Know Thyself - E57 - Jonah Kest: Discovering Your Spiritual Power & Inner Peace Through Yoga

Episode Date: August 1, 2023

Jonah Kest delves into the transformative power of yoga, offering insights and practical wisdom for individuals seeking inner peace and spiritual growth. He shares his personal journey, growing up in a yoga family and the profound impact it had on his life. Although Yoga was something he grew up with, it was also something he chose. Jonah shares the steps to following our dharma and aligning to a greater vision of our life. He sheds light on the process of revealing and healing samskaras, the deep-rooted impressions that shape our behaviors and experiences. Additionally, he shares valuable insights on managing energy, cultivating prana, and playing big at a young age. ___________ Timecodes: 0:00 Intro  3:03 Prioritizing Clarity of Mind Before Pursuing Your Dreams 5:31 Growing Up in a Yoga Family 8:26 The Steps to Following Your Dharma  11:33 Cultivating Equanimity and Observing Thoughts 20:30 Using Yoga as a Science to Self Actualization  22:19 Understanding the 8 Limbs of Yoga  31:14 Revealing and Healing Samskaras  33:18 Managing Your Energy & Cultivating Prana 36:32 Playing Big at a Young Age  43:45 Creativity as a Path to Enlightenment 48:26 How Yoga is Evolving Globally 52:01 Authenticity as a Content Creator 55:18 Holding a Vision for the Future & Commitment to Growth 1:01:08 Guided Heart-Opening Meditation 1:04:24 Conclusion ___________ Jonah Kest was born into a Yoga Legacy. With his father, Vinyasa Yoga pioneer Jonny Kest, and his mother, Milla Kest, as one of the first Yoga business owners and Yoga teacher training programs in the midwest - He was destined to follow the path. At the age of three, Jonah was walking the Yoga room with his dad and shortly thereafter he began to learn the importance of a daily practice and evening meditation.  Today, Jonah is a well traveled ashtanga/vinyasa teacher whose classes are both graceful and intense. Impermanence, compassion and humility are just a few of the elements that Jonah seamlessly weaves through each healing practice. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kestyoga/ Website: http://www.jonahkestyoga.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/

Not only are we having the same thoughts over and over again, but we're actually addicted to our thoughts. You can only imagine what the withdrawal symptoms are for breaking one of the biggest addictions we have in our life, and that's to the place our mind dwells. I think growing up in a yoga family isn't always what it seems. Most kids want to do the opposite of what their parents do. I wanted to do something bigger than myself.

Yoga means to steer your life, to create your reality. Stress manifests into disease, and if we really want to increase our health, we have to focus on alleviating that stress. And one of the best ways to do that is to meditate. Keep going inwards. Keep going through yourself. There's nothing really outside of you that's going to change you.

Ultimately, you're your greatest teacher. The more we can trust our intuition and go into that, the more you're going to find benefit. The yogi, say every breath is an opportunity to begin again. Hello, beautiful beings. Welcome back to the Know Thyself podcast. We get the privilege and opportunity to sit down with a brilliant mind. a deep heart and soul to learn more about ourselves in the world around us at deeper and deeper

levels. My guest today is a dear friend. He was born into a yoga legacy family with his pioneering father, Johnny Kest and uncle Brian Kest. He is one of the first ever yoga, Nike-sponsored athletes. And he travels the world sharing yoga and his teacher trainings and classes online and in person all around the world. And you can now find him as well on Netflix with his multiple classes is teaching yoga, which is cool. It's the first ever on that platform. And he's a deep friend because I met him seven years ago actually initially on silent retreat meditation when I was like 19, both super young, and you couldn't talk for 10 days. And before even speaking any words with him, I knew that we would be great friends for years to come. And on the 10th day, when we actually

were allowed to speak, we just hit it right off and been friends ever since. So I think this podcast will be filled with many nuggets from both of our paths on being and become. and finding your Dharma at a younger age, and I think it'll be valuable for anybody. But Jonah Kess, thanks for coming on, bro. Thank you, Andre. Thanks for that intro. Yeah, of course. Appreciate that.

It's fun, dude. It's like really been such an honor to see both of our paths blossoming and being able to just reflect and have, you know, it feels like a soul brother on the path of self-actualization that is like staying true to what wants to come through your soul. And, yeah, I'm just excited for all the reflections that we can dive into today. Definitely. I can't believe it's been seven years when you said that. I'm just like, shit, man, time's fine. It's flown by. But no, definitely that Vapasana was, it's an interesting time that we have met because we were both living in Michigan at the time. And we were planning to kind of move to L.A. and follow our dreams and follow our gifts. And definitely that bubbling up of those nine days and silence kind of just imploded us on that 10th day. And I think we immediately had that brotherhood. So I'm excited to be here, man. Yeah, I want to start there because I found it so invaluable to take time to really develop clarity of mind before you go out there and try to pursue whatever you want to pursue in life, right? Because if you don't pick an aim, a direction in life earlier on from a place of clarity, from like what will really have meaning to you 10, 20, 50 years from now, then one day you might find yourself in a completely weird field that you're not passionate about.

And so I just want to speak to how important and pivotal do you feel like it's been for you, for us to be able to prioritize clarity of mind and practices, for example, like Vipasa that allow that before you go out and embark into, you know, adventuring in this life. Beautiful question, man. I think, you know, this following one's purpose and following one's gifts are, it seems to be the question that a lot of people are asking themselves. And I think the main thing to do is experimentation, but if we experiment with a clouded mind, it's, we're not necessarily going to lead us into the right direction. So Vaphasana, for me, was a great foundation to kind of just cultivate self-awareness and really kind of settle into what I needed. And for me, it was a foundation.

One thing that I think is really interesting is when I teach yoga and meditation to kids, we often teach it with the ABCs, and this is a cool method. First, you want to have awareness, then you want to have balance. And then from that balance, you can have choices. So I think, I don't know if this really answers your question, but I think experimentation in coming from a grounded balance placed is really the key to finding your true essence. Yeah, to be able to actually live a life of fulfillment one day.

