Know Thyself - E10 - Andrew Sealy: How to Cultivate a Life of Love, Community, & Impact

Episode Date: September 6, 2022

Connection Catalyst, Yogi, and Movement Creator Andrew Sealy shares his advice for cultivating a life that is in alignment with your highest path. He tells his story of finding Yoga and living devotion every day. He also explains how he has found deeper human connection through acro-yoga. And expands on his vision of healing the planet through creating conscious communities.   ___________ Timecodes: 0:00 Intro 4:06 Andrew’s Life of Devotion 17:35 Self Love 23:34 Impact by Example 30:16 Acro-Yoga & Human Connection 36:36 Cultivating Community 47:15 Vision for the Future 1:02:35 Conclusion ___________   Andrew Sealy:   Andrew Sealy is a connection catalyst, a Yoga artist, and a movement creator. His days are spent traveling to find adventure, practicing to cultivate growth, and constantly absorbing wisdom to creating new experiences that he shares with love to his friends around the world. He finds joy in interviewing Yogis from all walks of life to share their inspiring stories on the Yoga Revealed Podcast.   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrew7sealy/ Andrew's App: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/andrew-7-sealy/id1601202016?utm_source=hoobe&utm_medium=social Website: https://www.andrew7sealy.com   ___________   Know Thyself Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knowthyself/ Website: https://www.knowthyself.one Clips Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ4wglCWTJeWQC0exBalgKg   Listen to all episodes on Audio:  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4FSiemtvZrWesGtO2MqTZ4?si=d389c8dee8fa4026 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/know-thyself/id1633725927     André Duqum Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andreduqum/   Meraki Media https://merakimedia.com https://www.instagram.com/merakimedia/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're spiritual beings having a physical experience. And so if we really begin to tap into that attunement, we see, oh, I can actually take this vessel and clean it and cleanse it and make it as bright and shiny as possible so that I can actually help other people get to this point. I can show them through example that this is what it feels like to live a vibrant lifestyle. Hello, beautiful beings. Welcome back to the Know They Self podcast. For every single week, we get the honor and privilege to sit down with a, you know,

yogi, a teacher, a student, a seeker, a doctor, somebody that's on the path that has devoted their life to a specific area of knowledge or wisdom. And today, as I quite often on this podcast, get the privilege to sit down with a dear friend of mine, somebody that in this case, I've had many, many adventures with, many memories made with. He is somebody that you'll often find making a bomb vegan meal, maybe doing a wild slash sketchy hollow back handstand on the edge of a cliff, bringing together community, leading an acro yoga class or teaching a yoga class, somebody that is someone that really floats through the world. Andrew Seven Sealy is my guest today.

Thank you for that introduction. That literally brought joy to my heart and almost tears to my eyes just to think about all the incredible experiences that we've had together and some of the most profound moments together and just to witness you and your incredible blossoming and all the fruit that you now share with this community, it's a blessing. And I'm so grateful for your friendship and your brotherhood and your heart, your love. Thank you so much. Appreciate you, man. Yeah, I think you've been pivotal in so many different parts of my life and my journey and my blossoming since we've met. maybe, I don't know, maybe six, six or seven years ago when I first moved out to LA,

I sat of Apasana silent meditation retreat right as I was coming out here. And at the end of that, I met a dear friend, mutual friend of ours, Joan Kest. Yeah. And shortly after moving out to L.A., he brought me over to your place at the time just to connect. And we kind of hit it off right off the bat. And I just really felt a resonance of, you know, it's not too often that you meet individuals is that are really deep on the spiritual path, but also love to have fun and play and build community

and like taste all the flavors that life has to offer. And I just really resonate with you on that level. And so it's so fun that we get to go and like I said, taste the flavors of life, explore adventure. But there is a deeper heart mission in which we're, that's the real foundation in which we stand and is our core drivers in life. And so it's been an honor to be a,

able to weave in that way with you. Definitely. And it's been a definite weave of incredible tapestry of fun, of joy, also some really heartfelt moments. And like you said, like just coming back to that deep sense of root awareness that we're here for a purpose greater than ourselves. And I feel that that's been the driving force for, you know, why I do build community and why So positively influenced to constantly bring people together because the more the merrier, the more that we're on this path together, the more that we can support each other and really begin to change this world. Yeah.

I'm excited. We're definitely going to be diving into what it means to be an individual that's really one connected with themselves on this podcast, but then also sharing that human connection and building community in the world. I think that's something that we, you know, is a golden thread between both of us is we both love cultivating community. We love human beings and bringing them together for a greater purpose, whether it is just to play and have fun or there is a higher mission in what we're doing within the gathering or event or festival or whatever it is. What I would like to start with,

though, is because you're somebody in the world that I feel like you don't just go from point A to point B. You don't just walk. You float. Your life is very much so a dance in the way that you play and you know you can do what you have to do in the world or you can do it with a certain elegance and grace and i feel like you very much so carry that within you and and your walk in this life and your dance of this life well i love dancing yeah man and i think it's a testament to one the the practice that you've been able to cultivate within yourself from the you know the discipline of your morning practice to the study of various you know yoga teachers and wisdom texts and Patanjali and different Limerian scrolls and, you know, all the different

fascinating avenues in which we can go into conversation with here today. But it's a beautiful reminder for me and I get to share a lot of the same, you know, ways of doing life, I feel. But for a lot of people, you know, they kind of look at life, unfortunately, as something that they kind of have to get up and do. They've created a life for themselves that they're not really stoked with. They don't get to go and teach a yoga class, then go have a meal with a friend, and then kind of like live but life by design in many ways which you've been able to cultivate.

