17: Dan “Nitro” Clark – Death Lessons

Dan “Nitro” Clark is a American Gladiator, TEDx Speaker, Writer, Happiness Seeker, & Gratitude Practicer, who is committed to serving others.  Dan’s path was one of suffering and trauma, but he grew into someone who set out to burn bright, or die trying. 

In this episode we learn about his past struggles, how culture taught him “big boys don’t cry,” how losing his brother created the person he has become, how sports has defined him, and how cheating death kicked his ass into loving, learning, and living his best life.

We discuss how to master the art of living a happy, fulfilled, and meaningful life worth living. 

Show Notes:

Why are you alive?  To be of service.  Live – Love -Feel

4:58  Losing brother created the person he became.

“We tie our happiness to what we achieve and we achieve in order to achieve, but that happiness is short lived.” “Happily achieve instead of achieving to be happy.”

9:20  Don’t chase gratification.  Chase Gratitude.

11:00  How Dan was culturally taught not to cry or show emotion. Big boys don’t cry.

14:00  Sports filled a hole, a chance to hide.

Visualization and the power of the mind. 

18:35  Morning routine. Key to life is being in right state.

*25:54  “Anything thats good in my life came through the dedication of self improvement and personal growth.”

Service to others.

30:00  Why are you alive?

**32:50  “Sports taught me about life, but almost dying taught me how to live.”

33:20  Health is Wealth – The ability to walk.  What are your stairs?

Gratitude Practice – Ka ching!

43:44  Vulnerability is Strength – “The vulnerability in me gives the light a chance to shine.”

49:00  Strength is a Choice

49:59  Smiling Practice – The ripple effect of happiness.

Dali Lami: “In every human interaction we have, we have a choice to make that person happier or less happy.”

54:20  Upstream Reciprocity

Relationships and Conflict Resolution.  Seek to understand, then to be understood.

1:02:50  What does surrender mean?  “Even though I was having a heart attack and dying… When I surrendered, I felt a deep sense and profound sense of peace.”

Meditation and breathing for overall health and well being.

The Wim Hof Method

“Life is not lost by dying. Life is lost minute by minute, day by day, by not really living.”

Time isn’t guaranteed. Live each moment fully.

Books:

F Dying – Dan Clark

Gladiator – Dan Clark

The Warrior and the Monk – Greg Amundson

Psycho Cybernetics – Maxwell Maltz

The Beauty of a Darker Soul – Joshua Mantz

Social Media and Websites:

@DanNitroClark  @1ScottMcGee  @TheSisuWay

TheSisuWay.com 

16: Greg Amundson – Warrior Monk

How do we master ourselves to be of greater service?

My guest, Greg Amundson, is an operational and spiritual swiss army knife of a human being.  He is the original CrossFit Firebreather, affiliate owner, a law enforcement officer, swat operator, DEA agent, Army Officer, martial artist, yogi, speaker, and author of the new book, The Warrior and the Monk.  Greg has continued on a servants path to become a true warrior who dedicates his life to self-mastery in service of others.

Greg inspires us to live with purpose, passion and a desire to develop strength in your mind, body, and spirit. Greg helps us achieve a mindset of positive expectancy, personal belief and an unshakeable faith through a disciplined use of words, thoughts, awareness and attention. We also learn the power of love, encouragement, support and what it means to be a warrior.

Show Notes:

The Warrior and the Monk introduction

6:00  How Scott and Greg know each other.  CrossFit origins and the original Firebreather.  How Greg became Scott’s mentor.

11:45  How our parents helped shape and launch us.

Dad – “Greg whatever you do, do it for love.”

Mom – “You know, Greg, everybody can encourage somebody and be supported at the same time.”

24:50  How being alone can lead to happiness.

Ownership and accountability

35:00  Who were you and who are you? Scripture says, “God works out everything in a pattern for good for those that love Him”

*35:30-36:00 “What I’ve learned from these experiences is that, whats even more important than any experience we have in our life is our thoughts about the experience.  That’s ultimately what shapes us. What is so important is that we always retain the ability, we have independence of thought. We get to choose how we think.  What’s amazing is that when we change the way we think about something, what we think about begins to change.”

37:30  The cause of effects.  The thought is the cause of every subsequent effect.

43:30  How do you master yourself? 

Body – Mind – Spirit

46:30  The Body.  Chasing virtuosity.

Greg Glassman: “The greatest adaptation to CrossFit is between the ears.”

Kyle Maynard: “The stronger the why in your life the stronger your life will be.”

1:00:51  The Mind

Self-Talk, cargo net story at the Navy Seal compound in Coronado.

Body-Mind connection – Putting our body into a position that is going to lead our mind into a position we want it to go.

1:16:16  The Spirit

Core to Extremity – functional physical and spiritual expression

1:21:20  Sadhana – Daily spiritual practice

1:22:00  The Breath – Warrior Breathing – Pranayama

The Valley of Dry Bones

Dan Brule: “Even one conscious breath a day is enough to have an entire breath practice.”

*1:28:24-1:28:56  The breath draws us into the presence moment.

Box Breathing and Nostril Breathing – See behind the curtain

1:38:38  Meditation and Yoga – The stillness of the Mind

The kingdom of God is within you

The unified and universal field that we all have access to.

I am. I am. I am. 

*1:45:10  “The closer we get to source, the more pure, the more radiant, the more beautiful the more full of love the quality of our thought becomes.

Whats the purpose of my life? How can I better serve others?  How can I be a better source of love in the world?  These thoughts are accessed through a mantra that gets us closer to source.”

1:50:10  Yoga – One seamless practice to bring together all the other practices Continue reading