I think we live in a society that definitely romanticizes that peace, happiness, these qualities will come one day when. It's this story of like in the future after attaining the material possessions, after becoming successful in the 3D, then I can take a deep breath and figure out who I am. And of course, part of self-realization is discovering yourself along that process of experimenting with a lot of different things. But I think it's so important to be able to cultivate awareness and mindfulness

earlier on, if possible within your path. Because then like I said, that clarity of mind and being able to follow and listen to your inner voice and intuition, we'll just guide you down such a more fruitful path in life. So for you, you were born into a family, you know, with your dad, and I've been so fortunate and meet your beautiful family. And, you know, I'm curious what it was like to be raised in a household that was vegetarian, teaching yoga at a very early age,

and how that really informed your path of doing what you're doing now. Yeah, thanks for bringing light to that. I think growing up in a yoga family isn't always what it seems. I think my family definitely found yoga or yoga found them for a reason. I think we're all pretty fiery personalities. And it almost without yoga, I question where we would all be, you know. But growing up, I feel very fortunate, yes, to be grown up in a vegetarian household, have this mindfulness around food and around communities. and around, you know, just developing conscious daily habits, I think was a huge thing. And I just remember growing up, my father never really pushing education on me too hard. He always kind of just said, do what makes you happy, do what makes you happy, and do what makes you passionate.

I think those were like the key things that he really brought upon me. And I think just cultivating a yoga practice in middle school and high school just sort of complimented everything that I did and gave me this ease and this this equanimity which I'm sure we'll get into. And yeah, it's set me up for for I think all the obstacles and challenges that would soon to arise, you know, growing up with all of life's complex things. Yeah. I think a lot of times being born into something, you can take it for granted. Like you can, it's like a fish doesn't know that it's swimming in water, you know, because it's just so ubiquitous within its environment. And so I feel like being raised in a household, you don't have much context for really how different most people's experiences.

And I'm sure you, you know, you had that awareness as well, you know, how it was very much different. But do you feel like there's been times on your path where you've really taken that for granted? Oh, totally. I think I rebelled most of my life. You know, I definitely want, most kids want to do the opposite of what their parents do. I think I was on that path for a long time and then suddenly had to meet face with reality and see what it was that I was being. fed and kind of just come from a place of like, I think the moment it really switched for me when I wanted to take on this path of yoga was, you know, I was 17 years old. I decided to quit sports in high school and take teacher training. And I think I just saw how my father was kind of holding himself and living his truth and living all these practices and also how he was helping other

people. I think that became really purposeful for me because a lot of things maybe have been self-centered and I wanted to do something bigger than myself for something bigger than myself. And I think when I had seen that shift and how he was helping other people overcome challenges, that really inspired me to take it full on. And really from 17 years old, I haven't really looked back. And it's been quite a path of ups and downs and highs and lows and twists and turns. But yeah, man, it's it's been very fulfilling to say the least. I feel like this idea of purpose and Dharma has been really integral. And one of the best ways to find your purpose and your Dharma that I found is just to find what lights you up. It's just to find your gifts. And then once you find your gifts, you know,

to really go full out and give it 100%, give it everything that you possibly have. And that's what the last, you know, seven years has looked like for both of us. I mean, look at your amazing podcast. I remember sitting on your couch, you know, just to, you know, just to, you know, year or two ago or maybe, what was it, 14 months? You got something like that? Yeah, and you told me about this name, know thyself. And I'm like, man, this is genius because all the, you know, great teachers, all the great sages have really all said the same thing.

You know, they said to know thyself. But I think the one thing that maybe has been missing is, you know, the path on how to get there. And I think this platform of know thyself has been an incredible way to provide tools for people to actually learn how to know thyself. and something also that the yogis have, you know, have really brought forth. Yeah. And I think, I mean, in one way, the path has been there for all of time, you know, with really how to know thyself. But I think that something that I strive to do and something that everybody gets to share in their own unique creative way is speaking to people in ways that they can understand in modern times.

And I feel like that's also what you're doing and sharing yoga and as being a content creator and kind of innovating and like making mindfulness, making yoga, making yoga. making a lot of these qualities very attractive and sexy for the younger demographic who maybe put it off as, you know, some like spiritual idea that some people in a small sect of marginalized, you know, groups of people on the planet do. Yeah. I think that's the key. And that's what Gatima the Buddha did so profoundly was, you know, he made teachings very accessible and real for people.

I think that whenever he gave discourses or, you know, talks, they would be very relatable. He used very simple analogies in nature. And he would give these really complex lessons of wisdom and just make them super simple. A lot of this stuff is really simple at the end of the day. Knowing thyself, this self-awareness is simple. Most people think it's complex, but it's actually a very simple practice for complex people to kind of come back to themselves and get rid of all the noise that's up there. Because, you know, when we're relaxed and we're peaceful, you know, we get bored.

because we're actually like addicted to our thoughts. So it's an interesting, I'd love to dive deeper into that at some point. For sure, I think there's just so much programming and true growth is really more addition by subtraction. You know, it's letting go and removing what's in the way of what we've accumulated that, you know, to that noise. And, you know, stemming both of our paths earlier on and like vipassana, cultivating equanimity and just the simple awareness of breath. Like these simple things, right, that just aren't taught in the traditional education. system, which is still mind-blowing. And I think we're seeing a lot of innovations more and more each day. But having that and those tools and awareness going into life is like we spoke to a little bit,

going to allow you to really choose from a conscious place what direction you want to go in and not be so reactionary to so much in life. And so, you know, I think for you and like your Dharma as well, for me, it's like part of it is it kind of chooses you. You're born into the family. Who knows whether or not you chose that on an astro level one time. But, you know, there's a point when you have to choose it, right? You get to claim the direction that you want to go down. And, you know, I think earlier on, you know, 17 to like 20 plus, you know, it's like, that was a time for you when you really got to claim it. And she was like, okay, I want to go all in on this and activate and share these gifts in this unique way. A big part of Apasana is coming into understanding of how to

actually develop equanimity within ourselves, right? We spoke to a little bit earlier, how, you know, a lot of people are thinking that external circumstances, once they get the right pieces in the puzzle to arrange in a certain way, then it's going to give them the life they want, the picture of their experience that they want. But it's actually, you know, and Vaphasana teaches that it's coming into relationship with our own craving and aversion. So I'm curious for your own personal path, when you experience craving and when you experience aversion into life, like how do you navigate that and how do you support other people and coming to proper awareness with that? Yeah. Great, great point. Great question. I think ultimately coming back

to that idea of observing and not reacting is key. You know, when we react to something, we just give it more power. We kind of etch it into the stone a little deeper. So the more and more we can just observe and let it pass and come back to this idea of impermanence that no matter what I'm feeling in this moment will eventually pass away, I think then we can see it from a bigger perspective and eventually it loses power over us, whatever that thing is. So, you know, and Vipasana, the reason I think I was attracted to it besides, you

being an initiation of my family to sit a 10-day at the age of 18, is because it's really real. It's almost like a science, you know, experimentation with observation. That's what science is. And what I found that, and I think what Goenka, Asengueenka speaks to, is that when you're observing your breath and your bodily sensations, you're actually in effect observing the deepest level of your mind. And that was kind of the bridge that really made sense to me.

