[00:00:00] Nathan Maingard: Do you ever feel like no matter how many transformational plant medicine, breathwork or spiritual awakening experiences you have, you just can't seem to find positive change that really lasts, that really roots into your being.

[00:00:19] Well, you're not alone. Many of us have been there, feeling the urge to awaken and discover our true selves, but falling again and again into those old patterns. The journey can be scary and it often feels like we might be waiting forever for that aha moment of enlightenment. Failing to address this inner yearning can leave us in a state of Perpetual unrest.

[00:00:44] Unable to fully enjoy life's experiences. It's easy to fall into the trap of quick fixes and popular trends, only to find ourselves back where we started, lost and unsatisfied. In this episode of We Are Already Free, Leo [00:01:00] Cordero, a man who transitioned from the business world to a spiritual path around 20 years ago, Shares his transformative journey.

[00:01:07] He talks about the importance of preparation, integration, and the courage to embrace the unknown. Welcome to We Are Already Free, the podcast helping sensitive misfits, down to earth seekers, and beautiful weirdos to expand beyond the suffocating box that society just calls being normal so that they can stop waiting and start celebrating.

[00:01:29] I'm your host, Nathan Maingard, and it's a pleasure to be here with you today. Today's guest is Leonardo Codero, a student of life and a follower of ancestral lineages and teachings with a fascination for Ayurveda, meditation, yoga, and shamanism. He started his path with yoga, meditation, and Ayurveda, which led him to India, where he visited, stayed, and trained in various ashrams.

[00:01:53] He studied and continues to study plant medicines in the Amazonia in Colombia with his teachers [00:02:00] Taita Huan Shindoy and Taita Louis. For over a decade, Leonardo follows the Inga lineage under the guidance of his teachers. He has developed several online courses, the self healing journey program, the detox and a free meditation and prayer course.

[00:02:16] Leo's approach is a reminder that each journey is unique and it's about finding the balance within ourselves. This conversation promises to shift your awareness, offering practical guidance on navigating your personal journey of awakening. Don't miss this opportunity to gain insights from Leo's profound spiritual journey.

[00:02:37] Listen on to guide your self discovery.

[00:02:39] Are you tired of starting your day in a cycle of self-doubt, reaching for your phone and getting lost in endless scrolling? Break free and reclaim your mornings with my five day morning practice challenge. Transform your life, kickstart positivity, and leave the doom scrolling behind. Join now at alreadyfree.me/yes, [00:03:00] and take the first step towards a more beautiful life.

[00:03:03] And now, may you find what you seek in today's conversation with the wise and wonderful Leo Cordero.

[00:03:10] Yeah. That's really interesting around the integration, because it seems to me that that's such a, well, in my experience, that's been something really missing in some of my own journeys, especially early on, and then just witnessing how without integration, the actual journey itself can become maybe not meaningless, but certainly lose a huge part of its value.

[00:03:33] Leo Cordero: Yeah. In the tradition they say that going to ceremony and receiving the healing from the healers and the Taitas, and working with the medicine, is 50 percent of the work. And then from there, the medicine leaves us homework. And then we take that homework home and yeah, the process of acquiring that consciousness in our daily life is, is [00:04:00] as you were saying, extremely important.

[00:04:02] And I've been like told for years already to do an integration program, but I haven't really felt somehow an integrity fully. To talk at that level, because it's more consciousness and then the thing is that when we speak consciousness you say, but at the same time, there has to be the integrity internally, you know, with, with what is being said in order for the words to carry on with responsibility.

[00:04:34] So this is the time now.

[00:04:38] Nathan Maingard: And how does that look for you? Because it's such a good point. Like often I, I have the urge to wait until I'm a hundred percent healed, you know, whatever that means until I share anything with anyone else. But then if I did that, I feel like I'd be waiting forever. So how have you balanced that internal?

[00:04:56] Sort of cohesiveness with the actions that [00:05:00] you take and the medicine work and all these other things that we're going to get into, but how have you balanced that within sharing and supporting others on those kinds of journeys, whether that's with yoga or plant medicines, et cetera.

[00:05:16] Leo Cordero: in the traditions, the Taita say that the healers, they must have their home in order, which means that everything is kind of in place. There is a level of peace and with the relationships. And the amount of presence that the person is able to carry on on a day to day life. And within the challenges themselves as they arise in life.

[00:05:45] So from there is where one is starts feeling, you know, that something is being said or shared. And then we feel that, that, that part of the wisdom is already [00:06:00] kind of like downloaded and working in the, in the system. So we measure, or at least myself, with the challenges of life. The medicine will continue always doing work and changing and shifting things, because it's eternal and infinite.

[00:06:20] Although there's a sense of, of, of tranquility and peace. that can be felt. So throughout the years with the spiritual practices and with all the different things that when one does in internally, one is balancing the external, the home internally, but one is balancing relationships. The different aspects of work the healing world what we do as, as professionally, you know, working, all these things, they come to a place in which they feel settled.

