In short
Mental fitness training and how visualization rewires the brain to improve real-world performance (health, work, relationships). The episode frames mental health as a spectrum and argues that “mental fitness” is proactive, trainable, and malleable.
Guest backgrounds
Maya Raichura is the UK’s leading mental fitness and visualization expert. She previously became Nike’s first mental fitness trainer and has worked with elite athletes, executives, and global brands.
Key claims
Mental fitness has five components: cardio (using the brain via learning/debates/questions), reps (small daily consistency), rest (active recovery plus multiple rest types), strength training (neuroplasticity), and diet (mental content inputs). Visualization works because the brain can’t fully distinguish imagined from real experiences, enabling neuroplasticity. Awareness matters: curate media/self-talk to avoid “junk food” inputs.
Notable examples
A client reduced relationship conflict after changing reality TV viewing; a baseball coach primed players by showing world-level games in the locker room. Raichura describes her ulcerative colitis recovery journey using visualization (including imagining “healing” her colon) after years of severe symptoms.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOUnderstanding Mental Fitness
0:45 to 3:00
Exploring the distinction between mental health and mental fitness.
“all change what we see in the real world is a result of what's happening in our inner world.”
Key Components of Mental Fitness
3:00 to 8:00
Discussing the five essential components of mental fitness for improvement.
“Now, of course, not everybody wants a little snacky snack, but it always makes me so happy when people want to have a cup of tea.”
The Importance of Mental Diet
8:00 to 13:30
Examining how our consumed content affects mental fitness and well-being.
“So mental health, everyone talks about it.”
Practical Tips for Better Mental Diet
13:30 to 14:00
Offering actionable advice on curating a healthier mental diet.
“and there are very practical things we could do to get there.”
Mental Diet: Curating Your Consumption
14:00 to 17:20
Learn how your mental diet influences your well-being and practical steps to improve it.
“So just unfollow it, even if they are your friends.”
Impact of Media on Behavior
17:20 to 21:00
Explore how the content you consume shapes your actions and emotional state.
“But you have the power to just take that one step and then it gives you the right foot to start on.”
The Role of Awareness in Media Consumption
21:00 to 23:10
Understand the importance of awareness in choosing what to watch and its effects.
“But there's these beautiful moments as well, which is great TV.”
Mental Fitness: Cardio for the Brain
23:10 to 27:30
Discover techniques to enhance mental fitness through better questioning and learning.
“what I'm actually inputting into my brain?”
Consistency in Mental Practices
27:30 to 28:00
Learn about the importance of consistency in mental exercises for brain health.
The Importance of Consistency in Mental Training
28:00 to 29:25
Learn why consistency is key in mental fitness and how small daily actions can make a difference.
“You might feel a bit better after, but it will honestly have no impact.”
Show all 24 chapters
Repetition: The Path to Rewiring Your Brain
29:25 to 30:41
Understand how repetition shapes our thoughts and the necessity of consistent practice for change.
The Role of Rest in Mental Fitness
30:41 to 32:50
Discover the different types of rest required for mental fitness and the importance of actively resting.
“And that's why if you can see it that way, you realize that the consistency is not just a part of the mental fitness.”
The Role of Rest in Mental Fitness
36:16 to 38:39
Discover the different types of rest required for mental fitness and the importance of actively resting.
“Are you interested in living a shorter life?”
The Role of Rest in Mental Fitness
38:43 to 39:04
Discover the different types of rest required for mental fitness and the importance of actively resting.
“They're amazing elixirs of dual extracted medicinal mushrooms.”
Harnessing Visualization for Performance
39:04 to 42:01
Explore how visualization can enhance performance and its role in mental fitness and transformation.
“Lastly, there was weightlifting being one of these components of good mental fitness.”
Maya's Journey Through Illness
42:01 to 51:04
Maya shares her personal struggle with ulcerative colitis and the mental challenges she faced during her illness.
“me was how you utilized it for your own transformation and your own health.”
Resilience and Strength
51:04 to 51:56
Discussion on Maya's resilience through her health challenges and how she became an inspiration to others.
“the two so much is possible so that is how i can sit here today now teaching this yeah to other people thank you thank you for sharing that it hit me really when you said you don't know how you survived.”
Visualization Techniques
51:56 to 56:05
Maya outlines various visualization techniques and their applications for personal growth and health.
“And you also experienced a lot of neglect and you experienced a lot of mental turmoil that most people would never even get close to and to come out of that.”
Exploring Different Types of Visualization
56:05 to 1:00:14
Learn about various forms of visualization and their applications for personal growth.
“So I would often tell people to, let's say, visualize their anxiety as, let's say, like a red fire in the belly.”
The Batman Effect: Creating Your Ideal Self
1:00:14 to 1:04:11
Discover the concept of the Batman Effect and how to embody your ideal character.
“If I said to you, hey like Sean, why don't you just be a bit more confident?”
Distinguishing Visualization from Manifestation
1:04:11 to 1:09:21
Understand the differences between visualization and manifestation and their unique roles.
“At the end of the day, we want some tangible effect or some tangible proof.”
Gratitude for Maya's Insights
1:10:01 to 1:10:32
The host expresses appreciation for Maya's work and insights shared.
“Maya, this has been so awesome and fun and insightful.”
The Importance of Consistency
1:10:33 to 1:10:55
Discussion on the value of consistency in meditation and visualization practices.
“Thank you so much for tuning into this episode today.”
Looking Forward to Future Content
1:10:56 to 1:11:32
Host teases upcoming masterclasses and encourages listeners to stay tuned.
“That's what's really building that neuro association, the same thing holds true with utilizing this powerful inner technology of visualization.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Shawn Stevenson:You are now listening to The Model Health Show with Shawn Stevenson. For more, visit themodelhealthshow.com.
0:11Shawn Stevenson:On this episode, you're going to discover the truth about this incredible power that is teeming, that is locked within every cell of your body right now. And it is unlocked with the science-backed strategies that you're going to learn about today. Theoretical physicist Michio Kaku says that the human brain is the most powerful entity in the known universe. We all have one, which is kind of crazy. The key to your physical fitness, to accomplishing your biggest and brightest goals and creating the life that you want, all change what we see in the real world is a result of what's happening in our inner world.
0:50Shawn Stevenson:And on this episode, you're going to learn about the most powerful strategy for navigating that internal terrain and changing your results in the real world. Whether that's your physical health, whether that's the performance in your work, in your family life, whatever it is that you want to accomplish. This technology is so powerful, yet so misunderstood and underutilized. It is criminal. And that's why I'm so excited about this episode. This is truly transformative. And our special guest is going to walk us through the ins and outs of this technology. And I'm telling you, this is a game changer.
1:33Shawn Stevenson:If you apply what you learn today, it's going to transform your life forever. 10 years ago and over 800 episodes ago, I pushed into this medium, the term mental fitness. And I utilize that term because mental health has a lot of stigma that surrounds it. And it tends to be something that we perceive as very fixed. And even if it is changeable and we have acute instances of mental health challenges, it's something that is very loaded with complexity and difficulty in changing. And so that's why I leaned into the term mental fitness, because fitness is something that is more approachable. It's something that we tend to feel like we have more agency over changing.
