Rebecca Reagan - The Power of Presence: How Mindfulness Can Transform Your Life

Rebecca Reagan, founder of Bunnyhawk, shares her journey into meditation and mindfulness. She discusses her early experiences with meditation and how it became a natural instinct for her. Rebecca also talks about her formal training in mindfulness meditation and transcendental meditation. She highlights the importance of daily practice and the benefits of meditation in navigating challenging life events. Rebecca also touches on her passion for tea and her involvement in regenerative agriculture and environmental activism.

Visit her on her site for life coaching and meditation teaching:  https://bunnyhawk.life/
Visit her bio site: https://rayonthebae.com/
Co-founder, new foundation in Ecuador helping farmers & forests https://amazonhealing.love/
Co-founder, recently nominated for a grammy: https://www.thebirdsongproject.com/ Guided meditations here: https://insighttimer.com/bunnyhawk
The Ecology Center: https://theecologycenter.org/ 

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Transcript

0:33

Welcome to Native Yoga Toddcast. So happy you are here. My goal with this channel is to bring inspirational speakers to the mic in the field of yoga, massage bodywork and beyond. Follow us @nativeyoga, and check us out at nativeyogacenter.com. All right, let's begin. Hello, I'm so happy you're here to listen to this episode of Native Yoga Toddcast. My name is Todd McLaughlin. Check me out on my website nativeyogacenter.com. And today, you are about to hear a conversation with a really amazing woman named Rebecca Reagan. She is the Bunny Hawk founder. She's an executive producer. She's a creative consultant and an integrated life coach. She's also a meditation teacher. Find her on her website, BunnyHawk.life, follow her on Instagram at@bunnyhawk.life. And she does have a website too called rayonthebae.com. Those links are in the description. Click on follow her check her out, send her a message. We love hearing from you. So if you like these conversations, and we get a message from you saying great loved it, or even be really honest with us and say I really didn't like it, please, we feed back is amazing. So all right. Um, I think I've covered all our bases. Rebecca is really cool. This conversation, we talk all about all sorts of things ranging from meditation, organic farming, permaculture, tea, the Ecology Center, oh, yeah, I'm gonna keep put the link for the Ecology Center there as well. Please check them out. That's how I found her. All right, well, there's no reason to wait. Let's do this. I'm so excited to have this opportunity to meet and speak with Rebecca Reagan. Rebecca is the founder of Bunny Hawk. And she's an executive producer, creative consultant, and integrated life coach and a meditation teacher. And you can find her on her website, which is bunnyHawk.life. And I'll have all that in the description below. So you can just click and there you are. And thank you so much, Rebecca. I'm excited. I found you via an email from a place in California called The Ecology Center. And I am, I really would love to hear your thoughts about what that center is like. But first, I want to just try to learn a little bit about you. Can you tell me you do live in Los Angeles? Yes. Hello. It's great to be on your podcast and your podcast with you. Thank you love the content that you've been creating here. And so it's such a pleasure. And thank you for reaching out. I am based in Los Angeles. And I am a creative and a producer, also a newly certified meditation teacher this year and a life coach. And I am a huge fan of the Ecology Center. They're a wonderful organization just an hour south of Los Angeles. And their whole motto is grow, eat and make peace. And they're a nonprofit farm that demonstrates permaculture and has wonderful community activities, like yoga, and like the mindfulness meditation that I've begun leading there as well. So very cool. I subscribed to a journal called the surfers journal. And they did a highlight piece on the founder of the Ecology Center and some of the aerial photographs of the farm and where it's located in Southern California, which in my opinion, is a very kind of densely populated area and to see how amazing the amount of food that they're growing on that property doing it organically. I'm guessing it's all organic, but maybe they have different methods. But it just looked like wow, what is that place? How is he doing that? That just looks and then I started getting their emails and I saw these communities ants and it just looked like a real hub of some great culture in Southern California. And then when I saw that you were offering the meditation, that's where I got it. So well maybe I can actually talk to somebody who, who's on the ground over there, and involved in it. So that is amazing. It looks really cool. How did you first get into meditation? So I first got into meditation. That's an interesting one I, I kind of, I've always seen, meditation is a very natural instinct. And so it's something that even as a young child, I just innately knew how to do. And I would go off and go and sit and meditate on my own, sometimes so. So it's from a young age, it was a natural instinct. However, formal meditation came into my life with a teacher in my early 20s. And I was taking in University in Ithaca, a world religions and spirituality course. And I had a teacher called Brian, who guided our class through mindfulness meditation. And so that was my first introduction at the time to the practice, which is a secular tradition. And it comes originally from Buddhism, which is a 2500 year old tradition. So that's where it's rooted, but it is secular, which is very cool. And it's just a wonderful way of bringing our awareness into the present moment with the breath anchored in the breath. And so I first learned it with Brian. And I'd say I, I, you know, lightly practiced through my 20s. I was also in my 20s, and doing a lot of exploratory living in New York City. Very creative mind. Where were you born and raised. So I was born and raised in Connecticut. And then I went to school in Ithaca, which is very liberal arts oriented school. Funnily enough, they had a really beautiful Tibetan monastery there. And so sometimes I would go and meditate with the monks there as well. So I've always gravitated more towards the Indo Tibetan Buddhist traditions. And, yeah, so I was in New York City for quite some time, in my 20s and early 30s, and worked in various creative companies, I got my start at MTV and VH. One, and then moved into commercials for a long time, with a great group of folks. And then I slowly I got married, and I migrated out to Los Angeles. And my meditation practice, I'd say, in my 20s, was, even though I had learned in my early 20s, and I've been doing that and yoga and other practicing other ways of mindfulness, I'd say that I really started to ramp up my own mindfulness, meditation practice, more so in my 30s, and now 40s, which, which felt good to sort of increase the cadence of that, as the ebbs