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Eric Bomyea:We'd love to hear from you. Now on to today's show. What does it mean to truly nourish someone? Not just their body, but their soul. Today, we're joined by Chef Eva, the nurturer and natural beautifier behind embodied masculine retreats and so many other transformative spaces.
Eric Bomyea:Jeff Eva brings more than food to the table. She brings presence, attention, and deep intuitive love that radiates through everything she creates. Together we explore how nourishment can be an act of devotion, how cooking can become a sacred practice, and what happens when we serve with heart, both in the kitchen and in our lives. Tim, Eva, are you ready to go all in? Ready.
Eric Bomyea:I'm ready. Alright. Let's do Chef, welcome to the the circle. How are you today?
Ava Malazian:I'm so good. Happy to be with you two radiant souls. Just love and adore both of you, and I'm grateful to be able to share this and be on your podcast and just have this conversation because I know it's gonna be really juicy and loving and supportive to those listeners out there.
Eric Bomyea:Juicy like a fresh summer peach. Jeff, when we've been on retreat together, there is a moment when your food hits the table and it is truly magical. Something shifts. It's not just that it's delicious food, it is deeply grounding food and somehow emotional. What's your process when you step into the kitchen for a retreat or when you're working with your personal clients?
Eric Bomyea:How do you begin to tune into people, what they need often before they even know it themselves?
Ava Malazian:I love that question and I love that we've shared that together as well. It really I I take it very seriously and I actually, before I go to a retreat, I will tell all the important people in my life, like, you're not gonna hear from me for the week because I'm committed when I step into the retreat to be in the container and not to leak it. And so I'm like energetically already just with all of you and like something that I've learned is that, you know, like when you go out into the wilderness. Right? And there's that fight or fight like here in Sedona too.
Ava Malazian:Sometimes I'm like, there's a coyote, there's a javelina, like you have to be a little bit like on guard. But if we turn off the fight or fight, we're actually always still scanning the room. So now if we're scanning the room without fear, we're scanning the room with love. So I'm watching from the moment I get there every observation, you know, without losing myself, you know. So it's like I'm holding my container because and I don't also don't walk into any kitchen, but specifically with the men's group too, I set an intention.
Ava Malazian:I never go into the kitchen or any environment without an intention and the extra ingredient that I've added now is that I set an intention for myself too. So that it's like a full circle reciprocity that's happening. So now I'm in the circle. I've I'm completely committed to the container and I'm watching the field not from fear but from love. So I'm observing.
Ava Malazian:And so that's how I begin to merge with, like, let's just say what you gentlemen are doing in a silent way.
Timothy Bish:Thank you for that. My experience, because I I think you and I have been on five or six retreats together now. At the end of at the end of a meal, the group feels more cohesive. They feel they feel kind of brought together. But and so you just mentioned something that I wanna clarify for our listeners in case I'm not clear about trying to not be leaky.
Timothy Bish:So can you talk a little bit about what you mean? Like, what I mean, we've talked about it on the podcast before, like, the idea of leaking energy. What does leaky energy mean to you, and how do you how do you avoid that? What is the benefit of of being mindful of that as a concept energetically?
Ava Malazian:Thank you. And you could take this in any aspect of of your life for the listeners, but the kitchen has been my greatest teacher. So from that point of view, I actually approach it even like what like an athlete, like an athlete's gonna go into a game. Right? You have to turn off every every other switch of the external world so that you can have like one point focus and be in the flow because that's that's where the magic is happening and that's where you're most present and I really commit to being fully present for my clients and all of you gentlemen and I'm very mindful of like, because let's just say in that environment, you gentlemen are opening yourselves up to like really deep processing work.
Ava Malazian:So now, if you see me and I'm a centered feminine or a centered chef, you know, or sent the nurturer of the experience, you trust me and also I'm holding like a grounded space, you know, that's like clear. So think I'm looking like I have a life now that has no drama, but like, you know, let's just say like you if I was leaking some sort of like conversation I had that was like unpleasant or a thought that I had that was like future forward that was stressing me out. Like like, I wanna be a clear slate for all of you in in my act of service, but also for me and this practice for anyone is like, how can you potentially be super super present to the moment? Because honestly, that's really the moment is all there is. So if you can drop all those filters, then you can really fully show up.
Eric Bomyea:And I I I love that you are setting the expectation with your friends and your loved ones. You're saying, hey. You're not gonna hear from me for a week. I'm about to go do deep work with people, and I'm about to braid myself into this container. And that means me showing up fully so that I can be present.
Eric Bomyea:And what I loved hearing you say was the recent addition, your new secret ingredient, is the intention for yourself. Because I can see how in the capacity that you hold, how much love you do give out. And I love hearing that you're reserving some of that for yourself. And I think that's what Tim is also referencing when, how do you monitor your leakage? And that right there is a big component of it.
Eric Bomyea:By holding yourself with the same integrity as what you're holding for other people, I think that just creates a beautiful, like you said, a reciprocity of, I'm giving out love. I'm holding enough for myself. And then we're all just like giving and feeding to each other in some magical way.
