Part 2 of our Men's Health Series we dive deep into the world of men's health and the powerful idea that “movement is medicine”, with Andrew James.

Andrew shares his journey as a functional wellness expert, emphasizing that true strength comes not just from lifting weights but from mastering one’s mindset and movement. The episode explores the societal pressures that often prevent men from expressing vulnerability and how breaking through these barriers can lead to empowerment and growth.

Around movement, Andrew tackles the common misconception around flexibility versus mobility. You will learn that they’re not the same, and understanding the difference could prevent injuries down the line.

This is an episode that not only offers up valuable insights, but some laughs along the way. Get ready to take in some tips to help you maintain your health and well-being.

Takeaways:

• Andrew shares his journey from personal training to functional wellness, highlighting the importance of movement, mindset, and self-mastery.
• The conversation explores societal pressures on men, particularly around vulnerability, emphasizing that expressing emotions is not a weakness.
• Movement is medicine! Andrew explains how mobility and flexibility are crucial for overall health and wellness, not just aesthetics.
• Andrew debunks myths about pain and health, encouraging listeners to seek help rather than accept discomfort as a norm.
• The episode underscores the significance of creating safe spaces for men to talk about their feelings and experiences without judgment.

If this episode resonates with you, then remember... SUBSCRIBE • 5-Star Rate • COMMENT • SHARE this Podcast!! 💚❤️🙌🏾🙏🏾

Book Recommendation: "Be Water, My Friend: The Teachings of Bruce Lee" by Shannon Lee

Find Andrew Online:

Website: https://flowbody.co/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/tactivision/

Find us online: https://linktr.ee/nkechinwaforrobinson

Great day, amazing human.

Yes.

Welcome to Empowered at My Skin podcast where our mission is to help 1 billion people in this world think in more empowering ways.

Empowered humans empower humans.

So you are in the right place to become a lead domino for empowerment today.

My name is Nkechi Mwaho Robinson.

I'm not only your host, but I am a vibrant optimist obsessed to bring you empowering content with every single episode.

We will bring you weekly content, alternating between longer episodes with featured guests and a shorter episode called Empowering Bites where I will be joined by my co host, Gabby Memone.

So if you're ready, let the show begin.

Great day, amazing humans.

Yes.

Welcome to the next episode of Empowered on My Skin.

It's a guest episode, but it's also the second episode of our Men's Health series that we are featuring here in November.

Fourth for Movember and our guest, as you can see.

So youtubers, I know you can see this amazing guest, but our guest is on a mission to prove that strength isn't only built in the gym.

It's built through movement, mindset and mastery of self.

A leader in functional wellness, blending science, soul and skill to help people reconnect with their bodies and reclaim their power.

From hands on healing to empowering education.

His mission is simple yet profound.

But movement is medicine.

So please join me in a gigantic, massive welcome podcast.

Welcome to the amazing Andrew A.J.

james.

Hello, everyone.

Thank you for having me on.

It's a pleasure to be here.

YELLING AND SHOUTING well, welcome.

So excited.

Thank you.

Transparently.

This is like my fascial stretch therapist.

So I was just laughing because I was like, hold on, we're in a different seat right now.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

So you're in my world.

Yeah.

The ball is now in your court.

The ball's in my court.

You get to do.

You get to do what I tell you to do now.

Exactly, exactly.

Guess what?

It's not going to be as painful.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Maybe not physically, but maybe emotionally.

I don't know.

We might be tapping into some deep rooted stuff, so.

Well, it all depends on where you go.

And then I, you know.

Yeah.

So signature first question I ask everybody is, what has been your most empowering thoughts you've had of the day so far?

The most empowering thoughts I've had for the day.

That's a very, very interesting question.

I guess for me it would be, I guess, being more comfortable in failing forward.

Yeah.

Because for me, I. I've had a. I've had a really.

I've had issues with failing in the past.

And I, I put a lot into what I do, and sometimes I. I have this limiting mindset or this limiting belief where, like, failure is this negative thing and it.

It means defeat.

And so kind of changing that paradigm and remembering that failing is all part of the growing process.

And even from the perspective of, like, you know, training, which I know you.

You're.

You do quite heavily as well.

So when training, it's like you're.

You're.

You're trying to push beyond, like, just beyond your limits.

And, you know, sometimes failing is part of the process, is part of that growing.

That growing pain that you experience.

And so for me, it's just kind of understanding that, remembering that and then adopting that into my everyday life as a way of, like, motivating myself to keep pushing forward despite any perceived failures.

Because really, it's not failure.

It's only failure if you.

If you quit.

Yeah, right.

It's a mindset then, right?

Like, yeah, it's all about perspective.

But.

But I like that because especially since this is November month, series, month health series, in your conversations with like, your.

Your father or your friends, male friends, what's your thoughts in terms of men, like, societal pressure that men have that then exasperates what you're sort of talking about, right?

