Episode 167

I discovered that that, you know, obviously I needed to get sober. That was one thing, but it was the grief that really was was messing with my mind and um getting through that and dealing with that g grief was huge. So then it’s just reintroducing humans to that wholeness and per there was actually nothing wrong with you. Some something happened to nothing is wrong with the care that I was given here really is what changed my life. Um, every single person that [music] that I came into contact with genuinely cared.
[music]
[music]
Hey everybody and welcome to another amazing, exciting, enthusiastic and barefoot episode of Finding Peaks. Yours truly, CEO and founder Christopher Burns. joined today by a friend, colleague, alumni, superhuman in the Northern Colorado community, my friend, recovery human Jared Fischer. Welcome to the show. Hello. How’s it going? So good, man. Pleasure to be here. So grateful to have you. Um I told Cove before the show. Jared um owns a company called Health Demise and he’s dedicated his life and his passion is is walking with people in recovery or out of recovery, but just to like optimize their life and their well-being and uh their quality of life and and so he’s very much done what we were able to do together five short years ago with the community that he calls home here in Colorado. So really really grateful to have you on the show. Grateful to have you barefoot. Wouldn’t have it any other way, man. So getting some grounding. Yeah. So today, um, we got to walk into the basement, if you will. I always tell people because they don’t know because we have this beautiful facility called the trail head, and it’s 20 beds, but in the pandemic when we were just trying to figure out how to dot our eyes and cross our tees, we turned the basement of the house into the detox and the RV garage into like the clinical medical triage. And so, um, there’s a picture that we’re going to show on this show as we air it where Jared checked in and we took a picture of him in detox and he was right next to the cereals and this morning I had the opportunity to take him on a tour. We got to kind of go put our feet in the earth behind the facility and walk in and um, I could kind of feel that energy with you and I just wanted to What was that like for you? Revisiting that was the lowest point probably of my life. I was scared. I didn’t know what to expect. And when you guys see the picture, it’s crazy to crazy to see. Um it was awesome to revisit it. I I told you as we as we were walking around that area, it’s crystal clear in my mind the memory of it and uh it was just bittersweet really. Um seeing seeing the where it all started where you guys helped me out. I spent 30, you know, I spent the first seven days in that basement area just getting sober and then uh, you know, another 30 days getting my head straight. But, uh, yeah, just bittersweet. It’s great to see it. Um, great to see. Also, I had I had had a coffee talk with you uh, while I was in recovery and you kind of took me around and you really explained your vision of the the the whole facility. you know, you were going to build this whole building um with with all the the treatment rooms and you showed me that that that’s already that’s come to fruition. Um that wasn’t there when I was there. So, [snorts] it was really awesome and it was really gave me a a lot of pride in you and your company and everything that you’ve done and you just keeping it going and helping people out and that’s what it’s all about, you know, helping these people. And that’s what my business is all about is I, you know, I wanted to help people. Um, and I was inspired by by you really when I when I was in the in the the recovery. You know, I saw you were in great shape and there was like a little bit of a gym facility there and some of us guys were getting on the treadmill and kind of lifting weights. And when I was in there, I said, I’m going to get a gym gym membership when I when I get out of here. And right when I got back to Boulder, got a gym membership. And we can talk about that here in a little bit. But um yeah, the rest is history. So that’s a it’s inspiring to me, you know, cuz I follow you on Instagram, you know, you see me, I watch your [  ] you know, like absolutely it it gives me chills, man. There is nothing more gratifying than walking with you maybe a step or two out in front of you to start. Mhm. And then walking alongside of you in community. And I know that I haven’t been up to Boulder. I haven’t seen what you got going on, but we’re constantly communicating back and forth on IG. I do my videos, you do your videos, and there’s something about waking up in the morning and seeing somebody that called this place home on day one. And to see I mean I am your biggest fan like and a lot of the guys and gals appreciate that. Yeah. And and and a lot of the guys and gals who have gone through and done something similar to what you’ve done probably count a couple ten of them over all these years. And it’s really inspiring, man. It reminds me when I’m going through and I talked about it on the show at Nauseium lately is when I’m going through um business life and it’s really really intense. I just focus in on the smile in the video. I focus in on the picture and I remind myself how we’re going to show up and we’re going to empty the tank and give it everything we got today. Absolutely. All right, man. Um it’s mindset, you know. Um it really is a lot of it. Um there’s there’s the physical side, but really that mindset. We were just talking about this off camera. Um just about showing up, showing up for yourself, showing up for others. Um but really it’s just it’s important. And like you said, you know, see that smile on your face, giving it everything you got, being laser focused in what you’re doing. Um you know, bad things happen. Things happen to all of us. We go through really hard times. And you know, whether that has to do with substance abuse or grief or anything that we’re dealing with in life, you know, part of your health is your mental, you know, um you can physically be healthy, you can physically be fit and you know, you got to there’s other things too, you know, your digestive system, everything. But um really, and that’s connected to your brain, too, is your digestive system. So, um getting those right, getting your head right, mindset right, it’s it’s huge. Yeah. And uh you know providing that environment here is so huge especially for people that really need the help you know. So uh yeah I’m just stoked to be here. Look at this backdrop pikes right there. Let’s go. Maning you live in the view. That’s your problem. You know you’re kind of in the view. Yeah. Yeah. And you don’t take it for granted. Yeah. You know I grew up on the western slope. Oh yeah. And um you know just on a farm in Fruda. Oh Fruda man. Yeah I’m a farm kid from Fruda. That’s out by where grandma lives man. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And uh yeah I you’ve got the Colorado National Monument there. You’ve got the Grand Mesa um which is the world’s flat, you know, biggest flat top mountain. I’m sure a lot of your your listeners and and viewers are probably here in Colorado. They probably know what I’m talking about. And growing up I just took it for granted, you know. But every time I go back there, which I’m headed there this Friday, my san Yeah. We got San Juan like tellide. So sick. Like we we look at we look at this view and we just take it for granted and we should not because it’s unlike anywhere else in the world, you know? It’s amazing. Yeah. So, it’s pretty cool. I love that. It’s interesting you say that cuz I I graduated high school in a place called Sedona, Arizona. It is It’s so cool, man. I don’t wear my shoes when I go there. I go on runs with no shoes and like the the red Khichi dirt kind of thing. So cool. But when I was there in high school, I’m like, I can’t wait to leave this place. Place sucks. All they got is like red rocks and sunshine and water. It’s dumb, you know? And then I go back, right, because I’m addicted and I’m not mentally healthy. And then I go back and I’m like, I think I’m going to lay in the dirt. Like, this is good. I’m present. And I think that’s the the idea behind what you’re talking about a lot is like I had this inability to get present because of certain set of circumstances. And I love what you said earlier because you didn’t say you were here for alcohol because you weren’t. Mhm. You’re here for grief. Maybe talk with me. We figured that out. Yeah. Maybe talk with me a little bit about that. What you thought you were here for, what you learned, and how you carry that much more digestible message forward to the people that you get to walk with. Yeah. Um, yeah. To talk about that, let’s maybe I’ll just tell a little bit of my story about it. Um, so when I got here, I had been abusing alcohol. I had been I had been drinking heavy for many years. I’m a musician. I’ve been a percussionist for 25 years. Um with that percussionist musician lifestyle um comes partying. And I was drinking heavy and doing the drugs and all the things. And uh there’s Greta. That’s Greta. 13-year-old pitbull. 13-year-old pitbull right there. Good girl. Here you go. But uh yeah, so with with all the party and lifestyle of being a musician, um I was already drinking heavy, but then um my mom unexpectedly passed away and uh I really started self-medicating on the alcohol and so I was really became dependent on it. And it got to the point where I needed help. I wasn’t able to quit the alcohol on my own. Um, so when I got here, this brings us to where we figured out the grief part. You know, obviously we had doctor supervision to get me sober. I was really afraid that I was going to have some sort of a, you know, I thought I might die, you know, or something. Yeah. So, it was it was great to have the 24-hour supervision with your doctors and your nurses. And um you know once I detox and once I started getting into the group therapy and getting into the one-on-one therapy and going to the AA and the dharma and all the things that you guys provide, um we figured out that it was grief. I had not properly grieved. I had just been self-medicating on the alcohol for several months. Uh my mom passed away just right at the kind of right at the beginning of the pandemic really. And um you know I I ended up here um at the kind of kind of when things started opening up a little bit. you know, we were still wearing masks here and there, but um you know, getting into that group therapy is really where um there was just one I was just telling you this earlier that there was a a group session and we all wrote a letter to somebody um that we cared about and I just I chose to write a letter to my mom and just to tell her what was going on. And as I wrote that letter, it brought out it brought out everything. And and then I shared it with the group and I read the letter to the group and I just broke down and there was a it was a major breakthrough. Um broke down in front of the group you know just ugly ugly face crying um tears streaming down and uh it was a major breakthrough and I discovered that that you know obviously I needed to get sober. Mhm. That was one thing, but it was the grief that really was was messing with my mind. And um getting through that and dealing with that g grief was huge. So um and then obviously, you know, the rest is history. Haven’t had a drink in almost 6 years. Let’s go. Grief is an interesting thing. It men and women, but really what I’ve seen over almost an 18 year career is is men really grapple with it. They really grapple with am I tough? Am I not? What was I told? Um, I heard a quote the other day. It’s uh it’s very difficult to control the monster I created to protect the boy inside of me. And I think a lot of times as young boys and it doesn’t have anything to do necessarily with our parents, it’s more generational than anything else. It’s like their parents parents were World War II people. That must have been real hard, you know? And so there is this kind of dusted off, shake it off culture. It’s not anybody’s fault. I think unnecessarily sometimes we point at families and we’re like, but they’re doing the best they can. And so I think sometimes with that grief, it’s it’s it the catalyst is is this big thing with mom, but I think the the breakthrough is a multitude of events that required or um could have involved a grieving process that we just rolled over like a speed bump. And your whole nervous system, your vag nerve from your ankles, I remember cuz I went to the Meadows in 2019 and I did the same thing. I was like It’s like the whole nervous system is like a towel and just was all rung out and it just gets spun back into a, you know, square. Yeah. Oh, it’s gives me chills. So, I think about that often times and then what it informs, correct me if I’m wrong, but maybe you can talk about it, but it informs an opportunity moving forward that when like sad [  ] happens, I can just experience sadness. Or if it’s happiness, I experience happiness. That’s something I’ve learned alongside you in my last 5 years is like how do I really sit with the emotion that comes up and like be okay with experiencing that. Yeah. It’s and that’s the thing is you you have to sit with it like you know that’s that’s how you deal with it. You can’t just brush it off or you can’t just have a drink and you know cover it up. Um, you’ve got to deal with that, you know, and it’s, you know, anytime there’s a new experience, anytime there’s something new that has never happened to you before that might be not good, that might be negative, you kind of have to sit with it. You kind of have to just feel it and feel the feelings. And that’s the thing is, um, you know, big tough guys, we don’t want to feel the feelings. Mhm. But actually, I I was just I think I heard on another podcast um talking about how men we actually tend to feel our feelings even more on internally than than women. Um like we’re more romantic than women are. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell. Cass [laughter] is so she’s a hopeless romantic. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Well, that’s good. Yeah. But yeah, it’s just Yeah. Yeah. No, I’m just agreeing with you as far as just sitting there feeling the feelings. It’s interesting you say that cuz even though he’s you mentioned something I think very very important is like you said internally I’m not showing that. But that weight that you’re talking about I can certainly relate to and connect with what what that feels like. Mhm. As an entrepreneur business owner, a man, um a husband, a father, a friend. Mhm. a um the CEO of this company, you know. So, it’s it’s it’s heavy sometimes. And and I think the problem becomes is is we don’t find the room of people like you did. Mhm. To to to talk about what that feels like and what it’s felt like. Yeah. Yeah. and you know [clears throat] paying attention um paying attention to what’s happening around you and what what other people are doing and um but not not letting you know that you don’t want to think about you don’t want people you don’t want to think that other people are judging you. You want to you want to be more focused on yourself. You want to um I don’t I’m not I’m not trying to say that you should be selfish, right? But you should be not worrying about what those people are thinking. Yeah. You know, but but also paying attention to what’s happening around you, you know, um being in in that present state. You’re not thinking about the past. You’re not thinking about the future. Um it’s just good to be what is it? Um echer tolli the power of now, you know, staying in in that moment. Um super important and um I love that. Yeah, because it’s it’s on the other side is the psychological suffering that he talks about. Yeah. Right. It is. So, is that the dance? I swear I talk about it so much now. It’s like, but is that the dance? Like really like is the dance figuring out how to be present like in its simplest form, right? Cuz there’s no suffering in the present. Yeah. Cuz we’re here. We’re locked in. Well, well, that’s the thing about, you know, I’m an online health and fitness coach, so I’m on my phone. like my job is on my phone on social media in we’re talking about Instagram, you know. Um that’s the one bad thing about social media is it’s hard to be in the present when you’re when you’ve got that phone in your hand. You know, you’ll be you’ll be you’ll just check your messages real quick and then all of a sudden you scroll once and then 40 minutes later you’re like, “What did I just do?” 40 minutes pass. You know, it’s crazy. Mhm. So, yeah, I think that’s a that’s definitely a skill now is is just keeping in that present moment, you know, and obviously it’s it’s good to it’s good to reminisce about the past and it’s good to learn from the past. It’s good to think about the future and do some planning, you know, um but yeah, just staying in that present, being present with people you’re speaking with um and all the people that are, you know, your loved ones, all the people around you. Yeah, super important. That kind of brings me I just had a thought about that um as a health coach just uh and we were talking about the mental part of it and being being present you know that’s a huge part of when I’m when I’m speaking to my clients trying to be present and really try to take in what they’re talking about cuz a lot of the time it’s you know you’re you almost like a therapist. I don’t have any, you know, I don’t have a degree in psychology or anything like that, but a lot of the time you you end up being kind of a therapist, you know, so it’s I love that, man. And I I actually, you know, when I got into the field almost 20 years ago, a lot of the therapists that were around were just people in long-term recovery playing therapists. I was from Arizona. It’s like the wild west out there, bro. You don’t need a therapy degree. So, I’m just saying I’m not saying it’s the best, but there’s a lot of experience, strength, and hope that people can really really connect with, you know, and and when you meet someone in that present moment like you’re talking about, you’re able to have this connection and this synergy and and then it’s almost like walking with and and I think one of the coolest things about therapy or helping people is showing up in your recovered self. Like you show up spiritually fit, mind, body, soul, physical, spiritual, mental, emotional. So you show up and you sit next to somebody who may or may not be struggling. Dude, I don’t even think we need to say anything. It’s there. I the best therapists I talk to K. I talk on podcasts all the time. I think the best therapists are people that come in and just emulate wholeness and perfection because there was nothing [  ] wrong with you. Right? If you’ve ever I’ I’ve seen babies born. Try and tell me that there’s something wrong with that baby. It’s perfection. Then life happens. [clears throat] Environment, right? But there’s nothing like that baby’s not fallable. It’s perfect, man. I know because I’ve had kids and when they came out, they were perfect and and you’d have a tough time arguing something different with me. So then what happens? Mhm. So then it’s just reintroducing humans to that wholeness and per there was actually nothing wrong with you. Something happened to nothing is wrong with and that’s what I think you so clear so clearly just stated is like yeah I sit with people and I walk with people and it’s it’s not about like getting to the needle in the haststack to figure it out. It’s about showing wholeness and perfection and that you too my friend are just as valuable as me. And so this is all for you to have as well. But I don’t need to turn to the side and be like, “If you want what I am, you do what I do.” You know, but sometimes that’s a good approach for some individuals. You know, they told me in early recovery, and it’s interesting you brought it up, I had never thought about it until you said it. Presence in a gym. I used to go in a gym and I would think I’m in World War II. I’m like fighting everybody in the gym, but nobody’s even paying attention to me. And I’d go tell my sponsor. I’d be like, “Oh my these people in the gym.” Yeah. He would always say, he’d be like, um, you’re not important enough for people. [laughter] They’re really not paying attent. I’m like, no way. I’m like, no, because I was in there and I did a curl and I saw him with my eye, you know? I had never heard anybody explain that there’s just a lack of presence. Yeah. Even though I know that, like, but that’s that’s smart. And now I go into the gym and and I we may be on vacation. We were just in Cabo and with my wife and she’s like I was just I just noticed like the other people in there sometimes are like way more fit and I’m like I don’t see [  ] anybody in there. It’s just me, myself, and I. But it is it has been a process to get there. And maybe it’s the home gym thing. I don’t know. But I have such bad gym etiquette now, Jared, because I have a home gym. Yeah. Well, you’re lucky. Um I I like going to the gym. A lot of people tell me, you know, they like to go to the gym because it gets them motivated because they see everybody else because we’re all there for the same reason, right? Um, for me, I just get that tunnel vision and I prefer to I prefer to train alone. Yeah. Um, you know, obviously if I’m training a client, I’ll I’ll probably train with them a little bit, too. I can’t help myself. Yeah. Yeah. But uh yeah, just getting that tunnel vision and being present and that’s you know that’s how you know that’s how you make make progress is by training with intensity and being with that present state of mind. And people people are always like you know what are you what are you staring at? I’ll be like staring off into space [snorts] in between sets just during my rest period. You know all I’m doing is completely zoning off into space. I’m not thinking about anything but I just look like I’m being a jerk. Like I just have resting jerk face going on and people are like, “What? What’s wrong?” I’m like, “What are you talking about? Everything’s fine, man. Listen to an audio book. What are you doing?” Yeah. I’m like, “I’m listening to a podcast or something, you know.” But uh yeah, it’s you know, the home gym whole another story. You’ve got to motivate yourself, you know. Um and but it’s not always about motivation. It’s it’s more about um being committed and being um disciplined. M and living that lifestyle. And as you’re committed and you do you do the things and you lift with intensity and and you work out dayto day, then you start to see results. And then once you see results, that’s when the motivation comes. And because you see the results physically, that motivates you to keep training. And you know, I’m hoping to have a a home gym of my own someday, but uh it’s the it’s the it in the pandemic when everything was shutting down, you know, I got like the last weights or whatever and did this and started building it. And I had um a friend of mine who’s a graffiti artist come in and graffiti the whole wall. And so I have like Pikes Peak up there. And then I have a silhouette of my family running through the Garden of the Gods. And one of my favorite quotes that says, “Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.” Then I got a big Peaks logo over there. Nice. So, it’s nice. Then I got my cold plunge, my sauna. It’s kind of like you’re speaking my language. I just love it, man. Sometimes I’ll just walk out there and like pop open the cold plunge, put my finger in it, smell the water. Weird, man. But I like the water really clean. What? Just make sure it’s real clean. The sauna real clean, you know, everything. It’s like a sanctuary. Yeah. What kind of sauna do you have? I have Is it like a infrared or It’s an infrared. Infrared. It’s an infrared. And I got it from Sun Sunundor outdoor saunas. Okay. Outdoor sauna. But it’s it’s in my garage and I was always kind of skeptical about the infrared thing because I’d always done hot rock. But I love it. So about halfway through my workout, I turn it on. I get it about 145 to 151, which feels like low compared to 200, 210 for infrared. That’s pretty high for infrared. Yeah. So, and I was reading something the other day that you actually get the best bang for your buck between 120 and 140, which kind of upset me because I’ve been doing like 145 to 151, but yeah, it’s not it’s not very much difference. Yeah, marginal. Yeah. Okay, that’s interesting. Yeah, I knew that for infrared it’s right around the 140. Mhm. Um for optimal um for detox and for, you know, you you get a little bit of a boost of testosterone. Um, depending on what infrared do you have? Um, near infrared or is it far? It’s probably far infrared. How would you know? Um, it you probably have to Okay. see like in the instructions or, you know, there’s probably a description on which which uh I bet they’re like black panels all over. Got black panels. Black panels down here. And it was one of those things. It’s only a few grand. It’s kind of like the ones they have at like Costco or Shields. Yeah. Those ones in there. It’s a twoerson, but really it’s just like a good one person. Cool. We can lay down. Yeah. But I love it. Do it every day after I strength train. I love sauna. Yep. Right after right after your workout. Mhm. It’s great. Wait a little bit before you cold plunge or maybe cold plunge before your workout. I’ve been doing it, you know, I’ve been I used to always do it early in the morning first thing when I woke up cuz I was like that guy within 5 minutes of waking up. I’m in the water just shocking the [  ] out of myself. I [laughter] don’t just cuz you know that guy, right? I’m like it’s 4:03. Yeah. There you go. But I stopped doing that. There was just too much intensity in the morning. I like to journal, pray, meditate, pet my dog, drink a cup of coffee, do do your thing, do my thing, and then go out and do it. So, I’ve been doing the evening. So, we go for the evening walk, which frankly, man, you’re the one who always inspires it. I don’t I love evening walks, but it’s like the last thing I want to do because I wake up at 4:00 and so I go to like I’m laying in bed at 7:00, like I’m chilling, man. But you’ve really inspired me to hit out on those evening walks. So, what I’ve been doing lately is I’d be get done with the get done with dinner, go for the walk, come back, jump in the water, jump in the hot tub, take a shower, and then get to bed. That kind of thing. Sounds like sounds like the life. Yeah. So, I wanted to chat about something that’s like I’m super passionate about right now, as I’ve told you, is is like music and reggae and and and you’re a percussionist. You were in bands. Tell me about like I always like cuz one of my favorite things to do is go to shows and just watch the drummers. Mhm. I’m like, “That guy is so [  ] cool.” So rad. Or like Common Kings, I’ll sit there and watch electric guitars with his hat backwards. And like if he’s got a little wind going like the whole thing, I’m like, “Dude, I always think like you can just make people move, man. When you say hands to the right, they go right and you go left and they go right.” And so the feeling, so one of our weeks in treatment is identity and purpose. And so I talked to you about we got a lot of artists. And one of the things is I could imagine like when you’re get people moving to the groove and then it’s over or it’s not or whatever like it’s got to be hard to emulate that in life and to feel those endorphins and to feel that kind of stuff. And so maybe take take me on a little journey of what it was like cuz you did say you got kicked out of the band eventually but I know you’re back in it now and doing your thing and hanging out with my boy Collie Buds and all that stuff. So maybe take me a little bit through like the artist journey and what’s acceptable and and why it’s acceptable and cultured and where you see yourself now. Um well music I I mean it’s it’s funny when I I come across somebody that says they don’t like music. Like are you kidding me? Who doesn’t like music? Yes. Some believe it or not there are people out there that don’t like music, you know? Um, one of the first bands I was ever in, uh, the the father of our band manager was our driver to a gig out of town. And I remember we put on the music on the stereo and he said and he’s like, “No, we got to turn that off. If you want to visit, we can visit.” So he wanted he was okay with visiting but not okay with listening to music. You want to talk? Um, but me, I always just, you know, I always just loved music. Um, I had I had a singing background in middle school and high school, and I always used to want to play drums. I was always banging on stuff, asking for drums, asking my parents for drums, and they they were like, “No, you’re just going to make too much racket.” Yeah. And uh I was like, you know, I didn’t actually pick up a drum until I I was early 20s. Oh wow. Um I was about 22 20 I think I was about 22 and I was at a medieval sword fighting event. That’s a whole another story. I used to have medieval sword fight and uh there was big belly belly dancing circles and big drum circles and I just happened to be sta standing there drinking my my ale in my medieval garb and I’m watching the belly dancers and some lady just turned to me and said hey you. I was like me. She’s like yeah you. She’s like pick up that drum. I said okay. And I picked up the drum and she’s like, “Play, you know, play the drum.” And I didn’t know what I was doing, but I just started watching them. And as soon as I started playing that drum, it was like a lightning bolt like hit me like of energy and I was like, “Holy crap.” Then I felt it. I felt it all the way. Maybe it was a past life something. I felt this just the like the synergy, the energy, the the just the amazing feel that I knew that this was what I was supposed to be doing like a Were you able to kind of do anything? No, I Yeah, I could play. I mean, I was just playing for for somebody who didn’t know. Yeah, just mimicking. I was just in the same rhythm as everybody, you know. Cool. But I just got struck. I got I just felt it and I spent my last 50 bucks on a little ceramic doom. It’s a Middle Eastern drum, an hour-shaped ceramic drum. Uh, spent my last 50 bucks that day on that drum, and just started playing and started playing along with the radio, and anytime I had a chance, I started playing with other people. And uh, pretty soon I I sought out um, some formal training in college. And because I had the the singing background, I knew how to read standard notation. And that’s helpful. So, yeah. So, I had to audition to learn how to play. And then that’s when I started getting like the formal training um in in Afrouban Conga. And uh you know, pretty soon I started going to open mics and I became a member of that first band I was talking about. And then uh got to play with a with a popular reggae band for about 10 years. What was the name of that? Um they were called Lion Vibes. Lion Vibes. Um we were we were kind of a big deal over on the Western Slope in Grand Junction uh for many years. and we moved over to the Denver area. I moved to Boulder and um we we played all the pretty pretty much most of the bigger venues um throughout Colorado and you know that band ended up um dismantling and uh now I play in the band uh Amonga. It’s a ninepiece afrobeat band and we’ve been around for 15 years based in Denver. Um we’re actually playing up in Fort Collins at Odell’s. Oh, sweet. Um uh we’ve got some other shows lined up this summer. Nine piece. That’s funified right there. But to answer your question, you know, um just that feeling, you know, there’s no there’s nothing like being in the flow. You know, we talk about being in the flow. When I’m playing music, there’s I’m not thinking about it’s the now. It’s I’m not thinking about the past. I’m not thinking about the future. I’m just playing along with the music. So, I’m in this flow state and there’s nothing like it. Um, so I mean, and a lot of the time, you know, I’ll be in a bad mood and I’ll show up to band rehearsal and just playing a couple songs cheers me right up right away. It’s just I’m I’m back I’m back in the flow. I’m back to normal. I I realize this is me. This is me in my element. Um, you know, tomorrow’s a new day. You know, there’s that’s a it just puts things into perspective where you know there’s only 24 hours in a day. Uhhuh. And you know, a lot of the time you can’t change things, you know, so you can only control what you can control. So I love that. Did that answer the question? It totally and actually it it made me think of it. I’m not going to bore you because I’ve talked about it on the podcast, but I remember the first time that I touched my passion, you know, to do this peaks thing and walk with people. I was like, “People get paid for this [  ] to just [laughter] talk to people.” [  ] really really like I’m like cool. So I guess I’ll do that the but I remember that it it actually was very synonymous with the way you described that nervous system like no maybe it was a past life. Maybe I was and I always say I had this experience of like this I had this overwhelming sense that this is right where you’re supposed to be. And it just it took a while for you to get here. Mhm. It’s really beautiful. And any band that has Lion in it with Reggae, I I can just already see what kind of belt. Yeah, man. I just I love the drums. I love the percussion. I love the um the stick figure guy who does it, but he also does for hip abduction. Yep. Will Will Phillips. Yeah, he reminds me a lot of you, too, man. And And I wonder I’ve played a show with him. Really? Is he a good dude? Yeah, good dude. We can’t say he’s bad now. I got I met him down I met him down in Mexico at Closer to the Sun Festival. No way, dude. I was down there in 24. I was down there um last not this last one, but the year before last. Yeah. So 24 December. 