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Using Mindfulness to Relieve Panic and Fear with David Richards · Authentic Living

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Hi, everyone.
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It's Roxanne Durgesh.
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I'm authentically speaking with Roxanne.
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Thanks for tuning in again this week.
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Today, I have a special guest, David Richards with us today.
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Hi, David.
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How are you today?
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Doing great, Roxanne.
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Thank you so much for having me.
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K.
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Thanks for being on.
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So David brings, you know, a combination of, expertise that I thought would be valuable for
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us to get into.
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He's a a business, a professional coach, a life coach, yoga instructor, and an international
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bestseller.
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He just released his second book, the lice lighthouse keeper on March 31st.
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So hot off the press, and he's in the process of of writing his third one.
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And he's he's a speaker on self development.
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He spent his early childhood living in various parts of the US at present.
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He lives in North Carolina and 3 years living on the island of Okinawa in Japan, fascinating
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after graduating for with a bachelor's degree in English, So writing comes naturally, I would
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think, and he used commission and officer in the marines down to earth insightful and
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sometimes silly, which we'd like to hear we'd like to experience the silly.
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He plans elements of yoga with quantum physics, to bring the esoteric together with the
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practical In doing this, David helps people find their freedom by turning their great mess
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into their greatness.
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And I would say that a lot of people have a lot of mess, in their minds.
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Would would you agree with that statement, David, not to to bring a to brass tacks, but,
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really, there's a lot of messiness in our minds.
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Oh, for sure.
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We live, you know, one of the things I think Roxanne, we've done with with technology today,
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and I think the statistics I've heard, you know, there are 3a half 1,000,000,000 cell
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phones on the planet.
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And on average, people check their cell phones 85 times a day.
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So when you step back and really assess what we've done while we've habitualize
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distractions, we've made distraction a habit.
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So we go from this and then we do this and then we do this And and then we wondered at the
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other day, well, I didn't get this stuff done.
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I really wanted to get done.
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Or why do I why don't I have the sense of fulfillment that I really want in life?
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And it's because we're distracted all the time.
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Mhmm.
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And I I think you're so right.
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You know, I think the norm now for the mind is that most people are are quite comfortable with
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distraction, but when we stop the distraction to get into quiet, like like we've been forced
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to in this uncertain time, most of us have been, you know, we're working from home.
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I'm sure you probably travel a lot like I do, but you work from home.
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But now having to stop and be in that space, a lot of people are are kind of going a bit stir
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crazy with, okay, I I could only track myself so much.
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I need to go out.
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I need to, you know, go visit people and all those things that we've kind of filler time
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with.
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And now what I'm hearing with a lot of people that I'm consulting with is I don't know what
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to do with myself because I need to fill things up.
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You know, if they need to fill my time and really the opposite I think is being dictated
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of right now is just to try to get comfortable.
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But people aren't comfortable with that stillness.
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They really aren't.
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And it's, you know, and and you said something that's key.
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We're so used to the the currency by which we live our lives is by what we do.
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We all evaluate our lives on what we do, and and we start the day again with technology.
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Most of us, the first thing we do is go back to our identity, which is right here.
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What do I have to look at?
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What do I have who I got calls today.
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Oh my gosh.
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This person texted me.
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Oh, that's so funny.
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And and now that we've had this global sort of reset, I think people are unsettled because
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they don't know what to do.
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And the reality is if you step back from that, we become a slave to what we do and not and not
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not just work or play, but instead of thinking about what we do, why don't we think about who
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we are if I think about who I am and who I wanna be, then I start to get then I feel
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attraction in my life.
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I'm like, well, if I if I wanna be if I wanna be a better father or if I wanna be a better
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friend or better partner or whatever, what does that look like?
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Who, what is the characteristics of that person?
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And when you start to visualize what that person looks like and you understand who you
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are, then you can build a path of what you need to do to get from where you are to who you want
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to become.
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Because we have such a obsession with doing things and trying to outdo in another and
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comparing ourselves to each other.
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We get lost on that.
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And, you know, I think that's what makes I was I was playing with words the other night while
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I was working my next book, and I think that's what makes the past tense and the present
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tense.
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Are doing is what makes the past tense and are doing what's make is what makes the present
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tense.
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Forget about, you know, do does did or whatever the the syntax is, but are doing is what makes
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things tense.
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Because it creates tension.
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So I think we need to focus more on who we are less on what we do.
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So this whole concept of, obviously, doing is the Western philosophy of life.
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Right?
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Like, it's something that's, you know, I grew up in Trinidad and Tobago, which, you know, I I
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even though I grew up with western norms, the the culture was a bit different, you know, and
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I I, you know, I came here when I was sixteen to Canada.
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To pursue to go to university.
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So when I go back to the island, for instance, I'll give you an example, David.
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I I often go back, and my friends that they'll greet me.
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And they're, you know, often often most of them are professionals, and they will say to me,
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where are you?
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And I'm like, what do you mean?
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Where am I?
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And I and I'll I'll go, well, I'm the I'm the rock fan that you know, and they go, no.
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No.
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No.
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No.
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I I can't feel you.
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And I'm like, what do you mean?
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Like, mind you, I know I would left development today.
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I was sixteen.
