[00:00]

[Luke] All right, here we go, episode 695.

[Alyson] Boom.

[Luke] Almost up to the 700. Oh my God, it's incredible.

[Alyson] How do you feel about that?

[Luke] It's staggering to think about the fact that I have had almost 700 long-form conversations over the past few years.

[Alyson] I wonder if you did the estimate of hours, 'cause yours tend to go quite long. Yeah. I mean, these AMAs, like the one we're gonna do today, I try to keep closer to an hour, 90 minutes, but sometimes you guys get flown for three-plus hours.

[Luke] They're always longer than I plan on. When people come and sit in that chair, they always ask me, "How long do you think we'll go on?" I go, "Oh, probably, like, 60 to 90 minutes," and then next thing you know, it's three and a half hours later.

[Alyson] Yeah.

[Luke] But yeah, so people can find the show notes at lukestory.com/695, the number 695, and today Allison has compiled a few listener questions, of which I have no idea, which is the most fun way I find to do it. And so I'm really excited to hear what people want to know about- All right and hopefully I know something about some of it.

[Alyson] Well, first things first, um,

[Luke] What is she doing here?

[Alyson] Feliz cumpleaños a ti. Feliz cumpleaños a ti. Feliz cumpleaños a ti. Feliz cumpleaños a ti.

[Luke] So you... Thank you. So for those watching the video on Spotify or YouTube, I have a little brownie cake.

[Alyson] A little birthday brownie cake.

[Luke] Thank you, honey, 'cause this comes out on my birthday. Yes, that's correct. October 29. That

[Alyson] Is correct.

[Luke] I didn't even put that together. I've been so scrambled with all things book and podcast and everything. I didn't even I didn't even add that up.

[03:00]

[Alyson] Mm-hmm. So we're starting your celebration right now.

[Luke] Excellent. Well, I will make a wish. That wish isn't gonna work.

[Alyson] There we go. Clap, cookie.

[Luke] You know you're getting old when it takes two tries to get one candle out.

[Alyson] It's Papa's birthday cookie. You can just set it there.

[Luke] Okay.

[Alyson] Happy birthday, honey. Best husband in the whole world

[Luke] Funny thing is, it looks like I'm gonna be on a plane to Miami on my birthday, which Doesn't sound like that fun of a way to spend your birthday, so we'll have to have a real celebration once I return.

[Alyson] Mm-hmm.

[Luke] I always mark my calendar, like no work, no meetings, no bookings, and then that happened to be the only day I can fly there to do a podcast. wa.

[Alyson] Yep. All right. Well, here we go.

[Luke] 56 years.

[Alyson] I thought you were 57.

[Luke] I hope not. No, it's 2026. I was born in '70, so I'll be 56.

[Alyson] Okay. I'm not that-

[Luke] That's the only way I ever remember. Thank God I was born in, on an even year, so it's easy for me to do the math. If I was born in 1974 or '67 or something -

[Alyson] Yeah

[Luke] It would require a lot more calculus for me to get my head around it.

[Alyson] Right. Okay. Yeah.

[Luke] So yeah.

[Alyson] Okay. Ah, let's begin with a question from Jessica. She would like to know well, she actually starts with, "It would be neat to know about the things you thought were right and true, and then later found out they weren't. Or even topics where you changed your mind over time because you learned more." And when I saw Jessica's question, it actually segued perfectly into a topic that I have been wanting us to kinda circle back to, and that is the topic of evolution. So I'll get us started with a specific area of interest with this, because remember when we did, it was a number of episodes ago it was you and I chatting about some contractors that we had in the home. It was the last house project we had, and I really was like wanting to dissect your methodology and your perspective on when things like that go awry, how do you deal with conflict and trying to get, in that example it was a team installing some things in the house. It wasn't going well. Do you remember that episode where I kept like wanting to get like even more and more detailed at how you handle these things? And at that time, you, your methodology that you were quite confident in was like kinda like a three strikes rule. You're like, "You know, I'll first I'll send him an email, and if that's met with respect, then," you know, like you explained 'cause I personally wanted to have it broken down, and I, and I sense that it would be supportive to some of the listeners too to hear how you handle that stuff. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that since that episode based upon observing you, I feel like this would be an area where you may have evolved and wouldn't necessarily have the same three strikes rule, because I feel like I've witnessed you going more down to You're outta here. One

[06:00]

[Luke] Or two strikes?

[Alyson] Yeah.

[Luke] Yeah, I think that's true. I mean, that's been a learning curve for me because Just due to the things that I experienced in childhood high emotional volatility and conflict is not something I typically gravitate toward. And one of my adaptations to that was to avoid conflict-... even when it was appropriate and necessary.

[Alyson] Sorry. That was... Yeah... I'm just reflecting that you have come so far with this.

[Luke] Yeah.

[Alyson] The vision I just had in my head though was funny.

[Luke] It's hilarious, isn't it? so, you know, on the more pathological side of Yeah... that can morph into people pleasing in a way that is not healthy for me or the person or people that I'm enabling by co-signing whatever low integrity behavior they're engaged in. So yeah, over time, I think I have gotten better at... There's an entrepreneurial principle that says, "Hire slowly, fire quickly." And that always rang true to me, but I found it to be more difficult. So especially in the realm of business, I'd just meet someone, and I'd need a position filled, and be like, "Oh, you're cool. Good enough. Let's go." You know, I wouldn't really take my time to vet people and make sure that it was a mutually beneficial match and things like that. So I have definitely gotten better at and not just hiring, but I mean just getting to know someone or just allowing someone into my life or into our lives. I'm definitely much more invested in learning about them and really testing the dynamic to see if it's a fit for whatever level of engagement. '

[Alyson] Cause can you hold your thought? Yeah. 'Cause I would imagine you figured out that overall, the slower entry actually ends up being more efficient overall than if you were to hire fast just because you think, you know, like, "If I just get someone in, then we're, we'll get going quicker." But then actually then when you encounter issues because you weren't slower to bring them on board, then the amount of conversations and energy to, like, get them to shift, it ends up being a longer, more arduous process if you hire too fast than if you were to take your time, and vet, and have more conversations, and more meetings, and more pre-interviews. You it goes against- Totally... like, logical thinking. Yeah. But overall, in the big picture, it's more efficient to-

[09:00]

[Luke] Yeah. The net expenditure- Yeah... of energy to have to try to course correct or backtrack is definitely higher.

[Alyson] Yeah.

[Luke] And when I say you know, like hiring people, it, I mean just any relationship, you know? It doesn't necessarily have to be business or services related or anything, just I've tend to slow my roll a bit as I get to know someone, and that was true even when we met and started dating and became a couple. You know, we-- I mean, it moved quickly in a spiritual sense, but it moved slowly in a, in a physical and intimate sense, you Mm-hmm which was definitely new to me at that point. So yeah, I would say I get into any kind of relationship, work or otherwise, a bit more slowly and really largely inspired by watching you and your high level of discernment and intuition. Just the way you're able to feel into the energy of a person or a project or whatever it is very quickly has been instructive for me. You know, it's helped me to kind of pause and slow down and tune in to what I'm feeling and experiencing. So yeah, that would be definitely one way of behaving that has evolved and changed from the past. just having more discernment and just being a bit more prudent about things. But what came to mind other than that with that question was one of the biggest fallacies that I've had to overcome was, been a long time since I came to this realization, but in 1997 when I checked into treatment and got sober I was under the impression that drugs and alcohol were my problem, and that's why my life was completely-

[Alyson] Hmm

[Luke] Chaotic and unmanageable. And I naively thought that if I just cleaned up Hmm... got physically sober- Mm-hmm... that the great person beneath all of the addiction would emerge, and I would be happy and functional and successful. And it took quite a few years in early recovery to start to identify that my issues around addiction were symptomatic rather than causal.

[Alyson] Right. I have also heard throughout my life from various people over the course of many years who have had addiction issues, I've heard almost the exact same things come out of their mouth. Like, "This thing is the devil," or this... Like, trying to blame or point to the drug being the problem. And I'm not saying that certain substances are not a problem, but to your point, yeah, like, their knee-jerk reaction, I guess, just maybe they're in some additional stage of denial or not ready to accept that there's probably going to be a lot deeper work to come from within them. They're not ready to face that. But yeah, I'm sure there's a ton of different reasons why, but I've legit heard people say, like, "That thing is the devil. That thing's the problem." Like...

[12:00]

[Luke] Well, it's easy to fall for that illusion because on the surface, when you're trapped in addiction, most if not all of your problems are created by or at least related to the way that you're abusing substances. So on the surface, it's quite logical. You know, "Oh, I need to quit doing these drugs, then my life will smooth out." Mm-hmm... but the thing that I came to realize is that physical sobriety doesn't change your character.

[Alyson] Mm-hmm.

[Luke] And so I remember in early sobriety, man, I would steal from my job and do all kinds of unsober behavior in those first couple years and didn't even really think about it. You know? I didn't, I didn't have a tremendous amount of guilt around it. It's just that's who I was, and taking drugs and alcohol out of my hands didn't change the way that I thought and behaved, and definitely didn't get to the deeper levels of trauma and pain that I was trying to avoid and also didn't in and of itself help me to feel more connected, you know, which is really what those substances I thought were doing for me, was helping me feel connected to people and to myself and just to my life. And the the tragic irony of that is the further I went into addiction, the more isolated and lonely I became. So when I got sober, there was a little bit of reprieve because I had a sense of community and I had support and I made friends and we were all on the same path and that was that was wonderful. But even that human connection and that community still didn't change who I was fundamentally in terms of my morals and ethics and just the way that I rolled in the world. So that was, that was a huge awakening for me to start to come to terms with the fact that there was a lot more inner work that needed to be done in addition to just the physical sobriety. So that's what I would look at as emotional sobriety, you know, being able to self-regulate. Mental sobriety, thinking in a sane, logical way, working towards solutions rather than focusing on a problem, et cetera. but I'll close her question with, I think what it really points to is True open-mindedness, which is one of my most cherished principles, and open-mindedness to me goes both ways. In one respect, it allows me to contemplate new ideas freely and take what works and leave the rest. So, you know, to be open to changing my mind and just being receptive to different people and you know, the way different people see the world open-minded to superficial things, different kinds of music, foods, whatever. But the open-mindedness that has set me free more than being open and receptive to new things is through my willingness to discard falsehoods and old ideas when they are either proven to be false or I find another truth or principle to replace them that supersedes them, so.

