SSP 024 Ullis Karlsson - Healing Depression Through Yoga

For those that have followed my journey, they know how important meditation has been for me in transforming the way I go about the things that I do. And it really wasn't until I started meditating for up to an hour was when a big shift started to happen. And I know for a lot of people who meditate, you know, an hour seems like a long time. And I really believe to really get the true benefits out of meditation, you need to sit for an extended period more than your regular 20 minutes that most people do. Now, the biggest challenge for most people, I've realized, is getting past that first phase, which is quietening the mind enough so that you can truly experience the benefits of meditation. For me, those benefits are connecting with just pure oneness, a place of pure love and energy that fuels you, that stays with you throughout your whole day, and it actually changes everything. You start to change your reality when you start to tap in and tune into this energy. For me, it took an hour to connect with it. Sometimes it takes two hours. But the biggest challenge for most people was quieting the mind. So that's why I've gone ahead and decided to create a free guide to quietening the mind. And you can get access to this free guide either on the podcast page where you're listening to this episode, or if you just type state-shifters.com There'll be a popup that come up where you can download that free guide, and it'll help you get access to these amazing benefits meditation can offer. Hello, my name is Jordan Kanlish. Welcome to the State Shifters Podcast. State Shifters Podcast for anyone looking to upgrade their current state of awareness to live a life of passion and purpose. And in this episode, I've connected with Ulis Carlson, who is based out in Sweden. Ulis reached out to me on Instagram, and I was excited to bring her onto the show because she has a really interesting background and she's overcome some pretty severe depression. And through yoga and a really unique form of yoga and her own practice, she's able to now help and guide others through their own darkness so they can then connect with the light and really overcome challenging periods. And Ulis and I had a really interesting discussion. I quite enjoyed this episode, and there's a lot of nuggets of wisdom in this one. So enjoy it and, yeah, we'll chat to you soon. Ullis Carlson, welcome to the State Shifters Podcast. Thank you so much for joining me live from Sweden. How are you?

I'm fine, thank you. And thank you, Jordan, for having me.

Oh, it's My pleasure. I mean, it's pretty amazing that we can both have a conversation on other ends of the world. It's 8pm where you are, 2pm Where I am. And we're gonna have a conversation about some of these shared topics that we've both delved into through our own paths, our own unique journeys. And you've connected with me via Instagram. And this is one of the things I'm absolutely loving about having an Instagram page and a podcast is getting to meet and connect with like minded people like yourself. So how did, how did you discover my profile?

First of all, I'm not quite sure, actually. I'm not sure if it was you who found me or if I found you. I don't know, but I just saw you and then I clicked on your profile and I liked your energy. I could feel your energy all the way here to Sweden. So I contacted you.

Oh, that's wonderful. Yeah. So I'm so glad you did because now we've kind of connected and we get to join energies and put that out and hopefully connect and inspire some other people out there who are listening. So for the people who have tuned into this episode, maybe you want to give a little bit of a background around your story and kind of where your expertise lies.

Yes. Thank you. Jordan. About 10, 11 years ago, I was really depressed and suicidal actually, and I had a big burnout. Burnouts are really common here in Sweden due to many reasons, I think a combination of reasons. But I was really so stressed and so depressed and my everyday life was not functioning at all. I couldn't work, I could barely be with my children. I couldn't barely, you know, be with myself. And I was thinking every day, I was thinking every day if this was the day that I was going to end my life. I slept like 15 minutes per night for a very long time of my life. And these sleeping disorders was causing this burnout in the long run. So that's where I was 10 years ago. And it's been a journey in a journey of reclaiming myself ever since that. Ever since then.

Yeah, I mean, that's. I've never had to battle any sort of severe depression in the past, but I can only imagine how difficult and challenging it would be. But also to come out the other end of it, it must fill you with a new lease on life and a new perspective that can help a lot of people. So, like, how do you now share this, this wisdom that you have through this challenging period? I know you're a yoga teacher and you work with people in the field of shamanism and various other forms of therapy. Do you mind explaining how your teachings have kind of incorporated this print, this knowledge and wisdom you have?

