Aware Relaxed Connected

In this episode I'm diving into the Water phase of the Wu Xing, to go along with my previous episodes on Metal (episode 18) and Wood (episode 19). Here I explore the link between willpower, the capacity to confront the depths of fear and potential, and the wisdom to act from a place of experience rather than fast knowledge. In Daoist cosmology, this is linked to the concept of Jing, the essence of our being that contains all the potential that can be realized before we die, should we take appropriately wise action.
I mention in the episode that I'm working on a few courses (Dan Tian Gong and a Wu Xing multi course series), all of which will be available on my courses website whenever they are finished, which is right here:https://courses.craigmallett.comEnjoy!

In this episode I am interviewing Gabriela Gutierrez who has been deep in both a practice and scholarly investigation of mythology, particularly based in ancient greece. We talk imaginal, and the balance of the rational intellect and irrational relationship to the living animate world.
Gabriela runs a Substack called 'Under a Fig Tree' and also has a bunch of online study options on her website. I've linked both of them below.
https://www.gabrielamairgutierrez.com/
https://gabrielamgutierrez.substack.com/ 
As always, you can find my stuff via my website right here:
https://www.craigmallett.com/ 
Enjoy!

A semi rant/call for clarification about martial arts and what they actually do and what to keep an eye on if you're after real martial capacities. I don't consider myself a martial artist, but I do use a lot of martial drills as cultivation tools, and I have enough insight to understand that traditional drills are not effective unless you're also doing a whole lot of actual fighting (which I'm not doing), and learning to operate under conditions like a severe adrenaline dump really regularly (which I'm also not doing). That does not make traditional arts useless, rather that they are useful but for something entirely different, namely cultivation practices! Stay clear about this and you won't end up in a delusional fantasy land, and all will be good in the hood.

In balance and opposition to the previous episode, this episode explores the opening of potential, and the link this has to dreams, growth and a drive that takes us forward in life. Modernity treats dreams, and many of its associations like the realm of the imaginal, as childlike and immature. This leads to many people being stuck in a life that inherently frustrates and irritates them. Connecting to the bigger picture and the potential can help us get a view of things that is beyond the day to day. It gives our life an arc and meaning rather than just survival for survival's sake. It's this part of us that will happily sacrifice ourselves for the greater good of the group, community or life as a whole.
As usual, you can find a bunch of courses from me on various topics on my website here:
https://courses.craigmallett.com 
If you'd like to support the podcast, consider becoming a Patron:
https://www.patreon.com/c/AwareRelaxedConnected
Enjoy

In this episode I discuss the benefits of cultivating density in the system. It's an in depth look at how condensing practices can really help most of the problems people in the modern world experience these days: it can help you know who you are, where you are, where you're going, where your boundaries are, what you need and don't need, and prevent you being possessed by group thoughts or peer pressure. Based on the metal element, I also go into details about how this condensing action requires release.
In the end of the episode I mention some of my courses, they can all be found here:
courses.craigmallett.com
If you'd like to support the podcast, consider becoming a Patron:
https://www.patreon.com/c/AwareRelaxedConnected
Enjoy

In this episode I interview Adrian Cannovo, a friend of mine who is a practitioner of an internal martial art called Yang Mian. Adrian is one of the real deals of Internal Chinese Martial Arts, and has worked as a bouncer as well as honed his skills in real MMA bouts. In our talk shares his experiences and insights into the martial arts as he sees them, including some of the more esoteric aspects.
You can find Adi on socials here:
https://www.instagram.com/adiyangmian/
https://www.youtube.com/@easternmovementprinciples4799 
If you're interested in my own work, you can find my latest course, as well as my other courses, and my patreon, at the links below:
https://courses.craigmallett.com
https://craigmallett.com/arms
https://patreon.com/AwareRelaxedConnected
Enjoy

In this episode I answer some questions from listeners on the topics of tension, ADHD, coherence across many topics of practice, emotions and more.
If you're keen to get on the patreon, you can support me by buying me a coffee each month, or getting on board with the practice of the week.
www.patreon.com/AwareRelaxedConnected
If you'd like to check out my latest online course on the spine, you can do so here:
www.craigmallett.com/spine
Enjoy!

In this episode I am interviewing Denis Poisson, host of the Youtube Channel 'Foolish Fish'. Denis has a long standing practice of magic, and on his channel he spends a lot of time both reviewing esoteric books and presenting basic orientations and practices for all to enjoy. In the episode we dive into magical practices, pitfalls, how magic can't be proven, and Denis shares a story of the event that got him into all of this work.
You can find Denis' YouTube channel right here:
https://www.youtube.com/@FoolishFishBooks
He is also (at the time of publishing) available for consults and various other services. You can check all that out on his website right here (and I have personally used these services and can highly recommend them):
https://www.foolishfish.net/
As always, you can find my stuff on my website below, there will be some new courses dropping very soon.
https://www.craigmallett.com
Enjoy!

In this episode I interview Jackson's (from episode #010) teacher Damo Mitchell. This was the first time I had met Damo, and we had a good chat about his approach to Neigong. His public teachings have inspired my work quite heavily, and I find the way he explains things is very clear. Some of his cuing and framing was instrumental for me in passing some of my own sticking points and improving my own capacity to teach dramatically.
This was a super enjoyable chat and there are some gems in there for those who are into such things!
As you'll hear at the end of the podcast, Damo is not so into marketing and doesn't really have capacity for more students, so didn't really want to promote any of his own work. At any rate, his website is below and he has a stack of books that I recommend checking out if you're into internal stuff (just search Amazon etc for Damo Mitchell and they should come up).
www.damomitchell.com
 
Enjoy!

In this episode I interview my friend Nil Teisner who teaches an approach to movement and soft acrobatics he calls Finding Flow. It's a bit of a change up from the previous episode, getting back into the territory of the value and need for a good old fashioned physical practice, and the many benefits that one can bring you.
We cover quite a bit of ground, including soft acrobatics, falling, interacting with the ground, release and much, much more. This was a really fun episode for me and has definitely inspired me to return to some of my more physical practices again.
If you'd like to check out Nil's work, you can find his website below. He has a whole stack of courses available for all sorts of different acrobatic and physical development topics.
https://nilteisner.shop/
Nil also has a great Youtube channel with lots of free material, which you can find right here:
https://www.youtube.com/user/Skateass94
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As always,  if you wanna check out my stuff you can find courses here:
https://courses.craigmallett.com
and all of the rest of everything here:
https://craigmallett.com 
Enjoy!