Your Moment of Freedom

Your rushing 

Racing

Ingesting more and more and more 

But never really BEing with anything.

You’ll never be satiated 

Hit the pause button.

Now

A Long deep breath.

Did you actually take the breath or are you still racing through this text

To get to the next


Then the next

Be here

B

R

R

R

E

E

E

A

A

A

T

T

T

H

H

E



I


I

I

N

N

N

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

There you go

The only place where true freedom exists.

This moment

Then this one

Then this one

Feel into your body

Your missing the extraordinary 

For a future possibility

That doesn’t exist

Everything you want is right here now

Your being called to dive deeper

To feel all of life

The magic of creation rushing through you

Stop missing the point

Breath it in

Let it go

Now

You are free

Present with all that is

Grateful for all that is

Inspired by all that is

You are a miracle

Life is miraculous

Its the journey

Not the destination

In every moment 

Come back

When you plan

Come back

When you eat

Come back

When you make love

Come back

When you build

When you distill

When your happy

When your sad

When you walk

WHEN YOU TALK …. PLEASE

When your angry

elated

satiated

When you cry

lie

When you type

When your hyped

When you drive

When you give a high five

When you dance

romance

Feel the trance

BE

Here

Now

The ONLY goal for 2018

I love you

Daniel

Photo by Aditya Saxena on Unsplash

Freedom is an Inner Game

While many people today celebrate a sold sense of freedom that very few actually experience on a deep level in our country, I reflect back to 17 years ago.

As I watched the first firework shoot into the fading daylight just outside the Las Vegas Strip on July 4th, 2000, I received a call from Hospice that my mother had passed on.

While my friends broke down in tears, I celebrated deeply knowing that my mother had found her freedom from the agony and detriment of 2 years fighting cancer.

To this day, I celebrate her life and I reflect on the journey of personal freedom that I have embarked on since her passing.

I grew up trapped by my own intellect. Trapped and caged by what I thought I was supposed to do or supposed to be.

I fought aimlessly to please.

I strived to fit in and "do the right thing."

The American Dream never made sense to me. It didn't feel free. It felt constrictive and controlled.

The only freedom I felt was when I did drugs, drank excessively or rebelled against society in one way or another. That ended up leading to even more agony.

Then I found mediation and breathing techniques, travelled the world, spent 10 days in Silent Meditation (4 Times), took on a 3 hour daily practice and began to uncover a visceral experience of deep personal freedom that existed inside of me.

Freedom is an inner game. There is truly no free person in our world when they have not found freedom inside of them.

Nelson Mandela only became free locked in a cage.

People all over the world under the most harsh conditions find freedom in prayer, meditation and gratitude.

As I reflect on my Mom, My Personal Journey of Freedom and the Freedom of so many that have found it in the most unlikely places, I pose the following questions ...

Are you truly free?

If not, what could you do to be free now, in this moment?

Then, what could you do in this moment?

How would you BE in the world if you knew that you were truly free?

America is so good as sales, at marketing. Everyone prances around in a state of conceptual freedom while they follow the conditioned laws and ways of a culture designed by control (remember, it started that way, when the first settlers arrived and controlled or killed off the natives. The "Forefathers only set the intention of freedom after that, but the very foundation was counter to the intention and then echoed through the generations with racism, sexism and other isms and still echoes to this day).

And, many people don't even know they are being controlled as the media and advertising agencies have become masters at subtle manipulation.

With that said, there is also the people that are finding their way to true freedom by looking inside. Then, when they start to go outside they relate to the world on their terms and Start businesses and systems that reflect what they truly want.

I celebrate the few that are truly making their American Dream, in their way!

We always have remember, freedom is an inner game.

To keep coming back home to the only place that you are truly free.

That place deep inside that is always at peace.

I wish you the foundational intention of America within you, everyday in every way!

P.S. In the upcoming months I will be releasing a free ebook with the working title "Be Free Now - Crucial Life Lessons for Finding Peace in Uncertain Times" - Stay tuned :-)

Are we Insane?

Today in the morning, I decided to put on Spotify to enjoy some of my old playlists. I opted out of the paid version of Spotify a few months ago for MANY reasons, mostly because they screwed up my account repeatedly and then wouldn’t do anything to make up for it. When the same experience happened with Headspace, the comped me 6 months free. I would think a multi-billion dollar organization such as Spotify would do the same, but then I remembered that they have made ALL their money creating a platform that makes them A LOT of money, and all the Musicians that are on their platform next to nothing. Lets not digress.