And I feel that cultivating a sadina, a morning ritual, a practice in which you can harness your own vibration and frequency before you go out into the world, is then going to be the reflection in which you see within the world. And so speak to me, you know, speak to us a little bit about your journey of cultivating this presence within your own practice. when no one's looking, right? It's what we do in the dark that shows in the light. And so somebody could see that I'm living this amazing lifestyle. I have this, you know, amazing community around and I'm doing these cool things and making good money. And it's like, yeah, but do you know why that is how it is? And it's because I have and you have been on a journey of cultivating the inner riches first. And then we see that in the external reality. So yeah, what has been your journey

through that process. My journey through that process has really been a long time coming. A lot of people see me and they're just like, oh my goodness, like, you know, here's this dude doing all this stuff. He's flying there. He's teaching there. He's giving a speech there on this podcast. And really a lot of it came from what I would call a deep space of realizing that I needed to change my whole life. And around 19 is when I started practicing yoga for my first time. And during that time, I was, you know, studying microbiology. I was completely overwhelmed with soccer practice. I was also overwhelmed with the social life because I was in a fraternity and, you know, binge drinking every single weekend and doing a lot of things that just weren't in alignment with my true self. And I realized at that time that I needed to change.

And it took a Beekram yoga class of, you know, 105 degrees, 90% humidity. I'm sweating, I'm looking at myself in the mirror, asking myself why I'm not able to touch my toes when, you know, people double my age next to me are doing things that I can't do. And it was first like this physical confrontation of like, I should be able to do that. You know, like I'm a collegiate athlete. I'm supposed to be at the top of my game and I can't even touch my toes. Like, what is this? And then by the end of the class, I just realized that the most important thing that I could do is accept myself where I was and really see that where I will. was an accumulation of all the practices that I had been to get to where I was.

And so at that point, I found it necessary for myself to continue to practice yoga because I felt that within that first space, I was able to take a deep breath and see myself for who I was. And that first step was like, wow, this is a practice that really brought me to a space where not only am I breathing, but I'm able to feel myself. And through that feeling is what paved the path for my healing. And healing, you know, past trauma of, you know, being whooped by, you know, my grandma when I was a little kid or being, you know, forced to eat all the food on my plate or, you know,

being put pepper in my mouth for, you know, saying words that were out of, you know, like all these things like I had a very what I would call strict upbringing being that both of my parents are from Barbados and so it was like you know I'm basically first generation here in the US and like my parents really wanted me to do well and to to make sure to give my best and I learned at an early age like never settle for less than my best and so that was also a driving factor to me like studying till 3 a.m. And, you know, doing my best to get an A on the test. And I had a very, the easiest way I could put it as an overachiever background.

Yeah, very type A. Very type A. And so when I found yoga, it was like, wow, I can express myself. I can actually be in a space where I could dance in a way that wasn't, you know, conventional dancing, but was in a way that was healing my body. And through that healing, uh, really sprouted forth the awareness. that this can be a daily practice, that this practice of breathing, this practice of observing thyself could become a daily practice. And I started going to Beakram Yoga every single day. I went

every single day for a hundred days straight. And that literally changed my relationships. It changed my grades. My ball control on the soccer field got better. My relationships with my friends got better. Just my awareness of self got better. Even just, you know, things like, you you go to the grocery store and you're like, okay, you know, here's this, you know, healthy tea, or here's this gatorade, you know, what do I choose like that? It was easy for me. It became so much more clear. And so as that clarity began to become more prevalent in my life, it allowed me to be able to make decisions that aligned with my heartfelt intention. And then from there, I started reading the four-hour work week. I was actually at this desk job in San Luis Obispo working for a great

company called Mind Body. And Mind Body had, you know, core values. They were all about, you know, health and wellness. And they provided the yoga software for a lot of the yoga studios during that time. And I was very inspired by this guy, Tim Ferriss. And he was, you know, talking about how you could take your desk job and really optimize your time by really just scheduling out your day in a way that allowed you to be able to work smarter rather than harder. And so at that time, I was like, mind blown, you know, like I can design my lifestyle. Like, wow, like, you know, I can have more time to be able to do the things that I really enjoy, which was at the time, yoga. And so I figured out how to work more efficiently, got a lot more sales. I got sent to a lot of different really wonderful

conferences, yoga journal conference, you know, Idea Fest, like all these different great conferences where fitness professionals were, you know, they're talking about their businesses. And I got to learn about other people who were living their passion, sharing movement. And I was like, wow, like, this is incredible. This is what I want to do. And it was during that time that I had the opportunity to take my yoga teacher training for the opportunity of it actually being paid, half of it was paid for by mind body. And they had these, you know, mind body bucks as you would accumulate these mind-body bucks from going to different health and wellness classes, you would get to use these mind-body bucks towards bigger things like a yoga teacher training. And, you know, I'm paying for

college on my own. I'm also going to college, playing soccer, and I had this part-time job. And I was like, you know, quit the fraternity because it just wasn't serving me. Like, let me take off things that weren't actually serving me and bringing me to that higher state of being. And let me actually focus my energy on what was actually helping me, which was this yoga. And I did my yoga teacher training with a really wonderful teacher named Rocky Heron. My whole entire universe was blown open. I healed so much from a lot of past trauma and really learned about how the issues and the emotions were held in the tissues and how I could literally open up my body to a new way of seeing the world and open up my mind to a new way of seeing the world.

And during that time, it really cracked me open. And that led me to realize that I can actually create my reality. And through the daily practice of Sadina, through waking up at 6 a.m. and meditating, and then going to my yoga practice from 7 a.m. until 8.30 and then going to class or into work or whatever it was. like that energy that I had already established within myself was then permeating into the day-to-day operations of life. And that is really, I would say, the turning point for my awareness,

my spiritual practice, and what has led me to build the foundation to where I am today. Beautiful. Yeah. It's from when I hear your story and your journey, right, in life, we don't become what we just do want. It's what we do consistently over a repeated period of time every single day. That becomes the frequency in which we really live and exist. And it seems like from your story, the many different points, there's been many different pivotal points in your journey where you said yes to a way of living or a way of taking actions that you normally hadn't done before.

