July 21, 2026

Digesting What We Carry: Healing Trauma Through Ancient Wisdom

Digesting What We Carry: Healing Trauma Through Ancient Wisdom
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Ben Oofana spent decades learning from Native American healers, Taoist masters, and Hindu-Vedic teachers, not as an academic pursuit, but as a survivor seeking his own healing. In this conversation, he shares how unprocessed emotion lives in the body, why patterns repeat, and how breath and movement can finally help us let go. Https://teachmetomeditate.com

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WEBVTT

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This program is designed to provide general information with regards

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to the subject matters covered. This information is given with

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the understanding that neither the hosts, guests, sponsors, or station

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are engaged in rendering any specific and personal medical, financial,

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legal counseling, professional service, or any advice. You should seek

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the services of competent professionals before applying or trying any

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suggested ideas.

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At the end of the day, it's not about what

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you have or even what you've accomplished. It's about what

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you've done with those accomplishments. It's about who you've lifted up,

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who you've made better. It's about what you've given back.

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Denzel Washington, Welcome to Inspire Vision. Our sole purpose is

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to elevate the lives of others and to inspire you

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to do the same.

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Ben, Welcome to the show, and I doctor Doc get

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to join you today. Hey, I'm excited, you know, as

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ev over the things that you've been doing and your background.

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It has just really hit me that, Wow, this is

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something that we really need to talk about. And there's

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always a slightly different perspective from different people about how

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to handle things and so forth, and it looks like

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You've got an extremely interesting perspective, particularly with the journey

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you have taken relative to studying all of this. So

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kind of introduce yourself to the audience who you are.

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Talk a little bit about that journey of going to

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different countries and studying and so forth.

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Initially, I was drawn to Native Americans from a very

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young age, like even age three or four, and the

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fascination continue to grow into adolescence. And when I was

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checking out host stacks of books from the university library

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on these Native tribes and then learning about the traditional

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Native American doctors and the fourteen and thinking, if I'm

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ever given the opportunity, this is what I will do

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with my life. Taking off at seventeen, landing among the

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Kiawu tribe in southwestern Oklahoma, sitting up all night in

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pyote meetings where I met my mentor. So I got

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to apprentice from one of their last surviving traditional doctors,

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who transmitted portions of his own healing gifts to me.

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In order to earn the right to work with these

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gifts of healing, you go through what's called the vision quest.

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It involves fasting alone in the mountains four days and

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nights without food and water. And then years later I

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spent seventeen years training with the master from China and

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Shini Kwan, Blaghwa, Zang, Tai Chi and Chikong, which are

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internal martial arts rooted in Taoism. And I've spent lots

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of time in India, Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka where I

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feel most at home, and other countries too, and I

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get bored if I just stay with one cultural group.

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I need that diversity well.

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And you know, it's so interesting because, as you say,

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there are so many diverse cultural groups that approach things

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in a slightly different way. And yet you know, for

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some people one seems to take effect better, for others.

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A different one.

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But you went in and you've studied all of these

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different historical ways in which to handle things. And so

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now the question, and I want you to tell your

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story because you had your own struggles growing up, and

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I know that a lot of times when we're seeking

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this type of information is because we're trying to deal

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with issues that we've actually experienced in ourselves. So I'd

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love for you to share your journey relative to that.

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Well, there's a lot of physical on emotional abuse, trauma,

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that I endured growing up, and I was very dissociated,

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disconnected from my body, and it began to like when

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I began to work with people on my own, that's

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when it really started to the drama started to play out.

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Is like that that.

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Transmission that I received from my mentor as I began

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working with people, as like pouring hydrogen moeroxide into an

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infected wound. And I found myself going through this psycle

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of reenactment, the early life drama playing out and my

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attempts to form intimate romantic relationships. Initially, I was at

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a complete loss, not knowing what to do, and so

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the first thing I did was reach out to a

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psychotherapist I knew from the community, and which is incredibly valuable.

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It's an important part of many of our healing journeys.

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It gave me the cognitive understanding of why I was

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in the shape. I was such a mess, but the

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patterns were persisting. I continue to attract the same type

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of individual. It was evoking many as the same my throat,

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many of the same distressing emotions. So I had to

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instinctively I taught myself to dive into the depths of

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what I was feeling all those at times excruciatingly painful emotions,

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and I would go so far into it, sometimes for

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hours on end. I would keep breathing in the depths

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of what I felt, and then at a certain part,

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I could feel it breaking open, coming out of my

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body and waves that pain, and that began to help

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me to let go of some of those really unhealthy attachments.

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Of course, there's limits to our body and mind's own

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innate healing intelligence, and being determined to do whatever took

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to heal, I started exploring. I was just completely open

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to any therapeutic interventions that helped promise. So I really

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tested out anything from beyond psychotherapy, working with homeopathic physicians

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and acupuncture, deep tissue massage, whatever I could find. The

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deep tissue bodywork helped to unearth more the emotion that

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was trapped in my body. When I got to work

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with a few gifted healers that helped to did more

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to dismantle a lot of these patterns that were so

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deeply entrench but practice, there's a very few people working

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on this level at this time in history. Used too,

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there were many among the Native Americans, but few people

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continue to follow these traditions, practices, and at thirty one,

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I was really feeling strongly that I needed to return

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to the Wichita Mountains. That a lot of these really

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gifted Native American traditional doctors, native healers. They developed the

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gifts they possessed that would enable them to help other

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people by going through the vision quest. And so when

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I went, I mean it was just I wasn't wealthy prepared.

