Episode 22: Investing in Well-Being Part 3: Spirit and Nature

We are so much bigger the moment we recognize we are part of something bigger.

If all we attune into is this self, this body, this mind, this me, then you know our limitations.

The contours of our body define us.

Think about it.

We're constantly breathing in oxygen giving out carbon dioxide.

The trees are breathing in carbon dioxide giving in oxygen.

That means half of our respiratory system is hanging outside.

It doesn't matter whether we choose or not.

We are constantly in connection and that's what being in nature can do.

Hey there friends.

Welcome to Happiness Squad.

This is the podcast dedicated to helping you unlock your full potential by mastering the art and science of happiness.

We bring on the best leading experts on these topics to help you unlock your true potential and live with more joy, health, love and meaning in your life.

Your host is no other than a star combo of Ashish Katari and Anil Ramjiani who are both on a mission to provide you with an unfair advantage to be the masters of your experience and leaders in your industry.

Get ready to be moved, challenged and enlightened on this podcast.

It may change your life.

Thanks for being here and joining the Squad.

Hey Happiness Squad.

I am so excited to be with all of you today and honored to be with Ashish as we explore his book Hardwired for Happiness.

Chapter by chapter.

I'm on this exciting journey with you and Ashish as we look into the nine practices that form the Sunflower practices that Ashish has laid out so simply and beautifully.

What I find unique is how Ashish has taken years of experience, study and research and captured them into microhabits and that can truly change our lives for the better in just a few minutes a day, leading us to a more joyful, happy and healthier life.

Today we conclude a three part series on Practice Number seven, Investing in your well being where we've addressed the harmony amongst mind, body and spirit.

In the previous two episodes we covered body and mind.

Today we're going to delve into spirit and truly understand how from Ashish's perspective, the relationship between religion and nature as well as a concept that I've never heard about, it's called forest bathing.

For me, I wanted to understand how our listeners can explore this area further.

Because you may be stuck in a concrete jungle sitting at your desk wondering how can I unlock and explore the power of nature?

Well, stay through till the end as Ashish provides several tips that you can easily integrate into your life from today.

Are you ready to learn how to do less and be more?

Well, then join us as we talk through how we can rewire for Happiness together.

Enjoy.

Hey Ashish, how are you?

I am doing wonderful, Anil.

So lovely to see you as always and record yet another episode for Happiness Squad.

No mate, I totally agree.

And these podcasts that we do are really special for me because we're effectively taking the book Hardwired for Happiness.

We're going chapter by chapter, practice by practice, and we've done something quite unique.

We've taken Practice seven which is investing in our well being to a new state.

We've actually we're doing a three part series.

This is the third.

The first we actually spoke about body and the importance of movement and you blew me away with the stat you shared despite me being as active and as athletic as I am.

In the last episode we talked about mind and the importance of not only the quantity but also the quality of sleep.

And some of the tips you shared with me I'm ready to use because they are nourishing, they're natural.

They actually wean people like me off of late afternoon caffeine shots to jolt me up and keep me going.

So I'm actually really grateful and I'm excited for our listeners to share with us what they think of the tips and topics that we've discussed till date on well being.

I'm now ready to shift gears and talk about the third because mind, body and spirit.

Wellbeing is the harmony of the three.

And I'll tell you Ashish, when I think of spirit I've done previous podcasts around, is spirituality is spirit the same thing as religion?

And I think what would be great to start for our listeners is maybe sharing your definition of spirit, your thoughts around spirituality and we can take it from there.

Yeah, look, it's a great question and I will tell you Anil, this difference between spirituality and religion and also, you know, disillusionment with one versus the other can be behind so much actually out there of suffering people abandoning one both because they believe in something else altogether.

I was one of those.

You know, at the core of it, spirituality for me is a recognition that we are all part of something bigger than ourselves.

Agree that is it right?

Spirituality is about recognizing that connection to something bigger.

We are not alone.

We are not.

We are fundamentally connected and interbeing with each other.

Nature.

We are nature.

Man is nature.

We are a part of it.