[00:06:56] They feel grounded. And that [00:07:00] feeling is the one that that allows me to share. Also in the tradition, they say that we operate based on the visions. So, when, when the medicine authorizes. And the Taitas that's come and authorize at the same time, something, they suggest something, you know, in a very subtle way, then we start observing, you know, that the path is opening on that one direction.

[00:07:28] Nathan Maingard: Well, that's very powerful. I feel like I've had some invitations to certain things over the, when I was sitting with medicine some years ago, and I feel like I still haven't kind of RSVP'd yes to some of those invitations. So I'm hearing you and I'm thinking, hmm, what can I get in order in my house and what can I get in order in my life and listen to those.

[00:07:48] invitations from the medicine. So I'm, I'm curious to just kind of backtrack a little bit because you've, you've obviously got, well, you've got such an incredible variety of backgrounds. You [00:08:00] know, Ayurveda, meditation, yoga, shamanism, plant medicines, like all these different pieces, and I just be curious to hear, you know, what was your life like or has it been a lifelong journey or what was your life like before and was there something that called you onto this path and how did that look for you?

[00:08:17] Leo Cordero: Ah, yeah. Thank you. Well, before I used to be in, in business world. I was a tour guide also at the beginning of my work life in my early twenties for a while. So I got to spend time in the forests of Costa Rica bird watching, talking about trees. Visiting all the different types of forests that we have here and engaging with people and later on, I got more involved in the business world and I did like H and R finances, some management and I got to the point that I was [00:09:00] completely asleep.

[00:09:01] Was interesting enough within that illusion that I was living, there was a force inside. That I was not aware of, that I wanted to search for, for, for an answer, for, for truth. But I didn't know that I was searching for that. And then, about 20 years ago, a friend of mine asked me to um, help him find a book or a gift for his girlfriend.

[00:09:31] And she was into self help books, and she was already practicing some yoga. And I remember that I was getting bored, you know. I was going to the gym, doing all the things, but... that I was told to do and life was good. I was having fun. But then we went, we selected, I selected a book for her. I took it, took it to her or he gave it as a gift.

[00:09:56] And then she said, oh, I have read this. Nice to read it [00:10:00] again from a different consciousness. And I said, well, once you're done, please let me hand, let me read it. And I read it and It was like an instant awakening for me, like I remember after I read it, I was saying to myself that I had been told lies, that everything was a lie.

[00:10:21] And simultaneously around that time, I started practicing yoga without knowing what it was, and within a couple of weeks, I started feeling like a calmness that I had never had and a different approach to people, more compassion. And so I kept studying and reading and reading. And then I moved away from where I was living and I was looking for like a yoga teacher training.

[00:10:47] And that led me to an Ayurvedic center and over there by the force of life and coincidences and just destiny, we could say, because [00:11:00] it wasn't something that I was looking for whatsoever. I started studying Ayurveda for a couple of years and then I just kept studying and kept studying things. Then it came the time to, to practice Ayurveda with clients.

[00:11:17] And, and then understanding, you know, what I was doing and I kept studying healing arts, healing arts. And then about 10 years ago, a little bit more, I connected with with Taitas. And then about a year later, I met my Taita and, and his lineage. And then I started working with that and without me wanting all of a sudden I'm, I'm there in the healing world, you know, with them and yeah, continuing the path and understanding really what is it the one is doing, you know, through the practices and yeah, that's kind of like the.

[00:11:59] A [00:12:00] summary of what has been going on.

[00:12:02] Nathan Maingard: And what was the name of that book? I don't know if I missed it, but,

[00:12:07] Leo Cordero: Well, the, the book is called the Celestine Prophecy. Now it spoke to me because it was simple and at the level where I was, you know, that was the book that was able to, to converse, you know, to my heart. It was a story and it was more about the interesting thing is that when you grow up in religions like Catholicism or so on, I even followed a priest, a Catholic priest for about a year and a half, you know, searching for answers.

[00:12:39] But in, in that way, the way, the way I understood it. Since my teenage and my twenties was that God is outside. And, and then once I realized, you know, that everything is energy and that everything is inside and then the shifts started happening and then it started searching [00:13:00] for that. What happens to humans in general is that as we grow in life if whatever we do in life.

[00:13:13] carries the energy of the consciousness that we have at that moment. So all these years have been about reorganizing all the energies of everything that was done when, when things were done without being conscious of what was happening.

[00:13:28] Nathan Maingard: and do you think it's ever too late to start? I mean, is there, is there for someone who, who's thinking, Oh, you know, I'm, I'm 40, I'm 50, I'm 60, I'm 70. What, you know, what's the point for me to now change?

[00:13:42] Leo Cordero: No, actually do it, I like spiritual teacher, Eckhart Tolle, he says very clearly, he says that the meaning of success from a spiritual standing perspective is that we awaken, that we become aware of, [00:14:00] of, of, of the presence of us, of who we are. So even if life has been a failure from the perspective of society That if all that led to an awakening, then it's a successful life.

