I want to live to be at least a hundred years old. Yeah, I'm with you on that, man. Centenarian. Some people say they want to go out. You know what? Some people say they want to go out at like 75, 80. My uncle says that. My uncle's like, I want 15 more. I'm out of here. No way, man. I think it depends on your health. And I think it depends on how you're gonna, how you perceive your health to be at an older age. You know what I'm saying? I think when people say they want to leave early, it's because they think they're not gonna be healthy or mobile or independent. You know what I mean? That's already in pain. No, that's correct. Kind of frustrated. That's such a good point because I look at someone like my uncle who's just in his 60s and to say something like only he wants 15 more years. And then I have clients who that were in their 80s and were doing, were skiing, water skiing and cross country skiing and lifting serious weights still and squatting over 200 pounds like, and they were 80, you know?  I had, so I trained a lot of people in the older age group. Never trained anybody that was 100. I think the oldest client I trained was in their late 80s. Yeah, 80s for me. But, you know, two clients stand out for me. So one was Carol, trained Carol for about 14 years. You know, Mondays at 3 p.m. every single week and sometimes twice a week, but always once a week and she did other things on her own. And I trained her from her mid 60s to her, you know, 70s and older. And I, it was phenomenal. Now she'd always had, I wouldn't wanna say always but for a lot of her life had prioritized health. So here was this woman who, you know, I helped her build strength with resistance training. I helped to add to her current fitness routine. But because she valued it, she did a lot of the things that you should do to take care of yourself. And here was this woman that was, her husband had passed away. She would, you know, date men through dating apps. She was completely independent of fireball when she'd come into my facility. I loved training her. I also had a client named Jim. He really stands out. He's a swimmer guy. Yeah, and I've talked about him before. He actually was, he helped Doug and I film the first maps program. I didn't know that. He was, he'd be in the back doing the sound. Oh yeah? So yeah, because remember back then we didn't have a studio, Doug and I would have to do it all in one day. Your makeshift studio.  Died with the blankets. Oh yeah, the whole thing. It would take us about good two and a half hours to set up and then we would go for, you know, five or six hours. And so, you know, Jim was there doing the sound or whatever. But anyway, Jim came to me already having a lifetime of fitness under his belt. He came to me in his mid sixties. They trained him into his seventies. And here was this guy that for 30 plus years swam almost every single day, paid very close attention to his nutrition. He valued it. He rode his bike as much as he possibly could. So he had cars, but if he could ride his bike somewhere, that's what he would do. Didn't matter if it rained or whatever. And so this guy was just incredible health and fitness. I remember he got a physical, I want to say when he was 69 or something like that. And he said, hey, Sally goes, do you think I should get my hormones tested? And I said, yeah, you know, aside from the regular stuff, why don't you get your testosterone levels checked and let's just see where you're at. So if you're familiar with the testosterone levels and where they're supposed to be for men, the range is usually anywhere between 200 to, I don't know, say a thousand. Usually, and there's give or take, right? These are, there's different lab ranges, but that's, we'll stick with that one. That one's a pretty average one. So 200 to 1000. And if you're above 600 for a man, you're doing pretty good. If you're in your late 60s, you typically don't expect the man to be in the, you know, 700 range. And he was, he came back with his results and he was in that range. And you know, again, he was, this was a man that was almost seven years old. So I used to love seeing the, just the benefits that fitness has on the older population because it was so, it was so drastic, you know, it was so different from between them and their peers. I also think there's, you know, and to your point too, like how you're living now has a major factor in that too. And not just like the strength training aspect and nutrition side, like community and relationships and all those things. Oh, so many things. And so if that's in place right now, I think you understand that or you get that more. And for those that don't think about that as part of their health, I think that has to be some of the conversation too. Man, I was just reading this really cool article and it's one of those things I bookmarked to go deeper in it. And there was this summit that this guy had and I forget the name of the summit, but this entrepreneur that was talking about community and this 20 year old, I guess it just like, 20 year old tech guy made really, really good money already. He convinced a group of these other 20 year olds to all invest a million dollars themselves and they all, they- Powder Mountain. Is that what it's, yes. That's it, you saw, you read that too? I read that too, yeah. Isn't it interesting? And then they- Fascinating. So what they did first, before they built this community out in some rural town, I forget where it was in Utah. Yes, you did read the same article as me. And they built this town, but before they did, they went and researched like the blue zones and all these communities and what made them great communities and they literally tried to build it from ground up. Yeah, so they had like their mailboxes, they put them all in one place. So it was just like they engineered ways for them to interact with each other and like had social like types of like, they'd all go on hikes together, they'd all have these like dance classes and things that were available to the community.  Well, there's a, I think we should clarify what we mean by, you know, living long. It's not just about being alive. Right, right. Yeah, on a machine for 10 years. Right, right, because modern medicine can keep us alive longer, but does that mean we're really living, right? When I talk about living long, I want to be independent. I want to be free of major health issues. I want to be able to take care of myself. I want to be able to move my own boxes. I want to be able to talk on the phone on my own, handle my own bills, clean my house. Have a sense of purpose every day that gets me up. That's it. I want to live long, but I want to live healthy long. And I think that's why like your uncle would say something like, oh, I only want to live to 75 because people picture living a long time and they think of all the people they know who've been, and they're like, I don't want to do that. I don't want to be in pain every day. I want to be in bed every day. I also heard this really good quote that it's, you know, living day to day is not living, it's surviving. Right. And so when you are living on modern medicine or on a machine, you're just surviving. You know, at that point, you're not really living. And so I understand the perspective for someone like my uncle who feels like he's declining, his health is getting worse and worse. He already feels it in his 60s now.  And at that point, I'm just living day to day to survive.  Yes. And it always used to blow me away at the gap between people who have good longevity, can not just living, you know, not just being old, but actual good longevity, good health, between them and their peers. It is, it's like another universe. I've said this so many times in the podcast, but I really mean it. When you have somebody who's 70 years old, who has good health, and you compare them to the average seven year old who typically doesn't have good health, it's almost like you're looking at two different species. On the one hand, you have someone that is fully, they're living a normal life. They're going about their day. They can do whatever they want. And then on the other hand, someone's dependent on medical care, you know, 13 different prescription drugs. By the way, I'm not exaggerating. You know, when I would train people who are older, who didn't lead this kind of a life, who came to me late, there was one woman, I remember she was 81 when she came to me and really didn't have, I wouldn't say it's super unhealthy life, but she didn't have like the healthiest life. So she was alive, but it wasn't really good. And I remember whenever I worked with someone like this, I'd say, okay, can you please bring me a list of your medications? I need to talk to your doctor. And I would always work with their doctor. This list of medications that she brought me was, it was like pages. The laundry list. It was pages. And then when I would go through this medication and I'd talk to her doctor about them. It's one for the other one. I would be like, well, okay. Why is she on this, you know, this medication? Oh, it's because this other one causes constipation. So that's a laxative to help with this. Why is she on this medication? Well, because this medication makes her anxious. So we put her on this other medication to help with her anxiety. And I realized that half of them were there to counteract the side effects of the other half. And so there's a big difference between living longer because of medicine and living longer because you're very, very healthy. And that's, I wanna make that distinction because I don't, this is a podcast about living longer and living better while you're living longer. Yeah, I think, yeah, when people think of aging and they see this pill tray that, like I know my grandma and like some other examples that I've always seen kind of grown up of like somebody who has this routine where they take pills like every before every meal, there's pills upon pills upon pills. And that became just kind of like a thing that like I just assumed that this is what happens when you get older, you start just taking these pills for all these things, for my arthritis, for, yeah, yeah, you know, like my blood pressure and a lot of these things, if you can really do a good job of addressing what's going on with your body and maintaining a good muscular body, you can prevent a lot of things like blood, high blood pressure with, you know, things that aren't like immediately gifted to you from your genetics. Something like 70% of cancers, okay? Cancer, I'm not even talking about other diseases. Something like 70% of cancers are preventable with lifestyles. So that's like cancer kills one out of three of us, right? So 70% of those deaths could have been prevented just with a different lifestyle. Heart disease, I mean, the number's probably even greater. Same thing with, you know, type two diabetes. I remember years ago, one of my idols is Jacqueline. Jacqueline is a fitness icon. The legend. And really just exemplified longevity. I mean, here's a man at the age of 55. It's 55, by the way, set the record, the world record that stood for decades in push-ups and pull-ups. At the age of 70 to celebrate his 70th birthday, pulled seven row boats, each filled with 10 people with his hands and feet shackled. With his mouth. Right, from Alcatraz to San Francisco. I went to the Arnold Classic years ago and he got a Lifetime Fitness Achievement Award. And I remember when he came out to the stage, and he was in his, he must've been in his 80s, the whole place erupted.  We were just clapping and cheering and clapping because everybody there was obviously a fitness enthusiast. Well, finally he stepped away from the podium because we weren't giving him an opportunity to speak. And he gets down on the floor and starts- I'm without push-ups. One-arm push-ups. Yeah, dude. One-arm push-ups. And the whole place almost exploded. And for me, that's a great example of what we're talking about with longevity. There's also the factor too that, and especially today's time, it's becoming more and more of a hot topic is mental health. I mean, that's the hub, the operating system for all these things that we're talking about physically. And so learning also, part of living well and living long is also taking care of the mental aspects. So I definitely think there's a handful of pillars that we can address that I think that start now if you want to live to the age of 100 or beyond. Yes, and besides living longer, I had a long time ago, I had this argument with this lady. I was at this dinner and this lady's talking, we were talking about what we did for work. And I said, oh, I'm a trainer and this and that.   