The Detached podcast
Welcome to the podcast. This is a space where I get to vocalize my thoughts and dive deep into conversations with some truly remarkable individuals. It’s not about surface-level chit-chat—this is where we get into the real stuff. We talk about the things that matter: health, fitness, relationships, and the process of breaking free from the limitations we place on ourselves.
I don’t believe in small talk, because nothing meaningful ever comes from it. So, let's dig deep into the topics that can actually change your life. I want to bring you value, provoke your thinking, and help you see the world differently.
If you resonate with these conversations, I’d love for you to share the podcast with others. Your support means everything.
Let's get into it.
Sophia
The Detached podcast
EP: 61 Ramy Naouss, former Magician,Cancer survivor and a 2 times World Record Breaker
Ramy Naouss goes beyond the title.
Not only is Ramy a successful world record breaker but he is also a successful author to his new book called ‘Let’s Live’
His incredible story has been included in our conversation where you can also ‘Learn how to break free from the mundane routine and experience the joys of a fulfilling life’
If you’d like to find Ramy’s book click the link below:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1761241753?ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_40GZY000FJRFPQ2VSDS6&ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_40GZY000FJRFPQ2VSDS6&social_share=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_40GZY000FJRFPQ2VSDS6
Thanks again guys for listening,
I would love to hear your feedback !
Pop me a message on my instagram below and lets chat!
Contact me :
https://www.instagram.com/sophiadelavari/
Welcome back to another episode of the Detach podcast. Today I have the wonderful Rami. Can you introduce yourself?
Speaker 2:I'm Rami. Thank you, Sophia, for having me. I'm looking forward for this.
Speaker 1:So, Rami, I just want to get into the nitty-gritty of who you are today. Who is the Rami that I'm meeting today?
Speaker 2:the Rami that you're meeting today is someone who loves life so much and just wakes up every day and see what can I experience more? What can I feel more? How can I give more? How can I take and give out of all this experience while I'm here, Because one day for sure I'm not going to be here?
Speaker 1:What do you love most about life?
Speaker 2:Every bit of it, like sometimes, if you put me in the garden I see an insect. You can leave me for three hours and I'll just watch the insect how it's moving, or like an ant or a wasp or whatever it is, and just it makes me wow.
Speaker 1:What gives you that appreciation for the small things?
Speaker 2:Actually it took me a while to understand because you know they say the grass is always greener on the other side, which means that we always look at the other things in a way to compare ourselves in a negative way. Somehow it's not our fault, by the way, it's how it was dealt for us. And once I got some time to pose, reflect, look, observe, don't judge, look, no judgment. It's hard to look at something and not put a judgment or your opinion on it. Right, we always say, oh, he's right, he's wrong, no, no, just watch, learn from everything that happens around you. Anything that you can see and feel it's a blessing. And then I understood that first count your blessing, man.
Speaker 2:You know the story of there was one guy in the plane and one guy in the car, and the guy in the car was looking at the plane oh man, he's in the plane. And then a guy passed with a bicycle and he looked at the guy in the car. He says, oh man, he has a car. And then the guy on the bicycle, another guy passed through him. He doesn't have his feet, he can't walk.
Speaker 2:He says oh, he has a bicycle. So you see this, this is not linear, Like the more you stretch it out it's going to go, the more you stretch it down it's going to go. But once you say I am here, it's. We came with nothing and we're gonna live with nothing. Whatever we have in between, it's already a blessing. No, so that's enough for me.
Speaker 1:What happened in your lifetime to be able to be this kind of gratefulness that you have today.
Speaker 2:So I had cancer seven years back. It was the trigger, but I don't I say it's not the the full package. It was a trigger that made me pause and reflect and then I disregarded for a while when I gained my life back, because you know you want to just get back to all the things that you've done because someone, life, came and took them from you and then it gave them back to you. So you just appreciate all what you have been doing before. But after that, on 2020, is when covid hit. I was also broke financially, so like that I had broke financially that I never experienced. And then cancer. And then I had a decision in my set, in between me and myself, like I want to do something in this life I want to become someone better than who I was, not comparing myself to anyone, I was.
Speaker 2:I used to say I want to become this person. I'm not this person, so I want to try to work to become close to this person, right? And then, when I started this self-discovery journey is when I started understanding how life comes, start appreciating things, because if you wake up in the morning and you say I'm grateful to be alive, you just did the first thing that elevate your frequency, your vibrancy, everything in you just start the day better than everything else, right? Instead of saying, oh fuck, it's just another day, right, it's just two, two simple things that people don't know how much they affect. And then I started like moving my body and understanding what's what is a body, because that's the creation itself. That's the most beautiful thing that ever happened in life, right?
Speaker 2:So, uh, cancer made me pose, reflect. And then I learned on. I started digging in myself in every aspect mind, body, soul how to understand my thoughts, understand my brain, why my brain is telling me like, am I the thought that I have or it's just an idea? Right, and this I think 2020. And then COVID hit. I was broke financially, but also, on the other hand I was. There was peace in all, all around the world.
Speaker 2:Everyone was at their places, right yeah so you're either gonna waste your time saying, oh damn, or you say, okay, I have a lot of free time, so what can I do in this free time? I was learning a lot reading, listening to people, listening to podcasts, uh, learning skills on my laptop, editing all that so it was a time for me. I think this is the time that made me say, okay, there's something I can do, something right. And then I dwell into barefoot running, and this also opened another new dimension. So, bits and pieces pieces.
Speaker 1:COVID was my university on myself. That's what I call it.
Speaker 2:How beautiful it is.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was incredible. I think some people really manage COVID to create an amazing new person of themselves where other people didn't. They found boredom and they thought it was the worst period of their life. So to pull you back to when you figured out you'd cancer how did you even know that you had cancer or what happened?
Speaker 2:so I was sick. I was just actually sick like a fever and like that for a month. So I used to be sick for four, five days days and then feel well for a day, and then another five days comes. I took antibiotics, felt good for a day and then a crash. I was sweating all night when I used to wake up as if I ran like 50 kilometers, like I'm sweating, like a lot of sweat. No appetite, I had no fatigue, always fatigue, fatigue.
