The Power of Priming: How to Start Your Day with Intention

Peter: 00:00:06

Views, interpretations and opinions expressed are not advice nor official positions presented on behalf of any organization or institution. They are for informational and entertainment purposes only. Now join Ryan and Peter for another episode of the Tracking Wisdom Podcast.

Ryan: 00:00:23

Good morning everybody. I'm Ryan.

Peter: 00:00:25

And I'm Peter.

Ryan: 00:00:26

And welcome back to the Tracking Wisdom Podcast. This is episode two in our series addressing my experience with Tony Robbins.

So if this is the first episode you're listening to, go back to last episode. It'll give you a little more context as to the scenario that brought us here.

And in that episode we also talked about three pillars of lasting change.

But in this episode we're going to talk about in an exercise that he discussed during the seminar, this is the time to rise Free summit that he does annually. This was an online event and he talked about priming quite a bit, but he didn't actually go through it.

So this is something he referenced as an exercise that he does daily and this is how he starts his day.

And I chose to put it as the second topic we talked about because I think that some of this exercise kind of points, points to the at least the energy state pillar from the previous conversation. So I did share the video with Peter. This is something you can find online. Tony Robbins priming exercise.

There's a video on YouTube, but also on his website, which is where I found it, there's an audio version of this exercise. It's a 15 minute exercise and it has a number of kind of stages which I found was interesting.

And so he talks about this as something that he's ritualized. I did one and said, oh, I'm going to start doing this and I haven't done it since.

Peter: 00:02:06

Must be your motivation.

Ryan: 00:02:07

It must mean. Well, it is my motivation, but also the very first portion of this, which is a very unique and specific breathing. I don't know.

Peter: 00:02:19

No technique.

Ryan: 00:02:20

Technique. Thank you.

When I would do this at 5:30 in the morning, I'm feeling very self conscious and not wanting to be disruptive to like my sleeping family members and stuff. So it's a, it's a unique breathing and it was notable to me.

Although Peter raised something interesting about it that I was unaware of, but what I recognize from it.

So the, the exercise opens with this breathing exercise where there's motion and breathing and it's like lifting your arms up in the air and pulling them back down and it's quick in breaths and hard out breaths. It's like over and over again.

Peter: 00:03:07

So the in breath is raising your. That's what got me Trying to do the audio first. Like you have to see a video right before you rely on the audio.

Because you need to know that as you breathe in rapidly, you're extending your hands up over your head, right?

Ryan: 00:03:24

I think so. And then you're pulling your.

Peter: 00:03:26

Pulling your hands down and breathing out rapidly.

Ryan: 00:03:30

Right.

Peter: 00:03:31

Okay.

Ryan: 00:03:31

And he did. He goes through sort of sets of this where you do.

I don't know how if he times it, if it's like a minute or if he counts them out, but there's say maybe 45 seconds or a minute of doing this exercise. And he. Then he asks you to basically sit palms up and kind of relax into that state.

So the last episode when we talked about the three pillars, the first pillar was state and using physiology and motion to help guide you into a mental state of presence and being. What I recognized about it, which is something that I found interesting. So basically it does induce hyperventilation is one thing about it.

But then he's. He's asking you to do it, and then you sit with your palms up and he's saying, you know, feel that calm and that tingling.

And the only thing I could think of is he's trying to get you high before you. You go into this like mental exercise.

And it was reminiscent or it is actually specifically a technique that I learned for public speaking to manage nerves. When you go out onto stage before you do that, you do a bit of a hyperventilation exercise to kind of calm your nerves. And it works. It does work.

And certainly getting high on oxygen is probably not the worst thing you could do. But it was, it was an interesting observation when he.

We were going through that and I was doing it and kind of correlating that to basically getting high before doing this.

But it, it was very successful in getting the blood moving with the, with the pumping of the arms and getting the breath going and the over oxygenation. Definitely felt physiological changes.

Prepping and priming, I suppose, not to kind of co op the the title of the exercise, but setting up the mental state that then transitions into a number of visualization and more, I guess, spiritual kind of exercises. Now, Peter had mentioned that he recognized the breathing as akin to a yogic breathing.

