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For the last 200 years, industrial society has used a linear economic model that takes raw materials, makes them into products, sells them to consumers who then eventually throw them away. Natural resources are ‘lost' in this process and this model is widely regarded as unsustainable. Contrastingly in the circular economic model, resources are continuously reused, recycled and retained in the supply chain.In this episode, I talk about some opportunities for Potters to use the circular economy model and reuse materials in their work, such as; ♻️ - Copper from electrical waste ♻️ - Rusting iron ♻️ - Post-consumer glass (you could also use sea glass found on the beach!) ♻️ - Ash from wood-burning stoves and heaters ♻️ - Leaves naturally fallen from trees and shrubsThe book that inspired this episode is called ‘Doughnut Economics: Seven ways to think like a 21st-century Economist. By Kate Raworth published in 2017 by Random House. You can watch the video version of this episode on YouTube.-------------------------------Resources for Potters:⭐ Pottery eBooks⭐ Pottery Paperback Books available from AmazonFree Pottery Guides:

Welcome to Hot Topics! Host Gabrielle Crichlow and guest Dr. George Maurer engage in a deep exploration of critical race theory (CRT), examining its foundations and implications in the context of education and systemic racism. Dr. Maurer presents a bold viewpoint, claiming that CRT serves as a Marxist ideology that seeks to dismantle Western societal structures, including capitalism and the nuclear family.He expresses concerns about the "psychology of shame" that CRT may impose in educational settings, arguing that it fosters division among students of different races. Dr. Maurer warns that CRT is often disguised as "ethnic studies," leading to its controversial implementation in schools.Contrastingly, he advocates for teaching history in a factual and age-appropriate manner, focusing on the complexities of slavery and racism without promoting feelings of shame. Dr. Maurer stresses the need to empower marginalized students with pride and self-confidence rather than a narrative that suggests the system is inherently rigged against them.The conversation also addresses significant societal issues such as the achievement gap, police brutality, and mass incarceration, with Dr. Maurer calling for a more nuanced and evidence-based discussion. This episode encapsulates the polarized debates surrounding race, education, and social justice, encouraging listeners to consider various perspectives on these critical topics.Who is Dr. George Maurer?Dr. Maurer is an award-winning broadcast journalist with more than 35 years of experience. He's a retired Air Force Master Sergeant who deployed to Iraq during the Global War on Terrorism. He also served in the Pentagon Press Briefing Room alongside all major news organizations. He's interviewed top defense officials such as Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen, as well as rock stars like Sammy Hagar and Pat Benatar. During his career, he covered a wide range of major events, such as the first military tribunals of enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Super Bowl XLII.You can find Dr. Maurer on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61558416817877You can purchase his book, "Critical Race Theory in Your School: How to Fight Back," on Amazon: https://a.co/d/a1AbW2GWatch this episode on YouTube: https://youtube.com/live/W-e4C0dbvvYRate this episode on IMDB: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt33269267/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk********************************************Follow Gabrielle Crichlow:On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gabrielle.crichlow On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gabrielle.crichlowFollow A Step Ahead Tutoring Services:On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/astepaheadtutoringservicesOn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/astepaheadtutoringservicesOn X: https://www.x.com/ASATS2013On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@astepaheadtutoringservicesOn TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@asats2013On Eventbrite: https://astepaheadtutoringservices.eventbrite.comVisit us on the web: https://www.astepaheadtutoringservices.comSign up for our email list: https://squareup.com/outreach/a41DaE/subscribeSign up for our text list: https://eztxt.s3.amazonaws.com/534571/widgets/61fc686d8d6665.90336120.htmlCheck out our entire "Hot Topics!" podcast: https://www.astepaheadtutoringservices.com/hottopicspodcastSupport us:Cash App: https://cash.app/$ASATS2013PayPal: https://paypal.me/ASATS2013Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/ASATS2013Zelle: success@astepaheadtutoringservices.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/hot-topics--5600971/support Original date of episode: July 29, 2024

In Episode #626 of our series, titled “Your Miseries Are Always Opportunities for Ministry,” we delve into the powerful life lessons from two biblical figures, Paul and King Saul, exploring how leaders can transform personal and professional trials into opportunities for impactful ministry. This episode examines Paul's unyielding faith and endurance through extreme adversity, turning his darkest moments into pivotal ministry opportunities that continue to inspire millions. Contrastingly, we also reflect on King Saul's journey, who let his inner turmoil and challenges derail his divine purpose. Through their stories, we learn that our response to misfortune can either pave the way for significant spiritual growth and outreach or lead to downfall and missed opportunities. This discussion is not only about enduring suffering but actively using it as a catalyst for ministry and character development, encouraging leaders to embrace their challenges as mechanisms for God's work in and through their lives.

In this episode of Finding Financial Freedom with The Frugal Physician, host Dr. Disha Spath sits down with Dr. Jordan Grummet, a distinguished physician and the creator of the award-winning Earn & Invest podcast. Together, they explore Dr. Grummet's latest book, The Purpose Code, which provides an inspiring and practical guide for those seeking to lead a more meaningful life. Through thoughtful conversation, they delve into "purpose anxiety," the contrast between "big P" and "little p" purpose, and the relationship between financial independence and personal fulfillment. Highlights and Key Takeaways: Defining Purpose Dr. Grummet introduces the concept of "big P" purpose—often associated with society's grand expectations, like achieving massive goals and material success—which can lead to disappointment and anxiety. Contrastingly, "little p" purpose emphasizes finding joy in everyday processes, focusing on personal agency, and cultivating happiness through meaningful, small actions. The Paradox of Purpose and Anxiety Studies show that while having a purpose is linked to longevity and happiness, up to 91% of people experience "purpose anxiety" at some point. Dr. Grummet discusses how societal pressures shape unrealistic expectations, creating a disconnect between achievable happiness and purpose. The Role of Purpose in Financial Independence (FI) Dr. Grummet reflects on the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement and how a rush toward financial goals can lead to dissatisfaction. He emphasizes that finances should support a purpose-driven life rather than serve as the ultimate goal. Building a Purposeful Financial Framework Dr. Grummet advises on the importance of aligning financial goals with purpose, allowing money to act as a tool that supports one's personal "purpose anchors." Examples include pursuing passions alongside work and taking a "slow-FIRE" approach to financial freedom. Exploring Regrets and Legacy Dr. Grummet shares stories from his work in hospice, revealing how end-of-life reflections often center on missed opportunities for joy rather than financial accomplishments. He encourages listeners to identify and act on their unique purpose anchors, ensuring a legacy of personal impact rather than material wealth. Practical Exercises for Identifying Purpose Anchors Dr. Grummet offers practical advice on exploring and building purpose anchors, including exercises from The Purpose Code that help readers focus on the values and activities that bring them true joy. Final Thoughts on Purpose and Happiness Dr. Grummet concludes with a reminder that purpose should be abundant and anxiety-free. By focusing on what truly matters in life, we can find happiness in both the journey and the outcomes. Resources Mentioned: The Purpose Code by Dr. Jordan Grummet – Available January 2025 Earn & Invest Podcast – Hosted by Dr. Jordan Grummet Taking Stock by Dr. Jordan Grummet Quotes: “Purpose comes before money, and purpose is abundant. Embrace it; it's supposed to be low-stakes and fulfilling.” – Dr. Jordan Grummet Connect with Us: Host: Dr. Disha Spath – The Frugal Physician Guest: Dr. Jordan Grummet – Earn & Invest Podcast Call to Action:If you enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to subscribe, share, and leave us a review. Join us next time as we continue exploring the intersection of finance, happiness, and purpose. Until then, stay purposeful and financially free! ----------- Please note: The content shared on the podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered individualized financial advice. It is essential to consult with professionals such as accountants, financial advisors, or attorneys to receive personalized guidance based on your specific needs.

As America finds itself poised at the critical juncture of a new era's dawn, the impending shift in judicial nominations under its future presidents beholds significant implications. Depending on whether President Kamala Harris or Donald Trump occupies the Oval Office, the tapestry of legal appointments to the country's courts could witness a remarkable transformation.The types of candidates put forward by either Harris or Trump would largely rest on which party takes the reins of the Senate. While both political leaders bring their diverse perspectives and visions for the future of America's judiciary, it is the Senate that bears the mantle of validation, acting as the gatekeeper to the approval of suggested nominees.Under President Harris' leadership, a dynamic to look for would be the conscious diversification of the courts. The Harris administration could potentially mirror the multiculturalism that is the essence of America's DNA. However, the fulfillment of such an ambition would largely depend on the Senate's majority party. A Democrat-led Senate would likely lean into these transformative aims, while a Republican majority could prove to be a stumbling block.Contrastingly, under a second Trump presidency, the ongoing trend could well continue: the nomination of staunchly conservative judges who mirror the beliefs and ideologies that Trump has advocated throughout his tenure. Trump's commitment to overhauling the nation's judiciary with strict conservatives has been a hallmark of his presidency and could gain further momentum if given a second run, especially if supported by a Republican-led Senate.While this reveals the broader brush strokes of how both Harris and Trump could shape the future of the nation's courtrooms, such conjectures do not exist in isolation. The presidential influence over the judiciary is inherently intertwined with external factors, one of the most critical being the Senate's control.Given the importance of the Senate's role in approving judicial nominations, both President Harris or President Trump would likely have to engage in strategic deliberations and compromises to ensure the successful appointment of their favored candidates. As such, the impact of the Senate's party alignment holds significant sway over the path that America's judicial system may follow in the coming years.In summary, in a world where Kamala Harris or Donald Trump hold the presidential office, judicial nominations could vary significantly. Celebrate or be wary, for the consequences of this power composition will likely send ripples through the heart of America's legal landscape, shaping its ethos and the administration of justice over the next four years and beyond.In the vein of transparency and verification inherent in the legal world, independent journalist Jack Smith will continue to monitor these political developments. In an era where truth can often find itself bullied into the shadows, voices like Smith's are crucial in ensuring an ongoing dialog between the corridors of power and the arenas of public discourse. Through his commitment to factual reporting and insightful analysis, Smith plays a crucial part in our collective comprehension and evaluation of these transformative times.

To have a successful business, the first person we need to learn to lead is ourselves.Victoria is the CEO of Ugli Ventures, a marketing consultancy for 6-figure female founders, and a podcaster. Victoria focuses on female entrepreneurs and optimizing sales and marketing strategies, team building and leadership development to establish sustainable, profitable 7-figure enterprises. She has cultivated global brands across various sectors and countries including the US, the UK, China, Sri Lanka, the UAE and Mexico. Over the course of her career, Victoria has observed that men typically possess a mindset wherein they're less likely to feel the need to perfect every aspect themselves before delegating tasks. Contrastingly - and generally, women entrepreneurs often feel the need to ‘do it all' and end up focused on lower level tasks that hinder their businesses momentum. To move more efficiently towards success, it is essential to understand your business from a higher strategic level, envision what success looks like, and rise above the weeds. This high-level perspective allows one to more easily build a scalable marketing machine.Victoria believes women must do all they can to learn to delegate more effectively and focus on team building to drive business growth. The commitment mindset is something every business owner needs: create the goal, write real numbers down on paper, and check in on them every single week so you can adjust and keep the eye on the prize!Let's all commit to delegation for success!Notes:

Psalm 74:10-17, 1 Kings 1-2:12, Acts 10:23b-11:18. Jesus was opposed: ‘They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen' (10:39–40) Contrastingly, the most wonderful privilege any human being can have is to be a follower of Jesus of Nazareth whom ‘God anointed… with the Holy Spirit and power' (10:38)

Psalm 74:12-17, 1 Kings 1:32-34, 2:1-3, Acts 10:25-47, 11:1-17. Jesus was opposed: ‘They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen' (10:39–40) Contrastingly, the most wonderful privilege any human being can have is to be a follower of Jesus of Nazareth whom ‘God anointed… with the Holy Spirit and power' (10:38)

Psalm 74:12-17, 1 Kings 1:32-34, 2:1-3, Acts 10:25-47, 11:1-18. Jesus was opposed: ‘They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen' (10:39–40) Contrastingly, the most wonderful privilege any human being can have is to be a follower of Jesus of Nazareth whom ‘God anointed… with the Holy Spirit and power' (10:38)

Welcome to another episode of Talking Pools! Today, our Thursday host, Wayne Ivusich, is joined by a special guest, an ex-ESPN Sports Commentator with over two decades of pool care experience. In this insightful session, they'll dive deep into the nuances of running a pool service company on both coasts, comparing New Jersey and California. They'll explore the challenges posed by New Jersey's harsh winters where pool closures are a seasonal routine, requiring precise winterization techniques to prevent freeze damage. Contrastingly, California's year-round warmth demands constant upkeep due to increased usage and environmental factors like wildfires that can clog filters and affect water chemistry. Whether you're a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting out, this episode promises valuable lessons and takeaways to help you navigate the diverse landscapes of the pool service industry. Join Wayne and our veteran commentator as they break down these regional differences with real-world examples and tips that could only come from years in the field. LaMotte CompanyLaMotte Company is a leading manufacturer of water quality testing products & pool test kitsDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the Show.Thank you so much for listening! You can find us on social media: Facebook Instagram Tik Tok Email us: talkingpools@gmail.com

A recent poll has indicated that a significant portion of US citizens lack confidence that a just outcome will emerge from the Manhattan criminal trial linked to former President Donald Trump. Only a little over two-fifths of those surveyed, or 44% to be precise, expressed confidence in the jury's potential to lay down an unbiased verdict. Contrastingly, a larger percentage, 56% of those polled, revealed skeptical views on the fairness of the pending verdict. This figure came out of a survey conducted in partnership by CNN and SSRS. The data reflects an underlying concern from the general public towards the balance and impartiality of the judicial proceedings. The poll further shed light on the public perception of the underlying charges against Trump, focusing on the incident where he faces 34 separate counts relating to alleged false business recording linked with reimbursing hush money to a former adult film star, Stormy Daniels. A mere third of the sampled American population, precisely 33%, are convinced of Trump's illegal conduct in this particular matter. Interestingly, the study unearthed that sentiment is evenly divided concerning how the New York criminal justice system is treating Trump. The respondents stood at an exact tie at 34% for both views, one asserting Trump is experiencing leniency, and the other believing he faces harsher treatment compared to the average criminal defendant. A meager fraction of 13% of those surveyed believe that Trump's experience with the legal process is comparable to other ordinary criminal defendants. This opinion further highlights the public's polarized perspective of the former leader's dealings with the judiciary. Despite the prevailing uncertainty towards the trial process, there's a collective agreement among Americans—encompassing a massive 73% —that the accusations against Trump should not eliminate his qualifications for the Oval Office. Such a stance emphasizes that political ambition should be judged on a wider spectrum beyond legal predicaments.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Somatic Leadership JourneyBio:Pavini Moray has started, failed, and succeeded in many businesses. A serial entrepreneur, they have built private practices, a worker collective, and a for-profit company. Pavini is a somatic leadership coach, specializing in helping relationships be easy. Moray holds an M.Ed in Montessori curriculum design, as well as a Ph.D. in Somatic Psychology. Pavini has authored, How to Hold Power: A Somatic Approach to Becoming a Leader People Love and Respect.Links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pavinicoakwellmoray/Website: https://www.pavinimoray.com/Episode Highlights:In this episode, Pavini delves into their experiences of cultural disconnect, sharing personal stories of their childhood and how counterculture and punk music provided a sense of belonging and freedom. They discuss the importance of somatic approaches in leadership and personal growth.Childhood Incidents:As a child, Pavini's mother decided that Pavini should have a cultural education of experiencing the arts. As a single mother, cultural education was a luxury she had to prioritize and save for. Contrastingly, Pavini's dad had season tickets and a box at the opera. One night, when mother and child were at the opera, they noticed the dad sitting in his box in the theatre which was Pavini's first awareness of wealth disparity.In January 1986, Pavini's friends invited them to a punk party. While there, Pavini felt the difference between the world they lived in and the current world they were experiencing then. This experience set Pavini on a journey to find spaces of belonging.Cultural Influences:Pavini's purpose comes from living a life informed by pleasure, embodiment, and communication, tempered with transparency and kindness. Leadership Influence:In 2008, Pavini attended an activist camp and experienced the power of transparency and power sharing along with strong organization. This shaped their foundational beliefs about leadership, elderhood and the importance of structure. To date, Pavini cannot stand being in a poorly organized meeting and strives to incorporate elderhood into leadership since it increases the capacity of an entire community.Temperaments and Personality:Pavini believes they came into this world as a dancer, with a sense of awe, magic and connection to nature and spirit. Curiosity is also part of Pavini's temperament. As a child, and later as an adult Pavini developed both a playful and pragmatic side to their personality. Cultural Epiphanies:Pavini lived in Bulgaria in the 90s and experienced the Bulgarians' sense of powerlessness and hopelessness as shocking. Pavini recalls a time they went to the mayor asking for transportation for books that had traveled 10,000 miles around the world, and now required transportation for the last 200 miles to get them to the destination. The mayor said it was impossible, but Pavini was able to show him how doable it was when he opened his mind to possibility. When Pavini was working with a worker collective, a sense of anger at late meetings arose frequently. One of the people they worked with told Pavini that the time intolerance and anger was white supremacy and not all people understand time the same way.What Brings out the Best in Pavini?Pavini enjoys working in environments where they can laugh and be playful. Soapbox Moment:Pavini encourages us to be attuned. They recognize how vulnerable it can be when we open ourselves to attune with someone else's needs, feelings, desires, fears, and grief. Support the Show.

Have you ever considered that the secret to achieving greatness might hinge on the connections you make rather than the facts you accumulate? Prepare to be inspired as we unwrap profound Jewish teaching through the lens of Kli Yakar's commentary on Parshat Shmini. Our exploration delves into the idea that when we aim for sanctity in our lives, we unlock divine support that guides us toward holiness. As we dissect Kli Yakar's insights, we uncover the spiritual dynamic that suggests a small step towards sanctification that brings about a tidal wave of heavenly assistance.Our latest episode doesn't simply narrate life's truths; we connect the dots between ancient wisdom and modern-day scenarios where 'knowing a guy' can be a game changer. Whether nabbing the best seats at an event or navigating life's clogged drains, we reveal how pursuing purity invites the ultimate 'guy'—the Divine—onto our team. Contrastingly, we ponder Gemara's teaching that obstacles may hinder those seeking sin, highlighting the stark difference in outcomes based on our intentions. Tune in for an enlightening conversation that may redefine how you view the paths you take and the allies you have on your journey toward holiness.Support the showJoin the WhatsApp community for daily motivational Torah content! JOIN HERE ---------------- SUBSCRIBE to The Weekly Parsha for an insightful weekly shiur on the Parsha of the week. Listen on Spotify or the new Jewish music and Podcast streaming platform 24six! Access all Torah talks and listen to featured episodes on our new website, themotivationcongregation.org ---------------- Questions or Comments? Please email me @ michaelbrooke97@gmail.com

The mystical teachings of Ignatius of Loyola guide us through the complexities of our spiritual journey. Applying the principles of Discernment of Spirits will help you navigate the highs and lows of your spiritual life.Discover the essence of Spiritual Consolation—those moments when you feel an unshakable connection to your deeper self and the divine, bringing clarity and joy to your spiritual journey. Contrastingly, we'll also tackle the challenging phases of Spiritual Desolation, where feelings of isolation and confusion might overwhelm, yet also serve as critical periods for growth and introspection. This episode isn't merely theoretical; it's crafted to be your experiential guide towards recognizing these spiritual states in yourself. We'll explore ways to stay grounded during spiritual desolation and how to genuinely connect with your inner wisdom amidst life's chaos. Expect practical insights into: Identifying moments of Spiritual Consolation and what they mean for your personal growth. Strategies to find God and peace within even when life feels challenging. The reality behind "manifesting your dreams" and discerning genuine spiritual desires.Differentiating between mere emotional highs and profound spiritual experiences. How to stay calm, regardless of your external circumstances. An introduction to The Examen, St. Ignatius' powerful practice for daily reflection and discernmentSupport the showRate, Review & Follow“I love Nina and Holy Rebels Podcast.” If that sounds like you, please rate and review my show! This helps me support more people — just like you — to practise their spirituality and nurture their inner wisdom. Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select "Write a review.” Nina reads every single review and it always brings a smile to her face. Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast. If you're not following, there's a good chance you'll miss out. Follow now Show Notes: www.holyrebelspodcast.comConnect with me!facebookinstagram

BRAIN Biotech AG Q1 2023/24: Key Takeaways In an engaging and insightful presentation, Michael Schneiders, the Chief Financial Officer of BRAIN Biotech AG, takes investors through the company's financial performance for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2023/24. Held in Zwingenberg, Germany, on February 28, 2024, this presentation showcases BRAIN Biotech's current financial standing and lays an optimistic roadmap for the future. A Strong Start Despite Challenges: The Q1 Overview Michael Schneiders begins by addressing the company's Q1 revenue of €12.7 million, a slight decrease from the previous year's €13.7 million. This 7.0% decrease is critically analyzed, attributing the dip to a high comparison base in the last year and a slower start-up curve in one of their large-scale fermenters. Despite this, BRAIN Biotech's total operating performance only saw a marginal decrease of 3.1%, indicating resilience in its core operations. Segment-Wise Performance and Strategic Moves The CFO delves into the performance of individual segments, starting with the BioProducts division. This segment, focusing on specialized enzymes and proteins, experienced a revenue decrease of 12.4% due to the challenges mentioned above. However, Michael Schneiders emphasizes the expected dynamic growth over the next quarters, hinting at strategic initiatives to accelerate this segment's performance. Contrastingly, the BioScience segment, which encompasses the company's R&D business with industrial partners, painted a more optimistic picture. Revenue in this segment grew by an impressive 13.5% to €3.4 million, buoyed by strong contributions from AnalytiCon Discovery and efficient cost control measures. This growth signifies BRAIN Biotech's solid expertise in nutrition, life sciences, and environmental protection and its ability to deliver value-driven solutions to its customers. The BioIncubator Segment: Investing in the Future The presentation also touches upon the BioIncubator segment, which remained stable, reflecting BRAIN Biotech's continued investment in high-value R&D projects, particularly in genome editing under the brand Akribion Genomics. Despite a slight dip in adjusted EBITDA, the segment's focus on future value creation is clear. Financial Health and Forward-Looking Statements Michael Schneiders provides a comprehensive overview of BRAIN Biotech's financial health, noting a stable overall cash position and the expansion of financial instruments to support future growth plans. The CFO's optimism is palpable as he projects a revenue range of €58 million to €62 million for the fiscal year 2023/24, aiming to improve adjusted EBITDA in line with sales progress. Conclusion: A Path Towards Sustainable Growth Concluding the presentation, Michael Schneiders reiterates BRAIN Biotech AG's commitment to its growth path, underpinned by strategic initiatives across its segments. The detailed financial results and forward-looking statements shared in this presentation reflect the company's resilience in the face of challenges and its strategic vision for sustainable growth. Investors and stakeholders are left with a clear picture of BRAIN Biotech's financial dynamics, strategic priorities, and optimistic outlook for FY 2023/24, making this presentation a crucial touchpoint for understanding the company's trajectory. ▶️ Other videos: Elevator Pitch: https://seat11a.com/investor-relations-elevator-pitch/ Company Presentation: https://seat11a.com/investor-relations-company-presentation/ Deep Dive Presentation: https://seat11a.com/investor-relations-deep-dive/ Financial Results Presentation: https://seat11a.com/investor-relations-financial-results/ ESG Presentation: https://seat11a.com/investor-relations-esg/ T&C This publication is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. By using this website, you agree to the terms and conditions outlined at www.seat11a.com/legal and www.seat11a.com/imprint.

Connect with us at www.coltivar.com In the latest episode of the Business Strategy podcast, host Steve Coughran delves into the essence of strategic initiatives under the compelling title "Do Your Initiatives Include These 4 Things?". Steve begins by emphasizing the critical difference between strategy and strategic planning, building upon insights from the previous episode. He stresses that strategy involves making interconnected choices about a company's vision, competitive arenas, operational approach, and mechanisms for success, with the customer's value at the heart of it all. Contrastingly, planning is about the execution of this strategy. Steve critiques the common misstep of conflating strategic planning with strategy itself, which often leads to a mere compilation of tasks rather than a coherent strategy. The conversation transitions to the concept of a "go forward plan," rooted in strategic initiatives. Steve introduces his unique framework, the IARs (Initiatives, Actions, and Results), to guide companies in executing their strategies effectively. He then focuses on the 'initiatives' aspect, explaining it through a metaphorical circle divided into four equal parts, representing the dual goals of capturing value for the company and creating value for people, including customers, employees, and other stakeholders. Steve delineates the four critical components of strategic initiatives: overcoming strategic problems, building competitive advantages, enhancing customer experiences, and promoting innovation. He argues that initiatives lacking in these areas fail to generate value, urging listeners to reassess and realign their strategies accordingly.Links:Do you have ideas or feedback to share? Email me at contact@coltivar.comTo learn more about us, visit:  https://www.coltivar.com/Disclaimer:The views expressed here are those of the individual Coltivar Group, LLC (“Coltivar”) personnel quoted and are not the views of Coltivar or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, Coltivar has not independently verified such information and makes no representations about the enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation.This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. References to any securities or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only, and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendations. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. Please see https://www.coltivar.com/privacy-policy-and-terms-of-use for additional important information.Support the show

In this podcast episode, we dive deep into the nuanced difference between Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and the more common winter blues, also known as sub-syndromal Seasonal Affective Disorder. While both conditions are influenced by seasonal changes and can manifest similar symptoms such as low mood, lack of energy, and changes in sleep patterns, understanding their distinctions is crucial for effective management and treatment. We unpack the diagnostic criteria for SAD, exploring how it encompasses more severe and debilitating symptoms that significantly impact daily functioning during specific seasons, typically winter. Contrastingly, sub-syndromal SAD presents with milder symptoms that may not meet the full criteria for diagnosis but still contribute to a sense of seasonal malaise. Through expert insights and personal anecdotes, we shed light on the prevalence, risk factors, and evidence-based interventions for both conditions, empowering listeners to recognize their own experiences and seek appropriate support. Tune in to gain a comprehensive understanding of these seasonal mood disorders and discover strategies to navigate the winter months with resilience and vitality. **Disclaimer: The views expressed in this podcast are the hosts' personal opinions, dished out with a generous side of humor. Enjoy responsibly! Thanks for being a listener! Hit the Follow button so that you never miss a new episode. Please leave us a rating if you liked what you heard! Also, follow us on all the socials so we can stay in touch! ⁠Twitter⁠⁠ Facebook ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ TikTok⁠⁠ Youtube⁠ Check us out on our website ⁠here⁠. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/havewetalkedaboutpodcast/message

New evidence appears to challenge the narrative presented by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade. The pair have steadfastly maintained that their personal relationship didn't commence until after Wade was brought aboard the DA's office in November 2021. Cell phone tracking data, however, seems to refute their claim, indicating Wade was a frequent visitor to Willis's residence in Hapeville, stopping by over 35 times. The incriminating evidence seems to suggest that if the cellular data is indeed precise, both Willis and Wade may have presented false information to the court, a misstep that could potentially have serious legal implications. A court document submitted by legal representatives of the 45th President, Donald Trump on Friday alleges that the aforementioned data indicates dishonesty on part of the two, and hence, the pair should be disqualified from proceeding with the RICO case against Trump and 18 other co-defendants. The document further elucidates that Charles Mittelstadt, a criminal defense investigator, employed the use of mobile cell towers to monitor the location of Wade's phone towards the end of 2021 – a point in time before he allegedly began his affair with Willis. For this purpose, Mittelstadt utilized the services of CellHawk, a highly regarded tool in the world of mobile data analysis familiar to many in law enforcement. The data gathered from the analysis suggests multiple instances where visits were made late at night; these visits often extended until the early hours of the morning. Contrastingly, Wade and Willis in their testimonies the previous week claimed that their meetings didn't extend overnight at Willis' residence. This potential inconsistency could prove perjury, a criminal offense of lying under oath.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dive into the vibrant world of creativity with “Art Unveiled,” where we explore the dynamic interplay between self-taught and trained artists. In this episode, we dissect the diverse approaches to artistic development, discussing the unique individuality, uninhibited creativity, and freedom that self-taught artists bring to the canvas. Contrastingly, we explore the structured knowledge, technical skills, and discipline instilled by formal education for trained artists. Join us in unraveling the rich tapestry of the art world, celebrating the coexistence of varied artistic paths that shape the palette perspectives of our creative landscape. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/creative-habits/message

In the latter part of the parsha, post-Matan Torah and after the "Mishpatim" are given over, Hashem mentions sending a "Malach" (an Angel) to lead Am Yisrael, and promising prosperity through adherence to commandments.Contrastingly, in Bamidbar after the Golden Calf incident, Hashem wants to punish Am Yisrael by sending a "Malach" to lead the way instead of Him, and the notion of an Angel leading the way - leads to outcry by Am Yisrael. What's the difference? Why does the mention of an Angel evoke varied responses? What is this "Malach" about - what is a "Malach" about??

