Transformational Tools For Mental Wellbeing

This talk features my brother, Benjamin Farley, who shares several wellness bio-hacks - research-based tools for wellness transformation. He is a well-versed author and wellness expert who also happens to be my brother. Benjamin reflects upon a few points in his own wellness journey - struggling with physical and mental health, body dysmorphia, and other challenges in which he discovered these methodologies from a broad range of sources.

Transcript

Welcome to Within Us.

Within Us is here to further your well-being,

Mental,

Physical,

Emotional,

And spiritual.

This is your place for the transformational tools and strategies to tap into mindfulness,

Emotional awareness,

And well-being for the collective.

My name is Azriela Jankovic and I am so glad that you're here.

I'm 22nd and this is an episode with my big brother and me.

I'm really excited to share it with you.

Before we jump into the show,

I want to reflect a little bit upon this week.

It's been a big week.

So here in Israel where I live,

The kids went back to school earlier in the week and it brought up a lot of different emotions.

On one hand,

So many parents were ready and excited for their kids to go back to school.

And at the same time,

There's a certain measure of concern.

We want to make sure that this is being done in the safest way possible.

Also a certain measure of sadness that happened really quickly.

I think that as we return to a new normal,

As a society globally,

The question comes up,

What do we want to bring with us into this new chapter?

What have we learned that we want to bring forward?

I think for me,

One thing that's come up and maybe this will resonate with you as well is that there's so much that we can do digitally.

I think that if we're able to tap into our own strengths and our own mission,

What do we want to do?

What do we want to share and how can we do that in a digital context?

I think it can really open up a lot of doors.

So I know one thing that I'm trying to do moving forward is to live more simply,

To take walks in nature,

To spend time alone,

And also to enjoy the time that I have with other people,

Really making the most of it.

One thing that I learned in a really deep way over the past few months is how vital our relationships are in our lives,

How important they are.

So often,

Especially as an adult,

As a mother,

Over the years I felt almost like going out with friends was some kind of escape or guilty pleasure.

I've heard from a lot of people that they have felt that way and this time being really forced to stay home,

Shelter in place,

Quarantine,

Whatever you want to call it,

Has brought to my attention this real vital element of relationships.

And there's a lot of research to pack it up.

I was reading a study recently that loneliness is actually really hard on the immune system and the feeling of being alone,

The feeling of being separate is actually bad for our health.

So what can we do?

How can we relate with people in ways that are promoting our health?

I think it's something that we're not necessarily always taught how to do.

I want to speak about it for a moment before I get into the content of this interview because I think the sibling relationship and family relationships in general are so demonstrative of this vital aspect of relationships.

And for my brother and me,

My brother is three and a half years older than me and we have a lot of things in common but we also have differences.

A lot of differences,

The way we see the world,

Our lifestyles,

Personalities,

Really different ways of being.

And over the course of our lives,

There have been periods of months,

Even years,

Where we didn't talk to each other.

And I think that some of that has to do with how similar we are.

We know each other so well and I think other parts of it have to do with this competitive nature of what it is to have a sibling and how siblings by nature are competing for limited resources.

Right?

So I have four kids and I only have so much time and so much attention and so it only makes sense that my kids are in some degree of competition for me,

My time,

Energy,

Approval,

Support.

And I know it and I think it's natural.

I think it's intelligent in a lot of ways,

It makes sense.

But it can also be a challenge from the sibling perspective.

And some of the reasons why my brother and I didn't talk over the years had to do with our differences.

I remember when I moved to Israel,

That was a really big deal.

It was hard.

And my brother was so sweet.

He has been in real estate for the last decade or so and he helped me sell my house.

I mean,

He really showed up for me.

But at the same time,

Moving was just a big,

Big ordeal.

And my brother and I have both had mental health journeys.

I started sharing some of mine recently on the show.

If you haven't heard my episode,

Two episodes ago,

I shared about something that happened in 2012.

And since sharing,

I've heard from more people than I've ever heard from in my life who have had mental health journeys.

And one thing I believe is that we all have a mental health journey.

And we all have emotions and we can all have uncomfortable or difficult emotions.

And the question is,

What do we do with those?

And I think the more that we understand why we have them,

That it's natural,

It's part of the way that we're created,

And that even the critical voice,

Even the negativity and sort of the self-defeating narrative that can become so ingrained in our thoughts is there for an intelligent reason.

And yet we can become conscious and we can rewrite the script.

So that's one thing that I did this week in some of the meditation circles.

I lead meditation circles every Wednesday.

And this week we talked about what it would be like to rewrite the script.

And we did some work with some self-compassion activities as well as meditation that I love so much.

Essentially you kind of go back and visit yourself as a baby,

Yourself as a child,

And you speak to that baby,

To that child.

And you give them advice and encouragement and support and you share with them.

And then you create a script from what you say.

So it's a beautiful thing to do in a meditation and it's also something you can do anytime.

If you notice yourself,

You're being hard on yourself,

Where could you be more compassionate?

And I think the discovery of self-compassion is something that's really enabled me to grow in my own capacity for relationships with friends,

Old and new,

Relatives,

And my brother really.

