[00:00:00] Luke: All right, wifey. This is Episode 514. 514 episodes of the Life Stylist Podcast. This is our second annual year-in review show. And I don't know how we're going to pack all of this in, but we'll see what happens. We'll do our best.

[00:00:21] Alyson: Yeah. It's always easy for us to weave together, which is why I always chuckle when-- before you and I of all people sit down, you're always like, oh. You get a touch of whatever it is, butterflies, nerves, which is cute and funny for me to witness in you.

[00:00:38] Luke: Well, it's a good sign that after-- how many years we've been together?

[00:00:42] Alyson: We never know.

[00:00:43] Luke: However long it is.

[00:00:44] Alyson: How many lifetimes?

[00:00:45] Luke: It's a good sign that I get butterflies still.

[00:00:48] Alyson: Yeah. But I like that it's Episode 514. I don't live my life according to anything but God and my own soul directives, but in numerology, that adds up to a one. And I am a one in numerology through and through and through. First baby born in the hospital on New Year's Day, which is obviously the first day of the new year. The first letter of the first name of my-- is the first letter in the alphabet. I could go on and on and on. I'm such a one. And so it makes sense that this is a one episode.

[00:01:24] Luke: Excellent. For those listening, you can find the show notes at lukestorey.com/2023. This being the last episode of the year. So I think what we'll do here, and you have your notes, and I have my notes, and neither of us know what those notes contain, which is fun. But what I had envisioned was doing a bit of a review of things that have happened in the world and in our lives this year, and then a peek forward into the coming year.

[00:01:59] Alyson: Yeah. That's what I have. Like crossing the threshold, reflections, and visions.

[00:02:04] Luke: Reflections and visions. That's a good title for this. I might already have a title, I forget, but I like that. Well, the first thing that I'm most excited about, I think because it's most recent, is that I finally got my apparel line up and live on a website, which was quite an endeavor. Some listening will have seen some of it on social media and whatnot, or maybe--

[00:02:31] Alyson: You can see it right now on me.

[00:02:33] Luke: Oh, that's right. Alyson has--

[00:02:36] Alyson: Vitamin Deez.

[00:02:37] Luke: Yeah, the Vitamin Deez because she's a sun worshiper.

[00:02:42] Alyson: It's my favorite one. I just like the Deez nuts jokes. And so when you are running down the list of all your downloads for the shirts that you had coming in, and ceremonies, and stuff, Vitamin Deez has always been my favorite.

[00:02:55] Luke: Well, I'm a huge fan of memes, and I also worked for way too long in the fashion industry, as you know. And I like interesting clothes, and designs, and art, and things like that. And I've always wanted to do some clothing line, but I didn't really have the bandwidth to do a full-on clothing line. So I thought T-shirts and hoodies and caps would be easy to do.

[00:03:20] Little did I know, unless you want to print them all yourself and keep boxes of stuff in the garage and ship it out, you have to do what's called POD or print on demand. And it was exceedingly difficult to find a company that could do 100% organic or not-- no, I tried organic for those listening, by the way.

[00:03:39] Alyson: For months.

[00:03:40] Luke: Yeah, like six months. No one would do organic print on demand, but I did finally find 100% cotton at least, and ethically sourced, and all that.

[00:03:47] Alyson: And even that was a challenge.

[00:03:49] Luke: It was a bitch. But what spurned the idea was just wanting to do it for a while. And then one day I did a, I don't know, three-hour Rasha meditation, some listening will know the Rasha. It's a scalar quantum energy healing device, and it puts you in a really deep meditative state. And I luckily had a pen and paper nearby, and, I don't know, 60 some odd ideas for shirts popped into my consciousness out of the ether. The muse delivered, and some of them were pretty good.

[00:04:28] Alyson: And they've just continued. You'll have random spurts where you're like, oh, these 20 new ones came in today, and they're all pretty solid. Some are super epic, but they've all been good.

[00:04:42] Luke: Yeah, there were 10 that I put on the back burner, and some of them were a little too controversial, I think. I don't mind being polarizing because being polarizing is also being magnetic.

[00:04:56] Alyson: And authentic.

[00:04:57] Luke: Yeah, exactly. But the Vitamin Deez is one of my favorites.

[00:05:01] Alyson: You love the 5G's Not 5G.

[00:05:04] Luke: Five G's with a little mushroom, not 5G with the cell tower. That might be my favorite of this collection.

[00:05:12] You wear that one a lot.

[00:05:13] Yeah, I like that one-- the Run DMT hat with the run DMC logo.

[00:05:19] Alyson: You like your little DARE mug?

[00:05:21] Luke: Yeah, DARE like the '80s, deterrent from using drugs. Dare, Drink Ayahuasca Remember Everything. The Don't Spike My Proteins is a big hit with a red beer cup. There's tons of them. Anyway, you can find that at lukestorey.com/merch, and there'll be more. I think I'm going to do a collection like every season, how a fashion brand does it.

[00:05:46] Alyson: Oh, okay.

[00:05:47] Luke: Yeah, so this'll be the fall collection as it were. And then we'll do a winter collection sometime in Q1.

[00:05:54] Alyson: So yeah, just to let everyone know, you have youth, women's, men's t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, hats. It's a whole plethora of options.

[00:06:04] Luke: Thanks. You should do my commercials.

[00:06:07] Alyson: I can do that. I can do the voiceovers.

[00:06:08] Luke: I guess that was one, but honestly, it's just something I'm really excited about, and it's like affordable for most people. They're like, I don't know, 35 bucks, 45 or something like that. It's not a big investment.

[00:06:21] Alyson: Yeah, it's fun, and you've done a really great job. Being witness, I can attest to the painstaking process that you choose to undergo so that the fabric is highest level, even hired-- you could have gone the route of working with the website team that's shipping them out for you to design them, but that wasn't high enough for you. So you chose to pay out of your own pocket to bring in a designer. Shout out to Brie.

[00:06:54] Luke: Brie killed it. Brie, if you ever hear this, thank you so much. Because I knew like with the 5G's Not 5G, all I knew is it's a funny and meaningful statement, and I knew I wanted a mushroom for the 5G's and a cell tower, but I don't know how to draw. I don't know how to draw by hand or on a computer. So yeah, she delivered them all. And there were very few edits. I mean, most of them, I was like, cool. Nailed it. Done. But yeah, the designs are pretty fun and fashionable. It's not just like a slogan, t-shirt, like, I don't know.

[00:07:29] Alyson: For merch line, it's high level.

[00:07:31] Luke: Thanks, honey. lukestorey.com/merch. We're going to talk about my dental upgrade. I'm still having a hard time saying certain words with s's and things like that. Took me months to learn how to say the Life Stylist. I'm still learning how to say that one. So that's that. That's probably the thing I'm most excited about from this year and going into the new year.

[00:07:55] This, of course, is the last episode of the year. The first episode of 2024 is going to be one that's potentially going back to the word polarizing for some people. And that would be Alex Jones, the most censored person in the entire world. And that will drop this coming Tuesday, the first of 2024.

[00:08:20] Alyson: My birthday.

[00:08:21] Luke: Drops on your birthday. And gosh. I'll just say about that and then I'll see what your take was because you were here in the house when he was here all day. I think we recorded for four hours. It was something. It was a wild experience. But when I posted on Instagram just a behind-the-scenes photo or whatever, I'd say it was 98% positive feedback of people going, ooh, this is going to be interesting.

[00:08:49] And then five to 2% of people going like, I hate your guts. I'm never listening to your podcast again, which is totally cool. You can't please everyone all the time, or how this saying goes. It says, you can please some of the people some of the time. I forget how it goes. You can please all of the people some of the time. You can't please all the people all the time, whatever.

[00:09:13] I want to preface it by just saying, I'm going to talk to whoever I feel like talking to. If I find someone interesting, and he's certainly an interesting person to me, I'm going to talk to them, and people can reserve the right to skip that episode or never listen again if they think I'm an evil person for simply talking to someone.

[00:09:37] And this is true of anyone in the public arena, not exclusive to Alex Jones, but I would say if you're getting your information and basing your perspective on someone based on how they are framed by the corporate media, you might want to dig a little bit deeper. And that's true of people even with whom I disagree.

[00:10:06] If you look at the track record of media, especially when-- I'm talking about the mainstream corporate media-- when they seek to vilify someone, they have a horrific track record of lying through their teeth. So there's going to be people that just don't like the guy. There's going to be a lot of people that do, but I would encourage people to have an open mind and to check that episode out because, unfortunately, whether you like him or not, the guy's been right about 99% of the stuff that he's been talking about on the internet and on TV, and radio, and whatever, for the past 29 years.

[00:10:41] And I wish he was wrong more often. I really do. When I first heard him, I don't know, 25 years ago, whatever it was, I thought, this guy is really entertaining, and he's crazy, and there's no way the things he's talking about with the New World Order and all of this stuff could--

[00:10:58] Alyson: Bohemian Grove.

[00:10:59] Luke: Yeah, I was just like, there's no way this stuff can be true. The world can't be that messed up. And as we've seen over the past three and a half, four years, again, unfortunately, many of the things that he has predicted or foreseen have come to be, like David Ike. I had David Ike on the show, and he used to also be entertaining and sound crazy.

[00:11:22] And then fast forward a couple of decades, and you're like, oh shit. He was right about way too much stuff. So that one's going to be, for me, really fun just because it was such an interesting conversation. We talked about the moon landing, Freemasons, plant medicines, a lot about general good versus evil and duality. Of course the widespread censorship that he's faced, which then was a domino that's opened the door for censorship for people even like me, who are much less controversial.

[00:11:56] But again, my thing is I'm after the truth and I don't really care who the truth comes from and whether they have a pleasant personality or yell a lot on the internet or whatever. I'm just after understanding the nature of the universe in reality and what makes our world tick and how to make it a better place.

[00:12:15] Alyson: And you do a very good job. As someone who lives with you every single day, you are very adept and masterful at approaching things from a place of neutrality and just making up your own mind and your own decisions. You're not an easily programmable person. And it was interesting for me. I am not someone who knows much about him. I'm not like you. I haven't listened or watched him for, I don't know how long, 20 years you've been, I don't know, just--

[00:12:52] Luke: I think I found his stuff, and I haven't consistently been a viewer or listener per se. But I think I learned of him shortly after 9/11 because he was one of the people asking questions about that, and I had some questions about it.

[00:13:09] So however many years ago that was, that was about the time I became aware of him and David Ike and a number of other people that were pioneers and I guess what you could broadly call the truth movement, which didn't have a name, but just people who are asking questions and identifying conspiracies. But yeah. What was your experience? Not knowing really anything about the guy other than me going, wow, this is wild. Alex Jones is coming to our house and to you that didn't--

[00:13:37] Alyson: I was like, okay.

[00:13:38] Luke: You're like, okay. That didn't mean a lot to you, but to me, it's an interesting day for sure. It's about to unfold. What was your experience of him or things that you heard in the background that we were talking about?

[00:13:49] Alyson: Yeah, I remember that day. There were a couple of things you guys talked about that after the fact I was like, oh, when he was saying this, but I don't remember right now what I recall from your chat. What I can speak to lightly is-- and it's the only thing I can really speak to-- just my experience with him in our home.

[00:14:14] It was interesting. I didn't go in with any preconceived notions or perspectives, but my experience with Alex was he was an incredibly sensitive, humble, kind man. And that's my honest experience. He came in very humble and very down to earth. And to be very honest and transparent, I was quite surprised. I don't know if saying he was insecure at times. Maybe insecure is not the right word, but for someone who has been on the air for hours a day for decades, I was really surprised when you guys would take breaks or when he would come downstairs, and I would be down there during some breaks, and he would say like, am I doing a good job? Asking.

[00:15:15] And I'm just like, you guys are having a vibe. It's going really great. I was surprised at his lack of ego and arrogance. And the last little thing I'll say that I found interesting, because you've sent me little clips here and there to watch, and yeah, I guess at times he can be just so boisterous and pounding the desk and things.

[00:15:42] And the one-on-one personal experience that I had of him and our sacred temple of a home was quite the opposite. So it brought up an interesting reflection to me of how sometimes people who are appointed with really big, bold, polarizing missions, sometimes those big, bold polarizing missions can come from a very humble place.

[00:16:16] And I'm not at all trying to compare myself and my mission to his, but I could relate in the sense that I was given the medicine name Rockstar Shaman from the divine. Reiterated that that's what I was to use from ascended master Jesus, who's my main guide.

[00:16:37] And I was very aware right out of the gate, the boldness of that medicine name, the bigness of that, the responsibility of that. But I live in devotion to the divine. And so, yes, there's that big, bold name and mission that I'm appointed and that I say yes to because I'm appointed that by the divine, but I, in real life, am an incredibly humble, down to earth kind, warm, gentle person.