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The first time I went back. You know, the weather

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is just so extreme in Oklahoma. It could be seventy

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degrees and I could flip over and drop fifty degrees,

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and so I'm like freezing on top of the mountain.

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But I made it through.

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But I could feel this presence working within my body,

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and it was parts of it are even like in

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your death experience. I would be reliving even trauma's going

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back to early childhood, someone which had completely forgotten about.

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And yet all the memory, all the emotion, all the

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vivid sensory impressions, everything's flooding back into my awareness. And

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I could feel myself like literally digesting it all and

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gradually as I kept going, which I've been going back

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like clockwork, spring and fall since nineteen ninety three, I

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could feel more that being digested to transform. It was

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building a stronger, healthier foundation. I was becoming more resilient.

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And so from that too, it enables me to assist

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other people with the wide range of whatever they're dealing with.

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Because he asked health issues on emotional go ahead.

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So let me ask you a question because you know

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and you're not getting into specific, so that's fine.

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But as you are as these traumas.

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Are coming up that have been sitting subconsciously for years,

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you know how much of that was and not getting

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into specific, how much of that was actual actual trauma

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that was obvious versus perception trauma. Where as a child,

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someone may say something with positive intent and because you're

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a child and other situations, maybe you interpreted it in

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a more traumatic way. So for you, what was it?

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Was it more actual trauma or was it more perception

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trauma or was it a combination of both.

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Well, when you have experiences like a stepfather coming around

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the south the house with the bo your knife and

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not knowing if that's the end of your life right there,

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that's okay, more than percession enough answered, enough answered? You know,

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when a parent saying to the minister in front of you.

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Sometimes I feel like taking out a gun and shooting him.

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That's pretty yeah, yeah, you know, And I think that's

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important for the audience to understand that we're talking about

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actual trauma here. And there's so many people who have

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experienced physical.

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Trauma, mental trauma, all.

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The other types of traumas that occur, particularly you know,

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for both men and women, that mainly for women. And

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I want the audience to understand that, you know, as

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we're talking here, there's that specific focus at this point

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in time is helping people who have really experienced that

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deep trauma. And why you know, you you commented on

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the fact that you kept repeating these decisions that you

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would make, repeating getting the same results all the time.

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Why have you.

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Found people keep repeating these patterns in their lives.

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What happens is we internalize these lift experiences, abandonment, rejection,

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harsh criticism, We internalize the physical, emotional, sexual abuse, all

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these things. And it may not be and often isn't

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exactly the same experience. But when we internalize a lot

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of these traumatic abuse of experiences, and we're holding that

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pain inside our bodies. And on one hand, from what

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I hear the subconscious mind. There's this repetition compulsion that

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we tend to attract the same kinds of individuals and

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experiences as if part of our psyche is trying to

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find a resolution. There's also there's a way in which

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we magnetize certain people in situations and we just gravitate.

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I feel sometimes from people occasionally just what they're holding

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in their bodies. Because I've done so much intensive practice,

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the system of meditation practices I've developed the chigong, going

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through the vision quest, I've become more and more empathic,

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and I feel into people's bodies what they're holding mentally, emotionally,

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the traumatic lift experiences they've endured in their lives. And

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sometimes I can feel where someone's putting out a certain

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lack of a better term, vibe or signal, and I

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see how it precipitates the certain behaviors out of another person,

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like certain abusive or disrespectful or hurtful kinds of behaviors,

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and I would feel that coming out, and sometimes there

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might even be a sort of provoking sort of behavior

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on the part of that individual. And yet I'm just

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like setting back, like, no, I don't want to feed

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into that I want to encourage the person, this individual

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to become more aware, become more conscious when I can

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work with people individually who carry this trauma, this emotional wounding,

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and the work helps them to digest what they're carrying

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that's neutralized. They're digesting the lived experiences and the emotions,

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and they come out the other side. They're lighter, and

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I'll see their experience change in terms of they're letting

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go of really toxic, unhealthy individuals and attachments, relationships, and

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the quality of the relationships improves, and they either again

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let go of that unhealthy person relationship or that relationship evolves,

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or they find themselves forming bonds with individuals who are

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truly capable of reciprocal love.

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Well, and you know, you had some fascinating experiences obviously

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going in, you know, with the Native America and then

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going over to China and all the different aspects there.

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But how do.

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People, I guess for some who have really suffered this

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abuse or have suffered incredible grief in their lives, how

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do they, number one, become aware of the fact that, hey,

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you know what, this is something that I don't have

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to be the victim of. I can actually do something

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about this. How do people get to the point where

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they're able to recognize that, you know what, this isn't

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what I need to accept in my life?

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Number one? But then number two.

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Beyond that, how do I start actually working through this?

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Because they can't all go to China, they can't all

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do the things that you were able to do. And

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many times you know their mothers and that have children, responsibilities,

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their husbands that have to work and support the family,

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whatever that happens to be.

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So how do you help one well?

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And I guess, first how to observe that someone who

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is experiencing everything they don't want to experience, or even

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partially to become aware that, you know what, this is

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something that's internal, that is not permanent, and this is

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something that I can actually take control of.

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There's a vast difference in the level of awareness in

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certain individuals. I find. We can all see it. There

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are individuals who were so well. One graphic example there

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is that I don't guess I could get sued for this.

