I'm able to buy livecrafted sea moss, and their own
(16:00):
store made sauerkraut and someother natural products and
remedies, and I love that littlestore.
It's a family owned businessand it's right here on Batu
Majan in Canggu.
And, you know, I walk outsideand I'm standing across a guy,
and I noticed the fact that I'mstanding across.
(16:21):
So I say, hey, man, what's up,how are you?
And immediately we start havinga conversation and he reveals
that his ex is undergoing a bitof a mental crisis and, you know
, is struggling.
And I realize again that what Ihad just recorded last night
(16:43):
could help this person and speakto this person, and so I felt
moved to share it.
And then again I end upspeaking to another random
couple.
All of this in the span of likeless than an hour, you know, and
(17:04):
I realized that this is why Ifelt the pull to leave.
Ironically enough, the guy thatI was talking to, you know he
tells me that he had just beencaught up and was delayed in
doing so.
I don't know exactly what hewas up to, but he said you know,
I couldn't figure out why thesepeople were wasting my time,
but had they not been wasting mytime, I wouldn't have ended up
(17:26):
standing here talking to you,and it's kind of remarkable to
me.
And it's kind of remarkable tome.
See, I've become fully awareand fully certain that there are
no chance occurrences.
There's no such thing.
You know, we find ourselves inthe positions that we're in
(17:47):
because the universe has placedus there for a certain purpose.
The universe has placed usthere for a certain purpose and
at this point in my life, I'm soaware of that that my eyes are
wide open at all times, becauseI know every situation I get
into, every person that I'mgoing to interact with, if I'm
(18:10):
aware enough to realize themeaning, the purpose of it, that
there is something there, thatit is not simply random, that
these synchronicities line up toprovide us an opportunity to
execute something.
Most people walk through theirlife with blinders on and then,
(18:36):
later on in their life, lookback and they go oh yeah, you
know hindsight's 2020.
If I would have seen that, thenI would have done this.
Well, the moment that Irealized hindsight is 2020, I
realized that means we all havean opportunity to exercise our
foresight, because it is notpossible for hindsight to be
(18:59):
2020.
Without that meaning that allthe signs were there for us to
recognize if we were able toopen up our foresight.
And so the reason I'm choosingto record this episode is
because I want to invite you allto have an exercise in this Not
(19:23):
to be cliche, but to stop andsmell the roses, to see the
things that are being placed inyour way, in your life, so that
you can start to recognize them,because they, in all likelihood
, have been placed there for you.
They have been placed there foryou to recognize, for you to
(19:45):
respond, to react to and changeto.
From the moment that I becameaware of this and that I started
really responding to it, mylife's changed.
My life's changed.
(20:07):
Now, every day I look for theseopportunities, because in each
one of them I find opportunitiesto change people's lives, and I
would never get tired of beingtold you changed my life forever
or you helped me realizesomething.
Even in addition to this, when Iwas getting my arms tattooed
(20:30):
with all of my mantras and allof my motivational phrases,
which line both my left andright arm, even that experience,
there was another gentleman inthe room who was getting a
double portrait of his son andof his sister who passed away
from an overdose, and this was apowerful experience for me,
(20:54):
because this man endured so muchpain during this process and
watching him go through it.
You know, I'd kind of walk byand I would just offer him
different different forms ofencouragement, even if it was
just a silent nod, even if itwas just a thumbs up, and in the
(21:16):
moment, you know, I was justbeing me, I wasn't really
thinking much about it.
Uh, and as a result of that,you know, I've I've developed
what's probably going to be alifelong friend.
He called me today, while I wasat the restaurant, to tell me
how special that experience wasand how I became a part of that
experience for him forever.
These are the things that I nowlive for, because they uplift
(21:41):
me, they offer me so much, theyoffer me so much fulfillment, so
much motivation and so muchaffirmation to keep doing what
I'm doing.
And because of the strength thatI get from these moments, I
have absolute confidence in allthe movements I make elsewhere,
(22:06):
because all of the businessventures that I have going
absolute confidence in all themovements I make elsewhere,
because all of the businessventures that I have going are
all in an effort to enable me tokeep doing things like this and
not charging money for them.
It's a very beautiful thing.
See what I'm working towards inall of these ventures here in
Bali is to one day build aschool where I can work with
(22:30):
underprivileged youth, teachthem English, teach them
environmental awareness andteach them work skills.
And should my other businessventures work out, I should be
able to expand on that and evenprovide them work opportunities
for the future.