[00:14:17] So absolutely awakening is the mission of all of us humans. And really awakening is just understanding that we are not the thought we're not the, the story that we tell ourselves, you know, through our thinking and through all the wounds and traumas and so on. And that's why it works so well. To go have drink some medicine because it's an instant approach, you know, to that, you know, like all of a sudden we become aware of ourselves that really everything is us.

[00:14:52] And, and that's a beautiful thing, you know, right there, everything transforms.

[00:14:59] Nathan Maingard: And in terms [00:15:00] of what we were talking about a little earlier around integration, is there a simple way that someone could understand it? What that means, like preparation and integration. Cause I think a lot of people now have a clear, they go, Oh, plant medicines. You know, I can sacred mushrooms or ayahuasca.

[00:15:20] I can go sit with the medicine and that's going to heal me and it's all going to be better. And I, I think that often that people get themselves in a bit of trouble without knowing more or the context of, of what that might mean or what they might need to bring as well for that. And I just love to hear you speak to that.

[00:15:36] Leo Cordero: Mm hmm. Yeah. I used to be in that position thinking that, okay, this ceremony is going to change everything. For some people it could change everything. One ceremony. I have seen it. All of a sudden it's, it's an incredible shift. For other people, it takes time. The preparation is about lightening [00:16:00] the load in the physical body.

[00:16:03] So if the physical body is heavy with toxins, so it's best to, to use a lighter diet, maybe reduce heavy meats, maybe reduce things that are complicated to digest, for example. Or heavy food combinations, reducing dairy products because those have a little bit more congesting nature reducing like chemicals, reducing processed foods and so on.

[00:16:32] And lightening up, you know, the, the load that comes from the food. That's one, maybe. You know, if the person is up for that, maybe doing slight detoxification or cleansing of the GI tract and then emotionally or mentally, the, the preparation could be just calming down the thought, you know, calming down the story and focusing a little bit more on what the person [00:17:00] wishes, you know, say we call it intention, but just focusing a little bit more on that.

[00:17:06] And I would put my intention or my during the preparation time in faith. Mhm. In in connecting, you know, with with faith, you know, a feeling of trust that that's a good thing. You know, when we come to to a ceremony and also doing the best possible, you know, for some people, it's very hard, but doing the best possible to reduce on addictions, you know, observing them and not being so codependent with those things.

[00:17:36] Kind of reducing the codependency with everything. Mhm. But it's hard, you know, at the beginning because for many people, they don't even understand what this means, but another way of seeing it also is spending more time in silence, you know, spending more time with themselves, maybe even exercising, walking in nature, practicing sports.[00:18:00]

[00:18:00] If the person cannot practice any sports, maybe just walking. Spending time in silence, you know, and allowing the energy to just flow as they prepare to go to the ceremony and then integration for it. It also depends on the on the person and normally. What the best thing to do with integration is that once we have gone to the medicine, the medicine that I work with and that or that I follow is the medicine of yagé, which is the Colombian ayahuasca.

[00:18:36] So that medicine itself is a purgative. It's a cleanser. It would cleanse the physical body, it might create, it could create some purging or not. It could create some diarrhea or not. That's called cleansing. They say that in the abdomen. We have like a universe and in this universe is where [00:19:00] we put emotions where we hold on to things in the different organs that are very alive and very powerful.

[00:19:06] The different organs. And so the medicine is cleansing there. Simultaneously, it will also cleanse the thought. It will also cleanse the emotion and as that cleansing is happening simultaneously, the wisdom arises, the understanding arises. So when, when we go back home during the medicine we get to experience in something that is called the sacred drunkenness during the medicine.

[00:19:35] In that sacred drunkenness, we experience divinity and we experience a very deep silence. Almost every person does. And if it doesn't happen, it's okay also, you know, it's always good. So when we go back home, what we need to do is to replicate that silence and also take it easy for at least three weeks.

[00:19:58] You know, take it easy with [00:20:00] ourselves. And allowing everything to kind of like settle at the beginning, it could be a little bit like traumatic. I wouldn't say that it's more like a heavy, you know, we have to go back home. There's the commuting, there's work, there's relatives, everything, and there's the plans.

[00:20:19] There's the mind bombarding, so we need to find. spaces in which we come and, and we search for maybe the homework the medicine brought was to forgive. So we use proper prayer to forgive, you know, adequate prayer that will take us there. We start finding silence, maybe through meditation, we start simplifying our diet, so our digestive system gets stronger, we start observing life, you know, and we start understanding that it's important to be present with ourselves internally, we start gaining more responsibility of ourselves gradually, gradually, [00:21:00] little by little, it's about increasing the presence, the awareness of the present moment through practices. Anyhow, it's going to be like this, you know, it's going to be oscillating at some moments. We're going to be like completely taken over by the thoughts and by the stories, but then we can find those spaces in which we, we create, you know, like, A little bit of awareness over ourselves and in that way, gradually that presence starts growing even faster and we start becoming aware as we go out and live life that that one fear, that one reaction,

[00:21:38] that when trauma is no longer there, that the medicine did heal it. And so we start working and operating in that way. And we use other things, you know, those, the ones I mentioned are like meditation and prayer. We could use sweet baths. We could use bitter baths, you know, with our more shamanic exercises, [00:22:00] very good a good diet.

