Mental Edge Lifestyle Podcast

On this episode, Ryan speaks with the fastest swimmer in Canadian sports history, Brent Hayden. They speak about Brent’s childhood and what inspired him to take the path that he took to becoming an Olympic swimmer, the challenges he faced and what helped him to keep going. Brent discusses how he tries to give back through swimming and through talking about the challenges in his life and provides an insight into an incident which could have stopped his career in its tracks.

In this episode:

• How Brent views himself and how he came to terms with his own success and image in the public eye.
• Getting into swimming, how Brent kept moving forward despite early failures and what inspired him to set him off on the journey he ended up taking.
• How the love for swimming kept Brent going despite not being innately good at the sport and eventually building up to the point where he got to an Olympic standard through perseverance.  
• An insight into his first Olympic experience in Athens, how the failure impacted him, his side of the story regarding the misunderstanding with the Police and how he used that experience to push himself to be even better than ever before.
• Learning the power of recognising that you only need one reason to succeed, despite how many things are going against you.
• How his mental health struggle with depression stemming from the early setbacks made training harder for Brent and eventually led to him retiring after a string of victories including the Bronze Medal at London 2012.
• Working through the pain and inconvenience which came with the back spasms he struggled with, how it contributed to him walking away, and how he came around to wanting to make a comeback.
• Using his experience and profile as an Olympian to inspire others, the way he was inspired by the people who he looked up to as a young child, by visiting young people around Canada.
• How Brent and his partner came up with their idea for filming his swim camps, his motivation to teach others how to swim around the world and how that helped remind him of his love for swimming.  
• Living with Covid as an athlete, how its limited the traditional opportunities for training and led to Brent discovering a new love for open water swimming.

Connect with Brent Hayden

Web: www.brenthayden.com

Social Media: @thebrenthayden

Connect with Mental Edge Lifestyle

Web: mentaledge.ca

Instagram: @mental_edge_lifestyle

Facebook: @MENTALEDGEL

On this episode, Ryan speaks with Canadian Paralympian and athlete Josh Cassidy, winner of both the London and Boston Marathons.

In this episode:

• Being diagnosed with neuroblastoma at birth and given a very low chance of survival, and how that affected the rest of his life by resulting in paralysis in his legs following remission.
• How his cancer helped Josh understand the realities of life at an early age, and how to get over some of the obstacles that life throws your way.
• Growing up in a large family that moved around a lot and how it helped Josh learn to adapt at an early age.
• Dealing with ignorance and hostility from the children his age, and how his siblings dealt with the difficult questions they were asked about their brother. Feeling compassion for the people who made fun of him.
• Find the balance between getting support and providing support in his role as the oldest child in the family.
• The evolution of the feeling of gratitude for the people in your life that support you, your progress, and the little wins in life.
• The people and events that started steering Josh towards becoming the multi-award winning, record holding Paralympian that he is today.
• Josh’s career highlights and the achievements of which he is most proud.
• Getting through rough patches and avoiding getting stuck in the “why me” attitude.
• Remembering and recognising your successes to get you through coming adversities.
• Picking yourself up and using your setbacks to fuel your fire.
• The impact of Covid-19 on Josh as an athlete, on the sporting calendar, and how people like him have adapted to prepare for the future and racing once again.

Connect with Josh Cassidy

Facebook: Joshua Cassidy

Instagram: @joshcassidy84

Twitter: @joshcassidy84

Connect with Mental Edge Lifestyle

Web: mentaledge.ca

Instagram: @mental_edge_lifestyle

Facebook: @MENTALEDGEL

On this episode, Ryan is joined by Jill Wheatley, a teacher turned life-long activist and adventurer. Jill suffered from a traumatic brain injury (TBI) on her job, losing 70% of her sight and in the process changing her entire view on life.

Jill speaks about the experience itself, what went through her mind in the moment, and breaks down her thought process in both the immediate aftermath and the long-term effects. She has taken it upon herself to use her life-changing experience to shine a light on an otherwise stigmatised issue that lacks public awareness.

In this Episode:

• Jill speaks of the events of the day that changed her life forever, and her journey of realising what had actually happened to her.
• Jill discusses how she would have felt if the accident had happened to anyone else who was there that day and her acceptance of a difficult situation.
• Coping with the loss of autonomy and being a highly independent person living through a situation where you do not have the level of control you are used to having.
• Living with the uncertainty of a medical prognosis that keeps changing and an issue that is not all that well understood even amongst experts.
• How Jill sees the mental mountains she has to climb to be more challenging than the mountains she climbs in real life.
• Learning how to accept help and support from friends & family, and how that was particularly challenging in the early stages of her journey.
• Coming to understand the value of sharing your story, and hearing that of others, beyond niceties and surface-level conversation.
• Evolving from a fixed-mindset to a growth mindset.
• Highlights of Jill’s mountaineering career, her most significant climbs and runs.
• The role of travelling in helping Jill accepting the direction her life had taken.
• Acceptance through being grateful for the lessons learned through adversity.

Connect with Jill Wheatley

Web: mountainsofmymind.com

Facebook: facebook.com/mountainsofmymind

Instagram: @mtnsofmymind

Connect with Mental Edge Lifestyle

Web: mentaledge.ca

Instagram: @mental_edge_lifestyle

Facebook: @MENTALEDGEL

On this episode, Ryan is joined by Adam Schafer, one of three hosts of the hugely popular Mind Pump Podcast. Adam has also been a lifelong entrepreneur, professionally certified fitness instructor and father.

