The Flowstate Principles Podcast

“It’s easy to be mindful in a cave, but what I drop you in the middle of New York city? Can you be mindful in action?” –Rodney King

Have you ever read a book on meditation or mindfulness, or gone on a retreat or seminar and felt very inspired, calm and present in the moment. But when you get back to the heat of your real life, it all goes out the window?

Have you ever thought that mindfulness and meditation sounds nice in theory… but you can’t see how it can help you with your deepest pains and fears?

If you know what I mean, please listen in for practical, real life strategies to apply mindfulness to your life today. Mindfulness is the key to performance in every way.

Rodney King is an author, martial artist, coach and entrepreneur. In this 60 minute conversation we get deep into the true power of mindfulness. We take the concept of mindfulness away from the bland representation it gets in mainstream media, and illustrate how it is the most powerful practice out there. Mindfulness is about your response in the heat of battle of every day life.

And Rodney knows a thing or two about the heat of battle. Growing up in government housing in a rough area of Johannesburg, in a violent environment with no father figure and an alcoholic mother, Rodney “learned early on in life how smart you are is irrelevant. Its about how tough you are”.

He immersed himself in martial arts, a practice that changed his life. He learned what he calls “inner management skills”. But in the early days, he became caught up in the masculine “red road” of fighting, and after finishing up in the military he spent years as a bouncer.

“Most of my life I was the victim… it seemed life was a fight and the only way to win was to fight back.”

“That was the time I was most afraid, most insecure… but I never told anyone that as I had to put on the disguise.”

Fast-forward to today, and Rodney has shaped his life in the most amazing way. He is a very successful entrepreneur, the founder of a global academy of martial arts, Crazy Monkey Defense. He has trained special forces, celebrities, written a book and played a huge role in helping many people understand the true power of martial arts, inner mastery and mindfulness.

He has developed as a warrior, much in the Samurai Warrior aesthetic.

“If you were born into a Samurai family, you were trained for one thing: to go to battle. But they spent an inordinate amount of time on mastering the soft skills…. Why would a warrior culture spend so much time on the soft skills?”

Find out in the interview. Listen in guys and please share this around as it is POTENT information about applied mindfulness, mindfulness in action, real life mindfulness.

Some powerful Mindfulness nuggets we discuss

* How to circumvent the stories you tell yourself and live in reality

* How to develop soft skills through fighting

* Why going to a meditation retreat is not always the best idea

* The value of an embodied experience

* How to use mindfulness to deal with childhood scars and shame

* The role forgiveness plays in evolving as a human

* The power of choosing your attitude in any situation

* A practical strategy to deal with road-rage

* How to deal with fears of heights, spiders, big waves or whatever… using mindfulness

* A quick tip to engage your parasympathetic nervous system (rest and recover)

Useful links:

* Crazy Monkey Defense

*

“It’s easy to be mindful in a cave, but what I drop you in the middle of New York city? Can you be mindful in action?” –Rodney King

Have you ever read a book on meditation or mindfulness, or gone on a retreat or seminar and felt very inspired, calm and present in the moment. But when you get back to the heat of your real life, it all goes out the window?

Have you ever thought that mindfulness and meditation sounds nice in theory… but you can’t see how it can help you with your deepest pains and fears?

If you know what I mean, please listen in for practical, real life strategies to apply mindfulness to your life today. Mindfulness is the key to performance in every way.

Rodney King is an author, martial artist, coach and entrepreneur. In this 60 minute conversation we get deep into the true power of mindfulness. We take the concept of mindfulness away from the bland representation it gets in mainstream media, and illustrate how it is the most powerful practice out there. Mindfulness is about your response in the heat of battle of every day life.

And Rodney knows a thing or two about the heat of battle. Growing up in government housing in a rough area of Johannesburg, in a violent environment with no father figure and an alcoholic mother, Rodney “learned early on in life how smart you are is irrelevant. Its about how tough you are”.

He immersed himself in martial arts, a practice that changed his life. He learned what he calls “inner management skills”. But in the early days, he became caught up in the masculine “red road” of fighting, and after finishing up in the military he spent years as a bouncer.

“Most of my life I was the victim… it seemed life was a fight and the only way to win was to fight back.”

“That was the time I was most afraid, most insecure… but I never told anyone that as I had to put on the disguise.”

Fast-forward to today, and Rodney has shaped his life in the most amazing way. He is a very successful entrepreneur, the founder of a global academy of martial arts, Crazy Monkey Defense. He has trained special forces, celebrities, written a book and played a huge role in helping many people understand the true power of martial arts, inner mastery and mindfulness.