In today's world because of the focus on self, we've become isolated from nature because of our egos.

So much suffering happens.

And at the core of it, you Know, spirituality is one way to weaken the power of ego on our lives because we fundamentally start to tune into the fact that we are not alone.

We don't exist in isolation of others, we don't exist to control others, but we are constantly in a dance of inter being with others.

Now, spirituality is different from religion in a couple of ways.

Religion at its core is about an organized set of beliefs.

Right?

Right.

In Hinduism, in Christianity, it's about Christ, the teachings of God.

You know, in Islam, with the Quran, it's teachings of the Prophet Muhammad.

You know, in Hinduism, so many gods and there's teachings from the Gita or from, from Lord Rama in Ramayan.

You know, yoga has its own set.

So in every religion, you know, Sikh religion has set up, there's usually teachings, there's a set of beliefs by a higher figure and hence comes with it.

You must do, here's the Ten Commandments, here's kind of the way to think about it, usually brought to life through stories.

But there's a very set of beliefs that you're supposed to kind of, if you are of that belief, you share that with the community.

You adhere to a set of standards, a set of values, a way of being.

Spirituality at its core is about less about believing in teachings but more tuning into our personal experience of what comes up.

Right.

So I'm not just going to believe something because you're saying it.

I'm actually going to try it, I'm going to tune into it and I'm going to rely more on my personal experience or what's coming up for me.

So to some extent it's more experiential.

And in that way, actually, if you think about Buddhism and yoga sutras or Taoism, these are more spiritual traditions because it is about don't believe it, don't do it because the Buddha says it or because the Yoga sutra say it.

Do it because your experience as you practice this tells you something.

Right.

So it's truly about, I don't want to use the word blind faith, but it is about following on faith versus following on our own experience.

And I think that at the heart of it is the difference between them.

Does that make sense?

It does.

And maybe just to add a question to that, and it's not to be provocative, but maybe some of our listeners who are devout Christians, devout Hindus, devout Muslims, they might say, yeah, but so ashish are the practices you're talking about when it comes to spirituality and spirit?

I go to church, I go to temple.

Do you feel that that's A sufficient practice?

Or do you feel that what you've just unlocked and what you shared, there's actually more to what an individual can invest or experience personally when it comes to bringing harmony to spirit?

Great, great question.

So, you know, as you know, Anil, in my journey, I actually read extensively religious texts and spiritual texts.

Okay, so for our listeners, you know, I read the Bible, I read the Quran, I read the yoga sutras, I read many of the Buddhist teachings, teach Nhat Han, Dalai Lama, Pema Chodron, Sharon Salzberg.

I also spent a fair bit of time with the Tao Te Ching.

So I read quite extensively across a range of different, both wisdom traditions as well as kind of religious texts.

And what I first of all found is at the core of it.

If you think about practices, what should we do?

There is a why should you do it?

But there is a what should you do?

There is so much alignment on what we should do.

Almost all religions, for example, whether it is Christianity, whether it is Hinduism, whether it is the Quran, whether it's the yoga sutras, they all point towards forgiveness, forgiving.

They all talk about gratitude, they all talk about kindness and compassion.

There is none of no one of them that says, no, you know, solve for yourself.

You should cheat, you should lie, you should steal.

Nobody, none of them.

It's all about living in the service.

How can we be kind, how can we be generous, how can we be truthful, how can we have the right livelihood?

Every one of these.

So they're actually very, very in harmony.

Awesome, if you will.

Okay.

These practices are very much in harmony now.

That is it.

Practices are practices.

So I was talking to the dear friend of mine, I was actually on his podcast, it's called Good Faith Radio.

And we were talking about this initially, and he knows I'm not a Christian, I'm a Hindu.

And he said, you know, this is for devout Christians, Ashish.

So do you think you'll be comfortable speaking?

And I shared this with him.

Right.

And I'll tell you, you asked this question, so if I go to church every weekend, is that enough?

It can be if we practice, you know, if we practice what we learn every day, not just on Sunday.

