The Art of Vibrant Living Show with Daniel Aaron - Wah: Video automatically transcribed by Sonix

The Art of Vibrant Living Show with Daniel Aaron - Wah: this mp4 video file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Daniel Aaron:
It. The. Hey, y'all. I am Daniel Aaron, and this is the art of vibrant living. I am so happy that we have Wah here with us today. And I'll say more to introduce her in a moment. And thank you to Longevity Drops, our sponsor for this show. And I'll tell you more about why I use longevity drops and what's amazing about them later. And as this is a new show, I will remind y'all new listeners, new viewers, the art of vibrant living is my opportunity to invite amazing people. And maybe sometimes I'll be on my own to share with you how you can create your life into something that is phenomenal, beyond amazing, that's vibrant, that's extraordinary, and it's something that goes beyond raw food, beyond yoga, beyond sound. It's a it's something that requires a mindset and a whole way of being in life. And if this is our first recorded show, so not live, I will go through all of the comments, though. So if you have questions for me or feel free to put them into the comments and I'll come back and respond to you. And if you got questions in general for future shows, let me know. I'm having a ball with it and I'm really grateful for y'all being here interested in creating vibrant lives. Now a mouthful, right? So to introduce I'll tell you just first my experience, which is going back a ways now, I don't know, 15, 20 years, something like that. I heard of this amazing CD and all the people in the yoga, everybody in the yoga world was talking about it. That was back in the day with when we as yoga teachers were actually using CDs. There was no such thing as a playlist. And there was this album called Shavasana Music and I remember the first time I heard it in a in a friend's class and I just completely melted and went up to the teacher afterwards and said, What was that? And then I heard and then it was only a few months later that I got to go to I don't know what it was called then a kirtan maybe, or a performance of some sort and got the experience of being with in person and hearing her music and was blown away.

Daniel Aaron:
And then a few years after that, I invited WA to come to Bali to our teacher training, and I'll stop talking soon, I promise. One of the things more that I'll say that really impressed me about you is your you obviously have a great musical acumen and at the same time you're very innovative, innovative, innovative and blending of different traditions. You know, you're a yoga practitioner and you bring that to it. You have a lot of musical training and you bring that to it. But not just from the bhakti perspective. You bring an electric side to it. You really it feels to me like you're innovating something beyond what what I've known anyone else in the, in the musical world or in the yoga music world does.

Wah:
Yeah, well, I started music when I was two and grew up in a musical family and my mother is still a professional violinist. Just talk to her. So I had a lot of musical training, but then I started yoga when I was 17. So a lot of people who are in my field, they they like to sing and they like to do meditation, but they don't always run the light through their bodies in a physical practice of yoga. So, um, a dear friend always used to say, Well, I do yoga, I do spontaneous downward facing Shavasana You may know who that is. Krishna Das I managed him for many years, so yeah, I mean, vibrant living is really what it's all about. Yoga is continually evolving and I love the space that we're in. I know you all can't see it, but you might be able to hear the birds and hear the water running, you know, You know that you're in vibrant living when there are bees around you. Butterflies, birds, when there is a cosmos that is harmonious around you. And if that's been killed off, it's unlikely that you're going to be able to find vibrant sources of food and water. So that's where we start.

Daniel Aaron:
That's a great place to start. And I am captivated by a specific line that you said there about running the light through your body or running the light through you. Will you say more what that is? I'm not sure that's familiar for everyone. Yeah, well.

