weMove Podcast

Episode 4 in the Movement and Search for Meaning series with running coach Ollie McCarthy. 

We titled this the Taboo of Talking as we talk about suicide, Ollie's experience of coming to terms with his girlfriends attempted suicide and how he found weightlifting and running his avenues for processing this event. 

Incredibly poignant for Chris and I, as we have our own experience in 2019 of my gladly failed attempt at suicide. Being able to talk to Ollie about his experience, listen to him and share experiences without the charged emotion of me or him being in each others experiences I found very helpful in developing an empathy with my life partner Lucie and also with Chris. 

We don't talk enough, yet we talk too much in this modern world. And I believe that the space to talk, listen and be heard is one of the most powerful and transformative practices for our mental, physical and spiritual health. 

Thanks Ollie. 

If this is a conversation that resonates with you, or someone you know, it would be great to share the episode with them or even on your insta stories/facebook page for those who might just need to hear something like this to make them feel like they can talk about how they are feeling. 

Peace and love. James & Chris

Welcome to the weMove podcast. This is connected with our Movement and the search for meaning series aswell as being a follow on rom one of the very first conversations we had for the podcast with Naomi Absolom.

When we first met Naomi back in 2017/18 we were all beginning to question what the labels and names of the practices we were doing and how we were living. How they supported us, how they confined us and what would in fact take us forward, healthier, happier, stronger.

Naomi was questioning the confines of the world of Yoga. Because when we say yoga we have a view of it, created by the Gurus, distorted by the media to gain mass appeal and yet it leaves a void or even a restriction on entering or exiting.

Taking this step Naomi moved through it to a place where she is now, free of labels which in itself makes a space that is indefinable and for many that can appear to be too wild, too scary. This period of lockdown however has blossomed the possibility of where Naomi was heading and been a co creation with the growing gathering of like minds who are experiencing through movement a new found freedom and spaciousness.

This pod is the journey to where she is now, not where it is going from here.

And if you like what we do with the podcast, it would be great to have your support in sharing the conversations and podcast name if you feel it will benefit someone you know or who follows you. We are @wemove.world or www.wemove.world. 

Many thanks

There is always a little bit of truth where theres a problem,

Rae Dwyer is our second guest and it was the following instagram post that we read that made this the next step in the series. 

"Something that has left me in awe and rendered me speechless of late: The experience of  f e e l i n g  over thinking when it comes to the formation of core beliefs. I really want to do what I'm trying to say justice. Stay with me.

It's that in-your-actual-bones knowing. Perhaps a thing you've realised that maybe part of you would like to unrealise for convenience but knows that it's impossible. A belief/perception/epiphany that is completely untethered from motives of the ego and societal conditioning, so therefore cannot be denied and will in fact often come about as a result of having peeled away those rotting layers of internalised capitalism, homophobia, patriarchy. A bubbling up that at first, gives rise to a deep discomfort and frightening confusion, but once integrated, preceeds something that might actually be akin to freedom.

Living life on our own terms from the outside appears to be the result of bravery. But I would counter that with living life on our own terms is a result of feeling safe, and I don’t mean wrapped up in cotton wool safe and devolving our innate power and wisdom to external forces. Rather developing a sense of safety internally, in our own mind, in our own soul and in our own body"

We are living in a world where more and more is seemingly being taken from us. or we are giving it away because we have been told that is what we must to be safe. To be safe we need to understand what is going on inside us, understanding the feelings, understanding the sensations, understanding intuitively the constructs of the world around us, what is real, what is not, what we know to be certain.

This awareness doesn’t just happen, it requires work. It requires The Work. And that work we define as 3 elements that for me create a foundation for safety within and they are what weMove is built on. Move, Nourish, Equip. Move your body. Nourish your Self and Equip your mind. These are not linear ideas, they are multidimensional that when integrated are the pillars to feeling whole, complete and ultimately safe, because we know who we are, and why we are here. Things, life, parents, school, jobs etc have just clouded our paths.

That is my take away from todays weMove podcast and the third conversation in our Movement and the search for meaning series. 
.
Enjoy the episode, there’s a lot in it for the soul and Self. 

Movement is freedom, its how we express ourselves and communicate with others and the world around us, but what do you do when someone close can suddenly no longer move? The thought of not being able to move is uncomfortable If we aren’t moving then we aren’t living. 