And saying that yes to an open mind to being willing to explore a new way of practicing of living your life, of yoga, of diet, of all these different things that then send you on this upward spiral of raising your vibration. And it almost becomes addictive in a way where it's like, I can just keep getting better in this game of life. I can keep raising my frequency. I can keep feeling better. And then it's like so many people struggle with quitting things that they're addicted to or procrastinating or not being on their phone as much. these different things in life that we want to maybe, we realize they're causing us to lower our vibration. But it's one thing to try to quit something. It's much more effective to find something

that is more pulling you in an upper direction and that replaces it. That is the truth for sure. And I have literally witnessed how choosing habits that are going to replace another habit have literally like led me to where I am today like you know deciding that oh you know I really love my fraternity brothers they were awesome I had the opportunity of cooking for them I was the commissary so I had like this relationship of like you know feeding these incredible beings and like I love them but at the same time I was like you know I really got to focus on myself like my grades are suffering like there's something in my life that I got to let go of so that I can actually continue to excel And the one thing that I was seeing on a day-to-day basis that was making a positive impact on my life was yoga.

And so I was like, okay, like if I can take away this three hours of social life and direct it towards this three hours of focusing on myself, let's just see what will happen. And so I stuck to it for 100 days and I was like, okay, this is a really incredible path. and this is really something that is enriching my life, I'm going to stick with it. Yeah, it's beautiful to want to, I guess, show up in the world and be of service. I think it's common. You know, the longer you go on your journey,

the more you realize you just want to show up in the world in a way that is fulfilling for yourself and how you do that is by giving the giving of yourself. But you can't give to others what you don't have within yourself. And so this process of cultivating your side and now your morning practice, your meditation, your yoga, cleaning up and going on a vegan diet, doing all these different things that you started to experiment with. Now fill up your own cup in a way to where now you're overflowing and you can go into community interactions when you

meet somebody. You have more to offer. And it's not like, hey, I have something to give you physically. Your vibration in and of itself is an offering to the world. And I think that's where a lot of people go wrong is they, in order to get more in life, they have to do more. And they're overly focused on their activity. But this process in, you know, hearing your story, and I know for me as well, has been a cultivation of my own vibration and who I am when no one's looking. And that then, you know, resonates with whoever is going to resonate with. And it becomes an offering, like I said, to the world by its own very nature. And so, you know, how have you cultivated this process, this process of self-love? Because you can't really love others until you love yourself first.

and that shows in the actions that you take, and we've touched on it a little bit. But that journey towards leading you to a more vibrant energy and how you can go out and carry out your life because like I said, you're somebody that kind of dances through life. You're a very vibrant individual. So, yeah, you can go into the tactical things of what you physically do, but also just like in the energy and the ethos

of raising your vibration in this self-love journey. What does that look like for you? Wow, that's a great question. I would have to say that raising my vibration and really focusing on my self-love was a path of a little bit of resistance because I was, you know, the eldest brother of three sisters. So I was constantly giving of myself. You know, I was also, you know, helping to be a good son and constantly like, you know, helping out friends and cooking for my fraternity brothers. Like I was always giving to others

until I realized that I was so depleted that I really needed to focus on what was within. And that was a huge milestone, and I feel that yoga was the catalyst for that, because yoga teaches you to look within. And whether it's in a Beacrim yoga class or at a Hatha yoga class or at a Vinyasa yoga class, like whatever yoga class, it really helps you to find your breath. And through that breath, if you have a great teacher, especially, you will literally learn how to utilize your breath to honor your body. And through honoring your body, then you realize, okay, after class, you know, I don't want to drink the Coca-Cola.

I want to drink, you know, the incredible coconut water, you know, or I want to drink the high-vibration, you know, alkaline water or the green juice or whatever it is. It's like it starts to really help you realize that this vessel, this body, is like your first step. to healing. It's your first step. We're all here manifest in this physical form. We're spiritual beings having a physical experience. And so if we really begin to tap into that attunement, we see, oh, like, I can actually take this vessel and clean it and cleanse it and make it as bright and shiny as possible so that I can actually help other people get to this point. You know, I can show them through example that this is what it feels like to live a vibrant lifestyle.

This is what it feels like to wake up at 5 a.m. and feel energized and stoked on life. And I think that a lot of that really does come from not just the discipline of loving thyself, but also realizing that you are all that it is. You are all that it is. Like all that is, all that ever will be is you. this perspective of seeing one another is just a reflection. Like even this conversation is just God speaking to God. It's all blessed universal nature and the realization that it really is all one.

And so when we realize that there is no separateness, right, when I see another being who perhaps cut me off on the road, I just say that, you know, this is a person who perhaps didn't have the time to have that spiritual practice or that self-healing or that love. And all I can do is give them as much of my love as possible and realize that they're only operating within their own experience of the best that they can. And so I'm going to do my best to give them the best that I can to help to raise that vibration. So any environment that I'm in, I'm in that space of thinking that, feeling that, and realizing that we're all just doing the best that we can with the cards that we have been dealt. And, you know, I've got a couple of aces in my pockets.

I got to give one out. I can do it. Yeah. And to make space for your humanity where sometimes you might get triggered and somebody does cut you off and you're like, ah, you know, and you can retaliate or make space for the part of you that also doesn't hold that perspective all the time constantly, right? You're not the Nirvana state. And to be able to continually raise your vibration to get to the point where it is more

of a living reality day to day like that. I think no matter how convincing our apparent separation is. is right you're speaking to this fundamental unicity that we have within us that we are really fundamentally made of the same materials and the process of coming to stillness with yourself and knowing yourself at deeper levels then you're no longer controlled by the external circumstances of life the deeper you know yourself and you find these moments of stillness within yourself you have these experiences you're speaking to where i do feel like i am one and the same with you and the person that maybe transgresses me and my external reality i can have compassion in a view of

from a lens of love instead of this ego identity structure that needs to survive. Therefore, it's me against you. It's this competition that we create in life. And it's a lens we view all life through. But until you come back into these moments of stillness and this practice of self-love and raising your vibration where like we talked about going on this upward spiral, once you start your practice, whether it's a meditation, a yoga practice, cleaning up your diet, honoring your vessel, you become more sensitive.

