¶ Introducing Ritam Studio
Hi Carla .
Hi Johnny .
So nice to have you with me on this podcast .
Can I call you babes ?
Let's , for the purpose of this podcast , call me Johnny .
Okay , it's very hard to sit next to your husband and call him by his name .
Yeah , when we refer to each other as babes , or maybe we just do call each other babes . No , I think it'll really annoy people . I'm going to call you Carla . Are you going to call me Johnny ?
Okay , so , carla , what I'd like to do for the One Giant Mind listeners is create some context for why we are now calling this podcast Ritam Studio , and then I would like to introduce you more deeply and tell a little bit of a story about what's been happening with us and where we're heading and all the exciting things that the followers of this podcast can
expect .
Okay , great .
So , as you may have heard already , the One Giant Mind podcast is now called Ritamstudio . Ritamstudio is the new project .
That is , a joint partnership with myself and Carla that combines our work and , as you heard in the intro , carla is a holistic physiotherapist that has her own movement system called chain movement , and I , as a meditation teacher and as a spiritual therapist working with the process called Veda therapy , have combined our work for what ? Eight years now ?
No longer Ten .
Ten years . What eight years ? Now no longer 10 .
10 years , and we've been experimenting over this decade with how to treat our clients with our respective work and then combine each other's work , and we have been so blown away at the quickening , the level of advancement and progress that our clients have made by being tag-teamed by us and I think it was probably five years into it we're like there's really
something to this , and as we've continued to develop , both as practitioners , as humans , as husband and wife , as parents , we have discovered a really beautiful , elegant system that we are now putting into the platform that we refer to as Ritam Studio , and what we want to do is share and teach this knowledge as far and wide as we possibly can .
Teach this knowledge as far and wide as we possibly can . So , with that all in mind , carla , I'd like to ask you a couple of questions about what it is that you were surprised about having the time to integrate the meditation piece into your work as a holistic physio .
So I think it's important to share that . We began working together before we were husband and wife and that started when I heard Johnny speak at a summit and he was the most articulate teacher on the stage who was able to answer people's questions in a really refined way that met them where they were at . And when I
¶ Client Transformation Through Combined Practices
heard him speak I immediately thought that he would be helpful for the clients that I was seeing , because treating the body is only one part of what I do and , as we'll speak about later , every physical ailment has a deeper emotional component to it and whilst I can unlock a lot of it with the movement , some people require deeper work on the emotional element
and I recognized Johnny would be able to do that and so started sharing clients with him after that first time hearing him speak , and the relationship grew to the point where we were constantly sharing clients because the change that we were seeing in them was not just a little bit better , it was so much better . It was such an exponential change .
They would look different , they were experiencing life in a different way . Their relationships changed . You know , it went just beyond . My body feels better to my whole life is better .
Yeah , and that was the same thing that I was noticing when I was referring my clients to Carla .
What would occur is just such a rapid capacity to process trauma that's held in the body and their ability to integrate the changes that they were making , the way they were able to break habits that were trying to break destructive behavioral patterns , cycles within relationships , and they would often attribute it to the moving they were still doing all of their
meditation therapy process . And when I included the movement piece , well , when Carla included the movement piece , it was so noticeable how quickly it expanded .
So we've both had an opportunity to observe this within our clients with the introduction of our respective work , and what we want this podcast to be is an opportunity to continue exploring , sharing really what we've discovered and what we continue to discover , but also the meat of our work .
We don't just want to talk about what we do , we want to actually be what we do in this podcast . So for many of you that have been listening to this podcast traditionally as One Giant Mind , the format in many episodes will remain the same mind , the format in many episodes will remain the same .
There will still be the Ask Johnny questions and we will continue rolling that out because we know that that has been really helpful .
But they'll be interlaced with episodes of me interviewing Carla about your process and really getting into the nuts and bolts , the nitty gritty of what you do and why it's so unique and why it's so different in the movement world , and then also to break out and provide insight into processes that we've discovered through the bringing together of our work .
And what we hope that it'll do is inspire you to want to level up in your own daily practice your own approach to your own personal development , to incorporate movement , if you haven't already , and to incorporate meditation , if you haven't already .
Now , we're aware that this podcast following is probably already meditation bias and meditation heavy , so we're going to introduce Carla and create some context for her work , more so in the first series , just so you can really understand why it's so important that meditation itself is not the silver bullet .
You really must have a movement practice to complement all the stuff that you're doing in your inner reality , and Carla is going to explain exactly how they correlate .
