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The Background Story
78 Plays5 years ago
Why was BTE created? How did it get started? What did it look like then? What does it look like now? How does it work? Hopefully this episode provides you some cool background info and insight into the evolution of BTE, which is an on-going process.
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Transcript
Introduction and Focus on Stress
00:00:01
Speaker
Hello. Hello. Here we are. Hello. Are you there? Yeah. No, no, no. The people listening. All right. I'm literally sitting right in front of you. Yes.
00:00:19
Speaker
So today we were going to talk about stress, some inputs to stress, but we kind of are going to maybe either save that or I don't know, maybe not have it be as heavy, not heavy. You know what I mean? But like,
00:00:36
Speaker
Yeah, sciency, like, all right. And the question we always ask ourselves is like, well, what's the so what, you know, and we don't always do a great job probably answering that. Um, but that's, or at all, but that's certainly something that we, we want to, and we were kind of like, I'm not
The Evolution of 'Between the Ears'
00:00:54
Speaker
really sure. So obviously, um, there's been a bunch of changes to like between the years, I guess it's going to be about between the years, but
00:01:07
Speaker
between there's fitness is opening up, there's a seminar, there's the practice, there's just these different things. And I think it would be kind of cool to kind of rewind a little bit and look back to how this thing started, why it started where it came from and where it is now was completely unknown and not intentional and not planned for and was never even considered.
00:01:35
Speaker
Sure, and I think in that evolution, the purpose of that is definitely also addressing kind of like, okay, well, and where is it now and helping people navigate a little bit of like, what it is, what it is not, and where it's going. So there's been, it's kind of a two parter, where it's evolved from. And also, there's been a lot of people
00:01:59
Speaker
curious, more curious lately and interested in like, oh, why are you doing that? How's that as it relates to the training? So trying to clarify that a bit also in this podcast. Yeah. Yeah. So a well, like an informative behind the scenes, you know, sort of origin story.
00:02:17
Speaker
brief chat, not to really get into it too, too much, but just sort of for folks who are newer to listening or weren't around a few years ago, like just some cool background. And I think maybe some appreciation taking from it, whatever folks will, um, moving forward. So go on. So I'll be back in 20 minutes.
Military Influence and Personal Growth
00:02:43
Speaker
So four years ago,
00:02:46
Speaker
I four score. Yes. Let me back up even further. It was further than that. When I was a wee little lad, the idea of between the ears started when I was still in the military, probably in the middle of it, like pretty, not pretty early on, but probably right around the, you know, 40 to 60%, uh, probably when I was still at Bragg.
00:03:12
Speaker
going through training and whatnot. The passion I have was always about coaching and training and partnering with people to share experiences, facilitate growth, discover, learn about ourselves, about others, about all of that.
00:03:35
Speaker
in the military and special forces training and before that, you know, at playing at elite levels of collegiate soccer, club soccer and all of that, there was, there was this constant pursuit of trying to be better at your craft, to look for ways that you could grow off the field so that you could grow and be better on the field.
00:03:58
Speaker
And what I think is really kind of interesting is no one sits you down and teaches you that. That's very much a path and a journey that you have to, one, want to embark upon and then really be okay with not really knowing if it's going to work or how this stuff kind of applies.
Zen Principles and Sharing Lessons
00:04:21
Speaker
Like what is, what is studying Zen principles really going to make you better at in on the field or whatever? So there's always been this sort of draw towards experiences to learn more about yourself, to be, to, to grow from within so that you could be better in whatever your pursuits are, your ambitions, your goals, your, your life. And that really kind of fortified in the military where
00:04:50
Speaker
Um, I felt that there was a opportunity to try to share lessons learned experiences that were, that were taught, that were trained, that were validated, that were still being explored from, you know, a career as a high level athlete. And then, yeah. And I think what's interesting is a lot of people think that between the ears really was like all about your military experience. But in fact, you were using kind of your between the ears.
00:05:20
Speaker
approach well before the military and to help you in that effort that's not like a military thing between the years isn't like a this is from the handbook of like a Green Beret and this was something you were putting into practice before and then you did apply that to help you do what you did in the military and get to where you were which was pretty
00:05:44
Speaker
uh, from the outsider's perspective, unrealistic. So yeah, the, the between years doesn't extract the teachings of special operations and give it in a, in a, in a, uh, non-military site. Like, like go rock. Yeah. Rock is kind of taking like, Hey, this is stuff people do in the military. We're going to just make it civilian. That's not what this is. And I think that's kind of important because I think given the fact that you're a green Beret, which does lend itself to,
00:06:13
Speaker
what you've done because it validates almost the between years practice, but it's not the other way around. Right, right. And I think that there's value, there's opportunity for everyone, you know, and some of those events are, you know, very, very military inspired. And some between years events are very military inspired as well, but it's, again, it's always going to be like, it's not what you're doing.
Comparing Military and Civilian Experiences
00:06:34
Speaker
And so if people really want the military experience, you know, it's just, just waste their time.
00:06:42
Speaker
Just like just sit around wait. Hey tell him about a time and then pick up pick up pine cones throw them over the fence and Just wait till to get rushed. You're just waiting. You're waiting to be rushed Constantly
00:06:58
Speaker
So if you want to know what it's like to be in the military, there you go. Anyway, so yeah, so that was kind of the thing and that was part of the, just the ongoing dialogue and stuff like that. And then finally got out and you were like, and I was kind of chirping at you about it, but in classic me form, I'll talk about it, but I won't do it. Yeah. Very little action. Yeah. Well.
00:07:22
Speaker
Anyway. So you were like, hey, you should you got to like kind of. Well, I think what's interesting, too, is your your path to that point. While like you'd achieved so many things, it wasn't. Being an entrepreneur, I think that was where it was like the scary part, stepping over that line like, OK, so if I want to do this, you're the only person that knows between the years. You're the only person that can do it.
00:07:50
Speaker
you're not like, Oh, do I want to be part of this bigger organization? And you've been part of bigger organizations all the way from when you were like tiny. That was, I think the, the stepping off point for you. Like it does mean to bring these principles to life. It inherently means being an entrepreneur, starting your own business. Yeah, that's definitely something I am not good at and
00:08:13
Speaker
Well, you are learning. I'm learning. Yeah. But that's for you at that point, you know, you had been an entrepreneur for whatever, however many years at that point. 100 years. So, I mean, she's so long. You're so old. Yeah. So that was like, as far as like a, that was a very, very, between years is very much my own like between years experience kind of deal. So anyway, so it did an event and
00:08:39
Speaker
Well, so yes, you decided to test this with an event.
