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They’ll describe how they’re connected and share some questions you can use to start living into them.

Episode 11: A Modern View on Ancient Wisdom: The Four Elements

We create everything twice. First in the mind and then in the world. If we’re fuzzy in our thinking, what do you think we’re going to bring into the world?  

Rob Dale, Eric Deschamps, Trefor Munn-Venn

Hi, my name is Rob Dale, and I’m with my good friends Eric Deschamps and Trefor Munn-Venn. And welcome to the Living Richly Podcast. We have been talking about how to live your best life, and we have been looking at over the last number of episodes, and I do wanna encourage you if you are joining us, maybe for the first time that you would take some time to listen to the first couple of podcasts where we really do take, uh, the opportunity to just, uh, share and explore what this whole premise of what we are going to be doing in these, uh, podcasts and, and, uh, the, the different, uh, principles that we’re talking about.

We do a, a really, I think, a pretty nice overview of, uh, of the whole conversation and then we’ve been back. You were amazing. You were so good, Russ. I really think I was probably the best, uh, of the three of. Uh, and that’s usually what people tell me, uh, in my dreams, uh, that I am the best of that. But we have been talking about over the last number of episodes, we’ve been starting to look at some of the, uh, the kind of the path that we have been taking.

Uh, we’ve had a conversation around our core values and why they’re important. And I think most people get that people understand, uh, that values are important and under, and being able to define what your values are, whether it’s in a business or personally, I think people understand. Uh, we talked about the living richly, uh, blueprint and kind of looking at what are those things that enrich our life, right?

Uh, hard to do the things that enrich our life if we haven’t defined what they are. Right. And we spend some time doing that. And again, there’s some podcasts that people can listen to if they want to do that. Uh, we then, uh, introduce the idea and we want to talk about it in a bit more, uh, detail today about the notion of the four elements.

This one may not be for some people as obvious as, uh, understanding your values and understanding your, you know, what enriches you. Um, where did, where did this idea four elements, and maybe Eric, I’ll turn to you first because this was something that you probably were the first one of, of the three of us.

Mm-hmm. To introduce the idea in a conversation with us, you put this on the table. Uh, where did this idea of the four elements come from? Yeah. What were you doing? Like what the hell, dude, , what were you drinking when you came up with four elements? I feel like I should have more of it now. Whatever that was.

Uh, well, it really just came out of the, the, the, the, just the work. Right? I was, uh, Uh, spending time re-anchoring myself in my core values and, and getting even more clear on what that meant for me. Cuz uh, you know, you mentioned, I think people understand the concept of core values. I, I, I think very notionally they do at most of us.

Right? I know, uh, even in the business world, we, we talked about in that episode how often core values are nothing more than just a, a sweet set of statements Yeah. That people make, but they don’t really guide you. So I was dig, digging deeper into, you know, what does courage mean for me? What does curiosity, compassion, and connect.

For me. Um, and out of that then began to do the work on that Living Richly blueprint. If I was to define what living richly means for me, what does that look like? And what emerged was a simple framework of, uh, one loving well, right, uh, for me. Uh, being in, in life, giving, loving relationships. And that’s with family, that’s with my significant other, that’s with my friends.

I was wondering if we were gonna make Yeah, you’re gonna, we made the list. You made barely cut bar, you guys made the cut. Barely we’re, uh, we’re a top three, right? So for me, again, l being in life, giving, loving relationships, really, really important element of my blueprint. The other one was living. And, uh, living well for me is about creating moments and experiences and memories.

Mm. Like, uh, creating things that I can look back on and say, that was such a powerful moment. Uh, so, so really important. Um, a, a third one was serving well, making a real difference. I feel I’m at my best when I’m. Co contributing when I’m helping, when I’m influencing, when I’m supporting others, making an impact.

And that’s been a kind of my life story has been an important aspect of that. Mm-hmm. . But a fourth one that emerged from me when I really focused in on what does living richly look like for me was being, well, becoming the best version of me and continuing to invest in that and. As I dove into that particular element of my blueprint, that this notion of the four elements emerged just in my reflection.

Um, this notion and, and we can talk about what they are, but that’s where it, it, it evolved for me, this notion of the four elements that go back. This is not something we’ve created or something that. This has been around for, for thousands of years. Uh, civilizations looking at the elements of fire, which traditionally is translated as or rep represents the heart.

Uh, the element of water, which speaks of the mind, uh, the element of air or wind, uh, which speaks of soul and spirit. Um, and, and finally the earth element which speaks, which speaks of body. So that’s where it emerged for, for me, and it began this journey of, of saying, well, what does that look like? What is the best version of me?

best version of my mind, best version of my heart, best version of my spirit, best version of my body. Uh, what does that look like? And, and you even came up with a statement that I, I just think, and, and really resonates. This will resonate for most people. Uh, living richly is all about having a. Full, uh, unrestricted access to all of the resources and energy of the heart, mind, spirit, and body, which I think is just brilliant.

Right. It’s actually powerful to hear that back to me, right. ? Yeah. Good job. That’s awesome. Uh, But that notion of that really is what we’re talking about. And, and I think as you talk about living well, loving well, uh, people, again, will be able to resonate with, with you on those statements. I think for most of us, we would say, yeah, that, that, that makes sense.

And then this is about, and what we’re gonna be doing over the next four, uh, episodes after today is taking a look at each of these elements and what do we really mean by them and, and, and looking at them from that kind of standpoint Now, The tendency, I think, for some is to, uh, focus in on one of the elements or maybe two of the elements, right?

Um, and say, well, I’m not really into that other element. Uh, I’m just gonna focus in on the body. I just want to have the best, I wanna be healthy and, and I want to have longevity and everything else. What did we say about that? When we say, well, no, you need to have the fourth elements of Bruce Ellis around.

He’d say there’s a fifth element. Uh, but did element of surprise ? I don’t think that is it. I don’t You didn’t see that coming . That’s true. Well played well, well played. Yeah, it, you know, it, it’s, it’s, so I think all of us have a tendency probably toward one or two of these over the others. And the, I, I think we’ve also all found.

That unless we have all of them, we’re not gonna feel that sense of richness, of fulfillment, of joy, of meaning, the, that we’re looking for, right? How, how many people do we know who have gone to the gym and stuck with it? and got in great shape and they’re still going, eh, yeah. Something’s missing. And something’s missing.

Yeah. Right. And so the, I I think the, the beauty of the, the four elements model, that kind of thinking around it, is that it, it connects us. To fundamental elements of kind of the universe of our world. Yeah. And so it recognizes that we’re, we’re here and we’re here in, in a number of different ways. Right.

And that if we just try and show up in one way, we’re, we’re not gonna get what, what we need. And so Yeah. Something’s missing at a fundamental level. Right. To right. Yeah. Well, and I, and I, you know, so I think it’s, it’s okay to start. In one of the areas, uh, if, if you haven’t really considered any of these areas, it’s okay to start in one Totally.

And, and really come. You have to start somewhere Exactly right. Start anywhere. Start anywhere. Start, start. It’s not that you have to, it’s not that you have to dive in on all. Four at the same time. I know certainly that wasn’t the case for me. I don’t even know if that’s, that’s, if that’s even possible, honestly.

Uh, you think of even, uh, folks that would say like, and again, I think the earth element is probably the one, uh, of the four that most people can re, you know, resonate the body, right? Cause it’s body, it’s. It’s it’s health, it’s it’s movement. It’s about nutrition, sleep, it’s about taking care of yourself. Uh, uh, I call it being the vibrant vessel, uh, right.

Uh, to carry all the other stuff that, uh, uh, but think of, of the fo of how many times many of us have attempted to take steps on, uh, towards improving that element, improving our physical. Uh, health. Um, and, and, uh, if, if we try to take on too much, most people take this swing for the fences approach. Right?

Right. Uh, and, and that’s, this is why things like 30 day challenges and 60 day challenges are so popular, and in some cases they, they work. But the research shows that for most people who make a commitment to health and swing for the fences, they may be able to do that for a short period of time. Uh, but it’s not sustainable.

Yeah. And, and so they end up actually building. A framework or a script of defeatism around the whole issue. Well, getting gar getting into shape. Well, we, we know 92% of you who set New Year’s resolutions to get in better shape have already quit. Right. Have already stopped. Right. Yeah. And, and there’s there’s zero judgment around that.

Yeah. There’s zero judgment. There’s a reason for that. Right. Because it’s usually not the whole picture of what we’re looking for and we don’t understand it in relationship to what we’re actually trying to feel. Yeah. And, and become. And when they’re not in alignment, our, our odds of actually making progress there are gonna be so, so low.

So, so let’s, let’s do this, uh, because I think it’s important for Rob hosting now he’s hosting, he just took over the, the whole Yeah. Podcast. We’re, listen. It’s like herding cats. , uh, let’s, uh, except, except people like cats. . I’m more of a dog guy, but, okay. Do people like cats? I don’t, you don’t really? Anyway, , um, we just, we just lost cats.

No, I love cats. Cats. Really? . Well, I’m unsubscribing now. That’s right. Um, maybe let’s take two, two minutes, three. To, uh, define each of the elements before we, uh Right. Talk more about them. Uh, I cuz I almo, I almost jumped in when you said, most of us start with the earth and the body. And I always say, actually I don’t, I don’t know if that’s necessarily true.

Right. We did. I, there’s certainly a whole industry committed to, but of course there, but there is around the other elements as well as we start to define ’em, I think there’s lots of people who start with spirituality. Yep. A lot of people who start with relationships are hard. If I can just get that fixed, then I’ll worry about my physical i’ll.

Right. So I. Maybe let’s just take two or three minutes to define, uh, what we mean when we talk about each of these elements. You quickly gave the waters mine earth. So, but maybe let’s take a couple of minutes so I don’t, what do you want to jump in? Let’s start with water. Uh, so, uh, the, which we talk about the mine.

So what do we mean when we talk about the mine? We’re not necessarily talking about intellectual and, you know, intellect. Well, it’s not limited. That’s part of it. But it’s, but it’s limited to that is what, yeah. So what It’s also mindset. Right. Okay. How, how are we using our mind? How are we posturing our thoughts and our capacity to choose our thoughts and actually embracing our extraordinary ability to assign meaning to anything, but to start to do it deliberately, right?

In meaningful, constructive, truly grounded ways. Right? Uh, so often we, we create, we create pictures of everything for things we don’t even know. We have beliefs and pictures of in our mind we have them, and as soon as you. You know, uh, an example, people have a picture in their head of what that means to ’em.

Right, right. And so what’s what’s the phrase that, uh, you’ve, uh, shared before on social media about, uh, uh, the, is it the, the I create or the, uh, creates things twice? Uh, first, uh oh. Yeah. We all create, we create everything twice. First in the mind and then in the world. Right? Right. And so if we’re fuzzy in our thinking, what do you think you’re gonna bring into?

Right, right. So there, there’s a, there’s a discipline around getting more specific and a little sharper with our thinking. More deliberate, more meaningful, more purposeful with it. Uh, it, it’s not just about intellect. It’s not about, you must be smart, right? It’s not about smartness. It’s about. Choosing your thoughts.

Th think perhaps wisdom instead of knowledge. Wisdom, right? Yeah. Right. It’s about the, nobody talks about wisdom anymore. It’s not a word that’s in the common vernacular and yet, yet it should be. Right. Uh, you know, there’s ancient Hebrew P poetry that would, would tell us to actually pursue wisdom. Yeah.

Above all else, uh, this notion of the right application of knowledge. Think healthier mindset, healthier thought life. Think learning and growing your mind as opposed to just kind of coasting. Yeah. Right. I think that when we talk of. It touches many aspects, but primarily it’s around this notion of what I choose to believe and how I wa literally watch guard over the thoughts that flow through my mind and choose them more deliberately in order to create the reality that I want.

Yeah, not the one I end up with. I think mindset for me as well as. Is this notion of the being fully engaged, right? Mm-hmm. , uh, being truly in that moment and, and being able to fully present, present, and, and, and I know that tho those of all become buzzwords today. Uh, I’m not sure if people fully, you know, in many cases, When they talk about I’m being fully present as they scroll through their phone and they do other stuff, right?

They’re, I’m not sure if they really are to the same capacity. Now, if you’re on your phone right now, listen to this podcast. Hey, keep listening to the podcast , right? Uh, be fully engaged later, but for now, just be fully do nothing , right? Just do nothing else. If you’re now, if you’re driving and listening, pull over so you can just be fully engaged in the podcast.

uh, no, uh, you know, but, but I think there is this notion of, of being in the moment. The experience that you have that is part of mindset total? A hundred percent. And then, uh, when we, we talk about heart, are we talking about the fire elements? Yeah. Uh, there’s a number of things this refers to. I know for me, the journey was as I was making significant strides on the mindset front, overcoming, uh, Very, uh, bad scripts that were really impacting me in a negative way and shaping my reality negatively.

Uh, I was making strides there and all of a sudden I became very present to the fact that, well, uh, mindset is one thing. Um, we have a problem here. We have water, leakage water coming in. What that’s, I saw that. I saw the leaking and I, you got a. It’s interesting. So that happened one slash year for a few minutes and then never again.

Yeah, just I, we got like a bucket or something. I was, it’s not hitting the No, but I get a bucket. So we’ll just start, start over at fire. We’ll just start over at fire. What I can do is put um, some, you saw me hesitate. It’s cuz I turn, look at the camera. I’m like, yeah, me too. I saw, I saw the drip a, it’ll be on the ca in the video drip drop in front of the camera water.

I was down there adjusting mic and I was like, am I having like, I, I feel like I’m seeing droplet. No, no, no. I saw them. It, it, it looked, threw me off. Oh, yeah. Saw you throw off. Should I stop? Maybe just lay it down so that as the water hits, it’s, it won’t be, uh, do you remember where, cuz you transit. You made that transit.

I’ll just transition, um, right into heart because you, you guys, you landed the plane on mine. I said Yeah. Then when we speak of heart. Yeah. So I’ll just jump right back to what I was, um, I respect, I dunno if that’s showing up on the camera or not. , I would say leave. And, and we could literally put a graphic saying, and the roof started leaking and we Yeah.

I like Totally. I think that’d be funny. Yeah. Yeah. I, I’m good with it. I’m not too worried about it. I can’t see it anyway, so Yeah. If it, if it is, uh, visible, then, uh, then we’ll. Mess around with it. Okay. I, um, I lost track of where we were, so, so yeah. We know, we know, we know where we are. We’re good. Um, we’re still rolling on all fronts, so carry on.

And then there’s the fire element, which speaks about heart and mm-hmm. , uh, and, uh, what heart represents and it represents in many ways, it represents one, your emotional life. Uh, right. Yeah, because that’s the seed of emotions is the heart. Uh, to me it also speaks of the quality of my relationships, um, and what’s happening there, cuz let’s face it, uh, we experience a lot of joy and pain in relationships.

Yeah. So heart speaks of that. It also speaks of passion, uh, how I approach life or how we approach life, generally speaking, being passionate about the things that we really care about. For me, what was interesting is I was, I was doing the work and making progress on the mindset front. Overcoming, uh, And beliefs about myself that were really disempowering.

I was making some significant headway, experiencing some significant breakthroughs. And this goes back to the spring. Remember, remember I tell you guys remember, but that, that season of tremendous breakthrough, so good, uh, so powerful. And then all of a sudden I became very present to the fact that although my mind was in a much better place, I was still carrying around.

Unforgiveness, some, some resentment. And there was some relationship stuff that was really not in sync and, um, toxic emotions that I was carrying around. And I said, well, if, if, if having a clear mind is important to me, having a clean heart is important to me as well. And again, this notion of the model of the elements is what led me, uh, uh, to that.

So that, that, that’s what heart speaks for to me. Hmm. And you think, you think, uh, how much trouble people have navigating their emotions? Okay, I say people, I mean me, , but the, uh, we were other people. Other people. This podcast is all about others. Let tell you about all my emotion singular, the, uh, you know, one of the challenges I remember.

I remember kind of learning babies have three emotions, right? Happy, sad, angry. Right? I’m like, wow. A lot of adult men less than mad, sad than right. Oh yeah. Right. Have less than that. We have mad. Right? Like it, it’s so common to see that, you know, that low grade anger and frustration just play through someone’s life and, and with a realization that there’s so much more.

uh, people talk about, well, you gotta process your emotions, but they don’t tell you how. Right. And, and what that looks like and what that means. And these pieces are so critical. Critical because they’re, they’re meant to flow through you not stay there. Right. Right. E e emotions are as purposeful as.

Having two eyes, so we can gauge distance as having two ears so we can figure out the location of sound. Like these are functional things that we have. And so to actually look at our emotions as functional tools to help us navigate through our world rather than, Ugh, I can’t handle this thing. , it’s, we’re focused actually on the wrong thing.

Right? Right. Which is what, what does it signify? What’s it trying to reveal to us, rather than the feeling of that emotion specifically. And then so many, and, and a lot of guys just try to avoid it cuz it’s so uncomfortable. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. And so we dwindle down that, you know, massive list of possible emotions.

To a very, very tiny list and sometimes almost a singular list. Right, right. You know, and, and on this podcast, you’re gonna hear three guys talk about their feelings. , right? Which is not, not something plural. A plural, plural. Uh, it’s, it’s not something that’s common, but it’s so important, again, to living a rich life.

Imagine being emotionally shut down, emotionally cut off, emotionally unavailable. These are all terms that we hear quite frequently, and I would say in many areas of my life, that was the, the case for me. Yeah. Me for. Right. Age and ages. It cuts us off to such a rich experience of life if we can’t access the heart.

I am, uh, really excited about the guests that we’re going have on to talk about emotions. . I didn’t, I he, that’s like another surprise I was referring to you. Oh, . Okay. Damn. And then of course there’s, there’s the air element or the wind element. Right. Well, let, let me just jump in before we move on to the next one.

I wanted to, you’re taking over again, Archie. Wait. I am because Yeah. That’s very good. Well, cause he’s a good host. I had a thought. He’s the host with the most, I had no, I had a, I had a thought around that and that’s, it’s interesting because the heart was, was. Uh, was not one of the ones that I focused on right outta the gate, and, we’ll, we’ll talk about this more when we get into more depth on each of these, but it was one that I pushed down, and yet as I began to explore my values and I began to explore what living richly meant for me, I couldn’t get away from the notion of I need to be connected and I need to the, the expression of emotion.

And what I have found is as I’ve now embraced that, that has become probably one of the most significant areas. Wow. Certainly in the relationship that I’m in now. Uh, and not just with the, my significant other, but also with my kids. Yeah. That an idea. And so as we sometimes a, as we start to lean into these, uh, we discover so much more about our.

And that’s hundred percent the exciting apart about all four of these. All right, let’s talk, uh, well, I, I would say on that front, uh, shameless plug for the podcast, if you’re, uh, uh, uh, if, if you’re in a relationship with someone who’s emotionally unavailable, you’ll wanna share this out with them, cuz I think they’re gonna, you’re gonna learn a few things, uh, as we share our own.

Wrestling of the, uh, wrestling of these issues in our own lives and figuring this stuff out. Yeah. Spirit is wind. Um, and, and that’s a loaded one. Certainly was a loaded one for me, and we’ll talk more about that. Uh, we’ve already talked in previous episodes about our religious background, all three of us actually.

Mm-hmm. , um, right. We often refer to ourselves as the two ex preachers and a farmer, but even the farmer has a religious background. Right. That’s pretty loaded. A religious farmer, a religious. I’ve been outed. Uh, but it’s, it’s all about spirituality. Yeah. It’s not about religion, it’s about spirituality. It’s about being connected to something bigger than ourselves.

And spirituality obviously means so many different things to different people. Yeah. And I think that’s the beauty of it, that it isn’t about dogma. It’s not about a, a specific formula or set of beliefs that one has to prescribe to. Uh, it’s more about, uh, being on an adventure, being an explorer, exploring truth and opportunity and connecting.

To the, the bigger, uh, uh, whatever consciousness or energy of the universe. And one of my favorite phrases that I think, uh, sums it up, and we’ve referenced it before, and it was Sherry who introduced us to it Yeah. Is that when we commit to something, the universe conspires with us. Mm-hmm. , I love that. And, and that can be just a, uh, a, a again, a pithy statement.

Uh, but it’s become something that I truly believe in and rediscovering spirituality. For myself after spending so long in established religion. Um, and for me, again, that was a major awakening for me this year. I remember, uh, texting you guys one morning and saying, I actually prayed this morning for the first time in years.

Right? And then Robert and I were like, WTF, the hell? Who is this? Right? Like, okay, what’s, where’s the punchline? The punchline. We’re so excited for you. Right? We’re so excited. So it’s an important, again, aspect of just like the other elements are crucial, uh, figuring out what that means for you. Yeah. Your greater, uh, purpose in life.

What are you here for? Uh, right. How do you rejuvenate your soul? Um, that, uh, without giving attention to that, it’s like we’re disconnecting for from source. Yeah. Um, and are trying to muscle and hustle our way through life. , and yet there’s a piece and a serenity that comes when you feel like you’re connected to something larger than yourself.

Again, that’s what it means for me at least. Yeah, absolutely. And I think, you know, uh, certainly when you mention there about a dogma and, and, uh, that can be such a weight for many people. Uh, now I, I don’t necessarily think that you, you, you can embrace spirit in dogma. But dogma will be a barrier to you being able to embrace spirit.

And what I mean by that is you can embrace it if you can see past the dogma to what it really is about right. Uh, that may be the path that someone takes. Uh, when we first started having the conversation around spirit, I almost hesitated to, uh, us, uh, having a definition for it because it can mean so many things to different people.

But I think it is important for us to define, yeah. Uh, spirituality or spirit, uh, what we mean by that. And, and it is very much an open-ended, uh, how people come to it and how people embrace what that means for them is going to be a very different expression at the core level. Now, again, some dogma will, will say, no, that’s wrong, but at the core level, that’s what it’s going to be.

What is it that ignites that, that, that within you, uh, to recognize that we are, we are not, uh, alone in. You know, our actions, our behaviors, everything. There is a sense that it all connects. It’s all connected. Uh, and, and in what way? That is where I think Spirit answers that. Yeah. And when you take then all four of those elements together, you know, how am I developing mentally?

How am I developing and growing emotionally, relationally? How am I growing spiritually, right? How am I evolving physically in, in my health and, and and, and so forth? When you begin to look at this all together, this notion of how am I honoring the four elements in my life? Yeah. Uh, and, and, and, and as I’ve shared, I’ve had the opportunity to share this, uh, in private conversations with clients and people that I know, and one of the overwhelming sort of responses like bar none every single time is as I.

My journey and I talk about the four elements. People immediately are able to, and you’re probably experiencing this as you’re listening to a speak right now, both them, people immediately go, man, I’ve really been neglecting this one. Right? Or, I haven’t really even looked at this. Or, and, and they’re able to pinpoint, uh, uh, almost right away an area of the four el, one of the four elements, or, or perhaps more than one that have been underdeveloped.

That have been neglected. I don’t know if that’s been your, your experience as well. Uh, they’re also linked right? and, and the, the point isn’t to, uh, get them all to the exact same level and keep ’em there. Right. Right. It’s to understand what, what in this moment in my life right now, here for me, uh, what do I need?

Yeah. Right. And to keep speaking to our needs as we work our way through that and to, and to listen to that and to, to then understand the interplay between each of those elements. Right. For me, uh, body for a long time was just, Right, right. It was just pi. It wasn’t, it wasn’t, it wasn’t like buddies equip your temple or whatever.

It’s just like, no. That’s how I get around and look well in, in many ways. You’re, when you consider your twin brother Chris. Right. We even joke around like you call him spare parts. Spare parts. , Oregon Park, Chris, my Organ Bank. That’s right. The, uh, right. And so it’s very, which really isn’t a joke. No, it’s not a joke.

You’re listening. Don’t drink too much. Yeah. Trevor might liver one day. That’s right. That’s right. The counting on you, man. The, uh, that’s what family’s for, right? ? The, no, this, this very. Yeah. I’m sorry, Chris. No, really? He’s not the . Yes I am. No, I’m not. The, uh, uh, I, I think we need to understand the connections between these because let’s take mindset and spirit for a minute.

Let’s, right, let’s take water, uh, and air. The, you, you made a reference to Sherry. So Dr. Sherry, we all work with her. We’ll get her on the show at some point. Yeah, absolutely. She’s just, she’s so, so good. And I remember when she said to me as well, when we, you know, make a commitment, the universe will conspire with us.

And that was the strangest thought for me, I think ever. Right. Because all of us are very familiar with, oh, I feel like the universe is conspiring against me. That’s against. That’s how we use that phrase. And so when Sheep said it to us, I think all three of us had the same response. Like, what, what, what is that?

Crazy, right? The um, and then she’s like, no, you’re cr no . She does not use that language. The, uh, , she’s way more subtle about it. Right? The but that notion that, because it was my mind’s. Set about what I believed about the universe, which was I am working against it. I’ve gotta craft my life and my view rather than I need to find my alignment in this.

Right. Right, right. Yeah. And, and I think that is the, is such an important shift. And so these things start to play together, but at, at no point do we have to get them all like to the same level and hold them there. No, I think very often the challenge for us and maybe where the. Where the healthy judgment or wisdom kicks in is when we start to look and say, what does this situation require of me?

Right? Does it require more heart and mind? Does it need more? Which element needs the most attention right now? Because we’re gonna default to things we like. Right? So let me suggest this before we talk, go further down that I’m okay. , uh, we, we really haven’t defi you. You shared a little bit of what you saw body as Yeah.

But we haven’t defined that one yet. Right. So before we go too far down the road about all elements and how they work together, what do we mean by body? It’s like our physical expression of, of who we are, right? And so we link that to Earth, right? That physical, tangible source of, of life. And I think, uh, you know what’s so interesting about body is there, there’s a part around, around health, around care for ourselves, but there’s, there’s also a piece around recognizing that all of the other three are experienced.

In the body, right? Every feeling you have. True, like it’s, it’s a feel like you, this is the shell. This is the shell. What is it you think you’re feeling with the vessel? Your body, right? Yeah. So if you feel unease about something that, or you feel worried about something like these are physical.

Expressions of thoughts or spirituality or our emotional state. You think about how your body changes when your emotional state changes, right. When you’re angry, when you’re nervous, when you’re fearful, when you’re stressed, right. We start to feel those feel like literally again, the body is, is the, is so much like, is integrated into all of it.

Yeah. And so it’s to recognize that, uh, you know, and for me, I, you know, I mentioned is that leap to from No, it’s just gear. Right. For me, uh, you guys know I live in my head like that has been my pattern was I, I have lived in my head so much my life mm-hmm. , and as that’s starting to shift, it’s a dramatic transformation.

Yeah. Right, right. And, and so I, I think the body is very, very much about finding our vitality, uh, finding energy, our energy, right. Truly source of energy. Right. All of that and saying how are we going to continue to nurture that, to support that, to elevate that so that we can do things that we want to do so we can experience this life.

Uh, cuz we experience it in this physical form. This is the one you got right. You can change it. Absolutely. Uh, but it, you’re going to, it will change other things as well. And I think that is why so many people go to body when they want to start to make some changes, is because it is so tangible. Right.

Exactly. They can see the changes. If they apply themselves, they can begin to see the changes. Yeah. Typically a bit faster than some price. The other elements, and I would add, and we’ll dive into this more when we, we, we we’re gonna devote an entire episode to each of these. Yeah. But to me, body also speaks about our sexuality.

Right. Uh, now, I mean, sexuality also touches some of those other elements. I mean, it can, there’s definitely a heart. Your mind is involved, your heart is involved. Uh, it can be spiritual, right? Uh uh, but this notion of sexuality, which is an area that a lot of folks get hung up on. Yeah. Either because of bad experiences.

Uh, I know for me sexuality was often a really loaded issue because of my religious past and just so much shame, uh, tied into that. So again, experiencing freedom and joy and the fullness of that, it’s, it’s, it’s that again, that vibrant vessel in which all those three elements expressed themselves as well.

So again, it’s the coming together of all these, and what’s really interesting to note is as. Just doing this research, and we’ll talk more about this and I know Trevor, you’ve got some thoughts on this as well. Um, that in alchemy, uh, in the ancient practice of alchemy mm-hmm. magic, uh, when they talk about magic, it’s when the four elements came together mm-hmm.

when the four elements came together, that’s where the potential for magic taking place, what was at its highest. Yeah. And when I read that, I remember saying, there it is. There it is. Uh, when we are leaning into. Four dimensions of the human experience, um, uh, you know, mind, heart, body, spirit. Um, this is where a magical life can begin to emerge, where we begin to literally no longer live by cause and effect, waiting for something external to happen, to have the life that we want.

We are living, we’re moving from Vic. To creator where we are crafting our experience, crafting the life that we want. So good. So good. And I, and I love this notion of the alignment of the four and I, when you started talking about, cuz I immediately, I thought about, again, even the mind. And as we talk ab we get into the, the conversation around, uh, around mind, uh, how you can literally, uh, you can heal your body with your thoughts.

Uh, the research is there. The, there’s so many of these different elements and how they flow together. And so that’s why we felt it was important for us to take an episode to just, uh, kind of give an overview of them. Yeah. Uh, and then the notion of being able to start to look at each one of them individually was because we, we recognize that, uh, you know, just how important each element is.

You can choose. Dive in on one or couple and say, I, I I’ll be ready for that one later on. Um, that’s okay. Actually, a absolutely. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Because they inform each other, right? They do. They inform each other because you can’t and provoke each other. Yeah. The, because if you’ve got, for example, I, if you’re spending a life saying, I hate my body, and you expect the other three to be in good shape though, that we’re gonna find alignment with those, it’s not gonna happen.

And it’s not gonna happen. Is that like, is that so much a body. Or a mindset. Or mindset. Right, right, right. Again, this is how these are or could be s how they get together. And that’s, and, and maybe that’s the spoiler alert, uh, is you may think you can cut, I’m just gonna focus on these ones and not go this one.

As you go deeper into this at some point. You will either be forced to right, or you will want to, uh, begin to explore all of the areas you’re certainly invited to. You’re, you’re invited to, invited to in the end. And here are some, uh, quick questions that I think you can ask yourself as you’re, uh, exploring, uh, this for yourself.

One is, how am I honoring the four elements in my life currently? Right? How am I honoring the four elements? Which of the four elements would I consider to be the most developed? Which 1:00 AM I most comfortable in? Which one is most developed in my life? Which is least developed? Which one has perhaps has been the most neglected, the right, the, the least nurtured, which element, as we mentioned earlier, which element?

in this season of my life needs the most attention. Right? Because I think our context also influences where we lean into, right. Uh, and has to, uh, and the last question is, how would I describe the best version of me in each of these? Yeah. Uh, and, and this is actually what. Uh, led me to a whole new place and we’ll explore more.

But, um, uh, I created, uh, uh, these visual graphics word clouds use, and we’ll li we’ll link all of this in the, um, uh, as I was reflecting again on what it means to be, uh, to have my best mind, uh, to, to my heart. At its finest. My spirits fine. My body, it’s finest. I was able to create these visual graphs. Of words that are very meaningful to me that describe that.

Yeah. Uh, that I’m now using in, in meditation and use it as just a reinforcement of, again, this is, uh, what I des consider to be the best version of me, but asking yourself, what does the best version of my mind, heart? Spirit and body look like. Uh, and then beginning to what, where do I need to get into action?

Mm-hmm. , right? What do I need to start doing? So if you’re listening, uh, to the podcast as they, uh, come out, uh, then, uh, certainly encourage you to subscribe so that you don’t miss, uh, the next four episodes, uh, as they come out. You’ll get notified of them right away. Uh, because we will be covering each of these topics in more, uh, detail.

We’re gonna start with next week will be, uh, about the mind. Uh, and then we’re gonna cover the heart, then the spirit, and then the body. Of course, if you’re listening to this later on and you’ve discovered the podcast and now you’re, you’re, uh, you’re taking this in. Once all of those episodes have dropped, we will make sure to get into the show notes, a link to each of the episodes so that you can jump right to the one that you want to focus on, the one that needs the most attention, or the one that, uh, maybe sparks the most interest for you.

Uh, we’ll do that as well. But again, the best way to stay right up and uh, up to date on what we’re talking about and on these elements is to, uh, take a minute and subscribe to the channel. So I wanna encourage you to, Then share it. Think of one person that you’d want to be doing this with. Maybe someone who, in your heart, in your mind, you know, uh, would benefit from this as well.

Someone where you’ve heard something today where you said, oh, so-and-so needs this. Could be a family member, could be a friend, could be a partner, could be, uh, child A, any relationship. Just we encourage you to keep inviting people so that you have them with you while you do this. Uh, a as this grows. Can you do it on your own?

Yep. It’s way, yeah. . No, it’s not easy. It’s not easy. Not easy, not recommended, not recommended, not recommended. Doing it with others, with people you care about, with people who are on that same kind of path and journey, uh, that’s the priority. So I’d encourage you to do that as well. And, and make sure to visit living richly.me/act.

Uh, this is where we are posting on our website, uh, all of the tools and resources that are referenced in these episodes, uh, so that you can have, uh, uh, access to them. Uh, again, these will be tools. These will be websites, these will be books that we’re reading. Uh, anything that we reference on the episode will be made available.

We’ll put those questions that you just posed. We’ll put those in there as well. Right? Right. And, and just make it available to you just to help fuel your. Yeah. So on behalf of, uh, these guys, I want to just say thank you so much for taking the time to listen to our podcast and, uh, really do appreciate you on the journey with us, and we hope you, uh, listen in on the next one.