It was like a science. When you have a thought, when you have like an angry thought or a happy thought, any thought or any emotion, it results in some sort of physical manifestation into either a change in your breath or into a change in bodily sensation. So let's say you have an angry thought and you get really hot, you start sweating, your breath starts to, you know. These are ways to kind of catch it because it's a little abstract to just say, let me observe anger. You know, usually by the time you're observing anger, you're already throwing that first punch. So I think observing the breath and bodily sensations, the biggest insight is you're in fact observing the deepest level of your nervous system and your mind. And that allows you to really harness control, have self-control and ultimately direct your life.

So for me, when something happens to me or I feel something come up, I have that wisdom. to kind of just sit back, okay, let me feel this. You're not avoiding it. You're not ignoring it. And let's just see how long it lasts. And, you know, it might not go away. That's the thing is people think when you, when something happens to you, you observe, you don't react, it just disappears. But no, the next time it comes back, it has a little less power over you. And you keep that practice. And then eventually, you take out that impurity or that reactionary tendency that you had from the root. and ultimately this is how you purify your mind and how you move into a more still and peaceful place. I really resonated when I first heard like going his teachings about how we accumulate these

and scars and these impressions kind of in our deep subconscious mind and how those will continually find manifestations in our conscious reality until they're dealt with. It's like rotten roots are always going to lead to rotten fruits and having that proper awareness then allows you to use tools like the breath and simply becoming aware of what is happening within your body and the sensation of your body to purify those, right? And it's always kind of hardest. There's like that saying, I think the hardest, the war is won after the hardest battle. It's like it's always most difficult right before you actually release it.

And so like coming over our conditioning, you know, finding dissolution to those programs. often it's a path of more difficulty first. It's so difficult and uncomfortable in those moments. I think Vapasana is probably the hardest thing that I've ever done in my life. Still to this day, and I've ran a marathon without training and have had some other hardships in life, but I still think that Vapasana is the hardest thing I've ever done. And I think the hardest part is just being with yourself and sitting in silence. I think it's so easy to distract ourselves.

It's so easy to go on our phones and, you know, we can travel all over the world and there's constantly entertainment. But just to be with yourself can sometimes be scary, the stuff that kind of reveals and the same thought patterns that you have, you know, over and over again keep coming up until you finally face them. There are just so many valuable lessons and this is, you know, slowly becoming a Vassana ad, which I'm actually not mad at because it's been so valuable for, I think, both of our lives. And I just think it's so important.

for people to carve out if it's 10 days, five days, being able to just take time away. And that's like nothing in the grand scheme of what your life is. But the ripples that it has is just such an exponential factor. Exactly. And I think that, you know, it doesn't have to be even vipasana. It just could be, you know, you deciding to meditate for five minutes when you wake up in the morning or even before you go to bed at night. And just seeing what that does for your life. Because a lot of people want to that are probably listening to this podcast, I'm assuming or wanting to increase their well-being or their health or better themselves. And usually the way to do that is to go for the mind. I think that, you know, Harvard, there's so many new modern studies and some amazing guests

that you have spoke to it about, you know, stress being one of the biggest factors of our health, you know, stress manifests into disease. And if we really want to increase our health, we have to, you know, probably focus on alleviating that stress. And one of the best ways to do that is, to meditate or, you know, practice yoga because, you know, the first step to any meditation is focus in concentration. And when you can focus on one thing, usually you stop focusing on everything else. And you can start to get rid of that pattern of thinking the same thoughts that we have every single day, which are usually the same repeated thoughts until we can break that cycle. Yeah, there's just innumerable insights that carry with you. I feel like once you start to

cultivate that practice, like first, you know, was hearing about anitya and impermanence and how, we can come into proper awareness as to the continual arising and passing away a phenomenon. It makes you less reactionary. It makes you more capable to navigate this life and not just being at the whims of everything that's happening and controlling you at a deep level. Yeah, because that's really what's happening is not only are we having the same thoughts over and over again, but we're actually addicted to our thoughts. And just like any other addiction, whether it be to drugs or alcohol, if you're getting rid of that process, there's withdrawal symptoms. You know, there's boredom, there's craving, there's addiction, there's, you know, frustration. And, you know, you can only

imagine what the withdrawal symptoms are for breaking one of the biggest addictions we have in our life, and that's to the place our mind dwells, our thoughts. So breaking that addiction is really difficult. And that's why Goenka just says start again, start again. And this has kind of been my mantra. And, you know, a real lesson because, you know, you can start again. No matter what has happened in the past, no matter what has gone on, every moment in the yogi, say every breath is an opportunity to begin again. We all say we want peace and relaxation, but when we get there, you know, usually people are bored. They're like, you know, they want to go back to their thoughts. They want to go back to their cell phones. So I think just being present with when you have those

moments can allow you to appreciate them more. Those habitual tendencies to go into pleasure seeking, I feel like alleviate that tension of self or those addictive tendencies towards thought and emotion. But to actually like live in that place, like to have an actual continual experience of peace, you have to go and purify those impurities. I want to hear a little bit more about what do you feel like the ultimate goal of yoga is? And then also let's kind of dive into some of the eight limbs of yoga. Most people are so familiarized with just like a yoga practice in this westernized view of just an asana practice, but it is a science for self-actualization.

So I want to hear a little bit about that. Yeah, you know, let's just talk about what the word yoga means. It means to yoke. And, you know, if you look up yoke in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, you would yoke in ox, it's to steer. So really, yoga means to steer your life, to create your reality, to kind of control your reality. and the goal of yoga is actually quite simple.

And sometimes this word scares people a little bit, but is enlightenment. And enlightenment in Latin really just means to turn the light on. So when you turn the light on, it means you can start to see things that maybe you've missed your whole life. So with that in mind, it's nice to kind of have the essence of what we're actually going for because yoga's kind of turned into sweaty fitness. And I think that's the key insight that kind of switches it. So once we have that goal in mind, you know, it makes it a little easier to access it. And enlightenment for me is not something where we have to start levitating out of these beautiful chairs, you know.

