Andy Laub: The Benefits of Tea, Mindfulness, and Choosing Gratitude over Fear

Explicit content warning

05/29/20 • 67 min

On this episode, Jay sits down with Andy Laub. Andy is a certified tea master, a mindfulness expert, and sound healing practitioner, and just an all around interesting dude. Andy also happened to be the very first guest that Jay recorded with, but for whatever reason the episode wasn't published until now. Andy, and Jay discuss the path that led him to tea, ways to develop mindfulness practices other than just sitting and breathing, which incidentally opens a discussion about a shared interest in contemplative photography, and the two finish off strong with a great conversation about fear, faith, and gratitude. This episode covers all the bases, and does not disappoint.
Jay's links:
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Focus Therapy Website

Previous Episode

TOPIC IN FOCUS: Anxiety

Jay and Carlie open up about the difficulty of trying to keep up with doing the "30 Day Challenge" each month, and share about the new direction of the TOPIC IN FOCUS segments. With the continuing unfolding of all aspects of COVID-19, it seemed only fitting to discuss the topic of anxiety. Using coronavirus to open up a discussion about anxiety in general, Jay and Carlie explore multiple aspects of the nature of anxiety. The two share personal stories about anxiety, and Jay provides some psychoeducation and analogies regarding how anxiety highjacks our brains and prevents a lot of rational thinking. Jay and Carlie also talk about various coping mechanisms for dealing with racing thoughts and anxious physiology.
Jay's links:
Instagram
Focus Therapy Website
Carlie's links:
Instagram
The Positive Hairstylist

Next Episode

TOPIC IN FOCUS: White Privilege

When I started school to become a therapist, I sort of unknowingly entered a program that had a huge social justice component. I was extremely uninformed in the area of social justice, which isn’t surprising considering that as a white straight male I’m not often directly impacted by many of these issues. Being uneducated on these topics, I found myself becoming defensive often and speaking from a place of authority about things I really knew nothing about. Some of my defensiveness was directly related to feeling comments were an attacking me, and some of it was out of complete ignorance... which is ultimately why having open dialogues often felt like an attack.

I used to feel frustrated thinking “It’s not my job to tell other people how to live their lives. My focus is to resolve mental health issues.” I couldn’t see how these larger systemic issues had anything to do with mental health. It was truly eye opening over the years to come to learn that these issues don’t affect MY mental health because of the bubble of privilege that protects me from them.

Since leaving school, I have continued to be educated daily from experiences with my clients. I have worked with clients of multiple different ethnicities, cultures, genders and sexual orientations, and I have come to realize more and more that in order to be the therapist I want to be, I need to continue seeking education and self-reflection in the areas that are in my blind-spots.

I remain committed to being being better and doing better, not only for myself but for everyone I come into contact with.

Jay's links:
Instagram
Focus Therapy Website