[00:00:00]Luke Storey:  I'm Luke Storey. For the past 22 years, I've been relentlessly committed to my deepest passion, designing the ultimate lifestyle based on the most powerful principles of spirituality, health, psychology. The Life Stylist podcast is a show dedicated to sharing my discoveries and the experts behind them with you. Alright. Here we are, we're in Sedona. We're doing the damn thing, Anahata. 

[00:00:29]Anahata Ananda:  So grateful. It's been so awesome having you here in Sedona, just going on land journeys, and connecting with Soul Tribe, and just dropping in. And it's like, it's just a remembering here with your soul and I'm so grateful to connect.

[00:00:42]Luke Storey:  Likewise. Yeah. It's been such a different experience this time, because in the past, when I've come out to Sedona, it's two, three, four, maybe five days. I used to come see David Hawkins speak here. 

[00:00:55]Anahata Ananda:  Yeah, a long time ago. 

[00:00:56]Luke Storey:  I come for like three days, just drive out from LA, do the thing, drive right back. This is the first time I've ever been able to really drop in. And even though it will have been like a-month-and-a-half, I think, by the time we leave here every day, I'm like, ah, I still haven't done anything. Just like there's so much there's so much land to explore here. I think that's what I missed visiting here. I didn't realize we're in this epicenter of national parks. It's just like you're in the center of a park, and every direction you go, there's just beauty, and majesty. And it's just so special to be here.

[00:01:29]Anahata Ananda:  I've been living here for 11 years and coming here for 19, and there's still treasures, and trails, and little secret hideouts, and ancient cliff dwellings from the natives. And there are certain different times of the year where you want to do this hike and another time of the year you want to do that one with a different view. So, when you move here, wink, wink, we'll just put a different destination every week on the agenda and just go exploring because there's so many treasures and it's really just being present with the inner exploration. I mean, the internal terrain. When you come to Sedona, it's really about navigating your internal terrain.

[00:02:15]Luke Storey:  Yeah, that's what I hear. It's been funny. I guess we'll just start off doing a summary about the Sedona experience, but I've never felt any different coming here than going anywhere beautiful where there's nature. I mean, I always feel, I would say, more expansive and grounded when I'm closer to the earth versus being in a city, but I don't feel different coming here than I would go into Hawaii, or Wyoming, or Colorado, or anywhere where there's some space. But coming here with my lovely Alyson, she's had a different experience.

[00:02:52] The energies here have been really strong for her and she's struggled at times to kind of feel like herself. And we've been together for coming up on a year now, I've known her for a few years, and I know her to just be super chipper, positive, happy, easygoing, just living her best life, like in flow most of the time, and she's had a different experience here. And so, have you noticed or maybe in your own subjective experience when you finally moved here or just watching droves, I'm sure, of spiritually minded people move here, have you noticed a different experience between males and females hanging out in Sedona or moving here in terms of how the energetics affect them?

[00:03:31]Anahata Ananda:  It's not necessarily male or female. I just think Sedona, she, also she, the shamaness that is Sedona just brings things up differently for people at different times. If you were to come six months ago or six months from now, you may have a very different experience because she just kind of amplifies whatever's going on. If things are pretty aligned and pretty good, then she's just going to amplify that feeling of good feeling.

[00:04:00] If there's something that's needing to shift for a part of your core healing or to prepare you for what is ahead in your soul's mission, then it might be a bumpy ride, if there's a crack in the foundation or if you're on your journey and something needs to shift in order to align with who you're becoming. So, Sedona has this crafty way of finding the spot that needs attention or amplification. So, sometimes, people come here and they feel tired because what they really need is rest.

[00:04:32] Some people come here and feel peaceful because their life is chaotic. Some people feel very spiritually connected because they're disconnected other places. Some people can't sleep because they're just like inspired and they want to write poetry or songs. And it's different for everybody and it's different at different times. Every time I would come here to Sedona, I would get different experiences because I kept going through different experiences. So, that changes just like the seasons change.

[00:05:02]Luke Storey:  That makes sense. That makes sense. Yeah. I'm thinking about what's been different for me here, and one thing I've noticed is that I have a lot of energy. I don't get tired. I mean, I inject NAD in my belly every morning. I mean, I'm nuts. In LA, I have to do so much stuff to have the vitality and energy to meet the demands of being in that energy field and producing as much as I do in life, which is, I always feel like I'm not producing enough for it from the outside.

[00:05:36] People say, wow, you really do a lot, and I guess I do in terms of work, and content, and things like that. But out here, it's funny, I was thinking about it yesterday, and I thought, this is so weird, I never feel like taking a nap in the afternoon here. And it's actually hard for me to stop and meditate in the afternoon here, which is, in most other places, pretty easy because I feel this lull in my energy. And I take that as a cue to kind of go inward and regenerate for a bit, and then start kind of the second half of the day into the evening. And I'm just like on go time here.

[00:06:06]Anahata Ananda:  Yeah. Well, what is different about our energetic system is that because we're not in a city, we're not having to be on a freeway to get to a thing which is creating agitation. There isn't so much frenetic energy that happens when there's a large population and lots of electronics all moving in the same space. And we can hear everything here, you just hear nature. And so, I think that there is something when you are in the quietude of a place like Sedona where the nervous system can settle a bit, and that's what has been really deep medicine for me when I moved out to Southern California because I was a California girl, and I moved here because I've just really enjoyed the stillness and the quiet.

[00:06:54] My nervous system was ready for that. And I wanted clean water and I wanted nature right in my backyard where I didn't have to drive to get it because it's part of what nourishes my soul. It's part of my food groups is nature like that's my church. And so, I really felt called to move here just to be in it all the time. And Sedona brings up things for me, too. Of course, the locals, those of us that and work here find that, okay, we're on the journey. It's definitely accelerated.

[00:07:33]Luke Storey:  I've always wondered if there is any scientific merit, or for lack of a better term, evidence or proof of the different energetics here. You have these vortices, and I heard you say earlier today, it's not just the ones that are kind of on the tourist map, they're just everywhere here because of the rock formations and just the geological makeup of this particular piece of land that definitely feels sacred. But as woo woo and etheric as I am often, I also still have that linear male brain that's like, I want to see the proof. You know what I mean? 

[00:08:11]Anahata Ananda:  Yes.

[00:08:12]Luke Storey:  Like I could hire some hippie to take me out on a vortex tour, but has anyone measured it or tested the magnetic field in a different place? Do you know of any kind of data on that?

[00:08:24]Anahata Ananda:  Yes, there's all kinds of different meters. There's all kinds of different. There's dowsing rods that actually get pulled towards magnetic energy, but there's also different meters that will measure the calibration of the electrical current. So, for those scientific that is like, is this just unicorn dust and crystal balls? And yes, we have all of that in here as well, but it's a scientific anomaly, Sedona, that we have these vortex currents that are measurable. They're coming out of the Earth's crust all over the place here. 

[00:09:01] And they're amplified by the high concentrations of minerals as well as crystals in the soil. So, because we haven't built over top of it and the mineral-rich amplifications, it takes the normal currents of a vortex and amplifies it. So, people ask all the time, well, when am I in the vortex? You're in it. It's coming out all over the place. And I love to, at different times of the year, just walk barefoot on the land. This is a wonderful place for earthing, wonderful place for earthing. Just to drop in and lay flat on Mother Earth, it's so delicious here. And you can just slow down and just be held by Mother Earth.

[00:09:46]Luke Storey:  Yeah. When we went the other day on that hike up to the stupa and underneath the foot of Thunder Mountain there, is that it right there?

[00:09:55]Anahata Ananda:  He's right there. 

[00:09:55]Luke Storey:  Oh, that's cool. There he is.

[00:09:57]Anahata Ananda:  Hey, Grandpa.

[00:09:57]Luke Storey:  When we were up there and we stopped to just give some reverence to the land, and have a bit of a prayer, and do our thing, it was the first time, I think, I've really slowed down out in nature here. Because there's so much to see, I'm always kind of expressing my energies and my awareness outward. Because it's just so much beauty, it's easy to get sort of hypnotized by all of the rock formations, and the fact that it's the desert, yet there's still water and greenery. It's just such a unique climate here. But we dropped in, it was like, oh, man, I need to just come out here by myself and just sit for a few hours. So, I'm looking forward to doing that. Yeah.

[00:10:37]Anahata Ananda:  There's being in nature, and then there's being with nature, being in it. Yeah, you can be in it, you can be hiking, you can be running and riding a mountain bike, and you're not with nature, just passing by the trees is being in nature. Being with it is what we were doing with the mountain. We were connecting not with just how pretty and beautiful it is, but the essence that there's a grandfather that's hundreds of millions of years old inside with medicine, wisdom, and blessings, and courage, and strength, and all of those divine masculine qualities ready to be bestowed upon the one that is with him. 

[00:11:18] Not just being around the mountain, but being with him in reverence, and asking, and that's, I think, a little bit different about what we were doing is by—and I usually always go out on the land with a mesa, with offerings, because I choose to be with nature, and make an offering, and pause, and listen, and ask, and be still. Sometimes, it just help calm my nervous system, help calm my anxiety. Sometimes, it's, I'm struggling with a choice or I'm struggling with a challenge, give me strength, give me courage, give me insight. Sometimes, it is just softening my heart or helping me to heal in a certain way, and I can't do that if I don't slow down enough to actually be with nature, held by nature, inspired and guided by its wisdom.

[00:12:20]Luke Storey:  Hell, yeah. It's funny. Alyson and I went out for a hike and went to a sacred spot here because I don't even want to say the name of it because it'll make it worse. But we went to a really sacred spot that this woman, Alice, kind of emailed us directions to. Give a shoutout to Alice. She does something called Alphabiotics, which is an amazing modality that I do a lot at home with this cat named Terry. I cannot remember either of their last names, but I'll find it for the show notes. 

[00:12:51] We went over, did a session with her, she's like, oh, you guys have to go to this one spot. And so, we hiked up there, and right now, for those listening, we're in the Thanksgiving kind of week, so there's a lot of tourists here. And we didn't know that I went up to the spot and there was like two other people that were very quiet. And we walked into this big, massive kind of cave and it was just breathtaking, then we turn around, the view was just amazing.

[00:13:12] And Alyson and I both dropped in to really connect with that spot because it was just palpable, the power there. And then, I swear to God, it must have been like, I want to exaggerate, but I was going to say 15. It was probably 10 people, but this is a small space, all these tourists from all over the world with all sorts of different customs in terms of how they interact in an environment like that, and there's little Asian kids playing video games and people with like their selfie sticks, people are doing things in a different way.

