Web3 right now is in need of the most wellness. The burnout is real. Health has to come first, especially in this fast-paced industry. Fortunately for us Web3 nerds, beautiful people from the wellness space are taking notice, and they are building things that will impact our growing industry in positive ways. Among these is the team at Peace Inside Live, who are thinking hard of innovative ways to integrate health and wellness into Web3. Joining us on this NFTLA Live Twitter Space are Shira Lazar and Jordana Reim. Tune in as they tell us more about their exciting project as well as some things to look forward to in the horizon. Plus, get to hear some incredible insights from other figures in the intersection of wellness and Web3 as well!
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NFTLA Live Twitter Space: Wellness + NEW YEAR's SPECIAL With The Peace Inside Live Team, Shira Lazar & Jordana Reim
You may or may not have found out that we are doing Twitter spaces with the NFTLA Twitter account in collaboration with Howl Labs, our partner in promoting NFTLA. We've had some incredible guests and incredible sessions. We are attracting hundreds of audience. It's been going great. We wanted to share a couple of those Twitter spaces with you. This episode will feature one of them. Hope you enjoy it.
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We are very excited to do the space. Taylor Swift’s song was very appropriate because she's talking a little bit about some insanity or the feeling of craziness in her life. All of us have been there in the last few years. We have some wonderful guests. I'm going to have them sound off and tell you a little bit about them, what they've been working on, and why they're attracted to the Web3 space. First up, we have Shira, who, if you're not aware, is one of the biggest voices and advocates in this space. She is a very well-known Emmy nominated and, in fact, a participant in the Web3e space and evangelist for all things good. What’s up, Shira?
I appreciate it. Getting right into the New Year, I’m at CES in Vegas. Top of mind is the future of Web3 and also, for us, the importance of integrating mental health and wellness. I'm excited about this conversation.
I'm going to follow up with somebody else in the wellness space that is bringing great peace and wonderment into the minds of everyone at the Peace Inside Live. We have Jordana on that one. Can you say what's up, Jordana?
I love the word wonderment.
It’s a wonderful wonder word.
I'm stoked to be here on the Peace Inside Live. As a Cofounder of Peace Inside Live with Shira, we are excited to bring wellness to Web3. It's a space that is open for it and also needs it. We're thrilled about it. I’m glad to be here.
We have Jana from your team as well too. I don't think we had a chance to catch up beforehand. Say hello to everybody. We're happy to have you on stage here.
I'm happy to be here too. I'm always proud to stand beside Shira and Jordana wherever they are. I’m happy to be here and have this conversation with all of you. I’m excited to meet you and get a little deeper together.
The last but not least, from the Healing Hippies account, we have one of the founders, Shahab.
I’m glad to be here.
I want to kick things off with a very general question and dive right in. Can you tell me, each of you, a little bit about your projects and what got you into Web3 space? What are some of the things in wellness you're working for in 2023? I'm going to go ahead and start in order with Shira.
Me and Jordana, who's in the Peace Inside Live handle have known each other for several years through previous lives in media. She can share a bit about her background. We reconnected a few years back when we went on a retreat to Everest Base Camp. As you can imagine, it was a pretty life-changing trip. On the trip, we started talking a lot about co-creation and, “The stuff that I was juiced up that I would talk about behind the scenes and my life, how could I bring that to the content on my platform?”
When we got back, we started producing a series called The Weekly Mindset. Right before COVID, Jordana went to Thailand for work and retreats. She got stuck there because of COVID. Her IRL retreat stopped, but then she ended up doing a virtual retreat at the beginning of COVID. I attended that and was blown away by the different modalities and ways we could connect and work on ourselves even virtually. We all know this now. At the time, it was new.
Over the next month, we worked on launching Peace Inside Live, which was a virtual studio where we had two classes a day and facilitators from around the world. It was donation based at the time. Over 2020, we saw thousands of people through our classes and workshops. We had a burnout moment. The questions I asked myself, which is helpful for everyone when I feel like that burnout moment is like, “Does it still bring me joy? If not, why? Is it part of the process that needs to be tweaked, or is this not relevant to me anymore?” which is a real question or, “Do I still love this?”
Ultimately, we both decide we still love doing this. It's just we're maybe not doing it the right way that works for us. That's when we pivoted. We started seeing some success working with big companies we'd worked with. It was an ability for us to bring wellness programming to their companies and not have to do the marketing and all of that which can be some people to get pumped by it. It can be very draining when you're begging people to come to classes and all that. You want to help people.
