Grubitude

"I am feeling that the dreams are trying to figure out exactly what this all means – and these dreams are trying to build up my own self-esteem. And then, the confidence is telling me that maybe the common sense is not exactly what we need. I really feel like my eyes are closed but I’m finally seeing with my soul." Pure love for my brother Taylor: radically honest, non-judgemental, open-minded, open-hearted, compassionate and the list goes on and on and on...life is playing some dope games with us...we traveled together just for a week and although we haven't seen each other for more than a year, the connection is still vibing purely. People are different when they travel, they meet each other on a level that is beyond everything - there is no judgement, there is no fear, there is no narrowness...everything is just so clear. But in Taylor's case, I had the impression that he was always like that...I mean, just listen to him. Pure Essence. Pure Love. Peace Brother! See you soon!

I met Lawrence in Tegucigalpa, Honduras - a 73 years old human rights activist who is teaching yoga and mindfulness in prisons and juvenile jails around Central America. Some inmates are innocent, some are not, but the thing is that Lawrence is doing remarkable work by means of helping them to find inner peace and therefore stabilizing their mental state, what is needful as fuck (especially for the innocent juvenile inmates) in order to pave their way to a healthy way of life with a positive impact on their environment and to get them truly socially reintegrated. But to do so, you can’t have a green forest unless all the trees are green. You gotta water the whole forest, you can’t just treat some of the trees nice. Anyways, just listen to the podcast and you'll probably appreciate Lawrence's work as much as I do. Only respect for this man!!!

A few hours before recording that episode a guy tried to rob us, but fortunately we had Philadelphia Phil in our squad who wrestled down the thief and also got help from Daniel who tied him with a rope. Being a little bit overtaken by that random situation, Daniel and me still wanted to enjoy the day so we were feeling like recording an episode and yeah, here it is: Daniel aka Mr. Ontario, a super energetic and fervent guy who left his home country Canada for the first time in his life in order to travel through Central America...and man, I tell you, the stoke was real - he was so excited about every little thing, so that he resembled a little child discovering the infinite miracles of the world for the first time. His curious spirit and numerous astonishments regarding ordinary, little things were truly invigorating and uplifting, so that having a good time was guaranteed - wherever he was, he made it his home - and not just for himself but for everybody else being around him, and that's what I appreciated about him the most, but to assure yourselves what I'm talking about, just listen to the episode :)

Concerning my question about the reason for his stay in Guatemala, Philipp said that he came to San Marcos to look for Jack Dawson, the lead character from the renowned movie Titanic - Jack symbolizes a way of natural, authentic living or let's say a simpe life, something that is often found in poverty, something that people with a rich background often look for but just temporarily, for the tendency to return to their cage of familiarity prevails. Why? Because the desire for comfort kills the passion of the soul. Because people only come home from the next field, in front of the next street, tame and quiet in the evening, where the household echoes are still haunted: their life wilts because it breathes its own breath again and again; their shadow extends further in the morning and in the evening than their daily steps. Unlike the majority, Philipp is transforming that temporary stay in Jack-ness into a permanent one, leaving his home by returning home: using his gifted, artisanal skills and basic material to build a fucking beautiful house, furniture and kayaks in San Marcos, embracing natural simplicity in such an astonishing and inspirational way that makes me feel so fucking grateful for getting to know this man and for still being able to follow his personal progress through social media. Philipp literally made himself become living poetry. And the thing that I love the most about him is the fact that he rejected his university diploma – the reason is so fucking wise, but concerning that matter, just check out this episode! Much love!

