February 27, 2025 • 53 mins
In this episode of Prevention Over Prescription with Dr. K, we're joined by Jacy Cunningham to explore his journey from athlete to wellness advocate. Jacy shares how movement, meditation, and journaling have been key to his personal growth and healing, especially in coping with loss. He introduces the concept of "working in" as a complement to physical fitness, emphasizing internal growth, self-care, and accountability. Plus, he explains why his daily ritual of 100 burpees isn’t just a workout—it’s a mindset shift. The conversation highlights the importance of mental resilience, community, and simple daily practices in fostering overall well-being.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The views expressed in the following program are those of
the participants and do not necessarily reflect the views of
SAGA nine sixty am or its management.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Welcome to Prevention Over Prescription, the podcast where we focus
on what truly matters, taking control of your health before
it takes control of you. I'm Doctor Quadio Karen mantang
I se you physician, health advocate and your guide to
living stronger, healthier, and longer. In each episode, we'll explore
how you can prevent illness and thrive through practical advice
(00:40):
on nutrition, movement, stress management, and building a supportive community.
Because prevention isn't just better than prescription, it's the key
to showing up as your best self. Let's get started.
Quote Gus Achel. We got a special episode with my
good friend Jossy Cunningham. This man is a motivational speaker,
(01:02):
as a trainer, founder of the joss Method, and it
was just a true inspiration in terms of why movement
is healing, why we need to incorporate more movement in life,
and the ability for that to be transformative from our
mental health, from our physical health emotionally, and we walk
(01:26):
through a bit of what he's gone through as a
former athlete and all the groups he's worked with and
go a little bit into his routine on how he
sets himself up for success. So I think you guys
will enjoy this episode. At the end of the day,
you'll be motivated to take care of yourself and recognize
(01:48):
that we should be grateful for the opportunity and most
of us have to move and to take care of
ourselves and those around us. So I think you guys
are going to really love this episode. We met for
the first time at you d Ammonia. It was great
feeling his energy, witnessing his crazy workouts and this man
(02:10):
does you'll hear it from him but one hundred burpies
first thing in the morning, which I feel nauseous just
hearing him say this, But anyway, he is dedicated to movements.
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you need. Thanks for all the support, and let's continue
to show up as your best self. Stay guid as
strong everyone All right, folks, without further ado.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
Jay Z Cunningham in The Easy.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
We oh Man, did I ever enjoy his company? Out
in your d Ammonia and so it's a real privilege
to have you on the show. Brother, So welcome to
the show. Thank you so much for having me. I
haven't seen you since Yourdemonia, and I must say that
it's been a transformative time since then, so I'm excited
to share some of the things that I'm working on. Yeah,
(04:08):
and maybe before we jump into it. You have a
really interesting background. My friend like you athlete and work
with obviously been a massive influencer. But how did it
all start for you? Jason?
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Ah?
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Wow?
Speaker 3 (04:24):
How did it all start? I think growing up in
a home that stressed a lot about sports, we were
particularly very fond of the whole journey of being an
athlete because I was I'm the youngest of four and
we're all boys in the family. So when you grow
up that way, you kind of just have this consistent
(04:44):
story of you got to be better than your brothers,
you have to have something that makes you unique out
of all of those four people, and sports became the
most dominant theme in my life. It still is one
of the most dominant things in my life now as
an exit out of sort put into more of a
just the life athlete and athlete of life. And I
(05:05):
think growing up as an athlete that was kind of
praised for that I got praised for performing well. I
think I received love from performing well. I became. That
became like the the awareness that I had. You know,
I'm like, if I keep doing this thing well, my
family keep giving me things, and they'll keep smiling at
me and loving me. So I might as well keep
putting this effort and time into this craft of mine
(05:27):
to sharpen it, to perfect it, to make it great.
And I think the version of that that it was
then is different much now. But I'm so glad that
I was raised an athlete. I'm so glad that that
was my beginning. My beginning was working hard. It wasn't
soft beginnings. It was hard beginnings. And I had a
very cushy life as far as growing up in you know,
(05:47):
suburban neighborhood and the two parent household that's still together.
But the work that I was I wouldn't say forest,
but the work that my parents instilled in me to
want to put in is something that I still value
to this day, the reason why I am who I
am today. So it started as an athlete and football, basketball, track.
I think track was the start you learn how to
(06:10):
differentiate yourself as an athlete when you run track because
it's just you versus the clock, and you realize, okay,
I don't really I have a team, but in this race,
this is mine to win or mine to lose. So
you kind of have this pressure on you growing up
that like you know, I dealt with the pressure as
a nine year old dealing with you know, Junior Olympics
(06:30):
and trying to be the greatest athlete of all time
and the fastest runner in the state and all these things.
So having that pressure put on you as an as
a as a youth, it has helped sharpen me so
well to where I'm at now. It's gave me that discipline,
that willingness to work hard and work often. And I'm
such an enjoyable version of myself now versus one I
(06:51):
was actually involved in sports. So I'm happy that sports
was a part of my life. But I'm also happy
that I'm now looking at life through a lens that's
just nonsports. It's like just life. I'm now just an
athlete and I don't have a designation anymore. So I
like that now.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Amazing, amazing, And I must say what you mentioned about
the having the brothers and how sports defines you and
gives you identity. Has been something that I definitely see
and so many good things come out of it in
terms of in terms of how you you overcome adversity,
(07:30):
how you have this amazing work ethic, and and I
see it in the way you've built your your career too,
Like a lot of that comes from that. There's one
thing that as we were talking before the show went on,
I think one of the things that you and I
at least maybe have a similar view on is that
(07:53):
through movement through exercise, like there's healing there at so
many levels. I'm wondering if that resonates with you or
if you want to speak to that at all, like
how movement can really and exercise can really be transformative.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
So I have this practice every morning that I do,
which is one hundred berpeys every day. Now, typically it
used to be just like throughout the day, just as
long as I get a hundred berpeyes in, I'm good.
Now it's like a morning ritual. I wake up and
that's the first thing I do before I even eat
anything or even drink a glass of water. I'm on
the ground and I'm doing burpees. And one thing that
I can say is that we all have this invisible
(08:32):
backpack of trauma and pain that we collect over time.
You know, if you've lived long enough, you've collected stories
and stories and stories of good and bad things that
have happened in your life, and you often don't know
how to unpack them. We often aren't given the space
to unpack the stories. We don't know how we're all right,
how do I unpack this?
Speaker 2 (08:49):
For me?
Speaker 3 (08:50):
When my career ended in football, I didn't know what
to do. I was like, well, who am I now? Like?
I've been this thing my whole entire life. Where am
I now? What version of me can I love today?
That isn't what I was, because I'm no longer that
thing anymore. And I had to dig through all of
these different narratives that I had collected over time of
(09:12):
just a black man in America, of raising up, you know,
in a middle class fan, all these just things, all
these stories about being in alive that had nothing to
do with where I was at. And so movement became
an access point for me for removing those stories and
putting new ones in, for releasing the trauma and the
pain from growing up with certain pressure, or from growing up,
(09:34):
you know, in a perfectionist home, or from growing up
trying to be perfect and just realizing that you know,
when you work out, it humbles you. It shows you
your flaws and imperfections. You might not finish that set
the same way you started, and it's like, you know,
you have to accept that, you have to surrender, and
it's such a I think movement is so healing, and
for me, it's never about just having, you know, the
(09:55):
ability to move. I think if you have a finger
or an arm that works, and that's it move you know,
like there is something about energy that gets stuck just spiritually,
you know, and movement is a great way to get
those things to loosen up and to move through and
to flow out of us. I look at sweat like
bad stories getting out. I'm like, if yesterday I put
some bad stories in my morning, one hundred birpies is
(10:18):
the bad story is coming out. And now I got
this Tabila Rossa, as they say, this blank slate that
I can now build from as a foundation for my day.
And it just makes me feel so alive knowing that
God has allowed for me every single day to keep
doing this because I know mad people, my age that
play football that are like, yo, my knees don't work,
my arms don't work, And I'm like, well, mine are
working fine. And I think it's because I've been consistent.
(10:42):
And it's not just my career, but it's my lifestyle,
Like I love working out. I think it is a
space of such enjoyment of having something that most people
don't even get to enjoy. Having a body should be
a joy. We shouldn't be looking at our bodies like,
oh god, I got another day with this body, like
enjoy having another day with that body, because that bidy
got you to this day. And so it's like it
(11:03):
gets me to be grateful. It positions me in so
many ways that if I don't move, I won't see
things that way. So it's like polishing the mirror for
me is movement. Like if I wake up to a
foggy mirror, I can't see myself. I can't see how
loving I am and how beautiful I am, how beautiful
my life is. I go move, and when I come
back to that mirror, I see something beautiful. I'm like, oh,
(11:24):
life is great, life is wonderful.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
So here I love. Move all right, folks will be
right back with Josey Cunningham.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
V to that it's a for Shinzoo. My n zoo
used to drive down the vas turning them in a
home and the turfance got a dirt cheap for them.
Plus if they were short with cheese, I would work
for them, but we got rid of that dirt for them.
Speaker 5 (11:45):
Wasn't going on.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Stream us Life at Saga nine sixty am dot c Ay.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Life. All right, qualcastination. We're back with John See cunning Hand.
I gotta say this, that might have been one of
the more powerful two minutes on our show Dog like
if if you think about it, I did a show
earlier today on gratitude, and that was exactly it. Like
we can't take for granted what we the ability to
(12:20):
move and the ability to to do the things that
we were able to do. Like to have that gift
because I mean, in my line of work, some people
won't live another day. Some people won't be at home,
they won't be able to walk, they won't be able
to be functional. And so to wake up knowing that
you get to move, you get the ability to exercise.
(12:44):
I think it is something that if we if we
if we approach it life. That way, we're going to
be way more likely to to have positive results. I
think we'll end up being more grateful and more or
and more likely to achieve our goals. That that's the
first thing. And then second thing that that sweat out
(13:07):
your your your your your troubles man. It is it's
so true you think about it. I mean, this is
what the we're talking earlier about how you how you reset,
how you uh you know, after you have busy week,
what do you how do you get re established? And
for me, I was saying, like exercise, going to the gym,
(13:28):
playing hockey, and and that's powerful. Like if you think
about the stresses on people on an everyday basis, are
youth all right? Like the youth and their mental health
state of affairs coming out of the pandemic, uh, the
social media, their phones Like this is this is the
(13:51):
as strong antidote to one of the like to a
strong force, which is uh their mental health and well being.