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I was, you know, a young teenager compared to now, but after a while, I started to get a
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sense of what's, they meant because what happens is and, you know, obviously, North
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American temple compared to the islands.
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It's literally like I feel like when I step off that plane and I put my feet on the ground, of
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kind of the motherland for me, something almost neutralizes in me where I go back to that
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temple of life, which I if you were to ask me without that observation, I would say
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absolutely not.
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I'm the same person.
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I'm I'm I'm just as chill as they come, but I'm not anymore.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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Well, no, you're right.
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And it's it's an interesting balance.
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Right?
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And that's why I think, you know, as Americans or even North Americans, we'd like to go to the
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Caribbean to vacation.
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Yeah.
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Not always because the weather's so great, but because the mindset is so different.
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Mhmm.
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And because if we have the courage to leave our cell phone in the hotel room or in the villa or
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wherever we're staying and actually experience things.
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It's so refreshing because we take so little time to do it here in North America.
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And
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Yeah.
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I think it's so interesting because I think this like I said, this global reset has given
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people reason to pause and to look at, well, gosh, how can I come out of this better?
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Like, how can I be better than I have been?
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And so often Roxanne, I think that's a journey that most of us externalize.
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You know, and it and it comes down to, I see someone who's successful.
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I'm gonna do what they do.
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Mhmm.
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I'll I'll get what they have and I'll be like them.
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And that's an external journey.
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And it never works because when looking at a person at a moment in time, And then we're
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trying to anchor ourselves on that moment in time, even though that moment is passing us by
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and we're still And so if you, if you kind of step back and say, okay, again, who do I wanna
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be?
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And you start to think, how does that person think How does that person feel?
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What do they think about?
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What are their habits?
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Then it becomes clear.
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Oh, well, then these are the things I need to do in order to have the person, that things
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that that person has, and it just spells it out so much more beautifully.
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And the beauty of, I think, being present with someone is so often when we talk to people,
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we're waiting for our turn to talk.
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So when they're talking, we're not listening.
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We're not experiencing them.
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We're internally processing, okay.
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What do I need to say?
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Who and it's kind of a fear based reaction.
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So we're missing out on what's being said.
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And then we're trying to add something because we have an opinion that we feel is either
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better different or, you know, it's, again, it's a comparison.
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And so we just have to get to this place, especially in Western culture, where we slow
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down and we mentally come back to who we are and and realize that that's the place that we
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need to exist from as opposed to I did this today.
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I'm doing this tomorrow.
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I'm doing twice of it on Saturday.
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Absolutely.
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And I think, you know, now that I back.
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And when I go back, you know, I still stay home even though I've lived in Canada a whole lot
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longer than I lived in Trinidad.
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And what I I what some of the the culture and I would like to talk to you a little bit about,
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Japan because I I, you know, I I would love to know about that that element of mindfulness,
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but, when internet ad, what happens is is that when you visit quite literally because it it
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it's warm.
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I think some of that has to do with vomits and stuff like that.
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You can literally go to someone's house and what happens when you, you know, and I I grew
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up in a little village.
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Internet that it's called Diamond Village, really tiny little place where my grandparents
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were and stuff like that.
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So what happens every time it's for me, probably recapturing that space in my childhood
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is every time I go, I go visit, and I never I never really tell anybody I'm coming.
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But what happens is is the, you know, these these neighbors that ended up becoming like
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family, and I don't talk to them all the time.
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I always go back and visit.
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And what happens is I've gone back with my mom, my my dad, everybody will stop, and whoever's
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home, they'll come out and visit.
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Just You know, and and I think I would love to do that here in my little cul de sac, right,
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except I would probably have to call ahead of time and again, this is a cultural thing.
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I'd have to make sure that they had time and have to make sure it was an okay time blah blah
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blah blah.
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And but again, I these are one of the traditions that I I was in it just puts me in a
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in a mindful space because everybody around me is just chilling.
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They're just kinda, hey.
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What are you doing?
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How's your mom?
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How's your dad?
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How are all your siblings?
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What's new?
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And they're just present with me, and that was something that I was exposed to all the time as
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a child.
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You know, so I think I understand now what my friends, they wrote me about, you know, how I'm
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not present.
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I I get what they mean, but, you know, it's kinda like that concept of of a fish doesn't
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know it's wet kind of concept.
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And then after I I I I'm there for what?
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I'm I'm recalibrated down to a different level.
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So when you lived in Japan, what was that like?
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So were you a marine when you were in Japan, or was that another time in line?
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No.
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I was actually a boy.
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I was, it was 5th grade through 7th grade.
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So in some ways, it was fascinating because growing up.
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So my father was in the military and we moved around, you know, every 2, 2 or 3 years.
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And most of that was up and down the East Coast.
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So we'd go to Virginia then to Maryland then back to Virginia.
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And so then going all the way across, not just the country, but the world to Japan and going
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to this place where, you know, we arrived at Naha International Airport, I think, in June or
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July, it was about 10:30 at night and the plane landed.
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And, there wasn't a terminal, there wasn't a jet bridge, so you didn't walk you know, into
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this climate controlled thing, there was space that plane landed, then you had to walk into
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the terminal.
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It was probably a 50 or 100 yard walk, and I just remember getting into the terminal and
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being drenched because it was so humid.
