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Speaker 1: You're not alone.

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Speaker 2: I think we can feel like our experience is happening

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Speaker 2: just to us, like we are the only one going

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Speaker 2: through depression or anxiety, or even worse, like it is

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Speaker 2: us that's suffering. But the reality of the nature of

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Speaker 2: all of our lives is that we will all suffer, right,

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Speaker 2: And if we can actually remember that, if we can

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Speaker 2: remember that as a byproduct of our evolution, our ancestors

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Speaker 2: have suffered and they have overcome that, and so it

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Speaker 2: is in our DNA that we can overcome suffering. That's

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Speaker 2: not poetic or spiritual, it's fact, like we can overcome things.

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Speaker 3: Hey, everybody, Emily Abadi here coming to you from the

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Speaker 3: AG studio. You are listening to episode two hundred and

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Speaker 3: eight of Hurdle, a wellness focus podcast where I connect

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Speaker 3: with that everyone from your favorite athletes to top experts

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Speaker 3: and industry CEOs about their highest ties, toughest moments, and

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Speaker 3: everything in between. We all go through hurdles in life,

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Speaker 3: and my goal through these discussions is to empower you

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Speaker 3: to better navigate yours and move with intention so that

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Speaker 3: you can stride towards your own big potential and of

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Speaker 3: course have some fun along the way.

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Speaker 4: For today's episode.

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Speaker 3: I am sitting down with Manage daias he is the

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Speaker 3: co founder and vice president of Mindfulness at Open, a

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Speaker 3: modern mindfulness studio, emerging technology, culture, cinematography, and proven practices

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Speaker 3: to create community and presence. We talk all about the

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Speaker 3: particulars of what Open is and how he got to

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Speaker 3: this place. In today's episode, I was so excited to

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Speaker 3: have the opportunity to sit down with Minoj in their

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Speaker 3: Venice space out in Los Angeles and was so intrigued

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Speaker 3: by his backstory. In today's episode, Dias talks to me

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Speaker 3: about being born in Sri Lanka and becoming a meditation

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Speaker 3: and mindfulness teacher after a decade spent working in marketing

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Speaker 3: and finance in Australia. He talks to me about the

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Speaker 3: hurdle moment that brought about this big career shift, and

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Speaker 3: we get into a really beautiful discussion about how each

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Speaker 3: of us can become more present, how breathwork and meditation

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Speaker 3: actually feed off of one another, and the importance of

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Speaker 3: rituals in our day Today. Again, loved this conversation with

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Speaker 3: such a nice kickoff to my time last week in

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Speaker 3: Los Angeles, I myself have been using Open regularly I'm

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Speaker 3: going to talk about that a little bit into the episode.

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Speaker 3: But if you too want to get in on Open

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Speaker 3: and give it a try for yourself, you can head

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Speaker 3: on over to with open dot com that's whop e

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Speaker 3: n dot com slash Hurdle and get thirty days free

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Speaker 3: just for hurdle listeners. Again, that is with Open dot

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Speaker 3: Com slash Hurdle. There you can try meditation classes, breathwork classes,

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Speaker 3: and movement classes. Make sure you're following along with Hurdle

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Speaker 3: over on social media. It's at Hurdle podcast. I myself

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Speaker 3: am over at Emily a Body And with that, let's

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Speaker 3: get to hurdling.

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Speaker 4: Today.

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Speaker 3: I am sitting down with Minaj the co founder and

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Speaker 3: vice president of Mindfulness for Open.

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Speaker 5: How are you doing today?

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Speaker 2: I'm doing great, I think I said to you right

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Speaker 2: off the bat. I'm feeling good because finally I'm in

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Speaker 2: La for a weekend and I had plenty of rests,

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Speaker 2: plenty of this beautiful sunshine.

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Speaker 5: So I feel really good this beautiful sunshine.

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Speaker 3: Although every time I come to La, I like wake

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Speaker 3: up on that first morning and the marine layer throw

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Speaker 3: me for a loop. Yeah, as I think to myself,

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Speaker 3: it's always sunny in la And then I look out

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Speaker 3: the window and I've got a gray morning, but it's

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Speaker 3: burning off. I saw it on the way over here.

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Speaker 3: I'm ready to get in a hearty dose of vitamin D.

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Speaker 2: Great, and you're in the right place. You're right by

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Speaker 2: the beach. It's perfect you.

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Speaker 3: Thank you for having me. We are sitting in opens

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Speaker 3: space right now. I feel like before we really dive

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Speaker 3: into learning about you, that you should give us a

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Speaker 3: little overview on what open is.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I'd be happy to so.

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Speaker 2: Open is really a mindfulness studio at its core, But

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Speaker 2: what we really believe in is that there are many

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Speaker 2: ways to experience mindfulness. Mindfulness has been around for longer

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Speaker 2: than twenty five hundred years, and specifically around the last

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Speaker 2: thirty forty years, it's kind of become part of the

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Speaker 2: popular vernaculb. But for many of us, we associate mindfulness

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Speaker 2: as been this really rigid practice in which we have

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Speaker 2: to sit and what we think is emptying our mind

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Speaker 2: and being really peaceful and quiet. What we've done is

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Speaker 2: we've partnered with researchers and advisors and our expert teachers

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Speaker 2: to really find new ways to drop into that same

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Speaker 2: place of presence and connection. And so we can do

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Speaker 2: that through music, we can do that through sound, we

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Speaker 2: can do that through our breath. And so all of

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Speaker 2: our classes integrate these elements into yoga classes, breath work classes,

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Speaker 2: and meditate and polarates classes.

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Speaker 1: So each practice will have this.

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Speaker 2: Hybrid integration of breath, sound, music, and movement, and some

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Speaker 2: effect of all of that is this really embodied experience

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Speaker 2: of mindfulness and not something that's very cognitive, but something

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Speaker 2: that we can just feel and take with us into

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Speaker 2: the day.

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Speaker 3: I missed one day, but I'm on like almost now

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Speaker 3: a two week streak of open classes, and I have

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Speaker 3: done and practiced breathwork before, but I don't think I've

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Speaker 3: ever found a platform that was or that is excuse me,

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Speaker 3: as accessible as open in terms of it offering me

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Speaker 3: breath work options that kind of meet me where I'm at.

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Speaker 3: And I feel like that is, you know, one of

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Speaker 3: the most practical pieces of advice when it comes to

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Speaker 3: establishing a new habit. It's like, rather than seeing that

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Speaker 3: someone else has a twenty minute breathwork practice and say

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Speaker 3: I want also a twenty minute breathwork practice, like, okay,

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Speaker 3: maybe eventually you can get there, but if you don't

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Speaker 3: have one yet start with one to three minutes.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, And you know, maybe you don't need a twenty

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Speaker 2: minute breathwork practice at all. Right, I think it's in

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Speaker 2: a breathwork specifically, it's so functional, Like if I'm feeling anxious,

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Speaker 2: I could just do five deep breaths and you know,

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Speaker 2: regulate my nervous system that way. If I'm feeling tired,

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Speaker 2: then I can do five really quick breaths and up

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Speaker 2: regulate my nervous system. So it's so functional, and we

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Speaker 2: can take it with you where we go because it's

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Speaker 2: literally sitting underneath our nostrils.

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Speaker 3: And I feel like the thing with breathwork that I'm

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Speaker 3: still trying to get over this hurdle with meditation is

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Speaker 3: that breathwork. It's like I have something that I am

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Speaker 3: doing the entire time. For someone who has heavy thinker energy.

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Speaker 3: This really feels like I'm in my boat now. I'm like, oh,

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Speaker 3: I have this exercise to do for the next three minutes.

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Speaker 3: Like it's a task, right, I feel as though I

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Speaker 3: should work toward feeling as though I am better at meditation,

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Speaker 3: But the breathwork is like a new adventure for me,

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Speaker 3: and I really pick it.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, a lot of people are surprised to

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Speaker 2: hear like I also have heavy overthinker energy as well,

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Speaker 2: and I always.

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Speaker 1: Had that, you know, throughout my life.

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Speaker 2: Breath work is for me not an end in itself.

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Speaker 2: It's a means to an end. It really gets us

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Speaker 2: into our body. It drops us out of the habitual

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Speaker 2: thinking and the planning and you know, the doing, and

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Speaker 2: it gets us primed to meditate, to go into that

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Speaker 2: place of awareness and stillness and meditation. When you combine

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Speaker 2: the two, it's like a really powerful combination.

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Speaker 1: Right, you drop out.

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Speaker 2: Of the rat race, so to speak, and then you're

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Speaker 2: able to experience meditation with a little bit more clarity

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Speaker 2: and a little bit more sense of groundedness.

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Speaker 3: I guess I didn't think about the potential for stacking

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Speaker 3: them like habits, stacking breathwork and meditation. And it's interesting

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Speaker 3: now that you say that, and the light bulb goes

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Speaker 3: off in my head, because what I was speaking about

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Speaker 3: last week with my life coach was stacking my breathwork

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Speaker 3: and my journaling. And at first, when I started this

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Speaker 3: two weeks ago, I was journaling and then doing breath work,

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Speaker 3: and she said to me, what if you flipped it

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Speaker 3: because I'm working again heavy thinker, trying to get to

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Speaker 3: feel more often on unlocking that. So she said, what

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Speaker 3: if you sit with yourself and calm and notice how

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Speaker 3: that feels, and then get to a place where you're reflecting.

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Speaker 3: And in doing that, I've been less in my journaling

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Speaker 3: kind of writing down the steps of what I did

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Speaker 3: yesterday and more thinking about how it felt as I

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Speaker 3: went through the steps of what I did yesterday. So

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Speaker 3: I really like this idea of stacking the breath work

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Speaker 3: and the meditation.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean traditionally in the ancient Yogic lineages, that's

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Speaker 2: how it was taught. You know, you would sit first,

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Speaker 2: you would do the breath work. Sorry, you would actually

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Speaker 2: practice first. Oh, I mean, there's different ways of doing it,

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Speaker 2: but essentially there was the arsenal, the prmi arm, which

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Speaker 2: is the breath work, and then there's the meditation. And

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Speaker 2: so whether that's doing the breath work, going into meditation

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Speaker 2: then going into practice or vice versa like, it was

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Speaker 2: taught sequentially and you can definitely do it these days.

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Speaker 1: For sure.

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Speaker 3: Where were you when you first started practicing breath work

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Speaker 3: and meditation?

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Speaker 1: So I was raised in Sri Lanka.

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Speaker 2: Actually, I was born in Sri Lanka, and in Sri Lanka,

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Speaker 2: there's a big Buddhist influence, you know, in that country,

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Speaker 2: and so I was around spirituality for a big part

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Speaker 2: of my childhood, but I never really understood it, you know.

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Speaker 2: I just used to see monks coming in chanting, meditating,

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Speaker 2: and I would just be fascinated by how they looked.

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Speaker 2: But then I migrated to Australia, and in Australia, I

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Speaker 2: really lost connection to Buddhism, to meditation, to that culture.

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Speaker 2: And it wasn't until I was in my twenties when

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Speaker 2: I had a pretty serious panic attack that led to

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Speaker 2: a whole host of other health issues that I serendipitously

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Speaker 2: found my way in a Buddhist meditation studio. And when

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Speaker 2: I rediscovered it as an adult, it was a completely

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Speaker 2: different experience because at that point I was suffering. I

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Speaker 2: was going through a lot of health issues, and I

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Speaker 2: was looking for a way to get better, to get healthier.

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Speaker 2: And I didn't know at that point that the way

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Speaker 2: to get healthier was to really understand my mind, because

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Speaker 2: my mind was creating most of the suffering at that point.

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Speaker 2: And so when I rediscovered this ability to notice my thinking,

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Speaker 2: notice the anxious thoughts as they were arising in my body,

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Speaker 2: to notice you know, the sadness, the loneliness, all of

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Speaker 2: these things that were coming up. I then had a

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Speaker 2: tool to be able to respond to that. And that

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Speaker 2: tool was the tool that meditation really gave me, right

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Speaker 2: the awareness and then also the wisdom that it gave me.

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Speaker 2: And so finding it at that point was so different

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Speaker 2: to like being raised in the experience because I needed

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Speaker 2: it and.

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Speaker 1: I was ready.

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Speaker 2: And I think it's serendipitous when we kind of come

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Speaker 2: into contact with these practices at times in our lives

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Speaker 2: where it just really makes a difference.

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Speaker 3: Can we unpack the circumstances around the panic attack?

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Speaker 1: Absolutely? I love unpacking my trauma.

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Speaker 4: Do it.

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Speaker 5: That's my favorite. That's my favorite.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I was. I was in the corporate world.

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Speaker 2: I was in marketing and advertising. I was burning the

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Speaker 2: candle at a lot of ends, you know. And I

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Speaker 2: don't think many of us are taught how to regulate

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Speaker 2: our nervous system.

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Speaker 1: Most of us.

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Speaker 2: Have low grade anxiety, you know, especially in that environment

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Speaker 2: and that culture. I probably also had ADHD, like a

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Speaker 2: whole host of things I was really unaware of and

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Speaker 2: then you combine the stress and the anxiety of a

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Speaker 2: high pressure job, which is what I was doing, sixty

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Speaker 2: seventy hours a week, with lots of caffeine, drinking two

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Speaker 2: or three cups of coffee a day, with like on

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Speaker 2: Friday nights, going and drinking and having very sleep, and

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Speaker 2: this kind of builds up, and for all of us,

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Speaker 2: there is a point in time where you can't take

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Speaker 2: that level of tension anymore, and it will come out

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Speaker 2: in some way, whether it's like blowing up it your partner,

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Speaker 2: whether it's your body breaking down, or whether it's your

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Speaker 2: mind kind of having a moment. And for me, it

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Speaker 2: happened at work and I literally just had like a.

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Speaker 1: Breakdown of work.

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Speaker 2: I started crying, I was emotional, didn't know what was happening.

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Speaker 2: My arms were shaking. I literally thought I was about

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Speaker 2: to die because I'd never heard of anxiety, to be hones,

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Speaker 2: I thought it was something that people that are really

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Speaker 2: messed up actually experienced. And this was like, you know,

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Speaker 2: sixteen seventeen years ago, so we don't we never talked

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Speaker 2: about it like we do now. Now it's pretty common.

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Speaker 2: Everyone's got a therapist, everyone's anxious, like it's just such

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Speaker 2: a normal thing, but back.

