315. Mindfulness for the Modern Man: Practical Tools for Living with Intention with Jon Macaskill and Will Schneider

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This is happiness solved with America's happiness coach, Sandee Sgarlata.

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Hello and thank you for joining us today. I'm so happy you're here. Happiness solved is the place where we explore everything you need to become the best possible version of you. This is Sandee Sgarlata. And today I've got some exciting news for our dedicated listeners.

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We've just launched our exclusive members only portal. This is your ticket to a world of additional content designed to deepen your understanding and engagement with the happiness solved mission. To learn more about all of the exciting benefits, stay tuned until the end of the episode, where I will explain in greater detail. For those interested now, head over to happinesssolved dot supercast.com. today is another amazing conversation.

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So let's get started.

00:01:10
Jon and will, so excited to have both of you on today. How's it going? It's going great. We're so excited to be here. We've been looking for this for, for quite a while.

00:01:23
Yeah, it's good to be here. Yeah. Thank you for this opportunity, Sandy. I love having, you know, anytime we can have a conversation about men and mindfulness and how it can help, we're here. Yeah, I love it.

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I love this conversation because I've always had men in my life. I have three older brothers, I have one son, always have male dogs for some reason. So I feel like I'm always surrounded by men and they never want to talk about it. So for the audience, Jon MacAskill and Will Schneider are co hosts of the amazing podcast, men talking mindfulness. So before we jump into all things mindset, how about if you each just give an introduction because you both have what I found was interesting when I was introduced to you guys through the Los Angeles Tribune podcast network, which we are all a member of.

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I thought it was really interesting just because you have very, very different backgrounds, each of you just give your brief bio, if you will, and we'll go from there. Yeah, I think that's part of the appeal of the show. It's like Jon, he's like the american gladiator, Navy SEAL. Talk about the epitome of masculine. And then we say, I'm the hippie from New York, and I feel like I'm a hippie.

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But I do live in New York City. I've been practicing and teaching yoga and mindfulness and meditation. I really got on the journey in like, 2007. So it's been several, several years. And, you know, I've taken it.

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You know, it's amazing to have this podcast with Jon because it allows me to, you know, instead of just having that, you know, 1 hour window where I teach a class or I have an opportunity to teach like a workshop or something like that, like the podcast gives us a weekly opportunity to talk and spread the love of you, you know, mindfulness far and wide. I mean, and also globally, you know, I trained last year. I got like, I wanted to go a little bit deeper into, you know, deeper into the mindfulness realm. And I studied compassion and at Stanford University, which I got a certificate for. And it's just a nonstop journey.

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And it just, I love having this opportunity. And it's like, really, it's a deep, deep passion of mine. I mean, it's something I work on every day, something I'm waking up and either developing a new class or just new content or sorting out my mind so we can have a more effective conversation on the podcast. So, yeah, I love what, you know, I'm very happy where my life is right now. Honestly, it feels good.

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Yeah. And Sandy, I'll tell you, at first glance, I think it appears that will and I are completely different. But when we get together, we're definitely cut from similar cloths. I think there's a heart of service there in both of us. And that's one of the reasons we do this show.

00:04:19
Certainly not to make millions of dollars, because as most of your listeners who are podcasters know, there's not a ton of money in podcasting. Unless you're Joe Rogan or Sandy, or unless you're Sandy. Sandy's doing well. You're doing well. You're doing well.

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We're trying to follow in your footsteps. But, yeah, a little bit about me. I am a retired navy SeaL. I served in the SEAL teams for 17 years and in the navy for 24. And I struggled with anxiety and stress, moral injury operator syndrome, these things that come with going to battle.

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And I finally got introduced to mindfulness and meditation through a counselor. And I laughed at him first when he told me, hey, I want you to try mindfulness meditation, I laughed at him. And then he told me that it was going to help to change my performance. So, long story short, I finally got into it for all the what I think are kind of wrong reasons. And finally, by getting into that for the wrong reasons, if you will, I got help with the right reasons.

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It helped. Yes, it did help me to perform better, but it also helped me to manage the stress, manage the anxiety, manage some of the mental health challenges that I was experiencing, and it changed my life for the better. But also what I like to say is that it quite literally saved my life. And it's given me a new purpose, a new mission, duty, and an obligation to share mindfulness and meditation with anyone and everyone who will listen. So, I love that I have a friend and a brother in will that we can share this.