2:22Shawn Stevenson:And fitness is indeed a part of health. It's a part of it. But there are some powerful distinctions. And so not only are we going to talk about what actually creates strong mental fitness, but we're going to talk about the most powerful tool that we can utilize to not just transform our mental fitness, but to transform our outer life and our experience as well. And today we have on the leading expert in this subject matter to unpack all the different pieces and how to utilize the power of our minds to create the results that we want to see in our lives. Now, as I always do when we have guests here at the Model Health Show studio, we offer them a variety of delicious beverages and snacks.
3:09Shawn Stevenson:Now, of course, not everybody wants a little snacky snack, but it always makes me so happy when people want to have a cup of tea. Now, our special guest is for the UK, so I knew it's probably 50-50. I knew I had a good chance of her wanting to enjoy some of the phenomenal teas that we have here at the Model Health Show studio. And she actually surprised me. All right. Yes, we know that tea is phenomenal for our health. In fact, a study published just last year in 2024 found that people who regularly drink tea age slower than people who don't drink tea. It's like a little superpower in a cup. Now, with that being said, yeah, we think about the incredible green tea, the matcha green tea from the incredible team at Peak Life.
4:01Shawn Stevenson:Yes, we think about the phenomenal Pu-erh that has a variety of benefits that are noted in peer-reviewed studies to support metabolic health and body fat oxidation. Right? Peak Tea has the best Pu-erh in the world as well. But what I need to share more is that they have so many other award-winning teas, including a host of herbal teas. and the one that our special guest chose to have was their electric turmeric blend. That made me so happy because I got to crack open a new box of these patented cold extraction derived super teas from Peak Tea. And why is this formula remarkable? Well, research published in the journal PLOS One revealed that the active ingredient in turmeric curcumin is capable of improving neuroplasticity.
4:56Shawn Stevenson:and stimulating the creation of new brain cells. There are very few things ever discovered that have a capacity like this. There's something really special about turmeric. The quality matters and that incredible blend that they put together, it tastes so good. And our guest enjoyed it. And she's also very big in neuroscience. And so getting those neuroplasticity vibes going before the show even started with such a vibe. Head over right now and check out some of their amazing award-winning tees from the incredible team at Peak Life. Just go to peaklife.com forward slash model. That's P-I-Q-U-E-L-I-F-E.com forward slash model.
5:40Shawn Stevenson:You're gonna receive up to 20 % off their award-winning tees, free shipping, and some other goodies like a frother. I'm about that froth life. My frother is something I use every single day. They got a frother. They've got a beaker, little bonuses that come with some of their kits. All these incredible bonuses are something that we can take advantage of and really up level our tea game. And again, as mentioned, people who drink tea live longer, according to massive amounts of data, tend to live longer than people who don't. There's something special about it. So definitely pop over there, check them out, peaklife.com forward slash model.
6:20Shawn Stevenson:Take advantage of all the incredible goodness that they have over there at Peak Life. And now let's get to this special YouTube comment of the week. Another YouTube comment of the week by at Big Rick Energy. I've been listening to Sean for a few months now and have probably taken in somewhere around 400 episodes while driving to and from work. This dude blows my mind every single episode. Keep spreading the word, Sean. This country needs to hear this stuff over and over. We're on a bad path that things don't change soon. You need to become the next Surgeon General for reals. Keep up the strong work, fine sir.
6:57Shawn Stevenson:And your bars were fire. That's just fire. I appreciate that so much. Thank you for sharing your voice over on YouTube. Wow, that was amazing. It's truly amazing. Listen, whether it's on YouTube, whether it's Apple Podcasts, Spotify, share your voice. Leave a review for the Model Health Show. It really does mean a lot. and without further ado let's get to our special guest and topic of the day Maya Raichura is the UK's leading mental fitness and visualization expert dedicated to helping elite athletes executives and global brands think feel and perform like the top one percent she made history as Nike's first ever mental fitness trainer and has transformed thousands of lives worldwide through her pioneering approach.
7:46Shawn Stevenson:Let's dive into this masterclass on mental fitness and visualization with the one and only Maya Raichura. All right, let's start off by talking about the difference between mental fitness and mental health. Okay, yeah. So mental health, everyone talks about it. And really, if you've got a mind, you have a mental health. It's a bit like if you've got a body, you've got physical health. But if you think about our bodies, you're only physically fit if you, let's say, go to the gym, you do yoga, running, dancing, whatever it might be. So in the same way, you're only mentally fit if you are actively training the brain.
8:28And I think, you know, whenever I'm on like panels or having conversations with people at schools or companies, everyone stops at the awareness of mental health. But then what's after that? Like, what are you actually doing about it? it's like me sitting here being like running is so good for you but then we never go on a run now that's the problem and I think it's also worth saying that then you have mental illness which is where just like when you get physically ill you would go to a doctor or you know you might be injured so in the same way you would go and seek help and then you also have mental weakness which is a very human thing you know maybe you've had a bad sleep or you've had heartbreak something's So naturally you're not gonna be performing the best you can mentally.
9:14But then again, do you have the tools to come back to a better state of mental health because you know how to stay mentally fit? So it's really a spectrum. But ultimately, mental fitness is when you are empowered with the tools to maintain good mental health.
9:29Shawn Stevenson:I love that. I love that. And what it really is, is like something that has tangibility to it versus like health seems to be this kind of broad, very difficult to move thing. But fitness is something that's more like proactive, malleable is something that I have more influence over. And I think that's a good lead in because, as you know, and we talked a little bit about this before we got started. Mental health is there's a lot of stigma behind it. Right. And it seems to be, unfortunately, more fixed. Like I have poor mental health or I have good mental health. And just the conversation around it.
10:06Shawn Stevenson:And so to put in the terms of mental fitness makes it something that we have some power over. And you've actually broken down what constitutes good mental fitness. Yeah. So let's talk about some of these points. I really want to dig in on each one of these. Yeah. Yeah. So I think it was, I think you're right. everyone talks about their mind when something is really wrong um and it's the same thing you don't just go to the gym if you are obese or unhappy or you know injured you would go to maintain a good life and so I thought to directly basically uh use the analogy so when it comes to mental fitness you've got cardio cardio is are you using your brain so whether that's debates whether it's questions, whether it's you're learning something like a new language, are you using the brain?
10:56You've got to use it, otherwise you lose it. Then we have reps. Reps are really important because ultimately it's consistency. You know, it's the same as you don't get abs overnight. In the same way, a lot of people want like a quick fix to their mind, or they just want to get rid of all the anxiety or negative thoughts. But it really is about the little things you do every day that build that consistency. Then you have rest. So just like, again, with the body, you may, you sleep or massages, things like that. The brain also needs rest. And the brain is interesting because when you go to sleep, it's still pretty active.
11:33It's dreaming, right? It's thinking. And so we really need a form of active rest. And that can be, again it can be meditation it could be sleep it can be any form of just letting your mind switch off just for a moment then we have strength training and this is really my niche and strength training just like the body you essentially rip the muscle to make it bigger better stronger and you can only do that with the weight training and so for the brain that's basically neuroplasticity That's you being able to rewire the roads and the patterns in your brain. And that's where visualization is such a powerful tool to build a stronger brain so you can think, feel and perform better than you ever have.
