I've heard people saying that we might be the first generation that gets to choose how long we live.

I don't know if that's true, but it is a very interesting topic.

So I'm very grateful to bring on an expert to talk about longevity, health and how to live with more quality and maybe more quantity as well.

So we'll talk about that today.

And what I thought was really interesting in the interview was how even with all of the people out here biohacking and trying to extend our lives, really still the longest living person that we know of today is around 120 years old.

And that's really cool because in the astrology system, there's actually 120 year life cycle.

And like that's sort of the main ideal lifespan for everybody.

And the old yoga text, they talk about like becoming immortal and living forever.

But I think it's more energetic and it's more that we're connecting to something that is immortal and timeless and moves through US, which is the prana.

But this actual human body will probably at best be around 120 years.

And maybe that will keep expanding in our lifetime and maybe we will have choice about it.

But I think one of the most direct ways we can influence it is in our lifestyle.

And we'll talk about this a lot with Mark today.

Lots of great stuff to get into in this episode and if you want to go deeper into the sister science of Yoga's Vedic astrology, I am hosting the Become Your Own Astrologer workshop.

And we do talk about the Dasha system in there, the 120 year lifespan that is laid out as there are planetary energies for certain time periods in your life.

Super cool stuff, very interesting, right?

So there's like a Sun time period in your life, a moon time period, a Saturn time period.

The Venus time period is 20 years.

But when this is happening is determined by when you're born and your moon nakshatra.

So super cool stuff.

And we are going to start with the foundation.

So whether you're experienced or advanced, it's lots of cool stuff to get into in the workshop.

So Quiet Mind astrology.com/workshop to learn the sister science of yoga, which is Jyotish.

Traditionally, you'd learn these together.

Ayurveda is the wisdom of life and life extension, which is really the topic of today's episode.

And yoga is about connecting the self to the true self and to understand that bigger self and that bigger picture of the universe.

That's Joe Dish or Vedic astrology, the science of light.

So hopefully you enjoy our interview today with Mark and I had a lot of great stuff to talk about with him, so enjoy.

So I guess the first question then is how do we extend life?

How do we have more longevity?

Well, I think you know, Jeremy, we had first of all think, you know, what is what's the possibilities?

You know, if you don't, what do you think about possibilities?

You don't have hope and if you don't have hope, you have no expectations, you know, So I think we got to put our expectations out there somewhere that probably reasonable.

I think that the organs span system or lifespan, maybe you want to call it, is probably around 120 based upon, you know, history tells us a story.

My wife likes to say history unravels the mystery.

And so it definitely is true.

You look at the oldest person that has lived, it's 122 and they lived in the UK as I recall, the oldest person alive right now is like 118 and they live in Japan.

So, you know, it's interesting that that's the lifespan of people.

So our thought is to not necessarily try to live longer, but try to live better and increase that thing called health span.

You know, in the Vedic astrology tradition, which I also practice along yoga and everything is they, they actually have a whole map of life that's 120 years.

It's like the ideal lifespan and you know, that's goes back thousands of years.

So they probably saw throughout history like that was probably about the maximum.

So is there a lot of people around this range right now since, you know, like, I'm curious.

Not a lot.

I think what happened was, you know, historically going back, you know, a few thousand years, you had more people living that long, which is fascinating.

You know, and I, I concur with you, no matter what society you go to that that 120 keeps popping up.

It's a theme.

And it's fascinating to me how that's been consistency with even tradition and even realistic science.

You know, it's like it's been a pretty good blend.

And I think today we're seeing more and more centenarians, excuse me, those people that have lived to 100 years of age or more.

But I think it's because of different areas.

And I think it's social connection.

I think it's activity.

I think it's a lack of stress or maybe a better management of that.

It's getting outdoors more, it's eating well, it's moving well and it's, you know, getting, getting around the right mindset.

You know, I think that's a lot of it.

Yeah, it's like the basic things done well, like like that documentary about the Blue Zones.

I'm sure like a lot of them, it's.

Like.

They're not necessarily eating like the healthiest foods like we think in the US.

Right, it's.

Just more a lot of the essential needs are there, like community purpose.

And then I'm guessing this is the kind of stuff you see that leads to more longevity when you work with people.

Yeah, absolutely.

I think we, we look at, you know, like a lot of things you just mentioned.

We look at stress management, activity, sleep, nutrition.

Of course, you know, I don't want them eating a bunch of the typical standard American Western diet, which is terrible.

And then we look at genetics, hormones, peptides and supplementation.

So we wrap all those eight areas up and look at all those at once.

Then we have really cool testing that sort of were known as age clocks or biological age testing clocks.

And we try to run those on a consistent basis.

And there's some probably, I don't know, not standard predictable measures with those things.

I think there's some variables there.

But as a general rule, we, we, we believe we're aging too fast.

And a lot of it is in our direct control.

And we're trying to sort of give people the opportunity to, to get that control back, so to speak, you know, and give them more hope perhaps.

