Julian Ho Podcast

Can you believe this is my first ever interview with my twin brother??? In part 1, we get the ball rolling with introduction and context setting, then naturally land on the theme of 'identity', which anchors our conversation. It felt pretty cool interviewing Nathan, because we weren't just normally conversing, we were cognizant of an audience and theme, which hopefully came across like less ranting and just listening to two brothers talk. The purpose of this interview was originally set to discuss new fatherhood, but is growing to become much more holistic and wide-ranging, kind of like a BTS of the Twin Life. Stay tuned for Part 2!

BEI VITA Core team members Julian (fitness and wellness coach), Nathan (business expert), and Morgan (mental health lecturer) gather over the 2021 winter holidays to roundtable their thoughts on wellness in 2021. A great ‘fly on the wall' listen to 3 leaders in their field, brain jamming, sharing, and enjoying quality time together.

@rory.ella.bray and I @julianho.ca chat about nutrition … but more about the psycho-socio-emotional side of nutrition and our relationship with food. We chat about how food impacts the culture of fitness, the negatives of diet culture, and tips for intuitive eating (a modern paradigm that can help with building a healthy relationship with food).

On this episode, @dustinpym and I, @julianho.ca chatted about mental fitness in the @sweatandtonic recording space. This conversation was spawned by a recent newsletter put out by Fitt Insider. It wrote about how mental health is now mainstream, and that in the pursuit of high performance, mastering the mental muscle has become yet another facet of health to optimize. Evidently, the business of mental health and mental fitness are trending focal points for investors, but at the frontline level, how are they being managed, treated, supported, and invested in by professionals/ practitioners for their participants/patients? The numbers showcase a lot, but often times, reports don't provide the whole picture, just like how stats and metrics can't provide us the whole picture of our health and fitness. Listen in on Dustin and Julian's conversation about their frontline work with mental fitness.

I noticed that my buddy Dustin Pym was on another level this morning, so I decided to hit record. Dustin chats freely about the ‘awareness of mastery' and then flows into how he uses rap and hip hop music as education for life. Some great little nuggets from two guys just having a great conversation.

In this episode Julian and Dustin chat about the mindset of "Work in Progress" and how it helps them to stay humble, but also to keep on keeping on during tough times. The notion that we are all works in progress balances the extremes of too much ego and not enough ego. By acknowledging that we are works in progress even at the "top", is a way to keep the ego in check, it also reminds us that the work-in-progress mindset is a silver lining when we hit rock bottom, and to be kind to ourselves on the journey of growth and development.

A quick trailer introduction of what this podcast is all about!

This episode with @julianho.ca and @dustinpym is an unpacking of stress. They talk about how they cope, manage, mitigate stressful situations when they come, when they're in the stress, and what they do after they subside. Hear about common stressors in class and how Julian and Dustin offer help to their students. This podcast is about the wellness side of fitness, talking about those unsaid matters that matter more than we know, especially how they impact our performance in class (and beyond). Shout outs go to @sweatandtonic for supporting our efforts which in turn support you the listener!

My pal @dustinpym and I @julianho.ca kickoff season 3 of our @sweatandtonic S&T Show (which is all about the wellness side of fitness), with a conversation about things that bring about discomfort and disconnection. We discuss common issues and not-so-common issues that arise in the mind at a fitness class, and share ideas on how to accept the discomfort and disconnection, as a necessary part of the process.

A reading of my newsletter article that shares my current integration process from a life changing trip to Costa Rica and back to the life I have in Toronto. To read the article and see the photos, visit www.julianho.ca and subscribe to my monthly newsletter.

2.0 is a people-platform for key-opinion leaders and subject matter experts to share what's in their head through their hearts. The boutique experience enables an intimate and interactive ambiance. The safe space allows people from all walks of life to be authentic, creative, and original. The tone therefore encourages immersive intra/interpersonal connections. Our presenters voluntarily share their innovations, stories, and struggles as a display of their gratefulness and devotion to creating positive social innovation and impact. Presentations can range from lecture, facilitation, Q&A, innovation share, show and tell, movement demonstration, group discussion, experiential learning, hands on workshop. This April Mindshare was comprised of 4 presentations: David Powell - Community's Heartbeat Elizabeth Couse - Celebrating Diversity & the strength of Vulnerability Nikhol Rei - The Spirit of Community Jordan Leonard - A Speaker Panel on Showing Up & Cultivating Community with Intention Thank you to our venue host Caribeans Coffee and Chocolate, our friends and staff at La Ruka Hostel, and to El Puente The Bridge, a charity that directly funds initiatives that help indigenous communities in need.

