Stu Weintraub: Why This Shamanic Energy Healer Wants To Create A Bridge Between Heart And Head To Heal From Divorce
29 Jun 2023 · 41 min
Podcast interview (recorded June 29, 2023) with Stu Weintraub, a self-described "shamanic energy healer" who founded the Center for Child Safe Divorce and the Love Before Law movement. Stu describes his personal initiations (including being revived at 16 months), spiritual lineages (Reiki master, Hindu diksha), and how hardship (divorce, bankruptcy, eviction) led him to this work. The conversation centers on grounding practices (barefoot grounding, tree work, breathwork, Epsom salt baths, cold plunge, sauna), healing the "barnacles" of life so people can reconnect heart and head, and preventing children from being harmed by high-conflict divorce through mediation and heart-centered co-parenting. Practical tips and daily practices (simple breath exercises, standing barefoot, creating a sanctuary space) are provided, and Stu shares resources and upcoming public talks.
Questions this episode answers
June 29, 2023
June 11 (TEDx in La Jolla, San Diego, California)
Love Before Law / lovebeforelaw.org
workshops@stuweintrout.com (as spoken in transcript)
He was revived at 16 months (failure to thrive syndrome).
Chapters
I do really believe 100% from every part of me that everyone has the capacity to be able to do the things that they want and not to be held back by the mental baggage that's in our head that we want to push through.
Welcome to the do the Thing podcast. In each episode, we get down and personal with people who go after the things they want to make all their wildest dreams come true. Join us as we unveil and dissect a formula for what it takes to do the thing. Here is your host, Stacy Lauren.
Hey, everyone. Welcome to the do the Thing podcast. This is your host, Stacy Lauren. So this is one of those interviews that I get so excited to do because it's almost like the people that come into your life are meant to help you, but then when you're able to share them with others that are also going through things where they need help, it just feels so good to know that all this work that I did on myself, but then also to find the right people to work with, has really come full circle when I'm able to have them come on here and be able to share their wisdom with you. And so this next guest I met during a very difficult time, and he was there for me as my shamanic energy healer, and then he also helped me with some other things, and he just has this amazing ability to be able to help you get grounded in a way that is unique to anyone, being able to go through something hard, but then also stay above it. So I am just thrilled to be able to introduce you guys to him and then to also have him share his story with you. So I am welcoming Stu to the show.
Hi, Stacy. Thank you so much for having me. I love the do the Thing concept. Yay.
I'm so excited to have you here. I know I've been sort of talking about it with you for a while, and just to get a chance to interview on here is really, really amazing.
It's a pleasure.
I'd love to have you share with the listeners more about your stories.
It is such a privilege and a gift to be on your platform. I'm here to serve, and anything and everything that might come through is. Is intended as healing or opportunities for others. And someone just asked me the other day, stu, how did you become a shaman? And that's a term that is controversial in our culture. It can carry ego, and it can be somewhat sensitive to the indigenous people who hold that title. And so I refer to myself as a shamanic energy healer. And the term shaman just translates to A bridge, a bridge between worlds. And I, I soften that. And it's just a bridge between heart and head hell, or a bridge between parents and kids, or a bridge between work and love. And so my journey, I came to the planet, I had an experience with a medical issue where I was actually Failure to thrive syndrome. And I was revived at 16 months. 16 months old. So I don't know. I knew at an early age what it was like to go to experience spirit world. The place from where we come and the place from where to where we. We return in between those years are what we're experiencing now as human. And subsequently, I've been through. You know, friends of mine call me Job, a biblical reference. I've had some hardships in my life. I've had some challenges. I know what it's like to experience divorce, failed business, bankruptcy. I know what it's like to actually be evicted from a luxury apartment and lose my vehicles to the lenders. I've been through the war, as some of my friends say. And each and every one of these things was an initiation into the work that I do. I've been led to healers along my path who helped me to open up to the innate natural gifts that I carry. So long and short of it. Yes, I have received the sacred initiation rites to practice the shamanic medicine. I've received the sacred initiation rights to. To practice Reiki healing. I joke that, you know, I don't have a master's degree, but I. I carry the title of Reiki Master, Master Healer, as well as some other lineages, Hindu diksha, oneness, Diksha, blessing. It's a sacred energy that a touch blessing to the crown chakra. So all of these things have made me through my own hardships, through my own experiences. Each one of these things has been an initiation for me and have led me on my own journey to healers and to ceremonies and to incredible experiences. Ultimately, my connection and my source for all of it is my source, which has many names. To me, it's Creator, great mystery, God, and I'm also the messenger. So I share that. My journey has been mine, and I'm here to serve others. But each and every one of you, and you personally have had your own initiations. And then as you do your healing, as we do our healing, we get to be the bridge for others.
