Does freedom equal anxiety?

I’ve always wondered about this, as lately I have been observing what people say about Meditation or floating in a float tank. People truly believe that this is a luxury for the select few, it is not, EVERY person has the right to get to know themselves, and deal with those inner demons with no judgement, fill themselves with love and compassion.

But we are so separate from our true-self. We don’t truly know our purpose here, and that perhaps the reason to be here is to just “be”.

“People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own soul.” – Carl Jung

Distractions are things that we deal with everyday, some good and some bad, but if we spent some time in a state of contemplation, where our thoughts are not suppressed, we could start to start unlocking the illusion of being separate to this earth, and every living thing. I know some people who read this will be thinking “Dam man this is some straight up hippy bullshit!” this is where I acknowledge your path, and I show you compassion for your decision. I’m not writing this to be an authoritative figure to change you. I am just stating there is a way out of the vicious circle of the ego’s manifestations, through practicing meditation and mindfulness. Our ego is fantastic for making excuses not to do it, “I don’t have time to do this, I’ve got shit to do!”

I only seem to see other beings send hate towards other beings that have made decisions that don’t “fit” into their belief systems. If time was spent on the inner demons of that person, empathy would show that we are all dealing with the same separation from our ego and being. Fighting by protesting something does bring awareness, but does it actually help anything? Not usually, it is simply fighting fire with fire. If we had empathy for the people who are seen to do “wrong” we would understand that we all have these crazy thoughts that are purely made up and are an illusion. It is when we react to these thoughts that problems occur. Protesting is another form of ego trickery, convincing us that we are right and that our opinion is right and we know better than you. How does hate cure hate? It does not.

“Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darkness of other people.” Carl Gustov Jung

Becoming conscious of our thoughts and emotions is absolute key to develop empathy for others. Just remember compassion and kindness is something you should practise daily, it will benefit you greatly. We all can’t escape pain, so we shouldn’t try to avoid pain, just learn to be still, calm the “thinker”.

Just be you, right here and right now.

Much love JKS

Kotte Aguilar – the journey of becoming a yoga teacher.

Photo by Thomas Brydon*

Kotte Aguilar is from Santiago, Chile and she has resided in Christchurch, New Zealand for the last 6 years. She is incredibly passionate about Yoga, and loves to learn from as many people as she can on her journey. Kotte is 25 years old and can be seen spontaneously doing headstands in random places while socializing, she lives and breathes Yoga. Her passion for Yoga definitely shines through, she has brought Yoga to numerous musical festivals in the South Island of New Zealand, showing that you don’t always need a Yoga matt to enjoy the teachings.

Kotte’s main interests involve going to the beach, doing absolutely nothing or practicing Yoga whenever she can.

I asked Kotte what lessons she has had from the people she has taught in classes, she told me that just being a part of watching people become stronger mentally and physically, is a very powerful experience. Some days people would be struggling but then some days people soar way above what they even expected, it’s important to notice that everyday is different, you’re not always going to be in the same state of mind as everything is always changing.

Photo by Thomas Brydon*

I asked Kotte what she thought of the current popularity of Yoga. She then told me that she really wants everyone to try Yoga at least once in their life, but she feels incredibly uncomfortable with the image advertising is putting across, “6 pack abs”, “Sexy Yoga pants”, “Fancy Yoga mats” and majority of fit looking people on advertisements. She believes all of this is missing the point of Yoga. You don’t have to be in incredible shape to do Yoga. Yoga is the practise of living in the “Now” becoming one with the eternal Now.

Power vinyasa Yoga is Kotte’s favorite to teach but she also adds elements of yin as well. She is always attending classes to up-skill and learn new things.

Where Kotte started her Journey…

In April 2014 she flew to Wellington, New Zealand, where she studied with “Power Living” where she also spend time in Bali learning power Vinyasa Yoga. She has had to go back to Wellington multiple times for courses to keep up to date. Everything was very flexible so she could also work at the same time so she could afford to do it.

Photo by Thomas Brydon*

Kotte’s teaching style..

“I like to let the student know that at the end of the day, they can be their own teachers, by really listening to their body, learning when to stop pushing it and when to push it. Patience is the biggest part of Yoga, you cannot run if you have not learnt to walk”.

