ERWIN VALENCIA

General notes

• Positive Psychology – Peter O’Sullivan – Healing Pain Podcast link
• Positive Psychology – Martin Seligman – Ted Talk and Action For Happiness youtube link
• Stretching – Aaron Mattes – website
• Pittsburgh Pirates – Major League Baseball Team – official website
• New York Knicks – official website
• Tom Brady – wikipedia
• Russell Wilson – wikipedia
• Taekwondo definition – wikipedia
• The Celistine Prophecy Book – James Redfield – amazon
• The Alchemist book – Paulo Coelho – amazon
• The Power of Nunchi book – Euny Hong – amazon
• Erwin on Jay Shetty’s Huffington Post Show – youtube link
• Headspace app – website
• The Galleon Trade – website explanation
• Filipinos on coach after flood – youtube link

Blue Light

• Blue light has a dark side – article link

Cherry Juice

• Tart Cherry Juice in Athletes – literature link
• Pilot Study of Tart Cherry Juice for the Treatment of Insomnia and Investigation of Mechanisms – literature link

Essential Oils and Sleep

• What are the benefits of aromatherapy? – article link
• The effects of aromatherapy essential oil inhalation on stress, sleep quality and immunity in healthy adults – article link
• Effects of Aromatherapy on Sleep and Cognitive Function in the Elderly – article link
• Effects of aromatherapy on sleep quality and anxiety of patients – article link
• Sleep Better With These 7 Essential Oils – article link

Positive Psychology

• What is Positive Psychology & Why is It Important? – article link
• What is Positive Psychology? A Definition + 3 Levels of Positive Psychology – article link
• Martin Seligman – His view on Positive Psychology and its history – article link

NBA and Mental Wellness

• Mindhealth – website
• Kevin Love Mental Health – To Anybody Going Through It – article link
• NBA adopts new rules requiring teams to add full-time mental health staff for 2019-2020 season – article link

Athlete’s and their personal performance teams

• Meet star quarterback Russell Wilson’s mental conditioning coach – article link
• NBA coaches applaud trend of players working out with trainers in offseason – article link
• Private Trainers Workout – article link
• LeBron James’ Personal Trainer Is 1 of Many Health Investments – article link

ERWIN VALENCIA

Erwin 00:00

I’ve always loved positive psychology and one of my things is always, I always want to learn from the source. And I know this resonates with you completely too. In order for me to get better at the bi psycho/social approach of physiotherapy, which is really combining this almost coaching to then treatment situation I wanted to learn from the best, the godfather or that person that really created this for the chronic injury situation in sport and that was Peter O’Sullivan all the way out in Perth, Australia. And I said, the only way I can really be better at how this is done is by spending time with him. So, I got my butt on a flight all the way to Perth, Australia, hopped on this little Jetstar plane from Sydney to Perth, which was uncomfortable for five hours. And then got there and spent a week there even though I didn’t get a lot of time with him every day because of confidentiality it made me learn how he did things, and just watching and being an observer. And you know, there were times that I’d have to wake up at five in the morning, because there was a stretching guru named Aaron Mathis, who was in Sarasota, Florida, that happened to be working only half an hour from where I was working as a baseball, athletic trainer, a young baseball athletic trainer. And I called him up and said, hey, look, I’m a new athletic trainer with the Pirates here in Florida. I was wondering if I could learn from you because I know you’re like, you know, you’d be creating the best stretching programme in the planet. And I was wondering if I could go and he goes, well, if you’re willing to wake up and be here by 5am, I’d be happy to have you. So, I think for me, it’s so important for me to learn from the source and so when positive psychology really came into my life, because I’ve always been in personal growth and professional development, and a lot of it had to do with the spirituality space. But as you and I both know, in order to really impact and create the change we want as relates to the corporations, as it relates to bigger organisations of athletics, you have to have the science to back it up.

Ben 01:58

Yeah

Erwin 01:59

And the data to back it up. And so, as I’ve constantly been on a search for what, how I can bring all this thought process of emotion and spirituality into those areas I found myself getting into the programme at the University of Pennsylvania, that started positive psychology. You know, Martin Seligman was the godfather of positive psychology. And it was it was the newest branch of psychology that started really 20/30 years ago. So, I was so fascinated by the ability to be able to have the science to back everything that I personally am and how I live because everyone was like “How are you so happy all the time? What’s your secret sauce?” And I said, well, because I grew up like this, because my culture said, but then can you explain that? And then not until I started the programme at Penn, it allowed me to understand who I am from a scientific manner.

Ben 02:48

Yeah, that’s fascinating. At the very start of that, you mentioned the Pirates, and we’re talking about the Pittsburgh Pirates who are a major league baseball team. And I guess that was your first break into professional sport, you were with the minor league teams to start with. And then you kind of had a year with those guys travelling around in the minor leagues. And now you know, we’re, we’re talking you’re five minutes away I guess from the New York Knicks training base. And you’ve been with the Knicks, since what 2014?

Erwin 03:14

2014

Ben 03:15

You’ve had different roles there, moved up the system and your official role now is Head of Wellness?

