Unlock the Secret Army Inside You: How to Boost Health and Find Inner Peace

0:03Hello, welcome to Stillness in the Storms, the 99th episode of my podcast. I cannot believe there's 99

0:11episodes. Next week will be 100, and it will be exactly 32 years since I changed my life completely by

0:19breaking my neck and ending up paralysed. I'm looking forward to getting that one out next week. This week's podcast

0:26is about your little internal soldiers. And a friend of mine, I was reminded about this on a Whatsapp chat

0:32this morning. She's going through a battle at the moment with cancer and they mentioned about... The little soldiers

0:40working hard to protect her. And it just made me remind, it reminded me of

0:48something I always say about we've only got so many soldiers and each day those soldiers are fighting for us.

0:55They're protecting us. They're our guardians. They're our healers and Yeah

1:01it's a concept that I like to think and it helps me make better choices in life. So I'm going

1:07to introduce you to that concept today about our little soldiers inside. But before we do that, I want to

1:13thank Deb, Martha and Jenna for your donations. There was another two anonymous donations this week,

1:21but thank you guys. You are awesome. You do make a difference. And I know I say this every week,

1:27but I mean it from the depth of my heart. These things are not cheap. And as everything's going up

1:33in the world and the money's so much more important for basic everyday livings, I just deeply appreciate every time

1:40someone treats me to a coffee or a virtual hug. So thank you. It helps me to get these podcasts

1:46out. So deep bow, much gratitude. Thank you to Deb, Martha and Jenna and

1:54the other anonymous ones. So introducing the concept of the body soldiers, the immune system

2:02cells. And can you remember when you were young and used to have a drink lots and used to stay

2:10up late and go bed for two hours and wake up in the morning and you were bright as a

2:14button and you were ready to go for the day and you didn't have to worry about anything. And someone

2:18would come along go oh God, I got the biggest headache and hangover. And you go, yeah, I know. I

2:24don't suffer from hangovers. I'm absolutely fine. Yeah, there's a reason for that. And if you think about it logically...

2:31You're born with so many soldiers. And yes, you replace some of them and things like that. But they're so

2:37much healthier. You're healthier. You're doing better. So when you're 18, 19, 20, you have, I don't know, a few

2:44billion or a few trillion healthy protein cells that are your soldiers running around doing the work and all for

2:51you. But as you get older, they get tired. But not only do they get tired, they have more to

2:57do. They don't have to keep your skin all nice and smooth and nice when you're 20 years old. They

3:04don't have to repair your liver and fix all your little aches and pains and all your joints and all

3:10that when you're 20, 22 years old. But when you're 40, 50 and like me, you wake up in the

3:16morning and I open my eyes and I'm like, oh, should I even move my shoulders? My shoulders are hurting.

3:23My elbows are hurting. And probably my whole body's hurting, but because I'm paralysed, I don't feel it. But yeah,

3:29literally, oh, I don't want to move. And it feels like every joint is going to break if I do

3:35move. After a little bit moving around, I'm okay. But it's literally our whole bodies break down as we get

3:42older. Just look at our skin and look at our wrinkles. It's literally the fabric of our body just starts

3:49deteriorating. And every single organ in our body becomes less efficient. It needs the healthy proteins. It

3:57needs all these things. It needs all these things to repair. And it just doesn't have to do all that

4:03work. So when you're 20 years old, these soldiers don't have as much to do. It's simply at night half

4:10of them can rest. Whereas me, my soldiers have got loads to do at night. I close my eye at

4:1711, 12 o'clock. Sometimes one o'clock in the morning when I'm watching a program. And I'm gonna digress for a

4:24moment. I'm gonna tell you something. I've been watching la brie on I think it's la brie I don't know

4:30how to pronounce it, on Paramount. It's brilliant. I love it. I'm so addicted to it. It's been my escapism

4:37for the past two weeks and I've got two episodes to go and I'm going to watch them later this

4:43evening. But basically a sinkhole happened in Los Angeles or somewhere and people fell through it.

4:51Everybody thought they were dead and they weren't. And I'm not going to tell you anything else, but it's brilliant.

4:57And if we're allowed to share, I would give you all my password, but I'd I would get in trouble

5:03for that, but I would love to do that. So it's on Paramount. I don't know if you can find

5:08it somewhere else. It's called La brewery L-a-b-l-a space B-r-e-a.