We already are. I kind of feel elevated on these things. But it's more so really your highest expression, your full potential. And I think that's what we need to kind of go for. And our highest expression, our full potential is not being controlled by our cravings and our versions, like you said. So beautiful. to just actually become a conscious human being, you know, and to reclaim that power is like to reown all those parts we've discontinued,

you know, we've unconsciously disowned within ourselves. So let's start diving into like, what are the eight limbs? What are these different, it is very much a science to be able to know who you are, to grow your awareness, and to ultimately become. the master of your own destiny? Yeah, the eight limbs were, you know, designed by Patanjali to self-realization and self-actualization. And the first limb are, one of the limbs is Asana, which is the physical practice. But it's, it's so small. If you even read the yoga sutras, which is like one of the first texts of the yoga

tradition to be transcribed by Patanjali, you know, they only mention, I think, two physical postures in the whole book, which is kind of crazy if you think about it. And one of the postures is, is Padmasana, which is, you know, seeded posture. So when you look at these limbs, they're like, let's look at the first few. These are really important, the yamas and the niamas, so the restraints and without restraints. So really these are like the moral conduct and ethics of the path. And he kind of says that if you keep these moral precepts per se, kind of just like in Vapasana, they really do protect you and keep you on the path.

And for me, it's been very much so the case. Some of them may seem very obvious like, you know, no killing or no stealing or no lying. But these things do protect you. In all your relationships, they protect you in their life. And they really do keep you on the path. And they're kind of like the outer ring that connects all the traditions of yoga, from karma yoga to Vakti yoga. These are the wheels, I like to use the analogy, that kind of carry you to that center goal. You can't have enlightenment without having some kind of moral ethics.

It's like the yogis version of the Ten Command. Emmets, you know, and some of these, you know, like if you look at all the incredible teachers, like a few that come to mine are like Mother Teresa and Gandhi and Jesus Christ, you know, some of the greatest yogis that have ever walked this earth, they embody these qualities, these benevolent qualities. So, yeah, we can kind of dive into those. I think that the no-killing one is an interesting one because everyone hears that and they're like, well, I hope we're not talking to a serial killer.

I don't think there's too many, at least in our community. But I think it's, you know, you take everything a little bit under a magnifying glass and you start to look at, you know, how much harm am I causing in my life, you know, whether it be, you know, driving here in my gas car or I think you're electric now. So the idea is kind of peeling back the layers and, you know, even moving in towards your diet and, you know, how am I cultivating that, that a hymsa, that piece within what I'm eating. Yeah, it goes from the dense, gross understanding of don't kill another human being to, you know, okay what about all sentient life what about the thoughts and the subtle thoughts that we have that are tied with violence in some degree you know and so being able to purify and get to those more and more subtle levels because it's actually in the way the energetics at least how I've come to understand it is there's not a whole big difference from having an angry or violent thought and then the actual

physical manifestation of course it has its own implications in the real world but in terms of your own karma. It's like this impression is very similar. Totally. Yeah. You know, Patanjali, he has, in his yoga sutras, there's a lot of them. There's a specific sutra where he kind of outlines the goal of yoga. And it's really interesting. It's called yoga chita Vriti Narodha. And in English, it means to stop the movement of the mind or yoga is to remove the fluctuations of the mind. And it kind of brings us back to what we were kind of talking about. The word asana actually means to sit still. which is kind of interesting because you hear it after every physical yoga posture. So he obviously wasn't talking about our physical bodies.

He was talking about our minds to kind of remain still within these moving parts. And I think that's the big metaphor as yoga becomes a metaphor for our life because we're really practicing, removing the thoughts, getting still, and remaining equanimous through all these challenges, these ups and downs. Yeah. Most people have this idea right up of yoga in the West, especially Ben, twisting, turning, which of course is a part to be able to give expression to this animal body, but ultimately with the goal to be able to sit still and deeply penetrate your mind and be able

to find that stillness within. And like that's the actual ultimate goal. It's not just to get a good workout, which can be nice too. Definitely. And you know what? It's totally cool because I think that you can do yoga when you're doing anything. Just because you go in through something with the doorway marked physical doesn't mean that's what keeps you there. You know, anything can be yoga. You know, just, you know, I always like to say the easiest expression of yoga is just walking. You know, I think if I could just give one piece of tidbit here of a health exercise is just to walk. It's the most gentle form of exercise and it's a, it can turn into a meditation, just being aware of your footsteps touching the earth, you know, and kind of bringing back that focus and concentration. So yeah, I think that yoga is kind of, you know, and it's cool.

Like I personally, I love teaching yoga with hip hop music and making it fun and accessible. But ultimately, it kind of, what it does is it just peels back those layers. Once you're put under a lot of heat and pressure, it's almost impossible not to have a spiritual experience, which is kind of, even if you're in like a CrossFit class, you know, if you're observing your breath and you're in your body, that's the, that's the bridge. Yeah. That's the bridge towards from outside to inside. Yeah. It's like a doorway into just presence. Yeah.

Because it's hard to just, you know, if you've had no experience with spirituality or no experience, you know, moving into those unknown parts of yourself, sometimes going through the physical layer first is actually really helpful. Amazing. So before we move on, can we take us through a little bit more of the other limbs and just walk us through that? Yeah, yeah. Another limb that for me has been really powerful is Pratea. And Pratiyahara is almost like an inward focus. It's kind of like where all your healing energy is directed inwards. You can almost think.

Like withdrawal from the senses, right? Exactly. Withdraw all the senses. So, you know, you kind of like eliminate the external world and you close your eyes and you turn your attention inwards. The best kind of analogy that I've heard for this is almost like if you were in a coma. You know, all your healing energy is directed inwards. And every, all your prana is going to basically keep you a lot.

It's like the avatar state. You just kind of turn on. And, you know, there's a few poses that kind of help this help you get to that place. But ultimately, it's your gaze. It's your drushty. It's, you know, just looking inside. And, yeah, that's another one. Another one is Diana, which is concentration.

And it's kind of like more so this dialogue. Like if you were to be talking to yourself, this idea of kind of just having this self-dialogue in contemplation, in meditation. But yeah, I think all these are just tools to know yourself a little bit more. Yeah, I think just having awareness into pranayama and being able to have these tools to be able to kind of go inwards. And like when we mentioned Pratihara, which is like withdrawal the senses, a lot of people kind of look at spirituality is kind of like you become this inept like mountain, like cave dwelling. creature, you know, where you just kind of, you know, away from the world, that is a lot of activity. But you can experience a reality within yourself that is way more real, way more alive,

way more vast than anything with your eyes open. Yeah. And, you know, the quieter that you can get, the more you can hear. And I think that's kind of the key is like to just keep going inwards. Like keep going through yourself. There's nothing really outside of you that's going to really change you. I mean, yes, there's tools. there's things that we can learn, but ultimately, you're your greatest teacher.

