I had a bromance with Sean the moment I met him. Talented, present and passionate but most of all I was drawn to his energy and ethos of life. He lives his life with a central mantra in mind : help people become their best and most authentic selves.

As a Life Coach he guides people to go beyond preconceived ideas of who they are and discover their highest and happiest selves. As an entrepreneur he created Float Seattle and Bellevue 5 years ago. Float offers  sensory deprivation tanks where you literally float in salt infused water. The benefits of stress relief, pain relief and a meditative time out from our busy lives.

I think of Float as being another offering fully in alignment with Sean’s vision of offering people ways to live a richer fuller life.

In the podcast Sean touches on :

• His beliefs on the life changing benefits of meditation
• His daily practice of weaving in downtime to get more done and becoming better in all you do.
• Why it’s a mistake to glorify being busy.
• How to maintain and optimize your ‘temple’ body.
• His secret to how to kick ass every day

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Any time I get hang out with Dan Wilson, or Dan the Man, as his former Seattle Mariner teammates would call him, It’s a super stoked day for me. Dan spent 11 years with the Seattle Mariners as their All Star catcher and by the time he retired in 2005 he could claim a total of 13 years in the big leagues. For the last 4 years Dan has worked as a roving coach for the catchers on Mariners minor league teams. But more recently the  major league players are his students as well.

Voted into the Mariners Hall of fame in 2012. Dan today is still one of the all time sports star icons in the history of Seattle not just because of sports but because of who he is as a person and the goodness he has given to the community.

In this podcast Dan shares:

• The key teachings he received from his mentors and how they guided him into reaching ever higher levels of physical performance.
• His method today for teaching young players how to reach their physical and mental potential. ( applicable to all btw )
• How he deals with injuries and setbacks
• The notable attributes of players like Edgar Martinez and Ken Griffey Jr with whom he played with
• And a whole lot more!

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I’ve known Jeff since the early 90s when he owned a studio in Seattle  called Inside Moves. It was home to one of his passions, Aikido, in which he was very accomplished, yoga classes, as well as his work as Feldenkrais practitioner. And as soon found out, a very gifted one at that. Jeff’s role as a teacher has had a tremendous impact on my understanding of human movement, and how I work with people today. I only wish I knew him during my own career as an athlete.

In his words “Every day I am enriched by helping my clients to discover their own implicit ability to learn; helping them refine their own function, and enhancing the quality of their lives in ways that are simple yet profound.”

He studied with Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais directly, and in 1983, founded Inside Moves. He has a successful and fulfilling private practice working with a wide variety of clients ranging from those with severe disabilities to martial artists, dancers, rock climbers, PGA golfers and NHL hockey players.

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Dr. Robert Schoene, aka Brownie, is a man of many talents and a vast reservoir of knowledge. Professionally, he teaches students, residents, fellows in training, athletes, and patients with heart and lung disease the importance of understanding exercise physiology in improving their own lives. A wealth of knowledge and experience which will leave listeners of this Life Athlete podcast are in for a real treat.

An avid and gifted athlete, he played football at Princeton, climbed Mt. Everest (to the 24K foot level) as part of a high altitude research  expedition, and being the aerobic animal he is, he’s run a sub 3 hour marathon.

In this podcast Brownie gives his take on:

• The effects of aging on cardiovascular capacity and how we can stay aerobically fit no matter what.
• Debunking myths and BS about current fitness trends.
• you can improve strength and cardiovascular in your 50, 60s just like you could in your 30s.
• What’s the most efficient way to increase your anaerobic threshold.
• How to get the most out of interval training without over training.

Enjoy!

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Mark Langston, a 4-time All-Star pitcher and 7-time Gold Glove winner, played the game he loved for 16 years with the Seattle Mariners, California Angels, Montreal Expos, San Diego Padres and the Cleveland Indians . Mark and I first crossed paths when we both employed by the Seattle Mariners. I was the strength and conditioning coach. He a starting pitcher. At a time in baseball’s history where weight training or any kind of training was generally frowned upon, Mark was like a sponge. He was all in from the beginning, wanting to learn and become the best he could be. That determined attitude undoubtedly resulted in his long and distinguished career.

