Align Podcast

This episode of the Align Podcast is a little different. Scott Berman and I talk all things ‘Darkness Retreat’. We discuss what it is, its origin and why people, including myself, decide to take part. We go over all the mental and physical benefits of a darkness retreat as well as the struggles and fears it might bring up. I share my personal experience, how I wish I prepared and why it was unlike anything I could have ever imagined.

Scott Berman is the founder of Sky Cave Retreats - the first darkness retreat center in the US. Throughout the last decade, he has spent over two years in self-guided solo retreats in remote wilderness. He did his first darkness retreat in 2012 and has spent over 70 days in multiple darkness retreats and has also done a couple with his wife Jill. Over the last few years, he has supported hundreds of people in their dark retreats and has been pioneering the darkness therapy movement at his center in Ashland, Oregon.

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The Align Method Program is launching January 15th!

Now is the time to move better and feel better.

Head to alignpodcast.com/amp to join the waitlist to be notified when enrollment opens!

Try the first week for free.

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A couple of months ago I attended a darkness retreat and shortly after, some life events catalyzed me to embark on a journey of somatically based therapy which has turned into one of the most impactful shifts of my life. This episode provides my personal experience with therapy as well as an overview of different approaches and suggestions on how and why to begin the process of unpacking stored trauma within the body. 

And, BIG NEWS: we're are doing a MASSIVE GIVEAWAY!!🚨 ($10,000 value)

Enter to win a NEW Cold Plunge ($6000 value) simply by starting the FREE trial of The Align Method online program at alignpodcast.com/amp

We’ll also be giving away $4000 in other prizes simply for starting the AMP free week trial!! 🎉

During the first week of the program you will receive:

1. An easy-to-follow movement assessment to establish your functional movement baseline.

2. Top 5 Mobility Fundamental Techniques to improve every form of soft tissue work or self-care practice you take part in. They are ALL simple and highly impactful techniques I utilize in my practice daily and will change the way you train immediately.

3. LIVE Q&A with ME and the rest of the Align Community each week!!

Click the link in my bio to learn more about the program launching January 15th and for a chance to win!

Good luck!

Enter here: Alignpodcast.com/amp

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In this episode of the Align podcast, Psychology expert Gabor Maté tells us all about trauma, how we can define it and how we can solve our internal psychological wounds. We explore the relationship we have with ourselves and others and what it truly means to be vulnerable. We also speak about the repression of our emotions, the essence of human nature and whether evil really exists within people or in the nature of their actions.

A renowned speaker and bestselling author, Dr. Gabor Maté is highly sought after for his expertise on a range of topics including addiction, stress, and childhood development. Dr. Maté has written several bestselling books, including the award-winning In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction, When the Body Says No: Exploring the Stress-Disease Connection, and Scattered: How Attention Deficit Disorder Originates and What You Can Do About It, and has coauthored Hold On to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers. His works have been published internationally in nearly thirty languages.

Thank you to our sponsors:

LifeForce: Use code ALIGN for 15% off at: mylifeforce.com

HVMN: Use code ALIGN-20 for 20% off at: https://hvmn.com

The Align Method Program is launching January 15th!

Now is the time to move better and feel better.

Head to alignpodcast.com/amp to join the waitlist to be notified when enrollment opens!

Try the first week for free.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1. Exercise generosity (like a muscle) daily - what you give comes back multiple-fold
2. Practice compassion for yourself and those around you daily - without it you’ll always feel like a guest in your own heart.
3. Create space daily to listen deeply to your internal self as well as those around you - everything you need is with you now.
4. Intimate relationships are of the most powerful and sacred forms of deep healing work. If you choose to lean into them and are courageous enough to open your heart, it creates space for the oldest and stickiest contractive patterns from the past to be integrated and released. Your relationship is to be deeply honored, respected, and nurtured daily if you care for it to be fruitful.
5. Take actions daily to develop self-respect and trust in yourself - do the hard things, and habituate yourself to excellence.
6. You are only as strong as your team. Invest in people - hire a coach, therapist, mentor, etc. and nurture the relationships of those you work with. Your business is a garden, you get out of it exactly what you put into it. 
7. Love your family - this is a part of loving yourself as you are a continuation of them. Life is too short and beautiful to live behind walls, lean into vulnerability and allow yourself to be seen by those you care for most.  