I love that this is coming up because as you know, I'm in the middle of the do the thing, find your voice challenge right now. And basically what's happening in this group is it's. Most of the people have been divorced and they're over 40, and they're in this time of their life where they've lived a lot of experience and they're coming into their own with a reset of having lived that prescribed life. And now they're coming into their own identity, wanting to just soar, basically. That connection point that you said with these initiations from everything that you've been through was then helped you get to where you are. So now they're able to share your message in a different way. How do you help someone uncover that so then they feel like their voice can be heard? Because I'm feeling like so many people have so much wisdom if they could just let it out for others, it would be just this tremendous ability to connect everyone together.
Yeah, that's a great question. I believe it's my experience, and I know that you've been living this and the work we've done in your healing is that we come to the planet as beautiful spirit. We come to the planet pure love and light consciousness. And then throughout life, we get wounded. We get. We have experiences. It's almost like I refer to it as barnacles. We pick up barnacles along the way, and those barnacles get. But they obstruct us. They block us from being our purest and true selves and living fully from the heart, from a place of love. And so it's our work to. And it's. What I do in my practice is help people to have those barnacles scraped off, and then they return to that natural essence of purity. And so divorce is, for me, it's an opportunity to wake up. That's really what I do, is I help people to wake up to truth. And it's a spiritual awakening, an opportunity for a spiritual awakening, if people see it as that. Sometimes divorce is sought for a variety of reasons. It's not necessarily wrong or bad, but what it is often, unfortunately, is really painful. And so the touchstone. Someone once said that. It's a famous quote, the touchstone to all spiritual growth is pain. And I'm like, in my experience. Well, it's not so accurate. In my experience, it's agony. I learned that I have a high threshold to endure a lot of suffering over a long period of time, as I know many others do. And just take, for example, a lot of clients come to me in their 30s and 40s in relationships that have been stifled or they're newly separated or divorced or struggling afterwards with conflicted custody agreements and And I just say, well, how long have you been suffering like this? And they say, years. It's been years. And so it is a reset. I call it similar to the reset button in bowling. It's an opportunity. It's not the solution to the issues of a relationship. I don't think divorce should be the go to solution. But when it's inevitable and when it happens, it's an opportunity for us to wake up and stop pointing the finger at the other person or the relationship and look within. And we can't do that by ourselves. That's a lot of the work that I do is I help people as a shamanic healer. I'm just the mirror and. And I can channel and get intuition to help people to see insight into themselves. It's often people that have years and years of therapy, but they come to me and I say, it's okay if you're here and we're sitting across one another. That means it's your time and everything you may have done in your life is not wrong or bad. It's led you to right here, right now. It's a beautiful opportunity. This is the bridge. This is a moment. This is a catalyst or a moment for a shift to happen. And so through pain or suffering and divorce being an example of that or a catalyst, and then it becomes a catapult so we don't have to suffer, but we do need to look within ourselves to see a why we chose that person, why we stayed that long, how we behaved in that relationship. And then we clean up the barnacles. And I help people to do that in a way that's. I call it the three A's. It's an apology. It's an acceptance, an acknowledgement, an apology and an amends. So it's really the four A's. I threw an extra one in. That's just one small example. We have to clean our own stuff. And anyone and everyone that's been through divorce. Thank you. Welcome. I'm here to tell you if you've been through divorce, you've been experiencing dysfunction in your life, and dysfunction is imbalanced. And so I'm here to help people get back to balance.