Like, how much of that is external pressures that are.

That are.

That are imposed.

That you feel are imposed upon you, but really.

And what's been your experience in terms of recognizing that they're not that true?

Well, I think the biggest thing, and I don't know if this answers your question, but I feel like a lot of men have a hard time being vulnerable and, you know, showcasing their emotions because, you know, society puts this.

This stigma in your head pertaining to men particularly that, you know, showing your emotions is a display of weakness and that men always have to be strong and they have to be stoic and they have to show up and exude physical prowess and whatnot.

And anything beyond below that is.

Is deemed as weakness.

And I think men, including myself, sometimes still struggle with that and struggling with that belief system of, you know, expressing yourself and showing your emotions is ace.

Is a sign of weakness, which, you know, I know it's.

It's not.

It takes a very bold individual, be that male or female, to, you know, share their emotions and express how they're feeling.

Right.

And so I think men still kind of struggle with that quite a bit.

My.

My dad is a big proponent of that.

Like, he has a hard time sometimes expressing himself and, you know, we're not the type of individuals that like, really express our emotions to one another.

Like, it, it's felt, but it's not really said.

You know what I mean?

I think it's like a male thing where it's like, oh, like, you know, two guys shouldn't be expressing themselves in that way.

Which is a silly way to think.

But I think it still plagues a lot of men to this day.

And I think that's a big problem because, you know, if you don't, if men don't have an outlet to express themselves and they keep it bottled in, then what are the repercussions of that?

Right.

From holding and keeping that all stored inside.

Right.

That, that, that's entered that stagnant energy that just kind of like builds over time.

And if it doesn't have a way of coming out in a constructive way, then it becomes destructive.

So.

Yeah.

And if you, if I take you back to when you, do you, do you recall.

Let me just ask you a question.

Do you recall maybe the first time you ever dared to be vulnerable with your feelings?

Do you have any recollection of that?

Well, I'll be honest.

I wear my heart on my sleeve quite a bit.

Okay.

For a really long time.

Yeah.

I mean, but I've always, I've always felt.

I don't know if guilty is the right word, but like, if I've ever expressed myself or like, if I'm in a relationship with someone and, you know, I, like, they do something that I really don't like and I, and I speak on it.

I sometimes kind of feel like, well, I'm a man, I shouldn't be feeling.

I should man up and like, you know what I mean?

And so I struggle, go with that sometimes.

But I'm, I, I've gotten better over the years of, you know, being honest with my emotions and my feelings and expressing them, but making sure that I express them in a.

In a very instructive way because I feel like.

So I have this analogy that I use where it's like, in terms of like, emotions and like, it's basically just energy, right?

It's not.

It's not.

We sometimes get in the habit of labeling, like, certain emotions as good or bad.

Like anger is a.

Is a negative emotion versus happiness being a positive emotion.

But really it's just, it's just energy.

It only becomes a problem depending on how you utilize that.

That energy or that emotion.

Right.

So it's like, it's like imagine, Imagine you have a candle and you light the candle Right.

That's the same energy that you would have if you lit a piece of paper on fire.

Right.

One is controlled, but if you let the piece of paper kind of run wild, it could blow up your.

It could, like, set fire to your whole.

Right.

So it's a matter of, like, what you do with that emotion.

It's the difference between, like, a rally for something that you stand for versus a riot, you know?

And so, yeah, rally versus riot.

I like that.

That was another good analogy.

Have you shared that one publicly before?

Is it the first time?

Yeah, once.

Once before?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Do you and your friends.

And by the way, like I said, like, I'm guy.

You're.

You're guiding this interview, so you're.

A little bit.

Because I don't have any of this conversation on this piece of paper with all of your questions, but.

Well, you're asking really good questions, so I'm just kind of.

It started with you.

Open it up.

But do you and your friends talk about.

Your male friends, talk about vulnerability?

Yeah.

Mm.

Yeah, I have.

I have some really cool or close connections that I have with, like, my.

My really close circle of guy friends that we.

We definitely talk about.

Like, we get together every once in a while, and we.

We talk about a myriad of different things, but, yeah, we've.

We've definitely talked about vulnerability and, you know, we've shared our.

Our feelings and whatnot.

And the.

The good thing about that, especially having a brotherhood like that, is that we all provide a safe space for one another, so we never judge or.

Or criticize each other or, like, say, oh, like, stop being so soft, you know?

You mean, like, we.

We listen and we don't judge and.

And.

And, yeah, so I. I'm lucky and fortunate in that and that I have a safe space in terms of people that I can go to, especially, like, other males that I can have these conversations with.

And.

Yeah, sadly, not everyone has that.

And so they don't have that outlet to kind of, you know, share and express themselves the way that.

The way that they would like to.

And, yeah, that can cause problems for people mentally.

So, yeah, I see that a lot.

I can actually see when somebody has this avenue or this outlet to be able to exercise their emotions versus those that don't.

Right.