Origins of 'Between the Ears' Events
00:08:43
Speaker
It was very kind of last, I mean, not last minute, but it was last minute. I think I gave 24 hours notice at most, maybe that day, maybe day of. It was basically a show up at this time, at this place. Yeah. Yeah. At night. Someone did comment, I'm scared. Yeah. Yeah. There was a variety of, of, uh,
00:09:09
Speaker
Somebody showed up not wearing appropriate exercise. Yeah, but I didn't really say anything. I didn't say like what to wear what to bring so like it was just That's funny. It was there was no formality to it between the ears didn't exist for months like as definitely not from a business standpoint not from a social media standpoint not from a
00:09:29
Speaker
Right. It was just this random. It was just this thing. Yeah. And so that was a night in Morristown that included a medicine ball. Buckets of water. Buckets of water and a garden hose. To fill the buckets. To fill the buckets with water. Yes, of course. Well, but I, but so anyway, so I look back at that and I was like, Oh my God, this was,
00:09:56
Speaker
But I think, okay, so the, obviously there's a lot that we can laugh about, about that, but what was there was this unknown for sure. People showing up, having unknown people being.
00:10:10
Speaker
The light being turned on for some people with their own, how they operate, how they, how they react to things. That was kind of part of like, Hey, you're shining a light on like the reaction or how people are being not so much the what like, Hey, whatever it is, doing squats, carrying a bucket of water. That's not what it's about. It's like.
00:10:32
Speaker
Starting to uncover a little bit of like the how the why the what the yeah, it was to really challenge yourself like like Like challenging your body. Well, I mean it was not exactly physically easy, but it wasn't the world's hardest thing But it wasn't like can you survive this? No, everyone was survived
00:10:51
Speaker
But it was like just, just kind of challenge yourself. See what, see how you respond in this novel unknown situation of, of whatever. And so, you know, people showed up and it was like, well, that's interesting. Why did they show up? And I didn't bother to ask. I just figured people wanted to have a challenge. You know what I mean?
00:11:12
Speaker
And so that was interesting. And then we went out to Telluride, had another little thing, like a small group event that was like totally informal, kind of just like off the cuff, like, oh yeah, we'll do this thing. I mean, I wouldn't even say that was an event. That was more of like you bringing that between the ears experience. Yeah, just having like, hey, you guys want to do this thing.
00:11:29
Speaker
And then we did it. And then another one, we went down to the beach and did a beach event, which was interesting for a few reasons. Totally forgot
Development of Immersion Events
00:11:43
Speaker
about that. Yeah, the beach event.
00:11:44
Speaker
then in October of yeah and then in October so about whatever that is a few months later had a much bigger one right those kind of learned each one and I was like the fourth event third formal one so from there that time frame I think at that point you had established yourself between the ears as like there was this unknown there was definitely a physical challenge I think and I don't
00:12:14
Speaker
I mean this in like it was a negative. It's part of the story between the ears. It kind of did take a path down a road of like a lot of the unknown was kind of the secret, like the fight club part. There was kind of a fight club element to it. And what do you mean? Like.
00:12:32
Speaker
People don't talk about it. There's not the website was just like basically a black. Well, this is before there was even a website. Right. Okay. I just mean that period of time. So let's just, um, which I think is interesting, but it also,
00:12:44
Speaker
in hindsight, now you look at it and say like, okay, that maybe scared some people off for sure, because it was truly for everybody. It wasn't, it wasn't something that no, like you can't do this. You're not physically capable. Um, it was something that literally everybody could do physically or there could be a way for them to do it. Right. But that wasn't really, that kind of got a little bit lost. Yeah. The event escalated in terms of, um,
00:13:14
Speaker
it became much about the event. And while the event was, because you did that event multiple times, cause then I did that event. Well then the next one I didn't do that event changed up the logistics. But anyway, for like three or four more did that one. And it was very much
00:13:32
Speaker
It was a good experience for some. I'm sure some hated it and hate me from it. But again, I wasn't yelling at anyone, wasn't screaming, but was providing an experience to be a guide that hopefully while we may have traveled X number of miles, they actually, instead of getting from point A to point B, they got from outside to inside and confronted something.
00:13:56
Speaker
within themselves and that could have been like it not all bad like some people confronted some really amazing things about themselves and so So that was cool, but they lacked follow-through right they lacked all follow-through and It was then sort of very much about the what? About the event about the event he did this event he got this patch he kind of moved on and then there was like well what now and so a few people afterwards were
00:14:25
Speaker
expressive of interest in continuing the work like now what like now what do I do now I learned to stuff now what it's like well I don't know do it and it's like that's not there it was missing something and and really you started to realize
00:14:42
Speaker
on the last couple of events, like people were really, and I think at that point you didn't maybe have an understanding of all the like nervous system science and what was happening, but people were definitely like having this experience. And then it was kind of like they were going home to having to like take their kids to soccer practice and proceed with their life. And there was, you felt, and there was some feedback like, Hey,
00:15:10
Speaker
like the transition. So that's when you did an immersion. You did a weekend. But interspersed throughout that, because immersion was maybe a year or two after started, there was smaller scale events in the gym, engagements that were like a four hour event. But even those people did say like, you know, even though, OK, that ended up midnight versus eight in the morning, there was still that kind of like weird
00:15:36
Speaker
Like, I'm not sure I'm ready to go home yet and just kind of turn a light switch. You know, that that was a little bit. So yeah. Yeah. So then you you kind of but at that point, I think what the theme of Between the Ears was there was a physical portion. Always. And the physical really aligned with, like, kind of the concept you were
00:16:03
Speaker
Like there was always that alignment of, and to not like be specific about the events. Cause if you do them again or whatever, but the movement was aligned with kind of the mindset. And so even the indoor events, there was kind of two different kind of sections of it. And they, they were very much like, there was a very specific movement coupled with what you were trying to provide some insight into. So that at that point had pretty much been established.
