← The Bossticks
The Bossticks
Deepak Chopra On How To Cultivate Inner Peace, Achieve Genuine Happiness, & Heal Your Nervous System
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A
The following podcast is a Dear Media Production. She's a lifestyle blogger extraordinaire.
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B
Fantastic.
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A
And he's a serial entrepreneur, a very smart cookie. And now Lauren Everts and Michael Bostic.
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Are bringing you along for the ride. Get ready for some major realness.
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A
Welcome to the Skinny Confidential. Him and her.
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B
Hello everybody.
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A
Welcome back to another episode of the Skinny Confidential. Him and her show continuing to kick off the New Year's in a strong way. Today we have Deepak Chopra, who's been a long requested guest on this podcast, somebody Lauren and I have wanted to talk to for years on the show. Deepak Chopra is a world renowned pioneer in integrative medicine, consciousness and personal transformation. Name one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the world. He has authored over 90 books, including 25 New York Times bestsellers such as the Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, which has sold over 10 million copies. Chopra is also the founder of the Chopra foundation and Chopra Global, merging science and spirituality to advance well being worldwide. He's the recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, the GOIP Peace Award and the Medal of Honor from the President of India and continues to be recognized Among Forbes top 10 most influential spiritual leaders. So for this episode, it's all about spirituality. It's all about connecting with self. It's all about blocking out the noise. Great way to start out the year with that. Deepak Chopra. Welcome to the Skinny Confidential. Him and her show. This is the Skinny Confidential.
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C
Him and Her. Welcome to the show.
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B
Thank you.
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C
I wanted to start by asking you with how you get peace in your life when you feel stressed. What is the tools that you use for yourself?
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B
Peace is our natural state before it's overshadowed by our conditioned mind. So the deeper levels of awareness, which we call spirit or soul, is always at peace. But the mind overshadows it because the mind is conditioned through economics, through the news, through social media, through people's opinion. If you want true peace, you have to be independent of the good and bad opinions of the world. You have to be immune to criticism. You have to feel that you're beneath no one. And you have to be fearless, which is our natural state before it gets bamboozled by the hypnosis of social conditioning.
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C
So is there a way that you protect your peace on a daily basis? Do you turn off the news? Do you protect yourself from social media? Is there a meditation practice? What are the things you reach for?
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B
I don't get affected by anything, so I don't have to practice anything. So, you know, I watch the news. And I see the insanity, and I don't want to be part of it. So, you know, I've checked out from insanity. The world is insane. Climate change, war, terrorism, mechanized death, nuclear weapons, you name it, drones, cyber warfare. So if you participate in that, then you are part of the insanity. I've checked out. So I do look at it. I find it both amusing and tragic, but I'm not involved.
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C
Can I get some tips on how Deepak, my husband, can check out of the news?
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B
He doesn't have to check out. He can just not be affected by it.
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A
Well, that is a good distinction, because what I try, you know, we have a lot of people come on this show, and they'll say things like, don't check your phone in the morning. Don't watch the news. Don't do this. And I understand their intention. Their intention is don't do that because they assume that it affects you.
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B
Of course it does. I would suggest for, you know, regular people, I'm not regular. But for regular people, you could schedule checking it, like three times a day or four times a day, and then you focus on it and then check out, at least practice some meditation, mindfulness, go for a walk in the park, you know, listen to some good music, watch Candid Camera, love your wife.
- [04:30]
A
So when you say you're not normal, is that because you've done so much work on yourself? Have you always been this way or has this been intentional?
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B
It's been intentional. And yes, I worked on my way as a medical resident and intern and working in the emergency room. I was burnt out like most physicians are. Most people in the health industry are totally burnt out and are the most unhealthy people. Doctors, psychiatrists, the highest rates of depression, suicide, are amongst therapists. So, you know, I realized that a long time ago. And there was a point in my life where I actually put a pacemaker in a patient, put him on a machine so he couldn't breathe. Could breathe. He was dying of emphysema, had a heart attack. I did all that to save his life. And then I went out and smoked a cigarette. And that was a pivotal moment. I said, you know, I'm saving lives and killing myself at the same time. So I checked out.
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A
And when you say it was a pivotal moment, was that the moment that you decided to.
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B
I threw the cigarette. I stopped smoking. Cold, cold. Everything. One moment.
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C
And then what did you do to get to a place where you say, I'm not normal and I can't be affected? What were the things you said, I.
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B
Realized that what we call normal, normal is the psychosis of the average. Nobody is normal because they're all psychotically average, which is what we call normal because they bought into this collective insane mind. The mind is insane. You know, you walk around New York City, which I love to watch people, I find it totally bewildering that nobody's astonished that they exist. Why do you exist? Aren't you surprised to be perpetually surprised that you exist? You should be bewildered, bamboozled, awestruck, wondered. And yet people walking around like, you know, AI engineered robots, you don't need robots. We already are robots.
- [06:58]
C
If someone's listening and they feel like they are robotic and they're going through life like that, how would you snap them out of it?
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B
Ask my AI to give you a meditation for whatever you want. So you can say, I want a meditation to improve my relationship. I want to meditation to sleep well. I want the right nutrition. I'm in New York City and I'm jet lagged. What do I do? And you know, you won't get all of that from ChatGPT or any, but you'll get it from Deepak Chopra.