My brother and I reconnected.

And what's so incredible is that we reconnected last summer.

My brother lives in California.

He lives in Northern California and I live in Israel.

And every summer we go back to the States and we see family,

All of our families there.

And we saw my brother's family.

We saw him for the first time.

I hadn't seen him in years,

Two years at least.

And he and I had both been on these health journeys and he has quite a story.

He hasn't really started sharing it yet,

But he gets into it a little bit in this episode and he and I are hoping to kind of explore that more.

In any case,

When we reunited,

It was so incredible is that he and I had both been writing books.

He didn't know that I was working on a book.

I didn't know that he was working on a book.

And my book was done.

It was with the publisher and getting ready to go up on Amazon.

It's there now,

It's called Beyond All Things Insights to Awaken Joy,

Purpose and Spiritual Connection.

And Ben,

My brother,

Had written a book called The Unchained Life Manual and he was halfway through it at the time last summer when we met.

I are living on different continents,

You know,

Across the world from one another.

And we have so many things that make us unique and different from one another.

What was incredible about his book and my book is that we each wrote these books as like the remedy for our own darkness,

Right?

We were searching for light in our own personal darkness.

And the insights that I compiled and the different bio hacks that he compiled,

He took kind of more like a mind body approach and I took like a mind spirit approach,

If you will.

All of them overlapped and it was fascinating to us that,

You know,

We had found these similar remedies,

These similar cures,

If you will,

For what was ailing us.

So we're going to talk a little bit about what those were in the discussion and I also want to open up the conversation to you.

So if you have questions about any of the insights or bio hacks that we share here or you want to just kind of share with me your mental health questions,

Your mental health journey,

You can do so.

You can do it on Facebook.

You can follow me on my personal page.

It's my name,

Azriela Jankovic.

You can also find me on Instagram,

Azriela.

Jankovic and ask me anything,

You know,

Let's open it up.

We are planning a meetup around the topic of mental health.

Lots of new opportunities to get together,

Ask questions,

Share stories.

I'll update you with the details of that.

It's going to happen sometime in June.

But in the meantime,

Keep sending me your messages.

Keep checking in.

I've gotten emails and I've gotten messages with really incredible,

Incredible stories.

I'm going next week to interview Gabby Hamer,

Who is the mother of Gila.

Gila was 18 years old last winter when she jumped to her death from the top of Hadassah Hospital here in Israel.

She had gone to a psychologist appointment and she is really the victim of suicide.

And when I say victim,

I mean victim.

There were a lot of problems that weren't solved on her journey and a lot of questions that were left unanswered.

And her mom is going to share a story with me.

Her mom hasn't spoken about it yet at all.

But I'm going to go visit her and I'm going to sit down with her and we're going to talk about it.

And she's going to share some of the lessons because,

You know,

She and I both know that her daughter is not the only teenager that's ever struggled with mental health.

They're not the only family that's had these issues.

And there are healthy,

Wonderful families with children of all ages,

Parents of all ages,

Old backgrounds who struggle.

So if you struggle,

If you know someone who's struggled,

You are not alone.

And that's why I'm here.

That's why I'm sharing my story.

And that's why she wants to share.

She's learned a lot and she has a lot of advice and wisdom to give over to those who struggle.

So that's coming soon.

And today I'm going to be speaking with my brother,

Benjamin Farley.

He's such a great guy.

I feel so blessed to have him in my life,

Back in my life.

And on a lot of levels,

Like he's the only one who knew me when I was a child so well.

And if you have a sibling,

You know,

The relationship might not always be easy,

But there's so much healing and there's so much unlearning,

Really unlearning whatever it was that you may have learned as a child that isn't serving you.

And my journey and connecting with my brother,

I think has really been instructive in that regard.

What did we learn that we want to unlearn and how can we break free from that?

So it is my absolute pleasure to have you here with me today.

And with nothing further,

I would like to introduce you to my fabulous older brother,

Benjamin Farley.

Thanks for having me.

It's going to be fun to chat.

This is so nice to me.

We can never talk enough.

So it's really great to have you here and sit down and talk about this book because I know I have personally watched your journey unfold over the years.

You've been into health and fitness now for over 30 years.

How does that sound?

Maybe how many years?

Probably 25.

25 years.

And this is really a compilation of an incredible amount of research.

And it's a book that has really been helpful to me.

As my readers know,

I've been on a health journey,

A wellness journey,

Physical,

Spiritual,

And I really believe that there are certain tools that can make our lives extraordinarily better in ways that we could never imagine.

It almost seems too easy.

And I feel like you've really put together some of those tools in your book.

So I'm excited to hear from you about the tools and about your journey as well.

So why don't we go ahead and get started with this?

How did this book come together?

How did you go through the process?

What was your journey like?

I love how you say it makes it easy because that's what happens when you make an untold number of mistakes over 20 years and invest $200,

000 on every single contraption,

Supplement,

Vitamin,

Herb program,

Book,

You name it,

Seeking some answer,

Seeking some goal that really never existed in the first place.