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Speaker 1: Then it was very unfamiliar to all of us.

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Speaker 2: And so yeah, it was a big pivotal moment in

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Speaker 2: my life, and it led me down the path of

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Speaker 2: seeing a therapist and speaking to doctors, speaking to psychologious

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Speaker 2: but the majority of them at that time were just

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Speaker 2: prescribing medication for these things. And so I have nothing

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Speaker 2: against meditation medication at all, but it was a very

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Speaker 2: quick assessment of Oh, you're anxious, you should go take this,

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Speaker 2: or you know, you're deprissed, you should go and take

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Speaker 2: that and just rest.

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Speaker 1: You know.

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Speaker 2: It was a very simplistic, reductionist kind of diagnosis of

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Speaker 2: my experience at that point. But I'm also thankful for

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Speaker 2: that moment now, for that breakdown, because that was a

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Speaker 2: moment that life was like, Hey, you need to look

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Speaker 2: at yourself.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, and what a beautiful kind of pivot on

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Speaker 3: the perspective that you started with. I'm sure to be

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Speaker 3: able to look back at that moment and think about

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Speaker 3: the path that it led you down, and what that

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Speaker 3: stress and that difficulty brought for you, what that did

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Speaker 3: for you, how it happened for you.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think as a teacher, it's really hard

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Speaker 2: to help people suffer less if you've never really suffered

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Speaker 2: in that same way, you know, And I went through

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Speaker 2: tremendous you know, I refer to suffering but stress, anxiety, depression,

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Speaker 2: and a lot of pain through my own resistance to

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Speaker 2: emotions and things like that.

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Speaker 1: And so, yeah, it is.

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Speaker 2: You can look back on it and you can say

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Speaker 2: it was a gift, but in the moment, it's like,

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Speaker 2: oh my God, like will I make it out of

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Speaker 2: this experience?

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Speaker 4: Right?

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Speaker 3: So for you, after you go through this hurdle moment,

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Speaker 3: where does your life lead you professionally from this marketing job?

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Speaker 1: Yeah? So I couldn't work for two years. You know,

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Speaker 1: I was really sick.

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Speaker 2: I had developed like an eating disorder, and I was

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Speaker 2: really sick and feeble. And I was essentially living at

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Speaker 2: this ashrom with my teacher for a period of time

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Speaker 2: before my mother came and she was looking after me

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Speaker 2: for a while, and I had some savings and it

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Speaker 2: was dwindling every single day because I didn't work for

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Speaker 2: two years, and I was literally down to like the

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Speaker 2: last three hundred dollars or one hundred and fifty dollars

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Speaker 2: or something like that.

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Speaker 1: And I remember asking my teacher.

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Speaker 2: One day, I'm like, I don't know what I meant

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Speaker 2: to do with my life, like you know what I

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Speaker 2: wanted before, Like I just can't see myself chasing money

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Speaker 2: and climbing this ladder and it just doesn't feel in

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Speaker 2: my body like it's what I want to do. And

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Speaker 2: he just looked at me and it's like yeah, because

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Speaker 2: you know you're you're going to teach one day. And

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Speaker 2: I was like teach what? Like being a meditation teacher

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Speaker 2: wasn't sexy, Like no one even taught yoga, Like it

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Speaker 2: was like a weird sort of occupation that only hip

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Speaker 2: his did. And I grew up in Australia, right, so

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Speaker 2: it wasn't like a big thing like it was in

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Speaker 2: LA And I usually just think he was like crazy,

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Speaker 2: But you know, the next week I started helping him

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Speaker 2: out in his classes and assisting and I started to

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Speaker 2: maybe think, oh, maybe maybe I could teach, Like you know,

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Speaker 2: I would get like twenty dollars a class, which was

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Speaker 2: like nothing, right, And one day.

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Speaker 3: When you when you have one hundred and fifty dollars

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Speaker 3: to your name and you're getting twenty dollars a class,

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Speaker 3: that's not nothing.

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Speaker 2: Exactly exactly but I was so used to this different lifestyle.

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Speaker 2: Is six foot a lavish lifestyle. It didn't compute in

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Speaker 2: my mind that this could be a feasible thing, right.

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Speaker 2: But one day I came to practice my teachers class

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Speaker 2: and he's like, oh, I can't teach today, Can you

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Speaker 2: teach for me? And I was like what. He's like, yeah,

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Speaker 2: go and go and teach, and I'm like okay. So

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Speaker 2: I quickly started writing down all these notes and as

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Speaker 2: I was about to walk in, he took the notebook

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Speaker 2: to go and teach, and then he came and sat

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Speaker 2: and he wasn't sick. He was just kind of there

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Speaker 2: observing me or whatever it was doing. But that was

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Speaker 2: really my first class, and from then on he kind

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Speaker 2: of every now and again got me to come and teach,

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Speaker 2: and I eventually went and did different trainings, and I

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Speaker 2: started traveling throughout the world sitting with different meditation masters.

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Speaker 2: The rest is kind of history, but you know, in

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Speaker 2: twenty sixteen or twenty fifteen, I opened a meditation studio

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Speaker 2: in Australia. It was called a Space, which was at

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Speaker 2: the time Australia's first drop in meditation studio, and that

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Speaker 2: really began like a very different path, which was merging

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Speaker 2: this entrepreneurial of me and the meditation side of me

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Speaker 2: and led me down.

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Speaker 1: The path of co founding Open.

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Speaker 3: When you say that you started traveling around the world

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Speaker 3: and meeting and studying under different experts, how did you

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Speaker 3: go about finding and then solidifying these opportunities and also

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Speaker 3: supporting yourself during these travels.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, So I started supporting myself by teaching a lot

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Speaker 2: of classes. You know, I was teaching yoga for a

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Speaker 2: little bit, I was teaching meditation, I was doing privates.

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Speaker 2: I was literally everything I could and at that time

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Speaker 2: it was like a real joy because it was something

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Speaker 2: I was deeply passionate about. It was something that I

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Speaker 2: knew would help people. I think that was the big

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Speaker 2: stage shift within myself. Like before working marketing and advertising,

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Speaker 2: I didn't really feel like I was I was necessarily

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Speaker 2: helping or being of service to people in a way

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Speaker 2: where I knew that specifically, you know, helping people with

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Speaker 2: their mental health was and so there was a lot

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Speaker 2: of energy that I had in my body. But then

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Speaker 2: finding these teachers wasn't hard because you know, the meditation

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Speaker 2: world is fairly small and you have like certain teachers

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Speaker 2: like Sharon Salzburg, Joseph Goldstein, Jack Cornfield, and specific centers

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Speaker 2: like Spirit Rock Insite Meditation Society where they're just legendary,

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Speaker 2: you know, for having teachers that had really traveled from

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Speaker 2: India and Sri Lanka in the you know, forty fifty

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Speaker 2: years ago and had blown up meditation in the West.

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Speaker 2: And some of it was also very serendipitous, Like you know,

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Speaker 2: me finding my teacher was just very serendipitous. It wasn't

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Speaker 2: like I searched for him. I was on Facebook one

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Speaker 2: day and a friend posted this video about this teacher,

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Speaker 2: and as soon as I saw him, I'm like there

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Speaker 2: was something about his his voice and the way he spoke.

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Speaker 2: I'm like, I got to sit with him, and I

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Speaker 2: ended up, you know, practicing with him every day for

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Speaker 2: five years and sitting with him for like eight nine years.

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Speaker 2: And so, you know, when I genuinely believe when you're

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Speaker 2: in alignment with life, when you're in a sense of

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Speaker 2: flow with life, things tend to just be presented to

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Speaker 2: you on your path. And I felt very fortunately that's

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Speaker 2: what's been the case.

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Speaker 3: And when you say you sat with him for eight

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Speaker 3: or nine years, for someone who's never heard that terminology before.

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Speaker 3: What does that mean?

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Speaker 2: It just means I practice with him. You know, I

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Speaker 2: would come and practice his class every day. I would

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Speaker 2: go and you know, go to lunch with him, and

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Speaker 2: just I think in the world of meditation, you learn

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Speaker 2: so much from your teachers by how they relate to life.

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Speaker 2: And there's a little bit you learn from, you know,

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Speaker 2: practicing with them, but just how do they relate to

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Speaker 2: difficulties in their life, how do they relate to money,

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Speaker 2: how do they relate to arguments, and you know, relationship breakdowns?

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Speaker 2: Like learning so much from those moments by being next

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Speaker 2: to him was even more beneficial than actual the meditation

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Speaker 2: practices that I did with him.

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Speaker 3: And it seems as though you would have to be

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Speaker 3: open to a certain level of vulnerability when you're the

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Speaker 3: person that's leading other people through this journey. Was that

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Speaker 3: something that came naturally for you as a teacher or

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Speaker 3: was that something that you had to get more acquainted with.

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Speaker 2: I think it's something that I've learned over the years.

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Speaker 2: Like I I also have I am working with my emotions.

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Speaker 2: I think that's like a real block for me, and

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Speaker 2: over the last few years, I've actively tried to explore

401
00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:11,720
Speaker 2: emotions from a somatic level. But you know, as I

402
00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:14,840
Speaker 2: started teaching, it's this balance of like how much of

403
00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:18,000
Speaker 2: yourself do you share where it doesn't become about you,

404
00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:21,240
Speaker 2: because ultimately, when you're teaching thousands of people, you don't

405
00:20:21,240 --> 00:20:23,919
Speaker 2: want to go there and vomit your relationship issues or like,

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Speaker 2: you know, all these different things. It's like, this is

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00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:28,720
Speaker 2: what I've learned from this experience, and this is what

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Speaker 2: this tradition has taught me, and this is what science

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Speaker 2: has told me, and this is what research has taught me.

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Speaker 2: And then you blend all of those things to give

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Speaker 2: something to someone that's beneficial. You know, you can't go

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Speaker 2: in there and necessarily think everyone wants to hear this

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Speaker 2: super spiritual definition of something, all this highly pragmatic scientific explanation.

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Speaker 2: It's like taking from all these different worlds, rooting it

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Speaker 2: in something that is like not you, you haven't just

416
00:20:56,520 --> 00:21:00,280
Speaker 2: made up, it's actually proven, and then delivering in a

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Speaker 2: way where people feel like it's accessible, it's understandable and relatable.

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Speaker 3: I think that's a skill that is something that you

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Speaker 3: step into a little bit. The more that you put

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Speaker 3: yourself in this position to be a teacher, regardless of

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Speaker 3: what it is that you're teaching, there's beauty and vulnerability,

422
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Speaker 3: but to your point of not making it all about you,

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Speaker 3: that takes time and understanding. And I remember recently I

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Speaker 3: was going through my fair share of personal things as well,

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Speaker 3: and I was speaking to someone and I said, how

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Speaker 3: do I show up for my community when I feel

427
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Speaker 3: like I'm hiding so much at this moment? And the

428
00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:45,199
Speaker 3: answer was simply saying, Hey, I am dealing with a

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Speaker 3: lot right now, and I know that I can't be

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Speaker 3: the only one. So coming together with that level of

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00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:55,560
Speaker 3: vulnerability was a really great opportunity and wasn't just a

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Speaker 3: great opportunity for them, but a really beautiful opportunity for

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Speaker 3: me to end.

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Speaker 5: Power all of these people who.

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Speaker 3: I'm so grateful have told me how much I've offered

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Speaker 3: them to then come back and be here for me.

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Speaker 2: And I think what you demonstrated there was your humanity

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Speaker 2: and people can relate to that, you know, and whether

439
00:22:15,760 --> 00:22:19,760
Speaker 2: it's a meditation teacher, you know, a podcaster, this public figure,

440
00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:22,320
Speaker 2: people really want to come into contact with a human

441
00:22:22,760 --> 00:22:26,040
Speaker 2: because so much of our humanity is under threat right now,

442
00:22:26,359 --> 00:22:30,920
Speaker 2: because we're working under conditions that are really stressful, where

443
00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:33,439
Speaker 2: hyper driven a lot of us, right, So from the

444
00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:35,879
Speaker 2: moment we wake up where go go go, we have

445
00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:39,439
Speaker 2: a sense of disconnection from what makes us truly human.

446
00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:41,600
Speaker 2: And you know, we talked about emotions a lot, that's

447
00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:43,600
Speaker 2: one element of it. We talk about suffering a lot

448
00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:47,080
Speaker 2: because that's also part of our human experience. Like, there's

449
00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:50,080
Speaker 2: no way to actually avoid that. One of my favorite

450
00:22:50,359 --> 00:22:52,320
Speaker 2: teachers it is also a good friend of mine. His

451
00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:55,760
Speaker 2: name's Johnny Pollard. He once said, and he gave me

452
00:22:55,800 --> 00:22:59,639
Speaker 2: this beautiful concept of sharing from the scar, not the wound,

453
00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:06,200
Speaker 2: And the concept is really talking about moments where there's

454
00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:08,359
Speaker 2: been some sort of healing that's gone on, right, and

455
00:23:08,359 --> 00:23:11,520
Speaker 2: that's the scar, There's been some sort of healing that's occurred,

456
00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:13,800
Speaker 2: and from that healing, we can share the lesson that

457
00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:17,520
Speaker 2: we've learned from that. Oftentimes as teachers, like I've fallen

458
00:23:17,560 --> 00:23:20,200
Speaker 2: into that trap of going into a class or going

459
00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:22,640
Speaker 2: into a live stream and the wound is still raw,

460
00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:25,360
Speaker 2: you know, whether it's a breakup, or whether it's something

461
00:23:25,359 --> 00:23:27,399
Speaker 2: that's happened to my health, or whether I've lost someone,

462
00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:31,399
Speaker 2: and then speaking from this really deep wound where the

463
00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:33,880
Speaker 2: lesson really hasn't fully formed yet, just like the scar

464
00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:36,639
Speaker 2: hasn't fully formed yet. And so it's something that I

465
00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:39,160
Speaker 2: bring to my teaching is that I'll never really share

466
00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:42,280
Speaker 2: something unless that I've really processed that, unless I've really

467
00:23:42,560 --> 00:23:45,399
Speaker 2: understood that, and there's a deep lesson within that. Now,

468
00:23:45,440 --> 00:23:47,480
Speaker 2: that doesn't mean that we can't acknowledge the fact that

469
00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:50,639
Speaker 2: we're going through some stuff. And that's a really beautiful trait,

470
00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:53,760
Speaker 2: you know, to be able to vulnerably say, Hey, I'm

471
00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:57,199
Speaker 2: going through heartbreak and I'm feeling it, I'm processing it.