That is today’s conversation with Rachel Kay, choreographer, dancer, founder of Creation Box studio and Flight Mode Method, and the second conversation in the Movement and Search for Meaning series. Rachel is a successful artist and choreographer whose professional skills were called on in a way that couldn’t be imagined, her dad had a stroke, leaving him unable to move. 

Taking an honest look at what she could do and how she could connect with him, she turned away from her career as a commercial choreographer towards becoming her dad’s choreographer teaching him how to move again and reconnect. 

What do you know to be certain? More and more I realise that life is just too short.

Andrew Tracey, Mens Health UK Fitness Editor, founder of Farm Fitness and all round training machine sat down with Chris and I before we headed to the gym to indulge in some sweaty pushing and pulling back at the start of the year. 

We’ve orbited in similar circles as Andrew so it felt only a matter of time before we sat down and press record. If you watch him on instagram his means of fitness generally involve a lot of lifting, and commitment to putting in the time, regardless of where he is, what time it is and how busy his day was. 

Inspired by the original Gym Jones, the facility created by Mark Twight to put in the work, we share similar visions as to what the world of fitness can be. A place to learn about your Self if you are prepared to get into the shadows and dark corners of the psyche and inquire into the capacity and potentiality of our capacity and capability. 

I wasn’t expecting Andrew to be so gentle, and it was lovely to hear him talk about being inspired, inspiring and putting into the world his efforts in order for them to inspire others and be improved upon for the greater good. 

We cover his being non sporty as a youngster but possessing as he calls it “Toerag” fitness, accumulated through hours of playing, doing and being to his first job in a proper gym in Harlow Essex, a place full of doormen and bodybuilders, where you were celebrated for the effort you put in regardless of the weight you lift and then onto the downfall of the Personal Trainer, chasing the career which in actual fact spring boarded Andrew to become who he is today with the breadth of knowledge and pure enthusiasm for fitness and becoming more complete. 

Lifting weights isn’t what it is perceived as, strength is important, it teaches us many things and shows us what we can do if we are not afraid to lose in the short term.

I’m fascinated by the reasons we each have for moving. Why we move. And it felt the right time to open up the conversation with some of those that we know and who listen to the podcast about their experiences with movement and what it has brought to them. 

Personally past experiences with movement and observation of others journey I have noticed that we move in whatever form our bodies are innately drawn to and it is my personal belief that is because our body is wanting to express something more than our mind/ego can comprehend or the conventions of sport and competition allow. 

There comes a time in the experiences Chris and I have listened to when a specific event evolves the idea of movement and physicality from sport and striving towards navigating what we are, who we are and why. 

So I am saying that movement gives us meaning and a mechanism to process our past lived experiences to make sense of them and organise them in our body and mind to support us in the future. 

Where sport is about competition and the media narrative is often about crushing it or you are less than so you need to do more. Movement is about connection and when we connect the dots there unfolds an infinite opportunity irrespective of age and ability. The body feels seen, heard and safe, and that is an environment for growth. 

So I am saying do what attracts you, it may never have been in your mind before but by listening in to our body and its needs there is something to glean for progress. It may not be what you think it is. But the idea that we will glean what we can glean when we are ready to glean what we are ready to glean. 

Be curious, ask questions, enjoy the expression and know that the more we express the more our capacity for learning and growth will occur. 

Kicking off the series is our conversation with Dan Armstrong who I met whilst cold sea swimming and connected with over a hot warm drink afterwards. I listened as he expressed his practice of running, sea swimming, structure, simple rules to live by and the freedom that occurred at a time of a family experience that does happen and turns our perspective and why upside down. 

I thank Dan for his time in conversation, and the time spent with him over the last few years. As with all of these conversations the what, the activity is not the main draw. It is the principles, experience of someone else and the meaning, the ‘why’ that is the guide. 

Enjoy, share and let us know if you have an experience that you feel would be beneficial to share.

Today we bring up the concept of the Shadow, the term coined by Carl Jung to describe the place where we store our psychological wounds, negative thought patterns and ancestral baggage which can weigh us down and prevent our true self emerging and ascending in the world.

Chris and I have both been interested in this concept as we became curious as to how people including ourselves would find movement, sport, physical activity healing to our soul and psyche, and also a distraction when used and abused. Just the idea that there was something not quite right with me due to my past experiences sounded woo woo, and a little daft until I began to recognise patterns emerging in how I would deal with certain situations which seemingly reappeared throughout my daily life. The ones where someone says or doesn’t say something to you and it triggers a cascade of thoughts and emotions that come from seemingly nowhere.

