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Transcript

Episode 268: Being Spiritually Sassy with Sah D’Simone
By Sahara Rose

[00:12] Sahara

Namaste, it’s Sahara Rose and welcome back to The Highest Self Podcast, a place where we discuss what makes You, Your Soul’s Highest Evolvement. 

[00:20] Sahara

March is fully here, I mean, 2020 has been crazy, but I’m actually really loving the sacred pause that all of this stuff (media stuff) is giving us.

[00:33] Sahara

So, a lot of people are cancelling events right now; a lot of people are spending a lot more time at home; and I think it’s, energetically, what the world really needed right now. We all need to go inwards; we all need to find peace inside of ourselves; we all need more grounding.

And I’m taking this time, you know, more time at home, I’m not going out to as many events and dance classes and stuff, which, I really do love to do, but the beautiful side of it is I’ve began painting again; I’ve always loved to paint. Growing up I was very artistic, so I painted this beautiful yoni, which is on my Instagram @iamsahararose you could check it out, it has rose petals all around it. And you know, just spending time in my home, in my sanctuary and just taking care of the little things that are around your house that you don’t think about because you’re always on the go.

So, there’s always a silver lining through everything. And I do think, another thing that this could help us with, globally, are less flights because I can’t even imagine how many flights go around the world every day, but that’s a lot of pollution.

[01:40] Sahara

So, you know, my husband and I were talking about, we were like “Maybe this whole thing is a theory planned by Mother Earth, that she wanted us to not travel as much” and they cancel all airplane travels for two weeks or something and then suddenly we see these huge trees and flowers and vines just blossoming all over us, and Mother Earth comes out and says “You know, I’ve been waiting to blossom and bloom but there’s been so much pollution in the skies that I haven’t been fully able to. So, all it took was just two weeks without air fare, for me to be able to fully blossom!” 

So, who knows what will happen but I really am sending everyone love. I know how difficult it is, especially in areas that are affected now by the virus, and I’m just sending everyone so much love and so much support at this time. And just remember to come back to the heart.

[02:31] Sahara

I think the most dangerous disease is fear itself, and you don’t have to be afraid to take action. You can keep washing your hands and live with love, it doesn’t have to be both. Preparing; washing your hands; doesn’t mean that you’re surrendering to fear. We can take care of ourselves without freaking out over it.

[02:53] Sahara

So, it’s that divine balance of Shiva-Shakti, Yin-Yang, of physical and non-physical that we do live on this crazy planet where these things happen that we don’t understand, that are difficult, that are painful, and when we fully associate ourselves with it and get lost in the media, it really creates a lot of stress and tension inside of us.

[03:14] Sahara

I went to Holi, Festival of Colors this week, and before that I was really looking at the news because I was planning to travel, I was planning to go to Dubai in a couple days and be gone almost a month (between Dubai and Bali) and I ended up cancelling that trip just because of the uncertainty of what’s happening. So, I was really looking at the news every day, which I normally don’t, but it was like “Wow”, it could really scare you. 

And, then I finally went to Holi Festival of Colors and there were still kids dancing and celebrating, and these beautiful colors, and we were rolling around in the dirt. And it was just so good to get out of the buddle.

[03:50] Sahara

I think if we just watch the news and think “The Apocalypse is happening, the world is dying, no one’s going to survive this” and it can really trigger all of our fear-based ways. But then when we go out into the world and we see that the birds are still chirping, people are still walking outside, life still goes on, really just puts things back into perspective, which is really what we need at this time. 

[04:15] Sahara

So, wash your hands, stay hydrated, stay healthy, take care of your immune system, and this goes all year round, it’s not just right now. It is good right now to take Vitamin C, Zinc, Colloidal Silver, all of these things, but also, all year round. Take care of yourself, don’t be a vibrational match for disease. Stay in high alignment, so you’re not a vibrational match, that it can’t affect you.

[04:40] Sahara

So, there’s so much to say on this. Maybe I’ll do another Podcast Episode, but I also don’t like to give in into too much fear because I like to keep it high-vibe and what we focus on persists. So, let’s focus on the beauty and the love that is all around us, and the support that is all around us.

[04:56] Sahara

And this brings us into this week’s interview which is with my dear friend Sah D’Simone.

So, he was just our featured guest in Rose Gold Goddesses this month. Every month I have a featured guest, one of your The Highest Self Podcast guests who comes into Rose Gold Goddesses and there’s a private workshop exclusively for the Rose Gold Goddesses, which is recorded so even if you join now, you’ll be able to join,

But, he did a workshop all about working with Green Tara, the Goddess of Compassion and Forgiveness.

[05:26] Sahara

And, I’ve known Sah for 3-4 years now, he’s such a dear friend, soul brother of mine. And what I love about Sah, and that I really share in common with him, is he’s deeply spiritual, he’s deeply tuned in, he has, definitely, huge spiritual practices, it’s a huge part of his life (which we talk about, of the Buddhist tradition) and also, he’s so fun and playful and sassy and dancing. And oh my gosh, when him and I are together on a dance floor – oh shit! Shit’s going down! 

[05:55] Sahara

So, I love that he has these both sides of him, that he meditates and chants to the Goddesses and the mantras, and has this real devoted side to him, and then also the side to him that is fun and playful and sassy and flamboyant, and does what he wants, so I so resonate with that. 

[06:14] Sahara

And in this Episode, we talk about this duality that exists in all of us; the having desires while being spiritual, because I think a lot of us think we have to have one or the other. We’re either spiritual or we’re sassy, and he really shows that it is both. We can be playful and we can get down on our meditation pillow. And we talk a lot, just, we just go really deep into having this balance within ourselves; what does it mean to be devoted; what does it mean to be disciplined; how can we make that more playful; what is the importance of joy in your life and really breaking it down. So, this is definitely like a vortexy type of Episode.

[06:55] Sahara

Whenever I have one of my girlfriends on, we’re always just like “Bla Bla”, so I think if you love those kinds of Episodes, you’re going to love this one. And Sah is just such a delight – just his vibration; his voice, as soon as you hear it, you’re going to be like “Aham, I feel like a home with this guy”, and he’s really just such a blessing in my life. So, I know you’re going to love him too!

[07:14] Sahara

And without further ado, let’s welcome Sah D’Simone on The Highest Self Podcast. 

________________________________________________________                 

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[09:56] End of Advertisement

________________________________________________________ 

[09:57] Interview

[09:57] Sahara

Welcome Sah to The Highest Self Podcast, it’s so good to finally have you here!

[10:02] Sah

Yeah! Thank you so much my love, I’m so happy to be here! Hi everybody!

[10:07] Sahara

So, the first question I would love to ask you is what makes you your highest self?

[10:12] Sah

What makes me my highest self? Oooh, this is so juicy! My God, I think every day that I get to drop into my heart in practice; that I awaken; that I reconnect with that part of me; that I let that part of me. And my highest self, in my vocabulary, would be the heart – how do I awaken my heart; how do I awaken the part of me that knows joy, that knows no suffering, that’s never phased by pain, that’s never phased by anything, that’s just always at ease, that’s always in balance: and meditation; and dance: and community. Oh my God, just chatting with you for the last, how long have I been here?

[10:52] Sahara

Not long enough! 

[10:54] Sah

Exactly! But yeah, I think there’s a few non-negotiables, daily negotiables, certainly need that, get me to awaken, to reconnect, to be in complete community with that part of myself. And it’s evolved, in the past it used to be in prayer, in meditation, in doing breathwork. And in the last few years dance has become a huge part of it.

And I’ll share more about that, how the spiritual path had made me serious and how I lost my sass, how I lost joy. I became too serious and I lost such a foundational piece with a healing path, which is to be playful. Playfulness – I’ve lost that, oh my goodness, like “Wow girl, where’d you go?” 

[11:37] Sahara

We need you to be spiritually sassy!

[11:40] Sah

Naturally! 