So what's the point? Yeah, so here's the thing. All the stuff we're about to talk to today, a talk about today has been proven in the best studies to show to improve longevity, but it's not just about living longer. It's also about living better today. So if you follow these things, yes, you will probably live longer than if you didn't, but you'll also live better right now. So it's not just about later on, it's also about- Right, you could still be in a crosswalk and get hit at 70, but the years leading up to 70 are gonna be enhanced greatly by following all these things. That's right. So number one, here's the first one. And this is pretty interesting. This is more of a recent, I say recent discovery, but not really discovery, but rather they're now communicating it more often today than they did before. And that is to be strong. So I'll give you an example. There was a study where they tested grip strength in men and women and they gave a baseline of 57 pounds of strength for men, 35 pounds for women. Now each 11 pound increment of grip strength below those thresholds. Every time somebody was 11 pounds weaker than that, each 11 pounds weaker was tied to a 20% increase in women and 16% increase in men in risk of death from all causes, all causes. In fact, there's been lots of studies done on strength and this may just be one of the ways now, one of the single tests that we do to determine somebody's health and all cause mortality, a simple grip test because it's an easy way to test somebody's strength. It's such a major factor that I don't think we gave enough credit to growing up. It was all cardiovascular health and obviously that's important as well, but to be resilient towards diseases and other like bacteria and things like coming your way, they've shown now that having like actual muscle strength is a big component to staving that off. I also think that there, a lot of the stigma around like being strong or strength comes from the extreme examples, right? There's everybody, even if you're just the average person and you're not really familiar with this, most people have seen like the strong men.  And they're the strongest people on earth. Like that's an extreme example. And every one of the topics that we've written down to talk about today, you know, it's about balance in that. It is prioritizing it as something important, but it also not becoming neurotic about it. Like getting strong is extremely important. Becoming neurotic about it, that it's your end all be all, also puts you at the end of that spectrum and the extreme or the most radical part. And so does every other point that you're gonna make today is that it's not that you don't take that and go, oh, okay, being strong. Well, wait a second. The strongest men on earth only live to age 50.  No, it's like saying fruits and vegetables are healthy for you. So I'm gonna eat 10,000 calories. Right, are only fruits and vegetables, right? Correct, correct. But strength is very, very strongly connected to longevity. Remember, strength is the foundational physical pursuit. So what that means is without a good base of strength, your endurance and stamina and flexibility and all those things suffer dramatically. Here's one of the big problems as you get older. And I would see this with clients all the time. They would fall, loss of balance. And then they'd break something and then you're really screwed. There's a saying in medicine that's like, break your hip and die of pneumonia, right? Because then they're in the hospital and their health declines tremendously. Well, strength is what prevents that. When I would train older clients and help them with their balance, the thing that helped them most wasn't helping them practice balance, it was just getting them strong. When they were strong, their balance was much, much better. And think of all the times you miss a step, being able to catch yourself again, you need strength in order to do that. So being strong overall helps with that. Yeah, and you talk about quality of life and just having an able body, you have to have a strong body to have an able body. Like to get up into travel and to do things and to just be self-sufficient and to carry things to your car and to move things around. And you just need to really focus on maintaining and keeping that as much as possible as you age. Right, right, and here's another one, right? Especially for women, osteoporosis or bone loss. It affects both men and women, but especially women. The one thing that directly counteracts bone loss is building strength. Because remember, muscles, when you build muscle, you build bone. Okay, so we all know lifting weights builds muscle. It builds bone too.  Here's another one with strength, right?  In fact, there was an Australian study that showed that strength training was the only form of actually the only anything that's natural that's ever been shown to stop the progression of Alzheimer's. And there was even some evidence that it actually started to reverse it a little bit because the muscles use glucose and glycogen and help with this process of using these carbohydrates for energy, which was one of the issues with Alzheimer's. More muscle, if you go into the hospital and you're getting surgery or whatever, people with more muscle survive better. Probably because they have more active tissue that they can spare while they're laying on that bed. It also safeguards you for a less ideal diet too, right?  The reality of it, nobody does. And so if you build strength or you focus on building strength, the side effect of that is that you build muscle. Muscle's an expensive tissue, to your point, it requires more glucose, more calories to support it.  Completely 100%. So buildings, and now here's the thing with resistance training, by the way. When we're talking about longevity, we're not talking about bodybuilding, we're not talking necessarily about powerlifting. What does a longevity-based resistance training program look like? Here's the beauty of resistance training. Unlike other forms of activity, which we'll get into, you don't need to do it very often to reap the longevity benefits. The studies show, and in my experience also, about two days a week. Two days a week of a good resistance training program is going to not just maintain good strength but help build good strength all the way up until the day you die. In fact, there were very few clients that trained more than two days a week, except for maybe my hardcore lifter. I love that point because this is something I personally struggled with. Because I loved fitness and I was into training hard, and had athletic background, I had this all or nothing attitude a lot. And that's completely shifted in the last five to 10 years, especially the last five, but even the last 10, it began to make this transition where I used to have this attitude, and I know a lot of people do, where it's like, I'm either on, and I'm eating well, and I'm taking care of my body, and I'm exercising, and I'm training to build muscle or burn body fat, or I'm not, I'm the effort attitude. And when you are talking about longevity, that's the wrong attitude to have. And that's why it's different now for me. In fact, I just did a post on my Instagram about the first 38 years of my life, I trained for me, now I trained for you, and it was a picture of me and my son. And it really is. There's times when, I only get to the gym for one day out of that week, but in the past, because the week was going bad for me, or I didn't have a lot of time, I would have just wrote the whole week off because I'm not on my routine, I'm not falling a program to a T, when your goal is longevity and health, that's not true at all, and something is better than nothing. And it really doesn't take that much to maintain some of the strength that I've worked so hard to build over all these years. So even one day a week is better than nothing. Unlike daily activity, which is also important, the benefits of resistance training are mostly in the adaptation effects that it provides, not as much on the fact that you're just being active. Now, just being active, of course, has its own benefits, but that's not the benefits of resistance training. Resistance training sends a signal to build strength and build muscle. That's why it's the beauty of it. You only need to do it a couple of days a week to reap the benefits of resistance training unlike just being active every single day. And I think too, that's why it's so important to put it to practice now so you find out the right dose. So I know a lot of people want to just get through the workouts and they put this program in front of them and they have to attack it and really aggressively try and get through these workouts where once you start really working your way through each exercise and find out how your body responds to it, how much rest is required and you really do the due diligence on investigating this for yourself, you'll find out you need a lot less to respond. And so once you can find out what that looks like, it really does boil it down quite a bit until like two times a week is really all you need to carry on forward. Oh, I mean, you know, right now I'm working on a book on resistance training and we do talk in there a lot about longevity. That's exactly what I recommend is it is two days a week for most people full body type workouts and you're gonna get all of the longevity and health effects of resistance training from doing that. Now, if you do more, that's great. You want to get stronger. You want to build more muscle. We talk a lot about that on the podcast but for longevity purposes and quality of life purposes two days a week of resistance training is gonna give you what you need. Now we did mention diet, okay? There's a lot of diets out there. There's probably, I don't know, 1,000 diet books out there. There's a million and one different ways to eat and each diet promises to give you better fat loss and health and all this other stuff. And so it's really hard to boil down what really, what they all have in common. Like, okay, you've got all these people around the world all these different areas where people live a long time but their diets can vary quite dramatically, you know? Like, okay. Lots of different strategies. Yeah, like Okinawans don't eat the same diet as Sardinians or as the seventh day Adventists, right? Those are all areas where people live a long time. If you look at the foods that they eat they're very, very different. They're different regions of the world, different cultures. So you gotta kind of look at all of it and boil it down and figure out what's going on and here's the biggest thing they all have in common, the biggest thing. None of them overeat. All of them don't eat too many calories. In fact, even if you eat healthy, eating too many calories has got negative health effects. So that's the big first one. And of course you need to make sure you get your essential nutrients and your essential fats and proteins. But the big key is to not overeat to the point where we have studies that show that reducing calories a little bit for all animals improves longevity regardless of what the diet looks like. Well, you're bringing up blue zones, right? And it's funny because I've seen the research and the studies that almost every diet tries to attach itself to a specific blue zone. Like, oh, this is what they do over here so vegans must be the best or oh, this is what they do over here so the Mediterranean diet must be best for this. And they cherry pick data but something that they all have in common is what you're alluding to right now is that they don't eat in a massive calorie surplus. The other thing that I think they all have in common is avoiding just processed foods in general. That's a huge one. That one study that they did on processed foods, it didn't surprise us because we've been working with people for so long. We knew this, but it blew a lot of people's minds. And I'll tell you about one of the studies because there's been several now. They did a study where they had people in a laboratory and this is beautiful because diet studies tend to be difficult to really to trust because they're based off of surveys. People show up, they fill out a survey and then you gotta kinda trust what they said and I know very well that people report terribly. Just ask somebody what they ate yesterday and see what comes out. It's just not accurate. It's just never accurate, right? But so these people were actually in a lab because it was super controlled and they had two groups of people. One group had unlimited access to whole natural foods. Eat as much as you want. The other group had unlimited access to heavily processed foods. Eat as much as you want. They even controlled for the macros. So the macros of the processed foods and the macros of the whole natural foods were very similar. So it wasn't like one was low carb, one was high fat, whatever. Very, very similar. They let them eat as much as they wanted and then they watched them and they counted the calories, they counted the proteins, the fats and the carbs and then they did something that's really awesome. They switched the groups. So then they said, okay, well, maybe this group just eats more or whatever. Let's have them switch and see what happens. So now the group that was eating