[00:22:01] You know, we continue with a good diet. And we start feeling better, gradually, and stronger and more empowered. So the message of the medicine is always empower yourself, you know, like embrace yourself. Who is it that you are? Start feeling it. Start feeling it. Huh. Mm

[00:22:20] Nathan Maingard: And what is it that you think in terms of, my, my experience and I am, I know it's a common one, but actually one of the things in my life that at times blocks me from moving forward or that I allow to block me from moving forward is fear. Is that when I have the opportunity to now come to, you know, I sit with ice baths a lot and I love them and every time I come to stand next to the ice bath, I get very scared.

[00:22:48] I think I don't want to do this. This is terrible. And but it's even more so with with With the ayahuasca, you know, like where, where that medicine is, is such a, it's such a big commitment, but every time I [00:23:00] have sat with the medicine, with good sitters, with good facilitation, good spaces, I have been so grateful that I was brave enough, but what is that fear about?

[00:23:09] Why be afraid of something that is so beautiful?

[00:23:12] Leo Cordero: the thing is that the fear is always going to be there, you know. There's a world champion surfer. Many times, many years world champion, and he says that every time he goes out to surf that there's fear there. it's just there, you know, I like surfing also and every time I go, you know, you can feel it.

[00:23:31] And when you go in an ice bath, I have the same, the same feeling, And with the medicine, it's like that also, because there's a part of us, you know, that naturally we don't want to die. You know, sometimes we feel okay if I'm, if I'm going to go into this ice bath, like, I might die, you know, there's a fear of dying, with the medicine, the one that is more fearful of dying is the ego.

[00:23:55] You know, because every time that we do a spiritual practice, regardless [00:24:00] of its nature, the ego dies a little bit, a part of us transforms, but that death is a, is a rebirth in itself. So it is said in the spiritual traditions that to find peace, one has to be courageous. To find joy, one has to be courageous to find to open a path, you know, a business or, or this podcast, one has to have courage in there.

[00:24:31] It's natural that the fear is there collectively, you know, is there we feel it, but the courage is a spiritual trait. It's a very valuable spiritual spiritual trait. So we always have to tap into it, you know, and. We go in steps. For example, this surfer I'm talking about, he goes and surfs waves that are 30 meters tall, you know, but that's where he's at.

[00:24:57] You know, that's what triggers his fear. [00:25:00] But for me, two meters is already fearful thing. So we are where we are. But that's the reason why I said that during the preparation, faith is good. Faith is trust because when we go and we, we commune with Taitas and We commune with the medicine. What we're doing is we're communing with nature.

[00:25:24] So the faith over there goes to nature. And why nature? Because we are natural beings. We're beings of nature. And that's the part that we have lost in a way that we got disconnected from. So faith, you know, trust that. And that's why it's also important. To work with a, with a good lineage, you know, because then all doubts are, are moved away.

[00:25:48] You know, we're like, ah, okay, yeah, these people are good, you know, and, and yeah, let's just go there and surrender. Surrendering is also the acceptance of the process of life. The fear also [00:26:00] comes and arises from wanting to control everything around us, you know, because we want to keep ourselves safe. But also that's where the courage steps forward and, and combined with faith.

[00:26:13] Then it's a, it's a, it's a great combination right there. I'm going to hmm.

[00:26:20] Nathan Maingard: What, what, what was that that you said you're going to mommy, mommy.

[00:26:24] Leo Cordero: It's a medicine that so medicines are plants. Mm hmm. And the plants, they carry the wisdom of nature. So there's always an intention when the plants are used. Now, in the modern world, sometimes we approach the plants in the same way, for example, that a joint used to be approached, like, that's why the energy of, of cannabis was brought down, [00:27:00] because there was no awareness, there was no ceremony, there was no ritual, there was no prayer behind that, so plants they carry different They carry the wisdom of the elders that kept them safe and sacred over the centuries or the thousands of years.

[00:27:21] Always maintaining the prayer there, keeping the vibration of them up. This medicine I was using is, is is good for conversation. In order to, I'm praying. The spirit, that the conversation is good for everybody, is good for you, is good for me, and that it's clean. Mm hmm. Mm

[00:27:40] So it's, it's Energy of nature.

[00:27:43] Nathan Maingard: Yeah, it's beautiful. A very powerful medicine for me has been hape, which, of course, is not from where I am. I'm in South Africa, but the tribe, I'm not sure if you know of the Huni Kuin.

[00:27:57] Leo Cordero: Yeah, huh.

[00:27:58] Nathan Maingard: Yeah, so they come to [00:28:00] South Africa once or twice a year, and I was blessed to sit with them a few years ago for the first time, and I've sat with them a few times, and I just really, that for me was like what you said earlier about lineage, I had never experienced something And Like that kind of lineage, I don't think in my life before, until I sat with them and witnessed something.