[11:41] Sahara

So, I think a lot of listeners who come across your Instagram, the first thing that they notice are your dance videos. And for those of you have not seen his dance videos, you can check it out right now, I’ll put his Instagram in the show notes, but he is just dancing, full of life, full of joy, there’s no choreography, there’s no memorizing things, it’s just you in pure joy. And also you with your mom who has just gone through chemotherapy and you moving to Florida to be alongside her for the past couple months, and to see that level of joy in such a situation that could’ve broken people down is so inspiring. 

So, can you share with us how these dance videos came to be?

[12:20] Sah

Thank you! That’s an incredible, delicious question and it’s sort of like a foundational a piece of me being where I am at today, you know, from living in India, Nepal, Indonesia, Thailand, and living in Dharma centers and monasteries and ashrams, and modeling after the people who I thought were ultra-spiritual; modeling after the people who I thought were the mega-spiritual people; and seeing how I was subduing my heart, I was just like modeling after them, was like a mind game. I wasn’t the heart, it wasn’t the matters of the heart, it wasn’t me awakening joy, compassion, wisdom, the Brahmaviharas, the four qualities of the heart, it was me just playing another trick and I was like “Oh wow”, but it took me a while to realize “Oh wow, my mental obscurations, my tendencies are so creative then I’m modeling after these people and thinking that’s what being spiritual is like; that that’s what healing looks like, is being all ‘Namaste’ all the time, not laughing out loud, not looking like a high-vision mega boss, queen all the time, and not dancing, not really bringing about emoting joy back into the world.” And through this path, I was like “Oh my God, something is really missing here” because the healing, the transformation was taking place where I had more spaciousness, which was great, but I wasn’t really feeling like a 100% myself, in your vocabulary, I wasn’t feeling like my highest self. 

And then, I would spend a few months in India and I would go to Bali for a few months, that was like how I did for 3.5 years.

[13:55] Sahara

Same!

[13:56] Sah

Did you? Naturally! And so, from having this back and forth, dropping in and being in complete silence in India and then going to Bali to go to full Shakti, man, really awakening and dancing, sensuality, joy, sweaty dances, I started to notice “Oh, wow, this perfect balance is where I feel most like my true self!” And then when I engaged with people, I’m present and sassy, I’m courageous and kind, I’m brave and loving, there’s no missing aspect to what I’m doing. It’s like I’m whole, I’m fully myself.

And then, here’s the real juicy, two juicy, things that really took it to the next level – I had an opportunity to sit with [Jitsunda – 14:43 -inaudible] this living Saint that spent 2 years in a cave; I had an opportunity to have a private audience with her and she said “In Buddhism, there are six of the parameters”, six perfections, six of the qualities, and you never hear me say ‘to perfect anything’, but there’s the qualities of the heart, the qualities of your higher self, I think these are things we can cultivate and work towards developing to it’s fullest potential. She says “These six qualities are in the Buddhist literature, the Buddhist ancient literature, but I think you’re here to teach the seventh one, which is not in the literature – it’s joy, and I fell of my chair! Legit! I was like “Oh, my God, you are literally telling me the thing that I knew that I needed to bring into the space!” And that doesn’t end there, the next thing was, from all this travel, from finding these teachers, wanting to go out there, after all this stuff, I realized that the Buddha had this group of disciples, these main students that were the closest to entering to the next stage.

One of them, Anunda, which is the archetype that a lot of us know to be the spiritual (the ultra-spiritual), wearing all white, and nothing wrong with you, this honey – you know what you need, you the teacher that you need, you know the kind of practice you need to go to the next stage, but I know that for me, and I know that for Sahara (for us), being spiritually sassy awaken the qualities of the heart; and dancing our sorrows away; dancing all of our pain away, it’s been like a huge part for us, and such a bonding thing for us.

And then, there’s another of the disciple, another sort of Mandustri (what I have tattooed on my right hand, here) – I found out later, after I had taken an initiation for the Dalai Lama, on the Mandustrian Empowerment which is a wisdom: to simplify – it’s like a wisdom God, a wisdom archetype. His mantra is ‘Oh ma rapazandi’, just hearing the words awakens the wisdom within you.

So, I got this initiation for the Dalai Lama and I started to research “Who is this Manjustri? Why am I taking this initiation?” I just knew that I wanted to take this initiation because it’s a wisdom initiation; with all the speaking things that I’m doing, I need to have wisdom as a foundation for everything I’m doing. So I started to research and guess what I found out? That Manjustri is the perfect embodiment of people like you and I, who are loud, who are bold, who are extra, who are dancing. The Buddha never told him to shave his hair; the Buddha never told him to stop dressing flamboyantly and fiercely. You know, of course, everything you’re hearing, I’m paraphrasing, it’s going to sound ultra-sassy because it’s through my filter. But can you imagine that?! It’s like a historical evidence that this being lived and the Buddha appreciated him for that, and the Buddha said “You are the one who holds the wisdom of the world”, “You are the one that holds this ultimate wisdom; access to ultimate wisdom; subliminal wisdom”, and when I heard that I was like “Oh, my f***ing goodness!! Why isn’t this out there? Why are we only knowing about the archetypes that are telling us all to be like this? Super-namaste all the time, don’t dance too loud, don’t dance too sexy, don’t look too good, don’t do this, it’s too much, you’re too extra, you’re too, too, too!” And here’s Mandustri saying “No, honey, do it all because that’s the path, that’s the path!” And that’s the path of tantra, right? That’s the path of perfect, completely subliminal transformation.

And, I know that people like you and I, and a lot of people listening, if you have access to extreme emotions, you are perfect for tantra, you are ready for it because you can transfer this fiery energy to get to know your heart, to get to awaken your highest self. 

Okay, that was a long answer for such a short question!

[18:23] Sahara

So beautifully said! A-ho! Podcast done!

Okay, so, something that I have been questioning in my own mind and you’re really the perfect person to talk to about is – a lot of Buddhist texts that I have read, it’s all about non-attachment, to let go of desire, to overcome the desire. And then tantra, especially Indian tantra, not tantric Buddhism, but that’s what you specialize in and I’m curious – it’s all about going into the desires and that your desires are divine and sacred.

[18:53] Sah

And the pathway!

[18:54] Sahara

And the pathway! So, how can we have desires but still have non-attachment?

[18:58] Sah

Well, so, here’s the thing! A lot of what’s out there, in the people know a lot about Buddhism – you know, when I say I’m going to a meditation, they usually are like “Oh, you went to a Vipassana”, I’m like “No, honey!” It’s said that the Buddha thought the same Dharma 34.000 times (some people say 3000 times); even if was like 34 different ways, it’s enough. But he thought different versions of it for different kinds of people. You and I would’ve heard what that he had to say about renounce everything and go live in a cave – “Okay, Boo, thanks for that look, I’m going to go this way”, do you know what I mean? :I’m going to go back to Bali and dance my sorrows away and meditate after the sweaty dance with the green juice in my hand, while someone is braiding my hair and I have glitter everywhere (naturally)”, but what’s kept the secret to its tantra, because to go to the path of tantra, you do need to have, it’s what they call a foundation. You have to have some, it’s not prerequisites, but you just have to have a strong foundation to know that we have cravings, that we have these tendencies, that we have these desires and that we allow these crazy tendencies, these crazy desires to run our lives, or can we enjoy the delicious chocolate like “Oh, wow, this chocolate is so good!” And that’s okay, allow it to pass!

The problem is, as we’re having one bite we’re thinking “Oh my God, I’m going to eat this entire chocolate and it’s going to make me feel so good, and if don’t have this chocolate, at the same time, the same way, tomorrow, my life will suck”, that’s the problem.

Attachment, when we think about it, when we distill to its down source, it’s like a drunk state of mind where we are literally glorifying the good qualities of everything; where we’re exaggerating – it’s an exaggerated state of mind where [Sahara] she’s a sole source of my happiness or Sahara is the whole source of all my misery – and that’s the mind of attachment, the way psychotherapy looks like, which is a completely different view of the Buddha thought.

So, that’s kind of a simple way to look at not having attachment; it’s just how do you look at your desires? How do you look at your cravings? How do you look at your tendencies? And how do use this fiery energy to really go in?