And when you become more sensitive, then you drink the Coca-Cola or you drink the coconut water and you're like, why would I want to lower my vibe? Why would I want to feel worse? And I think that all we're really trying to do here is have a pleasant experience of life. And when you can actually taste how to do that, it becomes the natural, you know, direction of your life that you're going to go in. So it's been beautiful to hear your journey with it and an honor to walk with you on this pet together, man. Yeah, yeah. It's been incredible because I feel like, you know, in my journey of teaching yoga and leading all these wonderful experiences, one of the wonderful things that we have connected on is also being able to capture the experience and being able to share that experience. And I feel that that is so imperative now because there's a lot of people who feel stuck, almost like they're in a space where they can't get out.

Like, you know, there was times when I was in school and I was studying. And I was like, you know, when am I going to get out of this? Like, this like, you know, pushing myself, studying, and then waking up and just feeling tired. And then like just going through this wheel, this cycle of suffering. And I feel that the one thing that really had helped me is listening to podcasts. I literally would sit there and listen to the Tim Ferriss podcast long, long time ago. and that's what inspired me to go get his book. And then from there, boom, like this whole entire new world of how I could optimize my time

and leverage technology to be able to literally focus on the things that brought me more awareness, more vitality, more proficiency, and more happiness, ultimately. And so capturing these moments, I feel is so important because the only way to really see, you know, the behind the scenes of our connection or our love is literally to be there. And, you know, not everyone can be, you know, in your living room, hanging out for your know, know, know, Thyself podcast release, you know, launch party. Like that's, and to be able to capture those moments and to share them with people so that they can still feel the essence of it. That's the beauty of technology today is that we can do that. And I think that that's a lot of

where we connected, you know, and going to Correas and of course. going to Kauai and having the opportunity to have these experiences and then capturing them and then sharing them like a lot of those moments, even back in the day when it was just Instagram and it was just a photo, like they brought resonance and vibration and love into the hearts of so many people who are able to see those photos and see those videos or watch those stories and now look at where we are. You know, it's just all sharing on a greater and more grand scale. And I feel that that's really the beauty of being a mystic who knows thyself is that your words become even more potent and your actions become even more potent and your

positive effect becomes even more potent on how you are able to positively influence communities in those communities then share the wealth of your wisdom. Yeah. Yeah. I love it, man. I think one thing that a lot of people struggle with is when they on their spiritual path, they start to make these changes and start to raise their vibration. They feel a lot better. And then they all of a sudden want to change everyone to do like what they're doing and to be them to change their diet or whatever it might be. And the way that you're speaking to, and I think that you are a shining example to where

you have to make it irresistible. And how you do that is first by being it. Once you become it and you raise your vibration and you are a vibrant individual and you are happy, you are healthy, you are glowing. then you go into world and people ask you like, hey, what are you doing? What are you eating? How are you living your life? I want to do it.

You become a magnet instead of somebody that's trying to push everybody to be a certain way, right? And so, you know, from that place, then showing up in the world where you are vibrant, where you are glowing. And then, you know, we've had so many beautiful moments, like you said, traveling in Kauai on the Waimea Canyon, these mountaintops, or in Korea, is Mexico, and creating some amazing fun content and videos and give people an insight and invite them into that vibration without it coming like, hey, I'm selling you something, right? Because there's no agenda here. I don't have anything to gain from you. It's just an offering, you know, and really by giving,

we collapse that and I'm also receiving as you are. But it's, yeah, man, it's been so fun going on all these adventures with you and journeys with you when I first moved out here, like probably four or five, six years ago and then now coming to this place where we're still doing, you know, what we're doing, like you said, it's at a bigger scale in different ways with the podcasts. And yeah, so thank you for sharing all that. Yeah, definitely. I mean, it's our true nature to share. You know, I feel that people forget that literally, like, the whole human experience is sharing.

From the time that you're born, like, the first thing that you do as a child is, like, you share breast milk with your mother. You know, it's like, like, we're, you're, you're born. sharing. We're constantly sharing. And as we grow older, like, we have to continue to give to receive. And, you know, one of the things that you spoke on is, like, this sense of not pushing it, you know, not, like, pushing my agenda on you. And I think that that's really the number one thing that we can do as humans in sharing is share with integrity. Like, not giving because you want something from that gift or not giving because they're not giving because they're is an alternative motive.

Like there's a giving from a full place of selfless nature, meaning that you're giving, knowing that that gift is going to continue to uplift that person and that you're not attached to that gift anymore or even the upliftment of that person or that thing. And so that really, my friend Nimai actually has this wonderful saying, he says,

the best form of activism is attractivism. So it's the same. thing like you're just acting from that pure place of love and that pure place of love love is freedom and freedom is joy yeah and so like to be able to share with someone and to see them grow and do incredible things and you're like that's epic you know like that's the love of life and then we all rise together and it's a beautiful thing but giving with strings attached to where it's an expectation taints the whole experience for everybody, giving selflessly.

