Episode 173
Jeff Patterson:The Most Powerful Way to Start Your Meditation Journey Today
Jeff Patterson:
The Most Powerful Way to Start Your Meditation Journey Today
Have you been wanting to start a meditation practice but feel overwhelmed or unsure where to begin?
Jeff Patterson, founder of The Yielding Warrior and meditation expert with over 30 years of experience, reveals the three essential elements that can help anyone build a successful meditation practice.
From movement-based options like Tai Chi to simple breathing techniques you can do anywhere, Jeff breaks down meditation into practical, actionable steps that work for real life. Whether you're dealing with chronic health issues, seeking better stress management, or simply want to improve your overall wellbeing, this episode provides a clear roadmap to start your meditation journey today.
Discover why the common beliefs about meditation might be holding you back and learn how to build a sustainable practice that fits your lifestyle.
Jeff Patterson, founder of The Yielding Warrior and meditation expert with over 30 years of experience, reveals the three essential elements that can help anyone build a successful meditation practice.
From movement-based options like Tai Chi to simple breathing techniques you can do anywhere, Jeff breaks down meditation into practical, actionable steps that work for real life. Whether you're dealing with chronic health issues, seeking better stress management, or simply want to improve your overall wellbeing, this episode provides a clear roadmap to start your meditation journey today.
Discover why the common beliefs about meditation might be holding you back and learn how to build a sustainable practice that fits your lifestyle.
First Aired on: Jan 5, 2025
Episode 173
Jeff Patterson:The Most Powerful Way to Start Your Meditation Journey Today
Jeff Patterson:
The Most Powerful Way to Start Your Meditation Journey Today
Have you been wanting to start a meditation practice but feel overwhelmed or unsure where to begin?
Jeff Patterson, founder of The Yielding Warrior and meditation expert with over 30 years of experience, reveals the three essential elements that can help anyone build a successful meditation practice.
From movement-based options like Tai Chi to simple breathing techniques you can do anywhere, Jeff breaks down meditation into practical, actionable steps that work for real life. Whether you're dealing with chronic health issues, seeking better stress management, or simply want to improve your overall wellbeing, this episode provides a clear roadmap to start your meditation journey today.
Discover why the common beliefs about meditation might be holding you back and learn how to build a sustainable practice that fits your lifestyle.
Jeff Patterson, founder of The Yielding Warrior and meditation expert with over 30 years of experience, reveals the three essential elements that can help anyone build a successful meditation practice.
From movement-based options like Tai Chi to simple breathing techniques you can do anywhere, Jeff breaks down meditation into practical, actionable steps that work for real life. Whether you're dealing with chronic health issues, seeking better stress management, or simply want to improve your overall wellbeing, this episode provides a clear roadmap to start your meditation journey today.
Discover why the common beliefs about meditation might be holding you back and learn how to build a sustainable practice that fits your lifestyle.
First Aired on: Jan 5, 2025
Table of Contents:
Table of Contents:
In this episode:
In this episode:
Introduction
Jeff Patterson, founder of The Yielding Warrior and expert in meditative arts, joins me to discuss how to build a successful meditation practice. With over 30 years of experience teaching meditation and martial arts, Jeff shares his unique approach to starting a meditation journey that combines both traditional and modern practices.
Episode Highlights
The Three Essential Elements of a Successful Meditation Practice
Jeff reveals the three critical components that determine success in meditation.
- Understanding your deep personal why and how it will affect your life
- Recognizing the importance of consistency in practice
- Finding a qualified guide to navigate the journey
Different Types of Meditation Practices
Jeff breaks down meditation into three main categories that work together for a complete practice.
- Ritual practices: dedicated daily time for inward focus
- Active practices: quick exercises that can be done throughout the day
- Philosophical practices: exercises that help expand perspective
The Five Foundational Principles of Meditation
Jeff explains the core principles that underlie all meditation practices.
- Regulating the body through proper alignment and tension awareness
- Regulating the breath using both Yin and Yang methods
- Regulating the mind through consistent practice
- Regulating energy through circulation and control
- Regulating spirit as an ongoing journey
Common Misconceptions About Meditation
Jeff addresses the myths that often prevent people from starting or continuing their practice.