Peter: 00:06:08

Yeah, I mean, it sounded like, and I'm not that familiar with yogic practices, but I was aware of a very energetic style of breathing and yoga called Fire Breath. And this kind of reminded me of that. And then there's also the contrast to, you know, mindfulness meditation style.

Very often before we come together in a meeting, we'll we'll settle in and. And it's a very quiet practice, right?

I mean, it's a completely different thing because you know what, what I'm talking about is not a controlled breathing. It's just an attention to the breathing. And then this is, as you say, it's a specific physiological manipulation.

But it's just an interesting contrast.

Ryan: 00:06:58

And it does point to kind of the secondary observation I had about the practice, which is what I'm used to when we talk about a breathing practice is a much more calming breath and slower, bright breathing, you know, something that is kind of to have sort of the opposite effect of calming the nervous system and, you know, reducing heart rate. And in a way it does have some similarities in so far as kind of a calming effect. But certainly physiologically it's basically the opposite.

So that was a unique way of beginning what becomes a fairly mental exercise afterwards, where typically I would be more of like the meditative kind of state. And so that was different for this. And I did. I mean, again, I mentioned to Peter as, after I did this.

So Tony had mentioned it a few times in passing as he was telling stories or whatever he was doing at the time in the, in the seminar.

He didn't go into the exercise specifically, but pointed to it, you know, it came up referentially and then said, you know, if you're interested in priming, I have, you know, free information on the website. So afterwards I decided to look into it and I did it.

And I thought it was a very useful and intriguing exercise that then led me to say, oh, I want to do this and start practicing this. And of course I never did, but clearly that's a motivational issue as far as the last conversation. So after breathing. So you get into.

You go through maybe half a dozen of these sets, you know, cycles of breathing and then calming kind of presence gaining exercise. And then the next phase moves into a gratitude phase.

And this, I mean, so, you know, last episode I talked specifically about my pleasant surprise as far as the philosophical and. And spiritual underpinnings of, of his techniques. And this was one of those where immediately going to gratitude before you move on into.

I mean, just gratitude in general. Like it, like having a routine morning practice that gets you in a space of identifying specifically.

And it starts, you know, think about three gifts or three moments that you can be grateful for. And they can be big or small, near or far, you know, it doesn't matter. It can be something that happened long ago.

It can be something seemingly trivial. Anything. You know, I'M happy for fresh air.

You know, whatever it is, it's just getting you in that mindset of recognizing the gifts and the beauty and the abundance that's around you. So that's the next phase of this. Of this priming exercise.

And again, of course, I recognize that very strongly as far as spiritual content and, and getting people out of scarcity mindset and, and recognizing and being grateful for. And the exercise truly does send you a. It encourages you to really embody and feel the sensations of that gratitude.

It's not just thinking about it and saying, oh, I'm grateful for these things, but he really walks you through trying to tease out that actual feeling, like, try and experience that sense of that gratitude. This is sort of the core of the entire exercise is the embodiment, the. The sensory experience of these. Of these elements.

So that's the next step in this priming exercise. Anything to add to gratitude?

Peter: 00:11:07

No, just to. Just to reflect your. Your comment that it's a. One of the deepest and most wholesome spiritual practices in general across the board. So, yeah, it's.

It's nice to have it as an element of a daily. A daily priming practice.

Ryan: 00:11:28

Yeah. All right. So after the gratitude you go through, and again, it's sort of repetition sets, you know, like. Like exercise sets is kind of how I.

I describe this. We move into. Or, you know, he moves into this. What I described as a spiritual cleanse is not how he describes it.

And I, I also kind of recognize this in a way similar to, you know, a chakra energy or a Kundalini kind of energy thing.

But basically the idea was imagining sort of the universal energy coming in through your head and moving through your body into the ground, out through your feet, into the earth, and then back the other way almost in this respiratory fashion, where you're bringing the energy down out of the universe into the ground and then doing the opposite, pulling it back out and out through your head. And it was how I described it as kind of connecting spiritually as a conduit between heaven and earth.

And had this sort of absorption and radiation, actually. Radiation, I think, was part of it where he was saying to sense that energy.

And a lot of this is healing and love and strength is the words he kind of uses. So that's the.