Wah:
I teach with my partner, Dr. Leary, and he comes from the Chinese background. And, you know, I would be doing yoga in the week long retreat. I'd be doing yoga for maybe three days, and then the cheese starts running through people. And then I'm like, Oh, God, I have to do something that is less intense than yoga. And so, like, one of the qigong moves to pull the light through the body is like you're pulling the light up, right? And then you're allowing the other to come down. So it's just you're pulling up and then you're pulling up and the other way is then pulling the light down. And so, you know, these are meditative practices, but we started calling them alchemical meditation because it's not only that you want to have visualizations or you want to have the mantra moving through or you simply want to have that phrase may be safe, may you be happy, may you be free from harm, you know, and not just watching the thoughts, but actually, you know, all of those practices are supposed to bring some kind of alchemical change in the bloodstream. You're supposed to be able to slow down your brainwaves, so you're supposed to be able to move in activity. That's your beta wave, Then move into alpha wave, which is like, Whoa, we're moving into Shavasana and then like move into the theta wave, which is, you know, deep understanding, slow breathing, you know, which only then can lead to this kind of gamma sync where you're just like, things just synchronize and they move together. But we have to do that. And, you know, I think that these teachings are so important now because we're in this age where everything is fast, the Internet is fast, the phones are fast, and that all seems really good until people start canceling, you know, 20 minutes before a year event. Then they're like, oh, I can't come, Oh, this person can't come. And things are changing. And then it's like, then no longer feels like synchronization, then it feels like chaos. So you have to be able to turn chaos into synchronicity. And that's these teachings are just so important for doing that. I'm sure you all, like already feel that, you know, it's like you've been doing these teachings for however long and now it's being put to the test. You know, it's like, Can you really walk that talk? Can you really be okay with the diversity that we have? Even though we say we practice diversity, there's such diversity now that almost seems intolerable. And it's like, no, really? Like, can you practice diversity? Can you really practice loving kindness with different opinions?

Daniel Aaron:
Yeah. Yeah. Nicely put. The what you said reminded me of one of the injunctive moves in the yoga realm, one of the directives from Patanjali, the author of the Yoga Sutra. And by the way, since I know that we have a diverse group here, and you may you all may not know all the terms that we're saying. So I'm going to give you a little quick glossary in a moment. First, I'll give you one more term, though, and that is pratyahara. And what this term, the way it's usually translated is withdrawal of the senses. And echoing on what I was saying, we live in an age, an unprecedented age of information and it's fast and it's voluminous. There's so much that comes at us all the time. And vibrant living isn't something that you really need to learn because it's something that is inherent to us as beings, to all beings. And if we were slowed down enough, in touch with ourselves and touch with nature enough, it would be automatic. And hey, this incredible jungle of a kooky world we live in right now, that's challenging to do. So the teachings or the practices that we're talking about are ways to remember and come back to who we are. And I'll say one more thing, and then I got a question for you. Why use the actually, I used it first, the expression shavasana before. And you all may not know that expression. It's although as a yoga teacher, I find that a lot of people don't know Chaturanga, which is a really difficult pose. But as soon as I say Shavasana, they go, Oh, I know that one. And translated interestingly as corpse pose. And it's it's the also known as the relaxation pose or the integration pose where you lay on your back. So when. I was joking earlier about somebody doing spontaneous downward facing shavasana. That's laying on your face. Falling on your face. Falling on your face. So, you know, when you say more about, you know, well.

Wah:
Well, savasana is is a practice of pratyahara. You know, it's the first practice that that people learn. And it's the idea of withdrawing the senses is actually an exaggeration of sensory experience so that you experience the inner sounds, the inner feelings, the inner visions, the inner directive. And so when everything's going great, it's okay for the energy to go really fast and it's fun. You're just like, Yeah, baby, you're boom, boom, boom. And then all of a sudden something, you know, something hits. And there's some work to do around something. You had a fight with something. Something didn't go just right. You got another offer, A job offer that was miserable and isn't a match for you. And so then you're like, if you try and go fast when the energy isn't harmonious, then it doesn't feel good. So if you get injured and you continue going fast, that's called pain. And if you're in a relationship that isn't a match and you continue to move really fast, that's called, you know, emotional disturbance. And so the idea with Pratyahara is to be able to have something in your toolkit that you can just be like, I know how to do this. I know just the tool. It's not a Phillips head. And no, wait, no. What we need for this is like the flathead screwdriver or we absolutely need pliers. And so, you know, when you come to a beautiful yoga teacher training, the idea is to get a lot of tools in your toolbox so that you can use them. So, you know, when everything's going great and you're able to do all the poses and you're feeling healthy, great. And the moment that, you know, you hurt your shoulder or, you know, you start not liking your friends or maybe your marriage is is disintegrating. And then all of a sudden you're like, I'm lost. I no longer actually know who I am. They just told me that I could open and be whoever I wanted to be. And so I went and I did that. And now I'm out on a ledge thinking, Who am I and how am I going to fit back with my friends?