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C
What's the ideal amount for meditation for the average person?
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B
I would say 20 minutes, 15 minutes, even five minutes.
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A
So it doesn't have to be something crazy to begin with. Just be quick.
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B
Or you can just stop and do nothing for five minutes. Just stop and just do nothing. And if that's impossible, if that seems difficult, most people don't know how to do nothing. So watch your breath or feel your body, do a body scan. And even five minutes.
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A
You know, you talk about disconnecting from the news. During COVID we actively canceled all cable in our house and got rid of it. And at the time we, we got a little bit of pushback because people would say, well, how will you get the news? How will you be informed? How will you stay active? Like if it's privileged to not be paying attention to the news. But we were doing it to protect our peace. And I wonder if you get any of that same kind of criticism if people say, well, how are you doing your part if you're not paying attention?
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B
I get a lot of criticism, but it doesn't bother me. I mean, I'm the most criticized person and the most controversial in my field, which is, you know, I'm an endocrinologist, I'm a neuroscientist, but I talk about things that people think are wacko. So they think this guy is a fraud. He's a wacko. So if I were to be affected by criticism, I would be offended for the rest of my life. And that's not a good way to live. So I'm not affected. Now, during COVID I actually launched a massive meditation program. It was called 21 Days of Abundance. Through the Internet, millions, tens of millions of people heard that because they had nothing else to do, you know, they were locked under lockdown.
- [09:28]
A
What do you get called wacko for? What are the things that at this point? Because obviously people see the value in meditation and being mindful.
- [09:37]
B
Oh, you know, I use metaphors like quantum mechanics and use terms that people are not familiar with. See, what happens is somebody doesn't understand your language, then they think you're crazy. The average person, for example, doesn't understand medical talk, but they don't think medical doctors are wacko. But the medical doctors speak a language amongst themselves that the average person wouldn't understand. That's true of any legal profession. But when it comes to things like quantum mechanics or mathematics or the nature of reality or consciousness, I come from a tradition which has terms that are almost impossible to translate into English, but I do it. That's been my, in a way, my karma to translate ancient wisdom in modern scientific terms. Now people who are experts in science think, what's he doing? He's not a mathematician, he's not a quantum physicist. It doesn't matter. I talk to quantum physicists and I realized that they're very good at what they do, but they don't understand necessarily the deeper reality that I'm trying to address. Consciousness, meaning of death, who are we, etc. What is identity? So it's relatively new to the quote, unquote normal person. But there are people who do understand. And over 40 years I've persisted. And so, you know, now there's a little bit less criticism because people are finding the benefits, but there's still a lot of criticism.
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C
If, if someone wants to improve their energy, maybe they walk into a room and their energy is off putting. What's the Deepak prescription that you would.
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B
By the way, that's a very relevant question because the energy that you have actually tells everything about you. It tells your personal well being, your social well being, your. Your financial well being, your professional well being, whether you're safe in your community. So if I had to ask you only one question, do you know how you're doing? I'd say on a scale and don't answer because I don't want to hear, or you don't want to tell the world. But on a scale of 1 to 10 inside, ask yourself, scale of 1 to 10, how much energy do I have? And don't think, just see what you come up with. If you answer 8, 9 or 10, you're thriving. If you answer 10, you're not only thriving, you're flourishing. If you answer 6 or 7, you're struggling in some area of your life, you're maybe not getting enough sleep, maybe you have a toxic relationship, maybe you're worried about your finances. Something is going on. If you score six or seven, if you score five or less, you're suffering. And you probably already have a disease which has either been diagnosed or not diagnosed. This is the most important question. How much energy do you have to do everything you want in a given day? Now we can take that question and apply it to any other aspect of your life. How happy are you at work? On a scale of 1 to 10, on a scale of 1 to 10, how good is your relationship or relationships? On a scale of 1 to 10, are you feeling secure about your finances? So you know, well, being is a very complex thing. It's not just, you know, your blood pressure or your cholesterol, which is what doctors say, oh, your cholesterol is fine. This let go. Here's a prescription. Well, being is having a joyful, energetic body, having love and compassion in your heart, having a creative mind and most importantly, having joy, lightness of being.
- [14:04]
C
You mentioned disease. Do you believe that disease comes from like your mother, your father, things you're holding, traumas.
- [14:16]
B
So the current science, you know, keep science is very interesting in that as we learn more, we change our opinions. That's a good thing about science. You're not rigid. It's not like religion or you know, ideology, communism or socialism or capitalism. But those are opinions. In science the attitude is always get more information and be willing to change your mind. But now we know for sure that less than 5% of chronic disease, and that includes things like cancer, heart disease, autoimmune disease, even mental issues like schizophrenia or psychosis. Less than 5% is due to what are called fully penetrant gene mutations. Let me explain that to you. A mutation is a genetic mistake, okay? It's like an error in your genes. Only 5% of those mutations guarantee disease. The well known example that normal the average person is familiar with is because Angelina Jolie had something called a baraka gene and she had a preventive mastectomy which was the right thing to do because that gene predicts that she would have gotten cancer, breast cancer. So she did what would be advised by any doctor. That's less than 5%. It's probably less than 2%, according to the latest science. So even for that, by the way, now there is new technology emerging. It's called gene editing. So you can edit genes as you edit your email. Metaphorically speaking, you read the barcode of a gene, you cut it out when you insert the right gene. Voila, the disease is gone. Right now, that is already approved in the United States for sickle cell anemia, which kills a lot of people. But now they're looking at it for neurological disorders, soon for cancer, etc. And then also because of COVID and all the research went into what do you call immunology and vaccines. Notwithstanding what RFK or other people like that might say, they think they're experts. It takes 11 years to learn immunology in a medical school. But during COVID they used something called messenger RNA technology to make vaccines. That technology now will be used to create vaccines for cancer, for heart disease, for autoimmune illness, for actually slowing down the aging process. So science is progressing very fast, and notwithstanding all the critics, but the Chinese are ahead of this right now and so are many Europeans because we have this backlash here.