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I don't know if they're even still open. But Turquoise Bar,

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which was between ship Rock and Farmington, New Mexico, and

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oh guy, it was horrendous the You know, sometimes you

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would have some of those folks there drinking so much

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so inebriated and wander out to the middle of the

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road and get plowed down by a car. And you know,

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some of those bars are like real knife and clubs,

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and so that's the example of this extreme dysfunction. You

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see people who are caught up in gangs and others

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who are in just extraordinarily abusive relationships of one form

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or another, and they just feel trapped and they're experiencing

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enormous pain and suffering in the circumstances the situations they're in,

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yet they're I don't think everyone does have that awareness.

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Some do awarenesses. You know, for many of us, that's

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the first first step. And when we gained that awareness,

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I mean for me, it was I was suffering so badly,

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so it was like, okay, what does it take to heal?

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At first, I was flailing blindly. I did not know

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what to do. Like I said, I reached out to

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a psychotherapist, but I was at a complete loss, and

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as I met the psychotherapy took me so far, but

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there was I was coming against the limitations. So then

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I again intuitively developing these practices.

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While that took me so.

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Far, I need it more so then I began exploring

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these interventions. So it really takes a willingness determination, the

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mindset of like, okay, what does it take for you?

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First the awareness, but then what is it going to

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take for me to heal? And a willingness to explore

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to make use one to do the practice in two

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make use of the most effective therapeutic interventions. One thing

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that concerns me tremendously is in our culture at this

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time in history, we are more distracted than ever before,

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and we spent so much time on their devices and

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we're scrolling and it's literally rewiring our brains, changing the

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biochemical balance of our brains, so we tend to skit

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her along the surface of reality. So it's become much

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harder for people to have that sustained focus and commitment

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because we've been developing this digital media attention deficit. So

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there needs to be this commitment and consistency when it

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comes to healing because these wounds that we carry, they

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run so extraordinarily deep. I mean, some people have it

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a bit easier than others. We're all want to continue

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them somewhere, but especially those of us where we carry

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a lot of this profound emotional wounding or trauma. It's

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going to take extraordinary amounts of effort, not all at once,

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it's this is an ongoing process. And the fact that

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I train with the Master from China, the Native American doctor,

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and also have had connections with people in the do

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Vehic lineage lineages who have also years of extraordinary discipline.

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We need to be doing daily practice now, such as

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there's not all forms of meditation, but there are very

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specific forms of meditation practice that such as though as

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I teach, which enable you to work effectively with your emotions,

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because there's the historical emotional wounding trauma, but there's also

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daily life, you know, there's all the things we deal

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with in our relationships and financial insecurity and job related

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stress and just children and so on, and so we

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need to be digesting our lived experiences. So we need

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practice for that. And then we need therapeutic intervention too,

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as I described earlier, whether it's you know, psychotherapy for

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many as an important component deep tiss your body work

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and working with gifted healers. I don't think very few

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people are going to go on the vision quest, but

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you do have a lot to choose from acupuncture. You know,

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all these things are essential elements and helping you become

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more embodied and to heal and transform well.

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And I think you did on an important point that

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you know, there are so many methodologies out there to

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be able to help to overcome some of these experiences

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and the trauma in our lives or the grief in

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our lives, whatever that happens to be. You know, you

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were fortunate to go out and really study a lot

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of those different things. And it's similar. I've not had

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the opportunity to do what you've done, but as I've

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studied with different people, particularly with meditation, which part of

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what you're talking about, what I find is, you know,

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I'll do this, I'll do that, and over a period

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of time, I find out what works for me, and

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it may be a combination of different things, your experience

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with the Native Americans, with China, with India, and all

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of a sudden you've got all of these multiplicities of

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mythology or you know, methodology of doing meditations and so forth,

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and now you have created something obviously that works for

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you and you're discovering that it works with people that

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you work with. So there's that attraction to you because

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you happen to have that ability for them. What tell

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me a little bit about your meditation technique, And again,

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before we get to that, the one comment I want

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to make, and I think you've hit on an important point,

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is that this is something that we need to take

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responsibility for. This is something that we need to take

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control of. And I remember a theological talk that I

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heard a number of months ago, and they were talking

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about new beginnings, and the point was we always can

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begin again. You know, we may we may focus and

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go in a certain direction, then we make some mistakes

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or we kind of revert back, and sometimes for people

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that become so discouraging, they stop versus recognizing that, you

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know what, we can begin again. We can begin again

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because each time we begin, oftentimes we're taking one more

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step up the ladder. So the next time we begin,

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we're a little higher level than we were before. So

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talk a little bit about your meditation and why you

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feel that that helps people that you work with really

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get through some of this trauma and grief.

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Our lift experiences and our emotional responses to them need

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to be digested, assimilated like the digest assimilate the food

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you eat. And the concern here is that the vast

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majority of people have never learned to work effectively with

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their own emotions. A lot of people go through life varying, suppressing, denying, distracting,

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medicating with alcohol and other recreational drugs could be refined,

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sugar could be to bay, and even now some people

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psychotropic meds may be the best known solution for some individuals.

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But also feel that there's a certain percentage of people

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that just because they've never learned to work effectively with

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their emotions, they're overwhelmed with anxiety or they're feeling we'refoundly depressed.

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And yet the more we learn to work effectively with

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our emotions, they become more manageable. We are able to

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again digest or lived experiences or emotional responses, We're able

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to work through resolve issues, and it lightens the load,

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makes us more resilient. So the basic practice, and there

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are many versions, but the most basic acknowledge what's going on?