472
00:23:57,240 --> 00:23:59,359
Speaker 2: I don't really have all the lessons yet, but I

473
00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:01,679
Speaker 2: just want to. I just want to acknowledge it. And

474
00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:05,080
Speaker 2: at that moment people would be like, Wow, Emily's a human.

475
00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:08,520
Speaker 1: That's wild. Who would have thought? Who would have thought?

476
00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:11,040
Speaker 3: This real person speaking to us three times a week.

477
00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:17,199
Speaker 3: You know, Also with that, the acknowledgment is so healing

478
00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:20,879
Speaker 3: in itself, right, because if we don't take the time

479
00:24:21,160 --> 00:24:25,560
Speaker 3: to admit what's happening around us or how we're feeling that,

480
00:24:26,359 --> 00:24:28,960
Speaker 3: you can't do anything. You can't move forward until you

481
00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:33,320
Speaker 3: start there. So starting there is so important, and that

482
00:24:33,359 --> 00:24:35,720
Speaker 3: in itself can certainly be a hurdle.

483
00:24:36,160 --> 00:24:39,760
Speaker 1: I mean, you can't change what you can't see. That's

484
00:24:39,800 --> 00:24:40,440
Speaker 1: really it, right.

485
00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:44,000
Speaker 2: So in order for us to transform anything, to change anything,

486
00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:48,240
Speaker 2: we first have to recognize that it exists. And what

487
00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:50,679
Speaker 2: you said is exactly it. We've got to name it,

488
00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:52,680
Speaker 2: We've got to talk about it.

489
00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:53,840
Speaker 5: Yeah.

490
00:24:54,080 --> 00:24:58,960
Speaker 3: So you start a space and you say Australia is

491
00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:00,720
Speaker 3: so much different than I say Australia.

492
00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:01,280
Speaker 5: Australia.

493
00:25:01,359 --> 00:25:03,000
Speaker 3: I can't even pretend that I'm going to say it

494
00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:07,920
Speaker 3: like you can say it Australia.

495
00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:11,720
Speaker 5: You miss the whole middle part of the word. I mean,

496
00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:12,800
Speaker 5: it's just your accent.

497
00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:13,679
Speaker 1: I've never heard that.

498
00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:17,560
Speaker 2: But I'm gonna I'm going to Australia Australia.

499
00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:20,080
Speaker 1: Have Australians been saying Australia wrong this whole time?

500
00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:22,119
Speaker 3: No, they're saying it right, and I'm just saying it

501
00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:26,040
Speaker 3: like I'm from the Northeastern United States. So you start

502
00:25:26,280 --> 00:25:31,040
Speaker 3: a space in Australia, and then how does that journey

503
00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:32,080
Speaker 3: bring you to open?

504
00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:32,960
Speaker 1: Yeah?

505
00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:36,239
Speaker 2: So A Space was a really beautiful, heartfelt project with

506
00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:38,960
Speaker 2: me and a dear friend that we started. We both

507
00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:41,480
Speaker 2: had had this wild idea when I was actually in

508
00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:44,960
Speaker 2: New York once and we were exploring all these different

509
00:25:45,040 --> 00:25:48,679
Speaker 2: yoga studios and meditation studios, and at that point we

510
00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:51,159
Speaker 2: were just doing pop ups around Australia and working with

511
00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:55,480
Speaker 2: large organizations and we started to see this community form

512
00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:57,480
Speaker 2: everywhere we went, and I'm like, I want to give

513
00:25:57,520 --> 00:25:59,919
Speaker 2: them a home, Like I think we can launch a studio,

514
00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:03,280
Speaker 2: and my co founder other times like with what money,

515
00:26:03,359 --> 00:26:05,280
Speaker 2: Like we haven't, Like we were just two friends that

516
00:26:05,359 --> 00:26:07,600
Speaker 2: had this wild idea and I'm like, I don't know,

517
00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:10,240
Speaker 2: but like I feel like if we'd start, it'll something

518
00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:13,480
Speaker 2: will happen. And we literally went home and I kept

519
00:26:13,520 --> 00:26:17,000
Speaker 2: on pushing him to do it, and he succumbed to it,

520
00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:19,159
Speaker 2: and we took out two credit cards and we maxed

521
00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:23,680
Speaker 2: out two credit cards. We found like this really beautiful

522
00:26:23,680 --> 00:26:27,040
Speaker 2: little studio at the back of a psychology practice, and

523
00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:30,640
Speaker 2: we just invested everything that we had into this. And

524
00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:33,240
Speaker 2: because it was the first thing, it was the first

525
00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:35,080
Speaker 2: of its kind in Australia, We've got a lot of publicity,

526
00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:38,400
Speaker 2: lots of awareness, and we were managed to attracting well,

527
00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:41,359
Speaker 2: we managed to attract some really incredible teachers and so

528
00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:44,800
Speaker 2: this little thing became like a big thing, right, But

529
00:26:44,880 --> 00:26:46,760
Speaker 2: we really weren't prepared for that.

530
00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:48,120
Speaker 1: We weren't prepared for it to be.

531
00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:52,199
Speaker 2: What it became, which was people traveling from it to

532
00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:54,880
Speaker 2: stay abroad to come a practice with us. But also

533
00:26:54,880 --> 00:26:57,359
Speaker 2: we didn't really have the experience, the business experience, the

534
00:26:57,400 --> 00:27:02,240
Speaker 2: venture experience to scale that. And eventually the pressure of

535
00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:04,960
Speaker 2: not making much money and all the money going back

536
00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:07,720
Speaker 2: into the business really took its toll mentally on both

537
00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:10,560
Speaker 2: of us and on our relationship, and he ended up

538
00:27:10,680 --> 00:27:13,200
Speaker 2: leaving the company and I ran out for the last

539
00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:18,840
Speaker 2: eighteen months. And November twenty nineteen, I was fundraising to

540
00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:21,480
Speaker 2: launch an app, and I was fundraising in New York

541
00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:25,080
Speaker 2: and I had found investors, I'd found new partners, and

542
00:27:25,119 --> 00:27:27,200
Speaker 2: we were about to do this thing. I was so excited.

543
00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:29,240
Speaker 2: And I had a girlfriend who were living in New York,

544
00:27:29,840 --> 00:27:32,800
Speaker 2: and I told her, I'm going to be back in

545
00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:35,240
Speaker 2: a few weeks. I'll close everything up and I'll come back.

546
00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:39,159
Speaker 2: And this was February twenty twenty. Oh my god, right,

547
00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:41,760
Speaker 2: And so when I got home, that's when New York

548
00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:46,280
Speaker 2: specifically got hit really bad with COVID, and everything changed,

549
00:27:46,359 --> 00:27:47,800
Speaker 2: not just for me but for the whole world.

550
00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:49,000
Speaker 1: And in my.

551
00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:51,760
Speaker 2: Investors, I were like, hey, we're a bit nervous about

552
00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:53,720
Speaker 2: jumping in right now, Let's wait a few months. I'm

553
00:27:53,760 --> 00:27:57,520
Speaker 2: sure it'll pass. And my partners were also like, whoa,

554
00:27:57,760 --> 00:28:00,480
Speaker 2: We're going to hold for a bit. And then obviously

555
00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:03,639
Speaker 2: that didn't you know last It lasted for two years

556
00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:06,639
Speaker 2: even more, and in that period I didn't know what

557
00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:08,240
Speaker 2: I was going to do. I was like, okay, cool,

558
00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:11,400
Speaker 2: Like can I do this without my partners and my investors,

559
00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:14,520
Speaker 2: I'm like no, Do I want to keep operating at

560
00:28:14,520 --> 00:28:15,800
Speaker 2: this level as a solo founder?

561
00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:16,280
Speaker 1: I'm like no.

562
00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:20,920
Speaker 2: And then again, serendipitously, a mutual friend of me and Ryde,

563
00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:24,639
Speaker 2: who's the CEO of Open, introduced us and Open was

564
00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:26,840
Speaker 2: at that point a small breath work pop up based

565
00:28:26,840 --> 00:28:29,959
Speaker 2: out of San Francisco. They had dreams of launching an

566
00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:32,320
Speaker 2: online product, but they were just live streaming on Zoom

567
00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:34,480
Speaker 2: at that point, and I joined as an investor. I

568
00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:37,320
Speaker 2: saw not as investor, as an advisor, just helping them

569
00:28:37,359 --> 00:28:42,080
Speaker 2: set up all their operations, helping them recruit, and in

570
00:28:42,120 --> 00:28:44,480
Speaker 2: that period, over the course of like three months, me

571
00:28:44,560 --> 00:28:45,920
Speaker 2: and Rye became really good friends.

572
00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:47,800
Speaker 1: I really bought into the vision.

573
00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:50,600
Speaker 2: Of Open, and he really appreciated my experience and background

574
00:28:50,960 --> 00:28:54,160
Speaker 2: and we just decided to kind of merge forces. And

575
00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:57,440
Speaker 2: with that, I moved to California, which I had no

576
00:28:57,480 --> 00:28:59,920
Speaker 2: intention of doing because I was such a New Yorker.

577
00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:02,280
Speaker 1: At my girlfriend was there all that, and.

578
00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:05,680
Speaker 2: Moved there in the middle of the pandemic, and we

579
00:29:05,920 --> 00:29:09,760
Speaker 2: launched an app. In twenty twenty one, sorry, twenty twenty

580
00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:13,080
Speaker 2: we launched our first pop up studio here in LA

581
00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:16,120
Speaker 2: And you know, the last few weeks we've signed a

582
00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:19,440
Speaker 2: lease on our first venice studio and we're about to

583
00:29:19,480 --> 00:29:23,160
Speaker 2: launch like a nationwide tour across you know, New York, Miami, Austin.

584
00:29:25,040 --> 00:29:27,880
Speaker 2: We've got an incredible team of teachers, We've got an

585
00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:32,440
Speaker 2: incredible team, an incredible engineers product, and it's a really,

586
00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:35,280
Speaker 2: really exciting time. And as I sit here and I'm

587
00:29:35,320 --> 00:29:38,760
Speaker 2: saying all of these things, I'm like, holy can I swear?

588
00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:41,600
Speaker 1: Holy shit? Like how did I get here?

589
00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:45,120
Speaker 2: And how did all of these different things really culminate

590
00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:49,040
Speaker 2: in me being at this particular place, at this particular

591
00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:49,760
Speaker 2: moment in time.

592
00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:54,080
Speaker 3: Speaking to you, what would you say as you have

593
00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:58,320
Speaker 3: these thoughts, is the most prominent feeling that you have

594
00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:01,880
Speaker 3: reflecting in the past two years, and where do you

595
00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:02,840
Speaker 3: feel it in your body.

596
00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:04,520
Speaker 1: I love that question.

597
00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:10,760
Speaker 2: I feel like a really deep gratitude, like in my chest,

598
00:30:11,280 --> 00:30:16,200
Speaker 2: in my heart. I also feel like there's this element

599
00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:18,960
Speaker 2: of surrendering that we need to sometimes do on this

600
00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:24,280
Speaker 2: path as either entrepreneurs or athletes or spiritual practitioners. Like

601
00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:29,320
Speaker 2: so much of life, we're fighting against something, you know,

602
00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:33,480
Speaker 2: we're battling up against, whether it's tiredness or our own

603
00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:38,320
Speaker 2: mental health, or you know, we're just working, working, working, hustling, hustling, hustling.

604
00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:41,080
Speaker 2: What I'm really trying to work with in my own

605
00:30:41,120 --> 00:30:43,960
Speaker 2: life at the moment is just surrendering. And that's not

606
00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:46,800
Speaker 2: like a poetic spiritual thing, but it's actually just asking

607
00:30:46,840 --> 00:30:48,840
Speaker 2: myself where do I need to let go in this moment,

608
00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:53,120
Speaker 2: whether it's a conversation with a partner or investor, you know,

609
00:30:53,720 --> 00:30:55,440
Speaker 2: where can I just let go and where can I

610
00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:59,080
Speaker 2: just go with a flow. And it's not easy for

611
00:30:59,120 --> 00:31:01,120
Speaker 2: me because I'm not used to I'm used to hustling.

612
00:31:01,160 --> 00:31:04,200
Speaker 2: I'm used to working really hard. And as I look

613
00:31:04,280 --> 00:31:06,479
Speaker 2: back now, you know, two years in there have been

614
00:31:06,480 --> 00:31:08,480
Speaker 2: moments when I've just had to let go, like the

615
00:31:08,840 --> 00:31:13,280
Speaker 2: decision to move to California and join Open It wasn't

616
00:31:13,760 --> 00:31:15,840
Speaker 2: an easy decision because I had a lot of offers

617
00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:18,440
Speaker 2: at that point, but I tuned into my body and

618
00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:20,360
Speaker 2: I tuned into what I felt, and I was like, Okay,

619
00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:23,240
Speaker 2: this feels like it's the right.

620
00:31:23,080 --> 00:31:23,560
Speaker 1: Thing to do.

621
00:31:24,040 --> 00:31:26,680
Speaker 2: And then, you know, moving from SF to California was

622
00:31:26,680 --> 00:31:28,760
Speaker 2: another big decision. I'm like, Oh, this feels like the

623
00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:31,320
Speaker 2: right thing to do. You know, when it comes to

624
00:31:31,400 --> 00:31:34,400
Speaker 2: recruiting people, it's like, I drop into feelings so much

625
00:31:34,440 --> 00:31:38,000
Speaker 2: more than I ever have in my life, and sometimes

626
00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:40,560
Speaker 2: it works, sometimes it doesn't. But you know, more often

627
00:31:40,600 --> 00:31:44,280
Speaker 2: than not, just following and surrendering and letting go has

628
00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:47,040
Speaker 2: led me down a really good path.

629
00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:50,200
Speaker 3: Yeah, that was going to be my next question is

630
00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:55,240
Speaker 3: has surrendering to feeling and leading with feeling ever led

631
00:31:55,280 --> 00:31:56,960
Speaker 3: you astray?

