DIALOGUES by Mindful Endurance Program

On the latest episode I speak with Rio Lakeshore, LA-based runner, writer, artist, father and man. It's hard to encapsulate Rio in a sentence so I suggest listening to the episode, but we dive into his growing up in Los Angeles, how moving to the Mojave Desert changed his life, perspective and began his relationship with running. We explore what mindful running really is and how it can be artful like music and dance, and what can be invited through this ancient movement practice. Rio speaks on learning from injury, transitioning from the road to the trails and his vision for running in community and helping more underprivileged youth get out of the city and into the trails.

On the latest episode of the podcast I have Sanjay Rawal back on, disciple of Sri Chinmoy, runner and film maker. We dive into Sri's concept of 'Run and Become' which coincides with my new Reigning Champ collection using the same name, and how running can be an invitation for personal growth and self-transcendence and an unlimited amount of joy and lessons to learn. Sanjay also shares a recent DNP experience at a marathon PR attempt and what he's been learning from this potent race turned lesson, and how it's tested his internal world. Finally we speak about his latest film, Gather, "intimate portrait of the growing movement amongst Native Americans to reclaim their spiritual, political and cultural identities through food sovereignty, while battling the trauma of centuries of genocide." It's a beautiful and inspiring film, like Sanjay's other work and it was a joy to speak to him again and feel the light and energy he brings to the world.

On the first episode of the new year, I jump back into the performance side of things with sports scientist, reacher and PhD, Joshua Rowe. I was connected with Josh through Maurten who has been supporting my triathlon journey with their gels and drink mixes and when I wanted to get some guidance on fueling plans and to learn more about their Hydrogel technology, they linked me up with Josh. We dive into his experience with running and fueling, diving into his own performance research studies on fueling, gut training and thresholds and why the hydrogel technology works so well to minimize GI distress while oxidizing really efficiently. Carbs have been the enemy for me the last few years, but as I get into proper endurance training, they're becoming my friend and I got to ask Josh a ton of questions that have bolstered this relationship with his guidance as an expert in the field.

On the final episode of my solo series and of the year, I wrap up by sharing an overview of my own inner journey over these past years since 2017 and the different people, modalities, and teachers I've worked with. Reflecting back on all of the time, energy, resources I've put into this healing, development and growth has been interesting with a big recent shift and realization that I'm only just starting to tap into my right brain and heart. So how did I get here? I speak about my latest DMT ceremony and the work of Michael Singer, IFS by Richard Schartz, inner child work and the challenges with expression and truly expressing myself. It's been a scary journey as well as rich, beautiful and fruitful and the deeper I go the more unknown and scary things can be but I feel so fortunate to have landed on this path and discovered all of these deep experiences and teachers that have helped me along the way.

On the second of my solo series to finish 2021, I dive into my experience navigating Covid and the vaccine choice. It's an extremely multi-layered topic, bringing a lot of shadow material to the fore and providing an opportunity for a massive wave of awareness. This can be overwhelming and challenging to navigate both internally and in the arena of public opinion, politics and culture wars. So who can we trust? Ultimately it has to be ourselves, our Self, more accurately. But how can we actually get beyond the ego and tap into our true Self for our own truth and answers. While the internal landscape is its own journey, we also must look at our complete health, the lack of "healthcare" and the inspiration to take responsibility for our own holistic health, and what can be done right now to increase our health. This can include vitamins and nutrition and exercise, but also what content we're consuming and the vibrations we want to align with in our nervous system. It's a lot to navigate and it's been one of the most challenging years of my life, and now it's time to do something about it.

On episode 62 I speak to Taren Gesell, known my many as ‘Triathlon Taren’. We dive into his recent transition from a triathlon coach to more of a holistic health coach, changing his platform to Mottiv and moving out to Vancouver Island. After years of building this brand, a seriously impressive YouTube channel and plenty of research, Taren has live the ups and downs and is now sharing a unique view on endurance sport with an emphasis on ‘total health’. We speak about life transitions, learning to listen and follow your heart to be in alignment with ourselves, and of course triathlon. Taren shares some insights on nutrition, training and why kettlebells are the best. I’ve learned a ton from Taren via his podcast and YouTube channel, so it was slightly surreal to actually get to speak with him, and I really enjoyed it.

In this long overdue solo episode, I start off a series of three episodes to finish 2021 where I dive into some of the biggest issues in my life and that I’ve been working through. In the first part, I talk about my relationship with food and disordered eating and how the spiral of shame can trigger a pattern of over eating. I touch on the importance of personal values and how the lack of values as a society have led us down a misguided path, and that ultimately a revolution of personal responsibility is the way forward. In order to do this we have to stay connected to our hearts, and recently I’ve drifted away from that connection myself, which takes work and is a practice of remembering.

On episode 60 I speak to Saehee Cho, a creative writer, cook, food stylist and founder of Soon Minimart. We dive into all things food, connection to the earth and the process of growing a plant, the masculine and feminine balance in the industry of food and the lessons that plants can provide. Saehee shares her own journey from home cooking with her grandmother into the launch of Soon Minimart, a really interesting online platform that Saehee started to work with small local farms to get healthy, fresh, organic food to the homes of people in Los Angeles. She shares about her Korean culture, connection to it and the intersection of her passions; writing and food, as she heads to Mexico to explore a unique culture of food history.

This episode is support by Open — a mindfulness studio offering experiences that combine breathwork, meditation, yoga, Pilates, and more to support transformation and personal development.

You can try Open for 30 days free using my promo code RYANWILLMS, go to www.open-together.com/RYANWILLMS and use code RYANWILLMS when you sign up.

On episode 59 I speak to Johnny Oduya, NHL Stanley Cup champion as we dive into his career as a professional hockey player, some of the elements that made his Chicago Blackhawks team successful and his more recent transition into mindfulness, breathwork and the launch of Hale. What started as a pursuit to play at his best later in his career, Johnny found certain biohacking tips helpful which then lead to experiences in improving nutrition, dabbling in meditation and finding breathwork. In recent years Johnny has gone deep into a variety of healing and growth modalities, all feeding and working together to create a beautiful journey of growth, evolution and support of others through his new endeavor. Hale is a breathwork studio based in Stockholm, with the idea to "to give all humans easy access to breathwork and the power of breath." I really enjoyed speaking with Johnny about his recent work and especially his course on Breath Performance™ as the intersection of athletic performance and specific breath practices is largely untapped and holds a lot of potential for us all. Johnny also launched a training line, ATUNYA, focused on precision-engineered training apparel powered by the best sustainable technologies.

On episode 58 I speak with George William MacPherson, a PR consultant, sound healer and overall inspiring man. We connected through the fashion and sport world and one of his clients but immediately I felt a unique connection to George. As I’ve got to know him and learn more about his journey of mental health alongside the evolution of his career, I wanted to dive in with him on the podcast. In this episode we speak about his childhood and growing up in nature, the journey from London to New York in the fashion PR world and his more recent parallel exploration of healing, the unconscious and the powerful medicine of sound and music.