Yeah. And I wanted to mention for the listeners, because I didn't mention this part of your story, but the other thing that Stu does is he helps people who have been divorced and also has an organization that he runs called the center for Childhood Safety. And so the thing about it is, and this is what I believe, and I'm not sure how you Think about this. But I feel like the shamanic energy healer work is really at the core of this, right? Because you're able to help people learn how to get grounded and to, like you said, clean out your barnacles. And then that then can create space for whatever it is that you're doing in your life, whether it's dealing with a, like a high conflict divorce or a normal one, and then also managing the kids. It's almost like it's the core of everything.
The center for Child Safe Divorce is the home of the love before law movement. And as an ambassador of love, I just help people live from their hearts. So conflicted divorce, I talk about that. Actually, I'm really excited. I've been selected to do a TED talk in San Diego in June. And the title of my talk is called the Real Costs of Divorce. And it's not the financial costs, it's the costs incurred by the children. Wounded hearts, wounded souls equals. Wounded lives equals. And so I'm here to help people wake up to the truth that there's a different way. If divorce is going to happen, it's how it happens. And that we do have a choice. And so the center for Child Safe Divorce has a mission that we help parents choose mediation instead of litigation. And then we encourage them and connect them with professionals who believe that clergy counseling and coaching is appropriate to seek resources from instead of the court. The court is a last resort and that, you know, I speak to parents all the time. And I said, well, neutral third party is a really good idea when you have two businesses merging, right? So in relationship, the time to establish a relationship with a neutral third party is not when the conflict happens, it's proactively and preventatively. It's at the very beginning of a relationship or at the very beginning of a co parenting relationship. So that when conflict happens, there is already a relationship set up with a neutral third party that can help to mediate and counsel through that conflict. And conflict always involves two people. And I say to people that the way to get out of conflict is step out of the boxing ring. You can't get punched and you can't punch someone if you're not in the boxing ring. And my message to people in my book coming out called the Heart of Divorce is based on the premise of the famous book Sun Tzu, the Art of War. That famous quote says, if your enemy's army is larger, evade. If yours is superior, attack. But I added, when there are children on the battlefield, get off and just stop. Just stop. Because Conflict between two adults when there are children involved is akin to child abuse. And it's not even when children are witnessing it. It's actually in the spirit world. It's in the energetics of it. When parents say negative things about the other biological parent, even behind the kids backs, they feel it. And that's what people, that's what I hope people wake up to. If you're sitting around with the girls having some wine on a Tuesday night and you're bad mouthing the dad, guess what? You are sending energetic barbs through your children's hearts. And so that's the message that I'm really honored, I guess to be able to share. That's as a messenger I received in, in a certain metaphysical experience through Lakota sweat lodge ceremony, I received the message from spirit that I'm, I'm just the crossover messenger. And again, that's the work I do as a bridge. So I'm here to help people wake up to those truths that there's a different way to do this. And if you have children, I hope that we can have a conversation and you can stop the conflict. All you have to do is step out.
Yeah. And I love how it's all connected because in order for you to be able to do that, you have to really get to know yourself and get to know how to activate it where you're able to really reset in certain ways so that when you're entering into this connection, whether it's with your co parent or your kids, you're coming from a really authentic place. And like you said, that energy and an energetic place. And so, and I think getting to know yourself is such a key part of the work you do. And actually I'm. What I'm thinking of, what's coming to my mind right now is a conversation we had just even two weeks ago when I was kind of in a, I want to say a spin, but it was a spin and you had given me the analogy. You said that I was like a high performance race car. Do you remember this?
I do, I do.