- [17:32]
A
I heard Russia was developed. Maybe Russia's ahead in some of that cancer a lot.
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B
Russia, China, many European countries. America used to be, but now it's lagging behind because the anti science sentiment that has been propagated by politicians in the United states so that 5% will be taken care of, 95% of disease is not genetically determined. Even if you have the mutation, it doesn't predict the disease. So that's called epigenetics. That's a new science. It's been around now only for 20 years. Epigenetics means how you sleep, how you manage your stress. Exercise, nutrition, relationships, emotions and biological rhythms determine almost everything. Your lifestyle. Of those, I would say sleep managing stress. Because if you have stress, it doesn't matter what you do, it doesn't matter what the best food you take, whatever. If you have stress, it overrides everything because it causes inflammation in the body. And stressed people that are more likely to drink or take drugs to relieve their stress or get addicted or have poor relationships, unhealthy emotions. So I would say if you have stress, it doesn't matter what you do. So I would say stress management, sleep, movement, exercise, relationships, social engagement, nutrition, and you covering 95% of illness, preventing and even in some cases reversing.
- [19:31]
A
This Episode is brought to you by Squarespace. Squarespace is the all in one website platform for entrepreneurs to stand out and succeed online. Whether you're just starting out or managing a growing brand, Squarespace makes it easy to create a beautiful website, engage with your audience, and sell anything from products to content to time, all in one place, all on your own terms. The new year is upon us. It's time to start that new venture that you've been thinking about, that new side hustle, that new website, that new hobby, whatever it may be. And Squarespace can help you do so. Lauren and I love Squarespace as a partner because it gives you, the individual, the power to control your own destiny by creating a platform that you control. Many of us use these third party social platforms to build and grow online, but we don't actually control anything on these platforms. We don't own it, we just rent it from these third parties. With Squarespace, you can build your own website, your own e commerce store, you can manage a newsletter and you can control all of your own data. Whether it's building a podcast like this and owning your own RSS feed, or if it's taking a newsletter online or just creating a hobby online that you can create content on, Squarespace can help you do so. They can also help you stand up your own online store. So if you've been thinking about selling anything from vintage goods to something that you've created on your own, Squarespace can also help you do that. They give you the ability to accept payments and build beautiful websites all cost effectively, all in one place. So check them out. Long gone are the days where you have to hire eight different developers and designers and coders and all sorts of different services that are so expensive and not streamlined to effectively stand up what you're actually trying to build. Squarespace makes it easy and cost effective to build whatever you're looking to build online. So give them a try and go to squarespace.com for a free trial. And when you're Ready to launch squarespace.com skinny to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain, again, that's squarespace.com skinny now's the time. New Year's upon us. Let's get going.
- [21:11]
C
All right. Fun holistic fact. About Me I believe that the towels and the sheets and the pillowcases that you sleep on affect you. Like, they have frequency, they hold frequency. It's actually a fact. And so I am really about using silk and linens and 100% cotton. And I love cashmere like these are really good frequency fabrics. And the place that I go for a lot of my fabrics is Cozy Earth. So you may have heard me talk about this. I've talked about my favorite gray cashmere blanket by Cozy Earth on my Instagram story. You guys have seen it. It's so warm. The baby loves it. But they also have bath towels and loungewear and bedding and they just have the most beautiful luxury comfort fabrics. They also have the Baja bedding set sheet and this is like a whole matching set. I love a matching set. I love a matching set with clothes. I love a matching set with premium fabrics. And it's a perfect set to create your own resort inspired haven at home. But you have to check out the cozy delicious cashmere blanket. It's a new year. I don't know if you are refreshing your sheets, your towels, your blankets, but definitely stop Cozy Earth. Start the new year off right and give your home the luxury it deserves and make home the best part of Life. Head to cozyearth.com and use our code skinny for up to 20% off. And if you get a post purchase survey, be sure to mention you heard about Cozy Earth right here. Give the gift of comfort that lasts beyond the holidays and carries into a cozy new year. It's a new year. New you and I have the best number one best selling prenatal to put you onto Essential prenatal from Ritual. This is the prenatal that I took with all three of my children. I also took their postnatal and I love their multivitamin. Okay. The clinically backed Essential Prenatal multivitamin has clean traceable ingredients like folate and omega 3. This brand has thought of everything. Moms taking Ritual had lower overall cortisol levels during pregnancy the than those taking the leading prenatal. But the best thing about this prenatal, if you heard the Gary Brca episode, is they formulated a central prenatal with methylated folate. This is so important. It's clinically proven to be well absorbed and demonstrated a more effective utilization of folate. Gary came on the show and he said if you're taking a prenatal, make sure that it has methylated folate. And so this one sort of covers all the bases. They have a patented capsule that's designed to dissolve in the small intestine. This is the optimal place to absorb nutrients. So it's the new year. Don't settle for less than evidence based support for a limited time. Save 40% on your first month@ritual.com skinny that's ritual.com skinny for 40% off your first month. Oh, could this vintage store be any cuter?