20. No, it was December 25. Oh, so last year. Yeah. Okay. I was down there. Stick figure was down there last year. Stick Figure was there too, bro. Wasn’t that the coolest when it started raining right at the end? Oh, no. You Okay. Were they there last year? Maybe that was dude. Okay. So 100%. You got Okay. All right. We’re switching topics right now, [laughter] bro. One of the best shows of my life. Okay. Okay. So, cuz you got the the elevators, they open for Stick, remember? Yeah. And then Stick comes out. They’re doing They’re jamming Kong. They’re doing their thing. And then I It was glow night, remember? Yep. Yeah, dude. [laughter] It was glow night. Where were you, man? I was on the left. Yeah. Okay. So, I was glowing and stick figure I’m like I got I got stick figures. I love stick figure. Different than most reae. Not all about smoking weed and beaches. It’s about life and some emo stuff and things and you know, life happens. So, I couldn’t wait to see Stick Figure, but the last song or two, it just starts sprinkling a little bit. Remember? Yep. And I was looking around and people were like, “It’s the best day of my life.” It was one of those moments, man. Great. That’s cool. You were there. It was great. Well, so I end up meeting him cuz there there one of the days um the drummer for uh for Slightly Stupid had a drum workshop in Oh, the hard rock. Okay. Okay. So, I attended that and got to meet Will afterwards. We were just talking and he was telling me how he used to be the percussionist for Orone. Orone is a funk band out of Oregon. Okay. And my band Ata actually opened for Oregon at Cervantes in Denver. Dang. And so we actually played like we I opened for him. I had met him at that show. We we figured it out when through conversation. But yeah, and you know, I follow him on Instagram and we have different backgrounds as far as, you know, and it’s not a competition. Like, no one’s better than anybody else. Um, but I I could really see myself, uh, you know, doing a lot of the same things that he does on stage. Um, cuz I just saw the hip abduction, too. I saw him with them, too. Were you at Red Rocks when they were just there with the elevators? I wasn’t I wasn’t at that show, but they played um reggae rise up at Tiko Tico time. Oh, cool. Yeah. So, dude, hip abduction is a vibe. Ryzen vibes. Sorry. Ryzen vibes. I get them mixed up. That’s right. Yeah. Hip abduction’s a vibe. They’re great. I like those guys. I’ I’ve thought about reaching out to them and seeing if they ever need another percussionist. That seems like your vibe. I Bro, I saw him in Black Sheep. Yeah. You’ve been to Black Sheep in Colorado Springs? Oh, yeah. Played there many years ago. Yeah. So, I saw Hip Abduction there. I’m like, dude, I saw Mahal there. Yeah. They have a lot of great big band. It’s a very intimate venue. Yeah, algorithm was just there. I’m like, this is sweet, man. And it’s like so small and dingy, but you can basically like do the strings with them, you know? You’re right there. You can touch the guitar. That’s so cool. It is really cool. It reminds me of um Belly Up Aspen. Have you ever been to that venue? Venue? No, but I’ve seen it. Yeah. It’s [snorts] I think it holds maybe 300. Oh, cool. And it’s just it’s state-of-the-art sound and lights and it’s just right there. You’re right there on top of the band, basically. It’s so cool. I’ve got I’ve had the pleasure of playing there multiple times. Oh, no way. Um, yeah. It’s Is there improv when when you are doing it feels like Will and people like you when you’re out there getting after it, especially when he does that thinging thing like it feels like is there a lot of improv? Depends on the band. Okay. Yeah, it depends on the band. Um, obviously, you know, you’re going to have your set parts. Yeah. And a lot of the time as an auxiliary percussionist as they call us or a congarero or depends on what your auxiliary percussion is, but you’re not the drum kit player. So you a lot of the time you you’re making up your your patterns. You’re making up your parts um real time. Yeah. Well, yeah. Um usually through rehearsal. Okay. Unless you’re just playing with the band without a rehearsal, okay? You know, but a lot of the time you’re making up your parts and then you just repeat those same same parts. So, you have your you have your rehearsed parts. But, um, yeah, you can always throw some little things in there. The more comfortable you are, and you know, the more comfortable the band is with you that you can always be playful and you can you can add some impro improvisation. You know, there’s always that time when, you know, it’s opened up to to a solo or something like that. Cuz, you know, anytime you see a band with a percussionist, there’s always going to be a drum jam at some point, right? Um, so, you know, you see me, I I I love to dance shows, but a lot of time if they have a percussionist, you’ll just see me standing there staring staring at the percussionist, studying him, judging him, just Yeah. Just judging him. Hip abduction does a real good tribal. So, does Soja, dude. Yeah. They bring out They bring out all the Yeah. So kills. Um yeah, they they bring them out. Have you seen the band Tropadelic? No, but I love them. They do a little percussion thing, too. They don’t have a designated percussionist, but they bring out some big drums and stuff. So much fun, some big toms and stuff. Yeah. They start going with that. I’m like, oo. Yeah. And the drumming. Just talking about that, too. You know, that might be some a cool thing to do for some of the recovery people here. Yeah. um do like a like a facilitated drum circle cuz that really like I said to just get in that flow and not thinking about the the future of the past just concentrating on that drumming just that heartbeat you know um can be super therapeutic I think you know that gives me an idea we do we go to the drum circle yeah you were just telling one somewhere you just I just stole you know healthize down to Colorado Springs once a week for a drum circle you know yeah