[00:13:44] And so, it was an amazing opportunity, actually, to surrender into that moment. And the teaching was, for me at least, kind of roll with the punches. And in that moment, I wanted it to be Alyson and myself having a reverent moment of really connect to that space, and that's not what reality was presenting, so it was a great teaching. And how can I be in here, and just celebrate all these kids going wild, and people stepping over stuff and kind of cockblocking my plan, you know what I mean? 

[00:14:15]Anahata Ananda:  Come on. I'm trying to be spiritual here. Shut up.

[00:14:18]Luke Storey:  Yeah. And then, I see the judgments coming up. I'm like, oh, really? You're going to come in a space like this and act like that? And all of a sudden, I'm the policeman of this space and dictating how people should act or not act. But I am going to go back there on a day that's not so touristy, perhaps, and it was just amazing. But yeah, there really is so much teaching in this area to behold.

[00:14:42]Anahata Ananda:  That's an example of where we can be in nature and we're not with it, where we're just, am I getting the selfie right, and not being present with the magic and the medicine that is available? And we've all done this, go on to beautiful places and not really felt the power, whether it's the ocean, whether it's a river, whether it's a mountain, and just gotten the picture or just had the experience, whether we're water skiing or whatever it is, and haven't really paused to acknowledge, wow, what else is going on here? 

[00:15:19] What's underneath? What is the energy underneath this? Whether it's the first time I went to the Redwoods in the Sequoia National Forest. And that was the first time, without anybody's guidance, I was really deeply with nature, where I woke up for the first time and saw these huge redwood trees and I got transported into a whole another space. And I fell in love with nature in a whole different way because I was present with it. I felt its energy.

[00:15:56] I wasn't so distracted in my own head or in a video game somewhere else or in my phone somewhere else. And I'm still guilty of this today. I feel like that's where the medicine is, wherever we are, because we can be in our neighborhood and be present with an old oak tree that's just in a neighborhood. It doesn't need to be in a national forest like this because it's a state of being. Presence is a state of being. And the sacred space is what we carry with us all the time.

[00:16:25] We can assign that location with sacredness or we bring our awareness to be sacred in that place. And that's really like, oh, how can I be that space? When I get up and leave, how can I be the sacred space, that when people visit, they feel held and more whole, instead of—and I have been that person, where I'm like, oh, you left trash here? And like, don't do that. And like witnessing my own judgments, and realizing, wow, I just shifted out of sacred space. Now, the vortex energy that I'm transmitting is judgment.

[00:17:04] It's separation consciousness in the moment that I go into, you shouldn't be doing that now, the power that I could be a sacred space, I just blocked. And what I'm transmitting, the vortex that I'm transmitting, instead of my most powerful vortex, energy, love, compassion, light, and truth, I just closed it off. I just put walls over my heart, and now, I'm transmitting a different energy. And I find the humor in that, the irony of that, that here, I'm going to the sacred space, and then I turn into like a bitch trying to protect the sacred space. And in doing so, I just polluted the whole sacred space with my judgment.

[00:17:45]Luke Storey:  You've become the sacred Karen, yes.

[00:17:48]Anahata Ananda:  Exactly, all hail the Karen.

[00:17:53]Luke Storey:  What's the basis of your name?

[00:17:55]Anahata Ananda:  Anahata Ananda was given by some of my spiritual teachers. And Anahata is the Sanskrit term for the heart chakra. And so, opens the doorway to the heart. So, Anahata, four times, opens the fourth chakra, which is the heart. And then, they added also Ananda at the end, which means bliss or blissful. So, it's blissful heart. And I knew I was going to here to be studying the heart, like I knew that. But blissful heart, that's a pretty tall order. And any medicine name or spiritual name is not to be something that you are embodying now, it's something for you to grow into. It's something for you to aspire to. And so, Anahata Ananda reminds me to ask, am I in that space of being a blissful heart in this moment? And sometimes, I get yes, and sometimes, it's like refine, rework, re-filter, and try again.

[00:18:48]Luke Storey:  Have you ever had a phase in your development where you've become aware that the ego has co-opted a spiritual identity or personality? Some people will take on a spiritual name, or wear certain robes and beads, and kind of play this role with the best of intentions, but be sort of hijacked by the ego now of just choosing the different personality by which to become special, and get attention, and all of that. Is that something that you've ever come across in your journey, or had to deal with, or become aware of?

[00:19:37]Anahata Ananda:  Absolutely. Absolutely, and in different places and it shows up in different ways. So, every time it shows up, I get to look at it, and see it, and say, huh, in any way, I'm doing that, why is this showing up for me? And is that just reminding me not to do that? And we get to see that. I did a podcast a while ago and talking about the shadow side of kind of like we can put people on a pedestal like a guru, or a rock star, or a politician, or a congressman, whatever, we can put people on a pedestal. 

[00:20:25] And then, when their shadow comes out, and here comes like some sexual manipulation or some power play, oh, but I don't want their so and so when they're a guru or their so and so when they are a spiritual teacher, or they're a congressman, or they're a clergyman, so I'm not going to say anything about it. And in doing so, we keep those shadow aspects intact by not saying, hey, it isn't okay to act this way. Whether you're a spiritual teacher, whether you're a politician, whether you are a rockstar, or an actor, that doesn't give you license to act in that way.

[00:21:09] But what happens is that the people don't want to be the whistleblower, people don't want to turn the judgment onto them for, how could you do that to them? How could you say that about the minister? How could you say that about that guru? And so, it's socially shamed to call that out. And so then, that shadow aspect that is hiding behind spirituality or hiding behind leadership and power stays intact.

[00:21:38] And so, this is what the whole Me Too movement and other movements that are coming forward, saying, hey, you know what, there's some shadow aspects happening here in Hollywood, or in politics, or in this industry, or in the music industry. And those people that we thought were all awake and all spiritual are actually doing this kind of shadow thing and the behind the scenes. And right now, as you know, like the shadow is coming out of the darkness and we're seeing it right in our faces in ways in which we have not had to look at. We kind of known, but nobody really wants to talk about it, face it, or deal with it, or acknowledge it. 

[00:22:21]Luke Storey:  Or it's a conspiracy theory that this level of evil and deception exists in our world because the cognitive dissonance of going, that can't, but I've created this worldview that's this and you're telling me this coexists with mine [making sounds] , enter a mind blown emoji.

[00:22:39]Anahata Ananda:  And that's why, like let's just say like in a church environment, if we have that pastor on the path of being the one who we've given our power to guide us spiritually, it can't possibly be that he is in a shadow space sexually with any of the congregation or like it can't exist because the power has been given to be the spiritual teacher. And then, he's always right. And so, this is inviting us to be in our truth, and also, see the truth, even how ugly it is within ourselves as well, because there's always things in our shadow, always things that our blind spot.

[00:23:24] And it's not just everybody else's blind spot. So, all of this racial hatred, all of this sexual distortion, that is not just outside of us, it's in us too. And so, this is the opportunity to look at, where have I participated in that by being a perpetrator in any way, in any little form, or where have I participated in keeping the status quo by not saying anything, or by hiding my experience and not coming out with it, or not saying no, or speaking out about it. So, that enables it. It actually says, it's okay. Unless we say something, then nothing will change.

[00:24:11]Luke Storey:  I like your contextualization of shadow as being more of a youngin viewpoint that it's just those areas in our psyche or personality that are unseen at the moment, right? I think a lot of people and a lot of teachings tend to vilify the ego and the underlying, more base nature of the human animal that we have. And I think at some point, we have to really embrace and acknowledge that we have impulses to seek revenge upon people that we perceive to have harmed us or to act out sexually, and inappropriate, and selfish ways, on and on, to eat and gluttony, and all the deadly sins, right? 

[00:24:51]Anahata Ananda:  Absolutely. 

[00:24:51]Luke Storey:  And we're kind of wired to have those tendencies. But at the same time, we have a prefrontal cortex. We have self-awareness. If we're spiritually oriented, then we begin to grow and become aware of those. And I think there's a real danger in vilifying aspects of ourselves that our God-given, that are part of our makeup and sort of part of the karmic inheritance that we take on as we've become embodied or incarnated, those are the challenges, and also, gifts that we get to overcome.

[00:25:20] And I think that there is so much risk, and self-shaming, and thinking, oh, my God, I can't believe I just did that, I can't believe I just said that. That's shadow self as in like, I'm wrong, bad, evil, shameful flood when shadow's just really a part that needs to be brought into the light, and then transmuted, or disappeared, or modulated in a way that we can actually use it for good or discarded if it's not useful at all.

[00:25:47]Anahata Ananda:  We can't transmute it if we can't see it, if we can't name it, if we can't face it, and if we can't feel the truth of the wounds, and how harmful it is, and how hurtful it is with compassion. Because I can't really forgive a sexual predator if I don't acknowledge the part of me that has used another person for sexual attention before. Absolutely. Like I can't blame somebody else for being violent and be hypocritical about their violence without looking at, oh, yeah, I've wanted to harm people before. 

[00:26:23] I have harmed people before. I've done it in my mind too and I absolutely wished people dead. You bet. Like when I'm really honest with my humanity, that's the only place that I can find compassion for the rest of humanity. When I look at my humanness, when I'm really honest, now, I might not have done that to that extreme or in that way that somebody else has, but I can relate to it. And that relatability is what I feel opens the doorways of compassion that says, you know what, we're not all that different. Your addiction and my addiction, they're just different types of addiction. Your hate and my hate, maybe your hate is towards that culture, my hate might be towards my own body.

[00:27:03] Like hate is hate. And so, when we really see that we're not all that different and the things that we loathe the most, we also get to look at the most, and say, God, that blank triggers me, then it's like, okay, what is it about me that I haven't healed, or that I haven't looked at, or that I haven't faced that is inviting me to be more honest and more gentle, but also, more courageous? This is, you know what, I've done that. I've hurt another person with my words. Absolutely. And so, when we look at what we judge and we get curious about it, when we look at what triggers us, when we look at, I hate, and fill in the blank, when we give ourselves permission to go a little deeper there, we're going to find some treasures.

[00:27:58]Luke Storey:  I love that. That's, I mean, a great rabbit hole to go down, is that the common trait that so many of us have of being most triggered by other people's behavior, that is our shadow, right? It's like, it's really a great spiritual tool if you have that degree of self-honesty, and humility, and awareness to say, okay, God, I just want to punch this person in the face because they did or said X, Y, Z. Well, what's really behind that? Why does that bother me so much when these transgressions of these people over here doing all these other things that are morally bankrupt doesn't bother me at all?

[00:28:43] But this one thing, just, God, it just really gets me. And I find with myself, if I just think about someone on social media, maybe I'm on Instagram and I come across a guy that's kind of like me, does what I does, and does what I do, and I just look at him, and I'm like, fuck, I don't like this guy, fuck this guy. It's like, what is that? And I'll look, and go, oh, you know what? I'm actually envious because they appear to be more successful in this way or that way, or have more followers, or this, or that. And then, it's like, then comes the self-forgiveness of going, oh, my God, I'm 50 years old, like, that's the way I think? Right? 