And so to our listeners, you know, I had this epiphany that actually I got on one of the meditations I was doing in one moment when I was like, I realized, oh, my God, this was a moment when I had been reading the Bible, you know, in my studies, and I was like, wow, you know, the last breath, the last wish of Jesus Christ, those Words were, God, forgive these who sin against me.

They don't know what they do.

Right.

And this was a moment when he was, you know, he had been, you know, crucified in his last breath.

Right.

They took his life and his wish was for forgiveness.

Think about how many of us, whether we are Christians or Hindus or Muslims, get lose our temper just because somebody crosses us or somebody asks the second question.

So to me, it's about practice.

It's about if we practice and if we truly follow the teachings by doing them in our life, then, yeah, that is enough.

But if we just go there as a way to build community, but outside of that we're not living them, then it's a different story altogether.

And community is a practice that we will talk about next.

And I think it's beautiful how you put it, Ashish.

It's not just going and we talk about this.

It's not about doing more, doing more visits to temple or to church or doing more prayers or doing more.

It's actually being more.

And you can be more by practicing more.

That's exactly right.

Right.

And this is the epiphany that I think we encourage ourselves and our listeners to have is how can, by hearing what you're saying, Ashish, allow us to open our minds to that, to that potential, that possibility.

So coming back to spirit, and as you mentioned, Ashish, maybe we start talking about practices within spirit.

And I know you've got several.

There's one that you've mentioned to me about nature.

Yeah.

So.

And before we even go to nature, I think let's delve.

There are three practices.

Right.

One is about nature, because nature has a way of connecting us to something bigger.

Okay.

We experience awe, we experience connection.

It's a very direct way to experience it.

You already mentioned being part of a church, a religious group or a community.

Right.

Like doing some spiritual practice by reading or kind of being part of a sangha can be a really powerful way to do this.

By the way, the other way in which we can truly experience spirituality is truly playing.

You know, children, we play.

Ah, okay.

We can integrate play so three different ways.

But let me tell you this.

And this might be this.

You know, many of our listeners might relate to this.

Look, I grew up in India, but I was not very spiritual.

In fact, for about 20 years, you know, from my early 20s to the.

To early 40s, I actually had thrown out, quote, unquote, the baby with.

The baby with the bathwater, because I just didn't agree with, you know, what, how I Saw religion practiced sometimes, you know, growing up in India.

So, you know, I was like, I didn't quite get right.

I was very analytical.

I was a science, I was an engineer.

And so I was like, I always questioned, right?

It was always, again, religion is about beliefs, right?

You believe you do something because that's what's being told.

And I was much more, without even knowing the words, more spiritual.

I relied more on individual experience.

So it made no sense to me why we would pray, a Brahmin, a pandit to speak for us, prayers in a language, Sanskrit, which I didn't understand.

And somehow that was actually paying, you know, sending blessings and asking for things to God.

I was like, how does that work?

I agree with you.

Why can't I just express that wish?

Why do I need to pay somebody to then speak in a language I don't even know what he's speaking?

Like, how do I know he's actually,.

You know, he could be saying anything my behalf.

But somehow we should do it, right?

Somehow we should do it.

I didn't agree with that.

And I just.

It didn't fit in with my model.

The other thing that didn't fit in was, you know, this happens not all, every place, but many places.

You know, like, corruption exists everywhere in many places.

You know, when I saw that the poor had to queue up, but if you paid money, you could cut ahead of line.

Yes.

For, you know, visitations, or you were treated differently depending on the donation you gave.

It just went against everything, you know, I was like, no, I don't want anything to do with that.

And Anil, for 20 years I threw out spirituality with religion.

I now get you.

Yes.

You liken the two, right?

Like, I don't want anything to do with this.

This is all crazy.

I believe in my power, my will, I'm going to make things happen.

This strong pinning in self, I'm going to work hard, I'm going to do everything that I can.

And that's what I'm going to rely on, this focus on self.

And that's, by the way, really happening.

It's not just my experience.

Consistently across the world, spirituality and religion, both of these two things are actually going down, right.

