EP056 - Release the pressure - Jamie Tipene Matthews

So this is the whole Man Academy podcast, episode 56. My guest today is another man I've met on the Internet, which again, sounds odd, but that's the way life is these days. I'd like to introduce Jamie T Penney Matthews, who's a contact career flinch lock release practitioner and chiropractor. I stole this from your blurb, but Jamie helps clients who feel out of whack and out of alignment to create harmony in their body so they can get back doing what they love with ease, even if they've tried everything, lost hope and feel like no one can help them. I love that and I might have to steal part of that for my coaching, but we're going to talk about man stuff, life transformation, profound experiences, personal Peru, self development and spirituality. Jamie, welcome to the Hallmark Academy podcast. How are you and where are you, sir?

Oh, I'm very well, thank you. Yeah, thanks for having me. I'm in New Zealand right now. It's 8 o' clock in the morning. It's a nice sunny morning here and. Yeah, glad to be here, thanks.

Just, I know we talked just before we started recording, saying how much, you know, obviously me being the uk, you being over there, we've got a big, big time difference, 7 o' clock at night here. But how we could do with a bit of the sunshine that you've, you've got over there where we're not, you know, not getting out. And actually, just on that, on that topic, I was talking very much today to a client and we were talking about the importance of vitamin D and, you know, getting outside and getting sunshine. And I do think that's one of the big things over here is, you know, we're in the, in the middle of, let's say, winter pretty much, you know, it's dark at 4:30, it's. It doesn't get light till 8 o' clock in the morning and everybody's covered up. I just wondered, starting on that one, how important do you think is for people to be getting their hit of vitamin D at the moment?

Oh, it's free immunity. It's very important. Getting exercise, getting vitamin D, getting some fresh air. It's not only good for you physically, but mentally as well. I think it's just so key to feeling good and being healthy.

Yeah, yeah. And the interesting thing was I saw that, you know, for months, quite a lot of people that were sharing how important vitamin D was for the virus that was sweeping the world and people were getting blocked online from talking about it and their stuff deleted, which I found amazing. And now you're seeing studies coming out saying, oh, actually vitamin D and, you know, and other ones are important to you. So did you see that over in New Zealand as well, where things got kind of censored for suggesting a natural remedy?

Yeah, yeah, for sure. Pretty much anything that there wasn't a vaccine that they said could help, I guess they were just like, no, that's not shown to be effective, whatever. And they're just pretty much squashing anything else that could possibly help and just really focusing on the vaccine. And, you know, for me, that was quite hard to see because from my perspective, it's going around, going around about it the wrong way and going around it backwards, you know, because, you know, what are we supposed to do to sit back and wait for a year and a half while this vaccine comes out? Well, our immunity may be getting compromised because we're not actually getting outside.

And yeah, they shut the gyms, closed all the gyms, which is helpful. You know, in fact, they even closed the outside gyms, which I thought was a real classic because, you know, you shut the indoor ones. I mean, thankfully, when it first started, it was in the summer, so people could still get out, but you were told you could only have one hour's exercise outside a day. And then they shut the outdoor gyms and the parks and even the children's play areas, which I thought was really helpful to help your immunity. But just touching back that one of the things that made me smile was last weekend I saw your Instagram story where you were, you know, looked like a fucking great rave, to be honest. And was it. Was it sub focus with air and other. Other bands or groups? Yes, DJs. I mean, it looked awesome because there was thousands of people. So tell me what that was like.

Oh, we're so lucky. Like, I don't know if there's any other countries in the world that, I mean, this, this gig happened to DJ. It was 7,000 people. Over 7,000 people in that crowd there. And it was very incredible because actually, that was the biggest New Zealand drum and bass headline show ever.

Oh, really?

Yeah. So we're having the record women's crowds right now. And, you know, it's just unusual that we're the only country right now that's doing that.

And how is that. What's been the kind of timeline from know? Because we're basically not allowed to see our fucking nan at the moment, let alone, you know, let alone get a, you know, smash it up on a night out with 7,000 people. But what was the timeline for them going from you all kind of not being allowed to go out to then, oh, you can have 7,000 people. Because I think a lot of the people listening to this will be like, yeah, I need a bit of that.

Yeah. Well, we went into the main lockdown around March, I think it was. And then we came out of that, we went down to Level two and then Auckland locked back up again a couple months later. Can't remember how many weeks it was because I wasn't in Auckland. And then we went back down to Level two, and then just. Yeah, late last year, we went back down to. I'm not sure if we're actually Level one or zero at the moment.

Well, we don't have a Level one.

We were just living life, you know, so. Yeah.

Oh, that's great.

It's great thinking about it.

That's exactly the question I was going to say to you was, you know, what makes us laugh with our government is that we only have, you know, high, medium and very high or something. You're like, where could. Is there no chance of a low or, you know, not. Not too bad. But anyway, that's another story. So let's jump into. I mean, there's so much. That's why it's great to have you on the podcast, because I know it's months ago that I first saw some of your posts and was like, this. This guy sounds like he's someone that could help, you know, the whole Man Academy crew do life better, but could you tell us what a contact care, you know, and flinch lock and kind of what that is and how you got into it?

Yeah. All right, so what it is, is a method that locates impacts that have been. That have happened to the bone and we release the effects that have been trapped there. So what that means is our body, when it gets hit by surprise, it contracts and reacts to that impact. Right. And that shock actually creates a contraction around the bone and traps pressure in there.

Right.