Speaker 1:What kind of person were you back then?
Speaker 2:To be completely honest, I always had a good life. I always followed my dreams. My parents were always supportive. We always had a deal in between that everyone was winning, like I had. I used to be a magician before. So my parents said if you want to be a magician, follow your dreams, just go to university and do whatever bachelor you want to do. So I said, yeah, fair deal, right. You have the support of your family and you chase your dreams, so you can sacrifice a little bit three years of your life and they will support you for the rest of your life. So it made a lot of sense.
Speaker 1:What was your bachelor's in?
Speaker 2:Business.
Speaker 2:Oh, it was like just a diploma. You know what I mean? Same. So, yeah, it's like I look. Depends on everyone how, how they are seeing life. I think a lot of things you can achieve without a diploma and a lot of things that can make you achieve more in a diploma right, masters and all that. I know my cousin. He achieves a lot while going doing the university, master, phd, and all that.
Speaker 2:For me I'm like no, I'll just take this other road. So my life was good, very fair, so so once. But I, if you want, I, didn't have a meaningful purpose. I didn't know what it means. As I said now, I didn't know what it means to be a human. Like I said, yeah, I'm just a human, we're all human, but then when I tapped into, the more I'm tapping in, like we are divine.
Speaker 2:Do you know what it means to be a human? Do you know that? The power that we have within to understand all this that happens in all of life? If you want to look at the smallest spectrum or the biggest spectrum, everything that's happening in the universe or around earth is happening within you, and within you is the only parts that we understood. Within you is way deeper level the more scientists are looking in, the more they are discovering right. First we started with atoms, then we went into the proton and neutron, and then we went into quantum physics and then we looked at more deep. There's something inside quantum physics so we can never understand. So there's something gigantic. And this gives me a purpose.
Speaker 2:Now it's like, wow, I'm just mesmerized about this life I'm a kid right, I'm a kid, sorry, I'm a kid in another body, so I think this is what I lacked before.
Speaker 1:I was just yeah, I'm living and you were detached from your body. It's like detached from everything.
Speaker 2:Yeah nothing made sense. You know what I mean. What makes you wake up in the day and feel humble about the day?
Speaker 1:You're asking me that question. Welcome to my podcast. I'm Rami.
Speaker 2:Today I have Sofia with me. What motivates you to become the best of you every day and keep on doing what you're doing?
Speaker 1:that every day is an opportunity to just live more and to make experiences in life. I think every day is an absolute gift, and I just don't know why you would waste a day wishing time away like what made you discover this?
Speaker 1:Hard times, hard times, beautiful. And the appreciation came within though it came. I actually remember standing on my yoga mat being like holy shit, I've been detached from my body my whole life, yeah, and once I had that it was like the penny just dropped one day and I was like, wow, this is what life's about 100%.
Speaker 2:100%, I call this is the root of everything you want to do. People are depression or anxiety. Yes, because you're not rooted anywhere, you're in there. Come back to the root, man. Once you start moving in ways, new ways, your mind starting in new ways, your mind unlock your motion, will that will dictate your emotions, right so move in ways, express yourself how you walk. Once you walk on the, on the grass or on the street or whatever it is the fucking surface, just when you walk, it's just fucking appreciation of what you're walking on. It's beautiful that we can experience this. Right so it's express yourself in in here. That's, that's where you are right. So when?
Speaker 1:so I want to pull you back a little bit further. You grew up in lebanon, right? Yeah, how was life in lebanon? I love it, yeah, amazing I love lebanon.
Speaker 2:Look in everything, you're gonna see two, two, two sides, right, if you look at, uh, if you approach everything in a negative way, you're going to see everything negative. If you approach everything in a positive way, you're going to see everything positive. People talk First. There's one rule in Lebanon Don't attach yourself to the news, don't listen to the news, because most of the news they will not affect you. Oh, they stole this house. Oh, they killed stuff. Yeah, do you know how many people are killed in in europe, in the most countries that we look up to? It's normal. It's not normal like we wish, we can overcome, but it's normal as now. Right, we, that's, that's who we are. So you detach from all this negativity.
Speaker 2:Whenever I go home to lebanon I live, my apartment is next to my parents apartment they turn off the tv, like tv are not on. While I'm in Lebanon, tvs are not on. You know what I mean. So I love Lebanon. It's, it's a beautiful country. The potential there Worldwide Is not as big as Dubai, right, but we have some Cultural things that are engraved In us that I like.
Speaker 1:What are they?
Speaker 2:Like how the hospitality, how Come eat with us you know it's like this openness, come or you don't have place, stay here.
Speaker 2:Uh, don't book a hotel. Like you have a guest room. You know what I mean feed, let's eat. You came, let's eat, let's have lunch together. So this openness is beautiful and I think this is something that it's so amazing us as a human not to let it go. Because you know, now we travel a lot and stuff like that and we meet a lot of new culture, but along the way you just forget your culture a little bit because, like you're alone, right, you're traveling and stuff like that, you don't have this family to tell you hey, come have lunch. So it's good to keep it with us and share it with the world. Like whenever you travel, someone invites you and then invite them back, or something like that. This is something I think is really beautiful about Lebanon.
Speaker 1:So what motivated you to come to Dubai?
Speaker 2:My vision is the world. Dubai will allow me to reach the world and I think that's what's happening now and I love Look, the contrast of having to live in Lebanon in the summer, two months and living the 10 months here in Dubai is affecting me so much in a very positive way. You know, lebanon is my comfort zone, so comfort, right. Dubai is a place that it squeeze you and like, take you up and take you down and you meet, like today, right, I met your Irish. Paris probably is from where he is.
Speaker 1:He's from the UK, uk.
Speaker 2:Like in just five minutes, I met three people from three different continents. Right, this is amazing. This is so nourishing for me. So in Lebanon, I don't have this, so I like to balance it between here and there.