So, now I have commercials, as many know from the free version. 

During my Deep Focus playlist the following two commercials came up ...

1st Ad. Burger King promoting a Hot Dog - There was a catchy song, it was dirt cheap and they promoted with both Chili and Regular. Now, aside from EVERYTHING BEING WRONG with Burger King promoting a Hot Dog, I went a step further and, truly, I am amazed that with ALL the health research that has gone on in the world about the implications of eating crap like this, Burger King still has the AD dollars to grab a spot in my ears through Spotify. I am quite certain there is not a person on this planet that doesn’t know fast food is empty calories and filled with harmful toxins for the body. So, either people are insanely stupid, or the additives they put in the food are so addicting, people keep coming back. I am truly looking forward to the day when I hear a prime time ad promoting the latest juicer or better yet, a device that would cure people from taking stupid actions. I guess the world will be a very different place when that is reality #bravenewworld.

2nd Ad. Solar City selling me Solar by means of my wallet. Ok, nice approach, but, what if we went a layer deeper and they actually touched on the point that there is NO POSSIBLE way we can continue as a species if we keep using non-renewable resources to power our planet. What if they hit us where it really hurts the most, the part where your LIFE and your FAMILIES LIFE is at stake if you do not make this shift AND MANY OTHERS. I mean I am sure most of the companies head officers know this but I guess we are so caught up as a culture with glazing over the deeper truths with menial material claims, we would rather be half comfortable then to face the uncomfortable but rewarding feeling that comes when we STEP UP and take action at these deeper aspects! And, the time to step up was YESTERDAY :-)!  

Yes, I know, I am YELLING a bit, sounding judgmental and slightly negative, yes, I know, but honestly, I just cannot sit and watch the world crumble in front of my eyes, because everyone is too afraid to do the things THEY KNOW THEY NEED TO DO, and would rather slowly die in the comfort of instant gratification then sustain the species by doing what is inherently sustainable for the long term. 

I know we all afraid of change, but certain things HAVE TO CHANGE in order for 1. Us to be deeply happy and 2. perpetuate the species in a thriving world.

Like A great friend of mine said, “the power is in the work.” 

Please start doing what YOU KNOW needs to be done now, stop waiting, its too important. 

BE     THE     CHANGE and ...

I LOVE YOU!

Discovering My Dad #2: Show me who you married, and I'll tell you who you are :)

Las Vegas was the first stop planned on the #HolidayGratitudeTour. As it happens, it is also the home of the fabulous Heidi Thompson, whom just happens to be my dad's ex-wife... 

And although I have never met my dad, just talking to her on the phone got me thinking, anyone who married such an awesome, dynamic and talented woman has to be a pretty cool guy :)

Heidi invited us into her (Coolest Christmas Decorated) home for some food and conversation. I learned that my dad was a spiritual seeker. He studied Holistic Living, Kinesiology, Acupuncture and dabbled in Scientology amongst other things! Super duper cool!!! heheeh! Never been there myself, but awesome. I also learned that he was a great salesman and was a very charming, likable and playful guy.

She shared pictures, life stories and more and really we just connected, as she and her beloved are just an amazing people! A woman after my own heart :) We connected on love, relationships, music and life. One happy family really. It was super enjoyable. 

When I was looking at the pictures, I noticed that I have seen this man before. I truly felt like he had been in my life. Maybe he did. He lived in cali for a while..Hmmm... 

We left with music, laughter full bellies, full hearts and a few more pieces to the puzzle. I am very grateful for the opportunity to explore!

This is the Video of us first meeting:

And the journey continues...

Oh, and here's a funny video from one of their projects together: Tekno Penguins - Mandroid the Android

Discovering My Dad #1

Today I am very very grateful and thankful for my father, Rich Gardner. (Yes I did just say my father smile emoticon and today would have been his 65th birthday)

THE STORY

For many of you who know me, the first 38 years of my life when people would ask me about my father, I would tell them that my father was killed by a drunk driver in front of the Forum in Los Angeles a few months before I was born. He was a bassist and a lead singer for Hard Rock band called Buzz Bone and they released a single called "Magic."