For a long time it was the religious beliefs, you know, people who kind of associated with the religion was going down, spirituality was going on, going up.

But, you know, over the last five, 10 years, both have actually been going down.

And it is because of, again, I think part of it is confusion between what's one versus the other, which, you know, you asked the question in the beginning of the episode, once I truly started tuning in with that focus on self also, as you know, and we've covered, came a lot of anxiety, came a lot of suffering, because all of a sudden it was all about me.

And once the me started to crumble, there was no link to the we, there was no lung.

And when I started connecting to something bigger, you know, in my last five years, when I really started tuning in, I actually reconnected with spirituality, but also with religion, because I could realize what I was denying, what I was not with, were actually practices informed by preachers.

You know, it wasn't the teaching, it was not the teaching, it was not the wisdom there.

So I think that's an important one, you know, for folks to recognize.

And so if you, like me, have given up on religion or spirituality because of the distinction between them, but still wonder, when we go look in nature and we are moved by awe, there must be something bigger.

Yes.

I invite you to lean into the spiritual teachings and start to really question, start to get curious and what you might find as you look into those, like I did, that our ego starts to dissolve, we start to experience more interbeing connection.

And as we do that, our suffering starts to go down and more happiness, joy, satisfaction starts to emerge, Peace starts to reign in on our lives, our existence changes.

Do you know, Ashish, I love how you said that.

And I want to reemphasize that suffering can go down.

We know that pain is not a choice.

Right.

If I cut off your limbs, you're going to feel pain.

Yes.

If you choose to suffer, that's a choice that you're making.

Right.

And I know a book that you actually recommended to me was the Book of Joy.

And the Dalai Lama actually says, you know, the beauty is to find joy even when you're suffering.

And I want to put it back to you in terms of.

So when you say, like, hey, we want to find a way to access spirituality and as a means to reduce suffering, do you feel that it's possible for folks that that may find what you're saying to be a bit difficult to comprehend, difficult to accept, because they are just maybe still very scientifically driven, very fact driven, what would be.

That's a great question, Anil.

Great question.

And for them, I invite those listeners to check out the book Awakened Brain by Lisa Miller.

Okay.

Lisa extensively studied the impact of spirituality on the human condition.

And she's also a neuroscientist.

So actually she studied how it affects the brain and what she found was that spirituality fundamentally protects against depression.

Whoa.

You know, we won't cover there.

We'll have a whole episode separately on that book because I found it so powerful.

But in a nutshell, what she found was spirituality and depression were two sides of a coin.

Those who were spiritual were actually protected against depression.

And this came from fundamental structural changes in the brains of those who were spiritual versus who they were not.

For example, the cortexes for those who practice spirituality were thicker.

Wow.

Okay.

So there's fundamental changes in our brain structures that happen in those that practice spirituality.

And that's the case.

Anil.

She paints it really, really clearly to say, why should you care?

Well, if you care for a better life, if you care for a higher quality brain, if you care for a brain that is going to stay with you much longer in your life.

We talked about how we are living longer.

Then really give spirituality a try, really tune into that.

And by the way, one of the best ways to do that is by.

Being in nature, playing in nature, being in nature.

I mean, I just, I want to take a second there and just pause and just.

Listeners reflect on that because I am positive.

I know, I know people who suffer from depression.

You know, I'm going to share this.

My mom and I know we'll go into this deeper later, Ashish.

But you know, my mom suffered from severe depression for nearly 30, 40 years at least I've known her.

And you know, in the last, I'd say decade, 15 years, she's more religious, right?

And that's where she grounds her spirituality in, is her religion.

She's Jane and she prays several times a day.

And I can tell you, hand over heart, Ashish.

Her health.

She's on medication, but her health and her stability has grown dramatically since I've seen her practice her religion, being more spiritual, being more grounded.

And so I invite our listeners to explore that because again, not everyone may see what talking about here as something that they can embrace or they feel comfortable with.

But that's the beauty of having a growth mindset.

That's the beauty of just having that curiosity as an opportunity to explore this further.

Are you enjoying the show so far?

Let me ask you a few questions before going back.