processed food went to eating whole natural food and vice versa. Well, this is what they found at the end of the study. Eating heavily processed foods which include foods that are in wrappers and boxes and bags, foods that have long shelf life, right? That have multiple ingredients. Eating foods like that led to, on average, an increase of calories by about five to 600 every single day. That's not a little bit. No, that adds up. By the way, if you just ate a hundred calories more every single day over your maintenance. That adds up. That would, you'd gain tens of pounds, maybe 20 pounds a year, 500 calories extra every single day. That's insane. That's a lot of food. Now, how is this possible? Why is it that these people ate so much more food with heavily processed foods? Well, it's because these foods are designed to make you overeat. They just are. You could do this, you could experiment on yourself all day long. You could eat five plain potatoes or eat a bag of potato chips which has the same amount of potatoes in them and see which one makes you hungry and which one makes you full faster. So one of the number one strategies you can do if you wanna live longer is avoid these heavily processed foods. Forget about the fact that they're not as healthy either even if they were just as healthy as your whole natural foods. Even if they were identical in every way except for the fact that they were engineered to make you eat more. They still would be terrible because they just make you eat so much more food. So cutting that out makes a big difference. So what does this mean for you listening right now? Well, I'll tell you what I did as a trainer. Oftentimes when I work with clients and we're working with nutrition it's a very difficult thing to tackle. So sometimes I would say, okay, here's what I want you to do. I don't want you to do anything else. So I want you to do. I want you to avoid eating heavily processed foods. Do nothing else. Lo and behold, they lose 15 pounds of body fat. They're not even watching anything. They're just avoiding those heavily processed foods. The reason why I love that advice too is because we talk a lot about the mental hurdle that you have to go through when you tell yourself I can't. And putting people on a diet that they have to follow something means there's certain things they can't have. Versus saying, listen, avoid heavily processed foods but enjoy all the whole foods you want. If you're still hungry, you want more, have some more. And I found the same thing out too. If I just did, and what they loved about that where they're like, oh, okay. Well, that will take a little bit of planning.   Then they were like, oh, this is awesome. So then it gets beyond that hurdle of like I can't or I can't have anything which I think promotes that binge eating that happens afterwards. Well, and plus I think it brings back awareness of what you're putting in your body. I think a lot of times like because everything's so easily packaged and accessible now I can just throw it in the microwave or I could just buy it at a drive through and eat it in my car. Everything's just way too convenient to where we just lose touch of like what I'm actually putting in my body and like to then seek out these whole natural foods.  You might, this might spark some interest in cooking for yourself or your family again which is a whole different type of experience. So I think it's massively valuable for people to start really like seeking whole foods again and incorporating that in their diet. Yeah, they tried to tie dietary fat to the obesity epidemic in the 70s, 80s, 90s and early 2000s. Then they tried to tie the increase of carbohydrate consumption and sugars to the obesity epidemic. Both of them were wrong. Really what it was was heavily processed foods became a big part of our diet. It's one of the byproducts of the industrial revolution. We started to advance very quickly with our technology. Markets started getting bigger and of course markets always respond to the consumer demand and what did people choose to buy? And you go to the grocery store, let's think of the average person, forget the health-minded person.  It's all about what is fun to eat and what tastes the best. They're not walking around saying, oh, I need some. Craving at the time. Yeah, like, oh, this is good. This tastes good. Oh, the kids like to eat this. Oh, my husband loves this after dinner. And oh, this is my favorite snack. And so they end up picking things that really are super enjoyable to eat. Well, the market responded, produced all of these processed foods and little by little, they crept into our diets. At first it was just a little bit of our diet but we still had home-cooked meals. We still had home-cooked lunches. And now breakfast, we're not eating the home-cooked breakfast anymore like we used to. So that was the first thing to go, right? It went from, you know, bacon eggs and whatever to cereal, maybe milk and cereal or maybe Pop Tarts. Then it became lunch, became processed. Then it became snacks, then it became dinner. Before you know it, the average American's diet is 70% heavily processed food. That is the culprit for the obesity epidemic. Of course, if you throw in the inactivity, now you have your answer. That single thing right there makes the biggest difference. And if you don't wanna overeat, eliminate those foods, it makes it a lot easier for all. And circling back to the mental part, because I think that's important to address in all this is that when you are, when you let yourself go, and this is what I found when I tell clients, the first thing would be, okay, eliminate processed food, eat whole foods. The other thing that's really challenging mentally is when you allow yourself to go for such a long period of time without eating anything, that's where it becomes really tough. And I see this even with myself, you know, we just had a day a couple of days ago where I got so busy with work, I didn't eat till four o'clock, which, you know, fine, if you like to intermittent fast every once in a while, but what I notice every single time I do that is when I am deciding to finally eat, this is when I'm most likely gonna make the choices that are processed or not as ideal for me. This is when I'm more vulnerable to tell Katrina, ah, you know what, just order some burger and fries. I'm starving right now, and I justify it. I haven't eaten all day long, so I haven't had any calories. Get the five guys in the front. Calories on. Yeah, and so a strategy on top of the eating whole foods is also not allowing yourself to go really long periods of time without eating, even though we know all the healthy benefits of fasting and that's true when it's planned and you have a goal in mind, but when you accidentally just go for the day and you don't eat for six, seven hours or eight hours in between meals, what tends to happen is you are hungry and you do want something, and the cravings really kick up and you're more likely to make a bad choice versus making sure that you've got those whole foods readily available for you so you don't go those long periods of time. Have you guys ever gone grocery shopping when you're hungry? Yeah. That's what you get amazing with so it ends up in your shopping cart. Dude, I did that yesterday. I was really hungry, went to the grocery store, and I ended up with way more stuff. I got home and I looked at it, I'm like, yeah, that's the biggest mistake right there. Ice cream sandwiches, how'd that make it there? So now let's move into some of the non-diet, non-exercise stuff because what they found with people who live a long time is it's not all about being strong, it's not all about diet. There are other things that are really interesting and play a huge role in how long you live and how well you live. Here's a big one. This one shocked people when they first discovered it, but every single time they do one of these studies, it comes up, having good relationships with the people around you. This is really crazy. There was a study that showed that older people with adequate social relationships, in comparison to people who are isolated or have poor social relationships, so the adequate social relationships people, 50% greater likelihood of survival, 50% over people who have poor social relationships or those who are isolated. We are social creatures. And by the way, we're gonna speculate all the reasons why this may play a role, by the way. Don't you think this is what explains that phenomenon that we always see when a spouse dies, when they're 70 or 65 or whatever? And you've done everything with that partner, like your whole world revolves around them and then they pass and then all of a sudden they lose. Especially when they're hermits. Right, that's what I'm saying. I think those are the examples of those. And the ones that make it out are the ones that have built a strong community and support system and relationships with friends outside of just their immediate family or their spouse. Those ones tend to have the most success with continuing on and living.  Absolutely, so here's another reason why I think good social relationships are important. I'm a better person because I know you guys than if I, versus if I didn't know you guys. Now, why is that? Well, first off, I wanna be a better friend to people who are good friends to me. So that pushes me a little bit. There's also feedback that you get from other people. If my health was declining and I wasn't taking care of myself, I may not notice or may not care, but I may have someone close to me who may say something to me like, hey man, you need to take care of yourself a little better. You need some rest or why don't you take a vacation? Let me help you with something. Absolutely, that plays a huge role. And I know this, I have older grandparents and I know my grandfather, if it wasn't for his kids telling him he probably should eat less, he probably wouldn't eat less because he's on his own. So there's that. There's also the support factor for when you are sick or when you do need help. There's nothing like somebody that you have a close relationship with who can help you. That's very different than hiring someone to help you or being in the hospital, for example. Yeah, and I think too, it speaks back to purpose. And I know too, there's another example of this when people have their identities completely wrapped in their work and their job and they're waking up and they're making a difference every day and all of a sudden now they're in retirement mode where they're coasting and it's just, they don't have that same spark, that same energy, that same drive that gets them up and gets them to interact with other people. And it's just, it's a slow decline from there. So to be able to have people around you to still have that energy and that vibrancy that is so necessary to keep you going and healthy, that's another component. Well, on the mental health and how it's therapeutic for communication. Like how important is that? Like, you know, what's saying that goes like whether you think you can or can't, you're probably right.  Think about times in your life when you've gone through very, very challenging moments whether it's a death or your loss of a job or a divorce or something that's been very challenging. And then think of the people close to you who were there for you. Imagine going through that without that. All people have challenging moments in their life but having that support system, boy, that's the whole turn lean on me. We are very, very social. This is why, this is one of the reasons why the current pandemic is so bad. Forget the disease itself, that's obvious.  But people oftentimes aren't even thinking about all of the other downstream potential consequences of just isolation, just not being around people. Right now, my wife is, she's not working, she's pregnant, she's at home, but things are closed. She doesn't have a lot of outlets. She's doing some social distancing obviously because it's the responsible thing to do. Boy, when I talk to her, she's like, and she's normally somebody that likes to have a lot of alone time. She likes quiet time. She's like, this is affecting me. I didn't think it would because I like to be alone. But she goes, this is really affecting me. Not being able to just go walk around at the mall or go hang out and be with my friends. Not just talk with them over the phone but actually be with them. She's starting to feel it herself. This was something that I didn't really think about very much in my teens and early 20s in that it's an actual constant conversation with both my parents. I grew up in a household that we were very private. It was, our family was everything. Everything revolved around our household. We didn't have friends. Like my parents, my entire life growing up, I can't think of a single time we had friends over for dinner or we went and did things with friends like camping or go places with their friends. I mean, I had my friends as kids growing up but they really didn't. Their whole life revolved around raising us kids and each other. And now that I understand the value of community so much in those relationships like we're talking about and now that they're getting an advanced age, right? They're in their late mid to late 60s. Like my conversation is constantly around like mom, dad, you guys gotta get out. I know you've got your partners, which is awesome but you need to have your friends too.  