[15:00]

[Alyson] Yeah, you don't let pride get in the way.

[Luke] Yeah, exactly. Just to not... I think coming to know and understand who I really am beyond the persona helps me be less attached to beliefs and ideas as part of my identity. You know, I already know that I'm not this thing that I see in the mirror. There's something behind these eyes and behind everyone's eyes that speaks to something much more eternal. And so the more in touch I am with my real self, the less apt I am to cling to ideas and beliefs or even cling to the idea of being right. I mean, it's-- to me, it's like it's a great feeling to discover that I was wrong about something and just be like, "Oh, thank God I just, I saw that I was wrong. Now I can move on and find what's right," you know? where there were periods of my life where I would just be so rigid and so attached to a certain idea because I was so closely identified with it as part of who I am. I think that's a lot of the problem in the world.

[Alyson] Is that ego protection or what's that thing? Cognitive dissonance?

[Luke] Cognitive dissonance, yeah. I think so. I mean, the ego is always seeking to fortify itself and ingrain itself into your life experience, and so it wants to grab onto anything it can, any label or sub-label or sub-sub-label. we see this a lot in culture now. It's sort of being foisted upon us to encourage people to become more uniquely identified because the ego likes to feel special. It doesn't just wanna be a regular guy without any title or any sort of definition. It's always seeking to define itself by comparison, comparing itself as superior or inferior. So I like to be just the middle of the road and have an open mind, not to, not to think too highly of myself or to not think too lowly of myself, right? To just be a fellow earth walker with my brothers and sisters and not get too attached to any particular beliefs or ideas and always be willing to let them go if they're no longer serving me '

[Alyson] Cause all that creates further and deeper separation as well. because anyone that thinks differently than you or uses a different title than you or goes about things differently, there can be a much higher tendency then to do that us verse you thing rather than we and oneness thing. It's just like, oh, that's different, and then that creates a higher propensity to then also want to say that different thing is the, is the thing that's wrong.

[18:00]

[Luke] Yeah.

[Alyson] Yeah, exactly So it's just like another layer after layer after layer after layer of more and more separation.

[Luke] Yeah, exactly.

[Alyson] Yeah.

[Luke] Yeah. And clinging to those ideas and beliefs that push me further into separation tend to only create more of what they're trying to solve. You know, it's like I'm trying to feel empowered by standing on my soapbox, and this is the way it is. But actually it's disempowering because of the division that it causes.

[Alyson] Mm-hmm. Cool.

[Luke] I guess I could say, like I-

[Alyson] I said cool.

[Luke] I Okay... I enjoy being curious much more than I enjoy being certain

[Alyson] That's a good way to button that one up.

[Luke] Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's just so fun to learn, and part of learning is letting go of things that, you know, have proven themselves to be less true.

[Alyson] It's also the whole reason we're all excited to be here, too. A lot of people get amnesia around that particular point, but we come here real excited to have another Earth experience, to... There's just, there's so much to look at, and feel, and smell, and taste, and learn, and that amnesia layer, you know, creates the perfect environment for us to kinda stumble around and figure stuff out again. So yeah, I think being curious and have a genuine excitement about being human and learning is good to remember.

[Luke] Yeah, it keeps life vital and interesting.

[Alyson] Mm-hmm.

[Luke] You know, being willing to change your mind is a lever for growth and evolution. it's difficult for me to be around people that are very serious and really attached to their righteousness Mm locked in positionalities about, you know, knowing the way it is. I was doing a podcast the other day as a guest, and the host said something to the effect of "I really enjoy the way you frame your ideas, because you're not, you're not claiming that's the way it is."

[Alyson] Yeah.

[Luke] You're just claiming that's how you see it, right? It's like, you know, many things in-

[Alyson] Non-dogmatic.

[Luke] Yeah, many things in life are subjective. You know, two people can look at the same painting and see something completely different. That doesn't mean that the objective truth and reality of what that painting is isn't there, but everything we experience in life is experienced through perception, through our senses, and we all have different perception and different senses. So how can you really know your way is the right way?

[21:00]

[Alyson] Yeah. I also feel it's very disempowering to the other person that you're trying to preacher bark that way of looking thing, at things too, you know, because who, you don't, maybe don't know the state of mind that person is in or where they're at in life or how fragile or vulnerable they are or how much they're seeking knowledge. And so they haven't, you know, refined or fine-tuned the trust within themselves to go about from their own intuition. And so, yeah, I it's interesting when certain manners of thought are presented as this is the way. I think it can be very disempowering to the person that they're trying to teach that to.

[Luke] Yeah. It's one of the side effects of coachitis.

[Alyson] It's of... It's-

[Luke] Of

[Alyson] O-... top three side effects...

[Luke] Offer, offering unsolicited advice, you know.

[Alyson] Oh, God, please make it stop. Please.

[Luke] Yeah. But sometimes it, I find that if you don't offer advice when someone presents you with a problem, that they at times feel like you don't care or you're not invested in finding a solution. so I always ask, "Hey, would you like my point of view?" I mean, I ask you this all the time when you're sharing things that you're going through in life, and you wanna get something off your chest. I know to just compassionately listen and let you start to sort out what you're going through on your own. And then only at the point where you're like, "Well, what do you think?" I'm gonna share. You know, I'm not going to give unsolicited advice, but that doesn't mean I don't care. You know, if I see someone going through something, I'll check in on 'em and say, "Hey, are you okay?" But I'm not gonna start barking orders at them and telling them what to do. I think that's because I was brought into my spiritual path through recovery, and in addiction recovery it's pretty widely known that trying to bark orders at someone from a self-righteous perspective is very ineffective because all you're gonna do is just bounce off their ego.

[Alyson] Yeah.

[Luke] So to get through someone's ego, you have to have an invitation and consent from the more wise, truer version of that person-

[Alyson] Right

[Luke] Rather than trying to break through their armor. It's like, who has time for that? As soon as you're willing to put your armor down and you ask for help, I'll do whatever I can, you know, that kind of thing. All right. Most of us know we should be eating more nutrient-dense plants, but getting enough of them in your diet to make a dent, that's where things tend to fall apart for me, and I'm guessing for some of you, too. You might think, "Well, just use a green powder, right?" Okay, but if you can't trace the ingredients back to their source, how do you know what you're actually getting? Urban Roots Farms grows their plants in Scottsdale, Arizona, then harvests, freeze-dries, and powders them all under the same roof. Their products start with seven organic microgreens. You got broccoli, kale, red cabbage, radish, arugula, pea tendrils, and beets harvested at peak nutrient density. That's their True Micro blend. It's those seven greens and nothing else. Just a potent whole food powder that's super easy to work into your daily routine. And trust me, if I can do it, so can you. Then they've got True Micro. It starts with those same ingredients and adds three functional mushrooms: lion's mane, cordyceps, and chaga. Same greens foundation, plus the shroom stack for focus, energy, and recovery. To get your hands on some real food, go to lukestory.com/urbanroots, and if you use the code Luke, you're gonna save 15% off your first jar. Or even better, get 25% off your first month when you subscribe. I love the transparency and quality of Urban Roots. They let you trace your nutrition back to a real organic farm in a real American city. So again, hit up lukestory.com/urbanroots and save up to 25% when you use the code Luke.

[25:00]

[Alyson] You wanna flow into some Luke's latest now?

[Luke] Yeah. Yeah. I wanted to do that earlier today because sometimes it gets toward the end, and then I forget, and then we end up sitting here for much too long. So for those that haven't heard the AMA episodes that I do with Allison you know, brands send me stuff all the time, and it's part of my hobby and career to check out new things in the wellness space and see what works and what doesn't. And when I'm intrigued by something, I like to share about it. So... And this is a big week. There's been there's been a lot of, a lot of development since we recorded our last one. So I will go into my little treat bag here

[Alyson] While you're going into your treat bag, I will give a listener note. If I seem, sound, feel weird, off today, I'm dealing with a wave of the cedar fever that comes wafting through the Austin, Texas area a number of times a year, which creates some brain fog in me and getting very sweaty. It, like, legit produces a... Like, cedar fever is a, is an accurate title for it. and that's why I don't like to have my dogs out during episodes. I think it, like, I feel like it's really gross when I see other people's feet on shows, but I would be pouring sweat due to the cedar fever if I didn't have, if I had these thick socks on. I have see, I have socks. I brought them to wear, but I would be too hot, so.

[Luke] I mean, to be fair, you have very pretty feet.

[Alyson] Thanks. Well, no foot fetish people. I already have, there's already a thing online that says, like, my, it's, like, a foot page for me from when I used to host that the television show.

[Luke] Oh, man.

[Alyson] Yeah. That's, like, a foot Wikipedia. It's, like, a foot-opedia thing, and there's, like, a listing for my feet there.

[Luke] Really?

[Alyson] Yeah.

[Luke] Your feet are famous?

[Alyson] I mean, I don't know how many people look at them,

[Luke] But thereThat is one fetish I've never understood, you know?

[Alyson] Yeah, I don't like feet.

[Luke] Different strokes for different folks.

[Alyson] I like baby toes and baby feet, but not adult ones.

[Luke] Yeah, I'd have to agree.

[Alyson] So anyways, apologies in advance for having my dogs out today.

[Luke] Okay, honey, whatever. Those

[Alyson] Are my notes.

[Luke] Whatever disclaimer you need to share- Okay... I'm here for it. so the first thing is this company Kaizen, and they sent me this instant coffee blend.

[Alyson] So good.

[Luke] Yeah, and I don't, you know, this is... Like, the instant coffee space and medicinal mushrooms and stuff, I feel like it's so played out. It's not something I pay that much attention to. But, you know, they sent it to me, and it was free, so I thought, "Okay, I'll try it," and this stuff is freaking amazing. it's got sea moss, cacao, cordyceps, chaga, lion's mane, lion's mane, tremella, which is another mushroom, alpha-GPC, ginkgo biloba, and L-theanine.

[28:00]

[Alyson] I have to cosign on it too, and I'm very, I'm a beverage gal. I am very particular-

[Luke] You're a heavy drinker. You're into the beverages...

[Alyson] Of healthy beverages. Yeah. I do not, I haven't drank alcohol in years and years and years, I don't

[Luke] Think I've ever seen you take a sip of alcohol.