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Like, I had never experienced humidity like that.
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And then, you know, it it was just like discovery.
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Like, wow, there's no English signs.
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People all look the same, and it's not how I look.
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So I have very different.
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Right.
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And so, like, in some sense, she's learned what it was like to be a minority.
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But it was, fascinating to be exposed to another culture, and it wasn't, you know, we
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had opportunities to travel to South Korea.
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We went to the Philippines.
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But I took away from that kind of the ideas, the early elements of understanding what
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bushido was, the warrior spirit, the warrior spirit, and, you know, sort of having this
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romance with the idea of the samurai and what they represented in, in feudal Japan, and then
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came back after 3 years to start, through my, you know, 8th grade in North Carolina.
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But realized it was also, you know, back then, there wasn't the internet.
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And so Right.
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We lived on a small island on the other side of the world, and everything was displaced.
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And I always thought back, gosh, what are my friends that I used to have, which now we're
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not friends anymore because we're not texting or anything else.
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What are they doing?
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What's life back in the states?
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And, you know, a movie would come out And it would take 2 or 3 months before it came into
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the the military theaters.
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And I remember, you know, Empire Strikes Back came out And my brother and I were so excited
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to go see it.
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So we went to a Japanese theater because it came out like a week or 2 after it came out in
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the States.
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And it was in it was English with subtitles, but it was such a treat.
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It was such a big deal.
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But I didn't, you know, in some ways, I was so great for the experience, but also when I went
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back to the States, I realized that in many ways I was left behind because all my, you
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know, the people that I became friends with were were doing their things, but they were
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doing it in the US.
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And so I brought a different perspective when I came back.
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So let's talk a little bit about that perspective, David, and, kind of what's at what
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point?
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So you're obviously you're you've written books, you're you're you're I'm gonna see that
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eastern philosophy.
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I'm gonna see comes into your coaching and your books.
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What what what got you, into the field of coaching?
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What when did you decide?
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Did you go to school?
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Did you go to business and decide?
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I wanna become a coach and and then these influences followed after, or how did you kind
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of decide that you wanted to be in this this field?
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Yeah.
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It's not, it's not an easy answer.
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I was in the marines for 15 years and, and then realized that I kind of, I was living the
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script of someone else.
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And I think to an extent, that was my dad because it wasn't that he had pushed the
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military down throat or my brother's throat, but it was just I didn't know what else to do.
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I I loved English.
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I didn't think I could actually take, you know, become a writer or that English was a serious
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vocation.
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So, to pay for college, I went into the military RTC program.
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And after 15 years, realized they didn't wanna do that.
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I got out in August of 2006, and I read an article in sports illustrated, I believe, about
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NFL players using their mid sex or using yoga to strengthen their core.
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And so I thought, you know what?
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I'm gonna give that a try.
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That sounds like I work out a lot.
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Let me give it a shot.
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So, I took my 1st yoga class.
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It was a gentle class.
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At the local gym.
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And I thought, it's not bad.
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2 days later, I took a different class, different teacher, different style instruction,
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drenched in sweat.
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And I was just I was kinda taking it back, but then my last assignment in the military, I was
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working in Central America helping some of the governments modernize their military.
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And so I might get 50 email a week.
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And when I came into corporate America, I would get 50 email in first two hours of the day.
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And so I believe work, and my my mind would just be this noise of everything to do lists
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and agenda items and after actions and action items and everything else.
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And, what I discovered when I got onto the yoga mat was it just my mind stopped.
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It was quiet, and I didn't know I didn't know why I just know it felt amazing.
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And so I I I became an instructor kind of a year after my 1st class.
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And then just through different trainings, I had instructors.
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I was fascinated just by how they talked.
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Like, it wasn't it wasn't even necessarily what they said, but just the words they used.
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And so I went to lunch with one of them.
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And I said, what are you?
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And this is probably back in 2012, and he said, well, I'm a coach.
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I'm like, coach.
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That's fascinating because it was just so because it was they weren't telling you
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answers.
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They were they were curious They were curious.
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And because they were curious, they pulled things out of you that you didn't know were
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there, and it created the sense of enlightenment.
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So I said, I wanna be a coach.
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I I'm gonna I'm gonna go be a coach and I I did and, I got certified back in 2012 and, And it
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was, it was interesting.
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You know, I I started kind of flirting around with using it with the people that worked for
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me.
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But then just kind of continue down the path and, fast forward to 2017.
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I read Napoleon Hills thinking grow rich, Mhmm.
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And in the first or second chapter of the book, he talks about what is your purpose in life?
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And I realized roughly, and I had never asked myself that question.
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What is my purpose?
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I always asked what I wanted to do.
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It always came back to what I wanted to do.
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Where did I wanna go?
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What did I wanna do?
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Never thinking about the consequences of if I wanna go there and do this, well, who do I have
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to become?
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Because then it's, like, I slide into who I need to be to do that rather than this is who I
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am.
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And therefore, this is who I wanna become, and that's what I wanna do.
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So, like, an from an external, space to an internal space?
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Yes.
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That was the that was the big shift for me was finding my purpose in life.
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So in January of 2017, I wrote of my first life purpose statement.
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I started writing my first book, whiskey and yoga about finding your purpose in life.