- [24:12]
B
Right? And the best part, they accept Discover.
- [24:14]
C
Accept Discovery in a little place like this? I don't think so, Jennifer.
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B
Oh, yeah, huh?
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C
Discover is accepted where I like to shop.
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B
Come on, baby, get with the times.
- [24:25]
C
Right. So we shouldn't get the parachute pants. These are making a comeback, I think.
- [24:32]
B
Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide, based on.
- [24:37]
A
The February 2025 Nielsen report. Speaking of stress management, a lot of people struggle with stress. I used to struggle a lot with stress. What was a trigger for me or not a trigger, but a turning point for me was conversations like this realizing that stress is going to do nothing but harm to me. Right? So once I kind of looked at it through that lens, it tell him.
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C
What I call your stress, he'll laugh.
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A
Well, she would say that I was looking for a saber tooth tiger to attack me.
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C
I said he would stress. I say there's no saber tooth tiger.
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A
But the, but the point being is I rationalized ridding my life of stress, knowing that the outcome of stress will be disease and discomfort later in my life. But for people that are still stressed right now, what are maybe some practices or things they can do to start ridding their life of stress outside of understanding that it's doing them no good?
- [25:23]
B
There's a nerve in the body called the vagus nerve, which is the anti stress nerve. It's the, it's part of a system in our body called the parasympathetic nervous system. People who are stressed, they have the sympathetic overdrive, which is the tiger response which you're talking about. You know, you're always thinking you're going to be eaten up by a tiger, metaphorically speaking. So the opposite of that is called the rejuvenation, rest repair response. That's a part of our nervous system called the parasympathetic nervous system. In that parasympathetic nervous system, there's a nerve called the vagus nerve. Vagus is a Latin word, but you could say the closest English word is vagabond. It's the longest nerve in the body moves from the brain affects your eye movements, your facial expressions, your breathing, your heart rate. Everything in the body that's healing also goes to the microbiome, which is the bacterial genes. And there's bilateral traffic from the brain to your body and from your body back to the brain. So if you smile, you activate the vagus nerve. There are certain eye Exercises clockwise and anticlockwise, looking at the distance close by, you activate the vagus nerve. If you sing, you activate the vagus nerve. If you chant, you activate the vagus nerve. If you take a deep breath or do breathing exercises, you activate the vagus nerve. If you put awareness in the heart and think of someone you love, it activates the vagus nerve. If you do yoga, it activates the vagus nerve. If you squeeze your sphincter's. Kegel exercises. You know, anal sphincter, urethral sphincter, vaginal sphincter. Squeeze and release.
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C
Hold on. If you squeeze your sphincter and then release them, it. It activates your vagus nerve.
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B
Correct.
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C
Oh, my God. I'm going to be squeezing mine all the time.
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B
So those are good things. Now, I mentioned this to somebody who was doing research on electroceuticals to simulate the vagus nerve. I said, we can stimulate it with all these things. And this guy was the head of R and D for the number one pharmaceutical company. He flew all the way from Morocco. Not Morocco, from Paris, to see me in Aspen. I said, you don't have to cut a patient and put electricity in it, because vagus nerve stimulation reverses epilepsy and also helps people with arthritis and asthma and autoimmune illness, even cancer, heart disease. See, you can do this. And he said, then how do we make money? So, you know, he said it. Obviously, pharmaceutical companies, we're a public company. We can't tell everybody to do yoga or smile. So there you are. This is how the world is run.
- [28:27]
C
So weird is when I was pregnant with my last baby, I swe. In my meditation, I wanted to start humming.
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B
That's the best, naturally.
- [28:36]
C
It was so weird. I wanted to just hum.
- [28:39]
B
Not only did you benefit yourself, but the baby.
- [28:41]
C
Well, now when the baby's here and I touch my face to him and I hum, and he goes into, like, a hypnosis.
- [28:49]
B
This is well documented, scientifically. You discovered it yourself. Congratulations. But this is why it's very important to read poetry to your baby, to play good music to your baby, to hum and actually do everything, like good sleep and rest and breathing techniques. All that affects the baby before it's born.
- [29:13]
C
What kind of poetry should I read to him?
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B
Poetry that makes you happy.
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C
Okay, so there's not someone that you would recommend?
- [29:21]
B
Well, maybe I'll write some. My favorite poets are people like T.S. eliot, Rumi, Shakespeare.
- [29:27]
C
Okay. That's such good advice. I love that advice. I'm gonna go home and read him poetry. And hum in his ear.
- [29:32]
B
That's it.
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A
You can do the same to me.
- [29:36]
C
Do you like. This is a random question, but do you like fre frequency music? Like 5 to 8 Hz or.
- [29:42]
B
It's very good. I don't listen to it, but yeah, works.