[Alyson] I think maybe, I don't know if, like, maybe in Mexico I took one sip of champagne or something. I've probably had Less than three sips of alcohol in the last 15 years, something like that. I just, it just phased out. I'm not like a quote-unquote sober person, but alcohol just phased out naturally a long time ago. But so yeah, when yes, I love other types of beverages, and what does it say on that bag? Like, the world's best... The perfect cup of coffee, and I have to say I'm not, I'm not disagreeing. It's amazing. It's very tasty.

[Luke] A little bit of creamer and some ice. Yeah. Like-

[Alyson] Ice it up.

[Luke] It is-

[Alyson] I actually have it right here in my mug.

[Luke] Oh, you're drinking some now?

[Alyson] Yeah.

[Luke] I'm jealous. I should have made myself one.

[Alyson] It is very tasty.

[Luke] Coffee for me, though, and despite, you know, this being an incredible version of coffee, I have to be kind of mindful about caffeine. If I'm, if I'm already super energized and well-slept and feeling quite awake and I add caffeine, well, coffee more so on the top of that, it can make me a little sketched out. But this one, I think because of the mushrooms and the other nutrients and stuff that they infused it with, I don't feel as cracked out as I would from just drinking a regular black coffee.

[Alyson] It's more grounding, and I'm highly sensitive to caffeine, especially coffee as well. So the first time I tried some, I kept asking, remember, "How many milligrams of caffeine is in it?" Because I didn't think I wanted to do a full scooper. so I went, like, half scoop the first time, and yeah, I still felt grounded, so that's the reason why I've, I have kept enjoying it because I don't do coffee much, but I'm enjoying this one.

[Luke] Yeah, it's yummy. So well played, Kaizen. And then they also have a electrolyte mix with sea moss and taurine, which is an amino acid.

[Alyson] Also very good.

[Luke] Yeah, and these are great, and also just don't have a lot of the other garbage that a lot of these little, you know, electrolyte pouches have. It's a very clean, and also, like their coffee, super tasty. You throw some of this in cold water with ice, and it's, like, an amazing kind of hibiscus tea sort of flavor. so big fan of this. I really appreciate- That they did it right. so many people just kind of jump on the bandwagon and put out products just to make money, and their products end up being, you know, inferior based on my high standards. okay, this one-

[31:00]

[Alyson] Well, they have a unique formula, you can tell.

[Luke] They do. This one is super cool. So for those watching the video, again on Spotify or YouTube, this is called Memory Air, and you put this little box on your nightstand. I keep it a little far away 'cause I don't want any electric fields near me at night, obviously. and then you open up the little door, and it has this belt, and inside the belt are a number of different essential oils. And so during the night, it acts as a periodic automated diffuser. And you know, when I first found out about it, I was like, "Memory Air? Why is it called Memory Air? Like, I could just have a diffuser and use essential oils." But we're gonna do a podcast with the inventor of this, with this PhD college professor who is one of the world's foremost experts in your olfactory system.

[Alyson] Mm.

[Luke] And I listened to a podcast before I booked him, just to learn more about this, and I was like, "Holy shit. Smell is, like, a really big deal." I-

[Alyson] I think it's our most powerful or sensitive sense that we have.

[Luke] Yes.

[Alyson] I mean, it can transport you. I love having experiences like that where I'll just be walking through a random place, and for whatever reason, like, the scent that is there in that room or that somebody left as they walked through it, like, will transport me to a memory when I was six years old on the swing set or something. It's like the power of smell is very deep and ancient.

[Luke] Same. And when I listened to this podcast- Mm... I thought about all your sprays. You know, you always-

[Alyson] Oh. I stay steady-

[Luke] And they're really you know, they're really nice-... misting the mist... and pleasant, but I never thought about it in terms of brain health. So there- Yeah... there is a massive correlation between cognitive decline and Alzheimer's and things like that because as you get older, your sense of smell is diminished- Hm... just through the process of aging. So Memory Air, I've got some notes on it, targets the brain's memory and emotional centers through the olfactory system, cycles through 40 scientifically selected scent stimuli to support brain health, which is what that little belt is. Oh, the other thing that's cool too is you open it up and you hit the button whenever you go to bed, and then it just remembers your bedtime every night, and then every night it goes on at that particular time. delivers passive brain training while you sleep. No daytime exercise is required and this is where it gets wild. Research found a 226 improvement on a memory test with nightly olfactory enrichment.

[Alyson] Wow.

[Luke] Supports both next-day mental sharpness and long-term cognitive health.

[Alyson] Well, they need to send a second one-... so that we have them in every bedroom.

[Luke] Yeah, so you so you have one on your side too?

[Alyson] Uh-huh.

[Luke] It's mine.

[Alyson] Yeah.

[Luke] So that's the MemoryAir, and for people that are intrigued by that like I am as I said, I'll be doing a show with the inventor soon, and we can learn more about how it works, but I'm into it The next one is Toku, and this is a nattokinase formula for cardiovascular health, and this is an enzyme that comes from natto beans, the fermented soybeans.

[34:00]

[Alyson] Oh, I've, I am very familiar-... the stringy, gooey beans.

[Luke] Yeah. They're they're, they can be a little tough. I like the taste of natto but it is very smelly. It smells like 4,000 rotten feet that just walked into your house. but the thing is with the nattokinase is that normally it comes in capsules, and you have to take quite a lot of it to get the effective dose. And, you know, even after all these years, I'm not really that excited about taking 40 capsules of something. So these come in a little pouch and delivers 10,800 FUs. Wow... per serving. FUs. And it also has the vitamin K2, and so the way this particular enzyme works is it gets into your arteries, and it gobbles up fibrin and plaque, which is why it's so renowned for heart health. And I've realized lately as we just you know, shared earlier, to celebrate my birthday, I'm turning 56, and I'm just... I think of, like, heart issues as something you get when you're 80. but the reality is especially men tend to get heart issues much younger, and so this Toku Flow is super easy to take, and that is a massive dose, and it's not direct- It's

[Alyson] A lot of FUs.

[Luke] It's a lot of FUs, and interestingly, it's created from fermented chickpea instead of fermented soy. So-

[Alyson] Huh...

[Luke] If people are concerned about soy allergies or growing man boobs from too much estrogen in your Being

[Alyson] A soy boy...

[Luke] If you don't wanna be a soy boy, these guys have you covered. let me see if there's any other factoids about that might be worth mentioning. da, da.

[Alyson] Chickpeas have some good protein, too.

[Luke] There you go. Oh, actually, yeah, so I pretty much nailed it, um-... 'cause I've been using, I've been using variations of this product for a long time, so I'm basically familiar with what it does. But these guys say, "Studies show a 39% reduction in carotid artery plaque size, plus improvements in carotid artery thickness, total cholesterol, and triglycerides." So this is very much a heart formula.

[Alyson] Sounds pretty important.

[Luke] Yeah. You wanna gobble up the fibrin and all of that plaque that builds up in your, in your arteries. Super important thing to do. And also K2 is a really big part of that, so it's smart that they put that in there. And then the next one... Wait, where is this? It's like Christmas. I love doing this part of the show. So the next one is called I don't know how you... If you pronounce it Qi. It's Q-I. QI601 by Quorum Innovations, and this is a biofilm shield-

[37:00]

[Alyson] Oh...

[Luke] Specifically designed for microplastics.

[Alyson] Oh.

[Luke] Yeah. So, you know, I'm sure a lot of the male listeners have seen the memes about your testes being full of microplastics and so on, but microplastics are, you know, a huge problem, and they're very difficult to avoid. Even if you live in a very holistic house and have a holistic lifestyle, just everything is made of freaking plastic. So QI601 is a non-living probiotic-derived material that acts like a microplastic catcher's mitt for plastics in your gut.

[Alyson] Hmm.

[Luke] So selectively binds micro and nanoplastics in the gut, helping them, uh... helping prevent them from attaching to intestinal cells.

[Alyson] Hmm.

[Luke] And so these guys have created a patented formula, and laboratory testing reports trapping of up to 98% of microplastics and nanoplastic, and they received two DARPA awards to develop microbiome-derived protective barriers against chemical and biological threats. So that one's pretty exciting to me.

[Alyson] Is that something that you do almost like like a cleanse, or it's like a daily-

[Luke] No, I think it's just a daily. It says serving one capsule. I haven't started taking it yet because I wanted to read the instructions and try to do it right and not just cowboy it like I usually do. But yeah. Oh, yeah. Suggested use, take one capsule daily. But it's mine.

[Alyson] Honey.

[Luke] Don't you get into my cabinet.

[Alyson] Mm.

[Luke] So that one, that one's cool and innovative. I think that's, you know, a viable solution. And then also got something from a company called Wonderfeel, and this is activated NMN. So this is a precursor to NAD. So it's got nicotinamide. It's got resveratra- resvera- Resveratrol That's the hardest word to say. Resveratrol. Resveratrol. I've never been able to say that word right. Olive extract and ergothione- theanine, ergothioneine, which I don't know what that is. But you know, there's one way to approach NAD, and that's to take NAD but it's pretty expensive. And I don't know. I always kind of am on the fence of whether or not putting something in your body that your body's designed to produce itself, I don't know that... I don't take NAD every day, right? I take it when I'm flying and, you know, in cases when I'm, like, extremely smoked and I need that boost. So I am just intuitively a fan of giving your body the precursors it needs- Mm to build said thing, and in this Right... what we're building is NAD. So you're helping the body produce NAD. And NAD is what makes your energy. That's what gives you vitality. So you know, if you want to produce ATP and be able to function, you definitely want your NAD levels to remain as high as they can, especially as you get older because it starts to decline just like so many things, including your sense of smell

[40:00]

[Alyson] Womp.

[Luke] That's the good news and the bad news. Okay, the next one I'm really excited about, and I was thinking about this and easy, I mean, you know, 'cause you live here, but there's-

[Alyson] I live here...

[Luke] You live here. You live here in this space. I mean, there are rooms in our house that are, that are, like, overflowing with technology, all these different biohacking things, saunas, red light, the BioCharger, PMF stuff. I mean, it's just fun. I like having all these healing tools you know, at hand. But the other day I was thinking about, you know, what, which one of those has impacted my life and my health the most.

[Alyson] I know what you're gonna say.

[Luke] You probably think sauna or ice bath.

[Alyson] No. I mean, partly because I see it sitting Okay but I think it would've been, I think I might've guessed it 'cause I know how into sleep you are.

