The Rich Roll Podcast - Keep Evolving: Julie Piatt Returns

Episode Date: September 5, 2019

Has it really been a full year since Julie appeared on the podcast? Well that's just not right. So today marks the latest installment in my ongoing series of ponderous mind melds with my wife and in-house spiritual guru, the wise and ethereal Julie Piatt, aka SriMati. Longtime listeners are well acquainted with my better half. For those newer to the show, Julie is many things — the bestselling author of three vegan cookbooks. An accomplished yogi, healer, musician, and mom to four children. The host of the For The Life of Me podcast. And the master of Water Tiger, her online spiritual community where she muses on all matters metaphysical. Julie has a lot to say. And this time it's personal. This conversation opens with a wide-ranging discussion wherein we take stock of our marriage. Discuss the next evolution of our two-decade relationship. And share our collective experiences to explore relationship fulfillment in general. We talk about low moments – my relapse (almost 8 years ago), grief, rebirth, and divorce. We discuss creativity and taking responsibility for our personal connections. We recap our recent retreat in Italy. And we conclude by diving into Julie’s current obsessions — her For The Life of Me podcast and quickly growing online spiritual community, Water Tiger. And we conclude with a very big announcement. Let me set the stage. As many of you know, Julie spent years devoted to mastering the art of plant-based cheese. That journey birthed This Cheese Is Nuts, her groundbreaking cookbook primer on all things non-dairy. In the years since that book's publication, she continued to iterate on her recipes, taking her creations next level. The privileged few who have tested her achievements know very well just how insanely delicious it is. People literally freak out. Chances are you've even heard a few on mic raves from many a former podcast guest — Julie's favorite taste testers. The response has been so unanimously positive, she spent the last year assembling the pieces to create her very own direct-to-consumer artisanal plant-based cheese line. It's called SriMu. It's launching in mid-November 2019. And she is proud to announce that she is currently taking pre-orders. Unlike anything else in the current marketplace, SriMu artisanal “not cheese” is the next evolution of non-dairy delights. Vegan, paleo, dairy-free, gluten-free and made with mostly organic ingredients, it's a super-charged, divine offering beautifully packaged in a subscription box. When you sign up, you’ll get three different tiers of extraordinary, next-level plant-based cheese delivered directly to your home on a monthly basis. I am super proud of Julie's manifestation. It's going to be huge. I know you're going to love it. And I wanted my podcast tribe to have the very first opportunity to try what I've been (semi-secretly) enjoying for the last year. To learn more and place your order, visit SriMu.com. Now, on to the podcast. The visually inclined can watch it all go down on YouTube. Peace + Plants, Rich

I think when you are truly meeting in all aspects of the relationship, when you're taking responsibility to create your own fulfillment within your own self, there really is no prince, princess, fairy tale paradigm. And in fact, when you play in that paradigm, it's actually a dishonoring of the divine being because as life forms, each of us have enough energy within ourselves to fulfill our divine mission or our blueprint or our soul mission or the reason that we're in this life. Every solution is resolved within your own being.

All the power for your experience is within your own being. It's not about the other person. So it's not what the other person is doing. It's who are you in the face of what is going on. And if you feel like it is your job or your mission to fix another person or fulfill that in another person, and that gives you a sense of pride or importance, you're in fact hindering that individual from truly becoming themselves. That's Julie Pyatt. Let's do the show.

The Rich Roll Podcast. Hey, people. How you doing? What's going on? Rich Roll here. I am your host. This is my podcast. Welcome or welcome back. So, it's been a while, but today marks yet another long-awaited, hotly anticipated installment in my ongoing series of instructive, healing mind melds with perhaps my greatest teacher, my personal live-in spiritual guru, my wife, the mother of my children, the deep, the ethereal, the profound, the eminently wise Julie Pyatt joins the podcast today, a.k.a. Srimati. So longtime listeners are, of course, well acquainted with Julie. She is a yogi, a healer, an entrepreneur, an author, a musician. She has appeared on the show many, many times, but not since August of 2018. Wow. I was surprised to discover that. So glad to have her back on. She's got a lot to say, including a big announcement. And this time it's personal.

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. And with that, I know all too well just how confusing and how overwhelming and how challenging it can be to find the right place and the right level of care, especially because unfortunately, not all treatment resources adhere to ethical practices. It's a real problem, a problem I'm now happy and proud to share has

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I empathize with you. I really do. And they have treatment options for you. Life in recovery is wonderful, and recovery.com is your partner in starting that journey. When you or a loved one need help, go to recovery.com and take the first step towards recovery. To find the best treatment option for you or a loved one, again, go to recovery.com. Okay, Julie, my wife. So off the top, I know there are a lot of Srimati fans out there. Hi, how are you guys doing? Fans of her amazing cookbooks, The Plant Power Way, The Plant Power Way Italia, This Cheese is Nuts, plus perhaps a select few of you who have had the

privilege of testing out her extraordinary plant-based cheeses in person. If you have, then you know how just insane it is. Better by miles than anything in the current market, I would say. Maybe I'm biased, but I think it's a fact. And on that note, I have not met a single person who has tried it that hasn't completely freaked out at how amazing it is, including, as you very well may have heard on Mike, raves from

many of my past podcast guests, Julie's favorite taste testers. Well, the unanimously positive response has finally motivated Julie to launch her own commercially available direct-to-consumer artisanal plant-based cheese line. It's called ShriM, S-R-I-M-U, Shri Mu. It's launching soon, exact date to be announced shortly. And she's currently taking orders. So basically, it's a monthly subscription box model. When you sign up, you'll get three different tiers of delicious, extraordinary, next-level plant-based cheese.

Julie delves into more details on this in the podcast, but to learn more and to get in first on the front edge of this, go to srimu.com. That's S-R-I-M-U.com and order yours today. Julie's going to be launching with an exclusive offering and we just wanted to make it available to the pod tribe first. This stuff is super charged. It over delivers. You're going to fall in love with it. I promise you. So again, it's srimu.com. Do life, not cheese. That's the phrase, the tagline, do, D-O, standing for devotional offerings. Beyond the cheese, this is a pretty wide-ranging discussion wherein we take stock of our marriage, the next evolution of our relationship, as a launchpad to explore relationship fulfillment

in general. We talk about some of our low moments, like my relapse almost eight years ago. We talk about grief, rebirth, divorce. We talk about taking responsibility for our various relationships. We also recap Plant Power Italia 2019, our recent retreat in Italy. And we dive into Julie's big projects, Shreemu, of course, her podcast, Divine ThruLine,

and her quickly growing Water Tiger online spiritual community. So here we go. This is me and my wife, Julie Pyatt. Julie Pyatt. Rich Roll. Srimati. It's me.

Welcome to the podcast. I'm back. It's been a long time. I think this is the longest that we've gone since I started the show, since you've been on. What's been going on with you? I don't know. What's behind that? I just got caught up in all the fancy people that I get to have on. You forgot who's living in your life. You're quietly in the background waving your hand. Hi, I'm still here.

That's okay. I appreciate it. I think I was on in August last. Was it August? Yeah, it's been almost a full year. So I don't know when this is going to air, but we're in mid-July right now. Yeah. In the wake of celebrating, celebrating with quotation marks around it, our 16th anniversary. We can't wait to share our anniversary celebration with all of you. Yeah. How are you feeling about the state of our marriage? I'm feeling very good about the state of our marriage, actually.

Oh, that's good to hear. Even though I haven't been on in a year. It's on the record. Even though there was no really anniversary celebration, even in spite of those things. And I feel really good about our marriage, actually. I had done four podcast interviews, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. And Friday was our anniversary, and I was so toasted. There was no Shakti for Srimati.

Nothing. He gave it all to you guys. I gave it to other people. I had nothing left for you. I'm the worst when it comes to holidays. You're not really the worst. Well, I have a resistance to dates on the calendar that we're sort of socially contracted to celebrate. There's something inside of me that rebels against that and doesn't want to basically play the game.

Are you saying that you're resentful that it was our anniversary? No, I'm not saying that. I'm more resentful that somebody else decides when we're supposed to celebrate things. Yeah, you're right. Right? It's horrible. Well, we could celebrate right celebrate things. Yeah. You're right. Right? It's horrible. Well, we could celebrate right now. Okay, let's do it.