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What are you dealing with in your life? You are

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there challenges in your relationship or you're wanting to be

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in relationship, you're going only or you're insecure because you're

355
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getting bigive mixed signals. Are is their job related stress?

356
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If you're anxious about your financial status, how you're going

357
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to come up with the funds to meet rent and

358
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all the other basic expenses. If there are health concerns

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that are affecting you, it's whatever the issue. One, Acknowledge

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what's happening. You know what is actually going on. Two

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what are you feeling in response to it? Recording from

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middlew New York City, and you could hardly record without

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having the ambulance goodbye, so you may hear that in

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the background. But again, acknowledge what's happening to What do

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you feel in response to it? Because it sadness, grief, uncertainty, disappointment, anger, resentment,

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It could be a whole range of feelings. And I

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will say that you don't necessarily have to It doesn't

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always have to be unpleasant feelings. There are a lot

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of times we have experiences that evoke feelings of happiness, joy, love, appreciation.

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You can work with these feelings too. The challenge is

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for many people it's those unpleasant feelings that get are painful,

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traumatic kinds of emotional responses that get stuck in our bodies.

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So acknowledge what's happening.

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What do you feel?

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Where are the feelings situated in your body? Are they

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in your throat, down in your abdomen? Are they bury

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deep within your chest? Bring as much awareness as you

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can to where these feelings are situated. Feelings are bodily sensations,

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feel as if you're going into the depths, deep into

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the middle of what you're feeling. Allow the feelings to

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be what they are. You're not trying to send them away,

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You're not sending light to them or anything. You just

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let them be what they are, and then breathe very softly,

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very deeply, with your eyes closed, at least initially, follow

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the feelings as they go through their progression. You want

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to breathe all the way down to your abdomen, expand

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your abdomen, then your ripcage. Do you take that full

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deep breath, pause briefly, and then exhale very slowly all

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the way out, Pause again, and complete the cycle. When

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you're sitting practicing, for the most part, I keep my

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eyes closed. I encourage you to do so. Yet the

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more you work with this practice, you could bring it

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into your daily life. You can do it while you're

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cleaning the house or doing other things. Chores are things

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that need to be done even while you're driving. Just

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make sure you keep your eyes on the road. You're

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well aware.

398
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We don't want to close your eyes there, do.

399
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We definitely, so only do it driving. If you could

400
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be deeply focused on other cars in the road in

401
00:25:59.200 --> 00:26:02.319
front of you and what's going on around you and everything.

402
00:26:03.200 --> 00:26:05.519
You do it while you're walking. You could do it

403
00:26:05.759 --> 00:26:09.039
in the midst of a conversation. It will slow your

404
00:26:09.079 --> 00:26:12.880
speech down some you know, you won't talk quite as fast,

405
00:26:12.920 --> 00:26:16.640
you'll go a little slower. But but I have found

406
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numerous occasions where things had gotten a bit tense, you know,

407
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where people were pretty reactive, and I would drop into

408
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my body what I was feeling. I would be breathing

409
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like this, and it would actually diffuse the situation. It

410
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would turn down the intensity on the other person. Now,

411
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because like you strike one tuning fork and that next

412
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tuning fork starts vibrating. So it's that phenomena of sympathetic resonance.

413
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And the stronger you get in your own practice, the

414
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greater presence you develop, the more impact you have on

415
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other people.

416
00:26:49.279 --> 00:26:52.359
Well, and so you know, you talk about breathing, and

417
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you know, I get into this a lot because there

418
00:26:55.839 --> 00:27:01.680
are so many different philosophies about meditation and breathing. And

419
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by the way I walk meditation, I love it. I

420
00:27:04.680 --> 00:27:07.559
you know, I will do it over an hour at

421
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least three times a week where I'm walking meditation.

422
00:27:10.720 --> 00:27:14.519
But I already describe that on another podcast. I could

423
00:27:14.519 --> 00:27:15.920
add a little more to it, but go ahead.

424
00:27:16.160 --> 00:27:20.119
Yeah, But as I'm having.

425
00:27:19.839 --> 00:27:23.480
The opportunity to interview people such as yourself who've got

426
00:27:23.519 --> 00:27:27.759
such great experience with meditation and breathing, there are so

427
00:27:27.839 --> 00:27:32.960
many different schools of thought about how to breathe and

428
00:27:33.000 --> 00:27:36.920
so forth. For instance, you know with Joe Despenza, you

429
00:27:36.960 --> 00:27:40.440
know you're breathing through your nose for him, which is

430
00:27:40.480 --> 00:27:43.920
interesting because I love what you talk about as far

431
00:27:43.960 --> 00:27:47.799
as breathing into the abdomen and really getting that. My

432
00:27:48.440 --> 00:27:53.160
dad was a classible voice teacher North Russian University, and

433
00:27:53.880 --> 00:27:57.839
I remember him always teaching his students how to breathe

434
00:27:58.000 --> 00:28:01.440
deeply because that's what gave them the power to sing

435
00:28:01.599 --> 00:28:05.400
classically the way that they wanted to do so. And

436
00:28:05.480 --> 00:28:09.559
as you talk about that, breathing in and so forth.

437
00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:12.960
You're breathing through your nose, are you breathing out through

438
00:28:12.960 --> 00:28:14.839
your nose or are you breathing out through your mouth?

439
00:28:15.279 --> 00:28:19.880
And there's some interesting scientific aspects to that. So what

440
00:28:20.119 --> 00:28:22.480
is your specific or do you find that you help

441
00:28:22.480 --> 00:28:24.920
people do it in different ways based on who they

442
00:28:24.920 --> 00:28:26.279
are and what they're experiencing.

