Awakened Conscious Conversations
Healing the world one episode at a time by offering realistic solutions to the journey of life. Both self hosted ( By The Gentle Yoga Warrior) and guest episodes.
Many of our guests have overcome significant obstacles and transformed their lives.
Rich with deep talks and solo endeavours, often offering tips on living a more conscious life.
Many episodes include a bonus optional meditation!
Awakened Conscious Conversations
A Comedian’s Guide To Trauma Recovery, Addiction And Spiritual Awakening
It's our 250th episode and a milestone deserves meaning, so we invited mystical comedian and author Justin L. Shaw to help us rethink trauma recovery with curiosity, humour, and a grounded spiritual toolkit. Justin’s story moves from an affection‑starved childhood to addiction, jail cells, and the grind of “just functioning,” then pivots into a profound awakening he calls a bliss attack—an experience that reframed reality as a persistent illusion and taught him how to plug into source on purpose.
Justin's contact details: https://www.awakenthesourcerer.com
We dig into his book Sorcery 101 and its 13 Rungs, a practical ladder that starts with shadow work and climbs through other ways of healing. Justin breaks down the difference between instinct and intuition . Along the way, we compare DMX and Jay‑Z to reveal how similar origins can diverge wildly depending on programming, focus, and the willingness to grow.
What sets this conversation apart is the role of comedy in healing. Justin shows how laughter disarms fear, primes the nervous system for learning, and keeps heavy topics light enough to carry. We close with a meditation.
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A note for every episode: we do not necessary agree with all the views on our podcast and leave listeners to make their own mind up with what they do or don't agree with.
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So today's a very special day. It's our two hundred and fiftieth episode, which is quite an achievement. Sadly, many podcasts don't make it past the first few episodes. So to get to the 250th one is yeah, it kind of warms my heart because I think how many people did uh this podcast reach and inspire and you know those things that we try and overcome. Like we I think that is that I call it like there's a bit of residue left of all the things that we're trying to overcome and chip away, and that's what my podcast I'm trying to help you do, so you know it happens, etc. But we haven't got the other reason why today is extraction is we've got an amazing guest on the show. Joining us shortly will be Justin L. Shaw, and Justin is a mystical comedian and he's also a doctor of divinity, and he's also passionate passionate about empowering people to reclaim themselves with and manifest potential. And why this episode is going to help you today, isn't it? Is it because we're going to talk about trauma healing, but because it's a comedian, is I think it's going to have the right balance between talking about something that's serious but also bringing a bit of lightheartedness and joy because I think it's one of those things that can really help us to kind of navigate through difficult things, is to have a sense of humour. Justin's going to explain about his wonderful new book called Sorcery 101. And I've had the joy of reading like the first 60 pages, and then I realised it's also an audible, so I'm going to put it on in the car so I can hear the rest of it when I'm traveling later this weekend. And I found it very moving to listen to his story. And I think I can't really do it just because there's so much within this book that is going to be able to help listeners, I think, that I will let Justin explain when he comes online. I was reading parts and I was like, yes, I agree with that, yes, yes, yes. And all these kind of lightable moments went off in my head because it was reminded me of stuff that I'd forgotten about, um, and also a new way of saying things. Um, just to tell you a tiny bit about you just before he comes on line, is he says I'm a little bit deeper and a little bit too happy, and I like that what he says about that. And he's also a former standard comedian and has an inspiring story about overcoming trauma, emotional, mental issues, and heavy trauma addiction. And he also got stood up in the US sick care system for decades, and he says his story is weaved together with lots of human and hopeful culture, metaphors, and insight to create a unique system of healing that was inspired by the 12th system, alcohol, and numbers. However, what makes this book so different is he uses protein runs, you know, the runs that you get on a ladder, and he says this book does not discriminate between the symptoms of soul sickness. So you know things that are all the use of people, mobile phones, etc. And all the things that get in the way, I think, of stopping us becoming oh an amazing self. Um, because life is hard these days, you know. So let's have a bit of humor. So we'll just wait until Justin comes online very surely. So without further ado, everyone, please welcome Justin El Shaw to the show all the way from Arizona. Welcome, Justin.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you. It's good to be here and there and everywhere. It's the magic of the internet.
SPEAKER_02:It is, it's changed the world for sure. Do you know what? It's an extra special show today, not only because we've got you on the show, Justin, but also it's a 250th episode.
SPEAKER_00:So I mean Oh, congratulations. That's awesome. That's great.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you. I was grace to have a copy of your book, which I have I've got to about page 60. And I saw it was on Audible, so I'm going to play it in my car over the weekend because I I was enjoying it so much I wanted to kind of go further and listen to it. I think what you've put together, Justin, is something really unique, and we'll go into that as we go into the interview. Because we're going to talk today about healing trauma. But because of your back story of being part of it as being a comedian, I have a feeling that there's going to be is we're going to bring some lightness into such a heavy subject. But would you mind firstly telling us a bit about your backstory and what brought you to here today?
