0:01

Welcome to Gaia's Consciousness Podcast,

0:04

expanding your mind and spirit. Learn

0:07

even more at Gaia.com. Watch

0:10

interviews, movies, and original

0:12

series created to empower the evolution

0:15

of consciousness. For more

0:17

information, visit GaiaPodcast.com.

0:20

Your journey begins here.

0:25

Today we're talking about the human riddle. Because

0:28

truly, how can you know what you're capable

0:30

of if you don't even know who and what

0:32

you are? The human

0:35

species is a mystery to us. All

0:38

of our modern science, all of our advancements,

0:40

have led us to the place where we're still not

0:43

agreeing on what consciousness truly is.

0:47

In some ways, the very instrument

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we're using to answer that question is

0:52

consciousness itself, meaning all

0:55

the tools and the technologies that we use

0:57

to answer these questions are technologies

1:00

to peer directly back into ourselves.

1:03

We are the mystery,

1:07

all the way down to the human body and

1:09

the language that it speaks to us with. Yes,

1:12

it does speak to us, and it speaks through

1:14

our human behavior, as well as

1:16

our spirit, which doesn't speak to us directly

1:19

through our body, but really read between

1:21

the lines of all the behaviors that we

1:23

display through our entire lives.

1:27

So let's begin with the body.

1:29

Why is there no manual?

1:31

Why is there no guidebook to tell

1:33

us exactly what this language of the body truly

1:36

means? And I believe it's

1:38

because we are not a commodity or

1:40

some product that comes with some

1:42

kind of owner's manual. We

1:45

are a riddle. We're meant to seek

1:47

the answer to our own existence. Our

1:51

body is always speaking with us.

1:54

We have chemical messengers that are always going

1:57

through our bloodstream. We

1:59

have electromagnetic... impulses going through

2:01

our neurons. We

2:04

have postures that we hold. We

2:06

have behaviors and movements that we

2:08

display. And all of this has very

2:10

valuable information for us. But

2:13

we typically don't listen to it. And we

2:15

outsource what this riddle is. We

2:18

outsource our questions about this language

2:20

to the doctors and the scientists that are out

2:22

there today. And one reason why

2:24

I believe that modern science is missing

2:27

a huge part of this puzzle is

2:29

because they are only looking at the averages,

2:32

the numbers, the measurable spaces of

2:34

what the body is saying. So if you

2:36

go to the doctor and they tell you, you have too

2:38

high of cholesterol or too high

2:41

of blood pressure, what does this really

2:43

mean? What is it saying? Because

2:46

what is normal for me may not

2:48

be normal for you and vice versa. So

2:51

to truly get at the heart of the human riddle,

2:54

we need to go deeper than just

2:56

science. And

2:58

this is why today to answer

3:01

this riddle, we need to bring in the question

3:04

who we are and why we're here.

3:06

So let's hear

3:08

from Neil Kramer in the initiation

3:11

to a mystical life. The

3:14

physical world

3:15

is a phantom,

3:17

a holographic representation of something

3:19

else. Nothing can be taken

3:21

at face value. Nothing can

3:24

be taken as it is. At

3:26

its very core, the essence of life

3:28

is mysterious, mysterious

3:31

by design. The

3:33

mystery is the teacher.

3:36

The mind can be programmed by

3:39

ourselves to encounter the world more accurately,

3:42

more openly. So

3:47

Neil Kramer said that the mystery is

3:49

the teacher. That's very beautiful.

3:52

Because when looking at the body and

3:54

the mystery is that it presents us, just

3:57

the outer form is the beginning

3:59

or

3:59

the

3:59

tip of the iceberg. If you were to open

4:02

up the body and take a look at all the different

4:04

compartments, all the different organs

4:07

and components, all the different cells,

4:10

all the different life forms that are in there, the

4:12

systems that come together in harmony

4:15

so we can have this experience saying this

4:17

is me choosing to be here, making

4:19

these decisions right now. It's

4:21

truly incredible. And

4:25

we also have trillions of bacterial

4:27

and fungal cells inside of our body

4:30

that have DNA that is not human

4:33

but they still influence us, they still speak

4:35

with us, they add to the overall

4:37

language of the body. So

4:39

what do all of these components in our

4:41

body have in common? The

4:44

language of chemistry. Let's

4:47

just take a look at a chemical compound. Chemical

4:50

compounds are many different elements

4:52

bonded together in a configuration.

