Latest / Walking with Jaguars / #4 - Steven Giannopoulos - Fighting Fires To Find The Temple Within

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#4 - Steven Giannopoulos - Fighting Fires To Find The Temple Within · Walking with Jaguars

• 0:11
  Okay, welcome everyone back to another episode
• 0:15
  of the Walking with Jaguars podcast. Today I
• 0:18
  have a very special guest. He's my good friend
• 0:21
  Stephen and he's a descendant of Spartans. He's
• 0:26
  a firefighter. He's a reality TV personality.
• 0:31
  He's an ayahuasca drinker. He's a retreat and
• 0:36
  space holder. uh most importantly he was my neighbor
• 0:42
  for a few months yes uh is there anything i missed
• 0:49
  is there any labels you do tag on yourself any
• 0:52
  identities you like sitting in no i think you
• 0:54
  hit pretty much everything that was great introduction
• 0:58
  i mean i know you well so it feels like it's
• 1:02
  easy to do you know um yeah uh there's so many
• 1:07
  things i want to talk about with you and like
• 1:09
  i really appreciate like the journey that you've
• 1:11
  been on and uh and the insights you have and
• 1:13
  the way that you navigate life these days uh
• 1:16
  and i want to deep dive into the wonderful world
• 1:19
  of plant medicines and spiritual growth and and
• 1:22
  all these things but like any good ceremony we
• 1:26
  gotta go dark before we go light you know you
• 1:29
  gotta you gotta earn the light and earn the medicine
• 1:32
  so One day, Steve was over at my place and he
• 1:39
  was explaining or he was like telling the story
• 1:43
  of his experience on Big Brother. And to this
• 1:47
  day, it's still one of the craziest things I've
• 1:50
  ever heard. And I would love for you to just
• 1:54
  share a bit of the story of like what. led you
• 1:59
  to like want to pursue that and then also like
• 2:02
  the lead up to it and then like what it actually
• 2:04
  entailed all right well okay well first of all
• 2:08
  like i never really watched the show i don't
• 2:10
  watch tv i just saw this random man i'm like
• 2:13
  okay oh wow this looks cool i'm like auditions
• 2:16
  i'm like okay big brother whatever at that point
• 2:20
  i'm like okay i'll just throw in my my audition
• 2:21
  um that first year i wasn't a great fit for the
• 2:26
  cast but it was good because it was like covid
• 2:29
  year and it got canceled halfway uh the second
• 2:32
  year i had a girlfriend and the third year they
• 2:35
  call me back like hey are you single i'm like
• 2:37
  yes i am like okay you're coming on this year
• 2:40
  i'm like holy shit okay what the fuck is going
• 2:42
  on so anyways i go to this this um basically
• 2:47
  i fly out of montreal to toronto it's filmed
• 2:49
  in toronto in this like warehouse like basically
• 2:51
  they build a house within a warehouse so it's
• 2:53
  not like a real house fly out there you land
• 2:56
  the first thing they do they take your phone
• 2:58
  away so your life is like you're like disconnected
• 3:00
  from life from there and then they lock you up
• 3:02
  in a hotel room for like three weeks um to the
• 3:06
  point that like they're like blocking the people
• 3:08
  so you can't even see what's going on in the
• 3:10
  hallway if you pick up the hotel phone it like
• 3:12
  it goes straight to production um so basically
• 3:16
  i'm living in this like room for three weeks
• 3:19
  cooking my own food and everything minimal contact
• 3:22
  with humans uh and then the last week they removed
• 3:25
  the tvs because um the commercial starts and
• 3:28
  they don't want to see what you're competing
• 3:29
  with it's kind of like a very everything's very
• 3:31
  very secret i'm like okay and now you're stuck
• 3:34
  in this room no tv just you yourself and at that
• 3:38
  point they even took out all your books and all
• 3:40
  that it's they're like almost they're like Trying
• 3:42
  to get you going crazy already. I'm like, okay,
• 3:45
  this is getting wild. So, like, I'm in my room.
• 3:48
  I'm trying to get fresh air. So, like, I'm literally
• 3:50
  opening these little hotel windows, putting my
• 3:52
  house out to get some fresh air. I'm like, holy
• 3:54
  shit. Anyways, and then when the day comes, they
• 3:57
  kind of throw you in this game. You walk in with
• 4:00
  these people. Complete strangers. This is, like,
• 4:03
  really the first moment you meet them. You throw
• 4:05
  into this game. First of all, the moment you
• 4:07
  walk in, it's like these. bright bright lights
• 4:10
  everywhere like that's like a studio right so
• 4:12
  like everything's so bright there's like and
• 4:15
  there's no cameraman it's all cameras on the
• 4:17
  wall i think there's like 200 cameras that just
• 4:18
  move around and then they have like double -sided
• 4:20
  mirrors which they have the the people walking
• 4:22
  behind and then you walk in and it's literally
• 4:26
  like cameras everywhere i'm like i've never done
• 4:29
  this before i'm like holy shit what the fuck
• 4:30
  is going on like i'm like nervous and like scared
• 4:32
  i'm like what is going on here anyways and then
• 4:35
  the contestants start coming in and then the
• 4:38
  game begins big brother um it was probably one
• 4:43
  of the wildest experiences and most weird and
• 4:48
  most emotional roller coaster that i've ever
• 4:52
  experienced it was like everything in one package
• 4:55
  first of all there's no contact with the world
• 4:57
  okay you have no phone there's no tv there's
• 4:59
  no windows so you don't know if it's day or time
• 5:00
  or night time outside um the only humans you
• 5:04
  see is the people you're playing the game with
• 5:05
  um and like Put the big picture, like, I've never
• 5:08
  watched this show. Oh, actually, this is what
• 5:10
  I forgot to mention. They gave me a DVD during
• 5:12
  my sequester, the three weeks. Like, ah, you
• 5:14
  should maybe watch an episode to know how to
• 5:16
  play the game. I'm like, ah, whatever. So I'm,
• 5:18
  like, playing in the background while I'm cooking,
• 5:19
  whatever. I'm, like, not even paying attention.
• 5:21
  So I walk in this, and half of these people are,
• 5:25
  like, super fans. They've watched, like, the
• 5:26
  American, the Canadian, the UK one. And, like,
• 5:30
  they're using all these acronyms during the game
• 5:32
  and, like, these names and stuff like that. I'm
• 5:35
  like... What the fuck are you guys talking about?
• 5:37
  They're like using the word pond. That means
• 5:38
  something backdoor. I'm like, what is going on?
• 5:41
  So for the first two weeks, I'm just in there
• 5:44
  trying to figure out how to play this game. I
• 5:46
  felt like I was just like a random thing that
• 5:49
  was there and like had like no sense in the game.
• 5:52
  And anyways, so basically. the way it works is
• 5:55
  like you're doing like competitions weekly so
• 5:58
  basically there's a household so like you win
• 5:59
  this competition you become the head of household
• 6:01
  hoh which basically you're the guy that's going
• 6:04
  to pick two people to put on the block and at
• 6:06
  the end of the week the house votes who goes
• 6:08
  home but between that there's competitions um
• 6:12
  like it's called the pov the power of veto so
• 6:15
  Those two people that are on the block plus three
• 6:17
  other people get to compete. And whoever wins
• 6:19
  the power veto can actually pull themselves off.
• 6:21
  Or if somebody else wins it, they can pull somebody
• 6:23
  off. And I got to put somebody else. So. yeah
• 6:28
  and these competitions are like they're wild
• 6:29
  like like on tv you don't see much but like some
• 6:32
  of them went on for like five six hours like
• 6:34
  it and it's like like crazy mental and like physical
• 6:37
  games like uh one of them like they had to hang
• 6:40
  on a wall i think it was like six hours or something
• 6:42
  like that and like you're hanging holding pegs
• 6:44
  on a wall that's like slanted and like they're
• 6:46
  throwing cold water on you they're like fucking
• 6:48
  throwing shit at you and then at the end you
• 6:51
  can't use your feet so for like at the end when
• 6:52
  there's like a couple people left you're like
• 6:54
  you're just hanging there you're like trying
• 6:55
  to survive uh and it's a bunch of competitions
• 6:58
  like that um throughout the game everybody's
• 7:02
  lying so there's only one winner so like people
• 7:04
  were coming in pretending they're married they're
• 7:05
  wearing like fake rings people lying like full
• 7:08
  -blown line about their occupation we had a doctor
• 7:10
  in there that was a marine biologist i'm like
• 7:12
  great so like everybody's lying everybody's backstabbing
• 7:19
  everybody um it's just like such a sleazy game
• 7:23
  you're like you're having conversation with people
• 7:25
  you're like it sounds so true but like how good
• 7:28
  are you at lying you know like this this might
• 7:30
  be all a fucking lie this guy's telling me um
• 7:33
  so yeah it's a lot of that throughout the game
• 7:35
  and then uh then production fucks with you so
• 7:38
  basically example where let's say we're 12 people
• 7:42
  in the house they'll lock you up in a room they
• 7:44
  have control of all the doors they'll lock you
• 7:46
  up for like i don't know like three hours in
• 7:48
  there and like you're just chilling with like
• 7:50
  these 12 people in a room talking or whatever.
• 7:52
  And then they release you in the house. And then
• 7:54
  you go out, there's like 10 chairs, 10 plates,
• 7:56
  10 utensils, 10 cups. And then everybody's like,
• 7:59
  holy shit, is it a double elimination tonight?
• 8:01
  And then they lock you up in another room a couple
• 8:03
  hours later. And then you come back and everything's
• 8:05
  back to normal. And you're like, okay, what's
• 8:08
  going on here? 100%. And then everybody's tripping.
• 8:14
  It's like, what the hell? What's going on? This
• 8:16
  and this and that. uh and there's just a bunch
• 8:19
  of these little things that go out throughout
• 8:20
  the game um and then there's like so we had an
• 8:24
  access to the outside but like when they're setting
• 8:26
  up for competition sometimes you wouldn't have
• 8:28
  access to the outside for like five days straight
• 8:30
  example so you don't see sunlight nighttime like
• 8:33
  you don't have no idea what's going on outside
• 8:35
  there could be like a freaking hurricane you
• 8:38
  don't even know okay you're locked in this house
• 8:40
  playing this game and and then we get access
• 8:43
  to the outside but like at some point we're going
• 8:44
  like so delusional that we thought the sky because
• 8:49
  there's like these 30 -foot walls so you couldn't
• 8:50
  see around you could just see the sky first of
• 8:52
  all every bird that was passing had a name for
• 8:54
  some reason we're giving them names but then
• 8:56
  at one point we thought this was a simulation
• 8:58
  like what if that's a screen up there and it's
• 8:59
  not even real they got to that point people were
• 9:03
  losing their minds and uh Yeah, and you just
• 9:07
  keep competing every week and, like, physical
• 9:09
  competitions. And then they'll, like, throw in
• 9:10
  twists. Like, an extra competition this weekend.
• 9:13
  Somebody's getting eliminated tonight. And, like,
• 9:15
  fuck, I just remember my nervous system going.
• 9:18
  I'm like, holy shit. This is wild. And, like,
• 9:21
  it's, like, it's such an intense game. And the
• 9:25
  way I relate it to it, it's so funny. It's, like,
• 9:27
  example, like, I'm a firefighter. And, like,
• 9:31
  we spent 24 hours there. And then we sleep there.
• 9:33
  But, like. in reality like you're not really
• 9:35
  sleeping because like your mind is always awake
• 9:37
  right because you're like okay the tones might
• 9:39
  ring i might have to jump on a truck and like
• 9:40
  next thing you know you're in a burning building
• 9:42
  but it was that for three months long it was
• 9:45
  literally okay going to bed okay tomorrow i gotta
• 9:47
  talk to this guy this guy's a piece of oh this
• 9:49
  person's probably lying okay i gotta do this
• 9:51
  and so like you're never really sleeping and
• 9:53
  i don't know how long they make you sleep because
• 9:54
  they tell you when to go to bed and they wake
• 9:56
  you up it's like this voice that comes comes
• 9:58
  on big brother voice they call it and it's like
• 10:00
  good night house guests time to go to bed and
• 10:03
  then in the morning they do this clock and everybody
• 10:05
  wakes up and uh and then the next day you wake
• 10:07
  up and right away it's like i gotta play the
• 10:09
  game and if you skip one day you're like you're
• 10:11
  like 10 days behind because it's just so fast
• 10:13
  in there like it's so so fast um and yeah like
• 10:18
  it's just non -stop for three months so you're
• 10:20
  like completely like disconnected you're like
• 10:23
  a freaking robot you're in a simulation within
• 10:26
  a simulation it's literally what this game is
• 10:29
  it's wild man it's so wild three months like
• 10:33
  you know and and when i think about like these
• 10:36
  time spans you know like people like tell themselves
• 10:39
  like i'm gonna do something you know for like
• 10:41
  i'm gonna like work out every day for three months
• 10:43
  or like you know and people like slip and you
• 10:46
  fail you know one of the things is like doing
• 10:48
  like the dietas it's like you can't cheat it's
• 10:50
  three months fully you know what i mean like
• 10:52
  every second of the day and it's like the same
• 10:55
  thing for you you're like in there three months
• 10:58
  it never ends like to actually live three months
• 11:01
  is a ridiculous amount of time and then to do
• 11:04
  that with like no windows just like blows my
• 11:08
  mind dude I was so disconnected. Like I thought
• 11:14
  this was my new reality. I thought this was real.
• 11:16
  This is life. And then like, there'll be moments
• 11:19
  like I'll go lie down on the couch or whatever.
• 11:21
  And I'll start like thinking, I'm like, holy
• 11:23
  shit. I got a mom. I have a dad. Holy fuck. I
• 11:26
  have a job. Wait, this is not real. This is a
• 11:28
  game. We're playing a game. This is not real.
• 11:31
  So that's how lost you get in there. And it's
• 11:33
  like, it's almost like the concept of the game
• 11:34
  is that it's like a social experiment. Like they
• 11:36
  want you to be like so lost in the game that.
• 11:39
  you think this is real and man like like when
• 11:43
  i was having these moments i was like full -blown
• 11:45
  panic attack i'm like holy i got a dog i got
• 11:47
  a mom i got a dad people are watching like 24
• 11:49
  7 and the cameras roll 24 7 you can watch us
• 11:51
  on the internet at night and then there's three
• 11:53
  episodes a week and like the thursday it's a
• 11:55
  live episode it's like non -stop but it's like
• 11:58
  wow okay they got me do you ever do you ever
• 12:03
  forget about the cameras like when you're in
• 12:05
  there Cause you're just like, it's mass surveillance,
• 12:08
  like the entire time, right? Like every room.
