Therapist, Monk, Motorcyclist Yoni Banayan Shares The Secret to True Healing

In this enlightening episode, I am thrilled to welcome Yoni Banayan. Yoni Banayan, a unique blend of monk, therapist, motorcyclist, and once aspiring rabbi, explores the profound realms of spirituality, personal growth, and healing. This episode takes us deep into discussions on holistic healing methods, the importance of breathwork, body reconnection, and the journey to overcome fears and restrictive beliefs. Through this engaging conversation, Yoni shares his insights on intuition, the significance of collective consciousness, and the powerful impact of daily wellness practices on our lives.

As we traverse the path of self-discovery alongside Yoni, we tackle the challenges of societal disconnections, the transformative power of experiential learning, and finding inner peace. This episode is a guide to mastering one's mental state, achieving a balanced life, and understanding the intricate connection between mind, body, and spirit. Yoni's narratives of personal and spiritual journeys illuminate the way towards embracing the transformative power of experiences, underscoring the role of self-reflection and traditional cultures in our quest for emotional healing.

Dive into a journey of enlightenment with Yoni Banayan on The Gabi Koyenov Podcast. Whether you're seeking inspiration for personal growth, strategies for emotional healing, or wisdom on the journey of spiritual awakening, this episode promises a wealth of knowledge and practical advice to guide listeners towards a life of balance, understanding, and profound transformation.

You are capable, think for yourself, stay curious, spread positivity, and to the rebellion!

Connect with Yoni

Website - https://www.earthsedgewellness.com/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/yoni_banayan/?hl=en#

Email for breathwork course 15% off!
intake@earthsedgewellness.com

Connect with Gabi

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/gabikoyenov/?hl=en#

Sponsor - The Men's Therapy Studio
https://themenstherapystudio.com/

Transcript

0:29

Hello friends. And this episode, I sit down with a Yoni. Yoni has one of the most fascinating stories I've ever heard. He is a monk, a therapist, a motorcyclist, and he studied to be a rabbi. His journey is fascinating. And in this episode we talked all about his method of healing. Which is honestly a fascinating and holistic method of healing. He focuses on breathwork and regaining trust with the body. Yoni has a course that he has generously offered 15% discount to our listeners. And if you are interested in Yoni's method, you can check out everything about him in the description. Additionally guys, this episode is brought to you by the men's therapy studio. Are you feeling. Overwhelmed and stressed as you are navigating your place in the world. Well, you're not alone. The men's. Therapy studio is here for you and takes your challenges and unique experiences seriously in a world that often doesn't. So guys hop on a free consultation call and if you know anyone that could benefit, send it to them as well. Take care guys, enjoy the episode and as always. There are many more episodes of this podcast available on Spotify that are not on YouTube. Enjoy.

Gabi: 1:37

Yeah, it's so funny. We've, we've crossed very similar paths. I feel like we both been tough time. We both worked in our place and you know, we both know a lot of the same people and it's like so funny. I see you now. You have like beautiful hair, beautiful beard. Rocking this like really cool lifestyle. And I want to hear all about it. And I think like the first place that I want to really tackle is your almost like model of healing, like how do you heal people? What do you consider healing? Who needs healing? Start with wherever you want. Sure.

Yoni: 2:04

Yeah. Okay. I think, uh, you know, part of it is to recognize. Uh, in our world healing as a business. So we met for money. Off off saying you're ill. We can solve your problem. Right. Find their pain point, like in any business and solve it. So. Healing is a business in a way, because we are where we say, what's your pain points. You know, you have a trauma, you have a story let's resolve that. There's something to be said about. There's a natural cycle of life, evolutionary process that we all go through. And a seedling like a plant has a problem, has potential issues, whether it's mold or competing plants or water or lack of nutrients in the soil. And as it sprouts, it'll have different problems. And as it hits and breaks, the soil it'll have different problems. As it grows his first kind of spine from a sapling, it'll have different problems. And as it becomes a tree and cause this first fruit refers leaves again, it'll have different problems. So we can call it healing. Like something is wrong. Another way of viewing it as is that we are on this process that we'll have natural hiccups things that come up. So I would view healing is more of. Making sure I'm at a place that I am at strong Oak tree. Exactly. So I'm making sure I'm that strong Oak tree. So I can say, Hey, some of the sapling, can I help them become a tree? I I've been there. I know about the mold. I know about the lack of sunlight I know about. It was too much water over-watering and I have some ideas. To help you go from the seed to becoming a tree. So instead of viewing it like your problem or your broken. Well, there's natural things that could happen. And it's part of life. So it was not really like people are broken. It's not like our whole world is broken. It's that? We get caught up in certain areas and we're not really given the education or teachings of how to move forward.

Gabi: 4:04

So that's fascinating. Yeah. I feel like if I'm understanding correctly, you kind of change the way we almost look at a problem. I feel like maybe in today's culture. The healing world is incentivized to look at things as problems. When in reality, like you kind of pointed out a lot of these quote unquote problems are like stages of development. Almost like challenges, like things that come up, it's just part of life. It's not, I like the framing of it as a problem. Maybe there's something wrong with that framing.

Yoni: 4:31

Yeah. There's a lot. There's a line that comes to me. Um, if this is the age of anxiety, it is. Uh, also in part a. Do tower. We do to our choice to be anxious about anxiety. You know, so I think a lot of it is our perspective around things. I do think, listen, when we're a seed, maybe it's a different challenge than where a sapling. Right? Right. And I think people are in different stages of what we call evolution or development. And some people do have it harder than others because they're at a different stage. But at some point, everyone did go through some stage. In my opinion, it doesn't necessarily mean in this lifetime. Yeah, but we all, at some point had to deal with something to help us grow.

Gabi: 5:13

Okay. Interesting. Yeah. So how do you help people deal with things?

Yoni: 5:16

To help them grow. So the number one thing I need to do is work on myself. Like my number one job is to realize my process and realizing where are they in their process. So then I, when I look, look at them, I, instead of following a certain rule, I listened to like, what needs to happen for them? What is their process? Most people know the answer. That's the funny part. They're just, they just don't trust themselves. Or they haven't found the right words or conceptualization to adequately. Describe it to another person. So my biggest role when I meet people is to find out what they really need. Fascinating. And they, they know, they know if we give them enough time and ask the right questions, they're kind of come up with the right answer. And when they come with the right answer, like. I, I rarely ever have any of those things that we learned in therapy school about like defiance or, uh, like oppositional defiance disorder, like, or things like. Uh, borderline personality disorder or, um, you know, where, where the person is like a what's it called? They're not working with therapy. I forgot the word we use for that. non-compliance therapy. What are some ways. That is like, as if we're like lathering on a cream and they're not being compliant. You know, and then the cells tells you, as part of the issue, when you really listen to people, uh, they, people often have the right answer. Like, cause it's all there. Right? That same seed growing to being a tree. The tree DNA is already in the seed. All right. So sometimes we just need to figure out like, what needs to happen, what did happen? Oh. And eventually go, you know what a. I think about it. My dad really did have an impact in my life or none. I think about it. I think I'm beating myself up all the time. You know, so when we get to that clarity, Well, okay, well, what needs to happen for this seed? This person to develop and grow. So it's a little bit more, I would say simple in a way. Uh, less gimmicky, less salesy, just like listening, seeing. And then like trying on different, like kind of like pair of pants, like, does it fit right? Like, Hey, here's try this out. How does that, maybe you sit with it for a day. Does that feel right? And like really, really, really asking them like repeatedly, like, is this right for you? Does this feel right? And I think, um, You know, I think a big illness and our society is our inability to trust ourself. You know, so I really, really try to trust myself and trust the people I work with. I found the wisdom. Yeah.

Gabi: 7:33

Yeah. I love this. It sounds very rigid Aryan and that, um, that idea that people do know what the right thing to do is, and when you show up genuinely and you're caring for them and you're like listening and like, Hey, what is, what do you feel like is this field right? Like you help them discover what they already know. Yeah. And they realigned. And I

Yoni: 7:52

love. He's a big fan. Like, uh, he's a big fan of mine. Rogers. Yeah. He's. He's a fan of yours. Yeah. Meaning. Meaning meaning. Yeah. Just letting you know. Um, I really find his work. It's something so simple about it. Right? I think the issue becomes whether we are clear enough in ourselves to administer the approach. Interesting. Like if you're not an Oak tree, you're not going to be able to help the sapling out. Absolutely. You know? And then you're gonna have to find some gimmick and tool, right. Or you do do the work. Figure out what your issues are. Figure out ways to move through them. Allow yourself to be wrong and drop things. And then from there from a moral, humble, like let's let go of everything and really figure it out. Like bottom line is, are you happy? Bottom line is, are the solutions that you were talking about resolved? You know, I think there's a little line and back to the future. Of where someone is. It's like a, that they go a hundred years in the future and he's like a hundred years in the future by now. I would've probably had a breakthrough. And almost had a breakdown. You know, and it's like, okay, well that's a little too long to have a breakthrough. You know, Uh, if you have a, you know, I think a great observation is like when people use psychedelics and they have like a real observation or are apifany. Well, maybe it's not going to be as quick, but yeah. Therapy and healing should have a general. Uh, creases of awareness periodically, like pretty often. No. Uh, it shouldn't be something that happens. You know, rarely.