I’m giving you a great example – I’ve had addiction to cigarettes, to coke, to alcohol, and I was sharing in one of my courses recently, in the lessons when I was talking about habits and cravings (all of it together), and I was saying, you know, there were times when I was living in New York and I would walk myself to the Bodega, to the corner store with a fiery “I needed to have a cigarette now”, and if I didn’t have that cigarette, my world would crumble. But in that moment – sometimes I gave in and I walked in the grocery store in the Bodega and I bought it and I smoked it and I felt gross after, but in the moment of switching the fiery energy with a craving, turning it inside, choosing to breather, choosing to uncover the heart, (your vocabulary) choosing to uncover the highest self, the creative power that came from there – I came back home and I wrote; I came back home and I danced; I came back home and I envisioned the world. The magic that comes is so powerful!

One of my teachers says that the most beautiful things that we have in the world have been created from that energy, where the transform the energy of the craving, where they transform the energy of desire into creation – buildings, architecture, books, whatever it may be.

[22:30] Sahara            

Absolutely! And that’s all sexual energy, right? We, often times, let’s say you have a sexual urge, well that is the same urge that will write you your book or record your podcast or create a civilization, whatever it is you want, it’s all coming from that sexual energy, which is your life force.

And, you’re really the first person that I see who connects that to Buddhism because I often see that there’s that tantric path that is all about the sexuality, and sometimes the shadow side of that is the lack of boundaries or, we’ve seen it in Bali a lot of, just the messiness that’s happening in that community, and then Buddhists – when I just think of stereotypical Buddhists that I see out there, I think of no sexuality, I think of asexual, I think of overcoming the body, the body is this thing. And the one thing that I never understood was that they said that the world is suffering and that we have to just overcome suffering, and that was something that I, also, fundamentally didn’t feel, like “I don’t feel like my world is suffering and I have to overcome it?” 

So, I would love to hear from you, who has experienced that mindset of, you came to it because you were trying to alleviate suffering, but now, your life is so beautiful. So, how have these practices transformed for you? 

[23:43] Sah

That’s right! And I think that there’s a lot of misinterpretation about that too and I know I’m misinterpreted too. 

The Buddha, what he observed is that the human condition, there’s a lot of suffering because we’ve cluttered our connection to our hearts. We are so misguided about the world, we’re so misguided about who we are, we’re so fixed in that identity. Ramdah says something so beautiful, he says (I’m paraphrasing) “We’re so busy holding onto our unworthiness; we’re so busy”. And in Buddhism you translate that as “We’re so busy holding onto our pain. We’re so busy glorifying our negative qualities, instead of looking in”. And when we think about what the Buddha actually thought, he didn’t teach suffering, he taught joy; he didn’t teach the path to suffering, he taught the polar opposite, he guided us all to awakened joy. How do we look at pain through the lens of the heart? How do we look at suffering through wisdom, through joy, through compassion, through love? And that’s really the foundation of it all, is how do you use the compass of the heart; the four directions of the heart to look at all the pain; all the problems that exist in the world? And then when we say, the observational Buddha, the war and the suffering, is because in the human condition, there is a lot of things that are inevitably going to happen – we come into Earth; a lot of our births are very painful; we get sick; we age; people die; we die – there’s a lot of things that are inevitably going to happen, but then he said “Pain is inevitable; suffering is choice.” And that choice, when we have choice and recognize it; when choice arrives, that’s where joy lives; that’s where compassion lives; that’s where wisdom lives; that’s where love lives; that’s where the higher self lives, it’s in that moment of choice.

And what I observed, in my own life, by studying tantric Buddhism and embarking myself with these vows, it really is about this deconstructing, and I was talking about the internal garden of the mind – how do you unravel the garden of your mind; how do you become the master gardener of your mind to really water the seeds that lead to awakening? How do you become the master of your emotions and your thoughts and stop giving in to destructing emotions, stop giving into thoughts that lead to suffering? And the Buddha was very clear about that, he says there’s only two kinds of thoughts – thoughts that lead to alignment and thoughts that leads to suffering. Same thing with emotions (destructive emotions), there’s emotions that lead to destructive feelings and destructive thoughts, and feelings that support your awakening. 

And I think a lot of the times we’re just suppressing or exaggerating our emotions and we’re forgetting that suppressing and exaggerating are two of the same coin (two sides of the same coin). 

So, again, a long answer to a powerful question. But I think, ultimately when we’re talking about the world – there is suffering observation; there is suffering; there’s the human condition; there’s a lot of pain. And then you look at the statistics, the A-study talks about – 62, I like to say 2/3 of the US population, experience trauma, and as a Buddhist, we say, that the other 1/3, there’s just not documented. Everyone has gone through stuff, we all have baggage and all these practices and all the stuff we’re doing is just like moving the stuff out of your bag – can we get this backpack to be a little bit lighter? And what can we put in there? Could it be joy? Could it be wisdom? Could it be compassion? Could it be Sahara’s books? Could it be my books? Could it be things that support you to be your highest self, to let the heart lead?       

[27:15] Sahara

So beautifully said! I love that analogy of we all have that backpack, and what do you want to put in yours? And you can swap things out; you could have a sticky relationship with a parent and maybe you do a little bit of work on that, so it gets a little bit less sticky. Maybe your hand is not getting absorbed in there every time you think about it, so now you can think about it without as much trauma and stigma around it, and then next time you can clean up a little more and clean up a little more.

And I think that people need to know that it’s instant and he’s not – what Sah and Buddhism are not saying is that “Oh, you just choose your emotions and if you’re sad, that’s your fault, you choose that!” Experience your sadness, experience what shows up, but I think a lot of people, where do they have an issue – is “How much do I experience the emotions I’m feeling, jealousy, sadness, anger, whatever – when do I know to stop and choose happiness? When is it bypassing and when is it now?” So, what do you say about that?

[28:10] Sah

I love! This is a huge….

[28:13] Sahara

Of course, we’re just going deep on this one!

[28:15] Sah

I love this one! And only you truly know – I think that’s a big thing! It’s like, what I tell my students all the time, it’s like – when is enough, enough? And one thing I say it’s like – would you rent the same horror movie and watch 250 times? It’s your choice! Would you replay that painful memory in your mind 250 times; a thousand times? Or would you revisit a couple times and say “I’ve learned. I have grown, I have regret. I have forgiveness. I am becoming the next best version of myself. I’m letting my highest self. I’m letting my heart lead the way!” 

You know, I think spending too long on anything, it’s – we ruminate. When you ruminate, scientifically, it’s inflaming our body’s chemistry, it’s creating more routes in the mind for more of that to prevail. And what comes down to it, it’s like – yes, fuel the fuse, experience the emotions, but choose to say “You know what, wow, that was really heavy, that was really intense”, but the question is, what do you do as it arises? Do you allow yourself to be overwhelmed by and be overcome by it?

In Buddhism there’s something so beautiful it says “Experience it but don’t drown in them”. Dip your feet, get to know the water, get to know the texture, get to know what’s going on, but then, are you going to go deep into that water every time? Do you need to get to the bathroom, take a shower with all your clothes every time? No, it’s ok to just touch the water and feel like it’s warm or it’s freezing cold, with just the tip of your fingers. You need to get under the full shower and I’m hearing myself say this for the first time now.

But I think it’s only you know, but the question is this – take an inventory, an inventory of your emotions. How often are you sad? How often are you happy? How often are you in a state of envy or jealousy? Or how often are you just really mopey? Take an inventory and then realize “Okay, do I want to live this life for how much longer”, or “Do I want to choose the path of freedom, the path of love and wisdom, compassion and joy”. And then we need to recognize this where your question leads to this beautifully, but also leaves you, the listener, to figure out this for yourself. 