We're like, “Where are people? In companies and communities, why don't we help those people add more wellness?” That's what we started doing with big companies like Capital One, HBO and Spotify then we started doing it for Web3 companies. I personally started to dive into Web3. Josh of NFTLA, introduced us to Dyno Man. We started doing wellness in their Discord. We started building more in Web3. Now, what we're looking forward to is building a wellness company in Web3, customized wellness programs for Web3 companies, communities, and teams, virtually an IRL, as well as a portal that incentivizes you to continue to work on your well-being in between those other experiences.
Web3 is probably in need of the most wellness. I've been here for a couple of years. I've seen the burnout. It's real. Some of my best friends in the space have already hit that point. Some of them are taking a much-needed hiatus and rest. Some of those have already taken that hiatus and rest and are coming back. Something I have to be reminded of constantly is your health has to come first. This is such a fast-paced industry.
Sometimes it chews you up and spits you out. At the end of it, you might love it, but even passionate things can become hardships on our health. I'm grateful to have you here. Hopefully, we'll be giving the readers some tips and tricks to dealing with their own personal wellness as they try to navigate this space and get them queued up into some communities that advocate for these things. With that, I want to throw it to Shahab to talk about Healing Hippies because it's such an interesting project, and you're such a multifaceted individual. I'd love for you to give your background a little bit, and then we'll pass it back over to the rest of the Peace Inside team.
I work a lot. My background besides marketing has always been in athletics and fitness. Before coming into Web3, I had a fitness startup that first of its kind of all wellness recovery center. I sold that to a franchise that they're going to be booming soon. It's very important to be to live a healthy lifestyle. Going to the gym and having a healthy lifestyle has done much for me, my self-esteem, confidence, and my mental health that I know how important it is.
The Healing Hippies is aiming to solve a problem. I myself since COVID had been sitting behind my computer for 10 to 14 hours a day, not getting up and communicating with people who are doing the same, not getting up, slouching, eating badly, not going outside, and not having believed that healthy lifestyle. We aim to go ahead and incentivize, encourage, and hold people accountable.
I’m building not just the healing hippies but the Heal app that comes with it with move-to-earn technology where people are incentivized and rewarded for moving, communicating with their communities, doing outdoor activities, and bringing on a full-on marketplace where your rewards can be exchanged for goods. We’re onboarding 60 wellness coaches and specialists. We’re working with Impact Suite as well. They're going to go ahead and bring in the mental health aspect of it. We aim to go ahead and fill up that problem that we're going to have in Web3, where no one's going to be going outside. Everyone's going to be doing work in the Metaverse. That's why this project started.
Before we jump into that, I do want to share a bit of my own personal story. I suffer from OCD and anxiety I have had for a very long time. I was almost hospitalized for it when I turned 22 because I went undiagnosed for most of my adolescence. It's important to take that time to take care of yourself because hitting that breaking point shatters you. A lot of the things that you don't think you're going to contribute to that diet, exercise, and all the things that you were mentioning are huge things. I also think it's very important. This is my own mantra for dealing with stuff. Being vulnerable and talking about these things seems like a very innocuous thing, but holding stuff starts to eat at you from the inside. I’m grateful to have people like yourself joining us to talk about these things.
It helped me out so much, and those around me, my cousins and my siblings. it's very important to me. I'm honored to be up on the stage with all you.
I wanted to weigh in there as well. This goes well beyond tech, Web3, or anything that requires humans, which is anything we care about. At its absolute fundamental and foundation are health and well-being because, without it, our energy is either inefficient or entirely wasted. It doesn't matter what you're playing for. You should be making that the foundation of everything you do for your own well-being.
What we've seen, which Shira brought up as a fun example with that Dyno’s project, and I'm sure almost everyone here has probably experienced it, is a trend that it's not always actualized. It’s for having mental health awareness inside of communities that are built here. This comes out of the fact that much of this movement did happen and was fueled by the wackiness of COVID when we, all of a sudden, were spending much time online, on Twitter or Discord. One cool thing about how communities have been developing is that there's been that support and open dialogue around mental health. That's something I like, and I want to do whatever I can to foster it. It's one of those things that we can do differently here in Web3 than has been done previously.
I do want to throw to Jordana and get a little bit about her story as well and some additional context here. What's up?
I totally agree with you about the space and the communities. What we're seeing across the board is that there's this openness to having these conversations about mental health. As part of what we're doing in Peace Inside, we've got a Mega Mindful Monday. Every Monday at noon, we're having different conversations here on Twitter spaces. In this new environment, we make wellness part of the ground that we're building. Whereas in Web2 and certainly in the corporate space, where I come from, it's always been an afterthought.
