[Luke] All right, here we go. Episode 685. What's gonna happen on episode 1,000? I gotta start getting ready for that.

[Alyson] Oh my goodness.

[Luke] I seem to miss these benchmarks where we kind of... We had a little bit of a shout-out for the 10-year anniversary, but I feel like some of those numbers are significant. You'd probably know the significance of the numbers more than I, but man, they creep up every time we do one of these. I'm like, "We just did 100?" 300,

[Alyson] Some more feels so close, but so far away. It's like a weird radius.

[Luke] Yeah. I wonder how many hours total. Probably says on YouTube. I think everyone's on YouTube. Thousands of hours. Wonder if I've hit 10,000 hours. Am I good at this yet?

[Alyson] Oh my God. I would imagine you've hit your 10,000.

[Luke] Probably. So we got a AMA today. We've got a lot of great listener questions, as I understand so I'm excited to answer those. I'll let everyone know you can find the show notes at lukestory.com/685, and it's also worth noting, I'm sure many people are aware of this and a few aren't, on your podcast player app of choice there are many of them of course, and everyone uses different ones you can always find the show notes link that takes you to my website, lukestory.com where you can find like the full meal deal, where there's the audio, video, written transcripts, clickable show notes, and so on. But a lot of the things that we talk about that are clickable, other resources and things if you wanna dig into, are also available on your podcast app in the show description. So I sort of use show notes and show description interchangeably 'cause they're kind of the same thing. But technically, show notes are more the master file on my website, and the show description has as much information as the apps allow us to pack in there.

[Alyson] All right.

[Luke] That was a public service announcement

[Alyson] To get us started here. Yeah, that was very... Yes, you're very in your news anchor era there. Yeah.

[Luke] Yeah.

[Alyson] Uh...

[Luke] Maybe I'd get a job at CNN.

[Alyson] Official broadcaster, oh my goodness.

[Luke] Yeah.

[Alyson] Can you even imagine- I gotta talk to-... the

[Luke] Segments that you would recommend? I gotta talk to my CIA handler, though, and see if, see if they'll authorize it.

[Alyson] Oh, gosh. well, do you wanna jump right in?

[Luke] Yes.

[Alyson] Okay. I'm gonna start with something light and easy breezy, Thank God... unique and fun today. I know. side note, I am like oof on month four of this parasite cleanse, and my cycle has just been all over the place. Some months twice a month, some like one month nothing at all, which is so not normal for me, and yeah. I'm just in a very unique state today, so I'm just gonna do my best with a lot of brain fog going on. Can I That's my disclaimer...

[Luke] Can I just make a comment on that? A, I was hoping you would answer all the questions today. Yeah.

[03:03]

[Alyson] Right.

[Luke] But I've told you this before, but it's been going on, I think, our whole relationship, or at least I've been aware of it for quite a while, but yesterday I was having a really challenging day for a number of reasons, just out of sorts really the last couple days, and when I was kind of in On the struggle bus at least, at least one foot on the struggle bus. You were, like, super happy and just blissed out and having fun and being so supportive of me and my process. And today I woke up and the clouds kinda cleared. I had a great call with Adam Shell yesterday and a talk with you, and was able to just kind of ask for some help and get my head screwed back on straight. So I woke up feeling really good, and then today you're struggling. But it's really interesting how we seem to compensate, right? I mean, there's sometimes, I don't know, we're both feeling great, but seems like we're never both struggling at the same time.

[Alyson] It's very rare. Yeah. Yeah. And if there is any crossover, it's like an hour crossover. It's not like a days or weeks Yeah... you know, but yeah. So it does, it does work

[Luke] Well. I'm thankful for that. I think you're more bubbly and happy generally than me anyways.

[Alyson] I would, I would say so. Yeah. I'm, I've always been a naturally effervescent person, but today, oh my God, I just... I think it's like a parasite detox, like Ah Most excruciating top of head headache, and I am having a hard time talking and even formulating a sentence, so.

[Luke] Okay. Well, I got you. I'll do all the talking.

[Alyson] Great. Okay. First question is from Jess, and he or she asks, "Where do you get your style/clothes these days? Blast from the past question."

[Luke] That's funny. I've been thinking about this just because I've been contemplating identity a lot in the process of writing my book and just always doing my best to evolve. And I was thinking about the history of my life as it pertains to style and whatnot. And even when I was a really little kid according to my mom, she's told me this many times, I was always really particular about clothes. Like, I remember clothes shopping, you know, like when you're going back to school.

[Alyson] Oh, yeah. You used to be able to pick stuff out of those cool catalogs.

[Luke] Yeah. And you know, my little, other little homies would be complaining, "Oh, I gotta go to the mall and go shopping with my mom," you know? And I was like, I couldn't wait. I just, I don't know. I've always liked expressing myself through clothing. But the funny thing about that is I think early on it was like a form of self-expression and kind of innocent, and then in my teen years and into my 20s it was very much like a crutch and a cover for a lack of identity or self-worth within, right, where I was, like, very self-conscious and really wrapped up in how other people saw me.

[06:20]

[Alyson] So were you, like, masking at that time? Or what, how would you describe that? Well,

[Luke] I just, I think there was a, there was long periods of my life where I just didn't know who I was or what I was about. I was completely ego-identified, so all I knew how to express was something external, and a lot of why I did that was to find belonging And to fit in with someone because I never fit in anywhere. I don't, I still don't think I fit in anywhere really, except maybe with you. so yeah, the, you know, there's... I don't know, it's interesting there's a fine line between personal and creative expression, which I think is the answer to that question will be which is kind of why I choose what I wear today is because I enjoy it and it feels good and fun, and I like having new clothes all the time, especially 'cause I do a lot of photo shoots and things like that, video shoots and podcasts. I don't wanna wear the same black T-shirt. I'm not a Steve Jobs kinda guy. so yeah, there was a couple periods where it's like I was very obsessed with how I looked, my hair, and I was telling you the story recently how I went to the I went to Koreatown in LA and got, like, the hair straightening, the Korean hair straightening.

[Alyson] You have. You've done some beauty things that I've never even

[Luke] Done. Yeah. I mean, I was just, like, really into the mirror, you know? I was so insecure and so self-conscious. I remember there were years where it's like I was so self-centered-

[Alyson] Mm...

[Luke] In terms of, like, where my attention was that I felt like everywhere I went, every single person present was staring at me and judging me. And so the way that I dressed was, like A defense against judgment and wanting to be accepted and things like that

[Alyson] Was that when you were kind of more in your rock and roll, all black and-

[Luke] Yeah. I mean, I went through a lot of phases. I think, too, just... I don't know. Again, some of it's self-expression, but yeah, I was like first... My first version was, like, I was into skateboarding and BMX bikes and heavy metal, so I was like a little, we used to call them heshers. You know, like the stoner kind of skater vibes. And then when I was a teenager, I discovered punk rock and then got super punk, and you know, dyed hair and spiked hair and leather jackets and safety pins and all the things. And then I never had Doc Martens, though. I never did the combat boot thing. I kinda missed that part of the punk rock phase. Then I got into glam rock, right? You love those pictures, like the big teased hair, when I was, like, getting into David Bowie and T. Rex and the New York Dolls and The Stooges and Hanoi Rocks and, like, you know, all these kind of early glam bands.

[Alyson] It's too bad you didn't or weren't able to put pictures of yourself in your soon-coming book.

[09:26]

[Luke] You know, you know what's really sad? I was in a documentary a while ago, and they reached out to me recently, and I was talking about addiction in the documentary, and which I don't even know the name of it offhand. I'll figure it out. I'll put it in the show notes if I can find it. But they wanted pictures of me, like, when I was an innocent little kid, and then they wanted pictures of me from the addiction years. And because I was so messed up during the addiction years. Like, I either didn't take photos or I lost them.

[Alyson] There's a few though.

[Luke] I mean, I have so few. Yeah. But we're talking about a couple- Yeah... decades of being a drug addict Right... rock and roller and all that. I mean, I don't have any videos of, like, my old bands or, like, I have barely any, I have barely any documentation, and there's one photo that I really miss that I wish I had, and that was on February 14th, 1997, when I checked into Azure Acres Treatment Center in Sonoma County in Sebastopol, the one and only rehab I ever went to, and knock on wood, hopefully the one I ever have to go to. But anyway, I checked in and I was completely just like... I mean, I've been hammered before, but I knew in my soul that was the last time I was ever gonna drink or use drugs. And so I got wasted. I could barely get through the door. And they took a Polaroid of me-

[Alyson] Wow...

[Luke] At my intake, and I've always wanted to see that photo. So when I was 10 years sober, which is almost 20 years ago I went back to that rehab to just visit. I think I went to a meeting there. And I was all proud and excited, you know. I walked in the, you know, the intake office and I was like, "Hey, I'm Luke Story, and I was here like 10 years ago. I got 10 years sober." And they were like, "Okay." They were not impressed. And I was like, "Hey, about those photos, you know. Could I get that intake photo?" And they're like, "Dude, you think we keep those? We have thousands of junkies like you coming through every year."

[Alyson] Wow. "

[Luke] We don't keep those photos." I was like, I don't know, for some reason I wanted, I think 'cause it was the final, it was the final night. Sure. It was, like, my big surrender. That was really the most life-changing moment.

[Alyson] That was the turning point.

[Luke] That was the that was the most pivotal and consequential night of my entire 55 years, you know. So anyway, huge digression from the question, but...

[Alyson] Nonetheless, very interesting.

