The Tony Wong Podcast Tony Wong

Don’t miss Part 2 of this episode where we touch on how diets can lead to almost religious dogma, how lifestyle and diets affect relationships, as well as genetics as it relates to food.
 
We pick up where the conversation left off in episode 16!
 
Key Takeaways
 
[:09] Tony sets up Part 2 of the discussion on the complexities of food knowledge and how America’s relationship to food has evolved into lifestyles.
 
Food Religion [1:17] What if you become so rigid about food that it defines how you live your life? Mekai touches on the respect that is required in order to accept people in their choices, food or otherwise.
 
Food relationships [6:25] Andrea shares her own understanding of the importance of remaining flexible in her diet as well as how teaching people about food can be part of the process.
 
Internet, don’t cancel Ron! [11:30] Is there actual credence to be lent to studies that claim that the more you hang out with overweight people, the more you are at risk of being overweight yourself?
 
Genetics and epigenetics [13:25] Though your genetic history will have an impact on body composition, there is research pointing to the foods you eat having an effect on gene activation.
 
The crazy world of vitamins [16:01] Mekai shares some information on how genetics can play a role in the metabolization of certain compounds as well as touches on nutrient depletion in our food supplies.
 
Variety is the spice of life! [19:00] We’ve domesticated a restrained amount of plants and animals, so how can we expect the variety our bodies may require?
 
The number will astound you [21:44] How many plants and vegetables a week to maintain a healthy gut microbiome? Andrea offers the most recent studies.
 
The multiple factors of health [22:54] There is an intuitive understanding that healthy lifestyle overall is more important than just good food alone...
 
Don’t let overwhelm win [24:30] Before Tony closes out the podcast, Andrea offers that while all this may seem enormous and overwhelming: if you’re going to start anywhere, start with food!
 
Thanks for listening!
 
More about your host
Podcast: tonywongpodcast.com
Agile Coaching: Agiletony.com
Executive Coaching: Agiletony.com/mental-and-emotional-agility
Twitter: Twitter.com/agile_tony
LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/in/agiletony
YouTube: Youtube.com/channel/UCJyT0C_nrzAZ9GhmOXaSRRw
 
More about our guests
Andrea Hollenbeck on Instagram @andreajileen and LinkedIn
Meki Blackwell on @mekiellacb and LinkedIn
 
Mentioned in this episode:
Dr. Will Bulsiewicz
David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet

Why do we need to know so much to even begin to scratch the surface of how to eat properly? How did we lose our bearings when it comes to the one aspect of our lives that is the highest predictor of our overall health?
 
This discussion focuses on how powerful lobbies and constantly evolving science have led national guidelines to promote a diet that has made America the number-one unhealthiest country.
 
From food “blue zones” where people live longer to fad diets, recipes, and individual factors, Tony, Ron, Andrea, and Meki discuss how they’ve been navigating their own food journeys as well as the knowledge that drives it.
 
Key Takeaways
[1:44] Tony welcomes everyone to the podcast and launches the discussion: How did we get to being so confused about diets and food? Ron shares his perspective on the historical aspects that have shaped America’s relationship to food.
 
Lobbies and pyramids [4:15] 50 years to figure out we’re doing it wrong — or that we’ve been told the wrong things by powerful lobbies.
 
The Kellogg obsession [8:26] So were corn flakes invented to kill the libido? Regardless of the answer, Americans now need to navigate a world where food knowledge was obscured for a very long time.
 
The Blue Zones [10:54] Who HAS figured food out?
 
Macro/Micro [16:30] From the high-carb, low-fat diet of the 90’s to the general, Andrea speaks to the conditioning Americans have had, to think of food only at a macronutrient level.
 
The old vegans [18:29] Meki touches on the bodywork she does on vegans and how their tissue differs from protein eaters!
 
Andrea’s recipes! [20:00] Andrea breaks down her predominantly plant-based whole foods way of eating — with no particular restrictions.
 
The big factors [27:05] Food accounts for the majority of your health, genetics do come into play as well as lifestyle — however our biggest current unknown looks like gut biome and how childhood can affect your entire life.
 