Like, very, very different.

So.

Well, thank you.

Thank you for sharing in that way.

Let's.

So you've built a career that blends therapy, coaching, and movement.

Right?

I think I get a bit of all of that as part of our sessions, but also purpose, so.

Because I remember, I think it was our very first session.

You had this thing called belief, like this sign of belief on top of your door.

So what originally led you to this work?

And how has your own personal journey shaped the way that you show up for others today?

That's a fantastic question.

So what originally led me to this work was I started off in the industry as a personal trainer.

Prior to that, I was in film because I actually grew up with a learning disability.

So I had this complex of, like, okay, well, you know, the.

Everyone kept telling me that, like, the ceiling is the limit as opposed to the sky, right?

And so I felt very boxed in in terms of, like, what I could actually get into as a career.

And so at the time when I was, like, much younger, I. I figured I only had two options.

I was either gonna do something in dance because I was.

I used to break dance back in the day, or I was gonna do something in film, because those were my two passions.

And long story short, the.

The film thing kind of didn't pan out the way I wanted it to.

And so there was a period of time where I was kind of in a transitional phase where I was trying to figure out where I wanted to go next.

And then it kind of led me into personal training because, you know, that became another passion of mine where I was just.

I was training myself, and I really enjoyed it.

So I was like, okay, well, why don't I do this for others, right?

And so I started becoming a personal trainer.

Really enjoyed that.

Was starting to get a lot of clients, and they were starting to get, like, really good results.

Looking good.

But there was one problem.

They were sometimes coming in with injuries and ailments, right?

They were still looking good, but it's like, what's the point of looking good if you don't feel great the same way, right?

So I was like, okay, well, I feel like there's.

There's something missing in my skill set.

And so that eventually led me into exploring other avenues kind of related to.

To wellness and health.

And so I got into fascial stretch therapy.

And then from there I. I was getting really good results, and people were loving it.

But then they're like, oh, but, like, I don't want to always have to pay out of pocket.

So it's like, okay, so now I gotta.

I gotta continue to expand my skill set.

And then I went into.

I got my license for massage therapy.

And, yeah, now I'm here and I'm continuing to grow my skill set and learn new things and evolve As I go.

And I'm loving the process.

Wow, I love that.

And so this being the month of November and you obviously having both female male clients.

What.

Just the starting question.

What fundamentally differences do you see in terms of how women kind of show up for therapy versus men?

As a starting question, I have more to.

To double click on, but okay, so that's a good question.

So majority of my clientele are actually women, and I think that's primarily because men, and I don't mean to group all men in this.

In this category or stereotype in any way, but men don't really value, like, the mobility aspect and like, you know, their health in the same way that women tend to do is in my experience, as I found.

And so I think that's a large contribution to why I have.

I see more female clients than I do men.

That's slowly starting to kind of change.

I am seeing a few more guys come into my treatment room for treatment as they age because they're starting to kind of see the importance of being able to move well and, and be strong, not just externally, but internally as well.

But yeah, to answer your question, I think it's just, you know, women just tend to be more focused and fixated on their health and longevity overall.

Health and longevity overall.

Yeah.

Men are more kind of focusing about the aesthetics, and they prioritize a lot of other things in their lives.

Like, you know, some of them chase money, some of them chase other things.

And so in terms of their health, it kind of falls by the wayside and it's less of a priority until they absolutely, really need it.

And then that's when I start to see a lot of men from, like, literally ground zero where they're just completely broken and I have to build them back up from the ground up.

Okay, that was a double.

I was going to double click on that.

I was going to say, when they show up, are they showing up from a place of health or are they showing up a place from a place of injury?

And so you have the microphone right now, and.

And I think that both of us were.

We're an age where we have experience, and experience then builds wisdom, and wisdom allows us to tell stories to help people that are coming up behind us.

So for younger men, what would you love to them to know?

Like, what would you love to debunk for them that might get them into the door earlier before they're actually coming to you with, like, what do.

What do younger men need to know now that you didn't?

Maybe you didn't even know.

I would say across the board, not just men, but because of the fact that, you know, I see less men in my practice, is that for every 10 years that you age, you lose 10 of your flexibility.

Now, that might not seem like a big thing right now.

If you're, if you're a young guy, you know, you still have your suppleness, you still move fairly well, but, you know, it, it slowly catches up to you, right?

And if you don't prioritize your mobility and your movement early on, then it becomes a lot harder for you to do it later on in life.

It's not impossible.

You can still get back a lot of those gains that you had when you were younger.

But if you take care of it early, then it's less work and less effort that you have to put into it at an, at an older age.

And so I think that that's important thing to highlight because we often think that the, like, age, just age in general has a lot to do with like the degeneration of our bodies.

And that's, age is a very small factor in, in that it's the fact that as we get older, we have a lot more priorities in our lives.