Gabi: 9:21

I love that point. I think that's fascinating. I love how you said that people don't trust themselves nowadays. I was wondering, do you have any idea as to. If that's a societal thing in today's day and age, like what might be the reason for that? How do people lose trust in themselves? Yeah. Then what

Yoni: 9:35

happens? Well, there's probably a handful of things. I think in particular, the we're probably one of the more disconnected to civilizations to ever live in my opinion. And part of it is our lifestyle we're living far quicker than our body is used to. Our bodies are mental, you know, run it. You know, I don't know, six miles an hour or emails. And walk out like a few other little slower than that. Like we're, we're pretty slow creatures. Yeah. Um, you know, as, as quick as we make ourselves out to be, we're pretty slow. Um, and uh, we live in a world where we respond to messages across the world immediately. You know, the different, the speed from your thought to the entire world, knowing something it's a couple of seconds. You know, the expectations of the knowledge that we need to receive and know. I supposed to, uh, Our inner body working. Uh, there's like you discrepancy. So we're, we're taking on a lot of information. We're giving out a lot of information and there's not a lot of processing going on inside. You know, when I traveled to other countries, I remember I was in Bali. And I went to a certain town where I wanted to like go to a place where there was no, no tourists. They don't speak English. I wanted to go to a real place where. I would be like complete. I wanted to see what was life like for these people. And I found this town that's basically been in touch for about a thousand years. Um, and there are certain parts of it that were creepy their costumes and how they did things. In what sense? Uh, like really creepy. I don't know if you still have a, for your podcast. Well, I'm sure you're all. So they basically part of their custom, like they revamped it due to legal issues in Indonesia, but their customers to be that if someone's like elderly and like they have no use for them. They would tell them, oh my God. The blood would be used. Like everything there had a purpose, so we didn't have a purpose. They would just Chuck it out. So like the carpets and the, and the things were used out of people's blood. Seriously. Yeah. It was like function. Everything was functioning on purpose. Like meaning the dye in the carpet. Yes. The red dye was human. Oh, my

Gabi: 11:31

goodness. The old people killed themselves. Like they let themselves be killed

Yoni: 11:35

or they, I think they understood it as part of the culture, religion, uh, I think when you think about like the things that we do in our culture, like Jewish addition, like breast Mila, It's pretty intense. Like, yeah. If I tried to explain it to someone who isn't from our background, And they go. So, so you, you, what. And you all celebrate around him and the rabbi does what. So I go and get me we're normal. So I think. We don't really, we take into account. We think what we do is normal. They think what they do is normal. Right. Um, Now. Well, my point in bringing up is that I saw a guy sitting there. You know, and there's like a very different culture in general, and there's a guy sitting there just sitting and he was looking at nothing particular. I think just the street. And the street is basically a rolling hill with a couple of cobblestones on it. So it's easy to get a bike up. Hmm. Or struggle like you Diana, the trolley type of thing. Um, so the cobblestone literally meant like a handful of stones lined up together and that's how they go up and down. But it's a, just a hill. And I've ever seen him sit there. And I said, come back later on the day. And he's still in the exact same place you're sitting and he's not like meditating. He's not, he's just existing. And I'm just like, no one does this in our society. They wouldn't bug out. They would bug out. And there's a guy who's maybe not having much intelligence or wisdom or insight to share to other people, but he has the capacity to just exist. And most of us don't. Fascinating. So you think about like our machines, like right. Like, like there's like a loading period. When you upload your computer or go on the web or upload your emails are, turn your phone on. Like we have, we don't allow our bodies to load. We don't allow our machines to load. So the part of the reason why we don't trust ourselves is because we haven't given us the time to actually develop trust. Like we haven't taken all this information and let it download. You know, so it's like, someone's like you watch a movie and it's really cool and it changes your life. Or you have a really good perspective. Someone you meet someone really wise or holy or a Saint or someone, a therapist, they tell you a really good point and you gotta keep going. And you can't think about it. You know, that's kind of our life. We're just getting a lot of information and there's no processing going on. You know, so a big part of our, yeah, our inability to make decisions or trust ourselves and therefore make decisions. Is not there because we don't that inner machine is not on it. Hasn't loaded and we've shut it down and told it to keep quiet so we can keep getting work done. Fascinating. Now, and there's something about it. Like, how do we get work done right. Well, part of them. Are you hungry sometimes? Yeah. You got to push it. What? You have to use the bathroom. Yeah. Just shut up. So we shut our machine down. We shut our processing down and we shut our, our physical body. Right. The messages that it tells us, we shut it down. So then we're left with a lack of ability to make choices.

Gabi: 14:16

So here's kind of where my mind is struggling with this concept. I know a lot of people that. They need to sleep, listening to music or podcasts. I mean, it's times in my life where I just want to go to sleep, listening to music or whatever. Like they, they have this inability to this podcast.

Yoni: 14:32

Well,

Gabi: 14:35

That's true, but I'm saying.

Yoni: 14:37

Uh, beautiful voices. All right. Yeah, well, I hope it's a

Gabi: 14:41

good night. I've been told I have an SMR voice. Yeah, there we go. But anyways. People have an inability to sit with their own thoughts. And I know for myself, I've had points in my life where I was like that. And it's like, it. Baffles me because it's like, You're right. Fine. We need this ability to. Think fast and continue moving so that we can be productive and to shut off listening to ourselves. But then why is it that when we have nothing else to do, we're incapable of it and like w just fidgety.

Yoni: 15:10

It's been so long, how much information. It typically is just like drip, drip, drip information coming at. Right. And then you hold that dam for 20 years. It's a huge river. It's a Torrance and that's a tense. Uh, think of it this way. Like if you don't process like Prama and pain and emotions in real time, they built up and then it's like really painful. The Trump process them. But if you are actively processing life, then you never have like, oh my God, it was so much to talk about that. It was so much to think about that. No, it wasn't. Well, it makes sense. And it's. Because they happen because they do it all often. Okay. No. It's like, if you a. You never stretch the first time you stretch, you're going to die. You. So, but if you stretch every day, like, oh, it's a little tighter up. Not anymore. Right. So it just that we've had a drip feed going on and we plugged that hole for a long time. You can plug it for an hour. You can plug it for a day. But long-term. Yeah. That'll you know, and all. I don't really screw things up. And I would say the same thing with like medications. Uh, you know, in any, any medicine that numbs you from your Hottie, same thing. Like, no. It's a temporary, uh, moment of where you're disconnected. It's okay to be disconnected at temporarily. We're not supposed to be connected all the time. We wouldn't be able to drive a car. You wouldn't be able to function. You wouldn't be able to like you, you see a baby at a supermarket or, you know, you're walking with their, like, fascinated about the lights or the sounds like we would all be the same way. Right. You know, so, um, Yeah. So, so we need to have the ability to function our real-time.

Gabi: 16:44

I see. So, what can you help people do though to. Begin to process without it just blowing up like a damn.

Yoni: 16:52

Yeah. Um, that's a good question. I think it's important that our nervous system is strong enough to handle that. So think of it as let's. The dam analogy. Like when it, when it, when it opens, do we have the machinery, the hardware that the water can flow. Does that make sense? Yeah. Yeah. And do we have the capacity to open it up at our pace? Okay. Right. Does it have to just not, not here. Or can I just open, open, open, open all the way? Like, is there a way to, to, to modulate that. And there is thousands. I'd love to hear. Yeah. I would say we have to learn how to recognize that our body, our mind. Like even the word mental health. It's, it's a, it's a trick. Okay. Not mental. Most of your effect, your subconscious mind is your body. Interesting. So, so. What I mean by that is your body. Your. Your mind. Picks up on stimuli information. Now, where does the store that information? In your body. Okay. And your body sends cues to your mind. And he used that information to make decisions. Um, think of like, uh, Here's a good example. You ever touch something hot? Right. No, no. Your body moves away before your mind knows you're hot afterwards. You. Oh, oh, Right. You're not like, oh, you're oh, wow. Because your body moves it away. Consciously. Right. So that assessment happens without your mind. And then your mind goes online and goes, Hey, tell this. This, you know, wise crack. Give him some pain. So he knows not to do that again. Makes sense. Okay. So your subconscious mind Seder from the scenario. And then your, your, your mind send you some pain. So you don't do it again. Okay. Does that make sense? Yeah, it does. So yeah, our, our, our body has, uh, its own system. Uh, and I think keep in mind, um, there are creatures that have been around for millions of years or whatever you believe about evolution or our time here. Our cells had a lot of time to evolve. So they have a lot of experience. And to deny all that experience and just use your 20 to 40 years of experience. Is laughable. I assume that's going to get you through life and there's every creature on the planet has thousands of lives or in their cells. That have lived. Right. So. We drink this tea. It's cellular. These cells have lived a thousand of their lives before we absorb it. And it becomes our own cells. Our body absorbs the water. Right. So, so everything has information. Um, I'm getting a little,

Gabi: 19:27

maybe. I'm loving it. This is interesting. It could be a little blue.