I think it's so important for them living not only a long life but a happy long life. Absolutely. And this starts when it takes work and it starts with you being the good friend, right? This is how you foster these relationships. It requires you to become a better person. It's not easy to be a really good friend or a really good partner or a really good family member. It requires self work. It really does. You don't just, it's an active thing in other words. I can't just sit here and be good friends with Adam and Justin and Doug. I have to actively try to be a better person and try to be a good friend. And I think that is also one of the reasons why good relationships lead to longer, healthier lives. Now the fourth one, this one's an interesting one. It causes a lot of controversy but it's consistent. It is consistent across the board when they do studies people who have a regular spiritual practice typically in the form of organized religion live longer. There was one study I showed that people with a religious affiliation lived four years longer than people who did not.  And if they do get sick, it's less likely to become something severe. Spiritual practices, and this goes across the board by the way, they're not specific with what the religion is or whatever. It's just a regular spiritual practice. Spiritual practices are what give life meaning more than almost anything else. Why is that important? Why does life even have to have any meaning?  I couldn't imagine going through, I had a really good friend who, she ended up becoming a personal trainer and working in my facility. She actually started off as a client, became a trainer, very, very good friend of mine. She lost her son at, he was a teenager when she lost her boy. I couldn't imagine going through something like that and then not having a strong sense of meaning to carry me through the rest of life. At that point, you'd be like, well, what's the point? Why am I here or whatever? And when they interview people who have regular spiritual practices, that's what they say. It gives my life meaning it makes the hard stuff worth it. And I think that's, if you're gonna live a long time, that's gonna be something that's very important. I think this one plays into the last one, right? So I think spiritual practices as an individual have its own benefits, right? Gathering your thoughts and having a meaning behind your life, even if you just did it by yourself. But you talked about organized spiritual practices, that also feeds into the community and relationship aspect. Totally, it's a built-in community. Exactly. So I think that there's a reason why all the research supports that and why it's so valuable is not just what it does for you as far as mental health, organizing your thoughts, like having meaning and purpose in your life, but then also the community that is normally attached to that practice is also extremely valuable. I think that's why this one is weighted so heavily. Yeah, and you know, it's funny about it. They control for that in some of these studies. So they actually control for people who still meet with people, still have close friends, they just don't have the spiritual practice. Spiritual practice still gets people to live longer. I'll give you an interesting observation from, I used to train a lot of doctors and surgeons. And there was this topic of conversation that came up once that fascinated me and I asked all of them each time I trained them because it came up with one. There was one doctor that I trained and she had worked on this lady and it turned out that this lady had really bad cancer. And so then she was helping her. And I remember she came into her session one day and she said, yeah, it's not much longer. And I said, oh, you know, what did you see? Did you guys, did you see that is her body not working anymore, things shutting down? She goes, no, she's lost the will to live. And usually when that happens, they die quickly afterwards. And I said, well, what do you mean? She goes, well, it's an interesting thing, but you've noticed this when they lose that will, regardless of what their tests say, oftentimes you start to see them pass away. So each doctor client that I trained for the next week, I asked them that exact question. I said, can you tell when someone's gonna pass away, besides the measurements and their organs, Shayna, can you tell when they lose their will, do you notice that there's a higher and they, oh yeah, absolutely, that blew me away. That really blew me away that they said, these are medical doctors who tend to be very objective and scientific and they said they could tell. I experienced that with a family member of mine who, same thing, she said bye to everybody way before she was supposed to, and she passed away the day after. Yeah, I think there's another component here to having a spiritual practice that people might not even really consider that they already have within them. So comparing yourself to other people and really searching out examples, role models, idols, other people out there that are doing successful things or helping humanity in some facet, but inevitably there's examples that are good, there's examples that fail you all the time and to be able to kind of reprioritize your hierarchy of values. So what you put the most value in, if it has an unachievable level, it's something that you keep striving for. So it's almost like you're pushing that care a little further away, so it helps you to then have an example that you're constantly working on which ends up making you constantly work on yourself. No, that's a great point, Justin, because when you're chasing something spiritually like that, you'll never reach perfection, right? You'll never reach God-like. Yeah, you're always trying to be better. But you are always worshiping something. So if you're not worshiping a God that you can never be like, then it's money, it's sex, it's drugs, it's power, it's something else. Celebrity, whatever. Which all of those things are obtainable. You can reach all those goals. And then what? And then what ends up happening. Remember we talked with Mark Manson about that, like how often that somebody reaches or obtains these crazy lofty goals that they set for themselves, and then they reach that hilltop and the view ain't what they thought it was. It's very depressing and scary for a lot of people. So spiritual practice, oh, by the way, with the spiritual practice, is it's something that they practice on a regular basis. So it's not somebody who says, yeah, I believe in this or yeah, I'm spiritual. It's literally people who practice on a regular basis. And I do think that people who have that, something that they're doing on a regular basis that's consistent also provides a little bit of that sense of meaning and that purpose. Because oh, every Monday I do this and in the morning I meditate or I pray or whatever, it creates that structure. And you're thinking outside of yourself. That's right. My favorite and last point that we're making is one that I used to scoff at as a trainer early on. So I love talking about this because I'm a 180 for sure from when I first started talking about this as a trainer was walking and just a movement practice. I mean, that's something too. We touched on the blue zones and we talked about what the things they do have in common. A lot of people like to cherry pick the data, support their argument or whatever they're selling. But the things that are really common is the less processed foods, lower calories, community and then movement. A lot of them have just, even if that's not necessarily strength training or exercise, if it's just hiking and walking and not going by foot instead of by car or bikes, things like that, those practices and the benefits of those are tremendous by incorporating that into your daily life. Just daily activity, every single fact, not walking or not moving and sitting a lot increases your risk of death more than cigarettes in some study, more than smoking cigarettes. And it's not, you don't have to work out every single day. We talked about resistance training. There you go, twice a week, do that and you're good.  Now, you guys talked about that community where all those millionaires donated a million dollars to try and create a community. One of the things I'm assuming that they put in there was to encourage a community where you didn't have to drive, probably where you had to walk, I would assume. This is the way that cities used to be designed. In fact, people do live longer in places where it's harder to use your car and they're forced to move more. Walking is so powerful, in fact. I pulled up a very interesting study. Walking fast, but walking briskly, is so closely tied to longevity that when they compare people who walk briskly, who are overweight to people who are not overweight, who walk slowly, the overweight people who walk briskly outlive them. No joke. By like 15 to 20 years, isn't it? By this one single study that I pulled up. It's a big one. So that daily movement, daily activity, is such a big factor in just overall longevity. And that study's based on people that are overweight. Overweight. Right, so they're already in the most healthy condition. And just simply by making sure that they're briskly walking every single day could extend their life by 15 to 20 years. Now, here's a funny thing. When I was a trainer and I'd heard people say, things like, oh, you know, you could just park further in the parking lot instead of taking the elevator, take the stairs.  What's the big deal?  That'll be a workout or go running or whatever. And then we, step trackers came on the market and people were wearing step trackers. And I realized that those small things added up a lot. Like you park at the other end of the parking lot or you take the stairs every day. Way more you realize. Yeah, it's like two or three thousand extra steps. Well, we used to measure, as trainers, we used to look at it as like a calorie thing always, right?  Yeah, it's like, oh, 10 more calories, come on. Like that's not a game changer or anything like that. But it's not just that, it's just the movement, the blood flow, the oxygen moving through the body, the digestion. I mean, we didn't even touch on that with walking. Like that's a practice that I started in my 30s that I didn't do before that of just simply getting up after a meal and going for a walk. Doesn't have to be a long one. Doesn't need to be exercise or strenuous. It's such a great time. And what I love about the things that we're talking about today is there's ways to couple lots of them. Like you talked about spiritual practice and community, you can feed those both together, briskly walking, I think of relationships. Like that's become a practice for Katrina and I, a great time for us to connect and bond. It's like we just had a great dinner and a meal together. Let's not just sit down on a couch, ignore each other and watch television. Let's go for a 10 minute walk, walk our dogs, maybe walk another 10 minutes, enjoy each other and have conversation about our day and our kid and what's going on this week. The value in that, I think it's one of those things that's really hard to take a study and measure what exactly that's doing for you. It's one of those things that you're just, you're investing in long-term stuff by making sure you add that into your routine. No, one of the challenges with this one when I talk to people about walking a lot every single day is like, oh my gosh, like how do I schedule that? Because our lives are not designed to walk a lot.  So it's like our lives are not designed or so. How do you get lots of walking in your day? Well, Adam kind of hinted at it. Why don't you walk after every meal? 15 minute walk after every meal, that's a 45 minute walk a day. That's what it adds up to. And now that you've attached it to the ritual of breakfast, lunch and dinner, you're more likely to be consistent with it and you're more likely to get that daily activity. Look, Mind Pump is recorded on video as well as audio. Come check us out on YouTube, Mind Pump podcast. You can also find all of us on Instagram. You can find Justin at Mind Pump. Justin, me at Mind Pump Sal and Adam at Mind Pump Adam. Okay, don't feel just late to the party. There was a time that was cool. That was you, that's why. I had the full, I told you we had this. The Pukashells, the V-neck, Ed Hardy, Axe, Body Spray. No, I never had Axe. I had Pukashells when I was in seventh grade. Oh, yes, dude. And I had Ed Hardy before it was ever in TJ Mack.