The only person whom questioned the story was my beloved and super intuitive wife Mai Segev-Pohnke . So, over the years, she slowly begin to seek out and learn information about my father. I remained clueless and was not ready to go there as that was the story that I had told my whole entire life and that is what I believed.

Last May, with tears in her eyes, my beloved aunt sat me down and delivered the news that my father never passed away. Really, he never even knew I existed, as my mom, with the purest intentions, made the decision that it was better for him not be in our lives.

After a few long deep breaths, I let go, called everyone from my family and forgave them and opened up to the great possibility of having a relationship with this man!!

Two days after I found out, my aunt, my wife and I were sitting around a table and we decided to do a YouTube search for Buzz Bone "Magic." We had done hundreds in the past but today, A new video popped up!

In the description it stated that after 38 years, Shroom Records (Love the name) re-releases Buzz Bone "Magic."

With all the anticipation you could ever imagine, we watched the video of all the original members stream through in front of our eyes, pointing out player after player and wondering which one was my father. At the end of the video the names showed above the players, and with the picture below, you can see that the resemblance was uncanny!!

So we called the company and asked if they knew where Rich Garden was. They told us that he as the only member that they could not find.

So we continued to search for a while, uncovering many clues (special thanks to Si Thacker), but kept hitting roadblocks. Then, we decided to let go.

As we were beginning to prepare for the upcoming ‪#‎HolidayGratitudeTour‬, we realized that we would be going to Houston, Texas, which we discovered was his place of birth, and dig around a little bit and see if we could find some leads.

Then, three weeks ago, we are sitting and having dinner for my cousins birthday party and we find that one of our family members is a private investigator. She immediately latches onto the story and is excited to uncover the mystery. She took the information (may I add, very well research information, I think my wife could be a private investigator herself smile emoticon), and did her magic.

A few days later, we received phone calls, messages and texts uncovering pieces of this story. I have a sister in Dallas. I think I have a brother in California. I have an aunt in Houston and tomorrow, the first day of our two-month tour, our first stop will be at one of my dad's ex-wife's house, who, from our brief conversation already, said my Dad was an incredible musician!

Tomorrow morning, we will begin to uncover another story of this fun and wonder filled life!

I Truly am Looking forward to all the possibilities and very grateful to be alive and to share this with you, my dear friends and loved ones, many whom have shared this story of the first 38 years with me, and many new friends who share the new story.

Supposedly, he died two years ago, but I won't know for sure until I uncover each and every piece of the story. Stay Tuned at #HolidayGratitudeTour smile emoticon

Let the journey begin...

She Lives in You

This is my Mom, Janet Lee Pohnke.  She was a single mom raising two children. She began her journey into Motherhood on welfare without the presence of a Man, she harbored the responsibility of raising two boys on her own with the occasional help from family and friends.  To say that my relationship with her was special, would be an understatement, she was my world.  She was a woman whom always did her best to make sure that the people around her felt great, laughed a lot and that her children were safe and protected.  Through childhood I was allowed the freedom to be, whomever I wanted to be.  I was supported, nurtured, loved and as my moms success continued to blossom in her career, was showered with gifts and adoration to the point of spoiling.  Now, in my adult years, I have come to find out that this kind of enabling can be quite disabling for a child, as co-dependency can rise and the child can become needy and clingy and think that everything should be given to him (that was me :_), but, not a day goes by that I fail to appreciate the core of my mom’s intention, the intention to BE the best Mom that she could be. 

In my early 20’s, she passed away after a long bout with Cancer.  For me, a piece of my world instantly vanished and something even more profound then her physical presence was gained …. I was filled with the guidance of her soul, to explore a deeper part of our relationship that existed beyond the patterns of our social conditioning.  I gave my first speech about connection at her funeral, I wrote my first song, a re-make of the String Cheese Incident Song “Smile” for the same event.  I traveled and felt her spirit guiding me and would recognize her soul’s guiding presence in the form of feathers, which I would receive in places birds just do not travel, like INSIDE of airplanes.  Now, 15 years after her passing I still feel the presence of the part of her that was here to guide me, the part that her humanness could not express, and I hold that deep wisdom dear to my heart and allow it to be a light on my path of liberation.  The wisdom that only exists in the eyes of a Mother.