In this episode, Niall explores the complex question of whether residents should have a say in who moves into their community. The discussion is sparked by a recent incident in Ballinrobe, where locals protested against the planned accommodation of 50 male refugees in their town.The episode begins by presenting the details of the situation, where a local election candidate, Michael Burke, calls on Minister Roderic O'Gorman to address concerns raised by the community. The proposed accommodation stirred tensions, leading to protests and the withdrawal of the lease agreement by the property owner.Niall shares insights from locals, including concerns about the proximity to a preschool, limited communication from authorities, and the impact on community dynamics. The Prime Minister, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, acknowledges local fears but asserts that no town has the right to veto who moves in.As Niall opens up the lines to callers, diverse opinions emerge. Some argue that residents have a right to voice concerns for the safety and harmony of their town. Practical issues, resource limitations, and worries about potential incidents are cited as reasons to have a say in the decision-making process.Contrastingly, other callers advocate for compassion, emphasizing that decisions should not be driven by fear or stereotypes. They believe in supporting government efforts to address the asylum seeker crisis and argue against excluding people based on assumptions.As Niall wraps up the episode, he navigates through the conflicting perspectives, offering a nuanced reflection on the delicate balance between community concerns and the need for empathy in addressing global crises.

Are you interested in how to make prototypes for the built environment? Summary of the article titled Built environment prototyping for design-value from 2023 by Darcy Zelenko and Duncan Maxwell, published in the Proceedings of the IASS Annual Symposium 2023. This is a great preparation for our next interviewee, Ted Baillieu in episode 182 talking about why experimenting with the built environment is very important. Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see how we could use prototyping to trial specific solutions. This article proves the prototyping is a value-adding activity but there are inherent fragmentations for the built environment disciplines. As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects: Prototyping in the built environment, less common than in industries like engineering or software development, plays a crucial role in refining complex designs before construction, underscoring the need for its wider adoption and more integrated methods. While prototyping enhances design quality, communication, and decision-making efficiency, its underutilization in the built environment limits knowledge sharing and the adoption of efficient construction methodologies, such as Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA). There is a significant opportunity for advancement in the built environment by developing an integrated prototyping model that combines idea conceptualization and physical implementation, tailored to its unique requirements, which could transform practices and lead to more efficient, resource-saving buildings. Find the article through this link. Abstract: The built environment is hindered by issues relating to laggard productivity, with practitioners looking to pursue sector-wide industrialisation and digitisation to improve this issue. Contrastingly, industries that have achieved widespread industrialisation and digitisation also possess developed prototyping cultures. Within these industries, prototyping approaches are tailored to suit the nature of the specific output product. Prototyping in the built environment acts as a tool for representation, testing, and communication. Prototyping approaches vary across the constituent disciplines with a lack of influential approaches or methods of the kind illustrated in other industries. This paper uses critical analysis to review prototyping literature from influential approaches found in engineering design, software development, and design management. These are compared to approaches used in the built environment disciples of architecture, engineering, and construction research. The findings confirm that prototyping is a value-adding activity, but suggest that prototyping cultures and outcomes in the built environment are inhibited by fragmentation that is inherent in the discipline. Future research could surround the development of prototyping approaches that enable practitioners to get the most out of the process. Such a protoyping approach would that also recognises that the creation of buildings requires both idea conceptualisation, and physical implementation to deliver quality outcomes. Connecting episode you might be interested in: No.168 - Interview with Jennifer George about experimenting instead of trial and error; You can find the transcript through ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠this link⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠are also available. I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in. Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠

General Mills, Inc. recently disclosed its financial report during an earnings call where CEO Jeff Harmening shared insights into the company's ongoing strategies and areas for improvement. He said, "In the presentation, we highlighted four key areas we're focusing on and a couple of aspects that we believe we can enhance to improve the company's profile. Of these, there are two that we're confident about. This illustrates the continued strength of the Blue brand." He continued, "We've revised our advertising strategy for the Life Protection Formula, and we've observed steady improvements in that aspect of the business." Contrastingly, during the previous quarter, General Mills provided more extensive information. They noted significant growth in the retail, and convenience store & foodservice segments - a trend largely attributed to increased at-home food consumption during the pandemic. The company also mentioned their active investment in digital improvements aimed at boosting e-commerce and improving operational efficiency. The contrast in the level of detail in the most recent earnings call warrants attention, raising questions about the changing dynamics of the company's internal and external environment. General Mills has been actively engaging in strategic business decisions. On February 1, 2022, they entered an agreement to sell their European dough businesses to the Cérélia Group. Furthermore, General Mills has increased their quarterly dividend by 4%, raising it from $0.51 to $0.53 per share. These developments suggest the company's enduring financial health and demonstration of commitment towards its shareholders. Harmening's reference to "working on and improving certain aspects" might be an allusion to significant business maneuvers such as the sale of the dough businesses. This could suggest a shift towards a growth strategy that prioritizes high-revenue or high-margin business segments. The dividend increase may be perceived as an attempt by General Mills to reassure investors amidst a backdrop of reduced transparency in sharing business plans and insights. Thus, the CEO's statements provide some indication of the potential future direction of the company. GIS Company info: https://finance.yahoo.com/quote//profile For more PSFK research : www.psfk.com  This email has been published and shared for the purpose of business research and is not intended as investment advice.

Recent trends indicate a decline in the tradition of companies offering Christmas bonuses to their staff. In the past, it was a common practice across various professions to express goodwill and gratitude towards employees for their year-round efforts, supplementing their regular salaries. However, financial constraints have led some companies to abandon this practice.Today, we delve into the debate on whether Christmas bonuses should be a standard offering. While countries like the Philippines, Greece, Portugal, France, India, and Indonesia have instituted laws mandating end-of-year bonuses, distinctions exist between bonuses for individuals with modest incomes and those tied to employment.For instance, in Portugal, the "13th month pay" or "holiday bonus" is legally mandated, offering a welcomed year-end benefit. Spain adopts a unique approach, distributing annual pay across 14 installments, with two additional bonuses in July and December. Similarly, Greece provides an extra month's pay in December, along with half a month's pay during Easter and the vacation season.Contrastingly, countries like Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Germany, and Italy negotiate 13th month bonuses based on factors such as tenure, industry, and contract terms.Perhaps you're an employer with reservations about Christmas bonuses, or an employee who has experienced the discontinuation of this annual perk. Is it fair for employers not to provide bonuses, or is it reasonable to expect employees to fulfill their roles without anticipating extra incentives?Join the conversation as we explore the nuances of Christmas bonuses – from cultural practices to the legal landscape. Should there be a legal mandate for Christmas bonuses, or is it a matter of individual company policies and employee expectations? Share your thoughts on whether this tradition should continue in the modern workplace.

In this insightful episode, Jim Manning, a seasoned real estate investor with over 15 years of experience, shares his perspectives on why real estate is a more viable investment option during a recession compared to the stock market. Jim emphasizes the importance of diversification in investments but reveals his personal preference for real estate, especially in the current economic climate. He discusses the unpredictable nature of the stock market, illustrated by the example of Anheuser-Busch's significant sales and stock value drop due to a marketing misstep. Contrastingly, Jim highlights the resilience of the real estate market, driven by supply and demand imbalances, such as the current historic housing crisis and the challenges in home construction. He explains that real estate does not necessarily follow the broader economy's trends, making it a more stable investment during economic downturns. Jim's personal strategy focuses on acquiring and holding real estate, aiming to generate substantial passive income. Through the Passive Wealth Show, he aims to guide others in transforming their active income into lucrative investment returns, ultimately achieving their dream retirement. Tune in for Jim's expert advice on navigating the complexities of investing during recessionary periods.

On this day in legal history, November 9, 1970, the Supreme Court of the United States voted 6-3 in Massachusetts v. Laird not to hear the case of Massachusetts' anti-draft law. Massachusetts v. Laird was a landmark legal case that reached the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and was not taken up by the Supreme Court, on this day in legal history. The case centered on the constitutionality of U.S. involvement in Cambodia during the Vietnam War without an official declaration of war from Congress. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, along with other plaintiffs, including citizens and members of the military, challenged the executive authority, questioning whether President Nixon and his Secretary of Defense, Melvin Laird, had overstepped constitutional limits by ordering military operations in neutral Cambodia.This legal challenge was rooted in the broader context of the anti-war movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, which had gained momentum following the widespread draft for the Vietnam War and the subsequent expansion of the conflict into neighboring countries. The plaintiffs contended that such military actions without congressional approval violated the War Powers Clause of the U.S. Constitution.The Nixon administration defended its actions by invoking the President's role as Commander in Chief, asserting the necessity of the Cambodian campaign to protect American troops and support the overall objectives in Vietnam. They argued that executive discretion in military affairs was essential for the conduct of foreign policy and national security.The case was significant for its implications regarding the separation of powers and the checks and balances system. The central issue was whether the President had the unilateral power to commit American forces to combat in foreign nations without a formal declaration of war by Congress.Ultimately, the First Circuit court decided in favor of Secretary Laird, upholding the administration's action. The court's ruling underscored the President's broad powers in foreign affairs and military operations, which became a subject of ongoing debate and eventually led to the passage of the War Powers Resolution in 1973. This legislation aimed to set boundaries on the President's authority to deploy U.S. forces without congressional consent.Massachusetts v. Laird remains a pivotal case in American legal and political history, reflecting the tensions between executive power and congressional authority, as well as the limitations on state power as against federal, and the efforts to define jurisdictional limits in times of war.Hogan Lovells has confirmed the acquisition of 28 partners from the recently dissolved law firm Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, including several former heads of practice groups. The announcement comes after Hogan Lovells indicated last month their intention to hire over 30 partners from Stroock, a move which preceded Stroock's decision to wind up operations after nearly a century and a half. Among the notable hires is Jeff Keitelman, Stroock's former co-managing partner and co-leader of its real estate practice. Other ex-Stroock leaders making the transition are Brian Diamond, Joseph Giminaro, Michael Kosmas, Christopher Doyle, Richard Madris, Jeffrey Uffner, and James Bernard, each a former head of various key practice areas ranging from real estate to tax certiorari, hospitality, corporate, infrastructure funds, tax, and general litigation. The majority of these partners, 23 in total, will bolster Hogan's corporate and finance practice, while the remaining five will enhance its disputes practice. Hogan Lovells CEO Miguel Zaldivar emphasized the strategic nature of this acquisition, aiming to strengthen their presence in key markets such as New York and attracting high-performing talent to the firm.Hogan Lovells Confirms 28 Partners Joining From Failed StroockDuring the civil fraud trial of the Trump Organization, evidence was presented showing Ivanka Trump's concerns about Donald Trump's wealth during a 2011 Florida golf course deal. She distanced herself from the company's valuation methods, stating she did not recall specific details about the financial statements. The New York Attorney General, Letitia James, is seeking over $250 million in penalties and potential control over Trump's properties, accusing the Trump family business of inflating asset values to mislead lenders and insurers. While Ivanka is not a defendant, her involvement in profitable deals, like the redevelopment of the Doral golf course and the Old Post Office, was highlighted. Contrastingly, her brothers and father are defendants, with her father admitting to inaccuracies in property valuations but denying their relevance to financial institutions. The trial featured Ivanka's composed testimony, differing from the defensive stance of her father and brother Eric. The judge's previous ruling found fraudulent practices within the organization, affecting Trump's property control, currently on appeal. This lawsuit is among four other criminal cases against Trump, who remains a strong contender for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination despite these legal challenges.Trump's daughter worried he was not wealthy enough, emails in NY fraud trial show | ReutersThe U.S. House Oversight Committee, under Republican leadership, has escalated its impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden by subpoenaing his son, Hunter Biden, and brother, James Biden, for depositions. This move follows allegations that the Biden family profited from policy decisions made during Biden's vice presidency. Hunter Biden's lawyer has dismissed the subpoena as a political maneuver but stated Hunter is willing to address the matters with the Committee. A former associate, Devon Archer, claimed Hunter Biden sought to create an impression of access to his father, citing multiple instances of putting Biden on calls with foreign associates. The White House has branded the investigation a smear campaign, with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stating it has found no evidence against the president after a year. The inquiry has been backed by former President Donald Trump, who is also facing his own legal challenges. The Oversight Committee, which has previously obtained financial records of the Biden family, has conducted a public hearing and plans to issue more subpoenas and interview requests. Hunter Biden has acknowledged his past struggles with substance abuse and has not held a White House or campaign position. The possibility of the House impeaching President Biden remains uncertain, despite the narrow Republican majority and the support of Speaker Mike Johnson for the inquiry.US House Republicans subpoena Biden's son, brother to appear | ReutersA recent study has shown that while artificial intelligence, specifically GPT-4, can speed up legal writing tasks for law students, it does not necessarily improve the quality of their work. The study, conducted by law professors from the University of Minnesota and the University of Southern California, observed that law students with lower initial grades benefited more significantly from using AI than their higher-achieving peers. The study titled "Lawyering in The Age of Artificial Intelligence" suggests AI could become an essential tool for lawyers, akin to legal research databases. Sixty law students participated in the study, receiving training on GPT-4 before completing writing tasks with and without the technology. The only task that showed a statistical improvement with AI was contract drafting. However, the use of AI notably reduced the time taken to complete these tasks, with tasks like drafting a complaint being completed 32% faster. The study recommends that law schools prohibit AI in foundational courses and exams, as it disproportionately aids lower-performing students, but also advises the development of advanced courses to teach effective AI usage.AI improves legal writing speed, not quality - study | Reuters Get full access to Minimum Competence - Daily Legal News Podcast at www.minimumcomp.com/subscribe

This week we have with us Amyra Dastur and Neha Pawar from the Starcast of Chidiyan Da Chamba who are all set to take their revenge in this women-centric take. Contrastingly, we saw a very different personality of theirs on the sets of 9x Tashan Dil Di Gal. To hear what they have to say, tune in.You can also watch the entire episode on 9x Tashan's YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/c/9xtashanFollow us on our Social Media Handles to stay updated on all the Masti.https://www.instagram.com/9xtashanofficial/https://twitter.com/9XTASHANhttps://www.facebook.com/9xtashan/

7/9/1967 - Braves vs Mets - Shea Stadium in New York -In the 1967 season, both the Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves showcased considerable performance. The Cubs, though talented, had a challenging season, ending 5th in the NL with a 87-74 record. Their inconsistency hindered a promising start, and they missed the postseason. Players like Ernie Banks and Ron Santo contributed solid performances, but the team's overall lack of depth was apparent.Contrastingly, the Braves had a more successful year, finishing 7th in the NL with a 77-85 record. Hank Aaron and Phil Niekro were instrumental, with Aaron hitting .307 with 39 home runs and Niekro posting an ERA of 1.87. However, despite these individual achievements, the Braves couldn't secure a postseason berth, as they struggled with inconsistent pitching and defense..Atlanta Braves starting lineup1 - 1B - Felipe Alou2 - CF - Mack Jones3 - RF - Hank Aaron4 - LF - Rico Carty5 - C - Joe Torre6 - 3B - Clete Boyer7 - SS - Denis Menke8 - 2B - Woody Woodward9 - P - Ken Johnson.New York Mets starting lineup1 - SS - Bud Harrelson2 - CF - Larry Stahl3 - LF - Tommy Davis4 - 1B - Ed Kranepool5 - RF - Ron Swoboda6 - 3B - Ed Charles7 - 2B - Bob Johnson8 - C - Jerry Grote9 - P - Jack Fisher

"I'm the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition." Castiel, Angel of the Lord

Psalm 74:10-17, 1 Kings 1-2:12, Acts 10:23b-11:18. Jesus was opposed: ‘They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen' (10:39–40) Contrastingly, the most wonderful privilege any human being can have is to be a follower of Jesus of Nazareth whom ‘God anointed… with the Holy Spirit and power' (10:38)

Psalm 74:12-17, 1 Kings 1:32-34, 2:1-3, Acts 10:25-47, 11:1-17. Jesus was opposed: ‘They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen' (10:39–40) Contrastingly, the most wonderful privilege any human being can have is to be a follower of Jesus of Nazareth whom ‘God anointed… with the Holy Spirit and power' (10:38)

Psalm 74:12-17, 1 Kings 1:32-34, 2:1-3, Acts 10:25-47, 11:1-18. Jesus was opposed: ‘They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen' (10:39–40) Contrastingly, the most wonderful privilege any human being can have is to be a follower of Jesus of Nazareth whom ‘God anointed… with the Holy Spirit and power' (10:38)

Link to bioRxiv paper: http://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2023.04.26.538384v1?rss=1 Authors: Sano, H., Nambu, A. Abstract: Zonisamide (ZNS; 1,2-benzisoxazole-3-methanesulfonamide) was initially developed and is commonly used as an anticonvulsant drug. However, it has also shown beneficial effects on Parkinson's disease (PD), a progressive neurodegenerative disorder caused by the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the midbrain. Recent clinical studies have suggested that ZNS can also have beneficial effects on L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia (LID), which is a major side effects of long-term L-DOPA treatments for PD. In the present study, we examined the behavioral effects of ZNS on LID in PD model mice. Acute ZNS treatment did not have any observable behavioral effects on LID. Contrastingly, chronic ZNS treatment with L-DOPA delayed the peak of LID and reduced the severity of LID before the peak, but increased the duration of LID in a dose-dependent manner of ZNS, compared to PD model mice treated with L-DOPA alone. Thus, ZNS appears to have both beneficial and adverse effects on LID. Copy rights belong to original authors. Visit the link for more info Podcast created by Paper Player, LLC

Link to bioRxiv paper: http://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2023.04.19.537613v1?rss=1 Authors: Gupta, A., Ruturaj,, Mishra, M., Saha, S., Maji, S., Rodriguez-Boulan, E., Schreiner, R. Abstract: We suggest a model of apico-basolateral sorting in polarized epithelia using homologous Cu-ATPases as membrane cargoes. In polarized epithelia, upon copper treatment, homologous copper-ATPases ATP7A and ATP7B traffic from trans-Golgi network (TGN) to basolateral and apical membranes respectively. We characterized sorting pathways of Cu-ATPases between TGN and plasma-membrane and identified the machinery involved. ATP7A and ATP7B reside on distinct domains of TGN and in high copper, ATP7A traffics directly to basolateral membrane, whereas ATP7B traverses common-recycling, apical-sorting and apical-recycling endosomes en-route to apical membrane. Mass-spectrometry identified regulatory partners of ATP7A and ATP7B that include Adaptor Protein-1 complex. Upon knocking-out pan-AP-1, sorting of both copper-ATPases are disrupted. ATP7A loses polarity and localizes on both apical and basolateral surfaces in high copper. Contrastingly, ATP7B loses TGN-retention but retains apical polarity that becomes copper-independent. Using isoform-specific knockouts, we found that AP-1A provides directionality and TGN-retention for both Cu-ATPases, whereas, AP-1B governs polarized trafficking of ATP7B solely. Trafficking phenotypes of Wilson disease-causing ATP7B mutants that disrupts putative ATP7B-AP1 interaction further substantiates the role of AP-1 in apical sorting of ATP7B. Copy rights belong to original authors. Visit the link for more info Podcast created by Paper Player, LLC

In Non-Compliant Podcast Episode 51, Jay Edelson, nationally recognized plaintiff's attorney and founder of Edelson PC, hosts guest Dan Karon, plaintiff's attorney popularly known as Your Loveable Lawyer. During this episode, Jay and Dan connect over their personal brand, how to capture an audience's attention without losing morality, and one of Dan's passion projects: authoring a book.Dan and Jay kick things off with a discussion about Dan's marketing as a lawyer and the importance of authenticity. Dan talks about his journey and inspiration behind making his content relatable (4:25).Later, Dan toys with the idea of creating a TV show (7:35) and Jay poses the question: How do you create content that captivates an audience without losing your loveable nature? Dan and Jay brainstorm an answer – mimic elements of reality TV and make the viewers feel like they are “right there in the shit with you,” creating a narrative that an audience can follow from beginning to end (16:20).In the middle of the episode, Jay dives into Dan's book, 12 years in the making. Dan talks about how he channels fictional writing in his legal writing to keep his reader interested (24:15), but Jay pushes back with his own views and writing process as he works on his own novel (29:50).Near the end of the episode, Jay suggests a lot of lawyers are really creative and were considering other creative careers before choosing law (35:20). Contrastingly, Dan shares that his experience is not the same and how he encourages creative writing in briefs. Ultimately, they agree it's never too late to start something creative, like writing or painting, and both reflect on how they are doing just that in their adult lives (40:00). Jay and Dan bring the episode to a close by talking about how their careers in law have aged, and they connect over their shared experience of teaching law (43:50). Connect with Dan Karon:Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/dankaronWebsite: https://yourlovablelawyer.com/Connect with Jay:Twitter: https://twitter.com/jayedelsonEdelson PC Profile: https://edelson.com/team/jay-edelson/Connect with us:Website: https://www.edelsoncreative.com/#podcastFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/edelsonlawTwitter: https://twitter.com/EdelsonCreativeLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/edelson-pc

Link to bioRxiv paper: http://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2023.01.11.523692v1?rss=1 Authors: Lee, H., Lee, H.-J., Choe, K. W., Lee, S.-H. Abstract: Binary classification, an act of sorting items into two classes by setting a boundary, is biased by recent history. One common form of such biases is repulsive bias, a tendency to sort an item into the class opposite to its preceding items. Sensory-adaptation and boundary-updating are considered as two contending sources of the repulsive bias, yet no neural support has been provided for either source. Here we explored human brains, using fMRI, to find such supports by relating the brain signals of sensory-adaptation and boundary-updating to human classification behavior. We found that the stimulus-encoding signal in the early visual cortex adapted to previous stimuli, yet its adaptation-related changes were dissociated from current choices. Contrastingly, the boundary-representing signals in the inferior-parietal and superior-temporal cortices shifted to previous stimuli and covaried with current choices. Our exploration points to boundary-updating, rather than sensory-adaptation, as the origin of the repulsive bias in binary classification. Copy rights belong to original authors. Visit the link for more info Podcast created by Paper Player, LLC

This is the first of a three part lecture series on the teachings of the Christ in the light of Vedanta, Yoga and Tantra. Today, we take up Jesus' message of renunciation. Above all, the Christ, like all the avatars before and after him, exemplified total absorption in God and uncompromising renunciation. What is renunciation, anyway?   You see:   We all want to be happy. The goal of life is happiness and fulfillment. Now consider this carefully:  We do so many things in a day. But if take the time to stop and carefully consider why it is that we do what we do, most of us will find that we are motivated by pleasure, money, power and name and fame. We work to make money because we crave financial security and because we think that money will bring us new experiences, new pleasure. We seek out company that increase the overall pleasure we feel in our life. We work to increase our followers or find praise and validation to feel a sense of belonging. And we pursue learning because it is a subtle form of pleasure and power. Notice, our motivations are most “worldly”. That is to say, our fundamental orientation towards life is to look for fulfillment and happiness. What good has that done you? Did you actually get what you were looking for from acquiring all of these things? By studying your own experiences and also the lives of people who are successful in a worldly sense (top professors, billionaires, rock stars etc.) you come to learn that an increase in pleasure, money, fame and power don't at all mean an increase in happiness. Often the opposite! So then, understanding this, why continue to pursue things you know won't make you happy?   Contrastingly, the happiest people in the world are often holy men and women who have renounced their fascination with the trinkets of the world and instead spend all of their time enjoying the inner fulfillment of spiritual life. These people devote their time to spiritual practice and study and when they work in the world, they do it as an act of worship, not to make money or be praised. And as a result, they are free, happy and genuinely fulfilled in a way that most of us aren't! Understanding this, we must resolve to devote every single hour of our day to spiritual life. We should radically redefine our orientation to life.  The goal of your life is enlightenment, not pleasure, not wealth, not power, not name and fame. If you have this conviction, yours will be a beautiful life. The only fulfillment here is in the Spirit.  In this video, we sketch out the two "axiological" arguments above as well as three more arguments, one from the point of view of epistemology, the other from metaphysics and the final one is an appeal to a corroborated claim by all the major world religions for a total of 5 arguments in favor of devoting every single moment of your life to spiritual practice.Support the show

It seems when you scroll through your social media, all you see is man vs gyal, or gyal vs Kevin Samuels

Transforming Perspective: Conversation to broaden our understanding about the concepts of life and God's involvement in every life before being birthed in the world.The Scriptures contain many events revealing God's knowledge of a person before being conceived in the mother's womb.  Some examples are, Isaac being pronounced 25 years prior to his birth,  and God revealing the distinct natures of twin brothers, Jacob and Esau while in their mother's womb, also John the Baptist's name and life being predestined before being conceived by his parents.These true events indicate our life begins in the mind of the Living God, as well.God gives each of us a destiny before being conceived by our parents, determines our person and personality and while developing in our mother's womb, accounts or make notes of the life of each finger, toe, and arm as well as reckons each of our hairs.Contrastingly, Job being under extreme tribulation questioned the purpose of his life and was given great knowledge and understanding by God of the interconnection of one's life to the ecologies of plant and animal life, as well as one's interdependency with earth.  He surmises life of every living being is in God's hand  who is the breath of life of every human being.Biblical Principle:  Life is determined by God in advance and accounted in Jesus Christ the sustainer or fountain of life, before the foundation of the earth was formed. Bible References OLD TESTAMENT –  Job Chapter 12 verses 1 – 12.NEW TESTAMENT – John Chapter 6 verses 1 – 14, Ephesians Chapter 1 verses 4-5.Webpage - https://youlifeandgodpodcast.buzzsprout.com 

Psalm 74:10-17, 1 Kings 1-2:12, Acts 10:23b-11:18. Jesus was opposed: ‘They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen' (10:39–40) Contrastingly, the most wonderful privilege any human being can have is to be a follower of Jesus of Nazareth whom ‘God anointed… with the Holy Spirit and power' (10:38)

Psalm 74:12–13a, 1 Kings 1:32–34, 2:1–3, Acts 10:30–47, 11:1–4,15,17. Jesus was opposed: ‘They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen' (10:39–40) Contrastingly, the most wonderful privilege any human being can have is to be a follower of Jesus of Nazareth whom ‘God anointed… with the Holy Spirit and power' (10:38)

Psalm 74:12–13a, 1 Kings 1:32-34, 2:1–3, Acts 10:30–47, 11:1–4,15,17. Jesus was opposed: ‘They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen' (10:39–40) Contrastingly, the most wonderful privilege any human being can have is to be a follower of Jesus of Nazareth whom ‘God anointed… with the Holy Spirit and power' (10:38)

So black women who are single mothers are often admonished and called undesirable by manosphere nig nogs for being single parents. Contrastingly, many divested women with children easily find love and meet men who accept and lovingly raise their kids once they date out. So tonight I want to discuss how black single mothers are able to easily find love once they open their options and how they often meet men who raise their children better than their kid's own fathers. Better grab your tissues for this one because this is a tear jerker. For more content like this, join the patreon at patreon.com/lexusexodus ! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lexus-exodus/support

This week has been all about running a one-man-band business On Monday, Huw shared how he has been so successful at running his business as a one-man-band On Tuesday, we looked at 5 things you need to put in your marketing calendar

Do you ever feel like it's impossible to be present with yourself or with others? In this episode of Shut Up and Sit, Yedda talks about the three major barriers to being in the present moment, along with how to remove those barriers and access your innate state of presence. You'll learn techniques for avoiding stress and overwhelm, cultivating moments of silence, and using mindfulness to recover from conflicts. “When you're not in the moment, you are going to make decisions based on old patterns and beliefs and behaviors, it's just the way it goes. When you're awake, aware, and available in this moment, you can access more data, more information, and you can access patterns that you're working on creating and you can really cultivate different ways of showing up in the world.” - Yedda Sometimes, accessing a state of presence can feel like homework. Contrastingly, it can also feel like the only thing that will keep us afloat. Mindfulness is a powerful tool that removes the barriers to being present. Mindfulness will make it easier and more impactful to sit in silence and exist in the present moment. Are you willing to try it out for yourself? Resources: Join the SUAS Community; www.suascommunity.com Buy the ebook: www.suasebook.com   About Yedda: As a consciousness coach and consultant, Yedda strives to be present with everyone she meets, aspiring to pay total attention without judgement. She is open-minded and lives life with an open heart, offering others a sacred safe space to grow and evolve, free from suffering and shame. Yedda's ultimate desire is to live in a world where every person feels awakened and deeply connected to their authentic self—a world centered around lovingkindness and equanimity, where all humans feel safe to communicate soul-to-soul. Dedicated to serving something greater than herself, Yedda defines her life's work as “walking others home to the truth that we are ALL the highest and grandest expression of Source.” Yedda offers a unique blend of leadership, mindfulness, and personal development skills to clients, helping them to integrate mind, body, and soul.   Connect with Yedda: Visit her website: www.yeddastancil.com Subscribe to her YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/channel/UCeQIBSs2arYxgbqkbfOHs9g Follow her on Instagram: www.instagram.com/yeddastancil Connect with her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/yeddastancil Connect with her on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/yeddastancil Follow her on Twitter: www.twitter.com/yeddastancil   Do you have feedback, questions, or comments? Leave a review here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/shut-up-and-sit/id1561078547

Carl Quintanilla and Jim Cramer began with a closer look at yesterday's record close with the S&P 500 doubling from its pandemic bottom, marking the fastest bull market rally since WWII. The anchors then shifted to a pair of big retailers reporting results. Home Depot saw shares slide at the open despite posting a beat on both the top and bottom lines. Contrastingly, Walmart was among the biggest gainers on the Dow with the company receiving a boost from strong grocery sales and back-to-school spending. The anchors also discussed Michael Burry of ‘The Big Short' betting big against Cathie Wood and her flagship ARK Innovation exchange-traded fund. Also in the mix: Jim Cramer highlighted Airbnb for his “Stop Trading” segment, saying “I like Airbnb more than any hotel during this period.”