SPEAKER_01:It's it's quite a story. I've been on you know all over all over the place, and and everyone's got a story, you know. Like I like to say, you know, you know, we're all very special, but none of us are unique, you know. So it's, you know, it's it's we've all got a story. And and mine, you know, it's my childhood was it was just me and my mom. So it was I grew up in kind of what I would refer to as an emotional vacuum. My mother, it was just her and I. I have brothers and sisters, but they're much, much older. They were moved out of the house when I was born. You know, emotions are just not something my family has ever been good at. My my my mother was just neither my mother nor my father just are good at expressing emotion. They, they, they the word love is not in their vocabulary, unfortunately. So I never heard it. I never heard it growing up. My mother was not a touchy-feely kind of person, so I didn't get hugged a lot. And it was just kind of, I just was there. I was taken care of on a physical level, completely. Like, you know, kind of middle class, maybe upper middle class, you know. I never wanted for anything. It wasn't, it wasn't a poor upbringing by any means in terms of, you know, what I physically had, but emotionally it was it was pretty poor. So, you know, that when you don't tell a child that they're valued and important and loved and all those things, you know, they look to the world to see how you know, valued and important and safe and loved, and and the world is always going to tell them they're none of those things. So that's exactly what happened with me. I was looking to the world for, you know, this that parenting thing that is oh so important. And that did just didn't work out well. I mean, that it really led to, you know, in my teens and twenties, uh, just a massive drug addiction. And I've I've been, you know, to I've been in jails and I've slept on park benches and you know, rehabs and halfway houses and you you name it. I mean, that's that's where my addictions and my kind of spiritual bankruptcy is what I call it. That's where that's where it led me. So I've I've definitely been through been through quite a quite a bit that I didn't have to go through, but uh, but I actually kind of did because now it all makes sense. Now everything I've been through, because now I have there, you know, there's sympathy and there's empathy. And you know, having sympathy for someone is is fine. And that you know, that just means you're you know, you you're listening to their pain, but empathy is actually feeling it with somebody. And that's what I have now, is I'm able to connect and feel with people that I that there's just absolutely no way I could connect and feel with people that if I hadn't been through all this stuff. And if I hadn't been through all those stuff, there there would be no book. So I have such an appreciation for you know everything I've been through, both as as a child and as an adult. I, you know, I experienced a string of things as an adult, even that kind of before the book that that really brought me down. But you know, it's this spiritual kind of thing that that that that's really brought me back to life.
SPEAKER_02:Because you went through through such a difficult journey, like it you've got such a gift to give to the world through all that. I know when I was reading your book that you said that your musical heroes DMX, JC, and you actually met DMX when you were in rehab, which must have been very like profound. I don't know, but I I can't imagine meeting like my my hero in such a in such a situation. But what I found particularly interesting is that when you described that they both probably had the similar sort of life experiences, but how they processed life was so very different. Could you tell us a bit more about the contrast and what it taught you between their two lives?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah. So when I was trying to, you know, come up with, you know, I needed I needed something to to create rapport with my reader. I needed my reader to know that like I've been through stuff and and you know, I have a yeah, I used to be a stand-up comedian, and so I comedy and making people laugh, uh, that was my first high. So, you know, the story with DMX is is is very I've made it very funny and kind of you know, humorous to read and and my experience in rehab and how absurd it is. And but you know, that was one of the things that was like I was trying to think of of a way to you know create that rapport. And I thought that was the one of the best thing I could do. You know, DMX has has died since then, but then it kind of came to me that I could make this story funny and then compare the lives of these two people. So, you know, I certainly was not in rehab with with with Jay-Z. So, but but I brought in Jay-Z because he had such an animosity for for Jay-Z. He hated Jay-Z. It was one of the things, one of the stories I get into in the book is is just his absolute hatred for Jay-Z, someone who he was very, very close friends with in his in his early years of his upbringing. This was 2010. So DMX at the time was I was already having extreme money problems. He was on the downwards, you know, spiral of his career. This was about 10 years before his death, and he was just in and out of jails and rehabs. He lived in my hometown of Scottsdale, and why don't I read read about him and and you know, you know, being in there, you know, imagine meeting your your you know, one of your childhood heroes and then living with him is like a whole nother, it's a whole nother level of of of kind of you know insane. But I I you know I took that and and because he talked about, you know, like you know, there was an instance where he talked about, you know, hating Jay-Z and you know, screw him and all these, you know, other colorful words. And and you know, I took that and kind of realized that, you know, these two were had the exact same upbringing. They were both born in a poverty set, they were a year apart, born in an extremely poverty-stricken New York City housing projects where you know, drugs and and you know, single-parent housing and abuse and and poverty. And that's just what they both