To all of my beloved Humans out there that are traveling today without the physical presence of their beloved mother, I invite you to look deep inside and feel her presence with you fully, she is there, guiding your every step, sending you strength and wisdom with each and every breath, offering her deepest love and nurturing so that you will spend the rest of your life smiling, for that is all she every really wanted. 

If sadness arises over the loss, feel it, dive into it, share it, but then again, look inside .... she IS .... Still Alive :-)

I Love you!

Using the Nazi's Strategy to Empower Us!

I just finished reading Victor Frankl’s mind-blowing book, “Man’s Search for Meaning”. As I am sitting their next to my Israeli wife of whom we have a grandmother whom is a Holoucaust Survivor, it wells up in me to start asking some questions about the overall scope of this whole thing and this is what I learned and how it is related to my work in Empowerment through Music and so on…

The first question I remember asking is how long our beloved grandmother was in a camp,. and that led to an array of questions that took us down the rabbit whole of the whole entire era. It was a fascinating road to take last night.  

I became very very interested in WHY.  The first thing I learned was that Hitler’s strategy is one that all of us can learn from.  Basically, he found a common denominator for a struggling class of people, created a common enemy and began his work in destroying their every will to live through a very slow and steady process.  For some reason I thought it all happened very very quickly.  But no no, it simply started with Jews not being able to enter certain coffee shops, then universities, then they were sectioned off, closed in and slowly deported to the “work camps.”  I truly wonder if the original intention was to kill anyone at all or did that come with the critical masses anger and frustration.

One thing that came up in our conversation was man’s ability to adapt to his circumstances.  And this is a very positive thing. So what happened is one right was taken away, and the culture adjusted, finding the greater things in life, then another right was taken, and they adapted, saying it couldn't be worse, then another right is taken away, and humans say, well it cannot get any worse, all the way down until the work camp, sickness, humiliation, starvation,torture and ultimately death.  We want to see the light in every situation.  Like a flower we are always reaching for the sun.  Where my mind was blows was at the point that I realized that this was a class of people that was highly educated, a class of people that had it all so to speak, a class of people that knew the great value of trade and relationship building, and, at the end, that is was still stands so strongly in the Jewish communities.  

So how does this all tie into life right now, well, the clarity I receive is that EVERYTHING takes time. When I am working with clients or thinking about my projects I always get stuck in the notion that this needs to happen NOW, yet there is such great power in "slow and steady.”  The reason the impact was so profound and why so many people lost their lives was because it happened slowly, one step after another.  If the Germans would have woke up one day and just decided to start killing, the Jews would have out strategized them, but by making it one gesture after another that slowly stripped away their dignity and values, they turned a class of brilliant thinkers into people that lived only to dig their own graves. I know this is a very dark reflection, but there is something so profound in the learning of all of this when you think about doing the same thing to empower people. We are living in a time when it seems like a majority of people are digging their own grave with how they behave.  But, on the flip side, when you take a Step by step approach, it IS possible to build an new foundation of self respect and trust so that one can live a completely happy and free life.  You have to let go of the notion of overnight success, nothing was built in a day.  Everything worth any value in this world, whether negative or positive, has been built off of a step by step approach and takes time. When you show people one thing after another that can empower them to live more fully, their will to live will be stronger then any other force.  Take one step, adapt to the power of change, take another and so on until the foundation is so strong that nothing will ever be able to take it away. THE TIME IS NOW!

Maybe you would like to start building your foundation here

Also, Check out Victor Frankl's revolutionary Logotherapy here

We CAN Create Weather

Written on September 10th, 2012

Have you ever heard these words from a loved one that you have visited, "You brought such amazing weather with you."  Well, maybe that is exactly what you have done. 

The more and more I dive into a "more connected" life, the more I see the connection to the whole of existence and the more I see our power as human beings to actually work in harmony with nature to create various weather patterns.  It may seem a bit far-fetched huh.  But let me give you a few interesting examples that have happened in my own life.

I tend to be a bit of a tree hugger, not the over the top kind that regulates life down to the sole of the shoe for sustainability ( I may be there soon though), but, more so I like to commune with Nature, respect her and sing to her for healing and to create dynamic change in my world.  So I am constantly speaking to plants, thanking the sun for shining, playing with creatures from the smallest ants to the huge moo moo cows that cross my path daily and practicing sustainable living by using biodegradable products and services.  Each tiny little act I believe makes a difference and makes me feel holistically better.

