Mindfulness Mode

Aaron Watson is a champion of Ultimate Frisbee and he competes in disc golf, Disc Dog (also known as Frisbee Dog), and other flying disc competitions. He is also a coach of Ultimate Frisbee, coaching his team to the championship game of the American Ultimate Disc League, also known as AUDL.  At only 24 years old, Aaron is also creator and host of the popular podcast, Going Deep with Aaron Watson, where he talks with a wide array of people about their  passions, fears and problems.

Contact Info

• Twitter: @AaronWatson59
• Podcast: Going Deep With Aaron Watson

Most Influential Person

• My coach, Nick Kacznarek from the University of Pittsburgh

Effect on Emotions

• Emotional regulation and trying to be that cold-blooded warrior, the player who has ice in their veins and isn't fazed by a big crowd of bright lights.

Thoughts on Breathing

• Taking slow, deep breaths, whether I'm stressed out, something goes wrong, something falls apart. Taking the deep breaths to get some perspective on the challenges I'm facing, but also just to help regulate my own emotions and get back to a more rational, focused state.

Suggested Resources

• Book: The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
• App: The Pomodoro App

Advice for Newbie

I would challenge them to take six great breaths every single day. What that means to me is, five seconds in through your nose, five seconds out. If you take six great breaths of ten seconds each, that's one minute out of your day.

Deborah Williams is a money coach, accountant and podcaster committed to helping others where money meets mindset. She has a way of leading her clients to a place of both prosperity and joy. Deborah grew up in a home with addiction and later married a man who was an alcoholic. In her 30’s she realized how dysfunctional her life really was and she decided to make some changes. Deborah has terrific insight into many aspects of life and mindfulness is one of them.

Contact Info

• Website: www.FinancialKarmaCoach.com
  
• Facebook Group: Financial Karma
• Podcast: Financial Karma

Most Influential Person

Joe Somodi (Deb's Meditation Coach)

Effect on Emotions

• Mindfulness has allowed me to stop being depressed and feeling sorry for myself and find the joy in my daily life.

Thoughts on Breathing

• Breathing is the best way for you to stop and be mindful, in my book. You are about to do something that you are later, going to wish you didn't do. And when you stop and take that deep breath, it gives you a chance to collect your thoughts and be mindful of how this could play out if you don't handle it the way you should or walk away when the time is necessary.

Suggested Resources

• Book: The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron
  
• Book: The Prosperous Heart: Creating A Life of Enough by Julia Cameron
  
• App: Calm

Advice for Newbie

As Productivity Leader Nick Snapp would say, You have to start small, you have to start in manageable bites of everything you're going to do because you will get things accomplished. You have to really remind yourself, be mindful of the need to have patience with yourself and be kind to yourself while you go through these things. This is hard work, but it's really worth it work.

Returning to school after summer vacation. Depending on where you are, some schools are already back in class; in our area the big day is right after labour day, this year September 6^th.

I remember getting new clothes for school, and not wanting to wear them. That seems strange to say, now that I’m remembering back, but there was this thing, that when any of the guys in my class went to school wearing new clothes, and I mean new clothes of any kind, you’d get teased. Teasing that would go on and on all day, making remarks, poking at the person. Really, it was closer to bullying that teasing. I mean, it seems silly & childish now that I think of it, after all, we were in 7^th or 8^th grade as I remember.

 

One day I was wearing something new and a lean, wiry kid, I’ll just call him Lenny, he started picking on me and centering me out. I remember feeling this sudden surge of anger, just instantly welling in the back of my neck. Before I knew what happened, I punched him, one quick, powerful, solid punch right to the side of his face. What seemed to be a split second later, he fired back, a solid, well planted hit to a target just below my left eye.

 

We were sitting in the office before I knew what happened and we both had incredible shiners that were swelling up by the moment.  The school Principal was a fairly tall, rounded guy with a powerful, booming voice. I remember how he walked; he carried himself like his was king of the universe. He used BryleCream in his hair and parted it with a vertical part straight down the back of his head.

 

He made us sweat for about 20 minutes. He left us sitting there in his office where he could watch us through his famous 2-way mirror.  When he came in, I’m sure we were both sweating bullets.

 

He wanted to know everything that happened, why I slugged the guy, why he punched me back. And when we finished our stories, he stood up, turned around and took something off a hook on the wall on the other side of the room. It had been hanging there the whole time, with a collection of several others; his strap collection.

 

“Which strap do you think I should use”, he asked us, as though he was really going to give us the choice.

 

He said, “I’ve never had to show either one of you guys the strap before, but this is the kind of behavior that earns kids the strap around here.”