443
00:28:26.720 --> 00:28:29.240
I'm primarily breathing through my nose in and out, but

444
00:28:29.319 --> 00:28:32.759
there's on occasion I find myself exhaling through my mouth.

445
00:28:32.920 --> 00:28:36.680
I know, there's a lot of variation, and there's you know,

446
00:28:36.720 --> 00:28:42.599
within the Daoist and hindu Vedic traditions, there are innumerable practices, thousands,

447
00:28:43.160 --> 00:28:44.920
and there's a lot.

448
00:28:44.799 --> 00:28:46.720
That I don't know that I'm not aware of.

449
00:28:46.880 --> 00:28:50.119
You know, there's practices where you make your tongue like

450
00:28:50.160 --> 00:28:55.440
a trough when you exhale and o. There's over time,

451
00:28:55.640 --> 00:28:58.039
I'd like to explore a lot more of this. But

452
00:28:59.200 --> 00:29:03.119
and when you do cheekong practice, you're also there's visualizations

453
00:29:03.160 --> 00:29:06.000
that go with it as well. So there's a lot

454
00:29:06.000 --> 00:29:08.920
of it I do know. But one of my favorite quotes,

455
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the more I learned, the more I realize I have

456
00:29:11.240 --> 00:29:14.680
yet to learn. I would lo to mention, since you

457
00:29:14.799 --> 00:29:19.359
brought up walking meditation, and this is so important because

458
00:29:19.480 --> 00:29:25.000
a lot of people who do carry trauma are people

459
00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:29.880
who are under overwhelming stress. What I found is this

460
00:29:29.920 --> 00:29:33.079
is in my late twenties, and at first I was

461
00:29:33.160 --> 00:29:36.079
either sitting and there are times where the pain was

462
00:29:36.119 --> 00:29:39.039
so overwhelming I was curled up on my side. But

463
00:29:39.160 --> 00:29:42.599
one night I just couldn't stand it anymore, and I

464
00:29:42.640 --> 00:29:45.680
took off walking through the neighborhood lived in Kansas City

465
00:29:45.720 --> 00:29:51.799
at the time, and the neighborhood adjoining neighborhoods went on

466
00:29:51.880 --> 00:29:55.680
for miles. And so what I found is that when

467
00:29:55.680 --> 00:29:59.160
I went out walking, I could drop into the depths

468
00:29:59.160 --> 00:30:02.559
of what I felt and breathe, and like a lot

469
00:30:02.599 --> 00:30:06.000
of the emotions that we carry remain pent up in

470
00:30:06.039 --> 00:30:10.400
our bodies, and because they're so uncomfortable, we contract a bit.

471
00:30:10.440 --> 00:30:13.480
But walking I found out a lot that emotion began

472
00:30:13.599 --> 00:30:16.720
to extend outwards, Like we all have an electromagnetic field

473
00:30:16.799 --> 00:30:21.319
around the body, and so that emotion that stress everything

474
00:30:21.759 --> 00:30:26.839
I could feel extending outward, filling that field around my body,

475
00:30:26.880 --> 00:30:30.319
and not only that circulating and then the Earth has

476
00:30:30.400 --> 00:30:34.799
its own electromagnetic field, which is very healing grounding balancing.

477
00:30:35.319 --> 00:30:38.960
I could feel the Earth's electromagnetic field interacting with my

478
00:30:39.079 --> 00:30:43.240
own working to cleanse or purify what I was carrying,

479
00:30:44.119 --> 00:30:48.240
and so in the most difficult periods of time. And

480
00:30:48.319 --> 00:30:52.160
this is why I recommend for people who are dealing

481
00:30:52.200 --> 00:30:56.039
with like profound grief, that are just an extraordinary amounts

482
00:30:56.079 --> 00:31:00.440
of pain, you know, just encounter horrendous adversity or traumas surfacing.

483
00:31:01.000 --> 00:31:04.079
I relied on the walking meditation for a couple of years.

484
00:31:04.119 --> 00:31:08.000
That's what helped me to maintain sanity. And the good

485
00:31:08.039 --> 00:31:12.119
thing about that is with that movement, the bilateral motion,

486
00:31:12.680 --> 00:31:16.400
it engages both hemispheres of the brain and that's helping

487
00:31:16.440 --> 00:31:19.799
you to process the Earth is helping you being out

488
00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:22.960
outside of your apartment. If we're just stuck inside your

489
00:31:22.960 --> 00:31:25.880
house or apartment, things don't tend to move that well.

490
00:31:26.279 --> 00:31:29.799
But you get out like that, walking that gradual pace,

491
00:31:30.799 --> 00:31:36.680
it just makes the process softer, easier, more bearable. It's

492
00:31:36.680 --> 00:31:40.319
a lot easier on your body because those emotions, the

493
00:31:40.400 --> 00:31:43.400
stress is that a lot of us carry can be

494
00:31:43.480 --> 00:31:47.160
hard on the body. So this won't mitigate much of

495
00:31:47.160 --> 00:31:50.359
that intensity. Well, and I think you've hit on really

496
00:31:50.359 --> 00:31:54.359
an important point. You know, walking, the movement of the body,

497
00:31:54.400 --> 00:31:56.759
you as you say, the bilateral movement of the body.