Speaker 1:There's so much to be learned through different people that's priceless. Definitely you can't read a book that will implement any sort of things that you learn through these types of conversations, of course, like this, the live interaction, no matter how advanced we get, it's different.
Speaker 2:When I'm sitting in front of you, looking in your eyes and speaking to you and listening to you. It touched me differently than any other things, even videos or whatever, right. So I think this is our, it's not. I think it's our nature. That's how we used to approach life, whatever. So I take the advantage of me being in Dubai to interact with a lot of people Like, yeah, tell me your story. Everyone has a story, as they say, if you are willing to listen and you learn from everyone.
Speaker 1:So let's bring you back to when you were a magician. Or do you still practice? Because I'm like, I find this fascinating. What makes you think?
Speaker 2:wake up one day and want to explore this. So it was a way for me to get the attention that I needed from school you know it was school I was doing magic and stuff like that. So I loved it and it really made me the person I am like. I love every year that I was a magician, because even now when I go do my public speaking and all that, I'm very comfortable on stage because I was performing for 10,000 people, like on stage. So it just the craft changed, the skill set changed, but the skill of speaking is still the same. I grew it back then.
Speaker 2:I love magic, it's very entertaining, but I left magic because now I fell in love with the real magic of life. So instead of me approaching your table or you watching me on stage for like 25 minutes and you feel this wonderful act, now I believe in what I do. I can make you touch the real magic of life and you can take it for the rest of your life. That's what I detach from magic it gives you more purpose yeah, it was entertaining before.
Speaker 2:Now it's life and.
Speaker 1:I'm inspired by life, every fucking day so how do you manage to get people to find their true purpose? I have my ways.
Speaker 2:I. So how do you manage to get people to find their true purpose? I have my ways. I have my ways. No, I use a lot of nail boards, ice bath, breath work, meditation programs, tapping into yourself, connecting in nature. I put you in challenging situation If I'm in a country that allows psychedelic also.
Speaker 1:I was going to ask you what's.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's. I'm a big fan of understanding the science behind it and I've been studying it for a long while. So whenever the country allows and all those things are in place, we also prepare people. I prepare people to go on such a trip, for them to be ready to go on such a trip or else, like people, do it to have fun, right, good for them, but for me it's sacred if you know what it, what it has for you.
Speaker 2:You can open your unconscious, conscious and subconscious and tap into who you are. So all those tools, you know they are tools to reach yourself, to reach the deepest of yourself, to understand yourself more, to understand. Once you understand yourself, you'll understand life right. So the tools, yeah, they are here and there. Whatever they are, whatever we can use, but I think the main thing is body movement. It's not even discussion and for me it's running barefoot. Take it or leave it, you can run, you can do whatever you want. If you want my personal opinion, run barefoot. It has immense, immense, positive aspect about life. It teaches you so much so what does it teach you?
Speaker 2:once you're running barefoot. One your ego can't be found. You can't run barefoot with an ego because one, one stone, that stone, you step on it. You're gonna scream for 10 minutes oh, I didn't right. So it grounds you, look, feel. Whenever I'm running barefoot, every step is like I'm feeling, and if I'm not it's, if it's not safe, I don't put a full power, I just let it. Another step your focus is there on the ground, right on the ground, which means your brain is not here and there. What should I eat? Oh, when I finish, you don't have time to think of all that or what you think of my next step. Be careful of that. Look at this. Be careful of that.
Speaker 2:So one is mindfulness at the deepest of its means. Two is it grounds you? Three it's. You have a lot of sensation, like you would actually remember every surface that you will run on right, because you're feeling everything. You feel when the asphalt is bumpy, when there's this part of the road for walking. You know it's like you will feel every bit the grass, sand, whatever it is that you're running on. So it humbles you so much. It brings you down to understand that you're, you're here, you're with, with all that's behind you. So that's one of the reason plus a high heart rate, plus a high heart rate and mind still mind. Your mind becomes still.
Speaker 2:The body is in move, is in motion and it's a meditative state because you're doing the same thing over and over. So I've reached one of the things that made me look into depth of life. Okay so, cancer was the first thing. The second thing was COVID and this isolation. The third thing that made me open this realm about what's life is. When I was running my first marathon barefoot, I wasn't very well prepared.
Speaker 2:I did my workout, but I never ran more than 15K before the marathon. I've never understood long distance barefoot and all that food Like I didn't have. Like I was a noob runner, like I remember I started my run and then one pro runner came and told me did you put Vaseline on your nipples because they're going to bleed from the shirt? I'm like no, I didn't know about that. I'm like, yeah, go get Vaseline. So while I was running, my mom went and Vaseline gave it to the runner that was helping me and I put so I don't get injured in my nipples, right, it's like small details.
Speaker 2:I didn't know that even exists.
Speaker 1:For the listener. How long is the full marathon?
Speaker 2:Come again.
Speaker 1:For the listener. How long is the full marathon?
Speaker 2:42.2 kilometers. So on this journey, after kilometer 30, my feet were really tired. I had so much pain. And then the sun started to come out. It was like 8, 8, 30. So also a heat, sun, pain, tired. My body's not used to that long distance. So what did I do? I said, let me just breathe, focus on my breath on my next step. So I was breathing. And then there's a moment that I wasn't running anymore. I was watching myself running. I see everything around me, like there was a lot of people, a lot of cars, and I just felt this ultimate bliss and joy and I said when I like, I like this happened while I'm running. And then I finished my run okay, we all that. And I came back home, like the past week, I'm like where was I?
Speaker 2:what did? What the fuck? This happened? This happened and this is what really ignited me on looking in the depth of life because, I felt this blissfulness for once and, as I say always, once you feel at once. That's all you need you feel at? Once, and it will open all the reality in front of you. So that's why, like barefoot running is something that sacred as well for me when you mentioned about uh being financially down.
Speaker 1:What was the deepest, darkest moments of that for you?