Hello and welcome back to the craft box. My name is Brenton today. We're in episode 37 There was a one-on-one death walkthrough last episode we did the We finished the Crimson Fields, which is a nice red dungeon. So if you haven't checked that out go do that but this episode we are Starting by talking to Sun Heng What a disaster Treasured water is no longer pure. It's a complete nightmare. I Don't know what to do the water was always pure before my superior will be furious Who always me perhaps he'd know what to do. Yes good idea You can find in ho at the cave of solitude Okay Let us head over to the cave of solitude then that's the first area of Kashibi village or no Shoshan village Kashibi's the next one Just kidding ha ha So yeah, let us head over there mist. What is always nice? Go down this room. Where is it just here? Mm-hmm Yes Okay, where is he he is all the way over there. Oh this one. I remember this one I don't like this place. This place is kind of weird Yeah, let's hit on over though didn't Patience young wizard there are solutions to all things we shall make the water pure again The path set before us is a difficult one But we must still follow it the health of the emperor and of all living things on Mooshu Depends on our actions the plague only a powerful demon has sickened our water and broken the jade scepter that purifies our shrines We can weaken the plague only by repairing the jade scepter This demon is an ancient enemy. I know its ways I have discovered the location of a piece of the jade scepter It was taken by mutineers who hide in the forest. Please retrieve this piece for us Mm-hmm Mutineers Where are they they are down here? Yeah, hello. Oh, they're myth. Okay Just take out some of these that we probably won't need Trigicards Kind of good Now they are good We'll do that. That's fine. I've got two. That's good Mm-hmm. Let's see 675 well, I mean blade and kill question mark maybe blade and vampire dick help possibly Hopefully hopefully hopefully As though that's good Six seven five can we do six seven five? I think we can Find out though Nope. We did not quite do six seven five We know for next time though. I mean we just need to tap them. So that's cool Six five no Oh One down one to go.  We'll blade and then skeletal pirate action. I will blade and then um and then rave just for fun because we can So, yeah, that's cool No, which is good All right 150 I hope 1,021 that is amazing. There we go Please be done Yeah, we did it Yeah, we did it.  We now have the handle of the Jade Scepter. I I Consulted the ancient texts once more they mentioned Koto at the end of the path It is likely the plague only gave Koto a piece of the Jade Scepter for safety as a faithful subject of the plague only He won't part with his piece easily therefore you must defeat him to get the second piece of the Jade Scepter Okay Koto He's a wee way away. I'll be back when I'm at Koto. Okay.  So, you know, that's cool we'll put in a couple of faint and a couple of blade and we will Basically do this. I think that should be good Let's go Okay six hundred and seventy-five Well, I'll do We'll do that. I hope to kill We should do a bit of damage We may not kill, but I just want him dead Because he is kind of annoying 100 that's cool. Don't do don't don't Blah There we go, he's got one health one health How that is not fear at all one health by by 93 I want to get that tower shield off Want to do that kind of soon, but unfortunately it's not letting me so I'm just gonna do this Just because I can Just to get that tower shield off If I had to have the poison I would have done that, but you know, that's fine Okay Go 311 that's pretty good Or a tower shield in the blade. That's pretty good Do Yeah That'd be fine. We'll blade and then we'll faint next and then we'll hurt hopefully Just kidding. We won't faint now Just to ensure kill. Oh, we've got that. That's cool. I'm just gonna pass. He's gonna tower shield. Nope He's gonna pass. Okay, I mean we might as well Just go for it Boop Three five seven not too bad One two seven you collect the shaft of the Jade scepter Okay Let's head back to a din ho See what he says about this We have done. Well, this is the shaft of the Jade scepter only one piece remains missing As for the last piece I am uncertain of its location the texts are unclear to me But I do know that subjects of the plague only live in the huts around this area. Perhaps they had the last piece Kindly go and search the huts for the remaining piece of the Jade scepter. Okay Let us go to the first one Just right here If I have to fight them in here, that would be bad. I'm not gonna be happy about that Don't think we do but we'll find out Siduals are so long Three two one, but there we go Yep, we got to go to them. Let's see if this works. Otherwise, I'll be back in a sec. It does. Okay, cool That's cool I'll be back once I've got being to all of the huts You are attacked my sincerest apologies wizard I led you into danger through my error It is times like these when I realized that my faith is being put to the test I Here to send you into danger again, so let me know if you would like to proceed There is a pagoda of significance to the plague only near Benoit We may be able to find information about the whereabouts of the last piece there If you are willing go there and tell me what you can find concerning the missing piece of the Jade scepter Okay, I'll be back when I'm at the the pagoda Dare to test your mind on me.  I think Didn't get a powerpup, which is good. We will use that for a faint I Don't have enough we will just pass another round might as well At least that gets that trap off Before it does anything too dangerous Boop Okay, no fuzzle that's great pull one seven three five. He is Definitely dead I think There we go a note on the ground reads good work on getting me the headpiece Let's head back to a dinner. Oh, I am relieved that you have returned safely and with good news I was worried that I had sent you into harm's way needlessly. I should not have doubted the great mooder Can I go as a formidable opponent, but we can surprise him in his pagoda He will not be expecting you to find him go there and get the remaining piece of the Jade scepter from him Okay, I'll be back once I'm at can I go huh?  You will never have the Jade scepter while I still stand Okay, I'm back. Let us do this Hopefully we should be fine. Yeah, we should be fine cool. Let's go back. We'll just do what we did last time. I think Do that and then we'll hit with a enchanted Yeah enchanted vampire to kill 76 Wow so much damage And Okay, that is a solid 93 damage Got the hiccups. They're not good should have probably discovered the poison. Oh, well It's fine. Let's do that. He should be dead.   So it's fine We will faint and then we will blade and then we will hit and then we will be great I'll probably use wraith again. Just Maybe actually no, maybe skeletal pirate and then the vampire that might actually work well. Yeah Skeletal pirate vampire, I think I'm gonna do that Yeah, just because kind of He's kind of got a bit of health 1,700. I think it was is it? Yeah Yeah That was right about that We'll just cut you and we'll just cut you Just because poison is kind of annoying just because we have to wait forever for Yeah, so I mean we'll just play it again Just just for when we hit Skum what's this gonna be? Oh, I thought it was actually gonna be like a hit like lightning bets, but nope Dun-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-n Storm shock nope lightning bands now he does it okay Okay, three two eight that's quite a bit of damage actually Oh There we go, he's dead didn't even need the vampire found the headpiece Okay, let us I didn't leave a mark of course not I'll be back when I met dinho. Okay. I am at back This headpiece you retrieved is the most important part of the Jade scepter. I hope we can repair all of it soon In ancient times the Jade scepter was blessed by the forest spirits Ancient spirits they hold sway over the earth water and air spirits We will need the help of these venerable forest spirits to do so We must first catch their attention with offerings of Jade Lotus Tiger Lily and Pearl Horkett Okay, please gather these flowers and bring them back to me If we go near entrance I know there's usually there's a pearl or There's usually some stuff around here, I know that for sure Actually wait a second. Is there a oyster here? No Villages, sorry. No not one in cave of solitude. That's kind of cool Tiger Lily Just need the Jade Lotus which is right usually. No, maybe it isn't that it's unfortunate Hum Where's the Jade Lotus? I know there's I've seen Jade Lotus. There's one. Yeah, no It's all around the same area if you go to the entrance I knew that from memory just because I've done this a couple of times already Yeah, so that's cool This splits a scary, but there's all here again interesting. That's quite a cool one all spawned in This purchase or nine and in her hello Wonderful what a fragrant display the forest spirits will be pleased Now gather up the flowers along with the three pieces of the Jade Scepter and place them all into the brazier at the center of the cave Hopefully the forest spirits will hear your prayer.  Hit on down Let's actually this way good to know and it's just over here not too far away at all You receive the Jade Scepter, okay, and I'm too lazy. Yes, I know Merciful mooder, I thought perhaps the Jade Scepter would be lost from us forever But here it is. I see that I must learn to quiet my doubts With the Jade Scepter we can now begin to restore our shrines Please carry the Jade Scepter back to Sun Heng and tell him about all you've done here Okay Let us back to Sun Heng and I'll be back when I am there because it is away away away Okay, I am back You have the Jade Scepter Thank the mooder The Jade Scepter and talk to to luck quo at the Kashibi village He's the caretaker of our holy shrines if we want to weaken the plague only we need to restore the shrines to their former glory To luck quo is the one to contact about such a thing Okay, next episode we will head over into the Kashibi village So, yeah, thank you for watching remember to leave a like and subscribe and if you're very subscribed Press the wee little bell sooner exactly when I post another video Go follow us on Twitter links in description below and remember craft outside the box