498
00:31:57.240 --> 00:32:01.160
And I'm not in any way an expert on any

499
00:32:01.200 --> 00:32:03.680
of this, but you know, when you look at tai chi,

500
00:32:03.720 --> 00:32:06.559
when you look at chigong, a lot of that is

501
00:32:06.640 --> 00:32:10.960
combining that mindset and focus.

502
00:32:10.920 --> 00:32:16.000
Mentally and bodily movement. And it's amazing to me, as

503
00:32:16.039 --> 00:32:19.480
I've talked to different people about this, how that bodily

504
00:32:19.519 --> 00:32:24.759
movement helps so much in that meditative state because for

505
00:32:24.799 --> 00:32:27.839
some reason that helps to release some of these emotions

506
00:32:27.960 --> 00:32:29.039
and so forth.

507
00:32:29.440 --> 00:32:32.519
For me, you know, and I think a lot of people, you.

508
00:32:32.480 --> 00:32:35.359
Know, when you talk about walking, and for me, you know,

509
00:32:35.400 --> 00:32:37.720
if I went out and I started walking, and I'd

510
00:32:37.880 --> 00:32:39.920
look at this, I'd look at that and so forth.

511
00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:42.799
So I found that I needed to put on headphones

512
00:32:43.279 --> 00:32:47.960
and start listening to different types of music and so forth.

513
00:32:48.759 --> 00:32:53.880
And I've tried all the different types, you know, the minineural, sofiggio,

514
00:32:54.039 --> 00:32:57.359
all those different frequencies and so forth. Well, for me,

515
00:32:57.559 --> 00:33:01.920
finally I found the most effect. It was the singing bolts,

516
00:33:02.400 --> 00:33:04.720
and so I'd go on the YouTube and download, you know,

517
00:33:04.759 --> 00:33:08.279
an hour worth of singing bowls, and for me, that

518
00:33:08.400 --> 00:33:14.400
allowed me to focus on something internally and as I'm walking,

519
00:33:14.720 --> 00:33:18.599
and for me obviously where I'm at, I found that

520
00:33:18.759 --> 00:33:23.920
being able to walk through fields and walk near ponds

521
00:33:23.920 --> 00:33:27.400
of water and be able to experience all of that

522
00:33:27.920 --> 00:33:33.359
has made such a difference in my meditative capabilities and

523
00:33:33.920 --> 00:33:38.000
a purpose for my meditation, which is, you know, in

524
00:33:38.039 --> 00:33:43.079
some degree, really seeking to understand life more and theologically.

525
00:33:43.720 --> 00:33:47.000
But I think it's important for people to understand, Yeah,

526
00:33:47.079 --> 00:33:50.240
you can sit, and I can't sit. It kills my

527
00:33:50.359 --> 00:33:53.440
back when I sit for too long. But you know,

528
00:33:53.599 --> 00:33:56.319
as you walk, as you go through some of this

529
00:33:56.559 --> 00:34:00.119
physical motion as well as mental that as you you

530
00:34:00.119 --> 00:34:05.200
can learn how to focus on just your breathing and

531
00:34:05.240 --> 00:34:09.599
so forth, it seems to make such a difference overall

532
00:34:09.760 --> 00:34:11.280
in the outcome.

533
00:34:11.719 --> 00:34:15.039
Now I feel like I have so many things that

534
00:34:15.199 --> 00:34:18.000
I'm so many balls I'm keeping in the air. And

535
00:34:18.599 --> 00:34:21.280
I was in spending a lot of time in Sri

536
00:34:21.440 --> 00:34:24.800
Lanka during the midst of its war that lasted nearly

537
00:34:24.920 --> 00:34:29.639
thirty years, and it really affected me to be there.

538
00:34:30.159 --> 00:34:32.960
And I've spent a lot of time staying in the

539
00:34:32.960 --> 00:34:35.400
former war zone. A number of my friends are former

540
00:34:35.519 --> 00:34:41.760
rebel combatants, former Tamil Tigers, LPTE and getting to know them.

541
00:34:41.800 --> 00:34:44.559
It's like and they'll tell you we didn't ever want

542
00:34:44.559 --> 00:34:48.440
to fight, you know, it's we're fighting for survival. And

543
00:34:48.480 --> 00:34:52.400
then with the war in Ukraine, I started following what

544
00:34:52.480 --> 00:34:56.679
was happening when Russian forces were lining up outside the

545
00:34:57.039 --> 00:35:00.960
Ukrainian border. And I've looked at it every day, nearly

546
00:35:01.000 --> 00:35:07.559
every day, let's say. And during the early you know,

547
00:35:07.599 --> 00:35:12.039
the first year, I was listening to biographies of like

548
00:35:12.400 --> 00:35:16.159
of Joseph Stalin, of listening to a book on the

549
00:35:16.159 --> 00:35:20.079
Guloc system. Annie Applebaum, who wrote the book on the

550
00:35:20.119 --> 00:35:23.920
Guloc System and the Holo de Moor where Stalin's starved

551
00:35:23.920 --> 00:35:26.800
about three million Ukrainians to death, is one of my

552
00:35:26.840 --> 00:35:30.440
favorite authors. And then she's amazing and I got to

553
00:35:30.440 --> 00:35:34.519
meet her in person. And so I'd be at times

554
00:35:34.639 --> 00:35:38.760
listening to audio books and just because there's so much

555
00:35:38.760 --> 00:35:41.159
I want to learn and understand and make sense of

556
00:35:41.239 --> 00:35:45.559
things all that. But I found that if I listen

557
00:35:45.639 --> 00:35:47.880
to audiobooks, I'll be more in my head in a

558
00:35:47.920 --> 00:35:51.199
way and just absorbing information. But when I go do

559
00:35:51.320 --> 00:35:54.639
walking meditation as much as possible, and this is what

560
00:35:54.679 --> 00:35:58.960
I have people do. When I'm actually teaching them, I

561
00:35:59.000 --> 00:36:02.199
get them to initially close their eyes and drop in.