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This mission together and pay it forward. Love it. Love it. Well, first of all, thank you for your service. Thank you so much.

00:06:11
That's really incredible. And the Navy SeAL, you just can't even imagine what that is like. Most people could never even make it through, right? And I'm sure there's plenty of those that don't. So, a couple of things.

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One, well, I got into meditation in 2007, so maybe there was something with the stars being aligned or something during that year, because that's when I took a meditation course, and I was like, you're crazy for me to sit. I am so typing. I have friends that call. Call me a thoroughbred. Cause I'm like.

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And I just keep going. I'm like the energizer bunny. And. And it was. It was life changing.

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And what I was also thinking, Jon, when you were talking about, like, you were, you know, doing it for the wrong reasons, what came up for me was fake it till you make it. And sometimes you have to do that. Right? Right. Cause I know for me, in 1990, when I hit rock bottom from drug abuse, I didn't want to stop using drugs.

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I loved it. It was. I was using cocaine. People know that anybody who's used cocaine, they use. They put it in Coca Cola for a reason.

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It was, like, the greatest thing ever. And I didn't want to stop, but I had to. And I did it. And it. And it saved my life.

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And I faked it. You know, I stopped using it, but it was like, okay, I got this. I got this. And it was hard. It was hard.

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But, like, sometimes you do have to just. You go along because, you know, you're. You know, at some point in your consciousness that it's the right thing to do. And. And it does.

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And that's. And that's what people fail to recognize with meditation, and that when you really learn it. I mean, guys, I can sit there and just recite a mantra. I'm looking for my. A book that I'm.

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I'm currently using right now. And I love this violet flame. Oh, nice. And it's this incredible mantra, but I can just say any of the. They call it a decree.

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I can say it, and instantly I feel the numbing sensation coming through my body. It's in the head. It's like up here. And I'm able to tap into that frequency like that very, very, very quickly. And when you can do that, it's the best drug ever.

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Once I, you know, so I went from 1990, when I quit using drugs, to 2007, when I learned how to meditate all of those years, and that was the best high you can ever get, ever. There's nothing that comes even close. Yeah, it's pretty wild what you can do with your own body and mind and the things that you can tap into spiritually, physically, metaphysically, just through meditation and the breathing exercises that are related to mindfulness and meditation. It is incredible. Yeah, for sure.

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So how did you guys meet? Because you don't live near each other. Right? I know. Jon, Will, you're in New York, and, Jon, where are you?

00:09:12
Colorado Springs. You're Colorado? Yeah. Yeah. I think it's like, you know, I don't know what it is like I was thinking, because I figured we're going to get that question asked again.

00:09:21
How do we meet? And I don't know, I guess they call, say, twin flames. Right? Jon and I have this passion for what we're doing, and it just happened to be in the conduit. They brought us together was a friend that we both have in common or someone that I know more.

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And he was more of a digital acquaintance for Jon. And he just introduced us back in, I think it was like, June, May 2019, and we just started having monthly conversations just about, hey, about mindfulness, about how we're doing. And Jon is a little newer to the space, having served in the military for 24 years. And I've been working in that space for already over a decade. And that conversation turned into the show.

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You know, we got, you know, the pandemic hit. Yeah. And will, he, as a yoga teacher, he had to pivot, obviously. And he started doing some. Some Instagram lives.

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And I saw what he was doing. I was like, this is interesting. What, you know, what is Instagram Live? What is Will doing? I saw you had a decent following.

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I was like, hey, will, you know, I know we have these phone calls every month where we discuss mindfulness and meditation, our new insights that we've had, new challenges, new practices. And I thought, what if we had these phone calls via Instagram Live? And if any of your listeners go back and listen to our first few episodes, Sandy, because we ended up ripping them from Instagram Live, where we were literally just holding phones in front of our faces, having these conversations. Will was downtown, New York City during the pandemic one time, it was so eerie. It looked like the zombie apocalypse.

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Like nobody was out. And we had these conversations, like, all over the place. I tapped in the Wi Fi outside of Starbucks one time in my car, and my phone overheated, and poor Will was stuck there running the show by himself. So we've definitely come a long way, but we have a lot of fun with it. We've got a lot of growth.