12:21And then we lastly have diet. And this isn't food. This is really the thing we consume the most in the world, which is content. It's the things we read. It's the things we watch. It's what we're listening to. and to have a good mental diet you need to be feeding yourself with stuff that actually serves you whereas most people we will watch I don't know reality tv or you know we we gossip we compare ourselves we're on social media all of that is feeding like the bad wolf in the brain and so just thinking about what am I inputting into my brain um so those are the five components and it's not to say, okay, you've got to do all of these immediately.
13:06Just start with one, one of them and do one little thing to help that area and then you can build it over time.
13:13Shawn Stevenson:Yeah, I would imagine that great mental fitness is a lot like great physical fitness. Like you can do so much and so much of life becomes easier and accessible to you. And so my advocation for everybody is like, this is something I'm hoping that you really want to have. You really want to have good mental fitness and there are very practical things we could do to get there. I want to stay with diet first because I want to dig in on all these so everybody can feel like I know what to do. Give me some practical things. You mentioned, and this just with diet, there's so many great analogies here, but I remember even when I was in college, you are what you eat.
13:49Shawn Stevenson:You are what you eat. It's so superficial in the way that it sounds, but there is a lot of practicality to it because what you eat does become a part of you and used to run processes. but it's short-sighted because it's not just you are what you eat as far as like making your tissues it's you are what you drink you are what you breathe it's also you are what you consume mentally as well because and this is the big takeaway what when you're scrolling through your your social media what you're picking up is becoming and especially if you're habitually watching certain things it becomes a physical part of your brain it becomes a physical part of your body and your brain isn't just in your brain by the way like your cells are picking up this data and what are you habituating what is your what is your mental diet and so with that being said pretty much everybody's scrolling today so what do you recommend as far as like that mental diet because we're going to be consuming stuff yeah so two very very simple things you can do to improve your mental diet number one I would honestly look through whether it's the people you follow it's the content you are watching and just unfollow or curate your algorithm so it's actually helping you so rather than let's say watching people that when you see them you're like oh I wish I could be like that or their life is so much better you're constantly then telling yourself you're not good enough or you're really behind do you think you're going to feel good?
15:17No. So just unfollow it, even if they are your friends. It doesn't matter. Be selfish. If it does not serve you, get rid of it. The second thing, and this is very practical, is as soon as you wake up in the morning, your brain is a bit like, it's like fresh snow. And just think, what is the first footstep I want to make in that fresh snow? Now for most of us, it's let me look at my emails let me get really stressed or let me put the news on and just feel like oh my god the world is a really scary place but instead if you can be intentional with okay I'm gonna say show me how good it gets today or I'm gonna just take one moment to think of something I'm grateful for or I am going to close my eyes and just take a few deep breaths that one moment of intentionality paves the way for that first bit of the fresh snow which then can help you carry on your day with just a better chance of feeling more positive or more calm or more confident and I'll just tell you a little story about a client I had where you know she's such a high performer brilliant at work everything and then she was like Maya my relationship is just falling apart I was like what's going on she was like I just keep lashing out I just lash out for no reason and I create arguments for again no reason I was like okay instead of even going into the depths of what was going on I just asked her I was like what are you watching at the moment and you know what's really fascinating because she gets home and she's really stressed and tired she just puts on those reality tv shows that you know you see all these couples arguing or it's just for tv but what she didn't realize is that she's learning that behavior her neurons in her brain are telling her to act like that and so naturally with her own partner without her knowing it she's gonna start mimicking what she's watching so i just said to her why don't you decide to either watch something that's more relaxing calming or useful well you know what don't watch tv listen to some music read a book or something and genuinely within a week she was just like i just feel so much calmer and i don't react like that but it also works in the other way right like there's this great sports coach who works with a baseball team and they had never been to the worlds before and so what he did is in their changing room he would put this tv on of a team just a random team playing at the worlds and naturally as the players were going into the changing room they'd just be watching this but very slowly it's priming their brain to show them this could be me or this is me and so you can see that whether it's adverts whether it's tv whether it's what you say to yourself in the morning, it matters.
18:02But you have the power to just take that one step and then it gives you the right foot to start on.
18:08Shawn Stevenson:Oh, that's so good. So you mentioned, and by the way, you talk a lot about this in the book as well, in setting the framework for how powerful this is with our mirror neurons, right? And so this was years ago. I won't put that episode for everybody in the show notes, but we had on Dr. Daniel Goldman, who really pushed that in a popular culture. Yes. And one of the things that he shared, and it's even more present today, is that when we're witnessing something, there's a part of us, these cells that are simulating us doing what we're witnessing. It's a big part of how we learn. And one of the things that's kind of built into us as human beings.
18:43Shawn Stevenson:And so this is why we feel what we felt. When you just mentioned the baseball game, for example, that feeling, being a fan, like you feel like you're in the game, right? It's because of these mirror neurons. there's a part of you that's simulating you being in it. And with this being said, this is very powerful. So are you chronically watching The Walking Dead? Are you constantly watching, you just mentioned, these dating shows and reality TV? And just to be clear, it's out here, all right? And this doesn't mean that you can't have a little, we'll call it a little junk food. Yeah, exactly. Cheap day.
19:16Have your cheat meals.
19:17Shawn Stevenson:You know, but if that becomes the predominant part of your diet, the bulk of your diet is junk food. No disrespect, but junk food. What do you think that's going to do to your brain and your mental fitness? Right. So keep that in mind. And I think really at the foundation of all of this, it's awareness. Like, don't get me wrong. I have days where I just want to lay in bed and watch Netflix the whole day. But because I'm aware I'm doing it and I'm like, you know what? Today I'm choosing to do that. It's so different. because I'm not just blindly, you know, watching all these things and not realizing what it's doing to me.
19:54This allows me to then like reset. If I've just watched a really like dramatic movie or show, okay, I'm aware that that is what it's going to do to me. So I'll just take a moment and then go back to life again. So it really is about awareness. That's what's key about the diet.
20:08Shawn Stevenson:Yeah. And we tend to seek out things that kind of are matching the energy as well. I haven't shared this before. I'm going to just go ahead and share it. so last year at a very challenging year just a lot of changes at one time people passing away in my family kids moving out the house that kind of a lot of stuff happened at once and there's just to mention the walking dead like i would see like i was like i've never watched anything like i'm not trying to watch zombies and all this stuff but i knew that it was a good show it had all these seasons and you know during this downtime of a year i put this on and my wife and I started watching The Walking Dead together.
