Love and Connection: The Forces that Hold us Together with Special Guests Shannon and Mariza of Soluna Mind and Body

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
What if love just wasn't just anemotion, but a vibration that we
embody, a frequency that harmonizes us with everything
and everyone around us? What if connection isn't
something we find, but somethingwe remember?
You guys can probably hear my dog howling in the background.
She's really excited about today's show, and so am I.

(00:20):
Because today we get to welcome back our favorite people from
Saluna mind and body. Shannon and Marissa say hi guys.

(00:42):
Glad to be here. Yeah, super excited to be.
Here for for those of you out there or for those of, for our
listeners who are just joining us today, shame on you.
By the way, kidding, just kidding.
Can you guys just just reintroduce yourselves to our to
our new member? Yeah.
So Marissa and I are lifelong best friends.

(01:04):
And we started our dream together, Saluda, mind and body.
And it started off in the basement of either of our homes.
And today we are expanding and growing.
And it's really just a blessing,you know, to get to, to do what
we love with your best friend. Yeah.
It's amazing. It is amazing you guys work.
So well together too. Just the energy you bring to the

(01:25):
different events you guys do. It's just like you guys are
always so In Sync. It blows my mind.
Yeah, we have to tell you this funny story.
We were there's an adorable little French bakery here in
town. And the guy like he's we're
standing up there and he goes, hey, would you guys like a free,
you know, sample of bread? And like without missing a beat,
completely In Sync, we go yes. Oh, and it was like completely

(01:47):
perfect to the point where he was like, I wish that I would
have had that on recording. And it's, it's funny because as
you get so close with someone, you know, you become entrained
to their frequency, to their brain frequency.
And Mersa and I are very, very much there.
Yeah, that's awesome and it shows.
It really had Michael said it shows.
I've been to a couple of events and and we'll get it to some of

(02:08):
that today, later today. But yeah, it shows.
I mean, you guys are just clicking every step of the way
And, and in fact, when you guys are are, are are just jobbing it
out and you're either jobbing itand you guys are always doing
something. And I just see you.
Everyone's going to look at eachother and then you go off and do

(02:29):
something else. But it's like telepathically
you're like, yeah, go grab this,go grab that, whatever.
Yeah. You guys want to talk to each
other? Like that and.
It's not really even been something that I think, you
know, obviously there's a learning curve when you start
working with somebody new. And you know, we have been
friends for many years before westarted on this venture
together. But it's just, you know, we've

(02:52):
done so many together at this point that we know, I think each
other's triggers, you know, it'salmost like we can anticipate
what the other person needs before they even say anything.
And it's, it's really kind of a beautiful, I guess,
visualization of what a good healthy relationship is because
there's no ego here. Like if I forget something, I
know she's got it. And I'm not going to be like,

(03:13):
you know, all of these like. I can't believe you forgot that.
Yeah, I can't believe you brought this because you thought
I was going to forget it. It was just like, oh cool, got
it. Yeah.
And it was really interesting because the night that you guys
came for Union, and I know we'regoing to get into that, but
there it seemed to be a series of unfortunate events, like one
right after the other leading upto the event.

(03:34):
And it was just, you know, we had this mantra for the night
was that was, oh, well, that would have been too easy.
Yeah. It was.
Like the mat wouldn't line up. OK, Well, that would have been
too easy. We had an odd number of candles,
so that would have been too easy.
You know it was. We didn't have enough blankets.
But what was beautiful about it is, you know, just reflecting
back on, I think maybe our firstor second major event, you know,

(03:57):
we had this picture in our mind of what an event should be and
what it should look like. And if it wasn't perfect, then
it wasn't good. Yeah.
And as we've grown, it's been such a beautiful experience for
us to know that it doesn't really matter if it's perfect,
because we're not doing it for perfection.
Right. And so, well, it doesn't show.

(04:18):
It didn't show. I mean, it was like I said, it
was like everything was like just firing on all cylinders.
Yeah, it. Was such a powerful event to
just the. Connection.
The love, like the the intimacy I got to experience with my wife
going through that was just phenomenal.
And I feel like it's so important to in the setup of
things, you know, even though things weren't going exactly the

(04:39):
way that they were planned, we knew that the purpose of this
event was to bring, you know, forward love and connection.
And it was like we had this sense of calm between us that we
were just like, I mean, we had acoffee pot break with all of our
cacao. And we were like, well, maybe
that cacao wasn't meant for thisevent, you know, And it was
just, I think you can feel it when there's chaos and when

(05:01):
there's harmony. And even though things felt
chaotic on the outside, you know, there's still harmony.
And I think when the purpose is greater than just, I guess
performance, it comes through that way.
So, and that's why we have you guys back with us today to talk
about love and connection. So love is more than a than an
emotion. I know it doesn't always feel

(05:22):
that way, but it really is. We believe and we teach that it
is. It is the essence of all
creation. It's almost like that current
that animates and life and bindsevery living being to each
other. That and and and even take
romance out of it before it evenbecomes romance between people,

(05:44):
affection or partnership. Love exists as like a living
force. Yeah.
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I love that because like,
I'm so sorry. No.
No, go ahead, go ahead. Love is, you know, I think we
get so stuck in love being that,you know, idea of an emotion or

(06:06):
something to be felt, you know, something that you feel when in
reality, just like you said, Justin, it's this underlying
current that exists as a frequency throughout time, space
and anything in between. It's their emotions will come
and go and fluctuate, but love is constant.
It is, it is. And connection is how we

(06:29):
experience that, that energy, that frequency, that vibration,
that. And yes, it is a feeling too.
It's all these things. And connection is a bridge
between souls. And as we get into this today,
we're going to, we're going to share more about that event that
we did. And I can tell you that I wasn't

(06:49):
just feeling that between myselfand Heather.
I was feeling it between all of us, everybody in that room.
So it is that bridge between souls and it's the connection is
the way we recognize ourselves in each other, right?
Say. It again.
Yeah, it's the way we recognize ourselves in each other.

(07:11):
We talk about mirroring a lot and and the more we, the, the
more we come to understand that that is a universal law.
We are mirrors for each other, The easier things get and and
the more things make more sense for us.
But it's also how we mirror nature and we mirror the the
divine, even and, and connectionisn't something that we think

(07:32):
our way into. This isn't, you know, it's a
little bit here, but it's a whole being thing.
It's something we feel and it's something that we resonate out
and resonate in. And, and it could be simple
things like just a, a smile between two strangers or even a,
even that moment of stillness ina meditation.
So, and, and, and you know, I know I've experienced this.

(07:55):
You guys probably have too, where you're just walking along
and something little happens andyou get this rush of gratitude
that just seems to like just grab your chest, right?
And it just kind of carries you away for a minute And you're
like, I don't know where the time went, but I liked it.
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I love that.

(08:16):
And I love this idea, like you said, you know, you just, you're
swept away in it. And I think sometimes when we
shift, you know, from sort of this, oh, I've got this and this
and this thing to do today and this.
And, you know, you get stuck in sort of, I guess, you know, for
a lack of a better term, a lowervibration.
But once you start to look for those things, you know, the I we

(08:38):
call them glimmers, I'm sure that that's a term that's out
there pretty often, you know, But, you know, you see the
glimmers. You see a, I am obsessed with
Moss. And so I will spot it anywhere,
like a Moss growing in Creek crack or, you know, anything
like that. But you get overtaken with this
sense of wonder, like how did this little thing grow here in
this, you know, sea of concrete?And it's like that kind of

(09:02):
altruist, you get addicted to that.
Now there's a sense of I want tofeel more of that.
And once you tap into it, there's no way that you can live
without it. Right.
Well, even if you look at the emotional guidance scale, I
don't know if you guys are familiar with this, but it's
about like the different levels of vibrations and like right at
the top is love. It is the purest expression.

(09:24):
And it's something that when we embody it, when we learn to find
love in the world, it's all about perspective, right?
Kind of like what you're saying,you know, it's so easy to have
that shift. I had one earlier this week
where it's like I caught myself where it's like, I don't want to
go to work. I don't want to do homework, I
don't want to do all this stuff.And it's like, let's rephrase
this. This is not empowering.
It's I get to do this. I get to go to work.

(09:45):
Yeah. I get to.
Finding yeah, it's like finding that appreciation, that
gratitude for even the things that are monotonous, because
it's part of what makes life livable.
And there's so much beauty everywhere if we choose to latch
onto it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
True, true, true privilege really is getting to I get to do

(10:07):
this right That that's that perspective where lots of people
don't get to do what I do not that they can't they don't get
to they don't get a chance to. So yes, fine, gratitude and
everything 100% love is really misunderstood a lot of times, I
think and and this might not just be a modern thing.
Maybe there have been times in the past the humanity where

(10:29):
we've had this problem, but it all it, it seems like it's
misunderstood a lot because and,and Michael and I fight this
every time we do a show, these kind of shadows we're talking
about, because it gets tied to possession and it gets tied to
validation and it gets tied to always performing and wearing
masks and, you know, all these different things.