Speaker 2:to be honest, I was happy when I was broke. Yeah, didn't really, I really care. I had fear. I had amazing friends around me. I told them look guys, the dubai is closed, I can't perform. Uh, I will need some money just to keep paying my debt and all that. Will you give me some money and I will give him back? And they said like, yeah, so I just my family, my cousins gave me a little bit, my friends gave me a little bit managed those six months while I was reading and working on myself, so it didn't really affect me as a human I said, like you know, you have those times like I just want, like I just want to be able to do this or to buy this yeah
Speaker 2:because I used to go to the supermarket. I'm like I can't buy this today. Yeah, right, so I'm very happy that I passed through this. I you know the grass is always green on the other side. But also, if you reverse it, once you see the other side and you look at it to yourself, you appreciate it more, right yeah, you appreciate it and you realize that actually you don't really need anything.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's like amazing.
Speaker 2:It's such a freeing thought. Yeah, right, so I'm like I'm happy that I was broke at least once in my life, because I know that from now on I will never be broke.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know you're rich on life fuck, yeah, fuck yeah so when you mentioned psychedelics, when was the first time you ever had your first psychedelic experience?
Speaker 2:Not long ago, maybe two years ago, a year and a half, so it's been three years that I'm intrigued by psychedelics. I've studied all the people like Albert Hoffman, timothy Larry, ram Dass all the people that were pioneers back then and they had the approval to do their research and I studied them and how they talk, how they approached it, what are the side effects of it, how like I was studying about. I never played with it, I never had the chance. And then, when I was able to have the chance, I started experimenting me and like some of my close people, and then I went on experimenting myself with a lot of things. I was guiding myself on some trips what did you use?
Speaker 2:uh, like shrooms and like I've experimented with all of them. Okay, yeah, it's. Uh, they, they all somehow are the same difference, difference of what's after the trip, what's, but kind of similar at certain level, right what has it taught you?
Speaker 2:look, if I talk to you about energy and good vibes and all that from today till end of life, you're gonna maybe agree with me a little. But if you go to this other dimension and you see it once and you come back, you will never unsee it. It's there. So it's just all the things that I used to believe in, all the things that I was really keen about and interested about, like the power that you have, who you are, what are you like. Like all the questions that we ask who am I, what's the creation? All that, and it just.
Speaker 2:You get to a point that I wrote it on my story, like three days ago. You get to a point in one of the trips, like if you're doing an intense trip and stuff like that, you get to a point that you ask yourself now, you ask yourself you. You get to a point that you ask yourself Now you ask yourself, you have two options Either you or nothingness. And we always hold on to you Me, me, me, no. I am this identity and this no, no. And then, once you're on this state and you're ready to let go, I'm nothingness. And this is where all life will expand in front of you, because we are nothingness, right, and yet you are everything. You're nothing and everything. So it just gives me in depth the meaning of life, god, creation, existence, all that.
Speaker 1:Do you think you could let go of your ego without using any, anything like this?
Speaker 2:uh, I guess yes. So look, let me. Let me define this, because we talked about the subject. A psychedelic guided recreational trip has no use if you're not working on yourself. No matter how much dosage, blah, blah, all that it's not the thing that will make you, but it is meditation, breath, work, work, running barefoot, reflecting on your life. Psychedelic trip, again, every level you can. It can, it's a. It's a, it's part of the pyramid. Right, you get bit to go to the next level, to the next level. So it's a part of the puzzle that will help you go to the next level. But if you're not doing all the rest, you're gonna just nice.
Speaker 2:I felt good and I've had a lot of like one when we were like doing it as friends. We had a lot of time that a lot of people come and tell me man, I feel so good, but I don't know what, how to take from, what to take from me and I say, yeah, a trip is to learn and think, but then you have the rest of your life to embody what you learn on this trip it's continuous work it's continuous work.
Speaker 2:So your ego, you have to be working on it. For me, when I have this ego, ego death is when I've been, when I was trying to kill my ego for the past year, like I was trying to because before I was me and you know, I want everything for my, I am attraction, blah, blah, all that kind of nonsense.
Speaker 1:You know it's like, of course. If you're, you know you're on stage, you're a magician yeah, kind of lifestyle yeah, of course, but when you let go of that, that's when you expand 100.
Speaker 2:so it's like when the trip came, it was because I was working on it and like pushing myself, today is the day that I'm not going to work on anything for myself. I want to talk to my friends and say, hey, I'm free today, how can I help you? So I was trying those kind of stuff until one happened.
Speaker 1:When do you feel like you really truly found yourself? What was the defining moment of that?
Speaker 2:The first marathon had a lot of meaning. And then, I think you know, after the marathon, it was a snowball effect, so the marathon was a small role. And then, after the marathon, it's like and I'm finding all the answers that I was looking for, you know what I mean. So there's not one moment you say oh, I found this myself in this moment.
Speaker 2:Every moment makes you realize one thing and you add it right yeah until one day you feel like yeah, like if you ask me today, today I found the best I can find about myself. But I think in next year I'm gonna come and tell you I found more about myself, right, 100. So I think it's, it's the process of it it's a journey.
Speaker 1:It's a continuous journey, I think, until the day you die.
Speaker 2:It's going to be continuous, and that's beautiful, that's that's what makes me like, wow, how much can I explore, how much can I feel more, how much can I grow right, it's interesting so you ran 110 kilometers fearful.
Speaker 1:Tell me about that experience. How do you even prep for?
Speaker 2:that the preparation was intense. How long was the preparation for this? So the actual preparation was three months, but if you want to look into the data of mine running, it's been for the past year. Only one year you're running bare feet. April 2022 is the first time I ran barefoot.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's so short. I feel like you would have been like a barefoot runner.