[00:29:14]Anahata Ananda:  Right.

[00:29:15]Luke Storey:  I'm that petty and lame. Oh, my God. I've been working on myself so long, but that's really where the growth is, is I think in getting more accurate and speedy in the ways in which we're able to just root those things out in a microsecond rather than getting stuck on it, and getting kind of drawn down into those lower states, and then having to dig our way out through all of this intensive inventory. And I think that's been the gift for me is just spot-checking things. 

[00:29:44] Like we were talking about the 12 steps on your podcast, and step 10, continue to take personal inventory. And when we were wrong or in error, I would say, promptly admit it. Like right now, when my mind says, I think this is true and I'm pissed about this, well, is that really true? It's like the work of Byron Katie doing the work and just having that be part of your repertoire as you meander your way through life. I think that's so fascinating. But those types of triggers are hilarious, when you start to see that. It's like, oh, my God, this is embarrassing.

[00:30:15]Anahata Ananda:  They're the best. What I love to track is my emotional intensity, in positive and negative, in like all of the vibrations. The vibrations of love, and the intensity of when I'm really lit up, and excited about a thing, and also, where I can feel the trek, the contraction, the dissonance, where I pull back my most powerful vortex, when I pull it back, you get love, but because you act like that, you don't. And that's when I took on my spiritual name, Anahata, I said this mantra, I choose to know my heart's fullest capacity to give and receive divine, unconditional love in all situations. 

[00:30:56] And I thought, oh, when I say this mantra every day for this year, I'm going to have the most amazing year ever. And what happened was all the ways in which I close my heart, all the judgments, all the conditions around my heart, the wounds, the walls, all of those things rose for me to look at because I wasn't aware of them before. And so, the journey of self-inquiry is about that, when I feel that lower vibration, anger, or resentment, or frustration, or stress, or anxiety, or any like intense triggers start coming up, that's, to me, like warning, warning, clue, clue.

[00:31:37] There are clues here. Don't let this go down the rabbit hole. Don't ignore this. Lean into it. Get curious. Feel it. Look at it. Uncover what's really underneath it. Oh, I'm insecure. Oh, I'm jealous. Oh, I'm still hurt about that thing that I've not yet forgiven. And it gives me a place where something that was in my blind spot is now coming for the opportunity for me to look at in my crosshairs. Now, I can ignore it. I can blame. I can bypass. I can sedate.

[00:32:18] I can numb. I can do all these different things or I can actually move towards it. And that's the courageous move, is to face it. And I think when we're on our awakening journey, that becomes something we start to do more often. And sometimes, we come across those big ones, those deep ones where five or six different things are woven together, and it's just like a shit show of like all of the unresolved stuff, like weaving together in a big mega bomb of truth, and it's like, okay, this one's going to take a little while to unpack. 

[00:32:52]Luke Storey:  When it comes to cultivating compassion and unconditional love for others, how does one reconcile that wholesome desire with boundaries and not cosigning people's bullshit and bad behavior? 

[00:33:11]Anahata Ananda:  Yes, I love peer boundaries.

[00:33:13]Luke Storey:  You know what I mean? Because it's like, somebody might be out of integrity with me, and I think, oh, well, I see that, but you know what, I'm just going to love them, and kind of brush it under the rug, and not pay attention to it, not confront, not address, keep someone in my life in an unhealthy dynamic because I just think that, in an immature perhaps way spiritually, that that's the most loving thing to do, when in some cases, the most loving thing to do is to get in someone's face in a respectful but firm way and create a really hardcore boundary.

[00:33:47] So, how do we navigate and balance that unconditional love where you have an understanding of who that person truly is inside as a wholesome, pure spirit, but their personality or ego is getting sloppy, and messy, and hurting you, or other people, or causing drama. How do you stop that dynamic in a way that's healthy, compassionate, and loving toward both parties, yourself and them?

[00:34:12]Anahata Ananda:  Right. I love this question because I'm all about boundaries and integrity. So, integrity sits in that third chakra. And when you said, hey, well, you said they're not being in integrity with me, so I'll just keep them in my life, I'll just not say anything. And then, who's really out of integrity by not saying anything and by keeping in your life in a way in which isn't respectful or isn't clean, isn't clear. And so, the enabling of that to continue is, in fact, out of integrity.

[00:34:49] So, any time I look at the word integrity, I always look at, where am I not being an integrity? Because when I'm attracting a conflict, where the story has been, they're disrespecting me, they're not being an integrity with me. No, they're not being an integrity. Okay. Well, where am I not being an integrity which is honest about the truth of that. If they're cheating, if they're lying, if they're stealing out of the cash register, if they're sleeping around, and it's not an aligned relationship for me, then what am I doing in it?

[00:35:20] I'm the one out of integrity. And so, this integrity and boundaries are going to come back to self-love and self-respect because it's not about whether or not somebody else is respecting us, it's about respecting ourselves, and then making the decisions in our life to have the people in clear communication about the dynamics that are in alignment with self-respect and integrity. And if someone is not able, which is, sometimes, the case is, I'm not being honest and integrity about the fact that this person, it is beyond their capacity to be honest and integrity with me, and could I just be honest about that? 

[00:36:01] Could I just stop bullshitting me and them? And like I find that I'm the one out of integrity by not being honest with the fact that I'm in business with somebody that I don't respect or I'm in a relationship with somebody that we're not on the same page, but I'm so lonely or I want to keep the relationship. Well, who's the one out of integrity? So, I find with clear boundaries, it ends up being on my side of the fence because I need to honor this space. 

[00:36:33] Whether they honor it or not isn't my business, this is my responsibility to honor it. And if it is beyond their capacity, all the more reason for me to say then, this isn't the best business relationship or it's time for us to evolve this romantic relationship, it's for me to respect me. So, when I hear that they're not being an integrity with me, that means I'm not being an integrity with the reality that this relationship isn't in alignment in some way.

[00:37:03] And yes, sometimes, we need to have that conversation that says, hey, bro, this doesn't feel right, or, sweetheart, I am experiencing this and there's the invitation to be an integrity. If they're not capable of honoring that, that doesn't mean we stay in the relationship. We adjust it in a way in which is an integrity and respectful. So, all of those accommodators out there, which I'm a recovering accommodator, so not that anyone knows anything about that, I want to accommodate everybody else's needs at the expense of self-

[00:37:39]Luke Storey:  My friend and a couple of times guest, Neil Strauss, an author, I don't know, he coined this, but I learned it from him, pathological accommodation, is when you take the extreme of people pleasing, when you're actually allowing a dynamic in a relationship to erode your quality of life and sanity just to avoid that conflict or losing their approval, and all of that stuff. It really is that. 

[00:38:04] This is something I really had to work on myself after overcoming so many other addictions, is that the co-dependency piece, and learning how to have healthy dynamics in relationships, and have boundaries for myself and other people. It's, if you grow up in a dysfunctional environment and family with alcoholism, and abuse, and these kind of things, where are you going to learn that? Like that's just not-. 

[00:38:26]Anahata Ananda:  Right. There are no boundaries. Most of us were raised with no boundaries at all, around our body, around our emotions, and other people telling us how to dress, how to be what's okay. And so, part of adulting, Luke, is this journey of like creating our own space, and honoring our own opinions, and then being discerning, which is also one of these solar plexus chakra constructs is and qualities of being discerning about, well, what is in alignment with me? 

[00:39:01] What is true for me? And that my voice matters, this is my truth, and this is where I get my power. And if I give it away to people that don't respect me, that is in fact out of integrity. And so, I'm going to get back some reflection that I'm not honoring myself. And so, when I hear, oh, well, my boss treats me like this, well, what about you said yes to that job or when that began, what about you stayed? What about you stayed in that? 

[00:39:32] And so, the deeper question that I like to look at is how am I feeling about myself that I'm allowing this behavior to continue? And it's not about changing the other person. It's not about, will they need to respect me? It's like, no, they don't ever have to respect you. That's your job. That's your responsibility. Whether they respect you or not is the clues and the information that you get to be able to navigate your proximity to that person or your nature of your relationship with that person.

[00:40:04] And if it is somebody that were in a romantic relationship and there is something not in alignment, well, then we communicate that. And not everybody can hear that. And some people are in abusive relationships. And some people are in like controlling relationships and the other person is not ever going to be able to hear that. And when I'm honest with that, it's not about me trying to wake them up, it's about me waking up and changing my proximity to that person.

[00:40:32]Luke Storey:  Yeah, that's powerful stuff, man.

[00:40:35]Anahata Ananda:  I'm all about the empowerment piece.

[00:40:38]Luke Storey:  And we'll get into parenting. I know you have two kids, and that's something I want to talk to you about.

[00:40:42]Anahata Ananda:  I think there are two, yeah.

[00:40:42]Luke Storey:  Yeah, I know the feeling. We'll get into that. But this is just golden stuff, and I'm thinking, man, as you're talking, I go, this is what you need to teach kids. This is like, fuck kindergarten. I mean, obviously, age-appropriate, and when someone's able to hold these concepts in mind, but it's just, I think these are the things that really set someone up for success in life, is understanding human dynamics and psychology, and what makes us tick, and where we come from, and where we want to go, and how our decisions, and especially our relations with others just have such a profound impact on how we feel and where we end up in the trajectory of our lives. It's just so important.

[00:41:25]Anahata Ananda:  This is a core part of the work that I do with people. And I have clear boundaries course. We'll give a discount to people listening because I wish everybody to have just the basics, the fundamentals. And yes, at 5, this is your body, these are your emotions, these are your feelings. A lot of times in the way we were raised, your body wasn't yours. It was invaded by a big brother or a sister, punching or being physical, or a family member being physical. 

[00:41:57] Your physical space, your body, your emotions, your truth, your feelings were inconvenient, inappropriate, oppressed, judged, made fun of. And so, we were actually taught the opposite of listening to your own. This is why so many of us have accommodator issues and self-confidence issues, is because that truth has been eroded since a very young child. So, I love unpacking for my clients in workshops and sessions like to rebuild that sense of self, that your feelings matter, your body is your own, and your emotions are intelligent and sacred, and your truth is yours for a reason.

[00:42:45] It doesn't matter if your parents or your bigger brother make fun of it, it's your truth, or if a boss belittles you, that doesn't mean it's true, that's about their truth. And so, having clear boundaries is also allowing somebody—you were asking earlier about clear boundaries and their opinion is their opinion. When I don't have a clear boundary, I give it greater weight than my own. So, hey, you're being an idiot, you're never going to amount to anything. Okay.

