Christopher August Sometimes the Sign Is a Billboard

[Speaker 3] (0:03 - 0:41) Christopher August is a best-selling author, transformational guide, master breathwork facilitator, and co-founder of Beats and Breath, a global movement using breath and sound to awaken human potential. For over a decade, Christopher has supported thousands worldwide in healing trauma imprints, regulating the nervous system, and reconnecting to their higher purpose. His integrative approach weaves wisdom teachings, somatic healing, and business strategy into greater freedom, clarity, and aligned living. Chris is a homie. He's a friend of mine. We connect in person here in San Miguel, Bien Day quite often. And bro, it's a pleasure to have you here. Welcome to Here for the Truth. [Speaker 1] (0:42 - 0:48) Yeah, man, I'm stoked for it. It's been a bit and I'm really happy to be here and join with you guys today. [Speaker 3] (0:48 - 1:06) Totally, man. Totally. Dude, one way we always like to kick off these conversations is we kind of really want to get deep into your personal hero's journey. So some of the major rites of passage, the major catalyzing transformative moments, but really wherever you feel called to start. That can be birth, that can be wherever it might be, but we want to dive into you. [Speaker 1] (1:07 - 5:19) Absolutely. I appreciate that. And there's many places I could start, but because I know you and I know what you guys represent on this podcast, I'll kind of tailor my story to that and a part of my hero's journey. So basically for anybody that doesn't know me, back in 2011, 12, I was finishing my master's degree and really just beginning to question why I was doing what I was doing. I was working at a corporate tech firm, uh, at that time, you know, mid twenties, mid to late twenties, all was great. And while I had, you know, beautiful money coming in, had a brand new apartment, had a new car, was partying on the weekends, pretty much had everything you wanted on paper. But for me, there was that question, right? The question of that deep level of truth within myself. Am I living my potential right now? Am I having fun? Yes. Am I doing all the things that I was told to do? Yes. But there was that disconnect within myself where I felt empty. I felt sort of void. I wasn't really fulfilling the values that were inside of me, which really, if I track those back, it was making a difference. It was helping others. It was traveling. It was adventure. It was all of these things that I just wasn't doing. And so at that moment, I kept asking for a sign, show me a sign that, you know, like this is not my path, but I don't know where to go or what to do. And literally I was driving home on the highway after work one day, and I saw a sign, it was a massive billboard. And it said, are you ready to answer the call? And in the right hand corner, it said sponsored by the peace corps. And so if I didn't see that sign, right? Like if I didn't recognize that synchronicity that was popping up, perhaps we wouldn't even be here having this conversation. But I literally was given the sign, the literal sign and metaphorical, and then went home and Googled what is the peace corps, found out it's an American governmental organization that sends volunteers around the world to 80 different countries. And essentially it's a relationship building type of experience aside from obviously doing projects in the village and so forth. So fast forward after rigorous tests, physically, mentally, emotionally, I got accepted a year, just over a year later. And my acceptance letter said, dear Christopher, you've been accepted to peace corps, Tanzania, Africa, and you have seven days to decide. So in that moment, obviously, that was probably the biggest decision of my life, considering I'd be moving 8,000 miles plus away from my hometown in Buffalo, New York. And of course, I said, yes. And that then marked the start of my hero's journey of answering the call of that first step of going on the adventure. And so for the next two years, I spent living very primally, living inside of a village, walking you through that. Nobody spoke English. Everybody spoke Swahili. So I had no choice but survive if I was going to get through these two years. No electricity, no running water, no internet. I'm living very much connected to this community and to this land. And that experience overall, as you could probably imagine, was a very important catalyst in my life. And before I pause and sort of give space to the story, there was many moments in that journey where I was initiated. So the initiation of going there, but then having these initiations along the path, one, which was my ultimate wake-up call, which was a near-death experience drowning on the Zambezi River in 2014 on a whitewater rafting trip that basically left my body and had this profound experience of interfacing with higher consciousness, and came back and was given and seeded this mission that I'm here to share the power of breath. And of course, the first thing I do when I was resuscitated and saved by this kayak. [Speaker 3] (5:19 - 5:27) Can you go into more detail on that story? Because I've read the first chapters of your book, and it's a pretty wild story. So yeah, let's double click on that one a little bit. [Speaker 1] (5:27 - 8:17) All right. Yeah, I can go a little bit deeper. So kind of getting into the details, and I know I kind of just scanned over that as it was just another day in the park. But yeah, you know, I was, it was 13 rapids in, it was a beautiful day in the Zambezi River. And just as we were entering the 13th rapid, which happened to be a class five rapid, the boat hit a rock and I was right in the front left side of the raft. And this is my second time whitewater rafting, right? The other time was in some place in upstate New York with maybe class two or three rapids. Probably no business being on a river with class five rapids, but here I was, and I got ejected and fell backwards out of the raft. And as I fell backwards, I caught basically this wild undertow and was sucked under the water. And for what felt like a lifetime was just struggling to get any sort of air because I would pop up, I would, and then I would go back down and I would end up taking in all this water. So it was this massive fight with the river. And of course they tell you, you know, don't, don't fight against the water, but your survival brain and nervous system kicks on and just what you fucking do. So I ended up taking in all this water and I remember these last moments cause I could see the sun peering through the water. And right at that last minute where the sun just like went right into me, my body just fell into this complete surrender and peace. And I just went lifeless. What happened in between those moments was very, what I remember to be very fast. I was, saw myself basically from, from higher up looking down into the water. And then all of a sudden it was just like this EMP of light just boom. And the next thing I remember was me coughing up all of this water and coming back into taking that breath in. And in that moment, as I stared up at the canyons on the, on, on the Zambezi and the sun shining down, it was like this, call it God source, whatever you want to call it. This very clear message that this life is not to be taken for granted, which a lot of, most of my life was spent that way. And that it is all about the breath, that the breath is the foundation of all. And it is not only what keeps us alive, but it is what connects us to the higher dimensions and the higher states of awareness. And so that experience in itself was, was massive for me. And, and of course, after that, you know, everything began to change. [Speaker 2] (8:17 - 8:46) That's wild. First of all, thanks for sharing that story. It's definitely deep. I want to ask you, like you came from your life, you know, live in the tech life, apartment life, going out and partying, and then you go to a village with no electricity and like, can't communicate really with anyone. Like, were there moments where you were like, what the fuck did I do? Like, or, or were you like, nah, this is it. Like, I'm just going to fully embrace this. Like, there were no parts of you that were like, where the hell am I right now? [Speaker 1] (8:48 - 9:41) Yeah, that's a great question. I, I question myself all the time. And, and, you know, I remember at that time, cause you know, all my friends, all my family were back in my hometown. Like what decision I just make. And especially it's sad because the first three months you're living with a host family and it's immersive. You're in basically training every day. The host family doesn't speak in English. It's like a tiny little two room house, the fucking hole in the, you know, in the floor to, to go to the bathroom, like very primitive. And there were moments during then where I questioned, but I was so busy and so immersed in all of this new experience, but then you get sent to your individual villages and you're utterly alone. The closest peace corps volunteer at that time was like two hours away. So that's when it sank in. And I was like, holy shit, I made the biggest mistake of my life. What am I doing here? [Speaker 2] (9:41 - 9:56) So you're not hanging out with other peace corps homies. It's just like you in a village and that's how they do it. Cause I don't, I've known about the peace corps for a very long time, but like, it's not something that I've personally delved into. So that's like standard protocol, like one person per village. You're alone. [Speaker 1] (9:56 - 10:33) You're isolated, bro. Like literally there was, so let, just to paint the bigger picture here, I'm I T peace corps in Tanzania. The, the capital is Dar Salaam, which is a port city. I'm all the way down here. So it's a 17 hour bus ride. There was four other peace corps volunteers in my region, but everybody is spread apart. So you would maybe