Yeah. And then you said, because I move so fast with the things that I do with a high performance car, every lap needs to get service. You know, if you're a Honda or something, a different kind of car, then you could do it in three months. And honestly the moment you've said that, everything connected. That's why I burn out so quick because I just go so fast. And so anyway, my point being is that distinction helped me understand myself better. So now if I'm feeling burnt out or whatever comes up for me, I have that visual. So I'm not thinking what's wrong with me, Right. And I'm thinking just how important that is. When you're dealing with this level of conflict with somebody or even if your ex partner is not a conflict person, it's just you're still dealing with all those emotions that come up during this time. And so anyway, I thought we could go there for a minute because I think there's something really powerful about the people listening, being able to really understand themselves and what powers them and what grounds them.
You know, this thing called ego has amazing capabilities to create denial and deflection and defiance. So I love it when I have a new client that comes to me. We always put an agreement in place first about how we're going to work and because some of the things they're going to hear are not what they want to hear. And so yes, burning out fast. But I'll say the question is, well, why is it that we run our lives so fast? Why do we operate at redline? That can be a gift and that can be a curse. Because just like a car, there's only so long that an engine is going to function when it's operating at redline every day. And so yes, some of us are more like the diesel trucks that go slow and steady and they have all that torque. And some of us are those high end race cars that are running at redline and they require different types of maintenance at a much more aggressive schedule. Those engines in a race car, they come off the racetrack after just doing one hour of driving or less and they get completely torn down and rebuilt and lubricated and other cars can be put away in the garage for like you said, several months before they need any, any basic service.
Yeah, it's so good because I think once you understand that about yourself, you're able to identify it and how to take care of yourself in a way.
I was just up in the mountains for a little self care retreat myself. It's a regular routine for me. My engine needs to be restored by nature on a regular basis. And I'll know very quickly when things start to get out of balance and I'm really operating in my head instead of my heart and I need to ground. And so I go up to the mountains and I go into the energy of the standing people, the tree people and that's where the medicine happens for me and for many of us. So I work with the elements in nature, with all of my Clients just standing on Mother Earth and receiving the gift exchange through our bare feet is one of the most simplistic and basic and powerful rituals that many of us have lost. We're wearing shoes and we're disconnected from Mother Earth, which is the source of our vitality, it's the source of our health, it's the source of our grounding. And so I take people through meditations of all different variety of meditations with the trees and the standing people. They're the ones that have wisdom. They're the ones that know how to sway in the wind and bend with the wind. They're the ones that know this gift exchange between the energy of Mother Earth. They have these incredible. Especially an old tree that's got these huge trunks, and all it does is take up water and minerals from the earth and it sends down its roots, and it takes in the carbon dioxide from us and gives off oxygen and takes in the sunlight. But it's really. It takes very, very basic elements to survive and thrive. And it has wisdom. The trees have wisdom. So I learned a lot personally in spending time up in the mountains with trees.
Yeah, that's so good. I'm glad that you mentioned that, because I wanted to touch on grounding today as well, when we're talking, because I think it's so important, and it's rare for someone to think in those terms generally, especially when they're in the middle of crisis. I was wondering if you could give some examples of how someone can do this. Practice when they're home.