And ultimately what this does is it boils down some really easy bio hacks.

So somebody cooped up at home can do all of this stuff on their own in the privacy of their own home.

So the timing of this book and this program and all these different modalities and bio hacks that somebody can easily incorporate into their life,

It's pretty convenient that everybody has all this time on their hands and they can't go to the gym because the best part about the book is you don't have to be a member of a gym to do this stuff.

It really is the perfect time to utilize a book like this.

So why don't we go ahead and get into what is the Unchained Life Manual and what can it offer our listeners?

The thing I love about you and your podcast is you actually read the books before you have the author on your show.

So before we go down that road,

What was your favorite part?

Because I know you read it and you actually incorporated some stuff.

I'm so happy that you asked me that because it was so fascinating about this book and for anyone listening,

You know,

I'm talking to my brother here.

I have one brother.

We're three and a half years apart,

But we live across the world from each other.

And so there have been times that have gone by that we haven't been in close touch,

Close communication and what was so incredible about my discovering that you had written a book about a year ago is that I had just finished writing a book as well.

And without ever having compared notes or researching together,

We had about seven.

Was it like seven common elements between our books?

It was great.

At least a half a dozen.

It's like the twins that are separated at birth and they end up living parallel lives.

I felt kind of like that when I came upon your book.

You really got to the root of what it is to think about thinking and to become an observer and how there is a part of us that really transcends the busy mind.

And I absolutely love that because that's always been a struggle for me and I know it's a struggle for most people.

And just taking that very first step of being able to think about our thoughts,

I think that's it.

That helps us step away.

We've just become part of the 10% of people that are practicing these methods.

Hopefully that number will continue to grow.

I think what spoke to me about your book more was these biohacks that I'd never heard of and yet were founded in so much science.

So a really practical one that I actually use now every single day is the inversion,

Doing inversions,

Doing these different exercises where your head is lower than your heart.

So I think in the book you explain how for some people it's a headstand or a handstand.

And for me sometimes it's just kind of bending down and touching my toes and doing certain yoga poses.

I can't give a full explanation of the science,

But you can feel free to elaborate on that one.

Inversion is amazing and it's been treated as a sacred yogic practice for thousands of years and if you look at modern times,

You look at different celebrities,

Rosie O'Donnell said that daily inversion on an inversion table helped her overcome a lifetime of depression.

And when you look at the scientific research involving inversion,

Of course it increases blood flow to the brain and there is some research showing that neurogenesis can occur when you give the brain more blood and allow it to decompress essentially.

And it really just turns your world upside down and we're living in a pretty crazy world.

So inversion is such a good way to increase blood flow to the brain and potentially increase the rate of creation of new neurons because neurogenesis is the proliferation of new neurons in the brain.

And so in addition to the brain,

The health benefits and the neuroprotective benefits to the brain,

Anti-depression,

Improved energy,

More relaxation,

Improved sleep and the number one thing is for the back because 90% of Americans have a back problem of some sort and when you hang upside down,

It allows for a vertical stretch of the vertebrae and it's passive because you're only relying on the weight of the body to hang you upside down.

And just like an accordion,

You stretch out the vertebrae and allow for increased blood flow and oxygenation to the discs that are in between each vertebrae.

And that's something that we just don't get with anything we do.

The only thing that could simulate anti-gravity like that would be floating in a pool but you still don't get the benefit of stretching the spine gently like an accordion and that really improves spinal health and can decrease and eliminate back pain in some cases.

Incredible.

Well,

I know that's a huge help especially for so many of us who are sedentary in our professions and especially right now with so many people staying home in this present situation.

I want to go back to what you said earlier about how these hacks look easy and you conveniently reminded me that this,

You make it look easy but you went through a lot of time,

A lot of money,

A lot of studying to put this all together.

So I want to acknowledge that this is really the product of blood,

Sweat and tears.

People can't be afraid of making mistakes.

That's how you grow and that's how you evolve.

So a mistake has to be looked at as an opportunity to change your course,

Re-evaluate your strategy and know that the answer is going to be out there.

I believe that our mistakes,

If we do them right,

Can really become our legacies.

That's what your book is demonstrating.

It's beautiful.

So in terms of these inversions,

I'm kind of thinking my next podcast interview should be done upside down.

I'm getting excited to do these inversions.

So where can we get started?

I know it's all laid out in a book but maybe you could give us a tip.

So the fun thing about the book is that I wanted it to read like a manual because I think that memes and art and graphics go a long way to teach and it also simplifies.

And so with the pace of life,

I thought that creating a manual would be the way to go.

But if you look at step 12,

Which is page 176 of the paperback,

The paperback has all the illustrations.

And the easiest way to start inversion if you don't have a table is just working on your headstands.

And you can start that against the wall.

And obviously,

If somebody is on a bunch of medication,

If they're severely overweight,

If they have breathing difficulties,

If they get lightheaded,

If they have diabetes,

If there's any kind of pre-existing conditions that they would be concerned about maybe having an aneurysm,

There's a lot of people that would have a hard time walking up and down stairs.

They should not be hanging upside down for an extended period of time.

