Cali Alpert:
Welcome to Dropping In, from Omega Institute. A podcast that explores the many ways to awaken the best in the human spirit. I'm Cali Alpert. Dropping into our Omega studio today, David Elliott. David is an author, teacher and healer. He spent more than 20 years helping people address their deepest fears, traumas, and negative narratives. Using breath work, to balance energy. His books, Healing and The Reluctant Healer detail his own journey, including embracing clairaudience, the gift of perception that allows him to hear and feel emotions in others. From private one-on-one sessions to group retreats around the world, David listens to his clients, empowers them to release self-defeating patterns, and helps them achieve greater happiness. In 2001, David established the Healer Training series for anyone that wishes to accelerate change and healing in their own life, and the lives of others. David, welcome. Thank you so much for dropping in today at Omega's Rhinebeck New York campus. Hello.

David Elliott:
Hello. I'm happy to be here.

Cali Alpert:
Pleasure to see you.

David Elliott:
Yes.

Cali Alpert:
So, let's just get right into it.

David Elliott:
Yes.

Cali Alpert:
Your work centers around the breath.

David Elliott:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Cali Alpert:
And is used as a tool to help people get inside their bodies, release emotions, trauma, stuck energies. So in essence, you're teaching people how to breathe.

David Elliott:
Yes.

Cali Alpert:
What is it that makes us overlook the importance of breathing, when it's such a basic foundation to us existing, basically? Why do we overlook it?

David Elliott:
Yeah. Well I mean, a lot of times when I'm explaining about breathwork, and maybe that primary reason to start, is to get people out of their head. And that's where it seems, much of humanity is existing and living in. And that can create, again, all kinds of blocks and problems, and tension. And once we get them... a little breath in, and the mind starts to slow down. Oftentimes, that backlog of emotions, whatever's built up, whatever is stuck below the surface, it starts to come up and clear. So, it's really pretty simple in how it works.

Cali Alpert:
Before we get into more of the mechanics and the details of how it works, and the physiology of it, why do you suppose that humans are so good at being in our minds, when we so desire to be in our hearts?

David Elliott:
Yes. Well, maybe in the evolutionary process, as we learn to use our minds and to even be maybe, a bit dominant through our mind, controlling, positioning ourselves in certain ways, the mind became this chess piece or this way that we've been able to consider ourselves, I don't know that it's true, but the top of the pyramid. And maybe we're not, but our mind thinking, figuring it out. And when you mention trauma, it's oftentimes to avoid whatever has been painful in the past. Then can create more mental stuckness, or reliance on the mind.

Cali Alpert:
How does someone know when they need your help, or the help of a healer such as yourself? What's the... because crisis is often a great catalyzer for people to go to therapy, or come to a place like Omega.

David Elliott:
Yeah.

Cali Alpert:
Is it more crisis oriented, initially? Or is it...

David Elliott:
Well, so maybe I'm an anomaly, the oddball, because I can say, you write a book called The Reluctant Healer, it's something that... I don't cast a net to pull people to me, they come and find me through word of mouth, however it transpires. And sometimes it is high need, or what a lot of people have said for actually closer to 27, 28 years now is, maybe I'm their last stop, or last... they've explored and gone through all the traditional routes of science, and Western medicine, therapy. What we're doing is, taking people into a spiritual experience, which is vastly more than just the breath work. But the breath work is the tool that opens the door.

Cali Alpert:
Could you speak to that? Because in knowing about your work and learning more about it, in anticipation of knowing we were going to talk today, the idea... and I'm jumping ahead for a moment, before we start at the beginning of this question. Is that, there's a great reconciliation it seems, with the physiological/ science and spiritual.

David Elliott:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Cali Alpert:
How does it work? If you could break it down, just the mechanics first.

David Elliott:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Cali Alpert:
And how that grows to be more of an overall, spiritual experience?

David Elliott:
Well I mean, it's literally as simple as getting people to breathe for typically, I would say, five to seven minutes. And taking in more oxygen. So we're breathing in through the mouth, as opposed to the nose. Some breathing modalities, you're breathing more through the nose, or different type patterns. But we're breathing through the mouth. And two breaths in, the first breath is in the low belly. The second one moves up, into the high chest. So, it's one big inhale. And we actually break it apart, so it sounds like this (breathes).