20:47Shawn Stevenson:All right. And we got in it. Right. Because, you know, of course, with Netflix is just all right. The next episode, next episode. And it's like a apocalyptic, you know, doomsday scenario, a lot of human drama. But there's these beautiful moments as well, which is great TV. But there came a point where it's just like, yo, this doesn't feel good. Like this is like I don't feel like this is matching where I want to be like there's this doom and gloom kind of vibe about the show and you never walk away feeling great yeah you know and there's this particular character named Negan he's like one of the worst tv villains of all time and at this point it's like in the next season with him I'm just like oh they're just doing a Tom and Jerry cat and mouse thing they're never gonna get him and it's just like I started getting a little annoyed and my wife wanted to keep watching I'm like I'm out I can't do it anymore so I stopped watching it and just so happened things started turning around and getting better around that time now I'm not saying this was a chicken or egg scenario but my energy just didn't feel like that was a good compliment to be investing my time and energy into and she ended up watching like one more season she was like you know what you were right you know and he by the way Negan is still out here on the streets I think they got like a whole new spinoff show multiple seasons whatever because you you just want Negan to get taken out unfortunately respectfully but you know yeah i could see where it was going and i see i saw that it wasn't adding value for me yeah and look it's addictive right the shows that do really well are the ones that have most problems or the dramas and that's just because humans are addicted to that stuff partly because we relate to it and partly just because we're so used to it that of course we're going to watch it it's like you have it in your day-to-day life and then you're like no let me watch more of it so i can just you know feel even worse but i think as well you are right like I remember you know watching some stuff now for example but because I'm in a very different mindset I notice different things I learn different things and I think that also just says it right so again the awareness just know okay how am I feeling and why am I watching it because sometimes if I'm sad I love watching a sad movie or I love listening to sad music it's actually a way to help me just feel it even more so it's all good but again awareness you know I'm aware that I'm choosing to feel even sadder for a reason.
23:07So yeah, just start really small though. Just think how can I start to curate what I'm actually inputting into my brain? And that includes self-talk as well. Not just the things you watch, it's also the things you say to yourself because that's actually everyone's worst mental diet. You know, it's the little snacks that they have. Like that's the bad bit because most of us are, whether we're putting ourselves down or we are judging ourselves, telling ourselves we can't do it um and so if you can just start to give yourself and feed yourself words and sentences and ideas that are just a bit more healthier for you
23:46Shawn Stevenson:then you'll start to also see those differences yes yes love it okay so we've got diet covered pretty well so let's be intentional about what we're consuming mentally and i want to ask you a little bit more about cardio because that was one that again just using this fitness comparison cardiovascular health isn't just about the cardiovascular system this is about overall brain and body function we can just do more and feel better so can you give us some more examples like what are some things that we could do to build up a good mental fitness level of cardio yeah so cardio for mental fitness i think is really easy one of the simplest ways is to ask better questions so for example if i asked you a question like what is a part of your personality that you are working on at the moment so you're asking me go for it it's just very difficult being this handsome in a world that is i'm just kidding that's why i love america So good.
24:55Confidence, you know?
24:56Shawn Stevenson:I just thought about Zoolander popped into my mind and I just went with it. Let's see. Part of my personality I'm working on. For me right now, I would say I'm working on not thinking. So let's see. How do I say that? Okay, so this. Okay, go ahead. This is cardio. Yes. Because you're having to think. It's not just a question like, oh, what did you eat for breakfast? and most conversations are like that yeah now you've actually spent a few minutes being like you know what yeah actually I haven't thought about that before so now yeah go ahead and answer yeah yeah I've been thinking about my thinking a lot I've been thinking about what do I want to focus on right I've got all these options and opportunities and different places where I can make a difference in the world and I know that I'm in a powerful position and that my life is going to be directed a certain once I make a decision it's going to go in a certain direction and so I've been really just taking time to process consider things like I've never done before and so that's that's what I've been doing and I love that and I think so not only yes do I feel more connected to you and I understand it's made me think as well and so just a power of a question never underestimate it but a lot of us when we meet others or even just our own reflections for ourselves we limit to okay what went well today what are we grateful for all good but just see can I make my question a little bit harder or a little bit more introspective so just something like that made your brain have to think a bit differently really useful but another really simple thing with cardio is learn something new or whether it's practicing a language debating I think debating is a really easy way to do it because at school cardio is really high at school you are constantly you know discussing new things you're writing you're doing a lot with the brain as we get a little bit older we tend to do the same things so we're losing a little bit of the how do we continue to uh just exercise it in that way so that's really cardio just think you've got to use it so you don't lose it and that's important as well because if you look at our um lifestyles a lot of it is sedentary and you know we're just at our computer so just think is there any way i can even moving the body is useful for it but just how do i use the brain so that it's doing what it's good at you know yes and if you want an easy way to like build in debate into your life have a teenage son all right yeah have a teenage son who's a contrarian you know just like him and i are constantly going back and forth but there's a lot of love don't get me wrong but also again it's it's a challenging situation yeah and and um i'll even go as simple as like crosswords sudokus you know as you get older the the people who are engaging in those brain training games their brains are sharper stronger so don't underestimate don't underestimate those things as well like feel free to do some brain training or card games board games it's all really good for the cardio yes yes awesome awesome let's go to consistency because with fitness it's not something you do occasionally it's the things that you are doing on a consistent basis so with consistency what are some of the tips and kind of takeaways because i think that we tend to try to get some consistency going when things are really messed up for example versus like just a wellness consistency practice yeah so um the regular reps for the brain is just so crucial because the brain doesn't so the brain gets good at what you repeat not what's true that's really important so me telling you to let's say uh do five minutes of meditation once it really isn't going to do much.
29:04You might feel a bit better after, but it will honestly have no impact. The key with the mind is to go super small, but regular. Become the type of person that can just do one thing for their mind every day. That's all I ask. And so that's why sometimes I'll tell people just do two minutes a day, just two minutes. I'm not asking you to do hours and hours, just do two minutes. And I think often when we think about training the mind, we often have this image of you've got to be on a mountain somewhere meditating for hours but really your mental fitness can be integrated so easily into your day currently but you've got to care about it so before even asking you to get consistent I would actually say do you care about your mind there's no point you're trying to be consistent if you don't even realize the value it has and sometimes I say to people I'm like imagine if you had to pay for your brain you would take care of it very differently you know you would train a bit more often you would update the software a bit more often and so in the same way uh go really really small and I don't mind what activity you do but just go so small and stay with it so many people be like oh my I tried meditation or I tried visualization just didn't really work for me but that's like saying walking doesn't work for you you're not going to see the result tomorrow but it's only through the consistent repetition that's when you see the result um so it's not to say that we get scared of it or we should feel overwhelmed by it but I think if you really want to rewire the brain repetition is absolutely required you cannot do it without it active training because the other way to rewire the brain is what you have the most intense experience let's say you get you get bitten by a dog now from that moment you are scared of a dog right it's such an intense experience but we don't have that all the time so we've got to be proactive in how we're gonna retrain ourselves um and I think think of it like this as well so let's say for the last 20 years you are someone who has been telling yourself that like I'm just an imposter in all these situations or I'm not a very good mother right you have told yourself that so many times so technically you are a master at consistency you've done it very well now to change that it requires a similar level of repetition and consistency because otherwise the brain is most familiar with whatever you have been repeating beforehand.
31:42And that's why if you can see it that way, you realize that the consistency is not just a part of the mental fitness. It is an absolute requirement.
31:49Shawn Stevenson:Yes. Yes. You're always training. You're always training. So for somebody who is, you know, they made the decision, they're going to start walking, right? So they're trying to get 5 ,000 steps a day. And the alternative, they've been training as well. They just train their body to be very good at sitting on a couch. And again, we're always training, but we get to decide what we're investing in. And all the ways are hard, by the way. That's the thing too. We've been talking about this for a long time. Training your body to be very good at chair sitting is going to be very difficult for you in all kinds of ways.