Have you ever wondered why so many of us struggle with stress, anxiety and burnout and feel stuck in life?

Heck, maybe you're going through this right now.

Well, the reason for this lies in the evolutionary biology of our brains, which are hardwired for fear.

It's part of the reason why our team named this podcast Happiness Squad.

It serves as a reminder that happiness is what really matters and that we are in this together.

And that is why we are so excited to share with you a resource to help you on your journey.

One of our hosts, Ashish Kattari, launched a book, Hardwired for Happiness and it is a 1Amazon bestseller.

When you get access to this book, you will discover nine secular practices that can change your life and are backed by scientific evidence from psychology and neuroscience.

Learn how you can integrate Hardwired for Happiness practices in every part of your life to unlock your best self regardless of how busy you are.

Shift from knowing to doing to being with a range of journaling, meditation and group coaching exercises and so much more.

Go to www.happinesssquad.combook to get access Right now we also have bonuses on the page that you don't want to miss.

Once again, www.happinesssquad.com book and now back to the show.

So Ashish, I do want to segue back if you'd like to maybe talk about spirituality and nature and how our listeners could start to practice and understand the value of, of the spirit as part of how they invest in their well being.

So happy to get in.

That's the reason in my book, you know, I do talk about these two parts, right.

Despite all that we have shared, there still might be a lot of people who say, no, I am not actually going to go down the spiritual religion thing.

I'm too jaded.

But I don't think of many people who say, no, I won't actually go out in nature.

True.

And so I'm like, look, know you choose whether you want to go one way or the other.

There are both ways.

There are multiple pathways to access because spirituality at the core is about recognizing and seeing the connection to something bigger than ourselves, right?

That's, that's what it's about.

And nature has a powerful way to do that.

Why does nature have a powerful way to do that?

Well, one is the frequency, the vibrational frequency in nature, of nature, of all the other things, is at a much, much lower level than the frequencies in which we inhabit in cities.

You know, with all of our technologies, radio waves, things going on.

So the moment we actually are in nature, things slow down.

Okay?

Things slow down.

We can start to actually see.

You know, I don't know if you've ever sat.

I remember I didn't need a teaching.

I didn't need somebody to be preaching to me.

You know, the moment, the first time I laid my eyes on the beautiful Just grandeur of the Grand Canyon.

Yeah.

I was at the rim and I was just looking at the millions of years over which the canyon had been carved by the rivers that was constantly being shaped.

I was reminded of how small my life on Earth was in terms of time, how small my mass was compared to what lay before and how majestic and how beautiful it was.

I mean, I couldn't think of any work of human that could compare to that work of nature.

How could you not experience connected to something bigger than you?

I think I would just like to pause there for a moment and just ask our listeners.

You know, Ashish just relayed his own example of seeing the Grand Canyon.

I just like to ask you all if you're.

Wherever you are, if you're in a wait, just close your eyes and just imagine something that you saw in nature that just mesmerized you, that just captivated you in a way that with respect to humankind and all the technology and architecture and everything that we can create and build with our bare hands, what nature has created, that was special for you.

And hold onto that thought because just closing your eyes and imagining that, I can feel, even just hearing you, Ashish, describe that, I'm overwhelmed.

And I'm like, wow, that's just something that reminds me when I first saw it.

But just how nature can truly captivate you and just make you think.

Like you said, you're not insignificant or irrelevant.

You're just a smaller mass compared to this amazing creation that's just taken place over decades before you and I ever even existed.

Yeah.

And for those who say, I don't know, I can't remember, you know, just go out and see the sunset tomorrow.

Amen.

Every day at sunrise and sunset, there is magic.

If you tune in with the first dawn, with the light coming up, the chirping of birds, the mist which can sometimes be cool in the morning, just be.

Try and be silent.

Try and just notice and see how and in what way that moves you.

You can try the same at sunset as the sun goes down, notice how the birds start to get quiet, how little shifts happen in the animals that might be around you.

Just notice and also tune in to notice what's happening in you.

And you will realize that we are not alone.