Speaker 2:I was a runner in my shoes first, but I had knee pain and back pain. And then I read a book called Bone to Run and this guy talked you know the book. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:I'm like this guy makes a lot of sense, man. He makes a lot of sense, man. It's like we were tribes, we don't beifut. How the fuck did I think of that, right? So I said, let me try it. So I tried it, slowly and surely, and my knee and my back weren't in pain because I wasn't able to run so much because of my knee and my back. And then I said, man, I love it. And and then I started exploring with beifut running. I'm like man, I love the sensation, like me actually just putting a short and go for a run. It's so freeing. I don't need to put short socks, shoes, blah, blah, all that.
Speaker 1:I don't need that yeah I just put a short and I run yeah so it's like so, so primal, and I think that's the power of it you know what, some mornings I wake up in the morning time and I'm like, the minute I wake up, I don't even brush my teeth some more, I'm just out the door and I run straight away because the minute I get a wake up in the morning time, it's like you want to like wake up. Naturally, I want the sunlight on my skin, you know, and I just want to get outside the door. So I know the feeling when you just put, I can imagine.
Speaker 1:Well, I need to put on a top, yeah your life is a bit different than mine but yeah, I know, when you get in tune with yourself and want to listen to your body, you'll just start feeding it everything it needs it's beautiful.
Speaker 2:That's what I tell. Like people come and tell me, man, I have this eating bad habit, I'm like, yeah, run. He's like no, no, I thought about the eating. I'm like, yeah, keep doing. What are you doing? Just run. Yeah, eventually it's gonna slip out by itself yeah because you're not gonna feel great after eating that and stuff like that. You know what I mean? Yeah, you're right.
Speaker 1:So in tune with this, so to revert back to three months prep before 110K.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so last summer I had an idea of running long distance barefoot longer than a marathon Let me try into ultras and I created a nice lifestyle. So in Lebanon I wasn't using my car so much. So if you live somewhere in Lebanon, I run to you, do like a nice breakfast or like together, and then I run back so. I was loading a nice amount of kilometers per week.
Speaker 2:I was from 40, 50 to jumping to 60 and 70 per week and that gave me a purpose for me that if I run to you, it's nicer than me just running because I'm running.
Speaker 2:It gives you more purpose, more purpose, right, I'm seeing my friends, like my mom used to go to work, so I go with her in the car, so I benefit of the time that we have in the morning, like have a nice chat, and then she arrives to her work and then I run back home. I'm like, okay, I loaded 10 kilometers back. I had a beautiful morning with my mom, nice, fucking great, right. So I created this tricks for me to enjoy running have you read james clear his book atomic habits?
Speaker 2:yeah, of course habits stacking yeah yeah, exactly so once you start looking at life like how can you add and tweak? So I was loading nice kilometers back then in the summer and then when I came and I decided on January and I ran 63 kilometers in Lebanon and I was good, I finished the 63, I was okay. So I had the idea that I want to get into this 100 plus 100, it's a big number. You know, like when you say, you say hundred dollar or hundred or you know, it's like it has something.
Speaker 2:So I said I want to try and run a long distance and we started preparing for that. I I did a really intense training, like seven to eight hours per day. Who was? Supporting you during this time uh, what do you mean by supporting?
Speaker 1:Did you have a team behind you?
Speaker 2:I have a team in Lebanon, so we are there's a team in Dubai and a team in Lebanon. My team in Dubai is busy, right, and the team in Lebanon is. We have a physiotherapist that is my best friend. He's a biomechanic, so every injury that I face, he like explain for me why and how to solve it, and this is what I gained a lot of knowledge from him. And plus, he like he does some barefoot runs, so so he understand exactly what are the muscles that are, because when you run barefoot is different than when you run with shoes yeah, totally different muscle groups. That works and stuff like that. So he was supporting me with all the info and data and stuff like that. And with food, I'm someone who like to experiment, so I was experimenting with everything with food and I hate running gels and all those powders it's bullshit give me real stuff.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like, take sugar there's sugar in a gel and actually and I didn't run the distance that I wanted in those 12 hours because of running gels, because I said let me also add some running gels to it and it fucked up my gut and I couldn't like I wasn't in full potential that day you know what I mean but yeah, that was the preparation and, uh, we ended up hitting 105 to be exact, not 110 okay, so you broke a world record, didn't you?
Speaker 2:it was an attempt and I failed I needed needed five kilometers to break.
Speaker 1:Okay, I tell you you got it. So what was the 24 hours before your race? What did you do the 24 hours before?
Speaker 2:All my friends and family flew from Lebanon to here. So in my house it was full of people and I love it. So it was like, look, I feel fear, but I'm not scared. I got, I learned about this right. So, yeah, you feel a little bit and no, let me be honest, I had, I have 100% confidence that I can do it and I can do more, and I know that I can. If I didn't, the gel didn't fuck my gut, so I was super chill. I was super chill, super chill, like like we're having good time, ate good food, like it was so good, and I had a little bit of ego and I believe that's why I failed you know why what was the ego telling you yeah, you can do it, it's easy, it's easy for you.
Speaker 2:So like there's few things that I could have adjusted, like in the fueling, mainly how I approach the run. Like I started running at 11 am, at 10 52 I was still talking with the securities and about in expo and all that man before any challenge that I used to do, cut off the last hour is my hour.
Speaker 2:It's when I come back to myself. So you know, it's like it's. It's beautiful to fail, by the way, and I learned so much from this failure that I appreciate it and that's why I said, yeah, my ego got in place and I and I love that I was I failed for me to understand, to humble me again, because 23, I was flying up, so that's when the four come chill. Flying up, so that's when the four come chill. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:So that's why that's my reflection of the run how was your headspace at the beginning of the run? How did that look?
Speaker 2:so here's what happened. The problem is I had two watches right and the monitor of my heart. I got stuck on, oh my god, my heart rate, my heart rate, my heart rate, my heart rate. Because usually when I run a long distance my heart rate is below 130 on speed, like six minutes per kilometer, which is that's how I can run as much, eat as much as I want. And I started because of excitement, maybe, or a little bit of like dealing with the logistic and stuff. I started with 150 heart rate and I was like why it's 150, why it's 150?