632
00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:00,160
Speaker 2: I think what I'm really unpacking is how much of

633
00:32:00,200 --> 00:32:02,200
Speaker 2: the big decisions I've made in my life have been

634
00:32:02,360 --> 00:32:05,560
Speaker 2: through what I've felt, or have been through what I

635
00:32:05,600 --> 00:32:08,240
Speaker 2: thought I should do. You know, and I look at

636
00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:11,080
Speaker 2: decisions I've made in relationships as an example, and there

637
00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:13,800
Speaker 2: I've been decisions I've made through my head. It's like,

638
00:32:13,840 --> 00:32:16,080
Speaker 2: oh I should do this, I should say this, I

639
00:32:16,120 --> 00:32:20,160
Speaker 2: should be with this person, not with this person. But

640
00:32:20,320 --> 00:32:22,520
Speaker 2: I'm really unpacking those moments in my life where I've

641
00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:26,200
Speaker 2: trusted my body and trusted what I felt, and those

642
00:32:26,240 --> 00:32:29,880
Speaker 2: moments that I have it's been incredible, Like the felt

643
00:32:29,960 --> 00:32:33,240
Speaker 2: sense of going into this studio where I met my teacher.

644
00:32:33,680 --> 00:32:37,479
Speaker 2: It wasn't a head decision, it was just something pulling

645
00:32:37,520 --> 00:32:40,920
Speaker 2: me to that moment. It was my illness plus this

646
00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:43,960
Speaker 2: feeling that, oh, I've tried all of these things, why

647
00:32:43,960 --> 00:32:45,080
Speaker 2: didn't I try meditation?

648
00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:45,920
Speaker 1: You know?

649
00:32:46,040 --> 00:32:50,240
Speaker 2: And I think for my life and for a lot

650
00:32:50,240 --> 00:32:53,360
Speaker 2: of students' lives, what I'm really teaching now is to

651
00:32:53,400 --> 00:32:55,200
Speaker 2: trust the body, you know, because we don't often have

652
00:32:55,240 --> 00:32:57,600
Speaker 2: a good relationship with our body. We have a very

653
00:32:57,720 --> 00:33:02,160
Speaker 2: discombobulated relationship because of trauma or emotional wounding or just

654
00:33:02,200 --> 00:33:05,720
Speaker 2: a general disconnection from our body. And so learning how

655
00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:08,720
Speaker 2: to first relate to the trauma, relate to the experience,

656
00:33:09,080 --> 00:33:11,400
Speaker 2: to create space for that, to heal that, and then

657
00:33:11,560 --> 00:33:13,680
Speaker 2: becoming a friend to the body, because once we're a

658
00:33:13,680 --> 00:33:16,600
Speaker 2: friend to our body, it's just a different state of flow,

659
00:33:16,840 --> 00:33:19,600
Speaker 2: you know. It's it's being with someone and being able

660
00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:23,120
Speaker 2: to just relate on a very easy level and not

661
00:33:23,240 --> 00:33:25,440
Speaker 2: kind of thinking, Oh, I should talk to this person

662
00:33:25,480 --> 00:33:28,440
Speaker 2: this way, I should present myself this way, I should.

663
00:33:28,280 --> 00:33:30,240
Speaker 1: Try to sound smarter like you know.

664
00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:32,520
Speaker 2: And I've been in podcast episodes where I have I've

665
00:33:32,520 --> 00:33:34,160
Speaker 2: done that. I'm like, oh, I should say this and this,

666
00:33:34,480 --> 00:33:36,640
Speaker 2: but like you know, in this moment with you, it's like, no,

667
00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:38,280
Speaker 2: let's I'm just going to be myself.

668
00:33:38,480 --> 00:33:39,920
Speaker 1: Yeah, and that feels good for me.

669
00:33:46,760 --> 00:33:49,200
Speaker 3: Taking a break from today's episode to talk to you

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Speaker 3: Next up, let's talk about Open. Open is a digital

696
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697
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Speaker 4: Meditation, and movement.

698
00:35:19,960 --> 00:35:22,960
Speaker 3: I have been on the Open train for about a

699
00:35:23,080 --> 00:35:27,120
Speaker 3: month now, doing about three to five minutes of breathwork

700
00:35:27,239 --> 00:35:31,120
Speaker 3: every morning, and since having this conversation with Minaj, I

701
00:35:31,320 --> 00:35:35,759
Speaker 3: have since added a five minute meditation of practice after it.

702
00:35:35,840 --> 00:35:38,719
Speaker 3: Trust me, if you were to tell me that I

703
00:35:38,760 --> 00:35:42,120
Speaker 3: would be doing ten minutes of mindfulness work every morning

704
00:35:42,239 --> 00:35:44,640
Speaker 3: like last year, I would have laughed at you. I

705
00:35:44,680 --> 00:35:50,640
Speaker 3: have never successfully in my life incorporated a regular mindfulness

706
00:35:50,760 --> 00:35:56,280
Speaker 3: routine in my morning to dos, never until starting Open.

707
00:35:56,560 --> 00:35:58,680
Speaker 3: I love to do my back to back breathwork and

708
00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:00,680
Speaker 3: meditation sitting on my couch.

709
00:36:00,920 --> 00:36:02,600
Speaker 4: It's right after I make mine espresso.

710
00:36:03,239 --> 00:36:05,560
Speaker 3: I sit there and I come into my body and

711
00:36:05,640 --> 00:36:09,160
Speaker 3: have some time just to feel before I reach through

712
00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:11,880
Speaker 3: my journal and get to the next stage of my

713
00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:13,000
Speaker 3: morning routine.

714
00:36:13,480 --> 00:36:15,040
Speaker 4: Huge fan of their platform.

715
00:36:15,239 --> 00:36:19,160
Speaker 3: I love all of the different facilitators and practitioners on there,

716
00:36:19,360 --> 00:36:22,960
Speaker 3: and I feel an overarching sense of calm now that

717
00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:26,600
Speaker 3: this is something I'm finally incorporating regularly.

718
00:36:26,880 --> 00:36:28,319
Speaker 4: Open has unlimited live and.

719
00:36:28,320 --> 00:36:32,400
Speaker 3: On demand breathwork, meditation, yoga, pilates, and more. It's designed

720
00:36:32,480 --> 00:36:37,600
Speaker 3: for all levels, and they partner with musicians, producers, sound designers, DJs,

721
00:36:37,640 --> 00:36:41,080
Speaker 3: and curators to co create classes for an immersive experience

722
00:36:41,120 --> 00:36:43,839
Speaker 3: that takes you deeper into your practice.

723
00:36:43,960 --> 00:36:46,240
Speaker 4: You're gonna love it. Let's take a class together.

724
00:36:46,560 --> 00:36:49,879
Speaker 3: Openness giving Hurdle listeners thirty days free when you head

725
00:36:49,880 --> 00:36:53,000
Speaker 3: on over to with Open dot com slash Hurdle again.

726
00:36:53,040 --> 00:36:55,759
Speaker 3: You can join me on open by going to with

727
00:36:56,400 --> 00:37:00,320
Speaker 3: open dot Com slash Hurdle let me know what y'all think,

728
00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:11,759
Speaker 3: and I'll see you in class. You spoke about the

729
00:37:11,880 --> 00:37:15,920
Speaker 3: difficulty that you went through when you had your panic

730
00:37:15,920 --> 00:37:18,839
Speaker 3: attack and the two years that followed that, and then

731
00:37:18,920 --> 00:37:23,799
Speaker 3: the difficulty that came with twenty twenty and the pandemic.

732
00:37:24,640 --> 00:37:29,040
Speaker 3: In the pandemic, did you feel as though you had

733
00:37:29,120 --> 00:37:32,239
Speaker 3: to reach for some of the same tools that you

734
00:37:32,680 --> 00:37:37,000
Speaker 3: acquired and developed back when you were working with your

735
00:37:37,040 --> 00:37:38,960
Speaker 3: illness and trying to come to terms with how to

736
00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:39,680
Speaker 3: move forward from that.

737
00:37:40,360 --> 00:37:41,359
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, and no.

738
00:37:41,640 --> 00:37:43,360
Speaker 2: So I was actually writing my first book at the

739
00:37:43,400 --> 00:37:46,600
Speaker 2: same time, and so my book Still Together was a

740
00:37:46,640 --> 00:37:50,560
Speaker 2: back connection, right, and here I was disconnected literally everyone,

741
00:37:50,760 --> 00:37:52,319
Speaker 2: and so as I was writing that book, I had

742
00:37:52,360 --> 00:37:55,960
Speaker 2: to really think about, Okay, how do I feel connected

743
00:37:56,520 --> 00:38:01,160
Speaker 2: to other people in this moment? And Zoom became like

744
00:38:01,200 --> 00:38:06,319
Speaker 2: a lifesaver. Like reaching out to people became like my work.

745
00:38:06,360 --> 00:38:08,600
Speaker 2: Because I'm so used to just naturally being around people,

746
00:38:08,800 --> 00:38:10,759
Speaker 2: I didn't realize I had to actually call people and

747
00:38:10,760 --> 00:38:13,080
Speaker 2: be like, hey, like, how are you? Like, you know

748
00:38:13,120 --> 00:38:15,640
Speaker 2: what's happening? You know, this is what I'm feeling. But

749
00:38:15,719 --> 00:38:18,520
Speaker 2: also I had to actually think outside the square. I

750
00:38:18,600 --> 00:38:22,160
Speaker 2: was so rigid in my practice that you know, Buddhist

751
00:38:22,200 --> 00:38:25,120
Speaker 2: meditation and mindfulness were my only thing, you know, and yoga,

752
00:38:25,400 --> 00:38:27,919
Speaker 2: they were my only things. But then I'm like, oh,

753
00:38:28,040 --> 00:38:32,080
Speaker 2: hang on, breath work is actually way more powerful. I

754
00:38:32,160 --> 00:38:33,680
Speaker 2: was only doing it, like, you know, once every now

755
00:38:33,719 --> 00:38:36,720
Speaker 2: and again back then, but just this ability to drop

756
00:38:36,760 --> 00:38:39,520
Speaker 2: out of the mind and viscerally come into contact with

757
00:38:39,840 --> 00:38:42,800
Speaker 2: my physical experience, which is what breath work did, really

758
00:38:42,840 --> 00:38:46,960
Speaker 2: started to transform my experience. Journaling, which you know, became

759
00:38:47,120 --> 00:38:51,319
Speaker 2: a new part of my experience. Dancing actually became one

760
00:38:51,320 --> 00:38:54,000
Speaker 2: of the biggest experiences in my life because when I

761
00:38:54,239 --> 00:38:58,719
Speaker 2: most enjoy like, I would dance and it was something

762
00:38:58,760 --> 00:39:01,560
Speaker 2: I hadn't done for twenty thirty years. But every morning

763
00:39:01,600 --> 00:39:03,520
Speaker 2: I would wake up because I was living in Australia,

764
00:39:03,719 --> 00:39:06,399
Speaker 2: had this beautiful warehouse space with a friend of mine.

765
00:39:06,640 --> 00:39:09,560
Speaker 2: I'd put on my favorite song and it's a song

766
00:39:09,600 --> 00:39:10,280
Speaker 2: from the nineties.

767
00:39:11,200 --> 00:39:11,879
Speaker 5: What's this song?

768
00:39:12,040 --> 00:39:13,840
Speaker 1: It's called Everybody, Everybody.

769
00:39:14,080 --> 00:39:17,759
Speaker 2: It's great and I would just like dance and it

770
00:39:17,840 --> 00:39:20,120
Speaker 2: was I felt ridiculous at that point because I'm like

771
00:39:20,120 --> 00:39:23,239
Speaker 2: a grown ass man dancing in my bedroom, but I

772
00:39:23,360 --> 00:39:25,480
Speaker 2: just realized, wow, like it actually just gets me in

773
00:39:25,520 --> 00:39:27,920
Speaker 2: my body, like I'm not thinking when I'm dancing, and

774
00:39:27,960 --> 00:39:30,960
Speaker 2: it became like a really special tool for me to

775
00:39:31,760 --> 00:39:35,359
Speaker 2: start my day just feeling like I'm existing underneath my chin.

776
00:39:35,640 --> 00:39:39,000
Speaker 5: Is this like jumping around dance. I'm just trying to

777
00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:39,640
Speaker 5: like envision this.

778
00:39:39,840 --> 00:39:41,440
Speaker 1: No, No, it's just like I'm getting sexy with it.

779
00:39:41,480 --> 00:39:43,719
Speaker 2: Like I'm just like moving my haids like a couple

780
00:39:43,760 --> 00:39:45,759
Speaker 2: of body rolls happening. I might put on like a

781
00:39:45,800 --> 00:39:48,680
Speaker 2: little shirt, get funky. Like There'll be days, like you know,

782
00:39:48,719 --> 00:39:51,360
Speaker 2: There'll be days I'll just get up and I'll jump around.

783
00:39:51,480 --> 00:39:54,359
Speaker 2: But no, like I would just want to feel really

784
00:39:54,360 --> 00:39:56,879
Speaker 2: connected to my body, and when I dance, I just

785
00:39:57,160 --> 00:39:58,560
Speaker 2: I feel really embodied.

786
00:39:58,600 --> 00:40:01,279
Speaker 5: So I love that. What time of day is this,

787
00:40:01,480 --> 00:40:02,200
Speaker 5: like how early?

788
00:40:02,320 --> 00:40:03,400
Speaker 1: Seven thirty eight o'clock?

789
00:40:03,520 --> 00:40:05,640
Speaker 5: Okay, so like the neighbors are already.

790
00:40:05,320 --> 00:40:08,560
Speaker 2: Up, neighbors already. I don't blast the music. I'm not

791
00:40:08,600 --> 00:40:11,360
Speaker 2: that crazy with it. But you know, sometimes I'll have headphones.

792
00:40:11,360 --> 00:40:14,520
Speaker 2: I had like a housemate for a period of time,

793
00:40:14,800 --> 00:40:17,040
Speaker 2: so i'd, you know, have my earbuds in. But you know,

794
00:40:17,080 --> 00:40:19,480
Speaker 2: it's just we all have these different ways of dropping

795
00:40:19,480 --> 00:40:21,360
Speaker 2: into our body. For you, it might be running or

796
00:40:21,480 --> 00:40:24,160
Speaker 2: yoga for some people, and for me, it was a

797
00:40:24,280 --> 00:40:27,080
Speaker 2: very It was something that I didn't have to think about,

798
00:40:27,239 --> 00:40:29,719
Speaker 2: you know, and it felt ridiculous and that's why I

799
00:40:29,719 --> 00:40:32,239
Speaker 2: did it. I'm like, this feels ridiculous, so I'm just

800
00:40:32,239 --> 00:40:33,120
Speaker 2: going to see what it's like.

