Alive and Free - podcast cover

Alive and Free

It's time to rip the cover off what really works to finally ditch stress, anxiety, anger, addiction, depression, past trauma, chronic pain, and all other kinds of human suffering. No, not just relief, recovery, comfort, healing, or sobriety. We're talking the F word here — freedom — Happiness and well-being on autopilot. My team and I will share straight from the trenches what we've learned from using a non-therapy, body-based approach to leave our own struggles behind while also coaching thousands of others to do the same. And since these are often such heavy topics, we’re gonna get a bit irreverent and have a good time while we're at it. Because, despite what you may have been told, real freedom never involves a fight.
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Episodes

On Your Nerves

Today we’re talking a little about an experience we had with the human nervous system. Maybe we’ll get on somebody’s nerves a little, maybe not. Have a listen. Highlights: This whole collection of nerves is providing your human experience. (4:15) Even as he’s dead, he treats him with the utmost respect. (13:00) The identification of one’s self with the body, on one level, creates a possibility for experience, but on another level, it creates a trap inside that experience. (29:30) The whole nervo...

Jan 04, 202435 minEp. 231

Eat Food

With all the clamoring voices declaring the latest health fads and superfoods, so many of which seem to be in contradiction to each other, how is one to know what to do? Do we follow the simple advice of Michael Pollan (Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.)? Or do we micro measure every morsel for optimum productivity and neurological function? Lots to discuss, and, as always, with an eye to making things simpler. Have a listen. Highlights: Nowadays you can walk into almost anywhere and see th...

Dec 28, 202345 minEp. 230

Holiday or Hellidays?

With the crazy season upon us, don’t let that be something to take the happiness away. So many people feel they have more responsibility and expectations on them because of the chaos of holidays. Today we’ll talk about that more. Have a listen. Highlights: Everybody has expectations for a holiday when they don’t have expectations for an average Tuesday. (2:50) With traditions, is this the kind of experience that you want to have, or are you just putting yourself on autopilot and trying to knuckl...

Dec 21, 202342 minEp. 229

Uncompromising Intimacy (w/ Alexandra Stockwell, MD)

I periodically get people asking me if we do couples' counseling. While we have worked with a number of couples, it's usually one at a time. So I decided to bring on a guest whose approach to bringing what she calls "everyday eroticism" into a marriage that still has to wash the dishes and get the kids off to school, might just be what turns the tides for you. Alexandra Stockwell, MD, is an author, physician, and personal coach turned relationship guide and is here to share her wisdom. Have a li...

Dec 14, 202351 minEp. 228

The Fast Episode

Fasting isn't the hungry problem that I always thought it was growing up. Although the hunger may set in at some point, it isn't a "no pain, no gain" situation. Today, we'll talk about that more. Have a listen. Highlights: Even though I felt great, there was nothing to show a breakthrough. (11:30) What if fasting is a gift to my body to finally allow it to go through its full cycle? (14:40) Everybody’s talking about a painful death, but your body is designed to make that not happen, if at all po...

Dec 07, 202345 minEp. 227

Faith as Focus

What is faith? Inside of all the confusing definitions, descriptions and depictions, let’s look at faith as focus. Let’s see faith as where you put your attention. Today, we’ll talk about that a little more. Have a listen Highlights: People ask where is god in this and the response is where do you want him to be in this? Let him be everywhere. Why does he need to be in one little pocket. (2:00) If your focus shifts, that doesn’t mean you lack faith, it just means that you’re interested in someth...

Nov 30, 202328 minEp. 226

Commitment to Freedom

Throughout the years, the biggest ingredient I've found that determines whether a person finds freedom or not is what I'll call "commitment". Not commitment in the sense of making promises, but a drive to "make this work". That drive is what led me to my own freedom. It's not the only ingredient, but definitely one of the biggest players. So let's look at it. Could it possibly be that the main reason we fail is because we are more committed to our story, our comforts, our victimhood, our traumas...

Nov 23, 202338 minEp. 225

Rehab Recon (Part 2)

Here comes the second half of Amber’s inside look at what really happens inside a good rehab center. This time, we’ll also discuss what else might help. Highlights: Your life was built to be you. A unique expression of life on this planet that has never been here before and never will be again. (4:00) Most people struggle not because they’re stupid and don’t understand something, but because the rest of their body hasn’t gotten it yet. (19:30) When you’re taking a medication, you’re inserting ch...

Nov 16, 202346 minEp. 224

Rehab Recon (Part 1)

Amber joins us today for an insider's look at what really goes on at a rehab center. From the schedule, to the therapy, to the classes, there’s lots to talk about, including why the success rates are as low as they are across the board and what can be done to turn that around. Have a listen. Highlights: So alcohol became an escape, and at a certain point it became a catastrophe. (6:40) Why is it called recreational therapy, why not just play ? (17:25) The thing I’ll say is that therapy got me th...