00:16:31
Speaker
Right. So I probably did, I don't know, about a dozen events. And at that point people were, you were asking people to write also. Yeah. Throughout that. Yeah. A little bit later. So you're including that. So that was started, that started to get included. Um, when did that get included? Maybe six of them. Right. The first thing people did was journal anyway. Um, yeah. So that's, that's always part of it. So the inward facing,
00:17:02
Speaker
Stimulus or whatever we're gonna call like the trajectory has always been inward. Yeah, you know what we do external stuff is just the catalyst to get us there But still they lacked follow-through Immersion which was a 48 hour Retreat if you will No massages and no massages and candle lit
Community and Reflective Experiences
00:17:25
Speaker
dinners. No, no warm towels. We did have a candle there. Oh
00:17:28
Speaker
But that was really a good event, like small group. Well, because it gave people the chance to, it wasn't all about the physical. It wasn't all about the physical. And that's the thing with the events, that's the thing. So probably from the fourth event to the, maybe the seventh, I guess I did seven of those, it was all about the physical. Like, and it had to be, because just of what it was, like, you know, anyway, so, but it was too much.
00:17:57
Speaker
In many ways and it might have you know, you get to a certain point where and I've been there before It no longer matters what you're doing like you're sort of turned off You do just sort of survive and so not and that's not everybody's experience without a doubt but like
00:18:14
Speaker
the the risk for being open to to learn something like really really awesome is Elevated right the openness kind of shuts off a little bit just because of yeah when you're exhausted and when you're tired and if you've never actually done something like that before which Which no one's done anything like that before except actually that's not correct. I
00:18:36
Speaker
Maybe two people had prior experience that kind of a thing But immersion allowed but immersion was like, okay the basically Man that was wild but like in the the we got there on Friday Saturday morning started had an event
00:18:56
Speaker
came in debrief debrief chatted you made food sat around and had all these elements of debrief like about like looking at it evaluating thinking about it chatting about it at the communal event not just in a survival mode but more of a there was the community in the actual movement piece but then also in actually being able to share and
00:19:22
Speaker
get out some of that stuff and then people were writing and there was time to actually let it absorb. And then the last day was really nice because it was a transition back to life. There wasn't any physical movement on that day. And so I think at that point was really where things were. Yeah, you were you were broadening. I feel like at this, I feel like if you look at it like we've had this analogy going with this, these circles or whatever that you've been doodling.
00:19:52
Speaker
But if you look at between the years where it started, it was very much like a little seed.
00:20:01
Speaker
And it, at this point it's like growing and becoming more inclusive of more things. It's not just so myopic, whereas like the first event was a little bit more myopic. Without a doubt. Yeah, without a doubt. Um, yeah. And so what was really cool about Aversion was that that Saturday we did stuff in the morning, came back in, debrief, you know, eat this or that. And then on
00:20:27
Speaker
after lunch, went back out, had a thing, um, and really then, you know, had a longer little bit of a physical event, timed it well with, you know, the sun had a really cool kind of finish. All right, go back, shower, like physical, physical component complete, come back in a great dinner, just hanging out, like a good long day of a variety of
00:20:56
Speaker
Fitnesses. Mm-hmm. There was a physical there was there was certainly physical exertion sure and I was not pulling punches or making this shit easy. It was hard But it was for everyone Like it really was There is a mental component With some of the like I think I did a little bit of some more teaching them. That was the first time I thought the process thought this stuff and there was for sure an emotional component through
00:21:26
Speaker
One of the major things was, sure we can talk about that over like eating and food and whatnot, but just being in a space that did provide for
00:21:35
Speaker
I can share with people what's real it was safe it was and you know, we were in the middle of nature Mm-hmm, which has a huge component to it So immersion was actually a
Challenges and Successes of Events
00:21:45
Speaker
physical manifestation of a lot of the concepts Yeah, and that I think that was hands down the best and that kind of was the tipping point I think for seeing kind of where it could go and as you said you you had some
00:22:00
Speaker
at that point, you had put together some teaching like, what is this? What is the process? What sort of solidifying some of these things that at that point had been just kind of conceptual and like, I don't know. Well, it's impossible to do that, for example, in previous events, really, when you're four hours into a 10 hour event, right?
00:22:21
Speaker
And it's the middle of the night and it's whatever. And then, you know, there's no time to process and you're not going to be able to take notes. And so anyway, so immersion was really an incredible event. And that was the last real event I've done. And I think one workout since then, just as a fun community. Hey, let's just do, you know, 30, 40 people came. And then the and then it was like, OK, this needs to go into more of a teaching and education.
00:22:52
Speaker
way yeah that and something that like can be dosed you know in a more like regular way not just this zero to a hundred kind of thing and something that yes it's unrealistic for you to host walk through the night in the middle you know the woods people i would be crushed
00:23:15
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, right. Cause you would start, there'd be a lot of planning. Yes. I was involved. I was your helper pretty much. We had some other helpers, but most of it was like, okay, so now we're both up all night. You're stressed because there's bears, there's police, there's God knows what it was kind of like survive. Like for yourself, it was like a survival thing. And then, and then we came home and then you kind of hit that high. Cause everybody was like, great. And then at like 10 AM, it was just like. Downwards. Wow.
00:23:45
Speaker
So that's one part of it. But the other part of it is like people are limited by geography, people are limited by schedules. And it was like, okay, this isn't scalable. So I think the practice was like your next step to like, how do we make this scalable both in terms of reach and also application that you don't have to have an, you know, be crushed by this. Right. But I think what happened at immersion was that immersion
00:24:15
Speaker
brought to light so many of the inputs of the buckets of the pillars of whatever you want to call it with between years, physical, mental and emotional. And I'm not, I didn't make that. Like that's the, you know, it's not my words or whatever, but when you look at, okay, well, how can we replicate or how can we, cause my thing has always been, and this, this goes back to in the army.
00:24:40
Speaker
What are you laughing at? I'm just laughing because of more like, you're like, Oh, just a quick synopsis. That's fine.
00:24:48
Speaker
When I, when it went back into the army, my question to you is always, or what my statement to you really was, and how do I want to be able to provide opportunities and lessons learned? And not like I learned this, so you should do this, but just experiences for people to really have life changing awareness.