go into town on like, you know, a weekend in a month and meet up with some peace corps volunteers. But other than that, in your daily life, it's just you and the people in the village. So it's like a very immersive. And what's your mission? Like you're just like, like, what are you doing? [Speaker 3] (10:33 - 10:33) Yeah. [Speaker 1] (10:34 - 11:28) So for me, I was a, I was a health and business volunteer. So what that essentially means was educating people on malaria and all this stuff, which again, it's all programmed into it. I kind of put that aside. And what I decided to do was help these women who had all these extra crops leftover. And I helped them build a village eatery and their own like business to resell their crops and to be able to use it for food for the people in the village. And then I did like solar panels, rainwater catchment takes at the school, which was cool. I interact with the kids, but you know, all of it at the end of the day, as I shared in the beginning, it's just all about relationship building and about creating this, these bonds with these people. And, you know, I would say that I left that experience indebted to those people, even though I gave of myself, they gave me so much more. [Speaker 2] (11:28 - 11:40) Yeah. Do you find that when language was taken away from you, that your observational skills and really like tuning into like the subtle gestures and body language, like really improved and still serves you today? [Speaker 1] (11:41 - 12:32) A hundred percent. I've never been asked that question, but, you know, reflecting on that a hundred percent, because, you know, it's very interesting when you're put in a situation where you have to survive, right? So like your, your desire to want to learn that language is, is a lot, I guess there's more fuel to the fire. And, but in the beginning stages, it was all body language. It was all observing my environment and through learning that was an immense skill that I was able to gain and be able to communicate even energetically with people like my best friend, Peter, who's still there. Uh, we communicate every so often. He was an incredible imprint on my life, but in the beginning, literally we couldn't speak a word of each other's language. So it was very energetic, but it just felt like this, like, yeah, he was like my soul brother. [Speaker 3] (12:33 - 12:37) That's, that's, that's incredible, man. So you speak Swahili now? [Speaker 1] (12:37 - 12:44) You know, I forgot a lot of it, but you know, mumble What's up? How are you? [Speaker 3] (12:45 - 12:49) Before we move on any other, like key moments or epic stories from Tanzania? [Speaker 1] (12:51 - 13:29) Um, you know, just overall, just the experience, it just taught me so much about life and it allowed me to go within to begin to question all of those little paradigms and belief systems and identities that, you know, I had tied myself to. So it gave me the peace and quiet uh, to be able to emerge from that situation, which was, I would say equally as hard of having reverse culture shock. I went through like a, like a six, seven month, like really deep depression. I was very like fucked up just coming back to the United States and just seeing the craziness and consumeristic ways of the culture. Just like, it really messed me up. [Speaker 2] (13:29 - 13:33) Yeah. And so was it a two year like contract? Is that how it works with the Peace Corps? [Speaker 1] (13:33 - 13:34) Yeah. 27 months. [Speaker 3] (13:35 - 13:44) Yeah. Okay. So you get back, you have these culture shock. How does life proceed from here in terms of, you know, the path that you find yourself on now? [Speaker 1] (13:45 - 14:44) Yeah, fortunately I had met Sarah at the time. Sarah was also a Peace Corps volunteer, which is for the listeners. It's the, my, my son's mom. And we, she was also a Peace Corps volunteer with her own wild story and how she got to where she was, but we came back together. So fortunately I had her as an anchor and a way to be able to relate to my situation. And she was also going through her own things, but we were able to really like capitalize on what we gained spiritually through that and be able to apply that. We started a podcast in 2016 which was, you know, pretty early on for the podcasting time. And then we were coaching and doing all of these things. So, and we were traveling to South America. So I had her as an anchor. And so this is where I started to dive deeper into my certification pathways and learning all of the tools that I needed to learn to be in, to serve others in, in the realm of, of transformation. [Speaker 3] (14:45 - 14:59) Awesome, man. Okay. So I guess my question from here is how does the breath come into it as a key pathway for you at this point and anything you want to speak into in regards to the power of breath to set a foundation here? [Speaker 1] (15:01 - 17:54) Yeah. You know, the, the near death experience was the, was the catalyst and then it was beyond that. It was okay. What is going to bring me deeper into the understanding or understanding of what this breath is. And of course it's to breathe. It's to practice the art of breath work. So I dedicated myself a lot to Kundalini yoga, which I practiced for pretty much like over a year straight and had really profound experiences and really a foundational piece of all yoga, but specifically Kundalini is breath of fire. And it's a very powerful breath. And this breath was, was clearing the stagnation, the tension, all of the chronic pain, the things that my body was experiencing and helping to clear the pathways, right? Because if we look at breath and when we go down into its foundation of it it is life force. It is what many have called prana, mana, ha. There's many names for it, but all comes back to the central theme that there is this greater force that is working within you. And when I began to see it, not as a, just a mechanism that ties me into this human avatar, but I began to experience it from an energetic or metaphysical level. That's when things became very interesting. So basically through my own practice and then through different certifications that I ended up getting over the years, this brought me into closer relationship to, yes, I do much more than breath, but breath is the foundation of everything. And when we look at anybody, including myself, when we look at how we breathe, most people are breathing in a constricted, shallow rhythm, which means they're holding energy or they're holding imprints. And because of the trauma or wounding we may have experienced early on, this alters our breath pattern, which essentially then exacerbates the same emotional wounds and the anxiety, the fear, et cetera, that begin to replay themselves through this short, shallow, constricted breath pattern. And so when we intentionally and consciously come back into the awareness of our breath and deepen our breath, we can then begin to clear the stagnation and blockages that may have been in the way from us actually seeing and perceiving reality from a another lens. And so, I mean, there's so much I can dive into this. I can very much go down on the science rabbit hole and teach that, but really where my passion is the metaphysics and what that is doing spiritually, energetically for us in our consciousness, because breath is so incredibly powerful and is medicinal in many ways. So I'll pause there and we can kind of go wherever we need to. [Speaker 2] (17:54 - 18:12) Yeah. Do you work with people one-on-one in the breath? You just focus on groups? Like when you do work with groups and you're working with a lot of people, like how do you manage that? Obviously everyone's having their own experience. Everyone has gone through their own traumas. Everyone has their own kind of patterns in their nervous system. Like how do you, how do you navigate that in your practice? [Speaker 1] (18:15 - 19:53) Yeah. Early on, I did a lot of one-on-one with people. I still do one-on-one, but my one-on-one isn't just breath work. It's more somatic based. So it's somatic inquiry, somatic coaching, using the breath to bring up different emotional imprints, shadows, things that have been sort of lodged within the psyche and the nervous system, and then begin to transmute those things through coaching and through these different breath practices. And so most of my work now is done in groups. I just finished a two-week breath work tour. I was in Portland, Boulder, and Miami. And so, you know, we're working with large groups of people, you know, sometimes hundreds of people in a room together. So you can imagine all of that collective energy together. It creates our own individual experiences, but then we have this shared collective experience. And so, you know, I've been in 10,000 plus hours, you know, a decade into this, and I've seen so many different things happen within the space. But yes, I mean, oftentimes there will be emotional, you know, catharsis and releases happening within these spaces. And it's obviously energetically being attuned to the space and what's happening around me as a facilitator is really important. But then having other people that are space holders to support people in that process. But, you know, from having massive, you know, up levels of energy to having crazy visions and connecting with ancestors and all of these things. I mean, it's a full gamut that happens within the space. [Speaker 2] (19:53 - 20:13) Is there a style that you're most drawn to, or do you integrate like different things that you've learned? And do you want to talk about that at all? Because, you know, I feel like breath work over the last, like maybe 10 years has become way more popular. And so I'm just curious, what type of breath work are you most drawn to and that you find has the most impact? [Speaker 1] (20:15 - 22:02) Yeah, you know, there has been, obviously there's many different styles. It really became popular in the West in the 70s with