So I gotta say, like, I could never say it
as eloquently as that, but you really like I feel
what you're.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
Saying well, because I'll say this's twenty eighteen. I'm living
in Utah, working at a company called Summit, which is
a very interesting company, and I'll get into that at
some point. And our brother passes away. So I'm in
Utah living. I'm about to sign.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
A contract Memorial.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
Yeah, so I'm about to sign a contract with Red Bull,
and I have all these things happening. My life is
on the up and up, and I'm so excited. I'm
living in Utah. I love eating Utah. I think it's
a beautiful players. That mountain Power Mountain is gorgeous. Shout
out to Powder Mountain. And I get hit with the
me as my brother passed away, and so the only
thing I could do in that moment was to I
(14:45):
went outside and I went on a hike. I was like,
all right, I can't just sit with this energy and
this information and I'm not really ready to share it
with anybody yet. So I'm gonna go outside. I'm gonna
go walk around. I'mnna scream a little bit. I'm going
to let these things exit so that they don't stay
stuck somewhere. That was the first acknowledgment for me of
how healing movement can be. From that point on, I
(15:07):
had to move back home. I had to be with
my family, the thing that I was avoiding for a
long time, and movement became the centerpiece for how my
family and I gathered. My mother and I, she filmed
me for an whole entire year of content, just filming
me working out. That got me my first gig with Allo,
changed my entire life, you know. So it's amazing how
movement has always been this central piece to the pieces
(15:32):
that I enjoy most about being here. I think being
alive right now is a stressful experience for many people.
It's very angsty to just be alive. You wake up,
you got bills, you got stresses, you have all these
things that are hitting you in the face. So the
opportunity when I wake up is not to go there.
I'm like, if I know that that's waiting for me,
if I know that there's a bunch of responsibility, there's
(15:52):
a bunch of have tos that are waiting for me,
then I'm going to enjoy the get to I get
to have an hour or two to myself. I get
to wait up and move a body that works like
I get the opportunity to do that.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Now.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
The half two is already there. I know that they're there.
I have to pay bills. I have to do that.
I got to make money, but I get to actually
wake up and choose me for an hour or two
before I have to choose everybody else. And movement is
my greatest kind of access point to choose in myself.
It is doue movement. So I just wanted to share that.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
Oh man, listen, I'm so sorry to hear about your brother.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
Like that's oh heart attack too. You know what, forty
six heart attack at forty six? Crazy man? It changed us.
It changed my family, It changed me. It made me
much more intentional about health. It made me much more
intentional about sharing the knowledge and wisdom that I've gained
from living a healthy lifestyle for so long. It made
me much more intentional about moving my ass every single day.
(16:51):
And it kind of puts some fear in me.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
You know.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
I think it's natural that when somebody close to your dies,
you're like, ah, cool, will what happened to him? Could
it happened to me? Is there's something that there precursor
I have, is there's something in me that could So
I've been I've fought that for a long time and
over the last I want to say the pandemic and beyond.
I had to deal with just you know the fact
that oh, you could just go any day. You know,
(17:14):
we don't get the opportunity to say that often we're
too scared to have that conversation. But I just know
now that my brother passes, I'm like, oh, you can
just be here one day and the next that you
could just not be here in the physical You could
just have no more flesh anymore. And so it's like,
all right, cool, Well, if that's the case, then I'm
going to make sure that not only do I take
care of my flesh, but I take care of what's
inside that flesh. Because if I don't take care of
(17:36):
what's inside that flesh and only only concern on what's
the outside, then I'm missing the point. And my brother
and many people in my life, we've all kind of
had families that raised us in a certain standard of
American just society, and so the food and the sugars
and swedes and certain things that we got addicted to
growing up. We still fight as we age, and so
(17:58):
I'm sure he was fighting that as we all do,
and he wasn't winning that battle. And so for me,
I make sure that I don't look at it as
a battle anymore. I just make sure that every single
day I wake up and I have boot and feet
on the ground, that I'm excited to be here because
I don't know, this might be my last day, my
last conversation, who knows. But as long as I'm enjoying that,
as long as I'm sharing that enjoyment with others, then
(18:20):
I feel like there's no reason not to enjoy being here.
Speaker 5 (18:22):
So yeah, wow, wow, and and and so obviously bringing
that positive energy, that that mindset has been an important
part of you, I.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
Guess, just out of curiosity, how else have you tried
to advocate for healthy living? Like, obviously I will see
your social media and everything. We'll talk about your your
your website and everything at some point, But how how's that?
How's that looking?
Speaker 3 (18:53):
I think, you know, I've often understood that we can't
take care of the until we take care of ourselves.
You know, we can't. We can't scream out in the
world do all these things until we're doing the things
that we're screaming out to the world to do. And
so for me, I think it's I have a morning
marriage practice that I do every day. I wake up
(19:15):
and do the same three or four things every single morning.
I've been doing that for the last six to seven years.
I wake up, I meditate, our journal, I move. I
think those three elements are so worthy of attention in
our day. If you have a stressful moment, you can.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Write it down.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
You don't have to keep it. We're so used and
so kind of adjusted to keeping all the bullshit, like
everything that happens. We're like, more of it, let's keep it,
give me more, and so we have a certain resistance
to letting things go Over time. If you just get
stuck to keeping so much shit, you start hoarding, and
that's what happens. I realize many humans would get stuck
(19:51):
in hoarding our bad emotions, holding those bad experiences so
that we have a reason to be angry at the world,
or so we have a reason to not be what
we think we are, to not be the great thing
that we want to be, to not have the dreams
yet met. We have a reason for that. I can't
get there, or I don't have the money, or I
grew up this way, or my dad used to beat me,
(20:12):
like there's always a story to cover up why we're
not the thing that we believe ourselves to be. I
just choose to wake up and do certain things so
that I can at least position myself to see myself
through loving eyes. Because if I wake up and I
hate myself right away, or I hate my life, or
I hate something or I hate anything in it, then
I might have a fucked up day. Excuse my language,
I'm going to have a terrible day. And so I
(20:34):
have to position myself correctly every morning. And it's a
practice that extends to anywhere I am in the world.
If I'm in Egypt, somewhere, I can meditate, I can journal,
and I can move. I can do that anywhere, and
that costs nothing. A journal is two buff You can
go to the dollars store and get five up and
right now for five bucks.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
You can.
Speaker 3 (20:53):
You know, meditation requires nothing but you to just shut
the hell up. And movement is something that even when,
like I say, because I deal with family members that
don't have, you know, the limbs I have that don't
have the abilities I have. If you have something, if
you have anything that moves, if you gotta neck that moves,
if you have anything that can move in that way,
just move it. Just move it. And that's why I think,
(21:16):
you know, for me, the writing down my emotions and
writing down all my stories, that moves my feelings a bit,
that moves all of that negativity. That kind of transmit
takes that negativity and the positivity that meditation is me
realizing that, Wow, I'm getting to the point where I
love meditating so much. I hate waking up out of meditation.
I was thirty minutes deep. Today I walk up like
(21:38):
fuck ah. And then the movement piece is just such
a necessary element of understanding how those stories that we
even write about, or those stories that we may think
about meditation, we have to move them through. We have
to let them go from our head down to our
heart down to our legs, like let those thoughts and emotions,
let them move and kind of sift through. And that
(21:59):
practice has given me so much joy every day. Like
I hate seeing how stressful the world has become for
most people. Most people wake up and they're just like, man, fuck,
you ask somebody how to day is. They're like, it's good,
And you can tell behind their eyes they're lying. You
can just tell people that just wearing that mask of
like I'm okay, you're not okay, and that's okay, and
(22:19):
we can talk about why you're not okay, because we
need to be sharing practices that help us stay okay.
These are my stay okay practices, meditation, journaling, movement. Even
if I do one of them a day, I feel
good and I think that accomplishment is also something that
gives me. It just gives me some enjoyment. I'm like,
all right, cool, I did something today. I might have
(22:41):
a day where my life is just shit. I'm like, ah, God,
too much stress. Ah the eight emails to people ah ah.
But if I journal, I get at least the opportunity
to get some of that out so that I don't
have to carry that to when I go to bed,
or carry that to when I now have to go
to the bar or get to my vices. It's like,
I get the opportunity to share in the enjoyment of
myself through these practices, and I lend them to people often.
(23:04):
Now do they do them?
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Ah?
Speaker 3 (23:06):
Probably not. You know, I show them. I show the
same things every day on my stories. It's more of
a remarkable thing. People see, like why he's consistent, But
I'm like, just try it. Just take a little joint.
Just take a piece of paper when you get upset,
you have a bad call with someone, or your mother
calls you when she pisses you off, Just take a
piece of paper and write down while you're pissed, Just
write it down. Immediately following that writing down, you're not
(23:29):
gonna feel as pissed. It's just it's so to me,
it's common sense, but we're so driven away from that
because we want to be cool, and as a man,
being cool is just dealing with your shit. Like O,
I'm gonna just go to the gym and just I'm
gonna go box. It's like, brother, you've been boxing and
shit has not changed in your life. Maybe you need
to box a different way. So that's kind of how
(23:52):
I see.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
All right, folks, will be right back with Jossey Cunningham, No.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Radio, no problem. Stream is live on SAGA ninety sixty
Am dot C A.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
Right qualdcastination. We're back with Jassey Cunningham once again. So
many gems in there. I really appreciate the point of
taking care of yourself, being the example to create that change, right,
Like you gotta put on your oxygen mask first before
you know you can help out others, which I think
I couldn't agree more. The other thing that came to
(24:45):
mind too, JC was like, what when it comes to
your own practice of meditation, what does that look like?
Because I know there's obviously different forms for people. The
they could do, guided, they could do focused on their breath.
I'm just curious from your personal experience, what's worked for you.
Speaker 3 (25:07):
I mix them all, you know, I really look at
life as like an open door.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
You know.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
It's like I try not to close any doors. You
close one door, you close them all. I really focus on,
like what makes me feel good, you know, what gives
me that feeling of a liveness. And one day it
might be transcendental, you know, another day it might be
just like this morning. They were just thirty five minutes
of just sitting down in this chair, the same exact chair,
with this with this plant, and just chilling for thirty
(25:37):
five minutes. And I think I've gotten into a space
where I can allow that now because it's an allowance.
It's because once you go past twenty minutes, there's a
certain thresholder that I believe that meditation like when you
reach that threshold of just attention where you're like Oh
my god, I have to open my eyes. I got
to see what's going on in the world. I'm thirsty
for it. What's going on Instagram? Say we on Twitter,
(26:00):
Like when you get thirsty for that, your eyes open
up and then you're like, ah, fuck for me, I've
pushed past that threshold now for the last I want
to say a month and a half, and I cry. Now,
once you at a certain point, you realize that there's
just this peace that you feel that's so unshakable. You're like,
nobody can break this piece that I have right now.
(26:21):
And so that's why I'm thirsty to not open my
eyes up, because I'm like, this piece feels so good,
it feels so home, it feels like I belong there,
And once you open your eyes, you're like, ah, man,
I belong in this shit. Now I have to do
all these things, and I have to create your opportunities
and go hustle and get lost in the sauce. And
so for me, I just make sure that my sauce
(26:44):
is what I'm getting lost in every day, so that
you know, when the world comes at me with anything
that I don't enjoy that, I'm like, ah, I don't
like that at least I like me because I'm not
going to like everything that happens in my life. That's
just that's just life. I'm not going to like certain people.
I'm not going to like certain place is, certain opportunities
that I have to take. There are just certain things
you're just not going to like. But as long as
(27:04):
through that whole entire process, I'm enjoying myself, then I
have no reason to be mad at anybody. So it's
you know, that's what I just want to give myself
no excuses to be upset at being here.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
Yeah, that's that's extreme ownership to the nth degree, which
I think a lot of us need is to take
ownership of our own health in general, but or overall
well being. And in terms of the journaling, is it
structured or is it similar to the meditation? Depending on
where you feel or won't make structure.