“People are quitting their jobs. People are burnt out. Maybe we should give them a happy hour. Maybe a little bit better is to give them a yoga class.” That doesn't work. You've got to make it part of the culture. That's what's exciting about this space. What we're doing with Peace Inside is we're trying and working to make this part of the culture of Web3. I'm loving this conversation.
The reason I do what I do is because I've had anxiety pumping through my veins since birth. I get it about having an anxiety disorder and panic attacks and how isolating that can feel. I worked in production and technology for over ten years and got to the top of my field there. I also had a practice at the same time. I had a meditation and yoga practice that butted heads with my work. Ultimately, I realized that I was unfulfilled in my work. I was defining myself by it. I was in this strange conundrum of what I do with my life when what I'm doing with my life is not who I am yet I don't know the answer.
Several years ago, I left it all to live in the question of, “Who am I if I'm not defined by what I do?” That was a terrifying journey, especially for my anxiety that roared its evil head as soon as I stopped working and started telling me these stories about how I needed to make money. I started doing things to make money, then I realized what I was doing. I had to take myself off of that and set an intention for myself. At the time, that intention was to learn and travel.
I went to the place where I thought I could learn the most. At the time, it was India. I spent about six months there and dove deeper into my personal practice of meditation and yoga. I trained in sound healing in Nepal and breathwork. I spent time working at a center in Thailand with critically ill people who are seeking an alternative way to live out their lives and hopefully survive and thrive rather than face some pretty harsh diagnoses, then I came back to Los Angeles.
Since I came back in 2018, I've been teaching meditation, full-time. At first, I was teaching in studios. I have over 200 recordings out and about on different apps. I wrote a book called Inner Peace, and then started Peace Inside Live with zero when I was in Thailand and continue to run retreats. I've got a couple coming up in April 2023 to Nepal and Thailand.
It's such a real thing you're talking about where it's like, “I'm going to stop and quit doing this unhealthy thing.” The terror of the silence sets in, and you're like, “I got to jump into the next thing so I don't have to deal with my baggage.” I feel that. I'm one of those people that hops around quite a lot from thing to thing. Anxiety can be such a superpower too. It puts you on a high level of alertness, but the end result of being exhausted is not worth the trade sometimes. Learning to find that inner peace is huge. Especially, with a lot of emotion in Web3 space, euphoria is high and despair is low. It’s learning to manage your emotions while stepping into this world and figuring out where you sit creatively and functionally. Finding your place in the world unapologetically is huge.
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Jana, I'd love to throw it to you as well and get a little bit of your backstory. What got you involved with these two and what made you discover Web3?
The answer to the first question is the grace of God. That's how I got involved with these two. I'm exceptionally blessed to work with Shira and Jordana. It is a huge blessing. I was in Web3 with my own little project that I had created from the desire to no longer use money as a currency. I wanted crystals to be currency because I had had it with the system. I was like, “When comes the time that my massive crystal collection has the value that I can bring it to the grocery store and trade my Citrine for bananas?” We weren't there yet, so I made a little NFT project that let me do that.
I started talking in spaces and pulling myself into Web3, which connected me to Shira. The vibe was there. I was passionate about what Shira and Jordana are doing in this space that I was able to connect and start to build with them. I'm lucky enough to work with them and all of the fun and interesting ways that we are working together. How I came about all of this is that I, too, had trauma living in my bones from birth. I went through a series of mental health spurts and issues. In the journey of that, I found energy healing and spirituality, which I had always tied into my religion, my upbringing, and the traditions that I knew, and started to find my own psychic gifts and passions for being able to connect with spirit and with the other side.
The more I started to do that and flex those muscles, the more I was able to help a lot of people through that practice. I've been guiding other people, doing readings, and healing. That was part of the crypto offering that I was bringing into the space. Now I feel like I get to make a much bigger impact than the little bit that I could do. There's an opportunity to connect with lots of people because people are in this deep need of wellness now.
I'm a big believer in doing it better together and being able to affect more people when we are working on ourselves together. It's why I say that the grace of God has brought me to these two women because they both are doing the work on themselves, for themselves, and the collective. It is such a blessing to be here. Thank you much for allowing me to share the stage with you all.
We are grateful to have you. What's your favorite crystal?
I'm obsessing over Sugilite and Rhodonite, but Clear Quartz always has me. It's the base mineral of our planet. Your phone is operating because of Clear Quartz. Your TV, watch, and everything we do is functioning because of crystals. I got to give it to the Clear Quartz always, first and foremost.
What can we do to get crypto quartz caught in crossovers?
Tell me what you mean by that.
It’s like involving crypto in quartz, the foundational base of our planet.
Literally, it already is. All of our technology is operated with teeny tiny little quartz crystals. It's already happening.