[00:28:21] It's obviously, it's impossible to put into words, but, but they obviously, they're working with Hapé. And it was a very big moment for me to be in ceremony with, already with Ayahuasca, having, having a very challenging time and feeling in a way, a bit stuck. And then they offered Hapé. And it just, I've just, it just completely changed everything.

[00:28:41] My, my whole experience of, of reality was just suddenly I was just fully just present and watching everything without any judgment or story. And I just was there witnessing and it, and I've worked with Hapé on and off, but quite pretty consistently now for some years. And it's [00:29:00] been such a deep medicine for me.

[00:29:02] I think Partially because of the masculine of learning how to be a man where I've been, I wanted to stay a boy for most of my life. I didn't want to be responsible. I didn't feel like I could be a man. And so Hapé has really shown me because sometimes Hapé will want to knock me flat. You know, it's like.

[00:29:18] You must lie down and then, but then can I sit up and can I be present with that feeling? Can I sit in the power of my strength, even in the discomfort? And it's been, so yeah, it's a beautiful to hear you speak about it in that way of the lineage and the prayers and the support for these medicines.

[00:29:34] So. One of the things, the questions I have alone, I think about a lot is that in this modern culture of ours with our machines and even how we're talking now, this computers and technology and Internet and satellites and all of these things, how does this intersect with the practices that you teach and that you practice yourself, the plant medicines, the yoga, the Ayurveda, [00:30:00] like how do these two become friends or is there, you know, what direction are we going in as humanity?

[00:30:06] I'm just curious to hear your thoughts on that.

[00:30:10] Leo Cordero: there could be two sides to everything. Mm hmm. Even the medicines themselves. One side could be that we find the goodness of it. For example, this conversation that we're holding. You're in South Africa. I'm in Costa Rica, and we're holding a complete conversation here, and everybody's going to be able to listen to this.

[00:30:32] The good thing now in this time is that everything is out there. All information is out there now. Even sacred lineages. Or secret lineages and teachings are out there, and they're all accessible for all of us. The downside could be that we could get lost in the technology, particularly, for example, the phone, social media.

[00:30:57] If we start working too much with it [00:31:00] or getting too involved in it, then we disconnect from our consciousness. We lose consciousness right there. What that means is that we're no longer observing. We're no longer present. And it's kind of like taken by the machine. And so people are using it a lot to numb themselves and, and, and to not take responsibility of what's going on.

[00:31:24] You know, they are just acting like, At the very obligation level. So they're with the phone there with the phone, and then something needs to be done because there's the obligation of doing it until they engage, but they want to come back to the phone, let's say, or the social media. I think the, the upside of all this and the blessing of all this is.

[00:31:50] That the information is being shared and is helping us all to awaken, to become present, to understand, to gain the wisdom. You know, sciences [00:32:00] like Ayurveda can be learned online. Yoga practices can be learned online. Meditations can be learned online listening to wisdom, you know, from high consciousness, spiritual teachers can be learned online and I would suggest, you know, that that's the way in which we guide the technology, the use of the technology, you know, towards that, for example, the social media, we could flooded with wisdom, you know, we couldn't, we couldn't follow.

[00:32:31] Like spiritual teachers, you know, the more we follow, then our wall is always like wisdom is like reading a book, you know, it's like reading quotes of, of wisdom and then you start like, absorbing, absorbing and it's good. That people are reading small quotes of wisdom on a regular basis because when they go and they do the practices, for example, meditation or prayer or plant medicine or so [00:33:00] that's already in there in a very subtle intention, like in a silent, in intention within them to move into that direction.

[00:33:08] And then the energy, the natural energy is moving forward for us with all the different practices. So that would be the way in which we can commune, you know. With with technology, but, you know, I live in the forest and, and so it's a silent place by choice. So I do my best to also just spend time with nature, you know, like, put the phone away, you know, like leave it there and engage in doing my work time.

[00:33:37] You know, the hours that I'm working, you know, with technology, but then I clean that and it can be felt, you know, people, people, as they start practicing, they can feel how spending a few hours in front of a computer or so does. Rearrange the energy in a way that might not be the best. So we do it would were [00:34:00] at work, you know, we focus, but then we take our time just to be with ourselves to sit and practice, you know, as I was saying, all the different things I mentioned before in order to bring ourselves back into the awareness.

[00:34:13] But yeah, it's, it's, it's fine. It is what it is at this moment, you know?

[00:34:17] Nathan Maingard: It is what it is. And you've mentioned a few times about prayer. And I'm very curious about that because prayer is something I have explored just from my own, you know, I came from, from as a young person, I never understood religions because they all seem to be saying the same thing, but then arguing about it slightly different labels, but then they were arguing about who was right.

[00:34:40] And so I didn't connect to any. And so because of that, I also didn't connect. to prayer. But then in the last few years, I kind of have developed my own prayer that I, that is just mine speaking to all the different elements and parts of myself and the divinity. And, and it's been very precious for me. And I'm curious to hear from your experience, what is a, if, if this is a [00:35:00] thing, what is a good prayer and maybe what is like a prayer that's not going to work so well for someone.