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Whiskey and yoga?
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Yes.
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Yes.
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That I wanna hear more about.
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For sure.
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For sure.
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So I I wrote about two hundred pages.
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It was autobiographical.
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I got 2 around.
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I actually got to this time of year, April and, looked at it and I'm like, you know what?
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I I still probably had another 2 or 300 pages to go.
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And I said, no one is really gonna wanna read a 500 page book about someone finding their
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purpose in life.
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So I threw all that I had done away.
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I wrote a 10 chapter outline for a self help book, And 2 months later, I I wrote Whiskey
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yoga that came out in October that year.
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International bestseller number 1 is self help on Amazon.
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And and it was, it was an awakening.
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It was really an awakening, but it was the, the awakening that the journey is internal.
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And I think to tie it back, so I became, I became a certified professional coach that
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year, which a couple of Tony Robbins events that year.
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But I think it was really understanding that the journey we all need to take an internal
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one.
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And I think that's what the opportunity that we presented with today with the pandemic is you
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know, you maybe don't finish the journey, but at least start the journey.
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Go internal, go inside, find out who you really are, and then figure out how you can become.
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Now I know you say that we're in this space, and I true I truly believe that that we are in
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this space.
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But a lot of people aren't doing so well with the space that's being afforded to them right
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now.
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A lot of people and, that I've been, you know, coaching or whatever, they're trying to fill
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that space or, you know, they're like, I I, you know, I talked to a, you know, a colleague the
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other day, and and she said to me, I can't do this for another month.
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And I'm like, what part of it can't you do?
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But no she couldn't articulate to me what specifically she could do.
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So even though I think for you, I I completely believe that it's a time where we can really
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have that time, not that, you know, people are still some people are still working.
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Some people are at home, out of work.
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But there's a lot more white noise with families being home for some people.
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Those types of things, so it's more difficult.
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But even the people that have the capacity to slow, they're not doing so well with slowing
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down.
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It's yeah, it's an interesting dilemma.
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And I think part of the reason is and I've heard I've heard this with people I've talked
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to, and they it's it's no it's so casual how we We've surrendered a lot of power to the words
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we use without thinking about it.
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And I'll hear people say, well, when things get back to normal, and I'll say, yeah.
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They're not there isn't normal.
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This is normal.
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This is normal now.
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And I think that's part of the struggle is people have, okay.
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It's like holding your breath.
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Mhmm.
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And a month and a half ago, we were breathing normally.
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And then Yeah.
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We had to hold our breath.
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And so people holding their breath waiting for it to go back to normal.
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Instead of accepting, this is normal right now.
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And the the story that I share with people is You know, the 1st 22 Christmases of my life
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were spent with family, either at our our house or going to grandparents house or someone, but
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it was Christmas trees.
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It was presents under the tree.
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It was all the smells, the sounds, just that feeling of Christmas.
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And then my 23rd Christmas was spent in Mogadishu, Somalia, which is about fifty miles
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away from the equator.
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So blistering hot Right.
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As a marine.
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And, no Christmas tree.
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So what I did for the marines was I got a bunch of tent poles, just these metal poles, and I
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put them in the ground, And then our our food would come in boxes that they're called MRE's
23:01
meals ready to eat.
23:02
And so they come in a box about maybe 2 feet long.
23:06
And, I cart I cut box to cut the boxes up to make it look like branches of a Christmas tree.
23:13
And so I put those on the pole, and then I made a star for the top.
23:17
And we have these little glow sticks, the, you know, plastic glow sticks that you break and
23:22
then you shake up and they light up and they hold.
23:24
And then we use those for ornaments.
23:26
And so I hung those on the tree And then instead of presence, we put all the bags of
23:32
food so that the MRAs come in this bag.
23:35
And we put those underneath so that when the Marines woke up, that was their Christmas tree.
23:39
And that was normal.
23:41
And people and people loved it.
23:42
It was great.
23:44
So today, stop just just surrender what used to be.
23:50
Surrender, February 28th, February, whatever, whatever it was.
23:55
And What does today look like?
23:58
Who do I need to be today?
23:59
Who can I be today in this version of normal?
24:03
Because this is what normal is now.
24:05
And when we come out of this, whenever that is, if it's tomorrow, if it's 2 weeks, if it's 2
24:10
months, then we'll create a new normal.
24:12
And hopefully, we'll learn that there were things that, you know, I mean, there there were
24:18
things that we did well before and things we didn't do so well.
24:23
And, you know, I I read something interesting yesterday.
24:25
I heard something interesting yesterday, and it said, for the first time in 18 years, The
24:33
United States did not have a school shooting.
24:37
Last month.
24:38
Last month was the 1st month in 18 years, so March And in some sense, you look at that and
24:43
you're just like, what a tragedy?
24:45
What a tragedy that 18 years Mhmm.
24:48
We had a shooting every month, at least.
24:51
Wow.
24:51
But then you look at it and say, what an opportunity?
24:54
We finally broke the record.
24:56
Like, it's over.
24:58
And so what I what I would tell people is crisis, you know, people people talk about
25:04
leading through crisis.
25:05
Well, crisis is a perspective.
25:07
You can look at today and say this is a crisis, but opportunities are perspective too.
