More U Podcast
The More-U Podcast is all about how incredible individuals are helping others to get more of themselves and also how they built a business and brand for themselves in the process while still trying to stay human as good partners, spouses, parents and more. We will explore the world of medical aesthetics, plastic surgery, wellness, fitness, psychology and a whole lot more.
The show is hosted by Dr. Ben Caughlin, who is the leading cosmetic jaw surgeon in North America whose work has been described as nothing short of magic, but also a Tik Tok star that probably holds the record for publicly saying F*** more times than any other surgeon in history and Dominic Mazzone, Founder and CEO of MedSpa Partners, one of the largest and most successful consolidations of medical aesthetic clinics in North Americas and a serial entrepreneur with almost 19 businesses under his belt (some booming and some disasters).
Ben and Dom are able to extract the essence and nature from their guests, while also being vulnerable on how they're balancing being Type A titans during the day and humble dads and husbands at night. Learning, laughs, introspection and even a couple of fights!
More U Podcast
The Simple Practice That Can Reset Your Mind | Brian Coones
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You take over 22,000 breaths a day.
So why are you still stressed?
In this episode of More U, Dom and Dr. Ben sit down with breathwork and mindfulness coach Brian Coones to break down what people get wrong about stress, burnout, and self-development.
This isn’t about adding more to your routine.
It’s about becoming aware of what’s already there.
Brian explains why most people “dabble” in mindfulness and never see real results, how breathwork can reset your nervous system in real time, and why there are no shortcuts when it comes to doing the actual work.
They also dive into extreme practices like silence retreats, the discipline required to stay consistent, and why awareness—not productivity—is the real unlock.
In this episode:
- Why mindfulness isn’t what you think
- The role of breathwork in regulating stress
- The STOP method (and how to actually use it)
- Why dabbling leads to no results
- What 72 hours in silence teaches you
- The truth about burnout and awareness
- Why there are no shortcuts in personal growth
This conversation isn’t about comfort.
It’s about clarity.
🎧 Subscribe to More U Podcast for real conversations on growth, discipline, and becoming more aware.
Hosted by:
@dominicmazzone1
@manyfacesofchicago
Guest: @briancoones
Follow the show:
@more_u_official
#MoreUPodcast
#Breathwork
#Mindfulness
#BurnoutRecovery
#MentalClarity
#fastestgrowingpod
22,000 breaths a day is the average person, and many people don't take one conscious I don't think I've ever been mindful and it like it almost makes me more anxious when I try to be mindful. I'm like I used to be an angry guy and and through breath work I released so much of that. It was like literally quantum leaps in my healing process.
SPEAKER_02Are you seeing any like pattern recognition of the world's problems?
SPEAKER_01Everybody has things from their childhood that they haven't dealt with. Hey, humanity in general, right now, we're so disconnected from being human. Can you tell everyone about your three-day adventure? There's a few moments I wanted to quit, and then further into it, where I actually started to.
SPEAKER_00Alright, here we go. The more you pod, Dom and Ben, we're here. We get more of you, less of the BS. We're learning how to be the best we can be.
SPEAKER_02I noticed you didn't swear tonight. I noticed you are you what's called you clean the way up?
SPEAKER_00I did make the executive decision to bleep the swear words anyway. So fuck this, fuck that. Beep it bullshit. It doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, but we want to hear you swear.
SPEAKER_00No, I mean people. I think it's kind of funnier when you bleep it. We'll talk about it offline, but all right, we'll submit me. Anybody listening, if you know this kind of stuff, I believe that from an exposure perspective, it's significant. Um, you know, the amount of, but yeah, so we'll for the kids.
SPEAKER_02For the kids. Um, hey, let's uh we gotta thank our amazing sponsors, MD Hyperbaric. Uh we are so excited to um have them. Hyperbaric chambers are there's a little bit of a miracle thing, right, Ben? I mean, people people are not aware of this. I mean, what you can heal with a hyperbaric chamber is pretty amazing.
SPEAKER_00Heal, and I think the new thing is the longevity perspective of it. So the prevention, the maintenance, that kind of stuff, I think it's huge. So uh MD Hyperbaric, uh, as you've mentioned before, Dom, they're they're one of the most uh medically sound to the T. You can insurance will get it covered if you're using their machines. So if that kind of tells you what what level they're at, you know, yeah.
SPEAKER_02I mean, I'm I I mean I may be making this up, but like, you know, they're putting you under pressure, like it's NASA, or or you're like, you know, in some kind of oceanic rift or something like that. Like it's heavy stuff.
SPEAKER_00It's heavy, you know, a lot of pressure. I think if you do the the relaxation component of it, there's a mental health component to it. I think the probably you could do some of Brian's breathing, we're who we're gonna talk to today, some of his breathing techniques even while you're in the tank.
SPEAKER_02All right, all right, I love it. Well, MD Hyperbaric, uh, make sure to go to mdhyperbaric.com. Uh schedule your hyperbaric session in the uh in the town or city nearest you. Um, we are super pumped um to have uh a guest today who is is really taken, and I'm gonna really get into this. You know, people talk about mindfulness, but he's taken mindfulness and really breathing, I feel like, to it to the next level. He's um, I think if you ask him, he'd be he he described himself as an incredible student of of all of this, and he's able to could take it and summarize it and compartmentalize it in a way that's actually really effective. So so welcome Brian Coons to the show. Thank you, Tom.
