The Rich Roll Podcast - How To Maintain Optimal Physical, Emotional & Spiritual Health During The Holidays

Episode Date: November 24, 2014

Prepare thyself, because ready or not, the holiday season is indeed upon us. For most, this is that special time of year when — whether by conscious choice or simply due to external circumstance — we find ourselves overeating, overspending and simply overindulging in anything and everything, all in the name of celebratory merriment. When we're not charging it on the card or spread paper thin desperately trying to fulfill all the heightened expectations this time of year presents, we find ourselves weathering an unnatural battery of social engagements and the emotionally hyper-charged land mines presented by extended family get togethers. The result? A massive and unnatural outpouring of energy that leaves us not just out of balance, but utterly depleted — spit out the other side physically and emotionally exhausted to the core, all too often overweight and riddled with unnecessary debt. Then what? We awake on New Year's Day committed to do and be better next time — the annual renewal ritual that inevitably falls short. A slow burn leading up to next November to repeat the cycle. The standard American approach to the holidays is unhealthy, out of balance, verging on lunacy. Let's have a different experience. Let's relax. Let's make sure we're exercising self-care. Let's focus on the giving part. And let's not over extend ourselves financially, emotionally or physically so we can emerge in January not just intact but truly enriched — optimistic, feeling great and energized for all the challenges and adventures presented with the birth of a new year. As we did last November ( RRP 60 ), this week Julie and I once again sit down to hash out all things holiday season with a focus on providing helpful, experience-based strategies to assist in managing the financial pitfalls, dietary challenges, precarious social environments and heightened emotional states presented by this unique time of year. In my experience, these are issues common to us all. And yet issues we go to great lengths to avoid dealing with internally, let alone discussing outwardly — typically out of fear, shame or simply a profound need to keep up appearances — all of which ultimately leaves us feeling alone and isolated in what for many can become a state of true emotional crisis. In truth, the exact opposite of what the holidays should be all about. So rather than deny or repress, let's talk about it. Let's get it all out in the open. And let's work on a strategy for a better, more positive and uplifting experience. On today's agenda: * How to avoid spending money you don't have; * How to maintain a healthy diet throughout the season; * How to experience gift giving with children in a different way; * How to navigate and avoid emotional land mines with extended family; * How to say “No” to certain social obligations; and * How to nurture and preserve your physical, emotional & spiritual well being under pressure. Many of the topics raised and discussed in this conversation are beautifully and concretely laid out in this very helpful companion piece by Julie entitled “How To Maintain Emotional & Financial Sanity During the Holidays”- well worth checking out. It's about self-care people. You simply cannot expect to be able to show up, be your best self and be there for others if you are not first taking care of yourself. This is not selfish — it's truth. And a crucial huge component of this success equation begins and ends with meditat...

Welcome to the Rich Roll Podcast episode, what episode is this? 114. 114 with Julie Pyatt. The Rich Roll Podcast. All right, everybody. Welcome to the show. Welcome to the podcast that bears my name, The Rich Roll Podcast. I am your host. Hey, Julie. Hey, everybody. Welcome to the show. Welcome to the podcast that bears my name, The Rich Roll Podcast. I am your host. Hey, Julie. Hey, Rich. I'm joined by my sometimes co-host. Sometimes wife. And wife, Julie Pia today. It's been a while since you've been on the show.

Yeah, it has. It's been a while. Thanks for inviting me back on. Do you know what we do here at the RRP? What do you do at the RRP? Tell me. Well, first of all, we thank our listeners. That's good. We're very grateful for our listeners. Yes.

There's so much great audio content out there. Podcasts have never been bigger. They've never been more popular. And there's a lot of choices out there. So I appreciate you guys tuning in to this show. You could be listening to Serial. You could be listening to any number of amazing shows out there. So we appreciate it. And thank you. And thank you for spreading the word to your friends. Thank you for Instagramming how and when

you enjoy the show. I love that. I love when you guys tag me, tag Julie and say, hey, there's like a shot of you of the dashboard of your car showing the show or you're out on a run or something like that. So thank you guys for doing that. Continue to share your enjoyment of the show on social media. And thank you for subscribing to my newsletter at richroll.com where you can find tons of great products and services, and also get a free seven recipe download if you're a new subscriber. And thank you for supporting the show by clicking through the Amazon banner ad at richroll.com for all your Amazon purchases. Hey man, if you're not doing that, what's up, right? Yeah, get with it. The show's free. It's an easy way to support the show. And it doesn't cost you guys anything extra.

You just have to think about it. I think you can actually just bookmark that. If you click on the Amazon banner ad, you get that URL and then just bookmark it to your browser. That way you don't have to go to my website every time. And it's just kind of right there. You just have to make a metal note. Anyway, thank you guys.

Do you know what the theme of this show is, Julie? I think the theme is holidays. How to manage the holidays? No, but the theme of the show overall. Oh, your show overall. The theme of your show is, I believe, finding your most authentic self. Well, that's close. Is that one? That's what I think it is about. What is your show about? Well, each week I sit down with the best and the brightest minds in health, wellness, diet, nutrition, fitness, mindfulness, creativity, artistry, entrepreneurship, world-class athletes, doctors, nutritionists, psychologists, yogis, entrepreneurs, artists, even the occasional inspirational everyman like last week's extraordinary guest, David Clark. Amazing.

He blew the roof off my previous previous one day download record. That guy was super popular. So obviously you guys enjoyed him. Thank you for listening. He was amazing. And it was really gratifying to kind of, uh, take that guy and shine a light on him. You know what I mean? Like, like he's sort of an everyman hero and he, you know, not, not a guy who's like famous by any stretch of the imagination, but he had written a book and we helped push his book to number one in Amazon in the running category, which was really great.

And it feels really good to be able to help him out. So thank you guys for picking up his book and for tuning into the show for that. In any event, all of these guests are all forward-thinking, paradigm-busting minds here to share their experience, knowledge, and insights to help you guys discover, uncover, unlock, and unleash your best, most authentic self. There it is.

So that's what it's all about, right? So before we get into talking about what we're going to talk about today, which is navigating the holidays, how to stay healthy, fit, emotionally intact throughout this. Not kill your family. Not kill yourself, not kill your family. Cut down on crime. Yeah. Not sort of abuse your body with a bunch of crappy food. We're going to talk about all that kind of stuff. But I wanted to make a couple quick announcements. Do you know what this week is? I bet you don't, but it's important.

What is this week? Oh, I do know what this week is, but you say it. What is this? What do you think this week is? No, go ahead. I bet it's different than what you think. No, go ahead. This week-

Our anniversary? Yeah, that's what it is. That's what it is. It's the two-year anniversary of the podcast. That's crazy. Yeah, did you know that? I didn't really know that. That's what it is. It's the two-year anniversary of the podcast. That's crazy. Yeah, did you know that? I didn't really know that. Did we start it that soon?

We started it in the second or third week of November. I'd have to go back and look at the exact date that we posted. We probably did. Yeah. I know that we did because I know that it was like a calendar notification. Because I think we left for Kauai on like, I don't know, the second or the fourth or something like that. Yeah, it was like November 18th or something like that, two years ago.

Wow, that's so crazy. It feels like it's so fast and also like so much has happened. I know. Right? Both at the same time. It doesn't seem like that long ago, but also it seems like a lifetime. Yeah, like nothing's happened and everything has happened. Our reality has changed quite a bit since then. That's true.

In no small part due to the podcast itself. Thank God in heaven. Yeah. So not that it wasn't amazing living in Kauai. It was a great experience. But I was reflecting back on, you know, the inception of the show and, you know, sitting down to do the first podcast episode with you. So it's apropos that you're here to, you know, share the anniversary moment. It's pretty amazing. It's great that it lined up with the idea of having a podcast and being able to kind of continue the conversation that Finding Ultra started, but having no experience and no, you know, kind of understanding of, you know, how to actually do it. Right. And to just start talking with no agenda, that first episode.

Do you remember? I do remember. I'm remembering now. I'm feeling us in that warehouse. And I just remember getting just completely assaulted by the largest mosquitoes ever. They were biting my ankles and my legs. Well, what's interesting is, you know, I went back and listened to a little bit of it and I kind of prefaced it by saying that, you know, look, this is new. We don't know what we're doing, you know, go easy on us. But,

but here's my idea of what I want this to be. And, you know, I was very clear, like, this is not going to be a triathlon podcast. It's not going to be a podcast about how to, you know, make you, you know, get your PR in triathlon. Like I wanted to do something broader. And, and, and I, I pretty much said, like, I want to be able to share inspiring people and inspiring stories from all walks of life and kind of hit wellness, you know, across the board, you know, in mind, body, spirit. And that's pretty much what the show has been. So it's pretty cool to see that that seed of an idea is actually what is flourished and what's blossomed out of it. It is. It's amazing.

You're a powerful creator. Congratulations. Congratulations to you, honey. And the other big kind of milestone that by the time we post this, it's Friday afternoon right now, we're going to post this Sunday night, sometime in the next couple of days, we will eclipse 4 million downloads. That's crazy. Which is insane.

That's so amazing. And the show's really growing, which is great. I think it took us a year to get to 1 million downloads. That's crazy. Which is insane. That's so amazing. And the show's really growing, which is great. I think it took us a year to get to one million downloads. Right. And now it's just accelerating, so that's pretty awesome. It seems to be exponentially. It was like just the other day we had three million downloads.

So it's really picking up speed. And thank you guys for listening. And it's all, you know, it's about you guys. It's about the audience. And thank you so much. Everybody that sees us that stops us it's all, you know, it's about you guys. It's about the audience. And thank you so much. Everybody that sees us, that stops us and comes up, you know, it's this kind of funny thing, but they always go, okay, I feel like we're really good friends because I listen to the podcast. And it's just really meaningful for us.