• 12:11
  Oh yeah. There's no, there's nowhere you could
• 12:13
  hide besides the shitter. And the shitter is
• 12:15
  literally like a three by three room with a toilet.
• 12:18
  And that's it. And if you're more than 10 minutes
• 12:21
  in there, they start like talking to you. They're
• 12:23
  like, you know, you got to get out of there.
• 12:24
  Cause whatever it could be for medical reasons,
• 12:27
  but every single corner, like even when you're
• 12:29
  in the shower, there's like frosted glass. They're
• 12:31
  watching you. Like, there's, like, clips of you,
• 12:34
  like, taking a shower and stuff. And then those
• 12:36
  cameras run 24 -7. So when you log in online
• 12:39
  at night, they're watching you, too. So, like,
• 12:42
  you would go online and they would see, like,
• 12:43
  videos of us, like, sleeping. Like, people are
• 12:45
  watching us sleep. Like, that's insane. Like,
• 12:48
  me walking, like, yeah, it's so weird. But, like,
• 12:51
  at some points you do forget about the cameras.
• 12:53
  But I would remember the weight of the mic because
• 12:56
  it's a live show. There's live feeds. And, like,
• 13:00
  I was always worried. that i would slip up words
• 13:03
  that i didn't want to say but you know like i
• 13:04
  like to around i say words like i'm not i'm offside
• 13:07
  sometimes but you don't want to be offside when
• 13:09
  it's like 24 because then that ends up on twitter
• 13:12
  then you're this person oh this guy is a bad
• 13:14
  person and next thing you know you're a freaking
• 13:16
  terrible human being because you slipped once
• 13:18
  so like i i felt the weight of that but i forgot
• 13:23
  about the cameras like the cameras would forget
• 13:25
  but then when i was speaking like i i because
• 13:28
  i remember when i walked out the house when i
• 13:29
  got eliminated and i took it off i almost like
• 13:32
  screamed because i'm like ah like i could speak
• 13:34
  again i could be me yeah that is it's so crazy
• 13:41
  i remember you were telling me uh that like you
• 13:44
  were saying like they like with you you know
• 13:46
  and like they they they do it to like make it
• 13:48
  entertaining but you were saying that like sometimes
• 13:51
  they would like wake you up for breakfast and
• 13:55
  it's like three in the morning yes so like the
• 13:58
  live feeds was seen and then when i came out
• 14:00
  i spoke to my mom she's like you know you guys
• 14:02
  thought you were eating lunch but it was like
• 14:04
  one in the morning or you guys were eating dinner
• 14:05
  but it was fucking breakfast you know like you
• 14:07
  guys you lose sense of time like time doesn't
• 14:10
  exist in there there's like time is not there
• 14:13
  so like yeah it's not like that's how screwed
• 14:15
  up we were like our internal clock was like i
• 14:18
  don't know where it was It's so crazy. And like
• 14:21
  three months of that is just so insane. Like
• 14:25
  no, like no fresh air, no sunlight, no circadian
• 14:29
  rhythm, no balance. And it was like just jacking
• 14:33
  up your nervous system at like every point in
• 14:35
  time. And I can just imagine like the people
• 14:37
  behind the like one way mirrors just being like,
• 14:41
  Hmm, how can we fuck with them? they're literally
• 14:45
  like i think they're like psychotic and i think
• 14:48
  they get high off it because they like they like
• 14:50
  the things they made us do it it's like example
• 14:52
  oh this is a cool one actually so basically we
• 14:55
  we were like active i had a bad behavior in the
• 14:57
  house so basically they came in and they took
• 15:00
  out so it's kind of like they do it on slop week
• 15:02
  too so basically you don't get food they lock
• 15:04
  the fridge so there's no food they serve these
• 15:07
  like ingredients it's like it's called slop it's
• 15:09
  literally like dry ass no flavored like Disgusting
• 15:14
  Greek green goo. It's like it's like you got
• 15:16
  to mix it everything. It literally looks it looks
• 15:18
  like a green goo and When you're on slop, you
• 15:21
  could be eating that for a week no hot showers
• 15:23
  So it's cold showers and like don't forget. We're
• 15:25
  in the middle of winter and in a in a like fucking
• 15:28
  Studio, there's like no heating, you know, they
• 15:31
  like the heating was off so high sometimes and
• 15:33
  some days It's like minus five in the house.
• 15:35
  I'm like what the fuck is going on? And I think
• 15:37
  they're still fucking with us I think they're
• 15:38
  gonna they're doing on purpose to make it cold
• 15:39
  some days hot some days And you would be like
• 15:42
  a week, like no hot shower and like eating that
• 15:44
  green stuff. So people would go like two, three
• 15:46
  days, no showering because they couldn't take
• 15:47
  a cold shower. And then like half of them were
• 15:50
  like gagging while they're eating and like people
• 15:52
  are losing weight. I lost like 20 pounds on that
• 15:54
  show in three months. That is, that is fucking
• 15:57
  wild, man. That is wild. Yeah. It's like. You
• 16:02
  know, I'd, like, seen Big Brother around. I'd
• 16:05
  never, like, really, like, followed, like, reality
• 16:07
  television. But when you were telling me this
• 16:09
  story, it was just like, man, I can see the darkness,
• 16:12
  like, in the collective consciousness of humanity,
• 16:15
  like, loving to watch people just go mental.
• 16:19
  You know, it kind of feels like, like, you know,
• 16:21
  your Greek roots. It's almost like the Colosseum
• 16:23
  of the modern day, you know. Everyone's like,
• 16:27
  what? Fuck the world. Yeah, I can just picture
• 16:31
  people at home, but I can also picture like the
• 16:33
  production in the studio room, like with all
• 16:35
  the TVs and everything. It's like, this is amazing.
• 16:38
  Look at them suffer. They're like, this is dark.
• 16:41
  Yeah, no, it's great, man. Like, it's so funny
• 16:45
  because like you would hear the cameraman sometimes
• 16:46
  in the back of the walls and then you would hear
• 16:48
  like a crack of a soda can. We're like, the walls
• 16:52
  are talking. Oh, man. That must just have been
• 16:59
  such a fucking distortion and a warping of reality.
• 17:03
  Yeah, yeah, man. Like, honestly, like, it really
• 17:06
  screws you up because, like, I came out of there
• 17:09
  and I was in therapy for a year. Like, everybody
• 17:11
  goes through therapy. Like, there's some people
• 17:12
  that are still in therapy, like, from past seasons
• 17:14
  because of that experience. Yeah. Yeah. So, like,
• 17:18
  what was it like, like, coming back, you know?
• 17:22
  And, like, what was that, like, process of, like,
• 17:24
  reintegrating back into... what is like to some
• 17:27
  degree their real reality yeah so going from
• 17:31
  simulation to another simulation it was for me
• 17:36
  it was really hard and me it hit me like some
• 17:38
  people hit them later because they were such
• 17:39
  on a high from the show especially like the the
• 17:42
  super fans they're like on a high of the show
• 17:44
  and then you come out and it's not like shows
• 17:46
  are like the other shows that are filmed like
• 17:48
  three months ahead of time and then you have
• 17:50
  time to adjust and everything it's literally
• 17:53
  like this is live so like when you come out like
• 17:55
  the show is finished on tv so people know who
• 17:57
  you are so like you're put into back into this
• 17:59
  world first of all it's basically like here's
• 18:01
  your phone have fun take care hopefully you're
• 18:03
  okay i was like okay what do i do next i remember
• 18:06
  i had my phone in my hand and i couldn't see
• 18:07
  the screen i was like what the fuck like how
• 18:09
  do i use this and you're put into this real world
• 18:13
  and i remember like that first day my my mom
• 18:15
  my sister had came down and we had to we went
• 18:19
  to a restaurant i guess they had reserved something
• 18:20
  for us and i remember walking like in a in a
• 18:23
  shopping center to get to that restaurant and
• 18:25
  i was like full -blown panic attack like other
• 18:27
  humans i'm like this is not normal like well
• 18:29
  why is there other people around me and it's
• 18:31
  like everything was so loud and like um people
• 18:35
  are like already recognizing you so they're coming
• 18:36
  up to you and like i'm a very introverted guy
• 18:38
  so like it was like it's too much i'm like no
• 18:40
  no no no um so i was kind of losing my and then
• 18:44
  basically they kind of these alumni they create
• 18:46
  this weekend is basically to reintegrate everybody
• 18:49
  coming out of every season so every season the
• 18:51
  last day you come out and it's like a whole weekend
• 18:53
  you spend with the alumni and like they kind
• 18:56
  of like have events planned you go to niagara
• 18:58
  falls and like we're playing activities and like
• 19:00
  parties drinking which is probably the worst
• 19:02
  thing drinking when you're all up And, yeah,
• 19:08
  I remember, like, that whole weekend. And, like,
• 19:10
  it's funny because everybody kind of knew each
• 19:11
  other because, like, they watch each other. And
• 19:13
  I'm, like, meeting all these new faces. But they
• 19:15
  know me. I don't know them. And, like, I feel
• 19:17
  bad because I'm, like, I should probably know
• 19:19
  you. You won, like, a previous season and stuff
• 19:21
  like that. So, like, a clueless duck just walking
• 19:23
  around. And, like, all this, like, anxiety and,
• 19:26
  like, nervous system is all screwed up and, like,
• 19:28
  panic attacks. And, yeah, I was, like, and it
• 19:32
  was that for, like, months after for me. like
• 19:35
  months months months and then some people hit
• 19:37
  them later like three four months later they
• 19:39
  had that crash um but me it was like instant
• 19:43
  and it wasn't getting better it was like questioning
• 19:45
  everything questioning myself like almost like
• 19:48
  depression depression like very down and like
• 19:51
  yeah it was tough it was really tough then i
• 19:54
  went to therapy therapy wasn't healthy oh i can
• 19:59
  only imagine you know like the therapy doesn't
• 20:02
  do anything you know and like i actually had
• 20:05
  a conversation with uh sarah connelly yesterday
• 20:08
  and one of the things we're saying with like
• 20:10
  the therapy is like to some degree like when
• 20:14
  you're all fucked up you need to like realign
• 20:15
  yourself and like get your consciousness straight
• 20:18
  and like start resonating at like another level
• 20:20
  that allows like spirit and that all to come
• 20:23
  in you know and like these therapists like they
• 20:25
  they're trained in like asking questions but
• 20:29
  like them as individuals like They don't have
• 20:33
  that. They're not people with like all this life
• 20:36
  experience necessarily. You know, they just have
• 20:38
  this piece of paper. So like I can imagine like
• 20:41
  it was hard having these people even try to bring
• 20:44
  you back because they're not even really playing
• 20:45
  the game themselves. Yeah, no, it's crazy. And
• 20:49
  it's funny because now that I see through all
• 20:51
  that, I could actually, I could see through my
• 20:54
  own therapist and now I can actually see like
• 20:56
  where she was operating or like where her wounds
• 20:59
  were from. And I'm like, holy shit, like obviously
• 21:02
  I wasn't getting better because this girl's like
• 21:03
  kind of going through like her stuff and like
• 21:06
  trying to like go by the book and try to help
• 21:08
  me, but it wasn't helping. And it's funny that
• 21:11
  you say that because like when I had that shift,
• 21:14
  it's when I found the medicine. Like I've always
• 21:16
  been into the medicine before, but when I found
• 21:18
  that and I got into these courses. that's when
• 21:21
  i had to shift and actually that big brother
• 21:23
  led me to like this whole path that i'm on right
• 21:25
  now actually oh that's always it it's like there's
• 21:29
  the always the darkness before the light you
• 21:32
  know and like everyone has their stories and
• 21:35
  like everyone who i know who's walking the path
• 21:37
  like the story is always like life was fucked
• 21:41
  or like i was sick or like reality made no sense
• 21:45
  like that's the like the tension that was created
• 21:48
  to actually find the path you know so it makes
• 21:54
  sense that like you know those experiences and
• 21:56
  like trying to reorganize what reality actually
• 21:59
  is to yourself is like the thing that was like
• 22:01
  the push and it's funny too because like whatever
• 22:06
  i accumulated from that experience obviously
• 22:09
  being a firefighter for so many years already
• 22:12
  like i've had all this baggage and all this suppression
• 22:14
  and all these like things that I'm already dealing
• 22:16
  with, and then it just, like, combined together,
• 22:18
  and it, like, just got even darker. I was like,
• 22:20
  holy fuck. Like, am I, like, clinically not good
• 22:24
  anymore? Like, how am I going to get out of this?
• 22:28
  Is there a way out? That's always the funniest
• 22:30
  question, you know? Like, I really thought there
• 22:33
  was, like, no way out. Like, that's to the point
• 22:36
  I got. I'm like, holy fuck, I'm stuck in here
• 22:38
  forever. This is the new me. Like, this is the
• 22:41
  new Steven. I'm like, wow, this is going to suck
• 22:44
  if this is it. gonna ride this one out for another
• 22:48
  50 years yeah okay oh yeah before we jump into
• 22:54
  the to the medicine stuff i'd love to hear like
• 22:57
  your experiences like being a firefighter firefighter
• 23:00
  you know like it's it's it's something that you
• 23:04
  know it's like just around and like everyone
• 23:05
  knows firefighters but it's like to actually
• 23:08
  live that life i'm really curious of like your
• 23:10
  perspective um Yeah, it's so interesting because
• 23:15
  I like it was always like my love and passion
• 23:18
  like from a little kid I was always like It was
• 23:21
  like my dream. It sounds cheesy, but it was actually
• 23:23
  my dream like I used to have firefighter things
• 23:25
  I see fire trucks like wow, that's cool. But
• 23:27
  I thought it was like superheroes doing this
• 23:29
  job I thought if they weren't human You grow
• 23:31
  up, you're like, holy shit, this is a job. And
• 23:33
  then it's fun. And then I remember when I signed
• 23:34
  up to school and I did my first year there pre
• 23:36
  -service, I like completely right away knew it.
• 23:39
  I fell in love with it. You know, like it was
• 23:41
  like purpose, passion, everything, like one thing.
• 23:44
  And I was just having so much fun with it. And
• 23:47
  then obviously I got on so young till I was 21
• 23:49
  when I got hired, which doesn't happen too often.