562
00:36:02.519 --> 00:36:07.239
It's like, Okay, what challenges are you facing and what

563
00:36:08.079 --> 00:36:12.920
are you feeling emotionally? Are what are the physical sensations

564
00:36:13.159 --> 00:36:18.119
within your body? And so many of us are. Maybe

565
00:36:18.159 --> 00:36:21.840
we don't meet the clinical classifications of someone with a

566
00:36:21.920 --> 00:36:26.039
dissociative disorder, but from at least from my standpoint, we

567
00:36:26.159 --> 00:36:32.039
all experience varying degrees of disconnect or dissociation. And what

568
00:36:32.079 --> 00:36:34.880
I find is by the more you can bring your

569
00:36:34.880 --> 00:36:40.239
awareness into either the emotions feelings that are arising in

570
00:36:40.360 --> 00:36:44.320
the physical sensations, and you could bring as much awareness

571
00:36:44.320 --> 00:36:47.480
as you can to what you're feeling, and that helps

572
00:36:47.480 --> 00:36:51.039
to bridge that gap between the mind and the body

573
00:36:51.239 --> 00:36:56.159
so that you become more embodied, more present. And there's

574
00:36:56.239 --> 00:37:00.440
so much emphasis in the traditions that I've trained, and

575
00:37:00.519 --> 00:37:03.880
where you're bringing soul or spirit down into the body,

576
00:37:04.000 --> 00:37:07.719
you know its embodiment, and you know even within the

577
00:37:07.800 --> 00:37:12.400
Daoist traditions, like you see the yin young symbol. I'm

578
00:37:12.440 --> 00:37:15.039
not sure how to describe it, but I think you

579
00:37:15.079 --> 00:37:17.280
can look it up on the internet if you don't

580
00:37:17.360 --> 00:37:20.360
know what it is, just look at young symbol but

581
00:37:20.599 --> 00:37:26.079
part of it symbolizes the body itself, and the other

582
00:37:26.239 --> 00:37:28.840
is like the soul or the spirit. And there's a

583
00:37:28.880 --> 00:37:32.039
way in which they they nourish, they feed each other.

584
00:37:32.119 --> 00:37:37.679
And so you're building, you're continually building, cultivating this greater presence,

585
00:37:37.719 --> 00:37:43.360
greater capability, and in these traditions, these individuals who have

586
00:37:43.400 --> 00:37:46.920
attained mastery. You know, I've trained from those who have

587
00:37:46.960 --> 00:37:50.880
attained mastery, and long when you're just going back hundreds,

588
00:37:50.880 --> 00:37:54.960
if not thousands of years, and as I said, it

589
00:37:54.960 --> 00:37:58.480
will do hours of intensive daily practice. You're continually building.

590
00:37:59.000 --> 00:38:01.440
And I know some people say, well that's time for that,

591
00:38:01.519 --> 00:38:04.199
but thinking the amount of time we spend scrawling on

592
00:38:04.239 --> 00:38:07.280
our devices, and how much time we spend staring at

593
00:38:07.280 --> 00:38:12.400
the TV screen. So if you can become more you know,

594
00:38:12.480 --> 00:38:17.159
if you can develop your more and more of your potential,

595
00:38:17.400 --> 00:38:21.280
you realize your potential, develop greater and greater capacity, and

596
00:38:22.440 --> 00:38:26.599
you work through the emotional wounding that you carry so

597
00:38:26.639 --> 00:38:29.320
that you have greater and greater resilience. I mean to me,

598
00:38:29.480 --> 00:38:33.880
that's you're living more fully. That's the purpose to me.

599
00:38:34.239 --> 00:38:37.199
And I think you've hit the key is that we

600
00:38:37.320 --> 00:38:40.920
have so many distractions in our lives, and hey, I'm

601
00:38:40.920 --> 00:38:43.920
going to I'd love to, you know, get I come

602
00:38:43.960 --> 00:38:46.039
to work and do a lot of stuff on my computer,

603
00:38:46.159 --> 00:38:48.000
and then to relax.

604
00:38:47.800 --> 00:38:49.199
I'll go and watch some TV for a while.

605
00:38:49.199 --> 00:38:52.000
I'll come back and work, and obviously in the morning

606
00:38:52.000 --> 00:38:54.760
I'll get up and do my walking, meditation and so forth.

607
00:38:54.840 --> 00:38:59.159
But there's so many distractions in our lives and for

608
00:38:59.280 --> 00:39:01.719
people to understand that, and I think you've hit on

609
00:39:01.800 --> 00:39:05.880
such a good point watching TV, scrolling through social media.

610
00:39:06.480 --> 00:39:10.360
You know, if you were to just change twenty minutes,

611
00:39:10.440 --> 00:39:16.119
thirty minutes, forty minutes and focus on yourself in your emotions,

612
00:39:16.480 --> 00:39:18.079
and I think you've hit them the key point.

613
00:39:18.119 --> 00:39:19.800
And we're going to get close to be in here.