SPEAKER_01Thank you, Dr. Ben. It's good to be here. I appreciate it.
SPEAKER_02Look at that.
SPEAKER_00Look at that timing.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, Ben it Ben is fine.
SPEAKER_00Brian.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, bro. We're still we're still working to kinks out on this show, so uh, so you gotta just ride with us. Um, and just a disclaimer on this Brian is a dear, dear, dear friend of mine. Uh, he is my brother and he only lives like three blocks away.
SPEAKER_00So um could have done this live, man. You can walk down the streets.
SPEAKER_01We do, we have we do a lot of stuff live actually, uh with the band as well. So it's uh we can play the band together.
SPEAKER_00Is he on the intro music, Dom? Or no?
SPEAKER_02No, no, he wasn't on the intro music, but uh but didn't want to give me we play live shows together, we have a really good time. So Brian, thank you. Um thank you so much for being here. And you know, obviously the purpose of this podcast is helping people get more out of themselves, and that is literally what you get to do with people every day. I know you get interviewed like crazy all the time, people are asking you things. Um, I actually it was weird to take like a good friend and actually like think about questions that uh you're gonna ask them. Um, because you know, we don't never we never really try to talk about our our business lives or anything. But um I wanted to start out, Brian, because I I think this is really important is is what do you kind of think is the bus biggest kind of misconception when it comes to like mindfulness practice and and those types of things? I think people have like a sense of like what they think it is in their minds, and and I think there's a lot of misconception out there.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, there's a lot in people in and meditation and mindfulness is confused as well, but it it's something that's very simple yet so difficult to do. And and really, I usually like to say that mindfulness is a synonym for awareness. And how often during our waking moments are we actually in the present moment? And that's really what mindfulness is. Like, how often am I actually here noticing what's happening around me, fully present with both of you and everybody else, um, noticing what's happening around me and feeling what's actually happening in my body without the judgment, without the you know, the nonstop chatter. And so that's what mindfulness is. But to get there is very tricky considering most of the time we're in autopilot. We're we're literally spending you know 95% of our day, same thoughts, same patterns, same things over and over again. Um, you know, just just imagine you're you're driving your car somewhere, how many times have you showed up at a destination not remembering how you even got there? That's autopilot.
SPEAKER_00I I don't think I've ever been mindful. And it like it almost makes me more anxious when I try to be mindful. I'm like, so wait, is this mindfulness? Am I there now? Like, wait a minute. I think I'm or my thinking, since I'm thinking about it, does it mean I'm not there?
SPEAKER_01Or like it's like it can almost get you into like this funnel of like, oh my god, yeah, well, that that's a good point because like when people meditate, they have that same feeling like, Am I meditating? Is this actually happening? But really, so just to differentiate the two, mindfulness means you know this is how I show up in my day-to-day life. Meditation is a tool that I practice becoming more mindful, becoming more familiar with myself. So, to your point, Ben, when you're when you're sitting in a meditation, you know, your thoughts are coming and going. And the idea is, am I on that train of thought or off the train of thought? And and bringing myself back to the present moment. That's what it is. It's always just bringing it back. But you know, that's that's a practice. That's something we have to learn to do over time. Uh, so we have more present moments because, you know, as you said, often we're we're way off in the future, problem solving, worrying, trying to figure out what could go wrong. You know, we're wired for survival, not happiness. So we're we're off somewhere looking out for what could happen, or we're just stuck in the past and and um and an old story.
SPEAKER_02So, Brian, listening to you talk, I never thought about this way, but tell me if I got this right. Like mindfulness is the destination, but the breath work is the vehicle to kind of get there.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So, I mean, to differentiate something else again, like meditation is, you know, mindfulness meditation, which is a type of meditation to add another layer of confusion, but that means I'm just observing the breath, breath watching. Breath work is conscious breathing. I'm now using my breath in a certain pattern, um, in a certain sort of cadence and different ways to create a physiological state change to actually lever my nervous system into safety so I can be more present. So, yeah, there's kind of a different aspect with breath, but breath is powerful. And I love breath because, you know, and Don, when we we did this together, when we first uh, you know, I we talked about breath work, we just started doing some Wim Hof breaths behind your house one night. And you're quickly just for a moment, then, you know, as Ben said, all of those thoughts and all those things that we're always ruminating and problem solving, it just stops for a second. You're like, wait a minute. This is possible. We can actually let all of those things go in a moment. You know, meditation takes years to get to a certain place, and it's a wonderful practice, but breath cuts right through and uh creates a powerful state change, bringing you to the present moment.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and and just a side note for everybody, Brian literally gave me like what I feel is like a psychological lifeline through this Wim Hof breathing. And Ben is the one I sent to you, or like it's shocking how that can absolutely dismantle a frantic nervous system and just put you in a totally different headspace. And uh Brian, do you want to just talk about that? Because I think people, the one thing I learned from you is there is so much functionability of getting to some places, both physically, psychologically, all these different things with breathing that I think a lot of people don't even understand is is is it's almost like there's this secret out there that's been lost thousands of years ago or something on breathing to unlock things.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah, that's actually really it. We've lost our way with breathing. Uh, you know, 22,000 breaths a day is the average person, and many people don't take one conscious, and just that I feel like just a little different for one breath. So um so that's it's it's you know that the the there's so much power right under our nose with the breath. And it could be as simple as a a deep a couple of deep breaths, just you know, when you're feeling tension to kind of bring yourself into the moment before a difficult phone call, before you reply to that email in in haste. And you know, but but to your point, Dom, I mean, breath can be an absolutely powerful healing practice as well. It can be a liberation of the trapped energy in our body and the things we've been holding on to our entire lives. So it's it's just a powerful tool and it has all types of different applications, something as quick as just a quick state change to something that will literally potentially heal trauma. I mean, I've I I released, I used to be an angry guy, and and through breath work, I released so much of that. It was like literally quantum leaps in my healing process through deep breath work sessions. And so, I mean, I you can see I get excited if you're really excited about the breath, but there's so much, there's so much there, and it's just wonderful just to be able to show people what's possible um at no cost uh it's in when they learn to practice and learn to breathe.