So there was no diamond ring or anything like that. I still don't have a diamond ring. We don't even wear wedding rings, actually. Well, I'm glad that you're feeling good about our marriage. I am. I feel like we're, well, a couple things. I mean, first, we're sort of entering into a new phase of our relationship as two people that have been together for a very long time, which is really cool and interesting and, I don't know, exciting, I guess. That's the first thing. The second thing I forgot. Okay, well, that's good. It's good you came prepared. Yeah.

Well, the typical thing happened before we sat down yesterday. I'm like, okay, I want you to put some thought into what we're going to talk about today. And you just shrugged me off. So the onus is on you. Well, we've established that I function better in the moment. And that's when I can truly be of service. Here's the moment. The moment is right now. The moment is right now.

So dance. So dance. But you have to tell me where you want to go. This is your show. It's on you. Oh, no. Yeah. This is what you wanted. This is what you asked for. A spontaneous... You were saying that you were happy about the state of our marriage, and you said it was good because we were at a new moment. And then you said there was a second thing. Yeah. I just remember what the second thing is i'm leading um as two people that have been together for 20 years 21 years at this point right i i'm not sure we started we we got together in 1999 yeah because

we spent the millennium together right that i remember that remember. You broke your wrist. Yes. I remember. Snowboarding. I feel like we've earned the right to not be relationship experts. I'm averse to that term, but we have experience. We do. And a little bit of wisdom. We do. That we can share. We have true life experience. So this is your diving board and your launching off board. Yeah, well, I do actually consider myself an expert in relationship, and that's because you are my third foray into the marriage structure and system. Right, you always like to bring that up. I like to just be up front with it. I don't like it when you bring that up.

You don't? No. Why? Let's focus on us. Okay, let's focus on us. But all right, you can contextualize it that way. It does make me a relationship expert contextualize it that way. kind of, but it's how I feel about that. You should feel good about it because it's a really, it's a really real thing. And it's an, it's an amazing thing when you can break through that,

not that we don't love romance or not that we don't enjoy those kinds of interactions. But I think when you are truly meeting in all aspects of the relationship, when you're, you're taking responsibility to create your own fulfillment within your own self, there really is no prince, princess, fairy tale paradigm. And in fact, when you play in that paradigm, it's actually a dishonoring of the divine being. Because as life forms, each of us have enough energy within ourselves to fulfill our divine mission or our blueprint or our soul mission or the reason that we're in this life. Right. then you're basically hamstringing or handicapping yourself because that power and resilience and energy and self-sufficiency lives within you.

Yeah, definitely. And if you feel like it is your job or your mission to fix another person or fulfill that in another person and that gives you a sense of pride or importance, you're in fact hindering that individual from truly becoming themselves. So how am I doing in that regard? You're doing great. And you always have from the very beginning. And I've shared before- I let you be you. Well, you let me be me. And you also, I think because of your recovery, and I really credit the fact that you are in a 12-step program and that you have the recovery tools in your experience coupled with my spiritual

perspective, we have a pretty powerful toolbox to take out and dive into when we get into trouble or when we step into something that is very, very intense. And when I first met you, one of the most amazing things you ever said to me was, I see you're in pain and I feel for you. I'm compassionate towards you, but I have nothing to do with that pain and I don't know how to help you. Like, I don't have the answers. And you were one of the first male relationships in my life that said to me, I don't know how to help you. Like, I don't have the answers. And you were one of the first male relationships in my life that said to me, I don't have the answers for you.

And that was like a breath of fresh air to me because when you have somebody who claims they always have the answers for you or they know better or they're trying to sort of guide or rule your life or assess your life or analyze your life, inherent in those actions is a distrust and a non-belief in you, in me. And it feels like an oppression or like a suppression or a pressing down, a keeping down of the energy of what wanted to come through me as a woman, as my own life form, as my own divine life form that has all the energy she needs to fulfill herself within herself. Well, the conventional male-female relationship paradigm is one in which the man comes into a conflict or a predicament

with this overwhelming impulse to just fix it and make it right or say, this is what you need to do, let's resolve this. And the conventional female perspective is, I don't want you to fix it. perspective is, I don't want you to fix it. I don't need you to fix it. I just want to be heard and acknowledged. Is that fair? Yeah, it could be. I mean, I think some women do want men to fix it. And I think they're still living in that paradigm. And that was a big cornerstone of how we went through nine years financial collapse and transforming into living our dreams and the fact that I wasn't yelling at you to go get a job or I wasn't putting the onus on you to fix all the financial issues.

And so I felt at that time, like I believe in living what is in the heart and finding what is in the heart and serving the heart. The heart is the divine heart and serving the heart. The heart is the divine mind, not the brain. So if I wanted that for myself, which I do, and I want that for my children, I had to want that for my husband, even though times were hard. I couldn't say, well, I'm finding my divine voice and you go clock in at the law firm and make everything fine. So somehow I knew because I had

this extreme faith, I had this knowing and this awareness that the way through these challenges was to really find out what was the truth of each of our hearts and to do everything that we could to fulfill that. And that some way, by some grace, by some miracle or some divine intervention, that somehow our lives would be ordered in a way that it would support that expression. Was there ever a moment where you thought it was too much and you were like, this is not working and I'm ready to give up. There was one moment and it was when we had almost come through. We were coming through and it was when you DNF'd at Ultraman and you relapsed. And in the wake of that, after having held space for you for so many years, I mean, through such adversity and such friction and tension, it was hard for me to imagine that you would make that choice

because I'm not an addict and I wasn't in that frame. But at that moment, I had a moment where I was like, have I misjudged who Rich is? Have I misjudged him because we're just arriving out of this battle and we're actually being realized. And this is the choice he made in that moment. Yeah. That was a low moment. That was a rough, that was a rough experience to, to navigate through. I mean, the level of like shame and sense of disappointment that I had that I'd let myself down and you down and this whole plan down was very difficult. But in retrospect now, having, you know, many years passed since then, like, how do you look back on that experience? It was, you know, it was still a hard moment. I mean, it was a moment of, are you fucking kidding me?

Quite frankly. It was super difficult. I mean, again, I've said it before. I was grateful for your community and AA and all the guys that you have around you. So many beautiful men that are in your life as a part of that program. And they were right there. And Tyler was there. And you got righted right away. It wasn't a long spell in that. But I do remember arriving back from Hawaii, and I had supported you in your expression through all of these years. And I gave birth to Jaya and was really sort of in this seclusion at home with the kids and doing ceremony and spiritual practices and ritual and

holding this vision for us, and then started creating the food and the recipes. And I had written two albums and become musician along with Tyler and Trapper, our oldest sons. And so I was finally at the moment where I was going to get to record my album. And it had been years. It was seven years of working, workshopping these songs. And so right after that moment, when we arrived back home, that was my turn. That was when Brad was coming here with his recording gear. We were setting up a studio in the house. I had him booked for 10 days to two weeks and we were recording my first album.

So part of me, what I did is I took my anger and put it to the side because I wasn't going to let that ruin my experience of music. So I sort of just was like, okay, I don't like this, and this has really upset me, and Rich is fine now, and he's working it out. And so I'm going to put this to the side for the moment, and I'm going to focus on this creative expression. And then what happened is the boy's dad died suddenly and tragically on day three of my recording session. So what I endured at the end of that year, 2011, was pretty staggering. I mean, a pretty, pretty intense sort of energetic experience that I had to traverse through after having held that vision for us for so long. And even though I hadn't been with the boy's dad for 14 years,

he was very close in their lives and very close to me. And I had to process that grief through myself. So it was still many, many months and many, many things before my music came to fruition. And by that time, I guess we had just worked it all out, right? Yeah. But I suspect it made you a stronger person to have to endure all of that and navigate the difficulties of, the complex difficulties of loss, anger, creative output, parenting, and just the general responsibilities of having to get through the day. I mean, even though, yes, we were emerging from our financial difficulties, we were by no means out of the woods at that point.