- The false belief that meditation requires a completely quiet mind
- The misconception that meditation is only about sitting still
- The idea that you need to reach a state of nirvana to be successful
Movement-Based Meditation Options
Jeff describes alternative approaches to traditional sitting meditation.
- Tai Chi and Qigong as moving meditation practices
- Walking meditation as an entry point
- How movement helps establish mind-body connection
Notable Quotes from this Episode
If you really want to be a good boxer, you should start doing meditation and Tai Chi.
Jeff Patterson
You have to nurture it and you have to build a foundation in the practice. It doesn't mean that it takes six years for you to see any benefits because you'll see benefits from the first day. However, that consistency in that discipline practice is so essential to really getting any kind of depth.
Jeff Patterson
I have never once met anybody who doesn't get distracted. You know, we're all human.
Jeff Patterson
Other Resources:
Other Resources:
Connect with Jeff Patterson
Connect with Jeff Patterson
Watch this interview:
Watch this interview:
Episode Transcript
Jeff Patterson:[00:00:00] There's different paths that you can take with a meditation practice. There is more of the performance or athletic based path where you're trying to improve the mind body connection, your timing, your awareness.
Jeff Patterson: Get caught up thinking that all meditation is the same and it's really not, there's movement practices, sitting practices, standing meditation, breath work, philosophical, training exercises that we do to help expand the mind and see things from different perspectives and be more strategic in our lives.
Jeff Patterson: Get involved today and make the move, make the commitment, it'll be one of the best things you've ever done. Just stay consistent with it.
Julie Michelson:[00:01:00] Welcome back to the inspired living with autoimmunity podcast. I'm your host, Julie Michelson. And today we're joined by Jeff Patterson, who has over 36 years of experience, practicing and teaching the meditative and martial arts as the founder of Northwest fighting arts. Portland Tai Chi Academy and the Yielding Warrior, Jeff emphasizes the transformative power of meditation, meditative and martial arts practices, particularly the yielding concept.
Julie Michelson: In today's conversation, we're talking about incorporating the meditative arts into your life. Jeff shares his vast knowledge and experience as a guide on how to get started and how to create a meditative practice that will serve you in just about every way you can [00:02:00] imagine, and perhaps some ways you haven't yet thought of.
Julie Michelson: Jeff, welcome to the podcast.
Jeff Patterson: Hey, thank you for having me.
Julie Michelson: I am looking forward to today's conversation. I'd love for you to share with listeners your journey. You know, how did you become the yielding warrior? What took you kind of into this, this world?
Jeff Patterson: Well, I've always, since I was a young guy, uh, been interested in the martial arts.
Jeff Patterson: And so at a fairly young age, I got involved in the martial arts and, you know, at the time I wasn't interested in meditation or Tai Chi or Qigong at all. You know, I just wanted to be a good martial artist and, and. Really study that path. And I remember when I was about 19 years old, I was going to a boxing gym and I was very much into Western boxing.
Jeff Patterson: I, I love the thrill, the sport, the challenge, [00:03:00] the intensity. It was just something that really challenged me and made me focus. And so at a, at a boxing gym, it's a lot different than your traditional style fitness classes and that it's not one teacher in front of a group of students leading a group. It's usually four or five coaches running around the gym and each one of those coaches may have a handful of fighters that they're working with.
Jeff Patterson: Well, at this one particular gym. I was, uh, really trying to get the attention of one of the coaches who had trained champions in both amateur and the professional arena. However, his fight card was full and he wasn't really taking on any new fighters. And so I followed him around for about three or four months.
Jeff Patterson: I'd always show up at the gym when I knew he was going to be there and work very hard and try to get them to notice me. And finally after about three or four months, he started giving me some tips and showing me some stuff. And. It was only about two or three weeks of getting to work [00:04:00] with him when he said something to me that changed my life forever.