Stanislav Grof and holotropic breath work, which is really one of the innovators in the space in the West per se, but people have been practicing breath work for thousands of years in different forms and styles. Then of course you have rebirthing, which really came after holotropic. And then you get into the different styles you see today, Wim Hof. I mean, there's so many different ones. And at the end of the day, the breath is the breath, yet there are two sort of main styles of breathing. There's sympathetic breathing, there's parasympathetic breathing, right? One's a gas pedal, one's moving back and into rest and digest. So I've created a modality, what we call sonic breath work, which essentially combines rhythmic breathing techniques with modern cutting edge immersive soundscapes and all of our music being originally produced. And then we also layer it with bioacoustics, with different frequency bands, with binaurals, all of these to entrain the brain. And so, you know, essentially there's not, I'm not the only one facilitating with music, but the way in which we facilitate it is very shamanic and immersive. And we use different breath patterns. I tend to lean more on the parasympathetic way of breathing because the world is stuck in a sympathetic traumatized state. And it's important to create a sense of safety for people so that they can actually expand their capacity to feel and what ultimately leads to deep healing. Although I do love, you know, some more intense breath work as well. It's all, it's all fitting. It just depends on what the situation or scenario is. [Speaker 2] (22:02 - 22:26) Yeah. Can we talk more about like, you know, you said earlier, oh, you know, after Peace Corps, you started traveling and getting through your certifications. Like what were the shifts and the changes in yourself as you started going through this process and working with different teachers or exploring different modalities? Like what was shifting in your sense of self in your body? The way you looked at yourself, the way you looked at the world. I'm curious to hear about that. [Speaker 1] (22:27 - 24:00) Yeah. You know, I think with every, anything that you explore, you gain deeper awareness of yourself through that tool or practice or whatever it might be. Right. And that's the, that's the idea for anything that we're doing. It's becoming and becoming the embodiment of what it is that we're sharing. And it's through that, we obviously have these different changes and shifts in perspective. I would say for me you know, having different coaching certifications, different breathwork certifications, herbal, energetic, you know, I've, I've really gone through the gamut. But what's impacted me the most and sort of changed and altered my perspective aside from the breath has been working with plant medicines. And so in 2016, I were, was down in and had a beautiful opportunity to work with these incredible medicine men and women in the Ecuadorian Amazon in a very private way. And that experience working with the plant and vine of, of ayahuasca and the medicine of, of what she really instilled within me as well as tobacco and some other plant medicines. Those were really profound in shifting how I perceive myself in the world and my consciousness. But again, I always tell people start with breath because the plant medicine realm, especially those realms, they can be very, very intense. And sometimes it's best to sort of slowly lean into those realms if, if you feel called. [Speaker 2] (24:01 - 24:18) Yeah. Like, is there any, anything specific that you, you want to share in terms of like, you know, like realizations in yourself or in your family system or like patterns of behavior that you used to maybe lead with that now are like, Oh yeah, I know that part of me, but it doesn't, it doesn't drive the wheel anymore. You know what I'm saying? [Speaker 3] (24:19 - 24:28) Like in any specific threads of your own personal transformation, like where you were and like, you know, what that process was to where you are, so to speak. [Speaker 1] (24:29 - 26:23) Yeah. You know, I think all of these things, right. They're there, all of these tools, right. Whether it's plant medicine, breath work, all of that really at the central theme for myself was opening up my capacity to feel and really where I was always a very sensitive, intuitive young child. And it was as I kind of got into my teenage years that became suppressed. I lived in a household where at the time my mom was very angry. She was in a lot of resentment for my father and for, you know, just her own path and all of these things, you know, she was working two to three jobs. It was a lot, right. She was very much stuck in a survival state and that was projected onto me. And I took that in and really began to shut myself down. And through this work that we've been speaking to, it's really, I would say I've had profound realizations and visions, and there's so many things I could probably share, but at the core of it all, it opened up my sensitivities again. It opened me up to feel. And I believe that our greatest superpower as humans is to learn how to feel yet. It's very easy to numb ourselves because of the pain that we've experienced. But when we feel we become fully human, and we also become so deeply connected to our own inner wisdom, because it's through the body's intelligence that we begin to open up. And so for me, I would say these plant medicines, the breath have all given me the opportunity to open my heart and to begin to feel again, which obviously at times it can be really difficult as an empath of feeling what's happening collectively, or even the times in my own individual life when things seem to be chaotic. But it truly is a gift and what I receive from those experiences. [Speaker 2] (26:26 - 26:27) Yeah, cool. Yeah. [Speaker 3] (26:29 - 26:32) Do you have something? I mean, I always have something, but- Is this a piece of thread you want to pull on? [Speaker 2] (26:33 - 27:12) Pull it, otherwise I'll- Well, I just, because, you know, I love getting into the personal. I mean, I know there's like, we can always share, we can always like share like the general and this and that. Not saying that you're doing that, but like the way we roll, it's like, you're this unique spark of consciousness that's been on this unique journey. And like, there's things in your journey that I can relate with in my own life. So I'm always so curious about like, you know, as you came back from Africa, like as you went on this journey, like, what were your relationships like? What relationships shed from your life? What were your parents thinking? If you have any siblings or like, like, I'm always so curious about that process as one like kind of walks the road less traveled and doesn't continue on like the status quo path. [Speaker 1] (27:13 - 29:34) Love it. Yeah. Happy to go deeper into that. Thanks for the clarification and the prompt. So, you know, one of the things that I pulled as a thread from that experience in my first ayahuasca experience was there was, out of all the visions I had, there was one moment where I was taken into my dad's basement as a child. Of course I wasn't born in the world yet, but I was taken into this vivid scene where I was in my dad's basement and all of his siblings, he had seven siblings were all around him. And he was standing at the window with a baseball bat. And he was waiting for his dad to get home because he knew that every night his dad would come in stumbling drunk and want to beat the children. And my dad was the second oldest. And so in that moment, I felt all of this compassion for my dad. And my dad has never told me any of this. A lot of it was hearsay. My grandfather wasn't really around as a kid. It was a lot of that side was very emotionally suppressed. And of course, as a kid, you know, I intuited these things, but I couldn't put words to him. So I got back from that experience and I shared this with my father and my father and I have gone in and out of connection for many years. But I shared this with him and it was extremely profound. You know, he broke down into tears and shared with me that this was a very, you know, this was his occurrence through childhood. So why I share that is because it gave me more compassion, greater compassion for his experience and allowed me to see into his deepest wounds where he's had trouble opening himself up to to share from his heart, unless there was alcohol involved, you know. And so this really helped me to lessen that resentment and charge that I held towards him and brought me into a deeper state of compassion. And overall, relationally, you know, with all of my, you know, my family, my mom's side, they've all everybody's always been supportive of my decisions, even though I certainly do not walk any traditional path whatsoever in every form and facet. Everybody has lived through their own curiosity through me and I've felt the love and support from them. So I'm fortunate in that. But yeah, that gives hopefully that gives you a little bit more perspective. But again, I'm happy to go deeper. [Speaker 2] (29:34 - 30:14) No, man. I mean, it definitely does. And I appreciate you sharing that because I just came back from a two day family constellations workshop. And I don't know, I'm just kind of like what's present for me is just like, you know, the relationships between family members and even you having this experience with your dad. And like, you know, you know, there are a lot of things that aren't spoken about within families. And yet when they are brought to the surface, you know, and then as a child or someone later on, you can like and you said it yourself, you can have more compassion. You can understand a little bit more like what your father went through, you know, which I'm saying you have to excuse behavior, but it just it shifts you and it shifts your relationship. And so, yeah, appreciate you sharing