You gave me a nice segue because we were talking about opportunities for wellness. I want to pivot and start with you, Zach, about opportunities for wellness in Web3 because you probably have some interesting perspectives as you've been navigating this space as well. What opportunities do you think are out there for people and wellness in Web3 crossover?
On one hand, it's almost limitless. It is foundational. It’s one of the promises of any revolution, but certainly, this one, which many of us look at as a way to build things together without necessarily falling into the trap of chasing monopolies. A lot of these behaviors end up driving people, unfortunately, toward more misery than anything. We can quite intentionally build wellness into all of the structures, or business models, even the tokenomics of what we're doing. Shahab can certainly elaborate on what Healing employees are doing there. It's almost infinite, the amount of ways we can do it. Where it's going to be powerful is when we weave it right into the foundation for what we care about.
Shahab knows a lot about building with intention. When people are pitching projects and things like that and going through and looking at white papers or whatever, somebody's talking about their project and the assumption on whether it's going to do well or not. One of those factors that people don't think about is sometimes you're building something, and it's cool, but you're not thinking about the toxic underbelly of what that might lead to.
Certainly, as technology has advanced, we've uncovered a lot of that in things like social media and Instagram. There's a lot of concern now with emerging tech and what that can do to negatively and adversely impact. That's a bit of a tangent, but Shahab is creating quite the opposite there. You were you're talking about creating something that alerts you to Maslow's hierarchal needs.
Our app aims to figure out what your goals and intentions are, and then hold you accountable and pair you with coaches that you're in constant communication with. I've talked to over 1,000 people in the wellness space. We're also looking to do a Metaverse of a type where it's group meditation and group therapy. Your token is what gets you inside with coaches, therapists, and specialists coming from Impact Suites, all vetted and certified. With the tokenization, reward system, and gamifying wellness, we believe that this will encourage a lot of people to move even a little bit and increase their heart rate even a little bit. There are leaderboards, statistics, and standings. This will encourage a lot of people.
There's a lot to unpack. I was thinking about how incentives can be used to do exactly what you're talking about. I run into this quite a lot there are people that are motivated but non-directional. Gamification can work as a subtle nudge down the proper path. It's using a carrot versus the stick approach to bait the trail and say, “If you take this step, and you're getting little Hershey's Kisses along the way, you'll eventually reach that dream you're aiming for.”
Gamification can work as a subtle nudge down the proper path. Click To Tweet
I've been doing my cardio in a class called Orangetheory. I'm sure a lot of you have heard of it. Within the Orangetheory communities, people are excited about the Splat points, points you receive when your heart rate reaches a certain amount. I didn't find that exciting at all because you can't use the Splat points for anything. If you have a rewards system, where you can use those tokens later in an ecosystem where not only well-known brands but coaches all have products and experiences, it will create a good ecosystem. A close friend of mine is also a former Cofounder of Tonal. The goal is to approach Tonal, Peloton, and Mirror, and see if we can call it to incorporate something in those technologies as well.
These projects step into some other ones that focus on the, “Get up and move,” component which I like. As somebody with anxiety and all these other random superpowers, not problems, exposure therapies are a huge part of this thing. There's a lot of opportunity to gamify that exposure therapy and get people because a lot of people don't want to sign up to just jump into therapy, but if there is some reward mechanism in place, maybe that becomes more palatable.
That's where the idea of the Metaverse came from because a lot of people don't want to do therapy and are afraid to step into their office. If you're stepping into the office with an avatar and get in the same benefits, a lot more people will be open to the idea.
It’s creating safe spaces to do this work. A lot of the brands we're seeing that are entering this space and building is how you continue to incentivize people to practice and use these tools for themselves and reward people also for doing the work. That's top of mind for a lot of us as we all build. There are some interesting models there. It's an exciting time and right for an opportunity as well. We're seeing that as part of the future of what we're building, which is exciting.
Is there such a thing as punitive wellness, where you get punished if you don't do something?
It’s called a toxic environment.
I need a cattle prod to get my butt off and move sometimes.
That's like you like, “You suck. You're horrible.” It’s like you're sending reinforcement through guilt and shame.
I'm creating a new wellness app called Shame App. It posts what you didn't do that day in a public auditable ledger then you get to feel bad about it.
I have something for you. It's hilarious that you said like, “What you didn't do,” because I work with many overachievers, and I happen to be a recovering overachiever myself. I have a list of things that I won't do in a day. It comes from my to-do list. I look at my to-do list, which I still religiously write every single day, then I look at what I'm not going to do that day. That's my way of not shaming myself, but being kind and saying, “It's okay that these things aren't going to happen,” then it helps me to focus. I'm challenging you to create that what-I-won't-do list each day.