32:24Shawn Stevenson:It might feel good in the moment or certain times, but the capacity to train yourself to be physically fit and to be able to get those steps And that opens up infinite possibilities of being able to explore the world in a different way. Now, of course, you can sit on the couch and explore quite a bit. But, you know, so we're always training. And this brings us to the importance of rest when it comes to our mental fitness. And so earlier you mentioned, you know, active recovery, right, versus just, you know, being unconscious, right? Sleep is wonderful, but you just said the brain is super active during sleep.
33:03Shawn Stevenson:It's just doing different stuff. Yeah. And so we've got, you mentioned meditation, and you just mentioned also just being able to unplug, just to rest our mind, daydreaming, right? Just giving your brain and your mind just time to be expansive. We evolved doing that. We had no choice, right? You're either working, community, whatever, or you just spent a lot of time in contemplation. and in your own head. Today, the average person has none of that in a day. And then once they do unplug, then it's just the voices start up. Yeah. Right? Yeah, so I think if you think about it, your brain is working all the time.
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33:41So technically, it's like running marathons all day, every day. And again, after you run a marathon, what should you do? You've got to rest. But so something that really helped me as well is differentiating between recovering, rest, and then recharge. Because a lot of people, they will just go straight to, oh my god, I need to, you know, I need to recharge my energy. But one second, you've got to recover from, let's say, the day or the week you've just had. Then you've got to actually rest, actively rest, and now you can fill up your cup again. Because if you keep just going through this cycle of like constantly having super busy and then just rest it's a bit too intense um and then the other thing to consider is there are actually seven types of rest so you have mental rest you have physical rest you have creative rest so if you're a creative and you know you're always having to solve problems that's tiring um you have emotional rest now this is interesting emotional rest actually means that if you've gone through a week of quite busy work you've probably felt a lot of emotions that you haven't had time to really release or regulate and so emotional rest asks you to think okay at the end of the week what do I need to just be aware of and release so that I don't take it with me going forward and that's so important emotional rest is everything and then you also have sensory rest really important your screens uh one of my I remember one of my clients was like yeah my I've had a really restful day and I was like what did you do she was like oh I was just like watching tv you know just doing some admin and you know just on the phone I'm like you've got three screens no wonder your mind is still so heavy and tired because you're just looking at computers um then we also have spiritual rest and spiritual rest is taking a step back and actually asking yourself you know what is my purpose?
35:43Am I feeding my soul? That's super important. So just also being able to ask yourself what type of rest do I need today? Because sometimes it won't be sleep. Sometimes you can be so well slept yet you still feel so shattered. So ask yourself maybe I need a bit more sensory rest or I need a bit more creative rest or I need more mental rest. But ultimately rest is part of the work and part of your mental fitness, not a reward for the work.
36:14Shawn Stevenson:Got a quick break coming up. We'll be right back. Are you interested in living a shorter life? Of course not. Everybody would love to extend their lifespan and their health span because it's not just the number of years that we live. It's the quality of those years. And what cutting edge research is now revealing is that there is a specific beverage, time-tested, enjoyed by humans for centuries, that has the potential to extend your lifespan and your healthspan. A meta-analysis of 40 studies published in the European Journal of Epidemiology revealed that regularly drinking coffee was associated with a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease, certain types of cancer, and all-cause mortality.
37:01Now keep in
37:01Shawn Stevenson:mind, the researchers did an excellent job adjusting for confounding factors like obesity, alcohol consumption, et cetera, et cetera. But they found that drinking coffee really stood out. But here's the key. It's the quality of that coffee. We're not talking about coffee that's littered with artificial sweeteners and sugar and artificial creamers like, quote, coffee meat. All right. We're not talking about that. We're talking about high quality coffee itself. And one of the reasons why was affirmed by researchers at Stanford, University and these scientists found that the caffeine found in coffee has a remarkable impact defending the brain against age-related inflammation.
37:43Shawn Stevenson:In fact, they found that these compounds found in coffee was able to suppress genes related to inflammation. This is truly remarkable and again keep in mind that it's the quality of coffee that really stands out and there's a u-shaped curve of benefits so it's light to moderate coffee drinkers who are seeing these incredible results and you combine that organic coffee that's the key organic coffee with time-tested medicinal mushrooms like lion's mane and chaga you've got something really special lion's mane in particular was affirmed by researchers at the university of malaya to protect the brain against degeneration and even help to heal traumatic brain injuries again there's something really special about lion's mane medicinal mushroom that's what i actually had today was organic coffee, Lion's Mane medicinal mushroom, and chaga blended together in the incredible coffee blends from Four Sigmatic.
38:39Shawn Stevenson:Go to foursigmatic.com forward slash model, and you're going to get 10 % off all of their incredible coffee blends. They're amazing elixirs of dual extracted medicinal mushrooms. Nobody does it better than Four Sigmatic. Again, And that's F-O-U-R-S-I-G-M-A-T-I-C.com forward slash model for 10 % off. And now back to the show. This is a good transition. Lastly, there was weightlifting being one of these components of good mental fitness. And using visualization is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, and mental, extraordinary, like the best gym ever to being able to build really strong mental muscles is through visualization.
39:32Shawn Stevenson:Why did you choose this as the primary tool that you focused on for performance, for transformation? Why did you choose visualization? Yeah. So if you look in the last probably like 20 to 30 years it's become so clear now that the brain is always rewiring with neuroplasticity but past the age of about 25 it gets a little bit harder to do it we have to be a bit more aggressive with the training and so visualization has been there for centuries right athletes have been using it and they use it in medicine even stoicism right marcus aurelius talks about negative visualization. Now the actual definition of that technique is the creation of images environments and feelings in the mind before they've happened and it works because the brain doesn't really know the difference between what's real and what's imagined and so because you can fire similar neurons when you are visualizing something just if you were to be actively and physically doing it then you can actually take advantage of neuroplasticity which means you can create new roads in the brain you can rewire the brain and therefore change the way you think feel and perform and so a lot of athletes have used this to enhance their performance they've used it in medicine to let's say recover from strokes or to help you let's say recover from injury but when I dived into this this world of visualization there was so much that people didn't know and I was like why is this the case why why does no one know how to actually use it it's like people say it they're like oh yeah why don't you just visualize this but what does that actually mean how do you really do it properly and so the more I've learned about it but the more I've practiced it and the more I've seen now others practice it and how they can change their lives it really is a tool that has so much power to build a stronger mind and give you a very holistic toolbox to take control of your mental fitness and that's why I love it because it's not just one technique there are several within there that you can apply to different areas of your life yeah I was pleasantly surprised when I found out about you and that you were championing this powerful tool.
41:57Yeah.
41:58Shawn Stevenson:You know, one of our greatest gifts as human beings. But what really did it for me was how you utilized it for your own transformation and your own health. And obviously this is the model health show. And so that connection there was just so remarkable because I've seen it practically as a clinician, but your story was so remarkable. And when you go through things like that, the way that you express, even what you've already shared, it's coming from a different place. And so can you share that, that experience that you had when you were younger and what led you to using some strategies with being able to visualize and just how you got introduced to all this?