The problem with that is that your body now has to start compensating for that and our body starts to actually change its shape. And so it changes the way you move, changes the way you feel, and then therefore, it changes the way you start to act and all sorts of things. So essentially, people are walking around with their past impacts still held in their body, and it's affecting them and they don't actually realize. So I'm a chiropractor and five years ago I stumbled across this technique and it was a coincidence. This lady came and saw me for chiropractic care. And she said, oh, man, this person came and worked on my horse. It was amazing. It was called Flinchlock. Have you heard of it? And I said, no, I haven't heard of it.

Yeah.

She said, you should learn it so you can come and work on my horses as well. And I was like, well, I don't like horses.

Okay.

Yeah. So I was just like, I'm all right, thanks, but if I hear about it again, I'll look into it. The next day, the psychic lady, actually, she said to me that she could see me doing this technique called flinch lock. And I was just like, that is really weird because yesterday this lady told me about that, and I did say to her, if I hear about it again, I'll look into it. So that was my cue. I looked into it, did a course two weeks later, and from that moment forth, within the first hour, I knew, like, I wasn't doing chiropractic anymore, Even though I was like, I was 10 years invested into chiropractic, and I had two chiropractic centers at the time. Yeah. Because I just felt how much the body can change with one release. And the spine actually adjusts itself. So. Yeah. Without me even touching it. So that's what blew my mind, is that, wow, this spine is actually also compensating for these injuries.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I guess it's that knock on effect of if someone has an injury and it affects their body and maybe they hold themselves differently or they walk differently, or they, you know, their shoulders out of balance. And then I guess you create other injuries because you're not walking or you're not sitting and acting how you should do.

Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. Like most people that come in, you know, they're pointing at some sort of place on their body and saying, you know, the pain's here and I'm going, all right. And I'm certain I'm usually releasing something sometimes at the other end of the body. And they're like, what the. My shoulder's better. What did you do? You know? Yeah. But yeah, it was just a flow and effect of all the. All the deep tissue, the fascia in the body. You know, it's like a web of connective tissue that if that tightens up in one area of the body, it's going to change the rest, you know?

Yeah. I think it's so. It's so interesting. I've always been interested in. Well, since my 20s, I had a collapsed lung or a spontaneous pneumothorax and that that meant that was kind of a knock on effect of the fact that I then lost lots of weight, couldn't play sport for six months. And during that time I, because I lost weight, I was like, you know what, I want to try and when I can build muscle and you know, firstly to get back to where I was, but then try and have a better body. And even at the time I then started to understand a little bit more about how everything, it sounds obvious but how everything is so connected but that doing a lot of weights meant you were quite tight across sometimes your chest or your shoulders or lower back in these places. So I know when I was reading, you know, this stuff on your website, I just wondered for you, are you able to, if someone walks in the door, are you, I'm assuming you're kind of assessing them before they actually, you know, sit down or lay down. So do you find yourself now being able to actually look at them and be like, yeah, I think it's going to be this already?

Yeah. Yeah. So this is the most fascinating thing, by the way. So people show you with their gestures, unconscious gestures, where their problems are while they're telling you about it. But you can also see it, you know, in the way people move. But I find this the most fascinating is, and I missed it the whole time as a chiropractor, you know, I was talking to clients and I was usually focusing on their story of what's happened. But now as a contact care practitioner, you sort of, you relax your eyes so you can see the whole person. And as they're talking to you, they might be wiggling their foot or they might scratch their face or, I don't know, any, any movement that they do while they're telling you about their problem will show you 99% of the time what's related to the problem. Yeah, it's really fascinating.

You'd be good as a poker player.

Possibly.

I don't know, perhaps you should look into that one as well. Well, I just wondered, I know you had a, what was great was you had a long list of kind of things that you can help people with on your, on your website. And I just wanted to kind of talk about a couple of them because I'm always thinking of the, I always say the guys that are listening, but actually 25% of our listeners are female. So it's, you know, it's not all always just guys that are kind of picking up the tips. But for a guy listening, I know you spoke about, you said you could cover you know, the wear and tear on the body for us. How old are you?

I'm 33.

33, so I'm 42. So I've got, you know, pretty much a good 10 years on you. But for us guys that are in our 40s, especially if you've been playing, are they rugby or football or any kind of impact sports, you do start to get a bit of wear and tear. So what are the common kind of things you're treating guys for?

Oh, man. Yeah. Yeah. Pretty much anything that's wearing out, people come in for or they're feeling tight, tense, essentially. I use the car analogy. So if you. If you're driving along with your car and you hit a curb, you put the alignment of your steering out. Right. And the wheels. So now the wheels aren't moving like they were, and now that the tire starts to wear out a bit faster, maybe on one side more than the other. Yeah, that's just like the joints in our body. So if. And if we've had all these impacts and traumas, our body's moving differently. And now the stresses are now imbalanced. So certain places will wear faster than others. And maybe some. Some parts may move free and some parts may be tighter. So essentially you could just go and replace the tire, which is what a lot of people do. They go and get surgery on the knee, for example. But if there's an underlying tension, that's putting more stress into that knee. Yeah, that's what we gotta. That's. If you really want to fix the problem completely, that's what you gotta do. So you gotta go back.

Is that them? Kind of. There is a saying in my head, but, you know, they're treating the symptom, not the cause.

Yeah, right. Yeah, absolutely.

Papering over.

So that's. Yeah, I mean, that's what I found a lot of the time working as a chiropractor was that, you know, I'm adjusting the spine, and then the person's feeling better, but there's this underlying pattern that keeps coming back. And I'm. You know, I was just kept on asking myself, like, why. Why is this person's spine doing this?

Yeah.

And another person with very similar stresses in their life, their spine's not doing that. You know, what's the difference between these two people, you know, and what it is is their history is different. Like, what's happened to them in the past, what they've done in the past. So. Yeah. So we. It's a different way of looking at it, I guess.