and flows of life. You know, provided different opportunities to get into that I became a mom in my mid 30s. And that certainly opened up some space and capacity to want to go deeper in my own practice. So I so so yeah, I guess the formal training began in my early 20s is mindfulness meditation. And then, in my mid 30s, I picked up some instruction with a transcendental meditation teacher, Penny, who actually just saw yesterday over a zoom meditation and so I, I also practice Transcendental Meditation. And, and that that was helpful for me, for sure, in the early days of motherhood, it felt really good to, in that practice, you come back to a mantra that your teacher gives you and and I really liked that. That's a Tibetan tradition. No, that one is is a Vedic. It comes from in Dia. So that's Can you again, can you say that word again? Vedic? No, before that it was something down dancing done meditation, you use the word. Oh, transcendental. Oh, sorry, I tend to. After that, I thought you said another word. And I was like, it sounds like a Tibetan word. And so I said, okay, it's okay. It's okay. It's okay. I just, I just wanted, I was like, Well, I didn't, I heard it. And I just wanted to try to clarify no problem. But I liked the fact that you could potentially turn transcendental into something that sounds Tibetan chanson. I don't know how I just did that. But not too bad. It's, it's, it comes from India. And her teacher was Maharishi. Who the Beatles studied with and is known there. Yes. And, and so yeah, so I I've, I've loved sitting with with Penny, she has a great laugh, and they call Maharshi. They giggling guru. And I certainly see the evidence in her as a teacher. So she's one of my meditation teachers, as well. And when then more recently, I, I decided to get a certification as a meditation teacher. And with that, I went back to my roots of mindfulness meditation, and I got certified by Dharma moon, and the Tibet House. And it's a lovely program, it was six months. And it was, it felt like a nice homecoming for me in a good punctuation. And I just felt ready to be in service to passing along that lineage and creating more joy through meditation by being able to help facilitate that learning for others. Had you taught any meditation prior to taking the certificate training, like formally or informally? Well, maybe informally, for sure. I mean, I taught my son, he meditates me since he was three. And he'd been meditating up for five years, that's a more mantra based meditation practice that we have. The mantra that we use is an old Buddhist mantra, Amani pad, my home, which is all about the jewel in the lotus, that comes from the mud springs from the mud. So it's all about human, human and spiritual connection is what that mantra is generally about, although you could study that mantra for many, many years, and still be uncovering the the meaning of it. So something about mantra meditation practice is that we always like to keep a beginner's mind. And I very much embrace that. I hear Yeah, that's amazing. Are when you were, you said that when you were a child, you just kind of gravitated toward me when you made mention that you you kind of practice meditation naturally? Would it? Would it entail sitting up straight and closing your eyes and, and having some sort of conscious awareness that you were engaging in some type of practice or ritual that gave you clarity? Can you can you remember what some of your thoughts were that age? And when you say young, like, do you mean like age eight, like where your son is at now? Or more like 1112 1415? What do you have remembrance of that? Is say, from the youngest of ages five, six, it was a very natural instinct, it was like, as natural as being able to walk around was the inclination to sit and meditate for me. That's cool. So yeah, so I would I would sit up, right, usually seated, maybe on a couch, and with my hands in my lap, and close my eyes, and I would get into the space and, and yeah, it was very much about being in the present, and clearing the mind of yes, you know, thoughts. And, yeah, it was, it's always been a more natural instinct for me, but it was really, it felt like a real homecoming to actually have a meditation teacher who, you know, went through some of the principles of the ancient tradition and and A fine tuned with the aspects of safer mindfulness meditation, we don't close our eyes all the way we soften our gaze. So our eyes are, are lowered. But we're still in the room. When we practice mindfulness meditation, versus when I'm sitting in transcendental meditation, I will all the way, close my eyes. And I will return every once in a while, as, as my teacher says, in a very charming way, to the mantra, which, in that tradition, we never speak the mantra to anyone, we just keep that to ourselves. And so that's that's also a way of, of sort of grounding that practice. Yes. That's cool. When you were in Ithaca, and you had access to you said, the mindfulness based meditation, was that something that stemmed from the MBSR, the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction camp? Or was it from a teacher that, are you familiar with that term? The MBSR, I can't remember, I heard of that I, that might be a different school, or it might be someone's own unique spin on mindfulness meditation, which is great. I think it certainly does reduce stress, create more space for equanimity and non judgement. But mindfulness meditation is it does come from Buddhism, which is, you know, the 2500 year old practice. And so that's very much about creating, creating awareness in the present moment. And so for sure, it absolutely mindfulness can really create a wonderful space for a new lens on areas of life that, you know, at least at least for me, I might think that, oh, do I have a problem? And then I go in, I meditate. And I realize, oh, no, maybe that was a blessing. I mean, that is true alchemy to be able to turn anger and resentment into oh my gosh, that's actually I kind of needed that. I needed someone to say that to me, or I needed to be that is so challenging, though. Do you have anything going on in your life currently? And this might be too personal and I'm totally open to changing the current that's the that's the the question here. But do you have anything going on currently, that you've had to utilize that exact principle or idea, like a stressful situation lately, where you've, you've, you've had to reframe the context of the experience? Sure, well, I mean, on a personal level, I completed a divorce last year in 2022. And so as you can imagine, a life event like a divorce all sorts of topics come up and feelings and things you need to process or and then the transition itself and moving from you know, that space of marriage more into mediation and then into collaboratively for us co parenting I'm sure they were deaf, absolutely moments, where having my meditation practice absolutely assisted me in understanding what my own next steps were from a most compassionate place. And you know, when you when you said, anger, the word anger I, I