I mean, there was still quite a ways to go. And we would dip deeper before we kind of really emerged out of it. It's true. It's true. I mean, what I would say from my perspective of that, I would say that it was a full experience of life that I experienced. And that experience was full of heartbreak, loss, tragedy, triumph, creative connection. And the weirdest thing was during the days following the death of the boy's father, Lou, I felt a simultaneous experience of grief and birth. And it's not something that I've ever spoken about before. I probably never told you about this before. But it was a very profound dichotomy of this juxtaposition of two extremes that are maybe the same thing. And so it was an extremely profound, potent, really deep experience.

His exit from this world was one of the most profound experiences that I've had. And it's because there were all these synchronicities and signs that were in the music, in people that I met, just coincidences and things that happened during that time. And I really did feel the presence of divinity in that space. I felt that it was meant. I remember when you were racing in Ultraman, Lou was texting me, and he was checking you. He was following the race. And that was kind of a first because it's not like we were just, you know,

we were really good getting divorced and really took care of the children. But it's not like we were hanging out all the time. No, I mean, Lou wasn't. Lou was great, but he wasn't like my buddy. No, we weren't friends, but he was, you know, kind and respectful. And we, you know, we all handled it like grownups, you know, but it's not like we were taking vacations together or something like that. So he was following your race in those last days. I didn't like that. So he was following your race in those last days. I didn't know that.

Yeah, he was texting me and really excited and all of that. And so I think that it was just, I forgot my train of thought, what I was just saying. But anyway, it was a- The divinity in the experience. Yeah, it was very, very divine. I mean, there were other things that happened like Lou's first cousin, Mina. I was very close with her when I was married to him and I hadn't talked to her. We hadn't been together for 14 years. I hadn't talked to her for 14 years. service that I facilitated, that I officiated here in our home. I told the boys, now it's a healing project. That's basically what it is. It's a healing mission. And we had everyone come in from his life, past business associates, past lovers, wives, girlfriends, everyone was here. All of his lovely cousins, the Pyatt family, an amazing group of individuals. And I officiated that process for all of us.

And it was really, really beautiful. Mina couldn't come because she had bought a trip for her girlfriend and they were going to Kauai and everything had already been booked and bought and everything else. And everything had already been booked and bought and everything else. So at that time, Saul Ray, who's a well-known, renowned yoga teacher that I grew up in yoga with, and he's been a great ally and a great friend to me and to us, he emailed or texted me. And he was like, Srimati, could you come and cook for my retreat? And he said he knows that I have a special connection to Secret Beach on Kauai. He said, it's near Secret Beach. I don't know if I'm asking too much, but I think it would be good and I could pay you. We needed money. So I asked the boys and they said, go ahead and go, mom. So I went there and I remember cooking completely in grief and Saul

would say, what's on the menu? And I would say, I have no idea, but something will be there. And I literally couldn't even make a menu list because I was in such grief. So Myna contacts me. She's on Kauai at the same time. I haven't seen her in 14 years. And I said, I'm on the island. Meet me at the Hindu temple at morning puja. So I'm sitting in the temple and she slides up right next to me and we sit together for puja. And we took those flowers from the offering from the priest that day and we went down to Secret Beach and we walked and we reminisced about Lu and we offered these flowers into the ocean. So there were many, many profound things that happened during this time, also connected to my music. Tyler and I were recording In the Sun, which is a song that I wrote about you. And I wrote about the pressure of life and the financial constriction

and how hard it is in this world, especially for men to earn enough and be enough and succeed. And the chorus of this song was, fly, daddy, fly, fly, daddy, fly. And I had written that chorus on a previous return from the island of Kauai from doing spiritual practice. And I had asked for the chorus, and that's what was given. So years later, after the boys and I workshopped this song over seven years in many different forms, Tyler and I even had sung it on the big island during that trip. When you DNF'd, we walked up to the local music store and we played it and sang it in the store. And when we finished, we looked up and the shop owner had broken down sobbing in tears. And she said, I'm so sorry,

it touched me, it touched me. We walked out and Tyler looked at me and he was like, okay, that was good. As a musician, if you can make somebody cry with your song, that's a good sign. So here we were, the boys had said, you know, mom, we know you wrote that song about Rich, but we also think it's about Lou. And it is, it's about every man. And so we would find out later that when Lou called 911, he had a heart attack on a kayak. When he called 911, Tyler and I were actually recording that exact song. So the actual recording on the album Mother of Mine is the exact track at the moment that Lou left his body, that he left this world and moved to another realm. And what was shown to me during that time, when I met Lou,

to me during that time, when I met Lou, I was in an abusive marriage and I was a battered woman. I was on the out of it. I was coming out of it, but that's the truth. That's the ugly truth. And Lou rescued me. He truly was a rescuer. That was his archetype. And he was a fix-it man. He was like, I'm going to fix your life for you. And he really did. My creative trajectory when I was married to him was like a rocket. I mean, I became an artist, a fashion designer, started my own collection. This was all from being in a relationship where I couldn't even take a step without second guessing myself. And what I was shown through this experience, what I felt is that Lou had rescued me in this world and I had rescued him into the other world because I knew the spiritual essence and the practices and the rituals and the awareness to actually get him out of his body and get him into the other realm. him out of his body and get him into the other realm. And the boys were sequestered here safely at our sacred home at Jai House. We were recording music. It just felt like it was all sort of divinely planned. And I haven't spoken about it very much because it's a very, very private and

very dear thing, but it was a profound experience that's beautifully put i remember i was out running on the trails when my phone rang you said you have to come home right now and you told me what what had happened yeah and the i'm gonna try to say it without crying, but to, let's see, it was a horrifying experience to wake your children up to tell them that story, you know. experience to wake your children up to tell them that story, you know? And I remember we had a Ganesh, and I told Mathis ahead of time, and Mathis was much younger.

Yeah, five, six. Five or six, right? Something like that? Just turned six, I think. Yeah, so she was like, Mom, why are you crying? Why are you crying? And I told her, I said, I have to wake the boys up, and I have to tell them that their dad is gone. And I remember I woke them up, and we gathered around the Ganesh, and I wrapped them in the ponchos that we got on our retreats in Mexico. And, you know, I told them, and hours afterwards, I went upstairs to take a bath, and I remember Mathis coming in, little baby, and she said to me, Mama, she said, you did the very best you could. You did such a good job. You did the very best that you could.

And that was just a beautiful moment of this experience with our children and how amazing they are and how powerful they are and how wise they are and what they offer us in those moments. so yeah i mean i remember that moment pretty vividly and i couldn't help but think this is that moment where innocence is now lost yeah and the harsh reality of the world you know dawns upon them yeah so they were how old were they i think they were 14 and 15, something like that. Yeah, and the other thing is, anybody that's met Tyler and Trapper, they have all the best aspects of their dad. I mean, they're extraordinary individuals. And as young men, who they are, I mean, any child, but we just really felt like they didn't deserve this.

Like this wasn't a fate that seemed akin to them. And I mean, you say that. And it also came on the heels of all the hardship that they had to endure because of the struggles that we were having. And so it was like a sucker punch at a vulnerable, at a moment that was already very raw and vulnerable. Yes. Yes. Yeah, it's true. And what I want to share and what I did learn from this experience,

and I think it might be useful to others, is when we have children with people and those contracts come to completion, because being somebody that's been married three times, I don't believe there's one soulmate for us. I believe there's many. And it's a lot about divine timing. And it's a lot about these contracts that we have that we enter into relationships with people. And then they come to completion. And they're complete.