Wah:
Things like these. These are the kinds of things that happen when you do yoga. There are alchemical changes that happen inside you. And so then these are the poses and the tools that you can use. And so shavasana really isn't different than a nap. You know, it's a conscious nap, but it's nap time. And so if things aren't going well and you need to slow down, one thing that you can do is a ten minute nap and you can do it as a guided visualization. You can do it just by, you know, like, you know, sometimes I just take a towel and just like kind of do a turban over my head in the hotel room so that I can't hear. And I just put something over my eyes and I just put a pillow over my heart so that I'm not receiving anything. And then I just go into stillness and it's like, if I can just feel myself, it's like this tingling. And you just like when you finally let go into the universe, then you're like, Oh, and so shavasana, even by itself, even without a yoga practice, is just you relaxing into the universe and being able to have a reset. And there are many tools for pratyahara and they're, they're beautiful and they're really good to know because you need to reset, you know, when, when the energy goes off, you know, that's fine if you're going ten miles an hour. But if you're going 80 miles an hour and the energy's a little off or you blow a tire, it's very different going 80 miles an hour than it is ten. And so you're like, okay, so that's the first thing. You're here now. You're learning your first breath. You take a breath, so you go, okay. And the second thing is what's happening here? You know, that's your first reset. Now you're a professional.

Daniel Aaron:
Well, in some ways, what you're pointing to and part of what I'm hearing is all of these practices really are about being present, about getting connected to this moment. And it's it's really amazing how easy it is to get excited with the energy that's revving up and in a way go beyond the moment or beyond what's happening. So even just now, you, you know, asked our friends to take a breath. Oh, yeah, me too.

Wah:
You're my he's my friend. Yes.

Daniel Aaron:
And, you know, one of the things that reminds me of, you know, in a way, what we're doing is talking about tools or techniques or ways of remembering who you are, remembering your innate vibrancy and practices are most useful when we actually do them. So. Right. Because it's not not usually enough just to know that they exist now. And breath is a great, phenomenal example of this. Because raise your hand right now if you're breathing right. Everybody's breathing, everybody who's alive. And yet until we stop ourselves or a yoga teacher asks us or suggests it, are we breathing consciously?

Wah:
Well, but the breathing, breathing digests your food. Your whole body is is is a mechanism to digest your experiences. And so when things are going well, you breathe well. You're like, Oh, let this air so nice. Like it's just getting moist as the sun is going down and it's like, Oh, that's great. And when things are not going well, you're not breathing. It's just like, Oh, that's not a full breath. You know what I mean? You're just like, How's it going? Oh, and so you're like, okay, hold on, It's the same thing. So then you pause and you're like, okay, let me take a real breath for myself. So then you're like, okay. And so what was the thing that was, Oh, you know, so it's like, I think you already know how to do all of this. And really, when you when you do a teacher training, you're just learning, you're learning, you're relearning what you already know. And so you're just fine tuning in how to be a human being. And you already know how to do that. You know, it's not like if you don't take the yoga teacher training, then it's like, you know, you'll turn into a monkey. It's like you're human, you know? It's just you can have a more enjoyable experience and a more inclusive experience, or you can have a more elite exclusive experience and, you know, any kind of separation. Then it it leads to something that is not a feeling of oneness and oneness. Is, is is the end all goal of, of yoga. This feeling of samadhi, some means same, some means all. And so you're absolutely fine with absolutely everything. And if you're not, then you better go down a few notches to some of the other steps and get some tools out of your tool kit.