That is turning it on its head there.
We've got to interrupt the ways we've been thinking. Especially as leaders and builders in the space, if we want wellness to be part of the ground floor, then the way that we think and treat ourselves also has to shift and change. Whatever we can do to throw a wrench in it, I'm all for that.
It's a $4.4 trillion wellness industry. That to me is crazy. That figure is staggering. Crypto is getting big, and we were all excited when we hit $1 billion. Approaching $1 trillion is would be a huge milestone, but $4.4 trillion. Is that because there's a growing need for it? What is the thing that's driving this up?
We're a traumatized species. We live in a society where we are constantly told that we're not enough. Every single ad, billboard, every part of our world, even school, and the systems that we've been raised in are all about making us feel like we're not good enough. We all believe it, every single one of us. As consciousness expands, and as we begin to tap into these wider parts of all that is, I'm a big believer that mental health and spirituality go hand in hand. I know a lot of people don't necessarily feel that way, but I do. Our consciousness is expanding collectively.
We are receiving more information in a day than we did in an entire year or sometimes a decade about 100 years ago. The amount of inputs that we have is infinite. Therefore, the amount of outputs that we have is far bigger. There is a lot of understanding that many of the ways that we were told, “This is how it's done. This is what is normal,” is harmful to humanity. When we think about where mental health was, I'm speaking from experience. My biological father has been ill all my life and institutionalized. I've been in the system, out of the system, and in the system since I was born.
The way that things were in the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s to how it is now is exponentially different. We're beginning to understand there are many better ways to look at things. Shira is correct. What you're talking about is trauma. There's trauma everywhere. There is trauma on our TVs and our phones. Social media can be traumatizing, the things that we watch, absorb, and consume. I could go on and on.
There's no question that we all desperately need to learn and live with our thoughts as they are to radically change them at any given moment because we need to be better for ourselves. We need to learn to survive in the world as things can continue to evolve because our consciousness not only is expanding but AI is here. It's going to change a lot of things in humanity. We need to drop into our own emotions and consciousness so that we can learn to navigate better as we continue to expand. Put all the money into nothing but wellness because that's how you survive.
Shira, what's up?
Watch out and be aware. Something I'm aware of like wellness use is people misusing wellness. Remember that these are indigenous ancient practices. Obviously, there are science-backed, but a lot of them were started by Black and Brown communities. A lot of what's happened, including social media, while people are sharing their journeys, is beautiful. It is using these tools and practices, not giving credit, and then capitalizing it on it. There are pros and cons to that. We have to tread on this lightly and be aware of the problematic nature of something becoming big. Even though it's good for you, it's like, “Where's it coming from? Who are the people involved? Why are they doing this?”
These are things that we think about a lot. When you're giving people advice or tools, that's a huge responsibility. It’s being aware of who you have facilitating. We're definitely making sure facilitators we hire have a certain amount of hours of accreditation and certification that we go through with them in their sessions. We’re experiencing it ourselves and making sure that it's going to be a value of service. Also, when to bring in mental health professionals and build out programming and tools with that in mind. That's important as this continues to be and get bigger as an industry, which is a beautiful thing as well.
I see that there's a common thread here in Web3 blockchain and what we're talking about in terms of wellness. That is undoing the infrastructure that we find to be toxic. Isn't that interesting? If you look at it from more of a macro generalization, there is a push in society for us to undo all the bad things that we've done and find technology as a solution, not as a yes on top of all the toxic things that we have out there. It is cool that we have a unifying point there that we can bring to the table as people that are participating in the space. Cams, we'd love to talk from you.
There are many beautiful women and mindfulness spiritual leaders on this blog. I'm excited to talk to you. In my podcast, I tried to democratize the practice of meditation and mindfulness through five-minute clips at the end of the podcast because I believe in it so hard. I've been leading meditation for a couple of years for kids as young as two years old all the way up to adults who are up to the age of 90 plus. It's such an honor and reward. I've also been trained in yoga. I'm a yoga teacher for children and adults, and then also a trained sound practitioner. My favorite sound is the flute and the gong, how beautifully it connects you. Someone said that spirituality and mental wellness were hands in hand. I 100,000% agree with that.
That’s Jana.
I'm excited about everything that you're talking about the future of wellness, especially with Web3’s attention to mental health. I wanted to ask a question to the guests. Before I jump into the question, I wanted to bring up how important it is that we recognize that not only are we perpetuating trauma, but we're perpetuating this inability to adopt coping skills and communication strategies for people to understand and communicate to others how they're feeling. There's a huge stigma especially placed on men and the BIPOC communities that we don't share our emotions.