[00:35:04] Leo Cordero: The way I recommend prayer is first of all, try to find silence. I recommend meditation. That's why my course is meditation and prayer. All nature, all spirits, everything, the invisible world, we could call it. Is there always and it's always present is always connected and our will is completely respected.

[00:35:32] So it is said in the tradition. that the spiritual world is always there waiting for us to call. So sometimes we are very taken very heavily by thought. And we pray at that moment, you know, Spirit help me, guide me at this moment. But there's a lot of Thought, you know, there's a lot of, the [00:36:00] vibration is turbulent, you know, we are energy, the vibration is turbulent due to the thought and the emotion. So that prayer carries that turbulence. Although it can be listened, sometimes it sends this message, but then it sends this other message, and then it sends here, and then it sends there. And then it goes here and then it goes there. The willpower or the presence, the level of presence is not strong enough for the prayer to be clear enough and connected everywhere, you know, with the silence of our minds and our hearts, you know, our, our desire.

[00:36:38] It's not strong enough because there's all this turbulence. So, in that way, what, what I recommend is, in, when we're in that, in that turbulence, to silence ourselves down. To quiet ourselves down. Maybe a walk in nature. And without the phone, without music, just walking and breathing [00:37:00] deeply as one goes walking being there and right there, everything starts coming down and right there, the awareness and the understanding of what we wish to ask in a positive way, you know, in a present moment way.

[00:37:17] arises naturally because it is, it comes from within, it comes from that silence. So that's the best way. One prayer that works really well is always forgiveness, forgiving ourselves. You know, whenever we're in the midst of everything of life or something challenges, first thing is to, Spirit, please help me forgive myself for everything.

[00:37:40] And please help others, forgive me, please help me forgive others, you know, now and forever. Thank you, you know, thank you for, for assisting me. And that already increases devotion and faith. Mm hmm. And sometimes, in the midst of something, it requires... [00:38:00] Application, you know, it requires that the person applies him or herself regularly towards this one thing because it took years for something to be built years of unconsciousness, of non-awareness to build something and then it ripened into this particular scenario that is being lived at this one moment.

[00:38:24] So it requires dedication. It requires dedication and repeating, you know, spirit is there, everything, nature is there. We could call it just nature is there with us. We are natural beings and nature is supporting us in this path of becoming more natural and letting go of the unnaturalness within us.

[00:38:47] So prayer, you know, is, is right there. Spirit assist me. Bring me more wisdom, more understanding, more clarity. I invoke clarity. I [00:39:00] invoke wisdom. I invoke understanding of this one matter. And then we leave a space. We leave a space and we maintain the faith internally, because we understand that it took years to produce this result over here, and so we are shifting it, we are shifting it, we are shifting it gradually.

[00:39:20] It's kind of like we're bathing with sweetness, you know, spirit bring me sweetness. One could call the sweet plants. The Nature, sweet plants, please come bring sweetness into my heart, into my thoughts, you know. Mind of mine please calm down, you know. Bring good thinking, teach me what good thinking is about. If you go in all the traditions. They talk about the art of living, the art of living in, in the tradition of the Inka people that I follow, they call it Summa Causae, which is good living. So that is living [00:40:00] accordingly to nature, you know, more natural way of living, you know, so we could, we could pray for that.

[00:40:06] Divine spirit teach me, you know, show me a good way of living, you know, of of, of being a human being, of being more natural, more aligned with, with the laws of nature, bring me wisdom. Bring that wisdom to me through all the different channels open, open myself, you know, to, to receptiveness, you know, because sometimes we don't want, you know, so if you feel that you're not wanting, then you pray for that divine spirit, please help me receive, you know, open my heart, you know, open my mind.

[00:40:42] And when there's a challenge, you know, internally. And then we can spend time over there in silence, feeling it. And then once you have gone through, when we sit in meditation sometimes we sit and there's a lot of turbulence over there. There's a lot of thoughts. There's a lot of emotions. [00:41:00] The conversation that we had with someone such and such and such, you know, all the experiences of life are there, but we sit in meditation and.

[00:41:09] And the last thing we want to do is to be there, you know, because we're feeling all those things. So what we do is, we sit, we sit, we sit, and in the same way that a pond of water that is clear, that if you shake the bottom, you know, it gets cloudy, in the same way, if you let it, if you let it settle, it will settle.

[00:41:27] So you sit there, everything will start settling. And then in that process, what happens is that... A personal secret wisdom arises in the person as the person goes in that in from, from that moment of turbulence and the person allowed the energy to settle. There's an understanding there and then the proper prayer will come.

[00:41:50] Mhm. The proper prayer. According to that, you know, it could be that maybe the person understood that one comment that was said was [00:42:00] not appropriate. So at that moment, the person could pray for forgiveness and it's effective at that moment is because in that silence and in that presence that we are at that moment, we're able That we are like everything that we put in the intention through the prayer or through the feeling is a very subtle thing, it gets uploaded right there and it starts bringing transformation.