Of course. Yeah. The first thing is, and this comes from the elders and the ancestors, so I always have been taught and intuitively always want to give credit to the source of this wisdom. It's not mine. I just pay it forward. So there is a saying that on the outside of the teepee, an indigenous village, there was a little sign from one of the elder women, the grandmothers, and she said, please remove your shoes. They will make you sick. And the Mother Earth has all this amazing power. It's said also in the Native American community that each step is a prayer. And so a very simple exercise. People joke about hippies being tree huggers, right? Well, there's actually. And I chuckle, but there's actually a lot of truth to the healing capacity or the healing benefits of just standing at the base of a tree, removing your shoes, and envisioning closing your eyes. Touch the tree or don't touch the tree. Up to you. It's an option. You can hug the tree if you really want to, but the tree is the source of our life. So I have people count the trees just from my healing space to their car. Hey, count the trees you're going to walk past because you're completely unconscious to these beings that are literally providing us what we need to live, which is oxygen. And they're providing us lessons. So stand at the base of a tree, take your shoes off, and envision the bottom of your feet, just like the tree. All these beautiful, amazing things coming up through the bottom of our feet that give us energy. And then at the same time, the things that we don't need, those extra ions that are going to be released through the bottom of our feet, that they become fertilizer, just like the trees. They take our poisonous gases that come out of our exhaust pipes, right, that we exhale carbon dioxide. These trees exchange carbon dioxide for oxygen. And even despite what we're doing to the planet with pollution, somehow it's a perfect chemistry that we can breathe, hopefully the air quality wherever people are living when they hear this. But somehow that formulation, I mean, think about it at the gas pump, if you actually ever read the formulation of gasoline, what it takes to make it 87 octane versus 91 octane, it's very, very precise. It's done by chemists, and it's consistently refined in a very, very scientific way so that it comes to our cars. But we're totally unconscious about everything that it takes to formulate it precisely and perfectly. And we'd never think about it. And so the same thing with standing barefoot on the Earth. We're not conscious, we're not aware most of the time. And so just that simple exercise. I have certain clients. We will walk outside and we will stand on the ground at the base of a tree, and we will just sit there, and then we'll talk about really what the source of all of our energy is. Deep down inside Mother Earth, there is this incredible amount of nuclear activity, and no one's ever been down there, but it's pretty darn powerful. And that same energy is way high above us in the stars and the center of all centers of things in the universe or the multiverse. So it's these energies that I work with in my practice and I help people to connect with. And it's such a beautiful thing when I can. When I can reach the hearts and minds of parents with this and they can share it with their kids.
Yeah, and I'd love to hear, because I have a variety of listeners on this podcast, and some are really. And I'm going To just use the word woo for the layman terms, but on the woo spectrum, some of them are really into woo and then others are not exposed to it at all. So I'd love to hear you talk to the people that maybe haven't really exposed themselves to this world yet. And what's a really simple way to get started so they could really feel the effects of what this being grounded and in nature is like.
Yeah, it's funny, one of my clients said I need to start a podcast and we're going to call it Woo Woo Stew.
I like that name.
I knew you would. I knew you would. So it's not for everyone. First of all, I worked on an opt in basis, a consent basis. I didn't seek any of this out. I wasn't led to any of this until I was in enough pain. And then it was revealed to me, all these things revealed to me, and it was because other things didn't work. So the invitation to people who have sought out other things and their life isn't going that well and it's not working. I posed that question to you as others posed it to me once. How's it going for you, particularly the men? Because I love to work with men, but only a small percentage of my practice actually is men. I work with young guys in the military, but it's only after complete defeat that someone is willing to come to me and say, stu, I need some help. I need some help. So embrace the woo is what I tell you. And why not embrace the woo? It's about being open minded, being willing and being honest about how's it going for you, on your own power, with your own resources, with the things you've been trying, going back to shifting to the divorce and parenting and co parenting, the financial challenge. So many men are burning out financially, and Covid was just a big wake up to people. Covid was a modern plague. It was an invitation for us to take an inventory in our lives. How's it going for us? And so with divorce and co parenting and financial matters, relationships in general, if we're really honest, our resources may not be enough. And so I help people. I embrace that. And this is a safe space where people can come. And I can identify first of all from my own personal experiences and my own variety of initiations, But I can help them tap into that power and scrape the barnacles or have the barnacles scraped and then start over, start fresh.
And so I'd love to kind of go to the point of doing the thing Right. So doing the thing and I where I see you kind of fitting in with do the thing, it's do the thing in terms of relationships. So if someone wants to have a compatible divorce and be able to work through that and put the children first, that would be one of the things. Another one would be getting to know yourself on a deeper level and being able to reset in a way that is transformative for you. And so my question is, what is your advice for someone that wants to do the thing and whatever that thing is to them?