00:25:12
Speaker
in a way that doesn't make them uproot their life. How do you have a life changing experience on a Tuesday afternoon? It's kind of like the question that it's always going to be. And what you mean is like a lot of people
00:25:26
Speaker
And I think it was always like such a great example you'd give like, sure, if you like sell all your earthly possessions and backpack across the country. Yeah, I'm sure you're going to have quite an experience about yourself, but that's realistic for like point something into your life. Right. And that's what I'm saying. Like that's, that's where like your quest was to find something where people could have that
00:25:50
Speaker
Learning about themselves without these extreme measures. Yeah, because if you're just changing if you're just taking you know two nickels and putting it from your right pocket to your left pocket nothing's actually changing and so You're like it's the expectation is not to uproot your life or to do things or to you know, whatever
00:26:09
Speaker
But the current life, how do you kind of improve upon that? And you have to be the one who changes. It's not just saying, fuck it, I'm going to quit my job. It's like, well, hold on a second. Are you running away or whatever? So even if you go backpacking across America, you're going to come back and guess what? All your shit is still going to be there. Yes. Yeah. So learning how to work with like who you are in your every day. Right. So. Their their birth, the process or the practice. Right.
00:26:38
Speaker
Weekly even how that started started as like I just kind of like yeah kind of like crossfit.com though More so like crossfit.com. Yeah, you'd post post a workout post a mindset post it was just once a week and then that was people were I'm very grateful for I'm very grateful for people saying you're gonna never gonna let me hold that down you created you created and destroyed a website and
Business Challenges and Adaptability
00:27:05
Speaker
But like, remember how much time you spent on making that app? I stopped the practice. So I, here we are wanting to be a little business owner, right? Why don't I have this thing? I think it's called small business. Small business owner had probably 35 people in it. That was the most people I've ever had in it at one point in time. And you said, I'm going to shut it down. Yeah, because it wasn't, cause it needed to be,
00:27:31
Speaker
You were born to be an entrepreneur. Anyway, so you shut that down, shut that down. Yeah. But anyway, and then built an app, wasted a bunch of money and a bunch of time, but learned, learned, you know, needed to solve some tech issues. Now we use Kajabi been using that for a couple of years. And that's been like a very, that's been really, really good. Yeah. It's been awesome. Saved our gym too. Yeah. Just going to say, you're welcome for that.
00:28:00
Speaker
Thank you. Oh, wait. You're thanking me. I mean, I, you introduced me to it, but I did the work. What are you kidding? Okay. Anyway, so the practice became this thing that like anybody anywhere could access it, could also have the community element. There, there is a workout component. I mean, the workout is very much, um,
00:28:26
Speaker
Like a predominant part of it. Yeah, for sure. I mean, there's like I said, there's always going to have to be For what I think is most powerful physical involvement and it doesn't have to be
00:28:39
Speaker
Like the one event where I, you know, basically had people do a 12 mile movement. No, because you can't do that on Tuesday afternoon. You have to be able to do this stuff on Tuesday afternoon. And so the workout, the requirement was like at most one piece of equipment that is common in a gym situation. You don't need an axe or an axe. Oh my God. Oh my God.
00:29:04
Speaker
Wow, you're probably gonna get a lot of people signing up just because they want to know what the eff like I actually saw I actually saw here's a little side. I actually saw this this new company and they do like axe fitness It's crazy. Anyway, what I meant to say who's gonna ensure those people only a sharp
00:29:23
Speaker
okay anyway anyway what I meant to say was you don't need like a yoke yeah or something but I was thinking cuz it's an axle bar anyway whatever anyway I need something crazy you don't need this the one thing about the practice which I would say like I think what's cool is as we go there's these pieces of between the ears and these different
00:29:41
Speaker
outlets for people. What's interesting, I think, is someone like my mom, she's done the practice, she's doing the practice. Yeah. And she's 75, I think, 70, 74, 73 in that, okay. You're in trouble. She's gonna get mad at me. But my point is, is someone who's approaching that number, right, of year, in her 70s,
00:30:04
Speaker
And she's doing those workouts. So it's not so much too. And I think this is where the, the what some people can get stuck on like, well, that's too hard for me. Or I can't do that. Or this, not, it's not about there's tons of ways to scale it. And you're very good about doing that. But part of the practice is, um, yeah, like if you're not a,
00:30:29
Speaker
fitness, if you're not someone who's super comfortable with fitness, that might be a bit of a leap initially. Would you say? No, I don't think so. I mean that one of the things that I'm trying to get at is like an entry point into between the ears. Since then, you've now created the seminar. Oh, OK. Where you're like not you can learn about it. You can learn about how important the physical pieces
00:30:54
Speaker
Without you know what I mean like there's so the seminars like the seminars the only thing that's non-physical related You know because it's just it's just like a seminar you know and I don't go into fitness physical fitness really with that because It's just all about the human right, but it's about the body so yeah, it's about the body But it's not it's not about workouts. It's not about workouts at all and
00:31:19
Speaker
Point was that you just wasted three minutes of our podcast progressing along your timeline that there's like these different entry points for people at this point to experience between the ears and Yes, but the practice is mental physical emotional. There's the journaling component all that stuff on a very approachable During the week in your home life scenario. Yeah
00:31:43
Speaker
But then there's also an entry point for people that are like, maybe I'm not ready for that yet. What's this about? They can learn about it through the seminar. So you've now sort of tackled all that. Yeah. So that was sort of the reason for coming up with a seminar was because you can do the practice, but still not really know the inputs. Kind of understanding why it works. Yeah, because the practice is what you'll do. Yeah.
00:32:09
Speaker
Now you'll make it, you'll learn about yourself, but it's still what you do. Like it's the, it's like going to, we'll just say, you'll go into across the gym and you do the workout of the day versus understanding how to program a workout. Sure. That's the difference between those two. So, so that was like, that was, that's been really good. And what is the value with that analogy? So what's the value for people with between the ears and knowing the why?
00:32:39
Speaker
Like the difference between just doing the workout. So that one, you can, the whole, and I try to be very vocal and redundant with this while delivering it to people. The purpose is to make it yours. To make it personal, to learn about yourself, and to realize how you can implement this based upon you. Not me.