Also, I Just want to. Your thoughts or what you advise people if you're. If you're working with them. Because so many people are sitting for 10 hours a day or something. Especially, you know, across a lot of the world where people are working from home, which I know there's always going to be, you know, good and bad points of working from home. But for me, what I seeing is, of course, people aren't walking to the train station, they're not walking around at work, they're not walking out at lunchtime because they're just going from bed to desk to sofa to bed, and that's it. And they're not getting much of the exercise. So I just wondered for you, where do you even start with talking to people about trying to. I know. Do you just encourage them to try and move more or do natural movement?

Yeah, I mean, I don't really focus on it too much on, on people's exit like that sort of habit. But I go. I tell them to go and see a physio or something for that because that's the, you know, that's what they specialize in. But, you know, one thing is if someone is struggling to get off the chair, like from my perspective and with the work we do, we actually look to see if there's any pressure in the pelvis or along the back. Because if there is a lot of pressure in there from an impact they've had in the past, that means that they feel like they need more support there. And when they do get support there, their body can relax more. So that's another distinction, I guess, for flinch locks is flinch locks like pressure. And that's what actually dictates what we decide to be our most comfortable position.

Yeah.

So let's just say when you're sleeping, you like to lie on your left side. Well, I'm going to bet that on your left side and somewhere in your body there's a bone that's got so much pressure in it that it needs the support of the. Of the.

Interesting.

Yeah. And once you lie on it and then the bed takes that pressure for you, now your body can relax more and that's why you can sleep better on that side. So once you release that, actually your body can actually relax in more positions than before.

That's so interesting because I guess my tiny pea brain was working on the fact that I guess also if you just sleep on one side because you're favoring it for a reason, then you're putting other pressure on that side that you're not necessarily if you're sleep on the other side.

Yeah. This is what really blew my mind as well, is that if. Let's just say someone's got a painful right hip, right. So they come and they go, you know, I have to sleep on my left side because it stays up my right hip. Or there are other people that come in and say, I've got a pain in my right hip, but I need to sleep on it.

Right?

Yeah. So it's like the opposite. So then when you actually start checking them, you actually find that, yeah, it's usually not the hip that where the pressure is, but somewhere in their body is another pressure. And once you release it, all of a sudden when they get up, they're like, hang on my hips, not sore anymore. Because when they were lying on that certain position that was comfortable, the pain wasn't there. Do you get what I'm saying?

Yeah.

So we're going into what's comfortable to find out where the problem is.

Right. It must be so interesting because every person that's coming in has got, as you say, has got a different. Different story as well. And I just wondered, you know, going along with the sleep side of it. But also I think at the moment where, you know, for a lot of the. A lot of the world, there's going to be people with issues with their mood and anxiety and feeling slightly overwhelmed because, you know, most people have. Basically, the fabric of society has been sucked out because people aren't seeing people, they're not working, they're not going to concerts, they're not dating, they're not doing all different stuff. And I just wondered, do you. When you, when you're working with people, are you. Are you looking, Are you asking the questions to look at all of those things as well, to kind of understand the full package of what's going on?

I'm heading that way. Yeah, it's. It's been more of a. Like, the person comes in and I ask them, you know, what are you feeling like, what do you. What are you here for? And so it's important. It's important that they have the right intention of what they want to be worked on. And it's. People usually are thinking about physical pains, but occasionally we get people and they say, you know, I mean, I'm feeling anxious or I'm. I've got a phobia of darkness as an example. So I had a client yesterday that I worked on for Fear of the Dark.

Where do you start with that then?

Well, yeah, so you know how I said that People show gestures for where the problem is. Yeah. So I'll give an example of one person that I've actually worked on, a couple of people with being scared of the dark, and both were successful. Anyway, so one person, I said, oh, tell me about your fear of the darkness. You know what happens. And as they're describing it, she grabbed onto her jaw like this. And I said to her, freeze. Don't move. So I grabbed onto her hand that was still on her jaw and I found the point on her jaw that had pressure. I released it, she relaxed and then she felt great. And then I said, okay, let's see what happens. And then, yeah, she went out, did the rubbish and came back and she was like, it was in the dark. And I said, oh, how was that? And she goes, how was what? You just went out. You just went out and did the rubbish in the dark. Like you normally are freaked out by that. And. Yeah, yeah. And she's just like, oh my gosh, like, that was fine. I didn't even think about it. Yeah.

How straight, how strange. It was great. But it's. So how would you. How would you explain to someone how that has taken the fear of the dark away?

Yeah. So what I believe is that it's our body's reaction to the sense. So when we have a traumatic, a sudden shock to our body from an impact, accident, or something sensory, like a loud bang or anything like that, our body saves a snapshot of all the senses at the time. You know, what it saw, what it smelled, what it felt. And if that was a danger, something hit you, then your body then basically says that that's a danger now. So whenever that same smell sound, what you saw, our body. Yeah, it's in it and it reacts. It overreacts, actually. So, you know, people are overreacting to silly things, you know.

Yeah.

Why is that? It's because something in the past shocked them and their body has now saved that as a threat. So it's a survival thing, but it actually works against us.

Doesn't is so interesting because I know I've been to a couple of events where you've had, you know, hypnotherapy and people talking about phobias and it's very difficult because when you're not scared of that, it's hard for you to understand. You know, when someone says they're scared of the dark and you're not, it's hard for you to understand it. And I just think that's so interesting because it's, you know, sometimes it's something a bit like you said that someone would never think of is the. Is the issue as to why, you know, why they've got that phobia. And I know you spoke about. You said earlier about having, like, impact on the body, and that was going to lead me on to. I know that you had your. Let's call it, adventurous accident when you're away in Peru. So. And I'm. I'm with you on that one because I know I said to you I had an incident myself just after I'd come back from Peru and gone to the States, but tell us about what happened.