- [29:47]
C
Okay. That's so interesting what you said about activating the vagus nerve. I, I feel like when you like do a meditation and you say ah, like that activates it too, right?
- [29:59]
B
Or, or any humming sound, or even singing. Singing will activate the Vega, especially if you're singing joyfully, having a shower.
- [30:12]
A
I love that you often speak of the five causes of suffering. Can you share that message with this audience?
- [30:20]
B
Very interesting. The five causes of suffering is, I would say, not knowing who you are at a very deep level, clinging and grasping at experience, which is ungraspable, past.
- [30:33]
A
And present, or any, any experience.
- [30:35]
B
If you grasp it and you cling to it, you'll be frustrated because by the time you try to grasp it, it's over. Okay, same thing. Recoiling from experience, identifying with your ego and the fear of death. These are the five causes of suffering, which all come down to one thing. You don't know who you are. You think you're a separate self. I, this is me, and there's the rest of the universe. There's me, there's you, there's her, there are trees, there are rocks, there are stars. But actually you and I are a movement in the universe, just like waves in the ocean. So the wave in the ocean is a pattern of behavior of the ocean. You are a pattern of behavior of the infinite consciousness. And you're confusing yourself with being the wave instead of the ocean. Talking about poetry, Rumi, the Sufi poet, he says you're not just a drop in the ocean, you're the ocean in the drop. So it's a shift in identity. You're not a person, you're the infinite spirit in which the person is a wave, a movement, a drop. So if the ocean is water, the wave is water, the drop is water, the cloud is water, the rainbow is water, the rainfall is water, the rivulet is water, the whirlpool is water, the river is water, and the ocean is water. They all think they're separate, but they're not. Once you recognize that you are whole, that in fact you're the entire universe, walking around as Michael or Deepak or whoever, that's the basic mistake of the intellect. But you feel that when you fall in love, when you take care of your baby, when you see a Magnificent sunset or a mountain, and you feel connected. Those are moments that remind you who you are.
- [32:52]
C
What do you think that the root of evil is? What are things that come to mind for you?
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B
It's a concept, evil. In the universe, there are forces like creativity, like transformation and entropy. Entropy means dissolution. So there's creativity, there's transformation, there's destruction, so that creativity can block. They all go together. It's like a tango. But what we call evil in human behavior is this basic disconnect. Okay, Very basic disconnect. And that causes trauma. So when people are traumatized, the effect of that and people are traumatized. Sexual abuse, verbal abuse, emotional psychological abuse, physical abuse. When children are traumatized, they become agents of trauma. They recycle trauma. So everybody who's hurting other people has been hurt. The phrase is hurt people, hurt people, okay? So this recycling of trauma emerges as anger, hostility, guilt, shame, depletion of energy, ultimately depression. So everybody who's causing what we call evil deserves a lot of compassion. They've been traumatized, okay? And they need healing. They don't need to be told that they're abusive because that'll only create more resistance and recycle the trauma. And we've been doing it since medieval times. You know, this is especially men, because, you know, men have been inflictors of trauma since Hunter Cathera times because that was the only way to bring food. You go kill. So can I be risque on your program?
- [35:01]
A
Of course.
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B
Please.
- [35:02]
C
This is the one.
- [35:03]
B
The mantra for men through the ages has been fuck it or kill it. And basically that's become the predatory male of today, which you're seeing. Okay, but I don't feel anger towards these people. I feel these poor guys. You know, since medieval times, they've been living in fear and they're recycling all they know. So you have these medieval minds recycling trauma, and we call it evil. Yeah, because that's its appearance, evil. But they deserve compassion. They deserve healing. And ultimately, what they're asking for is love. But they don't know how to do it. So we have a problem right now. We have medieval minds as national leaders globally, and they're running the world. And most of them are men, and they're predatory, and they are violent in their speech, in their actions. We have a crisis, and it's a global crisis. And so that's why I think we need more feminine energy in the world now, especially more than ever. We need multiculturalism. We need tolerance. We need to look at other point people's point of view, because Everybody who's there in the Yudo, everybody that you meet is basically conditioned by their parents, by their ancestors, by their economics, by their race, by the history of colonialism, piracy, slave trade, you name it. There's so many causes that it's easy to dismiss somebody as evil, not knowing how they are the victims of recycled trauma.
- [36:57]
C
If someone's listening and they have anger towards a friend or their husband or their wife or their parents, how would you advise them to forgive, to let go?
- [37:10]
B
They need education on, you don't forgive because the other person deserves forgiveness. You forgive because you deserve peace. They're occupying a lot of real estate in your mind, in your brain. So you forgive because you deserve peace. But you also need to understand emotional intelligence. How do you get in touch with your feelings? How do you get in touch with the other person's feelings? And how do you communicate in a way that is nurturing instead of violent? You consciously communicate. What are you observing? What are you feeling? What do you need? Can I help you? You know, and that is much better way of dealing with people who are traumatized. Instead of saying you're evil, what is.
- [38:00]
C
The main thing that people come to you for? What is the main problem that you see in people's lives?
- [38:08]
B
Relationships, usually. And trauma and poor self esteem. They confuse themselves with their selfies.
- [38:19]
C
How, how do you advise someone that comes to you with poor self esteem?
