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#5a- Tourganic Shorts: Keyboard player Adam Ahuja on How He Strives to Create a Positive Impact on the World Through Music, Meditation, a Vegetarian Diet and his Overall Mindset
10 Plays7 years ago
My guest this week is keyboard player Adam Ahuja. Adam is a creative and virtuosic musician with a commitment to his craft and deep awareness of the positive affect music can have on people and culture.
In this conversation:
- Strategies and ideas to stay focused and 'in the moment' on stage
- The importance of creating blocks of time in life to to help to find your path and discover what truly fulfills you.
- The balance between being committed to your vision and maintaining flexibility in the process
- What caused Adam to make the shift to eating a plant-based diet and how compassion for animals was the motivating factor in that decision
- The affect a focused meditation practice had on Adam's life and his music specifically
- Creating positive change in the world through music and how that is a central concept to Adam's mindset
Please take a moment to rate and review the podcast in iTunes and visit www.tourganic.com for more info on this episode and living healthy on the road
Tourganic Podcast Theme song 'The Path' written by David Bailis and this episode's musical interludes by Adam Ahuja and The Flowdown
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Introduction
00:00:01
Speaker
This is Torganic Shorts, where I take select moments and quotes from the full podcast.
Adam Ahuja on Musicianship and Personal Growth
00:00:06
Speaker
My guest this week is keyboard player Adam Ahuja, who has toured with Robert Randolph, Anna Popovich, and his own band, The Flowdown. Adam offers much insight into his world and how he consistently shows the commitment that it takes to strive to be the best musician and human he can be.
00:00:23
Speaker
There
Optimal Performance in Unpredictable Conditions
00:00:24
Speaker
really is no direct predictor of how things are going to turn out, but ultimately you want to be in the best optimal condition you can be to perform.
Balancing Creativity and Life's Challenges
00:00:36
Speaker
when I was younger I used to spend forever just sitting there trying to figure out music and as you get older life gets in quote-unquote gets in the way or challenges you more you have to be more responsible for yourself yeah but when you create these times when you create these blocks to go and do and create something you realize that it's really just about committing and it's really it's really just about
00:01:01
Speaker
learning what is important in your life and just going with it.
Meditation's Role in Performance and Tension Reduction
00:01:08
Speaker
Meditation during a certain point in my life was extremely impactful. That set me up to be more naturally in the space I needed to be because it allowed a lot of the tension that I think results from feeling pressured in everyday life
00:01:28
Speaker
to be resolved.
True Expression and Caring Interactions
00:01:30
Speaker
Did you do something that sounded aesthetically pleasing at a certain moment? It's like, okay, you wanna achieve something, but what's the bigger picture? The bigger picture is you wanna express something real at every single moment. That's the ultimate thing.
00:01:48
Speaker
If you feel cared for and thus can care for someone else and something else, you're much more likely to be much more conscientious about how you interact with the world and respond to things in a positive way. When you learn whether or not you're doing something right or wrong, it could be the environment with your body with someone else and awareness of people and what's going on, whatever it is. So if you have good relationships, I know a lot of people don't get those in life and it's much more challenging. Yeah, being cared for makes you a more caring person.
00:02:20
Speaker
The
Purpose of Life: Connections vs. Experiences
00:02:21
Speaker
physical construction of yourself and of the environment is not so strict to what we think it is. There are other places for consciousness. And what that does is test you
00:02:38
Speaker
to whether or not your purpose in life is only about responding to sensual fascination or using life's experience to deepen your appreciation and connection for all things.
Insights from Animals, Music, and Meditation
00:02:57
Speaker
There's a complete lack of recognition that these are beings. The animals, they're not products, they're actually live. Being similar in a lot of ways to us, and they're not treated that way. It was really a voice against it. I think this is where the meditation, the music kind of come together.
Music as Spiritual Expression and Service
00:03:15
Speaker
We can learn things because we hear them.
00:03:18
Speaker
and we copy them, or even unconsciously we copy them on some level. Or we can try to be as theoretically intuitive as possible and sit there with our instrument and just allow stuff to happen. Goals, in terms of their spiritual layer, how is that sense of service, the utmost service that I can possibly give, involved in the earth?
00:03:48
Speaker
going to happen through this mode that I feel so positive about. And that mode is music.
Conclusion and Audience Engagement
00:03:56
Speaker
Please check out the full episode with Adam and take a moment to rate and comment on the show and iTunes. Until next time, peace.