5:15Just brilliant. I'm loving it. It's really good. Anyway, let's get back to today's battles with the little tiny

5:23soldiers I Hope you didn't mind that a little. And I'm not sponsored by Paramount. It's just something that come

5:29into my head. Really enjoying it. A bit of gratitude to the writers and everybody. But going back to, for

5:36me, they have a load to do. When I close my eyes and go sleep my body is no um

5:42I don't know, what what do you call it? My body is no guardian or no trying to think of

5:49some Greek god that's got pecs and my belly's big my It's just my

5:57body you remember years and years ago, there was some kind of alien film and everybody thought, is it real?

6:04Is it not real? And there's alien thing lying on there with really skinny legs and a pot belly and

6:09all. That was me lying on that table. Trust me. That's what I think I look like. And everyone said

6:15no you don't. Well, trust me, I think I do. But because I'm paralysed, my muscles are paralysed, so my

6:21I've got a big belly, can't get rid of It's like there. So when I go to sleep, I hope

6:27you're laughing with me as opposed to...

6:30But when I go to sleep, my soldiers have a lot to do. But when I used to smoke, they

6:37had a lot more to do. When I used to drink, they had a lot more to do. So if

6:42you think about what do your soldiers need to do when you go to bed?

6:46They've got to fight the daily battles. They've got to eliminate the bacteria and the viruses. They've got to make

6:53new cells. They've got to repair the sun damage from the sun. They've got to heal from any stress, mending

7:00the wear and tear on the chronic stress of the body. They've got to detoxify from unhealthy eating. They've got

7:07to break down all the food. They've got to do all these things. They've got to get rid of the

7:12toxins if you've been drinking or something like that. You think about all the different things these little soldiers have

7:19to do. And then they've got to repair the lungs. Let's say you've been smoking, like I used to do

7:25for many years. First thing they've got to do is, okay, let's start on the lungs again. And then they

7:32just get tired. And because they're doing that, they cannot do other things. So you wake up in the morning

7:38with that hangover or ill because they've managed to clear some of your blood or do some of it, but

7:44they haven't managed to repair. I don't know, a bit in your brain or your heart and your liver and

7:51your joints. And and after time it builds up. So eventually they get to 11 o'clock at night when you

7:58go bed and you put down your head and you go to sleep. All your soldiers have a little meeting

8:02they go, seriously? We've got to do the same thing again. Let's get on with it. I'm just tired. I'm

8:09fed up. They're probably all on minimum wage. They're not rewarded with anything. So when we do eat a salad

8:16or we do eat something healthy, they're rewarded. They're like, okay, what have we got to work with we got

8:21salad we got some nice protein we got some nice fish we got all these different things. Let's go to

8:27work tonight we got some good produce we got some good things. We haven't got to repair the lungs. We

8:33haven't got to clean the blood so we can repair the joints.

8:37And I'm milking this metaphor now, but wow. When you realise this, you like go, okay. Is my

8:45action and making things worse? So how do we support the soldiers? Adequate sleep. Let them get on with the

8:52job if If you're awake, they've got to be awake and they've got to do the things with you. They've

8:58got to keep your eyes open. They've got to keep you thinking. They've got to do all the other things.

9:02They've got to beat your heart faster. All the other things to keep you awake and all that balancing and

9:08all that. Whereas when you're asleep, you give them a lot less to do. And then go to work on

9:14things that that you don't need to do while awake, like walking or thinking or looking or doing all the

9:21other things. And balanced nutrition. Foods rich in nutrients empower the soldiers. They're like, brilliant, give

9:29me a bit of that. You go into a really good chef, as in a really good soldier inside your

9:35body. And the you say to the chef, I would like some tea, please. And the chef says okay go

9:40and get me some ingredients. And we come back with Mcdonald's. The chef's gonna what's the chef gonna say What

9:47can I do with that? What kind of goodness is in that? And yeah, don't get me wrong. It's not

9:53just Mcdonald's before I get sued or something like that. I'm just giving it as an example of A healthy

10:00meal. And there is healthy versions of Mcdonald's. There is a salad and all that from it. But we know

10:06processed food is not that brilliant because the body has to do more processing. It has to literally get rid

10:14of the nitrates and all those other things in the food in order to process it and then use it.