So it's not that it was a failure. It's that the experience, the work, or the exchange, or the alchemy is now complete. And sometimes that includes having children. And so we have, you know, divorced families or mixed households. But what I do want to remind everybody and something that I learned is that when you have children with somebody, you share an energetic structure that it's within your being. And even though I hadn't been with Lou for 14 years, I didn't want to be with Lou. I was happily married to you, and we have new kids, other kids, and I was never longing to be back there. It was complete, right? But when he passed,

the boys' grief passed through me as their mother. And so what I realized in that was like, oh, like you can't separate that energetic. And we understood spiritually that he was no longer here. I knew it immediately. We weren't angry at life. We weren't trying to reconcile or change fate or whatever. We well understood. We had deep spiritual tools. I've had sessions where I've interacted with him with other guides. So I have an expanded experience of Lou and where he is. is. But what I would say is that you cannot bypass the grief that must pass through your body,

because we are physical, and we are in a physical container, a physical life form. And the one thing that I would offer to parents that have these contracts that have come to completion, this is another reason why it's so important to maintain a level of respect and dignity around those that you have co-created with. Because those individuals share aspects of that other person. And so if you're speaking badly or choosing to view your partner in a lower vibration, you are including the children in that unawareness, in that misstep, in that imbalanced choice. So the more that you can see the good, you can hold the good, the higher vision, and speak that about your partner that you are no longer with, this in fact fortifies the children and helps the children to be whole. Yeah. I think that's super important, um, but also very difficult to put into practice, uh, in my experience of watching other people

navigate the vicissitudes of breaking up. Like we've been together for long enough to be privy to lots of relationships over the years that haven't made it. Like I feel very grateful that we're in this place and we feel connected and our intimacy is in check and we continue to grow and support each other emotionally and all of these good things. Like I don't take that for granted at all because I think it's, it's rare and perhaps even increasingly more and more rare. Um, but I have, you know, noticed, uh, watching friends and colleagues and other people, uh, figure out how to move forward after a breakup, that oftentimes the partners will intend to maintain that level of integrity. Like we're not going to go the divorce route of going to court and all of that. We're going to keep this super cool and we're friends with the best

of intentions, right? But then something happens along the way and cracks in that firmament begin to appear. And before you know it, there's a de-evolution that takes place where suddenly there is a bunch of smack talking in front of the kids. And it really takes a turn for the worse. And it's heartbreaking to see that.

I'm empathetic because most of these people that I know that have gone through this are really good people. And they do have the best of intentions, but something takes place that kind of kicks it into a different climate where their lower instincts kind of take control. It's true. And I have a little bit to offer on that from experience. And I would say that consciously, they say consciously uncoupling. Yeah, the conscious uncoupling. Uncoupling. Right. Now, but consciously, you know, making an intention to separate in grace is no easy path.

It is a warrior's path. It takes fierce commitment. And you have to eat your ego so much. So let me be clear. When Lou and I divorced, I will say both of us, I want to say he did a lot of stuff I didn't like. I'm sure I did a lot of stuff I didn't like. I'm sure I did a lot of stuff he didn't like. So what I'd say is both partners will do things that are not in alignment. We are not perfect people, okay? Someone will make a stupid move and do a stupid thing and,

you know, bring a relationship in and, you know, in front of the kids or, you know, whatever. Do something that's really, you know, that's really wrong, that's really not right, right? In all of those situations, a really great practice is to separate the action from the soul. So it's the same thing with anyone you love. You can say to yourself, I do not like what he did or what she did, but I love her. I love him. I love them at a soul level. So I'm going to separate that deep, deep connection to the truth of who they are, and I'm still going to hold that highest vision for them. Even if they've done the dumbest thing that is so, you know, vile or so attacking or whatever it is, if you can be powerful enough to hold that neutral and to hold that vision and say, okay, I'm going to allow my personality to be upset about the

actions of the individual, but I'm going to hold the highest divinity and I'm going to remember we created these children in love. And there were times where we were so divine and things were so amazing. And this is a good person. And let me remind myself of all the good qualities of this person. So you have to understand this person is suffering. This person is going through a change of everything they know. They're grasping for some kind of stability. Whether you're the lever or the levy, it's never easy. It's not fun to get divorced. And it doesn't matter how much you wanted it,

you will still process the pain and the loss. So if you can just keep that in your awareness, you will do much better. And if you can find every opportunity to speak highly of the person that you created these children with, there has to be some attribute about something of the person that is a beautiful quality, or you wouldn't have had children with them to begin with. So there has to be something. And so that's a very, very powerful tool that you can choose to practice. It is a choice of perspective. And society will want to drag you into name

calling. Society will want you to meet their pain in the destruction and the failure of divorce. meet their pain in the destruction and the failure of divorce. But you can make a different choice. You can choose a perspective. Yes, you know, people would say, oh, I'm so sorry it didn't work out. And I would say, oh, no, it worked out beautifully. It was a magnificent experience. We spent 10 years together. We had amazing children.

We created amazing creative projects. That experience came to completion. created amazing creative projects, that experience came to completion. And even about my abusive relationship, oh, it was a divine experience. Literally transformed me, taught me so much. He is my divine teacher. How did you feel about that in the moment? Horrible. Yeah, right. I mean, I'm just trying to place myself in the position of somebody who's sitting in that angst at the moment. And to say to that person, when the other

partner is doing something that you don't agree with or misbehaving, to say, take the higher ground, shine that person with love. I mean, that is the path forward. Ultimately, you're playing the long game. It may not solve the specific issue in the moment, but truly it is the only way to move forward and free yourself from the triggers of fear and anger and resentment and whatever else is boiling up. Yeah, it's really, really hard. And I mean, I would use, that's why this abusive relationship that I was in has been such a magnificent teacher. I mean, first of all, let me just say that I was kind of arrogant.

I was a little bit flippant. I was toying with male attention. I was a young girl in my early 20s. And you know what that relationship taught me? It taught me to really cherish people who are kind. That's what it taught me. When you've been on the receiving end of something very, very ugly for a long time that is potentially ruining your life, you come to very much respect people who are kind. And I think in the beginning, being in my late teens and early 20s,

I was a little bit flippant and thought I knew everything and all that we go through. And the other thing is, what I learned in that experience is that every solution is resolved within your own being. All the power for your experience is within your own being. It's not about the other person. So it's not what the other person is doing. It's who are you in the face of what is going on? And what are you, are you big enough to hold that vibration and to stop partaking in this exchange? And, you know,

I had a therapist say to me during the time that fighting is fucking. It's the same thing. So if you're fighting a lot with who you're in relationship with, it's just another form of the engagement. So are you really done or are you just in there still duking it out? So when are you going to stop that cycle? And, and also we have to understand that our partners are not ourselves. So like in my case, Lou was very, very upset that I wasn't giving the boys meat. You know, he was like, you know, I'm concerned for their wellbeing. And he was trying to, you know, push meat on them when they were there. And they were pretty bonded to me and didn't really eat me very much. So I was fine

because I had, you know, I think as the mother at that age, I just had a lot of influence over them, but I didn't spend time being angry at him or make that a reason why we should fight because then the kids were in an experience of fighting. And the most important thing was for them to feel a peace and a community and a respect and a dignity between their parents. And so I would choose that over whose turn is it to have the kids or not. And in our case, we both adored our kids and wanted them with us all the time, as I believe most parents do. And we never let them stay with a third person. We took them every time. If Lou had a business trip, he'd just say, I'm leaving. I'd say, great, I'll take them. Or if I had to go, he said, honey, bring them, I'll take them. So there's a way to do

this in a positive way and deal with our own trauma and hurts and fears and losses within ourselves and try to keep the environment pretty clean for the kids, you know? Yeah. I think that in a lot of these cases, I would say, I would contend almost invariably, each parent is going to have their own unique parenting style and they're going to have different priorities and ways in which they want to raise their kids. And when you split up and the kids are vacillating between two households, those differences are going to get exacerbated because there isn't necessarily a meeting of

the minds about how much time on the devices is there going to be? You know, how much time to homework? And what is the, you know, whatever it is. And I think when one parent gets involved in trying to control or change the way the other parent is attempting to parent those children, that's where a lot of conflict arises. And I've seen this happen. And so I think recognizing that you have to release control

over that and allow that other person to parent the way that they want and that you get to have domain over that when the kids are in your house is really the only healthy choice that you can make. I think it is. I mean, I think it's the most peaceful, aware choice you can make. And, you know, from my standpoint, I believe that we all choose our parents to create a certain field that will seed and grow a certain experience that is for our own evolution. So every being has chosen the parental form that they're incarnating into. So no matter what that parent is doing, that is part of their evolution. And so by you getting involved in trying to change it or shift it or judge it or make it wrong, you're in fact taking some of their experience from them, even if that's difficult experience. Mm-hmm.

