How To Unlock Mindful Power Yielding Warrior Method Jeff Patterson Interview

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreignormal eyes we're joined by Jeff Patterson, a seasoned martial artist with over three decades under his belt who has crafted something truly unique the Yielding Warrior Method, A fresh take on meditation built on deep experience across Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai, Tai Chi, Qigong, Eskrima, Kenpo, and more. Jeff's blend of ritualistic, active, movement based and philosophical meditation techniques don't just sit on paper, they evolve with daily life itself. We'll dive into core principles like yielding, a powerful concept at odds with pushing through resistance, explore practical breathwork tips for stability when life throws you curveballs, and uncover how everyone can build a tailored practice that effortlessly fits their lifestyle. Stick around as Jeff shares his stories from thousands, he's guided through his workshops and actionable advice so you as a listener can get inspired not only to meditate, but to integrate mindfulness dynamically into your mind, body and spirit. Get ready for fresh perspectives on optimal performance using qigong meditation, breaking down myths and deciding what works best uniquely for each individual. Whether you're brand new or looking to deepen your existing routine, you won't want to miss this conversation with insight designed specifically for everyday application. Stay tuned until the end where Jeff reveals some free resources that might just kickstart you on your own yielding path today. Enjoy. Subscribe welcome to Super Normalized Geoff Patterson Jeff, you're basically a sifu sifu of many arts that have helped people change their lives significantly. How did this all start? [00:01:58] Speaker B: Well, I started doing martial arts at a fairly young age and I was very much into Western boxing in my late teens. I used to go to a boxing gym just a few blocks down the street here from my academy. And for those of you that are unfamiliar with kind of an old school style boxing gym, it's not where there's instructor up in front of a group of students leading a class. There's usually four or five coaches running around and each one of those coaches might have a few fighters that they're working with. Well, at this one particular gym, one of the coaches there was a very well known coach. I really wanted to get to train with him and he wasn't looking on to take on any new fighters though. And so I'd always kind of stalk him a little bit and show up when I knew he was going to be there. I'd work hard and try to get him to notice me. And after about three or four months he finally started giving me some tips and helping me out a little bit. And then maybe two or three weeks into getting to work with him, he said something to me that changed my life in that he said, you know, if you really want to be a good boxer, you should start doing meditation in Tai chi. Now at the time I was this 19 year old kid thinking, you know, isn't that for like old people in the park? How's that going to help me be a better fighter? And I didn't understand it, but I had a lot of respect for him and I started doing the practice. And not only has it changed my life in many ways over the last 36 years, but I've had thousands of students come through the academy and thousands more in my online programs. And I've heard hundreds of stories through the years of how the meditative arts has positively influenced people's lives. And that's what's made me so passionate about trying to get the message out there and help as many people as I can with the practice. [00:04:01] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, no, no, it's definitely a noble effort and I can attest myself to the benefits of meditation. I was taught meditation from a very early age and I have the only time I've ever had trouble in my life or, or I would say more drama as when I didn't meditate. Meditation just makes everything just roll off your back like you're a wet duck. It's just everything's cruisy and it smooths all of the drama out of your life in so many beautiful ways. Can you share the story of how you first discovered your own meditation process and what drew you into that initially? [00:04:38] Speaker B: Yeah, well, for a while there, you know, I was doing the practice because my boxing coach told me to. And it wasn't like I had the internal drive to do a regular practice every day. But the last thing I wanted to do was go into the boxing gym that I went to five or six days a week and have him ask me if I did my meditation and have to tell him no. So I did it every day like you're brushing your teeth, you know, it was just part of my. Part of who I was at that point. [00:05:09] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:05:10] Speaker B: However, in the beginning it was pretty difficult, you know, I was not making the connection. Connection. I had ulterior motives as to why I was being drawn to the practice. And I really wasn't putting my whole heart into it, but through consistency and just doing it over and over again. At about the 6th or 7 month mark of my meditation journey, I used to go down every morning in my basement and train. And I'd train for. I'd had about an hour and a Half ritual that I would go through with my meditation practice and my Tai Chi forms. Well, I remember one day going down