Yes, of course. It started 11 years ago when, when I had the depression and I was always searching or looking, you know, for some answer. It was like a quest that I wanted to find myself. And one of the days when I was standing in front of the mirror with my, you know, with all the pills in my hand thinking that this is the day that I'm going to end it, that day I had like a link in my inbox and it was a link about yoga for depressed people. And so I contacted the man and I joined the course, which was just like a basic course for 10 weeks. And then I participated in those 10 weeks. And during that time he told me that there's like one spot left for the training to become a yoga teacher and a yoga therapist. And I really didn't know how I was going to make it because I was sick with leave and I didn't have any money. And at that time, me and my husband, at the time we had divorced. So I really didn't know how I was going to pay for this training. But then in the end it turns out that I get back from my taxes when I had my own company and then I still had, had paid all my taxes during the time when I've been sick and depressed. So I got back the, the same amount of money that I paid for for the course. And during that course, which was like two years long, I went from, you know, like pitch dark inside and just like living hell basically to find different shades, like 50 shades of gray or something. And I discovered that there was so much about me that I was disconnected from and I wasn't in contact with. So it was like a two years journey of personal development and spiritual growth. And then at the end of that two year course, one lady comes in to have yoga, especially for people with a lot of pain in the heart, the body or the soul. And when I tried her yoga, it was like coming home. And so then and there I decided to take on her course, which was another one and a half year. And during that journey with her, I found out that I was a highly sensitive person, an empath that I even, I didn't know about this before. And during the time with her, I released so many hidden emotions and so many, yeah, hidden emotions and hidden energy that life actually wasn't so black anymore. It was me coming back alive and I'M really grateful for that opportunity. And after that, I've been continuing to develop and to. To find and to tune in, really, and to develop this kind of yoga for empaths and highly sensitive people. And the yoga that I do now is also combined with applied quantum physics and a lot of healing. And when I'm working, I do it all on my intuition, so I. I could really like. One of my biggest gifts is to see and to feel frozen emotions in somebody, and I can help them to release these frozen emotions so they can come more into their heart and live a life from their heart's desire. That's basically what I do.

Amazing stuff. Yeah. I'm so curious to learn a little bit more about some of these areas that you mentioned. But I'm going to start with the yoga philosophy around, because I've done a lot of yoga in the past and I still do practice yoga regularly. And my two forms were Bikram and Vinyasa. But you said you did. A woman did yoga specifically for people that were suffering from depression. Do you mind explaining how does that differ from, say, a regular yoga class that someone might be attending?

Yes, of course. My background is that I come from Ashtanga from the beginning. So I've been teaching Ashtanga yoga for a long time. But for me, Ashtanga yoga was very good at the time because I had a lot of eating disorders as well. A lot of eating disorders, and in need of controlling myself and my weight and who I was really. So Ashtanga yoga for me also became like some kind of, you know, performance that I needed to perform in and that I needed to be good. And it was a good way of, I thought at the time, to keep my weight or to control my calories or whatever, because it was burning kind of yoga. And Ashtanga yoga is very masculine in its essence, in its energy. And if you are under a lot of pressure, if you have a lot of stress, if you are burned out, if you have something that here in Sweden is called fibromiology, pain, like all over the body, or if you have a disease called chronic tiredness or something.

Chronic fatigue, I think.

Yeah, exactly. And you cannot do this kind of yoga. It's too straining on the nervous system. So this woman that I encountered and her education that I joined, and I also became her student for a while. Her yoga was so much more subtle and so much warm and embracing and caring and so soft and yet so powerful. So it was actually the most powerful kind of yoga that I've experienced. During my 25 years of working as a yoga teacher.

Yeah, beautiful. I know that. I guess the principle of yoga should never be a challenge. It should never challenge you to the point where you're under some sort of stress. There should be ease and flow with the practice. And I guess this form of yoga that you practiced kind of facilitated an ease and flow for people who were going through such dark periods. And I can see how beneficial that would be, is like allowing the body to open up, like you said, open up different shades of lightness where before it was just darkness. And like, I specifically remember moments in my yoga practice in the past where things just opened up, particularly at the end in Shavasana. Did you. Do you have any. Do you remember any specific moments where you had some serious breakthroughs in the middle of your practice or something just shifted dramatically and you had sudden awakening, or was it more of a gradual awakening?