And I think that that hope is what keeps people going in that direction.

What do you think is like the number one thing that's going to have the biggest impact of increasing longevity or maybe the biological age like going down?

I think there's, you know, as far as what's made it regress over the years, I think it's been a combination of chemistry and the environment, pollutants, etcetera.

You know, just not we're indoor more, we're more sedentary.

We eat, you know, more poor foods and and I think we've just increased stress a lot.

You know, we're always on social media and you know, the cell phone is tied to your face.

You know, it's not the computer, those whole thing.

I'm not knocking technology.

I think it's great, but it's sort of consumed our lives.

And I think we've probably not talked as much and listened as much as we need to.

And there's a lot of conflict that's around.

People are mad all the time.

So I think that's regressed it.

I think that the biggest things we can do are just the opposite to increase it, you know, and when we're working with people, Jeremy, I'm looking at all those areas, all of them.

I mean, because the classic doctor today and that we all know is just a pill prescriber.

I'm not sure what that purpose served with them prescribing pills.

And that's what they're trained in.

We like to look at our lives is, is not, you know, functional medicine people, even though we're trained in that, but more functional healers, you know, we, we believe that healing is really the the goal.

And to me, being healed and whole is maybe being able to do what you want, when you want, how you want, not hurt for a longer period of time.

And, and it seems to, it seems to get people back in those in that mindset shift and, but all those areas on both sides of that paradigm are going to affect whether we have the quality of life or not.

I worked with an MD for a while as he was a client, as a private yoga session client and we would just talk, you know, I'd ask him questions about am I saying this anatomy thing right or all these kind of things.

But when we talk about what he did, the majority of it was just continual training in the new pills and new drugs.

You prescribe this for that very little about anything with like sunlight, sleep, diet, nutrition.

And you know, he was retired when I was working with him.

So he like 30 year career or something.

That was it.

It's just all you get.

You got to learn about the new drugs and how to prescribe them and when to prescribe them and don't really talk about the holistic stuff.

And that's.

Yeah, it's interesting you say that because, you know, I'm a traditionally trained naturopath.

My wife is a traditionally trained osteopath.

Now we work together and so we really kind of take the best of all worlds.

And she's a naturopath as well, by the way.

But we were trained in that and my wife would confirm exactly what you said.

We have this belief system that the doctors today are trained in that, but that's just not true.

They, they get maybe 2 hours of nutrition over the, you know, 12 years of training, you know, and it's like, that's not helping people.

I think that, you know, Jeremy, the the greatest destruction we've had to society is, is probably all that said, taking away our personal responsibility and then looking over to get our needs met or health met from somebody else.

You know, when I look at my own life, I think, man, I got to like do this.

I got to look in the mirror and say, I'm going to take care of you today.

And it's my responsibility.

You know, I have to choose what I put my in my body, my mouth and my eyes and my ears, what I do with my body and where I do it.

It's, it's, it's all choices And, and I have to be thinking about those things and we have to get back to this point and where where people have the hope that they can back.

And that's kind of a movement that we've tried to start and and we've got a pretty good sized community around the world now finally.

Yeah, in the yoga tradition, there's a lot of this emphasis on, you know, the optimal diet lifestyle to increase lifespan.

But it's nice to know it like 120 is pretty much the best we could do.

And like, there's some people I see and it's becoming more common.

I think people saying like they might be this generation of humans becomes more optional.

And it seems extreme, like optional to age of with different technologies and medical interventions and stuff.

I don't know.

What do you think about all that?

Well, you know, some of the circles that we've been involved in, they believe 180 is possible.

And you hear that more and more and more.

And I, I can't argue with them the way technology has been.

But I always go back to history, You know, thousands of years of history has taught us something.

But is it possible?

I think, yeah, absolutely.

I believe anything's possible.

And with the technology we have today, you know, there's just all kinds of thing with stem cells and I think that's very exciting.

And of peptides and bio regulator peptides and epigenetic signaling and therapeutic plasmic exchange.

There is all kinds of things you could do.

I mean, you're talking about a life now, a time in history where you can store banks of your own stem cells.

What does that mean?

Does that mean you can have a endless supply of repair?

Maybe could, could you have an endless supply of, of cells that can become anything maybe, you know, and what do you do with that?

You know, I think that those are questions that are uncertain out there.

And, and what is it like?

Can you can you slow the biological aging process?

I think definitely yes.

And my opinion is it's really at the mitochondrial level, you know, of the cells where energy is produced.

And I, I feel if you can maintain good energy production at the mitochondrial level, I think you cancel the aging process down.

Is it infinite, you know, immortality and all this stuff some people talk about?

I don't know, I don't think so.

But you know, who am I to, you know, throw a water bucket on somebody's fire?

You know, I think that the thought process is, is really unique.

And I kind of enjoy exploring different thought processes because it is, you know, the more you can learn, the more you can listen to other people's ideas, the more you can develop ideas.