[00:17:08] I am not arrogant. I am not egoic. That name does not come from an egoic place. It actually comes from the most humble of places. I went on a shamanic journey to consult Jesus if I was in fact supposed to use that name. And so there was just that really unexpected relational touchpoint that surfaced in my time, getting to know him, and witnessing him off air.

[00:17:36] And I guess that's the only thing I want to share for people that are willing to be open-minded, is that people can hold drastically different things within themselves, publicly and personally. I think that's it.

[00:17:54] Luke: Yeah. I always find it interesting to get your take on people, not just public figures, but you're such a great judge of character, and I think you just have incredible intuition. And I think one of your gifts, which is probably a burden-- well, I know it's a burden to you at times because we talk about it a lot, but you can really see through people. And that enables you to see the purity and the goodness in people.

[00:18:25] As you describe, even someone who's controversial, you are able to put your prejudice aside and just go, what's the read I'm getting on this person's energy, their heart, their intention? maybe the burden part of it is that you're a real shadow seer.

[00:18:45] Alyson: I carry a lot of hidden knowledge.

[00:18:47] Luke: Yeah. There's so many people that we've been around or that I've introduced you to, and I think they're just great, and I just don't give that much thought into it, and, oh yeah, they're cool, whatever. Let's hang out. And then you show me things that I believe to be true about them.

[00:19:06] And it is not in a judgmental way. It's just in an observational way, a neutral, well, here's what I see. And I'll be down most of the time. Maybe even every time actually you've been right. So I found that interesting about that. It was just cute to see knowing nothing about this guy who's one of the most famous people in the world.

[00:19:27] Alyson: I don't know.

[00:19:28] Luke: For people that find him abhorrent and despise him for whatever reason and people that are obsessed with him and love him, he's a really popular person in the world. So to get your take of like, wow, that guy was-- after he left, you're like, wow, he was really sweet. What a great guy!

[00:19:44] Alyson: Well, the sensitivity in his eyes is potentially what struck me the most. I could just see so much quivering and sensitivity, like a small boy. There was so much deep and-- it was almost a painful sensitivity that he carries.

[00:20:05] Luke: Yeah. The guy's been in a battle for a long time I think because he saw some things about the way the world works and the people that are in control of civilization and have been for a very long time. He's been fighting these people in his own way through media for a really long time. And I got the sense in a same way. It's like someone that had just come back from war or something, almost.

[00:20:33] There's just like, man, it's taken a toll on the guy. And I don't feel sorry for him. He put himself in the arena. And regardless of how his delivery comes across, I do get the sense that his intention is based on his care for humanity and for his own kids and their future. And I do think he's coming from a good place. And I think that that's taken a toll.

[00:21:03] I know for me, if I paid too much attention to things that are going on into the world, and this has been especially true in the past few years because of Convid and everything that we've been subjective to in terms of just tyranny and mass media trauma-based mind control and everything that's been thrown at us, if I pay too much attention to that dark side of the world, it gives me a lot of anxiety.

[00:21:33] So I can only imagine what it's like to be constantly in that field. So it seems the guy's on air four hours a day fighting these demonic forces. So it's not a job I would want. But that's the sense I got too, is like, man, this guy's really been on the front lines for a long time. That said, I had a really, really fun time. I was laughing my ass. He's a very entertaining person, and hopefully people that see that episode pop up in their feed in a couple of days, out of curiosity, if nothing else, give it a listen because even if they don't agree with some of the things he said in the past or some of the things he said in the conversation I had with him, there's definitely a lot of truth in there and a lot of inside baseball in terms of how the world works.

[00:22:31] And that episode's going to be called something to the effect of the mystic behind the madman, I think is what I'm calling it. And so we talked a lot about, as I said, just the basis of good and evil, and God, and duality.

[00:22:45] Alyson: Well, that's certainly a dominating theme on the planet right now. The only thing real quick that I'm now remembering, I remember hearing you chuckling when he was impersonating a demon or something.

[00:22:59] Luke: Yeah, yeah.

[00:23:00] Alyson: Something like that.

[00:23:01] Luke: Yeah. He was very animated. Yeah, it was funny.

[00:23:05] Alyson: He was channeling through an experience he had witnessed or something.

[00:23:09] Luke: Yeah, yeah. He told some wild-- there's a lot of stuff that he talked about that he may have talked about before. I haven't heard every interview he's done or anything by any stretch. But yeah, he was talking about experiences where they had attempted to seduce him into the dark side.

[00:23:28] Alyson: Right. At a very young age.

[00:23:30] Luke: Yeah. And rituals, eyes wide shut kind of stuff, and all of this. And he was imitating the demonic energies of some of these people that seemed to be animated by very dark, if not satanic forces.

[00:23:47] Alyson: Yeah.

[00:23:47] Luke: Which is objectively true. And it's just the way the world works. When you look at the evil that's perpetuated by the ruling class and has been historically, they're not being guided by benevolent love and light entities.

[00:24:06] Alyson: Their focus is not their connection with the divine.

[00:24:09] Luke: Yeah, definitely not. So anyway, we're going to start the new year off like that, and I think it'll be fun at least for 98% of the people listening. And like I said, those that don't find it fun, just skip that episode. There's plenty more positive messages coming at you in 2024. The next thing that's been huge for me this year is writing my first book, which has been, as you know, a couple of years in the making.

[00:24:43] Started it when we were living in LA, the proposal and whatnot. And the proposal process for those that have never written a book is, to me, the most difficult and tedious because it's, I don't know, more linear and analytical and has to do with formatting documents.

[00:25:02] Alyson: It can very arduous.

[00:25:05] Luke: I watched you go through the process of writing your book.

[00:25:07] Alyson: That was what that laugh that I did a minute ago, is like now I get to watch you go through what I went through.

[00:25:15] Luke: Yeah.

[00:25:16] Alyson: It's so worth it, but wow.

[00:25:17] Luke: Yeah. And you're really so much of the inspiration for me doing it when we got together and you moved in, and then they put us all in house arrest, and you just were like, cool, I'm going to finish my book. But just watching the whole process was, in a way, discouraging because you're interfacing with a captured industry in many ways.

[00:25:40] And there are rules, and political correctness, and all this stuff that you had to navigate, maybe more so than I will. We'll see. But in deadlines, and working with editors, and track changes on your word documents, and just all the technical aspects of writing, it's not just like, oh, I'm going to put my thoughts on paper, and then it just gets published.

[00:26:01] Alyson: There are a lot of other brains involved as to how the it thing should go.

[00:26:05] Luke: Yeah. So Animal Power happened, the Card Deck happened. People love your book. I see it all over the world every time. Just a couple of days ago, we were recording a podcast, and our guest Caroline Alan from Beam Minerals is like, oh my God, I have to look at that book. She's pulling cards.

[00:26:24] You did it. So I think if you can do it, maybe I can do it. And the book essentially is about the theme of existential loneliness an how childhood trauma, sexual trauma, addiction, neglect, abandonment, enmeshment, birth trauma. It's about all of these experiences that have taken place in my life, but also take place to some degree in the lives of so many of us and lead to this emptiness and discontent that some of us fill with addictions and some of us fill with numbing and avoiding. And so it's a book all about spirituality and ways in which we can emotionally heal. So it's a very--

[00:27:18] Alyson: And even on the spiritual path, remember this year, the thing that I needed to really trust was maybe one of the biggest thresholds, if not the biggest that I have crossed over, was the fear that if I allowed myself to ascend to this level of consciousness that had been calling and beckoning to me for years, that I would be left alone up there.

[00:27:44] That was where my fear of this existential loneliness comes from. So it comes from both ends of the spectrum, the ascension side and the dark side. It can come in that feeling of existential loneliness. It can sneak in at any point on the life spectrum, I guess is my point. So it's an important book.

[00:28:05] Luke: Yeah, it is. It's important to me. It's one of those things-- there's no way once I got the concept of it and the purpose behind it, which is just very simply to help people become connected to themselves, and in so doing, be able to become connected to other people.

[00:28:31] Once I got that and it landed, now there's no turning back, but sometimes because it is a challenging process. Sometimes I'm like, God, why did I have this idea? I could just have so much more time to hang out and live my life. And it's challenging in many ways. It's also fun and creative, and I'm learning how to write.

[00:28:51] I chose not to work with a ghost writer. I chose not to self-publish. I'm doing it in the way that's maybe the more difficult path of really having some skin in the game. But I think why it will be impactful for me and some other people that read it eventually-- and it takes a long time to write a book and then put it out. We're probably talking about a couple of years from now, this book that I'm talking about, it'll come out.

[00:29:17] But it's that I don't think I could do it if it was just something that was like a calling card for my career or something. I wouldn't be motivated to do it. But now it's like this burning desire to share the hard-earned wisdom that I've accumulated over the course of my life, and all of the adversities that I've overcome.

[00:29:46] And there's no way I couldn't do it now. So now, where we are right now is I have an agent who's amazing. Shout out to Jaydree. And she's been so helpful and hands-on. And then the next step is you shop it around to publishers, and hopefully someone likes it and wants to pick it up, and then you got a real deadline and you got to start writing.

[00:30:09] Alyson: Oh, they're going to want to scoop it up. You're such a great writer, and it's an epic book. I get the sneak peeks on a weekly basis when I pop in and you're working on a certain part, and you're like, can I read this to you? And yeah, it's really fantastic. And the other little orb on my side that I'll share is, so often in my journey of writing Animal Power, there was walking through those initiatory fires that was probably the most initiatory process of my shamanic career.

[00:30:41] And so many times I would say to you like, I knew this was the medicine book that was my duty to birth to the world. But so many times I was like, why can't I just be a cookbook? This is my brownie recipe, and there's just 200 different brownie options to bake in your kitchen and no whatever to cookbook people. But it was because of the gravitas of this book and the timing of when it was being written and coming out, and I am sharing shamanic foundations and teachings that have existed since the beginning of time on this planet. The weight of what I was carrying and holding and the lines that I had to hold so exhaustively for so many years in order for Animal Power to actually come into fruition was so daunting and so tiring, yet completely so worth it.

[00:31:46] Because while I do feel there are more books and decks in me meant to come out this lifetime, at the same time, I truly feel if I were to not do anymore, and if Animal Power was my book and deck gift to living beings, I can rest easy. I feel so proud of how I wrote that book, the place from which it was written from.

[00:32:14] Because there were times where I was like, if this is going to be the way it has to go based upon other people's opinions and publishing perspectives, I was willing to walk away from it multiple times. I was like, I know what has to be said here. I know what has to be delivered in this book, and if they're not willing to budge, I have to walk away. And that is a fire fiery wall to hit up against.

[00:32:41] And so, yeah, I guess my point is I feel that the way you are doing it is the way in which, at the end of it, you can just feel the ultimate fullness and pride in how you did it. You can go the light route, you can go the ghost writing route, but I think you feel differently at the end, potentially.

[00:33:10] Luke: I'm intuiting that to be the case. Yeah, it's a deeply, I don't know, transformative experience just for me to do it. And it's also very vulnerable because the book is so personal. It's not personal in the sense of like, it's my memoir, but the teachings in the book are derived from personal and many tragic and traumatic experiences in many dark and very low places that I've been in my life.

[00:33:46] One thing that has been a saving grace for me, I don't know what I would've done without this is, is I joined Neil Strauss's Writing Mastermind group. And so there's six or eight of us in there, and we meet every Tuesday. I've only missed one so far in many months because we were traveling. We were in Colorado. But there's so many great budding writers in there. And Neil is just a master at his craft.

[00:34:16] And I would say I don't really read fiction, and the non-fiction that I read are typically biographies or books on spirituality. But in terms of contemporary writers, he's my favorite writer. Like his book, The Truth, changed my life. It's about relationships and whatnot, which we're about to talk about. But being in that group and just being under the tutoring of someone who's a 10 times New York Times bestselling author, I feel like so fortunate to be in there.

[00:34:53] So I doubt Neil will ever hear this episode. But if there are any aspiring writers out there, I highly recommend that group. I think they do it once a year, and there's a group, and then they take you through a year of writing your book. And a couple of people in the group have already finished their book, and they're in a different stage because they're writing the book, and then they're going to make a proposal and then go shop the book to agents and publishers.

[00:35:18] Whereas I was already in the agent conversation, so I'm still in the minutia of putting together the first couple of chapters. But that's been incredible and very expansive, really great teachings for myself. It's like they say, and it's so true, to really learn something, the best way to do so is to teach it.

[00:35:41] So I'm reviewing all of these things that I've learned in my life, and when I put them on paver, I go, wow, holy shit. I didn't know I knew that. And I'm sure you had the same experience. But yeah, for me, it would've been so much easier to just write a book on the top 10 health hacks that'll change your life. I could write much easier and faster books that are not vulnerable and intimate in that way.

[00:36:07] Alyson: Way fluffier.