Yoni: 19:32

Um, Yeah. I mean, it's also, science-y like, That is kind of exactly what's going on. It's just, we are a conglomeration of a lot of cells. Fascinating. I

Gabi: 19:39

mean, yeah. Yeah. So.

Yoni: 19:41

So, uh, we don't listen to these cellular construct of even listen to this about the body's natural messages to keep itself alive. Self-preservation. To make effective decisions. You know, then yeah, we're going to be at a loss. We're not going to know how to make decisions. And when it comes to, uh, I guess getting back on topic. About about the damn. All right. So we need to find a way that this organism, the human body can handle that

Gabi: 20:07

damn right. Okay. So you have. And the first month of the nervous

Yoni: 20:11

system, obviously the first thing to start off with is learning how to breathe. Okay. And this is like a nice, easy practice for anyone listening. And try it yourself. Sure. And take one hand on your belly, one hand in your chest. I just inhale. And exhale. What are you noticing?

Gabi: 20:28

I'm noticing an initial rise in my belly and then in my chest.

Yoni: 20:32

Yeah. And see if your inhale and exhale just through your nose next time. Okay. How's that feel? It feels better actually. That was better. Yeah. So for some people feel worse depending on their, on their palette makeup. Okay. The point here is that when you've written heal and exhale through your nose, it's going to make your system better. So like on a hardware level, long-term breathing that way will help because your body will naturally. Your autonomic nervous and your ans Part of our natural autonomic nervous system going from sympathetic to parasympathetic. Is governed by which nostril we're breathing from. So you just go. You'll see every couple of hours it'll switch or pivot. Now some people, it doesn't pivot. And those people typically have some severe mental health issues or DVDs. Okay. Yeah. In fact, just looking at breathing with my clients, I can tell them their thoughts. Okay. Fascinating. What thought they have, but. Their nature of their thoughts. Is it pervasive as a negative? Does that make sense?

Gabi: 21:29

I mean, I'm hearing what you're saying.

Yoni: 21:30

Yeah. So, so. Yeah. So I would say that the breathing we do okay. Should happen through our nose. It should start in our belly. Go to our chest. And Alaska to our shoulders. Exhaling shoulder. Thanks sealing chest. Exhaling belly. Now we have an issue during any of those three. Or doing it in that order belly, chest shoulder, and then shoulder, chest belly. We're going to run into an issue. It's that simple. It used to work at a, at a school with about 600 kids and the kids that I have a teacher's right to see. It would rarely need to see me again. Either because I'm a weirdo. Or because they really, they didn't have any more. Behavioral issues. Yeah, that's simple. Through the breathing. Now, the other things is the two, but that's a good place to start. Why is it a good place to start? Because if you're working on reactive techniques or even, yeah, it's like halo, Tropic breathing or any special, magical technique. They're great. They're powerful. It's like going to a really good dentist, but you know, what's even better than going a really good dentist. Brushing your teeth every day. So practicing the daily. Dental hygiene. Just like taking care of your body. So every single breath you do will either calm you down or dysregulate you. Hmm. So, yeah, you want to have the system. Able to handle a dam. We'll put some good pavement in there. Put a good system, the body, it just equalized levelized. Does that make sense? Yeah. Learning how to breathe. The next one is, uh, maybe a little more complicated than explaining in a podcast, but learning how to move your spine. And your breath at the same time. Okay.

Gabi: 23:07

Fascinating. I need help with this. My back

Yoni: 23:10

needs help. Yeah. And what area, what do you mean?

Gabi: 23:13

I have this issue since I was a. I used to do Parker. Okay.

Yoni: 23:18

Wow. I love

Gabi: 23:19

that. Thank you. So I was doing hardcore with a friend one time, um, shout out to Tawny Shafter actually had him on the podcast. And I was doing this move where it was like a dive roll. I don't know if you're familiar. So I ended up landing on my back and I twisted something. I don't know what. And then the next day. Literally like the next day. I was with a different friend Jaco, sham enough. If I also had on the podcast. We were working out. We were BARR brothers at the time and we were like obsessed with gains. So I was doing a crazy amount of pull-ups, even though my back was killing me. And, um, he was like, oh, that you have to stop. I was like, no. You know, it must've been, I must've finished the, uh, the sets. And it was long story short to this day. I'm suffering with back then, because I did not listen to my body.

Yoni: 24:01

So. Then you've got your back. Yeah, I. Right, right. But Hey, listen. The good news is, is that their body could heal very likely. and our body naturally does heal. In fact, it's constantly replacing the same cells. The question is, what is it we're being replaced with? This is I'm

Gabi: 24:18

wondering this. Yeah. Like why hasn't this happened? I was 19. So it's like, And I was like six years ago now. Yeah. Is that one more time? About eight years ago now. And, um, I don't know, I just still get this issue on my back

Yoni: 24:31

from that. So maybe just a, a bore, a broad conversation about healing in general. Right? So these are like hiccups at the seed goes through as it's duplicating and replicating and becoming a tree. Sometimes it goes the wrong way and it just keeps going that path. Um, I had a actually torn both. My meniscus is on both. Oh, my goodness. Okay. Yeah. I had a lot of doctors told me I had to get surgery. I'm really passionate about motorcycling. Okay. So, uh, and I find it very peaceful, meditative actually. So for me, giving up six months of motorcycle, riding was not an option. Okay. Well, so I had to find the other option of how to heal my knees. Wow. Um, and I met actually one of my yoga masters and he was like, you know, he has an accent and he's like, what the N what's your knee on the gong? And I'll hear an Heela no time. So he has this big gong and he played it. And. Linda and it helped my knee. Significantly fascinating from. From that. And a couple of other practices, uh, both monies are completely fine. I would say I have. I don't know an area in my life where I'm inhibited because of my knees. Mike, I would say they're healed, but I don't think they ever really damaged. Yes, they were torn. But that was just the information that I was giving them and how I was working with them. I wasn't giving them the ability to heal. I wasn't giving them the right nutrients, the right movements, or I blood flow. The right conscious awareness of them to help them heal. Interesting.

Gabi: 25:50

Okay. That makes sense. It does make sense. And it's, it's. A lot there. I really want to unpack it. Yeah. So what can w let's say like conscious effort, I think you said. And what, what is that?

Yoni: 26:02

Uh, I say kind of where to cut out. I forgot the word. I forgot the word. He

Gabi: 26:05

is conscious awareness.

Yoni: 26:07

Yeah. I mean, uh, I mean, if you just take a moment to. We have a T here. Right? Right now you're going to sit the tea or you can like really focus on it and smell. I could feel the heat and humidity. Thanks. Build my fingers on the cup. Feel the sensation as my fingers, press against the cup. Right. I can inhale. Here my breath. A cold year. The moment the T hits my lips. Where does it do for my brain? What does it do? It rolls down my tongue, into my throat. How does that feel for me? Right. There's a lot going on here. So, um, the same thing with everything. There's a lot going on that our body is sending a lot of information. And ironically, we're looking outside for information when our body actually is able to give us an most information that we need. On the inside. Um, so when I say conscious awareness, I mean, being really conscious of how you feel. Simply put. Most of the problem is like we burned that bridge. We disconnected from our body. So I would say that's more of a complex process. I wouldn't share it on podcasts because if their body's not ready for the damn. It could be a little too much. So I'm not going to tell people how to open up. Yeah. Okay. I publicly. But yeah, there's ways you can just open the body up and you can feel more. I feel a lot more. Okay. Fascinating. Yeah. And it's it's. I would say, I actually found it out through science through, during COVID. I had COVID and there's been a lot of times he researched them. And a lot of time. Practicing techniques and making some, my own theories I'm working with it and it works.

Gabi: 27:44

Okay. I mean, where can people learn about it if they

Yoni: 27:46

already. Um, I created like a module program on it, so it's like a seven week module program. Okay, great. Um, let's say people can sign up for the program. It's all prerecorded. There's a few lessons which have to be done in person. But it gives them the break kind of how to build that container for the water. So when the dam is opened, Um, but it also gives them the process of how once the water is open, how to keep it going in the right direction. Okay. He goes, yeah, it'll hiccup. Then I'll run into our traumas or our pains, our stories.

Gabi: 28:17

Yeah. Awesome. We'll throw the link in the description. Um,

Yoni: 28:20

So just email email is probably

Gabi: 28:22

the best way. So. Okay, great email. Email will be in the description economics. Uh, So you said. The two ways you mentioned where learning to breathe and then learning to move our body. Like our spine in accordance with our

Yoni: 28:35

nervous system runs along our spine. Okay. Right. Our cranial, the Vegas nerve. That's like the hot topic now. People talk a lot about like regulation, like feeling calmer. It doesn't, camera's great. Your breathing is going to massage your biggest nerve every time you inhale next sale. But that alone is great, but it's not going to help someone like proactive. How do I fortify this dam? So when the water hits. It doesn't cave in, right, right. So the nervous system strength, our Vegas tone there. Our capacity to experience life is the number one indicator of how much we experience. Which is why you'll find people who go, I don't know, everything is so peaceful and suddenly this traumatic memory came back to me. You know, Or people go. I remember working at a treatment center where people would have panic attacks and I go, what, what inspire that? And they'd be like, honestly, it was a joyful emotion. It was Julius thing. And I couldn't figure it out for the life of me. I was just like, how is that possible? That you could get a panic attack for joy, for happiness. That was like a good moment. It was a funny moment, right? And what I realized is, is it's not a question of good or bad. It's a question of the voltage. How much is your, are you experiencing. And if you're not ready to experience it, your body will take you offline disconnect. The plug. So you don't experience it. So when your body is strongly nervous, the me stronger and that's done by strengthening our nervous system, not just by, by stimulating and not just by, you know, having, uh, Uh, you know, A relaxing moment. But learning how to make relaxing moments all the time. We shift from being the vegetable to being the chef. We feel the heat. But we don't get burned by it. We don't experience anymore. You know, and it takes time will become a spatula. At first. So we will, we'll slowly make our way out of the pot. Yeah. And we used to, yeah, it's hot. I can smell it. I feel it. But I can just. Just walk away. I can stay involved. You know, I can lean in and taste. I can place my finger and if I want to, you know, so we have the versatility. Yeah. Yeah. Does that make sense?