It’s like, each and every time a thought of sadness comes up – let’s think of feeling of hatred, something very heavy or a fear- As a destructive emotion arises, it comes with all of its family, it comes with all of its full-on friends, and what comes up – all of your painful memories, it comes up all of these destructive thoughts – and then what happens, you, not only are believing the feeling of hatred to be who you are, then you’re believing these thoughts and you’re believing this painful memory, and then you’re immersed. Each time you believe a thought to be the truth of who you are, you’re planting more of these seeds, you’re watering the seeds of hatred within you. Remember, we have the garden of our mind, right? I talked about being the master of the garden all the time – we have all these seeds in the garden of our mind, four all of our best qualities that lead us into our hearts, that lead us into our highest self (to use your vocabulary) or the ones that lead us backwards, that keep us in a state of fear, that when anger and hatred and doubt arises, we have no way out and we are going to take a shower with all of our clothes again, instead of just touching the water and feeling like “Oh, honey, it’s cold, it’s freezing cold!” 

So, the real question, the real landing, for you listening, and for me, has been “When is enough, enough? When can I realize that what I’m experiencing is real but not true?” That is the real switch, it’s real because I’m experiencing but it’s not true because it doesn’t define who I am. And that is a very rooted in Buddhist psychology; it’s real but not true. We realize the thoughts, feeling and emotions, they’re real because we are experiencing them, we are not neglecting them; we’re not avoiding, bypassing, them, but we’re not exaggerating them and we’re not suppressing them. We’re recognizing “Oh, it’s real, it’s Bianca (I call my inner critic Bianca), oh, Bianca’s back”.

[32:19] Sahara

Mine is Beatrice, that’s funny!

[32:22] Sah

Oh, Bianca’s back!

[32:24] Sahara

Double Bs.

[32:25] Sah

I love these! They’re back honey and they’re in full power! They took over Mariah Carey’s megaphone and they’re on stage, they’re guiding the whole show! It’s real but it’s not true because what the whole internal cast is happening, it’s not true because it does not define my day; doesn’t define my tomorrow; doesn’t define my month; doesn’t define my month, but when we allow ourselves, when we give in to destructive emotions, what happens with perception of yourself and the world? You believe that’s who you are and you believe that your entire day and tomorrow and next year will be that. And then every time you do this honey, you’re watering those seeds for more and more of that to grow in your garden, and then guess what you’re doing, you’re creating a garden of red wood trees, massive, ancient, huge trees that are “This represents anger. This represents fear. This represents doubt.” And then you can’t go in there with the garden scissor or a lawn mower, you need to bring a chainsaw – and how do you get a chainsaw? By then choosing to feel the fuels but not give in. Giving in is the key; being overwhelmed by is the key. And you can only have spacious awareness when you train the mind, that’s the real thing. 

And the Buddha said, you’re going to be able to notice a feeling arising before it has even manifested! Oooh, that is so juicy, you know! Because, in Buddhist psychology it says, feelings arise first and then thoughts populate and then the whole reactivity circuit takes place – we speak unkind and we react in ways we regret, right? So, it’s when do you become a witness to the whole process? When you become aware that it’s all happening! 

And it’s training the mind, concentrating the mind. That’s why meditation is such a huge part of what I teach – concentrate the mind every single day. And when you do that you, you are actually able to see the reactivity circuit playing out, you can see “Oh, these feelings lead to these thoughts, these thoughts lead to these words, these word lead to these actions. I’m actually choosing not to do any of that today, I’m going to go here!”

[34:19] Sahara

I love that so much, thank you for the analogies. I think that we hit home with a lot of listeners right now, I’m sure there a lot of ‘A-ha’ moments, like “Oh, shit! I’ve been watering tis red tree for a very long time and I want the roses, I don’t want the anger tree!”

So, what I’ve actually noticed is, sometimes, actually, quite often, anxiety is a blessing because it’s a warning sign – “The thing that I’m getting anxious about is a boundary that I have not placed or is not being met or a need that I have” – and I feel like sometimes it’s easy to brush it off and be like “I don’t want to feel that way” but it’s actually showing up for you to look at it – maybe something with a friend, they keep on triggering something within you. If you can take that anxiety and take action on it, I see it as a blessing. Where I see most people do is they never take the action and it just lingers, lingers.

[35:10] Sah                

You said it; you said it! You said it! This is tantra, right here. 

[35:14] Sahara

So, how is this tantra?

[35:15] Sah

Because you’re using the energy of anxiety, which is a destructive emotion, to transform your internal world, to transform the external world. You’re using triggers as a pathway to wisdom. 

And you said something and I had just released a meditation on using triggers and I remember, I don’t know exactly what you said, but you had left your bag on top of a car or something like that, did that happen?

[35:40] Sahara

Yeah. I left my wallet on top of my car and I drove off and someone stole my wallet and tried to open up all these credit cards with my ID and it led to, that happening I had to go to the DMV and change things and I found out I had a parking ticket that was unpaid, and led to all of these things that kept showing up and actually it ended up being a physical manifestation that I wasn’t being on top of my money (in my life), I just wasn’t checking my bank statements, I wasn’t this, and I was like “Ugh, whatever, I’ll deal with it later” that Spirit literally had to take away my wallet so I would have to go look into all of it.

So, again, that trigger was the blessing.

[36:17] Sah

And what I remember watching you, like “This is so perfectly genius!” You said “It’s a redirection”, that’s the word…

[36:23] Sahara

Rejection is redirection, yes!

[36:25] Sah

Exactly! That was so freakingly delicious, oh my God, it was so perfectly stated because it really is. When we’re experiencing negative emotion, we’re experiencing triggers; When life is throwing us all this stuff, it’s like, how can we use all of this to wake up more? How can we use all this to bring about, to develop our qualities?

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[37:49] Sah

When anxiety is here, we literally give in and we plant more seeds and we water all the seeds instead of “How can I use this energy that’s really like a pit in my stomach and cluttering my view, how can I pause right now?”, “Alright, this is making me feel like this”, “What you do in the moment?” You can dance, you can breather, you can write, you can call a friend, you can take inventory of what’s happening inside, you can, really, use that energy to create. How do you use destructive emotions as a pathway to creating something powerful back into the world? And most important thing, that I say this often, “You only get to keep these gifts, these learnings that you have, once you share”. It really requires you, and I’m not just saying step into the role and go off and like “I need to teach this right now”, but share it with somebody else. I say this so often, people are like “I want forgiveness, I’m seeking forgiveness” and I’m like “Ok, if you’re having a hard time with it, what do you know about forgiveness?” Share it with somebody else. That person experienced forgiveness: the eyes and our face are not seeing that we have been forgiving or forgives this place, but our heart knows. So, if you’re feeling anxious and you’re like “Okay, let me check in with somebody else. Let me see how XYZ is doing right now”. And in that very moment, what you’re doing, you’re liberating two ascending beings through suffering; you’re connecting two beautiful hearts out of the mind, into the higher self, into the heart place, you know. 

And this leads me to something else – I just want to share briefly about – when I was at the bottom of the pit in one of the darkest depressions that I’ve had. I had this beautiful connection with one of my teachers and he came as a vision, and I don’t usually share this so often, but he came as a vision Amma, Amma G, appeared to me in my mind’s eye and what the vision was, “Do you want to get out of your depression? Go serve; go be of service!” And I was like “Okay! You want me to stop being selfish right now, and thinking that my well-being is the most important well-being in the entire world, that I need to prioritize myself, that I need to be; and it has to be all about me, and you want me to change that and go off and help people? Okay, fine!” But first, it wasn’t that easy, I needed to sort of redesign my mindset, but when I did show up to the park with all these homeless people, what that did to me, it literally was like walking into the garden of my mind and ripping away all these old weeds that had me hooked, and believing that the depression; believing that my mental illness and the suicidal issue with who I am and I was never going to be free of them. And as I walked into the park (and I made sandwiches) and I wrote loving notes on the brown bags for them and I gave it to them. And it was painful, that process was very painful, I didn’t want to do it, but the depression was so debilitating that I was almost paralyzed by my mind. But the fact that I did it, every single action that we do, that’s not necessarily for our well-being, but it’s for their well-being, it’s liberating you honey, it’s liberating you! So I walked into this park and I’m giving these sandwiches to these people, and it was a 45-minute experience, but it was like 15 years of therapy that happened in 45 minutes. And I don’t know how I got to talking about this park but it really is like “How do you transform negative emotions – oh, you’re talking about the anxiety; how do you transform negative emotions into creativity?” 