 

We both tried to remain stoic and I honestly think the two of us bonded just a bit as a result of this experience. The threat of the strap turned out to be just a warning, we paid for the incident by having to nurse our shiners for a couple of weeks before healing up.

 

Now if I had understood what it meant to be mindful back then, I’m pretty sure I never would have punched the kid in the face. I mean, I would have realized that he was just looking for a reaction.

 

Wouldn’t life be great if you could be that confident, that you were always in control of your emotions.

 

As far as I can remember, nobody in my class ever teased anybody about new clothes after that. No one could believe that Bruce Langford punched another kid and gave him a black eye.

 

Well, I’m not proud of it. I wouldn’t want my son to know, oh wait, since he’s my editor, he’s apt to come across this recording. Well, I’m being vulnerable and just telling an incident that probably taught me something. I mean in a way I wish I could somehow erase this from the history books, but in another way, well, that was a different time, and what happened, happened. I think that is mindfulness too.

 

Today marks the end of my Weekends With Bruce series. Did you enjoy these weekend episodes, with the different style, a contrast to my regular interviews?

Mindful Tribe, I’m always grateful for your feedback, your emails, your comments on what you like and what you don’t like. It would be great if you took a minute and send me an email with your feedback on the Weekend Shows.

 

Depending on your comments, maybe I’ll do some special bonus episodes or … who knows what. Here’s a shoutout to you Inga, I know you’re a faithful listener and I appreciate your feedback.

So, till next time, Mindful Tribe, take what we ‘ve learned today and use it to reach new heights of calm, focus and happiness. Stay In The Mode!

Gary Leland is an online legend. He started his first online store in 1996 and started podcasting in 2004. He is passionate about fastpitch softball, and sports in general. He sells softball related merchandise online and has a podcast called The Gary Leland Show where he interviews interesting guests about business and marketing. Gary has his feet planted firmly on the ground and after meeting him in person at Podcast Movement 2016 in Chicago, I got the feeling he has a real sense of mindfulness, even if he might use other words to describe it.

Contact Info

• Company: www.Lelands.org
  
• Podcast: GaryLelandShow.com

Most Influential Person

• My mother. She taught me when something was over it was time to move on. She taught me not to hang on to stuff.

Effect on Emotions

• I don't hold a lot of emotions because of it. (Mindfulness). I don't hold a lot of pain, or being upset, or being mad. I pretty much live my live without any of those strong emotions. I don't dislike anybody. I had somebody embezzle $385,000. from me a few years ago and I don't hold any animosity to them.

[show-notes-emotions]

Thoughts on Breathing

• I'm not into breathing and don't know much about it. I sure it's great. Everybody that I heard talk about it told me it does wonders. Maybe I need to investigate it. At the moment I don't do any kind of breathing or meditation or anything like that. I just enjoy life.

[show-notes-breathing]

Suggested Resources

• Book: No books to recommend.
• App: Most of my apps are strictly for business.

[show-notes-resources]

Advice for Newbie

I only do things 80% of the way, and then I'm ready to go on to something else. I don't sit there and dwell on getting it to 100%. I really feel like 80% is good enough and all you have to be is good enough. You don't have to be perfect, you just have to be good enough. While that other person's working on that last 20%, I've done two 80's and I'm half way through with my third 80. The other 20 can happen over time. These are the refinements.

Thank You Bonus:

As a thank you for listening, download your free copy of my book, Cracking The Success Code. I teamed up with Brian Tracy, along with some other entrepreneurs to create the best-selling book called Cracking The Success Code: The World's Leading Experts Reveal Their Top Secrets To Help You Crack The Code For Optimum Health, Wealth and Success. Enter your name and email and you'll have your book downloaded in no time. Enjoy the book, Mindful Tribe.

Dave Sanderson was the last passenger to leave the plane which landed on the Hudson River in January 2009, the story being featured in the upcoming film, Sully, directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Tom Hanks. Since that incident, Dave has built a career as a motivational speaker, mentor and author. In his presentations, he shares The 12 Pillars of Resourcefulness, precepts that enabled him to become a top producer in some of the largest sales organizations in the world and ultimately enabled him to survive the plane crash. In his new book, Moments Matter, Dave discusses lessons learned from the Miracle on the Hudson and how to take a potentially tragic experience and turn it into an opportunity to survive and thrive.

