Change Your Life - Take 100% Responsibility

In my last blog post, I talked about finding the places in your life where you feel like a victim. 

Once you’ve done that, now it’s time to take 100% responsibility for those areas (and your life in general). 

““You can have your excuses, or you can have your success,
but you can’t have both.””

Taking 100% responsibility eliminates external reasons for why you have not or will not succeed. It eliminates all the BS and stories that we create as excuses for why we don’t have what we want. 

It overrides any external circumstances from being a blocker from what you want.

At its most basic, it means you take on figuring out what’s preventing you from having what you want… and you experiment with ways to change it. Whether we’re talking about happiness, success, financial stability, addictions, relationship, eating problem, time issues, money issues, even past trauma. 

You might not get it right on the first try so I really mean it when I say experiment. 

And sometimes in between experiments you might have to figure out how to be in the situation that you’re in and increase your tolerance or ability to stay centered and aligned while it’s still happening. 

I also want to be clear you do not have to do it alone. 

That is one of the biggest myths our Western culture foists onto us. If you think about any top athlete or top tier performer, they have a team of people supporting them and evoking their best. 

100% Responsibility means that rather than feeling blocked or spinning out when challenging emotions and situations occur, you take a look at the situation (maybe solo or with a friend, therapist, or coach) and you start to figure out what gets to change in order to put you on the path towards what you want.

Nothing external gets to be a blocker - they become more like obstacles on an obstacle course. Something to be vaulted over, swam through, crawled around or avoided completely. 

Practically speaking what does this look like? 

• If your relationship isn’t doing well, determining if you need to develop new habits or skills or if you actually just need to break up and move on. 

• If your financial situation is challenged, do you want to ask for a raise? Get another job? Pick up a side hustle?  Start taking classes to head down a new career.

• If your health isn’t great, how can you create more time to move your body? Can you sign up for a meal service? Or use tools like Mealime to Meal plan and take cooking classes?

• If your family is an issue, can you share the challenge with them? Can you set boundaries with them or start to shape interactions more deliberately. In harder situations, do you need to break off communication in order to maintain peace of mind? 

If you do something and it doesn’t work, you get to do something else. 

Experiment with different techniques and approaches until you find what does work. 

At some (many) points this might not be easy. 

• In order to prioritize exercise, sometimes I’ve had to get up at 5am, well before my toddler or wife might need something from me. 

• In order to prioritize reading and learning new business techniques, I made the decision to invest $30,000 in coaching (more than I’ve spent on ANYTHING). 

• In order to prioritize my personal coaching business I gave up a 6-figure paycheck to experiment with doing what I love full time.

““You don’t have to be perfect to start, but you have to start to be perfect.””

Taking 100% responsibility starts the cycle of exiting victimhood into your own personal power. This is the beginning step that produces everything after it.

Relationship Tools: Weekly Withholds

Just like our teeth need brushed, our houses need cleaned, and our clothes need washed, our relationships need regular maintenance too.

Last year I started using the word hygiene to talk about 5 areas of health with my coaching clients - spiritual, energetic, emotional, mental, and physical. I recognized how our physical bodies were getting all the attention when other aspects needed attention to.

I’m adding another aspect to the list: relational.

More specifically, one of the most powerful relational hygiene tools in my toolbox is a dedicated weekly meeting for withholds.

My wife and I on a recent trip to the cloud forests in Monteverde, Costa Rica.

WITHHOLDS

A withhold is anything that has not been expressed, and is preventing someone from feeling connected to another, in this case, their partner.

• That moment of disappointment when I went to the pantry excited to make a PB&J only to realize that someone had left just a teaspoon of peanut butter in the jar… withhold.

• Bringing the car back with the gas light on. Grrrr… withhold.

• Me emptying the dishwasher for the 4th time this week. UGH! … withhold.

• That look of shade when I wanted to wear my crocs out to dinner… withhold (and also probably appropriate).