[Luke] But I mean, I, you know, I worked in the fashion industry for 15 years and when I lived in LA and so I, you know, I was very immersed in fashion. But funnily enough You know, in hindsight, I wasn't really passionate about it in terms of an industry, but I liked the creative aspect of it. So to get back to the the actual question, today, I still really like the creativity of, you know, wearing some funny stuff sometimes, and it's more liberating, I think, and fun now because I'm just doing it for myself. It's Mm. I don't really... It's not motivated by how other people perceive me. I mean, I don't even hardly go anywhere, as you know. You know?

[12:50]

[Alyson] Well, we're changing that, though.

[Luke] Yeah. Well, the next couple years I'll be going out a lot. But anyway, I really only shop at one place, a website called mrporter.com, which is the men's division of NET-A-PORTER. Some women might be familiar with that. and I just find that that one site has the most consolidated, um a collection of different kind of designers that I enjoy And they

[Alyson] Have some unique options and they have a good sale category 'cause a lot of their stuff is quite pricey.

[Luke] Oh yeah, I'm, don't get me wrong, I'm only shopping the sales. I don't think I've ever bought anything full price from Mr. Porter. But a lot, a lot of these stores, like, you know, online stores and stores in person, there used to be a store you obviously would know Barneys New York, which was my favorite, like, department store

[Alyson] It was really great.

[Luke] To shop for clients and to shop for myself. But I think in, it's 1997, '98 when I first got sober and got a job as an assistant wardrobe stylist and I got a job for Aerosmith, and with Aerosmith. and so that's when I was first exposed to stores like Barneys and all these different European designers and things like that, and that's when I started to appreciate well-made and well-designed clothing. Mm-hmm. And, you know, everything is energy, and so there's a real difference between going to H&M and getting a black blazer that was, like, made in a sweatshop in Vietnam you know, for 99 bucks or getting a $2,500 blazer that's, you know, Dior or whatever that was hand-sewn in Italy. You know, there's just... It's, but it's not the label. I never wear clothes with labels. That's mortifying. I don't wanna advertise for free when I paid... Actually, I don't wanna pay to advertise someone's brand. But there is a real energetic essence to clothing, and I enjoy quality clothing because it just feels different in your body and there's a different energy to it. But that's pretty much the only place I shop, and I shop like a stylist. so I'll buy thousands of dollars worth of stuff and then keep three or four things that I really like and return the rest.

[Alyson] Yeah, I've adopted that method since we've been together. I really enjoy that. But before being with you, I don't know that had ever crossed my mind to shop that way. I was-- I would more... Well, I was also living for 15 years in New York City, so it was very easy for me to pop into, like, some really great stores in Manhattan and not have to do the online shopping route 'cause everything was kind of at my fingertips there. But, you know, now since living in Texas and we haven't left the house much in a few years, and there are some good stores in Austin, but it's not Manhattan. So yeah, definitely in the last few years I've gone the You know, especially when you're in between sizes, which I am quite frequently, and it's like, "Oh, am I this or am I that?" It just, you get both sizes and just have everything sent here, and like you said, you end up sending, you know, 75 to 85, 90% of it back. But it is, overall, it does feel a more efficient way to shop.

[16:12]

[Luke] I just find going shopping in person is exhausting. Just terrible music, terrible lighting. Just loud. It smells like perfume. Yeah. It's just-

[Alyson] The... Yeah, the being checked on all the time.

[Luke] Salespeople, "Oh, how does that fit?" Yeah. Like, I'll have some, you know, 17-year-old like, "You should totally get those jeans." And I'm like, "Girl," Yeah. "Do you know who I am?" I know, I know a good pair of jeans when I see them. But yeah shopping from your living room is much more fun.

[Alyson] Yeah, I have fun when you have a It's not that often that we do it, but when one of us has a box or a couple boxes arrive, and then we get to put them on for the other person and be like-

[Luke] Yeah, and you get to take your time, too. You know, you're in a store, and it's like a, "I don't know. It's loud." Yeah. And, you know, and I'm getting pressured by the salesperson, and you end up buying things you don't really want, so.

[Alyson] Well, I'm entering into a new era, and so I'm having fun. It's really fascinating for me to see, even in just the last couple of days since I've had some new options arriving, 'cause I've been getting really clear visions of you know, my pathway forward career-wise and also the aesthetics and visual component of that. You know, changing the haircut, changing a little bit of actually putting some makeup on and what that makeup is, changing the attire. And now that I'm emerging out of the cave zone, where it was literally just being at home or maybe being on some of our close friends' ranches and in their barns, where I could just wear a lot of tunics and like, you know, just kind of frumpier cotton dresses that I didn't care if they kinda got dirty or ruined. And I was going through such a zone with our fertility journey, too, where my body changed so much. There was really only kind of bigger like caftan-style dresses was kind of the only thing that I could stand 'cause I really just prefer to be naked all the time, as you very well know. So it's I feel really excited to be at this threshold crossing where it's... I was kinda giving a bow to all of those tunics and caftans and more ranch style dresses in my closet yesterday and just thanking them for their service and just like really kind of acknowledging in a very highlighted way like, oh, wow, when you go in these different chapters and phases and eras in your life, there's different style that goes with those new, those different chapters. And the chapter I'm leaving with a bow and gratitude and honor is the caftan era. And now it's like a lot more you know, what's speaking to me right now is more classic pieces. My some of the ladies out there will know what I'm talking about. I've been tuning into where my Venus sign is, and I'm a Capricorn in general, but my Venus is also in Capricorn, and Capricorn is more just classic, timeless, a little bit more elevated, polished pieces. And so I've been exploring that more and I like places like simple places like Organic Basics, where pretty much everything on their website is all organic cotton and some things from Everlane and just places like that I'm having fun exploring. Oh, I got some new shoes coming I didn't tell you about. It's called something Copenhagen. Oh, I wish I could remember. I have it in my phone. I could look it up. But they have really beautiful handmade like sandals made in Portugal. And they're not crazy priced. They're more than, you know, if you would go to pay less, but they're not astronomically priced, and they're really beautiful shoes that are handmade, so-

[20:21]

[Luke] Cool

[Alyson] Changing it up.

[Luke] Yeah, it's been fun to see your new-

[Alyson] Anonymous Copenhagen.

[Luke] Anonymous Copenhagen. Yeah. Okay.

[Alyson] Yeah. Really beautiful- Yeah... shoe place.

[Luke] I mean, that's-- There's something to be said for, I don't know. You feel different when you're dressed sharp. Even sometimes when I'm having a Zoom meeting or a Zoom podcast, I could just be, like, in my gym shorts and, like, just, like, business on top, party on the bottom. But I'll find sometimes I wanna get dressed up for something just because it's a different feeling. You know? When you walk into a room, and you feel comfortable in your skin, and things fit well-

[Alyson] Mm-hmm... and,

[Luke] You know, you feel like your, kind of, your outsides are representing your insides in a way, and there's some coherence there, it's a really good feeling. So I'm excited for you and your 2.0 re-emerging into the world with your new offerings, that you're kind of also reinventing your style. It's fun to watch.

[Alyson] Yeah. Yeah, and it... I kinda chuckled when you said Allison 2.0, 'cause it's probably more like Allison 15.0 at this point. But yes, yeah. Yeah. It's exciting to, and reinvigorating to be in a new time and space.

[Luke] Yeah.

[Alyson] All right. Let's move it right along here. An unknown person asks you, "How much light daily in the spring and summer is adequate?"

[Luke] Oh, that's probably- and this is, that one's probably impossible to answer accurately, A, because I'm not an expert on such things. And B-

[Alyson] This would be your personal.

[Luke] Yeah, B, I mean, it depends on where you live in relationship to the equator. if you live in, you know, Costa Rica, a half an hour of sun time is much different than a half an hour of sun time in northern Canada, right? So solar noon is when I usually try to get out and get some sun because and there's an app called Sundial that I use. It's got an alarm on it that tells me when the sunrise and the sunset is and when solar noon is, which, you know, solar noon, you have roughly two hours of like peak sun when the sun is at the center point in the sky, so it's the strongest. So if I don't have a lot of time on my hands, I'm gonna get out at solar noon and get like naked in the yard and touching the grass and and just get blasted for 10, 15, 20 minutes or so. But I'm also olive-skinned. I don't really burn. I'm pretty solar calloused, as they say. I got a sunburn once when I was in Brazil, and I thought I was badass and didn't, you know, I wouldn't wear sunscreen, but a lot of people on the beach there will be under these umbrellas. And I was like, "Pfft, I don't need the umbrella," and I got the weirdest sunburn. It was like, it wasn't like when you... I mean, I've had sunburns where you're like red and sensitive, but I've never had blisters or any peeling No, I have... or any of that kind of stuff like fair-skinned people get. But in Brazil, I had these tiny little blisters all over my my back and shoulders and stuff. It was the weirdest thing. It was like my skin boiled off, so I got humbled by that. But to me, the most important is watching the sunrise and watching the sunset whenever possible, which is difficult because there are few places, you know, where you get both of those. You'd have to be on top of a mountain ridge that faced east and west, right? So here we get a bit of sunrise from this house up on the second floor here, but we can't get the sunset, so as you know, I like to take a walk around sunset time. but I think, you know, bookmarking your day with that great near-infrared light in the morning and at the evening is a really good anchor for circadian rhythm, and then getting some sun on your body midday. But as I said, a lot of it depends on your skin type and how much sun you can tolerate. But I also know people that are redheads and fair-skinned people that learn over time how to acclimate to more sun exposure. There's different supplements you can take like astaxanthin. The AX-3 product is really great for that. Chaga tea is really great. Internal sunscreen, vitamin C, vitamin E, the, you know, some of the big the big players in terms of antioxidants won't prevent you from getting a sunburn, but they do help repair the oxidative stress that you get from having too much sun. So my rule of thumb is get as much sun as you possibly can without burning, and that's gonna be different for everyone depending on where you are. But as I've said over and over again, as someone who promotes tons of products and I use tons of supplements and different devices, I mean, I'm just a geek for all of that stuff, and I love it, and I get a lot of benefit, but it does cost a lot of money. And so what I always remind people, and it's a great question to this point, is if you focus on sleep, sun, avoiding blue light as much as possible you know, I mean toxic blue light at night dealing with your EMF as best you can, drink pure, clean water, structure it if you can, get hot, get cold, move your body. You know, in terms of physical health, those are the things that really move the needle, but those are also the things that require discipline. I mean, if you're not a morning person like me, it's hard to wake up and watch the sunrise every day, right? It's much easier to, like, run to the cabinet and take a bunch of supplements. So a lot of people either don't believe me that this will really change your life if you just focus on those kind of five pillars or else people are just too lazy to change their habits, you know? But I love that question because to me, light is everything. That's just everything. If you get your lighting habits down, so many other health issues will likely resolve themselves.