Timothy Bish:Then I I just feel compelled because I'm I'm curious. I wanna honor our teacher, Amir Khaligi, who we we all love. And the thing about I've been on so many retreats. He is constantly drawing attention to the importance of what it is you're bringing, not just the substance of the food, but the energy and the balance into the container. And I am curious because I I know that some of those conversations have happened in front of you because I've observed it.
Timothy Bish:I also know that some of those conversations have happened when you're in a different building working really hard. And I just wanna, like I'm curious. I I I know you sense it, but what is the importance of that for you in those moments of what feels like pretty intense effort, Like, or a big task.
Ava Malazian:Yeah. Well, I think that's part of the reciprocity too. And then it's also like, okay, so I'm intentional about knowing that I'm alchemizing and putting my heart, my essence, my presence, put my magic into the food. So then it's like really special to know that that even though you guys are in another room, like you can come back and let the perfume of that elixir is like being felt. That is a big reward.
Timothy Bish:Wait, the perfume of the elixir? Yes. I mean, that's a t shirt. Yeah. You
Eric Bomyea:took me there. I was like, I know that perfume. I know that elixir. It really is. It is so comforting and nourishing to feel held in this way.
Eric Bomyea:And when I said it in the intro about the magic, I wasn't joking. There is something. There is a shift that happens when you enter into your kitchen, into your domain. It is light. It is love.
Eric Bomyea:Energetically, can feel it. And I had never felt that before. I had never felt that before until I entered into your space. And so with your experience and in how many settings you've done, from family tables to high end retreats. Like, how is it to you that food can be so healing and so magical?
Ava Malazian:I love that. Like, I actually got little chills because it inspires me. Feel like it's Mother Nature's crayons. And if you notice, I use a lot of different different colors. I'm very intentional.
Ava Malazian:I also because we've shopped together too. Like, I don't put things in the dirty sweaty bags. Like, every day I wanna put it out and I actually this is another component too that it's very dynamic at this point. Like, I don't a 100% know what I'm doing. And when I'm looking at these vegetables in front of me and and they're not in a sweaty bag and they're looking at me, it's it's a communal, like, energy.
Ava Malazian:It's exciting. And then then we're having a dialogue and and then it's this dynamic dance. And then but then I'm also aware of, you know, any clients but especially the gentlemen. I'm aware of like where you guys are at and maybe like I could feel today was a little more dense for you. So like I get it I can give you more grounding food or you can feel today you're a little more playful.
Ava Malazian:Like, and then but then I'm like letting you the fruits and vegetables and like, there's something that happens that is the most and I wanna just tell everyone like whatever you're doing when you're in the flow state of whatever craft you are in, what has happened like once you master your craft, you can't just like get on a bike and then go on a 100 mile bike ride. Like, so I'm talking like after ten years of maybe mastering whatever your craft is, the left brain kind of shuts off. Not to the point where I'm at a stove, it knows what to do, but like we don't need to think about that, like the danger aspect. Now the right brain, I can't and that's why I enjoy a lot of times being in the kitchen in silence. The right brain is firing off so quickly that I can't even talk and I surrender to it.
Ava Malazian:So now I'm dancing with the fruits and the vegetables and I'm feeling everyone and and then and then this alchemy magic happens and it to me it feels so good too because I'm like, I didn't think I danced like a moment in the divine and and what wants to show up. It's exciting.
Timothy Bish:I love that you just said that because I've had the experience as a yoga teacher too. Now having done it for as long as I've done it, sometimes that idea of like, well, I don't entirely know. I have a set I have an outline. I know so, like, when I'm hearing you, like, I know I'm gonna make a meal. I know I need this many dishes, but I'm in the moment gonna decide these little details.
Timothy Bish:And so what ends up kind of blossoming is maybe not something you would have written down because you're in that state. And I think that's a really important place to be and and something we can all sort of aspire to. Like, can I can I be so felt into the moment that my creation can be birthed from it in collaboration with it? That's what I feel like I'm hearing. Am I hearing you correctly?
Ava Malazian:I love that you say that. And like so that when I say that and I love that you're doing that in yoga, I want anyone who's watching, like, whatever you're doing, like, if you can just like stretch yourself like that. But like it's like it's a relaxed place. You're trusting the moment and you're trusting yourself and then you're merging with the group, not to the point where you're losing yourself. And then now we're in a collective dance.
Ava Malazian:And I think a lot times when I go on into nature too and like, you know, the bee goes on on the flower, it gets the pollen, the honey hummingbird like takes a little sip. Like, everyone's doing their dance and it's like it's like part of creation. Right? And it's like, they're not really thinking about it. They're just doing it and being and so that transcends to everything we do.
Eric Bomyea:When coming into our craft with that type of intention, when we're looking at it as a connected experience and an interconnected experience, it really does allow the outcome to be as nourishing as it is through the food in the kitchen. But I love what you said, that it can transcend the kitchen into everything that we do. When we lead from a place of a disciplined craft, We have the confidence in our craft no matter what it is. We studied and we've done the things so that we can set aside our thinking brain for a little bit. I'm no longer thinking as critically about my steps.