614
00:39:19.840 --> 00:39:22.159
But one of the points that I think you made

615
00:39:22.199 --> 00:39:25.199
that is so important for people to understand is is

616
00:39:25.280 --> 00:39:29.599
those emotions come up, you don't fight them, You allow

617
00:39:29.679 --> 00:39:33.239
them to be there. Because as you allow them to

618
00:39:33.280 --> 00:39:38.599
be there, ultimately the force of those emotions starts to diminish.

619
00:39:39.119 --> 00:39:43.039
So anyway, as we're coming to a close, what would

620
00:39:43.119 --> 00:39:46.960
be kind of a final message that you'd like to

621
00:39:47.000 --> 00:39:49.920
share with the audience that hopefully would make a difference

622
00:39:49.960 --> 00:39:50.440
for them.

623
00:39:50.840 --> 00:39:53.719
I think that one of the most important things is

624
00:39:53.840 --> 00:40:00.719
taking the mindset of whatever challenges adversity that you're dealing

625
00:40:00.719 --> 00:40:04.360
with in your life as much as possible. Embrace that

626
00:40:04.400 --> 00:40:07.920
you may not like it, which is understandable. But if

627
00:40:07.960 --> 00:40:10.719
you can take the mindset of this is my karma,

628
00:40:11.199 --> 00:40:14.639
and not karma in the sense of like punishment for

629
00:40:14.880 --> 00:40:17.599
something you did way back there, but karma in the

630
00:40:17.679 --> 00:40:21.079
sense of, this is my lesson to learn. And so

631
00:40:21.599 --> 00:40:25.199
how can I take this what I'm experiencing, what I'm

632
00:40:25.239 --> 00:40:27.559
dealing with or going through. How can I take this

633
00:40:27.679 --> 00:40:31.119
and use this to heal, to grow, to transform myself

634
00:40:31.480 --> 00:40:35.880
and to become more capable and more on the Hinduvedic

635
00:40:35.960 --> 00:40:38.559
tradition to use that term self realization, you know, so

636
00:40:38.840 --> 00:40:41.559
to become more realized to more embodied.

637
00:40:42.000 --> 00:40:45.280
Oh yeah, and that's such an important point. Thanks.

638
00:40:45.360 --> 00:40:48.679
So Ben, how do people find you, particularly those that

639
00:40:48.800 --> 00:40:52.760
maybe want to work with you and get some better experiences.

640
00:40:53.199 --> 00:40:58.000
My main website is Benufana dot com. I'll send that

641
00:40:58.079 --> 00:41:00.400
over in the show notes for the show notes, and

642
00:41:01.239 --> 00:41:05.000
there's a contact form so you can message me on

643
00:41:05.039 --> 00:41:06.000
the contact form.

644
00:41:06.079 --> 00:41:07.039
That's the best way.

645
00:41:07.159 --> 00:41:10.000
I mean, there is a Google Voice number three three

646
00:41:10.119 --> 00:41:12.960
two three three three five one five five. You can

647
00:41:13.159 --> 00:41:15.199
leave a message. If you don't hear from me, just

648
00:41:15.280 --> 00:41:19.960
assume I didn't get the message, email, call whatever again. Also,

649
00:41:20.079 --> 00:41:23.800
there's teach Me to Meditate dot com. I've developed a

650
00:41:23.880 --> 00:41:28.559
broad or very extensive series of meditation practices. It's all

651
00:41:28.599 --> 00:41:32.199
about getting more in your body and really digesting all

652
00:41:32.239 --> 00:41:36.800
your lift experiences and emotions. And for people who are

653
00:41:36.840 --> 00:41:41.039
in the midst of a breakup, divorce, ghosting, there's breakup

654
00:41:41.079 --> 00:41:44.719
first aid. It's getting you through the initial devastation, getting

655
00:41:44.800 --> 00:41:47.039
you back on your feet. And there's more of a

656
00:41:47.079 --> 00:41:50.840
deep dive, which is heal my Heartache. So those struggling

657
00:41:50.880 --> 00:41:56.840
with attachment and abandonment wounds, really understanding the wounding, the

658
00:41:56.920 --> 00:41:59.400
steps that you need to take to heal and also

659
00:41:59.480 --> 00:42:04.800
to build foundation that makes healthy reciprocal love possible again.

660
00:42:05.480 --> 00:42:09.039
Heal my Heartache and you can find me on Instagram.

661
00:42:09.840 --> 00:42:13.480
I have my YouTube channel where I post long form video.

662
00:42:13.639 --> 00:42:16.360
There's a bunch of articles I post on my blog

663
00:42:16.440 --> 00:42:19.760
on Benuefunda dot com, so you have numerous ways that

664
00:42:19.840 --> 00:42:23.360
you can follow up. And there's a lot of a

665
00:42:23.440 --> 00:42:24.800
lot that I have to share.

666
00:42:25.280 --> 00:42:30.239
Wonderful Ben, thanks so much your inspiration here in just

667
00:42:30.440 --> 00:42:34.119
what you're doing makes such a difference, and you've had

668
00:42:34.159 --> 00:42:36.840
such great insights today that I hope will make a

669
00:42:36.880 --> 00:42:40.360
difference for those that have been listening. So thanks again

670
00:42:40.400 --> 00:42:43.039
for being on the show. Thank you so much, Doctor Doug,

671
00:42:43.480 --> 00:42:46.440
and folks, thanks for listening. I hope you've enjoyed it.

672
00:42:46.800 --> 00:42:49.199
Look forward to having you join us again soon. So

673
00:42:49.400 --> 00:43:00.440
this is doctor Doug sin no mistake, zero