I like this idea of reframing societal and social expectations around relationships to remove the shame associated with a split by just relabeling it as completed. And I think it gives people freedom because when somebody's relationship goes off the rails or whether they're married or not, there's so much emotional energy invested in it, A, but then there's all these external pressures that get layered on top of that that make people feel bad if they make the decision to move away from it. There's this sense of failure. And I think when you start to think of it as a cycle that has

completed, that's now allowed you to move on and embrace a different kind of relationship, is a much healthier way to look at it. And I think it's applicable not just in romantic relationships, but in our professional lives or with mentors. Like a mentor can come in and serve a certain role for an individual to catalyze growth to a certain point. And then that growth curve peaks out and is completed. And it's time for somebody else to enter your life and serve a role. And likewise, or conversely, we all do that in similar ways for other people. Yeah, definitely. And I mean, what is, what is the triumph of staying married to somebody that you're a complete with? You made it, you did it. You made it to the end, you know, that's just. Holding on, you know, like a, like a like a i can't stand her like a dry drunk trying not to drink yeah it's just i it is a societal and you know listen i mean i'm a very

monogamous person you know i and i think you are too so we don't really have that you know poly amorous situation in our makeup so we are are very committed. We find freedom and commitment. But yeah, I mean, life is about the journey in the same way, even in this, you know, abusive experience that I found myself in. In the early days, you know, I was really pissed. Like I had a hard time even imagining that I would take responsibility for any of this because none of this was sourcing from me. And what he would try to brainwash me into believing was that I made him hit me. So that was basically the abusive cycle. And it was a classic cycle. So it took me a long time, but I realized later down the road, just maybe a couple years

down after I'd licked my wounds for a long time, I realized that until I took my own responsibility for being in the relationship and allowing him to treat me that way, that I would still be in bondage to this nightmare that had been such a big teacher in my life. And so by owning the fact that I'm a creator and understanding that that was a karmic experience that I had to experience in order to burn it, or that it was for my evolution, and I experienced a lot of evolution in that relationship. And I think that

evolution is what allows me to have the type of relationship that I have with you today. So it's in the freedom of taking responsibility that we free ourselves. And once again, what I'm seeking for you at this moment, at this precipice, which it's good that we have the cameras on and the mics on because we haven't really talked about this. What are you going to say? Well, I'm really ready for the next evolution of what this relationship is. And I mean, for better or worse or like it or not, I mean, you and I are very different individuals. We are maybe extremely different. And somehow we have been put together by Divine Mother for this journey that has ignited some inspiration,

some vision for, you know, for many who, you know, write to us, who want to know how we are in relationship, and the fact that we are so extreme that, you know, sort of everything about the way we walk the earth is completely different. The way we approach the earth, the way we experience life. And I'm looking for now this next level of evolution and expansion when we are truly igniting both feminine and masculine energies within ourselves. And as we access these greater energies of fully stepping into our power, how does that look in a new paradigm relationship? And so we have traces and aspects of this prince-princess paradigm that we've played into that have worked for us. And it is a human way of relating man and wife.

us. And it is a human way of relating man and wife. And I feel like we are on the precipice of writing a new way of being in relationship. And what does that mean? And so for me, to be clear, because I can see you're like, can you make a list? Can you be specific? But I do want, yeah, flesh that out for me. So I know exactly what you're talking about. I mean, I'm looking for, first of all, more ceremony in our marriage. But I'm looking for it not in that I'm doing it and you're going along with it. I'm looking for a recognition and a knowing of the power of ritual and ceremony. And as we move through life, the letting go of our habits of watching Netflix, of watching movies, whatever those humanly activities are that gather our attention for a moment. I'm looking for an expansion into really understanding that a life is precious and every moment we spend is precious.

And now that we know that we've been given the privilege of being in this space, of having an audience, of having people that we can commune with, really committing to using that time and using that time in relationship. So we're back to the anniversary, no date, no celebration. The reason why I wasn't really attached to it is I didn't want to go to dinner with you. I don't want to go to a movie with you. I don't want to go do some typical anniversary-esque, you know, I don't want a dozen roses from you. I want to go on the side of a cliff and like take our clothes off and, you know, light a ceremonial fire. Not really, because there are fires around here, but you know what I'm saying. I mean, I want to explore

what can we really do together that's beyond... I've gone to enough dinners. I've had enough roses. I don't need to go to another dinner. I don't need to go to, we can't even go to a hotel room because you sleep in a tent. So unless we bring the tent to the hotel room. No, I get what you're saying. So do you, can you?

Yeah, and I'm up for that. I'm up for that new experience. And I think it would cultivate an enhanced level of intimacy that would take us into this next chapter. And I think just doing a retrospective on where we're at and how we got here, I look at it like this. We got together for whatever reason to co-create. We committed to this path less trodden. We underwent difficulties. We burned in the fire.

Almost died. To emerge from that. And then we're presented with opportunities that I think over the last seven years, whatever it is, eight years, I have just worked my ass off to capitalize on in order to create stability for the family. And also almost as an amends for the trauma that preceded it and to prove to myself that I could be a successful, productive member of society, which is something I had previously struggled with my entire life, or at least beginning when I started drinking. And I've been in kind of crisis mode for that entire eight-year period, just trying to make it work. And now we've emerged from that with a situation that is successful. It's stable. I've got this

platform. I'm able to provide for the family. And essentially, I'm in this incredibly privileged, And essentially, I'm in this incredibly privileged, rare situation where I get to make choices about where I want to place my energy and make money. Like I am essentially in control of that. But I'm still operating day to day like I'm in that triage situation. triage situation. And this has been impressed upon me by many people to just listen, you can take a minute here and breathe and relax. And I'm like, yeah, but I got to do this. And then this is happening. And it's like, yeah, five years ago, you had to be that way. Maybe two years ago, you had to be that way, but now you don't have to be that way. And what is it all worth if you can't really feel gratitude moment to moment for what you have co-created and to be present in your own life.

And that's something that I definitely struggle with moment to moment and something that I wanna be able to embrace and bring into my life in a more meaningful way. And that's a challenge for me, you know, because I'm running this program and the fear associated with flipping the switch and doing it a different way gets associated in my mind with stopping, like an arresting of the things that got me here. Like this is the way I do it and this is what's working.

To do it any way differently would mean risking capsizing the whole thing. Well, first of all, I want to say thank you that you have done an extraordinary job of coming into this level of expression. And it's absolutely beautiful to see and it's breathtaking. And that has been an amazing experience for all of us, definitely. I would also say, again, that in a human format, we like to make a list and say from the brain that we have all these things to do first, and then we'll get to the spirituality. And so what we have to remember and what I will remind you is it is the purity of this relationship that fruited this entire drama, the entire thing that we're doing. So it started on a very special day. Well, it started before, but the day that we actually

were married. It was a spiritual world concert. There were channelers, Bhagavan Das, Kirtan, gospel singers, African wedding dancers, and it literally was all about spirituality. And it was one of the most beautiful days of my life. I posted it on our anniversary on my Instagram feed. That ceremony is what was the intention that created what we experience now. Are you connected with that? Yeah, I am. So what I'm saying is that I just wanted to check in because you never really asked. You're like, yeah, it was okay. No, it is that level of desire, of devotion. It's really this devotion, this love affair with life, the love affair with the wonder of life and what is pulsing through each one of us and all life. And so what I would say to you is that you don't have to change the format

of how you run the podcast. I mean, sure, you can shift and all that. And, you know, we're going to be taking some time off in December, which is magnificent. So all of that is great. But I guess what I'm talking to more is in the day toto-day of how you go about your day, I know there is time that is spent either, and this for all of us, I'm not like judging. I'm just saying it's social media. It's scrolling through Twitter. It's Netflix. It's stuff that we do out of habit.

Stuff that we do out of habit, that we do out of habit and this would be good for everybody what if we all made a list for the next week of things we do out of habit that are not high vibrational activities that are furthering the life that are actually met being medicated or being suppressed or controlled by the society to check out. That are serving as medication. Yeah, but we just do it by default because we don't really even, we're not really thinking of it. We're like, okay, I worked a hard day.