• 23:55
  it was such a rewarding job but in the same time
• 23:59
  the first like three four years i wasn't realizing
• 24:02
  what it was it changes you right this job literally
• 24:04
  changes you whether you want it or not but i
• 24:07
  didn't realize that in the three fourth first
• 24:08
  years because you're like oh this is fun i'm
• 24:10
  like running to burning buildings like you know
• 24:12
  but like while you're doing all that like you're
• 24:14
  dealing with dead people every day like some
• 24:16
  freaky shit that you don't want to see um like
• 24:19
  it's just like accumulation accumulation accumulation
• 24:21
  and then the lack of sleep exposed all these
• 24:24
  like cancer divisions and like these like stressors
• 24:26
  and all that stuff and then like it started catching
• 24:30
  up like i would say maybe year five on the job
• 24:33
  i'm like holy okay it's actually it's taking
• 24:36
  a toll now um And that's when I kind of had that
• 24:40
  big shift into like health and wellness. And
• 24:42
  like I really went hardcore because at that time,
• 24:44
  too, I was like heavily drinking, using drugs
• 24:46
  and all that stuff. Like it wasn't annoying,
• 24:48
  but I was numbing myself on my days off because
• 24:51
  of the job. But before I get to even the dark
• 24:56
  spot of it, it's such a fun job. The way I explain
• 25:02
  it is literally like you're living in a house
• 25:04
  with your best buds. you're like cooking together
• 25:07
  you're training together you're cleaning you're
• 25:09
  working out because it's like a house right there's
• 25:11
  a full -blown kitchen gyms tv room and all that
• 25:14
  you're kind of all doing all that stuff you guys
• 25:16
  are like fucking around you know like doing jokes
• 25:18
  and this and that like and it's just such an
• 25:21
  atmosphere and then when the bells ring you just
• 25:23
  don't know what you're gonna face it's like get
• 25:25
  on the truck next thing you know you're in a
• 25:26
  building building next thing you know you're
• 25:27
  compressing on somebody's chest you know the
• 25:29
  other time you're cutting somebody out of a car,
• 25:31
  it's like, we're a jack of all trades. Like we're
• 25:33
  not just there to fight fires. It's probably
• 25:35
  like one of the least things we do, but like,
• 25:37
  yeah, medical calls, like even like, even like
• 25:42
  stupid things, like a cat stuck on a tree. We
• 25:44
  saved the cat on a tree. Like it's, it's actually
• 25:46
  true. We do it. You get called to that, you know,
• 25:50
  people have a flood in their basement and they
• 25:52
  don't know who to call. They call 911. And next
• 25:54
  day, you know, we show up, you know what I mean?
• 25:55
  So, but it's such a fun job because. you never
• 26:00
  know what you're gonna face um so like yes you
• 26:03
  get the basic training but like i believe like
• 26:05
  firefighting is an experienced job like you learn
• 26:07
  a lot of it like doing it because there's no
• 26:10
  two causes the same you might go to a house fire
• 26:12
  today and tomorrow it's a completely different
• 26:14
  house fire because of the conditions winds this
• 26:16
  that what's burning what kind of structure it
• 26:18
  is like there's not there's more than just like
• 26:20
  oh fire put water on it there's like a whole
• 26:22
  like strategy behind it like there's every rig
• 26:24
  is assigned a position every firefighter is assigned
• 26:27
  a position like you're doing this we're doing
• 26:29
  that communications it's literally like a big
• 26:32
  hockey team working together and like working
• 26:33
  different positions and everything gets communicated
• 26:35
  it's all like organized um but it's fun because
• 26:39
  it's like um we're called when like you need
• 26:43
  us right you're not calling us because you're
• 26:45
  having a beautiful day you're calling us because
• 26:46
  your house is on fire right or somebody just
• 26:49
  dropped in your house and is having a heart attack
• 26:51
  so basically like you're always getting there
• 26:53
  and like it's what i loved a lot is the problem
• 26:55
  solving aspect like you get there we have this
• 26:59
  we have that what are we doing you kind of go
• 27:01
  through like what your basics training the stuff
• 27:03
  you know but then you gotta adapt because like
• 27:05
  it's different every house is built differently
• 27:07
  every this is that the fires conditions are different
• 27:09
  so it's like you adapt you adapt and you're cool
• 27:12
  doing cool like who the runs in the burning building
• 27:14
  when it's on fire everybody's running out right
• 27:16
  so it's like you're going right in and when you
• 27:18
  see the beast it's like yeah yeah it's so much
• 27:23
  fun it's like there's actually a good podcast
• 27:25
  with joe rogan he talks about like how we're
• 27:27
  we're like psychotic we're like we're not right
• 27:30
  in our minds because the human nature is survival
• 27:33
  right like people run out of like dangerous situations
• 27:37
  they try to like get away from it and we're running
• 27:39
  we're running right in and we're going deep in
• 27:41
  there you know it's like but and we yeah and
• 27:44
  the thing is we love it like that's the fun part
• 27:46
  it's like if there's no fire it's like ah it's
• 27:48
  boring but when there's a fire it's like whether
• 27:49
  you're like 5 10 20 years on the job it's like
• 27:52
  the butterflies are there it's like boys this
• 27:53
  is the real one we're going to work you know
• 27:54
  it's like it's like it's all that and when you
• 27:57
  get there and you start working you're in it
• 27:59
  the adrenaline's going like falling on you and
• 28:01
  like like fires like a lot of them like when
• 28:03
  you go in you can't even see your hand in front
• 28:05
  of your face so it's all like a spatial awareness
• 28:07
  like knowing your walls like okay there's a window
• 28:09
  on this this bedroom if we have to jump out in
• 28:12
  case it's like it's always your mind is always
• 28:14
  like on it's like ding ding ding ding ding what's
• 28:17
  next so that's the fun part of the job and i
• 28:19
  love it to this day um but there's also the you
• 28:23
  know there's the positive side of that like it's
• 28:26
  fun it's uh it's like a brotherhood sisterhood
• 28:28
  but there's also like the dark sides that we
• 28:31
  don't speak about a lot which is which now is
• 28:34
  coming more common that like they're they're
• 28:36
  talking about more but it's like you know you
• 28:38
  see that you're not supposed to see right like
• 28:40
  when you're holding somebody's arm that's not
• 28:41
  on their body anymore you're like what the what
• 28:43
  do i do with this you know or you get like into
• 28:47
  a nasty car accident and like you're cutting
• 28:49
  up the car to take out like body parts and You
• 28:52
  know, like you see it all. We're like first responders
• 28:54
  too. So like cardiac arrest, suicides, you see
• 28:57
  people taking their lives and all that. So you
• 28:59
  like see it all. And like, the thing is like,
• 29:02
  now that I understand more, like we're doing
• 29:05
  this path and everything, like we accumulate
• 29:06
  all this energy without even knowing. And firefighters,
• 29:10
  especially men, we're very good at suppressing
• 29:12
  emotions. We don't want to deal with emotion,
• 29:14
  push it down, push it down, tough it up, tough
• 29:16
  it up. But eventually all that builds up and
• 29:18
  it's like one day it just fucks and tough. blows
• 29:21
  up and that's when you know you see ptsd and
• 29:23
  like people like losing it and stuff like that
• 29:25
  but yeah there's a lot of we do that uh it's
• 29:29
  not spoken about and then we're all exposed to
• 29:30
  all these like cancers and stuff especially the
• 29:32
  way the houses are built these days it's not
• 29:34
  like back in the days in the 50s which is all
• 29:36
  natural wood and all that now it's all like glues
• 29:38
  and like plastics and heavy fuel in there so
• 29:41
  yeah there's there's obviously a dark side to
• 29:43
  it but there's the fun part to it it's uh it's
• 29:47
  not a regular career, right? It's, it's, it's
• 29:49
  fun, man. It's so much fun. Yeah. I was just
• 29:53
  going to say like, the only thing I have is like
• 29:55
  even a tether to like that kind of experience
• 29:58
  of like the brotherhood and stuff is like working
• 30:00
  in construction, you know, dealing with customers
• 30:03
  and you're not dealing with like just random
• 30:05
  bullshit. It's like every day is new. I mean,
• 30:08
  if you're working in like renovations in particular
• 30:10
  and it's just like all the boys on site. And
• 30:14
  you're just getting the job done and it's just
• 30:16
  kind of fun. There's no bullshit. But to do that
• 30:21
  at the most extreme level of all the boys just
• 30:25
  getting set up in their suits and just running
• 30:27
  into a burning house is wild, man. That is wild,
• 30:34
  yeah. I remember you were telling me you'd have
• 30:38
  the call in the middle of the night and you'd
• 30:41
  be half asleep you'd almost just like go into
• 30:44
  autopilot and then like before you know it you're
• 30:48
  like coming out of a burning building and like
• 30:50
  you just just like crush the whole thing and
• 30:52
  you like weren't even really there for it yeah
• 30:56
  i know it's crazy it happens so many times too
• 30:58
  and it's uh it's happened to me like uh several
• 31:01
  times and it's like yeah it's just like this
• 31:03
  initial like like almost like a shift in you
• 31:07
  and you fall into the autopilot like i've driven
• 31:09
  to calls i'm like how the did i get here it's
• 31:12
  like i don't know how to get here and like that
• 31:15
  too like you you you go from literally like sleeping
• 31:18
  to in the truck radios are going fires confirmed
• 31:21
  you're right into a burning building and yeah
• 31:23
  you come out at the end you're like holy i just
• 31:26
  did all that you're like holy but uh yeah autopilot
• 31:31
  is like it's so calm especially at night um it's
• 31:34
  like literally you're going from zero to 100
• 31:36
  in like a split second and it's like wow okay
• 31:38
  it's yeah but it's also the fun part too but
• 31:42
  it's like i think that's where a lot of the stress
• 31:44
  comes from too and like like correlated to that
• 31:48
  because it's like like you're not supposed to
• 31:51
  go from zero to a hundred every time you know
• 31:54
  like you're supposed to like you know especially
• 31:56
  like you wake up in the morning you get up you
• 31:59
  have your breakfast you have your coffee get
• 32:01
  some sun this and that and that's just like yeah
• 32:03
  it's like an hour -long process to awaken you
• 32:07
  know you're like in the building in 15 minutes
• 32:11
  it's insane yeah but yeah no it's fun man it's
• 32:18
  honestly it's it's been 10 years i do it and
• 32:20
  i uh i love every day and especially now and
• 32:22
  i have more have more appreciation for it too
• 32:24
  it's just it's a whole different game now but
• 32:28
  it's fun i like it yeah yeah and i can definitely
• 32:33
  see like you know like like you were saying like
• 32:36
  the just the accumulation of bullshit like some
• 32:39
  of the things you've seen it's like man people
• 32:40
  see that once in their life and it's like rough
• 32:42
  you know but like often it's like to some degree
• 32:45
  it's loved ones you know but still like on a
• 32:48
  day -to -day basis and like i can see how like
• 32:51
  so much tension just like builds up inside the
• 32:54
  body and inside the nervous system you know and
• 32:57
  like finding ways to like let that move i can
• 32:59
  just imagine like people are just like ready
• 33:01
  to blow at any moment you know yeah that's why
• 33:05
  it's so important to this job and i think we're
• 33:07
  getting better at it too is like uh because it
• 33:09
  used to be like oh you have a problem now like
• 33:12
  you've blown up already like maybe you should
• 33:14
  do this as this but now we're like more in a
• 33:16
  way that we're like we're starting before we
• 33:18
  get to that point we're kind of like okay like
• 33:20
  eating healthy is important getting your quality
• 33:22
  sleep when you're not at work supplementing properly
• 33:25
  uh working out um you know taking care of your
• 33:29
  mental health you know like whether it's meditation
• 33:31
  whatever it is um there's so many things now
• 33:34
  that we could do i still don't think we're at
• 33:36
  that level that we should be at like even having
• 33:39
  like a like a conscious mechanics course you
• 33:41
  know like understanding the mind like what's
• 33:43
  how is it operating stuff that is already a big
• 33:45
  a big up Um, like I've gotten really good at
• 33:49
  that. Cause like, uh, I'm like, I needed this
• 33:50
  shit like five years ago. And I'm like, I started
• 33:52
  integrating all these little things, you know,
• 33:54
  like, uh, cold plunges, uh, red light therapy,
• 33:57
  like, you know, grounding myself in the morning,
• 33:59
  getting some sunlight in me, like making sure
• 34:02
  I'm not on my off days drinking every day. I
• 34:04
  don't really drink anymore. You know what I mean?