There is this beautiful confluence of the two disciplines where they meet in the middle to become one whole thing , and I practice all of Carla's stuff and Carla practices all of my stuff , so we really live and breathe and embody what it is we're sharing with you , and so we observe the transformation that happens in our own life as a result of practicing this .
And then we work with people all day long , teaching them what we practice for ourselves .
Johnny's been doing my classes once a week and maybe be helpful to the for the listeners for them to hear you speak about how integrating that into your meditation practice , the changes you've noticed .
Yeah . So you know , when we had
¶ New Podcast Format and Vision
our two children , I had to give up . Well , I didn't have to .
I chose to give up surfing because it takes like half a day .
Yes , give up surfing , because it takes like half a day . Yes , it can take a little while for me to find where the best ways are , but anyway I I chose to to um put surfing on pause just to be more present at home and , um , just to be more present with Carla , the kids , with parenting and with work . Surfing became a huge time sucker .
And so what I found was that my normal exercise regime kind of went out the window and I acquired the standard dad bod and put on some KGs . You know , I'm a year off 50 now , and so I only have to look at a burger to put on at least a kilo .
And so , you know , I put on a little bit of weight and sitting all day , a lot of the time with clients , you know , back can get sore , and what I quickly noticed is that my body started to really suffer .
I was in pain , I felt inflamed , I needed movement and it was very difficult for me to come to the conclusion that I needed a regimented , you know , daily discipline of movement . Psychologically it was very difficult for me .
I used to be a professional inline skater and all of my exercise was always just about , you know , putting on some skates or grabbing my board , jumping out in the surf and having some fun . It wasn't like exercise . And so to actually learn how to exercise for the sake of exercising was a big leap for me . And it wasn't until , you know , I think .
One day I looked in the mirror and I was like , oh geez , I'm a bit chubby and a bit stiff . And Carla was always very gracious to not over embellish it , but I think there was a period of time where she kind of would just come up and pinch my belly and give me a little wink . That was all it really took .
And so I said listen , I want to start taking your classes . At this stage Carla wasn't running her live classes , she was only pre-recording them . And I said why don't you start running some classes on Saturday ? We've got a beautiful studio space . And so she did said why don't you start running some classes on Saturday ? We've got a beautiful studio space .
And so she did . And people came , I started doing the class and , oh my goodness , honestly , within like three weeks of just doing it once a week , I noticed such a profound change in the strength of my body
¶ Johnny's Personal Movement Transformation
and the way my body moved and my body awareness . And then I started incorporating her classes a little bit more in the week , followed by some other things that she was prescribing . We have a Pilates reformer . I started getting into that and within a very short period of time , my body transformed . It was incredible .
I started shedding kilos and started getting very strong in all the ways that I wanted to my core . I started to understand what my core was , what it meant to stand correctly , to be in correct posture . I found my energy flowed . My consciousness was more easily expansive . I saw the pressure that I was creating in my system by not addressing my body .
It was something that I just normalized because it was a slow creep and as a result of introducing her stuff , which is really enjoyable , I actually enjoy going to her Saturday morning classes . I really look forward to it .
We've got an awesome crew of people that turn up every week and everyone's noticing Everyone growing their strength and their body shape , everything . It's just really , really fun .
Not growing in body shape .
No , we're growing . Yeah , we're growing , not in body size . Yeah , we're growing in strength . Yeah , that's a very good and the shape of their bodies are changing yeah , it's amazing , my body I didn't think at this age that in my body could respond to something so quickly and it does , it has .
So this is just another reason why and I feel great because of it . I feel really great because of it . And you know , we just want to share our stories and our experience .
Like that's just my own personal one , but the the , the stories that we have of our clients are incredibly compelling and over time , we're going to share those with you for the , for the sake of informing you , educating you , training you , but also inspiring you to really , you know , get on the mat and then on the cushion every day and do exactly what you
need to do in order to to rejuvenate , reinvigorate and build strength and evolution and expansiveness of awareness . So did I do that justice ?
Yeah , and I think , because you're mostly all meditators , the primary thing you're doing is expanding your awareness and I'm sure you've all noticed great changes in your life and relationships as a result of doing that .
And it's really to get you to take the next step , to bringing that awareness more deeply into your body , because how you hold your body and what your body holds , your body stores tensions and trauma from the past . That meditation is one aspect of opening your awareness to be able to heal those .
But when we move our body , we allow space for that tension or trauma or anything that's stored in the body to release , and it's the combining of the two . So , having the awareness , having the release and then how would you describe it , johnny ? Yeah well .