Erwin 03:22

My official title really is team physiotherapist, team physical therapist. But I also do the lead as it relates to the wellness side of things. So, I’m the liaison to our peak performance specialist who really does a lot he’s, he’s amazing, Dr. Swede, who is a team psychiatrist and, but also a counsellor. And so, he really in essence, is a lead on that as it relates to sleep, and mental health and mental performance. And I bring it from, from this higher aspect to more of the ground level of what are the small things we can do here with the athletes that I serve on a daily basis, from the little things whether that’s making sure everyone has blue light blocking glasses to essential oils to just reminding them to take their cherry juice so they can sleep earlier. So, and sharing meditation and mindfulness tips on the daily and by being in it just by simply being it allows them to see of how I live and then hopefully it inspires them to live better too.

Ben 04:24

And is your position then quite a unique one or would you say some of the other teams are also kind of have moved in that direction as well?

Erwin 04:31

It’s a pretty unique situation. We because of the fact it’s not an official title, it’s not something that you
that is really commonplace in the league right now. But I think there’s always going to be this one person that’s a bit of a rebel I guess and each team that is more open to things and it doesn’t necessarily have to be in the essential oils, meditation mindfulness base, but also it could be maybe from a technique of exercise programme that is a little bit different so that pushing the boundaries forward. So, from my personal standpoint and what I personally do, yes, it’s very unique. But as it relates to the innovators that are around the league, there are many. And I think the NBA as a league, in general, is one of most innovative in the world, because we like to push the boundaries. And I’m you know, and we see that from the fact that they put value in mental health, and you created a mental health council, one of the first ones, I think, in any of the major sports here, but also to consideration the fact that they wanted to hear from the athletes and because it is a player-run, sport or player-run league if there’s any challenges that most of the athletes would have, there are community managers that are part of each team, that almost like community development, or personal development or community development, where it’s not their job, their task is not only to talk about the charity events, and have them show up at places, but rather also see how their personal lives are doing outside the court. And not to meddle in it or anything. It’s like, for example, just like, hey, I, you know, one of the place needs a chef, you know, who is the best chef for this person, and not just anybody, but we can vet and say, okay, this would be a good one or B; what are the activities or places around the new home that they just purchased, so to speak, that are as good will be good for their families, so that then it takes off the stress of the athlete, himself to worry about this, but then there’s somebody else taking care of it in the back end. I think what is different as well, in this sport, compared to many other sports is that a lot of our guys have their own people, whether it’s their massage therapist, whether it’s their mental health or mental performance person, whether it’s, you know, a trainer or workout person, they work with a lot of the athletes because there are a smaller population of athletes have their own teams behind them. And I think that is that was definitely popularized by basketball players. I think there are some football players that have that as well, American football players. But that’s and baseball. Yes, but baseball is a sport and hockey or sports that are very team oriented, and less individual. So, there’s less of that most of it is like groups when those teams but in basketball, a lot of them have their own teams that back them up. And like I said, in football, it’s few and far between you obviously have the Russell Wilson’s and the Tom Brady’s that have their own crew behind them. But it’s, it’s, that’s more a rarity, than a norm while in the NBA that’s the norm.

Ben 07:43

When I look at your schedule, compare it to, you know, soccer over here, or rugby. And there’s 30 to 40 fixtures, maybe in rugby season, you guys what I’ve watched your regular seasons 80 plus games.

Erwin 07:54

80 to 82 games

Ben 07:56

So, recovery is kind of shorts, it’s like you’ve got what, three, four games a week, I suppose at that point, then it’s just, there’s less time to recover to be at your best, what would be the biggest issue that you’d have with that amount of games in that amount of time that you’re playing? One of the things that I noticed quite a lot in the in the consultancy that I do around a lot of the Olympic sports is there is an increasing awareness around overwork and load. So load. I mean, I’d love to know what your definition of but to the people listening, it’s really just how much, how much work you’re, you’re putting in and that mix between training loads and playing loads. Have you seen that as well that there’s more awareness now that you perhaps you don’t need to train as hard or as much as previously thought?

Erwin 08:11

You would think that the physical aspect would be the most challenging, but really, it’s the mental aspect. It’s the same thing every day, it’s Groundhog Day. And guys will show up and like oh, we’re playing again. And then oh, they sleep, and they wake up oh, we’re playing again. Oh asleep. And then oh, we’re playing again. It never ends. It literally is a constant hamster wheel that doesn’t stop until you reach September and you’re like, are we going to make the playoffs or not? And then it becomes a little different because now you’re playing the team more often. And you’re seeing them a lot. So, you can adjust because you see them that often. But having this throughout the season is definitely very challenging mentally because not only do you have to go through this hamster wheel, you’re also missing the people that you love. And if you have a family, and you know, it’s challenging for you to see them because sometimes we could be on the road for like 20 days in a row. So, it’s mentally gruelling, mentally gruelling, because it’s an everyday piece even though you feel hurt, you feel sad, do you feel whatever because it’s a loss or physically because of pain that you’re feeling? Guess what you’re back at again tomorrow. Yes, that’s an amazing question. We’ve seen and what the science has now shown is that as you want to almost do most of the work in the preseason, the changes you have to create with your body, the toughness you have to make sure your mind is ready for has to be done in the preseason. Because when the in-season programme start, it’s about cruising, you don’t need to start, continue lifting heavy weights, you don’t need to try to exhaust yourself running and stuff. Because the expectation is you’ve already done that prior to, so that you’re prepared for the battle itself, you know, while you prepare for it, and we’re definitely looking at is the observation because of the data that’s now been collected in the past really 10 years, has shown that, you know, you don’t want to force the hardships on a daily basis, but rather listen and save your energy really, for the games. And most of the data has shown that obviously fatigue when there’s a lot more fatigue then you have higher susceptibility to injury, and what it’ll all the body will do is find the weakest link, and even though you trained your butt off in the preseason, once you get that level of fatigue, instead of you being able to catch yourself, let’s say for example, you go up for a layup you land on that one foot, when you’re playing from a full cup, mind, body and spirit, you can land that foot pretty well, because you’ll be aware that you’re going to be landing on it. But when you’re absolutely fatigued, and you go up and you land, and there’s going to be a period of time that say, “Hey, can I hold myself back on that one foot? Or do I give in to it?” Because now you’re questioning yourself because of the fatigue that you’re getting both mentally and physically? And that’s the difference, I think now that we’re seeing is that from a standpoint of respecting what that fatigue is like, and in a sense saving for the games?