that. [Speaker 1] (30:15 - 31:03) Yeah, thank you. And I think the the talent of that piece right there and what you just spoke to very eloquently is that it's it's really about the forgiveness of another and most importantly, the forgiveness of self because that's what liberates the energy that we've been holding on to right and the judgment, the constrictions, the resistance, all of these things that live within us. This is what creates the ultimate suffering within ourselves. So that level of compassion and empathy and forgiveness is what ultimately liberated me from having to tie myself thinking that I was doing something wrong or whatever the story I was telling myself at that time. So, yes, this family work, especially and most importantly, getting into the touch with the inner child, because the inner child holds the keys to our freedom. [Speaker 2] (31:04 - 31:06) Thanks, bro. Well said. [Speaker 3] (31:06 - 31:14) Yeah, for sure. I'm curious, actually, you're asking us we haven't really connected properly since you've been back, but is there anything more you want to share about your recent experience with the. [Speaker 2] (31:15 - 33:41) I think, yeah, I think with these kinds of experiences, you know, it's like you kind of just let them sit for a bit, you know, without like talking about them. The one thing I will say is actually it's just cool because I first came across Family Constellations work like maybe 20 years ago, like a mega institute or something I did, like I was a part of something and it was just like, OK, that's a thing. You know, I feel like, again, in the last like maybe 10, 20 years in North America, more and more people are talking about this. But but it just it just kind of vibes with my views on like sovereignty and self-agency. And, you know, how can you just, you know, live a more free life? And it kind of speaks to what you were saying before, like, how can you come to this place of deep acceptance and compassion and just greater awareness of these stories? And I think it's an interesting, you know, system of understanding that Bert Hellinger kind of like came with. And it's something I'm more curious about, too, because of my interest in human behavior and psychology and family and relationships. And so, yeah, man, it was just you know, it was it was an experience with Tiziano, who we had on the podcast, you know, maybe a year and a half ago. He was out in North America and Natasha brought him to Vancouver. And so Sophie and I flew up there and some other friends were there and it was a two day thing. And it was really deep. It was extremely deep for I mean, for myself, but also witnessing like like almost it's almost like a psychedelic experience, you know, like seeing what comes up. And then also, like, you know, each practitioner is going to do things their own way. And like the connections that are made in the dots that are connected and like what one person is dealing with, another person is dealing with. So, again, man, it's like here we are. We're all in the same world. Maybe we come at it from different ways, but like how can we do whatever is necessary to come back to that place of feeling and connection and not to live in this deep resentment and like blaming everyone in our lives and just like, you know, feel and connect and accept and hopefully become more whole and full from it. So it's definitely something I want to explore more and learn more about. But but yeah, man, it's I really I really you know, because it can seem a little esoteric to a lot of people like, oh, your grandparent, you know, had an abortion and then impact. You're just like, what the fuck? But then like you have these experiences and people are sharing their personal experiences and you're like, what is this? You know, what is in the field that, you know, is impacting you from generations past? And so anyways, man, it's just it's it's fascinating to me. [Speaker 3] (33:42 - 34:15) Yeah, it's it's definitely fascinating, you know, and like, obviously, I haven't gone deep on in that realm. But like the question begs for me, it's like, obviously, these stories and these patterns operate in our lives unconsciously in many ways. And but it's like, and then at the same time, it's like, can we know all the stories? Do we? Are we supposed to pull on all the threads? But then at the same time, I guess there's certain threads that need to be pulled on because they're, you know, there's patterns in your life, which are causing you to, you know, live a less life, less full life than you are capable of. [Speaker 2] (34:15 - 36:16) Yeah, I think with any of this stuff, like you can't obsess, you can't like just go like, oh, I got to figure out every single thing. It's like you're trusting in your life's path, like you you're driving along. Oh, are you ready to answer the call? Like, and that specifically with your essence, your nature that hit you. And so for someone else, they'll be like, hey, you want to come to this workshop? Okay. And they come and it's like, what the fuck just happened? And that takes them on a thing, as opposed to like, what did my third uncle from four generations ago, my family tree, what did they experience? And I go down the list and it's like, you kind of have to like, trust the natural flow. But if you're in tune with yourself, you're like, man, I just keep dealing with this thing. I don't know. I don't know anything in my life that's that relates to why this is something I'm fucking grappling with. You know, it's like my I've shared this story in a podcast before. When I was back in 2007, I did the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, it was like back when they were still holding it live. And we were talking about how like, the mother's psychology can impact like in utero can impact the child. And so this woman got up and she's like, you know, I always I always felt like I didn't belong like I wanted. I tried to kill myself multiple times. And I just I just don't feel like I belong here. And then one time I asked my aunt about my mom because her mom had passed. And her aunt told her that her mother wanted to abort her the entire pregnancy and decided not to. So again, it's like these kinds of things like I'm not saying they're like these fixes that like, oh, now your life is going to be perfect and you're going to find your partner within a week and have a white picket fence and all that. It's just like, for some people, being able to just settle into like this deeper understanding and knowing and acceptance, I think can have such an impact on where they go from there. Those are my thoughts. And Chris, please feel free to share anything that you think about what we were just talking about. [Speaker 1] (36:17 - 38:27) No, I love all of it and very much in align with it. And again, back to you know, Joel and what you shared, like, and what you just shared, brother, like the whole entire perspective and when we're going into this healing realm, right, and there's so many different approaches and pathways to it, right. And they also often overlap in communication and how they're speaking. Some speak more to us than another. But at the end of the day, it's really about, again, that level of acceptance and forgiveness. And do we need to know the why behind everything? No. If it's meant to interface with our consciousness and awareness at that moment, then great, that's what we needed, like you said at the time. But you know, it's very interesting, because a lot of my other exploration and teaching is around the gene keys. And without having to pull deeper on that thread, if we want to, we can. But what I find very helpful and beneficial as a student and guide of these teachings for 10 years is that the gene keys really support you in understanding and understanding the map of your soul, and specifically how the relationships in your life are mirroring back specific shadows, as well as gifts to help you expand and level up. And all of these different spheres within the gene keys are essentially related to these specific planetary imprints, astrologically, that happen at these specific moments, right? Your core wound, for example, there's six core wounds, and those are connected 88 days before you're born. So yes, there is this genetic inheritance through our DNA, that we then take on for the lessons that we're here to learn. But I think the biggest part of this conversation, if I were to pull anything out from what you guys said, would be that our entire, you know, journey through this realm of healing is to move out of the victim and into the creator, right? And you mentioned sovereignty. And that's really what it's about the shadow patterns, they're all victim patterns. It's you, them, them, them, versus, hey, what responsibility do I have to play in this? And how can I begin to transmute this energy so that I become empowered as a sovereign creator of my life? [Speaker 2] (38:28 - 39:10) Yeah, well said, man. I love that you're into gene keys. It's not something I've explored too much. I've been more of a human design person in the last 10, 12 years or so. But again, it's like, I love how all these systems can overlap. And again, what are you drawn to? And then also, how do you connect the dots? Like, you can read something in gene keys, let's say, or learn something in human design, and then go, aha. And then you're like, oh, wow, I picked up a family constellations book. And then that connects the dots there. And that kind of makes sense. And I think that's the fucking coolest part about it. That said, we haven't really gone super deep into gene keys on the podcast. And I don't want to make the next, like, 50 minutes about it. But can you talk a little bit about gene keys, like what it is from your perspective? [Speaker 3] (39:11 - 39:27) And, yeah, even like, as a foundation, from your perspective, like the importance of self knowledge and self knowledge systems, and even