He has developed as a warrior, much in the Samurai Warrior aesthetic.

“If you were born into a Samurai family, you were trained for one thing: to go to battle. But they spent an inordinate amount of time on mastering the soft skills…. Why would a warrior culture spend so much time on the soft skills?”

Find out in the interview. Listen in guys and please share this around as it is POTENT information about applied mindfulness, mindfulness in action, real life mindfulness.

Some powerful Mindfulness nuggets we discuss

* How to circumvent the stories you tell yourself and live in reality

* How to develop soft skills through fighting

* Why going to a meditation retreat is not always the best idea

* The value of an embodied experience

* How to use mindfulness to deal with childhood scars and shame

* The role forgiveness plays in evolving as a human

* The power of choosing your attitude in any situation

* A practical strategy to deal with road-rage

* How to deal with fears of heights, spiders, big waves or whatever… using mindfulness

* A quick tip to engage your parasympathetic nervous system (rest and recover)

Useful links:

* Crazy Monkey Defense

*

Nick Dawe is a beast. These are some of the labels that he carries with remarkable humility: -A full-time sprint kayaker, trialling for a spot on the Australia Olympic team....

The post TFPP 034: Nick Dawe- Discover the true foundation of peak performance from an academic, elite athlete, entrepreneur appeared first on Flowstate Collective.

Nick Dawe is a beast. These are some of the labels that he carries with remarkable humility:

-A full-time sprint kayaker, trialling for a spot on the Australia Olympic team.

-A sport scientist, with published papers on bio-mechanics and a background in neuroscience, a master degree and plans to take on a PhD.

-A chiropractor booked solid at 2 practices.

-A coach to kids and senior athletes.

-A co-founder of Red Hippo, a cutting edge, natural supplement company.

-An all-round legend.

In this 45 minute interview Jiro and Nick get deep into the real roots of peak performance: self-awareness, failure, goals, ego, philosophy and science of continual growth. This is a GOLD-mine of actionable and powerful wisdom, shared by a man on top of his game. Because this episode is so packed full of powerful nuggets, I have taken the time to extrapolate some of the gems below. But make sure you listen in, as context is everything.

What is the difference between External and internal motivators?

 

Have you ever hit a goal you have been questing after, and then upon achieving it, you feel empty. Everything feels meaningless? If the answer is yes to any of these, listen in to this podcast, and action what you hear.

Nick said, “sport gave me a fantastic experience at the age of 19. When I crossed the finish line in 1st place I felt nothing. It was confronting. I figured I would feel euphoric but I felt nothing at all.”

This started a journey into the self, to find out who the hell he really is beneath all the layers of conditioning. It was this journey to discover his unique drivers, his WHY, that really allowed him to grow as a human.  Now when he coaches young athletes, he makes sure they have a solid grounding of self-awareness.

“It’s a pre-requisite for my guys to be able to sit down and answer the deepest, most confronting line of questioning before they are deserving of our full attention and efforts to help them achieve their dreams.”

Nick sits them down as asks why.. then why, why . Layer after layer. “Its a really annoying conversation, but its illuminating. The beauty in the process.”

How can we find out our unique WHY?

 

Nick says: “The first thing is to academically and practically understand the ego, and in doing that evoke this practice of awareness.”

“I find it funny when my ego kicks in, and I catch it, I find it humorous. There is nothing substantial about what your ego has said except to create a defensive situation or power play.”

“The more forensic and analytical you become (about understanding your ego), the more room there is for philosophical meandering, which is where the real fun happens. Likewise the more you structure your week, the more freedom you will have from that week. Its the paradox that is ever-present, of adding structure to gain freedom.”

“Some of the Toltec literature should be a pre-requisite for understanding the ego. Everyone I know who has read Eckhart Tolle has been able to grasp his concepts. Some of the Toltec stuff sets the story of understanding the ego.” See below for useful links to this literature.

How can I achieve Freedom through discipline?

 

An alternative way to look at discipline is the “compassion to do something”.

I asked Nick. Do you ever feel like you “have to” train? Never. He trains because he this is natural expression of who he is, so his training is an act of compassion,

Nick Dawe is a beast. These are some of the labels that he carries with remarkable humility:

-A full-time sprint kayaker, trialling for a spot on the Australia Olympic team.

-A sport scientist, with published papers on bio-mechanics and a background in neuroscience, a master degree and plans to take on a PhD.