Jeff Patterson: And that he said, you know, if you really want to be a good boxer, you should start doing meditation and Tai Chi. Now at the time I'm this 19 year old kid who doesn't know much of anything thinking, you know, isn't Tai Chi for like old people in the park, how's that going to be a better fighter? And, you know, I had a lot of respect for him.
Jeff Patterson: I started following the practice and. Not only has it changed my life in many ways through the years, you know, I've been very fortunate here at the academy. I've had over 26, 000 students come through the school in the last 30 years. And I've heard literally hundreds of stories of how the meditative arts has positively influenced people's lives.
Jeff Patterson: And that's, what's made me so passionate about trying to get the message out there, writing my last couple of books and creating my online and my teacher training program, and just trying to share this message with as many people as I can.
Julie Michelson: Well, thank you for that. Um, and I want to [00:05:00] dive in a little bit to when, when you talk about the meditative arts, um, listeners have heard in, you know, many different people, whether it's in their journey or expert advice of meditate, find some kind of meditation.
Julie Michelson: Um, what are the three types of meditation? Cause I, I always say like the best kind is the kind, you know, that resonates with you that you'll do, right. That you'll practice. Um, so let's talk a little bit of, cause you, I'm, You said you started kind of meditation and Tai Chi at the same time. Um, but let's talk about the, the different, you know, we don't have to necessarily go sit in a cave somewhere.
Julie Michelson: Do we?
Jeff Patterson: Not at all. You know, and a lot of people think that, you know, within the meditative arts, I always look at it as creating an evolving life. Practice, and there's five different paths that you can take with a meditation practice. There is more of the performance or athletic based path [00:06:00] where you're trying to improve the mind body connection, your timing, your awareness.
Jeff Patterson: So it helps improve your performance. Then there's the therapeutic side of the practice, which is good for longevity and working through injuries and just bringing that body awareness. Then there's the medical side of the practice, which. You know, all of Chinese medicine is based off of Qigong theory, which is a meditative art.
Jeff Patterson: Then there's the philosophical side of the practice and then also the spiritual side of the practice. And so anybody coming to a meditation journey could follow any one or a combination of those paths. And a lot of time people I think Get caught up thinking that all meditation is the same and it's really not, you know, there's, there's movement practices, there's sitting practices, standing meditation, breath work, there's philosophical, uh, training exercises that we do to help expand the mind and see things from different perspectives and be more strategic in our, our lives.
Jeff Patterson: And so there's, there's [00:07:00] so many different ways that we can integrate these practices. I like breaking them down into kind of three categories where we have. Ritual practices, active practices, and philosophical practices. And the ritual practice is a time where you set a little bit of time aside every day, and it could be a movement practice or a still practice.
Jeff Patterson: It's where you're not listening to any audios. You're not watching any videos and you're just turning your focus inward. Then there is active practices. And these are great because. You can do them in 60 seconds or two minutes. You can do them when you're walking down the street or standing in line at the grocery store.
Jeff Patterson: And they're a way to bring our awareness back to the present and be in tune with our body and our mind throughout the day, because it doesn't really make any sense to have a meditation practice that you do every day. And feel all at peace and then the rest of the day you're stressed and, [00:08:00] and, you know, discombobulated.
Jeff Patterson: And so having these different things to help us and keep us focused is very important. And then the last pillar is philosophical practices. And these can be both active or ritual based. And if you use these to help build your, um, kind of strategy with the meditative arts, it really will help you be successful in the practice.
Julie Michelson: Can you give us an example of, uh, you know, active and philosophical or how and they I'm guessing could overlap like you said, but.
Jeff Patterson: Yeah, so an example of an active practice could be something as simple as just counting out 10 deep breaths. It could be some spinal rotations or a simple movement practice, something that helps bring our awareness back into.
Jeff Patterson: Getting out of our cell phones and getting off of the screens and just kind of helping us stay in tune and in touch with ourselves and then philosophical practices, you know, [00:09:00] this is one of the things that in my career I've been very passionate about, and I really enjoy the philosophical side of the training because.