like, those key moments where you read your own gene key chart was like, holy crap, you know, how is this telling me this about myself? [Speaker 1] (39:28 - 43:32) Yeah, that's a I'll start there, actually. And then I'll go a little bit deeper into the gene keys. You know, again, there's so many systems as we're talking about here, you have astrology, numerology of cartology of human design, you have gene keys, you have all family, you know, there's tons of them. And they're all beautiful in their own right. And I found because I've explored and studied many of them, that they're all connected, and interconnected in many, many ways. However, what I find going deep into one system that speaks to me the most is found it to be really beneficial, because the system of human design, the system of gene keys, the system of astrology, they're all very deep systems. And you can go down many rabbit holes throughout these systems. But what came to me and what spoke through me is the gene keys and the gene keys, just like human design, which they're founded on the same systems, based on the 64 archetypes of the Chinese I Ching met with your personal astrological makeup to create this chart and obviously, human design, it's a body graph. And gene keys, it's more of this sacred geometry map through these different sequences. Now, because I like the sort of mythic journey and walking through these archetypes, the gene keys in the way it's laid out, which is very mystical, as well as its poetic nature, it very much spoke to me. And, you know, I would say I would equate human design to be more of like a masculine orientated system. And gene keys is more of a feminine system. Neither are right or wrong. They're both very much interconnected. When you put them together, they really speak a lot. So what I would share about the gene keys for anybody that's interested in it is that throughout this system, we have these different spheres in which we work through which you'll have a gene key and a line number, the gene key one of 64 has these three frequency bands, a shadow, which is your victimization, your fear, all of that, we all have shadows, our gifts, which is sort of in sort of shamanic terms is like the middle world, that is where our true power lies. And then there's the city, which is like the upper world. And this is all about higher consciousness and moving into a state of perhaps momentarily a state of enlightenment, having a powerful, expansive experience. But really, the intention of the gene keys is to transform shadows into gifts. And how do we do that by coming into the body by feeling by contemplation. And it's through these transmissions, which I happen to have the book next to me, as you can see, it's pretty tattered up from 10 years ago. But, you know, these transmissions, they speak to your soul. And as you contemplate them, and how they've arrived and showed up in your life, you begin to see so much of your consciousness and awareness open up through them. And if you can take responsibility through what we've been speaking to here in this deep inner work, you can begin to really empower yourself to become energetically attuned to who you came here to be essentially, your higher purpose in your soul's mission. And we all have these, this genius that lives within us and these superpowers. And when we activate them through our genetic code, that is when we can have these massive realizations and insights and then apply them to our life. Most importantly, in service to the whole in service to others, because that's the greatest question, how can I be of the greatest service to the whole. And so what I found through my own practice of alchemy is that the breath deeply interfaces and connects to the gene keys, because it is the breath that actually activates the latent potential within your DNA, which I found out through a very powerful vision I had in a five day darkroom experience in 2022. So now I bring gene keys and breath together and weave them to help people activate, you know, their DNA and potential within them. [Speaker 2] (43:33 - 44:03) I think it's dope, man. Yeah. I mean, I, self-knowledge has been the foundation of so much of what I do that we do. And, you know, like the great, great Aristotle quote, knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom. And so like, I love these systems. I love exploring them over the years and seeing what lands and what resonates and yeah, man, it's, you know, it's, it's, it's the starting point. Like, how can you give, how can you be of service if you don't know who you are, what you are, what your gifts are, what your genius is? [Speaker 3] (44:04 - 45:00) It's almost like when you interface kind of with these systems, because for me, the moment, like I came into these different systems and started studying them, there was a deep resonance, right. But for other people, it's like, this doesn't feel like me. There's like a detachment that can occur as well. But I think what I particularly found for me is that like, just by having these seeds planted in your unconscious about like general life path, direction, where your gifts are, where your shadows lie, like dots begin to be connected in your real world and in your reality, where all of a sudden you find yourself drifting towards these particular zones of genius, and these latent and dormant skills and gifts and powers, all of a sudden, they find circumstances within your life to really come to fruition, to really be developed. Then all of a sudden, you're on this life path, there's almost like a perfect reflection and mirror, you know, of what these systems are telling you in the first place. [Speaker 2] (45:00 - 46:00) Because again, it's like, you know, the whole idea of knowledge is power. Like, we're reading these books, you're reading the Genki books, it's tattered, you've read it for so long. These words are impacting you consciously, are impacting you subconsciously. You're having these thoughts, you're in moments of contemplation and self-reflection, and like thoughts become things, you know, that whole saying. So it's like, you're feeding yourself all this stuff, this information, that like, how can you not transmit it out into the world? And how can your life then not, like, come back to you to meet that, in a way, you know? So it's like, you want to create reality, how do you create reality if you're not feeding yourself, like, the necessary ingredients to create the thing, create the masterpiece, you know, that is your life? And so I think that's where the benefit lies, is like, we're just absorbing this stuff that lands and resonates, and then it resonates back out into the world, and then, oh wow, this is a pretty fucking cool life that I'm living. [Speaker 3] (46:01 - 46:49) Yeah. I want to jump back and forth a bit here, between all these things that we've discussed, and I want to circle back to the breath for a moment. And so like, I want to talk personally, from my perspective. I'm not at the stage, I've never felt really drawn to, like, lock in, like, a breathwork session focused, like, every single day kind of vibe. But what I'm interested in from you is, what is the foundational relationship shift with one's breath that one can walk away with? Or what is the, like, that seed that gets planted, where it's like, aha, the aha moments in relationships, or how I carry myself in a moment-to-moment basis when it comes to the awareness and the relationship I have with my own breath? Like, I really want to speak into the, that core piece, if anything comes up to you. Yeah. [Speaker 1] (46:50 - 51:49) Yeah, good question. So, you know, they call it breathwork for a reason, it's work, right? We're putting in, we're breathing, you know, in this rhythmic way for an extended period of time. So it's a workout in a way. But, you know, just kind of like, let's pull it all the way back for a moment. And a practice that I like to share with people is this, right? In the jinkies, they call it the triple flame. And it's literally just pausing several times throughout the day for a few minutes at a time. And in those pauses, you just become aware of your breath, right? And let's, let's just do this in real time, right? And so anybody listening to this, unless you're driving a car, I mean, you can do it with your eyes open. But just like for a moment, just let's sink in and just drop in and just placing your feet on the ground and just becoming aware of your feet rooted into the floor into the earth, wherever you are. And just exhale out all that extra air, oxygen, and just take a slow breath in through the nose, breathing in and breathing out, breathing in through the nose, and exhaling out the mouth. And just becoming aware of that in house you breathe in, moving into your diaphragm into your belly, and exhale slowly out the mouth, just steady, smooth breath, inhaling and exhaling. Just stay within this breath pattern just for a few more cycles. Just notice everything is slowing down. Coming aware of the body. Becoming aware of the sounds around you. Perhaps a certain fragrance or scent in the air. Just taking two to three more deep breaths. You're simply observing, feeling. When you're ready, when you feel called, you can just begin to slowly come back into the space that you're in. Opening your eyes and just noticing, looking around, maybe you saw something you didn't see before. So to answer the question, which is always how I like to answer anything is through the lived experience of self. That was just a few minutes. But maybe, just maybe you felt a little bit of a shift within your body, within your being. All of this, and what I attribute breath to, is to creating a deeper level of safety and presence within our life experience. And when we become more present, we open ourselves to perceive reality from a greater band, a broadband that is a lot bigger than our normal tunnel vision when we're operating in fight or flight. And this