This notion of self is just so limiting and it's so, you know, we exist.

We are so much bigger.

The moment we recognize we are part of something bigger.

If all we attuned into is this self, this body, this mind, this me, then you know our limitations.

The contours of our body define us.

The moment we start to realize that we are constantly exchanging energy.

We're constantly.

I mean, we're constantly.

And then think about it, we're constantly breathing in oxygen, giving out carbon dioxide.

The trees are breathing in carbon dioxide, giving in oxygen.

That means half of our respiratory system is hanging outside.

We wouldn't survive without that.

It doesn't matter whether we choose or not.

We are constantly in connection.

And that's what being in nature can do, right?

It truly starts if we do turn off our devices, if we disconnect and just allow ourselves to be with nature, we can start to experience this unison, this union.

And by the way, the benefits are immense.

So in Japan in the 80s, forest bathing really took form.

It was called Shinren yoku.

And it was studied that when we spend time in nature, because of what magically starts to transpire between us and the surroundings, our blood pressure goes down by 9%, our negative emotions go down.

Cortisol, the stress hormone, reduces our immune system, increases its function, stress gets reduced.

In fact, dear friends, this is how powerful nature is.

In less than 10 minutes, according to a research study done at cornell, less than 10 minutes in nature can reduce the effects of physical and mental stress on our lives.

When we talk about creativity, there was a Study done by two environmental psychologists who spent nine years researching nature with U.S. forest Service Steven and Rachel Kaplan.

And they found that actually nature fundamentally encourages less active brain functioning.

You know what that enables?

It allows our truly for the brains to detect patterns, insights that you otherwise might miss.

Right.

It truly allows us to make the interconnections.

So you get more creativity, you get brighter ideas.

If you remember where you were walking outside somewhere and you get this brilliant spark.

We can be more creative.

So so many benefits that have been so well studied about forest bathing, spending time in nature, it can be a fundamentally beautiful way to increase our well being by tapping into the spiritual aspects of life, by tapping into the magic that transpires when we dissolve the self and start to connect to something bigger than ourselves.

So, you know, this is an open invitation.

So ashish, like this afternoon I went for a run.

There was light rain.

At first I was like, I don't want to go outside.

It's raining, it's cold.

Put on a jacket.

And I went into my nearby, what's called in London the Hampstead Heath.

And you know, for the first time I took out my headphones and I was like, you know what?

I just want to listen.

Yeah.

I want to let my senses just be Intoxicated by the surroundings.

And I'll tell you what, there was a lot of mud because it was raining.

The trees were, but the trees were green.

And you know, even moments where I had to stop, pause and just look at the mud, it just, I know this is going to sound a bit crazy, but just admiring the mud and just going, wow, like, look at this earth.

Like this is just happened.

It's just, it's beautiful.

And it caused me to slow down.

I actually had to stop running.

I had to walk around and just, I was exploring and looking up and around and eventually it stopped raining.

The clouds did part slightly, as it sometimes does in London and it was just beautiful and just the moment and hearing the sounds.

I.

The reason why I'm sharing this is because again I came back and I just felt relaxed.

And it's ironic because I know people sometimes are a bit nervous about going for a run, going for a trail run, going out into nature.

They feel like I don't want to disconnect from my screen, from my tv, from my living room, from my kitchen.

You know what, going out even as, as you mentioned, that blows my mind.

Ten minutes alone can make such a massive difference.

And if everyone just imagines the amount of stress that you carry with you, the amount of burnout that you feel even during a weekday, this is a natural way for you to enhance your wellbeing, to enhance your spirit, to replenish it, to re energize it.

You know I mentioned Ashish in the last episode.

I got to the airport and I was just so stressed and frustrated and lack of sleep.

You know, this is actually another tip for me, Ash.

Next time I land, you know, I'm just going to go for a walk in nature for like 10 minutes and just see what that can do for me because I can imagine that also it can be a nice way for my body to decompress and you know, not need another jolt of caffeine in order to kind of push on through a day.

And I can imagine there are many of you that travel long, long haul flights.