Gabi: 30:28

It does. It does. And when I spoke with you on the phone before, um, I know you, you mentioned that you have this ability to like master your states and like control kind of how you feel like everyone

Yoni: 30:37

does. Okay. Yeah. The magical. Okay. I would say, uh, So, okay. Do you feel like anything more to explain to the healing topic before we jump onto this there's overlap, but I would say it's there's levels past just that, if that

Gabi: 30:51

makes sense. Um, did you have more that you wanted to add aside for the breathing technique and the moving.

Yoni: 30:56

That's a good place to start. That's a good thing. But it's more about doing a daily. Yeah. Like if you just do it like, oh, I felt great. And you don't do it again. Right? Like brushing your teeth once a week. Okay. Like your teeth, your Stinky mouth. And Elvis thinking ahead. Yeah. Yeah, I think he thought. So it's like, yeah, you want to create Bret dental or mental hygiene daily practices. You know, and I would say my experience, we just hosted a men's retreat. And the men just learning how to breathe. Learning how to do movements like this, learning how to activate their states. Um, one of them said that he's like, I've done psychedelic trips, like psychedelic experiences facilitated and stuff like that. And he's like, this has been more powerful. Just learn. Yeah, I think another guy said it was a, like more powerful than heliotropic breathing. And for me, I'm in shock because of course heliotropic breathing is only for a few minutes. It's a powerful dentist. Then you go back to your normal life. I was still pretty horrible. So. It's like really good. And then go back. Yeah, you're getting ahead and have that, have that, uh, really, you know, The food is really bad for your teeth. Go ahead and munch away. Well, like, all right. And don't brush your teeth.

Gabi: 31:59

That's brilliant. I love it. Um, and I also like how, I think a lot of people don't necessarily view. Moving your body as a mental health practice. Um, but what you're saying is it clearly as, I guess, like what's coming to mind when you say moving your body along, moving our spine along with breathing is like yoga. You know,

Yoni: 32:18

yoga is one of the primary forums. Um, you know, you'll find it in many other practices as well. Uh, the Sophie's, uh, we're a spiritual group of Muslims. Um, Cabela's. A lot of the Cabela's movements, uh, even Jewish dish and. Mon SRA post to move every vertebrae in the spine. You know, Uh, Boeing's in Cabo sedition. Um, there's a lot of writings and almost all ancient writings about using your spine. Uh, as your primary. Yeah. I mean, you kind of, that's where you really are. Your, your body ends where your spine. And then your legs and hands are extensions of that. So, um, yeah, people might think it's silly, but the question is, are you happy? And then if they're not, then. Maybe ask someone who's happy. It's like, uh, a poor person can only give so much. Uh, actual advice about something. So if you look at someone who's making a, has a good, uh, finances, you ask them what they're doing, you might think it's silly, but it's working. So we have to humble up a little bit and go, okay, well, the. They have something to offer. So when we think about, well, that's silly, we'll ask the people who are thinking silly. Are you happy? And if you're not happy, well, then you haven't figured it out yet. When you look at people who are happy. And see if they have something to share with you. Yeah. Yeah. And people who are happy typically do things that involve the body too. Anyone who is a mental health coach, like a clear, and I'll really in their prime. They're always in great shape too. You know? Yeah. Isn't that a way that just a coincidence. Right now it's a couple of moving their bodies, right? Yeah. So there's many ways to doing it. There's many different processes and practices. But yeah, our spine is, ah, right. We are not a nervous system lies right next to it. So moving our spine will stimulate our nervous system, doing it in a sequential way, in a rhythmic way. And certain patterns will be most effective. Yeah. So again, I would say, uh, maybe more than just the podcast conversation, but inhaling and exhaling. Combining that with moving your spine. Like go to yoga class, go to some class that allows you to move your spine both ways, learn how to move your body. And that could be really powerful.

Gabi: 34:26

I want to talk to you about a practice I've been practicing lately. Okay. You know, I'll say something very funny, actually. I think as a single person, I was very. Inclined to wanna be the best that I could be. You know, I'd hit the gym every day. I would bike to work every day. I'm constantly reading books, listening to audio books, doing podcasts, like really trying to work on myself in every way. And then before that, when I was in Yeshiva, I took it very seriously. I have no books that I filled up. I'm just like very focused, and at one stage, even I would wake up at like 5:00 AM, take cold showers and clean my room in the morning and then learn before I dive in and all that. So it was a very like intense, like trying to like. I don't know, like be the best that I could be kind of thing. As soon as I got married and then especially kind of like once I had a kid. I became so much softer, like so much more relaxed. You know, just, just like, let things go in a way. So I decided to start taking cold showers after a conversation with my friend to build up a sort of like mental strength. I felt like I kind of had been like, letting go. And then I talked to you on the phone. You mentioned doing cold showers. So I want to talk to you about culture hours, but then also bring it into a broader conversation about controlling states and getting thoughts on that.

Yoni: 35:37

Yeah, I'd definitely say, like we spoke about that breath. We spoke about. The one of the best ways to control your state. Uh, there's like easier way, like Wim Hoff talks about a practice, which is basically what I just spoke about before the belly, chest and shoulder. Uh, he just does it and allows the exhale to be a little slower. Uh, I find for me, um, I actually just, yeah, that breath alone. If I do it the right way, hits me up. Um, Yeah, like your body temperature. I don't fully understand how this works. But the little I do understand is your body burns. Uh, brown fat. When you exhale, it burns. More fat. Which is ultimately why breathing helps with weight loss. So cool little fascinating. Yeah. It's actually the number one way you lose weight. Exhale. Yeah. That's crazy. Google it. Okay. I believe you. No, no I'm saying for your fans. Okay. Guys. I know you don't believe me. So, um, yeah, so, so, uh, I w how I'm experiencing it is that when we exhale on your exhale really slowly, Shoulders, chest and belly. I probably do one breath a minute when I'm in the shower. Very, very, very slow. Uh, body gets hot. I actually have to finish my shower and continue my shower just to, to take off all this wet. So I just thought I'm not a hot shower, but I've. I'm done. It's closed. That's not a culture, but how I'm done. It's a hot shower. Meaning, well, meaning. Heat it up. Yeah. Yeah. So I would say learning how to breathe is probably your number one way. I mostly go. What are you doing? Shoulders quick breath through your mouth, losing all your heat. The exact opposite of what you want to do. So that's so fascinating because

Gabi: 37:13

it's, it's been developed

Yoni: 37:14

as I think the body heats up as a burn that fat. Right. It turns out the energy. So you get to those quick exhales. Well, when you do it slow. Okay. That's one, or if you do like a breath of fire, which is different type of technique. It's generally done with the non no mouth closed. Uh, the rapid breath through your nose. So it sounds kind of like. Like that, and that also you have to give your body enough time to, to absorb the oxygen. So it's, it's forced to use the minimal amount of auction has and circulate it through your body. So people feel like they're not breathing when they're doing breath of fire. Because again, it's same thing. It's forcing your body to, uh, distribute. Get more bang for buck per breath. If that makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. So the body has to be to burn more. Uh, fat. Wow.

Gabi: 38:03

Yeah. So you're saying guy goes into the cold shower, doing deep, slow breaths. I do that. Okay.