Withholds can be simple frustrations or complex full-on emotional meltdowns hidden from the other person.

These emotional “open loops” take up space in our brains and gnaw at us from the inside.

And while many people erupt in anger or simply swallow these things and let them slide, I find the best way to deal with them is to share them with your partner. Once they’re out, it’s much easier to work through them constructively.

We've found this to be an incredibly helpful way to have a safe space each week. We think about what we need to share so that past interactions don’t build up into resentments (and we have space to honor each other too).

GOALS

In this process, there are goals on both an individual and relationship level:

• a DEDICATED TIME to empty resentment out from the past that might get in the way of feeling connected with each other in the present. If it’s inappropriate or uncomfortable to share in the moment, this dedicated time makes sure you have time to share each week so thoughts and emotions don’t fester.

• a SAFE SPACE to share emotions and experiences. Often partners don’t share because they’re afraid of the response they’ll get. Sharing withholds in a structured way gives us a safe space to process without fear of immediate retribution or emotional reactions. Safe space often also requires…

• practice MAKING IT ABOUT YOU - own your feelings and experience of what happened instead of telling the story or judgements you have about the other person. And if you have stories or judgements swirling around up there…

• OWN YOUR STORY AND JUDGEMENTS - Our brains often develop a story about what something means, why it happened, and what’s going to happen in the future. It’s usually made up. Naming and owning makes it easier for the other person to hear you. It also lets them know that you also know that it’s probably made up. Once you say it out loud, you’ll often find that it loses its power.
  
  ”I feel frustrated that the dishes were left out and I have a silly story that you think I’m your maid and I’m going to be cleaning up after you forever.” instead of "You left your dishes out again and we just talked about this. Why do you keep doing that?"

THE PROCESS

When you start this process it’s important to have a structure. This should feel more like playing pool than the fast-paced back and forth of tennis. Slow things down, take turns, and don’t let the pace of the conversation accelerate too quickly - that’s when couples get mean and start throwing stories and judgements at each other.

Here’s the structure I learned from EVRYMAN that I like using with groups or couples.

A: <Name> I have a withhold.

B: Would you like to share?

A: I felt XYZ when ABC happened.

B: Thank you for sharing.

A: Thank you for listening.

All of this should be done with emotion that's named but energetically flat. If you’re saying the right thing but you’re weaponizing the way you’re saying it, the process loses its effectiveness.

You can adapt this as you become more adept at communicating, but this is a powerful way to kick things off with a lot of respect for the other person.

OTHER THINGS TO ADD

If you’ve set up a weekly meeting for withholds, you might as well add a few other things while you’re together. Here’s a few items that we’ve found helpful.

• SCHEDULING for the week ahead - What events are coming up? When’s your next date night? Are there other items on your scheduled you need to give your partner a heads up on?

• LOGISTICS - Groceries, laundry, cleaning, travel planning, etc.

• 6 NICE THINGS - Share six things you like about the other person. We don’t want it to feel like all business!

• DECISION MAKING - Is there a big decision that needs to be made about a move, new job, financial decision, etc. This is a great space to discuss “What do we want to do about…?”

What’s helped you in your relationship? Feel free to question/comment below and I’ll add to this list.

And if you need help in your relationship, feel free to schedule a free call with me.

Cheers,

Andrew

The Biology of Breathwork

I listened to a podcast last year that blew me away. It was the first time I’d heard someone so clearly articulate the biological under-pinnings of breathwork in such a potent way so I wanted to capture my notes and share with you.

You’ll find a link to the podcast at the end of this post. Niraj’s deep dive into the biology of breathwork starts at 48:48.

Additionally, Siddhi Yoga asked me to link to their post on a variety of different breath-work practices, called Pranayama. They do a nice job of detailing different practices and offering courses to go deeper across yoga, ayurveda, and meditation. Check their article out here.