(10:52):
Because really a lot of us are taught that love means holding
on or proving ourselves or earning worth, which is
horrible, right? Nobody needs to earn love.
It should be automatic, right? Often these situations, it's
desire masquerading around is love.

(11:12):
Love is something that is. Yeah, exactly.
It's these things that it's these holes within our cells,
these different types of wounds that get activated and makes us
latch on to people and situations.
And real love is, is an action. Love is a choice.
Love is something that we can give freely and receive freely,

(11:33):
but it's not something where we,like you said, where we need to
possess it, where we need to dive near it.
It liberate. True love liberates, and not
only creates, but it liberates. Yeah, you know, it's a creative
and passionate energy, but the at the end of the day, love is,
is this this, you know, altruism?
It's it's this idea of you are given, you are simply and wholly

(11:59):
fully complete, just as you are and thus deserve love fully and
wholly. And you know, I think sometimes
depending on if it's like a childhood experience or, you
know, a later in life experience, somewhere along the
line, we are taught that love isconditional.
And I know that that sounds, youknow, a little bit like
splitting hairs here or using, you know, to turn a phrase.

(12:22):
But love is unconditional. It exists.
It exists purely for the idea ofexisting like it.
It doesn't need you to. It's not, you know, it's even,
not even a seed that we have to water.
It's just there and we get to help it.
You know, it's, it's just there.It doesn't need anything else.
I would, I would say that's truth.

(12:44):
That's just, that's just pure fact.
Look anywhere in the universe and tell me that is not true,
right? Yeah, right.
I mean, it's everywhere. We can look at the smallest, you
know, the smallest of beans. And they say, you know, we can't
really prove. We were talking about dogs
earlier. And there's been so many
different things throughout, youknow, my career in animal

(13:05):
behavior where the argument has always been animals cannot feel
complex emotion. But if we argue that love is not
an emotion, and we look at this animal and we look at the way
that they look at us, there's noway that we can say they don't
feel love. There was a show we did, I don't
know, two or three shows ago where Revan was sitting in my my

(13:26):
little Papasan chair behind me, where Heather's sitting now and
Michael and Michael makes the comment that she has been just
staring at me the whole show. But staring at me like with
those Disney eyes, you know those big the.
Love eyes. Yes, yes, the love eyes.
Yes. And, and, and and like he

(13:47):
stopped in his tracks and he's like, she's been staring at you
like that the whole time. And was like, I know she does it
all the time because I give her lots of kisses and and you know,
she's probably spoiled a little bit and honestly, but I only get
I only get like 15 good years with her and then she's gone.
So yeah, you know, you know, yougive them.

(14:07):
Whatever you can. And no, honestly, like that's
kind of in a, in its nutshell, that's love, right?
Is it these animals? They don't wake up every day
thinking if I have a pretty enough coat, they'll love me
more. They do it better than we do.
They do They're. Like, you know, if I do this or

(14:28):
this or this, they're not askingthat.
They don't question it. They.
Know our kids do it better than we do too, right?
Our kids do it until we ruin them, until the society ruins
them or the world ruins them. You know, I can distinctly
remember when my kids started becoming the world and it broke
my heart a little bit because I had something to do with that

(14:49):
too. I didn't do it on purpose, of
course, but, you know, what can we do?
So but yeah, they do it better than we do.
And, you know, for, for, for me,she's just a little, a tiny part
of my life, but for me or for her, I'm her whole entire life.
So I have to make sure that, youknow, and we really should look

(15:10):
at people like this too. And it again, it doesn't have to
be romantic. That's just one kind of love.
That's just one, one complicatedlayer of love because that's
where a lot of the conditions and expectations and stuff come
in our our axiom of light today,Michael, and I'll let you take

(15:31):
this one that anchors this show today is and it's an easy one.
Of course, love will always subdue hate when you think about
that axiom as it anchors our show today.
Well, you know, we often talk about how in life, when we go
through hard times, we either get better or we get better.
Love is the thing that can carryus through the darkest moments.

(15:51):
Love is the most powerful energywe can wield to find meaning, to
find purpose and to find belonging.
And I think there's so much isolation in the world today
because people are afraid of love.
People are afraid of that connection, of that
vulnerability. But love, love will always
subdue hate. Because that is, it's like

(16:13):
putting water on a fire, right? Yeah.
What do you guys think of that axiom?
Love will always subdue hate. Do you think it's just a just a
poetic pipe dream that I have oris there some truth?
I think that, you know, when we look at hate, I was always told
growing up, you know, you would say things like I hate homework,

(16:35):
you know, and my mom would always say to me, hate is a very
strong word. And it was always something that
was said in my household. And if you were going to use
that word, you needed to be sureof the gravity of that that.
Sounds a lot like. On the alternative side of that,
one thing that I will say, you know, we all have our our things

(16:57):
growing up. But one thing I will say is that
there was never a shortage in myhousehold of growing up where I
love you wasn't used a lot. And that is one thing I can say,
you know, I love you isn't. And so I guess all of this to
say that it is true at its very core, love.
And and again, I don't necessarily think that hate is

(17:18):
the opposite of love, but I do think that love as its own
entity is so much more powerful than anger than rage than hate,
than loathing. All of those things.
Love will always conquer it, andI know that that sounds again
like lip service or, you know, like something you find in a

(17:39):
just. A little planet food, yeah.
But it does it. Love conquers all.
And if I were really to get intoit, but for me, I know that a
lot of people think that love and hate are opposite.
I would say that the opposite oflove would be indifference, and
I think that. I was just thinking that.
Yeah, yeah. And I think that love can
conquer indifference. So at its very core, it's

(18:02):
beautiful and so simple. So simple.
What do you think? Yeah, well, I, I really love
that quote. Like growing up.
Same with you, Shannon. Like hate was a very strong
word. And in my family, it's like, you
got to be sure that you hate it if you're going to say you hate
this. So like growing up, I was always
like, I really, really dislike push ups.

(18:26):
I really dislike the push ups orsit ups but like.
They make you strong. They make me strong, but I
really disliked them. I didn't hate them, but that was
a strong word. Yes, I got, I got really strong
in the Army because I disliked drill sergeants and I did a lot
of push ups. I did a lot of push ups.

(18:48):
Strongly disliked them. Yeah.
Yeah, I feel like it does. Love does subdue hate because
like it's there's no language really to love.
I know there's like different love languages, but like, you
know, like at the core of love, it can, it can, what's it called

(19:09):
like translate to different, to drift different races or
different cultures or different languages.
And like you can feel it. So like even though you can't
translate, like hey, I'm sorry that I accidentally bumped into
you like. Right you.
Can still give that energy of love like.
Yeah, it's like the music isn't actually.

(19:29):
Saying it, yeah. Yeah, like music.
I can listen to music from anywhere in the from every
corner of the universe. And if I, if it resonates, I
feel it. I don't even, I don't even have
to know what they're saying. Yeah, there's like, I'm on
TikTok a lot, so there's a lot of Tik Toks that I listen to
that are there's just different languages.
But I'm like, oof, I'm in love. Yeah.

(19:49):
Yep. So so I would tend to agree and
and what this axiom teaches us is that first love is not just
an emotion, it is a force and not an opposite force to hate.
Though where there's light theremust be shadows, and where there
that's just a necessary. Fact of the universe that where

(20:10):
there's light, there's shadow and in this in this act is
telling us love is that light. So the shadow of that light
would be hate. You know hate tends to divide
and disconnect and it does destroy and love restores
connections even after they've been lost.
They can restore connection and bring us back into alignment
with that force that light. So and of course we, you know,

(20:34):
we don't seek to destroy the shadow because the shadow is a
necessary part of creation too. We just try to integrate it
right, Michael? Yeah.
So when we choose love, we choose unity over separation,
and healing over harm, and understanding over judgement.
That's what love helps us do andthat's what this axiom is
teaching us. So the ethos, of course, that

(20:57):
we're going to go with today, Michael, are really easy ones.
It's the ethos of love and the ethos of connection.
I just wanted to make it easy today.
My 2. Favorite.
Things. My, my, They are the two things
that have carried me the furthest in my in my path.
Sure. And you know, thank God I had
all girls because they taught, they taught me how to how to be

(21:21):
better with that. Yeah, I'm sure.
And in the, the agreements that,that are going to anchor this
episode today, the first one is family, of course, because in
our tradition, the connection isfamily.
It's that spiritual family that transcends bloodlines, right?
The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the

(21:42):
womb. We, we, we believe that 100%.
And every time I walk into one of your, your things, I feel
like there's a covenant there waiting for me.
There's a community of real and I'm not related to any of you.
Not not not by blood, but I but I still feel like I'm related to
you as families. This agreement teaches us that

(22:03):
every person we meet is part of that greater human story, right?
We're all connected to that web of light, that web of creation.
And when we choose to practice love and connection, we're
honoring the family. We're honoring, you know, beyond
bloodlines because, you know, some people don't have
bloodlines anymore. And but they're not any less our

(22:26):
family. And of course, respect.
Respect is the utmost importancewhen we're talking about love
and connection, wouldn't you say?
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Because I feel like they they go
hand in hand with each other. Yeah, they do.
They do. Because sometimes we don't want
to have. Sometimes our family annoys us
and we must respect that. We must respect the love we have

(22:48):
for them, you know? And without respect, it's really
hard to do anything in the world.
It's really hard to connect. It really is, because to respect
Him is to love and honor that divine spark that's in each of
us, right? It's that thing that connects
us, not divides us. Even if we have nothing left
between us, we have that. We still have that.