went through at the same period of time. Both growing up, we went into gangs and and drugs, both had an extreme talent that they then you know harnessed and both got signed to the same record level, record label around the same time. We're friends, had teamed up on tracks together and were superstars together at the same record company. And and but then you see what happened after that. You know, the the the early 2000s is when things really started splitting for these two. Jay-Z got promoted to president of the label, which made DMX very jealous. He know he wouldn't say that, but that's part of why he hated Jay-Z, was that you know he was he was doing better. And so that hatred and that that that bad energy, you know, started flowing. That he, you know, he never healed from childhood. The the intention started drawing away, and you know, Jay-Z kept intending on the next thing and set kept creating and and kept doing these things. And you know, now he's he's a billionaire and you know, is isn't even the most famous member of his own family. You know, he's got more number one albums than Elvis. You know, he he's just he's just created this entirely this amazing thing, and DMX is dead. So so it just made me think of like, and and his last years were not pretty. They were in and out of jails and rehabs and and and and and he died. So it's like, what happened here? You know, these two are exactly the same. They were if they were poker players, they were dealt the same hand, you know. But the best poker players will tell you you don't play the hand, you play the player, and that's what Jay-Z did. He played, he played the game as opposed to DMX, who played his cards. And you know, his his ability to keep creating and to kind of let things go in his past. There were two things. It was letting go of his past and continuing to grow as an adult, and that's where this whole thing split. And that's the whole kind of idea behind the the sorcery. And so I just felt that was a really cool story to begin with. And say, you know, here's two people, exact same, exact same situation, and look at the difference in their lives, pick a different route. He's not a perfect person, Jay-Z. I'm not saying that. I'm not saying he's a pillar of more morality or anything, but the these, if you if you're looking at these two, one is definitely better off than the other one. And that's the the point of like I want to get out to people because if we're not if we're not constantly questioning our thoughts and our feelings before they become actions, we have been relegated to organic robots. And that is one of the most important things to understand. DMX was was just programmed for destruction, programmed for failure. And even with all the success, he still failed. Whereas Jay-Z woke up and decided to do something different, and that's what I want. That's what people need. Is it it is is it destiny or free will? Well, it's both and it is both destiny and free will. It depends on who you are. You know, it's it's destiny for the for the kind of programs out there, the robotic people who aren't you know thinking before they act, and it's free will for the rest of us who are awake. And that's the sorcery is about awaking people.
SPEAKER_02:Beautifully put, Justin. So I was reading John your book, and I'd just like to read uh a line, a powerful line from it. It says, Every day I have the choice to plug into the illusion or plug into the souls. And I think this follows on lovely from what you what we're just talking about. Can you unpack what that means and how it shows up in your own life?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that's yeah, that's kind of from the the the creed, which is just 13 kind of principles, I guess, that I put in the very beginning of the book that's kind of sets up the rest of the book. It's like if if you vibe with these, keep going. And that's the first one is every day I have the choice to wake up and plug into the illusion that is surrounds us, that is, or plug into the source, because your your focus, I put in there, your focus is your energetic cord. So that's the whole thing is I realize that my focus is my energetic cord, and I can plug into the illusion or plug into the source. And that you're so your focus is that cord. And if you're constantly focused on the material world and everything, it's it's it's just not you're you it's not gonna live for a joy-filled life. You're gonna continue to, it's gonna be constant, like you know, trying to please others, trying to keep up with everything, try, you know, it's just and and it's and it is just it's just an illusion. It's not none of this is actually real. You know, it's it's all just it's it's it's a very, you know, Einstein said, reality is an illusion, but it's a persistent one. And that's that is that is the truth. It is it is a very persistent illusion. But so so we have the choice every day, and it's either to kind of give into this material world and and you know, become the materialist, or kind of plug into the source and be have a much more joy-filled understanding kind of kind of life. And that and that that's really all it takes is just where's my focus right now? That that's all it takes, is just you're just constantly, and that's what I was talking about with you know, constantly questioning your thoughts and your feelings before they become actions. It's a you know, where's my focus? What is it's and it's just questioning is is everything, you know. It's it is it is questions that opens minds, not answers. So I love that. Yeah, so that's that's the biggest thing, right? Continue it questions, questioning, questioning everything. And that's what I want people to do is question, don't be a robot and just accept everything for uh face value, like question, and maybe it sounds right. And that's the thing with other people, you know, like you can accept what other people say, and sometimes the other people have great things, but like the sorcery route is discernment. Do I want to take that? Is that good stuff, or do I want to throw it back? You know, like instead of just taking it all in and just whatever, and that's gonna weigh you down. So yeah, it is it is focus, is critical.