is where we access our intuition, our inner wisdom, and where we can be able to lead our lives from a place of knowing rather than this place of fear and frantic. Where that when we feel and we can begin to experience what brings me aliveness and joy and excitement. What is tearing me apart? What is creating these fragments within me? And oftentimes we're so busy that we don't notice anything, that we're just one thing to the next. So this moment of pause is what brings us back to what's real, what's here in this present moment. And from there we can begin to create a more meaningful life experience. [Speaker 2] (51:50 - 52:40) Yeah, man. Thank you for that. I love that man. I mean, I think sometimes people can get lost in like, I have to do all the things. Well, I have to go to a 90 minute breathwork session every day or else. And it's like, we just did two minutes. And if a person did two minutes a few times a day, like who knows what can happen? Or even one time a day. You know? So I think it's like just another reminder that like these bite sized things that maybe you learn because you read a book or you go to a workshop, like you don't need to do the full thing all the time. It's just having the awareness to go, hey, I need to interrupt a pattern and do something different. And then let's see what happens after that. And so, yeah, thank you for helping. [Speaker 1] (52:40 - 53:31) That's it. That's it. Because it's those healing. Oftentimes I've seen people have spontaneous healing experiences. I've seen some really profound things from these deep breathwork journeys. But what I can tell you is the micro shifts every day is what re-patterns the nervous system. And it takes seven years just as is the shed all of your old skin and your cells. It takes seven years to rewire your nervous system. And when your nervous system is the command center of your reality, it's what dictates how you perceive and experience and feel reality. When you shift that through these micro pauses and breaths each day, then your whole entire everything, your entire life begins to change because everything is perceived and felt through the lens of the nervous system. And this is why this, the breath is the direct correlation to creating these shifts. [Speaker 2] (53:33 - 53:35) Okay. We're going to end the podcast. I got to take a nap real quickly. [Speaker 3] (53:38 - 54:08) I appreciate that, bro. I think like another thing that comes up for me is like, as human beings, you have the tendency to get addicted to like peak experiences and we can become really rigid about our practices and really identify with like, Oh, this is what I have to do every single day. Otherwise I can't operate within the bandwidth that I'm used to where like, you know, like what we're like, what you guys are speaking to, like what we just did, it's like just anything that can in for a moment, deepen and soften the relationship that one has with themselves, you know, it's like, it helps. [Speaker 2] (54:09 - 54:57) And even beyond like even doing a thing, like what if you just stopped for two to three, three times a day to just be with what is. Like, I don't need to change it. I just seem to be with it. See with it. I mean, sit with it. And then maybe allow myself to experience it even more deeply, you know, like even there's some people who repress anger and it's like, Oh, but it's like, what if I were to sit with an actual as I am angry? Like, and then how do you deal with that in a healthy way? So it's just like, it's like these just moments just be with yourself. Cause you, I mean, you hit the nail on the head and it's something we talk about often. We're just like busy, busy, busy, busy, busy, busy, busy distraction, distraction, distraction, you know? And I say that for myself as well at times, you know, we're living in this modern world. We have online businesses. We're like on our phones, we're on our computers. We're going from one thing to the next. [Speaker 3] (54:57 - 55:28) Like, well, even, even, even just for me, like in that, you know, that mini moment that we just had, like, I had a realization that there was like an element that I'm in a rush that I wasn't really that in touch with, you know, before that, where I was like, wow, like you're fucking, you're rushing to do so many things, which is awesome because I'm a generator and there's lots of things I'm lit up about right now. I started to create. And at the same time, I have more time and space than I think I have. And actually more conscious bandwidth to apply it to the process of making things happen better. [Speaker 2] (55:28 - 55:41) Yeah. Like, again, with everything that you're doing, everything you're building four minutes in a day to do a couple check-ins that's nothing. Cause you know, we're going to spend four minutes or more than that. Checking out the scores of the fucking NBA finals games. So, you know what I mean? [Speaker 1] (55:41 - 55:47) I was watching, I was watching the Sabres game cause I'm from Buffalo. [Speaker 2] (55:47 - 55:48) Oh yeah. [Speaker 1] (55:48 - 55:52) Are you Bill's fan too? I mean, by default, by default. [Speaker 2] (55:52 - 55:52) Yeah. [Speaker 1] (55:52 - 55:53) That's right. [Speaker 2] (55:53 - 56:21) I'm a Dolphins fan. And even though I grew up in Jersey, in Jersey country, let's we go from being deep. Now let's talk about sports ball. You know, first of all, yeah. You know how like people joke about like, Oh, you're talking about sports ball. But yeah. But again, even this, even this little moment is like, again, the fluidity to move through different things or different subjects or different parts of us, you know, like we could drop in and have like two minutes and talk about sports and then, okay, let's go back out. You know, I like, I like that. [Speaker 3] (56:21 - 56:28) Yeah. Chris, what's real for you right now, bro? Like what's really real for you like right now? [Speaker 1] (56:29 - 59:52) Yeah. You know, I'd say this moment I'm in a pretty, pretty big transition in my life, which feels intimidating and scary, but I've been on this threshold many times in the sense of being able to meet my edges and meet the fear that's within me. A fear that I've really struggled with for all of my life has been the fear and the wound of abandonment. And I trace, you know, if I were to trace this back logically, or just back to my childhood, right, it was my dad leaving at 10 years old and coming into this place where, you know, as me, my mom and my sister, I became the man of the house, took on all these responsibilities. And it was just a really intense experience for me at that time. And now being interfaced with a similar experience where I'm being called and have been called for many years, which all very much ties back to Tanzania, of actually building a legit livable community and healing sanctuary. And I've been sort of stewarding a vision that I've held for 15 years, but have become quite real over the past, call it six to seven months, where I started to have these dreams and visions of being in this forest. And so a trip took me up to the Pacific Northwest outside of Seattle in January. And it was there that I felt a very deep connection with the land and the forest there. So I'm going to be leaving next month, the end of June to move to the Pacific Northwest to, who knows, I'm open to the path and what presents itself. But my biggest vision and intention is to actually build a community and have a model and blueprint. And it's been interesting because I've been giving so many life scenarios, and I'll tie this back to abandonment in a second, but I've been given so many life scenarios to really understand the inner workings and architecture of community, which people talk about community, but what does community actually mean? And so having this experience in Africa, living with people for two years, having these past few years where, you know, Joel, you know, my story that I haven't shared as much publicly, but Sarah, my son's mom, and I haven't been together romantically for about four or five years, but we remain together living under the same household because of some of the challenges of our son. And also we have a very beautiful friendship and relationship. But what I realized is that that experience taught me so much. It taught me on how to, what community means, that our son needed us in many ways, and for us to come together and to put our egos aside, even though she had another partner and has a child, to be able to exist in this way where it was tough at times, but to understand what does it mean to create community? And so now I'm taking what I've learned and applying it to actually building something tangible. But where the abandonment thing comes in is that my son is staying back here in Mexico for at least the next, you know, year while I go and plant these roots. I'll be back and forth, but I feel really great at this point right now, in this moment I'm having this conversation, but it's been many months of this really deep inner battle of my own abandonment when it's projected onto my relationship with him because we're super close. So that's what's real right now. [Speaker 3] (59:52 - 59:52) Yeah. [Speaker 2] (59:52 - 59:53) How old is he? [Speaker 3] (59:53 - 59:54) How old is he? [Speaker 1] (59:54 - 59:54) Six. [Speaker 3] (59:56 - 1:00:37) Nah, appreciate that, man. And honestly, bro, like when I first heard your story and the living situation and what you guys have been through and where you currently are and the friendship, the beautiful friendship that you guys do have, like, it's impressive to me, bro, because I don't think I could, I don't think I could do that. You know, like I don't, I'm not in that situation, so I don't know what would come forth, but in terms of living with, you know, the mother of your child with another partner and another child in the situation as well, like that really is you prioritizing and valuing, this