And it means a lot to us. And it seems like it would be weird, but it's just not really weird. It feels like we do know each other really, really well. It's just Rich and I would like to know more about you since you guys know everything about us. Yeah. But it's really cool. It's the extended family. And it is great.

I've encountered people who are like, yeah, I wanted to come and say hi, but I felt weird about it. No, always come up and say hi. Always say hi. Please. And we love it. And I love meeting people that listen to the show. You know, it feels really cool to us. But I understand that there's that weird kind of intimacy that occurs if you're someone who listens to not just our podcast, any podcast.

Like, I feel like if I met Mark Maron, it's the same thing because I listened to his show. So I feel like I know that guy. And he probably doesn't want you to say hi. Maybe not. No, I'm kidding. But he's very kind of transparent about who he is. So he's very kind of emotionally vulnerable. So I feel like maybe I probably do know more about that guy than maybe some people in his life. But anyway, I understand that kind of dynamic. And the other kind of big thing that happened this week is we turned in the manuscript to our cookbook. We did. So this is a project we've been working on

for a year and a half. Sorry, we've been talking about it for so many months. Well, I haven't been talking about it that much. I mean, it's an incredible book. It's beautiful. It is a cookbook. It's about 335 pages. It's got about 120 recipes in it and extraordinary photography.

But it's also kind of a lifestyle primer. You know, it's very family-oriented. It's for, you know, parents with kids. And it's about, like, how do you get everybody in the family on board? And it's about like how do you get everybody in the family on board and how do you create kind of a healthy, sustainable lifestyle template for yourself, your family, and your kids. Right. We're pretty excited. It's going to be coming out at the end of April.

April 28th. 28th, 29th is the publication date. So obviously we're going to be sharing a lot more about that in coming months. I think it'll be up for pre-order sometime, maybe in February. I don't know. We're working on some cool like pre-order incentives and packages and bundles for bulk purchases and things like that.

So there's gonna be a lot more news about that. But we're just excited because we worked, the last two weeks, it's just been around the clock, like revising, editing. Julie's been testing and retesting all of the recipes and getting kind of our house in order with it. Yeah, it was intense and good. It was. It's good.

Definitely stretched us. There'll be another round or two of edits, but it's pretty much there. We finalized the cover, and at the appropriate time, we'll reveal the cover and all that kind of stuff. But it's awesome. Yeah. And it's going to be a cook that, I mean, a cook, a book that cooks. A book that you, you know, really goes from the living room to the kitchen and, you know, back and forth. Because it's really sort of like, it's a complete whole lifestyle guide.

Yeah. I mean, the idea is that it functions in the kitchen, but it's also a book that you could put out on your coffee table. Like, you know, the photography is really beautiful. And anyway. And read a lot of great information and inspiration. There you go. Exactly. We're brought to you today by recovery.com. I've been in recovery for a long time. It's not hyperbolic to say that I owe everything good in my life to sobriety. And it all began with treatment and experience that I had that quite literally saved my life. And in the many years since, I've in turn helped many suffering addicts and their loved ones find treatment.

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All right, so the holidays. The holidays. The holidays are coming. What does it bring up for you? What does it bring up for me? Well, it's kind of weird this year. Maybe it's because we turned our manuscript in, but suddenly I felt a lot of space. I felt like a lot of, like some years it seems like Thanksgiving happens and then Christmas happens so quickly that it's just all on top of each other and I never have time to even like take a breath. And this year it feels like the, like the time is more stretched for some reason. I don't know. It's just one of my etheric feelings. Um, but the holidays brings up for me, I guess my, my, uh, my vision is to maintain balance and, um, is to maintain balance.

And it means, you know, not dive into any of the extreme experiences that could be accessed during this time. So let's talk about that. I mean, I think it's difficult for everybody to maintain their kind of general equilibrium throughout this period of time. I mean, you know, look, the days are shorter. It gets dark earlier. It's kind of, you know, it's cold out, it's gray out, you know, even in California. Well, not right now, but it's dark. It's getting dark. I mean, you know, half the country's blanketed in snow already. And it's the hibernation period of year where it gets harder to

convince yourself that you should move your body. And it's easier to talk yourself into kind of indulging in, you know, foods that maybe you wouldn't ordinarily eat. And suddenly you're face-to-face with all kinds of extended family members and social obligations. And it's easy to get out of balance and to overcommit, to overeat, to overindulge, and to over-emote. You know, I think people get into situations where they become, I mean, more importantly than the physical or sort of eating aspects of the holidays, it's really the emotional. Well, it's the emotional that then triggers the eating. Yeah, of course, because the eating becomes a way to emotionally, you know,

to sort of regulate your emotions around discomfort that extended family members might bring up or whatever it is. I mean, everybody has some version of that, I suppose. And, you know, of course there's people that just love the holidays and it's, everything is awesome about it. But I think the typical, you know, experience is, is one of, you know, joy, but also one that, you know, where, where kind of the joyousness of it also butts up against kind of, you know, just navigating tricky, you know, sticky wickets, sticky, emotional. Well, I mean, I think that there's a, I think that we're set up in a lot of different areas for a lot of, you know, a lot of really stress. And, you know, it starts with the

fact that it is kind of like the end of the year. It is a closing. I think I've talked about this before, like a, it's like the end of the year. It's the death of life, right? And then after the solstice, then it starts, you know, things start to come back, you know, the time starts getting longer again. But here we are in the, you know, last month of the cycle. And then we have, you know, the consumerism issue that's being, you know, everywhere we go, there's reminders that, you know, we should be spending money, you know, and buying different types of things, decorations, Christmas trees, you know, menorahs, whatever, you know, gifts, presents, you know, sort of all this kind of

excess. And then there's also on top of that, you know, the emotional family baggage that, you know, really so many of us have. Everybody has something, you know, that's a hot button in their family. So all of that is set up to sort of, you know, set the primer for a large imbalance, you know, of some kind. And so there's really all these areas we really have to be mindful. So, you know, we have to be mindful with the consumerism to make sure that we, you know, remain in balance and that you don't end up doing something that then makes you in debt, you know, or, you know, you, you know, you rack up huge credit card situation that then you have to deal with the entire year to get cleared up. Let's just camp out there right now, because I think that that,

you know, it raises a lot of people's stress levels and anxiety levels. Totally does. If you're a guy out there and you're the head of a household and you have kids, you know, there's an expectation level that you're going to deliver, you know, whether it's Christmas morning or whatever your version of the holiday is. And, you know, economic times are tough. A lot of people are struggling to, excuse me, just make ends meet and they don't want to disappoint. So, you know, how are you going to do it? Anxiety goes up and you end up overspending because you want to make sure that everybody's happy.

you know, the holidays and leaner years by kind of, you know, bringing the kids into the fold and like, you know, what are some tools or strategies for, you know, navigating the pitfalls of the consumerism aspects of... Well, I think, I mean, I think really at this point in the game and in, you know, again, it's like, you know, I have tremendous faith in children and, and, you know, they, they're very conscious and very aware and, you know, I have tremendous faith in children and, and, you know, they, they're very conscious and very aware and, you know, extremely intelligent and most times much smarter than we are. But I just feel like it's a, it's a conversation, you know, it's a conversation about, you know, what is excessive and, you know, not, I mean, I love gifts. I think everybody should get gifts and that's great, but let's really think about, you know, what are we, you know, what are we asking for? What do we want? And, you know, just all this excess plastic in

this kind of, you know, focus on, you know, well, I want this toy or this, or this, you know, this thing that literally they're going to play with it. And in like a month, they're not going to look at it again, this type of thing. So I think i think it's i feel like just to interject momentarily yeah i feel like suddenly everything is is uh i don't know if it's just because i'm old or i have a weird memory but it seems like now everything is is so much cheaper than it was than we were kids but it's easier like cheaper in terms of like disposability and like like if you got like a gift when you were a kid, like one good gift or something like that, and you would kind of use it and play with it forever. But now it's so easy to go out and get stuff at Target or whatever it is. And, and kids attention spans are so short,

like they play with it for five minutes and then it's done and they're on to the next thing. Like that was, that's a different, that's kind of a generational thing that I, the relationship to these kinds of consumer goods in young people is different than it was in our, when we were kids. Well, I mean, and I think there's an opportunity though, because as we're looking at, you know, what's happening planetarily and where do those pieces of plastic go? Like when you're, when you're done with it and you're just, you want to throw it away, what really happens to that item? You know, what is the, what is the lifespan of it and where does it go? And so, you know, what I've started to talk to my kids is, you know, they're like, oh, I want that plastic thing. I'm like, really, do you really want it? Do you really want to be the steward of it for years? Like how,

like if you, if they start to sort of get the idea that they're not just going to throw it away in a month or six months and it doesn't really matter, you know, I would like to continue to open up that awareness of really, do you really want this thing? And what if you had to take care of it for the rest of your life? What if that object had to be with you for the rest of your life? Then do you want it? Like, then do you really want it? I think that that's a very powerful... Have you had that conversation with Mathis? Yeah, I have. And she's pushing back, man. She's fighting like a wild stallion. No, but she's,

you know, it's also, I mean, you know, it's just consciousness, you know, and at some point it's just like, how much does anybody really need? You know, we have all these dire, you know, circumstances happening on the planet. It's like, we are so blessed, you know, that we're safe, that, you know, we have a healthy family. And so, again, it's like, I'm all for stewarding and sponsoring creativity and passions of my children and of people that I love. So if it's something they really, really like, I'd rather spend more money on a real thing that is going to, you know, help them express themselves in a meaningful way than them have, you know, 15 little crappy pieces of plastic under the tree that they're just going to throw away. So then it just looks like there's a lot of stuff under the

tree. Yeah. So, I mean, I've, I've been sort of vying to go that way for a while. And, you know, some, some years we were really lean anyway, so there was no money at all. And those were the years that we actually, you know, we made teams and we created creative projects with like, you know, we had like a limit of like 20 bucks. You could only spend 20 bucks, but we had this amazing experience. vent or plan something you're going to do together, even if it's a conversation or a play, or you're going to sing a song together or, and actually plan in advance so that that is the focus of what you're doing together. And I, I guarantee you that will be more meaningful than, you know, 50 gifts and the ripping of the paper. And then, you know, no one even knows who gave them what. And it's just like, ugh, like that just feels so bad. Yeah. I think we did,

well, we did a similar podcast to this about a year ago and we kind of talked about all this kind of stuff. And I didn't go back and listen to that. So I can't remember exactly what we talked about, but I do, but so forgive me if's the same. But I think the leanest year that we had where we were really scraping and just, you know, basically had no money. We did. We broke up into teams and we gave ourselves a budget. And I remember specifically it was me and Trapper. We were a team. No, Trapper and I were a team.