Yeah. So. Oh, man, I could go into a lot of detail here, but because. Because it was. It was fascinating because the night before I. I did a plant medicine ceremony.

Yeah.

And I was in Peru. We went to some hot springs called Larrey's Hot Springs. I don't know if you heard of them.

Yeah.

And amazing place up in the mountains, amazing views.

And I have to ask you then, since you said the plant, was it ayahuasca or something like that?

San Pedro.

Okay. Yeah.

They call it Wachuma over there.

Yeah.

And, yeah, it was incredible, actually. It really heightened my. My intuition. And I was looking at people and I could see where I could work on them. Yeah. I just knew I could help people just by looking at them. And it just really took my skills as a practitioner, I guess, to a whole new level. Well, let's.

I'll tell you why I find this so interesting. I know I've listened to different people that have spoken about taking, you know, ayahuasca and all the different versions of it. And probably. If you'd have said to me a few years ago, I'd have said, there's not a chance in hell that I'd be interested in that. But the more I've gone down that path and listened to guys, I realized what an incredible experience it can be. And maybe a traumatic experience, but you see something that could be life changing. So was that the first time you'd done it? And if so, what was your kind of overall experience of it?

That was the second. The second time?

Yeah.

Yeah. Oh, man, it was incredible. Incredible, man. Life changing. I was actually really excited to get back to my hostel so I could actually ring back home and help tell everyone, like, what I saw, what I did. Like, I just couldn't believe it.

And how does it work? Do you. Are you in a group or. And you've got, like a shaman with you or, you know, are you in A guided meditation.

I didn't do a guided one. It was just a group of us that had decided, and we. We sat in a circle, had a little ceremony, set our intentions and what we'd want to get from it. And. Yeah, and then we took this, and you can buy, you know, San Pedro in the markets.

Yeah.

And it's just. It's really common there. And a lot of people do guided ceremonies as well. And they usually go up into the. Go up in the mountains and into nature. Often they don't even talk, you know, they're just experiencing nature. Yeah. But, yeah, in our case, there were a few people around, and, yeah, all of a sudden I'm seeing, oh, I can help this guy. I know I can help this guy. And I thought, yeah, this is not the time for that. So I sort of ignored that. And then, you know, walk away. And then he comes into view again, and I'm like, oh, gosh, I can see it again. You know, Nah, ignore that. Third time happens, and I'm like, okay, I got to do it now. So I walk up to him, and I could tell pinpoint where in this point in his body on his chest, where to work. So I put my hands on him, and he just felt like he just. His body just went backwards, and I. So I'm supporting him. And he wasn't expecting this, by the way. Like, I did explain what I'm going to do, but he wasn't expecting that he'd lose control of his body. Anyways, I released this pressure from his chest, and then he came back up and he said, what did you do to my back? And I was like, I didn't do anything to your back. I just released that. And he goes, nah, you fixed my back. I didn't even know his back was bad. But what's more amazing is, was this guy was really staunch and quite intimidating person, but after this release, his whole demeanor softened and he became like a soft teddy bear. And, yeah, he was just. He felt so good. And as soon as I finished with him, the next person walked in, and I was like, oh, no, they're next.

Yes.

So I think it was about maybe about eight people. And. And I also was picking up on spiritual attachments on people. This may sound crazy for some listeners, but. But it really became obvious to talk about this. Spiritual attachments. Yeah.

So how would it work for you with the spiritual attachment? Would it be that you would feel it or you would see it or.

It was. You know how they say that there's a third eye and you can see things. Well, it was like that was activated, and I was seeing visions, and I was just getting pictures flooding my mind of what was going on. What was amazing was this girl that was there that I worked on earlier on the day. I noticed she was real quiet. She had her cap on. She had it sort of low over her eyes, and she was very quiet. I was talking to her earlier on the day, and she said something like, I hear voices in my head or something. I thought, that sounds really interesting. What's going on there? Anyway, later on, I saw. I had this vision that I could help her. So I went up to her and I said, is it okay if I work on you? I can see something I can help you with. And the most bizarre thing happened. When I put my hands on her chest, she lost consciousness. So she was just sitting there, and her body just dropped. And so I'm holding her from falling over and thinking, oh, my gosh, like, I've just opened a can of worms here. So I'm like. I'm, like, sitting there freaking out, but I'm like, no, I got to support this person and just go with it. And a couple of seconds later, she came out of it, and she was in a panic. She's like, what'd you do to me? What'd you do to me? And then she just lost consciousness again. And this happened about 10 times. She just keeps coming in and out of consciousness, like. Yeah. And then finally she stabilized. And I'm sitting there, you know, I'm. I'm actually asking for some guidance, like, on the spiritual realm, I guess. So I'm saying prayers in my head and basically to show me what to do next. And when she comes back to consciousness, she says, I've got this voice in my head. And then I had this shiver go down my spine, and I realized it's not her voice. And so I tuned in. I'm going down a rabbit hole here.

No, you carry on. I'll come with you.

And I had this image of this old lady. She didn't look very nice. She was quite dark. And. Yeah. Anyway, came to my mind, and I described it to her, and she's like, yeah, that makes sense. That actually. Yes. She said that her mom got haunted by this old lady while she was in this house. And she said to think about it. That's when my voices started. So I was like, holy crap. And then. So we went through it, and I basically said, okay, I'm going to try and release this off you from you. And so it took about. I reckon about 20 minutes. And as soon as I started connecting with this entity, this girl started screaming like it was like an exorcism.

I was just gonna. That word popped into my head. Yeah.

Yeah. Her body was just convulsing and it was. And I've never had. Never seen anything like it. And I didn't know it was possible, you know, other than on a movie.