[26:52]

[Alyson] Yeah, I started my day out in the yard this morning 'cause I was feeling just so unbelievable- unbelievably off, and so I was like, "Maybe if I just get out in nature," and so I just sat on the grass in the backyard, and as soon as I felt the sun hit my skin, like instantaneously, I was just like, "Oh my gosh, thank you, sun." I just sat there for a few rounds just thanking the sun and just, you know, kinda giving a prayer, hands up to it. And I like to sit... For some reason, I like to put my back to the sun and just feel the warmth and the support of Father Sun on my back. It just feels so yeah, just so supportive.

[Luke] That's the greatest.

[Alyson] I'm a sun worshiper

[Luke] Yeah, me too. also on that note, if I lived somewhere where there was less daylight and less sun, I would definitely rely more on lighting devices, whether it's lasers, LEDs. there's a really great light we have called the chrom- I think it's called the Chroma D Light that has infrared and also UVB, so it's like a vitamin D light essentially. And when it was cloudier here and during the winter, I was using that on most days, and that's great because you can get a lot of the benefits of sunlight without burning yourself 'cause you have total control over how much, you know, it gets on different parts of your body. But I think for people that live somewhere where they're sunlight deficient, that, man, you really gotta, you gotta embrace some of the technologies and get that nutrition, the light nutrition.

[Alyson] We even feed our plants the best we can with proper light. Like this one behind you on camera, it's the one in the house that just, that corner is the most challenging. Plants hate this

[Luke] Corner.

[Alyson] So you got a special light so that it feels like it's getting- I

[Luke] Got a grow light, yeah...

[Alyson] Yeah.

[Luke] Yeah, which, you know, most people use, I think, for growing cannabis. But I'm just I just want I don't like fake plants on the set of the podcast, so this corner, I'm like, I don't know, that's a boring ass wall. It needs something, so why Mm... have a plant? But yeah, when we're not shooting here, there is a big grow light that I think I found on Amazon, and it's barely keeping this thing alive. Yeah. But yeah.

[Alyson] It's helping a bit. All right, we're gonna really switch gears here.

[Luke] Uh-oh.

[Alyson] Get ready.

[Luke] Okay.

[Alyson] Get your system ready. Julie asks, "Does religion give our society the structure we need to survive, or has it always been used for control and as an impediment to our growth?" Impediment to our growth, sorry.

[Luke] Well, you know, I'll start by saying I've had very little exposure to religion in my life which I think is a good thing in my case because I didn't have a lot of negative programming or baggage to deal with. When I started on my spiritual path, I was really a blank slate so there wasn't a lot of resistance. Where many people I know in recovery, for example, come into the 12 steps and they're like, "Okay, I really need help. I'm gonna go to these meetings." And then you walk in there and they're like, "Guess what? The answer is God." And that's really difficult for people that have preconceived and oftentimes erroneous beliefs around what God is and what it's not. So I know a lot of people have had to really let go of their religious trauma in order to have a more direct experience with a higher power. I didn't have that problem, thankfully, and I think I was so desperate by the time I walked into that rehab. I mean, I would've joined any cult or religion or anything if I felt like it was gonna help me. Thankfully, that wasn't necessary. I was able to find help in a way that allowed me the dignity to find my own relationship with God a God of my own understanding. So I don't have a lot of experience with it. But, um The idea to me of needing a middleman between oneself and God has never really felt-- it's never rang true to me, right? And that's I think because I've had so many profound experiences where it's become clear to me that, not that I am God in the sense of you know, I'm omniscient, but that I am just a single expression of the one God, you know, the one creator, as is everyone. And so it's helpful for me, for example, I mean, if I met a priest or a rabbi or whatever that had some wisdom to share with me, I'm all ears. And I'm, I've learned from a lot of people that are spiritual students, not necessarily... Or spiritual teachers, not necessarily religious ones, but they've helped kind of, you know, guide me and create a roadmap where I can establish and cultivate that relationship for myself. But in terms of needing to walk into a specific building and follow a specific book and doctrine and dogma I haven't found that appealing at all. However, I've not known many, but the religious people that I've known in my life are some of the most healthy and well-adjusted and happy people, you know? I mean, I know there's a lot of fake Christians and a lot of, you know, people that kind of use various religions as a shield or an identity or a lever of control over other people, a way to siphon people's energy and money. So there's a lot of darkness in religions, obviously. But I think if one has some discernment, there's probably a lot of benefit in the belonging that you can feel in a religion and having a core set of principles that feel aligned for you and your family and having that sense of community. I think if I hadn't found that community within 12-step groups, I don't know that I would have made it. And I think a lot of people find that, you know, that kind of support in religion. So I've never really been an anti-religious guy, but it's also something that's not, um... I never really felt compelled to follow any one thing because in the 29 years I've been on this path any religion that I've kind of looked into with any sort of curiosity seems to all be pointing to the same thing. You know? It's just like these mythic stories that carry on through the epochs of time all seem to be saying the same thing. So I've always been about kind of, okay, if I can just distill all these teachings into a few core principles or core ideas on how I might live my life and how I might be guided, then I can just follow those universal truths, those laws, and if I adhere to those laws, it's going to bring me more internal integrity and security and peace. And so why do I need someone else in between me and those principles, right? It's like if all the religions are kind of pointed toward the same thing, if you boil them down, I haven't felt really that I need a religion. although a couple years ago, we did go to church a few times and I bought a Bible, which I've talked about just because it became clear to me, and it still is clear to me, that there's like definitely a war on Jesus and a war on Christianity and the institutions and groups of people that have somehow figured out how to control this world the nefarious ones, they seem to really hate Jesus and hate Christians. And I thought, "Well, if they're all against Jesus, then Jesus must be good," you know? so that was kind of the impetus for that, but it didn't, I don't... It didn't really stick, you know? I was like, "Cool. I like having a Bible in our room even though I don't read it." It just feels good to me to have it there. I... Everything I've ever heard that's been attributed to Jesus has rang true to me, especially unconditional love and forgiveness, and also what came out in the '30s and '40s in the New Thought movement around Christianity. There was kind of this non-denominational Christian movement. Emmet Fox and different other writers that I've gained a lot from spoke about the teachings of Jesus from a metaphysical point of view, which had mostly to do with your mind and the kind of thoughts that you entertain. And so I think for me, religion has been most useful when the theology and dogma has been taken out of it, and I can just get to the core of it. I think that's just part of my nature. I'm not really into metaphor and stories and mythology. I'm more into just give me to the point, and let me apply some of those teachings to my life and see if my life gets better, and if it does, I keep applying them.

[36:52]

[Alyson] Mm-hmm. Well, I love Jesus so much, and yeah, I also did not grow up religious really at all. You know, I went to I don't know how many Sunday schools, but, you know, Sunday school classes. Sang a few times in the church choir, but, you know, that was very few and far between. I, you know, don't come from a religious family or background or upbringing at all. But thankfully, Jesus aligned in my life in a very powerful way a long time ago, and so I definitely have a lot of honor and respect for him because he was definitely, has been my saving grace through a lot of my initiations and my pathway, my on the spiritual path, so very grateful to him. I do have a question for you, though, before we move on 'cause you were making some interesting points about, like, you know, I something along the lines of religion being able to bring people together. But I find it... I'm curious your thoughts on sometimes it does seem, though, that Different religions can then have a judgment against other religions, and that it can also simultaneously bring about separation. So I find Yeah,

[Luke] Totally...

[Alyson] Very intriguing as well. You know, I know some Christians that tend to be quite judgmental. Like, if you're not all walking the path with and to God and with and to Jesus in the exact way that they are, then it's almost like this like, "I'll pray for you," kinda- Yeah.

[Luke] Yeah,

[Alyson] Yeah You know? Like, Yeah... it's almost like this pity and this sorrow Yeah... and they've, it-

[Luke] Oh, God bless your heart.

[Alyson] Yeah, and it feels, it feels as if they're looking Yeah... on you and judging you with pity because you're not walking it in the exact same way, so I get a bit confused around some of those concepts. Yeah.