This is probably one of the weirdest and most entertaining episodes I've ever recorded - back in the days I've been spending three weeks in a hippie village, San Marcos, Guatemala, where I had the opportunity to meet the epitome of "unusual, nonstandard people" and man, what should I say? That was an experience - a rollercoaster ride between light-heartedness, confusion, overburdening, "WTF"-moments, curiosity and the willingness to understand - I have to admit that although I haven't admitted it back then, that I've been judging a lot because...imagine yourself, sitting in a hostel, having dinner and all of a sudden people are starting to tweet collectively like birds...more and more people are doing it except you and two other guys, so that you're finding yourself in a moment of complete what-the-fuck-ness....but on the other hand I've been also having unbelievably deep and beautiful conversations about life, literally feeling the incredible open-mindedness, empathy and non-judging spirit of my interlocutors that made me question my personal judgements - I mean, come on, who am I to judge anyways? The same with Aleks in this episode: he used words like "the intergalactic council", but also explained his genuine intention wanting to heal people, to make them happier in a pretty reasonable manner, stating that "the most important thing about healing is if you want to heal, you need to want to change – because doing the things the same way you’ve always been doing is what created your problems in the first place." I guess everyone would agree with Aleks, right? Moreover, he does reiki healing - a healing discipline that gets more and more attention because it simply works - something that is somehow hard to understand with the rational mind because he is basically just holding his hands above your body, channeling energy and healing your "problem". In the end, judging someone else means revealing an unhealed part of yourself. So, if you judge somebody ask yourself: “What is this person reflecting back to me that I don’t like about myself?” & “What is this person reflecting back to me that I have disowned within myself?”

At the age 16 Stefan experienced something that sounds like THE DREAM of every young football enthusiast: playing probably the best game ever for your local team (in Australia), being spotted by a scout of a renowned English football club and, together with his best friend who also played the game of his life, getting invited to their academy in England for 6 months... Man, I just love listening to this episode over and over again, because Stefan truly appreciates that unique experience - gratitude overload - listening to him just gives me peace, it gives me so much peace! "The biggest thing with football: no matter if I am on the lowest stage of my life or the happiest…anything - as soon as you go on the soccer field or you’re with your team, it’s like nothing else matters except that moment on the field. Football is more than just a sport for me, it’s my release. It can let you are who you are on the field. No questions, no nothing." - Stefan Soler

No word, no sentence, no book, no picture, no video, not even a typical jovan-like praise and glorification, nothing, for real - nothing, nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing can describe what an incredible impact Dusty had on me and how much he means to me! Infinite gratitude for this unique connection, just infinite gratitude! #coolesthumanalive

Hi. That's Lola, a teacher, but not just a casual teacher - Lola is a fucking amazing, well-traveled teacher who simply knows what she's doing and I'm glad that she shared a lot of valuable stuff in this episode (what's kinda remarkable because the few days we were hanging out together we were just talking pure light-hearted shit hahaha). For real, Steff...ehm, I mean Lola, is not the kind of teacher that just gives a kid a text book and says: “Ok, work through this page.” She's the one that gets them excited about the topics because that’s what it’s simply all about. She considers that her job is to support the kids through their unique learning process, it’s not to pull them through it – it’s to guide them and show them their way and hope that they follow it. In the end she's not teaching anything - she is just helping her students to explore themselves :)

I was celebrating christmas with some hostel employees, eating delicious food and enjoying the silence of the jungle around the village Lanquín all day long...and then, all of a sudden, a stranger arrived, standing in the middle of the welcoming area, looking around and being ocularly impressed by everything his eyes were beholding and by the omnipresent quiescence that was soothing everyone's ears...we felt the way he felt and without batting an eyelid, I just asked him:" Yo! Wanna have some cake?" Of course he said yes, and that's how I met Matt - a man I had the honor to get to know for some hours...a man that inspired me in many ways (even until now) just due to the way he was sharing his personal story, and that's how I would describe his spirit: PASSIONATE HONESTY! Even though we were just spending a few hours talking to each other I felt so connected with him, as if we were brothers - besides having seemingly interminable deep talk about life, we were laughing our hearts out so many times! You will surely love the "knees in the nuts"-story he shared in the podcast hahahaha (23:45) However, long story short - Matt is an amazing guy everyone could learn something from, a man that has so much energy to give, a man that is simply a present to the world! So, prepare yourself (whatever that means) for a beautiful talk and enjoy!!! P.S.: What is your major take-away from Matt? Please, let me know :) Mine is "I don’t necessarily criticize people for sticking in stuff because sometimes other options are hard to find but what I do criticize for is not doing that consciously. Not being very happy but not taking a series of decisions to kinda put themselves in control of what they are feeling and doing. Don’t not take decisions." Mic-drop. Period. :)

Ever wondered how it is to grow up on an island in Belize? Well, my bro Heber will tell you because this guy has some dope stories to tell! I met him on an island called Caye Caulker after playing football against some talented young bloods that are being coached by him. We connected immediately through the beautiful game and met each other the next day for a podcast session and man, I respect this guy so much! First, of course, because of his football skills - second, due to his constant sereness that encircles his whole being! Even though, or maybe by reason of facing a lot of challenging life lessons in his past he remains chilled and wise most of the time, and that's what I admire about him so much! It was such a pleasure as well as an honor to get to know him and to be a listener of some astonishing stories about him including his dedication to the youth of "his" island, his football scholarship in the US, life in prison, and and and. This guy is a natural born fighter and I'm sure that he will inspire loads of people throughout his life, no matter which path he may choose in the future! Keep going bro and thank you for everything!!!