And I think when we came here for your birthday, you talked about this – transforming that energy, not necessarily negative energy, but our pre-conceptive idea, the sexual one which is negative – how do you transform that into creativity? Yeah, oh my God, this is so good!

[41:19] Sahara

So beautifully sad! And I so agree, of getting out of your own head – I think a lot of us think “Well, I’m not healed enough to be able to help anyone else. I need to get to this level until I can share”, and it could be to a homeless person; it could be to a little cousin you have; it could be to your local school, or whatever it is – if you’re listening to this Podcast – Honey, you have done some work! The fact that you’re even in this conversation, this deep in, with all of these topics, shows that you are someone who has really done a lot of work, and there are 99% of the population waiting to hear from you. And again, it doesn’t mean you have to leave your job and try to do this as a career, but it could be, honestly – imagine if I had a candle and I tried to not show you the light, I would burn myself. Imagine if I tried to cover this light, like “I don’t want you to see, it’s just for me, the fire’s not big enough yet but I keep burning myself and the fire would go out. And it’s only if I share it and light your candle, I have a candle right now so, it just helps me see it.” But it’s so true, because then when I light your candle and look, a candle, the fire is endless, we can go, have a thousand of us lighting candles with that exact same flame. So, why do we feel like our energy – this is a thing I have right now, tell me if you agree – I feel like, in the spiritual community, there’s a lot of this talk of “Your energy is finite so be really careful how you use your energy. I agree, we need to sleep, we need to rest, we need to chill, I’m all for that, but I think that we’re spending so much time on “Oh, I’m not ready”, our fragility, that we’re not going out there. So many people listening to this are like “I’m an empath, I can’t help homeless people” or…

[43:08] Sah

Don’t get me started on that!

[43:10] Sahara

Right! And I think it’s like “Great!” We’re all empaths, if you’re a human, you’re an empath, you feel other people’s emotions, it’s part of being a human. So, we’re using this, we’re not realizing it’s just as much as that rich person that says “Oh, those homeless people, they’re never going to be able to be healed”, for us to say “I’m too much of an empath, so I can’t be around homeless people” – that is you, not willing to look at a part of yourself that exists in that person, that you, being around them, is so triggering, that it literally makes you weak, and you running away from them is not what is going to make you stronger, it’s you sitting with it and seeing “Wow, you have the same hopes and dreams and visions as I do” and that expands what is possible for me too.

[43:53] Sah

Oh my God! This is so brilliant, on so many levels! And this leads to the trigger as a redirection. I say this so often, people message me all the time “You make me so happy, you’re such an inspiration, I love you so much!” I’m like “Boo, yes, thank you, I appreciate all the support, but the truth of the matter is, the seed of happiness is in you; the seed of inspiration is in you! What you see in me is in you! Are you saying that I make you happy, that’s not the truth, I’m just a little bit of sunlight!”

[44:23] Sahara

Or when they say ‘goals’ – I’m not your goal, you’re your own goal. Never put your goal on someone else.

[44:28] Sah

That’s right! They see you as a goal because they have that within them.

[44:32] Sahara

Exactly!

[44:32] Sah

What they are inspiring in you, they have in them. And that’s something we really have to – this takes us to the next stage, of like, being completely accountable for your internal world. No one can make you feel anything, and that’s a very difficult thing in a place where (in the cultural world), we’re sort of told to…

[44:49] Sahara

…”Well, I’m triggered by you because this and that” and it’s like – Yeah, I think the communication is really beautiful and speak your truth, but at the end of the day you’re in charge!

[44:58] Sah

You’re in charge, Boo! You’re in charge! And you’re only going to change your triggers when you sit with them and you recognize that this person is simply a gardener. They are not the master gardener, but they’re literally just a little bit of water into a seed that is within you. You get angry when this person does XYZ, the seed of anger is in you; they’re just a little bit of water; they’re just a little bit of sunlight – you know what I mean, it’s that simple. And same thing with a homeless person – if a homeless person triggers you, and I’m saying this, I was sharing this the other day on my Stories, it’s like “How often do we see somebody anxious at a coffee shop? Or we someone in fear at a restaurant? Or someone biting their nails or talking to themselves? And we are like “Oh my God, I don’t want you in my life!” We shut down, we don’t expand our hearts, we don’t open up our, we don’t really awaken (in your vocabulary), or we don’t awaken our higher self to be like “Oh, wow, here’s a human being with the same hopes and fears as I have, really wishing to be free from suffering, really wanting to be happy and have all the cause of happiness”. And in that very moment that you say “I don’t have anything to help you, I’m going to turn this way”, you close your heart, you’re watering those very seeds (more and more of those seeds) within you. In that very moment, if you can expand and open up, and what do you do – you’re not asking them to be like “Hey Boo, what can I do for you?” I’m not asking you to do that, I’m asking you to simply drop into that moment, notice that the seed has come up, the seed has blossomed, the dormant seed has become a sprout in your mind – anger, fear, hatred, “Ugh, you’re gross, I don’t like you! You are this, you are that! Your anxiety is triggering me, I need to go away from you!” In that very moment when you can pause, breathe, awaken your higher self, in your language, in my language it would be awaken your heart, drop into your Buddha nature, send them a blessing, that’s all we’re offering, that’s all we’re asking, it’s easy for you to just say “Hey, I recognize that you have the same hopes and fears that I do. I recognize that you have the same potential that I do, may you be happy!” But you could just say “May you be happy; may you be free from anxiety” whatever it may be. But what you’re doing is sending a signal, it’s rippling to the entire field where we’re all connected to, and if you’re doing this and you’re hooked up in a scientific lab, you have your, I forgot the name of the machine, but your EG scans, MRI, whatever it may be, the research shows that what’s happening in your body’s chemistry, it’s being upgraded. Blessing people, it’s actually blessing yourself – why would you not do that? Why would you choose to be hooked on a negative emotion? Why would you choose to be hooked into this destructive emotion? Why do that? Become a blessing factory! As you’re walking on the street, bless everybody! What happens with that? You enter into a state of, I like to call it a miraculous state where the gratitude, awe and wonder become our default. You’re no longer seeing people; you’re no longer zooming into people’s flaws; you’re seeing people’s beauties. And then what happens with that? You see your own beauties and you celebrate your beauty and you celebrate your success, instead of the other way around. This and it leads to the next thing – when you’re on Instagram, you’re only saying to people “They’re better than me; they are doing this thing” or “I don’t like this about them; they’re this; they’re that”. In the other space, if you’re coming from this blessing mindset and this miraculous default, you’re literally on Instagram or whatever this in life, and you’re like “Oh my God, I celebrate all your successes, I rejoice in your beauty, I rejoice in all the merit that you’ve accumulated for yourself”, because nothing came about to be just like a snap of a finger honey, it sometimes, people make it seem like it’s so easy and it’s not. In Buddhism it’s takes many, many, many lifetimes in the making. Our conversation right now, we’ve been plotting this for so long!

[48:37] Sahara

So, if you’re listening to this, it’s too late, you’ve already been blessed!

[48:40] Sah

That’s right! 

[48:41] Sahara

We’re blessing you! Can’t take it back! We Love you, we want the best for you! May you be free of suffering!

[48:47] Sah

May you be free of suffering! May you always recognize that you have a choice; you have a choice, and that choice is right here, within you. The blueprint of your awakenings is right here, at the center of your being. My teacher says “It’s as close to you as your eyelashes”, we just can’t see it because we’re so hooked, we’re so trapped; we’re so trapped. And that little part of our garden, that small little area of our garden, where we believe to be the whole garden – No, Boo, look around, there’s beautiful white roses growing all over you but you’re so hooked in that one little area. Get out of that area, take inventory of your emotions. How often are you in that space? And then, I always say to my students “What do you do to cultivate the best qualities in your life? What do you do? What brings you to that place?” And look at your goals, when you’ve set a goal in your mind and when you think about “I want to do this thing” and it has all these negative emotions attached to it – fear, insecurity, doubt, shame, bla, bla, bla – Okay, great, how do you, then, look at that goal and see what’s on the opposite of these negative emotions and then when you look at that other page, where you drew the goal and you look at the positive qualities that represent the opposite of the destructive qualities, does that make sense?