• 34:06
  Like it's, and then my workouts I've changed
• 34:08
  to used to be like very like muscle stuff. Now
• 34:10
  it's like really getting the heart going, um,
• 34:12
  getting out, doing activities. um i think recovery
• 34:16
  is like the most important part too um especially
• 34:18
  the lack of sleep and like what our bodies go
• 34:20
  through and just like kind of like resetting
• 34:22
  your nervous system is so important so yeah i
• 34:27
  think that's become like my huge priority now
• 34:28
  so and that shift i could actually feel it at
• 34:31
  work now like i'm more like more ready more and
• 34:35
  like more like present and more i feel like on
• 34:38
  my days off like i'm recuperating a lot faster
• 34:40
  than what i used to and i was younger now it
• 34:43
  should be the opposite right you're older it
• 34:44
  takes longer to recuperate but now i figured
• 34:46
  out like the cheat code to like recuperate way
• 34:49
  faster uh -huh uh -huh yeah and just for like
• 34:52
  anyone who's listening and not watching like
• 34:56
  steve is jacked out of his mind he's in like
• 34:59
  absolutely incredible shape um and i started
• 35:03
  going to the gym with him for a little bit i
• 35:05
  like just got off a one -year dieta and lost
• 35:07
  30 pounds i'm like i did not have 30 pounds to
• 35:09
  lose and just like he's just a machine you know
• 35:13
  i'd love for you to like kind of talk about the
• 35:15
  importance of like physical training as like
• 35:19
  a man and as someone who like does what you do
• 35:23
  yeah well like look honestly it's not just for
• 35:25
  the job it's just like your overall health and
• 35:27
  longevity right like they say like we store the
• 35:30
  most nutrients in our muscles so like why not
• 35:32
  have the most muscle mass the most as possible
• 35:34
  um but it also has helped me like in my everyday
• 35:38
  life you know like you know like just like simple
• 35:40
  tasks like if you're walking up your stairs and
• 35:42
  you're like you're gasping for air you should
• 35:44
  probably start questioning like okay maybe i
• 35:47
  should have a little shift here and like probably
• 35:49
  work on that um and over the years like not just
• 35:52
  like the strain training but i've also like like
• 35:55
  i'm a big believer of like cardiovascular training
• 35:57
  so like having a mix of both um for your own
• 36:01
  self is like it's so beneficial for longevity
• 36:03
  and also like i've shifted my workouts too like
• 36:06
  i used to like want to be the biggest guy the
• 36:08
  most jack guy now i'm like more focused on like
• 36:11
  longevity like joint health and all that stuff
• 36:14
  so like the movements are a lot less aggressive
• 36:16
  than what i used to do but at the same time just
• 36:18
  by combining that and being consistent with it
• 36:20
  you do look jack you do like the muscle mass
• 36:22
  builds and like you get that shape it's just
• 36:24
  like the byproduct of doing that consistent work
• 36:28
  and it's helped me so much at work like things
• 36:30
  are a lot easier than when they should be hard
• 36:33
  um my everyday life you know like just simple
• 36:36
  things like lifting stuff and like going upstairs
• 36:38
  or like doing some work around the house like
• 36:40
  or whatever it is it's just you're just that
• 36:43
  much more you know efficient i find and i think
• 36:46
  like being efficient and everything is like it's
• 36:47
  super important it's just like any kind of work
• 36:50
  right but it's it's what i've also like have
• 36:54
  shifted it's not just like um the being strong
• 36:58
  being active and all that but i've also really
• 37:01
  focused on like the internal like the gut uh
• 37:04
  what's going into my system like am i eating
• 37:06
  all these like freaking pesticides and all that
• 37:09
  like i've gone like full -blown organic uh red
• 37:12
  meat diet is huge uh so much vitamins in there
• 37:15
  so like i've shifted to that uh it's all these
• 37:18
  like little things that go all together that
• 37:19
  just pretty much like it elevates like your human
• 37:22
  experience right like you're just that much more
• 37:23
  efficient you know like it's not nothing is as
• 37:26
  hard what it should be you know what i mean it's
• 37:28
  actually easier it's kind of like my concept
• 37:31
  around that um so yeah and training for me is
• 37:35
  also an outlet too like where i could go and
• 37:37
  just like zone in and like get out of my mind
• 37:40
  if so those days that are like you know you lose
• 37:42
  control of it kind of come out just tune into
• 37:44
  your body and really like get the work in um
• 37:49
  But, yeah, no, it's been a great part of my life
• 37:51
  for sure. You did a great job, actually, when
• 37:54
  we were working out together. You were pushing.
• 37:56
  It was nice to see you. Yeah, I'm okay. I can,
• 37:59
  like, I'll survive, you know. Yeah, I just remember,
• 38:04
  like, you know, I've, like, hung out with people
• 38:06
  who were, like, in good shape before, you know,
• 38:07
  and, like, they worked out really well. But,
• 38:09
  like, seeing the way that, like, you navigate
• 38:10
  your life in, like, that holistic way of, like,
• 38:13
  everything was, like, really inspiring, you know.
• 38:15
  And I remember, like, even you coming over. and
• 38:19
  we did a cambo ceremony and i served cambo on
• 38:21
  you and i was like just take your shirt off like
• 38:24
  it'll just be easier that way and it's just like
• 38:27
  eight o 'clock in the morning on a wednesday
• 38:29
  you know it's just like six pack just chilling
• 38:32
  i was like holy fuck man it's epic man yeah okay
• 38:38
  let's uh let's dive into the the the beautiful
• 38:41
  mystical world of like the light and the and
• 38:44
  the medicines uh i'd love to hear like how how
• 38:47
  you found psilocybin and uh how it like started
• 38:51
  to to take shape in your life um so i i had found
• 38:57
  it like a few years ago um But again, I was just
• 39:01
  using it with no protocol and not knowing what
• 39:04
  it is. I was just taking it as a microdose and
• 39:06
  thinking, okay, this makes me feel better, whatever
• 39:08
  it is. And obviously, I've used it recreationally
• 39:11
  in the past with friends, going camping and stuff.
• 39:14
  When I came out of Big Brother, actually, one
• 39:16
  of my buddies referred me to this guy. And I
• 39:21
  got into this Conscious Mechanics course with
• 39:22
  Ryan Vera. And I did some work there while we
• 39:27
  were microdosing and I saw a whole different
• 39:28
  aspect of like how the medicine is actually used
• 39:31
  as medicine and like a tool and not a crutch.
• 39:33
  I was really using it as a crutch. I'm like,
• 39:35
  this makes me feel better. I'm going to use it.
• 39:37
  But at the end when I was off it, I was like,
• 39:38
  I was back to normal. But now I really got in,
• 39:42
  like during that course, I really got in tune
• 39:44
  with it and like used it the way it should be
• 39:46
  used. and use it as a tool and that really like
• 39:50
  kind of like opened things up for me i'm like
• 39:51
  oh my holy okay so this is how it works and i
• 39:54
  could actually change myself this is like coming
• 39:56
  out of big brother right i'm still up and i'm
• 39:59
  like wow okay like now i'm starting to see things
• 40:01
  within myself the noise is quieting like i can
• 40:03
  really like back in and like start seeing everything
• 40:06
  um and then it just like from there it kind of
• 40:09
  like went deeper and deeper and deeper started
• 40:11
  doing some like dojo flood doses i'm like and
• 40:15
  i remember when i had my first click it took
• 40:18
  me a while because i have like a strong mind
• 40:19
  the mind was like gripping on everything and
• 40:21
  didn't want to let me go to that space it's like
• 40:23
  no no no you're staying here and i remember when
• 40:26
  i had my first click man it was so dark before
• 40:29
  getting to that click it was like i'm like seeing
• 40:32
  things that i don't want to see um and i'm like
• 40:35
  trying to push it away and it's coming back and
• 40:38
  then i remember when i had that click it was
• 40:39
  like like my my whole body like disappeared i
• 40:43
  don't like and I remember that cosmic laugh that
• 40:46
  I had like I was fucking dying of laughter and
• 40:49
  then just like the amount of information that's
• 40:52
  in that field I'm like holy shit like I everything's
• 40:55
  here and I'm just like having this whole experience
• 40:59
  and then from that moment on that's when I'm
• 41:01
  like okay like now if if I actually do it the
• 41:05
  right way like I could actually you know start
• 41:07
  changing myself like as who I am and it just
• 41:10
  led to going even deeper which eventually led
• 41:13
  me to sitting with mother ayahuasca and that's
• 41:17
  why like the real work started like before that
• 41:20
  was more like mind stuff like kind of like pushing
• 41:22
  the mind around and like understanding it and
• 41:24
  this was like oh my god ayahuasca was like next
• 41:28
  level it was like that times 10 you know um and
• 41:32
  but it was the same thing like when i got into
• 41:34
  uh my first uh ayahuasca ceremony same thing
• 41:39
  like i was in it taught me so much too because
• 41:42
  I wasn't getting that full experience like I'm
• 41:45
  hearing everybody like getting all these like
• 41:46
  crazy experiences and I'm like I was still like
• 41:49
  I'm trapped in my mind and it's like my mind
• 41:52
  really didn't want to let go uh and then I was
• 41:55
  getting like angry at myself I'm like why can't
• 41:57
  I get there and then I started questioning like
• 41:59
  this is fake this is not real this is like uh
• 42:02
  this is this is this is a work And I remember
• 42:05
  she kind of, like, built me up. And she was showing
• 42:08
  me, like, be patient. You know, like, let go.
• 42:11
  And this and that. And, like, I'm a type of guy,
• 42:12
  like, I want it now. Like, I want something I
• 42:14
  want it now. Instead of just, like, sitting and,
• 42:16
  like, being with it. And she led me up. And then
• 42:19
  the fourth night, she got me really good. She
• 42:22
  took me. I just remember. And it hit me so fast,
• 42:25
  too. Like, I was gone within, like, 20, 30 minutes.
• 42:29
  I was like, phew. And, oh. Where I traveled,
• 42:34
  I can't even explain it in words. It showed me
• 42:36
  so many things. I literally hanged out. You don't
• 42:41
  get this in therapy. I got to hang out with my
• 42:44
  inner child for two hours long. I was hanging
• 42:46
  out with him, crying, laughing, purging, crying,
• 42:51
  laughing. I felt like a kid again. It felt so
• 42:55
  real. It's almost like he was literally there
• 42:57
  with me. I was having this whole experience and
• 43:00
  I remember coming out of that night, I'm like,
• 43:02
  holy shit, like this, this is it. This is where
• 43:05
  it happens. And then I remember like the integration
• 43:08
  part was like such a beautiful thing because
• 43:11
  I was like kind of like seeing like more parts
• 43:13
  of myself that I wasn't seeing or just I didn't
• 43:15
  want to face, which led to like seeing some wounds
• 43:18
  that were coming from like my mother's side,
• 43:20
  my dad's side and this and this and that. And
• 43:23
  then I did like a lot of work and I went to sit
• 43:25
  again. And then one of my last times, like we
• 43:29
  were talking earlier, like I had a full blown
• 43:31
  heart surgery. I was like, what is going on?
• 43:34
  But I still remember every single bit of that.
• 43:38
  the ceremony and it led me up because like first
• 43:41
  night was super intense second night it was like
• 43:44
  it was like more soft it's kind of pulling me
• 43:46
  in third night i'm like getting in tune with
• 43:48
  it i'm like starting to sound like oh like i'm
• 43:50
  starting to build because i didn't have the relationship
• 43:51
  with her the first ceremony was the first ceremony
• 43:54
  she kind of just took me and like sent me off
• 43:57
  But this, I was, like, kind of, like, tuning,
• 43:59
  almost like I was talking with her. I was, like,
• 44:01
  tuning in with her and, like, being with her.
• 44:03
  And then she was bringing me to spaces that I
• 44:06
  needed to see, come back. And she was, like,
• 44:09
  very, like, beautiful, like, soft. Like, still
• 44:11
  showing me darkness, but, like, in a soft. And
• 44:13
  I was, like, pouring my love into it and, like,
• 44:15
  coming back. Like, these clicks were happening.
• 44:18
  And then my last night, it was, like, like. because
• 44:21
  obviously like i've had like hard time like feeling
• 44:24
  emotions all that like i've i've suppressed myself
• 44:26
  for so long comes from wounds but at the same
• 44:28
  time like 10 years of firefighting it's like
• 44:30
  we're just suppressing suppressing suppressing
• 44:32
  and i was so numb like i was like numb like no
• 44:35
  feeling like it would leak into my relationships
• 44:37
  with like family girlfriends whatever it is and
• 44:40
  even the relationship with myself like like to
• 44:42
  be honest like i i had no love for myself like
• 44:45
  i felt like very unworthy and like people think
• 44:47
  oh this guy's living the best life he's traveling
• 44:49
  this and that like he's big on social media behind
• 44:52
  all that i was like empty i was like there's
• 44:54
  numbness like no connection no nothing um and
• 44:58
  when i had that first pop there that my first
• 45:01
  ever ceremony it kind of showed me but i knew
• 45:03
  there was a lot more um and then my very very
• 45:06
  last ceremony um the fourth night like full -blown
• 45:11
  heart surgery i'm like we're sitting in this
• 45:12
  dark room um and then i remember the sita sitting
• 45:17
  in front of me she's whatever doing her carls
• 45:20
  and i just like who the fuck like at one point
• 45:23
  i'm like who the fuck open the lights like it's
• 45:25
  so bright and i'm like i'm like wait a second
• 45:27
  there's no lights in here i'm like i'm like okay
• 45:31
  i'm like okay i look down and i remember just
• 45:36
  seeing my chest like wide open I'm like, and
• 45:39
  beam of light is coming out. And then I just
• 45:42
  see like, it sounds crazy, but tentacles come
• 45:45
  in and I'm like, and I'm like feeling them in
• 45:47
  me. I'm like, oh shit. I'm like, what is this?
• 45:49
  And at one point my arms were like wet, wet,
• 45:52
  wet, like dripping. I'm like, what the fuck?
• 45:54
  Is it raining in here now? And I look and I'm
• 45:58
  like, wait a second. There's a roof here. It's
• 46:01
  not raining. It is impossible. It's raining here.
• 46:04
  And then I remember touching my face. And at
• 46:05
  this point, I'm, like, laughing. Like, I'm, like,
• 46:07
  full of joy. I'm, like, wow. Like, I'm feeling
• 46:09
  things. I'm touching my face, drenched. And so
• 46:12
  it's, like, pouring all over me. I'm, like, holy
• 46:14
  fuck, holy fuck, holy fuck. And I'm, like, just
• 46:17
  trying to, like, be the observer of, like, this
• 46:19
  whole experience of what's happening. And then,
• 46:21
  like, sadness starts coming. So now I'm, like,
• 46:23
  crying of sadness. And then anger comes up. I'm,
• 46:25
  like, fucking angry. And then joy comes back.