My first witnessing of the power of the human soul to move nature was at the Art of Living Ashram in Bangalore, India during Navaratri.  During this 9 day festival, ceremony, or puja, is done daily as an offering to Mother Earth and the Gods.  By the 6th day of the events something strange began to unfold.  Every night that the ceremonies took place a trend came along with it, RAIN, and lots and lots of it!  As soon as the ceremony was finished, the rain would stop.  Interestingly enough, when you would ask someone in the city, only 15 to 20 KM from the Ashram, if they enjoyed the rain last night, they would retort with a befuddled reply of "what rain?" 

When I began to ponder the amount of heart - based, well intended thought energy that was going into the ceremonies, it was easy to come to the conclusion that we were collectively creating this abundant weather pattern.

The next instance I was not a part of, but was deeply moved by and inspired to write the song "Blue Water Rise" off of my latest album "Brave New World - The Time is NOW!"  In this instance, I was told that a giant drum inlayed with thousands of crystals was brought to Israel to perform ceremony for various reasons, one being to aid in bringing more water to the surface of the drying country.  In one of the various ceremonies, more then 200 people came together to bang the drum with the intention of springing water northern part of Israel.  The next day, it was told that a fissure sprang up from underneath the ground, bringing more life to the country!

Now for my own direct experience that happened just over the last few weeks.  We had the pleasure of working with a group of Young Leaders in Mumbai and we conducted a workshop on the multitude of powers in music.  Now, for the 3 month Monsoon season here in Mumbai this year it has been more like a Mo then a Monsoon, only bringing occasional drips and drizzles but no consistent rain.  These rains are the life blood of the country and necessary for the sustainability throughout the year.  A light monsoon season could be seriously detrimental to the livelihood of millions and millions of people.  So we decided to use the healing powers of the song "Blue Water Rise."  A song which was composed with the intention using our human powers to WORK WITH NATURE and transform our environments into favorable ones. 

We had the young leaders close their eyes and call into their hearts the importance of continued rain for the people of Mumbai and beyond.   We invited them to hold that intention throughout the song and to call more rain into Mumbai and its surrounding areas. 

We finished with a smile and a sing along and then we all parted and went our own ways.  By nightfall, the rains began, and, here I sit more then 10 days later, and we continue to get more then 6 hours of steady rain EVERYDAY.  Now we could probably call this coincidence or just the way that it is this year, which is probably true in some respect, but I also believe that we have enormous constructive and destructive powers as a human species and I was working with the youth, which has tons of power and youth leaders ….. well …. I think there is something to it!. 

I believe we have the powers to turn livable land into arid ones as well as dry desert into tropical paradise.  But we must travel into the depths of our hearts and collaborate with our deepest self, the one in which we feel connected to everything, most importantly to the Earth that we inhabit on.  Most of us are running around actually believing that we are ABOVE nature, killing species after species, chopping down the trees that assist us in breathing, and over consuming only to feed our own desires and needs and then we cry and shout and scream when our loved ones are displaced or even killed by natural disasters.  How else to we expect her to clean up the mess.  It is just like our human bodies, when it gets polluted by over consumption and waste, we have to clean it out using various means and this causes storms of output which include violent movements and foul smells.  Do we really think the Earth is any different?   Maybe, just maybe, if we start seeing our great big ball as one that we MUST respect and collaborate with, we will create a more harmonious existence with her, much like the ones that are going on with indigenous cultures all around the world.  Study up and read the power the leads us to create a reality in which we are in harmony with everything we see.  For me, I am devoted to this journey and am now seeing results clearly through my own experience.  For that I am extremely grateful!

OH, and One last note on this before I go with this one.  During this entire 3+ month stretch that has been the monsoon season, We have traveled outside almost every day.  We ride a motorcycle!  I have to tell you honestly that I can only count a handful of times in which we were poured down upon and usually when we were, we were free from my valuables and were happy to get wet.  It is as if the clouds temporarily part when we go shopping or have to travel with our computers and guitar.  Sometimes I get freaked out by the notion, but most of the time I just well up in gratitude and pray for the all important rain to come right back as soon as the journey culminates, and, lately, it has done just that.  Again, GRATEFUL!