is what matters most at this point in time and all the other shit. I want to put it to the side and be there and make this as beautiful as it can be. Like for me, I was like, damn, you know, that's, yeah, that was powerful. [Speaker 1] (1:00:39 - 1:00:40) Yeah. Thank you. Thanks for sharing that. [Speaker 2] (1:00:41 - 1:00:53) And the Pacific Northwest is beautiful, man. Like I haven't spent too much time on there. I mean, I just went to Vancouver, which wasn't not too far from there. And, uh, yeah, stunning. Like the trees, the forest, man, there's something super special. [Speaker 1] (1:00:53 - 1:00:57) There is. Yeah. There's, there's a piece of my heart there and I'm ready to explore what that is. [Speaker 3] (1:00:58 - 1:01:01) So, so you're abandoning me though in this process? [Speaker 1] (1:01:01 - 1:01:04) I'm abandoning, yeah, bro. Like, yeah, but that's the lesson for you. [Speaker 3] (1:01:04 - 1:01:12) You got to deal with your own wounds, Joe. Chris left me, Chris, leave me or bear left me. Jeez. That's all right. Me and me and the killer, hold it down. Yes, the maker. [Speaker 2] (1:01:17 - 1:01:32) Is there anything else? Unless you don't want to put it out there. Anything else you want to talk more about? Like what you're, you're intending to build, or you're just kind of holding it kind of close and seeing how things unfold and, and at the same time, maybe speaking into your vision of what ideal community does look like? [Speaker 1] (1:01:32 - 1:03:34) Yeah. Yeah. So I've, I've been mapping this out for a very long time, but I've come to a really, um, working with our architect right now to build out the vision of how I see it. But, um, what I perceive and see and feel is, is working in a very grounded way where the earth and the land becomes, becomes the center point, right? Like the healers and the guides and the people that might be living on this land, supporting the birth and the growth of this community is secondary to the land itself. So it's based on earth indigenous type principles where everything comes from the earth first and foremost, which is honoring the feminine. Um, and this has also been a journey of mine of reclaiming my own inner feminine. And what does that mean? That means my own creativity, intuition, reciprocity, receptivity, allowance, openness, all qualities of the divine feminine, while still remaining in that strength, direction, purpose, leadership of the masculine. But this has been this inner alchemy process, which very much is mirroring the world that we live in now, which is very distorted. That's another sort of conversation, but, um, earth based living where it's very grounded and the sense that there's a council, there's people that have different skill sets and you know, talents that are coming together. And in the Jean keys, there's a term called synarchy and where we are living in a hierarchy where everything is top down, synarchy is on a horizontal plane. So it's more of a council. Yes, you have core leadership, but everybody is, is together making decisions. There's a school on the land that's nature based. There's, uh, you know, sound healing, sanctuary, temple space. Um, there's eatery, there's permaculture. Um, and I know I'm not the only one that has had this vision. I've talked to many people that also share the same dream, but, um, yeah, I see, I, I I'm essentially mapping out all the visuals of the inner workings of all of that now, but it's all been very, uh, very powerful to experience and to move through. [Speaker 2] (1:03:35 - 1:03:52) Yeah. I mean, you're right. There are a lot of people having these conversations and I had a conversation with someone at compliments who's looking to build something similar. And, but again, it's like, it's all about local. It's about different nodes doing their thing. So it's like, we can, I mean, what would the world be like if there were a million people that decided to do or build or create something like this? [Speaker 1] (1:03:53 - 1:04:24) You know, um, it's grassroots is the way I see it. And that's the new way of how we need to live. And you mentioned the word sovereignty, right? This is, we need to create more decentralized systems that we are relying on each other and our own skills, instead of something that is beyond and outside of us, government, whatever you want to call it, all these, you know, systems that have been attempted to control humanity, we must break out. And I believe these community hubs are central aside from the financial piece and all that are central to how it is we're going to create a new paradigm. [Speaker 2] (1:04:25 - 1:04:31) Do you have a idea of like the ideal size of a community when it comes to something like this? [Speaker 1] (1:04:32 - 1:05:08) Yeah. I mean, you know, there's so many different numbers that are thrown around and I've read so many different stats and books about, you know, the biggest should be no more than 150 people, right? I don't want to grow it that big. I would say, you know, let's say at this point, no more than like 20 different houses of families or, you know, people within there in the long-term sort of livable side of things. And then having a short-term side where people come for the healing sanctuary and to come on retreat, call it seven, 14 days. So yeah, nothing at a massive scale, but you know, there's so many different models out there. [Speaker 2] (1:05:09 - 1:05:11) And no hidden sex cult within this, just got to double check. [Speaker 1] (1:05:12 - 1:05:15) Yeah. You know, I'm going to be wearing that white cape for sure. [Speaker 3] (1:05:18 - 1:05:59) No, it's cool. That sounds beautiful. Yeah, for sure. Where I would like to head at this point is like, obviously, you know, the ideal and the dream for many people is what I would refer to as vocation, which ultimately, you know, this marriage of the things that I'm truly inspired meeting, you know, the, well, what feeds my life or provides a value to my life and what feeds the prosperity in my life as well. So how has that journey been for you of entrepreneurship and of finding vocation and any other commentary that you might have for individuals? I know, I think I've, I saw maybe you did a webinar or a teaching on this whole idea of prosperity generally at one point in time as well. [Speaker 1] (1:06:01 - 1:08:51) Yeah. So, you know, I teach on what I call soul led entrepreneurship, which is a little bit different than the traditional way of looking at business because I look at everything in my life as devotional and spiritual and in many ways, as it all is, it's all connected. And, you know, the business journey is as I'm sure you guys can attest to this. It's the deep personal growth and spiritual growth process. It will fucking test you. You will fall on your face. You will go through so many trials and errors. And really through that, it is what you learn is then what you share and teach through this sort of soul led service based model. And we're both in the realm of transformation. You guys are doing it a little bit different than maybe I am, but we're all within the same thread here. And I believe that the true next level of business, right? We can, the traditional way and just seeing business as transactional, which yes, there's transaction of value exchange, but it's beyond that. It's, I see business as a vehicle for our own self-expression and for our own authenticity. And when we're stepping into that, that is what ultimately creates prosperity because it's what magnetizes people to our field. And it also is what pushes other people away. And so when we're looking at business from this perspective is that we're giving ourselves permission to be us so unapologetically boldly and fully. And that in itself is what then creates the magnetism and the way in which we begin to create and see business and how we impact others from a whole nother perspective. And the masculine and feminine conversation also come into this because most of business has been about hustle, grind, push, force, chase, strive, which there is a part to like, all right, let's lock in and let's go. Let's build this thing. I've been in those modes. I know what that is and it's important, but there's the other conversation where it is more of the feminine way of being able to come back into stillness, take those pauses to begin to build from a calm, clear place rather than a frantic place. And from there, we begin to come into the realization of what needs to be nurtured in our lives. What vision are we nurturing? Are we growing that is ultimately going to blossom in its own time and honoring the divine rhythms and timings of life? Because as you guys know, as I know that we can have a plan and a vision all day. And oftentimes we become impatient because it doesn't happen soon enough, but everything happens in its own pockets of timing, something that we can't explain. But when we surrender to that, we become naturally more prosperous over time because we're in co-creation with life. [Speaker 3] (1:08:54 - 1:10:14) Yeah. I mean, it's, you know, this journey of entrepreneurship has definitely been like one of the biggest teachers and biggest sources of, I guess, self-reflection for myself. And even just like noticing like just the need to go with the rhythm of whatever season that you're in and the tendency to want to sometimes override what your body is really telling you and what even like the nature of the soil that you're currently navigating is speaking as to what's necessary. Because obviously we're sold this hustle culture day in, day out through social media, through different means whatsoever, but you're right, man. It's like the right thing happens in its own timing. And that's not to say to surrender and to be passive, but it's to be able to walk that fine line of knowing what degree of action is the correct degree of action at this point in time. And it's the same as anything, like you can't overwater a garden. You