See, I'm be able to expand onthat and even provide them work
opportunities for the future.
See, I'm about changing lives.
Now I'm so fortunate to havefound my purpose in this and to
(22:59):
be able to change lives.
To be able to empower humanbeings and help them find their
path to their own personalgreatness helps me find my own
personal greatness, and this isa big part of how, in a two year
span, I've gone from somebodywho would have eagerly and
(23:21):
desperately traded skins withanybody on the planet to
somebody who would stubbornlyand absolutely not consider
trading skins with anyone on theplanet, to somebody who would
stubbornly and absolutely notconsider trading skins with
anyone on the planet.
I don't care what you got, Idon't care what kind of car you
drive, what kind of house youlive in.
No, I'm not interested, becauseI am madly in love with life
(23:42):
and I love what I do, absolutelylove it.
That all comes because I knowwhat my purpose is now.
See, I'm an individual whostruggled with depression and
addiction throughout my wholelife.
It's always been there, rightbeyond the veil, and it's still
(24:04):
there.
If something were to comebetween me and my purpose, that
obstacle would still be there,but as long as I got air in
these lungs, I'm going to keepmoving forward towards this.
I know damn well how lucky I amto be in this position, and
(24:27):
that's why I can't take a singlestep forward.
I know damn well how lucky I amto be in this position and
that's why I can't take a singlestep forward without looking
around me to see who I can movewith me, because every human
being on this planet deserves tofeel how I feel right now, even
if it's just for a moment.
(24:47):
You're going to hear me say thata lot in this show Purpose is
an incredible thing, and whenyou start to become aware of the
synchronicities in your life,you can start to see how there's
always some person you're goingto meet, some circumstance
(25:10):
you're going to find yourself in, that is going to provide you
the opportunity to take one stepcloser towards fulfilling your
purpose, and that is why I'm sosure that the divine is real and
that the universe has a planfor us all.
(25:31):
And when we become aware of it,we start to have the
opportunity to execute what weprior would have called the
impossible.
But it's not impossible.
It's only impossible when weare stuck in a certain mindset,
(25:52):
and the moment we're able tochange that mindset, we're able
to make a change in our livesand in others.
Change your perspective, changeyour life.
A couple years ago, my life wasfalling apart and those
circumstances didn't change.
But what did change was myperspective of those
(26:13):
circumstances, and with thatflip perspective, I was able to
light a fire on my life and spinit around.
And now I'm living out a lifethat I can't even believe is
real, that if you would havetold me I even had a chance at
living a couple years ago, Iwould have called you a lunatic.
But it is real, it isabsolutely real.
(26:35):
So look out for those things.
Don't just bulldoze through yourlife.
Start paying attention to thepeople you come into contact
with, the circumstances andsituations that you find
yourself in, because there is adamn good chance that it was a
(26:57):
universal orchestration designedto help you fulfill a purpose.
Maybe you think I'm crazy.
Maybe I am crazy, but itdoesn't change a damn thing with
regards to what it did for mein my life.
(27:18):
And, quite frankly, what do yougot to lose by taking a stab at
it?
So I beg you, just tomorrow,when you go out and tackle the
day, just slow down just alittle bit.
(27:39):
Start wondering why you meetthis person, why you end up in
this circumstance.
What could it mean?
Does it mean something?
Start to peel away at thosequestions, the different
encounters you have with humanbeings, with animals, with the
(28:03):
environment, and you might justslowly start to see things that
you never would have caughtbefore, and your reactions to
those things might open doorsthat you never even knew were
(28:23):
there, let alone had a chance atopening, that you never even
knew were there, let alone had achance at opening.
There are no chance occurrences.
Everything that happens happensfor a reason, but it's on us to
(28:46):
find it and to respond to it.
On that note, I'm going toclose out with something that I
just wrote.
I used to resent all of myhardships.
They were so frequent and sofierce.
I have been tested to my limits, but now my veil cannot be
pierced.
I used to wish for blessings,and blessings I received.
(29:10):
I've learned to celebrate thethings that a younger me once
grieved.
I asked for strength, so I waschallenged.
Now I know how to succeed.
I found faith by breakingbreaking points.
I broke the earth to plant aseed.
Then barren ground would bereborn To produce a brand new me
(29:34):
.
It was only in captivity thatI'd learn how to be free.
Broken Until next time.
My friends, this is ChrisKushnier, with endless love and
gratitude.
Namaste.
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