SPEAKER_02Are there just a so many different patterns out there that do so many different things?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so there's you know, there's different patterns to put your brain waves in different states, you know. So right now we're probably all in beta, just you know, regular wakefulness. Um high beta would be cons I'm all I'm always in alpha. You're an alpha, okay. Amazing. Uh high beta would be uh, you know, anxiety, right? And then, but as you lower it, alpha is where you start to get into more of a meditative state, and then you know, even deeper is theta, where it kind of opens up the door to the subconscious. That's kind of the hypnotic state. So, you know, you can you can get into different brainwave states with different breath patterns. Um, but you know, again, like it's really just for the app for the for the average person listening right now to use the tool effectively just means that you have to be present enough to notice and and to stop and take a few deep breaths, especially when you notice, you know, stress, because it it's a stress uh um lever, again. So, you know, we all go through the day, we're all triggered by different things. If I can learn to actually just stop and pause and take a breath, it will absolutely change your life. And and that's the practice with awareness. So there's where mindfulness and breath work come in. You know, how often do I notice when I'm in that state? Something's happening, I'm starting to get tense, feel like I might uh say something or do something that might not be uh favorable, to just stopping the taking those breaths and again bringing the nervous system back down uh to rest and digest.
SPEAKER_02Brian, when you say that, I mean, is there if you're first starting out and you're trying to do this and you're trying to get yourself to be mindful and take a moment, like are there some tricks? Do you like you to set little alarms to just say, like, hold on, take a second? Like, what would what do you suggest?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that that's exactly what you do. It and you know, there's an acronym stop, and S means stop. You know, we the brain uses arm and leg movement as a door of avoidance. I love watching new meditators like just sit still for a second, they're like scratching, and suddenly they gotta fidget and move and anything but going inward, right? And so stop just means stop, put the phone down, definitely put the phone down. T is uh take a breath. And you know, it could be just three breaths, it could be a number of different breaths, um, to depending on the time that you have. And then the O and stop is just observing. So that's the check-in process. Like, how am I actually feeling? Just being curious, being open, and then just accepting whether it's a pleasant or unpleasant thought or feeling, just getting used to just being curious and noticing without labeling it. And and then P is proceeding forward with new awareness. So that stop practice is you know, basically, you know, 15 years of mindfulness encapsulated into one practice. But I, you know, I have people set notifications to do that. I have people, you know, put a post it on the fridge, on the on the mirror in the bathroom, on your computer monitor, the computer dashboard, the car dashboard. But when you do that over a period of time, just like any habit, eventually it becomes part of who you are, and you find yourself stopping more often and actually enjoying all the great things that are happening around you when you're not in your head ruminating.
SPEAKER_00Are you working with a particular type of patient or person or is it group sessions? Like who who do you find the benefits from this the most?
SPEAKER_01Everybody benefits from it, but I've been it's interesting. I've just said the last while it's been mostly men. I know I do a lot of work with the executives, and it's interesting because I'll do uh you know uh an emotional emotional intelligence assessment for for a company with some of their leaders. And you know, they'll take a look at the the results and they can see where they need to do some work. But at the end of the day, the second conversation is usually um I can't regulate my emotions. I'm just you know, I'm holding on to too much. I've got all these beautiful things in my life, but there's very little moments of peace. And so I find myself working more and more with men, but um, you know, to answer that question, I do, you know, like I take people on retreats as well. When you get you know, people for two or three days together in a group, you can go so deep with this work. And and yeah, so it's uh so that's kind of how I've been working. And then, you know, um I also do um, you know, Don was talking about performing, but um, it's interesting. There's a sort of a new thing that's happening now where people are starting to to take wellness into entertainment entertainment as well. So I'll collaborate with other musicians and vocalists and do deep breath work sessions for groups for you know, like up to like an hour and a half where people are literally crying and releasing so much. And it's so it's powerful when you can create these containers. And you know, that's that's why I love this. I just love seeing people go through those transformations and just have let go and just be free for a minute.