• 46:28
  And I'm laughing. And this felt like going on
• 46:30
  for, like, hours. But it's probably, like, just,
• 46:32
  like. maybe 10 minutes and i'm going i'm going
• 46:35
  i'm feeling all these things and then when she
• 46:37
  finished her carros i just remember everything
• 46:40
  closed and every single breath till this day
• 46:43
  like when i breathe and i tune into my breath
• 46:45
  like i could feel it just every breath was like
• 46:47
  i'm like holy i was like biggest smile on my
• 46:53
  face like i got somebody beside me that's like
• 46:55
  absolutely just purging like going through hell
• 46:58
  i'm like here laying back smoking five of five
• 47:01
  shows like like wow and that lasted for me to
• 47:06
  like this day like it's still like a vivid memory
• 47:09
  and it showed me so much um like i thought feeling
• 47:14
  was like it was just like some you either have
• 47:16
  it or not but like everybody has it i just had
• 47:18
  numb myself so much over the years and now like
• 47:22
  i just kind of remember that feeling that i had
• 47:24
  in ceremony and i i bring it back wherever i
• 47:27
  am i'm like i go play sports i'll bring it there
• 47:29
  like find the joy for the sports again like you
• 47:31
  love playing this it's fun have fun it's like
• 47:34
  my inner childhood my inner child is coming out
• 47:37
  and playing with me going to work stop thinking
• 47:40
  of like oh you want to leave like you want to
• 47:41
  leave the country enjoy work have fun like be
• 47:44
  present like like this is fun you this is what
• 47:46
  you work for your whole life and then like hanging
• 47:48
  out with friends and this and this and that like
• 47:50
  tell them you love them like like it like lets
• 47:53
  your expressions out it's just like it's just
• 47:55
  like a chain reaction of everything and it's
• 47:57
  just man it changed my life and it's still to
• 48:00
  this day i still have like these clicks i was
• 48:02
  like oh yeah this is it okay i gotta shift this
• 48:05
  within me and uh yeah yeah it was wild yeah oh
• 48:11
  it's such an amazing experience i'm like i'm
• 48:13
  so happy that like it all clicked for you too
• 48:15
  and the thing like you said like you brought
• 48:17
  up a really good point with like the relationship
• 48:19
  you know it's like these medicines it's all about
• 48:22
  relationship you know like it isn't just some
• 48:25
  molecule that like it creates this experience
• 48:27
  you know what i mean you have to like earn it
• 48:29
  you have to trust her you have to like build
• 48:31
  that relationship like you would with a friend
• 48:33
  you know it doesn't happen instantly and a lot
• 48:36
  of people come to the medicine and like you know
• 48:38
  it's like it could be expensive to drink medicine
• 48:39
  too and people come and they just like they start
• 48:42
  just doing you know it's like oh but i'm not
• 48:45
  getting the experience i'm not getting what i
• 48:47
  paid for all this you know And the thing is,
• 48:50
  is like the weekends are like, you know, three,
• 48:52
  four, you know, up to, I don't know, 10, I've
• 48:54
  done like a 10 day ceremony, you know? And it
• 48:58
  only takes 15 seconds to change your life. You
• 49:03
  know what I mean? Like you're there for four
• 49:07
  days, but it's like, it's just this tiny little
• 49:10
  window where everything opens and it's just like,
• 49:11
  okay, I'm in, you know? and uh the transformation
• 49:15
  it makes in people is just like unbelievable
• 49:17
  and i just see it time and time again you know
• 49:20
  like i've been in like the wellness space for
• 49:21
  like a long time and like i've explored a lot
• 49:23
  of different avenues and there's just something
• 49:26
  about ayahuasca that is just so different and
• 49:29
  so special where the expansion that happens is
• 49:36
  so like it's so vivid and it's so profound there
• 49:41
  is no going back You know, but like what on like
• 49:45
  what's on the other side of that is like a life
• 49:47
  of emotion and joy and like presence, you know,
• 49:50
  and like sensation and feeling. Whereas like,
• 49:53
  at least for me, up until that point in my life,
• 49:57
  it was like it was all in my head. You know,
• 50:01
  like I'd never even left my mind for a second,
• 50:05
  you know, and it's like, oh, finally, you know,
• 50:09
  the breath comes in. yes it's like you know you're
• 50:14
  gone from it and you're like oh wow it's like
• 50:17
  it's just so crazy it shows you how powerful
• 50:19
  like we have like this complex machine right
• 50:22
  and it's just so powerful to keep you in there
• 50:25
  and like the moment you could actually back away
• 50:28
  from it and actually like just be the observer
• 50:31
  and like just look at it um and like during the
• 50:34
  ceremony was the same thing too there's like
• 50:36
  that that feeling of being there it's like i
• 50:39
  don't know it's hard to explain but it's just
• 50:40
  like i could breathe why why why am i why am
• 50:45
  i stuck in here you know it's like this is the
• 50:47
  real me yeah what an amazing thing to like see
• 50:52
  what's behind your face you know to like know
• 50:55
  who that person is you know yeah it's so interesting
• 51:01
  too because like it actually teaches you so much
• 51:03
  too about your own mind and like how it operates
• 51:06
  and then like where your programs are coming
• 51:08
  for like just having that that like i guess call
• 51:12
  it the click like really coming out of it and
• 51:15
  when you come back in it and you start like still
• 51:17
  operating in your like everyday life like now
• 51:19
  you're understanding more like you're you're
• 51:21
  actually it's like you're building that relationship
• 51:23
  with your own mind like you haven't been doing
• 51:25
  for like my past 25 years of my life i'm like
• 51:29
  oh this is me this is it you know like this is
• 51:31
  the mind the voice this that's really me There
• 51:34
  was no relationship with the mind, you know,
• 51:37
  where it's like, I'm actually the awareness and
• 51:40
  I'm like trying to like, you know, balance this
• 51:42
  thing out. You know, you're just living in the
• 51:45
  chaos. And then especially like, you know, listening
• 51:47
  to your story of like all the, like, uh, the
• 51:51
  emotions being felt at like such a high magnitude,
• 51:55
  you know, during the ceremonies. And it's like,
• 51:57
  we all have so much of that inside of us. It's
• 52:00
  just locked up. you know like all the like the
• 52:03
  trauma and the sadness and everything that we
• 52:05
  couldn't express you know and when we look at
• 52:09
  like the like the like the lakota traditions
• 52:11
  you know of like the natives up in like uh like
• 52:14
  south dakota up into like western canada they
• 52:17
  say like the ultimate medicine is like laughter
• 52:21
  and tears you know yeah it is it's so true though
• 52:26
  it's the thing that like breaks up all the concrete
• 52:29
  that's inside of us of just like all this trapped
• 52:31
  energy and bullshit yeah yeah no it's so interesting
• 52:37
  man it's such a beautiful path and i feel like
• 52:39
  there's just so much more i guess there's like
• 52:42
  it never stops you could see more more and more
• 52:45
  and more um but that's why like i'm very like
• 52:48
  super interested in like actually getting on
• 52:51
  plant diet and actually like sitting with those
• 52:53
  plan teachers and actually like go even deeper
• 52:55
  with it um it just my life right now is just
• 52:58
  like not um aligning right now but the calling
• 53:01
  is there i know the calling is there it's been
• 53:03
  calling me since like i was in costa rica with
• 53:05
  you i'm like i gotta do one i gotta do one so
• 53:08
  i think it's gonna be the next step in the in
• 53:10
  the medicine path for sure yeah it's definitely
• 53:13
  like it's a it's an epic path once you start
• 53:16
  getting into the dietas but you're like 100 right
• 53:18
  where you do have to have your life orchestrated
• 53:21
  in a certain way that allows like that container
• 53:25
  to happen you know like you have to live so quietly
• 53:29
  and so peacefully and like you can't touch anyone
• 53:32
  you know so it's like people who are like acupuncturists
• 53:36
  and stuff like they can't if that's how they
• 53:39
  make their money to stay alive like they can't
• 53:41
  really diet because they can't stop working you
• 53:44
  know and if you're like on diet you can't be
• 53:46
  running into burning houses yeah right or touching
• 53:50
  dead people every day like you can't it's you
• 53:53
  just you just can't do it so to some degree you
• 53:56
  do have to align it you know and like i really
• 53:57
  believe like there's always seasons too you know
• 54:00
  like there's seasons for like going inwards deep
• 54:03
  and then there's seasons for like taking big
• 54:05
  action externally you know and like i i know
• 54:08
  it'll come for you eventually you know yeah no
• 54:11
  for sure like i like it's funny you say that
• 54:13
  because like my season right now like i know
• 54:15
  i'm externally i'm like creating this whole everything
• 54:19
  right now like my online stuff like having fun
• 54:22
  with dj you know like all that stuff i'm like
• 54:24
  i'm like kind of like building everything so
• 54:26
  it allows me eventually to just be in a in a
• 54:29
  in a state where i could just you know walk away
• 54:34
  from firefighting this and this and that and
• 54:35
  just do it eventually you know what i mean for
• 54:39
  sure for sure and there's no rush too you know
• 54:42
  like i'm gonna be drinking ayahuasca to the day
• 54:44
  i die Like without a doubt, you know, and I'm
• 54:47
  going to be dieting until the day I die. Like
• 54:49
  my retirement plan is just to diet. You know,
• 54:53
  like that's already locked in. Like I already
• 54:57
  know I have a good 20 years of dieting up there
• 55:00
  somewhere, you know, but like just get them in
• 55:02
  while I can for now. Yeah. Yeah. And, uh, and
• 55:13
  another thing that's like really cool, uh, with,
• 55:15
  with Steven is he has like an amazing group of
• 55:19
  boys, you know, that he like walks this path
• 55:22
  with. And like, they all came out to ceremony
• 55:25
  and like, they're all drinking and like, they're
• 55:27
  just so sick, you know? And I got the chance
• 55:29
  to like meet up with a couple of them a few weeks
• 55:31
  ago. And I just forgot how wonderful your crew
• 55:35
  is. You know, they're just such like joyous people.
• 55:40
  and like curious people and sensitive people
• 55:43
  and all jacked out of their minds which is even
• 55:46
  better you know i'd love to hear your take on
• 55:52
  on like the importance of brotherhood in your
• 55:56
  life because that's definitely there deep for
• 55:58
  you yeah we've spoken about this in the past
• 56:02
  um it's it's so and i don't know if this is like
• 56:07
  maybe from like my greek roots or something like
• 56:09
  that like we're very community based um but like
• 56:13
  uh half of like i would say like 70 percent of
• 56:15
  my friend group maybe even 80 percent like we
• 56:18
  know each other from like five six years old
• 56:19
  and we're like 30s in our 30s right now we're
• 56:22
  still friends like we play pickleball like on
• 56:24
  days off we travel we do this and this and that
• 56:28
  and it's such something that for me like it was
• 56:31
  a big important part of my life because like
• 56:33
  i hear like these stories like people like change
• 56:35
  friend groups like whether it's like going from
• 56:37
  elementary high school college this work and
• 56:40
  when people hear like you're still friends with
• 56:42
  your guys from like five years old like yeah
• 56:44
  man we go like we still go hard every day like
• 56:46
  we're like it's like we never miss a beat and
• 56:49
  just having that sense of community and like
• 56:51
  the boys and like kind of the tribe you know
• 56:54
  what i mean um it allows you to like walk it
• 56:59
  allowed me personally to like a walk easier through
• 57:02
  life you know what i mean because like we're
• 57:03
  very open with each other like like whether it's
• 57:05
  like relationship this how we're feeling and
• 57:07
  stuff like that like we pour each other out and
• 57:09
  it's good to have like um i guess like that um
• 57:13
  community where you could go and like just be
• 57:16
  yourself and like yeah man i'm having a terrible
• 57:18
  day this and this and that and it's just so beautiful
• 57:21
  to still see we have this at like 32 years old
• 57:24
  and we're still at the same playing field um
• 57:27
  and it's funny because like now three of us has
• 57:31
  been a while like we've been doing the path and
• 57:33
  now like everybody's interested so like we're
• 57:35
  running men's retreats and we work with like
• 57:36
  psilocybin and we had like most of the boys coming
• 57:39
  there's just a few they're still like uh scared
• 57:41
  of it but like now they're all on the path and
• 57:45
  i like they're all like having these massive
• 57:46
  shifts and like changing and like i remember
• 57:49
  how they were like 10 years ago like when we
• 57:51
  were like in this party phase and like drugs
• 57:53
  alcohol this that And everybody has this massive
• 57:56
  shift and, like, just, like, finding themselves
• 57:58
  and, like, understanding their minds and, like,
• 58:00
  getting more into, like, wellness and health.
• 58:02
  And it's, like, we're growing together. Like,
• 58:04
  we're not stopping until we die. Like, we're
• 58:06
  going to be in our deathbeds, like, fucking smoking
• 58:08
  our last cigar, being like, I remember these
• 58:10
  days, you know? Like, going through all this
• 58:12
  stuff together. And I think it's just so beautiful
• 58:15
  having, like, people that you trust like that
• 58:18
  in your life. And it's hard to find these days,
• 58:21
  you know? Like, you can't just, like... talk
• 58:23
  to anybody it's like okay i could be fully trusted
• 58:25
  with this guy it's like man this is like 30 years
• 58:27
  of like 25 years of like building relationship
• 58:30
  like deep knowing each other like we know every
• 58:32
  each other's flaws which we still use it against
• 58:35
  each other like kind of like like talk you know
• 58:38
  that's what friends are for um but we see like,
• 58:41
  we've seen like all our successes too. And like
• 58:43
  where we came from, where we're at now. And it's
• 58:46
  like, it's such a beautiful journey to have that.
• 58:48
  And it's like, I'm so grateful. And like, I would
• 58:50
  have been, I would never change one thing about
• 58:52
  that. I think like if you want to take everything
• 58:54
  out of my life, it's that one thing I wouldn't
• 58:56
  lie. It's that and family. Yeah. I mean, it's
• 59:01
  almost like. it's almost hard for me to like
• 59:05
  understand to some degree how you've pulled that
• 59:07
  off over the span of decades. Because like every
• 59:10
  time, like we were talking about before, like,
• 59:13
  you know, I had like my primary school friends
• 59:15
  and my high school friends and my university
• 59:17
  friends. And like the problem is, is that like,
• 59:20
  it seems like everyone's taking different paths,
• 59:23
  you know? And that's kind of what separates you
• 59:25
  over time. But the fact that you guys are all
• 59:27
  running in like a straight line together is so
• 59:30
  sick, you know? it is and it's funny because
• 59:34
  like example you have like one of us that like
• 59:36
  i don't know like had a leap but we're not leaving
• 59:39
  them there it's like come on boys this is it
• 59:41
  is and somebody else will have a leap it's like
• 59:44
  here's the rope come on it's like it just feels
• 59:47
  like it's that throughout life because like we
• 59:48
  all have a bit of a different path to like whatever
• 59:50
  like career wise and stuff like that but at the
• 59:52
  end of the day we still have like that stepping
• 59:55
  stone where we're all there you know it's like
• 59:57
  whether you're doing this this is that or you're
• 59:59
  living here they're there it's like never missed
• 1:00:01
  a beat and we're just trying to pull each other
• 1:00:03
  up and so it's so cool so cool and i see that
• 1:00:07
  and it's in every domain in life too you know
• 1:00:10
  like you guys are all hustling you're all in
• 1:00:12
  great shape you all like eat healthy you're all
• 1:00:14
  like starting to walk the plant medicine path
• 1:00:16
  and everything and like it's so sick man it's
• 1:00:19
  so sick i don't know how you pulled that off
• 1:00:21
  honestly it's like I don't even know either.