It was a combination of both. But I also want to tell you, Jordan, that in our society here in the Western countries, we have a lot of the energy of the masculine, the immature masculine, the young energy. We always the doers, the do gooders, the good girls or the good guys or. And the young energy and the immature masculine energy that we both have. It doesn't matter, you know, if you're women or if you're a man. We have it all in us. But the immature masculine energy is always, you know, that we need to take actions or perform or we need to be good. If I'm like a workaholic, then I'm using too much of my fire, of my immature masculine, always striving or pushing or, you know, going somewhere. I need to achieve something and I always need to improve myself or to look for more money or whatever. And many of us are looking in the outside world, but how can you see the outside world if you're not connected to your inner world? And so for me, this whole journey has been living a life more like outside, outside myself. Always looking for acknowledgement in the outer world by being the good girl or whatever, to really accept and embrace the wholeness of me. So, and even like this kind of feminine yoga that is in the marketplace today called Yin yoga, if you have a lot of pain in the nervous system, if you have a lot of pain in the body, the mind, or the spirit, then it's too intense for you. You cannot be in a position for three to five minutes. It's causing you even more stress on the nervous system. So basically what I've been doing these 10 years and what I do now with my teacher in this project, reclaim your Priesthood, is to move from the immature masculine energy and the immature feminine energy into the more mature, the more conscious mature and feminine energy. And one of my really big turning points was 10 years ago when I was walking in the Swedish archipelago on a cold winter's day, and suddenly I get this really massive and intense pain in my chest. And I remember that I'm holding on to my, you know, to my chest because it felt like I was going to die or like I was going to explore, explode. So I'm falling down there in the snow 10 years ago, and I became lying there for what turned out to be many, many hours. And first of all, I just fell. And I was so, you know, terrified of me dying there in that snow, all alone in the forest. And then all of a sudden, I hear these, like, haunted screams, primal screams, grunting, howling, like muffled noises. And I was so scared because I thought it was, you know, like an animal or something. And it turned out that it was me. So I was lying there in that snow and all these totally overwhelming and unexpected noises and sounds came from deep within me. And that was a big turning point for me because until then, in my whole life, I have always suppressed my true feelings or who I am. I've been trying to hide myself or adapt myself to the norms here in Sweden, how I should be, how I should look like, what I should do. So it was such a huge emotional release. And I didn't get it at the point, because as I told you, I really thought that this was the moment that I was going to die, you know, and so that took me into going and to joining this different kind of yoga courses that I mentioned earlier. So that was a huge turning point. And another big turning point was in this yoga with these women, in this women's circle. And I finally connected with my inner child, my inner child that I've been running away from or neglected or abandoned a long, long time ago. I didn't even know about what an inner child was. And when I connected with my inner child, it was also a turning point for me, a very beautiful and very vital moments for me.

And was this in your yoga practice that you connected with the inner child?

Yeah, it was. And she came to me and I could. I could see her and I could feel her. And it was. It was like I was collecting and retrieving such a big and lost part of myself that I haven't even realized was lost. I didn't even know that it was Lost, because I. I've never encountered her before.

I guess for people who are listening, who have, who kind of battle with, with bouts of depression or maybe you've experienced depression in the past. How does someone go about finding the courage to take themselves down to a yoga class like does? Because not everyone can find that energy and really just show up and move the body. Because I know depression is a very dense energy which a lot of people just feel trapped. And you had your breakthrough in that moment in the snow. What if someone doesn't know how to create that first shift to really start to get the energy moving again?

I really, I mean, I really, really recommend them to connect with somebody that they feel that they trust. And I also recommend them to connect with expert of breathing, because this is one of my journey also have been about exploring and discovering. The Swedish word for breath is the same word as spirit. So the word here in Sweden for breath is andetag, which basically means spirit. So, and when you are depressed, when you are tired, when you are in pain, when you are contracted, it affects your breathing. And when your breathing is affected, obviously you can't, you know, inhale prana, or life force, the energy that you need. And also you're not exhaling all the toxics and the leftover products from your body. So this means that if your breathing is somehow limited or contracted, which it is when you are depressed or low or tired or whatever, it affects your breathing and you're not even aware of it. You don't even know that your breathing is affecting or affected until you start to work with your breath. So I really recommend all of you who are stressed or depressed to connect with somebody who is really good in breathing, guiding in breathing exercises. So this is what my journey also has been about. Because when I started, I had like 33 breaths per minute, meaning that my breathing was so quick, so intense and so shallow. So I was only living shallow life, you know. And now my breathing is down to one breath per minute when I do. It's not even one breath per minute when I do my yoga or when I work. And for me, when I've been retrieving my breath, my breaths have taken me into depths of me. It has taken me through all these layers of hidden emotions or frozen emotions. So you need to start to work with your breath. And it's not something that I would recommend you to do by yourself because when you work with this, it releases all kinds of stuff within from the subconscious mind. So it can be really good to have a guide to have, you know, support or somebody at your side while you are exploring this journey. And this is the journey that takes you from, you know, our monkey mind, our ego, and down into the depth of who we really are, the true essence of who we really are.