801
00:40:33,320 --> 00:40:34,520
Speaker 1: And it was great.

802
00:40:34,680 --> 00:40:39,000
Speaker 3: What would you say was one of the biggest hurdles

803
00:40:39,120 --> 00:40:43,160
Speaker 3: after moving to LA stepping into this new role with

804
00:40:43,320 --> 00:40:46,120
Speaker 3: Open It was loneliness.

805
00:40:46,360 --> 00:40:47,640
Speaker 1: Actually, that was the biggest thing.

806
00:40:47,840 --> 00:40:50,480
Speaker 2: I was so used to having such a beautiful community,

807
00:40:50,760 --> 00:40:53,040
Speaker 2: not only from a space but also friends I'd grown

808
00:40:53,120 --> 00:40:55,600
Speaker 2: up with in Australia and I moved to LA where

809
00:40:55,600 --> 00:40:58,279
Speaker 2: I knew very few people. And you know, my relationship

810
00:40:59,120 --> 00:41:00,759
Speaker 2: my girlfriend at the time moved out to New York

811
00:41:00,800 --> 00:41:03,279
Speaker 2: with me, and you know, we broke up after like

812
00:41:03,320 --> 00:41:06,319
Speaker 2: six seven months. And then I was by myself and

813
00:41:06,520 --> 00:41:10,360
Speaker 2: I realized, wow, like I actually have to invest in friendships,

814
00:41:10,440 --> 00:41:13,200
Speaker 2: I have to invest in community, I have to put.

815
00:41:12,960 --> 00:41:13,719
Speaker 1: Myself out there.

816
00:41:13,719 --> 00:41:16,040
Speaker 2: I have to reach out because there's not something that

817
00:41:16,080 --> 00:41:19,279
Speaker 2: we can just take for granted, right And when I

818
00:41:19,320 --> 00:41:22,800
Speaker 2: didn't even know I was lonely until I just realized

819
00:41:22,800 --> 00:41:25,600
Speaker 2: one day, like I was unhealthy. I was putting on weight,

820
00:41:25,680 --> 00:41:27,880
Speaker 2: I was eating bad food, I was just feeling sad.

821
00:41:28,480 --> 00:41:30,760
Speaker 2: And then I just really made a commitment to myself

822
00:41:30,800 --> 00:41:33,719
Speaker 2: that I want to connect with other people, not from

823
00:41:33,719 --> 00:41:35,479
Speaker 2: a selfish point of view that I want to get something,

824
00:41:35,480 --> 00:41:37,840
Speaker 2: but I want to actually learn, Like, Okay, let me

825
00:41:37,880 --> 00:41:39,759
Speaker 2: go out to the east Side, because you know, la

826
00:41:39,800 --> 00:41:42,200
Speaker 2: people west Siders don't go to the east Side and

827
00:41:42,239 --> 00:41:44,960
Speaker 2: vice versa. I'm like, let me explore some friends over

828
00:41:45,000 --> 00:41:46,840
Speaker 2: there and see what life is like for them, and

829
00:41:46,920 --> 00:41:49,880
Speaker 2: let me go dancing with friends downtown, and let me

830
00:41:49,960 --> 00:41:52,000
Speaker 2: just go to these pot like dinners. And I became

831
00:41:52,080 --> 00:41:54,440
Speaker 2: like this, yes, man, everything people were inviting to I

832
00:41:54,480 --> 00:41:56,960
Speaker 2: would go to. And it really got me out of

833
00:41:57,000 --> 00:42:01,680
Speaker 2: this rumination in this sense of like overthinking and over analyzing,

834
00:42:01,960 --> 00:42:04,000
Speaker 2: and I was able to really be with other people.

835
00:42:04,040 --> 00:42:07,280
Speaker 2: And in that interaction of being curious about someone else's life,

836
00:42:07,480 --> 00:42:09,840
Speaker 2: I was out of my own experience and I was

837
00:42:09,840 --> 00:42:13,920
Speaker 2: trying to connect to someone else's experience, which inadvertently dropped

838
00:42:13,920 --> 00:42:16,680
Speaker 2: me into my own experience. Right Like hearing about someone

839
00:42:16,719 --> 00:42:19,480
Speaker 2: talk about their sense of loneliness, I was able to

840
00:42:19,520 --> 00:42:22,200
Speaker 2: reflect them like, oh yeah, yo, I have that too,

841
00:42:22,320 --> 00:42:26,120
Speaker 2: And it became like this really beautiful thing, and now

842
00:42:26,320 --> 00:42:29,160
Speaker 2: LA feels like home. And I never would have said that,

843
00:42:29,200 --> 00:42:31,520
Speaker 2: because I used to always think it was cheesy and

844
00:42:31,600 --> 00:42:34,160
Speaker 2: it was like I had to drive everywhere and people

845
00:42:34,200 --> 00:42:35,759
Speaker 2: wear bright clothes.

846
00:42:35,320 --> 00:42:36,800
Speaker 1: And like all these different things.

847
00:42:36,840 --> 00:42:41,520
Speaker 2: But you know, I really appreciate that moment for reminding

848
00:42:41,560 --> 00:42:46,040
Speaker 2: me of connection as being something that's vital to our life.

849
00:42:46,440 --> 00:42:51,320
Speaker 3: It's interesting that moment you spoke about just now, sharing

850
00:42:51,400 --> 00:42:55,520
Speaker 3: how you realized you're like, hey, I'm unhealthy. I think

851
00:42:55,880 --> 00:42:57,960
Speaker 3: a lot of people, or I'm sure a lot of

852
00:42:57,960 --> 00:43:00,840
Speaker 3: people listening to this right now can really relate to

853
00:43:00,880 --> 00:43:05,919
Speaker 3: that moment, and you were able to do something about it.

854
00:43:06,080 --> 00:43:10,440
Speaker 3: But many people feel paralyzed in that moment. For someone

855
00:43:10,840 --> 00:43:14,680
Speaker 3: listening who may currently be there, who may feel paralyzed,

856
00:43:14,719 --> 00:43:16,359
Speaker 3: what advice do you offer them?

857
00:43:17,280 --> 00:43:18,799
Speaker 1: You're not alone.

858
00:43:19,120 --> 00:43:22,440
Speaker 2: I think we can feel like our experience is happening

859
00:43:22,719 --> 00:43:24,839
Speaker 2: just to us, like we are the only one going

860
00:43:24,920 --> 00:43:27,719
Speaker 2: through depression or anxiety, or even.

861
00:43:27,520 --> 00:43:31,440
Speaker 1: Worse, like it is us that's suffering. But the reality

862
00:43:31,560 --> 00:43:32,680
Speaker 1: of the nature of.

863
00:43:32,640 --> 00:43:34,520
Speaker 2: All of our lives is that we will all suffer,

864
00:43:34,600 --> 00:43:37,120
Speaker 2: right And if we can actually remember that, if we

865
00:43:37,160 --> 00:43:41,480
Speaker 2: can remember that as a byproduct of our evolution. Our

866
00:43:41,560 --> 00:43:45,279
Speaker 2: ancestors have suffered and they have overcome that, and so

867
00:43:45,480 --> 00:43:48,400
Speaker 2: it is in our DNA that we can overcome suffering.

868
00:43:48,480 --> 00:43:51,799
Speaker 2: Like it's that's not poetic or spiritual, it's fact, like

869
00:43:51,880 --> 00:43:57,080
Speaker 2: we can overcome things. And then realizing in the next moment,

870
00:43:57,120 --> 00:43:58,920
Speaker 2: we get to choose what happens.

871
00:43:59,000 --> 00:44:00,000
Speaker 1: Right, if we can become.

872
00:43:59,800 --> 00:44:05,960
Speaker 2: Aware of our thinking, our thought patterns, our spiraling thoughts

873
00:44:05,960 --> 00:44:08,120
Speaker 2: and all of this and be aware of that, we

874
00:44:08,160 --> 00:44:09,520
Speaker 2: can be like, oh, okay.

875
00:44:10,640 --> 00:44:11,600
Speaker 1: Now what's next.

876
00:44:12,120 --> 00:44:14,960
Speaker 2: How can I choose something that's going to lead me

877
00:44:15,040 --> 00:44:17,719
Speaker 2: towards less suffering and more happiness. And when we make

878
00:44:17,760 --> 00:44:21,879
Speaker 2: that next decision, we're already in a place that's better

879
00:44:21,920 --> 00:44:24,000
Speaker 2: than the place we were at. And from that place

880
00:44:24,040 --> 00:44:26,960
Speaker 2: where again presented decisions right like what's the next thing?

881
00:44:27,000 --> 00:44:28,040
Speaker 1: Oh should I eat?

882
00:44:28,400 --> 00:44:31,960
Speaker 2: I was like smashing breakfast burritos every single day, drinking

883
00:44:32,000 --> 00:44:33,920
Speaker 2: coffee three or four times a day, and there was

884
00:44:33,960 --> 00:44:35,960
Speaker 2: a moment I'm like, this is probably not healthy for me.

885
00:44:36,640 --> 00:44:39,520
Speaker 2: And that moment I realized, oh, I'm going to have

886
00:44:39,560 --> 00:44:43,200
Speaker 2: a smoothie or eat healthier. I started to feel better

887
00:44:43,200 --> 00:44:45,080
Speaker 2: straight away. And from that I'm like, oh, I'm going

888
00:44:45,120 --> 00:44:48,400
Speaker 2: to start going to yoga classes again. Oh I started

889
00:44:48,400 --> 00:44:50,799
Speaker 2: to feel better. From there, I'm like, oh, maybe I'm

890
00:44:50,840 --> 00:44:52,360
Speaker 2: going to go and catch up with friends now. And

891
00:44:53,000 --> 00:44:56,120
Speaker 2: you start to fall into this little cycle of making

892
00:44:56,160 --> 00:44:58,920
Speaker 2: decisions that are just better for you and are healthier

893
00:44:58,920 --> 00:45:02,279
Speaker 2: for you, and you become wiser, which is ultimately what

894
00:45:02,320 --> 00:45:05,240
Speaker 2: mindfulness gives us. It's not just feeling good in the moment.

895
00:45:05,520 --> 00:45:07,960
Speaker 2: We start to feel wiser, and when we're wiser, we

896
00:45:08,000 --> 00:45:08,960
Speaker 2: make better decisions.

897
00:45:09,280 --> 00:45:15,279
Speaker 3: Right, And these realizations, these understandings can be difficult for

898
00:45:15,400 --> 00:45:19,160
Speaker 3: anyone also being vocal about maybe how you feel. I

899
00:45:19,160 --> 00:45:22,680
Speaker 3: would imagine that maybe for you, as a man of color,

900
00:45:23,080 --> 00:45:25,359
Speaker 3: even a little bit more, can you share a little

901
00:45:25,360 --> 00:45:29,400
Speaker 3: bit about how that may have made your experience a

902
00:45:29,440 --> 00:45:30,320
Speaker 3: little bit more intricate?

903
00:45:30,800 --> 00:45:33,560
Speaker 2: Absolutely, And thank you for asking me about that, because

904
00:45:34,160 --> 00:45:36,760
Speaker 2: you know, twenty twenty wasn't just all about the pandemic.

905
00:45:36,840 --> 00:45:39,319
Speaker 2: It was about like the racial app the reckoning really

906
00:45:39,360 --> 00:45:41,680
Speaker 2: that we had. And you know, for me, as an

907
00:45:41,719 --> 00:45:45,840
Speaker 2: immigrant migrating from Sri Lanka to Australia, growing up in

908
00:45:46,320 --> 00:45:48,960
Speaker 2: very barren conditions and the place I grew up in,

909
00:45:49,440 --> 00:45:52,160
Speaker 2: I often refer to it as arguably the most racist

910
00:45:52,200 --> 00:45:56,919
Speaker 2: part of Australia and then kind of coming into this

911
00:45:57,160 --> 00:46:00,440
Speaker 2: reconciliation of who I am in this world, how the

912
00:46:00,480 --> 00:46:04,319
Speaker 2: world sees me, you know, how opportunities don't come my way,

913
00:46:04,440 --> 00:46:08,319
Speaker 2: and you know, there's a lot of other things that

914
00:46:08,400 --> 00:46:11,880
Speaker 2: people of color have to navigate beyond, like the normal experience.

915
00:46:11,920 --> 00:46:14,400
Speaker 2: And we all suffer, yes, and not that anyone suffering

916
00:46:14,480 --> 00:46:17,560
Speaker 2: is better than you know, another one, but there's a

917
00:46:18,280 --> 00:46:21,000
Speaker 2: nuance to it and different layers to it. And so

918
00:46:22,239 --> 00:46:24,799
Speaker 2: my experience as amount of color is that I would

919
00:46:24,840 --> 00:46:28,120
Speaker 2: often go into spaces where I didn't see myself reflected,

920
00:46:28,920 --> 00:46:31,520
Speaker 2: you know, going into these Buddhist places in the West

921
00:46:31,520 --> 00:46:34,320
Speaker 2: where I was often the only man of color, often

922
00:46:35,680 --> 00:46:40,000
Speaker 2: the youngest person as well, and having to look beyond

923
00:46:40,000 --> 00:46:41,920
Speaker 2: the fact that, Okay, I don't feel like this teacher

924
00:46:41,960 --> 00:46:45,680
Speaker 2: is necessarily speaking to me. But there's something I'm going

925
00:46:45,719 --> 00:46:48,640
Speaker 2: to extract from this moment. And when we launched a

926
00:46:48,760 --> 00:46:52,759
Speaker 2: Space as an example, our focus was an accessibility, Like

927
00:46:52,800 --> 00:46:55,560
Speaker 2: we had to speak a language that everyone could relate to,

928
00:46:56,000 --> 00:47:00,000
Speaker 2: and we had to show people that they were welcome

929
00:47:00,239 --> 00:47:02,279
Speaker 2: here and they felt safe here. So the language that

930
00:47:02,320 --> 00:47:04,600
Speaker 2: we used had to had to change and it open

931
00:47:04,680 --> 00:47:07,840
Speaker 2: is the same thing, Like we have a representation not

932
00:47:08,040 --> 00:47:11,200
Speaker 2: just across our teachers, but within our company as well,

933
00:47:11,560 --> 00:47:15,120
Speaker 2: and it's reflected in our branding, and it's reflected in

934
00:47:15,160 --> 00:47:17,680
Speaker 2: who we attract all these audiences. I mean, I don't

935
00:47:17,680 --> 00:47:20,360
Speaker 2: think it's it's not lost on me that Open is

936
00:47:20,400 --> 00:47:23,319
Speaker 2: co founded by three men of color and in the

937
00:47:23,320 --> 00:47:27,320
Speaker 2: wellness world, that's pretty wild to actually have that experience,

938
00:47:27,640 --> 00:47:33,120
Speaker 2: to have entrepreneurs of color with a product that's for everyone.