to the basement first thing in the morning, starting my practice and then I looked up at the clock and an hour and a half had gone by and it felt like it was 15 minutes. And I couldn't explain what happened. However, I had this euphoric feeling and it was just something that was very inspirational to me and something that I wanted to experience again. And from that point forward, I really dove into the meditative arts and I started my journey on being a real student in that area. And I've, you know, through the years I've traveled around the world many times and trained with meditation practitioners from all around and it's been, you know, my life practice for last 30 plus years. [00:06:35] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. I was going to say, with your 36 years in martial arts, how has that experience shaped your approach to meditation? I mean, with all of those different, would you say different flavors or styles of meditation you've learned over the years, what did you find works best? [00:06:51] Speaker B: You know, I don't really follow any one style or method. It's more, you know, I try to teach people to understand the different paths that they can follow based on what they want to get out of a meditation practice. And so what I found is that when people come to the meditative arts, there's usually five different directions that they are coming to the practice for. And either number one is they want to improve their performance in one way or another. Maybe they're an athlete or an artist or an executive, or they want to be able to deal with stress. They want to be to perform at those peak levels. And so they'll take on the practice and follow different breathing strategies and movement strategies and still practices that help fine tune that awareness and focus. Then we have the therapeutic side of the practice, which is great for our overall mobility and our body's health and our longevity. Thirdly, we have the medical side of the practice and a lot of people come to this side of the practice when they're dealing with severe illnesses or, you know, all of Chinese medicine is based off of Qigong theory, which is been around for 4,000 years. So this is a very deep path to follow. Then there's the fourth path, which has always been one that's been very inspirational and interesting to me, which is the philosophical path. And this. Part of the reason why I like this side of the training is that I feel like it opens up your peripheral vision so you can see things from multiple Angles, and it allows you to be more strategic and just kind of see a new window into different things. And then lastly, there's the spiritual side of the practice, which is a very deep and profound part of the practice as well. And if, you know, for an example, a lot of people, when they say spiritual, they think religious. It has nothing to do with that. It's more of your personal connection to your spirit. And an example, you know, it's a lot of athletes experience that flow state. It's kind of one of the closest things that I can help people relate to in that, you know, when you get excited and your spirit gets elevated, oftentimes your body follows and gets tense when that happens. Well, by cultivating this side of the practice, we learn how to elevate our spirit and our excitement, but at the same time stay relaxed and focused so we can perform at higher levels. But then this also has more of a mental and emotional side of the practice to it as well. And so when you figure out which one of those paths that you want to really focus on, then we'll pull things from movement practices, still practices, breath work, philosophical concepts, and start building an evolving life practice with the meditative arts that fits your lifestyle. [00:09:56] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. As a part of your process, you actually emphasize the concept of yielding. Can you explain what yielding means in both martial arts and meditation? [00:10:05] Speaker B: Yeah. Yielding to me, is one of a very interesting philosophical concepts in both the meditative and martial arts. And, you know, my last book, the Yielding Warrior, is all about how we integrate the the three pillars of yielding. So we have physical yielding, mental yielding, and emotional yielding. Physical yielding is the idea that I push you, you push me. Whoever's the bigger, stronger person with the most leverage eventually is going to push the other person over. But with yielding, instead of us trying to see who the bigger meathead is, when you push me, I get out of the way of that force and now I can respond with less effort. So I'm not trying to butt heads with you and see if I'm bigger and stronger than you. Now, in athletics, it's obvious how this is beneficial because you're always going to come up against athletes who are bigger, stronger and faster than you. And understanding how to yield can help you be competitive with those bigger, stronger athletes. Now, in order to be good at physical yielding, a lot of things have to come into play. You need to be well rooted. The lower part of your body needs to be strong and flexible so you can change your central equilibrium without getting tight. The body has to be relaxed, the Breath has to be calm, and the mind has to be present. Now, while it may be a lifetime journey to really master these skills, from day one, by integrating a meditation