you’re in Boulder though you’re not in That’s a little farther tech center. We have an office up at Hampton. Yeah, I think that’d be cool, man. Then what we would be able to do if we did something like that, you would get everybody in the millu once a month, which would be cool, you know, and it’d be a bolt on to like we need some more gem bays. But well, that’s that’s something kind of brings me to like do you have a well like a a health and wellness program set up through? Yeah, the only problem is is the insurance doesn’t cover it. So anything we we provide on that side of things is out of our pocket, but we understand from an outcomes perspective what’s good for humans. So not only have an alumni program um we have a um a movement team. So we have Tara who’s our activities director. She does yoga, raiki, mindfulness, breath work, individual sessions with raiki, breath work, group sessions, restorative, intense otherwise. Um we have Dr. Wade on site there on Tuesdays ambulating people. We have, you know, parapolgics, people that are having tough time moving, gets them moving, gets the joints firing. We got massage on Thursday. Bobby, you know, Bobby takes folks out four days a week on hikes. So, we’ve really oriented kind of like the movement team to like to your point like get up and out of the grief room chair, you know, after a long day of grief, like let’s go out and let’s get some sunshine. So, it’s very near and dear to our heart. You know what’s interesting about it is that like we used to put yoga on our website and we got in trouble from the insurance company. They’re like, “Yeah, it’s not a researchbased modality. You do that, we’ll give you $0.” So, we have to be really mindful with mindfulness because it’s not a researchbased modality per these publicly traded insurance companies, right? What about strength training? We do strength training, too. Yeah. We have the ability to do strength training. Dr. Wade will write people some programming, but we have all the stuff. I mean, we got half racks, we got benches, we got dumbbells, we’ve got newer equipment than when you were there. We got rowers. Um, we get the power blocks, you know, space savers. That’s awesome. So, but, you know, I’m always looking for opportunities to integrate, especially alumni, man. Especially with what what you’ve watched and employees. Yeah. You know. Mhm. Um, you know, like I I am working on a business with a partner. Um, we’re starting to um help small businesses um with their own corporate health and wellness. Mhm. Um, shout out Brian Vite. Brian Vite. You’re talking about for the team. His his business is called Vite Vite. Okay. And it’s Yeah, we we help employees with their health and fitness. That’d be nice. So that can like lower insurance premiums. It can lower sick time. I imagine your employees, this place is probably so awesome to work for that you probably don’t have very many people calling out sick. The only thing that gets us is like when somebody has a baby. So like last year we spent, you know, 180 grand in health insurance benefits for the team and then our cost was like their their cost was 275. So our rates just go up. But outside of But you’re absolutely right. They have programs within insurance companies specifically like if you drive you can put this thing in to say you don’t speed or on the health insurance side you can get these blood things and you can get group rates that are more enticing and things like that. So I think it’s something that’s worth exploring especially in behavioral health. Mhm. Cuz I just know when the team’s able to show up whole and full and healthy, we’re able to do some pretty tremendous stuff. Yeah. And that’s why when people are struggling with mental health, it’s important for them to kind of take some time, get it together, and come on back cuz the work we do, it’s just necessary that you show up right sized. Yeah. And you know, the people that are putting they’re they’re giving a lot of themselves to the people that are here to get help. So a lot of the time when you’re when you’re helping others, you don’t take the time to help yourself. And so you got to take that time to help yourself. For sure. Yeah. Yeah. And that’s that’s another thing that we haven’t talked about in a long time, but I think it’s really important, too, is, you know, staff burnout. I remember when I was going to treatment again in 2019 with 11 years sober, I was like, “What the why the [ __ ] am I doing this? This is stupid.” But everybody’s like, “Dude.” So I go and then I come back. I’m like, “Oh.” Oh, you don’t It’s not just about sleeping when you die. No. Oh, you you if you don’t sleep, you die. Yeah. If you Holy crap. Exactly. You know, I had to rewire everything. Yeah. Um if if you follow that follow that routine, you’ll die quicker. [laughter] Exactly, man. If you don’t sleep, you’ll die quicker. Yeah. And but the generation So important. Recovery huge. generation before me. I mean, your dad’s your dad or my dad, you know, it was like, I’ll sleep when I die. Yeah. And in fact, my grandfather, you actually get a gold star for sleeping when you die, right? Like the less you sleep and the more you work, the more you’re revered in community, more respect you get. Yeah. We need to we need we need to change that. Change it, man. For sure. Yeah. And so people are like, “Well, you you um you know, you wake up early in the morning and you you know, you do all this stuff.” Um and it seems really hard. Yeah. And it’s Well, what’s more hard is getting to 60 or 65 and realizing that my heart’s failing, having to get cut over for them to put a stint in only to treat a symptom of a greater problem that I could have just got a little bit of sun and a little bit of movement. So there used to be a friend of mine named Christian and he would always say in recovery we got to control the controllables. Mhm. You know, and your your mission and your vision and your recovery, I think, speaks really really clearly to that, you know. Yeah. It was uh I’ll never forget the day I the day I I left. Um you guys actually gave me a ride back to Boulder. Really? And uh dropped me off. I put my suitcase in my house and went straight to the gym. There’s a 24-hour fitness right there. That’s it. About two blocks away from my house. Didn’t even go like I barely even go inside and just walked right in. got a gym membership and yeah, and you know, obviously the the rest is history, but uh yeah, it was it was just, you know, the the care that I the care that I was given here really is what changed my life. Um every single person that that I came into contact with genuinely cared. Um there there was not a bad attitude. No one had a bad