David Elliott:
And it may not be that full for some people, that's the suggested pattern. But that slight increase... so I tell people, we're not hyperventilating. We're doing something that is sustainable, more like climbing stairs. An exercise breath. Which can also create a bit of a high, or some endorphin release. So what we're doing is, getting enough oxygen into the bloodstream, through the lungs. It travels pretty quickly to the brain. Again, not creating a hyperventilated state, but literally creating enough energy flow oxygen that the hypothalamus gland, gets triggered. And as the crown chakra, it will start to release these endorphins that flow down to these other little, mini computers, or chakras, or ductless glands. The pineal, the thyroid, the thymus, the adrenals on [inaudible 00:07:46] the body.

David Elliott:
And something about that release, as those endorphins start moving, people start to feel energy. They'll typically, start to feel some tingly vibration in the hands. Some people might feel it a bit, around the mouth. And again, we could stick to something that might be a little more linear and scientific, trying to explain it. But to me, that's only 5% of the possibility. I'm always looking at, well, what else? What really is happening to a person? What is triggering their emotions? What's bringing these emotions and this energy up? Why? How's it happening? What's my intuition showing me? So literally, after about five to seven minutes, the experience changes from being more work and even a little bit robotic, in just doing the breath. As soon as the energy starts moving, then the spiritual experience starts happening. People start feeling things that are happening inside of them.

David Elliott:
As they start to tingle, suddenly the emotion may start to move. So if somebody comes to me, who's in a really bad depression, I'll know immediately, because I can see it, I can smell it, I can hear it. And I also can sense emotionally, what they're sitting on, and what wants to move. So I'll say, well, we're like spiritual midwives holding space. But ultimately, I'm not holding and creating an agenda that is about me doing anything.

Cali Alpert:
Right.

David Elliott:
I'm really just neutrally, holding space that the breath and the spirit being activated with the breath, creates an experience for the person. And why I continue and will always use the breath is, it's active. They're doing the work.

Cali Alpert:
Five to seven minutes you're saying, somebody can have an experience. Even the first time?

David Elliott:
Yes. I mean, that five to seven minutes, my maybe bad analogy that I use when I teach is that, it's like... the example I give is if in the old space shuttle days, they'd have the shuttle with two big fuel tanks or whatever, attached to it.

Cali Alpert:
Yeah.

David Elliott:
And it takes all that fuel to get the shuttle out of the atmosphere of the earth. As that's happening, the fuel tanks drop away. And the shuttle goes on about it's mission. And comes back with much less need for fuel. And it's like that. To get out of the atmosphere and control of the brain, it takes that first five, six, seven minutes of pretty steady, deep breathing, we could call it. And then once they get to that place where suddenly... I mean, the core essence of what we're doing is, teaching people how to get in their heart. How to open the heart.

David Elliott:
But if the mind's in control, the heart is generally disregarded or really ignored. And I will always say, the true intelligence is in the heart. And I'm going to trust the intelligence there, more than my mind. Given the opportunity, a lot of times, people don't know what to do about it. And talking about it, I always say, is like circling the wagons. But it won't take people deeper into feeling it, but also being able to move it. And that neutral place with the mind, gives great access to the emotions.

Cali Alpert:
Do you think we should say that this work is based on Pranayama breath work, right?

David Elliott:
Yeah. I mean, people ask me often, where did it come from? So what I was told... in the third time I did this breathing, I experienced many past lifetimes. But almost 30 years ago, a bunch of crazy things were happening in my life in Los Angeles. I had moved there to be an actor, and was pursuing acting. And people started grabbing me in stores, on the street, in airplanes. And telling me I was this healer. They'd start fishing out tapes and cards that they had been sent from whatever psychic or guru... I mean, it was very Hollywood and Los Angeles. And I thought, people were pretty crazy. But finally I was like, okay, God. You need to send me some answers. I don't know what this is about. My phone rang. One of my best friends said, you would need to meet this healer.

David Elliott:
I have this feeling about it. He's coming to LA, and his name was Tim Heath. I met him. Anyway, as soon as I met him, he told me, he said, hello brother, we meet again. I said what? He goes, oh yeah, I've known you many lifetimes. You taught me a meditation, pranayama breathing meditation in India, 2000 some odd years ago.

Cali Alpert:
Wow.