[00:43:14] Well, if I believe that, then I didn't have a clear boundary. And as kids, we don't have those clear boundaries. We're so hyperpermeable that we take everything on as truth. So, in the healing journey, in the reparenting journey, we're going to be looking at reclaiming that and recognizing that just because somebody else doesn't like our emotions or our truth doesn't mean it invalidates it. So, we actually learn how to validate, and honor ourselves, and let other people's opinions be theirs so that they have less weight.

[00:43:54] And that way, when somebody says, like a hater says something personal, it's more about them than it is about you. And when you're really reclaiming that, you're not really in that space of your solar plexus needing to source someone else for its identity value and worth or outside of you, then when somebody else's opinion or somebody else's, oh, that's ridiculous, or that's stupid, or you shouldn't do that, it just doesn't carry the weight. 

[00:44:20] Someone in the stands, way up in the stands in the peanut gallery when I'm in the arena of my life doesn't have the weight of when I know who I am, and I'm facing that, and reclaiming that, and remembering it, and refining it every day. I don't give weight to somebody up in the peanut gallery in the stands that doesn't know me or doesn't see me, and that's so liberating.

[00:44:45]Luke Storey:  Yeah. The work around boundaries is really important. And you're so right about kids being so impressionable. And I think back to the first 10 years or so of my life, in messages that I got from adults around really had an imprint on my personality, and in my 30s, and 40s, and now, just turned 50. It's like I look back, and think, wow, just a sentence that's said by a caregiver or someone influential who, when you're a kid, you take the adults to be sort of godlike figures and what they say is the truth. And you take that on, especially when you're in that impressionable, malleable, sadist state where you're taking in information from your environment, and forming your worldview and personality.

[00:45:33]Anahata Ananda:  What was one of those that stuck for you? 

[00:45:36]Luke Storey:  I think, for me, just you are a fucking idiot, and a pussy, and a piece of shit. Those are pretty good. That's a good start. Just yeah. Yeah. And so, going out into the world there, you see overcompensating, and trying to prove yourself, and wanting to be liked, and wanting to be accepted, and those things because there was no opportunity to really form that in oneself. 

[00:46:06]Anahata Ananda:  I think everyone can relate in some way of not feeling good enough as a kid in someone's eyes, whether their parents really wanted them to excel, and instead of saying you were a piece of shit, they said, you could have done better over, and over, and over again, and you always, then here comes the perfectionist, that an A+ isn't enough. It has to be an A++. So, I think that there, we're all kind of unraveling different ways in which somebody that we respected or admired said something about us that we took on as true. You're not blank enough, or you should be more this, or that when you're being you, that it was shamed.

[00:46:52] I remember just as a kid, I was just like energized, and happy, and joyful, and some would call that hyper. I was just like on fire. I loved life. I was happy and energized. And I remember one of my relatives was just like, can you please turn it down? And just like stared at me with like darts coming out of their eyes, can you just turn it down? Like with such anger. And this is somebody that I loved, and I admired, and I wanted their love. And so, that began me, instead of overcompensating, playing small. It's not safe for me to shine. I'm not supposed to be happy. That will threaten their mood. And so, like it's different that we had different experiences. I wasn't told you're a shithead, I was told like, oh, you're too much.

[00:47:57]Luke Storey:  Yeah. Well, the funny thing about that is also, I think when you get into doing this type of work and evolving, you're sort of cherry picking the negative experiences. So, I think about the adult in my life that treated me like that, and I think, God, that was just horrific. And there are forgiveness and understanding, and it's all like water under the bridge, and I get it, and everything's fine now, but then there were also adults in my life that were, at times, extremely loving, and supportive, and nurturing, and told me I could do anything, and all of that. But when you're working on yourself, you don't go back to think about that stuff.

[00:48:36]Anahata Ananda:  Those don't land, like in our brain chemistry, what really gets the blip in our consciousness and in our brain are the intense ones. So, someone saying, hey, you did great, if it didn't land on the on the Disneyland scale of amazingness, then it doesn't land as an imprint. It's the deeper fissures that we remember and those are the ones that caused the most harm. And so, we don't tend to remember when things are going along. Those don't tend to shape us as much on the negative side. They tend to shape us overall, of like, okay, I was loved, I was supported, I was encouraged. And so, that shapes a certain level of stability. But the deeper pieces that need attending to are those ones that went deep. And that's why those get our attentions. 

[00:49:28]Luke Storey:  Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. 

[00:49:30]Anahata Ananda:  Like going into the brain, like with an emotional imprint, like that those are the ones that are needing the transmutation.

[00:49:38]Luke Storey:  Yeah, because the positive inputs, like I think about my mom and there are just so many great values that she instilled in me, just tolerance and compassion for other people, and just taught me about racism and sexism, and just, I think, shaped me socially to just be a loving person, and was very kind, and loving to me, and affectionate, and all of those things. And so, that, I think, has tempered my personality and some of the more negative attributes that I picked up for whatever reason through trauma, and abuse, and things like that, but I don't sit around going, oh, man, that was great, I got a lot of hugs from my mom.

[00:50:18] It's part of the best parts of my personality that have emerged. But because, as you said it, they weren't the ones that really, boom, left that imprint, where there's a blip on the radar of like, whoa, what was that, when you got smacked, or put down, or traumatized in some way? And it's an important distinction. And I think it's really healthy to actually, when you're looking at your childhood and doing that inner child work, is to stop and do a little digging to find the good in your experience, or even the ways that we've benefited.

[00:50:51] This could be hard for some people, but I know that I've benefited in certain ways by traumatic experiences and abuse that I encountered as a kid. Like, yeah, there are things that I've had to overcome, but there were so many gifts within that in terms of my own perseverance, and tenacity, and just unwavering commitment to evolution that perhaps wouldn't have been there if it was just kind of a mediocre, milquetoast childhood where nothing really happened, and I kind of had a run of the mill family in the suburbs, and it was just kind of flatlined. And so, I was thankful for those sharp experiences.

[00:51:28]Anahata Ananda:  Well, to go deep into your those hold such keys and such treasures. For your podcast, talks a lot about this, and about spirituality, and consciousness. And the growth is going to come from transmuting those shadow aspects, turning them around and actually making them something positive in your life. That's a spiritual awakening journey. Absolutely. And when we haven't, then those some scars, those wounds that are wanting to come back to center and be reintegrated are going to keep repeating like a record. They're just going to keep repeating because they're wanting to harmonize, they're wanting to heal, they're wanting to come back to full alignment again.

[00:52:11] And so, they're going to keep causing mayhem in our life, whether it is a trauma that then turns into addiction, that then turns into a divorce, and then turns into financial trouble or whatever, because it's trying to get our attention to go down, and look at that, and realign it, which is what we talked about on my Shamangelic Healing Podcast. We went deep into all things addiction and the core places there. And when we keep running into dissonance in our life, when we keep running into chaos, and we keep repeating patterns, those are clues, and they usually always lead back to one of those imprints that has left a scar that hasn't yet been fully healed. 

[00:52:53]Luke Storey:  In this conversation, pinging back to pivotal moments in my own awakening and growth, and a lot of this has been sorted out through just boots on the ground, spiritual, reading spiritual literature, listening to thousands of hours of I call them tapes, because when I started listening to spiritual teachers, they were on tape. And then, CDs, and then now, it's like, I guess you call mp3s, audio files, audio recordings, but just a really slow journey. 

[00:53:28] And then, two years ago, I was guided in what I can now see was an earnest desire to explore plant medicines after being sober for 22 years. And so many of the mechanisms of healing that we're discussing right now were just like put on warp speed healing in those experiences. Just things that I was stuck on, as you're talking about those patterns that even if I could see it and have a rough sketch of what was shaping my personality and continuing to throw me into these dysfunctional patterns of different sorts, I was still stuck in so many ways, and I couldn't undo them and unravel them or fix them.

[00:54:11] It was like, yeah, I kind of know why I do this thing, but it's just fucking the way I am. And in some of those experiences, many of them are coming to mind as you're talking, it's just, I can't deny or downplay that those medicine experiences haven't been a huge catalyst to just major breakthroughs. But at the same time, I have a sense of reverence for those medicines and the traditions from which they come, and also, a bit of, like I tiptoe around it because I know that those experiences aren't for everyone, and can be potentially very dangerous for certain people at different levels of their development and their chemistry. 

[00:54:56] And there are so many variables where I think that can go very wrong. And I know of some experiences that have been shared with me that it didn't go likeminded. And so, in talking to you, as, I would say, a woman who's got shamanic gifts and has, I'm sure, had some level of experience with medicines, you seem to be kind of more on the natch with the breathwork and not going down that path or being so much of an advocate for those experiences.

[00:55:25] So, I'd like to move into kind of maybe the difference between getting in and doing the really deep work, perhaps, in my experience, was a much slower path. I got there, right? I got to a certain point. But then, in two years, I probably did what I did in 10 years before that through I don't know how many different ceremony. I have done 20 experiences or something in two years, which, saying that, sounds like a lot, and maybe it was, but I was just guided to do it and I did it.

[00:55:54] And then, I took a pause for a while, and now, I'm kind of in a pause. I don't feel drawn to do that in the moment. There's so much to integrate still. So, what's been your experience with doing things without any assistance from any plant medicine, psychedelics versus you or other people you've worked with having those, A? And B, what causes you to have a little bit of what I sense as temperance around that path? And you definitely seem to be someone that's like, hey, be careful. It's not something you really promote. What's your take on those methods of awakening? 

[00:56:35]Anahata Ananda:  I think that I love to dance this awareness of what is a medicine and what is a poison. And that answer is not the same for everybody, because a glass of wine for one person could be a medicine, and for someone else, it could be a poison. And I think this is an inner journey of listening to what am I really called to. I think one of the things that you laid down, the foundation of decades of sobriety, and doing the deeper—I mean, you were doing work laying the foundation, I think, that provided the acceleration for your plant journeys, your medicine journeys, your plant medicine journeys because you had done a lot of work.

[00:57:16] There was a lot of consciousness. There was a lot of foundation there. And I think for the right person at the right time, meditation, yoga, breathwork, a plant medicine journey may be the right, may really be a medicine. And for somebody else, that might be a toxin. That might be something that does not work for them. Like one of my one of my dear friends had not done a lot of his deep inner work, so when he sat down to meditation, all of this rose up.

[00:57:59] So, meditation for him was really scary, and it was not peaceful, and it wasn't like, oh, I'm going to have a third eye awakening, and talk to Archangel Michael, and like all this shit, it was like his demons would come up just because he hadn't dealt with them. And so, like for him, meditation was not peaceful. And I've experienced plant medicine journeys and I recognize that the right type of experience at the right time can really help somebody's healing, their awakening, help them shift perspective, where I have trepidation is because I have seen how much it is not that for a lot of people that go to it for the wrong reason, for the wrong time, in the wrong person, in the wrong situation, and the wrong amount of times without integrating it.