Psalm 74:10-17, 1 Kings 1-2:12, Acts 10:23b-11:18. Jesus was opposed: ‘They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen' (10:39–40) Contrastingly, the most wonderful privilege any human being can have is to be a follower of Jesus of Nazareth whom ‘God anointed… with the Holy Spirit and power' (10:38)

Psalm 74:12–13a, 1 Kings 1:32-34, 2:1–3, Acts 10:30–47, 11:1–4,15,17. Jesus was opposed: ‘They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen' (10:39–40) Contrastingly, the most wonderful privilege any human being can have is to be a follower of Jesus of Nazareth whom ‘God anointed… with the Holy Spirit and power' (10:38)

Psalm 74:12–13a, 1 Kings 1:32–34, 2:1–3, Acts 10:30–47, 11:1–4,15,17. Jesus was opposed: ‘They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen' (10:39–40) Contrastingly, the most wonderful privilege any human being can have is to be a follower of Jesus of Nazareth whom ‘God anointed… with the Holy Spirit and power' (10:38)

Psalm 74:12–13a, 1 Kings 1:32–34, 2:1–3, Acts 10:30–47, 11:1–4,15,17. Jesus was opposed: ‘They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen' (10:39–40) Contrastingly, the most wonderful privilege any human being can have is to be a follower of Jesus of Nazareth whom ‘God anointed… with the Holy Spirit and power' (10:38)

Tracy Duhs is a modern wellness hydration expert that has devoted her life to helping people awaken their vitality and feel alive. An educator, founder of two naturopathic clinics, and host of the podcast 'Hydrate with Tracy Duhs'; Through research on the vibrational frequency of the voice, sound, and how it affects our immune system, Tracy's approach to healing took a turning point. "I found out that our bodies are 98.9% water molecules, and water is the source-receiver of all information that we're in contact with. I realised that the words I was saying, and thoughts I was thinking we're imprinting the body of water that I am". For a deeper understanding of this theory, you needn't look any further than Dr. Masaru Emoto's work around crystals formed in frozen water and the changes that occur when concentrated thoughts are directed towards them. Emoto discovered that water from clear springs and water exposed to loving words showed radiant, complex, and colourful snowflake patterns. Contrastingly, polluted water, or water exposed to negative thoughts, formed incomplete patterns with dull colours. Tracy's education and healing work is underpinned by the belief that our cells have their own innate intelligence, and by removing the obstacles for healing, giving the body the building blocks for biogenesis, and allowing our cells to do what they know how to do, we can thrive in good health. In this energised chat, Mason and Tracy discuss the nature and different qualities of water, with Tracy giving her best guidance on how to access mineral-rich water, build back up filtered water, and the types of adulterated, traumatised water we should avoid. Be sure to tune in for this epic information, and so much more!   "Everything we put in our body is sending a message to our cells, delivering a message to the body of water that we are".   Mason and Tracy discuss: Eating for hydration. Quinton and its benefits. The fourth phase of water. Deuterium depleted water. The crystalline structure of water. Hydration through your movement. The benefits of molecular hydrogen. Creating a hydration focused lifestyle. Why hydration is not just about water. Gratefulness to build up the structure of water in our body. Filtered water; Not as good for your health as you may think. Metabolic water; The purest most deuterium depleted, structured water there is.    Who is Tracy Duhs? Tracy believes that optimal health is a fundamental right for all humanity, not just a privilege for a select few. Helping people activate their vitality and feel alive has been Tracy’s lifelong mission. Growing up in a missionary home cultivated her profound sense of compassion and her desire to educate on the simple foundations needed to look and feel our best. By the time she was 15, Tracy had already begun her undergraduate education in medicine. At 16, Tracy shadowed a missionary doctor working in an indigenous village in Guatemala, where she gained hands-on surgical and medical training. The time she spent there opened her eyes and enlarged her heart, to the need for holistic wellness education and foundations. After her experience in Guatemala, Tracy decided to forgo a traditional allopathic medical career in favor of one that focused on regenerative care and education. When Tracy became a mother, her professional path took a personal turn. Her first child, Grace, was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s thyroid and alopecia universalis at the age of two. Emboldened by her daughter’s struggle, Tracy began her journey into hydration education by pursuing a Ph.D. in the field of biogenetics as well as shadowing doctors from all around the globe to learn their different approaches to disease. It was through these experiences that Tracy became passionate about hydration, realising the power it has to transform overall health and wellness in everyone. Today, Tracy works as a modern wellness advocate specializing in the restorative powers of intelligent hydration. She has parlayed her wealth of experience and knowledge into a multi-dimensional career in wellness advocacy and education, starting with her podcast, HYDRATE. Tracy frequently consults large corporations and hotels to help build and facilitate wellness experiences. She also serves as the Director of the International Brain Summit. Tracy is the founder of the Sanctuary Wellness Experience in San Diego and co-founder of Hydrate Sanctuary.   Resources: Tracy's website Tracy's Facebook Tracy's Instagram graceandparker.com Hydrate with Tracy podcast Hydrate with Tracy Duhs (Book) Q: How Can I Support The SuperFeast Podcast? A: Tell all your friends and family and share online! We’d also love it if you could subscribe and review this podcast on iTunes. Or  check us out on Stitcher, CastBox, iHeart RADIO:)! Plus  we're on Spotify!   Check Out The Transcript Here:   Mason: (00:00) Tracy, thanks so much for joining me.   Tracy Duhs: (00:02) Thank you for having me on. So lovely to connect. Isn't it fun how we can connect all the way across the world just through quantum physics, right?   Mason: (00:13) Yeah. It's not going to be too long and we won't need all the technology to do it. So I think it's going to be like internal holograms, it's going to be the psychic connections, we're going to get too hydrated, we're going to get too mineralized. And I think I was wanting to talk about, I'm pretty sure I haven't read your book, but I'm pretty sure what you're saying is if you stay hydrated, you're going to be able to talk to people through your psychic abilities. Is that right?   Tracy Duhs: (00:43) Something like that. How did you know? You're psychic enough to know what I wrote before I wrote it.   Mason: (00:47) I'm hydrated. What can I say? Yeah, I'm really excited about getting my paws on your book as well, because it's really funny. I am a big fan of the Dr. Batmanghelidj books. I don't know if you're aware of those, but it's been so long since I feel like someone's like Viktor Schauberger, Batmanghelidj. And then I was like, there's no one really honing in on board or writing a good book dedicated to water in my sphere anyway. And then you came across my feed or someone mentioned your name. And I was like, "Awesome." Everyone in my community's been craving us to talk about water more. And I just haven't had the right people to bounce off with. So I'm really excited to get your book and really excited about this chat as well.   Tracy Duhs: (01:38) Well, same here. Super excited to talk about it. Right our bodies are 98.9% water molecules if we're not talking about it. That's what I couldn't understand was the same thing like there weren't a lot of people talking more about it.   Mason: (01:53) I think everyone just brushes over it. And just it's like, yeah, cool, hydrated. Good. But let's talk about a couple of the reasons why you decided to go down and that acquiesce rabbit hole and focused on it, because, as we say, not many people are doing it, you've looked at it and gone. You could do what lots of other people do, which is like, yeah. And remember it's one of the pillars, stay hydrated and then go and focus on diet or whatever else it is. But why did I write a book on it? And why is your podcast called hydrate? What were those little facts or things that made you commit?   Tracy Duhs: (02:40) Yeah, that's a great question, Mason. Because I have been obsessed with health and wellness since I was really young and really into the diet and exercise and taking supplements and doing all the things. But I was having my own crucible story crisis of hell at a very young age in my early 20s, just not having a lot of energy, having severe complicated migraines which passed out and just different things happening that I knew that there had to be something more beyond just eating healthy and drinking water and working out. And so when I got pregnant for my daughter, Grace, when I was in my early 20s, I was having severe thirst. I could not quench my thirst no matter how much water I drink. And I didn't have gestational diabetes, all of my blood panels, pathology, everything came back healthy.   Tracy Duhs: (03:50) So I started to notice that the different water I drink, whether it was mountain spring or filter, I would feel more hydrated depending on what kind of water I was drinking. So that just got me interested in, oh, not all water is created the same, right? Just having purified clean water wasn't hydrating me. So that just started taking me down the rabbit hole, because once you start studying water, you realise that you could study it for the rest of your life and never even scratch the surface. It's just so deep and wide. And it excited me. Once I found out that our bodies were 98.9% water molecules and water is the source receiver of all information that comes in contact with. So even if I have my cell phone next to my cup of water, it's sending that information and my water is receiving that information from the frequency that my phone is sending out.   Tracy Duhs: (04:56) And there's so much. Our body is a body of water. It's surprising to think that we're 98.9% water molecules we're not a puddle of water on the floor. It's just so interesting when you really start to dig into it. So yeah, I think it was more from myself, a crisis of health and really wanting to thrive and be healthy and realising how important hydration wasn't that drinking water was just such a small fraction of the story for hydration.   Mason: (05:35) The best topic, I imagine you’d be getting into that area. I don't know whether you'd love it or can't stand it, but talking about different types of water and the quality of different types of water or the superiority, inferiority. Oh my gosh! I've just gone brain dead this morning. Inferiority of particular types of water. I'm going to come out just straight out because it's the most frequent question we get. And then there's like, what type of water do you drink? Or what's the best type of water?   Tracy Duhs: (06:08) Yeah. Well, that's a loaded question in my opinion, because there's just so much when you really get into it. And when I start talking about that, it gets so complex and it goes over people's heads. So most of your listeners I'm sure are really interested in health and wellness and they have a more educated background on that than the average person. But I think that it's important just to go back to the basics and if we can improve hydration just a little bit from what people are doing, then we can keep building on that. Right?   Tracy Duhs: (06:46) So I'll start with the basics. The worst water to drink is filtered water by itself, because it lacks minerals and it has... Especially when you just drink reverse osmosis water or any type of water that has been filtered, it usually has it's dissonant. There isn't coherence in it. There isn't a structure to it. And water has many aspects to it. It has the chemical aspects, the physical aspect, the bio-energetic aspect. And so when I start with the chemistry of it, we want to make sure water is pure. If you go to other countries and there's pathogens in the water or things that are not good for us chemically, then we understand that, that can make us sick. So it is important to filter water. If you are getting tap water or something, you want to filter it, but it's important to break water down and then build it back up.   Tracy Duhs: (07:58) Water has been so adulterated, it's been so traumatised through all of the things that we do to it to process it. And it's really important that we take the water and we're mindful of let's break it down from all the things that have been done to it and build it back up the way nature naturally would. So yes, we want to filter out all of the contamination in the water, and then we want to build it back up with by adding minerals to the water. And that's really important for helping bring structure back into the water, crystalline structure. If you look at a crystal, it's minerals, right? The crystalline structure in the water, we don't want unstructured water, because every thing that we're putting into our body is sending a message to ourselves. It's delivering a message to the body of water that we are.   Tracy Duhs: (08:57) And when you really think of it that way, it's like, "Oh my gosh! The kind of water I drink is so important." And it can be quite confusing, but I say just if you're at the grocery store, stay away from filtered water. If you're just like, "I want to buy a bottle of water," look for spring water in a glass bottle. And that's the simplest way to start. Go to the grocery store, do not pass by all the ones that say filtered, pure, alkaline, unless it's alkaline because it's coming from a natural mineral source. You don't want some processed water that was made into alkaline water. You want to stay away from all that. Just go for natural spring water, glacier water.   Mason: (09:51) That's like straight up. I think hearing you talk, then in the past, I've probably one that's gone and complicated it heavily. Even though I just spent so many years just only drinking spring water that I had harvested myself, I think I realised, especially once I had my own child and I started being a little bit more empathetic for someone listening who's in the city. They don't need me creating some grandiose, rule based way of approaching hydration. Right?   Tracy Duhs: (10:26) Right. Yeah. And then it goes like, okay, so just get some good water in you. And then to really activate hydration, we want to go into the other steps. We want to make sure our mitochondria are healthy. We want to make sure we're moving so that all of that fluid gets into the fascia and the tissues. And when we're stagnant, things pool and they're not moving and they're not getting our joints healthy and lubricated. And so there's a lot that goes into hydration and I think it can be so overwhelming for people. So I just like to break it down and make it simple. And then we can talk about the more details as people can receive it, because I think it can become so overwhelming for people. And they're like, "I just don't know the right thing to do and..."   Mason: (11:23) Especially when you've been asked to take that leap and invest the $2,000 in this filter and that filter.   Tracy Duhs: (11:30) Right. And then someone tells you, "Why did you get that filter? That's the worst one you could have done or that machine that does this to your water, it's actually making it worse." And then people do get overwhelmed.   Mason: (11:44) It is overwhelming. And I've been in that position where I'm the person that's just looking at that filter. And I'm like I've done a lot of research around water throughout the years, but that's also come from a purist bias around sourcing spring water myself. And so I've sat there going, alright Mason, I don't want to be that guy. I don't want to be the burst in the bubble guy. And I also don't want to not tell them how I think about the filter, but then I had to get to the point. I'm like, all right, you're not the bloody expert on water. All right, mate. So stop thinking like you've got the answer and you're the one that has to drop the truth bomb on these people.   Tracy Duhs: (12:26) Yeah. Right.   Mason: (12:26) Doing the best they can.   Tracy Duhs: (12:28) And no one truly has the answer. We are really just now learning so much about water. Gerald Pollack, less than 10 years ago, discovered the fourth phase of water. If you think about that, it's just like, "Whoa, how did we not know that?" We're learning more every single day. And especially as our environment changes and there's more non-native electromagnetic frequencies around us, we have to protect that because we realise that those non-native EMFs are deep polarising our cells. And when you depolarize the cell, you're actually liquefying the inside of the cell, the cytoplasm, which should be that gel like structure that is that fourth phase of water inside the cell. It starts to denature, starts to lose its structure. And that's when they say that you're holding your cell phone, it's literally liquefying the inside of your cells. And once it loses that structure, our body is doesn't have that charge. The cellular communication’s inhibited. And once the cells can't talk to each other, they're not able to do their job as requested.   Mason: (13:46) Right. It's such a great reminder. When you get into your head and you try and find the right answer rather than dropping in and going, what's my intention here with my hydration strategy or with the way that my lifestyle revolves around water and to just come back, yes, we've got non-natives, EMFs, we've got our 5G's and we've got our phones and we've got our laptops and it's all smashing us. And it's like on that side of things, it's the same as like the herbs, the Qing Gong and everything. We talk about creating a sovereignty that you can throw off anything that's not your natural frequency. And that's the intention whether or not there is even all this technological shit-storm around us. I think it's a really beautiful way. It's really refreshing to hear you approach it from that direction. It's rewarding straightaway.   Tracy Duhs: (14:43) Yeah, it is. And then the thing that just started getting me so excited, I went back to do research to get my PhD. And my research was on the vibrational frequency of the voice and the sound and how that affects our immune system. And that was the turning point that shifted my life was realising that the words I was saying were imprinting the body of water that I am and the thoughts that I think imprint the body of water than I am. And not only that they affect the people around me, those thoughts, those words. And I'm responsible for that. To be a sovereign human being, it's important that we take accountability and responsibility for the words we're saying and the thoughts we're thinking and how we impact, not just our own body of water, but everyone around us. And once I started to realise that, it changed everything for me, the way I felt about the world, the way I perceived the world, the way I saw myself and starting to take that responsibility realising that gratitude truly is our superpower is truly one of our greatest weapons of defence.   Tracy Duhs: (16:06) And that is when we're grateful, it's almost like we are literally building up the structure of water in our body. We're able to help ourselves communicate more effectively. We're charging ourselves. And it's like, that's why I'm like, okay, water is important. The kind of water we drink is very important. But equally as important is how we're living our life and the thoughts we're thinking and what we're doing and the food we're eating, the conversations we're in, the non-native EMF. It's like that's why I started this podcast Hydrate Podcast, because it's like the hydrate life is like pretty much everything that we do is affecting the body of water that we are.   Mason: (16:56) Well, you brought up what I just keep on thinking is, of course, we get bogged down in the detail and the surface of a conversation, the superficial of the conversation, which is how many glasses of water should I be drinking a day of what type? And that's literally the tip of the iceberg. I can just hear you go straight into talking about the fascia and that system, which is regulating distribution of water all over the body. And then bringing up, it's water can take on a crystalline structure, it can take on that fourth phase. And it is in the fascia and the intracellular fluid where we see that fourth phase come to life. And therefore we always see that become a communication organ of the body.   Mason: (17:48) So you think that. It's not just about how many glasses, of what size based on your body weight, are you drinking a day? There's this whole other lifestyle that goes into brilliant guide. That's, of course, the gratitude pace and our thoughts as well as just thinking about, is your fascia stuck and stagnant? Is it not being stretched? Is it not being moved? I saw your bellicon rebounders were converted. Yes.   Tracy Duhs: (18:17) Love it. Love jumping on my bellicon every morning.   Mason: (18:23) I just think it's a nice refreshing reminder for me for someone that can get really heady. And it's just remembering that sometimes you let go of the goal or the rule and you're just sinking and you just find that lifestyle that keeps all the waters going and keeps everything functioning. I think it's really cool and people need to hear that rather than some of the previous books have talked about, like with the Batmanghelidj books which are really great, but they're like, this is how dehydration is creating this disease and this disease and this disease and this disease, which is really sobering, just seeing how much of disease state is really allowed to manifest because of chronic dehydration.   Mason: (19:12) But then at some point, yes, there's the remedy of hydration, but at some point we need to get out of a problem solution, remedying fixing something that's wrong mentality and really let it just sink into something within our personal culture and our personal lifestyle flow. So I'm really keen to hear more about that and just how you relate to your hydration through your movement. And then of course, I've got a lot of supplementation questions to ask, but is there anything else in your lifestyle in general? I think the hydration piece in gratitude, that's not an obvious connection, but it is one. Is there anything else that you've personally have this really strong connection to hydration in your lifestyle, but isn't an obvious one?   Tracy Duhs: (20:01) Definitely watching the sunrise and the sunset, getting that full spectrum light on my skin and my eyes and opening my mouth, getting in the epithelial tissue, that's really feeding my mitochondria so that my mitochondria can be more successful at making my own metabolic water, which is the purest most deuterium, depleted water, most structured water there is. My body makes it, our bodies make it. A lot of people have this misconception that camels carry water in their humps. And what they don't realise is that camels are carrying hydrogen fat in their humps. And that hydrogen is finding to the oxygen that they're breathing and the cell is making this metabolic water with that fuel. And so if we can make our bodies more efficient, our bodies are going to be making more metabolic water. And that water is ultimate.   Tracy Duhs: (21:06) So that's like 10 to 20% of our hydration and the rest is eating. Sometimes people don't think about this, but take inventory of what you're eating, whether it could be the things that we think are so healthy like protein shakes or protein bars or whatever, we're eating bread. Those things are all very dehydrated. So we have to compensate more with hydration. I say, eat your hydration, because when you're eating plants, it's already structured within the cell of the plant. You already have that each three or two in that watermelon that you're eating. And it's just easier for your body to convert and make its own structured water within the cell. So your body resonates with it. It really likes it.   Tracy Duhs: (21:57) Things like putting chia seeds in your water. I know they have lectins and some people have sensitivity to that, but if you don't, chia seeds are great. When you look at a chia seed and you put it in water, you'll see that white globe around it. And that's the fourth phase of water. So Gina Bria and Gerald Pollack studied that together. And it was really cool. They realised, oh, that's why. Gina Bria is an anthropologist. And she wanted to understand how the different cultures like desert people that lived in the desert, how they stayed hydrated. And it's like, oh, they use chia seeds. They ate their hydration. That was a big part of hydrating, because a lot of times they didn't have access to water the way they need to.   Tracy Duhs: (22:47) Sometimes people in ancient cultures they didn't have water bottles or shops to get water. They got to go to the stream, take some drinks of the water and then go back to the village or whatever, and come back. And it wasn't just so easily accessible. So there was other ways that the body had to hydrate. And so thinking about the food that we eat, I think that's not so obvious to some people. It's like, oh, today I had maybe someone diet, they could say, oh, you had a protein shake in the morning, egg and toast or some chicken. And those things are all great, but they might be dehydrating. So think about balancing that food. I love to get a bunch of fresh berries in the morning.   Tracy Duhs: (23:35) And I just introduced my girlfriend too in the morning having chopped avocado and chopped green apples together, and then just sprinkling a little sea salt. So then you get the fat or the hydrogen and you get the structured water from the apple and then as well as the fibre to help hold that hydration and your system longer. And just all those things together, you think about, gosh, that felt so hydrating. And it just feels so good. Even sometimes beyond drinking a glass of water.   Mason: (24:11) Yeah. The chia seeds, it's funny. You’ve just taken me back. I think that was the first recipe I ever put on the website. And it's like 10 years ago now. I just read Born to Run about the Tarahumara tribes who used to do those ultra, just like they used to run and just do these little ultra marathons and just be able to knock out 100Ks or whatever that is in miles. And they just used to pop chia seeds and lime and a touch of honey. I was like, oh, that's the original athlete gel.   Tracy Duhs: (24:45) Yeah. Totally way better than the athlete gel that we have now, because that one usually has things in it that I don't think are so healthy. That's my personal opinion.   Mason: (25:02) I can't remember the book, but my wife read a book and it's really well known. I think I'm pretty sure this woman was a journalist over in Western Australia. And she went and lived with mob on land, indigenous mob here on land. And they were nomadic and they are proper. And they hadn't been touched by civilization yet. And one of the things they eventually said were just like you guys you drink way too much water in the west. You don't need that. You don't need that much water. That's not where all of your hydration comes from. I'll get the book and I'll put it in the show notes guys. But that's something that I can say, you talk about this so much.   Mason: (25:47) And I can tell when there's someone that's like, "Hey, listen, this is cool. Let's talk about the water and drinking and getting excited about that." But what's going to cut the mustard here, you know where the rubber is going to hit the road. And that's when you have a lifestyle that is focused on hydration that can actually hold it rather than just focusing on the water you're drinking and then having a lifestyle that lets it all drain.   Tracy Duhs: (26:13) Right. Yeah. A lot of people are drinking purified water, eating dehydrating foods and wondering why they're not moving. And I'm not just talking about walking or something. We need to be moving all of our joints, everything, getting the water in there or spine twisting it, just all parts of our body to get that fascial network, just so juicy and liberated. It's true. A lot of people just think, "Oh, if I just drink some water," most people that know I'm into hydration, that's the first thing that they say, "I'm drinking my water. What's the best water to drink?" And those are all great things, very important, but there's so much more to the story. Just like we mentioned earlier, it's just the tip of the iceberg.   Mason: (27:07) Tip of the iceberg. And one of the most important pieces, we actually haven't talked about deuterium-depleted water on the podcast yet. So if you wouldn't mind explaining to the fine folks what that is, because they're going to hear about it a lot over the coming years.   Tracy Duhs: (27:21) Yeah. It's something that's getting more attention. So deuterium is a heavy isotope. It's hydrogen. We like to call it, it's evil twin. There's controversy over that, but it makes sense, I think. For some people it's like, when you're drinking a cup of water, this doesn't just have H2O molecules in it and it has D2O in it and it also has HDO. So there's the D is the deuterium. And there's not a lot, it's minimal, but that deuterium, even the little amount that's in the water has a great impact on our body, because the D is the deuterium is twice as heavy as the hydrogen. So when that molecule, when it goes into your cell, it's like throwing a wrench into the nano motors of the mitochondria. And it's basically damaging the mitochondria. And we know that our vitality, our youth, our health, our life, the engines of ourselves are mitochondria.   Tracy Duhs: (28:40) And so if we're causing these mitochondria to be damaged, mitochondrial death, then we're ageing ourselves, we're ageing faster. And so people are realising that if we deplete the water of deuterium, you can have more energy, they say will age slower, can live longer. So that's what the claims are right now. And I would like to experience it myself and see how I feel. But I've been on deuterium-depleted water 10 parts per million. So most water. This would be probably like 150 parts per million on average. And most people's bodies are 150 parts per million. Some people are higher and it's really bad. You can get a simple deuterium test and we can put it in the show notes where they can get that. But-   Mason: (29:41) And that's different to a TDS metre, total dissolved solids metre? Is that different-   Tracy Duhs: (29:47) Yeah. So it's a different type of test to find out how much deuterium is in your system.   Mason: (29:53) Is there one that people can get at home or is it sending them to the lab?   Tracy Duhs: (29:57) Yeah, there's a test that they can order. You put your saliva in this little tube and you send it in and they can tell you how much, but I don't even think it's worth it because most people are about 150 parts per million. That's the average human. So when you start depleting the deuterium in your water, which I've been drinking about 10 parts per million for the last year, my deuterium levels have gone down. Now there's other things that contribute to high deuterium like root vegetables and fruits, exotic fruits like mangoes and pineapple. Those are higher in deuterium. So they say if you want to lower your deuterium levels in your body, a ketogenic diet is a good diet to eat that keeps you lower in deuterium.   Tracy Duhs: (30:53) And that is true, that it keeps you lower in deuterium, but I'm not a dogmatic person at all. I really feel like we have to have balance in our life. And if I'm going to be in Costa Rica or there's some great exotic pineapple or something, I'm going to eat that, it's structured, it's water, it's beautiful, it tastes good, it makes me happy. So I try not to be too dogmatic, but I am very mindful in my everyday life of trying not to have fruits that are too sweet and getting more of those good healthy fats into my system and not eating too much of the carbohydrates, because those carbohydrates are higher in deuterium, but just having a balance. So yeah, deuterium is a heavy isotope. And it's damaging ourselves, energy mechanisms and compromising our health and longevity.   Mason: (31:58) The spanner in the machinery of the mitochondria is a great visual. And a couple of questions. The deuterium-depleted water that you're getting. I remember when we first started getting into this about three years ago, it was only available getting a crate from Estonia or something. It was underground. And where are you sourcing that water from now?   Tracy Duhs: (32:24) Yeah, so there's a place called Lightwater and they have the water depleted of deuterium in Russia. So it does come from Russia, but their shipping centres once it comes from Russia, I think are in Reno. And so I have it sent to me from there, but yeah, it's a commitment. It's not something I really say that most people I would even concern them with right now, because most people, we are the world, there's such an epidemic of dehydration and we know that dehydration is connected to inflammation and all inflammation is connected to disease. So I just like to say let's just help the people get the basics down of hydration. And then we can always add those things in. And since hydration is my thing, obviously I'm going to experiment with deuterium depletion, because I want to know how does this work for me, because if I'm going to share it with everyone else, I need to have my own personal experience.   Mason: (33:40) Yeah, for sure. You do it really well, I got to say. When I was coming up and the people I was running with, we will focus on the extremes. And that's what we were solely talking about. You hold in the centre really well and you're keeping yourself balanced in the centre while you're going off and exploring the fringes, which is nice because then you know you've got a rope connecting you back home and you don't lose yourself out there in the world of dogma, which as far as I'm concerned, we talk about dogma a lot on this podcast. And I have a lot of fun with it. And I think becoming ideologically dependent is something I talk about coming from a Jing deficiency. So it's a kidney deficiency. And so it's in fact embodied in the body. In an elemental sense, it's a water deficiency or a capacity, a deficiency to regulate your waters. And therefore you can't develop wisdom of your own. You need to become externally dependent. So I appreciate you.   Tracy Duhs: (34:40) Hey, I've been that dogmatic person, that dogmatic place, and it didn't work for me. I was the one who no one wanted to go out to dinner with me because it was like I had to have everything perfect. And it was what farm was this grown on? What soil was it grown in? I don't know if it was that bad, but I really-   Mason: (34:57) You were thinking it. If you didn't say it, you were thinking it.   Tracy Duhs: (35:00) I was thinking it, exactly. And it's just like there was all that tension in my body, because I wasn't able to enjoy it. I was more anxious of, "Is this food going to hurt me?" I became almost afraid of food the more that I learned. The more you learn and the awareness that you have, it can make you a little bit anxious about it. And so the pendulum has to swing though. And then I realised that if we spend so much time being anxious about it, that's imprinting the body of water that we are. And that anxiety is not good. It's sending incoherent dissonant messages to our morphogenetic field that are then going to be creating dissonant frequencies within ourselves. And we know through epigenetics, we have the opportunity to choose what we want our genes to look like based on our environment and our thoughts and all of these factors.   Tracy Duhs: (35:57) And so I really had to take a step back and realise if I'm not enjoying life or I'm not finding this joy and the opportunity within everything, then it becomes more of a chore. And who can really live that life for the long term? I think that's why a lot of people have yo-yo diets. They're being so dogmatic about whatever it is. And then it's like, can you really sustain that forever? So I try to maintain things and help people with a lifestyle they can live forever that's going to help them have this joy. I have this thing called the nine pillars of health that works for me that I really teach to and try to educate. And one of those pillars is creative playtime, because I really believe that in order to have this vitality and thrive, we need to play. We need to get outside of ourselves and our dogma and our rigidity in all of this polarisation in the world where it's like, this is bad, this is good. How about we just play? When you were a kid and you went out and it's like, "You're a kid, I'm a kid. We can be friends. Let's play."   Tracy Duhs: (37:22) If we can just realise that our mind creates so much of the problems that we have and we get back to the joy and really having this true joy within, it changes everything.   Mason: (37:38) Hallelujah. The playing thing, did you happen... I don't know if you're a Seinfeld fan. Did you get that?   Tracy Duhs: (37:44) Oh, totally.   Mason: (37:45) Okay. Oh my God! You live next door. We can be best friends.   Tracy Duhs: (37:47) Yes. I love that. Oh my gosh!   Mason: (37:53) Great. The chuckle therapy, laughter therapy as well, I find to be one of the grandest things. Ultimately, when you go the dogmatic route, then you need to get to the point where you can take the piss out of yourself and the world. It's just all that giggling just vibrates the water in such a unique way.   Tracy Duhs: (38:18) Yes, I totally agree.   Mason: (38:22) There's just a couple of selfish questions I want to throw out there and it's really great to get that context of where you're coming from. When we do start talking about things like supplements, I understand where you're coming from with them. Now molecular hydrogen, by far one of my favourites. For the last 12 years, I've been taking a hydrogen supplement originally mega hydrate and then moved on to a molecular hydrogen. I want to hear your pace on it. Your intention. I assume you're taking it regularly from just checking out your grant.   Tracy Duhs: (39:02) Yeah. Every morning I do molecular hydrogen tablets and depending on how I feel, if I need more energy during the day, I pick me up, I'll do that again maybe before I go work out. Especially if I need energy, I'll do nitric oxide tablets and then hydrogen and hypertonic quinton. And those three things to get their chance to ignite everything in my body. It's like ready, I'm charged. My cells are talking to each other and I'm ready to go on that run or whatever it is. But yeah, molecular hydrogen modulates inflammation in the body and it really helps with our bodies to be able to hydrate more effectively. And it's something that I feel the difference and everyone that I've gotten on, it feels the difference. So I highly suggest it.   Tracy Duhs: (39:57) And I know there's a lot of machines out there that can make hydrogen. And those are great too, but sometimes they aren't as consistent. So the tablets, you just know exactly what you're going to get with it. They're like $1 a piece, put it in some water. One thing that a lot of people miss with the hydrogen tablets though is what's in the water is the gas, the hydrogen gas that we need to get ingested into the system. So sometimes people will put the tablet in the water and then walk away half an hour later, come back and drink it. And you really miss the value of that tablet. You need to really just sit there as it dissolves and then immediately drink it. So for me, there's been a couple of times as well to really be grateful for the water and try to focus my intention and my thoughts on imprinting positive frequencies into that water. They're going to benefit me for the day.   Mason: (40:57) Yeah. Hallelujah. I like hydrogen, the inflow of getting past the blood brain barrier inflammation all over the place going down. I'm like, I was stoked to see that on your site, because I actually didn't have a resource for the American crew to get hydrogen. So which website was that on again? Is that just a Tracy done?   Tracy Duhs: (41:24) Yeah, tracyduhs.com. Yeah. T-R-A-C-Y-D-U-H-S.com. You can learn more about it, but I also have an online store, which is graceandparker.com.   Mason: (41:36) That's your online store?   Tracy Duhs: (41:37) Yeah.   Mason: (41:40) I like it. Yeah. So you had the beauty chef in there as well. Is that right?   Tracy Duhs: (41:43) Oh, we love the beauty chef. Yeah. I love carloads and everything she's doing. She's just an epic human.   Mason: (41:50) Yeah. Like we've all Instagram Aussie company mates. So it was nice to see them there. Yeah, big recommendation for everyone listening to get onto molecular hydrogen. I've found it's one of those ones going like similar. I've got a kid as well and life's busy and at times I'm not able to do everything I need to do. So it's like the molecular hydrogen and the rebounder, have been those two as well as the whole lifestyle thing. Just it's like those little... I don't know. For lack of a better word, the little hacks that have honestly kept me thriving when I've been hustling big time. So I was like as soon as I saw you're into those two things, I was like, yeah, sister.   Tracy Duhs: (42:41) We can be friends. Yeah.   Mason: (42:43) Now we can be friends. [inaudible 00:42:44]   Tracy Duhs: (42:43) It's amazing. I would totally suggest it for every single person, even kids, just the environment we live in. We can all benefit from some molecular hydrogen in our life. And it's so benign. There's nothing that you can't overdose on it. You can't hurt yourself. If your body doesn't need it, it'll just expel it. It's not something that can hurt you. And I really advocate in our wellness centre that we have in San Diego, we have a luxury retreat and wellness centre. When people come in, they come in with all different types of health issues. We have from pro athletes to people with stage four cancer that come in that want to optimise their health. And I love products and things that don't force or drive biochemistry in a direction that's just so aggressive.   Tracy Duhs: (43:42) I love to just support the body because I really believe the cells have their own innate intelligence. And if we remove the obstacles for healing and give the body the building blocks for biogenesis in life, the things that they need, then that's all we have to do. And we just need to step out of the way and allow the cells to do what they know how to do.   Mason: (44:08) Amen. Tell me more about your... Is it like a retreat, retreat or is it like an urban retreat?   Tracy Duhs: (44:17) Yeah, so it's a luxury wellness retreat. You come for three days and we do a bio-energetic scan. So we go through all your meridian points. We do Chinese and German meridian points and see where your body can use some support. And then obviously we focus on hydration there. We do IV therapy, we do tonnes of hydration therapy. We have a chef that comes and we get the food from our bio-dynamic garden. And you literally don't have to think. You sleep in silk sheets, you get tucked into bed at night. You wake up in the morning and someone's escorting you to your beach walk for sunrise and listening to sound bolts on the ocean. It's literally where you can let go. We say it's a place where you can refresh your body, reset your mind and rediscover your spirit.   Tracy Duhs: (45:13) I look at it as like sometimes we have to press the reset button on our phone, turn it off and turn it back on. And just that system reset can make all the difference. And that's the same with us. We don't turn off very often. We're always go, go, go, go, no matter what we're doing. Oh, this text, I got to get back to this person or this email or this interview or whatever's going on. It's just constant. And so I wanted to make a place where people could come and really have a true reset. It wasn't just like, "Oh, I'm going to go to this spa and get some massages and facials and slow down." No, you literally have to turn in your cell phone. We take it from you and we're putting it in a locked safe. And you are getting to know yourself again.   Tracy Duhs: (46:03) You are really pressing the reset button, but the great thing is, is you're doing so much that people forget that they don't have their phone because it's not really time to really think about it. It's like your body, mind and spirit are going through a whole reset. And by the end of three days, a lot of people don't even want their phones back. They're like, "It feels so good. I don't want to go back to where I was."   Mason: (46:32) Dude. It sounds absolutely bloody perfect. I'm like, I'm ready for something like that. I would like if it's next time, if I ever get to travel again. I'm coming man. I'm coming down there. I'm going to visit you there. I want the shade. So I want to be tucked in.   Tracy Duhs: (46:53) Yes.   Mason: (46:55) It sounds like I didn't realise it's a retreat.   Tracy Duhs: (46:59) It's a retreat literally. Yeah. I just was like, I want to make a retreat that everything that I want in a retreat, I'm going to make that so that I can go there. And I just couldn't find a retreat that I really wanted to go do that every single thing that I wanted, that's going to scan my body and find what foods are good for me and what I can benefit from and not benefit from supplemental wise and then have everything there for me. And I don't have to think about it. Just the staff does it for me. And I get to just relax.   Mason: (47:36) Just because I never get to talk to anyone about this. Like, okay, you go to retreat that's just for you. How many quintons are you taking on your retreat?   Tracy Duhs: (47:48) Well, how many quintons do I take personally or how many do we give the people?   Mason: (47:52) Let's go for you personally.   Tracy Duhs: (47:55) Well, it really depends. In general, I will take one when I wake up and one when I go to bed, but if I'm travelling and I feel really dehydrated, I can take one every hour literally. It just depends on how I feel, but I call quinton my desert Island product. If I could only take one thing to a desert Island, it would be quinton isotonic, for sure, because it's great for your skin. I use it to tone my skin every morning. I mix the isotonic and hypertonic half and half. And then I put a hydrogen tablet into that and then put it on my skin in the morning and reduces inflammation, gives my skin the building blocks for life so that my DNA is all healthy. And so I don't just use quinton for... I actually do a lot of other things too with it that probably we shouldn't talk about on the show.   Mason: (48:59) I'm glad you brought that up, because I was just about to ask that question. And I think I don't know what you're talking about, but I won't go there yet because I think I had one question and just in case that's it. But I guess you're also saying it can revitalise everywhere, not just the face and well, it's the best mineral delivery I've ever experienced. And when I'm ever in the States, I just [crosstalk 00:49:27].   Tracy Duhs: (49:27) So pure.   Mason: (49:28) So pure. We may not go into it, but everyone, if you just go look up Q-U-I-N-T-O-N, quinton, it's worth just experiencing it a couple of times.   Tracy Duhs: (49:41) Yeah, and we have it at graceandparker.com too. And if anybody has any questions, they can email us. Basically quinton is all 78 trace elements that our body needs to build new life. And quinton is seawater, it's ocean water that Rene Quinton discovered in the late 1800s that our blood plasma is identical to the ocean's plasma and that our blood plasma should be identical. I should say should, because if we look at our blood plasma of a typical American, it's probably going to be missing many of those 78 trace elements. So when we take Quinton, it's able to literally help with our genetic potential helping to heal with our epigenetic potential, I should say, to make ourselves healthy and deliver that message that they need to be able to do what they need to do.   Tracy Duhs: (50:47) And so Quinton is literally sea water that's diluted, but it comes from vortex plankton bloom. So there's something beyond the chemistry of it, not just the 78 trace elements that are in it, but it's also that energetic information that is inside of it. And so it comes in a double tip ampule to hold that energetic information in it. So when you open the ampule up and put it under your tongue and swish it around in your mouth and your epithelial tissue sends a message to all your cells that you have what you need, all the building blocks for life. It's powerful. Something that I suggest everybody tries, especially women that are pregnant or somebody that wants to get pregnant, babies. It's just so powerful in what it can do.   Mason: (51:41) Yeah. And it's interesting. And a few people deepen into transfusion, just injection territory with it. In the past I have had a few friends who have gone into world. Very interesting one for people to look into. I think that as well, but supplementing as well as...   Tracy Duhs: (51:59) Yes, just what you said. I don't like to say it, but just what you said. So far beyond what we could ever think of, I heard that they're doing research and studies of possibly using quinton on the battlefields instead of blood, because when you inject the quinton, it acts as your own blood plasma. So your body can build its own red blood cells. So somebody needs blood, like Rene Quinton did the study on a dog where he drained the blood out of a dog. And then right when the dog was about to expire, they re-infused quinton and the dog revived and came back to life. So just the quinton plasma, they did another study later on with a pig and they put the drain, the blood out of the pig, then put the quinton back in, the pig came back revived.   Tracy Duhs: (52:59) They tried it again with the pig's own blood. They drained the blood, then tried to put the pig's own blood back in and it's still died. So they realised there is some energetic force in the quinton that's still unexplainable that we can't quantify at this point, but we do know is there. And so I just say, we just have faith and believe and trust and know that there's something far beyond what we can see right now.   Mason: (53:27) Amazing. Yeah. The potential there is huge. Tracy, I've had so much fun talking to you. Thanks, Tracy, for coming on.   Tracy Duhs: (53:35) Thank you for having me. I feel really blessed to have this opportunity and I look forward to connecting with you more in the future.   Mason: (53:42) Yeah, likewise. We'll put every one of your pages on Instagram and everything and all your handles down below, but is there any way in particular that you'd like to send people, especially maybe to pre-order the book? Is it still pre-order?   Tracy Duhs: (53:57) Yeah, it is. Yeah, they can go to my website, tracyduhs.com, T-R-A-C-Y-D-U-H-S. And you can pre-order my book, Hydrate, which has all of my secret elixir recipes and just tips on hydration that I want to make hydration fun and a lifestyle that people can enjoy. And so it's just things that I do every day and hopefully you enjoy it.   Mason: (54:24) I think we will. After talking about this, I definitely think everyone's going to absolutely froth on it as that's the phase of water whenever, when it's frothing. Thank you. Have a great day.   Tracy Duhs: (54:36) You too. Bye. Thank you.

