The Mind Body Project
The Mind Body Project
Transforming Lives through Podcasting and Community Building
What if unlocking your full potential was just a matter of mindset? Join us as we explore the powerful connection between our mindset and our physical body, and how you can create a limitless life with our special guest, Aaron Degler. Aaron shares his inspiring journey and his mission to raise awareness for small businesses and positive people in his community. Discover the inception of the Mind Body Project podcast and the transformative realization that in order to make an impact globally, we must first create an impact locally.
Get ready to be inspired as we chat with Aaron Degler about his podcasting journey, including the two podcasts he currently produces. Learn about the transition from a weekly to bi-weekly podcast and the difference between audio and video podcasting. You'll also hear about Aaron's hometown podcast, filmed and available on YouTube. Aaron shares his love for his hometown and his experience.
Don't miss this episode packed with valuable insights and inspiring stories!
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Mind Body Project podcast. After over a decade in the health and wellness industry, Erin realized that our bodies change only short-term unless our mindset changes. for long-term success, Both our mind and body are forever linked. We are continually building up new ideas and tearing down old ones in our construction zone we call our mind. After this podcast is over, make sure you give it a like and a share and please subscribe and review this podcast. I would now like to introduce you to your host, the man connecting your mind and body to create a limitless life, Aaron Degler.
Speaker 2: As previously mentioned, i'm very privileged and honored to have Mr Aaron Degler here in the house. He needs no introduction owner operator of synergy fitness for many years and also has a couple of podcasts we're going to get into and talk about those. So, Aaron, thank you so much for being here this morning.
Speaker 3: Thank you, Kevin. I appreciate you inviting me to be out.
Speaker 2: You're very, you're very welcome. Well, and it's Lenny Kay on the radio. It's no secret, man, everybody knows my real name, but Lenny Kay, it's just. You know. You don't have to do that on a podcast, you don't have to have a fun.
Speaker 3: Whatever name, but anyway, Lenny Kay, I like that.
Speaker 2: It's cool. It kind of goes with the territory you know, Actually, i'll tell you the story about how I came about that name. a little bit later, my wife actually gave me that name.
Speaker 1: You know, bernice, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2: So anyway, thank you again for being out here. And where should we start, man? Like I say, i don't. I think most folks around here are familiar with the name Aaron Degler. You've done a lot and you continue to do a lot to support Bowie, and you're a hometown boy right Born and raised.
Speaker 3: I was not born in Bowie, i was actually born in Pennsylvania.
Speaker 2: Oh.
Speaker 3: We moved to Bowie. When I was four years old. My parents were missionaries. They brought them down here because they're a place here that they came to. And so so we were missionaries and we just stayed here, stayed in Bowie. So you've been here since how old were you Since I was four, four years old. I'm about to be 48, so a long time, oh man.
Speaker 2: I was about to say that's about 32 years, but anyway you're looking good man. That fitness lifestyle pays off.
Speaker 3: Well, I've been trying.
Speaker 2: I know you have. I know you have, you were. You were telling me earlier, right now, that the My Hometown podcast is only one I was familiar with. And but what's your other? the name of your other podcast you do?
Speaker 3: My other podcast I started a couple of years ago. It's called the Mind Body Project.
Speaker 2: Mind, body Project.
Speaker 3: It really came out of understanding that, through the years of being in fitness and owning synergy fitness, being a personal trainer for the last 16 years I always thought when people didn't lose weight or be successful, maybe they're lazy.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 3: In the last six or seven years I've realized that's not the case. That's really what starts in our mind of how we think, how we perceive things, how we see ourselves, how we see others, how we see situations, and so through that I've changed the style and the way I train people. We talk a lot about habits and things like that. Above and beyond just the fitness, because that's usually the secondary thing, there's usually a primary thing that's causing that that overweight, having problems, eating, not exercising. There's many other things. That's not laziness.
Speaker 2: That's right.
Speaker 3: And so out of that came the Mind Body Project, which is that each week I talk about things that affect. It's not just exercise and diet, it's you know how do we become better people.
Speaker 2: Amen Yes.
Speaker 3: And that is really been my passion for the last five or six years is how do we become better people?
Speaker 2: Right, right.
Speaker 3: And through that I read a book called Change Your World by John Maxwell.
Speaker 2: Oh, I've heard of that book. Yeah, I've heard of it.
Speaker 3: And the interesting thing about the title is it's not Change The World.
Speaker 2: It's Your World.
Speaker 3: Change Your World.