Contact Info

• Facebook: davesandersonspeaks
• LinkedIn:  david sanderson
• Twitter: @davesanderson2
• Website: davesandersonspeaks.com
  
• Blog: davesandersonspeaks.com/moments-matter-blog
  
• Email: dave@davesandersonspeaks.com

Most Influential Person

• Bill, my first mentor

Effect on Emotions

• You know, when I go into a mindful, centered state, I'm in a peaceful situation and I'm less stressed, I focus, I have less anxiety. I focus on other people and I think that's the big thing, I get out of myself. When I'm in a mindful state I'm more resourceful and focus on other people. I think that's where I serve at the highest level.

Thoughts on Breathing

• Well, I don't breathe as often in the ways I used to breathe and I need to get back to that. Breathing to me, I would get down on the ground and do shallow breaths and deep breaths and all of a sudden oxygen gets into your body and all of a sudden your mind expands so I need to do more of that. I was doing that for quite a while and I think that's a great way to get centered. Before I go on stage, I do take that deep final breath.

Suggested Resources

• Books: Moments Matter by Dave Sanderson
  
• Brace for Impact by Dave Sanderson
• The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy - What the Cycles of History Tell Us About America's Next Rendezvous with Destiny

Advice for Newbie

I would say that for someone who is looking to get more mindful and more centered in their life, focus on something else other than yourself. Focus on your family, focus on the bigger picture because one thing you realize when you go through a plane crash is, and I said this in an interview when I did a movie premiere, that no one really cared if anyone was white, black, Hispanic, gay, lesbian, transsexual. No one judged anybody else so I would say at that point everybody got centered into themselves to be able to get that outcome, so I would say I recommend to somebody, be less judgemental, focus on the bigger picture, focus on something outside yourself where you can serve and add value instead of focusing on what's in it for me.

Bonus

Thanks for listening, Mindful Tribe. Download Bruce Langford's 5 Free Guided Medications called Fine Tune Your Focus here: www.mindfulnessmode.com/focus

Coloring to relieve stress and get focused. That's our topic today and I'm happy to have Zephan Blaxberg back on the show. Zeph was a guest on episode 4 when he talked about his life journey and a trauma that changed the course of his life. He has a terrific podcast called The Year of Purpose and he's just recently published a coloring book called GreatFull: Mandala Coloring Book and Journal.

Zephan is a man of action and has published two books in the past year besides continuing his iTunes #1 Podcast, The Year of Purpose and traveling as a travel hacker on more than 25 flights over the past 16 months.

Zephan's other book is called "Life Re-Scripted: Find Your Purpose and Design Your Dream Life Before The Curtains Close".

Guest:

• Zephan Blaxburg
• Featured in Mindfulness Mode Episode 004 Zephan Blaxberg: From Youth Trauma to Video Master Entrepreneur
  
• Instagram: ZephanMoses

Quotes:

• Coloring takes us back to our childhood roots. Zephan Blaxberg
• I love journaling in the morning each and every day. Zephan Blaxberg
• No one had combined the idea of journaling with the stress relieving features of adult coloring. Zephan Blaxberg
• Color, doodle and journal all in one place with my new book, GreatFull. Zephan Blaxberg
• If you look at the traumas we've gone through, typically we have to take ourselves back to our roots and back to our inner child and have that conversation with our younger self. Zephan Blaxberg

Books:

• GreatFull: Mandala Coloring Book and Journal
  
• Life Re-Scripted: Find Your Purpose and Design Your Dream Life Before The Curtains Close
  

Thank You Bonus:

As a thank you for listening, download your Calm Your Busy Mind Infographic. It focuses on breathing, exercise and mantras. Please leave your name and email you'll receive it in your inbox right away. Download It here.

Jay Wong is a Podcaster, brand strategist and trainer. His Podcast, The Inner Changemaker, is his platform to share his knowledge and interview such guests as Bob Proctor, Nathan Chan and Tucker Max, to name a few. He loves to help others get their inner message out to the world in their own unique way. Not only is Jay a super high energy guy, but he thoroughly understands the concept of mindfulness and truly rocks at living in the moment.

Contact Info

• Youtube: JayWongTV
• Website: TheInnerChangeMaker.com
  
• Podcast: The Inner Changemaker

Most Influential Person

• JuVon Langford

Effect on Emotions

• It has allowed me to get in tune, get in touch, with my emotions and you start realizing what you are reacting to. You are able to almost observe how you are feeling. If you get really in tune with it, you get this focus and you are allowed to see what triggers something in you. For me, it gives me that space of asking, " Why does this trigger something inside me?". It's just a good indication for me to actually find the root of a lot of these issues, but I would say, you get more in touchwith all the different emotions, good and bad, on the scale.