I made the film. I made the film with him. No, but I went and did. With Tyler. Was it with Tyler? Yeah. So we just went and got, we went and got like a package of like really cheap white t-shirts, like Hanes underwear t-shirts from like Target or something like that.

Basically no money at all. And then got paint and sponges. And then we painted a bunch of t-shirts and decorated them and gave one out to everybody. And it was super fun. And like, we had a great time doing it and Trapper made that video, which was great. You know, he made a short film that he presented to everybody. You guys laughed so hard. It was such a sweet, sweet time. And I remember that. And yeah, like I think back on that experience quite fondly. And I think that the kids do too.

And I think it is more meaningful than just ripping open a bunch of stuff that's, you know, plastic wrapped and kind of, you know, temporal. Like you just, you look at it, you're entertained for five minutes and then it's over. So I say, you know, figure out what you can spend with each family member and how that allocates out and really how much you can spend without you being, you know, feeling like you have a stomachache when January 1 comes around. That's just, it's just not good energy. It's just not good. Just don't do it. Yeah. It'll just ratchet up the anxiety level too. It's a horrible energy. Yeah. But I think it requires some, some family communication. Absolutely. And honing those communication skills. Cause there, you know, as a guy,

you're like, well, I don't want to, you know, I don't want to have to tell my kids I can't do this or whatever. So, you know, it requires some finesse around. But it's also just a reality. You know, it's not, it's not like, oh, you know, you have to act like you're the man that can like buy everything. You know, that's just, that's like old, that's like an old tired shoe. Like Don Draper. No, that's just, that's like, that's Don Draper. That's, that's like a long time ago. No, it's about just communicating honestly, trying to figure out what you can do.

And I say, you know, really try to get people what they want if, you know, if, if it's possible. But just, it's the excess thing. they want if, you know, if it's possible. But just, it's the excess thing. It's not 20 things. It's, you know, three things, you know, or one thing, one really big thing. And then you can have like some great plant-based pies and, you know, snacks and that kind of stuff, you know, plants, seeds, stuff like that. For people that celebrate Christmas, let's talk about the tree thing. Oh, golly, it's up again. We're having the debates going again.

So last year, we did talk about this last year, so I remember. So the question is, like, what is the kind of responsible, sustainable thing? Like, is it cool to get a tree? Do you get an artificial tree? I actually researched it. What is the best thing to do? And I know you put some time into this. So what did you find out?

Well, not that much, but I mean, we just, we started to get into the conversation. So finally this year, I've been trying to get my family to simply put lights on a tree that exists off of our balcony and just use that as the tree. And I've been voted out every single year. So finally, my old, our oldest son, Tyler, who's now 19, he makes the announcement that he's with me this year and Mathis bursts into tears. And so she's weeping and just like rolling around on the floor. Right. So then I went, precious little kids, this is their memories. They want to have, they want to have a Christmas is a thing. Christmas is a thing.

It is a thing. And so, and she's like, I like the smell. And I said, I know that's why I've never gotten an artificial tree. I'm not a fan of artificial trees. But so I researched it and, you know, you can find every, you know, anything you want online. But what I found is basically the carbon footprint of a lot of the trees are made with something that like lasts forever. Like it never. Yeah. So the argument is there is an argument that getting that buying an artificial tree is more sustainable because you're not, you're not cutting down a tree. But actually it's not true because when the Christmas tree growers, they're required to plant two or three seedlings for every tree they take. So actually, you know, there's a nice little sort of, you know, flow there. And also you can take

the tree and you can then compost it. So they were saying, in fact, the net-net, it's actually more sustainable to get a tree and compost have a tree that's been cut down right provided that you mulch it compost it and then use it in your garden and they have a lot of recycling centers now that recycle the christmas trees so they're not just going in the landfill they're actually being used so i haven't asked our expert biodynamic farmer r Ron Capri yet, but I will. He's our children's main teacher and total, you know, earth-tarian master consciousness person. But I can't imagine that's more like sort of green or echo or sustainable than getting a live tree with roots and all and then having that and then planting it in your yard.

However, the only downside of that is that if you've looked at any of these trees, these samplings that are in the pots, they're not big like the trees. They're not full like the trees that you would buy. And so that brings me to my argument, which I'm again, trying to get people to join my camp. We have this beautiful jacaranda tree right in front of our living room. We would see it from inside and we could just decorate it so beautifully and we wouldn't, and it's already growing and it's big and beautiful and it's fantastic. Mathis isn't having it. I won't make her cry, but no, but so, so we'll see. But again, here's, you know,

here's this, here's this conversation once again, but I really don't feel that an artificial tree is the most sustainable. It doesn't feel like it to me. thanksgiving is well when this posts it will be this week yeah i gotta get coming i've got to get cooking and uh you know a lot of people are going to be going to big gatherings and and uh and so let's talk about kind of the the minefield. Wow, the emotional minefield. Well, first of all, I would just say that it's really, really, really important right now that we do not lose our balance and get into any kind of hysterical or very amplified emotional emoting. That is the worst thing that could happen, you know, at this time. Why is it? Why this time? Well, I mean, I would just say that there are...

Are you going to go down? I'm going to go down that road. An astrology black hole. All right. Well, we don't need to get too detailed about that. I mean, what I'm getting at is... Are you like, do you don't want me to say it? No, you can say what you want. I'm just saying, I want to stay, I want to focus on like strategies for kind of managing... You do. Are you trying to control the podcast right now?

Of course I am. Instead of just let it flow organically? I'm trying to control everything in my life at all times. You should relax. You should just relax and take a breath right there. No, I would say that, I mean, I would say that astrologically, I won't get into a bunch of things anyway. I don't follow it in that way. So I can't tell you what's conjunct what, or, you know, what's going on with your house or your sun or your moon or your rising. But I will tell you that I think most people will agree that October and also November have proven to be pretty intense months,

just sort of across the board. There was a lot of things that were coming up for review, a lot of amplified emotions, a lot of things going on for most people that I know in my life. And I would say that around the holidays, everything is lined up to activate those impulses that are inside of you, which are triggers and buttons from maybe this lifetime, maybe multiple lifetimes. But we really need to understand what is going on and that we have the power to take control, take responsibility, and stay balanced, really at all costs, stay balanced because the energy is amplified. So if you choose to go into one of those descending spirals, it is not going to be pretty. So because the energy is amplified, it's going to take you

further down than maybe you've ever gone before. So you really want to try to stay as balanced as possible. Right. Staying neutral. And that's easier said than done, you know, sort of taking responsibility for your, you know, your boundaries and trying to kind of create healthy boundaries and protect yourself. Like, you know, you're going into this situation. You know, there's somebody there who can activate you. You know, all they have to do is say that one thing and it's going to set you off. And that button was installed, you know, since as long as you can remember, they know how to push it.

They're probably going to push it. So what are you going to do to prepare yourself for that inevitable moment? You know, well, when you're sitting there, you know, drinking eggnog, you know, and, you know, aunt, whoever, or, you know, whoever it is, you're in that situation and you know, it's going to happen. And then, you know, cause what usually happens is, you know, it's going to happen. It happens and it plays out the way that it always does. And then you're like, why did I, why did I do that? Yeah, why did I do that?

I knew I should have done that. Why did I put myself in that position? Or why did I react that way again? You know, when you know in your heart of hearts, like you didn't want to react that way. Or, you know, you had another plan for how you were going to try to handle it differently. But the button gets pushed and you just go into reactive mode. And what you typically do is what ultimately happens again. Right.