- [38:23]
B
In the beginning, teach them meditation. But these days I don't actually, you know, I put all my work online. So if you go on deepakshopra.com it's all there. You can ask for any meditation. Now I have an AI. So I thought if I had to scale and make it affordable and democratize the word healing, then I would use technology, I would use AI, I would use a global community. And then, you know, I created my own AI. Now I'm creating AIs for people who are experts in their field. AI for a nutritional expert, AI for a relationship expert. And then all these AIs I'm creating almost like, you know, in hospitals you have something called grand rounds. When you have difficult cases, you get everybody involved. Neurologists, cancer specialists, psychiatrist, social worker. Because collective creativity is much more impactful than one person's creativity. So what I'm doing is I'm. I've created my avatar, which you can find if you go to deepakshopra.com but now I'm creating other people's avatars by who are experts. Men's health, women's health.
- [39:46]
A
Quick break. To talk about Haya. Everyone's talking about their New Year's resolutions, but here's the one change that could impact your family for decades to come. Your kids health. We spend so much time on this podcast talking about what to supplement for adults, what to use, what to take, how to take better care of ourselves. We don't spend nearly enough time talking about how to take care of our children, which is our biggest priority in life. And here's the thing, something that keeps us up at night is our kids are the first generation growing up on ultra processed foods and the long term effects were only beginning to understand. So while everyone else is promising to hit the Gym more in 2026, I'm focusing on something that actually sticks. Better nutrition for our kids. This is why we've been longtime partners and fans of high vitamins. These children's vitamins our kids have grown to love. They take them every single morning. They look forward to it. They ask for yellow, green or red each morning and it's become part of the routine as a family. Lauren and I get up, take our supplements and then we also give our kids the high vitamins. All the foundational nutrients that support immune health, energy levels, brain function, mood regulation, concentration and the development of strong teeth, teeth and bones. And here's something every parent needs to hear. If getting your kids to eat vegetables feels like an impossible daily battle, Haya's New Kids Daily Greens plus Superfoods is a total game changer. It's basically chocolate milk stuffed with veggies. It's a greens powder that's packed with 55 plus whole food source ingredients. Just mix one scoop with milk or any non dairy beverage and watch them actually enjoy something that's secretly fueling their growing bodies. Of course, we've worked out a special deal with Haya for their best selling children's vitamin. Receive 50% off your first order. To claim this deal you must go to hiahealth.com skinny this deal is not available on their regular website. Go to H I Y-A H-E-A-L-T-.com skinny and get your kids the full body nourishment they need to grow into healthy adults.
- [41:21]
C
I am someone who likes to preserve things. I love, love, love to do this for my kids. I love to save things like aging home movies or film reels or photos or even like cards or slides. And this is a brand new that really thought of how to do it in the most efficient, amazing way. So Enter Legacy Box. Legacy Box started when two college kids realized something simple but universal. If people couldn't even set time on their VCRs, how are they ever going to rescue the memories that are trapped on tapes, film and photos? So they bootstrapped Legacy from scratch with no money, and they basically invented a new digitalizing process. So now they swiftly upload newly digitalized files straight to the cloud. This is genius. Okay. Legacy Box is helping you reclaim those memories before they literally fade away. I really like this because I think it's so special for your kids and your siblings. And my dad just thinks it's fantastic. And other families like it too. One million families have trusted Legacy Box. It's the world's largest digitalizer of home movies and photos. Visit legacybox.com skinny for for 55% off. That's legacybox.com skinny to save 55% when you digitalize your memories. All right, so one thing that I cook, don't mean to brag in quotes every day, is a lemon turmeric spicy ginger bone broth. I like to make it in the morning. It's one of the first things I like to drink after my electrolytes. Usually I'll do my beauty salt, I'll mix it with some elderberry, I'll do my little concoctions, and then I'll start in on my bone broth. And of course, I cook my bone broth in non toxic cookware. The last thing I want to be doing is cooking my holistic, amazing, nourishing bone broth in toxic cookware. Which is why I use Caraway. I have their cream set. I love it. I use it every single day. There's not a day that goes by that I don't cook with Caraway's ceramic, naturally sleek surfaces. The reason I grab this brand is because you don't need a lot of oil or butter. So you don't need to have all this butter on the pan for the egg to slide off. I'm cooking eggs in the morning sometimes for my kids. I gotta be quick, efficient. I gotta be able to clean it quick. And caraway just makes it very easy. There's not a lot of oil that I have to use, which I love. It's like less time at the sink. It seriously saves you time. So they have non toxic kitchenware. They also have non toxic bakeware. And what I love is I'm protecting my family from microplastics and other dangerous chemicals that are normally in traditional non stick cookware. Caraway's cookware set is a favorite for a reason. It can save you up to $190 versus buying items individually. Plus, if you visit CarawayHome.com SkinnyPod10 you can take an additional 10% off your purchase. This deal is exclusive for our listeners, so visit carawayhome.com skinnypod10 or use code skinnypod10 at checkout. Caraway Non Toxic Cookware Made Modern. Do you guys hear that? That's fresh. New Skinny Confidential drop. Okay, this has been something that I have been working on for the last year. Introducing face towels. Your skincare routine has been reimagined once again. There is no more using butthole towels on your face. There is no more using the towel that your boyfriend has used on his balls. You are going to be using the cleanest face towel on your face with no formaldehyde, no inks, no fragrances, no dyes, no bpa. Okay? Our towels are so thoughtfully designed. They're vegan, they're cruelty free. Because your skin deserves the best. I, a long time ago wrote a blog post about how a lot of people are washing their face and then they're drying their face with the same towels that they're using on their body.
