SSP 029: Matt Alberts - The Power of Stillness

Welcome back, you beautiful soul.

This is Jordan Kanlish on the State Shifters podcast. And the podcast is really about bringing on guests who inspire you to live a life of passion and purpose. And this guest was someone who I've been following and we've been connecting on Instagram. And his content is just always on point. And it reminds me a lot of the type of content that I was putting out when I first began this journey. It was just these little nuggets of wisdom. It's wisdom that's coming from a place of stillness. And his name is Matt Alberts. He's from Calgary in Canada. And I wanted to jump on and chat with him because I've really enjoyed.

Connecting with people who are around the.

Similar age as me. And one thing that I've noticed, particularly since I've moved out to Canada, is I'm hanging out with a lot of.

People who are older than me.

And there's nothing wrong with that. I enjoy talking about these spiritual topics because I'm learning so much from these, from these people who are a lot wiser than me, they've experienced more in life than me. But when I connect with someone such as Matt, who's a little bit younger than me, and we talk about these topics, I feel that there's a different, there's a younger energy here. And I really want to start to bring on guests who are around my age, who are my friends, who we can talk in a relatable way for Millenn to understand these, these topics, because when you grasp it, it's something that you can, you can share and address beyond. Beyond language. The language and how it's communicated isn't actually that important. It's what is beneath the language. And that's what the beauty of Matt's posts are. If you follow him on Instagram, you'll see his posts. They come in this coming from this place of stillness. They're coming from that place of no mind. And when you access the no mind place, the words that come through have a different type of energy. So I'm excited to bring him onto the podcast and have a chat about some of these topics and learn a little bit more about how he goes about his mindfulness practices. So we have a really great conversation. I hope you enjoy the episode. Before we dive in, I've been letting people know that I'm launching a brand new health and wellness offering. And it's my morning routine. And I've carved out this morning routine during my time as working in a corporate job. And it's really, for people who want to access passion and purpose in their day, regardless of what work they do, regardless of where they live, regardless of who they hang out with. When you get a master, your morning routine down pat, like the one I'm going to share with you in my offering, then you're going to supercharge your day to be more energized, full of creativity, full of passion, and ultimately, you're going to live a life of purpose. So if that's something that interests you, drop me an email, jordan.kanlishoutlook.com or message me on social media and I'll let you know how to get involved. So enjoy the episode.

Welcome to the State Shifters Podcast, a.

Show dedicated to helping you discover your.

True potential through connecting the mind, body and soul.

Okay, Matt Elberts. Welcome to the State Shifters podcast, mate. How are you?

Thank you, Jordan. I'm doing well today, thank you.

I've got you live from Calgary in Canada. We're both in Canada. I've been connecting with a lot of fellow Canadians based over west, and it's exciting to jump on a call with you. And we connected via Instagram, which is one of the things I love about social media and the Instagram platform is I get to connect with people who are just vibing at a very similar wavelength to me. And reading your post, man, I totally resonated with the energy you're putting out and the message you're sharing. And your page is awesome. And I wanted to bring you onto the podcast because I feel like we could have a really interesting conversation about some of the stuff you talk about. And before we dive deep into some of that, do you want to just give the listeners a bit of background about yourself and how your inward journey began and how you got to where you are today?

Yeah, absolutely. I definitely didn't prepare anything coming into here, but a little bit of my background. Oh, boy, that's a deep question. One thing that you'll realize about me is I am a pretty deep thinker. Once in a while, I can just kind of go into space, into my own head.

That's totally okay.

You know, that's kind of another thing, too, is a little thing about my past is, you know, lately I've really been trying not to think about my past. I just really almost pretend I have a wall behind me and I'm always stepping forward. But there's definitely ways that you can think about your past as a positive, you know, reflection and realize the things that are sticking with you that you can keep Going and build on. Yeah. So, I mean, born and raised Calgary, Alberta, changed quite a bit over these past few years. To be Honest, I'm only 23 years old, but I think a lot of change happens in these years. Of course.

Totally, man.

Yeah.