And what it really feels like is that you've stepped into a great big pile of shit. And then you feel lousy and you're pissed at that person and you're mad at yourself. And you're covered in it. And then you're depressed. Right. And then, you know, the drinking comes and the eating comes. So, I mean, I think, you know, I think you were talking about boundaries. Let's just talk about boundaries for a little bit, because I think that, you know, we're, I think we're raised, you know, we're raised to, to, to think that, you know, spirituality or

being a good person means that, you know, you, you should, you know, always go into these family situations. Like that's the good thing to do because you're expected to go, you know, you're expected to show up for your family and you're expected to go, you know, be a part of whatever the celebration is. But I would say that you have to be the master of your, of your actions and you have to choose that for yourself. And so in some cases, it may be more loving and compassionate for everyone involved, the person who's the trigger person, yourself, and really the entire family unit. split off and how to possibly have an alternate, you know, gathering that doesn't include all the complicated personalities that create the imbalance. So you could say, you know, you can take one, you know, one stance and go, well, I'm not going to do that because this is our family and this is what we're doing and this is how we meet. But if every time you get together, it just doesn't go well, then, you know,

did you really achieve anything? You know, who really won at the end of the day? When what you really want to foster is neutral, loving compassion, and you want to have experiences that are balanced and that are loving and neutral. So, you might want to look to planning like an alternate gathering. Like maybe you want to meet your, you know, part of your family for brunch on Christmas, or maybe you want to schedule a later dinner, or maybe you want to do it on Christmas Eve, possibly. Yeah, that gets tricky too, though, because then it's like, oh, you're too good. You know, you're the, you're too good to come to the thing that we always have and you want to do it your way this time. And now we have to go, you know what I mean? Like that. Yeah. But you know,

sometimes too, if there's been enough explosions happening and they can see the pattern, you know, you might have people that agree with you and go, you know, you're right. At the end of the day, all you want to do is have some loving exchange that's not amplified because in the end, it's not going to be good for anybody at the end of the day. Yeah. Saying no is hard. It is, but sometimes it's really important

and sometimes it's the most loving thing you could do. You know, and really, you really need to take care of yourself. You need, no one is going to take care of you except you. So you need to find a way to take care of yourself. No one is going to take care of you except you. So you need to find a way to take care of yourself and figure out how that works for you. And then honor it, you know, because you're not going to get any big medal because you went and sat at the dysfunctional Christmas table and, you know, ended up, you know, smashing glass or, you know, I don't know. You know, it gets really bad. You might get a medal for that, I don't know, you know, it gets really bad. You might get a medal for that.

My, I don't know, from who? I don't know from who. But I think this, you know, boundary thing is, so being spiritually loving doesn't always mean that you just, that you're just open and you unwittingly go into situations that may not be serving the highest good. It's like you're a grown-up now. We're kind of grown-ups and we need to sort of make those decisions and sort of go and really look at it almost like it's the little part of you that gets amplified or gets activated. So you could call like the inner child or the little child that's inside of you. And many times, many of us don't take care of that child.

So you almost have to, from your higher self, speak to your inner child and say, I'm going to take care of you. Like, I'm going to make sure that I don't put you in a situation that is not going to end up being good for you and then maybe not good for anybody else. So what are some of those self-care techniques that somebody could hone or work on?

Well, I mean, the first thing is eat a high vibrational plant-based diet. I mean, predominantly. Get as much greens in your diet as you can. Make sure you're eating well. Don't eat processed sugar. Completely eliminate refined sugar from your diet. You can. Make sure you're eating well. Don't eat processed sugar. Completely eliminate refined sugar from your diet. You can have dates, you can have maple syrup, honey, you can have fruit. Sorry, honey people, but if it's sustainably consciously harvested, then you can have a little honey. So I think it's diet is the first thing and to have whatever your movement plan is, whether you're, whether you practice yoga, whether you train, you know, that has to come first. So that kind of, you know, just, you know, just basic self-care. Exactly.

Basic self-care. And then after that, I would say that you should learn that you are much more than a physical body. You are not just a human being. You are a spiritual being having a human experience. And with this comes a responsibility of understanding that thoughts are things, emotions are things, and you have an energy field of which you have the responsibility to care for. So, some beginning techniques of this, I mean, you can download my meditation, Jai Release, and because the, let's say, first, I think it's the third

track is an actually extensive tree ceiling technique that you could follow along. You could just suit up. I call it suiting up. So you just do the visualization and you basically surround yourself in a container of energy so that you're, it's just part of housekeeping. So you're contained. So you're going to be a lot less vulnerable if you walk into a room with someone who has a pain body that's out and willing, you know, ready to go or ready to engage. Either out of, you know, of course, it's all out of suffering. It's all out of, you know, of course it's, it's all out of suffering. It's all out of pain and sadness. You know, sometimes it's masked with anger, but really what's in there is sadness. We're all just little children at the heart. Or fear.

Yeah. Fear. But I think that, you know, kind of creating that it's like you're, you're working on and visualizing and meditating on this idea that there's this energy boundary that's surrounding you. And I think the more kind of you do practice, you know, this meditation technique or whatever meditation technique works best for you, the less reactive you become. So you can walk into a situation, whether it's a family dinner or whatever it is. into a situation, whether it's a family dinner or whatever it is. And when somebody says something that traditionally would trigger you, instead of impulsively going into that reactive mode, where you say the thing you always say, when that trigger is pushed, you have the ability to pause and reflect and make a choice as opposed to, so you have control over your reaction, over your response.

You're not reacting, you're responding. You're consciously responding. And that conscious response is a reflection of a conscious choice that you're making as opposed to an impulsive, unconscious, reactive kind of impulse. It doesn't mean you're not going to feel the button. You'll feel the trigger. But you'll have that moment. Time will stretch a little bit and you'll be able to kind of see through it and see to the other side of where it will go and then walk down a different path. That's right. Yeah. And that's super powerful. It is. And it's just... The one time that it worked for me. The one time, that one time.

That's funny. Well, but, you know, I've been having, my latest thing that's been coming in my meditation, which I wanted to share is this idea that, okay, so we're living past, present, and future is happening simultaneously. And so everything is being brought into the present moment, right? You say it's all about the now, be present in the now. I feel like I'm watching Interstellar right now. It's so good.

Just go see it. Everybody go see Interstellar. It's really amazing. But no, it's about if you can just feel like a suction, like imagine that you've traveled in this life and in many, many lifetimes and possibly in multidimensional spaces, possibly even simultaneously we're existing. And just for a minute, grab all your energy, like draw all of the energy that you've given to any of these places and draw it, ask that it be brought down, brought back into your center, into the moment of now. So if you can feel yourself like a suction,

like you're just kind of sucking it all back and you can feel yourself like a suction, like you're just kind of sucking it all back and you're calling it all back to you, you're calling all of your energy back. Please give me all of my energy back. I'm taking it all back. And I'm having this very visceral experience of the power of that. And, you know, I was talking to Howard on a podcast I was on yesterday. Howard Jacobson. Yeah. And, you know, I was talking to him about, you know, it's very, very simple. It's like when grandma said, you know, keep your hands to yourself. Like, pull all of your energy back and give it back to yourself and then integrate that into who you are. And I think many of us

have had our focus in places where it doesn't belong. And that could have been in another life, in someone else's business, in someone else's judgment. We're all so quick to judge somebody else and say what would be right for somebody else? And just what if you took all of that energy that you are sending to all these other places and you just brought it back into your own self? You know, what would happen? How powerful would you feel? How much more energy would you have? How much more creativity would you have and inspiration? You know, when you think of that, there's parts of us that are not even home. They're not even home because we've left them in other realms. It's like a crisis of identity. You know, there's, we all know that person who's just

up in everybody else's business all the time. Well, did you hear what Becky did? And oh, so-and-so is getting divorced and they're just living in everybody else's drama all the time. Right, or like reality TV. Yeah, or investing in, it's basically just investing in other people's lives in this sort of schadenfreude kind of way. And who are they? You know what I mean?

There's no focus on the interior or developing or growing the self. It's all invested in other people's situations. You know what I mean? And part of that is, I guess, harmless or fun or on some level like, oh, it's like reading people magazine or watching reality TV is a version of that. Yeah. But I think you think that it's harmless. I think we think that it's harmless. And I think there's going to be a day where they're going to say, look at what they used to do with their energy. They used to read these magazines.

You know, first of all, like nothing even really happens in the magazine anyway. I mean, you think you're going to read something and then they, you know, it's a trick. Like there's not really any real news in there. So it's just a waste of time. You know, click here and you'll be amazed. Right. Find out. No. So the thing is, is it's like, we, we can say that it's harmless, but it's not harmless. And

the hour is, um, it's important. It's an important moment right now. This is your life. This is your energy that you're, you know, this is your energy. So if we're talking about self-sustainability and being like a whole person, or like, you know, I always say the, the, talking about self-sustainability and being like a whole person, or like, you know, I always say the real self-sustainable ecosystem is the, you know, spiritual being having a human experience. That's the real self-sustainable system right there. So, you know, what if we stop judging everybody else or sending our energy out all over the place and we just brought it back in to ourselves so that we could feel ourselves and we could connect to our heart and we could, you know,

find out what we're supposed to do in the hours that we're here on the planet. And we could make that higher vibrational choice around the holidays. But that's frightening. I mean, setting aside the idea that it requires certain tools to actually do that, I think a lot of people are threatened by that because – or on an unconscious level possibly. Just because the idea that, oh, if I'm not – if my energy is not in all of those things, then I have to look at myself. And a lot of that energy going outward is because people are afraid of that inside work or they don't want to do it or they're terrified of what they might find. Or maybe they're just hypnotized and they haven't even thought about it because there's just so much stuff going on. But, I mean, what's scary about embodying yourself? You know, I mean, it's the most empowering thing I could think of, you know. And it's, I'm feeling it very, very, very amplified, very, very viscerally.

And you really can, you really can aggregate and accumulate and reclaim parts of yourself that you haven't even been in touch with, that you haven't even connected with. How do you do that then? Well, I would meditate. You can go into meditation and put your awareness on your heart. And you can start to breathe in and out. That hat looks really... It looks really bad over the, he looks like a Rasta basketball head. I don't know what's going on. It's a little cold in here.

I was in my moment and it just, I don't know. I took it away from you. Yeah, you took it out. Anyway, so putting your heart, your awareness on your heart and starting to inhale and exhale. And so you want to, you know, inhale as slowly and deeply as possible, fully inhaling all the way and then pause at the top and then very slowly and mindfully exhale very, very, very fluidly.

When you say mindfully, I mean, what are you putting your focus on? Just put your awareness in your heart, just in a very soft way. And you also could put your awareness like on your nostrils, like the point where the breath enters the nose.