There's a fine line between genius and insanity, and Josh erased this line - for real, no great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness. When I'm listening to him I am finding myself so often between reactions like "Holy Fuck! That's so true! Mic-drop!!!" and "WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST LISTEN TO?" Anyways, what interests me the most, is what kind of idea you got from that conversation. Please let me know :)

I was travelling for a month around Oaxaca and Chiapas together with Pati, a wonderful woman I connected with immediately - she was my age, quit her job due to the same reasons like me and started to discover Mexico for an unlimited time - so we were actually on the same mission. The light-heartedness I was feeling when we were just wandering around was unbelievable...good times, fucking good times! Anyways, in Oaxaca we were fortunate enough to meet Valeriano, an incredibly talented xylographer who introduced us into the art of carving the woodcut and also invited us to his home. Just observing him and his dedicated spirit while being in the middle of his creative process gave me peace! He was literally working the whole day and then in the evening he went outside to the city center to sell some of his paintings - of course, we were accompanying him because if you have the opportunity to spend some time with a true artist, you better don't miss out on it - they have stories to tell that are definitely worth being told. Vale has also Mixe roots, that are indigineous people of Mexico inhabiting the Eastern highlands of Oaxaca. To me personally, fascinating as fuck are two things: first, that as the first member of his family he left his village in order to pursue his dream, that is to become an artist, and he succeeded! Second, the fact that he speaks the Mixe language fluently and that he genuinely cares about preserving that language what he mainly does with his unique art. Unity in diversity and diversity in unity! However, Vale shared a lot and because Pati was keen to try out new things we had the idea to let her record her first podcast (in Spanish of course) and here it is - a little bit different than the others but I love it and Valeriano's story in general! Disfruta :)

Josh wanted me to post that raw material for his children. So, here it is.

I was chilling at a nightly bonfire with some suuuper unique people in the Oaxacan mountains when I met Josh, a seemingly confused, restless, pyjama-robed high-speed jabber-box...keep your mind on the word "seemingly" because if one would not pay a healthy dose of genuine attention to Josh, one would label and judge him as mentioned above...one would simply be superficial, allowing oneself to be confused by dazzling, outward appearances instead of trying to convert the word "seeming" into "being". Josh, to me, is the personification of the fact, that judgements limit experiences because if I would have avoided a conversation with him, just because he didn't seem to be normal (I hate that word) I would not have read his stunning book "Becoming a Superhero by Ditching the Costume"... I would not have recorded three podcasts with him where he opened himself up completely, wanting to highlight the family struggle he is going through... I would not have realized how wise he actually was and how powerful it is to drop all of my preconceived notions, fixed ideas and just to be neutral... letting somebody talk freely and just listening in order to listen, and not in order to reply. How wise he was? That wise: "It’s a persons own responsibility to love them for them. When you love yourself for yourself you’re able to love others before them. But if you love others only because they are loving you for you, you are only gonna love them for as long as you feel they are loving you. You’re rejecting your own self-responsibility." Enjoy the episode and let me know what your major take-aways are! (btw, my phone died during the recording session because of the sun's heat, but at least it worked out with the other two sessions that I'm gonna post over the next days :)

One day, after several productive days I was just lying in the hammoc and suddenly - just before I wanted to go to the beach - an angel-like voice followed by a guitar play resonated all over the hostel ground...I didn't know where it actually came from since the whole hostel area was naturally blazoned with palm trees and other exotic floras that turned every corner into a safe haven...however, I was so fucking impressed by this voice that I decided to stay in the hammoc and to enjoy as well as to simply appreciate that unique voice resounding over that little paradise. After an hour of full laidbackness and beholding the sky I started to look around and realized that a bunch of other people seemed to have the same idea - silently hanging around and having a calmed plus content facial expression. There is some real magic in taking your time to simply listen to music without doing anything else - just cherishing the alternating, harmonious spectacle between sound and silence and feeling nothing else but beautiful peace. So, who the fuck was this talented guy providing peace for everyone? It was (what an irony): Angel. Angel with an angel-like voice, a sympathetic musician from Ibiza who shared his wonderful story in this episode: enjoy! :)