Like that's really where it's at. And then you get to this place where you start attracting magical, heart-centered, selfless beings in your community, in your circle, which let's flow into now because something that is another common theme that we really cherish within both of our lives

is cultivating community, human connection, bringing people together over food, music, play, acro yoga. And so I know your journey over the past 10 years of becoming a, student of yoga and your asana practice and everything, which if you haven't seen Andrew, go look them up on Instagram or YouTube doing these crazy handstands. The things that this man can do with his body is truly, it's an art form for sure. And going into your discovering acro yoga is a beautiful vehicle and way into, I view acro yoga is almost like somebody doing

yoga to you, so where you can just fully receive. And if you ever seen anybody, whoever's listening to this, essentially have somebody on their feet and hands. And, you know, putting them in all these postures and bending and moving them into these acro yoga postures. It's, uh, and I've been on the receiving end going to, you know, a couple of your trainings. And then anytime you give it and you offer it, um, to myself or the people around me, it feels like you're always offering it to somebody, which is beautiful. Um, but yeah, what's your journey with acro yoga and that leading to human connection and I mean, go from there.

Yeah. I feel like nowadays, human connection is needed more than ever. and for me to really have the opportunity to share just compassion and love and healing touch with another human being like that really brings me joy. And, you know, like whenever I see like people like yourself or like my buddy fish or people like Neymy or, you know, Bianca or whoever it is, it's like, it's better than a hug. You know, it's like I can hold you. And I have the ability to allow you to release tension and stress.

in your spine and like, why not? Like, I have the capacity for it. It only makes me stronger. Like, the more that I do it, the more that I'm able to feel and the more that I'm able to really allow myself to tune into your energy. It brings me to a space where I'm like, I can feel your body and like your energy

and I can help you bring more flow into spaces of your body that perhaps are blocked. And then afterwards, words like, you feel more vibrant. And I'm like, wow, like this is awesome. Like we're feeling vibrant together. Like now we're both aligned. Now we can both see I to eye. Now we can have a deeper conversation. Now we can dive deeper into what it is to be human. And I feel that the reason that we have these five senses, sometimes six, sometimes seven, is simply because we're here to feel. We're here to feel. We're here to have this human experience. We're here to cry. We're here to

suffer. We're here to have joyous experiences. We're here to thrive. We're here to love. We're here to lose. We're here to experience every single emotion. And that is the experience of life. And so if I can help to bring that joyous nature or that depth of feeling back into someone's body, then yes, let me do it as much as possible. And so that's why I love sharing acro yoga. That's why I love sharing acro yoga. That's why I love sharing yoga, that's why I love sharing meditation, that's why I love sharing prana yam. They're all ways to dive deeper into that sensuality of life. And I mean, just to go back to your question and like when my, you know, I would say spark of inspiration came for sharing acro yoga, it was after I finished doing my yoga teacher

training in San Luis Obispo, I saw some people practicing in the park and they were, you know, doing yoga poses but balanced on each other. And I was like, that's the next level of yoga. That's the yogic evolution. I was like, you know, trying to do handstands and headstands at the time. And I was like, wow, this is difficult. But like that looks approachable and it looks fun. And I have always been like one of those people who enjoys not only taking risks,

but also like just having fun. Like I'm just a fun loving person. Like I literally am just like a big kid. trapped in a man's body. And when I first started practicing acro yoga, I just realized how therapeutic it was. And one of the postures called folded leaf, like your hips are allowed to relax

and through the pressure of the basis feet on the hip points of the flyer, like you as a flyer, you can fully release your spine without any muscular awareness. Whereas in yoga, if you're doing a headstand, you still have to hold yourself in that headstand. You're doing a handstand, you still have to hold yourself in that handstand.

So now you have the connection of another human being allowing you to literally release your spine and allow gravity to do its work of drawing you closer towards the Earth's center. And it's like incredible. It's a headstand without having to do a headstand. It's yoga poses without actually having to put your effort into doing them.

And so it's a gift that I am so graciously honored to have the opportunity to share. It's beautiful just to fully be held by another human being. I think that you set it spot on. Like we are living in a world where we are really deprived of human connection and touch and proper communication, especially the past couple of years with everything that's been going on with COVID. And like stay inside, don't see other people. You'll get sick. and it's like disconnecting us from nature

and also within our true nature, which is connection and being in communion with other people. And one of our greatest joys that we've shared is bringing community in together and allowing to be held by one another and share what's tough in our day-to-day life and what's going, you know, what are we struggling with?

What are our wins? What are our losses? And in that, it feels like we get to go through this human experience together and that it's all going to be okay at the end of the day. Like knowing that you are plugged into a community and have friends in your life that like for whatever reason, obviously this wouldn't happen.

But like if you became homeless the next tomorrow and you lost everything that you built in your life, you know that you have a brother in me and you could stay on my couch and I'd help you and we would rebuild, you know. And just that aspect. And then also just to be an amplifier in one's life and everything that we're creating as well from the content that we share to the businesses that we build is, it's just so nice to be able to be around individuals that really get you and get you on a deep level and not this facade surface level of conversation that most people operate within, but the depth of who we are,

what we want in this life, and how we can share and amplify one another. And it's unfortunately a reality that not a lot of people get to experience in this day and age. One may be because they don't even know that it exists. They haven't tasted it. They haven't seen it. We definitely live in a bubble, you know, here in whether it's in Costa Rica or in Los Angeles, where there is so many amazing individuals, Austin. Austin, yeah. The big cities, you know, for sure there's a lot of many different types of people so you can find your own niche of humans. But a lot of people that live in various parts of the Midwest and aren't able to really connect on that wave.