I love it. That's a great question. And we all have these special gifts and we all have these visions and we all have these intentions set in our heart. And so this is the time where we get to uncover them, dust them off and say, okay, I want to do that. I want to express that vision or that idea. And that's what you refer to as the thing. So I just say to everyone, it's appropriate to go through the power washing process first in order to really be unblocked, to manifest and to co create and to express our truest authentic selves. It's best if we actually take ourselves through the power washing process. That's what I call healing. And so that we are really cleared out and cleaned out and we have this open spirit connection. We're connected to spirit. Our channel is free of those barnacles that I spoke of earlier in the podcast. And so I encourage each person who's listening to do their work. And what does that look like? And what does that mean? It could be a variety of different things from a variety of different sources. But one thing I know, in my experience of doing this for myself or living this and facilitating healing for others, I think it's rarely ever done solo. So I encourage everyone who's seeking to do their thing is to stop and reflect, get barefoot, stand on a tree, and then say, okay, what do I need to clear out and who do I need to seek support from in order to be my fullest expression of my divine self, to really live in my power, to really be that race car that is ready to go out on the next time trial lap. Not burned out, not rushing, not stressed and not frenetic, but really grounded. And so that's what I would say. And before doing the thing, make sure your car is really ready for the race, it's about to drive.
And what do you think would be a good daily practice for them to be able to get into, to really kind of get started?
You know, it's different for Every person, it's all customized. But breathwork, the reason that breathwork's really powerful and accessible right now, and it's just exploding, as is cold plunge therapy. So meditation, prayer, breath work. Several times a week, I soak in an Epsom salt bath. That is a very grounding practice for me with some essential oils. My next book's called Real Men Take Baths, so stay tuned. Just using some essential oils, burning some sage, taking a walk, doing a meditation, listening to spiritual things. Not educational things, but spiritual things. So music that has high vibration frequency and not a lot of things that don't inspire the head, but actually awaken the heart. So it's not informational. It is. So people listen to things like this podcast, which is beautiful, but it gives them the information. Well, now the next step is to tap into the things that really resonate and open that heart frequency. And so that can be yoga, that can be meditation, that can be connecting with nature.
Yeah, I like that. And then what do you think would be a way for them? Because I think there's a lot of people that can say, oh, you gotta meditate every day, or you gotta do this every day. But different people react to different things. I know there's been years that I tried to meditate daily, and it just. Honestly, I'm still not there yet. For me, a great meditation is me hiking, and that's how I am able to meditate. I was just curious what advice you'd have for people that are trying to get into something, but then to not judge themselves if it's not working and to actually find what really does get them into their heart.
Yeah, it's a great question. I cringe when I hear language. When I hear people say, you just have to, or you got to, or you need to. And no, I never use that language. What I help and encourage people to is to explore and find what works for them. We are different. Each one of us is unique. And anyone who's projecting and telling. I never tell people what they should do or what they need. I tell them what works for me. I tell them what I observe. Working for others. I encourage them to experiment and find their own truth. There are so many different modalities and so many different things, but I do know that meditation, you know, there's a meme, I think, going around social media. It's like those that think they can't meditate for half an hour need to meditate for an hour. In my experience, when that was for me, I knew that it was an opportunity to learn to sit in the silence just for one minute. I have a way to help people actually do that. And it's very, very basic. But it's often people don't realize that a meditation is literally one breath, just one breath. It's about awareness and consciousness. So every time. And you know this from. From working with me, every one of my sessions starts with four deep breaths. And my breaths only count if I hear noise on the exhale. Right. I always joke about doesn't count to just breathe shallowly. And it doesn't count if I just hear air. It. It counts if I hear and see and watch your shoulders drop and your belly and your chest expand so deeply and then exhale out as if we were like little kids playing a game, trying to have a contest to see who can exhale the longest. And it has to make sound. And so that's just something that I. That I downloaded in my own meditation when I was setting up my practice.
Yeah. And that makes me think of your space. Right. So it's the sanctuary space. How can someone do that for themselves where they're creating that space for themselves that's going to really light them up?