Today he’s still in game of baseball as a color commentator for the Los Angeles Angels broadcast network. Though his years as a dominant lefty on the mound are behind him, he’s still as passionate about exploring the cutting edge of staying healthy, vital and being the best he can be.

Mark and I touch on a ton of topics in this podcast including :

• His experimenting with stem cell therapy for his knee
• Maintaining a positive and curious attitude no matter what
• How be believes you should always be striving to be the best
• His passion around lifelong learning from others who have been there.
• How he mentally deals with the aging body

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Gregg Bleakney has a story that’s worth listening to. Why? Because his life thus far, has never about playing it safe and staying inside the box. Gregg is man of high passion for creating a life steeped in purpose, expansion and internal integrity. When you hear his tale you will definitely see he has not taking the road most taken. Just the opposite.

Today Gregg lives mostly in Colombia where a runs Where Next growing agency whose sole focus is to help other tell their stories.  Using visual imagery and adept writing, he creates unique ways for businesses to tell the world who they are by sharing their deepest passions.

From a gifted triple jumper in track and field, at the University of Oregon, our shared alma mater, to an injury which cut short his career his story just continues to thicken. After a few years he gives up a job in the tech world and follows his gut, bought a bike and over two years he would ride from the top of the world – Alaska to the tip of South America. A remarkable, rich journey filled with self discovery, self doubt, he lands where he is today: Living a life he never thought he would and vastly more authentic. A story of making gut decisions, following your heart, self inspiration, learning through travel and a lot more. Don’t miss this one.

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This week I sit down with Garth Stein, New York Times bestseller and author of Racing in the Rain. I read Racing in the Rain, and not only enjoyed it but it spoke to me on a deeper level. The main character in the book Is Enzo, a dog. Enzo’s reflections, insights and wisdom brought to life in his narrative and quotes hit me square in the chest. Enzo and the writer behind the character got me thinking … and few books do..

I introduced myself and said I was a fan of his book. Though he’d heard that a million times before, he didn’t roll his eyes. Now years later we continue to discuss, ponder and share thoughts around writing, sport , life and the threads that run through them all.

Topics include :

The philosophies and Metaphors for life through the eyes of Enzo (17:20), realizing and moving beyond our habitual patterns which get in our way (19:35), how to not outsource our responsibilities to ourselves (21:35), Garth take on why people are reluctant to take care of themselves and ways to become more successful at doing so (23:40), gracefully moving beyond frustration and anger (26:20), similarities between writing, sports and life – the art vs the craft (30:20), a glimpse of Garth’s next book (41:30), Garth’s mantra for the best way to compete (46:39), Garth’s workout program today and how he finds sustainability (50:20), how do we trust what our body is telling us. Are we lazy or just paying attention? (56:05)

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Ginny Gilder is a two time Olympian in rowing, co-owner of the WNBA Seattle Storm basketball team as well as an entrepreneur, author of Course Correction: A Story of Rowing and Resilience in the Wake of Title IX and a leader in the fight for women’s rights. As a member of the 1980 Olympic team, she and 600+ other Olympians had to sit out because of the boycott implemented by President Carter. A huge bummer to all the athletes who had worked so hard to make that prodigious team.

But most of all, she’s a woman who possesses an immense amount of wisdom by way of self reflection and a dedication to self growth. She and Peter discuss a lot of topics that include personal wake-up calls (8:50), how she learned to pay attention to her body (9:27), how to challenge your hyper critical internal voices (19:25), how she deals with her present physical state being different from the past (29:55), tips on how to look at the big picture of being physically active and fit (31:40), her passion and and main focus when it comes to excelling in business (40:50), how to feel more engaged in life (44:53), doing what we “should” to do vs following our hearts (48:23), and how she deals with her mental struggle around the value of what she has to say and write about (52:10).

Enjoy!

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