Hi everyone, Sean with jaspyscasebreaks.com here doing random number block randomizer for the 2020 playbook eight box pick your team. Number two random number lock chargers packers eagles rams and patriots. Here is our customer list from Randy Lou down to Tom judge and last spot mojo. And our numbers from zero down to nine random number locks work all 10 spots in format random number block. Every spot gets a random number for the break zero through nine if you get the number three you'll get all cards for the teams included below with the three being the first number next to the slash on the left side of the slash. So for example the card is 243 out of 299, 13 and 99, 3 out of 25, 43 out of 49, 93 on 99 and so on. Number three we'll get the card all redemption cards will go to the zero spot. Even if it is a known one of one redemption it will still go to the zero spot any number non numbered cards are randomized to the group. I don't know if there are non numbered cards in this this year I think it's all relics and autos. So I don't think there's anything not numbered but we'll find out. Here is our like I said customer list and numbers dice roll to randomize both lists and pair them up two and a six eight times. Yeah all the good stuff. Eight and final time from Robert Ronkel down to Nicholas Villesignore and two and a six eight times on the eight times there on the numbers. Eight and final time from three down to seven. So eight times on the randomizer, eight times on the dice. Robert Ronkel with three, one and zero. Fwad Kori with five. Tom Judge last spot mojo with nine. Robert Ronkel with six. Mitchell Emerson with eight. Robert Ronkel with four. Randy Lew at two and Nicholas Villesignore with seven. So let's sort this by number. Robert Ronkel with zero and one so zero obviously gets any a dollar redemptions including one of one redemptions but since he has the one he'll get any in person one of ones anyways. So there you go. So that is the random number block randomizer for the Chargers, Packers, Rams, Eagles and Patriots. There you go. 2020 Playbook, eight box pick your team number two. Coming up next I'm Sean Jaspyscasebreaks.com. Thanks for hanging out. We'll see you next time.


Hello everyone, great to see you! As you're probably aware, Canada just legalized cannabis. As residents of this country, the Spirit Science crew felt that there was no better time for us to open up and talk about cannabis and its influence in our lives and the world. Truth is, for a really long time I found it difficult to discuss cannabis and other types of psychoactive plants, because they're illegal! So I often kept the conversation on the down low, choosing to focus on other things with Spirit Science. However, it's such an important conversation, because cannabis can serve as a powerful bridge between spirituality and science, or experience and measurement. Now there is a brilliant man named David Schmader, who recently did a TED talk called Stoner's Coming Out, which sets the stage for this conversation in a really articulate way. Have you ever really looked at your hand? I tell that joke because according to lore, people high on marijuana are amazed by their limbs, often while slow-motion, speed-eating Doritos in their parents' basement. I hate this joke because it invokes a stereotype that is reductive at best, and supports a system of diabolical lies at worst. But I'm getting ahead of myself. My name is David Schmader, and I am a pothead. By this I mean that when it comes time to enjoy an adult intoxicant, I will forego beer, wine and spirits in favor of marijuana, which for me offers a world of nuanced delight and inspiration beyond the more crude effects of booze. But I am not here to proselytize, and for a long time I kept quiet about my own enjoyment of weed. It was illegal for most of the time I was enjoying it, and why make myself vulnerable as an out-and-proud lawbreaker if I didn't have to. I also dreaded being saddled with the stoner stereotype of having my every move interpreted through the lens of pothead. So what if I used weed not to escape, but to engage with art and ideas and food and dogs and hilariously terrible movies? I was but one man, and I couldn't reconfigure society's image of the pothead all by myself. This talk is relevant for several reasons. The first is that now that cannabis is becoming legalized, we have to change and evolve our stereotypes and our understanding of what it is, which is one of the purposes of this very Spirit Science episode. The other thing he mentioned, though, about using cannabis to engage with art and ideas and what have you, is something I want to bring our focus to. This concept I recently heard elsewhere, but in an entirely different way. It was the scientist Dr. Alan Leitman who said something very similar in a debate that he had with Richard Dawkins. This will probably seem unrelated at first, but I promise we'll bring it back around. And I lay down in the boat and looked up at the sky. And after a few minutes, I felt that I had dissolved into that star littered sky. I felt like I was falling into infinity. I felt like I was becoming part of the stars. My body disappeared, the boat disappeared. And the vast expanse of time from the long-distant past, long before I was born, to the long-distant future, long after I would be dead, that vast expanse of time seemed compressed to a dot. I felt like I was connected not only to the stars, but to all of nature and the entire cosmos. I felt emerging with something much bigger than myself. And after a while, I sat up and started the engine again. Well, I would imagine that many of you have had similar experiences. And I'll call it the transcendent experience. The transcendent experience cannot be understood quantitatively or logically. Only not in the manner in which a physicist can calculate how many seconds it will take a ball to hit the floor when dropped from a height of two meters. When I was lying in that boat and Maine looking up at the sky at night, you could have hooked up every one of my hundred billion neurons to a vast computer and gotten the electrical readout on every single one of them. And you still would not have remotely understood the feeling that I had. Ah, thank you, Alan. That was beautiful. Now, this had absolutely nothing to do with cannabis. I choose to share this with you today, though, because I believe it explains a beautiful phenomenon of life, a sense of quantum conscious engagement, where you experience something beyond yourself in a profound way. To bridge the spirit and the science, all we have to do is look to Dr. Carl Sagan. Most people don't know this, but this famous scientist was actually a closeted advocate for cannabis and its legalization, and spoke on it as something which helped him to better understand himself, art, music, and love making. This is how what Dr. Leitman said is relative to the cannabis conversation, because cannabis, while not really a psychedelic in the traditional sense, does offer an experience which can be deeply moving and powerfully healing, if used properly. Cannabis, in my view, is another of the great and powerful teacher plants. We cannot really argue that cannabis is a psychedelic, although at high dosages, particularly with individuals who are not experienced with cannabis, the experience is pretty close to a full on psychedelic experience. It can be. The natural world has been bounteous to us. It has provided us with, well, of course, all our food and clothing and everything comes out of nature, and has provided us with these substances that alter consciousness as well, which humanity has had a long relationship with. As a young patchling, the first time I ever used cannabis, it allowed me to fully relax and wind down, which really helped me during a time when I had a lot of built up anger from bullying and repression. Later on in life, cannabis was really the medicine I needed to have my first real transcendental experience, which to me felt exactly like the story that Alan Lightman just described. Ultimately, this experience is what eventually led to the creation of spirit science. Today, my heart sings with joy that we're socially allowed to talk about this out in the open without it feeling weird. It's a breath of fresh air. Let this video be the beginning of a thesis towards an examination of transcendental experiences, science, psychedelics, medicine, consciousness, and love. Throughout history, cannabis has been used in a multitude of ways in our lives. It produces food, fabric, clothing, paper, cosmetics, paints, biofuels, and building materials, and that's not even counting its variety of uses as a medicine or its value as a spiritual tool. The use of cannabis goes back thousands of years and is one of the oldest plant medicines in recorded history, with evidence of it being used in 8,000 BCE and signs that we grew it as a crop as early as 5,000 BCE. Many theorists, Carl Sagan included, used this to suggest that it might have been the original plant we ever started growing at the birth of agriculture. The use of cannabis can basically be followed by the spread of Indo-European language, and we're talking about the root language of French, German, English, Sanskrit, wherever it goes. As soon as it's there, it starts taking on new names, the Giver of Delights, the End of Sorrow, the Gift, the Secret, all these different names start coming into play. In ancient China, a non-psychoactive strain of cannabis sativa, also known as industrial hemp, was grown for its medicinal and practical properties. In ancient India, cannabis indica was grown and written about for its transcendent effects. It made its way through Egypt, and it was grown throughout the rise of Europe. In fact, when European settlers came to the Americas, it was grown for the conquest and expansion of the American Empire. Even George Washington grew it, like it was so important to the developing United States that they actually put it on their $10 bill. That stuff they're farming? That's cannabis sativa! So how did it become illegal? In a word, racism. In a few words, racism and control. In the early 1900s, an influx of Mexican immigrants came to the US. With them came the practice of smoking cannabis recreationally, and it took off. Many early prejudices against cannabis were really just thinly veiled racist fears of its smokers, often made worse by reactionary newspapers such as those owned by the Hearst chain. The African American community also began to pick up on cannabis, so that reinforced this racial fear, feeding into the stereotype that was used to make it illegal in the 1930s. Now, this is where our story gets interesting, and even a bit scandalous. To be clear, many cannabis historians have written about this, but it is a historical theory, as there are some parts which are difficult to prove. The story goes that in the early 1900s, there was a large industry that was rapidly emerging in America, cars. This industry required a lot of different parts to produce, metals, fabrics, rubbers, etc. Now, enter a man named Andrew Mellon. He was the US Secretary of Treasury, who also happened to be the head of Mellon Bank. It is believed that Mellon Bank had a large investment in Dupont Petrochemical, and helped them to acquire General Motors, the makers of cars. At that time, Dupont was also involved with the development of nylon, a synthetic fiber made from fossil fuels. The story says that Andrew Mellon saw an opportunity for his monopoly to grow, but also saw that cannabis hemp, being so useful, could take business away from Dupont, making a lot of different materials needed for these cars. So he got a job for his nephew-in-law, Harry Anzlinger, who took the lead position of the Department of Prohibition in Washington, D.C. in 1929. However, the prohibition of alcohol was a disaster, ending only 13 years after it began. Anzlinger then found himself in charge of a huge government department that had nothing to do. Up until that point, he had said that cannabis didn't harm people or make people violent. But then, suddenly, when his department needed a new purpose, Anzlinger announced that he had changed his mind. Keep in mind, a lot of people in power back then were deeply racist people. The government began putting out outrageous, racist, and derogatory claims, such as that cannabis made men of color try to solicit sex from white women, and that it caused you to fall into a delirious rage, eventually making you go insane.  