[00:42:26] So that's the way that I, I use prayer and it's, there's, there's saints in India that talk very highly about prayer. And when you go to shamanism, for example, all the chants, all of them are prayers prayers to nature. we're asking interesting thing. The other day I was, I was hearing this, we're praying to spirit, to help us pray to spirit. It's a very interesting thing. I like it a lot. So many times, you know, just to wrap up many times, [00:43:00] we don't want to pray to spirit. Mm hmm. Many times we are like rebelling within ourselves. So we pray to spirit, assist me, guide me, show me, and that's where the courage comes in.

[00:43:12] That's where the faith comes in. That's where the willingness, to transform, to change, to integrate, the experiences of, of, of the medicines or the practices, we have to always step forward.

[00:43:25] Nathan Maingard: Yeah, you remind me of one of my earlier guests on the podcast, a man named Kash Khan, who is actually also

[00:43:31] Leo Cordero: I know

[00:43:32] Nathan Maingard: Rica. Yeah. Yeah. And he uh, he said, he tells people all the time, just show up. 80 percent of it is just show up and then surrender. And I love that. It's such a simple reminder of what you've just been saying.

[00:43:46] Have the courage, at least just when you find that little bit of courage, just show up again, show up again, keep showing up and trust the rest.

[00:43:54] Leo Cordero: Exactly. Yeah. And showing up is just being there, with everything with [00:44:00] yourself, taking it easy, if you're being very harsh with yourself and not respectful with yourself through your thoughts, then you pray for that, you know, you ask the spirit, please bring compassion to my heart towards myself bring respect towards myself, bring understanding, you know, you pray for those things.

[00:44:18] Constantly, constantly, constantly. And then the best prayer itself is also the action. You know, you step out and you live life. And then action over there and the action, the best prayer is when it's in service, you know, always, you know, I like, I like this thing. They say that if you want to produce happiness for yourself, it's always, it's always about desiring happiness to others and working towards that. Suffering always arise in one way or the other, only by wishing happiness to oneself.

[00:44:54] So that's the action. That's the best way of prayer.

[00:44:59] Nathan Maingard: What do you [00:45:00] think of that? That makes me think of something. In a way, it's kind of what we started with, but I'd be curious to hear. It's maybe a slightly different way to look at it. I've heard the saying before, anything that fills your cup is for you and anything that overflows the cup is for others.

[00:45:14] And so do you think that that is so important is to first fill your own cup until then you feel the overflowing and then help other people? Or do you feel like. Hey, like help people today, wherever you're at.

[00:45:28] Leo Cordero: Well, it depends. And yeah, you're right about that. If the person is doing, is going to be like conversing, for example, and reaching a lot of people, then in that way, it's best if the person is solid internally in that wisdom, because otherwise it could be criticized. The Buddha used to say that.

[00:45:49] Used to say that one needs to get established in, in something before talking about it before sharing it, but the action in [00:46:00] itself of goodness of good willingness is, is already natural to a human being and that has to be like promoted. We don't have to be sharing quotes of wisdom. Necessarily out there if we're not establishing them as we spoke about it, but the path of a human being is to go out and live, creating the best scenario for everything that is around him or her and for that purpose, right there at that moment, one is getting established in that moment.

[00:46:39] And at the same time, one is promoted outwardly without having to speak. In fact, Being in silence with others is a very powerful way of just promoting presence and promoting change and joy and peace in others. And when the time arises [00:47:00] and is appropriate, Then it's possible to share in a more verbal way or so.

[00:47:07] But in the meantime, yeah, it's about doing good. It's about living life in the, in the best way possible, aligned with nature. You know what that means is really Eckhart Tolle mentions it in a very simple way. He says, it's about being present and doing. So, for example, the people of the medicine, the people of, yeah, they're very hardworking people.

[00:47:33] They wake up early, they work hard and they're servicing always. And there's always a smile and there's a lot of silence. Not everybody has to speak. Some people speak. Some people don't. Some people just do. Some people just smile and that in itself already establishing the person in that wisdom, you know, so yeah, more silence [00:48:00] at the beginning internally, more silence, more awareness as the awareness grows and the person becomes more and more aware, more and more aware of life, of nature, of him or herself.

[00:48:12] And then from there, acting, acting, acting. And in that way, in the Vedas from India, they say that as one continues the path, then the proper thought arises, the proper speech arises, the proper action arises naturally. And that's really, as we start becoming more and more aware of our nature, of our naturalness.

[00:48:37] Then that in itself is, is what speaks in other words, what we're doing is surrendering ourselves fully to spirit, you know, to nature, to the flow of existence in our awareness. The more aware one becomes, the more one becomes only a tool of doing.

[00:48:58] Nathan Maingard: Well, thank you so much, [00:49:00] Leo. It's been just a real pleasure. I have just a few, few more little things I want to ask you about. But first of all, if someone wants to find your information, I will of course put it in the show notes. But if you want to, Just share any projects or websites or anything you'd like people to, to know about.

[00:49:15] Leo Cordero: Yeah, they could go to my website, leocordero. com, and over there, my programs are there, and they can contact me through there. I offer counseling, I offer distance healing, and I offer Ayurvedic consultations online also. Lifestyle consultations, if people wish to organize, you know, life and improve it a little bit more, physically, mentally.