Ben 11:34

So, at the beginning, in preseason, if you’ve got some tests, I don’t know, what sort of tests would you do vertical jumps, stuffs and power tests?

Erwin 11:41

Yeah, there’s a whole bunch of tests that we do, anything that goes in every multiple direction that check cardio, heart rate variability, and everything else. I mean, it’s a total barrage, total barrage.

Ben 11:52

And would you then, when you get those results in preseason, you don’t really expect nor really want and head coaches would feel aligned at this, on them to suddenly improve and all their scores. It’s all about maintenance and wellness and keeping them fit for the games?

Erwin 12:08

Well, there’s a certain standard that they need to get to whether, you know, what are the levels that are not only acceptable but also what are the levels that are above acceptable? And how can we keep this gold standard. And so if you need to push the athlete in that back end of camp, so to speak, in order for them to reach those goals, then you want them to reach those goals, because you want them to know, to know that they can get there, so that by the season start, they’re not doubting themselves because they’re able to get to know the part where that they’ve reached the standard, the question is asked, why is that increase of one rep max important to you? And begins with that? What is that going to prove? Will getting that one rep max in the middle of the season, have you a better chance of scoring? Will that one rep max, have you show or prove the fact that you have a better chance of being able to outrun your competition, if it doesn’t have a purpose, then why you’re doing it? We kind of have a saying the best athlete is an available athlete. And if the athlete is not available, because he’s trying to push the envelope, as opposed to his physical stress, and he’s not available, then he’s no use to the team. So, I think that’s something that should be considered from the beginning on and visit the discussions that are had prior to even camp coming about prior to you and the athletes arriving into the city is saying “Okay, what Who are we? And what is our identity as a staff? And how can we all do this?” Our goal is in the end, to win a championship. So, what what are the best courses that we can do in order for us to get one step closer to what that goal is?

Ben 13:46

You know, we haven’t talked too much yet about meditation and mindfulness. And I know how
important it is to you. And I’d love to know what that first step into it was, and how do you embed that in a professional team to show them that it actually makes a difference?

Erwin 14:01

Let’s start from the beginning. My meditation journey and my mindfulness and meditation journey
started at the age of seven, through martial arts, I was very lucky to have a father that was a big martial artist, always remember and I still to this day, have it burned in my memory, the image of my father in a brown belt at his dojo in Japan while he was going to business school there, you know, and I looked at that, and I always asked my dad, “why did you ever get a black belt?” And he goes, “Well, I had to really leave school. I was graduated from Business School, and, and I couldn’t continue because then I would have to live in Japan, and your mother and I wanted to have you in America, in a sense. And so, I had to go to America for on-the-job training post, you know, post graduate job training at a Japanese company in New York City. And I couldn’t continue my karate practice. So unfortunately, I was not able to complete my black belt before I left, and hence the reason why that photo is what it is because I’m a brown belt.” So, I was always inspired, not only to be a martial artist that my father was, but to beat him and actually be a black belt. So. So that was actually one of my ultimate goals at a young age. And so, it started with dabbling into karate dabbling into Judo, I think different kinds of martial arts until I found Taekwondo, which, ironically, was not Japanese, like the karate that my dad took, but rather Korean and had more legs to it. And, you know, I started getting every time you start with Taekwondo, you start with silence, you start with meditation, you start with stillness, and you just find quiet and, and at that age, you’re like, “Am I supposed to be thinking about things? Am I supposed to just zone things out? Am I supposed to be looking at something white?” because it’d be like, okay, close your eyes. That’s all you would get, close your eyes and focus. And you’re like, close your eyes, and you’re like, what am I closing my eyes for? But then that innate struggle inside me, helped me just form the lessons I needed to learn for myself. And at such a young age, you’re just like, am I supposed to be there. Like, what am I supposed to do with this? Like, I don’t know what to do, like, okay, I think I’m just gonna, like, chill here, figure this out. And when I was 12 years old, I got my black belt. I started martial arts, but seven, eight, and I was very adamant about continuing to get the black belt, probably when I was nine years old. So, it took me about three years until I finally got my black belt, the age of 12. And the moment I got my black belt, my sensei was, was like, “Oh now you’re officially a black belt. Now you can start teaching the class on your own”. And so okay, cool. So next Saturday, you can start the class and the class was like at 10 o’clock to 12. And that day I showed up at like, 9:45 9:30, I was ready. I was a 12-year-old kid, and I had students that were like, 18, some were four or five years old. Some were 18 saying this kid is going to teach us. But then I’ve already been there for a while. So, I was his protege. And then my sensei didn’t show up till about 11 o’clock, until it was sparring time. So, I had to learn how to teach a class by watching him by subbing sometimes and then really doing on my own, like, I was creating my own event, like I was an event production company, teaching a class and I was 12. But it began with meditation. And for me, from the struggles I had learning how to meditate, it was that I was like, Okay, now I want you guys to like, find your quiet and just focus on that. And literally it was like as simple as that I didn’t really walk them through. It wasn’t a guided meditation. It wasn’t like channeling your inner being and here’s some incense as I douse it all over, you’re not it was a stay still don’t move, especially the smaller kids. Just focus

