The Flowstate Principles Podcast

There is much we miss out on being raised in a culture of the west, one that is driven by external validation, goals that are SMART and metric and lifeless.

I have spent nearly half my life living in the East, and absorbing the different take on goal setting was something that made a profound impact on me. Studying martial arts in Japan, I learned how immersion in the process rather than the outcome was the secret to a type of success and performance that is sustainable and authentic.

That is what Mr. Miyagi was teaching Daniel-san. Read below to learn how I dealt with a potentially traumatic experience, and how I was able to grow through the experience.

Have you ever been stuck in neck deep powder snow?

It’s exhausting. Moving just one meter requires a lot of effort. Last year on a Flowstate Adventure I was separated from the group in blizzard conditions and was lost in a forest.

I was only a few hundred meters from safety, on the edge of a major ski resort in Japan, but with the snow so deep each meter felt like a mile. I remember taking a moment to reflect on an epic day of snowboarding in fantasy conditions, deep powder and good friends. The best of combinations. I even took a selfie! At the time I thought I would be out in 20 minutes, so was preparing for a little burst of effort.

But the seriousness of the situation rapidly dawned on me. I had spent an hour crawling to higher ground expecting to see ski tracks or familiar features that would guide me to safety. But my heart sank when all I saw was snow, trees, undulating flat ground, and no sign of anything familiar.  I was lost. I was alone. I was almost unable to move and I had about 2 hours until nightfall and plummeting temperatures.

My appreciation of the beauty of the forest was rudely interrupted by nausea so strong I nearly puked, prayed and cried at the same time.

This story is about an experience that really shook me up, but allowed me to learn valuable lessons about my mind and put into practice a Zen goal-setting technique I have learned to find flow and performance (and even joy) in high-pressure situations. Enjoy the episode!

Zulu Flow Zion is a Peak Performance coach, QiGong and NeiGong instructor... and rapper.

Originally from Jamaica and now based in Tasmania, via Melbourne, Zulu is on a mission to launch a movement.

His calling is to "help people reach their full potential" and he wants to be the "catalyst to inspire 500 million people to start a daily practice" of mindfulness, movement and inner development.

Yee ha.. I fcking love a big vision. Truly, if 500 million people learned to cultivate, harness and unleash their authentic internal power.. the world would be transformed from one run by ego's to one run by heart and soul.

In this 50 minute conversation we flow through his life journey, some of the major influences in his life, and the key to developing self awareness and finding purpose in life.

Zulu Flow Zion is a Peak Performance coach, QiGong and NeiGong instructor… and rapper. Originally from Jamaica and now based in Tasmania, via Melbourne, Zulu is on a mission to launch a movement. His calling is to “help people reach their full potential” and he wants to be the “catalyst to inspire 500 million people to start a daily practice” of mindfulness, movement and inner development.

Yee ha.. I fcking love a big vision. Truly, if 500 million people learned to cultivate, harness and unleash their authentic internal power.. the world would be transformed from one run by ego’s to one run by heart and soul.

In this 50 minute conversation we flow through his life journey, some of the major influences in his life, and the key to developing self awareness and finding purpose in life.

Zulu Flow Zion quotes

“I love coaching people who want to be the best at what they do”.

“Vipassana meditation- why don’t they teach this in schools?”

“My calling is to help people reach their full potential.”

What you will learn in this episode

* The impact of Vipassana meditation

* What 287 days of continuous Neigong Practice does

* The power of finding our your “values hierarchy”

* 3 super powerful questions to find out your purpose

* A 7 day exercise that has changed lives

Zulu Flow ZionResources

* John DiMartini- Values hierarchy

* Unlimited Power, Tony Robbins

* What is Vipassana?

* What is NeiGong?

* Mihaly Csiksentmihalyi

* The Power of Now & A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle

If you want to find out more about Flow Zulu or train with him, click here. 

Watch this video of Flow Zulu teaching 1:4:2 and box breathing techniques.