4:55

And this configuration is much like a

4:57

key. It fits into a receptor

5:00

site that our body is equipped with. These

5:02

receptor sites only allow those chemical

5:04

compounds in and when they

5:06

do, they unlock biological

5:09

processes within us. Now

5:12

let's go even deeper into chemical

5:15

compounds because if you see all the

5:17

little elements that make up that one,

5:19

every one of them has an atomic weight or

5:22

a resonant frequency, meaning

5:24

a pitch or a tone that they hit. But

5:26

since there are many elements, these are many

5:29

tones happening at the same time, structurally

5:32

bound with one another. This to

5:34

me sounds like music inside the body. When

5:38

a symphony or a chord is struck, the

5:40

body changes its composition and

5:42

goes into different modes, if

5:45

you will. But

5:47

what makes the peaceful balance

5:49

of our body go haywire? I

5:53

believe that it's our modern lifestyle and

5:56

the stressors that come with the type of

5:58

society and culture we live in today.

6:01

These stressors are things that our ancestors

6:03

never had to deal with. These

6:06

are stressors like being in the

6:08

car, in traffic, late for work, or

6:10

the fear of losing our job, or not

6:12

having enough money. The

6:15

fear of not being a good enough parent, or lover,

6:17

or human being.

6:20

These are simply perceptions. They're

6:22

not real threats, but

6:24

our body still responds in that way. So let's go deeper.

6:29

How do our perceptions truly affect

6:31

our body? Let's see what the

6:34

experts in the film Emotion have

6:36

to say about this. Now,

6:38

when we react to conditions in our life,

6:41

there is an emotional component

6:44

that begins to create chemistry in our

6:46

bodies, because the body is interpreting

6:49

an emergency situation. Whenever

6:51

you see something, because the brain

6:54

works in pictures,

6:56

there is a response to that image

6:58

of the sensory impact. If you

7:00

hear a sound that sounds dangerous, your

7:03

body, your brain, will create an emotional

7:05

molecule to get you to respond to that.

7:08

And so the mind does its work very, very

7:10

quickly, and based on the data

7:12

that it is receiving, it forms a truth

7:15

about the present memory or experience.

7:18

Based on that truth, it comes up with a thought

7:21

that tells the self about that memory

7:23

or experience, and based on that thought, we

7:25

generate what we believe is the appropriate emotion

7:28

to match that thought. And as a result,

7:31

our heart rate increases, our immune system

7:33

suppresses, we become more anxious

7:35

because we're not in our fullest potential

7:38

in the moment. The core of every

7:40

symptom, stress and disease are

7:42

emotions and memories, traumatic perceptions

7:45

that are buried in our subconscious mind. So

7:50

I want to remind you what the host said there.

7:53

If we're not living in our full potential, then

7:55

our immune system is compromised, meaning

7:58

baseline health that stays in our full potential. that

8:00

we would like to have throughout our lives comes

8:03

from living to our full potential. So

8:06

why is this not the case today in modern society?

8:10

I'm going to give you an example of a modern stressor and

8:12

compare it to an ancient one. Let's

8:15

imagine somebody almost gets into a car accident.

8:18

They're fine, but they need to pull over the car

8:21

and process what's just happened. These

8:23

tiny little adrenal glands on top

8:25

of our kidneys start pumping out

8:28

a chemical compound or a song called

8:30

adrenaline. And what this chemical

8:33

does inside the body is it shuts

8:35

down all the biological processes that

8:37

do not need to be there for us

8:39

to fight or flight. Now,

8:42

this is a natural response. This goes

8:44

all the way back to the gazelle on the plains

8:47

being chased by a cheetah. So

8:49

the response is very unique and

8:51

is very specific to having this fear

8:54

that we almost got injured. But

8:57

what happens in the distinction between the gazelle

8:59

on the plains and us in the car

9:03

is that the gazelle, assuming that it gets to safety,

9:06

will go into a tremoring state. It

9:08

will begin shaking its body until

9:10

it's done and then it'll get up and

9:12

move on. Why

9:14

does it do this unique dance? Sometimes

9:17

we see people tremoring and shaking after

9:19

a scary incident, but it doesn't always happen.