practice into your life, you start seeing these things with more clarity inside yourself. And this is where it becomes very interesting, because not only do you see these things more clearly inside yourself, but you also start to see these things more clearly in other people. And now we're moving into what I call mental yielding. So say, for example, you and I are having a conversation, and I say something that unsettles you, and I pick up on it right from that first sign of imbalance. It's a lot easier at that point to adjust the conversation and keep us in a harmonious place. Then if I'm not paying attention to that, and pretty soon I'm so far off track, you want to knock me upside the head. And so learning how to use yielding in all of our interactions is extremely powerful. You know, one, we're being more considerate, which is something that we could all do more of. And two, it allows us to be strategic and guide conversations to a positive outcome with the least amount of resistance. This is beneficial in relationships and business and sales and negotiations. I mean, there's so many different ways that we can apply this idea. Then the third pillar of yielding is emotional yielding. And emotional yielding is very much like mental yielding, but with our own interpersonal conflicts. So oftentimes, things will happen to us, and we'll respond, and we'll go down a path, and we might get an hour, a day, a week down that road and realize maybe that wasn't the best choice. But with yielding, if we could have been more present, not letting our emotions get involved, when these things happen, oftentimes we can make a more educated decision that helps us pick a better path that saves us a lot of heartache. And, you know, I've been explaining this idea of yielding now for many years, running this Academy for over 30 years. And one of the most common things I'll hear people say is yielding makes a lot of sense. In fact, I do yielding all the time. Well, I would agree in that I think everybody does some level of yielding, whether they label it that or not. However, it's kind of like if you or I were to walk into a crime scene with a detective who's been on the job for 30 years, I guarantee you that person would see things about the series of events and the timeline that I know, at least I would have no clue of. And the meditative arts helps us see things inside of ourselves and inside of other people. That I truly believe without this practice, you're going to miss out on many things that life is presenting you. [00:14:22] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. It's sort of like another way of saying that is like, it's a. It's a path to personal diplomacy where you're looking to strike a balance in all situations. [00:14:34] Speaker B: Yeah, I like that. [00:14:37] Speaker A: Are there. You've got five basic regulations foundational to your meditative practices that you teach. What are they and why are they so crucial? [00:14:44] Speaker B: Yeah, the five regulations is something I learned from a longtime teacher of mine. And any meditation path you follow, whether it's a movement practice like Tai chi or yoga or qigong, or still practice, sitting and standing meditation, or breath work, or studying the mental side, you have to cultivate these five regulations to get to a deep, high level of practice in the meditative arts. And they are regulating the body, regulating the breath, regulating the mind, regulating the energy, and regulating the spirit. And briefly, I'll kind of touch on what I mean by when I say these different areas. So the first one, regulating the body, the basic idea is how is your posture and your muscular tension in the body? You know, an example would be if you can think about a time, maybe when you were sitting in front of your computer for three or four hours and your shoulders are rounded forward a little bit, you're feeling a bit lethargic and depleted. And then another time when the most important person in your world walks in the room and your body perks up and you feel like you're on top of the world. Well, these two different energetic states, we're in 100% control of all day, every day, and just the ability to maintain that awareness and those kind of checks, if you will, throughout the day, can make a huge difference in our overall energetic states. And a little bit of a deeper level of this body regulation would be maintaining some sort of muscular structure in the body, some flexibility, eating a healthy diet to keep our energy levels up and getting an appropriate amount of sleep, all of these kind of fall into that body regulation category. Then we have regulating the breath. And regulating the breath is extremely deep topic. In fact, qigong is often referred to as the science of the breath because there's literally hundreds of different breathing strategies. And we can use these to get different energetic outcomes. Because of the. The vast different kinds of breathing strategies that we have at our disposal, we broadly categorize them into yin methods and Yang methods. Yin methods are often deeper, more holistic style of meditations that we use to bring that Energy inward. And an example of that would be if you ever listen to somebody sleep, their natural breathing pattern is a longer inhale and a shorter exhale. And this is the body's natural way of bringing their conscious mind into their subconscious mind, which is