I guess I would like to ask, one, what has been this journey of cultivating community and how that's been important for you? And then two, for somebody that doesn't have the, you know, obvious connections and they're not at this place where they can share this communion with another more apparently or obviously. obviously with the people that they currently know in their life, how can they begin to cultivate that and go on that journey? Wow. That's a great question. I feel really the first step is reach out to the leaders in your area of things that you enjoy doing. So whether it be the CrossFit coach, whether it be the yoga teacher, whether it be the sound healing leader, you know, whatever it is. Like the person who is in that space of doing something that you truly enjoy and maybe the person who inspires you to do that. Because those are the people that will help you to find more of the people who are like-minded. And so really I think that community is built when we ask the question, how can we learn from someone who is, quote-unquote, more knowledgeable, more experienced, more wise than we are?

and then really learning from them and then offering that same sense to others. And so, like, for me, my first experience of community was the yoga community. And it was the Beekram Yoga community. The Beakram Yoga community is a very interesting community, I will say. I started off, you know, in San Luis Obispo, Christy Winning, much love to you,

wherever you are in the world, was my teacher. And she introduced me to Beakram Yoga. And there was a Beakram Yoga little Kula, like, you know, a little tribe of Beakram yogis. And we, We would all go to class together and talk about it and, you know, drink coconut water and then go to the farmer's market together. And that was my first community.

And then from there, grew into, you know, my yoga community from doing my yoga teacher training and then learning from Sianna Sherman and then going to Bacti Yoga and then, you know, finding this incredible Kula of really heart-centered people who were deep into the lineage of yoga. And then from there, that grew into Akro Yoga, meeting Jason Nemer at the Summer Solstice Festival in Estalin. And, you know, I was in Esselin and teaching acro yoga there and learning acro yoga there. And then, bam, from there, I was like, wow, there's this whole community of acro yogis all around the world. And I feel that movement is one of the most incredible communities that there is. Because people who move their bodies feel themselves. And, like, to feel yourself, like, you are so aware of who you are that, like, the way that you present yourself is, just yourself. And so like I find that, you know, people who are dancers, like I really click

with dancers. I love dancers because they're so expressive of their emotions. And acro yoga teaches that as like communication, like being able to communicate what you're feeling. Like, when I'm taking you into a twist, like, is this good enough? Do you want more? You know, and like having that experience of being able to ask another person like, how do you feel? How do you feel when I do this? And I think that that's so important for relationships. And now more than ever, like we're seeing, you know, all these dating apps and all this, like, disconnection from how we interact with each other when we're attracted. And it's important that when we're attracted, that we speak up and say something. Like a lot of the reasons that, you know, these dating apps exist is because men and women have forgotten how to speak to each other.

How to say, wow, you're really beautiful. I love your eyes. Your hair is gorgeous. Like speak to each other. Just compliment one another. See what it feels like to give a compliment to another human being and see how that can grow into something more. You know, hey, do you want to go to the farmer's market?

Hey, I'm going to a yoga class later on. I love sound healing. Do you enjoy sound healing? Have you ever been to a sound healing? Like communication is so important. And we as humans have forgotten that a lot of communication is physical. Yeah, nonverbal, yeah. And it's okay.

It's okay. Like, it's okay to be attracted to another human being because they look beautiful. And that could be the spark of something more. And so I feel that it really comes down to just like realizing that communities are built on what we truly desire and what we're really excited about learning more about. And I feel so strongly that we as community leaders got to come together and we got to continue to create. space, safe space for people to speak on how they feel. I love that. What are one or two qualities that you really cherish the most in another human being in terms of bringing them in for, you know, an event that you're doing or, you know, a community thing that's going on? You're a very

inclusive individual in terms of your nature of like how you bring people. If you meet them, just like, yeah, invite them, I'll invite you to whatever we're doing. What, yeah, if you look at, if you meet somebody and what are some qualities that you really? really cherish most. I don't have to say number one, curiosity. Like, I am a very curious person. So, like, when I see another person who's really curious, I'm like, wow, like, that's genuine curiosity to, like, want to learn more.

Yeah. And then I would say second would be integrity. Like, just truthful nature. Yeah. Just people who are rooted in their truth and true to their being. And, like, you know, you can't deny someone who's true with their heart. And I want to actually tell a story. because like you were saying, like, you know, like, at any time, like, you'd invite me to, like, sleep on your couch.

Like, there was a time when I was homeless. There was a time when I was, like, 23 years old and I had been driving from my parents' house in Granada Hills all the way down to Laguna Beach to go teach for this yoga studio called You and the Mat. And I was sleeping in my 1957 Volkswagen. And I would meet up with people on every single Sunday at the Green. Because there was this little 30 by 30 patch of grass over in Santa Monica. And I would hang out with Julio and Accra with John and Dean and Fish. And those were like my first community. Those were my friends. And I would go and teach at you and the mat.

And then I would teach at Black Dog Yoga. And I was riding my bike places. and, you know, because I couldn't afford gas. And then when I did have money for gas, I was going to teach down in Laguna. And it was hard. And I was sleeping on Dean's couch in Santa Monica and like waking up and going to yoga

over at Main Street yoga in Santa Monica. And it was like, that was like the first initial part of community. It's like just having friends that were open to, you know, helping and lending a helping hand. And I feel that when it comes down to it, like the most incredible thing that I saw in those people were their hearts, like literally the compassion in their hearts and the kind, intentful nature to want to be of service and also to be part of something that was greater than themselves.

Because at the time I was recording my podcast, Yoga Revealed, and running all around and taking these interviews from different yogis and literally creating a space where yogis could then have the opportunity to share their path on how they found yoga. And that's really what built my community is I took a risk and that risk turned into the beauty of the reward that is now yoga revealed and now having the opportunity to teach all around the world and having connections to all these incredible thought leaders who I was completely inspired by who then helped to open so many other doors for me to lead me to where I am today. Amazing. I think that for people that really want to, you know, you said there's so many nuggets in what you said. And for somebody that wants to have meaningful relationships and cultivate community in a powerful way, to sit with what qualities are most important to you? Maybe it's also curiosity and integrity. Also in partnership, romantic partnership, right? And just human connection in general, what are the qualities that you really want to see in others? And then be that. And then become that. If you want to have quality relationships in your, life where there's a lot of compassion, curiosity, integrity, become somebody who's compassionate, somebody with integrity, and somebody who's a seeker on their path. And you will get that reflection. And it might take six months. It might take a year. It might take a day. But then those people will start

to become introduced. And I love what you spoke to earlier of put yourself in places where people move, whether it's the gym, whether it's a yoga class, a dance studio, somewhere where people are in their bodies. I think that's a really amazing suggestion for people and invitation to meet individuals who are also embodied. Yep, that's the key is like you want to go to places where you're attracted to the people who are there, like not just, you know, physically, but also mentally and also spiritually. And I feel oftentimes that we forget that like when we're drawn to something, like, there's a reason that we're drawn there.