Jeff Patterson: It's so good for opening up your perspective and helping you see things from different angles. And, you know, an example could be something as simple as making sounds to generate different kinds of energy and having a purpose behind that or doing some kind of a mantra. Or there's different sayings that we memorize, you know, one of my old meditation teachers, he had me memorize the Tao Te Ching, which is a very famous book.
Jeff Patterson: Um, there's 81 sayings in that. And it's, you know, you go through these sayings and you start to see them and understand them, but you do them every day and you think about them. And you know, what you thought they meant a year ago means something totally different today, you know, and so, you know, that's So when you start to use these and really look deeply into them, they help you really open up [00:10:00] your vision and so you're not so narrow minded and focused and thinking that everything is this one particular way and so they're, they're a very powerful part of the practice.
Julie Michelson: I love that. That's amazing. And I, I wanna highlight, and I love that you said, you know, the, the ritual practice is really important. It is a practice and, and that, you know, setting, I call it sacred time, but however much time for whatever your practice is daily. But you're right, the, some people are doing it like it's a checklist, right?
Julie Michelson: Like, oh, I meditated this morning, and then that's it. And they don't think. about any of it until the next day. So I love that you have those, the, the different pillars and that it's, it is, it is a way of life. Um, but it takes intention, especially to build and, and, um, if somebody, you know, hasn't started any of these practices yet, it may sound like, wow, that's a lot.
Jeff Patterson: You [00:11:00] know, it really, it's pretty easy to integrate into your life, you know, it's, um, you know, I always tell new students when they come to the practice that there's, you know, and through my career, you know, one of the hardest things that I've had to face is, How do I get people to see the value in this practice so they can make it part of their life and really benefit from, from the training?
Jeff Patterson: And so I've come up with three questions or three thoughts that I have people think about that I feel like if they really put some time and energy into these, they can get more out of the practice and their chances of being successful are going to increase. And the first one is, Thinking about why are you being drawn to the practice?
Jeff Patterson: Do you want to stay healthier into your later years to watch your grandkids grow up? Or maybe you're dealing with a stress disorder or having panic attacks and you want to learn how to overcome this. Or maybe you're an athlete and you want to improve your [00:12:00] performance on the field. Whatever that is for you.
Jeff Patterson: And then not just think about that surface level, why, but also think about if you accomplish this, how is your life going to change from this day forward by doing this and say, think about all of the positive ways that it's going to affect you. And then also flip the coin and think, if I don't do this, what are all the negative things that are going to affect me by not doing this?
Jeff Patterson: And this gives you a fuel to kind of help motivate you. To stay consistent with the practice, which is the next important thing to consider because, you know, we're all human. We're going to get up one morning, maybe tomorrow, next week or next month where that we're going to, the alarm's going to go off and you're going to be, ah, I'll just do my practice tomorrow.
Jeff Patterson: I'm going to get a little extra sleep today. And if you don't have a good reason to get up and look forward to this practice, rather than thinking of it as a chore that you have to do all of the time, Then you're [00:13:00] never going to really get deep into the practice. And so understanding how important that consistency is, is, is, uh, is really vital in your development with the practice, you know, you develop this discipline and integrity and perseverance by doing this on a regular basis.
Jeff Patterson: And not only does this affect your meditation practice, but it also bleeds over into everything else you do in life. And then the third thing that I like people to consider is. You need to find a guide, somebody that can help you navigate these waters. I mean, that's, you know, I've been studying the meditative arts now for 36 years and I'm still just a student learning all the time.
Jeff Patterson: And if you think that you're going to go onto YouTube and weed through the millions of videos out there, Or find an app and think that you're going to get any kind of depth in the practice. You're kidding yourself. You know, I've had students come in here to the academy that have been self taught and they've been studying 15, 20 years and have a fairly disciplined practice, [00:14:00] but they're never any deeper than the surface level under their practice.
Jeff Patterson: And having somebody help guide you and show you the shortest path to accomplish what you want is really. Valuable, you know, you know, our lives are short and your time is valuable and having somebody help guide you along the way is essential. And so if you think about these three things, really having some kind of a depth in what your why is and understanding the consistency, having somebody support you and a guide to navigate the waters, you can really accomplish a lot in a fairly short amount of time.