42:39Yeah. So growing up, I was pretty high achieving. I'm also from a South Asian family. So education and achieving was really high on the list. And I also played badminton nationally so visualization was something I was probably doing but for different things in sport and then when I was about 15 I basically just felt some pain in my stomach and a bit of constipation and ended up just going to the doctors being like can you help out they gave me some enemas they were like don't worry it's just a bit of inflammation there it will go down so I was like okay um things were just getting a bit worse uh so I ended up going back and getting some tests like colonoscopy and blood tests and then that's when they told me that I had something called ulcerative colitis which is an inflammatory bowel disease um but it's incurable so a lot of people may know of like IBS but IBD is like um it is a it's a very very extreme version where often people will either remove their colon or you basically just live your life on a lot of immunosuppressants and steroids but I was a very positive individual so I was like look I'll be fine I can deal with this and I kind of continued my life as normal I you know went to school carried on studying I was playing badminton still very competitively but just things were getting so bad now like so bad and I never know how to really communicate what the next four and a half years of my life was like because it's it's like inhuman what happened and and I think the only way to really explain it is like day to day I would maybe go to the loo or the toilet in I don't know America about 35 times a day and it's just pure blood you are you are like screaming for your life to just for someone to help you but then you can't scream because the pain is so consuming that then you like it's like it's slightly animalistic and paralyzing and I remember so many instances I'd like wake up in the night I'd go to the loo and because of just being on there for like 20 minutes and just that agony I literally had no energy to just walk three steps back to my bed so I'd have to just like sit there and just pray and I think when you're then not in pain you are fearing what might happen like you fear that what if I have to go through that again because you know human the human brain is amazing it just wants to keep you safe but because it's just gone through such an awful experience it doesn't want to do it again so then you suffer in your mind because you're waiting for it and I would go through this cycle maybe like every 30 40 minutes and then anything you would let's say you took a sip of water or you try to eat some food you know your digestion is now active so then you're waiting for that that moment and I just I I guess in in that process you get so much weaker naturally but also your mind and your confidence or your hope for anything it just goes it goes and I went from being such a positive and I went from being a person with so much light in my eyes and for the world to someone who genuinely saw no hope and that is so scary it's so scary um and then you know you get put on steroids you get put on immunosuppressants and you're having these infusions and you just you try you survive it you're desperate and then day to day I tried to manage it by wearing nappies and so I'd go to school wearing nappies and then I'd have to run out because you know I'm having an accident but I'm also 16 so it's really embarrassing to be talking about this stuff to people so there's a lot of shame and it was just yeah I I do not know how I like was able to get through those days like I just sometimes I sit and I'm like what the hell you know and I think it did get to a point where I was like you know what I no longer want to do this and I remember people being like to me Maya you're so strong I was like I just don't want to be like I don't want to be it does it's not strong to me like I just yeah and then um he was in hospital where at this point I had gone through every single therapy I could imagine like I was doing fecal transplants which were like illegal in the UK.
47:53I had gone to India, France, America to try every treatment, go to every surgeon. And there was just a part of me in my heart that was like, Maya, do not get the surgery. Don't do it. Don't remove the colon. Just don't do it. I don't know why. I really don't know why. And it was that night, this nurse, she came to my room and she was like, she was like, you know, if you weren't laying on this bed, where would you be? And I got so angry at her. I was so angry. I was like, you're looking at this young girl who's been here for like two weeks now and you just asked her, oh yeah, where would you be if you weren't here?
48:29And I would have been at uni because I got in, but I couldn't go because I was, yeah, like 35 kilograms. And then when she left, I closed my eyes and the first thing I wanted to do was walk again. That was it. So in my mind, I just, I like imagined taking a few steps in the hospital hallway and I like felt it in my body, I really like told it what it would be doing, you know, what it would feel like, my feet on the ground, I was still in my hospital gown and after that like minute I opened my eyes and for the first time in maybe about four and a half years, my mind was like, what if you could walk again?
49:10What if like you didn't have to be bedridden all your life? And so naturally the mind pushes you a little bit and then I started seeing myself walking outside with shoes on then I started seeing myself running back at home eating normal food I even started my started seeing myself at uni now or college and I just kept doing it every spare moment I had and then when I gained enough strength I left hospital and I was like right I need to learn about why this maybe helped me and that's where I just dedicated every moment of my time to reading books and these were people like David Hamilton, Joe Dispenza, it was Louise Hay but then I was also looking at why athletes were using it.
49:55I was like well why did it help me walk again and that's where it showed me the performance aspect of it and then passion turned into obsession and I just I trained with neuroscientists, athletes, I went on retreats but the key was I kept practicing, I kept practicing every single day to the point I was even doing visualizations like I would draw my colon and then I would see it, I'd close my eyes and I would step by step hoover my colon up, I'd imagine a hoover taking all the bad cells and everything and again if you think about the brain doesn't know the difference, actually you can really really help heal your body, so I kept going and then yeah I guess now we're seven years on I am the healthiest and most happy I've ever been like I do not have any symptoms and I haven't had any I'm also on no medication but I'm also not a doctor I'm not the one to say like this is exactly what you should do it was my journey and it was grueling you needed so much discipline and I still don't know sometimes how I did that but I can genuinely say the mind is capable of so much and because the body wants to heal if you can connect the two so much is possible so that is how i can sit here today now teaching this yeah to other people thank you thank you for sharing that it hit me really when you said you don't know how
51:26Shawn Stevenson:you survived. That was hell. And you survived so that you could champion this mission. You're special. You're very, very special. And some of these sentiments like life doesn't give you things that you can't handle. I know you didn't want to hear that then, how strong you are. Like, I don't want to be strong. And the truth is your spirit is truly, truly, truly strong. and you're an inspiration for all of us. You're showing what's possible. And you also experienced a lot of neglect and you experienced a lot of mental turmoil that most people would never even get close to and to come out of that.
52:10Shawn Stevenson:So you're speaking from a place of experience that other people just don't have. And so thank you for that. Thank you. You know, even the, and I know you said, you said the big I word. you said incurable yeah you know and even that term you know even spontaneous remission all this it's just we don't know how you know but the truth is when you overcome something that is so-called incurable like you're speaking from such a place of power that was in every word that you shared before we even got to this subject you know and so yeah you're f***ing you're amazing you're amazing you know I do appreciate that and I think you know I will be the first to say though that you don't have to be unwell or unhappy to get into this work because now I continue to use my visualizations not just for my health though I'm using it for being the best public speaker I can ever be I'm doing it to manage my emotions better but I think you're totally right and I always remember there was um you know there's that saying life happens for you not to you everyone always used to tell that to me and I'd be like just piss off why is a disease happening for me why and you know I used to just I used to sit in my room beg on my knees I was begging God to stop punishing me when you have that humility to go down and just be like please like what have I done wrong for you to be making me suffer this much like you really do have that level of like just surrender and you really do feel that everything is against you but being that victim it does keep you there longer it's so weird it's every everything that I was reading and hearing was correct but I just couldn't I wasn't ready to I guess accept it to then be like you know what fine I'm gonna take this on as maybe part of my purpose and and see where it can take me in life.
54:14And would I do it again? No. No, thank you. No, but am I grateful for where I am? A hundred percent, yeah. And that's what I'm going to focus on.