00:11:29
Uh, the show kind of, um, in a weird way, holds us accountable to our own practice. Uh, because, you know, there's definitely times when I'm like, man, I don't have enough time to meditate. I don't have enough time to be mindful. But, oh, wait, I run a show called men talking mindfulness. Maybe I should do it, right?

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So it's a. It will holds me accountable, and the show holds me accountable. And. And I think that our community has grown from that. And we've had people reach out to us on regular basis that say the show that they heard today is exactly what they needed to hear.

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Because, yes, the show is called men talk on mindfulness, but it's not just about meditation and mindfulness. It is about anything related to mindfulness. And if you really think about it, everything can be related to mindfulness. How you eat, how you drink, how you sleep, how you have relationships with your friends, your family, your loved ones. It's about everything.

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And the reason it's called men talking mindfulness, it originally started with literally just two men talking about mindfulness, hence the name. But we've kind of morphed into a show geared mostly toward men. But about 30% of our listeners are women, because what we like to say is that the show is for men and those with men in their lives. So, you know, some people need to understand where men are coming from, and some of our shows are literally about women's lives, because guess what? Men need to understand where women are coming from.

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And I feel like our biggest beneficiaries are the women that actually listen. It's like, let's get into the mind of a man, right? Explain why we're so. We're so fucked up and like, yeah, but it's been a. It's been a blast, Sandy.

00:13:18
It's really. And we're, like, in our fourth year where, you know, closing our 8th season in the next few weeks, and it's just been such an honor to and a joy to grow this. Oh, I love it. And thank you just for being a man and stepping up to the plate. Thanks.

00:13:41
And being like, you know, let's have this conversation because it's okay to talk about your feelings and, well, and it brings me back to. Because you were saying, Jon, you were talking about how everything is mindfulness. Everything is mindset. And, you know, Will, we had a podcast or mastermind call earlier, and I was talking about sponsorship, and this will be my first episode today where I can talk about, you know, my brand partner, which is hot works. And.

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And that was the thing with me working with hotworks. It's because, you know, the whole mind, body, spirit, and it's. And it's great, you know, when you're focusing on your body, and that ties into your spirituality. But mindset is everything. And it's about marrying the mind, body, spirit and spirit and having all three of them all together, because it really does require more than just thinking positive, right?

00:14:42
Yeah. Because so many people think, oh, let's just think positive. Well, yeah, you can think positive all you want, right? You got toxic positivity saying things that are positive. Yes, I think that can help.

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But at some point, you can also reach a level of toxic positivity where you just come in and you fake it. Yes, we talked about faking it until you make it, but I think that can also. You set yourself up. You set your organization up. You set your team up for failure.

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If you continually just wear this bright and shiny face when things are going wrong, when things are going sideways, you have to, to address them. You have to address the proverbial elephant in the room and say, you know what? How do we get through this? Right? How do we get outside of this?

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How do we get over it? And as will always says, the. The only way out is through. And so you have to address it and get. Get past that toxic positivity.

00:15:40
Yeah. Yeah. And mindfulness is a bunch of tools, too. I mean, it's a bunch of self mastery tools, really. Like, I get to know myself in all of my glory, whether it's like, you know, my rage and anger and frustration and overwhelm, but also, like, what brings me joy and happiness and peacefulness and contentment, contentness and harmony.

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And I'm so glad that. And I'm not surprised that mindfulness is on the rise in all these different practices, whether it's meditation, breath, work, and, you know, just other ways deeper into self mastery. Society seems to be becoming more chaotic. It's like the counterbalance to the chaos and to the attention economy that's continually trying to, like, you know, pull us into buy more shit that we don't need, like. Or just, like, doing things that aren't productive for myself or anybody else in society.

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Like, whereas, like, if I can, I can take with mindfulness and meditation and owning these practices and doing these practices every day. I take ownership of my time, ownership of my energy, ownership of, like, the things that I'm doing and kind of measure that against what really matters to me. And if you haven't a lot of men that come to our podcast, a lot of people that I know, they've kind of been. And I lived this way for a long time, and I'm glad that I kind of shook loose of the enjoy life after your retired matrix, if you will. It's like, you can have, you know, you can live a life of passion, you can live a life of more harmony.

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You can live a life of more peace, even if you're kind of working in, you know, whatever kind of job that you're doing. But it takes practice. It takes time. It's not something that just happens overnight. I'm always.