Speaker 2: Because it's all about our perception of the world.
Speaker 3: Yes, And as I started the podcast, i thought you know, i want to reach, i want to make an impact globally. So how can I do that? But as I thought about it more, i thought I'm not really being true to my mission because I'm not starting in my world.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 3: So this year I started my hometown podcast which I want to raise awareness for a small business, for our community and for people to understand how special our community is.
Speaker 1: Yes.
Speaker 3: That we have a rich community And so many times we're quick to talk negative about it and we're not so quick to talk about the positive. That's right. And we have so many positive people and organizations and business in our community And I wanted to spotlight those. And part of that, part of my mission is I can't change the world and change until I change the world I'm in.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 2: Which starts with my community, that's right, and then you can change yourself, and then your community, and then it can go out into the world at large. So kudos to you for being inspired. Did you have a certain aha moment or an event that made you get on this path? I mean, like you say, you've been in fitness for as long as I've known you. We've known one another since about 2005. Yes, hard to believe that, but we both worked together, for you were there brief time after I left there Yeah, not for very long.
Speaker 2: Bowie Industries there. Good morning and happy Friday to all the good folks at Bowie Industries listening in out there. But yeah, we met back then. I remember you were very seriously into the weights and stuff. And then you might recall what year was it 2011, 2012,. They had the crawl down there in towards. Was that bridgeport, bridgeport? Yeah, and if I remember caveman crawl and my wife participated in that. I was a spectator, but, if I remember, legend has it that Mr Aaron Degler rode his bicycle from Bowie to Bridgeport and then did the event.
Speaker 3: Yes, because it was a training day, because John.
Speaker 2: Williams and.
Speaker 3: I. At the time we were training partners and it was a training day for our biking, So we couldn't. We're training for the hotter and hills.
Speaker 2: So we bike there Now. did you ride it back home or were you done after you did the event? You caught a ride.
Speaker 3: I think we caught a ride. because I think we caught a ride, Yeah, well nobody's gonna fault you for that, man.
Speaker 2: I mean that was cause that's what a 15, 18 mile, 20 miles.
Speaker 3: Yeah, i think it was close to 25, 30 miles, maybe to bridge.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And then to go out there and run and crawl and jump and climb and do all that stuff. Yeah, it's a lot of fun, oh yeah. So how many of those caveman or mud crawl type things Those were real popular a few years back Are they still doing those?
Speaker 3: Caveman crawl. They're not doing anymore. They still have mud runs.
Speaker 2: Mud runs. that's the word I was looking for, Yeah.
Speaker 3: So I've done over the years I've probably done 15 or 16 different mud runs, from Spartans to mud runner, to tough mudders, to caveman crawls, to mud runs.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it looks like fun, man. It's just nothing I've never participated in, but it's always fun to spectate that stuff too.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean it's a lot of fun, It's? you know, I'm not a big fan of running, even though I do it, So I always looked at obstacle races. You can run to the obstacle, then you get to rest.
Speaker 2: That's right. That was my. that's the thing that encouraged me, Okay, okay.
Speaker 3: Instead of road running. You can't stop.
Speaker 2: No, well, you can do that walk run. Yeah, you can do walk run. I did that for a while back about 10 years ago. I got to where I was doing five or six miles at a clip And then I had back issues that kind of put me out of it. Now I just walk, forget the running part. That happens when you get older. You'll, you'll realize that you're, you're gonna be. You said 48.
Speaker 2: 48, yeah, just a youngster man Just a youngster, you're still in the prime, physical prime there. Wait till you get to 58 and then tell me about it, anyway. So so let's dive into so the mind, the mind body connection.
Speaker 3: Mind body project. Mind body project, okay, okay.
Speaker 2: You're exactly, you're exactly right man, because it all starts up here.
Speaker 2: You know now, if the body's giving you issues, it can. It can influence the mind, but really it's. It all starts in the mind, as far as you like you say your, your self awareness, your self perception, what you think about things that happen to you, how you react to those things. That can, in turn, show up in the way your body looks or act or works. So, yeah, that's a great recognition that not a lot of folks are aware of. Some people just think ah.
Speaker 2: I just got to go lift weights and run and do it. I'm going to be perfect. No, you're not. You've. It's got to have the balance. You know the the Asian world of martial arts. It's all about mind-body balance. You've got to have the balance there, so anyway.
Speaker 3: And the and the reason I call it the project is because it is a project.
Speaker 2: Yeah it never.