Speaker 2:and I got stuck in those thoughts that I think you know all those small like atomic habits but negatively like all those smalls have, like things that happen, compound effect, how we, how we call it you think it taxes your energy, and it's.
Speaker 1:It's the narrative that you're playing inside your mind as well that's elevating.
Speaker 2:That I can imagine and this is why, like, I believe that I didn't achieve exactly my goal because, physically, I know that I'm ready. Physically I'm ready. Like I know, we know data, we understand what's the body, how the body approach and what's the capability of the body. And mine is is done, it's a, it's a deal done and okay, there will be a little bit of pain. So what, man? Why we've learned from pain, right, but yes, those minor mistakes that I've done, my ego, my stress at the beginning, having to watch, running on the watch, not running on how my body feels, you know so, all those led to with a bad gel, all those led to not achieving the exact goal do you think if nobody was watching would you've got to where you needed to be?
Speaker 2:maybe, maybe after I had the gut issue, because when I had the gut issue, at kilometer maybe 50 ish, I was way ahead of time, like I ran like 50 kilometers in maybe four hours 42 minutes. So I have 18 minutes ahead of time of a lot of like way above the record that we wanted. But then when I had this gut issue, I went to the toilet. I started crying. I'm oh man, all those people are here, my family is here, expo believes in me, guinness is supporting me to do this and I'm not being able to perform. And I started crying and I got stuck in a loop, in a negative loop, for like 15, 20 minutes and then I said man, who was in the toilet with you when you were crying?
Speaker 1:You were on your own.
Speaker 2:I was by myself. I was by myself and did you think you were going to give up? So I went outside, walked a little bit. So it's a one kilometer lap right. So every one kilometer there's the family, the friends, all that. And then I run another lap. So when I had this crash, I didn't go to the toilet that was on this lap. I went to another toilet because I needed to be alone, right, and then I walked, I went out and I walked back to where, to the original lap, and then I said, like you know, like this that I'm telling you about is like a word within, it's going like thoughts and all that. And I said, man, look, I'm here, I came to do that, no matter how I feel. So at this moment, I had a chance I had. I had to make a choice. Am I gonna stop surrender?
Speaker 2:hmm, or I want to push myself. So I said I'm gonna push myself and I start running. If you know what I actually did for me to be able to run. So I drank the gel. My gut cramped, I got very cold because all the blood went to my gut. So first I told the guys, guys, I need long sleeves. So I wear my long sleeve, my beanie. I was like if you look at me, you feel like I'm in Ireland. It was like that quote.
Speaker 2:And then I said I need to fuel. You can't run above that distance and not eat anything. It's impossible. Like your body is depleted of everything. So I was walking back to the lab and my mom was drinking mate, our tea that we like, and I took a sip. It was warm water and it made my gut relax for a minute. And I took a sip. It was warm water and it made my gut relax for a minute Like hey, get out of it. And I told, okay, from now on all I'll be drinking hot water, hot water and eating the fuel right away. So that's what I was actually doing Chugging hot water. My gut relaxed for a minute, boom, eating whatever A gel or a banana or like a run.
Speaker 2:Okay, I have energy for like the next three kilometers I'm running. Then you see me, I crash. Okay, again, do the same thing. So I was drinking hot water, putting in anything that can fuel me up, and then that's how I was able to like I ran. Actually six hours of running when my body is not ready to run.
Speaker 1:I know when my body is ready to run and that day, my body wasn't ready to run and was that the original plan or did you just fixate on whatever?
Speaker 2:I fix it on the spot.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, my original plan is improvise, improvise whenever, like I told my, I told my my, my good friend, the biomechanic, before the run I'm like what's gonna happen in the run? Because I'm sure when we do such a challenge, there's something. When you do any anything new, any new experience, right, any big step, there's something that's going to happen, and the power of you knowing that is to be ready for the unknown. Because that's it. And eventually, on the run, I understood that. Yeah, I'm just going to have an issue with my gut.
Speaker 1:And in any of those times when you were running, did you have like any sort of weird out-of-body experience, or how did your body actually feel? Like because I can imagine sometimes when I run and you run in the heat and you've non-stop, you kind of detach yourself away from your body a little bit. It's just kind of moving like how, yeah, how do you feel during? How does your body actually feel?
Speaker 2:so, look, the only thing is, um, in this run there was a lot of things happening. There was no bliss within, right, because I understand, I accept that there was few moments that was so magical, like I was flying, but they are. So they were so minimal because, like, what is it? If I run one kilometer, I'm feeling good. Second, third, it's time to fuel again, because above 50 you don't have anything like you, actually what you eat is what is, what is how you can run.
Speaker 2:So there was a lot of things happening in my mind and stuff like that. But I was pushing. So some places I felt like it was hilarious. One lap I come and I was screaming we're going to do it, we're going to do it. My baby, like you will not understand, like I'm flying, you know. And the second one, I'm like limping. And then the second lap, it was crazy, like actually the, the ups and downs on this run, it was, it was, yeah, it was uh, those moments that you're talking about, there was like slip moments and then there's a fall moment and then there's a slip moment up, and it was so chaotic, so chaotic and within I'm talking within and uh and do you really dark thoughts or like what's the thought process?
Speaker 1:do you start imagining things? Are you like what's the narrative? Like? Was there any kind of scenarios that you started to play in your mind?
Speaker 2:I was. I said, like I will get it, I will get it, I will get it. I'm gonna run the 100 because if I run, 110 is the official record and above that is my record, like I said. So I kept on believing I wasted an hour and a half. That's why, like from 50 to 60, this 10 kilometers took me maybe two hours, and usually a 10 kilometer should take me an hour, right. So I lost an hour, an hour and a half like that. But then I said, okay, I will get it, I will get it, I will get it.