00:33:01
Speaker
It's not my I'm not trying to please do not be like me like that That should be the full disclosure and I hope people don't think that that's what I'm trying to do like it's about you There's common things there's teachings there's this and there's a lot of what I think like my value is is providing people with a fundamental understanding of
00:33:23
Speaker
a school or a spectrum of modalities, philosophies, science, like the nervous system, obviously, with Julian, you know, being the our real first person to say, hey, we're going to actually study this stuff. Right. Well, so just to kind of make clear that point, I think the difference there, not only about it not being like your interpretation, like your thing that people are just carbon copying,
00:33:52
Speaker
even with the analogy of like a crossfit workout, at some point in your progression there, it's important to know like, hmm, like, well, why would I maybe not do a snatch and a kettlebell swing together? You know what I mean? I do know what you mean. So it's like, and then understanding the why so that you can further empower yourself to tweak things to what you need versus just kind of
00:34:20
Speaker
Making it like this very robotic like I do this and this and not really understanding like to make it To really be able to get the value out of it and extract the value beyond the 12 weeks of the practice Yeah, I mean is to understand like oh, so I think the nervous system piece what's really interesting about that is That for you was like a major
00:34:41
Speaker
light bulb as well because I think up until up until you were exposed to understanding the nervous system and Julian at the strong fit seminar I think there was like this is there's you were you were getting the value out of all that but you didn't maybe understand the why so even for you understanding the why for sure was huge and catapulting like oh when I went to the strong fit seminar he explained why between years works right
Physiological and Psychological Connections
00:35:11
Speaker
And I, and I, and to that point, I just, so my background, we wouldn't, we wouldn't really refer to like really as the nervous system, but it was peak arousal states. That's the nervous system. That's what happens right from your system and then understanding why that works and everything like that. And so when you look at over the past few years, like what has been going on, yeah, it has been about,
00:35:41
Speaker
Working with your nervous system and in many ways realizing how what you're doing is working against it But that's on the one side, but you you also have the psychological side
00:35:53
Speaker
And that's been another part of my experience of like, this isn't just read science journals and know what is happening and then reproduce studies in like a laboratory environment. Because for all of the legitimacy that there is in that.
00:36:15
Speaker
There are still the unexplainable elements of psychological. Yeah. And so, yeah, like you went. So when you start to look at that, it's two sides of the same coin, physiological and psychological. And then I think what what that's part of, that's like obviously a major thing with between mental, emotional, physical. And so and I think like what's what I think is sort of a point to be made and not really sure how to articulate it, but
00:36:44
Speaker
And I think we've said this before, but I feel very strongly about it. This isn't like whether or not you want to participate in between the years is completely like, sure, that's voluntary. That's if someone wants to or not.
00:36:56
Speaker
how the body works, the nervous system, the psychological components, the emotional, you have no choice in that. That is how it works, period. I think people like to believe that like, and I'll just take crossfit soon. Well, I don't do between, I do crossfit, like that doesn't apply to me and that's wrong. The nervous system, those peak arousal states, working with it, working against it, whatever you're doing,
00:37:21
Speaker
workout wise, life wise, whatever, it doesn't really matter. Those principles, how the body works is still how the body works. This is the thing that I have been sharing with folks.
00:37:34
Speaker
Just because you have a fucking iPhone 11 doesn't mean you're not like the caveman that you came from. You're a lot more like the caveman that you came from than you are from this ridiculous evolved thing. Sure. Because you've got the iPhone 11. You can't write. I'm sorry. We think we are way more advanced than we are.
00:37:54
Speaker
Right. Because we are capable of, you know, flying to the moon. Right. Because we've evolved and because we've but there's still that promote that. What is it? Promordial? Is that the right word? Promordial. I don't actually exactly know. Anyway, like primal. Primal. Yeah. How your brain is. You still have reptilian brain. We're we have we cannot out evolve evolution. Like how we have evolved.
00:38:22
Speaker
fucking matters. And even things like how the, from a brain standpoint and from a system standpoint with a reptilian brain, the brainstem, like all of that basic life function, how that, like that is still the thing that drives us.
00:38:45
Speaker
the emotional brain, the limbic brain, the mammalian brain, the human brain, the frontal cortex. And like, yeah, it all does work together. But just because we're iPhone 11, it doesn't mean we're not walking around the club in our hand too. Like we're way, we're, we have to look back to know where we came from and we have to respect and we have to appreciate that. And so that's been obviously the past couple of years.
00:39:13
Speaker
looking at that, uh, more. And there's a whole personal story with that too, with me trying to, you know, kind of work on my own shit and, uh, being like, holy crap, there's some, there are some very primal things here that could perhaps be getting in my way or that I could look at or whatever. It's not just like, well, why can't like the willpower, like we'll just, I'll just think my way in or out of something.
00:39:35
Speaker
So I don't want to get too like I think getting So anyway, so there's been this so where so that's where we've come from right? That's where it's
Future Developments and Gym Planning
00:39:44
Speaker
been. It's where it's kind of done and now I Think it's literally raining only on our house, but everywhere around us is sunny and now You know in a couple months who the heck knows but like opening a gym I
00:40:00
Speaker
Yeah, and I think we skipped a little bit of a piece there. Well, how would you like to? Executive director, Kariana. We're having a conversation. Please, yes. Go. Anyway. What's that noise? It's the rain that I pointed out. Oh my god. Anyway.
00:40:19
Speaker
in the last year or so like so this this progression I mean you decided that I think the experimentation what your point is about like how we are not that far away from our up telling brain understanding that what we're doing for fitness and movement
00:40:37
Speaker
isn't something we can compartmentalize and it's very much going to impact all that stuff. So it's like, okay, well then how, what's the expression of physical fitness while still preserving the between the ears methodology kind of tenants. And how do you do it? Right. Yeah. So I think that kind of led to this, like, well, that's a piece that's very much like it started to feel, um, yeah, like that had to be pursued. Yeah. When we started the, the, the thought of opening up a gym,
00:41:09
Speaker
was as foreign as possible when this thing started. And I guess that's one of the things, and I guess maybe what can you take away out of this listening from my own experience, from our experience? You have no fucking idea what's gonna be presented to you. And what you'll learn and grow and become and do that from the beginning. And so. And if you set that out, you'll probably be too fixated on that that you might,
00:41:37
Speaker
Miss other things. Yeah, I mean and that was Starting when I quit my job and started in a parking lot Yeah, I didn't think like to think that where you are now from when you started but for whatever reason We want to have it planned because that is a we want to have goals Yeah, yeah, and it's not to say don't have goals anarchy is not the approach but not being so attached to this singular thing right or or also
00:42:08
Speaker
you know, not being willing to step into the unknown because the safety and the, and what we think we're much safer when we can control things naturally.