Julie Michelson: Yeah, I'm so glad you said that. And, and that being said, also, I want listeners to really know it. You don't have to be practicing for 30 years to feel the impact on the rest of your life. Um, specifically, you know, thinking about my listeners, the, the impact that, that. Meditative arts [00:15:00] can have on pain and energy, right?
Julie Michelson: Two big common themes, no matter what kind of autumn symptoms people struggle with. Um, you know, people always when they asked me, you know, well, what did you do? How did you start to improve your health? And and I, I didn't do 1 thing at a time. So it was a combination. But as far as. Really moving the needle in the beginning for me with my, with my pain and energy was a dedicated meditation practice.
Julie Michelson: I was definitely one of those people who thought I'm a bad meditator. You know, I thought my mind should just be blank and I should sit there and that's how it, that's what meditation was. And so I love that you said for me, it was finding that. First meditation guide. I like that word, um, that resonated with me that, that, uh, offered a type of practice that felt doable at that time when I had a lot of pain and didn't have [00:16:00] energy and the impact that had on my sleep.
Julie Michelson: My inflammation, my pain, my all of it, my healing. Um, because we can't heal if we're not getting good sleep was, there's no way we would be having this conversation now. I would, I would, if I were still alive, I definitely would not. You I'll be doing what I'm doing in life. So I love that you said that. I, I think it, you know, we do it with everything else, right?
Julie Michelson: If you wanna, I live in Colorado. If you wanna learn to ski, you're probably not gonna just throw on skis and go down the mountain. You're gonna have a guide. And so I, I think that's amazing advice is, is to, you know, get that guy for sure.
Jeff Patterson: Yeah, you know, and a lot of times, you know, you mentioned how it's one of the things that really helped you a lot of times I'll see people and maybe they're dealing with a stress disorder like panic attacks or something and they'll come and they'll say, yeah, [00:17:00] you know, every time I have a panic attack, I go practice my breathing strategy and I ask them about their meditation practice and they don't have one.
Jeff Patterson: They just try to use these breathing strategies. Yeah. Exercises to help with them when they have this attack and yeah, you know kind of like saying, you know, i'm hungry today I want an apple so i'm gonna go plant a seed this morning You know You have to nurture it and you have to build a foundation in the practice And it doesn't mean that it takes six years for you to see any benefits because you'll see benefits from the first day however That consistency in that discipline practice is so essential to really getting any kind of depth.
Jeff Patterson: You know, and one of the most common things I've heard people say through the years is, you know, I, I've tried meditation before, but it just didn't work for me. I couldn't quiet my mind, you know, and somewhere along the way people got this misguided idea that in order to be good at meditation, you have to reach the state of nirvana and have nothing bother you.
Jeff Patterson: And, you know, it couldn't be further from the [00:18:00] truth, you know, further. The last 36 years, I've been traveling around the world training with some very amazing meditation practitioners. And I have never once met anybody who doesn't get distracted. You know, we're all human. Our brain
Julie Michelson: is wired that way. I, you know, I mean, I guess your final thought will be your final thought, but until then we're going to have things pop up for sure.
Julie Michelson: And that is, it's my favorite. Meditation myth to dispel because again, because I, I had that story, you know, I don't know where I got it. Um, but, but I love that you, that you said that and I, I love, I think that was one of the things that it intrigues me about you is you incorporate, you know, it's not all sitting meditation.
Julie Michelson: Let's talk a little bit about moving meditation options, because I do think for some people, um, they just, they hear the word meditation and their blood pressure increases. Stress goes through the roof, right? Um, what are, what are some [00:19:00] maybe unconventional or, you know, interesting ways that people can incorporate meditation that they may not have thought of?
Jeff Patterson: Well, in the meditative arts, there's movement practices like tai chi and qigong and yoga and walking meditations, different things that you can do to get some movement going and a lot of times if somebody has a difficult time thinking about sitting in one place for 20 minutes, I'll recommend let's step into a movement practice like qigong and and get it.