Photo by Thomas Brydon*

Mental benefits from Yoga..

“Yoga has shown me that everything around me is beautiful, gone are the days of not respecting myself. It has taught me to not see myself and others through judgement, it has made me stronger and wiser mentally. There is nothing like achieving a posture or just finishing a class!”

Where can you find Kotte teaching?!

I’m pretty excited for Kotte as her teachings are in demand, and she has just begun at Axis where she is providing her class in Power Vinyasa Yoga.

Please take the time if you’re in Christchurch to go get amongst one of her classes!

Share with friends!

*Photo from Thomas Brydon check out his Facebook page here, also check out his other work on his website.

Much love JKS

The Psychedelic State achieved by floatation tank?!

Some people state, in the first few floats many people get very positive mental and physical benefits. These benefits can be seen here.

As I continued to tear layer upon layer, deeper and deeper into meditation in the tank, I was able to reach the feeling of ego-death, without the use of psychedelic drugs. I have indeed experimented with LSD and Mescaline, which have definitely changed my view on the world and how it works. I was able to analyze the patterns that were stunting my spiritual and physical growth, and gently letting them go with positive self-hypnosis.

Positivity flooded my head and many visual colours seemed to swirl around in many shapes and forms. At one stage I had a vision of looking at myself dissolving, a truly profound experience filled with love and compassion. This is the deepest I have ever gone in meditation and I owe it to the float tank, which prevents all distractions from the outer world.

I had some pretty powerful memories of my childhood come up which also led me to the lessons my parents have given me, it’s almost like my parents were chosen for me to learn from. I was in essence trying to shatter previous belief systems and truly dig deep to feel comfortable in my own skin. I felt an overwhelming connection to all beings, I can see the cycles and programs that people are utilizing in their mind, the majority of it is fear based.

We must learn to open our hearts and give love and compassion to all beings, because we all deserve liberation from the tricks our mind plays on us.

Much love JKS

Forgiveness, why should you forgive?

Do we live in a world that holds onto every grudge possible?

Is this the general direction our kind is taking?

It’s scary to think that we are constantly creating pathways of hatred, and not of positivity and resolution. The worst thing is that, we do not realize it,we are so unconscious to the theme.

I know I have been taking extra time to forgive people, I don’t want to carry a ball and chain around mentally, especially when we know that life is impermanent. We have to realize that you use so much energy, disliking someone for sometimes comedic reasons. Of course there are some severe circumstances that cause us to suppress thoughts and avoid situations, but you cannot continue like this, compassion is the key, and kindness, even of it confuses the other person. Forgiveness is the only way to release these intrinsic thought patterns.

I myself never had a great relationship with my father, but by finally forgiving him and realizing that he was in an incredibly tough place mentally, stress being a strong component. The feeling was a huge weight off my shoulders, and I carried it through till I was 30, that’s some serious suppression.

Always think of your parents as a lesson in “what” to do and what “not” to do, they are here to guide us but make sure you find your parents patterns also, analyzing life decisions they made and how they dealt with them. Maybe the way you react to things is similar? Always question these things.

Try your best to forgive, you will feel a massive relief if you do, this goes for people who have passed in this lifetime, never hold grudges, just let go. Be the observer of your thoughts and actions, in turn you will become aware. Become aware!

Much love JKS

Wandering Victoria; Featuring Tim Hortons, Gorge and Fishermans Wharf.

Gorge West (Victoria), my guitar spot.

We had an awesome day for it to venture around, fantastic weather and amazing company!

Alana and I decided to go on a mission and see a bit more of James Bay and also the Cook Street village area. We live right by the gorge and it’s an impressive sight for sure, it’s a great place to sit down with my acoustic and improve.

Tim Hortons

We thought if we were gonna get some fish and chips at the fisherman’s wharf we better stimulate some bile by smashing some black coffee… and of course some donuts. Tim Hortons is a place people need to go to when you visit Canada, it has an awesome range of food (although definitely not healthy), it’s a great place to experience. The coffee is tasty and the donuts are insane!

That’s my huge coffee, gotta love the Timbits with a great variety of their larger donuts.