where we all are when we're sleeping and dreaming. And so if we want to get closer to that subconscious mind and get to those deeper levels of meditation, we can emulate this style of breathing in our meditation practice. And longer inhales and even soft retentions at the end of the inhale and, and shorter exhales to help bring that energy inward, which is great for stress reduction, dealing with anxiety, with panic attacks, with boosting our creativity. There's lots of reasons why we would focus on this side of the practice. Then we have the Yang side of the practice. This is more aggressive. An example of this would be if you ever had to push your car or you pick up something heavy. Your natural instinct is to exhale and put tension in the breath, maybe even make the breath audible. This helps generate energy and expand it. So when you start understanding how to use the breath strategically, we can use it to control our physical, mental and emotional well being throughout the day. You know, we all go through the day with emotional ups and downs. Some people maybe like a roller coaster, others a little more balanced. But when you start seeing that elevation or that excitement, you can use the yin side of the breath to help bring you back down. And the same thing when you start feeling depleted, we can use that Yang breath to help bring a little bit of juice back and be more active in our day. And so the breathing is a very important part of any meditation journey. Then we have regulating the mind. And regulating the mind is a lifelong journey and something that we're all always working on. And you know, one of the most common things I'll hear people say when we start talking about meditation, if they're new to the practice, is that I tried that, but it just didn't work for me. I couldn't quiet my mind. And somewhere along the way people got this misguided idea that in order to be successful with meditation, you have to reach this state of nirvana where you're just this master that can, you know, be present all the time. And, you know, it couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, you know, I've been studying the meditative arts for a long time and trained with some amazing teachers all over the world. And I've never once met anybody that's always present in an enlightened State, you know, and so it's. It's kind of just a misguided idea. And if you think that way, you're never going to feel successful with the practice. When in reality, the idea is if I'm sitting for 20 minutes a day or maybe doing a Tai Chi form, and. And I get distracted 50 times during that session. Every time I get distracted, I use the movement, my breath, my posture to find balance and come back to center. And now I just got 50 repetitions of being distracted and finding that focus. And in doing this every day, every month, every year, we develop this ability to find that center in any of life's chaos, which helps us through things that are happening all day, every day in a very important part of the journey. There's a story that I really like about these two old monks. And they're walking down a dirt road after a huge rainstorm, and they come up to this big mud puddle. And on the other side of the puddles, this beautiful little girl. And she's standing there in a white dress and she's crying. And the older monk, he hollers across the puddle and says, is everything okay? Can we help you? And she says, I need to be somewhere, but if I walk across this puddle, I'm going to get my dress all dirty. So the older monkey rolls up his pant legs and he walks across the puddle, picks her up, puts her on his back, takes her to the other side and sets her down, and she's off on her way. Well, him and the younger monk are walking a couple miles further down the road, and finally the younger monk is just furious, and he says, you know, we're not supposed to touch girls, but you did back there at the puddle. And the older monk looks down and says, you're still carrying that girl around. I left her back there at the puddle. And how many times in life do we need to get two miles down the muddy road before we realize we got to let these things go? And so that awareness is so important. The fourth regulation is regulating the energy. And regulating the energy is a very deep topic and something that we could spend hours on. But just the basic idea is once we've reached a competent level in regulating the body, the breath, and the mind, we now have the tools to lead the energy in the body inward, outward, to circulate it on different paths, to get different outcomes with our practice. And then the fifth and final regulation is regulating the strength spirit, which is very profound and a lifetime journey as well. And you can see by these five underlying Principles that when we start cultivating these areas and building a foundation in our practice, they can affect everything we do in life. [00:22:56] Speaker A: Question for you about regulation. When you say regulation, you don't exactly mean control. It's more like guidance. [00:23:03] Speaker B: Yeah, there, there is a sense of control, but it's not a force. You know, I feel when you try to fight things, a lot of times it builds up negative energy that leads to conflict. And, you know, the whole concept behind yielding is we're trying to lead it down a path with least resistance to get to where we want to go. And if we force it, you know, some