like to think of at least meditation practice for me if things like that arise feeling site that arise. What a meditation practice helps me to do is in those moments, if I feel that, I like to think that I can be more like a lightning rod that takes that hit or has that hit and manages to then train To mute and ground that and more of an inner peace, you know, just to kind of diffuse that not to you know, it's a very natural feeling. But behind anger is often sadness. And so once you can move through those layers and then behind sadness, you can get to the heart. And then within the heart, there's gratitude, there's gratitude and joy and understanding in all of life's lessons. And so, it you know, I'd say that, when do you ask if there are moments that meditation assisted me in more challenging times of life, for sure, in my, in my recent divorce, and then, and then navigating life after divorce as a single mom and figuring out dating and all that stuff is, you know, it's a balance and continuously creating the space for meditation. No matter what, because you know, especially as a parent, it's, you've got to really prioritize your day. And there's an endless to do list. And, you know, there's always the dishes and the laundry and everything else. One of my favorite meditation teachers who I've sat with for many years, virtually on his Monday night meditation is Jack Kornfield. I'm so happy you're saying this, keep going. Because I know which book you're gonna mention. Yeah, yeah. So he wrote the book, after the ecstasy, the laundry, love it. When I saw that title, I was like, I have to read this book, like that title, says it all. It's one of the best books and especially as a parent, it's just so but as you know, it's just anyone. It's just so relevant to list all of the events of life that we're constantly moving through and navigating. And anyway, it's a deeply appreciated book, and he's a wonderful human being, and meditation teacher, and, and his organization, Spirit Rock is just incredible. So yeah, anyone with that, I'm so happy to meet somebody that's actually studied with him, because I, I've heard so many great things about Spirit Rock, and, but haven't actually met somebody that's had direct contact with studying with him. So it's so I'm so happy to, you know, anytime I look up to somebody and appreciate the work they do in writing, you just always wonder, is there a facade and or is it real? And so when I hear somebody like you saying, he's great, I really enjoyed being practicing with him. I love hearing that. So reassuring. Yeah, well, he actually offers every Monday through Spirit Rock Monday night meditation. And it's a rotating group of teachers. And he's one of them. And then there are many others. And so yes, I have had the pleasure, through, you know, remote, zoom and other online, they've had a number of online streaming tech platforms over the years that have helped people stay connected. And I'd say, Oh, my goodness, if another one of our great collective challenges and hurdles that we all had said, move through was three years of COVID. And every everything around that I, I'd say that my meditation practice absolutely helped me in that area as well, during the meditation practice, and then, you know, I think the last year in Los Angeles, we've had a number of strikes, the writers strike and actor strike and all sorts of other elements that have created some turbulence in the industry in the town. And so I'd say with all of that to my meditation practice is definitely something I've been able to lean on, and an offer to, you know, now as a teacher to the community. And so it's just such a joy. And I really do believe that when we can create the space for daily practice, that we can very much so We've got a lot of, you know, there's the Yin Yang, which is much of what my bunny Hawk is about. It's about that yin yang, and that balance. And we've got quite a few Yang elements, if you will, in the world. Things like war, things like global climate change, all sorts of big, big things that are out there and that we need to absolutely create awareness about and and I do believe that when we can find the space to cultivate our own practice of our own, cultivate our own inner peace, that's a very, very important element of the in the get inequalities that I do believe help to offset and create more balance. And so it's just, you know, the, the older I get, the more more and more important this is, for me to have my daily practice and meditation, I also enjoy tea. And I have a you know, I actually studied for many years in in tea. And at one point, actually, I had a tea startup that I had to put a stop to during COVID and my divorce, but I'm actually going to be reviving that next year and looking to create this space in Los Angeles for tea meditation. Mine mindful are an event practice. So I'm looking forward to that and doing that with a friend, a partner who will work on that with me. So I hate when you said tea. I just couldn't help. I can't help but that's so cool, because I don't meet people that really talk about tea very often. Like having passion for tea. And that's so cool. Because you're right. I mean, it is a beautiful thing like hot tea. And there's no I mean, it's safe, and it's gentle. And it's a great way for people to like actually sit together and do something together and maybe have a conversation. I wish I made some tea actually right now that you say that. Do you have tea going? You got a cup of tea there? I do I do. I actually have tea from one of my favorite companies and a dear friend who has this company. It's called New meaty. It was started by a brother and sister and and Akhmad Rahim, who's one of the co founders is a friend of mine. So I'm drinking that and my little RABBIT MOON ceramic cup. And so I've had that going back. Is your is your rabbit Minster and cup artwork that you had designed or is that a cup you found? Anyway? Cool. There's a bunny. I LOVE THE RABBIT MOON myth. It's actually it comes from Japan, the rabbit in the moon and, and it's all around the autumn, the autumn harvest festival. I was actually there for tea several years ago in Japan, in Japan in Kyoto. And I, I stayed in a monastery with monks and I was there for Autumn Harvest Moon and I spent much of that time meditating. And at this monastery, they had tea planted as well. So it was really a very sweet solitary experience. I was there traveling on my own. And and that actually leads me to going back to what you were saying about about the tea is is actually been used by monks for centuries and paired with meditation, because tea which is Camelia sinensis has caffeine, but it also has l theanine. And l theanine creates awful waves in the brain, which lends to a heightened state of calm awareness that meditation provides. So to meditation is a really beautiful, beautiful pairing and it's a way of reconnecting with our inner and the outer nature of our beautiful planet Earth. And there's so many different types of you know, there are different production of teas from around the world I've