Jeff Patterson: To that mind body connection and learn how to tap into the breath and start energy, start learning how to circulate the energy in the body and make these connections because sometimes for those people who, like you said, get stressed out when they think about it, doing a movement practice is an easy way to step into it, you know, and it doesn't matter what it Meditation style you do, whether it's a movement or still practice or breath work or whatever it is, [00:20:00] there's basically five underlying foundational principles that you cultivate in any meditation journey.
Jeff Patterson: And so I like people to really have a clear understanding of these because I feel that if you do, you can see how meditation can affect any area of your life and they are regulating the body, regulating the breath, regulating the mind, regulating the energy. And regulating the spirit and briefly, I'll kind of touch on what I mean when I say these, so regulating the body is the easiest one to start with.
Jeff Patterson: And it's basically understanding your skeletal alignment, your muscular tension, and how that affects your energetic states. So, for example, say that. You've been sitting in front of your computer for three or four hours, and you're feeling very depleted, and you're maybe your neck's getting sore, and then think about another time when maybe the most important person in your world walks in the room, and your body perks up, and you feel like you're on top of the world.
Jeff Patterson:[00:21:00] Well, these two different energetic states We're in a hundred percent control of all day, every day. And so understanding how to regulate that is very important. You know, when we start to feel depressed and our shoulders are rounded forward, and we're hunching forward and we're breathing shallowly, just changing our physiology can help change that state.
Jeff Patterson: And then the next regulation is the breath, and the breath is a very deep topic, and in fact Qigong is often referred to as the science of the breath, because there's literally hundreds of different breathing strategies. And because of that, we kind of broadly categorize them into Yin methods and Yang methods.
Jeff Patterson: Yin methods are often deeper, more holistic style of meditations that we can do to work with depression or anxiety or panic attacks or boosting our creativity. And an example of a Yin breath would be If you ever listen to somebody sleep, [00:22:00] their natural breathing pattern is a longer inhale and a shorter exhale.
Jeff Patterson: And this is the body's natural way of bringing your conscious mind into your subconscious mind, which is where we are when we're sleeping and dreaming. And so if we want to emulate that inward draw of energy in the body, we can do longer inhales, soft retentions at the end of the inhale to help bring that energy inward.
Jeff Patterson: Then we have the yang side of the breath, which is more aggressive. And an example of that would be if you've ever had to push your car, you pick up something heavy, your natural instinct is to exhale and put tension in the breath, make it audible. And this helps generate energy and power. And so when we understand how to use the breath as a strategy in our ritual and active practices, we can now regulate our physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing with our breath.
Jeff Patterson: You know, everybody goes through the day with emotional ups and downs, some people may be more like a roller coaster, others may be a little more balanced, [00:23:00] but when you start to see these imbalances, and you start to get excited, we can use the Yin side of the breath to help bring it back down, and we start feeling depleted, we can use the Yang side to help build us back up.
Jeff Patterson: Then we have regulating the mind, and this is a very deep topic and something that you'll study for the rest of your life. We touched on this a little bit with distractions and meditation. And, you know, say for example, you're sitting for 20 minutes or doing a movement practice like Tai Chi, and you get distracted 50 times during that session, every time you get distracted, if you recognize that imbalance and use your posture, your breath, your movement to help.
Jeff Patterson: Come back to focus. You just got 50 repetitions on how to be off center and coming back to balance. And if you do this every day, every month, every year, you start to develop this power and this ability to find that center and to be more focused throughout your day. You know, there's this, [00:24:00] uh, This story that I really enjoy about these two old monks, and they're walking down this dirt road after a huge rainstorm, and they come up to this big mud puddle, and on the other side of the puddle is this beautiful little girl standing there in a white dress, and she's crying.
Jeff Patterson: And the older monk, he yells across the puddle and says, Is everything okay? Can we help you? And she says, I need to be somewhere, but If I walk across this puddle, I'm going to get my dress all dirty. And so the older monk, he rolls up his pant legs and he walks across the puddle and picks her up, puts her on his back, takes her to the other side, drops her off, and she's off on her way.