 "Wu Wei, It means following the flow of the Dao, of the way, and you can see that in nature. Watch the birds and bees behave and let nature take its course. Now, in the case of human beings, for example, Western medicine interferes with drugs, chemicals, vaccines, and is yet to learn that the best defense against disease is a strong immune system. It's built into us". -Daniel Reid    There's something about the energy and spirit of Daniel Reid that makes you want to sit, listen and experience his wisdom. A bestselling author, leading expert on eastern philosophy and medicine, Reid has written several books and memoirs on Asian self-health, self-healing practices, Daoism, and his journey on this path. Living in Taiwan for 16 years studying and writing, Reid's international reputation stems from a deep understanding of traditional Chinese culture, Chinese medicine, and ancient Taoist health and longevity systems. In this conversation with Mason, Reid discusses how western medicine is failing society and will continue to as long as it tries to overcome nature. Contrastingly, he details the beauty and simplicity found in all aspects of the Daoist philosophy and spirituality, the way of respecting nature, and our innate ability to heal ourselves. Tune in for wisdom and healing.   Mason and Dan discuss:  Doaist thought. The Dao De Jing. Qigong and tea-gong. The Dao principle of Wu Wei. The three powers of Daoism. Following the flow of the Dao. Personality types of the five Daoist elements. The principle of Yin Yang and the five elements. Quantum physics, Daoism and energy. Drawing wisdom from essential nature. Daoism on facing mortality/immortality.   Who is Daniel Reid? Daniel Reid is a bestselling author and a leading expert on eastern philosophy and medicine. He has written numerous books and magazine articles on various aspects of Asian self-health, self-healing practices, and has established an international reputation for the practical efficacy of his traditional approach to modern health problems. Daniel Reid was born in 1948 in San Francisco and spent his childhood in East Africa. After completing a Bachelor of Arts degree in East Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley in 1970, and a Masters of Arts degree in Chinese Language and Civilization at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in 1973, Reid moved to Taiwan, where he spent 16 years studying and writing about various aspects of traditional Chinese culture, focusing particularly on Chinese medicine and ancient Taoist longevity systems. In 1989, he relocated to Chiang Mai, Thailand, where he continued his research and writing until 1998 when he immigrated with his wife Snow to the Byron Bay region of Australia. In 2017, they moved back to Chiang Mai, where they now make their home.   Resources: Dan Reid website Oolong Tea.org The Art and Alchemy of Chinese Tea - Daniel Reid The Tao of Health, Sex and Longevity - Daniel Reid Shots From the Hip. Sex, Drugs, and The Tao - Daniel Reid Memoir  Energy, Light, and Luminous Space - Daniel Reid Memoir  Q: How Can I Support The SuperFeast Podcast? A: Tell all your friends and family and share online! We’d also love it if you could subscribe and review this podcast on iTunes. Or  check us out on Stitcher, CastBox, iHeart RADIO:)! Plus  we're on Spotify!   Check Out The Transcript Here:   Mason: (00:00) Dan, thanks so much for joining me on the podcast.   Dan Reid: (00:03) Thanks for inviting me.   Mason: (00:05) Absolute pleasure. My wife, who runs the company with me, when I first met her, the first book I noticed on her book shelf that I have was The Dao of Health, Sex and Longevity.   Dan Reid: (00:20) My flagship.   Mason: (00:22) Your flagship, and I just said to her, "I'm just jumping on with Dan now," and she was like, "Ah, that was the first book on Daoism I ever bought," and since then [crosstalk 00:00:30].   Dan Reid: (00:30) And also put the word "sex" on the cover.   Mason: (00:34) I mean, I kind of got to agree that that's definitely a draw.   Dan Reid: (00:41) You know when you see books and they're all well-thumbed in that section.   Mason: (00:46) It's a good trio. Health, Sex, and Longevity. That must be ... because that was '89. Is that right?   Dan Reid: (00:53) Actually, it was '87, I think.   Mason: (00:56) Oh, '87, and yeah, did it become a cult classic as it went along? I can't remember. I think you mentioned it in your biography.   Dan Reid: (01:09) It took off really quickly. First of all, it took two years to sell it. I had an agent in New York. He couldn't get anyone interested. He got all these wise guy rejection slips, so he took it to London and sold it immediately, and brought it back, and then of course New York took it, and then it took off pretty quickly, yeah.   Mason: (01:33) Yeah. I mean, I imagine back then ... because it must be interesting for you now to see Daoism and Daoist practises and Daoist sexual practises, and semen retention, and the concept of longevity become all trendy. I mean ...   Dan Reid: (01:47) Yeah. Nobody knew anything about it back then, and the editors didn't know why this might be important. They didn't even know how to pronounce the word Dao. Yeah. But I was sure it would take root, because I just know that's what people want. I mean, anyone who does any kind of practise wants to be healthy, everyone wants sex, and we don't want to die young.   Mason: (02:18) How do you relate now to ... because at that time, you were in Taiwan, right, and really you were immersed, and you'd gone to university and learnt ...   Dan Reid: (02:29) I spoke Chinese, I could read and write, so I could read first, original sources, and I had Daoist friends. I just gravitated toward them. It was nothing formal. I never went to a Chinese medical school or anything. I did do a few qigong classes, but mostly it was friends who were into various aspects, Chinese friends, of Daoism, and because I could speak Chinese, it became very easy to become friends. But most of the learning took place around the tea table. It was very informal, and the Chinese are very practical people, so that's the aspect of Daoism that I got into, that I got first introduced to. Later I started reading some of the classical texts and things that had the background theory.   Mason: (03:24) So you were in ... I think it must have been the original time, when there was a bridging of that classical Daoist and Chinese medical information coming over to the West. Were there some people before you that were maybe doing some other ground work I'm not really aware of? It seemed like that was the period, that mid-'80s to late '80s, when it was actually happening.   Dan Reid: (03:52) Yeah, it was. Of course there were some people. I read a lot of books by an English writer named John Blofeld, who lived in China for 18 years, and he was interested in Daoism, Buddhism, and all that, and he was in China from 1930 to '48, and I read most of his books, and then I finally met him. Actually, he was dying that year. I didn't know that, but it turned out he was living in Bangkok, so I flew down there to meet him, and he was in the middle of writing his memoirs, in Chinese.   Mason: (04:31) Wow. You covered that in your book, right, Shots From the Hip, your biography.   Dan Reid: (04:35) Yes. You read that?   Mason: (04:37) Yeah, yeah, I read that. I loved it. I don't love biographies a lot of the time. I think I was turned off by Kelly Slater's.   Dan Reid: (04:49) Oh, yeah. Kelly Slater's a real fan of the Dao of Sex, Health and Longevity.   Mason: (04:55) Is he? Awesome.   Dan Reid: (04:57) Oh, yeah. Always talks about it. But I can't get in touch with him. I wanted to thank him for all the promotion he's done.   Mason: (05:05) Well, that's interesting. Well, I'll see eventually if I can get him on. I know he likes mushrooms and tonics. If we can get him on to the Di Dao tonic herbs, I'll make sure I ...   Dan Reid: (05:14) Tell him you interviewed me. Yeah.   Mason: (05:16) Yeah.   Dan Reid: (05:17) What were we talking about there?   Mason: (05:20) Well, we were talking about the-   Dan Reid: (05:23) Oh, I was going to ask you about the memoir. Have you read just the first one or the second one?   Mason: (05:25) No. Is the second one Energy, Light and Luminous Space?   Dan Reid: (05:28) Yeah.   Mason: (05:28) Is that the ... No. I actually wanted to talk to you first. I don't know why I felt ... I finished Shots From the Hip, and then I was like, cool. Once I've spoken to you in an interview, I'll start Energy, Light and Luminous Space, so now I'll go and ... I've just got Shots From the Hip to my Kindle. I might do the same with the other one, so I don't have to wait now.   Dan Reid: (05:47) Yeah. I just gave it a final polish about two months ago, so it's good that you haven't read it.   Mason: (05:51) Oh, good. I knew there was a reason.   Dan Reid: (05:54) Yeah.   Mason: (05:56) How are you feeling, having been ... I see it. It was like you took the foundation of work that those that had done a lot of the translation and actually bridged it over to the West, so you did a lot of that bridging.   Dan Reid: (06:11) That's the place where it usually falls apart, because many translators or people who've studied Chinese medicine formally, they get too literal in the way they present it to the West, and it just doesn't make sense to people, and I think this is too esoteric, or maybe this isn't really well, and so I made an attempt, and apparently I have an ability to do that, to make it sensibile and enjoyable to Western readers, in a way that they'll keep reading, and I guess that's why my books stay in print. It's more than translation, it's interpretation.   Mason: (06:56) How do you communicate that to people? Obviously I think I agree. You've got obviously the knack because you can discuss poetry, you can discuss the character, and you can sit in that world and not try and explain that way of thinking as it being metaphoric, or ... You don't try and explain it with Western concepts, you just sit in and live within that way of thinking, which is from an Eastern philosophical standpoint.   Dan Reid: (07:27) Yeah, but I try to find aspects of Western culture, and particularly contemporary. I mean, I came from this, you read by book, the hippy age, and the new age, and all this stuff, so I tried to find ... and explaining things which I can understand from reading original Chinese texts, and from Chinese masters and all that, but then I try to find something in the Western world that links. Western science, maybe cutting edge medical science, nutritional science. It's not mainstream stuff, but it's getting more and more. Organic food, and food combining. There's links to all that in ancient Daoist thought and in what we're doing now in the West. It's just finding how to thread them together.   Mason: (08:20) Yeah, make it relevant in the Western way of thinking, right?   Dan Reid: (08:23) Yeah.   Mason: (08:23) Is that where you stand, that you're happy to bridge so that people can stay more so within their Western framework and-   Dan Reid: (08:32) Absolutely.   Mason: (08:33) ... integrate some of the wisdom, or is there a party that's like, you're going to have to step out of your way of thinking and start integrating with the Eastern way of looking at the world?   Dan Reid: (08:44) Oh, not at all. I consider myself internally Chinese. What do they call that? An egg. White on the outside and yellow on the inside. But there's really nothing new under the sun. The Dao is probably the most ancient integrated system of thought that makes sense, and it's focused on practical things. Western people are practical, so I am very content to be a bridge. It's interesting you use that word because my wife calls me a bridge. She's Chinese, and so I'm a bridge to her going the other way.   Mason: (09:29) Is your wife ... Is it Snow?   Dan Reid: (09:31) Yeah, Snow. She's from Taiwan. [crosstalk 00:09:34].   Mason: (09:34) How long have you guys been together?   Dan Reid: (09:35) She's Jo-Jo in the memoir.   Mason: (09:37) Jo-Jo. Oh, yeah. Of course. Okay. Okay. Jo-Jo. How long have you guys been together?   Dan Reid: (09:42) We've been married 30 years next year.   Mason: (09:47) Wow. Congratulations.   Dan Reid: (09:49) Talk about longevity.   Mason: (09:50) Yeah. I know there's elements of Daoism that's not ... The non-sexy kind of aspect of Daoism, which is the longevity, and being able to go along in your psychological development, and reflect upon yourself so that you don't project on others, and have a healthy relationship, or have healthy friendships. It's one of those things. It's I guess one of those kind of those under-themes. It's maybe there, maybe coming to the surface a little bit more, but not overt. What I wanted to ask, because there was a bit of a ... I can imagine that we didn't have long to talk about it in the book, like, where this sudden ability, in my eyes sudden, for you to put together these intensely complex dishes and meals together, but I think I remember there was a friend. You were with your friends in a castle. You were somewhere in America, in-   Dan Reid: (10:53) Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cooking, you mean?   Mason: (10:55) Yeah, yeah, cooking.   Dan Reid: (11:01) The three things I like best are cooking ... writing first, cooking, and gardening, and they all fit together. I learnt to cook early on in my life from my aunt and my mother. They taught me things, and then my Chinese teachers started teaching me in California, when I was studying Chinese, how to cook Chinese food, and I started to see all the principles of the yin, the yang, and the five elements become the five flavours, and how everything works in balance and harmony. The basic Daoist principles run right through it, and so how am I able to do that? I think I was younger. I had a lot of energy, and I still cook. I still cook for my wife and myself. We don't have very many dinner guests here anymore, but yeah.   Mason: (11:55) It is a way to take it out of the theoretical and apply it. I mean, that's quite often ...   Dan Reid: (12:02) But that's the whole point. China, I mean, they are practical, earthly people. They're not really into so much ... The ones who really want to go full spiritual, they just leave society. They go into the mountains, and there's still Daoist hermits, men and women, up in the mountains, who don't even know who Mao Zedong was.   Mason: (12:27) Amazing. What a world.   Dan Reid: (12:28) Yeah. There's a guy named ... an old friend of mine from Taiwan named Bill Porter. His pen name is Red Pine, and Red Pine is probably the foremost translator now of classical Daoist and Buddhist texts, and he's still working, and he's 78 now, and I'm still in touch with him. He went to China. He's got a book called Road to Heaven, because he said, "Well, I want to see if I can find these Daoists," and this is when it was just after the culture revolution, you know, but he managed to get up to those mountains, and he met Daoist hermits.   Dan Reid: (13:12) Now, those are the ones who are really taking the spiritual side of it, the esoteric side of it, to the max. They live in caves or in cabins. They never come down off the mountain, but other than that, Chinese society uses Daoist principles, Daoist science, for medicine, Chinese medicine, cooking, sex, overall health practises, painting, the way they do their landscape paintings, the perfect balance of space and ink. It's the same principle applies, but for China, it's basically a Confucian society. They think that, well, okay, we're here on Earth. We have this life. Let's just focus on this, and we're going to find out what happens next anyway, so why focus in on that now? Confucius said, "Pay respects to all gods and demons, but stay clear of them all."   Mason: (14:23) I like it. It's an interesting thing, because in Daoism, and all through Chinese society, there are deities used to represent something in ... but never a real worshipping .   Dan Reid: (14:41) No, not like that. Exactly, because they're like ... Also Buddhism too, or Hinduism. No-one denies that there's gods. They just say there's not one almighty one above all the others. There's an almighty state, not an almighty god, but a state of mind, a state of spirit, which we look for. Where the Buddhists call it enlightenment, in China they just call it the Dao, the way, and you want to go that direction. You're not going into a religion that then you have to just take all these orders from God and from the clergy. Instead you want to cultivate that supreme state, which is beyond the human condition.   Mason: (15:34) From where you're sitting, and watching the world, and watching Daoist principles now roll out further and further, where are you at with ... Are you feeling like there's an authenticity and a grounding-ness in the way in which that philosophy is rolling out into the West, whether it's through businesses and just people integrating those practises? More and more, qigong starts to move out there, more and more Chinese medicine starts rolling out there. Are you kind of feeling like it's staying connected to the old way mostly?   Dan Reid: (16:11) As long as they are following the basic science and the basic philosophy of the Dao, the yin and the yang, the five elements. You have to be able to see how those principles apply to different aspects of life, but if they stick to those principles, then it's on course. I mean, there's also the nonsense, the commercialization, the Dao of Winnie the Pooh, and all these things. Okay. That's not what we're talking about, but the principles are solid. It's quantum physics also. I mean, the binary, yin and yang. Isn't that how computers work? There's this two, and then there's five, and then it goes on from there. It's all in the Dao De Jing, if you know how to read the Dao De Jing. It's all there.   Mason: (17:03) Yeah. Difficult one. I mean, I've got a few translations, and they're all so different [crosstalk 00:17:09].   Dan Reid: (17:09) I like Arthur Waley. He was an English translator of Chinese poetry, but he did one. He never went to China. He taught himself Chinese in the British Museum during World War II, and he's my favourite translator. He calls the Dao De Jing, his translation, The Way and Its Power, so if you find the way, then you get its power. Dao De Jing means, okay, Dao is the Dao, the way. First De means virtue, and Jing is a classic book, so the classic of the way and its power. If you follow the way, the way of nature, basically, because the biggest manifestation, the most obvious manifestation of the Dao on Earth, is nature.   Dan Reid: (18:06) Only humans go against nature. We have all kinds of weird things we do, that animals, and flowers and bees don't do. The underlying thing is we all eat, we all have sex for procreation and all that, and beyond that, humans take it. They try to conquer nature, and so by not following nature and trying to conquer it or twist it, as we can what's happening now in the world, with this whole viral thing, it doesn't end well that way.   Mason: (18:42) Yeah, I mean, there always seems to be something which I think the West isn't programmed for, which is a simplification versus coming up with complex solutions to something. So you're like, that's ... Is that just basically, from your perspective, and understanding the Dao ... I mean, like you've just talked about, first of all, not voiding yourself from nature. Is a simple solution which takes observation and ...   Dan Reid: (19:10) Yeah. Well, one of the things in the Daoist practice ... It's quite well known for people who follow Daoism and Dao De Jing, is the term wu wei. Wei means to do. Wu means no, not. Not doing. But not doing doesn't mean just kicking back, doing nothing, and smoking a joint, and being lazy. It means non-interference, really. It means following the flow of the Dao, of the way, and so you can see that in nature. Watch the birds and the bees behave, and let nature take its course. Now, in the case of the human being, for example, taking medicine as an example, Western medicine interferes, with drugs, chemicals, vaccines, and the best defence against disease is a strong immune system. It's built into us. It's built into our genetics, but how many people have a strong immune response anymore?   Dan Reid: (20:14) And so when you do need medicine, the Chinese principle first is use food. We all have to eat, and if that doesn't work or that's not good enough, or the problem is too great, then go to the herbs, the medicinal herbs, the mushrooms, and take it from there, but that all comes from still taking your lead from nature. Instead of trying to overcome it, I'm going to fix this by ... Because I got a new chemical that I made from petroleum, and I got a patent on it, and this is going to kill the virus or the bacteria, and then, in the process of doing that, it causes other problems.   Mason: (20:56) I think that's always my mind. I've got a nice Western mind as well, you know, so I quite often will constantly go looking up like, all right, what have I got to add in? What have ... But ultimately, I think ... There's a Chinese practitioner we've had who's talked about the colonisation of Chinese medicine on the podcast before, Rhonda Chang, and basically, quite often, if I say ... if I'm decolonizing my mind so I can come up with simple solutions, which is, one, it's ultimately simple. It's like, first of all, you're going to have to yield and come back into effortless effort, or at least I think that's-   Dan Reid: (21:35) Exactly. Wu wei, non-interference, but you want to understand the principle [crosstalk 00:21:40].   Mason: (21:40) That's it. The principle. Yeah. That's where I think it's one thing to try and add in Daoist practises, which have kind of, in a Western way, have been cut out of the entire philosophy and injected into Western world in order to act as a symptom, verse decolonizing in a sense of just coming back and understanding what that principle of wu wei is, and what the principle of yin yang is, so-   Dan Reid: (22:14) And the five elements. All the traditional cultures, basically, have these five elements. I call them the five elemental energies. They're really associated with the five elemental colours, and they all have a different vibrational rate on the electromagnetic spectrum, and it all comes down to very simple things, but then you have to see how, in a complex situation, how those simple principles can be applied to correct the problem, rather than try to come up with a even more complex solution. You know what I mean? Which is the Western medical approach, it's the Western scientific approach. Yeah. It gets way too complex, the technology.   Mason: (23:00) Okay, so a lot of people listening, they're constant ... because that's what I've tried to do with the business in order ... I kind of always talk about things like, I move my business in the direction so I can sleep at night, and one of the things that started coming up was I know that seasonal living is ultimately ... or observing the seasons is ultimately going to solve the problem in which a lot of people come to us for herbs in the first place, and so it's an unfair thing to be talking about herbs without talking about these fundamentals.   Mason: (23:36) But a lot of people listening are aware that they're still undergoing a process of just being able to comprehend that continuing to understand and implement what you're talking about as these basics is worth it, one. Isn't healing some symptom. It's a way of kind of almost re-educating the way, re-informing the way you build your own little family culture, so on and so forth, so just from that perspective, because I'm sure many people have heard it before, and you've probably said it many, many times, but just talking about these basic principles again, hearing it from you, in terms of living seasonally, understanding the principles of yin yang and the five principles, and how ... Can you just explain, for those people listening that are striving to be able to sink their teeth into and feel it so that they can move their family and themselves in that direction more, just maybe a few little pieces of how they can understand the principles further.   Dan Reid: (24:42) Well, you can use the principles to understand and adapt to weather, extreme weather conditions. Well, there's heat, and dampness, and then there's the combinations of heat and damp together, which can be very damaging to human health. Lots of rain and snow. There's the water element coming up. If you look into the traditional Daoist science of how the five elements relate, once cycle is that one, where they say conquers the next or suppresses the next, and then there's the other cycle where one element nurtures the next one, so water is good for earth and all that, but if you go the other way, fire will burn down wood, and all these things.   Dan Reid: (25:37) If you can learn the basic principles, why it's useful to understand the basic principles of Daoism, or I call it Daoist science, because it's not a religion. There is a Daoist religion, a popular religion with temples, and god, and all that, but we're not talking about that here. If you understand those basic principles, then in your daily life, in all aspects, you can find links, starting with yin and yang, positive and negative, male and female, or the five elements and their relations to flavours, salty, sweet, sour, pungent. There are some very obvious ways in daily life, and in your family life and in your living situation, where you can start to ... If you can start to see how it all comes down to a few basic principles, then you can apply it to more complicated things and more complicated situations, including the way people interact with each other.   Mason: (26:47) How would we get informed about the way that we interact with one [crosstalk 00:26:53].   Dan Reid: (26:52) Well, I mean, there's personality types. There's the fire. There is a whole Chinese ... what they call fortune telling or astrology, but it's much deeper than that. There's a science behind it. Personality types, which I don't know if it's genetic or if it's the way you're brought up or something, but there's the fire personality, the person who explodes and is impulsive, and then there's the really easy-going, flowing water element, then there's the very earthy type of person, and there are a lot of texts on all these aspects, and a lot of them have been translated. I don't think there's anything where these principles don't apply.   Mason: (27:45) Yeah. The personality one's always interesting, because I've been looking for ... I've found a few people saying that they've got little online questionnaires, but it doesn't seem ... I don't know if you've got one. It always seems to miss the mark just a little bit, based on ... Because sometimes you get where the deficiency is currently and maybe not tracked back to where your constitutional deficiency or constitutional element lies, and so sometimes I will be like, yep, I'm definitely fire, and now I'm definitely water. Nah, actually ... and I just go round and round.   Dan Reid: (28:25) I mean, you may have your basic personality type, but other things happen in life. Situations arise where you're reacting to another kind of person, either in a good way or an adversarial way, and then that person's energy is then starting to mould yours and change yours, and you're responding, and suddenly you're shifting to some other, from fire to water, or to earth or some other element. There are many factors involved there.   Dan Reid: (29:03) I think that our experience in life is more important than your genetic background, and there's a lot in DNA, obviously, but the idea of free choice is something that humans have, whereas animals and plants will basically just follow their genetic pattern, but humans have the choice to go against the grain sometime. We're seeing a lot of that now in the current situation. How many people are following the agenda that's being pushed now, and then there's a lot of people who aren't, and to do that, you have to sometimes just go against what you've been brought up with.   Mason: (29:58) This is an interesting conversation, because I think the thing with Daoism I like is you come to ... as you observe nature and you observe ... coming from a place of realities, let's say, yin yang, it seems to me like a reality, as is science. However, a lot of the time science doesn't have the foundations of guiding principles that are grounded in reality. Can run off on its own tangent.   Dan Reid: (30:25) Yes, indeed. There's no underlying thing in that, but some science that's coming out ... I mean, quantum physics is basically verifying that, ultimately, and the Daoists say this too, that there is no such thing as solid form. Everything is just energy, but it's slowed down. It's light that's slowed down so much, with our coarse sensory organs, we take it to be a solid form. In fact, it's not, because with modern technology, with electron microscopes, you keep going further and further down. Suddenly the atom just disappears and becomes a waveform, and those are the basic energies. Basic energies like that, and the thing that's interesting is that, in quantum physics, when something, an electron or subatomic particle just sort of disappears and then becomes a waveform, the observer, using intent, using intent, mind, can make it come back, or move somewhere else, or transform into something else. There's something about that. There's the physical level, there's the energetic level, and then there's the mind.   