Right,

Right.

So you have to have like a consult with your physician for clearance.

And this goes for,

This obviously goes for your entire book.

But I'm curious for someone who's kind of just getting started at the beginning of this process,

Are there more gentle iterations of this type of expertise?

Well,

The easiest thing to do is to buy a quality inversion table like a teeter inversion table and hang upside down using the safety strap at a slight angle.

So if you look at the illustration on page 176,

There's multiple angles.

You don't have to go fully inverted 180 degrees,

You know,

Perpendicular to the floor.

You're going to get there,

But you can start with 30 seconds at a 45 degree angle with the safety strap activated.

So there's no way of you getting stuck upside down.

These things are foolproof when used properly.

And just being able to lay back on an inversion table and put your arms over your head and extend your spine and breathe deeply,

Expanding your lungs and your rib cage and allowing that lumbar spine to stretch out will change anybody's life because you just can't get that anywhere.

And even if you go to a chiropractor,

You know,

That's forced manipulation.

You're not allowing for a passive relaxing stretch.

And that's the wonderful thing about inversion.

Wow.

Well,

That sounds really accessible for everyone.

So I appreciate that so much.

Why don't we go ahead and move on to one of the hacks that surprised you,

Something that changed your life.

Before we go any further,

Let's take a quick break to thank our sponsors.

Today's episode is sponsored by Lumen,

The first handheld device that can measure your metabolism in a single breath to tell you what fuel source your body is using for energy,

Fats or carbs.

Lumen's device and app provide you with personalized daily meal recommendations to help you reach your weight,

Nutrition or fitness goals.

And it has been scientifically validated.

If you want to check out how you can hack your metabolism today,

Visit Lumen.

Me.

You can use the code within S25 to get $25 off at Lumen.

Me.

This episode is also sponsored by two of our past guests,

Dave Mason and Hannah Mason.

They are incredible authors,

Speakers,

Coaches.

They're also married and now they're teaming up to host a two hour class each week for six weeks on how to dream,

Design and manifest your goals.

So it's a really incredible opportunity.

It's all based around their highly acclaimed book called The Size of Your Dreams.

You can check out my past episode with Dave.

He was on 35 and he shared all about the book and all about the process.

And you can also sign up for their new course with my link for only $99.

So it's an incredible deal.

And I don't think they're ever going to be able to offer this course at such a low price again.

It has a $997 value.

So check out the link in the show notes and you will thank me later.

And now let's get back into the show.

First I'll say,

And this is an easy one,

But it was also surprising,

Is red light therapy.

And so red light therapy has been FDA approved for certain applications when it comes to dermatology procedures.

And what they've discovered is that near infrared light penetrates all the layers of skin and improves oxygenation,

Cellular repair.

It improves elasticity of the skin.

It can boost hormones.

The applications of near infrared light therapy are phenomenal and it's counterintuitive.

But when you stand under an LED near infrared light bulb for say 10 minutes a day,

It will actually help you sleep better,

Especially doing it at night.

So red light behaves a lot differently than blue light.

And that's another thing I talked about was the problem with artificial light exposure,

Especially at night.

So when you look at the circadian rhythm and your sleep and wake cycle is dependent upon the cycle of light and dark.

So blue light that we get from computer screens and phones and TVs and even daylight,

That is going to keep us awake.

And so we're supposed to be winding down for sleep at about six o'clock at night when the sun goes down.

That is when we need to be winding down.

So if somebody has a circadian rhythm that's completely out of whack,

They can incorporate near infrared light therapy to get back on the proper sleep wake cycle by doing 10 or 15 minutes of near infrared light therapy at night and then avoiding screen time after 6 p.

M.

Or incorporating blue light blocking glasses at night to allow for the endogenous production of melatonin in the brain.

So using the near infrared light bulb is a super simple modality that anybody can do sitting in a chair at home and buying a good quality pair of blue light blocking glasses will allow people to still,

If they have to be in front of a screen at night,

They can still do it,

But they're protecting their eyes from the blue light exposure coming from the screen that's going to keep them up all night or have them waking up two,

Three,

Four times a night and not being able to achieve restful sleep.

Wow.

That just sounds almost too good to be true.

It's just simple stuff.

When you make enough mistakes over 20 something years,

You get to a point where you realize that this thing is a bioelectrical vehicle that is going to be influenced by all these different environmental factors,

Whether it's light exposure,

Sound exposure,

Dietary fat intake,

Vitamins and minerals,

You go all the way down to the cellular level and you look at the idea of mineral transport and what that means for every single cell in the body.

So we have a hundred trillion cells or more in the body and all of those cells require minerals to function.

A hundred,

I have to pause here,

A hundred trillion cells in the body?

Some people say 50 trillion,

Some people say a hundred trillion and some sources even say 200 trillion.

At what point can we even count?

It's just- It's incomprehensible.

It's incomprehensible.

It's a highly complex,

Unbelievably autonomous system because the heart beats and the lungs breathe and the eyes blink and the skin grows and the fingernails and the hair grow and the food digests and the waste is eliminated and all of this stuff happens all on its own.