Speaker 2:No matter what pain I'm feeling, I get it. I it, I'll get it. I'll get it. No matter what's pain or pain I'm feeling, I get it, I get it. Mom, I promise you I'll get it. Mom was like my mom probably ran 10k on this day. Every time on the lap she meets me at the beginning of the starting point, my mom and dad and at the end of starting point. So if you count the 105 lap, my mom was actually done at least 10 kilometers, like feeding me and like whatever you need.
Speaker 1:So she must have been so worried?
Speaker 2:yeah, she was. She also had a very intense cramp. I fell off, like while I was running, and then the thing is, a problem happened and I wasn't very well prepared for it and, uh, don't get me wrong, I love it now when I reflect on it. I love it because I told you about my ego. It's like always be humble, rami, no matter what you do in life, because I always say this to myself, but sometimes it slips right. This ego comes unnoticed sometimes, so it just the failure and how I fell and people hold me up, and how people fell and I hold me up, and how people fell and I hold them up. And it was. It was an amazing journey, with those small mistakes that I did and I take I take full responsibility of all the mistakes that happen and I told the family and friends isn't either my friend, like he took out, he took on, he took it on himself.
Speaker 2:My physiotherapist, you know we could have done it and like why, what did I do wrong? He was asking. I'm like I take full responsibility of not achieving this. So it's. I think the run is just the label, but the core, what I learned from this day, is way beyond anything else and what?
Speaker 1:what's that?
Speaker 2:it's like first, I always take, I always took, full responsibility of my mistakes and I was. I was there, I was. I told everyone like I'm okay, good, we're on 105, but I failed in the thing that I said I wasn't going to say. So I take full responsibility of this. I take full responsibility of the mistakes I've done because I could have let go of a watch or small. You know. I take full responsibility of letting my ego come in and like me being talking with everyone at 10, 10, 1052, instead of me being in my Zen mode, relaxing, breathing and preparing, you know, like all those small things. I take full responsibility of myself. I know I've made a mistake and I'm I'm very fine with it. I learned, I learned so much from that. So those are the things that took me to another level, you know post run.
Speaker 1:What happens post run?
Speaker 2:crash for the next two weeks yeah yeah, fresh physical body.
Speaker 1:What is the physical physical?
Speaker 2:body physical body was good. Yeah, like after two days, I think you ran afterwards, didn't you?
Speaker 2:yeah, yeah, I watched two days two days I was uh, that's what I told you like I know my body is capable of doing such thing, but the emotional body was drained and I got not stuck. But I let those emotions come easy and digest them easily. Take it easy, it's okay. I failed, it's okay. You know, at the beginning I was you self-sabotage yourself. And then I know the process. I've been there a lot of times in my life. Take it easy, it's okay. I failed, it's okay.
Speaker 2:You know, at the beginning I was you self sabotage yourself. And then I know the process. I've been there a lot of times in my life. You know what I mean. So I let it come, all I wanted. I just stayed at home, I was smoking, so who cares? I was eating whatever I want. You know I'm like it's alright, I'll take it however it is. However it came, let it come. And then, once I let go of everything, like, let it go. And actually I wanted to redo it after two weeks. And then I said the ego is what made you fail the first time. Don't let the ego make this second decision. Second, it's been a long time I haven't failed that big. Let me sit with failure. And I am here sitting with failure and it's the best thing that ever happened to me. So much growth in that I love failure.
Speaker 1:I've failed so many times, I've been humiliated so many times and I can say that's the best lesson I've ever had in my life exactly.
Speaker 2:We don't run away from failure, we sit with it, breathe it, eat it, feel it, let it come. And then soon enough I was, I felt good again, start running again, and I said let me pause for a bit, like life is not going anywhere. I don't have to prove anything to anyone, I know myself. If I want to prove it to myself, whenever I feel the calling, I will feel the calling, right, uh so, and then, like a month maybe, I'm back to running as I used to and do you believe that any of these high moments can be bypassed without having the downfall?
Speaker 2:explain. What do you exactly mean?
Speaker 1:so, for an example, you run 105 right, next time you run 110, 120. Do you think there's gonna be a runner runner's blue after that?
Speaker 2:look, there's something very important in anything I do. Running is one is one aspect of that. Every time I do something like now, I'm pre-publishing my book, right? Yeah, saturday was the pre-launch this week. If you ask me, what did I do this week? I didn't do anything, nothing. I was replying on my phone. I wasn't working on my videos. I wasn't doing anything. All I was doing is sitting in my chair thinking a little bit, reading a little bit actually reading my book, a little bit watching netflix, sleeping. I was sleeping more than I actually used to. I wasn't feeling like running and I'm like okay. So I think there's something in me that said the book is published, you've done a good work, relax a little bit. So I I put myself like whenever I do something, whether if it's failure or success, I sit with it. What are we running for?
Speaker 2:exactly right what are we running away or what are we running towards? Everything can wait and take some like this now, this week, because now I'm reflecting on all this year of dubai, like seeing everything went the direction that I wanted how let's live grew, how we like added value. So I'm like I was just taking it easy, man, easy. I don't want to do anything. And it's you know how much courage it takes for someone to say I don't want to do anything nowadays. If me and you, we, stop talking for a second, people will reach their phone and they don't want to sit with themselves right?
Speaker 2:No man, just if it's Ron, if it's whatever, it is easy, take it easy, watch, watch whatever and go out. I'm like seeing people, observe people, listen to people, talk to people and just something. I just want to be by myself. So I think I don't know if this answered your question, but that's how I approach things no, I love this, I love this.
Speaker 1:So your book, let's Live. Tell us, let's live, maybe every fucking day.
Speaker 2:I have to say so. I'm actually so. This book has been done six months ago, yeah. So now it's published. It talks about my my life, but also the philosophy that I added to my life to reach where I am. So it's not just autobiography, it's a philosophy and an autobiography. It talks about a lot of things. What's pain? Because we've been taught since we were kids like avoid pain, avoid pain. No.