00:17:34
How many years? I've been doing this, like, 17 years. I've been journaling for. Since 22 years. I've been, like, literally kind of cracking a coat of who's Will Schneider?

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And I've still, you know, I still struggle, but that's not the point. It's like, that's just. That's just humanity. That's just part of what is part of the human experience. But it's just like, how am I showing up?

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And. And then I can take ownership of every day a little bit more. A little bit more. A little bit more. Yeah, I love that.

00:18:04
I love that. And, yeah, Jon, you're right. Fake it till you make it only goes so far. And at some point, you do have to actually look in the mirror and take responsibility, like you were saying, will be accountable for your actions, and that's really hard. So, what are some of the things that you all talk about that any of the men that are listening or the women who have men in their lives that want to help them, what are some of the tools that you can offer other men to really feel that?

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Because it's not easy. It sucks because, you know, you say, go through it, right? You can go around it, you can go over it, you can go under it, but until you go through it, you're not going to get to the other side. And I always like to say this, the happiest people on the planet are those that experience the full range of emotions. And so it's okay to be angry.

00:18:58
It's okay to get frustrated. All of those emotions are fine. It's okay. It's healthy. It's normal.

00:19:04
Right? And incidentally, we literally just wrapped up an interview speaking about anger, and one of the questions by one of the guests on the show was, are we talking about suppressing anger? Because isn't anger one of the, you know, one of the emotions that we feel? And we've done episodes on that on our. On our show.

00:19:23
And, you know, some of the. Some of the ways that men look at emotions, we address. We talk about the fact that really, there's only a few emotions that were, at one point, only acceptable for men. Right? Like, you can only be angry, or you can only crack a smile every once in a while.

00:19:40
Men can't cry. Men can't be vulnerable. Men. At least that's what society was telling us, right? But, you know, Brene Brown.

00:19:48
I'm a huge Brene Brown fan. Expressing vulnerability, that's actually a sign of strength. And it takes a lot to drop that armor, drop that shield, take off that mask and say, look, this is me naked. Not. Not literally, but metaphorically.

00:20:06
This is us, and this is what we look like. This is how we feel. This is us as a human being. So we've done episodes on expressing vulnerability. Will is a compassion ambassador from.

00:20:17
From Stanford. Uh, we've. We've both got, you know, certified in mindfulness to teach the breath work and the practices. But, you know, we talk about eating, right? Because if you eat a whole lot of crap, then you're going to feel like crap.

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Like, uh, we've had Doctor uma naidu. Come on. Who is a nutritional psychologist. She talks about how the food you eat literally affects your brain, and then that changes your mood. It changes the way that you respond versus reaction.

00:20:47
We've had experts come in and talk about the way that we breathe. We breathe. We should be breathing diaphragmatically and ideally through our nose more. And what that does. I know that sounds weird, but as you breathe through your nose more, you actually change your ph in your blood.

00:21:03
You change your heart rate variability. We've had all these guests on that talked about all these kind of quote unquote, weird aspects of mindfulness. But I tell you, when you start talking about everything that affects the mind, the body, the spirit, everything does affect the mind, body and spirit. So that's. Yeah, that's what we talk about on the show.

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And. And men need to know that. Men, I think, are all too often beating our chests and saying, hey, we've got this. We've got this. And that's one of the things that we also talk about on the show, is leaning on your brothers, like, having a support network, being able to ask for help.

00:21:40
Uh, and then, I mean, Will. Will did an episode and just recently did a little short snippet on Instagram about playfulness. And as a man, it's hard to be playful. I've got kids, and there's times I'm like, I will not play. I'm this retired Navy SEal commander.

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But then I'm like, you know what? It's fun to play. And not only is that fun to play, but it's good for me and it's good for us, and it's good for the relationship there. So we literally talk about just about anything on the show. The name is kind of a.

00:22:08
It's kind of a misnomer. It should just be men talking about everything. Yeah, well, I think, you know, one thing. You know, like, people. People ask, like, where do I start?

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Where do I start? And it's. It's like, what does it take to get the calm? Like, that's where it begins. That's where the.

00:22:24
That's the first. You want to, like, stand at the tunnel before you walk through the tunnel in order to put yourself in front of that tunnel. That. And that tunnel can be long and ugly, and it could be very challenging. But get to calm, you know, breathing.