939
00:47:33,520 --> 00:47:36,640
Speaker 2: And so a lot of learnings, you know, even migrating

940
00:47:36,640 --> 00:47:39,800
Speaker 2: from Australia to the US and learning about the history

941
00:47:39,880 --> 00:47:45,120
Speaker 2: of America and how nuanced that is, and how we

942
00:47:45,160 --> 00:47:47,160
Speaker 2: have to change how we speak, We have to change

943
00:47:47,400 --> 00:47:48,120
Speaker 2: how we show up.

944
00:47:48,160 --> 00:47:49,440
Speaker 1: We have to be.

945
00:47:49,560 --> 00:47:53,840
Speaker 2: In recognition of people's lived experience whenever we teach a class.

946
00:47:53,960 --> 00:47:57,319
Speaker 2: And that's as simple as saying sometimes, hey, I would

947
00:47:57,320 --> 00:47:59,520
Speaker 2: always say in Australia, when you're ready to close your eyes,

948
00:47:59,560 --> 00:48:01,879
Speaker 2: let's practice. But for a lot of people, people don't

949
00:48:01,880 --> 00:48:04,400
Speaker 2: feel safe closing their eyes here. So to have that

950
00:48:05,520 --> 00:48:09,040
Speaker 2: understanding to be like, okay, if you feel safe close

951
00:48:09,040 --> 00:48:10,960
Speaker 2: your eyes, if not, to shift your gaze down, Like

952
00:48:11,680 --> 00:48:15,120
Speaker 2: they are things that you learn if you have an

953
00:48:15,200 --> 00:48:18,480
Speaker 2: interest in making what you're doing accessible to everyone, you

954
00:48:18,560 --> 00:48:21,480
Speaker 2: have to really understand the lived experience of everyone.

955
00:48:21,680 --> 00:48:24,080
Speaker 3: I feel like that example is so strong this like

956
00:48:24,320 --> 00:48:26,680
Speaker 3: people might not feel safe closing their eyes. So it's

957
00:48:26,680 --> 00:48:28,520
Speaker 3: almost as though I'm curious as to like what other

958
00:48:28,560 --> 00:48:31,360
Speaker 3: considerations maybe that you have taken into account when it

959
00:48:31,400 --> 00:48:34,799
Speaker 3: comes into creating the programming for open As.

960
00:48:34,840 --> 00:48:36,400
Speaker 5: It continues to evolve.

961
00:48:36,840 --> 00:48:38,880
Speaker 2: And I think you said it in your last comment,

962
00:48:38,920 --> 00:48:42,120
Speaker 2: like it continues to evolve, right, Like nothing is static.

963
00:48:42,719 --> 00:48:45,439
Speaker 2: But I think for me in my own personal life,

964
00:48:45,480 --> 00:48:49,880
Speaker 2: having a better understanding of trauma has really changed the

965
00:48:49,920 --> 00:48:53,319
Speaker 2: way that I teach, specifically because I'm speaking a lot

966
00:48:53,360 --> 00:48:55,160
Speaker 2: more to the body these days than I was, And

967
00:48:55,719 --> 00:48:57,600
Speaker 2: when I first started teaching, it was all about the mind.

968
00:48:58,239 --> 00:49:00,280
Speaker 2: But in my own life and in my own teaching,

969
00:49:00,560 --> 00:49:02,800
Speaker 2: I'm seeing that there's a disconnect from body and mind,

970
00:49:03,320 --> 00:49:06,360
Speaker 2: and for most of us to heal our trauma, that

971
00:49:06,440 --> 00:49:09,640
Speaker 2: trauma exists in the body, right, It exists within the fashion.

972
00:49:09,680 --> 00:49:13,880
Speaker 2: Tissues exist within the deepest layers of our lived experience.

973
00:49:14,280 --> 00:49:17,960
Speaker 2: And so if I want to teach people to really

974
00:49:17,960 --> 00:49:21,200
Speaker 2: transform their life, I have to speak about that. And

975
00:49:21,239 --> 00:49:23,520
Speaker 2: when I speak about that, it's very tenuous, like it's

976
00:49:23,680 --> 00:49:28,919
Speaker 2: very it's challenging, right, because you don't know how people

977
00:49:28,920 --> 00:49:30,560
Speaker 2: are going to respond to that, and you know, we're

978
00:49:30,600 --> 00:49:33,760
Speaker 2: on like a live platform where there are thousands of people.

979
00:49:33,800 --> 00:49:36,000
Speaker 2: Sometimes in class I don't know who's going to show up,

980
00:49:36,160 --> 00:49:38,440
Speaker 2: whereas in a classroom you might see your friends and

981
00:49:38,440 --> 00:49:41,799
Speaker 2: people you practice with. So you know, in environments where

982
00:49:41,840 --> 00:49:44,960
Speaker 2: I'm familiar with people, I tell people, hey, have a

983
00:49:44,960 --> 00:49:47,200
Speaker 2: look at the room, like notice where your exits are.

984
00:49:47,719 --> 00:49:50,319
Speaker 2: Notice that you're in control of this practice. And if

985
00:49:50,600 --> 00:49:53,919
Speaker 2: your breath work practice is activating you too much, you

986
00:49:53,960 --> 00:49:57,120
Speaker 2: can slow it down, like you can stop. You can

987
00:49:57,200 --> 00:50:00,279
Speaker 2: regulate your own nervous system. And I think I think

988
00:50:00,320 --> 00:50:03,919
Speaker 2: that ability to transform the power dynamic of it being like, hey,

989
00:50:03,960 --> 00:50:06,759
Speaker 2: I am not going to transform your life. You are

990
00:50:06,760 --> 00:50:09,560
Speaker 2: going to transform your life. You are in control. You

991
00:50:09,640 --> 00:50:15,280
Speaker 2: have the tools, the wisdom, the understanding to heal whatever

992
00:50:15,360 --> 00:50:20,799
Speaker 2: needs to be healed yourself and putting the putting the

993
00:50:21,040 --> 00:50:24,360
Speaker 2: power in the hands of the student. Whereas you know,

994
00:50:24,400 --> 00:50:33,040
Speaker 2: for me, coming through the very rigid, conservative and old

995
00:50:33,040 --> 00:50:35,680
Speaker 2: school way of practice, it was so much about reverence

996
00:50:35,760 --> 00:50:37,879
Speaker 2: to teachers and I still have that, and I think

997
00:50:37,880 --> 00:50:40,040
Speaker 2: that's really important. But I think we also have to

998
00:50:40,040 --> 00:50:43,080
Speaker 2: give agency to the student now and to tell the

999
00:50:43,120 --> 00:50:46,920
Speaker 2: student that there is a whole array of skills that

1000
00:50:47,000 --> 00:50:49,279
Speaker 2: are now part of their toolkit that they can use.

1001
00:50:49,640 --> 00:50:53,719
Speaker 2: And trauma now is a lot more of a requirement

1002
00:50:53,719 --> 00:50:55,720
Speaker 2: than it may have been five years ago, and definitely

1003
00:50:55,800 --> 00:50:58,080
Speaker 2: ten years ago, and definitely thirty years ago. And we

1004
00:50:58,160 --> 00:50:59,920
Speaker 2: need to be able to consider that in how we

1005
00:51:00,320 --> 00:51:02,520
Speaker 2: approach our wellness practices.

1006
00:51:02,840 --> 00:51:04,359
Speaker 5: Requirement in what way?

1007
00:51:05,200 --> 00:51:07,600
Speaker 2: Well, we have to just as a teacher specifically, right,

1008
00:51:08,600 --> 00:51:11,640
Speaker 2: we have to And requirement might have been a very

1009
00:51:11,680 --> 00:51:14,880
Speaker 2: strong word, but I think it's a consideration if you

1010
00:51:14,960 --> 00:51:18,440
Speaker 2: are doing healing work. I'll speak about like, you know,

1011
00:51:18,440 --> 00:51:21,719
Speaker 2: people of color, as a man of color, if you

1012
00:51:21,800 --> 00:51:23,560
Speaker 2: go in there, if I go into a class and

1013
00:51:23,560 --> 00:51:27,960
Speaker 2: the teachers like, let's cultivate some love and like let's

1014
00:51:27,960 --> 00:51:28,719
Speaker 2: be free.

1015
00:51:28,520 --> 00:51:29,040
Speaker 1: And I'm like.

1016
00:51:30,520 --> 00:51:33,360
Speaker 5: Your face just now, right.

1017
00:51:33,719 --> 00:51:34,919
Speaker 1: I'm like free? For who?

1018
00:51:35,600 --> 00:51:39,239
Speaker 2: Like do I feel free in my body in this

1019
00:51:39,320 --> 00:51:42,480
Speaker 2: part of the world at this moment in time? And

1020
00:51:42,600 --> 00:51:45,839
Speaker 2: who answers that question might have a very different response, right,

1021
00:51:45,880 --> 00:51:49,160
Speaker 2: And it's just this nuance, it's a real it's a

1022
00:51:49,239 --> 00:51:52,160
Speaker 2: nuance because you could go into a completely white audience

1023
00:51:52,200 --> 00:51:54,399
Speaker 2: and say that, and it might be like, yeah, let's

1024
00:51:54,440 --> 00:51:57,680
Speaker 2: be free together, right, Or you go into a completely

1025
00:51:57,719 --> 00:52:01,799
Speaker 2: black audience and they're like yo, like who free for who?

1026
00:52:02,320 --> 00:52:06,120
Speaker 2: And so that might land, but it also might not.

1027
00:52:06,680 --> 00:52:10,319
Speaker 2: But for a teacher to have an understanding of that

1028
00:52:10,640 --> 00:52:13,080
Speaker 2: is just important because they then get to choose how

1029
00:52:13,120 --> 00:52:14,520
Speaker 2: they approach that experience.

1030
00:52:14,800 --> 00:52:19,600
Speaker 3: You mentioned the word toolkit. What is in your toolkit

1031
00:52:19,800 --> 00:52:26,080
Speaker 3: to navigate and process trauma outside of dancing and your practice?

1032
00:52:26,880 --> 00:52:29,640
Speaker 2: Yeah, and so my practice has also evolved, right, My

1033
00:52:29,719 --> 00:52:33,000
Speaker 2: practice now involves exercise, like physical exercise.

1034
00:52:33,080 --> 00:52:36,240
Speaker 3: Yeah, give us some insight into what your wellness situation

1035
00:52:36,320 --> 00:52:37,120
Speaker 3: looks like right now?

1036
00:52:38,080 --> 00:52:40,000
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, so as soon as I wake up,

1037
00:52:40,560 --> 00:52:45,080
Speaker 2: I meditate. I'll do breathing exercises. The breathing exercises just

1038
00:52:45,160 --> 00:52:48,719
Speaker 2: drop me into my body, and from the breathing exercises,

1039
00:52:48,760 --> 00:52:52,000
Speaker 2: I'll meditate for twenty thirty minutes, focus on a practice

1040
00:52:52,040 --> 00:52:56,640
Speaker 2: that comes into contact with what I'm feeling sematically. From there,

1041
00:52:56,760 --> 00:52:59,279
Speaker 2: I'll walk outside. I'll walk for fifteen twenty minutes. I

1042
00:52:59,280 --> 00:53:01,600
Speaker 2: get sunlight as soon as I wake up, and thankfully

1043
00:53:01,680 --> 00:53:04,560
Speaker 2: I'm in La so it's always sunny here and then

1044
00:53:04,600 --> 00:53:07,080
Speaker 2: I'll do something for my heart, you know. And what

1045
00:53:07,120 --> 00:53:09,640
Speaker 2: I mean by that is I'll do something intense like

1046
00:53:09,719 --> 00:53:14,920
Speaker 2: cardio or running or exercise, and straight away I'm like, Okay,

1047
00:53:14,960 --> 00:53:17,120
Speaker 2: I feel in my body, I feel connected, I can breathe.

1048
00:53:17,680 --> 00:53:21,359
Speaker 1: And then I try to eat well throughout the day.

1049
00:53:21,400 --> 00:53:23,560
Speaker 1: And my vice is food.

1050
00:53:23,640 --> 00:53:26,200
Speaker 2: Like when I'm emotional, I'll eat bad food and I'll

1051
00:53:26,280 --> 00:53:28,560
Speaker 2: consciously eat to the point where I'll feel sick. And

1052
00:53:28,640 --> 00:53:31,640
Speaker 2: so I'll I know that when I'm out of alignment.

1053
00:53:32,080 --> 00:53:35,680
Speaker 2: That's my thing, So I create the conditions that I

1054
00:53:35,719 --> 00:53:39,279
Speaker 2: don't fall out of alignment. So another thing is being

1055
00:53:39,280 --> 00:53:41,719
Speaker 2: on my phone and being in social media. I'll get

1056
00:53:41,760 --> 00:53:44,200
Speaker 2: anxious in my body when I use it for twenty

1057
00:53:44,200 --> 00:53:47,120
Speaker 2: thirty minutes, and that's my cutter to log off. So

1058
00:53:47,520 --> 00:53:49,960
Speaker 2: I try to limit social media to like twenty or

1059
00:53:49,960 --> 00:53:52,400
Speaker 2: thirty minutes a day later on not first thing in

1060
00:53:52,440 --> 00:53:52,800
Speaker 2: the morning.

1061
00:53:53,200 --> 00:53:54,560
Speaker 1: I'll try to eat foods that.

1062
00:53:54,560 --> 00:53:58,560
Speaker 2: I know fuel my day and don't deplete my energy.

1063
00:53:59,280 --> 00:54:02,000
Speaker 2: And I'll do like afternoon practice as well, which is

1064
00:54:02,080 --> 00:54:06,400
Speaker 2: usually like ten to fifteen minutes, and I prioritize catching

1065
00:54:06,440 --> 00:54:09,680
Speaker 2: up with people, not to the point that it becomes overwhelming.