[00:36:08] Luke: Yeah. And God bless, like you said, people who write great cookbooks and books on health and whatever. They're all useful. And I've derived a lot of benefit from all sorts of different books. Right now I'm listening to-- I don't have the name offhand, but Jeff Tweedy, the singer Wilco, he just put out a book where he talks about 50 meaningful songs, and he is just a great writer.

[00:36:33] He's so funny, and wise, and insightful, and I get a lot of in inspiration from that book. Although it's not a book that's probably going to change my whole worldview or help me inform how I heal my trauma and become a different person or something. But it's a meaningful book to me because I'm a huge fan of his music and the way he delivers his writing is beautiful, and articulate, and inspired. So there's room for everyone.

[00:37:00] Alyson: Yeah. Everything has a purpose.

[00:37:01] Luke: But the way I'm doing it, woo, not for the faint at heart. Next thing on my list, and then we can-- we don't have to go in any particular order, but anything on your list we can go into. But one of the highlights this year, I think, just because we haven't done a lot of traveling because we were building this house, and we moved here and all of that, was going to Costa Rica.

[00:37:24] Alyson: Yeah. Shout out to Tori

[00:37:26] Luke: Yeah. Our friend, Tori, was gracious enough to fly us down there. She had bought a big property there, a defunct ranch that she's going to revive. And I've been to Costa Rica a couple of times, but it was on retreat, so I didn't travel around and explore. And we covered some serious ground.

[00:37:44] Alyson: Oh my gosh. Talk about a powerful trip. Yeah.

[00:37:47] Luke: Yeah, yeah. We had a medicine journey in the middle of the-- we were only there for a week and stayed--

[00:37:55] Alyson: So much happened. I felt like we were there for eight months.

[00:37:58] Luke: It was wild. But I think what became clear to me in going there, and I want to hear what your perspective was, was-- I know many people in our community and people that are into the things we're into are moving there, or live there part-time, or spend a lot of time there.

[00:38:13] There's a lot of plant medicine retreats and things of that nature there, and yoga retreats, and whatnot. But in going there, one thing that was really paramount in my experience was it felt much different to be outside of the borders of the United States. There was an energetic shift there that felt liberating and much more free and different.

[00:38:44] And I love this country and the people that inhabit it, but there is a oppressive matrix superimposed on this particular country that is a heaviness, especially in the past couple of years. And I just felt like, ah. I just felt like I could breathe there. There was a lightness.

[00:39:08] Alyson: And if you're not energy sensitive, you might not even feel that oppressive matrix grid that you're referring to. Or if you have only traveled to certain types of places that replicate that same said matrix grid, yeah. So I think it was important for us to feel the shift.

[00:39:32] Luke: Yes. And so what became immediately clear to--

[00:39:36] Alyson: So we're moving there. Kind of joking, not joking.

[00:39:39] Luke: What became clear to me was we really need to spend more time here and find a way to live there at least some of the time. I just love the people in that country and even the expats that have moved there. They're very like-minded for the most part. The nature there is so abundant and beautiful.

[00:39:58] Alyson: What was man's name? Tom.

[00:40:01] Luke: I don't remember Tom's last name offhand, but--

[00:40:04] Alyson: But yeah, that was a great way for us to start.

[00:40:07] Luke: What was the name of his--

[00:40:08] Alyson: New Chapter vitamins.

[00:40:12] Luke: He had a company called New Chapter. He sold that and bought a farm in Costa Rica. What's the name of the resort? Finca

[00:40:20] Alyson: Luna Nueva.

[00:40:21] Luke: Is it Luna Nueva or Finca Luna Nueva?

[00:40:24] Alyson: Not what I said?

[00:40:25] Luke: No, because we went to two places, and I always get the two names confused. There was the by the volcano.

[00:40:32] Alyson: Finca Luna Nueva.

[00:40:33] Luke: Okay. We'll figure it out, and we'll put it in the show notes. But yeah, he was a beautiful man. Very gracious.

[00:40:39] Alyson: Yeah, that eco-lodge is just stunning, and we learn so much. The two are the little bees, the little tiny special bees of the forest or whatever, angels of the forest, what they call them in Costa Rica, the stingless bees.

[00:40:53] Luke: I ate termites out of a termite mound which were quite tasty. It'd be hard to fill up on them because they're exceedingly small. But yeah, we toured these regenerative farms, and eco-resorts, and things of that nature. I don't know. And that school, remember they had like a integrative nature school that was really cool that someone had built for the local kids in this one village.

[00:41:19] And I think too of just being outside of the grid, but I also realized I really need to be immersed in nature more. There's almost this part of me that's like, I could just give up everything I do for work now and buy a farm there and just grow food and just live off the land.

[00:41:41] Alyson: Yeah, I feel very clear that I could do that.

[00:41:46] Luke: Yeah. I don't know why that, out of all the things that have happened this year, particular trip stands out to me as something meaningful. And I think a point of pivot where I realized, hmm, I need to move us and our little family in that direction somehow.

[00:42:02] Alyson: More naked time with monkeys, and macaws, and toucans, and slothies, little baby slothies slothing around. I just want to give a shout out and thanks to the lands and spirit of Costa Rica. There's definitely places on the planet that I would consider to be more vortex, more medicinal than others.

[00:42:25] I always think of Bali when I speak in this way. Mama Bali has held me in magnitudes of generosity, and love, and lavishness beyond what I knew was possible. But yeah, my experience in Costa Rica and the spirit of that land, that region of the planet was just such a magnificent awakener.

[00:42:53] The first night that we were there, the land spoke to me just like it did when we were here in Austin the first night, exploring where we should move. And the very first evening that we're here, and I'd never been to Austin, in a meditation, the land spoke to me, and it was a full yes.

[00:43:11] And I knew, of our short list of Portugal, Mexico, Sedona, Austin, where we're supposed to go. Then I knew. I got our answer. And then the same thing happened unexpectedly the first night in Costa Rica staying at Tom's home. And he was so gracious. Talk about generosity. We learned when he was taking us on a tour of this beautiful-- his own private home, on the land of the lodge, I could just feel the specialness. We both could.

[00:43:41] And remember the toad, the Bufo toad friend who appeared as he was showing us around. And when he brought us into he and his wife's personal bedroom, and it was like, this will be the room that you and Luke stay in, I got gobsmacked by the energy in the room and the energy of the jungle through the screen in windows and doors.

[00:44:09] And I looked at Tom, and I said, I can feel how special this room is. And he said, well, it's funny you say that because you two are the very first people other than my wife and I to ever sleep in this bed. And that night, I was also told that you and I are supposed to have a place there and spend more time there. So thank you to the spirit of the land.

[00:44:30] Luke: Yeah, that was very special.

[00:44:32] Alyson: Yeah.

[00:44:32] Luke: The cool thing about that, where he is, he's up by Fortuna, near the volcano and all the hot springs and stuff. So it's higher altitude. It's much cooler up there than down in some of the coastal regions. And the neat thing about that house was there's no heat or air conditioning. There's no climate control, and there's no windows. There's literally no windows. It's all screens, which is trippy--

[00:44:56] Alyson: If you're it.

[00:44:57] Luke: If you're used to being in a box, like most of us have lived in our entire lives. But you're very much immersed in the nature there.

[00:45:06] Alyson: You're required to get attuned with the sounds of the insects, and animals, and the rustling of the jungle palms. Get attuned with nature or you're out.

[00:45:16] Luke: Yeah, yeah. It was really cool. I think that was probably the highlight for me too, even though we did a lot of interesting things there. So that was the big one for me this year. What else do you have on your list?

[00:45:28] Alyson: Oh my gosh, I have so many things. Our list building was built from different places. I just more prayed, and surrendered, and opened the gateways to most benevolent high, divine God, Goddess, and Earth Mother, and my own wisdom inside of me and said, what do you want us to talk about?

[00:45:50] So that's how my list is built. So let me just see if anything falls more under-- all of these things happened in this year. I guess I'll just start with the first thing that I wrote down, which happens to me for quite frequently, but it happened this morning upon me awakening and starting to open my eyes when I woke up this morning. Literally, the first thought that I experienced, and that just enveloped me, is "I have the best life ever."

[00:46:33] Luke: Great way to start a day.

[00:46:35] Alyson: Yeah. I just don't know that it gets any greater, bigger, better, more beautiful than that, to have arrived to a place in life where that is my genuine feeling and that, yeah, when my eyes aren't even fully open, that is what my soul and God is reminding me of. That's a massive miracle to get to that place.

[00:47:07] Luke: You're such an inspiration. If I'm totally honest, I know you're more of a morning person. I'm more of a night person. I probably have that attitude more at 10:00 at night than I do at 7:00 in the morning. It's gotten much better over the years, but often when I wake up there's a sense of like, oh shit.

[00:47:28] Yeah. And I don't look at calendars until the day of, and I'm always like, oh, what am I doing today? I have no idea, usually, until I go to my computer after I meditate and make sure my head's right, and then I look at the day. But I usually have thoughts that are more like, oh shit, what's required of me today? And how scary is it or not? So that's inspiring.

[00:47:53] Alyson: You're a little more grumbly and growly in the morning, whereas when I'm tired at night, that's when I'm like, I need breath. I need space. No top of head kisses.

[00:48:02] Luke: Yeah.

[00:48:02] Alyson: Our sensitivities are completely polar opposite.

[00:48:05] Luke: We have rules in the evening and in the morning.

[00:48:09] Alyson: Yeah. I can't really talk to you until you've moved around and taken enough supplements. And then I cannot allow for any, for some reason, crown chakra, top of head kisses once I'm starting to get tired at night. I cannot have those. It's off limits.

[00:48:27] Luke: Yeah, this is great because we're learning all of these things about one another and how to have the most harmonious relationship possible and one that's the most fruitful, and joyful, and loving, and all of those things. And these are all great tools that we're applying to our Higher Power Couple venture, which will be-- I guess we could talk about that in a little bit when we look into 2024.

[00:49:00] But how many relationships have you been in where just fundamental preferences, like we're describing, of who's got what vibe in the morning or night, for example, lead to incompatibility, not because you're not compatible, but just because you don't have the awareness and you don't tune into one another and have that unconditional love and acceptance that everyone's wired differently.

[00:49:30] I could get my feelings hurt or get annoyed if I'm trying to snuggle up and kiss you on the head at night and you push me away. I could take that personally and be offended or something. Or in the morning--

[00:49:43] Alyson: Side note, I don't push him away, but I do say no. You know the rule. No top of head kisses

[00:49:49] Luke: Or, conversely, we could wake up in the morning and I don't feel like talking, or hearing loud noises, or getting into any meaningful discussions until I've done my morning routine on the rebounder, and the ice bath, and all the crazy shit that I can think of.

[00:50:01] Alyson: Yeah, we could easily have viewed that as like, oh, we're incompatible. And I could have been like, I want someone who's also a morning person. Because as soon as I wake up, I'm communing so much with the ethos, and other realms, and my benevolent guides, and so much going on for me while I'm sleeping that I wake up inspired.

[00:50:20] I wake up, ready to go. I wake up ready to tell you the shamanic healing that took place at 4:15. And I know that I have to temper that. And I know what you look like and feel like when you're ready to be approached. And most of the time, I'm successful at that. Sometimes there's something where I'm just chomping at the bit.

[00:50:42] Maybe it's a house report or something going on where I maybe jump the gun a little bit. And I can always tell when I do. But yeah, I think we give each other a lot of grace and have found that harmony as opposed to being like, oh, what a bummer! I want someone who's ready to dive in in the morning with me. It doesn't have to be a deal breaker.

[00:51:03] Luke: Yeah. I think that I go, like I'm sure many of us do, to such bizarre places in my sleep that when I wake up, I think it takes me a while to get back into my body and remember that I'm a person. What was it? The night before last? Right before I woke up at 7:00 or something in the morning, I was having this dream where I was hanging out with John Lennon and helping him do a press conference or something.

[00:51:35] And it's so real. We go in this room, and then he's Thom Knoles, the Vedic Meditation teacher, Jeff Cobra's teacher, and we're talking about his guru, and he's giving me all these spiritual insights and downloads, and I'm in that.

[00:51:51] And then the sun comes up, and I have the curtain open and wake up, and it's like I'm still in that for the first 30 minutes after I wake up and trying to convince myself that that's not the real world. And I'm still not totally convinced that this is the real world and that dreams are a made-up world.

[00:52:10] Dreams might be the real world, and this could be the made-up ones. It takes me a while. But yeah, knowing that about one another has been, I think a, great resource for us and to be able to just meet each other where we are and understand that our differences are our strength and not something that you have to fight against or try to mold yourself into being like your significant other.