Speaker 3 (27:39):
That's probably the only that and the birdees are the
only structure I think I keep in my morning practice.
The journaling is I started with the gratitude letter, just
to myself, the world, the universe of God, whatever, just
being grateful. You know what am I grateful for? And
sometimes the list might be short. Sometimes the list might
be along. Sometimes the list might just be I wake
up and write down thank you. That's it. I might
write down thank you ten times. To me, it's learning
(28:03):
and growing up in the education system of America, you
kind of learn how to hack yourself through. If you
really are aware of how they hack you through all
of these different things they do, these techniques of getting
you to stay in line, getting you to learn certain things,
you kind of can learn your mind and how it
processes things and information. So for me, I know that
writing down think you could just open up room for
(28:25):
more gratitude. If I write that down twenty times. If
I write down I love myself forty five times, eventually
at the fortieth time, I might feel like I love
myself because I'm reading that over and over and over
again for however long it takes to write down forty
five I love myself. But it's like I use those
things as hacks to get to the space of me
that is hiding, because there's a part of us that's
(28:46):
hiding from wanting to be seen. Our shadow side is like,
don't look at me, I'm not here, and I'm like, no,
you're here, and I love you for being here. You
offer me the opportunity to actually dig into life. And
I do gratitude letter to the world, thank you whatever
I do, A Dear God letter that could be, you know.
(29:07):
I just say dear God, you know, and I write
down whatever I'm thankful for God for I don't forget
that God is he and God is real for me.
I think that we live in a society that's pushing
us away from a lot of this. That's like, go
and praise other things. I'm like, no, I was raised
a certain way. I stay true to that and that's
what I practice. And then a letter to myself, which
I think that has been the most healing practice for
(29:28):
me over the last ten years, is a love letter
to myself every day because I'm telling you, I realize
how much dirt we keep about ourselves when life becomes dirty.
When we do dirt, or things happen in our life
that we don't enjoy, or we make mistakes and we
do certain things, we keep them as memories and reasons
as to why we shouldn't love ourselves. And I'm like,
(29:51):
if anything, that's a reason to love yourself, you need
to be loving yourself more. When you've gone through all
that bullshit, and that little practice of has and I've
given it to so many people, and that a lot
of people actually do use it. There's a camp that
I teach at in Michigan and they use it and
they love it. That practice really helps me. It helps
(30:11):
me understand the content of my own mind, because that's
the hardest thing to grasp every single day. We can't
deal with this thing. We can deal with taking the
medication and making sure we work out and make sure
we eat our food, and making sure we do certain
things with our health, our green drinks, our smoothies, all
these things, but the thoughts are what frustrate is and
the thoughts are actually whats up the most. You can
(30:32):
be drinking green drinks and make jogging every day, but
if in your mind you are a fat piece of
excuse my money. If in your mind that's what you keep,
is that, If that's the thought that you keep, then
that's what you are. So I don't care what the
green drinks are saying. I don't care what your biomarkers
are saying. Your mind is what dictates a lot of
what your energy and your body holds anyway, So I've
(30:53):
been really keen on making sure that this thing between
these two ears stay sharp, because if this falls, everything
beneath it falls. And so if this is poor, then
everything beneath it this poor. No matter how good it looks,
no matter how wonderful it looks in the mirror. If
this is poor, everything beneath it is poor. So I
make sure that this is rich. Every day.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
That's beautiful, Yeah, one hundred percent. I just I mean,
it sounds like it's taking some time for you to
get to this place, but it's it sounds like a
beautiful place and a lot of information that I think
would be that it's valuable and with it, well the
listeners will appreciate. What about the movement? So you know,
(31:36):
we get that one hundred birpees in every day, which
I think is insane. You told me you how long
you say you do? It's ten minutes. It's ten burpies
a minute for ten minutes. You know you if you're
doing fast, you get twenty You get ten burpies in
and about twenty seconds twenty to twenty two seconds, so
then you got thirty eight to forty seconds of rest.
So what I mean, it's it's not as bad as
it seems. It's just you got to make sure you're
(31:58):
keeping up with that kind of pays. And that's the
hardest part either way. Dog he is, it's real, okay.
Speaker 3 (32:09):
I try to make us out achievable every time.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
No, I mean I did it once. It took me.
It was during the pandemic and one of my good friend's,
Pete Shaw, he's a CrossFit athlete and he's one of
the programs. He said, it's like, dude, twenty nine or
do one hundred brpees for time, And I remember getting
to like fifty eight and wanting to like drop kick
(32:33):
a child. I was like, what the hell is this?
It took me about sixteen and a half minutes and
I and I, yeah, I was crying, a little bit
grown ass man crying about exercise, which I should have
just felt should I just should have felt gratitude for.
But what other principles for you when it comes to
(32:55):
that movement, Because I mean, like I said, you're you're
a bit of an inspiration and I think a lot
of people go to you and especially on your social
and see try and get ideas on how to stay active.
But yeah, what are some of the other areas you like,
ways do you like to stay active.
Speaker 3 (33:13):
I still lift weights every now and then. You know,
it's not something that I would say I do consistently,
but I make sure that there's certain ego lifts that
I have. There's certain things that just keep my ego
in a certain good place.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
You know.
Speaker 3 (33:25):
When I feel like I'm feeling weak a little bit,
I go to the equinox and I'm like, all right,
let me jump underneath the two plates to twenty five
and let me see how many reps I can get.
Because playing football here, that's the benchmark for strength in
in American football. It's like, all right, cool, you get
underneath that bench, you put them four plates one there,
two on each side, and you do them reps. I
(33:46):
keep doing that. So I've consistently held between twelve and
eighteen reps for the last seventeen years, which I think
is incredible, you know. But I also realized that my
movement and my body weight practice on my hit practice
is very extreme. I kind of organize and program workouts
for myself that are exciting for me. I'm not really
(34:09):
in the space anymore to try to program for other
people anymore. I've gotten into a mindset where I realize
how much codependency happens in fitness and in the wellness
and the health and wellness space. There's a lot of codependency.
There's a lot of I need you, And it's like,
you got to realize that you need you first. And
if you're waiting for me to spark the energy of
(34:31):
you realizing that, then that's gonna take forever. And then
you're depending on me to always be in my tiptop
energy so that you can be in your tip it's
too much. It's too I don't get down that way anymore.
So for me, I've really focused on doing things that
keep me excited to move because movement at a certain point.
You work out a lot as much as I do,
you kind of get bored of certain things. You know,
you kind of like I'm bored of Berkeley's But I
(34:52):
love the discipline. I love the same thing every day.
That kind of it shows me that at least I
have that. If I don't go and do the run
and do the pull ups and do other things, I
have my burpose that I'm doing every day.
Speaker 2 (35:04):
It's just a.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
Foundation to give me that gift of knowing I'm moving
every day. If there's something of movement, I'm doing every
single day, so that I can't say there's a day
I'm taking off, because if I'm preaching that to people
on Instagram, no days off, keep going. I have to
be the example and I have to be doing that
for myself and as hard as hell to keep up
with that. I think that's the beautiful thing that I
(35:25):
found in social media that I love. People can look
at social media and call it what it is. I
love the fact that there's an accountability of me to
me every single day. I don't even care about the
audience anymore. I'm like, I wake up and I share
things that I have to do for myself. First. I'm
not waking up and telling anybody to do something that
I'm not doing. I'm sharing exactly what I'm doing, which
(35:48):
kind of prompts me on the days that I don't
want to do it to do it. So there's a
positive relationship I've gained from using social media, which has
helped me kind of form a different understanding of discipline
because now I'm like, I have an audience, but really
my only audience on social media is me. I don't
see these people, I just see myself, and so it's
it's like an acknowledgement every day that you are still
doing the same things that you say you're doing to
(36:10):
do and you keep doing, and it's a patterle the
back for me every single night. I'm like, good job.
Even if I don't make a billion dollars or a
zillion dollars, I'm impacting myself daily to impact others. And
because it starts with me, I can't. My mom has
always told me that, like, you can't expect anybody to
do what you're not willing to do. So you can't
(36:33):
tell people to go work out and you're not working
out because naturally the energy you're putting out is not
going to map for they want to put in. So
it's like my output has to match my input, and
I got to share that because that's what I've created
on Instagram. So it's a certain measuring up to my
own standard of myself I have to keep every day,
(36:53):
which is why I am the person that people look
at that way, because I have to. At this point,
it's like I've signed myself up for it now, and
thank god I did, because it's a healthy life started.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
All right, folks, We'll be right back with Jossy Cunningham.
You live where the street ends, in the basement.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
Apartner with one of your.
Speaker 2 (37:14):
Friends and the tampschips all night, water, torture and seek.
The furnace is burning.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
But it's still cool. Stream us live at SOGA nine
sixty am dot c A all.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
Right, colcastination. We're back with Jossy cunning Hair. It's like
having an accountability partner. It's it's yeah, it keeps you
on track, which is which is wonderful. And I mean
for me, it's like whatever works right and but this
is uh man, your your feets are incredible. I want
(38:01):
to give you a chance to speak to something we
were talking about before jumping on the call. You mentioned
working in as opposed to working out. Yeah, the good
you can mention elaborate on that. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (38:15):
So working in is a brand that I've fashioned out
of the brand that I originally created, which was the
Jossi Method. I got tired of Jossi being the centerpiece
of the method because most people aspire, but I would
rather inspire. I don't want people to just look at
it and be like I wish I was like that
or I want to be like that and let me
do these things to become like that. I'm like, you're
your own person. I'm me. There's no other me but me,
(38:38):
there's no other you but you. How can you take
things that I've done or things that I've created, and
how can they serve you as much as they've served me.
So when it comes to movement, there's certain things that
have served me that I want to share with people.
When it comes to meditation and journaling and all these practices,
I want to share that. And the best way to
do it was to take me out of it where
it wasn't about Jossy journals and Jossy does this stuff.
(38:59):
It was like, no, you can do this stuff. It's
up to you. The journal every day. It's up to
you to meditate, it is up to you to move
and working in is it's to me is a beautiful
way to articulate what working out truly is, because you know,
as there's something leaving, there has to be something coming in.
You know, in football, you know as a defensive back,
(39:21):
that's what you have to recognize. Like if you have
a two receivers to your side, you have to know
that one's coming in, one's coming up giving on how
much linked to feel what they have or how much
with they have. So it's like it's the same thing
in life. I have to really realize that these practices
that I'm sharing are not just something that I've studied
(39:43):
in a book or I read, or I studied in
college and got my PhD. Like I didn't do any
of that. This is all trial and error from just
bumping myself up against life and just being thrown and
just thrown in the washer of being alive, you know,
like my brother passed. I had to figure out how
to take that negativity I was feeling and turn it
positive because I was pastor positive. That was my kind
(40:03):
of name on social media. So I was like, well,
how am I not going to be the guy to
be positive when I'm the guy that says he's pastor positive.