Eric Bomyea:I can kind of rest in that. I'm holding my own container so that it can then flow into it. And from that flow, I then get to bring out into the world something beautiful that can impact other people. And so in the case of the kitchen, through your skills, your experience, and then that intuitive dance that we've danced in the kitchen together. I've seen it.
Eric Bomyea:I've witnessed it. It's fun. Chef Ava always has music going on, she's like is not just dancing with the fruits and the vegetables. She's actually dancing and it's beautiful. It comes out into the food that then creates a loving container that we can all then rest into and be around the table and enjoy and be nourished by not just food but energy.
Timothy Bish:Well, I wanna I wanna jump in because if I remember correctly, the dance starts in the shopping. And if I remember correctly, the most successful, like, pre retreat shopping happened between the two of you. Am I well, now listen. And that isn't like I'm sure lots of other assistants have been also great. Hugh, we love you, bud.
Timothy Bish:But but, like, we don't worry. But but but there was already, like, an energetic sort of, like, flow, right, that that you recently discussed. So you guys clearly have a thing that works and and which I'm observing right now and enjoying and savoring. But but that it it the flow state can start long before a dish is served.
Ava Malazian:That is so true. And, like, we we would like like we were really taking the moment. Was really difficult. Like that's with everything and like, so what I I find what I've learned in life is like resistance is where the suffering is. So the moment it could be again for the listeners, anything you resist in life.
Ava Malazian:So if came in and I'm like, oh my god, I just traveled and now I gotta get in the car and I gotta shop and these horses are so heavy and like it's gonna take so many hours. Like that's resistance. And instead, like, I, you know, showed up, I didn't know. And I think last minute, like you were able to go with me. Like, it's like trusting, you know, what wants to unfold.
Ava Malazian:And then it's like, then it actually I'm finally, constantly finding when we do this, life is exceeding the moment that I even thought of. Like, I didn't overthink it, but then it's now exceeding like what I thought was possible. And that's that's like a gift. That's the gift of I think of the divine when you like choose to be in that space.
Timothy Bish:And you both had a really fun time. We had so
Eric Bomyea:much fun. And you're right. I wasn't I was not expecting it. And there was a moment that I was like, oh gosh, like I have to go grocery shopping. Like and this was a specific retreat.
Eric Bomyea:Like I was gonna be the participant. I wasn't gonna be in leadership or anything do like that, so I was like, oh, is this going to take me out? And I had these doubts, then I was like, just set it inside and go. Like, I love grocery shopping. I love being in the kitchen, and I love Chef Ava.
Eric Bomyea:So like, yeah, let's go. And the part about that grocery haul that was so fun to me
Ava Malazian:It's a lot.
Eric Bomyea:And there was a lot of moments. There was a lot of moments in this grocery haul. I had never filled so many carts. I felt like I was on like a game show. It was so much fun.
Timothy Bish:So much fun.
Eric Bomyea:So much fun. And like also, like, chef Ava would put me on scavenger hunts. She'd be like, go find this. And I would like jump around and like fetch and forge. And it was very fun.
Eric Bomyea:Anyway, what I appreciated the most was I had recognized this in you before, but I really saw it in this moment, is your ability to hold a container and be so in your masculine as a chef, as a professional, and then also to be in your feminine so deeply as well. The flow that you have between the poles, to be able to hold the space in the kitchen in a grocery store, to keep recipes in your head, to keep the order of ingredients and what is needed and where we're at in the grocery list is an impeccable holding of the masculine pole. And then to be able to flow, to be like, oh, they don't have this ingredient? Well, let's just, like, do this. Right?
Eric Bomyea:It really is a dance that is so beautifully held by you. And so I would love to get some of your reflections on feminine essence and embodied in general.
Ava Malazian:You know, what I've learned is that the masculine holds the container and the structure. And then the feminine with it and then inside she swirls and dances and but she feels safe. So then she can be playful and whimsical and like, you know, more trusting. And then that lights I'm talking about everyone has masculine and feminine, but like, the process is like, then then there's advance. It's true.
Ava Malazian:There's a dance that happens and you can weave back and forth, but that's both parts of yourself being in harmony, you know. And, yeah, that's that's what I can say within the structure, if a man with the male and within you is the safety then the female can play. And I remember, I I like I tell this to my daughters too all the time. I'm like, I'm committed to my little girl going with me all the way. Like, I'm play and fun and that's where I feel like the joy, your your heart, like a little flutters.
Ava Malazian:And so how you can be an adult, like adulting in this world and like not lose that part, I think is like where all the wonder is and then and then then you're able to like be excited that we're talking about not being resistant to life, but like actually being in wonder and and yeah, like, because children do it so well.
Timothy Bish:So I have a question, and I'm gonna we have a little game here at the at the podcast, but I'm also an artist. You're you're clearly an artist. I I was a dancer, and I'm curious because I believe that artists have to have to really be able to do both. So from a dance perspective, I had to understand music, timing, counts, choreography, and then allow myself to flow through those steps and so kind of holding to it at the same time. I'm curious.