Thoughts on Breathing

• Breathing is everything. Breathing is one of those tactics that people think is nothing when they say it, even though it's something so vital, obviously, for all of us. When things are going crazy, when you are being overwhelmed and you don't know what to do, the thing is, you do know what to do! You just can't get there. So the way to get there is just by stopping everything. Just pausing, and by breathing. When you are done doing you first breath, to do your second breath. That's almost like how you can build momentum in a sticky situation, by breathing. I think it has a lot of tremendous impacts from meditation to mindfulness.

Suggested Resources

• Book: The Intention Experiment by Lynn Mctaggart
• App: Winstreak

Dennis Langlais is an inspiration to thousands. Since he was five years old he wanted to build teams, be a speaker and motivate people. At the age of 16 he became a professional Free Style BMX Bike Rider, travelling the world to compete. In 1991 he started his first business called Perfection on Wheels, successfully presenting over 7000 live shows. He is now well known as host of The Five Minute Bark Podcast where he continues to inspire listeners across the world.

Contact Info

• Website: codiedog.com
  
• Youtube: Five Minute Bark
• Twitter: @DennisLanglais
• Facebook: Dennis Langlais

Most Influential Person

• Tony Robbins

Effect on Emotions

• It's a good way to recheck where you're at because, we live in this massive world and when we get in a situation where we're down and out or not focused, we then put ourselves in a small little box, right now I'm visualizing it as this 8 by 8 square box that we stick ourselves in, and we forget that the whole world is out there.

Thoughts on Breathing

• Breathing is just... you're tensed up, I don't know if people know about, cancer happens and disease happens more from tenseness, stress. It's a drug you should be taking every day. You should breath as much as you can, you hear a lot about it these days, drinking water and breathing. I remind myself because I have friends who are stressed out to no end about their businesses and themselves and I see them not breathing and I see them not focusing on breath and it reminds me to do it.

Suggested Resources

• Book: The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace Wattles
• App: The Cody Dog Inspirational Tools for Success Platform

Advice for Newbie

You've got a thousand things you've got to get done, you've got to take one little thing and get it done one little thing, and get it done. Just chip away one little piece at a time because if you keep looking at the big picture, you're just never going to get anything done. It's something I always struggle with. I have to reconnect myself to get one little thing done, today I'm just going to get these three automated emails done. Today I'm just going to get these podcasts done. So you got to chip away at these things in little pieces. You're going to get distracted constantly about the big picture, but the big picture is much more important.

Free Bonus

Download your five free guided meditations by Bruce Langford called Fine Tune Your Focus. Watch and listen, or close your eyes to listen. Enter your name and email. Click here: www.MindfulnessMode.com/focus

You’re listening to Mindfulness Weekends with Bruce Langford. Today I’m talking about confidence. I think confidence is like a tide going in and out, in and out. This is how I used to feel anyway. Some days pumped up, ready to go, feeling like the world was mine, other days, a lot more on the opposite side. More like, a little discouragement creeping in, a little frustration. You get the picture.

As human beings, that voice in our head can do surprising things to our emotions. In the last few years, I realize that more and more, and now I’m ready for it. I’m in charge.

As I sat down just now, I had a confidence flash. What I mean is, I thought of the word confidence and a precise moment in time popped into my head. It was a few years ago. I was in real estate. Not much was selling because the interest rates at the time were high. I can tell you; I went through some discouraging days in that profession. But I stuck with it, for awhile anyway and I did my thing. One day a woman called the office, and it was my turn to the take the call. She was calling about a specific home. She’d noticed the ‘for sale’ sign went on the lawn, so she phoned in right away. I chatted with her and made an appointment to show the house on the following Saturday. After the call, I did my research. I set up a time to show her the home, which was modest side split in a pleasant area of town, not far from the west end subdivision of Westmount, which was a highly desired area at the time. I also found two other homes to show her, which in my opinion were quite comparable.

The day came, and I realized I had some nervous excitement happening. I wasn’t familiar with the term mindfulness back, then, I don’t even know if it was used much, but I did know I wanted to be calm and collected when I showed the properties. I remember sitting in my car when I arrived at the office and deciding to take five minutes or so to close my eyes, take some quiet breaths and think about good things. Thinking back, I likely visualized this woman, buying the house, but after this number of years, I’m not totally sure whether I was into visualizing or not. I know I listened to a lot of sales training talks on cassette tapes, and I learned a lot of strategies that I didn’t know till later, would be considered mindfulness.

Anyway, I showed the lady the houses, and the one she had originally called me about was the third one. She was a quiet woman, with brown hair, kind of softly flowing around her face. She explained to me that she had inherited some money and had decided she loved this area, and it was in her price range. She had seen a number of houses with an agent in another company, but, she told me, she really didn’t feel comfortable with that particular agent.