This created tremendous fear and hate towards both cannabis and ethnic minorities. Cannabis was made illegal, and it remained this way for a very long time. Now, right around the time that this whole thing happened, DuPont filed its patent on nylon, and this synthetic fiber took over a large part of the textile and cordage markets that otherwise would have gone to the hemp industry. More than half the American cars on the road were built by GM, which DuPont had massive shares in at the time, and they began producing all of the products, varnishes, plastics, and rubbers for these cars, all of which could have been made by hemp. For the record, yes, hemp, plastic, and hemp rubber are very real and very useful. In fact, Henry Ford made an entire car out of hemp. And finally, all GM cars would subsequently be designed to use tetraethyl- leaded fuel exclusively, which contained additives that DuPont manufactured. It's interesting because the original diesel engine was designed to run off of vegetable and seed oils, and hemp was at the top of that list. Now, I ask that we look at the story with speculation and scrutiny, because there's probably a ton of information that we don't yet have, and there are also those who claim that this is all just a fanciful story and nothing more.  Stigma around cannabis only got worse from there. In the 1970s, the Controlled Substances Act was established, which put cannabis into the most restrictive category, Schedule 1, which is said to be highly addictive with no medicinal value. There was a bipartisan commission in 1973 to decriminalize cannabis, but Richard Nixon denied the bill and started the war on drugs instead, essentially to bully political enemies and continue the discrimination. John Ehrlichman, the White House domestic affairs advisor between 1969 and 1973, is quoted as saying, We knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either against the war or black. But by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did. Ahhhh. Fast forward to today. One of the biggest reasons for cannabis finally returning to legalized status is largely thanks to the influence of the internet and its ability to spread information swiftly around the world. An overwhelming quantity and quality of medical studies have now reached the minds of millions. These studies have demonstrated that cannabis has tremendous medicinal value and is significantly less harmful and addictive than other legal substances such as alcohol and tobacco. Unlike alcohol and tobacco, which have death tolls of roughly 88,000 and 480,000 people per year, cannabis has actually never killed anyone. However, it's important to know that the studies have also found that when smoked heavily every single day, you're more likely to have a poor verbal memory compared to those who smoke less, or not at all. Much like tobacco, inhaling any smoke is carcinogenic, and cannabis smoke is no different. This smoke, especially in large quantities, can lead to lung health problems throughout one's life. Ultimately, overuse or abuse of cannabis or anything can lead to negative outcomes. When participating in something that changes your mental state, there is the potential that you might think or behave differently than you normally do, which could be fun or not. Anyways, getting into the medicine. Beginning in 1974, researchers at the Medical College of Virginia learned that medical cannabis was able to shrink brain tumors in rats. This study was very much overlooked by the Nixon administration, and since then, the world has seen more and more studies coming out showing the benefits of cannabis. Here are just a few quotes from a scientific publication called The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids, written in 2017. There is substantial evidence that cannabis is an effective treatment for chronic pain in adults. There is conclusive evidence that oral cannabinoids are effective antiemetics in the treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. There is substantial evidence that oral cannabinoids are an effective treatment for improving patient-reported multiple sclerosis spasticity symptoms. The Cannabome Medical Clinic has cited that the 10 most common conditions that medical cannabis is prescribed for are multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, spinal cord disease, cancer, HIV and AIDS, arthritis, epilepsy, inflammatory bowel disease, end of life care, and insomnia. The United Patients Group, a company dedicated to offering education about and supporting medical cannabis use, has listed over 150 different diseases and illnesses that have been effectively treated with medical cannabis. Now, this company does say, though, not to self-diagnose, but instead recommends speaking with an open-minded physician to see if cannabis is a good fit to improve the specific condition that you're dealing with. Now, if cannabis can really help with all of these diseases and illnesses, what exactly is it in the plant that has such healing properties? In the composition of cannabis, there are hundreds of chemical compounds that act upon the various receptors throughout the brain and body. At least 100 of these compounds are called cannabinoids, and two of the most commonly discussed ones are CBD and THC. Interestingly enough, our own bodies actually produce their own cannabinoids through our endocannabinoid system, which is why we have receptors for them in the first place. CBD, short for cannabidiol, is one of the leading reasons for the healing effects of cannabis. CBD does not get you high, but instead causes therapeutic actions through more indirect means in the body by influencing the body to use its own endocannabinoid system more effectively. Because of this, it is known to be a promising potential therapy for many different things, including epilepsy, MS, ALS, Parkinson's, Acne, diabetes, ADHD, and so much more. Personal trainer and podcast host Ben Greenfield has been using this plant to aid in his highly competitive sports lifestyle. And I initially found cannabis, and frankly, CBD, not even THC, to be useful for that. I began microdosing with smaller amounts prior to workouts. CBD is an interesting molecule in that there's a host of research now on not just the relaxation and the anti-inflammatory effects, but also the beneficial hormonal effects, the beneficial effects on muscle response to training, the beneficial effects on everything from testosterone to a slight increase in fat mobilization to all sorts of things that serve an athlete well. When you look at something like off-season use of cannabis, I began to realize that THC, a more psychoactive component, is actually something that served me quite well for writing and for creativity. And so I would say that from a creative production standpoint, I've found that both micro and admittedly, macro dosing with THC has been something that's been really helpful in that regard. Cannabis, in my opinion, can be used as a performance enhancing drug. It tends to help me elicit flow states more readily, kind of calms my mind, helps me relax, but the mental clarity that really comes from it is probably why I microdose anything is for that mental clarity, really getting out of my own way, stopping the self-judgment, stopping the self-criticism. Those are really my biggest barriers. Flow states are spoken about intensively from Steven Kotler and Jamie Weill's books, The Rise of Superman and Stealing Fire. They are typified by the zone that athletes, dancers, musicians, and even meditators find themselves in when the task they're performing becomes effortless, time slows down, analysis goes quiet, and intuition guides each decision. And though these flow states can be brought on simply through mental discipline or breathing techniques, another reliable way is through microdosing psychedelic plants. Many of the medical benefits of cannabis are attributed to CBD. And while CBD does relieve certain negative symptoms, what scientists are now discovering is that another characteristic of cannabis also contributes to the healing properties of this plant. This characteristic is called the entourage effect, a phenomenon where the multitude of compounds inside of cannabis synergistically work together to create a healing effect throughout the body. In other words, it's the sum of its parts that makes cannabis so effective. Now, as mentioned, the other most common cannabinoid is THC, which stands for tetrahydrocannabinol. This is the chemical responsible for most of the easily noticeable effects of cannabis, including that euphoric high. THC resembles another cannabinoid which is naturally produced in our bodies called anandamide, which regulates mood, sleep, memory, and appetite. THC and anandamide bind to the receptors in our brains. In the natural sense, once the receptors in our brains fire, they take a rest before firing again. But when THC binds to our neural receptors, it allows our neurons to turn on and remain that way, for usually between two to eight hours, depending on the method of ingestion. The most common way of consuming cannabis is by smoking it. However, it is often vaporized or made into edible treats. The benefit that people like about this neuronic effect is that it opens up your ability to think very expansive and deep thoughts. This can bring about epiphanies, moving experiences, and ultimately a magnification of whatever is going on within and around you, as it's happening in real time. The experience is also affected by the type of cannabis that you consume, sativa or indica. Sativas are grown in tropical climates, are very tall, and have thinner leaves. These