00:22:37
Getting to calm the breathing. What about reducing inflammation, like, from the food that you're taking or things that you're doing? Or what about the lack of exercise that you're not doing? That's creating more of all sorts of systematic problems from head to toe, from body to mind, and it's just like, get to calm, and once you get to calm, you get to that clarity, and all of a sudden, you start to kind of release from that fog of distress, and you can see, like, oh, wait, this might be what I need to do next. This is what I need next.

00:23:09
But it's just getting to calm first, and that's just, like, it's the key that unlocks all of this opportunity to be more mindful and live a happier life. I'm glad you brought up food, because that is such a huge thing. And for anybody who, like, is it who drinks too much soda or energy drinks? Right. Things like that, if they would just stop taking them?

00:23:35
Yeah, it would be amazing just how it's no different than, you know, you go on vacation and you're drinking on vacation, and you come home and you're like, okay, I'm gonna detox. And then all of a sudden, you're like, wow. Like, amazing. Like, how much clarity you have. Right.

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And, you know, sugar will do that because it's very addictive. The sugar. Inflammatory. Yeah, anything that's. Yeah, inflammatory.

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Right, exactly. Exactly. And, you know, what does. What that does to our minds, but also, you know, what that does to our sleep. And, you know, sleep, we've had multiple sleep scientists.

00:24:13
Come on. And then we work with the sleep scientists, and we learn something new regularly about the value of sleep, but also what affects it. You know, caffeine, you know, after 10:00 a.m. if you're planning on having a good night's rest, having any caffeine after 10:00 a.m. it's going to affect your night.

00:24:32
It's going to affect your sleep. And you may not feel it, but you're not going to get into the deep stages of sleep that you need, the REM sleep that you need, and then that's going to carry forward into your next day, and you can start to feel anxious. You're going to start to feel tired. So what do you do? You drink more caffeine, and it's just this compounding effect.

00:24:49
But I've started to limit my caffeine to before 09:00 a.m. and that's, I tell you, that's changed my sleep big time. And then that changes how I react now. I respond. I mean, yes, I'm still a mindfulness practitioner, and that's been hugely helpful.

00:25:04
But I tell you, getting enough sleep, it's been a game changer. Total game. I mean, I'm. I call myself the sleep queen. Everything I do revolves around sleep.

00:25:15
And, you know, we were just on the call. What was I saying? No, I don't want to. I don't want to get off of a call at 10:00 at night because it messes with my sleep. Right, right.

00:25:24
We were just talking about that earlier today. Well, I think you had already left. And we were talking about. I was like, I do not want to do a 09:00 call at night because by 10:00 at night, because I'm on the east coast, it takes me at least 2 hours to get to, and that's too much. Right.

00:25:39
And I've heard these macho guys, oh, sleep is overrated. I'll sleep when I'm dead. I'll sleep when I'm dead. I'm like, really? Because you're giving yourself you're losing life.

00:25:51
You're losing testosterone. It's life expectancy, right? Yeah. Your longevity is affected. You're losing as a man.

00:26:00
I mean, both as men and women, you're losing testosterone, but that's something that men need a lot of, and so do women. Yeah. Yes, absolutely. And you're severing the tie between your amygdala and your prefrontal cortex, so you are literally more reactive. Right.

00:26:19
So, yeah, there's. I mean, we could do a whole episode on sleep, but I'll leave it right there. I mean, yeah, all that macho stuff. I mean, I think, you know, honestly, you know, when you're something about being a young man, and I guess having all this testosterone like it, you know, brings more resilience. We're good to do more thing.

00:26:36
We have more energy. But, I mean, never anybody that's listening. Do not stop sacrificing your sleep. It is the biggest asset you can do for your entire experience, for your body, for your mind, for your relationships, for what you're passionate about, for innovation, for your creativity. It is a pillar.

00:26:58
I mean, there's a reason, like, we get tired, like, you know, and we need to sleep seven to 8 hours every night and honor our biology. Honor our biology instead of trying to, you know, induce our biology by drinking caffeine to wake up and then having, like, alcohol at night to go to sleep. I mean, it's just. It's just not. And I'll tell you what, really, one thing that's really helped, I think it's really enhanced the show so much, is we use a whoop.