SPEAKER_00You know, Dom, if it's the if it's the theme really well. I mean, uh Brian, we obviously Dom and I are both busy guys running around, we're intense, and it's kind of how we started this. Where from the outside, it seems like we got it all under control. But there's I mean, literally not a moment in the day I've thought about a breath I've taken, like you said. And uh, while I'm happy, I think, but then I'm doing this. When I'm at work, I fetch you be at home. When I'm home, I fish you could be working. You know, I'm I'm running like a million miles an hour, so something like this, it fits in nicely. We we did an interview with one of my buddies, and he's a uh psychiatrist, psychologist, and um he does um ketamine and mDMA retreats, very similar. Like I feel like if you two got together, you could make heads explode. Um, because very similar process, obviously pharmacologically, but uh yeah, it's it's it's it's good insight.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean sorry, Don. Uh, but like psychedelics and breath work are two keys that both open the door to the subconscious, you know. And and I'm a big fan of psychedelics in the proper set and setting as well.
SPEAKER_02Um, so Bri, I care about Ben a whole a whole bunch, and um for numerous reasons. Ben is like an absolute like I call him the thoroughbred because he's just going, going, going. Like, what would you suggest for like him just in his day? Like, what is one thing he can do in his day to just put him in like a great state, make sure because cause we don't want his Ben like like burning out on us. We have like like at least 5,000 more of these podcast episodes to do. So like what what is it for like a guy like that to just running like mad to what could he do in his day?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and and it's it's so common with uh with with A-types and achievers, and it's it's you know, we get wired to to get into that space and we almost become addicted to to the to the adrenaline, to the the achievement and all the things. And you know, I I don't want to speak for you, Ben, but in general, it's some sometimes when we're sitting still, it feels like we're not doing something and it and it's very difficult to do. But the big thing I would say is really learning how to feel again. I mean, we get so caught up in our head, and many of us are living just in the left brain, going, going, going all the time, but protecting time just to slow down and to check in with what's happening in a in a formal way, you know, just really saying, okay, every every hour or two, I'm gonna take a few minutes to to ground in and really just check in with myself, bringing it all back down again. Because that um that nonstop um, you know, in those states, sometimes we're pushing so hard that you know the the like it's like a low level of chronic stress in the body. And and you know, I'm I Ben, you look like you're a very healthy dude. And so a lot of people are are not aware of that, and uh, but you know, the inflammation and all the things that that come from that grumbling stress. So we're leaking energy out when we're when we're in those states, but really slowing down to speed up is a real thing, and that's though the most difficult thing I find that uh people are like not willing to grasp that. But when they actually start to practice, you realize like, whoa, when I bring it all back to the moment, I settle in again, I can feel my body, what's actually happening? I can feel the energy running through my body, and just for a second, you know, those 60,000 thoughts a day, the clouds just kind of part, that blue sky of awareness appears, and I'm just like, oh, okay, and now I can just reset and go. And so I I think it's just about creating that practice, and it's really again just the foundation of mindfulness. Like, how often am I more in the present moment, checking in with myself, and then go back and get after it?
SPEAKER_02So it's about a check-in, it's about a check-in and a fee and feeling, really feeling.
SPEAKER_01Like we don't many of us don't really know what's happening in our body till something's hurting, you know. But like, what's actually what maybe I'm carrying some emotion today? What's there, maybe there's a little heaviness in the belly or what's happening in the heart? And you know, the heart's uh an interesting thing for men as well. The heart is actually signaling the brain more than the brain to the heart. And and there's a group called Heart Math, they've been around for 40 years, and you know, a lot of big Joe Dispenza, I'm not sure if you're familiar with him, but a lot of these big meditation groups and retreats really focus on the heart. When we open the heart and we actually get into that space, we create coherence in the body where everything is sort of moves back into equanimity. And so just really taking a moment to even check in on the heart space and just imagine taking a few breaths or that seems very foreign, but you know, moving from the head to the heart really just changes everything. And and over time, we actually find ourselves spending a little bit more time here.