Such a young age, man. I, that's what, that's what connected me again. Like when we see people around our age now starting to open up and talk about some of the things you speak about like online, such as, you know, like meditation and contemplative practices, you know, makes me think like, when did this, this awakening as such, we call it awakening. For a lot of people it's, can be a gradual thing. For some people it's a sudden perspective shift. Like what about you? Have you always been like, for example on your Instagram you're talking about like taking time out for gratitude and connecting with stillness and meditation. Like this stuff sometimes, like a lot of people don't. Aren't even exposed to this, like, particularly in the 23 years of living that you've been here. Like when did the shift happen? Was it a gradual thing?

Yeah, totally, man. So it definitely was a gradual thing. It first happened when I was traveling, I would say when I kind of separated myself from my past life. I went overseas, traveled kind of Southeast Asia, South Asia, and having left my old friend group, having left my old past behind, traveling alone, you have no other choice but to discover who you are and to just know the little thoughts, the little kicks that get you going every day, that just your passions and just almost. Yeah. Purpose, what you really want to do in life, especially when traveling, because it's, I wouldn't necessarily say it's a flight or fight kind of scenario, but you're definitely put in that a lot more because you constantly, you're moving, you're, you're thinking, oh, where am I going to stay next? Where's the next restaurant I can eat at? And especially for myself, being vegan on a plant based diet, I mean that's, you really have to take into consideration of, of every move of where you go and. Yeah, just, just. And also being like radically open minded too. I mean, wherever you place yourself, you have to be able to adjust and use that time of your life the best that you can. That's kind of, that's how I, how I've been seeing life lately, at least.

Yeah, I love that, man. Like, I agree with you with the travel component. Like traveling to go and do trips like that, like do Southeast Asia trips. Start traveling to places that people wouldn't normally go to or places that are gonna create opportunities for inner growth requires an element of open mindedness, which is, which is why I like, I'm a big advocate for travel. Like if someone wants to really open their mind and explore, explore the world in a way that allows new perspectives to come in, then travel without planning too much. Sort of like what you do when you travel and you don't plan too much or you go to a country where you're out of your comfort zone. You've got no choice but to be open minded and be okay with not knowing and trusting that things are going to be okay. And that in an essence really teaches you so much about life because life is unknown. Like if you can be okay with not knowing and you can step into, you can step into the unknown with faith and trust that things are going to be okay, then you're living from a higher purpose and travel is the best way to practice that. Practice that courage and faith and trust in something higher than yourself. And same deal with me. When I traveled, I came. My first big trip was like I came out to North America and I did exchange here and that was sort of like the catalyst for me really starting to go deep and have these sorts of perspective shifts as you see like the whole, there's a whole world out there that can teach you so much. So like you did in Southeast Asia trip, was there any other significant times on your travel journeys that you remember as being. Yeah, like that really shifted me.

Mmm, yeah, definitely. There's one moment in particular that I honestly, I think I've maybe told one person. I'll share it with you because I.

Really want to humble man.

I really want to start opening up and, and just letting my story out in a way because yeah, I went through some pretty, pretty deep personal experiences there. One is I was in India and as per usual, as you hear, I got pretty sick and I was staying in an ashram this one night and I could hardly even get out of bed. Honestly. Like sometimes I would like wake up in the middle of the night and I had just let go in my bed. I mean like, I was just like deathly sick. It was so bad.

Like a food poisoning or was it like some, some sort of virus that you.

Yeah. Really not sure. Yeah, couldn't tell you because like I was very careful. I was watching what I ate, was taking all the precautions that I had to, but somehow something still got into me. But anyways, yeah, I was, I was living in the ashram. I was on the top floor And I had to fill my water, and it took me 20 minutes. So this place is only four floors. It took me 20 minutes to get all the way downstairs and then filled up my water bottle. It took me about half an hour just to get back upstairs. And in that time, it was literally like, every time I sat down, I was just like, what am I doing? Why am I here? What is the purpose of this? I know I'm just sick. I know these are silly thoughts that will probably be out of my head tomorrow, but for some reason, I'm going deep right now. There's something happening. I want to sit with this. I want to sit with this pain. And, yeah, it was after that moment that, like, that was one of the moments where I could honestly say that it did shift me in a way. It allowed me to get to a low that I had never been before. And from that low and suffering in a way, like, I've been able to just draw so much power from it. It's like, used to, like. I remember at one time I was, like, so sick, and now it's like, I feel amazing. There's no excuse for me not to go out and crush every day. Like, to go and live and do everything. Otherwise, I'm just. It's excuses, you know?