25:12
So which perspective do you wanna have?
25:14
Do you wanna have the perspective that the sky is falling?
25:16
And this is terrible, or do you wanna have the perspective of, oh my gosh.
25:20
What an opportunity to to really step back and appreciate the beauty of life to see that, you
25:26
know, there are coyotes roaming the streets of San Francisco or the dolphins have come back to
25:30
the you know, canals of Venice or
25:33
And you can see the top of the Himalayas, like things like, you know, like, and then I'm like,
25:38
And those are the ones that I know of.
25:39
I've not gone to investigate all the things that are happening in the world, but there are
25:43
some kind of mind blowing things and that are happening, and I'm thinking ecologically, what
25:49
is the world showing us?
25:51
You know, it is showing us that there's things that can happen that are possible, but we need
25:58
to get re grounded to the earth.
26:00
Yes.
26:00
Abs absolutely.
26:01
I think that's huge, and I think it's, you know, life is a gift.
26:07
And for some reason, we've lost track of the idea that we're not the only living beings on
26:14
the planet.
26:15
Mhmm.
26:15
Like, we've like, the the earth itself, I mean, if you look around, for trillions of miles.
26:22
It doesn't look that good.
26:24
Earth looks pretty sweet in comparison.
26:26
And I think this is a great reset, you know, and is it you know, my, I guess, my hope is
26:31
that we don't go back to the normal that we were because, you know, if if the sky is better
26:37
now and canals are cleaner, it's freezer cleaner and the air is cleaner.
26:41
That feels pretty good.
26:42
And maybe this is what peace feels like.
26:44
Maybe this is what, you know, I know people are dying, and it's a tragedy.
26:47
But we're not making wars.
26:48
Man isn't killing man, you know, with tanks and with planes and guns.
26:53
And that's a pretty good thing.
26:56
I I would say.
26:57
And, like, to also from my concept, it's not it's knowing that the reality is, yes, we we
27:02
have something going on.
27:04
Yes, you need to take your certain measures to stay safe and and do your part, but really the
27:09
concept of, you know, things like listening to people like Bruce Lipton about the biology of
27:16
belief in Riddy that the concept that's ready, this is an opportunity, and I will say to
27:21
people, yes, not to negate what's happening.
27:24
However, the concern is with the world is that how are we gonna take this opportunity to be as
27:30
healthy as we can based on what we can control at this time.
27:34
And the cons and the concern that's kind of being projected is that most people are in such
27:38
a panic than fair state that their their immune system is getting constricted and compromised.
27:45
And what will happen is that, unfortunately, because people aren't taking the opportunity to
27:51
figure out what what balance looks like for them, psychologically, emotionally,
27:55
physiologically, movement, all those things that will see a backdrop of, you know, in
28:01
increase in people being sick because people are kind of in that panic mode and, you know,
28:08
holding their breath to your point versus kind of saying, okay.
28:11
What what's within my control?
28:12
What can I do because that's all I have?
28:15
Like you like you said, all we have is control over my body, what goes into my mind, and how I
28:20
feel.
28:22
Right?
28:22
And but, unfortunately, because of when every time you turn on the TV, you know, and you
28:28
look, I I know it's a bad time, but really about those limiting things that you put in and
28:33
out of your system becomes key in this time.
28:36
Well, and that's part of the reason why I wrote the lighthouse keeper, right, is because you
28:41
have the choice of what you focus on.
28:43
And I love Bruce lived in that such a great book, you know, a I I mean, I was staggered to
28:47
think when I read that, I think you talked about the example that someone who is bulimic
28:54
can think themselves to death.
28:56
Yep.
28:56
And, I mean, the implications of that are staggering.
29:00
So it's like, what what what are you making of your reality?
29:04
What do you really believe?
29:06
Mhmm.
29:06
And if you really believe that this is a horrible time, the worst time in our history,
29:12
then, I mean, just think about what you're doing to your psychology, to your physiology,
29:18
Mhmm.
29:18
And if you instead, if you choose to say, you know what?
29:21
This this is the greatest opportunity in history.
29:24
Mhmm.
29:24
We can come together in a way we've never come together for.
29:27
We can be something more than than we were ever before.
29:32
Oh my gosh.
29:33
What a great opportunity.
29:34
It's exciting.
29:35
Like, it's exciting to think that we can come out of this better than we were when we went
29:40
into it.
29:41
You know, and I the things that I see, like, are things like, how much people are
29:46
recognizing what connection is about.
29:49
Right?
29:49
Yep.
29:50
Like or so, you know, and we see that we maybe we're not as focused on that.
29:55
But when you see, like, grandparents not being able to see their grandchildren or people
30:00
having, you know, little motor kids with birthday part, like, I think it's it's
30:04
recalibrating us around the need for connection because I think you were so busy.
30:09
I mean, all of us are very busy that that sometimes gets slighted, but I think going
30:13
without the ability to connect in person, obviously, you could do it virtually.
30:17
But where I think for the first time in my life, anyway, that I'm realizing, I'm, I mean,
30:23
I'm an extrovert and I connect and I I, you know, do those things, but the vitalness of
30:28
connection for me as a mammal is being heightened.
30:31
So the people that I might, that are in my love, I I would say I'm loving them up even
30:36
more.
