The School of Greatness - 686 Become the Master of Your Body and Health

Episode Date: August 29, 2018

“We are designed for movement. Athletics is simply an exaggeration of playing.” -Carl Paoli Most of you know that health, fitness, and wellness are important to me. It’s the reason I work out almost every day. I’m constantly mindful of the food I eat, the sleep I get, and the environment I put myself in everyday because it’s key to living an abundant life. If your health is at risk right now, then you know how it holds you back. You’ve got to have the endurance and the stamina to take on life’s greatest challenges. Mastering your health and body will help you have success in your relationships, in your career, and in your personal life. I’m not saying it’s going to help every problem, but it definitely helps. For this mashup episode of The School Of Greatness, I hand picked some of the best body and health experts I know: Ido Portal, Carl Paoli, Wim Hof and Laird Hamilton. They gave me some exercises to get rid of stress, connect to breath, and work out smarter. These are some powerful tools, guys. You don’t have to be an athlete to appreciate it. I’d love to hear what you think about this episode, and how these exercises worked for you – so don’t hesitate to reach out to me on social media and let me know. You’ll be learning how to reconnect with your body on Episode 686. In This Episode You Will Learn: Why the story you tell yourself is more important than reality (5:58) A four minute exercise to eliminate stress (15:42) The importance of controlling your breathing and the effect it has on your entire body (20:08) The importance of challenging your body, putting it to the test, and really listening to the results (20:52)

This is episode number 686, become the master of your body and health. Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, a former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin. John Rohn said to take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live. As most of you know, health and fitness, wellness is an important part of my life.

And it's one of the key principles to living a greater life and living an abundant life. If you want to achieve success in your relationships, in your career or business, in fun, adventure play, you've got to have the endurance, the stamina, the energy in order to take on life's greatest challenges. And if your health is at risk or at stake right now, then you know how it holds you back.

When you're climbing up stairs, it holds you back. When you're tired throughout the day, it holds you back. Health and mastering your body is a key. It's one of the reasons I work out almost every single day. I'm constantly mindful of the foods that I eat and the sleep that I get in the environment. I put my body through so that I can have an optimal mind and optimal life. I'm not saying it's going to solve every problem, but it definitely helps overcome many challenges when you master your health. And in today's episode, we're talking

about some of these key points, why the story you tell yourself is more important than reality. Also, the importance of challenging yourself and your body, putting your body to the test, and really listening to the results. I'm going to give you a four-minute exercise to help with overcoming stress, which a lot of us face right now, and the importance of controlling your breathing and the effect it has on your entire body. Just did an exercise yesterday, actually, that helped completely relax me within a couple of minutes. And we're going to talk about some of that today. We've got some of the big body and health experts, Ido Portal, Carl Pauli. We've also got Wim Hof and Laird Hamilton, who are going to be sharing some of these principles with you in just a moment. Without further ado, let's dive into this episode.

So what we are doing is we are attacking different subjects. And we go into a place inside the big cloud of movement because there is no one entry door. So we just step into the cloud and we attack specific subjects. Like for example, we go at the subject like coordination and I expose some drills, exercises, scenarios, games, challenges, and we try to see what can we learn about this weird concept. Or we go with a tactical game, like a fighting game. Or we can go with strength development. Strength is a concept, not defined by one specific practice.

Like I'm strong. One moment you're strong. Another moment you're the weakest person there. You know, it's like you will meet the gymnast you will feel extremely weak in the perspective of gymnastics but the gymnast will meet you in collision oh that's a bad day yeah it's a bad day so like strength is not one entity and we keep on kind of simplifying oh you're really strong people tell me you're really strong you don't know what i am and you don't know in which scenario i'm also extremely weak in all kinds of areas you know so um we just detect some of these subjects and we go at it and we discover

some things and we really practice hard like it's it's not just an open thing where you're just like floating around in a hippie way. Sure. You know, it's action. You create a context. You create a container. A challenge. Exactly. You tag it for a period of time and then you move to the next challenge.

Exactly. Yeah. And that thing is like the beautiful part of this practice. Like, okay, let's dig at this subject. You really go at it. You're fully involved. And then you kind of disconnect from it and you go to a different perspective. and then you kind of disconnect from it and you go to a different perspective.