Ben 17:48

What for you then where did that was that where you got your first kind of moment where you saw the value in it, and you wanted to continue to use it, learn a bit more about it, and then spread the news about it?

Erwin 17:59

For me it really when I was given practical tools of how to use it. That’s when it became real for me. At the age of 14, I was sitting down in my breakfast table with my family. And I saw this newspaper article in the Manila Bulletin, which is the biggest newspaper in the Philippines. It was an eighth sliver in this newspaper, it says get better grades, increase your brain power. And I was like, Oh, the Silva method. I was like, Oh, cool. I need to try that. I mean, I was already an A student to begin with, but then how can I make, how can I be better cuz I had my classmates that were way smarter than me. Way more intelligent. You know, I was more practical, but they were way more intelligent. And so, what we did is that then then I wanted to go to this course I called up and it says, Hey, is this happening this weekend? Yes, well, I don’t have the money. When are you guys doing this again? Probably do it next year. And I asked my parents, can you front me the money and they’re like, no, you have to earn it. And so, I had to wait the year until a year later to get back and apply for this programme. Because it took me Christmas time to do my little song and dance with my hat, put it down so that every reunion me and my family had, I put my hat down and I started dancing and singing for them. Because I wanted to make enough money to be able to pay for this time. You know, the course was probably like 50 or 60 dollars it really wasn’t that much. But for a 12, 13-year-old. You know, that was that was heap. So, you know, my mom would only give me like maybe, you know 20 here’s 20 you have to figure out how to get the rest and so I had the hustle and if entertainment was my hustle I had to entertain so and I had to entertain and go straight to my grandparents and be like hey So did you like my show? I want more than that dollar bill I want I want five you know you know whatever so that’s the way I kind of went about it and when I finally got to the Silva method my mom’s like it’s a cult? Are you joining a cult? Like no Mom, it’s gonna get me. It’s just it’s just make me train my brain so I get better grades. Ah, well if it gets you better grades, as Asian mom and Asian dad would be like, Okay, are you okay, we’ll just drop you off. So, they dropped me off at Intercontinental Hotel in Makati in Manila and that’s where kind I went to class, I did it on the weekends, I think I did two, three weekends there, or maybe, you know, two, three or four weekends. I don’t remember how long we went there. But it was a bunch of kids, we were all young. And, you know, I learned how to mind map, I learned how to visualise and when visualising yet. And then and then I had to like I learned how to find ways to get into this meditative state, like quickly so that I can snap my fingers and be able to get there immediately. Because I already created this vision of how to get there, this roadmap for myself. I learned ways to kind of harness this power when you’re in an awkward position, like standing on stage needing the speech, but putting your three fingers together, because you’ve already done the work to get you through this flow state. This quickly. And I was learning this age 14. And so that helped me because it gave me practical tools. It’s not just about sitting there and being still, but how can you apply it. And that’s what really was the biggest gift. And then at the age of 16, one of my dear friends in high school, gave me this book that was just released. And that book was called the Celestine Prophecy and Celestine Prophecy made me see the spiritual side of life through the lens of an adventure. And I’ve always been an adventurer a traveller at such a young age to be able to read a book that brings you through the Amazon rain forest and then searching for these insights which are taken from the Dead Sea Scrolls, Dead Sea Scrolls that the church has tried to stop from everyone learning it’s obviously fictional. But the lessons behind it the most important lesson I learned there is that which is insight number three, I think which coincidences occur for a reason. So, stop and listen to them and take a moment to listen to that message. And I think a lot of my life and the magic of manifestation has occurred in my life, because I’ve listened to the coincidences that occur and people who I bump into, I take a moment to see what value they have in my life and what value I have in theirs and like I said, I think where it’s now led to, it’s allowed me to listen more, to be a better clinician, to then also listen to be a better human being, not just to my athletes, but my friends and saying, Okay, if me talking about meditation freaks you out? How can we put it in words, so that then you will be able to say, “Hey, I’m going in with you.”? And what I’ve learned by understanding and listening to my athletes is that if you put it in a semantic or a word that makes them feel more empowered, like breathing, then you’ll have more buy in, if you find a medium that allows them to see you more and be able to do it on their own, so that nobody sees them, then you apply that if we all we’re all trying to do meditation, in our in our, in our room in our like our big meeting rooms, and everyone feels awkward about it. They’re not really into that yet, because they don’t know what it’s like. So, connect with an app company like Headspace. And I call Andy Pedigo, who started Headspace and say, How can we? How can we use this so that our athletes in sport can be able to have a source a resource outside of the realm we’re in. And that allowed for some of the athletes to say, “Hey, this is what meditation is, I want to do it on my own and not be judged by my other teammates first”. And so that has been a blessing, not just from that aspect, using technology, but also using the breath as a tool to get into meditation.