And that's the beauty of it all.

So I think it's kind of cool what people are coming up with.

And in our own world, we've used a lot of those therapies and, you know, is it, has it made us younger?

I, I, I suppose testing says so.

And do I, do, I feel like in, in my 60s now, Can I do what I did when I was in my 40s, thirties?

Yeah, I still can.

And, and that's good.

And I guess comparatively, looking around at some of my peers that are, are not doing that, which is, is not very good.

So no, I think it's, I think it's possible.

And I think with, with the way technology is at the speed of light today, that is coming out, studies are coming out, artificial intelligence, I don't know where it's going to go.

I hope it ends well for us, you know, but it's, it's definitely some exciting times.

Yeah, it is like this guy Brian Johnson, you may be seen spending millions of dollars a year on a protocol.

And, you know, I saw him when he was starting and he's getting a lot of really negative responses.

And it's, I also, I also felt something and I was like, it's interesting why, you know, it seems like he's doing something good for society is trying to figure out what's going to sort of biohacking to an extreme level.

But I think what it was is like he's taking like 90 something pills a day and has a very unique diet of like a shot of olive oil and like not really like a meal and these kind of like very extreme things.

And some of the comments are like, well, you know, you might be living longer, but the quality of life, like who wants to be taking 90 pills a day?

And and I think, you know, that may be just him like trying stuff and like eventually it'll synthesize into like a simpler protocol of what he finds really works.

But there's something of that.

And like my mom was like this too, like she'd see me living healthy.

And she's like, I don't want to, you know, I want to enjoy my life.

I don't want to be eating all this like health food.

I want to just enjoy.

And so it's kind of this extreme here of like people's approach to health, health that I've seen.

And I don't know, what do you think about that of this like kind of extreme of taking all these different pills and extreme diet, not really like having meals of food and this kind of thing?

Well, it's interesting you mentioned Brian.

I heard him speak about a year ago.

And I'm going to, I'm going to meet that guy.

I'm going to, he's on my list to, to set up a meeting and, and I'm going to go to one of those conferences and I'm going to meet him because I would say from his perspective, that's his passion.

And I think it's kind of sad people to criticize him because you're right, but that's his passion.

And you can't fault the guy for having a passion for life, but he just defines his happiness different than somebody else does.

And he's in a unique area.

And I think it's an area, my opinion, that's growing exponentially.

I think it's going to be an incredibly well invested area over the next 5 to 10/15/20 years.

And I think we're only cutting edge.

Some really cool stuff.

You know, I didn't know Brian Johnson, never heard of him until about a year ago.

I was at a conference with all the speakers, but when I heard him talk, I thought, what a unique personality, you know, because the guy that was interviewing him there was Dave Asprey was interviewing him.

And Dave said, well, you know, how long do you think we can live?

Don't you think we're going to die sometime?

And, and Brian's answer was really wild.

He he thought about it and he kind of rolled his eyes up like this.

I started laughing because I don't know what's going to come out of his mouth.

He goes, I don't know, you know, and it blew everybody's mind, you know, that he even had the audacity to answer like that.

And people laughed and, and there were some people that criticized him then too and around me.

But but I thought, you know what, the guys with that passion, great.

And I think probably, I'd say I'm probably more similar to him and in a lot of ways, because I'll take 90 or 100 pills a day too.

And, and, you know, work out and, and I spend thousands and thousands of dollars that, you know, and healthcare with myself and, and shoot little needles in myself probably 5 or 10 times a day.

And, you know, it's, it's, it's just ongoing.

And, but I don't, I don't feel like that I'm not having fun.

You know, it's not the point.

I, I just don't want to waste my time being sick.

That to me, that's not fun.

You know, I want, I want to be able to spend my time on what I want to.

And and some people, you know, want to eat cookies, and I choose not to.

Right.

Yeah.

And that's The thing is like, you're not saying and like I hear this from him too and you're not saying everyone else has to do it my way.

No.

It's just your.

Way I think it's like, yeah, you know, you like this is your choice on how you do it.

And I think one of the greatest things I've been given in life is a free choice.

You know, it's like, so be willing to accept your consequences of your choices and, and beware of the, of the choices you make with the consequences that they bring.

You know, if you're, if you're aware of that and OK with it, fine.

It's like you can walk out in front of a traffic if you want to, and you might get hit by a car, You might not, or you might decide not to take that chance.

And so I think it it goes down to that, you know, that choice bucket we talk about and you know, and I appreciate that space A lot.

You know, even last week we were at one of those conferences where there were a lot of people that that talked.

They were one of the speakers actually that and our talk was on molecular hydrogen and how that that therapy that you breathe, inhale and drink can definitely lower free radical damage at the cell level.

And we talked about bioregular peptides and how those can extend lifespan and extend health span.

And but you know, we know a lot of those people and it's, it's a growing area and quite frankly very much growing area.

Yeah, and it's people like you who like reminds me when I was my early 20s, like the 2000, around the 2000s, early 2000s and creatine was pretty well known.