traveled to India for tea, which, which was quite spectacular. I love your tea enthusiast like you really are. Oh, yeah, really have gotten into tea. I know why I was there. I was actually there in India in 2019. And that's where I met a tea farmer from Ecuador, who was, you know, I was I was my teacher. And he really brought me into further into my activism as an environmentalist, in seeing what all the farmers globally, were facing in terms of global warming. And T Camillia. sinensis itself is a very delicate crop. And so with the increasing of the temperatures, it makes it you know, a little bit more difficult. It's very much about clouds, and mists and sun. So anyway, when I was in India, I met a tea farmer who actually became my partner in a nonprofit foundation that I've been working with a group of folks on on launching, and we're gonna start our first fundraising for students. And that one's called Amazon healing. And that's helping farmers in the Amazon rainforest region to convert their farms to organic or beyond organic. And and actually, that brings me back to Ecology Center, because you had mentioned earlier, you were asking about their practices, but they are beyond organics. So they're in permaculture haven't heard the term Beyond Organic? And is this is this a permaculture idea? Well, let's see, how do I explain that I'd say the Ecology Center folks might need to best explain that, although I have, you know, I have been involved in there's an organization called kiss the ground, where I shared an office with them for a little while. And I was part of their advisors group for several years. And that organization is all about regenerative agriculture, explaining the importance of composting of ground cover of really caring for our soil and the health of the soil. So Permaculture is very centered on biodiversity, and nature as an ecosystem. So in our modern agriculture for scale, we have, in many cases, gone to a monoculture, which definitely creates efficiencies, but it isn't necessarily the way nature works, nor was intended to work. And so though, it can provide an accessible way to feed large amounts of people you know, and do things efficiently. Permaculture really brings us back to the just the core elements of work and how important a biodiverse ecosystem is, and, and the importance of creating healthy soil. So even in a lot of certified organic farms, there might still be some various chemical inputs, which you know, or regularly, whatever but with the permaculture it's just everything's being taken a step further with, with just the principles. And actually the father of permaculture was from Japan and travelled around the world and and it's it's actually Ecology Center is really a living demonstration of how permaculture can be implemented. And they, you know, I have gotten their farm box, I even during COVID, I was I was driving down getting their farm box. They were, they've just been so instrumental here in Southern California and creating more awareness on whole ecosystem and balance. And now with their mindfulness program with the yoga and the meditation, it's just next level. Oh, and the most exciting news that I was just so stoked about was Yeah, so I, I when I saw the Yoga, you know, I said, Well, hey, I, I'm happy to teach mindfulness meditation. They said, Well, that's great. I hopped on the phone with them and they said, you know Funny thing is we just got a geodesic dome note we're going to be building and it'll be ready by the springtime. And I thought, well, how fortuitous because I just love God music domes. And that's such a dream to be teaching mindfulness meditation and one of these so I was just so happy. I said, you really just got that. And we're all starting this this is this is so synchronous and awesome. So So yeah, it they're just such a good, wonderful group of folks and community. And oh, by the way, something that I was just really grateful for, but also inspired and, and impressed by is it truly the community who shows up and, and surrounds the area when, you know, the last mindfulness meditation group that I guided? I asked, you know, is there anyone not familiar with mindfulness meditation, and no, everyone had practiced it before. So, so I didn't have to do much in terms of the instruction. And we went for a solid, we went a little bit longer than I might go for a newer group. And, and we thank all of the vegetables and fruits and, and we set our gratitudes afterwards. And it's, yeah, it's just a very, very special community there. And I really, I really think they're only spreading love and peace in the work that they're doing. That is amazing. I love hearing all of that. I don't want to interrupt you. I appreciate you just like telling me all about that, because I've been so curious. But I really want to just kind of go back a little bit to when you said the term Beyond Organic. Is there. Is there an element there that let me just try to think what that can mean like because, okay, we have organic, but then you made mention that potentially, there still might be some practices involved in that, that are questionable about how actually organic it is. But because I have I have worked in the organic industry. And I've taken permaculture design courses in Australia and I I traveled in the woofing organization willing workers on organic farms. So I've worked on organic farms around Italy, Australia. And so I this is like a passion of mine. I love permaculture. But when you said Beyond Organic, it just kind of made me think, Alright, maybe I'm thinking too hard about being organic. And maybe I can go beyond a concept and almost take it to a new level. Where, but I'm not exactly sure what that would mean. So that's why I'm so curious when you use that terminology. I just, I'm so curious what the what that could imply. Well, it certainly sounds like you've got a very impressive background in permaculture so I guess if we're gonna break it down for the wider audience who might be listening? I would How can I diplomatically I guess I could say that I could not be diplomatic. I don't I'm not worried about diplomat I like being diplomatic. Because listen. Yes, yes, everyone, we do need everyone to be we need everyone to be growing more food. So that we can move into the world of, of, of food and planet that we would like to be moving, which is continuing to flourish the way nature's intended it and living more harmoniously with our planet and our soil and all the micro organisms. But yeah, I'd say you know, and I would prefer a farmer really talk about this and break it down or maybe even someone from Ecology Center would be able to eloquently and diplomatically explain it but really with you know, even with some of the probably organic certified firms that are maybe still in the monoculture kind of zone you know, it still requires a certain amount of inputs or what have you to kind of keep that going even though the that's there so I when I say beyond there's a whole regenerative agriculture certification now I believe that you can you can get as a as a farm and