Ben 23:29

One thread that I have throughout your career has been this curiosity, you seem to be actively curious to find not always the better way to do things, but also a different way that there isn’t always one way. Where do you think you got that from?

Erwin 23:45

You know, what I don’t know. But it is inherently it’s my number one-character strength, my
appreciation, appreciation of beauty and excellence, through you know, the scientific questionnaires that I put myself in is my number one-character trait, is that I find beauty in everything. And I find excellence in everything. So, then I asked myself, how can I be beautiful? And how can I be excellent. And so that pushes me forward. And that curiosity that is the curiosity that I have. When I think that comes from number one being the eldest child in my family, but also being the older brother is say, how can I make it better and go through it so that then my siblings or the people I take care of will have an easier path to get there?

Ben 24:29

That’s the servant leader in you. Yeah. And that’s always been something that I guess you put at the forefront of everything you do like I think I read some way you did a few years ago with Jay Shetty on the Huffington Post. And I think it was rise. He talked about you know, everything you do is with purpose. Is that something that you then tried to share and encourage other people to think more about that, making sure that every moment counts and that what you do you know, you should do things with real purpose and clarity…

Erwin 25:00

Yeah, intentionality. It’s about being mindful about the choices that you make that have consequences, both good and bad. And so, being aware of those before making those choices allows you to take a pause for a moment and say, What will this choice change for me? And what good will come out of it? And do I want that good out of it? Or do I want something else out of it. And so I think, as I’ve gotten older, as well, and I’ve been exposed to more people who are utterly amazing, like yourself, I almost never miss a chance to learn, because each person has a lesson to teach you just like the Celestine Prophecy talked about at the beginning when I read when I was 16, which then brought me on this journey where every time I do something, even when I travel, I don’t just travel and sit down on the beach and lay down there and try to get burned. If I ever go to the beach, I’m going to jump in the ocean, because why? It refreshes my soul. And I need to taste this salt water in my lips, and feel it in my body. Because I’m an Islander, I’m a Filipino and, and we need the sense of the beach to get sticky, because that’s, that’s who I am in my DNA. And so, I have to do that. If I go into a networking event, I’ll go in there, so to speak, and say, okay, who are the people here, and which stories do I want to listen to? That isn’t wasting my time, and I’m not wasting theirs? Because as you and I both know, we can go to these conferences, and you don’t really find resonance with some people and like, ask yourself, what are you doing here. And that gut feeling inside of you says like, just go already, because there’s really nothing that’s making you stay there unless as you are about to leave, somebody stops you. And that becomes the one person that actually makes the whole conference for you. So, but it’s about being listening to that, listen to yourself, so that you can take care of yourself, but also listening to the messages that around you, which then allows you to be more purposeful with everything that you do.

Ben 26:54

And you talked also a little bit earlier about manifestation. And how important that is, could you just maybe describe that a little bit more to the listeners on what you see manifestation and how they can use it in a positive manner.

Erwin 27:11

Manifestation is the third ingredient of my three steps to success in life, I was asked right when I got the job in the NBA, by a Filipino reporter that flew from the Philippines and asked me “What’s a message you can have to the kids back home” and it literally came out of my mouth without even me thinking about it. And I said, visualise it, prepare for the path, and then manifest it. And I’ll break that down. Because I would say initially, visualise it, have utmost clarity with what you want, be purposeful, be intentional. By doing that, it allows you to set yourself up to know that you’ve cleared everything out. And you have one goal to attain. And by allowing that goal to be seen and heard it you are able to throw it out to the universe and say, Okay, I know what I want. And I know it from my inner being that that’s what I want, because not only will it make me happy, because there’s a purpose for it. And for me, it was to inspire millions of Filipinos back home. Second, prepare for the path. In order for you to have fulfil that dream is not only visualising and having absolute clarity, but also doing the work buying that lottery ticket, instead of just hoping that the ticket arrives and you win a million dollars for this week, actually buying the ticket, putting the work in, putting yourself in situations where you’re challenged, putting yourself where you’re uncomfortable learning from the ground up, you know, for me, it was learning how to make Gatorade in these gigantic vats, that you bring it out at five in the morning out to the field before the sun even comes out so that it’s set up before the players arrive. It’s about you know, staying in late, and having to write the notes because you want to make sure that when you wake up in the morning, you don’t have to do these notes that you didn’t finish. It’s about being the person who’s last in line and not getting any money. Because you want to be able to prove yourself and saying I’m maybe an intern, but I want to show them what why I am who I am. And I’ve already taken a pay cut because my education skill level are actually way beyond this. But I wanted to prove that I can deal with this. I’m not some posh kid that says that just because of education, that I deserve everything. I need you to show that I deserve it. And so this is what happened with the Pirates, you know, I was already overqualified and the Pirates even said I was well overqualified for my first job even as a minor league athletic trainer because I was already a physical therapist, I was already athletic trainer, I already was a strength coach, and I was already a manual therapist. And I was working in a clinic in New York City and I said, but the only way for me to be able to get into sports and the foot in the door is to start from the bottom because I will never get respected otherwise. And so that’s what I believe is necessary. Take the steps, don’t skip it. Learn from your mistakes and grow accordingly. And if you’re worried that you’re not gonna to be successful, guess what the research says that 85% of things that we worry about actually don’t occur. And all those 15% that actually does occur, it’s not as bad as it is. And it becomes mainly a growing point in life. So really the bad things that happen in life, are maybe point 1% in reality of things. So, so that’s the second step. And the third step is manifestation. I think sometimes we push so much, because hey, we were clear, hey, we worked hard. We studied; we went to university with everything we did. Now I deserve it. I deserve to get this. And the moment you say that the universe says, No, you don’t. Because you think that your ego is making you prove that you’re supposed to. But in reality, it’s your humility, and the service that you give to others that will then allow you to let the universe listen and say, Hey, you know what, it’s now the time that you deserve it. And I think most of the younger generation who live in this immediate recognition world, this, this world of where we want that instant gratification, have a hard time pausing, and allowing the universe to work for them. And so, they show ego all the time, without having to prove the work that they’ve done. And so, it’s important for me to tell people that say, hey, look, just do you, be you? And then trust me, the universe will speak up for you, you know, Paolo Coelho and the Alchemist who say, you know, you, you know, the universe will always transpire to do what you want.