plants generally have more THC content, giving you a cerebral head buzz, more alertness, and creative flow. Indicas, on the other hand, are grown in subtropical climates, are not as tall, and have wider leaves. These plants generally have a higher CBD ratio and provide you with help relaxing your muscles, aiding in pain relief, and all around reducing stress. But it's not all sun shines and rainbows because in large quantities, cannabis can affect one's psyche negatively. Cannabis has been known to affect memory in the brain and can also make you potentially more lazy, especially when used in large quantities. Further, you may on occasion find yourself magnifying into something that's uncomfortable or strange, and this can cause you to feel paranoia, anxiety, and potentially nausea. Cannabis does not make you go insane, but, well, Kerskisacht explains it really well. A study from Britain found that while marijuana use has risen significantly between 1996 and 2005, the number of schizophrenia cases, a type of psychosis, remained stable. The risk of marijuana-induced psychosis remains the highest for people who already have a high risk of psychosis to begin with. For them, it seems more likely that marijuana speeds up the development of their condition rather than causing it, as far as we know right now. To go back to what Alan Lightman said in the beginning about measurement and experience, I believe that this concept directly applies here as well. See, you can actively measure what happens in the brain and body when high on cannabis, and yet, the quantitative data won't really come close to describing the qualitative experience. Further, the experience elicited from cannabis will be affected by the setting in which it's ingested, and the intention of why a person is ingesting it to begin with. When using cannabis with the intention of having a transcendent experience, we can effectively use cannabis to facilitate states of higher cognitive function, deeper understanding, spiritual development, and a more open connection with others. Remember, though, simply smoking cannabis does not necessarily cause one to have a transcendent experience. Instead, your consciousness has to direct the focus and let go in order for this to occur. Let me be very clear, though. Cannabis is not a requirement in order to have a transcendent experience. It's simply one of a multitude of ways by which this can happen. The best way to use cannabis in this way is to combine it with meditation, yoga, or being in nature. Intention is one of the biggest things that I believe can help us bridge the gap between science and spiritual or transcendent experiences, because these cosmic experiences we have in life are essentially exclusive to us. We can share what we've learned and evolve our personalities and values from these experiences, but that's what they are, personal experiences. Sure, we can measure the brain scans with graphs and charts, but we personally measure them by how meaningful they were to us inside. Cannabis is much more, in my opinion, about sensual experience, about realizing the full potential of our sensuality. And when I say sensuality, I don't only mean sex, I'm also talking about appreciation of food, appreciation of music, stuff that our ears and our eyes have been shut off to. Suddenly it comes in and we realize what majesty we live amongst. The World Drug Report in 2014 said that cannabis is, on average, used by one in seven Americans regularly. As cannabis becomes more and more available and socially acceptable in the world, it's up to all of us to be mindful and practice responsible use. Daniel McQueen founded Medisimal Mindfulness, which specializes in the spiritual and therapeutic application of psychedelics or breathing techniques in the Boulder, Colorado area. Well, in regards to set and setting with cannabis, we bring in a gratitude prayer when we imbibe the medicine and we sit in a circle. And we're calling in energies and ways of being that support psychedelic journey work. And this is far from, like, the exact opposite extreme of recreational use or unconscious use or habitual use. And we're not just sitting there feeling stoned or blissed out, that there's some real significant psychological, spiritual and energetically healing and life-transforming occurrences happening in the psyche and in the body. And we turn towards those experiences instead of using the medicine to check out from those experiences. By creating a healing intention or a safe space to enter deeply mystical realms, circles such as these are dismantling the negative stereotypes and calling in a revival of ancient ceremonial use of this plant. We can consider that example as one of the higher levels of what cannabis can be used for, but let's be real. There is a wide variety of ways that humanity does things here on Earth and cannabis culture also has some bigger concerns we have to face. One of the biggest discussions is actually about how it affects kids, one of the largest groups of people smoking cannabis today. As we know, cannabis affects memory and learning. So how does this affect developing brains? Researchers in this field are finding that younger people should be careful and mindful about cannabis. Long-term characteristics of heavy cannabis use include finding it harder to learn and remember new information. It can also lead to a reduced ability to focus one's attention, be organized and make decisions. Cannabis can also lead to a loss of motivation, which is where that stoner stereotype comes from. These effects can become more permanent if heavy cannabis use takes place while the brain is still developing. There is also a lot of concern in society about cannabis as it relates to poverty and addiction. Now, the good news about the conversation is that cannabis itself is not the cause of poverty or addiction. But the downside here is that it does have the potential to be treated as an addictive drug and there are people who use it this way. This can create a dependence if we don't regulate our use. I think the biggest lesson here is that we need to learn to take care of each other and solve the core reasons for poverty and addiction in the first place, which has to do with our connection to each other and building societal systems to make life better for everyone. Speaking of which, there's another aspect of cannabis that simply must be addressed. And if recreational marijuana is ever to be a truly guilt-free pleasure, we need to rectify our nation's potlots and do right by those whose lives were ruined by draconian war on drugs sentencing. Moving forward through the darker side of cannabis, earlier we mentioned that paranoia and anxiety is an aspect of cannabis. Though we should be clear that it's not really the plant's fault, cannabis magnifies something within or around you that causes you to experience these uncomfortable thoughts and feelings. So the environment and your own inner wellbeing also play a part in your cannabis experience. Further, the quantity and quality of cannabis that you consume will also affect the experience that you have. On the topic of quality, there is another aspect of cannabis that we need to be aware of, which is something that happened in Colorado when they legalized cannabis. In fact, I was recently talking to a buddy who had just left a job at a commercial grow operation because he was so concerned with the chemicals that he was being asked to interact with. Some of his fellow employees were actually encouraged to wear hazmat suits while they were spraying their chemical cocktails on the plants. With that kind of manipulation, the products that are being sold today can contain above 30% THC. And our concentrates, our concentrates can actually contain above 95% THC, a far cry from the natural plant. If you've ever set foot inside one of the thousands of dispensaries that have sprung up in recent years, you know that what we're really selling in them is THC. All of the weed that you buy commercially lists exactly how much THC it contains, as do our other much more popular products like vape pens, coffee, ice cream, condiments, granola, gum, candy, baked goods, suppositories, pretty much anything that you can imagine introducing into the human body. The vast majority of cannabis that's being sold today, it isn't really cannabis. It's THC in either a pure form or in an extremely high in unnatural concentration. To say that we have legalized weed as subtly misleading, we have commercialized THC. Remember, in order to truly get all of the benefits of cannabis, you need the entire entourage effect, not just one cannabinoid, no matter how high it gets you. Further, the use of pesticides while growing cannabis and all of our food really is a problem.  If you don't know specifically where and how your cannabis has grown, it's probably recommended that you grow your own. Hey, then you could even trade your buds with your buds. Huh, kind of as if they were Pokemon. Ultimately, the legalization of cannabis in Canada is only the beginning of a huge global conversation about consciousness, mind, and reality. We know very well the damaging effects of substances like heroin and meth, and now we are starting to realize that not all methods of altering one's perception has to be scary if we're willing to take the time to understand them, address the risk, and use them properly. If we can learn to use the plants of the earth with love and to the benefit of mankind, they will continue to support us in our conscious evolution. Thank you so very much for watching, and we'll see you again real soon. Hey, if you liked this video, please consider dropping a like or a sub. Super special thanks to David Schmader, Alan Lightman, and Ben Court for the astounding presentations that they gave. We'd also love to thank Adam Ruins Everything, Chris Gissog, and Gaia for producing incredible videos about these subjects that helped us with our research. If you're curious to learn more about other psychedelic plants, we especially recommend watching Gaia's entire Psychedelica series, which covers this information with incredible depth. We highly recommend watching the full-length videos of everything we've shared clips from, and you'll find links in the author comments below. There's tons of information about this subject right now, more than ever. So please do your own research and share what you find in the comments below. As well as a mega special thanks to all of the other sources we've listed throughout this video. As a final word, Solar Plexus Spirit Shirts are now available on the Spirit Science Central Shop. These are organic, handmade, crystal-infused chakra shirts made with love just for you. New batches are produced monthly, so if we don't have your size in stock, we'll custom print you a shirt and send it to you the moment it's ready.