Yeah. The power of the breath is something that people often overlook because it's something that is innate within us. The breath is our connection with life that we tend to look externally out there for the solution when we already have the solution. And the breath can give us that depth that you speak of. I just find that so fascinating. And again, it's just going back with connecting with the body. The minute you start connecting with the body, that's when you start to gain insights and openings. And that's a great piece of advice if someone's struggling with. With the energy, is just to start with, with breathing. Get your breathing right. Was there obviously you did yogic breathing. Pranayama breathing is so powerful. There's a lot of other breathing techniques that are out there right now. I don't know if you've heard of Wim Hof, who teaches another breathing technique that I've tried in the past. Same same principle, just really using the breath to build energy within the body. And it's quite amazing how effective it is. I want to bring up again the masculine and feminine energy stuff. And I've traveled a fair bit now. I've been around Europe. I've been obviously from Australia, now moved out to Canada. When I have these discussions and you bring up this masculine. This immature, masculine, immature feminine energy, I now see that it's the same everywhere in the world, although we're all from different parts and have different nationalities and cultures underlying all that. It's the same human condition that everyone's going through. And there's this shift happening now where I believe it's time for people to transition out of these immature energies into the more mature. How are you helping people with this transition in Sweden? And is there any advice that we can give for people who are tuning in maybe globally to help with this transition from these. From these immature energies?

Yes, I actually work globally. I have clients all over the world and I do it also through Skype. And obviously I'm working a lot with the breathing. That's like one really big key to become more conscious. And when you are becoming more conscious, you are also becoming aware of, you know, your old habits patterns. That is not really being helpful anymore. Maybe they've been there for such a long time and they have been serving as some kind of Protection for you, but some working a lot with the breath. And I work a lot with intuition. And for us human beings living in feminine bodies or female bodies, I do a very beautiful kind of yoga that is yoga for increased lust and sensuality. And when I get the question, like, what is the essence of the immature feminine energy or the principle, I always tell them that the immature feminine energy is holding on, like clinging on to. It could be anything from ideas, thoughts, my ego to my weight or to my relationship, my job, my money. You know, here in the Western countries, we cling on to our money. I need more money. I need it. I need to improve myself. I need this better car. I need to decorate my kitchen, whatever. And so the immature feminine energy can also, as you say, Jordan, be seen all over the place. It doesn't matter where you're from or what culture you're from, because it's all over. And to. For me, really to feel and to be the more conscious masculine and the more conscious feminine energy, you need to work with yourself, with the body, through the body, through all the layers that has been there, Everything that you have, you know, never expressed, everything that you have felt, but never shown or expressed, all parts of you that you may not like. And it really, for me, it has been to work with my dark sides, with my ugliness, to work with the beast in order to be the beauty and to be the light. I also need to work with the beast, with the inner beast.

Embracing the darkness is something that, yeah, constantly, it's a constant reminder for me because I think, I guess what a lot of us people who have begun this path of inner work and transformation is, you think that, you know, it's all sunshines and rainbows for majority of the. Of the time. But I'm finding increasingly there's still elements of darkness that are. I have to let go of and embrace and feel. And it's a constant, constant cycle of feeling and letting go and trying to love the darker aspects. But for people who are starting out on this journey of doing the inner work and going into the body, how do you help people transmute these darker. The beast and turn it into and come out the other end stronger and learning from the dark aspects of the shadow side.