And I think that the more we can trust our intuition and go into that, the more you're going to find benefit. And it's sometimes not always, you know, all flowers and kundalini. It's sometimes a little scary, you know. Sure. Yeah. I think when we get quiet, what needs to be heard becomes loud, you know? So like when we actually kind of withdraw those senses, when we kind of go in and we find some

stillness. Then whatever is like those unscars that we're talking about, whatever's unresolved, they'll become present. And, you know, especially like we were speaking to with Apasina or just having your own meditation practice, when you sit through that, that discomfort, some really beautiful things can become unlocked in those gifts. Yeah, I like that idea of somcars, because sometimes it's not only the somsars. And to kind of give you another word for those, those are like old traumas, like old like negativity, impurities, are kind of like residing within you that you haven't really gotten out. And those could be from your childhood or, you know, sometimes even generations before you, you know, past lives if you want to go into that route.

But the idea is to kind of shake yourself up to bring those samsaras to the surface. Yeah, shake up the snow globe a little bit. Yeah, you want to shake it up. Like, you want to do things that create a little friction. You know, Peter Crone has that great quote. I know you've had them on here. You know, life presents you with certain people and circumstances to reveal where you're not free. And that's kind of what the practice should be in a sense is, you know, you want to, you want to shake yourself up. It's like a river. Like, you know, when there's a thunderous river and like a raging river, all the sediment kind of comes up to the top. And then you have the ability to just kind of like let it all come back to the surface. There's another really cool analogy. I'm sure

you've heard it about ghee. I know you love Ayurveda. I think your mom's cooking some amazing Indian food out there. But, you know, I was just in India. And, when they make Indian butter, they basically heat it up. And what happens is all the impurities come up to the top, all the kind of lactose, all the bad parts of butter. And then basically they boil it. And this Indian guy, he basically takes a big spoon and takes it off the top. And then he keeps repeating that process over and over again.

And what you're left with this is this is really sweeter, transparent, clarified butter. And that's kind of like what we're doing with ourselves. We're like practicing, practicing, shaking it up. and then using that equanimity that and then scooping it off the top. And then what we're left with is just a more peace of mind. And yeah, it's that simple, man. That's great. Yeah.

And shaking up that snow globe literally could just look like sitting still. Yeah. Just the things will become revealed to you. Totally. All right, beautiful. I think we riffed on this topic a good amount. And I love the avenues we've been diving into. Is there anything else you want to touch on with limbs or that part before we jump into the next?

Yeah. I think we should talk about prana a little bit, like energy. I feel like I think we're all trying to figure out more and more ways to manage our energy and how to create the most of it. And there's some paradigm shifters that kind of can help us move into harnessing that power more. And the first one is kind of just managing our energy versus managing our time. I think you do a great job of that.

Even just the time of recording this podcast, it felt like we were more so thinking of energy. We got in all our prana rituals, these things that kind of help us become our best selves, like the sauna and coal plunge that you have down there. And yeah, I think oftentimes we can go off a clock and not really listen to our inner clock. So for me, managing my energy versus managing my time has been a huge principle. And obviously this takes, not everyone has this kind of freedom. You know, sometimes we have to show up at work at 9 o'clock or we have to teach that yoga class. But the best you can. I think if you're a morning person or if you know you're going to do some kind of fitness throughout the day, usually in the morning is better

until you're tired after work at night. What is your experience with that? Yeah. What are some of your prana rituals per se? Right. Well, I mean, life is essentially just a combination of our time and energy, right? So it's like you could meet somebody who feels like they compress 100 years of activity and impact in the world in 10 years because they've cultivated that prana. They've cultivated that energy and they've directed that towards, you know, a chosen direction in life. Yes. And so I think everybody's depending on where you're at in life, finding those practices to be

able to wake up a little bit earlier to find those things that really do charge you up and allow you to discover that vitality. Most people have no idea how good they can feel within themselves, like the possibility of that. And I think once you start to taste that, once you start to feel that, then you can actually start to choose to make that more of an occurring present reality within your day. And so finding those practices for me have been monumental.

And it's like those things that we continually do that align, sustain action, like over a long time, is going to actually give us the qualities of that in our reality. So for me, for sure, you know, meditation, movement, breathwork, hot, cold therapy, community. Like a lot of these things are just so. so important for us to become at ease within ourself. And I think that's ultimately what we're seeking. Like we want to have an easeful experience of life. Yeah. Yeah. Well said. I think that last part you touched on too, just like being heard and being seen and being around like-minded people and cultivating community is a huge part of the path. And yeah, I know it's been a huge part for me

of creating the proper environment in order to kind of succeed. I think a lot of the great teachers speak to this of not only creating your physical environment, but also around the people, who are you surrounding yourself with? I know. I know a lot of people that listen to this podcast, there's a big range from, you know, 18 to 65 men and women all across the board. But I'd love for us to riff on and chat a little bit of what does it mean to play big at a young age, to be able to choose, you know, if you're lucky enough to be earlier on in your path, listening to this right now or watching on YouTube, that, you know, we all want to activate

our gifts, share and impact the world in a big way, and be able to receive the abundance and the reflection of the 3D in material world, but then also just find that thing in life that really lights us up. And yeah, yeah. So for you, what has been your journey of deciding, choosing, claiming to play bigger and bigger at a young age when, It's okay to kind of chill and take your time, right? No, yeah, totally. I think this is something that maybe I struggled with the most. I think being brought up in a yoga family and having, you know, mentors that were, you know,

it kind of put a lot of pressure on me just to say the least. And I think that people kind of expected a lot of me, but also undermine me because of my age, because I started teaching at 17 years old. And who wants to listen to a kid, you know, tell them what to do and breathe and move? And I think I struggled with that for a long time and it kind of created insecurity but also also made me kind of own it a little bit more too and walk my walk. And I think that it also gave me a little bit more humility and just having that understanding and that certainty that what I'm sharing is not necessarily coming from a place of like

in my head, but it's like things that have really impacted me and I'm just sharing them. And I think that gave me a greater confidence and certainty on this path. Because, you know, a lot of the great teachers, what makes them so great is their own personal experience. You know, they've lived this shit over and over again. And it's coming from a place of direct experience. So wisdom is really just experiencing the same thing over and over again. And that stuff starts to really make sense and permeate your life. So for me, just to take some of the pressure,