54:25Shawn Stevenson:Yes, yes, that's so powerful. This reminds me of, I saw something with you and you quoted Einstein, but one of my favorite quotes, just in general, is the most important decision that you make fundamentally as a human being is whether you live in a friendly or hostile universe, right? And living from one of those places. And you talk about this as well. Just being able to deciding, am I living from fear? Am I creating from fear? Or am I living through love and potential? And it's so difficult, especially when things are not going well. And in your case, hell on earth, to be able to gather your mind and point in a new direction.
55:06Shawn Stevenson:but that's how powerful we are regardless of the circumstances that's what's so remarkable about the human mind is that regardless of the circumstances you've said this multiple times that our brain doesn't know the difference right and this speaks to something really important the the distinction with the brain and the mind you know you're bigger than just your brain your brain is about automation yeah it's about habituation repetition it's something you can program and And then you experience those programs. Yes. But you are bigger than that and you get to choose the programs. Sometimes it takes time.
55:43Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know? Exactly.
55:44Shawn Stevenson:And the beautiful part is you're another testament to we can do this regardless of the circumstance. You have agency. You have power. and with this being said being able to really orchestrate and to share with all of us now visualization isn't just one thing right there's so many different forms of this and different strategies within each different applications so let's talk about the different types of visualization and I want to dig in on a couple again it's all in the book it's all in there yeah but I want to dig in and just give people a couple of insights about maybe one or two of these so what are the what are the different types yeah let's do that so I think the best thing to remember is that I guess life happens twice right once in here and then once in reality and so the first and probably most common visualization is outcome visualization and this is where you are seeing results in advance so let's say you are running a marathon you would be seeing yourself cross that finish line even if you've never done it before you cross it or for example okay fine I was seeing myself what does a healthy Maya look like I need to show my brain and body it is possible and that starts to build your belief and your motivation then we have process visualization now this is where you are using mental rehearsal to make a process or task better faster more efficient and it can be used for something like public speaking running even just your day so if we use the marathon example here you would be visualizing in first person and you are seeing okay what are my legs doing what does it feel like you're actually imagining yourself running doing the the movements and again a lot of athletes will use this to see their perfect lap or their perfect swing things like that it's not so much the end result it's more the present moment then we have creative visualization one of my favorites this This is where you use mental rehearsal to basically make emotions, pain, injury, very tangible.
57:51So have you seen the film Inside Out?
57:53Shawn Stevenson:Yes. Kind of use that as inspiration. So I would often tell people to, let's say, visualize their anxiety as, let's say, like a red fire in the belly. Now, instead of trying to suppress it or run away, what if you just started to pour water on it? Really slowly, cool it down. and the brain will process an emotion really really powerfully because it loves stories it loves images but most of us we're like oh no I'm feeling anxious let me drink let me eat let me run away from it then we have negative visualization I don't recommend this to everyone because if your brain is already negatively wired and most of us are already visualizing negative scenarios things going wrong things failing that is where a lot of us are but this is where you would see worst case scenarios and you overcoming them so michael phelps very famously would see his goggles fill up with water and how he would handle that and then when it happened in beijing he was super prepared so it can really enhance performance but then another application of this is what they did in stoicism so something called the deathbed visualization or where you visualize yourself losing everything lose your family your job your money and it really makes you appreciate where you are today and then lastly we have explorative visualization which is what the likes of Einstein Walt Disney Nikola Tesla used so Walt Disney called it imagineering engineering your imagination and it's exactly what you're doing so your brain is like a whiteboard here and let's say you want to think of a new business idea or you have a problem you can start solving it but in very new ways so it taps into a different part of your creativity or like for example I create a love content online so I will close my eyes and I'll just storyboard what I want the video to be and then I do it it just makes it so much easier so those are the five types I would say you want one or two non-negotiables generally that will be outcome and process probably in the morning so you would visualize let's say your goals your character and maybe a performance or how your day goes and then I would use creative more sporadically or you know for gratitude things like that and then the other two i would use a lot less frequently but again if you have all these tools then you have such a good box to really use different things to apply to your life and that's that is i think priceless yeah it's practice though yeah practice i want to ask you a little bit more about outcome okay visualization and again there's so many different approaches for this but it's so cool so fun and it's really tapping into this power that we have we are just walking around here with this infinite supercomputer capacity and then we're just wasting it you know watching yeah love island or whatever respect no no disrespect okay but we are so powerful and one of the strategies that you shared in the book was the batman effect let's talk about that one yeah i love the batman effect in fact my the background of my phone is my batman effect so so this was actually created by psychologists for kids and it was they basically told kids to imagine they were batman and they found that they persevered more that they had a bit more confidence they actually completed the task better but since then it's really come up in sports so you have people Kobe Bryant who had this black mamba mentality.
1:01:22You also have people like Beyonce with like Sasha Fierce and then you know there's a player called Giannis and he's like a sheep but he brings out this wolf in him and so mine is called Meta and essentially what the Batman effect is you create a character for yourself that you can strive towards. Now why is it really effective? If I said to you, hey like Sean, why don't you just be a bit more confident? It's like okay you're so used to being who you are today that for you to then be more confident it's like well it's harder to know what to do or to start that habit right? Whereas if I said to you, why don't you be more like Sean 2.0?
1:02:04It just creates a tiny bit of distance from who you are now to who you could be And then if we go even further, why don't you be like Spider-Man? You could embrace, okay, his characteristics. And so the aim of Batman Effect is to create what we call in psychology self-distancing, where you realize, okay, if this is who I want to be, and then I close my eyes and I imagine or I practice being this person, embodying their energy, how they walk into a room, how they talk, how they feel, you can start training your brain to become that. now before someone says oh like but Maya that just sounds like fake it till you make it I disagree I see that as train it till you trust it and that is how we can evolve our character we can shape who we are based on identity change and there's been so many studies right that show that if you say if you're trying to stop smoking it's a lot harder to change the habit versus if you're like I'm the type of person that doesn't smoke that identity shift is really powerful and so when we can include something like the Batman effect you can become a bit more confident you can become a bit more empathetic because you are embodying this slightly third person version of you so I do this with every athlete I have every client I have it's the first thing I do let's create your Batman effect and it's amazing like Meta who's mine she's like half monk half beast and it means that she can go out on stage and just like absolutely smash it but she will never sacrifice her health or her peace or her alone time and that's why she has this very like inner monk so she's got amazing boundaries amazing now it's been about two and a half years I've kind of grown out of her now because I literally embody that version of myself but two years ago I was not that person in any way.
1:03:58But every morning I see her, even what she wears, her body language, her energy. And step by step, I can fully say that I am her now and I need to create another one. So yeah, that is the Batman effect.
1:04:13Shawn Stevenson:Boom. Oh, so good. So good. So this speaks to the power, truly. At the end of the day, we want some tangible effect or some tangible proof. everybody listening you're not going to be listening to this if you don't want to be better if you don't want to tap into your potential to live a full life and to live a rich life on your terms and to create and to love and just to get the most out of life and train it till you trust it. That is so powerful. And I got to tell you, from my personal experience, I don't know, I cannot tell you whether or not the life that I'm experiencing right now, whether it's like, would this be here, be present, had I not visualized it first.