Speaker 3: We never get to that Pinnacle and go This is it. We're always, we should be always learning, tearing it down, rebuilding, tearing it down, rebuilding. So we're always changing the way we think, the way we see things. We learn things from other people, we see things from other people. So it changes our mindset, changes our perspective. It just we go through a constant construction project, and that's what I call it is.
Speaker 2: We are a constant construction that's as long as you're alive and breathing. So the key to all that is you have to remain open-minded. Yes, if you have a closed mind and you don't see outside your world or your box and you're not open to other, you know avenues of either health or whatever. It's gonna be hard. You got to have an open mind. But with an open mind, you're right, it's. Every day is a new opportunity to gain. You know, whether it's health or Whatever you're trying to achieve and that and through the mind-body project.
Speaker 3: You know, yes, it's about exercise, about being better physically, but I want to make an impact that people are just better, they're more successful in all areas. There's life right. So all the things we talk about from my guests to me just sitting down in front of microphone talking is how do we just become better in life?
Speaker 2: Yes.
Speaker 3: And when we become better in life that health and wellness Comes along to hit almost like a naturally follows.
Speaker 2: It's a natural progression. Yes, excellent, love it, man, love it. Let's take another call So your mind-body project that is available? on What platform?
Speaker 3: it's available. Anywhere you get your podcast okay. So Amazon, iheart radio any of those? okay it also get it. I also start putting on YouTube this year. Okay so it's under Aaron Degler is my channel. Okay, basically, even my website is AaronDegler.com, so it's easier to remember.
Speaker 2: That's two a's. Two a's R O N are yeah, Aaron Degler.
Speaker 3: Yep, funny story. Because my mom's not listening to this, i I'll tell her a little bit. Okay, i, i got my new website and got my domain name and you know, use my name and I was telling about, i was all excited about. She was now Spell out your website name again. I said, mom, it's my name.
Speaker 2: Oh, that's too funny, man. Well, she wanted to make sure she found. Yes, she didn't go to some weird, you know yeah yeah, very cool. All right, so it's a a r o n d e g l e r Dot com, correct? So Aaron Degler dot com. And then so your new, your new podcast, or your relatively new podcast, is the. It's called my hometown Mm-hmm, and that's been. You've been doing that one for how long now I just start that one in February.
Speaker 3: I think I just started at the beginning of this year. Oh great Okay. So it's relatively new, then I know it's really new, excellent.
Speaker 2: So tell us, tell us a little bit about, about what you do there.
Speaker 3: So my hometown My wife came out week travel. We like to travel, love to do road trips.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 3: I'm one of our favorite things and and I always drive, she navigates, she shares all the great things. She'll Google everything and tell me what neat things are happening in that town And and it made me realize that we have those same things from our buoy knife Right world's largest, to all the great people right So. I thought how can I help share that to the world?
Speaker 2: Yeah, and bring people to our community. Okay, and that's how it was born.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and, and sometimes I think we don't understand the full what we have in our community. And so how do we share that within our own community? to make it, to make people Wow, we didn't even know.
Speaker 2: that's right here. That's right. That's right, that's right. Excellent, well, we're gonna dive into that a little bit deeper here in just a second. Are you doing any fishing in your spare time?
Speaker 3: I don't. Yeah, you don't have any spare time You know people think that since you know I have a gym, i must do mainly things I don't, i don't hunt, i don't fit.
Speaker 2: I don't need the brother, i don't do any of that, not interested in either one.
Speaker 3: I need to be fixed around the house. I have to ask my wife Hey, can you fix that?
Speaker 2: So she works. She keeps the tool belt handy.
Speaker 3: Yes, yeah, that's okay, man, yeah, that's okay, you're not a Libra, are you? I don't know My birthday's in June. No, you're not leaving. I don't know what you are, but I think it's a gem actually. Is it Okay? I think so, yeah.
Speaker 2: Okay, not that that matters, but I just thought I'd throw that out there, because we have similar deals there. I can take care of a few basic repairs around the house, but other than that I gotta lean to the experts for that kind of stuff. All right, so we're back with Mr Aaron Degler here, and also we have to mention the Mind Body Project. So you do two different podcasts Now. One of them is Weekly Ones, by Weekly. How does that work?
Speaker 3: So the Mind Body Project comes out every week New episode every Tuesday Every Tuesday. My hometown comes out every other Thursday.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 3: So initially, as we were talking earlier, it was a weekly my hometown came out weekly and people were like, oh, you're gonna run out of people. And so it's not because I'm gonna run out of people, It's just because it's a lot of work to put out two podcasts on audio and YouTube.