• 1:00:25
  I don't even know. It just happened, you know,
• 1:00:27
  we're just, I guess, stayed true to ourselves
• 1:00:29
  and valued our relationships and we just kept
• 1:00:33
  it going. And yeah, I think it's gotta be like
• 1:00:36
  a Greek thing too, because I feel like Greek
• 1:00:38
  is very like community based, you know, like
• 1:00:41
  think of it like we, when we started migrating,
• 1:00:44
  like into like. the western world like when they
• 1:00:47
  were leaving like during the civil wars and all
• 1:00:48
  that stuff like they came and they stayed together
• 1:00:50
  you know like all the greeks stayed together
• 1:00:52
  like you go to montreal there's a greek area
• 1:00:54
  you go to toronto there's danforth greek area
• 1:00:56
  it's like even here in laval there's like a greek
• 1:00:58
  area um it's like and i think that plays a big
• 1:01:02
  role too but i think we did it i think well i
• 1:01:05
  gotta give each other pat on our shoulder we
• 1:01:06
  did a good job to keeping it together you know
• 1:01:08
  for all these years for sure and i can see you
• 1:01:10
  guys running it till the end you know like you're
• 1:01:13
  all on the path yeah Yeah. Yeah. And it's been
• 1:01:17
  like really inspiring, like, you know, with both
• 1:01:19
  you and like Marcos for me, like seeing how much
• 1:01:23
  you like love your connection, like back to your
• 1:01:26
  homeland, you know? And like, for me, it's like,
• 1:01:30
  I. Like, grew up in Australia and, like, my family
• 1:01:33
  is basically, like, as white Australian as you
• 1:01:36
  can get, you know, with, like, generations. Like,
• 1:01:39
  we were, like, we were on both sides. They were,
• 1:01:41
  like, coming in in the early days, you know.
• 1:01:43
  But, like, I'm not Australian. You know what
• 1:01:46
  I mean? Like, my lineage is not Australian. Like,
• 1:01:48
  we're not, like, the indigenous there. I have,
• 1:01:51
  like, almost no connection to my homeland. And,
• 1:01:54
  like, seeing the way that you and Marcos, it's
• 1:01:57
  like every year you go back. to like the motherland
• 1:02:00
  you know i'd love to hear like how like that
• 1:02:04
  has shaped you like understanding your roots
• 1:02:07
  yeah and i i think it's like it's super important
• 1:02:11
  like if you know your roots like i'm a big believer
• 1:02:15
  of like keeping it like get into the traditions
• 1:02:17
  um like explore that your culture like even though
• 1:02:21
  you like you're detached because you're living
• 1:02:22
  here in kind of like still part of you like it
• 1:02:25
  runs in you right it's like that energy is still
• 1:02:27
  there it's like connect to it like go go learn
• 1:02:30
  more about the culture go learn more about the
• 1:02:31
  history of it like and for me like going to greece
• 1:02:35
  it's like it's just that it's just like a it's
• 1:02:37
  not even like a an ex it's more like an energy
• 1:02:40
  thing it's like i i need to go connect there
• 1:02:43
  and that's why the big goal is to move there
• 1:02:45
  it's like i need to go there i need to feel this
• 1:02:48
  and i i always feel life there like no matter
• 1:02:50
  if it's a shitty day or not i have like this
• 1:02:53
  there's like this sense of energy it's like i
• 1:02:55
  don't know if it's like from the history or like
• 1:02:57
  just knowing that that's my roots i'm there and
• 1:03:00
  i'm like I'm in Greece this is this is me you
• 1:03:04
  know and I've traveled the world I've done like
• 1:03:06
  almost like 30 something countries and I've been
• 1:03:09
  to like beautiful amazing places but and and
• 1:03:13
  it's not even being biased because I'm Greek
• 1:03:14
  it's just like the moment I get there it's just
• 1:03:16
  like this this like attraction it's like it's
• 1:03:19
  pulling me in it's like hmm this is where you
• 1:03:21
  belong it's like and it's been pulling me there
• 1:03:23
  for years and that's why I've had these like
• 1:03:25
  thoughts of like okay well maybe I should do
• 1:03:28
  the shift and move there And you're already seeing
• 1:03:31
  like a bunch of our friends, like Greek friends,
• 1:03:32
  like are moving there. The ones that came here
• 1:03:34
  to study, which Theo was one of them. He's been
• 1:03:37
  here for what, like six, seven years? Born and
• 1:03:39
  raised in Greece. Came here and he's like, man,
• 1:03:41
  like I have to go back. I can't, I can't stay
• 1:03:44
  here. It doesn't, this doesn't feel normal. I'm
• 1:03:47
  like, I'm like, yeah. So like slowly, slowly,
• 1:03:50
  we're all leaving. We're all kind of going there.
• 1:03:54
  but yeah it's so nice just to connect him back
• 1:03:56
  to your roots like it's so important especially
• 1:03:57
  if like you know you have and you like there's
• 1:04:00
  something there like why not try and keep that
• 1:04:03
  and then try and keep that for your kids and
• 1:04:04
  your kids kids and kids kids it's so important
• 1:04:06
  you know what i mean it's like it's it's you
• 1:04:08
  it's part of you right so and there's so much
• 1:04:10
  history there in grace like so many things started
• 1:04:13
  from there um it's yeah it's like the beginning
• 1:04:16
  of the west right so it's uh yeah it's so powerful
• 1:04:22
  you'll you'll know when you go to Greece you
• 1:04:24
  can understand you're gonna land now that you
• 1:04:25
  you can like you're gonna feel it right away
• 1:04:27
  you'll be oh okay I get what they're talking
• 1:04:28
  about yeah yeah I'll be out there July next year
• 1:04:33
  I'm super stoked yeah I've spent like a lot of
• 1:04:36
  time traveling you know but like I've never been
• 1:04:37
  out to to the Europe side of things and uh even
• 1:04:41
  just like talking about like lineage you know
• 1:04:43
  like I i like went on such a journey to like
• 1:04:47
  find the signals of truth in this world you know
• 1:04:51
  and it took me such a long time to put together
• 1:04:53
  and like for me it's like they're really like
• 1:04:55
  the two big anchors are like ayahuasca and bitcoin
• 1:04:57
  i feel like if you have those two things like
• 1:04:59
  everything in your life stays aligned to some
• 1:05:02
  degree and you like can't hide in in your like
• 1:05:05
  bullshit you know it's like it's just truth um
• 1:05:09
  but it's actually really interesting because
• 1:05:11
  my sister she came out and lived with me for
• 1:05:15
  like two months at the start of this year and
• 1:05:18
  she ended up like drinking medicine when she
• 1:05:23
  came out here and then also i just like spoke
• 1:05:27
  to her a ridiculous amount about bitcoin so like
• 1:05:30
  now she's like you know someone who's drinking
• 1:05:32
  ayahuasca and holding bitcoin but she's actually
• 1:05:35
  gonna go and move to europe to like the uk uh
• 1:05:39
  at in like a in like three weeks you know and
• 1:05:43
  i'm super excited to hear like her reflection
• 1:05:46
  on what it's like being what would be considered
• 1:05:49
  to some degree like our homeland you know yeah
• 1:05:52
  yeah yeah it's interesting um talking about bitcoin
• 1:05:58
  and stuff like that like that is such an interesting
• 1:06:00
  path too like i've ever since living as a neighbor
• 1:06:04
  besides you and hearing talk about it you you
• 1:06:06
  know a lot more than i know But I've been, ever
• 1:06:10
  since our conversation, I've been going pretty
• 1:06:12
  balls deep into it. I won't lie. They keep rabbit
• 1:06:17
  hole, man. Like, you can keep pulling that tether
• 1:06:20
  for a long time, you know? And, like, I kind
• 1:06:22
  of see it the same way, like, with, like, the
• 1:06:24
  medicine. Like, you go down and, like, the indigenous
• 1:06:27
  down there, there's, like, the real yodas. you
• 1:06:30
  know like they really hold the medicine at like
• 1:06:32
  a super high level and like you go and hang out
• 1:06:35
  with like some of the bitcoiners here that are
• 1:06:37
  like down in like dominical and they're like
• 1:06:39
  they were mining bitcoin in like 2011 on laptops
• 1:06:42
  you know and it's like the same energy bro they're
• 1:06:45
  like yodas like they just like understand the
• 1:06:49
  impact and the energy of like this thing that's
• 1:06:53
  growing quietly in the background and i kind
• 1:06:56
  of see like the price of bitcoin as like literally
• 1:07:00
  the collective consciousness of humanity you
• 1:07:04
  know yeah like it dips and i'm like yeah it's
• 1:07:08
  like we've taken a step back you know and then
• 1:07:10
  it goes up people like oh they're getting the
• 1:07:12
  signal you know yeah it's so true but it's funny
• 1:07:17
  because like i started de -attaching almost like
• 1:07:19
  like i still followed the like the value of it
• 1:07:22
  as like what it is worth in fiat because i'm
• 1:07:25
  still like attached to that system of it and
• 1:07:27
  i'm very aware of it but i've slowly slowly started
• 1:07:30
  like like dissolving like the aspect of the fiat
• 1:07:35
  to it it's more like just the energy of bitcoin
• 1:07:37
  and it's actually been a game changer for me
• 1:07:40
  because like like we've had these conversations
• 1:07:42
  like i i you guys like most of you the big corners
• 1:07:45
  they just stack and stack and stack and they
• 1:07:47
  like don't look at the price just hold but me
• 1:07:50
  i was always like looking i'm like okay what
• 1:07:52
  is it at now okay like where can i enter okay
• 1:07:54
  this is that but like i've kind of like pushed
• 1:07:56
  away and now it's just like i allocate a certain
• 1:07:58
  amount to it and i just boom boom boom boom keep
• 1:08:00
  stacking for god knows when i'm gonna stop um
• 1:08:03
  never right that's that's never yeah so like
• 1:08:09
  i have such a different perspective of it i i
• 1:08:11
  still want to learn more about it because there's
• 1:08:12
  i still haven't put my 10 000 hours in but like
• 1:08:15
  it's there's just so much like i i learned something
• 1:08:18
  new i'm like holy shit this goes a lot deeper
• 1:08:20
  okay i gotta go go go go so i'm just like podcast
• 1:08:22
  every day and yeah learning yeah oh man i went
• 1:08:26
  through such a deep rabbit hole you know in like
• 1:08:29
  2020 i'd like already kind of like been around
• 1:08:32
  like the crypto space like i got into like 2017
• 1:08:35
  ish you know but just living in like this house
• 1:08:39
  on Vancouver Island during the pandemic. And
• 1:08:42
  like, we were all just obsessed. We'd be listening
• 1:08:45
  to podcasts for like 12 hours a day. And then
• 1:08:48
  we'd all just like come back to the dining table
• 1:08:50
  at night and just like fucking spitting all the
• 1:08:52
  codes of like what this thing is, you know? And
• 1:08:55
  like, it's like navigating life is hard, right?
• 1:08:59
  Because like you start to find these like signals
• 1:09:01
  of truth. And at least for me, it's like, Every
• 1:09:06
  time I like learn more, it's like I know I have
• 1:09:08
  to act in a more integral way and like the way
• 1:09:11
  in which I show up and the way in which I make
• 1:09:13
  money, you know. And now it's like so cool that
• 1:09:17
  this opportunity for me is opened where like
• 1:09:20
  my salary is fully in Bitcoin now, you know.
• 1:09:23
  I like I almost don't even interact with fiat
• 1:09:26
  at all. I pay my rent. I like orange pilled my
• 1:09:31
  landlord. so now i don't even like do the exchange
• 1:09:35
  with like bitcoin jungle where he is receiving
• 1:09:37
  colones like he's i'm peer -to -peer bitcoin
• 1:09:41
  to him now for my rent you know and then also
• 1:09:45
  like living in costa rica it's like you can just
• 1:09:48
  use bitcoin everywhere because there's such easy
• 1:09:50
  off ramps you know so like i like don't even
• 1:09:53
  touch fear you know that's crazy it's like it's
• 1:09:57
  already here and people don't even know like
• 1:09:58
  it's like the standard eventually it's It's cool
• 1:10:01
  to see, like, people already, like, just full
• 1:10:03
  -blown Bitcoin and they're not even touching
• 1:10:06
  fiat like yourself. Like, it's here already.
• 1:10:11
  It's here. It's actually here. And, like, the
• 1:10:13
  thing is, like, you do have to make moves, you
• 1:10:15
  know what I mean? Like, depending on how hardcore
• 1:10:17
  you want to go, like, it'd be very hard to live
• 1:10:19
  in Canada, I think, like, on a Bitcoin standard.
• 1:10:26
  Yeah. But, like, man, you come to Costa Rica,
• 1:10:28
  easy. You go to, like, El Salvador, it's already
• 1:10:30
  legal tender. You know, you literally go into
• 1:10:32
  like McDonald's and Starbucks there and you pay
• 1:10:34
  with Bitcoin. Yeah, it's crazy. It's good. It's
• 1:10:37
  coming everywhere. It's going to be like that
• 1:10:38
  everywhere. And I think it's coming a lot faster
• 1:10:41
  than we think. For sure. For sure. And I really
• 1:10:45
  don't know, like the adoption is going to be
• 1:10:49
  so strange, right? Because you're just not going
• 1:10:51
  to see like the West being the first movers.
• 1:10:55
  Because like they're so heavily like incentivized
• 1:10:58
  to keep the fiat system going. So like Australia
• 1:11:01
  and Canada and the US and like the EU, they're
• 1:11:04
  going to be the last to adopt it. So you're just
• 1:11:07
  going to have this like mass migration of like
• 1:11:10
  all the like intelligent people who understand
• 1:11:13
  the signal of Bitcoin just leaving, you know.
• 1:11:18
  And they're all going to start building up countries
• 1:11:20
  like Costa Rica and El Salvador. And they're
• 1:11:22
  going to be like the next superpowers of the
• 1:11:24
  world, which is just bizarre. Like El Salvador
• 1:11:27
  is already fucking hooking up volcanoes to Bitcoin
• 1:11:30
  miners. You know? Oh, wow. Like they're in. Like
• 1:11:36
  massive infrastructure. They should, they should,
• 1:11:41
  fucking Greece should jump on it. Greece should
• 1:11:43
  just, if Greece could be on it, dude, it would
• 1:11:48
  be awesome living there. Bitcoin standard. drinking
• 1:11:51
  some medicine even bring the medicine out there
• 1:11:53
  for sure there's such a spirit of rebellion the
• 1:11:56
  greeks like i didn't quite understand and it's
• 1:11:58
  like now i'm like more attached to what's happening
• 1:12:01
  because of like you and marcos and stuff and
• 1:12:03
  and it's just like every time something goes
• 1:12:06
  wrong the grace is like no fuck this i'm not
• 1:12:07
  doing it you know like riot It's exactly that.