And the reason may be that you're, you know, wanting to be integrated into this community. And a lot of times, like, these communities are looking for people just like you to be part of something and to be new. And, you know, whether it's the climbing gym, whether it's, you know, the self-realization fellowship, whether it's, you know, the knitting school, whatever it is. Like, be there and show up. Your presence. Your presence is needed. And I feel that so often we forget that in communities, the thing that holds communities together is people showing up, consistently. Amazing. What would you say is your vision now building community on bigger scales and some of the cool projects that you're doing for the vision for you, what you want to create and how humans can be more connected in their organic, true, natural way and your vision for what you want to create in the next decade of your life and through building community? Yeah, the next decade of

my life. That's a big one. I have dedicated myself to building community in Costa Rica. I have been there for the last two and a half, almost three years now, specifically looking for a space that I can cultivate for our community to come back and realize their connection to Mother Nature. Because I feel that a lot of the reasons that humanity has come to the point where we are depleting the forests and we are constantly looking towards fossil fuels and, you know, there's, you know, so much war and disconnect is simply because humans have become disconnected from nature. And our true nature is to be stewards onto this earth. And Costa Rica is one of the most biodiverse places in the world, meaning that there's more species per square meter than anywhere

else in the world. And you can literally walk in the jungle and see a toucan flying. And then you can see incredible ant eater climbing up the tree and then you can see Puma running around and then you can see literally dolphins in the water and the beach next to you. It's like it's ridiculous the amount of nature that's all around you. And when we're in spaces like that, we see all the beauty of nature and that natural intelligence brings us to a space where we can become more creative to find solutions to the world's biggest problems. And I really feel that humans as a species are meant to find the solutions

to how we can coexist as a whole and make this ecosystem even more sustainable and even more regenerative to make Earth the absolute abundant, beautiful paradise that it's meant to be. And so living in Costa Rica, I've found two incredible properties, and my goal is to create ascension centers. Spaces where brothers, sisters, brilliant human beings, gorgeous individuals, thought leaders, teachers, movers, shakers, herbalists, people of humanity who know this integral essence of natural connection is meant to be cultivated can come to share their gifts.

and also have a space to learn. Because it's like I want to learn more about permaculture. I just finished an ecoversity course with Stephen Brooks where we had a weekend of running around in the jungle barefoot, you know, planting Katuk plants and, you know, mango steens and learning about how to make tinctures out of the lemon balm leaves and, you know,

conchalongola leaves and how that can help your joints. And it's like all of like, nature is our savior. Nature is our medicine. It's the place that we get all the pharmaceutical comes from nature. All of those, any herbal, herbal remedy comes from nature. And we have to realize the importance of that and come back to that. And that's why I've been so dedicated in building community in Costa Rica and creating a beautiful space in Domenical and having it be a space where we all can come together.

and celebrate the beauty of what we're bringing into this world. Sign me up. I'm there. You know, any way I can support. I'm there. And for anyone that's listening, like that, the idea of the words you use, Ascension Center, right? I love the idea of being grounded and have the opportunity to be elevated.

The being connected with nature and how biologically we're meant to operate with the sun, with plants, with the water around us. and explore the expansive capacities of our imagination to create for our future generations and potential interplanetary species, the human mind can literally come up and create anything. There's no, nothing is impossible in what we can create in this life if we first imagine it.

Everything that we walk around and operate with was first in somebody's mind. And going into a place where we are connected with nature, And yet we can learn and expand and imagine a new world that we're that we're creating in a new way of doing things. I think is so exciting and attractive for me. And I'm sure so many people out there that will resonate and want to come to centers like this. So it's a beautiful vision. And I see them popping up all around the world and being able to really support individuals to have a spiritual infrastructure where they can come in re-nature, rewild themselves and then go into the world and whatever they're doing.

and creating and be that much more effective because they're tapped into their own true nature and their own essence and they're healthy and their vibrancy. We need more individuals that are really reattuning themselves to nature's frequency. And in that, the solutions to some of the biggest problems that we have in the world will become revealed to us. So I'm excited for this journey for you, man. And I'm here as an ally for sure. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. I feel that to know thyself is to know thy true nature. And we are all stewards onto this earth, each and every one of us, born in this beautiful, abundant space has the opportunity to go back to nature and serve nature. I feel we've come such a long way from being tribes who are literally in nature, speaking to the plants, observing the trees, only taking what we needed. and all of what we needed was shared. And to come back to that space and to also do it in a way that honors the resilience and the brilliance of technology, I feel that they can be leveraged so well to be able to create an absolutely next level ascension space

where we're creating even more energy to be able to share with the local area, to be able to create even more teachers to be able to share those teachings with the local, you know, communities and to be able to create even more food to be able to share with those who are in need. Because there's no reason why, you know, we have 8 billion people on this earth now and a lot of them are starving. There's no reason why we should be keeping prime nutrition away from every single being and keeping education away from every single being when every single being has the opportunity to learn. every single being has the opportunity to grow and to become the best individual that they can possibly be to connect to the whole.

And so I really do believe in this being a very pivotal time because we are in the sixth largest extinction of the world as we know it. We're at a crossroads. We're at a crossroads. And I can't even speak to the urgency of now. Yeah.