things we can force. If, you know, you're walking with a five year old and they want to run out in the traffic, you grab their arm, you can pull them back in and make them come the other way. But if that person's £350 and can pick up a Volkswagen Bug, good luck. And so it's the same idea with anything we do in life is that how can we lead that situation, whether it be a conversation or internal conflict or something that we have to do physically to where we want it to go with the least amount of resistance? And that's the whole idea behind yielding. [00:24:08] Speaker A: Many listeners struggle to find a personal fit with meditation. How do you help individuals discover the best practice that works for themselves after. [00:24:17] Speaker B: Teaching for so many years? You know, one of the biggest struggles that I've had is trying to get people to see the value in the practice and really benefit from this so they can make it a life practice. And so through the years, I've come up with three considerations that I like people to spend a little bit of time with. And I find that this mindset that they get from investing a little bit of time here is what will really help them be successful. And then we can find a direction and a path and pick different practices that will help them navigate down the road they want to follow. And the first one is thinking about what is it that's drawing them to the practice? Do they want to reach higher levels of health and mobility so they can watch their grandkids grow up? Or are they dealing with a stress disorder and panic attacks and they want to use this to be more settled and more comfortable? Or maybe it's an athlete looking to improve their performance. Whatever that is, spend some time really finding the main reason that's drawing you down that path and then take it a little bit further and think of 10 or 20 things that will positively change in your life by following that path. Maybe it's your own interpersonal communication or your relationships with others over your overall health or whatever that is for you. And really put some heartfelt thought into that, because this is what's going to give you the energy to get out and do this practice every day, which is where we need to be to reap all the benefits from the practice. And then after they do that, I like them to flip the coin and think about 10 to 20 negative things that will happen if they don't do the practice. And in doing this, they now have that motivation. And so stop looking at this practice as a chore that they've got to do every day. And something that they get to do, they see all the value and they see all the reasons and the motivations for doing this, and it just helps find that spark, if you will. And then the second consideration is the idea and the understanding that consistency is key in this practice. And there's a story of this old stone cutter that really illustrates this idea well. And this old stone cutter was extremely well known all over China and his work was beautiful. He created these animals and landscapes out of stone and his work was so detailed that anytime somebody saw it, they just knew that it came from this guy. And because of his reputation and how well known he was, he would have people from all around that would come and stay with him for years at a time and study and learn the trade. Well, every morning this old stonecutter would begin his day by going down to the river and meditating. And one morning after his meditation, he's walking along the river and he has this profound vision of this big six foot tall mystical Chinese jade dragon. And he's so taken by the vision that he just knew this had to be his next project. So he spends the next few months traveling all around looking for the perfect stone for his new creation. Finally, he finds it. He brings it back to his place and for the next period of time, day, in and out, he just sits with the stone, studies it, feels the energy, and tries to envision how this dragon is soon to appear. One day when he begins working on the stone, he carefully places his chisel on the backside of the stone and starts tapping away with his hammer. Hundreds, if not thousands of times a day over and over to the same spot and nothing changed. A few days went by and still nothing. A few more days went by and his apprentices started second guessing him and wondering why he didn't try something else. A few more days went by and finally he tapped the stone and this big three foot section of the stone comes off and it created this smooth, slightly curved line that was going to be part of the dragon's back. And one of his apprentices who was watching asks, how did you know that that strike was going to break the stone? And the stonecutter replied, it wasn't that strike that broke the stone, it was the thousands of strikes before it that broke the stone. And with a bit of a discouraged tone in his voice, the apprentice said, but I've been watching you. And there was no change. Why didn't you try something else? And the stonecutter got down on one knee and he felt the smooth line that he just created. And he said, each strike was not wasted. Even though we could not see it with the naked eye, the stone was changing beneath the surface. And not only was the stone being molded, but so is the one who wields the hammer. And the reason why I like this story so much is that this is the meditative arts. You