1066
00:54:09,760 --> 00:54:12,120
Speaker 2: But I make sure that I do something that's not

1067
00:54:12,200 --> 00:54:15,000
Speaker 2: work related, because I can also become a workaholic and

1068
00:54:15,280 --> 00:54:18,840
Speaker 2: that can be an ally for me. So meditating, getting

1069
00:54:18,880 --> 00:54:22,640
Speaker 2: out in nature is really important, eating healthy foods, drinking

1070
00:54:22,760 --> 00:54:25,359
Speaker 2: enough water, and just connecting to my breath.

1071
00:54:25,760 --> 00:54:29,200
Speaker 3: I love the note of being aware of your environment

1072
00:54:29,440 --> 00:54:33,480
Speaker 3: because I think that some hear that and they're like, oh, well,

1073
00:54:33,680 --> 00:54:34,520
Speaker 3: what kind of life is that?

1074
00:54:34,560 --> 00:54:36,800
Speaker 5: If you don't want to keep x or Y around?

1075
00:54:36,840 --> 00:54:39,440
Speaker 3: But it's not as though you don't allow yourself x

1076
00:54:39,520 --> 00:54:43,000
Speaker 3: or Y Like, it's not like you, I don't know

1077
00:54:43,040 --> 00:54:44,560
Speaker 3: it's someone's birthday and you're not gonna have a piece

1078
00:54:44,560 --> 00:54:45,239
Speaker 3: of birthday cake.

1079
00:54:45,640 --> 00:54:48,840
Speaker 5: But you might not always keep a cake inside you

1080
00:54:49,560 --> 00:54:51,439
Speaker 5: on your kitchen counter, right, And.

1081
00:54:51,400 --> 00:54:56,279
Speaker 3: So I appreciate that recognition and that level of awareness,

1082
00:54:56,560 --> 00:55:01,000
Speaker 3: and also the opportunity to articulate this is how I

1083
00:55:01,040 --> 00:55:04,359
Speaker 3: feel when I do X. So if you know that

1084
00:55:04,560 --> 00:55:06,439
Speaker 3: eating some kind of weight doesn't make you feel good,

1085
00:55:07,080 --> 00:55:09,680
Speaker 3: or not connecting with people doesn't make you feel good,

1086
00:55:10,120 --> 00:55:11,920
Speaker 3: then articulating.

1087
00:55:11,280 --> 00:55:13,680
Speaker 5: That and then figuring out how to make it a priority.

1088
00:55:14,040 --> 00:55:16,399
Speaker 3: It takes diligence, and it doesn't mean that you won't

1089
00:55:16,400 --> 00:55:18,719
Speaker 3: ever fall off of this bandwagon and you will never

1090
00:55:18,920 --> 00:55:23,239
Speaker 3: slip again. But recognizing that is so powerful to help

1091
00:55:23,280 --> 00:55:25,239
Speaker 3: you get into a space where you do feel like

1092
00:55:25,320 --> 00:55:28,840
Speaker 3: you can be more productive, happier, live a better quality

1093
00:55:28,840 --> 00:55:29,280
Speaker 3: of life.

1094
00:55:29,400 --> 00:55:31,319
Speaker 2: Yeah, I really, I really love that you said that,

1095
00:55:31,360 --> 00:55:34,839
Speaker 2: because I think what adds to our suffering is the

1096
00:55:34,880 --> 00:55:36,960
Speaker 2: thoughts we have about our suffering as well.

1097
00:55:37,040 --> 00:55:37,279
Speaker 1: Right.

1098
00:55:37,560 --> 00:55:40,279
Speaker 2: For example, my teacher when we would go out after

1099
00:55:40,320 --> 00:55:43,400
Speaker 2: a class, he would order cakes for everyone and coffee,

1100
00:55:43,440 --> 00:55:45,239
Speaker 2: and I'm like, yeah, like, shouldn't like this?

1101
00:55:45,760 --> 00:55:47,120
Speaker 1: Is like, just enjoy it?

1102
00:55:47,640 --> 00:55:50,560
Speaker 2: Just enjoy it and like, you know, obviously we wouldn't

1103
00:55:50,600 --> 00:55:52,919
Speaker 2: have that three four times a day. But just being

1104
00:55:52,960 --> 00:55:56,600
Speaker 2: able to first of all say to ourselves, okay, I'm

1105
00:55:56,640 --> 00:56:00,120
Speaker 2: feeling this way, become aware of it and acknowledging that

1106
00:56:00,120 --> 00:56:02,040
Speaker 2: that's fine. We can experience that in the body. We

1107
00:56:02,719 --> 00:56:05,720
Speaker 2: can feel our anxiety, right, But then when we attach

1108
00:56:05,840 --> 00:56:08,880
Speaker 2: the story around I shouldn't feel this, that's when it

1109
00:56:08,920 --> 00:56:12,440
Speaker 2: becomes like a mental issue for us, because now instead

1110
00:56:12,440 --> 00:56:15,239
Speaker 2: of the physical symptoms of anxiety, we've now got the

1111
00:56:15,280 --> 00:56:18,719
Speaker 2: mental burden of anxiety. And you can relate that to

1112
00:56:18,760 --> 00:56:21,160
Speaker 2: other things. Right, if we're if we had a bad

1113
00:56:21,200 --> 00:56:23,880
Speaker 2: time at work, a meeting that didn't go well, or

1114
00:56:23,880 --> 00:56:26,600
Speaker 2: a project that didn't get well, we add this additional

1115
00:56:26,680 --> 00:56:30,719
Speaker 2: layer of suffering and story to it that just prolongs

1116
00:56:30,760 --> 00:56:33,919
Speaker 2: that experience. So mindfulness, which is what you're talking about,

1117
00:56:34,040 --> 00:56:37,680
Speaker 2: is really becoming aware of what is occurring. Okay, I'm

1118
00:56:37,680 --> 00:56:40,560
Speaker 2: feeling this. Can I be with it? Can I be

1119
00:56:40,719 --> 00:56:44,279
Speaker 2: compassionate to the fact that I'm feeling something that my

1120
00:56:44,400 --> 00:56:47,640
Speaker 2: ancestors and everyone in the world will feel, and then

1121
00:56:48,120 --> 00:56:51,200
Speaker 2: can let it go? Can I not let the story

1122
00:56:51,400 --> 00:56:54,960
Speaker 2: become what fuels this experience? And that takes practice, and

1123
00:56:55,000 --> 00:56:57,960
Speaker 2: that takes effort, and it takes some gentleness right, which

1124
00:56:57,960 --> 00:57:00,359
Speaker 2: again a lot of us aren't used to being used

1125
00:57:00,360 --> 00:57:01,520
Speaker 2: to being gentle with ourselves.

1126
00:57:01,840 --> 00:57:05,360
Speaker 3: I also love what you said about prioritizing connection and

1127
00:57:05,560 --> 00:57:09,520
Speaker 3: understanding the importance that it has in your life. As

1128
00:57:09,719 --> 00:57:12,600
Speaker 3: someone else who can really relate to the work work

1129
00:57:12,640 --> 00:57:17,520
Speaker 3: work mentality, I have made it a point to not

1130
00:57:17,880 --> 00:57:22,480
Speaker 3: overschedule and not spread myself too thin, but strategically placed

1131
00:57:22,640 --> 00:57:26,160
Speaker 3: moments of connection throughout my week, ideally like thinking about

1132
00:57:26,200 --> 00:57:28,240
Speaker 3: them toward the beginning of the week so that I

1133
00:57:28,280 --> 00:57:31,240
Speaker 3: can make sure they're dispersed in a way that fills

1134
00:57:31,280 --> 00:57:35,520
Speaker 3: me up and also owning my know and recognizing that

1135
00:57:35,720 --> 00:57:40,240
Speaker 3: although I'm not a flaky person, but I in recent

1136
00:57:40,400 --> 00:57:42,560
Speaker 3: years more than ever, And I think many can relate

1137
00:57:42,560 --> 00:57:47,760
Speaker 3: to this after the pandemic have certainly recognized if I

1138
00:57:47,800 --> 00:57:49,840
Speaker 3: have something on deck and I know that I can't

1139
00:57:49,840 --> 00:57:52,120
Speaker 3: be fully present there and it's actually not going to

1140
00:57:52,120 --> 00:57:54,960
Speaker 3: be good for me on this particular day. And it's

1141
00:57:54,960 --> 00:57:57,280
Speaker 3: not that I don't want to see this person or

1142
00:57:57,280 --> 00:57:59,120
Speaker 3: do this thing, but it would be better for everyone

1143
00:57:59,200 --> 00:58:02,920
Speaker 3: involved if I push it or reschedule. Having some grace

1144
00:58:02,960 --> 00:58:05,360
Speaker 3: with that because I used to be a well, I'm

1145
00:58:05,360 --> 00:58:09,440
Speaker 3: not flaky, Yeah, so I shouldn't cancel this, right But

1146
00:58:09,640 --> 00:58:14,160
Speaker 3: now it's like, no, I'm actually saying this and articulating

1147
00:58:14,200 --> 00:58:17,560
Speaker 3: my boundary for both of us, for both of our betterment, And.

1148
00:58:17,880 --> 00:58:20,560
Speaker 2: You're saying that from a place of compassion totally, like

1149
00:58:20,600 --> 00:58:22,720
Speaker 2: for yourself and for the other for the other person,

1150
00:58:22,800 --> 00:58:25,960
Speaker 2: right Like it's love actually actually self love to say that,

1151
00:58:26,560 --> 00:58:28,320
Speaker 2: oh I need this right now. I need to just

1152
00:58:28,360 --> 00:58:30,400
Speaker 2: stay in, I need to just have a quiet night in.

1153
00:58:30,920 --> 00:58:34,280
Speaker 2: And that's okay, But I think, like again, culturally, we're

1154
00:58:34,280 --> 00:58:36,840
Speaker 2: so conditioned to be on and to do things and

1155
00:58:36,880 --> 00:58:42,240
Speaker 2: to constantly be active. That slowing down feels like unheard of.

1156
00:58:42,280 --> 00:58:44,880
Speaker 2: It feels like we're wasting our time. Yeah, but it's not.

1157
00:58:45,000 --> 00:58:49,320
Speaker 1: It's it's love, right, slowing down actually is it's love.

1158
00:58:49,560 --> 00:58:50,120
Speaker 5: It's love.

1159
00:58:50,440 --> 00:58:55,320
Speaker 3: We need love outside of your work. What brings you

1160
00:58:55,640 --> 00:58:56,440
Speaker 3: joy right now?

1161
00:58:59,080 --> 00:59:02,200
Speaker 2: You know, like I when I left Australia, I left

1162
00:59:02,240 --> 00:59:04,880
Speaker 2: my daughter likes she's old now, like a.

1163
00:59:05,080 --> 00:59:06,840
Speaker 1: Full grown, full grown adult.

1164
00:59:07,240 --> 00:59:10,240
Speaker 2: But you know, it's it's been really wonderful to it's

1165
00:59:10,280 --> 00:59:13,880
Speaker 2: the first time, you know, leaving her. It's been really

1166
00:59:13,920 --> 00:59:18,480
Speaker 2: wonderful just connecting with her and seeing her navigate adulthood

1167
00:59:18,880 --> 00:59:20,880
Speaker 2: and to be able to relate to her as an adult.

1168
00:59:20,960 --> 00:59:23,760
Speaker 2: You know, like it's been really great to kind of

1169
00:59:23,800 --> 00:59:28,520
Speaker 2: see that and to see how humans evolve as well,

1170
00:59:28,560 --> 00:59:32,480
Speaker 2: you know, from watching a child become a teenager.

1171
00:59:32,040 --> 00:59:32,680
Speaker 1: To an adult.

1172
00:59:32,840 --> 00:59:34,680
Speaker 2: So that's given me a lot of joy just seeing

1173
00:59:34,680 --> 00:59:37,800
Speaker 2: her navigate all the challenges and the grace that's out

1174
00:59:37,840 --> 00:59:40,720
Speaker 2: there in the world. But also like I think I'm

1175
00:59:40,720 --> 00:59:44,600
Speaker 2: really coming into this full circle moment of having a

1176
00:59:44,640 --> 00:59:49,280
Speaker 2: lot of joy from my own experience of going through hardships,

1177
00:59:49,720 --> 00:59:53,120
Speaker 2: finding moments where there's stillness and then knowing that life

1178
00:59:53,200 --> 00:59:56,240
Speaker 2: will again throw me out of the nest, and really

1179
00:59:56,280 --> 00:59:58,560
Speaker 2: just finding joy in everyday moments, like you know, having

1180
00:59:58,600 --> 01:00:00,760
Speaker 2: a cup of coffee today and this week and I

1181
01:00:00,760 --> 01:00:02,200
Speaker 2: said to you, like it was my first weekend in

1182
01:00:02,360 --> 01:00:04,600
Speaker 2: La in a long time, and just walking to the

1183
01:00:04,640 --> 01:00:07,960
Speaker 2: beach and I'm like, wow, I don't need these big moments,

1184
01:00:08,000 --> 01:00:10,960
Speaker 2: like this moment's really great. I have a beautiful bed,

1185
01:00:11,000 --> 01:00:13,600
Speaker 2: I can sleep in at night, and have great friends,

1186
01:00:13,640 --> 01:00:16,640
Speaker 2: and you know, I think everyday moments really is the

1187
01:00:16,640 --> 01:00:19,120
Speaker 2: most simplistic answer is what I'm finding joying.

1188
01:00:19,360 --> 01:00:23,560
Speaker 3: And I think that again referencing the pandemic is certainly

1189
01:00:23,640 --> 01:00:26,360
Speaker 3: a sentiment that so many people can relate to, just

1190
01:00:26,480 --> 01:00:29,919
Speaker 3: finding these simple, small joys in the day to day

1191
01:00:30,080 --> 01:00:33,880
Speaker 3: and things that may be previous to this last two

1192
01:00:33,960 --> 01:00:38,800
Speaker 3: year period we didn't take as much notice of or

1193
01:00:38,920 --> 01:00:40,880
Speaker 3: put as much stake into.

1194
01:00:40,920 --> 01:00:44,440
Speaker 1: Yeah, oh yeah. And it just shows you how.