00:42:23
Speaker
But what's funny is in those scenarios for people and where people get tripped up a lot, is that what they are trying to control is something that is completely outside of their control. And right. Yeah. And I think the purpose, the thing with between the ears is while you didn't have the specific goal, like I'm going to open a gym in six.
00:42:43
Speaker
Six years your goal was to constantly seek and evolve and and discover Do you remember that do you remember that goal setting seminar? Right before I went to the army and they're like, what's your five-year plan? I was like, my goal was literally not to be dead and She was like, okay No, I just don't want to be dead Anyway, so I think getting us to the point of like
00:43:09
Speaker
Yes, how this is not presenting in a gym and currently what the state of between the ears is, there is still the practice. Yeah, for sure. There is still this emphasis on, well, there's still the practice, there's still the understanding of like how this all works, which is a really important piece, the seminar, and just how we are, it doesn't even matter if you're
00:43:31
Speaker
not currently like a fitness enthusiast. It's a really great course and understanding the importance of human movement, the brain, the whole system. But the gem, what's cool about that is
00:43:45
Speaker
fitness has been such a crucial part of your life. And so it's kind of this natural way to bring something that yes, fitness is mainstream. It's a huge industry. People are doing it, but you having a role in that industry in a way that you think is like a way to improve people's lives. Right. And I think that's sort of a feel good thing because everybody's going to say that. Um, but
00:44:16
Speaker
But what we know now, what we know now, and I think that's where the responsibility of fitness professionals.
Fitness Industry Critique and Intention
00:44:25
Speaker
Now the responsibility of them is to continue to evolve and to continue to seek out knowledge because you have a tremendous responsibility when you're taking people's bodies and like they're handing them over to you this entire system. Unfortunately, I don't think that happens. I think people get stuck on something and they don't tell you how many people have told me.
00:44:48
Speaker
Recently because of between years and between years fitness and stuff They had a personal trainer and all this personal trainer tried to do was kick him in the nuts repeatedly for the entire time And it's like yep, that person's an idiot and a thief and
00:45:05
Speaker
And and and I get it and I see things and and and whatever and that's not to talk poorly about anybody But it's to also call bullshit on what is prevailing? What is prevailing is? this
00:45:22
Speaker
Just grind you into the ground because look at you you you Phoenix rose from the ashes and it's like well, right and what you now what between the years and what the nervous system and understanding this stuff because yes And I'll say it like you read voraciously book after book after book and then look at like how it would okay So what's the so what?
00:45:42
Speaker
what you know, what I think organizations like StrongFit, what they're trying to also like, get out there to people is like, that is not just about like, ah, yeah, if you kind of like just push yourself every day too hard, yeah, you might get injured or you might need a rest day. No, this is like, it can really impact
00:46:04
Speaker
who you are, your state of depression, anxiety, like there's real impact in that. It's not just about like, oh, if you go too hard, like you might get an injury. And I think that's where it's like this responsibility to understand that it's not a compartmentalized, like just working the body. Here's another one that I would say too. So to kind of get into now, okay. So we've been showing videos a little bit more, some of our training and you know, we obviously like, so obviously, um,
00:46:33
Speaker
Yeah, there's still a CrossFit gym. CrossFit has, for some people, CrossFit has a couple slices of a pizza pie. And it's a good looking pizza pie. It's a tasty pie. It's good. If CrossFit is all of the pieces of that pie,
00:46:49
Speaker
It's no judgment, but you just have to understand like, is that your pie? Did you make that or did, did, did so much just give it to you? Right. And so why would you only have, let's just say all of your pieces of the pie be, be cross it. And I would submit to you, it's because you didn't actually think about what you want your intention to be. And that's okay. Honestly, like that is okay for folks. If, especially if they're like, I don't know, man, I just want to work on it. I just want to get fitted. So I'll do whatever. And it's like, yeah, got it. You know?
00:47:20
Speaker
Let's just also be honest that if it's no different than if you were to just eat pizza every meal of the day, there would be some consequences. There would be some negative things. And so just having an open dialogue about pitfalls and benefits of everything you do. Right.
00:47:37
Speaker
And that's part of with between the ears and the methodology and my coaching that it's always going to be about that. And so because it's going to be you, the best thing I can do is essentially hold up a mirror and turn the light on. That's the only thing really that. I think the best teachers do, because if it's just about replication, if it's just about parroting and imitation, it's not authentic.
00:48:04
Speaker
And I think that's where that's probably the two things. One, I think that's one of the biggest challenges for people because naturally you just want to be told like, well, what do I do? How do I do? I understand that a hundred percent in that position where it's like navigating that yourself. So I think that's where the between the ears, the fitness components, the gym, the groups we've been doing.
00:48:28
Speaker
There's help, there's support, there's guidance while also trying to help people navigate that space of making decisions for themselves, reconnecting with themselves. What do I actually want? Why do I want it? The other thing I was going to say is I think we use CrossFit often as an example. I want to point out that
00:48:47
Speaker
It is no difference if you are only an endurance athlete. All you do is run and cycle and whatever. And there are people that love that. And that's wonderful. But to your point, just knowing it's not a comprehensive way to treat your body. And there will be, like you said, some pitfalls to that. And if you speak to probably any of the elite that people have taken this to the most extreme,
00:49:13
Speaker
they can absolutely speak to that. It's not a secret. But somehow we think as recreational people, we're immune to it. And there's a rabbit hole that not a lot of people want to jump down. And that's OK. And I understand that.
00:49:29
Speaker
So it's like, okay, well, what the hell does talking about the brain have to do with movement and what is it with us? And so, you know, one of the things that you can, you can do if you're still listening to this, whatever we're calling this, one of the things you can do over the next week, every single time you work out,
00:49:52
Speaker
I want you to truly connect to how you feel. And it's not from a labeling standpoint. It's to how your body feels like physically during your movement. It'll, I think it'll be a little bit more powerful to do that when you're pushing a little bit harder. So say sprinting or hitting the bike hard or, you know, whatever.