I would describe the chain movement system as therapeutic , Like you're not just coming to work out and get strong , You're coming to access parts of the body that have been trapped in movement patterns , that are trapped by the trauma .
When Carla cues you to move correctly , she causes you to break through those movement habits , those movement patterns , into correct patterns . And when you start accessing those correct patterns of movement , invariably what you remove and move is the energy that was holding you in those bad habits in the first place .
And so it's a common thing and I don't want to deter you here , but it's actually brilliant . You'll see somebody in a posture , in a movement sequence , and they'll start crying and something's being released . And all of this is totally fine
¶ The Chain Movement System Explained
in this class and it's a very safe held container . And I'm not saying everybody's bawling their eyes out in the class , it's not the case . But on the occasion you'll see somebody just having a really deep release , and there's a pretext for that and an encouragement to just allow that to happen in the class .
And as a result of doing this practice , people are becoming liberated from the energy that's stored in their hips , in their guts , in their back , in their neck , in their jaw , in their face throughout the whole system , and you know so perhaps just talk about why you've called it chain movement .
So the concept of a chain is ? It mirrors the interconnectedness of the body , where every part is linked and interdependent , so like as a single link in a chain can affect the entire structure , movement or restriction in one area of the body influences the whole system .
So this holistic perspective and calling it chain addresses how one part of the body , your mind or emotions can unlock patterns and restore harmony throughout the entire physical structure . Does that make sense .
Yeah , totally so , and that's very prevalent in the way that you run your classes and the way that you instruct us to move .
We start with your foot mapping , bringing our awareness from our feet all the way up through the top of our head , and there's a really elaborate process by which you get us in correct alignment and correct posture before we start the class and before we start moving .
And let's keep in mind that that alignment is not rigid . We establish it and then we're sustaining it through movement , but the movement is very rigid . We establish it and then we're sustaining it through movement , but the movement is very dynamic . The movement is very flowing , but you've established a base .
Particularly in your feet is the most important part that you are always connecting with and engaging with , and it's from that place that we are stimulating that whole chain that we just spoke about .
Hmm . And so for all you meditators , just to create some context here , place that we are stimulating that whole chain that we just spoke about . And so for all you meditators , just to create some context here , you know the one giant mind technique , vedic meditation , anything that is enabling the mind to transcend into being .
This is what we talk about often on this podcast podcast .
The context of this movement system is that it enables us to access , through motion , through movement , through awakening the physical body , a deeper embodied state and the ability to release deep stored energy , trauma , stress in the system , to create more space for the body's natural intelligence to align with our intuitive intelligence , where we unite the mind sensory
experience of ourself and the body sensory experience of ourself as one thing , and this is essential for moving into the next level of becoming your full self , and the whole Ritam Studio offering is just about this .
This is the sweet spot of how we bring these two together , and so the platform itself is an evolving thing , as color and eyes work is together , and what we're going to do over time is start creating programs that , based on what we're hearing and observing , through interacting with our offerings , we're going to evolve and iterate so they become more elegantly
expressive of this beautiful unification of mind and body , and what we're hoping with this podcast is to inspire you to come along on the journey with us . So , with all of that said , I'm so happy that we get to do this together , carla babes ,
¶ Joining the Ritam Studio Community
and I'm looking forward to sitting down with you in our next episode and diving in a little little bit deeper with all of our stuff . We we welcome all of your insights , your uh feedback on the podcast and also questions you might have for us so that we can uh riff on it in one of our episodes .
We'd like to invite you to join our newsletter at ritamstudio .
I'd like you to also go and explore the seven-day free transformation that we're offering on the website just to give you a taste of Carla's work and , at the very least , go to retimestudio and look at Carla's offering all the fundamentals of what she teaches for free on the website under chain movement .
You just go check out chain movement and there's a carousel there of like maybe 15 videos where she breaks down the fundamentals of her whole system .
It's a very generous offering and that should inspire you to want to take the seven-day free transformation program where she's offering the 30-day challenge Only 10 minutes a day and I guarantee you it's going to change the way you move . It's incredible and for all of you meditators , the One Giant Mind app is still living and breathing One Giant Mind .
Teachers all around the world are teaching the One Giant Mind technique . What you have to do is go to the website onegiantmindcom and find a teacher and learn with them , and also , of course , we've got the One Giant Mind teacher training and Vedic meditation teacher training .
But all of that we're going to talk about a lot more in coming episodes and we're really looking forward to you continuing to join us .
Thank you , bye , bye .