[Luke] I think when I'm speaking of religions as a unifying force, it would be more each sect within each religion, right? So if you're a Mormon or you're a, I don't even know what they are, evangelical, whatever Baptist, you know, it's like within those groups there's a cohesion because there's a collective agreement on a direction and on a teaching, right? But to your point unfortunately, oftentimes, yeah, there is such a personal and collective identification with a particular dogma that if not overtly, it will even covertly deny the faith and validity that other people live by, you know? And so I just don't believe in a judgmental God. That's not the kind of relationship I have with God. I judge myself way more than God judges me. God is the thing that saves me from judging myself, you know, and being too hard on myself and critical on myself. And when I've had really profound spiritual experiences and really deep prayers, the message I get from God is like, "Dude, you're okay. Like, relax. Give yourself a break," right? It's the... I get the opposite of judgment from God because God is expressing through me, and God is also expressing shadow and duality through me, too, and giving me the option of which I wanna choose. But the the segregation and the vilification of those outside of your tribal identification, I think is is an expression of ego, you know? Yeah. And there's a, there's a collective ego. So if I'm a Christian, and you're like, "I'm a Buddhist," and I'm like, "Oh, well, you're not gonna be saved. Looks like you're going to hell," what is that? You know? It's like-

[41:03]

[Alyson] Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Yeah. And it's also curious to me because there are so many ancient religions that go back thousands and thousands of years before Christianity even began. Do you know what I mean? Totally. So and it also, I just remembered how I got that invitation to be on that show. I forget the name of it, but that one where it's like they wanted me to speak about shamanism Oh, they

[Luke] Wanted you to debate, like, 30, uh-

[Alyson] Christians... fundamentalist

[Luke] Christians?

[Alyson] No, it's not fundamentalist. That's not... you know, but it's at least that's not how the invitation portrayed it. Oh, okay. But it was something called, like, Versus, and where it's a pretty large YouTube-based show. seemed to have millions of views per episode, but they bring in, like, one shaman or one Muslim woman or one, you know, of a different religion, and then yeah, you debate, I think, 20 Christians. And so I forgot that I got that invitation until we started to talk about

[Luke] This. I did too. Yeah.

[Alyson] It's interesting.

[Luke] Yeah. I don't like arguing.

[Alyson] Yeah.

[Luke] So, like, I'm not a debater. If you don't agree with me, I'm good. Live your life. I,

[Alyson] I know.

[Luke] It's like I don't, I have no desire to bring people over to my side, you

[Alyson] Know? Yeah, I'm not trying to convince anyone-

[Luke] Yeah...

[Alyson] Of whatever, especially this, but, um-

[Luke] I think you could sum up my views on religion and all of that as live and let live. Whatever works for you, I'm happy for you, and everyone's gonna find their own way to God. And whenever we leave our body, no matter what you believe, you're gonna, you're gonna merge back with whatever created you and whatever you hold as a belief. But I also think it's just healthy psychologically to hold things loosely and to be open-minded so if somebody gave me a really convincing case for why I should become a devout Christian and deny all other teachings, if it was convincing enough, I might give it a shot. Doubtful, but I'm open, you know?

[Alyson] Yeah.

[Luke] I mean, years ago, this is like 20, 25 years ago, someone gave me an Emmet Fox book called Sermon on the Mount, which was used a lot in the early days of Alcoholics Anonymous before they had their own book, right? And I was so ignorant of the Bible and Christianity, I didn't even know the title Sermon on the Mount was like a Christian you know a Christian title. Apparently, it's in the Bible. And I started reading that book, and I was like, "Oh, this is really good. It's just all about the science of mind. It's just a really good old school metaphysical book." And then I'm reading into it, I'm like, "Wait, this is like church stuff," you know?

[Alyson] Hmm.

[Luke] But I was open-minded enough where even though I didn't consider myself a Christian per se, I was like, "Wow, this really rings true." And I would say that's like a that was the most compelling case for me to lean into Christian ideas, and it was coming from a metaphysical teacher that didn't believe in all of the dogma and the metaphor and the you know, kind of symbolism and was just really about distilling those ideas down. So that was kind of my introduction to Christianity, and I'm grateful for that because I didn't have any resistance to it because it was, it was kind of trimming the fat off of a lot of these religious stories and ideas and just getting down to the core teachings of Jesus as this particular guy perceived them.

[44:47]

[Alyson] Yeah. And I happened to be having lunch with a friend, colleague a couple of days ago, and I don't even know how we got to talking about Jesus. Oh, I actually I kinda do, but I don't know that I wanna get into that right now 'cause that's like opening up a can of worms and probably a subject I can bring forward for another day where we're doing more of a conversational episode together. But anyways, I told her about Marianne Williamson's book, The Mystic Jesus, and recommended that to her. And it reminded me of when Marianne, you know, reached out to, you know, possibly do something with me regarding that book here in Austin, and we had that beautiful dinner you know, with about-

[Luke] That was

[Alyson] Awesome Like 30, I think about 30 people. And Marianne and I shared, you know, our personal pathways with Jesus, and then she shared about the book. And then we had, we moved from that area of the home into the dining room and over a beautiful organic farm-to-table dinner, like just 30 of us discussing all of our unique paths of knowing and slash not yet knowing Jesus, and just how incredibly healing and cathartic and exquisite the frequency of that dinnertime conversation was. Yeah. I mean, what a kind of a once in a lifetime opportunity, you know? And just to be able to learn from other people, won't name names, but some of our close friends here who used to be very evangelical and do ministry in Africa and, like, really walk a very deep Christian-based path, and then felt called to maneuver out of that, and then trying to figure out how to get to know Jesus from a different place when-

[Luke] Yeah

[Alyson] You know, and others, you know, brainwashing is a very strong term, but I think that at least one may have used that where they got indoctrinated into certain religious beliefs at such a young age that it's been quite a painful journey for them to reorient because they do feel a resonance with Jesus, but the way they got to know Jesus is not the way at all that I got to know Jesus because I didn't, I don't, I... My relationship with Jesus is not formed through religion at all. And so it was just such a blossoming, healing, expansive night of Jesus.

[Luke] That was cool. Yeah, I remember that. Yeah, there were a couple people there who had, I think the words they used were like religious trauma-

[Alyson] Mm-hmm...

[Luke] From growing up in the church and just

[Alyson] Being- Yeah, some people were crying. It was really moving. Like-

[Luke] Yeah, which is interesting for me 'cause I didn't, I didn't have that experience, as I said, as those... Things like that are what make me grateful that

[Alyson] Yeah...

[Luke] I had a really secular family. Like, there's, the only records of anyone religious in my family go back three, four generations. You know? Like, great-great-grandparents were church people, and then it just kinda faded out, you know? But I will say one last thing on that is The way I see the difference between... 'Cause I know when we talk about these things, there's inevitably a couple comments, you know, on Instagram or something that's like, "Oh, Luke, give it up. Jesus is the only way," kind of thing, and really sort of toxic messages. And I'll say to anyone listening that is, like, a true Christ believer and a devout Christian, if you wanna bring people into your fold and you want them to be saved, I will let you know, as someone who you know, is on the receiving end of that type of message with that kind of judgmental condescending attitude and energy, that is, that is the very last thing that's gonna motivate a guy like me to come check out your church or pick up a Bible. And that was the case for most of my early life. It was like, you know, in the '80s my perception of Christianity was they hate heavy metal, and if you listen to Black Sabbath, you're going to hell. So I was like, "F you," you know? But I think that's one of the faults of some of the really devout religious people, is the way that they're so dogmatic and judgmental and exclusive rather than inclusive and inviting, that the message that they're trying to share might truly be helpful to people, but they're doing the message a disservice by presenting it in a way that's combative and sometimes offensive.

[49:32]

[Alyson] Well, like you said, condescending, too. Yeah. It's just like, oh, with the pat on the head. Oh, do. Yeah. You know?

[Luke] Yeah. Have some humility, you know? Like, if you wanna worship Jesus, act like Jesus. Be humble. Jesus was humble.

[Alyson] And

[Luke] Like, he's an avatar sent from God. If that, if that being can have a sense of humility and forgiveness, then that's a great model to follow.

[Alyson] Amen. And you can check out Marianne's book. I think it, the full title is The Mystic Jesus: The Mind of Love. It's something along those lines. It's a great book.

[Luke] Yeah. I poked around in that book a little bit. It is cool. I'd like to read it when I have time. It

[Alyson] Can help people reorient if

[Luke] They're looking. And she's Jewish, you know? So it's like, that's also pretty interesting, that someone could be intelligent and open-minded enough to step out of their own family lineage and find the value in another teaching.

[Alyson] Yeah. Would you like to do another question, or would you like to do Luke's latest next?

[Luke] Let's see Luke's latest. Oh, okay. I only have a couple, but they're always fun.

[Alyson] All right. I'll let you take it away then.

[Luke] Okay, so Luke's latest. Drum roll, please for those new to these Friday episodes we do once a month. By the way, these shows with Allison and I come out the last Friday of every month, and they'll either be kind of listener questions like this or oftentimes just a dialogue where we're riffing on things. But, um-

[Alyson] Now called the Field Reveal Friday.

[Luke] Field Reveal Friday, yes. Yes. The Field Reveal Friday. Yes. so we got the new updates in, so Update-

[Alyson] You're actually drinking the pineapple?

[Luke] I kinda like the pineapple.

[Alyson] Wait, stop the presses.

[Luke] Yeah.

[Alyson] I never thought I'd see the day. You're so against pineapple.