[49:55] Sahara

Absolutely!

[49:56] Sah

And then you create these little pop bubbles of like “What do I do to cultivate courage? What do I do to cultivate creativity? What do I do to cultivate love? What do I do to cultivate wisdom?” And then you make a list of things. I’m not saying go drop everything you’re doing, go move to the Himalayas and be a monk in a cave – No, Boo! Cultivate courage. If you live in New York City, where I currently live, and you walk by a homeless person, don’t just walk by them like they’re nothing or nobody, like they don’t have the same potential that you have, pause for a second and just wish them well, that’s an act of bravery, that’s a courageous act. You’re literally awakening all the potential for your goal to have a completely different set of emotions hardwired to it, emotions that will set you free.

[50:40] Sahara

So beautifully said! And I, often, when I see people, especially disabled people, I’m always – you know, when I was young, I think I got this from Aladdin or something, I always felt like your wishes were – you only had a certain amount of wishes or whatever, and it’s this finite scarcity mindset that they even put into our heads. But I remember when I would see someone who is really disabled I was like “Okay, I’ll use one of my wishes on them, maybe they’ll be well”, and now I realize I have an infinite amount of wishes and I can keep every single person I meet, so I’m always sending love to people. If I see an old person trying to cross the street or whatever it is – and I don’t think that that’s where you should stop either, I think you should also donate and be of service and be of service in as many ways as possible, but let that be the minimum of that you’re just blessing everyone you meet.

[51:25] Sah

Say it – Let that be the baseline; let that be the beginning. And what happens is, if you’re introducing a new style of thinking and all of a sudden you’ve been hooked and envy and jealously and hatred and all this misconception about yourself and the world, and you’re listening to this Podcast and you’re like “Okay, let me introduce a blessing, let me become a blessing factory for a day, let me see what it’s like to – the person at the coffee shop, although I don’t really want to engage with her because I’m listening to this Podcast in my ears, but let me pause for a second and just like “Hey””. As you introduce a new set of thoughts, what’s going to happen? You’re going to redirect your mind. As you redirect your mind, as you redirect your mind, you’re creating new neuro pathways in your brain, as you’re really uncovering more of who you truly are, is you uncovering the qualities of your highest self; is you uncovering the qualities of your heart. What happens is, the way you speak to people, the way you act around people, it’s going to be mixed with love, compassion, wisdom and joy. So, when you act from that place, honey, be ready to be surprised because you are in for a freaking delicious ride that is beyond anything you can ever imagine. I mean, honestly, hello! Look at what we’ve been able to create by really reintroducing thought of enlightenment, by redirecting the mind. We have charge of our internal world, honey, we do!

[52:45] Sahara

We absolutely do! So, something I have been really on a journey to create, is to learn from joy. I’ve realized that many of us, and myself, the times that I’ve learned the most have been through hardship, through family issues, whatever it is, and I truly believe that it is possible for us to fully learn from joy. And it’s something that I’m calling into be my reality, but then, sometimes I’m met with, you know, an issue in my relationship or whatever it is and I’m like “Why do I keep learning from the triggers and this” and I want to elevate my frequency so I’m learning, purely, through love, through dance, through union. Do you think it’s possible for us to only, fully, learn from joy?

[53:30] Sah

Ugh that’s such a delicious question honey! Oh my God, that’s a big one! I think we do need to clean up that garden a lot and sprinkle a lot of seeds of joy, sprinkle a lot of seeds of all the creative, sprinkle all the seeds that lead to awaken our best qualities, that cultivate with all our best qualities, and then yeah. It’s said that the historical Buddha had cultivated a lot of positive merit. We cultivate merits, as I translate it to be spiritual money. Every time you send a blessing to a person, a silent blessing, in whatever you’re doing, you’re cultivating this spiritual money, your spiritual bank account is getting bigger and bigger and bigger and your karmic bank account is getting smaller and smaller, the negative karma, the things you’re here to purify and grow and learn from is decreasing. So, it’s said that the historical Buddha had cultivated so much positive merit in this lifetime that his mindset was always in a state of joy, always in a state of wisdom, compassion and love. And across the yogic sutras, across the Vedic teachings, it all leads back to the Source, at its core, at its base essence, is satchatananda, in Buddhism it’s the Brahmavihadas, it’s all blissful, wise, knowing, love and compassion.

And to then, sort of round up your question, I think we can learn from joy, but what happens is, we get too attached to this experience so we try to hold on to the good feelings. The same way that we try be – we have an aversion towards negative feelings. Some of us have been habituated to hold onto negative feelings, we do the same thing to the positive feelings. We hold onto the them as our utter “I need this right now and if I don’t have it for the rest of the day, I can’t do it”. But what if we can expand even wider from that place? 

And one thing that I recommend doing – write down what’s coming up for you as you’re experiencing a moment of ecstatic bliss; write down what’s coming up for you in the moment that you’re experiencing ecstatic joy. Because we’re so trained to write down what’s coming up for us when we’re experiencing negative emotions, write down what’s on the other side and think about that. And create from – and look for what’s on that list and let’s look at creating that.

[55:38] Sahara

Well, I think the reason, when I think of those moments, of ecstatic bliss or joy, dancing, sexual union, etc. I’m not even thinking about writing. I’m so present in the being that that doesn’t come to mind, whereas when I’m stressed out, it’s almost like so much for me to be present in, that I can’t contain it, that I need to write it down to release it. 

[55:57] Sah

That’s right! So, do have this beautiful moment of ecstatic joy and sacred sexual union, and then, as that feeling is sort of wearing off, accept it, that it’s passing and then see if you can put pen to paper and just become aware “What’s in here still? What are the family members that come up when joy is around?” Because we always think of, when a destructive emotion is around, what are all the systems that come with? Oh, it’s anger, it’s fear, it’s hatred, bla, bla, bla, and then we write those out as a way to process, to heal, to transform, to transcend, to awaken more joy, love and wisdom. But if we’re looking to learn from joy, then we have to sort of become more aware of what is it that comes up when joy is around? And the most important thing is, do not hold onto it as “I need this to be as it as, otherwise my life sucks!” That’s a big thing! 

We have completely attached to positive emotions and completely adverse to negative emotions, and can we navigate the waves of life? In the “Mindfulness Sutra”, it’s a very traditional Buddhist text, it says, there’s three main waves that navigate through a mind; three waves that crash into the shore of our mind – pleasant, unpleasant and neutral. When things are pleasant, we hold onto them; when things are unpleasant, we push away; when things are neutral, we’re sort of looking for the next thing. And in a moment of choice, your best qualities arise; in a moment of pause, your best qualities arise. So, as you pause, as you’re experiencing a pleasant moment, and you’re like “Oh, this is pleasant, cute!” In recognition that it’s pleasant, in recognition that it is making you feel good, in that very moment of awareness and not completely being defined by it, you’re awakening your best qualities. You know, what happens is, they are not triggered by certain circumstances, they’re always coming inside out. A lot of the positive emotions and negative emotions that we experience, it gets triggered by circumstances, right, external things, or even internal things, come up, but the qualities that we’re talking about, this moment of joy, this ecstatic joy, love, compassion and wisdom comes up, it’s always from the inside out. Happy feelings, negative feelings, they are transient. What’s innate, what’s unconditional, subliminal, it’s the qualities of the heart, it’s qualities of the higher self, and that is what we’re here to awaken – that! 

[58:20] Sahara

And I think that our vocabulary around joy is so much more limited than our vocabulary around sadness, right? 

[58:28] Sah

Oh, my God, this is beautiful!