Now I deserve an episode of Handmaid's Tale. Right, because I just want to distract myself and I just want to breathe and just, can I just not think about my life right now and invest in some story that'll lull me into a sleep state? But what if you chose, let's not ask you to give it all up. There was a two-hour time period where you turned all the lights off and turned on a candle, and you actually communed with the greater being that you are. And you were like, you know, like when I sit in that, it's like, you know, lead me, guide me, direct me, reveal yourself to me. Like, reveal the path to me. I'm here. I'm here. I'm listening. I'm listening.

reveal the path to me. I'm here. I'm here. I'm listening. I'm listening. So what I'm asking is, what would happen in our relationship if we used our beautiful intimacy, our divine sexual connection, our wonderful play of opposites? What if we actually seeped that consciously in devotion, not just from my side, because all these years, I've been holding this. I've been doing this. The countless ceremonies, the countless rituals that I've done for years and years and years and years. What I'm saying is that we have an opportunity to actually step into this in the next level. And it's a level of visioning. It's a level of taking responsibility. And it's a level of saying, okay, we're available. You've shown us the divinity of our extremes together in relationship.

And now we know that it's a new time on planet Earth and that we have an opportunity to move into a new kind of relationship. So lead us. So we're here. We're here and we're listening. It doesn't have to be like a big thing, but it could just be that. What if that was devoted to us instead of you going to group? Or maybe in addition. But it seems like, again, it's like if this relationship, just like everything, if it's always the last thing because you think it's always going to be here, then that's the danger or that's the misstep

because it's not necessarily it's not nothing that is un um uncared for unacknowledged or you know not not given the energy then that thing doesn't grow it It doesn't change. It doesn't shift. And so as you and I are kind of veterans and we're entering, I cracked up the other day because I've had a couple moments, you know, I was reflecting before we went to Plant Power Italia, which I wanted to talk about a little bit. And on the way there, you know, I was thinking, wow, I wonder if this is going to be the last event that I do with Rich, because I know spiritually i'm moving into a different arena you know i'm also evolving beyond what i've experienced in the past and i was like yeah i'm i'm kind of prepared i don't really know how this group is going to receive me and then when we went through it like

like i was shown they were exponentially like off the hook beyond anything we experienced. And I should add that I went into it thinking this is probably the last time that we're going to do it as well. And that's informed in part by just how taxing the travel is and it's in the same location. It's like the world's a big place, why we keep going to the same farm and it's amazing and beautiful and wonderful and it works for what we do. But I was kind of like, am I over this? Like, are we done? Like, let's go through this week and that'll probably be it. But go ahead. Yeah. And I mean, you know, it's not your second nature. It's not something that you would do. It is my second nature. It's your dharma to sit with people and commune. It's not my thing. I can speak to hundreds of thousands of people through the

microphone and I find my dharma more in that. But the one-on-one kind of tutelage dynamic is not, like I can do it, but I have to really gear up for it and suit up. Whereas you can just pop into that and it gives you energy. And for me, it's draining. Yeah, it's true. And that's a difference. And luckily you've gone along because at the end of the week, what did you say? So, yeah, so we have this experience with these.

It was our biggest group. How many? 52 people total. Yeah people total, but I think eight of those were staff. Big group of people. And it was just utterly transformative for everybody who attended. And in the aftermath of it, it was like, we have to do it. We have to, well, I guess we're coming back next year. Like we got to keep doing this. It was just too moving and too impactful and too emotional to ignore that there, I think the point that you're driving towards is there's something about the uniting of our differing energies that catalyzes something powerful that neither of

us can do on our own. And as we continue to evolve and evolve separately and develop our respective little worlds of what we do, that when we occasionally come together and that Venn diagram overlaps for, you know, a specific purpose, that there's something unique and cool and powerful about that that speaks to and is endemic in the energy that birthed this whole thing that we get to do in the first place. Yeah, it is. I mean, it's profound, literally profound what happens. And it's happened every single trip. It's just this was like exponential, like activated.

I think it has to do with planetary conditions, and it also has to do with the conditions. And it also has to do with the fact that I went to Damanhur before. So I had this energy of the spiritual community that I had slept in the temples for three days. And so we were really primed for a really amazing experience. But it was a delightful surprise. And this is a huge amount of work for us as well. I mean, it's not like, you know, you see see the pictures on Instagram and it's like, hey. But it's a lot to hold space for that many people. I do thrive in it and I love it.

It's a profound experience and I consider it a privilege that you and I have been paired and that this has been what has been revealed through our relationship. revealed through our relationship. And so as we, I was laughing, I was in my meditation office down in the garden where I sit every morning in the middle of a sage bush. You disappear in the morning and go down the hill by the teepee and do some kind of, I don't know, mystical hijinks down there. And then you come back and reappear.

Yeah, it's such a beautiful, beautiful time to connect. But I was giggling at myself because I'm reflecting on our relationship and our anniversary. And then I happen to know my death date from a Vedic chart that I had done from one of the world-renowned Chakrapanis. In the Vedic chart, there are very much information. I mean, specific things like children's birth and the years that I built houses are in my chart, the years I divorced. It's all there. It's all there.

So I managed to get my death date. And it's in a ways, so I'm fine. All right. I'll be around. But I was laughing because if you're going to be on the planet, some of your guests are talking about living to like 120 or I don't know. Isn't there somebody? I don't really want to live that long.

So I have another 27 years. And I was cracking up thinking of what 27 years, like what is going to take up 27 years and I was cracking up thinking of what what 27 years like what what is going to take up 27 years and you know there's a whole evolution of a whole nother experience that's there and it's like we're at this exciting time on the planet when there's so much constriction and so much opportunity to create things that are beyond what we've ever known. And I know that is a divine privilege. And within the masculine feminine energies, which can be residing in anyone, male or female, there is an opportunity to understand maybe a more expansive story about how those energies interact and so bringing it back to everything you have is within yourself you we all have everything that we need

within our own beings and as we embody more of our life form we are able to choose to dance with others in certain ways but it comes from a place of complete sovereignty so that's what i'm interested in exploring with you in this next phase all right i think that's a good place to end it for today okay Okay. Beautiful. Yeah. Thank you. Can I talk a little bit about a couple of things that I know I wanted to ask you about water tiger first and foremost, and then there's something else I wanted to have you explore. Well, that sort that essence. And I think when I came on the show in August, I was still going through a rebirth. And I had mixed feelings about even coming on your show. And then so many people reached out, and they were happy that I was on.

So at least the ones that I heard. I'm sure there were others that were hating on me. But anyway, but I went through a really sort of transformation when I was sort of observing or reflecting on all these different traditions that I've studied with and different masters that I've been with and just different tools and techniques and perspectives. And what I've realized is from the whole group of everyone, that really comes down to your own perspective. And one of my most beloved, revered Indian saints is a woman named Anandamoyi Ma. And her name actually is Sri Anandamoyi Ma.

And I love this also because my spiritual name is Ma Ananda Srimati. So we have every syllable the same except one. And she was born, realized, and just really the energy of Divine Mother and such a magnificent energy. She never worked. She just existed in radiating, high vibrational energy and people came to see her. She was a renunciant from the beginning, right? She was just, yeah, she was basically just born awake. And she did nothing but just radiate love. And people created ashrams around her. But she was just in her divine state.

But she said this one quote that is one of my favorite quotes. And that is, every man is right from his own point of view. And, of course, that means woman, too. But if you look at that, it's like everything is all about perspective. And so here I was, I have a birthday coming up on Sunday. I've been on the planet for many, many years. I'm going to be 57 on Sunday. And what have I gained from 30 years of spiritual exploration and all these different rooms

with different teachers and different traditions? And what I had realized was that everyone has their own perspective. So if I know that everything is divine, and I know that you are divine, and I know that I am divine, and we all are divine, then I came into this body for a purpose. There is a purpose in here of why I'm alive. Otherwise, I wouldn't be alive. So I turn my lens to really find this perspective. I'm really interested in this perspective that this life form has rather than comparing to other traditions. Or this is the way the Buddhists did it. Or this is the way the Vedic tradition does it. Or I'm more interested in me as a life form of nature.