Nov 10, 202351 minEp. 223

Objections from the Pros?

Over the time that I have been building and running my business, there have been a good number of arguments made against me and why anything I do won't work. So, today we'll just run over a few of them. Have a listen. Highlights: Therapists consider it unethical to get peoples hopes up and say that it’s possible to get over depression and anxiety without medication. (7:25) People argue that I’m not a licensed therapist and I say, I know. Thats why I can do what I do. (10:10) Doctors are too busy...

Nov 02, 202332 minEp. 222

Your Bag of Tricks

Today lets talk about your bag of tricks. All these little tips and tricks that are available at anytime because they come from you. Go ahead, have a listen. Highlights: When people take bits and pieces from other material, sometimes they’re cobbling all the little pieces together and in the end they don’t get to enjoy that it’s not just a puzzle, but a picture also. (4:00) When you’re in the here and now, you do not experience anxiety. Anxiety is a future oriented thing. (7:10) Being so focused...

Oct 26, 202336 minEp. 221

Devil's Advocate

In spirit of upcoming Halloween, Lee is playing devil's advocate with some common questions that we get in mind. Have a listen. Highlights: It’s not uncommon for a human being to have assumed that because another person uses a word that their familiar with, that therefore they know everything about that word and subject and can pronounce their opinion on it. (3:15) Assuming that I have to understand your struggles in order for you to let them go is such a big misconception. (10:45) I don’t deny ...

Oct 19, 202341 minEp. 220

Built For Freedom For You

Today, Lee decides to air his opinions about The Freedom Specialist — "You were operating like a non-profit without any of the benefits of being a non-profit." It's what led us to actually create Built for Freedom as a non-profit to be able to offer help and support to people who aren't in a position to afford that on their own. If you'd like to join us in offering scholarships for those in need, you can donate here . Highlights: I didn’t realize that I knew something valuable, and when someone ...

Oct 12, 202334 minEp. 219

Conative Strengths

School is one example of a social institution where some people thrive and others tank. But what if that has more to do with the way it's set up than whether some students lack the ability to learn. This was Kathy Kolbe's connundrum. Dyslexic, dysgraphic, riddled with ADHD, and a female in the mid-twentieth century is not exactly a winning formula for success. But she was determined to scientifically prove equality. What she produced has been a tremendous asset in helping our clients learn how t...

Oct 05, 202337 minEp. 218

Dear Glucose

Are you really what you eat? Most of the research seems to point that direction. At least we can say that what you put in your body has an enormous effect on how you experience your life. Meet Glucose, that wonderful saccharine molecule that has a tendency to break down arterial walls and pump the pancreas for all of its insulin. It's the bad guy in so many diets. Yet when eaten after other foods, those foods often nullify the blood glucose spikes that are the hallmark of diabetes. Simply the or...

Sep 28, 202332 minEp. 217

The Spectra

What if we could look at a diagnoses not as limitations but as possibilities like many cultures have done over the millennia? People with multiple personalities have the ability to split their emotions and other changes in the body. Yes, I said an ability. Instead of thinking on diagnosis as a disorder. Maybe we can think of it as a strength. We’ll explore more of this today. Have a listen. Highlights: The difference between somebody with multiple personality disorder, and a normal person, is th...

Sep 21, 202329 minEp. 216

Question Everything???

As my dad battles his cancer, his doctors are prescribing him with more and more pain meds. But as they give him the substances to shut off his pain signals, they aren’t even questioning whether or not this is adding to the massive bowel obstruction seen on his CT scan. Nor are they even considering any option that is not a drug to alleviate his pain Yet I show up and give him simple things to do to ramp up his own internal pain killers. These are things "pain doctors" should know, but instead t...

Sep 14, 202341 minEp. 215

What Do I Do When...?

Let's get real about what it feels like when emotions and behaviors take over. When that happens, what do you do? Today we’ll also talk about questioning things. Not necessarily everything, but all the things that, when questioned, add up to a lot more freedom. Have a listen. Highlights: Question everything. If it’s helpful and useful to you, then question it. (14:00) In any conflict, there’s ten fights and nine of them are going on inside yourself. (21:25) If there’s somebody that’s saying “I’v...

Sep 07, 202332 minEp. 214

Is Angustia Sin?

Lee brought up the question “is angustia sin?” Angustia is the constriction brought by chemicals in the body from their experiences. Sin is something offencive against moral law. So when you experience something that is against your own morals and your own laws and you feel that disappointment, or that constriction, you feel angustia. Today we’ll explore that more. Have a listen. Highlights: The more experience and interaction there is with certain concepts, the more the brain can fine tune its ...