(23:09):
We. Have the the root the thought.
Well, in many cases, it's like areverence we have for those who
we truly care about. Yeah.
Honoring of their individuality,yeah.
And respect is, is the foundation of a, of a good
connection. You know, you guys were, were
telling us about your connectionand, and, and I can vouch, I see

(23:31):
it. Like I said, I see it.
And you guys have great respect for each other, you know, and
trust and trust. So a few questions for you guys
in your work. And, and, and I would consider
the things that you do to be healing work.
I don't know if you do or not, but I but I certainly, I mean,
I've been a part of it and that seems to be maybe not the main

(23:55):
focus or it is, I don't know, but it's certainly there is
healing happening in those circles, right?
How do you how do you help people experience love as an
energy and not just an emotion? Well, I like that question a
lot. And to answer the like the
secondary question to that is like are we healers?
I wouldn't necessarily say that we are, even though I do agree

(24:16):
with you, Justin, that it is healing work.
But I think at the root of that is connection.
It's really just holding the container, you know, and
creating space for people to do their own healing work.
Helping people experience love is energy.
You know, sometimes we don't necessarily even realize that's
what we're doing, but it's like you need to help people or

(24:37):
remind people that love isn't something that they need to find
or something that they need to earn, like we talked about
earlier. But it's something that they
need to feel. And sometimes that's through
sound and sometimes that's through breath, and sometimes
that's through dance and movement.
But when the body feels safe andit starts to soften, love can

(25:03):
sort of naturally start to flow,right?
It opens up the body to be able to accept that energy not just
as an emotion, but as a like an overall sensation and feeling.
Because it's less about thinkingand oh, how do I, you know,
these are the things I love about myself.
The, and we're, you know, makingthis mental checklist.
And it's more about sensing it as a vibration, as warmth and as

(25:26):
openness, rather than a specificidea.
So that that leads me into to myfollow up question and I was
going to ask you, how do your practices, the movement, the
sound, even the the stillness help people reconnect with love
as more of a living vibration versus just, you know, I love
you guys and and we do love you guys, but we can feel it when

(25:48):
we're there, right? I can feel it now between.
US. Right.
So so so so how do those practices help people reconnect
with love as a as a vibration, which is probably what it is
most true form, right? Yeah, yeah.
I would say vibration is definitely the truest form.
But you know, everything that wedo, so whether it's a sound

(26:11):
bath, whether it's yoga, whetherit's dance, you know, awakening
your body through movement, these things have a different
component to them. And there's a reason why they
consider them to be healing modalities, you know, because
sound can recalibrate energy, movement can awaken joy, and
stillness, we already know can restore peace.

(26:32):
And so when those things come together, love is just sort of a
natural thing that starts to happen and it starts to become a
felt experience, something that we can tangibly feel either
somatically or just in the bones.
It's that, you know, like you were saying before, Justin, it's

(26:53):
a living frequency, and it's a frequency that unites the mind
and the body and the spirit. Well, I think one other thing
your practice really does for people is I think one of the
greatest barriers for people to experience love is to cultivate
self love. And so much of the work you do
is getting in touch with that inner self that so many people
spend their lives trying to avoid and cultivate that self

(27:16):
love and then in turn receive love.
One of my favorite practices in every event you guys do is when
you do the passing with the drinks.
And it's I give with love and I receive with love.
Yeah. And yeah.
Do you guys want to know a little secret?
Whenever and I do any kind of drinks with each other, whether
it's water or we've been really into cava lately, but whether

(27:39):
it's water or cava or coffee or cacao or tea, you know, we have
a little passing of the cup and a little gratitude moment.
And it's, it really for us, it'sso connective, not just with
the, the medicine of the drink itself, but just like with us.
And so that's why it's so important for us to bring it
into those ceremonies. It's great.

(28:02):
I know after doing your guys's groups one thing Alice and I are
starting to do is we got 2 glasses we filled with water and
we pour our love into one another's glasses and then we
pass it to each other. That's so cool.
I love it. They do all kinds of goofy stuff
and it's really cute to watch them to watch them do it too.
They are too, too cute. We can't stand it.

(28:22):
From the first event we seen them at together, we were just
like, oh, there this is happening.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's funny too, because Heather
and I are so very stoic and it'sjust the way we are.
And just watching them is cute. It's just cute watching those
two. They, they are perfect for each
other. They really are they.
Truly are. So that that kind of bridges us

(28:43):
to to the next segment. We're going to talk about love
through the mind, body connection, which is something
you guys do a lot because you incorporate so much.
And I've said this before, love is not just a feeling, it is a
physiological experience, right?And when we, when we feel
genuinely safe and connected andseen, the body will respond long

(29:05):
before our mind does. We feel it before we ever think
it, which tells me again that that it is a, it is a true
vibration in its purest form because it, like you said, it
goes to the bones and you feel it.
Your shoulders will drop and your breath softens and your
chest opens up and you just, youfeel confident, you feel good.
I mean really it, it, it brings out, it brings you and your

(29:28):
nervous system and everything out of survival mode and into
presence, which is really, really important.
It's something we, we teach a lot is presence.
Presence over perfections. Presence over performance.
Presence over everything. Yeah, Yeah, You know, I think
that the beautiful thing, like you were saying before, is that

(29:49):
sound really is one of the most powerful tools that we, that I
believe that we use in the studio because sound can really
bypass the mind, you know, through the vagus nerve, through
vibration in the body, you know,and those frequencies really
help to bring like a coherence to the heart.
And then of course, breath work,you know, we get that same sort
of presence by anchoring us down.

(30:10):
But what I really love too is, and I think it's very often
overlooked, and I have learned so much about this through
watching Marissa and her beautiful, beautiful women that
are on her belly dance troupe. I have to say that it's probably
one of the most real life transformative experiences that
I've seen. And it's been through movement

(30:32):
and it's been through an acceptance.
So I'm going to pass it over to her because we have such
beautiful stories from the bellydance troupe.
But I just, for me, that is the most surprising and the most
impactful transformation that I've seen in terms of nervous
system regulation and just all around feeling like an
incredible new woman sometimes when they come out of there.

(30:52):
So it's really cool to see. Yeah, it is.
So yeah, with like with belly dance, a lot of my belly dancers
were actually, they came to belly dance either because they
were curious about what it is orsometimes their physical
therapist or even their regular therapist, they would suggest

(31:13):
like, hey, you should try out belly dance.
It will help with your core or it will help with yourself
confidence because a lot of my dancers would have like body
image issues and like, you know,they would come in and they're
like, oh, I hate my body. I could never dance the way you
do. And here they are like 2 years
later and they, you know, they have.

(31:35):
You better watch it. You better watch out because.
Right, like the stars of the show now.
Yeah, 5 choreographies memorized, 2 of them.
They made-up their own. And like they, you know, they
come in, they take off their shirts, they're in their sports
bras and their hip scarves and they're just like, all right,
let's dance. Just like seeing that
transformation of like someone who would come into my class and

(31:57):
they would wear like layers uponlayers upon layers of clothes,
like, you know, tank top, T-shirt, hoodie, hip scarf.
And like, they wouldn't even take off their socks.
And now they're coming in, you know, just bare minimum to dance
and just enjoy themselves. And like, I've had some dancers
who have been, you know, who didnot have enough love for

(32:22):
themselves that they couldn't even look at themselves in the
mirror. And now they're like, I want to
look at myself in the mirror while I practice these moves.
And they're. Yeah, it's, it's just so nice to
see like how comfortable they are and like how much movement
or just having someone guide youto see how you move or to

(32:43):
someone guide you to move in a way that works for you, How much
that can help them, you know, like really understand their
body and like have gratitude andthen later on love their bodies
and love themselves. And that's so beautiful,
Michael. This is this is this is where
and why these ladies work is so deeply powerful, right?