And so this is where Water Tiger came from. So being able to merge into a natural form where there is no need for validation, you're not trying to convince another life form to be how you are. You're not writing books saying, you know, it's really great to be a tiger and everyone should be a tiger. You're simply in the exploration of your own heart. And so I launched an online spiritual mentorship group called Water Tiger, and it's been an extraordinary experience. I'm doing a monthly call, which is on a timely topic. Then I answer questions from everyone. There's a forum and you can go into the portal and put all of your questions. And then I offer a dedicated healing

technique. And these are a collection of minimal, very accessible and very powerful techniques that one can use to transform their life. And it will lead you into your own individual resonance. So I'm not really fostering interaction between the members because we have so much of that. Everything that we're listening to is outward focus. So this is all about inward, So this is all about inward, inward focus. And it feels really, really good. It's a very strong community already just after two months. And it's been extraordinary.

So that's really, really been amazing. Yeah, I think this is the culmination of your life's work in motion and expression. of your life's work in motion and expression. And it's been really beautiful and cool to see you build this thing and cultivate your own community that you can speak with directly. I think it's also talking about continual evolution. Like it's a bizarre kind of quixotic thing that you became the plant-based chef and known as this vegan cook

who wrote all these cookbooks. Because knowing you, that is a very small aspect of who you are. The larger picture is what you get to express through this new platform. And it's exciting that people can meet you on that level. And I think

this, if people are listening to this conversation or watching it and they're connecting with you, it's kind of obvious that this is what you are. This is your purpose and this is what you're here to do. It is. Thank you. Yeah. I am a, I mean, I'm a spiritual, um,

way shower or guide or frequency. A lot of people feel the energy of mother from me. And I have many, many, many people who come to me who have lost their mothers or, uh, are feeling that support. And, um, and so that's it. And it's in whatever I do, if it's my music or if it's in my food, I, I don't do it. I do it to share the frequency of this spiritual connection. So hopefully it, it ignites a remembrance in those who are ready or those who want that. Whether it's food or some kind of, uh, offering, you know, sort ofbased food. They're like, oh, and I'm going to check out Julie's yoga class. And what's been really profound to witness is the depth of experience that these people have had after working with me for the week and going

through the spiritual transformation and the practices. And I want to just mention, I mean, these are not people who have practiced yoga their whole life or who are lifelong meditators. Some are, but many of them are very, very new to the idea of spirituality, just sort of reawakening the idea that they are a divine person. And to see the sort of breadth of experience at such a deep, deep level, it was truly just the divinity of beginner's luck or the naivete of like a child. And I had to remind them, you know, people meditate their whole lives to have some of these experiences you guys had this week. And I think that's what we are. week. And I think that's what we are. I mean, at one point early on, before anybody was listening to us, we had printed a business card and you were the physical side and I was the spiritual side.

And I think that that's what it is. It's like you provide a portal for those who are interested. So I want to encourage people to not create this mystique around spirituality, like, oh, I don't understand it, or it's only for a few. What I'm doing with Water Tiger is very, I mean, it's very deep. I don't hold back. So you're going to have your mind blown. But I am giving very visceral techniques, techniques that are like embodiment that put your awareness in your body, that bring your body organs online to communicate with each other, techniques that sit you in front of the mirror and get you to look at yourself and really work out all that

resistance and everything that you're hiding. So all the techniques are very, very accessible and functional and they work for a modern life. And what's going on with the cheese? Oh my gosh. So this is- Can you talk about that? Yeah, I can talk about it. Yeah, I can actually. Um, so I am launching a commercial cheese line. I may have, I may have mentioned it. Um, I was in talks with, uh, some big corporate companies and, uh, taking meetings with people talking about how this company should be. And it started to feel very constrictive and very not in alignment for me.

And so I kind of went away from everyone and went into my own experience. And I decided to create cheese as art with all the devotion and the love and the taste and the beauty that I want in this product. And we should just point out for new listeners or viewers, we're talking about plant-based cheese. That's right. It's plant-based cheese. So I published a book a few years ago called This Cheese is Nuts, and I spent two years creating a technology of creating plant-based cheeses.

I'm extremely proud of this work, and the taste of the cheese is extraordinary. It fulfills and satisfies every need that you have for dairy cheese. And it's free from fillers and the weird gooey gums and like the whole sort of weird vegan cheese category. But like everything, I'm a designer, fashion designer, artist. So it has to be seeped in devotion and spirituality, and it has to be amazing design, and it has to be extraordinary taste. So since I published the book, I've had enough public events where I've served the cheese for hundreds of people that are not plant-based, and I've seen it proved. So I know the taste stands up and I have people that have tasted my cheese two years ago that are still thinking about it. And I have a very amazing talent to create these cheeses.

So I have developed a brand and the name is Shreemu. You're actually saying it out loud. I'm actually saying it out loud. i wasn't sure whether you wanted to go public no i'm going to and i'm going to give actually a link where people can uh sign up for subscription boxes so they can there's going to be a just a landing page where they can go and just put their email in and then when i launch i will get to them so this is going to be an offering it's a collection of cheeses and And because I'm a fashion designer, that if you want my cheese, you have to buy the collection. So it comes in a box of six flavors. A couple of those will probably be customizable, but it's an extraordinary collection. It has

burrata, almond burrata, that's called Babe. It comes floating in a jar floating in coconut milk. The next flavor is called Cloud Nine, and it's nine balls of cashew mozzarella, and they're floating in crystal waters. I have another flavor called Bonfire, and this is not your grandmother's cheese ball, but it's like a beautiful ball of smoked almond cheddar that has an outside layer of activated charcoal. I have another flavor that's called Birdie, which is a camembert flavored cheese that is the star of every cheese board. And then I have two other flavors. One is called Spire, and this is a spirulina divine aged cheese. And then the sixth one is called Elder, and this is an aged, creamy, just beautifully aged cheese

with activated charcoal also layers in that. So this is all packaged in magnificent branding, in that. So this is all packaged in magnificent branding, which I created with my friend Brian O'Hara, who did this mandala, and actually this coating on this water bottle. So Brian has read and written backwards his entire life. And so I asked him to take the word devotional offering and create a hieroglyph or a pattern using that phrase. So for me, it's not cheese. It's a devotional offering. So it's called Shri Mu. S-R-I-M-U. Yeah. Do life, devotional offering of life, and it's not cheese. Right.

Okay. Why Shri Mu? Well, Shri Mu, because it was kind of interesting because a lot of people I had worked with, um, uh, you know, the guys from the people from Headspace were like, you know, you should come up with a really catchy name and they liked the name, not cheese, which is a great name. That would be a great name. And I bought the URL for that. Um, and then there were some other names that were thrown out, uh, you know, by my previous partner that were all nice names. But I kept going back into my own divine design.

And the fact that I was given the name Ma Nanda Srimati, I didn't ask for it. An Indian master gave me that name. And it means divine mother. I mean, it means more than that. But Srimati means divine mother. And within my chart, people want me to feed them. And within my Vedic chart, my birth is associated with the form of the cow. So the cow is divine to me. And when I went in

to film the cover for this Cheese is Nuts, I called Gene Bauer and asked him if I could go to Farm Sanctuary. And I was invited in to work with the cows. I brought Jaya. And when we arrived, the handlers were in very serious and they were like, Jaya can't come in the ring. And if this cow runs at you, run this way. And if this cow charges you do this. And I said, well, can I put my arm around the cow? And they were like, wouldn't advise it. And I was thinking, wow, this is not what I had expected. And these cows are massive. Oh, they're huge, huge, huge, huge cows because we usually kill them before we see them in their full expression. So I just was like, okay, they were like one photographer can come in. That's it. So I did a little quick breath work, just real fast,

kind of created a field, walked in. And as I walked in, they all started lying down. And then the handlers started to relax. And then I said, can I put my arm around them? And they said, yes. So there I was lying with these cows, basically like dogs, kissing them. We got amazing photos. And when I was walking out, I said to the handlers, I said, thank you so much for inviting me for this experience. And one of the boys looked at me and he said, no, thank you for reminding us who these beings are. And I didn't quite understand it. But the next day I received a letter from Lindsay, one of the managers at Farm Sanctuary. And she said, Julie, we have never seen the cows receive a first time visitor the way they did you yesterday. And she said, you literally had

them on their knees. So there is this proof. I always joke that they're like, dude, she's making nut cheese, like chill her out, chill her out, you know, but, but it's like, you know, I don't know then, you know, I didn't know that, that I had that form associated with my birth. So I go about, I kept going back to the origin of who I am and the purpose of what I want to do. I want to create beautiful, artisanal, delicious cheese that give anyone who is looking for an alternative to cheese an option. And I want them to be made fresh. I want them to be something that is divine. And so they're offered in an offering box, almost in a sacred box. They have the word devotional offering on them. They're infused

with my love of life, my love of this planet and of cows. And so that's where Shreemu came from. You know, I thought about Srimati, you know, could have been Srimati like mother's cookies, you know, that also could have worked. But I really like Srimu. Brian liked the way that it worked graphically. And I feel that in the end, it's divine and it's a perfect name. Well, this is very exciting. And I've watched this evolve from the sidelines for quite some time. And the process of iterating on this idea has been an extended thing. It's not like you just woke up and went running through this.