30:37
Even though I'm not seeing them potentially, I see the value of what they bring, and I've and
30:41
I feel so grateful for the people that I have in my life, even though I'm physically not
30:46
seeing them.
30:47
You know, so I, you know, I wonder if people are starting to reflect on that as much versus
30:51
saying it's, oh my goodness.
30:53
I I you know, this is so horrible.
30:55
I can't see the people I love.
30:58
Yeah.
30:58
I I think there is.
30:59
I mean, it feels like it feels like there I I just finished doctor Joe DeSpenza's becoming
31:07
supernatural.
31:08
Okay.
31:09
And and what a phenomenal book.
31:11
And I realized it's so interesting because I I picked up the book.
31:14
I think it came out in 16 or 17.
31:16
And I picked up the book a couple of years back, and I wasn't ready for it.
31:19
Like, I started to read it and like, nope.
31:21
Mhmm.
31:22
And, and I started maybe back in February or early March.
31:26
And and even at the end of the book, he says, you know, I think we're on the verge of this
31:30
awakening.
31:31
And he's absolutely right because I think we sometimes think about What what does the
31:40
evolution look like at this stage?
31:42
Mhmm.
31:42
What does evolution really look like?
31:44
And I think it's not that we're not gonna evolve into martians with, you know, big heads
31:50
and long limbs and fingers that are 12 inches long or anything like that.
31:55
But I think we're gonna start to realize that we're all the same.
31:59
And even through our diversity, we keep diversifying.
32:03
It's it's life.
32:04
But life keeps diversifying to show you despite the differences.
32:08
We're all the same.
32:09
And that's the great opportunity this pandemic, right, is This pandemic doesn't discriminate.
32:13
It doesn't care if you're what your gender is.
32:15
It doesn't care what your race is.
32:16
It doesn't care of your religion.
32:17
It doesn't care where you live.
32:19
It doesn't care about any of those things.
32:20
And so what's the what are we left with?
32:22
Oh my gosh.
32:23
I'm the same as you.
32:25
We are the same being on the same planet despite all the differences that we have when
32:32
we come right down to it, we're the same being.
32:35
Mhmm.
32:35
And that's what evolution looks like.
32:37
So it's building these communities.
32:39
And I think on the outskirts of this, I think if you look forward, families are gonna be
32:43
different.
32:43
Like, families are gonna be different.
32:45
How do we raise children is gonna be different?
32:47
Because we're gonna see we can do things smarter.
32:49
We can do things better than we've done them, and we can beat, and that's how we come better.
32:55
And part of that, I think Roxanne too, I think evolution also requires you have to look at or
33:01
question some of the beliefs that you've held sacred for so long.
33:04
Whether that's religious, whether that's cultural, whether that's economic, but you have
33:08
to look at the things that have been sacrosanct and say, okay.
33:11
Is this still true?
33:12
Is this what's guiding us into the future?
33:14
Because maybe this isn't working so well.
33:17
And I I think to your point that whole resets, and and I've been listening to a lot of Greg
33:22
Brayton lately too, so that whole concept above energy, right?
33:26
Like, I mean, you know, what what are we recalibrating to?
33:30
And Where do we need to get to be able to reset things so we can kind of accept to your point?
33:35
It's this is the new whatever this is.
33:36
This is the new normal and what are what are the things that we can gain to walk away with
33:41
from this time?
33:42
Now tell me a little bit about the book because I it sounds like the journey of the lighthouse,
33:47
it would be something that it sounds fascinating.
33:50
So tell me about it and, you know, obviously, you know, you're into consciousness and and
33:57
mindfulness and energy and quantum physics.
33:59
So what, how, what is the journey of the, in the book?
34:03
Yeah.
34:03
So the the journey is, there's a young man Sam who's a chicken farmer on his father's farm and
34:10
his you kind of enter into his world, and it just feels like Groundhog Day.
34:15
He's he's waking up every day.
34:18
They're doing chickens.
34:19
They're doing the chores.
34:20
Their mother his mother died.
34:23
And he just gets to appointments.
34:24
Like, this isn't what I want.
34:26
This isn't who I am.
34:26
I I don't wanna I don't wanna see my life script played out in front of me and and just
34:32
play the role that I'm supposed to play.
34:34
And so he he rests with how to approach his father with it.
34:38
And then finally, he takes the step And he goes to the lighthouse, and he, he meets the
34:46
lighthouse keeper, this old man Armond, who's very strange, and that he talks to himself, and
34:52
and while he's there, he he starts to learn about himself and I talk about, you know, the
34:59
habits of distraction.
35:02
And then he goes on a journey into his mind, and the only way that he can come out is to
35:06
learn how to master his mind.
35:08
And he visits different oceans in the mind, and the premise of the book really is that our our
35:16
mind is an ocean.
35:17
And that's where all our memories are.
35:19
That's where everyone we ever met.
35:21
That's where they all reside.
35:23
And then our awareness is a lighthouse.
35:26
And so we can shine our awareness anywhere we want, and most of us on a daily basis just let
35:34
the lighthouse go around.
35:35
Like a lighthouse goes around, we tune into something that we need to tune into because
35:39
it's either important.
35:40
It's urgent.