[00:59:00] And so, I think more than most, because a lot of people that have had ceremonies that didn't go so well, that did not leave them more whole, that were definitely not medicine, definitely poison. I got a lot of those knocking on my door, Luke. And so, I have a deep compassion for the fact that a lot of what is out there in the media is like, yeah, this is the best ever, and people are not sharing, hey, I got sexually taken advantage of, hey, you know what, it's sent me into—like I took an entity on, I haven't slept in three weeks, started seizures afterwards.

[00:59:43] So, I get a lot of people knocking on my door after experiences don't go well to do the cleanup work. So, it's part of my role as Aya Mama, mother of ayahuasca, who I know. I know her well. I've been into the jungle and sat with her. And when I left the jungle, Luke, I asked her, I said, hey, I sat in the jungle, I put my hands on an old vine and a younger vine, and I said, what else? What else do you have for me before I leave? What other message do you have for me?

[01:00:20] And she said, you are not to ingest me any longer. You're not to take me in. And I was like, oh, but I'm just getting to know you. She goes, well, just ask me anything. I'm in your bloodstream. I'm in your consciousness. With any plant, with anything, you can always just ask. She was inviting me to tap my unlimited ability to access the Akashic record and eternal wisdom that is accessible in all things, that it is not just by taking a plant that you have this knowing. 

[01:00:57] And she said, but our work here isn't done. And I thought that was kind of cryptic. I didn't understand what she meant by that. And it's because after my time with her, she kept sending people to me that didn't have very good experiences. And so, what I got to see is where people that are, you asked earlier about ego being in the shadow place around spirituality, this is one of those places where people are disseminating substances that are not necessarily qualified, that don't necessarily know how to hold the space sacred, that are not qualified or participating in facilitating integration work to help people take what they received, the visions, the messages, and implement them into their everyday life. 

[01:01:41] So, that level of disintegration, or the container not held safe, or during the journey, different energies being shared in ways in which are not safe necessarily for someone's psyche or their soul self that get brought into their everyday reality because I've seen it so, so dark beyond what you could even imagine, Luke. It's dark. And so, that's because it's not a plant that's doing that, it's the way it's used or misused.

[01:02:15] So, it's not that mushrooms, or wine, or ayahuasca, or breathwork is bad or good, it's, do you even need it? Is it the right medicine for you? And if so, is it the right dose? Is it the right time? Is it the right practitioner? Is it the right place? And is it with the right group of people? And most people are not asking those questions and that's where it can go a little sideways, or a lot sideways, I mean, we were talking about this the other night, it's different when you just overdo tequila, not that that's great. And you and I, we have overdone tequila and more.

[01:03:05]Luke Storey:  I've been there. Actually, the last night I drank was tequila and beer.

[01:03:11]Anahata Ananda:  Oh, my God. Mine was a Cosmo.

[01:03:13]Luke Storey:  And I wasn't even a big tequila drinker. I think I knew it was the last night and I just want to get the job done, you know what I mean?

[01:03:19]Anahata Ananda:  Way to go. That you remember, like I don't remember a whole lot of my last time. But we were talking about, hey, it's different what you do to your liver when you have a night of binge drinking because your liver is a resilient organ and your body can recover a little bit from one night of drinking. One kind of ceremony like that, it can actually have, that is not in alignment with your individual brain chemistry or your psychological self, because we're all different, we're wired differently, can cause way more harm that isn't always fixable. It's not always fixable. And so, I take that heeding, that level of respect that it deserves a level of respect when you're going to discern whether or not it's the right thing for you.

[01:04:20]Luke Storey:  So good. So good to hear.

[01:04:22]Anahata Ananda:  And if people are navigating challenges after a ceremony, then I'm happy to help them with integration or the disintegration of their experience to come back to wholeness because it can go sideways.

[01:04:37]Luke Storey:  I'm glad you shared that, because as I said, I do my best to have a sense of responsibility and always give disclaimers when I talk about these experiences, because they've been largely amazing for me, it's hard for me to not be like a medicine and psychedelics cheerleader at times. But I know that, as you said, I think my success with those experiences has a lot to do with the discernment that I built up and really learning to trust myself, and to read people in situations, and make pretty good decisions around that. 

[01:05:09] But I can see how it would go terribly wrong for some people sometimes. And it's good for me to hear that, too, just to go like, oh, shit, I don't want to become one of those statistics that goes off on a journey and doesn't come back for a while, if ever. And I know that that happens. But I think because I have not been around that world, like for 22 years, I didn't hang around people that did plant medicines or psychedelics, I don't really know what it was outside of like back in the day, doing shrooms and taking acid, going to see the dead and just being a maniac. 

[01:05:44]Anahata Ananda:  Right. Just taking whatever pills. 

[01:05:46]Luke Storey:  I wasn't aware of like the works MAPS is doing, and ketamine-assisted therapy, and MDMA therapy, and psilocybin therapy. Like I was totally unaware of that because it was not for me, because I was a sober guy. And that's great for whoever's doing it, but it just wasn't in the realm of possibility, so I thought. 

[01:06:04]Anahata Ananda:  And there's also another thing to just keep an eye on that it doesn't become a bypassing experience that keep going to that, and then not doing the integration work, because whatever a mind-altering journey, and whatever takes you there, whatever it shows you, that's still up in the ether. You still need to bring it down into reality and embodiment. It hasn't changed anything but your perspective. The deeper part of the journey happens when you start changing how you speak, how you act, how you feel, and how you embody. And so, what happens a lot of times is that we go from one ceremony to another ceremony to another ceremony without actually doing the integration work. And it actually becomes more ungrounding than grounding.

[01:06:52]Luke Storey:  Right. Because you're tapping into, as you mentioned, the Akashic records or into the quantum field, right? The infinite potentiality of all wisdom of all time, right? And so, I think the risk there is in getting attached to the peak experience and getting attached to having a tool by which you can communicate to that field in a pretty reliable way and just keep gathering more data, right? And I'm a data guy. I mean, one of my strengths is input. I just learn, learn, learn, learn, learn. I just take it, take it in, and then I share what I think is meaningful, which is a great gift.

[01:07:26] But I think even for me, thanks to my lovely fiancee, Alyson, she mentioned to me one day, she's like, you're a grown ass man, do what you want, but you're getting pretty frequent here with the journeys, maybe just take a look at that. And thankfully, I did take a pause and listened to her, but it's just like, every time I do it, I'm just getting all these answers, all these answers, and unraveling all the keys to these hidden kind of—just all of it, just the creative inspiration, and healing, and all of the things that can come from those experiences. But now, even as we're talking, I'm going like, oh, man, like in each experience, there were so many lessons and so much wisdom to bring back, and to actually activate in my life to take something I learned and to make it part of my living, breathing, physical experience.

[01:08:19]Anahata Ananda:  Then it is actually becoming a medicine.

[01:08:21]Luke Storey:  Yeah. And that does take a bit of time. 

[01:08:23]Anahata Ananda:  It does take a bit of time because we're moving from this 5D time, way up here in the etheric realm, down to 3D time, because you said, wow, I'm getting so many answers, I'm still getting answers, but they only become solutions to problem in the 3D if we do the integration work. How does this change my daily habits? How does this change the way I think about myself? How does this change the way I treat other people?

[01:08:48] How does this change when I go back to the holidays and I face that person that now I've healed in the ethereal realm during a journey, how does that change the way I interact with them? And do I actually have the tools to do that or I just have this knowing that I still need to learn the tools? And taking the answers, and the visions, and the perspective that we receive in the 5D and move it down into the body.

[01:09:12] I did a podcast with Aubrey years ago called the Roadmap to Transformation, and it's about moving things out of the ether, because when we receive a plant medicine journey, or even a shamanic journey, or a meditation, when we receive something from our spiritual guides, our higher self, our soul, angels, in whatever form, the catalyst is that's just in the ether, then we move it down into the air where we start speaking about it, then we move it down into the fire or we start acting about it.

[01:09:39] When we start acting, then that's going to move the waters of emotions. And so then, this is where most people pull back, because then the emotion of, ah, then I'm really stepping into my power or I'm breaking up with this person, then it starts to move. Any unresolved emotions are going to start to rise. And that can often put out the fire of inspiration. And then, we just go to more knowing and it keeps us from moving all the way across our emotional, and traversing our emotional waters into Earth, and embodying what we know. 

[01:10:14]Luke Storey:  Ah, so good. Yeah, so good because you get out into the wave, right? And the wave can be really intriguing and intoxicating in the field. But without coming back into particle, then what do you got?

[01:10:30]Anahata Ananda:  Right.

[01:10:31]Luke Storey:  Then, you don't have the building blocks. It's like you have the blueprint, but you don't have the cement. You got the cement, the bricks, you got to build.

[01:10:37]Anahata Ananda:  This is what you did for two decades, is you were collecting building blocks. You said, oh, it was kind of slow. Yes, it is slow in the 3D. You were collecting building blocks during those years about self-awareness. And all of the 12 steps that you were taking accountability and watching your habits, watching your tendencies, all of those things that looked unsexy, or felt uninteresting, or it didn't look like a whole lot of what was happening, you were laying the ground groundwork in the 3D, my brother.

[01:11:07] That's the cement. That's the foundation. Then, when you tap something conscious, then you were able to bring it down because you had the tools to do that. And so, just because we get something in the 5D, we open up our higher gates of consciousness does not mean that we don't still need to do the work and learn the tools of how do I speak to my partner? How do I have clear boundaries when I'm feeling disrespected?

[01:11:34] How do I learn how to love myself and honor myself? How do I face a hater or deal with external judgment? Like you still need those tools. I can only show you the way, but you'll still have to do the work. And this is where I love Shamangelic breathwork because you get shown what you're capable of integrating, not what is beyond what you're capable of integrating. 

[01:12:02]Luke Storey:  See, that's great because I have friends that will do a journey, and I'm sure I've been grandiose, too, but when you're in that space, I mean, everything seems so real. Every insight that you have, you're like, this is the way it is. And I tend to think it mostly is. But then, when you come back, sometimes, the visions are so massive that I think we can't even really contextualize it and there's this sort of grandiosity of, I had a vision in ceremony that I'm supposed to be the premier healer of all humanity, kind of thing. 

[01:12:44]Anahata Ananda:  How do you map that?

[01:12:45]Luke Storey:  Yeah. 

[01:12:45]Anahata Ananda:  How do you get there?