Yoni: 38:10

And that eats you up. Yeah, I would say, uh, people, uh, for me, maybe I'm different than other people could, I've done it for a long time, but yeah, you have to know what it feels like to. Like, I don't need, I got to like coats. I like style. It's fun, but I don't need a coat anymore. Like I just inhale and exhale find outside. Yeah. Just. I mean, sometimes I ate a meal. I'm not interested in doing a breath. Yeah. But yeah. Yeah, you can just inhale and exhale in a way that heats audio. Fascinating. Yeah, but it's not. Nothing magical. I'm doing. Bodies and have had so much opportunities to evolve. Like what do you think your great grandparents did? In the winter. I think they all had a nice coat. I think they all had a wood for a fire for the whole year. Hmm. Someone had to make it through somehow. Right. You know? Someone had to swim in cold waters to get their meal that day. Every day. They survive somehow. That's, that's a good point, you know? I think we forget like, cause a couple of generations ago your parents were warriors and. Toughing it out in the jungles. Right. I'm exaggerating a little bit, but yeah, we were, we. We underestimate our capacity because we live in such comfort existences. Fascinating. That's part of ourselves. It's part of our buildup. Makeup. Right. So of course you still have the ability to do it. Like anything, it takes daily practice. I didn't do this to learn a fancy technique. I did it because I wanted to connect to myself. I want to have a deeper connection to God. I realized the body is the number one way of getting there. Interesting. Um, meaning, cause that's everything you experienced your mind included is in your body. Let's try that. Right. You drink your coffee. How'd you know, Like, as you experienced, I'm talking, how do you know? Cause then your body right. Everything you experience is in your body. So that is a number one way. Like, what does it look in? Because it's there. Um, but the breath is, is, is the easiest way of learning how to master your states. States are maybe the time it gets a little bit more developed in this conversation, but we spoke about the dam. We spoke about opening people up. When people are opened up, they can start feeling things in their body. There's constant messages going on. Uh, state is aware of how that movement and energy or electricity flows through your body. Or how that chemical moves. And then being able to allow the chemical to move. You know, does that make sense? I would say here's another example. Uh, if someone like, uh, how, how, what age group, where people on this podcast, what age? The group. Yeah.

Gabi: 40:34

It's kind of diverse, honestly, but I like adolescents or is it. Yeah. It's like 14 to 30. And then I randomly have

Yoni: 40:41

some, maybe I could give a VIG. Well, people get aroused. Their body changes on a physical level. The body changes now what's happening. There's there's chemical reactions going on. But we're in charge of that. Make our body change. Does that make sense? Yeah. Yeah. And who's doing that. It's the nature. If it's just the nature or it's ever a moment when that didn't wasn't the right time. Did we ever had, do we have some controls? Some, okay. I see what you're saying. So. Maybe a little control. We haven't really focused in on it, but yeah, our body has the ability to literally control our blood flow. Our, our nitrate level, our chemical levels. On a real powerful level and not just with conscious awareness. Right. Yeah. How. Now that's maybe an obvious sensation, but there's plenty of other physicians in our body that if we were aware, yeah, we would be able to govern them. And opera and then change them. It's about learning to gain that control. It's not, it's something spiritual. It's nothing magical. There's no hack. It's just more awareness of the body. So you have more capacity. Um, it's like, I'm trying to think of another way of describing it. If you drove your car and you drove manual, I don't want anyone to have a manual cart anymore, but. Should I think of example. If you didn't have your coat on in the house, you know, what's happened here. It is. And you know, if it needs to change the temperature, but you only know. You have your eyes open where the thermometer is nothing magical about what you're doing. You just turning the thermometer. The sensor was always there. Your body's always aware, but you had to take your coat off to experience that it's cold. Does that make sense? Yeah. Oh, that's the best analogy. My point here is that we feel things that are inside that we're disconnected to. If we felt it, we would have more awareness of it. When we'd have more autonomy in those areas. Fascinating. Yeah. Much like if, if we're cold, we decide to put a coat on, how do we know you're cold? Because your body is aware of something, right? Right. There's a lot of other hormones and chemicals that are going in your body all the time. Now, if you're aware of them, you could do something about it. Or if you're aware of them, think of it this way. Have you ever like. Can you think of a moment that you felt really sad? Okay. Yeah. Let me think about it for a minute. Can you remember what you were wearing?

Gabi: 42:46

I mean, like a

Yoni: 42:46

guess. Um, let's go there for a minute. Okay, tough day. Uh, one of the hardest days of your life. Can you remember where you were sitting? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Do you remember the images you were saying? Hello? Yeah. Yeah. And he sounds any people there. No. Yeah. Just noticing whatever that was. Right. Daytime nighttime. Smells. It's like, you can be there almost. Yeah. Yeah.

Gabi: 43:24

It's pretty vivid.

Yoni: 43:25

Vivid. Yeah. How do you feel right now? Honestly, I feel okay. Okay. When you think about how does

Gabi: 43:30

it make you feel? I got passionate about it,

Yoni: 43:33

honestly. Um, okay, so you've processed it. So. There's a part of you that felt, or when you think about a feels. That part of you felt. I would say pretty

Gabi: 43:43

miserable, miserable,

Yoni: 43:44

pretty lost. Yeah. How do you know. I felt miserable. I mean, I was

Gabi: 43:47

crying. Um, I remember feeling it. Yeah.

Yoni: 43:51

Feeling what. Um, Isn't that a physical sensation. Yeah. Didn't you just induce that physical sensation.

Gabi: 44:01

If I'm being totally. Yeah. I feel it vaguely.

Yoni: 44:04

I'm not saying right now is the exact same scenario. We're just talking. I was just talking about, I was able to tell math during this right. You can just go. Yeah. Right. So can we, can we think of something really positive and activate a state? Yeah, we could probably do the same thing the other way around. Right. You're. Thinking about something. Tap into. Yeah. Yeah. Think about it. And just by the way, we've been talking about it, your, your headwind and your shoulder went in, right. Your body went a little more

Gabi: 44:26

like slumping into it anyway. Interesting.

Yoni: 44:29

Right. So, so think about how, how you're talking about. Yeah, I don't. Yeah, I'm feeling a passionate, but your body. We're already going to that stage going into it. Right. I spend the rest of the day talking about it. You'd be there. Yeah, that's probably true. Right. Is that, is that yeah. Well, there you go. You just did it yourself. So you don't need convincing, right? It makes sense. So we all have, we all are activating our states all the time. The question is what state are we activating? Right.

Gabi: 44:55

Okay. Interesting. Yeah. Interesting. So that's like one example, being able to tap into a memory, either positive or negative, you can begin to feel that way, tap into

Yoni: 45:04

once. You know what a feeling I'd say. Um, the best day of my life. That's in thinking about a moment for me, that was so much fun. Well, I remember I was, and this is maybe over 15 years ago. I remember this is probably one of the best days past motorcycling or meditation days. I. I was with my cousin and Pismo beach and we're motors that we were, we got these ATVs on 26 miles of Sandy and was able to survive. Whatever reason no one came that day. So it just, me and him. 26 miles. We had our gear on. And we were just like getting air time on these ATVs. That's happening. Just 40 foot drops. It was off the charts. Wow. Yeah. So we're having a blast. And, you know, I think I thought that I'm just feeling this uplifting feeling and makes me want to laugh. I'm feeling this feeling on the back of my pallet, expanding, et cetera. Wow. You know, I'm going there having a blast with my cousin. And I think about, I can feel this feeling myself, palette like rising. I'm feeling my eyes open up. I'm feeling my shoulders come up. This feeling from my belly rises. Now guess what? I can just nothing go. I can think about. I don't know. Traffic. There you go. Well, I could feel the same feeling. Now the more times we wire I wire that meaning neurons, that fire together wire together. So the more conscious time that we are able to stimulate certain visceral reactions in our body. The more we'll feel that way. So simply put, yeah, you're able to activate states by going there often enough. That it's as easy as like what you're doing with your hands now. Right. It becomes natural. Become second nature. So activating states is as simple as that. It's just the question of our ability to navigate how we feel on the inside. I love it. Does that make sense? If I'm saying things in a way that that are adjustable.

Gabi: 46:57

No. Yeah. I mean, tell me if I'm wrong. Meaning I think we have some area of control on what we're able to think about and focus on. Like, we can recall memories. And then that can help induce certain like emotions and eventually, like the more we think about that, we're able to bring that into the present moment. So if we're constantly thinking about negative things, We're going to feel negative. If we constantly think about positive things, it's, we're going to feel more

Yoni: 47:17

positive. Yeah. Um, states, right? It'd be, if you just lean in a certain way or stand, if you sit up right. And breathe in and out through your nose and into your belly and chest and shoulders and exhale and shoulders, chest and belly. Well, it's going to. It's going to help you feel a little bit. Yeah. So it's going to naturally make us feel better R, what are you really doing? You're activating a state. Activating certain chemicals and certain wirings in the body. Okay. Fascinating. Yeah, in a way there's almost something very dry about it. It's not nothing fancy. It's just the body has. It's a machine. It's wired this way for thousands or hundreds of thousands or millions of years. Whether, and it's not just in humans, all animals have a certain preferred posture. Right. The alpha king alpha crab. Walks in a certain way. He gets all the. Crab chicks. And he walks in a certain way. That gets in those crabs and he has to win and beat up some other crabs to get there. But guess what research shows when they forced the, the losing crab to walk the same way he gets all the crab chicks. Now part of evolution told them to walk a certain way to prevent and to keep the evolution, keep the process going where the strongest crab will win the heap evolution going. No, we can. Biohacker we get. You know, cheat the system facet. Yeah. It's going to go a bad time. Go ahead and feel low about it because chances are, if the other person felt better, they would probably give off better off things. Or maybe they're stronger, more powerful, maybe would be better for the, for the community. Fascinating. We don't live in that style. And we have the ability to choose. Yeah. Yeah.