10:22So it's an extra layer. Whereas if you're eating more organic and healthier food without all the nitrates and all

10:28those things, suddenly they're like, okay, we've got brilliant food here. The chefs, I can really cook up something with

10:35this. I don't need to steam it or do all the other things with it beforehand. I can just get

10:42on and use it and repair the body. And it's the same as the doctor. The doctor wants decent x-ray

10:47machines. They want decent materials, decent creams, decent medicine, nothing like that. It's not... It's

10:56literally you give your soldiers just what they need in order to repair. And we very often don't do it.

11:01And that this little simple metaphor makes me think, am I doing the right thing today? But don't get me

11:09wrong, I don't always do the right thing. But it helps me to lean towards doing the right thing. Regular

11:15exercise. Strengthening the ability to fight and repair. Just exercise. Getting them going. Exercising

11:23them and things like that really helps, I think. Not quite sure how, but it does apparently. Mindfulness and meditation.

11:31Calming practices to support these healing soldiers. Allowing optimal function. So during the day, if you spent two

11:39or three minutes out, just sat in your car before you go into a stressful situation or something, and you

11:44just went, let's just breathe. All those soldiers said, okay, you've just given us a little time out. Let's just

11:51go and catch up on a few things we didn't get done this morning while you're sitting there. And you

11:57just give them a little bit of leeway. You cut them a little bit of slack. And I think that's

12:03really important. That's where meditation helps people to be happier. Because these soldiers give you a feeling. If these

12:11soldiers are tired, they'll resonate that in you. You'll be tired. You'll be fed up. If they're fed up, you're

12:18fed up. It's that simple. Avoiding harmful habits. So just avoid the

12:25negative harmful habits that the soldiers have to work twice as hard with.

12:32If they've got to process the food because it's got bad stuff in it. If they've got to clean the

12:38lungs every night. If they've got to repair your cuts and bruises because you've been playing tires

12:46and in the jungle and you keep falling out of trees I don't know That's probably a terrible example but

12:52You get my point. If you end up cutting and bruising and breaking your bones, you're giving them more to

12:58do. I'm not suggesting do nothing. I'm not suggesting never have risk and go out and cut yourself. I'm just

13:06suggesting make a few more healthy choices. Help your soldiers that a little bit. You cannot complain about aches and

13:13pains and hangovers and tiredness if you're not giving your soldiers what they need to help you repair. Give them

13:20a little bit of time out. And just take care of them it's very serious Cut them a bit of

13:27slack. Appreciate them. They're getting tired and old, the same as you are. And I think with me,

13:34this metaphor just helps me to go, yeah, okay, I won't have that cigarette. I gave

13:42up smoking several times. My last time I gave up smoking was, I don't know, two, three years ago. It's

13:49not easy difficult to give up smoking. And the way I did it, if anybody's thinking about giving up smoking,

13:55and this works for everything, is don't give up.

13:59Okay, you're like, wait, what? Yeah, don't give up. I'm still a smoker today. And if I

14:07fancy a cigarette... I don't have a cigarette, but I go, look, if I still want one in an hour's

14:13time, I'll have one. And then the mind goes, oh, okay. And then it puts it out of the mind

14:19and then before you know it, three weeks later, you still haven't had one. That's what it's like for me

14:26now. But at the time when I started doing that, it stopped my brain craving it. And I could always

14:33go an hour without one. And then first of all, it was an hour and I had to do it

14:37again. I had to do it again. And then it was two hours, then five hours, then a day went

14:42by. And before you know it, you're giving up, but without the cravings so much. The

14:50cravings tend to go away if you leave it open the opportunity to have a cigarette. And you have to

14:57believe that if it gets really bad, you'll have one. But the chances are you won't. And it makes it

15:03so much easier. And that's the same with giving up everything. And if you make a mistake, you never give

15:08up anyway. So all the pressure's lifted. And this is the thing with the soldiers. They don't want the

15:16pressure. They don't need it. They've got enough to deal with. You think you're dealing with life? You imagine being

15:23your soldiers. They've got you to deal with, for Christ's sake. That's a tough one. I wouldn't like to be

15:30my soldiers. I wouldn't like to be one of them, let alone all of them. But what would my soldiers

15:35say to me today that's like you're doing all right, Stevie, but damn, slightly less takeaways. Slightly less processed food.

15:43Do a bit of exercise. A little more meditation. A little more chilling. I'm sure they would.