But you know, the way it's grown in the last like couple years now everyone pretty some very common, almost everybody knows about creatine, its benefits.

And but back then it was like this kind of fringe thing a bit.

And there's probably a lot of things like that now that you're aware of that, like, I don't know, and a lot of our listeners don't know like it's kind of on the fringe now, but it's going to become like this widely regarded, like everyone should be doing this.

This is great.

There's no reason not to do you.

What do you think is is kind of in that range right now what you're exploring?

Oh, I think there's a lot of math there.

I'll just rattle off a few of them for you.

I think the concept of bioidentical hormones is is one that's taken root and I think that will continue to increase.

That's simple.

I think it's more of where creatine was 20 years ago or maybe 10 years ago.

It was starting to move.

I think that's where bioidentical hormones are.

I think peptides are just past that, right?

I think some of the peptides that we use now these days, I think those are pretty much no brainers and even though the FDA here in where I am in America attacks those things, I still think those things should be mainstream.

I think they're awesome.

I think go ahead of that.

One of the most unique things is a bio regular peptides which are little 3 amino acid chain peptides that you can take their oral and they bind directly to your DNA.

They're so small, they can penetrate your nucleus and bind your DNA and they can create tissue specific responses of proteins.

For example, you could take blood vessel, for example, and the blood vessel would create more youthful blood vessels or a brain.

It would help create better functionality of your brain.

And so these things are out there.

I think those are going to be new kids in the block.

I think probably molecular hydrogen.

We've heard of, you know, oxygen, hyperbaric oxygen tanks and things like that.

But I, I predict that hydrogen is going to take over that because you can actually breathe it.

You know, I have a machine in my office here and in our offices across the hallway where patients come in and they just breathe hydrogen all day out of the cannula and they can breathe it for an hour.

I think that's just amazing.

And the studies behind that are just like incredible.

You can create molecular hydrogen infused water and drink it all the time.

And these things will penetrate the mitochondria as well because they're molecular size.

So it really is using smaller particles to get down into the cellular functionality.

And I think finally stem cells, I think that's going to be out there and probably a wave of the future.

People are going to be putting them in their head, their face, all across their bodies.

I think probably some internal stem cell transplantation will probably happen in some form or fashion at some point, which sounds crazy, but I believe that's out there.

And I think another one out there is therapeutic plasma exchange where we can, you know, the series of a, of a few weeks, you know, replace, clean out like oil change the blood at about, you know, 2 liters at a time, you know, and it's just, those are some things I predict are going to be out there at more and more and more.

And with food.

I, I don't know what this is going to look like, but I do think that within the genetic modification area, and I'm careful about this, I think that can go both ways because you can genetically modify things and make them worse.

Like you can genetically modify them to probably make them improved somehow.

Maybe there's a way to genetically alter something and put it in the form of a, a capsule or a powder or something that actually provides adequate nutrition.

I don't know.

So those are the things I think about be out there.

And these things you provide in some way at your center or you teach people about.

Yeah.

Yeah, we do.

We run the Functional Medical Institute in Tulsa, OK and really people come here from around the around the world, I suppose.

But ultimately it's we, we treat people a lot with even Zoom calls and things like that.

So it's about an educational process.

But but yeah, that's kind of the same things that we we're trying to stay up on stuff.

I don't know everything.

But the more I know they realize I don't know.

So it keeps me curious.

And I think really curiosity is what heals the human, doesn't it?

You know, you keep looking and asking, looking and asking and searching.

That's science, isn't it?

You know, science is what you have leftover after you've disproven what you think you know.

And so it's it goes on and on.

And so you, you got to never settle in that you always want to look for the answers because the human body, as you well know, Jeremy, is like so complex.

We're not even scratching the surface of what it, it really is, what it does, how it works.

We're just, we think we know some stuff and we probably know more than we did 20 years ago, but there's so much we don't know.

It's amazing how fast it's moving too.

Like, oh.

Yeah, it's constantly right.

Yeah, the, the speed at which we're trying to unravel truth right now is at a speed that you frankly can't keep up with.

And, and I think technology has done that.

And again, I don't, it's hard to say that's a good thing or bad thing.

You know, sometimes you can get overwhelmed with it at all.

But I think there's a speed at which you can you can take it in and treatments and concepts and strategies and ideas.

They're, they're being birthed every day.

You know, just like Brian, you were talking about Johnson.

He's got some really cool ideas as far as testing goes and supplementation.

And you know, I, it sounds right.

Will it turn out to be that way?

Maybe.

Hopefully, yes, you know.

Yeah, and that part about curiosity, too, I hear this a lot from older people or looking at books on longevity and stuff.

Just hearing that having something you care about, you're interested in your learning, like even like learning a new instrument in your 80s or 90s, you know, and most people think I'm too old, I can't do it.

It's but that as it seems to be a very big factor in longevity as well, right?

