Rich Bello describes how an early encounter with a Poconos ashram introduced him to yoga, meditation, and nutrition after a swami helped his brother (who had epilepsy) with a breathing exercise that reportedly stopped further seizures. These experiences, combined with youth sports and his first major job at Tiger Management Hedge Fund — where Julian Robertson emphasized hiring athletes and a corporate wellness program (trainer Paul Diardi) — shaped his interest in corporate wellness and peak performance. The clip ends with an invitation to a seminar/webinar and his book.
Questions this video answers
In the Poconos (near where he lived).
Epilepsy.
Phenobarb (as spoken in the clip).
Tiger Management Hedge Fund.
Julian Robertson.
Chapters
I was wondering if we can begin with you sharing with us where your passion for health and energy originated. Yeah, it does go way back. I was, fortunately exposed to an ashram, really, in the Poconos, which is near where I lived. We were just driving by one day. My family and I were driving by one day, and we were like, what is that? There's this ashram deep in the. In the. In this. In this valley and this big. And at the Dashram, there were people who were studying yoga and meditation. It's, like, really wasn't a big thing back then, even though it's been around for thousands and thousands of years, but not in the West. So we went in there and. And my. We were exposed to this swami, came up to my family and said, is there anything that I can do for you guys? Give me your biggest problem. So I was like, all right. So my dad said my brother had epilepsy. And I was like, all right, my son has epilepsy. Can you help us? Not thinking that this guy could do anything. He's sort of joking with him. He's got his white robes and weirdly fast forward. He talked to my brother, asked him what brought it on, gave him breathing exercise. Now, my brother was seeing all kinds of doctors, all the best doctors in New York City, in Manhattan. He was on. Even remember the drug he's on phenobarb. They tried everything. Epilepsy is a really horrible condition. So, you know, the family was suffering. Of course my brother was suffering. Fast forward. He never had another seizure in his life. That's amazing. This dude knows something. Wow. So we're like, all right, yoga, what do you got? Yoga, meditation. Yeah, yeah. What else you got? Nutrition. So they were all about it. All about being healthy, really. It's preparation for meditation. Yoga's proud as you know, as a yoga instructor. Really, the purpose behind yoga, the main purpose is preparation for meditation. So they wanted to be real healthy. So I learned a lot of that stuff when I was a kid. And then fast forward to my first major job, which was at Tiger Management Hedge fund. There. There was Julian Robertson. He was obsessed with athletes hiring peak. All about peak performance and hiring athletes. You know, people who had. Were triathletes, like, really top. Top of their games. So we had corporate wellness program there. We had a trainer. There was my first trainer. I was like, I have a trainer. Cool. Paul Diardi. Just great, great, great guy. Actually saw him not too long ago. So, yeah, I got exposed to it at a, you know, at an early. An early age I was also in sports when I was younger. So if you're going to be in sports. I love basketball. I really wanted to be the captain of my basketball team. I had to really learn about physical structure and working out and all that stuff. So, yeah, I was exposed to it at an early age. Hopefully you guys will come to the seminar webinar workshop. Read the book. Thank you. Thank you, thank you. I appreciate it.