The sensory element and perception that you're feeling during this time is kind of sucking in the love and healing into your body and feeling it into your body as healing energy, but then the sense of radiating it out and sharing it, which, again, is a Very spiritual exercise in a number of different practices where you are sending out and sharing the sharing of that love and the joy and compassion that wells up inside through that practice, not only sensing it from around you and accepting it for yourself, but then sharing it. And I think that. I mean all of these.

That the whole practice, especially these mental pieces, which I think I really appreciated the breathing aspect of it, but it's also the thing that has kind of inhibited me from really implementing this more more specifically.

And maybe I should just try and do a more calming breathing and then go through this, because I can certainly see these other elements being a very useful way to set your day off. Right, right. Yeah. And that's the whole idea, you know, that's a.

The title of Priming is intended to say you're setting yourself up for a good, strong day by embodying gratitude and feeling and sharing the love. And then, you know, afterwards, the next exercise.

But if you start your day in gratitude and love, like, you're that much more likely to have a great day and to see things and perceive things and experience things in a positive light as opposed to in lack or fear or. Or worse, you know, hatred or anger. So, yeah, this is. This is an interesting exercise that has deep spiritual elements to it.

And again, that was very surprising to me. And then the last. I think it was the second to last. But primarily the next main segment of this exercise is sort of a future of visualization.

And this has sort of manifestationy kind of alignment or sensory elements where now that you've acknowledged and recognized gratitude and abundance in your life, and you've embodied that love and shared and radiated the strength and love and healing, and now is the forward thinking. Now is the time to visualize and embody the goals and outcomes that you want for your future.

And so it starts with three goals or outcomes that you'll experience. And you experience them as being done. So it's. It's a very visual and imaginary. But again, experiencing it, feeling it as already being completed.

And he goes through this. So you do that. You bring in the visualization and envision it as already being complete.

These things that seem monumental and maybe far off in the future, but you're visualizing them as being completed. And then you celebrate.

So you bring in the excitement and the joy and those elements that you envision this future state will carry with them the reason that you're wanting to achieve that future vision of yourself. So there's a celebratory aspect. You see and feel the gratitude and the people around you and the impact that it has on people.

And really broadening out that visualization not just to the impact on your own life, but on those around you in society en masse. You go through this iterative a few times, really picking out the key goals and visions that you want for your future.

And then as part of this, I kept this as all kind of part of the visualization, but it does, it is, it does have a nuance to it where you are finding something you're proud of. So when was a moment in your life that you were proud of something or basically some of it was historical, some of it was forward thinking.

So it went through this iterative process.

Like things you feel, feel proud for the things that you're going to do, but also recalling and bringing in those sensory perceptions and experiences of times when you were proud of whatever it was you did. And then it gets into a very Tony esque thing where you're like say yes and like driving it home and accepting this as, as part of your experience.

And he goes through this process of, of stacking emotion. This is kind of like the culmination of the exercise, right? So everything was kind of grounding in, in gratitude and love.

And then you're visualizing yourself in this future and now you're stacking these proud moments and the excitement and the pride and love in your heart.

And it just kind of builds and builds and builds through this culmination event where you're bringing your energy up, being grateful and excited and sacred for the past and the future. And then at the end it's this big rise up, know, feel it within you. And that's like the strong I'm gonna release.

And now I'm like super motivated and ready to attack life. So that's the exercise in its entirety essentially. It's about 15 minutes it takes and it really kind of brings you through an emotional journey.

You know, it starts you out physiologically like getting the motion ready.

And certainly, you know, many people wake up and you're tired and lethargic and so getting that blood moving and getting the oxygenation through your body and getting, moving right away and then settling into that gratitude, feeling the love from, from the ether, but also sharing it out to all our brothers and sisters and then having that vision of our future that we're looking to attack and we're looking to go out and get and visualizing that as being complete, sharing in the pride and the excitement of those things being done, those things that we have done, stacking these Emotions and just sets you off on the right foot, I guess, you know, and that's why he does. At least that's what he says he does daily. I believe him. But you know, who knows?

I guess Moses in a very interesting exercise is something that he referenced a number of times during that seminar. And it was something that I tried and something I think now I'm going to make a commitment to try and shift my motivation a little more.

And if it means I have to change the breathing technique, fine. But I mean, this is something I would like to try and implement better.