And I had to develop practices for myself to keep
up with that name. So it's funny how I use
that name as inspiration for myself. I created an alter
ego that I had to live up to, and by
virtue of doing that, I've now become that thing. You know,
(40:26):
I've now been feeding myself so much positivity over time,
and just it's compounded where most people see me and
they don't understand that it's intimate practices that I do
daily that keep me this way. It's not just something
that just happens. So working in is my way of saying, yes,
you're working out, and yes that may be great, but
what are you working in if you're working all these
(40:48):
things out in life? If you're you know, because it
takes something that you're working in to work out things. Anyway,
given the analogy of this life, you know, when bad
things happen and you want certain things to work out,
how are you going to work things in to help
the things work out in life? Because meditation are that's
a work in that has a workout. You're going to
be able to express yourself better and just you're going
(41:11):
to be in just more of a calm and to
reading state of being here when you meditate, So that
working in is going to provide for a better working out.
You might not feel the need and necessity to go
to the gym and stay in there five hours because
you have so many things to work out. So it's
like finding that balance approach to being well, which I
think is what we're not often fed because they're teaching
us that there's just all these extremes that we live in.
(41:33):
It's like either your biohacking yourself to death, or you
by helping yourself to life, or you're doing the IV drip,
or you're doing this and you're not doing that. You're
getting to be twelve shots in the ass. Like, there's
so many ways that we've been fed we're not well,
and I'm tired of being fed that story. I'm tired
of being told by every single article that you're not
(41:54):
well and you need this thing to be well. I'm like,
I need me to be well. If what's going on
in here is not well, then I don't give a
damn how many b twelve shots I take. If I
still think that over time, that's still serving me in
the same way, it's not a lot of these things
are now becoming fragments of our psychology, where like I
need these things to feel well. I have never studied
(42:16):
none of these things to a certain degree. I have
been gifts at the opportunity for being raised a certain
way to understand the value of moving. For me, it
used to be performance. I wanted to move well and
move often, and I wanted to get to a point
of being paid to move. I got to that point
without even playing football. I didn't even do it the
way I wanted to do. I wanted to go play
(42:36):
ball and make the millions. God said, no, we're going
to give you a little bit less, a lot less,
but we're going to give you a better style of impact.
You don't have to impact yourself this way. You don't
got to put yourself in a helmet and go be
a crash dummy for our entertainment. You can now go
into a different world and no knock to football. Don't
(42:57):
get me wrong, I love football. I played football, football athletes.
I love y'all, y'all my favorites. But I think there
is an opportunity in stepping away that lets us step
into a new story. And for me, when I stepped
out of football, I had to develop a new story.
Football was over. That's no longer me. I can't be
like I'm the strong safety as such and such. That
(43:17):
wasn't true anymore. So I had to find out what
was still true. And what was still true is that, oh,
I was still an athlete, and I learned a lot
of things from being that way. So now let's dig
into that. What's going to be the easiest transition into
being an adult? Okay, well that's a gift. US athletes
don't see it that way. We get mad when it
doesn't work out. We're like, I can't believe I didn't
(43:38):
make it. It's like, listen, all that discipline, all that work, ethic,
all that time and effort, apply that to something which
is you. You don't realize how much of that has
been for you. You thought it was for the team
and for the dream, but it really was for you,
and you've now gotten good at being that thing. So
now you just got to shift that energy. And that's
(43:58):
what I had to do, which is what I'm still
doing because at thirty six, I still have a little
trauma from football as far as just you know, emotional stuff.
You know, it's like we all still have that chip
on our shoulder from certain things. For me, it's always
going to be a football I'm gonna think always, but
it still is a little bit of football.
Speaker 2 (44:15):
You know.
Speaker 3 (44:15):
It still is like you had it. God gave you
all the gifts, He gave you all the athletic gifts,
and you couldn't get there, and I used to fight
that story, but now I've embraced that story as a
part of the reason why I enjoy working out so much.
I love that it keeps me sharp because I still
want to go out there and perform on some stage.
(44:36):
Put me out there and let these muscles shine somehow,
which is you know, that's just a part of it
right now. But I'll move past that at a certain point.
But I'm still young enough to still see a lot
of the results of all the work I'm putting in.
I'm still young enough to still have the springs and
still have the things that I never thought of as
like when I was twenty five and twenty four. I'm like,
(44:57):
at a certain point, these things are going to drop off.
Because I've been disciplined and consistent, They've actually I think
I'm better. I'm a better athlete now than I wasn't
my twenties easily. So it's like the consistency and the
intensity is what has kept me the same person time
and time again throughout the years. I've been consistent with
(45:18):
just being me and serving up the same plate every day.
I don't serve it up no other way. So if
somebody's like well, what can you tell us how to what.
Speaker 2 (45:28):
Do you I mean?
Speaker 3 (45:28):
I'm like, listen, I got nothing for you. I got
the formula I use and that's it. Other people's way,
I don't know. I know what's been working, and I
want that to be shared. Like I want people to
try to do one hundred perpeers every day and just
see what it feels like. You might get to day
nine and be like, yo, look at my arms, look
at my back, and you thought that you had to
(45:50):
go hire somebody and spend two hundred and eighty dollars
a month to be fit and to feel well. For me,
I want to simplify it for people. I want to
simplify being alive because we wake up to so much
heaviness and I'm like, listen, God woke you up for light.
He didn't wake you up to be angsty and heavy
and hate being here. He woke you up to enjoy
(46:12):
being here. And if it takes a little bit of
work to get there, I'm willing to put that work
in every day.
Speaker 2 (46:18):
I got to say, just a pure inspiration, just I
feel like doing eight burpyes right, yeah, now the one
hundred a couple of time, but honestly, it's just great.
Great here on how you continue to inspire others through
(46:43):
the way you've worked through your own trauma. And I honestly,
I feel like when people hear a story like this
in terms of why it's important to take care of themselves,
ways to take care of themselves and and and the
importance of just being grateful and how that can trans
(47:05):
transform one's life. I think it's I think it's all beautiful.
So I I want to thank you for joining us
on the show. And where can people track you down? Brother?
Speaker 3 (47:19):
Well, I have a website. It's working in working dash
in dot com and also Instagram just Jossy Cunningham j
A c Y Cunningham for those that can spell it.
And yeah, and I am living in LA right now.
I'm in Inglewood. I have a wonderful I have a
wonderful lady. I'll share her because I love her so much.
(47:40):
Her name is Madison, and she's beautiful. She's allowed me
and her home. We are here, this is where I'm
at and I love being in LA. I think there's
a service here for me and within this community. So
I'm excited to be here and thank you. I think
I thank you Anemonia for bringing us together. I think
that event for showing me, if I can be honest,
how much effort and energy is too being put in
(48:04):
a just denying death and just fighting that on which
I found to be interesting. But that's another story for
another day. But thank you for meeting me there, thank
you for allowing me on your podcast today, and uh
I look forward to seeing you again brother somewhere in
the world.
Speaker 2 (48:18):
I have a feeling I'm feeling this in a lot,
not the last time. By the way, Actually, do you
want to quick word on summit because I've been reaching
out to those cats to do anything you want to
say about something. Are you good? You want me to
talk about them right now? During the show, at one
point you said I could mention more, a little bit
more about something, but we don't.
Speaker 3 (48:41):
I'll say this, I'll say this, and and then then
we can we can stop talking about all those things.
I have a problem with the leaderism. I have a
giant problem with people believing that they belong to something
better than others based on whatever they've been raised around,
or who they know, connections, whatever. I don't like that anymore.
I think a lot of these communities extract the good
(49:04):
that they can see or find, and they kind of
try to make it theirs. They extract things they love
from certain cultures, from certain communities, and they try to
make it this is the summit thing. It's like, listen,
building communities separate from the collective, and you guys having
these interesting conversations and all these moments that aren't being
heard and shared with us. That doesn't help the us
(49:27):
become the weak. That doesn't help us all come together.
And so I think I love being a I love
that I've been gifted the opportunity to be proximal to
all of this by being in these communities. But now
being out of it, I realize there is use for
having these connections. But at the end of the day,
if you're not connected with yourself, you can't use the
connections that you have. You're not going to know what
(49:48):
to do. They're not going to It's just like you
don't trust the connections you have if you don't trust
the connection you have with yourself. So even with all
this elitism, it's hard to really pivot and be involved
in these things without understanding that it's you that they want.
It's you that you know, it's your energy that's needed
and necessarily there. And I think I learned that from exiting,
(50:11):
from even exiting an aloe and exiting all of these
things that you know when you wake up and want
to be branded every day, because that's kind of what
we all do in this country. Nil deals for college athletes,
like we just wake up and want to get branded,
Like somebody brand me and validate me as the thing
that I already know I am, but now I want
the world to know and I want them to pay
me for that knowledge. It's just an annoying cycle that
I'm looking at. So for me, I'm really in a
(50:33):
space of understanding that the brand is me, the value
is me, and as long as I'm sharpening that brand
and value, then I will always be something that somebody wants,
something that somebody needs. Okay, I need that, And so
it's not I'm never scared of the abundance. I'm never
scared of when things aren't necessarily abundant. I know that
(50:54):
the abundance is me, and so that's kind of what
some it reminded me of being there because I'm like,
how am I here? And Jeff would tell me every
single time like you're here because we're actually you're the
biggest reason why we have people here. It's your energy,
it's your vibe, it's your things that are helping this
thing grow. So I'm happy to have been the bridge
in these communities, but I'm now realizing how there's still
(51:15):
not what I hope them to become. They're still not
the diverse collective of humans that belong a part of
these communities there, and that's just something that's for another conversation,
you know. I think, as being one of the few
black people in every community I've been in, I always
notice and acknowledge that there's a missing link. There's a
(51:37):
reason why we are still existing as a separation, and
it's like we don't have enough people there to actually
support the coming together. We need more people that are
different to actually serve each other in these conversations, in
these spaces, so that we do see that there's safety there,
that we can come together and not feel threatened, that
we can enjoy and love and share that love for
(51:57):
each other without feeling like we need to high that love.
These communities hide that love, they hide all these things.
I'm like, open up to the masses, open up with
what's possible when you actually cultivate yourself to want to
cultivate community. So that's my spill on that. I don't
want to share it too much, but that's what I
had on that.
Speaker 2 (52:17):
No, I feel you. I feel you, And thanks for
the honesty and the candle, because I do again definitely
echo the fact that it is so important to have
that lens of diversity and to be able to feel
comfortable opening up and being ourselves. And so I definitely
(52:41):
hear where you're coming from. Thanks for listening Podcast Nation.
We appreciate you. That was an amazing episode with Josy Cunningham.
If you enjoyed that, please leave us any comments at
quodcast ninet nine at jamail dot com. Leave a five
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(53:04):
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we're getting behind is on that preventative side, on that
proactive side, so that you show up as your best self.
Show up guide a strong baby, here we go. Let's
(53:24):
do this all right, people, I hope you're feeling a
little bit more jumping your step after that episode. Thanks
for listening. Talk real soon here. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (53:35):
It's like, if you want to rhyme with me, you
don't even know what right is. Look, if you want
to get clean, you want to get thirty, you want.
Speaker 2 (53:40):
To go to left right.
Speaker 3 (53:42):
This is what we don't want us to knock.