When someone takes on a training method in this way, as opposed to a 30-minute run or a HIIT workout or a lift or whatever, what's available for them on the other side? Taking on all these different things of coordination to stick games and tennis ball games and all these other things you guys do, strength games, whatever it may be, balance games,

what's available in their lives that's different than just a normal type of training that we usually see at a gym? First, there is no better or worse here. There is just like, I think you can bake bread and you can be happy. So like happiness is not the orientation of the practice, nor is it an attempt to be better at something

besides the understanding of the general concept of movement. And that's what you will get from the practice. You would get more of a bird's eye understanding who's who, what's what, when, where, how much. And that would give you something. So it means I can work with fighters one day, one week, and I have an understanding of what's going on there immediately. I'm not good at it.

I can't fight like them. I can't fight with them. But I have an understanding of what's going on, what is needed, where it's missing. And then the next week, I'll be with contemporary dancers. Next week, I will be with professional acrobats. Next week, I would be with tennis players, soccer players, et cetera.

So there is a general understanding of physicality and movement and how the body operates in all kinds of different subjects and then there is a lot of humility that comes with it yeah in on the level of a practitioner and as a teacher so these symbols are supposed to represent basic body shapes. You get straight lines, like when we're standing, that's a very basic body shapes. You got 90 degree angles, which is almost like sitting in a chair or bending over to pick up the groceries. And then you got these kind of semi circular shapes, which are basic body positions that we get into. We flex into a little ball or we extend

into different positions depending on what we're doing. Like if we're throwing or swinging, we get into these positions. And here on the cover, they're kind of represented separate. But as you go through the book, you realize that we live in the crossover of all those shapes. And for people that are not athletes, they must realize that just like you said, we are designed for movement. And athletics is simply a high level expression of how we move. It's an exaggeration of reality. It's an exaggeration of playing. And I think that motivation of playing something because it's fun and because it feels good is what I'm also trying to inspire people to do. And I think a lot of us take who we are as physical beings sometimes for granted. We just kind of go through our life thinking, oh yeah, this is normal. But I think you

should ask yourself, is it really normal? And if it's not normal, what else is there? Can I go a little further? What can my body really do? Can I be pain-free? Can I perform something with my body that I didn't know I could? And how do I get there is what I'm trying to solve as well. So I'm trying to encourage people to develop their lifestyle, but understand that if you just study a little bit how your body moves, simply by listening to it and by paying attention to it, you will learn some things about yourself that will get you a little further and closer to being something and someone you kind of just dream of. Right.

So for those looking to take their performance in life to the next level, whether that's their energy levels, whether that's their business, their career, their relationships, just having more energy throughout the day, being clearer, being more focused, and really just optimize their human performance, their life performance. What are some things that they should be doing or should be focusing on? their life performance, what are some things that they should be doing or should be focusing on? Let's just say they're, you know, an average weight individual, not overweight, not really fit,

but what's something they can do to start optimizing their life through these movements and through what you talk about in the book? Yeah, I think the first thing is just becoming aware of who you are as a physical being. And I mean, this is something you can do in the morning. And I try to do it as often as possible. And just to share a little bit of a personal story, with all the work that I've been doing and all the traveling, I suffered from a little bit of anxiety. And I was very stressed and nervous. And I just wasn't eating well, wasn't sleeping well, constantly at hotels. I would suffer from some anxiety and I would just start going down this spiral.

And what I realized is that one very basic thing to do, and this is something everyone tells you, oh, just stop and take a breath. What they're really saying is just stop for a second and feel your body. And one of the things that I do in the morning is right as I wake up, as I realize that I'm waking up, before I even open my eyes, I become aware of who I am. And then before I even open my eyes, I think about, oh yeah, I'm lying here in bed. This is where I am. I feel the sheets. I feel the bed. I'm warm or cold or I have to go to the bathroom or whatever it is. And it's as simple as that.

Just that brings you to that present moment. And then I proceed to open my eyes. And just that right there will change everything because immediately you feel like you're in control. So that's something that you can do even through the day. Let's say you're at work and you're just sitting there by your desk or hopefully standing now because you have a standing desk and just becoming aware where you're standing. What's the ground below you? How do you feel the ground on your feet? are you standing? What's the ground below you? How do you feel the ground on your feet?

Are you standing with your legs straight? Are they kind of bent? Are you posting on one leg or the other? Are your hands in your pockets? Are you crossing your arms? What's your posture look like? Small things like that now create a presence, and that's number one.