know, we're doing these breath work exercises, these movement practices, studying these philosophical concepts, and we don't always see the change day to day, but through this consistency and effort, we're laying the foundation that bears fruit for the rest of our lives. And so if you put a little bit of time into why you're wanting to do the practice, having this idea of consistency, and then third, finding a guide, the meditative arts is extremely deep practice. And you know, you could sift through the millions of videos out there on YouTube and try to do it yourself. But you know, I've been teaching for 30 years. I've seen people that are self taught, that have been doing it 10, 15, even 20 years and they never usually get past the surface. And you know, our lives are short. Your time is valuable. It's not that difficult to find somebody to help you and point you down the right direction. And so if you do that, you find your why, you understand consistency, and you have somebody in your corner to help point you in the right direction. Your likelihood of success with this practice is almost for sure. [00:30:45] Speaker A: Nice. How often would someone meditate to truly feel the transformative benefits without it becoming too much of a chore? [00:30:54] Speaker B: Well, that's the beautiful thing in the practice is that you start to make it a lifestyle and it becomes who you are. And you, you practice every day. However, you know, I often will hear people say, I'm too busy, I can't meditate every day. I don't know how people do that. You know, they, they feel like it's going to take things away from them. But what I found over and over again with thousands of students and some very successful entrepreneurs that are extremely busy, that most people wouldn't even imagine how much they get done, is that when they take on a practice like this now, through their increased focus and presence and ability to be more aware of what's going on, they actually become more productive and more present in all of their relationships. And everything starts to improve just from this one thing. And it doesn't mean that you need to retire to a cave and go meditate for the rest of your life. But if you just did 20 minutes a day of a ritual practice and then integrated some active practices throughout the day, which are things that you can do when you're walking down the street or standing in line at the grocery store to help us keep that practice present state of awareness, and that ability. So we start living the practice rather than it being a hobby, and then started studying some of the philosophical concepts. Anybody can do the practice. And in fact, the Dalai Lama once said that everybody should meditate for 20 minutes a day. Unless you're too busy, then you should meditate for an hour. And I. I really click with that saying in that it is so important. And if Everybody just did 20 minutes a day, the world would be such a better place. [00:32:36] Speaker A: Yeah, I find for myself, 20 minutes is what I need for a complete reset. Sometimes I go in so deep and that when I come out, it actually feels like it's a new day. I've just come out of, like, being born again. And when that brings to the. To life is just a refreshed, open point of view to everything. Breathwork plays an essential role in mental and physical stability according to your teachings. Can you dive into why that is so vital? [00:33:02] Speaker B: Yeah, the breath controls our energy levels. You know, it's. To give you a couple of examples when we. Going back to when we talked about the five regulations and I told you about the Yin breath and the Yang breath, an extreme example of a yin breath would be if somebody was very depressed and they'd been crying. And if you noticed when they do that when you cry, you're. You're doing these longer inhales and shorter exhales. Now, if you do this over a period of time and you're very depressed and you're crying a lot, a lot of times it breaks down our immune system and we get sick. So this depression and negativity and this. This ability to follow this yin path can lead to that. Now, there are some benefits to that when it's not done to the extremity. But there's the, the breath has that energetic change in it. And then if you think about the other side of it, on the yang side, think about maybe a laughing state. You know, we exhale for a long period of time and that energy starts making us get warm. And if we laugh a lot, we start sweating and our belly aches. And this idea of this, this balance in how this changes with our breath and we start seeing how it changes our emotions, our physical well being, our mental states. The breath can really be an important tool in helping us regulate our physical, mental and emotional well being. [00:34:43] Speaker A: Yeah. My wife is a breath work practitioner herself doing cacao breathwork sessions with people and has a lot of profound changes for them. So I can completely understand now. Have you had any moments with students that have profoundly changed or reinforced your belief in the power of your method? And can you share any stories? [00:35:00] Speaker B: Yeah, you know, through, through the years, I've heard hundreds of stories. One that I always like to share is from a longtime student of mine, which is why I think it always stays so fresh in my mind. I. This was back 30 years ago when I first met him. I was a pretty