Peter: 00:20:16

So I'm wondering about, you know, your basement studio. I don't know what it is. I know, I know we talk from your basement sometimes. So I think of it as your basement studio.

Ryan: 00:20:23

It's like, oh, well, I could totally do that.

Peter: 00:20:26

Yeah.

Ryan: 00:20:26

Yeah, I can. I mean, it's just excuses at that point. I mean, I, I get, I roll out of bed. I'm, I'm grateful and spoiled enough to work from home.

So I roll out of bed at 5:30 in the morning and I go sit on the couch with my laptop and you know, like, certainly I could go down into my area downstairs and do this.

And I think in part, I don't for sure, my reservation around it in the morning has been around the breathing and the activity of that breathing maybe I'm just not feeling up to.

Peter: 00:21:03

I mean, it's different. It is, it's very different. If you don't have a morning breathing practice, energetic breathing practice.

I mean, I, I can imagine someone who has a regular yoga practice saying like, oh yeah, that's, you know, this is easy. So, yeah, thank you for sharing this because as I said, I kind of, you know, half heartedly opened the video and I saw this energetic breathe.

I'm like, okay, but what, what I'm noticing is kind of this recurring theme we have of the perennial wisdom or perennial philosophy or you know, common threads or many fingers or this, this kind of, this whole idea of recurring ideas. Right. And just packaging and repackaging the same ideas.

Not because we're lazy and we're cheating and we're trying to claim something for ourself, but because repackaging a thing makes it accessible to different people. And so I'm recognizing stuff in here from my practices now. For me, the energetic breathing is new.

Ryan: 00:22:12

Yeah.

Peter: 00:22:12

I was like, okay, now I'm more inspired understanding how it fits with the overall practice. I feel more motivated to try this.

Ryan: 00:22:23

Yeah.

Peter: 00:22:24

So I kind of want to be like, okay, let's, let's have an accountability partnership and say we're going to start doing this for, you know, between now and the next podcast. We're going to try to make this a practice as much as we can and then review our experiences together.

But, you know, certainly I already touched on the gratitude practice and, and everybody knows that, I mean, from any religious background or spiritual tradition, there's, you're going to have a gratitude practice. There's no one who's going to say, oh, I've never heard of that before. And you know, the, the connection to energy is really familiar to me.

And as you walk through that, I was hearing spark words, you know, which is my, my term for the opposite of triggering. Like triggering words that are positive. Where I was feeling sparked into past spiritual experiences of kind of taking in benefit and radiating.

Radiating a benefit. And of course, we've talked about the five, the four divine Abroads, the Abodes, the Brahma Viharas.

And so that's part of this Metta Loving kindness practice is radiating love. It reminds me a little bit of tonglen, although Tonglen, Tibetan practice, you're taking in suffering.

And this is, this is not that, but it is that idea of taking in and then radiating out, which is, is very much part of tonglen. And then the visualization is very well. So overall, to me, the breathing was the unique element of this practice.

I recognize everything else from Green Tower practice, seven Limb practice of Green Tara, which I referenced before, and Jeffrey Martin's, I think it's from his Explorer course where he has a daily. Let me think for a moment.

I think it's, it is in the Explorer course, but it's definitely in the 45 day program where he builds a daily practice which looks very much like this, combining these different elements again, leaving out the breathing part.

Ryan: 00:24:41

Right.

Peter: 00:24:41

Which is interesting. And so, you know, I think it's all about finding the practice that's packaged in the way that's most palatable to you. Right, right. It's not.

Oh, Tony Roberts helped me. Tony Robinson. Robinson Robbins. Pardon me. You know, it's, it's not Tony Robbins is the way.

Ryan: 00:25:05

Right.

Peter: 00:25:05

Or he's the one guy who knows this. It's. He's the guy that works for you. If he works for you. If he works for you, great.

And share him with other people to find the other people that he works for. Right, right. But it doesn't mean that he's going to work for everybody. Right, right. So try him out. If he works for you, great.

And if not, keep on going. And you'll find the package that, that works for you.

And this is another lesson from Jeffrey, is that, you know, just because you found something that works for you doesn't mean that you don't continue to explore. Because what works for you, if something is working for you, that means it's changing you.

And if it's changing you, then it means it might not always work for you. Eventually it might get stale. It doesn't have to, but it might. And so keep on going. It's not being unfaithful.