15:50And I'm sure they would always say that anyway, even if I done things brilliantly. There's always somewhere a little

15:58more they can do, but I can certainly help. And I think it'll make a huge difference in your life.

16:04If you just see it in this way, just cut them a bit of slack. How can you help them

16:11tonight? Is this next meal something that they can use or is it something they got to work on? I

16:18remember I don't know I remember it's really last week. But I'd done a chili eating contest. And there was

16:24about seven, eight, maybe ten of us. And I was sat there and I said to stewart from the farmer's

16:30market about 18 months ago. I said, I'll do it. Yeah, no problem. I was up for it. But it

16:35was more to take part than to win. Now, I'm sure my 18 20 year old the 30 year old

16:41self would have been there and would have suffered and would have gone through it in some kind of

16:47stupid egoic way. But I ate the first chili and that was hot. I ate the second chili and that

16:54wasn't too bad and the third one wasn't too bad. I think I said to Craig that was sat next

16:59to me I met him before. I said to him, so any tips? He said, well, just make sure you

17:04eat it all down, get on with it and Don't drink your meal too quickly. And he's never done it

17:11in the way that he starts from the coldest goes to the hottest. They normally just get a low put

17:15in front of them and the first one to eat them all. So we started with the coolest, went to

17:20the hottest. And even the guy that grew them said, look, the coolest one can sometimes be really hot.

17:28If it is, I apologize. I've never done this before. I put it in my mouth and I bit on

17:33it. And I headed down I looked at Craig. I said, that was hot. He said, yeah, that was unusually

17:39hot. In his accent he was and I was like quite relieved by that then because I thought if this

17:46is the lowest one, I'm never going to make three. But the next two weren't too bad. And I bottled

17:53out of it then. I stopped. And I could have gone more, but I didn't. And I'll tell you why.

18:00The audience were there. There must have been about 10,000 people. No, there was about, I don't know, 30. But

18:07I'm not one to exaggerate. But, what did I say? I can't remember what I said now. Oh yeah, the

18:14compare come over to me and said, okay, are you gonna bottle it? I said, I'm out of it. And

18:19I'll tell you why. It's because I care about my carers more than I do my ego. And I got

18:26quite a big cheer from the crowd then that was quite nice. He did come back a little bit later,

18:30because I stayed there for encouragement for the rest part of the fact that I didn't know where else to

18:34go and sit, actually. There was no room. But he did come back, and he said, are you regretting coming

18:40out of it? I said, no, not at all, because I care about my bum. And I thought about it.

18:45And years ago, I would have allowed my ego to get the better of me. But I thought about my

18:51soldiers. I thought about the carers. I thought about my internal things. What would I have gained if I went

18:58to seven or eight? I would have suffered. But what would I have got from it? I would I probably

19:05wouldn't have won it. And even if I won it, there was nothing to win apart from, yeah, there we

19:09go. I can eat the world's hottest chili. What

19:13does it give you? It didn't give me anything. But what this did give me is freedom them from suffering.

19:20And I've shown the crowd that I'm not driven by my ego. I'm quite a sensible person. And a few

19:28people come up to me afterwards and said, do you know what? That was a sensible you You're probably the

19:33most sensible one on the stage. I'm not sure about that, but it was certainly better than suffering. Okay,

19:41that story went on way too long for. This single podcast, but it's a point. Look after your soldiers.

19:48Cut them a bit of slack. And when you're making decisions now, just think about it. How are my soldiers

19:55gonna react to this? What are they gonna be thinking tonight when they have their meeting, when they work out

20:00what they gotta do tonight when you're asleep? Have they gotta repair your lungs again? Have they gotta repair your

20:07liver again? It's no wonder you're not feeling great in the morning. And I know many of you doing amazing

20:13anyway. Just do a bit more amazing with your... For your soldiers sake. Your little warriors

20:21that are all down there helping. So... I'm gonna say thank you to Deb, Murtha and Jenna

20:29and three other anonymous. You can help out towards the podcast if you would like. I've put all the links

20:36under one place. StevenWebb.uk with a V. The link is in the podcast underneath the show.

20:43And you can also sign up to the Weekly Calm newsletter. Leave a review. Whatever you want to do. But

20:51most of all, look after your soldiers. I love you. You are awesome. Have an amazing week.