Speaker 1 (53:44):
Let's just rock, no radio, no problem. Stream is live
on SAGA ninety sixty am dot C
The views expressed in the following program are those of
the participants and do not necessarily reflect the views of
SAGA nine sixty am or its management.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Welcome to Prevention Over Prescription, the podcast where we focus
on what truly matters, taking control of your health before
it takes control of you. I'm Doctor Quadio Karen mantang
I se you physician, health advocate and your guide to
living stronger, healthier, and longer. In each episode, we'll explore
how you can prevent illness and thrive through practical advice
(00:40):
on nutrition, movement, stress management, and building a supportive community.
Because prevention isn't just better than prescription, it's the key
to showing up as your best self. Let's get started.
Quote Gus Achel. We got a special episode with my
good friend Jossy Cunningham. This man is a motivational speaker,
(01:02):
as a trainer, founder of the joss Method, and it
was just a true inspiration in terms of why movement
is healing, why we need to incorporate more movement in life,
and the ability for that to be transformative from our
mental health, from our physical health emotionally, and we walk
(01:26):
through a bit of what he's gone through as a
former athlete and all the groups he's worked with and
go a little bit into his routine on how he
sets himself up for success. So I think you guys
will enjoy this episode. At the end of the day,
you'll be motivated to take care of yourself and recognize
(01:48):
that we should be grateful for the opportunity and most
of us have to move and to take care of
ourselves and those around us. So I think you guys
are going to really love this episode. We met for
the first time at you d Ammonia. It was great
feeling his energy, witnessing his crazy workouts and this man
(02:10):
does you'll hear it from him but one hundred burpies
first thing in the morning, which I feel nauseous just
hearing him say this, But anyway, he is dedicated to movements.
So before jumping into it, we'll just hit a quick
word from our sponsors, Calcast Nation. I'm super excited to
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health journey fuel your body with high quality science back supplements,
head over to guid nutrition dot com and grab what
(03:34):
you need. Thanks for all the support, and let's continue
to show up as your best self. Stay guid as
strong everyone All right, folks, without further ado.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
Jay Z Cunningham in The Easy.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
We oh Man, did I ever enjoy his company? Out
in your d Ammonia and so it's a real privilege
to have you on the show. Brother, So welcome to
the show. Thank you so much for having me. I
haven't seen you since Yourdemonia, and I must say that
it's been a transformative time since then, so I'm excited
to share some of the things that I'm working on. Yeah,
(04:08):
and maybe before we jump into it. You have a
really interesting background. My friend like you athlete and work
with obviously been a massive influencer. But how did it
all start for you? Jason?
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Ah?
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Wow?
Speaker 3 (04:24):
How did it all start? I think growing up in
a home that stressed a lot about sports, we were
particularly very fond of the whole journey of being an
athlete because I was I'm the youngest of four and
we're all boys in the family. So when you grow
up that way, you kind of just have this consistent
(04:44):
story of you got to be better than your brothers,
you have to have something that makes you unique out
of all of those four people, and sports became the
most dominant theme in my life. It still is one
of the most dominant things in my life now as
an exit out of sort put into more of a
just the life athlete and athlete of life. And I
(05:05):
think growing up as an athlete that was kind of
praised for that I got praised for performing well. I
think I received love from performing well. I became. That
became like the the awareness that I had. You know,
I'm like, if I keep doing this thing well, my
family keep giving me things, and they'll keep smiling at
me and loving me. So I might as well keep
putting this effort and time into this craft of mine
(05:27):
to sharpen it, to perfect it, to make it great.
And I think the version of that that it was
then is different much now. But I'm so glad that
I was raised an athlete. I'm so glad that that
was my beginning. My beginning was working hard. It wasn't
soft beginnings. It was hard beginnings. And I had a
very cushy life as far as growing up in you know,
(05:47):
suburban neighborhood and the two parent household that's still together.
But the work that I was I wouldn't say forest,
but the work that my parents instilled in me to
want to put in is something that I still value
to this day, the reason why I am who I
am today. So it started as an athlete and football, basketball, track.
I think track was the start you learn how to
(06:10):
differentiate yourself as an athlete when you run track because
it's just you versus the clock, and you realize, okay,
I don't really I have a team, but in this race,
this is mine to win or mine to lose. So
you kind of have this pressure on you growing up
that like you know, I dealt with the pressure as
a nine year old dealing with you know, Junior Olympics
(06:30):
and trying to be the greatest athlete of all time
and the fastest runner in the state and all these things.
So having that pressure put on you as an as
a as a youth, it has helped sharpen me so
well to where I'm at now. It's gave me that discipline,
that willingness to work hard and work often. And I'm
such an enjoyable version of myself now versus one I
(06:51):
was actually involved in sports. So I'm happy that sports
was a part of my life. But I'm also happy
that I'm now looking at life through a lens that's
just nonsports. It's like just life. I'm now just an
athlete and I don't have a designation anymore. So I
like that now.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
Amazing, amazing, And I must say what you mentioned about
the having the brothers and how sports defines you and
gives you identity. Has been something that I definitely see
and so many good things come out of it in
terms of in terms of how you you overcome adversity,
(07:30):
how you have this amazing work ethic, and and I
see it in the way you've built your your career too,
Like a lot of that comes from that. There's one
thing that as we were talking before the show went on,
I think one of the things that you and I
at least maybe have a similar view on is that
(07:53):
through movement through exercise, like there's healing there at so
many levels. I'm wondering if that resonates with you or
if you want to speak to that at all, like
how movement can really and exercise can really be transformative.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
So I have this practice every morning that I do,
which is one hundred berpeys every day. Now, typically it
used to be just like throughout the day, just as
long as I get a hundred berpeyes in, I'm good.
Now it's like a morning ritual. I wake up and
that's the first thing I do before I even eat
anything or even drink a glass of water. I'm on
the ground and I'm doing burpees. And one thing that
I can say is that we all have this invisible
(08:32):
backpack of trauma and pain that we collect over time.
You know, if you've lived long enough, you've collected stories
and stories and stories of good and bad things that
have happened in your life, and you often don't know
how to unpack them. We often aren't given the space
to unpack the stories. We don't know how we're all right,
how do I unpack this?
Speaker 2 (08:49):
For me?
Speaker 3 (08:50):
When my career ended in football, I didn't know what
to do. I was like, well, who am I now? Like?
I've been this thing my whole entire life. Where am
I now? What version of me can I love today?
That isn't what I was, because I'm no longer that
thing anymore. And I had to dig through all of
these different narratives that I had collected over time of
(09:12):
just a black man in America, of raising up, you know,
in a middle class fan, all these just things, all
these stories about being in alive that had nothing to
do with where I was at. And so movement became
an access point for me for removing those stories and
putting new ones in, for releasing the trauma and the
pain from growing up with certain pressure, or from growing up,
(09:34):
you know, in a perfectionist home, or from growing up
trying to be perfect and just realizing that you know,
when you work out, it humbles you. It shows you
your flaws and imperfections. You might not finish that set
the same way you started, and it's like, you know,
you have to accept that, you have to surrender, and
it's such a I think movement is so healing, and
for me, it's never about just having, you know, the
(09:55):
ability to move. I think if you have a finger
or an arm that works, and that's it move you know,
like there is something about energy that gets stuck just spiritually,
you know, and movement is a great way to get
those things to loosen up and to move through and
to flow out of us. I look at sweat like
bad stories getting out. I'm like, if yesterday I put
some bad stories in my morning, one hundred birpies is
(10:18):
the bad story is coming out. And now I got
this Tabila Rossa, as they say, this blank slate that
I can now build from as a foundation for my day.
And it just makes me feel so alive knowing that
God has allowed for me every single day to keep
doing this because I know mad people, my age that
play football that are like, yo, my knees don't work,
my arms don't work, And I'm like, well, mine are
working fine. And I think it's because I've been consistent.
(10:42):
And it's not just my career, but it's my lifestyle,
Like I love working out. I think it is a
space of such enjoyment of having something that most people
don't even get to enjoy. Having a body should be
a joy. We shouldn't be looking at our bodies like,
oh god, I got another day with this body, like
enjoy having another day with that body, because that bidy
got you to this day. And so it's like it
(11:03):
gets me to be grateful. It positions me in so
many ways that if I don't move, I won't see
things that way. So it's like polishing the mirror for
me is movement. Like if I wake up to a
foggy mirror, I can't see myself. I can't see how
loving I am and how beautiful I am, how beautiful
my life is. I go move, and when I come
back to that mirror, I see something beautiful. I'm like, oh,
(11:24):
life is great, life is wonderful.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
So here I love. Move all right, folks will be
right back with Josey Cunningham.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
V to that it's a for Shinzoo. My n zoo
used to drive down the vas turning them in a
home and the turfance got a dirt cheap for them.
Plus if they were short with cheese, I would work
for them, but we got rid of that dirt for them.
Speaker 5 (11:45):
Wasn't going on.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Stream us Life at Saga nine sixty am dot c Ay.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Life. All right, qualcastination. We're back with John See cunning Hand.
I gotta say this, that might have been one of
the more powerful two minutes on our show Dog like
if if you think about it, I did a show
earlier today on gratitude, and that was exactly it. Like
we can't take for granted what we the ability to
(12:20):
move and the ability to to do the things that
we were able to do. Like to have that gift
because I mean, in my line of work, some people
won't live another day. Some people won't be at home,
they won't be able to walk, they won't be able
to be functional. And so to wake up knowing that
you get to move, you get the ability to exercise.
(12:44):
I think it is something that if we if we
if we approach it life. That way, we're going to
be way more likely to to have positive results. I
think we'll end up being more grateful and more or
and more likely to achieve our goals. That that's the
first thing. And then second thing that that sweat out
(13:07):
your your your your your troubles man. It is it's
so true you think about it. I mean, this is
what the we're talking earlier about how you how you reset,
how you uh you know, after you have busy week,
what do you how do you get re established? And
for me, I was saying, like exercise, going to the gym,
(13:28):
playing hockey, and and that's powerful. Like if you think
about the stresses on people on an everyday basis, are
youth all right? Like the youth and their mental health
state of affairs coming out of the pandemic, uh, the
social media, their phones Like this is this is the
(13:51):
as strong antidote to one of the like to a
strong force, which is uh their mental health and well being.
So I gotta say, like, I could never say it
as eloquently as that, but you really like I feel
what you're.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
Saying well, because I'll say this's twenty eighteen. I'm living
in Utah, working at a company called Summit, which is
a very interesting company, and I'll get into that at
some point. And our brother passes away. So I'm in
Utah living. I'm about to sign.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
A contract Memorial.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
Yeah, so I'm about to sign a contract with Red Bull,
and I have all these things happening. My life is
on the up and up, and I'm so excited. I'm
living in Utah. I love eating Utah. I think it's
a beautiful players. That mountain Power Mountain is gorgeous. Shout
out to Powder Mountain. And I get hit with the
me as my brother passed away, and so the only
thing I could do in that moment was to I
(14:45):
went outside and I went on a hike. I was like,
all right, I can't just sit with this energy and
this information and I'm not really ready to share it
with anybody yet. So I'm gonna go outside. I'm gonna
go walk around. I'mnna scream a little bit. I'm going
to let these things exit so that they don't stay
stuck somewhere. That was the first acknowledgment for me of
how healing movement can be. From that point on, I
(15:07):
had to move back home. I had to be with
my family, the thing that I was avoiding for a
long time, and movement became the centerpiece for how my
family and I gathered. My mother and I, she filmed
me for an whole entire year of content, just filming
me working out. That got me my first gig with Allo,
changed my entire life, you know. So it's amazing how
movement has always been this central piece to the pieces
(15:32):
that I enjoy most about being here. I think being
alive right now is a stressful experience for many people.