David Elliott:
I mean, I was about rolling in the floor by then, because he was saying a bunch of things. But I'm like, I don't know what you're talking about. He goes, oh, you've been doing this work, many lifetimes. I'm not your teacher, I'm just the messenger. Again, this is almost 30 years ago. I was an actor, it wasn't like I was abundant. I was going to be paying him a hundred dollars for a session. And he goes, well, do you want to experience it?

David Elliott:
And I go, sure. Why not? And I did the breathing with him, and it changed the course of my life. Because literally, I felt almost all the emotions that had accumulated. And my family, we had lost a baby brother when I was five and a half. He was a year and a half old. And I had breathed that whole experience in, as part of probably, the empath healer that I was. Or didn't know I was, at that young age. But I carried it with me. And I think It actually led me to acting, because acting was teaching me how to work with my emotions. And then this breath, I mean, it literally took me into the core of that sadness that I'd been carrying. And it spiraled out of me, like a Grey tornado.

Cali Alpert:
Wow.

David Elliott:
And I mean, I couldn't hardly know who I was, for a little while. It was so profound. And it got my attention. And even though I was very reluctant for many years after that, to take that on. For two years, Tim would come to my house and there would be, sometimes 25 people that had shown up that month. And so, I would help him work with them. I mean, I would set him up to work with them. And then he would actually get me in the room, to introduce them. And he would suddenly say, hey, get them started breathing. I'm going to go get a cup of coffee. Well, he'd go get a cup of coffee, make a phone call, have a cigarette. And next thing I know, the person had already had a whole experience. And he'd come in and go, good job. And I'd be mad like, what are you doing? And he's like, this is natural. This is what you're meant to do. And I go, no, I'm not. But eventually, the universe wins.

Cali Alpert:
Did you know that you had something to heal? Were you in any way, conscious of everything you were holding around the loss of your brother?

David Elliott:
I wasn't aware of that, even though I always knew. I could look back and I literally, could remember that day in slow motion. Still can. And almost every detail of it. My parents were young, Catholic, five kids, high school sweethearts, married at 18. I think they were 25 or 26, when my brother died. So, it was kind of... and my dad was a farmer, my mom was taking care of five young kids. So the ability to have much of a grief process, was maybe not existent.

Cali Alpert:
Yeah.

David Elliott:
I don't know. And so, it was like he was forgotten about, in a lot of ways. But I always had a connection with him, but didn't think about it so much. In feeling it release out, I knew that there were was a change that occurred there.

Cali Alpert:
So, you're a young actor. Aspiring or on your way, acting in Los Angeles.

David Elliott:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Cali Alpert:
And then you have all these mystical experience. And people just unsolicited, coming up to you and telling you what you're supposed to be doing. Did you have a language or any inkling at all? Any connection? Any practice about yourself?

David Elliott:
Honestly, I didn't know what was happening. I was like, these crazy new age people.

Cali Alpert:
Los Angeles for you, go back to Kentucky.

David Elliott:
Yeah. And then, it was like... so in the acting process, simultaneously, there was this crazy thing happening. So, the clairaudience... well, I also went through a big heartbreak, relationship. And somewhere in that process and right before I moved to Los Angeles, a friend took me to... she's like, let's go to The Keys. I want you to swim with dolphins. So, we did that. And we're in this place, in the place with the dolphins. They were wild dolphins, but they could come and go on their own. Of course, they fed them, so they would hang around. But the guys said, okay, you can get in the water. They won't come up to you until we start to feed them, but go ahead and get in the water.

David Elliott:
And I'd never even snorkeled before. But I got in the water, and these two big dolphins came right up to my head and rolled right past, on both sides, my head. And then, they rolled their eyes back. And they started sending sonar through my brain.

Cali Alpert:
Oh my.

David Elliott:
It was like, [inaudible 00:19:22]. And I suddenly heard these people yelling. Like I said, I was a sinker, not a floater. So, I raised the up in the water. And the guys are like, they've accepted you. You can reach out and hold them. They want to pull you through the water. But by the time I splashed back down, they were... their attention span, they'd moved on.

Cali Alpert:
Wow.

David Elliott:
But I think, they did something in the audio part of my instrument. But to compound it, at a certain point, I started going into auditions.

David Elliott:
And a couple of times... I don't know. For some reason, I walked in, I heard people say, we're wasting our time. We've already cast the spot. What are we doing? So, this happened twice. I just turned, walked out. And then, got a call from my agent right away. And she goes, what happened at the audition? And I go, well, they told me they're wasting their time. They already cast the role, and this certain actor has it.