It does the brain, you know, it's, it's been said that it's got a, a finite number of cells, you know, your microglia.

Now it I, I suppose that's probably true as far as we know.

But can you continue to learn new things?

Does that brain allow you to continue to retain and gain?

And the answer is yes, the more that you challenge yourself to learn new things, the more you can open up some neurological pathways of connectivity that create your new awareness of reality.

You know, it's like, can you learn new languages?

Oriemplo you don't necessarily the practicon Espanol mas.

You know, I I need to practice my Spanish more, but it's a language and it's a skill that I can pick up on and learn new things.

Do I need to learn how to read faster and and speed read books and and write more books and things like that?

That's been a challenge.

I've been written 5 right now and, you know, and in the middle of a couple more.

So it's kind of become a a thing.

You know, we even got into the movie production business few years ago and have made seven films now and never thought of anything like that.

But it's something new and new space, you know.

And so I think there's, I think that's the key man to, to keep the curiosity alive and keep the, the wonder of what might be alive and, and learn new things.

And there's nothing, nothing that I can find anywhere that says you have to, your mind has to decay.

There's nothing that says that.

And, and nowhere can I find that.

Is the body perhaps going to wear out?

Well, yes, but what about the mind?

I don't think so.

Even as a kid and my mom, my stepdad were like late 30s, I would hear this like, Oh yeah, I'm just getting old and forgetting where the keys are.

I'm getting starting to get old.

I can't pick up this thing off the floor.

I'm getting old.

And I just never wanted to take that on.

It just seemed like if you say that, then you're going to start behaving in a way that affirms it and validates it and and then you are going to start to have issues.

It's like that.

That belief and that mindset about aging is such a big piece too, right?

Yeah, what you say is important.

There was a book that I read years ago, it was by Bruce Lipton, Lipton, it's called The Biology of Belief.

And in that book he talked about the way what we say, our environments, our environment, we create effects, genetic expression.

And it does because what you say, if you say I am scared of or I'm afraid of, or I never will, whatever you want to put the end of those statements, they become your affirmatives.

And if they, they're built in fear and negativity, the cells go into this reclusive mode and other words like a turtle pulling the shell over its head.

And the, and the fear takes over the body and all the energy of the body goes outwards because you're, you're talking about something, I think you're trying to hurt me, you know.

And if your energy goes outwards, what does that leave for the energy inside?

It goes down.

It's not important at that point.

So your immune system can become less functional, less resilient, less adaptable when you have this stuff going on out here.

And So what you say and what you repeat over and over again is, is so important for people.

And I'm not saying you ignore reality at times.

It's not to this eternal optimism thing.

But you need to, we need to watch what we say because, you know, yeah, my calendar age may be getting advanced, but that does not mean my biological age does.

And that's a different than saying, well, I'm just getting older, right?

And you can see it.

There's obvious things.

And certain people like you can look at your peers.

This stood out to me a lot when I was like in my 20s and I had a friend who had gotten into a lot of hard drugs and he started losing his hair and teeth issues is like, whoa.

He was like the, the cute guy too, like all the girls like, you know, so this was like a big shock to me.

He's like, whoa, this guy just like transformed fast and he suddenly looks like he's 15 years older.

So that really stood out to me is like, he's the same age as me, You know, we started he's he looked super pretty and all this like a few years ago and now he's like this.

It's like, wow, like there's so much that can, you can obviously see in like peers and people like your same age and but you know, sometimes it's more subtle, right?

It's like you just feel better in your body.

But it's like I, I think some people look at this idea of longevity and aging well as like you don't really notice it so much.

But I think when you look around at peers and kind of the choices they make, you can see it more obviously.

You can't.

I think that the greatest way I explain that analogy to people is going back to your 10 or 20 year class reunion.

You, you see that you, you, you have that conversation of yourself or with somebody else.

You say, wow, they, they look great.

They look like they have an aged a bit, or you might have the opposite of that.

Wow, they really look cold, you know, or wow, they used to be skinny.

Now they're really fat, you know, and it's just like, whoa, you know, and or they used to be this way, now they're this way.

And it, and we see those things and it it does bring a sense of understanding about the way we age, which really has little to do with the calendar, does it?

It really has more to do with the way we process life and life's processed us and the circumstances you met.

You mentioned your friend there that started getting involved in drugs.

That was the environment he put himself in.

That environment affected his functionality.

And that's sad, but we see it all the time.

And, and you mentioned the key thing too is about it's, it's hard to test and quantify what you avoid.

I mean, it's like we can quantify disease processes, but you can't quantify well processes.

You can do studies that sort of correlate disease processes, but how you a study that correlates a well process, you can't do it.

So the prevention concept, the prehabilitation or the, the longevity mindset is, is different.

It's like, what are you avoiding and how do you, how do you weigh that?

And I look at it like this too, like a night in a, you know, a hospital, you know, in America would be like $5000, right?

Just Just that's it.

Not to mention, you know, the rest of the mess that they put on top of you.