The Mindshare is a 'boutique Ted Talks', a conscious networking event that I originally designed for the Toronto fitness industry 5 years ago, but it spread to various industries through changemakers within them. What makes it special is the curation/facilitation method, the diversity of talent, and our altruistic spirit (we donate all event proceeds to charity). We ended up raising enough funds to provide an Indigenous community called the Bri Bri, enough soccer balls ⚽️ and equipment for their brand new youth soccer league!!!! Thanks to @elpuentethebridge for deploying our efforts towards such a fitting and uplifting endeavour

The Mindshare is a 'boutique Ted Talks', a conscious networking event that I originally designed for the Toronto fitness industry 5 years ago, but it spread to various industries through changemakers within them. What makes it special is the curation/facilitation method, the diversity of talent, and our altruistic spirit (we donate all event proceeds to charity). I've always dreamed of taking @2.0toronto experiences like the Mindshare, internationally ... with the help of the amazing team at @larukahostel ... the incredibly talented leaders in Puerto Viejo ... and of course divine timing and alignment of the universe, we did just that. The success of the Mindshare represents much more than I can explain with words. This one was truly a gamechanger in my life. You know that feeling when you do something that feels so right on so many levels, when so many other things are unknown and uncertain ... I guess that's how I'd explain it. With so much love, kindness, compassion, and flow, let us continue to 1. Show up, 2. follow up, and 3. fill up (your cup). May the force be with us all. Huge thanks goes out to the speakers: @danniedakini Derek Quiros @inesitazuriaga @thealphadad @elizabethcouse_ @dexlew Andre Nova Rozanne Dioso-Lopez @thekonductor Our supporters: @larukahostel @eatfruitfully @juju_juicyjungle

This track is pure motivation. Words of encouragement. Wisdom for breaking through.

THE PANELIST PRESENTATION YOU NEVER SAW OR HEARD This event was one of the most humbling, confusing, embarrassing, yet enlightening of my life. It was an invitation to speak at Canfitpro's International Conference in 2018. I gathered my most talented friends from the 2.0 community to speak with me as a panelist on Industry Innovation with a sub theme of time and space. I brought together these local leading experts in technology, life science, entertainment, education, and entrepreneurship to speak their minds. It doubled as a demonstration as much as it was a presentation, showcasing the need to cross-pollinate with other industries in order to grow beyond our inner circle of fitness. Unfortunately, the scheduling and promotion gods were not on our side that day. We had a very disappointing turnout of 5, less than the number of presenters. It hurt. But it was eye-opening at the same time. My peers also felt what I felt. The let down. The waste of time. The false promise. But miraculously, our bond, and their trust in me and this thing we called ‘2.0' helped us get through it, together. It truly felt like we were all willing to go down on a sinking ship together. And that was what kept us going. Some would argue this was just an awesome hangout session of incredible humans doing what they love without the need for external validation. But I believe this gem was meant for another medium for another time perhaps in a different dimension. Hope you take the time to listen to this incredible podcast. Thanks to Cecily Milne, William Greenblatt, Nsuani Baffoe, Paluna Santamaria, Tyler Sammy, and Lauren Howe.

Cary Chittley @caryphysio and I discuss all things self care, restoration, and injury prevention. We definitely go next level on certain topics but we keep to our discussion theme quite spot on. Many gems to be had in this episode, so be sure to listen all the way to the end. Visit www.caryphysio.ca for more details on how to get treated by the best in the business.

Nicole Divell @womanofthesoul and I discuss all things mind-body-soul connection. This episode has a continuous flow of golden nugget takeaways that come from personal experiences, expertise, and evidence-based research. We reviewed our month of collaborative work and the mindset coaching theories/strategies we deployed to our students during our RUN LAB workouts at Riverdale Park, in downtown Toronto.