00:50:19
Speaker
but the sensory feeling that you get. So like if you're pushing a side, like my quads feel like they're on fire. So yesterday had a good training session with a person and was like making sure staying in it.
00:50:39
Speaker
And so when I was on, when I was sprinting the sled, it was like, you know, whatever up and down the street. And it was like, you get to that point where your body's screaming at you that, that we should stop and we should shut down. Now it's not. Okay. Thankfully. But in that moment. And that exercise to be specific is one just because like, if you were doing another, I just don't want people to take away like the unsaved you like, Oh, just don't listen to your body. Cause that's not what I'm saying. Right.
00:51:08
Speaker
In that moment, you know, like it's still safe pushing a sled. You're not going to be damaging yourself if you continue. Right. It's a safe way. You can't go and say, go get smoked by a car and listen to how your body feels. Like this isn't something I'm saying.
00:51:23
Speaker
But in that moment, and it's not something you could do for long term, but like pay attention to how your body feels and how your body feels, not the story you're making up, not
00:51:38
Speaker
Uh, whatever other sort of external things like, no, no, no, pay attention to how your body feels from a sensory standpoint. And now why is that important? Well, the reptilian brain, the language of the reptilian brain is the felt sense. That's how it that's, that's, that's its language.
Connection with Physical Sensation
00:51:57
Speaker
It's super, and it's, and it's, so what's the, so what of that?
00:52:01
Speaker
Meaning the so what is when we, when we're looking at a lot of this neural connection, when we're looking at, uh, trusting ourselves again, when we're looking at, well, trauma, healing and reawakening things. The felt sense is how our body and our system communicates, especially the older parts of our, of our brain and, and, and who we are. It doesn't communicate through.
00:52:29
Speaker
poetry and language and colors and this and that. So the opposite of that for someone that if they're not doing that, it's the push it away, don't think about it. So oftentimes what will happen is you'll do something super hard, a sled sprint, air bike, that whole thing. And you get to that point. And there's been, yeah, so you get to that point.
00:52:50
Speaker
And it's like, Hey, be a machine, turn off, don't feel, ignore it, grit your teeth and bear it. And in some cases, yeah, sure. I get it. Why you would want to, or need to do that. Uh, risk of life.
00:53:10
Speaker
Extreme scenarios in athlete competition where it's like, you know gonna be the make or break So like I get that however yesterday was Tuesday just so happened to be in the morning on Tuesday morning That is not Necessary it's not helpful
00:53:26
Speaker
And if on one, if you do that once, like, okay, whatever, no big deal. If that's how you normally do things, when you approach pain, if your goal is to deny it, turn away, run away, try to suppress it, not actually experience it, you're doing more damage to like your whole person, your whole person, because guess what? You're the part of your brain that's more ancient than time, right? Is processing something.
00:53:55
Speaker
And you're also training yourself how to turn away. Cause your body doesn't, your brain, that part of your brain doesn't really know like, Oh, I'm just doing a sled print push and I'm turning my, your body is just saying like, we're having an experience and you're shutting. Right. There's a physical thing that is happening within you. And it doesn't know what the fuck movement you're doing, but there's this physical thing.
00:54:19
Speaker
There's also this communication to that older than time part of the felt sense. This is also why, uh, like walking barefoot helps. This is why connecting to the somatic experience of like literally feeling what pleasant touch feels like.
00:54:46
Speaker
And I think that's where, as a society, we could probably generalize and say, we've lost that. When you start working with people and you ask them to describe feelings, people struggle with understanding that connection to how they feel, physically sensations. If you're nervous, what do you feel? Well, I'm stressed. No, no, no. What's the feeling in your body? And that takes practice, which I think
00:55:16
Speaker
is where people who maybe are impatient or like they just want it now, like it does take committing to that. But it's also a similar thing of and a lot of and not a lot of people, but it's a common statement of folks saying that they want to feel more balanced in their life. They don't want to be, you know, they're they're dealing with some stuff in their past or they're anxious about the future. Maybe they have some guilt in the past or whatever.
00:55:43
Speaker
And it's like, okay, well, how present can you be? And it's like, I can't. That's what I want to work on. It's like right on. So get on the assault bike and feel what now is. Feel what fucking now feels like, because that is what we do. We come with all of this. And I think.
00:55:59
Speaker
There's the physical, mental, emotional, there's all of this stuff. And obviously Julian and Richard and StrongFit do a ton with anxiety. But between us just doesn't do with anxiety. And so one of the biggest things is that it really provides people opportunities that are safe that, yes, will help you with your overall fitness, whatever, mental, physical, and emotional, but to experience life truly in the present.
00:56:25
Speaker
And when we get pulled out of that, forward or back, yeah, that's where a lot of problems are. And so if you're constantly going through that, it's okay that you feel that you're not able to connect and live in the present to appreciate your family, to appreciate your job, to be like, yeah, you know,
00:56:45
Speaker
That's okay. It's because you probably haven't trained it or you've trained yourself not to and that's also okay Just know there is a way to train it. There is a way to work on this and so that's like a big thing and so And and and as it relates to like the military too, and it was a life-changing event. We were getting crushed Absolutely crushed in training like and the purpose was to get people to quit and these are not easy people to make quit and a lot of people quit
00:57:17
Speaker
And the one cadre was just getting after us basically saying Everybody's trying to ignore it Everyone's trying to put their head in the sand Everybody's trying to just get by and he was like I think he's told us to take a shower and Invite it and take a shower do all this stuff and I was like
Embracing Challenges and Mindful Fitness
00:57:39
Speaker
And I guarantee you, he didn't know about all of the science behind it or all of the working with trauma or somatic, like there wasn't that, but that was a mindset of, this is how I will approach this. And it was 100% life changing. And I was like, you know what? Yeah, that's interesting. I've kind of heard that before in different sports and this and that. I was like, fuck it, I'm gonna do it.