Those Timbits are pretty damn tasty, good to have sparingly of course (once a month haha)

They have a selection of 10, 20 and 50 packs of mini tasters. You can select what you want or go random like I did.

I really do recommend going for the random option, as you get a good idea of what the larger donuts are like before you buy it.

The Gorge Waterway

Gorge waterway has the area of 54.5ha.

We now live near the Gorge which has the Craigflower Creek, Colquitz River, Hospital Creek, Gorge Creek (NB: Cecelia Creek is considered part of Victoria Harbour watershed) feeding into it. Young salmon live in the Gorge eelgrass meadows, and await to spawn going up creeks or out to sea. Salmon here on the west coast is so tasty, never had anything like it. It is a truly amazing area which is very meditative, seeing such an insane amount of water shifting around with crazy tidal forces.

Cherry blossoms in February?

Fishermans Wharf

Fishermans Wharf, Moorage for fishing boats, restaurants and homes.

Fishermans wharf is an awesome place just down from Victorias downtown. Seals and Otters are fed here which is super fun.

This ladies GoPro nearly got taken haha

Fishermans wharf is a place local fisherman since the 1900’s have fished from, some also lived in-house on the water. Of course many of these people were very eccentric for sure!. This place has an incredible vibe, I’ve always been in love with being near water though.

Finally sun peering through

Seal beaching out on his back.

Some expensive boats here

Here is a wee jam I had on the wharf, I hope you enjoy!

I have also had the pleasure of having an amazing travel companion, lover and best friend with me, it’s great to share something so awesome with another person!

Much love JKS

Sources:

Fishermans Wharf official website: http://fishermanswharfvictoria.com/page/index

Capitol Regional District website: https://www.crd.bc.ca/education/our-environment/harbours/gorge-waterway

The Journey of Equilibrium.

When i first arrived in Canada, I had some serious home-sickness. This in turn caused a lot of my previous problems to arise automatically (Unconsciously). I was self sabotaging myself into getting a job, I was fighting the feeling of being away from home.

This made me damn certain that I had identified with the place I had grown up in, far too much, and when the earthquakes happened I was shaken so much that i could not find an equilibrium, thought after thought I would give my thoughts absolute power over me.

Of course this was frightening to me, I have always been an outgoing person, never having issues being social or part of a social situation. I found myself hiding away, trying to escape having to talk to people. I was on lockdown and I couldn’t find the key. Losing your confidence is an incredibly unsettling thing, you just think everything is too hard and you cannot achieve your dreams.

A year ago I went to a Vipassana retreat to learn the art of meditation, to somehow find liberation from my thoughts that were spiralling out of control, stopping me from achieving inner calm. We had 10 days of meditating 6 plus hours per day. We woke up at 4am each day and became the silent watchers of our mind. No talking or eye contact with anyone was weird at first but it made complete sense, this meant that you were meditating consistently because you had no distractions, nothing physical and no reading, no journaling no nothing. People say to me “I would go absolutely insane if I didn’t talk to someone in 10 days!” well it’s surprisingly easy, you don’t have that social awkwardness of trying to get to know someone because you don’t have too, you’re there to learn the depths of your mind and learn how to not react to such pointless thoughts. I became the silent watcher of my thoughts, allowing each an every thought to pass through my mind without reacting to the thought, if it was a nice feeling I didn’t crave, if it was a bad feeling I didn’t buy into it and go down that path. I just sat there and became myself, not this “identity” I was given at birth.

I have used this technique of meditation and the float tank to help me through one of the toughest moments in my life. It made me realize it doesn’t matter where you live, it’s all about how your mind is functioning, people move to other places and find that it’s better for a short time and then the mind goes back to the same patterns, self sabotage was definitely one for me. I now truly know that anything can be achieved and anything is possible. The limitations of the “ego” are endless, meditation forces you to see how crazy and pointless one’s internal chatter can be. Talking you out of trying to do something that will clearly aid in your evolution.

In conclusion, I have not felt so content in years, so many thoughts that were locking me into patterns of suffering are now not given the power, that they require to control my life. I finally feel free to do whatever I want, and not just follow what others are doing in life but to truly make this life my own experience, because I am gonna always be stuck with me, so I might as well water my garden with meditation.