We don't manage our big emotions. Those big emotions start very little. Navigating those big emotions through coping strategies as simple as breathing, something everybody can do, is crucial and critical for people to understand. It’s the education of mental wellness, mindfulness, meditation, and spiritual practices that examine these and allow us to have those strategies to take a moment to breathe and be present.
They inject something into your life like joy, gratitude, and many things that are our keys to success. You brought up the topic of like, “Where's this coming from? Why now? Why is this a fortune billion or trillion dollar industry now?” It's definitely with the wave of social media. People are now sharing how much they love yoga and tips on how to get into yoga, why it's important, and how my mental and physical wellness is complete and hard. They're symbiotic. Baby yoga is important. There are all these coping strategies for them.
What I wanted to ask was, how do you think we can use blockchain technology and Web3 technologies to gamify wellness? When you talked about that, I was like, “That's cool.” Originally, I created a kid's meditation app, and how we gamified it with music and they got a chance to have quiet time. Parents could be awarded points, connect it to them, and getting something like chores or something like that which would be your daily breathing. I wonder how you visualize rewarding adults for engaging in something like mindfulness or wellness practice, like drinking enough water per day?
I want all the NFTs, water, or meditation NFTs. I'll take them. It's like my Boy Scout badge stash at this point. If you loaded it up with wellness, I would feel good about myself.
That's exactly what is worth thinking about. There are some models that have worked with other verticals when it comes to fitness, etc. Folks are figuring out what that means in terms of mindfulness in the blockchain whether there are tokens, points, or leading to things that you win or discounts. That's all being thought about. Also, the big question is, “Why the blockchain? Why couldn't you do this through tech?”
These are questions that we're asking and challenging ourselves around and now working with someone on the tech side to build that vision because we recognize we are human-centric. All of us at Peace Inside, but I believe everyone here on stage, wants to connect with people, find connection, and feel a sense of purpose in this life. How do you bring together the human-centric side of what we do with tech and make it so tech that can help and support what we do versus take from it?
I want to touch on the fact because you did talk about how guys in particular have this stigma. It's difficult to break that. One of the biggest things is opening yourself up to something that might be foreign and different. Honestly, for a lot of people at the front, it might feel weird, especially when you walk into a lot of this stuff. It's like easing them into the woo-woo component. I also love the spirituality component of wellness. For a lot of guys, that can become a barrier point where it's walking into a conversation about all these things that are radically outside of their comfort zone when they could benefit from stepping into breathing exercises, doing yoga, or working on their physical health, and things like that.
I would challenge the readers if you're rolling your eyes in the back of your head, and you're thinking, “That's bullshit. That wouldn't work,” or whatever, try it. I very much got pulled in and ripped out of my comfort zone by other friends of mine. I had hit a moment of breakdown before that became an approachable concept. I wish I had done some of the sooner, but active listening, sitting, and stepping outside of your own philosophies for the moment, what's the worst that could happen on trying something? Let's say you don't like it. Fine. Don't do it anymore. It doesn't matter. Do it at least one time for yourself because if you're hurting now, I guarantee you doing nothing is worse than sitting there and trying something and feeling uncomfortable for ten minutes or an hour, however long the classes needed to be set.
More people need to speak out about it as long as they feel safe. The vulnerability allows for connection. We need more people with different backgrounds and experiences to speak about what they're going through so we can learn more about each other, connect, and protect each other. You lead by example for others. That's beautiful. I appreciate that acknowledgment.
At first, I was on the other side of it. I get both sides here. It's not like you wake up one day and you're a healthy, well-adjusted individual. It does take work. I acknowledge that I'm nowhere even close to the goals I want to hit. I'm aware that in order to get there, I'm going to have to do more than the same old.
It's important to remember that healing is not one size fits all. We all have our own life experiences, backgrounds, belief structures, and all of these different things. Allow yourself to try a lot of things. Not everything is going to land or be the right thing for you. Open yourself to the experience. Try it once or three times. If you still hate it, then fine. Allow yourself to open yourself up to possibilities that a lot has changed in the past years. You don't know what might work for you to change your mind and your mood. I've been working on myself for several years, and I'm still not a fully well-adjusted human being. It's an ongoing practice. Be kind to yourself and keep experimenting with modalities and opportunities for learning and connection.
Zach, what's up?
Building off of that, one thing to keep in mind is that you don't have to wait until it’s bad health. Well-being involves a lot of preventative, maintenance, and growth. Especially here in the US, the dark side of that $4.4 trillion number is that we much more have a medicine industry than we do a healthcare apparatus. That is part of the exciting vision that we can all build together using this new economy that Web3 has promised. That is important. Most of those things do not get captured in the economies of the hospital and pharmaceutical world.