We don't have to consciously think about any of it.

It's completely involuntary and that also has to do with thinking and that's the big barrier with a lot of people is,

Well,

I'm thinking these thoughts so I must be them.

That's not the case.

Absolutely,

I mean depression and anxiety are really an all-time high and these are serious struggles.

And so look at that from a bioelectrical standpoint.

If you have a hundred trillion cells and every single one of those cells has a generator called mitochondria and that mitochondria is the generator to create energy to power that cell and that mitochondria needs minerals and we need mineral transport to go on within the body to allow the cells to get the fuel that they need.

But the problem is that most people are so mineral deficient because of the soil being depleted from monocropping and just the low quality food in general.

96% of the world's food supply is conventional and has some form of pesticide,

Herbicide,

Fungicide,

Toxin or chemical in it.

So as a civilization,

96% of our food is not that good for you.

So it's no wonder that most of us are very mineral deficient.

And so if we are deficient at that level,

At a cellular level,

We're not going to have enough energy to power the vehicle.

And so when you look at mental processes,

Mental processes burn glucose,

Sugar,

Carbohydrates,

We need that.

But there's also a mineral requirement to function properly at a cellular level.

And then we talk about voltage because every single one of our cells has measurable voltage just like a battery.

So if we are low voltage and we have a lower ability or potential to generate energy,

Our cells are going to suffer.

They're not going to be fully energized at maximum capacity of the battery or the power level.

And so we will have more cell death,

Which is called apoptosis.

And normal amount of cell death is expected as we rebuild the body.

But when we are mineral deficient,

We lose a lot of healthy cells.

And obviously,

If there's too many free radicals and too much cell death,

Then we know what that evolves into.

That's cancer,

Right?

Exactly.

Mm-hmm.

So there is a voltage component to this.

And bacteria and fungus and cancer thrives in a low voltage,

High acid environment.

So essentially,

There's a lot we can do to really increase our voltage.

Absolutely.

And one of the steps in the book is as simple as taking fulvic minerals every day.

Fulvic acid is created from the decomposition of organic matter.

So think about compost,

But a lot more refined and consumable by a human.

The minerals are extracted from fulvic acid,

And they have fulvic mineral blends that you can put in water and you take it a couple times a day or two.

Oh,

Yeah.

I ordered that after reading the book.

And I thought it was great.

I didn't really have much of a taste at all.

Really went down so easy.

It's definitely metallic,

Depending on how much water you put it in.

But if you put in a little bit of juice,

You can't really taste it.

I took it like a shot and just washed it down afterwards.

There you go.

Yeah.

It's really interesting,

You know,

And how this is all so accessible.

I'm curious to hear from you,

If someone is on a budget,

Where can they get started with really increasing the voltage and taking some of these steps that will be the most meaningful,

The most value for their investment?

So one of the steps that doesn't require any money at all is earthing.

And that's just as simple as taking your shoes off and walking out into the dirt or the grass,

Taking off your sunglasses and letting ambient sunlight in through your retina.

So when we let natural light through the retina,

And we connect our bare feet to the grass or the dirt,

Through the soles of the feet,

Something called electron exchange happens.

And so we are bio electrical beings.

And when we ground ourselves to the earth directly,

The earth in theory,

If you want to look at it technically,

Electron exchange would really be seen as cleansing dirty electrons through the soles of your feet,

And allowing the earth to help you regenerate at a cellular level.

There are plenty of studies out there that show it alleviates depression,

Improves mood,

Serotonin,

Dopamine,

Norepinephrine,

It lowers blood pressure,

It decreases heart rate,

Just connecting to the earth with bare feet,

30 minutes to an hour a day,

Taking off the sunglasses,

And letting that ambient sunlight get into the retina will strengthen the entire electrical system of the body.

That's incredible.

I wonder if this is the reason why we all always feel so good after we get back from the beach.

That also has to do with the negative oxygen ions that are created with the crashing of the waves or a waterfall,

Negative oxygen ions are great for the body and energize us.

What I love about these so much is that it's really a return to our natural state in the sense that we were created so intelligently.

And it seems to me from so many of these bio hacks that it's the human created sort of filter that just gets in the way of the natural interconnectedness that we humans have with the planet and the living world.

When we insulate our souls from the healing power of mother nature,

It's just like insulating a copper wire or insulating pliers when you're doing electrical work or wearing some type of protective glove.

We're insulating ourselves with our shoes,

With rubber or whatever material is on the souls.

So it's important to reconnect.

There is a magnetic frequency,

An electromagnetic frequency that the earth generates that has a healing effect on the human body.

So beautiful.

It is just so incredible.

I love that one so much and I really appreciate the way that you make these all so accessible for everyone.

I'm curious if you want to share a little bit about transformation in terms of these tools,

Whether you want to share about perhaps some of your clients.

I know you've been a fitness trainer and a coach and a mentor over the years.

And I know that you mentioned you went through a journey to discover these.

So I'm going to leave that open for you to share about any transformations that you feel inspired to share with our listeners.