Aug 31, 202357 minEp. 213

Transformation Through Turmoil

As we get older and spend more time on this planet, we often create and experience what might be dubbed turmoils and trauma. But these aren’t always bad. These biologically intense experiences often create tensions, emotional patterns, and behaviors. As a result, we unwittingly change our instinctive reaction to life. But this doesn't always have to be an accident. Consciously creating those kinds of experiences while also deliberately redirecting the response in the body generated what might be...

Aug 24, 202332 minEp. 212

Movement as Medicine

As humans, we inevitably create tension patterns in our body from experiences we’ve had and the way we’ve lived. Those tension patterns can show up in all sorts of situations, from the way we talk, all the way down to the way we walk. Using new and different movement to mess with those tensions and put a “disturbance in the force” is a ridiculously simple method that can free us from these tensions. Those movements also have the added benefit of revealing all the other patterns we’ve created. We...

Aug 17, 202325 minEp. 211

Mindful Malfunctions

We all know that feeling when you’re watching a movie and you feel the stress and the tension just like the character on the screen. This is your body creating a tension pattern around something that you subconsciously enjoy. There are many things people do to control these states — like chants or meditations — but not all of these are beneficial. None are better or worse than others, but they aren’t always everything they are cracked up to be, despite the propaganda. Today we'll explore some th...

Aug 10, 202332 minEp. 210

Adults Ask & Tell The Truth

You know that feeling when you want to ask for something but you don’t want to seem weak or helpless? Or when you feel guilty because somebody else didn’t communicate clearly and you “let them down”? These are the times when we, as adults, forget that we can actually ask for things. We spend all out time telling our kids this, and yet often don’t do it ourselves. It might surprise you how freeing it is to ask for things — to "use our words" — instead expending all that energy in the constant che...

Jul 27, 202334 minEp. 209

Our Universe

People told me from the time I was little that the universe was created either by a big bang or by some outside, greater force. And (because I was little) I never really thought to question that. But what happens if, instead of just accepting every "fact" just because someone bigger or older says it's a fact, we take a second to pause and actually see if they are useful ways to see the world? That journey — allowing yourself to question everything that has been told to you — can sometimes feel s...

Jul 20, 202338 minEp. 208

How Rocks Are Made and Why It Matters

Sometimes we have these emotional rocks — literally, these are crystallized bits of ammonia, lactic acid, and other chemistry just sitting in our system. Leftovers from previous emotional soups run dry and not cleaned from the pot. Those "rocks" form because of the way your body instinctively responds at a molecular level to changes in your environment or situation. You might feel this as stress, ecstasy, anger, or even bliss, but what's really happening are that a bunch of neurons and cells are...

Jul 13, 202324 minEp. 207

The Breath of Life

A breath of fresh air is more than just the smell of trees, grass, and ozone? That one action is one of the fastest ways to mix up the chemistry in your body and create a completely different experience of life. It’s a very simple, direct, and even easy process at times. Because how you feel is directly tied to your internal chemistry. We had a client with anxiety who needed a change. Someone constantly anxious. Someone getting the creepy feeling like there were people in his house even when he ...

Jul 06, 202339 minEp. 206

Chasing the Carrot

What if the real answer to your situation is that there was never a problem? I mean that with things as small as “he took my toy” and as big as depression, anxiety, PTSD, and the like. It’s the radical, all-in-a-moment shift in perception that makes just about every problem vanish as quickly as it appeared. Without that, you end up endlessly chasing the next carrot and building an unpaid career in healing that never promises retirement. Nearly two decades training and teaching kung fu taught me ...

Jun 29, 202337 minEp. 205

Let The Body Learn It

Perry came to us as a videographer, not a client. He filmed retreats for us for 4 years until finally asking for some of the physical work we do to help him out. This is a guy who has run yoga retreats, explored all sorts of personal growth work, experienced a vast array of psychedelics, and deeply gets the link between the mind and the body. Yet still, he said afterward, “I thought I understood what you guys do, but I didn’t realize just how deep it was.” That’s what happens when you bypass the...

Jun 22, 202327 minEp. 204

Freedom Inside of Conflict

Here’s something that will make you challenge everything you believe you know: The real reason why there’s so much anxiety, or depression, or pain, or frustration, or stress, or fear, or anger in your life is NOT because something’s broken inside you. Or because something’s “wrong” with you. The real reason is because you probably never trained in conflict. So when conflict shows up, you do your best and exhibit the above emotions. And you know what? By training yourself in conflict, you can fig...

Jun 15, 202327 min

ADHD? Really?

Labels and diagnoses, from ADHD to codependency and every one in between, usually limits your potential. For example, I recently discovered that I probably have ADHD. But since I never labeled myself as ADHD or have gotten an official diagnosis that I have ADHD, it’s been a super power for me instead of a way to victimize myself. The problem is, most people don’t operate like this. They get labeled an addict, then falsely believe that they’re an addict forever. It strips the power from them inst...

Jun 08, 202333 min
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