Timothy Bish:What do you think the culinary arts and the and the art that you're steeped in now, what do you think it sharpened more? Did it did it sharpen the the feminine or the masculine, or was it so equal? Because there are there's like Eric just said, both. Right? We need this amount of this or, you know, that amount of that or it takes this amount of time or this amount of heat.
Timothy Bish:And then other parts where you're like, I'm gonna feel into, oh, these men need something bright or they need something grounded. You know? So
Ava Malazian:Maybe this is not everyone's point of view, but I I would say a masculine first. I've been operating in the masculine first. The masculine has created the structure for me. The professionalism, the I take myself seriously, so others take me seriously, how I show up for work. That's why I got it.
Ava Malazian:I know we'll talk about him here too, I what I also love about working with Amir. He's very structured, you know, and that lights me up. And and maybe that's not always the that's not the feminine's first orientation. But I don't know. For me, I would not be able to dance and play and trust without the container of the masculine first.
Ava Malazian:Otherwise, I think like for myself, I could speak. I I think I'd just be like flighty outside looking at the clouds. I probably wouldn't have this career. And I'm not to put up women down. I just think that's like for me, I feel like and I am I I think that's the secret.
Timothy Bish:Well, honestly, I just reiterate for for listeners, like, in in Chinese medicine, yin and yang, there is a necessity that both exist simultaneously. And my teachers once told me, like, if it's 100% yin or 100% yang, then it's dead. Like, no living thing can can be just one. It has to be both. I feel like that's what I'm hearing you say.
Timothy Bish:Like, the the the artist can't flow, can't art in whatever way they do it if there isn't some structure. And there can't be structure if it's so tight that there's no room for something in that structure.
Ava Malazian:100%.
Eric Bomyea:And so I'm curious because we often lovingly reference you as like, you're bringing in the divine feminine, even though I'm witnessing, and Tim has witnessed, and anyone close to you has witnessed how much of the divine masculine you are actually holding in these spaces. So I'm wondering from perspective, like, how do you hold the divine feminine in this space and what is the connection for you between the divine feminine and nourishment nurturing?
Ava Malazian:I love that question. You know, to me the goddess represents beauty and magic. And so, like, without her, like that wouldn't exist, you know. So that's, she's special and she needs to be like what we're talking about protected so that she can come out and and be in her essence. And so, you know, there's the goddess Annapurna.
Ava Malazian:She's a goddess of nourishment. So I'm very aware also too. I set my intentions, but I actually bring her with me. I invite her to be with me and I I listen to a lot of like goddess music. It expands my heart, but then that's where I think that's where the masculine doesn't appear in when I'm looking at the fruits and vegetables and doing that dance.
Ava Malazian:That's between that's her her doing that. And and that really comes like from the earth like and and this is one thing I wanted to say too is like, so many people talk about the darkness is like the scary thing, like, oh, my dark side, but actually in the fertile soil of the ground where it's wet and moist, everything grows. You know, in the dark sky with the stars spring sparkle because of the darkness. In the womb of the belly, like for men, it's the horror, your power center. For women, it's creation.
Ava Malazian:It's dark. But so I found a way like where it's like the darkness is not scary. Like, how do you actually like actually step into the darkness of creation? We're all beauty is is beginning and and and sparks from. So that's her too.
Timothy Bish:I I do feel compelled to say because we're talking about masculine and feminine, we're talking about balance, we're talking about the the presence of them both and their interplay, their their their dancing, their weaving, their intermingling, that these aren't necessarily gender specific things. Right? And so one of the examples that I think he would be really happy for me to say is that, you know, Amir has said many times that he has a feminine emotional body. And when we are in these retreats, once we get there, I, as a queer man, as his sort of now, like, his most frequent right hand lead assistant, I often feel like I'm the one holding the masculine when Amir will allow himself fall into his feminine to under to, like, feel into the field and do the things. And so anyone who's listening who's new to these these terms because for queer people, know they can be a little scary or off putting because they have at times been weaponized.
Timothy Bish:So if masculine and feminine feel scary to you, recognize that you can say yin and yang. You can say sun and moon. You can say, any number of things. I like yin and yang because they don't have a lot of other Charge. Yeah.
Timothy Bish:Yeah. They don't have a charge. Exactly. Yeah. But that, like, each of us is capable, and you're also, like, demonstrating this so beautifully.
Timothy Bish:We are capable of stepping into and out of these or more into something else. And sometimes it happens it's like sort of it feels like maybe it's happening to us, but often with practice, we can make conscious choices. Oh, you know what I need a little bit more of right now? I need a little bit more of this or I need a little what would serve this? Right?
Timothy Bish:And I feel like you
Eric Bomyea:Being the chef for your own experience.
Timothy Bish:Yeah. I feel like you in our retreats have really had the ability to feel in and and start to recognize, well, what is needed? And then your your your capacity to ebb and flow and kind of your magician, like, tap into the thing that is most needed. So and for anyone who's unclear about these terms in listening, we can all do both. And we can all cultivate greater capacity to do both with greater skill and nuance and love and all of those things.