[00:49:43] And emotionally, spiritually, I offer different practices, you know, and guidance in that respect. And if somebody would like to have Like a healing, a shamanic healing. I do that also it's a, it's a different type of session. [00:50:00] We talk about what's going on with the person and then we offer a healing, which is a cleansing of the energetic field.

[00:50:06] And then I have the programs that we mentioned at the beginning, the self healing journey program, which is, it's a very comprehensive program with a lot of information, the detox, which is more impactful in terms of working right away, you know, to shift things, to recreate oneself. And then I have the meditation and prayer course also, which is right there for everybody to access for free.

[00:50:35] So I'm very, also very grateful with you, you know, for the opportunity and the good guidance of your, of your questions and, and the good presence, you know, in, in, in guiding this, this podcast in such an effective way. Thank you so much.

[00:50:50] Nathan Maingard: Oh, thank you, Leo. Well, I have one more question, which I love to ask every guest and you can sit and allow whatever. But the question is, cause obviously the podcast is We Are Already [00:51:00] Free. So when you hear we are already free, what does that bring up for you?

[00:51:07] Leo Cordero: What that means is that for me is that everything is right there. We're free, though what is trapping us is the thought, the belief systems, but naturally we're already there, all of us, and yeah, with, through this sharing, it's easier to understand that, you know, like, okay, yeah, it's right here in my heart, you know, in the way I connect with nature, in the way I connect with myself, my own responsibility, everything is within myself, and at that moment, freedom arises

[00:51:41] we let everything be, you know, as it is. So yeah, it's a very, very good name. I like it.

[00:51:50] Nathan Maingard: you so much, Leo. Thank you again for, for coming on and sharing your time with us. It's. Yeah, I feel really honored to be connected to you and to your lineage and to the work that you're [00:52:00] doing and the inspiration that you represent through that work. So, yeah, thank you again. Really lovely to have you on.

[00:52:06] Leo Cordero: I appreciate very much the opportunity. God bless you much and all the listeners also. Blessings to all.

[00:52:13] Nathan Maingard: Thank you again to our esteemed guest, Leo Cordero, for sharing his awe inspiring journey from the business to the spiritual. His insights on awakening to our true self, finding balance within ourselves, and the importance of preparation and courage on our spiritual journey have all been truly enlightening.

[00:52:34] For a deeper dive into Leo's insights and experiences, check out the show notes for this episode in whatever podcast app you're listening or just go to alreadyfree. me, you'll find valuable resources and additional information to support your personal journey of awakening. And of course, thank you to you, dear listener, for tuning in. Your ongoing support and presence makes these transformative conversations possible.

[00:52:58] I have something special to share with [00:53:00] you, if you're one of those people, like if this feels relatable to you, that when you wake up often you feel groggy and it's a challenge to get out of bed, feeling that heaviness, and even you maybe hit the snooze button a few too many times and then get on the phone and start the doom scrolling and maybe the work emails and it's like suddenly You're dragging yourself out of bed already feeling disempowered.

[00:53:19] And basically the problem with that is you've let external forces, you've let someone else's story affect your personal narrative, your personal power. And it's just obviously over the long term because how we spend our mornings is generally how we spend our days, how we spend our days is generally, well, how we spend our lives.

[00:53:35] So it's not really working over the long run. So, I really want you to imagine in this moment, waking up with purpose, with passion, with positivity, feeling aligned because you have a plan and you're focusing on your internal energy source generation. You know what they say is like, everything that fills your cup is for you, anything that overflows is for others.

[00:53:55] And how many of us, maybe you're one of them, are pouring from an empty cup, [00:54:00] trying to do good in the world while we ourselves are thirsty and dry. I understand if you've tried something like this before, you know what I'm talking about is basically setting up a solid morning practice for yourself, a morning routine.

[00:54:11] where you choose those first moments, those first few minutes. What is it that you prioritize? And I know maybe you've tried and you've failed before. And honestly, it's probably because you started too big or you didn't actually customize it to your unique needs, which is why I have created the five day morning practice challenge.

[00:54:29] It's customizable for you. It gives various options of good, different morning practices. It helps to overcome some of those reasons why people are, I don't have the time. I'm not an early riser. don't know which practice to do. The things I did didn't work for me. It's really designed so that whatever your personal unique needs are, it covers for those.

[00:54:47] I'll take you through different beautiful practices that you can choose. I've got guided videos, downloadable worksheets, really making it as accessible and easy as possible. And it only takes a few minutes a day to complete. So if that [00:55:00] feels good for you, If you're feeling like having some guidance to really transforming the way that you show up in the world, the way that you experience your life, so you fill your cup first, and then you have something to overflow, something to offer others.

[00:55:11] If that feels good to you, then you can begin your morning practice now by going to alreadyfree. me slash yes, or just click the link that you'll find in the show notes on your podcast app.

[00:55:22] Until next time, may your journey of self discovery be beautiful. And remember, we are already free.