[01:12:48]Luke Storey:  Let's write down the steps that it's going to take to get there and actually do that work. So, it's interesting. It's almost as if those medicines, I think the last time I did, yeah, it was a psilocybin journey with a group of people and I had taken quite a pause from it, and it was a beautiful experience. I mean, just the litany of insights, and teachings, and things. It was just a lot. It's going to take a while to unpack, but it was like, I had the sense that those substances are kind of like a telephone. They're a communication tool between you and the quantum field, right? They aren't the field itself. They're a means by which to access it, right?

[01:13:38]Anahata Ananda:  Right.

[01:13:38]Luke Storey:  Like I was doing in meditation and Kundalini yoga for years and years, and I'd have these peak experiences where I went, whoa, shit, what's happening here? I just tapped into something incredible, and hopefully, I was lucky enough to bring it back, and remember, and then put it into use, but I think a lot of us have the tendency to get caught up that we think that that medicine is the point, like that's the thing rather than that's just one of many tools that can be used.

[01:14:04] So, that leads me into your Shamangelic breathtwork. I want to really cover that because I think it's so important that people have tools, especially those people that, for whatever reason, their own inner knowing, they think, I'm not going to go take mushrooms, or ayahuasca, or DMT, or people that have gone down that path and maybe overdone it, and like, whoa, I need to pump the brakes a bit. There are other ways to do it. And so, how is the breath a conduit like an ayahuasca?

[01:14:35]Anahata Ananda:  I mean, I think it can complement anybody's journey, whether you use plant medicines, or you use meditation, or whether you're chanting, or whatever it is, I think it's a beautiful complement to anybody's journey or anybody's path. And a shamanic journey is meant to take you to your edge. It's meant for you to go into the darkness and see what's there. It also might take you into the depths of your light and your beauty and to see what's there. You might see your power, your potential, your future.

[01:15:18] You might be taken to a part of your past that needs to be healed or a trauma that needs to be faced and relived in a way that you can rewrite it or open the compassion and forgiveness for. And so, I'm always blown away by how powerful the shaman that is breath, that is prana when given permission to go to where it needs to go within that soul's journey is. When it's given permission to go and bring the medicine where it's needed, it's always so brilliant, it's always so bright.

[01:16:01]Luke Storey:  Sorry to cut you off, but I just remembered a realization I had at some point, and it was in regard to breath. I think because we humans tend to think we're the center of the universe, and we're controlling, and we're making everything happen, one day, I had the realization that it's like I'm not breathing, I'm actually being breathed, that this field, this plasma field that we're in in the human meat suit has this life force that actually forces oxygen in and out of our lungs for us, and you literally can't stop breathing. I mean, you could sit here and try to suffocate yourself, I'm not going to breathe, I'm not going to breathe, it's like God or consciousness goes, nope, poof, and actually pushes air into your lungs. 

[01:16:53]Anahata Ananda:  It has its own intelligence.

[01:16:55]Luke Storey:  Yeah. That's like in the passive sense of just like, I'm sitting here and I'm being breathed. But when one's spiritual will is applied to the body and you have a technique like I want to unpack what you've learned, or developed, or how it's happened for you, but I just kind of tapped into that like, oh, the breath is already powerful on its own because, hey, that's what's making us be able to walk around.

[01:17:20] But when we apply a little bit of exertion to that and we have some guiding principles that allow us to do it in a ceremonial way with some intention and a method, then imagine what's possible, because now, we're co-creating with that plasma field that's doing it to us, and for us, and we're going, cool, you keep doing that, and I'm going to add in a little exertion here, and we're going to really [making sound] take off. So, anyway, just a realization I wanted to share because it was meaningful to me and just kind of an affirmation that, yeah, there's a benevolent force in the universe that's working for me. And one of the ways that it does it is by making sure that my blood has oxygen in it, you know what I mean?

[01:18:02]Anahata Ananda:  It's got intelligence. I hear what you're saying, is that it's got intelligence. And when I've been partnering with that energy field, the wisdom of prana, and breath, and revered as a teacher, when we allow the breath to go where it needs to go. So, it depends on the person because we might direct the breath if someone is having an ailment to that body part, to that tumor, we might direct it there. We might direct it to bring breath and life, and hold space for the inner child that has had a trauma.

[01:18:39] We might help it to open up the heart. We might help it to shake off all of this density and this heaviness that we held from dad's rage and mom's insecurity. And we might use it to help clear out like a big, gusty wind to kind of clear out all of the density that's been in the basement, some of which, which isn't even ours. It may be ancestral. It may be from our family, our bloodline, past lovers. And so, it might be the clearing aspect of it to shake off density that isn't ours.

[01:19:13] It might be the doorway when we start deep breathing [making sounds] the bellows breath to kind of go down into the basement of the feelings that we have oppressed and ignored that are way deep down there when we give the breath permission to go into the basement of our feelings. The first time I experienced breathwork with one of my teachers, the emotion that rose when I was in a safe container and allowed the breath to go where it needed to go, and I didn't direct it, I didn't tell it where to go, because then I'm doing the healing rather than the breath, knowing where I need to be healed or knowing where to go.

[01:19:55] And so, when you're in a container, and this is where I love to create a very, very safe container, where we leave judgments at the door, where we leave, I can't express this or I can't do this. We leave all of the oppression of holding back our natural, authentic emotions, and leave that at the door. Then, when I started breathing for the first time and it went down into the basement of my emotions, the first emotion that came up was rage, not anger. Let me be really clear.

[01:20:27] This was like a fiery dragon. And what it was from was from all of the times that I was not allowed to express anger about things that weren't right, the physical abuse, things that I didn't think were fair, heartbreak, things that were hurtful, like things that at a soul level I knew weren't right, but I didn't have a safe space. I wasn't big enough. I wasn't courageous enough or there wasn't the right container. And girls aren't supposed to be angry. And so, that emotion, the more of the fiery emotions were judged and oppressed.

[01:21:07] So, the first time I was given that permission for the emotion to come up, I had no idea rage was there. And I mean, I screamed so loud, and so deep, and had my nails been longer, I'm sure I would have drawn blood from how deep my fists were clenched and how angry I was. And I just unleashed this fury of the heavier emotions that were stuck inside me that were creating distortions in my life. And because anger and deliver are so closely intertwined, that unresolved anger and alcohol tend to go together.

[01:21:53] And I was a drinker. Not a heavy drinker, but I was a drinker. And it was trying to water down the anger. And so, when the first time I did breathwork, rage came out. Other times, water, the watery emotions of sadness and grief, and where were things that didn't go my way, heartbreak, and death, and like I wasn't able to grieve, and didn't know how, and it wasn't the safe space or it was thwarted. It allowed this freedom, unleashed a lot of unresolved emotion. 

[01:22:28] Weeping, weeping, weeping, not from one thing, but from all of it. And then, because I did a lot of breath work for a lot of my journey and still do for me personally to help keep clean house, then when a lot of that cleared out of the way, I was able to connect with my true essence. I was able to connect with spiritual guidance. I was able to connect with my heart. I could go anywhere in and out of the body, in and out through time. I was able to astral travel.

[01:22:58] It unlocked all of these abilities that the dense emotions were holding me down in the basement and I wasn't really able to be free of that. It was like these shackles on my ankles. And this is why I love breathwork, is that we can tailor it to the person to be like, what density is there? Is it your emotion? Is it your doubt? Is it your pain? Is it somebody else's stuff? Is it your own fear? What's there? Let's start excavating the density in a safe, loving space where you can scream, you can cry, you can laugh, you can say, fuck off.

[01:23:32] You can say no. You can say yes when you want to say yes, and you can cry when you need to cry, and be angry, and you're in a safe container. And I love, love, love holding the space. And then, for men, women are told, don't yell and scream, and don't get angry because that's impolite. And men are told, don't be a pussy, like you said earlier, don't be a wuss, don't cry, and don't feel. And so, I've had the blessing of holding space for so many men that haven't cried in decades, and women too, allowing their sadness about a breakup, or a rejection, or a pain, or a wound that they hadn't dealt with, or an issue they hadn't dealt with. So, I feel like there's emotional excavation. 

[01:24:29] And then, this is why I call it Shamangelic, because then there's this heart-opening expansion space because we just cleared out density that was taking up our space, our authentic space. So, when that's moved out, there's this whole beautiful space opened up for light, truth, love, grace, expansion power, joy to come back in, freedom, adventure, and it's so liberating to watch people make that shift in front of my eyes and to watch them forgive things that they've been holding on to for a long time and connect to an aspect of their power, or their light, or connect to their guides. And I'm just blown away about how deep and beautiful it can be. And so, it's been one of those things in my medicine bag that just keeps showing up and deepening as I—

[01:25:30]Luke Storey:  Who is the teacher that you referred to that you first did a session with? Was it someone anyone would know?

[01:25:40]Anahata Ananda:  No, no. Well, he's long since retired and this was 20 years ago. So, he was a shamanic healer in the outskirts of LA. And so, he's since retired. Most of the people that I've trained with have since retired because it was so long ago. And I trained in a lot of different modalities because I wanted to see how different people did it. And it's not just about the excavation to me, it's also about the angelic, about bringing. 

[01:26:15] A lot of the teachers that I learned from were men and one of the things that I noticed that was missing was a very, very gentle tenderness that comes through me when I get the opportunity to hold space for somebody that is very soft, and maternal, and gentle, and shapeshifting between the masculine and the feminine And like, ah, let's get it out, to, oh, sweetie, it's okay. It's okay to feel what you need to feel, sweetie. It's okay. You don't have to hold that any longer.

[01:26:51] And there's a gentleness and a softness that I felt in my shamanic work that I learned from mostly men that I learned from that has been added in of like, wow, we need to also face the core healing when we go into the inner wounds with gentleness and sweetness. And sometimes, that is really more of the feminine element that's missing, and the gentleness, and the softness. And sometimes, people whose nervous system is very frazzled, I'm not going to do a deep fiery journey.

[01:27:31] The music is going to be very different. My tone is going to be very soft. It's going to be a whisper. It's not fire because I've got to read the energy field to see what alchemy is needed right now. And if they're fried, they just need to be held. It's going to be a very soft journey. And a lot of the man that are like [making sounds] I'm like, what if you softened? And it's like, what the fuck? What do you mean, soften? And they just want to push the gas pedal.

[01:28:01] And I've done work with Aubrey and like a lot of the Onnit crew and tribe, and a lot of the guys that are just so powerful and courageous with their fire. And I get that, and I see it, and it has its place, but in the healing space, it's wonderful to be courageous, but the courage that we're talking about is to be gentle. The courage that is sometimes the deeper alchemy of the medicine is not more fire. It's like just to hold them, just to put a hand on their heart, just to let them cry and not be judged, to let them soften.

[01:28:44] And it's not about cracking open the nut or like forcing it open, sometimes, it's learning how to be feminine. And that's the energy that they're craving the most, needing the most. And so, it's so beautiful to be in a room full of, let's say, 12 different people and be shapeshifting every 30 seconds between people's energy and their journey, and actually being in different places in the room at the same time, supporting this woman that's crawled over on her side, just weeping.