[Luke] Yes.

[Alyson] So the ChiliPad.

[Luke] The ChiliPad. Yeah. and I just have never thought about it in that way, but when I started using the ChiliPad, you know, version 1.0 back in the day maybe 10 years ago or something you know, it was a, it was a little more crude of a device, but in essence you have a, you know, a motherboard, kind of a control unit, and you fill it with distilled water, and then plug it in, and it has a hose that runs to a pad that goes under your fitted sheet and gives you the ability to temperature control your bed. And when I first got one and started using it, my sleep just improved so dramatically that it caused me to realize that most of the sleep issues I've had my entire life, which used to be quite profound and troublesome, were just because I was overheating. I'm just a hot sleeper, as you well know, and it was, like, just the most massive life upgrade and discovery for me to just be able to keep the bed cool. And they've had a few iterations over the past few years, and I think at one point they were acquired or something, and so there was a change of ownership, and they kind of went off the radar, and I was like, "Oh, damn. What am I gonna do?" 'Cause no one else makes this thing. I mean, there's mattresses that are cooling and stuff, but as far as I know, they all have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and you're frying yourself with EMF all night, which kind of defeats the purpose of healthy, restorative sleep. So I'm gonna grab this thing in a minute, but they have the ChiliPad 2.0 now, which is just so much more effective than the ones they had in the past. A, because it's much quieter. you know, ours we had to... Well, I decided to put it in the closet and run a long water hose, you know, to the pad and, 'cause it kinda would make this sound. this thing is quiet enough where it can just be in the room Another feature that's super cool is it has airplane mode so you can disable all of the connectivity so you're not blasting yourself with EMF, and it also has an app where you can go and actually set a temperature schedule. So one of the cool features that I like is having it set to warm up in the morning, 'cause I don't like waking up cold. I just like going to bed cold. So it's pretty cool in the way that the algorithm of the app works. It knows what temperature variations are needed for the different stages of sleep at night. So you set it in the app, and then you turn on airplane mode, and it still keeps that program going. And I did one little upgrade on these new units, and that is I got a shielded power cable from Shielded Healing so that... I mean, it's far away from the bed anyway, but you know, if a power cable isn't shielded, it's gonna produce a pretty massive electric field. So now there's even less EMF because of that customization. So I'm gonna grab it, and I'll show the people- Wonderful... the super cool new design, 'cause it's all black matte and murdered out, and it just looks dope and instead of being, like, an ugly thing in the corner of your room. Okay, so here she is in all her glory. This is the 2.0, and for those watching on the video, you'll be able to see. So there's a little reservoir. You unscrew this guy, you fill it with distilled water and the purpose of that is just so it doesn't build up, you know, calcium deposits and mess up the the little motors and whatnot. And then they also have a new hose that is insulated and much lighter

[44:00]

[Alyson] You're hitting Cookie with the hose

[Luke] Sorry, Cookie

[Alyson] Sorry, Peanut '

[Luke] Cause as you know Allison when we travel for long periods of

[Alyson] Time Oh...

[Luke] I ship the ChiliPad- Yes... to wherever we're staying.

[Alyson] Yes, he

[Luke] Does so the new Facts... is insulated with, like, a wetsuit kind of material, so it's, like, super light. The other ones were quite heavy.

[Alyson] Oh, yeah.

[Luke] And as I said, it's much quieter, and maybe even-... the coolest thing about it is that it also makes hot water, too. So you can have your bed be super warm in the winter. So the advantages for me have not only been just quality of sleep, which of course I've been tracking for years and can tell when it gets better or worse, but another cool feature is that you can have... Say you have a king bed that you share with a partner, there's two divided pads that are one unified pad on top, but each one of them have their own control unit. So if Allison doesn't wanna sleep freezing, I can, I or she can program hers to be warmer throughout the night. So there goes all of the conflict about temperature. Mm-hmm. If you're in a male-female relationship, I'm sure you've experienced situations in which one of said partners prefers a different temperature. In my experience, typically I wanna be colder than a female does. So that solves that. And another cool thing about it is you don't have to run your AC or heat all night. Like, we have a pretty good-sized house, and it doesn't really make sense to waste that much electricity and spend that much money on electricity to cool the entire house or heat the entire house when all you really care about is the bed.

[Alyson] Mm-hmm.

[Luke] Another thing they added is a little bedside remote So that you can actually save... There are times like I forgot to turn the AC up and it's still super cold, and then the ChiliPAD gets cold and I wake up freezing. So all I have to do is reach over and just go boing, just dial it up or down a little bit.

[Alyson] They've stepped up their aesthetics a bit.

[Luke] Yeah.

[Alyson] Like, this is like the matte black version.

[Luke] That's what I'm saying. I Yeah... it like we always had ours in the closet just because I don't wanna hear it, but this one's quiet enough to have it out in the room, and I actually- This

[47:00]

[Alyson] Is more Luke Story style...

[Luke] I don't mind having it out in the room. It doesn't look like a weird, ugly, white, you know, piece of machinery. Yeah. So so kudos to ChiliPAD. I'm so glad they, you know, reinvented themselves and came back because I've gone through a few of their units just from using them for years every single night, and traveling with them, and bumping them around, and stuff like that. So I was truly kind of freaking out when their site was on hold for a minute there. Mm. I was like, "Uh-oh," 'cause they had patented this, so someone else can't just copy Oh... and put it out. And I was like, "I really hope someone takes over this company and keeps going, 'cause I need one." So yeah, I'm super stoked about that. And I think, I think that's it That was a-... Luke's show and tell

[Alyson] A solid- It was

[Luke] An eventful day today.

[Alyson] Yes, Happy

[Luke] Birthday to me.

[Alyson] All right, there you go. Yeah, those are all your birthday presents. All right.

[Luke] All right, you supplement junkies, listen up. If you're spending a bunch of money every month on supplements, I've got a potentially uncomfortable question. How much of that investment is your body actually using? I've spent the better part of three decades chasing the best supplements I could find. Then it finally hit me. If my gut wasn't doing its job, I might as well be flushing a lot of that money down the toilet, and I'm sure I did. And this is exactly why Just Thrive probiotic earned a permanent place in my stack. The dirty little secret in the probiotic market is that most of them never survive stomach acid, so they never make it where they need to go. Well, Just Thrive fixed that. Their stuff is clinically proven to arrive 100% alive in your gut where it can actually make a difference. And something else I'm really excited about that they're doing over at Just Thrive is their digestive bitters. I've been taking them before meals, which has been a game-changer. Bitter herbs help your body produce stomach acid, bile, and digestive enzymes to properly break down food. And shocker, better nutrient absorption means getting more from the food and supplements you're already taking. So if your gut's giving you a gut feeling right now, get over to justthrivehealth.com/luke and get free digestive bitters with your first 90-day probiotic subscription. 'Cause sometimes the smartest upgrade isn't adding more. It's actually making more out of what you already take. So again, get your free 90-day supply of digestive bitters when you start a probiotic subscription at justthrivehealth.com/luke.

[Alyson] Up next is someone that goes by the name of Jobu.

[Luke] Jobu?

[Alyson] Yeah.

[Luke] Cool. Yeah. Cute name.

[Alyson] It's a fun name, Jobu. and they ask, "How do you find your dharma? Maybe you've taken numerous plant medicine retreats, meditated 1,000 times, looked at your birth chart and consulted the tarot, yet you're still lost, spinning, no semblance of your true self. What would you recommend to get attuned to this?" Great question. Love how you asked it, Jobu.

[50:00]

[Luke] Great question for which I'm not sure I have, uh-

[Alyson] Any answers.

[Luke] I have some answers. Maybe not-

[Alyson] I think I have a good answer...

[Luke] I can't wait to hear that. I don't think I have the answer. but it's funny that they mentioned, you know, going to a plant medicine retreat. I've had so many situations in ceremony where by the end of it I'm convinced I'm supposed to get trained as a facilitator.

[Alyson] Right. I'm supposed to

[Luke] Serve

[Alyson] Medicine.

[Luke] Like, yeah. I mean, I'd say about half the time I've worked with psychedelics- Yeah.... I walk out of it going, "Oh, this is my dharma." Yeah. "I need to be doing this," you know, just because I've had such transformative experiences. Oh. And because I just love that, you know, the space in a, in a tightly held, clean container Super

[Alyson] Clean...

[Luke] In the context of medicine. I mean, it just is a rarefied field, and I really enjoy that field. so far, God has not tapped me to follow up on any of-... those inclinations. But I think in my experience, how I've come closer to my dharma is by honestly evaluating what it is that I'm doing professionally or how I'm spending my time and energy, where my life force is directed, and-

[Alyson] The following your highest excitement kind of thing?

[Luke] Well, I'm getting there. But I think for me, just being honest with myself that whatever I'm doing is not my dharma- Hmm... and is not fulfilling me in ways that I would prefer, so-

[Alyson] I see...