00:27:26
So we have, like, a tracker, right? We have something that tracks our vitals all the time. There it is. Right? And I get to see with this thing, this whoop.

00:27:34
I mean, there's other ones, oura rings and there's other ones out there, and we're not, you know, we're not getting paid yet from move, but. But I love their product. Not yet. We love their product because I get to see how I sleep, the quality of my sleep every night, and then I get to determine as I, you know, move through my day, it's like, what it enhanced my quality of sleep or what deteriorated my quality of sleep because, you know, and then we go deeper into the science of sleep. It's like what it does for the body, what it does for the mind, what it does for you when you wake up the next day.

00:28:04
I mean, it's so just even being mindful of that, if anybody's listening, just start taking care of your sleep or just trying to get a couple of better night sleep every night, you just watch the different and maybe cut out the sugar at the same time. And that's not helping your sleep either. But, yeah, there's so many little things you can do to just create more of that clarity. And what's amazing, Sandy, when you have that, when you begin to experience that clarity and begin to know that you have the ability to create that clarity in your life, you're going to want more of it, because there's something in that space of clarity which really gets us into something, the self, self energy, self leadership.

00:28:47
That's when really we become this incredible human being. What can't we do? Is my question now. Instead of being like, how do I get out? How do I, you know, get out of my own way, you know?

00:29:02
Yeah, I like to call it getting into your zone of genius. There you go. Exactly. And when you have that clarity and you can, you know, because we all have things that happen in life and anxiety is going to happen and, you know, my gosh, almost every day there's some sort of situation that comes across my plate where I have a choice. I can choose to, you know, stay in consciousness, or I have a choice to react in a way that's not productive for anyone, mostly for myself.

00:29:38
And when you can break it down, it's just simply, it comes down to that. We all have a choice, you know? And starting your day in mindfulness. Absolutely. Absolutely.

00:29:49
I mean, starting your day in mindfulness, I hear all the time that I don't have time to meditate or I don't have time to be mindful. And one of the first questions I ask is, how do you wake up? And people are like, well, what do you mean? I'm like, do you use your phone to wake up? Do you use your phone as your alarm clock?

00:30:06
Yes. Okay. Well, after hitting that alarm clock, stopping that alarm clock, maybe hitting snooze a few times, then what do you do? Well, I check my email, I check my social media, I check my text messages, I check my bank accounts, and then I get out of bed. Im like, okay, well, theres your time right there.

00:30:22
Thats right. Theres your time. Youve spent 15, 2030 minutes in bed putting yourself into a reactive state of mind before you even get out of the bed. And youve given up 30 minutes that you could have used to put yourself into a better state of mind, into a responsive state of mind, into a more calm state of mind. Yeah, we have time.

00:30:45
We just have to find it. And I don't say make it. I don't say make it. We don't have to make time. We just have to find it because it's there.

00:30:52
Yeah, just choose it. Choose it. Yeah. There you go. I like that.

00:30:56
And some people with meditation, and it's like, oh, I can't sit still, so I can't meditate. Well, that's where your meditation starts. Yeah, like, that's where calm begins. Is trying to get rid of the agitation. Just sitting still for a little bit of time.

00:31:09
Like, we're running this meditation course right now, and we have people that have been meditating for years in this course and people that have literally never done this work before. And it's like. And these are the things that are coming up. And it's fascinating because, I mean, I love these students regardless of where they are in their path with meditation. But to hear from the younger students being like, oh, my God, I'm so agitated.

00:31:32
My mind won't shut down. It's like, well, get the calm, and it's a tool. All these things, you know, meant my, so many of these things are just to get to that clarity, get to that calm, you know, and get to who you are. And it's a practice. Yeah, meditation.

00:31:50
Meditation is a practice. Everything's. I mean, that's why they say with lawyers, they're practicing law, doctors are practicing medicine. I practice happiness. Happiness is a practice.

00:32:01
Mindfulness is a practice. Right. And, like, getting into that routine, you know, like, I now have this routine where I'll get the coffee. I sit down on a recliner. I cover up with a blanket because I'm always cold.

00:32:14
And I will read my mantra and do deep breathing, and I'm like, okay. And then I put it down and then I'm like, okay. And then I'll have my coffee. And I usually turn on the tennis channel and I, you know, there's something. And.