there are a lot of really awesome brands and and food people who are embracing the regenerative permaculture systems within within their Um, within their whoever they're maybe either contract growing or they've got their own firms or what have you. But I guess that's how I would talk about that. I mean, what would you say? You know, because you, you, you're in permaculture to, like, how would you describe the Beyond Organic? I haven't even heard that term before until you just said it today. That's why I'm so intrigued, because, I mean, let me try to relate it. Well, one thing I'm really excited to have you on the show for is because I haven't yet had somebody on. I've been trying to find somebody who's a permaculturist, who also is a yogi slash meditation person. And I reached out to a few people, I found someone in Guatemala who was doing an organic farm and they had a yoga hatha yoga thing with the organic farm, and I tried to get them but they it didn't happen. And I guess because I see such a close connection between everything you're saying in relation to if we want to live in a peaceful planet, and we want to live in a peaceful world, we have to do something about that. We can't just wait for other people to try to do that for us. And then a lot of it comes down to like, Okay, what do I actually need? I need water I need to eat. And then the shelter and clothing thing. Yeah, I need that too. But the food and water is like, so big. It's a big piece. And then you start going deeper into that. And then you start finding like, wow, how am I going to do that? And what type of methods of Magan to use, and then the actual process of trying to grow food without barriers, such as chemicals and poisons, and all that stuff is very challenging, because as soon as you get like an infestation of crickets, or cicadas or something that come through, I mean, your whole thing is just wiped out. So I mean, it is a very challenging thing to do. And that's why I wanted to be diplomatic, because there are very real Yeah. Here, yeah. And insects and all sorts of things that it's like, at a certain point, you know, you got to make some choices, some hard choices, some hardship. And so I don't want to point fingers and say that one is good point that we all want to live in a world where the soil is of the optimum health and sequestering as much carbon as possible and allowing for the full photosynthesis process, of course, but do we want bacteria in our you know, there's, there's a balance there. And so what I found as an environmentalist, and someone who's enthusiastic about that space is to also keep it real. And understand that there's a middle path and understand that where we are in our civilization, or great civilization, how far we've come with our modern technology, look, we're sitting here on these screens, you're in Florida, I'm in Los Angeles, we're having a conversation, that's civilization, that's modern awesomeness. And I think what a lot of folks in the environmental space are just advocating for again, is finding more that middle ground and so that's why the Grow Your Own movement is is really being pushed so much is that if more people can be consciously, just growing little bits in their garden, doing some doing composting, taking care of you know, there are companies that have the the vertical growing systems as well, which are great. So everything that we can do to help our local supply chain, as well is just a really good thing. Because it's a, it's a complex, it's a really complex world. And you can't just point at one thing and say, that's going to solve the rest of you know, when I was in India, I was traveling with a leading food scientist who specializes in tea. And, and I was, you know, I was kind of like the black sheep, because I he was pointing to the very real, you know, the very real way of producing and, and being able to protect what you're growing and all of the issues that we'd have with global warming, and I was there waving the flag of well, what about this? And what about that? And what about Paris? Climate change? She doesn't 15 and, and and what about, you know, some of the newer research that actually points that more primitive culture forward. farming practices can actually still yield great amounts of food and feed. But I think we as a society also need to really rethink the way we're interacting with our food system and our expectations of that we live in a really fast, awesome modern world, where we can just click a button on the internet and have something shipped From a really faraway place, and you know, something that the scientists that I was traveling with in India have pointed out, was okay, well, sure, by the time you you spend the time to reduce your carbon footprint of the tea, say you are growing in a super, regenerative, sustainable way. What are you doing when you ship it across another country? How many tonnes of carbon? And I was like, You're so right, you're so right, oh, really, we really need to bring it home more and, and continue to push local economies, there's some really amazing, I've seen some really cool new kinds of communities of the future that are being talked about where gardening and and food are being incorporated within those, those hubs and those new kind of designs to the future. Like we have condos, condos from, you know, that popped up in the 80s. But these are people envisioning what that kind of new, you know, multifamily living system might look like. And a lot of those are incorporating, growing, and which is, which is exciting. So, so again, that's, that's why I really do think it's very important to be really diplomatic and take a big look at the whole system and not just point a finger at one place. Because oftentimes, we think it's just one thing. And then there are a number of other number of other areas that we really need to investigate further to understand how it's all working together. Because it's, it's a much it's a much deeper, more complex set of layers of issues. But the most, you know, for me, is that in, you know, bringing it home to the meditation, cultivating presence, cultivating daily practice and inner peace, the more we're able to do this and slow down from our hyper connected super fast, you know, click of a button, techie world, which is so exciting, but the more we're able to offset that with daily practice and presence, we can come home to ourselves and understand on a deeper, more, maybe spiritually grounded or presently grounded perspective of how we can really create more joy and space and activism and connection with our planet and how we can each do you know, whatever it is that are our own, our own paths, or, you know, moving from our karma, as they say, into our Dharma into our service. So cultivating that presence in those, those daily moments really help, at least for me, aid me in understanding where it is that I can let a little more light in and be in service to the planet and the people and our overall well being. Wow, should we even say anymore? That was well said, That was a good synopsis of where