Now create a presence. And that's number one. Touches breathing is during the day. Because now I know it's learning to control the alkalinity, the pH level within the body. It's good for that. And if you really have nasty matters, issues in the tissues, like depression, anxiety, then you are able to tap

in and you know that this one works. And it works. We are doing neurological brain research very soon and it's because they see this works. If someone's feeling overwhelmed and stressed

on a day-to-day basis, and they can never fail to get rid of the stress, they try to meditate, they try to get massages, they try to do all these other things, but they don't try to breathe, what's something they can do if they have a minute throughout the day? A minute?

A minute or two, you know, a minute to five. Oh, four minutes. Four minutes, cool. Okay, four minutes. I got a great exercise. They're overwhelmed. They're stressed. They're freaked out.

Later, I'm going to do this with you. Okay. Four minutes. Perfect. I just make you do a relax. You're not relaxed because you're full of stress. But anyway, I say just loosen up the body a little. Stand. Just mind

your body for now. Just four minutes. So shut up there. Just be and feel who you are. You feel your feet on the ground, your arms, and that's it. Now breathe in.

And let go. Is it standing or is it sitting? Shall we do this? Let's stand up right here and keep the mics on. You should be able to do push-ups. What we do right now is make a physiological reset of the nervous system. And the shape of the body is becoming better. And it is no effort.

It feels like, hey, I can go on. What's happening? That's chemistry. Okay. Going into the deepest of body and learning how to control stress hormone. So if we are too stressed,

we got to go to the mechanism who is producing the stress and we have no control. With this one, you reset the stress hormone mechanism, the brainstem, within four minutes. And afterwards, you feel good because the connection is there. And I'm not saying feeling is understanding.

Okay, there you go. Sarah's going to test it as well. Okay, I say go. Let's start there. Sarah's going to test it as well. She's going to test it. Okay, I say now. Breathe in. Let go. Breathe in. 28. Get them in again. Just go with the flow.

No minding. Just go. You feel what you feel as you're breathing. We are oxy-energizing the body right now. It's getting into all the cells. Not only the carbon dioxide is going down, oxygen is getting in. Body becomes alkaline. What do you need to perform? You need alkalinity. Because of the oxygenation, alkalinity comes in. That's what you need to perform. Now, because you are so stressed, you are not connected to the brainstem.

In the brainstem, there is the directory of the hormonal system. We will consciously go into a physiological state of not having oxygen, because we're going to do push-ups after exhalation that turns on the brainstem and resets whatever is causing the stress hormonal system, the stress hormone, adrenaline, epinephrine, cortisol, and it is controlled.

It resets it. Okay. And you got a good figure out of it. You got already a good figure? Okay. No minding about that. Go on. I do my best.

The best will come about. And no competition. It's just going into the depth of the body and the brain. 11. 10. 9. Take a minute. Come on, Lewis. Ten. Nine. Take a minute. Come on, Lewis.

And how? Lewis Howes. That's the way. Yeah, it's fun too. Three. Two. away. Yeah, it's. Stop. Looking good. No air in the lungs. This is the way to get into the depth of the brain,

the directory of stress hormone, and all cells. Wow. Yeah, man. It's the adrenal axis completely under control. It's four minutes. How much did it take? Oh, less than four minutes.

So anybody can do this, gets a good figure, resets the nervous system, doing a great job, you know? How many did you do? 20 push-ups? What? How many can you usually do? Three. 20 push-ups what how many can you usually do three it's more about creating something that's doable and how high far can we push that and again individually push your barrier you know and and it's interesting because it's that's total wim hof philosophy that's total that philosophy. That's total natural born heroes philosophy.

Like I see it and you start to see it. And in a way, that's Tough Mudder's philosophy. That's Spartan race philosophy. I mean, these are all about getting the collective through. And ultimately, that really is the most primal system because that's how we made it. primal system because that's how we made it because without each other in our evolution what match are we against right all the the things in the in the you know in the world we're no match it's kind of like other yeah it's kind of like nobody wins unless we all win mentality well that's right yeah nobody survives unless we all survive yeah and so it doesn't mean i don't like healthy