Like the urgency of now is very palpable. Yeah. And I am just doing my best to help to inspire others to realize this and say, you know, it's great to be rolling around in a Bentley and Newport Beach. But let's put that $300,000 towards something that could be incredible. You know, let's actually, you know, put our money where our mouths are. You know, if we're really looking to build community and to share regenerative consciousness, like let's put our money where our mouth. this. Let's build the space for our grandchildren to be stoked on. My grandfather did this and look at this beautiful school, you know? So that's. Yeah, I think both on an individual and collective level,

like when you were speaking to your own journey, you kind of had these like, I don't know, rock bottom moments to where you realize you weren't feeling good in your body. And that was the impetus for you to be open to new ideas. And on a collective level, we very well may need a bigger collective cataclysmic traumatic experience for us to really wake up to needing change. Because right now the world is operating from a very convenient place. And a lot of these ideas that are complex to solve. But right now we have the opportunity to really make a big difference because of how connected we are. We've never had the opportunity to communicate cross globally like we do now over the past couple decades.

from all of humanity. Like we're at this place now where we can communicate and share ideas and have these conversations, whether it's through podcasts or through colleges or through interpersonal communications. Like there's so many different ways in which we can share ideas that can really be the catalyst for solutions that we need on the planet right now. And yeah, all I can say is thank you for doing your part. And I think that we are going to see some wild times in our lifetime for sure.

I mean, they've already been pretty wild. They've been wild. I'm ready for the ride. Yeah. Let's go. They've been wild. And unfortunately, like, I hate to, like, you know, sound like I'm prophetic in a negative way,

but it's probably going to need to get a lot worse before real change happens. And what we can do, and I talked a lot about this in my first, one of my first podcast with Richard Rudd is preparing the big surf, the big surfers in this wave of life to really be leaders in this time because we don't have strong leadership in this plan. that are heart-centered right now.

But now social media is democratizing leadership in a way where you can show up in a space and if you have a powerful message and you have a potent way of leading and leading by example, then now you can be a shining light for people to get answers to questions that they didn't know previously that they didn't have answers to. And to be honest with you, you know, my real question to the listeners and to those out there who are big wave surfers, you know, the sod gurus, the Deepak Chopras, the Aubrey Marcuses, the, you know, Daniel Smotchenberger's, like, how can we now band together the operas, you know, and really create what I would call a nucleus of positive change where we're creating a school,

a space where leaders like ourselves can go to learn to create the systems of not governance, but the systems of collective ascension, where we're really empowering the next leaders to lead communities rather than countries. Because right now we're in a space where you don't have to be bordered into a country, to be part of an organization. Organizations can happen worldwide, you know, and we have the technology now to be able to meet eye to eye and see each other no matter where we are in the world.

And so to address the problems that need to be addressed ASAP so that we can actually build forth the regenerative future that we wish to, that we intend to witness blossom now. And I think it needs to happen now. It's like I'm going to go teach for the Life Mastery Summit for Tony Robbins. And I'm like, let's go, man. Like, like, how can we create these systems where we can all be even more connected to say, this is how we're going to bring forth a worthy ideal and create the schools that are needed.

Because I want higher education. I want to learn more about how we can actually create solutions now towards problems like all the trash that's building up and creating the methane that is literally burning holes in our atmosphere, to how we can plant as many, not just trees, but also kelp to be able to replenish the ocean and to get our plankton back to a sustainable space where now we can have more of the ecosystem of the ocean to replenish. So like all these are big things.

They're big things that we need to be discussing on a day-to-day basis, but not just from a perspective of really brilliant people with lots of money, but also from a perspective of really genius doctors who don't even have all the funding that they need to be able to continue to move forward into the technology that they wish to bring forward. So bridging the gap. Absolutely. And it starts with what we're doing right now, having the conversation and allowing people to hear this message and probably find a deep resonance with it

and start to begin to have their own conversations and their own families and relationships and friendships and that can evolve to a place where over the next 10 to 20 years, we're seeing a lot of really brilliant beings start to come out and be on social media and share their messages. And then I think we both are very much so abridged in this aspect.

We love bringing brilliant minds together to have these conversations and to see what comes from it. And it's tough to where people who really have a strong desire for greed tend to band together much more than individuals or just lovey-dovey and like they don't have this desire or need to have an agenda of what they want to create until it becomes apparently so bad where like we really got to do something so hopefully we have some foresight and really needing that and we can take action without it needing to get so bad before we have to do something but it's a progress it's a process and we're making progress

and we're doing it together so thank you so much for shining your light and doing what you're what you're doing. Is there anything else on your heart that you want to touch on today before we kind of share where people can find you? Just honor yourself, love yourself fully, and give yourself the time, the space, and the cultivated awareness to grow into the beautiful being that you're meant to become. Don't give up on yourself at all. Like each and every one of us is here for a reason and know that that reason may come to blossom as you continue to cultivate and love yourself. All fruits blossom at their own pace. Amazing.

Thank you so much, bro. It's been an honor getting to know you in this life and making the memories that we have together and going on this journey together. And we're just getting started. We're just getting started. Straight up. This is just the beginning. It's just the beginning, bro.

Where can people find more, Andrew? You want to find more Andrew? Check out my app, Andrew 7. Seely. You can download it on the Apple iTunes store. You can also download it on the good old Android, Google, yeah. And check out my website, Andrew 7seley.com. And yeah, Instagram is a wonderful way too.

Amazing, beautiful. Thank you so much, bro. So everybody that's been tuning in, this is an honor for me. It's a privilege to be able to sit down with my friends and people that I really respect and admire and have so much wisdom and beautiful. their beautiful fragrance to share with the world.

And so thank you for coming on this journey with me. If you found some of the things that we talked about insightful, please let us know in the comments section below. If you're on YouTube, if you're on Spotify and Apple, let me know as well. I'd be curious to see you with a ratio of who tunes in and where. And until next time, be well.