Timothy Bish:Okay.
Ava Malazian:I love that. It's beautiful.
Eric Bomyea:Yeah. I mean, it's it's true. Think we we are all examples of that. Right? Like, I think we are leading examples of being able to hold both and bounce between both in many of the stories that we've both highlighted that.
Eric Bomyea:And so I do want to swing more into the gender side of things and ask you, because I heard you mention your daughters. So what has being a mother taught you about nourishment and leading with heart both in and out of the kitchen?
Ava Malazian:Well, there's something about becoming a parent where you just like have this selfless love for another and like your capacity to love is just like blown open. And you know that you're also the steward and caregiver of this person especially when they're young and fragile and there's something that happens like this, what's it, oxytocin? Like you as a mother you get like a when you're breastfeeding, which is nurturing, you get like a hit of oxytocin and then your child does too and like literally when the child comes off of you, their face turns and it's like a complete bliss. So it's like the hormones, like you, they become so interconnected with this another being where there's it's so symbiotic and so, I don't know, just so much love to give. Yeah.
Ava Malazian:It's beyond and, you know what, I remember one time Amir, this is like one of the retreats too, like, he took the men out for hiking and it was like, he had them fasting and I think it was a hot day and a hard hike and he's like, he's like, men, feel the earth. Like, let her receive you, like be with her. And then I was, you know, in the kitchen like, you know, like being excited to nurture all of you just in the flow And then and then he came back and he's like, and this isn't just for me. It could be for any one that's holding like space of nourishment. Right?
Ava Malazian:But he's like like, let now the earth that you saw, let her food be the earth that gives back to you. I thought that was so beautiful.
Timothy Bish:You also said something that I I kinda wanna chat about for a second. You were talking about the connection with your child during breastfeeding and oxytocin. And I think sometimes in spiritual personal growth spaces, we can think of these ideas as up and intangible. And I feel like what you were describing is the many layered components of these ideas. So the idea that, well, if oxytocin, which is known sort of as the love neurotransmitter, you know, the love hormone, yes, science could say, well, you just had oxytocin.
Timothy Bish:That's why you feel that way. To me, it feels like, no. It is it is the physical, like, earthy component of this thing that spans the the entirety of our of our human spiritual experience. And I'm getting so it's
Eric Bomyea:yogic Let's go.
Timothy Bish:It's like the yogic idea of all the bodies. Right? The physical body, the energetic body, the mental body, the intellectual body, the bliss body. And it's like most of those bodies I can't touch the way I can touch my physical body. So so I feel like you're talking about that.
Timothy Bish:Like, well, oxytocin would be the thing I could see in a microphone or a microscope. And it's the physical, but like but it's just it's just representation of this other greater, bigger thing. Maybe I'm getting a little excited.
Ava Malazian:I love that.
Eric Bomyea:I it's it is the essence of this conversation that like nourishment happens in so many different ways. Food, especially if we just keep this in the realm of food, food can absolutely just be looked at as physical nourishment. You and I have had this conversation. I go crazy for food. I'm like, I love being in the kitchen, I love going to restaurants, I love the texture, the taste.
Eric Bomyea:Like food for me
Timothy Bish:is like Let's order this, let's order Food is such an
Eric Bomyea:experience for me, and I get lit up by it. And and Tim on the other hand is a little bit more like food is, it serves a purpose. Right? It's to keep him going. Like, he's a very active person.
Eric Bomyea:You said this.
Timothy Bish:I mean, it's true. Mean, in the context of this, I still believe, I deeply believe that there could be like love in food. But that's
Eric Bomyea:where I'm You have spoken this out loud several times that you do look at food a little bit more like, oh, I'm working hard, I need to refuel. Food is fuel. Right? Yeah. And I think that what we're discovering is that food has the capacity to nourish all of our bodies.
Timothy Bish:Yeah. Just just for the listeners, I have pretty intense anxiety onset digestive stuff. So sometimes food has been a really tricky component for me. And so although I can recognize the food, there were moments in my life where I'm like, oh, I'd rather not eat so I don't get sick than to eat and maybe get yeah. So but, yes, I I see what you're saying.
Timothy Bish:Yes.
Ava Malazian:You know, during COVID, I had these clients where I cooked for them, but I didn't know who they were or I never saw them. I cooked from the kitchen and and dropped it off, but never met them. And what I loved about that experience, what it taught me is like, you can have a relationship with someone and be connected with someone just through the food and and and it becomes like this beautiful dance. And then then I took it a step further. So like on these retreats or like with you gentlemen, like, I'll feed you, but then now I feel connected to you and somehow like actually, like so many of you come and hug me and there's so much love.
Ava Malazian:Like the food actually created this
Eric Bomyea:Bond, the chemistry.
Ava Malazian:Relationship that that that like, we're talking about my my daughter's even the symbiotic thing where you come back and like like, you tasted the love and then like I've like, and now we're like doing this dance and it's through the food. Amazing.