competition in the fun of you know a little paddleboard race or some bocce ball or something. And, you know, my competition concept really used to be more like, or should I say is more related to like, okay, you know, you, you want to compete with me and you think you're courageous. Well, then we'll go to a big cliff and we'll just keep going up until one of us doesn't jump. And whoever jumps higher is the winner. So I always thought that that was a real defined through courage, courage. Wow. For me, wow for me i go that's i go you want to really talk about you know you want true competition we go we have competition with courage and that's and i think that's part of my the process that brought me to riding giant waves that i thought well if i ride the biggest waves in the world and i ride bigger waves than anybody else has ever ridden and most

of the ways i ride no one wants to ride that kind of puts me in a unique position. Yeah. That's your own. That puts me like, you know, and I mean, I always love the term, the victory through attrition. Through attrition. What do you mean by that? The last guy standing. At the end, you don't even need to be any good. Right. If you're the last guy and everybody else is laid out. Sure. You know, in the 300, when there's only one guy standing. Yeah, right. You're the winner. It's interesting.

And through that approach, you can give all your secrets away. You can give all the information away. It's still who's got the most courage. That's right. So you can just be as good as me, technically, all the information you need. But are you willing to go above and beyond me? That's right. And then it becomes a skill thing.

Yeah. So then you add skill to that, too. So that adds an added element of, because you know what? There's always some crazy guy that'll do anything stupid, too. But then will they survive? Will they survive? Which, again, that's part of the thing. But again, it's part about the survival thing.

We're like, yeah, the guy might be able to go higher, but if you go up to a cliff and then the guy jumps higher than you and he dies. He doesn't win. Then you still are, you're still, you went higher, right? So dies he doesn't win you still are you're still you went higher right so again it has to do with wow it has to do with you have to still have you can't have the element of who's the craziest because there's because you got a skill yeah you got to have there has to be and you also have to have understanding you have to have experience to know where the line is where the or your line is yeah or your line is. Yeah. Where your line is, right? Because you always have somebody that's willing to be a little bit crazier,

but then can they do that year in and year out? I mean, just saying year in and year out. Right. So what got you into big wave surfing in the first place? What got you inspired by that sport? Well, environment. Yeah. You grew up in Hawaii, right?

I mean, I was in Hawaii. Oahu? I was on the north shore of Oahu when I was very young and exposed to the biggest waves in the world. And then exposed to the greatest big wave surfers in the world. And then having a natural

kind of thing about a thrill, like Daredevil, a little thrill seeker. I just had a thing. It's like a mechanism. I think there's some science behind, you know, certain guys are born with like, I think they're just missing something. Like the thing about like, probably not, you know, where that line is of not to do or, but there's, and I think there's a certain,

there's a certain amount of us that it was important that we had that because we needed to be able to do that i i i said yesterday in uh in the conversation that the there needs to be an expendability aspect to a certain group you know in our species we have to have that that's part of what we needed in order to survive like if no one's willing to go against the tiger or whatever then we all die you know if no one's willing to figure it out yeah and while, then we all die. If no one's willing to figure it out. And while he's getting eaten, we can all run and maybe we can pull it off. Right, right, right.

And so we have that. I mean, that happens a lot with the young, and that's why most of the wars are with young males. Young males have it, I think. And then maybe some of us have more of it and we keep it longer. But at the end, we were talking about dolphins, how they protect themselves when they're being attacked. And they put the babies in the middle, the mothers around the babies, the old people around the mothers, then the fathers, and then the adolescent males are on the outside. And because they're the ones that are the most aggressive and they're the most willing to take risk. And you look and I go, well, human species aren't too far away from that.

Pretty similar, yeah. We're the ones that are, you know, young male. And then there's the ones within that group that have that, like I said, that little mechanism that drives you. So that's what drove me to big was because I had something inside of me. And there you have it, my friends. Mastering your body and your health. LewisHowes.com slash 686. Share this out with your friends.

Tag me on Instagram stories. If you're listening to this right now, go ahead and share it out. Let your friends know some simple tools to help optimize your body and your health. We can always improve our health to help us live much longer, happier, energetic lives. I hope you enjoy this one. Again, if you're not doing something every single day that is helping maintain the health of your body, of your energy, to extend your life

and have an optimal body, then you've got to start applying this. You've got to make this a priority and something where you have accountability. It's hard to do it on your own. So find a buddy, find an accountability partner, find a coach, someone to guide you to stay accountable on optimizing your health.

And as always, you know what time it is. It's time to go out there and do something great. Outro Music Thank you.