(33:07):
Thank you. I mean, because your guys's
approach reminds us that love isn't simply something that we
just talked about like we are today, you know, and, and, and,
and I'm sure people out there who listen to me are going to
feel what I'm talking about herejust just by us sharing this
space together and, and sharing the stuff.
But your work is so powerful because it's something that

(33:29):
people can feel through the whole system, mind, body,
spirit, right. When you say, Michael, that's
pretty accurate. Oh yeah.
I mean, it's like, as you described that it's like I think
about how they would cultivate the confidence as they started
doing it more and more that selflove that I was talking about
earlier, which is in my opinion,one of the most important loves
to have. Like you guys create that space

(33:50):
for them to cultivate that. And I mean again, two years
later and they got that confidence.
They're not afraid to do their thing.
Not believe it. It is the best and Oh my gosh.
And I really respect the, the this and what the work that
Marissa is doing with the, the belly dance girls because I
mean, I've done it with her, butit's not my I like to watch, I
like to enjoy, but I don't always have the time to to

(34:12):
devote to it. What I will say is that you
don't really think about the barriers that a deep self-image
or a deep loathing self-image has upon your life.
And I have learned this from talking with these women that
come to her classes, the impact that low self esteem has on
their lives. It makes someone feel I don't
deserve to enjoy this. I don't deserve to have fun

(34:36):
because I'm not the right body type to have fun.
Or I don't deserve to go out wear nice things because I don't
have the right body type. And a self love, just as Michael
was saying it, you know, we talked earlier about containers.
You know if there is not self love, there is no well for love

(34:56):
for others. It runs dry.
Yeah, 100%. And it's been the most magical
thing that I've seen within our.Look from an outsider's
perspective. I've seen all the videos on your
guys's social and stuff, socialsand stuff, and they are out
there killing it. Yeah, they are.
You don't, you don't see anything but just they're just

(35:17):
beaming with confidence and and they look like pros.
Yeah, they they just, you know, they're killing it.
So you know, our Congrats to them, Hopefully they're
listening, but if not, make sureyou let them know.
Yeah, we'll make sure. I know we've had about 6, No 6
or 7, seven, I think 7 performances all around town.

(35:40):
We did one in Denver and yeah, and they're always down.
They're like, find us more showsto dance at.
I'm like, girls just, they're like.
I love that. Yeah.
And look, This is why I called you guys healers before, because
the things that you're describing are those shadows.

(36:01):
It's something that Michael and I, again, we based our whole,
the whole point of this podcast was to take on those shadows and
heal them, not destroy them, butheal them and integrate them.
And you guys are doing that, youknow, so you don't call
yourselves healers, but but I call you powerful healers and
keep doing what you're doing. I mean, it's just pretty obvious

(36:24):
to me because you guys are. You guys are maybe not, you
know, and I'll give you this, you're not the healers.
You're helping them face their shadows, though.
Yeah. That's power.
It's. A facilitation, you know it's.
That's powerful. A guide, you know, we talked
about this before. You know, everybody needs that
guide in their corner. You know, they need someone

(36:45):
that's ready and willing. I mean, you know that Michael,
from just, you know, with your partner and mentorship with
Justin, like it's, yeah, so important to have somebody that
has that. And I think also on that note,
you know, you guys talked about Justin, you talked about
community. You know, one of the things that
I would say too, that's been really beautiful to witness.

(37:06):
You know, these women, like Marissa said, they've got layers
of clothing on, you know, they're hiding in their own
skin. You know, they walk through the,
the, the space to get to the belly dance thing.
And it's like, don't I don't want to take up too much space.
I don't want anybody to notice me.
I don't want these things and you know that that's how the
life has been being lived. You know, in that's very similar

(37:28):
same situation, but now we have a sit where where the door is
thrust open and it's like, who'sready to dance, you know?
But beyond that, they're welcomed into that space.
And it's so funny because I've been having a sparring session
because I typically do my sparring sessions at the same
time that there is a belly dancesession.

(37:50):
Gotcha. So one of my favorite things,
most favorite things in the entire world is I'll be out
there, you know, I'm sweat and I'm gross.
I got my mouth guard in. It's just, and I watch one of
those girls walk back there and literally all I hear, Oh my God,
so beautiful. It's just, there's such a
beautiful community and the fighters, you know, they notice

(38:13):
it, they see it and it's, it's, it's love.
There's no other. There's no other term for it.
It's love. And also there is that love
between like I, I think it's so cute, the love between like the
fighters and the belly dancers, because there's that sparring
session during belly dance class.
And like, I need to get my girlsmore like comfortable dancing in

(38:34):
front of people. So I would like, I would force
the fighters to watch our performance, like a little
recital, like, hey, when you guys have 5 minutes, can you
come into the studio and watch us dance and tell us if you like
it or not? And like, they're, they're never
like, no, we're, we're sparring.This is our, this is our time to

(38:56):
practice. Like they're always like, yeah,
of course. And like, they always enjoy it.
And like, I remember one of the one of the fighters was just
like, I can't believe you girls move like that.
Yeah. Just like, yeah.
And then like, he just, like, couldn't stop talking about it
for the rest of his, like, sparring session.

(39:17):
I'm like, that's really sweet. It's incredible.
It's incredible, It really is. It's incredible and it requires
a lot of hard work and a lot of dedication.
You know, because people see someone loving themselves so
fiercely. Yeah.
And then they're like, wow, maybe this person doesn't have,
you know, the ideal, whatever the world is telling us the body

(39:37):
type needs to be. Or maybe this person doesn't
have the, you know, gender or the race that this spot is what
we want to be in this type of dance or this type of thing.
But they're doing it. Yeah.
And it's it's a beautiful waterfall effect.
And I really love that. It is love is contagious.
I promise you, everywhere you go, it is.

(40:02):
So I, I was going to ask you, isthere a connection between
emotional healing and, and, and physical balance and things?
But I think, but I think we, I think we covered that because,
you know, part of that was goingto be can you share how love and
safety actually show up? And it's, it's shining bright
from these ladies, and they're out there killing it.

(40:26):
What happens? Maybe you can, maybe you can
pinpoint this. I don't know.
I don't even know how to ask this question.
But doing this work for, for allthis time, is there a point
where you see somebody when theyfinally like that, that light
goes off and someone feels seen or they feel respected or they
feel like their dignity is returned and they feel safe and

(40:48):
showing that love to other people is there it's just any
anytime you can think of where where it like just kind of
stands out in your mind where wow, the light switch has been
turned on here. Yeah, I think that those are
some of the most beautiful and intimate moments where there's a
realization. Sometimes it's a hard
realization. Sometimes it's, you know, a

(41:10):
trickle or a sensation of something that they feel.
But then other times it's, it's a full awakening, a realization
of coming to. And for me, I always think of
these things as like 2 tuning forks that are like resonating
together. So when one decides to have this

(41:31):
moment of resonance, the thing that happens directly after is
the support comes from the community and then the
vulnerability is welcomed with open arms.
So vulnerability, A barrier to love, is so very often the fear
of, of being vulnerable, of being in a situation where you
have no control over it. And when there's a, an awakening

(41:53):
like that, a spark, if you will,a strike on the tuning fork,
what happens is their frequency,their frequency of
vulnerability, their frequency of love, their frequency of
acceptance impacts all of the other frequencies in the room
and it creates a safe space for others to be vulnerable.

(42:15):
So yes, there are so many moments like that, but the most
beautiful part about that is knowing that there's, for me
personally, is it feels very rewarding knowing that there's
been a space that has been created that that person can
feel vulnerable, but to the community never misses in the
ability to reciprocate. Yeah, yeah.

(42:35):
And, and look, I, I, you know, I, I've traveled in these, in
these woo woo circles for a really long time now.
And you know what we call woo woo?
Like, you know, all the stuff that's normal to us, right?
A lot. Of people would say well.
That's woo woo, right? So, but but when you walk into a
place where everybody's a stranger except for, you know,
one or two people, there is no uncomfortability at all.

(42:59):
In fact, you know, outside of, outside of me, Heather's,
Heather's, you know, usually pretty shy and pretty reserved.
And, and after after our first event there, when we did the the
first full moon ceremony and shewas engaged and she was, you
know, and, and, and it just kindof I was like, wow, I get to see

(43:23):
her open up around other people,you know, especially because,
you know, she's been dealing with the woo woo stuff with me
for so long. But, you know, but but she felt
so comfortable in that space And, and there were and all of
you were complete strangers to her except for Michael.
So you know, that again, that's just that a testament to what
you just said was, you know, if you were trying to build that

(43:46):
kind of community, you guys, I mean, nailed it.
I mean effortless, right, Michael?
I mean, it's just something thatwe were talking about after the
first and then we had dinner after, after the the union event
and you know, that's what we were talking about a lot.
We're like, man, they just, every time you walk in there and
you feel like you're at Thanksgiving dinner with every

(44:07):
cousin and every aunt and every grandpa and whatever.
That's that. What do you even see when people
come in? Yeah.
That's the that's the always thevibe that we have wanted.
I think very early in our to putit into Justin's word, the woo
woo. You know, you get a word that's

(44:28):
thrown a lot, thrown around a lot in our circle and that's the
word authentic and. In this circle too, we say it a
lot. Yeah.
You know, and I love authenticity, but I believe that
there is a very, very wobbly board that we must walk between
performing a performative and authenticity.