Like we're, you know, whether you're, you know, you have kids that you're, you know, that they become the priority or like, you know, you start getting more bombarded with your work duties, you start putting yourself second to everything else and you stop prioritizing yourself and your physical and mental and emotional needs.

And that, I think is what is the biggest contribution to the aging process in terms of you like, being like, run down.

Because it's like, you'll see a 70 year old who still looks and moves like they're in their early 20s or 30s, and then you'll see the same, another 70 year old who looks like they've like, they look like the crypt, you know, and they've aged and like, they're like, they're moving like, like slow and you know, everything is just all broken down on them and everything.

And it's just like, okay, well it's two different people, but they had two different mindsets when it came to priorities and their training and their health and longevity.

And so I think that's an important thing to highlight and be aware of.

Do you, do you so move?

So you, you often say movement is medicine, which is, I think, what you're sort of talking about now.

And so can you share a moment of like a lot of times we, we come up with these things for ourselves.

Right.

Have you, have you had a moment where.

Of truth, where that was born from?

Or is it more like something that has been born from your experience of working with other humans in your practice?

It's a mix of both, I think.

I've.

I've experienced it firsthand for myself.

I, I mean, I, I try not to use myself too much as an example because I, I grew up as a dancer, right.

And so I've, like, I, I never stopped kind of moving like that.

I mean, yes, as I've, as I've gotten older, I have more priorities and everything, but for me, I, I feel like I grew up in the movement world to some capacity.

Right.

Like, if it wasn't dancing, I was doing martial arts.

If it, I was doing gymnastics.

So I always kind of had movements.

Gymnastics and martial arts.

Yeah, Like, I, I dabbled in it.

I wasn't like, professionally in it or anything, but I used to do, like, tumbles and all kinds of stuff.

And, you know, I really enjoyed that, that as a kid, and it kind of transitioned into adulthood in terms of, like, my profession now.

So I, I try not to use myself per se, as an example, but I have seen it in other cases with a lot of my other, you know, like I said, who.

Some of them come in from ground zero and I work with them and I, and I build them back up.

And when I say I, I mean, like, it's a team effort.

Right.

Like, I, I kind of have this issue with, like, certain people who say, like, oh, I'm a, I'm a healer.

You know, I'm doing all of this, you know, in that, in our profession, because it's like we're facilitating the healing process.

The nervous system is very intelligent and it knows how to do its own healing.

We're just, we're just providing that stimulus to help facilitate that into that process.

It's similar to if you were in my treatment room and I turned up the thermostat to where it was really, really hot, what would your body do?

You would start to sweat as a way of regulating your core temperature.

But conversely, if I turned it down, your body would start to shiver as a way of warming yourself up.

So I'm facilitating the physiological changes that are happening in your body, but I'm not actually doing.

Yes, I get the actual.

You know what I mean?

Yeah.

So, yeah, hopefully that answers your question.

A little bit more of a journey too.

So.

So mobility.

So one of the things I have.

So maybe I'm just picking your Expertise.

So mobility, flexibility are different.

Yes.

Then you also have strength.

Yes.

Yeah.

Can you maybe qualify for us?

Like.

Like, to me, that's an ecosystem that I think is.

Brings overall wellness.

And so I think what I was.

What I understood from you earlier is men tend to overemphasize strength and esthetics.

Yes.

And might be missing mobility.

And then there's also flexibility.

Yes.

So.

So.

Yeah, yeah, so.

So flexibility is the precursor to mobility.

So you do need flexibility.

Flexibility is important.

But to differentiate the two, flexibility is, to put it simply, it's.

It's your passive range of motion.

So let's say just kind of to paint a picture for your audience, let's say you were on.

On the table, you were on your back, and I took your leg.

I kept the leg in completely straight, and I lift the leg to do a hamstring stretch for you, right?

So I'm assisting you in and I'm trying to test to see how far you can go.

That's your passive range of motion.

That's a demonstration of flexibility.

Now, if we take that same.

But I'm not involved in that process, and I get you to now lift your leg up as high as you can in the same fashion that we did with the passive range.

That's your active range of motion.

And that's more of a demonstration of your mobility.

So that's a combination of flexibility, strength, and control.

So flexibility.

Sometimes you'll hear people say flexibility is useless.

It's not necessarily useless because, like I said, it's a precursor to mobility.

You can't have one without the other.

But it's useless from the standpoint of, like, if you were to play a sport, or let's say, for example, martial arts, right.

Where like, let's say you have to do a front kick to somebody's face.

Sorry to get super violent there.

But let's say you have to kick someone in the face, right.

That would be a demonstration of your active range of motion.

Right?

So I can't.

If you're in martial arts and you're trying to kick someone in the face.

I can't.

Then show up and be like, okay, I'm gonna lift your leg so you can kick this guy in the face.

You gotta be able to do it yourself, right?

So that's why sometimes you'll hear say, like, flexibility is useless because it's the passive range of motion.

And you'll always have more passive range than you will active range.

But we're trying to.

We're trying to close that gap as therapists, as best as possible.

Okay.

So that's where the strength component comes in, the strength and control.

So the reason why it's important is because some people just focus on just building muscle, and they're just working on the aesthetic part of.

Of everything.

But that doesn't address your.

Your mobility aspect.

Because we want to be able to move in a variety of different ways.

We want.

We want variability in our movement.

So when you squat, when you.

We want to make sure that you have the adequate prerequisites in order to squat.

So I don't want to get super technical for your audience, but like, like when we're breaking down, like the biomechanics of a squat, there's a lot of moving parts that are involved in a squat.

A squat is not just a squat where you're just dropping your.

Your butt down to the floor.

Right.

There's.

You need adequate amount of ankle mobility, knee mobility, and then hip mobility.

And if you don't have that, your brain likes to take the path of least resistance.

So if you're trying to go from the top position of a squat to the bottom position of squat, but you don't have the prerequisites in your hip or your ankle, your.

You're still telling your brain, I still want to go down.

I want to drop it.

Like, drop it like it's hot.

So it's going to try and find the path of least resistance, and it might find it in areas that don't normally support that load in your squat.

And is that over time to overcomp?

Like, you start to.

You start to maybe damage certain areas because you're not squatting?

Absolutely.

You start to overcompensate.

You know, you.

You put more stress on the ankles, you put more stress on the knees, and these maybe start to cave in and people disregard that and they just squat anyway.

Yeah.

And that's how injuries happen.

Right.

Because you're.

If, if you don't have the capacity for certain ranges of motion and then you're adding load to that capacity, then what do you think is going to happen?

You're.

You're.

That's a recipe for disaster every time.

I think that's why I'm on the table with you.

So.

Because, because sometimes you think just because you can do it, you do it.

But you.

To your point.

Yeah, I, I've learned so much in working with you on and also from that then doing a little bit more research on my own, and I'm just like, man, why didn't I.

Why Couldn't I have been introduced to, like, fascial stretch therapy, like, way back when I was healthy?

Not, not necessarily coming to you when I'm not feeling well.

So I'm going to digress.

But because you put your, your arms up, I saw the f. So you're wearing a flow shirt.

Yes, yes, yes.

So basically it's, yeah, free your restrictions.

Yes.

Live pain free, optimize your movement, win back your body.

So how did you come up with that?

Because that flow bodies you is your yes.

Yeah.

So talk to us about that.

I was, I was just kind of in my creative mind and I was just like, okay, like, how do I turn this into my own personal messaging or my mission statement in terms of what I do?

That way it can help me remember what my, what my actual mission is.

Like, my pitch, so to speak, in terms of, like, when people ask you, like, oh, what do you do?

It's like, well, I free people from restrictions.

I help people live pain free, optimize their movement and back their body.

And it's like, oh, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And so that's essentially what I, I do.

I, I help to, I, I assess where you're restricted.

We address those restrictions, and we do our best to free you of those restrictions so that you can live pain free and then optimize your movement by getting you to move better once we've eliminated the tension that you're holding in your body due to any kinds of dysfunctional issues that you might have.

And then basically you get to win back your body.

Right.

You get to, you get to be comfortable in the body that you're in.

Right.

As opposed to always pushing through pain.

Or you'll often hear people say, ah, you know, I have this hip thing, but I've had it for so long that I just, I kind of just deal with it.

I live with it.

And it's just like, well, yeah, yeah.

And you don't want to live like that.

You don't want to live with the pain.

Right.

Or accept it as, you know, this is, you know, this is how my life is going to be.

Is that one of the myths that you frequently have to debunk?

Yeah, that, you know, pain is something that you're forever going to have to live with.

And I don't think that's true.

What's another myth that you love to debunk?

That's another myth.

There's a lot of myths around foam rolling and like, like myofascial release in that it breaks up.

Like, it breaks up scar tissue or that, like massage therapy breaks up scar tissue, and that's just not the case.

Like.

Like fascia and scar tissue are very dense and robust, then in fact, fascia can withstand 2,000 pounds of pressure.

So it's like I'm lifting weight in the gym, but I'm not that strong to the point where I can manipulate 2,000 pounds of pressure, so my hands don't have that ability to do that.

So there is.

There's that for sure.

So what does foam rolling do?

So foam rolling, basically it hydrates the tissue, it warms up the tissue, and it can give you temporary range of motion for about, if I'm being generous, 15 minutes.

It's not completely useless.

I mean, I feel like if paired with other things, like you and I, when we work together, we do what's called the pails and rails, which is an isometric contraction.

So if you pair the foam rolling with that, then I think it could be very advantageous overall.

Because the reason why foam rolling is only half the battle is because it's a passive input.

And passive input will only get you passive results.

You need something that's active.

Right.

So.

And that's.

That's.

That's.

Rails are active.

Pales and pails and rails.

Yeah.

Any kind of mobility work is going to be active inputs that, you know, your nervous system will adapt to over time.

And now, so.

So back into, like, sort of the societal.

Like societal.

What is it?

No, I don't want to say norms, but, like, pressures.

There's a lot.

A lot of, like, I think about it, my husband will probably say that I'm guilty of this myself as a female, but I push through the pain.

Don't show your hurt.

Right.

Like, so how do you redefine discipline?

Like, how.

How?

Like, rather than push through the pain, but staying committed to sort of the things you want to do, how would you redefine discipline?

And how can.

How can men start to, like, move past those, like, I'm just gonna say horrible ways of living?

Horrible ways.

So are we.

Are we talking just in general or are we talking.

Yeah, put like.

So there's a.

Have you ever read the book Flow by Mihaly Czechsmi?

No.

No.

Okay, so he was a. I think he was Hungarian psychologist who wrote the book on flow.

And you hear flow.

I mean, flow is in my name, but you hear flow, you know, kind of being.

Yeah, right.

It's in yoga, it's in everything.

Right.

And it's kind of become this trendy buzzword.

But flow Actually was coined by this gentleman and he describes it as the state of optimal experience.

And basically it's this, it's this push and pull between tension and relaxation.

So in order to get into flow, you need a mix of both, right?

And he has in his book that he illustrates this, this point using a float, an actual flowchart, where it's the, it's a challenge versus skill level.

And to explain it, it's like if, think of any problem that you've had in your life or any challenge, or if you're in the gym or if it's a physical, emotional, mental, whatever the challenge might be, if the challenge exceeds, far exceeds your level of skill, then you're going to be met with anxiety, right?

And it's going to knock you out of flow.

On the contrary, if the skill, if your skill level far exceeds the level of challenge, you're going to be met with boredom.

So in order to get into flow, you need a healthy balance of tension and relaxation.

And they usually kind of gauge that as like a 4% challenge.

So as long as the challenge is like 4% beyond your skill level, you're in that healthy state of that it's like the Goldilocks effect.

It's like not too hot, not too cold, right?

It's right in the middle where you know, you're in that flow state.

And so I think in terms of your question and, and adopting that discipline where it's like you're not trying to, you know, push beyond your limits and like, you know, get to that pain threshold and beat your body or your mental to oblivion.

Oblivion, right?

You want to just find that 4% challenge of like, you know, that stimulus that's going to be enough to the point where you're not super anxious, but you're also very engaged.

And I think it's the same thing that happens in, in training, right, when you're in the gym.

It's like if you're a strong individual.

So like, if you, if I gave you like 10 pound dumbbells to do bicep curls, and I'm like, this is going to build your muscle.

You look at me like you're crazy.

That's.

What is this gonna do, right?

But if I, and then if I gave you like 200 pound, a 200 pound dumbbell, and I'm like, here, lift this, your chance of injury goes up significantly, right?

So we have to, you have to find that healthy minimum.

You know, we're still challenging enough, but it's not killing me and exactly.

I'm not bored.

Right.

And that's going to be subjective for everyone.

You just have to find what your 4% challenge is, and that's what keeps you disciplined.

So if you.

If you're in that 4% range, then you're always going to be stimulated.

You're always going to be like, oh, I want to.

I want to do this.

It's like me, I started taking up drumming during.

During COVID I got a drum set.

And I get frustrated because I'm like, trying to learn, like, the rhythm and the pattern and everything.

And it was like I would go for hours trying to figure it out.

And I was like, okay, you know what?

No, I'm gonna go 15 minutes until I start to reach my frustration point.

And then I'm gonna take a break, and then I'll come.

I'll come back and I'll do it again.

Have you improved?

I have, yeah.

Do you still play?

I have.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

I practice almost every day.

Oh, wow.

Wow.

I'm sure you have some recordings of yourself.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You create your own beats.

I can't.

I can't.

I wouldn't start a band with my skill level, but, I mean.

But I mean, I can hold the tune.

I can hold it.

I like.

I love drums, by the way.

I play piano.

I play piano, I play piano.

But oh, my gosh, I love drums.

I love drums.

And I love.

And they, like, they do their stuff.

Oh, yeah.

Like, and then the whole banish and then they throw their sticks.

Yeah.

Some of them really are really good with the tricks and.

Oh, my God, it's incredible.

Yeah.

I think it's really talented.

So it's interesting because as you were talking about it, a book.

My mind went to this book called.

And I haven't read it yet.

I got it for my niece for Christmas.

It's so bad.

I have such a laundry list of books, but it's called Do Har Thins and now.

Okay.

In what you said, I wonder.

I'm actually interested as like when I crack that open, if there will be some elements of that because I do believe, like what you explained, you can still, like that whole 4% is doing something beyond what you've done before.

So it's probably.

Yeah, but it sounds.

That actually sounds like.

Because sometimes when I think do hard things, it's like something that totally takes me out of my comfort zone.

But I kind of like what you just explained because you are out of your comfort zone, but you're not so far out that, you know, you're like that anxious anxiety and all this.

Any other, like, can I actually do this?

Absolutely.

Unhealthy balance.

I love that.

Yeah, I love that.

So, my gosh, we got.

We're on.

Like, we are.

Over the time that I actually said to you, the listeners, don't hang up yet.

Don't hang up yet.

We are going to take you through some rapid thrivers.

Okay.

Okay.

So when you think of someone who inspires you, who comes first to mind.

Oh, gosh.

I would say.

I would say my dad.

Yeah, my dad.

He.

And he inspires me.

He's.

He's gone through a lot and he's.

Although Batman is my favorite superhero.

Yeah, I know.

I saw your upper.

Yeah, yeah, that is my favorite superhero, but he's my favorite hero.

Oh, that's really nice.

I hope he listens to this podcast and hears that.

Yeah.

What is a daily activity that helps you with your thrive?

I would say meditation.

Meditation is.

Is huge for me.

I. I notice a difference when I don't meditate versus when I do.

And it's a very subtle difference, but I. I noticed that whenever I do meditate, I'm less irritable and able to handle the world a little bit better.

I'm not always diligent with it, I'll openly admit that.

But, yeah, meditation is something that I, I swear by.

And I told you I always break the rules of these rapid thrivers.

So I have to ask, and what's your method of meditation?

Do you like.

How do you like on a good day?

What would that look like?

So I, I try to go five, ten minutes.

I'll.

I like doing meditation with binaural beats.

So I'll have headphones in, and it just helps kind of lower my.

My brain waves.

And I just kind of.

I tend to focus on either my breath or I focus on a particular word, or I do some kind of visualization.

So it varies depending on how I'm feeling.

I know you're a big, big fan of visualization, and so ever since I spoke to you, I started adopting more visualization into my practice.

And so I actually visualized for this podcast.

Oh, did you?

Oh, wow.

You're doing a great job.

I hope you, like, visualize at least.

This can be one of the best episodes ever.

Absolutely.

For sure.

So thank you for that.

What is a book that has helped you with your thrive?

Oh, probably it was a book by Shannon Lee, Bruce Lee's daughter, called Be Water, My Friend.

That's one of my favorite books.

I've read it Flow Book.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yes.

There's elements of flow in there, but, yeah, it basically.

It took a lot of.

She basically took a lot of Bruce Lee's teachings and integrated into the modern world and how it can be applicable to us today.

And, yeah, it's a book that I've read several times over.

And I'm the type of person.

I write in my book, so I can't actually loan my books out to anyone because I write notes and stuff.

But it's good because I.

Rather than reading the entire book over and over again, I just flip back and I read the notes, and then if something really captivating hits me, then I'm like, oh, okay, let me read that chapter again and see if it resonates in a different way.

So I don't know the title sometimes I always feel like titles are so powerful.

So Be water, my friend.

Almost, to me, feels like it's.

I don't know, it sounds like it might be a book that's, like, when that's the first thought is I thought about flow.

Because what's the one thing about water is that it.

There is a path.

It flows, and there's usually a path that it follows.

Interestingly enough, like, it.

Like.

And it could bank out, but it's very.

It's not scattered.

Right.

Exactly.

Right.

Every avenue it does, it finds its avenue to be able to flow and navigate and keep moving.

Is that.

Yeah.

Is that kind of what the book is?

Yeah.

So Bruce Lee, he was on.

He was on a show when he was alive.

I can't remember what the show was, but he.

He said that water can.

Water can flow or it can crash.

You know, you put water into a teacup, it becomes a teacup.

You put water into a pot, it becomes the pot.

Like, water is very adaptable.

Right.

And so basically, what he's saying is, you know, to find your flow, you have to learn how to adapt to your environment, wherever you are.

And you've spoken on this in our sessions before in terms of, like, you know, knowing your surroundings, knowing your environment, and then learning to adapt and.

And be part of that experience, Be immersed, be present.

And so that's essentially what Flow or be water is all about.

Yeah.

And by the way, to anyone that just kind of heard him say that, he charges me for our sessions, and I give him free therapy.

Zero invoicing.

But what is an.

Helps you with your thrive.

What is an app that helps you with my thrive?

Where's my.

I would say there's an app that I use.

It's called body sync.

And basically it.

It syncs to my.

To my watch.

And so I wear my watch.

I wear my Apple watch to bed every night.

And so it tracks my vitals.

And so in the morning, when I check the body scale sync, it'll basically tell me what my HRV level is.

So HRV is different from, like, HRV stands for heart rate variability, which is different from your heart rate.

So your heart rate is the number of beats per minute, and then the heart rate variability is the varying changes within those beats.

And so when you have a very high hrv, it's really.

It's an indication that you're ready for the day, you're ready to train and whatnot.