00:32:27
And then I start my day. But it's so simple because I'm going to sit and drink my coffee anyway. Might as you know, you might as well let it sit. And we're talking two to three minutes of my morning. That's it.

00:32:39
Right. And, you know, you're talking about. Talking about that practice. Yeah, there's definitely practices there. But, like, even integrating these practices into things that we're doing already every day, maybe making your coffee, you ritualize that routine, right?

00:32:57
You. You grind the beans, maybe make it, you know, I know coffee is. Is something that's almost necessary for some of us and we go and we put that curry pot in and we, within like 3 seconds, we have a cup of coffee. Maybe make it intentionally longer. Make it where you are grinding the beans and you smell the beans grinding and you put them into the coffee.

00:33:19
And maybe it's a french press and there's, there's an effort there. Right. But you smell it, you pay attention to it, you ritualize it. If coffee isn't your thing, one of the things that I always like to tell people to do is turn brushing your teeth. We all hopefully brush.

00:33:33
Yeah. So, you know, turn that into the practice. Like, actually pay attention to the taste of the toothpaste, pay attention to the feelings of the bristles of the brush on your teeth, and, you know, turn that two, three minutes that you're brushing your teeth into a mindfulness exercise. You can find ways to be mindful through your day. And it doesn't necessarily have to be a meditation.

00:33:56
We encourage meditation, obviously, because as you meditate, you can be more mindful. And as you become more mindful, meditation becomes easier. But it's, it is not necessarily something that you have to add onto your already full schedule. Integrate it. Find ways to integrate it.

00:34:12
Love it. Yeah, love it. And I just want to throw out there for all the men because I know men, you know, are, you know, primarily, and I don't mean to stereotype anybody, but, you know, it's. Historically, the men are the breadwinners. It's kind of like that's part of their, their identity, you know, making the money and this and that.

00:34:32
So I just want to remind all of you men out there and women, because this goes both ways. Did you know that if you talk to any of the top successful people in the world, the billionaires, the multi, multi multi millionaires, anybody who's anybody that's out there that's making a shit ton of money, practice mindfulness and meditation. Yeah. Yeah. And it's how they get their life to that next level.

00:35:02
That's right. Just saying. You can either push it aside or you can, like, embrace it. It's not that complicated. It's so easy.

00:35:10
Yeah. You don't like, stumble yourself into success. No, I mean. I mean, there may be that one freaking person that does. Right.

00:35:17
I mean, or gets lucky or gets discovered, but that's not like, that's not even worth it. But, like, you need to know in order to really be successful in anything you want to do, you need to be very strategic. In order to be strategic, you need to, like, really take some time and really be with whatever the, you know, the innovation you're trying to do or the problem you're trying to solve. But in order to be that person, to solve that problem, you gotta be. You gotta be of your best self.

00:35:43
And how do you do that? You know, I mean, yes, you can go to school and get a wonderful education, but that's only like a third, a quarter of the tools that you need in order to be successful. Like, you know, we're human beings with a human experience, and life is going to be throwing you curveballs, like we said, over and over and over again. How do you deal with those things? How do you manage your emotions?

00:36:01
Because if you're letting your emotions, like rage or anger, frustration, overwhelm, we're on the show, you're not going to be able to take that next successful step. That's going to help move your business forward.

00:36:13
All those successful people, too. We talk about mindfulness, helping with stress. Mindfulness can not only get you to be successful, but it can also enable you to handle the success. Along with the success that we reach, we are probably going to have some stressors, additional stressors, more money, more problems. We've all heard that.

00:36:36
More money, more problems. Well, yeah, as you get more money, you're going to have more stress in a different way. But now, because you're successful and you used mindfulness to heal and excel, is what I always, today I teach mindfulness and meditation because it helped me to heal and excel. Well, now you're going to continue to heal and excel in your new success. Right?

00:37:00
You're living under the burden of blessings, but those blessings can be burdens. So that mindfulness and meditation can handle that or help you to handle it. Love it, love it, love it, love it. All right, we're running out of time here. I want to hear some golden nuggets from each of you.

00:37:18
For any of the listeners out there, what are some of the top practices to help people make that shift and integrate it into their day? I know you talked about the coffee, but what are some other ideas that you can give people? Because I think those are really practical things that people can do. Yeah, go for it. Well, okay.