Jeff Patterson: Well, him and the younger monk are walking a couple miles down the road. And finally, the younger monk is just furious. And he says, you know, we're not supposed to touch girls, but you did back there at the puddle. And the older monk says, You're still thinking about that girl. I left her back there at the puddle.
Jeff Patterson: And how many times in life do we need to get two miles down the muddy road [00:25:00] before we realize that this imbalance and we need to let go of it. And so regulating the mind is a very important part of the practice. And then the fourth regulation regulating the energy is another extremely deep topic and something that we could spend hours on.
Jeff Patterson: But just a brief idea is. Once we've reached a competent level in regulating the body, the breath and the mind, we now have the tools to circulate the energy in the body, to lead it inward, to extend it outward, to get different energetic expressions within our practice. And then the last regulation, regulating the spirit, is a very profound idea and something that meditation masters and monks will spend their entire life's journey working towards that ultimate stage of enlightenment.
Jeff Patterson: But when you understand these five underlying principles of the practice, you can see that a meditation journey can affect everything we do in life and is extremely valuable.
Julie Michelson:[00:26:00] Amen. I can't, I want to underscore literally everything you said. Um, and, and I think back to this idea that, you know, our misconception of what being a good meditator is, um, it is, Like you said, that ripple effect, um, is, is invaluable and I can't stress enough whether, especially for listeners, I mean, even if, I think there's this, Pattern that tends to happen with people that are fighting chronic symptoms where they start to feel powerless or, you know, their body's not doing what they want and, and meditation and learning to control what's going on in your body is, is so empowering.
Julie Michelson: Um, and then it becomes empowering just in life, right? Not just with how am I feeling? Um, [00:27:00] I always say it gives you a pause button. Um, and, and, you know, To not, you know, if you're somebody who tends to have a reactive personality or, um, or even not it just even still if even if you have a pause button, it gives you a longer one.
Julie Michelson: It's that alternative perspective you were mentioning earlier. Um, and I so I just love the Your depth of knowledge and, and that kind of coach approach that you take. I was like, Oh, he's definitely a coach. Just, you know, finding your why and your why can change over time, but find your why of, you know, why I guess my question to listeners would be, why wouldn't you?
Julie Michelson: Why wouldn't you create a practice that, that supports, you know, every, I always say it makes you, you know, just a better human, right? A better partner, a better friend, a better spouse, [00:28:00] whatever, fill in the blank. Like we just become better humans when we're, We are able to, to control what's going on inside.
Julie Michelson: Um, and I love that you mentioned the, the, cause I have a lot of clients who will say, Oh, I, I do breathing exercises when I'm stressed out. So I love that that was your example. Cause to me, That's that same band aid of, you know, like the Western medicine approach of, Hey, we'll, we'll give you a medication for the symptom, right.
Julie Michelson: To make the symptom go away. Why not prevent the panic attack? If you can, let's work on that instead of, Oh, you know, it's okay. I manage I'll breathe when this happens or all X, one Y. Um, and, and so, you know, what, what an incredible. journey you have to share with people. Tell, tell us a little bit about how, you know, people can get started with you.
Julie Michelson: You mentioned the importance of a guide, which is what [00:29:00] you do. Um, how does that work? What are some of the different options?
Jeff Patterson: Yeah, so right now, um, if you go to my website, the yielding warrior. com, we have an online meditation program that teaches you how to build an evolving life practice with the meditative arts.
Jeff Patterson: Also, if you kind of like this philosophy and are resonating with some of the things that we're talking about, my most recent book, the yielding warrior, I'm giving away a free copy of that on the website. If you go to the yielding warrior. com forward slash book, um, and just pay for shipping and handling, we'll send you out a free copy of the book.
Jeff Patterson: Also on that website, we have a teacher training program. So for those of you out there that may be. Have a yoga studio or a martial arts studio, or maybe you're a life coach and you want to learn how to integrate this and be able to kind of write prescriptions with some of these different practices and help people understand how to build an evolving life practice.