can't just have 24 hours sunlight on a garden. So being able to like navigate that and be deeper into tune with the seasons and the rhythm of what's best for this business or this form of value to blossom has been super powerful and super important. [Speaker 1] (1:10:15 - 1:10:42) Yeah, dude. Well said. Well said. And 100%, I think all of it is, it is the fine line and the balance and it's understanding when to pull back and push the brakes and when to go forward and having that balance. But it all begins within the self and the best dojos of life, business, relationships, parenthood, right? We're living all three there. It's like, those are, if you want to fucking expand and grow, there you go. There's your dojo. [Speaker 2] (1:10:45 - 1:11:37) Yeah. I've yet to experience parenthood, but perhaps one day soon, but yeah, I definitely agree with you on that front. Yeah. Relationships are just, oh yeah. I mean, they're just, if you really want to be honest with yourself, you really want to do work. You approach a relationship as consciously as you can. Just like, holy fuck, what is this bringing up in me? Because it's like, when you're solo traveling around the world or solo doing your thing, you're like, oh yeah, that's so cool. I'm meditating in a mountain and it's great. I'm living that life. I'm in fucking Bali, whatever. But get in a relationship and then see what fucking comes out. Especially if you want to not just balance set the first issue, but if you really want to work through something, you're going to face shit. It's personal development on steroids, in my opinion. I agree. And I can only imagine what parenthood is like. [Speaker 3] (1:11:39 - 1:12:35) Well agreed. Parenthood definitely changes the nature of the, like I said, parenthood just shifts the terrain of what relationship actually mirrors to you. And then you're both dealing with the reflection that your children are giving to you in real time. And then dealing with each other in that process also. It's a trip, bro. It is a full-on trip, man. But I don't know. And at the same time, it's like, I've said this before, but it's this narrowing of what really matters in my life, which I've kind of personally really enjoyed as well. Because you can get lost in analysis paralysis and too many options of where should I go, what do I need to do? Whereas I think when you become a parent, it's like, okay, this is what needs to be done. And I've kind of enjoyed that clarity personally in my life. [Speaker 2] (1:12:36 - 1:13:06) I love that you said that, because I was about to say that as a question. I feel like it would just zoom in. There's only 24 hours in a day. You can't do everything. You have to obviously do the things of running your business and being in partnership, but having a kid, you can't do everything. Whereas if it's just you and your partner, there's just more freedom to have a little bit, maybe more analysis paralysis. So I think it allows things to kind of zoom in. So that's just my thoughts from the outside, but you guys are in it and have experienced it. [Speaker 1] (1:13:06 - 1:13:49) Well, I want to honor Joel for a moment, because he's got a house full of women, three girls, you chose it, bro, and beautiful family. But yeah, dude, you're absolutely right. It makes you hone in. And what is most valuable and important in my life? And you kind of disregard all the other bullshit that's around, because it's just like, but there's also, I do a lot of men's work, right? And there's a lot of men out there that that's too much and heavy for them. So they have to seek outside. And this is why we have marital affairs and all the other things that are going on, because it's like, oh, shit, this is way too much responsibility. And so there's that shadow there that then men are living out, but salute to you, brother, for doing what you're doing. [Speaker 3] (1:13:49 - 1:15:42) No, I appreciate it, bro. And like, like, I wasn't always this way. Like, there's a massive learning curve in the process. And in the beginning, the responsibility did definitely feel overwhelming. I did not have the capacity to really handle, you know, being in a relationship, being married, having children, having to provide, having to build my own dreams, like all of that happening and coming at you at once. It's like, it can be very paralyzing, you know, but again, man, you meet that threshold, you stand on the edge. And it's like, what, what choice do I have, you know? And I think for me, the realization was really like, like my marriage with Alyssa and the relationship, like has to really sit at the foundation. Because me personally, this is what I've constantly experienced. Like if there's turbulence there, if there's chasms and fractures that exist there, it just ripples into everything else. So like my peak values in terms of where I want to grow, how I want to build on a business and, you know, a vocational front is so intimately connected to me day in, day out, you know, being able to nurture the foundation, which really is that relationship as well. And then I feel like the kids kind of obviously sit in the middle of all that, but when you really, when you're really in it, it's, you realize it's all completely interconnected and not, nothing can be sacrificed for something else to grow quicker than, you know, it's, it's supposed to like, and that's also where that seasonal and the rhythm dynamic that we're speaking to comes into it because sometimes my relationship won't allow me to grow at the level and the pace that maybe this certain aspect of my psyche wants to grow out. Like I can't, I can't, because if I just keep going and I'm ignoring what's happening downstairs, I'm ignoring what's happening in the house, I'm ignoring the subtle cues that my wife's giving me, then I'm fucked. I'm fucked. [Speaker 1] (1:15:45 - 1:15:59) So true. And, and, you know, like your relationship to your business, it's another relationship, right? And how are you nurturing that? It's yeah, it's all, everything's relationships, everything at the, at the core is relationships and so on all levels. [Speaker 3] (1:16:02 - 1:16:19) Yeah, man. And at the core of all of it is the relationship to oneself, you know, that's it, the ultimate, how do I, how do I feel about me in any given moments? And if I ain't right with me, then honestly, the existential question begs, what's the point of any of it? [Speaker 1] (1:16:21 - 1:16:23) Agreed. Yeah, 100%. [Speaker 3] (1:16:24 - 1:16:33) Dude, appreciate your time, man. Appreciate your wisdom, your knowledge, anything coming up, I guess, in closing that you feel called to kind of share with the audience right now? [Speaker 1] (1:16:39 - 1:18:52) You know, I like the point you just ended on. And the point being that it all comes back to the relationship to self. And if there's anything at the core of what I share, teach, express, it is all creating that greater connection to oneself, and beyond the personality, beyond the ego, but to the soul. And what is the soul? And how does the soul speak? And how does the soul want to express because everybody came here with a paintbrush of sorts. And we're all creating our masterpiece. And at the end of the day, you know, when we are living in this culture, where I call and what other people have said to be a soul sickness, right? It is where we are disconnected from the true depth of who we are at our core. And when we are living in that place, everything is just frantic, and we feel unfulfilled. And so really, all of what I share, and especially when it comes down to that center point and back full circle to the breath is the breath is the ultimate connection point to the soul. And when we connect to the soul, we get our divine instructions to then be able to then go out into the world and to be ourselves so fully, and to share our gifts in service to others, then begin to live in alignment with a higher purpose. And it's through that then we find the level of fulfillment and depth and aliveness that we've been searching for. But all of it comes back within and to look at the entirety of who we are and to honor the full spectrum of our humanness from the deepest level of pain, shame, guilt, and fear, all the way into the great ecstatic states of joy and peace and love, and everything in between. And I think when we can honor the human, we are also honoring the divine. And so it is coming back within and into the body into the inner terrains of ourselves is what ultimately is going to create the lives that we want to live. [Speaker 3] (1:18:54 - 1:18:59) Definitely, bro. I guess in closing, man, how can people connect with you? [Speaker 1] (1:19:00 - 1:19:47) Yeah, you know, there's multiple connection points. I mean, just my website has everything on it, ChristopherAugust.co. For those that want to dive deeper into the breath, I have a book called Master Your Breath, Transform Your Life. I also have an app called Beats in Breath. We have over 125 different breathwork journeys on there, all different themes, all different music, all different tempos, lengths. And we also have meditation, sound healing on there. And I'm continuously putting energy into there, as well as my community and just continuing to share the good word in all the ways. So ChristopherAugust.co has everything. And then there's all my other links from there to retreats, events, community, etc. So that's about it. [Speaker 3] (1:19:47 - 1:20:17) Yeah, I can get behind the Beats in Breath app, for sure. You know, that's super, super accessible. And it's very unique and very different from, I think, some of the traditional apps or meditation apps or breathwork apps that people might have. I think what you've done in terms of blending potent soundscape experiences with the guided breath is powerful, man, for sure. So I will definitely stand behind that. Good. Love you, bro. Appreciate you. Thank you for sharing. Everyone else, we'll see you next time.