SPEAKER_02:A bit of a big question, but in your book, you describe the 13 run method. Could you give a bit brief description? I know that's quite a big question because there's it's there's 13.
SPEAKER_01:The whole thing came to me. So it was pretty as a pretty it's a pretty crazy story. So I first of all it's sorcery with a you, for those out there wondering about sorcery and thinking that you know, if you if you listen to me or get the book, that you're gonna be able to, you know, turn your roommate into a frog. Unfortunately, I I don't have that ability. So there's there's no guarantees there. I'm not saying you can't do it, I'm just saying that's that's not a guarantee. So the sorcery with a you is that source energy, it is the plug into the source, so sorcery. And you know, the the the whole sorcery thing came to me. There's a there's a there's an experience I had that that opened me. So the first experience, I'll have to go into kind of I'll have to go into everything here. So the experience I had after kind of opening my mind to the realities of everything was just this this moment of just pure bliss. And I call it my bliss attack. And that's what the book is is about is for every you know, anyone can have a bliss attack and kind of have this extreme moment of pure love. And it was, I was at the time, I had just left, I was really struggling. I was I had my mom's death at the time, and I was really struggling with things, and you know, Christianity wasn't wasn't doing it for me anymore. It just, you know, I had I had gotten clean in, you know, after the the the the rehab experience with with DMX, that around the time I got clean and you know, I was just open to you know, tell me what I need to do. Because my first rehab experience was was a total failure because I just figured, you know, get my body clean. I'm only struggling right now because my body is has you know opiates and stimulants and and you know alcohol. I mean, I was just a dumpster fire completely. And so, you know, just get my body clean and I'll be fine. You know, I am struggling because I am going through withdrawals period. And so I did that, and I'm shocked that it even lasted three months. So, but obviously it was a it was it was a failure. So three months later, I'm back to exactly where I was when I went into rehab. So the second time I went in and that was it was a more faith-based place, and it was in Arizona, and that was the that was the DMX experience. But it's it it I just was open. I was just like, explain to me how to do this because I I obviously don't know what I'm talking about. So, you know, I I realized that addiction is this spiritual malady, and a spiritual malady, a spiritual problem requires a spiritual answer. So I just what you know, what do I do? And so they told me that the you know, I I kind of went the Christianity route and AA with the they go hand in hand together. AA is just kind of disguised disguised Christianity, essentially. And but and that and that worked for a time being that that really worked well. I was sober for several years. It's just the problem was I was not flourishing by any means. I was functional, which is great, which is which is you know, let's it was better than spending nights in a park bench or in a jail. I I I had a job and an apartment, and I was functional, which was a step up, but I it was very it was a very mediocre life that and I wasn't happy. And I kind of realized that you know, my mother was pronounced terminally ill. And so I kind of went through this year where I kind of saw her, you know, kind of dwindle away, and you know, both mentally and physically. And what made things a million times worse was this bullshit Christian programming that because she wasn't a Christian, she didn't go to church, she was going to hell. And that's what I was programmed to believe. So that whole time period was horrible because you're you're seeing someone die, and you're you're stacking the trauma by thinking now she's she's damned to a life of hellfire. So after she passed, I really started questioning things and was like, this this is some of the stuff isn't sounding right to me. Some of it does, and that's where the confusing point got in was like, I think people are taking the stuff that works and they're taking all this garbage because it's all going in together, but I don't think it all goes in together. I think there's some really amazing things about this, but as a Christian, you're just expected to take all the trash in and along with you know the good stuff. And so I started saying, no, I don't, I'm not believing this stuff. And so I started questioning my belief systems, and uh I started meditating more. I realized that Christianity is this really beautiful, amazing mansion, right? So it's it's like a 17-bedroom, 18 bathroom, basketball court, game room, movie theater, this mansion, right? You're living in this mansion, and it's you know, and I was in this mansion, it was great. Wow, this is a great mansion. But what you don't realize, first of all, you're not allowed to go outside the mansion. That's a big deal. Like, why would you want to go? Yeah, it's a metaphorical mansion, of course. Oh, yeah, yeah. It's it's a metaphorical mansion. I don't mean like literally. Oh, I saw yeah, no, Christianity. Um yeah, I didn't. I'm glad we cleared that up. No, no, no, no. No, I I live I've been living in apartments. Yeah, no, no. So it's yeah, it's this metaphorical mansion where you're living, but you're not allowed to leave the mansion, which is which is essentially like you know, exploring other religions, exploring other things. You you can't, that's bad. You know, so you're told you must stay inside the mansion because you know it's a nuclear