Yeah.

So. And this was. This is like outside the realm of contact care, by the way. So, yeah, so that's what this. This plant medicine opened up for me.

Wow.

Yeah. And it finally did go, this entity. And she was like. She was so relaxed after that. She felt like a different person again. And then she said, oh, now I've got another voice.

How many people are in there?

So I ended up working on that too and finally released that. And that was even worse. That one that was. She was screaming even more for that one. But. So once that was released, she became a different person. She was, like, vibrant, open, speaking a lot. So, yeah, it was. It had changed her. These. I know I was. I couldn't believe it. Anyway, so it's quite a story going through all these people that I worked on, but it's just a couple of them. And, yeah, at the end of the night, I was the last one. Everyone had gone to bed, and I was outside looking up at the stars, and I just said, thank you, God. Thank you for this responsibility. Thank you for this gift. And I said, I accept it. And then I just knew that life would never be the same again. So, yeah, went to bed. And the next morning I had a car crash.

Yeah. On the way back to the hospital, there's a sign for you. So what. So what actually happened?

Yeah. Yeah. So there was, you know, there's about 15 of us crammed into a collectivo, which is a van in Peru, and we hired it and had a Peruvian driver. So we're driving along these crazy mountains, and I was actually asleep when it happened, and apparently the brakes failed, the driver jumped out and left us to hit a bulldozer that was parked on the side of the road.

Excellent.

Yeah. And. Yeah, just so bizarre. And so I basically came conscious later on where I was limping along, and I was going, what's wrong with my legs? You know?

Yeah.

And then they were directing me into this police car, so that was my first memory. And, yeah, there was a guy with bandages around his head, a couple of people lost some teeth and someone broke their hand. And. Yeah.

And how did that affect you? Because I must say I was talking about this earlier to Emma, my partner, and we kind of said, you know, there's some places that you don't want to. Peru was a lovely place, but I wouldn't want to necessarily have an accident and be in hospital there. So what was that like?

I was very lucky actually. Yeah. Yeah. We actually went to a private hospital in Cusco, so we were so lucky. And. Yeah, so they took X rays of me and did everything they could, but they didn't know I was concussed though, you know, I didn't even know I was concussed. Yeah, I was. I was living in la la land and I could barely turn my head and I could barely walk. So I was just concentrating on those things at the time. Yeah. So I'm glad that we, we got some, some good care, some proper care. Yeah, yeah, they pretty much just said, you're good to go, see you later.

And so with, with the concussion, you know, how, how soon after and what were the effects of that on you? Kind of short and long term.

Yeah. So immediately, because I was actually doing this technique as I was traveling and flinch, lock, release. And my intention was to share it and also learn other things, but I found that I couldn't actually do that anymore. I was working on someone and I would just get tired straight away and so I was physically losing it. My memory was terrible. I couldn't remember what I had for breakfast. I was having conversations with people and they were saying, I've already had this conversation. Yeah. And so I was talking to someone back in New Zealand, my friend Nicole at the time. And she, she was, apparently she was taking tabs and like asking me, what'd you have for breakfast? What'd you have? Lunch, you know. And then she would quiz me again later and I was giving different answers. I couldn't remember, you know, so it was really difficult. And so they were saying, you got to come back home. You got to come back home. It took me three weeks to surrender. Yeah. Because I was so adamant and I didn't want to fail. I didn't want to fail. And yeah, I said I'd travel for two years and. But yeah, I gave up in the end when I realized actually, yeah, I'm not good at all. Yeah, I can't work, I can't remember.

Yeah. So, yeah, what was the. What had to happen for you to actually say I'm not alright?

Yeah, that's a good question. Yeah, I just, I just realized that I wasn't getting better, you know, because that's what I thrive doing is working on people with this technique. And yeah, when that's taken away from me, then I was like, what can I do? Like, I feel useless. You know, it's. When I had. I felt like I couldn't do my purpose. And, yeah, that was hard, you know, because when. When you take that away, what's left, you know, so that was scary.

I guess that's part of your identity.

Yeah. Yeah, I. You know, I created this brand at the time called the Traveling Healer, which I laugh about now, but I like it. Yeah, it was fun. It was fun. But from this concussion, I could. I could not live up to my name and like my brand anymore. Yeah, I couldn't really travel. I couldn't really do the healing work. So I guess. I guess I.

It was flip that you. You were the one that needed the healer.

Yeah, absolutely.

And how did you. How did you go from that moment where you said, you know, I've got to get something sorted out, I need some help here, to actually getting back to how you felt was the, you know, the old you, as it were?

How long did it take? Oh, I would say at least a year.

Wow. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, it was. It was tough. Really, really tough. Like, the first six months especially, was terrible. Yeah. I mean, I so came back to New Zealand, got a bunch of contact care, flinch, like, release done. And yeah, I just had to stay home while everyone was working. And, you know, the normal concussion thing is, you know, you struggle to read, you struggle to watch tv. So. Yeah, so that you're sitting there going, what can I do? You know, it was so difficult. So difficult. So, yeah, just there in your mind is that.

Then is your, you know, if you were talking to someone else who had that issue now, is it purely kind of them just resting? Because with concussion, I guess there's not a huge amount more, you know, that you can do. I guess, unless I'm mistaken, of course. Yeah.

Yeah. So, sure. Resting is one of the most important things, the right food. What. What happens with concussion is the body gets really confused, you know, and that's what we help with. Contact care, flinch, lock release is that we. We're taking out the shock out of the body, the skeletal sensory shock, so that the body can organize itself again. Because it's the sudden shock that puts things out from organization to disorganization. And. Yeah, so once you start lining the dots up again, then the body can organize itself better. So, I mean, it's going to really increase your healing speed and. And you know, we work on people that have had concussions 20 years ago and, and they still improve a lot. You know, it's, it stays with people a lot.