[Luke] I'm open-minded. What I've been talking about. I'm willing to try things. I've

[Alyson] Never seen you drink that flavor,

[Luke] Though. I'm willing to change my ways. You

[Alyson] Like it?

[Luke] You will probably never see me eat eggplant or culinary mushrooms in this lifetime. Outside of that, I'll pretty much try anything. yeah, so for those that don't know, I mean, if you've been watching the shows on YouTube for some time, you'll know there's always an Update can sitting next to me because it's just the greatest energy drink of all time to the point that I invested in the company a couple years ago which I don't typically do unless I'm really into something. NuCalm would be another one. but Update is an energy drink that doesn't have calories or sugar or any funky stuff, and the key ingredient is called paraxanthine, which is one of the three metabolites of caffeine, and it's the one-third that helps you feel alert and gives you mental and physical energy, but not the two-thirds that give you the anxiety. So it's like the ultimate flow state drink. And they-- We were out of them for a couple months because they were reformulating, and they relaunched, and they're in Walmart, and Kim Kardashian is the face of the company now. And they started out kind of in the biohacking community, and then I guess realized, like, "Oh, well, there's only so many of those people. We want to go mainstream and basically become the healthy version of Red Bull." And so that's what they're doing. So they sent us the new formula, and they taste... I thought the taste was fine, but I'm also someone who's, you know, not drinking Coca-Cola or whatever, or Monster drinks. So I don't know what they're supposed to taste like, but they're good. They were good before. They're better now. So shout-out to Update for making an awesome energy drink that doesn't make me feel like I'm on crystal meth. Now, this is going to be a surprise to you. This is, this is Luke's latest. This one's a little different so for those listening, I've been-

[53:15]

[Alyson] You mean watching?

[Luke] Watching, listening. I've been writing a book about loneliness for the past couple years. It's called A Horse Named Lonesome: Tales and Teachings to Reclaim Connection, Transcend Separation, and Discover the Divine Within. So after edits and edits and edits and all the things, my first book, I don't know how this works I thought I was totally done, and then I got an email a couple days ago from my publisher saying, "Here is your proofread edition," which is a PDF that I can't really touch except for a couple words here and there if there's typos or if I wanna swap a word. So I printed this bad boy out, and that's what this binder is. So I have until the next 11 days, I think, to make any final notes on this. So I loaded the PDF into an app called Speechify, which will read PDFs to you, 'cause I haven't recorded the audiobook yet, obviously. so I printed it out. I'm gonna listen to it. I got my highlighter, and this is the first time I've actually seen the book in print and the layout with the fonts and all the formatting as it will be in the real book. So it's, How's

[Alyson] It feeling?

[Luke] It feels really good, but one thing that's been funny that I didn't expect is... I was talking to Adam about this yesterday, 'cause I was having a bit of a meltdown. I just, I needed some homie support, which I'm, as you know, I'm terrible at asking for help. But he sensed something was up with me, and he's like, "Dude, are you all right?" You know, he sent me a voice note. "Do you need to talk?" And I was like, "Actually, yeah."

[Alyson] Aw.

[Luke] One of the things that I was talking to him about was like, holy shit I'm realizing now that I have this book in front of me printed out, there's this sort of fear/buyer's remorse kind of feeling- Hmm Coming up because I was in such a deep silo throughout the experience that's based on the framework of a, of a memoir, so it's like a transformational memoir. So I had to go back to the moment I was born, and even further in some cases, and really unpack my whole life and examine this phenomenon of separation and loneliness and all of the ways that led me into so many painful experiences and addiction and all these things. So I was exploring a lot of really dark content, and just by nature of who I am and how I communicate ideas, I'm very honest and vulnerable and transparent. And so I was having a bit of a freak out yesterday because I realized, wait a minute, other people are gonna read this shit. It's like, "Dude, you can't do this. What are you doing?" You know? It's like my ego is freaking out.

[Alyson] Yeah. Ego death.

[Luke] Yeah. Because there was no filter other than... Only filter I used when I was writing is I didn't want to be sensational, so I used some discretion and prudence in terms of how much detail I went in, went into in certain aspects, like the sexual abuse I experienced as a kid. I mean, I could have made that really dark and gnarly, but I didn't feel that it would have served the message other than just sensationalizing something- Mm-hmm...

[56:29]

[Alyson] And

[Luke] That wasn't the point, right? It was about, like, how the experience affected me and interfered with my capacity to connect with people and just the feeling of separation and shame and all the things around it. So I was really mindful about how I talked about certain stories and experiences from my life, but now that I'm stepping back from it and there's more objectivity, that's the moment I had yesterday was like, "Dude, you need to cut out like 100 pages in this book." Aw. "You can't let people know this stuff about you." It's just mortifying, right? Now, thankfully, I'm aware that the part of me that's scared and mortified is not the real me. The real me is the one that wrote it and was very deliberate in how I told these particular stories. So it's a mixed bag of feelings having it done. One is like, man, cool. I really think this is gonna help a lot of people and reach a lot of people, and all of the blood, sweat, and tears I put into it are gonna be worth it when I am out in the world and meet someone that says, "Man, your book really helped me." That's all I want out of it, you know? Is just to continue to find more value in some of the difficult things that I've been through and have been able to overcome, and I'm sure there's a lot of people that are gonna read it that are like, "Holy shit, I relate to this. If he can do it, I can do it, and here's how he did it, and if I follow some of the things that he did, it might work for me." So it's a, it's a it's a bit of a push and pull of like, oh, I'm really excited. I'm really finally almost done. This is the last little phase. And then also like, holy shit, now I gotta go out and into the world and be the guy who's owning up to these mortifying things that I'm admitting to, you know? A lot of it's really embarrassing, to be honest. It's just like, wow.

[Alyson] Well, I think Part of what might have led to the timing of you feeling this way is there is something different about writing a book verse even having these kinds of conversations. There's something so final about print, and words in print. And with you being at this juncture in your very long birthing process of you actually being able to tangibly hold... Yes, it's not the finished hard copy of the final version of the book that other- others will be able to purchase, but you're holding printed out words that are your words and your story in your hand, and you're looking at it, and I think that might have been one thing that led you into this part of the phase- Yeah Of just like, "Oh, my gosh." That's true. It's like a vulnerability hangover times a million. You know, when you go to an event or something and you share, and then you get home, and you're just like, "Oh, gosh," like, "Did I overshare?" Or, "Why did I say that vulnerable thing?" And you kinda have a little bit of remorse. It's that times a million because you shared all, every one of those details.

[59:29]

[Luke] So true, yeah. I mean, we know the Internet's forever, right? And I mean, I've cried on this podcast, and I've... I mean, I've talked about some really sensitive and personal things in service of the mission to help other people listening. But even though the Internet's forever, there's... I mean, there's so much content, right, out there in terms of podcast content and videos and so on. I don't know. I'll record a podcast, and I might say something that's a little off-color or a little vulnerable, and then the guest leaves, and I'll be like, "Ah, shit. Should I have said that?" Eh, I forget about it, and then the podcast comes out. I don't even know what podcasts come out every week unless I happen to look at my Instagram. So there's just... Even though it lives forever, there is... I don't have a sense of permanence there just 'cause there's so much saturation in the you know, kind of content space that I'm in. But yeah, to your point with the book, it's like, okay, there's no putting that cat back in the bag. Like, once there's a physical copy of that book out in the world, like, there's no changing it. I can't go back and be like, "Hey, let's just take that one thing out," you know? Whereas there's been a couple occasions where I've taken down podcast episodes, not 'cause of anything I did, but where, I don't know, I've learned something about the guest that Was out of alignment with me in certain, I don't know, two or three times maybe in 10 years. Wasn't because of me, but I did have the ability to go kind of just delete Mm. Pluck... from, pluck it out of the you know, the content bucket. But yeah, with the book, you're right, it's, there's no undoing that once you pull the trigger. It's like a bell that you can't unring, you know?

[Alyson] Oh, what an exercise in the deepest form and level of trust you can have in yourself. Like you said, you know, when you're in that zone, that ultimate focus zone of writing and typing, you just know that you're outside of that. You have to trust that version of you, 'cause you really were so mindful and so sensitive and did so many rounds of edits. Like, you did the best you could do to get it to the form that it is now. Yeah. And just have to have full send trust.