David Elliott:
And she goes, hold on, clicked over. And then she came back on laughing, because she already knew there was something about me that maybe, wasn't typical. She came back on laughing and she said, they're a little freaked out. What you said is true. But they said, they didn't say anything. And she goes, now I get it. And she said, kind of what I've been feeling with you. She said, you might as well on your resume, put actor healer, because that's kicking in now. And literally from that point on, any audition I went on, the people would be like, [inaudible 00:21:15] acting. Now, tell us about the healer.

Cali Alpert:
Right.

David Elliott:
And when's your next slot on your... available? So, that transition happened abruptly.

Cali Alpert:
So, we were talking about the process. The actual breathing that you facilitate sounds like there is a standardized process that you go through, that doesn't deviate too much from client to client, right?

David Elliott:
Right.

Cali Alpert:
Do you find that the way people respond, obviously individuals, humans are all very different.

David Elliott:
Yeah.

Cali Alpert:
Do you feel like there's also some standard, or universal ways that people respond?

David Elliott:
Yeah. I mean, I think there's lots of ways to look at it. So for me, I don't push people too much. I let them to use. Because going back to what I was saying earlier, I want them to be claiming or taking ownership for their experience, and to feel empowered and good about that. And for many years, people would say, gosh, that was like 10 years of therapy in one session. Because, we can cover a lot of ground. A lot of the work beyond the breath work, is to teach people how to make accessible their intuition. Whether it be the clairaudience, clairvoyance, clairsentience, cognizance, whatever the clairs are. That they can read a person, sense a person, and have clarity in their boundaries to know what's theirs and what's somebody else's.

David Elliott:
And so, maybe one of the greatest, I think, human needs and desires is, to be seen, and heard, and felt without judgment. And so a lot of times, a guy can show up at the door, wearing a suit and be like, well, I'm coming because my wife told me if I didn't come to see you, we're going to, whatever. Get a divorce. And so, I was like, okay. I'll go talk to him a little while about baseball, and basketball, and get him comfortable. But it's happened many times that, as I opened the door, a guy's tearing up and going, I don't know what's happening. Why is this happening? And I'm like, it's okay. Some part of you is ready and feels this, on an unconscious level. It's going to be confusing to your mind, but that's a good thing. Even more so, that I might see this with women. But I really even cherish it with men, because I'm in this real phase of feeling like, we can benefit by drawing the men out more now.

Cali Alpert:
In thinking about the human body, for better or worse. The human body as a stealthy container for memories.

David Elliott:
Yep.

Cali Alpert:
And feelings, and pain.

David Elliott:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Cali Alpert:
And I'd love to hear you speak to the benefits of pain.

David Elliott:
I always say, it's all what you do with it. Whether it's pain, addiction, high, creative energy. If you don't use it, it's going to probably use you. And so, if you can take your pain... I always say, you take great amounts of sadness. If you don't do anything with it, likely it's going to turn into depression. You mix a little love in there with it, consciously it turns into this tremendous compassion. You take severe anxiety and you let it keep running rampant, it can cause a lot of traumata, and a lot of problems. You mix a little love in it, and you can end up with this tremendous intuition. You can take tremendous amounts of anger and rage. You bring a little love in it, make it a little more conscious, then it's described as this great passion. So, it's all what you do with that.

Cali Alpert:
There's a quote on your website that says, my primary work as a healer is, to remind and reconnect people to the power of love. Self love is the starting point for anyone seeking healing in their life.

David Elliott:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Cali Alpert:
And my question to you is, why does it seem that self love is a concept, as opposed to a reflex?

David Elliott:
Well I would say, my whole life, but for sure this last 27 years, has gone into studying why some people change and heal. And why some people heal things that doctors tell them they can't heal. And that whatever they have, is terminal. And at the core, the one trend or the one quality I've noticed is, whatever it takes. When the light comes on, that suddenly, I have to love myself. And I have to be gentle and treat myself in a very sacred way. In the work I'm doing, I'm trying to help people imprint through, towards the end of the breathing, that gentle vibration they're feeling moving through their body, is their representation of self-love, they've been breathing.

David Elliott:
They've been releasing, doing that work. Now what you're experiencing right now, that's self-love. And start to realize that you can make choices to maintain that, in the face of anything. That you can keep that connection. And it is always firing through our.... our nerves are always... as long as we're breathing and we're alive, and even maybe a short while after we're not, we'll continue to have electricity and energy, and even spirit moving through us. So unfortunately, I find in the human suit, we generally... I say, we. Got to keep going through these love experiences. Learning what love is not, before we can get to the place where we choose what it has to be.