00:58:07
Speaker
And then you look around and you're like, I'm in the present. And I see that guy crying and that guy, you know, throwing up and that dude just looking like she's like, hmm, kind of take it in. Yeah, it is. And that's where you just acknowledge it. And that's where yet, like the whole thing I talked to people about. Yes, came from. Yeah. So I think from a like kind of what we were getting at is like the end state is I kind of, well, okay, what does that mean for now? And like, when we look at training, because I think some,
00:58:36
Speaker
It can sound like, well, that's just like extreme or like, that sounds like a lot or whatever, but what I think what's great about the gym, about training and, and what, you know, you've taken on now a number of clients and there's just, what's cool is seeing the curiosity with people around like how to incorporate this into their fitness program. Um,
00:59:03
Speaker
That's what's great is it's so approachable. So many people are working out every day. And the way that you can elevate like all of this work is, yeah, just being more comprehensive. There's a, there's a style in which there's kind of, I don't know, and it's not a template, but the between the ears fitness arm, it does take into account.
00:59:24
Speaker
how you feel that day. It's not based on the day of the week. Monday is squat day, no matter what. So it's kind of looking at, okay, that's how a lot of people are used to working out, providing people their own way of like having agency and like what they're doing on that day, aligning it with where they're at.
00:59:43
Speaker
also having some things we know in the body like yes making a muscle connection like there's a value to that not just being in survival mode there's you know value to like as you said pushing on the slide something that's like more intense so it's a very um
00:59:58
Speaker
It's a more comprehensive way to look at fitness. Yeah, and there's also the workout, if there are two. And this is what I've shared with the practice communities. Yeah, go walk in the park for an hour without your shoes on.
01:00:15
Speaker
And it's like, so what do you, what do you mean? Like on one hand, it's not just all crazy, super hardcore stuff, but like, yeah, on one hand it's going to be, yeah. Like assault, like sprints, sled, whatever muscle stuff, like, you know, whatever kind of things. And then on the other hand, like, yeah, literally go walk in the park. And then, and this goes for you listening. Like go find a park where you have grass. If it's a path, awesome. Get out in nature, take your shoes off.
01:00:44
Speaker
and walk for an hour only breathing through your nose not listening to music trying to feel what your senses actually feel like
01:00:55
Speaker
And you'll be amazed. You'll be amazed. It's amazing how many people won't do that will not do this will refuse to do this because they don't want to look like a fucking maniac taking their shoes off in public and being judged and seeing and this and that. Sure. And that's not like I'm not making that up. I'm not. And I and I'll tell you at first when I did it, I was like, man, I wonder what these people are thinking.
01:01:17
Speaker
Now, I don't also care, but that's like right away, I'm sure there are people listening to this thinking like, I don't know. But it's no different than when we push the sled up and down the street, people also think we're. Well, for sure. But yeah, I think that the the thing for people kind of coming to this from a like.
01:01:36
Speaker
curious entering in perspective is one of the things from a, what's, what's interesting about all this stuff is most people come to fitness wanting to look better, feel better, be healthier. Yeah. And what's great without even understanding initially all of the science and like, I don't get quite how this all aligns. What you're providing people with between the ears fitness is all those things. So
01:02:01
Speaker
Because I always feel this sense that people are like, yeah, you know what? I just want to get a little leaner, look a little better. And it's interesting because since really focusing on making the connections, having delineation between my workouts, really honoring the system, all those things are going up in the right direction. So to not have it just be like, wow, the science and the feeling good
01:02:30
Speaker
connecting to yourself is super important. That's also important to all these results you want. And that's where people like to just kind of maybe like, yeah, that's all the like hippie to be shit. I don't really give a shit. I just want to look better, feel better, like be healthy. It's like, well, good luck. Right. Like you, if you're unwilling to change, this is the thing. And like, I'm not to be an asshole, but like, if you're unwilling to change, but you want something that's different, there's a problem. Right. And I'm just, what I'm making the connection to is that,
01:02:57
Speaker
That does you can't just separate that out and like macro your way to to getting leaner and not think that and think that that's going to actually work. So you don't get leaner doing you could get well for however long and then the rest of all your markers go down and you turn into a lunatic and are you happy. So if you want to feel good look good.
01:03:18
Speaker
those things do involve all the stuff we're talking about like it or not. Right. So all I'm saying is like for someone listening, it's like, yeah, that's really interesting. But I'm just out there to like get these results. That's like right. And considering that's fair. This this is a having been in the place where I didn't approach fitness like this. I can say from my own experience and I can only speak for myself. I wasn't headed down a road where
01:03:48
Speaker
it was gonna be long-term results. The way I was going, the path I was going, because of the pitfalls. Now, seeing like, oh, taking into consideration all these other things,
01:03:58
Speaker
It's a much longer road ahead of like, Oh, okay. I can continue down the road of feeling good, looking good and being healthy. So that's where, and I mean, we can talk about it till we're blue in the face of why it works, but I think what's interesting is having other people who have done it do the talking for us. And there's one, one client who is doing, you know, some intense,
01:04:25
Speaker
firearms, combatives, you know, physical training stuff for that, you know, law enforcement, federal law enforcement type of type of world. Like shot really well.
01:04:40
Speaker
better in the pool, smoking people in his class. Well, sure. And yes, yes, we've been doing, you know, we've been working personally and he's put a tremendous amount of work in and he's done the work, but it's like, yeah, it works. And you know, the purpose isn't just to make people
01:05:02
Speaker
athlete or a special operations person or a you know this or that but what's really the most powerful thing is when you do do this you will learn about yourself and you and and and you'll have no idea what you'll learn about yourself before you start you you can't possibly project that just like with this whole thing four years ago and
01:05:27
Speaker
we could have never learned or projected or figured out that like, holy shit, like let's open the gym. And so, you know, that's kind of, once you step forward and you, and you start along the path, you've fundamentally crossed the threshold and you've changed. And then that's where it gets fun.
01:05:52
Speaker
Yeah. So we're looking to open now in the fall. The fall. But there are some opportunities if people are interested in getting going now online and in person. Yeah. So definitely if you have questions, if you're interested, it's the work has begun and there's people that are involved. And so that's between you and my women's group like that. There's a lot of opportunities for people. Yeah. Yeah. That's good stuff.
01:06:22
Speaker
Went a little longer maybe than we thought. But I think it's good to also give the background. You know, just the sort of story of how we got here kind of stuff. Okey-dokey. See you next week.