off myself, I've kind of just sat back and let the journey kind of unfold and let myself know that, you know, this is a never-ending process. You know, being a teacher, even being a student is there's not a final goal. We're continuously learning. You know, I feel like I'm soaking so much up just on this conversation and the song that we have before this and this currently. It's a never-ending practice. And yeah, I think cultivating that humility of just knowing that whatever I'm sharing has also there's been teachers that have come before me and that it's not me or mine. This is just stuff that's being passed through me. And to just become aware that you've been given the gifts you have at your time in life and that you're playing small serves absolutely no one. What it might be serving

is this identity and perception you have of yourself and like this deep, seated and rooted fear that these worthiness issues or that what your friends and family are going to think of you, fear of judgment, so many different things that people can have within their identity that allows them to stay in their own comfort zone of playing small. And there's nothing wrong with living a more simplistic life. Like I think if you find joy in that and that's true for you, that's great. That's beautiful. But what's not beautiful is lying to yourself. What's not beautiful is BSing yourself into playing small when you know that your light has a much bigger capacity to shine. Yeah. No, that's, that hits really hard because I think whenever I'm like, I would

say I've gotten to a point where I'm pretty good at like listening to myself and like knowing when I need to take a break. But whenever I'm at like home and I'm, I'm chilling and there's something inside of me like, okay, you could be, you know, doing a little bit more. You know, you're not living to your your full potential. So I think that like listening to that clock and kind of honoring that pulse is really important of like pushing but also like respecting yourself and holding back. But yeah, we're not, we're not here to play small. And I think that if if you found something that you're extremely passionate about, just go for it. Like, just go all the way out.

Don't be attached to the fruits of it. Don't be attached to the money or the results. Just go full out and like sort of just surrender to God or just surrender to whatever it is. Just surrender to it. Embrace that muck. When you started teaching yoga or like when I first started content creation or filmmaking, for example, like it was pretty bad. It was actually really bad at the start.

Like if I look at old videos or like even I found. this video, which I'm probably going to share at some point of me, like, at 16, first doing like these conference calls and, like, public speaking and just, like, stuttering over all my words and, like, being so foggy-headed and, like, people don't see that stuff. But when you continually refine, right, there's not saying what you do in the dark, shines in the light. So, like, continually going to that place, practicing, refining, discovering who you are more and more every day. Then you come into the place where you're in the light. You get the Nike deal. You get the Netflix thing. You're in front of the big lights and cameras. And who you're in the, you're in front of the big lights and

cameras and who you are as a 10-year overnight success. Yeah, and I think that's, dude, it's been amazing to watch your transformation and even just how you hold space on this podcast and even just watching you with the Joe Dispenza, just seeing how you ask questions. It's like even some questions may seem simple, but there's so much thought in preparation that goes behind some of the things that seem or look simplistic on the surface. it just goes to show you that nothing happens overnight, you know, even if it looks like it happens overnight, it was 10 years in the making.

So if you're listening to this and there's something that really lights you up and you're passionate, I think the best thing is is just go full out and get really good at it. Like try to straight up become the best at it. And no one's really going to like do it for you. You kind of have to do it yourself. And then people will start to gravitate towards that. And sometimes it can be a lonely path, you know, like I remember like, you. you know, in high school, like I kind of felt sometimes a little alone.

And even in like my early college years, I only went to one year and then I dropped out and moved to Australia, but that's a whole other story. But yeah, there was a lot of loneliness. And I think that you have to sometimes go through that mud, kind of like that lotus analogy. And then all of a sudden, once you kind of step into your true essence, you know, your true purpose, you start attracting like-minded people and everything kind of becomes more whole. Yeah. It's okay to walk in the dark and walk alone for a bit.

for sure. And those moments where you feel lost, that's part of being on the path to one day not feeling lost. Like I remember at 16, 17 in high school, I had teachers kind of like make jokes and like the whole class would laugh at me for a business. I was involved at the time at like 19 moments where I was like I was crying in my bed because I felt like lost and like not certain direction I wanted to go in life. And I think we kind of forget and we also forget to share and I want to do more of a job of like really sharing that on this podcast. because it's important for people to know that finding yourself is a series of moments where you really don't know who you are. And to embrace that along the path is the way there. It's the path. It's that difficulty.

I want to actually ask you, how has being a photographer and a filmmaker and a content creator and a musician been just as much a part of the path of self-actualization as like yoga and meditation? because I find we discover so much of ourselves in the creation, the active creativity. Yeah, taking that action. Great question. I think that there's so many ways to express yourself in this world. I think whether it's through a medium of a podcast or even just, you know, dancing or just going to a yoga class and just, you know, letting yourself go and not being in thought. So there's different mediums. And for me, I picked up a camera pretty close to when I started my yoga journey.

and I was terrible. I think I just used that saturation slatter and just brought it all the way up. I think we've both come a long way. For sure. But it's just, you know, it's really, nothing's really changed,

but how we actually see and refine colors. Like, it's the same way of how we do anything. We just, we refine and we refine and we refine. But yeah, I think that music has been a really cool way for me to express myself vocally and speak to people in a completely different way

because when they hear a message through a sing-along song, you know, it's different than hearing it on a podcast. You know, my mission with music was to bring healing mantras into kind of high vibe conscious hip hop songs with a little bit of a beat. And that's kind of what we've been doing the last almost four years now, which sounds crazy. We just surpassed 100,000 listeners on Spotify, which has been cool. Loka, which is the mantra of may all beings be happy and free, has almost has a million streams.

So just to see people kind of singing those songs is like it just brings a lot of joy into my heart. And it's been a show, man. It's been a long ride. Like just being in the studio and just kind of like choking up and, you know, just going through that stuff where you're difficult, where you feel uncomfortable has taught me a lot about myself. And I just encourage you to just go for something and try it and just like, fuck it, you know. Everyone's heard just the constant cliche of follow your dreams and follow what lights you up in life. but it is a cliche for a reason because you're really not going to get good or masterful at something if you don't have a deep passion for it. There's not going to be that possibility for longevity, which is needed if you want to get good at something, if you don't love it.