1195
01:00:45,840 --> 01:00:49,400
Speaker 2: Impermanent things are, right Like, we don't know how much

1196
01:00:49,440 --> 01:00:51,720
Speaker 2: we're going to miss something until it's gone, and because

1197
01:00:51,760 --> 01:00:53,560
Speaker 2: everything is going to be gone at some point, like

1198
01:00:53,600 --> 01:00:56,760
Speaker 2: how much can we drop into that appreciation while it's there?

1199
01:00:57,080 --> 01:01:02,880
Speaker 3: Right so, right now? How many users does Open.

1200
01:01:02,600 --> 01:01:05,480
Speaker 2: Have yeah, I don't know the exact number, but it's

1201
01:01:05,560 --> 01:01:07,760
Speaker 2: I know it's growing like weak on. I should probably

1202
01:01:07,760 --> 01:01:10,000
Speaker 2: know that as a co founder. But you know, we've

1203
01:01:10,040 --> 01:01:13,120
Speaker 2: got a really big worldwide audience. You know, classes will

1204
01:01:13,160 --> 01:01:16,480
Speaker 2: have like hundreds of people per class. It's just a real,

1205
01:01:16,760 --> 01:01:19,240
Speaker 2: a real joy to see people kind of connect around

1206
01:01:19,280 --> 01:01:21,480
Speaker 2: this message of presence and connection.

1207
01:01:21,920 --> 01:01:25,480
Speaker 3: So basically, in practice, thousands and thousands and thousands of

1208
01:01:25,520 --> 01:01:29,920
Speaker 3: people come to you for maybe a sense of calm,

1209
01:01:30,440 --> 01:01:35,600
Speaker 3: maybe to do some introspective work. They see their facilitator

1210
01:01:35,760 --> 01:01:38,479
Speaker 3: standing in front of them when you look in the mirror.

1211
01:01:38,520 --> 01:01:40,240
Speaker 5: What is it that you see looking back at you?

1212
01:01:40,560 --> 01:01:44,320
Speaker 1: Oh wow, what a question. I don't think they come

1213
01:01:44,480 --> 01:01:45,760
Speaker 1: just for me. They come for all of our.

1214
01:01:45,640 --> 01:01:48,880
Speaker 5: Beautiful teachers, but they're only here for you.

1215
01:01:48,720 --> 01:01:49,480
Speaker 1: Right I.

1216
01:01:50,240 --> 01:01:52,240
Speaker 2: You know, what I see when I look in the

1217
01:01:52,240 --> 01:01:57,240
Speaker 2: mirror is someone that's just constantly evolving and learning, and

1218
01:01:57,280 --> 01:02:01,720
Speaker 2: it's just someone that is coming into a sense of

1219
01:02:01,800 --> 01:02:05,240
Speaker 2: appreciation for the imperfection that stares back at it. You know,

1220
01:02:05,720 --> 01:02:08,960
Speaker 2: I'm a recovering perfectionist and I used to look in

1221
01:02:09,000 --> 01:02:11,040
Speaker 2: the mirror and I used to see so many imperfections

1222
01:02:11,040 --> 01:02:14,080
Speaker 2: physically when I look in the mirror, and I know

1223
01:02:14,160 --> 01:02:16,720
Speaker 2: I'm evolving because now I see things and I'm like, oh,

1224
01:02:16,720 --> 01:02:19,320
Speaker 2: I love that little, you know, nose of yours. It's

1225
01:02:19,320 --> 01:02:21,920
Speaker 2: a little crooked from this football injury. And oh your

1226
01:02:21,920 --> 01:02:26,240
Speaker 2: skin that's looking great. And I know, like my evolution

1227
01:02:26,440 --> 01:02:30,320
Speaker 2: with my body, and my evolution with my spirit, and

1228
01:02:30,360 --> 01:02:34,600
Speaker 2: my evolution as a human comes from just befriending the

1229
01:02:34,640 --> 01:02:37,120
Speaker 2: person that's looking back in the mirror. And so I

1230
01:02:37,160 --> 01:02:41,320
Speaker 2: see something that is like a relationship that is blossoming

1231
01:02:41,520 --> 01:02:42,920
Speaker 2: between me and that vision.

1232
01:02:43,160 --> 01:02:45,840
Speaker 3: For someone who struggles to get to that place of

1233
01:02:45,880 --> 01:02:50,360
Speaker 3: gratitude and appreciation, what advice do you have for them?

1234
01:02:50,400 --> 01:02:52,560
Speaker 3: How did you work on flipping that script?

1235
01:02:53,840 --> 01:02:57,280
Speaker 2: So set the intention, Like sometimes when you know, we

1236
01:02:57,320 --> 01:03:00,280
Speaker 2: write a gratitude list, it can feel like it's just

1237
01:03:00,320 --> 01:03:03,480
Speaker 2: a very cognitive exercise, right, But if every day we

1238
01:03:03,520 --> 01:03:06,520
Speaker 2: wake up with the intention and we're like, oh, I'm

1239
01:03:06,520 --> 01:03:10,040
Speaker 2: going to be grateful for this interaction because I remember

1240
01:03:10,080 --> 01:03:12,560
Speaker 2: a time when no one wanted to interview me. I

1241
01:03:12,600 --> 01:03:14,720
Speaker 2: remember a time when I was just like a quote

1242
01:03:14,800 --> 01:03:19,400
Speaker 2: unquote nobody just you know, teaching. I think about like relationships,

1243
01:03:19,440 --> 01:03:21,880
Speaker 2: like I remember a time when I wasn't in a relationship,

1244
01:03:21,880 --> 01:03:24,600
Speaker 2: and I really craved the love of someone else, and

1245
01:03:24,640 --> 01:03:26,800
Speaker 2: so then in that relationship you're like, Wow, this feels

1246
01:03:26,840 --> 01:03:29,560
Speaker 2: really great. I remember a time where I didn't get

1247
01:03:29,600 --> 01:03:32,240
Speaker 2: six hours of sleep and I had six hours of

1248
01:03:32,240 --> 01:03:32,760
Speaker 2: sleep today.

1249
01:03:32,800 --> 01:03:33,040
Speaker 1: Wow.

1250
01:03:33,200 --> 01:03:36,720
Speaker 2: Like, just that intention to constantly look at the world

1251
01:03:37,320 --> 01:03:39,920
Speaker 2: as something that is beautiful and not look at the

1252
01:03:39,960 --> 01:03:43,360
Speaker 2: world as something that we have to endure can really

1253
01:03:43,360 --> 01:03:45,160
Speaker 2: transform us.

1254
01:03:45,640 --> 01:03:50,920
Speaker 3: Can you be a realist and also someone who sees

1255
01:03:51,160 --> 01:03:53,080
Speaker 3: the world that way? There are going to be different

1256
01:03:53,120 --> 01:03:55,000
Speaker 3: schools of thought on this. I have a feeling you

1257
01:03:55,000 --> 01:03:57,280
Speaker 3: and I might have the same approach.

1258
01:03:57,680 --> 01:04:02,040
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I think reality is holding the totality

1259
01:04:02,040 --> 01:04:02,800
Speaker 2: of our experience.

1260
01:04:03,200 --> 01:04:03,400
Speaker 1: Right.

1261
01:04:03,520 --> 01:04:07,000
Speaker 2: There are beautiful things and there are ugly experiences. The

1262
01:04:07,080 --> 01:04:10,120
Speaker 2: ugly experiences we can look back and think, wow, that

1263
01:04:10,160 --> 01:04:13,440
Speaker 2: was a really beautiful experience, right. The beautiful experiences we

1264
01:04:13,480 --> 01:04:16,080
Speaker 2: can be like, WHOA, that was actually a really ugly

1265
01:04:16,120 --> 01:04:17,400
Speaker 2: experience in retrospect.

1266
01:04:18,000 --> 01:04:21,240
Speaker 1: But to be able to say that life contains both

1267
01:04:22,320 --> 01:04:23,560
Speaker 1: is really beautiful. Right.

1268
01:04:23,840 --> 01:04:28,360
Speaker 2: In totality is that we can acknowledge that life contains joy.

1269
01:04:28,640 --> 01:04:30,680
Speaker 2: We have a saying in Buddhist meditation, you know, life

1270
01:04:30,760 --> 01:04:34,280
Speaker 2: contains ten thousand joys and ten thousand sorrows. It contains

1271
01:04:34,520 --> 01:04:40,280
Speaker 2: praise and blame, gain and loss, fame, and not knowing

1272
01:04:40,320 --> 01:04:43,640
Speaker 2: who the hell you are. And so this little metaphor

1273
01:04:43,760 --> 01:04:46,120
Speaker 2: is that life contains all of it. And if we

1274
01:04:46,160 --> 01:04:49,480
Speaker 2: can just recognize that, and we can come to terms

1275
01:04:49,480 --> 01:04:53,320
Speaker 2: and make peace with that, then our nervous system and

1276
01:04:53,320 --> 01:04:55,760
Speaker 2: our whole life changes, because then we don't hold and

1277
01:04:55,840 --> 01:04:56,800
Speaker 2: grasp the things.

1278
01:04:57,160 --> 01:04:59,480
Speaker 1: We can let things go when they're not meant for us.

1279
01:05:00,080 --> 01:05:02,600
Speaker 2: We don't have to chase after things that are not

1280
01:05:02,680 --> 01:05:05,400
Speaker 2: meant for us, and there's an equanimity that we actually

1281
01:05:05,440 --> 01:05:06,440
Speaker 2: develop in our life.

1282
01:05:06,920 --> 01:05:07,480
Speaker 5: I love that.

1283
01:05:07,800 --> 01:05:08,280
Speaker 4: I love that.

1284
01:05:08,720 --> 01:05:10,560
Speaker 5: All right, winding down.

1285
01:05:11,840 --> 01:05:18,400
Speaker 3: Right now, you have an opportunity to offer yourself a

1286
01:05:18,440 --> 01:05:22,600
Speaker 3: piece of advice back when you are in the thick

1287
01:05:23,320 --> 01:05:27,600
Speaker 3: of going through this major life change. You're fresh out

1288
01:05:27,600 --> 01:05:30,360
Speaker 3: of this panic attack, You're trying to figure out where

1289
01:05:30,400 --> 01:05:32,280
Speaker 3: you go from there. You've got one hundred and fifty

1290
01:05:32,320 --> 01:05:35,880
Speaker 3: dollars in your bank account right now from where you stand,

1291
01:05:35,920 --> 01:05:38,280
Speaker 3: What advice do you offer yourself with the wisdom you

1292
01:05:38,320 --> 01:05:40,240
Speaker 3: have now looking back on that hurdle.

1293
01:05:39,960 --> 01:05:44,120
Speaker 2: Moment, I'm just closing my eyes and stropping into my

1294
01:05:44,120 --> 01:05:47,960
Speaker 2: body to answer that you know, I don't know if

1295
01:05:48,000 --> 01:05:51,800
Speaker 2: I have anything really poetic to say, necessarily, but it's

1296
01:05:51,840 --> 01:05:57,080
Speaker 2: just this recognition that things change and it's not always

1297
01:05:57,120 --> 01:05:59,400
Speaker 2: going to be this bad and it's not always going

1298
01:05:59,440 --> 01:06:02,320
Speaker 2: to be this good. If you learn to regulate your

1299
01:06:02,320 --> 01:06:05,200
Speaker 2: nervous system, which for me was the biggest lesson, if

1300
01:06:05,240 --> 01:06:10,240
Speaker 2: I learned to move out of my anxious, hyper vigilant state,

1301
01:06:10,960 --> 01:06:12,840
Speaker 2: if I learned to be a friend to my body,

1302
01:06:13,920 --> 01:06:17,040
Speaker 2: the world becomes a really wonderful place, you know, And.

1303
01:06:17,320 --> 01:06:21,920
Speaker 1: To believe that the world is a wonderful place, and

1304
01:06:22,280 --> 01:06:26,760
Speaker 1: even though there's tremendous suffering and we're seeing it now,

1305
01:06:27,680 --> 01:06:30,080
Speaker 1: our world can be a wonderful place and we can

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01:06:30,120 --> 01:06:31,680
Speaker 1: transform our experience.

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01:06:32,000 --> 01:06:33,920
Speaker 3: So glad we got to do this today. Yeah, this

1308
01:06:34,000 --> 01:06:35,760
Speaker 3: was really so howe we got to sit down together?

1309
01:06:35,840 --> 01:06:38,560
Speaker 3: How do the hurdlers keep up with you? How do

1310
01:06:38,600 --> 01:06:41,360
Speaker 3: they keep up with Open? Give me all the details?

1311
01:06:41,760 --> 01:06:43,000
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean everywhere?

1312
01:06:43,040 --> 01:06:46,480
Speaker 2: Really like we You can connect with us on Instagram.

1313
01:06:47,240 --> 01:06:49,800
Speaker 2: Just look up Open on the app store, look up

1314
01:06:49,840 --> 01:06:52,800
Speaker 2: Open Mindfulness with me. You can look up my name

1315
01:06:53,000 --> 01:06:57,200
Speaker 2: m A N O J D. As it's Instagram these days, right,

1316
01:06:57,200 --> 01:06:59,040
Speaker 2: No one like checks websites and stuff, right.

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01:06:59,200 --> 01:07:00,640
Speaker 5: Yeah, for the most part, but you can give them

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01:07:00,640 --> 01:07:01,080
Speaker 5: a r L.

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01:07:01,320 --> 01:07:04,280
Speaker 2: Right yeah, I mean it's just it's just open, like

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01:07:04,400 --> 01:07:07,240
Speaker 2: oh dash pe dash dash and dot com, which is

1321
01:07:07,240 --> 01:07:08,760
Speaker 2: really annoying every time I have to spell out my

1322
01:07:08,800 --> 01:07:11,919
Speaker 2: email address. But yeah, check us out on the app store,

1323
01:07:11,960 --> 01:07:14,800
Speaker 2: check us out on Instagram, TikTok, and you know, you

1324
01:07:14,840 --> 01:07:17,600
Speaker 2: can practice with us for free for a month and

1325
01:07:17,680 --> 01:07:18,720
Speaker 2: just see what we're all about.

1326
01:07:19,400 --> 01:07:20,680
Speaker 1: And so just.

1327
01:07:20,680 --> 01:07:21,800
Speaker 5: Try it, try it.

1328
01:07:22,120 --> 01:07:25,160
Speaker 3: I'm over at Hurdle Podcast and at Emily a Body

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01:07:25,400 --> 01:07:28,480
Speaker 3: Another hurdle conquered. Catch you guys next time.