So you're breathing in through the nose and exhaling through the mouth? No, inhale in through the nose and out through the nose, ideally. But don't get caught up in it. If you can't do that, then just breathe. Just take long, inhale in through the nose and out through the nose, ideally. But don't get caught up in it. If you can't do that, then just breathe. Just take long, deep inhales followed by long, deep exhales. And then eventually you'll want your exhale to get twice as long as your inhale.

And then after you do this, maybe do it like maybe 20 times until you're in a relaxed state. Do it like maybe 20 times until you're in a relaxed state. And then put your awareness on your heart and ask yourself, meaning your greater self, to return to you all of your energy. You know, I state that you would like to reclaim all of your energy that has been diverted or usurped or taken to other people, place, things, dimensions. And ask that it be returned to you now as your God-given sovereign right. And make the statement that you wish to embody yourself fully. And that would be a start.

Right. And so how often should we do this? Well, we'll do it every day at least. But, you know, and just, you know, if someone's listening to this and they're resonating with it, there's going to be a light bulb that goes off and they're going to go, yeah, you know, that's right. You know, and just start to draw all your energy. I mean, don't you want to have all of your energy that belongs to you, that comes to you as a creation? You would. And that doesn't take any time. No, and it's free. It's cheap and it's quick and it's good. Yeah. I think you can do shorter versions of that too, just in throughout your day, you know. Oh, absolutely. When you're having a moment just to close your eyes and even if it's just three or four breaths to like, it's almost like rebooting your computer.

You're just hitting, you're doing like a system reset. That's right. And I mean, I did an energy, there's an energy process I think that I did on the podcast, on the last podcast last year. I think it's episode 60. I'll put the link up to it in show notes if you want to refer back to that. But I mean, it's really about, you know, understanding that you're a spiritual being having a human experience, taking the care to make sure that you did something to protect and contain and amplify your energy body, okay? That is different than your physical. So, that's an exercise, right? A visualization, a feeling, an activation, an intention. If you can't visualize, simply intend it in your mind, like ask for it. And it's okay. It's enough.

Your higher self knows what to do. Your higher self will set it up. So make sure that you're doing some spiritual housekeeping. We can't keep walking around saying, oh, you know, we're spiritual beings and we meditate and then, you know, laugh when someone talks about, you know, these energy fields that are affected by, you know, thoughts, emotions, people projecting stuff onto you possibly, any kind of pain bodies that have gotten into a little tangle or scuffle or any suppressed pain that you're bearing that then causes it to activate in somebody else. All of these things, these are real things that actually affect us. They affect our health. You know, I was talking to Howard yesterday

about, you know, when I healed myself of the cyst in my neck and we really got down to sort of the nucleus of that. And it was that I had this extreme faith that I believed that my body would heal, you know, and I was also supported by, you know, the practices of Ayurveda and this amazing doctor. And I was sharing with him that I have another friend that I was trying to help heal from, you know, some issues and he doesn't believe that he can be healed. And so, that belief is so strong. And, you know, Howard was talking about the placebo effect and just how much we know how strong those beliefs are. The placebo effect is so strong that even when you know it's a placebo, it still works.

Yes. You know, it's crazy. But I think implicit in everything that you're saying, like, you know, kind of the general theme here is that as you enter into the holidays, you start to get pulled in a million different directions. And the theme of the season is giving. And you're extending a lot of energy outwards. And a lot of it is oriented around taking care of other people or engaging with other people. But you cannot give what you

don't have. And so taking care of yourself first is paramount to being able to be in a healthy place where you can then provide care and give towards others. It's true. That's very well put. Yes. And the holidays are supposed to be Thanksgiving. It's about giving. And Christmas, whatever your version of the holidays that you celebrate is about just that. It's about gratitude and it's about service and it's about – it's not about receiving. It's about giving. And these kind of things get lost in the shuffle of the consumerist kind of approach to everything. And I think the more that we can get in touch with the spirit of what it's really about,

as opposed to, you know, the physical trappings that, that surround it, you know, the Madison Avenue version of it, the better. But, but I think that that self, it begins and ends with self-care and it's easy to forget that because you're like, I got to be there for all these other people. You know, we got to go here and I got to take care of this and that, that it's easy to rationalize or just, you know, sort of discard the self-care aspect of it in the spirit of being there for other people or being of service. I can't take care of myself today because I have to go be of service to these people. But if you skip that first step, then what you're able to give is not really the full extent of what you could give if you do take the time to care for yourself first. Even if you don't feel like you have time, you have to make that time. You have to. It's crucial. It's critical to have a foundation and to have yourself well-established so that you can be a healer instead of a garbage can.

If you are not established and you are not in balance and you try to help somebody, you simply become a receptacle for more imbalance, I'll call it, you know? So, and I really think that, you know, that the Christ principle, and you know, I say Christ principle, I'm not Christian, I'm not religious, I'm spiritual. And that means I'm interested in the energy that connects all of us, that there is no separation, there's no dogma. principle is, it would be seeing the highest evolution or the highest expression of every single person that you know in your life and holding that vision with love and compassion.

So I think the other part of us drawing all our energy back in from where energy's been, the other sort of distinction of that is where have we been judging somebody in our life? distinction of that is where have we been judging somebody in our life? Where have we been summing somebody up in our life or analyzing someone in our life? And... Pete That's a national pastime. Jennifer Well, it's not a high vibrational pastime, and it doesn't really produce a high energy. So, if you think of, you know, listen, humanity is amazing. And I really do believe that. And I mean, I think we saw in the downloads for David last week, you know, it's beautiful. Everybody loves to see someone rise from that place. I mean, it's just so

inspiring and how lovely, how beautiful for him that he was able to tap into that and able to translate it into something so visceral and so compelling and just so evident, you know, like in his own physical self and how beautiful that everybody is inspired by that. And that's where we need to have our attention. You know, how would it be if we were just, you know, looking at David the way that he was and we were saying horrible things about him or wishing the worst for him? So, what I'm saying is there are people in your lives, people have issues, you know, everybody has problems, everybody has shortcomings. And if we really want to help people or we really want to embody the spirit of the

holidays, it would be a great experiment for us to say, okay, for this entire season, I'm only going to see the best in those around me. And when I go, when I begin to say the negative thing or the judgment or the criticism or the satire or the sarcasm, I'm going to take a breath and I'm going to say something nice about that person. And I'm going to, I'm going to choose to just look at the, at the,

at the best in them. And even if they're not there yet, knowing that they're going to get there, best in them. And even if they're not there yet, knowing that they're going to get there, that would be truly the spirit of the holidays. Yeah, that's really powerful. And inevitably, you're going to lapse into whatever historical behavior pattern you have, but to be able to catch yourself and then create a new habit around that, I think is pretty powerful. Yeah. And it's actually kind of, we're just a little lazy. I think we're just a little lazy and we think it doesn't really matter. You know, oh, it doesn't matter.

We're just, you know, we're just making fun of somebody. Like it doesn't really matter. And, you know, don't get me wrong. I love to laugh at myself, you know, and I love humor. But there is a point where it's, it's just not productive. It's not uplifting. It's not holding the higher ground for someone else. And, you know, I think that's partly what you and I have done in our relationship, what we have managed to do, not that we do it always, but we managed to do it most of the time. And I think it's holding that high vision of knowing somewhere, somehow,

that there was a bigger force that was going to work through you and work through me. And it was going to lead us to some place that neither one of us had ever even dreamed of really before. And, you know, we have that power every single moment of the day. And, you know, we like to say, and, you know, the plant powered movement and, you know, we have that power every single moment of the day. And, you know, Pete, we like to say, and, you know, the plant-powered movement and, you know, you can vote with your dollar, you know, you can vote with your dollar with the meal you buy or the food you buy, but you know what? You can vote with your consciousness and you can choose to see somebody in the highest light and help them.

That actually will help them actualize that. And what a beautiful gift of giving, what a beautiful spirit that is. I think that that is, that's a really cool thing, vote with your consciousness. I think that's going to be the title of the blog post. That's going to be beyond the kale. It's the next beyond the kale, you guys. Vote with your consciousness. Vote with your consciousness. Yeah. Votewithyourconsciousness.com. Absolutely. We better get it before we put this up. Yeah, I like that. And I, you know, one of the things that I've been kind of drilling down to something more specific, I mean, one of the things that I've been focused on,

is I have to do, I'm like, I'm like you, I'm not a multitasker. I can only focus on one thing at a time. And that's mostly, you know, men are, men tend to be more like that. And women tend to be more multidimensional sort of, but I've been, I've been focused on, you know, I'm a competitive person. Really? Really? You are competitive. And, uh, and, and that competitive nature flies in the face of this higher consciousness ideal that the pie is infinite, right? Because competitiveness suggests that there's a limited supply, right? And you're driven to be at the top to get yours so that so-and-so doesn't get theirs because there's only so much to go around that's right and that's not a high vibrating approach you know what i mean and the truth is

is that that that the pie is infinite and there's plenty for everybody and so so what i'm i've been very um consciously and actively engaged in in kind of celebrating the people that in my mind I'm competing with that I'm not actually competing with. You know what I mean? Like in whatever aspect, from tiny little things throughout the day to whatever, you know, like who's ahead of me on the freeway when I'm trying to get somewhere and he's in my way to larger aspects of my life. But to just be psyched for people that are doing, you know, amazing things as opposed to to looking at it like, why is that guy doing that when I should be doing that? Right. You know what I mean?

Yes. Because that's been my mindset my whole life. Well, I think it's most people's mindset here. Yeah. And not only that, but to go out of my way and get in touch with the person and say, you know what? What you're doing is really awesome. I'm really happy for you that that's going so well for you right now. But that's amazingly powerful.