-A chiropractor booked solid at 2 practices.

-A coach to kids and senior athletes.

-A co-founder of Red Hippo, a cutting edge, natural supplement company.

-An all-round legend.

In this 45 minute interview Jiro and Nick get deep into the real roots of peak performance: self-awareness, failure, goals, ego, philosophy and science of continual growth. This is a GOLD-mine of actionable and powerful wisdom, shared by a man on top of his game. Because this episode is so packed full of powerful nuggets, I have taken the time to extrapolate some of the gems below. But make sure you listen in, as context is everything.

What is the difference between External and internal motivators?

 

Have you ever hit a goal you have been questing after, and then upon achieving it, you feel empty. Everything feels meaningless? If the answer is yes to any of these, listen in to this podcast, and action what you hear.

Nick said, “sport gave me a fantastic experience at the age of 19. When I crossed the finish line in 1st place I felt nothing. It was confronting. I figured I would feel euphoric but I felt nothing at all.”

This started a journey into the self, to find out who the hell he really is beneath all the layers of conditioning. It was this journey to discover his unique drivers, his WHY, that really allowed him to grow as a human.  Now when he coaches young athletes, he makes sure they have a solid grounding of self-awareness.

“It’s a pre-requisite for my guys to be able to sit down and answer the deepest, most confronting line of questioning before they are deserving of our full attention and efforts to help them achieve their dreams.”

Nick sits them down as asks why.. then why, why . Layer after layer. “Its a really annoying conversation, but its illuminating. The beauty in the process.”

How can we find out our unique WHY?

 

Nick says: “The first thing is to academically and practically understand the ego, and in doing that evoke this practice of awareness.”

“I find it funny when my ego kicks in, and I catch it, I find it humorous. There is nothing substantial about what your ego has said except to create a defensive situation or power play.”

“The more forensic and analytical you become (about understanding your ego), the more room there is for philosophical meandering, which is where the real fun happens. Likewise the more you structure your week, the more freedom you will have from that week. Its the paradox that is ever-present, of adding structure to gain freedom.”

“Some of the Toltec literature should be a pre-requisite for understanding the ego. Everyone I know who has read Eckhart Tolle has been able to grasp his concepts. Some of the Toltec stuff sets the story of understanding the ego.” See below for useful links to this literature.

How can I achieve Freedom through discipline?

 

An alternative way to look at discipline is the “compassion to do something”.

I asked Nick. Do you ever feel like you “have to” train? Never. He trains because he this is natural expression of who he is, so his training is an act of compassion,

(Update: In late 2016 Justin Alexander went missing while adventuring alone in remote India. He is presumed dead. Click here to read the page set up by his family) "I'm...

The post TFPP 033: Justin Alexander- Nomad, adventurer, Ninja appeared first on Flowstate Collective.

(Update: In late 2016 Justin Alexander went missing while adventuring alone in remote India. He is presumed dead. Click here to read the page set up by his family)

“I’m a nomad, adventurer, and ninja of sorts. Everything I own fits in one bag. The world is my home and this is my story.” Justin Alexander

This is how the humble Justin Alexander introduces himself on Instagram. Others have called him “the most interesting man on instagram”.

His feed features images of him climbing trees, preparing fires by friction, the road-ill rabbit that will be his dinner, his loyal motorbike, his only possession that does not fit into a small backpack…. and heaps of stunning, raw natural landscapes. The world is his home, and that is his story.

I have been lining up this interview with Justin for months. I stumbled across this article he wrote about “retiring” at age 32. He captured my attention immediately. I found his blog and read every article. To a certain degree I sensed a kindred spirit when I read of his “success” in the business world and being surrounded by wealth and excess, and his conscious choice to walk another path, one that included travel far off the beaten path and living with indigenous tribes.

He wrote of choosing between some $10k watch and a $20k watch, and the cycle of ever growing wants and needs that fuels so much of our society. But ultimately he turned away from a life spent in the accumulation of wealth and status and took to nature and travel to satisfy his curiosity and get clear on some of the big questions of life.

I was so keen to connect with him, and when I did he was even more interesting and unique than I thought he would be. In this podcast we free-flow and cover such diverse topics as his early identity as a teenager, how he drew inspiration from mythical heroes, and still does, the culture of Japan, ayahuasca and time travel.

Justin gives us an awesome perspective on adventure and travel, that often includes sleeping under the stars, spending weeks or months at a time living simply among local cultures.