35:41
It's fearful.
35:43
But then we just go back to autopilot and we've created habits and made those habits or good
35:47
habits, made those habits aren't some good habits, but that's who we are.
35:51
And, and then what I lay out through Sam's journal as he kind of shares his journey with
35:57
you is the steps you need to take to actually control your mind.
36:01
So, you know, learning what meditation is learning willpower and learning focus.
36:05
The the application of those to get to the place where you can to mastermind.
36:10
So harnessing the mind accordingly and not letting it become haphazard like the light on
36:15
the lighthouse.
36:16
Exactly.
36:16
Exactly.
36:17
And, I mean, which which is going back to where we started, which is tell people that are less
36:22
name, David.
36:23
Like, I mean, I know I know when I meditate sometimes.
36:26
I'm really, really good.
36:28
Sometimes I am horrible.
36:30
Sometimes I've everything's running through my mind.
36:32
What are some of the good little steps that you might be able to share with, some of the
36:36
listeners about things that they could if if there's if they're really struggling with it?
36:40
Yeah.
36:40
No.
36:41
For sure.
36:41
I, you know, I started tinkering with meditation when I was probably 17 or 18, and I
36:46
read a book on, Shambala.
36:50
And it was this idea of Nirvana, but the book, you know, the book was it just basically said,
36:56
empty your mind.
36:57
And then a thought will pop in.
36:59
Mhmm.
36:59
And I tried it, and it was so hard because it's so hard to empty your mind.
37:03
Your your mind, there's always chatter going on.
37:07
And so as my understanding of what meditation was evolved, it's really about it's not
37:13
meditation is intense focus.
37:16
That's what people don't realize.
37:17
It's intense focus because what you wanna do is that's the the art and practice of meditation
37:25
is guiding your mind to stay present on something and whether that's gathering your
37:31
energy up from all your limbs and bringing it into your or bringing into your chakras and
37:36
thinking about determination or thinking about dedication or thinking about something that you
37:41
want your body to imbue and then releasing the energy back into the limbs.
37:46
And then as you kind of go further down the meditation practice, you start looking at the
37:51
higher level chakra, the chakras, you know, the hard chakra, the throat chakra into the head,
37:56
the crown, And that's the path where you open your 3rd eye.
38:00
And that's not that's not conjecture.
38:03
That's not, you know, hearsay, that's something that people can actually do.
38:07
And once you open your 3rd eye, then you get to the path where you know what?
38:12
You realize, okay.
38:14
The mind is a memory.
38:17
Mhmm.
38:18
And and emotion is the language of the mind.
38:22
Thought is the lang or I'm sorry.
38:24
Motion is the language of the body.
38:25
Thought is the language of the mind.
38:27
Right.
38:28
So if you open your third eye, you you begin to get to the place where you can then create a
38:33
new mind and thereby come back to a new body.
38:37
And that's that's the piece of the field.
38:39
So it's I I would say, I think to bro boil it down simply, guided meditation, I think, works
38:46
best.
38:47
Because it takes you down a path.
38:50
And if you know where you wanna go when your meditation practice, you can find a meditation
38:53
that's gonna take you there.
38:55
And then you can just go further down rabbit hole until you get to a place where you
38:58
realize, kind of the the there's the secret to the universe.
39:03
The secret to existence is in meditation.
39:06
Mhmm.
39:06
So just just practice take time and and try to do it much.
39:10
Yeah.
39:10
Just try to do keep at it.
39:12
Keep at it a bit at a time.
39:14
It's well, it it creates a beautiful habit.
39:16
It creates a beautiful habit because it's an internal journey.
39:18
And then once you've mastered your mind, you can master yourself.
39:22
And that's ultimately that's ultimately the path that I think that we all want because,
39:25
ultimately, we may call it success.
39:28
We may call it money.
39:29
We may call it happiness, but we all want freedom.
39:32
And and I think that's what meditation helps provide.
39:36
And and what I what I need right now with us you know, having the time to be able to try it.
39:41
Right?
39:41
Like, I mean, and, you know, people will often say, well, how can I try?
39:45
I said, just go to, go to mental relaxation on YouTube.
39:48
And and I say, start.
39:49
I say to people that are try it for 5 minutes, and lots of things are gonna happen.
39:54
But the more that you try it, it gets a little bit easier.
39:57
Like, I do kundalini yoga.
40:00
And, you know, to talk about a powerful I don't even know how to explain it kind of thing
40:04
because I'm not I wanna talk after yoga.
40:07
Right?
40:07
I'm like, okay.
40:07
Can we talk about what's happened here?
40:09
And they're like, the yogis are looking at me all dressed in white and okay, you're not
40:13
already supposed to talk, but I I wanna talk about my experience when I started it.
40:17
And then what started to happen was the most powerful things.
40:21
I had one thing happen.
40:23
So my grandfather in Trinidad again used to plant gardens.
40:28
And he would come and pick us up and we would go help him, you know, as a little child.
40:32
And I had this kundalini experience.
40:35
I had finished a class.
40:36
Of course, I'm wanting to talk about it again.
40:38
Nobody wants to talk to me.
40:39
So my my yoga instructor, she always got, organic green.
40:44
So I took some organic greens, and I ate some and not thinking anything of it.