young guy. He was about, I think around mid-50s when he first started with me. He had a very high stress career. Came into me wanting to learn sword fighting. And he came in one day and was stiff as a two by four, very stressed. He definitely had a hard day at work. And I was like, Bill, you know, let's try some meditation, let's do some, some subtle movement practices and do some breath work. And at first he was a little not interested in wanting to do the practice, but after the session he felt so much more relaxed and better that he decided he wanted to kind of dive deeper into this practice. And I witnessed him being this person who always walked around with so much tension to somebody who was flexible and relaxed and, you know, and then it took a, it took a period of time. You know, it was probably a good 12 to 24 months before I started really seeing some noticeable changes. But now, 30 years later, he's still at the academy in his mid-80s. He still comes in two, three times a week. He's one of, you know, part of the family here now. And, you know, watching him change through the years, it, it doesn't have to be something that, you know, I hear a lot of people say I'm too old, I can't change, or that doesn't work for me, you know, and there's no stage in Life where you can come in here and can't benefit from this practice, don't think it's something that you got to start doing when you're in your 20s. Anybody can do this practice. And I've had people at all stages of life come in and see a lot of benefits from the training. [00:37:07] Speaker A: Nice. In our high stress modern world, how can ancient meditative arts like Qigong improve overall mental performance and resilience? [00:37:17] Speaker B: Part of it is the ability, I think, to stay connected to who we are. You know, in this fast paced world, we get so caught up with these number of different distractions hitting us from every angle. And you know, in doing this, a lot of times I find that people are walking around like they're wearing a mask because they've got so much coming at them that they don't really want people to see how they're really feeling or who they are. And in doing this, while it may be protective in some situations, it starts to become this barrier in this wall that we start to live behind. And now oftentimes people will get so comfortable behind this barrier that they'll be looking at themselves in the mirror and still be wearing that mask. And the meditative practice helps us take those masks away and really stay connected to who we are, which helps us navigate all the chaos in the busy world. [00:38:22] Speaker A: Are there any common misconceptions you've discovered or mistakes that people make when they're starting meditation that you'd like to warn them about up front? [00:38:29] Speaker B: You know, there's a couple. You know, one of the biggest things I think is that sometimes people think that there's one style of meditation that is right for everybody. And that's, that's so not the case. You know, there's different, definitely different things that I would recommend to different people, which is why you really need to have a guide. And your practice should always be evolving. So, you know, you start doing a practice today, it shouldn't be the same in five years from now and in ten years from now. You're always getting deeper into the practice. You're learning how to circulate the energy, how to use the breath, how to connect with the movement and make those fine motor skill connections that most people never become aware of. You know, when you think about, if you go to grab a glass of water off of the counter, a lot of people will move their arm and they'll pick it up and they'll drink it and they'll think of maybe two or three, four movements when they pick up the glass. But if you really break it down, how many muscle groups do you have in your forearm and your fingers and your shoulder and transferring your weight and the expansion and contraction of the breath when you're breathing, and all of the muscles releasing and letting go as you shift the weight from one foot to the other to pick it up. There's millions of things going on. And there's no way anybody, no matter how many times you pick up that glass, could do it the exact same way every time you do it. And it's not that you need to do it the exact same way. I'm not saying that. But if we can just expand our awareness to see that clarity and know where my body's tight, how I'm moving, how I'm expanding, how I'm changing the weight, how my breath is going, and we have that higher level of awareness, that's where we really start to get deeper into the practice. [00:40:30] Speaker A: The Yielding Warrior program is distinct from others out there. What makes it different or more effective for practitioners today? [00:40:37] Speaker B: Well, I guess it would depend on what programs you're talking about. But there are a lot of differences in many of the programs I see in that we don't follow one specific path. There's not like a cut and paste. Everybody does this one thing. It's understanding where you are in the practice and what you want to get out of the practice, and then building a basic foundation and incorporating movement practices, breath work, philosophical concepts that help us navigate that path. And so I basically teach people how to live the meditative lifestyle and integrate it into their life so it