[Luke] I think back on my very long career in fashion, working in the entertainment industry, and I never really had a sense of purpose or an excess of passion for that. I enjoyed it. It was creative. I got to work with some incredible artists, and it had a lot of variety. It was always different, right? And I'm someone that just enjoys novelty, especially in my, in my work. And so that was something I did for, you know, almost 15 years. And then at a certain point, the lack of deeper fulfillment started to become obvious. And so it wasn't that I knew what my dharmic path was or what my life mission or purpose was, it's just that I started to see that what I was doing wasn't. And that created the space for me to get curious about what was. And in 2016, when I started this podcast, at that point, from the minute I started doing it felt much more aligned, right? Because I'm, you know, I'm sharing and I'm being of service, and I'm continuing to learn and grow, and I just was availed the opportunity to spend time with so many incredible people, as I still am and as I'm doing here today. So if you asked me you know, five years ago, I would say, "Oh, I found my dharma. It's, you know, it's doing podcasts and public speaking and things like that." And and now, having spent the past few years writing my book, A Horse Named Lonesome, which is available now at ahorsenamedlonesome.com I'm getting more curious about what my dharma is going to look like. So I think in my own experience, there's a couple ingredients. One is identifying that what I'm doing is not it, which is the first step in discovering what it is. But there's also been an evolutionary process where I'm on my dharmic path, and I feel quite certain about that because of the fulfillment and just the cre-creative juice and just life force, you know, and the passion, I guess you could say, right? I was never passionate about about fashion at all. I just kind of had to, like, fake it, you know? I had to, like, force the passion to educate myself and be interested in that industry. but it wasn't really, it wasn't my calling. sitting here today, I don't know that Just doing a podcast for the next 10 years is going to fulfill those needs and really inspire me in that way. I'm still having fun doing it, but there are other things that I want to do. So I think sitting here today, I'm realizing that, you know, the Dharmic path for me is is fluid. It changes with time. And I unfortunately am someone who has a habit of kind of getting stuck in doing something because I don't like big upheavals in my life. So in terms of my the various careers I've had and businesses I've owned and things like that, I tend to do things longer than my passion supports. And so I'm, you know, to speak to this question from this person who sounds like they're going, "Man, what am I supposed to do with my life?" That happens for me every few years, and there's usually somewhat of a substantial pivot to where I have to put myself out there in a way that is-- that feels a bit vulnerable and risky and lacks certainty. And being a first-time author would be a great example of that. It's like doing something I don't know how to do and just learning as I go, and then just being open to where that might take me and where I feel that sense of charm pulling me in one direction or the other. And usually, for me, it has to do with dismantling self-imposed limitations-

[55:00]

[Alyson] Hmm

[Luke] Around what I think I'm capable of. And I think a lot of people probably know what their dharma is based on their heart's desire and their passion, but you have to reconcile with the the inner critic and the resistance to moving forward with something that is stepping into the unknown, or stepping into the public eye, or risking loss if it involves a financial investment or something like that. It's like no quantum shift in life comes without some degree of risk, you know?

[Alyson] Right. So I'm not

[Luke] Saying So that, so that's kind of where I, where I am with it now.

[Alyson] I'm not saying this is applying to Jobu necessarily but there could be some unconscious subconscious blocking going on impeding them, because I do agree that aligning with one's calling can go through many different refinement periods. mine certainly has. And I was reflecting this week on something that I have found to be absolutely paramount not only for aligning with and in a devoted way living my calling, but also I attribute it to me being able to truly tap into positive life force and a zest for life and a joy for living and a profound gratitude for being able to be human and being able to be on Earth. And that is the ability to be humble and to have humility and to allow yourself to truly... I'm not saying like, "Oh, be the phoenix rising." I'm saying to have the capacity for and willingness to completely dissolve into nothingness and to allow your ego to dissolve and to allow all previous former titles and roles to completely dissolve. And for me, I have gone through that chrysalis process more than once in life. But the one that happened within the last four or five years, by far my most profound. I mean, I was a complete dissolved, liquefied goo that truly was like being saturated into Mother Earth's soil. Like, I was... allowed myself to so completely, so far down, be brought back down to Earth that I let everything, all the constructs, all that I thought I knew about myself, all that I thought I knew about my life, all that I thought I knew about my career and my calling, I truly, whatever facet and category of life, I brought all of them with me, and I dissolved all components and parts into liquefied death of sorts. and I don't wanna say, you know, you know, it was the prettiest experience. It was also quite a bit longer than what I, my ego or different parts of me would have chosen or wanted. And I am so grateful, I am so grateful that I let myself get so humbled and to have so much humility that I was willing to let all of it fully dissolve, because what I am being born into and expanding into and rising into are the most elated joys I've experienced this life, maybe other lives. The widest gratitude I've ever felt. I mean, my life force, I'm back online, and I really feel clear that I wouldn't have arrived to where I am at and to have the clear vision of the new offerings and the new trajectory that I'm going on had I not gone through that full complete dissolving So that's my big answer. My more specific answer that lives within that is if that process that I'm speaking to interests you, I know I really sold it. Sounds fun. Yeah. Sounds like a great time. but through the new offerings and the new pathway that have emerged from me going through that, there are now various practices and a transmission that I have received specifically through a dear friend and colleague and teacher Paige Britt. This transmission and these transmission trainings that I've gone through have allowed my already existing God-given gifts to go to, you know, exponentially deeper, higher, more expanded levels. And so I now work with people in my brand called The Field Reveal, where we shift into the field together, and we enter into the medicine space with no medicine, and we just go on a fantastical voyage that is truly sourced through the other person's own wisdom that has been living within them, but most likely has been dormant or perhaps distorted in some way. But it, those those pathways that gets the, gets the juice flowing again, and the clarity and illumination and coherence that enters in through these practices that I now offer. I for many years was offering, you know, seership sessions working as, you know, on the shamanic path and oracle path, and being a seer is one of my main gifts. But now It's that woven in with the personal dissolving that I went through, the true resurrection and rebirth I experienced, the receiving of this transmission and some of these new methodologies, and it's by far the most excited I've ever been about my calling and my work, and I was very clear that through the field reveal, along with working with singles who are ready to find their life partner, I have a love audit field reveal that's specifically for those folks. But I knew that I would be working with people who specifically want to find their purpose and align with their dharma and their calling. So if this is resonating with you can find me on Instagram at iamalisancharles, and just send me a message there and be like, "I'm Joe Boo," and I will know who you are, and we can discuss going through this practice together.

[1:03:00]

[Luke] Beautiful. It's been so fun to watch you go into your cave for the season of renewal and to now emerge. What comes to mind for me as a metaphor is a garden. It's like you have a garden that is fertile and producing, but it's not producing the kind of nutrition and flavor that you're really looking for, and sometimes you have to pull everything out of the garden, make some compost Till the soil, add that compost back in, and something new and more vital grows. And that's kind of what I see in what you're doing, because it's not like you had to abandon your gifts or the progress that you'd made. It's more of a reorientation- Absolutely... and taking bits and pieces that are more closely aligned with who you've evolved into, which is really cool. I think sometimes people think they need to completely nuke their prior career or something. And even when I started my podcast, I mean, I left the fashion industry, but I took with me my-

[Alyson] Mm-hmm...

[Luke] Experience of just video production, sound production, just being on set, Absolutely... graphic design, brand identity, some of those things that I had learned content marketing and whatnot. So it was one of the ways I, early on, I was able to differentiate myself because there were far fewer podcasts then, and definitely far fewer with, like, a higher production value and just a kind of a visual identity and a visual presence. And so I was able to, you know, make a little bit faster progress because I did bring some of what I'd learned from a completely unrelated- Yeah... industry into this, and seems- I think-... that you're doing a bit of that too.

[Alyson] Oh, yeah, huge. It's way more than a bit. I've literally sat with these different hugely, vastly important parts to myself that, you know, were so brave and so courageous and have been so powerful and have been main components and aspects of me that have allowed me to forge the path that I have forged and birthed the Animal Power book and deck and do all so many incredible things on the path that I feel really good about and being of service with. So I've truly sat a number of times with these different parts and made sure that they knew they are included, and they are coming with me and arriving with me. I am-- They are not being separated from my new era and my new path moving forward. Like, I spoke to them, and I was just like, "Thank you. I'm so proud of you. Like, absolutely, you're coming with me. We are in this together. We are one. I, you know, I'm not separating from you." The path and maybe the titles and the branding and the website, like, things might look new, revitalized, fresh, and different, but we are still in this together, and we are moving forward as whole and as one. And that was a really important part to my process. And the last thing I'll say is there are huge clues, not just breadcrumbs, but like huge puzzle piece clues that in hindsight you realize were there all along or, you know, left along the way. Because even upon entry, when I had my divine intervention and spiritual awakening day and my clairaudient gift and so many of my other gifts got turned on, you know, instantaneously and in the immediate months after that divine intervention day, I was given visions and such clear messages as to who I really am, why I'm really here, and the pathway forward. so once the shamanic path reopened inside of me my light body, and I remembered. It was like the light switch got turned back on. I was like, "Oh my gosh, I remember who I am and this is why I'm here, and the work I'm to do." But even though it was the shamanic path that opened and that I fully surrendered to and devoted myself to in accordance with pure love God and sacred Earth Mother and all parts of me, of course, and some Jesus and Mary, a lot of Jesus and Mary, too. but I was on that path for many years without ever being called into working with plant medicine, you know? And I, and I was very devoted to it and out guiding other types of shamanic journeys and through utilizing the drum and other ways. So I just, I think it's so beautiful and I'm fascinated by but not surprised at all that through, you know, almost a couple decades now of being devoted to that path and the work that I've now arrived to a place where I've been able to go to the next level of being in the field with people and in that medicine field with no medicine. It's not a surprise to me because while I do revere the medicines that I have sat with, and oh my gosh, like, you know, Sacred Grandfather Medicine Peyote played a huge part in you and I coming together and becoming a couple. Like, the stories are countless, and I deepest bow and deepest bow of respect to the plant medicine intelligence and wisdom and love. and I wouldn't change a second of it, and I'm sure I will sit and probably work with medicine again. but it just, my path didn't start there, and it's not where I'm at right now, and I'm not surprised. You see what I'm saying? Yeah. So it's like that's how it began for me. I was, I was doing that, this work for a long time before ever sitting with any of the medicines, and now one of my specialties is being with people in the medicine field with no medicine. Not a shocker, you know?

[1:09:00]

[Luke] Yeah, it makes perfect sense.

[Alyson] So sometimes you can, if you sit in meditation long enough, like you can kinda see these glimmers of these gems and nuggets that's just like, oh yeah, that's more than a clue. That's actually a puzzle piece here.