It is. And it's great. It's really powerful. It's a great practice. And it's transformed how I feel about myself in a short period of time. Talk more about that. Just doing a couple of the, taking that action, you know, in a couple instances over the last, you know, week has been, has changed how is,

it's like a, I don't know, it's a good, it's a, it's an esteemable act. You know what I mean? Yeah. And, uh, and it just feels good. That's all. Well, it's good because it vibrates out and then you're sitting with that instead of sitting with the judgment because the judgment comes from within yourself. And this is what it's like, you know, people go, oh, well, that's so stupid. You know, when, you know, when, when, when I say, you know, that it's not a competition, you know, life isn't a competition. If you really can start to get your head around that, you know, I was in the car this week and Jaya, you know, Jaya's really kind of upset because Mathis is now almost 11 and, you know, her brothers took her to her first rock

concert and they went and saw Tame Impala like, you know, last week. And then Mathis got to come to see Interstellar with us. We went to the Chinese theater and, you know, Jaya's about had it. She's like, you know, she's getting everything and I'm getting nothing, you know? And so we had to have this conversation about, you know, Jaya is not a competition. You know, you have all the energy that God made you with. You have everything for yourself to actualize yourself. And so, it's not about that if she gets to do something that you don't get to do it, but it's a complete rewiring of our system. And I certainly wasn't successful with her in that one conversation. There's going to have to be some, you know, demonstration. And, you know, I tried to talk to her about how, you know, we're all here to support

each other, to actualize ourselves and to find out what you really love to do. And she said, well, I don't really know what I love, you know, and here she's seven. And I said, yeah, I know. I said, but you know, we're just going to keep supporting you and loving you until you find that out. And then we're all just going to help you to like, do that, like whatever you're going to do. But your energy is not tied to Mathis. It has nothing to do with that. You have a direct connection to source, a direct, you don't have to go through anybody. You go right, right to the source and get whatever you want. So I think that if we really try to imbibe that or bring that into our consciousness, that each one of us, and you know, just look at nature, like everything is created inherently

with enough energy to sustain itself, to fully actualize itself. I mean, unless, you know, an accident happens or, you know, someone steps on that snail, you know, or, you know, you know, someone steps on that snail, you know, or, you know, I mean, there's that, there's that factor, but that would be a karmic thing, which is another subject, but, you know, that's a really powerful, uh, really compassionate, uh, awareness to, you know, to step into the one that, that, that you're, that you're in now. That's amazing. Did, uh, do you're, that you're in now. That's amazing. Did, uh, do you think Jaya got where you were coming from? Yeah, I think she got a little bit where I was coming from. You know, I think it's going to take,

she, she, you know, she's going to see back and forth example and, you know, and, you know, it's, it's, she, you know, she just wants to go to the concert, you know? So, and I get that. She's seven. She's seven. She's so, but she's, you know, she's the youngest and she doesn't want to be the youngest. And, you know, she's very. Being the youngest is hard. Yeah. It's also great. I was the youngest. Yeah. Well, you were just left alone to do whatever you want. Parents were over it. I liked it. Fraught with its own. I had a lot of freedom. Yeah. I liked it.

That was fraught with its own. I had a lot of freedom. Right. A lot of freedom. All right. All right. So we talked about kind of the financial implications, the consumerist implications of the holidays, the emotional implications. Why don't we get it? Let's get into the like sort of extending from the emotional implications is this idea of kind of medicating ourselves with food and everything that comes with the holidays. And I want to explore a healthier avenue to pursue, to kind of come out the other side of Thanksgiving holiday season and not be in that place of like,

ugh, I put on 15 pounds, I eat like crap the whole time, I'm starting over again. How can people who are listening out there come up with a new, better strategy? Well, I mean, I think first of all, we already talked about that. So you have to take care of yourself. So you have to have been doing your movement, whatever that is, your exercise, you're running your training. But let's say like, you know, you're, you're going to a dinner and they're going to be doing the whole nine yards, you know, like how, how are you going to get through that dinner? Right. So, I mean, what you're going to do is one thing that you can do is, is, uh, you need to

become a really great cook. You need to show up wherever you're going and be a plant-based advocate, you know, bring some amazing dish of something to share or bring three dishes to share, you know, of something to share or bring three dishes to share. Go out of your way and take the extra time and show up with just some good recipes and some good food so that you can inspire somebody else that might be at the party that might not eat this well or might not know that you can make such amazing dairy-free, gluten-free, cruelty-free dishes. So I would say that you have to up your game in what you bring. So it's about what are you bringing? That's the first thing. The second thing I would say is, of course, you have your tool of making sure that you drink a really vibrant green blend, thick one before you go. Make make sure it has like, you know, some chia seeds in it,

or maybe some fresh coconut, or maybe even some avocado. Make sure that it has some substance to it so that you're not starving. So do that before you go, definitely. And then, you know, depending on, you know, if you want to stay away from alcohol and you want to try not drinking this year and not taking all the sugar in and all the calories and then also the up and down emotional swing, you know, we like to pack our own kombucha. You know, we arrive with a six pack of, you know, Dave's, you know, and just have that. And it's bubbly and it kind of, you know, tastes, you know, sort of festive and you can pour it in a beautiful wine glass or a beautiful champagne glass and you can have a great time and you can leave and not be drunk and not have a headache. Right. I think a lot of people get really worked up emotionally about these situations

because we project onto the other people that they're going to be upset or, you know, it's like, well, what are they going to think if I don't eat this? Or, or, and the truth is like, in my experience in, in the years that we've been doing this and the number of dinners that we've showed up at dinner parties or whatever, that aren't like, you know, they're serving something that isn't exactly, you know, in alignment with our program or whatever. Like it's just, it's not as hard as you think. And you have to understand that almost everybody is up in their own head and they're thinking about themselves and their own problems and they don't care. They don't care if you, you know, like, what if I, what, what am I going to do if, if, you know, they asked me if I want a beer and I, I'm not going to drink tonight. Like, how am I going to handle that? It, like, what am I going to do if, you know, they ask me if I want a beer and I'm not going to drink tonight?

Like, how am I going to handle that? It's like people don't – they really don't care. You know what I mean? And maybe somebody will say, oh, you know, oh, okay, or whatever. There will be a moment. But, like, then that moment is over and it's forgotten. And, you know, maybe there's the rare exception of somebody who's going to give you a little shit or something like that. But, honestly, it's no big deal. And anybody who really cares about that kind of stuff is not

somebody who's really being compassionate towards you. Yeah, definitely. I mean, I just think, you know, show up with your own stuff, you know, bring enough to share for some other people and then just make sure you're covered. Make sure you have a drink that you enjoy. You know, that's... You're bringing, you're giving. So it's not like you're not offending them by bringing that stuff. No, and I think I would also just try. I mean, I remember when I stopped drinking wine and I'm not an addict, although I have had my share of drug use and alcohol abuse, you know, definitely. And so, you know, I've definitely gone down that road, but I was never an addict. But I just, when I found yoga, and I started practicing more

and more yoga, then the wine just sort of dropped me. Like, I didn't decide I was going to stop drinking wine. I was drinking it, and I was noticing increasingly that it wasn't producing a desired result. Like I would drink it and then the next day I just wouldn't really feel on my game or the next day I would have a headache or I found with me like the upside or the time where it really felt good was simply like a 15 minute period from when I sipped it. And then it was, it was a good feeling for like 10 or 15 minutes. And then it just tanked after that. So after some experiment, that's why you have to keep drinking. No, no, I don't even, I don't relate to like the whole idea of it, of it just dropping away. I know, but it's just different. But I would just

say that if you've been, you know, going back and forth and sort of like, you know just dropping away. I know, but it's just different. But I would just say that if you've been, you know, going back and forth and sort of like, you know, oh, I drank again, I didn't feel that well. I would just try it one time, you know, just take a kombucha one time or take a sparkling cider one time and just go insert yourself in the party and then see, you know, see how it happened, how it goes. And in my experiences, experience is, you still have just as much fun. You just feel better and you don't have the extra pounds. You don't have the hangover and you still saw everybody you wanted to see. You still laughed. They were all drinking. That was okay. But I find that once you're sort of on this lifestyle path, it's not, you know,

drinking large amounts of alcohol just really don't go that well with it. I don't think so. Definitely not for me. Well, yeah. But I mean, you know, you say to me sometimes you're like, you should drink, you can like have a drink, you know, where you used to years ago. I just don't want to, you know, it's not, I spent all this time cultiv a drink, you know, where you used to years ago. And I just don't want to, you know, it's not, I spent all this time cultivating my, you know, my, my sentient feelings. You know,

I want to feel what's going on. I don't want to dull that down. And I'm so sensitive to like, I'll just, I'll have a massive headache. So even with like one glass of wine, I'm just headache. Right. Well, what else, what else can we talk about with the holidays? What else does it bring up for you, for other people? Something happened. No, it's not. Kind of got quiet there. I don't know. What else does it bring? I mean, for me, it's the, you know, it's the, it's the death of the year. It's where everything dies into itself. And so I find it very violent that there's this huge consumerism at this time of year when all I want to do is stay in my bed extra hours and sort of be an introvert. And it's counter, it's very counterintuitive to the natural cycle of life.