fits, you know, the direction that they want to go with the practice. [00:41:26] Speaker A: Are there any other particular daily rituals outside the formal meditation that support or reinforce the Yielding Warrior lifestyle consistently through, throughout life's ups and downs? I mean, do you even like, go into diet or just regular mindset or anything like that? [00:41:44] Speaker B: There's a lot of mindset training in, in the program. In the program, we don't teach diet. It's. That's a very big topic and something that while is very valuable, it's more focused just on the, the meditative practice. There are other things I find value in. You know, I do believe that, you know, and a lot of this comes with this program that you can do as far as some of the strength and the flexibility training. I think keeping your body mobile and healthy is very important, but there's other things that you can do, like, you know, resistance training or I think doing the sauna and cold plunge has a, has a place to help in your rituals. So it's an overall life approach, but we don't try to hit every good thing that I think you can do for yourself. [00:42:45] Speaker A: If a listener was to adopt only one practice from your program, which part would give them the most immediate impact? [00:42:50] Speaker B: Having a consistent daily ritual and active practices that they followed through and just made part of their life. And, you know, there's a number of different individual practices they could integrate down those two things. But if that idea of having a daily ritual practice like you brush your teeth every day and then, you know, maybe every 60 or 90 minutes doing a breath work exercise or a movement practice exercise, something to help keep you in tune and aware throughout the day, that would be a huge change for most people. [00:43:30] Speaker A: Yeah, the act of actually being really conscious of everything is really important. I think we get very distracted by all of the general technology tools that we have to use every day nowadays. [00:43:42] Speaker B: Yes. [00:43:44] Speaker A: Now, looking forward, what new developments or evolutions do you see coming next for the Yielding Warrior method? And how can our audience stay connected with your latest offerings? [00:43:53] Speaker B: Well, right now I'm working on my. My next book. It's in the editing stage, back and forth with the editor and myself and doing some rereads. And it's called the Yielding Athlete. And it talks about different ways on how we can use the meditative lifestyle to improve our athletic performance. And, you know, these days, so many people are wise to the benefits of meditation. And, you know, you'll talk to professional athletes all around the world that are studying the meditative arts and integrating it as part of their lifestyle because it helps them perform better. And so that's something that's been a lot of fun for me and putting that together, and that should be out by the end of the year. To get in touch with me, theyieldingwarrior.com go to my website or any of my social handles. Right now, I'm giving away a free copy of my most recent book, the Yielding Warrior. If you just go to theyieldingwarrior.com book, you can get a copy of that. Just pay shipping and handling. We'll send it out to you. And there's lots of other things you can get involved with through the website as well. [00:44:59] Speaker A: Nice. Okay, I'll include that link in the show notes. So we've come to the end of the podcast. Is there any questions you think that I should have asked? That I did. [00:45:05] Speaker B: One thing I would like to mention to your listeners, though, if you're on the fence and you're thinking about doing a meditation practice. And I've witnessed this over and over again through the years. If you just make the commitment to do a little bit every day and make it part of your life for a year, you'll see so many benefits from the practice that you'll do it for the rest of your life, and it'll be one of the best decisions you've ever made. So I hope that something we said today helps inspire you down that path and it doesn't have to be with me, just for yourself to go out there and find that motivation to take on the practice. And I wish you all the best. [00:45:44] Speaker A: Thank you so much for coming on the show, Jeff. I really appreciate all that you've shared and how you'll be inspiring all of my listeners. [00:45:52] Speaker B: Thank you for having me. [00:45:53] Speaker A: All right, I'll just say goodbye to listeners. That was a really good conversation with Jeff. I really appreciate his understanding of meditation and the martial arts. There is so much more in there that we didn't get to, but we got to the core of it, which I think from what Jeff has said, is simply meditation. I appreciate that Jeff's understanding of meditation goes well beyond anything I've ever done, and I personally can attest to the benefits of meditation in my daily life. Now, if you've enjoyed today's show, you'd like to learn more, you can drop over to his website and that's linked in the show notes below. And if you've enjoyed today's show, remember to like and subscribe. It's free. And yeah, if you're on a podcast app, give us five stars and please share it to a friend who you know will appreciate it. Thank you so much for listening. Until next episode, it's bye for now. Sam. [00:47:29] Speaker B: Stupid LA.