One of the most beautiful conversations I ever had! Period! @jessheals is a unique human being and to me the personification of one essential value: peace. I attended various yoga classes with different teachers but only Jess was able to help me to reach this peaceful state of mind after literally every fucking yoga session. What I appreciated the most during her sessions was her gentle voice which was guiding me constantly towards the meditational process - and when words came out of her mouth, they were so on point and made me realize that this woman knows exactly what she's talking about: accurate timing in terms of breathing, actively relaxing the muscles (especially the facial muscles), not judging yourself when you were realizing that you weren't present for a few seconds, surrendering yourself completely to the here and now...wow, just thinking about her sessions gives me goosebumps, no shit! Still, she was keeping the perfect balance between vocal guidance and complete silence what lead to the creation of a perfect vibe I wish everybody could feel and experience. It's hard to describe this specific feeling or this unique vibe but Jess definitely contributed to the realization that you can find peace everywhere, that you can find silence everywhere and all of a sudden silence becomes not the absence of something but the presence of everything. I'm genuinely grateful for meeting you Jess, big shout-outs to you and I'm glad that you're already having an influence over a bunch of people via Instagram - amazing work, keep being you 🙏🙅‍♂️😘 About: - yoga as a therapy - the power of the mind - the impossibility of getting somewhere - addiction, success and doing the work - denying emotions - following your heart - FAITH

It’s simply incredible what kind of people you meet on the road, and how strong this connection remains, even though you haven’t seen each other for a year. Ryan, a random dude from Australia turned out to be my brother, and we’ll stay connected with each other forever, that’s for sure – not only technologically, but also spiritually. We spent a month together in Mexico and Guatemala, encouraging our personal growth process and man…I’ve probably never met a human being, that young and that awake like him – so fucking grounded, connected to his inner source and charismatic that automatically made (and still makes) me appreciate life more! For real, I’m genuinely grateful for getting to know this unique soul! I’m so curious where your path is gonna lead you because you’re made for some great things! And once again, thank you for one of the wisest things someone ever told me: “Follow your personal legend. Don’t resist the now, don’t resist your current situation – just let go and let surrender to what is and then beautiful things will happen.” Enjoy the episode 😊

It's nonsense, says common sense. It is what it is, says love. It is unhappiness, says calculation. It's nothing but pain, says fear. It is hopeless, says insight. It is what it is, says love. It's ridiculous, says the pride. It's careless, says the caution. It's impossible, says the experience. It is what it is, says love.

Do you know these moments when you meet a new person and you get along with each other perfectly from the very first moment? When you’re instantly having a deep connection as if you have known that individual from before? When all of a sudden somebody becomes the missing link that you needed in order to unlock the next level in the game called life, and just through their presence you’re able to see the bigger picture again… I like to think about these people as forgotten siblings, travelling souls that you’re just able to recognize by vibes, not by appearances. And Nico? Nico is one of them. A human being that just goes with the flow and lives life simply. A human being that inspires just because he is able to express himself freely – be that by playing the guitar and singing so lightly that you get goosebumps every time when a melody embraces silence, or by just having the ability to just sit, to appreciate your presence and to talk about life, about love, about anything, about everything…to lead a conversation under the sun without the bondage of time, decelerating the accelerated lives and getting back to the essence that isn’t bound by obligations or barred by human limitations. By literally being able to talk in order to talk, without the attempt to get somewhere…

Just a man in his mid-thirties who took a leap of faith and left the English comfort zone to explore the world. When someone leaves his habitual environment to explore, then the majority shouts immediately: "Where are we going if everyone would do that?" However, one must also ask the counter-question: "Where are we going if everyone just screams, where are we going, and no one would go to see where one would come if one went." It was the “outsiders”, the explorers and adventurers, the fyling birds and their liberated souls who advanced the world and not the birds that stayed inside their cage, but it is how it is: Birds born in a cage think flying is an illness because the desire for comfort kills the passion of the soul. Whatever you wanna do, do, but please, at least try to fly.