Cali Alpert:
What I love that you just said, about giving people almost a physical, palpable touchstone of what self-love feels like. Almost like, there's a moment in the process with you or this work, where they break through to that, is really cool.

David Elliott:
Right. I said it today with a group of people, this is it. What you're feeling right here, this is self-love. Remember this. Let's imprint this into your memory bank. This is what it feels like. I can recreate this. I can sustain this connection. When you do, it is the game changer. It turns the immune system back on, for people that shut off it. It literally awakens people.

Cali Alpert:
Well, you already dipped into what my final question was. Which was, have you ever wondered what the world would be like, if everybody did breath work?

David Elliott:
I'm open to any sort of spiritual practice, that can get people into that place of self love. And I know there's many paths to the heart. I just don't know that many that are as effective and maybe, as precise. But I'm open to believe that probably and hopefully, humanity can be at a place soon, where we can realize something good, and wholesome, and holistic can happen, if we choose to connect and see ourselves and each other. Instead of needing to judge what we don't love about ourself, and make it about others. So yes, I think some things will have to move along. But I would gladly, if it got to the point where there was a bigger appetite, I would love to see that.

Cali Alpert:
I'd love to hear more about your foundation.

David Elliott:
Okay.

Cali Alpert:
In New Mexico. Can you tell me a little bit more?

David Elliott:
Yes. So it's called, The Creative Healing Arts Center. It's a piece of old ranch land, that I was able to purchase with some friends. And really, it's a slow process. But we're working to bring it back to maybe, how it was a couple hundred years ago. The purpose is to ultimately, it be a healing center where people can come and learn about creative expression as a healing tool. Creating messages, movies, music, messages about taking care of mother earth. And then, allowing her to take care of you.

Cali Alpert:
So finally, I'd like to ask you three questions that I'd like to ask every guest that we have here on Dropping In. The first one is, if I could grant you one wish for our listeners, what would it be?

David Elliott:
For our listeners? Maybe I'm still on the place of exchange. I do like to make a lot of things accessible to others. There's probably 15 of the meditations that I've created, on Spotify. You can go on there and search for David Elliott. Of course, David Elliott's like John Doe. But if you find -

Cali Alpert:
You might have to put in the word healer, afterwards.

David Elliott:
Yeah. If you put in. And you'll see the albums that are cleanse, manifest, spiritual practice, a bunch of those. And then, also on my website, there's in the news section, the second book I wrote, Healing. People can download it for free, as a PDF. So, I'm all about anymore... or have been for quite while, of trying to give people life changing tools that I believe in. So, that would be my gift.

Cali Alpert:
What is something that you wish for yourself?

David Elliott:
I would definitely invite in more joy, more celebration. Gratitude is a big, I'm a big practicer of gratitude. Practicing gratitude. And just slowing down, and taking in the moment.

Cali Alpert:
And then finally, what's the most important offering or tip, you'd like listeners to take away from our conversation today?

David Elliott:
I would just say, in my humble encouragement and opinion, you can heal yourself. Just because I use the word healer, I don't really believe I'm ever healing anybody. I'm teaching people to heal themself. And so, my encouragement would be, you can heal yourself.

Cali Alpert:
So finally, if our listeners would like to learn more about you, where to find your books, any other offerings, where can they look?

David Elliott:
My books are on, obviously, Amazon Audible. If they Google, whatever, David Elliott, pretty much, davidelliott.com will bring them to my website. David Elliott healer, you'll probably find me pretty easy.

Cali Alpert:
So, thank you so much. Such a pleasure to have you today.

David Elliott:
Oh, yes.

Cali Alpert:
Such a gift.

David Elliott:
Yes. Thank you.

Cali Alpert:
Thanks for dropping in, with Omega Institute. If you like what you hear, tell your friends and leave us a review on Apple podcasts. It helps new years, find us. Dropping In is made possible in part, by the support of Omega members. To learn more, visit eomega.org/membership. And check out our many online learning opportunities, featuring your favorite teachers and thought leaders at eomega.org/online learning. I'm Callie Alpert, producer and host of Dropping In. The music and mix, are by Scott Mueller. Thanks for dropping in.