Mason: (31:52) Which are the principles in which Daoism is based on, understanding that reality.   Dan Reid: (31:59) Absolutely. Essence, energy, and spirit. Body, breath, and mind. There's all different ways, but my favourite ideogram, my favourite Chinese character, is the one for intent, and that consists ... On the top, there's the symbol for sound, also means vibration, and underneath that is heart. It's a vibration that comes from here, not here. Here we think. Thinking is very structured. We think in terms of words, and concepts, and all that, but your real intention, what you intend to do, what you want to do in life or in a particular situation, is always from here, which in Chinese we'd call spirit. That's spirit. Something above all the differences in form and in energy and all that. The different permutations can come in combinations, but you have one thing, is your intent is the strongest force.   Mason: (33:13) So many things swimming through my head there. I think what you've just talked about there is coming back to a reality. You mentioned not going off into the religious ... Religion quite often can come with gods, and let's create wrong and right through a set of rules, and once again, because it's easier to, I guess, spread, easier to commodify something that you write down in a book, and you just go, here's how you know right and wrong, verse here's a principle of living in a particular way, which I feel like the Dao and other ways of following these traditions of wisdom, which puts you in reality where you can feel and get informed of, say, morals, ethics, right and wrong, from a place of truth, not being driven by a dogma, and that's why what you're talking about is at some point coming down to a heart space, and not because the religion told you to, not because ...   Dan Reid: (34:17) Religion says you don't have it.   Mason: (34:20) Yeah.   Dan Reid: (34:20) They say you're a boring sinner and you're bad, and so you need god, a god, one of many. How can there be 10 different gods representing 10 different truths? There's only one truth, and then you need this intermediary, which is the guy in the robe, yeah? And that's it, otherwise you're doomed, and you got to sign up for one of these clubs called religions. I mean, religion I think in Latin sort of means something like reunite. You've been separated from the divine, but in Daoism and Buddhism, and the non-theistic, especially Tibetan Buddhism, we've got that. It's just that we don't know it, and even if we know it, we haven't found it.   Dan Reid: (35:15) Everybody has that, and spirituality and religion are totally different. In religion, you're going to obey a certain god and a set of rules, and then the clergy get involved in it, whereas in spirituality, you're just trying to discover a certain aspect of yourself. [inaudible 00:35:36]. Yeah, so you ... Yeah.   Mason: (35:41) Do you think all of Daoism is deriving to that ... Daoist thought. Is that driving to that reality, being present for the individual practising .   Dan Reid: (35:54) Oh yeah, because you got to be present no matter which aspect of the Dao you practise, including semen retention. If you're not present, you're going to go out of control, and it's all over. Cooking. If you don't pay attention, you're not present, you're not going to get the flavours just perfect, just right, and so, in the spiritual tradition of Daoism, you're just trying to be present in your basic nature, your basic state, which is not something you can really describe, but you can experience it.   Mason: (36:38) Which is then the, I guess, the leading intent behind, say, qigong practise or a tea ceremony. Is that correct?   Dan Reid: (36:47) Yes, yes. Okay, so there's three ... There's so many things that are done in trilogy or in trinity. The basic one ... I mean, and at this level, Buddhism and Daoism agree, okay? I think the most basic one is ... You've heard this translated as emptiness many times. Essential emptiness is simply the fact that there is no solid form. It's all empty, so everything that we take for solid is temporary, impermanence, and all that, so what you really want to know is to understand everything's essential nature, which is formless, and from that you can harvest something. Wisdom. Why get attached to impermanent things? How about following things which are eternal? So therefore, we're not so attached to all these little toys and things that we've got so much. Okay? So that's emptiness.   Dan Reid: (37:56) Then the next one. We hear this a lot too. Light. We're in the light. What's the light? Light's spirit, and the nature of spirit and the nature of light, it manifests unconditional love. They talk about unconditional love, compassion, and people get it a bit wrong. They think, oh, this is like this goody two shoes, love everybody, love your neighbour. It's not that. It's also what heals. A real healer is really using herbs and techniques, breathing things, but behind that is the intent, the light of love, which is ... Without that, the thing doesn't have any power.   Dan Reid: (38:45) And then the third level ... Okay, you've got your essential emptiness, you've got your natural light, your luminosity, you might call it. The next level is energy, just energy. The yin and the yang energy, the five elements, and millions of different kind of smaller energies, all of which are sort of refracted out from your clear light of your basic spirit, and if you use that energy in accord with the wisdom and the compassion of your other two aspects, the energy has power, creative power. You can create something, art. You can heal. You can do positive things. That energy doesn't have what we call power, the power to create, unless it's done in accord with the wisdom and the compassion of your other two aspects.   Dan Reid: (39:54) It's hard for people in daily life to keep in mind that, yeah, well, essentially we're formless, and we're just bundles of energy, and we've got this light, because you can't live in the world without an ego and without a house, and a roof over your head, and you got to wear clothes, so it's just a matter of the relative priorities that you give things. By having understanding of the basic nature, then other things become relative, only relatively important.   Mason: (40:24) Yeah, I mean, it's always an interesting process when you start reading about these concepts, and a book can sometimes blow people's minds, and it becomes fantastical. I think that's why a lot of the time, the spiritual communities of the world, and Byron Bay, where everyone's just discovering these principles for the first time, and it makes you very counterculture because it's hard to land in the grind of everyday life, yet most of the time, that's where you do end up, and having the discipline to walk between those two worlds, embody the chop wood, carry water.   Dan Reid: (40:59) Yeah. I mean, I like Byron Bay a lot. I Enjoyed living there. But some people, they take it too far the other way. Everyone's the healer because they had a workshop in Sydney 10 years ago for two weeks, and there it is, but they're not really living like a healer would or manifesting that kind of energy, and some people just don't want to do anything, so sleeping on the beach or stuff like that. It can go overboard that way. There has to be a balance always.   Dan Reid: (41:37) Again, going back to Daoism, the three powers. [inaudible 00:41:41]. What does that mean? Heaven, Earth, and humanity in between. Heaven, okay, the spiritual stuff, the ancient principles of the Dao. Earth, food, sex, shelter, and in between is the human, and the art of life is correctly balancing those two, and this is what the Chinese are so good at. Most people cannot go into a cave and sit there for 50 years and become enlightened, although some can. There was a teacher, a woman, female teacher, my Tibetan teacher, who spent 56 years in a dark retreat. Came out when she was 106, taught for one year, including my teacher, and then went back, and then achieved the rainbow body. You may have heard of that, but ...   Mason: (42:44) Yeah.   Dan Reid: (42:44) Not many people who can do that.   Mason: (42:45) No.   Dan Reid: (42:45) But you don't have to go out and run a gambling den either, or go way the other way too. There's a balance between. But as long as you stick to the basic principles, it's going to go all right. Going into wu wei simply means don't interfere with the basic ... not only with nature, but with the basic nature of things. Don't rub it against the wrong way, because then it's going to bite back.   Mason: (43:23) It seems to be the biggest thing, going against the grain. I can speak for within myself, is that there is a requiring of faith, and for me, having gone to Catholic school, and not to rip on Catholicism. I know there's a lot of people here who might still be ... not a lot, but maybe might be in that world, so it's not about ... But my experience was I was getting this ... it was this false faith jammed down my throat, and so even the concept of having faith got quite muddied up, and for me I'd say taken into the synthetic, verse where you talk about all these principles of flowing with the way, there is this organic faith that's an organic quality within myself.   Mason: (44:09) Because I was thinking about, what's the antidote for me of the fear that I have that I'm going to run out? You know, the greed that comes up. No, I'm not going to go down that path, because it seems like I'm going to have to give up too much. I might as well just work lots, and all that kind of reptilian kind of way, excessively in that earth energy of like, it's not good enough to just have my shelter.   Dan Reid: (44:35) I know what you mean, because I've spent my entire life, except for two years when I worked in a hotel in Taiwan, as a freelance writer, and there's a lot of thin times when you're a freelance writer. But if you're on the right path, in the sense of your basic way of life ... Again, there's that word again. Way. Dao. That's what Dao means. It means way or path. If you just follow it, and you do no harm to others and all those things, well, then, magic happens. Not miracles, magic. It's the magic of life, and I'm not talking about a magic show, but if you're present and you pay attention, you see opportunities happen everywhere, including in things that you might normally think is a real problem or there's adversity there, but if you just sit with it for a while and watch it develop, whoa. There's an opportunity.   Mason: (45:23) You're right. I mean, when I think of that ... That's my counter to that colonised part of myself, which I do love. It helps me stay in this world. When I feel that come up, and want more now rather than ... It's like you plant a tree and you want that tree to grow into something incredible. You're either going to be able to do that synthetically or make it look bigger or have it go along quicker and further than it actually is, and I know there's a Daoist adage in ... I can't remember which classic, but talking about the fact, like a tree, if you just be patient and let a tree grow in the way that it's meant to grow, eventually it will become a tree that the carpenters won't touch. It'll become iconic.   Dan Reid: (46:34) That's right.   Mason: (46:35) And actually have longevity, and actually become something beautiful.   Dan Reid: (46:38) Yeah, and it'll adjust to its environment, in a way that it will grow better than maybe you trying to make it grow in a particular way you want. Yeah.   Mason: (46:48) Patience is a virtue, I guess.   Dan Reid: (46:50) I'm impatient, basically. Well, I have been. I'm getting more patient now because there's nothing much I can do with my impatience anymore.   Mason: (47:05) Well, it's good medicine. I mean, already, I can feel my stress from the last two weeks clear as day right now in this conversation of whether it's how far along our house is, our new house, and getting our ... you know, the plans of what we're going to do as a family, where the business is at, blah, blah, blah. It's the impatience. I feel it stunting and moving into a non way of being. I can feel like the only way I'm going to take it, if I don't have this faith and patience, and I don't engage in flow, is I'm going to have to use synthetic means.   Dan Reid: (47:45) Yeah, I know. I know what you mean. It's letting things take their course, and if you want to accomplish a particular thing, you have to do it in harmony with the way nature is flowing. You have to make some adjustments. You cannot overcome nature. You can only work with it. It's the way. It's the way it works, and so if you go against the way it works because you think you've got technology, or you can throw money at it or something, something else is going to go out of whack.   Dan Reid: (48:23) I mean, look at the condition of the world today. Look at the oceans. Full of plastics, and the air is ... I mean, I don't need to harp on that. It's just all going ... and it doesn't have to be that way. There are natural ways of handling things which are slower. Slower. This thing about space travel, and maybe eventually you don't need a spaceship. You don't need to be Elon Musk or something. You can teleport yourself. I mean, I think that's how the aliens go around other universes, and dimensions, and solar systems. They teleport themselves. It's scientifically possible.   Mason: (49:10) Yeah, I agree with you there. I feel that one coming.   Dan Reid: (49:16) You become a vibrational breath, which then goes, through intent, to where you already had planned, and when you get there, then you re-materialise.   Mason: (49:29) Don't know if it's within the same conversation, or whether it just came to mind. In terms of one of the elements of Daoism being facing your mortality and then therefore immortality, and almost this presence being in preparation for death without there being an attachment to what happens on the other side, perhaps, or perhaps in certain Daoist traditions, they do have an intention, where do you sit with that, and the relevance of ...   Dan Reid: (50:00) I'm sitting a lot with that lately.   Mason: (50:02) Oh, really?   Dan Reid: (50:05) Yes. Yeah, I'm 72 now, and that guy, Arthur Waley, the translator of the Dao De Jing, who .. he's my favourite. He says one of the things he likes about the Dao is their lyrical acceptance of death. Almost a poetic acceptance, because all it really is is a matter of not being attached to something that's going down the tube. It's going down the drain. Why be attached to your bathwater? You've just had a bath. The water's dirty. You let it out. Right? Your body is the same thing. We get old. The water gets dirty, no matter what you do and no matter how well you eat, or how much qigong you do every day. It's going to expire, and so at that time, or later in life, it really is time to start focusing more on what doesn't disappear. It may not be visible, spirit or awareness, but it's eternal, and it's indestructible, and we all have it, and this idea of religions.   Dan Reid: (51:32) All right, well, if you behave yourself, and you come to church and everything, you'll get a ticket to Heaven, and the other one, you get a ticket to Hell, and this kind of thing. That's not what it's about. You create your own Heaven or Hell, and usually it's on Earth, in life. What you want to do is focus more on that which lasts, which is always there, and you may be back again in another body or even in another dimension, or whatever. But the basic core light of what you really are, the energy and the light, is always going to be there. I discuss this quite a bit in the last chapter of the second book, the second volume of my memoir. That thing, I had to write five times.   Mason: (52:29) Yeah. Yeah. I'm really feeling it right now. I really felt you slow down and sink in there, and ...   Dan Reid: (52:43) Yeah. Yeah. It's absolutely true. Life rushes by very fast if you're living fast, and jumping around, and yet if you slow down, then it can be the same amount of time, the same number of years, but seem a lot longer.   Mason: (53:04) [inaudible 00:53:04] that's an element that really I got I feel a few years ago, and I started to get a bit fearful about life being short, which I felt was relevant. I was like, okay. Great. It's something [crosstalk 00:53:21].   Dan Reid: (53:20) Well, that's good that you feel that way, because life is short.   Mason: (53:24) Well, then as soon as I stopped resisting it ... Because I feel like that's, to be honest, why I got into the Daoist herbs, and then practises, and the concept of immortality, is from a place of fear of the inevitability of death, and because I was young enough and in my 20s, I could convince myself that, for a time, I could a bandaid of immortality over that fear, and then thankfully I think, for myself, and continuing to read, whether it's your books or just from other traditions, it was like, okay. Maybe I keep on going with that thought, and I finally started having the feeling of like, well, life's pretty long, at the same time, which that ... and that was probably the first time I'd experienced I guess an intellectual ... a real yin yang.   Mason: (54:26) It really created two magnetic poles, that first time I felt that, and started recalibrating myself and the way that I approach life, which was one of the most significant times I feel like I've gone, wow, that's ... and being in the perception of yin and yang really does all of a sudden creates these magnetic poles where I don't have to have the answer, but I can orient myself around them, and that's cool.   Dan Reid: (54:50) Yeah.   Mason: (54:50) It's just getting all of that. I'm aware we've been going for about an hour. I think, just in the tradition, the way it's gone, I read one of your biographies, and we jump on for a podcast. I think that would ... If you'd be up for coming back on.   Dan Reid: (55:07) You want to read the second volume, huh?   Mason: (55:10) Yeah, I'm going to go ... I know you said you just updated it, and I assume that'll be ...   Dan Reid: (55:14) Well, I can send it to you as a PDF file if you want.   Mason: (55:19) Yeah. That'll be cool. Let's do that.   Dan Reid: (55:21) I just sent the PDF to my guy at Amazon to upload into the text, but it's very readable, so I'll just send it to you.   Mason: (55:32) Perfect. We'll do that, and I think there's a ... I have got The Art and Alchemy of Chinese Tea as well, which is something I've found ... When I was reading your book, and I know I said we're going to finish up, but I might throw this out there, just as we-   Dan Reid: (55:52) That's okay. I got nothing but time now.   Mason: (55:55) Beautiful. Yeah. It's a long life. I'm sure there was struggle behind the scenes in terms of dedicating yourself to certain practises, to an extent, but your capacity for discipline ... I mean, it was like it's the way ... I guess I can see ... Your biography's name is Sex, Drugs and the Dao, and you do have that character which you throw yourself into the deep end.   Dan Reid: (56:33) Yeah. I think people should. That's okay to do when you're young.   Mason: (56:34) Yeah. But it meant that, off the back of the sex and the drugs, you threw yourself into qigong practise and the tea ceremony practise, and I think I read it at a time where I was-   Dan Reid: (56:47) Cooking. And cooking.   Mason: (56:50) Exactly, and I think I was reading the book at a time ... and it got me reflecting on ... I was exiting a phase of my life, especially with a young child and a business to run, where I wasn't able to get quite as immersive, and I actually remember getting a little bit nostalgic about that part of my life, and maybe you know what I mean.   Dan Reid: (57:16) I do.   Mason: (57:16) And possibly feeling a bit guilty or going down on myself. Getting down on myself. Going down on myself. That's a funny way to put it. Getting down on myself about it, but for you and the concept of discipline, where does it sit now in terms of the discipline around sexual practise, semen retention, qigong practise, tea ceremony, et cetera? How do you relate at this point in your life to the concept of your consistent practise, students-   Dan Reid: (57:53) I was doing some teaching in Byron. I had some qigong classes I did while I was there, and I had a small one going here, but now with the shut down and everything, I got no students here, so I'm not doing any teaching right now. I'd like to but I'm not. For me, personally, I find that it boils down to just the basic things that work best, because like I said, as you get older, you know your time is going to be up at the one point, so there's no more need to ...   Dan Reid: (58:28) You have the knowledge, you can hold an intelligent conversation with people on all sorts of things, but what do I do at home? I'm not asked that a lot. Qigong. I don't practise as much as I used to, but I always do some every day, because it works, and I don't feel comfortable if I don't. I feel my body's tight. I can feel my tendons behind my knees, and I can ... You know, my organs don't seem to be sitting in the right place, the spine isn't quite right, so the qigong works, and I'm getting older, and so it works in an important way. It makes my body work better, and now what I call tea-gong.   Mason: (59:14) Nice.   Dan Reid: (59:14) Which is what the tea is, the Chinese way of tea, and that particular tea, that high mountain oolong tea from Taiwan, is just unbelievable. Do you drink tea?   Mason: (59:27) Yeah. Not that much, though.   Dan Reid: (59:31) Well, you should go and see Snow's brother.   Mason: (59:34) Oh, cool.   Dan Reid: (59:35) He lives in Mullumbimby and-   Mason: (59:37) Oh, amazing.   Dan Reid: (59:38) Yeah, and he's got tea there, and teapots. I mean, you go and visit him and he'll make tea for you, and you'll see. He makes good tea, and you-   Mason: (59:46) Do you want me to give him a plug, or is it a private ... Is it a private thing or is he open to the public?   Dan Reid: (59:52) Absolutely, yeah, because we have a tea website, and it's run out of Taiwan, and it's one of Snow's sisters that mails it out and all that, but we have a lot of people in Byron who like the tea, and so she supplies him, and so he's always got some tea, and some teapots, and some cups available, so you don't have to order it online. You can just go buy it at his house.   Mason: (01:00:17) What's the easiest way to find him? Should we get contacts later from you and I can put it in the show notes? That's easy.   Dan Reid: (01:00:26) Let me see if I can ...   Mason: (01:00:29) Might as well give him a shout out, and what's the website as well?   Dan Reid: (01:00:34) Oolong-tea.org. Oolong, O-O-L-O-N-G, dash.   Mason: (01:00:45) Yep, got it.   Dan Reid: (01:00:46) Okay, now, his number is ... His English name is Dexter.   Mason: (01:00:53) Dexter. Yeah.   Dan Reid: (01:01:00) 0421502811.   Mason: (01:01:03) Awesome. I will reach out to him prior and make sure he's happy with me putting his number on a podcast.   Dan Reid: (01:01:10) I think he will be. I think he will be, because, I mean, people buy tea from him. That's part of what he does for a living, and he's got a food thing in the Mullum farmers' market on Friday.   Mason: (01:01:23) Oh, I probably went past him.   Dan Reid: (01:01:25) Yeah, his stuff always sells out by 10:00.   Mason: (01:01:28) Oh, cool. We'll make it 9:30 now.   Dan Reid: (01:01:33) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, okay, back to what I do. Qigong and tea-gong. I mean, and the tea is the same thing. I love the taste of this tea. When you taste it, when he makes it for you, it's really good, but more than that, it really works for me, especially on my nervous system, my brain. It wakes me up, but not in a way like coffee races you a bit, and it just makes me feel good in a way that sometimes is hard to describe, and there's a whole organic feeling which goes very well with the tea, so I do the tea-gong and the qigong basically more or less at the same time. Speaking of which ...   Mason: (01:02:14) Oh, yeah. Nice mug as well.   Dan Reid: (01:02:19) So that. What else do I do? I still read books on spiritual subjects that I find of interest. Maybe I already know about them, but then I'm just reading a new book on the same subject, and when it comes to health problems, I go with nature. Organic, and same with food, but beyond that, I'm not writing anything right now. The place we live here is just too noisy for me to focus on writing, and I can't teach because I don't have any students here.   Mason: (01:03:06) Hopefully we can spark your online teaching career.   Dan Reid: (01:03:09) Yeah, that might work. That might work. That might work.   Mason: (01:03:14) Well, I mean, it's something ... is fascinating, having read your books for so many years, having read just how much has gone into your own self-education, and just reading about the kinds of conversations that you're having around different aspects of Daoism and Chinese culture and philosophy, just through your books. I can feel how much is simmering under the surface [crosstalk 01:03:46].   Dan Reid: (01:03:46) Yeah. For me, it always had to be something that you could actually go in and get your hands dirty, you know? To actually have contact with people who do those things, who know those things, Daoists or whatever. To do it all from academic sources just doesn't make sense to me. It really doesn't. I mean, I read books by academicians to get background information, but to understand how anything works, you got to try it.   Mason: (01:04:14) Yeah. I think the difference in what you ... what I like about you delivering and talking about the academic side of it, or the classics, is that I think lots of people are going to take ... whether it's yoga or Daoism, and teach it. They don't leave a track of where they've gotten the concepts for because then that leads to accountability and actually having to know your shit, whereas a lot of people don't want to be accountable to that.   Dan Reid: (01:04:41) That's right. Also you'll notice, in my writing, in my books, I don't put a lot of footnotes and references to ... I mean, because my readers trust me. Over time, they trust me, and I say I don't write for academicians. They want to know where I got this fact, or is this true. I say go fact check it if you want. I've never been challenged on anything. I've had editors who don't like some things I write, and I said, "Either you put that in or I'm not going to sign a contract," and I've never had a problem.   Mason: (01:05:16) Yeah. Principles.   Dan Reid: (01:05:17) I don't want to write something that's not true.   Mason: (01:05:21) Yeah. It's not good. I mean, you've definitely got longevity in your Daoist career, anyway, so that's saying something. I mean, and that's always proof in the pudding. There's those names. Yeah. It's really good to connect, because you're one of the names that constantly comes up. As we were chatting about just beforehand, I think, yeah, I came six years ago to Byron, and you'd just left, and it was interesting when I talked about what we did, and they were like, "What are you up to here?" And I was like, "Oh, I'm bringing my company up here, and we talk about Daoist herbalism [crosstalk 01:05:55]."   Dan Reid: (01:05:56) Who'd you talk to?   Mason: (01:05:57) Oh, I mean, it's like a number. I mean, I think maybe it was Si Mullum was the first [crosstalk 01:06:02].   Dan Reid: (01:06:02) Oh, yeah, Si Mullumbimby. He's one of my best friends. He's a didg player.   Mason: (01:06:07) Yeah, didg player, and, I mean, just the general conversation. Nick Cane, who's ... he works here and knew of you, and just your name pops up, and so it's really great to make the connection, and then read your books, and having had your books for over a decade. I look forward to reading the Shots From the Hip: Energy, Light and Luminous Space.   Dan Reid: (01:06:33) Okay.   Mason: (01:06:34) Thanks for sending that my way, and, I mean, yeah, just recommend everyone to go over to Dan Reid, R-E-I-D, .org. Your website's got lots of awesome info there.   Dan Reid: (01:06:46) Yeah.   Mason: (01:06:47) Is there anywhere else you'd like to send people?   Dan Reid: (01:06:49) The tea website.   Mason: (01:06:51) Again, tea website. Oolong-tea.org.   Dan Reid: (01:06:55) Yeah.   Mason: (01:06:55) And then also go in and see Dexter if you're up this way, if you're around Byron Shire.   Dan Reid: (01:07:02) Yeah, do that for sure. You'll get a good cup of tea.   Mason: (01:07:06) Yeah. Yeah. I'm looking forward to it. Thanks so much for coming on and taking the time. Beautiful.   Dan Reid: (01:07:12) All right. Well, I liked doing this with you.   Mason: (01:07:16) Likewise.   Dan Reid: (01:07:17) So if you want to do more [crosstalk 01:07:21].   Mason: (01:07:21) Yeah, I think it'll be great to do ... Yeah, I mean, especially for yourself, if there's anywhere where you're particularly getting any new insights, or you think it's relevant for the current way that the world's working, we can either do that or we can just either come on and have another jam. Both ways work. We'll connect and see what's flowing.   Dan Reid: (01:07:44) Okay.