The great hoax [33:09] We’ve been led to believe that “My Plate” from the government works for everybody. So there is an amount of work to be done in terms of what works for you.
 
Thanks for listening!
Don’t miss part 2 of this episode where we touch on how diets can lead to almost religious dogma, how lifestyle and diets affect relationships as well as genetics as it relates to food.
 
More about your host
Podcast: tonywongpodcast.com
Agile Coaching: Agiletony.com
Executive Coaching: Agiletony.com/mental-and-emotional-agility
Twitter: Twitter.com/agile_tony
LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/agiletony
YouTube: Youtube.com/channel/UCJyT0C_nrzAZ9GhmOXaSRRw
 
More about our guests
Andrea Hollenbeck on Instagram @andreajileen and LinkedIn
Meki Blackwell on @mekiellacb and LinkedIn
 
Mentioned in this episode:
Lavva — pili nut yogurt
Kind
Garden of Life
Wahls’ protocol
Saccharomyces

Today’s show is a guided exercise in mindfulness by Zen Master Genpo Roshi; tune in to hear how you may have been poorly instructed, if at all, on how to meditate as well as what the long-term benefits of the practice are.
 
Meditation may not be the negation of the thinking mind that you think it is… It is rather an act of setting the thinking mind free, knowing it will quiet down.
 
Key Takeaways
Genpo speaks to Ron’s thinking mind [1:13] When you try to meditate, what does the thinking mind do? It thinks… It’s what it does. It thinks about the day, the things you have to do, didn’t do, the past, the future.
 
The thinking mind gets a hall pass [4:26] Genpo invites Ron to let his thinking mind go wherever it will for a few moments, an unbridled thinking minute. The absence of resistance enables the thinking mind to calm down.
 
The non-thinking mind needs love too  [7:14] So very few of us actually give room to the non-thinking part of our brain… Genpo offers that the Tao is something we all have within but we give it little space.
 
The apex [10:13] If the thinking mind and the non-thinking mind are the base of a triangle, who’s at the top? It’s you. And from this place, you get to choose who has screen time, the thinking mind or the non-thinking mind.
 
Slow or fast, the benefits of meditation come [15:55] Regardless of the type of meditation you chose to practice, they all allow us to quiet down and become more centered and more focused — the very first benefit. As time goes on and as peace settles into the practice, more aspects of the self are discovered.
 
Imagine that [16:42] Imagine the peace that would come from not being affected by what people thought of you — not in a negative way — the liberation of knowing you can’t control that and that it’s okay.
 
Relationships and being right [17:33] Genpo touches on how long it took to become what he says is “Okay at relationships” because he couldn’t appreciate other people’s points of view, always thinking that his were more important or right.
 
What is Zen? [22:11] A slice of happiness, effortlessness, and making peace with yourself in the world.
 
On death and the value of life [23:50] Roshi speaks to the importance of people's perspective on death; he shares his personal experiences with death. He’s come to the conclusion that to make peace with our own death allows us to enjoy life more.
 
The balloon [26:26] Denying or avoiding negative emotions will never work, anything we repress will come out somewhere else.
 
Thanks for tuning in! We understand that there is a good chance this episode will have raised some seriously profound questions in some people. If you want to discuss this further, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Tony through any of the means below.
 
More about your host
Podcast: tonywongpodcast.com
Agile Coaching: Agiletony.com
Executive Coaching: Agiletony.com/mental-and-emotional-agility
Twitter: Twitter.com/agile_tony
LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/agiletony
Youtube: Youtube.com/channel/UCJyT0C_nrzAZ9GhmOXaSRRw
 
More about our guest
Genpo Roshi, Big Mind

Have you ever wished you wish you could pacify certain warring parts of yourself?
We all live with the struggle of internal opposites: knowing you should do something (exercise? eat healthily? meditate?) but still procrastinating, knowing you’re performing well enough but still being stressed, needing to make a big decision but still being fearful… Big Mind is a profoundly interesting tool that enables individuals to identify aspects of themselves and work through the relationships they entertain with them.
 