I have great admiration for the way he travels and for his humility and independence. I know he is going to be getting a whole lot more attention in the future so I’m curious to see how he continues to walk this path of authenticity. If you want to hear the story of a man who has CHOSEN a different path, one of freedom and exploration, you want to listen to this!

Click here to read Justin’s latest article. 

 

 

 

Useful links:

* Justin’s instagram feed

* Justin’s website

* Justin’s Youtube channel

 

(Update: In late 2016 Justin Alexander went missing while adventuring alone in remote India. He is presumed dead. Click here to read the page set up by his family)

“I’m a nomad, adventurer, and ninja of sorts. Everything I own fits in one bag. The world is my home and this is my story.” Justin Alexander

This is how the humble Justin Alexander introduces himself on Instagram. Others have called him “the most interesting man on instagram”.

His feed features images of him climbing trees, preparing fires by friction, the road-ill rabbit that will be his dinner, his loyal motorbike, his only possession that does not fit into a small backpack…. and heaps of stunning, raw natural landscapes. The world is his home, and that is his story.

I have been lining up this interview with Justin for months. I stumbled across this article he wrote about “retiring” at age 32. He captured my attention immediately. I found his blog and read every article. To a certain degree I sensed a kindred spirit when I read of his “success” in the business world and being surrounded by wealth and excess, and his conscious choice to walk another path, one that included travel far off the beaten path and living with indigenous tribes.

He wrote of choosing between some $10k watch and a $20k watch, and the cycle of ever growing wants and needs that fuels so much of our society. But ultimately he turned away from a life spent in the accumulation of wealth and status and took to nature and travel to satisfy his curiosity and get clear on some of the big questions of life.

I was so keen to connect with him, and when I did he was even more interesting and unique than I thought he would be. In this podcast we free-flow and cover such diverse topics as his early identity as a teenager, how he drew inspiration from mythical heroes, and still does, the culture of Japan, ayahuasca and time travel.

Justin gives us an awesome perspective on adventure and travel, that often includes sleeping under the stars, spending weeks or months at a time living simply among local cultures.

I have great admiration for the way he travels and for his humility and independence. I know he is going to be getting a whole lot more attention in the future so I’m curious to see how he continues to walk this path of authenticity. If you want to hear the story of a man who has CHOSEN a different path, one of freedom and exploration, you want to listen to this!

Click here to read Justin’s latest article. 

 

 

 

Useful links:

* Justin’s instagram feed

* Justin’s website

* Justin’s Youtube channel

 

Jay Standish is the co-founder of OpenDoor.io, an organisation that is creating collaborative, shared living spaces in the San Francisco Bay area. If you have ever thought how fun and...

The post TFPP 032: How co-living suits humanity with Jay Standish appeared first on Flowstate Collective.

Jay Standish is the co-founder of OpenDoor.io, an organisation that is creating collaborative, shared living spaces in the San Francisco Bay area. If you have ever thought how fun and rewarding it would be to live in community, be part of a tribe, enjoy the benefits of village-like life, then listen in for inspiration and practical tips on how to set up your own community!

I have always been fascinated by how community relates to human potential. Human’s living with a village vibe just makes sense on every level.

I remember watching a documentary called Happy   which traced how humans find happiness in different cultures. My key takeaway was that community equated to shared experiences and the relief of burdens that can be overwhelming when faced in isolation. Those living in communities with support networks (emotional as well as practical, like childcare, shared cooking), experienced greater wellbeing and happiness.

When it comes to living a life that flows, the equation is simple: remove what obstacles there are to flow. These obstacles are the burdens we face in life, like juggling the need to work, with the need to have child-care. Or balancing out how we can live in a sustainable and responsible way, with the need to go to supermarkets to get food supply. It comes down to time and space. How much space do we have in our lives and in our minds to live authentically? How much time do we have to invest in living the way we really want to live?

Co-living- it really could be the answer. I’m feeling pretty excited about the idea. As long as I get “Jiro-time” regularly, I can not see any reason why living with people and sharing life responsibilities and experiences can be anything less than optimal living.

What do you think?

Co-living wisdom bombs that are dropped

* How to deal with the “home economics”, the day to day stuff, like cleaning

* The recent invention of the nuclear family and isolated living

* The spiritual, psychological, emotional benefits of shared living (economical also)

* How to get started created a co-living space

Useful resources:

* OpenDoor.io

Do you want help getting more flow in your life or business? Drop me an email and I’ll get you started on immediate action steps