I would say that after getting married and having kids and not going to the gym and putting on weight and not living the healthiest lifestyle,

I always seem to have a set point for body weight at about 200.

You know,

190,

195,

200,

205.

It was always somewhere around 200.

And I didn't have a lot of energy.

It was the mid thirties that most guys go through.

And that's actually called male andropause.

It's like the male version of menopause.

And typically low testosterone,

Low energy,

Low drive,

Depression,

Loss of muscle,

Loss of motivation,

All that type of stuff.

That's like the mid thirties thing now in America.

So doing this really just allowed me to create a new set point where I wound up being 175 most of the time,

No matter what I eat.

It's always about 175.

And it's a completely different way of life.

I just don't feel bloated and water retained.

And I had been a bodybuilder,

A competitive bodybuilder at one point.

I tried every supplement legal and otherwise at a certain point.

I tried every program,

Every diet.

I was a complete zealot,

Crazy about bodybuilding and training.

And that of course is body dysmorphic disorder,

Which is another pathological issue that happens with obsessive endeavors like that.

So I never heard you say that before.

That's really interesting.

Well,

It's true.

And anything can become obsessive anything.

And so there's a pathology involved in anything that we obsess about and we overdo.

So the great thing about this program was it,

Number one,

It didn't require going to a gym because after working in the industry for 10 years and spending 60,

70 hours a week in health clubs,

I was just over it.

So I needed a break and I also needed to reconnect with nature.

And so how all of this unfolded,

It really transformed me physically,

Mentally,

Spiritually,

Financially,

You name it.

And it allowed me to think differently,

To speak differently,

To sleep better,

To wake up more rested,

To have a different relationship with food and light and sound and circadian rhythm.

So it got me to realize that the life I was living in my mid thirties where I would wake up three or four times a night and never sleep good and never really totally wake up the next day and I was always carrying around probably 25 pounds of water retention because I was acidic and retaining water.

The average person walking around is holding between 10 to 20 pounds of water just because they're drinking slightly acidic bottled water,

Whether it's whatever reverse osmosis water they're drinking.

So the distilled water,

The minerals,

When you replenish all those minerals and you're giving the body quality water,

All of a sudden your system is not acidic anymore.

So you just release 10 to 20 pounds of fluid retention.

So most people are carrying all of this excess fluid because their blood is very acidic.

So we retain water to buffer the acid.

So then we have a situation where the majority of people are just bloated because of an acidic system.

Yeah,

Distilled water is amazing.

And you can read plenty of stuff out there that is going to tell you it's dangerous,

It's going to dehydrate you,

It's going to kill you.

I've been drinking distilled water every single day religiously for over two years.

I've never felt better.

I can pretty much eat whatever I want.

One of the great things about the book is I don't really give a whole lot of advice on food intake,

Because there's a million diets out there and they all fail and they're hard to follow.

And people need to be able to enjoy eating without feeling the need to be on a super restricted regimen.

And what's interesting is that when you incorporate these different modalities,

You're naturally going to crave more life-giving foods.

Because when you replace the minerals in your body,

You're not going to have these weird cravings for all this junk and comfort food.

So mineral deficiency is the number one cause of an excessive appetite that can never be satiated.

So when people have these ravenous appetites and they just need to eat and eat and eat and eat and eat and eat,

It is the body craving minerals.

It's not craving calories.

So that's why three quarters of Americans are overweight or obese.

It's because we have an epidemic of mineral deficiency.

So before we get into talking about what foods to eat,

Let's get the body reset and give it the minerals that it needs.

So on an intuitive level,

You're going to start having different cravings because you are mineral sufficient instead of mineral deficient.

That's so interesting.

That is so interesting.

I can definitely attest to that experience of really feeling so much more satiated eating fresh living foods,

Not being so interested in the ice cream that the kids want to eat or things like that.

Yeah,

You won't crave it.

You won't crave it because the sugar cravings and the junk cravings,

It seems to be a pathological drive related to mineral deficiency.

Because when you're mineral sufficient and you start to have a more conscious approach to your eating,

Then you start craving quality foods.

Like you're wanting to eat beef from cattle that was raised on a ranch in Idaho,

Eating grass that was never sprayed with Roundup,

Cared for by farmers who appreciate and respect the animal and process it ethically and in a humane way versus the factory farm situation that we see in this country where,

For example,

In one of these Cargill hog plants,

They're processing 35,

000 hogs a day and they are sick,

Scared animals with cancer,

Pumped full of all kinds of different antibiotics that had been fed the most atrocious feed you can imagine when you really get into the factory farm industry and start peeling back the layers of the onion,

You'll realize how atrocious this quote unquote feed is for these factory farm chickens and factory farm hogs and factory farm cattle.

It is disgusting.

We're talking about genetically modified corn,

Soy,

Cardboard,

Sawdust,

Grease,

Things like flavor additives,

Like all these chemicals that trick the cows into eating this filth.

And that's just what they do.

And then they process these scared animals.

It's the way that greed has sadly driven so many people away from the way that this earth was created and the way that living creatures deserve to live is it's throwing off the balance.