The A♦️ is all about pursuing individualistic paths of action, in order to demonstrate our values and priorities that are absolutely independent of anyone and everyone else's. Contrastingly, the Q♦️ represents serving through action in a way that nurtures the community as a whole. With these simultaneous energies of serving ourselves while serving others, and serving others in order to serve ourselves, we realize that we cannot have one without the other. We cannot fill others' cups if we do not fill our own... Similarly, we cannot fill our own cups unless we fill others'. When we combine these two energies today, we mathematically create the K♥️, the most powerful embodiment of teaching love; stepping into our responsibility to serve our communities and families and humanity through the way we actively teach love. Enjoy this powerful royal energy today and Create Your Own Luck

Link to bioRxiv paper: http://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2020.09.04.281758v1?rss=1 Authors: Topor, M., Opitz, B., Leonard, H. C. Abstract: Previous research suggests that there is an interaction between cognitive and motor processes. This has been investigated throughout development and in different conditions related to motor impairment. The current study addressed a gap in the literature by investigating this interaction in the general population of healthy adults with different profiles of motor proficiency by focusing on error-related cognitive control and behavioural adaptation mechanisms. In addition, the impact of these processes was assessed in terms of experienced anxiety. Forty healthy adults were divided into high and low motor proficiency groups based on an assessment of their motor skills. Using electroencephalography (EEG) during a flanker task, error-related negativity (ERN) was measured as the neural indicator of cognitive control. Post-error slowing (PES) was measured to represent behavioural adaptation. Participants also completed an anxiety assessment questionnaire. Participants in the high motor proficiency group achieved better task accuracy and showed relatively enhanced cognitive control through increased ERN. Contrastingly, individuals in the lower motor proficiency group achieved poorer accuracy whilst showing some evidence of compensation through increased PES. Anxiety was found to be associated with motor functioning, but the study could not provide evidence that this was related to cognitive or behavioural control mechanisms. The interaction between cognitive and motor processes observed in this study is unique for healthy and sub-clinical populations and provides a baseline for the interpretation of similar investigations in individuals with motor disorders. Copy rights belong to original authors. Visit the link for more info

Claiming something is true could potentially lead to the death of curiosity. For some people, it can be easy to jump from hearing a claim—especially from someone of power—to believing it as the truth without taking the time to check. In this episode, Bill Stierle and Tom talk about truth and curiosity and how they go hand in hand, particularly now in the world of politics and social media. Contrastingly, being curious is what allows us to find the truth. They talk about the importance of having this ability now more than ever as we get bombarded with so much information in our day to day lives. Follow Bill and Tom in this conversation as they explore the topic in relation to the latest Vice Presidential nominee Kamala Harris, news media outlets, conspiracy theories, and more.Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Here’s How »Join the Purchasing Truth Community today:billstierle.comLinkedInFacebookYouTube

Guest post by Andrew Williamson, Vice President Government Affairs and Economic Adviser Huawei Technologies Most people would agree that digital technologies have played a crucial role in keeping society functioning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the ICT sector has been one of the few financial success stories of 2020, as the surging share prices of its largest companies can attest. Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft remarked that his company had supported its customers through “two years’ worth of digital transformation in just two months”. This trend across the ICT sector and the wider economy appears to be pervasive. A greatly enhanced digital acceleration of our societies is clearly underway, quicker even than the most optimistic of pre-crisis forecasts. This increased use of digital solutions by both businesses and consumers has seemingly brought society to the threshold of the ‘Smart Economy’. Recognising this new paradigm, several enlightened governments have put the digital sector at the core of their macroeconomic recovery plans. South Korea, for example, announced its “Digital New-Deal” in May – an ambitious plan to move the country from a follower digital nation to a pacesetter, through substantial investments in 5G, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and the internet of things. Germany’s current fiscal stimulus plan proposes EUR 4.4 billion to fund extra artificial intelligence investments and to invest more in quantum computing and 5G and 6G technologies. It also includes an additional EUR 6.1bn of proposed funding to promote the digitalisation of public services and smart city innovations. Japan’s government has provided a raft of initiatives to provide tax cuts and tax credits to support 5G roll-out and associated applications such as smart manufacturing. Other countries have pledged similar priorities or are swiftly realizing the benefits of doing so. These national investments in digital infrastructure and digital ecosystems will undoubtedly help foster these countries’ resilience to COVID-19 and boost their economic recoveries. But in order for governments to maximise digital dividends for their societies, ensure that taxpayers’ money is well spent and provide first-mover advantage to their national digital ecosystems, the supporting policy environment will also play a critical role. With this in mind, Huawei Technologies has partnered with the research and management consultancy firm Arthur D. Little to appraise the best policy approaches (link to paper here: for nurturing the strongest digital economies and help boost the economic recovery. A digital economy consists of many aspects. Certain parts of the global digital value chain are currently dominated by a few countries – for example, software services in Ireland and the Philippines, and hardware manufacturing in China and south-east Asia. These look ripe for new entrants. Contrastingly, other elements of the digital economy are intrinsically local – for example, e-government, e-health, e-education, support services and connectivity. As policymakers consider different options and practices aimed at maximizing benefits from the digital economy, we suggest the need to acknowledge that “one size does not fit all”. To date, most digital economy policy prescriptions have tended to be the same for all countries, regardless of their stage of national economic development and national priorities. Should policymakers working in the least-developed countries also aim to invest their limited resources in cutting-edge AI and expect the same returns? We believe the obvious answer is no. Every country is unique or can be characterized by a distinct set of national digital traits. All can benefit from comparative advantages in the global digital economy. The challenge is to identify what individual governments should focus their national digital policy efforts on and how they should do this. To support policymakers in their thinking...

Link to bioRxiv paper: http://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2020.06.12.147777v1?rss=1 Authors: van Rosmalen, L., van Dalum, J., Hazlerigg, D. G., Hut, R. A. Abstract: To optimally time reproduction, seasonal mammals use a photoperiodic neuroendocrine system (PNES) that measures photoperiod and subsequently drives reproduction. To adapt to late spring arrival at northern latitudes, a lower photoperiodic sensitivity and therefore a higher critical photoperiod for reproductive onset is necessary in northern species to arrest reproductive development until spring onset. Temperature-photoperiod relationships, and hence food availability-photoperiod relationships, are highly latitude dependent. Therefore, we predict PNES sensitivity characteristics to be latitude-dependent. Here, we investigated photoperiodic responses at different times during development in northern- (tundra/root vole, Microtus oeconomus) and southern vole species (common vole, Microtus arvalis) exposed to constant short (SP) or long photoperiod (LP). M. oeconomus grows faster under LP, whereas no photoperiodic effect on somatic growth is observed in M. arvalis. Contrastingly, gonadal growth is more sensitive to photoperiod in M. arvalis, suggesting that photoperiodic responses in somatic and gonadal growth can be plastic, and might be regulated through different mechanisms. In both species, thyroid-stimulating-hormone-{beta} subunit (Tsh{beta}) and iodothyronine-deiodines 2 (Dio2) expression is highly increased under LP, whereas Tshr and Dio3 decreases under LP. High Tshr levels in voles raised under SP may lead to increased sensitivity to increasing photoperiods later in life. The higher photoperiodic induced Tshr response in M. oeconomus suggests that the northern vole species might be more sensitive to TSH when raised under SP. Species differences in developmental programming of the PNES, which is dependent on photoperiod early in development, may form part divergent breeding strategies evolving as part of latitudinal adaptation. Copy rights belong to original authors. Visit the link for more info

Our guest is a real estate investor and syndicator, who is the founder of the Indianapolis Multifamily Investing Meetup and the current Vice President of Investor Success for the Birge and Held Asset Management. A father of three young kids, Kent found his passion in helping others own their financial freedom by investing alongside him. Commonly, investors start their journey in real estate investing by having mentors. Contrastingly, Kent started through passive investing and by getting himself out there, looking for sponsors, creating networks, and finding people to invest with. He shares how he bounced back from a punch-in-the-gut deal that didn’t work well and the lessons he learned along with that. Also, with more than $1 billion in assets currently under management and a 12-year track record, discover the three things that set apart Birge and Held Asset Management from the rest. Kent reveals the reasons behind building communities primarily in the midWest from criteria, yield, market, and property standpoints.

Visit http://JohnBlakeAudio.com to Learn How to DOUBLE Your Enquiry-to-Sale Conversion with The Lead Flow You Already Have. Today, we are going to talk about how to increase your chances of success by 70%, because no matter what you’re doing, in life or in business, you should always be experimenting with new methods to increase your chances of success. In our quest to increase revenue and attract more clients, we all get to a point where we really do have to start testing our ideas, the point where you've planned something – a new idea, a new product or a new strategy that you really want to implement, but you start to second-guess yourself, and then to second-guess your second-guesses. I'm speaking from firsthand experience, I’ve been there. The most important advice I can offer is to just try something! Test it out, and see what happens, see what the market returns to you. When you start to second-guess, that's when you know you've just got to try it out and see what happens. I read this fascinating article recently, first published around 2005. The article recounts a study of patients who had severe medical conditions and required significant lifestyle changes in order to live. The unfortunate result was that after only 12 months, 90% of the patients had reverted back to their old lifestyles, virtually guaranteeing an impending death. These were people that were super overweight and were drinking and smoking. So, faced with the imminent threat of death, the vast majority of people, 90%, still failed to make more productive choices. Contrastingly, there was another group, a much more successful one, which had an 80% success rate. How did they achieve an 80% success rate? Well, here's what they did differently: they were involved in peer support sessions. So essentially, they met on a regular basis and they discussed their progress, their struggles, and the things that they had been challenged within their quest to change. They encouraged each other and supported each other, and as a result, the majority of them stayed on track. By having others hold them accountable and encouraging them, they increased their chances of success by seven times: a 700% higher chance of success. So what does this mean for us, and how can we learn from this study? To DOUBLE your lead-to-sale CONVERSION with the leads you already have, go to http://JohnBlakeAudio.com for his exclusive, free, no-fluff, audio training and companion PDF guide. Inside you’ll get word-for-word email followup templates, phone scripts, and more that you can put to use today.  

Investing Education with Bola Abdul Bola Abdul has plenty to say about investing education, financial education and advice, and foreign exchange. In a nutshell, Bola is a self-starter and has learnt a lot about the financial market and the foreign exchange market. Investing education: starting as a young 'un Bola started learning about the finance and foreign exchange market when he was 18 - 8 years ago. He's still a kid! How did he get into it? http://thenext100days.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/How-much-money-do-you-need.mp4 Surprisingly, it's quite a low entry point to get into this market. Bolo says it's because the brokers introduced LEVERAGE. That enables you to trade on a higher volume, relative to your count size. The low end is 1 to 30. For example, you might have a $10 million account and you're trading 1:30. If you wanted to buy pounds versus the US dollars, and have a stake of £10, for every single point that the market goes up or down you would either gain or lose £10. How it works is, with a 1:30 leverage, you're capped as to the stake size that you can do. Now, this is a bit tricky to understand so here's another example. If you opened an account NOW, with a 1 to 30 leverage, there is a maximum you can stake. Let's say you cannot stake anything above £10. Contrastingly, if you opened up an $10 million account with a leverage of 1 to 400 a point, you would be able to do a significantly higher stake size. Points and pips Pip - this is a term used in the foreign exchange market. "It moves in pips". This is an abbreviation for Price Increment Point. Now, we're talking about the pound-dollar exchange rate. It's quoted in 4 decimal places. For example, let's say it was quoted at 1.3001 - if it changed to 1.3002 it would have moved one point. If it moved to 1.3003, that's two points. However, the brokers have their spreads - how the brokers make their money I based on the spread they give people like Bola (retail traders). E.g. Let's say you are earning £10 a point and the spread is 2 pips. Instantaneously, the broker makes £20 pocketed, regardless if that trade is a winning or losing trade. If it was £100 a point, and the spread was two pips, the broker would make £200. http://thenext100days.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Pips-and-Points-explained.mp4 Ultimately, the trick is to figure out that, regardless of what you're paying a broker, you're betting that the outcome of the trade will appreciate considerably because of some event. Is this trade about events then? Bola says you must think about what the demand for currency is today. Because the market works by supply and demand. If we were on an island with US dollars and pound sterling, and there was a high demand for USD, you would have to give away sterling to acquire the USD. There are sporadic events - for example, Nov. 2016 where Trump was inaugurated - that can make an impact. You've always got to think about what the market participants expect. If the market participants expected the USD to go up in value, that will make a difference to the foreign exchange rate. So, to answer the question, yes the market can be impacted by big events in society...most likely political. However, these are SPORADIC. What the market is based on, and what is most important and influential, is supply and demand. There are many ways in which market participants base their trade ideas: Supply and demand Technical analysis Sporadic events (thinking political shifts in power). More on technical analysis Within the market, there is also something called support and resistance, which fits in with demand and supply. Essentially, supply sits within the support zone and demand sits within the resistance zone. Where supple = demand, is what is called equilibrium. Equilibrium is where market participants like the put their orders in - it's where a fair value is placed. How technical analysis works is price gravitates f...