attitude. Everyone had great attitudes. Um tons of love. Um and you know, it was just really inspiring. And you know, um as I started to uh educate myself, um we’re going back to the passion thing. Um I’m lucky in in life to have found my two passions. that’s music and health and fitness because the more I started educating myself on it, the more I started seeing results and just feeling better and getting healthier and listening to podcasts and really starting to educate myself and much like I did with the drums, I I sought out formal training. So, I went ahead and got my my health um my integrative nutrition health um coach certificate. Oh, sweet. And so, yeah, just in uh institute for integrative nutrition. Um, so it’s integrative. So you’re learning, you know, western medicine, you’re learning a lot of different ways and different approaches. Eastern medicine, you’re and and then, you know, I I thought I was going to be a great health coach. And as I kept training and falling more in love with strength training and learning more about the science of that, um, and people asking me to train them, I went ahead and got my National Academy of Sports Medicine certified personal trainer. So now I can do both health because health and fitness are two different things but they work really well together. So I can do health coaching and I can do personal training. That’s really cool. That’s way better. I mean a lot of people have NASM and they go in but it’s almost like a psychologist like you really need to be psychopysiological, right? So I love that you you encapsulated that with the people you’re walking with cuz it’s both and Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it’s just, you know, just lucky that I found that passion, too, and then I turned it into my career, you know. Um, I would like the music part to be more of my career. But it’s really hard to make any money playing music. I would like that, too, man. I would want nothing more than to be at Red Rocks and watching my dude up there jamming. I’d be like, you you never know. You never know. It could happen. Oh, there’s still meat on the bone. I always say, and I go into a Tuesday alumni night, and you agree with this, but it was hard. You probably wouldn’t be able to hear this when you first got here. I go into the Tuesday alumni night and I always say before I speak, I said, “The most successful people that I have ever met in my life, spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically, monetarily, if you will, are people that called this place home.” Yeah. You guys are lighting the world on fire. I stay in touch. Like the most successful people. Yeah. Absent of money with or without people in recovery. Yeah. They just have a way of attracting good people around them. And I’ve been finding myself lately. I’m like, man, I’ve just been having a soc.
Yeah. I mean, well, I was, man, I was I you struck me when I first met you. Um, I was very impressed by you. Like you just the way you were your ego, you kept your ego in check. I was like, if if I was him, I would I would probably not be coming around and hanging out with all of us alcoholics every [laughter] day. And there was one story, you’ve probably already told it on this podcast before, that you a story that I remember you telling about um just getting pulled over, but like it wasn’t a pullover story, but it was like dealing with the law. And you were talking about how you were you were working in a I think maybe it was a pullover story. Uhhuh. But maybe I’m getting two two stories mixed together. Maybe you can tell the story if you haven’t told it already. There’s one where you you were working at a convenience store and you were giving your friends like Oh yeah. Free cigarettes. Yeah. Yeah. So I was in I was in early recovery. Tell that story real. Yeah. So here it is like behaviors die last. I’m sober, right? And uh so I’m working at the gas station. I’ve told it before but not in a while. This is a good one. Making 725 an hour. In my 22-year-old mind, I thought this is about a $12 an hour job. So, I was like, well, I’ll take a pack of smokes for myself and an energy drink and I’ll ring all my friends up for 99 cent waters to do the same. Yeah. So, I’m like a year into the job. I just get hired in treatment. I had to have a year sober and I get a knock at my door b and I answer the door and it’s police officer and he’s like, “Mr. Burns, Mr. Burns here.” I said, “Yeah, Mr. Burns.” He said, “We got you on camera stealing from the Woody’s gas station.” I said, “No, man. I’m sober.” [laughter] That was the point. Yeah. And he goes, he goes, “Yeah, for sure.” And I said, “No, no, I’m sober.” He’s like, “Right on, man.” Like, “Cool. Does it mean you’re still breaking the law?” And I was like, “Oh, shoot.” And my sponsor the whole time, I was telling him I was doing it. He was always like, “Let me know when you’re ready to give that up.” So, I called him when I was saying, “I think I’m ready.” Yeah, man. It’s so funny you remember that, man. It’s interesting what sticks with people. It It did. I was just like, “Yeah, just because you’re sober doesn’t mean that you’re legal.” Yeah. [laughter] And in fact, it can go real bad, you know? So, well, let before we jump, man, it’s been just been so nice connecting with you today. We did a tour before. We walked around, we reminisced, we had the pop. It’s been really cool. I really appreciate you taking time and coming down. I know you’re busy, but before we jump off, maybe just let the the the the guests and the viewers know where they can find you, website. Um, obviously, we’re going to blast all this information all over social media. Um, yeah. So, okay. Well, um, my email is jared jalthimise. It’s health and optimize smashed into one word. h e a l t ht t i m i z.com. healthize.com the website. I’m switching servers right now. It’s it’s not up right now. It’s under construction, but um you can find me jballero on Instagram. Um you can look me up Jared Fisher on Facebook. I think I’m the only fitness coach that’s on Facebook. Um, but I just provided my email address and yeah, keep an eye out on the website. I’m on LinkedIn. Um, you can just look me up Jared J A R E D Fisher F I S C H E R and you’ll find me. Yeah. Yeah, we’ll make sure too. Coug will put it on there. We’ll make sure at the bottom at the end of the podcast they got all the information. Yeah. So, well man, I really appreciate your time. I appreciate you, man. Yeah. And the opportunities. So proud of you. Thank you, dude. And Yeah. Thanks for having me, guys. Keep rocking it. Thank you so much. Until next time, my beautiful people. Peace. Let’s go. Good stuff, [music] man. Hell yeah, brother.