Yeah. Dude, thanks for sharing that. I mean, I guess I want to bring up the. The importance of those low points. How important is it for someone when they're in those low points where they're hitting rock bottom, to start to question those things? Like, what is this teaching me right now? What can I learn from this experience? Because it's always from the darkness. We see the light more, we come out the other end of those low points with a new perspective on life. Like, how did you then treat that low point as, like, okay, I'm going to use this as an opportunity to go within.

Right. I'm just going to have to switch locations here really quick.

That's okay, man.

Yeah, my headphones died. I'm going to try and find a place with less echo. Is this all right?

That's right. He is good. Yep, he's good.

Yeah.

The importance of low points. I mean, that's. That's something I'm just really starting to discover and kind of get into. And that's 100% what happened to me while I was traveling is. You know, one memory that I always go back to is when you're walking on the streets when I was in India. I mean, you're walking by ladies who have half their face dismembered you know, they might be missing limbs, eyeballs gouged out. You name it, it's unreal. But you'll look at them and they'll give you the biggest, whitest smile you can ever imagine. Just because, like, they've. They've been to such low points, right, that they, they just know that wherever you can go from there, it's. There's just positive, like just, just up, you know, like you've already been to a terrible point, so now you just know that. Yeah, you'll never get to. To it or it kind of losing.

It a bit there.

Yeah, you've already experienced the low points. You already know what that feels like. You know, you don't want to get back there and you know you're capable to keep yourself out of those times.

Mm. Yeah. Particularly, like, I've noticed for myself as well, like, when I'm in the darkness, the key is allowing it to be there without resisting it. Like, sometimes it's all relative because, like, darkness for someone like us who lives in a comfortable city and a really, really a good life, but we have the bare necessities is different to someone who maybe in India and doesn't have simple things in life which. Which we take for granted. Yet we experience very similar feelings of suffering. Like out here. It's like anxiety seems to be the main cause of. Of suffering out here because people are constantly worried about the future. And this feeling of anxiety is causing a lot of suffering for people. And I realized that when I, like, I experienced anxiety in the past and when I'm in those times, can I sit with those darker emotions and be okay with them passing through me and using them as a way to go within, to release? Because there's just energy blockages that I need to release which are triggering these anxiety, these anxiety symptoms. Did you do something like that when you were going through. Now obviously, you obviously still go through these lower periods, but now that you have this toolkit of handling darker emotions, do you tend to go out and sit with them? Like, in terms of meditation, will you journal, what is your toolkit for handling slower emotions like that?

Yeah, absolutely, man. That's actually one reason why I was excited to connect with you, because I've heard that I listened to your morning routine lately. You're talking about yoga, meditation, cold shower. I'm not quite into the cold showers yet.

That's a game changer, mate. Wait till you try it.

Looking forward to it, actually am. But yeah, in my toolkits, hands down, are meditation and journaling. Yeah, when I'm in those times, you just. You need to sit however you want to sit. You know, make sure your back's nice and straight, feet on the feet however you want. Just be comfortable as you are, and then close your eyes and feel. There's just. Actually, for me, personally, I can feel that kind of anxious feeling kind of in the center of my body. And through breathing and my pranayama work, you can move that energy, right? You can target it to different areas or possibly just reduce it or get rid of it. And yeah, breath, I mean, that's hands down, I think, one of our most powerful tools. That's why I have a massive pair of lungs tattooed on me, is just breath, man, breathe. Take a second, realize you're human. You're just this little speck on this piece of sand floating through the universe. I mean, just, just, just, just calm yourself for a bit. Feel it. Understand that, you know, everyone most likely goes through these same feelings. And one thing there, too, is lately I've been thinking that everyone might think that they're all so, so different in a way, but when it comes down to it, like, if you put 10 strangers in a room, you're gonna realize that you're actually all so similar. Those little things that you thought were just your problems or your little, you know, just. Yeah, your. Your errors. In a way, it's. It's most likely everyone's problems and everyone's little, little errors.