But why would I want to spend $5000 for a night there?

Why wouldn't I just want to go spend a week at the Ritz Carlton?

You know, there's, there's two different concepts, man.

I want to spend the Ritz Carlton.

I don't want to go to the hospital.

So it's like, you know, I think that's how we have to think about it.

And it requires a shift it it's a paradigm shift in what we think, the way we act, the way we speak, what we do, and even our treatment modalities that we describe to our people.

You know, they're kind of blown away when they start talking like this with.

But when they get it, though, it becomes full of possibility and full of hope, which is again what we try to keep in people's lives at the forefront.

Yeah, I always have invested more in, like you say, prehabilitation.

I haven't heard that yet.

And I barely spend anything of needing to go to the doctors or anything like that.

It's great if there is a need for like surgery or medical intervention, but for actual health, it's usually not the best place to be.

And actually investing in the health, and I always look at it that way of like, yeah, I'll spend 30 more cents on the organic produce.

It's such a small price to pay.

And also, yeah, maybe I don't know if it actually is a huge difference or if it's going to add anything to my life.

But it it, you know, psychologically it feels right.

It feels good, energetically feels right.

And it's a very small price.

And like maybe spend $0.30 here and there, a few dollars here and there, a few dollars at the gym, 30 minutes at the gym one day.

It's like this adds up and I think, you know, I can, I can say for myself, I'm 39 now and I still feel like I did when I was like 20.

And you know, I still, people still think I'm younger.

So I have to have this beard otherwise I look like I'm eighteen.

Well.

You know, it's like you mentioned these little small investments, you make small changes and even with food.

This is a fascinating, you know, article I read a while back and it it stuck with me all these years.

People think it's more expensive and healthy, but it's not long term because ultimately short term you might be changing frequency of going to the store and buying more food more often and you might spend more than a little interim.

But the more nutrients you put in your system, the less hungry you'll be because the body will be hungry when it doesn't have nutrients.

So if you eat very poorly, these high caloric, low nutrient dense foods, you're going to be hungry more often and the expense on that is going to always go up.

But with the opposite side of that high nutrient density foods, whatever they are, you eat less because you're hungry less.

And over time you spend less.

And and it's, it's, I know you've seen that as well as I have.

It's the same, it's a difference.

But it's like these myths that we have in society, Jeremy, they get us turn their own direction and we have a whole world right now, you know, that's as sick as it's ever been.

And, and I, I never thought I'd say this, but you know, America's taught the world how to profit off of sickness and it's disgusting.

You know, it's not OK.

The Western lifestyle, sedentary Western diet is like it is.

It is very tragic for the world.

Now watch that American culture infiltrate countries, Mexico, you know, Europe, Africa, you know, and it's on and on.

And it's, it's changed the landscape.

And when it did it, it created some disease processes.

So, you know, I think we should learn that lesson.

And I, I think futuristically, there's going to be a good amount of people that just will never change.

And they may be the majority, but I also think there's going to be a good amount of people that is growing that are going to force the change on their own end and their family life as well.

Yeah.

One of the cool things here in Mexico is they put this label on all of the packaged food.

It says excessive calories.

That's kind of cool.

I like that, you know, and you know, you get down, you know, especially if you get more in non American countries, you get more natural foods.

And there's still a, there's an interesting way to look at, you know, a lot of the chemicals and stuff that we allow in our foods here.

Other countries will not because they're dangerous.

But nobody ever questions it.

They just go ahead and do it.

And I don't, I frankly don't understand that.

You know, I'm always asking questions.

Why do we do this?

Why are we doing that if it's not working?

I wouldn't keep proving Einstein's theory of insanity is right.

I don't want to do that.

I want to like.

Why would I want to do the same thing, get the same result?

It's crazy, like I had this pre workout supplement I was taking and I was getting like crazy jitters and heart palpitations.

I was like oh it must be the caffeine.

So I tried a different one that had less caffeine.

But then I looked it up and actually found that there's this red 40 dye in the supplement I was taking and that's banned in the UK, banned in other countries because they found that they give it to kids and they become basically like gives them ADD like instantly.

Oh my God.

They get so much energy and so hyperactive and I felt that way when I was taking that and it's just like just on the list of like 10 ingredients there.

Like whatever, it's a pre workout, it's probably going to be OK, but there's still even like health food sometimes there's these additives and things that just in the US they're like sure, whatever, throw it in there.

They do and that you, when you look at a label, one of the things we teach all our clients is less ingredients is better.

And that would make sense.

And then if you have a bunch of words and you can't pronounce, that's probably not a natural and organic substance.

So probably want to put that back and try to eat as clean as you possibly can.

You know it.

That doesn't mean that you might have a preference.

I might have a preference.

The types of foods we eat.

It's, it's all really about eating more natural foods.

And I think in you mentioned earlier about the Blue Zones, there's social connections, but it's all natural foods, you know, and they might not be things that you and I would think are healthy, but it's natural at least.