[58:29] Sahara

Like, we can always say “I’m anxious”, “I’m depressed”, “I’m jealous”, “I’m this”, we have a bazillion words, but we’re like “I’m happy?” What does that even mean, we don’t even know what it feels like, so we look at happiness as these gross expressions of happiness like “I’m at Disneyworld!” and we’re like “That must be what happiness is!” And the mundane of the fact that “Nothing is bothering me today”. We don’t realize that we’re happy in that time, so then even when we are, it’s just like a normal day where “Bla, bla, bla”, not realizing that we would’ve killed for this day, a couple days ago. So, I think that us realizing that we – if you’re listening to this Podcast, you’re joyful right now, you’re happy right now, you’re satisfied right now. I’m not talking about what happened a couple hours ago, right now, you’re happy, you’re here, and claiming that and recognizing that! And then finding the textures of it. You being on a rollercoaster is a very different type of happiness and excitement than you just getting into bed after a long day or you receiving a mail, but this is also still joy, but we still, again, look at that ecstatic moment, but that moment can only be ecstatic because it is temporary.

Even in ecstatic dance, there’s one climax and then you go back to the fluidity and embodiment and we are craving to live our lives in this climax. And that’s what I see a lot that’s happening in the Law of Attraction movement, it’s like “How can I be so happy all the time?” And it’s like, we can’t be living on ecstasy pills, that’s just not how we were designed because our dopamine can’t handle it, how can we find joy in even what we would consider the mundane?

[1:00:04] Sah         

This is the real offering! That is the complete awakening of the heart – is bringing the qualities of the heart to everything. And then the highs are not so high and the lows are not so low, it’s the baseline has changed, the garden of your mind is now sprinkled with all these beautiful – I say white rosettes, if you guys like white roses?

[1:00:25] Sahara

I love white roses!

[1:00:26] Sah

You do, right? And I’m just – oh, rose gold!

[1:00:29] Sahara

Yes, rose gold roses!

[1:00:31] Sah

Exactly! 

[1:00:33] Sahara

That is my gold dipped rose right there.

[1:00:35] Sah

That’s right! Oh, I saw it on your birthday. So, imagine a garden of your mind, fueled with gold roses everywhere, can you imagine that! That is the baseline we’re talking about, this unconditional joy that is as you’re just walking your dog, as you’re sipping your coffee in the morning, as you’re driving to work and the sun’s coming up.

[1:00:55] Sahara

And not distracting yourself in that moment, not “Okay, what’s going to happen next? Okay, let me check Instagram. Oh, what is my email?” Realizing that you’re joyful right now.

[1:01:04] Sah

That’s right! 

[1:01:05] Sahara

And then you stop chasing for it.

[1:01:06] Sah

That’s right! Recognition is the key to watering those seeds, you know, it’s okay right now. And simplicity, I think a lot of times, and for me it’s been a big thing, as I shared with you on your birthday, it’s like “What are my keywords for this year?” There’s no rush and it’s, simplicity is the key. Because I think when things are simple, we believe something is missing, we have this continuous undertone of being dissatisfied “Nothing is ever good enough”, “I’m not good enough”, “Life is not this enough”. This baseline instead of dissatisfaction – changing it and understanding that when things are simple, it’s because it’s literally wonderful, its simplicity is joyful, simplicity is kind, simplicity is grace and I’m really like tapping into that, more and more into my daily life – simplicity is the way, you know! 

[1:01:59] Sahara

And I think that we life in a world that’s a buffet, right? So, even if we’re at the ‘all you can eat’ buffet, I’m like “Well, you got the pasta, I didn’t get the pasta, should I be getting the pasta?” And your stomach in only this big, you can’t eat everything and there’s going to be a lot of experiences that you might want to do in this lifetime but that’s not what this lifetime is about, you have to choose what is the most exciting for you, what is the most pressing for you and give that your all. I think a lot of people, they feel like there’s so many options out there so they just stand paralyzed and they don’t do anything. They’re just looking at all, the never ending buffet, they’re like “Shit, what if I choose the wrong food and then I don’t like it and then I didn’t eat that one”, and it’s like, have your meal, that’s your meal, have your meal, go for it and then once that doesn’t feel good anymore, have something else. But you know, I think we run away from just that simplicity. If we think about back in the day, back in ancient India and stuff, it’s like “I’m a medicine woman and this is what I do”, “I’m a whatever, this is what I do”, for us, we have this constant fo-mo to everything in life that keeps us in this perpetual state of dis-ease, unhappiness, dissatisfaction, when those people, because they didn’t know those options existed, it actually helped them. So, it’s not that we need to go back in time and let go of our options, and it’s still beautiful to have – we were just talking about all of these different ideas that we have, and it’s still beautiful to do it, but choose your thing that you really want to be yours and get to the point. Like, Buddhism for you, since I’ve known you, now 3 years, you have been going from teacher after teacher and really getting to the bottom of this, to the point that you’re able to have your own interpretation of it. But had you just like, I don’t know, read a couple Instagram posts of the Buddha, you would not have been as immersed in this to even realize it at its core, to then be like “Okay, there’s actually this whole entire interpretation of it that the world doesn’t know about!” And I did the same thing with Ayurveda, had I not gotten to the roots of it, I would not have been able to be like “Well, there’s actually this whole other approach!” 

So, this is really an invitation to anyone, whether it is a spiritual lineage or painting, or whatever it is, commit to yourself enough to get to the root of something, to really honor it. I think commitment is something that’s really missing and unsexy in our society, and it’s again, we’re like serial daters in our lives.

So, get to the root of something, understand it. Even a human, when you understand that, a human, at such a deep level, it’s from there that you’re able to come up with different ways to interact. Like a marriage, a life-long marriage, you’ve seen so many sides of that person, but so many of us are like “I don’t like how you cut your toenails, next, next, next!” 

[1:04:36] Sah

That’s right, oh my God!

[1:04:37] Sahara

And what is that saying about ourselves? That we’re not able to look at those quirks or those different parts of ourselves?

[1:04:43] Sah

Beautiful! Oh, my God! Commitment, such a big thing (the discipline)! And it goes back to worshipping your heart; to worship your higher self! That’s what we’re asking for! Because every single one of you listening, every single person in the world is here for a reason! You’re deserving of this earth and you have a mission here. And that mission is you finding your own unique way of conveying love, compassion, wisdom and joy back into the world. It might be, for me, teaching, writing, speaking, sainting to Sahara; for you it might be (I use this example often), for you it might be making clothes, for you it might be whatever it might be that you’re doing.     

[1:05:26] Sahara

And that’s what you did in your past life, you were in fashion.

[1:05:28] Sah

That’s right, oh my God, so true! 

[1:05:31] Sahara

And magazines.

[1:05:32] Sah

That’s right! And transforming that and making sure that once you recognize that that’s what you’re here to do, that’s your way of conveying the love, compassion, joy and wisdom back into the world. It’s sacred! When I look at that piece of jewelry that you made from that place – although, I might have my ‘om’ sign or anything Sanskrit related or anything spiritual related, it might just be that because you created from that place of joy, that place from your heart, the higher self, created the love; the heart created. When I see this, when I put it on, imagine the imprint that it’s creating in people’s minds. It’s reminding them that they too have that potential; it’s reminding them that they too have something special in them, that something special needs to be shared with the world. We need this honey, we need your magic; as you’re listening, we need your magic! The world needs it, now! 

[1:06:20] Sahara

Yes we do! And something that you shared on my birthday, while we were going around dancing our intentions, you were saying that this year you want to choose devotion over discipline, and I really loved that because I think a lot of us, when we think of the word discipline, we think of this hard thing that I have to do from the outside, it’s like this very masculine texture, but devotion is showing up for your practice, not because you have to do it but because you want to do it. And that carries this sacred vibration to it! So, this work, thi healing work, the forgiveness work, and Sah has so much of it, check out his courses and meditations, it’s so much, a lot of heavier stuff, but you’re doing it in a way that is uplifting it and it’s a sacrament to the divine and that makes you want to show up for it.