9:23

So let's take a look deeply inside the body at

9:25

what's happening when this gazelle

9:28

goes into that tremoring state. All

9:30

of the adrenaline that was pumped out into the body,

9:33

into the tissues, begins to move itself.

9:36

Because of the shaking, it starts to process, move

9:38

itself into the bladder, where it can be eliminated

9:41

from the body. But if you're

9:43

simply sitting in your car and you choose

9:45

to call someone or drive that 15 minutes

9:48

home and talk to somebody and process

9:50

it intellectually, this may be good,

9:53

but it's not processing what's happening to the body.

9:56

The author Brad Fregchini wrote a book called

9:58

Shaking Medicine because he noticed that

9:59

that not only would animals go into these

10:02

tremoring fits to help

10:04

the health and the balance of their body, but

10:06

he would also notice that tribesmen

10:09

and shamans within tribes would

10:11

enter this tremoring state so

10:13

they would actually enter their mind into an altered

10:15

state of consciousness. In

10:19

this state, they were able to bring back information

10:22

for the healing of their community. So this

10:24

is very peculiar. This is an ancient

10:26

method of healing.

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10:59

If we look at modern exercises today,

11:01

such as total release experience,

11:04

or the trauma release experience, TRE, you'll

11:07

notice that involuntary shaking is

11:09

what happens when the body starts to

11:11

take over. Some intelligence just

11:14

hijacks our decision making, and

11:16

the body starts to tremor and shake on its

11:18

own. And what seems to come

11:20

from this is a healing response.

11:24

But then ask yourself, why do we need

11:27

specialized practices, when

11:29

this is what our ancient ancestors and

11:31

the animal kingdom does naturally? And

11:35

I believe it's because we come

11:37

now from a very sedentary society.

11:40

At no other time in history have we ever

11:42

practiced the posture of sitting nearly

11:45

this much. We do not move like

11:47

our ancestors did. 15 hours for food. 10, 11 hours

11:50

squatting. We

11:53

do not move through lush, dense environments anymore.

11:56

Our environment is very predictable,

11:59

very flat. and we barely move

12:01

within it. This has massive

12:04

consequences to our body and

12:06

our health. Dr. Stephen Mann said,

12:09

today's children are the least active ever and

12:12

face a ticking time bomb of health issues that

12:15

puts them at serious risk of having shorter

12:17

lives than their parents. That's

12:19

an incredible statement. He

12:21

goes on to say that movement

12:23

has been stripped out of modern living, meaning

12:26

generation inactive, as he calls our

12:28

youth, are driven to school and

12:30

fed a staple diet of sofa play and

12:33

screen time while being starved

12:35

of outdoor activities.

12:40

Now that I've mentioned some of the issues and the problems

12:42

that we face in our modern society, I

12:45

want to tell you that the solutions could not be simpler.

12:48

My favorite practice is an integration

12:50

of body, mind and

12:52

time. When we

12:55

integrate the body and the mind together over

12:57

a period of time, this is truly

12:59

no different than all the movement modalities

13:02

in the ancient practices, as well

13:04

as meditation, and they all still

13:06

exist today and they're just as powerful.

13:09

So let's start cracking into exactly

13:11

how much the body can influence

13:14

our chemical composition and our true

13:16

potential. A social

13:18

psychologist named Amy Cuddy did

13:21

a TED Talks to revolutionize the way

13:23

we look at how we hold our posture. If

13:26

you see behind her there's a runner that must

13:28

have won this race because his

13:30

arms are up above his head in

13:32

victory pose. We're familiar

13:34

with this pose. We see children do

13:36

it when they feel accomplished, when

13:39

they did something that they're proud of. We

13:41

also see people stretching

13:43

with this posture to come out of their seated

13:45

posture that we adopt so often

13:48

in this society. But what she

13:50

found was truly remarkable, that

13:53

just two minutes of putting your arms above

13:55

your head changes your entire chemical

13:57

composition. Testosterone.