Gabi: 48:57

It's bringing to mind a lot of things. Almost like we're kind of in like the matrix. You know, I don't mean it. Whatever there are different levels of the matrix stuff. I believe in the meaning, there is a certain. Like you kind of put like evolutionary pressure. Or certain societal pressure to act and behave a certain way. Yeah. And very often we feel like we don't have control. And I think what you're calling to mind is like, you do really have control. And,

Yoni: 49:20

um, yeah, we do. We do this. Uh, no one taught us. Right. No one taught us how to take care of these things. So we believe that it's a fantasy, it's a woo-hoo whatever branding, even given of how your own body. But, um, I mean, I think if anything is BU it's that. Uh, creature that survived through famine. Wars hunger. Disease. Death and every level pain, every level. Hell and heaven every possible sense. Can't heat its own body up. Like that sounds ludicrous. They can't learn how to manage his body or the energy in his body efficiently. That's ludicrous.

Gabi: 50:04

I think it's just being Mayfair. Like we're so much more capable than we think we are. And, um, yeah. You know, every time I tell myself

Yoni: 50:11

that we are the. Um, most powerful creature that we know of. Like for those powerful as we are. Like, do you think we have the capacity that maybe we are in charge of things? We haven't been given that key. And we haven't been told how to drive the car. Hm. But we are like a really, really nice, I don't know. I don't want to say Ferrari because I feel like it's nicer than a Ferrari, but think of the nicest car that there is. And we don't leave the driveway. And we're sitting in there going like, how come the seat doesn't come a bed. And you're like, this is meant for the racetrack. This is the fastest car we got. This is the best handling, the most comfortable car, the best sound system. Um, most of us don't really explore the car and we go, you think this thing can move. That's hilarious. Wow.

Gabi: 51:00

You know, I don't know why I'm getting this vibe right now. You ever seen Rick and Morty? Yeah. Okay. So you know how, um, Rick's dimension of like all the Ricks. You know what I mean? And every Rick is a genius. They're all super brilliant. And then you have like certain Ricks that are janitors, certain Ricks that are, you know, like accountants. And breaks. They're like running the whole show. Yeah, Rick is the scientist, right? Because the scientist. Yeah. It just blows my mind because it's like every single person I think is, is so capable and so incredible. And then it's like, we all don't recognize that. And we fall into these sort of like menial roles and tasks. And I remember. I had this feeling so strongly when I was driving back home from the hospital with my baby. Where I was like, I just became like a father. Like my, my mind was blown. My life was changed. I literally told my wife in the car ride home. I was like, I think this, this is heaven. You know, this is absolutely like what heaven is. And I'm driving down and I see all the other people, you know, honking in the traffic and. And it has guy staring on his phone and walking down the street. And it's like, it blew my mind in that moment where I was like, people, like, they just don't realize how magical this existence is. Right. You know what. Yeah, it blew my mind. Yeah. Yeah.

Yoni: 52:08

And the question is how do you continuously blow your mind? That's a good point. The question is like the daily. We're where instead of being, I should stop using my phone instead of just like. Wow. I'm alive. I'm alive. I'm alive. This existence. I'm on this side of the earth. Um, this side of the dirt. You know, wow. I get to exist again. And then how do we keep reminding ourselves? You know? Yeah. There's a phrase in, uh, well, we'll, we'll talk more about it, but the spiritual aspects, but yeah, ultimately we're here remembering kind of coming back again and again, to remember, well, it's not back into it. Yeah. Wow. Wow.

Gabi: 52:51

Um, I want to get back to this conversation, but I feel like I regret this a little bit because most of the time with my guests, I like to start with their journey. Sure. That's kind of like

Yoni: 53:00

part of the, um, Well, we could, we could talk about the journey and you can put it. However you want to do it.

Gabi: 53:05

Um, Whenever a contestant for this name of my podcast, the Gabi cleanup. Podcasts. I really wanted to call it the journey with Gabi calling off whatever I ended up settling on. Gov kind of podcast, but I'm part of it's because I love hearing people's stories and you are a fascinating person. One of the reasons I started this podcast was to be able to talk with some, the most interesting people alive. That's like, I know you, but even if I saw you, I don't think we'd be sitting down for two hours having an in-depth conversation about healing states, your story. Um, So it's like having a podcast, it's kind of an excuse to like really sit down with people and guns. Um, so I know he's going to, I remember you. In base moderation. You know, we were in. I was in high school. You weren't best managed later on. I ended up. Uh, ending up there also. How do you end up growing your hair out and your beard and doing these breathing techniques? I'm talking about holistic healing. Like what happens. Yeah. So I just have to come in. You start one more thing. Most of you ride motorcycles. It's like that combination. Just a very interesting.

Yoni: 54:03

Yeah. First of all, this year just happened naturally. I didn't have any, no. No, there's no products. So, um, let's see. Uh, Well, I would say I never, when I look at myself in the mirror, I'm always like, oh, who is this guy? Really? You know, I'm. I just think the beer, the here, like. I never like had this process. I'm going to do this and then this and that, you know, for me, I think a big part of the process. I was a, I was looking for deeper meaning, meaningful relationship with God. Um, Okay. So question of, kind of my journey. Hm. Where do we start? So I was in a Shiva. I think it is Shimo too. I was really looking for a deep relationship with God. I was really looking for that. I think at some point I thought there was like a deeper understanding than the one I was given. A deeper. Like kind of. Like it had to be more, it has to be something different. You know, I think part of it was also recognizing, you know, like working with rabbis who were very well esteemed high esteemed, uh, and seeing like a lot of like clear failing is that I'm just like so interesting. I'm like a little kid and I see myself so much more advanced in some ways. Um, and also just kind of interesting, like there, there, there, there have all the check marks. But in some ways, very underdeveloped. Hmm. Uh, and some of them were really developed, but, but they didn't allow them to really progress past that small way of seeing things like there, there are certain mind where they're great and then it would just stop. You know, And I remember working with, uh, Some guys in Shiva or just some groups together and, and like recognizing at some point in our growth and evolution. We would speak to guys who are great to chat with. And then at some point their mind, they weren't able to go past a certain point. There was like a block. And we just noticed like, wow, like that's the end of this? Like, this is, this is where the road ends for these people. So at some point I realized there was more, if that makes sense. Yes. Um, trying to sum it up in a, I'm trying to do today. In this short sentence. I think for me, a big part was learning how to heal myself and also healed the people I work with. At some point I realized. I had a responsibility for the people who come to my office. I felt like there's something I could do to help them. And I felt like whatever it takes, I want to do that. I'm willing to go as far as it takes. You know, and I want to explore whatever realm I need to go do. To get to a place where I can really, really heal. Um, I remember there was a point that we were talking about states. Where I noticed I had a fear of Heights. And I went to Cyprus, which is a place near Israel. It's a kind of, a lot of cliffs. And I'm like, I'm going to go cliff jumping. Okay. Well, like every day until I mastered the sphere of Heights.

Gabi: 56:51

Wow. Okay. I'll tell it to my wife. She's also afraid of.

Yoni: 56:55

That was, you already said it, not me. And so I remember looking down these cliffs and it was talking to me. Every fear you have is right on the edge of this cliff. And every few you feel, I want you to bring it up, everyone. And look out this cliff and you're going to have to jump. Wow. Okay. And I'm not going to. I was going to close. I'm going to look. I'm going to look at it. I'm going to look at. I'm gonna look at it. I'm gonna do a running jump and I'm going to stand on my pout and jump off. Wow. So I remember I did it. I looked there and I ran her. I did it. And I'm like, all right, let's do it again. And again and again, until there was no fear. You know, and it was a moment of like a pivotal moment for me, where I realized how many things that are mind are just blocks. Nope. We don't know. Don't say that. Don't think that don't go there. That's just wrong. That's just the problem. As opposed to going, I get to choose this parameters of this life. We get to create, like, how do you say the matrix? Like we get to choose the color of the wall. We get to choose the existence. So I'm like, I don't want to have any fear holding you back. Now I can make a choice and say, I don't want to do something. So I, for me, I spent a long time. A couple of years thinking about every fear I have. And mastering and conquering each one. So anything that gave me fear, a panic attack, anxiety, I would do it again and again, and again. Wow. Uh, and, and we didn't get rid of my panic attacks. But it did get rid of my, gave me a certain level of cartage facet. Okay. And also a certain level of humor to life. We're so afraid of being afraid, right?

Gabi: 58:34

You know, We are I'm. I have a few thoughts. First of all. I really liked that point that you made about the. And Yeshiva were taught a very narrow way of thinking and looking at things. Yeah. Yeah. It's very narrow and forget it, but it works for a lot of people. Um, I'm out of

Yoni: 58:51

time, right? I have no regrets or I have complete gratitude for my teachers and our van. Um, they've been instrumental and. And many of them, like I said, I was talking to every five merch, like many of them, uh, I'm still close with and really look up to and really appreciate the teachings now. I don't, I don't see them right now as like my teacher and that way. Um, like I've gone another ways, but they've really helped me on my path. That's amazing.

Gabi: 59:16

And that's really refreshing to hear. Like I was telling my mother-in-law so, um, That I also am very grateful for my experience in Yeshiva, even though I don't. Identify with that very narrow. Um, way of living. But I'm extremely grateful for it and I'm very happy on. The way that I kind of put it in my head, it's like, I kind of had the opportunity. Has always been like Hogwarts to me. You know what I mean? Like I've always made this like parable between like a sheet with Hogwarts. Um, it's just this very esoteric, like, you know, Grinblat Ryan Harris. Like Dumbledore.