Yeah, I think one starting point is that I need to be doing the groundwork myself. I mean, I cannot teach anything if I'm not willing to go there myself. I cannot teach anything if it's not being anchored in myself. So. And we as human beings, we have so many fears, you know, so many fears that we are conscious about and also fears that we are being unconscious about. Like, what is driving me? What do I escape from by being a workaholic or by using medicines or drugs or sex or food? What am I escaping from? And Buddha, the enlightened one, he was talking about that we human beings are creating our own suffering. And we do this mainly by avoiding. Avoiding, you know, uncomfortable feelings, situations, people. And that is the immature aspect of fleeing, escaping, always on the move, on the run. Whether it's in physical body or in the new projects or, you know, our mind can mind constantly moving, escaping from what really is, what really needs to be felt in order to transform. If you have a lot of fears, you cannot change the fears only by making positive affirmations or wanting them to go away. You need to face the fears through fear. And then the other one, the other aspect that Buddha was talking about that causes us human beings sufferings is cravings. Like, as much as we want to escape from the pain, we want to escape from our fears. Having, you know, so many strategies to escape by working, which is really, you know, justified in the Western societies or using medications or in Sweden, we use a lot of medication for depression, for sleeping disorders, for whatever, a lot of medication. I think Sweden actually is one of the countries in the world with the highest rating using medication.

Is that right? Wow.

Yeah.

Like prescription drugs that like. Like Xanax and Valium and all these numbing drugs to help people sleep. Yeah, yeah, I know it's bad in Australia and North America as well.

Yeah, yeah. And then so the other one, the other thing that is causing us suffering is this craving. I crave for more money. I crave for a better look. I crave my youth that has been, you know, vanished. I crave for instant gratification, instant reward. I crave for even more money. I crave for a new car, a new cell phone. I crave for being acknowledged. I crave for, you know, belonging, whatever. And so it's like a scale. And we are always having both the escaping part within, deep within our subconscious mind. And also this craving, this striving. And so many of us are living, you know, going from one point to the other one. And I. I used to tell my kids that, you know, they were so disappointed when we went to amusement park and the day was over. And I said, well, this is life, you know, you are longing so much for that day or for that perfect body or that vacation. And then that perfect day comes. And like every day, this too shall pass the Day is, you know, passing. The day is over, the vacation is over. The body that you once crayed for or strived for, you know, is transforming. So how can you hold on to anything when everything is constantly moving? How can you hold on to, you know, life itself when it's constantly moving?

Yeah, this is resonating with me a lot because I've noticed in myself that's something that being out in Toronto, Toronto is a very busy city and it's one of those. I'm not sure if Sweden's the same. I'm not sure. What city are you in there? Is it Stockholm?

Yes, Stockholm.

Probably similar thing as Toronto. It's a very. Everyone's doing things. There's a lot of a very business element here, which means it's like that mindset of like constantly onto the Type A personalities. And I've noticed that I have a tendency for that. So being in this environment, I'm noticing my mind having those cravings of like, I should be doing more, I'm not enough, I need to make more money, I need to do more work. And I'm finding, like you said to, to overcome that, you need to sit and face that core underlying fear of unworthiness or not being good enough or seeking approval. I'm finding when I sit in meditation in the mornings and I face the fear which is all in the mind and I look at it and I acknowledge it and I feel it, I then tune into a deeper part of myself which is within the body, which is more of a heart centered way of living. And when I come out of my meditation and I've let go of this kind of this striving, this seeking, these desires to achieve and do, I find that I actually am able to live in a more creative and loving space when I'm in that heart centered approach and my. I infuse that energy with my work and my relationships with everyone. And it's just a reminder to me of how important it is to do the work. Because the connection with the present moment for me is the essence of everything. And I know when I've lost it because I'll be in my head and the quality of my work drops. Maintaining that connection, I think is such an essential part of life. And yoga is one amazing way of doing it. Do you have a meditation practice? What does your daily practice look like to ensure that you stay in this heart centered approach to living?

I actually, during these last 10 years I've, you know, I've had to change my whole life. So for me Yoga is not just what I do on the mats. The challenge is to leave yoga off the mat. That's where life really happens. Yoga on the mat is just a practice for me to teach me how to live more present outside of the mat. So the practice that I do is that I. For now, for instance, my hormone system is a bit overwhelmed because I've been. Yeah, there's still some traumas in my body that has led to that. My hormones are really tired, my hormone system. So I do some things, a program that I set up for myself, and then I do it for, you know, at least six months, because that is also something in this society that we have this illusion that it should go fast. You know, I want a quick fix. I want to have. Just give me a program, and I do it up and I rip it off in 10 weeks. And I want to see results quickly. But what happens if I stay? What happens if I stay? And what's beneath everything that I. That I encountered first? What's there? And so I do that, and then I do, as a homework for my teacher, I do Zen meditation.