14:00

The confidence-boosting hormone raises.

14:03

Cortisol, the stress hormone, lowers.

14:06

And testosterone allows for people to feel

14:08

more confident in their allotted space,

14:11

feeling like they can speak up and truly

14:13

be who they need to be in that moment.

14:16

This is incredible that two minutes of

14:18

a posture can cause this kind of a

14:20

change in our body and in our

14:22

minds. Now let's take

14:24

it deeper. You may have heard of Botox,

14:28

this injectable toxin that pumps up

14:30

the skin and smooths out wrinkles. But

14:33

you may not have heard that it's being called the

14:35

other anti-anxiety or the other antidepressant.

14:38

And it's being called this for a very unique

14:41

reason. Because this

14:43

toxin has been known to paralyze key

14:46

facial muscles. So the people

14:48

who get Botox cannot show the

14:50

expressions or the emotions of

14:52

happiness, joy, depression

14:55

or anxiety. If

14:58

we're not able to use these muscles,

15:00

then the body does not respond by

15:03

changing the chemical composition, putting

15:05

you in those moods and those emotions.

15:08

Meaning,

15:09

our body and the way we use it

15:11

can literally make you happier.

15:14

But

15:15

what does this say about fulfillment?

15:19

Our greater life's purpose? What's

15:21

the pose or the posture that allows

15:24

us to feel fulfilled? Well,

15:26

I don't believe that it actually comes from our body. I

15:29

believe it comes from our spirit. I

15:32

believe that spirit is much like the narrator

15:34

of the story of our lives. The

15:37

one who has a higher perspective on who we

15:39

are, what direction we're heading and

15:42

why we should end up where we're going. But

15:45

spirit also has a good understanding

15:47

of how our inner world affects the

15:49

world around us. So now

15:51

let's take a look at a show called Missing

15:54

Links with Greg Braden. A Gaia

15:56

special as he dives in to

15:59

tackle that question.

16:04

In the original texts, the Aramaic

16:06

translates

16:08

to ask without hidden motive

16:10

and be surrounded

16:13

by your answer. Be enveloped

16:16

by what you desire. And those are the key

16:18

words. Be. If

16:21

you are being surrounded by your

16:23

answer, if you are being enveloped by what you

16:25

desire, it means that you are

16:27

having the emotional experience

16:30

as if those things are already present.

16:33

And this is a very, very powerful concept.

16:36

There is a huge difference between

16:39

working toward an outcome

16:42

and beginning as if that outcome

16:45

is already present. Think about this. Think

16:47

about it for your own healing. Think

16:49

about it for your own relationships. Think about it for the abundance

16:52

in your life. If you

16:55

are asking for them to be present,

16:57

it means they are not present now.

17:00

If you are giving thanks

17:02

for what already exists, you are

17:05

claiming that it is present

17:07

in this moment. You are changing

17:09

the biology of your body. You're changing

17:11

the chemistry of your body as it interacts

17:14

with your physical environment so

17:16

that that reality may be present.

17:18

Remember, the field

17:20

is a mirror

17:21

for what we claim to be true within.

17:28

So what Greg

17:29

showed us there in that clip is

17:32

that deep within us, our inner

17:34

nature knows how

17:37

to be the change we wish to see

17:39

in the world. And that this ancient

17:41

scripture in the Old Testament mirrors

17:43

what Gandhi said, be the change you

17:45

wish to see in the world. Just simply wish

17:48

for it, be it, live it. And

17:50

in this way, as we've seen before, the

17:53

chemical composition and everything about

17:55

the body starts to reflect what

17:57

we would like to see in the outer world. And

18:00

it literally starts to become just

18:02

that. But why don't we use this

18:04

gift? Why have we lost this

18:06

gift to time? Well

18:11

if you look at our modern society today, we

18:13

are in the business of pushing nature out

18:15

of our habitats. Any nature

18:18

such as plants or animals, even

18:20

the people that live within these groups,

18:23

are domesticated, living on a societal

18:26

form of terms, rather than the wild

18:28

teacher of nature. So

18:30

what are we losing by living in this

18:33

modern society in the way that we do?