You've really sat with how you want to express your vision through these food products for a long time to arrive at a place that really feels true to who you are. And I think you've done that. So I'm excited for this to finally be publicly available soon. I didn't know that you were going to actually say publicly what the name is. I know, now I'm committed. You better get that landing page up. Better get it done. No, I will. So this is what we thought. Yeah, like if we get the landing page up, when is it going to be publicly available?

Okay, so the form is this. In order to keep it authentic to what I'm doing and to keep the production at the level that it has to be at. So what I'm doing is I am starting a subscription. I am considering doing an exclusive with one retailer. I won't say who the name is. And it's a very reputable, just like the ultimate store that's in this space. But my model is subscription to begin. Yeah, direct-to-consumer. It's direct-to-consumer. So I'm looking for interest. I'm looking for orders that are basically shippable. So it would be in California and in the US. Unfortunately,

I can't ship internationally right now. However, that is coming. I mean, that is in the U.S. Unfortunately, I can't ship internationally right now. However, that is coming. I mean, that is in the business plan. So we're beginning, you know, there are future things that are down the line, like a flagship store. And, you know, ultimately, one of my dreams would be to offer a sort of franchise that people could open cheese shops all over the world. a sort of franchise that people could open cheese shops all over the world. And I could share this technology and this ability with people everywhere and give them a means to actually make a living. And, you know, Paul Hawking of Drawdown Project, one of the things that he shares is that in order to shift the culture or, you know, shift consciousness, we need to give people a way to make a living. So that's kind of the long range view. But before I begin that, the product, you know, I'm going to be shipping out, you know, a couple hundred boxes

of subscription cheese within the first three months. And then after that, I'll raise that to another, you know, another level. And at the same at the same time, we're in the workings of creating a flagship store. And we're going to be getting information. And those of you who subscribe early on, you're going to be feeding. We're going to be getting information from you. But I will say that I am very pleased with the review of the product. Well, the product is rock solid. I mean, the cheese is insane.

Aspire is my favorite. It's kind of like a blue cheese. Everything that you make is extraordinary and very different and better than any other plant-based cheese product that I've ever tasted. It's not even close. And I think everyone who has experienced your cheeses

would agree. And of course I'm biased, but I think it is the truth. So I'm excited for this. And if people want to go to this landing page, where is this landing page? So you should go to it. It's just going to be on my website, juliepiet.com. And it'll probably be backslash Shreemu. But you could look in the tab and just look for Shreemu.

It'll probably say Shreemu, not cheese. And then click on that. and there'll be a form where you can enter your information if you want to be contacted when I launch. And so it's going to be on a yearly subscription. And the initial idea is that there would be six boxes a year. So you're not getting, I mean, again, we're talking about cheese.

I mean, I would love for you to eat cheese every day, but not really. You know, it's like, I want you to eat healthy plants. And, you know, we're not meant to be devouring boxes of cheese every day. I know that if you bring my box into your home once a month, you will be, your life will be elevated and you will enjoy this amazing blessing, really. Can somebody just order it? Like, you're expecting them to order for a year when they've never tried it, though. Can they just get a box and try it first?

I don't know. I don't know, maybe. Probably not. No, probably not. I mean, I probably would be that, you know, they, I don't know. I need to talk to my business partner about that because I don't want to say anything that's not, but no, the idea is it's been proven. I mean, the thing

is, is between the people that have eaten my cheese at Plant Power Italia, if you guys have seen like the Insta stories and everything going on there, you know, we, we have a big body of individuals, I think that are waiting for the cheese that are ready to order it. You know, so maybe you don't want to be the first off. And if I do do an exclusive with this one retailer, then you could taste the cheese in that area. The other idea is though that I would be doing pop-up events because I'm really interested in this community of drawing people together. So another thing that is part of the mission is that I would do a pop-up event where I would come and you could taste the cheese. So yeah, there will be an ability to taste the cheese unless you don't live in California and I'm not flying to your state.

Right, which is most people. But I don't know. So we'll have to see how that all pans out. To be revealed. But in the meantime, juliepiet.com is the place to go. I'll put a link in the show notes and in the description beneath the YouTube version of this when you have this specific URL. So people can go there to do that. And if they want to explore the universe of Water Tiger, how do they do that? Going to juliepiet.com and there's a tab that says Water Tiger or it's

backslash Water Tiger. And you'll scroll down, you'll see a very interesting photo of me painted like a tree, pregnant seven months in the dark. That is actually me. So don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Just keep scrolling down. The other thing is, I did want to mention that if anybody wants to listen to that song that I spoke of that's associated with Lou's passing you can find my album on my site under the music tab and also on iTunes and Spotify

it's Srimati and it's Mother of Mine the track is called In the Sun and those links will also go up in the show notes and in the description Rich Roll I love you love you too It's called In the Sun. All right. And those links will also go up in the show notes and in the description. So, all right. Rich Roll, I love you.

Love you too. I'm so happy we're going to be together now. I guess we are. For a while. Are we? We think we are. I hope so. I mean, you know. All right.

Yeah. Well, probably at least until a moment arises to do another podcast. Okay. Well, that's good. That's the pact. That gives us some stability. All right. Cool. All right. You want's good. That's the pact. That gives us some stability. All right, cool. All right.

You wanna take us out? Namaste. Peace. Plants. That's it? I guess. You usually do the other order. So then do the other order.

You're like- No, I was gonna have you do it. Go ahead. Oh, I do it. Okay. Yeah. Peace. Plants.

Namaste. That's what I'm talking about. We did it. That was that. That was me and Julie Pyatt. What'd you guys think? Hope you enjoyed it. For more on Julie, check out srimati.com,

S-R-I-M-A-t-i dot com for her music and her podcast Divine Thru Line share your thoughts with her on this conversation directly on Twitter or on Instagram

at srimati as always check the show notes on the episode page for tons more links and resources all about Julie's world and

another reminder sign up to be the first people to enjoy her totally mind-blowing plant-based cheeses by visiting srimu.com, S-R-I-M-U.com. If you'd like to support the work we do here on the podcast, please subscribe, rate, and comment on the show on Apple Podcasts. That really helps new people discover the show. You can tell your friends about your favorite episode, share the show on social media, subscribe on my YouTube channel, Spotify, Google Podcasts, all those other platforms.

And you can also support us on Patreon at richroll.com forward slash donate. A word of appreciation and closing for all the people who help create this show week to week. Jason Camiello for audio engineering, production, show notes, interstitial music. Blake Curtis and Margo Lubin for videoing the podcast for YouTube. Also Blake on audio duty today. Jessica Miranda for graphics. Allie Rogers for portraits. How about that resistance piece that she directed and edited? Pretty cool, you guys. DK for advertiser relationships and theme music as always by Annalema appreciate the love you guys I will see you here soon with journalist and New York Times bestselling author

David Epstein he's coming on the show to discuss his latest book Range this is a fantastic conversation it's an incredible book you're not going to want to miss it so let me take you out with a taste from what's to come

and until then keep on evolving, keep on loving. Peace, plants, namaste. If you don't change your identity overnight, you have to sort of start with these little keyhole experiments until something that you think was just an interest becomes like a real passion or a vocation. And so I think we underestimate how important it is to try to find where our talents might most fit. Part of those talents is just being voraciously interested in something

and then you're going to work really hard at it. Over time, I think you should be moving toward that match quality. And don't worry about the lightning. You can't force that anyway. But you can have this approach to being a scientist of yourself that means your strategy will move you

toward better match quality in the long term. Thank you.