In well-trained hands — hard to do better than Genpo Roshi — you could puzzle it all.
 
Key Takeaways
 
Ron is a skeptic [1:58] Ron shares how his journey has progressed to him being more aware of his mental processes as well as his view of spirituality which does include some measure of fear of being swindled.
 
Roshi butts in! [4:20] Genpo Roshi offers Big Mind to Ron and begins by asking to speak to the part of Ron who is a skeptic. Watch this convo between Ron the Skeptic and Ron the believer unfold!
 
The Base and the Apex [13:49] So we have a skeptical Ron on the left and a non-skeptical Ron on the right… if we make this the base of a triangle, what do we find at the apex?
 
The purpose of Zen [14:40] On balance and the purpose of Zen, finding peace and harmony by ending the internal conflict.
 
The infinity of what you don’t know [15:53] Genpo speaks to the part of Ron that is everything he doesn’t know.
 
Ron’s nervous laugh [19:20] Guys we know, touching infinity is weird, just go along.
 
So there it is, the meaning of life [21:58]
 
The illusion of self and the end of fear [23:52] From this infinite Big Mind place, Roshi explains that the concept of self is an illusion and shares how to get your fear to stop paralyzing you and do what it’s supposed to, its only job: warn you if danger is coming.
 
Thanks for tuning in! We understand that there is a good chance this episode will have raised some seriously profound questions in some people… If you want to discuss this further, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Tony through any of the means below.
 
More about your host
Podcast: tonywongpodcast.com
Agile Coaching: Agiletony.com
Executive Coaching: Agiletony.com/mental-and-emotional-agility
Twitter: Twitter.com/agile_tony
LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/agiletony
Youtube: Youtube.com/channel/UCJyT0C_nrzAZ9GhmOXaSRRw
More about our guest
Genpo Roshi, Big Mind

We are fortunate to ring in the new year with a discussion with Genpo Roshi, one of my Zen Masters and the creator of Big Mind. Today’s episode is a dive into deeper ideas ranging from human purpose to the meaning of life — no less!
 
All of these discussions stem from an important realization in the tech community that healthy habits like eating well and exercising only address one aspect of human life. It has become clear that tending to the health and balance of your mind is an integral part of human health.
 
Join in for an enlightening conversation on life and the mind with one of the top experts available.
 
Key Takeaways
 
What should we call you? [1:58] Roshi means Zen master and Genpo Roshi has been practicing Zen for over 50 years and became a Zen Master 24 years ago.
 
Zen and your life [2:40] It’s not just this esoteric idea of calm. It means life — your life — complete, whole, liberated, and a mess at the same time.
 
Being connected to everything and everybody else, how do we love and appreciate all the differences?
 
Self and your shadows [4:26] None of us can see ourselves clearly. There is who we see ourselves as and who others see us as — the shadows.
 
You can still be an asshole [4:55] You can sit in meditation (Za Zen) and just sit on your junk, you crap, your stuff… and you can have realizations and openness and appreciate it all but somehow remain an asshole.
 
Unresolvable puzzles [6:00] The study of Koans — mind puzzles — is used to coax the mind that is not limited by concepts, what Roshi calls big mind, true nature, true self, true mind.
 
The impossible meaning of life [6:45] Understanding is conceptual and limited, so understanding the meaning of life is impossible, however, you can “be” it. In a way, you can grasp it all even though you’ll never understand it all.
 
Thoughts are suffering [10:57] The thinking mind causes all our suffering, but repressing it isn’t the answer, invite it. Same with suffering, the moment we are ready to invite more, we are bigger than the suffering itself.
 
The healthy lifestyle triad [13:00] Meditation is right up there, with eating well, and exercising, in the goals of the tech community.
 
The incredible window that is COVID-19 [13:43] Before COVID-19 we wanted to run off to a monastery. But we are in a forced retreat. Learn to be patient, persevere, meditate, become wiser.
 