Ben 31:25

And I love that book. Yeah, I mean, there’s a couple of things that popped up in my head on the on the second stage, I guess that you that you talk about some of the stuff where you’re just going to have to earn, you know, work to gain the knowledge and everything else. Where’s that drive come from? How can you help someone get more mentally resilient or focused on their goals?

Erwin 31:49

Yeah, so you’ve tapped into the right word, resilience. Resilience is I think, the key to really success as it relates particularly to the later stages, because resilience is going to be needed when you’ve already done the work. And you’re still not getting that gig, you’re still not able to, to be seen by your dream employer, so to speak. And so, it’s resilience that helps you continue on with the path, despite the limiting beliefs and doubts that’s creeping in your head, that you’re not worthy. That comes I think, for me, and I, you know, for me, from the Filipino culture, the Philippines, was always the, because of where we were situated as a country. It was the most strategic place for every major powerhouse in the world at any given period of time in the history of man to occupy. And you know, Spain did that for 333 years because it was a great gateway to Asia. And the galleon trade was based out there. And I did a whole segment about the galleon trade in one of my talks, because it was so fascinating to me, the relationship between Spain, Mexico, and the Philippines and, and Cuba along the way. And it allowed me to just have a better understanding as I researched this even more of how we all want a better life. And in the Philippines, there’s so many Filipinos there is 100 million Filipinos plus in the Philippines and 23 million in Manila alone. How do we make ourselves different from each other? but also how do we make sure that people in our family are taken care of. And so that resilience comes from the fact that, you know, we were a culture of not only constantly occupied, but also trying to understand who we are on a regular basis? Because we were occupied so much that like, are we Spanish? Are we Asian? Are we English? Because the English came in as well? Are we Dutch? Are we you know, what, where are we? And so, I think it’s very reflective of the food. You know, Filipino food is one of the first ever true fusion food because of the mixture of things because there’s things coming from Male and the Male and the Polynesians. It there’s so many mixtures of things. And I think that constant struggle for identity, even to this day, is what makes us resilient. And the number of typhoons and natural disasters that hit us because of our strategic point in the world, where the Pacific Ocean right next to us, we’re the first barrier, we’re pretty much the sandbar for the rest of Asia. So, we get hit. And then everyone else is like, Thailand is better, and Singapore is better, but we get hit already. And that comes from the fact that every year once we once we get hit by these typhoons, yes, they’re suffering, yes, there’s challenge. But Filipinos are one of the only culture where no matter how devastating life is, we always managed to find a smile on our face and find the fun things. You’ll see these videos of these guys during a massive flood that happened in the past typhoon in the beginning of the year, or the end of last year where they would find a couch and they got a couple of oars and they were swimming around in this couch. They use this couch as a life raft, but they were drinking beers.

Ben 34:58

Some of that resonates with me because My time in Fiji, we obviously have we have a cyclone season as well. And in my last year, just a few months before I finished we had Cyclone Winston, it was the biggest Cyclone to hit the southern hemisphere. And it was still the second biggest in recorded history. And a third of the villages were wiped out and a third of the boys that I was coaching there, their houses were destroyed. And as an Englishman, when you know, I’m sitting here in southwest London, if we have an electricity blackout for about 30 seconds, the entire, you know, Southwest London are up in arms about how something might have gone wrong for a couple of seconds. But in Fiji, I was just amazed that when I saw those boys, a few days later, they were all upbeat and happy and smiling. And they were like, well, you know, if we’ve got to live with our cousins for a few months, before we can save enough money to start rebuilding again, then that’s okay, that’s cool. And their ability to live in the present is something that we you know; we struggle with in the first world. Because often, you know, the negatives were, that they, if they don’t know what’s in something might not be there tomorrow. So, make the most of it today. That’s that’s great as far as being very, very grateful for what you have in the present, not so good if there’s a free bar perhaps or, or there’s a theirs, there’s a you know, you’re down, you’re down in a hotel for brunch, and a lot of food can go sideways pretty quickly. And there’s not a lot of people with that have too many pensions in Fiji either. But that ability to stay in the present was something that I thought was so valuable in what they did in life and in sports, they didn’t hang on too hard to loss. And they played the game in the present. They weren’t too worried about you know, the future. So, they have a high-risk high paced game. And because they enjoyed it. And I often thought that that was one of the strengths. And that’s what gave them this mindfulness without them knowing it that the whole nation had this mindfulness. Would you say that that’s also reason that you had that coming from the Philippines for exactly the same reasons?