SPEAKER_00I would say, like you used me for the example. Thank you, Dom. You know, let's say I do it tomorrow, or Dom gave me the Wimp Hof thing. I think I did it like five or ten times, and now it's been like three weeks, I haven't done it again. Um, because you know, it got came up and I got busy, and I'm like, okay, no, you know, now I got but literally I've tried I I think I might even have it on my calendar. I had it on my work or my phone calendar. It said like just three minutes, just take three minutes in the morning, and I did it for a couple weeks, and then like, of course, you get busy and you're like it's not it's on my calendar every day, and I don't do it anymore because now it just became repetitive. But you know, you don't see it doesn't change your life after 10 times, so that's kind of the problem. The the impatience, you it's easy to get with something like that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no, and that and that's it. And Ben, you raise a good point there as well because the protecting time in the morning at least to set your day up is is massive. And you know, there's you know, there's a million books about the the power of more morning routines and the 5 a.m. clubs. Um, it's not necessarily what time you wake up, it's just taking that time for yourself to center yourself and check in before the day even starts. Even just that one habit will change everything over time. When you take the morning, and we wake up in the morning, we all we we sometimes we think it's a clean slate, but we know where there's a lot of cortisol, we're starting already starting to things. What do people do? The first thing they do is they grab their phone and you know, God forbid, you're looking at the news or you get pulled into a scroll hole in social media. But even if you're just checking email, now I'm being pulled into someone else's timeline. It's you know, Brian's like farthing far falling farther off all the time. Every single time I do that, now I'm in a reactive mode. So just taking that time in the morning and so protecting that and being non-negotiable, but that is huge. That it absolutely changed my life. And you're right, though, that's the difficult thing about this. We we love the instant gratification, or we're like, we'll try it for a little while, we fall off. But sticking to it every single day, you really notice a difference over time. Consistency creates a certain momentum, and then you really notice that when you don't start the day that way, the day ends up in a very different place. I'm really wound up at the end of the day. Now I'm not sleeping as well at night because I didn't set it up in the morning, I didn't put That armor or resilience on.
SPEAKER_02I don't know about you, but I'm tired all the time. And the only cure for that, either some medical grade drugs or just go into the hyperbaric chamber.
SPEAKER_00It's like taking a deep breath on steroids. You know, it's like, but they jam it in every cell. Not only that, there's an anti-inflammatory component. If you were to have any injury or surgery or anything like that, boom, science. It's it's that simple. It's gonna make it better, faster.
SPEAKER_02And I think a lot of people don't realize that it does all these different things: chronic pain, chronic fatigue, these kind of things. MD Hyperbaric has the right type of chambers. Don't settle for anything less than something that's more of a medical grade chamber. They are in so many different locations. Make sure that you go to mdhyperbaric.com to check them out. You could even tell them that uh Ben and Dom sent you from more you. Mdhyperbaric.com. You're acting as almost like part-time psychologist for your clients, it seems like. Are you seeing any like pattern recognition of the world's problems? Like, what are what are you seeing? Because you're talking to so many people and hearing so many things. I'm just curious about what you're hearing, is like the common issues.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah, that's a great question, Tom. And and absolutely, it's it's very, very similar pattern. The one pattern is that, you know, and this is the the part where I, you know, I'm I'm stepping into the psychology piece, but like everybody has things from their childhood that they haven't dealt with. So that's that's a whole deep topic, but it's worth exploring. But I would just say humanity in general, right now, we're so disconnected from being human. You know, these retreats that I do for men, I call them primal retreats because we get out there and we we do hard things, we move our bodies, we breathe, we do hormesis practices. So cold exposure, heat, breath work, spend time in nature, get our feet into the dirt. We've disconnected from who we are. We actually are nature. So I feel that just because of the urbanization, the increasing amount of technology, it's just overwhelming. It's just overwhelming. And so there's it's become an epidemic, and we've really lost our way in that, in that way. And and and things are just going faster and faster as well. I mean, if if you're not willing to work uh 14-hour days, then this guy will do that. And you know, that's so it's been part of the culture as well. So that's a that's a common thread that I'm seeing throughout the uh throughout the entire gamut of everyone.
SPEAKER_02Brian, um, you got people telling you stuff all the time and you're helping people work through and all that stuff. Do you find that difficult to like shake that off?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean I've heard everything, and and sometimes I'm you know, I've heard this from people, you know, in that container, even people that are are close to me in that space will share very, very deep things and things that I'd probably not qualified to be to be managing. But sometimes people just need to to be heard and seen and and and share these things. It's it's just cathartic sometimes for people just to share because we just hold on to so much. And you know, going back to your earlier question, we're all holding on to things that we're not uh we're not sharing, we're not letting go of, we're carrying things. And and that's uh one of the big powerful things about you know the retreats, especially with men, is that we have an opportunity to sit around in a circle and you know throw that uh throw that in the fire and and really let go of what we've been carrying for so long.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I was gonna add, sorry, and it's funny you mentioned the men. Like, do you is there uh just a big difference between men and women with this?
SPEAKER_01Well, women, women, uh, you know, when I would do retreats initially, like you know, probably five years ago I kind of started doing retreats. It was only women showing up because women have been doing the work and maybe dragging along the odd, reluctant husband. But it just seems that men are now getting to that space where we're starting to wake up a little bit to say, okay, wow, man, I've look at I got the house, I got the car, I've got the family, I've got all the vacations, and I've got no peace or little peace, or I feel like I'm still chasing something, or I feel like I just uh it's it's never enough. And and yeah, so so there's a lot of men saying, okay, yeah, maybe this is isn't woo-woo. And the fact now that there's so much science attached to all the things that we're describing now, it that wasn't even there that long ago. I mean, neuroplasticity is still a very um, you know, it's a recent thing, and and um, you know, the biology of belief and the way how the power of our thoughts and epigenetics, how the environment in our body will will either, you know, if we have a cancer in our body, which we seem to all have, that can it doesn't has to be turned on unless we have a certain environment in the body. And if I'm walking around all the time in fear and shame and guilt, chances are something's gonna happen. So I think men are now at that point where they're like, f, I gotta do something. And and so creating these containers, there's men who show up, and I love when someone shows up to this and they haven't done this work before, and it's everyone's kind of guarded. We all get together on the Friday evening, and you know, it's like no one really knows what to do. And then it's literally a family by the next day because of the some of the things we do, and then friendships are forged through these practices um and and events and experiences ongoing. Like, I mean, there's these WhatsApp chats are still buzzing months and months afterwards, and it's beautiful, but then leave transformed and and let a lot lighter than when they showed up. You know, the the tricky that the tricky part though is that when they get back to the world that uh was still waiting for them, things look different at that point, and it can get kind of uncomfortable, but that's uh that's part of the work.