From the NFTLA side. To that end, we are actively looking with the support of amazing people like Peace Inside Live, working on incorporating wellness and health and improving people's well-being throughout everything we do, including those in-person gatherings, which when you don't come with that intention, it can sometimes turn into a very high-stress situation or fall into a cultural default of work and drink all day. We're very much looking to offer experiences that lift people up, energize them and improve people's health and well-being. Shira and Jordana are a key part of that. If anyone during the NFTLA wants to get involved, help make that happen. Please reach out here on Twitter, and we'd love to talk.
That's great to know that it is going to be an activation in March 2023. Jordana, what’s up?
When we get started in these practices, a few minutes a day goes a long way. Sometimes what can be the barrier to the beginning is thinking that, “If I'm going to start a meditation practice, I need to start with twenty minutes.” That is not true. When I teach people how to begin and set up a practice, I asked them, “How many minutes a day would feel enjoyable for you? What would you look forward to?” Whatever they tell me, I usually cut it down by 25% because it's got to be something that is a resource for us.
We want to try something more than once, and I always say try twice. Some of us are saying try three times. To make it a resource, it's got to be something that we can fit into our schedules. Know that it's like putting money into the well-being bank. Every time and minute counts. It's not wasted. Even if meditation only lasts 2 minutes, that's 2 more minutes of being mindful and of putting money towards the well-being banks that I know we all want to build in the space and within ourselves time.
TYME stands for Teaching Young Minds Everyday, but I'm loving this space. This is how we go forward. When it comes to mental health, I've been a patient for decades, as well as an advocate for a lot of people who have to take medications in order for them to have what we say is a normal life. When it comes to even autoimmune diseases and stuff like that, a lot of people have those because especially during the pandemic, we have been isolated. That increased the amount of problems that this occlusion creates.
When we have these opportunities, everybody takes one deep breath in and a little bit of time to get to ourselves and tap into our inner child. I've been around that building down on stage somewhere, doing Lady Day down. That's something that got established on January 21, 2021 or 2022. This is something that we kept on pushing forward in order for us to be able to uplift women, minorities, and people with disabilities in the space.
With a lot of things that we were able to collaborate with everybody who has been around and continue to build with, we were looking forward to a lot of things in NFTLA in 2023 that we weren't able to be 100% participate in it because of the pandemic, mainly. It was around everybody in one swoop. We didn't want to have issues with the children that we helped take care of, wear G-tubes, and rang the bell over there at the children's hospital.
Some of the things that we were trying to do with a few different groups over there were we had an opportunity to do charitable giveaways with giving back to the community. The thing about it is it's the education part that is giving us the choice in order for us to choose whatever way we want to do things. I'm thankful and blessed for you to be able to give me the opportunity to speak.
As I go back into my whole, I look forward to being able to connect with people in real life and these other events in Miami on January 25 to 27. I’m looking to try and make it out there and maybe have a little bit more discussion about the time to parallel that will be out, which is the movement that we all are on when it comes to giving that knowledge to the next generation, as well as helping our elders, as a lot of us probably have been involved with Alzheimer's.
We were talking about wellness and personal wellness, but you brought up an interesting point. The community is a part of wellness as well. What you're doing is by supporting that community, you're bringing wellness to a different level. It's important to think about that as well. When I was struggling with things, I'd be told by people in my life, “If you're feeling down on yourself, go volunteer. It gives you meaning. It becomes fulfilling. It adds value to people around you while adding personal value.” That's a great thing to take away from what you said. There's a lot of opportunity here, and certainly, a lot of communities emerging that are looking for people to get involved. It would be great for the readers and connect.
It’s the new philosophy when it comes to people trying to understand that as a creative economy, that's what we build in here. We're direct-to-customer. We are the creators who are building and are now starting to get a little bit of recommendation for the art which they possess. It’s how you see that talent, which people who have and have that ability to see the world in a different perspective based on the outcome of life, which brought them to that position, whatever struggles, trials, and tribulations which they went through to get them there. Making that positive effort going forward is mandatory in my eyes. I'm thankful every day to try and do something better.
I want to say what's up with Jesse.
How are you doing?
Welcome to the space. What a great addition. Did you have some wellness perspective? That's the topic of the day.
Thanks for bringing me up. I wish I could be in this room all day. I'm happy that I get a chance to drop in here. People who know me know that I talk about my issues publicly all the time. I'm on two different meds. I have been diagnosed with bipolar one, which is essentially flake-functioning bipolar. It means you have a wide range of emotions, and they can flip, but you can function. It's often the case that entrepreneurs experienced. Also ADD is in a similar form to that.