(44:49):
Yeah. And we, I believe very early,
you know, even I'm talking like in the very beginning stages of
Saluda when we were still down in the basement.
I mean, we had a script up, you know, and we were like, and
here's what you need to, you know, and it wasn't us.
And we said, you know, we can have the flowery words and we

(45:10):
can have the really ceremonial feel, or we can have it feel
like you've come over to our house and we're here together.
And we will always choose the latter.
Yeah. And I think that that's such a
big component of love, too, right?
Because as you said, I don't mind that my community sees my
shadows. In fact, I want them to see it,

(45:31):
You know, if I messed up or if I, you know, stutter on
something, I say something wrong.
I think I said something real out of pocket during union and I
didn't mean to. And I was like, no, but you
know, those things happen and it's real and it's authentic and
love at it's very core doesn't care if you're perfect.
And where would we be if we would present ourselves in a

(45:53):
way? I always tell people, if you
meet me at Saluna, I want to be the same exact person that you
meet at King Soopers. Like you want that that love to
to shine through. And I think so often performance
versus authenticity, they both go hand in hand with love,
whereas I think performances is in an effort to earn love and

(46:16):
authenticity is knowing that youdeserve it no matter what.
Does that make sense? Yeah, 100 percent, 100%.
I think you're stealing from my script there.
Well. Sorry.
No, no, no. It's just, it's that resonance
again and it's true. You know, I don't say anything
that's not true and that's all truth.
People out there right now are looking at what a King Soopers

(46:37):
is. It's a grocery store if you guys
don't know. It's a Kroger.
It's. A They might know Kroger.
Kroger's pretty big. It's.
Like ALDI? They're, they're all like,
what's a, what's a King Soopers?That sounds like an awesome
place. No, you're you're right.
Yeah. And like, I love what Shannon
said about like, our space, how we want to keep it authentic to

(47:00):
ourselves. Like it is such a weird word or
like a word that does get thrownout a lot.
But like it, that space truly isUS.
It's like it was it was the lovechild of our ideas that space
and we just like threw it all together and we're like, OK, it
works. But like with that like as you
it works. Because you are you.

(47:21):
That's why it. Works like you guys.
Nobody can do what you guys do. Nobody.
Not the way you do it, I mean, And I'm just being honest there.
Yeah. And like the people who do come
in, a lot of a lot of our peoplewho do come in for either belly
dance or our sound baths or evenour full moon or new moon
circles, they always say like itfeels like we're coming home.

(47:45):
And like, and I love that because it sounds like, you
know, like it feels like they'recoming home.
Like they know that this is a place of love, a place of
safety, a place of rest. Right, it really is.
But so. So let's talk about the shadow
side of love and connection, because where there's light,
there must be shadow, right? This is just a fact of the

(48:06):
universe. Every light casts shadow.
And nowhere is that more true than unfortunately, in the realm
of love and connection. Every one of us carries around
wounds and these wounds are around connection or fear of
rejection or fear of abandonmentbecause many people out there
were literally rejected and literally abandoned or people

(48:26):
are, are afraid to lose themselves or fear of not being
enough. These are all shadows, right?
These and, and, and, and again, as I say all the time, this is
not the shadows don't make us broken.
They make us human. And it's perfectly acceptable to
be human because what you said, it's not perfect, but you're

(48:46):
present, right? You guys show up.
You guys show up and you show upauthentically.
That is perfection, as about as perfect as a human can be.
And we're beautifully imperfect.Imperfect, right?
Yeah. So Michael, let's talk about a
couple of these shadows that ourlisteners are used to us talking

(49:08):
about. And we talk about them a lot
because you guys need to hear ita lot.
That's just the way it is. Let's start off by talking about
control. The shadow of control when we're
talking about love and connection.
Well, I think this stems back tohow sort of love we confuse
attachment with love, right? And control is one of the most

(49:29):
vicious ones because you see this play out where the
insecurities are on the rise andpeople want to control their
partner, control their friends, control their image even.
And it's it leads to so much inauthenticity.
Yeah, that is right. That sounded weird.
Coming out tough for it, but we get it.
Yeah, trust me. I'm glad you tried to say it,

(49:50):
not me. Because when we try to control
perspective, when we try to control other people, some of
the worst parts of us come to the surface and gain control
over our very being. I mean, it's, it's one of the
main shadows, I think that we see in a lot of unhealthy
relationships. And it doesn't mean that they're
narcissistic or that they're broken, but it's this

(50:12):
unconscious belief that this person will leave me.
This person is going to pass me up.
It's it's insidious. Yeah, yeah.
What do you guys think about theshadow of avoidance when we talk
about love and connection? Yeah.
So I love when we talk about avoidance.

(50:32):
I think it we would be remiss that if we didn't also talk
about protection and boundaries,right.
And so the difference in like, Iguess the frequency or the
energy is that protection says I'm honoring myself and
avoidance says I'm afraid to feel.
And when there's love in the boundary, it's protection.

(50:57):
But when there's fear or resistance, it's avoidance.
And the body always knows the difference.
The body always knows it. Always.
Michael loves saying that and it's so true.
The body always knows, right? What about?
What about being an over giver? Michael, this is your.
Well, I think for a lot of people, they don't feel worth

(51:19):
love. And so they're constantly trying
to prove their worth through acts of service, gift giving,
constantly shrinking themselves down so they can fit into
someone else's life. And that man, that that can be
bad. Yeah.
Yeah, my, my, my lovely wife. We go through this exercise
every so often. Where, you know, I say you got

(51:41):
two days off. I would really, really like it
if you rested one day. You don't have to do everything
for everybody, me included. I'm a grown ass man.
I can do things too, she says. She says no, you know, So yeah,
she's, she's much better these days.
You know, she's she's finally learned how to rest and take

(52:01):
care of herself. She really disliked.
I almost said hated, but she really disliked our show on
self-care because it was really,really, really kind of poking at
people who don't do a lot of that for themselves.
Yes, yeah, I feel you there, Heather.
That's one of the reasons why wemade our 30 day challenge on

(52:22):
self-care, because we are also. Yeah.
Well, and, and, and especially, you know, you guys are running
a, a very busy practice and you have your lives that are very
busy and you know, it's really important for all of us to rest.
And that isn't always a day at the spa.
Even though, even though the four of us, Allison, Mike,

(52:43):
Michael, myself and Heather, we,we snuck off to Cottonwood
Springs this weekend and had a beautiful time.
Oh, it was so fun. It was so fun.
Although there was a weird part that I was, I was telling
somebody today, Michael and Heather, you guys are obviously
were there. There was this family that we
kept running into everywhere we went and it was so weird.

(53:05):
And the guy started by by the end of two days, the guy's
looking at us like we're stalkers or something.
But everywhere we went, they were there like.
Literally. Literally after we breakfast,
every meal we had, they were at the restaurants before us and of
course they were staying at the hotel with us.
We we realized on the last day because then we seen them in the
pools with us. But yeah, I love it.

(53:26):
But that was one of those instances where they'll pop me
up later. Yeah.
I said I love a synchronicity. I bet you they'll pop up later
sometime. You might not know when, but.
Which is funny because Michael and I just recorded a show in
Synchronicity 2 days ago that'llbe hidden tomorrow.
See more synchronicity. So that's.
Amazing. I took my time off this weekend.

(53:47):
I. Don't.
She did. I don't need to rest this week,
I already did my time. Well, you got to do it in
normal, you know, some, some sometimes it means not taking a
shower and just chilling and and.
You know. Right.
Yeah. You know, you don't have to.
You don't have to do grand things.
Yeah, I think so often like I think with the over giving, like
you said that that shadow of over giving.

(54:09):
And I know that, you know, everyone feels this, but I think
specifically this one is a very hard one for for women, but also
for those that are in charge of their of their families.
So they're the, you know, the matriarchs of the family or they
are this because so often throughout time and Memoriam
women's worth has been directly tied into what they can do for

(54:34):
you. Well, in giving, yeah, yeah.
You know, and what our. Grandmothers did it.
Our mothers did it. Our great grandmothers did it.
You. Know and it's It's a very hard
lesson to learn to know that youhave a divine right to rest, but
also that your worth is not determined by what you can do
for someone. That's right.

(54:56):
You know it's not determined by how quickly you finish a
deadline. It's not determined by how you
produce or or get things done orcheck off of your list.
You are worth it, even when noneof those things are attached to
it. Absolutely, yeah.
Love is not. Love is not a condition you
audition for. Exactly.

(55:19):
You are deserving of it no matter what, no matter what.
And it's important for for all of us, for those people who do,
because all these things are tied more toward nurturing than
they are providing. And I would argue that yes, a
provider must feed, but we can go three weeks without eating.