Yoni: 59:49

We want to hear that news. Exactly.

Gabi: 59:57

And it's this it's almost like it's like a monastery or like,

Yoni: 1:00:02

And when I, when I've gone to monasteries and I visited monks, Literally the closest thing I can go up here with you with. The Shiva, Shiva vibes. And I really remember seeing these guys like walking home from the dormitory, from lunch, with their food, their plate, same plate. Well, the banana and the fruit and there. They're like, Hey, how's it a joke? And, you know, there's the guys who are doing this thing. Some of them are very, very serious. I'm a more relaxed. This same exact vibe, only there's more cameras and more tourists. But. Literally like. And they have their teachings. Right. And I'm some point I've seen some monks like leaves. So I saw monk sewer. So they're still growing. They're here. Yeah. There's not. We're on like tick casual clothing, but he's still bald, you know? That's so funny. So, so, you know, it's like, uh, yeah, so, so, uh, there are great teachings. Right. I think the thing we're, we are here to choose the teachings we're here for, if that makes sense. And. We're not all here to have the same teaching. Right. You know, right. And at different points in our life, there's different teaching. Oh, my God.

Gabi: 1:01:03

Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um, Um, one of the hardest things for me actually was when I left Yeshiva. It was very difficult to adjust because I really believed in what I was doing. Like, I was very sincere about it. And then at a certain point, like those, and it was very, I loved it. You. I had all my friends there, the teachings I really believed in Gomorrah really helped sharpen my mind that I thought it was so valuable, so useful, and then I'm not living that way anymore. And it was very difficult, like to adjust to real life. And it's so funny how we hold onto these things that no longer serve us. It's just fascinating.

Yoni: 1:01:39

Yeah. I mean, you know, comfort, uh, That's what we know. And I think part of it also is recognizing that when we think something is right. Yeah. It's a, we really hold it very close in this. You know, and even if it hurts us, Right now. Um, for me, I would say. There are definitely areas where that came up. But I think the journey for me, it's almost interesting. I went to a career coach about a decade ago. And I went back to culture. What is that career coach? Oh, It helps me like career. And I went back and she asked me like, what's your ideal day? Like, and I spoke about my whole idea of the, I thought it was super unique, right? And just like, you know, something, Johnny. There was someone else. They had the exact same one. Interesting. Yeah. She's like, yeah. You 10 years ago. It was exact same thing. Maybe waking up an hour earlier. Maybe instead of, instead of doing Mussar, you're taking an ice bath, but it's the same thing. That's so fun. Instead of, instead of reading this book, you're reading that book instead of, you know, instead of, uh, talking to this guy, talking to this guy, but it was very, very similar, you know, a couple of minor differences, you know, a couple of minor, minor differences, but the point is, is that. In some ways I really never changed. In some ways I completely changed, but I think the. Listen, there's a tree change. Like yeah. Every part of it does, you know, so yeah. We all change completely. Um, I think we have to be comfortable with that. If we want to really grow. You know, so if it's not about the sapling, it's about the. You know, a tree when it's at its final stage and it's bearing fruit as sharing its love with the world and sharing those apples. And someone's eating that apple and planting that seed elsewhere. You know, the, really the epitome of, of the tree's existence. It had to let go of a sapling existence. At some point, there is like, I can call it a death. You know, there is a dying. And I wouldn't say a dying. We are constantly dying. And constantly being reborn. And it's a certain, for me, a certain level of like, Peace with that. Right? You. I don't need to hold onto these things because all I'm doing is preventing my future. I'm inhibiting myself. Alright, so. I think for me, my growth. On a simple level was yeah. Was really. Being open to whatever it was and being courageous and, you know, any fear I had pursuing you. I didn't want anything to hold me back. I love that so much.

Gabi: 1:04:05

Yeah. And I have to ask you how. I mean, I know you mentioned the jumping off the cliff thing, but like, I was mentioning before, like a lot of the. The very narrow teachings could be very limiting. And you know, they, especially in many ways, teach you not to go outside that very narrow zone. Yeah. So was it tough for you to kind of like open up your mind and break pass? And I want to commend you for having that open mind to being able to do that. I

Yoni: 1:04:28

definitely was concerned that I might go to hell. I might be, you know, um, you have you do that. And I accepted, I might. Okay. Well, yeah. Wow. Okay. Yeah. And I said, I go there and the God will see me. And hopefully you understand where I'm coming from because it's sensitive. Uh, then yeah, I feel like, like, I would say, God, you gave me my mind. You gave him my heart. This is the teachings that you given me in my heart. And they were screwed up. Well, you got you to blame. So that's how I felt about it. It felt very considered and, and I thought, you know what? Fine I'll burn, but at least I'm here. There's someone who needs my help and I'm going to learn this practice or practice something in some way that feels off or not. What I learned in Shiva and maybe it's wrong, but it really helps someone. So. You know, Then I'll take me down with the ship, but I think this guy can use it. So for me that felt sincere looking back. If I didn't, I wasn't in the helping field, would I have had the courage to do it for myself? I don't know. Fast, you know, now I do, but at that point, I don't know. I think I needed. I'd actually needed my clients. I needed those to be needed. Motivation. It's going to need to go. They need it for them. I need to do it even if not for me. You know, um, yeah. So it was an interesting. Uh, interesting part NFL, very heartfelt. I felt very. Uh, emotional about it. Um, Yeah. With time, life becomes less emotional and more, just simple. No way.

Gabi: 1:05:53

Yeah, I hear that. And it sounds like, you know, you, you kind of found your place where it's like an experienced truth and it's your own growth, it's your own process. And you did it with a pure heart, which is like really beautiful. Um, I have such a hard time. Like understanding how you could accept. Maybe you'd go to hell. Like I think to me,

Yoni: 1:06:12

um, but like for me, I just do that as a lot of pain. Okay.

Gabi: 1:06:16

You might go through a lot of pain. Yeah.

Yoni: 1:06:18

I got to know how do you hell what was how like for you or. So. If it was like, my family would get burned and. No, but it was like, I'm going to go through Burnwell I'm like, well, I'm here. I have this thought. I have a question. I have a certain way. You know, I think at a certain point where I was in shool, I was praying. And I had a, I'm a man of Shaw. I kind of question, you know, for those who aren't in a. Hebrew scholars. It means like, kind of, you know, which way catch 22. I mean, I either got existing. I've got every thought is God's thought everything is God. And that means my question. If. I was like, as God exists is a good question. And, uh, and he's giving me that question cause he wants me to ask that question. Hmm, or God doesn't exist. And it's a really valid question. Does God exist? And if God doesn't exist, then what am I doing? You're sitting here praying. Right. So it wasn't, it was a pit of, uh, I would say. Seminal moments of where I was there going neuro. And I'm just like, am I speaking to you? Am I speaking to myself? Like what's going on there? Yeah. At the moment of like, you know what, either way, I think I meant to close this. I might explore now. I think I found a deeper connection to God with time in different ways. Uh, You know, I find, ironically I pray all the time. I think. I think life is a prayer. Right. Interesting. Points. No. So. There's

Gabi: 1:07:39

that. That blows my mind. That blows my mind. Now I understand that more like you were saying, um, It might be pain. I'm blown away by this journey, honestly.

Yoni: 1:07:53

I didn't even get started. That was. Yeah.

Gabi: 1:07:58

So then what happens? Where do you find your first moment of like real. Hey, this is also connecting with God in such a different way than I was

Yoni: 1:08:05

taught. Yeah, I think a big part also was when I was working with clients at our place. Um, now I had some experience that happened that really changed the way I thought of things and experienced things. And I started like in understanding information a different way. So it's like a therapist, you know, we sit there, we have a lot of training and we sit there and go, well, someone says this, this is the projection, this is this. And we have all the rules, but. And calculate, this is the diagnosis. Right. So I'm sitting there right. Our trainings and it kind of all these techniques. Now at some point, I realized if I could just have this conversation with my client copy here. And instead of being here, I'm going to be over here and there's observed Yoni and Gabi talking. Oh, and observe them and see, I'm just going to make sure you only doesn't say anything really hurtful to Gavi. I just see what comes up. Just screen anything and allow whatever spontaneity happens to happen. And I started noticing when I took myself out of the equation, I'd have certain wisdoms or information that I didn't have. Interesting. Right. So certainly I'd have information about their past their traumas, their pains, and I'd be able to share that with them. And that would be, find that really informative. And I'm like, okay, that's interesting. We'll tell them to get up and shake this part of their body, move this way, do this thing. Well, let's try that. You know, now I would try it out and people would have had positive results. So I started noticing there's something else here to govern and help us beyond our conscious awareness. So Carl Young talks about the collective subconscious. This other way of understanding that versus kind of like a cloud of knowledge and database and information. Now I believe ourselves are that collectors of conscious ourselves have millions and millions of life and DNA experience, genetic experience. Are there. So I don't think it's a McLeod elsewhere. I think it's our own physical body. But, um, you know, so it's ultimately it's it's and we all have that. That's what we all have the same information. Right. Okay. So, um, it's not like some far away land. Um, so, so at some point, you know, I was able to like do a whole podcast on this. Yeah. But at some point I realized there was more going on in our conscious awareness and our weekend put ourselves out of the way. There was more information that can come through. So I started noticing like how much more is that cell? What are these first initial thoughts? Have some wisdom. What if I need to keep taking myself out of the way. And then lastly, at some, maybe this later on stage, realizing those difference between my projections, my fears, my traumas, my stories, and these thoughts. These insights, these sudden straight, you know, Uh, lightning, lightning, bolts of wisdom. You know, is there a difference between call it intuition insight, wisdom? You know, Maybe in Jewish tradition, we would call real hakodesh. You know, really just, you know, kind of, uh, inspiration comes in. Right.