100%. It's like the emotions. We all go through the same emotional scale, right? We all feel anxiety, we all feel worry, fear, happiness, joy. Like, these are all emotions that everyone feels. And when we realize our own humanness, and when you notice that an emotion that you don't like is happening, when you can take that step back and see it, it's just an emotion that it isn't actually who I am. That's a sign for me that I can stop what I'm doing. Because most people try and do more to get rid of these negative emotions. The key is to do less, to stop and actually sit down and go, wait a second. This is just an emotion. I've. Even though I feel like shit right now and I'm in the darkness, this is just an emotion that isn't actually who I am. And when you break that resistance or break that attachment to the emotion, you see its temporary nature, and it just passes right through. And then you come out the other end into a higher state of emotion while also realizing, this isn't me. This is just an Elevated motion that you can just ride the wave of emotions. When you break that resistance to negative emotions, you stay living in higher states. Yes. The humanness just realizing that we all experience emotions, but it's not actually who we are. Meditation, same deal for me was. Is the practice that I like to turn to. Do you mind giving us some background on, like, what your practice looks like and how long you would meditate for? Is it every morning that you do it?

Yeah. First of all, I actually just off that last conversation, I had a little thought pop into my mind before I lose it here. It's kind of on the topic of why, you know, anxiety. Given the emotion of anxiety, why were we taught that that's negative? Why. Why must that feeling bring us down? You know, why isn't. Why isn't that, you know, for me, it's like anxiety can come up and just. It's almost like it just grabs my heart and just squeezes it. You can feel that pressure. Why is that negative? You know, why, like, lately, whenever I'm anxious, I'll actually write in my journal. I'll just be like, that feeling is love. And now I'm trying to code my mind in a way to be like, whenever I'm anxious. That's like, no, there's something there. There's, there's, there's, there's love. You know, I love throwing love around. So.

Same.

Yeah. And that's one thing that I used to do for being nervous. I. Every time I was nervous, I would just be like, I'm so excited. I'm ready to go. Like, this is good. I'm going to feed off this. This is going to allow me to perform so well. And then. Yeah, that has already started to work. I've been doing that one for a while. And now lately, because I've been really busy, there's been a lot of change around me. My anxiety has been at a higher level, so I've really been targeting it and just trying to change that to an emotion where I can use it to the best ability.

To. That reframing. That's key. That's a really powerful practice that you've done. There is like, why does negative emotions have to be bad? They're only bad because we judge them as bad.

Yeah.

So you're essentially just stepping in and reframing them as. It's just an emotion that I can choose to see it how I want to see it, and then seeing it as love. Because at the end of the day, the core emotion is love. That's Emanating from all of us. So if you just treat everything that comes up as love, you break the resistance. I love that, man. That's cool. I'm going to use that.

It's. Glad I could.

So explain to me your meditation. Give me some background. Is it first thing you do in the morning when you wake up?

Yes, I will get up. I kind of freshen up a little bit. I'll brush my teeth, maybe do a little grab a tea and get that stuff ready. I also do try and go to the washroom. I like to empty out before I go into my meditation.

Stay a lot.

So. And then from there I'll usually sit down. I'll leave all technology out of the room. I have a little kind of digital clock that does nothing besides tell the time. And I go into just a nice dark room. It's all controlled settings. I know nothing is going to bother me. I know nothing will bring me out of that state. And also another thing with meditation, I mean is just share it. I think a lot of people are a little bit afraid to be like, oh, I meditate, take that time. It's beautiful. But yeah, it's first thing in the morning. I'll usually do at least 20 minutes. Lately I've been practicing transcendental meditation. So I did take the course for that and I received my, what is it, Primordial mantra. And then from there it'll last from anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes for my morning meditation. And then I'll go into a little bit of movement work and whatnot. But then throughout the day, it kind of depends on my schedule, what's happening, just how I feel that I'm performing. If I start to feel myself go down and I still have things to do during the day, I'll try and find a little time slot where I can step aside and just do a little, maybe five, ten minute practice just to bring myself back down. And also after every meditation practice, it's really important to journal. I feel too just right after because that's to me, whatever thoughts come to you after your meditation, once you're in that alpha state, right, Those are the thoughts that your mind really wants to bring in that there's most likely importance in there that you can use. And then after that, my nighttime, I'll usually do another just little meditation just to kind of wind myself down and get ready for bed. Pretty much, yeah.