(55:39):
We can go three days without water.
We can go 3 minutes without breath.
But but just go ahead and live alife without being having any
nurturing and you're you're screwed for life screw you up
really bad. And that's something we talk
about a lot. But it's important for for the
rest of us who aren't over givers, who do have strong

(55:59):
boundaries, to make sure that wedo not take those people for
granted. Crappy childhoods.
The crappy childhoods, man, but that.
Those that aren't shown that rapid.
Move it up. What's the word I'm looking for
that aren't shown that kind of love that are is constantly
Well, you gotta prove that you need this.

(56:20):
Some of us, some people, me specifically, I'll use me as a
an example that was never shown to me.
So for me, over time, that's like my way of showing love
because I over reciprocate. Yes.
So that's a hard thing to get out of.
Like if I'm not doing it, then Idon't think that I'm doing
enough. I'm not doing anything at all

(56:42):
and I feel bad for it. Yeah.
Well, in a lot of times we do this these things because we're
looking for that reciprocation. Yeah.
It doesn't happen because for us, love is a condition that we
have to prove or worthy of. It becomes a really vicious
cycle and it and it's those wounds cut deep.

(57:04):
And the hard thing about anything, you know, when we look
at reciprocal relationships, when we look at reciprocity,
it's like you really have to askyourself in so many different
scenarios, what am I giving and why?
Am I giving with the expectationof reciprocity?
Or am I giving just to give? And then that is also a whole

(57:24):
other conversation you have to have with yourself because if
it's out of a place of love, do you expect reciprocity, right.
It's not a condition of you giving it to receive it.
And so you really have to look at those things.
So much synchronicity today because we literally just did a
show on True Service on Tuesday where we talked about, you know,

(57:45):
giving because you can, but nobody can pour from it from an
empty cup. You must take care of yourself.
And. And for those of you concerned
that there might be a ghost behind me, that's actually
Heather. You just can't see her.
Yeah, See, there's my hands. You know, some someone out there
is calling Ghostbusters going Justin, there's someone behind
you. I'm.
Hiding. So let's talk about the event

(58:08):
that we most all recently did together, Union.
What a great event that was. Michael, can you, can you remind
us of, of what that was like and, and all the, all the cool
stuff that we did? Oh, it's just, it was an event
all about connection, especiallywith, I mean, it was with
friends or with your partner. And there were so many different

(58:29):
exercises from breathwork to just holding one another that
we're. So if I love how union was the
theme because that's what it felt like, it was that it was
just this brief period where me and my wife got to embrace each
other and be still and it we felt like we were one.
It was absolutely magical. Yeah, I love that I'm.

(58:51):
So glad that you guys enjoyed itand I'm so glad that you came
because you know, there's a vulnerability component whenever
you put something out that is a couples only event or a love
event that a lot of people are just, you know, they have
resistance to, they don't know what to expect.
They don't, you know, know what they're going to be asked to do

(59:11):
or anything like that. And so there is always
resistance in something like that.
Well, yeah, and you know, a lot of people, I, I think, and you
can correct me if, if I'm not right here, but this really felt
like a living embodiment of, of,of that tantric connection, you
know, love as energy and awareness, always so important
awareness, being aware of just being present right now

(59:34):
together, but not just together,together.
We were all kind of doing this and it wasn't open, you know, it
wasn't like you had to be romantically involved.
It wasn't like it could be friends.
You could be whatever. And, and, and, and we were
talking about reciprocity. There was that sacred
reciprocity present right there,right?

(59:56):
And it was, there was no performance.
There was no possession. It was just being present.
And experiencing everything in those moments.
Yeah. And, you know, I love, I love it
because Tantra itself, you know,that's another one.
Like you just hear that word andpeople are like, oh, hands off.
Yeah, no, we're not doing it. And if you remember when we were

(01:00:22):
speaking about kundalini, we talked about the word yoga
meaning to yoke. And Tantra itself literally
means to weave, right? So it's a web, it's an
interconnection. It's the art of weaving breath
and movement and intuition and energy all together.
So you feel more alive and more connected to the people around

(01:00:42):
you. But one of the most beautiful
things about Tantra, and for those of you who don't know, and
I know we talked about this before, Kundalini is in the
tantric line. So the type of yoga that we do
is part of this. But at its very core, you know,
so many people have that misconception of it being a very
sexual or sensual type of thing when at its very core, that's

(01:01:02):
just one teeny tiny little leaf on the grand tree that is
Tantra, where at its core, its presence.
And so I'm really happy that both of you have brought that up
tonight because having a moment with a partner or a friend, you
know, we talk a lot about being present in our own bodies.
We talk a lot about using breathto anchor us into presence, but

(01:01:27):
not very many of us sit down andsay look at me in my eyes and be
present with me right now. You know, we don't have what
skill with our partner, with ourfriend, with our Co worker.
A touch, a breath, a moment of shared connection that says I'm
here with you. I'm not above you, I'm not in

(01:01:48):
front of you. I'm here with you, together.
Yeah. And it's amazing because it goes
so much deeper. The well of love is deep beyond
imagination. And this practice goes it just
goes beyond romantic, sexual, sensual stuff.
And if people practice this moreoften, they would realize that

(01:02:11):
that love is much more than that.
Yeah, yeah. And I think when people hear
about about these tantric forms of connection, this type of
yoga, they always just go, like you said, right to that one
spot, that tiny little twig on this giant tree of, of practice.
Yeah. Yeah, and I just love.

(01:02:31):
I love that you. I think you said it earlier,
sacred reciprocity. You know, that's what this is.
It's about that sacred reciprocity and remembering that
that love is something we becametogether.
You know. It's something we we are
together. It's something we carry and
float upon and live and exist and move with.

(01:02:53):
Yeah, Yeah, it was. It was amazing because I'll tell
you this Contra in its in its truest form is about being
present in its presence. And it's the merging of energy
and breath and awareness, as yousaid.
But it but, but if we pay attention, it will also teach us
that love is not something we give or receive.

(01:03:13):
It's something that we are becoming conscious of together,
no matter what we're doing, right?
You know, there's no prerequisites.
There's no you just sit togetherand become conscious of that, a
connection of that love. Yeah.
And sometimes, you know, like Marissa and I will just do that
via phone call. Sometimes, you know, you'll
catch us on a phone. Neither one of us are saying

(01:03:36):
anything. And it's been dead air for, you
know, 10 minutes. But we're just in it together.
Yeah. And maybe she's working on her
computer and I'm working on my computer, but we know that the
other person is there and that connection exists.
Yeah. So every element of that event,
I believe really, really resonates with what what we're

(01:03:58):
all saying here about it. The Kakawa really opens, helps
open our hearts, and it was reminding us that that love
starts here and it goes out right.
This is the first time I ever had Kakala, by the way.
Well. We got to get you some more
then. And I was so happy.
So just a funny little thankful.Just a funny little.
I'm sorry. Go ahead.

(01:04:20):
Yeah, we are so thankful that you guys were so understanding
and I think you might be tellingthe same story that I was
thinking about. I I'm thinking, yeah, I think
it's so so there's a little funny thing where where from the
back end where where Barisma wasporn for everybody.
And I think it's because you're using an unfamiliar vessel,

(01:04:40):
right, that you were pouring from.
And it was just, and it was kindof dark and it was hard to see.
And so they got around to to Michael and Allison.
Was it Michael or Allison or wasthe other folks?
I think it was Michael and. Allison it was Michael and.
Allison. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So. So she's trying to pour and
then. And then she's like, oh, no.
And she looks around and Heather's, Heather's glass.
And my glass was a little probably more fool than it

(01:05:01):
should have been. And she looked over at me and I
was like, yeah, we can. Yeah, there.
Is that frequency of? Yeah, like use any words.
I we just like locked eyes and you're like, yeah.
Yeah, yeah. Absolutely, of course.
Thank you so much. That's the frequency of
compassion and and and connection.
I love that. Yeah, and of course the.

(01:05:24):
Partner Mary, our pot that we were using to warm the so
Marissa had made the cacao at home because it's quite a time
intensive process to to make thecacao.
And so she had spent quite a bitof time making it.
And so I was like, oh, do you want me to put it in?
We have this big glass kettle tojust keep it warm.

(01:05:45):
And she was. Like, yeah, sure.
And so as she's setting up the bowls, I think I was working on
mats, she was setting up the bowls.
And all of the sudden she goes, oh, no.
And we look over at the table and there's just cacao dripping
all down the table. And we were like, what happened?

(01:06:05):
The the kettle had cracked. Yeah.
And so thankfully we had some extra, but it was like it was a
tight, you know, it was, yeah, yeah.
It's like we, we lost like 3/4 of the cacao that I made that
night. And we're just like, I'm like,
we're really gonna have to ration this guys.
I'm like really gonna have to ration this.