Did you say Zen or sound?

Yeah, Zen.

Zen. What does that look like?

It's observing your breath, counting. And every time, if you count and you have a thought, you need to start counting again. So when you start and you. You only come to the number one, then you know that, oh, my God, I have a lot of. I have a lot of monkey mind going on.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And then I'm out in nature every day. Mother Earth Gaia. It's very soothing place for. For stressed people to be. So I'm always, you know, treating myself for yoga and this sun meditation and being out in nature. And I only do what I, you know, what I love to do, what I feel happy and joyous about. And I don't work so much because when I work, it's also. Even though I love my work and it's so meaningful, and I do a lot of workshops and even longer educations now. And one education that I'm holding is actually an inner cation, because we are always doing educations in the outer world. But this is an inner cation of nine months. So it's like symbolically a pregnancy where you are being pregnant and then you are delivering yourself, the new you.

It's like giving birth to a new way of living. Yeah, I like that.

Yeah, I like that. Yeah. And so what was the question? I'm sorry I'm talking so much.

No, that's okay. This is. This is really really good insights. I mean, I think the question was relating back to, to how do you keep your practice of keeping in the. Staying in the present moment. And I think you alluded to that nicely with the, with the. Was it like a program that you're following?

Yeah. And then I'm also, you know, living like I'm practicing to be a lot of. In stillness and silence because that's, you know, you cannot hear the whisper from your heart or the whisper from your soul if you are constantly moving.

Very true.

Yes. So. And when I'm working and I'm holding something, space for all these, you know, sometimes quite heavy emotional transformations, I do get tired because we are always, you know, connected or entangled with each other. So. And I can sense other people's feelings so much so I need a lot of time by myself, a lot of me time not doing anything. So that's also one way of taking care of myself.

Yeah, it's funny, I posted on Instagram about that yesterday was just the art of doing nothing and how important that is. Same goes with me. I think I'm realizing that now of coming out and living in another country, I've lost a large portion of that time of solitude. And now that I've. Because I've just moved away from. I was living in my girlfriend's family house and she had a big household, she had three, three siblings. And there's always people around and I, and I lost that element of solitude and I've moved downtown now and I have access to a beautiful park around the corner and I've found myself just sitting in the bench in the park and watching life go by and just being that observer and how, how much clarity I get from that. Such a simple practice. But just being alone and, and finding a connection with. And I use nature as well, like you said, nature. So for me it really gives me that grounding and seeking stillness. I just can't, I can't emphasize it enough. And I guess I realize how important it is when I come from days where my mind is so active and I'm struggling with finding the connection to releasing something and then going back to that seat of the soul and the polarity that I see between two ways of living because I just certainly have the tendency to just slip back into that, that mind based thinking. I'm an anxious, I have tendency to be an anxious thinker. And when I get a taste for that, that way of way of living, I see how, how obvious the two ways are and I just want, yeah, I want, I really want to help guide people into this, this heart centered way of living. And then you, your approach is certainly, certainly something that people can take on board. I guess this could lead on to my next question nicely is for a lot of people that tune into my podcast, obviously my background, my story was based around me leaving my corporate job because I connected with a deeper place within me and I found that I chose my career from a mind base from I wanted to make money, I wanted to appear successful or have the title of an accountant. And when I connected with that deeper place, I realized that this version of me that I'd created through my mind as being in the accountant and working in a professional career and having a nice suit to wear every day didn't bring me fulfillment and meaning and purpose in my life. And I connected with this deeper place and I found that I was able to step away from my job with a knowing that I was moving into a higher place. But I'm realizing for a lot of people, they sense that there's more to their life than what they do for work. If they're working in an unfulfilling job, they sense that there's more. But there's this fear that's stopping them. Like a fear of the unknown and a fear of everything not working out. And I find that it's building the courage to step into the unknown and taking a leap of faith is the key, is like building that courage muscle. Do you have any advice for people who are perhaps tuning into this type of content but they still feel like they're stuck in a position in life that's not serving them fully.