Join me (and 2000+ others) for the "5-Day FLOOR SITTING CHALLENGE" on January 5th for a chance to win an Ice Barrel ($1200 value) and learn 5 ways to get up and down from the ground, 5 ways to effectively sit on the ground and connect with other mobile weirdos! Join us here: alignpodcast.com/555

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In this episode of the Align Podcast, Lorin Kren talks all about intimacy and how to develop trust within yourself and your relationships. We discuss how romantic relationships are the deepest and most spiritual paths to understanding ourselves and our past traumas and question why we might be afraid to open up. Lorin also shares his thoughts on how to protect our partners from our own wounds, interpreting the meaning behind our emotions and knowing when to ask for help.

Lorin Krenn is an internationally sought after teacher in the field of relationships, who helps people to experience deep intimacy through the power of masculine & feminine polarity. Lorin has worked with countless clients all over the world, including star coaches and highly successful CEOs. Lorin is known for his provocative style and down-to-earth approach when it comes to relationships and sex. As well, he is the author of the highly-rated book ‘Understand Women Better’.

Before Lorin started teaching, he trained with exceptionally experienced coaches to ensure he had a strong and solid foundation. What matters most to him is practice and direct experience. He immerses himself day in and day out, not only doing the deep inner work in his own relationship but working with groups and 1:1 clients, ensuring that he always stays in practice. Lorin likes to say: ‘Theory is uninteresting to me. I am only interested in results and creating bold changes in the collective.’

Thank you to our sponsors:

biOptimizers: Use code ALIGN10 to get 10% off Collagenius at: www.nootopia.com/aligngenius

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Gloria Mark is Chancellor’s Professor of Informatics at the University of California, Irvine and has been a visiting senior researcher at Microsoft Research since 2012. She received her PhD from Columbia University in psychology. She studies the impact of digital media on people's lives: their attention spans, multitasking, distraction, mood and behavior when they use their computers and smartphones. She also studies the future of work, and how remote work impacts how we use our devices. She regularly publishes in the top conferences and journals in her field. She was inducted into the ACM SIGCHI Academy in 2017 recognizing leaders in the field of human-computer interaction. She has presented her work at SXSW and the Aspen Ideas Festival, and her work has appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, The Atlantic, the BBC, and many others.

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In this episode of The Align Podcast, we talk all about the anatomy of the brain, our minds and how they affect our relationships with others and the world around us. Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor also shares her experience with suffering a stroke and how she managed to regain control of her brain. We speak about the dangers of psychedelics, what we can learn from a schizophrenic brain and how the four different character types of the brain ultimately affect our personalities.

Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is a Harvard-trained and published neuroscientist. In 1996 she experienced a severe haemorrhage in the left hemisphere of her brain causing her to lose the ability to walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of her life. Her memoir, My Stroke of Insight, documenting her experience with stroke and eight-year recovery, spent 63 weeks on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list and is still routinely the #1 book in the category Stroke in the Amazon marketplace.

Dr. Jill is a dynamic teacher and public speaker who loves educating all age groups, academic levels, as well as corporations and not-for-profit organizations about the beauty of our human brain. She focuses on how we can activate the power of our neuroplasticity to not only recover from neurological trauma, but how we can purposely choose to live a more vibrant, resilient, and satisfying life.

In 2008 Dr. Jill gave the first TED talk that ever went viral on the Internet, which now has well over 28.5 million views. Also in 2008, Dr. Jill was chosen as one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World” and was the premiere guest on Oprah Winfrey’s “Soul Series” webcast. Her new book, Whole Brain Living – the Anatomy of Choice and the Four Characters That Drive Our Life is a #1 release on Amazon in categories ranging from Neuroscience to Nervous System Diseases and Stroke.