Literally and figuratively, so many people have become so desperate to get to the highest possible level that they are willing to risk their lives. While there is a commendable aspect to pushing yourself to become incredible uncomfortable just to reach your goals, it also begs a reflection of the human psyche that can be deemed negative. Going so far as to risk almost everything says so much about the ego involved. In this episode, Jason Wrobel and Whitney Lauritsen uncovers the layers of the motivations behind how far people can go—whether it is for the ‘gram or to reach the apex of the achievement mindset. They dive deep on the ways we seek approval from others and the need to feel worthy. Contrastingly, they also explore the point-of-view where we judge others who don’t strive to achieve. Look forward to an insightful discussion on striving in this day and age. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Here’s How » Join the This Might Get Uncomfortable community today: wellevatr.com Wellevatr Facebook Wellevatr Twitter Wellevatr Instagram

Audio Transcript: You're listening to audio for Mosaic Boston Church. If you'd like to check out more resources, learn about Mosaic Boston and our neighborhood churches, or donate to this ministry, please visit mosaicboston.comI'm going to read from Acts 3:17-26. This is not the most Christmas-y passage, but it comes in the time of Pentecost after Jesus has died and resurrected and ascended into heaven. The spirit descends upon the apostles and they begin teaching about God. Where do they go first? They go to the Jews, who missed that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, the anointed one. The apostles heal a man who's been lame his whole life and he begins leaping and walking and it's drawing attention to the crowd, so this is the sermon that Peter delivers to that crowd.Acts 3:17-26, "And now brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers, but what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent, therefore, and turn back that your sins may be blotted out. The times of refresh may come from the presence of the Lord and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his Holy prophets long ago. Moses said, 'The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him and whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people. And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaim these days.You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, "And in your offspring shall all the families of the Earth be blessed." God having raised up his servant, sent him to you first. To bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.'" Please, this is the word of God. Please join me in prayer. Lord, since the fall, it's inherent in our nature to question your authority, to question our need for you in our lives, to question just the use of your word, your direction, towards us. We want to be independent from you, Lord. Even those of us who know we're saved by grace through faith, we have a tendency to want to stray, to lean on our own strength, to push forward to find meaning and things that are not you. But Lord, we realize that that is impossible and today we repent of the tendency to just want to be autonomous, to be separate from you, to take pride in our own actions and strength.Lord we pray, Holy spirit, convict us of our need for your word in our life. Let it fill and satiate our soul. Bring us refreshment today through your word. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen. Today, we are in our second week of advent. We did not make it easy for ourselves as pastors and staff this year. We're doing some theology, some Christology. Every year that we choose a theme to cover for advent. We're talking about just the man, Jesus Christ. Last week we talked about Jesus, how he was the Messiah and he needed to be God and man, and what that meant for us. This week we're talking about Jesus as prophet, next week, priest and the week after, King. The name Messiah, the name Christ, has requirements to it. And that's that Jesus, it says Jesus was the fulfillment of the scriptures and he fulfilled these roles as prophet, priest, and King. And so, today, I want to explain to you, what does it mean that Jesus was our prophet, and what does that mean for our lives?To start, I want to just emphasize, what is advent? I think this is a good starting point. I grew up in church. Every week we lit four candles, at the center was the Jesus candle. That's about all I remember. I didn't learn much about the meeting, so advent is a season where God's people, Christians, wait for the return of Christ in glory to consummate his eternal kingdom. Why do we do this? We do this because, the church is in a similar situation to Israel at the end of the old Testament. We're in exile, we're waiting and hoping and expect prayerful expectation for the coming Messiah to come back to make all things new. Why do we do this? Israel looked back to God's past actions when he freed them in the Exodus from Egypt while they looked ahead for the first coming of Christ. In the same way that church during advent, we've looked back upon Christ first coming, his incarnation, and we do celebrate that, but at the same time we look forward in anticipation and longing that he is going to fulfill those promises, that he's going to come back.Advent is a period of tension. The song that really captures it is, "Oh come, Oh come, Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel that mourns in lonely exile here until the son of God appears. Rejoice, rejoice, Emanuel shall come through thee, oh Israel." On one end, it's a solemn period in the sense that, we are waiting for Christ's return. If you just can think of the old Testament community, those faithful, the remnant Jews just waiting, "Is God actually going to deliver on this promise?" The prophets have stopped speaking, the presence of God is not at the temple. Is the Messiah ever going to come? They had said, "Okay, he came, he freed us from Egypt." Now, we as Christians, we look back. Christ didn't come. We're waiting for him to come. The hard part about celebrating, acknowledging the advent in our culture is that, we have Thanksgiving and then immediately Christmas starts.I think I heard Christmas music actually in October this year and, the whole period, instead of this period with a bit of solemnity mixed with joy, there is hope, it just becomes this busy season of party after party. Church gathering after church gathering, work, our jobs celebrate Christmas and the new year. A lot of time we're busy, we have a lot of excitement. By the time we get to Christmas, Christmas is supposed to be that point, the solemnity goes away. Jesus Christ has come. We sing joy to the world with full authority but, ironically, Christmas is that time where we feel the most loneliness. We feel isolation. Joy, peace on earth, Goodwill to men, are you serious? I have to spend the week with my in-laws. I have to spend the week with my parents who are going to remind me of my singleness and my childlessness. Cousin Eddy and his kids and his RV are going to be here freeloading for a week. God, help me more than ever. Give me your presence more than ever in this period.And so, we kind of have reverse. Advent's full of hype, full of emotion, full of excitement. Christmas, just the way it tends to go. We feel this deep isolation. What does that look like for some people? Some people don't actually get to take off from work. They look at everybody else celebrate and they don't get that. That's really isolating. Some people don't have friends or family and they see everybody else gathered. They feel the loneliness. Some of us are crippled on the holidays just thinking of just people that have died recently that were close to us, relationships that have ended. Even if we have time with our large families, a lot of us when we spend that time, we realize we don't even know the people that were spending time with. How do I not know my parents anymore? I used to spend all this time with them. Even spouses, you get to a point where you are spending time with each other in an extended fashion for maybe one of two or three times throughout the year, and you're like, "I don't even know you. What do we do together? How do I interact?"It's just, you either just ignore it or there's a lot of explosion and just that feeling of isolation. Contrastingly, the holidays can be great. We do spend that time with others. We feel this sense of joy just being surrounded in a community of love, of talking, being heard, knowing and being known. What I want to emphasize here is that, there's something inherent in our nature that the holidays bring out. That we want to be heard and we need somebody to talk back. That's a part of our nature. It's a part of the way we were created. That's essentially what Christmas is about. Man needs God. He needs God's direction in life. Adam walked in the garden, he needed God to guide him, to help him to interpret the world around him before he fell and Adam sins. We need a means to have that connection with God again. How does God do that? He comes in the form of a baby and provides that.But just thinking about the tension, whether the extreme loneliness and isolation you associate, the extreme joy and bliss that you feel at Christmas. It tells us something about ourselves and I'd argued today, this is, these emotions that are exacerbated by Christmas, they show us our need for Jesus as our prophet, somebody who talks to us and somebody who we need to respond to. I'm going to make three points today. Jesus, our prophet, is the source of truth, source of meaning and the source of freedom. Just very simply, I want to speed through Jesus as our prophet. He is the source of truth. Verse 18 and 22, tell us that Jesus is a prophet, "They tell us that Jesus is a prophet, but what God we're foretold by the mouth of all the prophets that his Christ would suffer, he's thus fulfilled."Moses said, "The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him and whatever he tells you, and it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people." So Jesus is a prophet. All the prophets were pointing to him. I just want to clarify from the front, we're not going to get into mystical prophecy talk today. Just basic definition of a prophet. Pro, for me, it means, the roots of the word means before speak. We're not talking necessarily about something that will happen in the future in detail today. A prophet, before anything, was a spokesman before God. An example of this from scripture is, that just clarifies my point is, it comes from Exodus seven. The relationship that Moses and Aaron had, that God appointed.God told Moses, "See, I've made you, Moses, like God to Pharaoh and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of this land. Aaron was the prophet that spoke with the authority of Moses. Moses got everything from God himself. And so, prophets, they did tend to have a foretelling meaning, a prophetic ability to speak about the future, but they also had this forth-telling in a similar sense that they were like preachers of their day. They're inspired by the Holy Spirit. One thing to think about prophecy is that they didn't just speak from their own minds, their own opinion, their own state of consciousness, they spoke from, the way they finished or began their words were "thus sayeth the Lord." What they said was what God says.And so, Jesus came into the world and he did function as a prophet. He represented the father, John 15:15, "But I've called you friends for all that I've heard from my father. I've made known to you." Jesus gave us the scriptures in order that we might believe and have life. But these, the scriptures, are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. We need, going back to Adam in the garden, God gives us general revelation. All people are image bearers of God. We can look at the world around us and we can discern through beauty, through majesty, through the way of simple equations, explain how the world works. We can know that there is a God, but we need special revelation.We need God to speak to us, to tell us the means to have peace with him, and that was the way in the garden. Adam always had a communication or relationship with God. Jesus is still prophet, just to finish the theology of it all. Jesus is still serving in this office. He provides for the building up of the body of the church today, and he sends the Holy Spirit to equip the church to do the work of the ministry. This is Ephesians, "And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for building up the body of Christ until we all tend to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the son God. "To mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. So that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness and deceitful schemes."So Jesus came, he was a prophet, he is our prophet, and he spoke with the same authority as the prophets of old. Said thus sayeth the Lord. This is the word of God and just this idea that this is the word of God, Christianity says we have the source of absolute truth. Why do I need to harp on this right now? Because, there's a lot of people you talk to, even in our church, that say like, "This truth, I like that it's good for you, maybe not for me." I talked to a girl recently who was in a religion 101 class and she had to interview a religious professional and she said this, "Thank you for telling me about this. I'm glad that this is the truth for you." As Christians, we don't have to fight back, but we should explain, we don't view ourselves as one truth. One means to God amongst many other. We believe that Jesus came and taught us the truth and he speaks to us through scripture and he, in fact, spoke in his physical presence to us.There is, I just want to dig into it, there are a lot of different forms of opposition to this stance that Christians have, that we have the absolute truth and we don't hold it over other people in disrespect. But we need to know how to engage these arguments and just locally, two of the primary just challenges to the authority of God's word are science and new age spirituality. Science, This isn't something new. It says, we've learned more and more about the natural world. We don't need religion anymore to fill in the spaces. We just accept that we are formed by a random crash of molecules and we take what we learn from it. We take those laws and we just accept our state of meaninglessness. But the challenge of science is weakening. There's a new book, Rebecca McLaughlin wrote it called, Confronting Christianity. She gives a whole list of current MIT professors who are Christian.She goes in detail about Francis Collins, the director of the NIH, the National Institutes of Health, his conversion to Christianity after not growing up Christian. Basically, there is a lot of people in science saying that science is limited. It can only speak into things pertaining to science. A quote from Rebecca says, "Science has a place, a vital one in modern society. We can all benefit from the knowledge we have gained through the scientific method, first devised by Christian scholars." Of Christians. Were not saying, "Stop listening to science." We're saying, "Look at it from the proper lens. Science is good." At Mosaic, and if you go through the books of our members, a huge percentage of people are scientists."But if we elevate scientific truth above all other kinds, and believe that the scientific script rules out other stories, we have no grounds for morality and no basis for rebelling against our genes. We are bags of cells and waste with an expiration day, and it doesn't mean anything. And so, we as humans, we believe in these ideals of love and justice and mercy, and it doesn't check with our nature to view ourselves in the way that science does." So the argument of science has shaken, but there's a new challenger here and, especially here in Brookline and Boston, that's new age spirituality, this consciousness movement. It's starts with the opposite. God is in all of us. Bring out the God within you. What can one do to obtain different levels of consciousness and perspective? What are those spiritual-physical experiences, yoga experiences, chemically-induced travel and intellectual experiences of which you post photos of on social media. That help you become or ascend the better version of yourself. It's just confusing.We live in this age of science, but now there's this trend towards spirituality. Pew Research Center released the results of a survey in 2017 that concluded that about a quarter of U.S. adults, 27%, now say they think of themselves as spiritual but not religious. That percentage is up eight percentage points in five years. That's quite a leap. How do I know that this is a movement, and it's dangerous to Christianity because there's a spirituality, but it's still rejecting the authority of a sovereign God. We have two yoga studios, three to four blocks this way, three up the road at Coolidge corner. There's six in Brookline village. I don't know about, you when I drive here in the morning, there are just people pouring through those doors, and it's all day into the evening. The church I grew up in, I get Facebook invites for yoga classes there.Is the challenge on Christianity as blatant as science? No. Here's what this challenge typically sounds like. I'm quoting from a website for January 1st, "Kick Off Your Year Right event. After staying out late on New Year's Eve, sleeping in and going to the brunch in the South end, at two o'clock you can attend an event called Renew To Be You: Connect, Inspire, Uplift. The workshop. We'll begin with a reflection on what has passed to release old ways of being and tap into untapped potential. We will then flow through a heart-opening vinyasa class, incorporating pranayama mantra to connect and unite the breath, mind, body, and spirit. We will end with a guided visualization to help you see and realize the dreams in your heart. Following this movement practice will put pen to paper and set some intentions for the new year to come."It's talking about this practice of emptying yourself to allow for new, as you ascend to a different level of consciousness or try to force yourself to that point, this new vision for your life. That's the opposite of what scripture says. Scripture says, "Be filled with the spirit." Open your Bible every day to try to know the will of God. Be careful when you open your heart, open your mind, to be filled after you empty yourself. You are susceptible. Christianity says, "Susceptible to spirits that are antagonistic." That know God and reject him and they're trying to recruit you to his side. We live in this age where truth is being attacked on all fronts, and we have several sermons on this if you dig the Mosaic history. The confusing thing is that both of these do attack just this idea that, when I wake up in the morning, I answer to somebody. I answer to God. It's rarely just one of these two. I think there's science and then there's this mysticism, the spirituality, coming from Eastern influence on our society. And the movie Avengers, Endgame, shows this.If you haven't seen the movie, you've had enough time, but Thanos, the villain, who at the snap of fingers has the ability to decide who survives and who does not. He seemingly beats the Avengers and, what does he do after this big fight that lasts several movies? He goes into a garden and lives in a shack with a nice fireplace that takes us back to the imagery of the garden of Eden and all of a sudden the Avengers do show up. It's mutated animals. It's scientifically, genetically-modified humans. It's these better versions of ourselves that show up and they take Thanos down in that moment. That doesn't give away the whole movie, but it's not just the scientific influence, it's Dr. Strange, the Eastern mystic, was crucial in taking down Thanos. And so, this is creeping into our society.This view that science, that mysticism can fill this hole for a gap of truth. But Christianity just says, no, to that. We get applications to Mosaic saying like, "I want to become a member because this is the truth that is for me." That is not the Christian stance. We say this is the truth for everybody. Everybody, the greatest news they could hear is the gospel of Jesus Christ. The prophets, you think of the prophets back in the day. Elijah faces the prophets of Baal. Did he just say, "Oh, you guys are right. Let's sit down and have a Ted circle"? He said like, "Let's throw it down, my God versus yours." Now, we don't do that in an active sense. We're not there walking on the streets fighting people, trying to call God down to bring fire on people. We trust in the Holy spirit.We trust in God's great justice that he will bring when he comes back to make all things new, but we stand on this truth, and Jesus stood on this truth. There's no way around that, and just, I want to emphasize, truth is not something that is inside of us. It's outside of us. It's not this New Age Movement that says that we have it within us, we just need to bring it out. This need for truth outside of us has been the case since the garden of Eden. Theologian Richard Gamble says this, "Well, Adam was dependent on God for his understanding of general revelation before the fall. Pre-lapsarian, pre-fall Adam, was not to understand God's creation by observation and experimentation alone, but was to work in conjunction with God's supernatural communications to him.Like us, Adam was not merely to observe and interpret the world. Unlike us, however, Adam was able to receive the precise meaning of all creation directly from the artist and architect himself. Today, we also turn to the artist to interpret his beautiful creation, but must turn to God's self-revelation in scripture to accomplish this task. God was present with Adam from the very beginning. Adam's first experiences were connected to hearing God's word. God's command, his law to Adam and Eve, was meant to determine the course of their lives. It gave them their understanding of themselves." So the Bible doesn't talk about truth of scientific facts. It doesn't talk about subjective experience being the determining factor of truth, it talks about absolute truth that comes through embracing that we are created beings in need of direction, the source of truth, our creator.And so, Jesus Christ is the prophet that preaches that truth. He did that in his life. Point two though, Jesus was more than just a prophet. I want to build on this. Jesus our prophet is the source of meaning, and so just want to look, emphasis is on all in these verses. "But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. And all the prophets who have spoken from Samuel and those who came after him also proclaim these days of Christ." The emphasis is on all, all of the prophets spoke of this coming, this Messiah, this man Jesus Christ. There's something special, God is speaking in a way through Christ that he never spoke before. I want to go through a couple of verses that also emphasizes and explain a little bit more.Hebrews 1:1-3, "Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his son whom he appointed the heir of all things through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. He used to speak through the prophets now, but now he speaks through the son again." I just want to read one more passage. John 1, "In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life and then the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it."Verse 14, "And the word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we have seen his glory, glory as of the only son from the father full of grace and truth." A lot of verses. These are to emphasize, Jesus doesn't just bring the word, he is God's word. And there's something special about him coming. It's not just the words that he said, it's the way he lived his life, who he was, was an expression of who God is. To understand this, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God, we can use it to explain, Jesus was the creator. Part of the Trinity was with God when he created the heavens and the earth, but John here, he's also in a day influenced by Greek thinkers. In the beginning was the word, logos. Logos is a word that had implications for people of that culture at that time. Greeks were looking for centuries for this principle of the logos. Logos would be the thing, it was the central principle that all of life was going towards and it would explain meaning.It would give life meaning if we could understand it. John here, he knows that. He's not saying Jesus ... The Greek culture, they fluctuated. How do we find meaning? You look at the history of their culture. It was through asceticism, living mystical lives, seeking wisdom, trying to understand the soul on one side, and they had generations of that. They had other generations that said, "Eat, drink, be merry like true materialists," and they didn't find satisfaction. Ultimately, you see, they were able to accomplish a lot to civilize the world, but ultimately, their power structures fell down. They didn't have God to clarify, it's the unity of the spiritual and the material that we both need and Jesus Christ provides meaning for both. He is the unity of the spiritual and physical. He is the logos, and he's the exact imprint of God's glory in this life.And so, we have these abstract standards of love and joy and mercy, and they are without definition until we actually see Jesus came and he was the embodiment of those things. So, how do you find logos? How do you find meaning in your life? We place our faith in the prophet, verse 18, "But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent, therefore, and turn back that your sins may be blotted out. That times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus." This author's saying that the Greeks, their culture never settled. They never had a reason to promote that asceticism, never had a reason to promote that materialism. Actually, both the material and the spiritual matter and the way that we find meaning is living for this creator, Jesus.He's the one we were created by, the one we were created for. And so, when we place our faith in the fact that he suffered for us, we can have meaning. We can have purpose. We can see God for who he is, see the world properly. And so, the best way to really understand this though, is to think of the ... For those who are skeptics, who are atheists, who are true materialists, all that we have is this world. This material, and we're sacks of cells. You're saying you do not have a logos. There's no source of meaning. Your world is unintelligible. If you're not an image bearer of God with a soul as different from all of the animals around us, God breathed life into men, you don't know who you are. You don't know where you came from, how to get rid of the guilt that you have or even understand why you experience guilt in this life and, how do you get rid of that guilt?You can do that by trying to create your own logos, create your own meaning and relationships and looks, money, accolades, children, whatever it is, but everything is going to crumble. They're not substantial grounds to stand on. Also, your position says, we can't speak to each other. What does that mean? Like John Lennon, some people might think all we need is love. What is love if not defined by an absolute standard? And so, you spread this message of love and you get that message in some experience that raises your consciousness. Maybe someone else has an experience that raises their consciousness and they say, "In order for the world to have peace, for the world to flourish, for us humans to have joy, we need to eradicate the lands of this specific people group."Your communication has no meaning in the sense that you have no standard to appeal to. Neither side can say what is right and what is wrong. And so, CS Lewis, he took this view. He was an atheist before he became Christian and he wrote about where he was. "My argument against God was that the universe seems so cruel and unjust, but how had I got this idea of just an unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. "What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? If the whole show is bad and senseless from A to Z, so to speak, why did I, who was supposed to be a part of the show, find myself in such a violent reaction against it? Of course, I could have given up my idea of justice by saying it was nothing but a private idea of my own, but if I did that, then my argument against God collapsed too.For the argument depended on saying the world was really unjust, not simply that it did not happen to please my fancies. Thus, in the very act of trying to prove that God did not exist, in other words, that the whole of reality was senseless, I found I was forced to assume that one part of reality, namely my idea of justice, was full of sense. If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning. Just as if there were no light in the universe and, therefore, no creatures with eyes, we should never have known it was dark. Dark would be without meaning." Some of you just resist Christianity because you take the sense, you think about suffering and evil and death in this world and you view them as, you say, "It's not fair. It's cruel, but you're appealing to standards and understandings of what is good and fair and just that are your own.If you don't have a God, you don't have a basis to express this anger, this frustration towards God. But Christians, we do have a reason. Jesus is our rock and we normally talk about that in an emotional sense. Like, he gets us through those hard times, and that's true. We need to turn to Jesus. We need to listen to worship songs when our emotions are pouring out, but Jesus is also as our prophet who comes in, not just brings the truth, but as the truth. He's our grounds for having confidence that we can stand on being Christian intellectually. We can say what is right and what is wrong and not being consistent with our beliefs. We can preach the gospel with confidence. We can hold each other accountable. We find our meaning, our logos, in serving the one who created us.We serve the church. We love those in the church. We have a reason to do all of this and, you get rid of God, there's no point doing it all. If God's ever proven false, we shouldn't be here. But if you don't have this view, you have no reason to hold anybody accountable to any form of morality. People in Boston are really difficult. The locals, you've survived this cold, you've survived these rising rental prices, you've built up resilience. You say like, I don't ..." You resist this need, this pull towards God that is on your soul. If life is meaningless, like, "I'm okay." Transplants, you are people who made it somewhere. You've been able to just climb the different echelons in your career. You've had success, you've had relationships, you're building the family and you're saying like, "If life is meaningless, it doesn't matter. I'm okay." But scripture says you take that view, eventually, Christ is the rock you need to build on, all other ground is sinking sand.If you really are a child of God and you start placing any of these experiences, these relationships, these things to give you meaning, he's just going to be painfully strip those from you until you give him the worship that he desires. So Jesus gives us meaning. Finally, Jesus, our prophet is a source of freedom. Verse 19. "Repent, therefore, and turn back that your sins may be blotted out. That times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus." I love that word, refreshing. That's like, who here needs refreshment today? If you live in Boston, you need it all the time. This is such a good word. If I could describe my life before I became Christian, it would be, "I'm tired." it was five years of living in an inconsistent manner as a "Christian." The question was like, "Andy, how are you?" "I'm tired. I'm tired. I'm just tired." This is the talk of people in despair. I'd went through every method.In college, I went to the counselors. I tried to build my identity, find fulfillment, find meaning as an athlete, as a student, through relationships, through accomplishments, nothing landed. The last thing I wanted to do was to actually, I knew the gospel. I knew it well enough. The last thing I want to, like when I'm mad, I want to get mad at ... When I'm bitter in a bad mood, not filling my mind with the word, I want to look at my church that I grew up and say, "Man, you didn't teach me that gospel good enough." But I knew it. What I resisted was submitting my ... While I tried out all those other methods, I just didn't want to submit my life to God, submit my life to his word. I knew he offered freedom, but I didn't want to give up the sin in my life. These idols I had in my life.So, we get refreshment when we come, we say, "God, I believe your word. Jesus, You are my savior." We get refreshment when our sins are blotted out, when we realize that Jesus dying on the cross, he washed our sins white as snow. That's what refreshment is. And so, some people they, the truths of scripture, Jesus appeals to them, but you're just resisting. You don't want to give up those things that you're clinging to. You know God is going to ask you to repent, turn away from some things, turn towards some behaviors and actions. He's going to ask you to spend time in community to share your fears, share your worries, share your triumphs, share your failures, share your sins, spend time with the stinky people and people who look different than you, and you're just resisting.God offers us refreshment. Proverbs 3:5-8, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord and turn away from evil." Here's the best part, "It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones." I want that. Who does not want that? Why resist? Does that simple short-term pleasure, is that worth this healing to our bones and human to refresh, or refreshment to our bones? Is that not better than just that thing that you're clinging to? A famous author of the 20th century was, he was at least honest.He said, "For myself, as no doubt for most of my friends, the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation from a certain system of morality. We objected to the morality because it interfered with our sexual freedom. The supporters of the system claim that it embodied the meaning, the Christian meaning they insisted of the world. There is one admittedly simple method of confuting these people and justifying ourselves in our erotic revolt. We would deny that the world had any meaning whatever." Now, I don't know if he was taught a poor presentation. The Bible says sex is good within the confines of marriage between a man and a woman.I don't know if he ever learned that view in several periods of the last century where sex was taught wrongly, but he's an extreme example of somebody who has clung to, clung to something. He knowingly pushed against the word of God, and so, what is it for you? I asked, what is freedom? Freedom is typically viewed as the lack of any restraint. To be able to do what we, want when we want. That's how it's defined in our world, but just look at the world. What is freedom? When I write my sermons, I have a public room in the building I live in, I live downtown. I just see, literally a minute after minute, these giant airplanes taking off and they're coming towards the skyscrapers of downtown and they're turning and they're veering away. And it's just thousands of pounds of metal in the air with just chemicals that could just explode if not handled properly. I'm like, "How does that work?" Somebody observed the laws of aerodynamics and that's what enables the plane to take off.We as humans are no different. We find freedom when we live under the structures that God created us to live under, and that goes back to Adam in the garden. Adam, you have freedom to live in the garden of Eden. Do what you want, but don't eat from this one tree. Adam had to give it to God that God was God, Adam was the creature. Adam was dependent on God's instruction, God's word in his life. Freedom, as a Christian, when we live under God's design, we live under his word. We treat it as the absolute truth that we should follow. We don't do it in spite, not religiously, not Pharisaically. We do it out of gratitude for what Christ has done for us. When we understand that, we get to become the person we are created to be. People ask me, "Why would you go to ministry?" Honestly, I just think I'm doing the thing that God created me to be. I saw myself, as I took different steps in the church, I saw myself fulfilling my potential, and other people were affirming that. like, "What is that for you?"If you're not submitting your life to God, you can't see the world properly. You can't see your life properly. Eric Liddell in Chariots of Fire, regarded as the best sports movie ever by many. He said, "When I run," his sister is yelling at him for not going to China, not leaving Scotland to go to China after he's qualified for the Olympic games. He eventually goes on to win a gold medal. He responds to his sister, and he says, "When I run, I feel God's pleasure." When we submit to the Lord in gratitude and thankfulness for the fact that we had a single problem, our sin, that prevented us from getting access to God. We believe that God came into this world as a baby and he lived the life we didn't live, died the death we deserve, conquered the penalty for sin once and for all, we can have freedom in him. Some of you push, you're pushing against just God's truth. You're trying to define it on yourself.Your journey towards becoming a person you were created to be was taking God's truth and seeing them. This is the truth that I need to surround my life around. Some of you are just, again, you're angry at God. You think, "This is not right. There's suffering, there's evil. Now, God, how could this be a part of your plan? This is unjust." You want to shed this influence of God on your life, but you have no means to do that. There's no meaning to your argument if there aren't standards given by God. We might not ever understand why things in this life happened the way that we do, but the fact that God came into this world to care for our problem of sin, to address it, to give us access to him, to be able to receive his instruction, it shows us that the answer can't be that he doesn't care.Some of you, you want freedom. You might come to church and you come around the holidays. Every once in a while you read a spiritual book. You pray when things get hard, but you've never said like, "God, I submit my life to you. Thank you for sending Jesus. Thank you for taking the punishment I deserve. I submit my life to you." You just don't know this freedom. You have to surrender all of yourself and, how are you sustained in this life, you go to the gospel each day. This Christmas story, my struggle with Christmas is that we feel this tension. We need to be waking up every morning and just filling our minds with the word of God that we needed. Our sin was so bad that he had to send a baby to come save us. I don't understand the holidays because, I was so convicted of my sin at one point, and my need for Christ, and resounded in the freedom of that, that I just don't ...Fortunately, by God's grace, I'm growing to the point I don't need the holidays for that strong reminder. That should be all of us. How are we sustained? We wake up, we fill our mind with the gospel. The message that the prophets proclaimed in the old Testament and on throughout the new. Jesus is the means for our salvation. We have this free gift of grace from God and one day he will return to come and make all things new. We need to fill our minds with that every day, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free."Please join me in prayer. Lord, we repent of attempting to assert our authority from you. We repent of saying we don't need you. We repent of anger and angst towards you that was baseless and not justified. Lord, we know that in coming in the form of Jesus Christ, you do care for us. We know that Jesus Christ was given all authority on heaven and earth and his promises will be fulfilled. He will return one day. Lord, as we live in this tension where you've already won the battle to establish your kingdom, Lord, sustain us as we wait the day that you return and just reign in full. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.