So it's like for you being able to go into those unknowns, whether it's music, whether it's filmmaking. And it's cool how they eventually inform each other. But finding those passions are so important and then actually getting good at them, which is a process of not being good at them for a long time is super necessary. I think photography and filmmaking has been something for both of us that has supported all of our other things. Like for me, being able to produce a really epic high quality show is largely from my understanding of like videography and filmmaking and producing other people's content for a while at being bad at it at first. And now I'm like I'm good at it so I can pour those gifts into myself and it helps everything else grow. Same thing with you with photography and sharing yoga in a really beautiful way on Instagram and stuff. Yeah, it's become like an art for me, an artistic expression. I feel like just also like not being

afraid to like ask for help and like having mentors I think is like the cheat code to life. Like talk to people and get advice from people who have been through before. I think that's a big part of my content creation journey as collaboration, you know, learning from other people who have created things that have inspired me and then kind of bringing. in my own twist and messaging into these things. And it's become a huge passion. It's taken me all around the world. I've taught in now 30-something countries. And it's largely due to not just the beautiful photography or whatnot, but the kind of emotion and messaging that it invokes. So I've had a lot of fun with it. I definitely go through like ups and downs of like inspiration.

I haven't really done any like content trips. The last one I did was India, which was super cool. we told a nice story about India and how the yoga there is kind of invisible. That was like the messaging behind it because when you walk around India, it's not like you just see everybody in triangle pose, you know, but it's like there's this essence of what yoga is in the streets. So we wanted to bring that story to life and that really inspired me, but definitely been through a lot of burnouts and have kind of evolved it as well. Like, you know, social media is changing a lot.

It's becoming more video-based. Photography is kind of unfortunately taken a, a seat. But yeah, man, it's just experimentation with observation. Just keep trying different things and seeing what sticks, seeing what lights you up. I think that's the goal. How have you seen yoga shift in the way that you share it and the possibility of, you know, the films that you made have been really epic. They're always such high quality. So like definitely go check. We'll link some down in the description below for people that want to peep those. But then also with the photography and capturing it in such a cool light. I'm just curious how you see yoga changing in modern times and the possibilities we have

to share it in unique ways. Yeah, I only see yoga growing. I think that more people are, I mean, just what it's done in the last five, ten years has been incredible. I think there's like been a ton of physical fitness fads over the last decade, but yoga seemed to kind of stay consistent and relevant and helpful for a lot of people. I think one of the things that it's done for me and I think that it's helping a lot of people with is just overall creativity. I think people need a place where they can go and be creative. I think that I think we don't have a lot of places where we can kind of be creative and like create our own reality.

That's kind of what creativity comes from. And somehow the practice is like, I don't know, just being able to breathe and move and kind of like dance on your mat, at least if you're with the right teacher, is so. such a unique way to express yourself and kind of tap into your own creativity. And that's, for me, that's kind of like been a huge supporter in my own creative thing because there's been tons of moments where I've just been like drawn blanks and still to this day. And I always just come back to my mat and see what kind of comes up. What's been your process with creativity?

I think this past the year, I mean, with this podcast and stepping into it all more, more and more. It's been just as much and in different ways, an equal process of self-actualization as a lot of like my meditation or mindfulness practices have been earlier on my path. Like I'm discovering just as much of myself as I was doing, you know, mindfulness practices. Totally. And the creation of it's like, you know, creativity is like kind of your spirit in motion. And so for me, I'm like discovering a lot of what I'm made of. I'm discovering more of the capacity I have for my light to shine in the world, discovering how my gifts and passions are really vehicles and tools to serve in a really big way. And I feel like the further you get,

the more that you can see on the path. And so the more that I see things growing and, you know, the impact, the numbers, that's one thing. But then also just the connections and the possibility of like the horizon of what can be created because I get to innovate and create cool live podcast events or roundtable discussions or see how I can want, you know, intertwin my own passions. Like with community and cultivating community has been such a big part of my path. I've always loved bringing energy and minds together and seeing what unfolds with that. And then I also love, you know, making media as medicine and having conscious conversation shared in a powerful way. So combining them is like a unique individuation of how my soul can express itself. It's like,

what can I feel like only come through me because of my own, you know, cross-section of gifts and passions, a lot of things that we're speaking to. But for me, man, it's been such a revelatory process and something I'm so grateful for and feels like, especially in this chapter of my life, something that is one of the biggest practices for me. Wow. Well said, bro. Yeah, that really, I think, captures it really, really well.

For you, what has been your process staying authentic and true to those passions and gifts and have there been a lot of distractions along the path as well? And what do you feel like it means to be an authentic content creator? Great question. I think authenticity is an interesting word. And I think that there's a lot of people that struggle with. What's that syndrome? Imposter syndrome?

I hear that come up a lot for people. And I think it comes back to just living what you know. I think like actually practicing the things that you're sharing. so you can come from that place of authenticity is really just coming from a place of your own direct experience kind of like we spoke about so I think for me being authentic gosh this is this is a good I think that authenticity can be like overplayed a little bit I think that nobody's really authentic until they actually do it if that makes sense so for me there was a really interesting TED Talk, it's called Everything is a Remix. And basically what he says is that like

everything that people have done different mediums, whether it be like music or movies, they've all been inspired from something. They've all taken little pieces and then kind of have embraced it, internalized it and then made it their own. So I think a lot of people when they're like be authentic, they try to just reinvent the wheel and come from a place of like, you know, this is mine. I invented it. Look at me. The genius who made all this from scratch. Yeah, exactly. Like, I'm self-taught. Like, what does that really either made? Or self-made? Right. It's like... Yeah, so, no, it's like everything that's ever happened to your life has brought you to this very moment. And I think that when we can embrace that

everything is a remix, we can actually take little pieces of the puzzle and internalize them, make them our own. And then when we make them our own, then they're authentic. So that's kind of been my practice. Like, I've had so many teachers and have kind of just, you know, some of the stuff is good. Like, you know, some of the stuff from Goenka or some of the stuff of my father or Brian, I've thrown out. It didn't work for me. You know, I didn't like it. So, and that's okay. Sometimes you have to kind of throw out what's not serving you. And I think that also helps you become more authentic. And then just kind of trusting the process that, you know, you kind of know everything in a weird way, because like a lot of these like things in spirituality, they kind of

just bring you back and remind you to things that you've already kind of known deep within yourself. And the hardest part is living it. I think that's the biggest difference between intellectualizing and experiencing is living it. So I think just coming back to your everyday practice is how you treat people and ultimately how you express yourself to the world. It's interesting. I definitely agree. I feel like self-actualization is less of a process of learning more. It's more of remembering what you already are, you know, in those gifts.

Because you already have that with any, like that creative spirit is there. it can manifest in a million different ways. But I think we touched on a lot of pointers that have been supportive just for our own paths and that will be valuable for people out there. I'm just curious, God willing, knock on wood, but we got our whole life ahead of us. I'm just curious what like you envision for yourself and how you want to share, serve, create on the world. And this is also really cool to have like as a time capsule for us to look back on 30 years from now.