You know, I must say it is, it's not something I knew much about until 2 or Emma actually fell over skiing and it was, it was one of her first time skiing. She didn't have a crash helmet on and she's lucky that she was, she was pretty stationary as opposed to, you know, tanking down a mountain. But she came back and we had to go and see a neurologist and you know, we were really worried about, you know, she was, was, was being sick and being ill and confused and all those things, which sounds like a lot of my nights out, to be honest. But that's, that's a different story. But really for her, that's where I first started to understand a bit more about concussion. And I know you said about like the short term memory. My, my father had a, my dad had a car crash and I got to the hospital and they said, oh, he's fine. He got out the car, you know, he just had a prang. And you think he hit his head, he got out the car, walked to hospital or you know, walked in the ambulance and then suddenly he couldn't remember anything. And it really was. He'd be lying on a, on a, you know, a stretcher at the hospital and he'd say, where am I? And he'd say, you're in the hospital, dad, blah, blah. And you know, 30 seconds later he'd say, where am I? And you'd think he was joking and you'd be like, don't stop messing about. And literally he'd lost all his short term memory for a while. And I ended up writing on a, on a, on an A4 pad in how he would read it. I've had a, you know, a. And I wasn't putting accidents. It sounded a bit traumatic, but I've had a, you know, a praying in the car, I'm in whatever hospital, I'm okay and blah, blah, blah. And I was like, wow, it's amazing how literally it's your short term memory that just, just goes.

Yeah, it's really bizarre.

And did you find, I don't know it affected anything else in your life because, you know.

Oh yes.

Not just with work, but with relationships and with everything else that goes with kind of having a decent memory.

Yeah. So, you know, beforehand, before this accident, I was really quite balanced emotionally. And after that I was, I was having panic attacks, I was having social Anxiety. Yeah. My emotions would go from really high to really low in a short amount of time. Yeah, it was insane. Yeah. I just. I couldn't control my feelings or anything. And actually, I actually got quite numb as well. I lost my feelings for a while and, you know, I really thought that I might not ever be normal again. Yeah, I thought I might be. I thought I'd done it, you know, I thought that's it. So, yeah, I'm glad. I'm glad I came out of that.

Yeah, well, so am I. It's, you know, it's one of those things that. It just reminds us. I was actually writing about mortality today, as it were, in one of the E letters that get sent out. Well, get. Get sent out tomorrow. And, you know, it's one of those things that everything can be going really well in your life and you never know what's around the corner. Well, especially if it's a. If it's a. A JCB that's parked in a way, but, you know, and you never quite. You never quite know what can happen to you from day to day. So. Yeah, that's. That's one of these, you know, with concussion, it's one of those interesting ones that I. I'm slowly getting to understand a little bit more about now. Changing the subject slightly, but I know you spoke on stage. You spoke alongside Dr. Batar, Bruce Lipton, and I just wondered with Bruce, for those that don't know, I'll put it in the show notes because he's such a inspirational character for your health and wellness. And I just wondered if you could talk about what it was like being at the event and talking on stage with such a guy like that. And also what you've kind of learned from what he talks about.

Yeah, well, actually, I was supposed to go to America in May to attend that event.

Right.

But I actually did it on Zoom, so that was unfortunate. But, yeah, I have. I've met Bruce Lipton many times, and also, you know, he taught me at chiropractic college. What did I learn? The biggest thing I learned from Dr. Bruce Lipton was that we are in control of our own health. We are responsible for our own health. What I learned at that time was that when I was growing up, I'd given all of my power away to the medical profession. I looked up. I basically said to myself that if I got sick, they'll have a drug for me.

They'll know what to do. Give me a pill.

Yeah. Which meant that I could just eat crap. I could do whatever it's okay because they got me, you know, I gave away my power completely. And I used to remember my mom, you know, if she got a headache when I was a kid, she would go up into the cupboard, open it up, and there's Panadol in there. She'll take that. Oh, voila. I'm feeling good now, you know, so that was the mentality I grew up with.

Yeah.

And then, you know, I came across chiropractic philosophy, which is, you know, the body healing itself from the inside out. You know, just remove the interference and the body knows what to do. And then Dr. Bruce Lipton, he talks about, you know, environment affects the genes more than the genes affect the health, you know.

Yeah.

So, you know, if we're thinking positively, if we're in a positive space, if we're in the right environment, that's going to be more powerful than. Yeah. Than just drugs, basically. And. Yeah, so, yeah, that was. That was a big mind shift for me, you know, taking back my responsibility for my health. Yeah, that's.

That's so important because I, you know, I'm a big believer in that myself over the years of trying to educate myself. And again, I'm lucky. My partner Emory's a nutritionist, so, you know, she's. She spent eight. Eight years studying this stuff. So between us, we're trying to cover all the different, you know, the different angles of living a healthier lifestyle. And there's so much that goes into it that, quite frankly, I didn't understand. You know, you think it's just the food, but actually it's, you know, if there's things in the water and what you're washing your clothes with and, you know, what the toxic paint you've got in your house and the toxic flooring and, you know, are you driving a diesel car and all these different things that kind of COVID it. But that's what I know for us, as we've gone through our kind of, let's say, learning about health and lifestyle journey is so many people don't want to put the work in, and they just want. Just give me a pill. I just, you know, if they've got an ailment or they've got an issue, it's. Well, I go to doctor and he can give me something to fix it. And you say, yeah, but what's. What's causing it? You know, what's. What's the underlying issue? And a lot of people go, I don't care. I just. I just want a pill to fix it.