I think our biological clock is really rigged, you know, unless you're in Australia, you know, unless you're in the Southern Hemisphere. Yeah, that would be great. I mean, you really do kind of want to dial it back and just like, you know, just take it easy. And yet there's this incessant pressure that's pushing you outwards to go really expend a tremendous amount of resources

at a time when, you know, I feel like we should just be like hibernating. It's like hibernating. We're like bears in the den. I know. And I think that that ramps up the kind of dissonance and the anxiety that comes with it. Well, and that's why you want to stay in balance and you want to make sure that you don't overspend. I mean, really, really don't do that. Like don't buy into that. That's a really negative place to be. don't do that. Like, don't buy into that. That's a really negative place to be. And, you know, you know, when you live a conscious life and when you're connected and you're plugged into the people that are close to you, it's like, you know, every day is a day of giving. Every day is a day of giving thanks. So it's like, we can start to limit the amount of excess. And, you know,

I definitely do around my house. Like, you know, I don't take the kids to, you know, 10 celebrations, you know, I try to just condense it and make it pretty linear and pretty focused so that, you know, when they have Christmas, that was on Christmas. Like they didn't have four parties leading up to it, you know, and the same thing really about every holiday for me. And that goes back to the power of saying no, like you don't have to say yes to every social obligation, you know, pick one or two and, and it's okay to say no. You know, you can still be friends with the people that you're politely declining. So there's a way of navigating that, that is part of that self-care equation, I think. That's right. There is. And boundaries are very, very important. It's important to listen to ourselves and to listen to our children and see how everybody's

feeling. And, you know, I wouldn't call it a success if you end up going to all these parties and then everybody's sick, you know, then how many people get sick over the holidays and it was sick for like two weeks or something. So what's the, what's the use in that? Yeah. You've overextended yourself. And without that healthy boundary, you do become that kind of receptacle for everybody else's energy and stuff.

And I think that leads to people getting sick. You get overextended. You're taking in all this energy from all these different people. You're not protecting yourself. You're not taking care of yourself. And you get turned inside out. And then you come out the other side exhausted. And that's why everybody has to set resolutions for the new year.

Because there's a level of... I mean, part of that is informed by some level of disgust with... What they know, what they did, you know, I can't do this anymore. I have to start fresh. Now I'm going to start, you know, now I'm going to, you know, and then it's this vicious cycle that just repeats itself. Yeah. I mean, I, I, I think it's, you know, I think it's intended. I think it's been, I think it's been designed that way so that we, we are knocked off balance and, and we're really, you know, some of us for the entire year recovering from what happened for two weeks in December. Like, are you kidding me? Like, how, you know, how uninformed are we? You know, you can make a different decision and

you can approach it in a different way. So, you know, my intention is really deep, meaningful experiences, not in excess and no excess. So really, I'm not saying, you know, that, you know, you shouldn't celebrate or you shouldn't have fun or you shouldn't buy yourself something that you, you know, really want. I'm all about that. I'm just saying, you know, just don't do the excess and make it count. Make that, make whatever you do count. And if you have to organize an alternate, you know, get together for, you know, to avoid explosive family member, you know, energies, then do it and show up with, you know, with your best game. Show up with the best that you've got and give and love and hold people in the highest and really be present when you're there and, you know, really interact. And,

you know, you can be in and out in three hours and, you know, that person will remember that more than if you went to the family dinner and you sat there for 15 hours and watched football on the couch or something. Yeah. I think that's a really good point. You know, you don't have to go for the entire time. Go in and make whatever time you're spending there meaningful and substantial. And then exit yourself. That's right. Right?

So, we're going for quality. You don't have to be the last person to leave the party. You don't have to marathon it. Quality, not quantity. Definitely. Yeah, I think so. So, you know, all of that. And yeah, this, you know, it's funny. I had this amazing teacher at FIDM when I went to the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. He laughs from Stanford. That's a judgmental chuckle, that's a judgmental chuckle to my, I just, I can't imagine you as a fashion designer.

Really? You didn't know me then. No. Oh, well I was, I was a good one too. I know you were. But go ahead. No, go ahead. No.

You're going to ask me something? I interrupted you. Go. No. So I had this, I'm talking about sustainability and it's like, this has been something in my life. It's something that I'm aspiring to. And I, I had this fashion illustration, illustration teacher and her name was, I'm going to get her

name wrong. And she actually still exists and she's still teaching at FIDM. I think her name is Nancy Adelman. And she is just the most trippy looking lady artist. She's very, very, very stick thin. Um, she wears Cleopatra black eyeliner under her eyes. Um, and she wears these monolithic, uh, ceremonial type, really well-designed clothes and they all interchange and go with each other. And she taught me how to, how to draw. She's a, she's an extraordinary fashion illustrator and it was really fun. She was actually the first one that unlocked my, uh, painting drawing gene. Like I didn't know I could until I was 29 and then I took her class and I was like, Oh, you know, look at this. I could draw. So, but she lived in this studio apartment in East LA and I went to her house once to, we used to have models and we would draw there, but she had these monolithic furniture that like all fit into each other so that like the coffee table became the bed. It was literally like one room with the coolest furniture and the coolest design clothing.

design clothing. And so, you know, when I, when I meditate on self sustainability and, you know, what it means to live consciously, I mean, just so you know, that's where I'm going. I'm, I'm, I'm going to a place where I have all my belongings interchanging and working with each other, really good design. So it's not, it's not about that. I don't care about the design. I care a lot about the design, but I want it all to fit seamlessly together and be almost like ceremonial, like it has a ceremonial purpose. Like almost you're, you're going back to a, you know, uh, Aboriginal, you know, tribal way of, of having stuff and you're a steward of that stuff forever, you know? So, and then the question is, you know, do you really want that thing that you think you want so badly? And how does it fit into your life? And so, that's something that just really inspires me and excites me about getting your life so refined that you're living with objects

or objets in her case in that very specific way. Yeah. I think that compressing your geography, you know what I mean? Like if you bring the walls closer together in your living space, then it forces you to reckon with those items that you possess and say, is this something that I need or is this just something that's here because? It's true. watch. I mean, you know, it's not for nothing that suddenly everybody is inspired by the micro house movement and all these cool architecture designs that are coming out and people that are living in these tiny spaces, but they make them really cool, you know, and it's like, and you can go online and go on these little tours and see these pictures of these tiny little spaces where couples and families are living. And they have exactly what they need, nothing more and nothing less.

And there's a certain, I think there's something in our culture that's lacking where we look at that and we aspire to that on some level. But it scares us as well because it flies in the face of, of everything that we've sort of been programmed to, you know, consume and ye shall be happy, you know, I, you know, keeping up with the Joneses and getting more and all that kind of stuff. And this is a reaction to that. It's like the pendulum swinging back the other way. And, uh, it's a cool thing, you know, and we have friends that are doing it. We have our friend who's living on our property right now in an airstream who was previously living in a large house. And he's gone through that process where he's gone through his stuff and said, you know, I don't need this. And he's very content in a very small living space right now.

And it's a cool thing to see. in a very small living space right now. And it's a cool thing to see. And it really makes you think about that equation of materialism and happiness and the disconnect where we've really been brainwashed into believing that these physical things are somehow related to how we feel about ourselves when in truth, it couldn't be more different.

And the purging of all of that, you know, there's a sense of kind of peace that comes with that. And a deepening of your relationship with yourself. And I think when we lived in the earth, you know, we experienced that on some level. Yeah. And the teepee and the airstream. Yeah. Also. So we've had, you know, we've had those experiments,

but we still live in the world now. We do. We do. No, I find it extremely satisfying. There's something like, it's almost like taking a drink of water for me. Like to have something be so streamlined. And again, with me, it's not about like I'll spend thousands of dollars on something if that's the thing, if that's the one thing, you know, I'm a fashion designer. Like I used to, you know, do that. So

I care deeply about design. I care deeply about my environment. So it's not just any environment, but it's a, there's something so inspiring about it being just really lean and really exact. so inspiring about it being just really lean and really exact. So I'm excited. So don't be surprised if you see me in some ceremonial garbs that, you know, are monolithic and look kind of. Nothing that you would put on or say or do would surprise me anymore.

Let's just say that, you know, but I think, yeah, what you're saying is that, is that the aesthetics of your environment are still important. Very important. They, they inform, you know, is that the aesthetics of your environment are still important. Very important. They inform more than we're consciously aware of. And you've spoken to this before.

I mean, we have the privilege of living in an architectural home and had the privilege of working with an amazing architect to construct this house that we live in. this house that we live in. And you're always commenting on how, or when we talk to Lorcan saying, how important that has been in really kind of informing our children's perspective. Like it really has forged their lives in certain respects. And I think being conscious of your environment and the impact that that has

is really kind of underlying that. Yeah, that's true. I mean, he has. He's informed all's, uh, he's informed all of our lives, maybe more than any single person that we've ever known because we live in his space every day, every moment, like every single act, every single thing that happens, happens in this container, which comes from his, his imagination, his, his sensibility and his vision. It's so profound. I mean, architects are, they should be revered, you know, as the greatest

healers, the greatest influencers. They're, it's crazy. I'm the impact that this one man has made on our lives. Right. And this is not to say that, you know, you need to have an amazing architect to, you know, inform your environment. Every,

we all live in environments and we all, I think the point is, is to be conscious about how you adorn your environment and that, and that how you do that, like exercising care with that is, is impactful on your well-being. You know what fascinates me completely are those people that are living and they're generating zero trash. Yeah, I just, I bookmarked an article to read that I didn't get to.

Oh my God. I saw it the other day, like some guys live for an entire year and created zero trash. I have to sit, like I have to study that. I have to see because I have so much angst, like even with the recycling, it's like for years I'm looking at this excess, you know, and I get so, so freaked out about it. And we're not like, you know, but just as human beings, just a human being, the way that, that our life is designed, we generate an extraordinary amount of trash. It's unbelievable. It's unbelievable. I mean, talk about sustainability extraordinary amount of trash. Yeah, it's unbelievable. It's so bad.