SPEAKER_02Can you tell everyone about your um your three-day adventure? Uh Brian's always pushing himself like mad. And uh I just if you can just talk about that, I think that would be incredible for people to hear.
SPEAKER_01The the dark the darkness?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. And we intentionally did a three-day darkness retreat, uh, fasted and silence. And so there was uh we were we each had our it was at a retreat center, uh, we each had our own space. So we had a room with a bed and a bathroom, and and basically we got together. There was like a cotton cold facilities there, so we did the whole thing and stated our intentions, and then we left and went into the darkness, and and so the room was blacked out. Uh, I also also wore a black uh eye mask throughout the day, so I didn't really know what time it was, but there's all kinds of versions I could I could share the whole journey, but I can tell you that it was like at first I didn't realize how exhausted I was, and it was like, oh man, there's the chance to kind of chill out and relax, and but eventually you get caught up to that. And I'm like, okay, now what, right? Now what? So you're just you just you spend a lot of time facing yourself and with nowhere to run. And it was really interesting. And it's weird though when you don't know if it's day or night, and what time should I go to sleep, and how do I put toothpaste on the toothbrush? And you've got to come up with little systems and and things, and you kind of at times you get a little bit panicky, but um, it was really the practices that saved me. And and and there was moments further into it, there's a few moments I wanted to quit, and then further into it where I actually started to kind of collapse right into some deep uh it was a deeper sense of awareness. It was almost like an emptiness where it was like I was observing Brian from a different perspective, and um yeah, there's a lot there to unpack, but um I I can tell you this that we all met when after the 72 hours on a rooftop to watch the sunrise. We stayed silent all morning after that, before we broke the fast and and had some food and shared her. But when that sun came over the horizon, three men crying like babies, just because it's incredible when you deprive yourself from that, how grateful it is just to see the sun again, to feel the breeze and you know the little things we take for granted. So if nothing else, it was just a hard reset on my brain, my nervous system, and probably my soul as well.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, wow. Was there a panic button? Could have you quit and have you locked in there?
SPEAKER_01Uh no, I was not locked in there. But uh, we did we did say that if someone was like wailing uncontrollably and it wasn't gonna stop, that we would have to like interject. But uh we all we all nobody got it, yeah.
SPEAKER_02I mean, 72 hours is a very long time to be with yourself, I think. Um, in silence. Um, it's one thing if you're on a you're driving in a car and you're listening to the radio or this or that and the other thing, and you're it's just all that distraction. And I think probably Brian, that's probably the biggest part, right? Whereas there's just zero distraction. It was just you.
SPEAKER_01Just me, and and but the trim it's it created such a tremendous amount of clarity, you know, things I'm struggling with, and and just the way I looked at the world was different, but everything was just became clear with no technology and nothing. And but it is so fascinating to watch the mind at certain points say, Okay, like what the f you doing? Why why would you sign up for this? Like, this is ridiculous. You could be like doing anything right now. Why are you doing this? And then you're like, okay, okay, relax, relax. You know, so the the the struggle is real, but uh you learn a lot about yourself in a space like that. It's incredible.
SPEAKER_02I mean, 72 hours, no food, no light, no sound. I mean, that's a that's a big deal. So I want to just talk a little bit about like what we do in this too, is we're we're talking about how you know you're helping people. We also kind of want to talk a little bit about how you're helping yourself, and we're kind of just interested also in how you've been building your brand, like how you're getting people to know about what it is you do and and those things. How has that been as a journey?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's it's been it's been a tricky journey because you know, in as far as a business goes, this is a uh a tricky business because you know, it's just me at the end of the day, and how do you scale yourself? So that's been interesting. But what else is interesting is that I've realized this is exactly what I'm meant to do. And that's when, you know, I suddenly realized, wait a minute, I am building a brand just by doing what I love to do. And you know, these you mentioned helping myself. I mean, it was my own journey that started this. It was my own breakdown and and restart where I had to say, okay, man, why, why, what is this? You know, and there was like a there's a feeling of of you know, I didn't really have a lot of love for myself. I barely liked myself and I didn't realize that. And I built this whole exterior thing and was chasing shiny objects, and there was no uh awareness of what was happening inside. And so once I sort of started on that path, it it just started to evolve and I started to talk to a few friends, and I'm like, oh, you know, and then I remember one time I got a letter from a friend who said, you know, who shared that I literally changed your life, and then it started happening more and more and more. And I'm like, wow, service to others. There's something here that I've never experienced before. So, you know, fast forward a few years now, I mean, I've I've got supporting, I do a number of different initiatives through you know social media platforms. And the cool thing is, is that as I get better at doing this, as I get better at really how can I help somebody more effectively in a in a in a shorter period of time or really understand the better I get at it, the more opportunities that come to me. And so it's a process, and it's a it's been a slow journey, but uh I've learned so much. I've got I've healed myself so much through this process, and you know, I feel a little bit emotional just thinking about how many people have like literally said to me, I've changed their life, and and that's like that's priceless.
