211 Dr. Chad Walding: The Native Path

We gotta be mindful of what we're surrounding ourselves with, what our inputs are, and choose consciously choose that are gonna support us. I mean, if we're watching the news all the time and thinking the world is falling and like this nuclear war is gonna happen, you're gonna be thinking those thoughts, feeling those feelings. You're gonna be creating that every time you go to the checkout counter. So what this really is is understanding that like you can choose the perception that see through, you know, especially in this, in this era of algorithms, you know, the things that you click on, they're gonna keep showing up, right? If you're clicking on things that the world is falling, it's horrible. It's all going to end. Like, you're going to keep getting that in your reality on every single feed you see.

That's Dr. Chad Walding. And this is episode 211 of Wellness Force Radio. What's up, my friend? It's your host, Josh Trent. And welcome back to another episode for your weekly access to global experts in all things wellness as we discover the physical and emotional intelligence we need to live life well. What's up, everyone? In this podcast, we're learning from Dr. Chad Walding. He's become one of my soul brothers, one of my most trusted friends in our health and wellness world. He's a physical therapist, a health and wellness entrepreneur, and the co founder of the Native Path, the Sitting Solution and the Paleo Secret. We're talking about this Native Path, which is the umbrella that Chad operates from. A culmination of over 50 years of experience in studying human health, his organization is on a mission to return human health and vitality to by changing the way we eat, move, think and live everything from degenerative, neurological and chronic diseases all the way up to coaching elite athletes. Chad and his colleagues have seen these clear patterns that help people eat, think and move and connect. How they affect everything from immune function, energy levels, mood, body composition, skin and everything else. There is this clear path. It's the Native Path that provides a framework for humans to return to to their native health and natural ways of being. We're talking about this in depth on the show today, as well as Chad's own path to becoming one of the largest voices in our wellness world. We're talking about how his childhood and high levels of emotional anger at home gave him the contrast needed to grow into a leader. Today, we explore generational depression and anxiety. Chad shares his own struggles of self, love and worthiness and how it led him to be where he actually Is today the power of daily practices, including intentions and goal setting. Why Chad believes that we're all empaths, even if we're paying attention to that skill set or not. And Chad shares powerfully about the impact of cancer in his wife's journey that helps shape his gratitude for life, love and the pursuit of wellness. This is a really special episode. You know, Dr. Chad and I recorded this podcast many months ago in person outside in the sun in San Diego, downtown on the Embarcadero. But he asked me after we recorded to wait to release this until his wife shared her incredible story. And I'm so honored to publish this show today because Chad has actually returned from 40 days in the jungle using plant medicine, going through alternative health practices. And he has returned stronger, more powerful. And as you'll hear in his voice from months ago and on social media and across the web today, the undercurrent is the message that all there is is love and everything else is just a distraction. And that's actually a big piece of the native path shown us from today are@wellnessforce.com 21 1. And the awesome timing about today's show is that Chad is well known for the sitting solution with his deep experience in physical therapy. We're giving a shout out to Dr. Tim Brown and our partner Intelliskin, who teamed up with us to bring you the show today for our standtallseries, the best of the best in physical intelligence. This human technology, this smart compression, it will literally and figuratively pull your shoulders.

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We're sitting in this beautiful park and this is my first time doing an interview with somebody in a park. So thank you for joining me, man. Like, and this is going to be cool too, because the. The surroundings. We have the beautiful Coronado bridge right here. So just visualize this. If you're listening. We're next to Battleships. We're in a very historic place.

Yeah, beautiful trees. San Diego's beautiful trees. You got the water. I'll take It.

So it's cool how you and I met. You know, we. We got connected because I was researching about people that were movement pros online, and there you were. There was this video with you and your dog, and you were describing, like, standing tall with your shoulders back.

Yeah.

And I've heard this from Jordan Peterson. This is what Dr. Tim Brown and I talk a lot about this. Standing tall with your shoulders back. There's an energetic component to this. Well, beyond posture.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, so the way I look at it is, I mean, we could talk about posture and alignment and decreasing your chances of pain, but, you know, I'm a doctor of physical therapy. I treat a lot of people with pain, so I kind of have an experience with that. But what. What's really happening to me with how we position our body, especially when we're standing, is that deep down, we're claiming our worth. Right. We're claiming our worth to ourself, and we're projecting that worth out to everyone else. And that's all energy, you know, so. And this is a deep topic because that position tends to align with thoughts that we think and feelings that we feel and things that we say and actions that we take. So it's a very much either an unconscious thing or a conscious thing that we put ourself in a good position or a bad position. And we live in an environment where it's very conducive to bad positions. From the beginning, we're told as children to sit down in a chair, sit still, and don't move. And it stays that way from middle school, high school, college, and then, great job. You can now sit behind a cubicle desk and sit in your car to.

Go sit at work, sit in your car to sit in front of the tv. It's like this sitting cycle.

Exactly. It adapts our body in a very negative position that we're not designed for. And the impact is that not only are we set up for pain, not only do we lose movement patterns and really forget how to naturally move, but it affects us on a deep, emotional, spiritual level. And it also impacts how we see ourselves and how we see others. But our physiology literally changes, too. Like, you know, there's this great Amy Cuddy, TED Talk. She's a behavioral psychologist from Harvard. It's like, blew me away and really got me fascinated by a body position. But she talks about how our hormones will change based on our postures. You know, if we're slumping and slouching, cortisol goes up and testosterone goes down because we're we're in a kind of threatened position. So it affects the nervous system, it affects digestion, you know, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Right. So it's probably affecting dopamine and serotonin and all these neurotransmitters and how we're doing. So it's just like, okay, okay, let's just be aware of that and let's, let's focus on good positions. That's the least we can do.

Yeah. And I think I've heard talked about Nick Bartolotta was a guy we've had on the show. He's the founder of the National Resistance Stretching association. And he talks about the second being on the gastroc and soleus. So if we have this venous return coming through, but we're in this kyphotic position, the body's compacting into itself. So it's not like from an energy standpoint, we're almost caving in the energy. Like the opposite of expression is depression and depression is kyphosis. So how is that a lens that everything gets seen through in life through posture?

Oh, it's deep. Well, so one thing that comes up is when you're talking about that kyphotic position. Right. It's something that I think we kind of do to protect ourselves in many ways, because we're afraid of exposing ourselves. That open chested position, and there's a balance there too, because you can go too far in the shoulders back position, like a military kind of posture, and that's too much. So it has to be an ease of tension. But that's a vulnerable position. The heart is now exposed, you know, so people are sometimes limited. They're afraid of opening up in many ways. So, you know, I would talk to people about this, my patients, and be like, you know, how about this? And they're like, it doesn't feel comfortable. And it's because they're, they're afraid of being, of being vulnerable and opening up. And that's okay, you know, but we just want to at least start to create awareness around that and noticings, you.

Know, so you've been a movement pro for decades, decades. Physical therapists. It came from your own issues, your own healing. Like, this is the universal human experience. Man, I feel like the wind is coming right here. I'm just gonna like, turn this way. So this came from your own experience where you did not necessarily have a supportive environment growing up. And I think a lot of people can relate to this because this how we see the first one to ten years of our life. It literally colors everything we do.

Yeah. Yeah. And so I'll first say that I love my parents. My parents are amazing. They've always been doing the best they could with what they've had.

They brought us into the world.

They brought us in the world. And like, you know, if. If. If my life was my. My parents life, I would just be like my parents. But. And our parents aren't perfect, and that's okay. When I'm a parent, I don't have a child, but I won't be perfect either. But there's, like, always things to learn and improve upon, you know. But there were some things. There was a lot of anger in my household when I was a child. My brother and I really took on a lot of that type of energy, and there was that trauma. So from the very beginning, when I was a child, I wasn't smiling. I was very scared, and I didn't feel safe. So I took on patterns. And one of those was just never smiling, always getting angry, Lots of I'm not good enough kind of things. And that would manifest into me crying if I struck out, or me really getting down on myself if I got a bad grade. Those kids are smarter than me, and I'm stupid, and he's better looking than me, and I'm not, you know, so. And me trying to be something other than I'm not in order to get approval from external people. And then that led to, you know, alcohol abuse in high school. And, you know, when college came, it's just like, the fire's on. And then after that, after college, I mean, the late part of college, and into like, 26 years old, I mean, every day, like, I thought about, like, leaving my life. I was like, why am I here? There's no point.

Wait, what do you mean leaving your life?

Like, suicidal thoughts?

Yeah.

Like, I just. I was like, I don't want to be here. Like, what's the point? I'm so unhappy. And I was crying all the time, and I. I mean, taking medication, you know, like, talking to psychologist, psychiatrist, and really went into the depths of, like, how bad it can be. So I understand how. What a shadow is, like, you know, when it. When it really takes you over and controls all your thoughts and your emotions and the things that you say and do. And it had me my whole life, it had me forever, you know, And I didn't even know what questions to ask. I didn't even know to look, how to look at myself. That was never taught to me. I was very much identified with a victim mentality. This is my diagnosis, this is my lot in life. This is how it always has been. This is how it always will be.

Man, you just breezed through like a lot of years there. So you read the Power of Now. At some point, I think you were driving around. You used to listen to a lot of audio when you drove around.

Yeah.

And so you heard this book. But I think before then I can relate to your story because it was those things from a psychological perspective and even like a maybe a physical perspective I just didn't get when I was a kid. Like, they, they weren't there. And like you said, parents do the best they can. It's not like they're wrong or that we dislike them. It's just like it's a lineage where it's passed on and passed on. And there is some research actually that it's generational, that we carry these energetic things that we're still in the process of learning.

Oh, yeah.

So when you look back, Chad, like, what really was it, man, that you weren't getting?

Well, I. So I've done a lot of work on that, but I wasn't getting who I was. There was an identity issue there at the core of it. I didn't. I didn't know how to love myself. That was never really taught to me. Right. I never learned that pattern. So that was. That was manifesting into much of this unhappiness and, and kind of the way that I was. But mostly it was. It was self love that I was missing. My parents were always loving me, telling me I'm great doing, doing great things. Way to go. But I didn't know how to love myself. You know, there's a little voice in my head that was constantly telling me that I'm not worthy all the time.

Damn. And that is like, I felt that as well. And I think people that have anxiety, you know, people that talk about anxiety being okay, if you're thinking about the future, then you have anxiety. And if you're depressed, you're thinking about the past.

Yeah.

I don't think it's always that black and white.

Right.

I think there's many shades of gray. I mean, in a reductionism explanation, it might be easy for a pro to say that on a stage.

Right.

You know, one contrast and the other. But how do you see this emotional bandwidth of anxiety and depression? It's not. It's not as easy as one or the other. There's a lot of nuances in there.

Yeah. No, it's it's not as easy as one or the other. And there's going to be a lot. There's still going to be a lot of programming inside of us as we evolve, as we grow.

Right.

There's still going to be things that happen on the external world and it's going to stimulate a thought and a feeling and it's going to. It's going to. It's going to be there. Right. And I think that's where it's important to be gentle with ourselves and be compassionate and accept it rather than run away from it. Right. To really look at it so that there's nothing wrong with the feelings that we're feeling. Right. There's nothing wrong with feeling angry. There's nothing wrong with feeling guilty or shame. We get in trouble when we say, this shouldn't be happening to me, I shouldn't be feeling this way because that just makes it worse. Right. So the spectrum of feelings is. The spectrum of feelings. There's no good or bad around it. It's just. It just sort of is, you know. Yeah. And it isn't black and white and there's a lot of work to do and.

Yeah, that's why we're here and that's what we're doing. I'm looking behind you. There's this really cool battleship behind us. And you know, these battleships are like, meant for war. And I feel like sometimes in our life it feels like a. Yeah. I mean, I felt this where there's moments where I, you know, going back to what you said, where I've never had thoughts where I wanted to leave the planet, but I've definitely questioned why the hell I'm here. If you could take us to a moment where you were like, wondering about that question, you know, this question.

Yeah, well, I mean, I've had that question many, many, many times. Especially like in college when I was unhappy. But I guess what it comes down to is, like, how am I going to be fulfilled? Like, what is it in me that's actually going to give me fulfillment? Or what do I have to do? Or how do I have to serve people to have fulfillment so that I can feel like I'm in juice of life. I'm really feeling it. That's like the main thing. If I don't feel fulfillment, then apathy comes in, like, what's the point? What am I doing? Why am I here? That kind of comes up. So for me, it's always important to. To make sure that I'm in an act of service in My life somehow giving something. And typically that's things around happiness and health and love and the gifts that I have, making sure that I'm consistently giving those things away and also learning. And so I'm bringing in new information because that's my gift, that's what I'm here for. But there's fulfillment around that. And with fulfillment goes away all the apathy and the worries, the wind.

I'm sure my sound editor can take care of it. So you can let that go.

Okay.

He's a talented guy. And also too, it's just a natural conversation where maybe people can actually just feel like they're in the park with us.

That's cool.

You know, if there's these breezes going by, because I'm listening, I'm not distracted by it.

Okay, cool.

So, yeah, and this is what I felt from you. It's funny, I found you for like physical intelligence, but the more I dove into your work, Chad, you're so much deeper and so much more skilled in your own work around emotional intelligence like this. Emotional intelligence. Let's talk a little bit about how that goes into the Paleo secret and lexicon health and what you're up to in the world. Like here we are, the sun just came out now. What are you up to in the world now? Like 2018. What's your mission?

Yeah, well, I'm on a mission to co create a new Earth is what I'm really trying to do. I have a vision of a new world where everyone is living in a way of being, where we're healthy, we're happy, we're at peace with ourselves, we love ourselves, we're kind to each other, we're compassionate, and there's no outer pollution anymore. It's a complete alignment with ourselves and the Earth. I don't think there's anything unique about that vision. I think it's been an invitation for us, for all these past masters and prophets who have talked about a new heaven and new Earth. And you know, I have a dream that one day and imagine all the people and all that stuff, like the people who have gone before us have set that vision. But I feel like now we're getting closer. Like now we have connection with communication with the Internet and social media, we can spread these messages and we're really getting that. We're creators. Like it comes down to the individual living that way, cultivating happiness and health and kindness within themselves and spreading that to their community. You know, so what, what we're on a mission to do is really Go after the individual, you know, and tell that individual, like, look, you were brought up in a world where there's lots of toxicity. You know, your food, the way you've been moving, the thoughts you've been thinking, these are all inherited. This was all given to you. Right. But that's. That's not who you are. You're not a victim. And we're going to show you a way out. It's like, I always like to say that what's happening right now, it's almost like we were born into a room of toxic perfume. Right. But like, you know how when you. When you go in a room of toxic perfume and you hang out in that room for a long time, you don't smell that, you don't smell it anymore. Right. So we become desensitized to the toxicity. But what.

Great analogy. Yeah.

So what we're doing is trying to get people out of that room and be like, oh, this is sunshine. There's fresh air. It's great. You know, how do you. How do you like that? How does that feel? That's who you really are. Let's. Let's keep going. There's a journey there for you. So Native Path or Paleo Secret, you know, those are. Those are the brands we've been. We've been using.

A lot of people have heard of Paleo Secret. That was five years ago.

Yeah. And we're transitioning over to Native Path because we feel like it's more in alignment with what we're actually doing.

You've talked enough about the secret. It's not a secret anymore.

It's not a secret anymore. And we also don't want to be dogmatic about Paleo because everyone's different. Right. There's an individualized approach here. Some people do well with more of a ketogenic diet, and some people. My wife does much better with vegetables and fruits and very little protein, very little fat. So there's different approaches, but we know it's not the toxic stuff, so let's just at least get clear on that and give people an opening where they can at least get a taste of what fresh air is like.

Man, I love the analogy of perfume. It's like there's so many people that are maybe in this space. I even feel like there was a documentary where it talked about a fish in water. The fish is always in the water.

What's water?

What's water? So it's like, how's the water? Well, what does that even mean? Most people, their. Their norm is this incessant monkey mind.

That just goes around.

And I love that you started the Paleo Secret and now you're shifting more towards really what I believe to be wellness, Lexicon Health. People that don't know about Paleo Secret or Lexicon Health, like, just paint a quick picture of that for them. The transition between one and two, well.

I mean, it's all really the same thing. And what we're trying to do is just teach people how to eat better, move better, sleep better, think better and be a better human. The transition has been more about a rebranding and slowly kind of mixing it in and throwing out that Native Path brand. And we created supplements and stuff and creating a whole new 30 day challenge that's kind of upgraded from what we had before. So that's really what that is.

What is the Native Path? What does that mean?

Well, it's like I said, it's a journey. It's an invitation to go down a journey to reclaim your health and remember who you really are. So I think we've forgotten as a, as a species and as individuals, we've forgotten who we are because we've brought into this world where we're given a name and a label and you know, this is your race and like, you know, this is your political ideology, you know, follow this religion, you know, you're this way, you're that way. And, and we get caught up in those things and we obviously get fed some foods and get these diseases that aren't for us, but we get caught up in the diseases and think that's who we are. And it starts to manifest itself as a little voice in its head. It says something. So we're trying to remove all that and just give people a way out so they can be like, oh, I'm the creator of my life. I'm not the one who things happen to me. I'm the one that's actually manifesting that. And that's what it's all about. It's a different path for everybody. It's like, it's a very, it's a journey. It's like a very ancient thing that's been going on for thousands and thousands of years. When people go on a journey for their life, you know, you can sense when someone is on their path and trying to grow and become a better person. And then when someone's maybe not as interested, you know, they're just kind of going through the motions, you know. So we want people to go on that path and take back their life and their health and start Creating this.

New world, the native path. There's many roads on it, but it's all going to the same place. And that is like, back home inside. I'm hearing my sternum right now. It's like we. We get a story at some point, we take on a story I shared with you. I'm going to be going to Rhythmia to do some really intensive plant medicine. I think Jerry Powell in a video, he's like, you know, some point in our lives between one and 10, there's a separation that occurs where we have this joy and love. Like, we're brought into this world as pure consciousness, pure love, pure vitality, pure, pure living. Right. And somewhere along the lines, you know, whether it's abuse or a perception or a parent's pain body that's passed on, it's like that childlike part of ourselves pulls out, and then we're just figuring out what the hell we're doing in the meat suit. Was there a moment like that for you that you can share with us?

Yeah. So you mentioned the power of now earlier. Right. That was the biggest game changer I've ever had in my life because, for one, I resonated with it in a big way because he talked about growing up, how he was depressed and suicidal, and all of a sudden he had this epiphany, and he recognized there was a voice in his head that was saying things to. And he just stepped back and started to observe it, you know, and he just created space around it.

Yeah.

And he goes on, you know, talking about the mechanisms of the ego and how it operates, but creating an awareness process to see that thought for what it is and recognize that it's not you. So I started to do this, and I was like, oh, my gosh. I have this voice in my head that's been running the show my entire life. It's been saying all these things to me. And I got that voice because I inherited it based on my culture, my upbringing, my family, what's been coming through the tv and all of that is conditioned this. Right. It's been conditioning my mind and running the show. And then I started meditating. I started watching it. I became aware of how the ego likes to make itself right and others wrong and as well as situations and how it had a. It would try to always make me better than or less than other things. It was very much attached to form, you know, and I would try to find myself through all these labels and identities that culture had given to me. And I just kind of started a Practice. Like, I'm just gonna watch this and I'm gonna write about it. I'm going to learn about it. And then it just eventually led to more and more awareness pieces, you know, and then, you know, different seminars, different books, and having different conversations, meeting new people. And I started noticing it happening everywhere, that a lot of people are waking up to this and recognizing their own thoughts and emotions and knowing that's not their identity. It's never. It's never in the thought.

Did you have one of those moments where, like, Eckhart, where he. I think he was laying on a bed.

Yeah.

And he was like, I don't. I want to kill myself. Like, I want to leave.

Yeah.

Did you have a download like that? Like, I mean, that sharp of a download at some point?

Yeah, yeah, for sure. That was when I. So I've had a. I had a couple of them, and one of them. I didn't know how to explain it because it happened before I even read the Power of Now. The first time it happened, I was 19, and I was at a baseball tournament, and it was the first time I ever, like, got happy. I was like, oh, my gosh, I'm smiling and, like, I can. There's, like, so much color around. It was very interesting. Like, I was in my body. I could feel energy. I could. I could sense when someone was unhappy. I wanted. I wanted to help them. You know, I was like, music was just so bright and beautiful to me. It was. It was very much like a psychedelic experience. And then it went away. I was like, what happened? And it just went. I went deeper in depression. So that was the first time I had it. But when I. When I. When I read the Power of Now and I went on to read the New Earth, I was like, oh, that's what happened. Like, I'm not. I'm not alone here. Like, this is actually happening all over the planet as part of evolution on the individual level and on the collective level. So it got me really, really fascinated by.

By.

By all this.

To a lifelong journey of learning this. Would you consider yourself to be an empath?

Well, I think everybody's an empath. You know, I think we all feel energy from other people, whether we know it or not. Some people are more sensitive to it or others. But. And this is a funny question you asked because I'm in a men's group, and a guy came to our men's group the other night, and he's like, I'm an empath. And we were all kind of like, well, everybody so are we. So are we. You know, and we were just like, so what level is there, like, a way you can get data on that? Like, at a certain level, you're not an empath, and you are. And I'm like, I think we all are, you know, and our group actually took that as. As a. We. We had a negative reaction to that because he. The way we looked at it was like, he's. He's kind of, like, making himself an empath and, like, saying that, like, others are not. Maybe that's the way it occurred to the group, you know, so we were very careful about, like, saying that we're an empath, because I think everybody's an empath. It's all energy. It's whether or not we're just paying attention or not.

I feel like the reason I asked you that question is because through your story, there's been this continuous evolution of up leveling, higher consciousness, however you want to describe it. You. You've been on this staircase of evolving for a long time, and people either walking the staircase or they're kind of looking at it, feeling the feelings about wanting to grow, wanting to walk the staircase. But for some reason, Chad, it's like there's just that bridge between knowing and doing. That bridge between knowing and doing is something. There's not an easy answer for that.

Yeah.

How would you describe that bridge of giving somebody the emotional fortitude to go on the stairs, to walk the stairs?

Oh, man. So that's a. That's a. That's a big one for sure.

Um, we're getting deep in the park, man.

Well, we. We should get deep. And so it can be scary to go up the stairs.

Yep.

Like, it takes a lot of courage to go up the stairs. It's very easy, like, to stay in the Matrix and be unplugged. And some people would even go up the stairs and be like, I don't even know why I went up the freaking stairs. I just want to go down and like, ignorance is bliss. I don't even know why even cipher.

Eating the steak in the Matrix.

Exactly. Like, ignorance is bliss. I choose to, like, you know, make a lot of money and do all these things, and I don't want to have any bit of it. I don't want any bit of reality. So it takes a lot of courage, courage and curiosity and. And I think there has to be, like, a calling. It has to be the individual that makes that decision to go up the stairs, rather than, like, other people being like, oh, you gotta go, like, I did this. This is great for me. So you gotta go. Because that person has to feel that calling. So it has to be a true authentic desire to go on that path. And if that's not there, then it's not gonna work, you know, and no one can walk that walk for you. We can show you the way, but the actual doing you must do yourself. Like, that's what I feel like all the teachers have been telling me is like, I can show you the way, but the digging you must do yourself.

I want people to pause on that because that was really profound, man. It's like forcing a purpose. It's funny, my business name is Wellness Force, and I think in 2009 I was trying to force it. I felt like I wanted to go on the stairs, but I didn't actually have the purpose. It wasn't clear yet what it was like. David Dita talks about this. The space between layers of purpose. Sometimes your purpose is to figure out your damn purpose instead of just force your purpose to happen. Has there ever been a time like that for you where you were unclear as to pre paleo secret, pre lexicon? What was that like?

So a lot of that was when I was a physical therapist working in the conventional healthcare system, you know, and from the very get go, I was wondering what my purpose was. And maybe I'm still wondering, how old.

Are you at this time?

Like 26. 26 or so.

I feel like that's when everything kind of started as far as looking at the stairs.

Yeah, yeah. So, well, the first questioning that I had was when I did an internship at Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas, which is where I'm from. But it's like world renowned for its treatment, heart disease. And on the second floor of this hospital is a McDonald's.

Right.

And I was like, what? What's going on?

What?

Like, I thought I was a healthcare professional. I wanted to like help people and it just doesn't make sense. I would treat people who had just got out of heart disease and they would request to go down to eat at McDonald's. And I would go down there and I would see like doctors and nurses. And right away I was like, something's not right. And then so I started looking at healthcare differently. And then I got into outpatient, orthopedic and treating people and kind of started seeing similarities. Like people were conditioned to think about treating pain with a patch or an injection or something, or something that was all on the surface level, but wasn't getting to the root. So I got really interested in the root, but all that. But I was like, my purpose is not in conventional healthcare. Like, this is making me miserable. And it got even worse when I started doing home health, physical therapy, and going into people's homes and, you know, people that are obese and heart disease, you know, many cancers. I would see the foods they're eating, the environment they're living in, and watching the tv, kind of giving them these messages, and then watching, you know, a nurse who's very unhealthy herself, often quite obese, giving the medications and injections. And as someone who was, like, working in the conventional healthcare system, I felt I had no purpose. But what that was doing was just showing me what's actually happening and building up a desire to change something, you know, whereas I didn't understand what. Why I was doing that. And then the whole time I was driving around, I was just listening to things and building up education and learning about nutrition, learning about movement, eventually learning how to do more in the online world. And then a lot of time spent in, like, the consciousness, spiritual realm, trying to, like, work on my own stuff so I could be a better human and then eventually kind of share what I'm learning with other people, you know? So all of that was exactly what I needed. It was. It was my purpose, even though I didn't know it was my purpose. But at the time, I was like, why is this happening to me? Like, why am I in this situation? I feel like this is the worst thing ever. What's the point?

People can relate to you, Chad, because that's why the Wellness Force Podcast exists, is because it's been a part of my staircase climbing. I use this podcast as a tool for my own growth, and I think that's what everyone listening does as well. So, like, deep. I feel like we just dropped down another level here. Like, this openness that you share about, like, I didn't know what the hell was going on for years. Was there a moment where you broke a threshold? You know, separation, initiation, return? Did you return at some point?

Yeah. Yeah, I think so. What eventually started to happen is when I decided to start sharing information. You know, I had. I had listened to so much information about health, and I was like, well, I'm just gonna. I'm just going to give a presentation about nutrition. I'm just gonna do it, and I'm not gonna. I'm not gonna ask for any money. I just want to, like, invite everybody in the area that we can. We're gonna go to a gym, we're gonna do we're gonna, like, prepare our hearts out for this. My wife and I did it. And it's so funny, because at that time, I was treating this. This older lady named Ruth. She was one of the wise. I swear, I treated many oracles, and she was one of the wisest people I ever met. She had, like, seven kids. She raised them on a dairy farm, and they all ended up being millionaires.

Wow.

And so she would. She would say, well, if you're gonna do a presentation, why don't you just practice with me? Why don't you just do this presentation with me? So I'd go over to her house, and her and her husband would be there. I'd go through the whole presentation. They'd clap for me and ask me questions and all these things. It got me really excited about teaching and sharing, and that's what I started doing. I started doing presentations at local gyms around Austin, and I started loving it, and I got really excited about it. So it got me feeling fulfilled. It got me feeling like, oh, there's a purpose there. And people would take the advice, and they would come back a month later, and they'd look totally different, and they're. You know, they would get off medications and feel amazing, like, oh, gosh, this is like, I'm helping people. This is good. So I started. I started to feel it, and I started to notice that when I share, it's me that's also like, giving, receiving, when other people are having that good experience. So that just led to conversations, and I eventually met my business partners, and then they know a lot about the Internet online world, and from then, it's just like, let's go.

Yeah. So you spent years figuring out what was going on, but then looking back, I mean, that was the case catalyst.

That was a huge catalyst.

That was the thing that made you Chad Walding.

Yeah, that was a big part of it, right? Yeah. It stepped me out of, like, you know, I'm. I'm. I'm just. I'm just working in the situation. There's nothing I can do about it to, like, oh, gosh, I can, like, actually get up and say something and do something, you know, so there's a huge shift in my paradigm there.

There's a lot of health professionals, people that are really energized and passionate about wellness, that listen to the show. What makes someone stay curious in wellness?

Well, I think. Well, so I think you always have to keep learning, that's for sure.

Yeah.

And.

And.

And learn about what. What it is you're most resonated with. I think I've gone through periods where I kind of. I stagnate, I plateau, you know, And I always have to kind of look at myself and what I'm doing and find something that does make me curious. But gosh, I don't know, man. I mean, it's so important that we stay curious and keep learning and keep knowing that there's an infinite realm of unknown unknowns that they're out there that are inviting us to keep going down that hole, you know? And yeah, you have to have that. You have to have that enthusiasm, otherwise no one resonates with it.

There is someone that I'm sure you've heard of, Brene Brown. Talked about her on the show a bunch. And in her book, I think it's Rising Strong. She talks about when you lose curiosity. That's actually when your soul begins to die. Curiosity is this life force that if we feed it, it continues to grow.

Yeah, yeah.

How do you continue to feed your personal curiosity?

So I try to always live in the state of wonder, which I feel like is curiosity, you know, like, I literally wake up every day, I have an intention and I say, like, may I. May I be in a state of wonder and to always wonder about like other people and how they're doing or how things might be occurring to them or how the universe works or. Or how that tree is growing over there. Like, what is the actual energy that's making it work? Or how's this wind blowing? Like there's. There's an infinite realm. Like how big is the freaking universe?

Right.

It's quite infinite, all of it. And there's so many questions that we have and we don't know, but that's what makes it fun. Like, isn't learning so fun when we're in that state of wonder?

Yeah, I want to go back too, because this upbringing that you had, there was like a chapter of really hard forged tools that weren't there, like really hard emotional training. But then there was this physical training that you took down. Like what actually inspired you to be a movement pro.

Well, so as I mentioned, like when I was a child, I was very unhappy, but movement and exercise was always like my saving place. Right. I was always like in my body there. I think that's what was really happening is I could go into a movement or exercise. I remember the first thing that ever really got me in love with fitness and movement was the mile run. You know, like in sixth grade when they're like, we're gonna run the mile.

Oh, yeah.

I loved it because I loved it.

The physical aptitude test.

Yeah, I loved it because I love that pain. And that pain took me away from all this, all these thoughts I was thinking and that. So in a way, it was an escape. And you could say that was an unhealthy thing to do, but it sort of saved me and kept me going. So. And there's been periods in my life when I've been very identified with my body as a consequence of being strong, you know, like, oh, I'm stronger, I'm better looking. You know, people like me this way, so I've kind of had to learn about that and deal with that. But movement itself has always been something I've been drawn to. And I feel like it's like a church for me, almost like the gym.

You know, there was something that I was. I was checking out some of your work and it was around. Committed to helping people transform their lives based on the transformation that you've experienced yourself.

Yeah.

So looking back on all these chapters, is there one. Is there one chapter? And this might be kind of a crazy question, but was there one chapter that you think you can always go back to when the mission gets hard? You know, business is not an easy thing.

Yeah.

So how, you know, you deal with these bouts of business and trials? Really?

Yeah.

Is there something that, like an undercurrent of energy that you pull on when times get challenging for you?

Oh, yeah. Well, I mean, so I do a lot of things when things get challenging. I mean, one of the biggest things I do is a morning intention. Like, that sort of sets my day and my tone. And I always come back to that. Like, if things get rough, I remember why I'm here and what I'm doing. And that's a. It's a very special thing that I have. And I do it like over 90 days. Like, I look at my life in 90 day segments and I'm like, what do I really want to accomplish in 90 days? What am I here for? What's my intention? And I. I always come back to that. I always come back to that because it anchors me into everything I'm doing, you know, so it takes away a lot of, like, worry and anxiety when things get rough and I don't know what to do. It's okay. It's not a problem. It's because it's still part of this process. I understand that there's gonna be ups and downs. I understand there's gonna be dark times and bright times. And it's a matter of trust and just. Just moving forward anyway with the direction. You know, it's kind of like setting your. Your sails and going across the ocean. Like, you see the stars and that's sort of your intention. The ocean's gonna take you one way. It's gonna bring you back over here, but just keep moving towards the direction of your desires. And just trust the process and just do the best you can. And it's okay if it happens, it's okay if it doesn't.

People hear this phrase, trust the process. And, like, we understand that for you, that's coming from a place of experience. I believe for some people that are in the perfume room you talked about don't think that trusting the process is possible.

Yeah.

How do you reach people like that?

Well, first of all, I totally get it. Like, I totally get it. Because when I'm in a dark place and someone says, trust the process, I like one of them. I almost slap them.

Yeah, you're just like, go f yourself, middle finger man.

Yeah, go f yourself. So I totally get it. But, you know, it's okay. Like, it's okay if you're in a bad place, and it's okay if you're feeling those feelings. Just keep going strong and start looking at yourself and keep moving forward. Just do the best you can. That's all you can do.

Taking the punches and literally absorbing them instead of, like, fearing the next punch, I think is a conditioned response. We had Dr. Kyrabinet on the show, and she talked about the habenula, which is this little chip in our brain that is literally a fear and failure record keeper. So it's that part that's hardwired to the amygdala where it'll literally, if we get in the space where we had a failure or got hurt, even relationships, it'll tell us not to do it.

Right.

So being in relationship yourself, you're in this loving, committed relationship. What has that been for you? It's a tool for growth for everyone. But I think I feel something special when I come across your work and you talk about your wife. Like, what does that mean to you?

Yeah, my wife is incredible. So going back to, like, when I was 26, it was a big part of my coming into my wife is what opened up my life in many ways, because she's the first one that got me looking in more of, like, a spiritual realm. And since then, we've been growing together on this path. You know, we're always kind of.

Where'd you meet her?

We Met in physical therapy school. So she's a physical therapist as well. And like, the first day I saw her, I knew I was gonna marry her. There's like no doubt in my mind. And it took about, how are you so sure? It's pretty deep actually, if you want to hear the truth. Like before, before I even met her, I dated this other girl who had this kind of woo woo side of her. And she had this kind of psychic that she always talked to. And she, she broke up with me. She broke my heart. And I was like, why'd you do that? She's like, you don't understand. Like, I'm not supposed to be with you. You're not supposed to be with me. My psychic lady told me that you're going to go to physical therapy school and meet your wife. I was like, go f yourself. This is the stupidest thing in the world. So I kind of went there, like laughing and wondering, and I opened the door, I'm like, oh, there she is. There's no doubt in my mind. And I couldn't take my eyes off her. And I mean, literally being anatomy class, I'm like working on cadavers. Like looking at her, she's like, why is that guy looking at me? He's freaking me out. Wow. Yeah. Who's the creeper? Who's the creeper? Yeah.

So then you had that moment that was actually told to you prior. It felt like a heartbreak before with this woman who was spiritual, right?

Yeah.

This is the evolution I'm talking about with you. So now what does the relationship mean in this current phase of your life?

Looking back, I mean, I have such an amazing relationship with my, my wife. Like, we, we do everything together. We spend a lot of time together. We're always, we're just fully committed to growing together, I think is what the best part about it is. And you know, we're both trying to create a world, a similar vision. You know, she's trying to help women. She does a lot of lot of women's work and she has her own women's group and she wants to do things with women's empowerment and helping women rise up. And I'm very much focused on men. I have two men's group that I lead, so I'm doing that. And we both have this company that we're co founders of and we're doing that together. But yeah, I mean, it's beautiful. Like, we were always meditating together and talking to each other about our feelings and our processes and our thoughts and what we're going through. And we go on retreats together all the time. So we're just on this growth path together. We don't like to separate. We try to keep everything as close together as we can.

So it's been like one of the biggest things you guys have done together, where in the time, it almost felt like, whoa, is this right for us or this is too hard for us? But then looking back, it was clear. It was this beautiful lesson.

So I'll share. Something personal about my wife that I haven't really shared with anybody is that she had. She came down with a diagnosis of breast cancer like, three years ago. And it was. It was extremely scary for us. Extremely scary. And we were. We were worried. And it was. To hear the doctor say that was like, shocking, you know. So we went on a journey and she didn't feel comfortable going the conventional route, and she said no to chemo, no to radiation. And we started looking to alternative therapies. And we went to San Antonio for some stuff and moved there for three months. Then we went to California for three months and did some stuff here. None of it worked. And we spent all our money. We went totally bankrupt. We had to sell our home. And it was like one of the hardest parts of our life to go through that. And we cried and we were holding each other so difficult. We came back and I had to move into my parents condo. That's what it was. And she eventually had to have surgery. And it was a very difficult time, especially for a woman to go through that. But she, like, handled it like a freaking champ. Like, she sang on the way to the operating room and it just, like, broke my heart. And I'm like, that is my freaking wife. That is my freaking wife. I love her so much. I love her so much. So, like, it just did nothing. But, like, when we came out of that, there was like a dark period of like, maybe two or three weeks of glad this happened to us. This is rough. It shouldn't be the way it is. And then, like, she just completely turned around. Like, get back on the court. No more time for that. Let's just have this best life ever. Let's start creating. Let's start singing and dancing and, like, make our life what it is. And just we. I fell so much more in love with my wife. And we're so committed to love, you know, with each other and creating love. And that completely was a pivotal point in our relationship where, oh, man, it made us more resilient, I think, as humans, to go through that. And to have that experience and detach from like, like losing a home, like you hear about these things, like when it actually happened, you're like, oh, what's the worst that can happen? You can lose your home. Like, well, we've done that. It's okay. Yeah, it's not a big deal. And I just, I mean, to go through that experience, I just, I love her so much and I'm so proud of her. She's such a beautiful woman and I'm so excited to see what she's going to do to help other, other women in that same position because that's what she feels really, really called to do is to help women especially that are going through those kind of things, but really all women and remember who they are and become more self expressed, powerful women, you know. So, yeah, that experience all happened, you know, not many people know about that except for our close friends, you know. So, yeah, it's kind of, kind of scary to share that actually.

Yeah. Thank you, man. And now the Wellness first family knows about it. So we appreciate you being so truthful because in your truth there's lessons that people can feel and relate to and apply to their life. So it's a gift. Even though it's painful to talk about, it's like I really respect that about you and this is what I felt from you ever since I first got on the phone with you, where like you've been a man on a mission and on a journey, a really specific journey to up level this world.

Yeah, yeah, right.

It's more than just health for you. And this is why the emotional part of you I connect to so much. Because physical is one thing, you know, PDFs and guides and nutrition and all these things, they're really important and without those, nothing will happen. But your emotional health and the fortitude that you've crafted over these years, like, I almost feel like in a way that's what called your wife to you. I mean, do you agree that at 26, going through all the things you had gone through, like it prepared you for her?

Yeah, yeah, for sure. I mean, it's so funny how like the whole Steve Jobs thing, like you can't make sense of what your life is like unless you look back and connect the dots, you know, kind of thing. But yeah, like everything leading up to the point where I met her in that room was all, was all like exactly the way it, it should have been. You know, I had to like go through all those dark periods and then, and then come to her to like to find my light. And then she had to go through that experience to. To find hers, you know? So, yeah, man. These experiences, the things that happen, they're. They're an opportunity for us to grow and make us more resilient people and stronger people and really connect us to who we are.

How is this going to be in your trainings and your courses and your. And your health promotion that's coming up in the next few years, then this emotional intelligence piece?

Well, it's something that. I don't know. We'll start to do more of it, because what we're doing right now is kind of getting. Meeting people where they're at, you know, where most people are like, I just want to lose 20 pounds.

How do I get rid of this? How do I get rid of this? And they point to their stomach. Yeah.

And, like, the part of me now is like, oh, there's a whole lot of things you can do. But really what they need is just like, wake up for breakfast and have this. Like, let's. Let's start right there, you know? So that's what we're trying to do is like, why don't you start there and, like, see how that feels? And then let's keep going and create more awareness. And now what, you know, and. And eventually what happens is once we get them out of that room of perfume, the questions start to happen. Like, if I was kind of told this thing about nutrition, and now I'm kind of trying something else, and I'm seeing that that's wrong. I'm wondering what other questions are out there, what else is happening? So it's an invitation to look at the nature of reality and our thoughts and our feelings. So I'm always trying to put out content on Facebook where I'm writing about these things. We have these private communities, but I'm not talking about food or protein or digestion or anything. I'm talking about what I'm learning about awareness in my own stories and who I am. And it's something for people to look at and be like, oh, yeah, I see that now. I see how I was doing that. I created a pattern based on something that happened in my life. I created meaning around it, and it's been running the show. It's actually why I've been numbing myself with sugar for so long. So it's a very holistic thing. But every. Every bit of part of it is where we're going with it, you know, because the emotional piece is like, it's. And who we are it's like, it's everything.

It's the lace that connects all the actions, like thought, feeling, action. So what's the thought you talked about, Byron, Katie, when you sat down, is that thought true?

Right.

How do you know it's true? The other two questions don't even matter. So is that thought true? Okay, how does that make you feel? And then what is the action you take from that? I mean, it really is not to be too reductionistic. It really is that simple. Yeah, but it's just not that easy.

No, it's not easy.

And I think that's why the diet and health and wellness industry is a multi billion dollar industry. You know, we're here at a marketing conference and something you said to me, actually it really sat with me and I've told many people about it and you said we have to use the language to meet people where they are.

Right.

You know, especially when you look at Paleo Secret. You know, millions of people go to Paleo Secret and they're trying to figure out, how do I just start, Chad, what do I do?

Right?

This can be an edge for a lot of health and wellness pros where they don't want to become a scammy marketer. How have you transcended that?

So I've through that period too, where like, I don't want to be a scammy marketer, you know, and that's where my business partners are like, look, dude, you're never going to get anybody if you come at them right away with like insulin and like omega 3s and like digestion health. Like they don't understand what the heck.

You'Re talking about or emotional healing. Don't talk about that up front.

Yeah, like they have no idea what you're talking about. Because that's what I was actually trying to do before on my own and it wasn't getting anywhere with it, you know, so they're like, look, you gotta, like, you gotta meet them where they're at and then give them a bait. And they said this quote was like, give them what they want and sell them, or sell them what they want, give them what they need. I was like, okay, well, now I can kind of see what we're doing here. We're sort of, we're bringing them on a path and I can justify the reasoning behind that. So there's like, we call them like little hooks, like going fishing, right? You got to put something out there, like a little bait to bring them in, you know, so it could be like a bedtime drink. That'll help you lose seven pounds over 30 days. You know, it's like, click, you know, and you're like, I don't want to go after clicks. But, like, that's what I had to do.

It makes them want to learn more. Chad, it's almost like you're activating that curiosity mechanism, right? You're like waking up the curiosity.

Yes. They want to know more. They want to know more. And we want to get them to keep. And I hate it. Like, but that's just the nature of these times. Like, we have to get them to keep going down that path of clicks and open. So they eventually get to the program that they buy and they be a part of and we can show them testimonials and this stuff works. And here's the community and why don't you be a part of it? And it all came in and we have people in our community we've never met before in person, we've only been talking to online. But like, you know, thousands of people that just came in from a. I want to lose seven pounds over 30 days with a one bedtime drink, you know, and now they've gone on a journey where they've lost hundreds of pounds, they've got off medication. So, like, I'm seeing that. So I'm like, okay, it's working. You know, let's keep going. Let's come up with a bedtime drink and a morning drink and do whatever we have to can to get. Get these people on the bait. So they come in our world and they start to take a better look at themselves, you know. So I'm okay with it now.

Yeah. You know, in the beginning, though, it's probably hard because I think I've even felt it too. Like 2000, 2009, a lot of people don't know this. I actually started Wellness Force. I think I bought the URL in 2009, so, you know, nine plus years ago. And I actually left the fitness industry because I had a falling out with a mentor around this, a really big guy in health and wellness. And I saw the words that he was using and I didn't understand at that time, Chad. I didn't understand that there is a certain language and a way of being that one influencer must be, must choose to be, to meet people truly where they are now. After you get them in your fold, bring them into your community, then it's up to you to be authentic. But it's almost like, get them in any way you can, then put your arm around them. And be like, now I gotcha. Now I'm gonna really. But I got you because I used. Wherever you were at. Do you feel like that still applies?

Oh yeah, I think that'll always apply. As long as we're trying to heal and grow and get out of the, get out of the room of perfume. You know, you've got to have the right, the right language and the right bait to get them out. Otherwise nothing happens.

And if nothing happens, nothing changes because people feel overwhelmed. And I think this is what you do, a great job. You plant that seed for getting them the result, right? So they're going to lose the seven pounds. They're going to get whatever the thing is. But once you get them in there, how do you walk them through that native path? How do you take them down that road?

So we have to keep showing up once they're in our world. And by the way, I also want to come back to getting their attention because that's so critical because we live in this era of non stop ads and social media feeds and notifications. So if you don't get their attention, they're just going to keep getting overwhelmed by all this. So it's like your duty to get their attention. If you don't, you're doing them a disservice. That's just the way it is. But once we're in their world, once they're in our world, we email them with, with emails every day to say like day one, day two, we do like a 30 day challenge. They get inspired, they get enrolled. We have a private community where, like a Facebook community where they can go and ask questions and see other people who have gone through the challenge. Because the beautiful part of it is like we have an educational program. So once people are done, they stay in that group and they then teach other people and we tell them that like this is a part of global transformation. If you want to be a part of this cause, which you should, your next step is to teach people who are starting on day one. So answer their questions, tell them what worked for you, what didn't. It provides community. Community is so important to success, you know, so that really helps people get engaged and they know, like, oh, it's actually working, it's okay, it's safe here, I'm supported, I can keep going. Rather than I'm just gonna buy a product you don't hear from again, like a book, right? You buy a book, you're on your own, like forget about it. You know, it's a completely different experience when you're engaging with them every day, showing up their inbox, every single one of our emails. I do videos, like where I just walk around with an iPhone and film myself.

I love your videos too, man.

How I found you.

That's how I found you.

Yeah, just like no script, just talk, be authentic. Put your, put your face in front of the freaking camera and say something that's gonna help some people and then put it in an email and then say like, hey, it's day one, day two, you're doing great. Just get them inspired, you know, get them going. And then put a link below that video to go to the Facebook and say hi. You know, just keep them engaged, keep them going. Because it's consistency, consistent habits. Right?

Man, I had this conversation yesterday. If you're a powerful messenger, then you get to surrender and relax into the fact that you also get to be a powerful marketer.

Yeah.

Because if you're a messenger and you have something that you believe is your calling and you're not taking the responsibility to be a great marketer, you're not going to be able to compete in this world where attention is currency. It's just not going to happen.

Right.

So thank you for this reminder, man. And now I'm like, you know, the sun has come back out and I'm like really excited about the day ahead and we're going to meet all these people. What are you most excited about? Like, what's for Chad Walding? With all you've done, what are you most excited about now? What do you see for our future in wellness?

Well, like I said, there's a complete transition that's happening. Like this conventional system, it'll eventually come down and this emergence of a new holistic, natural way of living is coming. Right. So I'm very excited about this transition. I'm extremely passionate about what I feel is the dawn of a new era where we're reclaiming our health, we're reclaiming happiness, and everyone is taking responsibility for themselves. And I'm excited about this tipping point where we're going to hit a critical mass and it's going to trickle out into every single human all across the planet. I really believe that and I see that. And some people may call me crazy and that's totally cool. I totally get it. But that lights me up every day and that's where I find my fulfillment. That's why I keep going. That excites the hell out of me.

I totally feel your excitement because I get the luxury of sitting with you here in the Park. But if somebody doubted what you've said about what is possible, if they're feeling that doubt in them, where does that doubt come from?

It comes from the channels that they're watching, right? They're probably watching some things and listening to some things and reading some things and hanging out with some people and past experiences that are reinforced that belief that it's not going to happen, happen, that it can't happen. You know, I have some friends that, like, they're like, man, because I have amazing friends. Like, they're the kind of friends, like, if I start playing guitar and like, I miss a note, they'll be like, dude, that's still really good. Way to go. I can't wait to hear you play more, you know? And then I have some friends that are like, if they started playing guitar, they missed a note, they're gonna be like, who the hell do you think you are? Like, trying to play music like that? So it's, it's, it's very much like what we're surrounding ourselves with. Like, my good friends, I'm like, I want to keep playing. This is great. I'm gonna keep going. But the other friends, the ones that are negative, put down the guitar and never play again, right? So it's like, we gotta be mindful of what we're surrounding ourself with, what our inputs are, and choose, consciously choose things that are gonna support us, you know, so be mindful of that. So, I mean, if we're watching the news all the time and thinking the world is falling and like, there's nuclear war is gonna happen, like, you're gonna be thinking those thoughts, feeling those feelings. You're gonna be creating that every time you go to the checkout counter, that's the kind of world that you're seeing. You're seeing the world through that lens and you're creating that world. So what this really is, is understanding that, like, you can choose the perception that you see through. You know, especially in this, in this era of algorithms, you know, the things that you click on, they're gonna keep showing up. Yeah, right. If you're clicking on things that the world is falling, it's horrible. It's all, all going to end. Like, you're gonna keep getting that in your reality on every single feed you see?

And if you don't think this is real. Everyone that's seen the Anchorman knew why he was successful in the Anchorman, because he's the one that figured out to use the red and black and white and bold text fear Text holders, Right? And so they said this. It was almost like, in a way, that movie was planting a seed of consciousness through humor because they showed how sensationalism and negativity. Guess what, guys? The Habenula is always ticking. I mean, it's like the ultimate record keeper, right?

Oh, yeah.

So this has been such a great conversation with you, man. And I actually, like, this was one of the first times I've ever done something in a park, but it was perfect for you and I, because I think of you as, like, this. This mover in the world. And whenever I think of you, especially the way that you've formulated the native path, it has to be outside. Let's get people outside again. Turn off the damn television. How do you see, for people that do want to have TV in their life, do they need to earn it? How do they earn television? How do they earn documentary films or whatever it is? Is it that big of a piece where if they took out the tv, it could literally unfold anything else?

I would say first, watch it intentionally. You know, like, try not to have a TV on in the background. You know, like when you're doing the dishes and the TV's on, or, like, you're just walking, you wake up and you casually turn on the TV and there's news or something. Like, don't do that. Like, put on some music that's gonna make you feel good and get you going. If you're, like, doing the dishes or cooking, like, put on some music, but, like, you know, intentionally sit down to watch shows, you know, like, I've heard about this show. People say it's good. It's gonna help support me. Let's watch this with intention.

Without your phone in front of you.

Without your phone in front of you. Because some people are watching TV and checking Facebook.

That's a really big takeaway, actually. Yeah. If you're gonna watch tv, be intentional about it.

Yeah.

Three questions, man. First question is, out of all the books and courses you've taken, is there one or two that pop up that are just the most poignant for you? You've done so much work and read so much. Like, what's. What's the one or two?

Well, so I'll give you two seminars that I've done. One was. I did all the Landmark Forum. Like, the whole graduate, whole program. I did all of that. That was profound for me.

This is helping millions of people. Yeah, millions.

Like, Landmark's incredible. People say it's a cult, and it kind of is, but that's fine.

So is the 49ers.

Right, right, right. Everything.

Everything's a cult. Yeah.

And for men, the Mankind Project was profound. For me, that is a global organization. It's a nonprofit and it's helping men become more powerful, open hearted, authentic, courageous, strong men. And it's been amazing. And there's an initiation weekend where you're going through a three day weekend with like 20 to 40 other guys. And there's like 20 to 40 other guys that are welcoming you in. And you process so much, you're able to dump so many shadows. And. And it's incredible. And then after that, I have a men's group that I meet with every two weeks. And I mean, I can't say enough about that. So those are two, like, kind of seminar kind of things. The two books that have been most profound with me, definitely the Power of Now and A New Earth. Like those, those planted huge seeds in me about awareness and a vision of a better world. You know, I can't say enough about those books.

Yeah, for sure. It's funny because the very thing you mentioned during kind of the middle of our talk, you said it's reminding people to keep up with the conversation, to bring people in the community like this men's work. For all the men that listen to the. I would say if you're not in a men's group, make that your first breath. Make that the next thing that you do. Get in a committed men's group. It doesn't have to be religious, it doesn't have to be denominational. It's about just empowering the human. This Mankind Project, people that don't know about that. What is mankind?

Well, mankind is. I mean, I don't know how they would define it, but I view it as like all humans, men and women. You know, we should probably call it humankind.

That probably a better term, Humankind.

Yeah, that's.

But the Mankind Project itself, how did that start and what's that all about?

It started like the late 70s or early 80s and I think, I think it was started by three guys. And I think one of them was in the military. And I think they were just sitting around one day and they're like, something's not right. They were like, they looked around like everybody's talking about football and drinking beer and just having conversations that really aren't getting on the surface. So they just started to look at that a little more and you know, ask each other, like, how are you feeling? And they would, they would be like, I'm kind of feeling sad. I'm kind of feeling happy. I'm kind of feeling shame. You know, like, look, let's look deeper. What's the impact? What's the judgment behind that? What's the beliefs that's really processing each other? And they started creating weekends where they would bring others in and kind of initiate them and help to help them look at themselves a little closer and look at their feelings. And it just kind of grew from there. They have organizations all over the world. You know, it's pretty big in America, but it's also in Mexico and Australia and Europe and everywhere. But it's amazing. I mean, I can't say enough. And I think, you know, we're talking a lot about what we've inherited. I think men have inherited a certain way of being that is one of. This lacks vulnerability, that lacks expression. There's very much an act that we put on, like, I've got to be strong. I got to be tough. I can't show you my weaknesses. I got to be a certain way. We've been very much in, like, a masculine era for the past thousands of years dominated by men. But men have been hiding, suppressing and denying what they're feeling, and it comes out in anger and rage. And this is why we have many of the wars we have. It's why, you know, why. Why we drink a lot. I think in many, many situations that we're kind of just numbing ourselves and not really looking and feeling inside our body is what it is. So the Mankind Project offers or teaches men how to. To start doing that, how to form groups, how to check in with each other, how to create a safe container to express yourself, like what you're feeling and how to. How to go deeper in the processing and look at things like integrity. Like, are there things I'm saying I'm doing in my life that I'm not doing? And what's the impact of that? Where else is it showing up in my life? What are the judgments? What are the beliefs? And what do I have to do to get back in integrity? Like, a simple thing like that?

This is the teachings from millennia that the elders would provide in tribes. But the elders are few and far between. Now in 2018, my goal is to earn the right to be an elder. That's my goal. One of my goals. Right. What's your goal in regards to disseminating trusted information? Consider yourself to be an elder now, already at your age.

I think I'm like, there's a lot I don't know. There's a lot that I don't know, but I do think it's important to. What I do try to do is mentor other people, but I also get mentored. So I think that's very important to always be taught and teach. You know, I think constantly be learning from people that know way more than you. Like, I have, like, I call them like my counsel. I have, like, five people that I consider way more evolved, like, more aware than I am. And I'm always going to them to seek counsel. And then there's people that are. That will find me and seek me out, and I'll arrange conversations with them. Like, sometimes they come stay with me. You know, sometimes we'll just talk for, like, hours. And there's no, like, there's no money exchange in these cases. I just want to do it because it helps me.

Yeah.

You know, but. So they would consider me wise, but the people who I'm learning from would be like, I'm. You know, you have a lot of work to do, son. You know, so it's. It's. It's all. There's infinite potential of how wise and how conscious we could get. Get, you know, but it's. It's fascinating to go on that path. So, you know, I. I think another thing that really helped me out a lot was when I was treating people in home health, physical therapy, I was able to work with a lot, like I said, oracles, like, very wise people, you know, and the conventional thing that we do in our culture is when. When we're old, like, give people medications and put them in a nursing home and, like, we don't see them again.

Yeah.

You know, but so I was like, it was my job to go see those people and spend like three days a week with them and talk to them, and I'd learn everything about them. Like, we'd have stories about, you know, many of them fought in World War II. There's many of them that, you know, people that were fighting for equal rights with, you know, black activism and things like that. I learned from these people, and I sat with them in their homes, and they would show me their pictures and tell me their stories. And I learned from all these different religions, you know, like Christians and Muslims and all these just different ways. And all of them were dealing with diagnosis and, like, about to leave this world. So they were very open and willing to share. You know, not. Not all of them were happy and able to share, but many of them were. You know, I mean, I came across some extremely bright, brilliant people, and. And I just Let myself be a student to them, you know, it was a really, really special time.

If you want to be an elder yourself, you have to learn from the elders as well. My three questions for you, by the way, turned into 10, man.

So I just came rambling last couple.

Here because the support angle, this community angle, you talked about it multiple times. I believe in that as well. Like, without community, nothing occurs. We can get as many books as possible. You can get a PhD. There are therapists and psychologists out there that have all the academia in the world. But the real deep work that you've talked about is being honest and being vulnerable. And that sounds like it's a buzz term, but it's not. This is why we're here on the planet, man. So thank you for being this reminder to everyone listening here. How can we support you? How can Wellness force support you and the native path?

Oh, wow. Well, I mean, what you can do is go to nativepath.com and just check out what we're doing. You can also go to paleosecret.com and that's where we have the 30 day challenge where you can be a part of that. Sittingsolution.com have a lot of.com is where we have kind of my. Everything I learned as a physical therapist in terms of treating posture and helping people get out of the negative adaptation from a sitting environment. That's really cool. So those are kind of our three main. Our main things out there, but they're all great. You can find me on Facebook, you can Find me on YouTube. I'm always happy to share. There's some great videos on YouTube, by the way, with posture and things that you can do that, you know, it's all free and it's really cool actually.

I actually learned about the womb squat from you. With the reach.

Yeah. Oh, nice.

Yeah, it's the most challenging one that I still do. So, man, just want to acknowledge the work that you do for health and wellness. Just feel so connected to what you do. Even though we're in different states, I feel like our message is universal and that is how do we continue this learning of physical and emotional intelligence? Not with an end result in mind, but enjoying the damn process, you know, enjoying the thing along the way, man. So, last question, Chad. Wellness in our world. What is wellness to you now? Like, how would you define wellness?

Yeah, well, so I would define it as health, happiness, you know, peace in the body, love in the heart. Right there. Life, health, happiness, peace in the body, love in the heart. If you have those things right there. I mean, I mean, you're gonna be, well, you're gonna be very happy. So, yeah, it's a very holistic approach. It's not something that's so data driven. It's a whole human, a whole system. It's integrated. But you should be all those things. You should be happy, you should be kind. You should love yourself.

Thanks for spending time with me in the park, dude.

Yeah, brother, it's been fun.

Let's get a photograph.

Yeah.

Hey, my friend, thank you for hanging out and growing with me on today's show. Remember to hit subscribe.

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