Gabi: 1:10:45

I'm so fascinated by this conversation, and I want to continue on this thread. Like I'm only getting the beginning.

Yoni: 1:10:50

Um, Do you want me to wrap up the story? Or. I

Gabi: 1:10:55

feel like if we're going to do part two, I'm wondering even. Like, we'll probably bring it up. I don't want to rush through it. Yeah. Uh,

Yoni: 1:11:05

I'm still on my journey. It'll keep getting lost.

Gabi: 1:11:08

That's good. Um, let me just ask you, you mentioned that you had this profound experience. What was that? Do you mind me asking what that was? That was so transformative. What do you mean? Made you start seeing things

Yoni: 1:11:18

differently. You said, yeah. You know what. So I was in a Shiva. And, um, I was, uh, I had a trauma, actually, one of the rabbis, they were verbally abusive. They're telling me certain things. Yeah. Well, they're telling me certain things that weren't really happening. It was their perception. Interesting. And I really, really wanted them to be right. I really wanted to see their way and I really kind of forced my own mind into that way. If that makes sense. I was like insulting you. He was like, yeah, he has certain like criticism of me or certain things I was doing that were not what I was doing, but it was his way of seeing things. Fascinating. And I was trying to work on myself and I really wanted to see his way. And I actually broke my own mind to force his way in. Yeah, if that makes sense. Yeah. So it wasn't his doing, it was my trying to get it to really. To embody that perspective so I can take you be right. If he can, you know what I'm saying? It was kind of force-feeding myself a certain way, but that did shatter my mind. I really am I mind shattered? Uh, maybe now there, now I know in other cultures we call that being enlightened or other things, but really what it needs is your ability, your conscious awareness of what's true and not true, or your, your, what we call is a parameter. That, that wall was no longer there. So like when I looked at the stars, I had a very similar feeling of how I felt inside that, like an empty vastness of what could be your not be, and all possibilities are endless. So from there. In a therapy session. We can have a very different experience instead of saying, this is the prescribed textbook of what it should be. It became vastness and complete. All possibilities are open here. So when people came in, there was no me getting in the way anymore. There was just whatever goes on is, and let's just roll with that and see what happens. Right. Yeah. That makes sense.

Gabi: 1:13:01

Yeah, that does make sense, but I, um, my mind is kind of blown. I don't, I want to understand it and I don't know that I can. Um, because obviously this was a deeply personal experience to you, but it's like, How do you think that this Rebbie yelling at you and then. You trying to like embody what he was saying.

Yoni: 1:13:20

Let me just very close to me and I was really trying to really observe what he was saying. Interesting.

Gabi: 1:13:25

Yeah. And like through that, that helped you.

Yoni: 1:13:28

At that point, it sounded really bad. But looking back I'm. So grateful for him. Wow. You know, how else would I have. Made these staffs. And he stages. He totally opened my mind. Not inadvertently. So, but. I can play you up in my mind to a whole new way of seeing the world and myself. That's so bizarre.

Gabi: 1:13:46

That's so bizarre. And it's probably something he said specifically, it's like the, the way you took it and the way that you were

Yoni: 1:13:51

like, Yeah, I think everyone has their story and their perception. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. So I think his way of understanding myself was different than how I am. And, and, you know, as being an Achieva for many years, I really wanted. I took my rabbi's opinion over mine. Wow. You know, so yeah, I swallowed the pill and that was an enlightening experience. Yeah, not in the way that I was intending. But it did open my mind up in a, in a whole new way, right? Yeah. I hope I'm at minded to. All bets are off. Let's see how things go. Wow. You know, let's be open to whatever possibility and let's, let's forget the rules here. That one was raised with and see what could be true and not true. Fascinating.

Gabi: 1:14:33

You know, you're talking about that enlightenment experience. And I had a similar experience once where. I was miserable. I don't know why I was so miserable. I was 19. Um, And I constantly had very intrusive thoughts about like, Oh, you know, you're such a loser or whatever you accomplish is meaningless. Stupid, blah, blah, blah. And so I was watching this YouTube video and this guy was talking about. Um, Dealing with kind of like intrusive thoughts. And he starts this meditation. And I'm doing along with him and he's like, okay, take your deep breaths. I don't remember exactly his cycle of breaths, but you know, certain breathing technique. It was like, start to imagine yourself. Your consciousness. Like we kind of picked ourselves right behind our face. It's just like, start to imagine your consciousness, like going back, like deeper and deeper, like all the way down to the base of your spine. Right. And you're looking up into your head right now, as you're looking up, let your mind just think those thoughts, like whatever, whatever comes up, let it just go. Let it go. And just observe what is happening. Just observe it, just look at it from that distance. And I'm doing it and I'm hearing the thoughts. And then he says, If you're the one thinking those thoughts, then who's the one observing them. And my mind, I don't know what it is about that moment. It absolutely broke. Where I realized I was like, holy crap. I am not my thoughts. Like these thoughts that, yeah, it was such a munch. The machine. Yeah, it's part of the machine. It's part of the machine. Like we get so many messages from wherever they come from and our mind just plays them like a TV or like a radio. And it's like, that's not actually you. And like, I dunno. It was, it was a very enlightening

Yoni: 1:16:14

experience. I would call it. Yeah.'cause you, you went from being the drunk driver for a moment. And then for a moment you sobered up. And you're like, wait, where am I? So you ever been like really drunk at a perm party? Right. And have you threw up or something and you walked outside and you're like, I can't go back in there when smelling. Thank you. And just low. Dude Russia. So at some point, like we're almost like noticed and everything just changes. Yeah. So, yeah, it was a moment when you look back and you go. Interesting. Those are thoughts. Yeah, it makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And even for me, like a. Like thinking about something that brings up fear. Isn't that interesting feeling? Hmm. Hmm. Fear. Yeah. A sensation.

Gabi: 1:16:55

It's a sensation. Yeah. Wow. All right. So I'm getting the beginning of the journey. Unfortunately, we do have to cut it short. Um, Okay. Yeah, it's so much fun talking to you today about healing and hearing a little bit of your story. I want to get much deeper into it. We talked about states and. I really want to talk to you about spirituality. And like hearing the rest of the story, I feel like I'm, I'm very hungry for it.

Yoni: 1:17:23

Yeah. And we've already kind of got into it. Uh, with everything we're talking about. So sneak peek. Sustaining fake. Right. But everything we're speaking. So far really is the underpinnings. Of how I see spirituality is an embodied experience it's happening inside of us. I

Gabi: 1:17:39

love it. Oh that yeah. And I also want it. It's so much more. Explore with you. Uh, but the only, uh, let me just ask you obviously, um, we'll throw. For how people to reach you we'll put that in the description, but if there was one thing that you can yell from the rooftops that everyone will hear, what would you want them to know? Hmm.

Yoni: 1:18:02

I think, just learn how to breathe. Find a way to find peace. Like. You're drunk until you find peace. It's like you're high all the time. And until you find the place to really, really find a center. It's like your dress. You're drunk driving. And when you get that clarity and that peace, it's a whole different life as a whole different experience. Yeah.

Gabi: 1:18:25

Let's beautifully, honey. Thank you for coming, man. Thank you. We'll do this again. I'm very

Yoni: 1:18:30

satisfied. I'll be back. In New York, every couple of weeks. Oh,

Gabi: 1:18:34

wait, do you want to throw in any of the projects that you're working on real quick? Like what can people reach on you? I know you're doing. You're talking

Yoni: 1:18:39

about today. Uh, let's see. Well, uh, I definitely, I host men's retreats. I'm planning on doing some women's retreats too, and then doing men's and women's together. And then, uh, what else? We, I do workshops in Brooklyn, occasionally Muncie different areas, teaching breath, work, gong, baths. Uh, breathing and movement stuff. As well, I would say, what else do we have? Um, Yeah, and I have a wellness center or it says wellness and that's for. Yeah. If you have any thing, emotional, mental that you want to work through, um, you have a team of really, really qualified practitioners and we all work together. With the clients that come to us and yeah, we have a pretty, pretty high success rate. That's great. It's a lot of really, really powerful people. So I'm sure I can share the link with you for our website. Or hour. Um, how to reach us. And you can always ask questions and reach out to me personally or through the company. I love. That's fine.

Gabi: 1:19:37

Yeah. Guys, reach out to Yoni. Um, Think for yourself, you're capable. So the rebellion, of course. Thank you for calling honey. You've been beautiful. Let's see again.

Yoni: 1:19:49

Yeah.