Daniel Aaron:
Yeah, nicely said. Well, and since has mentioned a couple of times the teacher training, I'll say a little bit more about that and I started leading teacher trainings about 15 years ago because I saw that there was a potential for yoga yoga practices to be more than just a physical, a physical exercise thing, which I like. And I love the I love getting a workout. And it's, you know, definitely exercise is part of living a vibrant life. And there is so much more as we're getting just a tidbit of here into what yoga can be. So the the teacher training that was referring to, she is happily going to be a guest on it, as is her partner, James. And they're going to be bringing some healing work and some sound and some music. And, you know, one of many amazing faculty that will be with us. And it's a 26 day immersion into remembering what you already know, remembering who you are. And the thing about that is, is well, with all humility, I'll say not all teacher trainings are created the same. And you know, it's great to spend 26 days focused on yoga and healing foods and sound and being an incredible community. And and we're really blessed that we get to do it at Omega Institute in upstate New York. And it's really the the weaving together of all the elements from the incredible faculty to the curriculum that works really well, to the science of the asana, the physical postures to the science of the sound, to the science of bringing a group of people together, what's known in Sanskrit as satsang. It's I just feel so blessed to be a steward of it. In some ways. I'm like the I'm like the orchestra conductor. And, you know, I get to lead a lot of it and share a lot about yoga. And I also get to say, Hey, let's bring up some more of what and here's some James and let's get Edward Clark with Terpsichore yoga. And and we've. That all together. And if you're interested, there's information there. You'll see it on this on this broadcast. And you can reach out to me if you want to learn more about it. It's May 2nd through 28, 2018. Now, switching gears, though, you started music when you were two. Yeah. And you got into yoga when you were 17. How did those merge and how are they merged for you now?

Wah:
Yeah, nothing's changed. You know, musical family. I relate to life through sound, through music. And when I came to yoga, I came in through these little cassette tapes that I heard. I there was a friend of the family that was dying of cancer. We used to go to Saint John the Divine and listen to him play the flute. And I realize now that he was putting out a meditative vibration through his flute and he just said, Just sit. Everything you need is in the music. And so I did. And it was. And when I got into yoga, then I was listening to these cassette tapes from India and I couldn't read the you know, I couldn't it's written in a language that, you know, script that wasn't English, so I didn't know. And so it was like Bob and Bob, you know, which should be Govinda Gopala, you know. And so I would just I was intrigued, like, why are they what is this longing that I'm feeling? What what is it that is coming through this music? And, you know, they say that it's union with the divine. And so you sing the names of God, they say, and they say God is within. So somehow that all circles back around to say that you're singing to your own divinity and you're singing in order to call your own divinity to come forward because you have a choice. This is a free universe. And so you can either choose to be. Uh, on a free ride. Or you can choose to be in service. You can choose to continue the family imprint, or you can choose to reach for something way higher. And so that's why you would come to Daniel's retreat or, you know, any of the wonderful retreats that are out there because you're you're saying to the universe, I can be more than what you see right now. I can be even more amazing. I can be more developed. I can be more refined. I can bring my gifts out even more. And so the sound as it comes through in the teachings of yoga is something that you do in order to call your own divinity forward. So you sing to Ganesh and you're like, May Everything that has held me back up until this present moment may be washed away, including my feelings of self loathing and how much I hated her dress yesterday and how much I hate politics and my dad telling me that I would never amount to much. Jai Ganesh. Jai Ganesh. May all that be washed away so that I can really come forward and I can really be of service. I can really shine. And so we all have these patterns within us. It's part of being on on the earth, and so it gives us a chance to rewrite those patterns.

Daniel Aaron:
Nicely said. And I wonder for you all, I know you got value out of what was shared in the content, and I'm curious if, as you are sitting with it now, if you notice how you feel and if you if you can be tapped into the way was own consciousness changed as she was speaking and the vibration that comes through? And, you know, I feel so blessed with the technology that we have these days that we can communicate this way. And somehow the technology can be a portal for frequency or vibration.