Beautiful. Seems like you've got a really nice routine set up there with the tm. The transcendental stuff is something that I've obviously heard of, but haven't tried. So that's, that's cool that you've done the course. You have to keep me updated and let me know how it all goes when you start to do it regularly. Because I know it's powerful. I didn't like the Beatles and some big names. They were TM advocates actually.

I visited their ashram in Rishikesh. Cool.

Cool. I just wanted to touch on the importance of journaling in conjunction with meditation. Like, one thing I've found super effective recently is asking a question. So I like a. Write a question in my journal before I go into my meditation. And then when I come out of the meditation, I'll just journal the answer, whatever's coming through me. Like, so just posing that question and then going into the practice and just letting. Letting go of the need for an answer to come. I find that's the essence of channeling. That's like I work with a channeler here. And that's how he began channeling. Just asking questions while in meditation and allowing an answer to come through him without looking for the answer or seeking an answer. Just letting go of the question and the answer comes. And that's such a really powerful practice to do because I believe life works like that as well. When you have a desire, when you set. When you ask a question or set in a desire, you will get the answer. You just have to let go of getting the answer. And it will come. And it all depends on how. Like, I know Abraham Hicks. I'm not sure if you follow their stuff as well, but the vibrational scale, like you can manifest anything you want as long as you keep your vibration higher. So as desires come in, if you keep your vibration high, what you desire will naturally come to you by law of. Law of attraction. And that's the power of a meditation practice. You can essentially pose a question in a journal and then allow an answer to come by raising your vibration in your practice to allow something to come through. And I've been journaling so much recently because I think so much has been going on in my life. It's been a way for me to just capture thoughts and feelings. And when you. When I bring them to paper, it's like the energy gets taken out of my mind and brought into the physical world. It's like gets pulled out of me. And it's a very therapeutic thing. Like long form journaling is something that I'm doing a lot more of. Is. Is that something you're experimenting with as well? Like how long you been journaling for.

Do you mean like, like not long form journaling, Just how.

Yeah. Do you. Do you just write like a gratitude list or like, you know, like intentions for the day? Like, what does your journaling practice look like? Because for some people, they say they don't know what to journal. Like, you're like, what should they be journaling about?

Right.

So I'll usually start out what I try not to go over a page a day. I find that that's generally enough for me. I can fit it in there, especially with how I journal. So I'll start off date the top of the page, and right under that, I'll write grateful. Every time, every day, just write that word. And then from there it can vary, but generally I'll kind of look at the important things that I know are happening in my day. So I'll kind of transfer them from maybe the previous page and just, you know, it allows you to not have to think about anything because it's written down, it's efficient. Right. And then, yeah, from there it's a lot of thoughts and emotions and realizing maybe like, why is. Why am I feeling this way this morning when I was feeling like that just last night? So being able to keep track of those emotions so closely, it just takes out the thought process and allows you to just actually see it because it's written down right in front of you. There's nothing to hide behind. I mean, you're essentially talking to yourself, having a little conversation. But yeah, it just takes a lot of the thought out of it. That's what I like about it.

Agreed. Yeah, I mean, it's just one of the tools that we have in our conscious practice to ensure that we are aware of what's going on on an internal level. Like, yoga was another thing that I always practice, like regularly yoga, meditation, journaling, all these inner practices that I find so valuable in maintaining that element of awareness of what's going on in my internal world. For you, like, you live in Calgary, which is just, judging by Instagram, absolutely beautiful place to live. And I can see you love nature and you're a photographer as well. How important has nature been for you in helping you kind of gain that sense of groundedness and connectedness?

Oh, man, nature. It's my best friend. Just yesterday, actually, I don't know if you saw my post from last night, but I literally just touched on that. I. Yeah, nature, for me, it just, it slaps you right down to your bare human self. Like, there's, there's. You're sitting out there and you have nothing to offer nature. Like, if you just go out alone, there's honestly, honestly not much to give. So just being there, sitting and just being. That's it. You just. You hear things differently, you know, like senses elevate. You can hear the water running faster or the direction of the wind, or and especially, I mean, wildlife too, if they, if that ever comes around. Like, just to be able to. To watch like a moose. This is very Canadian example.

You've seen a moose?

Oh, yeah.

You're kidding me.