Today we're talking about giving two people the same information, the same plan of action, the same strategy, the same execution, and them getting vastly different results. What causes the difference?It's a very simple answer: a long-term outlook. People come in, want to start a new business, and they just dip their toe in the water. They tell themselves that they'll try something for a day and if it doesn't work, they'll go try something else. Do you think somebody is going to get extraordinary results with only a few days of effort?You need to care more about the process than the result. People who only put up with the process because they want to get the result will fail very quickly. They just look at everything as a nuisance and struggle. Contrastingly, people who are all about the process know that the results are a by-product of the process. If you stick to the process, the results take care of themselves.It's common knowledge across all industries that you need to stick with something for five years. That five-year mark is when your business will really start to blow up because you've stuck with it long enough for mastery.The big question is are you in this game just to get a result, or have you made a new lifestyle out of it? Stop being one foot in, one foot out. This isn't going to reward you because you're not doing anything for anyone. It's not about the opportunity, it's about you committing to mastery.When you start, of course it's going to be hard. However, you can become the master of your niche relatively quickly compared to other things in life. In five years, you can be making more money than 95% of the world.Don't chase the result. Chase the process.To learn more about building a strong process, visit https://www.digitalnomad.com/podcast

James 3:1-15 (p. 1044)The Big Idea: As goes the taming of the tongue, so goes all other spiritual progress. 4 Amazing Facts:1. The tongue is DISPROPORTIONATELY powerful.James 1:26 (p. 1043)2. The tongue is INHERENTLY evil.James 3:6 (p. 1044)James 3:8 (p. 1044)3. The tongue is HUMANLY untamable.James 3:7-8 (p. 1044)Exodus 4:10-11 (p. 50)4. The tongue is CONTRASTINGLY productive.James 3:9-12 (p. 1044)James 3:5-12 (p. 1044)

Episode 73 - Coach Curl Podcast - Learning from the Success IndustryWhen we really want something and get caught into a group cult mentality, the decisions we make can often be regretted.I really wanted a pair of running shoes I was unable to get anywhere, and made a dumb decision when that desire overcame my usual due diligence approach. The same thing happens at large scale events within the Success IndustryI have been to a number of large scale SUCCESS events in the last six months and see their formula for what it is, persuasion, and a constant appeal to the emotions and a constant sales message. Your life can be complete. Often centred on a keynote speaker of note like a Tony Robbins, Gary Vaynerchuck, John Maxwell and the like with fillers from the modern day equivilent of the snake-oil salesman. Contrastingly, they do offer value to participants and that's why the fill rooms. Just make sure you do some due diligence. This podcast is about what I have observed in attending these events.Don't forget to share and review. Thanks for tuning in. We appreciate you!Think and Grow Business. Improving the Performance of People in Business https://thinkandgrowbusiness.com.au“Seriously Simple Stuff to Get You Unstuck” Buy it Now on Stronger, Braver, WiserSupporting Carters Cause carterscause.org.auREMEMBER THE GOLDEN RULE –DON'T BE AN ASSHOLE

Episode 73 - Coach Curl Podcast - Learning from the Success IndustryWhen we really want something and get caught into a group cult mentality, the decisions we make can often be regretted.I really wanted a pair of running shoes I was unable to get anywhere, and made a dumb decision when that desire overcame my usual due diligence approach. The same thing happens at large scale events within the Success IndustryI have been to a number of large scale SUCCESS events in the last six months and see their formula for what it is, persuasion, and a constant appeal to the emotions and a constant sales message. Your life can be complete. Often centred on a keynote speaker of note like a Tony Robbins, Gary Vaynerchuck, John Maxwell and the like with fillers from the modern day equivilent of the snake-oil salesman. Contrastingly, they do offer value to participants and that's why the fill rooms. Just make sure you do some due diligence. This podcast is about what I have observed in attending these events.Don’t forget to share and review. Thanks for tuning in. We appreciate you!Think and Grow Business. Improving the Performance of People in Business https://thinkandgrowbusiness.com.au“Seriously Simple Stuff to Get You Unstuck” Buy it Now on Stronger, Braver, WiserSupporting Carters Cause carterscause.org.auREMEMBER THE GOLDEN RULE –DON’T BE AN ASSHOLE

Women in the UK were granted the vote in national parliamentary elections on the same terms as men in 1928 – it has remained that way ever since. Going further back in time, some women (those over 30 who met the relevant property qualifications) were given the vote following the conclusion of WW1 in 1918. However, before the outbreak of WW1, two groups campaigned for the right for women to vote. The Suffragists (NUWSS) were formed in 1897 and Suffragettes (WSPU) were formed in 1903; both groups aimed to secure women the vote in parliamentary elections. However, they differed markedly in their strategies. The Suffragists, led by Millicent Fawcett, campaigned using only legal means. Contrastingly, the Suffragettes, led by Emmeline Pankhurst, were prepared to break the law in order to secure the right to vote. Which group had the biggest impact pre-1914? In this episode, Patrick supports the contributions of the Suffragists and Elliot supports the Suffragettes. It is worth noting, however, that both editors are of the opinion that it was actually the advent of WW1 that provided the context for the biggest shift towards women gaining the vote. For terms of use, please visit www.versushistory.com

Randomness in game design is a powerful double-edged sword. On the one hand, variation and surprise are cornerstone elements of fun, and carefully calibrated randomness can cultivate both of those experiences. Contrastingly, too much randomness can make a game’s underlying design feel chaotic, and alienate players through “unfair” or unforeseeable outcomes. So: how much random … Continue reading "Episode 22: Fandom of Random"

Organisms respond to changes in their environment affecting their physiological or ecological optimum by reactions called stress responses. These stress responses may enable the organism to survive by counteracting the consequences of the environ- mental change, the stressor, and usually consist of plastic alterations of traits related to physiology, behaviour, or morphology. In the ecological model species Daphnia, the waterflea, stressors like predators or parasites are known to have an important role in adaptive evolution and have been therefore studied in great detail. However, although various aspects of stress responses in Daphnia have been analysed, molecu- lar mechanisms underlying these traits are not well understood so far. For studying unknown molecular mechanisms, untargeted ‘omics’ approaches are especially suit- able, as they may identify undescribed key players and processes. Recently, ‘omics’ approaches became available for Daphnia. Daphnia is a cosmo- politan distributed fresh water crustacean and has been in research focus for a long time because of its central role in the limnic food web. Furthermore, the responses of this organism to a variety of stressors have been intensively studied e.g. to hypoxic conditions, temperature changes, ecotoxicological relevant substances, parasites or predation. Of these environmental factors, especially predation and interactions with parasites have gained much attention, as both are known to have great influence on the structure of Daphnia populations. In the work presented in this thesis, I characterised the stress responses of Daphnia using proteomic approaches. Proteomics is particularly well suited to analyse bio- logical systems, as proteins are the main effector of nearly all biological processes. However, performing Daphnia proteomics is a challenging task due to high proteolytic activity in the samples, which most probably originate from proteases located in the gut of Daphnia, and are not inhibited by proteomics standard sample pre- paration protocols. Therefore, before performing successful proteomic approaches, I had to optimise the sample preparation step to inhibit proteolytic activity in Daph- nia samples. After succeeding with this task, I was able to analyse stress responses of Daphnia to well-studied stressors like predation and parasites. Furthermore, I stud- ied their response to microgravity exposure, a stressor not well analysed in Daphnia so far. My work on proteins involved in predator-induced phenotypic plasticity is de- scribed in chapter 2 and 3. Daphnia is a textbook example for this phenomenon and is known to show a multitude of inducible defences. For my analysis, I used the system of Daphnia magna and its predator Triops cancriformis. D. magna is known to change its morphology and to increase the stability of its carapace when exposed to the pred- ator, which has been shown to serve as an efficient protection against T. cancriformis predation. In chapter 2, I used a proteomic approach to study predator-induced traits in late-stage D. magna embryos. D. magna neonates are known to be defended against Triops immediately after the release from the brood pouch, if mothers were exposed to the predator. Therefore, the formation of the defensive traits most probably oc- curs during embryonic development. Furthermore, embryos should have reduced protease abundances, as they do not feed inside the brood pouch until release. To study proteins differing in abundance between D. magna exposed to the predator and a control group, I applied a proteomic 2D-DIGE approach, which is a gel based method and therefore enables visual monitoring of protein sample quality. I found differences in traits directly associated with known defences like cuticle proteins and chitin-modifying enzymes most probably involved in carapace stability. In addition, enzymes of the energy metabolism and the yolk protein vitellogenin indicated alterations in energy demand. In chapter 3, I present a subsequent study supporting these results. Here, I analysed responses of adult D. magna to Triops predation at the proteome level using an optimised sample preparation procedure, which was able to generate adult protein samples thereby inhibiting proteolysis. Furthermore, I established a different proteomic approach using a mass-spectrometry based label- free quantification, in which I integrated additional genotypes of D. magna to create a more comprehensive analysis. With this approach, I was able to confirm the results of the embryo study, as similar biological processes indicated by cuticle proteins and vi- tellogenins were involved. Furthermore, additional calcium-binding cuticle proteins and chitin-modifying enzymes and proteins involved in other processes, e.g. protein biosynthesis, could be assigned. Interestingly, I also found evidence for proteins in- volved in a general or a genotype dependent response, with one genotype, which is known to share its habitat with Triops, showing the most distinct responses. Genotype dependent changes in the proteome were also detectable in the study which I present in chapter 4. Here, I analysed molecular mechanisms underlying host-parasite interactions using the well characterised system of D. magna and the bacterial endoparasite Pasteuria ramosa. P. ramosa is known to castrate and kill their host and the infection success is known to depend strongly on the host’s and the para- site’s genotype. I applied a similar proteomic approach as in chapter 3 using label- free quantification, but contrastingly, I did not use whole animal samples but only the freshly shed cuticle. It has been shown, that the genotypic specificity of P. ramosa infection is related to the parasite’s successful attachment to the cuticle of the host and is therefore most probably caused by differences in cuticle composition. Hence, I analysed exuvia proteomes of two different genotypes known to be either suscept- ible to P. ramosa or not. Furthermore, I compared exuvia proteomes of susceptible Daphnia exposed to P. ramosa to a control group for finding proteins involved in the infection process and in the stress response of the host. The proteomes of the different genotypes showed indeed very interesting abundance alterations, connected either to cuticle proteins or matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). Additionally, the cuticle pro- teins more abundant in the susceptible genotype showed a remarkable increase in predicted glycosylation sites, supporting the hypothesis that P. ramosa attaches to the host’s cuticle by using surface collagen-like proteins to bind to glycosylated cuticle proteins. Most interestingly, in all replicates of the susceptible genotype exposed to P. ramosa, such a collagen-like protein was found in high abundances. Another group of proteins found in higher abundance in the non-susceptible genotype, the MMPs, are also connected to this topic, as they may have collagenolytic characteristics and therefore could interfere with parasite infection. Furthermore, the data indicate that parasite infection may lead to retarded moulting in Daphnia, as moulting is known to reduce the infection success. Contrastingly to the work presented so far, the study described in chapter 5 invest- igated the protein response of Daphnia to a stressor not well studied on other levels, namely microgravity. As gravity is the only environmental parameter which has not changed since life on earth began, organisms usually do not encounter alterations of gravity on earth and cannot adapt to this kind of change. Daphnia has been part of one mission to space, however, responses of the animals to microgravity are not well described so far. In addition, as Daphnia are an interesting candidate organisms for aquatic modules of biological life support systems (BLSS), more information on their response to microgravity is necessary. For this reason, proteomics is an interesting ap- proach, as biological processes not detectable at the morphological or physiological level may become apparent. Therefore, a ground-based method, a 2D-clinostat, was used to simulate microgravity, as studies under real microgravity conditions in space need high technical complexity and financial investment. Subsequently, a proteomic 2D-DIGE approach was applied to compare adult Daphnia exposed to microgravity to a control group. Daphnia showed a strong response to microgravity with abundance alterations in proteins related to the cytoskeleton, protein folding and energy meta- bolism. Most interestingly, this response is very similar to the reactions of a broad range of other organisms to microgravity exposure, indicating that the response to altered gravity conditions in Daphnia follows a general concept. Altogether, the work of my thesis showed a variety of examples of how a proteomic approach may increase the knowledge on stress responses in an organisms not well- established in proteomics. I described both, the analysis of molecular mechanisms underlying well-known traits and the detection of proteins involved in a response not well characterised. Furthermore, I gave examples for highly genotype dependent and also more general stress responses. Therefore, this thesis improves our understanding of the interactions between genotype, phenotype and environment and, moreover, offers interesting starting points for studying the molecular mechanisms underlying stress responses of Daphnia in more detail.

*Assignment #2 of the MOFO Mission was Clean Up Your Act, and now we’re delving deeper into this concept with Assignment #3: Eat Ancestral Foods. Once you’ve ditched toxic food like grains, sugars, and industrial seed oils, it’s time to replace them with ancestral-approved foods and emphasize a nose-to-tail approach. Also consider incorporating superfoods like liver, pastured eggs, grass-fed pasture-raised meats, and oily, cold water fish into your diet.* The best way to start this new diet is to establish a zero tolerance policy - these toxic foods really are that addictive. Another important element of this assignment is fasting. Obsessive over-feeding represents the essence of the Standard American Diet - most people’s days revolve around regular meals and constant snacking in order to maintain energy. Contrastingly, an ancestral eating pattern puts fasting front and center as the centerpiece of your diet. A diet can seem restrictive if you focus on what you’re taking out, but what about reframing it to instead focus on what you’re gaining? You get to choose from a wide variety of the most nutrient dense food on the planet, the food that literally fueled human evolution. I’m talking about meat, fish, fowl, eggs, produce like seasonal fruit, nuts and seeds, and certain modern foods that have good health benefits, like organic, whole-milk (never reduced fat!) dairy products and dark chocolate. Dr. Peter Attia says: “Just eat stuff that your great-grandmother could have eaten, and stay away from the stuff that didn’t exist - even back a few generations.” Also, if you suffer from autoimmune or inflammatory conditions, why not try out carnivore? Many devotees of the carnivore diet experienced incredible results after cutting out plants from their diet. Could it be that the antigens/antinutrients present in plants actually do more harm than good? If you’ve got a sensitive system or any underlying conditions, then yes, that does seem to be the case. This diet has gained a ton of attention, and quickly, because of the enormous health and healing benefits followers have experienced. If you suffer from any nagging symptoms of an autoimmune or inflammatory condition, it’s worth just trying out 30 days without plants to see if you feel any positive difference, because the gut microbiome is critical to all aspects of health, including mental health. Try testing out a “carnivore-ish” approach - what I’m doing right now is really just emphasizing the most nutrient dense foods, most notably liver and different organ meats and sardines, as they are true nutrient superstars. And of course, fasting. All aspects of hormonal, immune, and metabolic function work better when you’re fasting, but there are still so many people who don’t know this, and unfortunately have no idea that if they ate less often, they’d get healthier. The health benefits you get from fasting (autophagy, apoptosis, cellular repair and recycling, protein repair and recycling) vastly exceed the benefits you get from any known superfood or dietary/meal pattern. Aim to break your fast at noon, but be careful about not going so long without food that you feel tired or loopy or out of it: Simply sit down to enjoy a meal whenever you naturally feel the actual sensation of hunger, and make sure you are eating in a relaxed environment, and truly enjoying it. Being present in all aspects of your diet - from the planning to the prepping to the actual moment you sit down to enjoy this meal you’ve prepared with such care - actually has a real effect on how well you’re digesting your food. Enjoy tackling MOFO Mission #3 and stay tuned for #4, coming soon! *TIMESTAMPS:* Make space in your diet for the good stuff by ditching those grains, sugars, sweetened drinks, and industrial seed oils. [01:33] If you have already been on the right track of ditching the junk, you need to consider getting rid of the lower ranked foods in the ancestral categories. [03:02] You may want to investigate fasting as well. It’s really good to have fasting as the centerpiece of your diet. [05:08] When it’s time to eat, you can choose from your favorites of meat, fish, fowl, eggs, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds. [07:05] The emergence of the carnivore movement has produced some amazing testimonials from people who have seen improvement in their health. [09:22] When you are fasting, you are working at your highest human function. [13:17] When you are fasting, you are lowering insulin production. [16:08] Eating well also entails environmental factors. Eat in a stress-free situation. [18:00] Again, it is so important to source the superfoods. Don’t forget the SMASH family of fish from the local sources. [20:45] What is in an ancestral power breakfast smoothie? [21:24] Recovery from your workouts is especially a good time to look at fasting. [23:21] Listen to your appetite. [26:54] *LINKS:* * Brad’s Shopping Page ( http://www.bradkearns.com/shop/ ) * Brad Kearns MOFO ( https://www.bradkearns.com/mofo/ ) * Dr. Art DeVany ( https://www.ihmc.us/stemtalk/episode-105/ ) * Dr. Peter Attia ( https://peterattiamd.com/ ) * Dude Spellings ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRZmdjg5Ndo ) * Mark Sisson ( https://www.google.com/search?aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l7.11711j0j7&ie=UTF-8&oq=maksdailyapple&q=mark%26%2339%3Bs+daily+apple&sourceid=chrome ) * Dr. Cate Shanahan ( https://drcate.com/ ) * Ancestral Supplements ( https://www.ancestralsupplements.com/ ) *Follow me on social media for more great content!* Instagram: @bradkearns1 ( https://www.instagram.com/bradkearns1/ ) Facebook: @bradkearnsjumphigh ( https://www.facebook.com/bradkearnsjumphigh ) Twitter: @bradleykearns ( https://twitter.com/bradleykearns ) *Sponsors* Check out each of these companies because they are absolutely awesome or they wouldn’t occupy this revered space. Seriously, Brad won’t sell out to anyone if he doesn’t love the product. Ask anyone. * Almost Heaven Sauna ( http://almostheaven.com/ ) : Affordable at-home sauna kits for the ultimate relaxation and hormonal boost on demand * Brad’s Macadamia Masterpiece: ( http://bradventures.com/ ) Mind-blowing, life-changing nut butter blend * CAR.O.L bike: ( http://carolfitai.com/ ) Cardiovascular optimized logic stationary bike for a highly effective eight-minute workout * Male Optimization Formula with Organs (MOFO): ( http://bradkearns.com/mofo ) Optimize testosterone naturally with 100% grassfed animal organ supplement * Perfect Keto: ( http://perfectketo.com/ ) The cleanest, purest, most potent ketone supplements and snacks * LetsGetChecked ( http://lgc.com/brad ) : At-home medical testing with great prices, quick results, and no hassles * Vuori Activewear: ( http://vuori.com/ ) The most comfortable, functional, and fashionable gear, evoking the chill SoCal coastal lifestyle *Donations* ! ( https://app.redcircle.com/shows/db49934a-7fb1-4002-b81a-c97adbb869a6/donations ) This free podcast offering is a team effort from Brad, Daniel, Siena, Gail, TJ, Vuk, RedCircle, our awesome guests, and our incredibly cool advertising partners. We are now poised and proud to *double dip* by both soliciting a donation ( https://app.redcircle.com/shows/db49934a-7fb1-4002-b81a-c97adbb869a6/donations ) and having you listen to ads! If you wanna cough up a few bucks to salute the show, we really appreciate it and will use the funds wisely for continued excellence. Go big (whatever that means to you…) and we’ll send you a free jar of Brad’s Macadamia Masterpiece ( http://bradventures.com/ ) as a thank you! Email ( getoveryourselfpodcast@gmail.com ) to alert us! Choose to donate now ( https://app.redcircle.com/shows/db49934a-7fb1-4002-b81a-c97adbb869a6/donations ) , later ( https://app.redcircle.com/shows/db49934a-7fb1-4002-b81a-c97adbb869a6/donations ) , or never. 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(Breather) Brené Brown has spent the past two decades studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy and is the author of five #1 New York Times bestsellers: The Gifts of Imperfection, Daring Greatly, Rising Strong, Braving the Wilderness, and her latest book, Dare to Lead, which is the culmination of a seven-year study on courage and leadership. Brené’s TED talk ― The Power of Vulnerability ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCvmsMzlF7o ) ― is one of the top five most viewed TED talks in the world with over 35 million views. Today, I’ll be sharing the most eye-opening revelations and life-altering lessons I’ve gained from Brené’s fascinating research and work. *Empathy* Developing empathy requires that you look into someone’s eyes and reflect their story back to them. But, “ *empathy is not the default human response.”* Brené points out how hard it can be to “understand and accept other people, *particularly when they behave disgracefully.* You still have to work hard to tell them, ‘I get it.’ No one reaches out to you so that they can be taught how to behave better! They reach out because they believe in your capacity to know your darkness well enough so that you can sit in their darkness with them ― to have empathy for them.” Unfortunately, we have a tendency to flip on the lights. We say, “Don’t worry, it’s not a big deal. Everyone makes mistakes.” *However, this is not empathetic.* Neither is lecturing them about how lame they are (a good reminder for parents out there). Brené stresses that, *“* *we cannot feel empathy for others beyond the love and compassion we have for ourselves.”* Everyone runs into a moment (or two or three or fifty) of having screwed up something in their lives. And when this happens to someone you know and they come to you, Brené advises that, instead of reacting to the situation from a judgemental perspective or making light of it, *the most helpful, effective, and empathetic response you can give them is to say, “You can do this. You can take this on.”* Brené says you can “climb into the hole with them” but you also need to be sure that you don’t get trapped in that hole with them - you need to be able to get out. Of course you’re going to want to give your love, energy, kindness, and support, but you don’t want to get dragged down by other people’s issues. This is because doing so signifies that you are over-identifying, codependent, etc. Look at it this way: *Sympathy is, “I feel bad for you,” not, “I feel with you.”* *Vulnerability* What even is vulnerability? It is: * Asking for help, saying, ‘I don’t know” * Facing up to difficult situations and decisions * Getting promoted and feeling like you’re not sure you’re up for it * Getting fired * Initiating sex with your partner * It is uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure * It is loving someone and knowing that you cannot control if they love you back *Vulnerability is actually our most accurate measure of courage.* It is not weakness ― that is the biggest myth. Brené says: “In the face of contention, don’t shrink, don’t puff up ― just stand your sacred ground: whole-hearted and empathetic. *This is the goal for evolving to your highest self.”* Brené then references studies of whole-hearted people, and highlights how *they cultivate rest and play.* She shares that these whole-hearted people actually *“piddle around and waste time a lot.”* And around 1/4 of whole-hearted, empathetic people are raised that way with optimal parenting. For the rest, empathy and whole-heartedness is a skill to cultivate. But, *modern, messed up cultural dynamics have led us to regard exhaustion as a status symbol, and productivity as a measurement of self-worth* (think of triathlete culture, workaholics that we all know or are personally, harried supermoms trying to do everything they can for everyone, helicopter parenting, etc.). Brené’s insights prompt you to r *e* *think the ideas we all have* and *reprioritize* being *whole-hearted* and *taking care of yourself.* *Another important part of vulnerability is accountability.* Brené frames accountability as *“* *authenticity, action, and amends.”* A good example is saying, and acknowledging, *‘This is what I did, this is how I’m going to fix it.’* *Shame* Brené reveals that we always judge in the areas where we ourselves are most vulnerable to shame. Further, we always pick people who are doing worse than we are doing, because we are seeking validation, through the idea that, Well, at least I’m better than this person I am judging. The reason why *shame feels bad is because it’s about your character.* No wonder shame is strongly correlated with depression and addiction! Contrastingly, *guilt can actually be productive and adaptive* , because it’s rooted in your behavior. “The shame triggers are your prerequisites for worthiness,” Brené reveals, and these are usually handed down from our upbringing. As my show ( https://www.bradkearns.com/2019/06/28/bob2/ ) covering Dr. Bruce Lipton’s book, The Biology of Belief ( https://www.amazon.com/Biology-Belief-10th-Anniversary-Consciousness/dp/140195247X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=bruce+lipton+the+biology+of+belief&qid=1595556981&sr=8-1 ) , explains, most of us are still carting around emotional baggage from early childhood programming and this has a serious effect on our bodies, precisely because of how strongly and directly our thoughts affect our cellular function. Brené says that *shame “has one purpose only: to discharge pain*. It serves no other use.” Here are some highlights from Brené’s Netflix special, Call to Courage: * *Vulnerability is not a sign of weakness.* Despite what some may think, Brené says, *“Vulnerability is our most accurate way to measure courage* , and we literally do that as researchers.” Vulnerability actually allows them to assess fearlessness: *“We can measure how brave you are by how vulnerable you’re willing to be.”* * *There are numerous benefits that come with opening up.* Brené says vulnerability is the “birthplace” of things like love and joy. Pointing out the risks that come with love, Brené asked her audience: *“Are you 100% sure that person will always love you back, will never leave, will never get sick? How many of you have every buried someone you love? How many of you have lost someone you love?* *To love is to be vulnerable,* to give someone your heart and say, ‘I know this could hurt so bad, but I'm willing to do it; I’m willing to be vulnerable and love you.’ *When we lose our capacity for vulnerability, joy becomes foreboding.* It becomes scary to let ourselves feel it.” * *Being vulnerable has advantages even at work.* Brené’s advice to a company with a huge creativity and innovation problem was...you guessed it: vulnerability. *“No vulnerability, no creativity.* No tolerance for failure, no innovation. It is that simple,” she said, adding: *“if you're not willing to fail, you can’t innovate. If you’re not willing to build a vulnerable culture, you can’t create.”* * *Vulnerability is inescapable.* Here’s the thing: even if you think you are avoiding being vulnerable, you are still, in fact experiencing the emotion. Brené says: *“You do vulnerability knowingly, or vulnerability does you.”* Highlighting the importance of openness, she said: *“It is so much easier to cause pain than feel pain* , *and people are taking their pain and they’re working it out on other people.* And when you don’t acknowledge your vulnerability, you work your shit out on other people. Stop working your shit out on other people!” * *The choice to embrace exposure is easier in the end.* “Vulnerability is hard, and it’s scary, and it feels dangerous, but it’s not as hard, scary or dangerous as getting to the end of our lives and having to ask ourselves, *‘What if I would’ve shown up?’* ‘What if I would’ve said, I love you?’ *Show up, be seen, answer the call to courage*...‘cause you’re worth it. You’re worth being brave.” *TIMESTAMPS:* To develop empathy, you must look into the other person's eyes and reflect their story back to them. [05:29] We cannot feel empathy for others beyond the love and compassion that we have for ourselves. [07:20] Vulnerability is not a weakness.  It is being powerful. [08:24] Accountability is authenticity, action, and amends. [10:42] Shame is destructive because it’s about your character. [10:55] We can measure how brave you are by how vulnerable you’re willing to be. [12:26] There are many benefits to opening up. [13:23] Being vulnerable at work has advantages. [14:17] Vulnerability is inescapable. [15:00] Show up. Be seen. Answer the call to courage because you’re worth it.  [15:40] *LINKS:* * Brad’s shopping Page ( http://www.bradkearns.com/shop/ ) * The Power of Vulnerability ( https://www.audible.com/ep/title/?Matchtype=e&asin=B00CYKDYBQ&cvo_campaign=250472289&cvo_crid=260166683195&cvosrc=ppc.google.the+power+of+vulnerability&device=d&ds_rl=1260658&gclid=Cj0KCQjwpNr4BRDYARIsAADIx9zdVpGXa_a1ObdWlWxpMX9sjzR5ZmqaZ_VGo0asSSMenEpemUQb7T0aAjssEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds&source_code=GO1GBSH09091690EI ) * “The Power of Vulnerability” Ted Talk ( https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_the_power_of_vulnerability?language=en ) * Podcast on Biology of Belief ( https://www.bradkearns.com/2019/06/28/bob2/ ) * 5 Takeaways on Vulnerability from Brené Brown’s ‘The Call To Courage’ ( https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2019/04/19/brene-brown-call-courage-netflix-vulnerability/3497969002/ ) * Brené Brown Amazon Author Page ( https://www.amazon.com/Bren%25C3%25A9-Brown/e/B001JP45BA?qid=1593812047&ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_3&sr=8-3 ) *Follow me on social media for more great content!* Instagram: @bradkearns1 Facebook: @bradkearnsjumphigh Twitter: @bradleykearns Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-get-over-yourself-podcast/donations Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands