Harness the Power of Spirituality for Mental Resilience Take 2

 

Why you need to remember why you do what you do.

0:00

The man who took his own life over the holiday.

1:41

Why I do what I do and what I found.

3:05

How a belief in a higher power can help you.

4:41

Imagine you are a power greater than yourself.

6:14

Letting go and surrendering.

8:29

What does it mean to breathe properly? –.

10:13

The power of the Sangha.

12:41

If you’ve got a friend or somebody that could use some extra support.

15:06

People love to help.

16:42

Brandon Handley 0:00
Hey, what's up spiritual dope and Happy New Year, I have a topic for you today that is a little. It's a little bit heavy, a little bit heavy, heavy way to kind of start the year. That being said, when, when I think about why I do what it is I do when I think about spiritual dope, I also think about when I did fatherhood for the rest of us, when I did fatherhood, for the rest of us, it was to start a business it was to start coaching it was to do all these things that, you know, monetize this monetize that. And I remember Larry haggard at some point, in his group had mentioned the idea of like, why why you do what you do, you know, remember what you're here for, because I was getting tired, getting tired then of kind of what I was doing and didn't feel like I was having the results that I wanted, and that kind of thing. And, and he's like, and he's when he said, you remember why you're doing what you're doing. I was like, Well, I'm just, I'm just trying to make a buck bro. Like, I'm just trying to make some money, maybe help people or whatever, right. But I have more to do with making money than it did with helping people and they're in probably lead the problem. Since then, I've come along quite a ways. You know, a couple different podcasts and sand and doing spiritual dope. And landing on kind of why I do what it is I do talk about mental health. But I'm prompted today I'll start there. I'm prompted today by a fella that took his own life this over the holiday, it was a it was on New Year's Eve. And it was at 9am and we heard a couple bangs happen in around us at the house. And we thought that it might just be like somebody we thought that it might be somebody just know shooting off fireworks or something like that we're like, or hunters right? Turns out later in day we found out that it was this gentleman that had taken his life and it was a father Father two younger children probably living the same life most of us who live in where get the daily grind, you've got your job, you've got the responsibilities and and you feel like you're doing it all by yourself. Maybe somebody didn't at the at the house didn't feel like they're having the best holidays. Also, maybe they're the coupling like maybe not the best holidays and feeling like you're doing it all on your own. Couple that with inflation, where we're at right now, and how damaging that can be. I'll share a little excerpt on that for you as well. Why I do what it is that I do and what I found because it was more more about what I found about what it is that I do. And that I share why it is that I do what I do and how that can be helpful possibly for you know because listen, can we can oftentimes feel like we're alone. In doing this and especially as a Western civilization men are taught to pull yourself up by your bootstraps. You can do it you don't eat how you know we get that from being kids right? We get that from being kids and young and can't you get that yourself you know, you're a big boy now pull up pants to go potty. Do the things um The thing is, is we're terrible and asking for help. That might be because we've been trained to be that way it might be for like other reasons. We're gonna be seen as weak and that kind of thing. And I don't know this person. I don't know what his life was like I did I was able to talk somebody jujitsu about it, I he had seen this guy in passing. And it just made me think you know again about why why why I do what it is, I do. So first of all, spirituality first spirituality kind of showed of my life on unwelcome even. And it showed me how a belief in a higher power could help me and in my mental state a number of different ways. I'll give a, I guess, the best kind of examples I can give would be like, when it first started noticing. house seemed like at least that there was something outside of me that was helping something larger than myself. And I was, you know, I started here I started with like, first of all, you got to realize that you're one in 400 children. Those are the odds of being born on this planet. I don't even know about this time, I think that's just the odds of you being born. Period. So what are the odds of you being born on this planet during this time, where we've got the ability to reach out and you know, where's my camera touch someone where we can reach out where we can send these podcasts out. And we can have, we're in a period of time where we can ask for help now. And that's seen as a strength. So when I say that, you know, imagine you and your children, if you're a parent, most of the people listening to this are Imagine that you are a power greater than your own children. It would seem at least you would do anything to make sure that they had what they needed, in order to be successful, to be happy, to be filled with joy and those kinds of things to to better themselves. So when you try to imagine that there's a greater power like that for you, being one in 400 trillion, you got to say to yourself, wow, you know what, holy shit. Okay, there's a power greater than myself that wants nothing but the best for me, what is the this is like, where you finally get the opportunity to say, hey, I want something because most of us been told not to want even be grateful for what you have. How dare you want for more, I've given you all I've got cotton, right? We've heard it from maybe our parents or something like that. So we've also got this, this desire to be happy with what we got grateful for what we've gotten. And, you know, don't want me don't want for more. But that's not it. Right? If we can come to this, this idea that I mean, again, if there's a power in the universe is graded on us to help us to get to where we are today, one 400 trillion chance. Wow, pretty impressive. Gonna imagine that it's similar to myself as a father, and would do like anything to make sure that my children are having the best life possible. So that started to open up for me. You know, trusting the universe is another and Alan Watts talk really great talk. Where you're starting to have like ideas I'm like, Okay, well, if I start to believe that then this is what might like to see my life and then like, the things that would happen for me provided by the universe or whatever, right? Like you can call it whatever you want. I choose that route and the weight that it takes off right if we say to ourselves let go and let God the weight that it takes off or surrender he did there's a large number of ways go about that until but the weight that came off of me because of that was like just ridiculous. Okay, ridiculous. It was like, you know, life was life was at a trick on it turned into a downpour. So that was like kind of the first the first part. Alright, so the spirituality and helping you with your mental health and how it can help you with your mental health, just in just in accepting that there's a higher power and surrendering to it. Not unlike the 12 step program, which I'm not I haven't ever done in a formal manner, but if I can go back and as Steve Jobs talked about, connect the dots going backwards. And then I can certainly say that, um, you know, probably I probably did the steps without doing the steps. Because it's kind of like a natural unfolding process that just happens.

So we did the steps. We did speak visuality so what about like, now there's the breath work, right? There's these other tools. So what about the breath? Work, the breath work? And how much that can help? And why that's healthy and helpful? Well, it's helpful because not over 90% of us don't breathe properly. And what does it mean to breathe properly, I haven't gone too deep into that, what I do know is that if I breathe in this suggested manner, and a couple, couple minutes a day, 510 20 minutes a day. Then the effects that has on my physiology and mental state, physical well being it's it's, um, wow, it's it's born on meditation, similar very well, mindfulness, really similar, just to this practice, and these don't even have to be. These don't even have to be related to spirituality. These are just tools to help you with their mental health. This is the journey that I've been on. And I have dove in head first, because it's such great stuff. And the more that I learn about it, the more that I can share about it. And you know, maybe maybe somebody says, I have people reach out all the time, actually, you know. And it's, it's awesome to hear how it's helping them to helping to get them unstuck. It's helping to get them put into a different place, it's helping to separate themselves from anxiety and overwhelm just for a moment. And when you can separate yourself from the problem from the situation. How powerful is that? How powerful is that, when you can separate yourself from the situation, take a step back. Maybe it's something you don't feel like you can manage in this moment, it's so overwhelming. And maybe you can say to yourself, alright, I need to I can breathe through this right, I can use my body to put me into a better mental state that I'm currently in right now I can use my body and my breath work to separate me from my problem, even if it's just for a moment. If it's this avalanche. The only thing that I share with people too is you'll find yourself a group is not just, it's not just about spirituality. Another Alan Watts line, but I believe it's comes from Buddhism. And it's the power of the Sangha, right, the saga is the community. And one of the three noble, maybe it's for noble, I don't know, it's noble. And as part of Buddhism, the deal is, Sangha is the group in the community. And then there's gonna be people that are along the way. So be grateful for your community, the one that you've got right now. And if you don't have one, establish one. And then be grateful for the people who are on their way. We've got a couple different groups of men, that I can reach out to a couple of singular men as well. That I can have a just really honest one on one conversations with it's not, you know, your people talking about you want unvarnished truth, and all of a sudden, they don't. Sometimes you just you just want to be able to talk and have some reasonable conversations. The important thing, I think, is to have them in a non judgmental way, you're there to support each other, not beat each other up, drag each other down, and not lie to each other. about what's going on. I think that that's more important than somebody telling you, you're fucking up, right? We know when we're fucking up. We're preclear. Most of us, most of us, and it's not, that'll be that'll be brought quickly to our attention at some point. So why I do what I do and how I do what I do right now is significantly different. And it's all pointed to encouraging my own best mental health and state again, connecting the dots going backwards, and it's really hard to see this. When you're in the soup. It's really hard to see it when you're in the thick of it. And I don't think that there's going to be too many people tuning in that are going to be in a place who are most of the people that turn into a spiritual podcast and this one tend to be beyond the state of overwhelm most So most of the people, and they tend to be better at dealing with their shit. Because they have some of these practices. That being said, if you know somebody that that could use the help, that maybe they're not as far along, you know, beyond survival mode, as you maybe that maybe they could use a helping hand. Like, it's always so great when somebody reaches out to me like, Hey, man, Howard, thanks. That's it. Right? Doesn't doesn't nobody reaches out like, it's, it's, it's not great. I mean, it is, it's us, it's just how are you write a check in a pulse. So if you've got a friend, or somebody that could use some extra support, you know, be that person. And if you know somebody that could use some of these tools, right? To get past that. Always happy to help, you know, direct them to breath, work, direct them to find a community, direct them to anything, that can be helpful. Sometimes it's helpful to just vent and let it all out. Because then they can just hear it in the moment. And sometimes, when you do that, you can hear yourself saying it and understand that you're making yourself vulnerable. And when you're making yourself vulnerable, there's actually the opportunity to become powerful in that moment. You become powerful in that moment, when you become vulnerable. And you've got people around you, supporting you and not judging you. Because then you you've stepped into courage, you've become courageous enough to share what you believe is a weakness. And ask for help. And I promise you, I promise you people are dying, people love to help people love to be the hero. People out there that want to help you. And I can also promise you, the kind of no matter what is going on out there. No matter what is going on out there, we're more likely that we want you here than anywhere else. So while it might be challenging, and you might be going through some tough times. There are plenty of good ones ahead. There is a force out there that wants nothing but the best for you at all times. And sometimes the best seems like a steaming pile of shit. We're super tough challenge. But that challenge is meant for you to grow into the person that you need to become sometimes and again, that's not something that who wants to fucking hear that it's easy, but it's not easy, right guys and gals? Again, if you've got somebody out there that needs to hear this, share with them if you've got somebody out there that you know, maybe you haven't talked to for a long time, maybe they're fine. Maybe on the ATM, everything seems fine. Reach out to him and say hello anyways, they Hey, man, how things haven't talked to you like a fucking year because I'm a guy and that's how we are. Right? So Happy New Year, understand that spirituality is more than just a bunch of beads and bullshit it's a it's a pathway forward to releasing some of the pressure off of yourself. And allowing yourself to become the saint allowing yourself to become allowing yourself to recognize the truth of who you already are like all these things are things that are always available already available to you knows all times. And it cost like nothing to like get engaged with it. And you'll start to see some amazing benefits. So that's why I do what I do. That's why the other thing that just been kind of struggling with just just share, how do I share this best, right? Oh, I also mentioned sorry, to dry this out a little bit longer. I had mentioned the bit about inflation. And that came from a study I just wanted to let people know, now's a really fucking tough time for people to be a pee round. So in 1932, there was a study done by the Macmillan commission that they were discussing money and credit regulation. I'm gonna pull this over here. The chart graph the rise and fall of interest rates from the feet of Napoleon in 1812 to the date of the Commission in 1932. And on the same scale, the rise and fall of the suicide rate in that 120 year period.

This blew my mind. The two curves were virtually identical. Every time the interest rate went up, so did the suicide rate when interest rate went down suicide. This can hardly be coincidence. It's when interest rate rises, a certain number of businessmen go bankrupt, a certain number of workers are thrown out of their jobs and everyone's everyone's and everybody's bio survival anxiety generally increases. We're in that period right now. So now more than ever, people need something they can rely on. It's that faith is it breathwork is a spiritual practice. I don't know. What I do know is expensive stuff that's worked for me. The spent stuff that's worked for 1000s millions, hundreds of millions throughout a long period of time. And it may be something that could work for you. And it may be something that could work for a friend of yours.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai