65. Othership / Adam Lewis
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Adam Lewis is a breathwork facilitator and Head of Partnerships at Othership: an otherwordly bathhouse experience that creates a new form of wellness entertainment through sauna, ice baths, and breathwork. Today's episode Adam talks about his story of how breathwork and hot/cold exposure transformed his life. Going through a shift in identity from a former athlete, moving through depression and anxiety, and now tapping into what is truly important to him and his life -- his story is powerful. Adam is so knowledgeable so many different modalities - forest bathing, Wim Hof Method, Breathwork, Cold Exposure, Sauna Exposure - and we get into all of it today! So excited for you all to hear! Don't forget to *subscribe* to the podcast so you get all the new episodes. SIGN UP FOR THE NEWSLETTER: updates, workshops & freebies: katiekaygraham.com/newsletter
EPISODE TOPICS:
Forest Bathing: Integrating Nature + Intention
Superficial - start where you are.
Athletic Performance - Hot / Cold Exposure + Breathwork
Self-Worth Theory
Healing journey is diversifying our sources of self-worth
Adam Lewis
Aren't I don't like calling them trends because these are really things that have stood the test of time and are just reemerging reappearing as truly powerful tools for people to regain their health. Recently, I've really been into Wim Hof, breathwork and hot a little bit of hot and cold exposure. But more kind of simple, simplistic. I haven't gone to any studios or done any kind of group work with that. But the, like the power behind the breath work has just totally shocked me as far as just how deep I can go within myself and how much I've learned and how much I've uncovered like all that like unblocking like that subconscious unblocking has just been like, really, I mean, I would say like life changing for sure. And to like people are just getting more and more interested in this. I've had a few people on the podcast that have talked about breath work and hot and cold exposure and and it seems like those episodes are just doing really well. And I just think like there's this kind of new, powerful energy towards it. So I'm just so grateful that we couldn't talk today, Adam, it's like thank you for being here. Yeah, it's my pleasure. I'm really, really stoked about this. Yeah. Well, I just started hit recording, so we might as well just like jump into it. Thanks, Adam for being on body breaking free podcast today.
Thank you for having me. It's an honor. All the way from Canada. Oh my gosh, I want to be there. I want to be in the mountains and I mean, I guess Park City Utah isn't so bad either. I'm sure it's pretty cool there too. We have mountains I guess here in Ontario where I am. Where are more forests and lakes I guess is the abundance my gorgeous nature that we have and it's it's a privilege when you're someone like me that's really into like cold water exposure and breathing. You know, you get the most there's nothing like doing breath work in a forest where you're getting like just super rich oxygen. And when winter comes around me and all the crazies of Ontario, we're out there like chopping holes in the water jumping in the lake and getting our coals exposure on. Oh my gosh, I love it. Have you ever done forest bathing?
Yeah, I mean, to me anytime you're getting a nice so like the Japanese concept of it called shooting Yoku.
Super cool, I'm actually kind of obsessed with it. So like anytime I'm in a forest or even just in nature, I really like almost set an intention that I want to be here to receive the benefits that one would get from a forest bath, which is, you know, anything if I get the opportunity to take my shoes off. So obviously want to get that grounding in. But being around just seeing trees and seeing the beauty of nature is actually so so relaxing and nourishing for the subconscious. I like to think of it as like a bubble bath for the psyche for the men like rabbits clutter all this nonsense all the screens and then you just get to visually see this beauty that is nature that there's something so like, it's like a return home for the subconscious. And then plants and trees, like the poly phenols they release. They actually when we inhale them and breathe them in. Also actually lower your cortisol or your blood pressure and just help instill that beauty that piece so yeah, I mean, it's so fun to start off with fourth fifth and because I'm kind of obsessed with it, as you can tell, oh my god, you might as well dive into it. So funny. Yeah, and I've only heard the word like the concept. So I know nothing about it. And I'm sure a lot of listeners as well have heard of it maybe but aren't maybe as in depth in the technique and the whole concept behind it. So it started as a Japanese tradition. Is that right? Yeah, it's funny because you know, Japanese work culture is so like hustle bustle, like really linear like punch and punch, oh, grind hustle. And to counter that, I guess they've, I guess I think Japanese culture. So I have Japanese for context too. And I feel like I should speak to this with more
more insight than I have at my fingertips. But I think part of it what did emerge out of like their really intense work culture, but then also they have a very strong reverence for nature and connection to the elements there. So it's almost obvious you have this like contrast of like the hustle, the grind and then jumping into well, how do I bridge my respite? How do I recharge and then having this beautiful nature immersion practice that is not just going for a walk but actually have a word and intention behind it. Something they also do in that practices, when you get to the start of your walk in the forest is like picking up a rock and saying like having this intention that I'm leaving my troubles and leaving my day's stresses here and placing the rock down and then doing your walk Having like that type of symbolic action does make a difference. You mentioned, you know, as you're starting to learn about things and how the subconscious operates. So that realm of the subconscious speaks in metaphor and symbol, and imagery and story. So if you have that sort of symbolic intention that you said, by placing your bones into a rock and dropping it down and washing it off on your wall, it is going to be more effective than just going for an arbitrary walk in the forest.
Katie Kay Graham
Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, totally. And it's that idea of just having a strong intention is powerful in itself, and bringing in that belief into yourself that you can heal, right? There's that whole concept of like, we are our own healers, that we just have these people like you, Adam, that are guides that help us tap into that place. But essentially, we all will be our own individual healers, whatever we're dealing with pain or struggles.
Adam Lewis
the busyness of life, like Japanese culture, just like that hustle and bustle. Same thing with Western culture, just like getting wrapped up in that. But yeah, it could really kind of can come down into having an intention. And that in itself can just be like, really the first step and guiding somebody's healing practice. And I just love the whole concept of bringing in nature to I heard of forest bathing, and I was like, totally already hooked into it. Because I was like, sure anything with healing and nature.
Katie Kay Graham
do you think that it is that something new that has just like really sparked your interest? And you were just like, Okay, this is something I want to, like really dive into recently, or have you been exploring it for a while, on the breathwork side, or on like the nature immersion side? Well, we can dive into both obviously, I was thinking more of like the forest bathing and the nature side and kind of tapping into that part.
Adam Lewis
I've always been like, really into nature. I think just, it's just part of who we are. Like, I've always loved being in the outdoors. But only I think until the just like the stressors and like the was that the past couple of years didn't bring on as well. It really made me lean into where does my healing come from? I really believe that a lot of ailments a lot of the troubles a lot of the issues that we deal with as individuals as a collective, is rooted in this departure from the fact that we are not separate from nature, but that we are in fact a part of it. That human beings we are on this planet we are with this planet. And we can also view and express the same regenerative qualities that nature itself holds. But I live in Toronto City, like sometimes we're just so removed from it, I look around I see these con condos and I'm like, how many people maybe haven't even actually put their feet in soil or dirt in the past two years. And like not really selling or like just ignorance and like, not like in a condescending way but it's just like the system that we have found ourselves and often has just removed us that we're in screens more than we are with each other we are just in this virtual world and not in the real tangible natural world and that incongruence I think does produce a lot of these damn mental health issues physical ailments, disease immuno regulatory concerns, like all sorts of stuff. And my own experience with that was like I was in a dark place the patents like two years kick my ass. Like I really and it was through this call it I guess Yeah, like, you know, maybe it was the subconscious mind or the divine. Well, something within that just knew, like, here's where your medicine lies, and it's with being back into nature. And for me that came through this weird calling too deep in my breathwork experiences and getting some cold water.
I used to be a really competitive sprinter in university, like ran for Team Canada to Nova Scotia and like sprinting was my life and that's where I first got into cold exposure. So we train and get injured you jump into a cold plunge and you do it purely for the physiological decreasing of inflammation.
You know, reducing muscle soreness and just very superficial reasons like that, and not really having the same reverence for Cold War Water as I do now, where? Because yeah, like in the winter of 2020 that I first started doing breath work. And then I was like, oh, yeah, that's like that Wim Hof guy does, and he also can, like, do this cold stuff. So I started doing breath work. And then I was like, Okay, I'm gonna try getting the the cold now and started with just sitting in some snow. And then it took with, you know, we're right on Lake Ontario here in Toronto, it's a massive body of water, like super cold in the winter, I'll go down to the beach here with my dog in the winter. And just like stripped down with a towel, go in first time, quick walk in, walk out, okay, not bad. And then jump in again. And let's go for a minute. And then next time I this is like three days in a row. Actually, when I first started access to the game was such a rush, that eventually it was getting there, do some breathing, get out in the water, just five minutes. And it produced it produced like a high like I never experienced. And it's like, oh my god, you get out. And this is weird rash of like, I'm not actually cold. I've never felt more alive. I've got insane mental clarity. And something would happen for me is I'd get in my car and put some music on and be a big being on drugs. Oh my god, it's me. It sounds so good. This is awesome. And then sometimes the music would speed up and time was dilating. And it just became this lightning I got so hooked on. And then just this regular cold exposure practice developed that was out of this. Okay, you can do some breathing that helps you get into the cold, then you do the cold, and then you feel amazing. And I do this all before I started my workday. And it's like, you just like wane as a human in that, like, we can just do this thing with nature that spires this sense of aliveness that I've never felt before.
Katie Kay Graham
Wow, I can totally relate to that feeling of just like tapping into something a lot deeper. And what you said, like just been a lie, like feeling alive. Like we all want to feel alive. And you know, you can't really put it into words. The feeling of it, though, is so profound and life changing that that is just like, I keep coming back. I feel like when you do it once you're like, Oh, that was interesting, like kind of this curiosity like that was different. Like that was something different than I had ever done before. And then doing it again. And again, it's like, wow, you find these deeper layers and shedding in that unblocking. I always remember the Rumi quote of I'm not quoting him verbatim, because I don't have that at the top of my head. I'm not that skilled. But the love is within us. And our job is to do the unblocking. So releasing the barriers is essentially what he says and, and I think about that in any kind of practice that I'm doing. And there was one other thing that you mentioned is you got into it, doing your athletic performance and this kind of superficial way of approaching it first. And I just think about all the things that I've approached has usually started with a superficial reasoning. Like when I first started doing yoga in college, I was just looking for exercise to lose calories lose weight. And the yoga in itself was like the very first thing that just really helped me shed what I was holding on to all of these belief systems of I'm not good enough and I'm not worthy. And you know, the, like the scary stuff that we don't want to look at and but like it's funny how we start with all of these kind of more superficial reasoning, because the egos there, and the egos driving us and we're living in this, like body identification. So I like how you kind of lead in with that, because yeah, like even if you start with a superficial reason, it's not like it's bad, like definitely not bad, but you can start wherever you need to start and I still do that with a lot of different things. I just start because that's where I'm at and I just have to meet myself where I'm at and then it'll take me to the next thing and the next thing which is all part of the journey, I guess.
Adam Lewis
Absolutely. It's you know, it doesn't matter how you started what you you know what what sticks sticks, and there's no prescription like my track career ended like seven years ago and then I only got back into cold exposure like two years ago so there's this hiatus that we like you said you meet you where you are and wasn't where anywhere I was at in the past five years, but then it just reemerged and for different reasons. I'm glad you know, I'm so grateful to have acquainted with it before because that also did release some of that bit of fear of I've done cold water before so I can jump into a it's just outside and said that cold tub was part of my thinking that I wasn't totally out to lunch with this. But it's I have a lot of so So, when I say superficial, it was like, even in a bad way, like, being a track athlete was like a huge part of my life, it was still again, like such a powerful like mind body connection to, like just the way your mindset you operate when you're in that type of zone. But then also, it really just taught me to look at wellness with a different lens where, you know, sprinting, which is what I did, it's a sport that comes down to like winning and losing can come down to a 100th of a second. In many races it does. And so when like, I was really competitive. So I would do everything I could to find out how can I squeeze out another 100th of a second of every performance. And I was lucky, my coach was really data driven. So we're always tracking data, like training session over training session, our top speed over 25 meters. So we can see, are we introducing modalities that increase that like are favorable to adaptation, or that do not serve us in our, through our training blocks. And what was really cool, actually, and for any athletes listening should take note of this, that I'm the biggest supporter of gold exposure. But you really do want to avoid it at least three hours after your training. Because I did a whole training block where I was like, Okay, let's go, we hit it hard on the track, I mean, jump in the weight room. And then we had this like epic recovery room that I had a cold tub in. So it was like, I'm gonna take advantage of all the goodies I got. And of course, I'm gonna jump in the cold tub right up to training. But what that does is actually it blunts the hypertrophy response you get from the training, because when you're trying to induce like, some inflammation and some muscle damage when you're sprinting when you're running, because that's what signals to the body to, like, enter that anabolic state, send all the hypertrophic sort of signals to build muscle, that those signals get blunted when you're jumping in a cold tub and reducing the inflammation through an external source. Because then the body doesn't know it has this adaptation to make. So what we saw with my data over that training blog, was just this total flat curve, like training my ass off taking all the supplements, crushing my like sleep, hygiene, eating super clean, and just no improvement. And we're like, What the heck is going on here? And then I found out that yeah, like, this is what happens, you cold tub after training, you're going to plant your response. So that's my long winded way of saying that if you're going to do cold exposure, just make sure it's done. I think three hours after training is the sort of rule that they're gonna turn around as a human. I think I've mentioned it that you want to have that type of buffer. And what's funny is then what got me out of that. And what also got me into sauna this other new passion was exactly this, like pursuit of performance, where Dr. Rhonda Patrick came out with some cool research, or at least was highlighting it brought to my attention, at least of how saunas can induce large increases in endogenous human growth hormone production. Something crazy, like 15 minutes in the sauna post training, and cruces Human Growth Hormone by 150%. As an athlete who doesn't want to get into that, and then there's some protocols you can take, go through with sauna that increases it like three fold, like 600%, even if you do like a really crazy, five day long protocol. But to me, it's just like as a clean athlete, like the idea of endogenous human growth, hormone production, amazing so that I swapped out the call for hot post training. And then again, with that data, we were able to see like really, really sick adaptations through the training blocks. And just another like, cool, cool way to see just like, these things we do with our bodies and how we can just like Tinker and like, Greg, I mean, like the biohacking stuff and all the areas that we can just modulate and modify our external environment to change our internal expression of how we can perform.
Katie Kay Graham
Yeah, and I can imagine just being or having to be so meticulous, as an athlete, and just in this mindset of always performing and doing better and working harder will lead to success. And I've had a few athletes or I guess, ex athletes, athletes on the podcast before and it and it's interesting, their stories I find just so fascinating, because their sense of identity is just so wrapped up in their performance in their specific sport, because that's what they've trained for. That's what they've done for so long, and they've had this really intense intention with it as far as like, this is what I'm doing this will lead to success. And so I'm curious, Adam, your evolution of being an athlete being in that mindset. How, like, how did that evolve? And are you still in that mindset and kind of self self identify as being a athlete and just continue to be that through your life? Or do you find that it's kind of curving into a different path? Because I know now you're really like your business, which we'll get into is just really focused on the healing the breath work, which is, you know, also integrated in performance. But how do you see like all of that evolving in your own life?
Adam Lewis
That's a great question. I actually haven't really ruminated on that in a while. And you're so right, because I still have a lot of friends that are like, former athletes freshly out. And it's, it's an interesting psychology. Like, for me, I've definitely like gone through my hero's journey now and like, gone inward and done a lot of healing and sort of I feel like departed from that more athletic motivated like very isolated container, that is your identity being wrapped up in how you perform. And I'll take us a little bit into like, just like how I've interpreted athlete's psychology and the way it actually translates when you have it just like clamped off when you graduate or when your career ends, or when whatever happens that it can actually be a referred transition, then people really make it out to be unfortunate, like I did a business degree studying. So like my track career, which was like everything to me, when it ended, I knew that there was a means to an end, and that there was life after it. But that was when I felt so good. I was training, performing. There's a lot of validation there. And I recently just become really fascinated with concepts of like, how do we, how do we cultivate motivation intrinsically? And internally? How do we retain a sense of fulfillment? And how do we just like, feel good, I put out some pretty bad depression last few years, and do all this healing work was able to get rid of the super lights and the Wellbutrin and, like, do my own healing. But it really is caused me to like find, like, what are these natural ways that we can keep ourselves feeling good. And as an athlete, I often feel good, but it's because you have this very clearly set out source of where your self worth is derived, which is a personal blessing, right? So self worth theory is super fascinating to me, that really got the end of the day that like, healthy self esteem is what we need, like everyone was feeling feel loved, we feel like we have a healthy sort of sole source of self esteem. As an athlete, it's a little bit transactional, where you feel good when you're training because I'm putting in the the inputs in to produce a better output, that is my performance. And a better performance is validation to my own self worth. And also to my sense of worth, as I believe it is perceived in the eyes of others. So that's why it's easy to feel really good when you're in the flow and training as an athlete, because you have this very clearly defined way to achieve senses of self esteem. But then, when that goes away, when you graduate, when your career ends, God forbid, with like an injury or something. Now you're left with this like, Okay, here's where I previously derived my sense of self worth and self esteem. And I was very linear, very clear. Now I don't have that. And that's where I think you can like wind up in a spiral. And we're many athletes can get the slight feeling of lost, where do I find that purpose, and it's not easy. It's like, life isn't that easy. Unfortunately, it's supposed to be a bit of a struggle. That struggle, I believe, is finding the different areas we derive our sense of self esteem from, because that's like the gas tank that we use to fuel our motivation to push ourselves forward in life. And what I did as I came out of university was, I worked I was trying to find myself in fields that were interesting to me, I worked in like the health and wellness companies, management cool brands, I worked with a good genetics and athletic company that was kind of cool for it collapsed. And I eventually found what I thought was the perfect channel for this like athlete mentality of entrepreneurship, where I started a coffee company and grinded that out, pardon the pun. For four years before it just came crashing down on me a year and a half after now the world sort of crapped itself. And yeah, like that was like part of my hero's journey, but really found that entrepreneurship was a very analogous sort of like warrior mindset athlete like you hustle, you grind and that's how you get your out. But, but then the detriments to my mental health. And I don't know entrepreneurship is tough, and I still identify as one in many ways and kind of connected with many and that it's like it kicks your ass because here's this thing that you your performance on the track or your performance on your balance sheet become these like, here are my inputs here my outputs and here's how I feel them myself and how others feel about me based off of what it looks like on paper. Which is not ideal, but that Just sort of the way things get channeled into. And then the healing journey that I've sort of learned is that we need to diversify our sources of self worth and self esteem. And that can be just like taking care of your body, being kind to other people, finding a hobby and getting better at it, but not like isolating it, because that's because if it's not going, well, you're gonna feel like shit. It's going great, you're gonna feel good. But that's, that's fragile. I'll pause there because I know I spend on a little bit of a tangent.
Katie Kay Graham
I was like, amazing. I'm so excited to go back and listen to what you just said. I just felt like you totally truth bombed us there. That was awesome. Yeah, exactly what you're talking about, it's like almost this like really hard line in the sand. And when we create that, and we're really wrapped up in the validation of performing and this, like what you're just talking about, like this little bubble of, I'm doing it right. And so now my self worth feels really good. And I met this really good high. And then once we lose that, and we drop down on the other side of the that line, we're always grasping to get back to that upper place. And we're really what I found in my own life, as I really created this small container, I mean, I'm not an athlete, in any sport, but in my life, I feel like I've like used my life in a way that an athlete would, and just finding my worth in a certain type of sub zone that just made my life really small in a small container, whether I was doing good, whether I was doing bad, I would be on either side of the spectrum. And I think that's yeah, a big reason why I also fell into depression, and in dealt with that is because my sense of identity was wrapped up in a certain focus that I was so driven to achieve and look a certain way and act a certain way and wear a certain mask, so people perceive me in a certain way. And so I kind of can see that crossover with Adam, what you're talking about as being an athlete. And then I think just like a lot of us have our sense of identity contained in a certain way. And I just love how you're talking about that diversifying and diversifying our self worth. In that diversification, it's also being able to see when we're so wrapped up in the ego, I know that word gets thrown out a lot, but the ego is not bad. It's just what we identify how we interact with the world. So the ego is just our five senses. So we are body so our ego, when we're unaware of it, we can just get wrapped up in the body identification, which then leads us into, like our self worth is all about how we are perceiving ourselves. Judgment comparison, putting labels good or bad on something. So when we're just really wrapped up in the ego, it's like all of that, but then diversifying and being able to see maybe more of the Spirit identification, and what we kind of talked about is like really tapping into that within space that a lot of us don't necessarily think about or identify with. But I think like some of these things that you're offering out into the world and to community really help us to diversify in to that space of that essence of being that's beyond all the judgments that's beyond all those crazy monkey mind thoughts and the labels and you know, I look this way this person looks a different way and I'm more special than this person away I'm not that special like we like these all this, you know, craziness and madness, but being able to have those modalities that allow us to tap into the spirit. Like that is a really great way of diversifying our self worth and we really can tap into the essence of truth which is a big one because it's the love and the peace and the happiness and all the things that we actually really want we all share that right we're all sharing that same desire which is also awesome because then we all get a feel connected a lot there but the these modalities are really special and whether we're going at them from a performance like athletic stance or whether we're going at them for healing, but let's like talk and talk a little bit about it and this breath work and then the cold and hot exposure Adam, tell us about other ship and just give us a little like what it like what is this business What was your motivation behind doing it?
Adam Lewis
So, other ship is company like no other. We're like a healthy experiences brand and company that we have two segments of the company. So one is a 500 track sort of Bradford ad. So on the App Store, we have all these incredible breathwork tracks, professionally mastered, recorded with like fun electronic music binaural beats, and really a way to make breathwork as this like super accessible but fun tool. So I've met someone that's done a ton of medication, like logged over, over 100 hours on headspace over 100 on like, waking up that tried calm, and I still, I still love meditating, like I do it regularly. But I still don't feel like I'm really good at it. And sometimes I'll sit down for 20 minutes session and get up from it and feel like I'm not, I haven't received any benefit from it. Whereas breath work and why we were so like, why we're so stoked about our breathing app is you just follow the breathing, your body will do the work and everything else will follow us You can't help but feel awesome after. So that's our breath work app. And we'll give all your listeners you as well like a trial to like give it a shot because it is I think the best breathing app in the world. And then the other like physical so that's like the URL side of the business. And then the IRL side of the business is the in real life 50 person sign up for ice bath, gorgeous Tea Room physical location we have in downtown Toronto, where we have these first ever emotional regulation classes that we've really just invented where people cycle through contrast therapy. So they come into the tea room, they're greeted by their guide to get a little explanation of what's going to happen on their 75 minute journey where we'll go into the sauna. And then we have these professionally trained guides that have done over like 100 hours of training with us. And then because nobody's really invented or done these sauna classes before, we've given our guides, here's your template, but then you bring your own flair into the experience. So we have some guides that are yoga, Nidra and meditation, and breathwork teachers that use that during their class that they've designed for the sauna. Others are a registered massage therapist and like Chinese medicine practitioners, where we'll do in the heat 90 degrees, holding acupressure points to help move chi through your body while you're in like the intensity of the heat. And others like yoga instructors are Pilates. So all these beautiful, gorgeous effective modalities that are stacked with the heat in the sauna are done 30 people at a time usually. And then once we hit like this peak state where you're in that heat, you're getting that hormetic stress all like the benefits are starting to come through and you get a you rinse off and you jump into one degree water these gorgeous cold tubs we have and it just feels like there's just nothing like it and be open in February like six months in now. And it's just been this resounding home on success because of the the efficacy of the classes. And then I think what I truly passionate about as a community that's building people to come and do something new, something good for them and something hard, and then reveling in that together. Because there's nothing that creates a social bond, like a difficult shared experience, and putting yourself in the heat and putting yourself in the cold does exactly that.
Katie Kay Graham
Way, my gosh, I literally got chills when we were talking about was that I guess I need to come visit. Um, I've recently been doing and we talked a little bit been doing some breath work, specifically with breath house. And it's this company that one of my friends created. And so it's basically Wim Hof. But with Beats, which is really fun. And anyway, so I have a recording. So I do that I've been doing it more and more so about every other day. And then I've been doing just a meditation after. And I just want to share my story because there is nothing that I have found. Or I guess I should say, this is the first thing that I have found that has created this profound experience for me. And what we talked about earlier, just like releasing some of those layers that are blocking our true essence that we all really want to tap into. And that's what I've really been finding with this insane breathwork I've done some cold exposure, same exact thing. And I feel like it's hard to explain but I think there's something when your body is put into a stress environment like the sauna or cold exposure, doing a breath, work, all of those things where you get a sense of the maybe imminence of death in an instant. This breath that I have right now it can be gone. And there's a fear associated with that for sure. But I've also found that it releases the fear in a way because I know that the soul like I could like tapping into that place like that is a part from my body. So when I die, I believe that the spirit is released. And wherever it goes, you know, wherever it goes, it allows me to realize that I do have this one life here on Earth. And life is short. And it really amazes me that I can sink into this space of profound gratitude for having this one breath, which is something that I've never really been able to tap into. I actually remember like, a few months ago, I was talking to one of my friends, and she's a spiritual teacher, and she was talking about like, oh, a gratitude practice, like, is so amazing. Like, he's, you know, doing this, and I'm like, you know, I've never really attached on to a gratitude practice, like, it's not that I don't want to be grateful. It's just like, I haven't found that to like, I just, you know, journaling is trying to do affirmations, when I did the this, you know, these techniques, these modalities that helped me tap into like this breath, this moment, I get to be alive. I've never felt felt that flood of gratitude before. And that is something that like, has totally uplifted my life, it has changed how I've looked at some of my fears, I've struggled with in relationships with being the person pushing other people away. Because I think that I hold this deep fear, if I let people in, that they'll take something from me. So it's really changed my perspective of how much and how much capacity I have for love. So how much I can give and how much more love I can open up to so I'm releasing that block, which is really been helping my relationships in my life.
Yeah, and I think I could just keep going on and on. But I really wanted to share that because just I want to just like bring in the space of like how much these practices can really change people's lives. And I get chills when you're talking. Because I think that that is just such a powerful offering that I know will change people's lives. And also being with a community. I think that is just brilliant, Adam, like I think being in that space with other people and being in that sauna and like stressing your body and making you feel more alive. But then having that inner connectedness with other people, I just think that's so valuable, because we feel less separate and our soul is craving that it craves us to be around other people and feel that connection. And especially in a healing space, when we're all healing. We all feel very connected and we share that and it just totally uplifts and almost like expands the space for love and for our soul to grow and and so yeah, that's why I get chills and that's like my own personal experience with it. But it's pretty wild. Like you know, that I like on this wellness podcast, I talk about many different modalities I talk about a lot of stuff. And so obviously like this one thing, adding it into my routine and our every other day, like that's a big thing, right? So there's got to be something
Adam Lewis
really, thank you so much for sharing that Katie it's a really beautiful journey you're on and Mike, God, we just mad I'm like, so proud of you for finding these gifts within to use our breath and use these modalities to like expand that gratitude and that love because that's what we're all looking for at the end of the day is like, inherent unconditional love that were brought here with then things happen, the traumas set in and then we put up the walls and distance ourselves from people we distance ourselves from our self. And then there's this like, massive on conditioning process. It's like this, forgetting to remember right, forgetting all of the conditioning to remember who we truly are and what we're truly worth. That unconditional love is what it all brings us back to and the breath is this incredible tool that does that I think you're right worth like doing it with community is incredibly powerful or just with other people where you tap into something. So it's like it really is like an altered state of consciousness you get to I mean, you can chalk it up to just the fact that you know we do these breathing techniques we produce the blood flow to the prefrontal cortex. That's the region that's, you know, the analytical mind, the ego, the monkey mind the chatter that tells us the stories that we don't really need to believe. But once that required that blood flow, and we soften that grip of the prefrontal cortex, that's finding our thoughts. And we can just sink into the subconscious and do some really deep healing. It's no wonder that you get to these places of, oh, this is what I've been doing this putting me in the way from being closer to other people, or this is why I react in this way when I'm triggered by these responses, and he just gives us awareness and insight. There's no one so there's never a silver bullet. But what breathwork can do and what these altered states can do, whether it's with breath, or plant medicines, or any psychedelics or other tools, it just gives us a new lens to identify, where are these patterns showing up that aren't actually mine, but are just parts of conditioning that we can now bring attention to, and release. And that's where I think that's why I'm like so stoked about what we do is that stalking that with the hot or cold Are these like beautiful somatic practices for these, this deep patterning. For an example, one that I really resonate with is cold exposure, it's, it's uncomfortable, it's a hard thing. Think of how many of us have like been told growing up, don't go outside in the cold, you're gonna catch a cold or it's bad for your skin No, no hurt your immune system, when the reality is no being in the cold that actually increases white blood cell count, good for your immune system. I mean, benefits are saying it increases dopamine, norepinephrine counts by two and a half fold turns your vagus nerve, like there's endless benefits. But we've just got this story running that we were told by our parents are told by their parents and your next thing we know we've developed a fear of the cold. And then what's so powerful through the practices that we do another ship is, you're going into a cold tub with either three other people or seven other people, because we'll often do two people in a tub. And it's so powerful to watch people go through this experience where I don't know if I can do this, I can't do this, I can't do the cold, we'll hear a lot. I don't know if we'll be able to last even 10 seconds. But then, a we've either been in the sauna before for like 20 minutes, where they're like well conditioned, or we take them through some breathing exercises. And we love the journeyers know that they're safe, that they can in fact do it. And so we have guides there that we use singing bowls, we use like very like, well trained, like responding to cues to help people through their experience. So we'll guide the people step into the tub, when they get a time, drop down into the water. This is one degree water, maybe this person has never even done a cold shower.
We tell them to breathe, because as you know, we use our breath to regulate our nervous system. long, slow breaths and long, slow breaths out. So this downregulated breathing, that's going to help calm the nervous system and make dilla that fight or flight response is saying, Oh, it's uncomfortable, I need to get out. We can say it's okay, using those long breaths in and out. And 20 seconds goes by the person freaking out kind of stops 30 seconds goes by they're just in it, they're doing the cold, then a minute, and then two minutes goes by. And then we invite the person to get up, stand out in the tub, and then open their arms up into a power pose, having this somatic signal from your body to your mind that I just did something uncomfortable, and I feel powerful in it. And then sometimes people just break into tears. And it's so like, it's so incredible to watch. And every time it just reminds me of like how remarkable these tools are. Because what I believe happens there is people go in with this definition of a limiting belief where I cannot do the cold, I'm scared of the cold. And then they do it. And then they get out. And that is just the physical representation of shattering the limiting belief of that is a story that no longer runs in my head anymore. So it's not me anymore. So what other stories do I run in my head of things I can or cannot do, that don't actually exist that I'm just telling myself. So that honouring of the mind body connection that way through shattering limiting beliefs by doing cool by just doing hard things, is what other ship has almost engineered people to be able to do with others.
Katie Kay Graham
Wow. Oh, my gosh, wow. Incredible and when I took a trauma informed yoga training, and one thing that really surprised me was that you need to have body therapy to move through trauma because the trauma is imprinted in your nervous system. And I was like well, what oh wait, can you just like meditate? Can you just like breathe through it? It's like, and she was like no, like you have to do a body therapy. You can do talk therapy. He can go to a therapist all day long. But if it's in your body, it will stay there because your body is it's literally imprinted it. So doing that, when you're moving through this discomfort place where you're in the sympathetic, you're in the fight or flight, and then you're able to shift into the parasympathetic. And moving up in through this. So shifting back and forth, that is a therapy, a body therapy, that is teaching your body that it can reach a balanced state between these two, parasympathetic and sympathetic responses. So doing that, I can see how you get out of the tub, you put your arms up in the air, like how free like in it in that instant itself, you might be really seem trauma, you probably are, and trauma, I truly believe that it is within all of us. Because not only because of generational trauma, you can go up to the fifth generation. So if you think about your great grandparents, your great great grandparent, like think about the trauma they've experienced is imprinted in you. And then also you can have trauma from you know, an early like something happened early on, like somebody told you you're stupid on the playground, and then on repeat over and over and over again, you're getting this confirmation bias that you're stupid, and you're living with that kind of trauma, like trauma can be in so many different forms. And it's also subjective to the individual, which so it's like, there's, for me, there's like no definition of it. I keep it kind of wide open. But I do believe that we all carry things and beliefs and trauma in the body. And so like, what the hell like, What the hell are we do, we like we're opening up our arms are getting out the tub, and we're like, there's freedom there. Right? Like, we're like free in that moment. Like, I get chills, you know, like to like, that is like the essence of what body breaking free is because what there's so many things and so many layers that are defining our lives that we're holding on to we're literally protecting them. When they're not even, we're not even supposed to be holding on to them in the first place. They're not even ours to hold on to. So what are we doing to release those layers? Right? And we're, and it's these modalities, it's these things, it's listening to your soul and being like, what should I try even if it's superficial or not, like that is so cool, Adam, just to, like, envision that because I'm sure like, it is so rewarding for you to to be able to see people do that and break free of that, because that's life changing and itself. And then the people as well. It's like having this outlet to be able to tap into that place and find that freedom. Like that's, that's what life's all about.
Adam Lewis
And it's just like pursuing that freedom pursuing that. That sovereignty that that free loving life that we're all worthy of and that we all are just yearning for reacquainted with that's it is it it's extremely rewarding to to see and help facilitate that. And to do that with the hot with the cold and with the breath as well. Because yeah, the body does, like the Body Keeps the Score, right. I'm like, so I love vessels book that way. And, you know, we often reference so we do these live breathwork experiences as well. Like I led one for like 60 people yesterday in a park for this seat discomfort community. And I love these live Breathworks because yes, we have our app and it's super fun to do on your own, your meditation practice becomes your breath for practice, Morning or night. But like we're talking about when you do things as a group and as a community there is this other level of consciousness that comes into it and level of efficacy that I think happens. And what we often do in a lot of our breathwork experiences is we'll do a full on stick ecstatic dance shake out before we often referenced the zebras don't get ulcers, because anytime like zebra that gets like traumatized after being chased by a leopard or something. What do they do when they do these like weird shakes and like hit the ground and ground their trauma out and shake their trauma because if not, it's got stored up in the body. We do that we were so good at that. You sit here you read that triggering email. Just let that sink. Meanwhile, we should get up and like shake it out. So what we do by starting at Bradford with that we're like priming the nervous system already for like, let's loosen it up, you know, let's shake the snowglobe a bit because we're about to just blow the top off and brew It all started with that somatic connection lying down and breathing out all this tension, all this energy. It's it's super fun and super powerful. And just another. Like, can I think these are just like tools to have in the tool belt, through your heart practice sweated the bullshit, jump into coal, demonstrate your resilience, do some shaking shake off, you know the stuff that's doesn't yours. Or just like breathe through it all. It's like D gassing all this trauma, all this stuff that isn't yours. Yeah, oh, I
Katie Kay Graham
love the shaking. And I actually, I need to put in the show notes for people. I just found this drum like this, like shrimp, shamanic drum beat or something on Spotify. And I've been meaning to, like, use that just to like, shake it up. Because I've heard that a few times in the last month, and after my training to have like understanding how animals release trauma and that shaking. But now I'm like, Okay, I need to like integrate this into, like, if I'm getting if I'm typing, I'm like getting stuck in work. Like I think taking a little like five minute break and just kind of like putting on this music and shaking it out. Yeah, like our body needs that release. I think we just haven't, it's probably comes really would come really naturally to us. But like because of society norms and how ridiculous we probably look when we do it. We've, you know, refrain from it. But I'm so glad that you brought that up, Adam, because that like, that makes sense to me. And it makes sense that you do that before the breath work. That's so awesome. And like you, it just makes us all kind of feel like we're together too. Because we're all just like out there shaking our bodies. And that's awesome. So I want to ask you, when you dealt with those two years that were really hard for you and depression? Was that the moment that you decided, like you when you shifted into creating this business? Or have you already created it, and you were just moving through this hard time? What was that process?
Adam Lewis
So I'm actually a first hired other ship, there's five co founders that started and then I just jumped in at the right time when it was just sort of divinely met. And I can talk about that mission. But for me, like I came into these practices, like, as I was on my way out of like a couple of really tough years. And like I was thinking back before we jumped on the show of like, what a journey really has been like I was running my own business. It was this consumer packaged goods coffee company that I started, I think more like Pacify my thought like athletic, entrepreneurial scratch that I needed an edge and like doing it purpose driven. Because frankly, like the world doesn't need any more caffeine like we don't yeah, you know, you don't need another coffee company out there. It's not changing the world like another ship is. But I was in touch really shitty place. Like I thought back to like 2020 and like towards the end of it and into 2021 and I was like, Oh yeah, like I was alive but getting up and like working on my business like drinking an abundance of coffee because I had that what was my evening wine down? Well, a couple of beers, smoke a joint and then I can finally relax and then fall asleep and then wake up and do the same thing again. And it was coping and surviving not actually living a good life. And I just don't like just thinking of like, what a she life that was kinda like read on the news. Oh, everybody's suffering brother. Oh, but not me. Like I've got my coffee, my antidepressants, my beer, my read. And I'm good to go. Like I'm still able to function. But it was pretty like just like not me. And I think that was felt by a lot of people. And where I met with other ship was when they were just prototyping as a platform on a Kajabi website with a bunch of breathwork tracks. I got hit with a Facebook ad for like, free, like try breathwork session or was free? Or was it like $11 It was like a Sunday afternoon, try breathwork live on Zoom. And I was just like one of their, like early marketing, sort of test modalities. And I joined I went on Zoom. And it was like an inner child focused breathwork 30 minutes long and it finished and I was just in tears. It really moved me and this was like November of 2020. And I've done some breathwork before, like experimented with Wim Hof, but it never really met me at the right time at the right place we were talking about earlier, but it really moved something I think inner child work is so powerful to it's just it's it's never not going to you know, move someone if you do it right. And that was like okay, wow, this breathwork stuff is really on to something and I think that session kind of cracked me open a little bit. And it showed me that there is this inner work to be done that it's not just this, you know, wrap myself up with stimulants and rent myself down with presents. And that cycle of living is not there to be done that there's deeper work that can help to actually alleviate me of these crutches. And then I ended up actually going to Costa Rica in January, a couple of months later, and really deepening my breath work doing a bunch of yoga surfing, like my therapist was like, Adam, you need to like go away because you are not in good shape. Right now you need to take a break. Extend your day, like my business, like we had to Floyd pivot and everything from like physical to digital and borrow bunch of money. And like it was just like a full turnover that took a lot out of me. So everything just loaded me up to this point where I was so fragile. So the breath work was almost like gave me permission to myself to take a vacation, go away and then feel kind of free for the first time. And then getting home. I was like, alright, this breath work stuff's awesome. I kept doing it. It was like a practice I developed. And that was also the same winter that I moved into cold exposure. That January when I got back from Costa Rica. I was like, oh my god, I'm back in Canada. It's so cool. This sucks, like, put in a blender to come home. But I was like, Okay, well, I have this breathwork tool now. That's what you guys, Wim Hof does before jumping in the cold. And that's what gave me part of that courage to get in my cold exposure practice and just like really double down on like, trying it feeling amazing. And again, it's like, there's no silver bullets. But I was like, I felt like I was getting onto the right track again.
And what was like really cool, just like developing his practice. And then when the water started to warm up was almost like, Oh, crap, I missed this. Now, I miss like crazy, jumps in the water, but was able to keep doing my breath work and just had this as like this tool to help me through. And then last year, like I found myself in like a really heavy relationship. And I moved in with a partner and still worked on this business that actually like just falling out and out of passion for and actually, what's so funny is the breath work I was doing. It actually like alleviating any need for caffeine in the mornings, because I was running a coffee business without drinking coffee myself anymore, because I found that the energy you can call today with your breath is a lot better than slamming down a cup of joe or two in the morning. So like the whole my heart was just so out of it. And then in the fall of last year, business was collapsing, heartbroken. Went through a bad breakup. And then like just these, like pillows in my life has collapsed. And I really bind to this descent of depression again. And I was like, okay, like, this is like the worst I've ever felt. And the only thing I had to look forward to was like getting back into cold water. And during that cold water practice where I could just feel so present, it was like there's something about the coals and being in that water that like I just cannot wait for and start doing that again, as it got colder. And then I've started to invite some friends with me as like, hey guys come to the beach. Let's do some breath work and and jump in the cold water because this is something that nourished me was and I want to share with others. And then my friends like, Okay, that sounds cool. And so I'm like I need maybe if there's a sauna, so I actually did was I built a sauna on a trailer. And that way I could tow it to the lake and do this contrast therapy with friends. All while still doing my breath work that the other ship app, and then through the the online platform. And then I reached out to them because I heard that they were like also into hot and cold. And I found that they're building this physical location. And I just like, like, Hey guys, like I'm also really, really no prep work. I do this hot and cold practice with my friends as well. We'd love to like Chad, just see how we can maybe work together. And then eventually, like just insert myself into the equation early on to be like, take my entrepreneurial experience and someone that's just like extremely passionate about hot and cold for healing people and getting married into what's now a super ideal situation. And one of the climaxes was the first time I took friends out to do hot and cold was at this beach in Toronto. Eight of us did some breath work, jumped in the water, jumped out, did some movement, went home felt amazing. And that was kind of October last year. Then April this year. Right after I joined with other ship. One of the first like big marketing things I wanted to do was pull off the world's largest cold plunge. At that same beach, we had 400 People come out, do some breath work, jump in the water and come out as this collective celebration of resilience that the people have endured over the past couple of years that I was able to just consider hire and bring into creation through the support of the company through embodying a passion and religious following my bliss into something that was like probably one of the best days of my life at this point.
Katie Kay Graham
Oh my gosh, that is unbelievable. 400 people, and I love how you're just like, I'm following my bliss, like, that's what it's all about. And that's so inspiring. And it's so cool. The uncertainty of like how the universe works of like, some random meditation pops up on your computer and try it out. I swear, like story after story after story, I've listened to those moments of shift like that two degree shift where somebody is like, slightly taken off into a different track. It pops up in like the weirdest ways. And you're just like, the thing that things that show up and you're just like, Oh, I'll try this, like you get a letter in the mail. Or like I had somebody like some random person at the park. And she like asked to do some breath work with him. And like, there's just like these tiny things where the universal like, it can show you or whatever you want to call it. I don't know your higher self or,
Adam Lewis
like Joseph Campbell fan, and he says, Follow your bliss, and the universe will open doors for the role and the walls. And that's what happened and the breath for whatever that random thing is like, Yeah, is it like the universe giving you a little like a man like little gesture, chalk it up to whatever you want to, but that is the hero's journey that brings you down into your transformation that you hopefully return back home with, like a renewed sense of self and being that guy, and we're all just yearning for that training to get closer and closer to who we really are, what gifts we bear.
Katie Kay Graham
Yeah, well said that was exactly, perfectly said. And I think that's a great way to end the conversation. Because I think like we are all just tapping into who we truly are, and the ways that we can do that and the modalities and not even needing a reason or having a like, where's this going to take me because it'll just take you exactly where you need to go. And just having that willingness, what you just said out, I'm just having the bliss and the openness to be able to follow it. That's really just all you need. And then it'll guide you and guide you exactly where you need to go. But yeah, I want to ask you, Adam, last few questions. I love to ask the guests at the end of the show. First one, what is your own daily wellness routine,
Adam Lewis
it definitely has been evolving and changing. I would say like a regular one is getting up and starting with some meditation. So I still love my meditation practice. And that'll be usually just 1015 minutes. Then I'll move into a breath work. So I open up my other ship app, we have like daily opera daily down so I'll usually just hit the daily off it'll be anywhere from like two minutes to 15 minutes long and I kind of like the slot machine aspect of it. And do like that 10 minute breathing routine and that really just gets me like ready and fired up. That ends and I'm like feeling pretty good. And this is like I actually got up at like 630 So public ready like moving to close on and brushing my teeth mode then and then probably my favorite part of the morning is like morning elixir. So maybe my chaga tea and cinnamon and Sheila G and maca and Tribulus and MCT oil yeah, there's always just like it's like elixir, I love my warm, warm morning drank quarter saps lion's mane like whatever is feeling good, jumped into my little supplement protocol downing that. Lately, I've been like on and off doing a bit more movement, I have been feeling like that call, like whether it's a good stick a shake, or some stretching. But just like we were talking about that's been more recent, like, I need to do this more. And then I'll just start getting on to work like eight o'clock. So like at my desk and like just getting into my workflow. And what has been absent. And this does remind me of I should get back more into is my like journaling, again, like really downloading my thoughts out. Because the meditation is good for like organizing, consolidating, and just like clearing but there's still a lot of merit to like the gratitude journaling that we mentioned. And then like you know, during the work day, I don't have too much of a wellness practice, but I do like to work out in the afternoons. So whether it's playing a sport still play hockey, getting to the gym for a hit workout going for a bike ride. I just find that performance is always best in the afternoon. I tried doing morning workouts and wasn't as like efficacious So getting a good workout in eating super clean all the time. don't really drink anymore. And like always clean, minimally processed low sugar, very little dairy. No gluten, minimal carbs actually, like modified paleo, I guess that's how I put it. Then sleep hygiene super important for me too. So like minimal screens, after 8pm blue light blockers on as soon as the light goes down in bed by 10. And you're often doing like a downregulated breathing practice, like, sometimes they'll just be doing like 10 for count any count out, or just the daily down on the other ship app that helps us put you into that really beautiful parasympathetic state.
Katie Kay Graham
I'm so excited about trying the app. Like, I'm so looking forward to that. So thank you for being so generous to offer that to us and our listeners. Yeah, I'm sure that could be the one. You know, one thing that like one of the listeners, listen, listen to one of those breathing techniques on the app. And that could be the one you know, two degree shift, you never know when things pop up. So listeners, if it's resonating, definitely I'll put all the links in the show notes for them to connect to a very ship and connect to you, Adam. I'll put all your contact information, what would be the best place for us to contact you or find other ship
Adam Lewis
and find other shit or breathing app is or that ship dot app for physical play space. If you want to check that out. It's not other shipped out to. So those are probably the two best places to catch other ship. And then for me on Instagram as well, just Adam Lewis five is fine and happy to answer any questions or connect with anybody that has any curiosity around literally anything we spoke about today.
Katie Kay Graham
Awesome. Awesome. Well, thank you so much, Adam. It was so fun talking with you. I felt like just so many times, I literally was getting chills down my body. So I really feel like what you're doing and what you're putting out into the world. It's just gonna benefit so many people. I'm just so happy that you could be on today and chat with us and give us all insights and little tips and tools for us to think about and take in. And so thank you. Thank you for being generous and spending your time with us today.
Adam Lewis
Oh, thanks for having me on. It's been such a such a pleasure.
Katie Kay Graham
Awesome and listeners. Thank you for showing up. Sending so much love to you and your body. I will see you all next week.
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