you're at. No, it's good rambling. And I mean, I gotta say a little bit here, because I, so I'm excited to meet you. I'm glad I finally find I'm finding somebody who I can converse with him about this. Um, because I had I was I've been searching to bring someone on the podcast where I could weave a little bit of this permaculture slash idea about how cool it can be to play a part in sustainability. And I reached out to somebody that had a place in the Bahamas where it was like a permaculture farm. And then just for those of you listening, if you have not heard of permaculture it's a blend of two words that's called permanent in agriculture. And you actually made mention Rebecca of the founder being from Japan, and I think I know the farmer that you're speaking about, I cannot remember his name. I did read a book about him. But look to it. The gold it's what is it the Golden One Straw Revolution? Yes, yes. Yes. Very cool book and, and he would do things where he would take seeds, like so we had an issue where he could try to plant seeds and birds would come and just eat the seeds. And he's like, Well, you know, some people just like, well, let's kill all the birds then. You know, and I'm sorry, that sounds aggressive because I know your bird conservation is but some people actually think that way. So then Yeah, they do think let's kill the birds. And as a matter of fact, that was one of the things that kind of bothered me a little when I was. I don't know, just like, getting, like when I was even when I was doing my tea startup, I had to get, you know, to pass these things from different agencies that had, of course, very important roles, but I didn't like that they called the birds pests. And I said, Oh, gosh, I just wish, I just wished that maybe someone was saying it a little differently, because it's particularly I remember, they were saying in North America, starlings are pests. And they said, Oh, that doesn't sit very well, for me. I mean, if you see starlings, they're the ones forming those beautiful murmurations. Everything is a pest. I mean, humans are pests. You know, where do we draw the line on what a pest is and what a pest isn't? We think we need to stop using the word pest. Yeah, that's a good point. It allows for it. It. It validates dismissing a life that really should be I mean, great point we hear about the way genocides happen is you dehumanize someone right there, and you get the populations to think that they're below human. And then Oh, it's okay, just to kill them off. So, absolutely. And this is happening on a lot of different levels. And one thing I thought that he did was amazing in the One Straw Revolution is he likes then to say, well, let me take clay pellets. And it's very time consuming, but he would wrap clay around all the seeds. And the birds weren't interested. And by the time the clay I think this is within the realm of farming rice, that it solved the problem, it took a little bit of ingenuity, it obviously was a little more time consuming, but maybe they were drinking tea and meditating while they're rolling clay around seed. And it was a nice process. Like it doesn't necessarily have to be a oh, great, but um, I know there's a lot we can point out here. But in terms of permaculture, I want to go back to this idea with the Bahamas person, I thought, Man, I really want to try to get a gig where I can teach yoga at a permaculture farm. So let me reach out to this permaculturist. And I had this whole theory because and I have a theory in permaculture, the idea is okay, if your house is here, you have like zone one, Zone Two, zone three, zone four, and you have like little bands that go out. And so the idea is whatever takes the most attention, you put close to you and whatever. So like maybe we'll have our vegetable and herb garden right out the front door. And then maybe if we have a food forest of, say, fruit trees with some ground covers and stuff like that, there'll be like in zone two, and then if I'm going to try to grow some timber, to maybe have some wood, I'm going to put that out in the outskirts, because I that won't take as much attention. So therefore, what doesn't require as much attention, I'm going to put further away from me because it doesn't require as much attention. It makes logical sense to me. So then from the, from the yoga world, it seems like I need to come in to zone one first, what is most, what do I need to put most of my attention on? And then that's a great question, in my opinion, just in relation to meditation, because maybe when I first come into meditation, I think, wow, there's that person in robes, and they look holy. And I've somehow got to get to there. But what do I start with? First? You know, what's my, what's my zone one. So I laid out this whole I wrote him a big like letter. And I was like, I think that yoga actually is just like permaculture because if we attend to ourselves first, then we can promote peace outward, because we've taken care of ourselves first. And then we might actually work and he wrote me back and he's like, Nope, I don't agree with you. I don't care about yoga and meditation. I was like, Ooh, shut down. I was like, all right. And so um, I don't know, I decided how to share that story with you. Because I like that you're on the same. You're thinking similarily so thank you. It's a whole it's a whole system way of thinking. And I love the way you just broke it down in that permaculture, you are planning and you're being very practical in where you're planting but you're also thinking about the way the whole system is working together. And, and that you know, it does mirror aspects of life when when we're working in harmony with with nature, and it does echo things like yoga practice. What I was going to say is that also reminds me very much of when I'm going through with, say one of my life coaching clients, I work very much in the wheel of life principles so that it is looking holistically at all the areas of life and understanding on a deeper level, helping to connect the dots for the client In the way that one area might be actually impacting another where they think that the tart they think that their target problem area is, say, career, actually, when they would do an audit of the holistic wheel of life and we're honest about it, we connect the dots to the other areas that are there root problems that are actually affecting that other area. And so it's a real joyful practice in whole systems thinking. But again, that does echo a lot of the way the permaculture farming is working, because it is it's a holistic way of looking at the the environment, you're always it's not a one size fits all copy, paste, it's very much about what is what is native what are the needs of plants? What meaning what is naturally growing here in this region? And what are the animals? What are the insects? What are the patterns? How can we? How can we understand, you know, their, their behavior. So for example, one regenerative permaculture tea farmer who I had a visit with in Hawaii, who's an ecologist and a college professor as