00:37:40
Get in your body is like, because one thing that, you know, this technological infiltration attack on our society and our minds and our world and our relationships, like, it keeps us sitting. You know, we're sitting, we're hunching, right? But not only are we sitting and hunching, which has awful effects on our mind and our body and in so many different ways. But then also the technology interface, the blue light, but also what we're consuming, the content we're consuming, which usually just creates a lot more stress, a lot of anxiety, a lot of FOMo detach from your technology and go out in nature, go out for a walk, get the blood pumping a little bit more and watch. And that's just, that's just a great way to reset the body, you know, and just kind of let go of the stress of the day or maybe help you work through, you know, deeper levels of stress as you continue to work out.

00:38:40
But like, one thing I see a lot of people, I mean, look at what our society is almost 50% obese at this point. Like, that's a lot of lazy people out there, and I'm sorry to say it like that, but like, you know, how else you get fat like that? You know, I mean, it's just, it's just facts, you know, I mean, so get in your body and watch how that helps you. And if you just put it on your calendar, like, I'm going to walk like five days a week, x amount, number of miles every day, and everyone has the ability to walk. I mean, if you can't walk, then find another way to exercise, but get in your body and watch.

00:39:14
Even just making that commitment and make it a commitment. Make it like. Cause you're worth it. You gotta let yourself know that you're worth all this effort and then take, then start taking that literally, that first step to get more physical. Jon, what do you got?

00:39:32
Love it. Yeah. I would say making yourself a priority. I think a lot of people are guilty of taking care of their families first, taking care of their teams first, taking care of everybody before they take care of themselves. So I want to come back to your obese comment, will.

00:39:52
I think there are people who are obese, who are not lazy, but their priorities might not be where they want them to be. They are prioritizing their family, they're prioritizing their team, they're prioritizing everything over themselves, and they're not giving themselves the time to meditate, to take care of themselves. So coming back to practicality, like, practical things that you can do, there's ways that you can turn off the distractions on your phone, there's ways that you can turn set timers on specific apps. There's all these things that you can do so that you can be more present, because that's what mindfulness. Mindfulness is.

00:40:28
It's being present. As far as exercises, you can do something as simple as a box breath, which is breathing in for a kind of four, holding for account of four, breathing out for a kind of four, holding for a kind of four. And if you're listening to the podcast and not watching it, I just drew a box where each one of those is an edge of the box. And you do that four or five times, that can help to reset your nervous system. Will and I are both big fans of Wim Hof.

00:40:50
Wim Hof does what's called the fire, the breath of fire, which is a great practice. You can just look it up on YouTube, and it's also great to listen to his voice and his accent, but he runs you through this very intense breathing exercise. That's not an exercise to calm down. That's actually an exercise to put you into what's called eustress, so that you get used to handling stress on your body, so that it's not just a shock to your system when you get stress from wherever else it is. So, Wim Hof of the breath of fire, those are some good practical exercises that are out there.

00:41:26
Bottom line, you have to prioritize yourself, and then you have to be consistent, just like going to the gym. You don't miraculously turn into this bodybuilder by going to the gym one time. We don't turn into a super mindfulness meditation practitioner. Not that any of us are that, but you don't really start to feel the effects until you are consistent. Consistency is key.

00:41:49
Prioritization is key. Yeah. And just to add to that, you know, I've been. I've been doing this work for 34 years, and, you know, I. There's multiple times where I get to the point I'm like, am I done?

00:42:03
Am I done? Am I done? Can I just be done? Right? No, no.

00:42:08
Never arrive. I want to arrive. I want to. It's the journey, not the destination, right? It's like, always a journey.

00:42:17
It's a practice, not a performance. That's right. That's right. And totally. And.

00:42:23
And it's worth it. And at the. You know, we only have that one shot here, so. Yeah, everybody get out there. Look at your.

00:42:34
Look at the. Your podcast. Wherever you listen to your podcast, you got to check out men talking mindfulness. It's not just for men. It's for women who have men in their life, and most women have met in their life in some capacity.

00:42:46
All right, guys, thank you so much for joining me today. And, yeah, check them out, and their information will be in the show notes as well. So thank you so much everyone. Thank you Sandy. Thank you Sandy.

00:43:00
Thank you.

00:43:14
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