apocalypse out there. There's zombies walking, you don't want to go out there because it's death. So you're so scared you don't leave the mansion. You stay in the mansion because it's like, well, it's nice in here. I don't want to leave and get, you know, I don't want to die, because that's what they're telling me. And but after a time, you know, and a lot of people live in that mansion their whole lives, and it's fine. But after time, I realized that mansion is built on a cracked foundation of fear, judgment, and control. And so I that the mansion for me started crumbling when my mother started passing, and the foundation was then exposed. And so I started questioning things, and and so I had this bliss attack shortly after, you know, I things. And it was just like this moment where, and I wasn't meditating at the time, I had started meditating and I started, you know, doing all this stuff and doing these. I started seeing a shaman instead of my pastor, and started doing different things. And I had this just incredible moment of for three hours I had to go lie on my bed, and it was just these waves of just love. And at the same time, while feeling this bliss and love, I was getting downloads from the universe of you know how things are and the reality of things, and you know, all these amazing messages were sent to me, and I knew they were truth because of how I felt. And so, you know, I realized that we're surrounded by the the unified field, this incredible field, this source energy that I that I talk about. And it is it, you know, it's like explaining water to a fish, you know. So, and and so once you you try to do that to a fish, then you know once you're a fish that sees the water, explaining the water to other fish is really difficult. And that's kind of what I'm I've I've been put out there to do is to explain water to to fish. And that's that's what I'm doing with this whole thing. And it's just it's just this field of energy that surrounds us, and we're here because of it, and you can't see it. You know, a fish wouldn't understand the concept of water, and so but that's what it is. It is very similar. It is our water, it is surrounding us, it is there, it is, it is, it is there, and it can be tapped into at any at any moment. So I I I felt like I was on airplane mode. So I felt like this moment I had been turned off airplane mode. You know, a phone that's parentally in airplane mode is not living up to potential. It's functional. You can still play your music and do, but you're not gonna get texts and messages and all this stuff. So, and I and I felt like society as a whole is mostly filled with people on airplane mode, and that I had a chance to maybe create something to get people off airplane mode. So that is where this whole thing came into. And so all this stuff was kind of coming to me over the course of a couple years, and I try to think about you know a way to set up. So I'm finally getting to your question. I had to set up.
SPEAKER_02:Oh no, it's brilliant.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, good. All right, yeah. So I so I had to I had to think about a way that, you know, how do I get through to this? And you know, the best, and I kept getting all these messages and meditations, and I'd kind of ask questions and I'd receive answers. And so the best way to do it is to kind of create a map. People like a map. And you know, I thought about the 12 steps of AA, and that's done really good things for people. I think there's still some problems with it, of course. You know, the first one is that you're powerless, and I don't believe that at all. So I, you know, there's some issues with it, but but I liked the idea with it. So, you know, instead of steps, I felt, well, you know, moving forward is good, but moving up is better because a bird has a better perspective on things than a worm. So I went with 13 rungs instead of steps. So the rungs, the steps are very, very rigid. And, you know, because they're they're kind of designed from you know religion, which is a very rigid and strict thing, you know, nothing, you know, any institution that doesn't embrace change, like AA or Christianity or, you know, anything that doesn't embrace change, I I immediately am questioning because everything changes. The only constant is change. So these these institutions that refuse to change are like, okay, uh there's there's gonna be something better because we're all growing as a society, we're all waking up. There's gonna be something better. So that's where I went with the 13 rungs. And there's 13 for a very specific reason because immediately I want people thinking about questioning beliefs. And the number 13, at least in America, I think it is there too, but it's a very unlucky number or said to be, said to be in a to the point where we don't have 13 floor, a 13th floor on hotels. You know, they go straight from 12 to 14. Of course, there is a 13th floor, but they don't put it on there because they're scared people won't want to stay on the on that level. And it's just ridiculous because it's all superstitious garbage. Because the number 13 is actually extremely lucky. And in tarot, it represents, which is what sorcery is all about, this this death, rebirth, and transformation. That's what 13 stands for. And that is what the whole sorcery thing is like death to the self, rebirth, and transformation. And that is the number 13. It's also it's very lucky and very divine. So immediately I want people to seeing the number 13 and started questioning things that may not be true, because everything is filtered through our belief system. Our entire world is filtered through the belief system. So that is one of the most important things is to start questioning things.