Right, like cheeses and breads and stuff.

Right, exactly.

But it's the energy too is a big part.

That's what I like about.

One thing I like about being here in Mexico is I like never ate baked goods or much cheese at all.

But here it's different.

Like I, I eat it and I feel good and like it comes from like this grandma cooking in a kitchen her whole life and it's all this love put into the food.

And that's like, that's not the same as the the the bread and the the dairy you get in the US.

It's not.

I think we eat much quicker in the US, you know, much more higher pace, you know, faster intent.

We go to the restaurant or something if we don't have a serve at the table in like 60 seconds, we're getting angry, wanting to leave.

We don't have our meal on our table in 15 minutes.

They're taking a long time, you know, and we, we just, it's so fast that it, it can't help us at all.

So you mentioned the love you put into that.

It's that's a really key thing.

You know, how much do you put in the the relationship you have?

You know, do you do you put love in those relationships or are they just quick, snappy?

Let me use you for what you got relationships and I.

I suppose there's a lot of that, but but I don't find that fulfilling in my own life.

Right.

Yeah, and it's very slow.

The restaurants are very slow here.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Every time I've been to Mexico, it's like, it's not like super fast, no.

And people are just hanging out, you know, and, and it's it's, it's an adjustment.

I tell you, I find myself enjoying it, you know, after I've adjusted because it slows the pace down a lot.

And, you know, the pace that we need to have is is much less than what we're doing.

I could tell you that much.

It's like that.

It's a hellish pace right now, unfortunately, you know.

Right.

Yeah, there was a big adjustment here.

Like they don't even give you the bill unless you ask.

Oh yeah, you said, you said they're like 2 hours, right?

Yeah, they expect you to just hang out, eat slow, everything and such a different pace than the US and I think that contributes to just the the stress of how you eat bigger factor too.

It does, man, stress is one of the greatest overt shorteners of mankind's existence or killers in life.

And, and, and I've looked at stress from a bunch of different angles and, and I've kind of come up with this idea is that stress is not really a noun.

It's a verb because you look at it by it's the buried usage.

It's not a person, place, or thing, and it's not fair to find.

It's really, as I like to define, stress.

It's an action you decide to take, a response you decide to make in response to life's unexpected or expected occurrences.

If it's an action or response that you decide, that makes it a verb and it makes you have control.

And if that's true, then that verb doesn't have the control over you.

You have the response or the you have the responsibility of your actions you take.

So in other words, stress is not, in my opinion, a noun.

It is been mystified as that it's been given too much credit and we need to begin to take ownership over that or reactions to things.

And I think at that point in time, it'll help us disallow stress to have the control it does and exert the power it has over our lives.

Well, this is like weight training is a stress on the body, but it's one of the best things you can do for health, right?

Yeah, I'm, I like to lift weights, you know, and I do it probably five days a week.

And it's, it's a good challenge.

And I think like resilience, you know, and strength and faith, they all grow with resistance.

You don't get any better unless you have resistance that helps, that forces maybe a breakdown process and then ability to, to, to compensate.

So you don't break down in the process of having the same thing in the future.

So it's, it's the, it's progressive resistance over time that does build that resilience that you can have in life.

And the same is true to your immune system as well, you know, and so you know, I know that maintaining muscle is good for you, but I look at that across the board, maintaining resilience, maintaining faith, maintaining adaptability, maintaining adjustability is good for you as well.

And you don't get that stuff for free.

You don't get it without facing the biggest challenges you have in life.

And, and sometimes it may be, you know that, you know, 300 LB lift or whatever you're doing, you know it, but maybe something else that's £300 burden you're facing in life or a, or a problem that seems so insurmountable, you're never going to get past it.

But these things can make you better if you allow them to.

Yeah, and I find it seems like there's that phrase of hard choices, easy life or easy choices, hard life.

That's good.

I like that.

Yeah, so like the easy choice would be like my friend with a lot of love, you know, he he went down the addiction path of I say this with a lot of love and care and compassion for him, but it's easier in some ways to make those choices.

And yeah, take the pills, drink the thing, avoid the responsibility.

But then it makes life so much harder and physically, mentally, emotionally, everything harder.

But then at the same time, I was losing a lot of my friends as a teen in early 20s of like, I'm going to the gym.

They all want to go party.

You know, this isn't socially great.

It sucks.

I was like, I lost a lot of my friends around that time, but I felt like I, I don't want to go drink.

I don't want to party.

I want to work out, you know, hard choices.

But now a lot of those friends look at my life and they're like, oh, you know, I wish I could do that.

It's yeah, you can.

You know, it's not that special.

And I'm guessing you've had a lot of that too in your life of making a lot of hard choices to have a successful, healthy, happy life.

Yeah, definitely.

You know, and look at different times in my life and different areas.

Yeah.

And I'll, I'll even talk about the concept of leadership.

What does that mean?