[Luke] I spent a long time adding healthy habits to my daily routine, but it wasn't until I started paying attention to what was really draining me that everything changed. Here's the short version of the story. Years ago, I lived under two massive cell towers in LA. No matter how clean I ate or how many health protocols I followed, my sleep was terrible, my nervous system was fried, and I felt awful. So that experience sent me down the rabbit hole of man-made EMFs and how to reduce their effects. And that's exactly when Leela Quantum became a key part of my strategy. Here at home, I use their Quantum Block to create a more coherent environment. And when I'm out and about in the world, I wear their Heal360 Capsule. It's quantum charged with these little titanium spheres that generate a coherent field around the body. The result of that is that I get home feeling more like myself, especially after travel or long days in EMF-heavy environments, which heads up is any urban area. And when I'm flying or expecting higher exposure, I take it a step further. That's where I add their EMF-blocking clothing. It shields against 99% of measurable wireless radiation. So if you don't want to spend your life living in a Faraday cage and you want to be healthy at the same time, here's what you do. Visit lukestory.com/LeelaQ. That's L-E-E-L-A-Q. And if you use the code LUKE10, you're gonna get 10% off your first order. Now, obviously, we can't avoid the modern world, but you can move through it with much more resilience, and that's why you want to get over to lukestory.com/LeelaQ one missing piece for me for a long time in terms of the dharmic path professionally, which I'm kind of assuming is what that question is based on 'cause you can have your, like, personal dharmic path in your relationships and how you live your life. But ideally, I think most of us would like to do something professionally that also feeds our soul and doesn't just pay the bills, you know? Like, just spending your time and energy doing something, and the only benefit is getting money, that just, that does not sound fun to me. And I've-- I mean, I know it's not fun because I've lived it, right? But I think where many of us, including myself, have been stuck is being able to discover the intersection of your passion and your competence or aptitude at doing something. Like, I used to watch American Idol back in the day, and I was always so fascinated- Mm... that there were so many contestants, I mean, more in the kind of in the auditions, right? The ones that made it through were passionate and talented for the most part. But in the auditions, I was always shocked that at the level of confidence that some of the contestants had, and they had so much passion. They were just absolutely certain that they were going to be the next star, and that they were, you know, incredibly gifted singers. Yeah, they

[1:13:00]

[Alyson] Walk in with a lot of confidence.

[Luke] Yeah. And I would look at that and go, "Why can't you see that you just don't really have the talent for this-

[Alyson] Mm...

[Luke] But you have the passion for it?" And likewise, it can go the other way, too, where you're really good at something, and you have a natural skill set that lends itself to, you know, a particular career path or something, but you lack passion. And I think that was the case for me working in fashion for all those years. I was just innately decent enough at it to carve out a really successful career, but I didn't know enough about myself. I didn't have enough self-awareness to be able to see that I just didn't-- I wasn't passionate about it. I didn't really care about it. And so I think my success in that particular field was limited by missing 50% of the ingredients you know? And when I started getting into podcasting and public speaking and creating content like I do now I think that was the first time in my life where my passion and just sort of innate skill set matched. And even in moving into my new endeavor now with being a first-time author, I didn't know whether or not I was going to have the competence side of it because I, you know, I didn't go to school. I was never educated on how to write. So it was a bit of a gamble. I knew I was passionate about sharing a message that could really positively impact people because I know the things that I've learned about myself and about life have had that impact on me. But I wasn't so confident in my ability to execute until I got into it and started doing it and had to work through a lot of resistance and self-doubt and all of those things to finally make my way through it. Now, you know, I'm officially done because I just recorded the audiobook over the past two weekends, and that was really the last step as far as putting these ideas out into the world. And being on the other side of that now in terms of my purpose and dharmic path, I feel strongly that Where my passion lies also exists enough skill and talent to be able to put those two together and do some meaningful work. But man, it's frustrating when you have, you know, one part of that equation. You can be really passionate about something but not have that much natural aptitude toward it, and you're kind of sitting there going, "I'm awesome at this. I care about this. Why isn't the world responding? Why isn't the world reciprocating the passion?" And it's because they're not receiving, you know, the specific skill set or talent that is needed to really do something impactful that gets other people's attention and, you know, builds into something that you can create a brand or a career or some kind of vocation around.

[1:16:00]

[Alyson] Mm-hmm.

[Luke] So that... And that requires a lot of self-honesty and humility. I had to do that with music. I was really passionate about music, but I'm just, I'm not that naturally super talented. So I could only take it so far. It was like knocking on a door that wouldn't open, you know, for a long time. And now I really, and now I'm-

[Alyson] But, and you're always, I, not self-deprecating is probably not the right way of putting it, but like but you'd had a successful career, and you were in a band that toured and went all over Europe, and like, I mean, you've played with other famous people. I mean, so I hear you, but I still... Every time you say it in that way, I'm just like, I think you're a lot more talented at playing the guitar and singing than what you give yourself credit

[Luke] For. That's probably true, but I'm making that statement Weighing it against people that are exceptionally gifted.

[Alyson] Right.

[Luke] Right? And I think I have a I have a bit of a natural knack toward, you know, playing music, but I wouldn't consider myself as someone who is, like, a virtuoso Yeah... uniquely gifted in that capacity, right? and that also is because I just, I don't really like practicing. You know? It's probably, could've probably been much more successful in music if I really would, woodshedded and dedicated myself and sat in a room and, you know, played along with records for 10 hours a day. I never really did that. I just kind of figured out the bare minimum, jumped into some bands, and was off and running. But I kind of skipped a few of the steps in terms of really putting in the hours needed to be a proficient-

[Alyson] Mm-hmm...

[Luke] Musician. Yeah.

[Alyson] Like your buddy Doyle.

[Luke] Yeah. Great example. Can, like, pick up any instrument and just kill it without ever having touched that freaking instrument before, you know?

[Alyson] Yeah.

[Luke] So I guess my standards are high when it comes to music, and so if I compare myself with other people, I'm comparing myself with, you know, some of the greatest musicians of all time, you know, in modern secular music. so that makes it tougher. It's like if you wanna be a painter and you realize you're not Picasso, Mm you know, it's, it tends to breed self-doubt.

[Alyson] Can you imagine if you're a painter and one of your best buddies was Picasso, and you're just like, "Oh, man, damn, I thought I was pretty good at this." I've been

[Luke] There. "

[Alyson] Really enjoy painting." But then you go to Picasso's house and you see what he's working on, and you're just like, "Shit." Yeah. Well, Jobu, I hope that was supportive in some way. all right. Ready for the next one? Yep. Okay. We'll do... I think this one'll be pretty quick. Christine is curious, I don't know why this question makes me chuckle, but she says, "I would like to know which dentist you went to and when you had your teeth worked on. Could you let me know what was done on your teeth?"

[Luke] Oh my God.

[Alyson] It's so

[Luke] Much. So much. that's a great question.

[Alyson] You prepared pre-going to the dentist, too. You had months and months of, like, myofascial work, whatever. I forget that guy's name. But, like, you would drive so far to go to appointments with him and have your neck and jaw, like, worked on so that it could receive the teeth properly. I mean, you... This was, this was, like, a whole couple-year journey.

[1:19:00]

[Luke] It was a whole thing. And the dentist that I worked with is named Dr. Kevin Winters, and I int-

[Alyson] Super nice guy...

[Luke] And I interviewed him after we were done with this very arduous procedure over the course of many months, and we'll link to that episode at lukestory.com/695.

[Alyson] Yeah. There you can get all the answers in that episode.

[Luke] Yeah. But the short version of it is this. So I did a lot of drugs. and was very malnourished for a very long time during that period of extreme drug use, and in that process didn't do my teeth any favors. Then when I got sober, I got the bright idea to become a vegetarian, so I was getting no fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamin K2, et cetera, that are necessary to have strong teeth and enamel. So my teeth, you know, were already kind of in bad shape when I got sober, and then those many years as a vegetarian did not help. Additionally, I went to a dentist, you know, probably, I don't know, 25, 28 years ago, and he was just my neighborhood dentist in Koreatown, and I'd go there to get my teeth cleaned. And during one visit, he pulled me in, into his office and was like, "Hey, you're, you know, you grind your teeth and you're really wearing down your enamel. You need to wear a night guard." And I was like, "Okay, how much are those?" And he... I don't know. I remember the number for some reason. He's like, "$750." And I was like, "Pssh. Buy a night guard for..." I mean, that was a lot of money for me at that time. And so unfortunately, I did not heed his advice. I thought he was just trying to upsell me, you know? Right. And so a few more years go by and I'm continuing to grind my teeth, continuing to be a vegetarian, and then I discovered, you know, holistic dentistry and things like cavitations and if you have an extraction or a root canal, it can be very problematic. also, you know, mercury fillings, I became super aware of that a long time ago. So I found a really good biological dentist that I would see in LA, and they did, you know, minimally invasive work and used biocompatible materials if you had a filling or something like that. But essentially, I started getting a lot of cavities and grinding my teeth down to the point that when we arrived here in Texas, I was very excited to work with Dr. Nunnally out in Marble Falls, who's also been on the podcast. we'll put that in the show notes too. I mean, he's a world-renowned biological dentist. So I went to a couple visits there. I had a cavity or some other issue, and he sat me down and just said, "Listen, man, like, I know you want to do things naturally, but you just don't have enough tooth matter for us to work with. There's nothing to fill because your teeth are so..."

[Alyson] They're like little shards.

[Luke] They're just nubs, you know? Yeah, nubs. And so that was kind of a come to Jesus moment, and so I started doing some research about other solutions, and my friend Kyle Kingsbury, and I think Aubrey too directed me to Dr. Winters. And so Dr. Winters is what's called an airway dentist, so a lot of his work is built around what's called whole mouth restoration, which is where they replace all of your teeth or cover your teeth with I think it's called inlays and veneers. So because my teeth were already so minimal and Nubby and so nubby, I didn't have to have a lot of prep work. But essentially what they do is they grind down your natural teeth-

[1:22:00]

[Alyson] Oh. Oh...

[Luke] And then they take impressions of your teeth and then glue in a complete new set of teeth. And what makes an airway dentist different is they're actually changing the size of your teeth and the position of your teeth So that your jaw is in a more natural alignment, which allows for more airflow. So many people with sleep apnea and other related issues and teeth grinding, teeth grinding is often a symptom of lack of oxygen, so you're trying to open your throat while you're unconscious

[Alyson] Also a sign that you have parasites.

[Luke] Yeah. Yeah, that too. so I started educating myself, researching, understanding that, and you know, just from, I don't know, not being breastfre- breastfed, being malnourished, taking tons of drugs, my jaw was kind of in a less than optimal place. And so the reason it took so long, so many months as you said, I did a lot of preparatory work to prepare my tendons and ligaments and spine and, you know, cervix... Not cervix, I don't have one of those. cervical spine, you know, the bones in your neck. Last I checked, I don't have that. And so there was a lot of prep work to make sure that when I got the new teeth, that my musculature and all these other aspects of the skull and neck were able to adapt.