SPEAKER_02That's amazing.
SPEAKER_00And Ben, you get to feel you get to feel that too.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's so rewarding, brother. Yeah, man.
SPEAKER_00We really got to connect him and uh Damon, they got a very similar trajectory. He's doing a I mean, like I said, with the MDMA psychedelics, very similar, I think, uh um model to what you're doing. He's he's he also was self-driven, got it himself, and then has you know really making a difference in people's lives and enjoying that part of it. So it's it's interesting.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, but Ben, I don't want to skip over the fact that you know you get that feeling of yeah, I'm you're helping people like all day and people are hot or the same same thing.
SPEAKER_00I don't think it helps me as much. I don't get as much out of it as they do. Uh uh, what do you not feel?
SPEAKER_02But but when people tell you, like, oh god, Dr. Ben, I'm I'm you've changed my life. I'm so happy. I've always like that's gotta feel pretty amazing.
SPEAKER_00This satisfaction is good from that perspective, 100%.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you can't argue with that. Brian Woodum, just with building your brand and and whatnot, and whether it was early days or recent or anything, like what do you feel worked best with what you're doing?
SPEAKER_01The first thing that came to mind was just being authentic. You know, I at first I would try to model what someone else was doing and the way they were delivering it. I think just over time, when I really learned to just stop overthinking things and just being more authentic and showing up, even if it wasn't uh in messy and perfect action, that really started to resonate. And and in that process, I just became a little bit more aware of who I am as well, and that's that continues to this day. But yeah, so I think it's just really about like how do I authentically show up and also at the same time not like narrow my I used to say yes to all kinds of these different things, you know, and so it's spread myself so thin, but my focus is starting to really narrow down now as well. And I think that's so important for the brand is to when people look at me and they look at my brand, they say, Oh, okay, Brian helps this person or that that organization do this or that, and that's what I do.
SPEAKER_02That's really cool.
SPEAKER_00You know, I give people I also do a lot of the social stuff, and people reach out like how to grow their own whatever brand business. And it's funny because social media is so inauthentic and fake that somehow the authenticity is like that's the strongest currency because it makes you an it makes you an outlier to be yourself. And I'm always like, dude, it's easier to be yeah. I mean, there's some chick out there making six figures, seven figures, reading Excel sheets, like she just shows you how to do Excel. Good for her. She's very nerdy, and you know, one person's outgoing and outlandish, another person is just sits there and reads, you know, you're just gonna do much better, and and then it's easier, yeah. You don't have to friggin' fake it. Yeah, so it's it's interesting.
SPEAKER_02Bri, is there is there a certain thing in your space that you feel is like absolute magic? Like, is there something in your space where you're like, this is this this thing really works well? Is there one thing you can kind of tell us about that?
SPEAKER_01You know, I I just when you said that I I mentioned Joe Dispens earlier. If people don't know who he is, he's he's probably he's like the Tony Robbins of level of of you know mindfulness and and that type of work. He has at r he has a retreat, 2,000 people, and he does one um usually once or twice a month. Uh they're sold out years in advance. So he gets 2,000 people together. He has a team of scientists now that are are following these groups around, and within these groups, at least 20 people will will uh volunteer to be studied or so EEGs, uh microbiome, blood work, all types of testing now. And it blows my mind what can happen in seven days when people come together that create that coherence within the group, the healing, the transformations. It's unbelievable how powerful we are as human beings when we're tapped into that potential. So that it just blows my mind. And and so, you know, kind of going back, it just reminds me of what you were asking earlier as well. Like, what are we what's happening with people right now is we're disconnected from that potential. We sometimes we think of like you know, like spiritualism or religion or God, but there's there's a field of consciousness that's around us, and it's like a Wi-Fi signal that we're blocked from, and we're not getting the downloads, and we're not getting the sync sync as human beings to that, and that that distortion is causing all types of problems. So it blows my mind how a guy like that can create these giant containers, capture all the science, and he's literally changing the game, and and it's gonna be really exciting as more and more of these things are being published in the next few years.
SPEAKER_02Brian, I know you're now you're such a sweetheart, but we have to ask this question too. Is there something out there that's just bullshit? Like, are there things that you hear where people are like this, and you're like, look, I in practice that is bullshit. That that does not work. Is there anything that comes to mind on that?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I you know, there's all types of devices and things to help people not do the work. And so I it's almost anything, anything that is simple and easy when it comes to rewiring the brain and the nervous system and and and healing and doing the work and evolving yourself, uh, it it's it's usually bullshit. I mean, every little modality helps, every little thing helps, but there's no shortcuts. And that's that's the part that's um really hard to swallow. And I remember even in my early journey, I was a dabbler in in the practice, uh, and which you get dabbler results. But at the end of the day, you have to do the work. So when I see you know people prompt making promises uh around that, and there's a lot of that, uh, that's all bullshit.