well, him and his wife have a beautiful permaculture, forward tea farm called Big Island tea. And, you know, when he was talking about the way that they had to very mindfully, take an audit of everything that was naturally in the ecosystem. And then what they did to build their food forest was, for example, they planted strategically koa trees, which they knew would help infuse the ground with more nitrogen. And they planted banana trees, because they knew that they could mulch the, the leaves as ground cover, which the worms would love underneath their their T plants because T is loves love loves, like healthy doses of nitrogen. And so you know, worms loved their the banana mulch. And so anyway, that he was he was talking about this one, they were having some sort of a lot of the farmers were experiencing an issue with this one animal. And they thought, oh, let's introduce X, Y, and Z to get rid of that thing. But what they realized was what they had done. And I forget what the example was, you'd have to have him on to talk about this. But they realized that whatever solution they found didn't work because the animal was actually nocturnal, and they weren't going with the bio rhythms of the animal. And so, you know, it really created like, I think, whatever it was, when you work in permaculture, you really need to go down to the detail and really understanding how the ecosystem is working when you're planning it out. Because it's, it's multi layered. And you're really integrating the, the, the balance of, you know, the birds, the insects, the animals, and just understanding how they all work together. So it's a very interesting one, but I love it, I do think it echoes with any sort of mindful yoga practice, meditation practice, even my life coaching practice is more coming into the present moment to really see what's there. And to really understand it on a deeper level, and to be accepting of, of what those elements are, and and how they can be collaborative and how you can co create it amongst the elements, but do so in a harmonious way. Not in an extractive sort of mindset, or, you know, looking at at things as pests I don't really think does us any favors, to your point or seeing, you know, just just the world, the world at large. You don't that isn't really a mentality. That's that's that word isn't doing us any favors in terms of our empathy and compassion. And, and, you know, I like to say I like to remind myself and my friends and family and whoever is near and dear to me, I just love to come back to the fact that we're literally here for one reason, and it's to love and we're here to learn to love and to move past the obstacles that we have towards being loving. And it's just, you know, I'm constantly like, how do We keep getting so confused. And you know, in our humanity, we just keep getting so confused. I mean, I think there are those enlightened beings walking on the planet who who get it are like, yeah, we're, we're here to love. But I, you're, we're speaking the same language here. Thank you. I agree. I keep asking this question. Hopefully the listeners, if you follow me episode by episode, you're not getting tired of me saying this, but I actually keep finding it a stumbling block to understand why the pest exists, like I often and oh my gosh, I've been trying to be so good about staying on an hour, and I just can't do it. I can't do it. I need to schedule two hour podcast with people. Maybe wouldn't agree to that, though, because you didn't know me. And so you would have been like to two hours. But I have so many other questions. I have so many directions. I want to go here. But maybe. Can we do this again, Rebecca? Like maybe we could keep continuing to collaborate? And let's have a part two podcast sometime? I think so because I think so. I do have more questions. But I am on a time schedule. And so I I am. But I have more I guess let me finish that one question. Statement. I guess I know that nature might have to hold on. I think the bunny Hawk is a great element because you have this or analogy. And I mean, when I saw your email said bunny Hawk, I was just like, I saw Hawk, I saw bunny. And the hawk wants to eat the bunny. This is nature. Its nature. It's just straight up nature. It's like, so I have to just accept nature. And I guess sometimes when I asked the question question, why does nature have to be the way nature is? How can we can all get along? Could the bunny and the hawk sit side by side and not each other? But in this realm? I don't see other I don't see otherwise, I guess I have hope, the future. And I've seen visual, I've seen artwork before that's kind of painted this picture of like, being in a place where everything exists code, you know, the man sitting next to the line and the giraffe and all this. Nature is all just hanging out. But nature eats itself. I just and I so badly want to live on a planet where it doesn't. But then that's not this planet. And here I am. So I have to just accept it, but I want to change it. But should I try to change the things I should accept? You know what I mean? Like it's this quandary I keep going the yin and the yang of the that that element of the, you know, the protagonist, whatever it is, like so and so is eating this one and then they're eating that one it's it's just it's really like it ladders up to we're all one you know, I mean, in my in my head like we're all one day in this ocean of consciousness. And we have these Yeah, we have these very real ways of surviving and yeah, sometimes I'm sure the bunny and the hawk just sit right next to each other and chillin and no one's eating another. They're just they're they're coexisting. But then sometimes it's, you know, the Hawks tasting the bunny, or, or whatever the bunny sees the Hawks out there, and so it doesn't come out of the rabbit hole. And it's very much about that, that Yin and Yang and I think that a lot of our what we're moving through in terms of our human existence is that sort of radical acceptance of just the way that this earth walk is what it's about our Earth walk, we're here to just understand that and, and maybe learn to see things that okay, well, maybe this is a symbiotic sort of relationship. And these are these interactions over here or this way. And, you know, I hope that as we continue to move and expand our consciousness and the collective awakening of our planet and what we're all here to do, we might not see things from a lens of fear and just, you know, you just kind of understand that it is what it is and but I think You know, a lot of times it comes down to inner belief systems or, or really understanding of permanence on a on a deeper, more loving level of just just accepting it. And knowing that this is the human form and I mean, at least for me is I very much see myself as a spiritual being living like a human existence. And so things like the bunny Hawk, I just embrace I think that's part of who I am. I'm like, that's cool. Like, that's, yeah, there it is. It's like that's just what we're doing here. And, and it's not all about that I just there