That nowhere is the shadow, the side of yourself which you don’t see but is very much there and influencing your every move and action. They are the unopened boxes in the metaphorical loft, where you don’t really want to go into them because they hold memories which you don’t want to relive. 

But it is not all negative, in the sense that by shining a light on the shadow and unpacking the boxes, what doesn’t belong to you can be acknowledged and given back to where it came, or be accepted and put to use as a positive. That is shadow work, a very powerful tool that supports you in explaining, acknowledging and integrating the uncomfortable parts of our past present and future self.

Chris holds space with shadow and transformational expert Farah Siddiq whose own experiences and family history led her to taking a deep and often painful dive into her families ancestry to explore and expose the karmic debt which is passed down the line until settled by a family member.

As with much that is being exposed about human kinds ancestry, we have a choice to settle the debts and create a future that is one based on forgiveness, love and compassion rather than fear, shame and guilt.

Follow Farah on her social networks:

www.farahsiddiq.com

@farahmsiddiq

Hey there and welcome to the weMove podcast coming live from my living room and the wonders of Zoom whilst we are in this time of isolation.

So the last week or so, we have been surrounded by news, news and more news on Covid 19/Coronavirus. 

I wanted to know more about what we can personally do to regain some control of our Selves whilst the news and media does its best to create increasing levels of fear, panic and hysteria.

So I made a few phone calls and extended whatsapp messages to the sources that I trust when I have questions health related, both physical and mental and in this case particularly with regards to how we can optimise our immune system and provide it with the resources to do what it needs to do.

Having knowledge that I trust from those who are at the tip of the spear in their fields gives me the opportunity to makes necessary steps forward, I trust you get something from this conversation that can be actionable and timely to support you through this defining era of the new decade.

From Chris and me, take care of yourselves and reach out to us if you have any more questions. 

Peace.

Glen Burrows, co-founder of ethicalbutcher.co.uk talks regenerative and grass-fed farming and how the industrial food industry has removed the nutrients of the food we eat for their own gain. We as a society can inspire farmers to rediscover the farming methods which restore the earth we live on and sustain healthy, nutrient-dense, and complete animals and plants.

Glen first wrote for weMove.world in Issue 1 with his essay “Watch what you eat” and how the labels we define ourselves by can create a straight jacket for our own growth and health in all senses. 

Three years on we catch up with Glen as he prepares to launch his new venture Ethical Butcher, an online butcher dedicated to providing meat that is better for our health and the planet, inspiring a return to natural farming techniques, an honoring of the animals themselves rather than a cheap mass-produced mechanised machine.

We cover some ground and link into the wider world of farming, regenerative techniques, soil health, functional medicine, Zach Bush MD, Dr. Mark Hyman, the BSE/Mad Cow Disease crisis of the late 80s.

Since recording this episode Ethical Butcher is now live and delivering respected and honoured high quality meat to omnivores around the UK.

This week James speaks to Ryan Willms who James first met back in 2008 in their previous careers in mens fashion. Having not kept in touch since then, it was a post written by Ryan in 2019 sharing his new direction and perspective for what was important - purpose and health that created an opportunity for reconnection.

Ryan’s journey to date will resonate with many of you. Developing a successful career, working relentlessly and overlooking the vehicle that created the success, his body and mind. From creating a successful publishing/media company titled Inventory, Ryan moved from Vancouver to New York, the logical step for career success. My experience of New York is one of hyperdrive, the pace is relentless and combined with with ever quickening world of fashion losing sight or even abandoning our health and sanity easily happens.

Ryan got to the end of his road on a photoshoot in Alaska, and it was a serendipitous meeting of one of the team that gave Ryan the opportunity to begin to assess his situation and begin to navigate back to himself. From New York the move to California beckoned, a return to a pace of life more in keeping with our bodies whilst still connected to his career as Creative Director, Ryan embarked on his return to wellness, studying under the Master Teacher Paul Chek, becoming a health coach in his own right and utilising his career experience to create a new platform combining his refined aesthetic with his experiences and discoveries of movement, healing and purpose with readintothewell.com alongside his column for Mr Porter. 

We cover a fair bit of ground from the end of his old life in fashion, to working with health coaches, talk therapy, the power of Ayahuasca and plant medicine and how we can redirect the course of our lives by switching from making decisions with our ego to making decisions from a place of love and compassion to ourselves and others. 

This conversation which would have been done in Los Angeles had the global lockdown not surfaced. So this one is done on Skype and occasionally the quality drops in and out.