Timothy Bish:Well, I mean, it's a it's a great representation of, like, food as as art. Right? So, again, it could be a dance. It could be a painting. It's like, make this creation, and then I and then I give it to the world.
Timothy Bish:And then it is vibrating even when I'm not there anymore. And, like, the impact is really, really there. And I've definitely experienced that with your food. I know some of the some of the meals where it's late, and so you've already gone, but you're absolutely in the room with us when we are eating it. It's like that's what you're I wish
Ava Malazian:I could Absolutely. Have
Eric Bomyea:It continues to ripple even if you're not in this space. And there is something too about going back to the nourishing quality of the physical part of the food. Like some of the practices that we do are energetically draining and very physically draining. And so I think that you're also demonstrating an ability to tune into that and be like, oh, these guys just went through it. So we're going to bring on some things that are a little bit more substantive.
Eric Bomyea:You said this earlier about, oh, depending on the type of practice that they went through, it might be needing a little bit more earthy energy or whatever it might be. So what would your advice be about tuning into life in general and kind of applying those similar principles of like
Ava Malazian:Yeah, I love that. And I wanna say like, you know, for whatever it is, like the kitchen has been my greatest teacher, but then it exudes out. So it could be whatever like, know, with like dance or yoga, whatever you're doing, right, you take it off the bat. Right? And that's where actually the probably the real practices.
Ava Malazian:And so we can it's like, well, you know, and I think because I wanna make sure to acknowledge Amir like one time he said to me, you know, the divine is so great that it's not our job to know it. And and like, so I feel like sometimes so many people take the like trying to understand the divine, but what I wanna say is there's an access point. And if you find your access point into it, then you're in a flow, but don't think about how it's working. Just merge with it and like that can be like the dance and it's the dance of life and the dance of the yin and the yang and the dance of the moment and then and then, you know, I was talking about like tracking the field because we're still tracking the field. It's just if we're tracking the field without the fear that we're in love and we surrender without resistance to the moment and it's just that's recipe.
Ava Malazian:That's recipe.
Eric Bomyea:Acknowledging the human existence of we are always scanning the environment. It's just who we are.
Ava Malazian:It's true.
Eric Bomyea:When we can scan from a place of love, of rooted security, where fear is not as present, I don't it's going be a long journey for me personally to get to a point where fear doesn't enter into the room with me. But I'm learning to do more with love and to see how that impacts and shapes life. And I love just recognizing and acknowledging our human existence of we are scanners. It's what we do. And so can we bring in a little bit more intention of like, can you scan with love?
Eric Bomyea:Can you see the field with love?
Ava Malazian:Yeah. And wonder.
Timothy Bish:And wonder. And wonder. So we we talked a little bit about resistance and and when and when you are when you're scanning the world without fear, then then there's love. How else might you describe infusing your creations with love besides besides intention? Are there are there other things that you do?
Timothy Bish:I mean, we heard you know, because in my yogic tradition, often, like, chanting and, like, sort of the the vibration of the divine. How how how are some other ways that you do that?
Ava Malazian:You know, I did like the three three level Reiki. So it's like my hands are like activated, I use it for the food.
Timothy Bish:Oh, really? I don't think I knew that.
Eric Bomyea:That's so exciting.
Timothy Bish:Okay. That's fun. Yeah. That's fun.
Ava Malazian:So your heart come, like your heart actually comes out from hands. So this is like actually a great tool. Right? And then I like to think of my finger tips as little paintbrushes or little magic fairy dust. So, that healing energy now is being transferred from my heart through my hands and so it's like my work tool, but it's my body.
Ava Malazian:So I'm like being embodied, but I'm in my work tool at the same time and again, I'm talking about the kitchen, but where somebody that's like a carpenter or like, you know, building, I don't know, like working on a car or whatever it is or massaging someone like that intention and if you're aware of that and it's in a way where it's like, you're giving out but like you're allowing source to come through you and I do like love chants chanting. Yeah. Because it feels so expensive. I don't own a TV. I think it's been eleven years.
Ava Malazian:I I choose to only like either listen to spiritual music or if I want to, the YouTube would just go on there for educational purposes. So I'm also very mindful of what I feed my mind. Yeah.
Eric Bomyea:Eleven years without a television, I'm going to commend you for that. And it's definitely something like I was sitting at home today. It was a rainy day here in Provincetown, and I didn't have to go work at the kayak shop. And I was like, well, what am I going to do? I actually took time to sit and meditate, which was nice.
Eric Bomyea:But then I fell into the television trap. And then I just had TV on, and I was like, what am I doing? And then I got up and did some work afterwards. But I really appreciate setting that example of like, it is possible, and it's really important except to be mindful of what it is you put into your body. And that's your food, but it's also what you consume.
Eric Bomyea:Consumption in general is important to consider what you put in.