It's very angsty to just be alive. You wake up,
you got bills, you got stresses, you have all these
things that are hitting you in the face. So the
opportunity when I wake up is not to go there.
I'm like, if I know that that's waiting for me,
if I know that there's a bunch of responsibility, there's
(15:52):
a bunch of have tos that are waiting for me,
then I'm going to enjoy the get to I get
to have an hour or two to myself. I get
to wait up and move a body that works like
I get the opportunity to do that.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Now.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
The half two is already there. I know that they're there.
I have to pay bills. I have to do that.
I got to make money, but I get to actually
wake up and choose me for an hour or two
before I have to choose everybody else. And movement is
my greatest kind of access point to choose in myself.
It is doue movement. So I just wanted to share that.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
Oh man, listen, I'm so sorry to hear about your brother.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
Like that's oh heart attack too. You know what, forty
six heart attack at forty six? Crazy man? It changed us.
It changed my family, It changed me. It made me
much more intentional about health. It made me much more
intentional about sharing the knowledge and wisdom that I've gained
from living a healthy lifestyle for so long. It made
me much more intentional about moving my ass every single day.
(16:51):
And it kind of puts some fear in me.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
You know.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
I think it's natural that when somebody close to your dies,
you're like, ah, cool, will what happened to him? Could
it happened to me? Is there's something that there precursor
I have, is there's something in me that could So
I've been I've fought that for a long time and
over the last I want to say the pandemic and beyond.
I had to deal with just you know the fact
that oh, you could just go any day. You know,
(17:14):
we don't get the opportunity to say that often we're
too scared to have that conversation. But I just know
now that my brother passes, I'm like, oh, you can
just be here one day and the next that you
could just not be here in the physical You could
just have no more flesh anymore. And so it's like,
all right, cool, Well, if that's the case, then I'm
going to make sure that not only do I take
care of my flesh, but I take care of what's
inside that flesh. Because if I don't take care of
(17:36):
what's inside that flesh and only only concern on what's
the outside, then I'm missing the point. And my brother
and many people in my life, we've all kind of
had families that raised us in a certain standard of
American just society, and so the food and the sugars
and swedes and certain things that we got addicted to
growing up. We still fight as we age, and so
(17:58):
I'm sure he was fighting that as we all do,
and he wasn't winning that battle. And so for me,
I make sure that I don't look at it as
a battle anymore. I just make sure that every single
day I wake up and I have boot and feet
on the ground, that I'm excited to be here because
I don't know, this might be my last day, my
last conversation, who knows. But as long as I'm enjoying that,
as long as I'm sharing that enjoyment with others, then
(18:20):
I feel like there's no reason not to enjoy being here.
Speaker 5 (18:22):
So yeah, wow, wow, and and and so obviously bringing
that positive energy, that that mindset has been an important
part of you, I.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
Guess, just out of curiosity, how else have you tried
to advocate for healthy living? Like, obviously I will see
your social media and everything. We'll talk about your your
your website and everything at some point, But how how's that?
How's that looking?
Speaker 3 (18:53):
I think, you know, I've often understood that we can't
take care of the until we take care of ourselves.
You know, we can't. We can't scream out in the
world do all these things until we're doing the things
that we're screaming out to the world to do. And
so for me, I think it's I have a morning
marriage practice that I do every day. I wake up
(19:15):
and do the same three or four things every single morning.
I've been doing that for the last six to seven years.
I wake up, I meditate, our journal, I move. I
think those three elements are so worthy of attention in
our day. If you have a stressful moment, you can.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Write it down.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
You don't have to keep it. We're so used and
so kind of adjusted to keeping all the bullshit, like
everything that happens. We're like, more of it, let's keep it,
give me more, and so we have a certain resistance
to letting things go Over time. If you just get
stuck to keeping so much shit, you start hoarding, and
that's what happens. I realize many humans would get stuck
(19:51):
in hoarding our bad emotions, holding those bad experiences so
that we have a reason to be angry at the world,
or so we have a reason to not be what
we think we are, to not be the great thing
that we want to be, to not have the dreams
yet met. We have a reason for that. I can't
get there, or I don't have the money, or I
grew up this way, or my dad used to beat me,
(20:12):
like there's always a story to cover up why we're
not the thing that we believe ourselves to be. I
just choose to wake up and do certain things so
that I can at least position myself to see myself
through loving eyes. Because if I wake up and I
hate myself right away, or I hate my life, or
I hate something or I hate anything in it, then
I might have a fucked up day. Excuse my language,
I'm going to have a terrible day. And so I
(20:34):
have to position myself correctly every morning. And it's a
practice that extends to anywhere I am in the world.
If I'm in Egypt, somewhere, I can meditate, I can journal,
and I can move. I can do that anywhere, and
that costs nothing. A journal is two buff You can
go to the dollars store and get five up and
right now for five bucks.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
You can.
Speaker 3 (20:53):
You know, meditation requires nothing but you to just shut
the hell up. And movement is something that even when,
like I say, because I deal with family members that
don't have, you know, the limbs I have that don't
have the abilities I have. If you have something, if
you have anything that moves, if you gotta neck that moves,
if you have anything that can move in that way,
just move it. Just move it. And that's why I think,
(21:16):
you know, for me, the writing down my emotions and
writing down all my stories, that moves my feelings a bit,
that moves all of that negativity. That kind of transmit
takes that negativity and the positivity that meditation is me
realizing that, Wow, I'm getting to the point where I
love meditating so much. I hate waking up out of meditation.
I was thirty minutes deep. Today I walk up like
(21:38):
fuck ah. And then the movement piece is just such
a necessary element of understanding how those stories that we
even write about, or those stories that we may think
about meditation, we have to move them through. We have
to let them go from our head down to our
heart down to our legs, like let those thoughts and emotions,
let them move and kind of sift through. And that
(21:59):
practice has given me so much joy every day. Like
I hate seeing how stressful the world has become for
most people. Most people wake up and they're just like, man, fuck,
you ask somebody how to day is. They're like, it's good,
And you can tell behind their eyes they're lying. You
can just tell people that just wearing that mask of
like I'm okay, you're not okay, and that's okay, and
(22:19):
we can talk about why you're not okay, because we
need to be sharing practices that help us stay okay.
These are my stay okay practices, meditation, journaling, movement. Even
if I do one of them a day, I feel
good and I think that accomplishment is also something that
gives me. It just gives me some enjoyment. I'm like,
all right, cool, I did something today. I might have
(22:41):
a day where my life is just shit. I'm like, ah, God,
too much stress. Ah the eight emails to people ah ah.
But if I journal, I get at least the opportunity
to get some of that out so that I don't
have to carry that to when I go to bed,
or carry that to when I now have to go
to the bar or get to my vices. It's like,
I get the opportunity to share in the enjoyment of
myself through these practices, and I lend them to people often.
(23:04):
Now do they do them?
Speaker 2 (23:05):
Ah?
Speaker 3 (23:06):
Probably not. You know, I show them. I show the
same things every day on my stories. It's more of
a remarkable thing. People see, like why he's consistent, But
I'm like, just try it. Just take a little joint.
Just take a piece of paper when you get upset,
you have a bad call with someone, or your mother
calls you when she pisses you off, Just take a
piece of paper and write down while you're pissed, Just
write it down. Immediately following that writing down, you're not
(23:29):
gonna feel as pissed. It's just it's so to me,
it's common sense, but we're so driven away from that
because we want to be cool, and as a man,
being cool is just dealing with your shit. Like O,
I'm gonna just go to the gym and just I'm
gonna go box. It's like, brother, you've been boxing and
shit has not changed in your life. Maybe you need
to box a different way. So that's kind of how
(23:52):
I see.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
All right, folks, will be right back with Jossey Cunningham, No.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Radio, no problem. Stream is live on SAGA ninety sixty
Am dot C A.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
Right qualdcastination. We're back with Jassey Cunningham once again. So
many gems in there. I really appreciate the point of
taking care of yourself, being the example to create that change, right,
Like you gotta put on your oxygen mask first before
you know you can help out others, which I think
I couldn't agree more. The other thing that came to
(24:45):
mind too, JC was like, what when it comes to
your own practice of meditation, what does that look like?
Because I know there's obviously different forms for people. The
they could do, guided, they could do focused on their breath.
I'm just curious from your personal experience, what's worked for you.
Speaker 3 (25:07):
I mix them all, you know, I really look at
life as like an open door.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
You know.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
It's like I try not to close any doors. You
close one door, you close them all. I really focus on,
like what makes me feel good, you know, what gives
me that feeling of a liveness. And one day it
might be transcendental, you know, another day it might be
just like this morning. They were just thirty five minutes
of just sitting down in this chair, the same exact chair,
with this with this plant, and just chilling for thirty
(25:37):
five minutes. And I think I've gotten into a space
where I can allow that now because it's an allowance.
It's because once you go past twenty minutes, there's a
certain thresholder that I believe that meditation like when you
reach that threshold of just attention where you're like Oh
my god, I have to open my eyes. I got
to see what's going on in the world. I'm thirsty
for it. What's going on Instagram? Say we on Twitter,
(26:00):
Like when you get thirsty for that, your eyes open
up and then you're like, ah, fuck for me, I've
pushed past that threshold now for the last I want
to say a month and a half, and I cry. Now,
once you at a certain point, you realize that there's
just this peace that you feel that's so unshakable. You're like,
nobody can break this piece that I have right now.
(26:21):
And so that's why I'm thirsty to not open my
eyes up, because I'm like, this piece feels so good,
it feels so home, it feels like I belong there,
And once you open your eyes, you're like, ah, man,
I belong in this shit. Now I have to do
all these things, and I have to create your opportunities
and go hustle and get lost in the sauce. And
so for me, I just make sure that my sauce
(26:44):
is what I'm getting lost in every day, so that
you know, when the world comes at me with anything
that I don't enjoy that, I'm like, ah, I don't
like that at least I like me because I'm not
going to like everything that happens in my life. That's
just that's just life. I'm not going to like certain people.
I'm not going to like certain place is, certain opportunities
that I have to take. There are just certain things
you're just not going to like. But as long as
(27:04):
through that whole entire process, I'm enjoying myself, then I
have no reason to be mad at anybody. So it's
you know, that's what I just want to give myself
no excuses to be upset at being here.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
Yeah, that's that's extreme ownership to the nth degree, which
I think a lot of us need is to take
ownership of our own health in general, but or overall
well being. And in terms of the journaling, is it
structured or is it similar to the meditation? Depending on
where you feel or won't make structure.
Speaker 3 (27:39):
That's probably the only that and the birdees are the
only structure I think I keep in my morning practice.