I mean, talk about sustainability. I mean, you know, we need, and that's an area where we can and should be doing a lot better. Like we need to develop better strategies around, you know, our, the purchases that we make and the materials with which those, you know, products are made. I mean, it's insane. It's so bad. The amount of garbage that a family of six produces. Seven now. Seven now. And that's right. I mean, we have a lot of people living with us.

Drew, eight. Rain, nine. We have a commune going on in our house right now. There's a lot of people at our house. So there's a lot of refuse that comes out of that too. But we compost aspects of it that we can compost and we recycle what we can recycle. But even with that, there's still a tremendous amount of garbage. So just the idea that people could exist without creating any garbage at all,

like I need to know how that- I need to know, I need to get with that for sure. Yeah, absolutely. It is. But you know, and so- We're going to find those people and get them on the podcast. That would be- Let's do that. That would be, that would be good. That would be great. Yeah. And, you know, so, so then, you know, it's the excess, it's the, I think it's the excess of the holidays that feels the most uncomfortable to me. That, that, that's what feels out of balance. And it's the excess of the holidays that feels the most uncomfortable to me. That's what feels out of balance.

And it's also about living in harmony, you know, where it's like you have your needs met, you you're way beyond your need level you know as a normal course of business you know in what the holidays are all about and that's where it starts it feels bad inside of my body like it's like oh this is not this is out of balance so now i have to get that concept into my children's awareness. Yeah, well, good luck with that. No, we'll be fine. We're having a family meeting where there's discussions going on right now. Look, Tyler's down. Trapper is mellow with whatever. He'll go with that.

Harrison's mellow with whatever. It's those little girls, those little children. No, we'll figure it out. No, I understand. They want Christmas and all, it's fine. You know what the thing is? Mathis wants me to decorate the house with Christmas decorations and I won't do it every single year. And now I've realized that

she's she's, she may, she's, she's suffering like she really, really wants to do it. But I don't want to have all the stuff left like after you do it. So I need you to come up with some really sustainable, creative, like modern, amazing thing that you do with her with the house.

Could you do that? Yeah, I mean, I can do that. And I wanna encourage her because she wants to have a creative experience and she wants to create a memory around that. And that's important to her. She likes the idea of creating ceremony out of that. And for that, that's meaningful to her. And I think that's important to her. She likes the idea of creating ceremony out of that. And for that, that's meaningful to her.

And I think that's important. So I would like to help engage her in that. I'm excited to see what you guys are going to create. That's awesome. I'll bring Ron on to help with that. All right, cool. We got to wrap it up here. That's it?

You don't have anything else you want to ask me? I'm good. You can come on next week for more. Awesome. Okay. That's cool. As far as the eating aspect of the holidays, we have some recipes up on the Rich Roll website, some holiday recipes. I think there's four or five that we put up a while ago. So I'll put links up to those. I think there's a cranberry recipe. There's a- Gluten-free stuffing, pumpkin pie, is there? Pumpkin pie, yeah.

Mushroom gravy, I think I did. Mashed potatoes. Yeah. Just some of those like typical holiday kind of foods that you would prepare. And these are just healthier plant-based versions of those that are delicious and hearty and will please anybody in your family.

Awesome. So look out for those. And the other thing I wanted to say is, um, I'm thinking about the idea of adding a second, you know, we do one show a week. If we added a second show, if we did it, maybe not every week, but periodically that is just like Q and a, where we take listener questions and we read them and then we discuss and answer the question. So I want to know from you guys who are listening, would you be interested in that? Is that something that would be, I think it would be a cool way to engage the audience more directly. I think it would be. And talk about the things that they want to hear.

So let me know what you think in the comments section on the blog post page for this episode. And also, why don't you just go ahead and if you have questions that you'd like us to talk about or specific things that you'd like answered, send us an email at findingultraatgmail.com. That'll be the email address for the Q&A, the questions. Okay, awesome. What do you think about that? Yeah, I think that's a great idea. That would be cool, right? Yeah, really cool.

And that's it. Beautiful, Julie Pyatt. Thank you for coming by the podcast. Thank you, sweetie. That was enlightening. Thanks for having me. I think you gave some people some good takeaways and things that they can work on

to improve their holiday experience. I hope so. Are you going to let me take them out with one of my songs? Uh, I can do that. Um, we're not quite done yet, but are you going to, um, which song do you want me to, um, I think I was trying to think, I think, uh, I think I'd like to, um, share a song called be loved. I think I'd like to share a song called Be Loved. I don't think I shared that yet. I can't remember. It's a song actually that I was asked to write it for a company that was working with bees.

And they asked me to write a song for them. And the company since isn't really doing anything. But I really love the track. And it's on my recent album that's called Jai Home. And it's called Beloved. All right. So we'll take you out with that. And if you want to know more about Jubilee, you can go to her website, srimati.com, S-R-I-M-A-T-I.com. And she's at Srimati on Twitter and at Srimati on Instagram, where she's been lighting it up with tons of cool food porn and

recipes and stuff like that. And the food porn is going to get more, it's going to get more developed. So we're going into a storyline now. I'm kidding'm kidding. Cool. So, yeah. All right. Uh-huh. All right. Well, thanks. Thanks for having me. Cool. So before we sign off with this week's assignment, a couple of parting announcements.

If you want to learn more about how you can get more plants into your life, we have a course for that. It's called The Ultimate Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition. You can find it at mindbodygreen.com. Uh, it's about three hours of streaming video content, downloadable tools. It's got an interactive community. It's pretty cool. Julie shares plenty of her recipes and tips to get your kitchen to the next level. So check that out. Um, and I have another course at mindbodygreen.com called The Art of Living with Purpose. And that's all about setting goals. It's kind of about the interior work.

So if you're feeling stuck, you're not sure exactly how to move forward in your life, in the direction of your dreams, you're looking to unlock a better version of yourself. Well, this course might be something that you'd be interested in. It's about, I think it's like two and a half hours of streaming video. Again, more downloadable tools, interactive support, and all that kind of stuff. So just go to mindbodygreen.com, click on video courses at the top of the homepage, and you can learn more there. Also at richroll.com, we've got nutritional products. We've got our e-cookbook, we have Julie's meditation program. We've got merch. We've got more products. We've got our e-cookbook, Jai Seed. We have Julie's meditation program. We've got merch.

We've got more stuff coming. We're developing some cool new products. And you can find out more at richroll.com. Don't forget to subscribe to the newsletter. I will not spam you. Just good stuff. Weekly podcast update and like offers and sales and things like that. What else do I want to say?

Oh yeah. Give us a review on iTunes. We need reviews. That would be good. You know, it takes you two minutes. That would be great. If you could do that.

If you're in LA, stop by joy cafe. It's our new restaurant fueling awesome right in the heart of Westlake village off of Gora road on the one-on-one. Julie is there all the time. Julie is there all the time. I'm there all the time. So if you go there at lunchtime or maybe for a late breakfast, a brunch, chances are pretty good you're going to run into one of us. And if you do, please say hi.

Enjoy delicious food. Engage the proprietors, Joy and Nick, in a hearty conversation. That's right. And leave feeling great. Don't forget to have a cupcake from the Karma Baker also. That's right. We also partnered up. I haven't talked about that officially.

I'll talk about it more. But the thumbnail is that we partnered with a gluten-free vegan baker called the Karma Baker. I'll tell you guys more about that later, but they're amazing desserts. They sell them at Joy Cafe, and there's going to be more coming on that too. So anyway, if you're enjoying the show and you're new to the show, you know from iTunes that you can only get the 50 most recent episodes of the show there. And more than half of the catalog is not available on iTunes. So if you want to check that out, because we have so much good stuff, the only way to do that is to

get our app. It's free. It's for all iOS devices. Go to the iTunes app store, just type in Rich Roll in the search window and you'll be able to find it there. Download it and you can access all 114 episodes of the show that way, completely free. Continue to support the show. Keep telling your friends. Keep using the Amazon banner ad and keep Instagramming, right? All of that. Cool. All those things. So, all right, this week's assignment. I think that, Julie, you can help me with this, but I think a great assignment to close this one down

would be to have people, first of all, believe that you can have a different holiday experience, that you can have a better holiday experience than maybe, if you're somebody who's traditionally had subpar holiday experiences. If you're sad, if you're sad around the holidays. I mean, look, it's common to get depressed and sad around the holidays and then people feel ashamed that they feel that way because everybody, it's supposed to be so joyous and there's all this pressure on you to have this extraordinary experience and then you feel lousy because

you're not having that experience. I think that, you know, it begins and ends with, first of all, believing that you're entitled to have the experience that you're having, and you also have the power to change what that experience is, right? You do. And so it's about approaching these holidays a little bit differently by doing exactly what Julie talked about, which is not allowing yourself to get overextended and focusing on the self-care. Take care of yourself first as a prerequisite to taking care of others physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. And if you do that every day before you enter into the fray

where you're getting pulled into a million different directions, I think that you have a good shot of coming out the other side, not just intact, but maybe inspired, maybe renewed. And you don't have to be exhausted on New Year's Day and glad that it's all over. Absolutely. That's great. You think about that? Yeah, that's great. All right, cool. We're done.

We're done. All right. All right, you guys. Happy holidays. Peace. Namaste. Be love. Be you. Be love. Be true.

I'm yours. You'll see Be loved Be free Posing through the fields I feel the trees Reminding me of you. Hummingbird, butterfly, there's just so much that we can be together Be loved

Be you Be love Be true Be you, be love, be true. I'm yours, you're mine. Be love divine Buzzing through the fields I feel the trees reminding me of you Hummingbird, butterfly There's just so much that we can be Together

Be love, be true Be love, be you I'm yours, you're mine, beloved, divine, divine, divine. Deeper