Song created April 2020. Inspired to create this piece by this video by Mark from pianobreaks.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAUcTepSJww&t=3s

Guided Meditation engineered by Toronto Sound

Randi-Mae is a Mindfulness and Self-Care Instructor, Counselor, Author, Workplace Wellness Consultant & motivational public speaker. Randi-Mae Stanford-Leibold is an author, mindfulness facilitator and a professional speaker. She focuses on wellness in the workplace, compassion, self-care and personal development. Questions: 1. Why the head? Tell us about your background in mindfulness, meditation, neuroscience, and mental health. 2. What has your heart? Tell us about your passions, hobbies, lifestyle & leisure activities. 3. What do you have your hands in right now? Tell us about your current projects and initiatives. 4. What soothes your soul? Tell us about your routines, rituals, habits that keep you high functioning for your family, friends, clients. 5. How has your spirit kept on with COVID 19, Black Lives Matter, and all the uncertainty of 2020. Podcast Highlights: - Her attempted suicide aided brought her to Mindfulness practice. - Her lost of a supervisor to suicide sparked work on grief in the workplace. - Self-experience AND Self-education are keys to counseling, teaching, coaching, and being a leader - Taichi practice became a go-to - Accelerator program outfitted her with the tools/skills/business acumen to grow beyond her capabilities - "​Entrepreneurship is a spiritual journey "​ - Your foundation is created by life building you up and breaking you down - When you want to know if something is right, you have to feel it - ask yourself "did I get goosebumps yet?" - "Goosebumps is life saying yes". Goosebumps is the antenna to our union with life and the universe, perhaps our cosmic intuition. - Having a counsellor allows you the time and space to dedicate truly and purely to self reflection and change - (As leaders) we have the tools, but we too need a sounding board and mirrors, it allows us to remember that we are humans that need support", "we lead but need to be led, we too need to be held." - What this world needs is collective action to lift each other up, lift our collective consciousness, engage, check in, trusting and embracing in the now." - When troubled on unsure, remind yourself of the long lineage and ancestry that has also gone through their fair share of trials and tribulations. Resources: Wellnest - Psychotherapy UofT Race & Healing Program with Aina-Nia Ayo'dele Grant, Allison Hill, Yami Msosa, and Randi-Mae Stanford-Leibold Mindwell U - Corporate Mindfulness, Meditation & Mental Health Training

Collaboration with Toronto Sound Guided by Rory Bray

Edited by www.torontosound.ca

The meditations are from Thich Naht Hanh's book 'Fear'. Julian has recorded 6 original audios (including this Mantra excerpt) and songs to accompany, as a way to help listeners with mindfulness practice. Use this playlist to weather the storm, balance the mind, and realign the inner compass.

The meditations are from Thich Naht Hanh's book 'Fear'. Julian has recorded 6 original audios (including this Mantra excerpt) and songs to accompany, as a way to help listeners with mindfulness practice. Use this playlist to weather the storm, balance the mind, and realign the inner compass.

The meditations are from Thich Naht Hanh's book 'Fear'. Julian has recorded 6 original audios (including this Mantra excerpt) and songs to accompany, as a way to help listeners with mindfulness practice. Use this playlist to weather the storm, balance the mind, and realign the inner compass.

The meditation excerpts are from Thich Naht Hanh's book 'Fear'. Julian has recorded 6 original audios (including this Mantra excerpt) and songs to accompany, as a way to help listeners with mindfulness practice. Use this playlist to weather the storm, balance the mind, and realign the inner compass.

The Mindfulness meditations are excertps from Thich Naht Hanh's book 'Fear'. I have curated 4 original audios (including this introduction excerpt) and songs to accompany, as a way to help listeners with mindfulness practice. Use this playlist to weather the storm, balance the mind, and realign the inner compass.

This is a guided body scan meditation adapted from Thich Naht Hanh's book called Fear. "Mindful" is a featured playlist on S&T's audio wellness experience called Guided. Julian has curated 4 original audios (including this Body Scan) and songs to accompany, as a way to help listeners with mindfulness practice. Use this playlist to weather the storm, balance the mind, and realign the inner compass.

Welcome to Guided, an audio wellness experience by Sweat and Tonic. My name is Julian, and I have curated a 1 hour running playlist for you called “Free Run”. This playlist includes 3 guided meditations, with songs in between, to help you feel free in your body and mind, well paced, and positive on your run. We will begin with a 10 minute guided dynamic stretch and warm up. Then, during your run, I'll reconnect with you halfway through, and then once more near the end for a strong finish. I hope this playlist helps you better connect with yourself and the joy of running.

"Getting Centered" is a featured playlist on S&T's audio wellness experience called Guided. Angela Morley has curated 3 original audios and songs to accompany, to deepen your ability to get centered in times of stress, change, and uncertainty. This track is a guided Yoga Sun Salutation, which is a sequence of poses and stretches.