She walked around the home, casually looking around in the various rooms. She said, I just like to get the feel of the place. She’d go to the center of a room, give herself a little shake, close her eyes and smile a bit. It was like she was absorbing the vibes of the house. She told me, “This feels right. I want to buy it. Can you fill out the papers for me?”

We talked about an offer price and right then and there, I completed the paperwork; she signed, and off she went with a big smile on her face.

“I’m so happy she said.” And you’re just the right kind of real estate agent for me. Not too pushy. You get me,” she explained.

I had no idea a sale could be this easy. I felt an immediate rush of confidence, joy, and satisfaction. She drove away, I gathered up my papers and picked up my briefcase. I was so ecstatic; I felt light on my feet as I walked down the driveway. Seeing that no cars were coming, I started to run across the street to my car.

Right now I can taste that exact moment in my mind. Suddenly, I was jolted into reality. My briefcase went flying and landed on the pavement. I was still holding the handle; it had broken off the case, and I was standing there feeling a little sheepish, a little embarrassed. I quickly looked around to see if anyone was watching and I didn’t see anybody. I scooped up the case and held it tight under my arms as I continued to walk to my car.

I was so glad it hadn’t burst open. Somehow I immediately thought this was a lesson to me. I had been feeling maybe a little too confident, or too proud, and it was like I was being given a lesson when that case came flying through the air, me standing there holding the handle in surprise. I didn’t think of it in terms of, ‘the universe’ sending me a lesson at that time, I just remember thinking, somehow this was a lesson.

“Bruce, you need to act more like a professional, more like how a real estate agent is supposed to act. Imagine what someone would have thought if they had seen you, a real estate agent, just having sold a house, acting like a kid, gleefully running across the street? Totally unacceptable.”

Now I know this was my inner voice scolding me. I was certainly well aware of the message I was getting from that inner voice, or I wouldn’t be sitting her right now, remembering this event in such detail. I mean there are some details I don’t remember very well, but so much of its crystal clear.

Maybe I was mindful back then. Maybe my mindset was in the right place, and I simply allowed this whole event to happen, without stressing about it, without worrying what might happen if she didn’t buy the house. Hard to believe this was twenty-nine years ago.

Anyway, Mindful Tribe, I hope you can take this little event of mine, and use it to help yourself, as I say, reach new heights of calm, focus, and happiness. Stay in the mode.

Send me an email, bruce@mindfulnessmode.com and tell me an activity you did in the past which made you a more mindful person.

Bye now.

Quotes:

• Confidence is like a tide going in and out. - Bruce Langford

Books:

Wherever You Go There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn

Thank You Bonus:

Would you like to help your children become more mindful? This book contains simple exercises related to the senses. Fun for you, fun for your children. Download the book for free right here:

21 Ways To Practice Mindfulness With Your Child Every Day For 7 Minutes by Bruce Langford

Cassie Crossley is a Paleo Diet success story! She has lost over 130 pounds (59 kg) after adopting the Paleo Lifestyle. Cassie is a technology executive in an international company which keeps her traveling 75% of the time around the world. Paleo has not only given her tremendous weight loss but also incredible improvements in all her health markers.

Contact Info

• Company:
• Website:ilovemyjobpodcast.com
• Blog:
• Podcast:
• email: cassie@cassiecrossley.com

Most Influential Person

• My husband

Effect on Emotions

• I think I've mentioned it quite a bit, but the anger is gone. I still get angry, I mean, everybody get angry, but I used to... I'm sure my blood pressure would go through the roof. It was like the coyote off of the road runner series. I would be just a burst of frustration and stuff. And now, I think of it more of a gradual increase or a frustration. It's a big difference.

Thoughts on Breathing

• That's actually how I focus on my meditation. I focus on the breathing in and the breathing out. If I stray off, which happens every few seconds, I refocus on the breathing so it is important and I'd listen to that breath so I don't always use ocean sounds as I'm meditating but I do always focus on the breathing.

Suggested Resources

• Book: The Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson
• App: Brain Wave

Advice for Newbie

I would like those people to not worry about being perfect at it. Even if you can just do two minutes a day and just start and increase it, and that's what I did. I started very short on the meditation but it was pretty easy for me to come up to a longer time. I could go longer than eight minutes but I usually find that that is the point where I can continue to focus and I don't want to go and do something else. The other thing that I would recommend is they not only focus on meditation. It's not only that time, It's how they're treating their whole life.