Yeah, dude.

It's my dream to see a moose one day.

You have to come out here. Yeah. I don't know around you, but I anyways. Yeah. Just to watch such a massive majestic animal just walking through the woods without any problem, just with grace. I mean, there is, to me personally, no other feeling. It just. Yeah, dude, same.

Like nature for me is one of my biggest teachers. Because when you sit out in nature, you realize that. I can't remember who the quote is, but I think it's Lao Tzu. It says, nature does nothing, yet nothing is undone. Meaning it doesn't do anything, but everything is done perfectly. It's the greatest teacher for stillness. Because when I go out hearing, when I'm in Canada now and I see the change of the seasons, you know, the leaves falling off the trees, the. The transitional periods, you know, you see that everything has a purpose. Like, you think things are dying, but it's not. It's just taking transitions. And then when the leaves come back and you see them, you just think, how is everything done at perfect timing? It's because nature is connected with something that allows things to create in a place of non resistance. And that's when I sit down in nature, I try and practice that. Can I allow that space of non resistance to flow through me as I contemplate nature's perfection? I was like, I don't get it much now that I'm living downtown and I mean, I live in a city, so I don't have as much of a connection with nature. But for people who are listening, who might be in a similar position to me, who may not have nature as accessible as what you do right now. Like, what advice would you give to someone to try and find that connection in any way they can?

Oh man, I give any advice. You can always. I feel like it's still no matter where nature is, no matter where, say, a tree is or a little bit of grass somewhere, to be able to. Just to feel the earth, to connect in that One spot to try and absorb some energy and just feel that first. You'll start to realize that there is energy to be absorbed and there is just a sense of calmness that nature does offer you. So that would be one thing I would say, just to try and find a little plot of nature around you, because you can. It's out there. And other than that, I mean, if there's a place around you that maybe you can't get to easily, just schedule a time once a week and just do it. I mean, just get out there and hold. Somehow find a source of accountability to get out there. And yeah, I mean, hey, if you want accountability, I'll do it for you. I'll message you and get you out there. Sometimes you do just need someone to give you that kick to get out there.

Agreed, man. Yeah. So what do you do at the moment? Do you kind of take time out from your day and go for walks? Do you meditate outside?

Right now I do my meditation inside. And as you said, luckily I am fortunate enough to live in a place where I have nice large parks in the city that I could escape to easily or I could just take a drive out to the mountains. I'm in a nice place for that. I'm not too sure where that question was going there.

That's okay.

The.

You touched on gratitude earlier. That's the first thing you write in your journal. And I read one of your posts before we jumped on the call and you were speaking, you talking about gratitude? Just simply the act of writing gratitude kind of initiates that feeling that you're looking for that reminder to be grateful. Why is gratitude such an important practice for you? And why should people. Because it seems so simple, right? Everyone hears it, like, be grateful for things like have a gratitude list. But like, what. What is it specifically that makes gratitude so powerful?

You know, it just. For me, it's allowed me to connect to other people a lot better. Just realizing that there's just such an importance to. To realizing that the little things in your life, you know, they might actually not be little things. Like you need to see things, you know. That's a good question. It's almost. Why is gratitude so important? I mean, it's just. You need to be able to touch that side of yourself. And yeah, that is tough because it does seem like it should be simple.

Right?

Another little aside here. One thing, like the way that you say that. I do get into my posts and I write very deeply and I can get into a very deep state, but generally when I'M in those states is after a meditation or when I'm alone. That's. I mean, I really flow and I can speak very well and my ideas are insane, but it's almost like whenever I have to talk, it's a blank.

Dude, I really resonated with you as well, because I really see. I go through very similar stuff. When I first started out sharing this stuff online through me, it was. It's a pretty big thing. Like, I feel like as guys especially, you know, this, this sacred feminine energy that we're sharing online is something that a lot of men haven't yet opened up to. And I found it a challenge to be open and vulnerable and sharing these deep, these deep thought, deep thoughts that I was having, which was the same for me. It was coming to me while in deep meditation or I would be out in nature and then I would feel compelled to share about it. But when it came to talking and in a conversation with a group of guys, I couldn't, I couldn't articulate these feelings that I had that I had during a meditation. So that my Instagram platform became a really great way for me to communicate these messages to the world. And now as I just talk to more people about really does help kind of articulate what I'm feeling. And what challenges have you found? Like, I think you're quite. You're quite early on this, the sharing journey, I would say, because sharing things on social media, I believe, is a very powerful thing to do. Because when you do that, you create a space for someone else to connect with their truth and share their truth. Which is why I love talking about this stuff. Like, I love sharing online. But as men, like, I definitely notice there are a lot less men share and touch on this, on the sacred feminine energy. What challenges have you found sharing this stuff?