Yeah, yeah. Oh, man, it's. It's. Yeah, it's. There's an analogy that I use is that, you know, if you got a. Your engine light coming on in your car and we just put a plaster over it so we don't see it anymore, you know, doesn't mean that your engine's working better now. It's just that you're not. You can't see it anymore. And that's the same as all of these painkillers and things that we're taking. You know, you might feel better, but it's not. It's not gone. You know, what. What's underlying is still there.

Yeah, I just wanted your thoughts. We've got two little boys who are kind of one and a half and three and a half and what we saw. And I would have been guilty of this because I didn't understand, but Emma, understanding a lot more about it. How many parents would, every time their child had a sniffle, would dose them up with Calpol. And I don't know if you know what that is over where you are, but, you know, pretty much a sugary version of paracetamol, if that makes sense, you know, for kids. And it'd just be like, you know, if they've got a runny nose, if they've got this, if they've got any issue, they would just be chucking Calpol down their neck. And of course the kids are having it because it's a sweet medicine. But, you know, you'd realize, you try to say to people, look, you know, a child having a temperature is. Is you suppressing the temperature. The temperature is them trying to, you know, get. Get rid of a virus or get rid of something. So you're not. You're not actually helping. But maybe parents do it for anything, for an easy life. But I just wanted for you. How. How do you know so much as you do about the body and also, you know, about the. The health and the natural side of things? How do you kind of structure your lifestyle with exercise and eating and maybe meditation, anything like that?

Yeah. Firstly, the biggest thing would be exercise. I do F45. Have you heard of F45?

No, which one is that?

It's a new thing. It's probably going to be as big as CrossFit, but yeah, it's basically functional movements for 45 minutes. It's. It's a great package. Highly recommend anyone to do it if you want to get into shape.

Yeah.

So, yeah, I'm doing that about six days a week and loving it. And I'VE Yeah, I've got a new routine, you know, like a power hour to start the day. It's meditation for 20 minutes. Visualization. Daily planner. Have you heard of the Brendan Burchart's performance planner?

Yes.

Yeah. Yep, yep. Yeah. And what else do I do there? Yeah, those are the main things there. Yeah. In terms of nutrition, I could definitely improve on that.

Are the things that you're, you know.

Oh, I have. I have a coffee a day. I think that's probably one of the things that I probably could cut out.

Yeah.

And the odd sweet thing. Yeah, yeah, I know. Other than that, it's not too bad. Yeah, yeah.

I bet. Compared to most people, I always see that, you know, you'll think, oh, I've had this. And then if you went and looked at most other people's trolleys, you'll be like, actually, I'm not doing too bad.

Yeah, yeah, definitely, definitely. Yeah. I'm not. I'm not buying any fizzy drinks or. Yeah, yeah.

So you've got your, You've got your exercise, you've got your. Your food, you've got your, Your morning routine, which it was really interesting you said that, because that's one of the big things we try and talk about on the whole man Academy and I've done talks on, for, for companies, was how important it is to start your day and could be argued how important it is to end your day as well, you know, by maybe planning for the next day and doing all that stuff. But, you know, those, those, however long you can, you can allocate to starting your day the right way. Be it. I always call it move, breathe, think and drink. So can you do some kind of exercise? Even if it's two minutes, you know, breathing, can you take a few minutes to take some deep breaths, ideally outside think, as you said, is your planning. What I'm actually got to do today? What's. What have I. What must I do? Instead of the shiny object syndrome, where you do all the cool stuff that, you know is easy to do and drink being, you know, could you have warm water with lemon or we have apple cider vinegar with bicarbonate of soda or, you know, something like a pint of water, just, just to start your day. So it's interesting. It's always the more people I spend time with who, when I say a successful, I don't necessarily mean in a monetary term, I mean in their health is on point to use a term that I hate, so many of them have a good morning routine, which leads me on to Tony Robbins and what your thoughts are and if you've gone to any of his events.

No, I haven't. I'm a fan, for sure, but I haven't been to any of his events. Have you?

Yes. I started off, I did Unleash the Power within in London with 10,000 people. Then I flew to Tenerife and went to Life Wealth Mastery for two weeks, and then I flew to Miami and did Date with destiny for 10 days. So I've done. Apart from the Business Mastery, I've done it all. And actually, the year I went for Date for. For Date with Destiny was the year before they filmed it for I am not your guru. And it's exactly the same, you know, the next year. So it was a. An incredible experience. And probably, as you know with yourself, it's getting around the right people. I mean, that's why I do the podcast as well, is you, you know, talking to you in New Zealand. You've talked to guys in different countries and people that have got a huge following and guys that are normal guys that I know. But you're getting around people that are interested in doing life better and be that, you know, it could be finances, your health, the way you move, your fitness, you know, your spirituality. So that's why you're. You're a good one to talk to. Well, let's talk about spirituality. We'll finish on that one. What? I was pretty talking about this. I'm pretty loose on spirituality, I think. Again, I was too busy working in the city, you know, chasing. Chasing girls and chasing money, to be honest. That was. That was all I was interested in and, you know, going to the gym and stuff. But in the last probably year, I've completely changed, and I'm more interested in that side of life now. So I just wondered, what. What's your spiritual journey been like?

Oh, wow. Yeah. So, I mean, growing up in New Zealand, my dad is Maori, New Zealand Mori. So he's indigenous in New Zealand. And, you know, the indigenous people of New Zealand, Mori people, they. They have a spiritual understanding of the world, and they, you know, they talk about the God of the sea, the God, you know, the land, and not really owning anything, but, like, not owning the land. You know, they're just part of the land. And I was hearing all these stories growing up, and there's a. We've got an owl in New Zealand called Morecork. And dad would say those owls actually communicate with us. You know, he says that our ancestors actually speak through them. And so I was like, wow, that's fascinating. You know, they're sending us messages and different calls. They have mean different things. So I was just captivated by that as a child. So that kind of opened me up to thinking a little differently. And then. Have you heard of Abraham Hicks, by the way?