Timothy Bish:I'm gonna make a little bit of a of a crazy parallel here because you just talked about the arms as an extension of the heart and how that they are your instrument. And I've and I've heard this before in in certain subtle body traditions. As a personal trainer and a and an owner of a gym, you know, we talk about especially, like, men and gay men, like, we all want our pecs, our chest to be big. And I will tell people, I'm like, oh, people think of this part of our body as a pushing muscle. I said, but it isn't.
Timothy Bish:It's it's a hugging muscle. The primary movement of the pec and when I said when I think about, like, it's our hugger. Right? And that's that's why, like, you know, chest fly. It's like it's like, oh, this is how we hug.
Timothy Bish:And when I think about like, oh, because hugging is an expression of our heart. It's a it's like a bringing in of so then me thinking of you in the kitchen, taking your huggers and hugging all of the food. Right? Like like hugging hugging all of us with this with this extension of your heart energy. I know I'm getting excited again, but I'm like, it's just like I can totally see it.
Timothy Bish:It's like it's the magic it's the magic wand that's coming out of our heart anyway. So when you're doing chest flies, it's your huggers.
Eric Bomyea:Yeah. And chef Eva is quite the the physical practitioner as well. You're you're a weight lifter too. Right?
Ava Malazian:Oh, yeah.
Eric Bomyea:Next time.
Timothy Bish:Yeah. Like, it was I
Ava Malazian:know I got a lot of work out with you very seriously. I mean, I never think to myself, this is the thing about like too. I think to myself I wanna be strong. I never go on and think I wanna be thin. I wanna be strong and I wanna be strong for my craft.
Ava Malazian:I wanna be strong for my life. And that's like part a part of too, like, in whatever someone's doing, like, how can you build your body to support what you do? Like, I'm standing all day. It's a lot on my back, like, so I'm working my weaker areas so I can continue with my craft and and show up with strength. People feel that, like, whatever you're doing.
Ava Malazian:Like, if they can feel your embodied strength. Right? They like I don't know. You feel good, but then they trust you more too.
Timothy Bish:Well, because I think strength has an essence. And when we think about being thin or having a certain look, it's often because you want someone else to perceive you in a way. And I think like, well, if what I want is to be able to going back to where we started, to show up fully. If I want the capacity to show up fully doing things I care about, and some of those things are probably challenging, then I need a strength that supports that. And then what's interesting to me is that, like, thin or not thin, muscular or not you know?
Timothy Bish:Like, that isn't usually the thing that I find, like, attractive or sexy in a person. It's like an essence about like, oh, you're like you have the capacity to be. And then that usually to me feels very attractive and that doesn't have a specific physical component. You know what I mean? Like, I don't care about how big your waist is.
Timothy Bish:That's never a thing I think about. I care about how you how you show up in front of me and how I show
Eric Bomyea:up in front of you. Yeah. How big is your heart and how big is your your hugger?
Timothy Bish:How big how big are your huggers?
Eric Bomyea:That's what we care about here.
Ava Malazian:That's Alright.
Eric Bomyea:So It's t a shirt too.
Timothy Bish:Big I is
Eric Bomyea:don't care about the size of your package. How big is your hugger? Final question from me. What advice would you give to someone who wants to bring more love and intention to their everyday cooking or care practices, but doesn't know where to start?
Ava Malazian:It's like a again, like an intention, but I also do like the I do the tapping and I'll tap my heart to wake it up. And then I also will say things like and then also this like the the power center too, but it actually really does work. But then I'll say things like what I've also found is like, how do you wanna feel? Like, in every moment, like, could think your emotions can take you away, but then I'll I'll remind myself, again, this how do you wanna feel? Joyful, happy, centered, loving.
Ava Malazian:I'm like and then I realized, oh my gosh. Like, it's it actually is happening. Like, I'm saying the words, like, why wouldn't I feel that way? And so I think that's one of the secrets is actually just say the words that you wanna feel in the moment and it actually brings you back in that moment to those feelings because then you start thinking and forgetting about like anger or sadness. No.
Ava Malazian:I wanna feel happy. I happy. I wanna be feeling of service. You know?
Timothy Bish:I love that so much because you are reminding us about the co creative potential that we all have. So I do think a lot of people, and I have done this myself, kind of waiting for the experience I want to happen to me even if I have great intentions and I'm gonna try to create the causes for that thing. And what I'm hearing you say is even if you wanna create the causes and do that work, you can also decide right now. How do I wanna feel? And I can start to participate right now in that.
Timothy Bish:And when people who are listening, it isn't a magic wand. It isn't like I snap my fingers and suddenly all my problems fall away or I don't have any stress. But it can be like, I can create an influence. I can add an ingredient. There we go.
Ava Malazian:Oh, yeah.
Timothy Bish:I can add an ingredient to this recipe that can have an impact on it, and and that, I think, is part of our spiritual work. To start to recognize our co creative collaborative capacity co creative collaborative capacity in our lives, and then how that can ripple out.
Ava Malazian:I love that.
Eric Bomyea:Creative collaborative capacity. That's a t shirt too, I think. Totally is. And the reps that it takes to expand that capacity and the fuel that it takes to nourish yourself to put in those reps to expand your capacity.