SPEAKER_02:I like that, absolutely. Yeah, like the questioning, definitely. And I like the way if I may just say it about the functioning, because I really believe that so many procedures functioning rather than kind of driving and many ways society is kind of built around that, isn't it? And especially like with the way there's so many distractions which keep us just functioning. I don't know what an economy is like in over there in the US, but I know in in the UK, they just everything just keeps it doubling like all everyone's household build, and even people in really good jobs feel like they're just that's in the material but just functioning, but then it'll kind of turn to like I call them like micro addictions, like scrolling or using things that aren't good for them, or just kind of not trying because they're just functioning. So that's why I think this book's gonna really, really help my listeners and everyone else's as well. You also talk about the parts of humor. I would say, like, to get up and be a stand-up comedian, you've got to have a few things, really good at talking, very brave, and obviously like a sense of humor. How has that helped you uh in this journey?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, well, humor is is everything for me. I mean, I you know, I I just I've always found the humor in everything at all times, even when I'm even when I'm at my kind of lowest, I still found humor in it. So it it's it's just this critical part of living that I think people don't pay as much attention to. Because everything is is we're supposed to, you know, kind of be in this this fear-based, you know, conditioning. And that's that's kind of what you know, like the bills going up and thing, it it keeps it keeps the focus and the lack and the scarcity, and and it keeps, and that's kind of what you know those in charge probably want us to to feel is because because then you know, like if you're if if if if you get off of that, now you're realizing kind of who you are and you have the kind of power you have, and you know, nobody wants that. So, you know, it's the humor just it it gets you in the right mood for healing, and that's why the the book is so funny. And I kind of I go. I I go into my childhood and and and I just make it funny because I could have gone a different direction and made it really like sad and dramatic. And that also would have like had you know people like you know get closer in and pay attention, but no one can heal in the in that state. No one can heal in the state of like fear and you you that's not a state of healing, you know. So to have humor and put people in a good energy for healing was extremely important, which and I had never you know read a book that's kind of a self-improvement, but that'll really make you laugh. But you know, humor and laughing, that's the state I want people in. So there I at every opportunity I could think of while writing the book, I tried to make a joke. And most and most of them are pretty funny, but it's it keeps it, it just keeps it light and and it puts people in that state to be open to heal. It's it's just it's a really important part of my my upbringing. And it always has always made me feel good, which is why I did the stand-up comedy for a time period. And there's there's no more straight stand-up comedy for me, but there's still comedy. I'm still, you know, I call myself a mystical comedian, you know, so it's stand-up philosopher, you know. So there's it's it's a mixture of the two. I see a lot of really good spiritual leaders out there and some really funny comedians, but I haven't seen quite a melding of the two.
SPEAKER_02:I I like that. I seem like humor is like medicine for the soul and something that we forget to to do. So I I really like that you're bringing that in into your words. I don't want to put you on the spot, would you but would you mind reading it a bit from your book?
SPEAKER_01:Well, I'll tell you what I'll here, I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll I will read the all the um I'll read all the rungs and then you pick out which ones you want to talk about. How about that?
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:So I will uh the the runs are Okay, so the first one is called shadow. I'm just gonna read them out. So shadow work is the first one, second one is called a call for inaction, third one is a surrender to serenity, fourth is health is wealth, fifth is emotional alchemy, sixth is comfort in discomfort, seventh is attention to intention, eighth is goats over sheep, ninth is follow your bliss, tenth is rose-colored contacts, eleventh is instinct versus intuition, twelfth is that chakra life, and thirteenth is a cyst leaf.
SPEAKER_02:I would say instinct versus intuition.
SPEAKER_01:A lot of people use those words interchangeably, and they're not the same at all. So instinct is kind of a fear-based system that helps keep us alive, and it is extremely important, it's not bad, but a lot of people have their instinct running on overdrive when we go through some sort of trauma, whatever that is, physical trauma, emotional trauma, financial trauma, relational trauma. I mean, there's a million different kinds of trauma, and they and they show themselves in different ways. And they're their their instinct is now running on overdrive because they've been hurt by something. So now that natural kind of you know human nature is to protect yourself from another situations like that. So your instinct is on super hyperdrive and it doesn't need to be. So I intuition, however, is is that is that voice that comes from your heart, and it can get you through your instinctual overdrive. So instinct would be like if if I was walking home from from work and I, you know, I was walking home and there there was a there's a car coming and someone's hanging out of the window with a gun, okay? This is an instinctual time to jump, run, get into a bush, hide, get away for your the safety of your life. So and and if that passes, and now you've you've walked home and now your instinct is on overdrive. So now every time you walk home from work, you're gonna constantly be looking at every car that there's, you know, is there a gun point at every single car? It's like, and and you're gonna be, you're gonna, you're gonna, you're gonna be sweaty, your heart's gonna be racing the whole walk home, and then you're gonna get home and never want to leave. And people with their instinct on overdrives aren't living a full life because they're listening to their instincts. It's like danger, danger, danger, danger, danger, danger everywhere. And so how to overcome that is to get in touch with your intuition. And I and I and I say in there, and I there's intuition training. I I tell people exactly how to train your intuition. That is the voice on the other side, that is your higher self. You can call it source, higher self, it's many things. It's it's kind of the you on the other side of the video game. It's the controller, it's the player you, and it's the one with the controllers. And you can get in contact with that you, and that you can guide you to amazing things. And it's just about, you know, kind of calming the mind and you know, deep breathing, asking yourself a question with your hand on your heart, and you know, you you deep breathe five times to really clear your mind because you can't ask the question with muttered, you're not gonna get a clear answer. So it's extremely important, you know, deep breaths, you know, like I do four, five, six, so four in, hold for five, out for six, and you do that like five times, four, five, six, and that really clears your mind. Then you ask a question that you're wanting to know the answer to while hold putting your hand on your heart because you want the answer coming from here, not up here. And it will tell you almost before you even answer the finish the question, it it will tell you, you know, like you know, safety-wise, you know, is this something I should do? You know, career-wise, anything. And it will tell you the correct answer. So it is, it is a that that one's about getting in touch with intuition and living with intuition over instinct and understanding the difference between the two and when one's talking and and the and the other one is talking and the difference. And it takes practice, but 30 days of asking yourself questions and and and asking and getting answers, and you're gonna start trusting it more. Once you're once you've got that open line of communication, magic happens.
