In today’s episode of Hardcore MBA, Erlend talks to Tor Arne: a person Erlend met when he hit a wall. He had gone back to Norway thinking he would be successful but things didn’t work out as he had planned. Erlend describes his experience as going on a downward spiral. He then met Tor Arne, who eventually trained and mentored Erlend, through a friend.
Life, for many people, has its ups and downs. When we’re younger, we tend to be more aggressive. Tor was working in an IT company as one of its top consultant, but he got a virus that prompted him to slow down. At that time he was working hard, playing a lot of sports, being social, and partying. He wanted to be the best in everything he did. He also wanted to show his father he could do it.
But life is different and showed Tor that he needed to slow down and learn to relax.
Tor then used the next ten years to really come back to life. As a young child, he has always been interested in nature. He was familiar with a lot of mind-mapping techniques. When time came for him to do it, he followed yoga and meditation. He is currently developing himself as a bioanalytic energentic therapist, so he is aware of the whole body and is able to connect the reality to how we are being.
He then learned to listen to his body and to listen to life.
Around 2011, when Tor met Erlend, he had just started with gongs. A gong is a metal disk you hit with a mallet. It then makes sound waves that go through your body and it helps relieve pain and experience their senses in a fuller way. He is now doing a lot of things with gongs.
One of the first things Tor trained Erlend in was krama yama; a basic technique that Erlend learned and it worked for him.
Erlend was having insane stress levels. He wasn’t sleeping, he panicked easily, his heart jumped, and he had a fear of many things. Learning to breathe deeply helped Erlend manage his physical symptoms. At first, he thought it was weird. It was difficult to start doing. Tor then trained him to start doing it in 5-minute blocks.
Tor promotes good vibrations for people through bioenergetics and yoga. He believes that we need to be more vibrant and alive. The results come from openness.
Pranayama is about breathing and controlling our breath, the source of our prana, which is the vital source of life. It helped Erlend cope with some of the symptoms he was feeling as a result of not breathing properly. At first, Erlend didn’t think he had time for it. Eventually, as he consistently did it, it became easier for him to do. Erlend used an app to help him keep track of pranayama.
Pranayama is about using your breath to feel your body and it releases a lot of tension. Erlend still uses it. He takes 5-minute break every hour to do this. It makes him feel good, grounds him, and releases tension you have going on. You close your eyes, listen to the sound, and breathe according to the sound.
That was the one thing that started Erlend’s physical transformation. He wasn’t exercising, he wasn’t eating healthy, and he was drinking a lot. He was even ungrateful, angry, and depressed. Tor shifted Erlend’s downward spiral. It took quite a long time to shift. Erlend still talks to Tor since that time in 2011. Breath has transformed his mind and his body.
Instead of going to a gym, Erlend recommends to go to a yoga studio. The atmosphere and the people you spend time with are a big influence on your life. People who practice yoga dedicate themselves to a higher purpose. That kind of energy will transform into your energy.
That one habit can shift your entire life. If you keep on doing it and it works, you then start selecting better friends and you start doing things that are important. Tor has been very successful and this transformation happened for him. Today, he helps lots of people. Tor was earning a high salary and was a serial entrepreneur. That was his idea of success. Now, his idea of success is different.
That was a shift in his consciousness level. For him now, his success is being able to go out on the lake and swim. Success is when he can feel his heart beating and the fact that he’s alive. Success is something that is living within him and nothing he needs to earn outside of himself. Results are no longer important to Tor now. It’s a different internal path for him.
Tor is now promoting Aliveness through concerts and having gong baths and shamanic overtone singing. This kind of vibration is resonating with his connection with nature. He also uses old Nordic traditions. He also practices yoga and Buddhism. He teaches people to be more compassionate. He tries to develop skill sets such as generosity and compassion.
He has clients in his psychotherapy practice as well.
When Erlend read the book called Mastery the Keys to Success and Long Term Fulfillment by George Leonard, he thought of inviting Tor to the Hardcore MBA podcast. The book answers a lot of key questions in life such as what are we doing here, what are we meant to do, and what should we be doing. In Mastery, when we talk about fulfillment, it comes through being alive in the process by getting energy from it.
The idea of what happens when he was going to be rich and successful, he didn’t understand that he needed to practice and be dedicated to the practice. The outcome shouldn’t be the goal. Part of the process is being aware of how much money you need to make but the starting point should be the fulfillment of the practice that you choose. Mastery is getting excited about something, you get a little blip, and you hit a plateau. However, you have to feel alive. Practice should be done in neutrality.
Erlend also asks Tor about fasting.
Tor says he has been fasting for 10 days on water only. It is a learning period for him. This time, he’s practicing both sides of developing wisdom and merit. He’s going back to the 10 perfections, prayers, chanting, and meditation. He is also seeing how society views fasting. He has seen the benefits of fasting such as rejuvenating the cells in your body. It even helps with cancer.
The first part of the fast is a time when you should relax. Tor’s first 5 days were tough but it has gotten better and he has had more energy. It should be done when you don’t have too much to do. Another aspect of fasting is not to talk about it so much because many people have different opinions on fasting. Don’t plan for many days. Just try 1 day. Try to make it a part of your life. It helps you live and long, good, and ethical life.
Erlend talks about material things he has acquired such as a Rolex that he has kept in a safe since December. He got emotions that weren’t good. But it’s important to notice the difference between things and the more important things. You need to see reality better. Tor has helped Erlend realize this – the reality of aliveness.
Living life doesn’t mean there is no pain and suffering. You experience pain, sickness, age, and dying. We cannot deny these feelings. Desire is the cause of suffering. The desire to not experience pain is denying authority. Tor has had severe pain after a car accident. He meditated and became the pain. He began to stop feeling the pain. He encompassed the pain and did not avoid it. It’s not something you seek. When you’re neutral, you experience it in a different way. You don’t need to react so much. Reflect on the things you desire.
To connect with Tor, you can find his company on the internet called evensi. Universi.no or you can search for Tor Arne Hove. You can also find him on social media as well as a podcast to be launched soon.