Zulu’s mission to launch a movement to get the world in Flow is one shared by myself. I passionately believe that the foundation for all that is amazing in life is solid self-knowledge. “I know myself” you may be thinking. But do you really know yourself? Can you tell someone right now your authentic values, needs, dreams, persistent thoughts, weaknesses, powers, talents, habits? Do you know your gift to the world? Do you know what your are afraid of and why? Do you know what your potential is? Do you know what lies beneath the layers and layers of crusted over conditioned habits and thoughts? Are you in touch with the raw and unconditioned? You can not be free if you can not see the chains that bind you.

Click below to gain the vision, the habits and practices to launch into freedom.

 

On this Flow Nugget, I chat with Bodhi Whitaker, a friend and legend. Him and his partner Kat Tucker are on a mission to bring greater awareness, connection and health...

The post TFPP 019: Changing Lives: The Breathe Project with Bodhi Whitaker appeared first on Flowstate Collective.

On this Flow Nugget, I chat with Bodhi Whitaker, a friend and legend.

Him and his partner Kat Tucker are on a mission to bring greater awareness, connection and health to kids and adults, by teaching a simple breathing technique. Bodhi wrote the below. Listen in or watch on youtube.

 

 

 

The Breathe Project is a not-for profit health promotion initiative empowering youth, schools and communities with one simple breathing technique.

With a primary focus on public schools, we are providing two free workshops, one for the students and one for the teachers as well as resources to further support the integration of 3-minutes each morning.

Why high school students?

Do you remember this chapter of your life? Maybe your children are going through this mind-boggling chapter now and feeling the same pressure.

We know we can relate!

These are the years where ‘everything’ begins to matter. Peer pressure heightens, self-esteem issues kick in, turning to destructive behaviour is more prominent and disconnect from family begins.

Health professionals, therapists, medications, youth programs, countless money and time invested, more anxiety, more stress – when does it stop? Click here to read more!

Click here to support our Crowd-funding campaign

Click here to see our website and intro video

 

Jeffrey Slayter is an entrepreneur, best-selling author and international speaker who has shared the stage with Tony Robbins and Richard Branson. He is on a mission to dissolve the boundaries...

The post TFPP 018: Jeffrey Slayter- Dissolving boundaries to your Highest potential with Ayahuasca & more appeared first on Flowstate Collective.

Jeffrey Slayter is an entrepreneur, best-selling author and international speaker who has shared the stage with Tony Robbins and Richard Branson.

He is on a mission to dissolve the boundaries to his own highest potential and help others do the same.

Jeffrey has spent much of his life in smashing it as an entrepreneur, building successful businesses and now coaching and consulting to other entrepreneurs.

He feels that entheogens (mind altering substances used in a religious, shamanic, or spiritual context that may be synthesized or obtained from natural species) such as Ayahuasca, Kambo and San Pedro (Huachuma), that are used carefully in religious, shamanic, or a spiritual context have a special role to play in the evolution of humanity.

Listen in to find out more!

Flow quotes

* “Achievement’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”

* “The ability to do what I love when I wanna do it, and not have to do anything when I don’t want to, that for me is success.”

* “I have full faith in the human family, that we are here to make something incredible.”

What you will learn in this episode

* What happens when a bunch of millionaires  get together to ingest ayahuasca

* Why stripping away the inauthentic can help us grow

* How can adding a foreign substance into my being, add to authenticity

* Why you should be skeptical

* Watching the most skeptical, science driven people dissolve their boundaries

* How the world is not just our 5 senses

* How the financial crises of 2008/09 shifted global consciousness

* How we can feel endlessly optimistic about the world

Useful links

* Jeff’s website

* Jeff’s best selling book

* A short doco clip made by Jeffrey

Disclaimer

Neither Flowstate Collective or I, Jiro Taylor endorse the use of entheogens. These are strong medicines and should only be ingested in ceremonial settings, with trained practitioners.  More than anything, use your intuition, that inner voice to guide you. I have experienced growth and profound insights in my personal experience, but have also seen people suffer greatly because of incorrect or disrespectful usage.