• 1:12:12
  And we speak up. It's not like here in Canada.
• 1:12:15
  It's like, oh, yeah, OK, I'll do it. Whatever
• 1:12:16
  you tell us. Now there's like, nah, fuck you,
• 1:12:18
  man. Like, who do you think you are? Does it
• 1:12:21
  mean you run our country that you're in charge
• 1:12:22
  here? It's so it's it's so different. And that's
• 1:12:27
  why I love it there. It's like people actually
• 1:12:28
  speak up, you know, and they put their voice
• 1:12:30
  out and by action, you know, not just by like
• 1:12:33
  blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Phones and stuff
• 1:12:34
  like that. By action. Like, no, we're not doing
• 1:12:36
  it. that's you don't want us okay we're gonna
• 1:12:38
  start a riot and like full -blown right like
• 1:12:41
  i thought a fan of violence but like a good riot
• 1:12:44
  is nice you know uh -huh yeah i mean to some
• 1:12:47
  degree like it feels necessary you know where
• 1:12:50
  like i think you can't really pull it off in
• 1:12:53
  certain places but like when the culture is kind
• 1:12:55
  of like wrapped around that like the people do
• 1:12:58
  have power, like it just runs on a different
• 1:13:00
  system to some degree. And like one of the big
• 1:13:03
  reasons why I really wanted to leave Australia
• 1:13:05
  was like, you know, as like my consciousness
• 1:13:07
  expand and I've learned Bitcoin and I've like
• 1:13:09
  begun to understand who I am in the world around
• 1:13:11
  me more, the more I realized like the like insidious
• 1:13:15
  nature of some degree of like the matrix, you
• 1:13:18
  know, of how it's like trying to control us.
• 1:13:20
  And I was down in Bolivia and it just exploded
• 1:13:25
  while I was there. Like I was just literally
• 1:13:28
  staying in a hostel and then there was a rigged
• 1:13:31
  election and overnight the whole country rioted.
• 1:13:35
  And there was like tens of thousands of people
• 1:13:38
  out on the street trying to like bring everything
• 1:13:40
  back into like an actual natural homeostasis.
• 1:13:44
  And I'm like out there in the crowds and they're
• 1:13:47
  like being super nice to me. Like it wasn't dangerous
• 1:13:50
  at all. They were like, I'm sorry you're here,
• 1:13:52
  but like we got to do this, you know? And I was
• 1:13:55
  like, fucking. send it you know they were like
• 1:13:58
  pulling politicians out of buildings like shaving
• 1:14:01
  their heads in the street like all this shit
• 1:14:04
  you know and like all the highways were shut
• 1:14:06
  down with like these massive piles of like burning
• 1:14:09
  rubber tires and garbage and everything and one
• 1:14:13
  night i was like out in the crowd while they
• 1:14:15
  were like singing and chanting down like in the
• 1:14:17
  in the capital city la paz and all of a sudden
• 1:14:22
  like the ocean of people just starts like shifting
• 1:14:25
  and i was like oh what's going on here and everyone
• 1:14:28
  starts like running away from like this certain
• 1:14:31
  area and i'm just like in the crowd no idea what's
• 1:14:34
  going on and i'm like looking i'm like what's
• 1:14:36
  going on and then i see like the swat all roll
• 1:14:39
  up and they're like shooting tear gas like into
• 1:14:42
  the crowd so then like i'm just in the middle
• 1:14:45
  of fucking bolivia just like down the road like
• 1:14:48
  trying to get back to my hostel And I remember
• 1:14:52
  at that point I'd like already like made plans
• 1:14:55
  of like moving to Canada to like be with Emily.
• 1:14:57
  And I was like trying to find like somewhere
• 1:14:59
  to kind of go and live. And then like the next
• 1:15:01
  day I'm like on a call with this guy seeing if
• 1:15:05
  like I'm a good fit to go and volunteer on his
• 1:15:07
  farm. And he was like, what's that sound in the
• 1:15:09
  background? And I was like, oh, I'm in Bolivia
• 1:15:12
  and they're riding right now. They're letting
• 1:15:14
  off dynamite. the guy was like what the fuck
• 1:15:19
  is going on but it was like it became so clear
• 1:15:24
  to me that like as someone who grew up in australia
• 1:15:27
  like there is no way australians would ever do
• 1:15:30
  that you know so like the powers that be no matter
• 1:15:35
  how far they push the overreach and the control
• 1:15:38
  there is there is no escaping it you know yeah
• 1:15:42
  and that for me was like okay I need to think
• 1:15:44
  about like making a shift of like where I am
• 1:15:47
  in the world and it's the same thing here too
• 1:15:51
  in Canada it's uh I think it's very similar to
• 1:15:53
  Australia like every time I go to Australia I
• 1:15:56
  feel like it's just Canada but in a tropical
• 1:15:59
  more tropical place I guess but yeah just that
• 1:16:02
  mindset that's here it's just so it's just such
• 1:16:06
  in a box I find it's just yeah i like that you're
• 1:16:10
  saying the experience of bolivia like that would
• 1:16:12
  happen in greece too it's the exact same we're
• 1:16:14
  gonna speak up like we don't like it and like
• 1:16:16
  no you're not gonna tell us what to do you know
• 1:16:18
  it's but i feel like we should be more like that
• 1:16:22
  you know like it's just like like i said i'm
• 1:16:24
  not like a fan of violence but i mean like sometimes
• 1:16:26
  like just pushing those limits a bit it's like
• 1:16:28
  what you need to see change you know so Yeah.
• 1:16:32
  And like, I'm not a fan of violence either, but
• 1:16:34
  like the whole political thing, it's such bullshit,
• 1:16:38
  you know? And like, if I had to put myself in
• 1:16:41
  a camp, like I'm an anarchist, it's like, I don't
• 1:16:44
  believe anyone should be telling me what to do.
• 1:16:46
  And like, now people think like anarchy means
• 1:16:49
  violence, but it's not, it's just like, I want
• 1:16:52
  no rulers, you know? Like just let the people
• 1:16:55
  be free. And I think when we look at like governments
• 1:16:57
  and like kingdoms and monarchs and everything.
• 1:17:01
  It made sense to have them. Like when we're going
• 1:17:05
  back a thousand years, 2000 years, I don't even
• 1:17:07
  really understand timelines anymore to some degree.
• 1:17:09
  I'm like, you know, the earth being 200 years
• 1:17:12
  old at this point, wouldn't it really surprise
• 1:17:14
  me? Um, but. the role of the kingdom was to maintain
• 1:17:21
  the safety so that like there wasn't raiders
• 1:17:23
  you know so like you'd pay your taxes as like
• 1:17:26
  if you got raided like the army would step in
• 1:17:29
  and protect you you know and like i understand
• 1:17:32
  that concept but now it's like they're everywhere
• 1:17:36
  you know what i mean it's like oh you like sell
• 1:17:39
  something to your friend it's like well you should
• 1:17:41
  probably be paying tax on that And it's like,
• 1:17:44
  oh, tax this, tax that. All these rules and regulations
• 1:17:47
  versus just people living. I honestly believe
• 1:17:53
  people baseline good. There's a few characters
• 1:17:58
  out there that are up to no good. And I would
• 1:18:01
  say majority of them are actually not out there
• 1:18:04
  trying to cause harm. They're actually the ones
• 1:18:05
  in the government at this point. And I will...
• 1:18:12
  Yeah, I will never live in like the West again
• 1:18:15
  for the rest of my life, you know, because the
• 1:18:18
  whole idea that you can vote your way out of
• 1:18:20
  this bullshit is just like, it's bullshit. You
• 1:18:24
  know, like the only vote I have is like where
• 1:18:26
  I plant myself in the world. And like now with
• 1:18:30
  what's accessible to us, like I can make an income
• 1:18:34
  anywhere in the world. All I need is like a laptop
• 1:18:37
  and a phone. so like why would i even live in
• 1:18:40
  australia or in canada where i'm like taxed so
• 1:18:43
  heavily and the cost of living is so high if
• 1:18:46
  you make a u .s salary in costa rica you're a
• 1:18:48
  god you know what i mean or like even in like
• 1:18:52
  peru you know you're a god hence that is why
• 1:18:58
  i'm trying to create the game plan out of here
• 1:19:05
  Yeah, you had a good first attempt. It didn't
• 1:19:07
  quite stick, but that's okay. The next one I
• 1:19:09
  think will be good. Yeah, the next one will be
• 1:19:12
  good. Oh, fuck. Yeah. This life, man, it's so
• 1:19:19
  hard to navigate. And I can see how so many people
• 1:19:22
  just feel, like, stuck, you know. And, like,
• 1:19:25
  thank God I've had so many, like, amazing teachers.
• 1:19:28
  And, like, you know, we've shared a mentor, you
• 1:19:30
  know, and just amazing, you know, and, like,
• 1:19:32
  the medicines. and everything bringing us back
• 1:19:35
  to like what it actually means to be human yeah
• 1:19:38
  and it's so cool too because then like you actually
• 1:19:41
  appreciate your experience the human experience
• 1:19:43
  a lot more and you actually get to play it as
• 1:19:48
  the player and not like lost in i guess the mind
• 1:19:52
  or whatever it is and that appreciation also
• 1:19:57
  has brought me like having fun with it like i
• 1:20:00
  literally take it like i'm playing grand theft
• 1:20:02
  auto right now like it's like i'm having fun
• 1:20:04
  with it you know like i'm like exploring new
• 1:20:07
  things uh like i'm taking a more receptive of
• 1:20:10
  information coming in and like taking what i
• 1:20:13
  need and like adapting to what i have to um it's
• 1:20:17
  just made life so much more fun and at the same
• 1:20:21
  time it just brings that awareness and that presence
• 1:20:23
  and you're actually like really in the moment
• 1:20:25
  then how i used to live which man i couldn't
• 1:20:30
  see myself going back to that like i feel like
• 1:20:33
  it was just a blip all gone now i'm actually
• 1:20:35
  like you know playing the game before i was just
• 1:20:38
  i don't know what i was i i that's it i actually
• 1:20:44
  didn't know what i was that was actually the
• 1:20:46
  question that i was like trying to answer you
• 1:20:48
  know yeah it's such a beautiful thing once you
• 1:20:52
  get those answers it's like and it's kind of
• 1:20:55
  like what we're doing with our retreats too we're
• 1:20:57
  just trying to show people like this is who you
• 1:21:00
  are like all this other stuff is just construct
• 1:21:03
  of anything it's like this is who you are now
• 1:21:06
  take that empower yeah run me through the the
• 1:21:09
  offering and what you're working on yeah so basically
• 1:21:12
  at naos we're uh we right now we run like local
• 1:21:15
  retreats eventually you want to do like international
• 1:21:17
  everywhere and greece is one of the locations
• 1:21:19
  basically it's right now we're doing it just
• 1:21:23
  for men um i feel like there's not enough men's
• 1:21:26
  retreat out there and like with all the social
• 1:21:28
  conditioning and all these like programs and
• 1:21:30
  everything i feel like there's a lot of men like
• 1:21:32
  i speak to like you from the outside they look
• 1:21:35
  like they have everything but from the inside
• 1:21:37
  when you see like inside them they're so empty
• 1:21:39
  and like there's a lot of them are noticing it
• 1:21:41
  too and they're like man like i have all this
• 1:21:43
  success but i feel i feel disconnected i don't
• 1:21:46
  feel human no more like it's just not me So basically
• 1:21:49
  like our retreats, we do, we keep them pretty
• 1:21:52
  exclusive. We're very selective with who we bring
• 1:21:53
  and we like bring 10 men, kind of keep them more
• 1:21:56
  like personalized. And then like throughout the
• 1:21:59
  weekend, we do like contrast therapy, meditation
• 1:22:02
  workshops, breathwork workshops. And then we
• 1:22:06
  have dinners together. We're all lodged together.
• 1:22:08
  And then the one night, the Saturday night, we
• 1:22:11
  do a planned ceremony. We serve psilocybin. and
• 1:22:16
  yeah like uh it's just like a build -up to that
• 1:22:20
  ceremony so like we kind of teach them that like
• 1:22:23
  okay yeah breath week is good but like once you
• 1:22:25
  start using it as a crutch because oh i need
• 1:22:27
  breath workers i'm just anxious this and that
• 1:22:29
  now it's just it's just another crutch same thing
• 1:22:32
  with like contrast therapy cold plunge oh i'm
• 1:22:34
  feeling stressed i need to go cold plunge what
• 1:22:36
  you're gonna be at work and bust out a fucking
• 1:22:38
  ice bath and take a cold plunge in your office
• 1:22:40
  no you can't do that uh you could if you want
• 1:22:43
  to do but it's like it doesn't make sense so
• 1:22:45
  we're like teaching them how to use it as tools
• 1:22:47
  how to explore the mind how to explore self and
• 1:22:51
  at the same time it's kind of like down regulating
• 1:22:52
  their whole system so we're trying to get them
• 1:22:54
  out of their mind so and a lot of them it's like
• 1:22:56
  their first time they've never worked with psilocybin
• 1:22:58
  or psychedelics so it kind of like brings the
• 1:23:01
  whole picture together so that when they sit
• 1:23:03
  in ceremony like they show up like ready in tune
• 1:23:06
  with themselves and when they take the medicine
• 1:23:08
  it's like they have like this great experience
• 1:23:10
  as we all know um but yeah it's just been beautiful
• 1:23:13
  like uh we've been running quite a bit now and
• 1:23:16
  just seeing the breakthroughs of the guys what
• 1:23:20
  coming out of there like And even like the follow
• 1:23:23
  up because we kind of follow up with them as
• 1:23:24
  their journey continues. It's just so beautiful
• 1:23:28
  to see like these like hardcore, like very ego
• 1:23:32
  minded, like business guys, like relationships
• 1:23:36
  falling apart at home because all they know is
• 1:23:38
  work, work, work, work. And then they come out
• 1:23:40
  and they're like, holy fuck, like I feel human.
• 1:23:42
  Like I have emotions, I have this, I have that.