Well. The only thing that I can say about that, and I don't know how it is for anybody else, but for me it has come to so many points where I've, you know, with my longing of this what you are talking about, my longing for wholeness, my longing for belonging, my longing for connection with myself and with others, longing of full, rich and divine life, they seem to have been bigger than my, you know, huge fears. And my God, I've had so many fears and I still do so many, you know, fears that I've been trying to navigate through by, as you said, Jordan, by with my mind, trying to make up solutions with my mind or to think about or being logic about what to do or whatever. But basically I think that that day, that day when you're longing for spirits and for connectedness is greater than your fears, then you will do something about it. Then you will do the work, you will do whatever it takes and you will follow every piece of the puzzle until you can put a new puzzle, the puzzle that you want to. And for many in our societies, I think that we are not connected with spirit. And I based this on my deep work with exploring the breaths. Because if and when you are breathing shallow or it's somehow limited or constricted, then you are living a very limited life. Your breathing is always affecting your life, the quality of your life, your health. And when you are afraid and when you are stressed, your breathing is really either shallow or fast or very limited. And I am so grateful that my courage has been greater than my many huge fears. And the word courage comes from the French word where courageous heart. And so if you are afraid and if you feel, you know, terrified or horrified or you know what you have and where you are, but you are so afraid of the unknown, the mystery of the unknown. That day when your courage becomes greater than your fears, then it's already, then you're already half there. And I think that in order to feel the courage and to be bold and brave, you also need to again work with your breath and to embody yourself and everything that you are afraid of.

Yeah, really well said.

There's no shortcuts. Really.

There's not, there's not, is there? It's just, it's just doing the work.

Yeah.

It's not, it's not an easy.

We have illusions that there might be shortcuts if I only do this or if I be, you know, if I beat this one up or if I, if I do whatever. But it's only illusions.

100%. No. Yeah. I mean it's, it's, it's the road less traveled. And I think I, I love connecting with, with people who like yourself who are doing this, this work that people. It's not every day you come across people who live the way you're living and teach the way you're teaching. And as more people start to shift their, their inner world and, and just, and build that courage and, and take the road less traveled and who pursue a passion that have fear about not making enough money or fear of letting people down, not fulfilling their parents expectations, it's this courage to take the road less travel that I want to inspire people to do. And I'm just grateful that there's people like you out there who are helping people connect with their heart and really live a heart centered life. This shift that's happening, I see it because now I'm working in this industry, in this space where I see a lot of people coming to my work. I work at a healing clinic in downtown Toronto, and I see people coming through who have either begun the path or they're getting very close to taking their leap of faith. You know, meditation has been something that is opening up now to a lot of people in Western society. A lot of people still see just the performance aspect of it. But the deeper meaning of meditation is the opening is the shift that's happening. How do you see this playing out, this shift that's happening of global consciousness awakening? How can I facilitate it?

It's a huge and very important shift. And I personally think that it's, you know, for us as human beings and for this planet that we are living in. Because what I see in the outer world, you know, like diseases or wars or catastrophes in nature or whatever, that is just mirroring on what's in my inside. I cannot see wars on the outside. I cannot see all the pain if it's not within me. And all this, you know, polluting our planets and it's horrible. And it's us human beings coming from an unconscious perspective. So this shift is really also about increasing our consciousness and to take responsibility for my path, for my growth, my expansion, for facing and feeling and allowing all these fears. Because then when I transform, then my inner vibration raises the consciousness and it's mirroring on the outside world. So I really think that this is a global movement. And I also think that we need to do something quite fast because Mother Earth is really stressed. You know, Gaia is under a lot of pressure and basically she doesn't need us, but we need her. And I've been working with yoga for 25 years, and there's so many things that has happened, but still people are. Even within my field, you know, people are still being very superficial or just going for the light side of the life or being positive. But I think that it's even more important to be authentic. And with this transparency of seeing everything, not just my good sides or how I choose to label it, because it's all just man made really in our mind. And I also want to see that only 10 years ago, only 10 years ago from now, we were having as many inputs in eight weeks that we are having now in one day.

Really?