Speaker 2:Pain is the most powerful energy of all. If you know how to transcend pain, all your life will change right. So I talk about those perspectives that made me. I talk about the ultimate truth, which is love, once someone really understands it. That's not love of attachment, the unconditional love First. The unconditional love that starts with you to you, because if you know how to love yourself, you will be able to love your family, you'll love your friends and if you're blessed, you can love your community, your country, humanity, if you're blessed, right. So I talk about the essence of love. I love my cancer, I love my heartbreaks, I love every moment that broke me right. So, yeah, that's it. And it says challenging yourself is the way, because I feel like, once you're always challenging yourself, anything can be a challenge, right. You're probably having a new guest is a challenge, right. No, I'm fascinated with evil.
Speaker 1:I don't find it a challenge, I know.
Speaker 2:Like challenges, shouldn't be like not good right.
Speaker 1:It's an interesting you know what? My method of my madness is? To challenge myself. Every single morning, the minute I wake up, I need to challenge myself or do something that's going to challenge me, so it sets the tone for the day 100.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, I like, I think me and you are on the same page, right? So, yeah, I'm just sharing in depth, talking about the moments that made me the like.
Speaker 2:I take you on a journey of the pain that I felt, how it was, and heck for you to really understand the like I've really described the situation and everything that, and for you to really understand I really described the situation and everything that happened for you to see it from an observer point of view and understand if you can see like that in your life. And yeah, I talk so much about how barefoot running changed me breathwork, meditation, all that and philosophy of life for a beginner that wants to start and philosophy of life For a beginner that wants to start.
Speaker 1:A new life, a new beginning. Where would you get them to start?
Speaker 2:Run for 20 minutes barefoot every day in the morning. That's it. That's how you change your life.
Speaker 1:How does?
Speaker 2:someone run barefoot in 33 degrees in Dubai Wake up early or sunset, right, okay, so now, plus now it's super good, the weather in june now I can't get over this.
Speaker 1:I'm running.
Speaker 2:I'm running 5k every morning how beautiful it is, like we're lucky, like I remember three years, not really, like not last year. Last year was okay, but the year before that it was so fucking hot. Now it's so good, yeah. But look, we are lazy creatures. Not because of us. We have to be compassionate about that environment exactly like now.
Speaker 2:Probably you have fastest elevator to reach to the second floor. Why so are you going to use the stairs? I wish you would. You don't need to work out. If you just use the stairs I wish you would you don't need to work out. If you just use the stairs for your house, you're on top of the world, right? So we have to be compassionate with people, but you can find ways easily to do what has to be done. And the most important thing is we are as human beings. We became so weak because when it's heat we're always cool, when it's cold, we're always warm.
Speaker 2:That's not how the body function. Right, your body has now to go in humidity. Now, when it's humid, I make sure that I run. When it's fully humid, fully humid. So, like that, my body is learning wow, humidity. I jump into an ice bath. Why? Because I don't have an access to cold in dubai. My body needs to understand that it's cold. So there's heat and there's cold. That's where your body stretches. So, yeah, go run. Even if it's hot, run the asphalt is not hot in the morning. Run for 10 minutes. I always tell people first. If you want to start your first time. You walk for one minute. You jog. For one minute, you jog. You don't run easy again. I like that you feel.
Speaker 1:You feel great man so, because this is called the Detach podcast, what would you detach yourself away from? That's not allowing you to step into your true potential self.
Speaker 2:You know, when you said, when you invited me and I read the title of the podcast, I loved it that Detach is like man, I see life as a preparation for death. So if you understand this concept, you have to start approaching a lot of things. That I'm not the cloth. You like diamond? Good, get diamonds. I'm not saying don't get diamonds, but I'm not the diamond, I'm not attached to the diamond. Right, my car, my everything, they are tools that I can now enjoy them. But detach from everything. Learn how to detach from material stuff first. Second, from love of attachment. That's not healthy, unconditional love. That's the truth. Like give without expectation, like detach from expectation, detach from the mind what creates, because one day, my friend, when the angel of death is going to knock on your door or my door, we have to detach from all this. So learn it while you have a chance, because I'm sure it's going to help you in what's next what's next?
Speaker 2:tell me what's next I think it's something beautiful that we can't understand in a human mind. But if you experience any death experience or death in any situation, it's beautiful, man. It's ultimate peace. We only feel pain and suffering as humans. It don't exist anywhere else. So for you, if you can create heaven or hell on earth because heaven and hell exist here, not in anywhere else Heaven you can create heaven on earth and you can create hell on earth. If now, wherever you live, are all the people that backstabbed you and did you wrong, how would your life be?
Speaker 1:How would my life be without them? No, if they are.
Speaker 2:In your building, all the people that backstabbed you, did you wrong, and all the negative people that you know. If they were living in your building, next to you or in your house, how would your life be?
Speaker 1:I feel like I live a very different life, that I won't expend energy, energy on people that don't matter to me for sure.
Speaker 2:But let's say you don't have a choice. Like they are with you, like they are living with you, their negativity and all that will come to you right somehow that would be hell yeah right and if the building that you live in or the area that you live in are all the people that are good, people that do good, that try to do something amazing, how would your life be?
Speaker 1:Heaven.
Speaker 2:So heaven and hell are here on earth. My friend, it's on, it's not anywhere else.
Speaker 1:So, with that being said, any advice you would give to me to detach myself from this life?
Speaker 2:That's a hard question. I have to ask a few questions before I can answer this. I have to ask you a few questions before I can answer this. What are you attached?
Speaker 1:to, I would say, people.
Speaker 2:Why.
Speaker 1:Because I love, love.
Speaker 2:And when people give me love, I feel attached to it. Were you able to?
Speaker 1:give this love from you to you. This is something I need to work on.
Speaker 2:Here you go, you have your answer.
Speaker 1:Okay, thank you so much for being on the detached podcast. Before we go, I just want to ask where can people find you?
Speaker 2:ramen house everywhere. Oh, let's live potato, potatoes like uh, yeah, both yeah brilliant.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna keep all the um, the handles and the show notes anyway, but thank you so much for your time today thank you for having me, sophia.