[Luke] Yeah, and also in that, you know, in all of those edits too, in terms of having discretion and exercising some prudence, there's also other people to consider, right? 'Cause I'm writing about a lot of events in life that had to do with other people, you, my parents, et cetera. So it's, there's an interesting aspect of that, not so much in the teachings part of the book, 'cause there's a lot of philosophical ideas that I share and things like that, but in terms of the storytelling, it's, it was a little bit tricky to determine how much of my story, especially around my childhood, is my story to tell And how much do I tell about the other people involved, you know? And so there was a bit of, a lot of work that went into that so that I could still get the point across without kind of incriminating anyone else along the way. And I had to change a lot of names, you know, for legal reasons too. All the stories are true in the book, but I did change most of the names because I'm sharing things that those people might not want shared. Just because I wanna share something doesn't mean the other people do too. so anyway, that's Luke's latest on that. There is one announcement I wanted to make, though, which I'm glad I brought this binder up 'cause it reminded me. we'll be launching very soon, I don't know the date, but there will be an additional podcast. I'm starting a new podcast that's going to be a limited time miniseries called Lonesome Conversations, where I'm talking about the myriad of topics that I discuss in my book, A Horse Named Lonesome, as they pertain to existential spiritual separation down to interpersonal loneliness. So with a number of guests, I think we're up to 20 or something at this point, and there will be more. I've had additional podcast episodes with those guests where we really focus down on these specific topics, and it's been really fascinating and rewarding to talk to people. I might be talking to a guest about DNA, you know? And I think, "What does that have to do with loneliness? Can I possibly derive some you know, focused kind of content from someone whose expertise is about something else?" So we do a Lonesome Conversation episode, and they're like, "Oh yeah, if you have this snip in your DNA, it's harder to have intimate relationships," and so on. So it's been really cool to see that despite the variety of guests that I have and the different areas of expertise and focus that they represent, that everyone I've talked to has had really interesting ideas and perspectives on the things that I talk about in the book. So it'll be here in the Lifestylist podcast feed. I just wanted to let people know that's gonna be coming, and you'll start to see those pop up in the feed. So you're gonna get... If you like this podcast, well, you're gonna get twice as many for the next few months. It'll go on, go on for a while. I'm not sure how long, but as many episodes as we have, we're gonna put out. And they're shorter. They're not you know, the three to four-hour deep dives that I sometimes do. They're anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes, and they're more kind of rapid fire Q&A style versus kind of the meandering conversational style of the other episodes.

[1:05:10]

[Alyson] Different vibe. Yep. And are you sure that there's nothing else in Luke's latest you wanna cover?

[Luke] There are some things. Yeah, let me get to a couple more. I do have more, but before I jump into those, I realize I forgot to mention the website for the book, ahorsenamedlonesome.com. So you'll be able to pre-order the book and get more information about it there, I'm pretty sure by the time this episode comes out. So I am getting into the excitement phase now after my little meltdown yesterday. I think that was a turning point for me of like, "Okay, yeah, did this thing. It was really hard. Now let me make it worth it by getting out and sharing it as much as I can."

[Alyson] Well, it makes sense. Yeah. You were in it. Then you had your, like, "Ah" moment. Now you're into acceptance, excitement.

[Luke] Yeah, the five stages of whatever it is. yeah. Okay, next thing is this. I've known this as a paida paddle, this thing right here for those watching the video. And I had a treatment done at Transformational Healing Universe with Dr. Hari in LA a few years ago, and this, I believe it's Chinese or Japanese in origin, something to do with Tai Chi maybe. I forget exactly, but essentially this is like an energy medicine tool, and for those that aren't watching and just listening, it's a little handle. It's about a foot long, and it has a little rubber hand on it, and it looks like a little spanking tool basically, or some sort of poorly designed sex toy. And what you do is you generally would have a practitioner repeatedly smack this thing on parts of your body where you have a lot of lymph stagnation, and that could be an injury. Oftentimes it's done on the underarms, in your elbow creases, and in your knee creases. And when a practitioner does it, they'll go for five, 10 minutes on one spot. And when I had it done, I was black and blue on the areas of treatment where I couldn't even bend my arms and I could barely walk. the idea there is that you're getting white blood cells and all of these, you know, stagnant toxins and things like that. You're getting the good stuff into the areas where you're creating this blood flow, and you're getting the bad stuff out. So I look at it as just kind of an energetic upgrade. and then I forgot about it. You can buy... You know, I'm assuming you can buy them online. And then Activation Products, Ian Clark's company, sent me one of these with some of their supplements, and I was like, "Oh, this thing is awesome." Mm. they call it the Activator, and I mean, it's... I don't know how much it costs. They sent it to me for free, which is cool, but I'm sure it's not very much. But man, I've been using this every day, and It's a great

[Alyson] Way to start the day.

[Luke] It's amazing, yeah. So I'll go out and jump in the ice bath, get in the sun, and then as a brain teaser, 'cause I'm always looking at ways to, you know, maintain brain health, I'll do the treatment with this bad boy while I'm jumping on the Bellicon rebounder, which is, like, a real coordination puzzle. It's very difficult to do all of those things at the same time. But what's cool about using the Activator yourself is I find if I'm doing it to myself, I can tolerate the pain much more than I can if someone else is doing. When I had the treatment before, I mean, granted, it was a much more hardcore treatment than I would ever do on myself, but it was like... I mean, I was... It was excruciatingly painful, and it just goes on and on and on.

[1:08:49]

[Alyson] Mm-hmm.

[Luke] So I feel like, you know, I'm able to get some of those benefits without totally brutalizing myself. So this is, like, a great biohacking tool that costs very little money and is really easy to use, and it's super portable. And I'm just, like, so stoked that I was reminded that the Paiyeeda Paddle exists. And I like doing the bottom of my feet.

[Alyson] Yeah.

[Luke] The side of my neck, anywhere where I can get lymph.

[Alyson] I like to do my chest.

[Luke] Oh, really?

[Alyson] Yeah.

[Luke] Like on your sternum?

[Alyson] And to the right and left of your sternum.

[Luke] Oh, up here.

[Alyson] Up, and then go, and then kinda go across as-

[Luke] Above the boobies?

[Alyson] Yeah, above my breasts, but I find those pockets, all these little pockets in your upper chest, like, I for me personally, it seems to have a lot of stagnation Old energy Yeah So I like to press her out on those pockets, so I like to use that little smacker hand on there. I

[Luke] Don't know Yeah. I, again, I, you know, I'm always fascinated by the things you gravitate toward. When this came in the mail and I was all excited, I was like, "Oh, there's no way Allison's gonna use this." And you ended up loving it. You always surprise me. I can never predict, like, what-... tools arrive that you're gonna resonate with, so I'm glad you do. So that's the activator. We'll put that in the show notes at lukestore.com/685. And then the next one is NuCalm, and NuCalm is not new to me. I've been using it for many years, and I'm sure many listeners do, too, 'cause I've talked about it and done so many podcasts about it. But I wanted to mention that because they are having a really cool special at the moment. If you go to lukestore.com/nucalm, you get a seven-day free trial and 15% off your subscription. And what NuCalm is, it's one of these things that's like I feel like I can never do it justice. It's become such an integral part of my day-to-day life. It's something I literally do every single day. It's

[Alyson] Something I'm gonna be doing as soon as we get done recording because I feel so weird today. I'm going to go do NuCalm.

[Luke] Yeah. Facts. And NuCalm is an app that produces something called neuroacoustic training. It's a neuroacoustic software, and so for anyone that's ever heard of binaural beats or a different kind of brain training that's audio-based, NuCalm is light years more sophisticated and effective than anything that's come before it. Also has by far the most vast library of studies. These guys are pouring coin into research constantly. They work with the military. They work with pro athletes. They work with longtime meditators like me. So you can think of NuCalm as meditation on steroids, and meditation, especially for people that don't think they like meditation or have a difficult time doing it, the NuCalm relax tracks put you into a theta brainwave state in about three to five minutes and will keep you there, depending on which journey you choose, anywhere from 20 to 20 minutes to three hours. And so I just can't recommend NuCalm en-enough as it comes to stress and anxiety and sleep. A 20-minute NuCalm session, if you use the power nap journey-

[1:12:16]

[Alyson] Or the deep rescue...

[Luke] Deep rescue, yeah. the 20-minute power nap is equivalent to two hours sleep. Like, that's not just a marketing slogan, that's, their research has shown that, and their research is rigorous and not it's not hippy-dippy stuff. It's, like, real deal. but the thing about NuCalm that's super cool, it's not only good for relaxing, but I wrote my entire book, thousands and thousands of hours sitting at my computer, completely locked in and focused. And that's because I use their focus tracks and also their flow state tracks. If you're someone that has ADD or ADHD and just has, you know, you sit down with a goal in mind at your computer, or if you're trying to read a book or work on a project or whatever, and you find your mind wandering, and you can't stay focused on one particular thing and get it done I highly encourage that you check out the NuCalm tracks, because I wouldn't say I have ADD, but there were periods of my life where, oh, I'm gonna sit down and, you know, organize my photos or go through my emails or write something or do something that, you know, really takes, like, active focus, and it would be difficult. I'm like, "Oh, I'm just gonna check my email or open up, you know, WhatsApp or whatever." Next thing you know, an hour goes by and I'm like, "Ah, shit, I totally got taken out of what I was trying to get done." If I have the NuCalm focus tracks on, you can't drag me away from what I'm doing. Like, my brain is locked in in a really meaningful way. So I definitely encourage people, go to lukestray.com/nucalm and try it out for seven days. And just you do it every day, twice a day ideally, and I pretty much guarantee you're gonna, you're gonna sign up. Like, it's just a no-brainer. It's amazing. No brainer, no pun intended, 'cause it's so good for your brain. So that's one, and then there's only one more, and that is this cool thing, which is called the Kineon Move Plus. And we were talking about light earlier, and this is a really interesting and effective device. It's got these three little LED and laser lights that clip into... This is their little charger, and then they clip into this little kind of belt/band. And so you put the three laser LED lights in here, and then these straps are adjustable, and it's a really good way to do spot treatments on different parts of the body, especially your joints, whether it's your ankles, knees, neck, shoulder, elbows. You can essentially wind these lights around whatever area you're trying to treat, and you can treat it with a class one laser, which is really cool. Laser penetrates much more deeply than LED lights. Like, red light therapy's great, but it doesn't penetrate very deep. So there's a lot of people spend a lot of money on red light therapy that doesn't really deliver because a lot of the studies are based on that spectrum of light, but delivered with deeper penetration, as do lasers. So this thing is really cool and more affordable than a lot of the other options. Like, we have the Lima Laser, which is amazing, but you know, lasers like that, it's very expensive, much more than this, and also you have to manually hold it over whatever area you're treating, whereas this thing you can just strap it around your shoulder, your neck, and go live your life. So it's very mobile and portable. So that's you know, a really great kind of affordable option for people that wanna get the healing power of light and laser without spending $10,000 and without having to sit there and, like, not do anything except that. And I think that's it.