If you have become so aware of your own patterns, you can too, do something about it, we don’t all have to suffer, our mind creates suffering but it’s how you deal with it that matters. Train your mind like you would train your muscles in the gym, create strength not rigidity of mind. Flow like water, allow change to happen naturally, don’t fight things that you cannot change.

I have now become a volunteer at the Floathouse in Victoria. I get to float once per week and really make sure I am dealing with every thought instead of suppressing everything. I’m in such a good place, and that good place is the equilibrium of my mind. I want to thank Erik from the Floathouse for this opportunity!

P.S

I am not implying that I have achieved complete equilibrium, I am merely on the path of recognizing the minds tricks, and making steps to eradicate the pattern that have held me back for so long!

Here is my first float experience!

Benefits of Floating.

Much love JKS

3 things I really enjoy about Victoria, Canada.

Waterfront

I have been in Canada since September 2014, This place keeps surprising me each an every time I go into downtown or even the suburbs. People are overwhelmingly friendly and always happy to help. Where I am currently living (Victoria on Vancouver Island) it is known to be a place where the old come to retire, the young come to study at its many universities, and the newly wedded couples come to enjoy. Seriously different to Vancouver as it’s definitely a lot more relaxed (Restaurants close early compared to Vancouver), it definitely caters to these populations of people.

Ok so here are 3 things I really enjoy so far about Victoria.

1. People

The people here are absolutely lovely, they may give you shit because you sound “funny” but they are always hospitable, and actually give a shit how your day is going. Being on the “island” has a really different feel to it compared with Vancouver, it is definitely somewhere nice to live and it’s technically a rainforest, so there is plenty of oxygen around. Vancouver I found to be sterile and the people were definitely less hospitable, but thats my opinion.

2. Food

There are countless great restaurants here, they serve plenty of seafood (being west coast based) and they are awesome at Italian, Indian and Japanese. So many ranges here to choose from and all done so well. The Pizza in North America is absolutely delicious, and super cheap which is dangerous. Local produce can be found easily and with it’s own Chinatown you can get some great ideas for your own cooking. I have to mention the Canadian thing, “Poutine” , it is basically potato fries covered in gravy and cheese curds. Seriously one of the best things to eat after a few beers!

3. Close Proximity to Washington State

Whenever you feel the urge to take the Clipper (Ferry) down to Seattle that can be done, especially great for when you want to go see some concerts, as Seattle gets an amazing range of artists visiting all the time. In fact I’m going to see Faith No More in Vancouver and in Seattle, and all it takes is a ferry!

I could indeed make a list longer than this, but this is a good start as to get an idea of what it’s like here!

Check out some photos of Victoria in this post.

Much Love JKS

Overhead press: Why it’s good for your shoulder stability

I have always found the Barbell Overhead Press to benefit my shoulders greatly, when paired with face-pulls and single arm rows I seem to get most benefit. Here is a fantastic tutorial on the Overhead press.

Sometimes benching all the time can force that pectoralis minor to tighten up, pulling your humerus out of position and causing impingements, I haven’t had this issue but I have seen clients have these issues right off the bat. Quite a few people say they use dumbbells which is also a great way to build stabilizers if the shoulder, but you just can’t get the same stimulus as pressing a barbell, as more weight can be loaded.

Of course it is important to have good shoulder mechanics to start with, otherwise if your humerus is not in the right position you can just cause more pain than good. I definitely think about the rear deltoids also, which do get neglected during the press. The best way to combat this is use the behind the neck press, seated or standing and also face-pulls.

Here is a good tutorial on face-pulls as behind the neck press involves a great amount of mobility to achieve.

The Kettlebell Windmill definitely would be my choice for prehab work to prevent injury, as it is a fantastic exercise to stabilize the shoulder. Here is Steve Cotter the legend himself explaining how to do it.

I hope this has helped you understand the benefits of pressing!

Here is a link to a pressing workout I have done.

Please share on Twitter and Facebook!

Coach JKS

Mental health; An inspiring story of Schizophrenia recovery.

I stumbled across this fantastic talk, on Eleanor Longden’s experience with schizophrenia.