Thank you to our sponsors:

HVMN: Use code ALIGN-20 for 20% off your purchase at: https://hvmn.me/align

biOptimizers: Use code ALIGN10 for 10% off your order at: masszymes.com/align

Ice Barrel: Use code ALIGN for $125 off your order at: icebarrel.com/ALIGN

LifeForce: Use code ALIGN for 15% off your order at: mylifeforce.com

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In this episode of the Align Podcast, Connie Zack tells us all about Infrared saunas. We go through the differences between traditional Finnish and infrared saunas and how our bodies react to each one. We then discuss the incredible health benefits that infrared can provide us and all the ways in which we can detoxify our bodies through them. We also talk about sound therapy, light healing and how to optimise your sleep through this process. Have a listen for a truly enlightening conversation!

Connie Zack is co-owner of Sunlighten™, the global leader in infrared light therapy and infrared sauna manufacturing. After seeing how spending time in an infrared sauna transformed her brother's traumatic health issues, Connie and her husband committed everything they had to helping others through the benefits of nature's healing infrared light. They've now spent more than 22 years bringing light, hope and happiness to people around the world with locations in 13 countries, as well as operating an award-winning day spa at its headquarters location in Kansas City. Sunlighten delivers its promise to help people feel better so they can do more of what they love and live fully through a caring approach that drives innovation, investment, and relationships. 

Learn more about Connie:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/sunlightsaunas/videos

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sunlightensaunas/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SunlightenSaunas/

Website: https://www.sunlighten.com/

Mention ALIGN at checkout and get $600 off a Sunlighten cabin and $250 off a Solo System

Thank you to our sponsors:

biOptimizers: Use code ALIGN10 for 10% off at: www.nootopia.com/aligngenius

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In this episode of the Align Podcast, Manoj Dias and I dive deep into the fundamentals of Buddhism. We break down its principles and discuss how these can be implemented in our daily lives. We also talk about the concept of suffering. Why do we suffer? Do we chase pain? And how can we reduce it? Dias also shares his personal meditation practices with us and how we can better understand our minds and increase our levels of awareness. If you want to find out more about getting in touch with your humanity and reaching a spiritual awakening then you don’t want to miss this one!

Manoj is VP of mindfulness and co-founder of Open - Open is a mindfulness app built to transform your life, with breathwork, meditation, and movement practices. Through mindfulness & meditation, Manoj has helped thousands of people around the globe trade mania for pause, so that they can live a happier, more meaningful life. You can practice with Manoj on Open's app or website, or in person at Open's studio in Venice, CA.

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Have you ever felt like you couldn’t be yourself because of what other people would think?

In today’s episode of Align Podcast, entrepreneur and health motivator Shaun T tells us all about his experience growing up and raising children as an openly gay man. We discuss the difference between heteronormative and queer relationships and the lack of education surrounding the subject. We also talk about the issue with traditional gender roles and how those can affect our romantic expectations. If you also want to hear about the benefits of therapy, discovering your erogenous zones and how to stimulate them, you won’t want to miss this one!

Shaun T is a world-renowned health and fitness motivator, entrepreneur, TV host, and creator of the best-selling fitness programs INSANITY, HIP HOP ABS, FOCUS T25, INSANITY MAX:30, CIZE and SHAUN WEEK, and TRANSFORM:20. His latest mega-hit, LET’S GET UP!, was Beachbody’s most successful launch in history, amassing over 1 million views in 30 days.

Shaun has hosted several primetime TV series and shared the stage with Adam Lambert and Val Kilmer in the musical version of the Ten Commandments, as well as landing roles in Pippin, Applause, Six Feet Under, and the feature film Beauty Shop. A native of New Jersey, Shaun T received a B.A. in Health and Exercise Science and a minor in Theater and Dance from Rowan University. He’s danced with Mariah Carey as well as Aaron and Nick Carter and choreographed for USTA’s Arthur Ashe Kids Day, the NCAA Final Four Halftime Show, and the movie Bring it On: All or Nothing.

Through personal appearances, live classes on Beachbody On Demand Interactive, his workout programs, his many self-development courses, his podcast Trust and Believe with Shaun T, and his best-selling self-help memoir, T IS FOR TRANSFORMATION, Shaun T is focused on affecting positive lifestyle changes in people around the world and proving that becoming the best version of yourself is attainable. Shaun’s mission is to inspire people to realize their full potential by promoting positivity through health, fitness, and motivation.

Thank you to our sponsors:

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