The journaling is I started with the gratitude letter, just
to myself, the world, the universe of God, whatever, just
being grateful. You know what am I grateful for? And
sometimes the list might be short. Sometimes the list might
be along. Sometimes the list might just be I wake
up and write down thank you. That's it. I might
write down thank you ten times. To me, it's learning
(28:03):
and growing up in the education system of America, you
kind of learn how to hack yourself through. If you
really are aware of how they hack you through all
of these different things they do, these techniques of getting
you to stay in line, getting you to learn certain things,
you kind of can learn your mind and how it
processes things and information. So for me, I know that
writing down think you could just open up room for
(28:25):
more gratitude. If I write that down twenty times. If
I write down I love myself forty five times, eventually
at the fortieth time, I might feel like I love
myself because I'm reading that over and over and over
again for however long it takes to write down forty
five I love myself. But it's like I use those
things as hacks to get to the space of me
that is hiding, because there's a part of us that's
(28:46):
hiding from wanting to be seen. Our shadow side is like,
don't look at me, I'm not here, and I'm like, no,
you're here, and I love you for being here. You
offer me the opportunity to actually dig into life. And
I do gratitude letter to the world, thank you whatever
I do, A Dear God letter that could be, you know.
(29:07):
I just say dear God, you know, and I write
down whatever I'm thankful for God for I don't forget
that God is he and God is real for me.
I think that we live in a society that's pushing
us away from a lot of this. That's like, go
and praise other things. I'm like, no, I was raised
a certain way. I stay true to that and that's
what I practice. And then a letter to myself, which
I think that has been the most healing practice for
(29:28):
me over the last ten years, is a love letter
to myself every day because I'm telling you, I realize
how much dirt we keep about ourselves when life becomes dirty.
When we do dirt, or things happen in our life
that we don't enjoy, or we make mistakes and we
do certain things, we keep them as memories and reasons
as to why we shouldn't love ourselves. And I'm like,
(29:51):
if anything, that's a reason to love yourself, you need
to be loving yourself more. When you've gone through all
that bullshit, and that little practice of has and I've
given it to so many people, and that a lot
of people actually do use it. There's a camp that
I teach at in Michigan and they use it and
they love it. That practice really helps me. It helps
(30:11):
me understand the content of my own mind, because that's
the hardest thing to grasp every single day. We can't
deal with this thing. We can deal with taking the
medication and making sure we work out and make sure
we eat our food, and making sure we do certain
things with our health, our green drinks, our smoothies, all
these things, but the thoughts are what frustrate is and
the thoughts are actually whats up the most. You can
(30:32):
be drinking green drinks and make jogging every day, but
if in your mind you are a fat piece of
excuse my money. If in your mind that's what you keep,
is that, If that's the thought that you keep, then
that's what you are. So I don't care what the
green drinks are saying. I don't care what your biomarkers
are saying. Your mind is what dictates a lot of
what your energy and your body holds anyway, So I've
(30:53):
been really keen on making sure that this thing between
these two ears stay sharp, because if this falls, everything
beneath it falls. And so if this is poor, then
everything beneath it this poor. No matter how good it looks,
no matter how wonderful it looks in the mirror. If
this is poor, everything beneath it is poor. So I
make sure that this is rich. Every day.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
That's beautiful, Yeah, one hundred percent. I just I mean,
it sounds like it's taking some time for you to
get to this place, but it's it sounds like a
beautiful place and a lot of information that I think
would be that it's valuable and with it, well the
listeners will appreciate. What about the movement? So you know,
(31:36):
we get that one hundred birpees in every day, which
I think is insane. You told me you how long
you say you do? It's ten minutes. It's ten burpies
a minute for ten minutes. You know you if you're
doing fast, you get twenty You get ten burpies in
and about twenty seconds twenty to twenty two seconds, so
then you got thirty eight to forty seconds of rest.
So what I mean, it's it's not as bad as
it seems. It's just you got to make sure you're
(31:58):
keeping up with that kind of pays. And that's the
hardest part either way. Dog he is, it's real, okay.
Speaker 3 (32:09):
I try to make us out achievable every time.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
No, I mean I did it once. It took me.
It was during the pandemic and one of my good friend's,
Pete Shaw, he's a CrossFit athlete and he's one of
the programs. He said, it's like, dude, twenty nine or
do one hundred brpees for time, And I remember getting
to like fifty eight and wanting to like drop kick
(32:33):
a child. I was like, what the hell is this?
It took me about sixteen and a half minutes and
I and I, yeah, I was crying, a little bit
grown ass man crying about exercise, which I should have
just felt should I just should have felt gratitude for.
But what other principles for you when it comes to
(32:55):
that movement, Because I mean, like I said, you're you're
a bit of an inspiration and I think a lot
of people go to you and especially on your social
and see try and get ideas on how to stay active.
But yeah, what are some of the other areas you like,
ways do you like to stay active.
Speaker 3 (33:13):
I still lift weights every now and then. You know,
it's not something that I would say I do consistently,
but I make sure that there's certain ego lifts that
I have. There's certain things that just keep my ego
in a certain good place.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
You know.
Speaker 3 (33:25):
When I feel like I'm feeling weak a little bit,
I go to the equinox and I'm like, all right,
let me jump underneath the two plates to twenty five
and let me see how many reps I can get.
Because playing football here, that's the benchmark for strength in
in American football. It's like, all right, cool, you get
underneath that bench, you put them four plates one there,
two on each side, and you do them reps. I
(33:46):
keep doing that. So I've consistently held between twelve and
eighteen reps for the last seventeen years, which I think
is incredible, you know. But I also realized that my
movement and my body weight practice on my hit practice
is very extreme. I kind of organize and program workouts
for myself that are exciting for me. I'm not really
(34:09):
in the space anymore to try to program for other
people anymore. I've gotten into a mindset where I realize
how much codependency happens in fitness and in the wellness
and the health and wellness space. There's a lot of codependency.
There's a lot of I need you, And it's like,
you got to realize that you need you first. And
if you're waiting for me to spark the energy of
(34:31):
you realizing that, then that's gonna take forever. And then
you're depending on me to always be in my tiptop
energy so that you can be in your tip it's
too much. It's too I don't get down that way anymore.
So for me, I've really focused on doing things that
keep me excited to move because movement at a certain point.
You work out a lot as much as I do,
you kind of get bored of certain things. You know,
you kind of like I'm bored of Berkeley's But I
(34:52):
love the discipline. I love the same thing every day.
That kind of it shows me that at least I
have that. If I don't go and do the run
and do the pull ups and do other things, I
have my burpose that I'm doing every day.
Speaker 2 (35:04):
It's just a.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
Foundation to give me that gift of knowing I'm moving
every day. If there's something of movement, I'm doing every
single day, so that I can't say there's a day
I'm taking off, because if I'm preaching that to people
on Instagram, no days off, keep going. I have to
be the example and I have to be doing that
for myself and as hard as hell to keep up
with that. I think that's the beautiful thing that I
(35:25):
found in social media that I love. People can look
at social media and call it what it is. I
love the fact that there's an accountability of me to
me every single day. I don't even care about the
audience anymore. I'm like, I wake up and I share
things that I have to do for myself. First. I'm
not waking up and telling anybody to do something that
I'm not doing. I'm sharing exactly what I'm doing, which
(35:48):
kind of prompts me on the days that I don't
want to do it to do it. So there's a
positive relationship I've gained from using social media, which has
helped me kind of form a different understanding of discipline
because now I'm like, I have an audience, but really
my only audience on social media is me. I don't
see these people, I just see myself, and so it's
it's like an acknowledgement every day that you are still
doing the same things that you say you're doing to
(36:10):
do and you keep doing, and it's a patterle the
back for me every single night. I'm like, good job.
Even if I don't make a billion dollars or a
zillion dollars, I'm impacting myself daily to impact others. And
because it starts with me, I can't. My mom has
always told me that, like, you can't expect anybody to
do what you're not willing to do. So you can't
(36:33):
tell people to go work out and you're not working
out because naturally the energy you're putting out is not
going to map for they want to put in. So
it's like my output has to match my input, and
I got to share that because that's what I've created
on Instagram. So it's a certain measuring up to my
own standard of myself I have to keep every day,
(36:53):
which is why I am the person that people look
at that way, because I have to. At this point,
it's like I've signed myself up for it now, and
thank god I did, because it's a healthy life started.
Speaker 2 (37:04):
All right, folks, We'll be right back with Jossy Cunningham.
You live where the street ends, in the basement.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
Apartner with one of your.
Speaker 2 (37:14):
Friends and the tampschips all night, water, torture and seek.
The furnace is burning.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
But it's still cool. Stream us live at SOGA nine
sixty am dot c A all.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
Right, colcastination. We're back with Jossy cunning Hair. It's like
having an accountability partner. It's it's yeah, it keeps you
on track, which is which is wonderful. And I mean
for me, it's like whatever works right and but this
is uh man, your your feets are incredible. I want
(38:01):
to give you a chance to speak to something we
were talking about before jumping on the call. You mentioned
working in as opposed to working out. Yeah, the good
you can mention elaborate on that. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (38:15):
So working in is a brand that I've fashioned out
of the brand that I originally created, which was the
Jossi Method. I got tired of Jossi being the centerpiece
of the method because most people aspire, but I would
rather inspire. I don't want people to just look at
it and be like I wish I was like that
or I want to be like that and let me
do these things to become like that. I'm like, you're
your own person. I'm me. There's no other me but me,
(38:38):
there's no other you but you. How can you take
things that I've done or things that I've created, and
how can they serve you as much as they've served me.
So when it comes to movement, there's certain things that
have served me that I want to share with people.
When it comes to meditation and journaling and all these practices,
I want to share that. And the best way to
do it was to take me out of it where
it wasn't about Jossy journals and Jossy does this stuff.
(38:59):
It was like, no, you can do this stuff. It's
up to you. The journal every day. It's up to
you to meditate, it is up to you to move
and working in is it's to me is a beautiful
way to articulate what working out truly is, because you know,
as there's something leaving, there has to be something coming in.
You know, in football, you know as a defensive back,
(39:21):
that's what you have to recognize. Like if you have
a two receivers to your side, you have to know
that one's coming in, one's coming up giving on how
much linked to feel what they have or how much
with they have. So it's like it's the same thing
in life. I have to really realize that these practices
that I'm sharing are not just something that I've studied
(39:43):
in a book or I read, or I studied in
college and got my PhD. Like I didn't do any
of that. This is all trial and error from just
bumping myself up against life and just being thrown and
just thrown in the washer of being alive, you know,
like my brother passed. I had to figure out how
to take that negativity I was feeling and turn it
positive because I was pastor positive. That was my kind
(40:03):
of name on social media. So I was like, well,
how am I not going to be the guy to
be positive when I'm the guy that says he's pastor positive.