Ava Malazian:Yeah. And you know, too, like, noticed that what it says to me is what it becomes for myself, what it says to me and others and like, is discipline and consistency. So if, like, I'm consistent with my work, but I'm consistent with my workouts, like, now you're seeing you're experiencing mental discipline is not having a physical external showcase or you can have an external showcase of of a mental discipline, but you you have to have a mental discipline to show up every day to do that. So that what it always says to me is like that person like is dedicated and they show up. But, and then you allow that if you start to do that for yourself, it's not about what other people are doing, like, like you feel so good about yourself when you like actually are consistent and and just when it goes in every area of your life.
Ava Malazian:It, you know, you show up, you start showing up better.
Timothy Bish:Yeah. Well, Carolyn Mays has a quote that has impacted me since I like first heard it, which is one of the primary ways that we build self esteem is by upholding the commitments we make to ourselves. And I feel like you're indicating that, like, I if a person who upholds the commitments they make to themselves, they show up in a particular way, in a strong, powerful way, and then it and then it emanates, and we can trust it. It's like that strength you were talking about. Oh, you're willing you're willing to show up for yourself.
Timothy Bish:Even on the days where you don't wanna do it, that has an essence that I can trust and feel safe with.
Ava Malazian:Yeah.
Timothy Bish:Yeah. Am I hearing you right?
Ava Malazian:Yeah. A 100%.
Timothy Bish:Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Ava Malazian:Yeah. And I remember too on the retreat, told you, I said, just your energy being right because we were in the same building and I was like, just knowing your I could feel your energy and like it made me feel safe.
Timothy Bish:Well, that was a very high compliment. I Yeah. I mean, because I feel your energy and I wanna just take this moment on behalf of myself, on behalf of Abir who I know adores you and the entire Embodied Masculine community, what you have brought. You have been an essential component. And I've been fortunate enough now to have observed an evolution of this community, and that evolution is influenced by you and the magic and what you bring.
Timothy Bish:So even in the moments when you haven't been able to join us on a retreat, what you have brought and the the the standard that you have brought and all of that has influenced how we choose a person because we know we know it is more than just serving me food. It is energetic engagement in a container. And and that vital component, I think, was birthed because of because of what you brought. So thank you. Thank you.
Timothy Bish:A 100 times thank you. Also, just really fun fact. Two of the stones on my altar, received from you in different in different blessing ceremonies, one in Woodstock and one in Sheffield. And they they come with me every time we do an embodiment circle here in town. They're on my altar.
Timothy Bish:So you've also influenced in those ways by offering those sweet, sweet moments. So thank you.
Ava Malazian:Thank you. Thank you.
Eric Bomyea:Vibrations continue to ripple. Right? That's that's right. Round Robin. Is checking in with everyone to see how you're doing.
Eric Bomyea:I'm feeling very complete. And how do you feel?
Timothy Bish:Well, I feel like I wanna have like five more episodes with Jeff Ava because this was so juicy. But in this moment, I feel complete. I feel complete. And Ava.
Ava Malazian:But I were did we mention him year enough?
Timothy Bish:Wait. We can never mention him enough. Like, a a powerful, powerful man, a a a a man that I would describe as a kingmaker. And what I mean by that is he wants so many of his men to step into their fullness. He's not threatened.
Timothy Bish:He's not threatened. Like, he's been a huge supporter of this podcast. He's not threatened that we're trying to create something. It's in service to his possible goal. And that kingmaker thing is why he's able to create the community that he's created and the connections.
Timothy Bish:This conversation is happening now because of Amir.
Ava Malazian:I I agree. Yeah. And I have so much respect for him, I just wanna make sure that anyone's following, like, I'm fully committed to like his his work and I know all of us are and like his authenticity and his intention and his integrity. So I I just wanna plug plug to go over to embodied masculine if you are looking because I'm so committed to being showing up for the men that show up. And so if you're looking men out there, if you're looking for a space to really grow, I think it's boys are boys, men are made, to really grow and embody yourself and show up with integrity.
Ava Malazian:Please go. I'm here.
Eric Bomyea:Here, here. Yeah. With that, usually pass it off to Tim to close this out. And I'm wondering, would it be okay to get a chef Eva blessing to close this out?
Timothy Bish:Oh, yes. Would like and this will be the first time on our podcast. So please, I would love for you to do it if you're open to it.
Ava Malazian:Yeah. It's blessing the show and everyone. Okay. So just gonna do the heart hug for our hands,
Eric Bomyea:not get into our own heart.
Ava Malazian:But like all the listeners out there, I hope you felt like this love and service and conversation that's like who centered you into your own personal heart that you felt some inspiration sparked a way of being that you might wanna practice outside of this and sending lots of love out there like little magic fairy fixie dust to everyone just remind everyone to just stay in wonder, stay in magic, and just trust yourself and and trust the divine, whatever that means to you. I'm blessing this podcast, the Circle podcast. May it reach many and these two incredible gentlemen in their service for all of you to feel it and for it may it grow and expand. So with that, I just give lots of love and a hoe.
Timothy Bish:A hoe.