SPEAKER_02So yeah, so uh it sounds like just there's no shortcut, it's there, and I will take it back to the very beginning of this conversation and kind of what you were saying is that like it is a practice, it is a discipline, like it is just something that you have to continuously do nonstop all the time.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it is that we we love instant gratification, you know. If we could just take a pill and it would be easy, and you know, there's pills have a have a place as well, but it's literally how do we show up every day? What's what what choices are we making? Um, and and you know, really practicing that discipline, making it become who you are, and and and once you do that though, once you do that hard part, like you know, change is hard at first, messy in the middle and beautiful at the end is is the saying. And you know, it it is hard and it is messy, but there's so much beauty when you let go of some of these things and you just become more aware and and more moments of peace. And you know what, when you have more moments of peace within, and you're a little more moments of love and gratitude within, you're projecting that into every conversation and every relationship with everyone else, and the world needs more of that right now. For sure.
SPEAKER_00Amen. What's what's can you give me your Wednesday? Like, tell me your I mean, are you is it five minutes in the morning, five minutes at night? Are you meditating like three hours a day? What's your because you seem like you got it under control?
SPEAKER_01No, maybe not, but uh at what yeah, so I it's I have a very kind of similar routine in the morning. First thing I do is when I open my eyes is breath work, and I have a little practice as well where I'll open my eyes and I'll look around the room and I'll ask myself, who is observing right now? It's just a way of tapping into who you are and not uh this meat sack that I'm currently occupying. So that's just kind of an interesting practice. I have a dream journal, so I'm always interested in what uh what deviant or interesting things are in my subconscious. So I write down my my dreams if I remember them, and then it's right to the gym. And all this is quite early. So I'm up at you know just after five. I'm at the gym by six. Uh I train there, and then yeah, that's basically my my morning routine. I do like to stop though throughout the day, uh, as I mentioned and check in. Uh at some point I will check in and do a little bit of journaling as well, just to kind of summarize how I'm feeling. Just writing down a few of those words is is quite powerful. Cold plunge, as I mentioned, if I if I have the opportunity. Sorry, I will sauna after I train as well in 20 minutes. I try to do three or four times a week. Cold plunge in the afternoon. Um, and then I kind of book in the evening as well by winding down at night, doing a little bit of breath work, reflection. Uh, I've even started praying as well, which is interesting. I'm not a religious guy, but I just love to put some goodness out in the universe and and some thanks. And um, you know, sometimes I'll even write down uh a few wins at the end of the day as well, just to kind of set my mindset before uh I reset and and usually go to bed and wake up around the same time um as well, just to keep the circadian rhythm tuned in.
SPEAKER_00Okay, I like it. That's that's a lot of work. I mean, that's some serious stuff you're talking about. I thought you were gonna say, like, hey, 30 breath in the morning, 30 breaths at night, I'm good to go.
SPEAKER_01And that makes sense. Yeah, but you know, it's not a lot of time, but the uh the the ROI on that is real.
SPEAKER_02Brian Um just uh on what you just said there, sorry, do you ever fall off the wagon? Like, do you ever find yourself falling off the wagon where just life is getting busy and you're going from one thing to the other? Like, does that does that happen to you sometimes?
SPEAKER_01There there are times when it's not possible, but for otherwise it's non-negotiable at this point. I see, I like that. Unless you know if I got a four, if I got a 6 a.m. flight, maybe it's not happening, right? But uh yeah, otherwise I just don't feel I just don't feel alive, I don't feel as centered, I don't feel as good. It's just it's just been ingrained now that I need to do those things. And and you know, I've been for me, it was just it was it was vanity and insecurity that kept me in the gym all these years, and then later it became something else. Um, but yeah, it's something else is these other practices as well. And thankfully I'm still uh working out, and it turns out you know, muscle mass is a beautiful thing for longevity as well. So I kind of backed into that by accident.
SPEAKER_02So yeah, you can't tell Brian is actually like built like a Viking. So um it's uh it's awesome. Brian, thank you so much for your for doing this. We want to just plug you like how do people find you? Like, what are your what are your social handles? Of course, we'll have this all in the links, but can you just tell everybody what's the best way to get a hold of you or find you?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, just my name, Brian Coons. Brian Coons.com and it's Brian Coons on all the social media uh uh platforms as well.
SPEAKER_02Got it, and that's Coon C C O O N E S for people to know that. Brian, thank you so much for doing this, man. It was awesome. And uh, I hope I hope we see you soon.
SPEAKER_01I'll see you soon, brother. Thanks, Tom.
SPEAKER_00I'm doing it tomorrow. I'm gonna get back tomorrow, okay? All right, Ben, let's go. Beautiful, brother. Let's go, Ben.