18:36

Are we experiencing a mass forgetting,

18:38

a collective amnesia?

18:41

Because

18:43

truthfully, the body is speaking

18:45

to us, spirit is speaking

18:47

to us. And

18:50

they have ancient, very important messages

18:52

for us. But

18:55

if we've forgotten how to use it, then

18:58

we're not able to tap back into the

19:00

messages that have been left by all of our

19:02

ancestors and all of these scriptures. So

19:06

I've been mentioning a lot today about how

19:09

modern lifestyle stressors are unlike

19:11

what our ancestors had to deal with. And

19:14

this is true, but what am I really saying

19:16

here? Should we throw away all

19:18

of our advancements, try and return

19:20

to hunter-gatherer times, live purely

19:23

off nature, go spear-fishing, throw

19:25

away all of our technology? Of

19:29

course not. This would be silly.

19:32

What we really need to do is

19:34

honor all the advances that we've made

19:36

as a species.

19:38

But

19:39

we really need to respect where we've come from.

19:42

And let me put this to you in a very scientific way.

19:45

Hunter Chris Kresser, a functional medicine

19:48

practitioner, wrote a book called An

19:50

Unconventional Medicine.

19:52

And in that book, he said that

19:54

only roughly 5% of

19:57

our DNA has updated since hunter-gatherer

19:59

times. What does

20:01

this mean? This means

20:04

that we are holistic creatures. We

20:06

need to respect our forward progress,

20:08

but we also need to respect where

20:10

we've come from and why we are here

20:13

in the way that we are today. And

20:15

if we do this, we'll truly

20:17

understand how to listen to the body,

20:20

listen to what it's saying, and listen

20:23

for that thing called spirit speaking

20:25

to us in between the lines of

20:28

all the greater things that we do in our lives. Now

20:34

I'll leave you with a challenge so you can

20:37

actually employ what I'm talking about and

20:39

feel the changes in your life. So

20:46

the first one was from Amy Cuddy,

20:49

lifting the arms up above the head

20:51

for two minutes. Do

20:53

this in front of the mirror. Take a

20:55

look at your posture as you do it. See

20:58

if there's any asymmetries. Try

21:00

and even them out. Try and breathe

21:02

naturally and find a way to enjoy

21:05

this next two minutes, which might

21:07

get a little intense. And

21:09

as you do that, as it comes to a close,

21:12

softly bring your arms down, regulate

21:15

your breathing, close your eyes, and

21:18

just feel what kind of difference that made. While

21:24

you're in front of the mirror, you might want to try smiling

21:26

for a couple of minutes. You might even notice

21:28

that smiling inauthentically produces

21:31

much different change than smiling very

21:33

authentically. So try

21:35

to give your most authentic smile for

21:38

two minutes. And then again, stop. Meditate

21:41

on how it actually changed the way you

21:43

feel. And

21:47

the best body-mind-time

21:49

integration tool is meditation.

21:52

So I would advise you to meditate every

21:54

day because this is one of the most important

21:57

body-mind-time integration

21:59

tools. that we have. It's the best

22:02

way to answer that question. Who

22:04

are we? What is the human riddle?

22:11

And if you do this every single day until

22:13

I see you next, you will have linked your

22:15

body and mind that much more, which

22:18

is going to be very important as we set off

22:20

on this journey to discover our deepest

22:23

human potential. Thank you so

22:25

much for joining me and I'll see you next time.

22:28

Thank you for listening to this episode

22:30

of Gaia's Consciousness Podcast. Learn

22:33

even more at gia.com and

22:35

watch interviews, movies, and original

22:38

series, all to empower the evolution

22:40

of consciousness. For more information,

22:43

visit giapodcast.com. Gaia.

22:47

Watch.

22:47

Belongs. Transform.