Yeah. Just imagine, you know, the pressure on all our inner organs, you know, all our cleansing organs, our heart, our lungs, spleen, liver, to sort all the external inputs that are coming in, you know, which one shall I act and react on and which one is coming through into My subconscious mind. So just by living, you know, now it's so stressful for our systems and our bodies and we are actually not made for this fast, you know, connection with Internet or all these impressions that we are getting. Our systems is not built for that, our energy systems. So it's like system overload all the time. And this is according to me and what I believe in also mirroring in the outside world. So therefore this shift is of, you know, such an extreme importance that we people wake up, you know, take responsibility for your own shit, so to speak. Yeah, because I cannot do anything good if it's not anchored in me.

I feel, I feel the shift, the like the inputs that you speak of. When I, since moving out from a smaller city, I grew up in Perth, Western Australia, which is a smaller city to Toronto there and, and feel it. I've really noticed that the imports becoming just ramped up like crazy. Like no matter where I go, I'm bombarded with importance. Information media trying to sell me stuff, advertising. And it's funny you bring that up because I really did notice that like I'm just constantly. My energy and attention has been pulled around the minute I step outside into the city, it's just pulled around everywhere. And if you're not centered and aware of what's going on, you'll get pulled into the system to the cycle of unconscious living where, where there's, there's a. These larger corporations or governments or a higher power is essentially controlling where our energy goes to feed the system. So the awakening is, is helping humans take back control and really invest into saving the planet. Essentially because it's like you said, it's, it's, it's getting to a point where there's a, is a critical point now, like a critical mass. We're going to see it play out one way or another very soon. Yeah, well, this, I want to be mindful of your time. We're approaching the hour mark. I'll ask one final question and this question for me is probably there's an important aspect whenever someone tunes into a video, a podcast or reads a podcast book. And it's what action or actions are people going to take after listening to this podcast? Because I, I listened to a bunch of podcasts when I was at my corporate job. I read so many books, watched so many videos and unless there's action taken at the end of it, it's just stored knowledge. It's only stored potential. And for that potential to be turned into, to change and habits, the action needs to be taken. What action do you want listeners to take after this podcast?

I want you to become aware of your breathing, of your breaths, your connection with the spirits, and if you need support, if you need help, guidance, find somebody who you trust or who has been there or with the experience, because you don't need to do it all by yourself. People have been there before and done that before and you can take their help and their advice, but just start with your breathing, feel your breathing and connect with your breathing. And like every day, every breath is a new beginning, every breath in itself. It's like a cycle of life. You are born into this life with a breath, and the day you die, you do it with a breath. And in between, you fill your life with breaths. What are you filling your life with? What are you longing for? What do you want?

Ula's beautiful. I really appreciate you sharing some of your insights and wisdom with me and the listeners here before we sign off. Whereabouts can people connect with you online if they want to learn more about the work that you do?

My website for the moment is www.plainyoga.sc. plain yoga is a reminder to keep life simple. Keep it plain.

Wonderful.

And I'm on Insta and Facebook with my name Plain Yoga or Ulis Carlsson and my English website is coming up soon and it's going to be my name uliscarlsson.com awesome.

I'll link all that up in the show notes as well. So thank you so much for joining me on the Stage Shifters podcast.

Thank you so much, Jordan, for having me. It was a pleasure. Thank you.

Thank you guys. Thank you so much for tuning into this episode of the podcast. It really means a lot to me knowing that you're choosing this type of content. And you know, if there's one thing I can leave you with as you take off for the rest of your day is two calls of actions for you. One of the calls of action that I've been trying to do recently every single day is do one act of kindness. I mean, if you can do more than one act, that's perfect. But start with one. Try and just do something kind for someone else. Pay. Pay for someone's coffee ahead of you. Or just open the door for someone, hold the door open for someone when they're walking by. These little acts of kindness can really go a long way and it actually improves the way you feel and also improves the way someone else feels. And that kind of stems on throughout the day. So try and do that. Find something kind to do for someone else. Here's one opportunity for you to do some act of kindness is go ahead and leave some feedback on the podcast on itunes, leave a rating or review, or if you're feeling extra special, share this with someone else to try and help someone else out on their journey. And that will mean a lot for me. It'll mean a lot for other people, and it's going to mean a lot for you. Because the more acts of kindness we do, we spread the love. So thank you so much for joining me and I will see you in the next episode.