Here’s some quick neuroscience before we get started…

The Autonomic Nervous System

Our autonomic nervous system (ANS) regulates heart rate, breathing, blood flow and other key bodily functions without us having to think about it. Hence why it's called the autonomic (or automatic).

Our ANS has two main divisions, the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic nervous systems. As the ANS receives information about the body and the external environment, it responds by stimulating bodily processes (usually through the sympathetic division) or by inhibiting them (usually through the parasympathetic division).

Most of the clusters of nerve cells for the sympathetic division are located just outside both sides of the spinal cord while most of our nerve clusters for the parasympathetic division are located near or in the organs they connect with.

The autonomic nervous system controls body processes like the following:

• Blood pressure

• Heart and breathing rates

• Body temperature

• Digestion

• Metabolism (thus affecting body weight)

• The balance of water and electrolytes (such as sodium and calcium)

• The production of body fluids (saliva, sweat, and tears)

• Urination

• Defecation

• Sexual response

Some organs are controlled solely by one or the other while some are affected by both systems.

Dual Control

• Pupil dilation

• Salivary production

• Airway dilation

• Heart rate

• Digestion

• Intestinal secretion

• Voiding (Using the toilet)

Sympathetic Control (Fight or Flight)

• Constricts blood vessels

• Stimulates sweat

• Stimulates glucose production

• Stimulates adrenals

• Stimulates orgasm

• Stimulates ejaculation

Niraj’s Talk

When you inhale, you stimulate the sympathetic nervous system.

When you exhale, you stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system.

Whichever one your breath favors, that's the one you're stimulating more. So when we sing or chant or Om or sigh, we are relaxing ourselves.

When we take big long gulps of air and hold them in (like diving under water), we're exciting ourselves.

Breathing Methods

If you know how to inhale and hold your breath in the right way, you can stimulate a positive stress response in the body where you create a short burst of adrenaline, which has an anti-inflammatory effect.

Using Mula Bundha (root lock) & breath retention, we can start to heal the body of inflammation.

When you breathe in a rhythm, you create physiological harmony. When you're breathing in and out for equal intervals, you create a balance in the body that can have a dramatic impact as your (a) brain waves move from Beta to Alpha and (b) your heart rate variability flows into coherence. Coherence optimizes the flow of blood to your brain.

Rhythmic breathing can also be weighted towards one side. IE You can breathe rhythmically with a two count inhale and a four count exhale to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system more.

Oxygen & Carbon Dioxide

You inhale air that's comparatively oxygen-rich, and exhale air that's comparatively carbon-dioxide rich.

Oxygen is the fuel for the fire that's going on inside you. This inner fire exists in the mitochondria - the power plants of our cells. Adding oxygen to the mitochondria is like adding air to a fire - it helps the fire breathe and grow.

If we have too MUCH oxygen though, the body, the fire burns too bright. It can cause damage called oxidative stress on the body, which leads to oxidative damage on the cells, and can lead to free radical damage.

If we have too LITTLE oxygen, then the fire stops burning and your energy levels drop.

So we need the right BALANCE, and this is where pranayama (energy control) comes in.

So Pranayama, and yoga more broadly, is about becoming more efficient with oxygen so that we use the least amount of oxygen possible. The reason is that extra oxygen creates stress on the body. The belief is the less you breathe, the longer you live.

Harvard has done studies on oxygen and its effects on your blood vessels - if you have too much oxidative stress, you end up with something akin to "rusting" in the body.

Yoga

Yoga trains each muscle and cell of your body to become stronger and more resilient to stress and to require less oxygen.

In yoga, we use breath control (or simply conscious breathing) to slow the rate of oxygen down with each asana where you are holding each pose beyond the comfort zone. And because you're holding a muscle in static contraction, there is reduced blood flow to the muscle that's being contracted.

When this happens, the cells of the muscle are forced to use whatever nutrients are stored there. And when it does that to exhaustion, it adapts and changes to become more resilient. It grows back stronger and more efficient at using oxygen. The body produces more myoglobin, better blood flow, more capillaries, and better circulation around the body.