Maybe we'll do another episode five years from now when you're on Netflix or something. One day when I'm on your level. No, no, no. Yeah, I think for me, like, I've never actually planned anything in my life. People probably, like, look at me and think I'm, like, super calculated. But I've actually never been a good businessman. I graduated with, like, Cs, dropped out of college. You know, I've never really, like, wrote in my journal or manifested anything.

You know, I've kind of just continually pushed myself. and try to just go where my passion kind of has taken me and where my happiness has taken me. I think that's what my father kind of imprinted me. So I really don't know what's coming. I think that kind of just riding on this yoga wave and we'll see where it goes. I am excited, though, because I think that these kind of talks and this kind of elevated consciousness is kind of imprinting into our society. and I think that where we're going is actually really beautiful,

and I think that I'm optimistic. But for me personally, I think I kind of just want to keep doing what I'm doing. I love helping people become yoga teachers, but most importantly, helping people kind of step into a platform where they can be authentic and share their own stories through that medium. I think yoga is just ultimately a tool to express yourself and really do everything else in your life with a little bit more clarity like you had mentioned and with a little bit more elevated performance mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually.

So for me, it's kind of just staying on that path and yeah. Just seeing where it takes you. Just seeing where it takes me. We'll see. Hopefully in two years that we're still growing. We're still pushing the limits of what's possible. For sure. And I think that's kind of the key is in the one mantra that I return to is like making sure

that what I'm doing is like extending myself beyond my old limits. And I think that's one of the things that I always come back to and measure how I'm actually growing, is if I'm doing things every single day that encourage me to step outside my box of comfort, even if that's as simple as a cold plunge. Yeah. Or running a marathon, which is crazy. Without training. I don't recommend that, by the way, because that's probably the most dangerous and

ungentle, unfriendly thing you can do to your body. I was a little, I kind of wanted to prove a point that yoga can kind of help you with everything. Boy, was I wrong. I mean, you know, I did finish. Of course, I think yoga helped me not get injured from it, which was cool. But if you want to perform at anything, you've got to put in the work. For sure. And that's what yoga's taught me is that preparation meets opportunity and that continuity of practice is the secret to success. I love that. I think that we've shared a lot of gems of how that continuity of practice within our own personal things that support us, but then also creativity and content creation. The sequential unfolding of that is what makes up our whole life. And if you were to ask me personally what I envisioned for my life five years ago, I would have said a lot of really great fancy things.

And yet none of it would be greater than the life I'm living right now. I'm so grateful for the life that I'm living. And so part of us as conscious creators get to choose the direction we want to go in life. And then also part of it is just surrendering to kind of that feminine principle of allowing it to unfold and kind of go into the unknown and see what life wants of us. You know, it's asking of us. That's the definition I think of living the miracle. You know, we're always in that where we're going to be or where we're going to go. But if we can just kind of like pause and because the only thing that's existing is what's happening right now in this very moment and just enjoying that.

So it's cool to hear you say that, that yes, you have big aspirations of where you want to be, but you're also pretty content with where you're at right now. And I think that's kind of the goal of this whole, you know, all these teachings kind of bring us back to knowing myself. And when you know yourself, you come back to a place of greater self-acceptance, which ultimately leads to greater self-awareness and then hopefully self-transformation. It's like this beautiful kind of metamorphosis that happens when you get to know yourself beneath the surface. of your thoughts. Powerful note to end on, man.

Yeah, dude, thank you so much. It's been a journey and just watching your evolution as a speaker and just how far you've come, bro. It's been incredible to witness. A close friend of mine, just step into what you're stepping into. It's really inspiring, just seeing your home and your family here. And I'm looking forward to a nice game of chess after this. Yeah, I'm going to get that ass.

You're going to, if you guys don't know, Andre's an incredible chess player. Maybe that is why you have this beautiful, you think ahead. But you're also, you got to stay present too because you never know when that bishop's coming for you. Or a queen. The queen, yeah. The queens. Good with queens. Oh, man.

Do you want to, yeah, I mean, dude, it's just, I feel like I learned so much just from this conversation and just watching all the episodes. But I'd love to just kind of put a little healing balm on this conversation. You want to end with a little metta to come back to the Apostol. Yeah, let's go. Let's do it, man. So weird that actually brought that up to like maybe share that on this podcast because I woke up at 3 a.m. this morning just like randomly. And I was dreaming about meta loving kindness meditation. So it sounds so cliche that I would say something like that. It was actually really interesting. So perfect timing, please. Yeah, let's just, if you're with us, just find a comfortable seat or even laying down and just allow your eyes to close and just feel your natural flow of breath coming in and out. and perhaps even just allow your palms to open up. Allow any positive healing energy to first wash over yourself like a bucket of water. Just allow all these good feelings to just wash over you, all this self-love. And then once it's kind of washed over you, all those parts of your body,

just allow this healing transformative energy to kind of flood the entire atmosphere. around you and send out that unconditional love to all beings, sending love to all beings human and non-human, visible and invisible, near and far. And just remembering that your energetic weight tip the scales of the universe from fear to love, you be happy and peaceful. And may all beings share that peace and harmony. May you become free from all of all. your addictions, all your fears, all your doubts,

matter how big or small, all beings to feel that liberation, that freedom. Samasta, suki no, bavantu. Be happy. Stay, brother. Grateful for you, Jonah. Grateful for you, man. Thank you so much. Thank you.

A beautiful note to end on. And a reminder that we receive equal to the measure we give love. and such a beautiful practice. For everybody that's been tuning into this episode of the Know They Self podcast, forgot that this is a podcast for a second because I was just in a loving kindness meditation. Thanks for coming on this journey.

Of me being able to do my favorite thing and my passion and share my gifts and be able to sit down with brilliant minds and souls like Jonah today. And everywhere you can find Jonah will be linked in the description below. Jonah Kest on Kest Yoga. anything else you want to point people too that's it brother thank you so much for giving me this

platform course for whoever's listening to this allow what we said today maybe it was a nugget a piece a line a sentence even just the energy of that guided short little meditation towards the end to infuse into what you do into how you carry yourself in your being this week and I would love for you to share maybe a takeaway in the in the comment section below on youtube or on spotify and as well as we just recently released a summary of my favorite 50 books of all time. I wrote my favorite quotes and my summaries. And one of the books actually is the Yoko Sutures of Patanjali in there as well. And I kind of give my notes on different things. And so that'll be linked down in the description as well, completely free sent to your inbox. Thank you for coming on this journey of knowing

yourself and the world that we're on you at deeper and deeper levels. Until next time, we will.