(01:06:27):
I don't. You made it work.
Though it turned out to be plenty.
Yeah, there was plenty for everyone.
It's. Like less than half a cup for
that person, but that's. OK, it wasn't.
Yeah, it wasn't. It wasn't the part.
It was the perfect amount, right?
I thought so anyway. So, and, and of course, the

(01:06:47):
partner mirroring became again like that, that really sacred
act of witnessing each other andnot judging, just just
witnessing. And it wasn't about validation.
It was about, it was about just seeing the other person and, and
helping them feel seen. And then the Kundalini
meditation, of course, was, was really good.
If you guys have never done Kundalini meditation, you should

(01:07:10):
really try it. It's, it will, it will open your
eyes. I know it has for me.
And then of course, the sound healing.
And this is, this is interestingthat I was thinking about this
the other day. I was like, I was like, man, 45
minutes of, of, of of sound sounds like a long time.
But I, I swear to you, I when welaid down and we and we started

(01:07:33):
the, the sound bath, it was like10 minutes.
I felt like it was 10 minutes, you know, because, because it
just takes you in so deep that you know, if you're thinking
like 45, man, 45 minutes, imagine listening to a song, one
song for 45 minutes long, right?It would feel like, man, that's
going to be excruciating. But with the sound bath, it's

(01:07:56):
like you feel like you're there for 10 minutes and then you're
like, oh, is it time to it's time to get up, time to turn the
lights on now. It's so magical because sound
can really. We had a good friend come to a
couple of our sound baths and heis a hypnotherapist and he was
saying that sound is one of, youknow, especially when we work

(01:08:16):
with things like binaural beats,especially in that sound bath,
specifically the way that we hadset the room up because there
was a set in the front and a setin the back.
Many of you probably experiencedthe binaural beats from those
two sets of sound baths. And so it creates a really
intense floating back and forth sensation where your brain is

(01:08:37):
really trying to catch up with where the sounds are.
And he had shared with us that that was one of the most
powerful ways for someone to enter a hypnosis.
And I haven't done a lot of research on that.
But what I do know is that within the first, you know, 5 to
15 minutes of the sound bath, that's where our brain is just
starting to like, OK, I'm uncomfortable.
There's a bunch of people in theroom.

(01:08:59):
Maybe the ground is cold. Maybe I don't have my feet
covered by the blanket, you know, And we just kind of go
through this like checklist of things or what we expect should
happen in a sound bath. And then after about the 1st 15
minutes we start to drift and westart to go OK, our brains are
now switching from those really like drive and achieve brain

(01:09:22):
waves into the rest and digest brain waves.
And then the further with after that, you know, 15 minute, 20
minute time frame, every minute after that takes you further and
further towards those Theta brain waves where the real deep,
you know, subconscious healing is going to happen.
Yeah, and for those of you who never had done a sound bath,

(01:09:43):
make yourself get through the 1st 1015 minutes.
It'll be it'll be hard, it'll beweird.
It'll it'll like feel uncomfortable.
It might even seem loud because it's a different kind of sound
you're used to hearing. But believe me, if you if you
get yourself through the 1st 10 or 15 minutes, it's kind of like
meditation, right? It's really hard to meditate for
the first one million times. But that 1,000,000 at one time

(01:10:07):
you let go 6 minutes, 7 minutes,whatever the, the, the
uncomfortableness you feel will fade and and you will have an
amazing experience, especially the way you guys, you know, did
it with, you know, binaural. I know I've been using binaural
beats for a million years now. I'm not quite that old, but
maybe. But somebody called somebody

(01:10:30):
called me old at the beginning the show.
I won't tell you guys who but did it.
Wonder who? But but you know, it it, there
is kind of a kind of a learning curve there.
You have to kind of get used to hearing things kind of at
different frequencies. But if you just sit with it a
few minutes, it'll be it'll be amazing, I promise.

(01:10:52):
Yeah, wherever you're at, there's sound baths everywhere.
So I promise you just get online, you look for it, you
will find a sound bath and. If you're in the Springs, you
just need to not look for it online.
Just go to see Shannon Monday. Night, guys.
Every Monday night and we also do private sound bats too.
Yeah. Yeah, I noticed you guys.

(01:11:14):
What was it? I was looking up.
I was on your guys's website andthere was something that you did
that I didn't realize. Sauna.
The sauna. The sauna, yeah.
I was like, so that's what that little room is in the in the
studio, yeah. It's a sauna, yeah.
So we can typically do 2 heat like both Marissa and I in there
with one other person. And those are probably some of
the most intense experiences that our folks have had it those

(01:11:37):
can be really intense because the heat and the sound and you
know, it's, it's an intense experience.
Yeah, that's something we need to make Michael try once and
then you can report back. Yeah, report back.
Down you guys going to bring theice baths back?
Eventually, yes, we've got big news coming within the next few
months, so just stay tuned for that.

(01:11:59):
And they always keep promising us we're going to do a vent
that's a sleepover one day. So we're going to hold you guys
to that. We're going to bring our
jammies. We're.
Doing a sleepover. We're going to bring our
jammies. Just be patient guys.
So, so we kind of shared our experiences.
What I'm really, I'm really curious to know is what did you
guys witness in that room when everybody, when we were all

(01:12:21):
doing all of these different exercises and all these steps,
what did you guys witness? I got to say, as soon as
everybody left, we've done many,many events.
Some events have four people, some events have 4024, you know,
40 people. We've done events where you're
floating in a swimming pool. We've done events, you know,

(01:12:43):
where it's a rage ritual or you know, something that is, is just
as profound. But I gotta say, as soon as we
shut that door and said goodbye to the last person, we both
immediately looked at each otherand it was just like a release.
Like we, it was our favorite event to date.

(01:13:04):
As somebody who is sensitive to energetic, you know, frequencies
and things like that, it was profound.
It was profound, the connection that I was feeling from her, you
know, when we were doing the themirroring and things, but the
connection that I was feeling from all of you and just being
able to witness the acceptance because you had mentioned it
earlier, Justin, there are definite, you know,

(01:13:26):
physiological signs to someone settling in.
You can see it in the way that their eyes soften and their
shoulders drop. You can see it, you know, in
their posture and how they breathe.
And there were people in there, you know, like we said, there
were you, you know, you guys. And then there was people who
were just friends. And then there was a person that
you would never in a million years have expected to have gone

(01:13:48):
to an event like that. I think he even called it.
He even called it woo woo I think if I remember.
And it was participation, you know, he was fully he present
for his partner. It wasn't, you know, oh, haha,
I'm not going to do that. I'm going to stand here with my
arms folded. There was full participation.
And even though there were definite moments where there was
things that might have felt uncomfortable or strange for

(01:14:12):
people, it was such a deep connection.
And one of the things that Marissa and I have often
discussed is I tend to be more of a feeler, and she tends to be
more of a seer. And what I mean by that is I
will feel the movement and the change and someone's energy.
And you know, my therapist wouldtell you that that's a trauma

(01:14:32):
response, but it's fine. It's is not necessarily the case
because I feel like over the years I have really, really,
really tapped into that and knowing when to let up and
knowing when to change a breath work and knowing when to do
these things. But one of the most beautiful
things about Marissa and I is wecome together after every event

(01:14:54):
and we do a decompression and a discussion and and what did we
feel? See here experience.
And this one was really special because I felt different waves
of energy off of each couple that was there, and I had an
idea of what the color was that I was seeing for each couple.
And Marissa knew. Because.

(01:15:14):
She had seen the color and it was it was it.
We didn't discuss it. We didn't, you know, but it was
a color. And together, at the very end of
the final meditation, there was this.
Oh my gosh, I don't even know how to explain it.
It felt like if you've ever had something maybe laying on your
stomach, you know, if you've been laying on your stomach or

(01:15:34):
you're getting a massage or something and somebody's kind of
got some pressure on you, it's not really uncomfortable, but
it's, it's enough where you recognize it right at the very
end of that. And we had kind of a collective
breath together. It was like, for me, like a
pulsing of energy that just went.
It was, it was like, I wouldn't even say a relief.

(01:15:55):
It wasn't a relief. It was like a relaxing of
pressure. Does that make sense?
Yeah, there was definitely a lotof letting go, right, Michael?
There was definitely a lot of. A lot of surrender.
Yeah. Surrender is a big one, you
know, and, and again, not to sound like that broken record
player, but Justin, you said it earlier is just presence.

(01:16:18):
Presence is love. You know, we talked about the
opposite of love being indifference.
Well, what is that? It's presence.
Right. Attentiveness and there was so
much beauty in that room, from every single breath to the way
that you each were, to Michael'spoint, showing reverence for one
another, not just for each other, but a respect and

(01:16:39):
reverence for the other couples that were in the room and it was
truly magical to see. Yeah.
So do you guys have anything newgoing on that you want to kind
of let us in on? No, do it.
We're get up a new partner. But we do have to say there is

(01:16:59):
very, very, very big things happening in the next year, you
guys. May have.
Noticed a recent post where Jacqueline.
Yeah. Yes, you got, you guys have met
Jacqueline before. She's our gong priestess and she
is amazing. And so she will be joining
Saluna full time, which is really, really exciting.