Kumbhaka

This leads us to one of the most important techniques in pranayama called Kumbhaka. Kumbhaka (kuhm-BAH-kah) is Sanskrit word that means pot. This is not just any pot but the human torso as seen as a pot with two interiors (one at the throat and the other at the base of the pelvis).

The root of Kumbhaka is extended rhythmic breathing with breath retention in between the inhale and the exhale.

How to do Kumbhaka - Full Breath Retention from YogaTeket

When you hold your breath beyond a certain point...

You create a state called intermittent hypoxia, where the oxygen saturation in your blood drops below 85% for a brief amount of time. This triggers your body to respond physiologically to having less oxygen. It produces more red blood cells, increases blood flow, grows new capillaries, and if you do it for the right amount of time, with the right dose of hypoxia, you wake up STEM cells.

Stem cells are the magical cells in our body that can transform into any other cells... and they hate oxygen. They can only exist in low oxygen environments so they are typically found in bone marrow and specific tissues that use up all the oxygen around them.

When stem cells wake up, they automatically go to areas where repair is needed. They go to inflammation sites and they reduce the inflammation and create restoration or they actually turn into other cells to grow new vessels or new parts of tissues.

So if you become very good at holding your breath for a certain length of time, you'll wake up stem cells and increase blood flow to your brain. You actually wake up dormant parts of your brain and you can move stem cells there using Yogic techniques.

This can lead to an overall anti-aging effect on the body, and can allow you to stimulate neurogenesis. And more importantly, you can use this to stimulate neurogenesis in places where you direct it, which Niraj calls “directed neurogenesis.”

Conclusion

There's a study where they took two groups of people. One group played a piece of music on a physical instrument. The other group just visualized playing the music, note by note.

They mapped the brain of each group, and found that both groups had the same changes in their brain. Demonstrating that intention and visualization were enough to stimulate the growth of brain cells in specific areas.

So yogis develop these deeper practices - these advanced yoga rituals with pranayama breathing techniques to invoke brain change to…

• create higher abilities and mental faculties

• increase cognitive function

• develop resilience to stress

• survive longer in low oxygen environments

Hence why so many yogis and monks have migrated to the Himalayas - living in very low oxygen environments because they know oxygen can become detrimental to health if you don't make friends with it.

So let me say that again because I think it’s such a fascinating idea. Research shows that parts of our brain develop based solely on visualization, intention, and repetition in contrast to actual physical practice. This opens the doorway to the idea that yogis and deep meditators who concentrate long and hard enough are able to develop unique skills that do not exist in other human beings because there is no physical way to practice them.

The full talk is below, and the scientific explanation starts around 48:48.

A Visit To OG Sensory Deprivation Tanks; The Pyramids

In early February, I flew to Egypt for 3 days for a special event with a spiritual teacher from South America. A few friends invited me on the trip, and it felt like a once in a lifetime opportunity to visit the pyramids and learn about their ancient history. I highly recommend visiting them if you can. As the cradle of civilization, the Middle East has so much history and the Pyramids (along with Petra and Jerusalem) has quickly become one of the most inspirational places I’ve visited. 

Standing at the base of the pyramids in Egypt, I am in awe. 

They are massive on a scale that defies description. Keops, the Great pyramid, looms over Giza - reminding me of my smallness no matter where I am in the city. It was the tallest man-made structure in the world for thousands of years until the 1300s.

There’s a part of me that wants to climb and explore like a boy. There’s another part that wants to bow down and show reverence for what it took to create these massive structures. I want to simply sit in the sunshine and just be with them. It’s that exhilarating. 

During my trip there’s a few things that stand out. ..