No.

Abraham Hicks. There's a few books and videos and things out there for anyone that wants to listen to it. So when I was about 18, my mum brought a DVD home from a work colleague who thought that I might be interested in this. And it was a DVD of Abraham Hicks. So this is lady who. She has a spirit entity or I think her higher self. I can't remember what it is, but basically she becomes this different person. It's like something comes into her body and then her tone changes and then all of a sudden this ridiculous wisdom just comes through her and you just ask her any question and she just goes, boom. Gives you this precise, perfect answer. Yeah. And I was just like that. That cannot be possible, you know, so I'm sitting, I'm sitting there going, wow, you know, and it was just so perfect that what was coming out this person's mouth was, this has got to be real. I was convinced. So that happened way back then. And then, and then, then I heard about this guy named John of God. Who, Wayne Dyer. He's another self help person. He had gone to see or he had been healed, had this healing done through John of God. So that fascinated me as well. And then that's what led me to go to Brazil to go and see this guy, John of God. But where did it start getting really interesting? Jeanette Wilson. So I've also interviewed her on my podcast as well. But Jeanette Wilson, she's from UK by the way. She's living in New Zealand now. She incorporates spirits into her body and they almost control her body to heal someone. Now this is like, if you look her up, this is the most amazing thing. And I've seen her live many times and you know, people walk in with all sorts of ailments and she will be waving her hands and all of a sudden they feel better and they get up off the chair going, my pain's gone. You know, so I was just seeing all this crazy stuff and then. Yeah, I mean, I could go on all sorts of tangents here, but plant medicines definitely opened me up to seeing more as well.

Yeah.

And meditation. Yeah. Is there anything I was going to.

Say, I think it's, you've got to be ready to be open minded because I don't Think again. Going back to a few years ago, I just wasn't. First I wasn't interested and I wasn't interested in anybody that was interested in it. You know, I just thought it was nonsense. But, you know, none of us were born enlightened, as the saying goes. Yeah, that's why, you know, especially with the podcast, we've had guys that again, have come on to talk all about business and Formula one and fitness and all these different things, but being able to cover, you know, certain delving in and out of spirituality and you know, mind bending drugs and all these different things that, that all these different guys are, are experiencing, I think start to make up the. Call it, you know, the, the segments of a pie of man that, you know, maybe, maybe you need spirituality as much as you need fitness and health and, you know, some money in the bank and some purposes. So I always think it's, it's. I'm gonna, I'll be having a look at the, the names. What was the lady you said was from the, from the UK but is now out in New Zealand, Jeanette Wilson. Jeanette.

I'm writing it down, I think to the date. I think I'm the only one to have interviewed her and. Which is ridiculous because, you know, she, if you listen to her speak, she just, she's got a lot to say. She's got a lot of wisdom to. So, you know, if you, you want to look into interviewing someone. I was going to say, very interesting.

There's a challenge for me. Well, last question for you, seeing as I would say podcasts saved my life. And I don't mean that I was, I was suicidal, but it really was. I was going down one path in my life and quite frankly, it was fucking boring. And I started listening to podcasts that got me introduced to. First one was a guy called James Swanick, who's an Australian guy based in the States. And he introduced me to Tony Robbins. And then I kind of, you know, went to London Real and all the different podcasts. So that, that kind of was a fork in the road for me. That kind of put me on a path to being more fulfilled instead of just doing a job where you got up and, you know, spent on a cross, 200 hours a month. Your desk or something. Ridiculous. So I know you had your own podcast and what are the podcasts? What are your favorite ones that you listen to?

Addicted to Success. Have you heard of that one? Yeah, it's with Joel Brown. Yeah, he actually inspired me to start my own as well. And luckily Enough interviewed him as well, so that's pretty cool. Yeah, yeah, yeah. His is probably my favorite because it's success mindset mixed with spirituality and. Yeah, for sure. Podcasts really help me as well. And.

Yeah, and with your, with your podcast, how do you. What's the word I'm looking for? What's the criteria for a guest?

I guess the subjects that they're into, but also if they inspire me, pretty much. So, yeah, if they're up to something, yeah, that's inspiring.

I like that. It is that thing of, you know, there's so many people around now, and that's what I love about, you know, technology is good and bad. Technology is like water, isn't it? You know, if you, if you, if you have too much of it, it will kill you, but you need some of it to live. So, you know, it's like for us, you know, the fact that I could message you on Instagram or we can jump on Zoom and have a great kind of an hour plus conversation about all these different things is priceless. So, yeah, I definitely think with podcasts, the more I delve into them, the more I try and listen to the sometimes not the biggest, most popular ones, because often you'll find they kind of might roll out the same guests, which are great, but you might have heard them three times before. So that's why I'm always trying to find different people that you haven't seen on podcasts that you can get some golden nuggets from. Well, I'm going to let you go because I appreciate it's early morning out there and it's a start of a working day for you. So, Jamie, I will say I really appreciate your time and all the work you're doing as well. It's obviously important you're trying to help people do life better. Bit like the whole man academy with helping men do life better. And maybe we'll have you, if you're. If you'll jump on, come back on the podcast or maybe do an Instagram live or something at some point.

Sounds great. Yeah, sounds great. Yeah, we can see how life's going.

The rest of the year and hopefully we've been allowed out by then, but. Lovely.

Yeah, really well on that.

On that bombshell, I'll say I much appreciate your time and Jamie will speak to you soon.

Thanks very much for having me, man.

Thank you, mate. Cheers.