There's absolutely no question,

I'll tell you that we live surrounded by farmlands and a forest and fields and in our local fields,

There are these goats.

There's a group of goats and they all just gave birth this past month.

And so they have this brand new goat's milk and the owners of the goats are these like older teenagers and they actually take impeccable care of the animals and it's all,

You know,

Permitted and monitored and so forth.

But in any case,

These goats are so beautiful.

They roam,

They eat grass,

They live such a happy life.

And yesterday I was given some of the goat's milk and I was just so happy to know that this was from animals that are living a natural life.

There's an energy there.

Exactly.

There's an energy there.

It's this return to our basic,

The way we are intended to be is it can be so simple and so beautiful at the same time.

So I'm really happy that you bring up the issue of animals and really staying conscious of what it is that we put into our bodies because it is a living energy.

And that's why I didn't want to talk about food intake in the book.

There's just too many diet books out there.

And the reality is,

As a civilization,

We need to have a more conscious approach to eating.

We need to look for high vibrational foods.

You look at Kirlian photography,

Which measures the electromagnetic field around anything.

And you look at an organic apple versus a conventional apple sprayed with things like atrazine.

And atrazine is in 90% of municipal water supplies and 90% of US produce.

Scary chemical read about atrazine.

But if you look at the electromagnetic signature or halo around an organic apple versus a conventional apple,

There is a different vibrational energy emitted by the organic apple.

And that carries over into raw food versus cooked food and all of this stuff.

But ultimately,

When you look at meat,

And there's a huge debate,

Everybody needs to be a vegan,

Everybody needs to be a carnivore,

You need this and that and the other.

The reality about beef that not a lot of people are talking about is that what is the difference between the scared animal that grew up in the factory farm environment that was fed the filth and cows are not designed to eat grains,

But we're feeding them grains and all this other stuff in the factory farms versus the animal that grew up in 240,

000 acres in Idaho,

Grazing all day long in the fresh air and the sunshine,

Away from all the noise and the fear of the constant slaughtering,

Eating the clean grass never sprayed with Roundup or any other chemicals.

What is the difference between the meat and you look at the fat composition of the two different animals?

Well,

The one that grew up in Idaho has a very high level of omega threes in the fat.

And the one that grew up in the factory farm does not.

Not only that,

The animal that grew up in the factory farm is acidic and sick.

And typically the females will have mastitis,

Which is an infection of the udders and they're dripping pus into the milk along with residue of recombinant bovine growth hormones.

So the whole entire paradigm of meat and dairy in general is flawed because the animal is not respected.

And the main thing there needs to be the conscious approach to how are we going to treat our food and what are we going to spray on our crops?

Makes a lot of sense.

I mean,

Which cow would you rather be,

Right?

It's a no brainer.

There's a relationship between the farmer and the livestock or the farmer and the field.

There's an energetic component that probably can't be measured in conventional scientific terms.

Yeah,

Right.

And that's the bridge.

That's the bridge to spirituality is our obsession with reason and logic.

And we need to categorize everything and label everything and have numbers and analytics.

But there is a spiritual component to this that you cannot categorize or label.

It's an energy.

How am I going to treat my food?

And what do I want this food to do for me?

So if you look out at a world that doesn't make a lot of sense to you,

The only choice you have to make a difference is the care you take of this physical vehicle that we are all operating for a very limited period of time in this incarnation.

It makes a lot of sense.

We want to serve in our highest capacity in this world.

And however we can do that is everything.

It's everything to use what we have and make the most of this vehicle that we have that is really so incredible.

So I thank you for joining me and sharing a little bit about the book.

I highly recommend it.

I became intimate with the book.

I read through many of the insights several times.

I'm calling them insights.

They're not called insights.

They're bio hacks.

My book has insights.

Same thing.

Same thing.

Same thing.

I love it.

I love it.

There really is so much crossover.

So I'm just curious if there's anything else you want to share with our listeners where they can find you,

What you're offering right now.

You really have so much wisdom and guidance to share.

So I run a real estate business and that's my main occupation,

But my true passion is holistic health and putting out good information.

So it's really easy for people to buy the book on Amazon,

The Unchained Life Manual.

Get the paperback because I spent over four grand on illustrations that are fun and easy.

And it makes the book a lot more understandable for someone new to this.

And it's so user-friendly and so simple.

You can do it at home.

You don't have to go to a gym and it will probably change your life.

So if anybody wants more info,

They can contact me.

Great.

Unchainedearth at Gmail.

Unchainedearth at gmail.

Com.

I'll respond to that if anybody has specific questions or is possibly interested in coaching.

But I'd love to see people buy the book and read it and share it.

That's the main thing.

That's incredible.

I love it.

I'm going to put links to the book in the show notes and I'm also going to share your email address as well so that our listeners can send you questions.

It's really generous of you to show up and answer in this way.

So thank you for that.

It's been fun talking about it.

It really,

You know,

You take on an endeavor like writing a book and it seems so overwhelming and there's so much self-doubt along the road.

And when you keep pushing forward,

You're going to end up getting it done.

And anybody who's out there who has got all this time on their hands and they don't know what to do,

You know,

Think about what is your passion?