So just to touch on a little bit of my backstory there, as you're kind of speaking about that manhood, one thing about me is like, I am a journeyman welder. I have grown up in the trades. And if you're ever a part of the trades, you'll know that there's.

A.

Certain type of rough community in a way. Like, it's the way that the people treat each other in that area isn't something that I necessarily wanted to keep going with. And I didn't see as a positive influence in my life in any way. Not knocking the trades at all. I mean, they are great.

Or.

I mean, I wouldn't be who I am without having had that experience in my life.

When you say trades, like, as in, like, labor work, like you journeyman welder, what's that like? Because my dad's a welder. You mean, like welding pipes, like that kind of welder?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Right. Okay.

Pipelines, pressure weld.

Right? Yep.

Yeah, absolutely. So from there, we were kind of going into. Yeah, like, sorry, my. That aside might have thrown me off a little bit.

That's okay. You're saying as a. As a trade being in the trades, I. I can imagine it would be difficult to share this stuff because people, like lads who work in that space, you know, they aren't necessarily open to this stuff. How did you find that? Was it a challenge to then start talking about, like, meditation and stuff like that?

So when I was in the trade, I didn't open up. That was my problem. I was staying closed there. And I could almost. In a way, I think I might not have actually felt it, but subconsciously, I could feel myself bottling up. I mean, I wasn't allowing myself to really allow that creativity out or to really get out there, because I knew I had it in me because. Because the reason why I got into welding was because I love the artistic side. I love, like, blacksmithing and really being able to get a creative outlet out of that. But I couldn't share it. I wasn't in a position to or anything. So I had to leave. I did. The economy was going down at that time, too. Layoffs were everywhere. So saved up a bunch of money, and that's when I kind of kicked off and went traveling. And that's what leads to this mat that you see sitting right now. And one of the biggest things that has helped me throughout that is getting into meditation. But the biggest thing that I have found is studying meditation and going to these courses. Like, the last one I went to, there was 28 women and two men. Lately, I've been surrounded by a very strong feminine influence, and it's definitely allowed me to be comfortable with tapping into that. And, I mean, realizing that if you ever really sit in on a woman's talk, you know, I don't think a lot of men really realize what actually. What they talk about and what really goes on there. And that's an eye opener. Like, it really made me feel like, you know, like. Like, yeah, hold strong to your manhood. Hold that, but also be in touch with that feminine side. It is so important. Yeah, it's. There's a lot to offer there as well.

Yeah, really well said, man. Like, Yep. I just. I want to be. I Want to be the, a space for, for men especially to, to start to tune into this stuff and like for us to have conversations like this. You know, we're both like young, like early 20s men talking about this kind of stuff. And when this shift starts happening where we can be an example for men, men to be okay talking about feelings or meditation or inner work, I think that's the shift that's going to have to happen on this planet that's going to allow this feminine energy to become more prominent because at the moment it's, there's still, there's still an imbalance. I feel you see that in the pres. The president of America being such a big masculine energy, that that is, he's a representation of a country. So we can see that there's a disconnect, disconnect there in, in total. And so it's, it's really reassuring to jump on calls and being able to speak about this stuff with, with men. I do have lots of male friends that I do speak about this stuff, but it's mainly women like me. I'm around female energy most of the time because women are generally more open to talking about their feelings that, that, I don't know, must see. It's a, it's a mask of masculinity that men like to wear that kind of, that hide them from this. But for me it's like the ultimate act of courage and bravery to go within and sit with your feelings. Particularly like we just spoke about the anxiety, the darker, the more, the more challenging emotions. It's, it takes bravery to sit in meditation because it's often a painful experience. Do like, do you have advice for men who may be opening up now to this kind of, this, this, this site, this, this energy, like how can they start to just like tune into it a little bit more? Like for me, yoga was the perfect place to start because it still involved movement and the body. Any. Do you have any advice for men around our age?