It's just a beautiful natural way to just reconnect, re energize in nature.

Ashish, I am going to pass it back to you.

Yeah, look, I think you started going down the path of tips.

So look, here are three or four real specific tips around how we can actually integrate nature and really harness the power of nature to really take care of our well being, really allow ourselves to truly be more.

The first one, as we said, is really simple.

Just go for a walk outside, you know, after lunch, just step out, take 10 minutes.

If you have meetings, make them into.

If you have idea generation meetings, brainstorming meetings, do them outside, find a tree which might be on your campus, you know, or if you have lucky enough to have a stream running by, just go there, spend time there as a team or as an individual even, As I said, 10 minutes can make a big difference.

So you could do that.

Now you might say, yeah, that's wonderful.

I don't live, I work in the middle of Manhattan concrete jungle and I work in a high rise concrete jungle.

I don't have access to that right now, by the way.

That's not true because almost every cities have green places that we can go to.

But regardless, let's just go with that.

What we know from research is even if you look at a beautiful scene of nature.

Yeah.

Now that all of us have access to, you can go on YouTube, you can play something.

You can even have a photo from your last vacation where you went out somewhere in nature.

Even just looking at that photo for 10, 15 minutes can have similar effects as actually being going out in nature.

So please do that.

Third, even if you work a desk job, get a small plant, it can even be a cactus, which doesn't even need that much care.

But investing in a green plant, I have one that sits right next to me.

It's a beautiful plant, it's got gorgeous flowers.

It actually amazes me that it's like I've had it for like six months and it's still going.

Something must be going right?

But you know, it doesn't need that much water too, which is kind of funny, Anil, but, you know.

Yeah, I mean, just have a plant next to you and notice, you know, the effects of that.

So those are things that I think we can do during the week.

Right.

While we are working on the weekend, you know, allow yourself without devices.

Without devices, dear friends, no headphones.

You know, if you take your phone, leave it in the car, just drive to your closest place.

I try and spend at least two to three hours at least once a month by myself.

Just walking, walking, sitting, spending time in nature.

When I do that, I start to notice and connect to the fundamental quality of stillness that inhabits everything else other than us humans.

The stillness that exists in a stone, a tree, a plant, even animals.

If you see them running around, oftentimes, you know, a deer, we're lucky.

In Boulder, we see so many deer, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, birds.

There is a stillness about them.

Even as they go about what they're doing, they're happy being just as they are.

We humans feel a need to constantly be on the move and do things.

We have to be growing, we have to be taking action.

And when I give myself those moments to just sense into that stillness, you know, what I experience is I start to get still within.

That's awesome, right?

Just by being there, clarity emerges.

I wake up refreshed, sometimes really great ideas.

In fact, Anil, three of the biggest breakthroughs in my life that have put me on the path I am now came from those moments of solitude and stillness.

You know, the first one of those was in Portugal, where I truly discovered my inner calling.

For a week, we were completely disconnected.

It was at a monastery.

How long ago was this, Ashish?

16.

Okay.

The nine practices hardwired for happiness practices came when I gave myself a week by myself in a tree cabin in Breckenridge.

2021.

The sunflower, this model, which is at the heart I had spent all this time doing.

I'd read a lot, lots and lots of books.

But in that week, when I just tuned in, when I meditated, when I just allowed myself to be in nature, the nine practices just came to me.

That sunflower that you all are familiar with now and then my last one was the Vipassana meditation that I did again.

It was near Joshua Tree.

We were out in nature, we were quiet.

And in that moment, as I tuned into the stillness, that was the place where the origins of the Happiness Squad logo, the sun, that was the place where I got inspiration for the masterclass around building something that helps people go from knowing to doing to being.

So all those three kind of big pivots, big breakthroughs, leapfrogs have arrived.

Not because I was doing more, but because allowing myself to be more.

And my catalyst for all of those was nature.

And I really hope that nature can play the same role for you.

That's incredibly beautiful, Ashish.

And also just hearing how what you've created by being in nature, by being still.

And for those that haven't read the book, I recommend it.

Stillness is the Key by Ryan Holiday.