Jeff Patterson: There's that avenue as well.
Julie Michelson: Amazing. And so [00:30:00] I'm curious in, in your journey, like what were your first practices and were you hooked right away?
Jeff Patterson: No, not at all. You know, I, I, uh, um, I had a lot of respect for my old boxing coach. And when he told me to do the practice, I did it religiously, but for a while I wasn't resonating with it.
Jeff Patterson: You know, I wasn't making the connection. I wasn't seeing the value. And then one day I went down to my basement and I looked up at the clock and an hour and a half had gone by and it felt like 15 minutes in. From that point forward, I was hooked, you know, I had this euphoric sensation of my practice and, you know, I was being pretty disciplined.
Jeff Patterson: It was about six months into my practice and. From that point, my whole shift changed and, you know, I kind of moved from having boxing be my main thing to the meditative arts be my main thing and really started following that passion and that journey. And, um, [00:31:00] I'll always be grateful to him for turning me onto that path.
Julie Michelson: And you were young when you started, is it ever too late to, to create a practice?
Jeff Patterson: You know, I have students coming into the academy here that don't start until they're in their 80s, you know, and it, it, you know, from day one, you can reap the benefits. It's just, if you have the discipline and make it a priority and do a little bit every day, you can get a lot out of it at any stage in life.
Julie Michelson: And it is. It's such a gift. Like, I really do believe not just to yourself and our experience of our lifetime, but everybody that we come in contact with really can feel, you know, you talk about the energy and we really impact each other with energy. And so it is that kind of gift that keeps on giving for sure.
Jeff Patterson: Yes.
Julie Michelson: So we're at the point in the conversation where listeners are leaning in because they know I am going to ask you for one step that they can take starting today [00:32:00] to improve their health.
Jeff Patterson: I would say to go through that list of three things that I told you to think about. What is your why? Understand the consistency and find yourself a guide. And if you do that and get involved today and make the move, make the commitment, it'll be one of the best things you've ever done. Just stay consistent with it.
Jeff Patterson: Make sure you make it a way of life and make it part of your day. And you know, I like I said, I've had thousands of students through the years and everybody that I've had come through the academy or through my online programs that listen to this advice and they do a ritual practice every day for at least a year and do some active practices and philosophical practices and integrate this into their life.
Jeff Patterson: They'll do this practice for the rest of their life because they'll see so many benefits from the practice that they would be crazy to stop. And so make the commitment, do this, get in, get involved. And I promise you, you'll never regret the choice.
Julie Michelson: I love that. And I love that [00:33:00] you start with what is your, why the coach and me just, you know, that's the only way for us to create.
Julie Michelson: change is to understand our why and, and be able to call on it. Like you said, on those days when the alarm clock goes off and you think, ah, maybe not today. And then you get up and do it anyway. So Jeff, I so appreciate you sharing your wisdom and, and your offer for listeners to, to go get your free book.
Julie Michelson: Um, I, I know I'm going to repeat. Usually I ask where's the best place to find you. Um, but I know it's the, the yielding warrior. com. Um, it'll be in the show notes as well, but for those that just like to listen on the go, um, really appreciate your contribution today.
Jeff Patterson: Well, thanks for having me.
Julie Michelson: My pleasure for everyone listening.
Julie Michelson: Remember you can get those transcripts and show notes by visiting inspired living. show. I hope you had a great time and enjoyed this episode as much as I did. If you don't already have your [00:34:00] practice, start your practice. I'll see you next week.
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My Guest For This Episode
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Connect with Jeff Patterson
Jeff Patterson
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Jeff Patterson, from Portland, OR, USA, has over 36 years of experience, practicing and teaching the meditative and martial arts. As the founder of Northwest Fighting Arts, Portland Tai Chi Academy, and The Yielding Warrior, where he emphasizes the transformative power of meditative and martial arts practices, particularly the yielding concept.
He has published two books and hundreds on instructional videos. Founder of The Yielding Warrior online program and has worked with 1000's of students from around the world.
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