And if it's super low, then it means that you're either fighting an illness or you're still in recovery mode.

And so that right there, when I track that, it's a good indication as to whether or not.

Okay, like, maybe I shouldn't train today because I run the risk of like, breaking my body down even more.

So I use that kind of as a way of staying in flow.

I think I'm.

So it's funny because a lot of people wear that ring.

The.

Yeah, the.

Or the Oura ring.

Yeah, the aura ring or something that's similar to that.

Yeah, very, very similar to that.

Yeah.

Okay.

I might.

I. I was gonna get the aura link because I think I'm a. I'm a believer.

I'm conferred.

Yeah.

But now that you're telling me that, I think maybe because I have a watch and I may have to.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

I'll send you the app.

Okay.

And what is final question here?

What is one misconception that people have of you, Andrew?

Okay, so.

And I think you had this misconception too, and it's not.

It's not a misconception.

I feel like it's a pretty like a pre.

Assumption.

But so when you first meet me, I'm a very shy and quiet individual.

I don't speak much.

And.

But contrast to that, when you see my videos, I'm very animated.

I'm very engaging.

I'm very like, you know, out there and whatnot.

And so when people.

If people see my videos first and then they meet me in person, the number one thing that I always get told is like, you're very different online versus in person.

Yeah.

Until then, they start to get to know me a little bit better and they're like, oh, okay, I see.

I see what's happening.

It's.

It's Starting to sync up now.

So I don't know if that's a misconception, but that's often the common thing that I hear with people when they.

They interact with.

Their first interaction or impression of me is via my videos first and then meeting me in person.

And I was the opposite.

I met you first and then I saw your videos.

Yes.

Yeah, exactly.

But it's interesting because, you know, you know, this comes to mind.

I don't know if we've ever talked about.

I really don't like labels.

And so if people, if people, just people obviously are not in my home with me, like in my most quiet.

My quiet times are my most vulnerable.

Right.

Like times.

So most people think I'm quote, unquote, an extrovert.

Yeah.

And.

And truth be told, it, while it's the eat.

It's.

So what happens is as people.

As, As I get, as more people are around me, the more I naturally.

Because my mission is to help people speak and think in ways that are empowering.

And so therefore, right.

When the humans are around, I must.

I'm at work.

Like, right.

I'm like, I'm doing.

I'm in my purpose work.

Right.

Then when there aren't humans around, I'm.

I'm just.

I'm working on myself.

Like, I'm inwards.

Right.

And so I'm not constantly.

So it's something similar.

And I always.

And I think for me, it's.

I like almost I. I'm.

The book almost like what you explained it afterwards about water adapting.

It's like.

It is that, like, we tend to adapt based on who we truly are.

Like our innermost being, we adapt to the environments that we're in.

So whether we're alone or with other people or with close friends or this, any other.

And our person.

And if we truly allow ourselves to be our, like, our most authentic selves, then I think that that's where whomever we with experiences us in our fullness.

Right.

So.

Right.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's something.

I totally agree.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Bruce Lee has a lot quote, express yourself honestly.

Yeah.

Very simple but very true.

Very true.

Yeah.

Express yourself honestly.

I like that.

Yeah.

I was.

I was gonna ask you earlier, but I might as well ask you now.

Is that.

What is your favorite quote?

Quote?

You have a favorite quote.

It's another one from Bruce Lee.

It's take what's useful, discard what's not, and make what's uniquely your own.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So where do we find more of you online?

So my website is flowbody co. And so you can find all of my services and a little bit more about me on there.

I'm also on Instagram.

I have two accounts but you can follow either one.

Doesn't matter.

But the main one is tact division and then my business one is Flow body Reset and.

And then I'm also on YouTube so you can find me there as well at Flow body Reset.

And I will share all of the links online.

Sorry.

In your show notes and as a parting question, please finish the sentence for us.

I am empowered in my skin when.

I am empowered in my skin when I'm expressing myself honestly.

I like that.

That was so simple.

And I get it.

I love that.

Thank you so much, Andrew.

A.J.

james, this has been so awesome.

Getting to know you better and pick your brain and.

And I just want to.

I just want to thank you.

Thank you for the way you show up for this world.

Thank you for your vulnerability.

Thank you for your sinister smile when you're putting people through pain.

Like, why are you smiling?

Like I'm in pain.

It's out of love, I promise.

I know that's what you want to say, but no, thank you.

Thank you for the human that you are.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Yeah.

It's truly an honor.

Yes.

Thank you.

And to everyone that's listening, this is Sally, where I have to say we're out.

Bye.

Bye.

There you have it.

I trust that you are feeling more empowered in your skin.

As the late Dr. Maya Angelou said, when you get, you give, when you learn, you teach.

So it would mean so much for us at Empower to My skin Inc.

If you share this episode and tag us or teach an insight that you took from today's episode on your social and tag us, feel free to leave us a review over at itunes and follow us on social media.

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