- [45:24]
B
Or.
- [45:25]
C
Or they're using a towel that maybe has a bunch of, I don't know, detergent in it. So I wanted to create something that was fresh to remove your makeup, to remove your oil without irritation. I wanted it to be buttery soft. I wanted it to be 100% sustainable bamboo, silky soft. You never have to worry about buildup with these towels. It's just like a breath of fresh air for your face. So how I use them is two ways. The first way is I will cleanse my skin with an oil cleanser and then I'll exfoliate it. And I'll do this in the shower or in my sink. And then if I get out of the shower or I'm done with my sink, I'll take my towel and I'll pat it across my face and my neck to dry my skin off. My skin feels so much cleaner doing it with a facial towel than using some random towel that who knows where it's been. So if you want to support a healthy skin barrier and you want something really sensitive, especially if you have acne or you have hyperpigmentation, this has a really gentle texture. It's absolutely beautiful. I'm such a fan. I've been using them for a long time. I know you guys have maybe seen them in my Instagram stories. Each box includes 50 disposable face towels. And like I said, they're made from 100% sustainable bamboo. This is the travel size. It's like a little box that you can throw in your makeup bag. And then we also have the one that can sit on your vanity. It's a box that you want out. It's so cute. It's baby pink. And I should tell you, the towels are shaped like a doily, so that's fun too. Go to shopskinnyconfidential.com to grab your face towels today. What is your personal meditation practice? How do you look at it from a day to day basis?
- [47:10]
B
Don't go by my personal practice because I'm not the average person.
- [47:16]
C
I want to know selfishly for my own self.
- [47:18]
B
Okay? I meditate. Between yoga and meditation, that's three hours in the morning, minimum.
- [47:26]
C
Three hours.
- [47:27]
B
Three hours. In the last few decades, I haven't missed a day of yoga, even when I travel. And I, in the last few decades, I don't remember the last time I walked less than 10,000 steps. So yoga is very important. But between yoga and meditation, that three hours, and then at night before I go to sleep, I envision, I do meditation on my death. I'm now 79, so my next chapter is death, which is very exciting because, you know, I've had a full life and I want to have an elegant exit. You know, I think you're the first.
- [48:07]
A
Person that's ever come on here and described their own death as exciting.
- [48:11]
B
Because death is the most creative experience you can have. Okay? Death means start all over again. It's such a beautiful idea. You see, death and birth go together. Life is not the opposite of death. Birth is the opposite of death and death is the opposite of birth. Life is the continuum of birth and death, and it's happening all the time. Your stomach cells die every five days so you can make new ones. Your skin dies every month so it remains supple. You recycle your skeleton every three months. Your DNA, which holds memories of millions of years. The actual raw material, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, recycles every six weeks. So death is part of life. If your stomach cells didn't die every five days, you'd have stomach cancer. There's a term in biology called apoptosis, programmed cellular death. When a cell forgets to die, it is a cancer cell. Cancer is the loss of the memory of death.
- [49:23]
A
Okay?
- [49:24]
B
Because now it's on a quest of immortality at the cost of the rest of the body. So it forgets to die, becomes cancerous, and it kills the host. We have to die so that the universe can renew itself, which it is doing all the time. And it does it through you. You recycle. Whether you believe in reincarnation or not, you're recycling all the time anyway. Okay. Matter recycles, energy recycles, information recycles, and the spirit recycles. So I am planning the next dream journey.
- [50:02]
A
So on that note, and I'm sure you've seen different individuals now that are trying to extend the lifespan.
- [50:10]
B
Extend is great. Healthspan. Extend is great. But there are individuals who are. Who want physical immortality.
- [50:17]
A
That's what I'm talking about.
- [50:19]
B
Those guys are psychotic. And they don't understand biology. They don't understand anything.
- [50:26]
C
What do you and Oprah talk about when you guys get together?
- [50:29]
B
Well, long time ago, I said, marry me. You could be Oprah Chopra. She didn't like the idea.
- [50:39]
C
Is she very spiritual like she is?
- [50:42]
B
Yeah.
- [50:42]
C
So that when you get together, are you talking about meditations and spirituality?
- [50:46]
B
Well, she helped me launch the 21 day meditation challenge, which is now on my. My app. If you again go to deepakchopra.com you have innumerable Oprah Chopra meditations.
- [51:00]
C
That's so cool. So you can hear both your voices when you think about beauty and health and wellness. I heard that you like to talk about this. How do you think about it?
- [51:12]
B
Beauty, love, presence, joy are the same thing. They're spiritual identity. So there's a phrase in the yogic tradition, you hear people only think of yoga going to the studio on a yoga mat. But yoga has eight limbs. The first two limbs are social and emotional intelligence. Then you have the yoga that you do on the yoga mat in the studio. Then you have something called pranayama, which is breathing techniques. Then you have pratyahara, how to get in touch with the body inside, inside of the body, like your baby. And you're humming. But more than that, then you have focused attention, then you have meditation, and then you have transcendence. Those are the eight limbs of yoga. And when you do that, you bring presence to everything you're doing. Presence, which means your spirit. Presence and spirit are the same thing, or consciousness. And when you bring presence to an object, doesn't matter what the object is, it becomes beautiful. It's so beautiful. When you bring presence to a person, it becomes love. And love and beauty and presence and truth and joy are the same thing.