(01:17:20):
So we'll have to have her on here so she can introduce
herself. But she's kind of our, our, our,
you know, our Trinity. It really completes things.
There's there's a story about a,you know, the sun and the moon.
So for those of you who don't know, Soluna stands for sun and
moon and Marissa's the sun and I'm the moon.
And there's a a Mayan story thattalks about how the sun and the

(01:17:42):
moon yearn to be together, but the Jaguar was the only thing
that could cross between worlds.And Jacqueline's name is Jaguar
Lotus, so we're very excited to bring her into our sun and moon
to see what comes. That's so cool.
Yeah. Yeah, and she was at.
That. She was at the first event that

(01:18:03):
I went to and she's really good at what she does.
Yes. Yes, she is.
Yeah. We're really excited to have
her. And you know, we've got another
event coming up, which is calledReflect.
So you'll notice a trend starting to shape from our
events going forward where therewill have, you know, you guys
went to Union, we have Reflect, you know, they're going to be a

(01:18:28):
very, very clear distinction on what we want to accomplish with
each of these. And this one is a new moon and
Scorpio event. So there will be a lot of deep
reflection happening. And we just say it's just really
beautiful because the gong is such a good representation of a
reflection. But also we're going to be doing
a water ceremony and a, we did amirror ceremony for Union, but

(01:18:50):
this one will be a personal mirrored ceremony.
So it will be just you, yourselfand a mirror.
When is that event? What day?
That is the 21st and we still have I think 4 spots left.
OK, might be worth looking into right there.
We also have this coming up in December and if you have been

(01:19:13):
around Saluna in December, you know that you'll is, you'll and
the solstice are very important to us.
So we will have some things for that as.
Well, yeah. Michael, do you have any closing
thoughts about today's show? You've been kind of quiet today.
I hope I wasn't stepping on you a lot, but.
Oh no, not at all. I was enjoying listening to the
conversation and jumping in whenI had input.
But. I think love is one of the
things that really is one of themost powerful resources on the

(01:19:37):
planet. And I think love has been
something that people have become more and more afraid of,
especially unconditional love. The more we can start to embrace
what love truly is. And again, like we talked about
earlier, it's not something you chase.
It's something that is there, that is present, that is whole.
And the more we can learn to seewhat is really love versus

(01:20:00):
attachment, the more we can start embracing relationships
that help us grow and expand. And that's just one thing I got
to throw in there with this topic.
I love that. Beautiful.
Do you guys have any closing thoughts you want to leave the
audience with about our show today?
Gosh, you guys really, I'm just,you know, it's just we love, we
love you guys. Yeah, we love talking with you.

(01:20:22):
I feel like I could talk all day.
I just looked at the time and I was like, how in the world did
we spend this much time talking about love?
It's my. Favorite thing?
I guess I'll I'll hand it over. Do you want to go first or you
want me to take this and then pass it back to you?
Yeah, I guess you could take this like.
I'll carry the football of love.Gosh, I think that just remember

(01:20:42):
remembering that love is the underlying, you know, rhythm of
all life. Emotions are going to come and
go, but the vibration of love isconstant.
And when we attune to it, everything aligns.
When your purpose is attuned to love, everything aligns.
And what's meant to be will be and what's meant to come into
your life will be. And then I guess the invitation

(01:21:03):
would be to remember that you, you, me, we, we are the medicine
and we get to choose every single day compassion over
judgment and softness over fear.And you know, I think like you
said, you guys have said it before, we're restoring the
balance. You know, we're restoring the
balance in this world. And love invites us all to to

(01:21:26):
live as the embodiment of healing itself.
Well said. Yeah, Richard, did you want to
add anything to that? She's like, I have to follow
that. Come on, don't worry, Michael
does that to me all the time. I'm like, I got to follow that.

(01:21:46):
Yeah, I think like just, I guesspiggybacking off of what Shannon
said, like love is the medicine.And like, I feel like also part
of love is acceptance, like accepting any person like as
they are in like one of our veryfirst slogans, I guess we should

(01:22:06):
say for Soluna, like, you know, 2 1/2 years ago was all vibes
welcome. Because I I've been to multiple
yoga studios in the past and they're like, well, leave.
Leave your worries, leave your anger at the door.
You're here for you, which whichI understand.
Like, you know this practice is for you, but like, you can't

(01:22:27):
just leave your anger or your grief or your sadness.
You know where you left your shoes and your coat in the
hallway. You.
Know. It's like it's still going to be
with you and like, and I feel like that's what true love is.
It's like you accept their grief.
You accept the person's grief ortheir anger or their

(01:22:48):
irritability and just you accepttheir everything.
And I think that's part of the medicine to, you know, help
people heal through their spiritual journey or their
healing journey that. Was but at the same time, it's
OK to be annoyed with them and it's OK to Oh yeah, it's your
emotions. We don't get annoyed with each
other very often, but the portalyesterday had us both on edge

(01:23:12):
with the Oh my gosh and I don't know what happened.
We're gathering food for a food drive and there was a
miscommunication about tubs and she brought in the tubs, but I
was. I brought 3 tubs in.
And I was like, oh, but we couldalso just use a table.
And she's like, so you don't want the tubs.
And then, you know, it's just, it's so funny because even if

(01:23:32):
you do have that, you know, you,you realize that nothing is done
with the intention of of harm, you know, and once you live in
that frequency of love, everything you want, you crave
to have harmony. And so you don't want to
perpetuate, you know, something like, oh, you snapped at me.
I snapped at you. OK, this happened.
No, it's, it's knowing that nobody's out to get you.

(01:23:53):
And we're not, you know, yeah, we don't have to be.
We can be in the way, but it doesn't necessarily say that we
need to perpetuate that. Love exists even in the shadow.
It does. It does.
So as we come to the end of thisconversation, I want to bring
everybody back to this very simple but powerful truth.
Love and connection are living forces.

(01:24:16):
They are the energy of creation.It is found in every part of
creation. Whether you're a scientist,
you'll find it at the very molecular level.
If you're a spiritualist, you'llfind it in the glowing heart of
the people you're connected with.
You know it is literally everywhere, and it's not.

(01:24:36):
These aren't limited to ceremonies or romance or
spiritual practices. It is literally everywhere.
They follow us into the kitchen on the ride home from work.
The text message that you're sending, that breath that you
take because you're annoyed, You're like, right, they're
everywhere. So and, and, and they, they live

(01:24:57):
and they hang out with us when no one's watching us, right?
So and connection is that subtlerecognition that we are part of
something larger. This web of light, this web of
connection. His stretches far beyond what we
could imagine, and it literally unites every single tiny thing

(01:25:18):
in the universe. So and every act of kindness,
every moment of compassion, every time you pause to choose
to breathe and respond instead of reacting, you're sending
these ripples out into the world.
And don't ever discount how muchpower you have in the world to
help and heal because those ripples, no matter how big or

(01:25:39):
small, it might have hit somebody when they need it the
most. So be impeccable with your love.
Be impeccable with your word, your thoughts, your reactions,
you know, let these things be your compass.
Let connection be the practice, the daily practice that you try
to do, all that, you know, everyday.

(01:26:00):
And you will slip and you will fall, but get back up because
you know, that's just part of life.
We got to skin our knees, right?So, but, but really at the
center of this love is the mission for all of us, no matter
what we believe or what we practice.
So, and coming back to that axiom that anchored us, love
will always subdue hate. This is the final truth, right?

(01:26:24):
Love not only transforms the heart, but it restores the world
one single person at a time. So, and my call of action today
for everybody is I, I want to invite everyone to perform one
act of conscious love this week.It could be kindness, it could
be self compassion, self love, very important, or just

(01:26:46):
genuinely sitting with someone, being present, no matter what
they're going through, whether they're happy, sad, whatever, it
doesn't matter. Just be present for them and
bring that presence and awareness and notice that you
have to notice how that energy sits with you and where it sits
with you in the body. So that would be my my final

(01:27:07):
words today. So thank you guys so much.
We always love having you on. Thank you.
Guys, for having us, we are, we always love being on here.
This is you guys were you'll be back too.
Oh, we can't wait. Yeah, you guys were the perfect,
perfect pairing for this for this episode today.

(01:27:29):
You know, it adds a little perspective.
You see some gruff, you know, big giant stoic guy and oh happy
go lucky over here talking aboutlove.
It doesn't hit as well sometimesbut so anyways thanks guys.
And appreciate the opportunity to come on here and be with you
guys. It's just always such a great
conversation. It it truly.

(01:27:50):
Is we appreciate that. We love the show, big fans.
We appreciate that you guys hearthat.
Now you have to listen twice each and everyone of you out
there. But thank you guys so much for
joining us today. We really appreciate it.
Yeah. Thank you so much for having us.
You're welcome anytime. With love and gratitude, add
Luchum. Add luchum.
Add luchum.

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Love and Connection: The Forces that Hold us Together with Special Guests Shannon and Mariza of Soluna Mind and Body

Episode Transcript

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Love and Connection: The Forces that Hold us Together with Special Guests Shannon and Mariza of Soluna Mind and Body

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