The COVID-19 opportunity [17:44] Genpo Roshi touches on the six paramitas (perfections) as ways to make this COVID-19 time more meaningful:
1- Generosity
2- Discipline
3- Perseverance
4- Patience
5- Meditation
6- Wisdom
 
No pressure, right? [21:30] Shakespeare wrote King Lear during his quarantine from a black plague outbreak… Ron fears having not done enough.
 
Roshi’s tips on meditation [24:20] Meditation can be daunting and difficult for a lot of people, Roshi offers his tips:
 
1- Don’t try to meditate — haha!
2- Sit and relax — it might be hard, you will have thoughts, just let them run and allow them to come and go without chasing them.
 
It’s more delicious than just about anything [25:56] Samadhi is better than sleep, more delicious than just about anything. It does have some staying power and it will affect your day, but it takes time, practice, patience, and perseverance.
 
COMING UP NEXT! [27:36] Roshi offers to work with Ron on Big Mind and meditation, but that’s for next episode! Thanks for tuning in and don’t forget to keep an eye out for episode 14!
 
More about your host
Podcast: tonywongpodcast.com
Agile Coaching: Agiletony.com
Executive Coaching: Agiletony.com/mental-and-emotional-agility
Twitter: Twitter.com/agile_tony
LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/agiletony
Youtube: Youtube.com/channel/UCJyT0C_nrzAZ9GhmOXaSRRw
 
More about our guest
Genpo Roshi, Big Mind

I recently did my first (8-hour!) myofascial release session with my guest Meki Blackwell and it revealed a deeper perspective on how the body’s connective tissues work — I mean beyond what we all understand as “rolling out.” Are we taught how to move? Are we taught how to stand? We all know the answer to that, and it all leads to pain and premature aging.
 
Joins me today for an interesting dive into what it means to understand the mechanistic body as a holistic system.
 
 
 
Key Takeaways
 
From MeatHead to Body Shop [2:06] Simplified, myofascial release is what people call rolling out, right? Meki shares a metaphor — flossing your teeth is like rolling out, seeing her for treatment is like seeing your dental hygienist, easy enough!
 
So MORE stuff to do? [2:58] Eat right, exercise, meditate, yoga, myofascial release, and then your entire day is gone! Making offers that you don’t have to do all of that, but it doesn’t affect your quality of life.
 
Learning to move [3:38] Mekai explains that there are many body parts people tend to wrongfully grip in order to perform certain movements as well as the consequences of that. Tony shares his meathead experience and how treatment has helped him get better.
 
Intelligent fascia? [11:30] There is building evidence that the fascia is part of our overall nervous system, and a lot of nervous receptors are situated there and provide information on spatial awareness. Meki offers that though it may be controversial now, she believes the fascia to be part of human consciousness.
 
Type A boons [18:45] Type A people can really benefit from this kind of treatment. Meki shares some techniques she uses to help high-performance people get resolution on certain problems or difficult decision making.
 
Before and after pics! [25:30] Meki shares before and after pictures from her Instagram (see for yourself here!)
 
What about all the normals? [29:48] Meki does a lot of work with athletes but she shares how her treatments help normal non-athletes as well.
 
How long does it all take? [31:15] Tony asks if everyone’s session takes 8 HOURS!? Bodybuilder type bodies take longer since, in order to get to the multiple layers of fascia, many passes are required and more so when the muscles are larger.
 
[34:07] Tony closes out this week’s episode with a bit of a recap on the benefits of myofascial release noting that most training programs are optimized for either esthetics or performance and until recently, few of them integrated intentional recuperation but the trend is shifting.
 
If you want to see the second round, watch episode 11 of the Tony Wong Podcast here.
 
Thanks for tuning in.
 
More about your host
Podcast: tonywongpodcast.com
Agile Coaching: Agiletony.com
Executive Coaching: Agiletony.com/mental-and-emotional-agility
Twitter: Twitter.com/agile_tony
LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/agiletony
Youtube: Youtube.com/channel/UCJyT0C_nrzAZ9GhmOXaSRRw
 
More about our guest
Meki Blackwell