Angela Morley's reading of Thich Naht Hanh's 'Washing the Dishes' is a part of her playlist, "Getting Centered". A playlist on S&T's Guided audio wellness experience.

A Tadasana Meditation for getting centered. A track in Angela Morley's curated playlist, on S&T Guided, an audio wellness experience.

This is an introduction to Angela Morley's curated audio wellness experience to help with 'Getting Centered'.

Guided - Welcome to Julian's "Goodmorning" series - curated to enhance your morning routine. This track is the box breath to help with balance, stability, and focus.

This is a 10 mantra audio to inspire your day. Whether you have a big deadline, game, presentation, or a normal day ahead of you, use this audio as a way to bring perspective and focus to the important things in life.

S&T Guided - welcome to Julian Ho's "Goodmorning" audio wellness experience. This is a 10 minute Gratitude Meditation. This meditation is an adaptation of Dr. Kathi Kemper's Gratitude Meditation from the Ohio State University's Center for Integrative Health and Wellness. By using the imagery of heart-centered gratitude, we can achieve a positive mood, hope, and resilience. As we experience positive emotions such as gratitude, loving-kindness, and compassion, our awareness broadens and our creativity and problem-solving capacities grow and expand. As a result we become more effective in whatever we choose to do.

S&T Guided - welcome to Julian Ho's "Goodmorning" audio wellness experience. Wake up on the right side of the bed with this uplifting, gratitude filled, positivity channeling playlist.

S&T Guided - A part of Julian Ho's "Goodnight" audio wellness experience. A Guided Body Scan Meditation to help become mindful, relaxed, and appreciative of the body.

S&T Guided - An introduction of Julian Ho's "Goodnight" audio wellness experience. A playlist for deep relaxation to help you fall into a deep, restful, and restorative sleep.

S&T Guided - A part of Julian Ho's "Goodnight" audio wellness experience. A 5:00 Guided Breath to fall into deep relaxation.

S&T Guided - A part of Julian Ho's "Goodnight" audio wellness experience. A short 3:00 Tuza Meditation to help slow down and relax.

Intro to S&T Guided - 'Goodnight' audio wellness experience by Julian Ho

Walking meditation to theme Santosha

Guided Walking Meditation (No background music)

Sweet Darkness by David White Enough by Andrea Gibson

The practice of Mantra

The Sanskrit word santosha is divided into two parts: sam, meaning completely or entirely, and tosha, meaning acceptance, satisfaction, and contentment. Together they create a word that means complete acceptance or contentment.

An interview that dives deep into worlds I've never thought to explore. From Vagal nerve tone to moldy coffee to mental health traumas to Radical Self-Acceptance, Cassandra Hope is a neo-alchemist of expertise that rides the waves of change so elegantly and so relevant to the times. Her diverse background as a mindset coach, holistic nutritionist, and personal trainer has created a much needed scope of practice to many. Not only was I completely engaged and asking questions for my own benefit, it was such a pleasure seeing my dear friend in her professional element.

In this episode, I was on a mission to go deep with Hima Batavia on the topic of human connection. As co-founder and past director of @Reset, a self-discovery camp for adults, and now Director of Creative Placemaking Lab for @Artscape Toronto, suffice it to say, curating human connection is her jam. My work with @2.0Toronto has brought us together indirectly in that we live and breathe the art and science of connection. We have a shared skill and desire to cultivate belongingness, because we truly understand how important it is. In a time when in-person connection and community gathering is not allowed, how do we reimagine community forming? How do we recreate intimacy with technology? How can we shift and evolve as humans with new rules and norms around touch and togetherness? These are all fundamental questions we don't know the answers to, but aim to investigate further with curiosity and good spirits. Hope you enjoy this great conversation.

In this short 10 minute reading, I go back in time to mine for wisdom that serves this futuristic time of uncertainty. As all future is truly uncertain, the COVID 19 disruption has gone so far to turn the present into an uncertain and unprecedented curse for many. With a shove rather than a nudge from time, the future has been thrust upon us to act with all we've got to turn the ever disconnecting world into one that's more discerning. Do we have what it takes? Can we pull it off together? Hopefully this cure to uncertainty shifts the tone to our spirits, and enables us to go about today with more hope and vitality for tomorrow.