Wah:
I went to God. It's the with the big bowl, it's the big horseshoe of of mountains, the canyon.

Daniel Aaron:
The grand one, Grand.

Wah:
Canyon. No, Grand Canyon. The other one, Yellowstone. Is that what it is?

Daniel Aaron:
There is Yellowstone's great.

Wah:
I don't know. Anyway, it's where the the big cliff is. But anyway, we're on this sacred Indian land, and we, you know, climb up these cliffs that are 100ft high, and then we come back down. And my friend Eric Sloan, he says, Well, now would be a very good time for a chant, don't you think? And I was like, well, we made it back to solid ground. So we just sat at the base of these enormous cliffs and just sang, you know. So it's. We should sing. Yeah. Are you ready? Okay. Go. And Rajagopala. Jaya, Jaya, Jaya, Jaya.

Daniel Aaron:
Gopala. Jia Jia.

Wah:
La da la monohardi going. Down. Jaya, Jaya, Ramana. La la hardi going. Nadia Gita. Govinda Jaya Jaya Gopala. Jaya Jaya. Jaya Jaya. Gopala. Jaya jaya. La la la la la la la la. Going down de la. La la la. La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la. Govinda de la la la la la la la la la. Going down. Jaya, jaya going la jaya, jaya gopala. Jaya, jaya. Go Jaya jaya gopala Jaya jaya. Radha ramana reddy going down. Jaya jaya raja ram anadi. Govinda. Govinda, Jaya, jaya, Govinda, Govinda. Govinda, Jaya, Jaya. I hope you're singing along.

Daniel Aaron:
Like I said, you know, the practices that work best are the ones we actually do.

Wah:
Yeah. Everything is. Everything is simple. It's all simple. It's just like. It's like breathing. It's like singing. It's like doing a little stretch. It's like worshiping the sun. It's. It's like being able to create more space in your body. It. It's. It's. It's just living a magnificent life. That's. And you can you can all those things that are preventing you or challenging you and saying, no, this isn't going to work out. No, I can't do it. No, the dates don't work. No, my friends aren't right. Like, all the reasons that you can't do it are false. Everything that brings you into separation is false. And everything that brings you into oneness. Everything that brings you into inclusion. Every time you say yes, you're you're honoring the oneness of the universe. So it's, it's it's easy. And it's lovely to be in the company of other people who are opening to their highest version. And if you're not, you're always creating the highest version. So it's never it's not good enough that you did all your your learning last year. Now you have to come and you have to do another training. You have to do another reset because the world has evolved, the world or evolved and it needs your help.

Daniel Aaron:
And that's. Yeah, I'm glad you said that because you can have an extraordinary life. You can and it can be easy. And as you create it, it's a gift to others because it reminds others what is possible. You become part of the solution rather than part of the problem. And two things come to mind. One of my first yoga teachers said this to me at a beginning of a teacher training. He said, Be careful. Yoga will ruin your life. And you know, what he meant is it will change things. And if you step on to the yoga path, it's like Neo in the Matrix, choosing to eat the red pill, you know, you're going to things are going to change and some things are going to fall away. What the life that gets ruined is the life that didn't work or the pain or the suffering. And the other thing that it reminds me of is if you want an extraordinary life, if you want a vibrant life, then just like I said, the training never ends. There's always more learning. And that's what's beautiful about breath and courses and trainings and being with company that is interested in evolving and dedicated to it is that keeps us growing because life keeps changing. That's the way it is. You know, in a few moments the sun is gone and there'll be another day and things just keep changing. And the question is, are we going to change with it? And we don't have to. But if we don't, it hurts. If we do, it feels awesome.