And I had to develop practices for myself to keep
up with that name. So it's funny how I use
that name as inspiration for myself. I created an alter
ego that I had to live up to, and by
virtue of doing that, I've now become that thing. You know,
(40:26):
I've now been feeding myself so much positivity over time,
and just it's compounded where most people see me and
they don't understand that it's intimate practices that I do
daily that keep me this way. It's not just something
that just happens. So working in is my way of saying, yes,
you're working out, and yes that may be great, but
what are you working in if you're working all these
(40:48):
things out in life? If you're you know, because it
takes something that you're working in to work out things. Anyway,
given the analogy of this life, you know, when bad
things happen and you want certain things to work out,
how are you going to work things in to help
the things work out in life? Because meditation are that's
a work in that has a workout. You're going to
be able to express yourself better and just you're going
(41:11):
to be in just more of a calm and to
reading state of being here when you meditate, So that
working in is going to provide for a better working out.
You might not feel the need and necessity to go
to the gym and stay in there five hours because
you have so many things to work out. So it's
like finding that balance approach to being well, which I
think is what we're not often fed because they're teaching
us that there's just all these extremes that we live in.
(41:33):
It's like either your biohacking yourself to death, or you
by helping yourself to life, or you're doing the IV drip,
or you're doing this and you're not doing that. You're
getting to be twelve shots in the ass. Like, there's
so many ways that we've been fed we're not well,
and I'm tired of being fed that story. I'm tired
of being told by every single article that you're not
(41:54):
well and you need this thing to be well. I'm like,
I need me to be well. If what's going on
in here is not well, then I don't give a
damn how many b twelve shots I take. If I
still think that over time, that's still serving me in
the same way, it's not a lot of these things
are now becoming fragments of our psychology, where like I
need these things to feel well. I have never studied
(42:16):
none of these things to a certain degree. I have
been gifts at the opportunity for being raised a certain
way to understand the value of moving. For me, it
used to be performance. I wanted to move well and
move often, and I wanted to get to a point
of being paid to move. I got to that point
without even playing football. I didn't even do it the
way I wanted to do. I wanted to go play
(42:36):
ball and make the millions. God said, no, we're going
to give you a little bit less, a lot less,
but we're going to give you a better style of impact.
You don't have to impact yourself this way. You don't
got to put yourself in a helmet and go be
a crash dummy for our entertainment. You can now go
into a different world and no knock to football. Don't
(42:57):
get me wrong, I love football. I played football, football athletes.
I love y'all, y'all my favorites. But I think there
is an opportunity in stepping away that lets us step
into a new story. And for me, when I stepped
out of football, I had to develop a new story.
Football was over. That's no longer me. I can't be
like I'm the strong safety as such and such. That
(43:17):
wasn't true anymore. So I had to find out what
was still true. And what was still true is that, oh,
I was still an athlete, and I learned a lot
of things from being that way. So now let's dig
into that. What's going to be the easiest transition into
being an adult? Okay, well that's a gift. US athletes
don't see it that way. We get mad when it
doesn't work out. We're like, I can't believe I didn't
(43:38):
make it. It's like, listen, all that discipline, all that work, ethic,
all that time and effort, apply that to something which
is you. You don't realize how much of that has
been for you. You thought it was for the team
and for the dream, but it really was for you,
and you've now gotten good at being that thing. So
now you just got to shift that energy. And that's
(43:58):
what I had to do, which is what I'm still
doing because at thirty six, I still have a little
trauma from football as far as just you know, emotional stuff.
You know, it's like we all still have that chip
on our shoulder from certain things. For me, it's always
going to be a football I'm gonna think always, but
it still is a little bit of football.
Speaker 2 (44:15):
You know.
Speaker 3 (44:15):
It still is like you had it. God gave you
all the gifts, He gave you all the athletic gifts,
and you couldn't get there, and I used to fight
that story, but now I've embraced that story as a
part of the reason why I enjoy working out so much.
I love that it keeps me sharp because I still
want to go out there and perform on some stage.
(44:36):
Put me out there and let these muscles shine somehow,
which is you know, that's just a part of it
right now. But I'll move past that at a certain point.
But I'm still young enough to still see a lot
of the results of all the work I'm putting in.
I'm still young enough to still have the springs and
still have the things that I never thought of as
like when I was twenty five and twenty four. I'm like,
(44:57):
at a certain point, these things are going to drop off.
Because I've been disciplined and consistent, They've actually I think
I'm better. I'm a better athlete now than I wasn't
my twenties easily. So it's like the consistency and the
intensity is what has kept me the same person time
and time again throughout the years. I've been consistent with
(45:18):
just being me and serving up the same plate every day.
I don't serve it up no other way. So if
somebody's like well, what can you tell us how to what.
Speaker 2 (45:28):
Do you I mean?
Speaker 3 (45:28):
I'm like, listen, I got nothing for you. I got
the formula I use and that's it. Other people's way,
I don't know. I know what's been working, and I
want that to be shared. Like I want people to
try to do one hundred perpeers every day and just
see what it feels like. You might get to day
nine and be like, yo, look at my arms, look
at my back, and you thought that you had to
(45:50):
go hire somebody and spend two hundred and eighty dollars
a month to be fit and to feel well. For me,
I want to simplify it for people. I want to
simplify being alive because we wake up to so much
heaviness and I'm like, listen, God woke you up for light.
He didn't wake you up to be angsty and heavy
and hate being here. He woke you up to enjoy
(46:12):
being here. And if it takes a little bit of
work to get there, I'm willing to put that work
in every day.
Speaker 2 (46:18):
I got to say, just a pure inspiration, just I
feel like doing eight burpyes right, yeah, now the one
hundred a couple of time, but honestly, it's just great.
Great here on how you continue to inspire others through
(46:43):
the way you've worked through your own trauma. And I honestly,
I feel like when people hear a story like this
in terms of why it's important to take care of themselves,
ways to take care of themselves and and and the
importance of just being grateful and how that can trans
(47:05):
transform one's life. I think it's I think it's all beautiful.
So I I want to thank you for joining us
on the show. And where can people track you down? Brother?
Speaker 3 (47:19):
Well, I have a website. It's working in working dash
in dot com and also Instagram just Jossy Cunningham j
A c Y Cunningham for those that can spell it.
And yeah, and I am living in LA right now.
I'm in Inglewood. I have a wonderful I have a
wonderful lady. I'll share her because I love her so much.
(47:40):
Her name is Madison, and she's beautiful. She's allowed me
and her home. We are here, this is where I'm
at and I love being in LA. I think there's
a service here for me and within this community. So
I'm excited to be here and thank you. I think
I thank you Anemonia for bringing us together. I think
that event for showing me, if I can be honest,
how much effort and energy is too being put in
(48:04):
a just denying death and just fighting that on which
I found to be interesting. But that's another story for
another day. But thank you for meeting me there, thank
you for allowing me on your podcast today, and uh
I look forward to seeing you again brother somewhere in
the world.
Speaker 2 (48:18):
I have a feeling I'm feeling this in a lot,
not the last time. By the way, Actually, do you
want to quick word on summit because I've been reaching
out to those cats to do anything you want to
say about something. Are you good? You want me to
talk about them right now? During the show, at one
point you said I could mention more, a little bit
more about something, but we don't.
Speaker 3 (48:41):
I'll say this, I'll say this, and and then then
we can we can stop talking about all those things.
I have a problem with the leaderism. I have a
giant problem with people believing that they belong to something
better than others based on whatever they've been raised around,
or who they know, connections, whatever. I don't like that anymore.
I think a lot of these communities extract the good
(49:04):
that they can see or find, and they kind of
try to make it theirs. They extract things they love
from certain cultures, from certain communities, and they try to
make it this is the summit thing. It's like, listen,
building communities separate from the collective, and you guys having
these interesting conversations and all these moments that aren't being
heard and shared with us. That doesn't help the us
(49:27):
become the weak. That doesn't help us all come together.
And so I think I love being a I love
that I've been gifted the opportunity to be proximal to
all of this by being in these communities. But now
being out of it, I realize there is use for
having these connections. But at the end of the day,
if you're not connected with yourself, you can't use the
connections that you have. You're not going to know what
(49:48):
to do. They're not going to It's just like you
don't trust the connections you have if you don't trust
the connection you have with yourself. So even with all
this elitism, it's hard to really pivot and be involved
in these things without understanding that it's you that they want.
It's you that you know, it's your energy that's needed
and necessarily there. And I think I learned that from exiting,
(50:11):
from even exiting an aloe and exiting all of these
things that you know when you wake up and want
to be branded every day, because that's kind of what
we all do in this country. Nil deals for college athletes,
like we just wake up and want to get branded,
Like somebody brand me and validate me as the thing
that I already know I am, but now I want
the world to know and I want them to pay
me for that knowledge. It's just an annoying cycle that
I'm looking at. So for me, I'm really in a
(50:33):
space of understanding that the brand is me, the value
is me, and as long as I'm sharpening that brand
and value, then I will always be something that somebody wants,
something that somebody needs. Okay, I need that, And so
it's not I'm never scared of the abundance. I'm never
scared of when things aren't necessarily abundant. I know that
(50:54):
the abundance is me, and so that's kind of what
some it reminded me of being there because I'm like,
how am I here? And Jeff would tell me every
single time like you're here because we're actually you're the
biggest reason why we have people here. It's your energy,
it's your vibe, it's your things that are helping this
thing grow. So I'm happy to have been the bridge
in these communities, but I'm now realizing how there's still
(51:15):
not what I hope them to become. They're still not
the diverse collective of humans that belong a part of
these communities there, and that's just something that's for another conversation,
you know. I think, as being one of the few
black people in every community I've been in, I always
notice and acknowledge that there's a missing link. There's a
(51:37):
reason why we are still existing as a separation, and
it's like we don't have enough people there to actually
support the coming together. We need more people that are
different to actually serve each other in these conversations, in
these spaces, so that we do see that there's safety there,
that we can come together and not feel threatened, that
we can enjoy and love and share that love for
(51:57):
each other without feeling like we need to high that love.
These communities hide that love, they hide all these things.
I'm like, open up to the masses, open up with
what's possible when you actually cultivate yourself to want to
cultivate community. So that's my spill on that. I don't
want to share it too much, but that's what I
had on that.
Speaker 2 (52:17):
No, I feel you. I feel you, And thanks for
the honesty and the candle, because I do again definitely
echo the fact that it is so important to have
that lens of diversity and to be able to feel
comfortable opening up and being ourselves. And so I definitely
(52:41):
hear where you're coming from. Thanks for listening Podcast Nation.
We appreciate you. That was an amazing episode with Josy Cunningham.
If you enjoyed that, please leave us any comments at
quodcast ninet nine at jamail dot com. Leave a five
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(53:04):
check out guide and nutrition. We've got put in podcast
fifteen for your fifteen percent off, the bundles and the supplements.
All these things that we're promoting, all these things that
we're getting behind is on that preventative side, on that
proactive side, so that you show up as your best self.
Show up guide a strong baby, here we go. Let's
(53:24):
do this all right, people, I hope you're feeling a
little bit more jumping your step after that episode. Thanks
for listening. Talk real soon here. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (53:35):
It's like, if you want to rhyme with me, you
don't even know what right is. Look, if you want
to get clean, you want to get thirty, you want.
Speaker 2 (53:40):
To go to left right.
Speaker 3 (53:42):
This is what we don't want us to knock.
Speaker 1 (53:44):
Let's just rock, no radio, no problem. Stream is live
on SAGA ninety sixty am dot C
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