[Alyson] Your cervix was able to

[Luke] Receive it too. My cervix could receive it. So it was a very long and expensive and arduous process. Yes. But on the other side of it you know, I can eat beef jerky and steak and not have to spend 45 minutes picking it out of my broken nub, nubby teeth. Aw. So it's been a huge upgrade, but also I will admit that it took quite a period of getting used to it in terms of looking in the mirror and just seeing like, I felt like Baba Booey, you know, from Howard Stern Show. Gary Dell'Abate. Yeah. I was like, "Oh wow, I'm a lot of teeth now." I remember when my dad was still alive, I think it was the first time I saw him after I had it done and we were eating lunch or something. My dad's like, kind of lacked decorum at times, right? He just really spoke his truth, and he's like, "Oh man, your teeth are huge. Geez, I didn't know they were gonna be so big." He wasn't-

[Alyson] They got a big chuckle out

[Luke] Of your teeth... he wasn't like, "Wow, that looks really nice." He's like, "Huh, what's going on here?"

[Alyson] It's like, yeah, he said something like, "Did you get new teeth?" Or, "What happened to your teeth?" Or yeah, he made it... I

[1:25:00]

[Luke] Don't remember. Yeah, I just remember him saying, "Wow, they're so big." Yeah. And I was like, "Oh God, that's what I've been like insecure about." So it's been interesting. It's like You would think that one would feel more confident 'cause now you have a big beautiful smile, but to me, my teeth are like, they're so white that they just, I feel kind of insecure about them, and it's funny because I was insecure about my little nubby yellow teeth that I had before, and then I get these like, you know, this brand-new set of teeth, and, um-

[Alyson] I don't think they're overly white. I remember you would even have me go, I went a couple times with you so that Dr. Winters could take the shade of my natural white teeth because you were, like, trying to match. You're like, "Allison's are, like, white but not, like, too white," and so he was getting his little instrument out and trying to see the shade of white mine were so that... I mean, we went through a very painstaking process. Yeah.

[Luke] I think if I could do it again, I would even tone down the white a little bit. So what happens is if you look at, like someone like Keith Richards, you know, you have a guy in their 80s and they have, like, perfect super white full mouth of teeth, that there's just kind of a little bit of a incongruent look to it. That said, I also know that part of myself that would ever feel insecure is not me. It's just the ego wanting to be viewed a certain way or, you know, feeling judged or something like that. But it's been interesting. It wasn't something that I was like, "Oh, I'm brand new now." It was kinda like, "Oh, shit, I just made a major alteration." It also really changed my jawline. I mean, I, sometimes you'll see older pictures of me and I have, like, this kind of sunken chin and overbite, and it's like, whoa. My, the shape of my face is actually much different as a result of doing the airway dentist route. So that is-

[Alyson] Even more handsome man

[Luke] Now... so that's the full story. But more than anything to me it has been a absolutely a net positive because, A, I don't get cavities B, I can eat any kind of food and chew the hell out of it and, you know, I have, like, a good what do they call that? masticating? I'm able to masticate food quite well. You're a great

[Alyson] Masticator.

[Luke] I'm a great masticator. Not masturbator, masticator. And so yeah, it's been an incredible experience and just nice to not have to be at the dentist constantly like I used to be just as my teeth continued to degrade. It was just, like, so expensive and such a full-time Yeah... to try to stay on top of it until, as I said, it got to the point where they were just beyond repair and I had to Aw something relatively radical. Your

[Alyson] Sweet little nubs.

[Luke] So to the kids at home listening, don't do drugs.

[Alyson] Brush your teeth.

[Luke] If you choose to be vegan or vegetarian, you better make sure you're getting your fat-soluble vitamins and if you if you get dental work, I would highly recommend seeing a doctor like Dr. Nunnally a biological dentist that's going to have an awareness around the, you know, the downsides of mercury fillings and root canals and extractions and things like that.

[1:28:00]

[Alyson] After nearly three decades

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[Alyson] All right. That was a great question. Thank you, Christine. This next one, I have no idea what it is, so don't rely on me to contribute to the answer. Joe is asking, "Have you ever looked into the Shroud of Turin?"

[Luke] You know, that's funny. Um No

[Alyson] Clue.

[Luke] I've heard the phrase the Shroud of Turin, but I'm quite Christian and historically uneducated. And so I knew it had something to do with the Vatican or Jesus or something. I mean, knew it to be some sort of relevant artifact, but I didn't know anything about it until recently. My friend Daniel Vitalis did a podcast. He, by the way, shout out to Daniel Vitalis. If anyone likes this podcast, you'd probably very much like "The Daniel Vitalis Show." He's had a couple other podcasts over the years. He was one of the first podcasts that I ever listened to when it was called "Rewild Yourself," and he was, like, one of my podcasting heroes, and we ended up becoming buddies, and I've been waiting for him to launch a new one, and he did, and it's amazing. And actually, this week I was a guest on his show which is, which is really fun. What's the new podcast called? It's just called "The Daniel Vitalis Show."

[1:31:00]

[Alyson] Oh, okay.

[Luke] So he did an episode with one of the you know, foremost researchers on the Shroud of Turin, and it was freaking mind-blowing. I had no idea, and I still don't totally grasp what it is, but essentially it is the linen sort of sheet or garment that Jesus' body was covered with. And the theologians that know the story better than I, forgive me, I'm just learning from a podcast that I listened to once. But essentially what happened was The image of Jesus' body and face, including all of his wounds from the crucifixion were embossed into this fabric material in a way that cannot, to this day, even come close to being scientifically explained. So what it seems like it was something quite supernatural.

[Alyson] Mm. '

[Luke] Cause we still can't recreate it.

[Alyson] So the cloth exists somewhere?

[Luke] Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

[Alyson] Where is it?

[Luke] I think it's in the Vatican. Yeah, you used to be able to tour and see it, but, you know, they don't want it to get hit with UV light and oxygen and stuff. So I don't think you can-

[Alyson] Wow...

[Luke] Easily, you know, be in the same room with it at this point. Wow. But it's one of the most highly, if not the most highly researched-

[Alyson] Mm...

[Luke] Religious artifacts in history. It's really interesting. I know very little about it, but that podcast was enough for me to go, "Wait, what? We need to get a reproduction of that in the house just for the vibe," you know? Mm-hmm. Mm. But it's really interesting. Yeah, I forget the... They've measured all kinds of things, like what the, what the pigment was that actually created the image. Mm... you know, if it was blood or ink or whatever it was. But the thing that really stuck, struck me was the speed with which the image was created was fractions of a second. It's, like, completely impossible in our current understanding of physics-

[Alyson] Mm...

[Luke] That image could be produced at the speed with which it was, with the amount of detail-

[Alyson] Mm...

[Luke] That it contains.

[Alyson] So do you know-

[Luke] Essentially, it's like You

[Alyson] Can see his face?

[Luke] Yeah.

[Alyson] Wow.

[Luke] It's... Look it up online. We'll put an image of it in the show notes. It's-

[Alyson] Huh...

[Luke] It's the nuttiest shit I've ever heard. Wow. I mean, it's, like, insane.

[Alyson] It's beautiful.

[Luke] Yeah, it's insane. So there, it's something to the effect of his light body just-

[Alyson] Mm.

[Luke] Blasted this fabric with his, with the Superimposition Transmission Yeah, with the superimposition of the image underneath it, which was him. Wow. It's really fascinating.

[Alyson] That's beautiful.

[Luke] So yeah, don't know a lot about it, but I'm intrigued and looking forward to learning more.

[1:34:00]

[Alyson] Wow, thanks for that question, Joe. You've piqued my interest. Would you like to do one more?

[Luke] Yeah, let's do one more and we'll call it a wrap.

[Alyson] Okay. We've got a lot of other good options. I'm just scanning to see. Hmm. This one's interesting. It's very detailed and unique. this person only put the letter N for their name. Okay. So N asks-

[Luke] Nancy, Nathan

[Alyson] Sure. "I appreciate what you guys are doing. My question is, how do you make good friendships when you have a chronic illness?" MCAS, that's how I always say it. I don't know if that's actually right, but M-C-A-S. I always say MCAS. she, this person has MCAS. They've been alone a long time, and they've also moved around a lot. The people they meet, they don't really relate to. she says, "I guess you'd call them normies or NPCs." "Would be good to just have one friend who understands this. Any suggestions? It's not easy to understand someone with chronic illness, but also people who believe in the system still. How did you meet Allison? I'm doing my best, absolute best in my healing journey. Your podcasts help."

[Luke] Aw, that's cool, man. Yeah,

[Alyson] Yeah, really sincere question...

[Luke] I understand that. I mean, I've spent the past few years really exploring this topic, right, of loneliness and our very real and often underserved need for human connection. So I absolutely relate to that for different reasons. I had my own version of chronic illness called addiction, and it was very isolating. And so I think in my experience-

[Alyson] I can tell your heart feels this one.

[Luke] Yeah. I mean, I relate, right? I mean, I think everyone relates on some level. We've all felt really alone and isolated at different times in

[Alyson] Our life. Just be like, "Where are my people at?"

[Luke] Yeah. I think for me and what I really arrived to in the process of looking at this particular issue from so many angles is that going within and really learning how to be comfortable with oneself, to love oneself, intentional periods of solitude, whether that's meditation or journaling or any other kind of healing modality, to become connected to consciousness as a whole and to find your place in consciousness. In reality, we can't be disconnected from consciousness, but we can sure feel like it because we're in bed sick or, you know, we have other issues going on, unresolved trauma and things of this nature. So I think the key to relational fulfillment with other people is to first seek that fulfillment within. And that, for me, has happened through any number of spiritual practices that spoke to me at different times in my life, meditation being one that's been the most longstanding and prevalent. As I become more in touch with who and what I really am outside of the persona version of me, the ego-identified part of me I feel less alone even when I'm by myself, and yet I still need people. I need a few close friends that, you know, I can relate to, that understand my worldview and at least share some semblance of that. Obviously, our intimate and loving relationship is my primary relationship and the one that is the most fulfilling on many levels. But in order for me to manifest then cultivate relationships with other people, it's required of me to really know and understand and love myself. Without that clear understanding, I will lack either the discernment to be able to determine the people with whom I feel safe enough to be vulnerable and real and truly intimate and connected with, and therefore, I'm going to end up in relationships that mirror whatever dysfunction or patterns I haven't yet worked out in myself. On the other side of that, in terms of people that seem to be socially or culturally alien to me, such as someone I perceive to be an NPC or a normie that I can't talk about chemtrails with or something, right, is to be able to identify the common threads that all human beings share and that someone else might have different political views, they might be socially oriented in a completely different way they could enjoy different hobbies. You know, I could-- Like, I'm friends with Cal. Cal loves golf and loves, like, watching sports. I'm not gonna go watch sports with him, but I don't, I can still relate to him with certain interests that we both share, right? So it's like I don't need all of my friends to agree with me on everything all of the time. But even if there's someone with whom I don't relate to on the surface, if I'm more in touch with myself and the deeper aspects of my true identity, I'm able to see through the superficial facade in other people that I might view as an NPC or a normie. But behind every NPC or normie is also a soul that is yearning for connection and a soul that's also trying to find their way home in their own way. So developing a more inclusive worldview that allows me to kind of move past some of the cultural differences and interests and passions and things like that, I've found that I can have relationships with people that might even fall a bit outside of the way I see things.