Ryan: 00:25:59

Right.

Peter: 00:26:00

You know, and so to that point, I'm interested in taking this on and trying it out.

And really the way I view it is adding the breath practice, adding the energetic breath practice to this more familiar package of morning practices, which look, to be honest, I've fallen away from.

I mean, I do not have, you know, I was very, very diligent for at least six months of a daily practice from, from that Jeffrey Martin had put together and eventually fell off.

And I think that does go back to motivation because I think, you know, to begin with, certainly as part of the 45 day program, the motivation, my motivation specifically was I'm going to have an awakening experience. And even after I have awakened experience, like I'm going to complete this program and I'm going to be a good student and I'm just doing it.

And then it was like, oh, this is how I'm going to maintain this.

And there was a motivation there, a kind of context, and then eventually it fell off because I think I was distanced from the program and I was kind of like, oh, I've arrived. You know, there's this concept of, oh, well, I've accomplished it.

And so it's not that I don't need this anymore, but it's just the context is different. And so then the motivation changes slightly.

Ryan: 00:27:26

Right?

Peter: 00:27:27

And so then to have you get excited by your experience of Tony Robbins and then bring it back up again, it's like, oh, here's a new same thing kind of. I mean, it's a little different. I'm not, I'm not saying Tony's just doing the same old thing.

He's definitely put his own imprint on it and he's making a specific contribution. But that's what all teachers do, right? All teachers make some specific contribution.

And then probably 90% of the content is just repackaged because there's really a small amount of basic truth, you know, that's infinite, but, but small in a way. It's this weird thing. And so you know what I see is, oh, Ryan's coming to me with this experience that he had and he's giving me new context to re.

Engage with my practice and practice that's repackaged in a different way. But it's a recognizable, it's recognizable as it's the perennial practice. Right.

Ryan: 00:28:28

It's.

Peter: 00:28:28

It's not like, oh, Tony's found this amazing thing that no one has ever found before. It's like, no, it's the same thing. It's, it's the wisdom of the ages. That's really what you were excited about?

Ryan: 00:28:39

Yes.

Peter: 00:28:40

It's like, oh my God, he's actually using this wisdom. So which to me, it's a marker of credibility. Right, right, right. It's like he's not trying to make up something.

Ryan: 00:28:52

Yep.

Peter: 00:28:53

You know, he is trying to give a unique perspective on it, but it's based on this perennial wisdom that is trustworthy.

Ryan: 00:29:04

Right.

Peter: 00:29:05

I think that's, you know, I, I find that reassuring as you did this, I think is what you were saying. So very interesting. And. Yeah, thanks.

Ryan: 00:29:13

No problem. Yeah, so I, I like the idea of the accountability buddy aspect. I think I need to go to the three pillars and find my.

Why, like, what is it that I'm looking for out of this? But you've mentioned multiple times practice, you know, with regard to me.

And I think that there's an opportunity to implement some more structured practice. And this is something that I can see as a healthy way to set the days off on the right foot. So.

Yeah, so I guess we'll touch base again after some time and we'll see what we can observe from this.

But to your point, the inclusion of that perennial wisdom and that perennial teachings and continuing to be both surprised and excited about how often we find this in such unique places.

And I think that one thing that I am happy about, Tony Robbins implementing this kind of practice and teaching this kind of practices while he is, he speaks about God and stuff. So he's not like atheological in any way. But this is a much more secular delivery of perennial wisdom.

And to me that only means it's reaching more people, which, which I'm, I'm very grateful for him taking that on and offering that to help get that out to as many people as possible so that people can experience the gratitude and the love and the joy and be successful in achieving the goals and visions for themselves that they, that they envision. If you're interested, you can go to Tony Robbins website.

I'll put in the show notes the link directly to the priming exercise, but you can also look it up on YouTube and. Yeah, and you know it.

If you're on YouTube and you're listening to this on YouTube and you use the priming exercise, give us your take on this exercise and what you think of it. Until next time. Bye.

Peter: 00:31:17

Thanks a lot. Bye. Thank you for listening to the Tracking Wisdom podcast. Join us next time as we continue the discussion.

Don't forget to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, and visit www.ethstudio.com for more information and content.