Erwin 37:01

I think so. I mean, you talk mindfulness in the Philippines, and people will think you’re a weird guy that’s trying to start a cult. But when in fact, it’s something that we already have, it’s trying to figure out there was the word is a, I think it was Mooney, Mooney, Mooney, it’s the constant thought, way of thinking of thought. So, my friend, actually, about eight years ago, or maybe nine years ago, started a company or a blog call, or in a community called, called Mooney. And Mooney living means being mindful. And that’s not just mindfulness from an aspect of the body and taking care of ourselves. But her goal was more about being mindful about the trash and the environment. She was, you know, she was big on the environment. So, she started a blog about how to be mindful, what would waste with electricity with all that stuff? And what how to act, not necessarily from a health and wellness perspective. And at the time, I didn’t really understand what she meant by that, because like, from what my understanding what mindfulness is about this more psychological and more health wise, and she did it from that aspect of environmental but then it’s a natural trade we already have in the islands of where we’re more mindful of when we go into, let’s say, a party, that we don’t know who the host is of the party, we have tact we kind of figure out first, like we weave our way down, I’d say okay, who is the who’s the host of the room? And how do we determine that so then they can know who we are. So, we’re not a stranger. Or we’ll ask somebody “Hey, can you introduce us to the host of the room because this is not, we just got here we are a guest”. And funny enough that same thought process is also something called ‘noon ci’ in Korean, the power of ‘noon ci’ there’s a book called “The power of noon ci” where it’s about how to handle a room. But then if you’re thinking about it, isn’t that mindfulness, too? It’s like as you walk in the room, how do you handle the room? Are you do you want to be the big jokester and make a scene? Or is it not that kind of place? It’s about having tact, it’s about understanding what the room is like, what the temperature is like, and then being that person at that temperature?

Ben 39:07

Do you think you’re good at doing that? You can feel the rooms temperature when you go in
somewhere?

Erwin 39:12

Yes, I think that’s something I’m very gifted with, which I thinks for some of my friends say that. Some of my friends say that I’m a slow roast, meaning that in order for me and people to really get along, you have to get me to get to know me more. Like we have to like, spend time a couple of beers. Like, I look immediately like a guy that’s very trustable that you want to get to know. But for you to really know who I am, we need a couple of dates or coffee time hanging out with some coffee or zoom calls, just to get to know each other and there’s not there’s no malice there’s no there’s no hidden agenda, just me just wanting to get to know who you are. And I’m a slow roast and that says because then you’re never realise the stories that this body and this mind is made up in. The spirit is made up of so much. I’ve done so much in my life that I don’t tell everything to everyone right away, yet meantime, I have some friends that say, “No, dude, you walk into the room and everyone knows you’re the fun guy”. So, I’m like, but I’m not always that because I have to figure what the temperatures like if it’s a fun situation, yes, I’m the fun guy. But really, ironically, I think, if the room is already so like wild and crazy, I’m the quiet guy that comes in and grounds people because they’re so high, okay, how can I bring them down. But if the room is like that, I’m the guy’s like, “alright, where’s the drinks? What’s going on? You know?” Because I’m guess I guess I’m the balancer. I like to be the person that either brings you down or lift you up, depending on are up, I would rather say upregulates or downregulates you? Because don’t like up or down.

Ben 40:42

So, from an individual point of view, we mean, it’s balance is something we all seek, right? And if I was to then put this into a team environment, have you ever gone into before a game or in the buildup to a game have you ever sense that something’s not quite right and then there’s an opportunity then for you or for you to tell the coaches, that there’s a way to try to get that balance back?

Erwin 41:04

Yeah, that’s definitely something we’ve done, especially as relates to breath. So, depending on the mood, depending on how we feel about the team we’re competing with, then I decide what kind of breath we’re gonna do. Are we doing grounding breath to let you know, it’s, it’s why you feel so anxious? So how can we reign you back to being this present moment. We do a fast breath to kind of if you’re sluggish, you’re tired, you feel like you can’t compete. Okay, let’s do some fast activation breath to get you up regulated, or how about we just, we just like, take a moment to get you calm, like not even grounded, where you’re grounded and ready, but really rested. Like on the flip side, you know, some breath work that allows you to be like breathwork and meditation allows you to just like, okay, I’m exhausted now, I just need to like, I’m so upregulated and high from all the input that I need to just calm down. So, it really depends, and I’ve been able to use breath, because if I like I said, if I use the word meditation, it sometimes doesn’t come off well to many people. But if I say breath, and everyone knows, and I always preface this by saying, breath is the first thing that you are gifted with, when you’re first born into this world, and breath is the last thing that the universe takes from you before you leave this world.