[1:40:00]

[Alyson] Yeah, like even however briefly or ongoing, you can, shifting out of what might be a pretty ingrained perspective or mindset that the people that you would consider to be NPCs, that equates to complete unrelatability, that it is much brighter and broader and wider than that. So just experimenting and giving it a go, that when you're encountering the people that you would classify as that, like if you're going to the grocery store or whatever as you pass those people, that you shift out of that ordinary mind perspective and into that wider field that I call the field of totality, the web of totality, that consciousness place where God is everything, and just trying that on for size and seeing what your experience is.

[Luke] Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. And then on a pragmatic, more practical level, which is much more difficult if you're dealing with a chronic illness, and you just don't have the energy to spend on putting yourself out there in the world, I mean, that's a really difficult place to be. There are, of course, I mean, it's not typically as fulfilling as the real thing, but we do have the capacity to connect with people online that requires much less energy in terms of having to move our body from one place to another in order to connect with someone.

[Alyson] The first thing I thought of was them to join your book club.

[Luke] That would be --

[Alyson] Yeah, honestly... that would be one way. And it was not even for Yeah... shameless plug. It was just like, well, the people who listen to the Lifestylist are going to be this person's kinda people. Yeah. and yeah, th-this person could join for free. Well, they have to buy a, two books, um.

[Luke] Yeah.

[Alyson] And then they can come to the book club and see-

[Luke] Yeah...

[Alyson] You know, meet other people.

[Luke] We had our first one last week, and it was super cool. I mean, it was just a few people because it was the first one, and I had just started announcing it. but yeah, everyone is just like-minded and kind of on the same page. So as much as there's, you know, an obvious lack of certain intimacy in online communities, there are a lot of them that, you know, there's Alex X, The Way Forward, which is just, you know, really growing. It's massive at this point. Forget how many members. They have 35,000 or something. There's little chapters, and there's a directory on their website where you can find like-minded people in your area. Cool. So I think one of the net positive benefits of the plandemic era was that many people felt this kind of isolation socially because we were just so opposed in our views. It was such a polarizing event that many people have become much more invested in online communities and also communities that are intentional, that are living together. People are buying property and, you know splitting it up into parcels, and there are like-minded people coming together and homesteading. There's a lot of positive progress in that regard. But it does take a bit of effort to put yourself out there. And also, in some cases, you know, not that you can always choose where you live because it's resource dependent, and oftentimes people, you know, have young kids and they're divorced and they don't wanna move away from their kid, therefore they're stuck in a town where it's much harder to find relatability. But you know, there's a lot to be said for meditation groups and spiritual study groups and church communities and plant medicine communities. I mean, there definitely are, in most places, probably more people that you can relate to than you see on the surface.

[1:43:00]

[Alyson] Yeah. and what I'm about to say, I'm not saying that all people with MCAS are highly sensitive people, but I just have seen pretty strong correlation between people who are highly sensitive, highly attuned highly God-gifted conscious, aware people that kind of somehow intermingling with people with autoimmune disorders or MCAS. and so 'cause she was saying or they were saying, I don't know who this person is but they're just like it's not easy to understand someone with a chronic illness. But when I look about the conscious communities here, the people who are deeply devoted to spiritual paths, shamanic, oracle, whatever, most all of those people are highly sensitive, empathic people, and most I would I would venture to guess that more than half of them have experienced some sort of autoimmune or chronic illness because that they seem to sometimes go hand-in-hand for whatever reason. Yeah. so yeah, I think finding your way into these communities where people are also highly conscious and devoted to some sort of spiritual path, I can guarantee you there's gonna be a lot of people in there that absolutely understand what it's like to deal with some sort of chronic

[Luke] Illness. True. I never thought about that, but that makes a lot of sense. If you're highly emotionally and spiritually sensitive and tapped in, it makes sense that your body is probably a bit more sensitive, too.

[Alyson] The highly- You know?... highly attuned goes into all-

[Luke] Yeah...

[Alyson] Facets.

[Luke] The last thing I'll say on that, you know, so I sort of touched on putting some effort forth to find community where you live. But also, um You know, the criteria for where we moved when we left California was largely dependent on finding like-minded people and a sense of community, and that was one of the biggest draws here in Austin. And as you know, I'm on Zillow all the time, like, looking at more remote properties and just places where we might want to live or spend more time. And one of the first things I think about when considering, you know, relocating or spending summer somewhere or something like that is, are there gonna be-- are we gonna find our people, you know? Right. It's like not everywhere is so abundant in people that are interested in the kind of things.

[1:46:00]

[Alyson] Remember that Sedona experience? I'm not gonna talk about it, but-

[Luke] Yeah. Yeah... the one. I mean, we went and lived in Sedona for a couple months, and there were, there were definitely a lot of like-minded people. But for a number of reasons, it wasn't a resonant match for a place to live full time and really put roots

[Alyson] Down. But you remember that one, that one particular experience? Yeah, we went No, don't say it. Please don't say

[Luke] It. Yeah.

[Alyson] Please don't. There was just this scenario where it became abundantly clear it just was not the spot for us, for-

[Luke] Yeah.

[Alyson] Yeah.

[Luke] Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, and they probably weren't, we weren't for them either.

[Alyson] Right. Totally.

[Luke] That's the thing. But, you know, that was one of the big draws in in moving to Austin, especially during that time because there was, there was so much tight community here 'cause we were all sort of hunkered down together, looking Yeah... for one another. And it was like a, not to over-dramatize it, but there was a definitely, like, a refugee camp sort of energy here 'cause people are fleeing New York City and LA and places like that and kind of like, "Oh, my God, where is it sane and safe?" So I think we were very fortunate to find this place. But if and when we ever decide to move somewhere else having some sort of resonance with community there is going to be one of the top priorities. And obviously, that's more difficult if you know, are chronically ill or you have family ties and responsibilities that prevent you from living there. I mean, I have a couple friends that live in places they don't like at all, but they're dads and they're divorced, and they wanna be there for their kids, so they're taking one for the team and probably living with a deficit of some element of human connection in order to you know, be an upstanding parent. So it's a, it's a complex issue, but I think hopefully some of those things that both of us just shared will you know, offer some support.

[Alyson] Lastly, they asked where did you meet me, and we met, we were both speakers at a consciousness conference called WITMA, Wellbeing In The Modern Age. I don't think it exists anymore. But I was living in New York City at the time. Luke was living in LA. But we were both booked to speak at this conference taking place at that particular one was in New York City. So again, the commonalities, like we, you know, we were both speaking at a consciousness conference. So maybe look up a consciousness conference. Yeah. You're pretty much solid, and I might be. If a spot opens up we might both be at the Conscious Life Expo. God, is that what it's called? Yeah. that'll be in February I was supposed to speak at the one this past year, but big life things were happening so I wasn't able to go. But yeah, that's just one example. That happens in LA every February, and we both might be speakers there this coming February. So that could be a good spot.

[1:49:00]

[Luke] Yeah, conferences and events, any kind of public gathering, yoga classes, I mean, any of these places where the likelihood of meeting people that are on your wavelength are much higher. I mean, you and I didn't meet at a real estate conference, right? We might have never had anything in common other than our love for real estate, right? Mm-hmm. But we're at a spiritual, you know, consciousness-based conference. Of course, we're gonna have some level of you know, of resonance with most people in the room, and then it's just a matter of maybe even you travel to another city, and you end up meeting people that live nearby you that you never would have met, but you all convened- Mm-hmm you know, in a, in a separate location, and you discover, oh, there's more of us than I thought there were.

[Alyson] For sure. Cruising around those kinds of events is fun. Like guaranteed you're gonna meet at least one person that you vibe with. Like it's pretty impossible not to.

[Luke] Yeah. Absolutely.

[Alyson] All right. Well, this was a fun one, and happy birthday again. I love you so much. Thank

[Luke] You.

[Alyson] May you have so many, many more.

[Luke] Let's hope so. There's a lot more to experience here.

[Alyson] Every morning when we wake up, we say, "How great, we get to have another day together." And then we look at Peanut, little Peewee, and we say, "Peewee, we get to have another day together as the sweet Story family, the sweet little Stinkies."

[Luke] Yeah. This is true. All right, you guys. Thanks for joining us for this episode. And again, the show notes, including anything linkable or relevant that we talked about, will be located at lukestory.com/695. Until we meet again, sending blessings to all.

[Alyson] And

[Luke] To

[Alyson] All a good night.

[Luke] For the highest good for all creation.

[Alyson] Merry Christmas.

[Luke] What's up, friends? Glad you could hang out with me for this week's episode of The Lifstylist. If you wanna make sure you never miss a single damn thing, hit that subscribe or follow button right now, 'cause new episodes drop every Tuesday, plus the last Friday of every month, we do a raw Ask Me Anything session based on your questions. And here's something a lot of listeners don't know. At lukestray.com/podcast, you can search the entire back catalog. I'm talking over 600 episodes of biohacking, spirituality, healing, and straight up truth bombs. You can punch in any topic or guest you're curious about, and you'll pull up exactly what you want in seconds. And hey, if today's episode moved you, share it with a friend. Text it, post it, slide it into a DM, whatever. Word of mouth is how this community grows. And I've got one request for you. If you've gotten value from this show, one simple way to give back is to leave a quick rating and review. It really helps me reach new people and lets me know which episodes hit the hardest, and I can't emphasize enough how much your rating and review matters. There's a reason why almost every host begs their audiences to do it. But unfortunately, most listeners don't take action. So be the one who does. And once you do, go back and hit up lukestray.com/podcast, where you can dive into all the archives, the audio, video, show notes, and of course, transcripts. Thanks in advance for supporting the show, and until next time, be well, my friends

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