Wah:
Yeah, well, the we always I always say that yoga is a path of self discovery, of self awareness, self realization. And the premise of yoga is that the seed already knows what it will become. And so my thought on all of it, this is that you you don't need to to learn. You just need to come together in the company of other people who are doing it. Come together with people who are allowing their lives to unfold. And that naturally happens around people who come together to practice yoga or to do chanting or meditation. So it's like this you just every once in a while you should just reset so that you can be bigger and wider and more brilliant than you were before. And so, you know, it's it's not like you need to learn something new or maybe you will. Maybe you'll learn like a few Sanskrit terms for some yoga poses or, you know, maybe you'll learn the words to some chants. But it's it's more about allowing yourself to be bigger, brighter, more amazing. And to really step into your life. This is a unique opportunity that is right now, you know, there's only there's only right now.

Daniel Aaron:
Yeah. Every moment is possible. We get to choose. On that note, I will pause to say thank you to our sponsor, Longevity Drops. And you know what that's all about? Longevity Drops is herbal medicine concentrated reminders of nature. And when we ingest them in those drops, you know, the substances like chaga and cordyceps and cistanche, what that does is remind us who we are. It connects us back to nature. And I love them because it's just, you know, a few drops brings me back in touch with who I am. And, you know, it's all natural. The question in some ways is just are we going to get back to our nature or how do we choose? When do we choose to get back? To our nature and the beauty.

Wah:
I'll just interject that the beauty of those substances is that we have a lot of foods that we eat from the ocean and we have a lot of foods that we eat from the earth. There are very few substances that we get from the trees except for, you know, fruit and so chaga cordyceps some of these substances that are in these drops, then these are the food or the essences that are developed by the trees. So, you know, this is putting putting something really special in your immune system arsenal. There apparently are a few missing pieces that the earth and the ocean can't supply, that the trees can supply. And that includes antioxidants and many other things that are used to combat cancer and autoimmune deficiencies and just toxicity of being alive in an imbalanced natural setting.

Daniel Aaron:
Yeah, well said. And I'll I'll tip my hat to David Wolf, One of the things that I loved about David when we first got to be pals and work together is his commitment to quality and to making things really as good as they can get. And that's well evidenced in the longevity drops. And that's something, I guess, that he and I share. And part of why I invited him to be faculty on the teacher training, too. So again, our teacher training, vibrant living, yoga teacher training, May 2nd through 28. If you're not into being a yoga teacher, perfect, you're probably even a better candidate. If you just want to transform, have fun, go deeper into these practices. Awesome. You may find out later on that you actually become a teacher. Anyway, it's interesting how that can happen and if you're wanting to go a little bit smaller for days, the radiant life activation is May 2nd through six. Also at Omega Institute, and you can get all the info for that here. And since the the light is getting to that sweet point and my daughter is starting to beckon us toward dinner, perhaps we shall conclude. What? What haven't I asked you? Or what else would you like to share? Wow.

Wah:
You're amazing. Whoever you are out there, you're amazing. Don't let anyone tell you different.

Daniel Aaron:
And what happened? As soon as she said that, in your mind, did you did you say, Yeah, I am. That's right. I'm it. Or did your mind go? Yeah, not really an either way is okay the former the first one, though, is closer to the truth and feels a lot better. And I happen to greatly concur with Wah on that. Part of why I feel so blessed to to teach and be able to share is because the people that that tune in, the people that come are, you know, with a dedication to creating vibrant lives are the solution on the planet. They're uplifting us all.

Wah:
So you'll meet wonderful people, too. You know, Danielle, Danielle has all the people from Bali and Japan, and it'll be a very diverse group of people, be very international. It'll be wonderful community of people that will enrich your life greatly. So if you haven't signed up yet, you definitely should. We're like so psyched about it. Yeah. So hope to see you there.

Daniel Aaron:
And thank you for taking time and being with us today and for being such a conductor of light yourself in the world and sharing with us. Namaste and y'all. Thanks for tuning in. Thanks for being interested in Activated in a vibrant Life. I'm Daniel Aaron. This has been the art of vibrant living, and we'll see you soon.

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