[1:16:07]

[Alyson] All right.

[Luke] Oh, also we've been into the peptides, Soylent peptides Which you, again, surprised me, and you've been checking those out too. So there's kind of a real gold rush happening in the peptide space, which is a bit troubling in some ways because there's a lot of people coming to market with peptides that are not pharmaceutical grade and produced in a way that makes them safe and effective. So I did a lot of research into this company, Solyn, spelled S-O-L-N-- sorry, S-O-L-Y-N. You can go to lukestore.com/solyn and get 10% off with the code Luke which is a pretty good discount 'cause peptides aren't cheap. So-

[Alyson] Well, especially when they're pharmaceutical grade.

[Luke] Yeah.

[Alyson] There's a big difference.

[Luke] And that said, whether you check out Solyn or not, I just wanna, like, as a responsible podcast host, I would be very discerning when it comes to injecting things in your body. You know, many of us are very anti-pharma for obvious reasons and you know, peptides are a pharmaceutical product, so it's not something I take lightly or just promote because I wanna make a buck. I'm not gonna put any peptides in my body unless I grill the shit out of the company that makes them, which I did with these guys and anyone else. 'Cause I'm getting approached by a lot of peptide companies now, and I have a list of questions that most of them can't answer affirmatively or to my satisfaction. So I'm very particular about the the peptides, and these guys are doing it right. And they're also relatively affordable compared to some of the other, you know, companies that are legitimate.

[Alyson] Right on.

[Luke] Yep.

[Alyson] Exciting stuff. All right, you game for one more

[Luke] Question? Let's do one more question- Okay... and we'll call it a day.

[Alyson] Okay, thank you. Struggle bussin' over here. Okay, we're gonna go with Amelia's question. "How do you rewrite beliefs, make appropriate changes, and take risks?" She knows there is an abundance out there for her, but she feels stuck. She'd love your take on this and what helped you in your spiritual journey to freedom. So rewriting beliefs, making the changes, and taking risks so you get out of those ruts and sticky points.

[Luke] Mm-hmm. Well, I think in terms of my experience with ruts, some people call them patterns, cycles, habits, addictions, attachments, right? They're all kind of in that realm of involuntary ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving that don't serve us. Big pattern interrupters have been something that have helped me a lot. in some cases earlier on in the journey, they were the repercussions of my behavior you know? It's just, like, driven to the point of suffering that I was forced to examine myself and my beliefs and really not only to acknowledge the patterns that I was acting out, but also get into the root of them. So a great example and something I write a lot about in the book is dysfunctional patterns that I had around relationships prior to meeting you scored, by the way. You didn't get the old Luke.

[1:19:35]

[Alyson] Well, we've talked about that.

[Luke] You already know that. I was ready for

[Alyson] Well, same goes for me, too. Yeah,

[Luke] I was ready for the real deal by the time we got together, and I was capable of holding what we have. Mm. but when I started to look into that, it was like, "Oh, cool, so, you know, I'm love avoidant, I have sex addict tendencies, I watch way too much porn, very promiscuous but unavailable, terrified of intimacy, terrified of abandonment," unknowingly, but that's what was behind that. So I could have read books about those beliefs, those patterns. I could have, you know, got an intellectual understanding of how those things were playing out in my life, and I started to do that, but I still couldn't change them. I couldn't move the needle. And when you're in a cycle where you're aware of some of these repetitive patterns that don't serve you, and yet you still can't stop them, that's a very disempowering and oftentimes shame-inducing experience, right? 'Cause you're like, "I did it again. Goddammit. I told myself I wasn't gonna do it, and here I am." that gets to be, you know, this self-perpetuating, self-destructive cycle.

[Alyson] Mm-hmm.

[Luke] So it's almost like ignorance is bliss in some cases when you're just a train wreck and you don't know why, and you just kind of try to bypass that, you know, reality.

[Alyson] Put the blinders on. Da, da.

[Luke] Yeah. La. I can't hear you. Nothing to see here. Right. I can't hear you. so as I started to become aware of that and, you know, reading books about codependency and all of this stuff you know, it was kind of shocking and deflating to realize even that far into my journey that I still had so much to learn and so much to change, but the only way I was able to really change those patterns and let go of my beliefs... A great example of a belief would be if you ever get married, you're a sucker. I mean, this is literally the way I used to think. women just want you for security and status. Not me, but want a man or a partner, and that if you ever open your heart to them, they will cheat on you, they will betray you, they will divorce you, and steal all your money. Don't let them get close to you. Don't tell them you love them. Don't buy them birthday presents. Don't let them spend the night. I mean, this was-

[Alyson] Good lord, you've overcome some beliefs...

[Luke] This is where I came from, right? And then I started to run into problems, obviously, living that way, like hurting people that I didn't wanna hurt. I never set out to hurt anyone, yet I did. I hurt myself. So much emotional trauma that I caused, that I brought onto myself through all these dysfunctional relationships and so on. So starting to get an intellectual understanding of that was a beginning, but what was necessary for me was to really have the willingness and courage to get under the hood and face my childhood, my core wounds, you know? And that had a lot to do with being abused. It had to do with neglect, abandonment or perceived abandonment, experiences from my childhood where I felt my parents didn't want me, which wasn't true, but-

[1:22:45]

[Alyson] Yeah, those early imprints.

[Luke] Yeah. And so, you know, I mean, I've done that in a number of ways, but I would say for me, and I, you know, I hate to be the guy that's like, "Everyone needs to do psychedelics," but just in my own experience, the intentional and very deliberate use of plant medicines was how I got in there and just really was able to go deep enough to get into the subconscious mind and to really-- not only into the subconscious mind, but into the nervous system and to the recesses of the body where that was holding all of those fears. So it's like there's levels to the game, right? It's like seeing the outdated beliefs that don't serve me, seeing the behaviors that manifest out of those erroneous beliefs, right? Like the ones I just admitted to, which are embarrassing as hell, but that's the truth. So it's like, okay, I start to get some clarity and apply some self-honesty to that, but then there's like, it's kind of like if you're, you know, digging in some soil because you wanna plant some new flowers, and all of a sudden you hit bedrock. Like, you hit some concrete or some rocks under there. It's like, okay, you can only get so far. There's a, there's a certain strata that you can't penetrate because it's beyond the conscious mind. so the conscious mind can get an understanding. I can go to therapy. I can start to understand family systems. I can read books. I can, I can get like an intellectual framework of what's wrong with me and why I'm stuck in these patterns. But to break them for me meant that I had to break my psyche open and just be brought to rubble and tears and to really face those painful experiences in my life and to really be willing to fully feel them and acknowledge them and to forgive myself for the times in which I did it, you know, when I was, like, the victim of my own behavior, and more so to truly forgive those that had harmed me, whether intentional or not, right? So getting down to root causes to me is the only way, in my experience, not saying this is true for the listener that asked the question, but The level of intellectual understanding is really important to get a blueprint for the human psyche and what makes us tick, right? Because if you don't have that, you can go have a deeply healing or spiritual experience, but then you emerge from that experience and you don't have a way to integrate because you don't have a blueprint of like, what does that all mean? How do I take the depth of that experience And actually build on top of a new foundation, right? So you can go strip your foundation away, and then you come back to your day-to-day life, and all of those patterns and relationships that you've been building for all these years are still there waiting for you to just jump back into the circus, you know? And so the self-knowledge and understanding combined with whatever modality, whether that's somatic experiencing or breathwork or body work or whatever. For me, as I said plant medicines is what has really moved the needle more than anything, but it's gonna be different for other people. Is the combination of those two, of the intellectual framework and some roadmap, a path combined with the deeper healing. So as you do the deeper healing, you have something now to stand on. So when I look back at the beliefs I used to have that I shared with you, I mean, it's like a different person. How could I have ever been so wounded? How could I have ever been so mistaken, so dumb, so naive? Just like I was so backwards in my thinking and perception and those beliefs I held. But when I look at where I came from and the amount of unresolved trauma that I was carrying, it's like, of course, how else was I gonna cope? How was I gonna get into a, an intimate relationship like we have and feel safe? And also, how was I going to have the discernment to choose a partner like you? How would I have the vision to even know that someone was safe because I wasn't even safe to myself, right? So a lot of work in my case has gone into discarding what wasn't true in order to make room for what is true. 'Cause if I'm still holding onto my old ideas and old beliefs that are erroneous or I've outgrown them and I'm trying to also adopt new ones and kind of create my own gumbo of a new, a new me and experience some kind of transformation, I'm gonna be out of coherence because there's things I'm holding onto that don't vibrationally match with where I want to go and where I'm going. So it's a full surrender, and it sounds like based on that person's question, that they're at a place of surrender. Like, "Man, this isn't working. I'm..." You know?

[1:28:03]

[Alyson] I better email Luke.