Ben 42:19

It’s a good way to put it as well, because I’m sure you I’m sure you’ve seen sometimes, you know, the defences come up, when you start talking about mindfulness or meditation in elite sport sometimes and that reframing it like that will get buy in and then I guess once they understand the value of it, then it’s, then you’ve got some collective ownership around it. Would you also bring that into even the smallest skills? So, I’m thinking of something like a three point, sorry, a free throw, to be able to, you know, to calm someone down… do they have individual then stuff that they’ll do in those moments?

Erwin 42:51

Yep, yep. It’s reminding them to breathe. It’s like I scream from the back and be like, don’t forget to breathe. I just don’t know where to begin. If they rush it and miss a free throw they sit down and be like, you forgot to breathe? And he goes, Yeah, I know. That’s why I rushed, and it didn’t go in. Because by finding yourself present you’re committed, and see absolute clarity that the ball goes in, and if it doesn’t, then it doesn’t, but then you’re okay with it. But if you’re rushed that situation, you force because you asked yourself, why are you rushing, like you have the ball, you’re given time, you’re not staying there for two minutes. But you have five you have 10, take it, use it to rest is to catch literally catch your breath.

Ben 43:34

And you think the team have got you’ve got full buy in now by everybody. And they can see the value in do they own it? Do they own it now?

Erwin 43:40

For some of the guys, I mean, there’s some guys that are new to our team. So, they haven’t seen this from a team perspective. But rather, individually, they see them acting and these are some players that are successful, and they’ve dedicated their life now to add this tool to their arsenal, then you’ll get some of the other players going like, oh, what did he do? I want to learn that too. So, but we don’t do it as a team, group situation anymore. We did. I did it for the past two years. This year, we’re just individual if anyone needs something, and say, Hey, have you thought about pausing real quick and just taking a breath? Or have you thought about maybe like upregulating them by doing some quick breaths just to kind of wake you up?

Ben 44:18

And so, if you had if we have a coach that’s listening in on this pod and thinking, you know, I this is something that I really like to, to bring into my, into my team, what advice would you give them to start the ball rolling?

Erwin 44:28

It’s first trying to understand the importance of breath. And you can do the research. I mean, it’s out there. From a plain physiological standpoint, the more oxygen we have in our brain, the clearer we are to think. And it’s simple. So, start with that. Don’t go you don’t have to go well into the understanding of the spirituality component of things and even the science and mindfulness. Just just start with breathing. Basically focus on breathing, you already are finding yourself being more mindful, you already are going to get into a state of flow, which then you might possibly get into meditation. So just begin with breathing, man, so with all the athletes I work with, whether it’s in basketball, whether it’s in baseball, and sometimes some from the English Premier League soccer players that I’ve been blessed to, to just hang out with and spend time with, I just say, hey, how do you breathe? And they’re like, well, you mean, like, I breathe fine, I was like, Do you really? And they’re like, okay, so I just observe, and I, it doesn’t have to be something crazy. And I just say, hey, you raise your shoulders up, when you breathe. When you’re tired. You do this, you know, that makes you more tired, just physiologically and physically. And they’re like, you’re right. What about what if we just get our diaphragm just work and just breathe? And I’m not by any means a breathing guru? It’s um, not Wim Hof. I just think that it’s a tool to be able for you to be able to slowly tap into yourself, and then build a stack other tools then start improving.

Ben 45:48

One question I would love to know is from the 12 year old E that was getting his black belt in
Taekwondo to the E I’m chatting to now and the journey that you’ve had from that dojo, to here, working with some of the best athletes on the planet in one of the biggest sporting organizations on the planet, is something that you know that a constant thread all the way through that I’m going yeah, this is this is what I think is an absolutely golden signal that I’ve always had in my life. And I’m always going to continue to have to be as good as I possibly can be?

Erwin 46:23

Yeah, it’s It begins with what you probably notice when beginning it’s my curiosity. It’s my appreciation of beauty and excellence. It’s, it’s being able to use his curiosity then to gain wisdom, which perspective wisdom is my second greatest character strength was then lets me be grateful. And was my third greatest character strength. So, all, weirdly enough, when I took this test the questionnaire and I was like, Oh, my God, this is me. Like no doubt that this is exactly who I am. I was like, first of all, I should be. Gratitude is my number one. Yeah, but I think it’s not until I see the beauty in people then or of the space that I’m in that I’m like, I’m so thankful because I’m so blessed to have this opportunity just to be here in this here with you and I pause because of it. And it’s that curiosity to see not just beyond what I’m seeing, but seeing where I am now. and enjoying this exact moment that allows me then to continue to move forward and allow for the universe to help me manifest some of the greatest gifts I’ve ever received in life.

Ben

Well, when Erwin Benedict Valencia, this has been brilliant, I know how busy you are. And you know, to find time, for me is been an absolute pleasure you are this wealth of wisdom that I could talk to you about so many different things and you could go so deep on there are going to be once we put the notes out to this show there are so many little nuggets of wisdom and places that people can go to get further learning that will we’ll make sure I put in all of those notes but thank you so much for being here today.

Erwin 47:58

Absolutely. My brother. It’s my pleasure. Always anything for you.

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