• 1:23:44
  And they start understanding their minds, how
• 1:23:46
  it operates. And they start like almost like
• 1:23:48
  taking the veil right off. and just seeing the
• 1:23:52
  shifts in them is just beautiful like we have
• 1:23:55
  like ah i don't know it's hard to explain it's
• 1:23:58
  just like it's like firefighting we don't bring
• 1:24:01
  people back quite often like when you bring somebody
• 1:24:03
  back from a heart attack it's like whoa i literally
• 1:24:05
  just saved this guy's life and it's like this
• 1:24:08
  feeling it's like it's hard to explain but it's
• 1:24:10
  that's what it feels like it's like we're giving
• 1:24:12
  them the key because we're not doing all this
• 1:24:14
  work for them it's like we're just holding space
• 1:24:16
  for them we're like just holding space, a space,
• 1:24:18
  safe space where they could come do the work
• 1:24:20
  in themselves. And we're offering them the key,
• 1:24:22
  the cheat code, take it. And then you could just
• 1:24:26
  see them have that shift on their own. And then
• 1:24:28
  they start changing their things on their own
• 1:24:30
  too, without even us telling them to do stuff.
• 1:24:32
  And then we started guiding them and giving them
• 1:24:34
  like tips, things that have worked with us. And
• 1:24:37
  yeah, it's beautiful work. It's honestly amazing.
• 1:24:41
  Yeah, it honestly doesn't even feel like... Like,
• 1:24:45
  obviously it's like, we're like turning it kind
• 1:24:47
  of into a business, but it doesn't even feel
• 1:24:48
  like a business because we're not even looking
• 1:24:50
  at the money aspect part. Cause it's just, we
• 1:24:53
  remember when we had that breakthrough, they
• 1:24:56
  were like, fuck, like everybody needs this. Everybody
• 1:24:59
  needs to see this. And then just seeing those
• 1:25:02
  people, like every retreat is the same thing.
• 1:25:04
  We stand, we stand beside each other. We look
• 1:25:06
  at them like, wow, man, we're actually doing
• 1:25:08
  this. Like we're literally. People are actually
• 1:25:10
  unlocking themselves right now. They're just,
• 1:25:12
  like, opening up. And it's, like, that feeling.
• 1:25:15
  It's, like, bring somebody back alive. It's,
• 1:25:16
  like, you've been asleep dead this whole time.
• 1:25:19
  And now you're here. Like, you're alive. I can
• 1:25:22
  see it. I can see, like, the kid in you. I can
• 1:25:23
  see the smiles. I can see, like, the happiness,
• 1:25:25
  the joy, everything. And it's, like, yeah. It's
• 1:25:28
  literally, like, bring somebody back alive. It's
• 1:25:30
  so beautiful. Uh -huh. Uh -huh. Yeah. That's
• 1:25:33
  unbelievable work, man. And, like, you and your
• 1:25:37
  boys, like, you hold such good space. And like
• 1:25:40
  you're the perfect people for like people to
• 1:25:41
  like really be introduced to this and make step
• 1:25:43
  forward. You know, it's unreal. Yeah. What does
• 1:25:47
  the company name mean? It's Greek, right? Yeah,
• 1:25:51
  it's Greek. So the word Naos means temple. So
• 1:25:54
  basically we're working on our temple, right?
• 1:25:56
  Because eventually like our retreats, we want
• 1:25:58
  to like kind of like post retreat to like people
• 1:26:01
  that really want to make a shift and like, you
• 1:26:03
  know, like want to start integrating like, you
• 1:26:05
  know, like. the training programs like diets
• 1:26:08
  and stuff like that they really want to like
• 1:26:09
  elevate their whole human experience it's like
• 1:26:11
  that's kind of like our that right here elevate
• 1:26:13
  your human experience so our slogan we like we
• 1:26:16
  like we're trying to fix the mind the spirit
• 1:26:18
  and the body at the same time it's like the tripod
• 1:26:20
  right and eventually that's what we want to include
• 1:26:23
  in like our post retreats but yeah it's 30 now
• 1:26:26
  this means temple in greek and like you're working
• 1:26:29
  on your temple it's like find it find where you
• 1:26:31
  come from no it's so beautiful man There's just
• 1:26:36
  something about like these medicines where I
• 1:26:39
  feel like, like to me, like this whole idea of
• 1:26:43
  like spiritual growth, it just, it's honestly
• 1:26:47
  just like giving people more choice and more
• 1:26:50
  free will. Like free will is crazy, man. You
• 1:26:53
  know, I remember like, I remember reading this
• 1:26:55
  thing on Reddit and this guy was like, I've just
• 1:26:58
  been like really bored in my life. And like,
• 1:27:01
  I didn't really know what to do. and uh so i
• 1:27:03
  just started like uh going out and just like
• 1:27:06
  uh fighting people in like bars and pubs and
• 1:27:10
  stuff and uh and then like i just like found
• 1:27:13
  this one guy and like now i just go and fight
• 1:27:16
  him like every week and my life's like crazy
• 1:27:19
  but like it's so much more interesting now and
• 1:27:23
  the top comment is just like free will's crazy
• 1:27:25
  you know like like and And like the comedy skits,
• 1:27:31
  you know, of like people having a ladder and
• 1:27:33
  it's like, you can go anywhere with a ladder,
• 1:27:36
  you know, like you can walk straight into a cinema
• 1:27:38
  with a ladder and everyone's just like, yeah,
• 1:27:39
  just go through, just go through, you know, you
• 1:27:41
  go into like a fancy restaurant. It's like, yeah,
• 1:27:42
  where do you need to go? Just go through, just
• 1:27:44
  go through. He's just like walking through the
• 1:27:45
  kitchen with a ladder and he has no business
• 1:27:47
  being there. And it's like, we all have the capacity
• 1:27:50
  to like do this free will, you know, and to like
• 1:27:53
  express our own free will and our choices. And
• 1:27:56
  these like invisible leashes of all these shoulds
• 1:27:58
  and this like conditioning and everything, we
• 1:28:00
  completely lose that, you know? And we become
• 1:28:02
  this like product of the world around us versus
• 1:28:07
  like us showing up into the world and like experiencing
• 1:28:10
  it from like our point of view, our perspective,
• 1:28:12
  what we want to do, our curiosities, you know?
• 1:28:15
  And I can see how like the work you're doing
• 1:28:17
  now, you're basically just like handing people
• 1:28:20
  that present, you know? yeah literally that's
• 1:28:24
  what it is that's what it feels like yeah that's
• 1:28:28
  literally what it feels like it's exactly that
• 1:28:30
  feeling but it's so beautiful because in the
• 1:28:34
  same time we learn so much more about people
• 1:28:36
  and and by doing that it learns more about ourselves
• 1:28:40
  and it's like it's just like a non -stop growing
• 1:28:44
  like energy field it's like it just keeps growing
• 1:28:47
  and getting bigger and like and then you just
• 1:28:49
  walk around like differently it's just yeah so
• 1:28:52
  beautiful yeah it's awesome seeing you like you
• 1:28:56
  know put down the staff and like holding that
• 1:28:58
  beacon you know like turning all that medicine
• 1:29:01
  that you've accumulated like into helping other
• 1:29:03
  people because that's what it's really about
• 1:29:05
  at the end of the day you know yeah it is yeah
• 1:29:08
  so uh you've just had a nephew you have a new
• 1:29:15
  nephew what's that experience been like that's
• 1:29:19
  so fun um it's so it's so funny because it's
• 1:29:23
  such it's such a little creature that knows nothing
• 1:29:27
  but wants to learn everything you know what i
• 1:29:29
  mean it's like it's like us as adults we're like
• 1:29:33
  built with all these programs and everything
• 1:29:35
  from like living experience and stuff like that
• 1:29:36
  but this thing is like fresh like right out of
• 1:29:38
  the oven you know and it's just trying to like
• 1:29:42
  like assimilate everything experience everything
• 1:29:45
  and it's just so cool seeing like now that i
• 1:29:49
  understand all this stuff like looking at it
• 1:29:51
  experiencing it all like wow this is so beautiful
• 1:29:54
  seeing this like it's touching new feelings new
• 1:29:56
  this new food um it's just been so fun it's just
• 1:30:00
  like uh he's full of energy too he's always full
• 1:30:03
  of smiles he's like uh he's like Jamie almost
• 1:30:06
  they're like very similar he's just he's gonna
• 1:30:07
  be a stunt dummy like he's gonna be doing like
• 1:30:10
  adrenaline shit all the time you can see it already
• 1:30:13
  he's having fun like I when he wears his onesie
• 1:30:15
  I just pick him up like this and I like drag
• 1:30:17
  around the house and he's like laughing and shit
• 1:30:19
  it's just so much fun um yeah it's been it's
• 1:30:24
  been so much fun they they live like right upstairs
• 1:30:26
  too they have an apartment upstairs and like
• 1:30:28
  i see the kid like almost every day so that it's
• 1:30:32
  just cool seeing like how he's growing up but
• 1:30:36
  also like from my sister's perspective and jamie's
• 1:30:39
  perspective and then like me being the cool uncle
• 1:30:42
  yeah i play yeah playing around with him and
• 1:30:47
  like see him uh like i'm already bullying him
• 1:30:50
  a bit i'm like where's my money where's my money
• 1:30:51
  he looks at me he laughs and he points like oh
• 1:30:54
  yeah you want to play so no it's just been so
• 1:30:58
  much fun with him um it's so beautiful to see
• 1:31:00
  that yeah i know like i hadn't like spent that
• 1:31:04
  much time around like young kids you know, like
• 1:31:07
  as an adult. And then like when my mentor had
• 1:31:10
  a kid, I was just like being around that transition
• 1:31:13
  of like zero to two. It's wild to watch, man.
• 1:31:17
  And like one of the things I love witnessing
• 1:31:19
  is like how quickly they are to express emotions
• 1:31:23
  as well. Like such a teacher for me, you know,
• 1:31:26
  where it's like, it's like it's so natural to
• 1:31:29
  do that. Yet all of us like try to run this like
• 1:31:33
  baseline of like not much going on. yeah it's
• 1:31:39
  it's funny to say like it's actually now he's
• 1:31:41
  starting to cry and like well cry i mean like
• 1:31:44
  cry for a reason like if you want something or
• 1:31:47
  like if you need some other hug like from my
• 1:31:50
  sister and like he started like detecting all
• 1:31:52
  that and it's it's so cool how they actually
• 1:31:55
  express themselves and you can actually see it
• 1:31:57
  all it's like yeah yeah unreal man i'm like super
• 1:32:03
  excited for you to to keep on that journey and
• 1:32:05
  like your family's so cool and like your relationship
• 1:32:08
  with your family's so cool you know um yeah kind
• 1:32:12
  of like maybe just to like wrap this thing up
• 1:32:13
  if there was anything that like you could share
• 1:32:17
  as like a message back to like 18 year old steven
• 1:32:20
  you know like what's what's that signal that
• 1:32:23
  you'd love to just give to him yeah um wow that's
• 1:32:27
  a good one I'm trying to picture myself at 18,
• 1:32:31
  what state I was at, but... The message I would
• 1:32:36
  give myself at the age of 18 is... If only you
• 1:32:47
  knew who you would become. Because I remember
• 1:32:52
  that state of my life, I was... I was really,
• 1:32:55
  like, doubtful of am I ever going to make it
• 1:32:58
  to what I want to become. And this was, like,
• 1:33:00
  right before becoming a firefighter, too. Like,
• 1:33:01
  it's such a competitive job, too. And it was,
• 1:33:04
  like, most impossible to get hired. And I started
• 1:33:07
  questioning everything. And, like, when I started
• 1:33:09
  questioning that, I started questioning everything
• 1:33:11
  about myself. And I, like, was really, like,
• 1:33:13
  doubtful. Like, I had, like, no confidence. I
• 1:33:15
  was, like, kind of, like, fuck, I'm never going
• 1:33:17
  to make it and this, this, and that. And then
• 1:33:20
  now when I look back, it's, like. I was doing
• 1:33:25
  almost like the work that I'm doing now without
• 1:33:28
  even knowing it. Because at one point I just
• 1:33:31
  had this shift and I was like believing in myself
• 1:33:33
  and like just doing the work, visioning like
• 1:33:36
  my future. Like I was already there. And it's
• 1:33:40
  almost like I collapsed all the timelines together.
• 1:33:43
  but like now i don't realize it until now like
• 1:33:46
  now i look back i'm like holy shit good job kid
• 1:33:48
  you made it actually i just did a post on a post
• 1:33:50
  on instagram i don't know if you saw it there
• 1:33:52
  it's like uh me climbing the ladder it's like
• 1:33:54
  will you try and impress in your life and then
• 1:33:57
  it's like a picture of my myself as a little
• 1:33:59
  kid wearing my firefighter helmet and everything
• 1:34:01
  yeah so yeah that would be it yeah unreal all
• 1:34:08
  right uh where can people find you Find me on
• 1:34:13
  social media. I'm more active on Instagram, which
• 1:34:16
  is Stavros Giano. So that's Stavros, S -T -A
• 1:34:20
  -V -R -O -S, Giano, G -I -A -N -O, underscore.
• 1:34:25
  And then I'm on TikTok as well, but it's mostly
• 1:34:27
  on Instagram. I play more and yeah, that's pretty
• 1:34:31
  much it. Nice. And when's the next retreat? We're
• 1:34:36
  planning. the month of November, but we might
• 1:34:39
  actually just push it to next year. People get
• 1:34:42
  busier on the holidays, but yeah, like next year
• 1:34:44
  we're going hard. We're going to be trying to
• 1:34:46
  run one to a month. That would be the goal. But
• 1:34:50
  yeah, November should be the next one. Cool.
• 1:34:53
  Unreal. All right. Well, I'll put all your links
• 1:34:56
  and stuff below just so people can find them
• 1:34:59
  or wherever they're meant to go. Yeah. Thank
• 1:35:02
  you so much for coming on and chatting with me.
• 1:35:04
  It's like, I really appreciate your friendship.
• 1:35:06
  yeah it's like just such good vibes the conversations
• 1:35:10
  i've always been getting when i was in costa
• 1:35:12
  rica like every sunday i'm like let's go talk
• 1:35:15
  with matt at dinner such beautiful conversations
• 1:35:21
  all the time like so interesting so much to learn
• 1:35:24
  and it's yeah so much fun yeah awesome man yeah
• 1:35:27
  i really appreciate it okay thanks everyone for
• 1:35:30
  listening uh yeah that's it all my relations
• 1:35:33
  all my relations Thank you.