[00:52:37] You are who you are. There's nature and nurture, and I think you can only nurture yourself to be different to a certain degree. I've been trying to be a morning person for 53 years, and if it hasn't happened by now, it's probably not likely to. And even if I wake up at the crack of dawn at 6:30 or whatever, I'm still not really ready to interface with the world until 10:00 or 11:00.

[00:53:00] Alyson: It takes you a little bit longer than that most 10:00, not my ideal podcast start time. If I'm doing Ceremony Circle, I'm like, let's get the guest here at 9:30. We're jamming by 10:00. We started to record today at noon, and I think that was-- you had to really stay on your regimen to get ready by now.

[00:53:26] Luke: I did. Yeah, yeah. I just got my call sheet to speak at Dr. John Lieurance's event down in Florida with Ben Greenfield and all the health nut crew. And they sent me my call sheet, and it was like, I need you in hair and makeup. It's for a documentary on biohacking. And they sent me my call sheet, and it was like, 7:00 AM hair and makeup. Start your interview at 8:00 or something.

[00:53:52] Alyson: Yeah. They're probably packing so much into those couple of days.

[00:53:56] Luke: Well, I expressed my discontent, and they bumped me to 9:30 or something, which is doable. But yeah, to your average person, that's normal.

[00:54:05] Alyson: The other thing that flows we into this other thing that felt important to bring up is I wanted to also make clear that with the quote, "I have the best life ever", that I have arrived to that very genuine embodied truth and feeling even amidst navigating the deepest waters and initiations this year as well.

[00:54:30] So it's like, I don't want it to get twisted, and I don't want people to get confused that-- I guess people that know me and listen to my show and know us well enough know our backgrounds and know the stuff that we have painstakingly evolved from. But I want to make that clear because waking up, knowing that one has the best life ever does not at all have to equate to every day is easy or every day is only filled with laughter.

[00:55:15] Those things are so great. They're vital. And I'm calling more of that in, but I think it's really beautiful for me to know that I genuinely feel that way about my life, even when I am in the deepest initiations ever currently. I'm in some of the heaviest, deepest waters one can navigate in a life experience.

[00:55:46] I'm in those waters right now, and I'm still waking up, genuinely feeling I have the best life ever. And I think that's a testament to a lot. It's a testament to us coming together and our sacred union. It's a testament to the life that we are co-creating. It's a testament to how I've chosen to face the totality of life, face the totality of myself, live in devotion with a divine.

[00:56:14] So many things, but they're happening at once. And I think that you and I have navigated one of the funny reflections, cool reflections I've had in our time since we pivoted from friends to where we are, is just how much we have experienced together in such a short amount of time.

[00:56:38] It's not lost on me, the irony that literally no exaggeration, no making it up, no flubbing, the weekend, the Jellybean, my cat and I left New York City, flew across the country to move in with you in LA was the same weekend that the lockdown, the whole thing erupted, that very weekend. And from that point of us moving in together and becoming a family, we have just had the best timing.

[00:57:09] Even Katie Hess, founder of Lotuswei, she was texting me. We're very dear friends, and she was texting me last night just like, hey, thinking of you. What's the latest? And I gave her a little update. And she said something to the effect of, you and Luke just always have so much fun together. And I love that about your relationship.

[00:57:26] And it's true. We've had so much fun together. And we moved in at the start of lockdown. You've witnessed the deepest career initiations of me with my book and deck. I've witnessed youth selling off businesses in very stressful situations, trying new locations, moving across the country, temporary living in an apartment while we're renovating this home for a year and a half, and all of those initiations, major parent health confrontations we've both navigated, clearings of entities trying to get themselves into our situation, your tinnitus, our fertility journey of two full years, the dissolving, what other people call miscarriage. I call it a dissolving. Keeping our temple and our home clear. I've had the hardest conversations of my life this year that you've been witness to, us going to tantric retreats and delving into waters to explore how to strengthen our union.

[00:58:28] I'm sure there's a ton of stuff that I'm forgetting. So tell me a couple things of the big stuff that we've navigated, but we've gone through a lot of heavy hitting things, and yet we have a lot of fun, and we're living our best life ever.

[00:58:46] Luke: For me, and we have different language to describe, I think, some of the same things in terms of our worldview, but one way to say it would be being in the world but not of the world. Wearing the world like a loose garment. And this is my work every day to stay grounded in the knowing that a good, or bad, or positive, or negative experience with us, collectively or individually, is solely based on my perspective, and remembering that my perspective can only be as accurate as I allow it to be at this particular moment in time.

[00:59:40] Because we can only see what's happening. Take the miscarriage for example. In that moment, it's difficult, and heartbreaking, and disappointing, and all the things that it is, but because we can only see it from that moment, we don't know what the bigger picture is. If we're years down the road and we don't have kids and we have the best life ever, and we're like, oh, cool, we weren't supposed to have kids, or we are able to do so and we have the best kid ever or we adopt, who knows what.

[01:00:15] Alyson: Right. We're fully trusting of the journey.

[01:00:17] Luke: Yeah. And I think it's that underpinning of surrender in my life, and I know you live by the principle of surrender, and in surrender is access to the non-dual of not viewing things as good or bad, positive or negative. And that's difficult when you're in a human body and you have emotions, and feelings, and thoughts, and opinions, and beliefs, and patterns, and all of the things that were programmed by, I don't think it's something, unless you're really an enlightened master that you fully grasp all of the time.

[01:00:59] But it is a foundation. It's the goal. It's the benchmark. It's where I'm always doing my best to live from and buy, is just that really broad, open-mindedness without preconceived judgements about the way things should or shouldn't be and really just letting go and trusting God, trusting the source of all creation that's making all of this possible and flowing the blood through my veins, that knowing that there's an intelligent, benevolent, loving being that is running all of this and that my participation in it is voluntary.

[01:01:49] And that whether I have a shitty day or a good day is really 99% or so, depending on my perspective of it. And that's the thing, I think, more than anything that helps me get through difficulties and disappointments. It's just remembering that my opinion of any given situation is what creates it as a reality. And that could be misconstrued as a spiritual bypassing, like, oh, it's all good. Everything's all good all the time.

[01:02:22] No, things are difficult. And I have mood fluctuations, and things that I perceive to be bad do happen, especially in the past few years, speaking just in terms of world events. But I also do my best to retain the humility to know that I can't see the future, so I don't know what's on the other side of this difficulty.

[01:02:46] And if I look back on any challenges tat I've faced in my life that I would have, at the time, absolutely deemed to be negative, if not horrific, have ultimately been gifts because of the lessons that I've learned from them. Taking the dissolving, as you call it, between us, anyone would look at that and go, oh, that's so sad. That's terrible. And it was challenging.

[01:03:14] But from another perspective, it also drew us even closer together in terms of our love for one another and our intimacy. It allowed me to see things about you that were inspiring and educational just in terms of the fortitude, and wisdom, and maturity with which you handled that as the woman who was having the physical experience of that. So, if anything, I view that as ultimately a positive experience.

[01:03:49] Alyson: Yeah, there were so many gifts.

[01:03:51] Luke: Because of the transmutation of the experience that's been possible in hindsight, and having the tools to take it and go, oh, okay, I see that my mind wants to view this from a particular perspective with a particular lens that would view it as something negative, but knowing that there's a higher intelligence available that can view it from much more broad perspective.

[01:04:14] Alyson: Yeah. And we're both completely willing to access and allow whatever emotion is wanting to present. So I think, yeah, that's one of the key things as I'm listening that I'm reflecting on, is there's no resisting or cutting off from, or suppressing of any thread or fiber of it all.

[01:04:40] Yeah, it's my/our willingness to healthily be with the fullness of it all that allows the thriving with it all verse what we also know from our pre-awakening, pre-surrendered years, the suffering of it all. I was having flashbacks for some reason yesterday, I think, of just previous relationships and not even just the one that provided my awakening through the addiction portal and denial, codependency, narcissism portal.

[01:05:16] It was like another relationship. I got flash to memories I didn't even recall having until yesterday of just the pain of being with that person and in that relationship and the pain I was imposing on myself through what I was allowing, and all the things. I don't know.

[01:05:40] Yeah. I was just thinking about how much pain and suffering I regularly experienced. Oh God. It hurts me to even flash back to those times. And now I am able to be with everything in such a healthy, thriving, miraculous way.

[01:06:13] Luke: Well, that's the counterintuitive nature of difficult or painful emotions, is that that animal instinct of ours wants to avoid it at all costs thinking that by avoiding the pain, that the pain is going to lessen. But if emotions aren't fully felt and processed intellectually, somatically through the body, and all the ways, they don't go away. You know what I'm saying? To heal it, you have to feel it. There's just no way around that.

[01:06:55] And I think that's one of the greatest gifts, one of the greatest principles, is really learning to understand that. And also, after one goes through enough painful experiences like the ones you described, and we have our own similar experiences in our past, especially around relationships, for example, different dynamics, but still, those things that make you want to kill yourself or whatever.

[01:07:30] It can get to a really dark place, but it's having the courage to have faced so many of those really uncomfortable emotions and micro and macro traumas, and then seeing, after some time, having a track record of like, oh God, I really don't want to look at this. I don't want to feel this, I don't want to face this about myself.

[01:07:55] But in so doing, to be able to move past it to where the hooks of those memories don't have a charge anymore, I think that's a good barometer of, hmm, am I really past this? Have I healed it? For me, it's like when I talk about an event in my life that was painful or traumatic, I can feel how much charge or resistance still exists in my body and the things that I've been willing to feel the most, even if they were the most painful and most traumatic, have the least amount of charge from just owning it rather than running from it.

[01:08:36] And that's someone who spent a few decades running quickly from any sort of a feeling. Feeling it is healing it. That's the thing. So even in our practice of a relationship, I think that's one of the most bonding and valuable tools we have, is allowing each other space to not only feel, but also to express appropriately whatever we're going through with one another.

[01:09:05] We have such little conflict in our relationship, and I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that we're both pretty adept at understanding that emotions that either of us are going through, even if they're related to the other person, aren't really about the other person. They're emotions that we're feeling within ourselves that are relevant to something the other person might have said or done, but the other person isn't causing the other one to feel a certain way.

[01:09:34] Or if I'm annoyed with you or you're annoyed with me, or there's something we need to talk about, it's that we are each taking responsibility for our own inner experience. And you know that if I'm upset, it's really not about you. It's my own upset that I need to work out. And part of my working at my upset is communicating what's going on inside to you.

[01:09:56] Alyson: But you've been upset with me.

[01:09:58] Luke: Well, I'm trying to be diplomatic.

[01:10:03] Alyson: I'm not joking.

[01:10:05] Luke: You're pretty easy to get along with. There have been a couple of times when I've been annoyed with you, but no, I've never been actually angry with you.

[01:10:15] Alyson: Yeah.

[01:10:15] Luke: Yeah. Just interesting. Anyway, we'll get into relationship stuff, but you reminded me of something that happened this year too in May. That wasn't even on my list of big events. I think it was just in the works for so long. But that was exiting my business that I founded in 2008 and ran for, I don't know how many years, many years, I guess until we moved here and put it on ice after I bought my former business partner out, and that was School of Style, which is a fashion school that I founded way back when, when I worked as a celebrity fashion stylist in LA 2008.

[01:11:00] I had already had a career many years, and so many people wanted to get into that industry, and there was really no inroads other than traditional fashion schools. That's not how I did it. I never got anything because of any school. So I just started my own school and started holding these little classes, and eventually it became very successful, and we're traveling all around the country holding live classes.

[01:11:24] And then around 2018, I transitioned it into a 100% online business. But by then, I had started my podcast in 2016 and moved into the health and wellness space and just followed my true passion, which is what I'm doing now and all the ways that I do it. And knew that even though that business could make a lot of money very easily and also serve its students well, which I had done for a long time, I couldn't muster up any energy to relaunch that business and activate it again.

[01:12:09] And so I started chopping around for people that might want to buy it, people that were passionate and wanted to be able to take it over and take the ball and run with it, so to speak. And so after courting a buyer for a couple of years, and it going very slowly, as you know, it was just like, is this ever going to happen?

[01:12:30] And yeah, every few months, he'd be like, all right, I should just roll up my sleeves and relaunch this business because it's a great business, and it helps a lot of people, and it's very, very lucrative. And I just couldn't do it. And I also didn't want to let it die because it's something I put my heart and soul into for so many years just to shut it down because I didn't know what to do with it seems so depressing.

[01:12:56] And there's still just such a huge market for people that want to get into the fashion industry and have a creative career as a freelance artist and whatnot, but eventually, everyone came to the table and was able to sell that business and get out of it.

[01:13:14] Alyson: Two molasses-filled years later.

[01:13:17] Luke: Yeah. And it seems like they've not yet relaunched it, but I think they're close to doing so probably in the new year, so it'll be really--

[01:13:26] Alyson: I'm sure it will thrive.