All this stuff is developing, honestly. Mental health is very much a developing industry. One thing I know is we all need to talk about it. That's the biggest thing. I'm loving the space. It's a very Web3 topic. The direct-to-consumer angle on it is critical. If you're building a Web3, you have to understand that the emotional state of people is now the priority, not the features, the product, what it does, this or that, or why it's better than a competitor.
It's like, “Does this person I'm interacting with care about me? Does this brand elevate my life?” There's a power shift from the corporation to the individual. I've been saying and writing about that for years. I think it's coming now. I'm happy about it. I'm happy that we can make spaces like this. I hope people are getting value out of it. I'm getting value out of it. I could just sit here and read. That's a little bit about how I feel about it. This is great.
Sometimes it's healing to intake with other people. I've seen other spaces like that where I'll come in, and I'm placing it on speaker, sitting back, and fall into my own meditation while listening to people talk through the things that they think can add value to their lives. Tyme, we are happy to have you chime in.
I was seeing the building just posted a Bob Marley family. To some, that is tragic and a part of life, but I will be with the Marley family in LA on the 27th for anybody who wanted to attend or pay respect. I look at it from the artists' point of view. There are a lot of artists who are never given the opportunity that we have to be creators and be able to recreate this new economy, which we are doing going forward. It is always good to be thankful to the people who build themselves like the Bob Marley song Small Axe. That's what we were doing as we go forward. Everybody is pushing forward in order to create what we're doing.
I love going to Bob Marley events.
It’s Joseph who is his grandson who passed away.
I didn't know somebody passed away. That's horrible. Send my condolences and lots of love. Those are hard times to be in as well. To end on a positive note, know that there are people out there that are open to reading and opening themselves up and talking about their experiences. I'm one of them. I'm sure everybody else on stage is in a similar boat. I would highly recommend going and listening to some of their sessions on wellness. They all have, at some point, done speaking or posting about their personal philosophies and things that they've gone through and written books.
Being a listener is the biggest thing. There are a lot of great minds up here to listen to. This has been wonderful. We will do it again. I promise you that. 2023 is going to be your year. Look in the mirror and say it again. You might be saying it through tears, but keep saying it. It will happen. I believe in all of you. I want you to have an amazing, wonderful rest of 2023.
Remember to join us. We rotate different topics on Web3. NFTLA is coming up in March 2023. Grab your tickets. Come out. See all the amazing projects will be hosting. Participate in wellness activities and meet some people face to face. I know we've been clocked behind closed doors that's tough for people. We get to connect here on spaces and then we get to unify together in a nice common area where we all have shared interests. Thank you all for coming.
Thank you so much. This was awesome. It’s a great group here. I appreciate all of you. Sending love.
You are amazing. Thank you so much. Your blend of authenticity, vulnerability, and guiding the space made it to life.
Danny, how are you doing? He's leaving the emergency room when he pops into the space. We are talking about wellness. Are you well?
Yes I am, sir. I’m pretty good. I wanted to pop in and say thank you to our amazing guests. I enjoyed this conversation even though I was not speaking, but it was insightful. I believe you speak for a lot of people in the community. Thank you so much, everyone, for sharing your thoughts and knowledge on this matter because I know it is very important for a lot of people. There are a lot of people who don't have the drive or that final push to go over the finish line and do this type of stuff. I appreciate that.
I appreciate you as always. Rest up. We'll meet you again next episode for the Howl. Thank you so much for reading. Come back.
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About Jordana Reim
I spent over a decade as an executive, holding leadership positions in production and technology at global companies. As my career grew, I noticed a pattern of overwhelm, anxiety and stress inside me and within my coworkers. This limited them and held them back from performing at their fullest potential. On a quest to find and conquer the true source of these limiting beliefs, I set out on a journey that took me to ashrams, monasteries, and to the “babas” of Nepal, India, and Thailand. I emerged feeling radically transformed.
About Shira Lazar
Shira Lazar is the founder and CEO of the Emmy Nominated digital media brand What's Trending.
She is a Web3 advocate, collector, and advises as well as consults with companies in the space relating to cryptocurrency, NFTs and the metaverse. As a broadcaster, Shira uses her platforms to create content and education around Web3, bridging the gap between the industry, creators and consumers.
She hosts weekly Twitter Spaces shows, #AlphaMondays and Women in Web3 Weekly, brings viewers the top five NFT stories of the week on Instagram and just launched Inside Web3 airing weekly as a podcast and on KNX News 91.FM in Los Angeles.
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