You know, do you, you, somebody's got to lead the way and, and even followers are going to follow somebody or something.

And so if you, if you, and, and again, to be a true leader out here in this world, I think is, is to be a true leader is a true change agent, which means sometimes you stand all alone out there.

And I would rather stand all alone out there on stage somewhere then be with the crowd and be all wrong.

And it takes courage, man.

I'm telling you, I've been on this place a lot in my life, the 60 plus years where I've stood out there and passionately believed something.

But it was so different than what the majority believed.

It became polarizing.

And that polarization became a point of criticism, a point of, you know, abandonment, if you will.

You're not, you're not included anymore.

And I don't want you around, you know, you, you're you.

It's not that they don't like the Jeremies of the marks of the world, but when you're there, they get you bring about a a conflict or conviction with them just because you believe something different.

And I've had people in my life where used to be friends.

I'd say that I mean, we don't love them, but they they won't have dinner with us anymore.

Not because I picked her food, not because I care about what they eat, but the last time we had dinner with them in this situation, it's been several years ago.

One of the persons that the wife says, I feel so guilty when I'm around you guys and I'm like, well, don't do that.

Just relax.

We love you.

But that didn't do any good.

And it's it that stuff is hard, but I think it's right.

And, and if we can live like that, do the things that we and I, I believe that is right.

If we live like that, there's going to be a few people come around that'll stand with you.

It won't be the majority though.

And and I'm OK with that, I guess.

Yeah, and that's where you end up on the stage and you're teaching about what you've learned and people are listening and and yeah, people like you are finding the cutting edge of these different technologies.

And yeah, like you've mentioned, you're one of the original biohackers.

And, you know, and that word has been kind of used up and turned in a lot of ways, but it's it's more of this this intention behind it of like you're wanting to improve your health and longevity in life and enjoy life.

And like, the society needs people like you who go out into the darkness and bring a flashlight and try to find what's out there and come back and tell us what you found and you know.

Yeah.

And it's like anytime you're navigating a new area, somebody has to be the trailblazer.

Who's the somebody?

And if it's not you, then who?

I mean, who's going to do that?

And I think when you start doing that, and my wife and I've done a lot of that in our lives, you know, just let's give it a give it a try.

Sometimes it doesn't work out.

Sometimes it's the wrong path.

But you learn that and then other people can learn even from your own mistakes as well as you learning from mistakes.

I hope you know, but honestly, with us, it's, it's became a way of life.

We, when you settle into your passion, your call, whatever that you want to, you know, name that by you're just doing what you do.

And as you know, you're, you're going to continue to do that because you, you know, in your heart, it's right.

And it's, it's your, it's your calling.

So it's hard though, but I think the more you do that, the more comfortable you get in your own skin about who you are and why you are.

It's cool.

You may not know this, but that's really the tradition of yoga is people would say, OK, I'm going to go off into the woods and just eat a grain of rice every day for a year and see what happens.

You know, there's like primitive biohacking.

It is people been doing this for for centuries.

They've all been looking for the meaning of life, the secret to longevity, you know, the secret to immortality.

These are things that they, that the fountain of youth, you know, you hear all these expressions.

It's the same thing.

You know, when I look at biohacking, it's like looking at human biology, anatomy, Physiology, nature, environment, relationships, you know, exercise, supplementation.

It's all those things combining all, you know, to figure out how to, what's the cheat code, if you will?

What's the cheat code of this game called life?

And because you want to win and winning, I don't know how that's defined.

You know what that really means Because life is a, you know what?

I believe there's an end game isn't the end.

That's the question, you know, and I don't think so, But again, other people might.

But I think that while I'm here and while you're here, I think that we've got to maximize it and give it as much meaning as we can and inspire others to do the same thing.

Yeah, that's beautiful.

And you have a free resource for our listeners too, right?

Yeah, yeah, I'm, I'm going to give everybody that's listened this thing, they it's, it's one of my favorite little ebooks.

It's called Health Hope and Freedom and it's got some of our greatest little tools and tips there that's free.

And you know, I think these areas I talked about today, it's all in there.

It's 25 or 30 pages.

Just enjoy and people can click on that link that you give them and just hope.

That really spurs a little fire in people and blesses them and gives them some hope as well.

Hey, I feel blessed and hopeful.

I'm really honored for your time, Mark.

Well, man, thanks for having me.

I was looking forward to this.

It's just an honor to be with you as well, Jeremy.

You can get Mark's free ebook at the link in the show notes all about building resiliency and health, hope and freedom, lifestyle things you can do, very practical real world advice.

Lots of good insights there in the free ebook, so check that out at the link.

And again, if you want to learn the sister science of yoga, which is Jyotish or Vedic astrology, that's at Quiet Mind astrology.com/workshop to become your own astrologer and start reading your chart and interpreting the big placements there, including the Dasha system, the 120 year cycle in the chart to see how major themes are playing out for you throughout life and how to best work with those.

Thanks for listening, have a great rest of your day.