“Schizophrenia is a brain disorder that affects the way a person acts, thinks, and sees the world. People with schizophrenia have an altered perception of reality, often a significant loss of contact with reality. They may see or hear things that don’t exist, speak in strange or confusing ways, believe that others are trying to harm them, or feel like they’re being constantly watched. With such a blurred line between the real and the imaginary, schizophrenia makes it difficult—even frightening—to negotiate the activities of daily life. In response, people with schizophrenia may withdraw from the outside world or act out in confusion and fear”. – Helpguide.org

This talk gives a incredible, first hand account of what someone goes through, with this condition. Eleanor mentions that “awareness and compassion” were the best tools to use to rationalize the thought patterns, that would go on in her head.

How common is it?

Schizophrenia is normally deemed to be a “rare” occurrence, it actually is widely accepted to be 1 in every 100. So a lot more common than one might think.

What causes Schizophrenia?

Genetics do play a part, with 1% of the public having the chance of developing the disorder, 10% chance if you have an immediate first-degree relative (Parent or sibling). Environmental factors seem to be the trigger of these genes, stressful situations such as physical or sexual abuse as children can trigger this disorder.

This TED talk definitely shows that you can live with a condition and achieve something huge. Eleanor achieved a High Degree in Psychology and also the highest Masters.

Check out her recommendations on books and articles on the topic to become informed.

Sources:

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/schizophrenia/index.shtml

http://www.schizophrenia.ca/learn_more_about_schizophrenia.php

Should you cut your hair? I say Yes.

One of the most interesting things about our fascination with hair, is the fact that it grows back, yet we still cling to this image of ourselves. Or this idea that we are currently moulding into a certain “style”.

Over the years I have had many different styles of hair. I’ve had it long, short, spiky and dreaded. What I have found most interesting was long hair. We definitely cling because it takes time to grow, but the problem with this is that we become attached, to what other people think of our hair and our “image” it portrays.

I’ve always been a Metalhead, I play in a thrash metal band, so having long hair was something I was conditioned to have. It looked awesome on stage and it was clearly obvious that I was a Metalhead. I had dreads to start with and I thought they looked cool and low maintenance. I ended up having them for 4 years because I couldn’t cut them. I was scared others wouldn’t like me without my hair, I had created a “need” to have this hair because I felt accepted, and of course it looked good on stage. All such an ego trick. The experience of cutting my dreads was surreal, it felt like I was severing something super important to me (Similar to ego-death when LSD is taken or deep meditative states), yet I know now that it was an illusion. I felt like a completely different person when it came off, once again a trick, I was always the same person, only I had given my image a strong importance in my mind so I could integrate into the scene.

So instead of learning from this experience, I ended up growing long hair once again, this time I did not dread it. I looked even more “badass“, it was long and incredibly straight, I was set up for the same struggle another 4 years down the track. Once again I struggled with cutting it all off again due to the same reasons. People truly struggle with self image, and when you are accepted you cling on to that style, I think all of this comes from previous conditioning (bullying is a massive part). This time when I cut my hair I felt liberated. It was like I was trapped in a vicious circle with my ego. Thinking that I was only accepted for my image and my so called “Status” as a lead guitar player, I finally broke free from this paradigm of thinking. Cue the cheesy saying of “It doesn’t matter how you look it’s your true essence that people feel”, it is indeed correct.

Some people portray an image of being Punk, Tattooed, New age Hippy or Rastafarian but really is that what we really are? Is that our true essence, or are we following a trend of whats cool. I remember when it was cool to be a witch, a goth or someone with a shaved head (Although some people shave their heads for balding reasons also) is it just a change in trend and social conditioning, that creates the need to be something other than our true essence?

It is indeed a great feeling breaking free from something that we perceive as to identify us in society. Even if it’s something as small as cutting your hair, or changing your image. The same sort of thing can be said about facial hair, I always question my current goals of having a beard and thinking “I should shave this thing off I know it could grow back!” Before I become too attached to it and go through the same cycle that I have before. I always suggest females to give it a go also! You never know how you might look with short hair!

Thanks for reading and be sure to follow me on Twitter and on Facebook.

Visit my website here.

Much love JKS