Speaker 2: So even on your my hometown, you're filming that That's on YouTube.
Speaker 3: Yes, awesome, i can't wait to And it's all on. Aaron Degler, find my channel on YouTube. It has it all. Or you just go to my website and you can find them. my podcast there and take you to my YouTube.
Speaker 2: Okay, great, Yeah, that's becoming a. There's a few people that I follow. I'm a YouTube junkie, mainly for music, But there are a few people that I've followed on there for a couple of years. That started out, like you did, with simply a podcast and then it became the film, the interview type process. I'm not sure if you've ever heard of Sean Ryan. Sean Ryan, I'll tell you about him a little bit later, but he's building quite the following on YouTube. He started out as a. He's an ex-Navy Seal. Started out with things all focused towards the military, but now he's expanded into other things. He's got, I think, a couple of million followers on YouTube and like one of Apple's top ranked podcasts or something That's huge?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's he's really good at interviewing is guess it's a really laid back good, All right. So, yeah, we're talking podcasts. You know our very own, Mr Chad Hansom, recently started a podcast. He's one of the main dudes up at Camp Sweeney in Kalisburg. It's a camp they do each summer for children from all over the world actually that have diabetes type one or type two diabetes. That camp's been there, I think, for a long time, like maybe 80 or 90 years, and he's been doing that thing. But he recently started a podcast that you can find also on YouTube. So that seems to be something that's really. It's a great way to spread the word, like you say. So people that are not from Bowie or have never been to Bowie kind of understand why we feel like it's such a special, special place. You know I've been here since 2001. My grandparents were here for most of their life, built between Bellevue and Bowie, And so I've been coming up here since I was a little kid, you know, but been living here since 2001,. And I won't, I won't, move.
Speaker 1: This is home.
Speaker 3: This is home, man, I'm not going anywhere And I've had opportunities, but it's and I find a lot of people that I've interviewed from my hometown that aren't from here. Yeah, but they're here and they, and so people say, well, no, it's really not my hometown because I didn't grow up here. But you don't have to grow up here to make it my hometown. That's right. That's right. It's how you make it, how you feel.
Speaker 2: Exactly, it's there again, about the mental aspect of it as well as the physical. No doubt about it. Yeah, it's. You know, with the world we live in these days, the craziness and the division and all that, it's nice to live in a community that's pulls together, you know what I mean? Well, we stick together. So, aaron, who, uh, who helps? Is it just? is it just your wife Kim that helps you with the podcast stuff, or do you, or does she help you with it?
Speaker 3: Um she, so she's my official picture taker.
Speaker 2: Oh, okay, all right.
Speaker 3: So any pictures you see on social media, for my hometown she's the one.
Speaker 2: Um, you need to put her picture on there, man, she draw a lot bigger crowds. I'm sorry, she's a lot prettier You are. No, i'm just teasing.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so, but otherwise it's just me that does all the editing, recording. Uh, all that fun stuff, yeah.
Speaker 2: Like you say it. So when you decided to start your first one, the mind body project, did you just start doing it? Or did you like go on YouTube and watch a tutorial, or did you how, how? what was your learning curve there?
Speaker 3: So I bought my equipment? uh, because I had a big idea. You know, i wanted to spread the word.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3: And so I go on Amazon. I buy my microphone and says I can hook it up to my computer and I'm ready to go. So I buy the boom, i buy the microphone and it sits around for two and a half years.
Speaker 2: Oh, wow, okay, Okay.
Speaker 3: And because all the reasons that we tell ourselves I don't know how I'm not smart enough, people are going to make fun of me, They're going to laugh. All these things that stop us from doing the things that we want to do.
Speaker 2: Exactly.
Speaker 3: Uh. and so one day I just hooked it up and said I'm going to make it, and, and I did YouTube to see how to put it out to the world how to do it, how to edit, uh. But I just did it and said Hey good for you, man, it goes.
Speaker 2: only took two and a half years to take that first step.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And now don't you? now, looking back, you think, man, why did I wait so long?
Speaker 3: Yeah, we're almost 10,000 downloads for the mind body project.
Speaker 2: That's awesome man. Very good, very good. So, uh, yeah, two and a half years. You know, a lot of us do that. When we procrastinate on something that could really enrich our lives in one way or the other, It doesn't always have to be work, it could be relationship, it could be fitness, it can be financial, whatever. And we, we procrastinate because of the fear of change And in some people's case, i think, it's the fear of success. They know they're going to do well, but they, maybe you're afraid to do it. You know, but gotta let let your light shine, man. That's, that's what I feel like. So you're doing a great job of it And and, uh, hopefully this, uh, today, we'll spread the word and you'll get a lot more, a lot more folks dialing in for you.