Millennials, Us millennials? Ah yes. What I have for our generations is to try and find like minded people around you and people who have already taken the step because they're out there like us. And I mean that's what really excites me about having this talk, being on your podcast, getting out there and almost creating like a beacon per se here in Calgary where, you know, maybe like reach out. You know, that's another amazing thing and that's why like Instagram is so beautiful, is that you can reach out to anyone that you'd like. To. And yeah, maybe you might not get the response or anything, but you need to try. And even through you typing or speaking and reaching out without a response, you might even answer your own question. That's the biggest piece of advice, I would say, is to try and find someone who has already taken the steps, who has experience in it, and they will guide you. Like they. They will be able to help you and to answer any questions or. Or provide you with sources or maybe videos or books that you should read. Yeah, just. Just get ahold of someone.

Yeah, I agree with you, man. Just that simple act of asking that question, like we said earlier about journaling, the minute you have that desire to want to find other people and you really write that desire down or you feel that desire, there's no doubt people will start to show up in your life that are going to help you on the journey. So. Yeah, well said.

Yeah, I'd say that. Law of attraction.

Yeah. Yeah, totally, mate. Before we wrap things up here, do you want to give people listening where they can find you online? Because they. Everyone should follow your Instagram page because it's amazing stuff and I know that you're going to get a lot of attention on there. So where can people connect with you?

Yeah, so on Instagram, my handle is productively lame. That says Instagram. On Facebook, it's the same. I'm starting to work on my YouTube, kind of doing little vlogs here and there. My idea is to just go out into a nice little spot in nature where I just sit and pretty much you just watch me pick my own mind apart. And to me it's entertaining, but we'll see if other people find it heterotaining. But yeah, otherwise just productively lame. And a little thing there is. What I mean by productively lame is that the productive you need to get out there and you need to just to use every resource that you have and use this time that we are living in to your best ability to just do everything with the best intentions. But then the lame. Remember at the end of the day that we're all human, we're all the same. We all breathe, we all have this same layer of skin. You just need to remember that there is still that inner lameness in all of us that you need to touch and that you're. You know, in a way, you need to remind yourself that you're no better than anyone else. You know, it's. I don't want to say it's knocking you down, but you just need to realize that, yeah, we're equal.

Yeah, man, agreed. Totally vibe with that. Yeah. So, man, my last question is, you know, you seem like you've connected with a place within you where you've tuned into a feeling, a passion, a purpose. You know, you're following your curiosities, you're following your soul's direction, your heart's calling. For a lot of people like me included, back, you know, a couple of years ago, I was working a corporate job. I really. I didn't have this connection. I was asking questions like, I know I was meant for more in life, but yet here I was working in a corporate job, not really feeling fulfilled. For people listening, who, obviously, if they're listening to this stuff, something's opening up now where there is something starting to emerge. Can you give some advice to those people or some words of wisdom just to help them feed this calling that's coming out of them? And even though they might feel a little stuck or frustrated in their current position, what advice can you give for someone just to stay true to this path that they're on?

Set your intentions, set your principles, and create a system for yourself. Whether that is focusing on that morning routine, whether that is implementing those tools like you were talking about. Just create a system for yourself. And yeah, consistency is key. Keep at it, keep going. And just remember that, like, life is a game and have fun. Like it's. It's. It's all what you do, it's what you create. Right? Yeah, I guess that. That would be it. Just have fun with it.

Yeah, agreed, man. The systems, you become the master of your own destiny when you start to take control of your own systems and routines and habits and practices. So very well said, Matt. It's been a pleasure having you on the podcast, man. I really enjoyed chatting with you and we're going to link up again in the future. I've got no doubt.

Absolutely, brother. Thank you, Jordan.

Thanks again, man.

There we have it, guys. Another episode of the State Shifters podcast done and dusted. It was an absolute pleasure having you with me. And as always, if you took value away from this episode, please leave a comment or leave some feedback and review on itunes.

That.

That really goes a long way and helping me get the word out there about this type of content. And yeah, of course, if you want to reach out to me and leave a message, I'm always willing to chat. So I'll see you in the next episode.

Bye for now.