1:05:07Shawn Stevenson:I cannot tell you, if I take the visualizing part out of it, if I would be here right now. It is so tied to my outer experience of life now. And it's kind of similar to what you just shared about the person that you are. And so that tangible thing, the thing that we know practically is that it is the person you become and how you show up in the world through what you're creating when you're visualizing. Beyond that, there's some stuff that we can't even explain. We can talk about sports performance. We could talk about improving, you know, free throw percentage and three point shots and all this, all this is documented by doing it in your mind.
1:05:47Yeah.
1:05:48Shawn Stevenson:Right. And we can talk about the outer results that we see in what we quote manifest in our lives. And that's where we get into this slippery territory with visualization, because it can be synonymous with manifestation. Yeah. But you've been clear to, to offer up the distinction. And not to say that they're in some completely different realm, but can you share that real quick? Yeah. So visualization and manifestation are different. And I can say this because I believe in manifestation. And I think manifestation is this broad idea that if we can create something in our mind, then we can make it happen.
1:06:28Great. And we do have the ability to manifest things into our life but visualization is the neurological mental training tool that rewires the brain now the only real overlap is when people use visualization in outcome that the outcome technique because ultimately if people say okay I'm going to manifest I don't know a partner or something or a job they will visualize themselves already getting it out or already being in a happy relationship. Now it's not that it's just like magic, it's just that you as a person are seeing the possibility of hey that could be mine or like I'm going to take action now towards this.
1:07:10So it's not that it just like enters your life, it's more that you know you as a person are changing so you see different opportunities, you maybe seek different actions. But then when we get into yeah process, creative, negative and explorative, it's completely different. In fact take negative visualization that is a manifestor's worst nightmare I am asking you to visualize everything going wrong so when it comes to manifestation that is like rule number one not to do but the reason I think it's really important to make the distinction is because how you define a tool changes how you use it I get a lot of people saying like yeah I made my vision board and I did it at the beginning of the year cool and I don't touch it till the next year the thing about visualization is if you can do it every day like it's just like your physical fitness you will really start to see results that are sustainable where you feel stronger where let's say you're in a difficult situation and you're like actually no I can trust myself or I know my emotions aren't going to get in the way this is all about training the mind it's not about you manifesting particular situations so I think it's just important to see the distinction in terms of one is really a technique and a practice and then one is this broad idea that yes we have the power to create our reality absolutely and outcome visualization is a great tool for that and throughout history you've got people like Einstein who technically are scientists but yet they still spoke about visualization kind of in that way then you've got people like Neville Goddard who wrote Infinite Potential now he talks about visualization from a Christian point of view and a very spiritual point of view but then you've got neuroscientists like Tara Swart, Joe Dispenza who are like this is the neuroscience behind why when you visualize this can happen and then you've got all the sports psychologists Bob Rotella, Jim Murphy, Tim Grover who are all like well actually this is what makes champions so I don't mind the language you use all I ask is that you are at more of an advantage if you can see it as a mental fitness tool.
1:09:19That's really what it's about.
1:09:20Shawn Stevenson:Where can people pick up the book and follow you for more? So the book is out in the UK already in America, 26th of August. So in all the normal book places, Amazon, shops, et cetera. Instagram is at Maya, so M-A-Y-A dot mental fitness. But I'm very loud on there. So only follow me if you actually want to get mentally fit. Then same with TikTok, LinkedIn is Maya Ritura. But really, yeah, I love having conversations about this. And of course, if you're an athlete or an executive leader, then feel free to get in touch. But yeah, the last thing I'll say is that your mind is like a puppy. And if you don't train it, it's going to shit everywhere.
1:10:01So you might as well train it.
1:10:03Shawn Stevenson:Maya, this has been so awesome and fun and insightful. And I'm just grateful. Thank you for having the audacity to put all this into a book. I know that it takes a lot of work to even create something like this. And just sharing this message from your perspective. It's invaluable. It's invaluable. It's going to hit different every single time. And you can't get it off of you. This is just a part of who you are. Just keep showing up. Keep sharing your story. Share these insights. We need this more than ever. Real talk. Thank you so much. Thank you. I've had the best time. Thank you. Thank you so much for tuning into this episode today.
1:10:37Shawn Stevenson:I hope that you got a lot of value out of this. Apply. Apply. Apply. apply one of the consistent threads throughout this conversation. And just a reminder for all of us is consistency. It's probably more valuable. No, scratch that. It is more valuable to utilize a meditation session for five minutes a day versus doing an intensive meditation for an hour once a month, right? It's the consistency. That's what's really building that neuro association, the same thing holds true with utilizing this powerful inner technology of visualization. Definitely check out Maya's work, follow her, pick up a copy of the book.
1:11:21Shawn Stevenson:And listen, we've got some amazing, amazing masterclasses and world-class guests coming your way very, very soon. So make sure to stay tuned. Take care, have an amazing day, and I'll talk with you soon. And for more after the show, make sure to head over to themodelhealthshow.com. That's where you can find all of the show notes, You can find transcriptions, videos for each episode. And if you got a comment, you can leave me a comment there as well. And please make sure to head over to iTunes and leave us a rating to let everybody know that the show is awesome. And I appreciate that so much. And take care.
1:11:53Shawn Stevenson:I promise to keep giving you more powerful, empowering, great content to help you transform your life. Thanks for tuning in.
From the publisher
Your mind is one of the most powerful tools you have at your disposal. Whether you want to improve your health, advance in your career, or boost your productivity, it all starts with your mindset. Today, you’re going to learn about the exact tools you need to train your brain. Today’s guest, Maya Raichoora, is the UK’s leading expert in mental fitness and visualization. She’s dedicated to helping elite athletes and powerful executives think, feel, and perform their best using the power of visualization. Maya’s new book, Visualize, is a guide to using visualization techniques to rewire your brain. In this episode, you’re going to learn about building out a toolbox of visualization strategies that can help you reach your health, career, or personal goals. You’re going to learn about what mental fitness is and how to improve it, what it takes to rewire your brain, and so much more. I hope you enjoy this episode with Maya Raichoora!
In this episode you’ll discover:
The difference between mental fitness and mental health. (8:03)
What good mental fitness looks like. (10:25)
Why your brain needs active rest. (11:22)
Two simple things you can do to improve your mental diet. (14:49)
The importance of having awareness around the types of media you consume. (22:47)
Why repetition is critical for rewiring the brain. (28:43)
The difference between recovery, rest, and recharging. (33:53)
What the seven types of rest are. (34:27)
How to harness the power of visualization to change the way you think and feel. (39:43)
Maya’s personal story of using visualization to transform her health. (42:40)
The different types of visualization and when to use them. (56:32)
What the Batman effect is. (1:00:53)
Why your mind is like a puppy (and a cautionary tale)! (1:09:55)
Items mentioned in this episode include:
Piquelife.com/model - Get exclusive savings on bundles & subscriptions!
Foursigmatic.com/model - Get an exclusive discount on your daily health elixirs!
Visualize by Maya Raichoora - Order the new book today!
Connect with Maya Raichoora Website / Instagram / LinkedIn
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This episode of The Model Health Show is brought to you by Pique and Four Sigmatic. Go to Piquelife.com/model for exclusive savings on bundles & subscriptions on cutting-edge solutions for your head-to-toe health and beauty transformation. Visit foursigmatic.com/model to get an exclusive discount on mushroom and adaptogen-packed blends to improve your life.