And stillness, I, you know, is just another word for me, just being at peace, just being, as you say, Ashish.

And it's an opportunity for all of us to find that access to creativity, you know, the role I'm in.

What, Ashish, what you do, I think having space, I mean, I would ask everyone, like, when was the last time you had an amazing idea while, you know, trying to fight through, you know, emails on your phone or while trying to rush and race to the next meeting or while you were trying to, you know, drive in traffic and get stuck.

And you know, we all find ways to when we feel uncomfortable.

And this is something again, that came through for me from reading the Power of Now, which is, you know, whenever you're feeling pain, a sensation that's an uncomfortable feeling, you have two options.

You can either bury yourself in that unconsciousness going deeper into that dream state by going shopping, you know, watching a movie, you know, and there's nothing wrong with that.

But when you bury yourself as, as is mentioning, you're not shining consciousness, you're not shining what could be nature, what could be an opportunity to be at peace and really just unlock something within you that you didn't really realize was there, but it's been there all along.

You just needed to find that stillness in order to see it, to feel it, to hear yourself bring it to light.

And I mean, this is, Ashish, where I come back to you and I say, how, how do you find, you know, folks that you've either coached or that you've worked with or you've spoken to, maybe they just kind of say to you, ashish, I don't agree with you.

I just don't think this is, this isn't for me.

I don't have the time to do this.

I just don't believe in it.

What's something that maybe our listeners can take away from you and how you've been able to overcome some of those challenges or some of those roadblocks?

Yeah, I think it's about taking tiny steps.

It's about really infusing ourselves in experience.

I'm a big believer in don't do it because I'm saying it or somebody else say it.

Only do it because you experience the difference.

Yes.

So here's what I want you to try tomorrow.

Go find yourself a tree.

Sit down next to it.

You don't need to sit cross legged.

You can just, you know, find a chair or just sit as comfortable.

Try and be still and just look at the tree.

Don't analyze the tree, but just try and put yourself in the presence.

Just sit with it.

Let your body tune into the stillness of the tree.

Let your senses awaken to everything else that's going on in that space around you and see what emerges.

It's an experience.

10 Minutes.

Give yourself the 10 minutes.

Breathe.

Notice when you breathe in, you're taking in Oxygen, which probably the tree has a role in creating.

And when you breathe out that carbon dioxide is being taken in by the tree, by the leaves of the tree.

Photosynthesis, if you're scientifically inclined, is what's happening, right?

So just tune in, see if you can notice that exchange.

I know that sounds weird, but it is happening.

So just notice.

Just recognize that that is an exchange and notice.

Let yourself be aware of it and just see what emerges for you.

If you find, you find yourself calmer, your heart rate's gone down.

If you find peaceful, I say, hey, keep doing that and try something else.

You know, go find another tree or maybe go, you know, go find yourself a lake if you find, if you're so inclined, if you like water, but you'll do more of those things, if not, try something else, right?

But again, it's about creating an experience.

It's about creating an experience to see the effect it has on you.

It's that personal experience that you alluded to earlier, Ashish, you know, and I, and I think it's a beautiful sentiment and I invite our listeners to tell us what you think.

You know, this is, you know, we've created the Happiness Squad community to share ideas, to come together and discuss the best ways to invest in your spirit, to explore nature, to share ideas and to be open to ideas that others may have, like Ashish, like Lizzie, like those that are in the community that really want to, you know, be learners, practitioners and teachers and how to explore new ways to overcome what you may think either may not be right for you or you may not need.

You may be surprised by what, what you might uncover, what you might be able to explore with those tiny steps that Ashishu so gracefully mentioned.

So, Ashish, just as we, as we wrap up, are there any closing thoughts you'd like to share with our listeners as we look forward to connecting again on the next practice?

Soon enough, I just wish you all well.

Spend time in nature.

Find a plant, print a photo of a beautiful scene, set your wallpaper.

Let nature move you.

Let nature help you be more.

Take care, my dear friends, till next time.

Thank you, Ashish.

Big hugs and lots of love.

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