SPEAKER_02:Let's go back to shadow work because that is such an important aspect.
SPEAKER_01:It is, yeah. So that's that's the first one for big deal because that's that belief systems thing. So the shadow is Carl Jung coined the phrase, one of his archetypes is the shadow. And it is made up of it's made up of our limiting beliefs and and traumas that we faced in our life. You know, things that got told to us as a child that we we've never questioned, you know, traumas that happen to us that get stored in there. That's that instinct I'm talking about, the try that that's the that's the shadow that's you know, speaking to you in those heavy instinct situations or trying to hold you back from who you really are or true greatness. And you know, that shadow is is extremely important to know and understand, but you know, you you don't want to be in kind of a fight with it either, because you know, if you if you if you're in kind of a battle with your shadow, well now you're creating the same emotions of anger and things that you know got you where you are. So the best thing is to start understanding it and start becoming friends with it. And I like to say there's there's three points. So if you imagine a car, there's three points for for your for your shadow to be in. And my and and I've been in my shadow has been in all three places, which is why I know this. So if your shadow is driving your car, it's always gonna want to drive it off a cliff. Always. So it's it's constantly gonna be aiming for a cliff. If your shadow is driving your car, and these are people you see every day, it's you know that they can't get out of their shadow programming. You see them in in the streets, just completely unfunctional people because they're shadow, they're they're you know, their shadows driving that car and it is constantly driving off a cliff. So that is not a good place. No one can be functional with their shadow driving the car. So when I got sober, and I kind of did the the Christian run and everything, the shadow got moved to the passenger seat, but it was still too involved in my life. It was it was talking to me and telling me, limiting things, holding me back from everything I that I can be, because I was allowing it to, you know, if a passenger in your car, you're pretty engaged with it. You're going back and forth and the passenger's there. And so your shadow is too engaged in your life, but you're functional. Yeah, and there's a there's much more people out there like like this that you know live a very functional life, but it's just mediocre. It's you know, the we're kind of programmed for three things greatness, mediocrity, or failure. And those are kind of the three positions of the shadow in the car failure, mediocrity, or greatness, and where you want your shadow, because you can't kick it out of the car. It's there and it's the you it's there. You cannot get rid of it. So it the best place for it to be is in the backseat where you're kind of just checking on it. You're not necessarily engaged with your shadow as much. You're you're just checking on it, like, hey, how you doing back there and everything okay? Okay, perfect. You know, take care of your shadow because it was it was created in a time of need, but it it can it can take over your life. And so it's something to understand what that shadow is the subconscious versus the conscious. And once you make this the once you make the unconscious conscious, now you've got free reign of your life. And so that's that bringing the shadow to the surface. And so, you know, doing that can can just completely change lives, completely change your life, anyone's life, and you know, mining the subconscious, which is how to kind of bring about the shadow, questioning your beliefs. That's kind of the next one, which is the which is the the call for inaction, which is about meditation. You know, it's it's not a call for action, it's a call for inaction. We need more inaction in society. We don't need more, we need more in action. So, and that's to kind of get there and to to to get into the operating system to question your beliefs and to start reprogramming yourself for if if that's something, you know, you'll you'll know immediately. It there's only three things we're programmed for, and you know, you you can ask yourself that question and it'll it'll tell you immediately what what you're programmed for and whether you're following your bliss or not. And you know, that's you are, I am. That's the key to greatness, and to, you know, it's not like saying everything's gonna be a giant success, but you're gonna feel good. You're gonna you're gonna feel joy, you're gonna feel accomplished, you're gonna feel like you're doing something, and that's greatness, you know. And when I say greatness, it's not, you know, it's not to say you have to be the greatest ever, but it's you will feel great. And that that's the most important thing, is is not to compare yourself and you know, it's it's the greatness inside you. So it's doing things that scare you. Yeah, that's the kind of understanding of the shadow.