are these oppositional elements that are constantly around us and, and, anyway, yeah, we can I know you're unlimited time. about it. There's there's a hole. We'll we'll do part two. I mean, we'll make we'll make a maybe a series called meditations with the bunny hawk. And be fun. I like yeah, I love it. Your name, like right away. When I saw that name. I was like, Oh my gosh, she's interesting. I have to talk to her like it just so good job. Kudos on your, on your creativity. Um, ah, thank you so much, Rebecca. I really enjoyed this. And I can't wait to publish this. Is there anything else? Is there something you want to say goodbye with? Um, there's no goodbyes. But I guess I'll I'll leave a leave whoever's listening with just a big thank you if you made it this far. Thanks for listening. And Kate, thank you for having me on. I've really enjoyed the conversation and being able to toggle between mindfulness and ecology and creativity and all these other wonderful aspects of life is just a joy. So thanks, again for being such a great host. And till the next time. Yes. Till the next time. Yeah, so my name is Rebecca Regan. And I do have a website that I probably need to update actually bunny Hawk dot live. I also have a personal bio website re on the bay.com. Right on the bay.com is my it's my sort of bias site and as some of my other projects, some creative projects on there, as well as some of the producing work that I do, but But yeah, it's been such a joy and I hope that anyone in Southern California will. As we started out in the beginning of the podcast, talking about the Ecology Center, please go visit the Ecology Center there are a wonderful living example for feeding communities and doing so in a harmonious and very conscious way. And, and again, thank you. Thank you, thank you. I love doing this is, um, is that in Irvine? Ecology Center in Irvine, it's San Juan. I always mispronounce the name at San Juan Capistrano. But their, their website is VT ecology center.org. And their motto is grow, eat, make peace, and I'm just, you know, at the website, but they are in business to shift culture, curating ecological experiences for everyone and providing creative, but also achievable solutions for thriving on planet Earth. And they have a number of feasts and musical activities and yoga and meditation. And it's just such a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful community. And so their address is three to 701, Alameda Street in San Juan Capistrano, California, which is just an hour south of Los Angeles. And they are certified by the regenerative organic Alliance, which is a thing so I should have inserted that earlier in our conversation when we were talking about Beyond Organic but I probably should have used the word regenerative organic Alliance. Cool. So and they're a nonprofit, which is super cool. I have family and friends out there. So I'll I'll send this and all that info. Well, all those links are in the description. So if you're listening to the podcast, whether you're on Spotify, or Apple or Google, whatever it is, there's like, I'm sure you know this, you go down and there's links and you tap it and it all pops up. It's pretty Cool, and and I'm gonna forward it to my friends and family out there just to kind of say, Hey guys, go, go meet Rebecca Ray again and go go meditate with her in a geodesic dome, sip some tea, practice some meditation, go out, pick some food out on the farm, maybe do a little bit of yoga potentially meet some new friends. For those of us that aren't as lucky as to live right there. We'll just live vicariously through you guys. Maybe we need to start something over here in Florida. I know there are places here and my friend Travis Sood who has a farm out in Jupiter. He's doing permaculture stuff. And actually, there's people like this all over the place. You just kind of have to look like it's just kind of gotta look if you're interested in this kind of stuff. We're out there. We're out. We're out here. We're here. Yeah, so you just look seek things out. That's so cool. Rebecca. I'm stoked. I'm stoked. Come on out there. Yeah. Next time I'm out there all see if you're teaching I really want to. I love Yeah, that's cool. The one thing I just the one question I didn't ask you about is is that like great when what was the strain of tea that you said or the? So like, if I go swing by green tea? Is that the same tea that you're talking about that you use the scientific term for the species of tea that? Yeah, it's Camillia sinensis is the plant that tea from the store and as you're saying green tea, black tea, light and lon tea. There's also something called polarity. It all comes from the same plant Camillia sinensis. And so yes, you can go to some of my favorite store tea brands. A lot of them actually also carry really good herbal herbals as well. If there's one called Organic India, which I love that is Tulsi. And that's not Camillia sinensis. But Tulsi is really wonderful or that's energizing and uplifting and adaptogenic and it's used. It's used in your Vedic you know, or your Vedic dietary. Programs implement Tulsi so that's organic India and then if you want some Camillia sinensis, there are a couple of brands in the store. There's Rishi tea, they do some really good organic, there's new meaty, my friend augments company. They do some great organic, they have a very good breakfast blend that I was drinking today that I highly recommend. And and yeah, of course, if any of your friends and family are in Southern California, if you ever find yourself out here, I'm doing Saturdays at the Ecology Center. This month I happen to be doing three weekends in a row. It just kind of worked out that way. So I'm I'll be there tomorrow doing mindfulness meditation on December 9. And then next weekend, December 16. I'm also having a mindfulness meditation guided session right there on the on the beautiful land of the Ecology Center. And just into the new yards once a month, you know, one Saturday a month which is just it's such a joy it's so energizing there's you can really feel it when you're there you can you can feel filled with good vibes so cool. And I love that you have some permaculture farms. Where are you are maybe you'll start a yoga program at one of them. You never know. Good point. Thank you. Yeah, good point. They don't need to travel to the Bahamas or to Africa. I can I can do it right here. Yeah, exactly. Well, thanks again. And I'm going to be in touch. Thank you and nice to sit with you and we'll talk soon. Thank you. Okay. All right. Native yoga podcast is produced by myself. The theme music is dreamed up by Bryce Allen. If you liked this show, let me know if there's room for improvement. I want to hear that too. We are curious to know what you think and what you want more of what I can improve. And if you have ideas for future guests or topics, please send us your thoughts to info at Native yoga center. You can find us at Native yoga center.com. And hey, if you did like this episode, share it with your friends, rate it and review and join us next time