[01:13:28] Luke: Oh, it's an incredible platform. I created something amazing, and the people that bought it definitely have the capacity to really make something probably much bigger than I ever could have.

[01:13:40] Alyson: Yeah, they can really pop it off.

[01:13:41] Luke: Yeah. And so it's a really fulfilling experience for me because I built something. I helped thousands of students have careers. Many of them are huge, successful stylists now. And it will be really fun to log on and look at the new website and look at their social media and see that legacy carry on without me. So that was a huge win and something for which I'm really grateful. It was no small feat getting that deal done, but I did. And it felt really good to put all those years in and not just have to let that candle burn out. There's a little ember going.

[01:14:25] Alyson: Mm-hmm.

[01:14:26] Luke: Barely kept it going, and someone took the flame and is now recharging it, which is really exciting. I'm so glad.

[01:14:34] Alyson: Sorry, there's a little tiny ember.

[01:14:36] Luke: Yeah. So thank you for reminding me of that. Sometimes life moves so quickly, and I'm just always onto the next thing that I--

[01:14:43] Alyson: I'm sure there's a lot I forgot.

[01:14:45] Luke: I forget sometimes, but that one is something I need to remain grateful for because it could've petered out and nothing would've happened, and it would've just died on the vine, and that would've been just sad and disappointing after all the effort and energy that I put into it.

[01:15:03] I got a comment a couple of days ago. I posted the EBO2 treatments that I'm doing at Alive and Well, which I actually have one of those today, which, to me, is the most powerful kind of medical health intervention. And it's expensive. It's 1,500 bucks a pop, and it's best to do three in a row.

[01:15:24] So someone on social media asked me that, and so I put how much it costs on there, and they're like, well, that's fine for the rich people. What about the rest of us too? To which I always answer, the most powerful health innovations are totally free, but they require more discipline than most people have, which is breathwork, prayer, human connection, touch, sun gazing,

[01:15:46] Alyson: Connecting with Earth Mother.

[01:15:48] Luke: Yeah. Meditation, grounding.

[01:15:49] Alyson: And you share that stuff everyday for years.

[01:15:50] Luke: Yeah. Aligning with nature and with other human beings in a loving capacity is by far the best thing you can do for your health. And I will always stick by that because I believe it to be true. But the other thing that occurred to me is that some people think that-- and I wouldn't consider us to be rich by any stretch, but I can go get a treatment like that done without it hurting the bank account too much. But as people don't see the years and years of working one's ass off it took to be in that position. People just think like, oh, you're just lucky, or privileged, or fortunate. I'm like, dude--

[01:16:31] Alyson: Do you know anything about our backstories?

[01:16:34] Luke: I only made it through the seventh grade. I have no education, no real training of any kind. I'm self-taught in everything I do. And with that business, for example, I worked my ass off for years and years. I can't tell you the time I put into that. And then with the podcast and the work I do now, it's fun, and I enjoy it when I sit and have conversations with the camera and a microphone on.

[01:17:07] Alyson: It's also a lot of work.

[01:17:08] Luke: Yes. You know the hours that I put in. So I just want to say to people that look to anyone they see on social media, or people that are producing media or doing work similar to me, that it doesn't just happen. You're not just lucky and the world just throws resources your way.

[01:17:29] It's a lot of work. And that school was a lot of work. Selling that business was a lot of work. Even after it was sold, you have consulting that you do for a period of time typically. That was also a lot of work and still is even on some days. Putting together a reliable team, and managing that team, and paying that team well, and all of that.

[01:17:56] Alyson: Yeah, neither of us are strangers to incredibly hard work.

[01:18:01] Luke: Yeah. I wish I was a trust fund baby or something. Might've been easier, but also I think there's a certain element of character building when you have to create your life yourself.

[01:18:17] Alyson: Yeah, I like that. We're down to earth and normal people. I was reflecting on a bit of what you're sharing when you had gotten your sun time, gotten your Vitamin Deez.

[01:18:31] Luke: Vitamin Deez nuts.

[01:18:33] Alyson: And then you did your jumping on the little mini trampoline, and then you used your ice bath time in our pool, which is very cold at the moment. But yeah, as you were swimming around in the pool and I was sitting there eating some yogurt with jelly and cookie staring up at me and, again, having a reflection of the gratitude for my life, but specifically with you, I don't know why, but just seeing you breast stroking through, swimming through the pool, what struck me the most is how far you've come.

[01:19:13] I don't know why I got hit by that in that moment, but I just felt such happiness for you that you're able to swim in your pool and, I don't know, just have the experiences that you have currently because I know it was not always the case.

[01:19:36] Luke: Yeah, I've had a lot of dreams come true, both inward and outward, but they didn't just appear out of thin air. I was in a position to buy a house until I was 50 years old. I never have a down payment for a house. That was not happening. So yeah, I'm grateful. But yeah, I just wanted to mention that. I get those comments sometimes from people, and I think it's, sometimes it's envy. A lot of people that feel lack have a character defect of envy, and so they get pissed off at other people that are having a good life or being successful by whatever metric you measure that.

[01:20:21] Alyson: Going into that's not fair victim mentality sometimes. Not all the time.

[01:20:25] Luke: Yeah, yeah. I just know anyone that's made anything of themselves, in my personal life, they've worked really hard, and maybe some people are more fortunate than others, and people have different degrees of support from their family, and some of us experience traumas that are more extreme than others.

[01:20:44] But yeah, considering the odds of me ever making something of myself with the life that I had in my past with addiction, and the abuse that I endured as a kid, and all of those things, I'm very fortunate. And I'll tell you what, honestly, even if I had just gotten sober and that's all I ever did in my life, I won the game because where I was headed was, no exaggeration, not being sensational, I was going to prison, or I was going to die on the streets. Period. End of story.

[01:21:18] That's where people like me end up. But for the grace of God, that gift was bestowed upon me, and it truly is a miracle. And anything that comes after that, having you in my life, our home, our dog, the career that I enjoy--

[01:21:37] Alyson: A cat.

[01:21:38] Luke: I always forget Jelly-- well, he's so low key. He is never around.

[01:21:42] Alyson: Little wizards around somewhere.

[01:21:43] Luke: But yeah, everything has been well-earned. And so that's also to say that no matter how far somebody goes down the road of failure and pain, that there is always hope for everyone. There is a way out. And if somebody is struggling financially, I honestly think aside from just work ethic, because you have to put energy into the world, even if we were in hunter-gatherer times, you don't just sit under a tree and get fed mangoes.

[01:22:17] You got to go out and hunt and gather. You have to put energy into building things. So I believe that there's a reciprocity in the universe and that we're rewarded with the energy we need for our life by the energy we put into it. So that being said, what keeps people, I think, stuck more than anything is just viewing successful people as a them versus an us.

[01:22:41] And that's a limitation that I'm always working on within myself of looking at someone who has a successful career or is very financially secure. Being a poor kid when I grew up, it's like I always looked at rich people as assholes, and I was jealous and envious of them.

[01:23:00] And I think that kept me poor for a long time, is just seeing myself as a poor person, and that scarcity mindset that there's not enough to go around for everyone in the world, and being resentful at the people that have their share and considering them as someone who's taken a share that should be mine without me actually doing any work for it. So that's my rant on that. Where are you, my love, with our efforts to make a baby?

[01:23:29] Alyson: Yeah. I feel as if we are right with God, right where we should be with it. Had someone ask me 2, 5, 10 years ago what I thought my pregnancy or child rearing journey would look like, I don't know that I would've come up with what it has been, but I feel I'm completely trust-filled, and I feel right with God and that we are exactly where God intends for us to be with it.

[01:24:24] I personally appreciate that the first year, year and a half of it was, I will only speak for myself, but was really me going on my intuition and going inward. And even though up until you and I got pregnant, I had never been pregnant before then, to my knowledge, so it was my first pregnancy, first dissolving, first all those things, I still am so grateful that I chose to navigate the first year and a half from my own inner wisdom and resources, even though I had not been a parent before this lifetime.

[01:25:16] I don't know that I can explain it other than when I reflect back, I'm really glad that's what I chose and that you were willing to have the journey function that way. And then it felt very clear to me. I guess about six months ago, year and a half into our journey there felt just like a very clear threshold crossing or shift in the energetics of it, where I just felt like we both arrived to a knowingness of like, okay, it's time to, not switch gears, but start to go and explore a different avenue.

[01:25:58] I just felt like we knew when it was time for that. And so, yeah, we started talking to Dr. Cleopatra, our dear friend. Shout out to her. She has her own fertility institute, and it's just more than anything, a supportive friend. And it felt more right up until six months ago. And I said this to her. She knows. This is not new information that I'm divulging secrets on air, but I didn't want to talk to her before then.

[01:26:32] Yes, I know she's a renowned fertility specialist, especially working with women in their 40s, but I wasn't ready and willing to hear from her until I was, and then we were, and then we had a Zoom with her, and-- oh, I hear Jelly's got a wheezy going on down there.

[01:26:53] Jelly, Cookie, and I all have Texas allergies. I'll just say that. So anyways, in summation, I am excited for what's to come. There's definitely still unchartered territory for us to explore and venture into, but it feels right. It feels it's time. Yeah. I don't know what you want to say about it.

[01:27:26] Luke: I'm inspired by your surrendered, trusting attitude about it.

[01:27:39] Alyson: Especially with our ages.

[01:27:41] Luke: Yeah. It's a strange experience for me because I think just due to my upbringing, and childhood wounding, and just general dysfunctions in my life, I was always terrified of having kids and never wanted kids. That was, on first dates, right out the gate. I'm never having kids, so if that's what you're looking for, it's been nice meeting you, kind of thing.

[01:28:10] And I'm not proud of that attitude. It's just, like I said, I felt-- it's a long, long story as to why I held that attitude, but fear of losing my freedom and all this, to me, for me, immature perspective. And having grown and done a lot of healing in the past few years, and being with you and loving you in the way that I do, that has now completely shifted into a 180 where I really, really want to have a kid with you.

[01:28:47] And so now I have very little concerns or fears about having a kid. My fears are more about not having one. And sometimes I wrestle with the idea that I missed my chance, or there were opportunities. And I'm grateful that I didn't have kids with partners where it probably wouldn't have been advantageous to either of us or said kid and whatnot because of my levels of maturity and just capacity to hold a healthy, intimate relationship and whatnot.

[01:29:27] But it is difficult for me at times. There's a FOMO-esque, sense to the way I feel because we're both getting older, but also everyone's popping kids out, left and freaking right. So just like in my face all the time. Everyone we know is pregnant, has a kid on the way or just had one.

[01:29:57] My little brother has a beautiful little boy that I'm just obsessed with. And shout out to Bjorn, what a little cutie. I'm in love with that kid. It's my first nephew. Actually, it's interesting, and this is part of why my yearning, I think, has increased, and you already know this. But when I just saw pictures of that kid before I met him, and then even more so when I met him, it's a kind of love I've never had for a kid before.

[01:30:29] I guess because it's my relative, and I love my brother Cody so much and his amazing wife Emily. But when they send me pictures of that kid, sometimes I just cry. It's like, what is this? It's just a weird feeling. And so all the fathers I know have expressed that. They're like, oh dude, you have no idea of the kind of love that you experience when you have a kid.

[01:30:54] And just having a nephew is giving me a taste of that. And it's powerful, and it's a beautiful feeling. So knowing that that's kind of, ah, it's just right there. It's such a tangible feeling with little Bjorn. I can only imagine what that would be like with our kid. And so it's something that I just a deep desire for.

[01:31:18] Alyson: Well, I'm glad that you spoke to that. I definitely have those things surface for me, for sure. And sometimes the surfacing moves beyond a surfacing and goes into a big wave that I have to manage so that wave doesn't take me down and drown me. Because I've always, as you know, and you've been witness to now, had a very natural, easy connection with kids.

[01:31:44] I love hanging out with kids. And to be totally honest, at a gathering, you might find me in the kids' room more than you find me having adult conversations. I like hanging out with them. It's easy for me to have conversations with them. Some of our closest friends here who have many kids. I love them.

[01:32:05] And yeah, those relationships are so meaningful to me. And so, yeah, for sure, there will be sometimes a thought will come up. What exactly is it I'm trying to find it and access it? One second. It might be something like-- yeah, that it would be really fucked up if I'm not able to be a mom this lifetime, for so many reasons.

[01:32:33] Joking about these giant, giant milky breasts. I've got these like double, triple D. I don't even know. They're just huge. I got these huge milkers, mommy milkers. Sometimes I look at them, and I'm just like, yes, I'm grateful that I have them, and I think they're beautiful breasts, and I knew you appreciate them, but just beyond the beauty of them, the functionality.