SPEAKER_02:So I've really actually wanted to speak into you. I'd like to say, is there anything else that you would like to leave our listeners with for the last question?
SPEAKER_01:You know, I always I kind of tell people, you know, like what's one thing you can tell, and and I like to like to say, you know, live life like it's your first day. Everyone always says, live life like it's your last day. And I just think that's just terrible advice. Because if it's someone like me, my last day will probably be like, I'm gonna, I'm gonna wake up, I'm not gonna do my meditation, I'm not gonna do my yoga, I'm not gonna go to the gym. You know, I'll probably, you know, I might, I'll probably end up at a bar. And then maybe after the bar, I might rob a pharmacy. I don't know, because it's my last day and and and who cares? So that's terrible advice. That that that's what my last day might look like, because that's that's kind of like who I that's my kind of shadow. It's like, oh, my shadow would overcome it. Just like, okay, let's just well screw this. But if you live life like it's your first day, now you've you're building something towards the future, you're building for something, you've got a long way to go. So you start thinking about that long haul. And you're also, you know, your first day, if you think about a child and their first day, you're questioning things, you're curious about your environment, you're curious about other people. Children have millions of questions, you know. So it's just uh yeah, it's it's that curiosity. So living life like it's your first day, it is it is having that curiosity is the key to joy. Curiosity. What's the key to joy? Curiosity.
SPEAKER_02:I love that. Living it like your first day. So, Justin, if I'm a listener and I want to get a hold of your book, Sorcery 101, 13 Rungs to a Higher Elevation of Consciousness. It's on Amazon worldwide, isn't it? And Barnes and Noble, which you have in the States, because I've got a lot of listeners stateside. Is there anywhere else that they can get it?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, well, the website that are created is is awakenthesorcer with a you.com. You can get it on there. I have the the audio is on there. I did create the audio, which is a lot of fun. I get to do my all I get to I get to showcase all my voices. Audible Amazon, and it's through the website as well. Only Instagram, I have Facebook PTSD. I I don't think I'll ever be back on there, but I did Instagram, so that's sorcerer underscore13 with a you. If if you can't afford a book or or the audible, I have some codes that you can download from my website that you can get it for for free. So if you can't afford either one of them, you you can email me at sorcerer13 at gmail and I will send you a code because I just want to get this information out there, and I think it's important for people, and healing shouldn't have a price.
SPEAKER_02:Very, very generous of you. Listeners, I'll also put some links in the show notes. Do stay tuned. As always, there's a meditation inspired by today's show. But thank you so much, Justin El Sheel, for joining us today with your wonderful words of wisdom. Thank you.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you so much. Yeah, it was a lot of fun.
SPEAKER_02:As promised, here is your meditation inspired by today's show. Top tips for the meditation is either sit nice and cross-legged on the floor with a nice straight back, always nice to sit on a block or a cushion. Or if that's not available for you, you sit in a chair with the back nice and straight. The important thing is you're not slouching. And if you're doing something that requires little concentration, all you need to do is just pause this and you can reconvene the meditation at a time that is good for you. If you're doing the meditation, that's beginning. So as you close your eyes and you breathe softly in and out, the nostrils, imagine yourself at the top of the tallest tree that you know. So tall it isn't there. That your feet are below the clouds, and the top of your head gently touches the top of the clouds. But as you lean and look forward a bit, you can see a vast and fantastic horizon. You can feel the wind as it blows against you. You can smell the air, which is so fresh, which is so crisp, and so magical. And as you look down at the arms, you no longer have arms, but you have the wings of an eagle. And as you ride your wings and you take you realize that by your vision, you can see any fly. Yes, it's a line of vision. Slowly cascading into the air. There is a mixture of joy, pain, happiness. But there is a natural balance to this within the universe. And as you fly and you circle and you get all these sounds, all these things in, you're able to realize that from this relaxed state of seeing everything from a bird's eye view, that everything isn't as perfect as it possibly can be. And you can take silence whenever you need as you fly with these magnificent eagle wings, as you kind of just ride the air, the waves of what is coming, what is there, with that deeper, vast sense of presence. As you slowly now take some calm deep breaths as you come back into the moment, come back into the room.