- [52:42]
C
That's my husband's, my love. Language is presence. That's what I've decided.
- [52:47]
B
I love it.
- [52:47]
C
That's. I think today I've just realized that's my love language.
- [52:51]
A
Presence with the dear. Presence.
- [52:54]
B
No, presence is not the same thing as present moment. The moment is in time.
- [53:02]
C
So if I want his full undivided attention, is that presence?
- [53:07]
B
That's presence. Okay, you don't want his undivided attention. You want to give undivided attention. You don't look for the right person. You become the right person and then the person shows up the right person.
- [53:22]
A
You just got jujitsu.
- [53:23]
C
That's a good tip. I like that tip. So instead of telling him so American, put away your phone. You become the presence.
- [53:32]
A
Yeah, no, but it's I.
- [53:35]
B
You want tips on. On that note, everybody who wants tips.
- [53:40]
A
I'd like for you to.
- [53:41]
B
Life is a combination of tips.
- [53:45]
A
I would like for you to talk about this thing because I think a lot of people seek the external for happiness in an individual and they're waiting for the. The person or the thing to change their state.
- [53:59]
B
So this is the attitude. There's something around the corner, something around the corner that's going to make me fulfilled. Money. The right person is the right person. It's the right cosmetics, the right boob job or whatever.
- [54:17]
C
And.
- [54:17]
B
And it never happens. It never happens because you can be a billionaire. Look at all the billionaires. How much joy do you see in them? I mean, name all the celebrity billionaires these days and look at their faces and look. Are they expressing joy or are they expressing anxiety, frustration, anger and ego centric narcissism? This is. And they have everything, right. I want a automobile. No, no, I want a Ferrari. No, I have a Ferrari. I want a yacht. I have a yacht. I want an airplane and private jet. No, no, no. I want a starship and more good space. Well, you're never happy. Actually, they deserve a lot of compassion because there's nothing out there around the corner that is going to bring you contentment, peace, joy or fulfillment. It's all in you.
- [55:20]
C
Is there a different complete energy in India compared to the United States? No.
- [55:25]
B
India is like the rest of the world. But there are pockets in India. Just like ancient Greece, there were pockets. Plato was there and Socrates was there and Parmenides were there. But at the same time, there's slavery, there's sexism, their prejudice, their racism and casteism. India is like that. India has a rich spiritual tradition which comes from these great luminaries of India. For some reason, that was a very significant part of Indian history and still is. But you can't apply that to everybody. India is like the rest of the World, you know, consumerism and right now, insecurity and building of weapons. It's a sad time for the world because people in the east want to be like the West. The people like the west want to go to India.
- [56:23]
C
If you were to prescribe anything to our audience in quotes, prescribed, would it be meditation?
- [56:30]
B
Yeah. To start.
- [56:32]
C
That's. You think it's the most important thing to start?
- [56:35]
B
Yes.
- [56:36]
C
And you can just start with a couple minutes a day, right?
- [56:38]
B
Correct. Or go to my app, ask for specific meditation for anything. Lots of it is free.
- [56:45]
C
Is it you talking?
- [56:47]
B
Yeah.
- [56:48]
C
And so you can pick which one you want based on how you're feeling.
- [56:51]
B
Yeah. You can try it anytime. After going on your iPhone, go to deepakshopra.com, check out a meditation.
- [56:59]
C
And you can also do AI with you, right?
- [57:02]
B
Yeah, you can do AI with me. Actually, I just posted on Instagram me talking to my AI. It was very interesting.
- [57:09]
C
And it feels like it's speaking with you.
- [57:12]
B
It's like me. You won't be able to tell the difference.
- [57:15]
C
Where can everyone find you and say simple. Thank you so much for coming on the show.
- [57:22]
B
Thank you.
- [57:22]
A
I feel very peaceful right now.
- [57:24]
B
Oh, good.
- [57:24]
C
I can't wait.
- [57:25]
B
That's your natural state.
- [57:28]
C
Show your new natural state. But how I get there is I need to be peaceful and you need.
- [57:34]
B
To say, I love myself exactly as I am. Not when I'll be a 10 on this and this on this. You know, those people are very boring that are perfect. You know, I wouldn't like to hang out with anyone that's perfect. You know, to have. To have these flaws that we have makes us much more interesting. It'd rather be interesting than perfect.
- [58:01]
A
Agree.
- [58:01]
C
Did you ever meet Louise Hay?
- [58:04]
B
She was one of my best friends. Yeah. We traveled Australia together many times.
- [58:11]
C
I love her.
- [58:13]
B
Okay, good.
- [58:13]
C
Big fan.
- [58:14]
B
Yeah.
- [58:15]
C
Because when you just said you have to love yourself, that's a lot of her message. So it reminded me of her. Thank you so much for coming on the show. I will be talking to your AI Bot.
- [58:25]
B
Okay.
- [58:25]
C
I really appreciate it.
- [58:26]
B
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, Deepak.