[01:29:22] Somebody else is releasing a sexual trauma. Somebody else is saying, fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, like, motherfucker, like, yeah, motherfucker. And they're like purging out the demons from under. And then, somebody else is like [making sound] and they're just like flying and they're with their guide. And then, somebody else is like opening their heart space and they're just melting. They're being bathed in what I call holy water. When tears come, it's just holy water.

[01:29:51] They're just being bathed in tears of healing, and grace, and their heart is opening for the first time in decades. And so, I feel that this modality is—well, it's legal, that helps. You don't have to go out of the country for it. Integration happens more quickly. The journey happens much shorter. And when we give permission for the breath to go where you need to go, then you'll receive what you're ready to receive, and not more, and not less. 

[01:30:22] And it's been such an honor to be doing this kind of work and it's been a great teacher for me. The honor to hold such deep, vulnerable space with thousands of people that have allowed me to literally hold them while they weep or help them release sludgy density from lifetimes of pain, and darkness, and feel like, oh, God, doesn't it take a lot of energy from you? And I'm like, no, it's an honor. Like this is my soul calling. This is one of the deep privileges of following my soul path here.

[01:31:12]Luke Storey:  In terms of the technique that you've developed, were there things that you picked up from somatic breathwork and holotropic? For people that don't know kind of some of the modalities within breathwork, what are some of them out there that one might look up? I mean, obviously, people can look you up and maybe have an experience with you. But I don't know a lot about the history, I don't even know people are doing breathwork in that sense 20 years ago. I know certain yogic tradition as in the Kundalini tradition that's probably since humans existed, they figured out you can alter your consciousness by breathing in certain ways. But in terms of the Western model, what are some of the schools of thought around this type of work that have influenced you or that you were even aware of?

[01:31:56]Anahata Ananda:  Well, one of the things is there's a lot of different techniques to start opening up the channels. And really, what you're doing is hyperoxygenating the body [making sounds] deep inhales and deep exhales. Now, there's a lot of different techniques, whether it's a double inhale, or a double exhale, or like into the chest, into the belly, out through the belly, out to the chest. Like different ways, different techniques. And in learning all of these different breathing techniques, I got to watch how they work.

[01:32:33] And the more complex the breathing technique, I noticed that about half the group would be so much in their head trying to be like, okay, inhale into my lungs, and then how do I inhale into my belly, okay, into my belly, and then it's a three-part exhale. And I noticed that some people would be able to get to the space, especially those that were yogis that were accustomed to breathing and directing breathing places, could get on autopilot and go [making sounds] like follow a technique, and get on autopilot with it, and then go into a trance space. 

[01:33:15] But I'd say, when I watch to the more complicated techniques, I also noticed that about 50% of the people had this furrowed brow and they were in their head the whole time trying to figure out the breathing technique, which kept them from going into the experience. And so, I've put a pause on all of those more complicated breathing techniques because it's really just a doorway to getting into the internal terrain of your emotion or what's inside. And so, deep inhales and exhales, just keep going, keep breathing. And when it starts to lock the emotion, we're there. To me, that's the journey, that's the juice. And so, I get people breathing in the beginning, and then I'm going to weave into their field.

[01:34:07] And that to me, is the real technique of going in, reading the situation, reading the body, reading what their soul is going through, and then reach into my medicine bag. And maybe it's a whisper, maybe it's the way of putting hands on their body, or it's a shamanic emotional clearing technique, or the rattle, or whatever is needed, I've got all these different medicine tools I've attracted along the way that supports that person going deeper. It's not anymore about the breathwork, for me, for the way I facilitate breathwork, because people will be having their emotional journey, and they'll go out of the journey to get back on the breath technique, and they miss this whole experience of unlocking, releasing this, or facing this experience. 

[01:35:01] And I do breath word facilitator training for—I do two weeks of training for people that are interested in healing modalities and are called to facilitate that kind of thing because it's really also about the container and the explanation so that they feel held and safe, because if they don't feel held and safe, doesn't matter what breath technique, they're not going to go very deep. They'll be in their head the whole time on a breathing technique that doesn't take them into an emotional experience, or a spiritual awakening, or a heart-opening experience.

[01:35:38]Luke Storey:  Do you typically have people laying down?

[01:35:39]Anahata Ananda:  Yes, on their back.

[01:35:41]Luke Storey:  And are you doing mouth breathing predominantly? 

[01:35:45]Anahata Ananda:  Mostly. And I tell people to change it up, because sometimes, people, going through your nose, and then we'll do different breath locks as well.

[01:35:53]Luke Storey:  That's the juice right there.

[01:35:55]Anahata Ananda:  That's the juice. But you got to clear out the basement first. So, I like to use the breath to clear out the lower energy, like get the lower emotions out first, and then like when we've cleared a lot of that out, then in the later part of it, in the middle and later part of the journey, we'll start opening up to higher consciousness because we've made space for it. If we do that too early, we don't have as much space.

[01:36:20]Luke Storey:  Makes perfect sense, yeah. It's funny. I mean, I knew we were going to talk about breathwork because it's one of your specialties, but for some reason, since I've been out here, I think I've done my morning breathwork every day and I've been here for a month. Back home, it's sporadic, if I have time, but maybe it's because back home, I have so many tools. Like, oh, do I want to get in the hyperbaric chamber? Do I want to take a sauna? I got the ice bath, the BioCharger, the AmpCoil.

[01:36:46] It's just like I have a chest of toys there and I go through different phases. But out here, I didn't bring anything except my higher-dose infrared mat, PEMF mat, which is beautiful, by the way, folks listening. Amazing. I love that thing. But it was flat so I could throw it in the SUV and get the rest of our shit out here. So, I have that, and then I picked up the Lucia Light, which was delivered here, which I want to take you on a journey with the Lucia Light if you've not tried it.

[01:37:10]Anahata Ananda:  Yes, please. I'm up for it.

[01:37:13]Luke Storey:  Actually, dude, the Lucia Light, I've done—Allison, she's been on the show, Allison Pellisier, just a diversion here for a second, we did a journey at my house with about five people with the Lucia Light and she led us on a breath work journey under this psychedelic Lucia Light. I took a little ketamine that day also. 

[01:37:35]Anahata Ananda:  Just amp it up, why not? 

[01:37:37]Luke Storey:  It was pretty hardcore. So, yeah, but it'd be fun to have you get to experience that. Where was I going with this? Shit. Totally lost my train of thought. Modafinil deficiency. Anywho, where was I going with this? 

[01:37:53]Anahata Ananda:  You said with breath work, we were talking about what you didn't know about breathwork.

[01:37:59]Luke Storey:  [Making sounds] yes. I think it might have had something to do with the breath holds. Oh, no. Yeah, I know where I was going. Okay. So, out here, I've been really good about doing my breathwork because I'm not distracted by all these other options and things like that. So, it feels really good. And I think that might have the energy energies here also, but might have something to do with what I was talking about earlier, that I just have so much energy here. I don't feel tired.

[01:38:28] It's like, oh, I've been really consistent. And perhaps, that's one of the reasons I haven't felt particularly off balance here and kind of thrown about by the energies of the Iron Bowl of Sedona. I've been grounding every morning and I don't even know what technique, it's kind of maybe a mashup of some different things that I've done in breathwork experiences, but it's maybe a combination of like Wim Hof style and the Joe Dispenza breath holds. 

[01:38:56] And I really love the holds, but I'll do quite a few rounds, maybe, I don't know, three or four rounds where I'm doing maybe 30 inhale, exhales, and then I do the hold, and like tighten up all those centers, and just mash that pineal gland, and then I'll go meditate or go do a Lucia Light session or something like that. So, I'm really setting myself up for success here. But I think for me, where the magic happens and maybe this is because there's been a lot of clearing of the emotions over the years through all the work, but, man, the holds are always where I just [making sounds] I just pop. And that's where, on a good day, I'll go into pretty close to like a medicine sort of space. It's powerful.

[01:39:44]Anahata Ananda:  This is the thing, you can absolutely alter your conscious—altered states of consciousness and awareness. And in this kind of shamanic journey, when Aubrey came years ago, we met eight or nine years ago now, and he came at a retreat that I was co-facilitating and did breathwork with me, and he's like, that was just as deep as any plant medicine ceremony I've been. I'm like, what the fuck? What are you doing? And so then, I've been working with him, and the whole crew ever since, and trained some of his people.

[01:40:12] And I do that for fit for service and all of his Onnit people. And that's one of the reasons why I like it, is when we really go into that space, we can move into altered states of consciousness. We can go in and out of dimensions, and forward and back in time. We can go into the future. We can go into the past. That's a shamanic journey. And the breath can take you there. And with the right guide, with the right space, with the right intention, magical things can happen. And I love it. They're juicy.

[01:40:46]Luke Storey:  Have you explored any of the science around what's happening to our physiology during breathwork?

[01:40:52]Anahata Ananda:  Yeah.

[01:40:53]Luke Storey:  It's maybe, I want to say, maybe four years ago or so, I did a few Wim Hof trainings. And in one of them, the teachers were saying, oh, this is the the DMT breath, and it was on your back. And I think it was a pretty vigorous inhale, kind of a fast inhale, exhale for a long time, maybe 30, 40 minutes. And then, I believe we did a full exhale out, and then you held it as long as possible until you start T-rexing and convulsing, and then there was a big inhale in, and then tensing your whole body, and holding, and holding, and holding, and then [making sound] you would just absolutely trip balls.

[01:41:32] Amazing. And I thought, oh, that's cute. They call it the DMT breath. It's just like a hook to get people interested in it maybe. But then, I started studying the Joe Dispenza work and went to one of his workshops, in one of his slide presentations, it was fascinating. So, he talked about it. And when I interviewed him, I was like, dude, you're just doing Kundalini yoga. And he's like, well, yeah, but who's going to put on a turban and wear all white. I'm trying to reach the masses, Luke.

[01:41:57] I was like, oh, respect, I get it. But he showed how when you inhale and you kind of tense up all your chakras, that you're actually sending spinal fluid up that canal that goes up into the center of your brain where the pineal gland lives. And when you do that hold in this very specific yogic way, that what's happening is you're putting pressure on the pineal gland and you're breaking up, I forget, I'm going to paraphrase his thing, and maybe you know, but you're breaking up these little crystals-

[01:42:33]Anahata Ananda:  Calcifications.

[01:42:34]Luke Storey:  Yeah, around the pineal gland. And it starts to create a magnetic field, and then produces the metabolites of what eventually becomes dimethyltryptamine through tryptophan, to serotonin. There's like a cascade of these neurotransmitters. And what you eventually end up with is your own DMT.