Adam speaks of his experiences dealing with the trauma of losing his father to suicide very early on his life, how he overcame his struggles to become the person he is today, his thoughts on being a father and, of course, fitness.

In this Episode:

• Processing and coping with the loss of a parent to suicide at an early stage and how that led to Adam becoming more self-aware, compassionate, and vulnerable as a person.
• Finding reasons to be grateful for adversity and turning resentment into an opportunity for growth.
• The evolution of your perspective on your own life events.
• The strength of the human survival instinct and how ‘survival mode’ changes the way you behave.
• Recognizing your strengths and appreciating your personal successes.
• The role of spirituality in coping with life and adversity, and finding a way.
• Learning to look at the silver linings in every situation.
• Finding balance in the face of hypocrisy.
• Putting self-awareness ahead of instinctual reactions to be open minded.
• The thought process behind the Mind Pump Podcast and what brings the team together.
• The growth process of a trainer.
• Looking past physical appearances to understand the importance of mental health in your overall wellbeing.
• Sharing your story and talking about your experiences.
• Accepting how external situations affect you and controlling your reactions to challenging situations by being self-aware.
• Reflecting on how your day has gone every night to unpack your behaviours and understand why you acted the way that you did.
• Training yourself to catch yourself engaging in behaviours you want to root out.
• Parenthood and the impact of Adam’s past on the kind of father that he is.
• Balancing the human desire to provide for your children and providing the right amount of adversity to develop their personality and work ethic.
• Appreciating the role your negative traits have played in your life.

Connect with Adam

Web: mindpumppodcast.com

Youtube: Mind Pump Podcast

Who is Mind Pump?

Connect with Mental Edge Lifestyle

Web: mentaledge.ca

Instagram: @mental_edge_lifestyle

Facebook: @MENTALEDGEL

In this episode Ryan is joined by Dr. Callum Cowan. A doctor of naturopathic medicine and high performance medicine practitioner his approach is to optimize his patients health, performance and to prevent the occurrence of illness and injury. 

Ryan and Dr. Cowan have a great discussion about fasting, longevity, and supplementing your nutrition but feel and perform your very best everyday.

In this Episode 

• What led Callum to naturopathic medicine
• Omega-3
• Magnesium
• Vitamin D
• Vitamin C
• Human Strain Probiotic
• Milk Thistle 
• Fasting
• Fasting & workouts

Connect with Dr. Cowan

On this episode Ryan is joined by Jon Lounsbury, Vice President of Gel Sticks. Jon also runs a private on-ice training business.

Jon shares about his mentors, his parents, dealing with the death of his mother, his brothers substance abuse and battling injury while playing minor professional hockey from 2005-2010. 

In this Episode:

• Growing up in a small town playing sports
• Going pro 
• Injuries
• Losing sight of yourself
• Losing someone you love
• Self-care
• The opinions of others 

Connect with Jon:

On this episode Ryan is joined by Vernon Brown, Happiness and Success Coach.

Happiness evaded Vernon for much of his young life until he was 20 years old. He grew up in an abusive and drug ridden home, he was profoundly depressed, overweight and had little self worth. He knew he wanted more, so he began to create the person he is today. 

Vernon now helps men and women find and sustain their true happiness. 

In this Episode:

• Struggling as a young man
• Recognizing self-care
• The evolution into coaching 
• Measuring happiness
• Thinking time - awareness
• What do you do for fun?
• Taking action

Connect with Vernon:

On this episode Ryan is joined by Ben Harrow, US Army CPT, accomplished officer and a decorated American hero.

Ben attended the United States Military Academy at West Point and received the Unsung Hero award his senior year. In 2006, he prepared for his first 15-month combat deployment to Iraq and earned the rank of Captain.

On May 15, 2012, while deployed in Afghanistan, Ben was leading a team of Green Berets on an anti-terrorism mission when he stepped on an improvised explosive device (IED). He lost both legs above the knee, two fingers, and a large portion of flesh from his right forearm.

In this Episode:

• How Ben found his way to the Military
• Special Forces selection
• Deploying overseas
• Stepping on an IED
• Reliving trauma, developing a strong mindset
• Healing physically and mentally 
• "I will find a way."
• Being resilient

Connect with Ben:

On this episode Ryan is joined by JB Spisso, Author, and Leadership and Cultural Development expert. 

JB has over thirty years of experience in transforming individuals into leaders. He is a Veteran of the US Army with 26 years of service including ten years in Special Operations with the elite 75th Ranger regiment. 

In this Episode 

• JB's experience and background
• Mentorship
• Transforming into a leader
• Always be learning 
• Styles of leadership 
• Negativity
• Being present 
• Leaders make mistakes 
• Do leaders ever cut loose? 
• Becoming an Author 
• Staying healthy
• Hockey talk

Connect with JB:

On this episode, Ryan is joined by Theo Fleury. 

Theo is a expert in the field of Relational Trauma, and is a Mental Health advocate. Theo is an NHL Stanley Cup Champion, Olympic Gold Medalist, and World Cup Junior Champion. 

Today, Theo defines himself as a victor over trauma and addiction, and a facilitator to those still trying to find their way.

Theo has been awarded the Canadian Humanitarian Award and the Queen’s Jubilee Medallion. He is a Siksika Nation Honorary Chief and recipient of the Aboriginal Indspire Award.

In this episode:

• Theo, off the ice
• The early years, trauma at home and at the rink
• Collecting tools for sobriety
• Vulnerability
• Compassion, forgiveness and opportunities for growth
• Self-care
• Emotional, physical and spiritual 
• Effective leadership
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