Speaker 1: I hope so.
Speaker 2: Awesome, I've got about three minutes left, with Mr Aaron Degler here, of synergy fitness. we really haven't talked about synergy fitness much. That's. that's what got it all started. That's how the legend was born. That's right. So let's so tell us a little bit about what you offer there at synergy.
Speaker 3: So synergy fitness our goal is to meet you where you are. So, wherever that is, we want to be part of that. Uh, we do that through 24 seven access to our gym. Um, we do. We also offer what I. I just love this. It's a our circuit room for seniors 60 and over. Actually, it's open to our whole gym if you're a gym member but, the special thing is when I designed this room uh, i designed it because I wanted our seniors to be healthier right.
Speaker 3: Um, but a lot of times money comes in it is an issue, but sometimes when we get something for free, it doesn't quite have the same impact.
Speaker 2: There's no the value perceived. value down Yep.
Speaker 3: So I thought how can I do this where everybody wins? So I designed this circuit room as hydraulic equipment for those that are 60 or up when they first start, the first month, they pay $10. Okay after that, it's by donation only. We have a little donation box and they just put money. I never know if anybody has it or donates, gives money. We don't, we don't know sure we collect it all year long and we give it to the fire department at Christmas for their toy drive.
Speaker 2: That's awesome, man. Everybody wins there.
Speaker 3: Yes, they get healthy, They get to give, but collectively We make a bigger impact. Yeah, i give it back to our community.
Speaker 2: Man, that's a great idea because, like you say, spend a $10 month, you're more likely to use something in if it's just free.
Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: That's. That's a fact. You know, that's that perceived value the more you pay for something, the more you expect to Get out of it or the more you're gonna use it. So and then, after the first month, hopefully they've made that a habit to go to the gym three, four times a week, if not daily, and and get there, get their workout in, and they'll keep doing it and donating.
Speaker 3: So and we don't require if they, yeah. If they can't donate, then don't have to keep coming, because we never know right. We just collect the money out of the box and move on there you go, man, and you've had that gym.
Speaker 2: Now for what?
Speaker 3: it's been 20, 12, almost 13 years 13 years 13 years Man's.
Speaker 2: That's a long time. Well, I remember I did come up there I've been in there a couple times and When Bernice used to do spin classes up there. I went to a spin class with her. That was quite the quite the fun workout. So, yeah, that's, that's great, and you've got 24 hour a day access.
Speaker 3: Is that seven days a week to seven days a week, all the time. Wow every, every day of the year. Also, i also offer personal training. Have women small group classes that are just for women, Okay that are above and beyond a gym membership, but all that can also be found on my website, or synergy fitness so okay.
Speaker 2: So if, since you're probably not there all the time, what's the best way for folks to get into contact with with you if they want to talk about the gym or any of this other stuff?
Speaker 3: Definitely probably go on to and diglercom my cell phones on there.
Speaker 2: Oh, okay, text me.
Speaker 3: Okay.
Speaker 1: Yeah, see you text.
Speaker 3: Yeah, i'm not good on the, if you call me Chance very proud I can get me. so if you text me I'm gonna get back to you, Okay very good, very good, awesome, all right.
Speaker 2: Well, hey, and we are Quickly running out of time. It's been a fast and furious show, but I greatly once again appreciate your time today And hopefully we can do this again at some point down the road.
Speaker 3: Super. thank you, lane, i appreciate it.
Speaker 2: Wishing you continued success with both your podcasts. Folks, make sure you go check out the Mind Body Project and also MyHometown. You can find them on aarondegler, that's d-e-g-l-e-r dot com Or anywhere. You find your podcasts there Apple, spotify, all that kind of stuff. So let's help Aaron, spread the word on what a great hometown we've got here at Booth. Aaron, thank you again, sir. Thank you, we appreciate you.
Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to today's podcast. If you would like to connect with Aaron, you can do so by going to aarondegler.com or find him on social media as Aaron Degler on Instagram, facebook and YouTube. Once again, we greatly appreciate you tuning in. If you've enjoyed the show, please feel free to rate, subscribe and leave a review wherever you listen to your podcasts. We greatly appreciate that effort and we'll catch you in the next episode of the Mind Body Project podcast. Tell Your Woman.