[01:42:55]Anahata Ananda:  Right. We are our own pharmacy.

[01:43:00]Luke Storey:  It's fucking crazy. I was like, whoa, he just proved scientifically. So, for you, with the work you're doing, have you studied any of the sciences like that of what's happening or do you get a sense of why we get so altered by these experiences?

[01:43:13]Anahata Ananda:  Yes. Certainly, Joe Dispenza has gone down that rabbit hole way more than I have, for sure, around the science of that. But on just the growth physical level, when you're hyperoxygenating the physical body, it's going to start to, as you oxygenate your bloodm, you're going to start to detoxify on just the physical level. And so, we are also starting to release, as you start to detoxify the cells, the cells are also where the cellular memory is held.

[01:43:46] That's why if you just keep heavy breathing, this is more from an energetic and emotional perspective because that's where I live in that world more. And so, when you start hyperoxygenating and you start detoxifying your cells and your tissues, that's why memories start coming up, and that's where we want to be accessing the emotions so that we can actually release that emotion instead of the toxins just being cycled again. So, you're releasing physical toxins and emotional toxins just by doing the breathing, when you're doing the breath hold that you're talking about. And this is in the yogic principles as well. 

[01:44:26] When you're doing Kapalbhati, is the the breath of fire [making sounds] like this kind of [making sounds] or through the nose, and then you do Kumbhaka, these are all Sanskrit terms, the hold [making sounds] and when you hold it, and you hold your perineum, your root lock, and you hold your belly in, the second chakra, and you hold all of those locks, it's called a Maha lock or a master lock, and you hold back your throat as well, and you're holding all of that, it goes up the Shonna, which is your sushumna, which is your spinal cord and the energy center going through your body, now, it's going all the way up to your third eye, into your crown, and it shoots that up. 

[01:45:17] When you just hold the breath, that's a little different than when you hold it, and root lock, second chakra lock, your belly lock, and your throat lock, that really sends it up fast. So, what you're doing there is you're actually opening the channels for higher consciousness. You're decalcifying those glands, because when we're not using them, they'll calcify just like a muscle, that when we don't use, it atrophies. And our gateways to higher consciousness, our intuition, and our access to divine creator, source, truth, universe begins to calcify because we don't use it.

[01:45:55] And the calcification is also coming from not breathing heavily, not moving our bodies, not oxygenating, and also, eating a diet that is literally dumbing us down. And so, the breathwork, and also, the breath holds, as well as meditation when you focus on your third eye is decalcifying those glands, the pineal and the pituitary glands. It is releasing those chemicals, those juicy chemicals that the yogis would call Rita the divine nectar. We may call it DMT, but it's the bliss chemicals.

[01:46:30] And this is where we can alter our state of mind and our emotional state just by breathing. And so, once we massage those glands more and we're not just doing it once every six months, but like you say, you have to be doing this on a daily basis, the connections to our higher consciousness and our channels for divine insight begin to stay open, and we begin walking awake. And that's really the idea so that we're not having to go to a plant medicine ceremony or even to a breathwork ceremony, but actually, once we've done a lot of our work, we're actually learning how to recalibrate ourselves every morning or in the evening and keep those channels.

[01:47:19] We're really just opening all of the chakras, because what I'm doing here and the work that I'm doing with my clients and people that come here, we're clearing the lower energy centers, where there's density, where there's emotional pain, where there's fear, where there's doubt, all of this stuff that not safety, all of those in our lower chakras. We're reclaiming our confidence in our light. We're opening our heart. We're expressing our truth. And we're seeing more perspective and we're connecting to divine guidance. 

[01:47:49] We're actually opening and balancing all of our chakras and aligning them. And that's the idea, is that once we learn how to do that, then we're not leaning on mushrooms or external validation or any of it because we're it. We can access any of that at any time. We already know who we are. And that's the whole point, is that sometimes, these are things that help us along the way, but they're not meant to be long-term training wheel. They're just supposed to be training wheels. And then, you stand and walk in your truth, and we stop with the external anything. That's the idea.

[01:48:31]Luke Storey:  Amazing.

[01:48:32]Anahata Ananda:  I know, why not? 

[01:48:33]Luke Storey:  These mics are expensive, so I don't want to drop them, but that is a good mic drop right there. Yeah, it's a beautiful way to wrap this up. I want to thank you for inviting me into your home, and being so gracious, and feeding us the other night, and just being a really warm-hearted receiver of us in this town of 10,000 folks here. And I didn't know anyone here. I just came. I think maybe I want to move here, let's go check it out. So, I think Alyson found you actually before I did. And when we travel, she researches the local scene and tries to find likeminded people to hang out with or record with, whatever, so very grateful. Turns out we know a few people. 

[01:49:15]Anahata Ananda:  We have a lot of common tribe on like all of the podcasts you've been on, a lot of some of them, and then I've been on that circuit as well. And the tribe keeps growing, and expanding, and deepening. And I'm so grateful to have had the chance to create this connection with both you and Alyson. It's just a soul-nourishing tribe connection that I'm sure we will continue to grow.

[01:49:40]Luke Storey:  Likewise. So, I got one last question for you. It's a three-part answer, and that is, what are three teachers or teachings that have influenced you in your work that you might share with the audience?

[01:49:54]Anahata Ananda:  I think for me, nature has been one of the greatest teachers, when I just go outside, and I look at how a tree stands in the wind and doesn't get knocked over. Like my vision quests have been with trees and mountains and I have found great medicine for free without altering my state of consciousness, without paying to go anywhere, is to just go outside and pay attention, ask nature, be curious, how does this plant survive in the middle of the desert?

[01:50:29] How does this mountain withstand the wind, and the rain, and its stable. So, I have found one of my greatest teachers has just been nature, to just listen, watch, ask, pay attention, as well as the elements of learning how to balance the alchemy. Am I being too fiery, not enough fire? Am I grounded? Am I up here in the ether too much or not enough because I'm not really going to my spiritual practices? And so, I think learning how to ask, how are my elements doing today and what do I need to lean into at this time today or in this season that I need to alchemize? 

[01:51:12] So, I'd say nature has been some of my greatest teachers. And, of course, people in every situation and my emotions are constantly teaching me whether I'm acing life or tripping over lessons that are trying to get my attention. So, I think my emotions, environments, my triggers, the people around me, how I'm feeling have all been great teachers that continue to invite me to refine, grow, and heal.

[01:51:43]Luke Storey:  Beautiful. We're going to put all of this in the show notes. But lastly, for those listening, where can they find you? Website, social media, et cetera.

[01:51:51]Anahata Ananda:  Yes. Well, first of all, I want to make sure everybody gets a free gift, so we will do a chakra rebalancing. Since we talked about chakra balancing, we'll do a guided chakra balancing meditation, since we kind of hit all things chakras. So, we'll give that as a free gift to the audience. So, there is that. And also, I'm @AnahataAnanda, lots of As. And so, I'm on all the socials, for sure, on Instagram and Facebook. And there's also YouTube channel. You can find me here in Sedona at Shamangelic Healing.

[01:52:26] And for those that are called to Sedona, look me up, let me know in advance because I tend to book up. And if you're called to do a journey, a retreat, or a breathwork session, then let me know. I'm happy to support you. There's also for those people that can't make it to Sedona right now, which I understand, a lot of people are not traveling, which is great, that if you're honoring just staying put, then there are all kinds of virtual experiences and we're going to give a discount on that clear boundaries course, definitely.

[01:53:03] We'll give a discount to everybody listening because I wish for everybody to have that. And there's virtual breathwork that I'm doing now, as well as virtual workshops, and online courses, and online coaching. So, wherever you are in your journey, I'm here to support you along the way. The Shamangelic Healing podcast, which you are a guest on, so tune into that for free access to inspirational content. But if you're still listening to this, then you're my kind of people.

[01:53:37]Luke Storey:  That's what I always say at the end of the episode, because I'll go to my outros, and I plug the sponsors and stuff, and sometimes, those will be like another 12 minutes after a two-hour interview, and I'm always like, if you're still here, you are a super fan, and I love you. Because as the conversation goes, I mean, we're just shy of two hours. But honestly, like I know when I'm like, cool, at least I think I know when we're at a good pause point. I wanted to get into parenting, but then we'd be here another two hours, so we'll do a part two. But I thank you for your work and all the offerings. And for those listening, we're going to put all this stuff in the show notes. You can get the show notes emailed to you by going to lukestorey.com/newsletter. Lukestorey.com/newsletter. I promise not to spam you, but I will send you all of the relevant links and links to the transcripts every week. With that, thank you so much. 

[01:54:27]Anahata Ananda:  Thank you.

[01:54:27]Luke Storey:  And I'm one of those people that is going to be doing some breathwork with you here.

[01:54:31]Anahata Ananda:  Yes. So, you'll share that.

[01:54:33]Luke Storey:  By the time I will have recorded the intro for this, I will have had that experience and be able to give it my, I'm sure, recommendation in the intro.

[01:54:41]Anahata Ananda:  If you live. I mean, I've got a pretty good survival rate. So, hopefully, you'll be in that percentage of survivors. And yeah, honored to hold space for you and Alison. And I want to just say one other thing for the people listening and watching still, is that if this has been deep medicine for you, if you felt something valuable, please share this with other people. You are doing such amazing work in the effort that goes into putting together a conversation like this, all of the tech that you invest in, the time, the production, the more people that can hear it, the better. And I know you have a huge audience and just inviting people watching and listening to also share it so that other people can continue to hear about wonderful conversations and all of the beautiful magic that you're bringing out. I have such deep reverence for the work that you do and what a beacon of light that you are on the path that you walk. And thank you for bringing your medicine. 

[01:55:42]Luke Storey:  Well, thank you, and thank you for encouraging people to share it. Now, I don't have to say that in the outro. It's like some people buy stuff from the sponsors, and that helps keep the lights on, and stuff, but I always say like, man, you don't have to spend money to enjoy this podcast and benefit from it. If you feel like reciprocity is in order, just text it to a couple of your friends. I do that all the time. I listen to a good podcast. I'm like, oh, my God, I got to send this to my boy, Elliott, or whoever it is. 

[01:56:09]Anahata Ananda:  Yeah, post it. If you found like a part of the conversation, then post it on your socials or share it with your network, because then just more people hear about it. And then, that's our intention, is that this is not just a conversation for you and I. We would have this conversation anyway. We have had this conversation anyway. But it really lands when other people get to receive it. 

[01:56:32]Luke Storey:  For sure. Alright. Well, thank you.

[01:56:34]Anahata Ananda:  Thanks everybody for tuning in.

[01:56:35]Luke Storey:  And with that, we are out.

[01:56:50]Anahata Ananda:  Thank you.

[01:56:50]

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