Starts with intention. You know, the sign outside my door, it says, you are entering a sacred space. You are responsible for the energy you bring in. So it starts with intention. And a space can be a room. It can be just a part of the room, having a little place for an altar. And an altar doesn't have to look like a stereotypical altar. It can just be a space where someone sits and it feels right. So it has to feel in balance. It has to feel aligned. And that goes to the meridians, that goes to the energy. So when you come into my space, it feels grounding and it feels relaxed and it feels sacred and spiritual because it's been balanced. I actually have a Feng Shui professional that I know the principles of Feng Shui, but I actually bring in the experts. That's another thing I really advocate is not tinkering under the hood of my own car. I can change the oil and rotate the tires, but I take it to the experts, right? I bring in the experts to do the engine work or, you know, in the different specialties. So I actually. This space has been balanced by someone who practices the art of Feng Shui. And there are little crystals and lights and fountains that are positioned and metal objects and nature art all over the place. And that's all done by design.
And if they wanted to just. I like the way you worded it with the Meditation. Because I think it's really easy for people to judge themselves when they're doing something new and then say, oh, I'm not doing it right. So then they stop. So I like the way you worded meditation, where it could just start with the one breath or the two breaths, and then that you're actually meditating that way. And so what would be one thing they can do in their space today that could really elevate where they're at?
Yeah, well, it's just right here, right now. Take off your shoes, put your feet down on the bottom on the ground and roll your shoulders and close your eyes. Feel the tension around your eyes as you close them. Feel the tension in your shoulders. Feel that connection at the bottom of your feet and where you're sitting. And just notice these things. Is the number one process. You know, people get all wrapped around the axle with meditation. No, the Buddhists that I learned from were at one time studied with. They've just taught me, stu, it's a practice. It's just a process. They call it sitting. They don't call it meditation. So just sit and notice and then connect down through the bottom of your feet and all the way deep down through the floor carpeting slab of concrete, down through the rocks and the sand, and maybe there's mud, maybe there's oil and water deep down and granite and all the way, all the way down into the center of the earth, connecting with the energy that comes from that molten lava down there. If you've ever watched the volcano a couple months ago, we got to see that on tv. But that is always flowing down there, and it is really, really intensely powerful. And the source of that is the power that I ask people to tap into and visualize. And simultaneously. And that energy comes up through the bottom of their feet, and it meets and it goes up through their spine, and it connects in the energy center at their heart space simultaneously, the energy that's way high above in the center of all centers of things in the universe, that same nuclear energy that comes out of the stars. Then that energy comes down through the crown chakra, top of the head, and that energy meets around the heart space as well. And so the meditation or the. Or the intention, the visualization is being held perfectly in balance from the below and the above. Again, this is the bridge between two worlds, the above and the below, and we exist in between in perfect balance. And then just taking four deep, slow, conscious breaths with intention in through the nose, as deeply as possible, extending the chest and the belly. You can't even breathe. And then exhaling. All the way out until you can't even talk. And that's a breath. That's one breath. Just doing that four times is enough. And everyone can do that. There is no one, no matter how busy they are, that has ever convinced me that they don't have time in the day to do just that.
Yeah. And actually that just makes me think, how do you remember to do it? So you're in the middle of that, you know, the storm. Right. And where does is it just come from, the practice of you doing it? So then it eventually becomes automatic.
Great question. I forget that's the human condition. So I surround myself with people who do it as well. That's called community. And I've designed my life so I'm privileged enough to facilitate these practices for others in my healing practice. So all day long I'm getting the healing as I'm sharing it with others as they're doing it. So it's a great question, but surrounding myself with other people and building community. And I have trusted advisors that say the work I'm doing, preparing, writing my book and preparing for a TED Talk and just as the messenger and running a non profit organization, that's all stuff that involves a lot of head as well as my heart. But it easily burns me out. And so I have trusted advisors in my life that say stuff, hey man, you need to do some breaths, you need to take some breaths, you need to go stand on the ground, you need to go connect with Mother Earth. And so those are those elders, those really, really sacred, important people in my life that know me and I'm transparent with them. And they say, you need to take a break, you got to get back in your heart. And so everyone I know doesn't matter how evolved they are or how influential or how successful they are in this line of work or this line of healing, Everybody needs and benefits from having a mentor or an advisor or an elder. That lineage of elders is really, really important. And we've lost that in our culture. We've lost that. And so I encourage that. Reconnect.