[01:33:00] I just look at them, and I think these giant knockers are made for milk, and I can't imagine that I'm not able to have our child latch and receive milk from these big boobies. So there's that. But then I just know I'm a great mom. I have maternal instinct. When a friend hands me off their baby so they can go facilitate a little medicine journey for someone on the land, and I can tell that baby, even though that baby's not enough to speak, I know when that baby needs me to take them to where the mom is to be fed.

[01:33:46] This kind of thing has been acknowledged to me over and over. They're like, wow, had you waited five more minutes, would've been a total meltdown. I have that attunement with my mom instincts and with babies and kids. And so, yeah, sometimes I definitely have that thought that will enter, but I don't ride it out because that would be detrimental and there's just no point in letting it freaking take me under.

[01:34:12] But I will definitely have those thoughts of like, wow, I just can't imagine. What a bummer. How sad that would be if you and I are able to create and birth and bring into this world a beautiful child, knowing who you are and the work you've put in, and the devotion, knowing who I am, the work I've put in, and the devotion.

[01:34:33] I can only imagine the type of beautiful being that we would create and incarnate together. The thought of that not happening does feel like a travesty. But what I choose to manage and to stay more attuned to than those thoughts is the trust, complete trust. I have complete trust. I have full trust in this happening.

[01:34:56] Luke: I think because you have that trust, that's the saving grace for my fears around it not happening. I just think, well, if you're okay with it and you're someone who really wants to be a mom and you've wanted that for a long time, where this is a new desire of mine over the past couple years, so I just lean into that and just do what you do.

[01:35:22] But I also feel like we're on track. We're exploring some different options now, and I think that we're aligned in terms of okay, just the trusting and just allow nature to take its course kind of thing. And well, I feel like we leaned into that and did that as long as was practical, and now we're like, huh, let's maybe get a bit more creative. So we'll see.

[01:35:45] I love how real you are, by the way. You're so funny. Sometimes when we do podcasts together, I catch myself saying things, and I think, gosh, should I have said that? And then you say things. She can say that? I think that probably makes for a good conversation. Before we get into the rest of this and wrap it up, I meant to mention it earlier, but something in 2024 that I'm really excited about is our Higher Power Couple retreat.

[01:36:16] Alyson: Yeah. Bring it on. Finally.

[01:36:18] Luke: Alyson's really been pushing for this.

[01:36:22] Alyson: They have the cattle prod out putting it into your cute little butt cheeks.

[01:36:26] Luke: Yeah. We have it all laid out, but our vision has been to create a very high-end luxury nature-based, immersive experience for couples around conscious spiritual relationships and how to deepen intimacy and better communicate, and all of the things that we've learned individually prior to coming together, and the things that we've learned together.

[01:36:56] So if you want to get on the wait list for that, anyone listening, and it's a couple's retreat, you can go to lukestorey.com/higherpowercouple. And we don't have the date totally locked in, but it's looking like the end of May, 2024. So it's coming up here in the next few months.

[01:37:18] Alyson: Just around the corner here. It's going to be epic. What you and I are able to bring to the table through said devotion and all the things that we've already been talking about in this show is really going to make for a very unique medicinal transmission type of couples retreat that you're just not going to find somewhere else because you and I are bringing our own unique medicine.

[01:37:44] Luke: It's going to be deep. It's going to be powerful, and it will be held in the Austin area. We sent out a survey a couple of months ago asking people just what they wanted because we can do all kinds of different things between each of our skillsets and understandings about the nature of relationships and all that.

[01:38:04] And the vast majority of people wanted to do it here in Austin. And we were like, great, we don't have to have everyone spend their money to fly to Mexico or some exotic location. We can do it right here. And also the vast majority of people wanted it to be for couples. And so that's what we're doing. lukestorey.com/higherpowercouple.

[01:38:24] And for those of you who are not currently in a relationship and are like, oh, bummer. I would like to do that and explore calling in a conscious partnership, we'll be doing that probably later in the year for singles as well.

[01:38:40] Alyson: Yeah. We're going to whip something up that's a little bit different for the singles ready for sacred union. Yeah, I'm really excited for this. This name got downloaded into us on a walk when we used to live in Laurel Canyon, back in the Los Angeles era of our lives. And so it's been, like you said, a long time in the making, and I'm really glad that it has arrived.

[01:39:08] And I also love that it will most likely be in a more immersive nature-based environment that will really allow for the type of depth and transformation that I will want to happen in a retreat that I facilitate. And for the people who feel called to attend, it happens in an environment like that.

[01:39:35] Luke: Yeah. It's got to be in nature and secluded.

[01:39:39] Alyson: More off the grid.

[01:39:40] Luke: Yeah, secluded from the world. Not in a hotel in downtown Austin.

[01:39:45] Alyson: I don't know how close to wrapping up you are, but I do have some listener questions. Remember how I put on Instagram stories?

[01:39:52] Luke: Yeah, go for it. Because the rest of my stuff is just rattling off some lists and things like that.

[01:39:59] Alyson: I haven't edited which ones I want to ask, and quite a few of you wrote in. So thank you to all of you who did? So I'm just in real time trying to pick which ones feel the best. This one's somewhat interesting because it's pretty specific. What is your favorite way to manifest dreams and goals together? I don't know if I've really ever thought about that.

[01:40:30] Luke: We do that all the time right here at our altar, which we haven't done in a while, actually specifically up here. But what comes to mind for me is the most obvious and probably what we've done more than anything, is just doing our prayers together. And our prayers typically, either one of us or sometimes both of us will speak to source out loud and verbalize first and foremost things for which we're grateful. And even I think in terms of asking for things that we'd like to manifest, our prayers are essentially giving thanks for those things as if they've already happened.

[01:41:25] Alyson: And also, most benevolent high God, may your will be done. That's always the ultimate prayer. No matter what specific goal we may be speaking to at our altar, we always give it back to God.

[01:41:43] Luke: Yeah. I think the way that it usually goes down, and we don't have a set protocol that's written on a stone tablet somewhere or anything, but we each have our goals and dreams individually, and they're mostly intertwined because our lives are so intertwined that it seems that we each bring our highest priorities to our prayers together.

[01:42:08] And if you're working on bringing something into your experience or our experience, you might lead that particular prayer session more. And likewise, if it's something that's been on my list and things that I want to manifest, for example, selling the business, that was something that was in my prayers. Like, God, show us what to do here.

[01:42:31] Alyson: Jesus and Mary, please show us the way.

[01:42:35] Luke: Exactly.

[01:42:35] Alyson: It's one of my songs.

[01:42:36] Luke: And so that might be something that's more pertinent to my life, but also affects both of our lives. And so I might bring that. But yeah, I think the power of the Holy Trinity is how I think of it, is my soul and your soul in harmonious communion and bringing our gratitude and desires into our prayer, I think, is one of the main ways.

[01:43:05] Alyson: Yeah. Also, working with fire and smoke is a big one for me and maybe as a by proxy for you, but I'm a fire keeper kind of gal. Yeah. And I think this past year, 2023, more than any other time in my life, working with the medicine and power of fire and smoke specifically have been so at the forefront.

[01:43:32] Even my work, going back to through smoke inhalation, most likely getting the pneumonia as a newborn baby and transmuting and all the months and months and months of dedicated healing transmutation, alchemization work that I did to, I don't know if rebirthing my birth story is the right way of putting it, but that was all through fire, lightning, smoke, medicine.

[01:44:01] So we go in the backyard a lot. We have a fire pit. And I can usually tell when it's time. And I'll tell him like, hey, I think tonight is a fire night. And so I'll also attune to, are there certain offerings to give to what I refer to as sacred grand fire. Because when I am working with fire, I'm not looking at it as just a flame. It's the most ancient, medicinal teacher known to planet Earth, is fire.

[01:44:40] So I am speaking with a most ancient spirit and guide, benevolent ally. I am communing with and speaking with a living being. And so sometimes we'll work with the fire and smoke to clear, and sometimes we work with it to call in and depending upon what direction we're going, then I will attune to, are we working with cedar to send prayers up? Are we working more with mug wart for a cremation purification ceremony? But fire, smoke work is big.

[01:45:20] Luke: And also, we do periodic ritual baths too. Fill up the big bath with--

[01:45:27] Alyson: When we can get our bathroom working.

[01:45:29] Luke: It wasn't working the other day.

[01:45:30] Alyson: That's hilarious.

[01:45:31] Luke: She was all annoyed. She's like, we need to get someone over here. So I called our handyman, Marius, or text him. I was like, dude, we're not getting any water. And he goes, you got to clear out the screen. There was some sediment in the screen. But yeah, we'll put crystals, and essential oils, and magnesium salts, and things like that in the bath and just take dedicated time to connect with one another. Not necessarily with the intention of manifesting goals or something like that, but just to make sure that we remain unified so that anything we're doing individually on the metaphysical or physical plane has the bonding of our union. It's another way to remember to come together.

[01:46:14] Because what motivates me, and that's probably why I've been so productive over the past few years since we've been together, is the efforts that I've put forth and the work that I do now have a much higher purpose because they're also to serve our family unit, currently a four, hopefully to be a five. Even though the work I do I think of it as a service to humanity for the people that are inspired or educated by the stuff that I put out into the world.

[01:46:47] So it's always been meaningful and not self-centered in that sense because I could do other things that make money that don't really help broad numbers of people. But I have a much higher purpose now because supporting our family, and our future, and our goals, and dreams, and all of that, it reminds me of how important the things that I want to manifest when it comes to my career and work when we're together because I am energizing that for a higher purpose other than just my own comfort or ways in which I can help people in the world.

[01:47:26] It's like they directly affect you and your quality of life, and things like that. So I think even when I'm working on manifesting the life that I want for myself, it's not just for me, it's for us. And so you, as my muse, give me a lot of motivation. I think that's one of the beautiful things about being in partnership, is there's that, again, trinity of you share a common goal.

[01:47:54] That's given that you share values, and you're on the same moral standing together, and the things that are important to you are also important to your partner on a fundamental level. But I don't think there's a way that we couldn't be manifesting the life that we want because we know that it's the foundation of how we share time together.

[01:48:16] So if we want to manifest, after going to Costa Rica, for example, wow, we'd really like to spend more time here. What does that look like? God, if this could be your will, show us what the next steps are or how we might do that. And I think things manifest a lot faster and also in a more meaningful way when there's a higher purpose of the foundation of the relationship being served.

[01:48:40] Alyson: Yeah. As I'm looking at these-- so we answered @sfsiren_. And then breath with Julia and Katherine Ducey, it looks like what we've already chatted about should have hopefully answered a couple of the questions that you both sent in. So I hope I'm correct in that. A couple of people asking, what is typical day or daily spiritual practices? And then that coincides with another one who asked, "Any practices or rituals to stay connected?"

[01:49:17] I always think of us with a guitar and the silly medicine songs channeling in. I really love, and value, and cherish our time together in that way. That always feels really special, the fact that for many years in your life, played in bands, and when we came together, already had a lot of guitar ability.

[01:49:39] Oh, it came to me in the ayahuasca ceremony. I was like, had the call to learn guitar? I forgot for a second how that happened, but yeah, it was through grandmother medicine. I was instructed. Yeah, that was a next major focus for me, was to learn guitar. I play a lot of shamanic instruments, and I'm very masterful at drumming shamanic journeys, but guitar just wasn't on my radar.

[01:50:06] And I was really pleasantly surprised when it came in during that medicine night. And it's just been one of my greatest joys. Last year, for my birthday, you got my own guitar, and, yeah, even some days where it's just five minutes and I'm just trying to stretch my fingers out to get that one chord or whatever it is, whether it's longer times or not, I think that's a really unique way that we're able to come together, that we both play guitar and like to sing and fart around with music.

[01:50:40] Luke: Yeah. That brings to mind two other important points. One of them is so powerful but seemingly insignificant. And that is many times throughout the day, every day, one of us will make a point to come have nice long connecting hugs together. And even more specifically to breathe one another, to sync our breath and just spend some time breathing together. And it's crazy.

[01:51:18] I don't know if I've shared this with you actually, but I have all of these different health gadgets and biohealing tools around the house, and some of them give you energy and some of them calm you down, but nothing settles my nervous system more than just taking a few moments to co-regulate with you and just breathe.

[01:51:40] If I'm stressed out or having anxiety, if I'm in my office just grinding, and I'm like, oh my God, I'm forgetting to breathe, and I'm just experiencing some stress, just taking a 62-second to a two-minute breath together is a really powerful way to not only connect with you, but also to just ground myself back into the reality of life.

[01:52:08] So that's a really important way, and that's also something we do often. When we pray together too, we'll often start of just holding each other, breathing, looking each other's eyes, just getting in a great feeling and emotional state. And then the other one, which I'm surprised I forgot, for me, some of our most potent bonding experiences have been in medicine ceremonies.

[01:52:36] And even on my own because we're so connected. And in those realms, there's no separation on the soul level because you're erasing time and space, and you're in a quantum field of no time and space. And I've had all sorts of telepathic conversations and experiences with you, whether you were physically present or not, but also in some of the experiences that we've shared together wherein there's a depth of intimacy and honesty and overall connectivity that has been extremely meaningful to me.

[01:53:22] Just being able to, one, experience that comes to mind is just looking over at you in an ayahuasca ceremony. And you know the story obviously because you were there, but I don't know, I just sat up. And this is one of the rare cases where this particular journey happened during the daytime, which is not typical of that particular medicine, at least not in my experience.

[01:53:47] But it was daytime, so it was lit. We're on our mats next to one another, and I had this whole trippy ass experience where I looked at Alyson, and I saw her as this ancient soul. She was just looking at me. Words can't even describe it. It's pathetic to even try to attribute words to what the experience was.

[01:54:19] But what happened was is I looked into her eyes and I saw this ancient soul, and I saw how old our connection is and how deep our connection is. And I got this sense that, oh, it's almost like she had come back for me almost to retrieve my soul into love, not romantic love, but Love. I don't know what was going on with you.

[01:54:55] We've talked about it, and you're like, I was just sitting there looking at you, basically. But she did a healing on me that was like to the core of my being. And I just was wailing. I don't know if I've ever cried like that in my life. And I wasn't crying because I was having thoughts about anything. It was a no thought cry.

[01:55:19] It was just a transmission from Alyson's soul to mine, and it was a healing transmission that was melting lifetimes of suffering from my being. After an experience like that my perspective of you as my wife and as my partner is never the same. I don't take you for granted in other words. It's not that I ever did, but I'm just hanging out in the house. Oh yeah, it's my wife over there, whatever. It's like when I look at you, I see that person or that soul, that being that I saw that day.

[01:56:03] And so in terms of deepening our intimacy and our love and contextualizing the higher purpose of our relationship, peak experiences like that have informed that for me, and there's no unknowing it, or unlearning it, or unexperience it, because once I saw that, I couldn't unsee it.

[01:56:23] I can forget it, but I have a touchpoint to go back to. When I look at you it's like, whoa, holy shit. This is a powerful being. And a powerful being that has a tremendous amount of love for me and that sees me, really, really sees me.

[01:56:49] Alyson: Yeah, I do. Yeah, that was so powerful and beautiful because, like you said, the room was very illuminated. And for anyone, well versed in being called into sacred plant medicine ceremony, yes, typically it's very dark, and it's at night or all through the night. And so yeah, to be in a well lit, fully populated room, and for the most part, this final day was the lighter dosage day.

[01:57:22] And most people, not in a full on experience, but you were, and I think everything's always perfect in those experiences. But yeah, I can only imagine for those others in the room being witness to that. I know our friend Ashelle, who reflected something really beautiful in the closing sharing.

[01:57:51] How he saw us, this other level intimacy, and he didn't say this, but like I keep thinking of into me, you see, intimacy. And literally, we were laying there on those cots, facing each other, just doing nothing but staring into each other's eyes for, what do you think? An hour, hour and a half at least?

[01:58:10] Luke: It was a while.

[01:58:11] Alyson: All that was happening was staring in a transmission and a soul-level experience and a soul-level communication and healing that was happening just simply by into me, you see, and you saw the ancient medicine woman in me, and you saw our purpose together as a couple, and those ancient wails, those ancient clearings. Oh my gosh. There's nothing like those. They're so beyond words. Cathartic.

[01:58:43] Luke: It was hardcore. Also, that day, I had expressed to the facilitators that I wanted more medicine, so I was also-- it wasn't a big challenge, but part of it was since everyone else was chilling, people weren't having that experience, and I wasn't planning to. For whatever reason, I felt like I wanted to go a bit deeper.

[01:59:08] So they gave me more medicine, and there were moments when my ego would peek through the fog and be embarrassed because we're in a room with a bunch of people, and people are just hanging out in a light energy, and I am wailing, bawling.

[01:59:26] And it would not stop. And then it would subside. And then I'd look back over at you, and it would just come back. It was like ancient lifetimes of some pain and suffering that was not, as I said, even identifiable. I wasn't thinking about a traumatic memory. It was just like, whoa, there was some hurt inside me that goes way back.

[01:59:47] And it is deep, deep grief. To the point of that question-- and this isn't going to be appropriate for all people-- but in our path, every once in a while, periodically, we have an experience like that. And they've been extremely bonding for me and helped me to go deeper into my trust of you and of us.

[02:00:11] And not only the healing nature of truly being seen and being that vulnerable and transparent but, as I said, also just the ways in which I honor you and see you beyond the surface of you as Alyson Storey, the person behind you body, and the person behind your eyes, and your beauty, and your personality, and your intellect, and all those things that present at the forefront of who you are. I know who you are way past that.

[02:00:52] Alyson: Yeah. I'm so grateful for that.

[02:00:54] Luke: And that's a bond that is not limited to this incarnation. It's a different level of bond, so I'm most grateful for that. We have just a few minutes here, so I wanted to rattle off a couple of other things here.

[02:01:16] One thing that has been a huge change this year, and I just had a podcast that came out-- I don't have the number in front of me-- with Dr. Kevin Winters, my dentist. I had reached a point from being a drug addict and then a vegetarian, and God knows what else, that my teeth were just completely trashed and beyond repair with any kind of holistic dentistry.

[02:01:38] So, as you know, I went through a six-month process of getting new teeth, and many people have asked on my social media, like, did you get veneers? You look different. And some people have clowned on me for getting fake teeth. And some people are just curious. But yeah, I really had no choice but to get new teeth because I couldn't even chew food. My teeth were--

[02:02:01] Alyson: Little, tiny shards.

[02:02:03] Luke: Little, yellow nubs. So that was a lot. That was quite an intense experience. I'm on the other side of it now. Still takes a little getting used to. I'm a little bit insecure about it just because, I don't know, when I look in the mirror and smile, it just looks weird to me. So it's good for my ego to have that experience and learn how to dis-identify from physical form and not get hung up on how I appear and things like that. But that was a huge project.

[02:02:35] Alyson: And I want you to feel like happy and proud of your teeth and smile because it's like before, when there were those little, tiny nubs, I noticed you would hide your smile, and you're such a handsome man. I always be like, oh. You always look so cute when you smile. But I understood why you would temper it, but it's like I don't want the same thing to repeat now that you have these bigger, new teeth. Do you find yourself hiding your smile still with the new teeth?

[02:03:02] Luke: If I'm being totally honest, which I always do my best to be on this show, sometimes yeah. It's a weird feeling to just look totally different. But that said, I'm extremely grateful for the great care that I got. It wasn't just like getting new teeth. I moved my whole bite. So my whole way I chew food, and breathe, and sleep, and everything, and my back pain and neck pain is better.

[02:03:31] Alyson: Yeah, you didn't just go into the dental chair and sit down one day and get new teeth. It was at least six months of you preparing your body through physical therapy and all these modalities at home to slowly shift your jaw, and skull, and spine, and preparing your body for that day.

[02:03:52] Luke: Yeah, it's a skeletal and muscular upgrade and a huge change. But that was a big thing this year. Another thing I did was doing the Aqua Method with Dr. Marcella Madera, with the laser guided stem cells and all that, which was another week-long intensive-- that was a really beautiful experience and had great benefit.

[02:04:15] I think if I was more disciplined about doing the exercises they gave me, it would be more beneficial. But I've had a difficult time adhering to the plan, but that was a really incredible experience for which I'm grateful. Recently, I'm doing a medicine journey with Dr. Samuel Lee, who was also on the show recently where we unpacked that.

[02:04:35] That was a really empowering experience for me and something that stands out this year, is in terms of health, I've been really focusing on sleep and really, really working on dialing that in. The great thing about you being a morning person is you go to bed hella early. So for the first time in my life, I'm sometimes going to bed at 9:30 or 10:00 at night, which is unheard of.

[02:04:59] I got this new device that I'm testing out called a Soltec that goes under the bed and you wear a little wearable bracelet and it's really effective for not only helping you sleep, but helping your sleep architecture so that you have the proper ratios of REM and deep sleep. There'll be more on that later. Been working on my liver. I've been told by many practitioners that I have stagnant liver, if not on my way to fatty liver. So I've been stepping up the coffee enemas and doing the liver-gall bladder--

[02:05:28] Alyson: Indeed, he has. On a typical morning, I can venture into the bathroom, and papa's laying there with coffee going in the rear.

[02:05:37] Luke: Yeah. And that's unconditional love when your partner allows that to take place. The only real complaint I have in terms of my health, I feel like my sleep's better never. My energy's better never. I am healthier than I've ever been, for sure. I turned 53 a couple months ago. But my tinnitus, or tinnitus, as some call it, is still just completely off the charts.

[02:06:03] However, I'm hopeful this coming year, I'm working with Dr. Kristen Keener at IlluminEar. She's a famed audiologist here in Austin. And so I've been working with her every couple of weeks and doing some different exercises and things like that.

[02:06:20] Alyson: You get your little meter out at gatherings.

[02:06:22] Luke: Yeah. So I'm working how to reprogram my subconscious and get out of my limbic system and stop freaking out about the sound I hear in my ears. And then we're about to start something called Linear, which is, I think, from Austria, if I'm not mistaken. And it's a very effective treatment that my dad's had great success with. So we're going to start that with her soon.

[02:06:41] Some of my other great discoveries this year, the things that have really moved the needle for me have been this thing right here, which is called the BioLight, and that's from the Shielded Shop. My friend Brian Hoyer, who's a EMF guy that did a lot of the work in our home here.

[02:07:00] This is a really cool light that allows you to switch from daytime full spectrum, like full-spectrum blue light to blue free yellow light by flipping the switch. I know I'm a geek, but I'm really excited about that because dealing with the lighting at home, it's a whole project. So shout out to Brian for fixing that.

[02:07:21] While I'm writing and working, I've been using something called Brain.fm, which is a focus program, like binaural beats on steroids. So I listen to that with headphones. It also distracts me from the ringing. I've stepped up my breathwork game with the Othership app.

[02:07:37] Incredible breath work app. You hear me up here on most days doing all my thing. I'm listening to that app. Then the Mendi, at-home neurofeedback device has been great. Discovered that this year. The VibePlate, which is, uh, downstairs in our--

[02:07:52] Alyson: AKA the shaky plate.

[02:07:54] Luke: The shaky plate. It's a big cage so you can stretch and do pull-ups on it while it vibrates. I got a new PEMF mat, a set of them, actually, called the Kloud from Centropix, and that's a very sophisticated frequency set from the man, the scientist that created the-- what's it called? the BEMER. Yeah. He defected and made this one that's even cooler than that and like thousands of dollars less. I've been thriving on the ketones from Ketone-IQ. That's part of my daily thing now. Huge shout out to Update, these Update drinks with paraxanthine.

[02:08:34] Alyson: Obsessed.

[02:08:34] Luke: I know when Alyson likes some of my health gadgets and supplements and stuff, that were onto something. We drink these things like maniacs. It's like drinking a caffeinated energy drink with zero anxiety or overstimulation.

[02:08:49] Alyson: And also zero caffeine.

[02:08:51] Luke: Yeah, it has no caffeine. It's the good part of caffeine, which is one of the three molecules in caffeine, paraxanthine, which I did a show about Update a few months ago too, but that stuff's amazing. Getting on the hydrogen water from the Hydrofix, that's been a game changer. I'm drinking that all day, every day, using the Neubie from NeuFit, the electrical stimulation device that's become part of both of our routines here. Getting on the Beam Minerals, which I haven't turned you onto because I just got them.

[02:09:22] Alyson: Yeah.

[02:09:22] Luke: But I'm really excited about the--

[02:09:24] Alyson: You had me at ancient--

[02:09:27] Luke: Ancient decomposed plant matter.

[02:09:29] Alyson: Yeah, that.

[02:09:29] Luke: It's similar to Shilajit, but it's in a liquid form that tastes like water. So it's easier for some people like you. Speaking of Shilajit, Mana, it's been part of the daily.

[02:09:40] Alyson: Again, obsessed.

[02:09:41] Luke: Yeah.

[02:09:41] Alyson: I put it in our morning matcha, our morning cacaos. I'm always squirting it in there.

[02:09:48] Luke: Yeah. Mana is incredible because it's got a liquid version of Shilajit and also minerals from the Dead Sea. The sunlight and sauna. We upgraded our sauna this year, which is great because we can both fit in it, which is amazing. One of my huge life goals in addition to finally buying a house is to get a proper whole house filtration system. So we have the Ophora whole-house water filtration.

[02:10:14] Alyson: Did it.

[02:10:15] Luke: Yeah. So when we take our ritual baths, we're not doing so in fluoride and chloramine, and all the nasty stuff in there.

[02:10:21] Alyson: And even cooking. When I'm making Kitchri and all these high vibe meals, I don't have to worry that like the water component of the meal is all gross.

[02:10:29] Luke: Yeah.

[02:10:30] Alyson: Fluoride it out.

[02:10:31] Luke: So we have the BioQuantum hot and cold water dispenser that is a double filtration because the garage unit is this massive unit that filters all the water-- preliminary filter. And then you have the RO infusing the oxygen and all that. And then we still drink the Alive spring water as our room temperature water, but it's good to have both. We also installed the whole house Analemma water structuring unit, which is really awesome.

[02:11:00] Alyson: Water game on point in this household.

[02:11:03] Luke: For real. Talk about hard work. These things do not come easy. They're pricey, and it's also just a lot of work to get someone to install it in your house. Because your average plumber, they don't even know about this weird shit. But we did it.

[02:11:18] Supplement wise, probably my favorite discovery this year would be the MitoZen Lumetol Blue, the methylene blue stuff from Dr. John. The Ion Layer NAD patch. I have one on right now, but I have a long sleeve shirt, so you can't see it, but that's a way to get subcutaneous NAD for energy for the mitochondria without having to take an injection. Way cheaper. Way less painful. So Awesome. We upgraded the mattress to the Essentia mattress that we have now.

[02:11:49] Alyson: Obsessed.

[02:11:51] Luke: Yeah, we still have the Samina bed, which is own thing. It's really cool, but unique. And it's nice to have two options, put it that way. They both have their qualities, but I love the Essentia. It's nice and soft. The air quality in the house we're doing with Jasper Air, which is great. We just did some mold testing the other day with the Jasper. There's a video on that coming soon. And the Jasper removed any and all mold spores out the air, which was pretty cool.

[02:12:20] For the EMF, we've added the Quantum Upgrade service on the house, and we also still use FLFE. Quantum Upgrade is a similar kind of service where you put a bubble of energy around your address. For brain health, I've been doing the Nootopia Collagenius, and the Nootopia nootropic stacks, which have upgraded my focus, mental energy, creativity. Incredibly got on the ENERGYbits back on the spirulina and chlorella.

[02:12:52] Alyson: I'm really digging that. That's another one that I'm gravitating to.

[02:12:56] Luke: Yeah, and I've been on those algaes for a long time, but it's hard to find a good source, and they taste like ass. So these guys make them in little tablets, which I give to Cookie and Alyson, and that's been great. Another new discovery this year was Amanita muscaria mushrooms. Did an episode with Sky Dragon from--

[02:13:15] Alyson: And our freezer is full of them.

[02:13:17] Luke: Yeah. Amanita Warriors, which I have not done a journey dose of them, but one night, when I first got them, I didn't have a scale yet, so I probably made more than I thought I was. And I had some very strange dreams and a little bit of night sweats, and it was close to a psychedelic level.

[02:13:35] So I learned my lesson, and I'm now just microdosing the Amanita, because that wasn't a particularly pleasant experience. And then I also discovered a CBD that actually works for the first time in my life, man. I'm sure a lot of them are good for you, but the only one I've found that I actually feel the effects of is from Element Health. So those are my health discoveries this year. My favorite podcast of the year. And please, nobody feel left out. These are all ones that were more meaningful to me on a spiritual metaphysical consciousness level. I've interviewed a lot of great people about physical health, and products, and things like that, many of which were just covered in that list I gave you.

[02:14:19] But these are the ones that really warmed my heart. I would say, if I had to pick this year, and maybe even of all time, honestly, was Veda Austin, the water episode, which also is the most shared episode this year on Spotify. So for the people that listened to this show on Spotify, it was the most shared.

[02:14:39] Alyson: My shared on Ceremony Circle was with Dogon High Priest, Naba Iritah Shenmira.

[02:14:45] Luke: Really?

[02:14:45] Alyson: Yeah.

[02:14:45] Luke: Oh, cool. What was your most downloaded on Spotify?

[02:14:49] Alyson: Mama Medicine, Healing The Witch Wound.

[02:14:51] Luke: Oh, cool. My most downloaded was Dave Asprey.

[02:14:55] Alyson: Oh, interesting.

[02:14:55] Luke: But those metrics aren't that accurate because it's only people that listen to podcasts on Spotify. Most of my people listen on iTunes still. But I was happy for Veda because she's such a beautiful person. That episode just blew my freaking mind. Another favorite was recently, Dr. Ibrahim Karim on BioGeometry.

[02:15:16] Alyson: I was into that one.

[02:15:17] Luke: That one was really wild, talking about reincarnation, and non-duality, and so on.

[02:15:22] Alyson: Egyptian shamanism, animal totem work.

[02:15:25] Luke: Incredible. Dr. Samuel Lee, who I mentioned talking about his plant medicine and psychedelic protocols. Naba Iritah, a guest I got from you. That was one of my favorites. Alec Zec, talking about freedom and the illusion of virology, and the myth of authority. Rick Rubin, one I did out in Malibu that I worked on for a couple of years. We finally got that done, and that was a great conversation. Another one was Mark Gaffney, who Aubrey introduced me to just a brilliant philosopher. We had a really deep convo, Bruce Cryer from the HeartMath Institute. That was one of--

[02:16:06] Alyson: It was sweet.

[02:16:07] Luke: Absolute sweetheart. Genuine, wise guy.

[02:16:12] Alyson: You're a wise guy.

[02:16:14] Luke: Wise guy. Ah, you think you're funny, huh? One that I probably laughed the most-- well, I probably laughed the most during Alex Jones, but technically that's a 2024 episode, which was just hilarious at times. But the other one was, of course, JP Sears. And that wasn't even JP doing comedy, but he's just such a clever and funny guy that I really enjoyed that. One that I really learned a lot from was Dr. Nicole LePera.

[02:16:42] Alyson: Oh yeah.

[02:16:43] Luke: The holistic psychologist.

[02:16:45] Alyson: Oh yeah. It's funny. Because I knew we were recording today, I did a screenshot because I knew we would talk about this, but just today, she posted, "Hugs calm the nervous system. More hugs, less advice."

[02:16:57] Luke: Wow. There it is. Proof

[02:17:00] Alyson: She was also on ceremony circle and that was another one of my favorites.

[02:17:03] Luke: Yeah. She's just brilliant. Just the amount of valuable content she puts out about emotional healing and psychology is insane. Super on point. Dr. Christian Northrup, fiery one there. We had a really good time. One that was really meaningful to me and deeply affirmative and healing was Gabor Mate.

[02:17:26] And that was a really special one, especially after we stopped recording and some things that he shared with me that were really beautiful, and, as I said, affirming. And my two favorite books this year are The Most Dangerous Superstition by Larken Rose, who I'll be--

[02:17:46] Alyson: And Animal Power by Alyson Storey.

[02:17:49] Luke: Who I'll be having on the podcast. That's always a favorite, honey. And Rose will be on the show soon, and I'm hoping to host a screening for his new film, Mr. Jones Plantation. And I will say that The Most Dangerous Superstition as a book is by far the most important book I've ever read in my life, with the exception of books on spirituality.

[02:18:18] The premise of that book is that we are living under a hallucination, a delusion that any person or group of persons has the inherent right to rule over another. So it totally dispels the left and right, Republican, Democrat illusion and states very plainly and convincingly that no one is bestowed with the right to coerce or control any other human being. It's mind blowing. And the next one would be The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin, co-written by my friend Neil Strauss. Amazing book on creativity.

[02:18:59] Alyson: My favorite book this year, and I took so a many, many year hiatus for just intuitive reasons. I used to read tons and tons and tons of books. Every place I would move all around the country, I was reboxing and lugging around sometimes probably hundreds of books just because I love books so much.

[02:19:20] And then I think there's probably eight or 10 years where I didn't buy, order, read any book. I just needed a break. But after such a long hiatus, I got the intuitive hit to recently get-- I've always loved Pema Chodron. If people ask me like favorite author, I usually always list her. But I was just so enthralled by and so deeply grateful for her book The Places That Scare You. Highly recommend.

[02:19:51] Luke: Yeah. It's funny. You ordered those books, and I since we've been together, you've not been in a reading phase. And I've always found that funny because you have so much wisdom, and much of the wisdom that I've been able to acquire has been from reading spiritual books and then doing what they say to do.

[02:20:09] Alyson: Mine comes from inside me.

[02:20:11] Luke: Yeah. When you got those books, I was like, oh, that's interesting. That's cool. I love Pema myself. Things about which I am really excited this year and then we'll get out of here, and you can share yours. First and foremost is our retreat.

[02:20:26] Alyson: Oh, and you literally have to get out.

[02:20:27] Luke: Yeah. I'm going for my third EBO2 blood-- what is it? Ultraviolet blood irradiation and ozone dialysis. It's for mold that I found in my body, and free mitochondria, and all kinds of stuff. But our retreat is the thing I'm most pumped about as we move into this new year, for sure.

[02:20:47] Alyson: Higher Power Couple retreat 2024.

[02:20:49] Luke: Yeah. End of May, I'll be launching a new website in Q1 that I've been working on for almost a year. It's taken much longer than I thought it would, but it's going to be beautiful. And for you longtime or regular listeners, you're going to be stoked because it will have a search feature on all of the past podcast archives. So you can go in and search a guest name or a topic. It's going to have an incredibly robust online store. So right now--

[02:21:14] Alyson: Can you search a product?

[02:21:16] Luke: Yeah. Hell yeah. I get so many messages and DMs from people, hey, what do you recommend for the EMF, or mattresses, or whatever it is. And then I go on and web search it, find a link, and then I send it to people. So now you'll be able to go to lukestorey.com/store, put in water filter, and you'll go to that particular product or section. The site has more functionality, and it's more representative of who I am. My site right now is total trash. It's just a Squarespace site that I threw up in 2016. I've never changed it or updated it. It's a train wreck. So I'm really excited about that.

[02:21:53] And then on the health tip this year, in the mail right now is a machine called the Aquacure, which produces something called Brown's Gas. And I've been into this stuff for a long time. Finally pulled the trigger on that and will be interviewing its creator, George Wiseman, very shortly too. So that episode will be coming out, and I'm really excited to do some deep healing with that particular machine.

[02:22:16] And then lastly would be really continuing my commitment to meditation and breathwork, which I've been doing forever. But I feel now more than ever that this is critical for me to be the best version of myself and to make my contribution to humanity by being the most loving and compassionate person that I possibly can to myself, to you, to our pets, and to everyone I know, and to everyone that listens to the show.

[02:22:47] Alyson: And side note, not getting into a conversation, because I know we need to wrap right now, but I think a curious pondering in 2024 could be definitions of love and compassion and expanding your horizons for the highest way in which love can function and be expressed from you.

[02:23:17] Because I think oftentimes we get very programmed of like, be the most loving person you can be. And then when you ask yourself, okay, if I'm feeling resentment towards this person, what's the most loving thing I can do or be for that person? I think we get very programmed as to how that expression of love is "supposed to look and feel like".

[02:23:38] So my invitation is to expand beyond boxes and boundaries and open your horizons as to truly-- when you truly investigate that, how the highest form of compassion emitting from you, how the highest form of love emitting from you can and should work in said scenarios and situations, I think the answer might surprise you.

[02:24:01] Luke: Absolutely.

[02:24:01] Alyson: Because that might look as staunch boundaries or--

[02:24:05] Luke: Setting boundaries in an unhealthy dynamic is probably the most loving thing you can do for yourself and the other person to stop the perpetuation of dysfunctional cycles.

[02:24:16] Alyson: Yeah.

[02:24:17] Luke: Uh, you guys go to lukestoreymerch.com, and you can get your Vitamin Deez nuts.

[02:24:26] Alyson: Vitamin Deez.

[02:24:28] Luke: No, I really want you guys to go check out the merch. It's super fun. I put my heart and soul into it.

[02:24:33] Alyson: I just realized you should do a shirt with Cookie's face on it.

[02:24:38] Luke: I'm doing it. I love it.

[02:24:39] Alyson: Because people love Cookie.

[02:24:40] Luke: I'm going to do that. The Cookie monster. Absolutely. All right. I want to thank everyone watching and listening from the bottom of my heart. I really appreciate each and every one of you that tunes in. This year, we also hit 13 million downloads, which is astonishing. And every time I get positive feedback, and even when I get critical feedback, I'm so appreciative.

[02:25:05] The critical feedback is welcome because it helps me do what I do in the best way possible. And when you guys share these shows with your friends and family, it's really helpful. I don't advertise this show. I post things on social media. The only way people really find out about The Life Stylist Podcast is from you sharing it.

[02:25:25] So by all means, please continue to do so. And more than anything, I just want to thank everyone for listening and allowing me to continue to have these illuminating and expansive conversations that are such a benefit to my life and hopefully to all the lives who listen.

[02:25:45] Alyson: Amen. And here's to beautiful miracles in 2024 and beyond.

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