THE PYRAMIDS AS TEMPLES, NOT TOMBS

My experience inside the King’s Chamber of Keops helps me realize that this was a temple for self-discovery and growth. While they became tombs, I had a definite felt sense that these structures had other uses prior to being claimed by the Pharaohs. As I climb a 30 yard 4x4 foot tunnel into the Great Gallery, I recognize this as an initiation of sorts. There are long, tight spaces that create claustrophobia. There are no lights, no sounds, no electro-magnetic fields. I am APART from everything. Sitting in this chamber, I can tune out the rest of the world and tune into myself. 

A VISION OF THE ORIGINAL PYRAMIDS

At the same time, I can’t help but shake the perception of what this pyramid would have been like to visit when it was functional. Covered in white, polished limestone and surrounded by the rich fruits of the Nile… lush greenery all around, palm trees, and the Sun reflecting off the pyramid. It must have seemed like paradise; something from another world to the pilgrims who visited. When I closed my eyes, I could imagine this over and over. Each time it made me smile. 

SOMETIMES THE PREPARATION > EXPERIENCE

I traveled to Giza for a special event inside the Great Pyramid and in the Sphinx. As I prepared to enter the small 4’x4’ tunnel up to the King’s Chamber for the first event, I heard a little voice say, “You already have what you came for.” I’d sacrificed meat, coffee, and alcohol three weeks prior. I’d been meditating, praying, doing breath work, and tai-chi every day to prepare. My body felt strong, light, and connected. What more could I ask of the ceremony to come?

CREATING THE RIGHT CONTAINER

In these types of events, setting the right container is important - clear boundaries, building harmony and cohesion, clear, strong guidance from the leader as well as openness to co-creation with the group. The facilitator becomes a shepherd of the group’s attention and energy for the benefit of all. 

During the first event in the King’s Chamber, I felt the lack of harmony of the group. Our meditation and singing never reached the beautiful apex that so many of the experiences I’ve had in the past do. People held back, I didn’t feel connected to them, and the singing reflected it. It made me incredibly grateful for the wonderful practitioners I’ve had the good fortune of working with in NYC and SF. I recognize their talents even more now. 

While location is important, the group itself is the largest instrument - if there is harmony then the experience has the capacity to be greater, more healing and more enjoyable. It was a good reminder for my work with EVRYMAN and for the upcoming retreats I’m hosting this year. 

TRAVEL WITH FRIENDS

Underwhelmed by the experience I paid for, I loved the experience a few friends and I created the next day. Our first Uber driver spoke perfect English so we hired him for the day and went to two other pyramids - at Saqqara and Dojser. We playfully explored both and ended our Pyramid tour playing a gong for hundreds of bats at the top of the Bent Pyramid. Yes, bats. And a gong. Rather than swarming us (as some part of my brain was convinced they would), they simply chirped along and continued hanging on the ceiling. 

I shared many of the photos from the trip on Instagram. Feel free to check them out there. 

WHAT I'M UP TO NOW

A few quick highlights from the past few months

• Spotify hired my good friend Dan Ryan and I to teach on Hypnosis & The Brain. We offer courses on emotional intelligence, mindfulness, and more for companies of all sizes. Thank you to Cassandra from WellBeings for helping us land this gig!

• I’m launching a workshop series with master Coach/Facilitator John O’Connor to teach coaches how to use the depths of their own experience to coach from. It goes so far beyond the mind, it’s powerful stuff. Read more about our first workshop here. 

• I’m currently building a curriculum to support men who are partnered with survivors of sexual abuse. If you’re interested in learning more or know someone who could benefit, let me know here. 

• EVRYMAN has asked me to lead their April 3-5 Northeast retreat in the Berkshires with my good friend Dan MacCombie. This continues to be the most powerful group work I’ve experienced. 

• I’m Coaching. I now offer ongoing coaching to help people achieve major breakthroughs in their personal and professional lives. The mixture of hypnosis, embodiment, mindfulness, and NLP has proved to be a powerful cocktail to creating deep insights and lasting change.