Yeah. And when you say people are saying to get back in your heart, is that when that the breathing exercise comes in, is that the thing that you're doing or is it the grounding or is it, does it matter?
That's my do the thing.
Yeah, I, well, I'm thinking this question is great because this is where people overcomplicate things, right? And they're like, which one should I do? And I Think we're almost answering the question. Do whatever it feels right for you. I'm just curious what you like to do.
Yeah. Thank you for being the healer for me. I'm an over complicator. I'm a visionary, creative visionary and a social impact entrepreneur. And I'm a. I'm a serial entrepreneur as you are. And I have ideas all day long and they're all in my head. And so the permutations and combinations and the decisions that have to be made on a daily basis, if I'm making them from my head, they're not going to necessarily feel that good. And I over get right that red line reference. I easily go past red line. And so doing these practices, taking those Epsom salt baths and standing on the ground and doing those breaths and I sit in 40 degree water for 6 minutes every day and I sit in the sauna and detox and sweat and I pray. Prayer is a huge part of my grounding practice because it keeps me connected. I don't have the power to stay out of my head. I ask for that power to come to me from source, from creator, from God and all throughout the day when I am reacting, when I'm reactive, then I am in my head and I'm not in my heart. And so it's a constant reminder. I take people sailing. I have the sailing Shaman is one of my brands and I love to take people out on the sailboat. I've been sailing since I was 5 years old and it's a passion of mine and I share it with my son. But I take clients out and we sail on San Diego Bay. And the metaphor of sailing in a sailboat is very powerful because in life all I don't know if you've done any sailing, maybe you need to come out. It's a constant series of adjustments to steer a boat. A sailboat requires constant attention to the wind, to the waves, to the current, to the other boats on the bay. It's constant play of the rudder using a tiller or steering wheel. And it's not. You just don't grab a wheel and hold it straight like you're driving a car. So it's a constant series of fine tuning as well as trimming the sails. The wind shifts a little bit. So we're going to either shift the direction of the boat and or shift the sails. And so it's constantly trimming the sails or trimming the angle of the heading of the boat. And so I use that metaphor a lot in our lives. And so when I'm feeling irritable, when I'm feeling anger, when I'm feeling depression. All things I know very well and they used to plague me. But when I feel those things come on, I can notice them in near real time. And then I can do some practices to trim the sails, so to speak.
And I sort of asked this earlier in a different way, so I'm gonna ask it one more time just to get the real meat of it. But okay. You have one piece of advice for the listeners on Doing the Thing. What is the one piece?
The one piece of advice is know that your thing is coming from the heart number one. And then find your practice to live from your heart so that you're authentically aligned with your heart purpose in doing the thing.
So good. Please share with the listeners about you, the organization, your practice. Whatever you'd like to share at this point would be great.
Oh my gosh. And I'm happy to be of service. I love helping people to connect with their hearts and to be the bridge. Love Before Law is my is the nonprofit lovebefore law.org and people can reach me for healing and retreats and workshops@stuweintrout.com Perfect.
Thank you so much for coming on, Stu. I really appreciate you taking the time and doing this with me. And I can't wait to hear the TED Talk. When is that coming out?
Oh my gosh. That's going to be June 11th in La Jolla, California. And thank you so much. It's a real honor. I'm just the messenger and it's my time to stand on that red dot and share with the world that kids don't belong in the crossfire and it's time that we mediate instead of litigate.
Yeah. Such an amazing message. Thank you. I definitely appreciate you coming on.
Thanks for listening to the do the Thing podcast. We hope you enjoyed the show, but even more, we hope you'll be inspired to do the Thing. Do you have a burning question on Doing the Thing that you'd like answered? How about an inspiring do the Thing story of your own that you'd like to share? We'd love to hear all about it. Just leave us a voice message at do the Thing callcast co or email us@helloothethingpodcast.com.
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