What are you trying to do?

And just go for it.

Maybe they want to make music or write a book or who knows,

Just go for it.

Have no fear and just push,

Push forward and you'll get to the finish line.

People need to be okay with a certain level of selfishness when it comes to this because there's a lot of people out there that give and give and give and give.

And they're so worried about what's going on in the world and all these huge global issues,

Or they're in their microcosm with their family or their friends or their network or their business or whatever.

And a lot of people put themselves last.

So I think people need to put more into themselves so that they,

That then they will have the energy and the capacity to do more in the world.

Oh,

I,

I,

I agree with you.

I couldn't agree with you more.

It's a slow process.

And the number one thing is that people have to transcend the negative critic in their brain.

And it seems like,

I don't know if it was implanted intentionally at some point into the autonomous operating system of the human body,

But people in general have 60,

000 thoughts a day and 80% are negative and self-defeating and self-deprecating and limiting.

So we're walking around attached to our worst critic.

And if we can transcend that,

Then it opens up a whole new realm of possibilities where that voice is always going to kind of be in the background,

But it sure is a lot more quiet.

I love that.

I love that.

And really calling it out for what it is.

You know,

I think that this,

This comes up,

This comes up often on my show.

And a few episodes ago,

I had the honor of interviewing one of my favorite rabbis.

I've been reading his books for the last 20 something years.

He's 91 years old.

He's written 80 books.

He worked with addicts.

His whole life he was a psychiatrist.

He directed a psych ward and he has really a compassionate approach and really,

Really believes in people.

He said the exact same thing.

He said exactly what you just shared.

He said,

You know,

A lot of people think that there's,

You know,

In Judaism,

There's two inclinations.

There's an inclination for tov,

Good or evil,

Which is ra.

And he said,

A lot of people think that the inclination for evil is to,

To,

To seduce us into sinning.

He said,

But the greatest power of the evil inclination is to make you doubt yourself.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

So people are carrying around their worst enemy.

That's it.

And so,

You know,

I think when I hear you speak about that,

When I heard him speak and,

And,

And,

And just picturing that,

And I think if we're able to name it anytime we want to do something,

Say something vulnerable,

Speak from the heart,

Create something new,

We don't know what people are going to think,

Calling it out for what it is.

That is the evil inclination trying to hold us back from living our potential in this world.

And we're going to win.

We're going to win.

We were not taught self love and self care as children.

And as a civilization,

That's not a common theme that is taught to kids.

And kids need to be taught about the the sanctity and the sacredness and the,

The,

The body,

The mind,

The spirit,

When kids are taught to love and respect themselves,

And kids are taught to transcend that,

That negative voice,

Then they're going to have a leg up in life.

Because most people into adulthood carry this self deprecating,

Repetitive playlist in their mind and it goes all day long.

They have proven in neurological research that what we are by the time we are 35,

90% of it are the stories we have told ourselves.

And that by shifting our belief systems,

We are actually getting into a completely new paradigm of consciousness,

Where the brain is operating on a completely new wavelength.

So that means people are walking differently,

Talking differently,

Speaking differently,

They have a different body posture,

They have different food choices,

Different energy levels,

Everything about them begins to change.

When they when they drop that backpack they've been carrying around that's been full of bricks.

Every single one of those bricks is some negative story from the past that we have been telling ourselves for years.

It's so true.

And we can shift.

And we can change.

And it may be a process.

But you know,

I always say it's so funny.

I know my listeners who listen to all my shows can tell that we're related.

Because I always say that I believe in your beautiful dreams.

They come to you for a reason.

And everything else that comes up is just a filter.

You know,

It's really just a filter.

So we are on the same page,

Brother.

We are on the same page.

Awesome.

Well,

This was fun.

I appreciate being on your show.

Thank you for being here.

Thank you for listening.

And thank you for coming back week after week,

And for staying in touch.

Keep sending me your questions,

Sharing your stories.

I want to hear from you.

And I'm really creating these episodes for you.

So the better I know what you need and what you're going through,

The more I'll be able to help you.

As always,

I want to send you every blessing.

Wherever you are in the world.

I hope you're meeting yourself with kindness.

And do stay in touch with me.

Pop by DrOzzy.

Co.

Leave your email.

You'll get the one minute of inspiration every week,

And you'll find out about all the circles that are opening.

There are new circles opening meditation circles,

Personal growth,

Spiritual learning,

Mental health,

And I'd love to meet you in one of them.

If you've already been,

You've already been coming.

I love seeing you there.

I love meeting you from all over the world.

We've had people from several continents now,

And it's just a joy to see you all in one place and see you meeting each other and helping each other and creating amazing relationships,

Amazing community.

Every blessing to you today and always,

And I'll see you back here next time.

Reviews

Thankyou 🙏🏻 for sharing you stories I am
so glad I have taken the time to listen to you both . Very informative and has already made to want to make changes

Very interesting topics to me and I will definitely check out Ben’s book. The manual seems to fall right in place with the lifestyle I strive to live since starting thus journey late in my life. Many thanks. 💜