My personal feeling is that before even considering entheogens/ plant medicines, one should have a solid footing of self-awareness and a practice that allows stillness and space, so that you are aware of what you are beyond your thinking mind. To leap straight to ayahuasca or similar, I consider reckless. This footing or foundation of self-awareness is built through a contemplative practice such as meditation. In this interview, Jeffrey claims that in his personal evolution meditation has less of a role to play than shamanic practice and plant medicines. This is his take and one that has come after many years of spiritual practice. He acknowledges the value of a contemplative practice and he also urges extreme discretion.

All exploration of altered states of consciousness are part of my practice and I consider meditation and quiet time spent in nature to be the foundation of this. For those looking for short-cuts to altered states, I urge caution. Some things in life don’t need to be short-cut. The journey is the reward.

If you live your life according to the common narrative of our culture, PURPOSE is all about finding this elusive thing, that will define the meaning of your life. To...

The post TFPP 017: Purpose: You won't "find it", But it will emerge... if you allow it appeared first on Flowstate Collective.

If you live your life according to the common narrative of our culture, PURPOSE  is all about finding this elusive thing, that will define the meaning of your life.

To have this, you must go and “find” it.

I spent years trying to find it, going round in circles, running down dead ends hunting high and low for this elusive thing that would give me meaning in life.

 

 

 

 

It was not until I stopped looking that the green shoots of purpose gradually emerged. Only when I allowed space in my life, to re-evaluate and re-create everything that my life was built on, could I lay down the soil for these green shoots to emerge.

In other words, I started living my life a completely different way. I stopped running around hunting pleasure, wealth and security. I learned to accept what I have, surrender to what I can not control, and live through love not fear.

For me it required seismic shifts in my external world to allow for the shifts internally. New surroundings, friends, types of books, practices, influences. A friend of mine asked me last week: “But how did your sense of purpose emerge from this?”

“Well”, I told him, “I was patient and I surrendered in the most powerful way possible. I created the conditions for purpose to emerge. I felt like I was a plant that had been kept in the dark, unwatered. I moved myself to a sunny spot, with plenty of water… and then it just happened.”

The Emergence of Purpose

I remember that feeling so well: Emergence. It is a very natural process, but it requires you to be proactive and courageous.

I feel that emergence is the purpose of life. If you are not living with that what is in you has space to naturally emerge, then stop and evaluate everything in your life. Make changes. Change your soil. Find more sunlight. This lesson about purpose came up again for me last month in a powerful way.

I was on a retreat, learning from elders, and partaking in a Shamanic plant medicine ceremony. I had drunk a brew of cactus juice (san pedro), which contains the psychoactive ingredient mescaline and after a walk in the forest I was chatting to a Tree.

This tree had majesty and swagger. I knew it was living its purpose: It was giving so much to its community and ecosystem. Shade, shelter, oxygen, presence, wisdom and so much more. It was all so effortless and natural, its trunk and branches solid like iron, its plumage of foliage vivacious and proud.

I saw instantly how purpose emerges from within and is not something that is attained from out there. The life force of the tree was an emergent force expressed through service and giving.

The tree could not avoid living its purpose, because of its strong root system and sturdy trunk. Unavoidable and unstoppable purpose… leading to irrepressible power and performance.

This wisdom cut through to my core and instantly I knew beyond all doubt that as long as I have solid roots (of awareness) and a strong trunk (of practice) I can not help but live my full human potential.

This spontaneous realisation lifted a burden from my shoulders. It was the reaffirmation that I could stop striving and trying so hard.

Our purpose is nothing more that the expression of our life force. And when you express this through filter-less authenticity… you flow. And when you flow.. you achieve peak performance. It is that simple. Peak performance comes from purpose, and our purpose is to express love in every way we can (to ourselves most of all).

Have a listen to the experience and click to the right to downlo...

[Guest post by Steve Hord] Dr. Damian Kristof is a key figure in the health and wellness industry, a well known Chiropracter, Naturopath and Presenter. He co-hosts the extremely sucessful...

The post TFPP 016: Dr. Damian Kristof- Optimise your Flowstate- nutrition, wellness and of course.. Poo! appeared first on Flowstate Collective.