40:49
And I'm going home.
40:50
Now I'm jumping in my car.
40:51
I have about 20 minute ride, and I'm bawling I'm now ingested this organic green, and
40:59
something comes over me.
41:00
And all I can think about This is what I hear.
41:03
So I'm thinking either I'm going crazy.
41:04
This is my thought process or something really freaky's happening.
41:09
And all I can embody or think about is my I'm hearing my grandfather's mouth, voice, and his
41:15
words to me is you are loved and you will always be loved.
41:18
So I'm like, okay.
41:20
What's what's happening here?
41:22
Like, so obviously, you know, you know, like you said, to your point about the shoppers, I
41:27
had opened up something and me having that, all factory or, gestation of something that brought
41:35
me in connection to some part of me that brought that it was powerful.
41:40
I had to talk about it the next week because I I had to tell somebody.
41:43
So, you know, and then, you know, of course, my yoga says it's the powerful experience.
41:47
It's hard to explain what that is other than you've connected at a deeper level.
41:51
So it it really humbled me, and this is going back about 10 12 years ago, where I started to
41:57
realize, like, when you get into that space, what is possible, like, talking about getting
42:02
connected to who you are.
42:04
Right?
42:04
You never know what messages might come.
42:07
No.
42:07
And that's and that's the that's the surprise.
42:09
And even This will sound so crazy, but I just within the last, probably, certainly before
42:17
this happened, I was on the verge of opening my third eye, and then I did.
42:22
And and what I found was when you really start to get present, you realize it's it's the law
42:29
of attraction is absolutely real.
42:31
What you're seeking is seeking you.
42:34
And everything that you share or everything that you experience is a gift is a message to
42:40
you.
42:40
I've I've watched movies that I've watched a dozen times and completely understand the movie
42:47
now.
42:47
And completely understand it through this movie is a movie about life.
42:51
This movie is a journey about life.
42:52
It may be about a guy who likes to bowl and, you know, hang out with his friends, but it's a
42:59
journey about life.
43:01
Or this movie is a journey about, you know, whatever you put into the universe.
43:04
Once you put it out there, you don't have to worry about how it's gonna happen because if
43:08
you worry about how it's gonna happen, then you're not letting the universe work its magic.
43:12
And it's the difference between the known and the unknown, and it's having the courage to be
43:18
like, you know what?
43:18
I put this out in the universe.
43:20
I don't know how it's gonna come back to me.
43:22
I just know it's gonna come back.
43:24
But getting comfortable with that space also.
43:26
It's it's a process.
43:28
That's a that's certainly a process in front
43:30
of me wanting to talk to all the yogis about what's going on and kinda look at me and go,
43:34
okay.
43:34
I'm saying you're not supposed to talk.
43:35
So I got I got a little bit more comfortable as I went.
43:38
So I I think, tell everybody about, any last words?
43:43
I know I've kept you longer than I thought we would gonna talk.
43:47
No.
43:47
It's been it's been a treat.
43:49
Any words of wisdom to people that have are listening to this amazing message that you
43:54
shared today?
43:55
Anything that you could anybody listening that's in this time, that are kind of maybe
44:00
struggling or wanting to heighten their space in this time.
44:03
What kinds of words of wisdom would you give them before we go?
44:06
Yeah.
44:07
Thank you, Roxanne.
44:07
First, let me say thank you so much for having me on.
44:09
It's been an absolute pleasure.
44:11
I'm delighted, and just to meet you and and have our conversation, I would say have the
44:18
courage to believe and it's not believing in something outside yourself.
44:23
It's believing in yourself.
44:27
If you knew with absolute certainty, your life was gonna be amazing.
44:32
How would you behave?
44:33
Who would you be if you knew that?
44:37
And that's not something anyone else can tell you.
44:39
That's something you find yourself.
44:41
But if you believe that, if you know, if you have the certainty that life is gonna turn out
44:47
exactly the way you want it, you can't fail.
44:50
You can't possibly fail.
44:52
So Absolutely.
44:53
That's fine belief.
44:55
Fine belief within yourself.
44:57
Well, thank you so much.
44:58
So tell everybody where they could, get ahold of you if they're wanting to either coach or
45:03
pick up one of your or your books.
45:06
Or I know you all also you also speak up.
45:08
So where can people reach you?
45:10
Absolutely.
45:10
Davidrichardsauthor.com.
45:13
Lighthousekeeper, is available worldwide everywhere now.
45:16
But I'm on David Richard's, on Instagram, David Richard's author, as well as Twitter.
45:22
Awesome.
45:23
So what am I taking away?
45:25
I'm taking away that, we're in a a space of opportunity and a gift.
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Something that, you know, I think of the things that I've always wanted to do and what I've
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been taking the time to do.
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Know, I'm always complained about there's a lack time and things like that.
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So the things that I'm taking the time to I'm so feel blessed that I I have the ability to do
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that.
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So my word to you, is to take that time.
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Think about, you know, when you look back at this time, say a year or 5 years from now, what
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is it that you would have wanted say that you're connected with that this time afforded
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you to do.
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So, again, this is Roxanne Derhodge.
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If you're wanting any more information on me, I am a mental health and wellness specialist.
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I can be reached at Roxanne Derhodge.