[1:07:12] Sah

That’s right, say it honey, loud and clear! And I love the discipline vs. emotion, I think Mia shared that, but I let you rip it because that was so beautiful and it’s something, as I’m receiving as a teaching too. Because, discipline, if it’s not supported by joy, if it’s not supported by wisdom, by kindness, by grace, then there’s no point doing it, then you become rigid, and then what’s going to happen to you is what happened to me years ago, you’re going to become a serious practitioner and you’re going to think that being spiritual means you have to be a serious person. And I say this often to my students, if you become serious on the healing path, turn it all the way, honey, go the opposite way, you’re not uncovering what you’re here to uncover, which is joy, which is compassion, wisdom, love, simplicity. And this sense of devotion, you know, we’re all longing for our hearts, we’re all longing for that deep communion with ourselves, with the Buddha, most awakened part of ourselves. This is what devotion is about, just making a commitment to connect with the part of you, regularly. And again, as the Buddha shared with you, as the Buddha shared, and as Sahara shared with me earlier today, as I was telling her about ideas of relocating and how to take my practice to another level – you do all this work to the point where you can just be in a state of meditation, that you could just be in a state of complete awakening, your perception is so wide, to hold space for everyone and everything, constantly. You’re completely aware of our interdependency, to everything and everyone, always, that we’re constantly co-creating reality.

Everything that we’re sharing here it’s because of cause and effect and we’re completely the utter creators of our entire, we’re the creator and directors of our entire experience, the good and the bad. And that what you shared is – imagine when you walk in a state of devotion, I think that’s the offering.

[1:09:03] Sahara

I have so much to talk to you about! We’ll have to have you on the Podcast again! But guys, Sah has been such a dear friend of mine, three years ago, I thought it was five years ago because it feels like forever ago, but it was definitely early 2017 (beginning of the year) when I joined the Moon Club and you were the first webinar that they had done – I don’t think I watched the webinar, I just saw you, I was like “I need to become his friend!” And you hadn’t even fully stepped into your sassiness, at that point. You were carrying it on a personal level but it wasn’t even part of your work.

[1:09:39] Sah

It wasn’t! 

[1:09:40] Sahara

You were still in that more Buddhist teaching realm but I could just feel it in your vibration! And then you invited me to come to the Yoga and Science Conference, that Stern had invited you, and then that’s when I showed up late and Deepak Chopra walked on stage and I walked up to him, which led to the Forward of my book and I remember then I met you and I was like “I just walked up to Deepak Chopra!” And I have the postcard still because we went to lunch after and your friend Pacha wrote this postcard that says “Welcome to the table and the mark of the date is the day you met Deepak” and I’m so grateful that I have that, but you were the angel in my life because had I not connected to you, I wouldn’t have been at that conference and I wouldn’t have walked up to Deepak Chopra. And so many ripple effects after and now I’m just so grateful – he was definitely our teammate in a past life because now you’re working with him and we’re both going to be teaching on his retreats together, and it was like in our own past life relations, I’m so curious about all three of our lives are – we were in the Step Squad, yeah! 

[1:10:43] Sah

That’s right! Oh, my God! 

[1:10:45] Sahara

So, I always consider you just like such an angel on my path and someone I truly consider a soul brother. I feel like if I were in a male body, I would be you. And having you at my wedding and connecting you back to your Lebanese roots and the healing of that, I’m just so grateful for our friendship! 

[1:11:04] Sah

Thank you, same here my love! Honestly, thank you, thank you, thank you so much! And the feeling is mutual! And if you’re in a male body honey, I’d be all over that! 

[1:11:17] Sahara

So where can listeners connect with you, follow you, take your courses, all the good stuff?

[1:11:22] Sah

All of it’s on IG! All of its on Instagram at @sahd’simone. I put all the links there and you can just find all the courses there and all the amazing stuff right now. 

There will be the Transform Your Inner Critic Into a Healing Ally Course, which is an amazing, red hot, powerful, delicious course! And the extremely popular one which is the Shifting From a Mindset of Scarcity into a Mindset of Abundance. Both courses are really playful, very rooted in contemporary psychotherapy and Buddhist psychology, really bringing in everything that I’ve learned to transform in my life, to share in a way that’s relatable and digestible, that you will feel empowered to become your own powerful – you know, the tattoo that I have on my left arm is “Become your own refuge”, take refuge in your heart, take refuge in your higher self. So, all the ways that I teach and it’s really to empower you to step into that role and make change in your life because life is short you guys, and it’s beautiful, and it’s delicious, and please, stop hiding your magic!

[1:12:25] Sahara

Yes! We need you! Aww, well thank you so much for being on the Podcast, and funny story guys, we were at Bali Spirit Fest this year and we started a twerk (The Twerk Team).

[1:12:38] Sah

Oh my God, that’s right, I forgot about that!

[1:12:40] Sahara

So, we started a twerk team and it was us and our friend Van Donna who’s been on the Podcast too, we were just twerking, we were inspiring so many people and bringing so much joy because even Bali Spirit Fest has that spiritual serious vibe to it too, a lot of people who are there to get very deep into the kirtan and we were just having joy and fun and being playful, and it was just so beautiful to share that experience with people, but then to also see how it gave so many other people permission to get just a little bit more wild and expressive, and playful and childish for themselves too.

[1:13:13] Sah

That’s right! And oh my God, and did we go up to this guy and say we’re a part of this…

[1:13:20] Sahara

Professional Twerk Team…yeah! And he was like “I need your guys’ business card!” And things like that, we didn’t plan this, we just literally started improving and we were tewrking in the cafeteria. I feel like that’s what we need more of – back when we were kids, kids in general would just make up a character and suddenly I talk in a British accent and you go from them, you know, we just don’t do that anymore and why did we stop having accents and trying out different characters and we are we so stuck in ourselves? I’m sick of it!

[1:13:52] Sah

Yeah! Stop being this fixed identity! Surprise yourself! When you surprise yourself, you allow other people to surprise you too. That is so beautiful! Oh my God, this is so delicious!

[1:14:04] Sahara

Yeah! So, come hang out with me and Sah! We should do a retreat, twerkshop, meditation, ecstatic dance, all the things!

[1:14:12] Sah

Oh my God, yes, yes, yes!

[1:14:14] Sahara

So, let us know if you want that! 

[1:14:16] Sah

Yes, I love that!

[1:14:17] Sahara

Thank you again for being here.

[1:14:18] Sah

Love you! Thank you!

[1:14:19] End of Interview       

__________________________________________________________

[1:14:20] Sahara

Such a good one! I hope you loved that Episode! Sah is one of our expert guests in Rose Gold Goddesses. 

So if you’re interested in learning more and diving deep in a workshop with him, head over to rosegoldgoddesses.com you will see it right there (rosegoldgoddesses.com) the link is in the show notes. And be sure to check out Sah’s Instagram where is dancing, he is such a delight, such a pleasure to be around! I adore him so much and I’m so honored to be able to support him in this way! 

[1:14:49]

If you loved this Episode, I would love to send you a free gift which is the first half of my unreleased book “Eat Right for Your Mind-Body Type“. This is a different book than “Eat Feel Fresh“. My first book ever which is not released anywhere, and I am gifting it exclusively to those who leave a review of my Podcast in the iTunes store. So all you’ve got to do is head over to iTunes where you’re maybe listening to this podcast and leave a review, take a screenshot that you’ve left it and email it over to me at [email protected] and I will send you back the first half of my unreleased book “Eat Right for Your Mind-Body Type“, which goes all into Ayurveda, Doshas, Plant-Based Nutrition, Body Types – all of the things in a really fun and engaging way. So this is my gift to you for free for supporting the Podcast. Every single review I personally read. It really helps the Podcast be listened to by more people so we can raise the vibration of the planet together, and I am soul grateful to have you on this journey.

Thank you so much for listening and I’ll see you on the next Episode. Namaste.

Episode 268: Being Spiritually Sassy with Sah D’Simone
By Sahara Rose