[Luke] Yeah. Yeah. No, I love it. I love it, man, 'cause I have so much empathy. I mean, I just-- I've just been through so much shit, like all humans have. I'm not unique to that, and people have had it much worse than I have objectively. I'm privileged in many ways, but pain is well-

[Alyson] Well, I also wanna Yeah... because you are sometimes self-deprecating, you have overcome so much. It's incredibly astounding, and I think because it's been your life and your path, I know to some extent you do know the hardships and challenges you've experienced and overcome, but again, when you are you and you're just living your life, I think sometimes it's hard to objectively see things. So yes you know, have there been humans across all time and space that have had a more challenging time than you? Yes, and you have really been so brave. I mean, I told you yesterday and I was reflecting over the last couple of days, I can honestly say you're the most incredible and courageous and brave human I have ever known. I mean, from where you have come from and the things, the cards that you were dealt in some instances, and how much you have evolved and the work that you've put in to get to where you are now, it's it's not a normal everyday thing.

[Luke] Thank you. I appreciate it. Yeah. I think when I, when I speak to it in that way, it's just I'm aware that suffering is relative.

[Alyson] Yeah.

[Luke] And so to me, the things I've been through are brutal, you know? But I also know people, especially in my years in recovery, I mean, I know people that have killed people that did decades in prison- Yeah... that were terribly tortured and abused as kids. And I mean, I've heard some real horror stories where I meet someone like that and I go, "Oh, geez, I had it pretty easy," right? But when it comes to pain and suffering, it's an internal experience, and so it can't really be judged objectively because we experience suffering subjectively. So if you were, say, the middle kid in your family who was not overtly abused, but you were completely ignored and got no love and attention, that's going to feel like... That's your own trauma for you to hold, even though from the outside, you might be like, "Oh, you had it easy. The first kid got the shit beaten out of him, and the third kid was the golden child," or whatever, right? So I acknowledge everyone's level of pain, and we all have our own versions of it, but I'm just sitting here immensely grateful that there was something in my soul in this incarnation that has called me forward to evolve and continues to do so. It's just something that's not like I tried to be that way. It's just I'm just wired that way. I just, I, A, in the beginning, I wanted to suffer less, and now I just-- it's not that I'm trying to avoid suffering, it's just I want more joy and ease and freedom. I just, I want to be as liberated as I possibly can while I'm here in this Luke Story experience. But to sum up on that question, I appreciate the fact that person is even you know, has the impetus to start examining themselves, and that's the first step, is to really have an honest look in the mirror and go, "Okay, you know, what character defects am I acting out? Where am I falling short? Where could I do better? What are the principles I live by? What are my values? What are my morals? And what are the morals and values that I aspire to embody? And why and where am I falling short?" And if you set out on that endeavor, you're probably gonna be led back to your formative years in your childhood, and you were either neglected or abused in some capacity, because people that had loving, healthy, fully integrated parents that love them unconditionally don't even know what it's like to not love themselves Which is the core problem of the whole, the whole game is learning how to love yourself. And some people in you know, this particular lifetime entered into a family system with parents and you know, people around them that fostered that self-love and self-worth within them by unconditionally loving them and nurturing them, and some of us come here and we don't get that. And it's up to us to learn how to provide it for ourselves. And when we provide it for ourselves, we fill our cup, and when the cup's full, all it can do is floweth over, and then your life becomes about service.

[1:33:01]

[Alyson] Mm-hmm.

[Luke] And that's a life worth living, you know, a life that has purpose and that has meaning. So there's not a sense of floating in space like, "Oh, what am I doing here?" It's like, "Oh, I know what I'm doing here. I'm getting better at loving myself, and the better I am at doing that, the more I can love other people." And then there's a positive feedback loop.

[Alyson] Yeah, sometimes the trajectory, it's not always this way, of course, but sometimes it's I even have this on my website, from suffering to surrender to service.

[Luke] Oh, really? I didn't know you had that. That's cool. That's epic. Yeah. I haven't looked at your website since I was stalking you and crushing on you.

[Alyson] Well-... it's very, yeah, I'm still

[Luke] Crushing on you, but I don't have to stalk you now 'cause you're right here.

[Alyson] No, you were that word is strong. You were never actually-

[Luke] Prospecting you. How about that?

[Alyson] You were admiring.

[Luke] Okay, I'll take that.

[Alyson] Appreciating. That's the word, appreciating.

[Luke] There was a time when I was looking at your social media and your website, sizing you up, trying to get a read on you. Yeah.

[Alyson] Oh, my goodness. Well my add to Amelia's question, it's it's brief, but I think there's a gem in there. When I was listening to your share and your contribution, it honestly made me reflect on my new offering and my new era, the field reveal. Because all of those Branches or spokes on the wheel that you're like, "I did this, which led to this, which went, took me here to this," which it's like that's... You can just do the field reveal with like honestly-

[Luke] Totally.

[Alyson] So yeah, I will be revealing more about what the field reveal is in the coming months. I'm currently building out the website and yeah, formulating some things. But in essence, it's a transmission-based teaching where we shift into the medicine field with no medicine. And one of my favorite teachers/friends, Paige Britt one of her nuggets of wisdom is that distortion is just lack of wisdom, right? And it made me think of Amelia's question and your answers. It's simply being brave enough to open into the field and ask like, where is there a lack of wisdom here? You know, if there's a certain pain point that she's examining, whatever that stuck place is for her entering into a safe, open, divine field and getting brave enough and courageous enough with yourself to just simply ponder and ask that question is when it comes to this area of life, this stuck component of my life, what is the wisdom I'm lacking here? Because, you know, and I really agree with Paige's teaching that's all that distortion boils down to be. Mm-hmm. Is distortion is simply a lack of wisdom. Yeah.

[1:36:13]

[Luke] So... Yeah. That resonates for me, too. I think it's like What we call false beliefs is an adherence to fallacious wisdom, right? So it's like, it's not that we lack a belief in something or an understanding of something, we just, we're believing in something that's not actually true, you know? And it might feel like wisdom, right? So that's how the mind works. The mind, like, collects information so that it can reinforce itself and reinforce itself. Mm-hmm. But for me, the spiritual journey has been much more a process of subtraction than addition.

[Alyson] Yeah.

[Luke] It's been way more letting go of things I believe to be true that weren't than it is getting that. Yeah. So what's left when you remove falsehood is wisdom, is truth. Now, some of wisdom needs to be earned and gained through life experience and study and listening to teachers and stuff, but it's like you don't have to make the sun appear. You just gotta get the goddamn clouds out of the way.

[Alyson] Yeah. And for my path, it's been a lot about revelation, you know? Mm. And that's another reason why I'm so passionate about the field reveal. It's when you let those light bulbs go off.

[Luke] Yeah.

[Alyson] And you're just like, "Oh, my gosh. Duh." I mean, I'm still having revelations about things that happened in high school. I mean, and that's so real. Just in the last couple of weeks, I got brought back to a tricky situation that wasn't that fun, that I think I was like a junior or senior in high school, and I had a light bulb of revelation go off about that just in the last couple of weeks that really clicked in a different puzzle piece and connected so many dots and kind of almost completed this little bit of a bumpy, blippy, potentially distortion-y line. Like, all of a sudden it got to a place of completion and into coherence.

[Luke] Mm-hmm.

[Alyson] And that thread went for 30 years.

[Luke] Yeah.

[Alyson] You know? So it's-

[Luke] The field revealed it.

[Alyson] Yeah. It truly.

[Luke] And I guess that's kind of what I'm getting at with the getting into the subconscious mind and getting into the body is it's like there's a bandwidth, right, that is an access point into the field of all-knowing, all wisdom, all truth.

[Alyson] The divine field.

[Luke] Yeah, the divine field, and, you know, psychedelics are one way to do it, which you have experience in that realm obviously, too. But I love what you're doing because, as I always say, I think as beautiful as those experiences can be, they're just, they're not appropriate for all people at all times. They're just not, I think. they wouldn't have been for me at a certain point in my journey. When they were, they were, and now I would say much less so for different reasons, right? But what you're doing with your work is tapping into that particular superhighway of information that doesn't require anything outside of you and your body and your own mind and emotions, you know, which is beautiful because that's something that anyone can do. There are no, like, disclaimers necessary for that, right? You don't have to have an intake form to do the work that you're now emerging with. It's like the intake form is, are you willing to be honest with yourself? I mean, you could speak to this better than I am, but it's like, the way I see it is, are you willing to be honest with yourself, and are you willing to be fiercely present from a witness observer perspective and observe the phenomenon that's moving through you without attaching a particular meaning to it, without creating story

[1:40:19]

[Alyson] Around it? And it, and it can be that easeful, and that's another reason why I'm so inspired with the new era for me and for whoever for whoever resonates with this and leans into this when all these offerings are officially ready, is the awakenings and the pathway in this particular essence is truly filled with more levity, ease, and pleasure. And I certainly know the difference because, you know... And it's all beautiful, and it's all perfect, and, you know, the huge teaching that came in for me over the last few years is enlightenment is trying to reach you through equanimity. So there's that equanimity that is always there, but my previous awakenings and ways of learning just they were riddled with a lot of pain and underworld. And and this particular method, it brings, it allows with ease these revelations. and the revelations can be startling and surprising. but there's just, like, a different texture in which the teaching presents itself, which I'm enjoying.

[Luke] Me too.

[Alyson] Yeah.

[Luke] I love it. All right, guys. That's episode 685 of The Lifestylist Podcast. Thanks for joining me, Allison.

[Alyson] I barely made it through this one.

[Luke] That's all right.

[Alyson] Whoo.

[Luke] You did, you did great, but we're gonna let you go now. Thanks everyone for tuning in. We'll be back on Tuesday with another show.

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